*Authors note – Will I ever finish this? *giggles insanely*
Chapter 12 – Turning Point
Picard sat staring at the image on the view screen. It currently depicted the Borg/Species 8472 hybrid vessel which was dragging the Enterprise deeper into the Badlands. Their destination remained a mystery but there seemed to be nothing they could do to prevent it.
The Enterprise had maintained minimal damage so far plus no Borg had attempted to beam on board; a mysterious tactic that Riker had referred to as, 'Bloody ignorant.' Picard agreed. The Borg had always thought themselves superior. They virtually ignored other beings unless they were deemed a threat but this new generation of Borg seemed to have an even bigger superiority complex. Picard believed the Borg were so confident the Enterprise would not be able to break away that they did not have to beam on board and disable the ship… not yet anyway.
Picard could only speculate on the Borg's intentions. Although he could sense the faint whisperings of the Collective, he could not quite hear what they were saying, as if something were deliberately filtering him out of the conversation.
So far the Borg's tactics seemed justified. The Enterprise had been unable to force the Borg to disengage their tractor beam. The organic part of the cube withstood phaser attack long enough for the Borg to adapt to it, the same had been so for quantum torpedoes and the various different energy beams the Enterprise could project from its deflector array.
Although not yet captured or destroyed the Defiant and the Delta Flyer were being dragged deeper into the Badlands as well. They could not get close enough to the Enterprise to assist, but it seemed that neither were they being allowed to break off and escape.
A tiny speck on the viewscreen caught Picard's attention. As Data and the others were busy configuring the deflector for a new escape attempt, Picard manually highlighted the speck and set the magnification to maximum. The viewscreen zoomed in on the image and displayed a large Borg structure, a structure that was again a merger of two species ship designs. It was not like anything catalogued in the computer's database but this was not surprising considering they were dealing with a new generation of Borg.
What was obvious was that this structure was their destination. Picard had a feeling time would run out for them all when they reached it. Riker noticed the image on the view screen. He and the rest of the bridge crew quickly came to the same conclusion as Picard, but Picard was still distracted. There was something about this new Borg but he could not quite work out what it was that was bothering him.
"Mr Data," began Picard. He was hoping that by voicing his thoughts, Data would work his usual magic and come up with an answer. "How is it that the Borg managed to transmit their usual 'greeting message' into our minds?"
"I have several theories Sir," replied Data. "They are highly advanced; they could have developed technology to project communications through a range of sub space frequencies which resonates with our brain wave patterns.
No, that did not sound right to Picard.
"Could they have assimilated a species with telepathic abilities?"
"I did consider the possibility sir. However the Borg already have telepathic abilities which allows them to communicate with each other when linked. Starfleet expert theorise this was gained from assimilating several species with telepathic traits and designing technology to enhance their range. "
The image in the viewscreen was getting larger and Picard was dismayed to see several more Borg vessels in orbit around the large structure. They only had a few more minutes to escape.
"Data, did you hear their message?" asked La-Forge.
"I did not. But my Positronic brain would not resonate at any.."
"If anyone hasn't noticed" interrupted Riker. "We're in trouble here. I fail to see how any of this is relevant."
Picard finally came to the conclusion that had been eluding him. The more he thought about it, the more the telepathic angle made sense. If only Troi had been here he was sure he would have come to this conclusion earlier.
"Because Number 1" Picard replied. "If they can project their thoughts telepathically then maybe they can read ours as well. Which means…."
Riker swore, "They knew everything we were about to try before we tried it."
He swore again. Picard ignored his second-in-commands colourful metaphors; he had an escape to plan but could not do so if there were potential eavesdroppers.
"Mr Data, presume that the Borg have developed the ability to project and read thoughts into our minds and come up with a defence."
Most people in Starfleet would have argued the possibility of such an order, but Data was not most people. He simply said, "Aye sir," and ran some scans while running a search for anything connected to telepathy."
Within seconds he had come up with and rejected three hundred possibilities. The scans had not come up with anything useful, so Data transported a Medical Tricorder from Sick Bay to scan the crew. His scans revealed some abnormal readings that matched several entries in his database. Moving over to another console, he input several commands and transmitted information over to the Defiant and Delta Flyer.
Riker thought that the Captain's order was too much to hope for, even though he had performed miracles before. When Data input the commands into the console however, he felt the air in the bridge change slightly. The hairs on his arm and on the back of his neck arose, as if there was a build up of static, then after a few moments, the feeling passed.
"What was that?" he asked.
Data scanned the crew again, but it was Picard who answered.
"The voices of the Collective, they are becoming quieter, more distant."
"I believe you will soon cease to hear them at all Captain, if my theory is correct. My scans revealed abnormal levels of melatonin in your metabolism. In the human body the centre for the production of melatonin is the pineal gland."
"What has the pineal gland have to do with Telepathy?" asked Picard.
"Vulcan's have a very similar, although far more developed version of the pineal gland which is the centre of their telepathic abilities," explained Data, "In the rare cases of humans developing telepathy, they have found that they have overactive pineal glands."
"The Third Eye," commented Lieutenant Mudd.
"The what?" said La Forge.
"My grandfather was into the supernatural," explained Mudd, "and said that the pineal gland was referred to as The Third Eye by ancient mystics."
Data checked his historical data banks. "Yes, it is fascinating to note that humans connected the pineal gland to telepathy, thousands of years ago, without having access to medical technology that could prove…."
"Mr Data, " interrupted Picard, "we don't have a lot of time, so could you please get to the point?"
"Sorry Sir. I believe the Borg are using their abilities to stimulate your pineal glands and, therefore, make you more receptive to telepathy. "
"The voices or the Borg are almost gone, I take it you have come up with a way to block this telepathic stimulation?" asked Picard
"I believe so sir. The pineal gland is also a magneto receptor, capable of monitoring magnetic fields, and helping to align the human body in space. I temporarily created a ship wide electromagnetic field to suppress the activity of the pineal gland and reduce melatonin production. This should, in theory, reverse the effects of the Borg's stimulation."
Picard could no longer hear the collective, he informed the crew and Data confirmed that he had passed on his findings to Sisko and Chakotay.
"Is this a temporary defence?" asked Picard.
"As long as we monitor your melatonin levels and create more electromagnetic fields if necessary, we should be able to block their telepathic probings indefinitely," replied Data. "I must point out however, that I would expect your sleeping patterns will be disrupted for the next few days."
That is the least of my worries, thought Picard as he glanced at the viewscreen. The bridge crew sprang into action again, experimenting with more ways to try and break free of the tractor beam. Now that Picard could concentrate on the problem at hand, he suddenly remembered when the Borg had last tried to assimilate his ship.
He had been stood on the holodeck, holding a machine gun that was spewing fire at two Borg drones. The drones fell back as bullets tore into their bodies, unable to adapt a weapon that did not emit an energy signature. Picard remembered thinking at the time that a blunt force solution was the best offence, and maybe that was what he needed now.
"Number One, plot a course for the Defiant's position and be ready to engage at maximum impulse."
"Aye Sir!"
Riker made his way over to helm control without questioning the Captain's orders, or asking for any explanation.
"Mr Mudd, load all aft torpedo bays with Quantum torpedoes, " ordered Picard, as he transferred shuttle autopilot controls to the bridge and began to input a complex series of command parameters.
The shuttle bay was currently unmanned with power levels at a minimum but as Picard executed his commands, the three shuttles stationed there hummed to life as their emergency start-up routines were initiated. Picard input his security clearance code to override the shuttle's safety protocols, and engaged a feed back loop on the plasma flow that would cause a rapid build up of warp power.
The bay doors opened and the three shuttles glided out. As soon as they passed through the environmental fields that stopped the cold vacuum of space from sweeping into the Enterprise, Picard activated their shields and set their impulse engine output to one hundred and seventy percent. Overpowering the impulse engines by such an extent would mean that they would become dangerously unstable within seconds; but seconds was all he needed.
Picard realised that if Data's theory was wrong and the Borg could still read his thoughts, his plan was doomed to fail but he had no other choice. Once clear of the Enterprise, Picard engaged the impulse engines and they shot towards the Borg cube on a collision course, faster then a speeding torpedo.
Energy beams shot out from the cube in an attempt to capture or destroy the shuttles, but they were moving too fast and Picard was pleased to see that his attack had not been foreseen. A few seconds later, all three shuttles collided with the cube. As their shields buckled under the impact and the out hulls collapsed, the warp drives reached critical mass causing the cores to breech.
Organic material burned and the interlacing bionic matter melted as the Borg Cube suffered the devastating impact of three simultaneous warp core explosions. Back on the Enterprise, Riker put out a ship wide alert, warning the crew to brace themselves for impact. Moments later, the energy wave created from the explosion rocked the Enterprise. The hull groaned under the stress, integrity fields tried to compensate from the increased strain and several power conduits exploded but as the energy wave passed, damage control showed that the ship had suffered little damage.
The Borg Cube had not been so lucky. The explosions had ripped through its hull and the damage was having a cumulative effect throughout the cube as systems went down and drone activity was diverted to repairing critical components. More importantly, the attack had done enough damage to force the Borg to disengage their tractor beam.
As the beam holding the Enterprise dissolved, Picard leaned forward briefly examining the damage to the Borg cube on the viewscreen. Then, as Riker swung the Enterprise about and engaged the impulse engines, he quickly examined the sensor readings. Satisfied, he approached the weapons console and called up a schematic of the damaged cube.
"Target these areas," he instructed Lieutenant Mudd, pointing out sections of the cube that had sustained the most damage, "and fire."
"Aye, aye Sir!" said Mudd, with understandable enthusiasm.
As the Enterprise streaked away, four quantum torpedoes shot out from the aft torpedo bays. The Borg had been desperately trying to repair the damage to their outer hull. Organic tissue stretched in an attempt to seal the holes in the Borg's armour, which had been ripped open by the warp explosions. But their efforts were too late to stop the quantum torpedoes from finding their way through these gaps, and explode deep inside the cube. Already badly damaged, the Borg cube could not withstand this new barrage of attack. The destruction caused by the quantum torpedoes initiated a chain reaction of explosions and power surges all over the cube until the main power core exploded, ripping the cube apart.
Captain Sisko and Commander Chakotay had been playing a deadly game of cat & mouse with several of the smaller cone shaped ships, based on the design favoured by Species 8472, but like the Borg Cubes, these ships incorporated a blend of organic, interlaced with bionic materials.
Ever since the Enterprise had been captured, both the Defiant and the Delta flyer had not been able to get close enough to assist the Enterprise, nor had they been able to escape. Sisko had been able to maintain contact with Chakotay as the Borg had not made any apparent efforts to block their communications. Even though this allowed them to co-ordinate their efforts, it had made little difference to their situation; they were still being herded like sheep, deeper into the Badlands.
Chakotay had the impression that the Borg were playing with them, as he noted several occasions when the Borg should have had them but they had either totally missed, or not attacked at all. Sisko was inclined to agree, especially when he tried to ram one of the ships and it had pulled away at the last moment.
Then they had received the transmission from Data and it had finally all made sense: the Borg were reading their minds. After quickly initialising an electromagnetic field of their own, Sisko noticed a slight delay in the Borg's reaction time. Their ships did not respond as quickly as before and Chakotay actually managed to fool one ship into colliding with another, leaving them both intact but dangling lifelessly in space.
Despite this slight advantage, it seemed that their situation had not changed much. They still couldn't assist the Enterprise, nor stop themselves from being herded deeper into the badlands. That was until the Borg Cube dragging the Enterprise exploded.
"Yeah har! Strike one up for the good guys," exclaimed Sisko.
"Commander," said Chakotay over the intercom, "check out the Borg ships, they seem a bit confused."
Sisko checked the viewscreen and the scanners. Chakotay was right. Some of the ships chasing the Defiant had stopped, while some had veered off in the wrong direction. The destruction of the cube seemed to have distracted them.
"I don't know how long this will last Mr Chakotay, but let's take advantage of it shall we!"
"I was getting bored of this party anyway," replied Chakotay. "There's a plasma funnel dead ahead, what's say you take the left and I take the right?"
"Excellent idea," replied Sisko as he rubbed his hands together.
The Defiant suddenly banked sharply, not away from the pursuing ships, but actually towards them, with the Delta flyer performing the same manoeuvre on the ships that had been following them. Both ships flew straight through the Borg, scattering them in all directions, before swerving back around and heading straight for the plasma funnel. This had the desired effect of making the less then co-ordinated Borg ships resume their pursuit. The Defiant headed towards the Plasma funnel from the left, while the Delta Flyer approached it from the right, both ships running at full speed with the Borg not far behind, both groups where now approaching the plasma funnel, but from opposite directions.
Anyone who has traversed through the Badlands needs to understand the nature of the massive plasma funnels that sweep and swerve throughout this sector of space, if you want to survive. The safest course is not to go anywhere near them, but that isn't always an option, especially if you are using the Badlands as a place to hide like the Marquis had, or if you are hunting the Marquis down, like the Federation and the Cardassians had.
Those pilots experienced enough, could safely traverse near a plasma funnel, as they could take into account the funnel's movements and estimate when exactly it would shift its position and, more importantly, where it would shift to. Those without the experience, or those that were just unlucky enough to fly past a funnel at the wrong time, rarely lived to learn from their mistake.
Sisko and Chakotay were both Badland experts. There were not many Marquis Commanders or Federation Captains who had clocked up more man hours navigating this area of space then they had. As the sped towards the plasma funnel, both of them adjusted speed and heading slightly so that they started to slowly curve towards each other's position. Their adjusted course meant that when they became only a few thousand kilometres away from the deadly funnel, the Delta Flyer whisked over the bow of the Defiant, missing it by mere inches, as it veered off to the left of the funnel and the Defiant veered off to the right. This manoeuvre momentarily confused the pursuing Borg, as each group suddenly found themselves either having to change targets, or risk colliding with each other to continue their pursuit. At the same time, the plasma funnel shifted orbit, with the bulk of its core now heading directly towards the Borg ships. The Defiant and the Delta Flyer, who previously had looked like they would be flying dangerously close to the outer rim of the funnel, suddenly found themselves in relatively safe space again.
The Borg recovered enough to try to escape. Most where engulfed in the plasma funnel however, as they tried to alter course too late, but some managed to pull back, and it looked like they would barely escape; that was until a barrage of photon torpedoes and phaser fire from the Enterprise knocked them off course, plunging them into the funnel to join their brethren in death.
"Good of you to join in!" commented Sisko after establishing a three-way link with the Enterprise and the Delta Flyer.
"My pleasure," replied Picard, "But I think more of our guests are on the way."
O'Brien had been working on boosting the scanners ever since they had arrived in the Badland. Checking them now, they showed numerous ships, closing in from all sides.
"They're bloody everywhere!" he exclaimed.
"Captain Picard, Captain Sisko" interjected Chakotay, "I believe I can get us out of the Badlands so we can warn everybody about this. It won't be an easy trip, even if we didn't have the Borg on our tail, but we have a better chance then staying around here."
"Agreed," said Picard and Sisko simultaneously.
"The follow me," said Chakotay playfully, "if you can!"
The Delta Flyer engaged its impulse drive boosters and set off at a furious pace, with the Defiant and the Enterprise both having to exceed safety limits on their engines just to keep up. Moments later, scores of Borg Cubes and cone shaped ships converged on the area where the battle had taken place. After briefly scanning the area, they sped off in pursuit of the fleeing Federation ships.