August 31st 2411
"Captain's Log: Star Date 388334.689. It has been just over a year since we got trapped here in the Gamma Quadrant and our journey home continues. We have made first contact with over two dozen species since our arrival and have managed to remain loyal to Starfleet guidelines and Federation principles during our time here. Despite the fact that the Apollo is a Nova Class vessel designed for short term planetary survey missions, we have managed to endure the first year of our thirty year long journey home and are one year away from a wormhole that will cut ten thousand lightyears off our journey. Upon crossing through the Veskanan Wormhole, we will be in communications range of the Federation colonies around the Gamma Quadrant end of the Bajoran Wormhole. Hopefully we will then be able to let Starfleet know that we are alive and they will begin doing everything they can to get us home. I of course fear that by now we have been declared lost with all hands and our families presume us dead. If that is the case, then I hope that we get home soon so that they can learn that we are alive."
As Ethan finished the Captain's Log he looked out the window to see the endless sea of stars stretching into the infinite, knowing that somewhere, among that endless abyss, was home. In all the time they had been stuck in the Gamma Quadrant Ethan had looked out at the stars and picturing Earth being one of them. Sometimes he did it just to feel at peace, but other times he did it to remind himself that the purpose of Starfleet was to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilisations and to boldly go where no one had gone before. It was a philosophy that Ethan had lived by ever since joining Starfleet and he had vowed to continue adhering to that policy.
As he continued to think about it, Lieutenant T'Vrell entered all of a sudden and Ethan said "T'Vrell, what brings you in here?" T'Vrell walked over to Ethan's desk and said "Captain. Ensign Sajiv has undergone the Ponn Farr." Ethan's smile disappeared and was replaced with shock as he said "What?" T'Vrell then explained "As you know Captain. Every seven years a Vulcan undergoes the Ponn Farr. In which they feel an unquenchable desire to mate. Sajiv took Ensign T'Ploth as his mate and the two have mated with each other. They used protection and have decided to mate again in order to have a child after we cross the Georgiou Wormhole." Ethan was a little disturbed as T'Vrell explained what had happened and stood up to say "You know T'Vrell, back at the Academy we once had a visit from Lieutenant Naomi Wildman of the U.S.S Voyager. She was the child born on that ship and told us about how just before her mother discovered her pregnancy Captain Janeway and Chakotay had a little debate about the possibility of ship wide fraternization." T'Vrell remembered that visit from Naomi herself and said "Yes I recall that session. Naomi said that she was grateful that Captain Janeway did not force her mother to terminate the pregnancy and said that weather or not a person had a child was up to them. However I find it both logical and illogical to establish a policy on shipwide fraternization."
Ethan thought for a moment about Ensign Sajiv and Ensign T'Ploth's new found marriage and said "You know T'Vrell, I think those two are just the first. The people on this ship have only each other for comfort. It was inevitable that people would start to pair off. I myself found two Ensign's from engineering kissing in the Turbolift just this morning. But the question is, can this ship accommodate a few little Cadets running around? After all, it can hold about one hudred and twenty people." T'Vrell considered the logic in that question. Could the Apollo really accommodate any children the Crew might have? And if so then how? T'Vrell then gave her answer as she said "I believe that a second ship would be needed if it came to that." Ethan looked shocked and confused after T'Vrell gave her answer. Ethan then considered it for a moment and said "Where could we even get another ship from anyway?" T'Vrell then answered "It would be logical that we purchase a freighter from a local power and use it as a second ship for ourselves. Any new families would live on the ship and work on the Apollo." Ethan considered the suggestion for a moment and said "Well. I suppose it's better than manning this one ship fleet." As T'Vrell was about to leave, Ethan said "By the way T'Vrell. I've been meaning to tell you..." T'Vrell looked back at Ethan and asked "Tell me what Captain?" Ethan mustered up his courage and said "Back at the Academy...I was more than a little in love with you." T'Vrell raised her eyebrows in surprise and said "You had affection for me?" Ethan then honestly answered "Yes. In fact I still do." T'Vrell looked surprised, but Ethan himself would be surprised as well as she said "I must confess that I have some...affection for you as well Captain and that I have been considering a potential future we might have together."
The two gazed at each other for a few moments, accepting the fact that they were in love with each other, when all of a sudden Ethan's communicator lit up as Commander Flores said from the Bridge "Captain. We're detecting a large object up ahead. I think you should come to the Bridge." Ethan pressed on his Com Badge and said "Alright then Commander. We'll be there shortly." Ethan and T'Vrell then walked into the Bridge and got to their respective stations as Ensign William Jackson said "Captain if these scans are correct...the object up ahead is shaped like a cube." Ethan froze in shock and asked "A cube?" Ethan had a very worried look on his face as he said "On screen." The view screen then changed to show that up ahead of them was a huge alien ship that was in the shape of a cube. Perfectly symmetrical on each side and drifting in orbit around a nearby gas giant. Shocked and horrified at what he was seeing, William said "Captain! It's the Borg!" Horrified at what he was seeing, but determined to defend his Crew, Ethan got up and said "Red Alert!" The lights then turned red and a worried aura set upon the Crew.
None of them could believe it. Right in front of them was a 3036 metre tall Borg Cube and it brought back painful memories to them all. Such as the devastating Battle of Wolf 359, in which the Borg almost completely wiped out an armada of forty Starfleet ships and thousands were either killed or assimilated into the Collective. There was also the Battle of Sector 001. In which the Borg attacked Earth and went back in time to prevent First Contact and the birth of the Federation. Only to be stopped by Captain Jean Luc Picard and the Crew of the U.S.S Enterprise. As Ethan stared at the Borg Cube with a determination to defeat the Borg he remembered how the Borg had assimilated Captain Mac Taggart at the Vega Colony and how he had been killed in the process. Ethan looked to his left and said "Laren, adjust shields to rotating frequencies. Voq, prepare to fire on that Borg ship should they attack." Both Officers said "Yes Sir." in unison and carried out their orders. Ethan then looked at T'Vrell and said "T'Vrell, launch a scan of that Cube and tell me anything you can about it." T'Vrell enacted a scan and upon seeing the results she said "Strange. There appear to be no Borg drones on board that Cube. In fact, the Cube is completely offline and appears to be drifting." William, thinking he knew what this could be, then suggested "Well maybe this is their new tactic? Leave a Borg Cube in place for someone to find, then wait for them to arrive and launch an attack to assimilate us." T'Vrell looked over at William and said "That is illogical to assume. The Collective would be taking far too great a risk to simply just leave a Borg Cube for someone to find. Like me, they would find it logical to scavenge the Borg Cube for anything that could be of value."
As the Crew pondered on what this could mean for them, Ada walked into the Bridge and asked "Why the Red-" Ada almost gasped in shock as she saw the Borg Cube and asked "Is that a Borg Cube?" Ethan looked back at her and answered "Yes. But it's abandoned. No one's on it and it isn't running at all." Ada had heard nothing of the Borg before joining the Apollo a year earlier and was disgusted by the Borg and outright despised how they forcibly assimilated entire species into their Collective in an effort to conquer the Universe. Ada looked at Captain Rivers and asked "Why is it abandoned?" Ethan wasn't sure why, which was evident as he said "I don't know. But one thing I do know is that the Borg would never just leave an entire Cube to float in space forever. They would scavenge anything they could and would kill or assimilate anyone who tried to scavenge from it." Alisha was suspicious regarding the Cube and said "Now there is something fishy going on here."
Indeed there was something suspicious. Why would a Borg Cube be left abandoned, orbiting this gas giant endlessly? Little did they know that they were about to get their answers as William said "Captain. We're receiving a hail from one of the Gas Giant's moons. An M Class if I'm not mistaken." T'Vrell then checked the scans and said "Captain. There is a large settlement on a peninsula about the size of your home island of Great Britain." Curious about the settlement, Ethan asked "How many people?" T'Vrell checked the scans again and answered "Population numbers around one hundred thousand life signs. Five thousand of which are Human and twenty five thousand are Brunali. Another twenty five thousand are Wysanti. The latter two are Delta Quadrant Species that have been largely assimilated. Of the remaining forty thousand, ten thousand are Vulcan while the remaining thirty thousand are Talaxian."
Ethan was hopeful to finally solve this mystery, so he said "On screen." The viewscreen then changed to show a Talaxian man and a Human woman. It was evident that they were once Borg drones, as the woman had a robotic implant above her eye like the one Seven of Nine had and a few other minor Borg implants across her head. The Talaxian's right eye was gone and in it's place was a Borg optic and his left arm was completely gone due to having been forcibly removed and replaced with a prosthetic arm for maintenance on the Borg Cube. Ethan, hoping to get to the bottom of this mystery, said to the former Borg drones "This is Captain Ethan Rivers of the Federation Star Ship Apollo. Please identify yourselves." The woman had a relieved smile on her face as she said "The Federation? Thank God. I never thought we'd see a Federation ship all the way out here in the Gamma Quadrant." The Talaxian looked as confused as the woman was relieved as he asked "Just how is there a Federation ship all the way out here when the Federation is forty one thousand lightyears away?" Ethan was quick to answer "We got transported here a year ago and are trying to return to the Federation. Now we're hoping to get some answers regarding that Borg Cube." The woman looked hopeful and excited as she said "Well of course. My name's Cassandra and we managed to get de-assimilated and have built a colony here. If you were to come down here we would be glad to explain the exact circumstances." Ethan looked over at William and said "Set a course for the planet. Prepare for a landing and tell Doctor Crawford to analyse the Borg components on the colonists when we land." As William started driving the ship towards the moon, Cassandra said "I look forward to meeting you and your Crew Captain and to learning what's become of the Federation since we've been gone."
Thus the Apollo Crew had just discovered a colony of liberated Borg drones that had built new lives for themselves on this planet. They had begun creating a thriving civilisation and had begun building their own Federation in the Gamma Quadrant. As Ethan sat in his chair thinking about the colony, he asked Alisha "Do you think that they've managed to tolerate each other's differences and prosper as a result?" Alisha thought for a moment as the ship entered the moon's orbit and said "I guess we'll have to find out."