Chapter 11

Part I

"We've reached the outpost you requested, sir." Crosis spoke quietly to Lore, whose shoulder was turned to him.

In the event of external war involving foreign nations, the Federation cannot intervene; they have a strict policy of political detachment. But the Federation could never ignore an attack on their own territory. Lore smirked.

They began beaming aboard the station in groups of ten. "Kill everyone." He spoke the words in a flash of satisfying anger. The drones did not question him, only robotically following orders. They were armed with heavy black plasma weapons which had been attached to their mechanical appendages. It was a ruthless kind of weapon, Ferengi in design, and killed its victims slowly.

The few security personnel posted on the station were the first to resist and were the first to be annihilated. Many of the younger female officers screamed in horror at the sight of the Borg raging through the station. The smell of burned flesh reeked in the air. Lore paced gracefully around the chaos as the screams faded into white noise and his focus hazed out. He heard nothing and felt nothing, standing by idly as his victims were executed.

A drone at communications spoke. "The outpost was able to send out a distress signal before we could raise the dampening field."

Lore smirked. "Good."

"I wouldn't be surprised if a Federation ship were to arrive shortly."

Lore turned towards him. "I'm counting on it."

The sensors on their ship picked up a galaxy class starship dropping out of warp in the sector. Lore returned from the station in a weak effort to conceal his identity.

"Sir! They are hailing us." Lore shook his head, suppressing his amusement for the moment.

"The Starfleet officers are beaming onto the station… We have an incoming communication from the team."

"Biological life form… human… Biological life form… klingon." Lore's smirk widened. "Artificial life form. Starfleet rank, lieutenant commander; name, Data."

"That's him." Lore whispered under his breath, and then addressed the crew. "Alright, beam the remaining team members aboard."

The ship disengaged its weapons system and opened a rip in space, hurtling through in a blink of light.

Within less than an hour, Lore had taken down the entire outpost with a small team of conditioned Borg. Lore imagined what more he could accomplish with a mere thousand individuals. He ran his thumb over the arm of his chair, his jaw ticking. His head was light and the taste of power was bitter and metallic in his mouth. It felt euphoric to be in control. He could only think about the next time he would flex this new-found authority.

"Red alert! All hands battle stations!" Riker's crystal clear voice rang throughout the ship's comm system in a flood and red warning lights flashed on all decks.

On the bridge, Data found that they were closing on the Borg ship attacking a second outpost. Data did not feel anxiety or fear but he could feel a sense of apprehension as he admired the ship. It was somewhat cubic in nature but was asymmetrical in appearance. An interestingly ironic design for the uniform nature of the Borg continuum.

"Sensors are detecting a subspace distortion forming directly ahead of the Borg ship."

"Mr. LaForge! Forward all emergency power and shields to the impulse engines!" Picard took a deep breath. "They're not going to get away this time."

"Impulse engines operating at 125%. Within phaser range in 10 seconds."

The Borg ship vanished into a clip of light.

"Sir, we appear to be caught in some kind of energy matrix." Data's eyes flashed in superhuman speed over the view panel. "Inertial dampeners failing."

"Shields failing."

"We are being pulled inside." The Enterprise shuddered violently and the intense light which had encased the Borg ship yawned, enveloping the Enterprise as well.

Data counted five… ten… fifteen seconds before the vortex winked out into blackness. "We have returned to normal space."

"Shields are down to 15% The Borg ship is coming about." Worf stressed from his station.

"On screen." Picard stood from his chair, straightening his uniform as he did. Simultaneously, the Borg vessel fired a photon torpedo just as two Borg drones beamed directly aboard the bridge.

The security officer reacted immediately firing off a shot and missing the Borg by inches. In two swift moves, Worf took down the second drone, and the drone which had initially attacked, rendering them both unconscious.

He then checked his sensors. "The Borg ship is gone."

Crosis stared up at the ceiling of his holding cell. He was on the Enterprise, the flagship where Lore's brother was commissioned as an officer. Lore had spoken of recruiting Data into their revolution. He could only assume that this was why he had been beamed aboard in the first place.

Crosis watched in interest as the door hissed open and Lore's identical brother stepped into detainment, wearing a Starfleet uniform of a higher rank. Ambition obviously ran through the family. Data was running tricorder scans, ignoring the Borg captive completely.

Crosis stood from his cot, speaking to Data. "You are not like the others. You do not have to be destroyed. You can be assimilated."

"I do not wish to be assimilated."

"Resistance is futile. You will not resist what you have wanted all your life…

I was like you once...without feeling. But the One helped me. He can help you too, help you find emotion. Have you ever felt emotion Data?"

Data's eyebrows knitted together. "Yes." He almost sounded ashamed. "…On Ohniaka III I was forced to kill a Borg. I got angry."

"How did it feel to get angry? Did you find pleasure in the experience?"

"It would be unethical to take pleasure in another being's death."

"You didn't answer my question. Did it feel good to kill?"

Data turned, chewing on the inside of his cheek. "Yes."

"If it is so unethical to take pleasure in another being's death, then you must be a very unethical person."

"No. That is not correct. My creator gave me a program which defines my sense of right and wrong. In essence, I have a conscience."

"Well. It didn't seem to be functioning on Ohniaka III."

"Please step away from the force field." Data's voice trembled.

"You must have enjoyed it… watching the life drain from your victim."

"It was a very… potent experience." He barely whispered.

"Would you like to feel that way again?"

Data felt a sharp stab of longing and pushed aside any feelings of guilt still nagging deep in his mind. "I… Yes."