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Written By
Michael Gray
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Chapter 1 - When You Turn Out The Light
The starship U.S.S. Chamberlain screamed across space on approach to the Federation Colony on Parxula Five located in the Kel-j'na Region of the Alpha Quadrant. The Bridge of the Chamberlain was a hive of frantic activity as the crew prepared for battle against a foe that brought fear into the heart of every officer in Starfleet. Three hours earlier, Second Officer Melissa Vargas sat in the center seat when a signal from the colony was received. That signal was short and to the point, "Five Borg vessels on approach. Send any and all help."
Jack McCall watched his officers preparing for the battle every starship commander wanted most to avoid, but Jack McCall commanded a ship designed specifically for the threat they would meet in less than ten minutes. He had no illusions about weakness in his opponent, but he had faith in his ship and crew. If any Federation ship could defeat the Borg, it was the Chamberlain.
Executive Officer Lak Negev turned to Jack. "Chief Engineer Bishop reports six reactors online. Reactors seven and eight in standby mode."
Jack nodded and turned around to face his Tactical Officer Hank Evans. "Weapon systems?"
"Phasers and Quantum Torpedoes fully operational. Reactive Quantum Plasma System powering up. Should be ready for operation in forty-five seconds," Evans reported.
Jack turned back forward. "When we drop out of warp, I want to hit the lead cube and hit it hard. The object is to get them to break off their attack on the colony and come after us."
He looked into the faces of his officers and saw them nodding in agreement. "Once we get them out into open space, we will not run, we will not negotiate, we will not talk. We shall fight the Borg until either we or they are destroyed."
Jack saw Melissa Vargas at the Ops Station smile wide. She had made her position on the Borg very clear at their staff meeting an hour earlier. She and Jack both felt the Borg were the single greatest threat to the Federation and that Starfleet should focus all its energies on the defacto war that had existed for the last decade between the two powers. Vargas had expressed the opinion at the meeting that, "The Federation should construct an entire fleet of Oceana Class Starships and directly attack Borg installations wherever they might be and wherever we can find them."
While Jack McCall thought that wasn't feasible, he agreed completely with her attitude. He thought it was high time the Federation crawled out of its rabbit hole and started fighting for its own survival. In eight minutes, he would get his opportunity to make a contribution to that concept. If he could prove to Starfleet Command the effectiveness of the Oceana Class against the Borg the Federation's greatest enemy would be put on notice that the Federation was no longer a source of bodies to be assimilated.
"Reactive Plasma System fully operational, Captain," Hank Evans said.
Jack knew that was his ace in the hole. The Chamberlain's Primary Weapon was a pair of emitters at the front of the secondary hull through which power from the ship's eight matter/antimatter reactors could be directly released. Starfleet's tactical analysts had predicted power from only two such reactors through the emitters would be able to produce severe damage on a Borg cube. He intended on hitting them with power from six reactors.
Jack McCall stood to his feet. "Lieutenant Commander Pederson, put me on ship wide Comm."
Cynthia Pederson touched several controls on her communication panel and nodded to Jack.
He took a deep breath. "This is the Captain. We are six minutes from engaging the Borg in battle. They have committed an act of war against the Federation Colony on Parxula Five and we shall stop that attack and destroy any Borg vessel which refuses to unconditionally surrender."
Most everyone on the Bridge smiled at that. There had never been a recorded case of the Borg surrendering to anyone. They knew what their Captain was really saying and most of them agreed.
Jack continued, "I want everyone to understand one thing. I will not allow a single member of this crew to be assimilated by the Borg. If we are unable to escape them, I will find the most destructive means to destroy this ship and take as many Borg with us as possible."
In one of the large cargo bays of the Chamberlain, Lieutenant Mei-Wan McCall organized her Archaeology Section to prepare to transport down to the Colony and set up an emergency medical center to care for casualties in the event the Borg attack was stopped. The ship's Chief Medical Officer, Doctor Taylor Preston, had conscripted everyone in the Science Department for medical duty.
Ensign Natalie Fowler stood next to Mei-Wan as they listened to the Captain speak.
"Of course, my faith in all of you and the Chamberlain tells me I won't have to even consider such a course of action," Jack finished.
The Comm system switched off and Fowler turned to Mei-Wan. "You think we'll really stop them?"
Mei-Wan nodded. "I find it hard not to believe the voice we just heard."
Fowler smiled. "That's good enough for me."
The two women joined other members of the Archaeology Section to finish their preparations.
Back on the Bridge, Jack McCall stood to his feet as the Chamberlain dropped out of warp. On the forward viewscreen five massive Borg cubes fired energy beams at the surface of Parxula Five.
"Are we in range?" Jack asked.
"Thirty Seconds," Hank Evans responded.
"We're receiving a transmission, sir," Cynthia Pederson announced.
Jack rolled his eyes. He had a good idea what this would be. "On audio."
A crackle of static filled the speaker and a moment later was replaced by the most inhuman chorus of voices in the Milky Way Galaxy.
"We are the Borg, lower your shields and surrender your ship…"
Hank Evans looked up from his station. "In range."
"We will add your biological and technological distinctiveness to our own…"
Jack took a deep breath. "Hank, send them our reply, please."
Hank Evans smiled wide. "With pleasure, sir."
"Your culture will adapt to service us. Resistance is futile."
Jack shook his head. "Not today."
The Primary Emitters on the secondary hull of the Chamberlain glowed a bright blue to a near blinding intensity. A moment later, two pillars of fire brighter than any earthly flame exploded forth from the emitters and crashed into the nearest Borg cube shattering metal and bodies into the vacuum of space. The blasts continued until a full third of the Borg vessel had scattered away in a shower of debris. Secondary explosions continued through the rest of the cube even after the energy weapon had ceased.
Amidst cheers on the Bridge of the Chamberlain, Jack McCall allowed himself only a brief smile. He knew they had a lot more to do.
"Hit them again."
Once more the energy smashed into the weakened Borg ship, this time tearing the cube completely asunder. The four remaining cubes stopped their assault on the planet below and slowly turned toward the Chamberlain. Green tractor beams reached out for the starship.
"Warp nine point nine!" Jack McCall ordered. A moment later his ship lurched forward at extreme warp velocity. He turned to Hank Evans.
Hank nodded. "All four Borg vessels are in pursuit. Good work, Jack."
Jack's eyebrows lifted. "That was the easy part. Now we have to make sure they don't make a coordinated counter attack."
Hank smiled. "These shields will hold."
Jack McCall sat in his chair and tried to convince himself that Hank was right.
The U.S.S. Chamberlain sailed out of the Parxula System with four Borg vessels only moments behind. When the fifth of their number was destroyed by the Federation Starship they did not react with fear as normal organic life would. They knew only desire now--- the desire for new technology. What had destroyed one of them would strengthen them all.
The Chamberlain banked across a wide section of space and came about heading back toward its pursuers.
Jack sat in his command chair watching the tactical display on the main viewscreen. He had to retain the initiative in this battle. Too many times in the past Starfleet vessels had attacked the Borg and if that succeeded, kept doing the same thing again and again until the Borg adapted a defense to the tactic. Jack had to adapt his tactics faster than the Borg adapted their defenses. He knew in the end the Borg held the tactical advantage in raw power. He had to out think thousands upon thousands of minds linked together in common purpose.
Jack turned to Hank Evans. "Reduce down to four reactors on Reactive Plasma System and divert power to shields. Attune energy frequency to known Borg shield harmonics. Standby on quantum torpedoes."
Hank nodded in agreement. They didn't need to use their primary weapon to destroy the Borg ships every time. They only had to knock out their shields so that their more conventional weapons could deliver the killing blow.
Jack watched as they neared the approaching Borg. "Fire."
The plasma blasts struck one of the Borg cubes, but only caused the massive ship's shields to flare brightly. A moment later torpedoes screamed from the Chamberlain and smashed into the unprotected outer hull of the alien ship.
"That cube's primary power distribution system is down. They still have life support and weapons, but they're drive system is dead," Hank Evans reported.
Captain Jack McCall allowed himself a full smile at that news. He tried his best to avoid becoming overconfident. There were still three cubes left. "Reduce power to shields and redirect to Reactive Plasma System. Hit the next cube with all we've got."
The Chamberlain sailed past the remaining cubes and began a wide orbit around the Borg vessels. The starship tilted in its flight and again energy unlike anything humans had ever dreamed possible blasted out and struck a Borg ship and cut a deep gash in its hull. Explosions filled the tear in the ship with expanding gases and debris.
The two undamaged cubes pulled away from each other and began to fly parallel to the Starship.
"They're trying to flank us, Jack," Hank almost shouted.
Jack waited. This was the most difficult thing for any battle commander to do, but Jack knew sometimes you had to wait for the opportunities to present themselves. Finally he saw his.
"Full stop," Jack commanded.
The Chamberlain slowed quickly to sublight speed leaving the Borg ships to sail away at high warp.
Hank Evans saw on his tactical display that the Borg ships had already begun to come back around to the Chamberlain.
"Let's take the one on the left, Hank. When it comes in range fire everything we have, but keep our shields up. The other one will hit us," Jack said.
The two Borg vessels approached and lashed out with their tractor beams, but the Chamberlain fired its weapons at the cube on its left. Explosions engulfed the surface of the cube, but a moment later as the debris cleared it was apparent that the cube was intact.
Jack stood to his feet. "They've figured out some sort of countermeasures. I need an analysis fast."
Hank Evans examined and re-examined the sensor data from the last strike on the Borg as did Duncan Zachary at the Science Station. Both men looked for anything to neutralize the Borg defense.
The Bridge shook violently.
"Minor structural damage on decks Twenty-four through Thirty-five," Melissa Vargas said from the Ops Station.
Zachary turned to Jack. "They used only simple debris ejected moments before we fired, Captain. I suggest we fire our torpedoes before our primary to clear the debris field."
Hank Evans nodded. "I agree, Captain."
"Very well, Mr. Zachary," Jack said. "Hank, you heard the man."
The Chamberlain's plasma emitters glowed to life again, but before firing the ship launched ten torpedoes followed two seconds later by the blazing plasma.
Multiple small explosions flared in front of a cube and when the phosphorescent plasma bursts shot at it, the entire front section of the Borg ship exploded outward.
Zachary smiled and looked at Captain McCall who nodded.
Hank took a deep breath. "Sir, cube number two has evidently repaired some of their damage and now has restored drive capability. Cube number three has moved off."
"Sensors indicate it is in the process of repairing its damage as well," Zachary reported.
Jack watched the tactical display. They were at a definite disadvantage. They had to destroy four ships while the enemy had only one ship to contend with. They could always have one or two of their damaged ships pull back and repair themselves while the others kept the Chamberlain tied up. Eventually the Borg would either come up with an effective defense against their weapons or simply continue the battle longer than the Starship could hold out.
He needed something bold, something the Borg would never think of.
Unfortunately Jack McCall would never get the opportunity to use it.
"Captain," Zachary said. "There is a spatial distortion forming at 341 mark 23."
Jack looked at Hank. Probably more Borg vessels. He hoped that some of the colonists had managed to escape during the battle.
"Is it a Borg transwarp conduit?" the Chamberlain's Captain asked.
Zachary frowned as everyone else on the bridge became silent. "I don't think so, sir." His frown deepened. "This isn't possible."
"What is it?" Jack asked.
"It appears to be a wormhole."
The cubes moved away from the Chamberlain drawn by the flame of ever better technology to assimilate. Suddenly ahead of the Borg ships space erupted into a bright sea of twisting energy foaming out of nothingness. Out of that turbulent sea sailed an object that dwarfed the Borg vessels.
The new arrival was more than five times the length of a cube and more than three times in width. Roughly cylindrical, the object bristled with structures along its surface. Its hull had wide gaps where glowing energy blazed so brightly it seemed more a shiny solid than non-material energy.
The four Borg ships continued their movement toward the massive structure.
"What in the hell is that?" Melissa asked.
Everyone on the bridge had their eyes focused on the viewscreen. After several moments Jack moved to stand next to Hank.
"You ever see anything like that?"
Hank shook his head. "Nothing even close."
Cynthia Pederson looked down at her Communications Station and turned to Jack. "Captain, the Borg are signaling the new ship.
Jack smiled and shook his head. "On audio."
"We are the Borg, lower your shields and surrender your ship…"
An alert sounded at Zachary's Science Station causing him to look down at his panel. "Sir, sensors indicate a massive energy buildup in the new vessel."
Jack turned to Negev. "Back us away from here."
"We will add your biological and technological…
A bright glow formed at the front of the gargantuan vessel. A moment later, space and time cleared a path for an eruption of concentrated high density energy that sailed forth and smashed into the nearest Borg cube shattering metal and bodies to dust.
The Bridge of the U.S.S. Chamberlain was completely dark.
"Emergency lights!" Negev shouted.
"The Ops Station is dead," Melissa stated.
"Re-route power through auxiliary," Negev said to Vargas.
"Mr. Zachary, were we hit?" Jack asked hoping his Science Officer was still with them.
Duncan Zachary reached out for his station, but it did not respond. "I can't be sure, Captain, but I think it may have been a power surge that overloaded every system on the ship."
"Hopefully the Borg are in the same situation," Hank said.
A dim glow formed overhead where the emergency light should have been. The Ops Station lit up with barely the intensity of a small candle.
"We're getting minimal power back, sir," Melissa said.
Jack looked at the dead viewscreen. "Any way you can let me see what's going on out there?"
Vargas tried to route power to the viewscreen, but her panel went dark again. "Sorry, sir."
Jack turned to Hank. "I've got to see what's going on."
Hank looked down at his Comm badge. He touched it and the badges worn by everyone else on the bridge chirped to life.
"The Comm badges have gone to their stand alone mode and operate now as independent transmitters."
"How does that help us?" Jack asked.
"Your Ready Room has windows. You can go up there and see what's going on while staying in touch with us here on the Bridge."
Jack couldn't accept the idea of leaving his Bridge during battle, especially with the Borg, but Hank seemed to be suggesting the only option open to him. It didn't help anyone if he remained on the Bridge leaving his ship blind.
"Alright, but the moment the viewscreen is active you let me know and I'll come back down," Jack told Hank.
"Take Vargas with you," Evans suggested.
Melissa stood from her station.
"She can help you coordinate with us," Hank finished.
Jack went to the Bridge door.
Jack and Melissa ran up the stairs to his Ready Room and made their way to the front of the large chamber and looked out the large windows into space.
"My god…" Melissa whispered.
The two of them saw the debris of three Borg ships filling space around the huge vessel that had interrupted the Chamberlain's battle with the cybernetic enemies of the Federation. The last cube was being drawn toward the front end of the large vessel by a strange blue shaft of energy.
The Borg ship stopped moving just short of impacting the larger vessel. A moment later large metal arms at the front of the new arrival closed and dug themselves into the hull of the helpless cube. Explosions erupted from the surface of the Borg vessel as it was held in place.
"I guess we don't have to worry about those Borg ships anymore," Jack said.
"I can't believe I'm seeing this, sir. A Borg cube captured by another ship?"
Jack smiled. "I guess even the Borg can have a bad day."
"Captain," a voice said from Jack's Comm badge.
Jack touched it. "Go ahead."
It was Negev. "Ms. Pederson is picking up another transmission from the Borg."
"Don't they ever give that 'resistance is futile' crap a rest?" Jack asked with a smile. "Pipe it up here."
Screams upon screams poured out of Jack and Melissa's Comm badges. It was definitely the chorus of Borg voices, but making sounds he never expected to hear. It seemed as if he was hearing the moaning and wailing of damned souls in hell. For the first time in their history, the Collective cried out in fear.
The metal clamps holding the Borg ship in place opened and let the cube go free. It floated a short distance away from the large vessel, tumbling end over end. Thirty seconds later a mass of energy formed at the front of the gargantuan ship and struck the cube shattering it to dust.
Jack and Melissa watched as the large vessel turned about and a bright flash of light opened up in its path.
"Another wormhole," Melissa said.
Jack touched his Comm badge, but it didn't react. "McCall to bridge."
He waited, but there was no response.
"When they fired their weapon again it must have sent another power surge through our systems," Melissa surmised.
Jack nodded. "I sure hope we never have to face them in a battle. We wouldn't have a prayer."
The large vessel sank into the new wormhole and a moment later was gone leaving pulverized Borg cubes and the disabled U.S.S. Chamberlain behind.
