Star Trek Hunter
Episode 26: Rain Over Rising Sun
Scene 22: The Borg King
26.22
The Borg King
The Borg King
Nine borg cubes were huddled in the midst of a vast wreckage of borg technology. These nine - damaged as they were - carried more than a billion borg drones among them. The ships surrounding this wreckage were small, not particularly powerful or advanced, but there were hundreds of them. They were still no match for the borg, even in their current state of disrepair. When challenged by the approach of one of the cubes they would retreat. But they maintained the perimeter - keeping the borg hemmed in - awaiting reinforcements.
But the hundreds of millions of borg in these cubes had an advantage that was an entirely unique experience for them - they had an ally.
Floating inside one of the cubes, apparently impervious to gravity fields, was a creature the borg had never imagined. When Minerva had arrived, the borg responded the way they always responded to intelligent life forms - they tried to assimilate her. But Minerva’s genetics had been altered - she was impervious to the nanites.
There was no need for a borg drone to transport inside Minerva to converse with her inhabitants. They were able to converse directly through 3rd of 5, the emancipated borg drone known as Hugh. Minerva had grown an alcove for Hugh and the tubes connected to his head were connected directly into Minerva. He was evidently awake and alert - his eye moving, looking about the room. Mlady was curled up on the couch next to this alcove. A tendril extended out of Minerva’s wall. Mlady was idly chewing on it.
The blue lavardorn avatar sat on the other side of Hugh. Minerva had grown a small divan in front of Hugh’s alcove, providing seating that allowed the entire group to face one another. Old Man (Wesley) Crusher, alien Bob (a.k.a. “the Traveler”) and Dr. Tali Shae were seated on this divan, facing Hugh. Dr. Prometheus (the former Emergency Medical Holigram for the U.S.S. Voyager) was standing nearby. Rear Admiral Sarekson Carrera, now completely bald, paced like a nervous chihuahua around this small divan.
Hugh was speaking, but it was clear he was speaking for the borg – his voice was flat and mechanical and he was stumbling over his words. “We want to assimilate Species 1784 but they Species 1784 they shield their ships. New frequencies difficult to match. They adapt when we do.”
“Who is Species 1784?” asked Old Man Crusher.
In response, Minerva focused on one of the small ships that had the borg vessels hemmed in. Minerva’s avatar spoke for her. “They call themselves mysun. In appearance they are not too dissimilar from ferengi. Their technology is not much more advanced than the first few generations of Star Fleet ships.”
“The borg should be eating these guys for lunch,” said Wesley. “Why can’t they keep up with simple shield frequency adaptations?”
Hugh responded haltingly on behalf of the borg, his vocal style changing randomly - as though several individuals were trying to reply at once, “We decisions not together, too slow. No focus. No order.”
“They have not adapted to operating without a queen,” said alien Bob. “They didn’t always have one – she came to them about 600 years ago. They have forgotten how to act as a collective without a single will focusing and driving them. A single purpose.”
“Is there any chance of them re-learning how to actually be a collective?” asked the Doctor.
“We don’t have that kind of time,” said Rear Admiral Carrera. “They were designed to work as a cooperative, but that code is not only corrupted – by now most of it is probably missing entirely. Their queen would have removed it from their base code to consolidate her power.”
“Then how?” asked the Doctor.
“They need another queen,” said Crusher.
“We can’t give them a queen,” intoned Dr. Tali Shae. “The changes Mlady made to my metabolism, to my genetic structure, repulse borg nanites. Or any nanites. Mlady has already changed Minerva’s genetics too, which is why the borg got nowhere trying to assimilate her.”
“I exist here strictly as patterns of light,” said the avatar.
“If we can’t give them a queen,” said Crusher, “how about we give them a king?”
“If they were to take me, I would just become another drone,” said alien Bob.
“There is only one of us here who can master the borg and give them direction,” said Carrera.
“How long will it take to make the modifications?” asked Tali Shae.
“Maybe an hour?” The Doctor mused.
Crusher ran his fingers through his long, gray hair. “Let’s hope we have that much time…”
26 – Rain Over Rising Sun
The adventure continues in Episode 27: Sword of Destiny
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