CHAPTER SEVEN
Bathed in the emerald glow of the tunnel, Worf dug at the crystal embedded in the wall. As he pulled at the pieces that surrounded the crystal he tried to characterize the vision of the Borg and its connection to Kahless. After the image faded he leaned against the wall in shock not understanding the significance. He had been brought back by the chirping of the communicator and the gruff inquiry of Chewie wanting to know if he had found the crystal. No he had said, He would let him know when he did. He had taken no more than four steps when the tricorder indicated the presence of Dilitheum, only inches from where the Borg had stood. He told Chewie he had found the Dilitheum and would meet him back in the hall where they had split. He pulled the crystal from the wall and placed it in his pack, Geordi would have to cut the crystal to its proper size. That was Geordi's problem, he had enough to worry about just getting it back to the ship.
Chewie sat with his back against the wall chewing on a piece of Lambesa meat when Worf emerged from the tunnel. Chewie reached into the pack and pulled out another thick piece of the tender meat and offered it to Worf. He took the meat and leaned against a pillar staring into the tunnel from which he had just emerged. His thoughts raced. Why would Kahless speak through a Borg drone? What did it all mean? Were the Borg waiting for them outside? He would have to tell Chewbacca. Not all of it, just that there was a chance that the Borg could be waiting.
The Enterprise, still in orbit around the small moon of Markaz, drifted lazily in its iridescent glow. From his quarters Captain Picard stared out the window at the stars and planets that crowded the rectangular port. In his own galaxy he could name all the little white dots that filled the sky. Here they were all strange to him. It had been eighteen hours since they had lost contact with the Falcon. He sat in his favorite chair and picked up a copy of Sea Wolf by Jack London ,a gift from Riker Just before they made there fateful trip through the anomaly. He read the first sentence three times and set the book down, he could not concentrate. Leaning back and closing his eyes his thoughts drifted back to his abduction by the Borg. It had taken a long time before he could even conjure up a Borg face in his mind, at least when he was conscience. His sleep had been disturbed by the images of them leaning over him poking and prodding as he screamed in to the silent void that he would not be assimilated. But he had been. No one is completely taken from what they were. Not even the Borg can take away that little light that flickers deep inside the heart. Here he was again about to face his nightmares. Every encounter left him weak and tired. Captain Picard did not fear much but he feared the Borg.
On the surface Luke puttered outside the compound watching the shadows of the coming night invade the sleepy little forest. He had felt a strange disturbance in the force, one that did not make sense to him. He walked further into the gathering dusk. At the tree line he stopped and watched the evening breeze ripple the tops of the grass into a sea that rolled to the horizon. As he watched the sun setting he remembered Han. It would be like old times if he were here. Luke turned back to the trail and followed its winding course back to the hanger and stepped inside as they closed the doors for the night. He wondered how Chewie and Worf were doing. He should have gone. It was a world used by the Jedi. A world of victories and failures. When he took his final test he would not have to go there because Dagobah had a cave of visions of its own, one he had been warned by Master Yoda not to enter until he was ready. He wondered if Yoda would ever think he was ready. He wondered off to his quarters and turned down the lights and closed his eyes. The drone of the generators reminded him of another place, a place far from here, Another time, another life.
In the dark recesses of her quarters Leia Organa poured over charts she had seen a million times. The planets and moons had begun to look the same hours ago. She had to stop every so often and refocus her eyes. She couldn't remember the last time she had slept. Marks on the charts indicated the last known positions of Imperial ships, down to the last scout. The Borg on the other hand were more elusive. They never stayed anywhere for long and their technology was hard to keep up with. So far as they knew the Imperials had lost at least two star destroyers and countless tie fighters. The alliance had lost three scout ships. They weren't as obvious as the empire. Being a clandestine group of rebels, as the Imperials liked to put it, they remained hidden most of the time therefore not as visible as the Empire. She rolled up the charts and placed them at the edge of the table. Two hours that was all she needed. Just two hours of sleep and maybe she could refocus and find some solution. The Enterprise was a welcome ally. But with their engines down they were not going to be much help if the battle came right now. She laid on her bed and stared at the ceiling. Her eyes, heavy with fatigue, slowly closed with her last thought; were they prepared?
Will Riker was not happy. He sat in the command chair with his head tilted back and the bridge of his nose pinched between his thumb and forefinger. He let out a sigh. Another fight in ten forward. The third today. The crew was on edge and they didn't care who knew it. Twice today he had to give stern warnings about respect for superior officers. He believed whole heartedly that the crew of the Enterprise was the best there was. But everybody had their breaking point. The wait and see game was getting old. Nobody wanted a confrontation with the Borg, but playing hide and go seek with them was a bit unnerving, they were real good about sneaking up on you when you least expected. The last report had the Borg two days from here, on the edge of the Yaesue system. They were getting closer, and with no word from Worf, the situation was going from bad to worse. All repairs, except the ones being done on the core, were finished., they were just waiting for the dilitheum. Riker tilted his head forward and thought how funny it was, with all that's going on and all that could happen, he was so bored right now. He smiled, the first one today and asked for a status report, same as before, no changes came the reply. Figures, he thought.
Aboard the Star Destroyer Titan, Darth Vader heard the reports but could hardly believe them. One Star Destroyer after another was being decimated by these creatures! Those that brought each report did so in terror. So far he had kept his temper in check but that would not last much longer. He had felt a disturbance in the force, strong and unnerving. One that he could not ignore. Someone or something was using it, but in a way he had never felt. He had not heard from the Emperor in two days. Vader had been entertaining a thought, one that might work, but one that might also incur the wrath of the Emperor. It was a last resort, only if they proved unable to deal with the Borg. He longed for the tranquil peace of his meditation chamber. His thoughts it seemed were always in a state of turmoil, one tugging this way and that, emotions creeping in and causing reaction without thought. He strode across the bridge slowly, no one looked up. All eyes were riveted in fear to the stations they were assigned. Sometimes he resented their fear. Other times he reveled in it. At times it was powerful, intoxicating. He had discovered that on Tatooine years ago when he slaughtered an entire village of sand people. After the first two or three he could sense the fear creeping into them. Who was this thing they could not kill? He did not realize it until much later that the fear had driven him, had fed his rage, not only their fear, but his also. He continued his inspection. He could hear the communications officer receiving another report, He could sense his fear. The officer had better handle this carefully, Vader thought.
The Borg could be patient. They could wait. The technology they had encountered was no match for the Borg. Who could resist them? The collective had proved superior in every altercation with the inferior vessels. Things would not change. Their had been another discovery. These beings who hold the power over the mind, they were at war with one another. Good and evil. Good is irrelevant. Evil is irrelevant. The only thing that matters is the Borg. Only the Collective is relevant. Where was Lokutus? His technology was desirable. They would find him. They would find the young one. The one speaks to the mind. It could not happen again, they were ready. But the of the power that was wielded with a single thought was irresistible, even to the Borg.