Resistance Is Futile - pt 46

The shuttle hovered far from the Borg cubes. Closer than before certainly.

"Are we in transporter range?" Deanna asked.

"Not quite, but almost." Virginia was busy at the small transporter unit. "Come here."

The Betazoid rose from her seat and stood close to the unit. "Then why have we stopped?"

"So I can tweak this a little more and boost the power and then we'll be in transporter range. Do you see the differences on the screen from what you're already used to?"

Deanna moved around to stand behind the console and studied the mentioned console. It did looked different, with a small screen that looked almost like a medical tricorder display. "I see the differences," Deanna said simply.

"Good. The small screen you see will soon be displaying my life signs." Virginia stood from where she had been kneeling, with her head in the console on the opposite side of Deanna. She tapped a few keys, and came to stand next to Deanna. Her finger tapped the screen that was no alive with lights. "These lines here are my pulse and heart rate. This one is my respiratory rate." She tapped a spot and they suddenly dropped. "Doctor Crusher said that this is what they'll look like once I've been fully assimilated. If they drop below this level...or if this screen over here," Virginia drew Deanna's attention to a smaller screen to the right, "shows any anomaly...beam me out of there as fast as you can and get this ship headed home. Where we are right now, we are out of their reported transporter range. They shouldn't be able to shoot you either, unless they've assimilated some new weapon technology in the past month. So, keep an eye on these monitors and be ready to act in a heartbeat."

Deanna nodded.

"Are you religious at all, Counselor?"

"Not really."

"That's too bad. I'd have liked knowing I had someone praying for me while I was in there. No matter..maybe Ian is." Virginia sighed. She bent low and flipped a panel open. "All right..there we go. We're ready." She straightened and climbed onto the small transporter pad. "At your convenience, Counselor."

Deanna's hand hovered over the controls. "Godspeed, Admiral." Her hands moved effortlessly and the admiral disappeared in the shimmering lights of the transporter beam. Alone, her eyes riveted themselves to the two screens she had been told to watch.