crisis is another word for opportunity

The meeting reconvened a bit later than I'd planned, but at least my officers were alert and undistracted as they slipped back into their uniforms.

"I believe I have a solution to the Borg problem," Ensign Jzon announced.

All eyes swung towards her. "That must have been a hell of an inspiring fuck," Lt. Greene said.

I silenced Greene with a glare. "Go on," I told Jzon.

"The virus offers us a unique opportunity to deal with the Borg. They are a collective intelligence -- what one thinks or feels, they all do. If we infect them with the virus the effects will reinforce each other -- the more Borg that are infected the more overwhelmed even the uninfected will be. They'll be too focused on sex to even think of developing a cure. Given the effects on males, the entire crew could go mad and destroy their own cube," Jzon said. "At the very least it will leave them distracted enough that we can destroy or evade them."

Doctor Akira looked horrified. "Captain. we can't do that!" she shouted. Calming herself with a deliberate effort of will she continued in a calmer voice. "Biological warfare is a violation of Federation law. We'd all be war criminals."

"I'll take the brig over the Borg any day," Tiloth replied.

"Then there are the unintended consequences," said Kokuru. "Suppose it doesn't work the way Jzon expects? What if the Borg shake off the virus?"

"Or turn into a horde of insane fuck-zombies?" Greene added.

I shot a worried glance at Greene. Her language hadn't been nearly this earthy before the virus. I decided to have Akira run a psych eval on her... assuming we got out of this alive.

"Any other options?" I asked.

Silence.

I wished we had time to talk this over more, but if we were going to replicate the virus in sufficient quantities to beat the Borg we'd need to start right away. I had to approve or reject Jzon's proposal before I got up from the chair.

When your only choices are bad and worse you'll hate your decision either way, and possibly hate yourself as well. A big part of the Art of Command (complete with thudding capitals, courtesy of a senior Academy course on the subject) is to make that decision anyway, do it quickly, and project an aura of confidence, even certainty, that you might not feel at all. I leaned forward and announced my decision.