Resistance - J.M. Dillard [69]
“How soon do you need the sample?” he asked the doctor.
“Now, if I’m to have any chance of developing something by the time we reach the Borg ship again.”
“I will come to sickbay momentarily,” he said as he cut the connection.
A moment later, Ensign Allen’s voice broke in. “Commander Worf, I have the admiral.”
“Patch her through,” Worf said as he sat behind the captain’s desk.
He turned the screen to face him as the Starfleet insignia was replaced with the face of Admiral Janeway. Worf had never met the woman, but even on the small screen she appeared to be a formidable presence. She seemed particularly tense at the moment, in fact. Worf suspected that he knew why.
Not one for simple pleasantries, she got right down to business. “I have recently received a communique from Seven of Nine, Commander Worf. She reports that her long-range scans do not show the Enterprise at the rendezvous coordinates. I assume you have an explanation for that as well as for why your captain is not the one speaking with me now?”
“Yes, Admiral,” he said stoically.
“And the reason?” she asked.
“We have engaged the Borg.”
11
SARA NAVE SAT IN SILENCE IN THE CONFERENCE lounge along with T’Lana and Lieutenant Nelson from engineering. It was an odd trio, to say the least. Nave had known Nelson only in passing; the few conversations they had were centered around warp core specifications. She always found the information enlightening but not exactly interesting. T’Lana, meanwhile, had already proved to be a hard nut to crack, and Nave wasn’t ready for another go-round. It was easier just to sit silently and wait for Commander Worf than try to bother coming up with any topics for discussion. Regretfully, that left her with her own dark thoughts.
Nave’s heart was in a very strange place. After she had heard Lio’s dying screams, she had alternated between excruciating grief and numbness. Now she was in limbo, wanting to mourn, to cry, but she couldn’t. Because now she had hope of rescuing Lio, and now her mind was busy churning out a hundred different scenarios of how she would find Lio on the Borg ship, how she would feel when she saw him, how she would ultimately save him.
Intruding on all this was the single sinister thought: Was it possible that the Borg had simply killed him?
No. No. The Borg would have sent him back, like the others. Once they had finished using him for his comlink connection with the ship, they would have identified him as the leader of the away team and assimilated him for his tactical knowledge. What would be bad for the Enterprise meant hope for Nave.
So she was forced to hope that the Borg transformed him—the last thing he would have wanted. Since she had transferred to the Enterprise, she had occasionally overheard a senior officer making a comment about Captain Picard’s time as Locutus, about how horrifying it had been for him and for the crew. About the sense of violation the captain must have felt.
Am I being selfish, wishing the same for Lio, just so that I can bring him back?
Anxiety clutched her midsection, made it difficult for her to draw in a deep breath.
Behind her, the conference room doors opened. She did not turn; she knew from the sound of his step that Commander Worf had returned from sickbay.
Immediately, she straightened in her chair and forced her dazed, grief-exhausted mind to still. You need to remember only one thing: you’re going to the Borg ship. No matter what happens to Lio, you’ll have the chance to avenge him and your friends. And you’ll have the satisfaction of helping to stop the Borg.
She did not allow herself to consider for one second the possibility of failure.
She glanced up as Commander Worf took a seat at the head of the table: the captain’s chair. Nave was surprised by how much she thought it suited him and worried that she was betraying Captain Picard in the process. Nave saw Worf and the counselor exchange quick looks. Apparently they had