Chapter 9: The Drones
The crash had been fierce; their escape pod was damaged beyond repair in any flight capacity, and they had lost all contact with the collective. Two of the four had not survived the crash. The debris field had covered an area of a half a square mile as the sphere littered the landscape.
All four were thrown from the craft as the impact was destructive enough to have ripped their pod in half. The borg autonomic systems began to engage, as the individual systems in their body suits came to life as they came to a rest in the snow.
The two that had survived the crash, lay silently as their diagnostics began to run. Cracked ribs, broken bones, a few lacerations, but otherwise repairable. The other two remained motionless as well, their bio-readings registering negligible with fractured pieces of their craft protruding from various parts of their bodies.
The nanites went to work as the snow and wind blew; the two survivor's bodies lay unmoving, eyes directed skyward. The wait began as the nanites directed each, to remain dormant as repairs to the bio-life part of their bodies were assessed, and one by one treated and repaired in a fraction of normal healing time for any other species.
Within two hours, each stood erect, and continued the task of regeneration as they worked. The remaining two were unmoving; their bodies being kept warm by re-circulators generated by the power nodules attached to their borg enhanced bodies.
The first directive each had when detached from the collective, was to harvest all the power modules from the other two in order to survive and carry on the mission. The mission directives had been breif; the instructions from the queen downloaded just in time to come under photon torpedo fire from the Enterprise, but the directive had now been cast.
Zero one moved toward zero four, and zero three moved toward zero two. The nanites were communicating end of life signals from each body, so each of them took one, and began removing any power packs, and cell regenerators until only unusable technology remained. The bodies were already cooling down, but most of the technology remained intact. This would improve survivability for the remaining two as they stored these in insulated containers, and then moved toward the wreckage.
As they approached the battered pod, they could see that the communications array, and the pulse generator were still useable, but damaged. Zero one extended his left arm, and two nanite tentacles extended from the back of his hand, into two electrode nodules in the panel.
Lights flickered on, and immediately diagnostics began to come to life with a small hum. The communications array immediately went to work, locating the primitive earth technology through the satellite uplink. They could use this technology, and add it to their own. Zero one and Zero three could still hear the hum of the queen's song, as the link up soon located the nanites doing their work in the computer systems of this world, via the satellite systems overhead.
Zero three began the task of accessing the pulse technology for a transport by accessing the pulse generator, and the most likely place to survive and assimilate. The pulse had infected earth's computer systems with the queen's directives imprinted on the nanites, and both drones were now receiving instruction via code on directive number two.
Zero three received zero one's response that his data download was now complete, so both began the process of removing technology from all access ports, power nodules, and various remaining parts of the debris field that was once their escape sphere.
The next task was to take all the necessary remaining intact technology for making a regeneration alcove, and begin transporting it to the new coordinates.
Zero three studied a display screen that showed power schematics, and underground passages known as sewer passageways under the city known as New York. The nanites had given informative data about temperate atmosphere, and ample access to the power grid that would accommodate the new collective here on this world.
The nanites had instructed them to pick a specific location under one of the highest buildings, which drew enough power, to build alcoves, and assimilate the species (Directive number three). Zero three continued scanning, and found the location. It was a substation located below a main terminal for an inter-city air train station, and also below one of the tallest buildings there.
Zero one by now, had the first shipment pile assembled for transport just behind Zero three. One by one, the transports began as the zig zag motion of the transport dazzled in Zero one's blank stare.
Once in place, directive number four was to assimilate the species one by one; mostly the homeless and destitute who had for all time, been the scourge of the earth, and many other countless worlds. They would continue this directive quietly assimilating an army of drones, including any unwary stragglers in the dark alleyways of the night.
Using the transport technology, ever building the hive collective, directive five would be to begin the assimilation process in all cities of two hundred thousand people or more by the same process using earth's own technology. Invade the hidden sewers, build alcoves and the borg ranks with the weak, and continue the process. It would take time, almost 200 years for the collective of the 24th century to come to Earth, but by then, Earth would be borg: All Borg!
The snow began to fall harder now, so the task ahead was to get the final shipment ready and sent. Zero three had disassembled all remaining power nodes, and powered up the transporter beam. It locked on to both, and they soon rematerialized somewhere under the concrete and buildings in New York City, 2063.
