First Officer's Log

[Guest Cdr Dacotah]

The smell of ozone was sharp in her nostrils, and the buzz of the collective reverberated in her head.  The voice was not distinct and she could not make out what it was saying, but it was there.  Calling, like a siren's song

 

It hadn't called before.  In fact she hadn't been able to sense anything from the cube until N'Dak had removed one of the prosthetics from dead drone.  The icy tentacles of foreboding snaked up her spine.  The Borg rarely leave their dead, and they never leave a functional cube.  The removal of the prosthetic was enough to generate a signal of some kind.  Like an injured cub wailing for it's mother.

 

Hayden had no desire to be here when *mom* arrived, and yet she now found herself separated from the others.  "Jaruq is never going to believe that I didn't try to break away from the group," she muttered angrily as she picked her way along the dimly lit corridor.  "He'll use this as a way to try and keep the First Officer position." 

 

She stopped to see if she could hear any of the others.  An occasional clank or groan from the cube, and the constant buzz of the collective were all that she heard.  They should have noticed her missing by now.  "Surely they would begin a search," she thought and then paused, thinking of Jaruq's thoughtless name calling and her subsequent response.

 

"More ammunition for him to use against me," she muttered as she came to a junction in the corridor.  "What is it that's I've done that he hates me vehemently?" 

 

~~Turn Left~~

 

Hayden blinked and foolishly looked about.  There was no one there, she knew that.  The voice had come from inside her mind.  The buzz of the collective had dissipated and now she heard only one voice.

 

~~Yes, come through the doors.  That's right straight through~~

 

A part of her mind told her to stop, to turn around and run as fast as her legs could carry her.  This was like those foolish 21st century horror films that Hunter and Will loved to watch.  You knew that if the girl went into the room she would be sliced up as thin as a honey ham for Thanksgiving dinner.  You knew the girl should know the same thing, and yet -- every time she walked in.  Every time she died. 

 

The doors at the end of the corridor swooshed open and Hayden stepped through, eyes darting about.  The doors closed silently behind her, leaving her standing in a large chamber the always present eerie green glow reflecting off the various components.  She turned back toward the door, "I should find the others," she whispered to herself.

 

~~Turn around. I am here~~

 

Slowly she turned around, half afraid of what she might see standing there.  Her eyes met the still empty room, but this time her eyes came to rest on an object atop the furthest component.  "How could I not have seen that before?" she asked quietly.  Quieting the voice of logic in her head to run she slowly walked toward the object, her breath sucking in sharply. 

 

The silver skull glinted in the green light of the chamber and little red lights in the vertebrae winked on and off.  Gingerly she picked it up and turned the face towards her, feeling the blood drain from her own face and her hands become icy cold.  "They're coming," Hayden said, in a choked whisper.  "Oh God, they're coming.

Edited May 19, 2004 by Cdr Dacotah