A blast of energy ripped through at least 10 decks of the cube and destroyed several thousand alcoves. Mindless Borg drones by the score were released in one strike by the Enterprise. Phoenix could feel the pain of his brethren as their minds screamed out in joy and agony one last time. The new absence in the number of voices weakened him a little. Had he been partially organic, like the rest of the Borg, his emotions would not have been such a liability as a word to a fully artificial life-form like himself.

I told you I will resist you. You cannot succeed.

"We are Borg" he stated very stoically to his reflection, "resistance is futile, failure is irrelevant. We will succeed."

I have already proven my ability to beat you. Soon, other ships will come and you will fail, here.

"You overestimate your abilities and underestimate mine."

Perhaps, but that remains to be seen.

xxx

Dr. Crusher rushed in to date is old quarters and nearly fell to her knees. B4 lay there, quivering and sometimes thrashing about. If he wasn't an android, she would have sworn he was having some type of seizure.

"Tell me what happened," she barked to the security ensign.

"I don't know exactly," he began nervously. "He was sitting at the table quietly entertaining himself and watching the cat when he just fell to the floor and screamed."

B4 stopped quivering and sat up. As quickly as it started, it had stopped.

"Tell the captain to watch for the capsules that move fast there are bugs in them" B4 said.

Dr. Crusher and the security ensign stared at him and then shared a bewildered look. Crusher looked back at B4 and try to make sense of him.

"The capsules that move fast, B4? What are those?"

B4 looked up at her with a child's innocence.

"You know, the ones that go boom when they hit a target."

The ensign got up from the floor and looked at Crusher.

"Torpedoes?"

Crusher looked back at him in horror.

"Crusher to Picard, I think the Borg have a new weapon."

xxx

"Captain, we've caused moderate damage to 30 to 35 of the cube. A more direct hit might have destroyed it. Why did you suddenly change the target?"

Number One looked almost angry, if not confused.

"I have my reasons and no the Borg are not controlling. I do hear their thoughts, but I am in complete control."

"If you say so, sir" the XO replied.

The bridge crew watched as the Atlas made another run and concentrated its phasers and photons on the area damaged by the Enterprise. Soon, a large group of ships appeared and surrounded the cube--the rest of the fleet.

A flurry of energy beams ran out from the cube and finally found the Triumph, a powerful Defiant-class ship. The Triumph shot the cube with its pulse phasers and broke free.

"Crusher to Picard!"

The doctor's voice demanded attention.

"Yes, Doctor?"

"B4 has been injured. He's fine, but he said something very strange about 'the tubes that have bugs in them'. I believe the Borg have a new weapon and they can assimilate a ship without beaming on board, just fire the nanoprobes with a torpedo."

Picard understood in a moment and was horrified at the implications. Data knew about the method Voyager had used in the Delta Quadrant to defeat Species 8472; a liberated Borg had helped develop it.

"Understood Doctor, keep me informed. Lieutenant, get me Admiral Nechayev."

The Admiral's stern visage once again graced the view screen seconds later. Smoke and electrical arcs from damaged systems danced in the background. The Galaxy had taken some hard punches.

"Yes, Captain?"

"I think the Borg have developed a very powerful new weapon which could allow them to easily assimilate an entire starship."

Nechayev frowned. "Is this information from your connection with the Borg?"

"No, not this time, Admiral."

"Very well, Captain, I read you. All ships, do not become captured at all costs. If the Borg assimilate an entire ship, the danger becomes even greater. At you discretion, Captains, activate self-destruct or destroy a ship that may have been compromised. Nechayev out."

xxx

Brother, I have a job for you. You have to talk to Geordi.

B4 shook his head. His previous experience had left him still unsure about his surroundings.

Brother, you can tell Dr. Crusher, it's all right. Tell them to stop fighting.

"OK, brother."

The same security ensign looked up. Crusher did too. With Geordi busy in engineering at the height of a major battle, she didn't know what she could do for him but, she didn't feel comfortable leaving B4.

"Did you say something, B4?"

B4 smiled. His emotion chip was a prototype of the chip Data took from Lore, but it wasn't an exact match of his brother's. In fact, sometimes it functioned almost too well.

"Yes, my brother says I should talk to Geordi about something."

Crusher stood up and walked to stand beside the childish android.

"B4, how can your brother say something to you. Data is dead."

B4 cocked his head to one side, confused.

"Captain Picard says my brother is not dead, he is just not well right now. I do not understand how my brother can speak to me, but he talks to me and he says we should stop the fighting for now. He says Geordi can help me with something. Can I talk with Geordi now?"

Crusher looked at the golden eyes of the android in front of her. She didn't know how, but she trusted B4.

"I'll see what I can do."

xxx

"Admiral, I don't understand it either, but I'm telling you, they are not going to Romulus. I think Phoenix has suddenly devised another plan and we need to prepare."

Nechayev still sat in her command chair. Sparks continued to fly periodically around her. The Galaxy, along with several ships, had taken a heavy beating. Most of them were still functional, but some of them, many with old friends of Picard's, drifted lifeless in space.

"Captain," came a call from behind Picard, "I'm getting some new readings from the cube. I think they're powering up for a trans-warp conduit."

The cube started moving and fired shots at ships as it passed by. Finally, it shot out two torpedoes, striking two smaller ships. Picard watched in horror as several new things sprouted out at odd angles on the exterior of the ships. The stricken ships began to take on a more angular shape, cubical in some area and almost spherical in others and all the new additions mirrored the Borg ship in color. The final results looked like bizarre geometric shapes drawn by a someone who had no concept of form. The comm. channel flared to life as the screams of the crews of those ships echoed in Picard's ears and those of the entire bridge crew. In minutes, both ships resembled misshapen cubes themselves and fell into formation behind the cube. The view screen blinked and Phoenix stood in front of them.

"Resistance is futile. As you can see, I now have other drones. Do not follow us, or you will be destroyed. If you wait here, though, I promise you an easy assimilation."

The cube streaked forward followed by the two assimilated ships and 250 new drones for the Borg.

"Captain, I need to see you in B4's quarters."

Picard tapped his badge.

"Yes, Doctor, but why now?"

"B4 is in contact with Data."

Picard felt a moment of hope.

"I'll be right there."