Let Sleeping Borg Lie (episode)

When the crew encounters a dormant Borg cube, Zero risks everything to save their ship.

Summary[]

Act One[]

With Gwyn's memories returned, the crew of the USS Protostar reviews the holodeck log from when the Diviner first showed her his mission. The crew discusses the situation, and Hologram Janeway expresses disbelief that she wouldn't know about it. Jankom Pog points out that she has had her memory wiped before, and she accepts his point. When the playback is about to show the hologram of Zero remove their containment suit, Zero hastily turns it off. They express their concern about hurting someone else and hastily leave.

The crew to searches the ship for the Diviner's weapon, and discover it in a secret subdeck underneath the bridge, accessed via a reaction with Gwyn's heirloom. However, they can't find a way to disarm or destroy it. Not long after, the proximity alert sounds and the crew return to the bridge to see that they've come across a dormant Borg cube. Though Hologram Janeway strongly advises them to leave the area, citing how dangerous the Borg are, the crew decides that since the Borg have accumulated knowledge from across the galaxy, they may know how to disarm the weapon.

On the USS Dauntless, Admiral Janeway glumly orders black tea from a replicator, which surprises Ensign Asencia as the admiral is not drinking her usual coffee. Janeway explains that she had to switch from coffee to tea on doctor's orders, though quips that she "needs a second opinion". But the ensign didn't come to talk about beverages.

They arrive in sickbay and Janeway asks Dr. Noum about the comatose alien that they found at Tars Lamora – The Diviner. Noum states that the patient is recovering, but that he has no way of reviving him since he is unfamiliar with his biochemistry. Ascensia has the idea to replicate the serum from the Diviner's biosuit to see if it will help revive him. Her idea impresses both the admiral and the doctor. Ascensia informs Janeway that they will arrive at Relay Station 721 within a few hours, and Janeway directs Dr. Noum to continue working to revive his patient.

Act Two[]

Hologram Janeway informs the Protostar crew that the Borg are dormant due to being infected with a neurolytic pathogen. The crew enters the Borg cube and sees a large number of Borg drones, frightening them. Zero leads the crew to the vinculum, from which they intend to directly access the information stored by the Borg. Jankom is unable to access the information because the viniculum does not have a console that can be accessed without being part of the Collective. The crew realizes someone will have to allow themself to be assimilated in order to access the information. Zero volunteers since Medusans, like Borg, are of a hive mind, and therefore they have firsthand knowledge of what it is like to be part of a hive mind and a better chance at resisting the Borg's collective will.

Zero promises Dal that they will return safely from being assimilated, and then plugs themself into the Collective. Inside the hive mind, they introduce themself to the Borg and are surprised that the Borg are unbothered by their appearance. The Borg inform Zero that they will be assimilated, and Zero struggles to resist, overwhelmed by the hive mind.

Meanwhile, the dormant Borg inside of the cube begin to awaken and approach the Protostar crew. Hologram Janeway is unable to beam the crew out due to interference, and they must flee, chased by Borg attempting to assimilate them. The crew fails to run from the Borg and attempts to fight them off, but after a short battle, everyone except Gwyn is defeated and captured by the Borg.

Act Three[]

Inside the Collective, Zero attempts to negotiate with the Borg, but the Borg are not cooperative, and Zero is struggling to hold onto their sense of self. The Borg state that they plan to assimilate the Living Construct and use it as a weapon of their own, and that they will assimilate the Protostar crew, starting with Zero.

Gwyn searches the Borg cube and finds Dal, Jankom and Rok in an assimilation chamber restrained and being prepped for assimilation. Just then, Zero arrives, but the crew are shocked to see that Zero has already been turned into a Borg drone.

Zero attempts to assimilate Jankom, expressing their regret for hurting their friends in the past and saying that they will no longer hurt anyone now that they are Borg, but will assimilate them instead. Gwyn saves Zero from being assimilated by telling them that she appreciates them trying to protect her even though she got hurt and reminding them that the Protostar crew are their collective. They break free of the collective, sending out a shock wave that disables the other Borg drones in the area. The crew returns to the Protostar and flies away from the Borg cube.

Back on the Protostar, Zero reports that the weapon, called the Living Construct, can neither be deactivated or removed. Though the crew realizes this means they can't go to Starfleet, the crew decides that they can still use the ship to do good. They receive a distress signal and decide to help, with Dal as captain.

Later, the Dauntless tracks the Protostar's last movement and discovers the destroyed comm relay station. Admiral Janeway realizes that Chakotay must no longer be in command of the ship, and vows to stop whoever destroyed the station.

Meanwhile, in sickbay, the Diviner suddenly wakes up, gasping for air.

Log entries[]

• Admiral's log, Stardate 61284.3. We arrived at CR 721 only to make a frightening discovery: a helpless Starfleet relay station decimated, no sign of survivors. The Captain Chakotay I know could never do this. I fear he's lost command of the Protostar, and whoever gave this order must be stopped.

Memorable quotes[]

"Look, Jankom fully understands he needs to be sensitive, but… THERE'S A WEAPON ABOARD OUR SHIP THAT WE GOTTA FIND!!!"

- Jankom Pog

"You aren't actually considering boarding that ship? I'm an advisor. I advise you to run away as fast as you can."

- Hologram Janeway, to the Protostar crew

"Tea… black."
"Admiral, you're not drinking coffee?"
"Doctor's orders. Between you and me, Ensign, I need a second opinion. But I know you didn't come here to talk about beverages."

- Admiral Janeway and Asencia

"I wish I knew how to kiss tail like that, Ensign. Keep it up and we'll be taking orders from you…"

- Dr. Noum, to Asencia

"Resistance is futile."

- Rhino Borg

"You will be assimilated."
"Eh, I'm good."

- Borg drone and Dal

"We may not be ready for Starfleet, but we're ready to take your orders, Captain."
"Then let's do some good. Plot a course."

- Zero and Dal

"You're growing and adapting."
"Eh, what can I say? Resistance is futile."

- Hologram Janeway and Dal

Background information[]

Title[]

• The title was announced by Paramount+ in 25 October 2022. [1] The title was erroneously listed on Crave as "Let Sleeping Borgs Lie".
• It is a reference to the phrase, "Let sleeping dogs lie", meaning to allow something that is currently harmless to remain so by not bothering it. The same phrase was also the basis of the Star Trek: Enterprise episode title "Sleeping Dogs".

Continuity[]

• The Protostar crew replayed the events of "A Moral Star, Part 2" on the ship's holodeck.
• The Protostar encounters a dormant Borg cube that was disabled by a neurolytic pathogen. Future Admiral Janeway introduced such a pathogen to the Borg Collective in the Star Trek: Voyager finale, "Endgame".
• The crew is briefed by Hologram Janeway on the Borg, whom she strongly suggests they should avoid, and advises them to locate the ship's vinculum, first encountered in the Voyager episode "Survival Instinct". Following the encounter, the relieved Janeway confessed, "I've had enough Borg for two lifetimes."
• The Medusans were identified by the Borg designation "Species 802".

Links and references[]

Cast[]

• Rylee Alazraqui as Rok-Tahk
• Dee Bradley Baker as Murf
• Brett Gray as Dal
• Angus Imrie as Zero
• Ella Purnell as
  • Gwyn
  • Gwyn (hologram)
• Jason Mantzoukas as Jankom Pog
• John Noble as
  • The Diviner
  • The Diviner (hologram)

And

• Kate Mulgrew as "Hologram Janeway/Vice Admiral Janeway"
• Jason Alexander as Doctor Noum
• Bonnie Gordon as Ship Computer
• Jameela Jamil as Asencia
• Ben Thomas as
  • The Borg
  • Rhino Borg
  • Borg Drones

Background characters[]

• Zero (hologram)
• Bolian command ensign
• Borg drones
• Human command officer 1
• Human command officer 2
• Human operations lieutenant
• Human operations officer
• Human sciences officer
• Orion sciences ensign
• Vulcan command lieutenant

References[]

admiral; advisor; alliance; alloy; airlock; aperture valve; assimilate; augment; beam; beverage; bioserum; black tea; Bolian; Borg; Borg Collective; Borg cube (unnamed); Borg drone; box; brain; bridge; Brikar; bulkhead; button; captain (rank); captain (title); carbon; cargo hold; central data hub; Chakotay; coffee; cold; console; corpse; CR-721 (aka Relay Station 721); data system; Dauntless, USS; Dauntless-class; distress signal; doctor's orders; dormant state; duranium; engine room; engineer; ensign; Federation; first contact; future; "hack-gic"; haircut; heirloom; hive mind; holodeck; Human; humanoid; humming; hybrid; Jefferies tube; joke; joystick; keyboard; "kiss tail"; living construct; love; Medusan (aka Species 802); Mellanoid slime worm; miracle worker; mitts; monotanium; nanoprobe; neurological system functions; neurolytic pathogen; nerve center; Orion; Orion vessel; panel; phase variance; phaser; playback; proto jump signature; protostar; Protostar, USS; Protostar-class; proximity alert; relay station; replicator; Rhino; second opinion; secret weapon; sick; sleep; Solum; Solum, symbol of; spooky; Starfleet; Starfleet uniform; stasis; status report; sub-deck; switch; Tellarite; theory; thermocoupler; time travel; touché; transparent aluminum; Trill; tritanium; tubing; turbolift; upgrades; Vau N'Akat; Vau N'Akat Civil War; vinculum; volume; warp; wire; "Z"

LCARS references[]

carrier beam; computer readout; log editor; med display; power beam; selector grid; transport controls

Dauntless mess hall deleted references[]

Acamar III; Adm Kirk Base; Altair IV; Andorians; Arcturian; Austria; Bajor; Bajorans; Betazoid; Bolians; bone; breakfast; buckwheat; butter; calorie; Cardassians; Changeling; chef; Chinese noodle; chocolate powder; country; cup; culture; Deep Space 12; Deep Space 21; Deep Space 9; Deneb IV; dinner; dough; Earth; El-Aurians; ethnicity; Farpoint Station; fat; Ferengi; flour; filet; fish; food; French; French butter croissant (French croissant); garnofree; gluten; gram; grilled garills a la Neelix; hand; hengrauggi; heavy metal; hot chocolate; hour; Human; invertebrate; Kalaka; kalanic; Kaminar; Kelosian alcohol; Kirk, James T.; Klingons; lunch; marinade; meat; milk; noodle; Ocampans; Ophiucus IV; Pacific Northwest; Pacific Salmon; pastry; Penthara; Pissera; planet; plate; potato; protein; rice; Roylan; saturated fat; species; spice; Starbase 12; steak; stimulant; sugar; synthesizer; synthesizer number; Talaxians; theobromine; tifa; Trill; viennoiserie; vitamin; Voyager, USS; Vulcan (planet); Vulcans (species); water; xanthine; year; yeast

External links[]

• "Let Sleeping Borg Lie" at the Internet Movie Database
• "Prodigy "Let Sleeping Borg Lie"" at MissionLogPodcast.com