Unworthy - Kirsten Beyer [62]
Once these reports were complete, Eden asked, “Are we certain that the Indign vessel Hawking discovered can also be traced to this system?”
Captain Itak replied, “Slight variances in the ship’s composition and size are attributable to its age—relative to the first cube Voyager encountered—but it undoubtedly was constructed by the same hands. Its power systems, though offline, were an exact match, as were its minimal shields and armaments.”
“The inhabitants of this system are most definitely the Indign,” Batiste said briskly, cutting to the chase. He then turned to Seven and asked, “Were the Borg aware of the Indign as we now know them, separate from the four species cataloged individually?”
Seven cocked her head slightly to the right, clearly searching her memory. “On sixteen different occasions, prior to my departure from the Collective, Indign vessels were assimilated. The Borg had already scanned this system, however, and found nothing worth assimilating. Because the vessels identified as Indign offerings contained hundreds of different life-forms, most of which had already been identified by the Borg, no connection was ever made between them and the cooperative species we observed on the third planet.”
“The Borg weren’t even curious to know who was leaving these gift-wrapped offerings?” Batiste demanded.
“The Borg reserved curiosity for mysteries that might have added to the Collective. The Indign ships were used as raw materials,” Seven replied coldly.
“I think the point worth noting is, despite the fact that the Borg couldn’t have cared less about the Indign, the Indign did not feel the same,” Eden interjected.
“You think the Indign left those people out there just for the Borg?” Paris asked.
“This system lies just at the edge of what was once Borg space, a mere stone’s throw from one of their transwarp hubs,” Eden replied. “The offering vessel was discovered at a terminus of several collapsed transwarp conduits. Who else would it have been for?”
“The captain might be correct,” Patel said, nodding. “In many ways, the organization of the Indign mimics that of the Borg Collective. Six disparate species work together essentially as one individual.”
“Not to mention the architecture on the planet, and the design of their ships,” Paris added. “You’ve never seen so many cubes and spheres.”
“Are you saying that the Indign idolized the Borg?” Kim asked.
“Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery,” the Doctor observed.
“What sentient species could ever idolize anything as destructive as the Borg?” Batiste asked. “They were monsters.”
“Perhaps idolized isn’t the right word,” Cambridge noted.
“Feared,” Doctor Sharak observed.
“Exactly,” Cambridge said. “Think about it. Your civilization exists right next door to the most powerful force imaginable. There is no reasoning, no negotiation, and no conquering that force. Perhaps by emulating the Borg, they were attempting to accommodate them. Perhaps the Indign believed that these offerings were all that stood between themselves and assimilation.”
“Then they didn’t understand the Borg,” Seven noted.
“What if they understood them better than you think?” Eden said a little sadly.
“Captain?”
“To many less advanced species, dominant ones can appear almost god-like. But the Borg wanted nothing to do with the Indign. What if they were trying to make themselves worthy of the Borg?”
“If, as Seven indicated, at least four of the six Indign species once existed separately, it would have taken thousands of years for them to learn to exist as they do now, in their collective state,” Patel chimed in.
“You don’t think this behavior evolved naturally?” Captain Itak inquired.
“Yes and no,” Patel replied. “There is more to it than simple agreement between the various species. There are evolutionary links between them. Our universal translators can’t parse the Greech language, but somehow the Neyser and Irsk/Dulaph understand them perfectly. Nothing in my readings suggests that the Greech are telepathic, though the Neyser do show