Part Two of Star Trek: Tesseract

In 2378, the crew of the USS Voyager delivered a devastating blow to the Borg Collective when they destroyed a key transwarp hub to the Alpha Quadrant, and the Borg unicomplex.  They hoped it would be the end of the Borg threat.  They were wrong.

Nearly eight years later, the crew of the USS Tesseract -- the first official Starfleet mission of exploration to the Delta Quadrant – has found a quadrant in ruins, torn apart by the Collective and a new, more terrifying kind of Borg -- the Borg Resistance.  They are free of the Collective, free of established protocols, without cohesion or unity, and operating under cloak.  Their new superweapon could put an end to warp society as the galaxy has known it – but it’s also the only thing standing between the Borg Collective and its ultimate goal of assimilating or destroying the entire United Federation of Planets.

Now, while the Federation and its tenuous allies prepare for a full-scale Borg invasion, the Tesseract crew -- alone in the Delta Quadrant -- must find a way to finish what Voyager started, and one young ex-Borg Starfleet officer must decide whether to embrace his destiny ... or boldly defy it.

Eighteen-year-old John Quigley has waited a lifetime for an opportunity to get away from his self-destructive mother's cycle of abuse. Starfleet Academy is his dream escape, but when he fails to make the cut, he must decide whether to endure another year of hell in exchange for one more chance.

Winner: No One Wins All the Time Challenge

It's 2379, and Cadet 3rd-Class John Quigley's Starfleet career is about to end before it begins ... until help arrives from an unexpected source. �Sometimes it's good to have friends -- or friends-of-friends -- in high places.

(Rated T for language.)

March 2381 -- For two and a half years, Maren O’Connor has been the primary source of acceptance and encouragement in Icheb’s life at Starfleet Academy.  They’re so close people call them “The Collective” – but what happens when they’re forced to be apart?

(My entry for the "Outside the Comfort Zone" Weekly Prompt)

Seven scenes between 100 and 500 words.  Some connect, some don't.  Just seven random moments in the life of Maren O'Connor, eventual chief engineer of the USS Tesseract.   

Written for the Twelve Trials of Triskelion Ficlet Flashdance 2013.

Companion piece to Separation Anxiety from Maren O'Connor's point-of-view.  Inspired by a request from Lil black dog.   

John Quigley's life so far, measured by the noses he's smashed in anger -- and those he managed to refrain from breaking.

Written for the April 2014 "Innocence" Challenge

Trigger warnings:  Substance abuse, domestic violence, child neglect.

What would have happened if everything had gone according to plan after Icheb decided to ask Maren to spend her life with him?

Here's a peek into an alternate universe where things went right.

Written for the TToT 2015 "Ficlet Flashdance" Challenge.