Title: Resistance is futile
Authors: Zanna & Laren
Disclaimer & warnings: see prologue
A/N: We are sooooooooo sorry that it took us so long to update! We had some busy months, and so translating the story somehow just had been put on hold. We hope that there's still someone out there who remembers our story, and we will try to upload a little bit more regularly from now on.
Chapter 27 – The Enemy Within
Seven raised her arms calmingly. "It surely won't be that easy, Doctor. But I admit that the apparent presence of the Borg Queen here on earth will make things in a way more feasible that I didn't think possible before. It should be easier to attack and defeat her here than on the cube."
"You are right, Seven. The cube is impregnable with our possibilities. And the spaceships and weapons of our helpers were not able to do anything against the Borg. But here on earth even the antiquated technology of our friends could work."
"Exactly. Finally we have a real chance," Seven acknowledged.
The Doctor rubbed his chin again. "Just what does the Queen want on the planet? Except for the one time when she tried to infiltrate the Enterprise E herself she never had left her cube before. And when I remember the reports of Captain Picard correctly then the Borg had to leave their cube because it had been destroyed during the fight for Earth. Why should the Queen put herself in such a tactical disadvantage? She isn't really under distress so far."
Seven shrugged. "I don't know, Doctor. She did alter her pattern of attack considerably. She doesn't follow the former procedure. The only thing I can think of is that she doesn't deem the humans in this dimension a dangerous enemy. She seems to take her time for this dimension. This time the Borg use a slow infiltration instead of a labored attack. Apparently because the usual tactic never worked against humans. I assume that the Queen left the cube because she wanted to directly supervise something. Maybe the assimilation of the political leaders. That would make sense."
"And what shall we do with our knowledge now? What shall we analyze first?"
"We shouldn't rush anything. If the Borg take their time then we shouldn't compromise our chances by rushing. Our possibilities are too limited. We should analyze the special point in the solar system in any case. I already talked with Zechs about it, those coordinates don't mean anything to OZ, too. Therefore there has to be something that's only important for the Borg. If it can help us in our fight will be decided as soon we know which secrets are hidden there."
"Do you suggest another reconnaissance mission? I agree. What should we do about the Queen?"
"As illogical as it sounds but I think we shouldn't do anything about it for now. That is nothing obvious. The Borg know that we have a neural processor. Sure, the Queen knows that we hadn't been able to extract any direct information – after all, that was the reason for the additional safety mechanisms. That will make the Queen think herself safe. But if we start a reconnaissance mission now then the Borg will definitely notice it. And then our small advantage is gone. We should better leave the Queen be for now. We could use the time to plan our attack. And to analyze the other matter. Maybe we will find something useful there."
"Hm. Alright, I agree to your arguments, Seven. As strange as it sounds to know about the whereabouts of the Queen and not start an attack at once. But you are right, we shouldn't hasten our direct attack on the Queen. So let's try to find out something about the other secret. When should we start?"
"First of all we should make some alterations at the cloaking device of the Delta Flyer."
"That's a good idea. The Borg know that we're here and that we could cloak our shuttle at least. We have to be careful or we could easily fly into a trap. What are you suggesting we should do?"
"I took a look on the specifications of Deathscythe's cloaking device. And even if this technology is quite antiquated and not directly compatible with our technology I should be able to alter our shields with it's help so that the Borg will not be able to recognize the signature immediately. It will give us a tactical advantage. Besides, I have an idea how to distract the Borg."
Quatre watched intently how Duo – no, Two – acted during dinner. He behaved like a child that learned something new. Quatre shook his head inwardly about this realization. After all, all this was new for Two!
The Ex-Borg sat very close to Heero and mimicked each and every move of the Japanese boy. Reached slowly and carefully for exact the same food that Heero put on his plate. When Heero started to eat, Two did too.
Quatre didn't know if he should consider this scene funny or not. Right now the difference between Two and Duo was frighteningly obvious. Duo would never eat as deliberate and slow as Two. Duo would have amused the whole room with funny stories by now. With Duo the dinner never would have been such a prim affair. Quatre missed his cheerful friend more with every second. It had gotten even worse since Two was here. Two, whose body was Duo's but otherwise had nothing in common with their friend.
But there was hope. He had seen it just this morning. The Ex-Borg had made a huge step. Not for long and they would have Duo back. Quatre smiled lightly. When he had told the good news to the others, Trowa and Wufei had been as glad as he. They all missed Duo. Howard had even broken into uncontrollable cheer. He really seemed to love Duo like a son. It was nice to know that there were so many people who cared for the Deathscythe pilot.
Quatre had even informed the scientists about this new development. Not that he believed that it concerned Dr. J but he couldn't really think that G had written off Duo that easily. Unfortunately he could only reach J, who had just snorted at the good news abjectly. It was probably good that it wasn't Heero who had made the call or he would have spontaneously found a possibility to break the nose of his trainer over the com-line.
Just now Heero had put some green beans on his fork and eaten them. Two, who hadn't taken his eyes off the Wing pilot for one second during the whole meal, mimicked this gesture too. Quatre, who had watched the whole scene from the corner of his eye stammered perplexed, "Du… Two, you don't like green beans!"
The Ex-Borg looked at him confused. "What does like mean?" he asked while he kept on chewing on the unloved vegetable.
"Uhm, you never liked the taste of that food."
The bewilderment of the braided one was almost touchable. "Taste is irrelevant," he declared.
Heero put his fork down and looked at Two surprised. "What did you say?"
"Taste is irrelevant. Furthermore, the energy consumption through food is much too time consuming. The Borg absorb energy directly, that is much more efficient."
Quatre felt a sting at these words. But before he could say anything Heero already started to talk: "Humans prefer to absorb their energy like this."
"Why?"
"The food not only serves as energy consumption. Humans are social creatures and during a shared meal we can communicate with each other. It's comfortable. And we enjoy it because it tastes good."
Quatre's jaw hit the table. He was really tried to pinch himself to find out if he was dreaming. The Perfect Soldier said that he enjoyed eating with others? The Perfect Soldier acknowledged that humans were social creatures? Quatre could see at Trowa's wide eye that he wasn't the only one who found that development astonishing.
Two again put some beans into his mouth and chewed demonstratively on them. Then he announced seriously, "That is definitely not enjoyable."
"Baka," Heero whispered. Then he said, "Two, that's no wonder, you never liked this vegetable. You should eat something else."
"But you are eating it."
"Because I like beans. You don't."
"We like different things?" the braided boy asked wonderingly.
"Yes."
"But how shall I know what I like?"
"You have to find out through sampling," Heero answered patiently.
"But that is terribly inefficient," Two said.
Quatre almost couldn't restrain himself. The conversation between those two was almost surreal.
Heero seemed to finally reached the end of his explanations too. He simply grabbed the dessert dish and scooped some of the creamy brown stuff on a spoon and said to Two, "Open your mouth."
"Wh…" Before the Ex-Borg could finish his standard question Heero already pushed the spoon into his mouth. For a moment Duo seemed terribly puzzled, but then his eyes started to shine. "What is this?"
"Mousse au chocolat. And, is this taste also irrelevant?"
"It is… different from the vegetable."
Trowa's dry "Thank God!" didn't even disturb those two.
After some moments the braided boy started to speak again. "Tw… I want more."
And as incredible as it was, Heero took this reason to spoon-fed the Deathscythe pilot with the dessert. And with every bite his eyes shone again.
Quatre watched the completely unfamiliar picture with mixed feelings. On the one hand he found the whole situation absolutely cute and he had hard to fight a big grin. It was nice to see how sensitive Heero treated their friend. And it was wonderful to see how Two reacted to it. He really seemed to be on the way to his old personality.
But on the other hand Quatre felt a little sting. A sting he wished he wouldn't notice. The problem was, Two reacted this open and – yes, one could almost call it affectionately – only with Heero. When Quatre had tried to hug his friend earlier – he still had been so happy about the positive result of Seven's test – but Two had flinched completely scared and had sought 'shelter' behind Heero.
The Doctor had said that Two had to be adapted slowly to human interactions again. But apparently he had no fear to be near Heero. Why did he favor Heero over them? When he and Quatre had been like brothers?
And on top of everything, if Quatre was honest to himself, then he had terrible twinges of conscience too because of his jealousy. He scolded himself that he should be glad that Two reacted to anyone at all. Quatre's mind knew that, but his heart nevertheless felt the sting.
Shortly after Seven and the Doctor entered the room. "Ah, there you are. We have something to discuss," Seven said. Then she looked around the room more precisely. "Where is our host?"
"Relena is busy with an important video conference with a pacifistic organization," Zechs explained. When he saw Seven's frown he hurriedly added, "Don't worry, my sister can't do anything stupid. One of my best men is with her to watch out that she won't give away anything."
That seemed to reassure Seven. "Very well. Then we won't be disturbed and can tell you what we learned from the neural processor."
Quatre listened their explanations anxiously. It sounded promising. He couldn't really believe that the Queen was really here on Earth. But Seven and the Doc were right, they had to check it more precisely.
Zechs shook his head. "And we shall investigate it without startle the Borg?"
"Yes," the Doctor said. "The changes of the cloaking device will be a great help. Furthermore, Seven has an idea how to deceive the Queen."
"Exactly. The Queen won't assume that we know that she isn't on the cube. Actually, she will assume that we didn't learn much through the kidnapping of her drone. I suggest that Zechs' fleet will approach the original coordinates of the cube as a gamesmanship. Of course the Borg are at least monitoring this area and are probably even still there. In any case it will come to some kind of fight. That is the distraction. In the meantime the Doctor and I will take the Delta Flyer to examine these coordinates."
"So you're requesting of my men to be the gamesmanship again? There had already been casualties the last time," Zechs interjected.
"I know it is a lot to ask. Besides, the attack has to be as real as possible. The Borg may not guess that it's just a distraction. It's risky. And there will be casualties again. But it's our only chance. We don't have a chance against the Borg with our firepower alone. We have to rely on tricks and ploys. And the willingness to make sacrifices."
Quatre shivered at Seven's words.
Zechs took some deep breaths. Then he said, "Well. That is the price of war. I will give the Borg a fight they will never think it's just a distraction. I promise."
Quatre had to take his hat off to Zechs' determination. The OZ was willing to do anything to save mankind. But not only Quatre seemed to realize it. Wufei too looked at their former enemy with something like admiration in his eyes.
"Zechs, that's the difficult part. You may not be part of the attack." The words of the Doctor struck like a bomb.
"What, I'm not allowed to be present? Do you think I have so little honor that I will send my men knowingly into their death and meanwhile hide here like a coward?"
"Injustice," Wufei mumbled.
Seven raised her arms calmingly. "This is not about honor or cowardice."
"And why am I not allowed to lead my men? They accompanied me because they trust me. I can't spurn their faith like that!"
"Should the Borg assimilate Zechs they immediately would know all plans," Two suddenly said in an unemotional voice. "Zechs' men don't know the secrets, their assimilation would not compromise the fight against the Borg. Their sacrifice is acceptable."
Quatre's blood ran cold at these words. Sure, Two was right, but to hear him speak in such a heartless way was frightening. The others at the table seemed to be shocked by it too. Heero's face turned even pale as ashes.
"Zechs, your request is evidence of a noble and honorable attitude. But like Two said, the Borg must not learn what we know. It would compromise everything and set the seal on the destruction of mankind."
Zechs seemed to accept the truth of their arguments, nevertheless he still wasn't ready to back down. "If that is so, then no one of us could ever step in front of that door again. We all have this dangerous knowledge. We all could be assimilated."
"Yes. But it's only for the next few days. Until this next reconnaissance mission. When we know what's so important with this place, when we know if and why the Queen really is on Earth – then we will be able to attack freely again. But until then we can't risk anything."
At first Zechs looked like he wanted to keep on discussing. But then he lowered his head consentingly.
"I never would have thought that an OZ could be that honorable," Wufei murmured very quietly.
