Disclaimer: Still don't own any of it. xD
Unassimilated Chapter IX
They found Sixteen in the room she had been assigned, the door hissing open before they even had time to ask if it was locked. Richard blinked in disapproval at the Spartan, cell-like nature of it, even if she was a Borg, surely it was unnecessarily harsh. Sixteen herself was perched on the end of the bed, bent over, seemingly reading. She didn't look up as they entered, however she seemed to tense slightly, as if expecting a blow. Koloth's eyes hardened in anger at this, and Richard's face grew even bleaker. Clearing his throat made her look up, and both men gasped. Her face was heavily bruised, a few bloodstains showing where cuts that had healed had been.
Koloth hissed, in a voice so cold they could almost hear the ice tinkle, 'Who did this, Sixteen and why?'
Sixteen shook her head slightly. 'I do not know, and because I am not human, I suspect.'
'Neither am I.' Koloth pointed out, 'You realise that is not an excuse? You are under my protection Sixteen, that they dared so much as threaten you, much less this. Could you recognise their faces?'
'I... I think so.'
'Good. Oh, before I forget, this is Richard. We came to ask you a few questions, but I believe they can wait. First, we find those responsible for this outrage. Was this the first time this has happened?'
'No, sir. It's happened before, but...'
'But nothing, Sixteen. As stated, you are under my protection; this cannot be allowed to stand. Will not be allowed to stand.'
xxxx
Koloth stormed down the corridor, now armed with information on just who had dared to hurt Sixteen. Stepping into the nearest turbolift he barked 'bridge' the snap in his voice surprising even himself with its ferocity. Less than a minute later, he stepped out of the doors. The nearest Ensign started to announce him presence, then stopped, almost physically quailing from the waves of anger emanating from the old Klingon's features.
'I have a list of names with me. You will take this list and inform said... beings... that I wish to see them here, now. They have hurt someone under my protection, believing, erroneously, that they could get away with it. They will learn differently. I intend to teach them the error of their ways.'
'Fifteen?'
'No. Worse. Sixteen. To them she appears to have been nothing but an object, not a woman partially assimilated against her will. That they waited until Fifteen could no longer protect her, and they believed me too distracted to find out, only proves their cowardice. She, like the others, remains under my protection. Anyone attacking her attacks not just me, but the Klingon nation. And I will not stand by and let it happen. I will not declare war on the Federation for the actions of a few misguided little fools. At least, not this time.'
The bridge crew looked at each other, horror on every face present. Commander Bainbridge swallowed hard, then opened a mouth suddenly as dry as if he'd walked through the Mugabe desert.
'Sir, what actions do you wish us to take?'
'As soon as those Denebian Slime Devils make it onto the bridge, you are to place them under arrest. I will hear their explanations, their excuses for what they have done... I would prefer them to be handed over to Klingon justice in this matter, however, as that will cause a diplomatic incident in this instance, I will defer them to Starfleet's jurisdiction. They will reach Earth alive, though they may wish they had not.'
Bainbridge nodded to two of the others, who approached the turbolift exit, phasers on the stun setting, waiting for the summoned officers to arrive. They never arrived.
After ten minutes of very tense silence Koloth cleared his throat.
'It would appear that they are such cowards that they cannot even face the consequences of their own deplorable actions. As such, I believe, gentlemen, that we will go hunting.'
xxxx
Fifteen came back to awareness very slowly, the sickbay lights, though dim, seeming far too bright. He blinked rapidly, trying to force his eye to adjust. The implant already had of course, but everything looked strangely flat in two dimensions. It was only after everything was in focus that he registered the presence of an old man in a chair by his bedside, reading. He cleared his head slightly and the man's head shot up.
'Oh, right, you're awake now, are you? How do you feel?'
'Who... who are you?'
'Oh, sorry. My name is Richard Marcus, I am a friend of Ambassador Koloth. I am afraid he is currently pursuing a matter of ships discipline, and so cannot be here.'
'What? What happened? Are the others alright?'
'Some of the crew appeared to have a problem with the Borg. Unfortunately they appear to have taken matters into their own hands. No lasting harm appears to have been done.'
'Who. Who did they hurt?' He struggled against the tractor beam keeping him immobile for a few seconds.
Richard winced, as he watched the younger man attempt, futilely, to rise. 'I can assure you, Ambassador Koloth is as angry as I have ever seen him, this will not go unpunished.'
'Please, who did they hurt? Sixteen or Julian?' Fifteen relaxed slightly, giving up trying to fight the tractor beam. If Koloth was dealing with it, then they would be OK.
'Sixteen. Who is Julian?'
'Julian is a child. They were holding him in a maturation chamber. We rescued him.'
'Ah. No, I do not believe they hurt the child. However, you must trust Koloth to deal with this. He does not tolerate interference with those under his protection. He sees it as an insult to his honour, and a Klingon's honour is very precious to him.'
'Why are you here?'
Richard blinked. 'I was contacted by Koloth and by Reggie Brough, because of your reactions to the medications they gave you.'
'So you're a doctor, then?'
'Not a medical one, no.' He held up one hand as Fifteen started to speak again. 'However, the reactions you showed are almost totally confined to our family.'
Fifteen started at that. 'What do you mean, our family?'
Richard sighed, he was used to this by now, having gone through it with various of his offspring at different points. 'Exactly as I said, our family. I do not know if you are my son or a grandson, though given your age and the marked resemblance, I'm leaning towards the former. Whatever the relationship, you need the protection a family can give you and I am prepared to offer that. Koloth's protection can only go so far and will count for very little amongst our fellow humans. Yes, Fifteen, you are human, if we use a slight variation of your name, Fiff, for instance, it would still be you, but it would emphasise the human part of you, not the cybernetic parts that others will see before they get to know you and realise that they're a mask. I can offer the same protection, namely adoption, to your friend Sixteen, and possibly to Julian as well. The others would need it less from what I have seen visually of them.'
There was a look of utter horror on the newly dubbed Fiff's face at that. 'But wouldn't that make her my sister?'
Richard stared at him for a few seconds, before chuckling softly to himself. 'Ah, so that's the way things stand, is it? I see now that would be inappropriate. However, she does still need protection, and if I cannot give her my... our name, you can.'
'But how could I...' He broke off as Richard held up one hand, an amused smirk on his face.
'Young man, if you cannot see a way to give the woman you love your own name, then you aren't anything like as intelligent as I have been led to believe.'
Fifteen looked shocked. 'But she wouldn't want me, how could she?'
Richard sighed. 'Fiff, son, have you ever even asked her? You went back to that ship to save her, you truly think she wouldn't want you?'
'And if she doesn't?'
'If she doesn't, then she will be your sister, though I sincerely doubt that will happen.'
'Even if she does, who'd perform the ceremony, we are Borg, after all...'
'Leave that to me, just ask her, would you?'
They talked for awhile longer, Richard stopping as he realised the younger man was losing focus on the conversation. Soon he was asleep again, though this time it looked far more natural, more relaxed than it had previously.
xxxx
There was a hiss, deep in the hydroponics units, as a man in a dishevelled Starfleet uniform opened a hatch and poured a large amount of something into it. He looked around as if checking for anyone watching, before tucking the vials into a belt at his waist, shutting the hatch and leaving. There was no trace to say he'd ever been there, but they'd know someone must have been at some point soon enough.
xxxx
Koloth was annoyed. Four of the five perpetrators had been easily found and dealt with, but the last was still on the loose. They didn't quite know how he'd managed it, but he appeared to have dropped off all sensors. This was deeply worrying, as according to the others, he had always been the ringleader of Morgan's little group of bullyboys. He had officers busy scanning every millimetre of the ship, searching, but had yet to find anything. It looked like this would be a physical search. Thankfully the others were secure enough that they could not help their erstwhile colleague.
They found him, eventually, holed up in a disused Jeffreys tube. They couldn't get to him physically, but an engineer helpfully vented tear gas into the enclosed space. He wasn't there for very long.
He came out of the tube swearing viciously, his face puffy, and eyes streaming freely. He stopped swearing on registering who was waiting for him on the outside.
'Who released the teargas into that tube, I gave no orders for...'
'And what, lieutenant, were you doing there in the first place?'
'Can't a man inspect the tubes without being accused?'
'Ah, but you see, lieutenant, your presence was requested on the bridge, a request I know you heard as you acknowledged it. Also, last I checked, blue was not the colour of engineering, therefore inspecting tubes is far beyond your meagre abilities. Now tell me, why did you hurt Sixteen?'
The lieutenant's eyes darted from side to side, looking for a friendly face amongst the stern, angry-looking officers, and finding none.
He laughed, unconvincingly. 'It was just a Borg, I mean, come on, why does anyone even care? It's an abomination...'
'It has a name, or at least a title. She is Sixteen, even if she is nothing else. For you and your, well I hesitate to call them friends, co-conspirators, let us say, to choose to attack her for no reason in such a cowardly fashion is utterly disgusting. You even waited until Fifteen was out of the picture, so he could not even come to her aid. Explain.' There was steel in every syllable of Koloth's speech, and his face showed his disgust.
'It was just a Borg, and it was getting above its station, they all were. We would have dealt with the other one soon enough. And why do you dignify them with genders, Ambassador, have they got some form of blackmail over you?' His voice turned oily at this, 'I could just make them... disappear, shall we say? You drop the charges, I get rid of the problem. It's a win-win situation really...' he tailed off, finally registering the look on Koloth's face, one that was mirrored on the others.'
'You have no concept of human honour, much less Klingon. I am truly shocked that Starfleet even saw fit to decide you could be let loose cleaning their latrines, much less that they gave a crawling insect like you a commission. What portion of 'they are under my protection' failed to penetrate the organ you laughable refer to as your brain? They are worth far more than you would ever be, not that that's hard. Tell me, who did you bribe to be commissioned in the first place? I do believe their names can be added to the list, too. Whoever let you into Starfleet is also culpable in your dishonour.'
The lieutenant stared at him, mouth opening and shutting as he tried to come up with something, anything, that would save his skin, or at least his commission, from the Klingon's wrath.
'Nothing to say, I see. Very well, take him away. Lock him in the brig and make sure it's away from the others. I have somewhere else I need to be, inform me if he says anything... useful.'
As the lieutenant was led away, the light glinted off a set of vials attached to his belt.
xxxx
Koloth reached the sickbay just as Richard was leaving it, the doctor following in his wake.
'Well?' He asked, stiffly.
'He's asleep, naturally, this time. I would prefer it if you didn't wake him up until he is ready to wake on his own. At this point, sleep is the best thing for him. Things are mostly healed, but...' he shrugged 'better safe than sorry.'
'Doctor, forgive me for asking this, but your facilities are secure, are they not? No one can get in who is not supposed to be there? It is just that with the attack on Sixteen by those cowardly scum...'
'Yes, Ambassador, they are. I added additional shielding around Fifteen's bed when I heard of the attack. No one can get to him who is not fully vetted by myself. If any of them were to hurt him in any way, you have my word they would not be walking around for much longer.'
'Thank you, Doctor. I do need to speak to him at some point, regarding the further safety of his compatriot, however, that can wait a little while. I am glad he is safe.'
Fifteen would not be safe within sickbay for much longer.
xxxx
Within a few hours the first reports of a rapidly spreading illness amongst the crew were received. The symptoms consisted of a violent stomach complain and severe weakness, often accompanied by hallucinations and fever-like symptoms. Strangely, Koloth and his crew were left entirely untouched, but the rapid, almost unnatural spread of the sickness pointed towards one major possibility. Someone, somewhere, appeared to have poisoned them. How, they were not yet sure, nor, since it was spread throughout the ship just where the origins were.
Koloth stared around the mainly-empty bridge and could barely restrain himself from swearing violently. Alone, his crew could not adequately staff the ship. Although there were still a few humans who could still function, Commander Bainbridge visibly holding himself there by sheer willpower alone, they were going to need help.
'Ambassador', Bainbridge gasped out, 'I request that you have full control of the bridge. I cannot fully trust my own reactions. I will stay, because it is my duty to, however if there is anyone left unaffected who you feel has any experience in this sort of situation...'
Koloth closed his eyes briefly, seeming to come to a decision at Bainbridge's words.
'I hereby request the presence of Fifteen, Sixteen, Seventeen and Richard Marcus on the bridge. Richard has diplomatic expertise that may be needed as well as piloting experience. The others, I will take responsibility for. I believe they are, or at least were, Starfleet officers, and as such that they should have at least basic bridge experience, perhaps a great deal more than that. I realise this is unusual, but given the circumstances it is necessary. Hopefully, between them, they can help to fill the gaps.'
