Star Trek: I, LOCUTUS

 Newsgroups: alt.startrek.creative

Path: newserv.ksu.ksu.edu!moe.ksu.ksu.edu!ux1.cso.uiuc.edu!howland.reston.ans.net!agate!ames!decwrl!decwrl!uunet!psgrain!ee.und.ac.za!hippo!cc196.ru.ac.za!g92n3258

From: g92n3258@giraffe.ru.ac.za (MR RL NICOL)

Subject: REPOST: I, LOCUTUS: Parts 1,2,3 of Eight  All other posts irrelevant

Message-ID: <g92n3258.51.732903919@giraffe.ru.ac.za>

Lines: 1149

Sender: news@hippo.ru.ac.za (Usenet News Admin)

Organization: Rhodes University, Grahamstown, South Africa

Date: Tue, 23 Mar 1993 16:25:19 GMT

For some reason, a lot of people aren't receiving the various parts.  So, 

here they are again.  Sorry to all those who have had them already.  As for 

Part four, that has also been sent, but also has not been received by some, 

so that will be sent in a seperate post.

Enjoy

Ryan.

Before this starts, may I just say that this is difficult to

write, when considering the possibility of there being a Borg

cliffhanger at the end of the current season.  With my not

knowing how they will continue the Borg saga, this story may

not fit in with the Star Trek universe in a couple of months

when that episode is aired.  So basically, I'm writing for the

enjoyment - whether it fits in or not with the ST universe now

or ever is not an issue for me at the moment.

Enjoy; comments, criticisms, suggestions and anything else is

     welcome,

Ryan.

                          I, LOCUTUS:

     "Yes, it was ugly enough; but if you were man enough

       you would admit to yourself that there was in you

     just the faintest trace of a response to the terrible

    frankness of that noise, a dim suspicion of there being

         a meaning in it which you could comprehend."

                         (Joseph Conrad; Heart of Darkness)

PART ONE:

"Captain's log: Stardate 7352.61 - The Enterprise is racing

towards Beta Ariquae V in an attempt to avert a catastrophe. 

Two days ago, a cube-shaped space ship was detected entering

Federation space, its heading - on a direct course for this

colony.  Once we arrive, we estimate there will be two hours

to vacate the colony before the Borg obliterate it from the

face of the planet."

The chime from his Ready Room door snapped him out of his

reverie, and back to the cold, harsh reality he knew he would

have to face.

"Come."

The doors on the other side of his desk slid open, and Will

Riker entered, pausing for a moment before moving towards him. 

Behind his first officer, the doors closed, shutting them off

from the main bridge.

"What can I do for you, Number One?"  Picard asked, adjusting

his personal monitor so Riker could not see what he had been

studying on its screen.

His first officer moved forward without saying a word,

watching his captain intently.  After a few seconds, he spoke.

"You've seemed unusually pensive in the last few days,

Captain.  If it is not out of line, may I ask why?"  Riker

knew he didn't have to; the answer was all too clear.  It was

merely a matter of how to approach his captain, a man not

accustomed to sharing his feelings with others.

Picard was silent for a moment, then turned his personal

monitor off.  He looked up at Riker and gave a nod.  "It's

Hugh.  I just wonder what has happened to him, if they've

changed because of him.  I guess this is the test."

This most certainly was the test; the Federation, indeed the

known galaxy, had not heard from the Borg since the Enterprise

had encountered the remains of a crashed Borg ship on a

planetoid, and recovered one survivor - Hugh.

Riker nodded.  He understood what the captain had gone

through, what he was still going through.  Of course, he could

never really know.  But he had some feeling of what it must

have been like; a rape of the mind, transformed into a cold-

blooded killer.  He wondered if Picard really felt he was

somehow responsible for what happened at Wolf 359; if it was

something that haunted him still....

"Getting those colonists out shouldn't take long." Riker

finally said.  "We should have plenty of time to evacuate the

planet, then watch the Borg at work, learn about their

methods..."

"....And confront them." Picard finished for him.

"Hold them off until Shelby arrives." Riker corrected. "We

only have to engage them if they threaten any other planets

with larger populations than we can evacuate."

Shelby.  Picard thought back to the overbearing, pushy

commander, who eventually played a large part in their success

against the Borg ship around Earth.  Now she was in command of

a Star Fleet proto-type - a starship that was built with

enough power to maintain a lengthy combat against a Borg

vessel.  Nothing amazing, but the best the Federation could

make, what with her Fleet still suffering the effects from

their previous entanglement with the Borg.  Unfortunately that

ship, the USS Garrett, was too far away to be of any immediate

assistance to them.  But he had been assured that they were on

their way, and knowing the ever-eager Shelby, he did not doubt

that.

"Captain Picard to the bridge." Data's voice filtered through

the intercom system.

"On my way." Picard said into the air, then got up and looked

at Riker, "So it begins."

The two marched out of the Ready Room and onto the main bridge

of the Enterprise.  On the viewscreen, the image of a tranquil

planet floated into view.

All that was going to change, Riker thought as he sat down

next to his captain.

"Number One, I don't believe there is much time for

pleasantries.  You and Commander Data had better beam down and

organise the evacuation from below; I'll begin to speak to

whoever is in charge in the mean time."

Riker nodded and got up, as did Data from his station.  The

two entered the turbo-lift together.  Picard watched as the

doors slid them out of his view, then motioned for Worf to

hail the planet.

When the face of the leader appeared on the screen, Picard was

momentarily stunned.

"Enterprise, I was under the impression that you agreed we

would not be troubled again." The image of Goshevon spoke.

Why the hell wasn't I told this was the planet they had been

given to colonize, Picard thought, as he stared at the face of

the leader Data had publicly embarrassed in order to let his

people leave their colony when the Sheliak had demanded the

world they were on belonged to their race.

"You and your android chased us off our world once, Picard,

when the "mighty" Sheliak stole our world from us.  This time,

I hope this is nothing more than a courtesy call."  Goshevon

continued.

"Mr Goshevon, I do not have the time to discuss the situation

with you." Picard said, as diplomatically as possible. "But

believe me when I say an evacuation is necessary.  Commander

Data and my first officer..."

"You want us to pack up shop again, Picard!  Have the Sheliak

claimed this quadrant as well?"

"No." Picard said, quietly. "But the Borg have."

                     * * * * * * * *

Riker and Data appeared in what seemed like the town's centre,

the buildings that surrounded them suiting the warm, tropical

environment.  Though different in design, Data noticed that

the city was laid out in a similiar fashion to the one on the

planet the Sheliak took from them.

"Data!"  A woman's voice called out from behind them, and

before the android could do anything, the owner of that voice

ran up and hugged him as he turned in her direction.

"Ard'rian!" Data said in surprise, not quite sure how to

return the affectionate gesture.  As he disentangled himself

from the woman, he turned to Riker, who was standing next to

him with a rather amused expression on his face.  "Ard'rian,

this is Commander Riker."

Ard'rian Mackenzie turned to shake hands with Riker, but still

held onto Data's arm, a fact that didn't make Data feel any

more comfortable than when he was when hugged.

"Data, what are you doing here?"

"That involves a rather lengthy discussion on a wide range of

subjects and, unfortunately, time is of the essence." Data

informed her. "If you could show me to your leader, I will be

able to fill you in as well."

"Does this involve evacuation?" Ard'rian's face showed deep

concern. "Because if it is, there is no way in hell you're

going to get Goshevon to back down again."

"Unfortunately, there is no choice in the matter." Riker spoke

up. "There is no way this colony is going to be left standing,

whether you leave or not."

Data looked at his friend, who looked slightly taken aback at

Riker's directness.  "Ard'rian, we must speak to Goshevon

now."

                     * * * * * * * *

"Captain, the Borg seem to have other ideas regarding their

time of arrival." Worf spoke from behind his station.

"In what way?" Picard asked, looking up at his Chief of

Security.

"Current sensor readings indicate that they are only two hours

away at Warp nine."

There was no way the Enterprise was going to evacuate the more

than thousand colonists on the planet in that limitted time,

Picard knew.  True they had the space on board - all non-

essential personnel had been left on Star base Six, where the

Enterprise had got the emergency call - but in order to beam

all of those people on board, they'd need three hours at

least.  And that was with everything running perfectly....

"Mr Worf, inform Commander Riker that we will be seperating

from the saucer section.  You will remain in command and

oversee the evacuation from here." Picard snapped, then turned

to the two officers at the stations before him.  "Ro and

Soris, you're with me."  After the brief flurry of orders,

Picard moved towards the turbo-lift that would carry him to

the Battle Bridge.

                     * * * * * * * *

The large cube slid through space at an unimaginable speed. 

They were in no hurry; time was irrelevant.  But their goal

was soon at hand.  The Borg-whole knew it was only a matter of

hours away.

They scanned the small object that now approached them.  They

found there to be one kindred to their own kind on board. 

Indirect assimilation had begun.  It was a matter of time, and

they were in no hurry.

They hailed the tiny vessel to speak to their brethren.

                     * * * * * * * *

Picard noted his hands were sweating, as he stared at the

viewscreen, where the large cube-shaped structure hung in

space before them, as silent as death.

He was surprised that it had stopped when it picked the star-

drive section of the Enterprise up on its sensors; he had

assumed it would have continued on, ignoring them, unless

provoked.

Unless they want something with me, he thought, then

immediately squashed that idea.  Had Hugh had an effect on

them, perhaps?

"Sir, we're being hailed." The woman behind him spoke,

sounding slightly uncertain.

"What does the message say?" Picard asked, not taking his eyes

away from the view screen.

"It's just repeating the same word, over and over.  Locutus."

A chill shot up Picard's back at the mention of that name; it

froze his heart until he had to fight for breath.  Slowly, he

realised he was gripping the armrest of his chair, and forced

his hands to relax.

"Open a channel, Lieutenant." He ordered, then stood up and

moved a step towards Ensigns Ro and Soris who sat at their

stations before him.

"Channel open, sir."

"This is Captain Jean-Luc Picard of the starship...."

"Captain Picard of the Enterprise." The Borg voices rang in

unison, interrupting him. "We speak to Locutus of Borg."

Picard was silent for a moment.  When he spoke, his voice was

icey cold, and for a moment the anger at the rape he had

undergone shone within him, threatening to burst.  "That being

no longer exists."

"Existence is irrelevant.  Locutus is alive.  We speak to

Locutus of Borg." The Borg voice continued.

"Do not approach Beta Ariquae V.  This is your final warning."

Picard spoke, sternly.  Turning to the Lieutenant behind him,

he gestured for the channel to be closed, then reseated

himself in his command chair, wondering at his latest dialogue

with the Borg.

"The Borg ship is moving forward, captain, picking up speed on

a heading towards Beta Ariquae V." Ro Larens reported from her

station.

"How long before they reach the planet?"

"Roughly two and a quarter hours, sir." Ensign Ro replied.

Not good enough, Picard thought.  "Prepare to open fire on the

Borg ship, but maintain our distance from them."

The Enterprise moved forward to follow the shrinking Borg

ship, which had picked up its speed to Warp Four.  Soon the

cube-shaped ship had resumed its immense size on the view-

screen.

"Fire." Picard ordered, surprised at how much satisfaction it

gave him to say that one word.

Two beams of pure energy lanced out from the star-drive

section, hitting the Borg ship dead-on.  From their position

relative to the Borg ship, no damage was evident.

"The Borg have put up a shield, captain.  I doubt our phasers

can penetrate it."

"Move in front of them and dump an anti-matter spread." He

ordered.  The Borg ship zoomed closer as the Enterprise took

over it.  "Release anti-matter... now!"

Soris obliged, and the Enterprise increased speed to escape

the coming explosion.

"Minor damage to Borg shields, captain.  Otherwise, no change. 

No change in their speed either, sir."  Ro Larens reported.

Picard was just about to give an order for a barrage of photon

torpedoes, when the star-drive section rocked wildly.  He

grabbed onto the armrest to keep from tumbling from the

command chair.  Out of the corner of his eye, he saw on the

view screen the brilliant beam of energy that had lanced from

the Borg ship to envelope the Enterprise.

"Shields down by 40 percent!" He heard the Lieutenant behind

him cry out.  "Massive damage to the warp engines!"

Impossible, he thought, but said: "Give us some distance from

the Borg."  He turned to the lieutenant behind him. "What the

hell was that?"

"Some powerful beam of energy, sir.  With the kind of power

I've never seen before."

"Warp drive down by 70 percent!" Ro Larens cried out.  "I can

only get us Warp Three."

What the hell was that thing they had used? Picard wondered. 

Whatever it was, he had failed in his attempt to buy Riker

time.  The Borg would arrive at Beta Ariquae V in just over

two hours, and the colonists and the saucer-section would all

be sitting ducks.

END OF PART ONE;

Part Two can be will be posted on Friday/Saturday.

Well, here is Part Two of "I, Locutus" (sooner than I

thought).  Enjoy....

Ryan.

                          I, LOCUTUS:

PART TWO

Thank God we're almost done, Riker thought as he stared at the

horizon, where the pale green of the land met the grey-blue of

the sky, I don't want to be around here when this all gets

swallowed up.

The images of Jure 4 and the countless number of planets the

Enterprise had discovered when Q had first orchestrated their

meeting with the Borg washed through his mind.  As he stared

at the distant mountain and trees, felt the warm breeze that

blew against his face, and the heat of the sun, he couldn't

bring himself to accept that this was all to be gone in a few

hours.  They hadn't done a good job of convincing the

colonists either, but Data had reminded them of his honesty

and good faith at their last meeting, and finally persuaded

them to agree to the evacuation, at least temporarily.  Worf

had also reported that phasers with variable settings had been

distributed around the ship, in the unlikely chance of a Borg

incursion.

By the time they arrive we should be long gone, he thought.

"If the Borg are robots, surely they can be reasoned with."

Ard'rian Mackenzie's voice caught him by surprise, and he

turned around to find her and Data approaching him from a

nearby building.

"Unfortunately not." Data was telling her. "They seem to have

a built-in purpose, and one that is very hard to dissuade them

from continuing."

"What about gaining access into their memory banks, or

reprogramming them?" Ard'rian asked; Riker remembered that

Data had told him she had a deep fascination for artificial

life.

"Both have been tried already, and though there was a certain

degree of success, neither can be considered as a viable

option in the long term." Data replied.

"How is the evacuation proceeding?" Riker asked, as the pair

reached him.

"The majority of the colonists are on board, commander." Data

replied. "There are still seventy five individuals, including

ourselves, of course, that are still on the planet surface."

"All right..." Riker was interrupted by Worf's voice, coming

from his communicator.

"Commander Riker.  Sensors are picking up the Borg vessel,

closing on the planet; ETA in five minutes at their current

speed.  No sign of the star-drive section."

Once again, the images of Jure 4 flashed through his mind....

                     * * * * * * * *

Sickbay was overcrowded by colonists, and Beverly Crusher had

to fight her way through to get to the intercom.

"Lieutenant Worf, how many more colonists are you expecting,

and can't you arrange for them to be shown to other decks? 

The corridors and sickbay are jammed here."

Whoever was arranging accomodations, was doing one hell of a

bad job, she thought to herself.

"Understood, Doctor.  I will speak to Mr O'Kleary."  Worf's

voice growled over the intercom, then disappeared as the link

was cut.  Whoever O'Kleary was, Crusher didn't doubt she was

happy she wasn't him.

"What's that?"  Came a voice from the other side of a room,

and Crusher immediately knew those two words almost always

signalled disaster, as over-inquisitive kids tried to inspect

a hypospray or phaser....

She turned towards the voice and froze.  On the far side of

the room she could make out the ashen-white face of a Borg. 

With a look of single-deterimination, and with little care for

the multitudes that surrounded it, the thing began to move

forward at a slow, purposeful pace.  Sickbay lapsed into

silence except for the clicking of its mechanical arm.

Then all hell broke loose.

                     * * * * * * * *

The red alert siren flared as the sensors detected intruders

on the saucer-section.  Worf immediately leaped to his feet

and called for a scan of the entire ship.

"Sensors are detecting five Borg, sir, distributed in

different areas of the ship." The ensign manning the security

console informed him.

"Inform security of their locations; tell them to use maximum

force to deterr the invaders." Worf told him.  He wished he

could lead the teams himself; telling others to do the job he

should be doing only added to his anger.  "Shields up, and get

me Commander Riker."

                     * * * * * * * *

Damn, Riker thought as he saw the first wave of Borg descend

on the settlement.  The open area in which he and Data had

first materialized were now swarming with the creatures.  He

turned to Data and Mackenzie, who were both studying the

newcomers with intense curiosity.

"Mr Data, how many colonists still have to be beamed aboard?"

"Sixty four, Commander.  I estimate that will take us ten more

minutes." Data replied, not taking his eyes of the Borg who

were beginning to move into the various buildings, inspecting

the equipment that they uncovered.  Two Borg seemed to be

making their way towards the building in which they and the

remaining colonists were housed.

"Get ready to fire on my command." Riker whispered, removing

his variable-setting phaser from his belt.  Just then his

communicator sounded, and Worf's controlled, yet strained,

voice filtered through his badge.

"Commander!  The Borg have invaded the Enterprise.  We have

raised our shields in order to fend off any attack, and will

not be able to beam you aboard."

Riker digested this for a moment, but couldn't argue with the

klingon when it came to his actions; he had acted properly,

after all.  But he didn't like the idea of being stranded on

this planet that was being overrun by Borg.

"Apology accepted, Lieutenant Worf," Riker said into his badge

while keeping a close eye on the approaching pair of Borg,

"Take the Enterprise a safe distance out and try meet up with

the star-drive section."

"I cannot leave you alone on the planet, Commander." Worf's

voice shook with ferocity at both the Borg and the idea of

abandoning sixty four lives.  "We will attempt to distract the

Borg ship...."

"You will do nothing of the sort, Mr Worf." Riker hissed; the

Borg pair were close now, and he dared not give him and the

others away, though they probably had sensor devices anyway. 

"You have a thousand lives on the saucer-section to worry

about, so get the hell out of here; that's an order."

Data and Ard'rian were watching him closely now, aware that

Riker was signing their death warrants with those words, but

knowing it couldn't be helped.  Riker cut the link as the two

Borg walked through the doorway of the room next to theirs. 

Phasers in hand, he and Data waited for the two to move into

their field of vision, and then....

The tingling sensation of a transporter beam surrounded them,

blurring the rest of the world from their view.

                     * * * * * * * *

Beverly Crusher aimed her phaser at the approaching Borg. 

Somewhere in there, she knew, there was an intellect, some

individual crying out for the inhumanity that had been forced

upon it.  She wondered if it too had been forced from its home

like Jean-Luc Picard had, to end up in this alien form, its

individuality squashed, no longer considered "relevant".  Its

eyes burned through her as it approached, moving towards the

sickbay computer that stood behind her.  She took one last

look into those eyes, and fired.

She heard a child scream somewhere.  Seeing a creature being

slain like that, no wonder; she thought, then looked up and

saw the basis for the child's cries.  Two more Borg had

replaced the one she had just shot.  A singularity of purpose

was written on their faces as they approached the sickbay

computer.

Crusher didn't see one of the male colonists moving towards

the further of the two Borg until it was too late.  Before she

could call out to him, the man leaped in the air in an effort

to tackle the massive bulk.  Sensing the actions of the

colonist, the Borg swung its massive arm, connecting it with

the man's mid-rif.  The blow was sufficient to drop the

colonist on the spot, clutching his stomach in pain.  Crusher

aimed her phaser once again and fired at the nearest creature. 

As with the previous one, it dropped; but the third remained

standing, approaching her with a shield that made itself

apparent whenever fired at.

Quickly she changed the setting of the phaser and once more

aimed to fire.  But the creature was too close.  In one swift

movement, the Borg grabbed her wrist in a vice-like grip. 

Then, in a single, quick movement, it snapped her wrist as if

it were a brittle stick.

With a cry of unbelievable agony, Crusher dropped the phaser

to the floor and collapsed beside it, cradling her broken arm

with her left hand.  The world spun rapidly before her, but

the constant presence of the Borg standing over her, accessing

the sickbay computer remained with her, until darkness

replaced all impressions.

                     * * * * * * * *

"Lieutenant, I've lost all signs of life on the planet's

surface!"

Worf spun around to face the ensign manning the security

console, and cursed. "They must have been beamed to the Borg

ship.  Any change in their vessel's activity?"

"Negative, sir....  Wait!  I'm detected an unusually high

amount of energy ready to be released from their ship!"

"Helm, fall back to a safe distance!" Worf ordered, chastising

himself for having gotten into a position where he would be

forced to utter those coward-like words.

As he spoke, a large amount of energy poured out from the side

of the Borg ship, striking a spot on the surface of Beta

Auriquae V.

"A portion of the planet's surface is being pulled towards the

Borg ship!"  The ensign spoke behind Worf, unable to mask her

surprise.

By now the Borg ship had fallen away so it took up half of the

bridge's main view screen; not too far away, but safe enough

for the moment.

Worf uttered an oath of vengeance as he thought of Riker and

Data, then turned towards the Lieutenant at the front of the

bridge.  "Plot a heading for the last known position of the

star-drive section."  The least he could do to honour the

death of his superior was to respect his last command. 

William Riker may not be dead now, he knew, but he was as good

as dead, anyhow.

                     * * * * * * * *

Locutus.

The word still haunted him.  What was it that so repulsed him

about that name?  Was it that a part of him was still linked

to that thing, and all that it represented?

Picard brushed those thoughts aside as he looked over the

present assemblage of what remained of his officers.  Geordi,

Worf, Troi, and Beverly Crusher.  The two empty seats amongst

them were powerful reminders of anguish and pain.

He prayed they were dead.

"....and their last heading indicates they are on a course for

Earth, Captain." Worf concluded his his report.

"Thank you, Lieutenant Worf.  Doctor Crusher?"

Beverly Crusher looked up from the spot on the table she had

been staring at, thinking.  Her right wrist had been covered

in a thick, hard gell that assured the break would be repaired

in a few days.  "All the surviving colonists are fine; I've

treated a few for minor injuries after attempting to stop

individual Borg members...."

"That's irrelevant, Doctor." Picard interrupted. "What did the

Borg get out of the Sickbay computer?  What were they looking

for?"

Crusher was silent for a moment, as was the rest of the staff. 

When she continued, her voice was a little more tight.  "They

were going through our medical records, human physiology and

anatomy...."

"Whose medical records?"

She looked at Picard.  "Yours, sir.  All check-ups subsequent

to your kidnapping by them."

Picard was silent for a moment.  They wanted him, he was sure. 

But why did they stubbornly address him as Locutus, and what

were they looking for in his medical records?

"Thank you, Doctor Crusher.  Mr LaForge?"

"We're badly damaged, sir." Geordi began. "Whatever they shot

at us when we confronted them was enough to blow almost every

circuit in the warp drive reactor, and then some."

"How long before we can be fully repaired?"

Geordi took a deep breath.  "That's a tough one, sir.  I don't

think we can ever get fully repaired without reporting in to a

Starbase.  But as we are, I can have Warp eight and shields up

to seventy percent efficiency in seven hours."

"Unacceptable, Mr LaForge." Picard shook his head. "You've got

four hours; in the mean time we'll make our way towards Earth

at whatever speed we can muster.  Any questions?"

Geordi sighed at what Picard demanded, but remained quiet.

"I suggest contacting the USS Garrett and inform them of what

has occurred." Worf replied. "And warn Earth."

"Good idea, make it so." Picard nodded.  "Let's get to work."

The officers all filed out, except for Troi, who remained

seated.

"Is there anything I can do for you, Counsellor?" Picard

asked as he stood at the door to the Briefing Room.

"You're hiding from me, Captain." Troi replied, not looking

up.

Picard hesitated for a moment, then moved back to where he had

been sitting, at the head of the table.  "What do you mean?"

"I'm not sure, Captain.  But I believe it has something to do

with what happened while you were under their control.  If

you're thinking of Will and Data...."

"I hope to God they're dead." It was almost a whisper, a

coldness brought on by his experience in that metallic hell. 

Oh God, he thought, I'm as bad as them.

Troi didn't answer for a long time.  But when she did, her

voice was not filled with the coldness in Picard's, but rather

with sorrow.

"So do I."

                     * * * * * * * *

Ard'rian Mackenzie looked around her in confusion.  The

grating sound of metal filled the metallic confines in which

she found herself.  Nearby, she saw Data standing, alert. 

There were no Borg to be seen, but that did not mean that they

were not there.  She picked herself up and moved to join the

android.

"Where are we?" She asked; a stupid question, she thought, as

she stared at the seemingly-randomly placed metal and steel

that surrounded her.  Long steel cables seemed to lie in every

direction and there were many just above head-height.

"We are on the Borg ship." Data answered, having opened his

tricorder and scanning the area.  "However, I can find no

trace of Commander Riker or any of the other colonists."

"Perhaps they were left on the planet." Ard'rian suggested,

then looked up.  She took a deep breath as she stared at the

seemingly endless tower of metal and structures that loomed

above them to a single, distant point.  "This is huge!"

"It is much bigger than it actually seems." Data replied,

helpfully, not looking up from his tricorder.  "We are soon to

have company."

It was then that Ard'rian heard the metallic foot-fall of an

approaching Borg, ringing against the metal that surrounded

them.  The sound increased until it seemed a swarm was moving

towards them.

Data pulled out his phaser.  "My tricorder reads twelve Borg

approaching.  I suggest you stand behind me."

Ard'rian peered into the mass of metal in front of them, but

could make out no sign of life, except for the sound,

increasing in intensity.  Then, in the distance, she saw them. 

Twelve Borg moving down the narrow corridor towards them,

their massive mechanical arms pulled at an angle in front of

them.

Data aimed and fired, felling the Borg one by one.  And still

they moved forward.  As each developed a shield, so Data

changed the frequency, felling more until the others had

adapted.  But there were too many.  The third last reached

him, and grabbing his hand, tore his phaser from it.  In

response, Data threw the Borg against the nearest wall, but

was immediately taken over by another.  The third held

Ard'rian in its vice-like grip.  In horror she stared as the

massive arm of the one Borg plunged into Data's side, drilling

through his android body.

Assimilation, Data knew was inevitable.  But there were some

knowledge he couldn't allow the Borg to get its hands on.  He

began to erase certain files in his positronic brain.

The two Borg who held him halted for an instant, as if

receiving orders from the Whole, then with the precision of

robots, smashed Data's already mangled body against the

bulkhead.

Erase... Eras... Er....

The two Borg turned him off, then proceeded to disconnect his

head.

                     * * * * * * * *

He couldn't move, couldn't see, couldn't yell.  But he could

hear the sound of the Borg as they moved around him, and the

sound of their mechanical arms, whinning as they touched

metal; grinding when they touched... bone?

Suddenley darkness surrounded Riker no longer.  Above him he

could make out metal structures and conduits.  There was no

doubt, he was on the Borg ship.  But he still couldn't move,

not even his neck.  Then a Borg came into his field of vision. 

It's ghastly white face could be seen bending over him, its

dead eyes staring fixedly into his.  The mechanical arm loomed

over his face, then moved downwards between his eyes....

END OF PART TWO

Part Three can be expected on Saturday/Sunday

Part Three here and on time.  Again, if there are any

comments, criticisms, suggestions, etc, you're welcome to mail

me.

Enjoy,

Ryan.

                          I, LOCUTUS:

PART THREE:

"Message received and understood, Captain." Admiral Ranklin

said, gravely.  "And for what it is worth, Jean-Luc, I am

deeply sorry for the loss of Commanders Riker and Data.  The

Federation has lost two fine officers."

Picard nodded, his carefully composed face masking all

feelings. "How long before the USS Garrett can confront the

Borg ship?"

"We've notified Captain Shelby of the... recent events at Beta

Ariquae V, and she is on her way.  We estimate she will arrive

at Earth in four days.  A bit late, but better late than

never."  Ranklin forced a smile. "We're preparing to

evacuate."

"Four days." Picard repeated, slowly. "The Borg ship will be

there in less than one."

"I know." Ranklin nodded. "But we'll give them a good fight."

"We'll be there in two days, Admiral.  You'll just have to

hold them off until then."

Ranklin sighed deeply.  "We're pulling all our forces back in. 

Away from the Neutral Zone, away from patrol routes.  If we're

going, we're going to go with a fight.  But you're the closest

starship to Earth.  You'll be the first to arrive and see what

havoc's been wreaked.  We just hope we're still around to see

you, Enterprise."

The link was cut.  Picard sat for a moment, staring at the

stars that had replaced the Admiral's drawn face.

"Engineering to Bridge." Geordi's voice cut through his

thoughts, bringing him back to the harsh reality around him.

"We can give you Warp Eight as soon as you're ready, Captain."

"Understood, Mr LaForge." Picard replied.  "How soon until

shields are fully operational?"

"They're up to eighty percent, captain," Geordie's voice

responded, "and that's better than I anticipated.  Right at

the moment, it looks like full efficiency is closer to wishful

thinking than anything else I can imagine."

Well, it was better than he could have hoped for, Picard

thought with a sigh.  "Thank you, Geordi.  It's all I could

have asked."

He turned to the empty chair to his right, then spoke: "Mr

Worf, I would like a word with you in my Ready Room."

                     * * * * * * * *

Will Riker's quarters were unusually quiet.  In the past it

had an air of warmth and cheer about it; but now it was bathed

in a dim glow, as Geordi LaForge was shutting down all non-

essential sections of the ship to divert the majority of the

power into the shields and the warp engines.

Deanna Troi glanced around the spacious room, and thought of

its old owner.  The only comforting thought was that he was

dead, but what comfort was that?  She hoped that it had been

quick.  After witnessing Jean-Luc Picard's conversion into a

Borg, seeing the pain he felt after he was brought back from

that nightmare, she hoped Riker would be spared that.  And

Picard....?

He was being more distant, more elusive, as they moved towards

Earth.  The encounter with the Borg at Beta Ariquae V had no

doubt shaken him up far worse than she thought possible, but

then again, when it awakened such harsh memories that had been

forced into the unconscious, what else could be expected?  The

reminder of what he had been, what they made him become, was

something that had obviously haunted him since his escape from

the Borg, a crushing of his spirit, of his very being - all

this was being dredged to the surface once again, as he

travelled on this course towards Earth once again, this time

knowing his William Riker and Data were undergoing the same

conversion - and destruction of their spirit.  The only

comfort was in the notion of their death, for if becoming a

Borg and losing your very essence was not death, what was?

She would have to help him confront those fears, those pains. 

A part of him was no doubt hiding, and the first step was to

bring that part out into the open; the problem was how.

                     * * * * * * * *

Earth defensive capabilities?  Irrelevant; they knew them. 

The knowledge gained from those assimilated; the information

retrieved from the Enterprise memory banks; data acquired from

their refined sensors - all fed into the Borg consciousness. 

They knew.  Assimilation was only a matter of time.

The high-grade phaser cannons, the electrical discharge, and

anti-matter ejector were all powerless against the newly

developed shields of the Borg.  Through the darkness of space,

the cube-shaped ship sped towards its destination, an

unstoppable force about to be unleashed on a defenseless

planet.

The Borg had calculated well; the spokesman was on its way. 

All would be prepared for it.  The new form of assimilation

was at work, and soon it would be ready.  The Borg vessel

passed by the lonely giant planet, Uranus, and sped on towards

its goal.

                     * * * * * * * *

The arms, legs, and most of the torso had been discarded. 

They were inferior, and hence irrelevant.  But the head, and

the multitude of circuits and electronic chips that it

possessed, and the information contained within them were of

importance, and it was 1075's job to assimilate that

information into the Borg whole.  It had been assimilated

recently, but already it had total control over its large

robotic appendages, electronic scanner, and other

modifications that it had underwent when it had gone by the

name of Ard'rian Mackenzie.  That name meant nothing now. 

That being no longer existed.  That being was now Borg.

It stared down at the android head, carefully sliced open by

one of the Borg's advanced machinery so that none of the

delicate circuits were damaged or destroyed.  The operation

was precise, and done with the coldness associated with a

machine in a factory.

But there was no such coldness as 1075 stared downward at the

object in its hand.  There was something familiar about the

head; a strange feeling that was associated with it, something

totally alien to this creature that now stared at it.  The

metal plate that melded with its biological head had resulted

in the long hair that the previous owner of this body once had

being removed.  Hair was unnecessary.  In the dim light of the

Borg vessel, it continued to stare downward at the head, its

own white scalp standing out in the gloom.

And then it did something totally alien to its character. 

1075 turned to the accessing terminal where it had been

stationed, and downloaded all the files in the android head

under one directory in the Borg whole.  Once the process was

completed, 1075 hesitated another moment as it stared at the

blank face of the android again, then moved down the narrow,

metal gang-way to dump the head with the rest of the android's

body parts.

                     * * * * * * * *

"Captain Picard, report to the bridge."  Worf's voice boomed

through the intercom system.

In the darkness of his quarters, Picard did not move. 

Instead, he continued to sit on the edge of his bed, oblivious

to everything.

What were they fighting for?  Why even try to fight? 

Resistance was useless.  Resistance.... irrelevant, he thought

and stood up.  He left his quarters in its darkness and moved

out towards the bridge.

Troi had ordered a complete mental and physical medical check-

up, and he had acceded to her request reluctantly.  As he

entered the turbo-lift he reminded himself to stop by sickbay

to check on the results.

"Report, Mr Worf." He said into his badge as the turbo-lift

started upwards.

"We have arrived at the edge of the solar system, Captain."

His new First Officer's voice said.  "And a message has just

come in from the Quadrant Delta-Agneu."

"What does the message say?"

There was a pause before Worf responded. "Two more Borg ships

have been spotted entering Federation space, sir.  Both are on

a direct course for Earth."

                     * * * * * * * *

"I repeat, Captain: The Enterprise has been co-opted by the

Borg.  You are to use all available force to neutralise both

the Borg ship and the Federation star ship."

Shelby hesitated for a moment, unsure of how to question an

Admiral who had barely escaped from Earth with his life.  "In

what way has the Enterprise been commandeered by the Borg?"

Admiral Ranklin looked at her, his eyes glazed over by the

destruction he had seen.  "This may be hard to believe,

Captain Shelby, but Locutus is alive."

"What?  Locutus was destroyed when we retrieved Captain

Picard.  I don't see how..."

"He is alive, Captain." Ranklin interrupted her, wearily. "In

fact, he never died.  This is something we suspected, but

never were able to confirm, and the reason why Commander Riker

was not offerred another captaincy since Picard's abduction. 

But that's not important.  What is is that you must stop them

both.  We've lost Earth, and thank God we managed to get out

of there before things got messy, but you know about the two

other Borg ships.  If we're going to turn this around into a

victory for our side, the Enterprise must be destroyed.  We're

counting on you, Captain.  Good luck."

The screen dimmed, and Ranklin's face was replaced by the

stars of the galaxy.  How many of their planets are going to

meet Earth's fate before this is all over? Shelby wondered. 

And what did Ranklin mean by Locutus being alive?  If this was

true, how did he know?  The bastard managed to get out of the

area alright, claiming he was non-expendable, that he was

needed to organize the counter-strike against the Borg. 

Meanwhile, many civilians on Earth were being butchered, or

even worse, being assimilated.

Shelby turned to the ensign before her.  "What is our ETA at

Earth, Ensign?"

"Twelve hours, sir." He responded.

Shelby turned back to the stars, and mused.

                     * * * * * * * *

"Two minutes from Earth orbit, sir."  Ensign Ro reported from

her station.

"Thank you, Ensign.  We'll hold our position here." Picard

said, then turned to Worf at the security console. "What do

the sensors read, Lieutenant?"

Worf was silent for a moment.  When he spoke, his voice was

both deep and somber: "Sensors indicate a mutlitude of

individual Borg members on the planet, sir.  They seem to be

in the process of assimilation."

Picard turned back and faced the screen.  There, before him,

the large cube-shaped ship hung in orbit around his home-

world.  He imagined the thousands of Borg crawling across its

surface, taking what they wanted and destroying the rest....

"Captain, I need to speak to you; this is urgent."

Picard turned to see Beverly Crusher, having just emerged from

the aft turbo-lift, walking down the side of the bridge

towards him.

"It can wait till later, Doctor.  Until we...."

"I need to speak to you now."  The look on Crusher's face told

him it was important, but....

An alarm beeped on Worf's board, and the Klingon looked up to

say: "We're being scanned, sir."

"Are the Borg making any sign of moving or intercepting us?"

"No, sir." Worf answered. "There's no indication of.... 

Incoming message, Captain, from the Borg!"

Picard hesitated, and glanced to his left, at Deanna Troi. 

She met his gaze.  Not for the first time, Picard was happy

the ship was designed for a Counsellor, and not any

Counsellor, to be seated beside him.

"Put the message on the screen."

For a few seconds the image of the Borg ship circling the

Earth remained on the view screen, and then it was gone,

replaced by the face of a man he knew well, a man he had hoped

was dead.  Next to him, he heard Troi take a deep breath.

"My God!"

"Will...."  Picard stood up and moved forward, not taking his

eyes from the screen, where the half-human, half-machine

creature stood before him, the familiarity of its face

distorted by the mechanical implants that scared it.  A large

patch of metal encased the left half of its face, and in place

of the left eye, there was a ball of firey-redness that seemed

to burn into the screen.

"Locutus of Borg, your arrival has been anticipated by the

Whole." The voice was almost metallic, and cold.  "We welcome

you and your prize to your new home world, and the moment when

it will be assimilated into our culture.  Assimilation is

under way, in you as it is in others.  Prepare to receive

members of the Whole, as your ship will also require a

breakdown into its component parts as we assimilate it and

those on board it who are untouched."

"Captain!"

"Later, Doctor!" Picard barked as he motioned for Worf to

close the channel. "Mr Worf, is it possible to beam an Away

Team to their ship, get him back?"

Worf shook his head. "Even if we lowered our own shields,

their defenses have improved drastically since we last

encountered them.  There is no way we can find a whole in

their shields."

"Jean-Luc...!" Crusher yelled.

"All right, Doctor." Picard bristled. "I'll give you a minute,

in my Ready Room."

Crusher followed him as he stalked into the privacy of the

room adjacent to the bridge.

"Let's have it, Doctor.  I don't have time for..."

Crusher looked at him sternly, yet hating to tell him what she

had found out.  Finally, she said:  "Captain, Locutus is

alive."

Picard stared at her for a moment, then turned to face the

window.  Finally, he looked back at her, a mixture of

apprehension and a dawning horror on his face.  "How is that

possible?"

"I don't know what to call it; a bug, maybe.  But whatever it

was, it was small enough to pass through all of my medical

scans unnoticed until now."  Crusher's voice had softened, but

there was still that hint of urgency. "Whatever it is, I

assume it was planted in you at the time of your abduction, in

the event of you being re-taken by us.  At any rate, this

"bug" is wiping out each of your brain cells systematically,

and supplementing them with new ones - those that match

Locutus'.  It's like a computer virus, but on the biological

level."

Picard grabbed a hold on the arm of his chair, and lowered

himself into the seat behind his desk.  He sat silently for a

moment, the apprehension turning to a look of absolute dread. 

"I'm going to become him again.  I'm becoming Locutus."  He

whispered.

END PART THREE

Part Four can be expected on Sunday/Monday....

Newsgroups: alt.startrek.creative

Path: newserv.ksu.ksu.edu!moe.ksu.ksu.edu!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!cs.utexas.edu!uunet!psgrain!ee.und.ac.za!hippo!cc196.ru.ac.za!g92n3258

From: g92n3258@giraffe.ru.ac.za (MR RL NICOL)

Subject: REPOST: I, LOCUTUS: Fourth of Eight; Resistance to read is futile

Message-ID: <g92n3258.52.732903998@giraffe.ru.ac.za>

Lines: 347

Sender: news@hippo.ru.ac.za (Usenet News Admin)

Organization: Rhodes University, Grahamstown, South Africa

Date: Tue, 23 Mar 1993 16:26:38 GMT

Here it is again, and sorry to those who've seen it already.

All the best,

Ryan

To clear up a small matter that may have been worrying some

people, Ard'rian Mackenzie is the character that was featured

in the Third Season episode: "Ensigns of Command", in which

Data had to evacuate a colony before an alien race, the

Sheliak, claimed the planet they were on.  Ard'rian was one of

the colonists, interested in robotics, etc, and hence Data,

and helped him to win the colonists' confidence and turn them

away from their leader, Goshevon, who wished to stay and

fight.  This is just by-the-by, in case some of you haven't

seen the episode or have forgotten her name and couldn't

associate it with that episode....

And now Part Four; enjoy,

Ryan.

                          I, LOCUTUS:

PART FOUR:

The human known as Riker had performed its duties well.  It

had aided the Borg in the inevitable assimilation of its home-

world, Earth.  It had provided the Borg with necessary

knowledge for them to fulfill their purpose.  But now it was

irrelevant.  Assimilation of the Earth was nearing completion;

what was left was the dismantling, and then destruction, of

all Earth structures.  The culture had become one; the people

had become one - with the Borg.  And then there was the re-

birth as Locutus arose from the ashes of its own destruction

so the Borg's spokesman was returning.  One spokesman was all

that was necessary.  With the full backing of the Borg, it

would carry the message far; it would aid in the assimilation;

it would show the futility of any attempts at resistance.

The Borg whole had decided, and so its decision was sent to

that which had been called Riker.  Without argument, the Borg

known as Riker left its central post and headed towards the

area where it would be re-assimilated, this time as one of the

many; as part of the whole - to serve as a unit in the

combined effort of the Borg.

                     * * * * * * * *

Where am I?

Where ever he was, there was an accompanying presence to be

sure.  The presence of the Borg; not individual members of the

whole.  But of all Borg.  Every where.

How is this possible?

There was nothing to look at; nothing to feel, taste, or

smell.  There was only that presence of the Borg.  And

knowledge.  He had access to it all; access to all areas of

Borg consciousness.  He stopped himself short of acting. 

Actions would raise alarms.  And alarms would notify the group

consciousness of his existence, if they didn't know of it

already.  He would have to be careful.

Ard'rian-Borg-Locutus-alive-two-Borg-ships-Earth-assimilation-

proceeding-approaching-Riker-Borg-assimilation-requiered.  All

flitted through Data's consciousness.  All was known.  But he

had to be extremely careful.  One false move would alert the

Borg Whole to his whereabouts, and they would no doubt see him

as a threat.  They would attempt to route him out like a virus

in a computer system.  He would have to choose his path

carefully, very carefully.....

                     * * * * * * * *

How foolish he had been.  How vain and unthinking; to ever

think he could escape the Borg.  Resistance is futile; it was

something he had forgotten, something that had seemed unreal

once he had thought he had beaten them at their own game.  But

the laugh had been on him, and it was he who was now paying

the price for ever thinking he could beat the Borg.

Assimilation is inevitable, they had told him; he should have

believed them.

Picard stared out of his Ready Room window, and into the

darkness of space, a view he always cherished.  Now that

familiar sight was blemished by the large metallic-looking

Borg ship, as it loomed over him, casting a mental shadow over

him.

Beverly Crusher had shown him the brain scans, the computer-

image of the biological "computer virus", as she had called

it, that was steadily wiping out his very brain cells and

replacing them with those of "Locutus'".  This time it was

different; previously, he had been taken and assimilated

fairly quickly.  But now; now he knew what was in store for

him, what was slowly happening to him, and how they were

destroying him, brain cell by brain cell.  And that was the

most horrific part of it all.

"Captain."

At the sound of Geordi LaForge's voice, he spun around.

"What is it, Mr LaForge?"

Geordi hesitated for a second, then continued. "I've studied

this "virus" as much as I can, sir.  And I can see no way of

destroying it.  It seems to have bonded with your own DNA

structure, and is working at the molecular level.  Not to

mention, it is a damn sophisticated thing, too."  He was

silent for a moment, then said. "I'm sorry, sir."

Picard nodded, slowly.  He hadn't expected otherwise.  Foolish

of LaForge to think he could outwit the Borg...

"Captain to the Bridge." Worf's voice boomed through the

intercom system, bringing Picard out of his chair in an

instant.

He and Geordi marched out of the room and into the Bridge, to

find the bridge crew standing silently to one side, eyeing the

half-metallic being that stood before them, its large

mechanical arm extending as it moved towards the conn.

                     * * * * * * * *

He knew everything.  And yet he could do very little.  The

knowledge that the slightest alteration in the Borg's workings

would bring the Borg Consciousness down upon him stifled his

ability to act.  He had considered entering a command that

would put the Borg to sleep, as he had done when the

Enterprise last battled the Borg as a whole, but that option

had disappeared.  The Borg learnt from their mistakes; the

Borg adapted, because the Borg had to survive.  No longer

would they allow themselves to be placed in jeopardy, thus all

commands that could pose a threat to the Borg had been placed

under strict control.  Only a unanimous decision by all Borg,

where all components of the whole agreed to the ruling, would

allow such measures to take effect.  And though Data was in

the Whole, a part of the consciousness, he could not command

all members of the whole to agree to go to sleep.

Thus few avenues were open to him.  And he knew it would take

one minor disruption to bring the whole group down on him,

seeking him out and destroying his very essence from their

consciousness.  And one of those options now presented itself. 

Data prepared himself for the total onslaught he would face,

as he readied himself for what he was about to do.

                     * * * * * * * *

Riker's eyes shot open.  The confusion of his current

predicament sent his mind reeling as he tried to hold on to

something, some fact he could take as certain.

Then he realised that he could move his neck, his toes, and

his fingers on his left hand.  But his fingers on his right

hand....

He lifted his head, and was suddenly hit by a wave of nausea

that threatened to draw him back into the darkness from whence

he came.  But it was the sensation of dire peril, of mind-

blowing fear that pulled him up into a sitting position.

Then he noticed the metallic arm; that massive artificial

appendage that represented all that he held as disgusting and

vile, as anti-life....

And the pain and mental anguish of what he remembered came

pouring over him like an avalanche; the memory of the rape as

his own individuality was crushed mercilessly was enough to

draw a gut-wrenching sob from his palid lips.  And then he

looked around him.

It seemed as if there were hundreds of them there in those

gloomy surroundings, all lying on those metal tables like

bodies in the mortuary, ready for the knife....

Riker tried to stand, still clutching the side of the table as

the dizzy spell once more washed over him.  His mechanical arm

clanged against the neighbouring table, and the sound echoed

down the large, otherwise silent, room.  He stood still for a

moment; waiting, fearing for an army of Borg to come lumbering

towards him and force him back to his table, to join those

multitudes in their collective slumber.  But none came.

Almost instinctually, Riker reached for the left side of his

face.  And his worst nightmares were realised as he touched

cold metal.

It was then that he realised that his vision was also tainted;

instead of merely seeing the surroundings as they actually

were, the room seemed less gloomy than before, and he could

see distant things in greater detail.  He reached for his left

eye, and stopped short.  If it was so, he didn't want to know. 

Slowly, he lowered his hand - his only hand - and started

forward, trying to find a way out of this nightmarish hell in

which he had been placed.

                     * * * * * * * *

They were after him.  The simple act of interfering with their

plans for William Riker had resulted in the awareness of his

presence, and of the potential threat he represented.  He had

attempted to interfere in their plans, and that could not be

tolerated, not by the Borg.

But Data was working quickly, using the Borg's very systems to

elude them from his presence.  As he skirted from one system

to another, so he hid himself like a crafty computer virus,

creating false impressions and spurious leads while at the

same time covering his tracks.

But the Borg weren't fools.  They learnt quickly.  They knew

what was irrelevant, and thus phoney; it was merely a matter

of time before the collective consciousness had worked the

kink out of the system; it was inevitable.

                     * * * * * * * *

"State your purpose for being here."

It was a futile demand, and Picard knew it.  But it was one he

made none-the-less.  The being continued to ignore them, as if

they were not there, and looked around the bridge at the

various stations.

Out of the corner of his eye, Picard saw Worf drawing his

phaser, and grabbed the klingon's wrist.

"No!"  He paused, and continued more calmly. "You are not to

fire at them."

Worf eyed him wearily, but replaced his phaser to his belt.

After a moment's pause, Picard said: "If you shoot it, they'll

just send another; it's fruitless to try shooting them

individually."

"The view screen!"  Someone yelled, and all eyes turned to

look at it.

Before them, they could see a large beam of energy reaching

out towards the Earth from the Borg ship.  Nothing happened

for a long time, then slowly, a large peice of the surface

seemed to be pulled from its roots, up into space.

All was silent on the bridge.  It was soon broken by a high-

pitched sound as the air shimmered a few feet away from them,

and two more Borg appeared.

Ensign Ro looked up from the security console, near which she

had been standing. "Sir, reports of Borg-sightings are coming

in from all decks, but the majority are from Engineering."

Picard nodded slowly at this, and caught the eye of an

apprehensive-looking Troi.

"Assimilation is under-way." He said, finally. "I'm in contact

with them."

                     * * * * * * * *

Riker stumbled down the path, faceless humans on either side

of him - faceless for the fact that they were now Borg.  He

hadn't looked down at his mechanical arm since he had first

noticed it, nor lifted his only hand to touch his "face" since

he had first done so.  It was too much to think about, and

there was far more he had to do than worry about his own

mental and physical rape.  Yet still he could not hold back on

the vile, impure feeling he perceived within him, of the

violation he had undergone.

A familiar face caught his eye, and Riker did a double-take. 

It was a face he knew, alright, yet this time it was without

expression, without the animosity that he normally associated

with it.  Yet this was something more fearful than animosity

that he felt when he stared into those glassy eyes of

Goshevon.

And you wanted to stay with your colony, Riker thought as he

stared at the once-leader, I wonder what your answer would be

now if you had to make that choice again....

But there was nothing he could do for Goshevon, so he turned

from the lifeless body, a body without a soul, and moved on

down the aisle, the metal floor ringing with every step he

took.

And then he noticed something out of the corner of his eye,

against the far wall.  Slowly, he made his way towards it,

moving between the tables, quickening his pace as he neared

it.  He passed the final bed to find what he hoped he wouldn't

see - the mutilated remains of Lieutenant Commander Data.

Riker paused for a moment, taking in the sight.  Arms, legs,

torso, and head, all abandoned there in their various parts,

stacked in the corner of this Hell.  With his one free hand,

he picked up Data's head, and looked down at it, a feeling of

intense grief washing over him.  What the hell had happened,

to him, the Enterprise, Ard'rian?  Assimilated was the answer,

the only answer.  Under what circumstances he had been

seperated from the whole, he did not know, but when he was

seperated, he had taken with him all the knowledge he had

gained while under that inhuman guise.  Ard'rian had been

assimilated, Data had been assimilated, and Jean-Luc Picard

and the Enterprise crew were in the process of being

assimilated into the Whole.  But Data.....?

The chips from the android's head were missing, and the memory

of Data being placed into the Whole was strong.  And the last

memory, what was that last memory?  Of danger?  Not to him,

but to the Whole.....  He left Data's head with the rest of

the disassembled body and made his way down the long room of

tables.  He knew where Data was, and he knew time was running

out.

                     * * * * * * * *

Jean-Luc Picard had been seperated from his people.  Worf had

tried to stop it, but his attempts had been ineffectual. 

Picard looked around the bare room in which he had been

placed, so as to keep him from supplying his fellow-officers

with knowledge he gained from being joined to the whole while

at the same time being Captain Jean-Luc Picard.  He stared at

the Borg who stood before him, whose eyes stared right through

him, glazed over and unseeing.  That face, so much like his

own.

They were monitoring his decline, that was sure; watching him

to make sure nothing went wrong.  Nothing would go wrong.  It

was inevitable, and Picard knew it.

Resistance was futile.

END OF PART FOUR

This is the half way mark.  But also, this is where there is a

break, I'm afraid.  I've got a hectic schedule and,

unfortunately, will not be able to post more parts until this

coming Thursday/Friday.  But, I promise you, by Thurs/Fri PART

FIVE will be here, and from there, it should be back to the

regular once every two days or so.  Again, I apologize, but my

time-table dictates otherwise.  Until then, all the best;

Ryan.

Newsgroups: alt.startrek.creative

Path: newserv.ksu.ksu.edu!moe.ksu.ksu.edu!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!wupost!uunet!psgrain!ee.und.ac.za!hippo!cc194.ru.ac.za!g92n3258

From: g92n3258@giraffe.ru.ac.za (MR RL NICOL)

Subject: I, Locutus: Part Five of Eight - Prepare for assimilation

Message-ID: <g92n3258.59.733171845@giraffe.ru.ac.za>

Lines: 585

Sender: news@hippo.ru.ac.za (Usenet News Admin)

Organization: Rhodes University, Grahamstown, South Africa

Date: Fri, 26 Mar 1993 18:50:45 GMT

Part Five here, after that long delay.  I'm sorry about that,

but at least now I'll have a new part posted every two days;

maybe even every day, on occassion.

At any rate, enjoy:

Ryan.

                          I, LOCUTUS:

PART FIVE:

The Borg were everywhere.  And more were still on their way,

dissecting the Federations most prized vessel, taking it apart

and adapting it to their own specifications.

The Borg had a plan, no doubt, but whatever it was, it eluded

the very upset Klingon Security Chief as he stared down at the

engineering section, below him, swarming with Borg soldiers.

He and the five security officers he had taken with him, armed

to the teeth with phasers, had assigned themselves the task of

re-taking engineering, getting to the warp reactor, and

destroying the ship, hopefully taking a large part of the Borg

ship with them.  Worf knew that whether it was through his

doing or through the Borg's, the Enterprise was doomed.  And

he preferred if it was through his doing.

The Klingon security officer considered his next actions, then

after a pause, stood up and began to move forward, towards the

elevator that would take him to engineering.  No spoken words

were needed, and his security team followed right behind him.

As the elevator doors closed behind them, Worf turned to the

officers before him.

"No one is to fire until I order it." He said quietly, but

almost menacingly.  "We will make our way towards the warp

core reactors, and from there start the self-destruct

program."

"And if they've removed that from the memory banks?"  One of

the officers spoke up.

That would be almost impossible to do, but when it came to the

Borg, Worf knew all impossibilities had to be considered. 

"With or without the self-destruct, we will find a way to

destroy the ship."

As the elevator came to a halt, Worf quickly ordered the doors

not to be opened.  As if appreciating the Klingon's

superiority, the computer acceded to his wishes, and they

remained secure within the confines of the turbo-lift.

"Ready..."  He began, setting his phaser at the highest

setting.

"...and..."  His hand hovered over the small handle that would

allow the doors to be open when pressed.

The ship rocked violently, throwing all the officers to the

floor of the elevator, on top of each other.  Worf managed to

hold onto the side of the lift, but after another buffeting,

he too joined his team in the assortment of arms and legs on

the floor.

Worf reached up for the handle once more, and as the

Enterprise shook again, managed to open the doors and crawl

out, phaser in hand, wondering about who would be attacking

his ship.

                     * * * * * * * *

"The Borg are powering up their weapons, Captain."  The

lieutenant spoke from his station.

Shelby continued to stare at the viewscreen, at the cube-

shaped ship and the galaxy-class starship that hung together

in space, orbitting the Earth.

As if in response to the Lieutenant's warning, a powerful beam

of energy lashed out from the side of the Borg ship.

"Shields down by 90 percent... 80..."

"Fire phasers and take out that beam." Shelby ordered, not

taking her eyes from the image before her.

"Firing phasers."

Twin beams of energy lanced out from the USS Garrett, striking

the Borg ship at the origin of its weapon.

"We got through their shields, captain, but they are

undamaged."

"Prepare to fire anti-matter spread in..."

"Captain! the Borg ship is increasing its power to its

shields, covering the Enterprise with it, to protect it."  The

lieutenant called out.

So it had been co-opted, Shelby thought.  She wondered about

Will Riker....

                     * * * * * * * *

Worf turned to the tall security officer that stood beside

him, at the engineering console near the warp reactor coils.

"Mr DeMont, you will remain here.  If you do not hear from me

within half an hours time, you must drop the seal."  Worf

stared at him, calmly, searching the others face to see that

he understood.

"Aye, sir." DeMont responded.  He knew that would be the

death-knell for the Enterprise - dropping the seal that housed

the anti-matter was like dropping a lit match in a vat of TNT;

even more impressive.

"And the Borg?"

Worf glanced over DeMont's shoulder to see if they had been

seen.  So far, so lucky.  "From all our previous encounters,

the Borg have only reacted to our presence when we posed a

visible threat." He replied. "So long as you don't do

anything, they shouldn't be a problem.  But, just in case, do

your best not to be seen."

DeMont nodded, then turned to seat himself behind the

engineering console.  Worf turned to join the rest of the

security team at the turbo-lift.  So the Borg had covered the

Enterprise within its shields, he thought.  That gave him a

little latitude, and the chance to get the Enterprise to do

more than a little damage to the Borg ship when it destructed. 

All he had to do was get to the Borg ship - now possible that

they were in their shields - and disrupt the Borg

consciousness, weaken them.  After that, there was plenty of

time in which to die.

                     * * * * * * * *

Riker froze.  There had been a noise, he was sure.  As he

stood in the gloom of one of the long, winding tunnels in the

labrynth that was the Borg ship, he listened out for the

remotest sound.  And then he heard it; the sound of distant

footsteps clanging on the steel gangway on which he was

standing.  The vibrations from those unseen beings' movements

shot up Riker's leg.  And he was sure they were coming for

him.

He was still linked to the Borg; he was sure of it.  There was

a part of him that was in touch with the Whole.  They knew

where he was and what he was doing, but he also knew their

directives, sensed their group effort and that which they were

trying to achieve.  Part of it was Data; he had sensed that

when he stood over Data's remains; he had known what had to be

done.  But a part of their objectives were also to stop him -

he was a threat, something which could undermine the Borg. 

And that, he knew, could not be tolerated.

The nightmare of what he had just escaped, and the nightmare

of which he was now living sent his mind reeling in panic. 

The memory of all those faces lying on those tables, soulless,

refused to leave his mind's eye.  He remembered the face of

Goshevon.  It was the husk he had seen, that outer layer of

meat, with nothing on the inside except circuitry and an

artificialness that chilled him.

He looked down at that mechanical arm that he held out before

him, then turned quickly to escape.

The vibrations had increased greatly now, as those that caused

them neared.  Riker broke into a run.  It wasn't much of one,

however, as he was still incredibly weak.  But the thought of

returning to that table drove him on and kept him moving as

fast as his strength would allow.  Unfortunately, it wasn't

fast enough.

Riker stopped dead in his tracks as he spotted the Borg

soldier standing before him, a feeling of dread, and a strange

notion of distant kinship - as vile as it seemed - crept into

his mind.  One and the same.  A part of him was still... that.

He turned to retrace his steps, but halted.  Five Borg

soldiers were nearing him from the other side, trapping him. 

Frantically, he looked at the two options which faced him -

charge the one or be taken; for him, the latter was not even

an option.  Riker ran head-long towards the one Borg.

The sound of a phaser screamed past him, accompanied by a beam

of pure energy, and the Borg before him crumpled.  Its place

was replaced by a team of security men, led by Worf.

"Commander....!" Worf yelled, as he hesitated, his weapon

trained on the charging Borg.  Then quickly, he ordered: "Hold

your fire!"

Riker reached the group, and turned to face the oncoming Borg.

Seeing more Borg soldiers lumbering towards them, the security

detail needed no stimulation to fire.  Within seconds, and

after changing the frequencies of their phasers twice, all

five Borg were lying in a heap metres away from them.

Worf looked at Will Riker.

"It's good to see you, Mr Worf." Riker said, grimly.  At

Worf's look, he added: "I'm fine."

"No, you're not, Commander." Worf replied.

Riker nodded.  The Borg had made him part of the whole.  They

had taken his soul, but had supplied him with knowledge.

It's about damn time to use that knowledge against them, he

thought.

                     * * * * * * * *

They were getting closer.  It was only a matter of time before

they had him, and Data knew it.  He could only delude the

consciousness for a brief period; throw only so many false

leads in their trail that they would fall for.  He didn't even

have seconds before they had him, before they rooted him from

their lair, like pulling a thorn embedded in flesh.

And yet Will Riker was linked into the Borg consciousness. 

That gave him an edge....

                     * * * * * * * *

Worf moved alongside Riker, slowing down his pace so as to

allow the Enterprise's First Officer to take the lead, guiding

them down the maze of passage-ways and steel corridors.  He

still held his phaser in his hand, ready to shoot.  Klingons

were always on gaurd, and when Worf was to be led down the

enemy's ship by a friend who may have been compromised - even

when that friend was a superior - he was not willing to leave

things to chance.  That was not the mark of a good Security

Chief.

"How much further?" Worf asked.  He still was unsure of how

much of Riker's story to believe - that Data was working

inside the Borg consciousness, supplying him with the

necessary information that was needed to render the Borg

helpless, if that was indeed possible.

"We're almost there." Riker answered, then pointed to a level

above them, where a gang-plank extended out of the vast wall

towering above them.  "Data was fed into the Borg whole

somewhere along here."

"Commander!" Worf yelled, lifting his phaser to shoot the two

oncoming Borg, who had appeared out of nowhere. "Phasers at

maximum!"

"No!" Riker countermanded, eliciting a sharp look from the

Security Chief. "Fire to stun."

The security team hesitated for a second, unsure of whose

order to follow, then aimed and fired.  The two Borg soldiers

dropped.

"Commander?" Worf looked at Riker, as if expecting an

explanation.

Riker didn't answer.  Instead, he moved forward towards the

two Borg.  Worf followed, then looked down.

The face of Ard'rian Mackenzie stared up at them; her eyes

vacant, her head shaven, with an assortment of circuitry

covering the left-half of her head.

"Data alerted me to her presence." He said, then moved on. 

Worf turned to two of the security gaurds and nodded.  The two

picked up the Borg's body and carried it, not without a little

difficulty, as they hurried after Riker and Worf.

                    * * * * * * * *

"Jean-Luc?"  Beverly Crusher walked into the small room, a

Borg soldier at her side.  She had no idea why she had been

taken to see Picard, but she was happy nevertheless.  No one

had seen the captain for quite some time.  The Borg made sure

no one neared him.  But now that all had changed, and she had

no idea why.  The Borg soldier turned and left, leaving her

alone with the alien, yet so familiar, figure before her.

"That being no longer exists."

Bev Crusher felt a chill run up her spine, as Jean-Luc Picard

moved out of the shadows, towards her.  It was him alright,

but the way he looked at her, with that cold intensity as if

he were studying a gnat....

"You are the Doctor."

"Who are you?" She didn't want to know, but somehow it seemed

insanely appropriate to ask.

"I am Locutus of Borg." It responded.  "We have reached the

culmination of our plans.  Earth has been assimilated; we now

require my presence to speak for the rest of the colonies and

worlds of the Federation.  The process that resulted in my

rebirth have proven successful.  That is why you are here."

Crusher hesitated, not sure what this creature wanted with

her, but hoping for a sign of some glimmer of Picard, a side

she could appeal to.  But there was none.

"You will aid the Borg in the assimilation of those on this

vessel.  You will help the Borg transmit the virus into those

who will join us."

"I refuse." She said, realising the futility of the statement.

"Your refusal is irrelevant.  You will comply with all the

demands of the Borg." Locutus replied. "Once you have been

assimilated into the Borg, you will aid us in all avenues open

to you."

With that, he lifted a device that he held in his hand.  It

looked like a syringe, not quite like a hypospray.

"You will be one with the Borg." It said, moving with slow

determination towards her.

                     * * * * * * * *

"Can we not order them to self-destruct?" Worf asked,

curiously, as he and Riker stood before the vast array of

terminals.

Riker shook his head, and replied: "According to Data, the

Borg have altered their command structure, so any command that

could compromise them in the slightest has to be unequivocally

agreed to by all the Borg.  We can't supply them with the idea

to go to sleep again, either."

"What is there left to tell them besides this?" Worf asked in

frustration, holding his phaser.

"Not much." Agreed Riker, then turned back to the terminal in

front of which he was standing.  "But the Borg are spread over

the entire ship, and in order to run their operation smoothly

with as little damage to the Whole if one section is

destroyed, the have to have certain distribution points, which

they can cut off when one or a few of the Borg members have

been compromised."

"Such as when the self-destruct?" Worf asked, remembering the

Borg soldier he had shot in the engineering section when Q had

flung them into battle with the Borg.

Riker nodded. "According to Data, that can also be done on a

group level, where whole sections can be destroyed if they are

compromised."

"Such decisions could not be made by unanimously." Worf caught

on.  "They could not rely on the compromised section to agree

to their own destruction."

"Naturally." Riker concurred. "A section that was compromised

could allow those who compromised them access to stop them

from being destroyed."

"Commander!" It was one of the security officers. "My

tricorder reads over forty Borg soldiers moving in this

direction.  Others are also on their way!"

So they had cottoned on to their plan, Riker thought grimly. 

That didn't leave him much time, but with Data's help,

supplying him with the necessary information to operate these

terminals....

A phaser whined behind him, and Worf turned, his own phaser in

his hand and ready to fire.

"Give me some time!" Riker yelled to Worf, above the noise of

the phaser beams.

To Worf it seemed as if the entire Borg ship had come alive. 

They were coming in from all directions, swarming in on them,

without mercy.  He fired, felling several Borg, but never

enough.  The Borg kept coming, walking over their fallen

comrades with little if any care, with one purpose in mind. 

From the corner of his eye, he saw a Borg reach one of his

security team members, smashing the officers body against a

large terminal.  He fired again, but this time the Borg had

adapted....

"More time!" Riker yelled from the terminal at which he was

working.

The Borg were within metres of them, as the rest of his team

fell back, closing themselves around their security chief and

first officer.  They continued to dispense their phasers'

energy supplies, tossing the powerless ones aside and reaching

to their belts for others.  And still the Borg came.

"A few more minutes!" Riker shouted above the raucus.

"Minutes!" Worf shot a horrified glance at his First Officer.

"Commander, we don't have seconds!"

The white faces surrounded them, straight from the crypts of

their individual slots in the Borg walls.  Their large

mechanical arms reached out before them, their targets in

their sights....

"Commander!"

"Just a few...!"  The Borg soldiers, all of them, fell.  In

their pile of metal and flesh, they lay there unmoving,

staring off into space ahead of them, eyes unseeing.

"Commander?"  Worf looked at the Borg soldiers surrounding

them, as lifeless as the bodies on the table.

"Their distribution points have been cut off." Riker

explained, after a slight sigh. "Each section can no longer

communicate with each other."

"Not a moment too soon." Worf muttered, looking at the

comatose Borg soldiers stretching all around them as far as

the eye could see.

                     * * * * * * * *

"Captain, the Borg ship has powered down totally!  Shields,

weapons, everything!" The Lieutenant next to Shelby said,

totally aghast.

Shelby moved over beside him, staring at the instruments and

their readings.

"And the Enterprise?" She asked.

The Lieutenant checked his sensors, then said, not without a

little surprise in his voice: "Sir, the Enterprise shields are

up, but she is reading a far larger amount of power than she

should have any rights to have!"

Shelby stared at her viewscreen for a moment.  There the

Enterprise and the large cube-shaped ship hung in space,

orbitting the almost-destroyed Earth.  Decisions.

"Mr Felmers, you'll take an Away Team over there; see what the

hell is going on."

The Lieutenant looked up, a look of worry crossing his face. 

"Over... there?"

"That's right, Lieutenant.  So move it."

As Felmers exited the Bridge, Shelby wondered what rabbit

Picard had managed to pull out of the hat this time.

                     * * * * * * * *

Locutus stared out at the stars from the window before him. 

They were on their way, he knew.  After all, he was in contact

with them.  Their recent loss was merely a slight setback in

the master-plan.  They were on their way, this time in force,

and they wouldn't be stopped.  And this Galaxy-class ship, the

pride of the Federation, was to lead it to its grave.

                     * * * * * * * *

Beverly Crusher watched the Borg standing over her, making

sure she did not leave Sickbay; not that she was going to. 

Locutus had injected her with the virus, and she was well on

her way to becoming a Borg.  Already the process had been set

into motion; she realised this after she performed a quick

brain scan on herself.  Sure enough, her individual brain

cells were being overridden; supplemented with those suitable

for a Borg; a soulless creature.

Nor did the Borg have to be connected to the whole through

mechanical means anymore.  This "bug", as Locutus had

explained it to her, formed their own links to the Borg whole

without the necessary machinery and distribution nodules. 

That was why the Borg on the Enterprise, all of whom had been

injected with the virus before being beamed to the starship,

still functioned with their mothership shut down.  Naturally,

Locutus had said, they would still be assimilated into the

whole, connected to machines and certain body parts being

supplanted with mechanical features - that improved

functioning; the thought of "mechanical features" being

attached to her pushed her on.

There's no way in Hell I'm becoming one of you bastards, she

thought, studying the inner workings of the virus.  A weak

link, somewhere.  Somewhere....

                     * * * * * * * *

Riker felt the familiar, reassuring feeling of a transporter

beam envelop him.  The last time he had felt that was on Beta

Auriquae V, in a Borg transporter beam - it seemed so long

ago....

"Will!"

He looked up to see himself staring into the eyes of Captain

Elizabeth Shelby.  Obviously, she hadn't been expecting her

Away Team to be bringing back... this.

"Captain." He said, forcing a smile. "Even the position of

first officer isn't enough, huh?"

Only then he noticed Worf's arm holding onto his, propping him

up.

"Get him to Sickbay." Shelby said, turning to the medics who

had just entered with a mobile diagnostic bed.

Gently, he was placed on the bed, and rushed out of the

transporter room.

"Captain!" A voice over the intercom boomed.

"This ship is more busy than the Enterprise." She muttered to

Worf, then called out: "What is it, Mr Granger?"

"Sensors are picking up two ships, heading this way... at Warp

nine.  Readings indicate they are Borg."

                     * * * * * * * *

Riker stared across the Sickbay area to the diagnostic bed

where doctors were working.  Every now and then, he caught a

glimpse of Ard'rian Mackenzie's pale face, staring upwards

into nowhere.  He could have been like that, if it hadn't been

for Data.  Data...  He had been left alone on the Borg ship,

his body peices having been brought with them to the USS

Garrett.  But his consciousness....

"How are you feeling, Commander?" Shelby looked over from him,

catching him off-gaurd.

He looked away from where Ard'rian Mackenzie lay, and up at

the red-headed captain.  "What Captain Picard felt when he

went through it.  What he's feeling now..."

"You know?" Shelby looked slightly flustered.

"Worf told me while we were on the Borg ship." Riker

whispered, then asked: "And you?"

"I heard from Admiral Ranklin, in other words Starfleet

command."

Riker frowned. "How is that possible?  We only found out..."

Shelby nodded, slowly. "They knew, Will.  That's why they

stopped offering commands to you after that incident at Wolf

359, even when we needed good captains to make up for the ones

we'd lost."

She sighed, but from the look on Riker's face, continued:

"They knew about it from Captain Picard's medical files, but

kept it quiet.  I think those who knew thought they could use

it to get at the Borg again, once the Borg had set the virus

off and he became Locutus.  It seems to have backfired

completely, though."

"They knew?" Riker repeated, not quite comprehending what he

had just heard.  All that time since Wolf 359, he had never

been offerred another post.  To keep him on the Enterprise, to

be at hand in case something happened to Picard, no doubt, to

be able to use the situation as he had previously.  But that

hadn't worked.  The Borg got him first.

"We're all pawns, Will." Shelby muttered. "And when it comes

to survival, and the Borg, Starfleet also plays dirty."

Worlds apart, yes.  But Riker wondered how much lowering of

ones own standards it would take to defeat the Borg. 

Starfleet had lowered itself below any moral decency, and it

had backfired all the way back to Earth.

END OF PART FIVE:

Part six can be expected on Sunday/Monday.

Newsgroups: alt.startrek.creative

Path: newserv.ksu.ksu.edu!moe.ksu.ksu.edu!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!swrinde!sdd.hp.com!cs.utexas.edu!uunet!psgrain!ee.und.ac.za!shrike.und.ac.za!hippo!cc194.ru.ac.za!g92n3258

From: g92n3258@giraffe.ru.ac.za (MR RL NICOL)

Subject: I, LOCUTUS: Six of Eight - Assimilation nearing completion

Message-ID: <g92n3258.67.733597339@giraffe.ru.ac.za>

Lines: 297

Sender: news@hippo.ru.ac.za (Usenet News Admin)

Organization: Rhodes University, Grahamstown, South Africa

Date: Wed, 31 Mar 1993 17:02:19 GMT

Here is part six, after a slight delay.  As for Parts seven

and eight, they WILL be finished and posted by Tuesday evening

at the latest, as I will be leaving for a week or two (Yes,

vacation!), and I am determined to finish this story by then. 

So, no matter what happens, "I, Locutus" will have been posted

in full by that time.  But enough talk and more....

                          I, LOCUTUS:

PART SIX:

"The Enterprise is heading out of the solar system, Captain."

The officer who sat before her said, not taking his eyes from

the view-screen.

"Plot a course in the same direction, Lieutenant.  But give us

enough distance from her so she can't pick us up on her

sensors." Shelby ordered, then swung around in her chair to

face her communications officer.  "Is Commander Riker and his

team aboard the Borg ship?"

The communications officer turned from her station and nodded.

"He says he's not sure how much power he can get Data to coax

from whatever engines the Borg ship has, but they will follow

at whatever spead they can muster."

Shelby nodded, then said: "Proceed, Mr Hanson."

The image of the desicrated Earth and lone Borg ship, now

looking not so ominous, sped away from them on the viewscreen,

soon becoming a point among the stars, then disappearing as

the USS Garrett left the solar system, after the Enterprise.

Shelby thought of William Riker, who had stubbornly refused to

remain in Sickbay, where it was obvious where he belonged. 

But it had been useless arguing with him; after all, he had

given her countless good reasons for him to return to the Borg

ship, the main one being that he was the only person they had

who could communicate with Data, now stuck within the

circuitry of the Borg ship.  Reluctantly, she agreed that he

was the right person for the job of leading the Away Team, but

sent Worf along with him to keep an eye on him, and take over

if he deemed it necessary.  With the two of him, she sent her

best engineers to help repair the Borg ship, enough so it

could be of some use to them in a fight.  The Borg collective

might be able to repair the ship automatically, but Data sure

as hell could not.  The most he could do was pinpoint the

areas needing repairs most urgently, and the tell them the

best way to go about it.

Meanwhile, the USS Garrett's Sickbay was overflowing, with as

many of the colonists of Beta Ariquae V, and humans of Earth,

that the Borg had taken.  The ship's doctors had their hands

full, using the sophisticated equipment which the counter-Borg

ship they were on carried.  The Federation had amassed much

knowledge of the Borg since the Wolf 359 massacre - ways not

only how to defend themselves from the Borg but also ways of

how to bring those victims who had fallen into the Borg's

control back out without causing them to self-destruct. 

Naturally, they had to use complex machinery to get access

into the individual's circuitry and cut the link.

As for the other individuals who they had not space to fit on

the USS Garrett, they had been beamed back to Earth, with the

hope that some form of medical help would arrive for them. 

After all, whether they remained on Earth, on the Borg ship,

or even on the USS Garrett, the chances of them all returning

to Borg control was the same - very high.

                     * * * * * * * *

Ard'rian continued to stare up at the pale-grey ceiling above

her.  She hadn't moved a muscle since she had been placed

there; she hadn't been aware of her surroundings until a few

minutes ago.  Now she saw everything, knew everything - and

remembered everything.  And it chilled her.

She had always been fascinated by androids, electronics; they

were far superior, not full of the flaws that humans had - she

had said these very things to Data when she had first met him. 

It were these qualities that drew her to him, resulted in her

falling in love with him, and now making her shudder at the

coldness and robotic callousness that she herself had become

when she had been transformed into the very thing she had

looked up to.

Though hardly perceptible, her eyes shifted to the right, and

she caught sight of a large arm with an odd-looking structure

attached to its end.  For an instant, it reminded her of that

large mechanical construct that she had carried with her as an

added appendage when she had been a Borg.  The panic lasted

only a few seconds, as she recalled it was that very thing

that had brought her out of that disgusting state that she

remembered so clearly.

"We're getting a response from this one!"  She heard a voice

call out, a male voice.

Two people came into her field of view, looking over her,

examining her clearly.

The male said to the female: "I'm sure I saw her eyes move,

shift to the right."

The woman was quite for a moment, still staring down at her,

watching her intently.  After a moment she shook her head. 

"No, I don't see any reaction.  She still seems completely out

of it."

The two faces disappeared, to be replaced once more by the

bland greyness of the ceiling.

                     * * * * * * * *

All was clear.  There were no Borg in the vicinity.  Though he

couldn't see this to be true, his visor took in all this

information for him, translating it into a kaliedoscope of

colours which he managed to decode.

Slowly, he made his way out from the vast machinery behind

which he hid in and moved out into the Engineering section. 

It had been the first place where the Borg had arrived when

the began descending on the Enterprise, taking it apart,

analysing those things they found worthy of their interest,

modifying those things they felt they could improve, and

destroying that which they found inferior.  Now modified,

Geordi realized that the Enterprise's engines were capable of

greater power than they should have any rights to give out,

especially considering the fact that they had been severly

damaged while confronting the Borg at Beta Ariquae V.  Even

with the engines working perfectly, such power levels were

unheard of.  Where the Borg were getting the extra power,

Geordi had no idea.  What he did know, was that they had to be

stopped.

As he made his way towards the reactor, he noticed a body

slumped over a nearby console.  He looked around once more,

making sure no Borg had entered the immediate area, then moved

towards the dead crewman.

As he reached the body, he realised it was that of Lieutenant

Demont, a security gaurd.  Gingerly, he pulled the body back,

so that it slumped back in the chair in which it was sitting. 

A careful study of the console indicated that the security

officer had tried to gain entry to the controls over the anti-

matter seal via the ship's computer.  Evidently, the Borg

hadn't allowed him to get that far.

Nor could he get at the reactor.  Though normal eyes wouldn't

have been able to register it, his visor could pick up the

slight traces of a force-field that surrounded the nucleus of

the ship's engines.

No way to destroy the ship, he thought grimly.  Well, then,

how about the people on board it?

After a slight pause, he moved towards the elevator.  There

was one chance, but only one.  And if he were lucky, they

would all be dead in a few minutes....

                     * * * * * * * *

"Commander?"

Riker looked up, to see the concerned look on Worf's face.  He

felt drained, yes, and the last thing he felt like was going

into a fight, especially with the knowledge that he was still

partially under the Borg's domain.  But talking about it was

not something he felt like doing either.

"Just a little tired, Mr Worf." He said, trying to force a

smile.  "I don't think I'm cut out for speaking at the moment,

for the Borg, Data, or anyone."

Surely Worf would get that hint, he thought.  Evidently not.

"Does this have anything to do with your recent...

transformation?"

Riker sighed. "To a degree, yes.  To be honest, I don't feel

comfortable still being linked like this to the Borg."  He

stared down to his newly repaired arm, and to the new

Starfleet uniform he was wearing, instead of the metallic-

coloured clothing he had worn into the Borg.  Except for a few

attached peices of circuitry, he seemed back to normal.  He

still had chills when he touched the left side of his face,

though, as he felt the peices of circuitry attached to his

body.  The majority of it had been removed, but there were

still areas where the circuits were still evident.

"Are you receiving anything from... Captain Picard?"

Riker was silent for a moment, then answered: "No; the Borg

are remaining unusually silent.  They aren't transmitting to

Data, either.  They must realize we've been "subverted" and

don't want to give anything away."

Worf continued to study him for a moment, then nodded.  Riker

set himself about to be ready to relay more incoming

information from Data.

                     * * * * * * * *

Geordi LaForge crawled up the narrow shaft that stretched up

from the engineering section, phaser in hand.  Rung after

rung, he pulled himself up, deeper into the heart of his ship,

and hated himself for what he was about to do.

Finally he came to the control panel he was searching for.  He

had realised there would be little hope of accessing it from

the ship's computer, or try getting at it from Engineering -

the Borg were too clever for that; he just hoped they weren't

clever enough to consider changing the manual override, or the

code for that matter.

"O794DATA-3562LAFORGE-2001HUGH." He whispered in the darkness

of the access tunnel.

The green light on the front of the control panel turned red,

and with a sigh, Geordi slid it aside, to reveal the complex

circuitry beneath it.

Okay, he thought to himself with a wry smile, they may be

half-machines, but let's see how the Borg do without life-

support.....

No sooner had he touched the necessary wiring, had a surge of

electric current run through his body, scorching his flesh. 

His muscles in his hand contracted involuntarily around the

wiring, and his other hand released his hold on the metal

rung....

The contact with the current broke as he fell down, nothing

but darkness flashing past.  In semi-consciousness, he reached

out for the ladder.  No sooner had his hands grabbed hold of a

rung, than his shoulder felt as if it were being ripped from

its socket.  But he held on for dear life, knowing if he let

go, he would plummet to his death.  So, the Borg had

considered the possibility of someone trying to override the

life support commands manually, he thought, on the edge of

consciousness.

And then he was aware of that there was something more to the

darkness that surrounded him.  If at all possible, it suddenly

seemed darker than before.  And then he realized what had

happened - the powerful electric current had burnt out the

connections to his visor.  The darkness was not only because

of the lack of light, it was also because he was blind.

                     * * * * * * * *

"That's the plan, then." Riker nodded, as he spoke to Shelby,

her image on the Borg screen staring back at him, intently.

"And if you don't get off the Borg ship in time?"

"Then we don't." He answered.  "Either way, we'll destroy the

Enterprise, then maneuver this ship to collide with one of the

Borg ships.  That will leave you with only one to worry

about." He paused for a moment, then gave a slight smile.

"Think you can handle that, Captain, or is it too big a

decision to make?"

"I can handle it." Shelby replied, though not looking pleased

at all.  "I suppose you'll want all non-essential personnel

beamed back to the Garrett?"

The fewer that are on this ship when it rams the Borg, the

better, Riker thought as he nodded in agreement.  Data would

have to "steer" this thing and would therefore have to remain

on board.  And if the rest of them couldn't get off the ship

in time, Data would have plenty of company when he smashes

into the Borg ship, leaving in a baptism of fire.

"We'll rendezvous in fifteen minutes." He replied, finally.

"I'll get those non-essentials together to beam up then."

The image of Shelby disappeared from the screen, and Riker

turned to return to the others, knowing that, either way, he

would have to destroy the Enterprise, with all hands on board.

                     * * * * * * * *

Locutus continued to stare out into space, at the distant

specks of light.  He couldn't see them, to be sure; but he had

knowledge beyond the boundaries of sight.  He had been in

contact with them for quite some time now; he had knowledge of

their approach.  There was no doubt he would soon be united

with those from whom he had been apart for so long, an

unconscious part that formed the then conscious mind of

Picard.  But now, all was different, for he was soon meet them

again, once more becoming a part of them, not only mentally,

but also physically.  He knew it.  They were coming....

END OF PART SIX.

Newsgroups: alt.startrek.creative

Path: newserv.ksu.ksu.edu!moe.ksu.ksu.edu!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!cs.utexas.edu!uunet!psgrain!ee.und.ac.za!hippo!cc185.ru.ac.za!g92n3258

From: g92n3258@giraffe.ru.ac.za (MR RL NICOL)

Subject: I, LOCUTUS: PART SEVEN OF EIGHT - reposting is relevant

Message-ID: <g92n3258.68.733856247@giraffe.ru.ac.za>

Lines: 291

Sender: news@hippo.ru.ac.za (Usenet News Admin)

Organization: Rhodes University, Grahamstown, South Africa

Date: Sat, 3 Apr 1993 16:57:27 GMT

Well, from the header, I suppose you now know what yon Borgs think of the 

current dilemma raging in this newsgroup, or at least my opinion.  But onto 

other matters and the seventh part of I, Locutus:

And here is Part Seven, the penultimate chapter in the "I,

Locutus" story.  As I stated at the beginning of Part six, all

the parts of "I, Locutus" will have been posted here by

Tuesday evening, as I'll be away on vacation for a week or so

after that!  If one or more parts go missing, I'm afraid I'll

be away until the 19th April, so only then will I be able to

answer any mail and supply you with missing parts.

All the best,

Ryan.

                          I, LOCUTUS:

PART SEVEN:

"Since I do not know how much you have forgotten, let me start

from scratch.  Your name is Beverly Crusher, and the vial that

is in the hypospray marked X contains...."  She watched her

mirror-self, listened to her own voice and couldn't believe

what she was seeing and hearing.  "....schematics of this ship

can be found in the Library Computer.  The person I have told

you about is named Locutus.  Whatever happens, it is

imperative you administer the full dosage.  As you know from

what I've told you, those areas of his brain rewritten by this

virus will be neutralised.  Since the creatures you've just

heard about are only interested in controlling those portions

of the brain that make a person unique from the rest - ones'

memories - you won't kill him or incapacitate him to a point

of no return, so don't worry.  But remember, no matter what

happens to you, you must get this dosage through to him.  To

the one they call Locutus."

Beverly turned from the desk monitor and looked around her, at

the strangely familiar setting she had found herself in.  She

could remember Jean-Luc, of course.  And the Enterprise as

well.  But the... Borg?  And since when did Wesley leave for

the Academy?....

But the peices fitted together, now that she had listened to

this message, taped only half an hour ago, and yet filled with

things she didn't know and could barely understand.

Eradication.  It was the only way, and the only hope they had,

her previous self had told her.  Beverly Crusher now knew what

she had done; to get at these Borg, she destroyed those things

she considered most cherished - her memories....

                     * * * * * * * *

Riker watched as Shelby's engineering team worked around the

clock, extracting all the data they could from the access

terminal which he had used to halt the Borg.  With the help

from Data, trapped within the confines of the Borg's

circuitry, Riker was able to tell them how to pass certain

security precautions the Borg had set up.  All the information

they gathered was being transmitted into the USS Garrett's

ship-board computer to analyse and relay all pertinent details

to Shelby and her officers, who would then consider different

courses of action that could be taken once they confronted the

two approaching Borg ships.

It had been Riker's idea to copy the "file" in which Data's

so-called mental patterns had been transmitted, so that even

if the Data stuck in the Borg circuitry was destroyed when the

ship collided with one of the other Borg ships, there would

still be something left of the original Data around which a

new android could be built.

The Data in the Borg circuitry had begun to analyse this new

moral dilemma, but Riker had cut him off quickly.  There was

little time to philosophise, what with more important things

to attend to, and after all, the Data in the ship's circuitry

wouldn't be around for much longer for it to be much of a

dilemma for him, if they succeeded in their plan.  And if they

did not, then what did it matter in a Federation controlled by

the Borg?

"Commander Riker," Worf's voice broke the silence that had

surrounded him, and the commotion inside of him - commotion

caused from the continual presence of Data... and of the Borg.

"Yes, Mr Worf?"

"The USS Garrett has slowed down, allowing us to catch up with

her.  Those to be transferred to her have been notified and

are standing by."  Worf spoke, his gaze not averting from

Riker, even for an instant.

"Thank you, Mr Worf." Riker paused. "I take it you're ready to

beam back with them."

Worf continued to stare at him, seemingly unmovable. "I am

staying here, Commander."

Riker sighed. "Mr Worf, you will be beaming back with the

others, and that is the last word on the subject."

Worf continued to gaze steadily into Riker's eyes. "Captain

Shelby requested that I accompany you here to see that you do

nothing that may... compromise our strategy.  I have acceded

to that request, and will continue to do so."

So that was it, Riker thought.  Shelby doesn't trust me.  He

couldn't blame her, actually; not when he was still linked

like this to the Borg.  And then the thought occurred to him:

Am I still under their control?  Like an unsuspecting pawn in

their game, like Jean-Luc Picard had been for Starfleet?

"Very well, Mr Worf." He sighed.  Perhaps it would be a wise

precaution for someone to look over him, after all.

                     * * * * * * * *

The two Borg ships loomed ahead of him, on the Bridge's main

viewscreen.  Now that they had reached the Enterprise, they

had all but stopped in space.  Not all of the crew had been

assimilated; the so-called "bug" did not work instantaneously,

for its job was a slow one, as it altered each brain cell into

a set pattern that would turn the owner of that brain into one

of the Whole.  That was happening for the majority of the

ship's complement, but there were still many who had not been

reached.  Once transported to one of the two Borg ships, the

process could be sped up.  But first it was Locutus' duty to

beam over, and be physically transformed into a Borg, so that

his appearance could complement his Borg-mentality.

"Locutus."  The woman's voice carried from the aft turbo-lift. 

Locutus turned to see that it was the doctor.  She had already

been impregnated with the virus, but owing to the time that it

took for it to complete its task, she was not yet a complete

Borg.  Thus she was difficult to reach without vocal

communication.  But he could sense a definite feeling of

urgency.

"Yes?"  He moved towards her, the three Borg soldiers in his

vicinity moving with him.

"Go to Hell."  With incredible speed, Crusher pulled her hand

free from her lab coat and jabbed the hypo into Locutus' side. 

Almost as quickly, but not quick enough, the Borg soldiers

responded.  The one grabbed her newly-healed wrist and threw

her across the bridge, to smash against the far wall.  The

other two held onto Locutus, who had half-collapsed as the

substance contained in the hypo was released into his system. 

Crusher, a half-smile across her face despite the pain from

being thrown, looked up to see Locutus and the three Borg

soldiers disappear in a transporter beam.  After that, she

lost all consciousness.

                     * * * * * * * *

"Mr Worf, prepare to beam out of here!" Riker called out

suddenly.

Worf took one look at him, then followed him to stand in one

of the countless, now-empty, slots in the wall that were

normally reserved for the Borg.  He didn't understand what

Riker was proposing, or where they were going to be beamed,

but from the tone of his Commander's voice, he could tell

there was no time for explanation.  Besides, they were the

last two left on the Borg ship, besides Data's consciousness,

and where they beamed couldn't be more worse than being on a

ship headed for destruction.

Riker placed his hand on a circular disc that jutted out of

the wall, and indicated to Worf to do the same.

God-speed, Data, he thought; then the materialization effect

of a Borg transporter, thanks to his friend stuck in the Borg

circuitry, caught him in a swirling haze, and he was gone.

                     * * * * * * * *

No sooner had the surroundings of the Borg ship disappeared

than he found himself standing in a lonely, darkened corridor. 

Immediately his hand reached down for his phaser as he felt a

presence beside him.

"Worf."

It was Riker.  Worf lowered his phaser and took a more

careful, detailed look at his new surroundings.  To his slight

surprise, he recognized it as being a corridor on the

Enterprise.

"The shields are up, but the Borg transporters never have had

a problem with that." Riker whispered, then turned and started

heading cautiously for the turbo-lift.

Once inside, he turned to Worf.  "If the Enterprise is as

close to the Borg ships as our last readings indicated, then

we've got to re-take the bridge and get the hell out of here. 

When Data collides with one of them, we don't want to be near

that explosion."

"Readings indicate there are seven Borg soldiers on the main

Bridge." Worf said as he read his tricorder.

"Can you get Geordi's co-ordinates?  We don't know what

alterations the Borg have done to the ship, and we'll need his

help if we're going to get anywhere."

Worf hesitated for a moment as he tried to pinpoint Geordi

LaForge's location from his communicator.  "This way,

Commander."  The two of them exited the turbo-lift.

                     * * * * * * * *

The Borg knew of his presence, the danger he presented to

them.  They raised their defences, but by using the energy

reserves that surrounded him, he was quick to cut them down. 

Their own barrage of weapons tried to stop him, but he took

the wounds they inflicted.  They were small compared to what

was to come.

Data maneuvered towards the further of the two Borg ships, the

one further from the Enterprise.  Not that it would matter of

course; if the Enterprise did not get out of the immediate

vicinity before the collision, that small distance between

them and the targeted Borg ship would not count for much. 

They too would join him in the floating debris, as the

collision would envelop them, tearing the Enterprise into so

many tiny pieces.

Time was running out.

                     * * * * * * * *

"We're running out of time." Riker said as he and Worf helped

lead the blind Chief Engineer towards the turbo-lift.

"Just get me to the bridge, and our problems will be solved."

Geordi muttered, at a half-run and holding onto Worf's

muscular arm.

Within seconds they were back in the turbo-lift.

"Bridge." Riker called out into the air, and the elevator

began to rise.  Both he and Worf held onto their phasers and

aimed them at the door, ready.

The instant the doors swished open, they darted out into the

bridge, phasers aimed for any sign of a Borg.

"Mr Worf, where are your soldiers."  Riker asked, still in his

crouching position, but this time looking up at the equally-

puzzled Klingon.

"I'm at a loss, Commander." Worf muttered, staring at the

empty bridge.

Not that empty, Riker thought as he spotted the crumpled form

of Beverly Crusher on the other side of the bridge.  But there

were other things to attend to....

Immediately he seated himself at the operations console, while

Worf sat to his right.

"Let's get the hell out of here."

Geordi moved down the bridge ramp, feeling his way towards the

three centre seats.

On the view-screen, the two large Borg ships began to slide

out of sight.

"We're not going to make it, are we?" Geordi muttered; he

couldn't see a damn thing, but he could still feel the

sluggishness of the Enterprise.

"No," Riker grimaced, "we're not."

                     * * * * * * * *

It was too late, and Data knew it.  There were only seconds

before impact, and the Enterprise had barely moved.  Whatever

had happened, Will Riker and Worf had failed.  Though,

technically-speaking, Data couldn't feel, he still felt a stab

of... sadness?  Intriguing, he thought, if not a little late. 

There was little time to analyse this new aspect of existence,

but Data used the time he had left.

That all ended as they collided....

END OF PART SEVEN:

Expect Part Eight, the conclusion, before Tuesday Night.

Newsgroups: alt.startrek.creative

Path: newserv.ksu.ksu.edu!moe.ksu.ksu.edu!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!darwin.sura.net!haven.umd.edu!uunet!psgrain!ee.und.ac.za!hippo!cc110.ru.ac.za!g92n3258

From: g92n3258@giraffe.ru.ac.za (MR RL NICOL)

Subject: I, LOCUTUS: EIGHT OF EIGHT - Assimilation Completed!

Message-ID: <g92n3258.70.734014797@giraffe.ru.ac.za>

Lines: 497

Sender: news@hippo.ru.ac.za (Usenet News Admin)

Organization: Rhodes University, Grahamstown, South Africa

Date: Mon, 5 Apr 1993 13:00:10 GMT

Well, here it is.  That's right; the conclusion to "I,

Locutus" (finally).  Sorry it's taken so long, but better late

than never.  At any rate, enjoy it; comments, criticisms are

welcome, including flames for not tying up lose ends, getting

the characters wrong, not being proficient in the

extraordinary art of technobabble, etc.  But for now, I'm off

on vacation......!!!!!

All the beach... sorry, best (Vac is already getting to me)

Ryan.

                          I, LOCUTUS:

PART EIGHT - The Conclusion:

Jean-Luc Picard stared at the strange beings who surrounded

him; half-biological, half-machine.  Where in Hells name was

he?

The creatures that surrounded him seemed to sense something

was amiss, for they moved closer in to him, restricting his

movements.  Still they continued to guide him down the narrow

metal corridor, a rhythmic clanging at every foot-fall.

Confused and bewildered, Picard moved along with them, not

that he had any choice in the matter.

The corridor came to a sudden dead end, forming a gang-plank

of sorts, and the creatures before him parted to either side,

allowing him to walk to the edge.  Unsure, yet alert, Picard

moved forward, and found himself facing an abyss.  It seemed

to stretch down by many miles, and up as well.  Where he was

and what he was looking at, he had no idea, but he could not

shake the uneasy feeling he had every moment he stared at

these strange beings by whom he had found himself surrounded

and every time he looked across that abyss at the towering

structures that seemed to surround him.

"Jean-Luc Picard of the starship Enterprise."  Many voices

called out, ringing in unison.

He hesitated, then answered those many voices: "I am Jean-Luc

Picard."

"A futile effort, to try and destroy that which is named

Locutus." The many voices continued. "You shall now be

assimilated into the whole; you will become one with the

Borg."

Picard froze.  He did not know why, but every muscle in his

body tightened at the mention of that name.  An uneasy feeling

settled over him, and he turned slightly to glance at one of

the strange creatures that stood nearby... gaurding him?

"Are you the... Borg?"

The creature gave no answer.  Instead it remained standing

there, expressionless.

"We are the Borg." The voices replied, and Picard felt an

instinctual urge to run....

                     * * * * * * * *

No time.  Riker watched as the Borg ship, carrying Data's

consciousness rammed into the side of one of the other two

Borg ships.

There was only one thing left to do.

"Head for that Borg ship!" He ordered, pointing to the other

one, that was nearest to them.

Worf reacted immediately; with not a moment's hesitation, he

plotted the course that would put the other Borg ship between

them and the explosion.  The Enterprise lurched forward, and

the nearest Borg ship sprung forward, as if closing in on the

kill, then swung away again as the Enterprise angled around

it.

Goodbye Data, Riker thought as the brightness of the explosion

illuminated the space for a second before the vaccuum

diminished it.  Large pieces of debris flashed past in the

distance; pieces that would have proven fatal had it not been

for the bulk of the remaining Borg ship protecting them in its

shadow.

Riker had almost relaxed when there was a sudden lurch that

nearly threw him from his seat.

"We've been hit!" He heard Geordi cry from behind him, unable

to see what was happening around him.

"Negative, Commander." Worf replied.  "The Borg have caught us

in their tractor beam."

"This is not my lucky day." Geordi muttered.  He couldn't see,

couldn't react, and as a result couldn't do a thing to help.

                     * * * * * * * *

"Sir, the Borg have the Enterprise in their tractor beam!"

Shelby turned to the Lieutenant before her. "Open fire on the

Borg ship.  Destroy that tractor beam.  Ensign, try and raise

Commander Riker."

"Firing, Captain."

Twin beams of energy lanced out from the underside of the USS

Garrett, striking the point of origin of the tractor beam.

"Tractor beam has been eliminated."

"I can't seem to raise the Enterprise, sir." The ensign

reported. "The Borg ship is giving out some kind of

interference."

Shelby continued to stare at her viewscreen. "Why the hell is

the Enterprise still loitering around there?  They don't want

to be near there when that Borg ship goes.  Ensign, keep

trying to raise them."

What in Heaven's name is Riker up to?  She wondered.

                     * * * * * * * *

"Borg shields are partially down, Commander." Worf reported as

he inspected his Security station.  A Lieutenant and an ensign

had replaced Riker and him at the ops and conn, and medics had

removed Doctor Crusher and Geordi LaForge to the sickbay.

"Partially?  What do you mean?"

"The USS Garrett has performed numerous serious blows to the

Borg ship." Worf responded. "As a result, the Borg's shields

have weakened.  In essence, there are so-called holes in

them."

Riker digested this for a moment, then asked: "Is it possible

to beam an Away Team through one of those so-called holes?"

Worf was quiet for a moment.  When he replied, his tone was

one of calmness and admiration. "Yes, sir.  It is possible."

Riker nodded.  "Inform three of your security officers to meet

me in Transporter Room Four.  You're in command, Mr Worf."

Worf was momentarily stunned. "Commander, with all due

respect, I believe I would be the most reasonable choice to

lead the Away Team; considering your present condition and the

fact that you are in command..."

Riker didn't stop walking, but turned when in the elevator. 

"You have your orders, Mr Worf.  Carry them out."

The doors slid shut, but Riker took with him the look of a

very annoyed Klingon Security Chief.

                     * * * * * * * *

"Captain, we're reading a drastic drop in the Borg's power!" 

Felmers called out from his station.  "Both the explosion and

our anti-matter charges seems to have done quite a bit of

damage."

"What is the status of the Borg's shields?"  Shelby asked from

the captain's chair.

Felmers bent down to take another look at the readings before

him.  "Generally low from the explosion of those two Borg

ships, and there are areas where there's no shielding at all."

Shelby nodded, satisfied.  "Fire phasers at those openings. 

Let's hit them at the tender spots."

Staying near that Borg ship was your decision, Will.  She

thought, not without a certain amount of regret.

                     * * * * * * * *

As the shimmering from the transporter beam faded away, Riker

found himself staring straight into the face of a Borg

soldier.  His first instinct was to fire his weapon, but he

stopped.  That would just raise the alarm, and besides, this

Borg wasn't going anywhere.  Sure enough, it was one of many

lined against the wall in its own individual compartment.

He turned to look at the three security gaurds that had

accompanied him.  All looked alert, and just a little nervous. 

Understandable considering the Borg track-record.  All three

had their phasers out, but as ordered before transporting,

they had not fired when they found themselves in the midst of

the Borg collective.

Riker looked around, feeling that cold feeling that came over

one when returning to a place that filled your mind with

horrors.  He had, after all, seen and felt enough horrors in

the last few days to last him a life-time.  After a slight

pause, he looked down at the tricorder he held in his hand. 

He still held onto the phaser in the other; he was damned if

they were going to get him again.

"I've got the co-ordinates for the captain's communicator;

we'll head in that direction."

Slowly, they moved forward through the maze of wires and metal

conduits.  Looking at his surroundings, Riker could hardly

believe he had ever left the Borg ship with Data on it.  They

were exactly the same, in every detail.  They soon came to a

turn in the passage, as it opened up to what seemed like an

abyss.  On the far side, Riker could make out countless levels

stretching upwards - and downwards - as far as the eye could

see.  And on every level, he could make out thousands of Borg,

lining the wall in their own slots.  Now they had a choice of

moving left or right on what seemed to be a metal gang-plank

that ran along the side of the "abyss".  Once again, he

studied his tricorder, then motioned for the security detail

to follow him as he turned left.

As he moved down the gang-plank, he couldn't help but look to

his right, where the world seemed to fall away, into a

bottomless, artificial pit.  Though he couldn't locate the

source, he felt a distinct throbbing, as if they were near

some great power source.  No Borg, except for those in their

slots along the wall - puppets without a master - were

visible.  They were getting close now.

Then the whole world seemed to collapse around them.

                     * * * * * * * *

"Get me the USS Garrett!" Worf roared from the captain's

chair.  "They're firing right on Commander Riker's position!"

"I'm sorry, sir." The Lieutenant at the security station

replied, a small amount of panic clearly evident in his voice.

"All transmissions are being blocked by the Borg."

"The Borg ship is beginning to break apart, sir!" The ensign

at the ops console cried out.

"Maintain our position." Worf answered. "And keep the shields

down, so we can beam the Away Team back as soon as it is

necessary."

It was risky, he knew.  It meant that they were vulnerable to

attack from both the Borg ship and the results of its

destruction.  But it was the only honorable thing he could do.

                     * * * * * * * *

The artificial world that surrounded him shook, throwing him

from his feet, towards that great abyss that stretched out

near him.  Riker held on to the railing, feeling himself slide

over it as the Borg ship underwent another convulsion.  He

gripped the cold metal bar tightly, his feet feeling the empty

air that stretched for miles below him.  One of the security

gaurds mananged to clamber to help him back over the railing,

to the "safety" of the gang-plank.  Riker managed to mutter a

thanks just as an explosion rattled the ship.  Riker fell

against one of the Borg soldiers alongside the wall and

managed to roll out of the way as the soldier responded to the

"attack" with a swipe at the starfleet officer with its

mechanical appendage.

"Let's keep moving!" He yelled to the security officers,

noting their rather stunned expressions.  Slowly, with a tight

grip on the railing, he moved on, pausing to hold on for dear

life every time the Borg ship shook from an attack.

The co-ordinates of Picard's communicator were nearby and

moving, which meant that it hadn't been abandoned like the

first time they had tried to retrieve the captain from the

Borg.

Riker just hoped they could find Picard, or Locutus, before

the ship destroyed itself.

                     * * * * * * * *

"How are our energy reserves doing?"  Shelby asked.

The ensign in front of her looked up from his station

momentarily. "We won't be able to hold on much longer,

Commander.  I'd say we have seven minutes until our shields

collapse."

They'd lasted longer than any other Starfleet vessel had any

rights to last already, Shelby mused.  The USS Garrett was

good when it came to fighting the Borg....  But not

invincible.

Felmers looked up from his sensor readings.  "Captain, if we

released our anti-matter container with a twelve-seconds time

delay, the Borg ship should be finished."

Shelby took this all in, but never took her eyes from the

Enterprise.  What was Will doing?  Unless he had an Away Team

on the Borg vessel....

"Ready the anti-matter container, Lieutenant." She ordered. 

"But hold release it on my order."

She would give him five minutes to get out of there.  But no

more.  After that....

                     * * * * * * * *

They had begun to move away from the gang-plank on the edge of

that metallic precipice, making their way into what seemed

like the heart of the Borg ship.  The co-ordinates for

Picard's communicator had stopped moving, which either meant

that the carrier of the communicator was standing still, or it

had been dropped.  As he moved through the silhouete of the

Borg ship, Riker hoped it was not the latter.  If the

communicator had been parted from Picard, then there was

little hope of ever re-capturing the Captain.

The passage-way had come to a sudden end, opening up into a

large, cavernous area.  Riker slowed his pace down, and

signalled the gaurds to do like-wise.  As he moved cautiously

forward, he tried to look through the dimness that seemed to

have settled around them.  The explosions had stopped for the

moment, though every now and then the floor shook, less

violently than before.

And then he made out the form of the Borg soldier, standing

over a gaunt-looking individual, who was lying on a table - a

table not so unlike the one he had been lying on when....

Sensing their presence, the Borg looked up, its mechanised arm

hovering over Picard's face.  Riker needed to further

encouragement.  He had a strange sense of satisfaction as the

beam from his phaser engulfed the Borg soldier, felling it

instantly.

There were others all around him, but he didn't care.  The

three security gaurds were already firing their phasers,

dispersing those Borg soldiers that had come to aid their

fallen co-worker, while Riker hurried to help his captain from

the metal bed to which he had been secured.  The three

security gaurds continued firing, changing the frequencies on

their phasers as fast as the Borg could adapt to them, and

moved inwards towards Picard in an ever-tightening circle.

"Enterprise, this is Riker.  Emergency beam up!"

O'Brien's voice filtered through Riker's badge: "I'm sorry,

Commander.  But you're in an area of the Borg vessel where

their shields are still up.  You'll have to move...."

The phaser whine surrounded him, distorting the voice of the

Transporter Chief.  Riker had to shout to be sure he was

heard. "There's no way I can do that, Enterprise!"

The deathly-white faces moved closer.

                     * * * * * * * *

"Release anti-matter container."

"Anti-matter container released.  Twelve seconds till

detination."

                     * * * * * * * *

"You can't get us back, Worf!  Get the hell out of here!"

Riker shouted, as he held onto Picard's limp form.  He tried

to lift his phaser; give the Borg a going-away present.

                     * * * * * * * *

"Seven... six..."

                     * * * * * * * *

"I said get the hell out of here!"

The Borg moved forward.

"Enterprise...!"  Futile.

                     * * * * * * * *

"Three... two..."

                     * * * * * * * *

The Enterprise shot away from the Borg ship, near the speed of

light.  There was a moment of stillness, then...

                     * * * * * * * *

"Zero."

                     * * * * * * * *

Space lit up for an instant as the anti-matter was released,

reacting instantly with the matter that surrounded it.  The

already-battered Borg ship burst, spewing debris for miles

around, forming what seemed like a large cloud in the area of

space it once occupied.

"That's our job done." Shelby sighed.

But it's not over, she thought.  Do you hear me, Ranklin? 

It's not over yet.

                     * * * * * * * *

Data looked down at the frail-looking woman he had once known. 

He was easy to mend; it had taken the USS Garrett's engineers

the three weeks it took for them to limp back to Earth to put

him together again, restoring his "mind", that had inhabited

the ship's computer, back to his newly re-fitted body.

But humans weren't that easy to put together again.

"Ard'rian." He said, quietly.  She still did not move; just

lay there, curled up in a foetal position, facing away from

him.  "It is me, Data."

"Go away." The voice was barely a whisper; almost a sob.  The

pale, shaved head moved slightly, turning towards the pillow.

"Go away," It repeated.  There was a slight hesitation.  Then

one word was added, "...machine."

Data continued to look down at her crumpled form for a while. 

Then he turned, and left.

                     * * * * * * * *

Riker walked into the Enterprise's sickbay.  He was whole

again, thanks to the aid of both ship's doctors.  It had been

a close call, when the transporter had yanked them out of the

Borg ship, just when the shields failed and the it was about

to explode.  It had been split-second timing that he would

make sure would earn O'Brien a commendation.

He had seen Geordi out of sickbay two weeks ago, when his

visor had been fixed.  The Chief Engineer had not been too

happy about being blind for a whole week, but now with his

sight back, he was already working to restore the Enterprise

back to its prime condition.  After all, the Borg had done

more than enough tampering to the ship to keep Geordi busy for

the coming months that they would be in orbit around Earth,

helping to normalise the situation there.

He smiled a hello at Beverly Crusher, who had just left her

office.  The memory of his first meeting with her after the

encounter came back.  She had greeted him, and taken a long

look at his beard, as if she had never seen it before.  To

her, of course, she hadn't.  Riker knew she had a lot of work

ahead of her, so recapturing old memories via ship records and

personal logs would have to wait till later.  Still, she had

found plenty of time to ask him questions about Wesley, and

how he had grown up into a responsible officer.  Riker found

himself enjoying the talk, especially when it came to telling

her about Odan and how the trill had inhabited his own body

for a period of time.

But in all that time, Jean-Luc Picard had not come out of the

coma that the Borg had placed him in, and Will had regularly

stood next to the bed in sickbay on which the captain had been

placed, watching him.  He had once thought he would never

understand how Picard had felt, at the hands of the Borg.  But

now he did; and it hurt.

"Captain," He smiled as he approached the bed, "the good

doctor was kind enough to tell me you were finally awake."

Picard stared up at him, looking a little dazed.

"It's William Riker." Riker said, trying not to show the pain

he felt at having to remind this person - who he had worked

next to for so many years - of his name.

Picard nodded slowly, but his eyes retained the haunted look

that had been in them since he had come out of the coma.

"I... remember you."

Riker merely smiled.

Picard was quiet for a moment.  When he spoke, his voice

carried a hint of awareness, of something deeper than

previously known.  "You're....  Number One?"

"Yes," Riker nodded, slowly.  The smile broadened for that one

moment.  "I'm your Number One."

THE END.