“The first half of level one is secure, Chief.”  Ensign Hawk from the Hazard Team was in the ear of Athena Catari, the chief security and tactical officer.  She was standing in the main operations center of the small former Federation station.  The station had six levels, including engineering.  Catari held a PADD in her hand as the map of the facility stared back at her.  As small as the station was, there was still ground to cover.  There were plenty of dark corners to hide a secret or two.  Or Borg.  She confirmed his report and advised him to begin the second half of the search.

She walked over to where the Chief Science Officer was working on a console, “Lieutenant?”

Sadie Fowler glanced up, “It’s not communicating with The Collective anymore…although I’m not sure it was connected in the first place.”  She held up the systems analyzer she was working on, “According to the station’s systems, there was a connection to them early on, but then suddenly…it just…stopped.”  She worked the old console further, pointing to the older display, “But the Borg drone presence remained…for quite some time.  Until recently, when it seemed as if everybody onboard just…vanished.”

Athena frowned, finding her confusion and annoyance rising, “That’s…impossible.  Borg drones don’t just fade away in an instant.  These old sensors are crap.”  The security chief dealt with straightforward situations.  The study of Science and the intricacies of it all annoyed her.  It had frustrated her as a cadet, and it irked her now. 

Fowler chuckled, “I’ve learned that nothing is impossible, Ensign Catari.  It is a gaping hole in the middle of trying to understand what happened here.”  They continued to work until the tense voice of Ensign Hawk broke through to Catari.  Her eyes went wide, and she motioned for Fowler to follow her.

Hawk was waiting for them, “The other half of level one is where the labs are located, according to the station’s layout.  We did an intensive scan through the door…we’re getting faint readings of Borg Drones.”  He handed over a PADD with the data, “This door and the containment is a refit job – the original station plans didn’t have anything as strong or dense as what we’re reading here.  The readings don’t tell us if they’re active or offline.”

Catari concluded, “And we won’t know until we’ve opened the damned door.  Great.  Just…great.”  She stared at the large door, “If we leave it, someone will have to come over here and figure it out.”

Sadie pointed out, “We were given the mission, Ensign.  We have to at least attempt to complete it.  They cleared the sector for us and are keeping a watch.  Whatever is in there…we can always transport away or find a secure part of the station to hold up in…this isn’t the Delta Quadrant.”

Athena smiled, “You’re finding that lieutenant voice pretty quickly.”  Fowler gave her a long stare, and she quieted her smile, moving to the door controls, “Security teams, do not fire unless I order you to – weapons raised and charged.”  She waited until the team was in position.  “Here goes…something.”  She input the codes and stepped away, raising her phaser rifle as the door clicked, and then a resounding thump released as the door’s security seal retreated. Slowly, the door groaned open, revealing a stark image.

Ten slumped Borg Drones were strapped to various stations, unmoving.  Catari motioned her team forward as Fowler wrapped herself into the semicircle of bodies, her tricorder out and scanning.  Her eyes scanned the incoming data, and she gasped in shock, “This isn’t a Borg operation…this is a Borg experimentation by someone or something.”  She kept her distance from the drones; danger still lurked in the darkness of their optical readers, even as disconnected as they appeared.  She came to the back end of the area and a wall of consoles, screens, and systems.  Catari’s team cleared the room and half followed her to where the chief science officer stood.  Fowler shook her head as she tapped at the consoles, “This wasn’t some fly-by-night operation with substandard equipment…these are pretty recent and updated systems.  They’re no LCARS, but they’re functional.”  Another tap, “They left a lot of data here…looking at these logs, they left in a hurry.”  She looked up and stared at the drone remains, “They originally had fifty Borg Drones on station, according to this.  There’s no record of them being shipped off…so we’re missing forty drones…somewhere on this station.”

Athena accepted a pad from one of her team and pulled up the schematics, “There’s still five to six decks below us with some space…you think they refit the entire station?”

With each tap and click of the units, Fowler went from console to console, a feeling of dread growing with her fingers, “If who did this is who I think it is…that’s a very likely situation.”  She found what she was looking for, “This station was taken over by an element of the Orion Syndicate at some point in the last six months.  Reports had the Bord here a year ago.  Whatever they were doing wasn’t for the betterment of the universe.”

Catari felt the same dread crawling up her nerves, “They’re not known for running from anything aside from their own…destruction.”  She looked around the room, “Somewhere on this station is something that scared the Orion Syndicate enough to get the hell out of here…and never return.