Tonkin awoke with a jolt. His eyes shot open and wildly darted around the room, looking for something familiar to his tortured mind. He didn't recognize anything. Though his brain was finally registering things around and about him, he just wasn't sure of anything yet. At least the voices were gone. Thank God, they were finally gone. There had been thousands and thousands of the voice, everyone one of them listening to what he thought, and he, in return, being forced to listen to the thoughts of them. But they were gone now and that was all that mattered right then.
Tonkin took several deep breaths of the cool, fresh air that surrounded him. He was calm now and not so nervous, though he did want to find out where he was. He was in a room for sure, an empty one. The dark room appeared to be made out of some kind of adobe. There was only one hole in the far wall and it obviously served as a door. Outside of the adobe room was a clean, blue, sky, hundreds of tall, green trees, and a bright, vibrant sun. Because Tonkin's eyes weren't adjusted to the light, he had to turn away from the door. He rubbed his eyes with his hands to get rid of the glare and suddenly noticed something. The implants on his hands and arms were gone! Instantly, he touched his hands to numerous places on his face and discovered that the face implants were gone also. How can this be? he asked himself.
Tonkin closed his eyes and tried to remember anything he could about anything. Then, as quick as lightning and as powerful as a flood, lost memories violently resurfaced.
"The shields have failed, sir!"
"Evacuate immediately! The Borg taken the ship."
Tonkin was running towards a nearby escape pod as fast as his legs would let him. Please God, let me make it. Please! he frantically thought. He was running out of breath and the drones were catching up. All the civilians were on the escape pods and now they were trying to escape into one but it was almost impossible; the Borg had nearly surrounded the crew and now they were closing in for the kill.
"We're almost there!" a senior officer called out to the remaining crew. Indeed they were because when he turned a corner, a drone's hand shot out and snatched him away. Some of the women screamed and ran back where they had just came. They were greeted by a pack of drones ready to assimilate. Panic ran through Tonkin. What should I do? Now dozen or more drones had joined them and were assimilating them one by one. Some of the drones had made a human chain surrounding the crew so they couldn't escape. As Tonkin looked around at the drones closing in, he was surged with adrenaline. He now thought of the only thing he could do: attack. Tonkin was trained in lethal combat at Starfleet Academy and he decided that right then would be a good time to use his training. He let out a war cry and tackled one of the Borg. Swiftly, he grabbed the drone's head and jerked it hard to the right. There was some snapping and the drone's eyes became wide but then he died and fell to the ground. One down, Tonkin told himself as he got up. But he never got the chance to think anything else because a strong, metallic arm wrapped itself around Tonkin's neck. The arm's grip was so tight that Tonkin couldn't scream or breathe. Next, two long needle-like injectors from the other hand shot into a vein in his neck and injected billions of nanoprobes into his bloodstream. After a moment, the injectors retracted back into the drone's hand and he let Tonkin drop to the cold floor. He tried to get up but it took too much effort. He fell back down to the floor but strained to look up and see what was happening. Suddenly, Tonkin's head pounded like a hammer to a nail. When he looked up he discovered that his vision had become blurred. From what he could see, the deal was done. The Borg had assimilated the crew. They had just started out of the corridor they were in and were now heading towards the escape pods. As he helplessly watched them, an idea popped into his cloudy mind. Slowly, he crawled towards a computer console near him. When he got there, he lifted himself up and hit a button. It beeped and alerted the closest drone. It started to walk towards Tonkin but he stopped it.
"Emergency Doors close, authorization: Tonkin2085-Delta!" he quickly spurted from his mouth.
Instantly, the doors closed separated the Borg from Tonkin. He breathed a sigh of relief. Now he could help with what time he had left. He could all ready feel the effects of assimilation, although he wasn't Borg yet.
"Computer," he wearily called out as he tapped some buttons on the panel. The computer did its familiar bleep in recognition and awaited Tonkin's next command. "Release all of the escape pods attached to the ship and lock out the system to everyone but the senior officers." The computer beeped again and its cheery female voice answered, "Acknowledged." As the computer screen went from its original Starfleet background to a blank, black screen, Tonkin noticed in his reflection that his face had turned a dull gray color. As he looked, something in his mind popped and millions of voices started talking in his head. His hands shot up to his ears to try to drown out the voices and he gritted his teeth in agony, but it didn't help. He doubled over and fell to the ground. His conscious mind gave out and shut off, giving way to the Borg consciousness. If Tonkin had ever felt so helpless, it had been then.
Tonkin "awoke" from his array of dreams. He didn't know where he was or how his Borg implants had disappeared, but he was definitely going to find out. Tonkin jumped off of his hay bed and onto the dirt floor. He started to walk out of the door but before he could, a gigantic figure stepped in front of him. Startled, Tonkin backed away from the door, tripped on his own feet, and fell.
"Oh, pardon me! I didn't mean to frighten you," the newcomer apologized. He walked into the light and Tonkin saw that he was a Klingon. The Klingon reached out his hand to help Tonkin up and Tonkin accepted.
TO BE CONTINUED…
Tonkin took several deep breaths of the cool, fresh air that surrounded him. He was calm now and not so nervous, though he did want to find out where he was. He was in a room for sure, an empty one. The dark room appeared to be made out of some kind of adobe. There was only one hole in the far wall and it obviously served as a door. Outside of the adobe room was a clean, blue, sky, hundreds of tall, green trees, and a bright, vibrant sun. Because Tonkin's eyes weren't adjusted to the light, he had to turn away from the door. He rubbed his eyes with his hands to get rid of the glare and suddenly noticed something. The implants on his hands and arms were gone! Instantly, he touched his hands to numerous places on his face and discovered that the face implants were gone also. How can this be? he asked himself.
Tonkin closed his eyes and tried to remember anything he could about anything. Then, as quick as lightning and as powerful as a flood, lost memories violently resurfaced.
"The shields have failed, sir!"
"Evacuate immediately! The Borg taken the ship."
Tonkin was running towards a nearby escape pod as fast as his legs would let him. Please God, let me make it. Please! he frantically thought. He was running out of breath and the drones were catching up. All the civilians were on the escape pods and now they were trying to escape into one but it was almost impossible; the Borg had nearly surrounded the crew and now they were closing in for the kill.
"We're almost there!" a senior officer called out to the remaining crew. Indeed they were because when he turned a corner, a drone's hand shot out and snatched him away. Some of the women screamed and ran back where they had just came. They were greeted by a pack of drones ready to assimilate. Panic ran through Tonkin. What should I do? Now dozen or more drones had joined them and were assimilating them one by one. Some of the drones had made a human chain surrounding the crew so they couldn't escape. As Tonkin looked around at the drones closing in, he was surged with adrenaline. He now thought of the only thing he could do: attack. Tonkin was trained in lethal combat at Starfleet Academy and he decided that right then would be a good time to use his training. He let out a war cry and tackled one of the Borg. Swiftly, he grabbed the drone's head and jerked it hard to the right. There was some snapping and the drone's eyes became wide but then he died and fell to the ground. One down, Tonkin told himself as he got up. But he never got the chance to think anything else because a strong, metallic arm wrapped itself around Tonkin's neck. The arm's grip was so tight that Tonkin couldn't scream or breathe. Next, two long needle-like injectors from the other hand shot into a vein in his neck and injected billions of nanoprobes into his bloodstream. After a moment, the injectors retracted back into the drone's hand and he let Tonkin drop to the cold floor. He tried to get up but it took too much effort. He fell back down to the floor but strained to look up and see what was happening. Suddenly, Tonkin's head pounded like a hammer to a nail. When he looked up he discovered that his vision had become blurred. From what he could see, the deal was done. The Borg had assimilated the crew. They had just started out of the corridor they were in and were now heading towards the escape pods. As he helplessly watched them, an idea popped into his cloudy mind. Slowly, he crawled towards a computer console near him. When he got there, he lifted himself up and hit a button. It beeped and alerted the closest drone. It started to walk towards Tonkin but he stopped it.
"Emergency Doors close, authorization: Tonkin2085-Delta!" he quickly spurted from his mouth.
Instantly, the doors closed separated the Borg from Tonkin. He breathed a sigh of relief. Now he could help with what time he had left. He could all ready feel the effects of assimilation, although he wasn't Borg yet.
"Computer," he wearily called out as he tapped some buttons on the panel. The computer did its familiar bleep in recognition and awaited Tonkin's next command. "Release all of the escape pods attached to the ship and lock out the system to everyone but the senior officers." The computer beeped again and its cheery female voice answered, "Acknowledged." As the computer screen went from its original Starfleet background to a blank, black screen, Tonkin noticed in his reflection that his face had turned a dull gray color. As he looked, something in his mind popped and millions of voices started talking in his head. His hands shot up to his ears to try to drown out the voices and he gritted his teeth in agony, but it didn't help. He doubled over and fell to the ground. His conscious mind gave out and shut off, giving way to the Borg consciousness. If Tonkin had ever felt so helpless, it had been then.
Tonkin "awoke" from his array of dreams. He didn't know where he was or how his Borg implants had disappeared, but he was definitely going to find out. Tonkin jumped off of his hay bed and onto the dirt floor. He started to walk out of the door but before he could, a gigantic figure stepped in front of him. Startled, Tonkin backed away from the door, tripped on his own feet, and fell.
"Oh, pardon me! I didn't mean to frighten you," the newcomer apologized. He walked into the light and Tonkin saw that he was a Klingon. The Klingon reached out his hand to help Tonkin up and Tonkin accepted.
TO BE CONTINUED…