Bells in Santa Fe

Even after all the time I'd spent on various Borg ships, the aesthetic still creeped me out.

Annika, Harry, and I crept along the corridors of the queen's compound in Unimatrix 01, fingers gripping my phaser rifle so tight they hurt. I should've been more relaxed—every combat trainer I'd had in my life would be livid if they saw me now, especially Marnah—but the pain was an anchor. Without it, I was lost.

Captain Janeway was somewhere else in the compound, accompanied by Lyndsay and a security detail Tuvok had insisted she take on the mission. I had no idea where they were or what their plan was—an unusual arrangement for joint away teams to make, but a necessary one when the enemy could forcefully steal information from our minds. The less we knew, the better.

As for this team, our job was the queen.

Rounding the final corner, we passed through a forcefield guarding the threshold between the narrow corridor we had been in and an expansive diamond-shaped room. The structure was a perfect diamond-shaped ship at the heart of the complex connected by six retractable bridges radiating in all directions like arteries, and this cavern was the center of it all. Even the ceiling was vaulted to a sharp point above our heads with a platform suspended from its thick metal rafters.

"There you are," I muttered.

Although the room was bathed in the Borg's signature green glow, it was brighter here than in any other Borg space I'd seen since our time on Korok's ship. Good lighting was the exception, rather than the standard, for a group obsessed with efficiency. Korok's liberated crew had chosen to turn up the lights after regaining their individuality as a way to reclaim what had been stolen from them.

What was Loran's reason for this choice? Grandeur?

"Looks like the biocloaks are doing their job," Harry said, eyeing the handful of drones milling about the room. Several more stood, eyes closed, tucked away in regeneration alcoves. "They don't seem to have noticed us."

I glanced down at my tricorder. "No sign of alarm at our presence. We passed through the forcefield without a fuss."

Annika took one hand from her phaser rifle to retrieve her own tricorder. She swept it around the room.

"Five minutes to go time," Harry said, his tricorder out now, as well.

"What do you think?" I asked Annika.

She holstered her tricorder and pointed to a console a few meters to port. "Place the charges there—" She pointed to a second identical console across the room. "—there—" A third to starboard. "—and there."

Harry marched off to set the charges.

"Are you ready for this?" I asked quietly.

"You are already aware that I have made every possible preparation for this mission," Annika said dryly. "As have we all."

"Charges set," Harry reported, returning to our position.

In formation, we hurried back into the corridor. Once we were safely behind the bulkheads, I pulled my own tricorder and checked the time, counting down until it reached the time we had agreed on with Janeway to kick off phase two of the mission.

Five, four, three, two, one…

"Now," I ordered.

With a touch on his display, the heart of Unimatrix 01 erupted into flame.

A klaxon blared, grating against my eardrums. It only took a few seconds for the debris to settle, and by the time we stepped back into the queen's chamber, the fires were already out. Drones ended their regeneration cycles, hurrying to repair the damage. The platform at the peak of the diamond slid to the deck, a woman's head, neck, and shoulders hanging from cables in an open-air lift.

Loran.

Her eyes were, thankfully, closed. A tangle of implants were embedded in the crown of her bald head. Her skin was ghostly pale, making it easy to see the gray veins underneath. A bionic spine dangled from her, writhing as the rest of her body emerged from compartments in the deck and was assembled in mere seconds. Her head, shoulders, and spine crept forward until they were directly above her armored body, then lowered into place. Large needles shot out from the top of her exoplating, joining chest to breastplate and shoulders to arms. The cables popped off.

She took a breath.

Clenched her hands into fists, then relaxed them.

Shrugged one shoulder, then the other.

Rolled her head.

Opened her liquid silver eyes.

I barely had time to register my own fear before someone collided with me from behind.

A drone.

Quick as lightning, Loran shot a beam in our direction. The biocloaking device on my wrist went dark.

"Starfleet," Loran said as if the word was a bitter taste on her tongue. Then her lips curled into a smile. "And Seven of Nine."

I glanced at my teammates. They were visible, too.

"We thought you were dead," Loran said. "Apparently we were mistaken."

Half the drones in the room turned from their work to march our way. I grabbed my rifle as Harry and Annika started shooting, each dropping a drone. I pulled the trigger to take out a third.

It hit a personal shield instead.

"They've adapted," I barked out. Ten drones were closing in on us. "Rotate phaser frequency."

Between the three of us, another five drones crumpled to the deck before they adapted to our weapons for good.

"Lieutenant Commander Eelo Talia, Lieutenant Harry Kim, and Seven of Nine." Loran strode towards us, stopping directly in front of me. "It appears that my murderer has returned to finish the job."

Everything inside of me shook, fury mixing with horror at the monster in front of me, but I clung to the strength Harry's mind provided and lifted my chin. "I'm not here to kill you. I'm here to save you."

"A foolish mission by a foolish individual."

Two drones reached for Annika and Harry. They lashed out in defense but were quickly overpowered and forced to their knees.

"You are weak, small-minded creatures," Loran continued. "Don't you see that we are trying to help you—to make you stronger, better?"

"We don't want your version of strength," Harry snapped.

Loran's smile broadened, a predator about to devour her prey. "Resistance is futile."

Her hand shot out, nearly crushing my neck. I wrapped my fingers around hers, trying vainly to pry them away. They wouldn't budge. My throat ached. My lungs burned. My mind screamed to do something, break free.

Harry cried out, his mind roaring as the hive rushed in. My knees buckled. My pagh felt like it was being ripped in two. I squeezed my eyes shut and opened my mouth in a silent scream.

Sharp pain radiated from the side of my neck as two needles burrowed into my skin. A moment later, the hive started buzzing in my head, too.

The last thing I remembered before going under was the shrill bleating of a different klaxon and the hive's voice rising in collective alarm.

Unity forces had begun their attacks on Loran's collective.