Lt Jovenan – We know it works because it worked on us
Jovenan
((Sickbay, Deck 7, USS Artemis))
The flight to the Sickbay allowed them a small breather, but they were far from out of the danger yet. Many of them were injured in various degrees – perhaps all of them, even if some of them didn’t show it. Among the discussion and attempts to grasp the situation they found themselves in, Jovenan kept peeking at Vitor, who was being treated by nurses. Her heart had nearly burst out of her chest when he had revealed his blooded neck and, pale, said he was being assimilated. She had been relieved to learn it was just a wound, not without danger, but one that could be treated immediately.
After all, it wasn’t a normal assimilation. Jovenan tried to wrap her head around and create an explanation why the Borg were different from the usual.
Jovenan: Do you remember the taco virus incident on the Excalibur? We all were exposed, but it only affected individuals with specific biosignatures. Maybe it’s something similar now, but there’s something that either allows or prevents the assimilation process. And it apparently correlates with age.
Adea: Fascinating, but how are they doing it, and why aren’t they trying to assimilate anyone else?
Jovenan shrugged. Perhaps this was considered more efficient a strategy. Perhaps they lacked the ability to assimilate at touch. She looked at the Captain, who was too busy with the computer console to participate in the conversation. Vitor had been released by the medical personnel, much to Jovenan’s joy, and rejoined the group.
Silveira: Because we are old enough to know better?
Jovenan raised the corner of her lips a little. She wasn’t quite certain about the age hypothesis. At 27 standard years of age, she wasn’t much older than some of the assimilated drones, if at all. Something that correlated with age but had other factors seemed likely.
Savel/Hopper/Flint/Kraal: Response
Sadly, their thinking time was limited.
Jovenan: ::to Adea:: Do you know anywhere else where there might be more survivors? ::to MacKenzie:: Or should we try to take over the ship instead?
Adea: I don’t, but the computer might.
Savel/Hopper/Flint/Kraal: Response
They turned to the Captain and waited until she turned her attention to them again as well.
MacKenzie: We have control of the ship. As far as I can tell, Fleet Formation Mode has been deactivated on the Artemis, but many of the ship’s systems are offline… ::looking back to the computer, tapping in commands as she dictated their status and her actions:: We’re currently adrift, and we’ve stopped firing on Earth Spacedock. I’ve been able to lock out external communications so the Borg can’t warn the other ships that we’re not under their control anymore…
Resisting the urge to smile, Jovenan looked at her comrades’ reactions. They were mixed, as she was; they had, if not regained control, halted the Borg from using their ship for their cruel intentions, but, as Vitor’s frown revealed, they had made themselves a target, much like the Excelsior had. Besides the concerns of their survivability, Jovenan’s mind was puzzled with another question: who, how, why had the Fleet Formation been disabled?
Adea: Although they might notice us if we’re adrift…
Silveira: Hopefully there is so much going around that the Borg won't track us.
Jovenan: Let’s hope you’re right. The Collective may have other means to communicate, not to mention plans for in case of losing connections to one ship.
Savel/Hopper/Flint/Kraal: Response
The discussion didn’t advance much further, when the communications once again caught a transmission from somewhere outside the ship.
Vox/Jack Crusher: =/\= To the worlds of the Federation, hear. Your biological and technological distinctiveness will contribute to the whole. Your cultures will evolve to serve the future. Peace and prosperity will spread across the galaxy. You will be assimilated. You will exist in a universe without fear, a universe without loss, unbroken, perfect. Those diseases are of the past. =/\=
Jovenan looked at each of the team members, but they were too concentrated in the transmission to get an eye contact with. The message was chilling, perhaps those were the words that sealed their fates and deaths. The Voice had confirmed that the Borg were still seeking assimilation, so perhaps they would only seek to eliminate Starfleet.
Sol Station: =/\= Mayday! Mayday! Shields are down! =/\=
An alarmed frown creeped onto Jovenan’s face. They had seen the barrage of hundreds of starships against the Spacedock, and it had taken the beating courageously for hours, but as it seemed, not even the fortress in the sky could stand still against the full forces of the armada. There might have been thousands of people on the Spacedock, but they weren’t Jovenan’s only concern. The planetary shields were controlled from the station.
Vox/Jack Crusher: =/\= The Titan has been neutralized. We are the Borg. Resistance is futile. Eliminate all unassimilated. Target lock: Berlin. Target lock: Cairo. Target lock: Philadelphia. Target lock: Rome. Target lock: San Francisco. Target lock: Paris. Target lock: New York. =/\=
The unknown Voice of the Borg kept listing the names of cities, while Jovenan fought breaking down and crying. Without anything in between the assimilated armada and the planet, they could rain down fire for as long as there were torpedoes in stock and antideuterium in their engines. A single ship could destroy a city in mere minutes; hundreds of them, and the entire surface of the planet was glass by the end of the day. Billions were about to perish as they watched, powerless.
MacKenzie: Is there a way we can isolate and incapacitate the assimilated lifesigns of the crew? I’d hate to have to go mow them all down, but they seem insistent on doing the same to Earth…
Adea: We could deploy a knockout gas, it would take down our own as well, but it would at least make it safer. I don’t know how much of it we could make.
Silveira: Depends, are we sending it the whole ship?
Jovenan pressed her lips together. Genkos was proposing the same tactic as employed by the Suliban pirates.
Jovenan: We would either need protective equipment for ourselves to get through the gas, or deploy and clear it as we advance. And, if the Borg are able to withstand it, we may have made all other survivors defenceless. It’s risky…
Hopper/Savel: Response
The Captain shook her head.
MacKenzie: Even if we can get a clear route to the bridge. We have to get control of the ship and try to stop them.
Adea: That much we can do.
Vitor straightened his back. After his moment of terror after discovering his injury, it was a joy to see him again full of vigour, as much as Jovenan would have preferred him to stay here, in safety. The sword incident a year earlier had made her cautious of the injuries he could sustain, and she didn’t wish to witness the alternate ending of that story.
Silveira: Then let’s do it.
MacKenzie/Hopper/Savel: Response
Genkos waved around, pointing at the various medical equipment in the room. Reminded that she lacked a tricorder, Jovenan approached a table and picked up one. It was a medical tricorder, hardly something she had been used to utilizing, but considering they were trying to scan for lifesigns, the type had little relevance.
Adea: If someone can help me get some of this stuff to the Ops station down the hall, we can hole up there, and I can pump the gas ahead of you, clear your way as it were.
Silveira: I am feeling better. I can go with any team.
Pressing her lips together, Jovenan considered the options. Neither were particularly safe, even if the plan worked. The anaesthetic gas could render drones harmless – hopefully at least – but it still left gaps in the attacking team’s defences. The team controlling the gas might have nothing but themselves to their protection.
Jovenan: I helped redirect the anaesthetic gas off the decks during the pirate attack, so I know how the system works. I could help the Doctor.
She looked at the Captain. It was all just a proposal thus far, and their commanding officer had the last word in the matter.
MacKenzie/Adea/Hopper/Savel: Response
Silveira: What’s the word, Captain?
MacKenzie/Adea/Hopper/Savel: Response
Jovenan nodded. They had retaken the ship from their enemies several times before; what’s once more? She tried to convince herself that they were going to succeed, after all, they had succeeded before, but as the team prepared for their action, she felt enormously nervous. The Borg control may only go as far as the edges of the Sol System, not much further she thought, so every ship and planet out of that range would be safe for now. She wondered if Hiro would survive to remember her after this was all over.
Jovenan: Take tricorders with you. Two per a team, triangulation is much more efficient than a single device.
MacKenzie/Adea/Hopper/Savel: Response
She heard a thump and other muffled sounds coming through the door. If the drones were trying to break through the door using brute force, they may not be able to use it to leave the Sickbay. There were Jefferies Tubes connecting the room to the other parts of the deck and the ship, and raising her tricorder, she wondered if they would be a safer option.
Jovenan: ::scanning:: I’m detecting several drones in the door’s proximity. We should…
She paused and stared intensively at the small device in her hand. The drone’s lifesigns were rather different from what they had had before the assimilation, which aligned with what they had witnessed earlier, but there were also lifesigns that were… normal.
Jovenan: What are they… Sir, there are several drones and one or two individuals who appear to be unassimilated!
MacKenzie/Adea/Hopper/Savel/Silveira: Response
Recognizing the urgency, Jovenan rushed to assist in removing the barricade so that they could help the people in the corridor. Sweat had soaked her clothes, which were turning sticky and constantly rubbed against her bruised chest.
Once the largest obstacles had been removed, Jovenan prepared her phaser and stood by the door, ready to fire at the drones behind it. When the doors were opened, a part of her expected to find that the Borg had executed a ruse, and they would rush through the opened doors and slaughter the people inside. Instead, she was surprised to find the faces she hadn’t seen in hours.
Talos? Lt Richards?
As much as she would have wanted to call for them and ask their condition, there was no time for it just yet. She fired a few beams towards the drones that were attacking the two officers.
Jovenan: Covering!
MacKenzie/Adea/Hopper/Savel/Silveira: Response
Dakora/Richards: Response
Esma/Four of Six (Filistrien)/Ten of Ten (Kel)/Other Drones: Response
TAG/TBC
----
Lieutenant Jovenan
Chief Science Officer
USS Artemis-A
E239911J11