“That’s what they’re looking for?”  Captain Wren Walton squinted at the holo display in the briefing room, “I’m not even sure what I’m looking at.”

Thasaz agreed, “We’re not sure either.  The data we were able to pull from the older computers is far from the detail we can get from our sensors.”  They had spent hours poring over the stream of information and narrowed it down to what they theorized was a biological signature.  As the Chief Science officer explained, she cautioned, “We’re not convinced this confirms why they’re here – it’s our best guess.  If my Vulcan brethren were giving this report, they’d have qualified and quantified why this conclusion isn’t supported…blah blah.  The problem is they wouldn’t be wrong.”

Wren sighed, “My Captain’s Chair for a modern colonial computer.  Do we have any idea…”

Suddenly, the room’s communication channel sparked alive, “Captain to the bridge!”  They all stood and walked briskly down the hallway and onto the command center of the USS Mackenzie.

Lieutenant Juliet Woodward sprang from the chair, “Captain, we’re receiving a distress call from a transport group about an hour away.”  She motioned to Atega to play the message.  Walton slid into the chair as the message played.

“This is the Transport Group Alegani…we are under attack from a sphere-like ship…two ships have gone dark in the last five minutes…they’ve disabled our warp engines, and we’re trying to get away without much luck.  We need help…repeat this is…wait – get those shields back up!  Don’t..no!  NO! NOOOOO!!”  The channel cut off with a scream, and the bridge went silent as everyone’s eyes turned to Walton.  She considered her options.  Whatever the Borg were up to, they were moving fast and were ahead of the Mackenzie by several days.

“Plot an intercept course and get us there as fast as she’ll fly.”  The Mackenzie was soon underway, and Walton asked Thasaz, “What can you tell us about the transport group?”  They had been given a download of ship and organization data from the Delta Quadrant when they arrived at Markonian.

“They’re tough ships, but against the Borg, they’ll lose.  They have limited escape pods.  They are technologically advanced enough that they might be considered helpful for assimilation.  The crew would be a mix of Delta and Alpha Quadrant species.”

Park worried, “If they’re still there when we show up…”

Walton warned her gently, “We’ll take it one step at a time.  Get to sickbay – we will be doing emergency search and rescue at a minimum.”  She turned to Woodward, the Chief Counselor, “Get your auxiliary medical teams activated and join the commander – we’re going to need all the help we can get.”  She followed Park into the turbolift with a simple nod.  Wren told the bridge crew, “We’re going to do everything we can to help them…but we cannot attempt a direct attack on a Borg Sphere.  There would be no chance that we would make it out alive.  As good as the Mack is…she’d need a small fleet to lead that attack.”  She looked at each of her bridge officers, and they nodded individually.  She gave one final order before returning to her chair, and it was to Gabriella Castillo at the helm, “If we come under attack from the Borg, we run.  Is that clear?”  The young woman gulped but affirmed the clarity of the situation.  Walton tapped at her console, “Start the clock.”

“Dropping at the system’s edge in 3…2…1.”  Castillo took a deep breath as the Mackenzie dropped into the area.  She waited for Kondo or Thasaz’s report.  Her heart was beating fast.  The Borg were a terrifying enemy on a good day in Federation space. They were in the Delta Quadrant. There was little calvary to call.

Kondo De Fontaine, chief tactical officer, was first, “Sensors have three transport ships in various states of damage within the system.  No trace of a Borg Sphere or signal – we have their path on sensors.”

Thasaz tapped at her console, annoyed, “They were here…tracking their path is more complex this time, captain…looks like they’ve adapted their warp and transwarp trails.”  She sent the information to her science teams to begin taking it apart, “We’re working on it.”

Wren leaned forward, “Get us to them.  Maintain yellow alert.” The clock at the front of the bridge ticked forward as the three wrecked transport ships slowly came into view. “Mr. Kondo?”

“Two of the ships have been ripped apart.  We’re not going to be able to transport aboard them.  The remaining ship…looks like she was the group leader.  Engineering has been breached, but they managed to secure it from the rest of the ship.  Life support and gravity systems are functional on most of that ship.”  He continued to work the sensors.

At science, Thasaz shook her head, “Life signs are…hard to verify.”  She caught the glance from Wren and explained, “Normally, we’d be able to detect them – their shields are offline, and the composition of the hulls isn’t getting in the way.  There’s something else at play.  I am detecting signs of biological and mechanical life, but it’s phasing in and out, so I can’t get a lock.”

Commander Park tightened her grip on the Executive Officer’s chair.  There wasn’t any doubt now – it was the Borg.  The mechanical life signs would be assimilated drones.  Whether they were connected to the collective or lost to the emptiness of disconnection was the next question.  She managed a quiet, “What does that mean…phasing?”  She was a former science officer, and there were so many types.

“Unknown – the computer is having a hell of a time determining the type, kind, modulation, or frequency of whatever phasing it is.”  Thasaz tapped at the console, and the viewscreen displayed the various readings.  

Park frowned as she stood and got closer to examine the data.  “That looks like a Collective connection signal…but then what’s that?”  She gestured at one of the other readings.  “That’s…looks like a brain activity scan transmitted in real-time.”  She continued to study it.

Thasaz agreed, “That’s just two of fourteen signals sending the analyzing systems into a warp core breach.  The only way we’re going to figure it out is…”

Walton finished it, “…is by getting aboard the ship and investigating it ourselves.”  She stood from her chair, “Activate the Hazard Team and assemble Away Team Bravo with them in Transporter Room One – I’ll meet them there.  Commander Park, you have the CONN.”

As the door closed on Wren, the XO shifted to the center seat.  The air on the bridge felt tighter than usual.  The posture of the officers was straight, focused, and tightly wound.  The Borg were here.  And they were going to meet them.  She spoke quietly but firmly to the bridge crew, “Steady on, everyone.  Let’s stay on target and take this one minute at a time. We’ll get through this…whatever it is.”

Park hoped they all believed it.

She hoped she believed it.