Deadlier than a Scorpion's Sting – Chapter 2

By Kudara

Disclaimer: Star Trek Voyager and crew belong to Paramount/Viacom and no infringement of copyright/trade marks is intended. The only thing I lay claim to is the solar system I created for Pegasi 51, the background and culture of the Pegasians, and the original character Alexa Nikoleon.

Note: This story diverges from the canon storyline during the events of Scorpion II, and thus is essentially an AU story.

Rating: PG-13

Feedback: Always welcome, feedback is what encourages me to keep writing. Please let me know what you like and what you dislike about the story.

Revision History: 02/18/06; 02/22/07

Summary: Everyone, hopefully, has heard the old saying 'for want of a nail, the war was lost.' I've got a new one, 'For the assimilation of an engineer…'


Stardate 51004.5 (Wed, 02 Jan 2374 15:32 GMT)

Seven of Nine, Tertiary Adjunct to Unimatrix 01 watched as Nine of Ten, Secondary Data Core Engineer of Subjunction 12, Cube 178, Unimatrix 12 withdrew his assimilation tubules from the neck of the new drone. The woman cried out once before going silent, her dusky skin graying from the rapidly proliferating nanoprobes in her bloodstream.

As Eight of Ten clambered back onto his feet from where the human woman had thrown him to the deck, Seven of Nine ordered Six of Ten to scan for any activity which would indicate that the sound created while assimilating the woman had been detected by the security guards placed outside the cargo bay doors. Seven of Nine disliked being unable to follow the Collective's order immediately, but the assimilation of the human engineer required her to perform a few tasks before she could continue.

Normally a new drone would be transported onto a Borg ship where the local vinculum would scan through their memories and discard those deemed irrelevant to the Collective, then the relevant memories would be purged of their emotional content. At that point an assimilation drone would decide what task the new drone's body would be best suited for based on the new drone's physical and mental capabilities. After that the drone's initial duties and designation would be determined so the process of secondary assimilation could begin.

But there was no vinculum or assimilation drone available, so the task fell to Seven of Nine, and it was presenting some unforeseen difficulties for her. The new drone's memories were chaotic, filled with emotion, and as different from the emotionally void memories she was familiar with as water was from wine. The most recent memories were the ones fresh in the new drone's mind, the self-directed anger for deciding to enter the cargo bay in the first place, and then failing to escape, and the physical pain associated with the assimilation. There were confused flashes of memory, a hot reddish rocky desert, a man's face lecturing on the dangers of uncontrolled instinctual responses, snow and tall green trees and rugged mountains, and images of herself.

Seven of Nine's mind focused curiously on these impressions of her, never before having had access to such unfiltered, and thus still emotionally charged memories. The human female had found her sexually attractive, despite being mildly repulsed by the obvious Borg armor and implants. She had found Seven of Nine's body shape and facial structure pleasing, and the manner in which Seven of Nine had spoken, moved and acted had intrigued her. Fleeting speculative images of what she might look like without the body armor and minus a few implants, plus a few decidedly carnal ideas about what to do with such an accessible body, had flowed through the female's mind before they were abruptly reined in, defined as inappropriate, and put aside as extremely unlikely given the circumstances.

Sexual attraction, and sexual intercourse for both reproductive and non-reproductive purposes, was a subject Seven understood only in a clinical manner. She knew the typical psychological and physiological effects of sexual attraction, and the mechanical process of several species methods of sexual intercourse, but as she had been a drone for most of her life, she had never actually experienced either sexual attraction or sexual intercourse. Nor had she ever had access to an unfiltered memory of such an event, at least not before now. The woman's memories were intense, filled with information from all the senses, the sound of passionate cries, the scent and taste of musky arousal, the feel of bare skin on bare skin, and threaded throughout with a complex mixture of emotions that Seven of Nine found intriguing--possessiveness, tenderness, concern, and desire.

It took Seven of Nine 5.56 seconds before she realized that these memories and their accompanying emotions were completely irrelevant to determining the new drone's purpose and designation. The lack of a vinculum was negatively affecting her efficiency, Seven decided, frowning very slightly, as she forced herself to complete the drone's assessment, and ignore the new drone's previous thoughts concerning her, after all she was Borg, and such things were irrelevant.

"Your designation is Five of Ten, Quinary Data Core Engineer of Subjunction 12, Cube 178 Unimatrix 12." Seven announced abruptly, ignoring for now that Cube 178 had been destroyed while protecting Voyager from the Species 8472 ship. The new drone, as with the five remaining drones from Cube 178, would be given another designation as soon as they were back aboard a Borg ship, for now the drone needed to be part of this subunit.

It was, of course, yet another irrelevant emotion, but Seven found herself hoping that returning to a Borg ship would occur sooner rather than later, the lack of a vinculum and the resulting increasingly chaotic and emotional nature of her thoughts was disturbing. She turned and faced the hatch that the human engineer had entered the cargo bay from, Six of Ten had completed his scan and determined that the humans had not detected the assimilation; it was time to carry out the Collectives order.


"Commander we are in orbit around a class H moon, oxygen-argon atmosphere," Lt. Paris reported and swiveled around in his seat to look at Chakotay curiously.

"That'll do," Chakotay responded, "Secure orbit. Tuvok prepare to beam anything containing a nanoprobe or Borg signature down onto that planet. Once they are there we will send down the modified nanoprobes."

"The internal sensors are still damaged from the attack. I am unable to get a specific transporter lock on the drones, but I am able to get a lock on all objects containing a Borg signature," Tuvok announced a moment later.

"That's why I suggested it," Chakotay commented. "Beam them down." he ordered. Turning around he caught sight of Ensign Kim's face, "What?" he asked shortly.

Kim looked uncomfortable but none the less answered, "What if it takes the Borg a few days to pick them up? Don't they need to regenerate to survive?"

"Concerned I'm just killing them off?" Chakotay asked him hard-faced. Kim's dark eyes fell away from his, and Chakotay realized that the Ensign thought just that. "Send down a solar generator and a survival kit, I'm sure they can figure out how to connect a few of their alcoves to it and take turns."

"Yes, sir," Kim's face lightened and he focused his attention on his console. Moments later he looked up again, "Commander I located a solar generator and survival kit in the lower deck Cargo Bay 1, and beamed them down to the Borg's location."

Tuvok interrupted, "Commander I'm detecting the formation of a singularity 2 light years away." He and Chakotay stared at each other grimly.

Chakotay tapped his com badge, "Doctor we need to send down those modified nanoprobes now, we're about to have some unfriendly company."


As soon as they finished materializing, Seven of Nine informed the Collective that not only had they failed to seize Voyager and take it into the alien realm, but that they were no longer even aboard the Federation vessel. A Cube had already been diverted to Voyager's last known position to locate and retrieve them. If the human male did as he had said he would and transported down a sample of the modified nanoprobes, the alliance with the human ship would not be a complete failure.

The drones had been placed within a large canyon, jagged grayish-brown cliffs, completely bare of any vegetation, surrounded them to the north, east and south. Wind blew fiercely, stirring up the fine soil, and lowering visibility to around 20 meters. It was cold as well, around -9 degrees Celsius, and with the wind blowing at around 76 km per hour, the effective temperature was closer to -26 degrees Celsius. Seven of Nine could see no sign of surface water, and judging from the dryness of the thin atmosphere there was not likely to be any.

She had determined from Voyager's location, the thinness and composition of the atmosphere, and the low gravity, that they had most likely been placed upon the Class H Moon of the fourth planet of G4 star system in Matrix 12 Grid 05. The only remarkable thing about the moon was the presence of occasional Fistrium deposit which interfered with scans of the surface. It contained no other significant mineral deposits or life forms more advanced than unicellular bacteria.

Everything that had been transported over with them from the Borg Cube had been beamed down with them. After their transportation on the uneven surface, the alcoves and pylons containing data processing interfaces stood, leaned, or had fallen over, and the disorganization of the normally ordered equipment assaulted Seven of Nine's senses. She looked over at the solar collector and the storage crate with the prominent marking upon it that indicated it contained survival equipment. The two items had been beamed down after their transport from the Cargo Bay to the surface of this moon.

She had not expected the humans to take steps to ensure their survival until the Borg arrived. The new male leader had seemed solely focused on removing them as quickly as possible from the Starfleet vessel without regard to anything else, such as the Borg's prior agreement with Captain Janeway.

The inclusion of the survival kit was confusing, Seven of Nine was certain that the humans had not detected the assimilation of the engineer. She knew that Voyager's sensors had been damaged during the attack by Species 8472, and assumed that the humans had simply beamed everything with a Borg signature off the ship, not realizing that there were now seven drones instead of the six that had originally transported onto Voyager.

Seven was certain that otherwise they would have tried to retrieve the new drone, not transported it down with them. The contents of the survival kit would be fairly useless to Borg if they could connect the solar generator and operate at least one alcove from it, but the new drone could not regenerate until her assimilation was complete, and the contents of the kit would be essential to ensure its survival.

The sound of a transporter beam drew her attention; sitting atop the survival crate was a new addition, a medical stasis tube. Seven of Nine crossed over to it and picked it up; inside was a sealed vial containing a silvery-grey substance. The human male called Chakotay had apparently done as he had promised he would, unless he was deceiving the Borg, this should be the sample of modified nanoprobes.

It would take the Borg cube 11.89 hours to reach this location at warp 9.995. The singularities Species 8472 was creating to enter this universe had the side effect of disrupting space in such a manner as to destabilize transwarp corridors. Otherwise the Borg would have sent a Cube to escort Voyager immediately, and the human male would not have dared break the agreement, or transport them off Voyager.

Seven of Nine ordered the others to begin scanning for a more suitable location to set up the solar collector and alcoves, the location they had been transported down to was too open, too unsheltered. If she were correct about the location, the moon would become very cold, -35 degrees Celsius, during its night. The fully assimilated drones might survive it, if they were protected from the wind, but the partially assimilated new drone would not without shelter and heat, and was already shivering in its thin Starfleet uniform, trying to maintain its core body temperature.

The new drone, Five of Ten, was the first to respond drawing the other drones attentions to the shear cliffs in the north, and a dark shadowed area that might be an opening to a cave. Seven of Nine, using her visual implant, was able to immediately confirm that Five of Ten was correct, the dark area was indeed an opening in the cliff face.

Seven of Nine, carrying the stasis tube, ordered Five of Ten to take the crate containing the survival kit with her to the opening. She ordered the other five drones to move the solar collector and one of the alcoves to the same location. As the small group crossed the distance to the promised shelter of the opening, Seven of Nine observed the new drone. The short dark hair was falling out in clumps as the nanoprobes destroyed the hair follicles, since they were unessential to the drone's functioning, and claw shaped implants were visible on her left cheek, and upon the right hand. The assimilation process had stopped with the formation of the basic implants, the neural transceiver connecting her to the Collective, and cortical node; the last stage of assimilation would have to wait until the Cube retrieved them.

The Tertiary Adjunct was aware now of the reason for the unusual markings on the new drone's face, and the survival knowledge the drone possessed might prove relevant during the next few days until the Cube arrived. But it had been the drone's culture, not its survival knowledge that had been of the most interest to the Collective and to Seven of Nine. The Pegasian emphasis on harmony, cohesion, and working for the good of the whole was almost Borg like, she noted in approval.

Seven of Nine frowned, approval was an emotion and therefore irrelevant, the new drone possessed knowledge of a planet and culture previously unknown to the Borg, one that highly valued cooperation between its members, that was enough reason to make her a valuable addition to the Collective, not her own irrelevant emotions about the new drone's society. For the second time, Seven of Nine longed for a vinculum to enforce order upon her thoughts, and eliminate the emotional content of the new drone's memories from her cortical node as they seemed to be causing similar changes in her own thoughts.

They had reached the opening in the cliff face. Stepping inside, it became clear that this was indeed the opening to a cavern as opposed to just the shadow of an overhang. The cave floor was just as rocky and uninviting, as the surface outside, and seemed to extend quite a distance into the surface of the planet. Seven of Nine ordered the male drones to place the alcove and solar collector just inside the opening, and then to begin moving the remainder of the Borg equipment from where they had been transported down to the cave. Once the five drones had begun walking back to the transport site, she turned to the new drone.

Five of Ten was standing inside the cavern, where Seven of Nine had directed it, and was awaiting instructions. The sedative effect of the initial assimilation was designed to minimize the physiological trauma and shock resulting from the rapid formation of the initial implants and the introduction during the secondary assimilation process of new ones. The new drone would be completely dependent on Seven of Nine's instructions for at least 10 more hours when the nanoprobes would cease producing the chemical.

Evaluating the new drone's physical condition, Seven of Nine frowned; Five of Ten's core temperature had dropped even further. From the technical specifications she had been provided with as part of her assignment as liaison to the humans, she knew that the crate the new drone was carrying should contain a shelter, emergency blankets and a small heater. Giving Five of Ten specific directions, Seven of Nine watched the new drone for a few moments to ensure that she was following her instructions, then turned back to the solar collector and began to modify it to power a Borg alcove.

Eight and Thirty-three of Ten's sudden silence, and Nine, Six and Thirty-two of Ten's report of hostile fire interrupted her actions only seconds later. Species 8472 had located them, stepping to the cavern opening Seven of Nine could see the bright orange-yellow beams of their bioship's weapons striking the transport site. The three remaining drones had scattered, obeying the Collective's orders not to return to the cavern as they would lead Species 8472 there. The drones were not essential to the Collectives survival, but the modified nanoprobes were, and were to be protected at all costs.

Seven of Nine ordered Five of Ten to stop her current task and assist her with moving the solar collector and alcove further into the cavern, she did not know what scanning capabilities Species 8472 possessed, but currently a simple visual search would lead to their, and the nanoprobes, discovery. The two female drones easily lifted the alcove and proceeded deeper into the cave, approximately 21 meters from the entrance the passageway widened again into a large cavern, a narrow opening off to their left drew her attention. It appeared to be a narrow passageway, she directed Five of Ten to retrieve the crate of survival gear and bring it to this location while she explored the side passage.

Nine of Ten was the next drone to cease communicating with the Collective as she and entered the narrow passageway, Seven of Nine paused a moment, Nine of Ten had not died immediately as the others, there had been severe pain and his normally ordered thoughts had grown chaotic before he ceased to function. Forcefully ordering her thoughts, and after a brief pause to reinforce her instructions to Five of Ten, who had been similarly affected by Nine of Ten's deactivation, Seven of Nine continued.

The side passage continued for 15 meters before it widened into a small, low cavern. Seven of Nine became aware of increased moisture in the air, she entered the cavern and noticed one wall was damp with water, it flowed down the wall and had carved a small depression in the floor, forming a shallow pool that overflowed into a thin rivulet of water that disappeared into a small crevasse in the far side of the cavern. The floor of the cavern was littered with loose rocks, they would be able to use these to seal up the entrance and hopefully disguise their presence.

As she and the new drone retrieved the solar collector, Eight of Ten ceased to function; now only Six of Ten remained and he was directed to go in the opposite direction from the cavern in an attempt to lead Species 8472 away from the modified nanoprobes. Fifteen minutes later Six of Ten was still functioning, and all of their equipment had been moved into the smaller cavern. Seven of Nine and Five of Ten were in the process of moving the loose stones from the cavern floor, to the passageway, and piling them at the entrance to conceal its existence.

It took them another twenty minutes to complete the task, during which Six of Ten abruptly ceased communications with the Collective. As they returned to the cavern from the now blocked passageway, Seven of Nine was aware that Five of Ten was dangerously cold; the drone was moving and thinking sluggishly, its core temperature down to 33 degrees Celsius despite the activity Seven of Nine was forcing it to do. She was aware that if its body temperature was not raised quickly it would cease to function. Seven of Nine's core temperature was still normal, but she was aware that it too would start to drop once she stopped moving around.

Moving with swift efficiency, Seven of Nine removed the shelter from the survival kit and placed it upon the open space they had cleared while sealing off the passageway. A simple press of a switch activated the shelter, causing it to unfold and form a rounded dome designed to hold up to four people. Pulling the heating unit and emergency blankets from the kit she placed them in the shelter and directed Five of Ten to enter. Seven of Nine followed the new drone into the shelter and sealed it behind them. They had done all they could to protect themselves from discovery, and she had detected signs of Fistrium in the walls of this cavern, hopefully there was enough of the reflective ore present to prevent Species 8472 from detecting them.

Both Borg survival protocols and the new drone's knowledge, indicated that the most expedient way of raising Five of Ten's core temperature was for Seven of Nine to modify her body armor so that it would transfer her thermal energy to the other drone, while the heating unit raised the temperature in the shelter to acceptable levels. The flooring of the shelter was insulated and padded, but Seven of Nine laid down one of the reflective blankets upon it anyway, and ordered the Five of Ten to remove its clothing as she awkwardly lowered herself to lie down on top of the silver colored blanket. Seven of Nine instructed her nanoprobes to modify her body armor as survival protocols indicated, and as soon as the now nude Five of Ten joined her, Seven of Nine covered both of their bodies with the remaining emergency blankets and instructed the drone to get as close as possible to her.

Since Five of Ten did not have any body armor, close was close indeed, and Seven of Nine was surprised at how the new drone managed to practically molded her body against the Tertiary Adjunct's warmer one, ending with her head tucked underneath Seven of Nine's chin. Fifteen minutes later Seven of Nine was relieved when Five of Ten started shivering against her, indicating that her core temperature had risen to 35 degrees Celsius. In another fifteen minutes Five of Ten had stopped shivering, and the formerly tense cold body, now warm again, relaxed. As Seven of Nine continued to monitor the new drone, its thoughts became disordered, less coherent and eventually it began to sleep, a process that the Tertiary Adjunct observed with fascination.

Suddenly her attention was drawn from the sleeping drone to the information flowing through the Collective mind. Species 8472 had stepped up their attacks; the number of bioships in this space was now estimated to be four times the number it had been only two hour ago. Grids 012, 007, and 009 had been penetrated by Species 8472, another 25 planets had been destroyed, 467 vessels disabled, and 6290379 Borg destroyed. At the current rate Species 8472 was creating singularities and moving bioships from fluidic space into this galaxy, the Collective's defeat would be inevitable if the modified nanoprobes were not retrieved within the next 24 hours.