Kosev blinked a few times as he started to come around, groggy and putting his hand to his head as he struggled, “Wh… what happened..” He tried to sit up but couldn't find the strength to pull himself up, and instead relented and laid back down. Lukas came over to him from across the junction and said, “Careful Captain, don't try to move, you've been unconscious for several hours.”

Looking around, Kosev finally realized that they were inside one of the junctions in the Jefferies tubes. He was able to make out Tali at the far side of the junction, and of course Lukas who was kneeling next to him, but he didn't see Tavana right away. He shook his head as he felt a wave of pain and grunted, gritting his teeth trying to get through it. “The last thing I remember.. we were on our way.. to Engineering…” 

Lukas nodded as he continued to tend to Kosev's wounds, “We were almost there, but the phaser fire hit and ruptured one of the plasma conduits. It exploded right in front of you, sir.” He ripped another piece of his uniform jacket and rapped it around Kosev's leg to try and stop the bleeding, but it wasn't working. “You're in pretty bad shape, sir. We've been trying to reach Savar or Dr. Ryan, but we haven't had any luck raising them.”

Kosev took in the news as best he could through the pain, and he grabbed Lukas's arm as he nearly screamed in pain as he replaced the makeshift bandage. Rapidly taking in several short breaths, he closed his eyes, then managed, “What about the ship.”

Lukas shook his head, “We honestly don't know, Captain. After you were hit, the Borg were everywhere. We had no path to Engineering, so we grabbed you and found the nearest access port to the Jefferies tube to regroup and rethink our strategy.”

“What about the rest of the crew?” Kosev asked.

“The Borg are not behaving like anything I've ever read about. They don't seem interested in assimilating the crew, only extermination.” Tali spoke up from across the room. She continued to stand watch just in case the Borg were able to locate their position. Lukas nodded, then added, “Another thing we've noticed is that only the youngest members of the crew seem to be affected by whatever is going on. Anyone older than, I'd say maybe thirty or so, doesn't seem affected.”

“I'm only twenty-six, it hasn't affected me.” Tavana added, Kosev finally realizing she was behind him where he couldn't see her. 

“Okay, so then anyone younger than twenty-six. Point is, much of our crew is young, not to mention all of the younger Avalon engineering officers that are onboard still conducting repairs. We were totally outnumbered and overwhelmed within minutes.” Lukas said, looking down and still tending to the Captain's injuries. 

Kosev stayed quiet for a moment and tried to absorb all the new information while also combating the extreme pain he continued to feel. He tried to think of some miraculous plan or way out of this situation, but nothing was coming to mind. “Are we able to determine the status of the ship? Have we left the fleet yards?”

Tavana spoke up again, shaking her head, “Yes, sir, we are still at the fleet yards. The plasma conduit damage to the Engineering deck, plus some additional sabotage from myself and Commander Murphy, have rendered the ship dead in the water. Repairs would take at least a week, maybe more.”

“For us, the Borg might be able to get it done sooner.” Lukas chipped in. 

“These ‘Borg’ are different. They don't appear to have any visible cybernetic devices, the crew just appears to be under their control somehow. If they hadn't introduced themselves as Borg, I'm not sure that's who I would have thought was controlling them.” Tali said. 

“Our top priority has to be taking control of the ship.” Kosev said, feeling more lightheaded than ever with all the energy he has been expending to keep himself alert for the conversation. 

Lukas looked to the Captain and said, “Captain, there isn't enough of us to take back control. There was at least twenty Borg chasing us before we lost them in the Jefferies tube, and they all seem to be armed with phasers set to kill.”

Kosev grunted, then looked to his Operations chief and said, “Well, if retaking the ship is not an option, then we destroy it.” All three of his officers looked at him as if he had completely caught them all off guard. “I can't speak to what their motives are, but I refuse to let this ship remain under Borg control.”

“We may not have to.” Tali said, then signaled for all of them to keep quiet as she approached the Jefferies tube entrance. Pressing her ear up to the entrance, she heard voices of frightened crew members speaking on the other side, but wasn't able to make out what they were saying. Quieting making her way back to the Captain's position, she reported, “I can hear crew members talking on the other side of the hatch, but I can't make out what they're saying.”

Kosev looked to all of them and asked, “Does anyone recall the Borg communicating verbally with each other when this all started? If memory serves, they should all be linked to the hive mind and shouldn't have any need for verbal communication.”

Tavana and Lukas nodded, and Lukas added, “Agreed, we didn't see them communicating verbally at all, sir."

Kosev looked to Tali and said, “I know this is a risk and puts all our safeties in jeopardy, but I want you to investigate. Maybe there are more crew members out there that we can rescue.”

Tali nodded, grabbing her phaser and heading back to the hatch leading to the corridor. Counting to three in her head, she summoned all the courage she could muster and opened the hatch, pointing her phaser out towards the several crew members she seen in the hall. 

Lukas shouted, “Tali! Are you alright?!” Grabbing his phaser and preparing to rush in behind her to assist. 

Kosev heard her laugh and say, “It's alright! The crew… they seem to be alright!” She stepped out of the Jefferies tube and was immediately greeted by several of the crew that had been trying to kill them only a few hours earlier. A few minutes later and Lukas and Tavana appeared, with the Captain in tow.

“Captain!” Savar said as he rounded the corner and rushed over to their position. Seeing his longtime friend still alive pushed emotions to the surface that he couldn't readily suppress, and he didn't realize that he had been smiling as he ran over to him. It an error that he quickly rectified as soon as he realized, but not before Kosev noticed and returned the feeling. 

“The Captain needs immediate medical attention, he's hurt badly.” Lukas reported to the first officer.

Savar nodded, then picked up his Andorian friend and said, “Transporters are offline, I'll take him to sickbay. Dr. Ryan is there treating injured officers, go through the ship and have any injured officers report there for medical attention.”

Lukas nodded and continued on with Tali and Tavana, while Savar carried Kosev to the turbolift. Kosev had almost lost consciousness but managed to say, “I'm glad you're alright, my friend.”

Savar, still fighting to suppress his emotions of the moment, said, “Not as.. glad as I am, Captain.”

As they approached sickbay, Kosev managed to keep mostly conscious and saw Dr. Ryan tending to another officer before Savar urgently called her over. Rushing to him, and immediately issuing orders to her medical staff to grab various instruments to contain the bleeding, she said, “Nice to see you, Captain. I was hoping our first week together wasn't going to be our last.”

“It may still be, Doctor.” Kosev grunted slightly, attempting to manage a smirk. 

Aleah smiled back and said, “Nonsense, sir. You're going to be fine, we are prepping you for surgery now, but you will make a full recovery.” Kosev laid back and closed his eyes, letting out a deep breath before losing consciousness.