Notes and stuff: Not really much to say here except that most of this stuff, while mine, borrows Paramount owned Star Trek: Voyager characters. We all know Paramount's stuff. Everything else is mine. Heheheh.
OK, a brief history since this is going on . Without going into the boring details, this story is part of a series of Edward Barnes on the Voyager stories I've been writing for several years now in my spare time. This particular one is the first in a couple of stories that I wrote. This basically sets up the later story (which I'll have to pare down to individual chapters!)
If you read this story before, you'll notice some changes. I was going through my other stories and realized that this one and the second installment were not in line with my formatting from the Teen Titans timeline. As I wrote this BEFORE several changes in how Fan Fiction wanted things done, I will probably split this up into formal chapters. Also, this was written before I adapted Edward to the Teen Titans, but, I might not be able to fold them into this two-parter. Not since I made many changes to Edward's history.
Edward is an immortal Dragon, though, and has been around for well over 3,400 years as evidenced by the vague references to "Xena: Warrior Princess". You'll see that he can teleport between places, similar to the ones in the Dragonriders of Pern" series. He also has three breath weapons that are not used here, plus superhuman strength. More details are in my profile, though.
Finally, he is a shape shifter, able to form almost anything, but, he prefers a human male as well as his normal dragon form. However, since his normal form is about 300 feet long (head to tail), he's usually limited into a miniature version of his full size.
Needless to say, the Borg would find him to be unstoppable…sure, their personal shields would adapt to flame, ice and lightning breath attacks, but, I doubt that they can adapt to being thrown through a wall.
To make my life a little easier, I will leave this in first person POV.
[Prologue]
[USS Voyager]
[Delta Quadrant]
[Late 24th Century]
Edward Barnes personal log, Stardate 53853.3 By my calculations, we're finally past the halfway point in the voyage back to Earth and, to be honest, I never thought we'd make it this far in the trek. When we were pulled to the DQ, I felt certain that there was a snowball's chance in hell that we'd make it home, now, halfway there, the odds are beginning to look more favorable. At least now, if I'm forced to teleport to Earth, I might just make it home, as long as I have a good environmental suit, that is.
But, recently, we've picked up some odd passengers. Five children who were assimilated by the Borg, one barely out of the womb...or in this case, the maturation chamber. The baby, so far unnamed, but I suspect Seven will give it a designation eventually. If it would be Borg or human, only she will decide. The others are slowly adapting to the decision of the Collective that they were irrelevant and permanently severed from the mind link. Seven's got her hands full with that bunch and I volunteered to help her whenever possible. I did use my admiral's authority to get the baby under my care, though.
I felt very bad for the baby in a way that I never felt before. I actually hate the Borg for that. I can overlook their assimilation of technology and even can see their need to assimilate races, but, my God, assimilating a baby is something that I cannot ignore. The Queen will someday answer to me for this crime. I knew in my heart that the baby would be a member of our crew for the rest of it's life. I hoped, though, that we'd find the baby's homeworld, but, logically, it was an impossible task, even for me.
The kids do miss their lost leader, though, even though he wasn't exactly an angel. He did try to protect his charges and get them back to the Collective somehow, but, they are so immature though. I actually felt sorry for their assimilees that perished instead, at least their pain is over.
I do believe that under Seven's leadership, they'll adapt in their own time. They've got the best guide in the galaxy on the path to individuality and can hopefully avoid the pitfalls that Seven had to work her way through over the past 3 years. But, then, Seven's been complaining heavily that the kids are disorganized, not willing to "comply" and other things. All typical child behavior that Seven needs to understand
Naomi Wildman has been introduced to the Borg children and started playing games together, but, Seven really needs to loosen up. Recently, Neelix told me that the Borg kids were using their interlinks to cheat and Seven made two of them initiate "Punishment Protocol 9A" and one of the older kids rebelled and left. I need to sit down with Seven and teach her a few things that aren't in the library computers or her Borg memories. While I don't condone cheating, I felt that Seven was a little too harsh, but, then, I have no idea what Punishment Protocol 9A is.
Actually, I have just came on a name for the baby...Gabrielle. It's a good name and considering she's even survived her first couple months bodes well. I named her after a long dead friend of mine back on Earth. I'll talk to Seven and see what she says and even show her my files on the baby's namesake.
We have the beginnings of the next crew of the ship if we can't cut any more time off the trip. I figure that Naomi, the Borg Kids, Tuvok and I will be the core group as the rest of the crew ages. Maybe the younger ensigns and those in their 20s now will eventually take over for the current command staff. But, then, we're close enough to home that this crew replacement won't be as needed as everyone first thought.
I ended the log entry and went over to the baby I had just named Gabrielle. She was sleeping soundly for a change. She was still having trouble due to her small size and the Borg implants. The Doctor said that for now, the implants will help her, but, eventually, I wanted them all to be removed or deactivated permanently. I also had a mini regeneration alcove installed based on the alcoves in Cargo Bay 2 and with Seven's valuable help and that was doing a lot of the work for me in keeping her as healthy as possible, but, I wanted to wean her off all Borg technology if it was possible before she became too dependant on the alcove and other stuff. Also, my healing ability came in handy several times. I felt sorry for the EMH, though. He's programmed with practically every medical procedure known to the Federation and has programmed himself with the Delta Quadrant's resident species that we've encountered who had medical needs, but, he still has trouble accepting that I can merely touch someone and heal their wounds in a few minutes, if needed.
That ability sure came in handy when the Hirogen invaded the ship. They found my nature rejected their mind control device, so forced me to team with the Doctor to treat wounds. That was until I had taken enough of their crap and once the crew was free of their control, several of them found out what happens when they anger a dragon.
I was startled out of my memory by a knock on my door. "Come in," I said.
The door opened to reveal Seven of Nine and she entered the room.
"What can I do for you, Seven?" I asked.
"The infant's alcove requires an adjustment," she said bluntly.
"Can it wait? Gabrielle's sleeping soundly now and I do not want to wake her," I replied.
"Gabrielle is the infant's name?" she asked, puzzled.
"Yes," I replied, "I just named her after an old friend of mine back in ancient Earth's history."
"This is acceptable," she commented.
"I would be happy to show you my records on the baby's namesake sometime," I said.
"I might like that," she replied, "I shall return when Gabrielle wakes up. Call me when that happens."
"OK, Seven, I'll do that, however, I'm scheduled to go on duty shortly and she might not wake up before I leave. If you want, you may baby-sit for me and then you can make your 'required adjustments'."
"Acceptable, I have finished my Astrometrics scans for the day and have some 'free time' before I must regenerate."
"Great! Saves me from calling Neelix. Thank you, Seven," I said, and altered my clothing to reflect a Starfleet uniform, then, attached my comm badge. I still hadn't been able to morph it when I needed and gave some thought to an implant I could use, but, I didn't want to lose my ability to shape shift into insects. Basically, this meant a lot of away missions where I was out of contact with the ship, actually. Besides, if my body rejected Hirogen implants automatically, there was no chance that it would accept a Federation implant. But, then, the Federation knows all about my unique nature and might develop an implant that fools my own body. Until I decide if I want to sacrifice my shape-shifting ability for a device, I figured that I can get out of most scrapes, like I always have been able to.
"No wonder the Borg were unable to assimilate you," Seven said.
"Well, Seven, considering my unique abilities and strength, any Borg that got too close with intentions of assimilation, found himself rendered irrelevant. You saw my power firsthand a year ago, remember?"
She nodded, remembering that I tore a Borg cube apart when it got too close to Voyager for comfort. If they hadn't threatened to assimilate us, there would probably still be 5000 drones roaming around the quadrant in their cube instead of destroyed. Even a Borg cannot withstand my full strength and cannot adapt when thrown at nearly 100 KPH into the nearest (or even the far) wall. Seven herself was awed by the display of power and that was the only time when she was actually ultra-impressed.
Several Borg even tried ganging up on me, but, my shape shifting and teleportation were enough to keep their assimilation tubes at bay. But, one day, I planned on letting Seven inject me with a very small dose of nanoprobes to see how my body reacts to them. I know they can be programmed to not replicate themselves and that will suffice. A few blood cells assimilated in the name of science was a small price to pay, actually. Maybe the nano-probes would be the solution to my staying in contact with the ship during the away missions. Since they are cell sized, I could inject myself with a dose before I went on a mission and have Voyager track them, thus maintaining some form of one-way contact.
"Who is watching the other children, Seven?" I asked.
"They are in the holodeck. I told them that they had the 'day off' and to have a little fun. Commander Chakotay thought it was a nice idea."
"A smart move Seven. You are way too structured with them and in my lifetime, I've had a few children of my own or studied the behavior of children across the Alpha Quadrant and in most cases, they act similar to how our bunch are acting. Only species where I didn't see this was with the Vulcans. If you give them a less organized, less structured setting, they will soon begin to become easier to manage, I think."
"The children require order," she said.
"Order is all well and good, but, not 24 hours a day, Seven. They were never fully assimilated by the Borg. They still need to mature, in their own time, and in their own way. The maturation chambers released them too early and the order which you were given by the Collective just can't be taught overnight. It will take some time. Let them take their time, especially the younger ones. The older ones, if you don't push them, will resist less and everyone else will follow their lead, not yours. The oldest one will follow your lead as long as you are willing to compromise. Let them have some disorder. It will not kill them or you. Even I am prone to fits of disorder."
Seven grew thoughtful for a long moment and finally said, "I will try it your way."
"Excellent, Seven. I'm going to have to hurry now to get to the Bridge. Please call me if there are any problems with Gabrielle that require my attention. I believe Neelix is also available."
"Acceptable," she replied and I left for the bridge. My talk with Seven, although brief, would make me late if I used the normal way. A quick change to mini-dragon later I was able to teleport to the bridge.
After arriving, I morphed back to human. Captain Janeway saw me and stood up, grateful to be relieved for a while. I grinned softly, realizing that her duty shift must have been fairly boring.
"Nothing happening, I see," I said.
"Nope, a very boring shift. I'm looking forward to some holodeck time and a nice dinner, actually," she replied, "The bridge is yours."
I nodded, "See you later, Captain." She entered the waiting turbolift as well as the rest of the senior staff, who were replaced by their relief, except for Paris. His relief hadn't arrived yet, for some reason.
I waited a few minutes and saw Paris getting a little antsy to leave.
"Date with B'lanna?" I asked him.
"Yes, a dinner date and some time watching TV, Commander," was his reply.
I thought for a moment and said, "I relieve you, Ensign. Go get ready for your date. Hope there's something good on the TV. I'd recommend Airwolf."
He looked up for a moment before standing, "Thank you, sir. I owe you one."
"Belay that, Ensign. For as many times as you've skillfully piloted this ship through tight spots, this is the least I can do to thank you. Get going before B'elanna decides to break out her bat'leth and use it on you. I'll call her and tell her you're on your way. If you see your relief, tell him to get up here, on the double."
"Yes, sir," he said and was heading for the turbolift. I sat down at the helm and checked our status. Still on course for Earth, fuel levels acceptable, Warp 4? I thought, Why warp 4?
I continued checking and found out that Janeway wanted to conserve the fuel some and ordered Warp 4. I considered going to Warp 6, but, decided not to.
I called B'lanna, as I promised and covered for Tom. She was pleased that I had called to explain his being late.
I waited a few more minutes and when the regular helmsman didn't appear, I knew I'd better check and see why.
"Computer, locate Ensign Jones," I said.
"Ensign Jones is in sickbay," the computer replied.
What the. . .? "Bridge to Sickbay."
"Doctor here," I heard.
"Why is Ensign Jones there?" I asked.
"He had a mishap in the holodeck. He's relieved of duty for at least 24 hours, I was just about to call you and let you know."
"Understood," I replied, "Barnes out."
Damn! I thought to myself.
"Computer, who is the backup helmsman for the 2d shift?"
"Ensign Wildman is scheduled to be the backup helmsman."
"Dragon to Ensign Wildman," I said.
"Go ahead," was her prompt reply.
"Report to the bridge for helm duty, please. Ensign Jones had an accident in the holodeck and your name came up as back-up. I'm sorry to interrupt your off-duty time."
"I'll be there as soon as I get someone to watch Naomi. Neelix is sleeping and I don't want to disturb him."
"Send Naomi to my quarters, then," I replied after a moment, "Seven still is there, watching the baby, and I think she could use the company."
"Aye, sir. On my way," she said, signing off.
A few moments later, she arrived and I let her sit down. I sat in the Captain's chair and did some other checking into the ship's status. Everything looked like it was in perfect order, for once. It was a little too good, though, to last.
About three hours into a routine shift, the tactical station chirped.
"Commander, long range sensors are showing a craft heading our way, bearing 152, mark 26. It will intercept us in 10 minutes," the tactical/communications officer said.
"Thank you, Ensign Hudson," I said, "Do you know what type of craft is heading our way?"
"It appears to be a Borg Vessel, but, I've never seen this type of craft before."
I headed up to his station and looked at the sensors for myself. There were Borg signatures in this craft, but, the configuration did not conform to any known Borg spacecraft.
"Yellow Alert," I said. The lights on the Bridge changed color to reflect my order.
"Janeway to Bridge. Report," I heard moments later.
"Barnes here, Captain. Sensors are showing a craft heading our way, intercept in 8 minutes. This craft has Borg signatures, but is of an unknown design," I replied.
"On my way," she said. A few moments later, Janeway emerged from the turbolift and peered over my shoulder for a moment.
"You're right, I've never seen this type of craft before. Has it tried to hail us?"
"No, Captain," I said, "Not yet."
As soon as I said it, the comm panel chirped. "I suspect that's our visitors," I said. "On screen," Janeway ordered.
The interior of the unknown vessel appeared and, sure enough, there were Borg there.
"We are the Borg. We need assistance. Our Collective is dying due to an unknown illness. Our research indicated that Federation technology is required to save the collective. We..." the transmission broke off.
"Red Alert," Janeway ordered. "Belay that," I said, "I believe that the Borg were about to ask for our help, not to assimilate the ship. We'll stay on yellow alert until we ascertain exactly why they need our assistance again. This was not a typical assimilation threat at all. We might just be in the right place at the right time and, let's assume that they can be trusted, we could actually forge a lasting alliance with the Borg Collective, at least long enough to get us home. Try to re-establish contact, Ensign."
She didn't look happy, but, she really couldn't complain at my countermand. Everyone knew that I still carried my full flag rank of Admiral and would use that as needed. Janeway was still in command of the ship, but, she was subject to my judgment calls which rarely, if ever, ran counter to her running of the ship. I "down-graded" to Commander status to preserve the shipwide chain of command as much as possible.
"Contact re-established, sir. Audio only," the Ensign said.
"Borg vessel, this is Captain Kathryn Janeway of the Federation Starship Voyager, state your purpose." she commanded.
"We require medical assistance. Borg technology cannot adapt to this illness. It is affecting technological and biological systems."
"Stand by, Borg Vessel," I said, muting the channel.
"It looks like the illness that killed Icheb's Borg cube infected the Collective. Captain, I intend to go over there and see for myself. If so, I think that we must help them, even if they are enemies of the Federation. You do not have to support this choice, but, it would be appreciated. I will not order you to help."
"Admiral, I will go on record as opposing this idea, but, I will not withdraw from helping any member of this crew on a mission of importance," Janeway said. I nodded, knowing that Janeway wouldn't abandon me unless there were no other choice.
I unmuted the channel. "Borg Vessel, this is the Dragon...Species 13874. I will teleport over to your ship to evaluate the damage to your ship and to verify your claim. If your claim is valid, I will teleport over our Doctor for a more through examination and we'll work on a cure. I am going to bring Seven of Nine, Tertiary Adjunct of Unimatrix 01, with me. You will provide full cooperation without any attempt to assimilate either of us or any member of the Voyager crew. Any attempt to assimilate Voyager or it's crew will result in the destruction of your ship and all hands. However, if the agreement is kept, in full, we will render all relevant assistance in exchange. Resistance is futile."
There was a moment's hesitation, then, "Agreed." The channel went dead.
"Dragon to Seven of Nine," I said, tapping my comm badge.
"Seven of Nine here," she replied.
"Report to the Bridge. We're going on an away mission that needs your expertise. I'll contact Neelix and have him ready to recieve Gabrielle and Naomi Wildman."
"Understood, on my way."
"Barnes to Neelix," I said.
A yawn followed by a half cheerful "Neelix here."
"I apologize for waking you, my friend. I need a favor. Can you baby-sit Gabrielle and, of course, Naomi for a while?"
"I'd be delighted, Admiral, but, who is Gabrielle?"
"That's the Borg infant's name now, Neelix. I'll explain later. Seven will be there shortly. Barnes out."
"Captain, will you add Gabrielle to the ship's roster at the earliest opportunity?" I asked.
"I will do that while you're away," she replied.
"Thanks. I appreciate that."
About 5 minutes later, Seven arrived on the Bridge.
"I apologize for the delay. Gabrielle was still sleeping and I had to wake her. She was very displeased."
"Remind me to teach you how to carry an infant without waking it. I'll make this short. There's a Borg Cube alongside us and asking for medical assistance. Looks like Icheb's virus has infected the collective after all. You and I are teleporting over to ascertain that they are infected, and if so, to render assistance."
"I understand," she said. Leave it to Seven to appreciate a quick brief in. She was the easiest member of the crew when it came to that. She appreciated brief, concise reports that were efficiently delivered.
I changed to my mini-dragon form and said, "Don't be shy, Seven. You'll feel a total loss of sensory perception, except for a feeling of cold. That will last for only a few moments until we emerge. You'll have to climb onto my back. Grab hold of a ridge, and we're off as soon as we pick up a couple of medical tricorders from the Doctor."
Seven got on and I teleported to Sickbay. It looked like the Doc had turned himself off. I grabbed a couple of medical tricorders and left a note for the Doc, in case he was activated during our absence.
We then teleported to the Borg ship and were immediately accosted by several drones.
The ghastly voice of the Collective said, "You will follow the drones to our medical bay."
I changed back to Human and walked with Seven and the drones. It took several minutes, but, when we arrived, it was clear that there were several hundred disabled drones.
A quick scan with the medical tricorders and standard tricorders confirmed that the Borg were infected by the same virus that caused Icheb and the other children to be released early and killed an entire Borg Cube.
One of the drones attached a neural transmitter to my neck.
"State the purpose of this device," I said.
"This device will enable the Borg to communicate with you more easily," Seven said, "It's the same device that we wanted to use on Captain Janeway and Tuvok."
"That is correct," the voice of the Collective stated.
"All right, but, no other devices are to be attached to me or Seven of Nine," I stated.
"Agreed," the Collective said.
[The medical condition that these drones are in is severe. I believe that they might not be curable, but, I wish to try. Please make relevant 20% of these drones, the worst ones cannot be helped and should be considered irrelevant by the collective,] I said through this new device.
The response was immediate. The still healthy ones moved forward and deactivated many drones. They started recovering technology.
[No, don't collect their infected technology. That is also irrelevant to you, but, I can use their technology to help find the cure. Once done, you may re-assimilate the technology.]
Again, there was an immediate response as the drones stopped collecting the damaged parts and the parts already collected were delivered to me.
[Acceptable. We'll transport the still functioning drones to our ship and begin working from there. I'll keep you informed of our progress or you may choose one drone to be an observer.]
That is acceptable. We will send one drone with you.
A drone came over to us and said, "I am Four of Twelve, medical adjunct of Unimatrix 10. You may call me Four of Twelve." I raised an eyebrow at the phrasing. Janeway told me that is how Seven introduced herself.
"Barnes to Voyager." I said, "Three to beam directly to Sickbay. Wide angle beam as well as there are several Borg drones to beam over. Have a Security detail stationed outside Sickbay. Those drones are deceased, however."
"Aye, sir," the voice on the other end said. A moment later, the Sickbay appeared around us. The Doc was off-line.
"Computer, activate EMH," I ordered.
The Doc appeared and said, "Please state the nature of the medical emergency."
"Several Borg drones, all infected with the Borg Virus. They need a more intensive examination and possibility for anti-viral agent for tech and bio systems. Four of Twelve will observe," I said.
"That goes counter to my orders from the Captain," the Doctor said.
"Doctor, these are now your patients. You will render medical assistance, or must I quote not only Starfleet Medical Regulations, but, the Hippocratic Oath as well?"
The EMH didn't reply, but, moved to examine his new patients. After a quick scan with his own medical tricorder, he looked up.
"You're correct. These drones are infected with the virus. It will take me a while to formulate an anti-viral agent for them. Am I to assume that these drones will be re-assimilated when cured?"
"Yes," Four of Twelve said.
"That means that the cure will also spread through the Collective," I said.
The Doctor nodded and said, "OK, out for now. I got work to do and I don't need any spectators."
"That is unacceptable," Four of Twelve said, "The Collective wishes to assimilate all details in making this cure."
"I can't do that with you hovering over my shoulder. I'm a doctor, not a writer," Doc groused.
"Maintain a visual record, then," I suggested, "Four of Twelve can pick up the data when he's ready to return to the collective."
"That is acceptable," he intoned and turned to leave. The security guards approached with their weapons trained on the Borg visitor.
"At ease," I said, "He's not going anywhere without an escort. Weapons down, gentleman." They complied immediately.
"Four of Twelve, you are not to go anywhere around Voyager without an escort. If you need to regenerate, I think Seven will let you use her chamber in Cargo Bay 2. You are also free to return to your cube when you desire."
"Edward, you will not try to make him into an individual?" Seven asked. I did not mind her calling me by my given name.
"No, we won't, Seven," I replied, "We are here to assist the Borg in their medical problem, not convert drones into individuals every time we come across one. With this implant, I can't make many moves without the Collective knowing about them anyway."
She barely nodded her head, fully understanding my problem. I did want to take Four of Twelve out of the Collective, however, with that "temporary" implant I permitted, the Borg would easily adapt it to inject me full of nano-probes and assimilate me. That knowledge included my ability to override any functions on any Federation Starship in case of mutiny or other disaster requiring "remote commands" or a special override. Not even Janeway knows that I have deep codes that enable me to take full command of the ship, suspend her access codes and others. Probably the only other species that might know the codes would be a member of the Q. The Q members that we've encountered gave no indication that they knew, though. I shudder knowing that if my special access codes were ever discovered, they could mean the downfall of Starfleet as every ship has them built in. Once activated, the ship would only respond to commands issued by me or someone knowing the codes, locking out anyone else. Fortunately, I've only used them a couple of times to stop a mutiny in progress.
I was surprised that the implant was still imbedded in my skin. The Hirogen implants were immediately rejected.
The implant has adapted to your nature, I "heard" from the Collective, Your body will not reject it now.
I nodded, getting an answer to something I was wondering about anyway. It frightened me, though, knowing that Borg technology would adapt to my immune system and render it irrelevant. That meant that I needed to be more careful in preventing my own assimilation. I had a feeling that I'm all that stands between the Borg and the true perfection they sought. If they could master my teleportation skill, they would be truly unstoppable, popping into existence on a planet's surface and assimilating the population without any resistance at all, then, leaving as quickly as they came, taking the population with them. I also feared that the implant was already hard at work, collecting as much information as possible about me. I decided to use the transporters for the rest of the mission and not use my other abilities either. I started using the implant, as I wanted to propose an idea to the Collective:
[The cure will take a long time to prepare, that gives us time to talk. It's time I told you why I chose to help you, even though I consider you an evil race of beings. You might consider it irrelevant, that's your choice, but, you need to know.
[Our Federation of Planets would rather have an alliance with the Borg Collective and would benefit from the knowledge that the Collective has gained. As the most senior Admiral in Starfleet, I have some leeway to make alliances, even with species that would see us destroyed. I chose to help the Collective in the hopes that a more lasting alliance could be reached that would be beneficial to both the Federation as well as the Collective. Whether or not you agree is irrelevant. I will continue assisting you because it's my nature to help without regard to receiving anything in return.
[The Federation cannot offer the Collective much, but, we would benefit greatly from a full alliance. Your technological advances and adaptive abilities are something that the Federation respects. We would be interested in knowing how the Collective developed that. Also, the Federation would benefit from a mutual protection alliance. We would help the Borg that are in the Alpha Quadrant who required military assistance and the Collective would come to the aid of the Federation when Starfleet would require the assistance of the Collective. In exchange, I believe that once this ship returns home safely, I can prevail to get volunteers to become drones. However, I can't promise that would happen.]
The Borg replied, "The Borg will consider the proposal. We feel that such an alliance would be one-sided unless the Federation could assure the Collective with new drones to add to our perfection."
[I am aware of that fact and considered it before I told you, I replied, The offer is one-sided given the strength of the Borg Collective. However, there is something humans like to call strength in numbers. That is one reason why Species 8472 was able to defeat your cubes and even Borg planets. The Borg needed to rely on a lowly ship filled with small-minded individuals to defeat more small-minded individuals that the Collective picked a fight with and almost lost. Now, you rely on the crew of Voyager once again due to the inability of the Borg to cope with a problem.
[The Collective would benefit from an alliance with the Federation. The Federation would be able to provide needed medical advice, added tactical theories based for Borg usage. The Borg would become more perfect, even without assimilation. We would be willing to permit the Collective to assimilate data and practical knowledge that the Collective could use. Some Federation citizens would probably be willing to be assimilated and the Federation would be amenable to send our worst criminals to the Collective, where they would become drones as punishment for very severe crimes. Those new drones would be an asset to the Borg and their knowledge, while probably limited, would be added to your perfection. Some of our scientists and researchers would be willing to cooperate and share information. All the Federation would ask in return is mutual defense as well as no assimilation of Federation Worlds or Citizens without their consent. Among most species of the Alpha Quadrant, the mere mention of a Borg Cube drives fear into the strongest of hearts. If the Federation were to get into a war that we were losing, the Borg would be contacted and, if there were, say, 5 fully armed cubes assisting the Federation, the Federation would prevail and the Borg would possibly gain more drones and technology to add to your perfection.]
There was silence for a long time from the Collective. That indicated to me that they were considering my proposal seriously. Finally, they replied, "We find that the proposal is acceptable. We are agreed. The Collective will no longer attempt assimilation of the Federation."
I was stunned, I did not expect the Collective to agree to the proposal and so soon. I decided to ask one more little thing: I would like to ask a favor from the Collective. The crew of this ship would like to be able to contact their homes in the Alpha Quadrant and Starfleet would welcome the news that the conflict is over. Would you relay messages to Starfleet from us and their reply? I know that you consider it irrelevant and will understand if you refuse.
The reply was immediate: "We will send your messages. Prepare them at once."
I replied, [We will comply.]
"Barnes to Janeway," I said as I tapped my badge.
"Janeway here," she replied quickly.
"I have excellent news. I've struck an agreement with the Borg on two fronts. Tell the crew to get letters for home ready ASAP. The Collective has agreed to relay messages to the Federation for us.
"The second one is more important and will benefit not only this crew, but, everyone back home. The Federation and the Collective have a major peace accord in place. They will no longer threaten the Federation and Starfleet with assimilation. They will provide added defense to the Federation when needed and in exchange, we will let them assimilate our collected knowledge as well as people that volunteer to be drones. Also, the Federation would have a strong criminal deterrent if those that commit serious crimes against the Federation might be handed over to a Borg vessel for assimilation."
"Sir," she said, "I'll tell the crew to get messages ready, but, how do you know the Borg will keep such an agreement?"
"Captain," I replied, "Without the help of the Federation's knowledge, the Borg cannot achieve their perfection. We would willingly give the Collective access to what we know. They will assimilate that information and in exchange they leave us alone and even help us if the Federation ends up in a position similar to what they were in 3 years ago. The Collective can't afford to pass up this opportunity to get even a tiny step closer to their goal of ultimate perfection. The Borg will even share their knowledge to broaden our horizons. Also, if needed, Starfleet would render mutual defense to the Collective, if required."
"Well," she replied, "I don't know how the Federation will react to this agreement made way out here."
"We'll cross that bridge when we get there, Captain. The way I see it, I've held the flag rank of admiral since the inception of Starfleet and just that has a lot of pull in the Council. When they see that the Borg are bypassing Federation planets and issuing a statement that they come on friendly terms, it might sway the members to affirm the pact. Captain, I appreciate your concern and you're more than welcome to put any objections in writing that I'll certainly attach to my report."
"I'll have to think it over. Janeway out," she replied, cutting off the connection. A few moments later I heard her voice again.
"Now hear this, this is the Captain. The Borg have agreed to relay messages from the crew to the Alpha Quadrant and back. If there's anyone you want to write and let know how you're doing, now is the time to write. I suggest that you keep your messages fairly short, though. Give your messages to the Dragon when you are done. Janeway out."
I could almost hear the whoops of joy from the crew. I was sure that Neelix would tell me later how the morale of the ship went through the roof at the prospect of writing home again.
I had a long report to give to the Federation Council, but, that would wait until the Borg crisis was over.
While we were waiting for the Doctor to complete a cure, I decided to get some sleep since my duty shift had ended several hours ago. I hadn't even noticed that until I saw a chronometer.
The implant had been fairly silent, except for a little bit of the white noise Seven once told us about that represented the billion and billions of Borg minds linked together.
[I need to sleep for several hours. You call it regeneration,] I informed the Collective, [I won't be able to with this implant imbedded in my skin, though. I will remove it until I wake up. If you must contact me, please, use your drone on board to contact me or hail the bridge and they will awaken me. We will have our messages ready as quickly as possible. I also have some very relevant data pertaining to Particle 010.]
"Acceptable. We want that information on Particle 010," the Collective replied.
[When I awake, that information will be ready. This is the first part of our agreement. I will have Seven of Nine prepare her report on the Omega Molecule and I'll deliver it.]
I removed the implant and carried it to my quarters. I did call sickbay, though.
"Doctor, can you give me an estimate on the development of the cure?" I asked.
"It will take at least 6 hours to develop, longer if I keep getting interrupted," he replied testily.
"Understood. Barnes out."
"Barnes to Seven of Nine," I then said.
"Seven here," she replied.
"Please prepare a report for the Collective on the Omega Molecule. Include all relevant information on my personal authority."
"That information is classified," she said.
"I am removing the classified status, Seven. As you know, you are the only one on board with the knowledge and the relevant data to give your former 'friends' in the Collective the ultimate perfection. Isn't that the Borg's top priority assimilation order?"
"It is," she replied, "I will comply. The report will be ready within two hours."
"Take up to eight hours, Seven," I replied, and trying to stifle a yawn at the same time, "I am in need of sleep."
"Understood," she replied, "Sleep well."
That surprised me. She had never bid me a good night before. Doc's social lessons were having a positive effect, especially since I could detect a trace of warmth in her voice.
I finally laid down, more tired than I thought. One moment, I was just laying down, the next, it was about 6 and a half hours later and I was being rudely awakened by Four of Twelve reinserting the implant. I almost knocked the drone through the bulkhead.
"The cure is ready," he intoned, "We require your assistance in delivering it. You must comply."
"Geez, give me a moment to wake up. I do have biological needs to take care of first. I will transport over to your ship in 30 minutes," I said, "Resistance is futile in my case."
"Agreed," he intoned and stood by the door.
"Four of Twelve, do you need to regenerate?"
"This body does need to regenerate," he said, "The regeneration alcoves on Vessel 13563 are damaged by the viral agent."
I nodded, "Barnes to Seven of Nine. I need a small favor. Four of Twelve needs to regenerate and his alcove is damaged on the ship. Are there any open alcoves in Cargo Bay 2?"
She replied, "The children are regenerating at this time and my alcove is available. Also, your report is ready. The Captain was most displeased."
"Thanks, Seven. Barnes out." I sighed, knowing that Janeway was probably waiting for me to wake up, just to try to give me a dressing down. However, she really was in no position this time and she knew it. But, I'd give her the courtesy of hearing her out anyway.
Four of Twelve turned and left. I escorted him to Cargo Bay 2 and he entered Seven's alcove. I started the regeneration process for him. I also isolated the alcove from the other children's alcoves, just in case and programmed the alcove to turn itself off when the regeneration process was complete. It could not be powered up again until I input an all clear code or I gave the code to Seven so she could use it later. I used my own form of Borg encryption as well.
After I was certain that he was regenerating, I took care of my personal business and within 20 minutes, I was in sickbay being briefed by the Doctor on how to distribute the anti-viral agent to the Borg and their technology.
"You will have to inject the cure into their bodies for those already infected. The Borg should be able to replicate this formula as needed. I have also encoded these nanoprobes to seek out and destroy infected nanoprobes and to pass on their new coding to other Borg during their regeneration cycles. The nanoprobes will then enter Borg systems gradually and remove the virus from their systems as well as going from drone to drone and removing the infected drone's nanoprobes. I suggest that you treat Four of Twelve first," he said.
"We'll need more nanoprobes, Doctor. The Borg will insist on a healthy supply. If the nanoprobes can be delivered in a manner where they can be breathed in, that would be better, I think," I replied, "Get on it, please. Top priority."
He nodded and bent to work, "It will take 5 days to develop enough nanoprobes to do as you ask. I'll make them self-replicating once they've been through our transporters. You can't teleport with these. The cold effects will render them useless."
"Understood, Doctor," I replied, taking the first hypospray and leaving to give Four of Twelve his dosage. I turned around for a moment, "Doctor, do you know if this will also remove Icheb's virus?"
"It will," he replied, "If you plan on treating him, use 20cc on him and 70cc on Four of Twelve. Treat yourself with the rest."
"Huh?" I said.
"That implant was infected. If the virus is adaptive, you would also be infected despite your immortal nature. You would be a carrier. Remember Typhoid Mary?"
"How could I forget? Not even I could cure that sickness," I said, recalling how many people died accidentally.
I went to treat the Borg and Icheb. Both were still regenerating and I figured I'd do Icheb first. I suspended the regeneration cycle and he woke up.
"Sorry to wake you, Icheb," I said, "The Doctor has developed a treatment for the Borg virus and he recommended that I treat you. If the treatment works, you will no longer be able to be used to destroy Borg. Do you consent to the treatment?"
He extended his arm, "Acceptable." I pressed the hypospray against his arm. It hissed, delivering the anti-viral drug to his system.
"Report to Sickbay in 24 hours," I told him, "I'm sure that the Doctor will want to check you out then." He nodded. I then moved to the alcove Seven had loaned to Four of Twelve and saw he was already awake.
"The Collective instructs you to give this drone the medicine," he intoned. I adjusted the hypospray to 70cc and injected the drone in his neck.
I then gave myself the rest of the hypospray as ordered.
"You may resume your regeneration cycle or return with me to your ship shortly," I said. He walked out of the Cargo Bay with me. Seven's alcove shut itself down a moment later, as programmed.
"OK," I said, "Inform the collective that I'm beaming over as quickly as I can with Seven of Nine and other members of the Voyager crew to treat your crew."
"Acceptable," he said after a moment. I didn't want to use the implant until it had been repaired.
I had Seven and the newly re-promoted Lt. Paris meet me in the transporter room with enough medicine to treat all the infected drones. Once treated, the cure would be spread among the rest of the Collective. I also had the information the Borg wanted on Omega. That information was what the Collective was searching for in the last several hundred years, according to Seven.
We beamed over and I instructed Four of Twelve on how to administer the agent to his crewmates. Seven and Tom already knew and Four of Twelve proved how quickly assimilation of knowledge takes place. Once several drones had recovered enough to assist, I assigned them temporary medical duties and after about 6 long hours, the Borg ship's crew had been treated, but, would be unable to regenerate for at least five days. Seven told me that was about the limit a Borg drone could go without regenerating.
I figured that with the ship stuck beside Voyager for the better part of a week, that time period might be extended by a few hours.
Seven, Tom and I beamed back to our ship, where we were met by the Doctor.
"I have the first batch of modified nanoprobes ready," he said, taking the little implant the Borg insisted on using and inserting a small dose. Immediately, the implant seemed to come back to life, the little lights beginning to flash rapidly as the nanoprobes removed the virus ridden circuits and repaired the device fully.
"Well, time to see if it works, Doctor," I muttered, reinserting it into my skin. The white noise of the Collective seemed louder in my head.
[I believe that the implant is repaired], I told the Collective.
"Acceptable", they replied, "You will deliver the implant immediately."
[I cannot comply], I stated firmly, [Our doctor is working on a mass cure that will be more easily spread through the Collective. You must wait for five of our days for a large enough batch of nanoprobes to be created.]
There was no reply. I really did not expect one, though. I had the Collective where they belonged and I was enjoying every moment of it. A long dead Greek ex-warlord I admired would have been proud, I thought.
The Collective was also glad to have their mind occupied with the data Seven supplied them with. The drone that had received it from me immediately downloaded that information into their database. The Queen was probably issuing orders to begin locating possible sources of the materials required to make several molecules. If they were smart, they would conduct their experiments outside the Galactic Barrier where any subspace ruptures would not be that important for many centuries to come. I knew that the Federation wouldn't be able to expand too far into the Delta Quadrant until at least the 27th Century. From what little I gathered from Braxton in our little time travel trip the Federation would have a rough go of things, even with the Borg Alliance, which he vaguely indicated was upheld. Starfleet would always be reluctant to ask the Collective for assistance in wars, though, preferring to fight their own battles. I couldn't blame the fleet. It would be a sad day when the UFP would go asking the Collective for assistance in a war. The agreement was technically a mutual protection agreement, but, considering that the Collective is the most powerful race known to our neck of the Universe, besides the Q, the treaty was more of a mutual exchange of knowledge and friendship nature. I knew that if the Borg couldn't handle a problem, like Species 8472, they'd come to us for our insight. That was their main weakness, whereas we had some of the best tactical and military experts in the galaxy.
Braxton also indicated to me that the Borg harnessed the awesome power of Omega and shared that info with the Federation, who then, in a display of fairness shared the information with the Klingons and Romulans. He wouldn't tell me anything else, though.
I realized that he probably risked a paradox in telling me of a possible future. Either that or he knew he could safely tell me because I was either alive and well in the 29th Century...or I had been killed somehow. Even I cannot survive a warp core breach. I'd be neutralized like any other form of matter when in contact with anti-matter. I knew that I couldn't concern myself with that, though, and I suspected that he knew that I wouldn't risk telling another soul of a possible future.
I also realized another aspect of our agreement with the Collective and that was the possibility of an exchange program similar to the one I heard of between the Federation and the Klingons where Commander Riker of the Enterprise-D traded places with Worf's younger brother, Kurn, several years ago. But, I couldn't see one of our officers visiting a Battlecube or a Drone being willingly placed on Picard's Enterprise. The odds were that the Collective would still get the better end of the bargain, merely from the infusion of drones they could get, especially if the Federation Council permitted member planets to modify their criminal justice codes to include assimilation without hope of pardon or parole for serious crimes, like murder. To some, being assimilated is a fate much, much worse than death itself and would be the best deterrent since the invention of the electric chair on Earth.
I suspected that some Federation member worlds would amend their sentence guidelines to offer a choice to convicted killers: Death or Borg Assimilation. I figured that some would choose death, either by the hands of their justice system...or their own hand. Others would probably opt for assimilation, just to escape the death penalty. I still recall when the old United States placed the burden on a jury to decide if a man served life without parole or would be put to death for murder. That old system would probably be put back into use on some member worlds where capital punishment still held sway. Personally, I was glad when all of old Earth's nations threw out their death penalties in favor of rehab of the criminal. Once the human genome was fully mapped in 2005, it became easy to re-program a criminal's genetic makeup by the year 2010, once the ethical, moral and legal issues weaved their way through the world's lawmaking bodies.
The next couple of days found myself establishing a much better rapport with the Collective, but, I still had a bone to pick with the Borg Queen over Gabrielle's condition. However, the way I was beginning to think, I was already getting a much larger vengeance against the Collective, on behalf of the species that they'd assimilated, all those killed resisting the assault. By basically forcing a non-aggression pact between the Federation and the Collective, it went against everything that they stand for. My old warlord friends from ancient Greece would have been shocked, but, proud. Especially the one I still had feelings for, even almost 2,300 years after her death. I still thought of them, even after all this time, once in a while.
We traveled with the Borg vessel on our way through the Delta Quadrant, Janeway not wanting to waste much time. The Collective, still agreeable to our polite demands had their ship follow us. It was certainly more atypical behavior from them, though.
I had also collected a lot of personal letters home from the crew and written up a very large report to Starfleet and a separate one to the members of the Federation Council. I also took the added precaution of giving a video presentation of my report, to permit the folks back home to verify that it was, indeed, me giving the written reports. I knew that a report, even from me, would be viewed with suspicion, merely because it was coming through the Collective.
Those were delivered to Four of Twelve and I watched as he downloaded everything into the communications panel and they were relayed.
By the fifth day, responses were slowly trickling in for individual crewmembers. I saw a few of them as I delivered them to Neelix, and they all had an interesting note of happiness. It seemed that the Collective had already sent a ship to the Federation with the news of the agreement, and my report was being broadcast on all subspace newsfeeds, verifying the agreement.
The UFP President and Starfleet CIC had issued statements welcoming the agreement, while the leaders of the Romulan and Klingon Empires were bitching that the balance of power had been greatly shifted to the UFP's favor with the Borg-UFP agreement.
I had also taken the precaution of taking the time to address those fears in my report and stated that the Collective would only be contacted if a threat to the UFP could also have serious repercussions on the other major powers, for if something could take down the Federation, that force wouldn't stop until the entire quadrant was under their control. Then, the Borg would prove to be the best ally around. It didn't stop the grumbling, but, they were appeased enough that a general war cry hadn't been sounded.
Finally, the Doctor called and reported that the nanoprobes were ready for deployment.
The nanoprobes are finished, I informed the Collective, [Come to a full stop when we do and we'll begin to transfer them to your control. This will be my last transmission using your property. I am returning the implant with the nanoprobes. After the beamover, you may go on your way. I assume that you will know how to use these nanoprobes to purge your machines?]
"We are Borg," was the curt reply. That was their way of saying "Yes, don't be stupid."
"Barnes to Janeway," I said to the commbadge, "Please come to a full stop. It's time to deliver our cargo."
"Acknowledged," she replied, and a moment later, we dropped out of Warp and came to a stop.
"The Borg ship has also stopped," she said a minute later.
"Excellent! Beam the nanoprobes to the other ship. The Collective will know what to do after that. Beam my implant back as well, I will not be needing it."
A moment later, the implant disappeared from my hand. I wasn't sad to see it go, though. It was beginning to bother me a little bit, really limited my privacy, and prevented my shape-changing ability. Unfortunately, anything that penetrated my skin prevents me from shape-shifting.
"The nanoprobes have been delivered," Janeway said, "The Borg Ship is moving away."
"Acknowledged," I said, "Barnes out."
I teleported to my quarters and went to lay down after picking up Gabrielle. I was in a cuddling mood after the Borg Ship left.
As I moved through the cabin, I saw a small item being transported to my cabin, with a Borg transporter signature.
It chirped at the same time as my normal commbadge. I tapped the commbadge.
"Barnes here," I said.
"There has been an unauthorized transport onto the ship," Tuvok stated, "Into your quarters."
"I am aware of this," I replied, "I think it's a Borg enhanced communicator for me. It signaled just as you called, like our own commbadges."
"I'm sending a security detail down there," he stated.
"Acknowledged," I said. I wasn't in the mood to countermand a logical precaution. The device chirped on it's own and I pressed a button.
"We are the Borg. In acknowledgment of your assistance, we are giving you this adaptive communicator. It will adapt to your unique shape altering ability. You may use this in place of your standard unit or whenever you leave your vessel and your crew will know where you are at. You may contact us when you need to."
The device went silent as the security detail came in.
"Stand down, guys," I said, "The Collective had given me a present."
They looked puzzled, but, left after making sure that it was as I said.
"Torres to Barnes," I heard through the two comm-badges a moment later. I used the new one, wanting to test it out anyway.
"Go ahead," I said.
"Sir, something odd just happened," she replied, "A whole new warp program was just downloaded into the computer and started running itself. The warp core efficiency just went up 40%. It looks like our new top speed is Warp 8.5 without using as much energy. We're at Warp 8.5 and I'm seeing nowhere near the fuel usage that I'm used to. It's like we're using the fuel of Warp 3 speeds."
"Looks like the Borg are in a rare, if ever seen, show of thanks for our assistance," I commented, "They sent me an adaptive commbadge."
Over the next hour, reports came in from all departments stating that odd devices or system enhancements were suddenly transported aboard. All benign, but, adaptive. The EMH, for example, got enhanced holoemitters for Sickbay as well as greatly enhanced surgical tools and medical tricorders with what appeared to be medical data assimilated from almost every Delta, Beta and Alpha Quadrant species that had been assimilated.
They even gave enhanced, adaptive shield generators and weapons to us. If need be, Voyager had weapons that would give any attacker pause after seeing our shields adapt to their weapons.
Finally, it seemed that if the ship would be damaged, it would repair itself, similar to a Borg Ship. Seven's alcove was updated with the latest Borg assimilation data for Seven to use as needed.
All in all, the Borg certainly showed that they were going to uphold their end of the agreement.
I finally, however, had to tell the computer to put me as totally off-duty and unavailable for 8 hours. Gabrielle merely cooed in comfort as we both fell asleep. She had been checked over with the Doc's new equipment, and after he gave her a shot of some new medication, she seemed to be a lot happier and feeling better.
After that, even I couldn't hold a grudge against the Queen anymore.
[Epilogue]
[Later that day]
Personal Log, Stardate 53858.0 The Borg Ship has departed, but, not after dropping off a lot of materials that we can use. B'elanna says that with the enhancements, we can shave off a good 5 years off our trip. Energy levels around the ship were optimized and we shouldn't need grey mode for at least 2 more years, maybe more.
Gabrielle is doing so much better, after being treated by the Doc's enhanced knowledge. Enough that my hating the Queen has faded away and I can, finally, forgive her for causing little Gabby's problems.
Neelix is busily delivering letters after letters from home and to home. The Collective gave us a transmitter that will relay regular communications back to our loved ones. As long as a Borg vessel is within 100 LY, the messages will be delivered. If not, they will be stored until a Borg vessel can drop by to retrieve and send the messages.
The Federation Council was able to verify that I sent the report and according their last report, this entire crew will have Starfleet's highest honor awaiting our arrival. Already, the Collective has given the Federation valuable assistance. When the Dominion heard of the alliance, they started talking about a peace treaty.
The "Founders"...the shapeshifters who comprise DS9's security chief's people...started having second thoughts in continuing a conflict that could be very tragic for them if the Federation used the Borg Alternative. I expect to hear of a cease fire in the near future.
The crew's morale, according to Neelix, is the best it's been for months. He's planning on throwing a party, just to celebrate the resumption of regular contact with home. But, I wonder sometimes. We're getting ever closer to Earth and the comfortable surroundings of "home", while, conversely, Neelix has turned his back on Talix and what he called home. We're already far beyond normal communications range with his home. A subspace message would take about 10 years or more to get there.
However, even Neelix is getting messages from his homeworld. I suspected that the Borg would send messages to places behind us for Neelix's sake, but, that is so atypical of the Collective.
They are still evil at the core, and will always be unless a queen takes charge that still remembers the goodness in her heart and uses that to transform the Collective from utter evil to a force for the Greater Good. Maybe that has already happened and would explain the progress made over the past few days. If a Queen is "crowned" that is new enough to remember her past, she can change the entire makeup of the Collective. This time, they knew they were in deep trouble and needed us as individuals. As drones, we would be useless to them. As individuals, the Collective was saved. But, if the Collective ever ends the agreement, may God have mercy on all our souls.