The Cylons were created by humans…
They Rebelled…
They Evolved…
Some are programmed to think they are human…
And they have a plan…
***
"The time is 0530 hours."
Commander Martin Madden stirred before waking, images from his dream still clinging to the edge of his consciousness. He got out of his bed and walked the few feet to his bathroom. Yawning, he tapped the keypad next to the faucet and watched as cold water began to slowly fill the basin. After a moment, he deactivated the stream, and plunged his hands into the water. Flinching slightly at the sudden sensation of cold, he cupped his hands and brought the clear liquid splashing onto his face. The shock from the action did its duty, and he found himself no longer able to remember the nightmare from the previous night.
Madden paused a moment to look at his reflection in the mirror. Staring back at him was a man in his late thirties, with a slightly graying hairline that most of his friends and colleagues said added character. Wrinkles were beginning to form around his eyes and mouth. Just like my father, he thought, I'm growing old before my time.
The commander continued through his morning routine, a brief trip through the sonic shower, donning a fresh uniform, and trying to comb his unruly mop of hair into some semblance of order. Taking one last look in the mirror, he decided that this was the best things were going to get and finally said, "Time to start another day aboard the Enterprise."
Arriving on the bridge, Commander Madden took in the sights and sounds of the first shift bridge crew hard at work. Some were arriving from other turbolifts to relieve the previous duty shift, and Madden basked in how official and professional everyone was being. Currently, the Enterprise was patrolling the Romulan Neutral Zone, which was quickly becoming the hot zone of the decade. In 2379, a Reman named Shinzon had used a thalaron radiation device to liquidate the Romulan Senate and its Praetor, later stepping into that coveted seat himself. The Enterprise was ordered to Romulus to find out what had happened and discovered that Shinzon was not a Reman at all but was in fact a clone of Captain Picard. A terrible battle ensued between the Enterprise and Shinzon's supreme battleship Scimitar, finally ending when the android Commander Data destroyed the thalaron intermix generator aboard the Scimitar, destroying the ship and himself in the process.
Commander Madden traveled to the first officer's station as he recollected more recent events. Following Shinzon's death, a senator named Tal'Aura had risen to power. She had been a member of Shinzon's new order, and many were furious that she had elevated herself to that position. She faced contention from the Romulan military, the newly freed Reman slaves and the Tal'Shiar, the Romulan secret police. While Enterprise was undergoing extensive repairs and overhauls the starship Titan was dispatched to mediate some kind of peace between the factions and so far an uneasy truce was all that was keeping the factions from ripping out each other's throats.
"Captain on the bridge!" a lieutenant at the tactical station called out, interrupting Madden's thoughts. Captain Picard was exiting the port turbolift and heading for his centrally located command chair. "As you were," he said softly, his eyed fixed to the PADD he was carrying. He paused as he reached his command chair but did not sit down. Madden looked up at him and said, "Good morni-"
"Commander, may I see you in my ready room?" Picard said tersely, cutting him off. Without waiting for a reply, Picard turned away from Madden and walked into his small office just off the bridge. Madden was befuddled for a moment but managed to shake it off, rise, and walk towards and through the doors.
"Tea, Earl Grey, Hot," Picard was saying into the wall-mounted food replicator as Madden entered. "Would you care for anything commander?" he asked retrieving his beverage.
"No thank you, sir." He watched as Picard took a sip of the steaming brew and headed to the chair behind his desk.
"Commander, are you familiar with the Gods Favor religious movement?" At first, commander had no idea what he was talking about, but shortly his Academy history classes began to re-assert themselves
"Oh, of course. They were religious extremists from Earth's 22nd century who thought that humanity was losing touch with its spirituality." Madden was surprised he remembered that particular chapter in Starfleet history.
"They were thought of as little more than terrorists or petty thugs," Picard said. "Eventually, Starfleet found the leaders of the movement but were unable to apprehend them. The extremists commandeered the starship Alvarez NX-07 and killed the crew before disappearing into deep space. At the time, tensions with the Romulans were coming to a head and Starfleet was unable to send a search team." Picard took that moment to slide the PADD to Madden. The commander slowly picked it up and studied the display.
From what he new of 22nd century warp ship design, the image depicted on the small screen appeared to depict a starship's warp nacelle, though it was battered and ruptured in many places along its length. Its forward mounted bussard collector was almost completely broken out, and some of the ruptures were so severe as to render the nacelle all but unidentifiable to the untrained eye. Madden glanced up.
"This is from the Alvarez?" he asked. Picard nodded.
"It was discovered by the USS Harris on the fringe of Federation charted territory. It was immediately towed back to Starfleet Command for analysis, and they have confirmed that it's from the Alvarez. The Enterprise has been instructed to proceed at maximum warp to system CN-16 and launch an investigation." Commander Madden's eyes brightened at the news. He had grown weary playing babysitter on the edge of Romulan Space, and now he would be doing what he had longed to do since he first joined Starfleet; explore uncharted space, and maybe solve a two hundred year-old interstellar mystery along the way.
"Commander, re-acquaint yourself with the history of this ship and of the God's Favor extremists. Tell the department heads to do the same. Will schedule a general briefing for 0100 hours."
"Yes, sir. Shall I order the ship to get underway in the meantime?" He noticed Picard's chuckle at his executive officer's unbridled enthusiasm.
"I think that would be for the best, Commander." Madden smiled slightly before Picard said "Dismissed."
***
Time Index 000.6732
Spatial Grid 093
Cube 65534-99821
"Unidentified vessel detected…engaging assimilation protocols."
The Borg Cube hurtled through space, closing on its target. The massive star-shaped vessel that was its quarry turned one of its pointed spires toward its aggressor and began to empty its missile payload at its attacker. The inferior artillery all but bounced off of the hardened and armored exterior of the Cube ship. In return, the Cube let loose with its vast arsenal of holding and cutting beams. With the precision of a master surgeon, pieces of the vessel were carved off and transported deep into the Cube's interior.
As a last attempt at a defense, the star-shaped vessel launched a bevy of assault raiders at the Cube. As the raiders began streaming angrily at the Cube, sections of hull plating opened all across the surface of the cube. From these new openings emerged large rotary gun turrets, and each turret selected a target and let loose with ferocious blasts of plasma energy.
From the safety of her heavily armored and shielded chamber at the center of the Cube, the Borg Queen observed the battle. She studied this new species, the way they fought, the armaments they employed, and, perhaps most importantly, the mechanical way they seemed to be fighting. They launched raider after raider at her Cube, never adapting their fighting style. From this, the Queen ascertained that this species had experience in fighting very few other species, perhaps only one other species.
Seeing that nothing further was to be gained from this, she ordered the destruction of the remains of the enemy ship. Thinking quickly, she instructed her cube to bring several of the attacking craft aboard for assimilation. The Cube responded in kind, latching their emerald green tractor beams onto each remaining ship. A majority of the raiders didn't survive the shearing forces and exploded almost instantly, but the Queen was satisfied when she was informed that three of the raiders had been secured.
Informed, she seethed. Not long ago, a first contact assimilation of this nature would have occurred almost instantly. Now, because of the troublesome Janeway, the Borg's last Queen was here, giving verbal orders to confused drones on this damaged Cube. She felt stripped, bare, and for the first time in her existence vulnerable.
Still, the Queen felt anxious waiting for the assimilation process to begin, ready to receive the individuals into her ragtag collective. She waited for a few moments…and felt nothing. Angry, she moved to see a monitor displaying a recording of the hangar bays on the cube where the raiders were being stored. She was able to see a close up of the ships and saw her drones looking for an access port. The Queen switched to another angle and saw a drone depress a large gelatinous-looking button on the underside of the craft. An access port opened and a gush of viscous liquid drizzled onto the deck of the hangar bay.
The drone that had found the button was studying the vessel's interior so the Queen switched her viewpoint to his. What she beheld intrigued her. The vessel contained no life form. Instead, a large, quivering brain was suspended inside. The Queen looked at the image in awe. This race had discovered the perfect marriage of technology and biology. Without another moments hesitation, the Borg Queen issued a new directive.
Find more of this species, and assimilate.
***
Captains Log: Stardate 56324.9
Commander Madden surveyed the information on the PADD for the hundredth time as he took a final swig of coffee. The now cold beverage made Madden cringe, and he stood up from his table in Enterprise's forward Mess, walked over to the replicator, discarded his old cup and requested another. The computer responded almost instantaneously, and Martin hefted the cup of steaming brew and returned to his seat.
Enterprise had been in the CN-16 system for a few hours now. Long enough for Madden to collect the final data necessary for his briefing in four hours. It was his job to outline search and exploration patterns for the crew to implement, and he wanted to make sure that resources were used efficiently. After a final analysis, Martin began compiling his briefing.
"What are you working on?" came a voice from across the table. Martin jerked back, startled. He hadn't noticed anyone else sit down. He looked up at his unexpected visitor.
The first thing he noticed about the woman standing before him was her beauty. White blond hair, piercing eyes, milky white skin, and...there was something oddly familiar about her. He knew she wasn't a crew member, and since the Enterprise wasn't carrying civilians at the moment his hand should have been flying to his comm-badge to call security. There was something about this woman though that stayed his hand.
"Who are you?" he managed to ask after a moment. The woman simply smiled.
"Who do you want me to be?" she teased. As she spoke, something began to sound off in Madden's head. It was a faint buzzing, accompanied by...music? What was going on. He held a hand to his head, trying but failing to turn off the music. The woman just continued to smile, though now the expression was tinged with a slight sadness. Suddenly, his vision grew fuzzy, and he found it difficult to breathe.
From behind the bar, Guinan observed the exchange. Nobody else in the room had taken notice of the stunning blond woman who had appeared out of nowhere, so Guinan just watched as a few words were exchanged, then Commander Madden's breathing became forced and irregular. That's when the other patrons started to take notice. Guinan called for a medical team and rushed over to the Enterprise's XO, just as he toppled sideways out of his chair and collapsed to the deck. The blond woman made no move, though she did look right at Guinan, and smiling said, "he'll be alright." Then, as if Guinan had blinked, the woman disappeared.