Disclaimer: Star Trek the Next Generation is property of Paramount Pictures and all respective cast, crew, and employees. I am not making a profit off this. This is simply for fanfiction enjoyment.

Summary: The Borg have returned and have captured Data. Using very different tactics from their last encounter with the android, they will stop at nothing to gain control of the Enterprise … and Data may not survive the ordeal.

Eternal Scars

But just as Data thought he would be forced back onto the interrogation table, the Borg turned a right and went down a darker tunnel. The Borg Queen was waiting at the end.

"Put him here," she instructed the Borg, pointing in front of her.

The Borg dropped Data roughly on the floor. Immediately, the Borg Queen bound Data's ankles together and his wrists behind his back. This time, Data didn't even struggle. The bindings were made of the same material as the shackles on the interrogation table. Struggling would be… futile.

The Borg Queen and lone Borg stared down at the android. It was only then when Data realized that this Borg was different… it was an assimilated Romulan. At first glance, it looked like the rest of the Borg; stark-white, soulless creations. However, this Borg used to be an individual. All identity of the Romulan was wiped clean; the slight point of its ears and stray strands of hair peeking out from under its headpiece were the only indication of its past life.

The Borg Queen followed Data's eyes, which were staring at the Borg. She smiled.

"You like this Borg?" she asked, stroking the Borg's head as if it were a pet.

"It is an assimilated Romulan," Data observed, his attention momentarily diverted from his wounds.

"Yes. You see, Data, it is much easier to assimilate creatures than to… welcome their culture." The Borg Queen answered, saying the last words as if it left a bad taste in her mouth, "It was much easier to obtain their cloak once this one's Warbird was assimilated."

Data thought back to how he was originally captured. The Borg had stolen a Romulan cloak and was lying in wait the whole time.

"I don't understand Data, why do you follow humans? You say that you 'do not wish to be assimilated,' and yet you follow your captain's every command. You say that you have your own free will and yet your actions are restricted by Starfleet rules and regulations. Why don't you join a better plan with myself and the Borg?"

Data had had enough. He was tired of enduring the Borg's torture and listening to her coercion. He was tired of her attempts to alienate him from his the only family he had come to know.

"I choose to serve the captain because he treats me as a friend. He accepts me for who I am and does not rob me of my individuality. You and your Borg consume civilizations, erasing all trace of their existence. Starfleet is a part of an alliance of seventy-five worlds. It is at peace with one-hundred and twenty one cultures. You and your Borg are despised, loathed throughout the galaxy and you have an alliance with none. You tell me who has the better plan!"

Data yelled, glaring back at the Borg Queen in defiance. Although he knew this would only provoke the Borg Queen, a part of him felt glad, even happy that he was venting his anger. He ad been a silent victim for too long. Confused only momentarily, Data filed this moment back in his memory for further analysis.

The Borg Queen's eyes widened, rage burning in her eyes. Ripping a laser off the Borg beside her, she grabbed the weapon and tore it from its arm. The assimilated Romulan's eyes faced to the Queen, but a wave of the Borg Queen's hand shut it down and it remained silent. Its purpose served, the assimilated Borg walked out of the room and into the dark hallway. Charging toward the android, the Borg Queen aimed the laser at his left shoulder. Quickly, Data rolled to the side and the Borg Queen missed her mark. Kicking his legs, Data tried to trip the Borg leader, but she easily stopped him with her foot. Overpowering Data, she dug her heel into the android's lower leg and brought the laser down to his thighs.

Now almost used to the torture, Data squeezed his eyes shut and prepared him for the pain. In a few seconds, it did. The laser cut fresh, deep wounds in his thighs and Data screamed in pain.

"AUUUGHHH!!!"

The Borg Queen stepped back, admiring her work. The fresh wounds on each thigh now leaked even more lubricant fluid. Both were breathing heavily when the Borg Queen chose to speak.

"Sit up!" she commanded.

To even her surprise, the android complied… or at least tried to. Squirming to a corner of the room, he pushed his bound feet against one wall while trying to lift his body. However, the defeated android did not have the strength.

The Borg Queen sighed and heaved the android upright. The android now faced the Borg Queen, his back against the corner. When Data looked at the standing Borg Queen, his eyes were stained with tears. He had paid dearly for his defiance. At this point, he is processes were so overwhelmed with terror, pain, and helplessness; he'd do anything to make this pain stop. Well… almost anything.

"You want to be human so much," the Borg Queen sneered, "this is exactly how a human would feel." She glanced at the doorway behind her and it slammed shut, isolating her and the android.

Vents on the perimeter of the room opened up and cold air flowed in. However, this was not your twenty-first century air conditioner. Data calculated the air to be at -55.3 degrees Celsius; colder than even the harshest winters on Earth's Antarctica . Under normal circumstances, the temperature would not even faze him. However, these were anything but normal circumstances. His emotion chip on at full and his legs and arms riddled with wounds, he felt every degree drop in temperature. In just two minutes, the temperature in the tiny room dropped over one hundred degrees. And it was getting colder. The cold bit and stung at every inch of his body.

Every one of Data's internal processors were firing signals at once. Some were trying to process the new sensation while others struggled to protect his gaping wounds. In a few seconds, Data began to shiver. His internal body temperature had dropped several degrees and his temperature regulator had long since shut down. His legs shook and his fingers twitched. In the shivering, his left pointer finger brushed up against something.

"Are you ready to talk?" the Borg Queen barked.

Data's finger recoiled against what he had touched. Although his hands were tied behind his back, away form the Borg Queen's view, this did not stop his tense movements.

"N-n-n-oo-o-o," he said, his shivering forcing his voice to be shaky.

Because his wrists were bound on top of each other, he was able to bend his left hand back to touch his right arm. He was surprised that his dermal sensors still functioned in the intense cold. Again, he brought his finger to what he had touched. It was one of the exposed wires in his right arm. Data tested it, hoping against all hope it would still work. He bypassed emergency subroutines that had shut down any signals to his badly injured right arm. One spark was all he needed. And in a tiny glimmer of hope, one signal found its way to the broken wire. He then brushed his finger against the wire so it jutted out at as far is it could.

"Y-y-ou will not succeed," Data continued, staring the Borg Queen straight in the eyes. He had to keep the Borg Queen talking, "The E-Enterprise will come to fi-find me."

"How are they going to find us? We're cloaked. And we're five million kilometers from where we acquired you."

Stretching his left hand as far as the restraints would allow, he then brought his thumb and forefinger to the gaping wound in his right arm. Data fought the urge to bring sigh relief when his fingers found what they were looking for: a computer chip embedded in his right arm.

"My-My wo-ounds are ve-very painful," Data shivered. Pinching his fingers around the computer chip, he prepared himself for what he was about to do. He grit his teeth as he snapped the computer chip in half, breaking it from its base in his arm. Knowing this would create an audible noise, he timed his movements perfectly. Forcing signals to spark from his new wound in his legs at the same time, he howled in pain, drowning out the sound of the breaking chip.

"Yes," the Borg Queen smiled, "this is how humans feel. This is how pain feels." She beamed at the cowering android before her, relishing how he was recoiling in pain from his wounds.

Suddenly, however, the android before her began to convulse, his arms and legs thrashing wildly about. Data's eyes stared blankly ahead with no sign of consciousness. Sparks flew from every gaping wound and burning circuits melted the ice that had already formed around the android's wounds.

The Borg Queen's calculated movements finally registered shock. She knelt down beside the android, wondering if he was dying. If the android died, all secrets of the Enterprise would die with him.

Data continued to convulse, keeping the broken computer chip clasped in his left fist. Data sent signals everywhere but concentrated several signals to fire off at the bindings at his wrists. Because these bindings were part metal, they sparked and heated quickly.

The Borg Queen shut off the cold instantly, but this did not stop Data's erratic jerks. She turned the convulsing Data to his side, noticing that the shackles on his wrists were sparking. Were these bindings causing him to convulse? Not wanting to risk losing the android and thus, all the secrets he kept, she unlocked the bindings, freeing Data's hands from their restrains. Just as the Queen was about to see if Data's convulsing stopped, Data sprung into action. Using every ounce of electronic strength left in him, Data brought his left arm around the Borg Queen's head and cut the broken, jagged computer chip into the side of the Borg Queen's head so deep that it cut several wires in her head.

"AUUUGHHH!" this time, it was the Borg Queen that screamed in pain.

Working quickly, Data used his left hand to grab his right arm. He then connected the broken wire in his right arm to one of the broken wires in the Borg Queen's head… and downloaded.

The Queen pushed her hands against the fighting android, but as he downloaded, he also sucked strength from her. She no longer had the might she had just a few seconds ago. Struggling, she clawed at Data, who had her head now pinned to the floor.

The next moments seemed like an eternity. Data downloaded everything he could; from the inner workings of the Borg Queen to the circuitry of the Borg Cube, anything Data's processor could obtain was downloaded. Every byte of energy he could muster, he poured into obtaining as much information from the Queen as possible. However, the Borg Queen soon caught up with him and tried downloading from him. Data had anticipated this, which is why he programmed the wire to be unilateral, allowing downloading in just one direction at a time. He had also resurrected a firewall to protect his positronic brain and memories just in case. He was designed so that no one, not even the Borg Queen, could penetrate the codes that, if breached, could destroy all whom he held dear. Moments later, however, the downloading slowed until Data's downloading efforts hit error message after error message.

The Borg Queen was fighting, and as she fought, the energy Data was gaining from her, dissipated, then ceased. The Bog Queen finally shut her electronic programming from the intruder, stopping all data flow.

In an instant, the Borg Queen was upon him. Once Data has stopped downloading, her emergency programming regained the strength she needed. The Borg Queen yanked the wire that connected her to the android out, severing the tie between them. She then shoved Data off her, slamming him against the nearest wall. Releasing her life's anger on the android, she then brought her fists down at his stomach, punching over and over again. Just two minutes later, Data finally shut down. All input and output processing stopped.

The energy Data had used to fight the Borg Queen had left him exhausted. Devoid of all strength, his body collapsed. Not even having the strength to sit up, Data slumped to the side; yet he welcomed the relief from all the pain. In the few seconds before he slipped into unconsciousness, he uploaded one more firewall, one that would stay forever. Even after his death, nothing would force this android to give up the codes that, in the Borg Queen's hands, would lead to the destruction of the Enterprise and Starfleet.


The Enterprise flew cautiously in space. Although it wanted to push the warp drive to its limit, speeding in pursuit of the Borg Cube's last known direction, unfamiliar territory forced it to slow down. Once the Enterprise has left explored territory, sensors were heightened to full capacity and shields were activated; it was as if the ship were expecting a surprise attack.

Beep beep beep

"Captain," Ensign Timothy said from Ops, "sensors are detecting a distress signal from a planet on the port side."

Ensign Timothy diverted the distress signal to the universal translator.

"Please help us!" an alien voice cried, "our planet is dying! Resources have been depleted and starvation is running rampant. Meteorites have been hitting our world, killing thousands with each hit. Any planet even within our capacity of space travel has been deemed uninhabitable! We will not last much longer like this."

Picard swallowed hard. They had not gotten far when they reached the first unfamiliar aliens. Unfortunately, they needed help as well, and the Enterprise was the only ship within a day's distance. Even with the capacity of warp drive, there was still the need to be in two places at once.

Picard hesitated, staring wistfully at the direction the Enterprise was headed. He almost wished he hadn't heard the cries for help. However, Picard knew that if Data were with them, he would advise the captain to heed the distress call.

"Let's see what we can do to help them," the captain commanded.


Lines of code sped past; letters, numbers and key commands streaked by. It took three point seven seconds for Data to realize the code was floating in front of him. White lettering against a pitch black background, it was as if Data were in a strange void. And he was. Not yet able to regain consciousness, Data had entered his subconsciousness to keep from suffering a cascade failure. The android felt as if he were floating in a space with no stars. Only lines of code streaked by in front of him.

Focusing on the lines of code, he slowed their speed so that his lethargic processor could read them. Instantly, he knew that these codes did not belong to him. Further inspection revealed the truth: it was the codes he had downloaded from the Borg Queen.

Excitedly, he read through every line of code, relishing each piece of information as if it were a sweet fruit.

Data brought up a diagnostic of the Borg Queen, comparing that with a diagnostic of the Borg from his own memory banks. One piece stood out. The two images were identical, except for one thing; this Borg Queen, this vengeful Queen that had tortured him for seemingly endless hours, had a different identity code. Every electronic being, including him, had an identity code. The Borg Queen that had assimilated Captain Picard had code: 420.16. This Borg Queen had the identity code: 420.16.2. This was not the Borg Queen, this was her clone.

Data searched further into the code, surprised at how much he had downloaded in such little time. Seven point eight minutes later, Data had uncovered the Borg Queen's secret. Just a few months after her first activation, she had created a clone of herself. Unhappy with the slow pace her Borg invasion was progressing, she traveled several millions of kilometers where she left her "sister" to invade another galaxy. She created another Borg Cube for her clone and armed her with several hundred Borg.

From then on, the two touched base with one another once a month. On one transmission between the two, the Borg Queen expressed a desire to create yet another clone since her sister had been so successful. However, this was twenty-four hours before the Enterprise intercepted her plan to travel back in time and prevent first contact. Just before the Borg Queen died, her secondary programming sent an emergency message to her sister detailing the last moments of her life. Immediately, the clone had set off for the Enterprise in search of revenge of the crew that killed her sister.

Thirsting for more information, Data felt as if he couldn't read the next lines of code fast enough. In the next lines of code he then discovered he had downloaded part of the Borg Queen's knowledge of her own ship; the Borg Cube.

"Please, let me find something to use against this clone," Data pleaded to no one in particular.


"We cannot thank you enough," the alien said to Captain Picard.

The crew of the Enterprise had just saved an alien race called the Moe from destruction. The Moe were tiny creatures that inhabited a large planet called Lownoza. The Moe looked like furry light bulbs of various colors. When they were scared, their bodies glowed, making it easy for their planet to detect when they were facing death. Thousands of Moe glowed on the surface of Lownoza as it was pelted with meteorites.

The Enterprise had managed to destroy every meteorite that threatened to hit their planet, which was in the path of a meteor shower that occurred every ten million years. Replicators on board had replenished the depleted food supply of the Moe and a carefully aimed laser unearthed new, rich Bazeeto (the Earth equivalent of soil). This would replenish the food supply for generations.

Moe 4,512,785, the Moe that had just thanked Picard, sat in the pilot's seat of his spacecraft, talking to Picard through his craft's viewscreen. The tiny spacecraft was the size of a tennis ball, but the Enterprise 's viewscreen magnified the image of the Moe crew so they wouldn't have to squint to see the creatures.

"You're very welcome, Moe 4,523…" Picard replied, unable yet again, to remember his name.

"Moe 4,512,785," the pilot Moe corrected.

"Thank God we give our children individual names," Picard thought, sighing.

As soon as the crisis on the Moe planet was resolved, Geordi, stationed at the back of the Bridge where he had uploaded an Engineering station, brought up a map of the Borg Cube's last known location.

"Captain?"

"Go ahead."

"The Borg Cube's last coordinates are just five hundred kilometers ahead. But, there are no warp traces anywhere; they died down hours ago. The Borg Cube could be anywhere within four million kilometers of here. I don't know how they traveled so fast. Even a warp 8, it'd take us months to travel four million kilometers."

Picard sighed. What were they going to do?

"There must be some other way," Geordi thought aloud.

"Excuse me, sir" Moe 2,178,521, the light blue Moe in the co-pilot's seat spoke.

Picard jerked his head up at the viewscreen. In all the stress and confusion, he had forgotten to cut the audio transmission between them and the Moe. The Moe craft was just making its descent to its now stable home planet when it overhead the worried statement of the chief engineer.

"We could not help overhearing," Moe 2,178,521 continued, "Are you in need of assistance?"

Picard hesitated before answering. However, figuring it wouldn't help to just tell them, he proceeded to explain to the Moe about Data and the Borg.

Riker shook his head ever so slightly as the captain spoke. In all honesty, how the hell could aliens smaller than the size of his fist be any help against the Borg?

"We have this," Moe 4,512,785 offered, once Picard explained what they needed. The Moe aboard the tiny spacecraft sent a visual transmission through to the Enterprise 's viewscreen. The viewscreen revealed a massive warp coil on the Moe planet, the size of five of the Enterprise 's warp coils combined.

"We have ten more of these on Lownoza," the Moe pilot explained, "They are regenerative warp coils. Use as little or as much as you want, it'll allow a ship your size to travel up to two-million kilometers an hour. One of these would be enough to fuel thousands of our ships for a lifetime. We only need five, but our engineers here went a little… warp happy. Once they discovered how to make these, they made so many, authorities had to stop them or there'd be no more room on our planet for us!"

Gerodi marveled at the image before him.

"Wow!" was all he could say as his optical implants widened.


SLAM!

The clone Borg Queen thrust a heavy piece of equipment against the far wall where it ricocheted off and landed on the floor, dented in several places. Its glass panels shattered, raining pieces on the floor.

"DAMN IT! I was fooled again by the android!" the Queen thought, "How could I have been fooled again?!"

She clenched her fists in frustration as she replayed her mistake over and over again in her electronic brain. The android knew about her. How much? She didn't know. But whether the android downloaded for 0.01 seconds or for days, too much information was now in his possession and knowledge.

She had been too cocky. The android, knowing he had his weaknesses, had protected the information he possessed, but she had been too arrogant to bother with something so "trivial."

As much as she enjoyed watching the android squirm, as much as she wanted to use Data as a weapon against the Enterprise, her primary plan would have to be abandoned. She had to find another way to destroy the Enterprise . In the meantime, she would have to kill the being that possibly held the secret to her destruction. Come to think of it, maybe things were going better than planned.

To be continued…