Commander Markos was waiting in transporter
room one awaiting the arrival of Doctor Jin. The rest of the crew, some fifteen
in number had been evacuated to the surface below, along with survival shelters
and food rations to keep them alive for almost six months.
Kira knew that it wouldn't take Starfleet that long to reach the planet if anything
went wrong and the Ronin didn't return. But if the Ronin failed, then Starfleet
may have their hands full fighting the Borg, especially if they got hold of
the Gemini device. Instead of one sphere, they could be facing two.
[The Gemini device is fully charged and ready to 'pop'.] McQueen stated over the intercom from the cargo bay. [I'm heading back to Engineering to join Ensign Gregholt.]
"Have you seen the Doctor, she should be here by now ?" Kira asked.
[Yes. She's heading your way now.] Elias replied.
"OK. We go in ten minutes." Kira said.
Just then Jodana come through the doors into the room.
"Glad you could join us Doctor." Commander Markos remarked.
"All the crew who are remaining aboard have been given the injection, except you. I've managed to increase the effectiveness of the suppressant to last another four to six hours. That gives you sixteen to eighteen hours of relative calm. After that the suppressant will wear off fast and you'll have a very angry and aggressive doppelganger." The Doctor replied, injecting a hypo-spray into the Commander's neck.
"Ouch. That hurts." Kira said, rubbing his neck where the suppressant had just been delivered.
"I had to use a large dose of the suppressant and needed to inject it fast, so I had to use the widest setting." The Doctor replied.
"OK. So you ready to go ?" Kira asked, walking around the transporter console.
"Sure." Jodana replied. "And Commander... Good luck."
With those last words, the Doctor disappeared off the transporter pad.
"All hands, this is Commander Markos. Secure all stations, we're going to activate the Gemini device in five minutes." He said, heading for the Bridge.
As Kira entered the Bridge, he took a look around.
Tricia was at the helm, already plotting a course back towards the Borg sphere. Nige was at Tactical, checking over the ship's weapon systems. Porat was at the Operations console, checking the ship's propulsion systems and Fenris was at the Science station.
"Nige, what's our weapons status." Kira asked, looking at the tactical officer.
"All phaser banks are operational and we have a full compliment of quantum torpedoes. Shields are at ninety percent and rising. We're ready to go." Nige replied.
"Fenris, do we have any information on the sphere." Commander Markos asked.
"We've been running long range scans ever since we left it dead in space. As far as we can make out, it's hardly changed position and the movement that has been made can be accounted for by space drift. If she's got propulsion, she's not used it yet." Fenris replied from the science station.
"During our fight, did we pick up any obvious weaknesses in the sphere." Kira asked.
"There was one thing that I noticed." Fenris replied. "When the shields where destroyed, the equator of the sphere took some damage. It created a hole over a hundred metres in diameter. It shouldn't have happened, but as it did it shows a structural weakness in the construction of the sphere. Borg vessels appear to have abstract construction. If we're lucky they may not have realised the weakness."
"It could be just the piece of luck we've needed ever since we left Deep Space 11. Nige, double-check Fenris's data. Bridge to Engineering." Kira said.
[Engineering, Ensign Gregholt here.]
"What's our status in Engineering ?" Kira asked.
[The core is operating at maximum efficiency and all systems show green.] Steven replied. [McQueen is monitoring the Gemini device.]
"Good. Bridge out." Kira finished.
"Commander, Lieutenant Fenris may be right about the structural weakness, it could be our opportunity, providing the Borg haven't noticed it." Nige replied.
"Great, we'll make that our primary target area. OK people, here we go. Bridge to McQueen, activate the Gemini device, give us a count of five." Kira announced.
[McQueen here. Activating in five, four, three, two, one.]
There was a blinding flash and everything went quiet.
Five minutes later, the first sounds were heard.