Ethics, Morality and Pathogens, Oh My

Posted on Mon Jan 12th, 2026 @ 10:20pm by Commodore Elias McEntyre & Commander Cressida Vale MD & Lieutenant Colonel Jesse Moriarty & Major Blez Dralis & Commander Rylen Lyo

2,861 words; about a 14 minute read

Mission: Pilot - "The Gate"
Location: Sickbay
Timeline: some time after "New Information"

ON

After the briefing in the ward room, Dr. Cressida Vale had taken some time to look further into the Brunali pathogen mentioned by Major Dralis. She'd reviewed everything she could get her hands on, including the reports of all major Borg encounters.

It was helpful to be thorough. Comprehensive, even. Most of what she read had little use from a medical standpoint (though she did file away all information on the assimilation process and known instances of the process's reversal). But these days she'd been looking more and more at the world from a command perspective. The Battle of Wolf 359 or the Battle of the Regula Badlands might not have serious implications for her as a doctor, but might inform future decisions if she had to take command.

Her own experience with the Borg was limited. She had been a junior medical officer aboard USS Jupiter during the Battle of the Hayre Expanse. Most of what she experienced was treating the injuries most common to space battles, but that had changed when the ship's shields went down and drones beamed over. Thank goodness she'd had training with the I-Mod Rifle. A security officer had been carrying one when he came into sickbay and while he had been in no condition to fight, she could fend off the arriving drones until reinforcements could get to them.

That incident, she'd learned in her review today, had been against an isolated group cut off from the main Collective. Indeed, it seemed all encounters with Borg ships since USS Voyager's return had been similar. Micro-collectives without access to a larger network.

An effect of the Brunali pathogen? Her clearance let her read the Janeway Report. A future Admiral Janeway had further developed it and apparently used it against the Borg Queen.

Introducing that virus to one ship destroyed the ship. Introducing it to the heart of the Collective did significantly more damage.

But her reading material went beyond Borg history.

She remembered what Connie had told her. About the ease with which Cressida seemed to invoke violence to save more lives. She'd apologized for the chosen word but the point apparently stuck, because here she was now reading about heinous things people have done for the so-called 'greater good'....


One Hour Later

"I appreciate the three of you coming to see me," Cressida said. Her office was thankfully big enough to fit Commodore McEntyre, Commander Lyo, and Major Dralis. "I wanted to continue our conversation about the Brunali pathogen."

Blez spoke up first as he was the one who mentioned it in the briefing. "It would be foolish to not have all anti-Borg resources at our disposal, we will be on our own. For the most part. The Borg in M33 may be far stronger than the Borg we know here. Who knows what they may have been up to out there, I, for one, won't risk our safety on possibilities." His tone a little heated on that last word, probably due to his sons being aboard.

He glanced around. "I want the Commodore to have all the options available to him, let us not forget that the virus can be reprogrammed. I'm sure Starfleet Medical may have done several variants already." Blez offered with a smile.

"I agree with Major Dralis. For all we know, the M33 Borg may have evolved on a different technological path than the Borg we're familiar with. It could even be that they're not even Borg in the manner in which we're accustom too" Elias added on to what Blez had said.

"Either way, run down what options are in the tool box"

"Functionally, we have the knowledge and resources to deploy different variants of the weapon," Cressida explained. "Between me and handful of others in Medical and Ops, we can synthesize and utilize something that will very likely be effective, presuming any Borg that exist in M33 follow at least the basic structure of the Milky Way Borg, the hive mind being the singular driver.

"But," she continued, emphasizing the word. "I'd like us to reconsider such a deployment, on moral and ethical grounds." She shifted in her seat before going on. "This isn't a computer virus we're talking about, meant to disable an artificial construct. It's a genetic weapon meant to destroy a lifeform from the bottom up. Commodore, the Federation and its members decided long ago that some weapons weren't appropriate to use on ethical grounds. Poison gases, antipersonnel mines, antipersonnel incendiaries, all outlawed for good reason, and pathogens are in the same category."

She held up her PADD showing the Voyager Report. Everyone in the room was cleared. "The time-displaced Janeway used a variant of the Brunali weapon, but this was very much the act of a desperate and highly damaged psyche and she caused a literal genocide. Yes it was against the Borg, and I understand how much has been lost to them, but this is a big deal and we shouldn't take it lightly. And I'd be remiss in my duty not to present this argument to you. To all of you."

She waited for an initial reaction.

"I agree with the doctor, this should only be used as a last resort option." Elias started, serious and somber. "Guinevere has in it's compliment, a full inventory of Transphasic Torpedoes. They have proven effective against Borg ships. I'm having more transferred from the New Hope before we depart through the gate." Elias added to the conversation.

"I'm no expert on the Borg," Jesse Moriarty let his hands rest on his hips, watching on with a frown that darkened his features. "But isn't genocide *their* goal? Spreading across the galaxy, assimilating anything of value along the way? Sometimes, when a thug keeps punching down, you have to hit them back."

Lyo sighed heavily. In situational circles, his approaches tended to be more on the hawkish side than most, and certainly erring on the side of crew safety had at times caused his decisions to be heavy-handed. This was not one of those cases, however. Deployment of the Brunali neurolytic pathogen, while tactically sound, was ethically questionable at best.

“I’m afraid I have to concur with Doctor Vale,” said the Kriosian. “Simply because we have the means to deploy a weapon does not mean that we should do so. Especially when we have much more conventional strategies that we know are effective. But, that raises another potential issue: what if the Borg adapt to the transphasic torpedo?”

Blez grinned, "from what I understand of the Transphasic torpedo is that it is automatically remodulating its casing's structural integrity field and explosive yield every second as it flies to its target, or at least that should be the idea behind the technology." He gave an open hands gesture. "The Borg would never be able to adapt, though they may get lucky once in a million chance. That said," he turned to Cressida, his grin faded. "You are okay with weapons, such as the Transphasic torpedo, destroying drones and not okay with biological weapons destroying the drones. The end result is the same, and if I had been assimilated with no hope of reliable rescue, I'd want whatever tactical options available to Starfleet to be used to stop me from being used to assimilate more lifeforms. Consider this: by your argument, all our weapons are unethical. Ethics is an enlightened concept for cultures that respect it and live by it. But the Borg do not. Since we haven't been actively rescuing drones, can that high-ground ethics really be applied to our war with them?" He held up a hand to stall any replies.

He frowned. "I don't think so, don't get me wrong, I do believe it should be our last resort and not be ashamed since we tried all we could by using what we know, and what is available to us. As it happens, sadly, we fire immediately as soon as they appear because it's us or them. If we had a reliable way to effect long-range de-assimilation biological delivery methods," he paused, glancing away slightly for a second and added, "I did say that right?" He returned his gaze to the CMO again, quickly, Blez continued. "That will be the only ethical weapon as we'd be able to radically mass rescue people, but we don't so until we do, our survival is by all means necessary to one day create that technology, would you agree?" His face went neutral as he finished.

"Survival is one thing," Cressida answered. "But survival at any cost is another. Honestly, you're correct that the best weapon would be something which enables us to rapidly and safely reverse the assimilation process. You're also right that this can seem a bit arbitrary. Death by explosion or phaser is fine, why am I arguing about death by disease? But I think it is a step too far."

She looked to Colonel Moriarty. "With any other opponent, the line is pretty clear. If we need to destroy them, there are ways that it's considered ethical and ways that it's considered criminal. A spread of quantum torpedoes earns you a medal, but beaming a deadly virus into their air circulation system earns you a life sentence at New Zealand Penitentiary. This applies whether the opponent is attacking us for some specific, understandable goal or if they're attempting genocide against us. The Borg may be in the latter category, but I think we need to keep in mind what makes us different. The understanding of moral lines and that we don't cross them."

Cressida then looked back to the Commodore. "There's also a strategic argument. Pathogens of all sorts have a tendency of rapidly evolving. Generation times are short and number of organisms is why. Mutation permits them to adapt and evolve, including to find new hosts. An anti-Borg pathogen might not remain solely anti-Borg for long. It won't do us any good to introduce a plague to M33."

"Some excellent points, Doctor, for which if used, we should keep an eye on in order to see if such happens both on the battlefield and in the lab." Blez kept his neutral expression. He nodded, "if only we could find out how the Borg created nanoprobes, I know the Doctor from Voyager did research on them when they encountered Species 8472. Wait a minute what about those nanites that the Enterprise-D discovered that are sentient, perhaps they can help us develop reverse-assimilation—apologies, I tend to ramble sometimes."

The unjoined Trill blushed with embarrassment and glanced down at the floor.

"All good suggestions worth exploring," Cressida said, eager to keep things positive. It was important that even though they might disagree on this, there were no hard feelings. "I'll be working with Engineering and Science to ensure we have a full suite of anti-Borg capabilities, including assimilation reversal, person-to-person combat, and ship-to-ship combat. If ordered, I'll ensure we have a pathogen capability as a last resort option, but I needed to voice my concerns. I want to thank you all for listening to them."

"Hang on," Moriarty lifted a hand slightly as he tried to get his head around the points of view that had been aired so far. "Yes, if the Borg were a species we'd be talking about genocide, but they're not. They're a collection of enslaved individuals from across the galaxy. That's not a species, it's a prison. The virus wouldn't be killing a race of people, it'd be putting an end to slavery. They can't even speak for themselves...they're literally drones. But I can guarantee that if you spoke to a victim of the Cardassians, they'd have a few strong words to say if you tried to claim that their enslavement made them part of the Cardassian species..."

Blez focused on Jesse as he spoke and ran through what he knew of the Borg. "It comes down to how we define assimilation. To me, it is the suppression of individuality, not the erasure of it. Culture is buried, not destroyed. It isn't strictly genocide. Once a drone is liberated, those memories can be restored. Perhaps as a side affect, a new culture is born: the Liberated, Freed or Cooperative Borg and the xB slang. I've heard some species won't allow former drones to return home and so they must make their own to belong to." He continued to present his thoughts. "The issue is the Borg concept itself will never die as all the former drones must keep their nanoprobes and Borg implants to survive until their biology can reassert itself or the implants replaced by biological synthetics."

The Trill frowned and turned to Cressida. "The Borg are, at their core, just nanoprobes: technological parasites. They created a Queen and a Hivemind to force enslavement upon hosts." Blez paused, his mind drifting to the neural parasites that once infiltrated Starfleet Command: the 'Bluegills.' In some circles, they were considered a dark reflection of Trill symbiosis. "Attacking the nanoprobes by technological means isn't advisable, they'd simply 'adapt' and 'assimilate' it eventually. Voyager's crew managed to liberate many using a virus, when they discovered Unimatrix Zero, thanks to a mutation as a result of assimilation, and that war could still be active. I hope it is."

He blinked, realizing he was lecturing. "Sorry. I’ve spent a lot of time analyzing Voyager’s logs alongside my own biological studies. It paints a grim picture. What I'm getting at is that this stand point can calm the moral and ethical concerns regarding biological delivery methods—if it destroys or de-assimilates is something for Sciences and your department to work out." He schooled a neutral face as he wasn't sure anything else was appropriate for the current discussion.

"This would be a fascinating debate for the halls of the Academy or Professor Vale's own lecture series, as Dr. Vale can attest to on the subject of moral and ethics about the Borg but what I seek is options we can use solidly if we're boarded by the Borg." Elias had to direct the conversation back to the topic at hand.

"You'll have them, sir," Cressida assured him. "We've not let you down yet and we don't plan to start today."

Moriarty nodded firmly to the Commodore, in complete agreement. He fundamentally disagreed with the idea that the Borg were a species and therefore could be the victims of genocide, but what he actually cared about was keeping the ship and crew safe...and any bystanders that might get caught in the crossfire. "We can argue semantics until we're blue in the face, but if we hesitate, people could die. If we're able to utilise this virus, even if it's just to have it as an insurance policy, I think it would be remiss of us not to have it locked and loaded. In the mean time, we can start drilling the entire crew with the holosuites and anti-borg weaponry."

"It'll be ready," Cressida assured the FGF detachment commander. "I'll concede the need for an insurance policy." She let out a sigh. "I remember I-mod rifles. My back certainly does anyway. Out of curiosity, have they been lightened at all in the past decade, or are they still hefty?" She smiled, hoping her question would lighten the mood a bit.

"Last I recall, they still got a good weight to them. We have a very limited number aboard, only enough for a fireteam." Elias commented.

"We'll put together a team, get them drilled. We can also dust off the projectiles weapons, even the melees," Moriarty assured with a firm nod. That was something he *could* deal with. Solid, practical, useful. "Looks like you're off the hook, Doctor..." he added wryly.

"I pray the Borg do not adapt their shields to physical melee attacks," Blez muttered, "we should add TR-116 rifles and bladed weapons as you say sir to the weapons lockers and train with them more as well. Better prepared than..." He let that hang in the air.

"Agreed. I'll order the Master-At-Arms to begin replicating the 116s immediately. If there anything else, gentlemen?" Elias asked.

“Nothing on my end,” Cressida said. “Except to thank you all for listening to my concerns.”

A glance sidewards and back at those in the office, Blez nodded. "Nothing regarding this particular subject." He answered and stood.

Moriarty gave a brisk shake of the head. He'd aired his concerns. Now it was up to the Commodore which way this was going to play out. Whatever the decision, he'd have his back.

"Then let's be about it then. Thank you all." Elias says as he nods and turns to head out of the sickbay.

off

Commodore Elias McEntyre
Commanding Officer
USS Guinevere NCC-80518

Commander Cressida Vale, MD
Chief Medical Officer and Second Officer
USS Guinevere NCC-80518

Lt. Colonel Jesse Moriarty
Detachment Commanding Officer
USS Guinevere NCC-80518

Major Blez Dralis
Detachment Executive Officer
Provost Marshal
USS Guinevere NCC-80518

Lieutenant Commander Drevas
Chief Tactical Officer
USS Guinevere NCC-80518

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