Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners, particularly the characters taken from the animated series, Code Lyoko and the television series Star Trek. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.
Gamma Quadrant, 3006
Captain Yanni Petrovich had been in Starfleet for over twenty years, but contact with the Borg still gave him the creeps. Sure, he had a Borg as his first officer, but Juan was normal ninety-nine point nine nine percent of the time. It was that point one hundredth of the time that always creeped him out.
Captain Petrovich received the message from the Borg cube about five minutes after he received the priority transmission from Starfleet Headquarters, telling him that the Borg ship was heading for the Gamma Quadrant, and, oh, would he please find out from them just what the hell was going on?
Captain Petrovich sighed, then activated his com badge.
"Captain to Commander Janeway."
"Janeway here," came the XO's reply, "I know what you're going to ask, sir, and I'm already in contact with the Collective, so I know what's going on. You should be receiving a message from Startfleet HQ detaching me for duty with the Borg shortly. I'll be up in a few minutes to give you a report. Janeway out."
Yup, it's that point one hundredth time, the captain thought to himself.
Borg drone One-from-One, a.k.a., Commander Juan Janeway, was in the ship's lounge taking a break. His eyes were unfocused as they stared out the viewport, for he was listenng to the characteristic song of the Collective that usually whispered in the back of his mind: One-from-One, come back to us... You must rejoin us... We miss you... We love you...
That whisper was constantly with him, as the Collective continually called him to return, and assured him that they were still there, waiting. His mother always told him there was nothing that could be done about it unless he totally separated himself from the Collective, something he had no desire to do. He had returned to the Collective on many occasions, about as often as he had shore leave near Earth or a Borg ship. And, as much as he loved and appreciated his individuality, he also loved the commonality of the Hive Mind.
Suddenly, the whisper in the back of his mind jumped from whisper to speech.
One-from-One, return to us now. Your services are required for the survival of the Collective.
Then came another voice, one that couldn't be ignored; one he would never ignore, Son, a Borg ship will rendezvous with the Intrepid momentarily. Prepare yourself to transfer aboard. Something's come up and I need you to take care of it.
His reply was short and to the point, yes, mother.
Information then started flowing to him about Sakura Stern and what had been found in both her and her father. Memories of his Temporal Mechanics classes in school flooded back to him, particularly the lecture on the Closed Time Loop, where events would occur that precipitate a jump back in time to initiate the events that precipitated the jump in the first place.
"Captain to Commander Janeway," came Captain Petrovich's voice on his com badge, pulling him out of his reverie.
"Janeway here," he replied, " know what you're going to ask, sir, and I'm already in contact with the Collective, so I know what's going on. You should be receiving a message from Startfleet HQ detaching me for duty with the Borg shortly. I'll be up in a few minutes to give you a report. Janeway out."
Juan got up and left the lounge, heading for the bridge. As he walked, he sent out a mental command to the nanoprobes that coursed through his body. At his command, changes started to occur in the Commander's body, as Borg technology that had lain dormant came to life. External interface ports sprouted on various portions of his body, and a Borg bio-support suit began to form under his Starfleet uniform. By the time he got to the turbolift and rose to the bridge, the nanoprobes were absorbing his uniform. When he arrived on the bridge, only his com badge remained of his Starfleet persona. A full fledged Borg drone walked on to the bridge.
"The captain is in his Ready Room waiting for you Commander," the ship's navigator said, not even looking up from his console.
Juan just nodded and went to the captain's door and activated the annunciator.
"Come," came Captain Petrovich's voice from inside.
Juan entered the office. The captain looked up from his desk and his eyes got wide in surprise for a moment. The Commander centered himself before the captain's desk and stood at attention.
"Sorry about the quick change, sir," Juan said, "the Borg ship will be here soon, and as soon as it gets here, I'll be going."
"I understand, Commander," the captain replied, "and I just received your orders releasing you for TAD with the Borg. I don't think I've ever seen Starfleet move this fast on anything."
Juan chuckled, "yeah, the Borg tend to not waste time on bureaucracy. Anyway, here's the situation: about three weeks ago, a young girl in southern Washington state, North America, was infected by Borg nanoprobes. Yesterday, frank symptoms of assimilation started showing. Now, the Collective had nothing to do with whatever happened, but the girl was brought to the Borg Embassy to see what was up. To make a long story short, Mother got involved and found out that the nanoprobes that were assimilating her have been around somewhere on the order of a thousand years."
"A thousand years?" the captain exclaimed, "that would put it..."
"At the beginning of the twenty-first century, sir. Fifty-seven years before First Contact, as a matter of fact."
"But Earth had no direct contact with other races until then! And certainly not the Borg!"
"Not only that," Juan said, "the Borg have no record of contact with Earth prior to the a distress call that originated somewhere in the twenty-second century, and received in the twenty-fourth. That led to the Borg's initial exploration of the Alpha Quadrant, and led to the temporal incursion from the twenty-fourth century to First Contact in the twenty-first, which resulted in the transmission of the distress call in the twenty-second century of surviving Borg from First Contact. Mother has checked and rechecked all of that that. She even has drones going through records never integrated into the Collective to see if something there might explain what happened."
"So, why you? Why not let Starfleet send a ship back to investigate?"
"Because I am the one who evidently released the nanoprobes in the twenty-first century."
"But that's against the Temporal Prime Directive! You'd never do anything like that! And if so, I'll have to place you under arrest for what you are about to do!"
The captain started to call for Security when Juan interrupted.
"Sir, the Borg aren't quite so persnickety about time travel as the Federation is," Juan said, "plus, preventing my journey would more than likely be a Prime Directive violation, since we have concrete evidence that I did make the trip, and everything's normal. Anyway, the point is moot. The Borg ship is coming into transporter range so..."
With that, Commander Janeway vanished in a Borg transporter beam, leaving nothing but his Starfleet com badge behind.
Captain Petrovich sat back in his chair.
"You would they would have better manners since Admiral Janeway took over," he said to the now empty room.
One-from-One materialized on the Borg ship before a vacant alcove. He immediately stepped in it and interfaced himself into the Collective.
We are returning to Earth, came the voice of the Borg Queen, his mother, you will be launched on your mission from within the Bajor Wormhole. When we enter the transit point, we will contact the Prophets Of Bajor to inform them of our incursion. Your vessel is even now being configured for your mission. Then, she added in a softer voice, son, I'm sorry to have to tell you this, but your trip must be one way. When you complete your mission, you must insure that no trace of your presence remains, other than the nanoprobes you will leave behind. I'm sorry.
The ship One-from-One would use was no more than a regeneration alcove modified for independent operations and time travel. The necessary interfaces were downloaded into his mind and body, along with a copy of the nanoprobe that the Borg Queen removed from Sakura Stern. Additionally, details of Borg technology at that time were implanted, enough so he could interface with and control any twenty-first century Borg he encountered. Historical data from Starfleet's database on Earth in the beginning of the twenty-first century was added, along with a refresher course in twenty-first century French. Finally, a copy of the Collective was loaded in his ship, for assistance and companionship.
His destination was to be Paris, France in the year 2006, approximately three months before the supposed invasion took place. His mission was to stop the Borg from whatever they were doing, and do it in such a way as no one ever knew it happened.