MEDICAL LOGS

SCORPION, Part 1
Season 3 : Episode 68

 

DOCTOR'S LOG:

The Doctor has analysed every square millimetre of the Borg drone's corpse the crew recovered three months earlier (see entry for  [#59 Unity]) and is closer to understanding how their assimilation technology works. Borg injection tubules initiate the Borg assimilation process. Once inserted inside the skin, they release a series of nanoprobes into the bloodstream. The tubules are capable of penetrating any known alloy or energy field. The first substance to be infiltrated by the nanoprobes is the victim's blood. Assimilation is almost instantaneous as they take over the blood cell functions, like a virus.

The Doctor's research is invaluable for when he has to treat Kim (see MEDICAL REPORT). Information downloaded from the damaged Borg cube reveals that the aliens (one of whom attacked Kim) are designated Species 8472 by the Borg. Kes, in Sickbay due to her medical duties, has patchy telepathic contact with the Species 8472, and senses that they are planning an invasion to purge the galaxy, threatening: "The weak will perish." Janeway faces a terrible choice: retreat into the Delta Quadrant and forget about getting home, or confront the Borg and risk assimilation. Eventually she comes up with a third alternative. She will offer the Borg a way to defeat Species 8472, in the form of the Doctor's nanoprobe research, in exchange for safe passage through Borg space. The information is kept within the Doctor's database to protect it because in the event the Borg are about to capture it the Doctor's program could simply be erased; the Borg gain knowledge through assimilation, and what they cannot assimilate they cannot understand. Janeway is beamed aboard one of a number of Borg cubes, where she presents her proposal. Suddenly, Species 8472's bioships appear en masse and attack the Borg cubes, whereupon Voyager, aboard which the valuable data is known to exist, is whisked away at high speed by the Borg cube with Voyager locked in the grip of its Borg tractor pulse.

MEDICAL REPORT:

While investigating a Borg cube crippled by an unknown but powerful alien force, Kim is attacked by an unrecognised fiercesome lifeform, and he is beamed to Sickbay screaming in agony. His body is infested with alien cells which entered his body in the attack. What begins with a few stray cells contaminating the chest wound rapidly infuses every system in his body. The alien cells consume his body from the inside out. Every treatment and sedative the Doctor tries is rejected in seconds. The Doctor's analysis reveals that each alien cell contains more than a hundred times the DNA of a human cell, making it the most densely coded lifeform the Doctor has ever seen - they have an extraordinary immune response, anything that penetrates the cell membrane, whether chemical, biological, or technological, is instantly destroyed, which explains why the Borg cannot assimilate them. The Doctor unleashes an army of modified Borg nanoprobes into Kim's bloodstream which are designed to target and eradicate the infection. He successfully dissects a nanoprobe and manages to access its recoding mechanism to reprogram the probe to emit the same electromechanical signatures as the alien cells, so the probe can do its work without being detected. The procedure that the Doctor devises should negate the damage done to Kim.

Kim, before treatment. The Doctor shows Janeway how he plans to treat Kim. See also DOCTOR'S QUOTE below.

DOCTOR'S QUOTE:

To Janeway, about Species 8472's attack on Kim: "Resistance in this case is far from futile. Nevertheless, I believe Borg technology holds the key to saving Mr Kim."