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DARK FRONTIER Episodes 109 & 110 Part B

Excerpt(s) from the Hansen logs are narrated in this style.

 

In good mood, Paris and Kim enter the Messhall. They head for the serving counter.

Neelix disappears into the Galley for a moment. Paris: "After nine hours of staring at that debris I was beginning to feel like a drone." Kim: "I could use a shower." Paris: "Do Borg shower?"

Neelix comes up to the counter to serve them. "Neelix! We need a couple of beers." Neelix: "Name your malt." Paris: "Ktarian. Replicate a pint for yourself, because we're going to toast the man of the hour." Neelix: "Oh?" Paris: "It was Harry's idea to beam over a photon torpedo while they were remodulating their shields." Neelix pats Kim's arm in congratulation, and goes to fetch the beer.

Kim: "I didn't think they'd fall for it." Paris: "Ah, but they did, hook, line and sinker." He laughs. "I would've loved to have seen the look on their faces. Boom!"

Kim: "To be honest, I wish the 'boom' had been a bit smaller. We were only trying to disable them." Paris: "They were drones, Harry - mindless automatons. We did them a favour."

Too late Kim notices that Seven has entered and has stopped - she has overheard Paris' comments. Kim, acknowledging her but also to warn Paris: "Seven."

Paris, awkwardly to Seven: "Look, I didn't mean anything by that." Seven walks past them: "Your apology is irrelevant. It is impossible to offend a mindless drone."

Everyone can tell, however, that she is offended. The toast for the man of the hour is decidedly flat as Paris says: "Cheers."

USS Voyager.

In the Astrometrics Lab, Seven moves from working at a console at the side of the room....

....to the main console facing the main viewscreen. Seven: "I was able to recover 62 per cent of the data." Referring to the viewscreen display: "This is an isogrid of Borg tactical movements across 25 sectors."

Janeway: "Are there any dangers along our present course?" Seven: "There are three cubes approximately nine light years away, travelling on a trajectory parallel to our own. They do not pose a threat."

Janeway: "What about that vessel?" Seven: "It's a scout ship, eight light years away travelling at warp 2. The ship is heavily damaged." Tuvok: "Was it attacked?" Seven: "No, an ion storm. The sphere is presently regenerating. That explains why it is travelling at low warp." Janeway: "Limping home." Seven: "In a manner of speaking."

Janeway, looking at the viewscreen from close to: "I want a detailed schematic of this vessel, down to the power distribution nodes. I think we've just struck gold."

A schematic of the Borg sphere is displayed on the monitor of the Briefing Room at a meeting of the senior staff. Janeway: "So what we have here in two simple words is Fort Knox." Tuvok: "Captain?" Janeway: "Tom, translate?"

Paris: "Fort Knox - the largest repository of gold bullion in Earth's history, over fifty metric tonnes, worth over nine trillion U.S. dollars." Janeway: "Keep going." Paris: "Well, er, when the New World Economy took shape in the late 22nd century and money went the way of the dinosaur, Fort Knox was turned into a museum."

Janeway: "And no one ever managed to break into that facility, right?" Paris: "Well, a couple of Ferengi tried about ten years ago, but other than that, it's considered impenetrable."

Chakotay: "Are you planning a heist?" Janeway: "As a matter of fact. Except we're not chasing gold. We're going to steal a transwarp coil. Think it might come in handy?"

Torres: "If I could equip our engines with even one coil we could shave about twenty years off this trip." Tuvok: "Do you believe the Borg sphere is damaged enough for us to penetrate its defences?"

Janeway: "Long enough to take what we want and get out in one piece. But we'd have to plan this operation down to the millisecond. There'd be no margin for error. As I see it, we plan an intercept course that won't attract their attention, then create a diversion to keep them occupied, so we can send in an away team to obtain the technology."
Chakotay: "I'd like to see the data on that sphere. We might be able to re-create parts of it on the holodeck, run a few tactical simulations."
Janeway: "It's all yours."
Torres: "We need to mask our warp signature. I've got a few Maquis tricks up my sleeve. They're not exactly Starfleet-approved, but...."
Janeway: "This is no time for protocol. Get started. The sphere is three days away by maximum warp. Set a course. Chakotay, I want an outline for our heist by tomorrow morning."

We've proven ourselves against the Borg once before, twice before, but we're always the ones under attack. I think it's time to do a little assimilating of our own, mmm? Dismissed."

Captain's Ready Room. Janeway: "I was hoping you'd be a little more vocal. Any thoughts?"

Seven: "Your plan is ambitious. There are many variables, but it can succeed."

Janeway: "I'd like to narrow that list of variables. I was hoping your parents might provide us with a few insights. I've been looking over the records we found on the USS Raven. Your parents kept extensive field notes, detailed journals. There are over nine thousand log entries alone."

Seven: "The information is irrelevant."
Janeway: "On the contrary, Seven. They spent their careers studying the Borg. They tracked a cube at close range for what, two years?"
Seven: "Three."
Janeway: "Well, I'd say that made them experts. I want you to study their research. Look for any data that might give us a tactical edge."
Seven: "My parents were assimilated. Obviously their tactics were flawed."
Janeway: "Look, these records have been collecting dust in our database for over a year. You say they're irrelevant and I say you've been avoiding them. You're the best person for the job, but I'll assign it to Chakotay if I-"
Seven: "No. The information belongs to me. I will read it."
She takes the PADD and leaves.

USS Voyager, travelling at warp speed toward the Borg sphere.

Neelix enters Cargobay 2. He is carrying a large box. Seven: "You're late."

Neelix: "Sorry. It took longer than I expected to download these records. This is only the first batch. Your parents sure had a lot to say. I organised the information by category - field notes, personal logs, bio-kinetic analyses. I don't mean to pry, but is it true your parents were studying the Borg?" Seven: "Yes. The Hansens were exobiologists."

Neelix: "Fascinating. They must have been very courageous." Seven: "They were misguided." Neelix: "A faded holo-image, that's all I've got left of my family, a picture of my sister, except of course what I keep in here. What I wouldn't give for a treasure trove like this."

His words start to make Seven see her parents' logs in a new light - as links to her human past.

Neelix: "Well, I'd better get started on the rest of those files."
He leaves.

Seven removes a large PADD and starts reading.

Magnus Hansen, Seven's father, making a log entry: "Field notes, USS Raven, stardate 32611.4: It's about time. The Federation Council on Exobiology has given us final approval. Starfleet's still concerned about security issues but they've agreed not to stand in our way. We've said our goodbyes, and we're ready to start chasing our theories about the Borg."

In her room, Annika is playing with a Borg cube, "flying" it. Annika: "Zooooom, zooooom!"

Magnus enters. "Ah, ah, ah, put down the cube, Muffin. It's not a toy."
Annika: "I won't crash it."
He takes it from her and puts it down.
Magnus: "Come here, Daddy wants to talk to you."

They sit down together. "Now, remember when I said that you, me and Mommy were going on a very long voyage?" Annika: "Uh huh." Magnus: "Well, we're leaving tomorrow and we won't see Earth for quite a while."

Annika: "Are we going to see the Borg?"
Magnus: "If we're lucky."
Annika: "Do the Borg have kids too?"
Magnus: "Nobody knows. We'll be the first humans to study them up close."
Annika: "What do they look like?"
Magnus: "We're not sure exactly, but we think they might look a lot like us, but with technology inside their bodies."
Annika, carefully pronouncing the term she has recently learned: "Cy-ber-netic?"
Magnus: "Mmm-hmm."
Annika: "Are they friendly?"
Magnus: "Well, they're different. They don't talk like us, or even think like us, but we're hoping to make friends one day."
Annika: "I hope so, too, Daddy."