Assimilation
Sisko looked up from returning his baseball to its place of honor on his
desk. He had finally taken DS9 back from the Jem'Hadar and Cardassians, and
hoped that for a good long time, no one would be sending any ships larger
than Lethian transports his way. His commbadge beeped and Sisko tapped it.
"Sisko here," he said into thin air.
"Benjamin," came Dax's voice, "there's a problem. The wormhole... well,
come see for yourself. I think we're in trouble."
Sisko casually strolled out of his office, not too concerned after
surviving the Jem'Hadar attack. He paused when he saw what was on the Ops
screen. He nearly yelled when it finally registered in his mind. Instead,
he whispered coldly, "Where's Major Kira? We have to get the *Defiant*
ready for this."
Miles O'Brien pulled out from under a console, wiping his hands off on a
dirty rag. "She's already down at the *Defiant*, prepping it for departure.
She plans on taking it in and trying to blow that," and he nodded to the
screen, "into space dust."
Sisko cursed. "Give the order to evacuate the station, Chief. We want to
avoid as many casualties as possible."
Dax was ahead of them all. "Already done, Benjamin. I gave the order the
second that the Borg cube came through the wormhole. Jake was in the first
transport back to Earth. I've also already raised shields and readied
weapons," she finished when she saw Sisko start to give the command.
The comm crackled to life and everyone heard Kira curse over it. "The
Borg, they're getting a lock! Their scanners are penetrating the cloak."
She yelled to someone on the *Defiant*, "Evasive maneuvers, pattern Sisko
Gamma!"
Dax looked up from her control board. "The *Defiant* has been caught in a
tractor beam. The Borg are beaming the crew into stasis chambers on the
cube. They'll be assimilated as soon as the Borg take DS9, I'm guessing."
Sisko barely heard her. "FIRE PHOTON TORPEDOES!" he yelled, maddened
beyond belief. Then in a quieter voice, he said, "Have them automatically
change power modulation every three seconds."
The torpedoes flew through the void, and Sisko swore he could hear them
explode against the cube. Then phasers lanced out from the weapons sails,
slicing large gashes into the cube's armor before the Borg adapted. A
single, pulsing yellow beam shot out from one of the cube's corners and
struck the station's shields, bringing them down immediately. There was one
tense moment before Sisko got on a station-wide comm-channel.
Odo tossed Quark into the last transport. Rom, Nog, and Leita were already
aboard, along with Quark's employees. "It's for your own good," he said
over the sniveling Ferengi's cries. "The Borg are about to overrun the
station." Odo sealed the airlock and released the docking clamps. The ship
shot into space, towards Feranginar. Odo looked up when he heard Sisko's
voice.
"Attention, all personnel. This is Captain Benjamin Sisko. Evacuate the
station immediately. Evacuate immediately. If you have no means to get off
the station, arm yourselves. We are about to be boarded by the Borg. Sisko
out."
Sisko held onto a phaser rifle. His finger hovered over the trigger. He
nearly fired as he heard a transporter whine. Suddenly, right ahead of
them, were dozens of Borg. Everyone fired, but as each shot dropped one
Borg, two more took its place. Finally, the Borg adapted to all phaser
modulations. They charged forward, and one Borg injected Sisko with
nano-probes. Sisko fell to the floor, writhing in agony as he heard the
call of the Collective in his mind. Slowly, his body sprouted Borg neural
attachments that ate away at his flesh and blood. He staggered to his feet,
no longer Benjamin Sisko, but the Borg Speaker Trilk. He slowly advanced on
Dax, controlled by the Borg, except for one small fragment of his mind that
had not been conquered. His mind screamed orders to his body not to do
that, even as he injected Dax with nano-probes in her neck then into her
symbiont pouch. Jadzia's last free thoughts were of Worf, and how her
assimilation might affect him.
Worf drove his dagger into the Borg's laser scanner, effectively blinding
it. The Borg flailed wildly, knocking Worf into one of the stools in
Quark's Bar. Another advanced on the Klingon and injected him with
nano-probes. Worf's last free thoughts were of Jadzia, and how his
assimilation might affect her.
Odo stood his ground, phasering Borg out of existence until he had no
charge left in his phaser. Then he ran. Ran for all he was worth, and
tossed a small thermite charge into the group of Borg. The charge exploded
in a deafening roar, sending Borg components across the corridor. He rammed
right into a Borg that had been coming for him from another direction. Odo
raised an arm to fend off the Borg, and was injected with nano-probes. Odo
fell to the ground, assimilated, willing to carry out any orders from the
Borg.
The cube hovered above the captured station. They had no orders to
assimilate the station into the efficient cube form, odd. They were told to
leave the thing intact. Well, orders were orders. And at least this blight
was no longer called Deep Space Nine, as the pitiful unassimilated
Federation members called it. It was now named Borg Outpost 17 Alpha A.
The End
This Story Thanks To : Ken Raymond
