Chapter 5

U.S.S Preserver

In orbit around Verina III

The bridge was quiet. Not much had happened since the briefing. The third shift was almost over, and Xeroth, Woskosky, Norwood, and three other crewmen were on duty. A beep from the Operations panel interrupted the silence.

"Captain," said Norwood, "the Spiegel is hailing us."

"On screen," replied Xeroth. The image of Captain Skolla, an Andorian, appeared on the viewscreen. Xeroth frowned as Skolla's antennae twitched.

"Well, well," said Skolla, "if it's isn't Lane Xeroth? What a small galaxy we live in." He had a large smile on his navy blue face.

"Hello Skolla," replied Xeroth, slightly annoyed.

"Well, I'd like to chit-chat, captain, but it sounds like you have an appointment." A crewman off screen handed Skolla a padd. "Before you leave, we'll be beaming some cargo for you to deliver to Starbase 68. We will arrive at your position in a little over an hour."

"Understood," Xeroth replied. "Xeroth out." He signed and leaned both in the chair. The crew, slightly amused by the spectacle, returned to their duties. Woskosky, on Xeroth's right, leaned over to him.

"What was that all about?" he asked.

Xeroth sighed again. "When I was in my first year at Starfleet Academy, Skolla was a senior, and I became his favorite...'plaything'."

"Oh? Was it really that bad?"

"He once dumped a pile of rotten Ktarian eggs on me at the Quantum Café. in front of a girl I liked."

Woskosky suppressed a laugh and turned his attention to his station.

"If you'd like, I'll tell you more horror stories when we get to the starbase," said Xeroth.

"I look forward to it," replied Woskosky. His friend smiled, for the first time in a long time in what seemed liked years.

If this is an invasion, thought Xeroth, will I have time to smile?

Hemmingway was in Sickbay, reading reports ranging from inventory to medical files. She had decided to take Kel up on her offer, but had to wait for the replacement to arrive before she could leave.

Rubbing the bridge of her nose, she dropped the padd in her hand and left the office, walking into the infirmary.

In the main biobed lay the child found at the ruins of the colony. Scanning him with the tricorder he found nothing different from before. Scanning his mind with her telepathic and empathic senses, she again found nothing.

"He's alive," she murmured, "but it's as if he has no mind."

Closing the tricorder, she walked back to her office. Unbeknownst to her, the child started moving.

At first, only his fingers moved, slowly twitching. Eventually, he sat up in the bed, getting Hemmingway's attention.

Turning to the biobed, she slowly walked toward the child.

"Hello?" she asked.

The child faced her, and jumped off the bed. A bulge started crawling under his skin. Seconds later, a metallic, star-shaped device burst out of his face. His skin quickly became gray, and implants started to erupt across his body. His blank eyes looked directly into Hemmingway's as he slowly walked towards her. Her knees failed under her and she collapsed to the floor.

"Computer! Erect a forcefield around Biobed 1!" she screamed. The drone walked into the forcefield and was stopped. It looked around, putting up its left and touched it. Small instruments burst from its fingertips and touched the forcefield, causing it to flicker violently.

'Warning, forcefield collapsing,' informed the computer.

Hemmingway grabbed the medical console and lifted herself up, tapping her commbadge.

"Sickbay to security!" The commbadge emitted a negative tone. "Sickbay to bridge!" Again, the commbadge failed to work. "Computer, why isn't the comm system working?"

'A dampening field has been erected around Sickbay,' it responded.

A shrill sound echoed off the walls as the forcefield collapsed, sending feedback energy through the EPS conduits. Explosions erupted from the biobeds and the walls. Hemmingway ran into her office.

"Computer, erect a forcefield around Sickbay!"

'Forcefields have been disabled.'

As the computer responded, the replacement nurse walked in, catching and the drone's attention. A small rectangular device sprouted from its forearm.

"Watch out!" Hemmingway shouted, but it was too late. The drone raised its are and a green bolt of energy hit the unsuspecting crewman in the chest, sending him flying into the corridor. The bolt had ripped a hole in him and destroyed the bulkhead behind him. He slowly fell to the floor, the residual energy in his body causing him to spasm.

"Captain," said Norwood, "I'm detecting weapons fire and explosions in the corridor outside Sickbay."

Xeroth stood up and walked to the Operations panel. "What?"

"And a dampening field has been placed around Sickbay."

Xeroth tapped his commbadge. "Xeroth to Kel."

"Kel here, sir."

"Get security teams down to Sickbay; something is wrong. We've detected weapons fire."

There was a pause. "Aye, sir."

The drone turned to the doctor's office. Hemmingway ducked as it fired its beam, crashing through the window and hitting a control panel, destroying it in a ball of flames.

She turned her head and saw the door in the med lab that lead to the corridor, her best chance for escape. Grabbing her desk computer, she through it into the infirmary, distracting the drone. As she ran for the door, it noticed her and fired as she jumped into the corridor. The beam grazed her shoulder and she collapsed to the floor, her arm in a spasm.

Kel and two security teams came around the corner. She stopped and kneeled next to Hemmingway, her entire body now convulsing.

"The child..." sputtered Hemmingway.

"The child?" asked Kel?

"...Borg..."

Kel's eyes widened. As Hemmingway's eyes rolled into her skull, Kel motioned to two security guards.

"Get her off this deck and treat her."

They nodded and grabbed the doctor, rushing her to the turbolift.

Kel turned around and stopped. She heard an increasing humming noise coming from Sickbay.

"Team!" Kel shouted. "Retreat!"

It was too late. The infirmary door exploded, catching an entire team of security guards and sending the rest down the corridor in the air.

Slowly, Kel sat up, coughing. As the smoke cleared, she saw a large hole in the wall. A small shadow walked through the hole into the corridor, turning to Kel. Metallic hooks sprang from its legs and arms, attaching to the floor. Kel raised her phaser rifle and fired at full power, but to no avail. The drone had already adapted to the frequency and put up a shield in defense.

The flesh around its neck began to separate, revealing circuitry beneath it. Looking Kel in the eyes, it did something that made Kel scream in horror.

Its head toppled off its body and fell to the ground. A black mist appeared from the neck and started to fill the corridor.

Kel jumped up and ran to the turbolift, scanning the cloud with her tricorder. She tapped her commbadge.

"Kel to bridge! The drone has emitted a cloud of nanoprobes and they're heading for the ventilation ducts!"

"Kel, get off that deck, we're going to isolate it!" replied Xeroth.

"Understood!"

Kel entered the turbolift with three other guards. Two others were running for the turbolift, but time had ran out. Kel manually closed the turbolift doors, leaving them behind.