Chapter Twenty-Two
"Logically speaking," said Spock, "the best course of action at this point would be to evacuate the sector and seek whatever temporary shelter or shelters we could find." He glanced around the table. "Of course, logic is not the end of all things."
"We've collected every report on the Borg since their discovery – classified and otherwise – and still we can't find anything that will help us here," said Riker in irritation. "The closest thing we've got is a very highly classified report from Admiral Janeway. Apparently she picked up some knowledge of anti-Borg weaponry from the future. Until recently, it was under heavy classification due to the Temporal Prime Directive."
"In light of our current situation," said Picard, "I don't think that we have to worry about any visits from the Bureau of Temporal Investigations. After all, if the Borg win, they won't even be there to do anything about it."
"That worries me," I said. Everyone looked at me. "Well, if they aren't trying to stop us now, doesn't that tend to indicate that they already don't exist in the future?" No one answered for a moment.
"I don't think we're getting anywhere with this," Deanna said matter-of-factly. "Will, what did the report say?"
"Not much. The then Captain Janeway was able to modify her ships with ablative armor, which has somehow slipped through the cracks of Federation security, since all of our ships have been modified to include it. But Voyager was also outfitted with what were called transphasic torpedoes."
"Transphasic?" said Picard.
"The torpedo emits a high-intensity field around it, causing a constant random phase-shift. It was very effective because the Borg could not match their shield frequencies to compensate for it."
"What if that same idea were applied to quantum and quasar torpedoes?" I asked. They're a lot more powerful than a standard photon torpedo; they could do a lot more damage."
"Maybe," Riker said. There are only two problems with that. One is that the Borg have had time to analyze the weapons since Admiral Janeway last encountered them. The other is, of course, the sheer scope of what we're dealing with."
"Agreed," said Picard. "But it's a start at least. Can we get this information to the fleet in time?"
"Yes, that's no problem. The problem will be getting the clearance to use it. I spoke with Admiral Janeway this morning, and she said that the ablative armor was leaked because it was an entirely defensive technology. The transphasic torpedoes, on the other hand, are entirely offensive. The fear is that if they fell into the wrong hands, we might have more problems than just the Borg."
"It's a little late to be worrying about that, Will," said Picard.
"I know. Admiral Janeway said that she would be willing to give the information to the fleet, but that she would wait until the last possible moment to minimize the risk."
Picard rolled his eyes. "Bureaucratic nonsense," he muttered.
"What other possible options do we have at the moment?" Deanna asked. "I mean, how do you destroy something the size of a planet? Especially when that something is fighting back with unimaginable firepower?"
"Do you think," I asked, "that once they're all joined together, there will be some sort of weak spot? A joined reactor core maybe?"
"I doubt it," Picard said. "Knowing the Borg, each cube will act independently, while keeping its order through the hive mind. But it would be very helpful, possibly, to know what will be in the center of this sphere."
"It is logical to assume that the delivery agent for the Omega device will be housed there," said Spock. "I think that we may need to consider the possibility of using that to destroy them."
"Indeed," said Picard. "But if that device works on anywhere near the scale we think it does, we may destroy the entire sector with it."
"That might be a risk we have to take," said Riker. "But even if it could work, how the hell would we get inside there to destroy it?" No one answered. "The Borg know our strategies almost as well as we do. They'll be expecting us to attack there."
"I think that we're still overlooking something very significant here. There's a piece of the puzzle missing," said Picard.
"Several, mon capitaine," said a voice from the far end of the table. We turned our faces toward a brilliant flash of light, coalescing and then dying out to reveal a human form.
"It would appear," he said, "that I have arrived as if on Q."
