Things on the USS Jaxartes had kind of settled back into a normal routine; at least as normal as the crew of the compact Raven Class corvette could ever hope at least.  They were part way through the second week of a routine patrol along the border.  Once a clear dividing line between the Romulan Star Empire and the Federation: disasters, conflicts and upheaval had left a complex mess which required careful monitoring.  The ‘Jax’ could shepherd wayward freighters and deal with the odd small pirate ship here and there, but for anything bigger, the services of a larger vessel may be needed to be called upon.

For those affected by the Borg and their plans to take over the Federation by a mass assimilation via the Transporter system their lives had been altered like countless others within Starfleet.  Some changes on the surface seemed minor, others much more profound.

For Lieutenant Junior Grade Jason Devron the thing that had struck him the most was the silence.  His time in the collective may have been short; but there had been so many voices, so many thoughts; though all with a single goal.  Now he heard nothing but his own worry and self-doubt.  He tried to put on a brave face for his crew, he had to, he was their captain and they had to trust his leadership and decision making skills.  Only Doctor Phoebe Andrianakis their Greek civilian medic was truly aware of the turmoil going on in his head right now.  They had both formed a close bond during her time on board, and had grown closer during the recent events back on Earth.  It wasn’t love or anything as deep as that; but a clear mutual understanding, trust and respect of each other.  They knew each other’s past, hopes, dreams and secrets.  They knew more about each other in fact than anyone else.

Jason had been finding difficulty sleeping; it wasn’t so much the nightmares.  Those dreams still came now and again.  When you’re face to face with a man your strangling to death, even if you’re not in control of your own actions; the image does stay imprinted on your mind.  It was the quiet that got him; all alone in the dark silence of his quarters aboard ship.  Some nights he’d sleep on the floor; ear resting to the deck plating so he could feel the subtle vibrations and hear the gentle hum of the ships engines.  That though wasn’t doing his neck any good, so on other nights he’d drift off to sleep to the aid of classical music wafting in the air.

This time however it was the floors turn, and were he found himself when the early morning wake up alarm chirped loudly. “Computer cancel alarm.” He called out after rousing from his slumber and rolling on to his back.  The ships computer acknowledged the request and the noise ceased. “Computer; any chance of raising the floor?”

“Unable to comply.”

“Thought not!” Grumbled the young lieutenant to himself. “I guess I’ll have to get up myself then.”  Jason sat up rolled on to his knees stood up slowly stretched and headed for the shower.

**********

For Lieutenant Junior Grade Lyanna Stuart the half Orion, half Human First Officer/Chief  Helm Officer the experience of being taken over by the Borg had impacted her mentally; though possibly not as strongly as her captain.  For Lyanna the changes that weighed on her mind had been physical.

Interspecies relationships had always been a little complicated; the biology of different races weren’t necessarily harmonious.   In the case of Orion’s and Human’s it had proven a bit of a lottery.  Some of those with mixed parentage had been born and suffered no ill effects.  A couple had sadly died at birth or soon after.  For her though the solution had been tablets; one every twelve hours, preventing the Orion parts of her body attempting to destroy what it felt was the invading human organs she’d been born with.

The Borg had changed that though.  In their quest to create a perfect drone to serve the collective the Borg genetic elements that had been within her body had made subtle alterations to the makeup of her DNA.  Seven tablets in a small plastic tub sat on the table, seven tablets Lyanna would never need to take because the Borg had rendered her body 100% compatible.  The Borg had managed something the doctors couldn’t, they’d cured her, and how she hated them for it.  How dare they mess with her body and manipulate it.  How dare they change what she was.  How bloody dare they!  The Borg had taken away something that had made her rare in the universe; they’d taken part of her identity.

Stuart could have deposed of the tablet, but she’d kept them as a reminder that no one is truly perfect, no matter how hard they or anyone else tries to change and manipulate things.

**********

Ensign Tholakath was angry with himself; the small corvette only had a limited crew and as such no dedicated security chief onboard.  It therefore had fallen to the tactical officer to monitor that sort of thing.  So on that note the young Cardassian blamed himself for not realizing that the Korean communications officer was really a Changeling imposter.  The fact that the rest of the crew; including the guy Ensign Cho had started dating hadn’t figured out the switch either, hadn’t really registered in his mind.

The Changeling in the guise of Cho had been responsible for the reprogramming of the transporter, allowing it to add the Borg alteration to any crewmembers using the system without their knowledge.  Had more of the crew used the transporter before the activation signal had been sent, they too would have fallen under the Borg influence.

He’d taken his anger and frustration out on various pieces of equipment in a couple of gyms and spared against a number of computer generated opponents in the holo-sweet; whilst on Earth.  None of this had really worked, and a part of him could understand why.  In the end help for the young Cardassian had come from an unusual source and with the help of his Caitian roommate.  It was true what they said about Tribbles, they really were a soothing and calming influence.  Though finding the creature at the bottom of the bed under the cover may not have been the best introduction.

**********

It wasn’t just the bridge officers that had been affected; two of the crew had also been taken over by the Borg.  Crewman Derek Lightwood had lost an older brother on Sol Station, killed whilst defending the huge structure from the rampaging hordes of Borg controlled Starfleet personnel and the armada of vessels surrounding it on three sides.

The funeral had been tough Scott’s body hadn’t been found, and their last exchange of words hadn’t been all together that friendly.  Had five years really past since that fight?  It was the last time they’d spoken, now he’d never get the chance to put things right.

Sitting in the church, alone and slightly away from the rest of the family during the service; he’d been lost in thought and regret, when he felt something brush against his arm.  Derek opened his eyes to find Cassey his brother’s seven year old daughter.  The young blonde wrapped her arm around his and leaned into him.  “It’s ok to feel afraid and alone.” She said softly, looking up into his eyes. “Daddy’s not coming home now, is he?”

He kissed his niece on the top of her head.  “No sweetheart your daddy’s not coming home.” He fought back the tears welling up inside.  “But I know he loved you and your mom very much.”  That’s how the fight had started.  He’s brother was going to leave the women he loved and daughter because he didn’t feel it was right dragging them around the galaxy and exposing them to possible hostile dangers.  Derek had told him straight how stupid and self-centered that sounded.  Starfleet was full of families; all living perfectly normal lives on star ships, space stations and planetary installations.  At some point Scott had seen sense and even married Alice, now seated three rows forward next to her parents.  But by then Derek had left for the Starfleet Academy on Mellstoxx III.  The two brothers had never had the chance to make up; even though communication wouldn’t have been that tricky.  But then mother always did say how stubborn and pigheaded the pair of they were.   She was a widower herself; dad had died in the same battle aboard the Inquiry class vessel USS Shackleton.  His funeral had been five days previous.

How many other families had lost someone or like theirs two people, how many had lost more than that?  Could he really go back into space after all this?  It was the young girl that answered the question on his mind, as if she’d read his thoughts.  “Daddy and grandad would want you to go back.” She said squeezing his arm tighter. “I can look after mom and nan.  I have to be a big girl now.”

Derek rested his head gentle on top of young Cassey’s; tears now running down his cheek.  How did someone so young get to be so brave and wise?  Yes, if there was still a space available to him; he’d be back aboard the Jaxartes or any other ship for that matter.  They’d been a member of each generation of the Lightwood family aboard starships even before the legendary NX class had journeyed into the far reaches of space, and that tradition wasn’t about to come to an abrupt end.  Whether the young girl next to him followed those well-worn footsteps; only time would tell.

That had been a month ago, and now he was aboard the Jaxartes, trying to live life and do his job the best he could.

**********

For crewman George Tyson things had taken a rather odd twist.  When the Borg signal had been transmitted neither of the senior engineers had been affected; for the simple fact they hadn’t used the transporter since the alterations had been made, unlike George had.  As an engineer himself, he knew some of the basics regarding the running of a ships engines and their general maintenance.  But within moments of being taken over, he had the collective knowledge and wisdom of hundreds of Starfleets finest young engineering minds.

However despite the link being broken when the Borg transmitting device had been destroyed; some of those thoughts and ideas from people he’d been linked to had somehow remained, locked away in his mind.  An indication of this had come a few days later; when all of a sudden at 3am he’d leapt out of bed with a sudden thought regarding a random power coupling on a ship he’d never set foot on.  A frantic rush to locate and communicate with the crew of that vessel led George to discover the problem had been a genuine one and had been fixed over a week previous.  A similar thing happened some five days later.  After that though just a few garbled flashes of ideas and then nothing. Now his mind was filled with silence and George missed the voices, longed for the knowledge he briefly had.  The Borg had made him special and liking that probably scared him as much as anything else.

**********

Jason Devron had made his way to sickbay after putting on his uniform and grabbing some breakfast; he was sitting on the edge of a bio-bed whilst Doctor Andrianakis administered some pain relief with a hypo. “You’ve been sleeping on the floor again.” She admonished. “I didn’t become a medic to straighten you neck out every morning.”

The comment was light-hearted but Jason understood what she meant. “It’s a work in progress doc.  But you know how it is.”

Before either of them could say anything else the Lieutenant’s badge chirped. “Devron here, go ahead.” He answered after tapping it. The reply was from Ensign Cho the Communications Officer. “Urgent incoming message sir.”

“Ok patch it through to the doctor’s office.” He looked up at Phoebe just to make sure it wasn’t a problem before jumping off the bed. “I wonder what they’re throwing us into this time?”