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Unassimilated Chapter XII
Koloth raised one bushy white eyebrow as Picard's face flickered onto the screen.
'Ah, Captain Picard, to what do we owe the honour of this communication?'
'Ambassador Koloth, I must admit, I am rather surprised to see you. Am I right in assuming there has been the odd problem aboard?'
'Yes, Captain, there have indeed. However may I, again, inquire the purpose of your call?'
'A certain Richard Marcus, who I believe you may be associated with, as he is currently standing on your bridge, made contact with me, in regards to one of his offspring. I believe that he thought, due to personal experience, I may better understand said being.'
Koloth shot a glare at Richard at this, who, to his own credit, did not look particularly abashed. He knew, of course, that Richard had contacted somebody about Fifteen, however he had not been aware that it was Picard, of all people. However, he did concede that perhaps it was right, that as Picard had at one point, however briefly, been assimilated, maybe he would understand the conflict within Fifteen and his fellows better than most.
'That may be so, Captain, however you must be aware that in all bar physical appearance, Fifteen is as human as Richard is.'
'I will take your word for that, for now, Ambassador. May I assume by your presence that something has happened to Captain Morgan and you are, therefore, in temporary command of that vessel?'
'Not exactly, Captain.'
'Ah, then perhaps Commander Bainbridge?'
'Again, Captain, I am forced to answer in the negative. Commander Bainbridge thought that the crew would benefit from someone that they could not associate directly with Moron's actions.'
Picard's eyebrow rose at the rather derogative term for one of Starfleet's more... difficult... commanders.
'Then who, exactly, Ambassador, is in temporary command of Exeter?'
'Why Fifteen Marcus, Captain.'
Picard's eyebrow was almost in danger of flying off if it rose any higher.
'Forgive me, Ambassador, but I was under the impression that Fifteen Marcus was a Borg?'
'Fiff is not a Borg...' This was stated by about three separate members of the bridge crew, almost in unison, and Jean-Luc almost smiled.
'Jean-Luc', Richard broke in, 'my son is no more a Borg than you are, yes he may appear to be such, however it is merely appearance, not reality.'
'Indeed, Fifteen has shown a remarkable ability to weld together the rather disparate elements of this crew into a single unit, and that alone is surely worth cultivating, Captain? After all, if we went merely on appearances, then the argument would be that your Commander Data is no more than an unfeeling blob of metal, incapable of original thought, however he is not. Nor is Fifteen a typical Borg. If I remember rightly, you merely resisted assimilation. Fifteen was not fully assimilated at any point that we are aware of.'
'He is not...' Picard broke off, about to comment that Richard's son was not on the bridge, when the sheer ridiculousness of the situation made itself fully known. Koloth however, had, as usual, guessed the rest of the unfinished sentence with an uncanny accuracy.
'No, due to the human complaint of an itchy trigger finger, it was deemed better if others were to do the face to face communications between ships. Fifteen is not a Borg; however his looks could adversely prejudice people against him. As such he is not currently on the bridge. However, you seem rather anxious to meet them, may I tender you an invitation to come to this vessel and see for yourself that none of them mean any harm?'
'None of...?'
'Ah, yes, Fifteen and his compatriots, Sixteen, Seventeen, Eighteen and Nineteen, along with the juvenile known as 'Julian'. Unlike Fifteen and Sixteen, the others resemble human beings far more than they do Borg. It was an unfortunate set of circumstances that dictated that Fiff and Tina, sorry, Fifteen and Sixteen, must remain with the outwards appearance that they now have.'
'Ah. Yes, I do believe I will accept your invitation, Ambassador, they sound most fascinating. If they are, as you say, non-violent and do not pose an appreciable danger to those around them, then I will inform Starfleet of that fact, I think it is better to warn them in advance about said group, as opposed to them finding out at an inopportune moment just what calibre of being Exeter has elected Morgan's temporary replacement. Do you know of any specific relationships within the group that I should be aware of beforehand?' He was curious as to whether what Richard had told him had been noticed by the wily old Klingon.
'Fifteen and Sixteen appear to be very close, Captain, to the extent that they indulge in a great deal of physical contact.' For some reason, there was almost a hint of laughter to his tone, 'and I believe that the pair have more or less adopted the child, or at least stand in place of parents to him. As such, I believe it is better that you meet the group as a whole, as opposed to individually. That way you can see through their interactions just what calibre of people they are.'
'Agreed, Ambassador, I will see you in your transporter room in say, five minutes, if that is acceptable?'
'Highly acceptable, Captain, I will inform Fifteen and the others of your presence. Koloth out.'
xxxx
'Captain, are you sure this is a wise course of action? No offence, but Borg are dangerous, transporting over there alone, without even a weapon, seems utter folly. Are you sure you don't want backup?'
'No, Lieutenant', Picard sighed, heavily, 'I do not require backup. I understand that you are worried, and that does you credit, however it would be an insult to Ambassador Koloth's honour to take others onboard a ship under his temporary purview.'
'Ah', the lieutenant said, after a slight pause, 'well, sir, yes I can see that. But please, sir, be careful?'
'I intend to be, Lieutenant, everything will be fine.'
xxxx
Picard stepped off the transporter pad, raising an eyebrow to be greeted by Ambassador Koloth and Richard alone. The Borg he had been told about, and was half-expecting, was nowhere in sight.
'Gentlemen, where is the subject of our discussions, considering that was the reason you requested my presence aboard this ship?'
Koloth cleared his throat, 'We thought it best that you meet the entire group as a whole, first, as opposed to individually. The delicate nature of the situation demands understanding. Only by observing their interactions with each other will you really get to understand Fiff and his compatriots.'
'Fiff, Ambassador?' Picard asked, amused and intrigued to hear Koloth of all people using the nickname Richard had seemingly bestowed upon his son.
'Officially, of course, he is Fifteen, however he prefers to be called by something other than his Borg designation. I am sure you understand this, Captain, considering...' he tailed off, watching Picard pale slightly.
'Ah, yes, Ambassador, I do indeed understand. Perhaps, then, you can take me to these individuals. Out of interest, precisely how many are there? I know of at least three, however...'
'Ah, yes, you may ask. However that depends upon your definition of 'Borg'. Fifteen and Sixteen remain with said appearance, however the other four survivors look almost entirely human.'
'Six of them? And they all managed to resist? That sounds a singularly incompetent set of Borg, Ambassador.'
'It is... complicated, Captain, we believe the resistance they display to have had a common source, however we have yet to ascertain just how said source resisted in the first place, much less how it spread to the others.'
'Ah, this source then would be your son, Richard?'
'We believe so. However as yet there is no real proof of the theory. Fifteen was less affected than the others, including his fiancée, though if it was indeed something to do with him, then he managed to protect her more than adequately.' Koloth answered, again, for the older human, a wry smile passing over his face too fast to really register as an expression.
'And, of course, the boy is a Marcus,' Picard mused, half to himself, 'therefore I should not be particularly surprised if he managed to resist assimilation by will alone, after all, I rather think that you would resist it, too, Richard...'
'I don't know if I could resist it, Jean-Luc, having never gone through the experience, it may be an interesting theory, but it isn't something I have any wish to try. That my son survived is a miracle, that he kept his own sense of identity more so. I would rather not think of any of my children in such a situation, if it is all the same to you. Ah, yes, we are here.' He nodded to a plain door in front of them, identical to those on either side. The low mutter of voices could be heard through it, though too faintly for individual words to be picked out. The most childlike of the voices burst into sudden laughter and the sound sent a shock of recognition, almost, through Picard.
'Who... who was that? Is that the child?'
'Pardon? Oh, the laughter? That, I believe was Julian. Yes, Julian would be the child my son and hopefully my daughter-in-law, rescued. Would you like to meet them?'
'I would.' It was short and to the point, but there was something about that laughter that tugged at the edges of his memory. Whoever the child was, he had heard that, or a very similar, sound before.
xxxx
As the doors hissed open, the conversation in the room trailed off. Looking around, Picard could see five adult figures, though wherever the child was, they were not currently visible. Only two if the five still bore the armour and implants that so characterised the Borg, though both also seemed considerably older than he had been expecting. They, then, were the reason he had come. One thing was for sure, there was no calling this one of Richard's sons 'boy', now. They appeared younger than he was, but not by a great amount, and that worried him, though he hoped, somewhere, there would be an explanation.
Koloth strode forward. 'Ah, gentlemen, lady, this is Captain Jean-Luc Picard. His standing in Starfleet should hopefully ensure that at least some people will accept you. He is a diplomat, and used to arguing the cases of various beings claiming their places within society. I do hope he will be able to help all of you.'
He flashed Jean-Luc a glare at that, as Picard's eyebrow rose again at the deliberate omission of just which ship he captained. This was turning out to be rather interesting.
'I believe', Richard spoke up, 'that you wish to meet them?'
'That would be a good idea, Richard,' Picard muttered, a slightly dark tone to his voice. He did not relish being warned off by Koloth of all people, but there were several reasons as to his visit here.
He moved towards the first of the beings, the male he assumed to be Fifteen Marcus, whose head was turned away from him slightly.
'Jean-Luc, this is Fiff. Or Fifteen, rather. Fifteen, this is Jean-Luc Picard.'
The being looked up fully at this, and Picard restrained a gasp only barely. He looked almost a carbon copy of Richard, something he had not been expecting. But for the difference in eye colour, he could almost swear he was seeing his old friend assimilated, despite the fact, logically, that he knew the age to be wrong, that Richard was standing next to him.
'Hello', the entity... Fifteen, said. That was all, though the handshake Jean-Luc offered on reflex was surprisingly strong. Richard had been right, he did not act at all like a Borg would do in the same circumstances. So what in the worlds was going on here?
The next person he met, the female version of Fifteen, also spoke very little, though her handshake was equally as firm as his. She, too, wore the same armour, though was it his imagination, or was Fifteen glowing slightly? He hadn't noticed while in front of the first figure, however the lack of said glow around Sixteen was palpable.
The other three adults looked more human, though he was equally as polite with them as he had been to their fellows, there was a sense of wrongness in the situation as a whole, now. They, too, went by their borg identification as opposed to their human names, whatever those names may have been, but that seemed about the only thing linking them to the borg they had been claimed as. Yes, Starfleet would need to know about these people, if only to make sure there were no others like them.
After he had met the last, Nineteen, he turned, looking for the child he had heard about. He found him in a corner, reading. The only view of him at that point was the top of a mop of lightish blond hair, he appeared to have more or less blocked the world out. Picard cleared his throat and the child looked up. Then both of them stared at each other.
'René?'
'Uncle?'
The padd was discarded haphazardly as the boy flung himself at Jean-Luc, talking very fast in French, as he held on to his uncle for dear life. At that point, Jean-Luc could not have moved if he had wanted to, just relishing the feeling of having his nephew returned to him, at that point not even caring that it was impossible.
René was alive.
xxxx
It was over an hour later before Jean-Luc could bear to part, even for a few seconds, from his nephew's company. He turned to Fiff and Tina, a look of profound gratitude on his face.
'Thank you, both of you. I won't ask how it happened, but you saved my nephew.'
Fiff and Tina exchanged glances, then Sixteen spoke. 'Our pleasure, we could not leave a child to be assimilated.'
'Then I do believe that that proves that you are born Marcuses, both of you. In my case, I do not mean that as an insult, though others might. However, I have noticed that the two of you are in a great amount of physical contact.' He gestured to their linked hands, and both of them shrugged, a quintessentially human expression that just served as yet more proof of the theory Richard had told to him.
'I will need to talk to you both soon, regarding one of the reasons I am on this vessel. Fifteen, from what little I have observed of you, I believe you to be a better choice for Exeter than Morgan ever was. You seem to have an inbuilt sense of justice that was severely lacking in your predecessor.'
Fifteen's face closed slightly at that, and Picard raised a hand in negation, 'Whatever he may have done to you, young Marcus, he can no longer harm you.'
'No, Captain, he can't. They still won't tell me where they put him, though. There are a great many things I would wish to, ahem, discuss with him.'
Picard nodded at this, a wry smile on his features. 'Yes, you do indeed sound very like your father, Fifteen. I do believe we will get on. Now, give me, oh, another hour, then meet me somewhere private with your fiancée? There are things we need to discuss.'
