Once upon a time in the delta quadrant

OK, so I guess this deserves quite an introduction. First, it was the very first fan fiction I ever wrote. Yes, yes. I have been addicted to Star Trek (and more particularly Voyager) for quite some time, and one day I thought, hey, surely hackers still exist in 24th century, right? What if the borg were hacked? And this is how this story is born.

Alright, I know, it's tremendously non-cannon with the series. Those borg-lovers among you will argue to the top of your lungs that a borg cannot be hacked, and I'll give some credit to your argument. But hey, I wrote this totally non-cannon, for fun, and I thought if I had so much fun writing it, than why not put it on the net and see if others have fun reading it! (Please please please reviiiiiiiew please)

So, without further delay, once upon a time in the delta quadrant…

Chapter I. Borg vessel… on parallel course?

"Ensign Kim to captain Janeway," the Starfleet icon emitted.

Janeway touched her insignia, and asked what was going on.

"Our long-range sensors are detecting a borg vessel, on a parallel course, on the edge of sensibility."

"Yellow alert," Janeway stated with authority, as she always did. "I'm on my way to the bridge, Harry."

"All right, Captain. Tuvok and Chakotay are coming too."

So Voyager's captain left her table in the mess hall, offering apologies to Neelix "duty calls", and made her way towards the bridge. When she reached it, Tuvok and Kim were running additional scans; Chakotay was visibly awaiting their report.

"Report," she asked, coming forward on the bridge, towards her seat.

"It keeps its parallel course," Kim said; he didn't understand this. "This is strange; this doesn't seems like their usual behavior."

"I agree," Chakotay said. "What do we do about it, captain? Should we try to hail them?"

"Did you ask Seven what she thought about this?", Janeway asked.

"I called her," Kim answered. "She's in astrometrics, trying to see if there's a change in their course."

"Doesn't she have a clue why they behave like that?", Janeway asked. This was starting to make her nervous.

"She said that they may think we can't detect them; maybe they think they are spying on us," Tuvok reported.

Janeway raised an eyebrow. She thought for a second, then she decided: "Stay on yellow alert. Inform me of any changes. Call me again in two hours if there is no change. We will try something at that moment."

She left. Chakotay followed her, saying: "Kim, you have the bridge."

ooo

"So," Janeway said as she entered the bridge, "they're still there."

"Yes, Captain," Kim said, still at his console.

"News from Seven?"

"No changes in their speed or course," Tuvok informed her. "Lieutenant Torres is reporting some informatics problems in the communication system."

"What kind of problem?", Chakotay asked.

"Lieutenant Torres cannot initialize a teleport sequence. She is working on it."

"Any link with that borg vessel out there?", Janeway worried.

"No; usually they tap into the main system, and shut everything down when they want to send a message," Kim answered.

"Yes," she agreed.

She stayed in her seat, for a moment. She was seated diagonally, as always, and was rubbing her thumb and forefinger together, in a gesture she always did when uncertain or nervous. Then she said: "Tom, what speed are we going at?"

"Warp 6, Captain," the pilot answered.

"And the borg vessel?", she wondered, turning to Kim.

"Warp 6 too, captain."

"Ok. Tom, jump at warp 8. We'll see what they do."

"Yes, ma'am."

Tom drove in a few buttons, checked a few controls, then he pushed Voyager's engine to warp 8.

"Any changes from the borg?", Janeway asked. The room was filling with tension as Kim was checking the data from the astrometrics lab.

"They… They've jumped to warp 8 too, Captain," Kim answered finally. His worry leaked through his professional voice.

"Are you sure?", Chakotay asked. He definitely didn't understand a thing about this whole story.

"Yes, sir. Seven is loading me this data from the astrometrics."

Chakotay and Janeway looked at each other. Chakotay waiting for her decision, Janeway for maybe a suggestion or two. Being the captain sucked, some days.

"Mister Paris, slow down to warp 4," Janeway ordered. "Tell B'Elanna to get everything right in engineering, and before the borg get a chance to set an intercepting course."

As soon as Voyager was down to warp 4, Kim got a transmission from Seven, still in the astrometrics lab.

"Captain," Kim immediately repeated, "they are still at warp 8, moving away from us. Two minutes before they slip out of range."

"Stay on yellow alert for three more hours," Janeway ordered. "Chakotay, Tuvok, with me. Call Seven from the astometrics, and tell her we'll meet in the ready room."

Tuvok, Chakotay and Janeway took their seats in the ready room. They sat, and then Chakotay began:

"Captain, what do you think they're doing ?"

"I have no idea," she admitted. "And that's what worries me the most. Tuvok, as a security officer, you are trained to face every security problem. Don't you have a single idea of what's happening here?"

"I do not know, Captain. There was obviously a borg vessel following us. I do not understand their behavior, however, they do not seem to act as borg. We seem out of danger for now, captain. They are out of range for our sensors, but we are out of range of their sensors too, if Seven is still up-to-date with borg technology. If we set a different course, they will have no way to detect us."

Right then, Seven came into the room, looking focused and serious as always.

"Suggestion noted, Lieutenant-commander," Janeway acknowledged Tuvok's comment. "Seven, we could use your help here."

"Captain?"

"Were they borg? I mean, do you understand their behavior?"

"I'm not sure, captain," Seven exposed. "Maybe they got an emergency call and had to go. I don't know."

"Right, I considered that too. But, why setting a parallel course in the first place?"

"I… I have no idea, Captain," Seven confessed.

"Ok. So we just had a borg vessel following us, now it is gone without any explanation, we don't understand and we have no idea of what's going on," she summarized. "Dismissed."

Tuvok and Seven went out, but Chakotay stayed, and waited until the others were out.

"Captain," Chakotay said, "if we do change of course, we will no longer be in danger; we don't need to care about their strange behavior."

"I know," she sighed. "But I dislike not to understand."

Chakotay smiled. As he was leaving, Janeway said:

"Tell lieutenant Paris to change course of 20 degrees and to resume the course at warp 6."

He exited her ready room and went back to the bridge, acknowledging her command with a nod of the head.