With a title like that, would you be surprised to discover this is not an alternate universe version of part 2 of Scorpion. Don't worry, it is.
The section titles are from Henry V. Long out of copyright--but ST:Voyager and the characters aren't, so...
Disclaimer!
All the usual disclaimers apply. The ship and characters belong to Paramount (Viacom and whomever else), but what they do during the summer, and in my rather dangerous mind are my concern (no matter what anybody says). This is, after all, my alternate universe. And it's their fault--they're the ones who left us hanging for 3 months.
Author's note: Find the author's *inside reference.* Not Star Trek related, but ties to this episode very well. Now, if I could find some lead...
The scenes are grouped--those separated by ~~ take place about the same time. Each period of time ends at the **.
I started this before I knew the "name" of Lady Borg--I decided I would concede that much to canon.
The catwalk shook as the echo of yet another blast reverberated through the cavernous spaces of the cube. Kathryn Janeway looked around, still kneeling from an earlier blast. Since her arrival, minutes earlier, she hadn't seen any Borg, but they were around. She could sense them, even smell them. A faint metallic odor, so faint she wasn't sure if she'd only imagined it.
The ship shook again. An attack by species 8472. The Borg were fleeing. She was positive of that. Which left her ship...where?
A fleeting memory of Chakotay as she had looked at him, speaking...*Then I guess I am alone, afterall.* The last thing she had said to him, except for the occasional command. Now...it didn't matter much. All she could hope was that the aliens had chased the Borg cubes and ignored Voyager...Chakotay.
She was alone. More alone than she had ever been in her life. If Voyager was gone, what would she do...could she do?
She shook her head, "Stop it Kathryn," she muttered angrily. She couldn't stay here. The Borg would be too pre-occupied with the battle to pay much attention to her. Maybe she could find out what was going on. Find where she was...where her ship was. If the cube wasn't destroyed, she could still negotiate with them...She had to try. She couldn't give up. She blocked all memories of her last talk with him. She couldn't deal with that and deal with the Borg.
She looked around. The blasts were fewer...She couldn't decide what that meant. Were the 8472 winning? Or had the Borg outrun them. She stood slowly. She had to know. She had to find out what was happening...what had happened.
~~
The bridge crew watched in horror as the planet blew-up, taking two other Borg cubes with it. Someone swore quietly as the alien vessels concentrated their power on the second planet. Several Borg vessels appeared--for once, fleeing the devastation of their own worlds. Together the small fleet went to warp.
Chakotay looked at the data streaming across his console. "The tractor beam?" He asked again.
B'Elanna shook her head as she answered. "It's weakened, but we're traveling at too high a velocity. If we attempt to break free now, we will be demolished in the wake."
Chakotay nodded. "Have you been able to locate the captain?" He queried Ensign Franklin who was standing at Ops.
"No, sir. Still too much interference."
"Sir, we're going to have to cut power to the warp engines. We can't maintain the warp field." B'Elanna cut in.
"Do it! Have them ready to re-start as soon as we can break free of the tractor beam. I want continuous scans on this ship and armed teams patrolling all decks." This last was said to Tuvok. "And be prepared to implement evacuation plan twenty-seven bravo." *Dammit Kathryn, what have you gotten us into.* He looked at his console, to hide the momentary look of grief on his face. "Where are you?" He whispered softly. Had she been on one of the other cubes? One obliterated by the shock waves from the explosion...
"Commander, I am detecting three more alien vessels exiting the singularity. They are pursuing." Ensign Franklin quickly transferred the new image to the viewscreen.
The original nine alien vessels had ignored the small fleet. The last of the three planets was attracting all their attention. The remnants of the first two, spreading out like ripples on water.
The three 8472 newcomers concentrated on one of the fleeing cubes. Voyager's crew watched the cube shatter, disappearing behind them as they passed the wreckage at warp 9.8.
Then, without warning the remaining ships separated. Only one of the aliens was following them now. "Weapons status?" The Commander asked.
"All weapons systems are operational. However their effectiveness against the alien vessels will be minimal." Tuvok reported in a dry voice.
"The Borg cube has increased speed to warp 9.91." Tom called out.
"Divert power from all auxiliary systems to structural integrity." If the Borg went to transwarp, the ride would become really interesting.
He pondered Kathryn's plan. The Borg must be interested in the modified nanoprobes. It was the only reason he could think of that they hadn't released them.
It made no sense otherwise--Voyager must be effecting the cube's efficiency at a critical moment.
"Sir the Cube is preparing to fire." As Ensign Franklin spoke a beam of light passed right over Voyager and hit the approaching alien vessel. So close that the lights dimmed more and Voyager shook.
"Damage?" Chakotay asked.
"None reported. The alien vessel has suffered minor damaged. It has stopped pursuing us." Tuvok looked up at the screen.
~~
Kes grabbed the desk as the ship shook. "I finished his blood work-ups."
The EMH looked at her, then the results, and frowned. "This is taking too long. We have to accelerate the replicating process."
"I been through the database. I found only one possibility. Nanites share some similarities to Borg nanoprobes."
The Doctor stilled as he accessed the information. "Hmm...Fascinating." He pulled up the schematics on the nanoprobe. "Many similarities. Sub-microscopic robots, designed to function in the bloodstream." He paused in his reading and quirked his eyebrows in fascination. "This is intriguing. The Federation actually determined nanites to be living-sentient beings." He looked at the images of the nanoprobes, then at Kes, "The reports do not say how. It was apparently an experiment that went awry. The Borg must be able to manufacture them at a very high rate." He looked again at the image of the nanoprobe. "I wonder...Computer place a level one containment field around the workbench--authorithation EMH alpha two." He stepped into the field. "Kes, prepare to transfer four nanoprobes into each of the culture dishes I will prepare." He set out to prepare an environment that would support reproduction. Each container contained different culture media--he hoped one would contain what they needed.
Forty six minutes later the last of the 32 nanoprobes were in the prepared containers. Kes carefully scanned the work area for any that might have *escaped.* Satisfied, she returned to her work, every so often peaking at the workbench.
**
Janeway made her way off the catwalk into the bowels of the ship. Her first glimpse of Borg stopped her. She stood there her heart pounding. He--it walked right passed her, ignoring her. She continued. The Borg conscious was intent with the battle at hand, not one lone human. She remembered reading about similar incidents. She found a place where she could watch the Borg, she didn't dare move any closer. She'd been forgotten and right now preferred it that way.
They didn't talk. It was eerie. So calm, at the height of battle. Efficient, cold...And she wanted to negotiate with them. Her hands clenched as she stood there doing nothing. She looked around. The activity seemed to be lessening.
Again she tapped her comm-badge. Nothing. She could no longer hear the sounds of a battle. *Now what?*
~~
"Sir, the cube is accelerating," Tom looked up. "Warp 9.92; 9.95. Maintaining a speed of warp 9.98. Heading 135.8. Sir we're headed to the opposite side of Borg space."
"There are five more cubes heading in our direction." Tuvok added.
"They have started to repair the damage to the cube. In the last thirty seconds, the tractor beam has returned to full strength," B'Elanna said.
Chakotay stared at the screen, even if the tractor beam disappeared, he couldn't leave her with the Borg. "Status," he asked Tuvok.
"No injuries or damage. Warp core is still off line."
"Maintain red alert. Lieutenant Tuvok, assign stellar to study the quantum singularity. We need to determine where it comes from and how to close it down." *Talk about being caught between a rock and a hard place.* They were in a wait and see situation.
~~
Kes yawned and looked at the Doctor.
"Go get some sleep." He looked down at his patient. Harry was finally unconscious. Good or bad, at least he wasn't in pain.
"I was just starting the 8472 DNA analysis..."
"That can wait., get some sleep."
She yawned again. "Contact me if anything happens."
He nodded as he entered the containment field. "Kes!"
She turned, the sick bay doors were sliding open. "Yes?"
"There are eight nanoprobes in container four."
She stepped up to containment field and looked. Then turned to the microscopic-scan display. She looked at the others. "Seems slow."
The doctor didn't respond, as he ran an analysis. "Hmm, interesting. The new ones are much more active. They are still programmed correctly." He prepared several new, larger containers and placed the young nanoprobes in their new environments.
Kes watched, fascinated. "How many do you think you need?"
The EMH shook his as he continued to work. "I don't know. Start with a hundred. We will need to control the assimilation process too."
Kes nodded and started to return to her work station. The Doctor noticed. "I am still ordering you to get some sleep. I will contact you."
**
Janeway was finally feeling the affects of the past several days of no sleep and little food. She was no closer to finding out what had happened or where her ship was. She again failed at stopping a yawn.
She looked up at the sound of heavy footsteps. A heavy, deep voice said, "You will come with us."
"Where..." The single Borg was already marching off. Hesitantly she followed it back to the catwalk.
Suddenly another voice spoke. "You will negotiate with us. Resistance is futile." She looked around. It was disconcerting to talk to the air. The guide had disappeared.
"Yes, we wish to negotiate the safe passage of my ship to the other side of your space in exchange for information on species 8472."
"We shall arrive at that point in thirty five of your hours. In exchange you will assist our scientists to modify the nanoprobes."
"That is correct." She looked around. "But you must bring my ship to the other side. Safely."
"Your ship is with us. Species 8472 devastated three planets before fleeing. Their strength will soon be irrelevant." She noticed a lone Borg approach. "This is Seven-of-Nine. They will assist you in your work. You will return to your ship. You have 35 hours to perfect our nanoprobe or your life as it has been is over."
Janeway and the lone Borg vanished in a beam of light.
~~
Tuvok looked up from his console. "I am showing the presence of one Borg in sick-bay. Security teams are responding."
Chakotay looked at the Vulcan then at the view screen, then at his console.
"Sir," John Franklin called out. "The Borg are initiating transwarp." The screen went blank. The young ensign stood there a second before he brought his attention back to his station.
At that moment the commander's comm-badge chirped.
~~
The EMH looked startled when the Captain and the Borg appeared without warning in sick-bay. "Captain?" He asked as he reached for a phaser.
She shook her head. "This is Seven-of-Nine." She smiled slightly. "They are here to help us." As she had suspected, the doctor looked puzzled at the plural.
"They, Captain?"
She was about to explain, when a security team stormed through the doors and stopped at the sight of their Captain.
"Good job. This is Seven-of-Nine." She made the introductions again. "They--it--is here to help us with the nanoprobes." She looked suspiciously at the Borg, then back to the security team. "I want a team on it at all times. And constant monitoring." She tapped her comm-badge, the familiar twirp was a relief. "Janeway to bridge."
"Captain," she smiled at the relief she heard in his voice.
"I want to meet with the senior staff in the briefing room in twenty minutes," she continued. "I'm going to get something to eat." Her stomach was growling.
"Very good Captain."
*****
Kathryn looked around the briefing room and closed her eyes. The familiar odors...No Borg. Comfortable. She turned as she heard the doors open.
"Captain," Chakotay said quietly. "I have the reports..."
She turned and looked at him. "Thank you." He stayed at the far end of the room: he looked exhausted. "You look tired Commander."
He shrugged. "It's been a long few days. Captain." He sounded stiff.
There was a long pause as both waited awkwardly for the other to speak. Finally he laid the PADD on the table. "If you will excuse me, Captain." He started to leave.
She couldn't let him leave. The look on his face, the pain he felt (and that she did) compelled her to stop him from leaving. "Commander," she said with authority. Then more softly, "Chakotay. I would like to say that I appreciate your willingness to disagree with me...and that I reacted badly to it." She moved to stand nearer. They were now a meter apart. "I know that I placed you in a difficult position..."
"Captain. Out here, you don't have to justify your decisions to anyone, least of all me."
She looked at the floor. This was not going well. "I know...It's when I said I was alone...When I was on the cube..." She stopped, she'd never been good at revealing her feelings. She took a deep breath, and changed the subject. "This alien attacked a planet. How complete was the destruction?" She asked with a mental image of the Ocampan world, devastated and turned into a desert wasteland.
He glanced at her. "Complete. I've never seen or heard of such a capability." He walked toward the terminal and pulled up the images. She walked over and stood beside him, pleased that he was willing to let her avoid the subject...At least for now.
She watched, horrified as the nine alien vessels combined their strength and destroyed a planet. "They must be stopped, or they'll be nothing here...Kes mentioned that there was nothing where they came from."
"They destroyed their universe."
She nodded and started to step way from him. She stopped and smiled at him. "Thank-you."
"Captain?" He looked down at her and returned her brief smile. "Kathryn, you look exhausted."
"Come, Chakotay. Staff meeting, then we'll discuss your apparent lack of sleep." She reached out and touched his hand. Before she could pull it away he clasped his around it.
She stared at their hands, as he spoke softly. "We may not always agree, Kathryn. But you are not alone." He had pulled her hand up to his face, surprised that she hadn't removed it. "I..." He let go as he heard the doors open.
Tom smiled, it was obvious that he had interrupted something. "Hello Captain. It's good to have you back."
"Lieutenant," She looked at him. *Damn, he had noticed.* "It's good to be back." She picked up the PADD Chakotay had put down just minutes earlier. "The Commander has been filling me in on species 8472. Have we made any head-way in learning where they come from?"
Chakotay shook his head as he spoke. "No. They could be coming from another region of our galaxy, a parallel universe..."
"Where they created an ecological nightmare," she added. She read a couple of lines of the PADD before speaking again. "If the others are *patiently waiting* on the other side of the door, maybe Mr. Paris will be so kind as to let them in."
**
"...Less than thirty-five hours..." Janeway repeated as she looked at the assembled staff. The looks of disbelief, worry did not surprise her. They were the same feelings that had coursed through her when the collective had told her their response a little less than an hour ago. "We don't have much time...She turned to the image of the Doctor on the screen.
"Our *guest* has been very helpful. By the way they, *it* is a she. While we were working I was able to run some scans. It's hard to determine because of the assimilation process, but I also suspect she is human. I have limited her access to the actual changes I have made in the nanoprobe...But she has been willing to offer me assistance in *breeding* them. In the thirty minutes she has been here, we have been able to reproduce enough to try on Ensign Kim. Do we have your permission to continue???"
Janeway nodded as she spoke. "Yes."
Tom looked out the window, then back at the table. "Captain, what's to prevent the Borg from turning on us when we turn over the nanoprobe information?"
"Nothing...That's why we need to have an escape plan. B'Elanna, I want an analysis of the tractor-beam and a way of breaking free at any speed. Do what it takes to compensate the warp-field. Mr. Tuvok, I want a complete analysis of species 8472 including information on the singularity. Have Stellar assist. Tom, work with B'Elanna. We'll call it operation Scorpion." She looked around the room. "Anymore questions?"
"The Borg. I have two security teams outside sick-bay. There are a lot of...feelings about having it aboard." Tuvok looked around the room.
That wasn't surprising. She acknowledged his comments, then looked at each of her senior staff before speaking again. "I'd like the information in 24 hours. And I also want everybody to get some sleep. I need you all healthy and alert in, now, 34 hours. Maintain yellow-alert. Dismissed. Commander..."
She waited until everyone had left before turning to her second-in-command. "Chakotay, I promise I won't snap at you...But what's your opinion now?"
"I don't trust them..." He glanced at her before looking out the viewport.
"I don't either...Can you feel them?" She asked a bit hesitantly.
He shook his head.
She didn't say anything, just picked up a PADD and tried to read it. She yawned.
"You should get some sleep," he said quietly.
"I need to finish..." She looked up from the PADD. "So should you..."
**
The Doctor looked at his Borg assistant then at the hypospray he'd prepared. Quickly he injected it into Harry's neck. Then looked at the bio-scans. He'd only injected a hundred nanoprobes, so it would be a while before they would know if the treatment was successful. He again glanced at his assistant. In the hour since her arrival, she'd said only three words. As he watched her walk around sick-bay, he'd been accessing the limited information on the de-assimilation process. The nanoprobes weren't the problem...it was the surgical alterations, especially the implant in the brain. Before it could be removed, the link to the collective had to be broken.
A beep on the bio-scan brought his attention back to Harry. He looked at the data and smiled. So far it was working.
He noticed the Borg had been watching him. That she was trying to glean the information on the probes was obvious. He'd limited her access to his research and she was equally cagey about giving him information, but so far the uneasy alliance was holding.
He passed through the containment field and looked at colonies of probes. Eventually they would have to turn them over to the Borg--the quantities needed would be too great to produce on Voyager.
**
B'Elanna looked at her terminal, then at the warp core. She groaned slightly. This was going to be a trick-and-a-half she had decided several minutes earlier. Carey had come up with a way to minimize the effects of the sub-space turbulence on the warp field. They were working on it as she sat there looking at the data. She could bring the warp-engines on line, it was the tractor beam that held her interest at the moment. She entered some data and waited for the results.
Tom entered engineering and smiled slightly as he saw her hunched over her terminal. "B'Elanna?"
"What?" She snarled.
"I'm here to help, remember." He smiled at her.
She rubbed her forehead. "Yea. With breaking free of the tractor-beam."
He leaned over her shoulder to see what she was looking at. "Have you tried sending a complimentary energy wave..."
"Yes, give me some credit..."
"B'Elanna...I give you lots of credit, you've performed miracles with this ship. That Voyager is still space-worthy is entirely your doing..."
"Right now, I'm not sure that is a compliment. Can you get the ship to do this maneuver?" She indicated the screen.
Tom watched the simulation and grinned confidently. "I can get this ship to do most anything--though that sudden turn to port might do more than shake a few rivets loose."
"I'll worry about the rivets. We'll divert power from almost every system to structural integrity." She glanced at him. "Including weapons."
He grimaced. She looked back down at the display. "It would only be for eight minutes." She ran the simulation again. "I know...but it isn't like our weapons would be very effective against either of them..." Her voice trailed off as she looked around. "This whole plan is madness."
"Madness yes, but we didn't have much choice..."
She nodded. "I know," she said softly. "Anything we could have done would have only delayed the inevitable. And we thought the Borg were evil..."
"I've never seen anything like that...The ability to destroy a planet...I wonder if they truly destroyed everything where they are from."
B'Elanna pulled up some data. "Stellar is working on the singularity. It seems to be an artificial rift in the space/time continuum. They haven't determined where it comes from. From the past, another galaxy...They open and close too fast for us to send in a probe--we would lose contact too quickly."
Tom reached down and pushed her hand out of the way. She started to protest, but stopped as she watched what the data was now showing. "There," he said pointing to where the singularity would open. "There is an increase in the gravimetric distortions, just before it appears."
"Hmm. At that point we might be able to close it down with an anti-matter explosion." Her fingers pushed Tom's out of the way as she entered some more numbers. "It wouldn't even have to be very big." They watched the terminal as the simulation completed. "Some big shock waves...But the singularity never opens." She frowned as she looked at something. "This is curious."
"What?"
"I'm not sure..."
"Lieutenant..." Carey joined the group. "We should be ready to restart the warp engines in six hours." He looked at Tom, then B'Elanna. "You said you would be leaving three hours ago to get some sleep."
B'Elanna glared at the other engineer. "I will..."
Tom looked at her. "When?"
"I will," she retorted angrily.
"Come on B'Elanna. Even the Captain left the bridge five hours ago.
"I know."
"Well? Or do I report you for disobeying a direct order..."
She threw her hands up in surrender. "I will go to my quarters." She glared at them both. "At least I can work in peace there."
"Sleep," Tom said quietly. "Or I'll appoint myself your monitor."
B'Elanna gave him a look that would kill a targ. "Only in your dreams."
"But they're such good dreams..." He laughed at her, then at Carey's look of surprise. "Don't worry Joe, she won't kill me...yet." After watching the young woman leave, Tom pulled up the information on breaking free of the tractor-beam. He whistled quietly to himself.
**
"Good morning, Kes." The Doctor said as his young assistant entered sick-bay.
"Morning." She looked at the Borg. "Who is that?"
"That is Seven-of-Nine. She returned with the Captain." He filled her in on what had happened.
"Oh." Kes studied the Borg carefully--that glowing red eyepiece was very disconcerting--then returned her attention to the Doctor. "How's it going?"
"I've started the treatment. It's going slowly, but there has been thirty-five percent drop in the alien cells." He nodded his head toward the Borg. "She has been useful. We have been able to increase the colony growth rates by seventy-two percent. They plan to use them to assimilate 8472..."
Kes looked at him, Harry, the Borg, the back at the Doctor. "But, it's not..."
The Doctor shook his head, as he noticed the Borg woman look at them.
Kes looked puzzled, but didn't say anything more. "I should get the DNA work-up started," she said instead.
**
Kathryn leaned on the wall as she stared at the streams of stars sweeping past her. Not for the first time in her life, she wished she could see the future. How would knowing it have affected her decision? Would they have been better staying on one of the half dozen uninhabited class M planets they'd visited in the past year.
She turned and looked at her desk. Over three years...A lonely life...but her choice. And she did have a choice--she knew he would be willing to be more than her first-officer.
This was why, she thought, that they could never be more...it was distracting...
Except it was still distracting even though there was *supposedly* nothing between them.
Sighing softly, she forced her mind back to the problem at hand. The Borg and 8472. She had just finished reading B'Elanna's reports. She looked at the chronometer. There were 24 hours left. She picked up the Doctor's report.
Harry would survive...The Doctor wasn't sure if there would be any permanent damage. The modified nanoprobes had worked very well. They were successfully destroying the alien cells...She smiled slightly at his comments on the Borg woman. He also had included an update on his other project, modifying the probe to be used as a weapon against the assimilation process.
Chirrip.
She tapped her comm-badge. "Janeway here."
"Captain, can you come to sick-bay."
"Kes?"
"I just finished the DNA analysis on species 8472. I think you should see the results."
"On my way." She shook her head as she left her ready room.
**
"Poly-ploidism?" Tom asked looking at the results of Kes's research.
"Yes. Triploidism is common in agriculture. Bigger flowers. But because the process is hazardous..." Kes said.
Tom shook his head and looked at the others sitting around the staff table. "Uh. It has something to do with DNA?" He asked. He'd taken genetics at the academy years ago--one course.
"Yes. Most multi-cellular life..." Kes started explaining, "...is diploid--having two of each chromosome. Triploids have three. 8472 has more than 20 pairs of each chromosome. The Doctor was correct in his earlier assertion that a cell contains more than one hundred times the amount of DNA found in a human cell. They are probably infertile..."
This caused a stir...but Kes continued, "The Borg reproduce by assimilation. I would suspect that 8472 reproduce by cloning. The original source of the DNA may be from a variety of populations. Possibly they too once used assimilation."
"Can you determine where they come from?" Chakotay asked.
"No sir."
Kathryn nodded as she looked at Jenny Delaney. "Can you add to that ensign?"
"No, Captain. Without sending a probe into the singularity we can't determine what's on the other side. We've been working on the suggestion from Tom...Lieutenants Torres and Paris." She walked over to computer. She was feeling a bit nervous--it wasn't often that she participated in the staff briefings--let alone had to make a presentation. "Just before the singularity opens, there is an increase in gravimetric distortion waves. If we detonate a small amount of anti-matter at that moment--three picograms would be more than plenty--it would effectively keep the singularity from forming."
Everybody nodded. It would keep the singularity from forming there--nothing could prevent it from forming elsewhere.
Kathryn quickly looked at her PADD. "They'll be another meeting in twelve hours. At that point I'd like a complete run-down on our options. Then each department will conduct drills. Kes. Talk to the Doctor: when we break free of the Borg ship, we may still have *her* on board. We've seen their abilities to telepathically communicate..." Several noticed the Commander grimace. She raised her hands, "That's all, dismissed. And make sure that everybody gets some sleep."
Chakotay waited for everybody to leave before he spoke, in that quiet voice. "Kathryn."
"Chakotay?" She looked at him with a half-hearted smile. "It's been a long few days..."
"Very. When we clear Borg space and put some distance between us and them, we should find a quiet planet and give everybody two weeks shore leave."
"Agreed."
"Have you given any consideration how we'll turn the probes over..."
"At the end of the thirty-five hours, we'll beam them over. By then we should be at the far end of Borg Space. We'll break and make a run for it, if we have to. But I suspect that they will concentrate all their effort in preparing to attack 8472."
"And our *guest.*"
"I want her isolated about an hour before the exchange. If we have to, we'll keep her on board and attempt to de-assimilate her. It can be done..."
"Don't remind me..." He looked to the floor very embarrassed.
"Chakotay...I..."
"Sickbay to Captain Janeway."
She shook her head. "Janeway here. Yes, Doctor?"
"Just to let you know, I have taken Ensign Kim off life support. We have destroyed 95 percent of the alien cells."
"Excellent news, Doctor. I'll be there in a few minutes." She looked at her first officer. "I'll be in sick-bay, then engineering."
"Aye Captain." He watched her leave, then followed her out.
**
Chakotay sat down in his chair and looked around. Grim and tired faces greeted his glance. They'd all tried to get some sleep, but if theirs had been anything like his...He shook his head. "Have we been able to adjust our sensors to get a reading on our speed?"
"No sir. We're still traveling off the scale," Ensign Franklin looked back at the young woman who was to replace him. He finished filling her in on what was happening before heading to the mess hall.
~~
Kathryn looked at Harry. His appearance was almost normal. Most of the sores had healed. She looked at the Doctor.
"There is internal trauma that I will have to repair, but I have...we have done a remarkable job. His own body is starting to regenerate the damaged tissue and fight off the nanoprobes."
She nodded and looked at Kes, then the Borg. "The nanoprobes..."
"Worked very well. Very specific, they attacked only the alien cells, rendering them harmless. The cells were completely destroyed...I should write a paper..."
"Excellent job. But are there enough probes..."
The Borg had walked over. For the first time Janeway had a good look at *her.* She was completely sexless.
"The process here is adequate and you have made adequate progress." She stood there.
"Good. We aren't able to replicate enough..."
"That is not a problem. We can replicate them when you give them to us."
Janeway just nodded, she had suspected the Borg could replicate the nanoprobes at a high rate. "And Voyager?"
The Borg inclined her head slightly. "As we agreed, when we get to the other side of our space and know the nanoprobes work, we will let you go." She walked away.
Janeway looked at the Doctor...She didn't ask the question that was nagging her. Instead she looked at Harry. They would have to hurry with their escape plans.
**
"Captain's Personal Log, Stardate 50995. It's been 23 hours since I made my offer to the Borg. We've made excellent progress on our preparations. The modified nanoprobe worked better than all our expectations, except perhaps the Doctor's. Harry regained consciousness three hours ago. The doctor has begun repairing the internal damage caused by the alien cells. The Doctor has programmed the probes to mimic the electrochemical signature of these cells, allowing the probe to attach and lyse the alien cells. We've carefully not allowed the Borg access to the information. She's helped with the breeding and has watched the Doctor treat Harry. In less than 12 hours we will turn the probes over to the Borg.
"Our escape plans have also progressed. Engineering has been able to restart the warp engine. To break free of the tractor beam will tax every system on this ship...But B'Elanna's convinced it will work.
"The Borg are desperate. The amount of assistance they've offered us is unprecedented. 8472 is so unlike any alien we've ever met. I'm left wondering if they are perhaps cloned warriors that took on a life of their own and destroyed their masters. Then their worlds...Bred to be angry...malevolent. As we learn more about them, I'm left with a feeling of cold dread that the Borg and Voyager are all that stands between them and our universe."
~~
Kes turned to look at Harry. "His color looks better. Vital signs are normal. Blood pressure is still low."
The doctor nodded. "Good." He looked at the Borg who was studying something. He whispered to Kes. "Why don't you go work in the lab." She nodded. She'd been working with Vorik, preparing the lab to keep Seven-of-Nine isolated from the Borg cube. They'd set up a dampening field and a power supply to keep her alive. *Seven-of-Nine, such an impersonal name...* Kes mused. *...But then it's an impersonal society.
**
B'Elanna looked at her staff and smiled grimly. "The simulation worked. There was only moderate damage. Team leaders, I want a complete analysis in one hour." She looked around...The entire engineering staff were present. "And Carey, there were some fluctuations in the warp field..."
~~
"Captain's Personal log, stardate 50997. There is a definite air of tension through out the ship. The preparations that have kept our minds and hands busy for the past day are almost complete. We are in that period just before a battle of wondering...the constantly second guessing ourselves. What needs to be worked on...Is there something I'm forgetting...Could we have avoided this...
"That's one we'll never know. Our options are fairly limited...If we had found a planet, the Borg or 8472 would have eventually found us.
"It's times like these that how alone we truly are is all too real...All too much in our thoughts...
"My thoughts, those few moment when my mind wanders, are drawn to another battle 1000 years ago. A scene from a play by Shakespeare. The king in disguise walks unknown amongst his troops. They too were about to face a greater foe. His worries...doubts..."
Kathryn paused in her recording and looked at the PADD Tom had just brought her. "Save log," she called out. The short break she'd given herself, over.
**
Kes smiled at Harry. "Welcome back."
He blinked his eyes several times then looked around, his vision slightly fuzzy. "I'm hungry." He gripped the table hard when he saw the Borg. "What..."
"Shh, you need to stay calm. She's helping us." Kes ran the tricorder over him. "I'm afraid all I can get you is a sandwich. Replicators have been taken off-line."
Harry looked at the Borg, then at Kes. "Somebody needs to fill me in on what is happening. Kes?" She'd paled and was holding the table. Suddenly she fell to the floor. "Doc!"
The Doctor turned and moved swiftly to Kes's side. "Another vision?" he asked quietly. She nodded. He helped to her chair, then notified the Captain.
Kes was still pale, when Janeway showed up 3 minutes later. Kathryn noticed that while the Borg was standing quietly on the far side of sick-bay, she was paying careful attention.
"Another vision???"
"Yes Captain, I saw the alien again..."
"The same one or a different one?"
Kes paused and looked puzzled. "I...I don't know. It said, 'The weak will perish'...I saw piles of Borg bodies..."
Kathryn glanced at the Borg, then back at Kes. "Can you tell if you are seeing the present?"
Kes shook her head..."I know I have seen visions of the future--or of a future they want me to see..."
"There is an attack someplace..." Kathryn looked at the Borg, positive that the collective had *heard.*
**
Ensign Hargrove was sitting at conn when Janeway returned to the bridge. She noted that most of the alpha shift were not on the bridge. Tuvok was meeting with his security teams, Tom, B'Elanna and Chakotay were in engineering completing the final escape plans.
She sat down in the chair and pulled up some files on her terminal. For 32 hours there had not been much to report...They were still headed to the far end of Borg space...They were still at transwarp--their speed off the scale.
A beep came from the navigational console, Hargrove looked at the reading. Tapped the screen and read the data again. "Captain, we have slowed to warp 9.91."
She looked up and nodded. "Red alert."
~~
Tom looked at B'Elanna and grinned. He, Chakotay, and the half-Klingon engineer had been discussing the proposed escape for fifteen minutes in her office. She was concentrating on something. He moved to stand behind her and was rewarded with an elbow in his ribs. "B'Elanna!" He gasped.
"Don't sneak up on me like that."
Tom grunted and looked at Chakotay. "Commander, I ask you. Did I sneak up on her? I just wanted to know what the lieutenant found so interesting..."
B'Elanna growled while Chakotay smiled and looked back at the PADD he was reading. "I didn't see..."
Tom grinned dangerously. "I'll show you sneaking-up." He grabbed B'Elanna's shoulders and kissed her. During the two seconds she stood there stunned, Tom leapt to the Commander's side.
"Tom!" She finally managed to growl.
Chakotay didn't laugh, though he was tempted. "Lieutenant Torres, unfortunately, we need the lieutenant here in one piece and alive."
"Sir." There might have been a slight plea in her voice.
"However, afterwards..." Chakotay didn't finish his sentence. "Come, Paris. I think we'd better leave."
"Yes, sir. I agree." Tom moved swiftly to the door. Knowing he was safe only temporarily.
The two men walked quietly to the turbo lift. Chakotay ordered it to the bridge then looked at Tom. "Why?"
Tom laughed, "I like living dangerously...You should try it...sir." Tom watched carefully as the older man stared at the wall. "Surely there is somebody..." Fortunately at that moment the red-alert klaxons went off and the lift door opened on to the bridge.
Janeway acknowledged their entrance, then returned to her discussion with Ensign Franklin at Ops.
Tome walked over to Hargrove--the two pilots conferred for several minutes, then Tom sat down at the Nav-console.
The wait was almost over...
**
Tom looked down at his console, when the warning light blinked. "We've slowed to warp 8.9 Captain. Still on the same heading.
Captain Janeway nodded and looked at her first officer. He nodded slightly then looked back up at the screen. It was just over one hour to the deadline.
"Captain," Ensign Franklin said. "I'm detecting a massive number of Borg cubes...They're coming out of transwarp 10000 kilometers straight ahead."
"A Borg Armada," she whispered. "Bridge to sick-bay."
"Yes, Captain?" The Doctor's voice answered.
"Prepare the nanoprobes for the transfer. And your secondary research?"
"Completed..."
"Good, prepare for Operation Scorpion."
~~
The Doctor looked at Kes and nodded. He then walked over to his tray and picked up a hypospray. Kes looked at Harry and smiled.
He smiled in return, as they both watched the Doctor ask Seven-of-Nine a question, then inject her.
The Borg collapsed in a heap on the floor. The security teams posted outside the door entered. Tuvok followed. He cast a critical eye around sick-bay. "Ensign," he said to a young blonde female security officer. "I want a complete analysis of her activities, especially what information she has accessed."
"Yes, sir."
Tuvok ignored the Doctor, who was indignantly muttering that the Borg had not been able to access anything.
The Vulcan security chief continued. "Take her to the lab. Kes and Ensign Vorik have set up a restraining apparatus." He nodded to Kes as she watched the security teams pick up the stiff form and carry her to the lab. She followed them to the lab.
The Doctor looked at Tuvok. "We've based the containment field on current Star Fleet research." They all realized the data was three years old. "I've made some additions based upon my own excellent research."
"Yes Doctor," Tuvok replied. "It is a logical thing to do." He didn't have time to ponder why a computer algorithm could be so pompous.
~~
"Starship Voyager." The deep voice startled everybody on the bridge.
Janeway stood, "This is Captain Janeway."
"You will listen," the voice said in a near monotone. "We shall take the new nanoprobes and complete the replicating process..."
"And Voyager?" Janeway asked.
The Borg ignored the interruption. "The collective shall assimilate Species 8472. Then we shall let you go. Prepare to send us the nanoprobes."
Janeway glanced around the bridge before speaking. "We are ready. Where..."
"We have sent you the co-ordinates."
Both Janeway and Chakotay looked at the incoming data. She tapped her comm-badge and notified the Doctor to send the nanoprobes.
**
Half an hour passed. A very long half hour, before Tom called out, "The Borg cube has slowed to impulse." Then it halted. During the half hour they had counted the number of Borg cubes in the Armada...Eight hundred and twenty three.
~~
Kes watched Seven-of-Nine. She was sedated and placed in a dampening field. They had no way of knowing if the field was working...But that she was still here after the nanoprobes had been beamed over...Kes looked at Vorik, who was looking at the data. "There is increased activity," he said calmly.
Kes nodded as she looked at her monitor. "Not surprising." Not considering the number of ships out there.
Vorik looked up at the Borg. He turned quickly when Kes gasped. She was leaning over her terminal, eyes closed looking very pale. "Vorik to sick-bay. Kes is having another vision."
~~
"Captain," Ensign John Franklin called out. "There has been a thousand percent increase in tachyion emissions..." Before he could finish most of the Borg vessels vanished.
Voyager was still held by a tractor-beam to the cube and three others had also remained behind.
****
Tom whistled quietly as he concentrated on the incoming data. He pulled up the data for breaking away from the tractor beam.
"Track them." Janeway ordered.
"The fleet has split. Half are heading to the Northwest Passage," Franklin said. "Hmm. The other half is headed..." There was a pause as John finished looking at some of the new data. "The other half is entering the singularity heading three five six point two. Fifteen thousand kilometers distant. Too far away to scan the interior." He then concentrated on gathering information on where they were.
"Captain," Tom said. "I've plotted an escape route through a trinary system heading one hundred point five six, distance twenty five thousand kilometers. It will scramble our sensors though."
Janeway nodded. "You may not have much warning, set the coordinates." She looked around, "You see, there is a minor problem..." She almost smiled. "We needed the nanoprobes to destroy species 8472 cells, not assimilate. I don't think the Borg will be happy when they realize this." She nodded to Chakotay and shrugged her shoulders. "We never offered them nanoprobes that would assimilate..." He grinned at her. She tapped her comm-badge. "Bridge to Kes."
"Captain. She is still unconscious. But we've not been able to completely break the link with the collective."
"Try to minimize it, when we make our break they could cause her death."
"Yes, Captain." Kes glanced back at the control panel, then at Vorik. "Can we increase the strength of the field?"
"Not without overloading the circuitry." Vorik looked at the Borg in the restraining field. "I could set up a second one..." He left quickly to gather the necessary equipment.
**
Forty-five minutes later Vorik activated the second field. Both he and Kes examined the data. "Not bad," she said. "I haven't decided if they have forgotten about her, or have..."
Seven-of-Nine opened her eyes and looked around. As she jerkily tried to move, the two security guards pointed their phasers at her. Kes shook her head, "Not unless she gets out." The Ocampan watched the Borg, she seemed disoriented, lost. Suddenly Kes grabbed the console as she collapsed on the ground.
The Borg muttered random words as Vorik knelt down to exam the Ocampan.
~~
Kathryn was standing at Ops, looking over the shoulder of Ensign Franklin. The waiting was beginning to tell. She wanted to do something...Walking around the bridge was the only sensible option. She looked up when Kes entered. "Kes?"
"Captain, I..." Kes spoke as quiet as ever, but her face was pale and her eyes still showed the horror she'd seen.
"Of course." Janeway walked toward her ready room and stopped. "Commander, with me. Mr. Tuvok you have the bridge." She noticed Tom wink at the Commander. *What was that about,* she wondered. She didn't let her mind linger on the subject, but turned to look at Kes. "Have a seat." She noticed that Chakotay had replicated a cup of tea. "Another vision?"
Kes nodded, taking the cup, too restless and upset to sit. "They are dying...horribly." Her voice faltered slightly. "I knew. The Doctor knew the nanoprobes would kill them. I've seen death, but not like this." She handed the cup back to Chakotay, she didn't want it anymore. "I've seen what they've done, but nothing deserves to die like that." She looked at the couch then the Captain. "We couldn't have known..."
Janeway glanced at Chakotay then back at Kes. She'd never seen the young woman so upset. She felt uncomfortable with the strong emotions she sensed coming from the Ocampan. "I didn't mean it to be...So...horrible."
Kes just nodded. "I could feel everything--the searing pain, their fear. Their desire for revenge..." The last was a warning, spoken straight to the Captain. She didn't describe what she'd seen or felt. The images, fuzzed by the pain experienced by the aliens--the sensation of being destroyed from the inside out...
It was Chakotay who reached out to comfort Kes. He put his hands on her shoulders. Kes smiled slightly. "The Doctor has said he can block my telepathic abilities. I..."
"It's your decision," Chakotay said. He looked at Kathryn who nodded.
"But..."
"Kes, the information is not worth your sanity or life," he added, realizing she was worried about the ship.
She just nodded. There was silence for several seconds before she spoke again. "Thanks. I'm sorry I overreacted to the vision..." She was finally regaining control of her run-away emotions.
"Kes," Janeway. "You didn't overreact. I can only imagine what you sensed..."
"I'd better be returning to sick-bay." Kes stepped toward the door, a bit embarrassed and overwhelmed by the experience.
The two senior officers watched her leave before they turned to look at each other, before Janeway walked over to her desk.
"You knew from the beginning?"
She nodded. "The Doctor modified them to cure Harry..." She glanced quickly at her second-in-command, "I had hoped the Borg would use them without getting a chance to test them...I just hadn't expected it too work so horribly."
"You couldn't have known..."
"I should have thought of the possibility...She's right, nothing deserves..."
He looked at her intently, "The galaxy also doesn't deserve the fate that 8472 would have wrought. Kathryn, you did what you had to do..." He thought of their earlier conversation--how long ago now he couldn't think. He'd only gotten a chance to try to get some sleep twice in the interim.
"I swore I would get this crew home. But at what point is the price too high? What is home?" She moved to stand by the window. "At what point do we give-up and find a new home?" Her voice faded away.
Chakotay moved to stand behind her, resting his hands on her shoulders. "You'll know...we'll know if or when that time comes."
"*If,* Commander. I'm not ready to quit yet..." She smiled slightly as she turned to look at him. "By the way, why did Tom wink at you earlier?"
Chakotay chuckled lightly. "He thinks I need to live dangerously."
"And what we're doing isn't..." She looked at him slightly puzzled.
"He was not referring to the Borg or 8472. Trust me, you don't want to know." He grinned, knowing she would now want to know. They were still standing very close. He started to reach up to touch her face.
Chirip. "Tuvok to Captain Janeway."
"Yes, Tuvok," she said as she stepped away from her first officer.
"It's Seven-of-Nine. She has become agitated and has made several attempts to break out of the force field."
"I'll be there." She looked at the Commander. "I would guess that the collective is agitated...Prepare for Operation Scorpion."
~~
Janeway looked at the Borg, then the security teams. "What exactly has she been saying?"
"Nonsense mostly," the young ensign responded.
"Tell me..." She motioned with her hands to indicate he should continue.
"Random words. Like: 'dead; betrayed; working; assimilated..."
She simply nodded then looked at their prisoner. "Let me know if anything else happens."
She turned to leave, when her comm-badge chirped. "Bridge to Janeway."
"Janeway her, Commander?"
"There is an increase in the gravimetric distortion one-thousand kilometers ahead."
*8472.* "Janeway to engineering."
"Torres here. Captain, we're ready to launch the antimatter device."
Janeway walked over to the console and looked at the data. "Scan the target area and place the device at the center. Set the timer for two minutes..." It would be cutting it close. "On my mark."
"Aye Captain."
"Chakotay, we're commencing with Operation Scorpion. B'Elanna will transport the device then we will make our break."
"Aye Captain. Transfer of all power from non-essential systems and weapons to shields and structural integrity is complete."
Kathryn waited until both were ready. "Now." She watched the console as the red alert klaxons went off, the shields were dropped. Immediately as the device was transported into the opening of the quantum singularity, the sound of the engines roaring to life reverberated throughout the ship. She grabbed the console as the ship began to violently shake as it pulled away from the Borg Cube.
Seven-of-Nine screamed out, "Resistance is..." and collapsed. The sound of the engines changed as they broke free of the tractor beam and fled toward the trinary system.
~~
Tom watched his console, waiting for the signal. When it came he flipped a switch and shouted out, "Hold on!" There was a roar from the repowered engines, then a violent lurch. He altered direction so they were traveling at ninety degrees to the tractor beam, again the ship shook brutally. There was a surge forward as ship broke the tractor beam, throwing several of the bridge crew to the ground. "We're free of the tractor beam..." Tom was cut off by the sound of an explosion from the ops station that threw Ensign Franklin against the wall.
Tuvok reached the ensign first and tapped his comm-badge. "Emergency beam-out to sick-bay." The ensign vanished. Tuvok stood and returned to his station.
Chakotay released his hold on the armrest. "Report."
Tuvok responded, "Hull breach on deck 13, repairs teams are responding. Minor injuries on deck 2...Power has been rerouted back to all weapons systems. Four Borg ships are pursuing." There was a pause before he continued speaking. "There was also an explosion in engineering, Lieutenant Torres is reporting only minor injuries."
Tom, who'd held his breath when he'd heard *engineering,* let it out when he heard B'Elanna was all right. "Sir, speed is warp nine-point-two. We'll enter the trinary system in four-point two-minutes. The Borg are on an intercept course. The anti-matter device will blow in five, four..." They watched the device blow just as the singularity formed--then close.
"The shock waves will impact in two seconds." Tuvok said calmly as he grabbed his station. Everybody held on as the first wave hit. Two of the pursuing Borg Cubes were caught in the wave, collided and stopped. It would be a while before the damage was repaired and they rejoined the chase.
~~
B'Elanna stood slowly as she pulled herself out from under the mass of metal that had fallen on her. "Report," she called out as she looked at her right arm. The sleeve was ripped and she could the nasty cut. It was bleeding. She finished ripping the sleeve off and used it as a band-aid.
"We're free!" Carey called out as he helped lift the debris off another engineer. "Everybody's accounted for..."
"Good," her arm hurt and she applied more pressure. She looked at a computer terminal. "Hull breach on deck 13. Send two repair teams. Joe, bring me the first aid kit."
He looked at her arm as he pulled out the tissue regenerator. "You should go to sick-bay..."
"I'll be fine, just treat the damn thing..." She looked around. "The warp core?" As she spoke the shock waves hit, causing the ship to bounce violently.
"Severe strain, but is holding," someone called out.
It would need to be inspected for hairline fractures. She looked around, only the terminal on the one wall had exploded...everything else was intact. "Keep an eye on it. Reroute power to increase the containment-field strength." That much strain could cause a breach.
"I've repaired your arm," Carey said.
"Thanks. Work on modifying the sensors when we enter the trinary system." The interference would be substantial.
"Aye, Lieutenant."
She then contacted the bridge to make her report.
~~
"Doc, how is he?" Harry sat on his bio-bed as he watched the Doctor work on Ensign Franklin. The Doctor didn't respond. Harry looked at Kes. It didn't look good, he thought. Kes's expression was sad, as she handed the Doctor something. Harry looked at the five others in sick-bay. All mild injuries. Ensign Ayala had a broken wrist...There was a beep. Harry turned his attention back to the Doctor and Kes. The Doctor was shaking his head. "...Too much damage to the lungs," he heard the Doctor say. Kes just nodded as she walked over to Ayala. Harry looked down at his hands.
**
Janeway sat in her chair. "Progress on recalibrating sensors?"
"Another two hours," B'Elanna's voice said. "We've got minimal long range sensors."
"The Borg?"
Tuvok answered. "They are not entering the system."
Janeway nodded in acknowledgment as she pulled up the data from the brief scan made of the opening singularity. "Curious," she said quietly.
"Captain?" Chakotay looked at her.
"The singularity. There's what may be a artificial generator. If it was, it isn't anymore. The blast would have destroyed it."
She resisted the urge to pace, looking at the scanty information gathered on the singularity instead. There wasn't much. They would probably--she hoped--never learn more about where 8472 came from.
**
Tuvok looked at the Borg. For over three hours she had alternated between unconsciousness and speaking random words. The Doctor seemed to feel this meant the link with the collective was very weak. Janeway stood by the door watching.
Vorik handed him a PADD. "Lieutenant, we have recorded everything she says. Individually the words make no sense..."
"Ensign." He read the list, then handed it to the Captain.
*Destroyed...Success...Betrayed...Trapped.* The words alone did not mean much...But it was possible to see additional meaning. Destroyed? Was that referring to 8472 or the Borg. Trapped...Janeway looked at their *guest* and wondered if perhaps the explosion had caused greater damage on the other side...Was the Borg Armada trapped over there? Janeway looked at the Doctor, "How's she doing?"
The Doctor shrugged. "I am still unfamiliar with Borg physiology, but she seems to be fine. The link is minimal and with the newest additional field set up Ensign Vorik, we may have finally isolated her from the collective. She has not spoken since he activated it." He looked back at his patient. "There is very little about de-assimilation in the data-base. We know they eventually will return to their natural form...And there are records from the Enterprise..."
"Doctor, we know you will do your best," Janeway said with a smile.
**
"Commander's log, stardate 51004. The Borg broke off-pursuit fifteen hours ago. Long range scans of Borg Space show a lot of debris. We sent a probe to gather more information. The Northwest Passage in particular is littered with debris--from what we can tell, both sides suffered extensive damage. We have not detected any sign of the quantum singularity for over twenty four hours.
"Slowly we are returning to our normal routine. All systems are operational and fully functional.
"There was one causalty, Ensign John Franklin." He stopped speaking to look at the chronometer. "We will be holding his memorial service in fifteen minutes. End log."
*****
Tom smiled as he looked around the mess hall. He walked over to the replicator--he'd trounced a few of the crew at pool last night and had some extra rations. He also had noticed that whatever Neelix was serving, it was a bright lime-green. He tended to avoid food that was bright any-color. "Tomato soup--Paris alpha one." He looked around the room as he placed the bowl and spoon on the tray, and moved to sit by Harry.
"Well, there. Your first lunch of your first full day back. How's it feel?" Tom asked the young ensign who grimaced slightly as Tom sat down.
"Great. I don't think I've ever been so glad to see one of Neelix's home cook meals..." He looked strangely at Tom who was looking around the room while stirring his soup.
"Has B'Elanna been in?"
"She left five minutes ago." Harry laughed at his friend who seemed intrigued by something happening in the corner.
Tom brought a spoonful of soup to his mouth and closed his lips around it...Suddenly he gagged and spit it out. "What the..." Both he and Harry looked down at the bowl. "Gagh!"
Harry was laughing as he looked around the mess hall. He wasn't the only one. Everybody had watched as B'Elanna had reprogrammed the replicator. They'd all wondered what she had been doing.
Tom looked around the room and joined in the laughter. The lime-green food that Neelix was serving definitely had more appeal than a bowlful of tomato soup and Gagh.
~~
Tuvok looked at the Doctor then the patient. She was still wearing the Borg implements and attachments, but her human form was now slightly apparent. The Doctor glanced up from the tricorder he was holding. "The nanoprobes have been removed, I am hoping to remove the brain plate and start reconstructive surgery tomorrow."
"And the monitoring implant?"
There was a brief look of disgust on the Doctor's face. "Vulcans. I have inserted it just below the skin on the occipital bone..." He returned to his work.
Tuvok looked at the young security officer, then walked out of sick-bay. He'd been pleased when the Captain had agreed with his request that the young woman be placed under constant surveillance until such time as she proved herself to be trustworthy.
The Doctor frowned as he looked at his young assistant. Since the last of their encounters with the Borg and 8472 Kes had looked tired. He was also worried about her elevated white-cell count. He had quietly been monitoring her, but had not found a any sign of an infection. She was probably tired, he decided.
"Is something wrong Doctor?" Kes asked. Her voice sounded tired too, he thought.
"Her brain activity is still low. I have been debating whether I should chemically induce a release of memories..."
"But whose memories would they be?"
"Exactly. She has memories of the entire collective. I would like to selectively release her memories. Help her remember who she is...When we complete her transformation back to her human status, I should write a paper..."
~~
Kathryn looked up from her easel when she heard Da Vinci grumble. Looking around she smiled quietly. This was a short break: just a couple of hours before she had to return to the bridge. She looked back at her canvas. She might have found time for a break--her first in the four days since leaving the Borg behind--but she hadn't found inspiration. Or rather she had: twisted tendrils of color: chaotic...destructive...
"Ah, Katarina. You came today." He smiled as he saw her in the corner.
She smiled. "I came, but I don't feel particularly inclined to paint anything."
"Then help me with my hawk." Da Vinci gently laughed at her puzzlement. "My flying machine. Remember?"
She looked at the blank canvas and nodded. "Why not?"
"Perche no." They walked over to the table by the window. Da Vinci picked up a roll of paper and unrolled it. "My original plans." He stepped away to let her examine them. He looked around his studio and whispered, "We have company."
Startled she turned quickly. "Commander?"
Chakotay smiled sheepishly. It had been him after all, who had finally convinced her to take a couple of hours off. "Captain, I'm sorry to disturb you. But engineering has completed repairs to the warp engines."
"And this couldn't be communicated to me???"
"I...uh...shut off communications to you, except in an emergency."
She shook her head and laughed. "Permission granted to restart the engines."
There was an awkward silence as they stared at each other for a second. He looked away, ostensibly to examine the surroundings she had created. He nodded his head in greeting to Da Vinci, who was smiling.
Janeway tried to think of something to say. She jumped slightly when she felt the Maestro's hand on her shoulder. Then she blushed as he whispered, "So, he is the one?" Da Vinci looked at Chakotay then smiled. "I have some errands to run. Perhaps Katarina would like to show you around my studio. Buon giorno."
"I didn't mean to disturb you," he said after the artist had left.
"You didn't. Well not really..."
"I can leave..."
"No, I'd like the company. Tell B'Elanna to start the engines. Has anything else happened?"
"No, Captain. Nothing else in the 20 minutes since you entered the holodeck." He looked around. "You did a good job with this."
"Thanks, Tom helped." She looked at him. "You never did tell me what Paris dared you to do."
He clasped and unclasped his hands several times before he looked at her. "I'd rather not."
She looked at him, pretty sure she didn't want to know or rather confirm her suspicions. She deftly changed the subject. "Come and see the plans for his flying machine. We were just starting to work on them when you showed up."
He walked down to where she was and looked over her shoulder. Without thinking, he placed his arm around her waist as he leaned over to look at the sketches for a flying machine.
They were both engrossed in studying the sketches, that their proximity had gone unnoticed--until she turned to ask him a question and they found their heads only inches apart. She turned away quickly.
"Kathryn..." He said softly. Then with a smile in his eyes he stood behind her, "Katarina? I like that. Computer play selection Chakotay 8." The haunting sounds of a solo flute filled the studio. "Dance with me?" He smiled as she turned and took his offered hand. He escorted her to a free spot on the floor, then pulled her to him. Her head resting on his chest as they (sort-of) started dancing to the music.
He whispered, "You're only as alone as you want to be..."