Notes and stuff: Not really much to say here except that most of this stuff, while mine, borrows Paramount owned Star Trek: Voyager characters. We all know Paramount's stuff. Everything else is mine. .
This is a sequel to Dragon and Voyager and takes place in the 8th Season. ("Endgame" never occurred and Neelix had not left the ship.)
Chapter 1 ProloguePersonal log, Stardate 55000.0 Today marks another New Year's Day in the Delta Quadrant, and I pray it is the final one. I know that it is still at least 30 years or so from the actual border crossing, I can still hope. We've taken so many shortcuts that it still amazes me that we've come so far in so "short" of time. By all rights, we still should be another 62 long years away from home. Heck, if we still had Kes, she'd be an elderly woman by now or maybe dead from old age considering the Ocampan lifespan being so short. But, we still owe her a major debt. Her "kick" out of Borg Space saved our rears.
The crew, while normally not celebrating what is an Earth holiday, was encouraged by Neelix and I to take the time to celebrate the holiday. It was meant as a morale booster for the crew, who had been cooped up on the ship for several weeks and Neelix, picking up on the sagging morale, suggested the party in the mess hall and the Holodecks. Captain Janeway almost vetoed the idea, claiming that it was not proper for us to celebrate a strictly Earth holiday. A rather stern stare from me got her to back down before I gave her a rare chewing out. I was never one to conform to being "politically correct" and I was glad when America wizened up and remembered that the country had not been founded on the basis of being "PC". In fact, it was certainly "non-PC" to violently break away from England, a fact that latter 20th Century Americans remembered or even cared to. I made a few enemies back then with my objections to being politically correct and insisted on speaking my mind, but, again, a rather intense stare was enough to silence their complaints, at least in my presence.
Captain Janeway authorized the resumption of the Fair Haven program, much to the delight of the crew and the holo-residents, who knew that they were holographic characters after accidentally gaining limited sentience. The Fair Haven folks, being Irish, knew how to really celebrate the New Year, with classic Irish songs, lots of toastings and the obvious joy in Janeway's face seeing her holo-lover again. Since the Doctor forcefully reminded Kathryn that she could never have a true relationship with a crewmember, she had to settle for Michael's existence. He, in turn, was thrilled that "Katie O'Claire" had remembered him.
Baby Gabrielle is almost weaned off the Borg implants and no longer needs her mini-alcove. The Doc says that she will probably need some of the implants for another 6 months to a year before he can remove them. By the time she's two, she should no longer need the implants. His enhanced database from the Collective has shortened the amount of time for the implants' removal and he figures that they all can be removed, not just deactivated.
But, she's turning into a handful. A precocious child who definitely shows that she's knows that she's loved and shows personality traits from both Seven and myself. We've both sort of adopted the child and have taken many turns nurturing her. Seven, to her credit, "assimilated" the child-rearing materials I provided her and took them to heart. She will certainly make a fine mother someday if her destiny after we get home leads her to having children of her own...or if her nanoprobes don't destroy any embryos that are created. I do not know if Seven even had her 'monthly curse' or not. I haven't asked her, to be honest.
Icheb and Seven work well together now. Since Seven loosened the reins over a year ago, they've become close friends. With the other children back with their people, though, it's been quiet on board the ship.
The Borg have proven that they can honor an agreement, thank God. They usually send a sphere once a week to pick up and deliver messages, which is a far sight better than the official datastreams we get from Starfleet. The arrangement has worked out nicely, though. With the Collective considering the messages irrelevant to them, but, relevant to their ally in the Delta Quadrant, the probability that they will be read by a curious drone is practically nil. That frees Starfleets datastream for more sensitive stuff that the Collective doesn't "need-to-know" and would get their attention.
I still look at the hundreds of personal messages from various fleet Captains, Admirals and even civilians thanking me for halting the Borg threat. The best one, I still believe, was the message informing me that the Dominion War had ended. The Dominion, as I figured back then, would balk at a conflict where the Borg Collective could be contacted and the resulting mass-assimilation of Dominion forces were too much for the Founders to accept. They sued for and received a peace treaty which dealt out some harsh terms.
I spent days composing messages to all those who took the time to write. I couldn't face my conscience if I didn't reply to those who sent what could be the galactic record for personal mail calls. I even took the time to reply to several teacher's requests for a "tour" of Voyager. I enjoyed that function as it gave me the opportunity, along with the rest of the crew, to do some "Public Relations" work, and showed how a Starfleet crew worked with and co-existed with the Marquis. Many crewmembers and Officers took the time out of their day and/or duty shift to explain, in detail, what they did on board. Seven, understandably, refused to take part at first, but, I convinced her of the relevancy of showing that a drone could not only be detached from the Collective successfully, but, became human again. She agreed when I put it that way.
However, I am concerned about a possible action...Starfleet informed me that they might be considering bringing Janeway up on several charges, some of which are including breaking the Prime Directive. They'd reviewed her logs and found that there may be enough to at least hold a Board of Inquiry. That places me in a very bad position as I would be forced to convene one by regulations. However, I am not impartial any longer and I don't think that any of the crew are qualified enough to impartially judge the facts except for any of the Vulcans and possibly Seven herself. Seven could impartially judge facts before her disconnection from the Collective, but, I would hesitate to let her be an impartial "juror" for any events which she was involved in.
I am reviewing the important regulations in private and considering convening a Board of Inquiry and determining that, in my opinion, that there are not enough impartial people to see if Kathryn Janeway must face a court-martial. However, that is wrought with problems as there's no way I can sit there and determine that. Any first-year law student would tear that to shreds by saying that I am unfit to make such a determination, having been "trapped" on board since the Caretaker captured us nearly 8 years ago.
I could refuse to hold a hearing and make an official log notation to that effect, putting my neck on the chopping block, so to speak, with the Federation Council.
***
I wrapped up my daily "Dear Diary" and went in to check on Gabrielle.
Gabrielle had tacked on about 18 inches since she was transported from that cube over a year ago and over 12 kilograms of weight as well. Personally, I was pleased with her progress. The Collective had actually made amends without meaning to, and for that, I had gradually forgiven them for what they had done to her.
And, to be honest, I was surprised to see that the Borg were holding their end of the agreement up even after a year. Spheres and the once in a while Cube would stop and drop off messages from home. We would have messages ready for delivery and after about 5 minutes of data transfers, the Borg would depart.
The agreement has been beneficial, to say the least. There were a few scrapes that we'd gotten into that required a touch of Borg assistance...
[Flashback]
The Stardate was 54673.8 and we had somehow botched a first contact and were being attacked by a small fleet of hostile aliens. Our adaptive shielding hadn't adapted to the weapons fast enough and we were dead in the water, Janeway was actually looking worried as the ship was being attacked. Warp drive and impulse were offline, and weapons were shaky at best.
"Surrender, Voyager!" the enemy leader said, "We know that you cannot call for back-up. Give up now and we'll let you live."
Janeway merely looked at me and said, "I think it's time to pull our ace in the hole, don't you."
I nodded, "Yes, ma'am." I tapped my adaptive communicator in a special sequence and there was a odd sounding chirp. The link was virtually undetectable and even if it was intercepted, all the person would hear was a white noise type static.
"Dragon to nearest Borg vessel. We require assistance. We are under attack. We've suffered damage and are outnumbered. We are at spatial grid AG6874-452," I terminated the signal then and we waited.
Sure enough, a moment later, Ensign Kim reported, "A transwarp signature is being detected by sensors, 100 kilometers off the bow."
Another few seconds and a Battle Cube had emerged and issued their standard hail, but somewhat modified: "We are the Borg. The Federation vessel Voyager is under our protection. Cease your attack and prepare for assimilation. Resistance is futile."
I couldn't feel sorry for that fleet. If they had stopped their attack, I might have gotten the Collective to let them go in peace. However, their captain had more guts than common sense and directed an attack against the more heavily armed Cube.
Within 45 seconds, the fleet had been disabled and their ships were being pulled into the Cube. Their captain had time to get off a string of profanities at us before the link closed. The last thing that we saw of that captain was a Drone injecting nanoprobes into the poor guy's neck.
I shrugged my shoulders at Janeway, "He had his chance to escape to maintain his command."
Janeway nodded, "He did, indeed. But, I'm not going to lose any sleep over it. Ensign Kim, how long until repairs are made?"
"We sustained heavy damage before the shields adapted. Transporters are offline for a day. Warp drive was heavily damaged and needs repairs done at a starbase, but, we can jury-rig it in a day. Impulse drive is down for at least three days."
I groaned, "Well, anyone have objections to some further aid from the Cube?"
There was none from the bridge crew.
I started to hit the communicator and before I reached it, there was a familiar, but still unsettling voice: "We are the Borg. We have detected that you have sustained heavy damage. Drop your shields and prepare to be boarded by repair Drones. Resistance is futile."
Leave it to the Borg to have scanned us and determined our trouble.
"Drop shields," Janeway ordered, "They're efficient as usual."
"Drones are on decks 5, 6, 9 and 12," Kim reported a moment later.
"Torres to the Bridge, what's going on?"
"Janeway here. Relax B'Elanna, the drones are going to speed the repairs to the engines and other things, then, they'll leave. I guess they figure that since they got about 1,500 new drones, they owe us."
"Well, I don't like it one bit. We've repaired damage much worse than this before," Torres groused.
"Objection noted. Bridge out," Janeway said, ending the discussion. I could just see Torres heading for the turbolift and appearing on the bridge a few moments later to give the Captain a piece of her mind.
Much to my surprise, that didn't happen at all. I raised an eyebrow at that development as I was certain that there was going to be an argument out of her. Maybe her marriage to Tom Paris was good for something beside shipboard gossip, I thought.
Instead of a full day basically drifting in space, the Drones had Voyager running again in about 2 hours. One Drone relayed the message that the shields had been enhanced to adapt quicker and that the engines were made as efficient as they would ever get with the technology the Borg had available to them. That translated to another year being shaved off the trip, assuming no real long delays.
The weapons had been enhanced as well and the Cube obliged a simple request for a few targets to be sent out. The phasers basically vaporized the targets and the torpedoes blew the targets apart easily.
Within 6 hours, the ship was good as new, the Drones transported off and the Cube was on their way to wherever the Queen wanted them. The Cube also relayed more messages that had come in during the last few weeks and relayed our own messages home.
Neelix, having assumed the role of mail clerk was busy delivering messages. Just that little act brought the morale to some very high points at times, but, also, of course, brought bad news sometimes. When that happened, the crewmember tended to seek me out as informal ship's counselor. I supposed that I was more suited for the role, given my "life-experiences".
The Doctor also received more data and we had to make a few more teraquads available for his matrix. With our logs going back to Starfleet now during the normal monthly datastreams, we could store the sent logs separately from the main computer, freeing up much needed space...and the Borg had even made that more efficient in their now routine visits. They had even installed more memory to the main computer and other storage devices. The Doc's holomatrix was now able to be fully backed up in case the original was damaged somehow. He would only lose about 12 hours of memories, but, with refresher information from Paris or anyone else, he'd be fine. He did, finally, accept a few personality modifications from later EMHs that had their programming assimilated and I snuck in a few modifications as well, mainly to lower his ego a bit. I had never thought I'd see an egomaniac hologram. I only did that to improve his bedside manner. But, I felt somewhat guilty about doing even that since, by all rights, he had achieved sentience. After those alterations, I made an official log entry stating that I was opposed to any further alterations to the Doc's programming unless he was the one that added them or gave his OK.
The Collective did, however, permit one of the enemy fleet's ships to escape. I figured that they beat a path back home, where word would soon get out that Voyager was not to be touched.
I knew, though, that this particular civilization was now on borrowed time.
I found out a few months later that the Collective had, indeed, assimilated those people. I couldn't let that bother me, though. If that foolish fleet captain had stood down when told to, his homeworld would still be there, full of individuals, not as a Borg world. But, that didn't prevent my conscience from giving me a twinge once in a while
[end flashback]
I was enjoying my time with Gabrielle when my door chime went off. "Come in," I said, "It's open."
The door opened to reveal Naomi Wildman there. She was just as precocious as Gabrielle, and with her rapid growth, I wasn't surprised at all.
"Hi," she said, "Mom wanted to know if it was OK for me to stay here for a while. Her and Neelix are taking part in an away mission for a few days."
I nodded, "Of course, Naomi. You know that you're always welcome here. I take it your mom doesn't want you to stay with Seven, huh?"
"Actually," she said, "Mom gave me the choice of Seven or you. Unfortunately, Seven's quarters don't exactly have room for a guest."
That was partially true. Seven could entertain a guest, but, the sleeping arrangements were interesting. If the guest was a Borg or a disconnected drone, it was fine, but a non-Borg would not enjoy trying to use a regeneration alcove.
"Well, how about we compromise a little," I said, "I know that Seven likes your company and she sometimes shares my duty shift. She's technically off-duty today, but, I suspect that she's in Astrometrics anyway or going over a lesson with Icheb."
"Seven did give me an assignment to do," Naomi said, "She wants me to go over the new warp core specs that the Collective installed a few months ago and see if there are either flaws in the design or improvements I could try."
I raised an eyebrow at that one. "Well, Naomi, you can use my computer terminal for this assignment. I hope that you find something of interest, but, I think Seven is testing you. She knows how efficient her Drone cousins are. There probably will not be any flaws or makeable improvements to the system."
Naomi looked disappointed for a moment, then looked over at Gabrielle, who was taking a nap in her crib.
"You may play with Gabrielle once she wakes up," I said, "But, you should also work at that assignment some. Seven will want to see your report soon, I suspect. I'll give you a hand on it, if you want."
She grinned at that possibility. She knew that I knew a considerable amount about warp drives and what-not. I had briefly considered being the chief engineer, but, realized that B'Elanna was more suitable for the position and, to be honest, we needed to get the two crews merged and placing her was a good decision by Janeway.
Actually, truth be told, I practically had to order Janeway to permit B'Elanna to be the chief engineer, but, that was a long time ago and the results had been very promising. She'd come a long way from that fairly angry half-Klingon woman I met during our first days in the Delta Quadrant when we all realized we had a long way to travel.
She still had flashes of temper, but, focused those energies into being a great Chief Engineer. I would certainly have recommended her to Captain Picard if we were still home. With our now being more than halfway there and approaching the fairly small corridor in the Beta Quadrant that separated the Alpha from the Delta, we were all beginning to feel that we were approaching the home stretch.
Also, I had noticed that her marriage to Tom Paris was a stabilizing factor in her life and her pregnancy had reached a successful birth of their daughter, Miral. Gabrielle certainly had a future playmate, even though the newborn is a quarter Klingon. But, I knew that Gabrielle would always carry some portion of Borg with her. Gabrielle still relied somewhat on nanoprobes at times and those little bots had proven their worth time and again in repairing Gabrielle's mini-implants and biological systems. The Doctor feels that as Gabrielle grows, she will lose her need for the nanoprobes and they could be removed. He and Seven had re-programmed them to only regenerate the remaining implants, not rebuild a full Borg outfit.
Naomi, however, was busy working on her report and doing a fair amount of research. I sat down and watched her for a while, not saying anything.
Actually, she was a good researcher and within an hour, she had located everything, asked me a few questions, asked the computer a few questions, however, my hunch proved correct in that Seven was testing Naomi. The Warp core was, indeed, as optimized as the Borg could make it.
Naomi wrote her report and I noticed that she was using Seven's more clipped, precise form of speech instead of a more natural writing style.
"Naomi," I said, "I know Seven appreciates this style of report, but, I feel that it needs a more Naomi type of feel to it, not an efficient drone. You're still a kid, Naomi, and I don't think Seven will mind too much if you add a few minor things here and there and can still be efficient. May I copy this to a second datapadd? That way, you still have this report, since you're done with it and we'll re-word the copy so we can decide which one looks nicer."
"Aww," she complained, "I like writing this way, though."
I gave her a hug, "It's OK, Naomi. I was only making a little suggestion. I don't mind that you prefer this way of writing." She grinned up at me and I knew I had avoided a crisis.
Well, I thought I had avoided one...Gabrielle woke up and I noticed that she had really filled her diaper.
"Pooh-pooh!" she cried.
I held my breath and walked over to her.
"I know, Gabrielle," I said gently, "let's take care of this, shall we?" Gabrielle merely sniffled as she held up her little arms to me. I picked her up and said to Naomi, "I'll be right back. I gotta take care of Gabrielle for a moment. Why don't you collect some of the t-o-y-s for you two?" I saw, out of the corner of my eye, that Naomi was holding her nose. I grinned slightly.
I walked into the bathroom and quickly collected the materials I would need. A few minutes later, Gabrielle had on a fresh diaper, the old one recycled and Gabrielle was one happy toddler.
Well, Naomi and Gabrielle kept each other entertained for a while as I finished some reports I had let slip for a while. Janeway would be wanting them on her desk before my next duty shift and that was quickly approaching.
"Dragon," Naomi said, "I'm getting hungry. Mind if I get something out of the replicator?"
"Well, I don't mind," I said, "But, you know Gabrielle will want some as well. I got enough rations to cover you two. Besides, I got a request from Neelix to cover the mess hall tonight. Since I'm one of the few people on board that can stomach Neelix's cooking without getting ill, I've probably got a good bit of rations stored up."
"Well, what do you have planned for the crew's dinner?" Naomi asked.
"I thought I would see if there were enough items to make an old Earth dish called lasagna. With my luck, Neelix doesn't have those in stock and I'll have to use my rations...or my command privilege."
"Neelix always says that the Captain needs to set the example for the crew," Naomi pointed out. She was right. I recalled Janeway's frustration when Neelix called her on the carpet a few weeks after we arrived here. I laughed when she bolted out of the mess hall at a minor summons from Chakotay. I sampled that thick, gooey "coffee" he made after Janeway left. I didn't have the heart to tell him that the stuff would cause major heartburn with the crew, who were not used to the stuff. I did suggest trying to dilute it with a little water and see what happened, though. That suggestion was met with a scoff from Neelix. I shrugged my shoulders, not wanting to belabor the point.
"You're correct, Naomi," I said, "Fortunately for the crew, I can make it from scratch and use only my rations for the things we don't have on board."
She beamed, pleased at herself for having beaten me at my own game. I grinned, letting her savor the victory to the fullest. I might be unbeatable in a battle most of the time, but, I am "man" enough to concede a small defeat without harming my ego at all.
I walked over to the replicator. "Computer, transfer recipe 'Dragon Italian 34' to the mess hall."
"Program transferred," the computer replied a second later.
I took a moment to explain to Naomi what that meant and she looked pleased.
"How about I save you some?" I asked.
"I'd like that a lot, Sir," she replied.
"Naomi, how many times have I asked you to call me Dragon when we're in here? I don't stand on formalities all the time. You know when I'm off-duty, I don't hold the crew to strict protocols. It makes the crew nervous knowing that most of the time, I'm an Admiral. It took a long time for them to realize that I'm pretty laid back when things are going well, but, can be pretty harsh when I must be."
"I know," she said, "I remember Ensign Paris trying to appeal his demotion. Mom was talking about it."
"Well, Mister Paris was a lucky man. He knew that the captain was about to destroy the Delta Flyer and changed her mind at the last possible second. I told him when I rejected his appeal that he should consider himself fortunate that I was not in command of the ship as he would have been in the brig for 90 days instead of the 30 days Captain Janeway imposed. I'm usually a lot harder on shipmates who intentionally disobey an order. Captain Janeway did consult me on a sentence as a courtesy and I told her that I would accept whatever she decided on."
I chuckled at the memory...Captain Janeway asked me to sentence Paris for his various infractions. I refused, telling her that it was still her command and that whatever she decided on would be acceptable with me. I did suggest the demotion and a brig term, but, let her decide the full sentence. Even I followed her "No visiting the prisoner" orders fully.
The comm system chirped..."Seven of Nine to Naomi Wildman. Your report is five minutes overdue."
Naomi visibly paled. She had a hard time getting words out.
"Dragon here, Seven. It's my fault that Naomi is late. We were engaging in 'small talk' and lost track of the time. We'll be right down."
"Acknowledged. Seven of Nine out."
"You owe me one, Naomi," I said, "If you help me keep an eye on Gabrielle on the way down to Astrometrics, we'll be even, OK?"
She nodded, glad to be let off so easily.
I figured that Seven would try to give me one of her more caustic dressing downs. But, I didn't pay her much mind unless I had actually deserved it.
I picked up Gabrielle, who was just thrilled to be getting out for a while.
"Want to see Aunt Seven?" I asked on the way out the door.
Gabrielle nodded vigorously. She always loved seeing our Borg Drone, even to the point that she called Seven "Momma" at times. Seven voiced her displeasure privately and I told her that Gabrielle had bonded with her and that Gabrielle would always think of her as a mother. I was personally happy when Gabrielle called me "Daddy" a few times. I had mentioned it to Janeway and Chakotay one night at the mess hall and they both chuckled as they congratulated me on my "promotion".
Gabrielle was still a little young to understand the teleportation aspect of my abilities, but, had already seen me shape shift into my mini-dragon form and other forms for a quick getaway. I also didn't want to risk teleporting with her, just yet. I would wait until she was four or five before allowing her to experience the teleport first-hand.
We walked towards the turbolift and entered it.
"Astrometrics," Naomi said.
The lift hesitated. "Computer, override Wildman restriction on my authority," I said and the lift started for Astrometrics. After Naomi had been caught a few times sneaking around, the turbolifts would no longer take Naomi to various places on the ship. Engineering, the transporters, and the Bridge were off-limits to her unless her mother, the Captain, Seven, Neelix, or I would authorize an override.
We arrived a few moments later and walked into Astrometrics where Seven was waiting patiently.
"You are 10 minutes late, Naomi Wildman. Do you have that report I assigned you?"
"Yes, Seven," she replied, handing the report over. Naomi had grabbed the original one, as I suspected she would. Seven examined the report and Naomi's findings carefully.
"Very efficient, Naomi Wildman," she stated, "You have passed the test."
Naomi grinned wide enough for both of them. Coming from Seven, that was extremely high praise. She's a tough, but, fair instructor and, if she kept up that standard, I would strongly consider trying to get her into the Academy as an instructor. With her Borg assimilated knowledge and efficient manner, her students would be hard pressed to keep up. It would be a challenge in itself. Seven has a lot of knowledge that she could impart to young cadets. The problem was an obvious one in that she is still a partial Borg drone and the Borg do not have a good track record in general. The alliance is certainly helping their overall image and the knowledge exchange program is working well. The Borg are happily assimilating the new data Starfleet and the Federation share with them as well as those people that committed "capital offenses" and were handed over to the Borg for assimilation. Seven would have to overcome a lot of prejudice, so would Gabrielle, but, the person who tried to hurt either Seven or Gabrielle would have to content with a rather angry Dragon (or a formidable Kathryn Janeway.)
Gabrielle squirmed around to see Seven and reached out to her. Seven's normally impassive face softened ever so slightly as she reached over to Gabrielle. I handed the toddler over to her adoptive mother for a few moments while I studied Seven's latest project. It looked like she was plotting another more efficient route to Earth.
"Working on another route, Seven?" I asked.
"Yes, this route is designed to make use of the Borg enhanced warp drive. It will, barring any diversions, remove an added 3 months from the journey."
It was certainly more direct and looked awfully close to the Galactic Center to me. I also noticed Voyager's current position and saw that, barring any difficulties, we would be near the boundary between the Delta Quadrant and the Beta Quadrant in a few short weeks. After that, based on Seven's new routing, we would spend, maybe, 2 years or so in the Beta Quadrant before physically coming into the Alpha Quadrant. Once physically there, we'd have a few months before crossing into Klingon space and, barring any disputes between the Federation and the Klingons, we'd be through their space and, finally, back where we belonged. We'd heard about the death of Gowron, of course, and how Worf was, for a few brief moments, the head of the Klingon Empire before he passed the mantle to a high ranking General who I had met briefly at Deep Space 9 before Voyager arrived there. I thought that Worf had passed on the chance of a lifetime, but, the Empire needed someone that could heal the wounds caused by war, but, still lead the Empire in case of war and do so with honor.
Her route would take at most 5 years to actually cross, less if the Borg made any more refinements to the warp drive. Seven had also practically marked out the areas of space that the Borg had gone through and assimilated information about. Several areas were marked in red, others in different colors.
Seven explained while she held Gabrielle, who was also interested in the pretty colors.
"The red are areas that we should avoid. The Borg had assimilated some people from these areas and found their basic individual personalities were hostile towards outsiders. The orange areas are where the population may be favorable to a visit from Voyager and the green are where the Collective believes that the people there are overly welcoming and may be prime candidates for future assimilation. Voyager may want to visit these people for supplies before the Collective get there for assimilation purposes. The Borg are currently avoiding the areas, which is odd for them. However, I suspect that they are going to let us pass through, first, then, maybe start assimilation."
Seven had even pinpointed probably stardates for visits or avoidances. Barring any unforeseen problems, the odds looked extremely favorable of a fairly smooth trip from here on out.
There were also a few areas in white, very tiny, though.
"What are these white star systems for?" Naomi asked.
"Those are Demon class worlds, Naomi," Seven explained, "The Collective had scanned large amounts of deuterium or dilithium crystals there in the past."
"That's for fuel," I explained further, "or to replace the crystals that help make the higher warp speeds possible. We always prefer natural, uncut crystals over the replicated ones. Replicated crystals do not seem to last as long or are as effective as natural crystals. Seven, those planets you located are just what we need. The latest fuel consumption reports from Lt Torres show that we will need to stop at by the time we get to the second possible world, but, I think we'll re-fuel at the first planet here and get what we need. Are there any hostile races that might want to chase us away or would have mining claims on the planet?"
Seven thought for a moment, accessing her newly updated Borg "database". "The Borg have no knowledge of any mining claims," she replied.
Interesting, I thought, It seems that she's downloaded the info into her cranial implants. This certainly makes things easier for her and the rest of the crew. She'd better be careful or she'll be compared to Commander Data. But, Seven is even more precise than Data is at times.
"Excellent, Seven," I said, "Will you transfer this to the conference room for later discussion?"
"I will do that shortly, Dragon," she said, "I am scheduled to regenerate shortly and will transfer the data before that time. Meanwhile, I think that I would enjoy some time with Gabrielle and Naomi Wildman."
I chuckled, "Have fun, kids. Naomi, I want you to come straight to the mess hall when you're done. We need to prepare for the crew's dinner and I would like your help."
Naomi just smiled, "Neelix always chases me out of the kitchen. I'd be glad to help you, though."
"I am not a child," Seven said.
"Relax, Seven," I said, "I know you're an adult, but, sometimes, I see some traces of the child that was assimilated in you. It's good to take the time to relax before you go to sleep...or regenerate. I always take 15 minutes or so to play with Gabrielle before I put her to bed for the night. It's good for the soul, I think."
"Souls are irrelevant," she said. I groaned.
"Can we discuss the importance of a soul at some other time, Seven?" I asked. She nodded, "I would like that."
"Please bring Gabrielle back to my quarters when you're through playing with her. I need to get going or I will be behind schedule. What I have planned will take several hours to make and the preparation is well worth the end result."
Seven nodded her assent and I left. I had to stop at my quarters for a while and see what I needed from ship's stores and what I would be needing my rations for. I had a hunch that most everything I needed would be off my rations, though.
After I returned to my quarters, I said, "Computer, compare recipe 'Dragon Italian 34' recipe list to current ship's stores and tell me what I may use from there as well as what will be needed from my personal replicator rations account."
"Please state if substitutions may be made," the computer replied.
"No substitutions this time, except for crew members who are allergic to garlic or onion as well as the Vulcans and Commander Chakotay," I said.
"There are no current ship's stores that may be used for this recipe without substitutions. In order to make this recipe from replicated materials, you would require 10 weeks of rations in order to prepare this dinner. Your current balance is 25.3 weeks of stored rations. There are substitutions available for non-garlic, non-onion and vegetarian."
That was a heavy hit on my stored rations, but, worth it, I realized. I wasn't overly bothered by Neelix's cooking, such as it was, but even leeola root stew was no longer that appealing, even to me. That stuff tasted pretty nasty and almost gave me heartburn, something that even with old style 5 Alarm Chili, never occurred.
I had to chuckle the first time Neelix pulled that recipe out of the database. Most of the crew suffered major heartburn and indigestion after that while I actually savored every mouthful and complimented him afterwards. The EMH, however, had a rather blistering opinion of Neelix after the 20th person came into sickbay for some antacid. But, Seven's reaction was more like a third degree burn when she practically threatened to introduce Neelix to her assimilation tubes for making her suffer like that. She was quite hostile, actually. I ended up dipping into my rations to provide some relief to the entire crew and ordered Neelix to replace the rations within the next year, which he gladly did within 3 months. He learned to make a much milder chili after that and after that, there were no further incidents of "near assimilation for the good of the crew". Besides, I sort of threatened to tie Seven's tubes into a knot if she even tried harming Neelix or any other person on board. She got the point rather quickly.
I headed over to the mess hall, only to see a bunch of crewmen waiting around.
"When's dinner?" one asked.
"Well, I've got something planned that will make your mouths water and is a taste of home, if I do say so," I replied, "To answer your question, dinner will be served at about 1930 hours. With some luck, though, it will be finished and ready to eat before this time."
"But, my shift begins at 2000 hours, sir," he complained. Others agreed with him. The time was, indeed pushing it for the Gamma shift.
"Relax, crewman," I said, "If I start now and am not interrupted, the first batch will be ready by 1900 hours, giving plenty of time to enjoy the meal."
"Thank you, sir," he replied, moving out of the way.
"You're welcome," I said, "I think you'll enjoy it."
The first thing I did after getting into the kitchen was to pull a list of ingredients to use. I had several variations that I needed to make as well, one for the vegetarians on board. Another was using a garlic artificial flavor instead of actual garlic since we had some crewmembers who were allergic or otherwise intolerant to anything actually based on garlic. I wondered if there were any vampires on board, but, I knew that there were none.
The next thing was getting things replicated and ready for baking. By then, Seven had stopped in with the kids. She looked tired for some reason as she sat down with Gabrielle.
"Are you OK, Seven?" I asked.
"I'm fine," she said, "I just need to regenerate."
I thought about it for a moment, "Seven, if you have a pressing need to regenerate, you can leave Naomi and Gabrielle here. I believe that Naomi can keep Gabrielle out of trouble for an hour or so."
"I can manage," she replied.
"How long since you regenerated, Seven?"
"40.5 hours. I've been busy working on that route."
"Regenerate, Seven. I don't want to see you around the ship for at least 8 hours. I will save you some of the dinner. You must comply," I said using my "command voice". Even Seven of Nine didn't question it when I used that tone. In fact, Janeway didn't question me in those rare times.
"Understood," she said, "Good night."
I smiled softly, "Good night, Seven. Have a pleasant regeneration cycle."
She looked like she was going to hit me with a statement about the irrelevancy of a pleasant night's sleep, but, left to head to Cargo Bay 2, instead.
"Naomi," I said, "I need you to keep an eye on Gabrielle for a short while. I got to feed 153 crewmembers and they are getting hungry. I'll give you additional holodeck time for helping, too."
She beamed. She still loved her Flotter stories and carted around the doll Neelix gave her a few years ago, especially when she was frightened. But, I suspected that within a year or so, she would no longer depend on it.
It took about 30 minutes to get the first batch of dinner ready for the oven. That was going to be reserved for crewmen who needed to begin their shifts at 2000 hours and I figured that it would take about 90 minutes to fully cook. While that was cooking, I prepared the follow-up batch and got that ready. I had figured that by then, I was ready for a break knowing that about 1/3 of the crew would be fed with what I had already started.
I went out and saw Gabrielle sleeping next to Naomi, who looked totally trapped by the situation.
"She been sleeping long?" I asked quietly.
"She fell asleep about 15 minutes ago, Dragon," she replied, "Do you think you could move her? My leg is numb."
I nodded and carefully moved Gabrielle off of Naomi.
"Stay here for a few minutes, I'll take her back to my quarters," I instructed Naomi, "Your leg will wake up in a few moments, don't try to stand on it until the tingly feeling goes away."
Naomi nodded and grimaced, "It started already."
"Rub it, if you want. I've found that it does help get the circulation going again. I'll be back in five minutes."
I walked to the nearest turbolift. "Deck 2," I said and a few moments of travel later, I was stepping out and walking towards my quarters.
I entered the room and gently carried Gabrielle to her crib and laid her down there and covered her up. "Sleep well, kid," I said.
"Computer, alert me when Gabrielle wakes up," I said. The reply was a chirping sound.
I quickly teleported to the mess hall, surprising Naomi a little bit. She had yet to experience the sensation of teleporting and I figured that she was now old enough to go on a quick teleport. I didn't think that Ensign Wildman would object, especially a site-to-site teleport.
By then, my break, such as it was, had ended and I started preparing the next batch, but, with Naomi helping out, that time was cut in half. I also could see Seven's influence on Naomi as she was certainly being pretty efficient in her work.
Within an hour, we had put enough into the ovens that the whole crew would be happily fed and possibly enough for seconds considering how my cooking was, by default, much better than Neelix's cooking.
I had just taken the first of the batches out of the oven when the crew started walking in with various comments, mainly good ones. I had heard someone say, "I can smell this all the way down the hall."
"Right on time, Naomi," I said, "You hungry?"
She nodded, "Yeah, this smell is wonderful and is making me hungry."
"Then, I've done a good job," I said, "Nothing against Neelix, but, his cooking usually leaves people wondering if they are brave enough to try his stuff. The mark of a good cook, Naomi, is the aroma of the food as it's being cooked. The smell of the cooked food adds to it's pleasurable taste and overall enjoyment."
I fixed a plate for Naomi and asked if she wanted a salad or any other vegetable to go with the pasta. She nodded and I replicated a small salad for her and something to drink.
"Do you need help getting that to a table?" I asked. She shook her head and went to find a seat while I served the crew.
"That smells wonderful," Harry Kim said by way of a greeting. "Only the best, Mr. Kim," I replied and handed him a tray. "You got the center seat tonight?" I asked.
"Yeah," he said, "Third time this week."
"You enjoy having that night watch, don't you?" I asked.
"Actually, I do enjoy it," he replied, "The Gamma shift crew are wonderful people to work with."
"I know, Ensign. And, I've been hearing a lot of good things from the captain and Chakotay about how you handle the Gamma Shift. I am thinking of stopping in to watch for myself later on tonight."
He paled slightly, knowing that I have a critical eye. However, I had an unstated reason for wanting to personally observe Harry. He was seriously overdue for a promotion and I wanted to verify, in my mind, that he was ready for another pip. The progress reports all indicated that he was more than ready, though and tonight would probably seal the promotion. However, I would still have to defer to Janeway's decision, but, based on his performance, I would strongly recommend a promotion to LT(jg).
"Relax, Harry," I said, "I don't bite unless there's a reason for me to give someone a chewing. I'm just going to observe. You won't even know I'm there, unless something comes up of importance."
He left and sat down to enjoy his meal. By then, several people had already enjoyed a first helping and looked like they needed a second one, but, left to head for their shift. Many, however, threw a compliment my way, including Naomi.
It took another couple of hours to get the crew fed and not one complained about the taste or quality. Both Janeway and Chakotay stopped in and thoroughly enjoyed the treat. I saved Seven a decent portion and even placed a bowl of strawberry shortcake in the freezer for her now that I knew that she still enjoyed them from her pre-assimilation childhood.
When all was finished, I returned to my quarters, having been notified by the computer that Gabrielle was waking up. She would need another fresh diaper, then, her own dinner. I had already sent Naomi back to my quarters to get ready for bed, where she was still awake.
"Something wrong, Naomi?" I asked.
"Neelix usually reads a story to me before bed," she said. I nodded, remembering that most of my adopted children loved to be read to as they fell asleep.
"What was he reading to you last night? I would be glad to read part of it."
She told me that new Flotter books had come out while we were lost and were recently relayed by the Collective, so Neelix had started reading them to her since they hadn't been converted to holodeck programs yet (or the programs hadn't been transmitted, I made a mental note to get them for her the next time that the Collective came by with some mail.)
I downloaded the one Neelix had started reading into a data pad and tucked Naomi into bed. I was also holding onto Gabrielle, who had received a fresh diaper and was getting a little restless. This was usually the time when I was able to pay some extra attention to her with some playtime and she was used to it.
It turned out that Naomi was more tired out than I thought as within 15 minutes after I started reading, I glanced over to her and she was sound asleep.
I turned off the data pad, after saving the page to the main computer and carried Gabrielle over to my bedroom, where I kept some toys she loved.
"I'm sorry that you had to wait, Gabrielle," I said, "Uncle Neelix needs me to babysit Naomi for a few days."
Gabrielle merely gave me a hug and all was forgiven as we settled down to give her some playtime before I called it a night. I had to cover Alpha Shift for Captain Janeway, who was beginning to show signs of additional stress and the EMH ordered her to take a few days of rest. Chakotay would also need some time off and I told him that I would cover for them. Tuvok would serve as temporary First Officer for a couple days.
But, as I was making my plans, I remembered that I was going to visit Harry Kim, who was now in command of the Gamma Shift. Since Gabrielle was showing no signs of being sleepy, I decided to use my admiral's prerogative and took her with me. But, then, considering that she just woke up, I wasn't surprised at all.
"Want to see Uncle Harry?" I asked, "I told him that I would visit him tonight on the bridge."
Gabrielle, who had never seen the bridge, practically jumped out of the bed in response with an "Huh-uh" for a reply.
"That must mean 'yes'," I muttered to myself.
I picked her up and headed for the turbolift. As we walked, I tried to explain to Gabrielle why she couldn't touch anything on the bridge. I'd have a hard time explaining to Janeway why we lost a torpedo or something else that was non replaceable or why the ship suddenly dropped out of it's high warp.
I was lucky in that Gabrielle was a good listener and she was already able to grasp why certain things shouldn't be done or touched. I had to hope it was her Borg half that made things easier. Being around our adult Borg and teenaged Borg were also good influences, I felt. Even I had adopted several Borg like mannerisms. I always wondered why, since Seven came on board, but, I came to realize that Seven had a primarily Vulcan personality instead of human. I knew that the original Annika Hanson was long gone, but, I wouldn't be surprised if one day the more stern Seven didn't give way to a repressed Annika. The Doctor had said that it was a possibility, but, he considered it to be unlikely as well. Too much time had passed since she was assimilated for any of the original personality to have survived. With Gabrielle, though, she was developing more of a natural personality, I thought.
The turbolift deposited us at the bridge and Harry stood up to acknowledge my presence.
"As you were, Ensign," I said, "I'm just here to observe and show Gabrielle around a bit. She practically hit the door running when I told her that I was coming up here for a few minutes."
Harry sat down, chuckling at the thought.
I sat Gabrielle down and held her hand as we walked around the various consoles. She was especially interested in the helm controls for some reason.
"A budding helmsman," the current helmsman said, "Want a closer look?"
Gabrielle merely reached up and received a lift. She looked intensely at the console, like she was trying to burn it into her memory. She reached over to the console, but, didn't fully touch it.
"Computer," I whispered, "lock out helm controls, authorization: Dragon Omega 142."
I nodded to Harry, telling him that things were under control. He nodded back as Gabrielle palmed the controls. The helmsman looked shocked.
"Hey," she said, "That's the warp control you're pushing there."
"It's OK," I said, "I temporarily disconnected the controls. She can't do any harm." I took Gabrielle and scolded her. "Are you trying to get me in trouble with Aunt Kathryn? She doesn't like unexpected changes to the ship, OK?"
Gabrielle nodded with tears in her eyes. "Hey, little one. You didn't cause any trouble. Just be more careful, OK??" She gave me a hug, which I returned.
"Sir," the ops officer said, "Scanners are picking up a transwarp conduit, 100 KM off the bow."
I nodded again to Harry, this time letting him know that he was still in charge.
"Computer release helm controls, authorization Dragon Omega 142," he said, "And slow to 1/4 impulse."
The ship immediately slowed to 1/4 impulse. As long as I was physically on the bridge, the computer would allow the countermand. If I had already left, the Borg would have to play catch-up.
"A Borg Sphere has emerged," Harry said.
"As you were, Ensign," I said.
"Janeway to bridge. Report," we heard.
"Kim here, Captain. We've slowed to meet with a Borg Sphere that dropped out of transwarp. It's just waiting there for us."
"Understood," she said, "Keep me informed. Janeway out."
My adaptive communicator chirped it's special Borg contact signal.
"Dragon here. State your intentions."
"We are the Borg. Prepare for a priority data transfer from the Alpha Quadrant," that still unnerving voice said. It must have been important for the Borg to send a special ship to meet with us without any prior notice.
"Establish uplink to the vessel," Harry said.
"The uplink is established," I said to the Collective, "Begin your transfer."
A few moments later, the ops officer said, "Transfer complete. It's encoded for your eyes only, Admiral."
"We have received the transfer. Stand by for a return communication. Dragon out." To the ops officer, "Transfer the message to the ready room. I'll take it there. Harry, would you keep an eye on Gabrielle for a few minutes?"
"Certainly, sir," he said. I couldn't risk even having Gabrielle watching the message since it was "Eyes only".
I entered the ready room, already dreading what the message might be. Starfleet had never used the Borg to relay this type of information, so that had my instincts going at yellow alert.
I sat down. "Computer, play message just received."
"State your clearance level. Security level 15 required for access."
"Dragon Gamma 1154 Alpha 136 Zeta 8521. Security clearance 15," I said.
"Security clearance confirmed. State identity for voiceprint verification."
"This is the Dragon. Rank: Admiral. Service Number SC-0056-6682-01."
"Voiceprint confirmed," the computer said and the Federation Logo appeared.
Admiral Paris appeared on the screen, "Admiral, what I am about to say is the hardest thing I've ever had to do. The Federation Council and Starfleet have ordered the immediate arrest of Captain Kathryn Janeway and Commander Chakotay for violations of the Prime Directive while in the Delta Quadrant. They are to be confined to the brig immediately pending a full hearing and possible courts-martial. The Council has further ordered you to take command of Voyager and to bring her back to Federation Space as quickly as possible. We expect a reply confirming that out orders have been carried out within 24 hours. Paris out."
I swore some ancient Greek invectives at this order. My fears were confirmed and the orders left no room for delay. I steeled myself for the task ahead.
"Computer," I said, "Verify the source of the message."
"Source confirmed as Admiral Owen Paris of Starfleet Command," the computer said a moment later.
"Dragon to Tuvok. Report to the ready room immediately," I said. Then, I paced the floor until he arrived. He arrived a few minutes later, with a raised eyebrow.
"Mr. Tuvok," I said, "I've received orders from Starfleet. I am to place the Captain and First Officer under arrest for violation of General Order 1 and I am to assume command of the ship. Gather a security detail and meet me in the conference room immediately."
I knew that this would be a blow to her dignity as well as Chakotay's, so, I decided to lessen the impact as much as I could.
"Computer, summon the senior staff to the Conference Room. Priority one," I said, "Interrupt Seven of Nine's regeneration cycle and have her report to the Conference Room as well."
"Acknowledged," the computer said.
I left the Ready Room. "Harry, report to the Conference Room. Bring Gabrielle with you."
He rose, still holding the youngster and followed me after placing the helmsman in temporary command of the Bridge.
It took about 5 minutes for everyone to show up. Those more observant probably saw the look of pain on my face. I wasn't making much of an attempt to totally hide the feelings.
"Captain. Commander Chakotay," I said, "I've received some distressing orders from Starfleet and the Federation Council. This is the hardest thing I've had to do since coming aboard this ship, but, I have little choice in the matter.
"By order of the Federation Council and Starfleet Command, you are relieved of command and placed under arrest pending a hearing and possible courts-martial. The charge is the one that all Captains dread the most. You've been formally charged with Violation of the Prime Directive and are hereby confined to the Brig until such a hearing can be convened. You have no idea how I regret doing this to you and pray that you can forgive me. May God have mercy on you."
The senior staff looked on in shock for a moment, then, the protests began in earnest.
"I kind of expected this to happen," Kathryn said, "I knew that Starfleet might not look kindly on some of my actions, nor Chakotay's actions. He's still wanted by the Federation anyway, I would think."
"Silence," I said quietly, "I have no choice but to comply with these orders. Starfleet has placed me in command of the ship with orders to return home as quickly as possible.
"Mr. Tuvok. Take the Captain and First Officer to their quarters. Captain, I'm going against that part of those orders on my responsibility. As I said, they wanted you confined to the brig. I will not do that."
From that moment, the eyes in the room all glared at me with hatred, except for Seven, who was her normal cool self during the proceedings.
After they left to head for their quarters, I said, "We're going home as soon as I can arrange transportation. Any member of the crew may visit the Captain and Chakotay during the daylight shifts. Seven, can you act as an impartial representative for both of them? Did you assimilate anyone with knowledge of Federation Law and Starfleet Regulations that you can use to form some kind of defense?"
"I have and will comply," she said. I nodded, "Good. Do what you have to do. You will have our full and complete cooperation. Anyone that doesn't comply can be told that it's a direct order from the Dragon. Work with Mr. Tuvok on their defense as well, since he's known them longer and can assist you."
"Harry, contact Neelix and Ensign Wildman. Their away mission is to be aborted immediately and they are to return at all top speed. If they cannot return quickly, tell them to expect a pick up from a Borg ship. Dismissed."
As everyone left, Seven stayed behind with Gabrielle.
"You are upset," she said coolly.
"Seven," I said, "I've been dreading this day since we first sent the EMH to the Alpha Quadrant. Janeway's made a lot of decisions that violated many standard regulations and even bent the Prime Directive to the point that it is blurred, even to me, and I developed the thing 150 years ago. I overlooked the possible violations because, like most of the crew, I want to get back home and see those friends I left behind. It's not an easy job being an admiral sometimes. I'm usually deskbound, like most admirals back home are. The last eight years have been the longest I've spent in space, believe it or not. I basically was grandfathered into the Starfleet when the Earth's military was disbanded and given this rank. Now, I do not know if even I am worthy to keep it. They are overlooking my involvement in this situation and making scapegoats out of Janeway and Chakotay.
"I think I got every reason to be upset."
"Dragon," Seven said, "You've done everything possible to help this crew. You've stood by the Captain from Day One and no one expects you to do anything less. You supported my disconnection from the Collective and given me a lot of your time and insights, knowing that I was Borg. You assisted me in becoming who I am, advised me and guided me as much as the Captain and the Doctor. The Collective had noticed your unique abilities during the 'Enterprise Incident' and wanted you since then to be assimilated. The Collective, after the 'Wolf 359' battle realized that unless you were willing, you could not be assimilated. Your abilities would have added to our perfection, but the Collective would have lost many drones in the process. It was you that held the Federation together during it's formation and our repeated attempts to assimilate humanity, just by being there. They would suffer greatly were you to give up. The Federation will not punish you for doing what you feel is correct. You are too relevant to them."
"Then, Seven," I replied, "Janeway is doing what she feels is the right thing to do to get her crew home. Now, that is my responsibility and I need to rush this crew back to a bittersweet homecoming, just to see their brave captain and First Officer going on trial. I feel that they are wrong in this decision, but, I can't pull any strings or call in favors from those I helped ascend to their positions. That even included Admiral Paris, who I guided on the fast track to command of his own starship and then becoming an admiral. He was upset at having told me to arrest Janeway and Chakotay.
"I still remember that angry, scared drone that Janeway brought aboard 5 years ago as well as the Ocampan, Kes, who we lost after you became part of our collective. I've seen you become an excellent teacher to Naomi and have seen you regain your humanity. Gabrielle here is an example of that growth. She already emulates you. More than I would like, actually, but, that shows me that you've met this crew halfway and then some. Seven, I am counting on your Borg imposed order and efficiency to help Janeway and Chakotay. You have full access privileges to them at any time of the day as their lawyer. Please take Gabrielle back to my quarters, Seven. I need time alone to think about what I'm going to do.
"Do you know why I never permitted myself to be assimilated?" I asked before she left.
"I do not have enough information to answer that," she said.
"Well, I know that the Borg would gain my innate abilities, including teleportation. The Borg would be truly perfect if they gained that power and adapted it to their usage. Can you see 150,000 drones teleporting onto a planet without any warning or even being able to be blocked by simple deflectors? How long would it take to assimilate a planet in that manner?"
"It would take approximately 2.5 hours to assimilate a planet the size of Earth. I see your point," she said, "I need to terminate this discussion, though." I waved her out of the room.
She stood up and took the now sleepy toddler with her to my quarters. I figured that she would stay there in case the two kids needed her.
The message from Starfleet had also named the stardates in question and as I looked up the logs from those dates and others, I could begin to see where the Federation had found enough evidence to charge Janeway and Chakotay.
But, I also had access to personal logs from those times and examined them over the next few hours as well, trying to see if there was any unofficial justification for some of the actions. Fortunately, Janeway and Chakotay kept extensive logs, even personal ones, that had given a good justification for many of the actions. Sadly, though, I couldn't introduce them in court myself since I was mentioned in several of the logs as supporting them.
Seven, being part-Borg, would have an advantage over Federation attorneys with her Borg databases, which she would pour through over the next several days. I was going to dismiss the Borg ship that was still outside the window after making my reply to Starfleet, and told them that if they didn't like my confining Janeway and Chakotay to their quarters, I would resign my commission.
I decided that I needed to talk to them both to seek their permission to include personal logs in my reply and to do that, I would need Seven's presence as their attorney. I had no intention of talking to them without making sure that their rights were protected and if that meant using the Collective to establish a subspace relay for their courts-martial, I would do just that. But, I was sorely tempted to ask the Borg Queen to park several cubes in Earth orbit. I couldn't do that because that could cause the agreement to be terminated. If that happened, the computer had said that within 60 days, the Federation would fall and, within a year, the Klingon Empire and Romulan Empire would also fall to the Borg. I would also be throwing away several centuries of good and heroic deeds just to seek a dire revenge.
"Dragon to Seven of Nine. Please report to the Captain's quarters," I said.
"Unable to comply," she said, "Both Naomi and Gabrielle are awake and require supervision."
I sighed. I did not need to have this minor problem, but, after looking at the time, I realized that over 8 hours had passed. Good Lord! I thought to myself.
"Understood," I replied, "I'll have the Captain report there, instead. Dragon out."
I went to the Captain's quarters, where two security guards were posted. They moved aside to allow me to enter.
I entered to see a more human side to Janeway. She looked like she had a rough night. Her eyes were actually red from crying, which shocked this old Dragon to the core.
"Kathryn? Are you all right?" I asked.
"Not really, I had hoped that the Federation would have waited to do this to Chakotay and myself," she replied with a sigh that almost broke my heart. She'd been broken badly by this action and hurt her more than anyone would ever know. The strong Captain was facing a life in prison unless Seven and I could figure a way out of it or plead to some lesser charges. I had also made a decision. When we returned to Earth, I was resigning my commission as a flag admiral and leaving the Federation to their follies. But, if Janeway was acquitted or given a suspended sentence, I would consider staying.
"I've appointed Seven as your lawyer, Captain. Chakotay's as well. This is, as you know, part of the Fourth Guarantee of the Constitution of the Federation. This will be the last time I will speak to you without her presence until this case is settled.
"Kathryn, I've had to be hard on your crewmen when I've needed to and, I may be asked to hand you a sentence that will be very hard. But, I am not going to impose on the Collective to drag us back home, not unless the Federation gives me no choice.
"You need to stay strong, Captain. The crew cannot afford to see you like this. I promise you that this crew and myself will do everything in our power to help you.
"One of the charges is that you made an illegal and unauthorized alliance with the Collective. I know that they do not have all the facts in this case since they refer to the conflict with Species 8472 and the other results that came after that. Seven might not be totally impartial, but, she's the best that we can muster on short notice.
"They also charged you with a violation of the Prime Directive by giving a hostile alien species holographic technology."
"They picked the Hirogen?" she asked.
I nodded, "Yeah. I should have seen that coming. Kathryn, this puts my neck on the same block since I stood by and permitted this to happen. They seemed to pick out two incidents that occurred after Kes left the ship. Most strange."
I wondered why the Federation chose those two incidents to file an immediate action. It was, indeed, interesting and I wondered if there was a connection. On the surface, there didn't seem to be any. We were able to open a dialog with Species 8472 and, recently, Janeway had gotten bit by her donation to the Hirogen when their constructs were able to turn the hunters into the hunted. But, the incident happened too recently to be really included in the official datastreams.
That, I could fix, I hoped. I knew that the Federation didn't have all the available facts and as an unofficial co-counsel, I was going to provide that evidence to the Federation.
"Captain, I need your permission to submit your personal logs of any incidences that the Federation is concerned about. However, it is my duty to inform you that if you grant that permission, you will be waiving your Fourth Guarantee rights concerning possible self-incrimination. Take the time that you need to decide," I told her gently.
She laughed, "We're still a long way from home. Go ahead and submit them if you think they'll help."
"Captain, they want Voyager back ASAP," I said, "I'm under orders to, as Picard would say, 'make it so'. There is still that sphere matching our course and speed. If need be, I can get us a lift back to the Federation today, but, I want to delay this so you can prepare a defense. I am going to tell the Federation that they need to wait for 60 days to allow you to prepare and no amount of threats will make me change my mind. But, that doesn't preclude them asking the Collective to drag us back, then, resistance would be futile."
"We do need the time to prepare, I'm afraid. Admiral, Voyager has been my life since I took command and I don't want to lose her or my career."
"Captain, you will not lose your career. I promise you that. If you are convicted, I will stand by you. Your fate shall be my own. If need be, I will take full and complete responsibility and serve your prison terms and take your dishonorable discharge unto myself."
"Captain Spock did that, didn't he?", she asked.
"Yes. When Admiral James T. Kirk was brought before the Federation Council for court-martial, Captain Spock, who owed his existence to Kirk, stood by his Admiral when Kirk pled guilty for his entire senior staff. Kirk shouldered the demotion and wrath of the Federation as a true warrior. If he hadn't saved Earth from that Whale Probe, the Federation would have been gravely wounded.
"But, there is no way to pull that feat now, but, as a titular flag rank officer, I could have ordered you not to make the first Borg Alliance or give that technology to the Hirogens. I failed to do any of those, so it's also my neck on the line. But, I am willing to sacrifice this Starfleet career to protect this crew, who I now consider to be my family."
Kathryn Janeway just looked at me, like I was insane, but realized that I could afford it. My old lair was long sealed, I did not need a Starfleet career and if they wanted to cashier me out, they were more than welcome to. They would, however, lose my services as a diplomat and a liaison for the Collective. I had somehow gained their respect and the Collective have my respect. The Federation would be up a creek if I decided to give everything up and leave for a while. I had done it many times in the past and would do so again, especially since I had already devoted several hundred years to serving mankind.
"Seven will be by later today to start preparations for your defense, Captain. I'm sorry, but, you are restricted to quarters unless it is mealtime. Then, if you desire, you may be escorted to the mess hall for meals or use replicator rations. My account took a hefty hit last night, but, I will transfer 60 days worth into both you and Chakotay's account to use for meals only," I said and stood up to leave.
"Oh, by the way, Captain. I am going to promote Harry to LT(jg) later today. He's earned it, but, I want your opinion before I commit to this plan of action," I said.
She looked surprised, "Harry's a fine ensign and he would make a fine LT. Chakotay is/was very pleased with the recent progress reports and Harry running the Gamma Shift. I was going to promote him at the next staff meeting, but, if you want to, it's your call, sir."
"Thanks, Captain," I said, "If you need someone to talk to outside of the case against you, you know how to contact me." I left her quarters and left orders with Security that the Captain would be receiving Seven of Nine as her lawyer and that she was to be granted full access to her or Chakotay at all times.
I headed for Chakotay's quarters to update him on the situation. This process didn't take too long and within 30 minutes I was back in my quarters, discussing things with Seven. She was not pleased that I had updated them, but, assured her that she would be taking the case and that my direct involvement had come to an end.
Seven left to do some research into Federation Law and Starfleet regulations as well as preparing a defense for her "clients".