A snowfall of pinprick stars flurried past the wide windows of the briefing room, beyond them the viridian backdrop of a distant nebula hung suspended oil-like in the inky water of deep space. On the large wall screen Captain Varen looked out from his office aboard Starbase 72, his black rimmed glasses wobbling on the desk as he rubbed his deep set eyes in exasperation. 

“Copellius?” The bedraggled man muttered through his fingers. “The super diplomatically awkward planet full of Androids?”

“Don’t forget the partially intact Borg Cube.” Tanek sighed as he lent back in his office chair, a large chocolate chip cookie in his hand.

“Is that his target?” 

“Aramook had been rather forthcoming since he found himself disconnected.” The Hirogen xB was currently isolated to the briefing room in lieu of any spare quarters on the small ship. The once stoic man now reduced to the brink of tears in a newly silent mind,. “He believes that Brynn is taking Exodus there in an attempt to scavenge Borg infrastructure to repair the Sphere. Whilst he may have been lying to us all about the level of damage to the vessel there are still major hull failings and problems with the central power systems. Short story? It cannot support the Unimatrix any longer, they need parts… complicated parts.”

“And you’re sure this isn’t another ploy?” Varen looked offscreen, the white light from Minos Korva’s sun cresting over the planet filled the room moments before the automated shades engaged, highlighting the lines across the young man’s face. Too many worried wrinkles for a relatively young officer.

“What we’ve been able to extract from our scans based on Theta Squads onsite data about the dispersion field indicates Exodus is severely damaged.” Tanek took a bit from the cookie, crumbs tumbling onto his shirt. “We think that’s part of the reason he’s not made it to transwarp. Which is lucky, as we’re pushing the engines to keep up as it is.”

“Not to look a proverbial gift horse but only part of the reason?”

“Aramook suggested that Borg ships use the hive mind as part of their control systems. The drones are part of the network and provide a form of organic computing circuits for Borg computer architecture.” He brushed the crumbs away as he took another bite, speaking through a mouthful of the sweet treat. “That’s why they adapt so quickly, they have thousands of minds working the problem faster than any computer. Duotronic, Isolinear, Positronic, it all pales in comparison to trillions of organic synapses.”

“And without active drones?” 

“No drones, limited computing power. Transwarp has some decidedly complicated quantum effects involved, even Brynn can’t do that on his own. It’s part of the reason they had to sneak into the Turei subspace corridors to get this far.” Tanek looked across the desk to the perpetually full jar of biscuits, the last few hours had made a dent in them even the replicator hadn’t caught up with. Deciding against it he wiped the remnants of his cookie from the corners of his mouth. “Plus, we’re not sure he has the power required to break into transwarp speeds. Oyvo got a look at their distribution systems and everything is pouring into the beacon.” The young Lieutenant was currently a short walk away on the bridge desperately trying to find ways of extending the small ship’s high warp endurance; a welcome distraction from the guilt she felt for not still being aboard with her team mates when the Sphere fled, taking Theta Squad captive.

“Small mercies I suppose.” Varen fiddled with the arms of his glasses as they lay on the desk, twirling them between his finger and thumb. “Why is the beacon so important?”

Tanek took a long swallow. “That’s the issue Captain. The beacon appears to have been a bastardisation of some sort of Vinculum, an attempt at maintaining the Unimatrix’s connection after the neurolytic pathogen. Aramook said it was intended to hold memories from past members, that they provided a backdrop to the Unimatrix’s interaction as a sort of communal library.” He nodded to the walls of books that lined the XO’s corner of the Task Force office on screen, “Something to refer to, to share in memory. Never active.” Tanek swallowed slowly once more, the spittle dry in his throat already. 

“I sense a but…” The young man on the screen was already wide eyed at the multitude of possible statements. 

“Aramook got a glimpse when Brynn dropped the disruption field.” Tanek looked again at the jar of biscuits, even the thought of a sweet treat couldn’t settle the sickly feeling in his stomach. “It’s full of hibernating minds.”

Silence flooded into the comm channel like a breaking wave, rushing with complicated consequences and heady implications. Neither man said anything for several moments. 

“How many? Varen whispered, his mind racing through the recent legal precedents set by the xBs, Coppelius, the Borg signal. 

“Thousands.” Tanek could feel the weight of history pressing down on his shoulders. 

“And what does he intend to do with them?” Varen continued in a hushed tone. Brynn’s intentions were vital, these beings could be refugees or they could be barely refutable soldiers depending on the man’s desires. Or they could be something else entirely, the Federation knew worryingly little about the intricacies of the Hive Mind despite decades of study. 

“No idea. Aramook still believes he only wants to ensure the survival of the Unimatrix.” A long silence took the cabin again as the waves of possibilities crashed against the two men. 

“And the abducted crew?” 

“Dil, Maine, Zaya and Hermira. No indications, their sensor link cut out when the Sphere went to warp.” Tanek felt the nervous energy in his stomach lurch upwards, struggling against his closing throat. Brynn had made it clear that the Unimatrix was his only priority, would he be willing to kill to prevent the team from interfering? The first of how many lives lost to this new collective?

“And Rana. Why take her?” 

“Doctor Malax suspects it linked to her pure Betazoid heritage. Whilst she almost never made use of her telepathic abilities the neural capability was always present. It’s only a working theory but he suspects Brynn might try to use her as a sort of overhead organisation system for the dormant neural patterns.” Tanek could feel the stomach acid pushing against the back of his throat at the thought of Rana, alone aboard the sphere, forced to be some sort of central processor. 

“A queen.” 

“Yes.”

Silence again, colder and filled with more dread at the thought of this new and unpredictable Borg presence. 

“You reported earlier that Aramook said the queens were gone?” 

“Affirmative, and he maintains that statement.” Tanek cast his mind back to the conversation the two men had over the unconscious body of Ole in the Sickbay, only a few hours ago. “Apparently the queens were an adaptation by the collective. A calculated response to a certain threat.”

“The Federation.” Varen returned his glasses to the wrinkled bridge of his nose, forcing the nervously twisted arms back into position. “They why stop now? We haven’t.” The words caught on the edge of his lips, in truth the Jupiter signal had almost brought the Federation to its knees. He eyed the padd containing recent confidential investigation reports where it sat on the far side of his desk, out of view but at the forefront of his mind.

“Who knows? It seemed like the neurolytic pathogen did a massive amount of damage to the collective’s infrastructure, perhaps like Species 8472 we’re just too costly to engage.” Tanek fiddled with a long eyebrow as he mused. “Maybe we’re just not worth it, there’s plenty of other directions to expand in. Perhaps we should just be content that they want to leave us alone now?”

“I’ll say it again, small mercies.” Varen sighed from his stomach. “Either way we need to make sure we keep an open mind. If we could secure the Unimatrix and assist them in re-establishing themselves we would gain a valuable and grateful ally.” The ticking of cogs behind Varen’s eyes was almost audible, years of diplomatic experience whirring away, calculating angles and interests. “If the collective is still out there as the Unimatrix suggests, we could do with their insight.”

“And their technology?” Tanek felt his ire beginning to raise. Command always had multiple motives. 

“Yes. And their technology.” The two men’s eye met for a tense moment, Varen was the superior in rank if not age. “I’ll make instruction for any assets to keep clear of your path and I’ll see what I can arrange in the way of relief. Maybe something from DS17.” His hand reached offscreen to summon data on Daedalus’ position. “It looks like you’re 36 hours away from Coppelius, How long can you keep this speed up?”

“Another 10 hours, maybe a bit longer if Bib and Oyvo can…” Tanek was interrupted by a chirp from his commbadge.

“Ensign Davidson to Captain Tanek. Aramook just collapsed, were taking him to Sickbay.”

A nod from Varen dismissed the Captain but before he could reach his desk to end the channel his commbadge chirped once again.

“Bridge to Captain Tanek.” The ever level voice of Lieutenant Bahir floated bodyless through the room. “We have lost contact with the Sphere. Sensors indicated there was a massive energy bloom and they have disappeared from long range scans.”