Leaning against the bulkhead near the primary science station, Captain Corbin took in what Velesa and Niro were briefing him and his first officer. Sensing Nelson’s irritation at them taking the long way around in their briefing, Corbin concealed his smirk. He had to take this seriously.

“So when we double-checked the overnight long-range sensor logs, we found this little surprise,” Velesa said as she used the holographic controls to display a frequency.

Not recognising the frequency instantly, Corbin sensed that his first officer did and asked her about it. “What is it, Number One?”

Nelson didn’t automatically answer her captain. Instead, she looked at the two other senior officers. “Are you certain about it?” Her former engineering abilities were kicking in above her first officer role.

Niro nodded. His bald Deltan head shone brightly by the reflection of the lights from above him. “We are certain of it it, ma’am.”

Nelson turned to Corbin, “Sir, this needs to be raised to Starfleet Command immediately.”

“Why?” Corbin asked, lowering his voice, realising that whatever it was now made them feel worried and concerned. He could feel the chill going down Nelson’s spine.

“Sir, that’s a Borg neural interlink frequency,” Nelson answered. “And from the size of some of those curves, I would suggest that we are looking at a Cube. It’s amplifying the frequency consistent with a vessel of that size.” 

“And it’s just beyond the Federation border,” Niro added as he taped a button beside Velesa. A local star map then replaced the sensor log of the frequency, showing Federation space near the shared border with the Talarian Republic. Just beyond the unclaimed space between the Talarians and Tholian Assembly, a red dot indicated the whereabouts of this frequency. They weren’t too far from it. Their current mission was to patrol the border and fly the flag to preserve the peace with the Talarians. This discovery now changed everything. 

“Lieutenant Niro, take us to red alert and issue combat assignments,” Corbin instructed; he turned to Velesa just as Niro returned to his station and activated the ship-wide alarm, “I want further long-range scans taken; pull everything you can from the nearest telescopes, outposts and intelligence drones.”

Velesa knew what he wanted, as Corbin could hear her already working out the quickest way to get more information on the threat near their backyard. “I’ll access the  Castal Array to see if its sensors can give us a better picture, sir.”

Corbin then ordered Lieutenant Starok, at the helm, to set a course so they could position themselves relatively close to the frequency within Federation space. 

“Aye, sir,” Starok replied instantly, “Course laid in.”

“Engage at warp nine,” Corbin commanded as he moved from the science station to cross the bridge. “Number One, the bridge is yours, and Commander Alkos, open a secure priority one channel to Admiral Duncan.”

“Captain’s log stardate seven-eight-four-two-three point one-five. After discussing what we’ve found with Fleet Admiral Duncan at Fourth Fleet Operations, he has ordered the Columbia to head beyond Federation space to investigate this arrival of a Borg Cube. While discussing the matter with the admiral, the Borg interlink frequency we had detected went dead. The admiral wants us to learn what happened and why a Cube is sitting so close to our space.”

“Dropping out of warp,” Starok announced from the helm just as Captain Corbin reentered the bridge. 

Everyone was now present, his entire senior staff, as they knew that if this was the prelude to another Borg invasion, they would be the first line of defence for the Federation, and it would be their responsibility to raise the alarm. However, with the interlink frequency going dead and even the use of the Castal Array not being able to give them more data, they had to find out what was going on. 

Tugging on his jacket, he stopped in the centre of the bridge. He had noticed that everyone was now armed, and extra security personnel were assigned to the bridge. 

“Report,” He asked aloud to anyone who had something.

“I’ve got the Borg Cube,” Velesa shared, and before anyone else could react, she had already pulled the image of the menacing ship onto the viewscreen. 

Corbin must have opened his mouth to the surprise before them as he realised after a few seconds how he must have looked. He instantly closed it. Nelson had moved from her chair to stand beside him. He appreciated her being by his side as he held on to the back of Alkos’ chair.

“How’s that possible?” Nelson asked. 

Counsellor Merrindis, who sat beside the captain’s chair on the left, shared in the shock, too. “I thought it took an entire fleet to take one of them down?”

“Obviously not,” Doctor Carrillion countered from where she stood by Niro’s side. “All of those lives lost. It’s a tragedy.”

Corbin couldn’t understand his doctor’s reaction to the scene before him. The Borg Cube they had thought was there was now shattered into pieces spread across the entire system. He knew she meant all of the drones who had lost their lives. 

“Any ideas?” Corbin turned to Velesa.

Velesa was busy working at her station, trying to interpret the data coming in from the sensors. She eventually shook her head. “There’s so much to sift through here, sir; I can’t make heads or tails out of this data.”

Ortega then spoke up from the engineering consoles. “I’m detecting hundreds if not thousands of pieces of debris swept across the entire system; if we want to get some answers to what happened to this Cube, then I suggest we begin a salvage operation, sir.”

“A quick one of that, as the Borg are known to return to recover what they’ve lost themselves,” Nelson advised.

Corbin couldn’t agree anymore with his senior staff. “Okay, if we’re going to do this, where do we start?”

“Captain, it looks like there are at least four areas where a bulk of the Cube has ended up,” Velesa reported as she showed a scan of the uninhabited star system. “The arctic region of a small M-class-like moon, an asteroid field, the upper atmosphere of a class seven gas giant and the surface of a class Y planet.”

“Well, none of them sounds dangerous,” Nelson said sarcastically.

Corbin couldn’t agree more with her assessment of the situation. “Okay, if we’re going to do this quickly, we must send out multiple away teams.” He turned to Nelson, “Number One, begin organising teams; use the shuttles and runabouts if we must, but I want this operation done quickly before any other Cubes arrive.”

“Sir, some drones are alive among the debris,” Niro announced. “I suggest everyone goes in armed and ready to defend themselves.”

“Borg Drones are known to ignore anyone who isn’t a threat to them,” Merrindis advised. “If they are wounded, they will focus on repairing what they have to call for help.”

“Yes, counsellor, that’s normal Borg behaviour; however, even a wounded animal will kick back if it feels endangered,” Niro countered.

“I’ll order all away teams to give any drones they encounter a wide berth,” Nelson said.

“We could beam some of the smaller pieces to the cargo bay to run an analysis from there,” Ortega suggested.

“Make it happen,” Corbin agreed. “I want us out of here before those drones make themselves known to their big brothers.” 

In Play:

All: Captain Corbin is sending multiple away teams across the system to retrieve the Borg debris and return it to the Columbia to determine what happened to the ship and why it was so close to Federation space. The groups are being sent out via support craft or through the use of transporters. 

If you need inspiration for your storytelling, perhaps your team will be assigned to one of the following away missions/ideas:

Frozen Antics:

A small M-class-like moon, where pieces are spread across a few kilometres in the northern polar pole area. Your team must wrap up warm as they walk across the snowy conditions to find the pieces. Along the way, consider how strong and brave your characters are as they endure the deep chills of this arctic environment. Once arriving, your team must dig deep underneath the thick layers of snow before they freeze to death! 

Tug Away:

Several shuttles and runabouts must enter one of the asteroid fields to tractor some larger parts of the Borg’s hull. The shuttles must work together to prevent breaking the debris any further. However, the asteroids are not making it easy to perform this operation. There are many smaller pieces that can heavily damage your little ship and the hull fragments. Working together, can you pilot and find a solution to get yourself out of this dense area of floating rocks?

Among The Clouds:

A section of the Cube has been found within the upper atmosphere of a class 7 gas giant. There is no way this section can be retrieved. However, there is enough time to board it and recover anything significant. An away team must go over in EVA suits and find any data nodes to help explain why the ship was so close to the Federation. There’s a race against the clock before this section falls too deep into the gas giant and becomes crushed by the external pressure. Will your team get in and out in time before they squished like a tin of sardines? 

Demon Eyes:

Most of the Cube has crash-landed on a Y-class planetoid. Transporters cannot be used to beam anyone down or up. Shuttles and runabouts must be used, and EVA suits must be worn as teams are sent down to this inhospitable world to retrieve the remains of the Cube. Sensor sweeps show that some Drones may have survived and are attempting to regenerate. Away teams are ordered to avoid the drones at all costs but observe their behaviour from afar. While avoiding interacting with the drones, your ensign must locate anything valuable. This is a hide-and-seek mission with a twist – you don’t want the drones to find you!

A Needle In A Haystack:

As the debris is returned to Columbia, a team has been tasked with cataloguing the different pieces. What interesting parts and treasures does your team find? Remember, when a Borg ship is destroyed, its most critical parts self-destruct; you may not find a transwarp coil but something else of interest. What is it, and how does it work? However, as you start to get somewhere with the technology, you may find Borg fail-safe software among it that prevents you from accessing its secrets. How will you bypass this to unlock the information? How good is your ensign at cracking codes? 

Something else?

Or is there something else that is just as dangerous and is among a hazard that is worth the risk to get? What else could you find sifting through so many pieces of Borg junk? The choice is yours, but hurry up before the Borg return – the Columbia cannot get assimilated!