Chapter 4: All is not Lost

For years to come, Nestor continued to develop extremely well and excelled in all his studies with little effort. Occasionally, the Avian faced off with Borg adversaries seeking his return. However, Capt. Logan was always able to somehow evade them. It was a lucky streak she feared would run out someday. As a teenager, Nestor found it difficult to fit in with his peers since they found him to be intimidating. No one could compete with him, mentally or physically and it made them quite envious.

During his time at the academy, Nestor began to have nightmares. He'd often wake up in a cold sweat, not remembering what his dream was about. Eventually, he would remember the nightmares with unbelievable clarity. It was about a bright light swallowing him whole. He couldn't feel anything in the dream, but the thoughts were overwhelmingly sad. The dream would always start out the same way, with him staring at an empty space before being surrounded by a bright light and intense feelings of melancholy and nostalgia. The dreams made no sense to him, but they carried with them a sense of familiarity that was unsettling to say the least.

He eventually spoke to his adoptive mother, Capt. Logan, about the nightmares. She deduced that it was simply his anxiety playing in his dreams, but he felt it was something more — much more. He spent all of his spare time analyzing his dreams each time learning more and more about things he'd originally over looked. Eventually, he grew to develop issues with his identity. Capt. Logan thought it was due to the lack of a father figure in Nestor's life. She desperately hoped it was just a phase, but it lasted for years to come, even during his service as a Starfleet Ensign. He was not satisfied with being an Ensign, he wanted more. He wanted to be a commanding officer, working nonstop to try to prove his worth and was eventually promoted to Lieutenant after years of exemplary service. His mother became increasingly worried about her son. He became obsessed with his work with Starfleet as well as analyzing his dreams until one day he requested a transfer.

"Why? Aren't you happy here, Nestor?" Capt. Logan asked.

"No, Captain. I'm afraid not. I don't feel like I belong here anymore. I feel like I can be of greater use elsewhere."

"What makes you say that?"

"I don't know… I just feel it."

"Nestor…"

"Please, do not call me Nestor. For some reason, it feels… uncomfortable to me now."

"Well, too bad! I gave you that name out of love the day I adopted you. You might be willing to abandon your life here on the Avian, but I refuse to allow you to throw away your name!" the Captain exclaimed, choking back tears.

"I will not be abandoning anything. However, I have a strong feeling I belong elsewhere." Nestor replied.

"Listen, Nestor. Just because you're thirty years old, that doesn't give you the right to walk all over what's been given to you. No recent self discovery will change that. Is this about a girl or something, is that it? Do you feel the need to change your name in order to impress her?"

"Yes… and no."

"Alright, what's her name?"

Nestor stared at his mother for a moment before giving his answer: "The Enterprise."

Nestor's mother probably would have fainted is she weren't already sitting down.

"The Enterprise? The Federation flagship? What could you possibly have to do there?"

"I… don't know. I just know that I must get to the ship. That's where I belong."

"I'm sorry, Nestor. I have to deny your request. I can't have you gamble your entire career on a few dreams you've had."

"They were more than dreams, mother! There is something I have to do on the Enterprise but I don't know what it is! Why can't you understand that?!" Nestor bellowed. He only addressed her as 'mother' when he was upset, otherwise, he'd call her 'Captain', 'Mom' or 'Ma'am'.

"Nestor, do not raise your voice at me! Understood?" Capt. Logan said sternly.

Nestor hung his head in shame for raising his voice at his mother.

"Yes, I understand. I apologize. However, you fail to understand that my dreams are not trivial."

"I never said they were, Nestor. Look, you've been working much too hard lately. Maybe you should take a few days to relax, maybe go on a nice date or something."

"No! I…" Nestor said before he lowered the frustrated tone of his voice, "I do not want to relax or go on dates. I want to be transferred to the Enterprise."

"The Enterprise will can't protect you like I can. If the Borg…"

"The Borg haven't returned since I was a child. Surely they won't…" Nestor said before the ship was violently jolted. All systems went to red alert.

The captain rushed to the bridge, looked at the view screen and saw a Borg cube firing upon her ship. She ordered all hands to battle stations before hailing the cube.

"Return the one you've stolen from us thirty years ago. His return to us is long overdue." The Borg ordered in unison, in a garbled voice.

"This is the captain. Back away from my ship or I'll be forced to fire."

"You are no match for us, Captain. If you fail to cooperate, you will be destroyed. We would prefer the one to be dead than to be enslaved in a life of imperfection." Replied the Borg.

"Something tells me that will happen whether we cooperate or not." The captain said to herself before she disengaged communication with the Borg.

At that moment, Nestor saw something in the distance. There was some sort of tear in the sky and a vessel was on the other side of it. He recognized it as the Enterprise! He managed to leave the bridge unnoticed.

"Prepare to fire!" Capt. Logan instructed her security officer, who armed photon torpedoes on her mark.

There was a brief volley of firing between the Borg vessel and the Avian before the Borg ceased fire and hailed the captain. It was a very unusual move for the Borg.

"Captain, you have made a wise decision to return what is rightfully ours. Such wisdom will make a fine addition to our collective." The Borg replied.

"What? I didn't…" The captain started to say, but was interrupted with some unsettling news.

"Captain, there is an unauthorized shuttle launch in progress." The security officer informed.

"Nestor!" the captain hissed before turning to the security officer, "Pull it in with a tractor beam!"

"I can't, sir. The tractor beam controls have been locked out!"

"Damn it!"

Just then, the captain was hailed on a secure channel… it was Nestor.

"Nestor, what the hell are you doing?! Get back here immediately!" Capt. Logan ordered.

"I'm sorry, I can't do that. The Borg will be distracted by me. You can use it as an opportunity to leave this area at warp nine. There is a distortion behind the Borg vessel. Beyond that distortion is the Enterprise. I plan to go there. Captain… Mom, I love you."

"Nestor, no!" The captain exclaimed just before he disengaged communication.

She watched helplessly as the Borg attempted to lock on to Nestor's shuttle with a tractor beam, but he implemented an unexpected maneuver and sped past the cube. Aggravated, the Borg altered course to follow Nestor into the distortion while firing upon him.

"Follow them! I'll be damned if I let them get him again!" the captain ordered.

Once all three vessels cleared the distortion, the Enterprise joined in the fight. However, the shuttle sustained heavy damage and exploded. Capt. Logan was beside herself with grief and anger. Furious, she ordered her crew to fire at the cube with everything her ship had. The combined firepower of the Avian and the Enterprise destroyed the cube. Afterwards, the Enterprise hailed the Avian.

"This is Capt. Jean-Luc Picard of the USS Enterprise. Do you need assistance with your injured?"

"Hello, Capt. Picard. This is Capt. Logan of the USS Avian. My crew is fine except for one person. I'm afraid the Borg have killed my son." She said tearfully.

"Your son? The person traveling in the shuttle?" Picard asked and Capt. Logan nodded, "Captain, I am pleased to inform you that your son was beamed aboard our ship shortly before his shuttle exploded. Our doctor is on her way to treat him as we speak.

Meanwhile, Dr. Crusher ran to sickbay. When she entered, she noticed that her staff were all crying profusely and she feared the worst.

"No, don't tell me we've lost him already!" she replied as she walked over to the bio-bed.

Nestor's clothing had been scorched off his muscular, statuesque body and he was naked except for a sheet covering him from the waist down. His fleshy peach colored skin however was miraculously unscathed. Tears streamed from Dr. Crusher's face as she regarded the handsome features of her unconscious new patient. With trembling hands, she smoothed back his mussed dark auburn hair and he moaned slightly at the sensation, though still unconscious. Seeing how the patient looked with his hair smoothed back nearly made the doctor's heart stop.

"Oh my God! Data?!" Dr. Crusher exclaimed before fainting.

Stay tuned for chapter 5...