"We must mind meld." His words were spoken with serene calm, not a hint of emotion about it.

But he had explained what a "mind meld" was to her mere minutes before and she wasn't a fan. Not at all. "You can't be serious. I told you what I saw, where I was, who I talked with and you still need to jack into my mind to see if I'm telling the truth?" Lily Sloane shook her head vehemently, the room around her echoing her voice loudly. "No. No. I don't need you in my brain, thank you."

Z drunkenly chuckled from her right, his cheeks flush from the booze. "He just likes you," the taller man slurred, taking a deep sip from his bottle. "Just wants to see how naughty you are."

She glared at him as hard as she could.

Solkar took no offense to it. "Doctor Cochrane, my interest in a mind meld with Miss Sloane is based on logic, not 'like.'" He took a step forward toward her. "I believe you, but I need more than just your testimony to confirm these series of events. What you say will not be enough for my government."

Lily slapped the table in frustration and turned away from them both, forcing herself to stare at the blank, metal wall behind her. "And what is your government going to do, exactly? What can it do?"

"I don't know," the Vulcan admitted. "I can tell you only what I will do."

Arms crossed, she turned and drilled her eyes into him -- a lesser man would have withered but this was no man, this was an alien. "And what will you do?"

"Yeah," Z added before a hiccup cut off the rest of his sentence.

Solkar's eyebrow arched up. "What is most logical; in this situation, preparing for the enemy using all ethical and moral means."

Lily stared at him with a mixture of disbelief and confusion. She leaned forward, a crooked grin on her face. "How the hell do you prepare for mechanical zombies?"

"That is part of the reason why we must meld. To gain a better understanding of their technology I must study them. The only way to do that at this juncture is by examining your memories and experiences involving them." The Vulcan took a breath. "However, it is your right to refuse the meld."

Lily scowled, rubbing her wrist as she tried to come to a conclusion. Having her mind opened up and invaded telepathically by an alien she just met a day ago wasn't her idea of fun ... but only she had seen the Borg. Z hadn't -- and even if he had, he was probably too drunk to pay much attention to it anyway.

"If I say no, what are the chances your government takes this seriously?"

"Less than two percent," Solkar answered without hesitation.

She wasn't sure if he had just made up a bullshit figure or not but it didn't matter; she agreed with it. Hell, the whole thing sounded crazy (and Z's testimony certainly didn't make it sound less crazy), and if it sounded crazy to her, it had to sound crazy to the new aliens.

She took a chair, whipped it around, and sat on it, her body tense. "Let's do this."

Solkar slightly cocked his head to the side. He took a chair and sat across from her. "You will feel no pain, no discomfort ... however, this has never been attempted with your species before. There may be unforeseen consequences." He met her eyes, his tone growing softer. "I will take every precaution to ensure your safety."

Lily took a deep breath and then released it, a little tension going with it. The last two days had seen her be beamed onto a future spaceship, fighting future aliens, and participating in the event that would lead to a future she hadn't dared to dream of. What's one more crazy thing going to hurt? "Just tell me what I need to do."

"Try to focus on the Borg, on the future ship, on your experiences. That is where we wish to go. The rest I will do." He took his right hand and pressed it firmly against her cheek, his touch cold to her skin. "Do not be alarmed."

"Alarmed isn't the first word that comes to mind." She closed her eyes and did as she was told, revisiting the memories of the past two days.

"My mind to your mind. Your thoughts to my thoughts," he said slowly. He repeated this mantra twice more before she began to feel ... something.

A sense of peace, of tranquility, overtook her. "My mind to your mind," she repeated back, her eyes opening and looking into his.

And she could see him looking into hers ...

The world around her melted away, like a watercolor painting after being left out in the rain. She took a breath and realized the air was thicker ... more humid.

Hotter.

A red light was flashing around her, first from darkness and then, slowly, it illuminated other things ... a floor, a wall, a door ... all things she recognized. She was aboard the Enterprise, aboard Jean-Luc's vessel.

She pressed her hands against her face, feeling the sweat on her cheeks and the dampness of her palms. "How?" she mumbled to herself.

"Fascinating," a much calmer voice said from behind her. She whirled around to see Solkar standing there, dressed in his robe, his eyes taking in their surroundings. "I have never seen a configuration like this before."

His voice, like hers, had an echo to it, a sort of doubling effect. She could hear him, but it was like she was hearing him twice, a difference of maybe a second.

"Our minds are one," he said, and she heard him say it before he his mouth moved. "What you hear are my thoughts before my speech. An interesting effect."

Feeling much too much like a guinea pig, Lily squared up her shoulders and closed the gap between them. "How does this feel so real?"

"The meld is based on your perception of the events, of your memories of them. Judging by how I feel -- and how I sense you feel -- you were very aware of your surroundings while here."

Aware? I was fighting for my life!

"I get that impression, yes," he observed dispassionately, his eyes meeting hers.

Suddenly she felt very naked under his gaze, as though he could see and hear everything. "Solkar ... what now?"

He regarded her for a moment longer before turning his attention back to the environment around them. "Let us start with your first experience with these Borg."

"Well --" But her words failed her as their surroundings changed violently, the images and lights blurring in one motion before she found herself surrounded by Borg, the guts of the walls and deck exposed for all to see, black and green tubing growing from them like cancerous tumors. She stumbled back into one, screaming as she stepped away from it before two hands found her shoulders.

She let out another scream as she was turned around, but she only found Solkar's face. "Focus on me," he told her firmly, his voice loud but not overwhelming.

The sounds of the Borg, their gears and gizmos whirring, died away as things became muted. All she could hear was their breathing and her heartbeat.

"What ... what is this?" she forced out, her heart pounding in her ears as she desperately tried not to turn around, not to imagine herself around those things.

"Your feeling of fear has been amplified by the meld ... partially a result of my emotions." He took a deep breath, the green tinge in his face more pronounced than before.

"Your emotions?" She clenched her fists, reminding herself that this wasn't real, that she wasn't really here again. "But you told us that Vulcans don't allow emotions to rule them ... that you did away with them."

"In a manner of speaking." He took another breath and then let go.

A sense of calm washed over her and her heart slowed. She looked around and found that they were still there, still surrounded by Borg, but they weren't moving and there was no noise coming from them. It was like standing in a picture of her worst nightmare.

Solkar stepped before her, his eyes examining the nearest Borg closely. "A bio-mechanical exoskelton, perhaps." He got right up to the Borg's face, the pale grey skin a stark contrast to the Vulcan's. "I understand why you find them so ... disconcerting."

"Understatement," she managed, words still hard to come across. "Jean-Luc told me that they're a hive mind ... they take individuals and strip them of everything that makes them a person --"

"Assimilation," Solkar finished. He turned back to her. "Jean-Luc ... Captain Picard ... he was made into one of them."

"Yes." The word was small, but the memory of what Jean-Luc said, of how he said it, chilled her even now. Everything Human about him was taken and replaced with machinery, all against his will.

Solkar cocked his head slightly to the side. "I see."

"See what?"

"Your thoughts, your memories ... all of this." He stared at her and she got the sense that he was looking in her, too. "Take a deep breath."

Before she could ask why, the world around her darkened, like someone had turned out the lights. A blackness overtook her, so whole and so suffocating that she couldn't breathe. Panicking, she tried to call out but no sound came. She couldn't feel anything ...

"Open."

Her eyes shot open and she breathed in like she had been holding her breath underwater for all her life. Her lungs ached from the effort and she gripped the table next to her with a trembling hand.

Solkar was before her, his face tenser than before, but his eyes held not a hint of disbelief. "Lily Sloane, what you have given me today will not be forgotten. I promise you that."

"Sure," she said breathlessly, trying to get a hold of herself.

The Vulcan stood from his chair. "You must rest now ... the recovery process may take some time for you."

She looked up at him, the word "rest" suddenly making her feel very, very tired. "And ... you?"

He looked at the wall behind her, his eyes not staring at it but definitely at something. "I ... will meditate. Then speak with my government." He gave a swift nod and left.

Lily barely had the energy to get up, so she didn't even bother. She put her arms on the table, then her head on her arms, and let sleep take her.

She welcomed the darkness.