Three of Ten – Five: Memory
Originally published on Ready Up on 7th July 2011.
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It’s been six weeks since the Khitomer crisis.
Naibe and I were retrieved by the Shergold and taken back to Starfleet headquarters in San Francisco for debriefing. The Borg were held off and eventually retreated from the Vega system, albeit at the cost of several hundred Starfleet personnel and starships, the Kicking Horse included. Despite this heavy loss, however, around 1,000 colonists were saved due to the efforts of both my colleagues and myself. The little girl was rescued and reunited with her parents. Salvage missions are currently in operation, with repairs being made to damaged vessels and technology taken from the Borg Cubes for study at the Vulcan Science Academy.
As promised, Captain Tonn sent a recommendation to Starfleet concerning my actions. The commendation was reviewed by a board of admirals who, after much deliberation over my ‘reckless behaviour’ and ‘wanton destruction of a starship’, ultimately deemed my actions as ‘exemplary performance in safeguarding the ideals of the Federation’ and promoted me to Captain as reward for my command decisions considering the situation. I was assigned my own ship, the U.S.S. Selene, and am awaiting my first briefing from Starfleet.
Three of Ten – Four: Vega
Originally published on Ready Up on 29th June 2011.
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“Emergency transport complete, sir.”
We materialised on the bridge of another starship. We spun round to look through the viewscreen just in time to see the Kicking Horse plough into the side of the Borg cube, smashing into its hull like a wrecking ball, the resulting explosion tearing it into a million tiny pieces. The shields pulsed as debris from the wreckage bounced off our hull.
“Interesting manoeuvre,” a voice boomed. We turned to face a Klingon adorned in command uniform. The scars on his face and ridges suggested that he had had a long, violent and honourable history. Willis flinched when he first laid eyes upon him, taking a few moments to adjust to what he was seeing. While the Klingon Empire and United Federation of Planets were at war over the former’s new aggressive, expansionist regime, some Klingons remained loyal to the latter, finding greater honour in remaining in Starfleet. It was reassuring to see such a commanding presence on a Federation starship.
“I’m Captain Tonn and you’re aboard the U.S.S. Shergold.”
Three of Ten – Three: Kicking Horse
Originally published on Ready Up on 19th June 2011.
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“Naibe, Chief Medical Officer of the Khitomer. The Emergency Medical Hologram has everything under control in sickbay, so I’ve been assigned to assist you on the Kicking Horse.”
We’d been ordered by Commander Davis to stage a rescue mission and were gearing up in the transporter room. The Trill checked her equipment as we readied to transport over to my ship. At first sight, she was not what you’d expect of a senior officer: her short, brunette hair fell over one side of a soft, inviting face and full lips, her relative youth and beauty belying the years of medical experience she had accumulated. I checked my phaser rifle as she holstered her pistol in her belt, where I noticed that her spots went all the way down, past her skirt and into her high leather boots…
“Let’s go,” she said, snapping me back to reality. I agreed and nodded at Sherman.
“Engage.”
Three of Ten – Two: Khitomer
Originally published on Ready Up on 10th June 2011.
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“This is the U.S.S. Khitomer. We are in need of urgent help: we are being boarded by the Borg. I repeat, we are being boarded by the Borg. We require immediate assistance!”
Captain Qat’Anmek’s eyes fell on the smoking vessel floundering among the fleet of opposing cubes floating in front of us on the viewscreen. What were the Borg doing back in this quadrant? Was this another attempt to assimilate the Federation after the massacre in the Wolf 359 system over three decades ago? Why were they back so soon? Was their desire to integrate humanity into their collective that strong? Had they amassed new technologies that will make achieving such a goal easier this time around?
Three of Ten – One
Originally posted on Ready Up on 28th May 2011.
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My designation is Three of Ten.
I no longer know who I am anymore.
I am Borg. At least, I was Borg. I was recovered by the U.S.S. Mariposa in the Errikang system 16 years ago, around the same time as the destruction of Starfleet’s flagship – the U.S.S. Enterprise-E, I believe. I spent several months aboard the Mariposa, slowly cutting my link with the Borg Collective and returning me to my original state, or helping me ‘rediscover my humanity’ as the crew were insistent on calling the process. I became more and more human with each passing day, but I never reached full ‘recovery’: sensory output modules are still a part of me, implants remain under my skin and nanobots remain coursing through my bloodstream. I may no longer be Borg, but I will also never be completely human.
