“Sir. We’ve dropped out of warp just outside the probes scanner range.” said Helm as the Sausalito same to a stop.

“On screen.” ordered the Captain.

The image of the surrounding space vanished and was replaced by the Borg probe and the planet Coppelius.

“And what are our scanners showing?” he asked.

“The probe hasn’t raised shields or powered up weapons. Best we can tell, they aren’t doing anything right now except for scanning the planet.” came the reply from Lieutenant Hammonds. “Also, our scans show there to be less than thirty drones onboard, Sir. That’s a lot less than normal.”

“I still don’t like this, Sir. If that thing decides to turn it’s attention to us, we’re toast.” said the XO.

“I understand your concern, Number One, but we should be fine as long as we don’t become a threat.”

Commander Tod released a heavy sigh. “That’s the old Borg, Captain. After what happened on Frontier Day, I don’t think they’re the same now.”

“Would you fell better if you took a team over and got a better look at just exactly what they were up to?” Alen asked his First Officer.

“Okay.” Tod said as she addressed her away team in the transporter room. “We’ll stick with the Captain’s assessment and assume these are still just regular Borg. I want each of the security team to go ahead and set your phasers to different frequencies. If we need to fire, just go one at a time until they adjust for that frequency, then someone else takes over.” 

Evens, Tralar and Barrett each nodded and began adjusting their weapons.

“Why they secure our surroundings, you and I will see what we can find out and possibly download while we’re over there.” she said to Hammonds, the ships Operations officer. 

They were just about to step up onto the transporter when the doors suddenly parted and Nurse Paloma entered.

“The Captain thought it would be a good idea to join you, Commander. He said that he respects you intuition and thought I’d be a good precaution.” she said.

“Let’s go.” Tod said.

Everyone got set and she gave the transporter chief a nod. 

Borg Probe

The away team rematerialized inside the probe and the security detail immediately took their positions. 

“Let’s head for the Bridge.” said Tod. “Everyone keep your eyes open.”

They began to move out in the dimly lit vessel. As they made their way to their destination, they past several drones that appeared to be making some sort of repairs to the probe and paid no mind to the trespassers. 

“Some of that damage seems serious.” noted Lieutenant Evens.

“What if that’s why they’re here?” asked Tralar. “There are a bunch of synthetics down on the planet. Adding them would give the Borg all of their knowledge and some of them use to be workers on Mars. They could definitely help with these repairs.”

Tod gave an almost silent, “Hmm.” to indicate that it was indeed a possibility and something to think about.

They resumed their way to the Bridge and while they passed more drones on the way, they continued to be ignored.

Sausalito

“Sir. The Borg vessel is have begun powering up their engines.” said Hammonds replacement at Operations.

“Contact the away team! Get them out of there!” countered Caotain Krolo as he stood up. “Transporter room! Get them back!”

“They’ve raised shields, Captain. We can’t get a lock.” answered the Transporter room.

“Damn it!” said Alen

Borg Probe

Commander Tod and her team reached the Bridge just as the probes engines roared to life.

“What the hell are they doing now?!” she exclaimed as she slapped at her comm badge. “Tod to Sausalito. The Borg are preparing to leave. Get us out of here.”

With the exception of some static, she was met with silence. She turned to Evens and nodded. The Security Chief tried her own communication device and received the same results.

Tod shook her head in disbelief. When, no, IF, she returned to the Sausalito, she was gonna kick Alen’s ass for this.

“Okay. Paloma. You keep trying to reach the ship. Evens, you and your team secure the area.” she said as she handed out orders. “Hammonds, let’s see what we can download while we’re here. Might as well get what information we can.”

Sausalito

Alen paced the Bridge for what seemed like hours and was frustrated by the lack of news from the away team or about their return. It had indeed been two whole hours. He didn’t know what he would do if he lost those crew members. It would be entirely his fault. He was the one that had sent them over there. His orders had been to observe. That was it. Not infiltrate and acquire information. Observe.

But no. You had to go that extra mile, didn’t you? You had to put your crew in unnecessary danger. Are you happy now, dumbass? he thought as he made another loop around the stations.

“Status?” he called out.

“No changes, Sir.” came the reply.

“What the hell are they up to?” he asked rhetorically. “They fired up their engines two hours ago. Why haven’t they left the system?”

Borg Probe

Tod and Hammonds had downloaded enough information to fill the two tricorders that they carried and had confiscated Nurse Paloma’s as well. That had taken most of the time they had been stuck on the Borg probe. Now they took turns swapping out with the security detail so that everyone had a chance to rest.

“Did you come across anything that will tell us what they’re doing here, specifically?” she asked Hammond “Or maybe why they started the engines quite a while ago but haven’t left?”

“Nothing at all, Ma’am.” Hammonds said.

Lorilen was about to reply when the team was enveloped in transporter beams.

Sausalito

“SIR!. The shields have dropped.” said the Ops officer

“Transporter room. Energize now.” Alen ordered as he jumped up from his command chair.

“We’ve got them. Sir.” said the chief from over the comms.

Alen sighed a breathe of relief just as the Borg probe suddenly warped out of the system.

The turbo lift doors parted and the XO was the first one to exit.

“We need to talk, Captain.” she said as she headed for the Ready room. Alen turned and followed with a nod.

OOC: This story has drawn to it’s conclusion as far as the Fleet Action goes but the Sausalito will return with the information that was discovered aboard the Borg probe and are sure to run into them again. Thank you to everyone for reading my story.