They had gathered in the observation lounge, to conclude the meeting that had begun a couple of hours before. Almost all the personnel from the previous meeting were present, with Commander Riker being the notable exception. He was still recovering from his phaser wound and Doctor Crusher had confined him to sickbay.
The was also a new participant, the holo-doctor from the Voyager, known only as The Doctor to the Voyager crew. Chakotay had requested that he be present, as he was at the senior staff meetings on Voyager. His mobile emitter gave him free reign of his surroundings. Apparently, he had discovered something about the sample of nanoprobes that Doctor Crusher had taken from the Borg cube.
"Doctor Crusher, how are our patients?" asked Picard, using a slightly more formal manner than usual.
"Will’s doing well, he should be fully recovered in an hour or so. But, there was nothing I could do for Ensign Zabryn, her injuries were too severe," answered Crusher.
Picard nodded. It was always hard to loose a member of the crew, even when that member had done something wrong. He turned to Data. "Do we have any idea of what she was attempting to do?"
"None sir. All she had done was to gain control of the primary systems. She had not actually done anything with her control when you disabled her," said Data.
"I guess we’ll never know what she was going to do now," said Chakotay.
"No," said Picard, taking a moment to compose himself. "Onto other business." Picard looked at the EMH. "Doctor?"
"I have looked at the nanoprobes that Doctor Crusher obtained. If you would all look at the monitor." He motioned to the large wall panel, where two images were showing Borg nanoprobes that had been magnified.
"The probes you see on the left are the sample from the cube. The probes on the right are a sample of normal probes, from Seven. As you can see, there is a slight difference. The genetic coding of the probes on the left has somehow been altered slightly. This is affecting the behaviour of everything on the cube. Both the drones and the cube’s systems. This is why they are malfunctioning.
"That’s the good news. Here’s the bad: the Borg, as always, are adapting. These nanoprobes on the left have almost fully integrated this change into their systems. In other words, they are becoming immune."
"How long before they recover?" asked Picard.
"Unfortunately, it’s impossible to say. I can tell you one thing, it will be soon. A couple of hours at the most."
"Okay. How are our defences?"
Harry spoke up. "Sir, we have faced Borg attacks on numerous occasions and we have always survived. We have incorporated Borg technology into some of our systems, which has helped fight off attacks. Although your ship is more advanced than ours, I am sure that the addition of these modifications can only help."
"Agreed," said Picard, nodding his head slightly as he spoke. "Get your people on it. I want you to work with Commander La Forge on this. Those modifications must be in place in an hour’s time."
"Yes, sir," said Harry.
"Dismissed," said Picard. He watched the senior staff of the Enterprise and the Voyager exit. One hour. Picard hoped that the Borg did not finish adapting before then, or they were in trouble.

On board the Devek, repairs had been completed. All crew were ready for orders. It had taken longer than expected to finish repairs to the ship, but they were finally done. The delays had greatly angered Revat, as he had not been able to take advantage of the comings and goings between the Federation ships. That was about to change. The next time they lowered their shields to transport someone, he would attack. He paid no heed to the Borg cube, it had been sitting in space motionless for hours and so was not an immediate threat.
Dakar turned from his station to look at the Gul. "All systems are now fully operational. We are ready for battle."
"Good. Do not charge phasers yet. I don’t want the Federation knowing that we are back to our optimum operating level."
"But sir, the shields on the Federation ships are only lowered for a few seconds," protested Gerval.
"It should only take one point five seconds to charge the phaser banks. That gives you enough time to have one shot at disabling the shields of one of the ships," replied Revat, looking down at his tactical officer. "You can hit their shield generators can’t you? Or do I have to assign someone else to your task?"
"No sir, I can do it," said Gerval.
"That’s good to hear. I hope you will prove it. I do not tolerate failure on my ship." Revat drummed his fingers on his chair arm. "Now all we have to do is wait," he muttered.

The Borg had adapted. The unknown element that had infiltrated their systems had been incorporated into their systems. Once more, they were the most perfect beings in the galaxy. The time to strike was now. The Human and Cardassian beings would add to the perfection of the Borg. There would be no warnings. They would strike at a time when it was unexpected. Resistance is futile.



Chapter 14

The modifications to the Enterprise’s defences were complete. They were ready for the Borg. As ready as they could be. Their only hope for victory would be if it took the Borg time to adapt to the improvements in the shielding and the weaponry. Otherwise, the battle was already lost.
Picard looked around his bridge. Data was at Ops and Riker was at the Helm. He had placed his first officer at that post as he was the best pilot on the ship. He needed his best people at a time like this. Counsellor Troi had taken her set to Picard’s left and was busy working her station. Picard did not know what she was doing and declined to ask her. Lieutenant Daniels was at tactical. He knew that Geordi would be working away down in engineering.
Picard looked at Data. "Status Mr. Data?"
The android turned in his seat, a habit he seamed to do with increasing regularity since he integrated his emotion chip into his systems. "All stations report battle readiness sir. The Voyager also reports readiness."
"What of the Borg cube?"
"It has not moved position since its transmission was interrupted."
"Very good." Picard watched as Data turned back to his console. He was a brilliant officer, but it was sometimes unnerving how human he had become, with the little quirks he had developed. Picard was often amazed, but kept his feelings to himself.
The chirp of a communications channel snapped Picard out of his musings. He pressed down on his arm panel, activating the channel. "Yes?"
The reply came to him over the speakers set into the back of his chair. "Sir, the last group of engineers are ready to beam back to the Voyager."
"Acknowledged." Picard directed his order to Lieutenant Daniels, stood at tactical. "Lieutenant, lower the shields for transport."
"Yes sir." Daniels manipulated his console, lowering the shields. A flicker of light caught Picard’s eye and he turned to the viewscreen.
"Sir, the Cardassians have fired phasers!" shouted Data.
"Shields up!" ordered Picard.
"Sir, we are still transporting, shields cannot be raised for another three seconds," said Daniels.
"All hands, brace for-"
Picard never got to finish his sentence, as the ship rocked from the impact. Picard stumbled, his vision filled with the grey of the deck. Then everything went black.

Voyager was at battle readiness, a ship-wide yellow alert in place. Chakotay sat in his command chair, waiting. All he seemed to be doing lately was waiting. He tapped on the console mounted in-between his chair and the first officer’s chair, if only to keep himself busy. Tuvok took the tactical station in times of yellow and red alert. He may be the first officer now, but he was still the best tactical officer on the ship and with a finite number of crew, Chakotay needed to be as stringent as possible with his crew assignments. His console told him that the last of his crew was in the process of beaming back from the Enterprise.
The sound of klaxons made him look up. The ship had gone to automatic red alert, which meant that there was some sort of fighting going on. His viewscreen confirmed that. The Devek had fired on the Enterprise.
Chakotay turned in his seat, looking towards the ops station, at Harry. "Has the transport been completed?"
"Yes, sir. Transporter room two reports all crewmen aboard."
"Shields up. Mr. Paris, put us between the Enterprise and the Devek," Chakotay ordered. "We have to protect that ship."
He hardly felt the ship move as Paris engaged the engines. Even after all these years, all the light years of travel, the ship held up well. "Tuvok, open fire on the Devek, phasers only. Load the torpedoes, but don’t fire them unless absolutely necessary. We may need all the torpedoes we have when that cube decides to attack."
Tuvok complied, sending the orange-red fire lancing out at the enemy ship. The firepower of the two ships were evenly matched, but the Devek had freedom of movement while Voyager had to keep a relatively static position, in order to protect the Enterprise. However, Voyager had the unnerving accuracy of a Vulcan at tactical, making up for the lack of movement. The ships were pretty evenly matched.
The two ships pounded each other with phaser fire, the Devek adding the odd torpedo into the equation. The Borg-adapted shielding that had been brought on-line helped Voyager fend off these attacks, with little damage done to the ship itself.
The Devek continued to move around Voyager, attempting to evade its phasers while at the same time get another shot at the crippled Enterprise. Paris did a good job of creating an effective shield with Voyager, while Tuvok worked frantically at his console, firing new volleys of phaser fire before the previous ones had chance to find their targets.
"Sir, the phaser banks are starting to lose power. We can’t keep up this level of firing for much longer," said Tuvok.
"Status Mr. Kim?" asked Chakotay.
"Shields down to seventy six percent. Phaser banks are dangerously low. Minor hull damage to deck eleven," answered Kim, who was studying his readouts with an intensity that was almost frightening.
"The Cardassians?" asked Chakotay.
"Their shields are at forty percent and falling. They’ll have to break off this attack soon if they don’t want to be destroyed. They know we’ve got torpedoes ready, it would be suicide to continue."
"Thank you, Mr. Kim, the next time I want a tactical report I know who to come to." Chakotay grinned at Harry, which seemed to pep up the lieutenant even more than he already was.
As if the Cardassians had somehow heard Harry’s appraisal of the situation, they chose that moment to break off their attack. The bird-like ship banked sharply, accelerating to full impulse to escape the clutches of Voyager’s phaser fire.
"Hold fire, Tuvok. They’re heading for the hills," said Chakotay.
"Hills?" asked Tuvok, shutting down the phasers as he spoke.
A wry smile appeared on Chakotay’s lips. "Never mind commander, never mind."



Chapter 15

Picard woke, the sight of a concerned Beverley Crusher filling his view. He attempted to rise out of his horizontal position but Beverley’s hand, soft yet at the same time firm, held him down.
"Try not to move Jean-Luc. You took a nasty bump to your head."
"The Cardassians," said Picard, still slightly dazed from his fall. He attempted to move his head, to take in his surroundings, but any sharp movements made his head swim and his vision blur. He could make out diagnostic beds to either side of him, which meant that he had been brought to sickbay.
"Lie still while I treat you," said Crusher, gently holding his arm. "The Cardassians have retreated. Voyager managed to scare them off."
Picard snorted. "They’ll not be put off for long. Not with a crippled ship for the taking."
As Crusher was about to comment, the doors to sickbay opened with their trademark whooshing sound. Lieutenant Commander Geordi La Forge walked in, heading straight for his captain.
"I hope this is important Geordi, I said no disturbances."
"Don’t worry doctor, this’ll only take a minute," replied Geordi.
"Very well," said Crusher, moving away from her patient to check on one of the other casualties.
"How bad is it Geordi?" asked Picard.
"It’s surprisingly good, sir. They only managed to get two shots off before Voyager protected us. They were aiming for the shield generators. The first shot was obviously hurried, it was just a glancing shot which caused minor damage to the secondary hull and caused the inertial dampeners to go off-line.
"The second shot overloaded the shield generators, half a second later and we would have already had the shields back up again. We were unlucky on that second shot. However, shields should be back up in about five minutes."
Geordi came to the end of his report, looking immensely pleased with himself. Picard was proud of his chief engineer. He had kept his head, as he always did in times of crisis, and repairs had probably been underway almost as soon as the damage had been done.
"Do we have engines?" asked Picard, levering himself up onto his elbows as he talked. He felt a sharp stab of pain in his temples, but tried to ignore it as best as he could. Now was not the time for resting, there would be plenty of time for that later, if they survived.
"Yes, sir. Both the Impulse engines and the warp core were undamaged. I could give you warp nine right now."
"Impulse will be enough for now. Dismissed commander." La Forge turned smartly and walked back out of sickbay. Picard reached up to his combadge, giving it a slight tap to activate it. "Picard to Riker."
The reply was almost instantaneous. "Go ahead," said Riker over the comlink.
"Will, back us away from the Cardassians and the Borg, full Impulse."
"Yes, sir."
"Picard out." He lay back down, as he noticed Beverley moving back to his bed.
"I thought I told you not to move," said Beverley, in mock seriousness. She pressed a hypospray into Picard’s neck and almost immediately he felt the pain ease. He relaxed on his bed, as Beverley began to treat a gash on his forehead. Picard closed his eyes, the painkillers starting to work their magic.
"I feel like I could stay here all day," said Picard.
Crusher opened her mouth to respond, but her words were drowned out by the shrill klaxon of a red alert warning. Picard rose from his bed, the last remaining affects of his fall causing a momentary spell of dizziness. He stood, gave a characteristic tug on his tunic, and headed for the door.

The Borg launched their attack. They would have attacked a few minutes ago, but one of the three target ships decided to attack another of the target ships. The Borg decided to wait until this confrontation was over. Let them fight with each other first, weaken each other. It would make it easier for the Borg to defeat them, to help them reach perfection. They would destroy each other and the Borg would pick up the pieces. This way, there would be less resistance.
The fight had quickly ended. One of the ships had begun to move away from the other two, who had in turn both moved away from each other a minute before. They had to attack before they became too spread out. They had to attack now.

"Captain, the Borg cube is moving towards us," said Harry.
"Shields up, red alert," barked Chakotay, giving orders to his bridge crew. "We’ve had a busy day today," he commented.
The lighting level dimmed slightly and the lights on some of the bulkheads began to flash red. Chakotay had never fully understood why the lighting was dimmed at red alert - the extra power made available for shields and weapons only increased slightly - but now was not the time to ponder it. He looked up to the viewscreen to see the Borg cube go flashing over the top of his ship.
"Where’s it going?" he asked.
"It’s heading right for the Cardassians," reported Harry.
"Any suggestions why?"
"It could be because the Cardassians are attempting to run away," surmised Tuvok. Chakotay looked down at his monitor. The Cardassians were indeed attempting to get away, they had jumped to a speed of warp eight. Chakotay knew that was no match for the speed of a Borg cube. He knew that the Cardassians should be conserving their power, as the Borg tractor beam would no doubt start to drain it away.
"Well, at least that will give the Enterprise more time to recover," said Chakotay. "What was the last estimate on when they would have their shields back up?"
"In two minutes," said Harry.
"The Cardassians have changed course. They are now heading back towards our position," said Tuvok.
"On screen." The viewscreen switched to a rear view. A small speck quickly grew larger, becoming a Cardassian ship that filled the screen. The Cardassian ship dropped out of warp and took a flanking position alongside Voyager.
"Sir, incoming message," said Harry. "It’s Gul Revat."
"Put him on, audio only," ordered Chakotay. The Borg cube had dropped out of warp, facing the two smaller ships. However, it was hard to tell which way the ship was actually facing, as it had no discernible front.
"Captain Chakotay?" said Revat over the comlink.
"What do you want?" asked Chakotay. The Borg cube had locked a tractor beam onto the Cardassian ship. A cutting beam began to slice into the hull. The Cardassian’s shields had obviously failed.
"How about an alliance?" said Revat.
"Why would I want an alliance with a Cardassian?" said Chakotay. The memories of his time in the Maquis and that devastating day when he got the news that the Dominion had helped the Cardassians wipe out the Maquis were still fresh in his mind, even after all this time.
The Borg were now lifting a section of the hull away from the ship, exposing some of the Cardassian crew to the empty blackness of space.
"Please, I’m begging you," said Revat.
"Incoming message from the Enterprise," interrupted Harry.
"Revat, I’ll get back to you," said Chakotay. He made a cutting motion with his hand, signalling Harry to cut the transmission. Harry then activated the comlink to the Enterprise. On the viewscreen, small explosions could be seen ripping through the upper surface of the Devek.
"Chakotay here."
"This is Picard. We have our shields, we’re coming to join you. Why are you not helping the Cardassians?"
"Help the Cardassians?" said Chakotay, a mixture of surprise and disgust in his voice. "With all due respect sir, if we help them and we win, they’ll turn on us in an instant."
"I don’t think they are in any position to attack us, do you?" said Picard, a note of distaste and disappointment creeping into his tone. "Now, help that ship, Picard out."
Chakotay turned to look at the ops station. "Harry, open a channel to the Devek, audio only."
After a moment of work, Harry said, "Channel open."
"Revat, try to get your shields operational and set them to a rotating modulation. Don’t worry about your weapons for now, we’ll cover you. Chakotay out."
Harry cut the transmission, returning to his other tasks. The turbolift doors to his right opened and Seven stepped out. She walked over to the workstation situated on the rail above the captain’s chair. Chakotay looked up at her.
"I believe you are going into battle with the Borg?" asked Seven. "If so, I will be needed to operate the Borg weaponry. I have a better knowledge of it than commander Tuvok."
"Very well," said Chakotay. "What can you do about that tractor beam?"
"Mr. Kim, what is the frequency of the beam?" asked Seven.
"It’s one point seven four," said Harry.
"Then we need to fire a concentrated beam of energy into the tractor beam emitter with a frequency that is the inverse of one point seven four."
Seven pressed a few keys on her console and moments later a yellow-green beam shot out from Voyager. It hit the tractor beam emitter, disrupting it’s hold on the Devek. The Devek started to slowly move away.
A volley of quantum torpedoes appeared on the viewscreen, impacting on the side of the Borg cube. Moments later, the Enterprise appeared, firing its Borg-adapted phasers at the cube. The cube trained its weapons on Voyager, a green rain of death pounding the ship.
"I guess we got their attention," said Paris, not taking his eyes away from his readouts. He was using evasive patterns of his own design to avoid the weapons fire, but some of it was still getting through.
The green phaser fire seared through space, looking like strangely tinted lightening. Two bolts of lightening hit Voyager in rapid succession. One of the science stations at the back of the bridge exploded in a shower of sparks.
"Shields at ninety two percent. The modifications seem to be working," reported Tuvok.
"Of course they are. The shields are Borg," said Seven, feeling that that was all the explanation needed.
"Lets hope the Enterprise is having similar good fortune," said Chakotay.

On board the Devek things could not get much worse. Power was out to decks four through ten and Revat had lost contact with engineering. Worse still, Borg drones were loose on his ship. They had beamed over while the Devek was caught in the tractor beam and they were now starting to assimilate the ship. From what little information he could gather, the Borg had decks nine and ten under their control. It would not be long before they had more.
Unlike the Federation, Cardassia had had very few encounters with the Borg and so had not developed any countermeasures. Keeping the shields on a rotating frequency seemed to be working for now and there was still enough power left to move away from the cube. The two Starfleet ships had distracted the cube, allowing the Devek to make its getaway.
Revat turned to the operations station, where a young Cardassian by the name of Breval was standing. "Decompress decks eight through eleven," he ordered.
"But sir, our men-"
"Are as good as dead," interrupted Revat. "Decompress the decks. It’s the only way to get rid of the Borg."
"Yes sir."
The airlocks on the four decks opened and all the air on those decks was expelled into space. Several bodies also exited the ship, the lifeless forms floating serenely away.
"Are there any Borg left on the ship?" asked Revat.
"Yes, two on deck seven," replied Breval.
"Send two security teams to each Borg. I want them destroyed by any means necessary."
"Sir, the cube," warned Rutal, who was seated at the helm.
"What about it?" said Revat, turning as he spoke. The semi-operational viewscreen showed the Borg cube, bearing down on his ship. He stood still, frozen to the spot, as he stared at the screen.
"Looks like they didn’t like us removing our passengers," said Gerval, as he fired phasers and torpedoes at the oncoming cube. They seemed to have no effect.
"Evasive manoeuvres!" Revat shouted, then held onto his chair arms as the damaged internal dampeners struggled to keep up with the ship’s movements. The Devek managed to avoid a few volleys of fire from the cube, but then took a devastating blast on the left dorsal fin of the ship. The green fire ripped right through seven decks and out the other side, effectively crippling the ship.
"Shields are down, weapons are off-line, we have no engines," reported Breval. Smoke had engulfed the bridge, visibility was almost non-existent.
"What about the cube?" asked Revat, getting up to his knees. The blast had knocked him out of his chair and deposited him in the front bulkhead. He was feeling extremely groggy and he was having difficulty remaining conscious. Looking around what little he could see of the bridge, he and Breval seemed to be the only officers conscious.
"We have no external sensors, internals only," said Breval. "Sensors indicate over two hundred Borg spread throughout the ship." Breval’s console exploded as he finished talking, killing him instantly.
"They’re not assimilating me," said Revat, using the bulkhead to lever himself to his feet. "Computer activate self destruct sequence, one minute silent countdown." Revat slumped back to the deck, unable to support himself.
"An authorisation code is required," said the gruff male voice of the computer.
Revat stirred, flirting with unconsciousness. "Revat, three, two, one, two," he said.
"Code accepted, ship will self destruct in sixty seconds, there will be no more warnings," said the computer.
"Oh, good," said Revat, closing his eyes to welcome an eternal sleep.

Picard watched as the Borg phasers ripped through the Devek. The Enterprise and Voyager were having some affect on the cube, but not enough to help the Cardassians. All the exterior running lights on the Devek blinked out. Picard knew that meant a loss of main power. It would only be a matter of time before they were assimilated.
"Target the warp core of the Devek," said Picard. If he could stop at least one person from being assimilated he would do it, no matter what the cost. In this case, it meant destroying a starship that was already lost.
Data interrupted his train of thought. "Sir, I am reading a large power build-up in the warp core of the Devek. A warp core breach is immanent."
"Very well," said Picard. He knew that the Devek would now destroy itself, and with it, the only way home. "Re-target the cube."
Picard looked to the viewscreen. The cube swung into view, the damage it had already sustained from the combined efforts of the two Starfleet ships showing. A huge portion of one of the upper corners had been blown away. From this perspective it looked like the front-left corner, but with a rotation that could easily become another corner. There was a large hole in the centre of what was for the moment the front and plasma was leaking out into space. Quantum torpedoes - Borg modified - speared towards the cube.
"Condition of the cube?" Picard asked.
"Twenty four percent of the cube has been destroyed, a further forty percent has been damaged. Propulsion, shields are down, life support systems and weapons are still operational," reported Data.
As if the Borg wanted to underline that last statement, the Enterprise was hit with phaser fire from the cube.
"Minor damage to deck five," said Data, staring at his readouts. The Devek is about to blow."
"Are we at a safe distance?" asked Picard.
"Yes, sir."
"Continue to attack the Borg."
Picard allowed himself a moment of reflection. Even though the Cardassians were the enemy, they did not deserve to die in this way. Picard attempted to get his mind back on the job, as the screen whited out.



Chapter 16

Chakotay looked up from his monitor at the bright light that had filled the viewscreen. The end of the Cardassians. Chakotay wondered why he felt sorry for them. They were his enemies during his time in the Maquis. Maybe he had mellowed in his old age. He had no time to think of that now. Perhaps later, if he and his ship survived.
"How are we doing Harry?" asked Chakotay.
"Not good. We’re out of torpedoes, phaser banks are almost drained and shields are down to forty seven percent."
"Open a channel to the Enterprise, audio only."
"Channel open."
"This is Chakotay. Captain Picard, I suggest you take the primary attacking position. We’re almost done for."
"Acknowledged, drop back, we’ll cover for you," came Picard’s reply.
"Thanks. Chakotay out." Chakotay turned to Paris. "Tom, back us off."
"Incoming, brace for impact!" shouted Harry.
A blast rocked the ship, throwing crewmen to the floor. Seven’s console blew up in her face, forcing her backwards. She hit one of the science stations behind her and fell to the floor, her body limp and lifeless. Harry ran to her body, tapping his combadge as he moved.
"Medical emergency. One to beam directly to sickbay."
Nothing happened. Harry kneeled at Seven’s side, cradling her head. Tuvok had regained his footing and was stood behind his console once more.
"We have lost transporters," reported Tuvok. "There is nothing that can be done for her."
"No, that can’t be true," said Harry, as he got to his feet. He moved over to a rear bulkhead and retrieved a medikit. He trained the tricorder over her body. There was no readout.
"Lieutenant, return to your post," ordered Chakotay.
"But sir..."
"That’s an order, Harry," interrupted Chakotay. "Damage report."
Harry left Seven where she lay and returned to his station. He looked down at his readouts. "Loss of power and atmosphere on decks three and four. Everything on those decks have been destroyed, no forcefields are in place. At least twenty dead, possibly more."
Chakotay hung his head. It was hard to lose one life, but more than twenty lives lost was devastating.
"We have a problem," B’Elanna’s voice cut in over the comm. "There’s a build-up in the plasma manifolds and we’re having trouble shutting it down. I need Seven down here."
"That’ll be a problem, she’s dead. Just do what you can," replied Chakotay.
There was a moment of silence on the other end of the comline. "Understood, Paris out."
Chakotay looked at the viewscreen. There had been no further strikes on them since the last hit, and no drones had beamed aboard. The cube now seemed to be concentrating all its efforts on the Enterprise, and it was losing. It only seemed a matter of time before the cube was destroyed. Chakotay hoped he would still be around to see it.

"They have lost life support," said Data.
The bridge was mostly intact. One of the minor science stations had blown up, but otherwise the ship was in pretty good shape. The same could not be said for the Borg cube. Minor explosions were ripping through the surface of the cube, or what was left of it. Large portions of the cube had been blown off and only the centre part of the ship remained. Sections of the cube that were never designed to face the cold harshness of space had been exposed. The bodies of drones were floating away from the cube in all directions.
"Direct all fire at that opening on the left side of the face," Picard told Data, pointing at the intended target as he did so. A large gash had opened in the face of the cube, which seemed to go all the way into the central portion, the nerve centre.
Picard watched as phaser fire rained down on the cube. It seemed to be beaten, thanks to the modifications made by Seven of Nine, the former drone. Maybe she could be accepted into Starfleet.
A huge explosion ripped through the cube, setting off a chain reaction. In seconds the whole ship was engulfed in fire, destruction was immanent.
"Back us off Will," said Picard. The Enterprise moved away as the Borg cube exploded, separating into millions of pieces, most of which were vaporised by the intensity of the explosion.


Chapter 17

Picard sat in his command seat. It was over, the Borg had been defeated. Once more he had emerged victorious against mankind’s greatest enemy. But at what cost? The Cardassians had been destroyed. They may have been war enemies but loss of live was always hard to take. Voyager also appeared to be a casualty. They had lost all communications with the ship during the battle and had yet to re-establish them.
Picard looked at Data, who had turned in his seat. "Yes Data?" he asked.
"I suggest we send someone over to Voyager, to see what is happening," the android said.
"Good idea. Will, you and Data go over to the Voyager and see what’s going on. I want to keep a transporter lock on you at all times, there may be Borg drones on that ship."
"Aye sir," said Riker. He rose from his position at the helm and moved towards the door of the nearest turbolift, joined by Data. The doors opened and the two men entered the turbolift. As the doors closed, Picard noticed a slight tilt of Riker’s head, taking it to mean that Riker intended to return. Picard hoped he would.

Riker and Data materialised into hell. Hell with Starfleet consoles. All Riker could see was the helm console in front of him. The bridge was covered in smoke.
"Data, can you see anything?" The android’s eyes were much more sensitive than human eyes, Riker hoped he would be able to make something out of the mess.
"No sir, my visibility is only two metres. I cannot see any movement."
"Hello, is there anyone here?" Riker called. There was no answer. Riker took out his palm torch and switched it on. The powerful beam attempted to cut through the smoke but had little effect. Riker looked over to Data. The android was scanning the bridge with his tricorder.
"Anything?" asked Riker.
"No sir. No lifeforms on the bridge. The smoke is slightly toxic, I suggest we get off the bridge." Data began to tap on the helm console. "According to this, communications, weapons, shields and main power are all off-line. All available power is being re-routed to engineering."
"So no turbolifts then," stated Riker. "Let’s get down to deck two. Hopefully we can find someone."
Data nodded in agreement and they moved towards the back of the bridge, towards an access panel that would take them down a deck. As Data worked on releasing the access panel, Riker noticed a body on the floor. It was the Borg drone, Seven of Nine. Not a Borg drone anymore, but it was hard to think of her as anything else with those implants still visible on her face. Riker noticed that Data had entered the jeffries tube and turned away from her lifeless form. Riker stepped in, hoping they would find someone alive, and soon.

Paris sat on the floor of deck two. His face was black with dirt and his tunic torn in a couple of places. His hair was a mess, he looked like he had been dragged through a hedge backwards. Twice. Chakotay had ordered him here when they had decided to evacuate the bridge. Most of the bridge crew had gone to engineering to try to help with the problems they were having with the engines, but the Doctor had set up triage in the mess hall and Paris, being the most qualified, had to help.
After a few minutes of panic, the worst of it was over and he was taking a breather whilst the Doctor finished with his last couple of patients. Paris rested his head against the bulkhead and thought of B’Elanna, his wife. She was risking her life down in engineering while he sat and did nothing.
A noise stirred him from his idle musings. He looked up, as the hatch facing him opened and a very dirty Starfleet officer in a grey uniform with yellow trim stepped out. He was followed by an equally dirty officer in another grey uniform, this time with red trim.
"When was the last time you cleaned out those jeffries tubes?" asked Riker, brushing himself down with his hands as he spoke.
"Commander, what are you doing here?" asked Paris. "What about the Borg?"
"The Borg are gone, destroyed. We beamed over to find out what the problem is, your communications were out, it was either this or come over in a shuttle."
"We’re having major problems in engineering," said Paris. "Last I heard we were looking at a warp core breach in about ten minutes."
"Is the internal communications system still working?" asked Data. "We will not be able to get down to engineering in that time, and a transport would not be advisable under these conditions."
"It’s working, but sporadically. You’ll have to get lucky," said Paris.
Riker tapped his combadge. "Riker to Chakotay." There was no reply. Riker looked at Data, the android’s face showing no emotion whatsoever. "Riker to Chakotay, come in captain."
A reply came, barely audible over the static that accompanied it. "Chakotay here. Good to hear your voice commander, I take it the Borg have gone?"
"That’s correct. What’s your situation?" asked Riker.
"It doesn’t look good. We’re looking at a warp core breach in six minutes, no matter what we do."
"Can you eject the warp core?" asked Data.
"No, the eject mechanism is frozen. We’ve also lost a lot of people, about half the crew."
Riker paused, contemplating the terrible loss that had occurred on this ship. He felt lucky, the Enterprise had suffered comparatively few casualties.
"I have an idea," Data announced. "Captain, do you have propulsion?"
"We have impulse engines, but to keep them going would require most of my remaining crew. If we were to do anything, we wouldn’t be able to evacuate."
"I realise that captain. At full impulse it would take Voyager four minutes to reach the epicentre of the wormhole. If the warp core were to breach there, coupled with a release of verteron particles, the wormhole could reopen, allowing the Enterprise to return to its rightful place in space and time."
"Let me get this right. You want me to sacrifice my crew for a theory that you’ve just concocted, one that may not even work?"
"Yes captain, you have one minute to decide, then it will be too late. Data out."
Riker stared at Data, a look of disbelief on his face. "I cannot believe you just said that."
"It is the only course of action left open, sir. We need to get back to our own space and time so that we do not pollute the timeline, and if Captain Chakotay abandons ship, his crew has nowhere to go. We cannot take him with us, they are from ten years into our future."
Riker’s combadge chirped. Riker shared a look with Data, before tapping his badge. "Riker here."
"We’ll do it," said Chakotay.


Chapter 18

Picard sat in his command chair, watching the viewscreen intently. Voyager was slowly making its way to the epicentre of the wormhole, preparing to meet its fate. Riker and Data had returned only seconds earlier and had quickly explained the plan to him. He was shocked at the decision Chakotay had made, but had little choice but to go along with it.
Picard lifted his head slightly, angling his face upwards. He knew there was no need to speak to the ceiling, the communications system would still pick up his voice, but it was a habit he had developed a long time ago.
"Picard to engineering."
"La Forge here captain," came the reply.
"Have you finished those modifications to the deflector dish?"
"I just need another minute."
"Well make sure it’s done soon, Mr. La Forge, Voyager’s warp core is going to blow in less than two minutes."
"Yes, sir. La Forge out."
Picard sat, tightly gripping the armrests on his chair, something he always did when he was tense. All he could do now was wait.

Deck ten, only two more decks to go. B’Elanna wiped away some of the sweat that had gathered on her forehead and moved on. After realising there was no more she could do for her engines, she had managed to get a signal to Tom. He was meeting her on deck eight, so they could spend their final moments together. It was a long haul, but she was determined to make it. If this was how it would end, at least she would not be alone.
She reached deck eight and stepped off the ladder she had been climbing. She moved towards a hatchway and kneeled down at the control panel. Through this door was the main corridor of deck eight, when she would see her husband for the last time. Her hand moved towards the panel, searching for the correct button that would open the door. Without warning, a bolt of blue electricity arched from the panel and struck her. She was thrown backwards, banging her head against the ladder, almost falling back down the shaft.
She sat up, swimming on the edge of consciousness. Not allowing herself to be beaten, she dragged herself back to the hatchway and took out a manual door clamp. Attaching this to the metal of the hatchway, she used almost all of her remaining strength to open it.
She looked through the opening to see Tom rushing towards her, a look of concern etched on his face. He reached her just as she began to pass out.
"Tom, hold me," she said, closing her eyes for the final time.

Tuvok had found a quiet spot in all the madness and was sat on the floor, cross-legged, looking out to the stars. He attempted to meditate, thinking of his wife and children, who he knew he would never see again.
He heard the sound of someone approaching and opened his eyes, looking up to see Chakotay standing over him.
"Mind if I join you?" Chakotay asked.
"No, not at all, please do," said Tuvok, motioning with his hand for Chakotay to sit. The two men sat, side by side, looking out to the stars.
"Well, it was a good ride. She held up well," said Chakotay.
"Yes. I think Captain Janeway would be proud," Tuvok replied.
Chakotay smiled, a huge weight lifted from his shoulders.

Harry Kim was working furiously on the plasma manifolds. Everyone else had accepted the inevitable, but Harry was determined to find some way to prevent the warp core breech. If he could not save Seven, then he would save the rest of the crew.
His thoughts drifted back to Seven, to the short but wonderful time they had spent together. He could feel the tears building up, wanting to come out in an outpouring of emotion. He bit them back, trying to concentrate on more important matters.
As he looked down to his workstation, he noticed the dampness of the console, realising that those tears were coming. He felt his knees buckle under him and he collapsed to the floor, now crying uncontrollably. All the feelings he had stored up coming out at once.
Neelix looked up from where he was sat, noticing Harry for the first time. He rose to his feet, moving over to his friend. He sat down beside him, taking hold of him in a hug. No words were needed.

"Mr. La Forge?" asked Picard, his patience wearing thin. "You’re out of time."
"We’re done, sir," La Forge replied.
"Data, begin emitting the particles when ready."
"Yes sir, I believe that we should release the verteron particles in twelve seconds," Data replied.
"Very well Mr. Data."
Picard watched as Voyager slowed to a halt. A slight greenish tint appeared around the starship, the effect of the verteron particles no doubt. Voyager began to shake as the warp core breached.
"Shields to maximum," Picard ordered.
A large explosion destroyed the engineering section of Voyager and the front section of the ship began to spin away. This was punctuated by small explosions and quickly became engulfed in fire. The shockwave from the explosion hit the Enterprise, buffeting the large ship and throwing it around like a child’s toy.
"Take us in Will," Picard shouted. Riker issued commands to the helm, the ship responding almost instantaneously.
Looking at the viewscreen, Picard could see a small hole in space where Voyager had been. This was surrounded by green wisps of matter. The effect was quite beautiful, as Picard found most natural phenomena to be. The wormhole was growing larger by the second, not just the optical illusion created by the Enterprise nearing it, but because of the chain reaction that was still occurring.
"Four seconds to wormhole threshold," announced Data. "The wormhole is beginning to decay, this will be a rough ride."
"Do we have a fix on where the exit is?" Picard asked.
"No, sir. We can confirm that it will be in the alpha quadrant, but that is all we can know for sure until we emerge on the other side," replied Data.
The Enterprise entered the wormhole and vanished. Seconds later, the wormhole collapsed in on itself. The only evidence of there being any Starfleet presence was the debris field, already vaporising from the intense heat of the explosion.


Chapter 19

Brackheed stepped through the doors of his ready room and allowed them to shut behind him. He walked over to his desk and sat down in his chair. He did not know how long the search that lay ahead would take, but he was determined to complete it, war or no war. The first step would be identifying the destroyed ships. That would not be easy. Even as he sat, T’Kar would be following out his orders and beaming aboard the first pieces. It would be an arduous process.
A chirp from the comm system broke into his concentration, disturbing his train of thought. Brackheed considered not answering it, holding on to a few moments of precious silence. A second chirp made him think otherwise. He gently tapped his combadge, opening the channel.
"Go ahead," he said.
"Sir, you should return to the bridge. The Enterprise has just appeared," said T’Kar, her Vulcan voice betraying no emotion.
Brackheed bolted from his seat and rushed over to the doors, striking his shin on a protruding table in his hurry. It hurt like hell, but it would have to wait. He emerged onto the bridge to be greeted by the grinning face of his friend on the viewscreen.
"Jean-Luc, good to see you again."
"Likewise John," Picard replied. "It’s a shame we can never meet on more favourable terms. Been here long?"
"Only a couple of minutes, we arrived just after you disappeared. Where have you been? And what happened to your ship?"
"Maybe I can tell you about it some day, but not yet. We have the timeline to think about."
"Right, I see. You’re welcome to come over for a cup of tea whilst you make repairs."
"I just might take you up on that offer," Picard smiled. "Picard out."
Brackheed limped towards the turbolift doors, drawing a few curious glances as he did so. The doors opened as he reached them and he stepped in.
"Deck sixteen," Brackheed said, ordering the turbolift down to sickbay. So, yet another story for Jean-Luc to tell him when he retired. Brackheed wondered if he would ever have time to do anything other than listen to Picard’s stories.


Epilogue

Captain’s Log: Stardate 52013.4
After three days of hard work, all repair work on the Enterprise has been completed. All reports and data to do with this incident, including this recording, have become classified and will be sent to Starfleet Headquarters for top security level viewing only. All crew have been sworn to secrecy.
On a more personal note, I am sad to mourn the passing of the crew of the USS Voyager. Although this incident will not happen for another ten years in one possible future timeline I witnessed this event, and I acknowledge the courage and bravery of everyone on board. I would have been proud to serve with anyone of them.
End recording.