Rendezvous with Destiny

Posted on Tue Feb 14th, 2017 @ 9:04pm by Brigadier General Christopher Mitchell & Commander Andrew Knight & Lady Catherine Waddington

Mission: Another Day in Paradise
Location: USS Zumwalt and USS Hopper
Timeline: Two Hours following 'What the Hell is The Sanctuary Protocol'

ON:

Christopher sat back in the command chair on the bridge the Zumwalt, fatigue washing over him in waves. Ever since they had activated the second phase of the Sanctuary Protocol, the ships had immediately locked in a course for an asteroid field. After deciding that they weren't being pursued, Christopher had retasked a small element of fighters to follow along and had ordered a rotation that allowed everyone to begin to rest with the exception of himself. In truth, they were the only fighters left and those pilots were probably more tired than he was at this point- they hadn't left their cockpits since the attack and were probably running on fumes. Chris had begun to nod off when he was awakened by the voice of the helmsman a split second before his head hit the edge of the command console.

"Colonel, we're nearing our destination. It appears to be an asteroid field. Our speed is being reduced to one quarter impulse automatically. Attitude control is still locked out. ETA is approximately 15 minutes " said the young man, a Petty Officer Third Class in a gold turtleneck who probably didn't belong at the helm station.

Christopher simply nodded. He wasn't capable of doing much else at this point. "Something tells me that this is about to get bumpy." he said feebly as he sat back in the chair. Turning, he noticed that there was a familiar emerald green collar at the Operations station. "Ops, open a fleetwide channel. Priority One."

At the Operations console, the Marine's cold hard focused stare was broken only by the sound of her Commanding Officer giving orders. Orders which she followed through to the letter. Her deep scratchy voice, shrill and shrieking was a far cry from being a siren's song, more like the demonic voice that cuts sharply through the dead of a silent night. "As you order, Sirl" she said before turning about and performing the necessary duties. "Fleet-wide channel open, Sir. Priority One" she added.

"Attention all personnel, this is Colonel Mitchell. As many of you have noticed, our navigation and tactical systems have been locked by what I can only describe as the Sanctuary Protocol, which is designed to take us to an emergency staging area. As of now, I am ordering all personnel to Code Blue stations. Stand by for further orders. Mitchell out. "

Gunnery Sergeant Lucinda Vasquez waited for the Colonel to finish before she terminated the operation. "Chanel closed, Colonel" she added gruffly. The Marine turned to return to her daily work at the Operations station, always standing by for a moments notice...for any quick orders that may be sent her way. She lived by the motto 'always faithful,' however, she also added 'and always ready' to it as a personal assertion of her capability.

Drew was startled awake when the announcement was made. He checked his watch and saw that he'd only been asleep for a little over an hour and a half. He groaned loudly and swung out from his bunk and stumbled over to the replicator where he first ordered a strong cup of coffee, followed by a fresh uniform. He sipped his coffee as he stepped into the fresher. Five minutes later he stepped out of the fresher looking human again and feeling about half as good as he looked. He finished off his coffee, placing the mug in the replicator and depressed the recycle button. He took a deep breath and headed for the bridge. The cabin door across from his opened at the same time his did and he saw Lady Catherine emerge. "Ambassador." He gestured down the corridor to the bridge. "After you."

"Thank you. Do wish you would call me Catherine. It would make working together so much easier." she said softly. "Did you figure out if I could be of assistance?" she asked

Drew gave Catherine a tired smile. "Sorry, Catherine. I've just been calling folks sir, ma'am or using formal titles since before my Academy days. My high school was the Johnathan Archer Prep Academy in San Francisco." He gestured down the corridor towards the bridge. "As for your question. I think we're both about to find out. If you'd accompany me to the bridge?"

"You look tired." she smiled kindly. "I will accompany you."

Drew nodded. "Only got about 90 minutes of sleep." He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "That a shower and a strong cup of coffee and I am ready to go for another 24 hours though."

"That s not good for you." She stated as she reached into the small pouch on Bilbo's collar. "This will help you rest. It is simply Lavender, Camomile and Lemon Balm. A little on your pillow will ensure you rest," she said handing him the small vial.

Drew took the vial and tucked it into a waist pocket on his tunic. "Thank you Amb...Catherine. I'll use it next time I see a bed and pillow." The pair had arrived at the door to the bridge. The doors did not automatically slide open at their approach. Drew keyed in a access code that opened the door. He gestured. "Ladies first."

"Thank you." She smiled as she stepped inside and looked at all the faces around them

Drew followed her in, then took the lead as he stepped over to Christopher in the Captain's Chair. "Sir, allow me to introduce Ambassador Waddington of the Federation Diplomatic Service." He looked at Catherine. "Ambassador, this is Colonel Mitchell, the Commanding Officer."

"Colonel. It is nice to meet you." Catherine smiled and held her hand out.

Christopher extended his own hand. "Likewise, Ambassador. Welcome aboard." he said quickly.

She looked to Andrew for a moment. "Is there a list of survivors anywhere?" She asked.

Drew nodded and stepped over to the tactical one station and relieved the Chief Fire Control Technician currently sitting there. He sat down and brought up the library computer file with the survivors list. "Is there a particular name you're looking for?"

"Ferguson Price." She said softly. "He's family." she added. "He's been diagnosed with an irregular heartbeat. He does not like me fussing but I know it could be serious." She said placing her hand on Bilbo

Drew keyed in Ferguson's name. A moment later it appeared on his monitor. "Mister Price is currently aboard the USS Hopper." He paused as he read on. "He was transported from an escape pod during the withdrawal from Star Base 900."

"Thank heavens for that. We got split up in the evacuation. I would be quite lost without him." She smiled relieved

=====Zumwalt Sickbay=====

The Marine Commanding Officer, was in the med bay standing guard over the Borg drone as it was being analyzed by Chief Kawalsky. Ja'xon never issued commands or orders that he wouldn't fulfill himself, so he felt it necessary to contribute his body to the rotation of Marines watching over Three of Eight.

The drone was cooperating for the moment. At some point, Three of Eight had decided that surviving will be his primary objective from this moment onward. Common sense dictates, that in order to survive he must cooperate. So he sat there quietly as he we examined and chose not to speak unless the questions that were asked of him were worth answering.

"What can you tell me about this thing?" Ja'xon asked the engineering officer.

Kawalsky stepped back from Three of Eight and sort of shrugged, "To be frank, sir, this is thing is beyond me." He paused for a moment, "I can tell you that this thing had significant damage to its torso, here." He pointed at the spot, "But its in a state of repair even as we speak. Compared to when I was looking at this thing in the cargo bay, I'd guess that all damage will be repaired within the next couple hours."

"That is pretty incredible." Ja'xon said, "So it didn't disintegrate because it was able to repair itself?"

"Seems that way." Kawalsky replied.

"Any idea why it has been disconnected from the Borg collective?" Ja'xon asked another question. "Not a one." Came the reply.

Three of Eight broke his long silence, "Seeking that answer as well. Can confirm that all major systems seem to operating at near optimal capacity now." The drone only made small robotic movements as it spoke. The drone was very much more machine than human.

"Capability to run a self diagnostic has been restored. Running it now." His eyes closed for a moment and stayed frozen in place, "Complete. Appears that the disintegration function was manually shut off." His head tilted to the right slightly, "Confusing."

Ja'xon eyed the drone carefully, he wasn't sure what to make of it. Though he knew that he didn't trust it. "Confusing indeed." He said. "Unless you have anything else to do chief, I think we can wrap it up here."

"Sounds good to me. Though, we should keep an eye out for someone with experience with Borg tech who can take a look at him too." Kawalsky said.

Ja'xon nodded, "Great suggestion. Let me know if you come across anyone and we can set up another time to inspect the drone. For now, I am going to report to the Colonal and Lieutenant Knight."

Two other Marines showed up at that moment to replace Ja'xon and the other Marine on duty. He pulled all three of them together, "From now on I want four bodies in this sick bay at all times. You can rotate shifts in here if you like, but always have at least two who's only purpose in life during that time, is to watch that Borg." Ja'xon knew that his men were tired, and doubling the shift wasn't going to be a popular decision, but it is necessary.

All three Marines gave the, "Yes, sir" confirmations and then both Ja'xon and Kawalsky left sickbay in the care of the three, soon to be four, armed Marine guards.


===== USS Hopper =====

Cara had been dozing on the small sofa in the office when the Fleetwide communique came through. She rubbed her eyes and got up, moving to the doorway between the office and the Bridge.

Bran finished up another patrol and entered the bridge. He nodded to King at the tactical station then waved off that he’d be taking over the station. Bending, he scooped up Meetok and placed the puppy in the harness still strapped to Bran’s chest. That the puppy didn’t protest only indicated how tired he was after they’d made a round of the decks.

“How’s the ship?” Hannah asked, coming up to Bran.

“Still quiet. Nothing since the last uprising over losing their personal effects.” It wasn’t pretty when the eleven hundred or so souls aboard the ship realized that most of them lost their personal effects – all their clothing, gear, mementos and personal things they’d gathered over their lifetimes and brought to their duty stations on the starbase. Or ships. Or wherever it was they were when the Borg attacked.

But that was quickly quelled and people realized the gravity of their situation. Not to mention the lack of room on the Hopper for it anyway. Fortunately, Bran was not the only one to have a pet survive the disaster, though he’d met many who weren’t even certain if their pet was dead or alive at this point.

“Hopefully we’ll get information soon, that should help. Though most of them are Starfleet, they will eventually remember that.”

Bran was about to answer when the comm line opened and they heard the gruff voice of someone identifying himself as a colonel came across the system.

“What fresh hell is this?” Hannah asked as the ship lights dimmed and then blued to indicate ship status.

“Well, you remember the recruitment posters at the enlistment office, right?” Bran said, “Never a dull day!”

“I went to the Academy. There were plenty of dull days in my philosophy term,” Hannah said, grinning at the jab he gave the large, burly security officer. Still, he moved back to his seat while Bran took up position on the bridge. The fierceness of the Trill’s stance and scowl was completely abated by the small, gray and white furry face poking out of his chest.

Since no one had noticed Cara standing in the doorway she figured Hannah had everything under control and she wasn't needed up here, so she, quietly, retreated and used the door of the Captain's Ready room that led to the back corridor then she headed for Sickbay where she knew she belonged.

=====Hopper Sickbay=====

Cara walked through the doors and was met with utter chaos. There was no order. Nurses and medics were rushing around...some repeating steps because...as one of her instructors had told her early in her internship...if you don't use your head you use your feet. There were patients leaning against walls and sitting on the floor against a wall holding towel wrapped limbs and bleeding heads that hadn't been seen yet. "Oh hell no," Cara muttered under her breath. She placed her fingers to her tongue and let out a shrill whistle to get everyone's attention. "OK, people. Listen up," she called out.

As everyone turned to look at Cara the EMH came out of a cubicle and walked towards the doctor. "State the nature....," it started to say.

Cara held her hand up in the hologram's face. "Besides this," she nodded toward the EMH. "Is anyone in charge?" When everyone just seemed to look around at each other she looked at the Hologram and said, "go back to your patient," and hoped that it knew what it was doing. "In that case....I am Dr. Nichols and this is what we're going to do." Within minutes she had someone conducting an organized triage and the patients that had not been seen yet were finally getting needed care. She also had organized the treatment area and once the volunteers Taggert had recruited arrived, things in Sickbay began to settle down and run like a well oiled top. Luckily none of the injuries were critical and no one needed surgery or to be isolated so treated patients were released and Sickbay began to empty.

Across the room a man's voice called out, "Hello? Where am I?" He tried to sit up, but quickly decided against it. He wore a red uniform with the rank of Lieutenant Commander on his collar. Blood was dried in his reddish blonde hair from a wound that had been treated and covered with a bandage.

Cara looked over to the cubicle where the man's voice was coming from. Seeing that no one else seemed to hear him, she went over to the side of the biobed and took the man's hand in one of hers and placed her other hand on his shoulder. "You're in Sickbay," she said, softly, looking at the biobed's monitors. "I need you to relax. Can you tell me your name?" she asked.

"Ragnas Gunnbjorn." He replied, "What ship are we on?"

"You're on the Hopper, Ragnas. I'm Dr. Nichols," Cara said with a smile. "Let me have a look at your wound," she said as she, gently, removed the bandage.

"Do you have any idea what happened to the ship I was on? It was a small scientific vessel. We were under fire by the Borg and I must have been knocked out right after our shields went down. I have no idea how I got here." Ragnas stopped as he realized he was beginning to ramble, "Sorry. I am sure you don't know much."

Cara needed a dermal regenerator but there wasn't a utility tray set up in the cubicle. This would be unacceptable in my ER, she thought to herself as she rumaged through a couple of drawers. Finding the instrument she needed, she walked back over to the bedside and looked at the triage tag to see if there was any information about how her patient ended up here. "It says here, that you were rescued from an escape pod," Cara said. "We were able to grab several pods that were activated once the evacuation order was given," she explained as she used the dermal regenerator to close the wound on his head. "Do you know what day it is?" she asked.

"No, I honestly have no idea." Which alarmed him, he didn't know the day or the time. Nobody around him looked familiar. "Guess that isn't a good sign is it, doc?" he let out a small laugh. Ragnas was always the type to try and make light of a situation, though this one was a challenge to do so.

"It's ok. Under the circumstances I highly doubt anyone would know the day and time other than it is the day they woke up and their lives had dramatically changed," Cara said with a reassuring smile. "Follow my finger with just your eyes," she said, holding her finger up in front of his face then slowly moving it up and down then side to side. "So you were on a science ship?" she asked.

"Yeah, I was our First Officer. We were sent to relieve 900's science team and take over science operations for the Delta Quadrant." Ragnas said as he was instructed and followed her finger. "Though, seeing as how we are not in the Starbase's med bay and are swamped with wounded, I guess things didn't end well for Starbase 900."

Cara sat the head of Ragnas's bed up and said, "no. The Borg destroyed it. The Hopper and the Zumwalt are filled beyond capacity with evacuees and we took on the crew of a ship who was in the area at the time of the attack. It was also destroyed." She used an alcohol swab to clean the blood off of the commander's face. "When they closed the doors of the Hopper, I was the ranking officer so I got thrown into the position of CO. A position I am far from comfortable with," she said. "The Captain of the Arctic...the ship we rescued the crew from before she was destroyed...has been acting as XO. Colonel Mitchell is in command of the Zumwalt," she told him as she tossed the alcohol wipes into the trash recepticle.

The news was hard to fully digest, though Ragnas managed it. "Horrible. Unbelievable really." he said, "Put me to work doc. Clear me for duty and assign me a post." He finished confidently, getting a surge of energy at the understanding of the current situation.

"Any signs of dizziness and you promise you will come right back?" Cara asked.

"You have my word." He promised. "Now what would you like for me do to help around here?"

Ashley emerged from the medical supplies room with a load of supplies on a cart she was wheeling out. She let go of the cart and ran over to Cara when she saw her, throwing her arms around her mom's boss and good friend. "Oh thank God."

Cara wrapped her arms around the girl and was flooded with emotion. "Ashley," she whispered in the girl's hair. She held her tightly for several seconds then took a deep breath and let go. Taking Ashley by the hand she looked around for a private spot and, when she located a corner not inhabited by patients or staff, she led the girl over to it. She turned and placed her hands on Ashley's shoulders. Looking into the girl's eyes she said, softly, "Ashley....I need you to be strong right now." She hesitated as she swallowed the lump forming in her throat. She had delivered this kind of news many times in her career but never to someone she knew. "Sweetie," she finally said. "Your mom...she didn't make it out."

Ashley nodded with a profound look of sadness on her face. "I know Doctor Nichols. They'd have come found me or paged me over the shipwide by now."

Cara pulled Ashley into her arms. "I am so sorry, baby," she whispered into Ashley's hair, not knowing what else to say.

Ashley buried her head into Cara's shoulder for a moment, but pulled away a few moments later to wipe fresh tears from her eyes. She swallowed hard and took a deep breath. "What about my Uncle Drew? Lieutenant Knight. Is there any word on him?"

Cara took Ashley's face in her hands and used her thumbs to wipe the tears from the girl's cheeks. She admired Ashley's bravery. Most girls her age would be basket cases right now. She smiled at her friend's daughter and said, "come on. Let's go find out together," and took Ashley's hand. "Commander>" she said, looking over her shoulder at Ragnas, "Follow me." Leading them out of Sickbay she headed for the Bridge. The corridors were jammed with people...some just standing around with no place to go. The Hopper was designed to house 140...not 1100.

"Yes, mam." Ragnas said and immediately followed Cara to the bridge.

=====Hopper Bridge=====

The door of the turbolift opened with a whispering hiss and, with Ashley's hand still in hers and Ragnas behind her, Cara stepped out onto the Bridge.

"CO on the Bridge," an ensign standing near the turbolift called out.

"Any word from the Zumwalt?" Cara asked the communications officer.

"No, Ma'am," the ensign answered.

"Hail them," Cara said, simply and took Ashley to the center of the Bridge so she could be seen when the message was put on the main viewer.

"Channel open, Lieutenant," the comm officer announced.

"This is Dr. Cara Nichols...acting CO of the USS Hopper hailing the USS Zumwalt," Cara said and waited for the response.


=====Both Bridges=====

Drew was at the Tactical One Station when the hail came in from the Hopper. He looked over his shoulder towards Christopher in the Captain's Chair and Lady Catherine standing next to him. "Sir, we're being hailed by the USS Hopper, Dr. Nichols is in command."

Christopher nodded. "On screen, Lieutenant."

"Good to see you made it, sir," Cara said, smiling at the image on the screen. She noticed Andrew standing at his console. "I see you made it also, Drew. I have someone here that wanted to make sure her uncle was safe," she said, stepping aside so Ashley was fully in the picture.

Relief flooded across the faces of both Ashley and Drew, though tinged with sadness due to the deaths of both Austin and Meredith. It was a silent acknowledgement of one another, as no words could possibly express how they felt at the moment.

"Likewise, Doctor. It's good to see another friendly face out here. In the interim, can you give me a SITREP?" he asked. At this point, it was imperative that they get a count of exactly who and what they had to work with. Something told him that they were about to be extremely civilian heavy and at some point, they would need to put them to work.

Cara looked over at Ens. Palmer and quirked an eyebrow.

"1121 souls aboard," Palmer said, timidly. "100 are crew assigned to the Hopper, 350 are from the Arctic, 279 are Starfleet officers from SB900 and 392 are civilians that were on the base at the time of evacuation. Security is still trying to determine who were visitors and who were permanent residents."

Knowing that the Colonel had heard Palmer, Cara added, "Sickbay has reported a total of 200 casualties. 21 have died since the evacuation and 70 are still undergoing treatment. The rest have been treated and released. Lt. Hannah, from the Arctic," she gestured to her AXO, "has been acting as the Hopper's XO. Chief Warrant Officer Bran...also from the Arctic has taken over duties of Chief of Security and has organized volunteers from the refugees to fill in vacant slots. Our forward shields are down and our aft shields are operating at 35%. We only have 2 phaser cannons for weapons and we are stuck on autopilot so our helm can't manually fly us through the asteroid belt we see coming up," she said having moved to look over the ensign manning the tactical console's shoulder. She looked back up at the Colonel and smirked. "Other than that, sir...we are hunky dory over here."

Christopher nodded. "Hold tight for now and keep doing what you're done. We'll get everyone situated as soon as we reach the rally point. Until then, assemble an Away Team and stand by for my orders. Zumwalt Actual, out."


=====Bridge of the USS Hopper=====

Bran stepped forward as the communication cut out. "Doctor," he said, hoping to draw her attention to himself. "I'm volunteering myself. Especially if you think you're going."

Ashley jumped up next to Bran and nodded to Cara as well. "I want to go too."

"That is not a good idea," Bran said, glancing from the child to the doctor. "We have no idea what the Colonel wants an away team for and therefore no idea of what the danger level involved. Taking a child would be inherently dangerous as people would be more concerned with her safety and welfare than focused on the mission at hand."

"She is hardly a child, Mr. Bran," Cara said, then looked at Ashley and smiled, apologetically. "He's right, though, Ashley. It could be dangerous. And I have lost far too many people I care about. I don't want to lose you, too. I need you to stay and help with the children. I understand there are many that have been orphaned."

Ashley shot Bran an annoyed look at referring to her as a child, but she turned to Cara and nodded. "You will let me come after you give the all clear, so I can get with Uncle Drew. Right?"

Cara walked over to Ashley and smiled. "Yes, sweetie. We'll both see your uncle soon," she said, quietly.

"Mr. Bran...I hope that you don't mind having been thrown into the position of Chief of Security," Cara said. "As such, I would like you to assign another security officer to accompany us." She thought for a second and said, "and an engineer. Something tells me we might need one."

"I'll try to wrestle up an engineer or two for you, Captain, but again, as I'm pretty sure you believe you're going and as I'm pretty sure I voluntold myself to be Chief here, then I'm with you. Though," he frowned as he let the rifle drop down and pulled Meetok out of his harness and attached the lead. He glanced at Ashley, "I do need someone to look after the puppy? Know anybody that might be good for that?"

Ashley may not have liked what she thought was Bran's condescending attitude towards her, but she absolutely loved and adored animals, especially puppies. "I'll take care of your puppy sir, since I'm not allowed on the Away Team."

"Settles that, Doctor," Bran said, indicating he wasn't going to budge from that answer.

Cara took a deep breath. "Commander Gunnbjorn....I transfer command of the Hopper to you. Alert us when the Colonel is ready. I'll be in Sickbay," she said and put her arm around Ashley's shoulder, steering her towards the turbolift.

Ragnas was standing in the back of the bridge, leaning against the wall observing the room and doing his best to keep up. Once his name was brought up he came to Cara's side. When he volunteered to be of assistance he wasn't really expecting to take over the ship minutes later. "Very well. I accept, Doctor. Thank you."

Ashley complied with the guiding hands on her shoulder, but with a sigh that spoke volumes about her impatience to find her uncle.

The Lieutenant Commander looked to Bran, "Excuse me, Chief." He said to him as he offered his hand." Ragnas Gunnbjorn, I wish you luck on this away mission and don't want to take up too much of your time as I am sure you will want to prepare. But I was hoping you would be able to brief me quickly before you go?" He let out a small smile, "I only just woke minutes ago and feel a little behind."

"Of course, Comm..." Bran shook his head as he let out a breath, "Apologies, sir. Of course, Captain. Though I believe you should also speak with Lieutenant Hannah. I can tell you about the riots, he should be able to fill you in on the other aspects of how the ship was running."

"Thank you, I will be sure to follow up with him immediately." Ragnas said, "Though please tell me about these riots."

"Not much to tell, sir," Bran said, his voice quiet and reserved while he stated things factually, "Bunch of people suddenly beamed aboard a ship who were facing certain death. Lost everything and had plenty of questions, none of which could be answered. They got upset, they got into large groups, some panicked, others took advantage, security put it down. Fortunately there were no casualties or permanent injuries. Second one came around the time people, already on edge and frustrated, learned that much of their precious belongings were considered 'inconsequential' when it came time to decide what to beam off the ships and what to leave alone. Again, security put it down without permanent injury."

Ragnas listened carefully and began to get a general understanding, "I sympathize with everyone on board, we have all lost valuables and those we care for." He said, "Though rioting can not be tolerated."

He slightly bowed his head, "Thank you for the update. I will now find the Lieutenant you mentioned and many others." He began walking away, "Good Luck out there."


=====Bridge of the USS Zumwalt=====

Drew looked at Christopher with his mention to Cara about assembling an away team. He spared a glance at Catherine before returning his gaze to Christopher. "May I assume you plan on us assembling our own away team also?"

Christopher looked over. "It'll be you, me, Ja'xon, and any Marine who wants to tag along on this little spelunking trip." Turning to address the rest of the bridge crew, he tugged on his uniform. "If anyone wants to go on this Away Mission, meet us down in the Boarding Prep room in ten minutes. No one will be refused permission." he said rather matter-of factly before turning to Drew and their Ambassador. "Ambassador, stay here and assist where you can, I'm sure our medics could use an extra pair of hands. Knight, you're with me."

Drew nodded his assent and prepared to move out when Christopher was ready. He glanced at Catherine for a moment. "See you soon Ambass...I mean Catherine."

"Sure not a problem." Catherine smiled. Looking to a medic she asked "SO how can I help?"

Gunnery Sergeant Lucinda Vasquez moved her tongue around in her mouth, the piercing rubbing against the roof of her mouth as she had flashes play through her mind. Unpleasant ones. She looked at Christopher Mitchell, her eyes voicing her concern as her voice raised slightly with rasp. Her little speech started with a low growling like noise, a sign of agitation. "If it's an open invitation..." she began as she retrieved a tricorder from her work area. "I could use the exercise" she added. Though what she subconsciously meant was There's no way I am letting you go without me.

Ja'xon walked on to the bridge at that moment. "Ah, just the two men I was wanting to see." He said looking to Chris and Drew. Ja'xon approached them and continued, "I have an update on our Borg if you all would like to hear it now." He stopped in front of them both and naturally assumed the parade rest position.

"Brief us on the fly Lieutenant Ja'xon," he gestured toward the bridge exit, "we have an away mission to go on."

"Very well," He said as he turned about face and exited the way he came in. Once everyone was on the turbolift he began to brief them on what happened in with Three of Eight earlier, "Three of Eight has been undergoing a natural state of repair sense the moment we found him. I am sure the next time you see him, he will appear to never have been injured at all." He continued, "The drone discovered that it was able to conduct a self diagnostic. The results of that were interesting to say the least. According to the drone and the report of its self diagnostic, it manually shut down the disintegrating function."

Ja'xon then brought his brief to an end, "However, we still have no leads as to why it is no longer connected to the rest of the Borg collective."

Christopher looked to Ja'xon, his eyebrow raised. "So what you're telling us is that this thing has managed to repair itself and is simply sitting in Sickbay, twiddling its thumbs? " he asked, suddenly interested in this new development. A Borg that could think for itself hadn't been done successfully for some years and the intelligence boon could be enormous.

"Twiddling its thumbs while four Marines are watching. I had the guard duty doubled, sir, I am not willing to take any chances." Ja'xon said.

OFF