Star Trek: 24th Century Crossover - 003 - Destiny - 03 - Lost Souls by David Mack

Author:David Mack [Mack, David]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Unknown
ISBN: 1416551751
Amazon: B0017SUZVI
Publisher: Star Trek
Published: 2008-01-02T08:00:00+00:00

Tuning her mind to the frequency of the Borg Collective was proving more difficult than Erika Hernandez had expected. She felt she was close to being able to link with it, as she had with the Caeliar gestalt centuries earlier, but the closer she got, the more elusive the Borg’s voice became.

She stared at her access to the vinculum and asked engineer Mikaela Leishman, “Are you sure this thing is set up correctly?”“Positive,” Leishman said. “It’s responding to your own biofeedback, just like you asked.”

Beside the Aventine’s chief engineer was its second officer and science department head, Gruhn Helkara. The Zakdorn clenched his jaw, pushing up his facial ridges. “If you don’t feel up to this, we should scrub the mission now.”

“I’m fine,” Hernandez said. “Just let me concentrate.”

She closed her eyes and focused on aligning her brainwaves with those of the Collective. She blocked out the muggy climate inside the Borg ship, the discomfort of her semi-invasive neural interface with the vinculum, and her own fear.

Two oscillating tones, slightly mismatched, served as her guide. Hers was the shorter, faster wave of sound; the more she relaxed, the closer her alpha-wave tone matched that of the Borg.

Perfectly measured, crisp footfalls approached. She knew before she heard the voice that it was Lonnoc Kedair, the security chief. “The transphasic mine is armed,” she said to Leishman and Helkara. “How’s our royal infiltrator doing?”

“She’s working on it,” Leishman said.

Hernandez was very close to bringing her psionic frequency into synch with the Collective’s when Helkara’s combadge beeped and broke her concentration. Dax’s comm-filtered voice sliced through the low thrumming and anxiety-filled silence inside the vinculum. “Commander Helkara, report,” she said.

Opening her eyes to glare at Dax’s three officers, Hernandez noted the abashed look on Helkara’s face.

“We’re almost there, Captain,” he said.

“Well, get there faster,” Dax said. “The Borg are minutes away from hitting five major targets, including Andor, Vulcan, and Qo’noS. If this plan’s gonna work, it has to happen now.”

Leishman and Helkara traded glances of dismay. Kedair stared intently at the pair, awaiting their reaction. Helkara replied to Dax, “We need a few more minutes, Captain.”

“We’re out of time,” Dax said. “What do you have now?”

Hernandez beckoned to Leishman. “I have an idea.”

The engineer arched her eyebrows. “I’m listening.”

“I’ll be able to adjust my modulation faster if you remove the feedback buffer from my interface,” Hernandez said.

Helkara dismissed the suggestion with the energetic waving of both hands. “Absolutely not,” he said. “Without that, you’ll run the risk of a counterattack by the Borg.”

“I’m a big girl, I can handle it,” Hernandez said. “Look, the buffer is most of what’s slowing me down. If I don’t get inside the Collective’s head right now, billions of people are going to die. Risking my life to save all of theirs makes sense, at least to me.” She raised her voice. “Captain Dax, I’m asking permission to remove the buffer and face the Borg head-on.”

“Granted,” Dax said. “Gruhn, Mikaela, get it done.”

“Aye, Captain,” Helkara said, acquiescing with reluctance.

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