Resistance - J.M. Dillard [43]
He was staring out the window, lost in the past and the swelling music, when the door chimed. “Music off,” he said, and then, “Come.”
He turned as T’Lana entered.
“Captain Picard,” she said formally. “I would like to state that I recognize you were correct about the existence of the Borg vessel. I realize that such validation is important to humans.”
He smiled faintly at that. “So. Are you withdrawing your objection to my order to bring the Enterprise here without Seven of Nine?”
“No, sir,” she replied calmly as she came farther into the room. “While I acknowledge that you were right about the existence and location of the Borg ship, you were incorrect in your judgment that the Borg would passively accept the presence of the away team. Therefore, I have no way of verifying which of your assertions is correct. I do not know for a fact that Seven of Nine would have arrived too late to have been of help.”
Picard felt the defensiveness welling up in him, especially at the mention of the lost away team. He wanted some physical distance between himself and the Vulcan and made a sudden move for his chair, brushing T’Lana’s arm as he passed. “I’m all too aware of the fact that my connection to the Borg collective is imperfect. It was a regrettable mistake but one that had to be made to learn what we know now.”
As he sat, he saw a look on T’Lana’s face that could only be described as…curious. “Yes?”
“You intend to become Locutus again.”
There was no anger in her tone, no question either. She knew this as fact. This was the benefit—and the challenge—of having a highly sensitive touch-telepath as a member of the crew. He hadn’t intended to tell T’Lana his plan yet, but there was no reason to deny it.
“No humanoid can safely accomplish our mission,” he explained. “So, yes, I will become Locutus again. I will wear a neutralizer chip so that my assimilation is not total. The Borg will accept me as one of their own, and I will be able to destroy the queen quickly.”
T’Lana digested this, showing no sign of surprise save for a slight lift of one eyebrow. At last she replied, “There is a significant chance that your plan will go awry and you will be captured. Starfleet would lose an asset and the Borg would gain an invaluable one.”
“I need not be reminded,” Picard answered heavily. “Counselor, I was unaware of a single detail which, tragically, led to the loss of four crew members. Now I am pursuing a course of action that will allow me unlimited access to the Borg hive mind and give us our greatest chance of disabling the Borg before they can launch a deadly attack against us. Why are you so unwilling, after the evidence you have seen, to trust me?”
“Your emotions,” she said bluntly, with a slight lift of her chin—which, were she human, Picard would have taken as a sign of defiance. “When you first announced that you sensed the Borg collective, I read all the relevant logs and reports concerning your encounters with them. During your last, when the Borg invaded the Enterprise-E, your anger brought you very close to allowing the Borg to destroy every member of the crew. Your actions jeopardized your ship and the future of the Alpha Quadrant. You behaved irrationally, Captain. As counselor, it is my responsibility to remind you of such facts. I would be remiss if I did not mention that I have sensed a great deal of emotional turmoil in you regarding this decision. I urge you to reconsider your actions, to change your strategy, and report back to Admiral Janeway for instruction.”
Picard, careful to contain any trace of heat in his tone, said, “I can hear them, but they are different now. I misunderstood how the Borg had been changed. But now I do have a better understanding. Without the voice of their queen, the hive mind has become a mob mentality. At this moment, there is no logic within