Star Trek by Christie Golden Read Free Book Online

like the Borg,” said Gold, frowning. His bushy black eyebrows stuck out over his eyes like alarmed caterpillars. “She would regenerate. As long as the ship had power, she could live.”
    Lense nodded confirmation. “And yet, she died and the ship continued on. There was no trace of injury or illness, so there must have been some kind of malfunction that was localized and didn’t spread to the ship.”
    â€œSo,” continued Gold. “Easier maintenance might be a reason. What else?”
    â€œA single-person vessel could travel places that a morestandard Borg ship couldn’t,” said Abromowitz, clearly warming to the subject. “It could scout out races for assimilation, then alert the more aggressive cube.”
    Bart felt cold. All this made terrible sense.
    â€œThere’s your explanation as to why someone would attack Intar,” said Corsi. “The Borg are hardly tourists. You know their mantra. ‘We are the Borg. Resistance is futile. Prepare to be—’”
    â€œStop it,” said Bart. He hadn’t intended to speak, but the words came out of his mouth. Everyone turned to stare at him. He felt his face grow hot.
    â€œFaulwell is right, Corsi,” said Gold gently to his chief of security. “This isn’t a laughing matter. Very well. I’d say that, while we can’t be absolutely certain that this is the latest version of the new, improved Borg, it’s a possibility. I’ll alert Starfleet Command, see what they want us to do about it. Gomez, I remember right before we beamed you out, you said something like, ‘There’s nothing there.’ What did you mean by that?”
    â€œThere were no control panels,” said Gomez.
    â€œThat’s right,” said Bart. “No buttons, no lights, nothing to indicate how the pilot controlled the ship. I guess we know now. There’s no need for control panels when you can maneuver a vessel with your thoughts.”
    Gomez frowned and her brow furrowed as she tried to recall exactly what there
had
been. “At least,” she amended, “no control panels as we understand them. Now that I think of it, there might have been some other ports wherethe pilot could have linked, other than the chair.” She looked a little embarrassed. “We were so distracted by the pilot, and then we were transported out. We didn’t have time to conduct a more thorough investigation. I’m sorry, sir.”
    Gold waved off her apology.
    â€œThat’s why I couldn’t locate where the tactical and propulsion systems were,” said Corsi. “With most ships, there are separate sections where the various pieces of equipment are installed. Here, it’s all spread throughout the ship, controlled by the pilot’s mind.”
    â€œHeavens above,” said Gold, with feeling. He rubbed at his eyes with his hand. “No chance of learning anything without a whole Starfleet team of Borg experts swarming over that ship, then. La Forge and Faulwell, you two are now the indispensable crewmen. So far the information on that tricorder is the only information we’ve got. Translate whatever is on there. I want concrete data, not theories, when some admiral starts trying to pull rank and questions our actions and conclusions. Understand?”
    â€œYes, sir,” said both Bart and Geordi at once.

    â€œYou’re pretty quiet,” La Forge observed as he and Bart stood in the turbolift.
    Bart shrugged. For some strange reason, all he could think about was the unfinished letter to Anthony Mark sitting in his quarters. If this thing was indeed a Borg ship, as was looking more and more likely, who knew whatwould happen? He wondered if he’d even have a chance to finish the note, let alone see Anthony Mark again.
    â€œFinding a completely new type of Borg threat isn’t something that happens every day. Not even in this job,” Bart added, in a weak