Resistance - J.M. Dillard [71]
“Not exactly,” the lieutenant replied. “To cloak the entire ship would require a massive amount of energy, which we don’t exactly have at the moment. Since the saucer section is most damaged, we’re going to have to separate from it and cloak only the stardrive section. Commander La Forge is working off the decrypted schematics and installing the cloaking device right now. He’s the only one onboard with proper clearance for the procedure.”
“Meanwhile, Doctor Crusher is working on a neutralizer injection, a way to take out the Borg queen once and for all,” Worf added. “In the meantime, we will need to evacuate all extraneous personnel to the saucer section. Counselor, I will leave you in command of that section. Your orders are simple: remain at this position, outside of the Borg sensor range, until we return. If you pick up any movement by the Borg, you will turn the ship around and head to the coordinates Admiral Janeway has ordered the fleet to mass. Do not attempt to slow the Borg ship. Your goal is to join the fight where you can be of the best advantage.”
“Understood,” T’Lana said with a nod. Nave didn’t doubt for a second that T’Lana would do exactly as she was told.
Worf looked out at the three officers. “Lieutenant Nelson will be in command of the auxiliary bridge while we are on the cube. In the meantime, we must prepare for the separation.”
“Aye, sir,” the officers responded.
As T’Lana and Nelson left the conference room, Worf motioned for Nave to remain with him. “Once the cloak is active, we will be arriving in the vicinity of the Borg ship within the hour, Lieutenant,” he said. “I need you to designate a security team. I will, of course, be leading the rescue efforts. But you will be responsible for coordinating them.”
Thank you, Nave almost said. Worf had held the position of security chief several years earlier; he knew what was necessary in order to pull a team together on short notice. Perhaps Nave only imagined it, but it seemed he understood how important it was to her to organize the rescue efforts to find the captain. To find Lio.
Instead she answered, “Aye, sir. I’ve already thought about it. I’ll want Chao, Leary, and Diasourakis.” She’d worked out with Sandra Chao before; Chao was an ensign, only a year out of the academy, but she was tough and fast and smart. Margaret Leary was an experienced security veteran, and while Nave didn’t know Gregory Diasourakis personally—he had transferred to the Enterprise only a month before—his Starfleet file was littered with commendations.
Worf grunted in approval. “Good choices. You will need to be sure your team is drilled in certain facts. First, phasers set on stun are useless against the Borg. Weapons must be set to kill. Second, when the Borg were last on the Enterprise, they learned to adapt to the frequency of our weapons. After we fired a few times, they became impervious, and so we had to constantly recalibrate our weapons. Your team should be prepared to do so as well.”
The first fact worried Nave. She had assumed that all she had to do, if she encountered Lio on the Borg ship, was stun him and return him to the Enterprise. “I’ll be sure to inform them.” She paused. “Do we have any way of locating the captain, sir? Will we be aware of his position?”
Worf shook his head. “Our primary goal must be to find the queen. Commander La Forge’s team is currently trying to calibrate our scanners to determine whether we can single her out from among the drones. If we can destroy her, then the entire Borg colony will be disabled, and we can then try to locate the captain and Lieutenant Battaglia.” He paused, then, with a look Nave could not interpret, said, “If we locate the queen, the captain will almost certainly be nearby.”
“The neutralizer injection you mentioned Doctor Crusher was working on. Will that kill the queen?”
“Not exactly. The injection would transform the queen back into a drone—if it works. If it does not work quickly, or as planned, we will resort to conventional methods.”
“Kill her, you mean.”
The Klingon shot her a humorless