[Ready Room – USS Sausalito]

“That’s it, Commander. Observe and report.”

“But it’s just a probe, Sir. It could easily be destroyed or at the very least, taken in for study.” replied Alen.

“You know the Borg, Mister Krolo. So long as we leave them alone and they don’t consider you a threat, they won’t react to you. If you interfere with what ever their mission is, they could call for back up and that’s not something you want to get a California class in to.”

“What if we….” Alen didn’t get to finish his sentence as the Commodore interrupted him.

“I’ll tell you what I’ll concede to you and your crew.” began Commodore Uzoma Ekwueme. “So long as you think you can do it without posing a threat, you can send an away team over and see what you can discover from inside the probe.”

“And if we discover a threat to the androids on the planet?”

“Your discretion, Commander. Ekwueme out.”

Alen stood and made his way out to the Bridge.

[Bridge]

“Helm. Set course for the Ghulion system. Warp six.” ordered Krolo as took his place in the command chair. “And drop us out just at the edge of the system.”

“Aye, Captain.” came the flight officers reply.

Alen looked over and noticed the look from his XO. He lifted a single finger to indicate for her to wait a moment and then he activated the comms with his controls.

“Attention all hands. This is the Captain speaking. We are currently in route to the planet of Coppelius. After the recent events of Frontier Day, there have been reports of multiple Borg vessels in various areas. We have been assigned to locate one of these vessels and observe it. I know what many of you are thinking, and I too hope it’s just that simple. But as Starfleet officers, we’ll be ready if it isn’t. Captain Krolo out.”

Alen could see the look of apprehension in the First Officer.

“The Borg?” questioned Tod. “Sir. We’re a California class. We’re no math for a Borg ship.”

“I understand, Number One. Luckily for us, it’s just a probe. As I said, Command just wants us to observe and report. And as I was so vehemently reminded, if we don’t bother them, they won’t bother us.”

With a break in the conversation, Ki turned to her command team.

“Course laid in, Captain.”

“Let’s go.” answered Alen with a hand wave toward the view screen.

[Briefing Room]

“I still don’t think we’re the right ship for this job, Sir.” said the XO.

“If they expected us to engage,” began Alen, “I’d agree, Number One. But we’re going to keep our distance and observe only. I think the Sausalito can handle that.”

“It’s not our ship we’re concerned with, Captain.” chimed in Shara, the Andorian Chief of Engineering. “I’ve read reports and I know the Borg are suppose to not attack unless provoked but they have become more and more unstable and predictable as of late.”

Alen nodded as he turned to face the only staff member that hadn’t said a word since they all entered the room.

“And what about you, Miss Evens? As our Security and Tactical Chief, you have to have some input?” he inquired.

“I would recommend arming Security personnel and maintaining the ship at Yellow Alert, Sir.” said the young CSTO. “I understand what you’ve been saying about them, but I agree with Lieutenant Shrar. They have been acting strange lately and I’d like to be ready for the unexpected.”

Alen knew he’d be nowhere without his crew. Their insight was valuable and he trusted them deeply.

“Okay. We’ll be dropping out of warp soon. We’ll stay at Yellow Alert and arm your people.” he conceded. “Hopefully, it will be for naught. Dismissed.”

“Sir. We’ve dropped out of warp just outside the probes scanner range.” said Helm as the Sausalito same to a stop.

“On screen.” ordered the Captain.

The image of the surrounding space vanished and was replaced by the Borg probe and the planet Coppelius.

“And what are our scanners showing?” he asked.

“The probe hasn’t raised shields or powered up weapons. Best we can tell, they aren’t doing anything right now except for scanning the planet.” came the reply from Lieutenant Hammonds. “Also, our scans show there to be less than thirty drones onboard, Sir. That’s a lot less than normal.”

“I still don’t like this, Sir. If that thing decides to turn it’s attention to us, we’re toast.” said the XO.

“I understand your concern, Number One, but we should be fine as long as we don’t become a threat.”

Commander Tod released a heavy sigh. “That’s the old Borg, Captain. After what happened on Frontier Day, I don’t think they’re the same now.”

“Would you fell better if you took a team over and got a better look at just exactly what they were up to?” Alen asked his First Officer.

“Okay.” Tod said as she addressed her away team in the transporter room. “We’ll stick with the Captain’s assessment and assume these are still just regular Borg. I want each of the security team to go ahead and set your phasers to different frequencies. If we need to fire, just go one at a time until they adjust for that frequency, then someone else takes over.” 

Evens, Tralar and Barrett each nodded and began adjusting their weapons.

“Why they secure our surroundings, you and I will see what we can find out and possibly download while we’re over there.” she said to Hammonds, the ships Operations officer. 

They were just about to step up onto the transporter when the doors suddenly parted and Nurse Paloma entered.

“The Captain thought it would be a good idea to join you, Commander. He said that he respects you intuition and thought I’d be a good precaution.” she said.

“Let’s go.” Tod said.

Everyone got set and she gave the transporter chief a nod. 

Borg Probe

The away team rematerialized inside the probe and the security detail immediately took their positions. 

“Let’s head for the Bridge.” said Tod. “Everyone keep your eyes open.”

They began to move out in the dimly lit vessel. As they made their way to their destination, they past several drones that appeared to be making some sort of repairs to the probe and paid no mind to the trespassers. 

“Some of that damage seems serious.” noted Lieutenant Evens.

“What if that’s why they’re here?” asked Tralar. “There are a bunch of synthetics down on the planet. Adding them would give the Borg all of their knowledge and some of them use to be workers on Mars. They could definitely help with these repairs.”

Tod gave an almost silent, “Hmm.” to indicate that it was indeed a possibility and something to think about.

They resumed their way to the Bridge and while they passed more drones on the way, they continued to be ignored.

Sausalito

“Sir. The Borg vessel is have begun powering up their engines.” said Hammonds replacement at Operations.

“Contact the away team! Get them out of there!” countered Caotain Krolo as he stood up. “Transporter room! Get them back!”

“They’ve raised shields, Captain. We can’t get a lock.” answered the Transporter room.

“Damn it!” said Alen

Borg Probe

Commander Tod and her team reached the Bridge just as the probes engines roared to life.

“What the hell are they doing now?!” she exclaimed as she slapped at her comm badge. “Tod to Sausalito. The Borg are preparing to leave. Get us out of here.”

With the exception of some static, she was met with silence. She turned to Evens and nodded. The Security Chief tried her own communication device and received the same results.

Tod shook her head in disbelief. When, no, IF, she returned to the Sausalito, she was gonna kick Alen’s ass for this.

“Okay. Paloma. You keep trying to reach the ship. Evens, you and your team secure the area.” she said as she handed out orders. “Hammonds, let’s see what we can download while we’re here. Might as well get what information we can.”

Sausalito

Alen paced the Bridge for what seemed like hours and was frustrated by the lack of news from the away team or about their return. It had indeed been two whole hours. He didn’t know what he would do if he lost those crew members. It would be entirely his fault. He was the one that had sent them over there. His orders had been to observe. That was it. Not infiltrate and acquire information. Observe.

But no. You had to go that extra mile, didn’t you? You had to put your crew in unnecessary danger. Are you happy now, dumbass? he thought as he made another loop around the stations.

“Status?” he called out.

“No changes, Sir.” came the reply.

“What the hell are they up to?” he asked rhetorically. “They fired up their engines two hours ago. Why haven’t they left the system?”

Borg Probe

Tod and Hammonds had downloaded enough information to fill the two tricorders that they carried and had confiscated Nurse Paloma’s as well. That had taken most of the time they had been stuck on the Borg probe. Now they took turns swapping out with the security detail so that everyone had a chance to rest.

“Did you come across anything that will tell us what they’re doing here, specifically?” she asked Hammond “Or maybe why they started the engines quite a while ago but haven’t left?”

“Nothing at all, Ma’am.” Hammonds said.

Lorilen was about to reply when the team was enveloped in transporter beams.

Sausalito

“SIR!. The shields have dropped.” said the Ops officer

“Transporter room. Energize now.” Alen ordered as he jumped up from his command chair.

“We’ve got them. Sir.” said the chief from over the comms.

Alen sighed a breathe of relief just as the Borg probe suddenly warped out of the system.

The turbo lift doors parted and the XO was the first one to exit.

“We need to talk, Captain.” she said as she headed for the Ready room. Alen turned and followed with a nod.

OOC: This story has drawn to it’s conclusion as far as the Fleet Action goes but the Sausalito will return with the information that was discovered aboard the Borg probe and are sure to run into them again. Thank you to everyone for reading my story.