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Why the Borg had thus far attacked with only one ship at a time remained a mystery, one that had many of Starfleet’s top strategists baffled and worried, Bashir knew. Some speculated that the advance ships were simply collecting data on the Alpha Quadrant’s ability to respond to, withstand, and recover from their incursions, adding new twists such as time travel to each assault as a way of gauging the Federation’s inventiveness. Add to that the Borg intelligence that Starfleet was amassing courtesy of Project Pathfinder, and an increasingly complex picture of the Borg was slowly emerging, one that differed considerably from Starfleet’s initial assumptions about the collective, and that necessitated constant reevaluation. And that was precisely what had Starfleet worried: an unpredictable enemy was dangerous, but one they still couldn’t comprehend was terrifying.

But a Borg encroachment of the Gamma Quadrant…that’s a new twist.Bashir thought he was beginning to understand Vaughn’s decision to keep the information contained among as few people as possible until all the facts were in. What puzzled Bashir now, however, was the revelation that he’d been summoned specifically to assess the condition of a drone.

Thirty minutes later, together with Bowers and Nog, Bashir found Vaughn a short distance away, sitting on the catwalk, knees up, hands resting on top of them. The commander’s eyes were closed, but Bashir could tell he wasn’t asleep; his forehead was creased in concentration, as if his mind were searching for something that was eluding him. Fatigue,Bashir suspected. He was about to pass his scanner over Vaughn when the commander spoke. “Report, Doctor,” he said without opening his eyes.

“I’ve completed my medical scan,” Bashir said. “The drone is a human female, age indeterminate. Approximately sixty-eight percent of its body has been replaced by Borg technology, including most of the left hemisphere of the brain. Its condition is critical, but stable. The alcove is acting like a life support system, trickling just enough power to keep the drone alive. But that’s it. In its current condition, the drone can’t function, and it can’t survive outside the alcove.”

“Sir,” Nog said to Vaughn, “I’ve finished my scans as well. There’s no evidence of any subspace transmissions beyond the Starfleet signal coming from the drone. Any connection to the Borg collective was probably severed when the ship crashed.”

Vaughn listened to the reports silently, then opened his eyes. He looked, Bashir thought, as if he was struggling with a decision. Finally he said, “Doctor…Lieutenant Nog…you’re both to begin work immediately on extracting the drone from her alcove without killing her. Then you’re going to beam her up to the Defiant,where you, Julian, are going to reverse the assimilation and restore the drone’s humanity.”

Bashir looked at Nog, who stared back at him, stunned. Wanting to restore a Borg drone to its original state was a laudible goal, but under these circumstances…

“Respectfully, sir,” Bowers said, uncharacteristically agitated, “do you think it’s wise to expose the ship to the presence of functional Borg technology? What if—?”

“I’ve made my decision, Sam,” Vaughn said, rising to his feet.

Bowers frowned. “Yes, sir. But the safety of the ship—”

“Is my responsibility,” Vaughn said quietly. “And you’ll do damn well to remember that, Lieutenant.”

Bashir held his breath. What in the world is going on here?

Vaughn met the gazes of all three officers and said, “Until further notice, restoring the drone is the Defiant’s top priority. All other mission directives are suspended. Security is to be maintained, both for the protection of the ship and in order to keep this from as many of the crew as possible. Am I understood?”

Not quite all at once, Bashir, Bowers, and Nog responded with “Aye, sir.”

“Doctor,” Vaughn went on, “You’ll find the drone’s medical records in a subsection of Ensign Tenmei’s medical file.”

Bashir understood then, his eyes widening. “I see…. Thank you, Commander. We’ll begin work at once.”

“Keep me posted,” Vaughn said. He contacted the Defiantand ordered Ezri to beam him up.

After he dematerialized, Bashir went back to the alcove, Nog and Bowers following close behind. “What was all that about?” Nog said almost immediately.

Bowers shook his head. “I’ve never seen him like this. Ever since he found out about the transponder signal, he’s acted as if nothing else matters.”

“And why would the drone’s medical records be in Prynn’s file?” Nog asked.

Arriving at the alcove once again, Bashir looked into the still, pale face of the drone with a new understanding of what was driving Vaughn’s decisions. The knowledge made Julian feel as if he’s just beamed directly into the middle of a mine field. All he could do now was hope that when one of them finally went off, as he felt certain it must, the damage could be kept to a minimum.

“Because, apparently,” he said in answer to Nog’s question, “this poor woman is Commander Ruriko Tenmei. Prynn’s mother.”

8

Ro flexed her fingers on the grip of her phaser as she surveyed the room. Seven duty personnel at stations, plus Akaar and Lenaris in the pit. This would go a lot easier if I’d been able to lock those two in the station commander’s office when I implemented the security override. Nothing’s ever easy….

Ro tapped her combadge. “Taran’atar.”

“Here.”

“I’m in ops. Raise shields.”

“Acknowledged.”

“Lieutenant,” Lenaris began. “You’d better have a damn good explanation for this.”

Ro ignored him and scanned the ceiling with her eyes. Four dual-support pylons radiated from a central hub suspended over the situation table, obscuring her view of the ceiling above. I don’t spend enough time up here,she thought. I never really noticed the ceiling before. This is gonna be tricky….

“Have the room cleared, General,” Ro said.

“I don’t take orders from you, Lieutenant,” Lenaris said dangerously. “Relinquish control of the station and restore power to ops immediately.”

“I can’t do that.”

“Why?”

“Because you might try to stop me.”

“Stop you from what?” Lenaris asked. “What are you doing?”

“Trying to capture Minister Shakaar’s assassin,” Ro said, marching past the station commander’s officer as she sought a better view of the ceiling. “He’s right above your heads.”

Everyone’s eyes went up. The ceiling, of course, seemed peaceful.

“For your own safety, clear the room,” Ro warned again. “Now. This is going to get very messy very quickly.”

“Lieutenant Costello!” Akaar’s voice boomed. “Place Lieutenant Ro under arrest.”

You predictable son of a—

“Belay that,” Lenaris said suddenly. “Stand down, Lieutenant Costello. All personnel, evacuate the operations center.”

“General, what are you doing?” Akaar said.