Nick opened his eyes and was greeted by the sight of an endless cerulean sky. A few clouds slowly drifted in the sea of blue above. Lying on his back, Nick shifted into a more comfortable position, took a deep breath, and smiled.
“It’s so peaceful...”
“Yeah...” came a voice next to him.
Nick tilted his head and saw a tuft of hair out of the corner of his eye. Nick’s smile quickly shifted into a wry grin as he quickly rolled over so that he was now on his hands and knees, positioned over the body of the man he had been laying next to. The man cocked an amused eyebrow.
“Hey you...”
“Hey...” Nick replied softly as he moved down to kiss the man. The kiss was long and lingering; after all, the two now had all the time in the world.
“Oh, I could get use to this,” the man said when their lips finally parted.
Nick chuckled. “You better. We can do this tomorrow... and the day after that... and the day after that...”
The man studied Nick for a moment, prompting him to give him a skeptical look. “What?”
“You sure you’re not going to miss it? I mean... let’s face it. This isn’t exactly the most exciting planet in the quadrant.”
Nick shook his head. “Cody, I’m going to always miss Starfleet. However, I would have missed you even more. And as much as I hate to think otherwise, I’m pretty sure the Federation can get along without me.”
Cody laughed and wrapped his arms around Nick’s neck.
“Come here, you,” he growled as he pulled Nick back down for another long kiss. The two disappeared under the tall prairie grass, which swayed silently in the breeze. It wasn’t for some time that Nick suddenly tensed and sat upright.
“Do you hear something?”
Cody sat up next to him and gave him a skeptical look. “No... what do you hear?”
Nick frowned as he looked at the large tree they were laying under.
“I don’t know... sounds like low droning sound... almost like engines...”
Cody sighed. “You can take the boy out of Starfleet, but heaven help you if you try to take the Starfleet out of the boy...”
Nick gave him a look before standing up. “It’s getting louder. You sure you don’t hear it?”
“No... I think it’s ju-- … actually, wait.”
Cody stood up next to Nick. “Now that you mention it...”
Nick frowned. Why did he feel so uneasy? He walked a few steps from the tree and looked out over the prairie that stretched out before him.
“I don’t see anything...”
Suddenly, he heard Cody gasp. Nick turned around to see Cody looking straight up at the sky. “Nick... up there...”
Nick looked at the sky above them, past the tree. In the sky, and quickly growing larger, was a black sphere. Nick’s eyes widened.
“What is that...” Cody wondered aloud. “I’ve never seen a ship that looks like that before.”
“I have. Come on, we have to get back to the colony,” said Nick urgently, grabbing Cody’s hand.
Cody looked at Nick with concern. “Nick, what is it?”
At that moment, columns of green light appeared next to the pair, leaving Borg drones in their place. Nick instinctively reached for his belt... and a phaser that wasn’t there.
“Are these...”
“Yes. RUN!”
Nick turned to run and pulled Cody with him. The other man almost stumbled, but he thankfully kept his footing as the two sprinted in a direction away from the drones. Fortunately, they hadn’t been surrounded.
“Why aren’t they firing at us?”
“Don’t know, don’t care. We need to get back to the colony. You’ll be safe there, and I can help with defense. We need to hold out until Starfleet can send help.”
After what seemed like hours, the two reached the outskirts of the colony. Nick’s lungs burned, but he forced himself to not pay attention. After all, Cody had managed to run with him, and he hadn’t been following Starfleet’s physical training regimen. However, when they got closer, Nick came to and abrupt stop. Cody followed suit, panting heavily.
“What... what is it? Why did we stop?”
“We’re too late...”
Cody looked up to see flashes of green light coming from the colony. In the distance, he could make out black-armored figures moving between the buildings.
“What are we going to do?”
“I don’t know,” said Nick as he looked at the colony under seige. “We need to find a hiding place we can stay in until Starfleet arrives. There’s nothing we can do for the colony now. Maybe if we--”
Nick heard an odd sound behind him and suddenly felt Cody’s hand tighten on his, almost painfully so. Nick spun around to see a Borg drone behind Cody. The drone had placed his hand on Cody’s neck; tubes were extending from the drone’s forearm right into Cody’s neck.
“NO!” howled Nick as he grabbed the drone’s arm and tried to pull it away. The drone was amazingly strong though, and the arm refused to move.
“CODY! FIGHT IT, CODY!”
Cody’s eyes locked onto Nick’s. “Nick...” he managed to gasp before he spasmed, his posture snapping into a perfectly straight position and leaning against the drone. His eyes rolled up and his eyelids began to flutter.
“CODY! CODY COME BACK! PLEASE!” Nick screamed as he continued to try to pry the drone off of Cody. Then, without warning, a cold metallic arm wrapped itself around Nick’s torso and pulled him back. Nick struggled until he felt a piercing sensation in his neck. His insides erupted in fire, as if a million needles began poking him throughout his entire body.
“NO! No, I don’t want... I don’t want...”
Nick’s vision went dark... but he was not alone in the darkness. Voices rose up in a deafening chorus and Nick was powerless against it.
We are the Borg. Your biological distinctiveness will be added to our own. From this time forward, you will service us...
“Admiral Ford! Admiral Ford, wake up!”
The Chief Medical Officer of the Stonewall was crouched over Nick, who was lying in his bed in his quarters, practically yelling at him. She looked over at her assistant.
“5 cc’s of synaptizine, now!”
The assistant quickly applied the hypospray to Nick’s neck and injected. When no change occured, the CMO stood up and looked at the security team. “Get him to sickbay, now. Do not use the transporter. We don’t know how it will affect that damn implant now that it’s active again.”
As the security team moved to pick Nick up, the CMO tapped her combadge. “Bridge, I’m in the captain’s quarters. He’s gone unresponsive. I’m transferring him to sickbay. Hail Starbase 82 immediately; it is urgent we speak with Admiral T’Rehes.”
Meanwhile, Oren-De’s tactical officer was showing the captain a schematic on the Pandora’s viewscreen.
“Sensors just resolved this: a transwarp gate. It just activated, which was why we only just now detected it.”
“Can we determine where it goes?”
“Possibly,” replied his Chief of Engineering. “Transwarp conduits eject triquantum waves; if we can map their frequency and trajectory, we can extrapolate to get a rough idea of where the other end of the conduit is. It would be accurate to a few light years.”
“Do it. We’ll at least get an idea of what they’re up to. Science, progress on those transmissions?”
“Almost there, sir.”
The seconds passed like hours as the Borg ships continued entering the transwarp conduit. Finally, Oren-De’s Chief of Engineering looked up from his console.
“Sir, extrapolation of the triquantum waves puts the conduit’s exit point in the Gamma Orionis sector block. Closest strategic location is... Starbase 82.”
The crew was silent as everyone put the pieces together.
“A surprise attack,” concluded Oren-De aloud. “That last transmission must have been some sort of signal to begin the assault... and it’s coinciding with the increased activity of transmissions from the Stonewall. In turn, that means they’re likely after very specific information about the starbase’s defense systems.”
“Sir! I’ve finally isolated the base code! We have what we need," announced Oren-De's science officer.
Oren-De nodded and began barking out orders to the crew. “Helm, plot a direct course for the transwarp gate, full impulse. Engineering, I want all power diverted to the engines and shields. Tactical, prepare a volley of torpedoes, one fore and one aft. Our first priority will be removing the Borg’s entry point... our second is getting to Starbase 82. Science, increase the allocation of computing power to the Partition. We need to fool the Borg for as long as possible. Understood?”
“Yes, sir!” came a chorus of voices.
The Pandora finally moved from its resting place and sailed toward the transwarp gate, deep within the fleet of Borg ships bound for Starbase 82.
