“I’ll admit it, Dad, it was impressive,” Tate Horin stated from the main pilot seat. He pressed a few buttons on the holographic controls of the Volga-class runabout before resuming his conversation. “I just can’t get my head around how you and Mom were so lucky to avoid being killed when the Romulans stole it.”

Chuckling at his son’s words, Jaxxon Horin couldn’t agree anymore with him. “Yeah, we were fortunate to be on that supply run, or we may have found ourselves put to work on the mines of Remus.”

“How did the Romulans steal the Prometheus in the first place?” Tate asked.

Smirking, Jaxxon shook his head. “That’s classified, but let’s just say it most likely had something to do with the Tal Shiar.”

Tate shook his head in disbelief at how sloppy Starfleet Security had gotten during the Dominion War to allow such a top-secret vessel to be stolen right underneath their noses. “So, do I have your first commanding officer to thank for my existence?”

“Nah, a pair of E-M-H’s,” Jaxxon replied with a further chuckle. “If it hadn’t been for them recovering the Prometheus, then I’m certain your mother and I would have died trying to retake that ship.”

“Talk about a tragedy in the making,” Tate replied. He looked at one of the readouts from his navigational displays, “We’ve just passed Terra Nova.”

“Almost halfway there,” Jaxxon remarked.

Tate shook his head. “Dad, seriously, your sense of direction and location is surprisingly off for someone who trained as a pilot!”

“Let me guess, your father is lost again!” stated Anizza Horin as she entered the cockpit of the Janaran, bringing with her mugs of Gavaline tea for each of them. 

“Not lost, just not good at working where halfway is between Betazed and Mellstoxx,” Tate laughed as he took the tea from his mother and thanked her. 

“Well, don’t ever ask him to fly this ship in the Badlands anytime soon,” Anizza teased. “One time, when we were on the Artemis, he led an away team to an abandoned Maquis base, but instead of arriving at the moon where it was located, he got us lost between plasma storms. We’re lucky we didn’t end up in the Delta Quadrant!”

Appreciating the laughs that filled their little ship, Jaxxon took the banter from his wife and son well. He took his tea and sipped on it. He could sense their happiness not just in their voices or see it in their expressions but through what they were feeling and thinking. Glad to finally see his wife returning to how she had been was certainly something he was grateful for. After hearing the news of Anizza’s mother’s death, Jaxxon had never seen his wife look so sad. Anizza had taken the news badly. She knew her mother had been ill for some time, but their careers had kept them away from their homeworld for a long time. After months of delaying it, he had organised with his son to take Anizza home to Betazed so Anizza could sort out her mother’s estate. They had been fortunate enough to hitch a ride to Betazed on board the USS Prometheus, the first ship both of them had served aboard after graduating from the Academy. Now, they were using a borrowed runabout from Betazed to return to Starbase Bravo. 

 Turning to his son, Jaxxon was so proud of him. He had recently graduated from Starfleet Academy and would be posted on Bravo as one of the runabout pilots. Now sitting wearing his proper officer’s uniform, Ensign Tateuum Horin was ready to begin his career. Jaxxon envied him a lot. When they had graduated, he and his wife were the last class to enjoy some sort of peace before the entire galaxy had fallen into madness. The Second Borg Incursion took place before the Dominion War erupted. Nothing had been the same since then, and even now, as he reflected on the early days of his career, Jaxxon wondered if what lay ahead for his son would be a new golden age for Starfleet. Being a Starfleet Captain now, one that was the head of one of the largest departments on the Fourth Fleet’s Headquarters, he had seen so much in his career. 

The communication array then went off, and Jaxxon knew then that madness was around the corner for them.

“Dad, I’m detecting a distress call coming from the U-S-S Cobb,” announced Tate.

Concerned to hear that, Jaxxon sat up straight in his chair, placed his mug down and took over the controls. Worry now filled their cabin as Anizza took the engineering station beside her husband.

“The Cobb is one of the new Sagan-class ships. What trouble could it be this close to the core of the Federation and on Frontier Day?” Anizza asked as she tried to locate where the Cobb was.

“Tate, put the call through,” Jaxxon ordered his son. 

Tate just nodded as he opened a channel to the ship, giving the signal to his father to speak. 

“U-S-S Cobb, this is Captain Jaxxon Horin of Starbase Bravo on board the runabout Janaran. Do you require assist-”

Jaxxon didn’t have a chance to respond when he was interrupted by the sudden reply of the Cobb’s captain. “This is Captain Margo…” There was a lot of heavy static, accompanied by screaming and what sounded like phase fire. “Our junior officers have revolted…turned into…Borg! A signal from Earth is penetrating…we’re abandoning ship…help!”  

The channel then went dead. 

Turning to his wife, Jaxxon knew that Anizza would have found where the Cobb was. “How far?”

“Less than two light-years,” She replied. “There’s no other Starfleet ships nearby. I’m starting to detect that signal. Whatever it is, they were right; it is Borg in origin.”

Realising that they couldn’t let whatever was happening to the Cobb go without action, Jaxxon had a moment with his wife, his Imzadi. We need to help them. He said to her telepathically. Sensing her agreement, he turned around and was about to ask his son to lay in a course for the Cobb when he noticed the black streaks appearing across Tate’s face. 

He couldn’t sense his son anymore. 

His entire individuality was gone. 

He could hear Tate’s thoughts, but they weren’t only his. There were thousands, if not millions, of voices piercing through Tate’s mind. 

“By the four deities,” Anizza whispered in shock as they looked at their son in pure horror as he turned to them.

“We are the Borg,” He said in a menacing tone.

Without thinking twice, Jaxxon jumped across the cockpit to tackle Tate to the ground. His son’s strength was stronger than ever before. The two of them had played numerous games together over the years and even sparred with one another. Though Tate had developed a keenness to visit Starbase Bravo’s gym daily, Jaxxon knew he wasn’t meant to be this strong. The two of them struggled while behind him; Jaxxon knew what Anizza was doing. She rushed over to the nearest weapon locker, pulled out a rifle, set it to heavy stun and then called her husband out through their minds.

Imzadi, move! 

He did as he was told and rolled off their son as Anizza aimed and fired her weapon at him. 

Stunned immediately, Tate lay unconscious on the cockpit’s floor. 

Getting his breath back, Jaxxon wanted to know what the hell had just happened and was grateful the moment his wife fell to her knees to hug him tightly. Together, they looked at him. 

“We need to get to the Cobb,” Jaxxon whispered. 

“Agreed,” Anizza said slowly. “I’ll get something to sedate Tate with.”

Jaxxon looked at his son one more time. The Borg veins were apparent across his face. He looked almost dead. What had happened? He thought. Then he realised.

The madness had reached them again.