I Was, We Are

I Was, We Are

Thirteen point two seconds. It seemed so small but it meant so much. They'd found us and there was nothing we could do. We tried everything we could to outmaneuver the cube but it was no use. They'd scanned us and they were coming. I looked at Erin and saw the fear in her eyes. I had to be strong.

"They're coming, Magnus."

"I know."

"Daddy I'm scared." Her voice broke my heart. I had brought her to this hell. I had put my baby's life in danger. All because of curiosity about the Borg. I bent down and pulled her to me.

"It's going to be ok Annika. Daddy isn't going to let anything happen."

"What's going on?" I didn't have time to answer her question. Right before our eyes, four Borg drones materialized. As quickly as I could I pushed Annika beneath a bulkhead. She would be safe there.

It all began to blur together as the drones advanced. I could hear Erin pleading with them. It wasn't helping. They were going to assimilate us. It's what they did. We should have known that by now.

"No! No!" My voice sounded foreign in my ears. It was like I was in two places at once, one very far from the other. I felt their hands grabbing me, dragging me away from my wife and daughter. I could feel the beam starting to happen, the transport we had hoped we could avoid. And then I saw her. Annika had crawled out from under the bulkhead.

"Daddy!"

"Annika! No!" They'd seen her too. Another drone was at her side in seconds.

The next thing I knew we were on their ship. It looked familiar from all the time we'd spent observing. It would be a waste now. We were thousands of light-years from Starfleet and the Alpha Quadrant. No one would ever know what we had found, what we had learned. They dragged me through the corridors and I could feel the cold sweat dripping down my neck. Then I felt it, assimilation tubules. It was lightning quick and the change was almost immediate. I could feel a pain in my cheek as a piece of metal sprouted. I knew it was only a matter of time before I was like one of them, mindless, emotionless and cold. Screams suddenly filled my ears but all I could think about was Annika. They would take her too. I had failed her. I had let her down.

I tried to fight them as they strapped me to the table. Maybe I could resist them. If I just concentrated on my little girl, maybe I could…

…we are the Borg. Resistance is futile.