Hugh and Me Against the World, Chapter 2

Prejudice

"The boy was coached, of course," said Vice Admiral Mallay. He and Picard were in his office, enjoying some excellent synthehol. Synthehol was the only "legal" "hard liquor" allowable, as it allowed the user to sober up immediately. No hangovers, either. "We just don't know by who."

"I can think of several," spoke up Picard. He ticked them off on his hands. "The Romulans, for starters. If Hugh's suspicion is correct, they'd love to drive a wedge between the Cooperative and the Federation. Plus, you know how they feel about 'artificial life forms'...not much jump there.

"And there are certain factions in the Klingon Empire who might feel such a collaboration would make us too big for our britches, to use the old saying." He paused. "Wonder where that phrase came from?

"And there are others: the Cardassians, or factions within, the Bajorans...others. And that's ignoring the elephant in the room." At Mallay's raised eyebrow, he continued, "The Collective themselves. By themselves, without any support, the Cooperative probably wouldn't have the firepower to fight them off. And that," another sip of synthehol, "is assuming firepower would even be involved."

"Not involved? How could it not be 'involved'?"

"Remember, sir, all members of the Cooperative were, at one time, members of the Collective. It could easily be...all it would take would be a, well, a phone call. 'Come home. Come home now.' Hugh has confided in me that some might go for it."

"But...but...they left the Collective! Why go back?"

"There's a passage in an ancient holy book: 'as a dog returns to his vomit.' Never really understood that. But for some in the Cooperative, the Collective was all they knew. It was home to them. They're just now learning a new way to live. Such learning doesn't come overnight. Or easily.

"And," here he paused, uneasily, pouring another shot, "there's another possibility. One that makes more sense than I like."

"And it is?"

"Species 8472 themselves. The Undine. Lords of fluidic space. It would be in their best interest for us to have no collaboration with any Borg, whether Cooperative or Collective."

"But they're a totally non-human race! Any one of them would stand out like a sore thumb!"

"Remember the files from the Voyager. At least once, one of them was able to shape-shift into a humanoid form. Who's to say it couldn't happen again?

"And on the minor side, I'm sure there are factions right here in the Federation who aren't so fond of the Borg in general. You saw the vids of Hugh's interaction with Jenny Wong, and the results of that, regarding her own personal life."

"Yeah," said Mallay, morosely. "We like to think we've eliminated prejudice in the human race, but, apparently, some things don't die so easily."

"Precisely," interjected Picard, "which is why we might need to take a more...proactive...stance towards this matter." Here he leaned forward, intently, "because, Adam, we need the Cooperative. And they need us."

Mallay thought for a moment. Then, "You've a plan?"

"Something of one."

…..

Jenny Wong found Hugh still sitting in his "ready room," apparently lost in thought. He didn't look up.

She came up behind him, caressed his shoulders. Even though made of metal, Borg design incorporated a feedback response: harmful events were blocked, while non-harmful ones were not. He could feel her, back there. "Hugh?"

"Yes?" As always, at least with her, he was the epitome of self-control.

And perhaps...something else.

"I heard what happened. That boy was coached, you know."

"'Coached'?"

"Encouraged to say what he said. Nobody knows why, just yet...but Vice Admiral Mallay is seeing to the widespread distribution of the cam feeds they got from us. Then they can't help but see us as benefactors, saviors, even. Allies, certainly. And that boy's lies will come out."

He grimaced. "I...don't want him to be known as a liar, Jenny."

"But that's what he is. There's no escaping that.

"They'll see we saved sixteen colonists, with only one casualty. And he isn't a casualty, at least not by our hands."

He sighed, a habit he'd acquired from his association with the humans. Her, in particular. "Jenny, it's just...I never dreamed having friends, or being a friend, with the members of the Federation would be so...hard. So frustrating.

Now, she sighed. She went over and knelt by his chair. "Hugh...sometimes things….just aren't easy. And nothing worthwhile ever is, it seems." Pause, and she took his hand in hers. "You know, my own people were the subject of discrimination, of prejudice, only a couple hundred years ago."

Now he looked at her. "Your own people? But you're human-or, I mean, you were. How could that be?"

"You'd be amazed. People have been discriminated against because of the color of their skin, or their ancestry, or-" and here she pointed to her one remaining human eye. "-the shapes of their faces."

"But...but that's silly."

She nodded. "Yes. Yes, it is. But it's the way humans are, and have been pretty much always." Now she got up and moved behind him again. "We're due for recharging in forty-five minutes. Meet me there, 'kay?" She kissed him on the top of his head, to his great surprise, and danced towards the door, a tiny smirk on her mouth. "Don't keep a girl waiting, Hugh, honey." And off she went.

Now why did she say that?

There is no honey in my construction.

….

Jenny was in the engineering deck of the Enterprise overseeing and assisting with the installation of the tachyon deflector, when she felt a presence behind her. She looked around to see who it was: her three friends (make that former friends, she noted to herself): Ashley Langley, Asuka Itsuka, and Cathy Andrews. "J-Jenny?" Cathy, the chatterbox, was of course the first to speak up.

"Yes?" Jenny replied coldly. "Can I help you?" Then it struck her that those were the first words she'd heard from Hugh.

"We-we've been seeing the news feeds, about how you and that Borg guy, what was his name again?-I mean, y'know, rescued those colonists, 'n' all, an', an', we just wanted to say….we're sorry.

"We know we ran from you when you showed up...like this, right when you needed us the most." And she gestured at Jenny's Borg form. She wrung her hands; a nervous habit she had. "But please understand: we were afraid! I mean, we were scared out of our minds!"

Asuka took a step towards her, only to have Jenny hold up a hand. "Careful," she said, "Get any closer and I might assimilate you."

But the smaller girl just threw her arms around her. "If so, then I don't care. We abandoned you, is what we did. Whether or not you can ever forgive us, we just wanted you to know that we can never forgive ourselves."

Jenny was fully prepared to refuse their feeble attempts at apology, but then, looking at their faces, she felt something within her melt. "O...kay. I...guess I can kinda understand how you felt. I felt the same way, once. So...I guess I can't blame you three."

The three human girls let out sighs of relief. "So….so what happened?" asked Ashley. "I mean, I would'a never have thought...I mean…" She paused, unsure how to continue. But Jenny could understand what she meant.

"You mean, how did this happen?" She gestured to herself, then looked around. But her assistants seemed to have things in hand. "Let's go somewhere, and I'll explain." Now she sighed. "As best as I can, at least."

Ten-Forward: "You mean you can't sit?" asked Ashley, incredulously.

"Not without smashing the chair. I weigh around seven hundred pounds now. Most human chairs aren't built for that. Besides, I don't need to, anymore." Except as a social convention. "I can just kneel here." And she did, but her head was barely above the table.

"No, wait, that's not fair, you having to sit under us, practically. Here. Over here." Cathy led them to an empty corner. "They can serve us just as well over here as at a table." The three human girls had noticed the glances of the other patrons directed at Jenny. "An', if they don't, or won't, so what. We came here to be with you, not to be served food and drink. Say. Can you eat or drink? I mean, anymore?"

"Well, I don't have to, but…" she licked her lips, "I sure remember the taste of ice cream." Shrug. "But I don't need it. But I hate that you three may not get anything." There was no autoserver there in the corner, and nobody seemed to be rushing to come take their order. Possibly because of the Borg in their midst.

"If not, hell with 'em. I'll lodge a complaint. But now tell us: what happened? I mean, all we heard was, there was some major-league accident in engineering…"

Jenny sighed again. "Too right." And she proceeded to relate the incident to them, including how her family had reacted to the new her.

"They threw you out? Jen, that's gotta be a new low!"

She gave a mechanical shrug. "What is, is. I might would'a felt the same...though I hope not. But Hugh-that's his name, by the way-offered me a new place to go." And, and maybe a place in his heart?

"So he rescued you? Jenny, that's more than just superhero stuff. That's...that sounds like something more."

"Well, it's true he didn't have to. I hated his guts from the first. You remember: he was the one I tried to knock out. He really had no reason to, to do what he did."

"Oh," said Cathy, a big smirk on her face, "I think he had a reason. So...how are things between you two?"

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"Oh, you know exactly what I mean. What do Borg do for fun?"

Jenny shook her head. "It's...it's not like that…"

"Yeah, that's why your face is turning all red. C'mon, Jen. Spill. What's he like?"

"Well, he's...kind, compassionate. A caring sort of person. And he is a person, an individual, not just another drone. Everybody in the Cooperative is a person, even though we're all linked by this subspace relay system. Which is really fantastic, by the way…"

"Don't change the subject. Have you two...you know...done anything? For that matter, can you do anything?" Her glance slipped below Jenny's waist area.

"It's really not like that!" At least not yet. She reflexively flipped her hands over her lap. "But, uh, yeah, we can. I mean, I can. There wasn't that much damage to me."

"What about him?"

"What about him? What do you mean?" She was desperately trying to avoid answering any awkward questions.

"You know what I mean. C'mon, girl. Spill."

"I, I don't really know. He told me he was cloned, that is the bio parts of him, so, I mean, I'm guessing so…" But truth was, she really didn't know. Was Hugh a more or less total robot?

"So have you two made out yet?"

"What! What kinda question is that?"

"A question question. C'mon. Tell us."

"I, I don't know if he even sees me that way…"

"So maybe you need to seize him."

"Cath-EE!"

At that exact moment, a signal came through her subspace relay. "Sorry, everyone. Gotta go. Duty calls." Rescued.

"Just don't forget your biological duty!" And the three girls watched her walk off. It wasn't lost on them that people tended to walk way around Jenny. That is, if they couldn't avoid her altogether.

It also wasn't lost on them that nobody had come to take their order. Nobody. Maybe it was because they were all sitting, cross-legged, in a far corner-but no, none of them really believed that.

"Can't buh-LEEVE it," muttered Cathy, as they got up. "Jenny and these..." she hesitated the merest fraction of a second, "-and these others shot the shit out of a bunch of space termites, personally saved sixteen-"

"Seventeen," muttered Ashley.

"- seventeen colonists, and this is the way they treat her? Like a pariah? I'm definitely lodging a complaint."

Atsuka placed a hand on her arm. "We all will."

...

To be continued...