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.

Bajoran Wormhole, 3006

After launching One-from-One's ship, the Borg cube transited the wormhole to Bajor, and headed back to Earth. Their part of the mission over, they set course to return to San Francisco.

No, a change of course is required, came a voice in the chorus, a small girl's voice, set your course for Paris, France. We have a mission to complete.

The small voice carried the weight of authority with it, for her words were encapsulated in the Queen's Override Protocol. Even the Borg Queen was surprised, for she wasn't the one who spoke, it was Sakura Stern.

I'm sorry, Kathy, the child said, but something is making me do this. We have to go to Paris for some reason.

Don't worry, little one, the Borg Queen replied, I understand completely. We'll go to Paris and see what we find there.

"That's impossible!" exclaimed the Paris City Engineer, "there can't be anything under Kadic View! That plot has been developed for centuries now! We even have transit tubes running under it, there's no way any kind of ship could be down there!"

"I know, and I understand your sentiments," the Federation Colonel replied, "nevertheless, I've been asked by the President himself to cooperate with the Borg in this matter. The only thing I can do is promise to assist in any reconstruction that might have to take place."

"You don't understand," the Engineer replied, "we've run detailed scans of that area, each time some building project was proposed, but we never once encountered anything, not even terrestrial artifacts. With the historic preservation laws we have here, we have to be thorough."

"And I'm certain you were," the Colonel replied, "but I have a foreign dignitary and a President who aren't going to take no for an answer. I will arrange for you to accompany us when go, but we are going, and that's final."

The moment the Cube settled in orbit above Paris, the gestation chamber that held Sakura opened. The girl got out and dressed in her clothes that one of the drones brought her, and returned to the examining room where she had been just yesterday.

"If it would be possible, I'd like my parents to join us," the girl said to the assembled drones, "and I'd like Kathy here too. Family should be here when one of their own comes home."

"You are absolutely correct," said a female drone as the others parted for her, the Borg Queen, Admiral Kathryn Janeway, "family should always greet returning family. Your parents are on their way here. When they arrive, we can go down and meet our missing loved ones."

Three humans and a Borg drone materialized in the courtyard of the Kadic View Apartments, apartment buildings that had stood for over six hundred years. Joining the party was the Paris City Engineer and a Colonel representing the Starfleet Corps of Engineers.

"Yes, the ship is directly below us," Sakura said, "one hundred and fifty kilometers."

"My God," the Paris Engineer exclaimed, "that deep? No wonder we never got a sniff of it. We've never had need to go down that deep!"

"My scans indicate an atmosphere," Kathryn said, "oxygen/nitrogen, Earth normal. The temperature is rapidly falling to comfortable levels, too. We should have no troubles entering. Gentlemen," she then said to the two Engineers, "would you care to join us?"

"I would," replied the Colonel, "I was directed by the President to get as much information about this as I can."

"And you, sir?"

The Paris Engineer replied, "no, thank you. Your vessel is technically outside my jurisdiction. However, I would appreciate it if you didn't suck the city into a massive sinkhole removing you ship."

"We shall monitor the area, and do nothing to disrupt its geologic composition," the Borg Queen replied, "and we shall inform you before we attempt any kind of removal, jurisdiction or not."

With that, those who were going on vanished in a transporter beam.

The party materialized in a dark chamber. The air was fine, but the temperature still a little too high for the humans. After they materialized, soft lights began to come on, revealing two Borg ships, one the ship launched from the Borg Cube yesterday, the other of an ancient design. Sakura led the way, motioning the others to follow.

They made their way into One-from-One's ship, to the central core. The design had changed significantly from yesterday, for now there were ten alcoves there, instead of the one originally sent.

Sakura went over to the pedestal that housed the copy of the Collective and touched it. Instantly, nanoprobes formed within the girl to effect the interface, and a voice spoke from her mouth.

"Protocol requires Queen's verification."

Kathryn Janeway walked over to the unit and touched it. The circuits and programs inside recognized her authority and began to function. In each of the alcoves, all ten of them, Borg drones materialized. In the room, just beyond the crowd, five children appeared.

One of the drones, One-from-One, a.k.a. Juan Janeway, opened his eyes and saw his mother, his Queen, standing below waiting for him. He left his alcove and walked over to her, enveloping her in an irrelevant embrace that both enjoyed.

The other drones stepped out of their alcoves and interfaced with the true Collective for the first time in over a thousand years. After a moment's updating, the drones acknowledged the new Queen and awaited orders. The last refrain that Sakura Rachael Stern ever heard of the Borg's song was the sound of triumph as trillions of minds celebrated their lost children returning home. The nanoprobes that had coursed through her body all her young life shut themselves down, and the last remaining external Borg implant fell from her temple.

While all of this was going on, the five children just stood and watched the strangers before them. Then, one of the boys, the brunette one, noticed Sakura and her family and walked over.

"Hi, I bet you're my descendants," he said, extending his hand, "my name's Ulrich, Ulrich Stern."

"Hi," Sakura replied, "my name's Sakura Rachael Stern. Say, can you tell me what's going on here? I knew for a little while but now I don't."

The rest of the children now had joined Ulrich and the little girl. The Borg Queen and her Prince joined them too.

"Well, I don't know," Ulrich said, "it's not something we tell just anyone. Can you keep a secret?"

"Yes, she can," the Borg Queen replied with a smile, "she's been keeping one for a thousand years now."

For a thousand years, my family and others have kept a secret. We've listened to the song of trillions in our minds, waiting for the day that they could be reunited with their loved ones; waiting for the day we could finally tell their story. I, my father, his entire family back to the twenty-first century, and the families of others, have been bottles cast upon the sea of time, carrying a message of the day the Borg first came to Earth, of those who stood against them, and of those who waited for rescue.

From "The Song Of Trillions," by Sakura Rachel Stern-Robinson
copyright 3063, UFP Publications