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

Riker and Worf carefully made their way around the corridors of the massive Borg Cube. With only dim emergency lighting and dead Borg all around the floor, it was slow progress, marred by the fact that Riker and Worf still weren't entirely sure the Borg were really dead.

The Enterprise stood in front of the Borg Cube, ready to beam the away team back home at a moment's notice. Now that the Borg Cube had stopped firing, repair crews had immediately begun work on the heavily damaged ship. The Enterprise still had shields raised, though; until the crew was 100 sure the Borg were dead and understood the cause of the Borg's death, they could not afford to let their guard down.

The silence on the Bridge was deafening. Some crew members braced themselves for the sound of resurrected mechanical drones while others listened intently for Ensign Tim's and Commander Data's voices.


Finally, Worf rounded the last corner, aiming his phaser before daring to look around. Riker had his ready to fire as he stood behind the security officer.

"Qun!" Worf gasped, the first to survey the scene.

Riker rushed beside him. He had never known the Klingon to shout in his native tongue when no other Klingons were around. The tone of Worf's voice, though, transcended all languages.

A battlefield lay before the two Starfleet officers. Three bodies lay motionless on the floor. The Borg Queen was shut down indefinitely. The arrogant smirk had finally disappeared from her red lips, replaced by a cold pale frown.

The human on the other side of the room lay in a heap on his side. Deep burns marked the side of his head and a phaser lay just two inches from his open hand. The android in the between them had, by far, suffered the worst injuries. He lay crumpled with his limbs stuck out in different directions. His legs were hanging to the rest of his body by just a few wires. His arms, face and chest were riddled with deep, open wounds. His face was transfixed in a glazed stare.

"Oh God," Riker gasped. But before he could take a step, the chief security officer stopped him with his arm.

Aiming his phaser directly at the Borg Queen's chest, Worf advanced toward the body.

"She's dead," Riker said, but the Klingon still stepped forward. Instinct told him that his commanding officer was correct; that the Borg queen had finally been put out of commission. However, his anger prevented him from heeding even his instincts.

When he was within arm's length of the Queen, he pulled a tricorder from his pocket.

No life signs.

But he quickly corrected himself and checked the tricorder for electronic signals. None. Only the emergency lighting registered. It was only then when Worf signaled to Riker that it was all clear.

Riker rushed to Data while Worf raced to Ensign Tim. A quick check of the ensign's breathing and pulse, however, revealed the truth. Another check of his tricorder showed no presence of life signs aside from his own or Commander Riker's. The Klingon hung his head and stared into the unmoving eyes of his former subordinate. He had taught the ensign from the time he set foot on the Enterprise as a Starfleet officer. And Worf was proud to say that Ensign Tim had been his student. From a nervous officer in training to an ensign well on his way to promotion, there was no doubt in Worf's mind that Starfleet had another captain on his way.

"You did well, Ensign Tim," he said softly to the young man's closed eyes.

"Data?"

Riker gently shook Data's shoulder. Data's left shoulder was one of the few places Data was not injured. However, there was no response from the android.

"Data, respond…" Riker said more harshly. But the android's eye still stared blankly ahead. Riker reached into his pocket and pulled out a commbadge. Carefully, he placed it on Data's chest, avoiding any wounds. He then pounded his own combadge, "Riker to Enterprise ! Four to beam directly to sickbay."

In an instant, Riker, Worf, Ensign Tim, and Data were dissolved away in a sparkle of blue. After weeks of isolation, torture, and agony, Data was finally on his way home. Riker just hoped it wasn't too late.


"Data…" the female voice echoed from a seemingly endless distance, "Data can you hear me?"

The voice tickled at the android's subconscious. It took him several moments to even understand that his own name was being called. However, all the android saw was black. The black was so dark, had he placed his palm at the tip of his nose, he would not be able to see it.

A few more seconds passed before the android was able to recognize the voice. The voice belonged to Dr. Beverly Crusher of the starship Enterprise , his home. Hearing her voice was like finally coming home after months of fighting in the trenches of war. Only then did he realize that he was lying on a bed, and a soft one at that. Or maybe it just felt so much softer because it vastly contrasted the cold hard titanium steel of the Borg Cube.

Data tried to respond, but the simple act of opening his eyes was as difficult and painful as trying to climb Mount Everest with two broken legs and arms. Summoning all the strength left inside him, Data tried to lift his eyelids, move his hand, nudge his finger an inch, anything to indicate to the doctor that he was still alive. However, he was too weak to move. It was an intensely frightening experience. To be so close to home, and yet so distant, it was as if fate were laughing in his face.

"He's freezing," a voice Data recognized as Commander Riker's said. He felt a light touch on his arm, but it was so tender and raw, the contact sent shock waves up and down his arm. Data suddenly realized how cold he was; he had never fully recovered from the freezing cold the Borg Queen had exposed him to.

A tricorder beeped near his ear, resounding in his head. Suddenly, the distant sound of automatic doors whooshing open filled the room.

"Geordi," the first officer greeted, though his voice was filled with nervousness.

"Where is he?" the chief engineer demanded, "Is Data okay?"

Data heard the sound of footsteps that suddenly stopped, followed by an audible gasp.

"Data!" Geordi cried out in desperation at his best friend.

But that was the last thing the android heard before slipping back into unconsciousness. Perhaps his dormant emergency programming had been revived. A last-ditch emergency programming resided in the android, allowing him to be conscious only a few final minutes. It allowed him to hear his friends.

As his life was literally being sucked away from him, he wished that he could see every one of his friends one last time. He wished he could tell them how much they meant to him. He wished… but the last desire went unheard even to his own thoughts, for the android's final electronic signal had made its way to its destination.


Nothing could have prepared Geordi to see Data in the condition he was in. His best friend and android, Geordi had grown accustomed to seeing his friend's indestructible form. He had seen Data take physical punishment no human would be able to stand. However, now, every surface of his friend's body was riddled with wounds. Exposed wiring jutted out everywhere and what should have been indicator lights pulsating with life were now dead. Not a single light offered a tiny glimmer of color. At this slight, Geordi's heart seemed to drop out under his stomach.

Dr. Crusher had just finished administering a hypospray into Data's neck. Usually the patient relaxed under the medication, but Data's body was already lifeless. There was no apparent change in Data's body movements (or lack thereof).

"I'm sorry," Riker apologized, jolting Geordi from his socked revere, "I should've warned you."

The medical practitioner side of Dr. Crusher took over, and she clicked a flat medical hatch in place over Data's body, which had been carefully placed on a biobed. She then hurriedly punched a few commands into the hatch to bring up a diagnostic of the android on the biobed and to increase the android's body temperature. Instantly, underneath the hatch, heat emitted, bathing Data's body in warmth. At the same time, the diagnostic readouts of Data's condition were projected on a display screen on the wall.

"Geordi," Dr. Crusher implored, "I need your help."

It was only then when Geordi realized he had been standing in one place with is mouth agape. Closing his mouth, he shook his head as if trying to physically shake the feeling of dread from him. It was an ancient saying that a surgeon should never operate on his own family member; he would be too emotionally involved. However, when it came to Data, it was a fact Geordi could not escape. He knew more than anyone on the Enterprise , and probably more than anyone in Starfleet, about Data's inner circuitry.

Taking a deep breath, he stepped toward his android friend and laid a gentle hand on the android's arm.

"It's okay, Data," Geordi said to Data's broken body, "You're gonna be just fine. Just hang in there."


Picard wanted to race down to Sickbay the minute he heard the desperation in his first officer's voice. However, the security of the ship was still at risk so long as the Borg Cube still hovered in space. Even though the Borg dwelling no longer possessed life, it still sent chills down Picard's spine like a burning afterimage.

Lieutenant Worf stood at the arc behind him on the Bridge. Picard could almost feel the Klingon's snarl as he stared at the Borg Cube.

"Would you like to do the honors, Mr. Worf?"

"Gladly, sir."

Worf pounded the commands at this fingertips, releasing the already loaded weapons. The Enterprise 's red laser streaked toward the Borg Cube and landed on the Cube's side, knifing a deep gouge into the surface. The laser cut across the middle, tearing into each sinister surface. The laser was soon followed by a series of thick quantum torpedoes that punched and blasted into the already damaged side, leaving a fiery plume in its wake.

The Borg Cube was pushed back with each hit, until it glowed orange and the entire Cube exploded from within. Flaming debris flew everywhere, but the Enterprise 's precisely aimed laser vaporized every last piece. When all was done, nothing was left. The only thing that could be seen in the Enterprise 's viewscreen was the vast space, finally at peace. The stars that speckled the darkness seemed to twinkle even brighter.


"Here Spot!" Riker called in his sweetest, yet forced voice, "Come on kitty."

During Data's absence, the first officer had taken it upon himself to feed his cat and even play with her from time to time. He had yet to get to the playing part. So far, the cat had stayed as far away from Riker as possible. Having nothing else to do but pace in his quarters and worry about the android, Riker decided that today he would finally get the cat to come near him enough to chase a cat teaser. However, at the moment, Spot was sitting under the bed, not willing to move in an inch.

Worf stood behind Riker. He had come along to see what was so difficult about playing with a harmless feline.

"Now I know why Data calls her 'Spot,'" Riker commented, "all she does is stay in one spot!"

Riker got on his hands and knees and looked under the bed.

"Here kitty, kitty, kitty," he coaxed.

Worf rolled his eyes.

"I don't understand why she doesn't come near me," Riker continued, his head still facing the cat under the bed.

"What would you do if some large alien came up to you and said, 'Here human, human, human,'" Worf replied, mocking Riker's coaxing perfectly.

Riker finally sat up and faced Worf, and incredulous expression on his face. Within moments, however, the first officer's mouth crinkled into a smile, and he laughed. His laughter filled Data's quarters until even the Klingon turned his usual stern façade into a smirk.


"Dammit!" Geordi shouted through gritted teeth, "COME ON!"

Dr. Crusher watched helplessly as the chief engineer tested the signal again and again. Geordi held an electronic stimulator in his right hand and he placed it up to the broken wires in Data's right thigh. Again and again, he pressed the tester, causing sapphire sparks to shoot from the nozzle. However, the signals never made their way down Data's the broken wires in Data's thighs.

Dr. Crusher and Geordi had spent the last several hours repairing Data's multiple wounds. Almost every part of Data was damaged. From main circuits to microfibers, it seemed as if every wire had been severed, cut, or torn. The doctor and chief engineer used the electronic stimulator to bring Data's damaged wires back to life. If a wire was salvageable, the signal from the stimulator would make its way down each end of the broken wire. If it was not, the wires would not respond.

The doctor and chief engineer had repeated this process on Data's injures, testing each wire. When a broken wire was unsalvageable, luckily, there were enough working wires to compensate for the loss. The same was not true, however, for Data's thighs. Even the few wires that were the only wires connecting Data's upper and lower legs did not work. The Borg Queen had focused most of her wrath on Data's thighs, slashing them again and again with the serrated knife.

Geordi knew none of this, of course. He did not know what the Borg Queen had done to cause so much damage; all he knew was that the damage she had inflicted upon his best friend was irreparable.

Dr. Crusher's heart sank as Geordi repeatedly pressed the electronic stimulator, as if sheer desire would force the signal down a broken wire.

"DAMMIT, COME ON!"

Dr. Crusher walked toward the chief engineer and laid a gentle hand on his tense shoulder.

"Geordi…"

"It's got to work," Geordi said, staring down at Data's wounds, "there's got to be some way to make it work."

But deep in Geordi's mind, he knew the truth.


"How is he?" Picard asked, looking at Data's unmoving form on the biobed. A mechanical device was connected to an access panel on the side of Data's head. The device emitted short signal streams at a steady rate. It hauntingly reminded the captain of respirators; devices that were used in the twenty-first century to help comatose patients breathe. Geordi was leaning on the side of the bed. His palms were on the edge of the biobed and his arms straight. His head was bowed over his friend's unresponsive body.

Dr. Crusher and Geordi had finally completed repairs to Data's wounds. Wiring that could be salvaged was grafted back together and new artificial skin covered old wounds. Scarring had been limited with the help of a low-powered laser.

Although Data looked much better than when he first arrived, Captain Jean-Luc Picard knew something was very wrong.

"He's fighting," Dr. Crusher explained, struggling to keep her own voice steady.

"Even after all the damage he's suffered, he's still fighting. His poistronic activity is slowly climbing, and with the help of the Electronic Pulse Emitter," the doctor gestured to the device connected to the android, "he has a good chance of regaining consciousness."

Warm, refreshing relief washed over the captain, but it was quickly replaced by trepidation. The chief engineer and doctor were far too silent.

"But…" Picard said, knowing it would be the first word of the doctor's next sentence.

A lump formed in the doctor's throat and she took a deep breath.

"We repaired as much as we could, but... but the damage… th-the damage in Data's legs are too extensive." Dr. Crusher was now fighting back tears.

"He's paralyzed, Jean-Luc."

To be continued…

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