Have Tech, Will Travel (SCE Books 1-4) - Keith R. A. DeCandido_. [et al.] [77]
“You know,” said Geordi, “you are starting to have quite the reputation yourself.”
Bart was startled. “Me? Oh, no.”
“Yes, you. I’ve an ear for languages myself, so I pay attention to developments in the field. And I’ve heard your name come up more than a few times. There’s nothing that says you can’t go through the Academy.”
“Oh, no. That’s not for me.” Bart concentrated on his drink. “I’m quite happy as a noncom.”
Geordi regarded him for a long moment with those odd, artificial eyes. “If you ever change your mind, let me know.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Download complete,” came the computer’s voice.
“Damn. And just when my coffee was exactly the right temperature,” said Geordi in a mock-mournful tone. “Come on, Bart. Time to see what’s on this thing.”
At that moment, Geordi’s combadge chirped. “Commander La Forge, Faulwell, get to the briefing room at once.”
They exchanged glances. “Captain Gold,” said La Forge, “we’ve just finished downloading the information from the tricorder. We’re about to try to decipher it.”
“And I want you to, but not right now. It’ll have to wait. On the double, gentlemen.”
Faulwell had always thought that the expression of one’s heart leaping into one’s mouth was a bit over the top. But when he looked at what a tight-lipped, pale Dr. Lense had to show them, he realized that the old cliché was actually quite true.
Borg.
Hard to believe that one word, comprised of four letters, could produce such violent emotions. But then, Bart had always respected the power of words. Now, as he gazed at the replicated body on the viewscreen, with its lengths of cables and artificial implants, all he could think of was a giant cube sweeping down to assimilate them all.
“What do you think, Geordi?” Gold asked, his calm voice breaking the horrified silence that filled the briefing room. “You’ve had some experience with Borg technology.”
Geordi licked his lips. “I don’t know, Captain. This technology is different from any Borg technology I’ve encountered before. Take a look at the delicacy of that cable, the seamless way the artificial has been integrated with the organic in the brain. Borg technology was . . .” He searched for the right word. “Crude, but efficient. It got the job done, but not much more. This is almost elegant. Then again, if there’s one thing you can count on with the Borg, it’s that they’re always improving. Upgrading.”
“Assimilating,” said Duffy, managing the complicated trick of putting a sneer of disgust and respect into the single word.
“Exactly,” said La Forge.
“But it was my understanding that the Borg travel in groups—in a collective, or subdivisions, in a unimatrix. Never just alone like this,” put in Gomez.
“Again,” said Abramowitz, “that’s always been true . . . so far. But don’t forget the Borg queen. She is quite definitely an individual.”
La Forge nodded agreement. “And there was an adolescent male Borg who came aboard the Enterprise several years ago, who was able to understand the concept of the individual. We even named him. Called him Hugh. Got kinda fond of the guy, actually.”
“I remember reading about that,” said Abramowitz. “Because of his interaction with the Enterprise crew, he was unable to fully reintegrate into Borg society. He joined with others who split off from the collective, right? What became of him?”
“We don’t know,” said Geordi. “I like to think that he and his group are all right, but who knows with the Borg? They could have reassimilated him and studied this thing called individuality. They could have found the group and reassimilated them. When you think about it, the Borg are already a blending of organic being and machine. It’s not that big a step to link an individual with a vessel to form a new collective of one unified mind—instead of a humanoid simply being implanted with cybernetics and linked together, link that mind directly with a personal, mobile machine. With a ship.”
Carol sank back in her chair. “It does sound exactly like something the Borg would