Chapter Eight

"Evasive maneuvers!" I roared, jumping from my chair. "Get us out of range of their weapons." The stars shifted as the Ascension obeyed, moving past the whole cube toward the damaged one. The bridge shook a little as the first cube fired, raking our shields. "Report!" I said, clutching the arm of my chair and sitting back down.

"Hit to the ventral side, sir. Shields holding at ninety-seven percent," Johnstone said. The turbolift doors opened, and I turned to see Spock coming onto the bridge, his hands characteristically folded behind his back. How does he keep his balance? He assumed the chair on my left, where the counselor I apparently didn't have yet would normally have sat.

"Welcome to the fight, Mr. Spock. Mr. Newman, what's going on with the rest of the fleet?" Tex checked his station.

"They're firin' on the first cube, Cap'n."

"I suggest we do the same," Jerry said.

"Acknowledged. Helm, bring us about. Lock on and fire at will." Tex grinned.

"My pleasure, Cap'n." Without warning, a light blinked on my chair console, indicating that a channel had been opened. Suddenly…

We are the Borg. Lower your weapons. You will be assim…

"Cram it!" I shouted, slamming my fist on the console and ending the transmission. "Mr. Newman, please continue." We came about to face the cube from behind, phaser beams dancing across its hull from the various starships in the fleet. Flashes of light from exploding torpedoes turned the eternal night of space into a planet-less day for brief moments. I saw several bluish-white points of light fly at the cube from beneath the primary hull of the Ascension, as well as several phaser blasts.

"Report," I said again, feeling a little awkward but not really knowing how else to say it.

"The cube has sustained some damage, but not much," Julie said flatly. Resisting the urge to look at her, I opted instead to lean forward and stare at the other cube as we approached it.

"And this ship?" I asked. "What's its status?" I heard the beeping response of the keys on her console as she checked.

"It's still heavily damaged, but it seems to be repairing itself."

"Why isn't it firing?" Jerry asked.

"Good question." I sat back. The answer to that would have to wait. "Helm, bring us about."

"Aye, Cap'n." Swiftly, the other cube came into our field of vision. Small explosions were forming on its outer skin from numerous phaser and torpedo blasts.

"Jerry, what's the status of the fleet?" I asked. Before he could answer I knew that the news was not going to be good. At the edge of the battle, one starship hung limp in space, a few emergency lights the only illumination to prove its existence in the cold dark void.

"Heavy casualties aboard the Hugo and the Paganini." He looked up at me with a horror I had never seen him express. "Captain, the Scandinavia is dead in the water, and…"

"Yes?" Jerry looked sick.

"And she's being boarded." My heart plummeted into my stomach. I gripped the armrests of my chair.

"Open a channel to them," I said. "Starship Scandinavia, this is Captain Allen of the Ascension. Do you require assistance?"

Static. Then nothing. The transmission was still active, but there was only silence on the line, as if…"

"Take us within transporter range, Mr. Newman," I said.

"But Cap'n," he protested, "we won't know if we're beamin' up people that've been 'similated or not!"

"Beyond that, we can't risk dropping our shields," Jerry reminded me. I thought about this for a moment.

"You heard me, Mr. Newman." Tex sighed and turned back to his station.

"Aye, Cap'n." The Ascension began to cut through the crossfire, and immediately consoles began beeping as other starships signaled for us to move out of the line of fire. Once or twice we were rocked by a blast from the cube, but within a minute, we were on the other side of the battle and at the Scandinavia's side. Spock, who had been silent during the entirety of the conversation and subsequent action, leaned over.

"What you are attempting is unadvisable, Captain." I looked at him; his face betrayed no emotion.

"Spock, we can't just leave those people to be assimilated," I countered.

"It would be illogical to drop shields in the midst of a conflict, Captain. The Borg are quite adept at boarding ships swiftly. Even a small amount of time could be enough to seal the fate of your ship. It is only logical…"

"I understand, Mr. Spock. Your logic is flawless as always, but…" I stared ahead.

The damage looked much worse up close. The Intrepid class vessel had all but lost the port nacelle. Several of the upper decks were exposed to the vacuum of space. Debris, some of which resembled sickeningly the remains of human bodies, littered the space around the small ship.

"Survivors?" I breathed.

"Twenty-four," came Johnstone's even voice. "I'm not sure how many of those are Borg, though. Scanners are picking up several very strong bioelectric readings, but it's impossible to say how many of them are actually assimilated."

"Understood. Bridge to transporter room three. Can you get a lock on the survivors aboard the Scandinavia?"

"Affirmative, Captain." It was Perez. Jerry leaned over to me.

"If you beam them aboard and even half of them are assimilated…"

"Assemble a security team in transporter room three," I said, cutting him off. Jerry looked at me for a moment, and then rose from his chair.

"Aye, Captain." He left.

"They will anticipate what you are doing, Captain," Spock said.

"Hail the Ascension," I said. Admiral Heaton appeared, looking nervous in his command chair. "Admiral," I began, "the Scandinavia is…"

"We've got bigger fish to fry than that, Allen. We've got to get out of here."

"But sir, we can't just leave…"
"This attack was a decoy, Captain Allen!" Heaton shouted, rising from his chair. "These cubes were sent to keep us focused on this spot! Meanwhile, the bastards have sneaked in through the back door!"

"He's right, Captain," said Weston from her station. "We've just received reports of the Borg attacking Vulcan."

"Vulcan!" I looked over at Spock. He merely arched an eyebrow at the news. "Why would they be attacking Vulcan?"

"It doesn't matter why they're attacking it," Heaton said angrily. "It matters that they are attacking it!" His image flickered a little as the Byzantium was rocked by another blast. "Head for Vulcan, maximum warp! Leave these Borg bastards behind!" His face suddenly filled with sadness. "And leave the Scandinavia. They're probably all assimilated by now anyway. Heaton out." He disappeared, and the screen was once again filled with the tragic sight of the Scandinavia. Dozens of starships were still engaging the Borg. One by one, however, they were turning and jumping to warp in the direction of Vulcan. For the moment, the Borg seemed to be ignoring us.

"Bridge to Commander Foster. Jerry, are you guys ready down there?" Most of the bridge crew turned around and looked at me in amazement, but I noted with pride that none of them said anything.

"As ready as we're gonna get, Captain. We've got force fields in place, but if any of them tries to go through the field, we're going to have to fire on them."

"Understood. Do what you can. Ensign Perez, are you ready?"

"Yes, Captain." Her voice was shaky. I looked over at Spock.

"We can't always do the logical thing, right?"

"Indeed." I turned and took a final look at the Scandinavia. "I'm about to violate our orders a bit. If anyone has any objections…"

"I object, sir." It was the voice of Weston.

"I thought you might. It will be noted in my log." I turned to Spock again. "And you, Mister Spock?" He was silent for a brief moment.

"Perhaps we have found another instance where the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few." I nodded, and then pressed the communications button.

"Lower shields and energize." As I said it, I watched the Borg cube firing at multiple fleeing targets, still taking hits from their ventral sides. Seconds were like hours, but I resisted the urge to get impatient. Finally…

"All survivors aboard, Captain," I heard Jerry say.

"How many of them…"

"Only four are still human, sir." The silence was thick for a moment.

"And the others?"

"They're restrained for the moment, Captain, but…"

"Good. Keep them that way. Allen out." I stood. "Helm, lay in a course for Vulcan. Maximum warp."

"Aye, sir."

"Sir!" Johnstone turned to face me. "During the beaming process, the computer picked up an energy reading on deck eleven."

"Shit! How many drones?"

"I can't tell exactly yet, but it looks like at least twenty of them." I pounded the armrest of my chair.

"Evacuate and seal off deck eleven and post security teams at all entrances and exits. Mr. Newman, engage our new course and get us to Vulcan."

"Aye, Cap'n." I turned to Spock.

"Any thoughts you have on this matter that don't have to do with how stupid I am would be greatly appreciated." If he had burst into laughter at that moment, it would have surprised me no less than his answer.

"The Borg are vulnerable to certain things, Captain. There is a certain…maneuver that I have always wanted to try."

"Be my guest," I said. Spock rose from his chair and approached Julie's station.

"Lieutenant, isolate the environmental controls for deck eleven."

"Aye, sir," Julie said, staring at her console for a long moment. Finally, she seemed to find what he was talking about and complied. Spock fixed his stare on her station, but spoke over his shoulder to me.

"I am attempting to utilize the ship's internal environmental capabilities to incapacitate the Borg drones."

"How?" I asked. I knew that the ship had been specifically designed to be able to accommodate members of various species with differing environmental demands, but I saw no immediate relation between that and the situation at hand. Meanwhile, I felt the slight inertial pull of the Ascension going into warp. Admiral Heaton was not going to be happy about this…

"I am increasing the ionic activity in the atmosphere of deck eleven." He began tapping at one of the science station panels. "I will then release an electrical surge from one of the EPS conduit taps on that deck. Given the bioelectric properties of a Borg drone, I believe they will make excellent conductors of the ensuing discharge."

"You're going to electrocute them?" I asked. Spock raised an eyebrow.

"Essentially, Captain. Yes." Despite the gravity of the situation, I felt the corners of my mouth turn up a little.

"That, Mr. Spock, is one of the greatest ideas I've ever heard. Please continue." Spock turned once again to the monitor, and made the final preparations.

"Bridge to security team…" I stopped and turned my head to Weston. "Which team is covering deck eleven?" I asked. I could have sworn she rolled her eyes.

"Team two, sir."

"Very good. Bridge to security team two."

"Security here, sir."

"We're going to attempt to incapacitate the Borg drones in a few moments. Be prepared to move in when I tell you to."

"Aye, Captain."

"And if you can, try to relocate any survivors to the brig."

"Unwise, Captain," Spock said. "The Borg have been known to deactivate force fields from within, and at times even be immune to their effect entirely."

"True, Mr. Spock, but the Ascension was built with that in mind. Starfleet has built a force field that not even the Borg can escape."

"But it has yet to be tested on any actual Borg drones," Spock countered.

"Well, that's just a risk we're going to have to take. If there's any chance of saving them, I want to do it. Besides…" I trailed off.

"Yes, Captain?"

"I want to know how the hell they showed up without being detected." I sat down. In a few moments, Spock turned away from the science station.

"It is ready, Captain."

"Good. Johnstone, put a part of deck eleven on screen." She did, and suddenly we were looking down one of the dark corridors of the Ascension. Borg drones shuffled slowly by in different directions. It gave me a chill to watch them.

"Ready whenever you are, Captain," Spock said. I looked into the face of one of the drones and saw absolutely nothing.

"Do it." Spock reached down and tapped the console, and suddenly a bright light filled the viewscreen. A giant arc of electricity shot down the hall, blasting through each drone as it went. I was somewhat relieved to realize that there weren't going to be very many survivors of this, if any. The drones fell to the ground in convulsions, jerking about mechanically for several seconds, and then lying perfectly still.


"No doubt about it, Captain. Their cubes were equipped with cloaking devices." Lieutenant Commander Kevin Demansky spoke. He had just introduced himself as my chief engineer, making sure to note in his introduction that I had yet to make an inspection of his immaculate Engineering section. He was a tall fellow, with sandy blonde hair and a squarish face. He looked like an engineer to me, standing over the still-prone figure of one of the Borg drones.

"I thought Borg ships were too big to employ cloaking technology," I said. Demansky nodded.

"They were until recently. But some new developments have been made in the field, and now apparently things are different."

"But where did they get it?" Demansky stared at the readout of the Borg's neuroprocessor.

"Judging by the technology signature I'm reading in some of the still-active memory functions, I'd say it was the Romulans."