Expect the unexpected

often, odd bed fellows can be the best chance you have.

“What the hell is going on down there?” Demanded Rex, pacing up and down the command station on the bridge, worried sick. He still had a huge Borg cube stuck into the side of his ship; apparently, there were malfunctions all over the place. And, to top it all off, something was destroying the phaser cameras in each of the corridors around decks twenty-one and thirty-six.

“Somebody get me a status report!” he paced some more, still silently willing his crew to move faster.

“We’ve got Borg infiltrators on deck seventy-two and quarter deck twelve, now moving to take section eighteen.” Harper mentioned calmly.

Rex wished he could be more like her, keeping calm in the face of a crisis. He was such an impatient man, he knew, but so wished he wasn’t. He sighed heavily, and started pacing some more. If only he could be in on the action in every place at once. Maybe then he could help. And maybe they wouldn’t be losing.

“Captain, message from engineering. It’s from Ensign Beatty, sir.” Harper looked over at him quizzically. “It’s marked Captains’ eyes only.” She said, nodding to his console for him to read it there.

Rex strode over to the panel and tapped in his security code before absorbing the message quickly. His expression went from confused to frustrated. “What the hell is he babbling on about?” he asked himself, before turning to the computer behind him. “Lexington Absolom” He said out loud, feeling stupid as he spoke into thin air.

“Command received.” The computers’ echoic voice bellowed into the air. Almost instantly, one of the holo globes burst into life. “Captain George Rex, commander of the U.S.S. Thunderchild. My name is Gerrold Beatty, of the Free Borg.” The metal clad face remained dispassionate for a moment, allowing his words to seep in. “Your Ensign Peter Beatty was - is - my brother. We are here to help you in your battle with the remaining Borg collective. If you will allow us, we need to speak with you in person.”

“How do I know you are genuine?” Rex demanded, waving his arm at the image on the globe. The face changed to that of Ensign Beatty, looking happier than Rex had ever seen him.

“Because I know my brother, sir.” He chimed in. “He was always honest, and believe me, this is him!”

Rex considered Beatty’s statement for a moment, thinking deeply to himself before asking; “And what if he’s got some kind of plan to infiltrate the ship and take over by killing me?”

“I assure you, Captain, the thought had crossed my mind.” The dispassionate voice of the cyborg chimed as his face returned to the globe. “But it would not suit my purpose here. Our collective brothers and sisters were on their way to you, and we needed to convince them we were part of the collective by attacking you.” Borg Beatty remained emotionless as he spoke, unnerving Rex slightly. “We would ask that you disable your ships” defence network as the death toll amongst my people is terrifying.” Still the emotionless look that kept Rex on his toes. Something didn’t seem right here, he thought to himself. “We had no idea your ship was so well defended, Captain. This was something we were not expecting, and has led to too many casualties on both sides. If you will check your records, you will find that none of my people have assimilated any of your crew. We felt it was the best way to show you there was something different about us, that we are not your enemy.”

Borg Beatty fell silent for a moment, allowing the crew to seek the information he had mentioned. Soon the reports came flying in, confirming the very things he had said in graphic detail.

“Okay, deal. But on one condition.” He announced after what seemed like an eternity of silence.

“Anything you wish, Captain.” Borg Beatty agreed.

“I want just you to meet me here, No one else. Understood?” Rex pointed a finger at the screen.

“Agreed.” Borg Beatty smiled then, something that seemed totally out of character. “Unless you feel my brother would be intruding, that is.”

Rex just wasn’t expecting that. He signalled to Harper to get some armed men onto the bridge, then spoke again; “Whatever, just one thi-” His voice trailed off at that moment, as the globe image faded and the two of them suddenly appeared on the bridge.

It was unbelievably quick, leaving the bridge crew stunned. No-one reacted when, just as suddenly, Beatty-borg began to approach the Captain and held out its” mechanized hand, probes whirring menacingly as they moved back and forth in front of his face.

Rex stepped back, almost stumbling as he tried to avoid the flailing, tentacle like wires that snaked out towards him.

“No!” Shouted Ensign Beatty, grabbing at his brother in a vain attempt to prevent him reaching out and assimilating the one man who could save them all. His hands grasped at thin air as the Borg simply side stepped out of the way.

“You will become one with the Borg.” The voice was dispassionate and empty as the drone advanced. With a sudden thrust, the tentacles drew near to the Captain. Rex stumbled once again, this time going down and almost collapsing in a crumpled heap on the floor. One quick roll later, he was back on his feet, ready to dodge yet again. Crouching ready, he stared intently at the Borg, waiting for its' next move. Seeing the muscles flex in the shoulder, he waited for his opportunity, then grabbed at some of the tentacles with one hand while trying to fend off the remaining ones with the other.

It was to prove to be a mistake. The tentacles instantly snapped around, connecting neatly with his forehead and making a crunching sound as they attached themselves to his skull.

“Get him off-” the last word was a strangled cry as Rex slumped to the ground, the Borg tentacles wriggling and writhing as they remained firmly attached to his forehead.

Phaser fire suddenly erupted across the bridge as the crew began to react quicker to the events involving their captain. All to no avail, as the Borg’s” shields were already adapted beyond the range of the puny side arms of the security team that arrived at that moment.

“Cease fire!” Ordered Harper, holding her hand up to them. She stepped closer and peered at the Captain, trying to understand just what the heck was going on.

Rex's face went from agonised pain to peaceful sleep in a moment, followed by a quick expression of bewilderment, before settling into a look of peaceful co-existance.

******

Rex awoke to find himself on a grassy hill, somewhere in the country side. Possibly back on Earth, he couldn’t be sure. How the hell did he get here? He asked himself as he dusted his clothes with his hands.

“Welcome.” Said a disembodied voice behind him. Rex turned to see who had spoken, finding nobody, he called out;

“Who’s there?

“I am Gerrold Beatty.” Said the voice. Still no sign of anyone. Rex began to think he was �" “No you are not dreaming, Captain.” How the heck did he �" “Know what you are thinking?” What the hell?

“Our minds are linked by the devices that I have attached to your body on the bridge. We are in the unconscious part of the brain now, captain. I needed to do this so that we could communicate more efficiently.” Explained the Borg.

“What do you want, Borg?” Asked Rex, his voice full of menace.

“Exactly what you want. Peace.” Beatty told him. “This is a dream world within the collective, commonly called the unimatrix. Unimatrix Zero was discovered and destroyed because of the Borg queen several of your years ago in an attempt to destroy the imperfections it was causing.”

Rex still looked round, hoping to find the source of the voice.

“If you want, Captain, I can take a form to aid you in your understanding of this event.”

“Please do, so I can kill you, you unmitigated swine.” Rex felt the rage well up within him and allowed it to overtake the image in his mind, almost destroying it. For a brief moment, he felt as if he were back on the bridge, laying on the floor and moaning. Then, the feeling vanished.

“Now, now, Captain. No need for violence, you see �"” The voice suddenly took on a real tone, and appeared to be behind him, Rex spun around and saw the figure of a man stood there. Incredibly, he realized this was no Borg, but was instead the REAL Gerrold Beatty. The anger faded within him, and wonderment took its’ place. “I mean you no harm.”

“How come you are not a Borg here?” He asked.

Gerrold smiled. “Because here I am in the Unimatrix. I can be what I want to be. This is rather like your Holodeck, a matrix of other-reality that exists within the mind of each Borg, where we can be individuals and part of the collective, if we so choose.”

Rex looked at him quizzically. “So, you aren’t going to assimilate me?” he asked.

Gerrold shook his head. “Definitely not, I would not wish that on my worst enemy. I took you here to show you that we mean you no harm. And offer you our help.”

“Your help?” Rex enquired, confused. “How can you help us?”

“We, as you now know, are rebels. We are the imperfection inside the perfect. We have knowledge that your Federation is not ready to hear yet. Understandings of the universe that allow us to do things that are beyond your comprehension. It is this very knowledge we intend to use to help you in your hour of greatest need.” Gerrold told him. Still the matter-of-fact attitude that Rex knew so well from previous encounters with the Borg.

“Hour of greatest need?” Rex asked, unsure of what the Borg was saying. He was still wary of the rebel, even though he was at the moment appearing human.

“The collective has hatched a plan that will see the Federation destroyed as easily as the rest of the races we have assimilated.” Gerrold Beatty walked over to Rex and stood almost nose to nose with him. “They intend to send a fleet of cubes to sector 001 in order to destroy the Earth completely and leave the planet a lifeless hulk in space. Then they will use the knowledge from that event to destroy the rest of your Starfleet by bypassing the security protocols on each of your vessels and take them apart piece by piece.”

Rex almost laughed, “How do they plan to do that? Earth is heavily defended you know. There are at least twenty heavy cruisers there at any one time, backed up by at least two hundred defence networked torpedo satellites, and three starbases.” He pointed out.

“They are of little consequence. The Borg do not intend to face them alone. It is the intention of the collective to face them with the help of another Federation, from another dimension. By shifting dimensions, the main Borg offensive can be used to take over a less well defended Earth in a separate dimension, then use the population from that world to attack this one. Believe me, the idea is sound. They can pull it off. Especially with the new technology they have captured from your Redknapp base.” Beatty stepped closer, stopping just a few paces away from Rex, staring him in the eye. “You did not know what they were working on there, did you, Captain?” He asked.

Rex shook his head. “No.” He admitted.

“A dimensional rift drive. Basically, rip a hole in the fabric of space, punch through to another dimension, then travel to the location you want to go to, and then skip back to your own dimension. Virtually undetectable travel. To anywhere. And it is a heck of a lot quicker than warp drive.” Beatty remained almost completely emotionless, his eyes never wavering from the Captains'.

“By the Great Bird of the Galaxy!” was all Rex could think of to say. If the Borg had this kind of technology, then they could go almost anywhere, and do almost anything without being challenged. They would be invincible.

“You see the problem, Captain. And why I cannot allow this to continue unchallenged. The threat was sufficient for me to risk discovery and even put my own life and the lives of my fellow rebels on the line as well. This is too great a danger to just ignore. If the Borg can go anywhere undetected, then nobody is safe. Anywhere. They could just appear out of nowhere, assimilate whom they please, then vanish as quickly and as silently as they came. The whole galaxy would become Borg almost within a year. Then- who knows? The universe? This I cannot allow.”

“But you are Borg. Why are you helping us?” Rex asked at last, almost stumbling over the words as he spoke.

“I was made a Borg by force. I will not allow this to happen to anyone else while I am able to breathe. Sometimes I have no choice, but I will not stand by and watch the entire galaxy enslaved by the Borg just to satisfy their need to have 'perfection'.” He made a gesture of quotes in the air with his hands. I offer our help, Captain. Please accept it. You need us to even have a chance of stopping them.”

“Especially since you made a dirty great hole in the side of my ship.” Rex commented.

“It was the only way I could speak to you in private. If I had tried to contact you by subspace, the others would have detected it and my secret assistance to you would be useless. We will repair all damage done as quickly as possible. And, we shall also help to upgrade your weapons to better assist your defence of your world. I must say, this is a very heavily defended ship, Captain. You must be very proud of her.”

Rex smiled. “I am.” He said, simply. “And her crew.”

Author's Note

please ignore all references to trk, they will be removed.