The light grey hull of the shuttle craft clunked heavily onto the deck as the magnetic clamps quietly hummed into action, the sleek hull gasping a sigh of relief as the support systems of the shuttle bay took over and the hardy craft could finally rest from its jaunt to the heart of the Borg Sphere. The short deck ramp fell away from the shuttle with a slow hiss, revealing the looming figure of the Hirogen, Aramook standing in the doorway. His large arms crossed over his chest defensively, he looked out from the tiny vessel like a caged bear as the depowering hum of the shuttle faded away, leaving the tense quiet of the shuttlebay. 

“Welcome to the Daedalus, Mr….” Bahir began, hoping his voice remained steady despite the gigantic humanoid before him.  

As the ramp gently made contact with the deck plates, a barely audible bump as the two heavy metal plates met, Aramook stepped forward flexing his large shoulders from his previously hunched position within the small type-9 shuttle. “You may call me Aramook.” He took two steps forward, easily clearing the ramp and stepping onto the deck. The giant man looked down towards the assembled security team, the coral skinned Bahir standing ahead of the team, not one of them had flinched on the giants approach. Yet.

“Aramook. Captain Tanek regrets that he cannot be here to greet you in person but has asked me to escort you to sickbay where you will be able to examine Ole.” Bahir motioned towards the double doors that led to a nearby turbolift.

“And your friends?” the Hirogen ran his eyes up and down the line of gold clad crewmen, each met his gaze with steely determination.

“These officers are here to… assist. I’m sure you can understand.”

“Naturally, Lieutenant Bahir.” 

The young Saurian had not given his name, his facade cracked for a moment as a shiver ran the length of his spine. He quickly collected himself and began walking towards the bay. As the party disappeared through the door Oyvo stepped out from the shuttle craft and reached for her combadge.

“Oyvo to Tanek. Captain, have you got a minute?”

Captain Tanek sat on the short sofa that nestled under the windows of his office, the usual myriad of cushions and coloured throws pushed aside to give ample room to the captain and the young Xindi Lieutenant who sat with him. Behind them, the fractured Borg Sphere loomed. Visible from most portholes on the ship, it hovered perpetually in the background of every conversation and every thought. 

“Did he hurt you?” Tanek asked, careful not to put words in the young officer’s mouth. 

“Not particularly, it scared me more than anything.” Oyvo’s heart began to beat harder as she thought back to her encounter with Brynn. “He was adamant that we shouldn’t divert any power from the beacon.” 

“Do you think he would have attacked you?”

“I don’t know.” She felt deafened by the sound of her blood banging in her ears. “He didn’t seem like the calm, friendly man we had met earlier. The one who asked for our help.”

“He might have been lying.”

“He seemed genuinely desperate when he spoke to Commander Khos initially.” Taking the small cup of juice from the table she sipped it as she explained. “I don’t know how much Federation history you know captain?”

“A fair bit. You don’t hang around for this long without hearing a few stories.” Tanek chuckled lightly as he eyed the far cabin wall, where an array of pictures and mementos bedecked the wall.

“My people lost their homeworld centuries ago. Following decades of diaspora and wandering amongst the stars we were rescued by an advanced interstellar race. Then we fell victim to the machinations of time-manipulating governments and almost destroyed Earth. It was only the actions of Admiral Archer that stopped us from committing genocide.”

“I’ve heard it argued that it paved the way for the Federation.”

“Then I’m afraid you’ve heard some bad arguments.” She smiled, bittersweetly, to the Captain. “The Xindi were pushed to their very edge by the possibility that they might become extinct.”

“I don’t understand.” Tanek confessed, offering the young woman a biscuit from the perpetually filled plate.  

“People are unpredictable when they think it might be the end.” She took a proffered cookie, coated in a delightful pink icing. “My grandmother went to her grave adamant that you couldn’t trust a reptilian.”

“Brynn is facing the end of Unimatrix Zero.” Tanek nibbled at his own dark chocolate biscuit. “You think he might be dangerous?”

“I think he would’ve broken my wrist rather than loose one watt of power to the beacon.” Oyvo shuddered slightly.

“Thankyou Lieutenant. I appreciate this.” Tanek sighed as he stood from the sofa. “I’m afraid I have to go meet our visitor in Sickbay. I can arrange for someone else to pilot the shuttle’s return trip if you don’t want to go back?”

Oyvo took a last bite of her cookie, scooping the fallen crumbs from her lips with a finger. As she stood to meet the captain, tugging her jacket back into place she smiled with barely faltering confidence. “I’ll be ready to depart when Aramook is.” Tanek smiled softly in pride.

“Yes. Aramook, tell me Lieutenant…” Tanek began as the two stepped out of his office, leaving the ominous Borg Sphere out of sight, if not out of mind.

A dilapidated alcove fizzed in the corner of the broken maintenance bay as Dil checked his tricorder for the fifth time. The small screen illuminated his face in the dark gloom, causing him to squint as the screen danced with readings of the surrounding radiation, supposedly a result of the damaged transwarp coil. Maine had been due to check-in five minutes ago. The security officer had disappeared into the depths of the Sphere several hours ago on a hunch after a barely persuasive debate with Dil. 

“Tanek warned you about him.” Dil admonished himself.

“Really? What did he say Commander?” a honeyed voice dripped from the corner.

Dil jumped form the crate that acted as his make-shift seat, phaser already rising to target the disembodied voice. 

“Relax. Just me.” Maine emerged from the shadowed corner, his hands raised. “No need to shoot.”

“That remains to be seen.” Dil narrowed his eyes in frustration. “You are late.”

“The Talaxian almost caught me a few sections over. I had to wait whilst she finished her job.” Maine took a seat next to where the Commander had been sat, picking up a flask of water from the open case beside them.

“Caught you?” Dil placed the phaser back into its holster with a click. “Were you doing something you shouldn’t have been?”

“Sneaking through sensitive compartments of a Borg Sphere unaccompanied?” Maine reached to his belt and offered his tricorder to Dil. “Carrying this.”

“Care to elaborate?” Dil asked, taking the tricorder and laying it on the mobile field console, transferring the data to the screen for easier review.

“I was right.” Maine took a long swig from the water flask as he pointed to the console’s screen. Barely illuminated corridors extended forward from the camera, disappearing into the endless darkness of the Sphere; along each wall recessed alcoves were infrequently illuminated by the flickering lights, each of them filled with silent, sleeping Borg drones. “It appears Unimatrix Zero isn’t as small as we were told.”

Dil’s heart jumped to his throat. “There are drones? How many?”

“I saw hundreds.” Maine spoke quietly, as he watched the colour rush from Dil’s face like an upturned glass. “There’s more.” He reached over and pulled up a different file. 

The camera entered a darkened room, initially no different to the rest of the de-powered sphere save for the tight curving walls illuminated by the flashlight. Signs of damage covered the walls, with large sections of hull panelling warped into chaotically painful shapes as the beginnings of micro fracturing was sharply pulled into focus under the shining white light. The screen slowly slid around the room, following the arc of the walls till it sharply turned to its left, landing on a large round pillar that was the focal point of the room. A hand reached out to enter a short command and the pillar tore along the centre, the flashlights beam pushing into the crack as the upper portion lifted into the ceiling with a quiet pneumatic hiss. In the centre of the pillar, nestled in the bay like a tribute on an altar was a ring of thick material, affixed by mounting points to a series of large concentric rings that disappeared into the frame of the wide pillar. 

“That is a transwarp coil.” Maine paused the video. A series of sensor readings appearing alongside the footage. “And it’s not damaged at all.”

Dil stood in silence as he stared at the frozen image, the scrolling text confirming Maine’s statement to the best of Starfleet’s knowledge. “Hermira said the ambient radiation looked wrong, she noticed it when they had to evacuate OIe.” the Commander pressed a few keys summoning the crewman’s earlier sensor scans. “She said it looked more like a dispersal field, a well-hidden one.”

Maine took a final swig before setting the empty flask down on the case and standing opposite the Bajoran. “It appears that Unimatrix Zero has been hiding more than one secret.”