A Fire of Devotion Part 2: Louder Than Bells, a startrek: voyager fanfic

Author's Note: Just a heads up; the episodes "Once Upon a Time" and "Thirty Days" are going to be swapped with the latter occurring before the former in this story as opposed to how they went on the show. Also, a late change made after I'd started work on this part was the decision to excise "In The Flesh" from this story's canon. I'd originally intended to simply change the episode to fix what I saw as problems with it, but ultimately I couldn't fix the core problem which was the almost literal declawing of Species 8472. Since I pretty much skipped over "Prey" entirely in the last part (though I did reference it), I think it's safe to say I won't be do anything with them, though since I'm going to be re-doing "Endgame" pretty much from scratch (keeping only the presence of the Borg, though what I do with them will be WAY different from what the show did, as hinted in Part 1: Louder Than Sirens) I won't rule them appearing again out entirely.

Also, though I hadn't intended to at first, I ended up flipping "Timeless" and "Infinite Regress." The events of "Timeless" will be almost wholly glossed over as the episode is fine as is (what problems I do have with the episode are covered in SF Debris' review of it so I won't get into that here). As for why I flipped them… *shrug* It just sort of worked out that way while I was writing. I swear the fact that the latter was filmed before but aired after the former is just coincidence. Production order and airdate order often don't match. Anyone who's seen TOS or Firefly can tell you that much. While I'm on the subject of "Infinite Regress," hopefully you remember the scene in the episode that took place in Seven of Nine's mind well, because I pretty much skim over that. I didn't feel I could adequately convey the feel of that scene. Maybe if I were a horror writer like a Stephen King, a Scott Sigler, or an H.P. Lovecraft, but my style is more dialogue heavy; think Amy Sherman-Palladino, Kevin Smith, and pre-West Wing Season 5 Aaron Sorkin. My apologies to anyone who is disappointed.

Oh, and if anyone who really liked Enterprise (I mean the whole thing, not the people like me who mostly hated it except for the 4th season) happens to read this, you are not going to be happy with my re-write of the episode "Relativity." I mean like SUPER unhappy. The episode as it aired was actually not bad, it was loads of fun. But if I'm going to be re-doing "Endgame" from scratch, I'll need practice to know I can pull it off. As for why I chose that one, honestly, it just sort of came to me as totally random inspiration while I was washing a car. I am not kidding.

Sidenote: It's kind of funny that I ended up skipping the episode "Bliss" for this part, because in a very, very early version of this story (as in I was still only thinking about it) "Bliss" was going to be the point in the story where Seven and Samantha's relationship would be revealed to the rest of the crew (in that version they also started much later in season 4 than I have them doing back in Part 1).

Star Trek Voyager: Sam & Annie
Part 2 of 4: Louder Than Bells

By Zeus Parker

Prologue

Seven of Nine watched from the corner of the mess hall as the Voyager crew was throwing yet another party. It had only been about five months since the joint party thrown for her and Harry Kim, and since then there are had been several birthdays, a Bajoran religious ceremony, and now a celebration for Voyager itself, having by way of a spatial vortex just shaved another two years off it's journey back to the Alpha Quadrant.

"So, why aren't you enjoying yourself, Annie?" Samantha Wildman said, standing next to Seven with an arm around her waist. Seven took a sip from her glass of replicated champagne before answering.

"In the past year, Voyager has had years taken off it's estimated return time on no less than four occasions. Once by Kes, once by a new course plotted with the aid of my Borg star charts in astrometrics, then there was the slipstream drive technology we took from the Dauntless before it turned out to be a trap, and now this. When it happens often enough to no longer qualify as a 'special occasion,' I don't see the point in throwing a party for every single instance. Had we gained twenty years as opposed to two, then this party would make more sense to me."

"Well, I think there's a bit more to it than that," Sam said. "We not only shaved more time off our journey home, we got out of dark space much sooner, which is good because most of the crew was going pants on head nanners over the lack of, well, anything visible."

"Pants on head?" Seven muttered, confused by the metaphor.

"And add to that the fact that we helped save an innocent race from the slow motion genocide they were facing because of those Malon traders that were dumping radioactive waste in their territory."

"However," Seven said, "much like the shortening of the journey to the Alpha Quadrant, this is not the first time that Voyager has stepped in to save people who were being harmed by malicious outside forces."

Sam sighed. "Okay, you got me there," she said, putting a hand on Seven's back.

"Perhaps it's something I would understand more if I were fully human," Seven said. "As it stands right now though, this seems like an even more meaningless symbolic gesture-" Seven's monologue was cut off when some music began playing. Seven felt ambivalent towards it; it was not offensive to her ears, but she didn't derive any pleasure from it either. Suddenly, Samantha took Seven's drink from her, and put both their glasses down on a nearby table. Samantha, smiling, extended her hands to Seven of Nine.

"Shut up and dance with me," Samantha said.

Odd, Seven thought. Suddenly the music seems more pleasing.

"I am afraid I do not know how," Seven said.

"It's slow dancing Annie," Samantha said. "it's kinda hard to screw up. Just follow my lead and we'll be fine. It's not like we'll do doing the tango."

"I do not know what the tango is, but perhaps you'll teach me that later."

"We'll see."

Chapter One

While Seven of Nine was finishing her preparations for a mission to survey a proto-nebula she'd be taking with Tom, B'Elanna, and the Doctor, Samantha walked into cargo bay 2.

"Hey, Annie," she said. "I'm not interrupting anything am I?"

"No. I am almost finished," Seven said. "Are you sure you don't wish to come with us?"

"I appreciate the offer," Sam replied. "But one, nebulas are not really my thing, I'm a biologist not an astronomer. And two, those class-2 shuttles aren't really well suited to seating five comfortably."

"I've actually had some thoughts about that," Seven said. "Though I'd rather not go into details until I've had a chance to discuss it with Mister Paris since he has more practical experience with small craft than I do."

"Why honey," Sam said, smiling. "Is that humbleness I hear coming from you?"

"I have been perfectly willing to admit my shortcomings in the past," Seven said, shaking her head. "Yet somehow each time it is treated as though it is unusual. While I have extensive knowledge about the operation of small spacecraft in my memory, as a drone I was never required to use it. Lieutenant Paris not only has years of training and practice, he has also demonstrated an innate talent for it. Not seeking his insight would-" Seven was cut off by the sound of her comm badge chirping.

"Doctor to Seven of Nine, we're waiting for you in the shuttle bay."

"I was unaware I was late Doctor," Seven said.

"You aren't actually. Apparently the departure time was moved up by ten minutes, which I was only informed of five minutes ago. You can blame Mister Paris for that."
Samantha could hear a quiet, "I said I was sorry!" come over the badge and assumed that it was Tom. She quickly covered her mouth to stifle a laugh.

"Regardless," the Doctor continued. "If you are ready, please report to the shuttle as soon as possible."

"On my way," Seven said, tapping her badge to end the conversation. "Well, see you when I get back."

"Just so you know," Samantha said. "Naomi insists on helping me prepare dinner tonight, so if my quarters seem messier than usual when you get back you'll know why."
Seven smiled and gave Samantha a quick hug as she headed out.

"To borrow a phrase from Lieutenant Kim," she said before the cargo bay door closed behind her, "Don't burn down the ship while I'm away."

"Aw, you're no fun," Samantha said in mock disappointment.

Lieutenant Harry Kim stood at his station on the bridge, feeling good about the day. It had now been approximately six months since his last Year of Hell flashback, and the Doctor had finally agreed to reduce the dosage on his PTSD medication. That good feeling went away when he heard the beep and looked down.

"We're receiving a distress call from the away team," he said. "They've been caught in the gravimetric shear of a plasma surge."

"Bridge to Transporter Room 1, prepare for emergency beam out," Captain Janeway said.

"On it," Ensign Todd Mulcahey's voice replied. "I've got a partial lock on them, but unless their shuttle clears the nebula…"

"It won't," Harry said. "They've lost propulsion."

"Then it's going to be a rough transport," Mulcahey said, "Resetting pattern buffers…"

"Harry, get down there and help-"

"Got them Captain," Mulcahey said. "Their signals are clearing."

"Good work Ensign," Janeway said. "I'm on my way down there now."

When Seven of Nine came out of transport she looked around. She couldn't quite place it, but she'd felt something odd during transport. She couldn't come up with the proper word to describe it, but was certain that she had never felt it before. Everyone else who had been on the shuttle seemed fine though, both Tom and B'Elanna smiling in relief as they stepped off the platform.

"Well, that was certainly exciting," the Doctor said.

"As potentially fatal occurrences go," Seven said, "that one was relatively mundane."

"Only on a Starfleet ship could a sentence like that be uttered," Tom said.

"Well I-" The Doctor's form flickered suddenly. A look of panic crossed his holographic face. "My emitter has been damaged!"

"I'll transfer your program to sickbay," B'Elanna said, moving quickly to the main console in the transport room. While she tapped away at the console, the Doctor vanished, and his mobile emitter fell to the ground. Seven was close enough to pick it up right away.

"Did you get him transferred in time?" Tom asked.

"Doctor to transporter room 1, report," a voice chimed over the comm.

"I'll take that as a yes," B'Elanna said, walking over to where Seven stood to take a look at the emitter. "Doctor, it looks like some of your emitter circuits were fused during transport. I can probably repair it but I'll want to run a diagnostic on it first. I'll keep you posted."

"Please, do whatever it takes," the Doctor's voice said, sounding concerned.

"Trust me Doc," B'Elanna said, a confident grin on her face. "Mulcahey? I'll need to borrow you for a bit. meet me in the science lab."

"Yes ma'am," the Ensign said, following B'Elanna as she left.

Tom looked at Seven and shrugged. "Well, that trip was a lot shorter than I'd hoped for," he said.

"Since you're here Lieutenant Paris," Seven said. "I have a matter I was hoping to discuss with you during the mission."

"Right, I remember you making a comment about making improvements to our shuttles. I've had a few ideas of my own about that."

Samantha was awoken suddenly when Seven of Nine sat up abruptly, breathing heavy like she'd just been snapped out of a particularly bad nightmare.

"Baby?" Samantha said, groggy, "What's wrong?"

"I need to get to the bridge," Seven said.

Samantha frowned. "Annie, did you have a nightmare?"

"I certainly hope so," Seven said as she slid out of bed, grabbing her uniform jacket off the back of one of the chairs around the dinner table, still not entirely clean from last night, and headed out the door, only partially zipping it up.

Worried, Samantha tossed the sheets and grabbed the first clothes she could grab to put on, a civilian outfit she didn't particular care for in terms of how it looked but kept for its comfort on days when she was off duty and had no intention of leaving her quarters. Any concern about her crewmates mocking the outfit were pushed aside and she jogged to try and catch up to her seemingly panic-driven Borg girlfriend before she could get to the bridge.

"Wait, Annie, hold up," Sam said, just managing to get in the turbolift with Seven of Nine before the door closed. "Tell me what's going on."

Seven sighed. "I apologize for alarming you Sam," she said. "With any luck, I am in error, though if that is the case I will need to speak to the Doctor about making repairs to my cranial implant."

"Why?"

"My proximity transceiver has been activated. It could indicate Borg presence nearby."

Samantha's eyes went wide.

"So, Bridge?" she said.

"Bridge," Seven replied, the turbolift moving as it accepted what Seven has said as a command.

"Are you sure?" Samantha said.

"No," Seven said. "This may well prove to be a false alarm, but I cannot risk the safety of this ship on that possibility."

"Agreed," Samantha said. Just before the lift reached it's destination, Samantha glanced down at the civilian outfit she was wearing. "If any of the bridge crew see this get up I will never hear the end of it," she muttered.

Seven looked Samantha up and down.

"Perhaps," she said. "The color scheme does not compliment your features."

Samantha smirked. "If anybody other than you said that, I'd be insulted," she said right before the turbolift doors opened. "I'll just go back to my quarters if that's alright with you," she whispered to Seven, who nodded before stepping out onto the bridge.

"Commander," Seven said to Chakotay shortly after exiting the turbolift.

"Seven, good morning," he said, only briefly looking in her direction as he handed a PADD to Harry Kim.

"That remains to be seen," she said, repeating in more specific detail what she had told Sam.

"Are you sure?" Harry said. "We've been running sensors sweps non-stop all night, gathering data on the proto-nebula. We haven't detected any Borg signatures at all."

"Perhaps the nebula could mask a ship's signal?" she said, feeling conflicting emotions as she said so. She didn't like being wrong on principle, but this instance she very badly wanted to be.

"Even a Borg cube couldn't last ten seconds in there," Harry said, looking at the nebula on Voyager's viewscreen.

"Maybe it's a false alarm," Chakotay said. "A malfunction in your transceiver maybe?"

"Possibly," Seven said. "I will go and speak to the Doctor."

Chakotay nodded.

"I'll keep an eye out," Harry said. "Just in case."

Seven nodded. "Thank you," she said, heading for the turbolift once again. The feeling of actually wanting to be mistaken was a new one to her, and she wasn't quite ready to accept it, but she did feel less afraid. For Sam and Naomi's sake, she thought, this had better be a malfunction.

As soon as she got to sickbay, and relayed her concerns to the Doctor, he immediately took out a medical tricorder and began scanning. He was only seconds in when she flinched suddenly.

"Seven?" the Doctor said.

"I felt it again," she replied. "Stronger this time."

"I don't know what could be causing it if there aren't actually any Borg nearby. I wonder if-" Whatever the Doctor was going to say next was lost when the ship went to red alert.

"Dammit," she said. "The one time I wanted to be wrong."

"Chakotay to Seven of Nine. Looks like you were right, we've detected a Borg force field in the science lab on deck 8."

"How many drones?" she asked.

"Unknown. Tuvok is taking a security team there now."

"I will meet him there," Seven said, heading for the exit to sickbay.

"Seven," the Doctor said, sounding worried. "My mobile emitter is in that lab."

"Doctor this is not the time to-"

"This isn't about my freedom Seven. It's about the 29th century technology that the Borg may have already assimilated."

Seven groaned. Every curse word she'd heard since she came on board last year fought in her mind to be the one she said in response to the prospect.

"No," she said. "I won't let them do that. I will not let them take this ship. I will not let them have Sam or Naomi." With that, she headed out, taking a hand phaser with her as she did so. When she got to the lab, Tuvok, Lieutenant Ayala, and two others whom she recognized by face but not by name were at the lab's partially open door, two on each side. An all too familiar green glow emanated from the lab.

Tuvok saw her approach, and nodded. She nodded back, and Tuvok and Ayala pulled the door the rest of the way open, the other two guards going in, phaser rifles raised. Seven went in right behind them, Tuvok and Ayala behind her.

"He's alive," one of the guards in front of her said, looking down at an injured but surprisingly unassimilated Ensign Mulcahey, but Seven's focus quickly shifted to the object at the center of the room.

It looked like a Borg maturation chamber, the kind she had been put in when she was first assimilated as a child, the way all those who were taken before their physical maturity were before being fitted for implants. Like, she thought. But not quite. I've never seen one that looked like this before.

"This resembles a Borg maturation chamber," she said to Tuvok. "But there are components which are unfamiliar."

"Sir," Ayala said, holding a tricorder over Mulcahey. "There's puncture wounds from Borg nanoprobe tubes, and the signature on the probes match Seven of Nine's, but she was in sickbay."

Seven went over to both of them. She took the tricorder from Ayala. "He is correct," she said, sounding confused. She looked at Ayala, then Tuvok, as if hoping either of them might have an explanation. The latter only raised an eyebrow, the former shrugged. "I don't know how this happened. None of this makes sense. A tissue sample appears to have been extracted. There's no sign of nanoprobes in the Ensign except around the wound. You should get him to sickbay though, he does appear to have a concussion."

Tuvok motioned for Ayala and one of the other guards to do just that. Seven handed Ayalan back his tricorder, and went back to look at the maturation chamber. She took a deep breath, and stepped up to where the sensors said the force field was. She took one step forward, and passed through it.

"What are you doing?" Tuvok asked.

"It recognized me as Borg," she said, tapping button on the side of the chamber. "There's a control here to open a panel on the side. We'll be able to see what's in…" Her train of thought was disrupted when she saw something she did not expect to see. A Borg drone, in a fetal state.

"That shouldn't be possible," she said. "The Borg expand their numbers by assimilation, not procreation."

Captain Janeway looked at the "baby" through the transparent panel on the side of its maturation chamber. Once Seven of Nine and Tuvok briefed her on what they knew, she had only one thought. I haven't even had my coffee yet.

"So, just so I'm sure I understand you correctly," she said, "you're saying that when we beamed you off the shuttle yesterday, some of your nanoprobes got mixed up with the Doctor's mobile emitter?"

"Correct," Seven said.

"And Ensign Mulcahey DNA was used as a template to create this, baby drone?"

"A simplification of what occurred, but accurate," Seven said.

"We have erected a Level 10 force field around the chamber," Tuvok said. "As you can see, the drone's mass has increased since you arrived in the lab. Seven says that it is maturing at a rate twenty-five times the normal rate for a Borg."

"Good. The force field I mean. Post twenty-four hour security around the lab."

"Very well, Captain," Tuvok said.

"Captain," Seven said. "You intend to let it mature?"

Janeway nodded. "That's correct. Right now, it's not a direct threat to the ship, and it didn't assimilate Mulcahey. We're dealing with something new here. If it becomes a threat we can beam the whole chamber out into space, but I don't want to do that unless it's absolutely necessary."

Seven didn't respond right away. Janeway gathered that Seven was concerned about the ship's safety, which was good, but she hoped that Seven wouldn't act rashly.

"I," Seven finally said. "have concerns."

"As do I," Tuvok said to Seven. "However the final decision is the Captain's."

"Understood, but I wanted my concerns noted for the record."

"They are, Seven," Janeway said, "don't worry. I want you and B'Elanna to go to astrometrics. Modify the sensors so you can scan the drone from there."

"Yes, Captain," Seven said, still sounding apprehensive but not pushing the issue.

Seven of Nine went over the data twice to be sure, before showing it to B'Elanna.

"Damn, this thing is growing quickly," B'Elanna said. "It was a fetus when we started this, now it's about the size of a six year old."

"A six year old boy," the Doctor's voice said, speaking to them from a monitor since he was still unable to leave sickbay. "From what I can tell the drone is male. Probably due to the source material. According to my own scans Borg implants compose approximately twenty-seven percent of his body, but he's mostly human."

"A human with polydutonic alloy plating," B'Elanna said. "The same material as your holo-emitter. The nanoprobes must've extrapolated that technology for it's design."

"Definitely," Seven said, feeling slightly uncomfortable. Even as a single drone, this unit could easily threaten the ship with such an advanced level of technology; five hundred years ahead of what the collective had now. "I have already dampened its proximity transceiver to prevent it from contacting the Borg Collective."

"I've located my mobile emitter," the Doctor said, sounding less than pleased much to Seven's surprise. "Embedded in his cerebral cortex. I don't think we can remove it without killing him."

"That may become necessary," Seven said. "Continue with the scans, the Captain wants a full report on the drone's capabilities."

"Already almost done, unless it invents something new while I'm recording the data," B'Elanna said. "You know, if we can keep it from contacting the collective, we might be able to convince it to stay with us, the way you did. Imagine what we could do with 29th century Borg technology on our side."

"That decision rests with the Captain," Seven said. "However I personally would advise against that."

"You're probably right," B'Elanna said. "but I'd rather not throw away a potential source of new technology unless I had to. I mean, look at this."

Seven stepped away from the console she was working on to look at what was on B'Elanna's monitor. The list of abilities the ship's chief engineer had managed to identify in the new drone was impressive to put it mildly.

"Internal transport nodes. Fascinating," Seven said. "I must get this to the Captain immediately. The drone will fully mature in only a few hours, but its shielding is not yet active. She needs to make a decision while destroying it would still be an easy option."

"Hmm. I wonder if I should tell Mister Mulchaey he's a father," the Doctor said in a joking tone of voice.

"I doubt he would treat the matter so lightly Doctor," Seven said as she took the PADD B'Elanna offered her before leaving astrometrics.

Captain Janeway put down the PADD Seven of Nine had handed her, and asked a question she'd actually been thinking about since earlier that day.

"Seven, what normally happens when a Borg exits a maturation chamber?" she said.

"It awaits instructions from the collective," Seven said.

"So without those instructions, it has no designation. No purpose."

"Captain, are you suggesting we-"

"Exactly. If we can keep him from interfacing with the collective, we can give him a purpose."

"Captain, this is the most advanced drone to ever exist. It could easily threaten Voyager, even without the Collective."

"I understand your concern Seven, and I am not taking destroying the drone off the table entirely. But if we can teach it our values, we will have a powerful ally on our side."

"If we fail," Seven said, "No, let me rephrase. If we succeed at convincing the drone to become part of this crew, but the Borg are able to take us and assimilate it anyway, the Collective will become more powerful than ever. I am uncomfortable with taking that risk."

"Noted. But I would remind you Seven that there were some on this crew who made the same suggestion about you."

"This situation is different," Seven said, a hint of anger in her voice.

"Is it?"

"There are similarities yes, but I would remind you that I am not enhanced by technology five hundred years ahead of our time, and my parents conceived me naturally rather than having their DNA stolen by rogue nanoprobes."

"Okay," Janeway conceded. "Fair enough on that point. It would seem we are at an impasse here."

"You could just order me to work with the drone," Seven said.

"True, true. But much like destroying the drone I'd rather save that as a last resort."

After a few moments of uncomfortable silence, Seven of Nine said something that Janeway did not expect. "Have you consulted Ensign Mulcahey on this matter, Captain?"

"No. Why?"

"Since it was his DNA that was used as the template for the drone that would, in effect, make him the father. Shouldn't he have a say in the matter?"

"Nice try," Janeway said, smirking. "But what started this was your nanoprobes, and the Doctor's holo-emitter. If anyone could be said to be that drone's parents, it's you two, not Mulcahey."

"There are multiple species in this galaxy who procreate with three parents rather than two," Seven said.

Janeway sighed. "Fine, fine, I'll play along with this but only because I'm tired of arguing with you." Janeway touched a button on her desk. "Commander, has Ensign Mulcahey been cleared to leave sickbay yet?"

"Yes, Captain," Chakotay said. "He was released a few hours ago. Why?"

"Have him meet me back in sickbay. I have something to discuss with him, the Doctor, and you. In private."

"Understood," Seven said.

Seven of Nine was not thrilled with the situation at hand, but having her lover at her side lessened the discomfort. Despite her best efforts, she ultimately lost her argument. She made her case as best she could that the drone should simply be destroyed, but at the end, she found herself simply outvoted. The Captain putting it up to a vote had not been expected, but when it was suggested, Seven assumed that at worst it would end in a tie, with her and the Doctor on the side of destroying the drone so that the mobile emitter could possibly be recovered. More likely as she saw it, the Captain would be the lone vote for not destroying it. Seven had assumed that Ensign Mulcahey would carry some resentment over having his genetic material taken against his will.

"Yeah, okay," he'd said instead after the Captain told him her plans.

"What?" Seven had said, in the same tone of voice that Samantha would say the same word when Seven informed her of what was going to happen.

And now, here she was, in the science lab. Tuvok and three armed guards behind her, Sam holding her hand, and a drone in front of her.

"Like ripping off a bandage," Seven said, repeating a phrase she'd learned from Sam last year. She went over to a console. "Maturation cycle is complete."

The drone stepped out of it's alcove. "We are Borg. State this unit's designation," he said.

"You do not have a designation," Seven said. "You are not part of the collective, you are an individual. You will receive your instructions from me." So far the drone had not made any threatening gestures. He stood perfectly still, his arms at his sides. Seven thought for a moment that perhaps this task would succeed after all, and that the Captain had in fact made the right decision.

"Insufficient," the drone said.

Or maybe I'm right and this is a terrible idea, Seven thought.

"You will comply," Seven said. "My designation is Seven of Nine."

"Seven of Nine," the drone repeated. "What is this unit's designation?"

"He wants a name," Samantha whispered in Seven's ear. "Maybe you should give him one."

Seven looked at Samantha, and nodded. She turned back to face the drone.

"You are an individual. You may choose a designation for yourself," she said. It wasn't what Samantha had suggested, but she didn't want to admit that she simply did not feel comfortable with the idea of naming a new lifeform.

"Insufficient. Seven of Nine, state our designation."

Seven sighed, then turned to Tuvok. "He does not understand me. His responses are programmed. I must initiate a direct neural interface."

"Are you sure that's wise?" Tuvok said.

"Yeah, I'm wondering that myself," Samantha said.

"There is no other way for me to communicate with him," Seven said. "Sam, I would prefer you remain outside, in case something goes wrong."

"But-"

"I will not be responsible for robbing Naomi of her mother," Seven said. "Please," she added in a softer tone.

Samantha frowned, but then did as she was asked, moving outside of the lab, and behind one of the security officers.

Seven moved towards the drone, and extended her arm. The drone reflexively stepped back, surprising Seven.

"You will not be harmed," she said. "You will be provided with instructions."

The drone stepped forward again, close enough for Seven to extend her arm, and extend her assimilation tubules, though not for the purpose which they'd originally been designed for. After a few moments, Seven glanced at Tuvok.

"He understands," she told him, but suddenly the drone grabbed her arm. She grunted in pain from the grip.

"The drone is probing my neural pathways," she said, wincing. "It is trying to assimilate all of my knowledge."

"Annie?" she heard Sam call from behind her, but the sounds she heard after suggested that the guards were holding her back from entering. Tuvok was at her side now, a hand phaser pointed at the drone.

"Stop it," she told the drone. Tuvok fired, but a force field surrounded the drone immediately.

"Terminate... interface!" she grunted. The drone just stared blankly ahead, as if he didn't even hear her. "You are hurting me." The drone looked at her, and without changing his facial expression even slightly, stopped probing Seven's mind. Seven retracted her tubules and stepped back.

"I will comply," the drone said.

Seven, after taking a few calming breaths, finally spoke.

"We'll need to try something else. Perhaps Borg data nodes will work. I've already activated its linguistic database, so communicating will be easier."

Samantha and Neelix walked down the corridor towards engineering, each carrying a Borg data node with them.

"It wasn't necessary to help me Samantha," Neelix said.

Samantha smiled. "I'm happy to help. Besides, ferreting all this stuff back and forth is going to be the only chance I'll get to spend time with Seven today since the Captain has her so busy with the new drone."

"As good an excuse as any," Neelix said. "Still haven't named him yet?"

"Seven insists he should pick his own," Samantha said as they reached the door to engineering. "I'd try to talk her into it but I usually know when I can't get her to budge on something."

As they stepped inside, Neelix spoek up to grab B'Elanna's attention. "Special delivery! Two Borg data nodes."

"More," B'Elanna said, sounding exasperated. "Well, you know the drill," she said, waving towards the data port.

"Having a bad day, B'Elanna?" Samantha asked.

"I'm just wondering how many more Borg hitchhikers we're going to pick up along the way. They've suddenly turned from a force of nature threatening the galaxy into annoying in-laws."

"I don't think it happening twice counts as a pattern," Neelix said as he hooked up the first node.

B'Elanna scoffed. "Or maybe it's the collective's new strategy. They don't assimilate anymore, they just show up and look helpless."

"Well, if it keeps them from killing people would that be so bad if they did?" Neelix said.

"Look," B'Elanna said, "we don't know what this drone will turn into! I don't think I'm being paranoid here, it's gone from infant to adult in one day."

"It'll be what we help it to be," Samantha said.

"Exactly," Neelix added.

B'Elanna rolled her eyes. "How Starfleet of both of you. I don't even know why I brought it up. I just hope your girlfriend does a good job, Sam. We'll all pay if she blows it."

"I'll pass on your vote of confidence," Samantha said dryly. And I thought Annika and B'Elanna were finally getting along, she thought.

B'Elanna just shook her head and went back to work, while Samantha hooked up the Borg data node she was carrying to another datalink. Once both nodes were filled, she and Neelix headed back to the lab.

"Is it just me," Neelix said as they left engineering, "or is B'Elanna more agitated than usual lately? I mean, wasn't she saying we should try and keep the drone just yesterday?"

"She's been a little off for awhile really," Samantha said. "I think she's still upset about what happened to her Maquis friends back home. Can't say I blame her to be honest."

"Did you lose anyone to the Dominion?" Neelix asked.

"Not that I know of, but it's also been months since we've been able to contact Starfleet."

"True. In fact sometimes I think people on Voyager actually forget there's a war going on back home. I'm not sure if that's a good or bad thing though."

"Who's to say it can't be both," Samantha said. She and Neelix were quiet the remainder of the way to the lab. When they stepped inside, Seven turned, and smiled when she saw Samantha enter. She stepped past Neelix to take the data node that Samantha was holding.

"How goes the upload?" Samantha said.

"It is going well," Seven said. "The drone is assimilating the knowledge most efficiently."

"And he hasn't tried grabbing you again?" Samantha said.

"He has not."

"Good. I might have to hurt him if he did."

"Please do not take offense, but I believe you lack the combat expertise necessary to present a threat to… You were joking weren't you?"

Samantha nodded. "You're busy today, don't worry about it."

"Very well then," Seven said as she plugged the first node in while Neelix set the one he was carrying down on nearby table. The drone stepped off his platform. Samantha found it rather amusing how his head seemed to bobble slightly as he walked.

"We are Borg. State this unit's designation."

"We have compiled information into this data node for you to assimilate," Seven said, ignoring the request.

"We do not understand," the drone said.

"You will," Seven replied. "But first you must assimilate this data."

Samantha found herself amused again, this time by Seven, who told the drone that he must assimilate data the way that she used to have to tell Naomi to brush her teeth.

"Give me your arm," Seven said the to the drone. He did not move. Seven sighed and looked at Samantha.

"Was Naomi ever this difficult?" she said.

"She had a rough patch," Samantha said. "but it only lasted a few months. Don't tell her I told you though, she's very sensitive about it."

Seven nodded, then took the drone's arm herself and held it over the data node. "Inject one of your assimilation tubules into this access port," she said.

"We do not understand," the drone said.

"If you don't mind," Samantha said as she moved to stand closer to Seven. "might I suggest you demonstrate what it is you want him to do? You have tubules of your own after all."

Seven nodded. "An excellent suggestion Sam, thank you." Seven then did just that, briefly extended her own tubules into the data port, before quickly removing them. "Now, you do the same, but use yours to assimilate the data in the node," she said to the drone. It did so, and Samantha watched as the drone's face changed, his mouth open partially, his human eye opening wider. His face bore a similar kind of awe and wonder to it that Naomi had had the first time she'd been shown what the warp core looked like.

"Your designation is Seven of Nine. Borg," the drone said after removing his tubules.

"Yes," Seven said. The drone turned to face Neelix.

"Your designation is Neelix. Talaxian."

"That's me," Neelix said.

"Your designation," the drone said, now looking at Samantha, "is Samantha Wildman, Human."

"Correct," Samantha said. She smiled as she put an arm around Seven's shoulder. "Well done Annie. The data nodes were a great idea. With the added bonus of preventing any injury."

"Annie? Does Seven of Nine have an alternate designation?"

"It is," Seven said, pausing briefly before continuing, "a designation that only Samantha is allowed to call me. You are to continue referring to me as Seven of Nine, or as just Seven."

The drone started looking around the room, turning in place.

"I am in a laboratory, on a vessel, traveling through interstellar space," he said.

"Yes. You're on the Federation starship Voyager," Neelix said.

He almost seems excited, Samantha thought. It's kind of child like.

"Why?" the drone asked.

Okay, very child like.

"This is a vessel of exploration," Seven said.

"I am an explorer," the drone said.

"We all are," Samantha said.

"We are Borg," the drone said.

Swing and a miss.

"You are a unique individual, one of many on Voyager," Seven said. "This is not a Borg collective. Do you understand?"

"Individual. Yes," the drone said, practically smiling. "I wish to assimilate more information," he added, extending his arm towards Seven.

"Not yet," Seven said. "First, you must meet with the ship's Doctor for a medical examination. You will come with me. Sam, will you be joining us?"

"That's okay, I'd just be in the way. I'll see you later," Samantha said.

"I may have to pass on dinner tonight. Send Naomi my regrets," Seven said. "After we have gone to sickbay, I will upgrading one of the alcoves in the cargo bay to allow him to regenerate."

"Okay," Samantha said, giving Seven a quick kiss on the cheek before leaving.

"Welcome to Voyager," she said to the drone as she left.

As they walked down the corridor, two guards following them, Seven of Nine listened politely as one by one the drone began vocally naming off the various components of Voyager.

"Seven of Nine," the drone said. "Before we left the laboratory, the one designated Samantha, she touched you with her lips. I do not understand."

"It is called a kiss," Seven said. "She kissed me before we parted way for the day because she is my romantic partner."

"I see. Is this why your pheromonal levels went up and your body temperature increased when she touched you?"

"That is correct, though for future reference it is considered, impolite, to discuss such matters in a public setting." Seven glanced back at the security guards. To their credit, both were acting professional. She imagined that if any other crew members had been there, there would've been giggling. Or worse, were it someone with only casual regard for decorum such Brooks or Chell.

"Impolite," the drone said. "To be not polite or courteous. Rude."

"Also correct."

"Will I be given a, romantic partner as well?"

That time one of the guards failed to fully suppress a reaction, but Seven glared at him and he remained quiet.

"That is not how romantic entanglement works. I will discuss the admittedly complex history of my own relationship with Sam, if she gives me permission to do so, and only in private as the rest of the crew is not privy to such details. Privacy is another concept you will need to learn if you are to integrate into this crew. I should warn you though that maintaining it on this vessel can be difficult at times."

"I am noticing that many of the other crewmembers we pass are afraid of me. I can detect their physiological responses."

"Their fear is understandable," Seven said. "We come from a species that is hostile to them. My position in this crew was earned, and it took a considerable amount of time. Though I admit to having made, mistakes along the way that prolonged the matter. However, as you have not directly assaulted any crew members since your creation, you will likely have an easier process."

"I see," the drone said, sounding sad, which was a surprise to Seven. "I want to know more about the collective. Tell me about the Borg."

That was not a surprise to Seven. She knew this was going to come sooner or later.

"The Captain and I will determine when you are ready for that information," she said. "You must not be impatient. There are other things for you to learn in the meantime, as well as adapting to life on Voyager." Seven stopped walking when she saw the door to sickbay. She motioned for the drone to enter ahead of her.

"Good morning," the Doctor said.

"You are the emergency medical hologram," the drone said.

"Very observant," the Doctor said. "Have you been given a name yet?"

"I do not have a name. Seven of Nine says I should choose my own, but according to the data I have assimilated so far, it is customary for humans to name their children. As my DNA is human, would it not be appropriate for my progenitors to give me my designation?"

"He has a point Seven," the Doctor said.

"Very well," Seven said. "You name him then."

"Why me?"

"Your mobile emitter merging with my nanoprobes in the transporter beam is responsible for the drone's existence."

"Wouldn't that make both of us his parents then? And what about Mulcahey? Shouldn't he get a say too since it was his DNA-"

"I have already discussed the matter with him," Seven said. "He expressed no interest."

"Well that just seems rude," the Doctor said, as he opened his medical tricorder. Facing the drone he continued. "This is a non-invasive biomedical scan. You will not feel a thing." As the Doctor started his scans, he added, "And another thing, Seven. I've been active for going on five years and I've yet to pick my own name."

"A fair point. Though in all honesty I've wondered why you simply do not adopt the surname of your creator."

"Doctor Zimmerman? I've considered it."

"Doctor," the drone said once the initial scan was done. "I am confused about my creation. From what I heard you and Seven of Nine say, I am an accident."

"Well," the Doctor said, suddenly looking uncomfortable. "Yes, but these things happen."

"It was a random technological convergence," Seven said. "But that is irrelevant."

"Am I unwelcome here?" the drone said.

"Unexpected," the Doctor said. "That doesn't have to mean unwelcome. If you are successful in integrating with the crew, you will find yourself most welcome."

The Doctor began performing new scans, when suddenly he stopped. "Edwin," he said.

"I'm sorry?" Seven said, wondering where this seemingly random outburst came from.

"Edwin is Ensign Mulcahey's middle name. I was thinking that's what we could call you. It's not uncommon for human parents to name their children in such a fashion." the Doctor said to the drone. The drone did not give any visible sign that he heard the Doctor, but after a few seconds began speaking.

"Edwin. Origin; Earth. Means 'rich friend' from the Old English elements ead meaning wealth or fortune, and wine meaning friend. This does seem not an appropriate name given my origins."

"Good lord Seven, just how much data did you give him?"

"I did give him the ship's linguistic database," Seven said. "I did not realize he had processed that much of it already. But if the drone does not wish to be named Edwin, I suggest we not pressure him."

"Edwin is acceptable as a designation," the drone said. "Regardless of its inaccuracy."

The Doctor smiled. "Well there you go," he said. "Welcome to the crew, Edwin."

Seven sighed. It could be worse I suppose, she thought.

When Seven brought the Borg drone, now calling itself Edwin, to the Captain's ready room, Janeway couldn't help but notice that Seven was starting to behave almost like a proud parent, though in her own unique way. Seven succinctly explained to her how she'd familiarized Edwin with Voyager, including a productive visit to engineering where the drone had helped B'Elanna Torres by predicting the rate of expansion of the proto-nebula.

After telling Janeway about his name and where he got, Edwin himself explained that he had already assimilated forty-seven billion teraquads of information, he asked her if he was sufficient. When she told him he was, Edwin asked to be excused, as Torres had asked him to help improve the efficiency of the Bussard collectors. Once he was gone, Seven remained behind.

"He's been asking about the Borg collective," she said. "I've been deflecting the conversation as much as possible, but I'm not sure how much longer I can put that off."
Janeway stood up and clasped her hands behind her back.

"Maybe we won't need to hold off much longer. It's only been a few days but he's already started fitting in well with the crew. Though from what I hear he could use some some teaching in the personal space department."

"He does still tend to stand too close to people when speaking to them," Seven admitted. "I am working with him on that. I asked Samantha to help me, but since she never had that particular problem with Naomi she had little advice to offer."

"Speaking of," Janeway said. "has Edwin met Naomi yet?"

"No," Seven said. "While he has been adapting well, as you said, and even though Sam has stated she is okay with it I admit to still being somewhat reluctant."

Janeway nodded. "I can see that," she said. "The way I understand it, your relationship with Samantha started because she had similar concerns about you."

"The similarity of the situations is not lost on me Captain, though at least in Sam's case she did have specific instances she could point to to justify her concerns. I worry I am simply being overly cautious, as Edwin has not stolen a shuttle, or struck Harry Kim."

"Good point. As for the matter you first brought up, wouldn't you rather he learn about the Borg from us than from the collective?"

"The lure of perfection is powerful Captain. He may be tempted to seek out the Borg. That would pose a grave tactical risk."

"All the more reason he should hear about them from us, but we'll continue withholding that information for now. As an individual though he does have the right to know. I won't give you an ultimatum, I'm going to trust your judgement on when to tell him, but you must tell him."

"Understood Captain. I have made the necessary upgrades to the alcove next to mine. After we have gone through a regeneration cycle, I will consult with some of the other parents on the ship to discuss the matter of how to present the information. Mister Tuvok and Mister Carey have multiple children, their experience would prove most valuable."

"Okay. See you in the morning Seven," Janeway said. As Seven went to leave though, a thought occurred to her.

"Wait," she said. "One last thing. Does Ensign Mulcahey know? About the drone's name I mean?"

"I do not know. Lieutenant Torres believes he will not be please to learn about it however. Her exact words were, 'Todd is going to flip his shit when he finds out.'"

Janeway smiled and chuckled. "I hope you told her to watch her language," she said.

Seven groaned. "After three months I'd hoped that that was finally over," she muttered as she left the ready room.

Seven of Nine found herself abruptly brought out of her regeneration cycle. That in itself wasn't unusual, though in the past when it had happened it was due either an intense nightmare, or a ship wide alert. Instead, she was simply not in the cycle anymore, and her eyes were opening to the site of Captain Janeway, Lieutenant Commander Tuvok, and several armed guards with phaser rifles pointed in their direction.

"Captain?" Seven said.

"The drone transmitted a Borg proximity signal. Wake him," she said.

Seven did exactly as she was told, feeling utterly disappointed, and a little worried. When Edwin opened his eyes and stepped out, Seven managed to impress herself with how level she managed to keep her tone of voice.

"You have contacted the Collective," she said.

"I have not," Edwin said.

"Check his transceiver," Janeway said.

"Seven of Nine deactivated my transceiver two days ago," Edwin said, seeming confused at the accusation rather than angry or defensive. Seven ran a tricorder over Edwin's skull, and sighed.

"Your cranial implants have adapted," she said. "They built a second transceiver while you were in the regeneration cycle. Tuvok, have long range scans picked up any vessels?"

"Not yet, but they have detected a transwarp conduit," Tuvok said. "Assuming it is a Borg vessel, which is the most logical assumption, it will intercept us in approximately three hours."

"The Borg?" Edwin said.

"Yes," Seven said.

"I wish to meet them."

"Seven?" Janeway said. "Looks like it's time to have the talk."

Seven nodded, wishing she'd had more time to prepare for this. "Edwin, you are to follow the Captain and I to astrometrics," she said.

"I will comply," Edwin said.

Once there, Janeway put everything the ship's records had on the Borg up on the large screen in the lab, including what visual logs there were of Wolf 359. Seven of Nine added some of her own from her own memory via her remaining cranial implants.

"The Borg have assimilated thousands of species," Edwin said. What becomes of those species?"

"They lose their individuality. Everything they know becomes part of the collective's memory, and they themselves become drones," Seven said, bothered by the look of awe Edwin as on his face while he looked at the screen.

"I wish to experience the hive mind," he said.

Crap, Seven thought.

"If you do that," Janeway said. "You will no longer be unique. Your individuality will be destroyed."

"That is undesirable," Edwin said, now looking at Janeway.

"Very," Janeway said.

"The Borg add voices to the collective against their will," Edwin said, looking at the screen again. "I do not understand. Such a violent act would seem counter to the goal of seeking perfection, does it not?"

"I believe it is," Seven said. "While I still share many of the desires I had as a part of the collective, since my link to them was severed I find their methods repulsive."

"The Borg are one of the most destructive forces we have ever encountered," Janeway said. "With your technology, they would become even more so."

Edwin looked at the screen again. "That is unacceptable," he said. Knowledge should not be obtained through violence."

Seven finally let go of the breath she didn't even realize she was holding. She was ready to congratulate Edwin on coming to that conclusion faster than she had, but Commander Chakotay's voice over the comm interrupted them.

"Red alert! All hands to battle stations. A Borg vessel is approaching."

"Come on," Janeway said. "we need to get the bridge. You too Edwin. You can help us enhance our defenses."

"Understood," Seven said. The three of them turned and exited the lab, heading for the nearest turbolift.

Once on the bridge, Chakotay filled them in quickly. "The Borg vessel's moving into range," he said. "It's not a cube though, too small. We think it's one of their spheres."

"A sphere?," Janeway said. "I read about that one in the data packet Starfleet sent us. Didn't think I'd actually get to see one."

"We're being scanned," Harry Kim said from the ops console.

"They're preparing to attack," Seven said. She turned to Edwin. "You must help us enhance our shields. This conole over here will give you access to the field generators."

"Captain?" Chakotay said, sounding unsure.

"Do it," Janeway said.

"We are being hailed Captain," Tuvok said.

"Don't bother responding, I think we all know the spiel by now,." Janeway said.

"I can hear them" Edwin said. "In my mind." Seven thought he sounded afraid, as though the Borg would be able to assimilate him through thought alone. The ship shuddered.

"They've got a tractor beam on us," Harry said.

"I hear them too," Seven said, "We must resist. This ship will be destroyed if we do not." Edwin nodded, and with a look of determination on his face, he held his arm over the console and fired off his assimilation tubules into it. Within seconds, the ship's shields began modulating, and Voyager was able to break free of the Borg sphere's tractor beam.

"Can you enhance our phasers?" Janeway said.

"Yes," Edwin said.

"Do it," Janeway said. "Tuvok, as soon as he's done target the sphere's propulsion systems. Be prepared to jump to warp Mister Paris."

"Yes ma'am," Paris said.

"Enhancements complete. You may fire," Edwin said.

"Firing," Tuvok said. A second later, the ship shuddered even more violently than when it had been caught in the tractor beam.

"They inverted our phaser beam with a feedback pulse," Seven said. The ship began shuddering again as the sphere fired on them.

"They just took out our warp drive," Paris said.

"Your technology is limited," Edwin said. "I cannot enhance it any further. I must transport over to the sphere, and disrupt them from within."

"They will try to assimilate you," Seven said.

"They will fail," Edwin said very matter-of-factly, as if he were repeating something that he shouldn't have to. Seven didn't like it. She imagined that Sam would feel much the same way if it were Naomi offering to go fight the Borg all alone. Unlike Naomi though, Edwin could possibly do it, though that likelihood did little to temper her concerns.

Seven looked at Janeway. Janeway looked back, and nodded. "Harry, lock on to the drone."

"That won't be necessary," Edwin said, activating his own internal transporter.

"He's inside the sphere," Tuvok said.

Seven turned to look at the view screen, and tried not to let her worry overwhelm her. The ship took another hit from the sphere's weapons.

"Shields down to 29%," Harry said.

"Had they not been enhanced they'd likely be down already," Seven said.

Harry chuckled. "No doubt about that" he said. "The Krenim were able to hurt us worse than this."

"We haven't survived this yet Lieutenant," Chakotay said. "Don't get cocky."

Suddenly, the sphere stopped firing, and began moving.

"It's heading towards the proto-nebula," Tom said. "It's gonna get crushed in there."

Seven held back a gasp as the image of the viewscreen showed the sphere crumpling as it flew straight ahead, small pieces of it flying off into space while the rest of it collapsed in on itself like a mess hall napkin being crumpled up after its use.

"Beam back Edwin, beam back," she muttered just before the sphere exploded, the shockwave making Voyager lilt so quickly inertial dampeners couldn't fully compensate, and the whole bridge crew nearly lost their balance and toppled to the right.

Seven stared ahead at the viewscreen, her heart feeling like it was sinking into her stomach. The red alert lights went out and the main lights came back on, and Seven could hear Janeway giving orders to the command staff, but couldn't process them, until Harry said something that snapped her out of it.

"I'm detecting a lifesign," he said. "It's the drone, he made it. He's erected a multi-spatial force field, but it's collapsing. I'm attempting to get a lock on."

"When you have him," Janeway said, looking as happy as Seven felt, "beam him to sickbay."

"Aye Captain," Harry said. Seven didn't wait for permission, she bolted to the turbolift right away.

"Sickbay!" she said, wishing the lift could go faster. When she got to sickbay, the Doctor was already scanning Edwin, who was lying on the biobed, his armor looking beaten up, and a red welt on his exposed head, but otherwise he seemed fine. "Damage?"

"Several of his implants were fused in the explosion but they're regenerating," the Doctor said. "His biological systems are another story, Cranial trauma, internal bleeding, he's going to need immediate surgery." The Doctor closed his medical tricorder and moved quickly to grab his surgical equipment.

"The sphere?" Edwin said.

"Destroyed," Seven said. "You were successful."

Edwin closed his eyes and exhaled. "Good," he said. He opened his eyes again and glanced at Seven.

"The Borg are aware of my existence. I could hear their thoughts when I was linked to them, taking over the sphere. They will pursue me."

"Irrelevant," Seven said.

"I need to get started," the Doctor said, gently nudging Seven aside.

"No," Edwin said. Seven's lower lip began to quiver.

No, no, don't do this, she thought.

"I should not exist. I am an accident. A random convergence of technologies."

"You are unique," Seven said, barely holding it together.

"As long as I exist," Edwin said, "you are in danger."

"We can talk about this later," the Doctor said, going for Edwin's neck with a hypospray, but it bounced off of a force field that was now suddenly surrounding Edwin's body.

"Allow the Doctor to proceed," Seven said in as commanding a voice as she could manage. Edwin simply looked at her, his breathing quickening as an alert noise came from the Doctor's console.

"His synapses are failing," the Doctor said.

"Edwin, you must comply."

"I will not," Edwin said, his voice shaking as his upper body convulsed.

"You must comply. Please," Seven said forcefully. Then quietly she added, "You are hurting me."

"You will adapt," Edwin coughed out. Then the lights in his implants blinked out, his breathing slowed, and his body slackened, his mouth hanging partway open. Even before the Doctor walked up to her and said "I'm sorry," Seven knew that he was gone. She couldn't move, her eyes were beginning to wet, and she felt like she could barely breath even though consciously she knew her lungs were fine.

Eventually, without saying a word, she managed to walk, slowly, and left sickbay, only once having to use one of the nearby beds to maintain her balance before she made it out the door.

She went back to cargo bay 2. When she stepped inside, she just looked at the alcove that Edwin had used. She hadn't wanted it to happen, but it did. She had begun to see Edwin as her offspring. She wondered if the Doctor felt any of the loss she did. She wondered if Ensign Mulcahey had any regrets about never having spoken to him. She sighed, and sat down in front of her own alcove, and began to cry.

She wasn't sure how much time she'd spent there when Samantha came walking in, holding a mug.

"Hey," she said quietly.

"Hi," Seven said back. Samantha sat down next to her and offered Seven the cup.

"Vulcan tea," she said. "I think it may have cooled down a bit too much on the way over."

"Thank you," Seven said, taking the cup, but not bothering to drink it, instead focusing on the warmth of the sides of the mug in her hands.

"How are you holding up?" Samantha said.

"Not terribly well," Seven admitted. "I feel like I lost a child."

"Yeah, well, I can understand that," Samantha said, shifting uncomfortably.

"Sam," Seven said. "The Captain told me. About what really happened the day Naomi was born. The version that isn't in the ship's log."

"Oh. I had no idea. You never mentioned it."

"I did not feel I had the right to," Seven said. "and even if I had felt I had the right, I also did not want to cause you any discomfort."

"So, why mention it now?"

"If you, I mean, are you okay with me asking how you handled it?"

Samantha took a deep breath and put an arm around Seven's shoulder, pulling her in close. "I wish I could help you baby," she said. "I really do, but I never really got the chance to handle it. I mean, it felt like one minute my daughter is dead, the next she's back in my arms because the other Voyager sent her and Harry over. It all happened so fast. The whole incident, with the duplication, and the pulses, and the Vidiians, it was barely even half a day. Sometimes I have nightmares about it, but they've never been frequent. I never truly got to experience losing a child and I wake up every day hoping I never have to."

"We should all be so lucky," Seven said. "But I'm not going to see Lieutenant Kim coming through a spatial rift with a perfectly intact Edwin following him."

"No," Samantha said sympathetically as she gently stroked Seven's hair. "I guess not."

"I'm torn," Seven said after about a minute. "Between asking the Captain for time off to grieve, or simply throwing myself into a project of some kind. Maybe helping Tom with his new shuttle idea. He's calling it the Delta Flyer. It seems adequate"

Samantha chuckled. "Coming from you sweetie I'm sure he'd see that as high praise."

"What do you think I should do, Sam?"

"Take the rest of the day off. I can handle astrometrics for awhile, you've shown me the basics. Get some rest. Then, after that, decide which of those two you're going to do."

"Acceptable," Seven said, resting her head on Samantha's shoulder. "Just stay here with me for a few more minutes."

Chapter Two:

"Hey Seven," B'Elanna Torres said.

"May I ask why you invited me to your quarters?" Seven said, hands behind her back and standing at attention.

"At ease Seven, this isn't a formal meeting. I actually had an idea last night. Care to sit down?"

Seven looked at the chair B'Elanna motioned to, then quietly sat down.

"I'll cut to the chase Seven. Except for Sam and Harry you've hardly been talking to anyone since Edwin died. I understand, I pretty much isolated myself for awhile after I heard about what happened to my Maquis friends back home."

"I remember," Seven said. "While I appreciate the attempt at empathy Lieutenant, I do not believe our situations are the same."

"No, they're not. And I wouldn't insult you by suggesting they are. We've both suffered loss, but comparing the types of loss is a pointless exercise. I'm just offering you a chance for some cathartic release."

"If you are proposing what I believe you are, I should inform you that Samantha has been already been helping me in that regard, and I-"

"Oh, no!" B'Elanna said, shaking her head "God no, I'm not, oh why did you have to put that mental image in my head? No, I was just going to ask you to join me in one of my combat simulations on the holodeck."

"Ah," Seven said, her cheeks reddening slightly. "In hindsight perhaps I should've realized that is what you meant, as you have never shown any signs of a physical attraction to me. I apologize for my error."

Apologize to the dreams I'm gonna have tonight, B'Elanna thought.

"Well, that little bit of awkward out of the way, the invitation still stands. I already have the interior of a Borg cube as a setting. We could-"

"Actually Lieutenant," Seven said. "I believe seeing Borg drones again so soon might cause the very discomfort you are hoping to alleviate. I believe we have some data on the Jem'Hadar, the race responsible for the deaths of your friends?"

"One of them, along with the Cardassians. We don't really have much data beyond the tiny bit Commander Sisko was able to get about them. Starfleet only had one encounter with them before Voyager got yanked into the Delta Quadrant."

"It will have to do then. I will meet you on holodeck one at the appropriate time. Thank you for your offer."

"Okay. See ya then," B'Elanna said.

On her way to the holodeck, Seven almost literally bumped into Naomi Wildman as she walked down the hall, by herself.

"Hi Seven," Naomi said.

"Hello Naomi. Might I ask why you are wandering the corridors by yourself again?" Seven said, kneeling down so she could look the child in the eye while they talked.

"No reason. Just out for a walk. Mom's on the bridge today, and I already finished my lessons for the day."

Seven knew that Naomi was exceptionally bright, but that she also would often procrastinate when it came to her schoolwork. The lack of an actual school on board probably didn't help, since it meant that Naomi had to do her lessons in her quarters, where all her toys and books were.

"Are you sure," Seven said, mimicking the tone that Samantha would take when she would ask that question. Naomi frowned.

"Yes, I'm sure," she said.

Seven wasn't entirely sure she believed her, but smiled anyway. "Okay, good. I'm going to be on the holodeck with Lieutenant Torres for awhile, but when I'm done, how about we meet up in astrometrics and I can show you how some of the stellar phenomena we've passed lately?"

Naomi smiled at that. Much like a Borg she constantly showed a desire to learn to new things, but unlike a Borg she approached it with an enthusiasm that Seven admired.

"That's sound awesome. Thanks Seven," Naomi said, throwing herself into a hug. Seven hugged back, and tousled Naomi's hair, again copying Sam.
"Very good. Meet me in the lab at 1230 hours. Have fun."

"Ready?" B'Elanna said as Seven entered the holodeck. Seven looked around, taking in her surroundings.

"This looks like a standard deep space Federation colony," she said.

"This is Soltok IV. It's the colony Chakotay and I took off from our last mission before getting caught in the Badlands and taken by the Caretaker. Given its location, it was probably one of the first places to get hit when the Dominion attacked."

Seven nodded, then said, "What types of weapons shall we be using?"

"Well," B'Elanna said, pointing to a nearby wall where two weapons were leaned against it. "I didn't know how much hand-to-hand training you've had, if any, so I've got a standard issue Starfleet phaser rifle for you, and a Bat'leth for myself. I've left the safety protocols on, so I figure between us we can handle about ten or twelve Jem'Hadar."
Seven picked up the phaser rifle, looked at it, then looked up.

"Computer, increase safety protocols, then increase the number of enemy combatants by 500%."

B'Elanna's face must've betrayed her shock, because when Seven looked back at her she shrugged, and said "You said this was about catharsis, not about combat training. Wouldn't an overwhelming victory serve better in that regard than a realistic one?"

"I guess, though if you ask me it's not much fun if you can't get hurt."

"That is a matter of personal preference," Seven said.

She's got me there, B'Elanna thought. "Fair enough. Computer, start program."

On the one hand, Sam was glad that Seven and B'Elanna were getting along better. They hadn't really been metaphorically at each other's throats since around the time Sam and Seven started dating, and had even been literally so once, but the two seemed to be forming a bond that Samantha didn't want to discourage, anymore than she wanted to discourage her daughter's recent interest in medicine.

On the other, it bothered her somewhat that what time Seven and B'Elanna spent together, with the exception of the time spent building the new Delta Flyer, was spent engaging in various battles on the holodeck; some created, some historical. Sam knew full well that it was all holograms, and that if anything Seven's temperament when she left the holodeck was actually more mellow than when she went in. She just wished that her Borg girlfriend could've found a way to deal with the loss of her "son" Edwin and built a rapport with B'Elanna Torres without resorting to violence, even fake violence.

Finally, after several days of internal debate, Sam decided to finally discuss her concerns with Seven, which they did as they sat on the edge of Sam's bed.

"Very well," Seven said in a neutral tone. "I will discontinue the combat simulations with Lieutenant Torres."

"Well," Sam said, "I don't want you to feel pressure-"

"To be honest Sam," Seven said, cutting Sam off by putting a hand on her thigh. "while early on the simulations were a helpful cathartic aide in dealing with my grief, lately it has become more simply just something I do with the Lieutenant every week, much like my games of velocity with the Captain, or the Flotter holonovels with Naomi. Discontinuing the war games would not be a hardship, and I have no desire to make you uncomfortable." Seven smiled, and Sam sighed.

"Someday," Sam said. "I'll remember that I don't have to sugarcoat things with you. I was worried you'd be upset."

Seven frowned. "Why would you think that?"

"Humans sometimes, not always but sometimes, can get a little defensive when you challenge their hobbies."

"I see. Well, I am not wholly human. A fact I am certain you are reminded of every time you get a hair caught in one of my remaining Borg implants."

"You don't need to keep apologizing for that Annie, it happens. Besides, at least it was just my head hair. It would've hurt way worse if-"

"Paris to Seven of Nine," Tom's voice said, coming out of Seven's comm badge. "We need you in the shuttle bay. We're about to do a test run on the Delta Flyer and I want you there for the weapons test since you helped design them."

"On my way," Seven said. "Would you like join us Sam?"

"Thanks, but no," Sam said. "Maybe some other time."

Chapter Three:

Samantha Wildman looked over her shoulder as she heard the turbolift doors open. As she'd suspected might be the case, both Tom Paris and Harry Kim exited still dressed in the outfits they wore when taking part in Tom's holodeck program, Captain Proton, based on early 20th century science fiction stories.

"Sorry Captain, we didn't have time to change," Tom said.

"Understood," Janeway said. "Long range sensors have picked up something interesting."

"Concentrated mass of oxygen and hydrogen," Samantha said. "Lots of animal and plant life."

"So, a planet?" Tom said sarcastically.

"No," Janeway said, smiling. "That's the interesting part. We're almost in visual range, let's fire up the viewscreen."

Everyone on the bridge not already looking in the direction of the main viewscreen did so. A planet-sized globe made entirely of water, no visible land at all.

"Wow," Tom said. "What's holding all that water together?"

"I'm detecting a force field," Harry said from his console. "That's what's keeping it from dissipating."

"Get us in closer," Janeway said. "I want a good look at this thing."

As Tom did so, the viewscreen showed three ships coming out of the water, passing through the containment field, and heading towards Voyager.

"Are those starships or submarines?" Tom said.

"I'm going to say, yes," Samantha said.

"Open a channel Tuvok," Janeway said. Tuvok nodded, and Janeway began her standard greeting. "This is Captain Kathryn Janeway of the starship Voyager. Please identify yourselves."

"They are powering weapons," Tuvok said.

"Shields up, red alert," Janeway said. The ship shuddered slightly as the first volley hit, but Voyager had been shaken up worse by random nebulas.

"Shields holding, no damage," Tuvok said.

Samantha actually felt some degree of concern, but not about the battle, but rather about the fact that she didn't have any concerns about the battle. Am I getting numb to this stuff? she thought. Normally I'd be nervous as hell right now.

"Should we return fire?" Tuvok said.

"Not yet. Janeway to approaching vessels, we have no hostile intentions."

There was no response. Janeway shook her head. "Target the lead ship's weapons systems," she said. After a few seconds…

"Direct hit," Tuvok said.

"And now they're hailing us," Harry said. "What a shock."

"On-screen," Janeway said.

On the viewscreen appeared an alien wearing a jacket and a hooded undercoat.

"I'm Deputy Consul Burkus of the Monean Maritime Sovereignty. You have violated our space. Withdraw or we'll resume firing."

"Consul," Janeway said "we could've destroyed your ship but didn't. We have no interest in a fight."

"Then why are you here?"

"My people are explorers. Your ocean planet is frankly one of the most interesting things we've come across in some time."

That hasn't tried to kill us, Samantha mentally addended to Janeway's statement.

"We'd like to learn more about it. And your people as well, if you'd be willing."

"And if we are not?"

"Then we'll have to leave you alone, as disappointing as that would be." Janeway was smiling now. She was sure that this was going to go her way and there wouldn't be a fight. Samantha had a good feeling she was right, but hoped that Tuvok was ready with the phasers just in case.

The Consul looked apprehensive, assuming his facial expressions were as readable as a human's. "Your ship is certainly impressive Captain," he said.

"We'd be happy to give you a tour," Janeway said.

"I think that would be most interesting, I'll give the other ships the order to power down. Please accept my apologies for the misunderstanding."

Janeway chuckled. "Consul," she said "you'll be shocked to learn that we've actually had worse greetings in our travels."

Seven of Nine stood by Sam's console on the bridge, going over the readings from the ocean planet.

"The Captain and Tuvok went to greet our guests," Samantha said. "They should be reaching the bridge fairly soon."

"I imagine the Moneans will have very interesting data on this phenomenon," Seven said. "I look forward to the chance to observe it more closely."

"Get in line," Tom Paris said, still looking at the globe of water on the main viewscreen with some degree of awe. Seven couldn't entirely blame him. It was certainly as aesthetically pleasing to look at it as it was scientifically fascinating. Had she still been a Borg drone when she'd encountered this, she wouldn't have been able to truly appreciate it.

"So you never saw anything like this when you were still in the collective?" Sam said.

"No," Seven said. She thought for a moment then turned to lean against the console so she could look Sam in the face without having to turn her neck at an odd angle. "Would you care to join us if the Captain approves a survey mission."

Sam shrugged.

"I don't know. Maybe. There must be some very unique aquatic life down there."

"And you haven't taken a ride in the Delta Flyer yet," Tom said, still eavesdropping on the conversation.

"Mister Paris' rude interruption aside, he is correct," Seven said. "Given how likely it is that the Flyer will be used for a variety of missions, it would be ideal for as many crew members to be familiarized with it as possible."

"Well," Sam said, "you did help build it. I wouldn't be a very supportive girlfriend if I didn't give it a little spin."

"I am flattered," Seven said. "but the majority of my contribution was to the weapons systems, which you are unlikely to use."
Sam opened her mouth to reply to that statement, but the sound of the turbolift doors distracted her. Captain Janeway, followed by one of the Moneans, Tuvok, Neelix, and two other Moneans, one apparently female, exited onto the bridge,

"And this is Voyager's command center," she said. "Feel free to have a look around."

"I'm curious Consul," Neelix said, "how long have your people lived here?"

"Our ancestors were nomadic," one of the aliens said, denoting him as the Consul who Neelix was speaking to. "They discovered the waters roughly 300 years ago."

"I bet they were as stunned as we were," Tom said.

"Yes," the Consul said, nodding and smiling. "Mister…?"

"Paris. Tom Paris. I'm the ship's pilot."

Janeway began introducing the Consul to the rest of the bridge crew, including Seven and Samantha. Once introductions were out of the way, Consul Burkus, as he'd introduced himself, continued speaking about his ancestors who'd discovered the ocean planet.

"My ancestors realized they could farm sea vegetation, extract oxygen from the ocean for their ships, make a permanent home."

"What's your population?" Tom said. Seven raised an eyebrow as that was the exact question she was about to ask.

"More than eighty thousand."

"And you all live underwater? That's amazing," Tom said. Seven was sure this was the most excited she'd seen him since the Delta Flyer had been completed.

"Mister Paris," Tuvok said. "We do have other business to attend to."

"Tuvok, escort our guests to the briefing room," Captain Janeway said. "Care to join us Lieutenant?" she added, having turned to face Tom.

"How could you tell?" Tom said, smiling as headed for the briefing room door behind ahead of the captain who merely chuckled as she shook her head.

"You know," Sam said in a deadpan tone, "I get the feeling Tom might be intrigued by the water planet." Seven had learned enough about human humor that she felt she knew how to reply.

"Are you sure?" Seven said, equally deadpan.

"Do you still live aboard your ships?" Neelix asked the Consul once the group was in the briefing room. Paris was curious himself, so he listened closely to the answer as he took a seat.

"We've built an industrial infrastructure and undersea dwellings but yes," the Consul said. "Most of our people still choose to live as our ancestors did."

"Any idea how the ocean came into existence?" Captain Janeway said, leaning against the table as opposed to sitting down. "In my experience, it's a unique phenomenon."

The Consul motioned to the other male Monean, this one wearing a red hood as opposed to Burkus' blue.

"Riga?" Consul Burkus said.

"There are several theories," the one called Riga said. "Our clerics teach that the ocean was a divine gift from the creators to protect and sustain us. But in my opinion, the most plausible explanation is that the ocean formed naturally, much the same way that a gas giant does."

Tom noticed that Riga was starting to look slightly nervous, and kept looking at Burkus, as if afraid of what the Consul would think about what he said next.

"Unfortunately, our limited knowledge of the phenomenon has created a few problems."

"What do you mean?" Janeway asked.

"I'm not sure this is an appropriate topic," Burkus said. The way he said it raised a red flag for Tom, though what it meant he wasn't sure yet.

"But, they might be able to help us," Riga said.

"We'd be willing to help in any way we can," Janeway said.

"The ocean's losing containment," Riga continued. "Hydro-volume has decreased more than seven percent in the last year alone."

"Any idea what's causing it?" Tom asked.

"No," Riga said. "To make a thorough study we would need to explore the ocean's center where I believe the gravitational currents are fluctuating."

"That's more than six-hundred kilometers deep," Tom said.

Riga nodded. "Our best research vessel can only go one hundred kilometers deep. beyond that the pressure is just too great."

"Well we could take you there," Tom said. He saw the captain giving him a look. "I mean, if the captain gives a go-ahead that is."

Once the Moneans had left, Janeway brought Tom with her to her ready room to discuss the matter. "I never had you pegged for a sailor Tom," she said, smirking.

"Well, in a way aren't we all? What is space but an ocean of stars?" Tom said.

Janeway rolled her eyes. "Save the poetics for your girlfriend Tom," she said, though not with any real annoyance. She did think Tom had a point, even if he presented it in a pretentious fashion.

"When I saw that ocean today, Captain," Tom said. "I was reminded of the first time I read Jules Verne as a kid."

"20,000 Leagues Under the Sea?" Janeway said.

"You've read it?"

"Once, but it left an impression. Shame nobody really writes stories like that anymore. I guess once humanity actually was travelling the stars, meeting aliens, walking on distant worlds, that kind of tale lost its luster."

"Not for me, though you probably already knew that since I'm sure you've heard of my Captain Proton program."

"Indeed," Janeway said. "Coffee?" she added, now standing by the replicator.

"No thanks," Tom said. He sat down on the long couch up against the viewports. "I was obsessed with stories about the ocean for a while," he continued. "read all sorts of stories about it."

"Moby Dick?" Janeway said, now sipping her own cup of coffee.

"Well, yes, though I found that one a little boring to be honest."

Janeway nodded, but said nothing.

Tom took a deep breath.

And here comes the mission pitch, Janeway thought.

"Captain, I believe that with a few simple thruster modifications to the Delta Flyer, I could make her seaworthy in no time."

"Good," Janeway said, sitting down behind her desk. "Because it would take a week to make the necessary modifications to Voyager."

"So it's my mission?" Tom said, looking excited.

"Bon voyage," Janeway said with a nod.

"I don't need you per se," Tom Paris said to Samantha Wildman as he sat across the table from her and Seven of Nine on the mess hall. "I just thought you might like to come down and see all the new sea life no human has ever seen before."

"Tempting Tom, very tempting," Sam admitted. "But this mission has a specific purpose that's not really my field. If you were just going down there to look at the sea life, you'd have to have Tuvok drag me out of the Flyer, I haven't really had the chance to ply my trade since Naomi was born. But I would love to have a look at whatever you pick up on your sensor logs on your way to the core."

"Okay," Tom said, "but I think you're missing out. How about you boatswain?" he added, looking at Seven.

"What?" Seven said.

"Are we ready to shove off?"

"It's sailor talk sweetie," Sam said, guiltily feeling amused at Seven's look of confusion at Tom's outdated Earth slang. "You'll probably get used to it."

"I imagine not," Seven said. Tom just laughed.

"Well, anyway Seven, meet me, Harry, and the Monean named Riga down in the shuttle bay in an hour. Enjoy your lunch in the meantime. And remember to call me Skipper once we're seaborne."

Sam rolled her eyes. "Tom, If I promise to go along on the next Delta Flyer mission will you stop with the nautical lingo?"

"I'll consider it," Tom said as he got up and left.

"Should I research this nautical lingo you speak of before I go?" Seven said. "Or can I safely ignore him during the mission?"

"Just have Harry translate it for you," Sam said. "At least he's not going to make you dress like a cabin boy."

Seven frowned slightly. "I'm not even going to bother asking you to explain that one, as I'm fairly sure I do not wish to know."

Sam thought about it for a moment. "Hmm, probably not," she said. "Though I can certainly think of some period appropriate garb I wouldn't mind seeing you in."

Seven smiled. "We can discuss that when I get back from the mission," she said.

Seven of Nine didn't allow it to show on her face, but she completely empathized with Tom Paris's awe at the site of the underwater structures the Moneans had built as the Delta Flyer made its way towards the core of the ocean planet. Sadly they had not seen much in the way of marine life, at least not yet, but Riga had promised that there were species of fish that had been here when their people first arrived centuries ago. Seven kept a lookout, hoping to gather some data for Sam.

"What are those structures?" Tom said to Riga.

"It's our main oxygen refinery," Riga said. "and desalination plant."

Seven ran a quick scan. "Corrosion resistant alloys, variable-density ballast, an efficient design," she said, openly impressed.

"We're very proud of what we've built here," Riga said.

"I can see why," Tom said.

The Delta Flyer continued deeper and deeper, eventually passing all the Monean structures, but still a ways to go to the core.

"Excuse me, Seven is it?" Riga said.

"That is correct," Seven said.

"I wonder why it is you're so interested in sea life. Is that your field of study, or is a it more of a hobby? If you don't mind my asking, that is."

"I do not," Seven said, not looking up from her scans. "And the answer is neither. While I am well versed in many branches of science my expertise does not lie in marine biology or xenobiology."

"Oh. So why the interest in fish?" Riga said, sounding genuinely curious.

"I am in a relationship with Voyager's chief xenobiologist," Seven said. "I am hoping to collect data for her, as she prefers not to leave the ship unless absolutely necessary. I convinced her to join me on an away mission once, and I was injured. It was minor, but the last time she was off ship prior to that incident her daughter became gravely ill."

"Oh dear," Riga said. "I hope the child survived."

"She did," Seven said.

"Good to hear. And I guess I can see where your mate is coming from. I imagine I'd feel the same way. It's also interesting to learn that humans apparently can procreate with a person of either gender. We've never encountered that before."

"It doesn't exactly work like that," Tom said. "But let's not get into that here. Human sexuality is complicated to put it mildly."

"An understandable error," Seven of Nine said to Riga. It wasn't an appropriate conversation to have, as Tom said, but she felt no need to make him feel guilty about bringing it up. He was merely curious, as any scientist would be.

"We're at a depth of five hundred and sixty kilometers," Tom said. A few seconds later, the hull made a squeaking noise.

"What was that?" Riga said.

"The hull contracting," Seven said.

"Rerouting additional power to structural integrity," Harry said. "We're good."

"I am detecting multi-phasic energy discharges," Seven said. "bearing zero-two-one Mark 6 and a range of twelve kilometers. It's a structure of some sort."

"At this depth?" Riga said.

"Adjusting course," Tom said. "Increase forward illumination."

Seven turned to look. The structure in front of them was old, she could tell that much even without an additional scan. Hexagonal patterns covered it, whatever it was, as did many aquatic plants. Whoever had built this either did not have any automated cleaning systems installed, or they had failed long ago.

"What is it?" Riga said, moving from his seat to stand next to Tom.

"It's generating massive amounts of artificial gravity," Harry said. "Looks like it's some kind of field reactor."

"If it's malfunctioning that could explain the loss in hydro-volume," Riga said.

"Perhaps it can be repaired," Seven suggested.

"It looks ancient," Tom said, moving the Delta Flyer closer to the structure.

"If these readings are right," Harry said, "it's over a hundred-thousand years old."

"We've no records of any previous inhabitants," Riga said. "Who were they? Where did they go? Why did they build this?"

"Looks like the reactor is controlled by a core computer," Harry said. "I'll try to upload the database, see if that gives us any answers."

"Do so carefully Mister Kim," Seven said. "A computer that old, its hardware may not hold up well under the strain of a large scale upload."

"Initiating the interface," Tom said, "upload in progress."

The Flyer suddenly began shaking.

"What's happening?" Riga said.

"We've got a visitor," Tom said, as the shadow of a massive, black, eel-like creature passed in front of the main viewport.

"What was that?" Riga yelled.

"You live here, you tell us," Harry said.

"My people have never been this far down before. Whatever this is doesn't get up to where our structures are, thank goodness."

Seven turned and saw out the side viewport the creature heading straight towards them, its maw wide open, showing rows of large sharp teeth. "It would be advisable for us to leave," she said.

"I believe that's Borg for 'get us the hell out of here,'" Tom said, "and I couldn't agree more." Tom began to turn the ship, in time to avoid going straight into the creature's mouth, but not enough to avoid getting sideswiped by it. The shuttle shuddered violently.

"The creature is emitting biothermic discharges," Seven said. The ship shook again, and a console near the rear exploded. "That last charge exceed five hundred thousand volts."

"Shields are fried," Harry said.

"I've got us turned around, let's get back to-"

Another impact shook the Delta Flyer, as bad as the last one, but no panels exploded this time.

"Dammit!" Tom yelled. "Thrusters are off-line. Targeting forward phasers."

"Wait, you can't kill it!" Riga said.

"I don't intend to if I can avoid it," Tom said. "I'm lowering the power. Hopefully we'll just stun it."

Another impact.

"How is that upload coming Harry?" Tom said.

"Just a few minutes," Harry said.

We may not have a few minutes, Seven thought.

"Firing phasers. Just a warning shot," Tom said. The ship took another hit, and for a moment Seven was concerned that Tom's actions had only angered the creature, but a glance at her sensors showed that that was not the case.

"The creature is retreating" she said. Tom and Harry breathed a sigh of relief, but before anyone could say anything, an alarm sounded.

"We've got a breach!" Harry yelled. The sound of running water soon confirmed that, and it was getting louder.

"I'm on it," Tom said, heading to the back of the shuttle. Seven could now see the water leaking in through a panel in the Flyer's ceiling.

Well, Seven thought. This is unfortunate.

"Hand me a laser welder," Tom said. Seven looked under her console, but couldn't find one. Harry apparently had the same thought as he handed one to her to pass to Tom, who quickly got to work sealing the leaks. He managed to do so, but not before his uniform got soaked through.

"Nothing like a cold shower to wake up the senses," Tom said.

"You should warm yourself quickly Lieutenant," Seven said. "before hypothermia has a chance to set in."

"Yeah, thanks Mom," Tom said dismissively as he returned to the pilot's seat.

"Structural integrity is weakening," Harry said. "We've lost communications, shields, and the pièce de résistance, propulsion."

"We can decrease our density by venting plasma," Seven said. "and by transporting all non-essential equipment off the ship. It will take time, but we will eventually rise to the surface."

"Not a bad idea Seven, but I think we should stay," Tom said.

"Stay?" Riga said.

"I'm not about to be scared off by a few damaged systems," Tom said.

"Were you perhaps struck on the head while repairing the leak, Mister Paris?" Seven said.

"Look," Tom said, "it's a pretty good bet that the reactor's malfunctioning. We're only gonna get one shot at fixing it. You wanna leave, fine. Give me an environmental suit and you can pick me up after you've repaired the Flyer."

"That is such an idiotic thing to say I really have no comeback sarcastic enough to counter it," Harry said.

"You have a better idea?" Tom said. Seven shook her head and went to work on her console. Hopefully she could find a solution to the situation while the two supposed friends bickered.

"Well, we've managed to interface with the reactor's computer core," Harry said. "Maybe we can make the repairs, maybe not. But I'm not leaving you down here alone."
"I'm scared," Riga said. "But I'm willing to stay."

"Seven?" Tom said.

"It would seem I am already outvoted," she said. "We may as well stay then."

"Okay, let's get to work th-"

The ship shuddered one more time.

"Oh come on!" Harry yelled.

"Is that creature back?" Riga said.

"It was a gravimetric discharge," Seven said. "The reactor's core is unstable."

"You'd be unstable too if you were as old this thing," Tom said.

"Age has nothing to do with it," Harry said. "The reactor's diverting massive amounts of power to its structural integrity field. Power normally reserved for oceanic containment. This could explain why the containment has been weakening."

"Makes sense," Tom said.

"Looks like the density of the water's been increasing over the past few years," Harry continued. "It seems the reactor is just trying to keep itself from being crushed."

"A logical conclusion," Seven said.

"Can we initiate a power transfer?" Tom said. "That might stabilize the core."

"It would only be a temporary solution," Seven said. "But it can be done."

"Do it," Tom said. "Then vent the plasma, jettison what we don't need, and we can go home."

"Have you found something?" Riga said, entering the lab on Voyager where Tom Paris was going over the data obtained on the mission to the ocean planet's core.

"Yep," Tom said. "I've been studying the generator's database and you're not gonna believe this, but apparently your ocean used to be part of a land mass."

"Astonishing," Riga said.

"I know right? As far as I can tell it used to be part of a planetary eco-system. One inhabited by a very advanced civilization."

"What happened to them?" Riga said.

"Good question. All I've been able to find out is they launched this reactor," he touched a button on a console and began playing a simulation for Riga. "into orbit, and used some kind of elaborate kinetic transfer system to draw the water and everything in it up to the reactor."

Riga stared in wonder at the simulation as it showed a sped up version of what the process most likely looked like.

"Extraordinary," Riga said. "Why would anyone want to move an entire ocean?"

Tom shrugged. "Some kind of disaster on their planet maybe? Or maybe it was just an experiment."

"That must've been a massive undertaking," Riga said.

"Took them almost two hundred years by my calculations," Tom said.

"I wonder what they'd think if they knew we settled here and built another civilization," Riga said.

"Actually," Tom said, "I think they'd be pretty concerned. This field reactor they designed, it's a pretty amazing and durable piece of technology. I don't think it's responsible for the loss of containment." Tom walked over to a desk in the lab and picked up a PADD to hand to Riga.

"But, as soon as we made the recalibration the water stabilized," Riga said. "I don't see what else it could be."

"Riga," Tom said. "your people's mining operations are destroying the ocean."

"Oh," Riga said, sounding more saddened than shocked, like deep down he'd always suspected this might be the case, but just didn't want to admit it.

"There's more you should know," Tom said. "When I got back, the Captain filled me in on what we missed while we were down there. The rate of water loss is worse than we thought. We're looking at total dissipation in in less than five years. You may have to consider evacuating if we can't stop the hydro-volume loss."

"Oh," Riga said. It seemed like an underreaction, but he didn't say anything, figuring that Riga was just in shock, and that the news he'd been given just hadn't sunk in yet. After a few quiet moments, Riga spoke up again.

"We need to bring this information to Consul Burkus," he said.

"Agreed," Tom said. "I haven't met a lot of them, but I know that good politicians do exist in this galaxy. If he isn't one, maybe one of your other leaders will be willing to listen."

Captain Janeway sat at the head of the table in the briefing room. She wanted to make it clear to Burkus that this was not the same casual type of meeting that they'd had when he first came aboard. Tom Paris and B'Elanna Torres were with her, while Burkus and Riga and a third Monean sat opposite them.

"The council is very grateful for your help Captain," Burkus said, after Tom filled him in on the situation. "They've asked me to request the shield and thruster schematics for your Delta Flyer. We're hoping to design a probe that will allow us to monitor the containment generator."

If I wrote a holonovel with a politician this stereotypical, Janeway thought, he'd be dismissed as too cliched.

She put on a smile that she hope looked genuine.

"Lieutenant Torres will give you everything you need," she said. She didn't like Burkus all that much, but there was no point in screwing over his entire race over it.

"I've also drawn up some designs for an oxygen replication system," B'Elanna said, reaching over the table to hand Burkus a PADD. "It'll allow you to create free oxygen without extricating it from the water. It won't solve your problems overnight, but it's a start." B'Elanna sat back down and smiled. She was proud of how quickly she came up with a solution to the Monean's problem, and as far as Janeway was concerned B'Elanna had earned that pride. It was a good solution.

"I'm sure it'll be very helpful," Burkus said in a tone that made the hairs on the back of Janeway's neck stand up.

There's a 'but' coming, she thought, I can feel it.

"Our oxygen extraction levels are still dangerously high," Riga said. If Janeway had been right about that 'but,' she would never know because the conversation took a different turn. "I'm going to recommend shutting down refineries four, five, and six." Riga continued.

"We'll take it under advisement," Burkus said quickly, looking very uncomfortable. He stood up. "Well, Captain, I wish you a safe journey."

"We have a few more suggestions if you'd like to hear them," Janeway said, resisting the urge to add the word "asshole" at the end of the sentence.

"Please," Burkus said. "Pass them along to Mister Riga, and he'll include them in his report." Riga looked concerned. Janeway glanced to her right and saw Tom Paris with a similar look on his face.

"I'm curious," Tom said. "who's going to read that report?"

"It will be given to the subcommittees on life support and agriculture," Burkus said.

"Forgive me for my bluntness Consul," Riga said, "but I don't think you understand the magnitude of the crisis. What you're suggesting could take months."

"Thank you, Mister Riga," Burkus said, in a tone that suggested he was anything but thankful.

"You should listen to him," Tom said, standing up. "If you don't make some serious changes, and soon, that ocean won't be here much longer."

Janeway hoped that Burkus would listen, but also hoped that Tom would calm down. The last thing she needed on her hands was an interspecies incident.

"As I said, we understand his concerns," Burkus said, trying to sound diplomatic.

"Do you?" Tom said.

"Tom?" Janeway said quietly, trying to get her navigator's attention, hoping to calm him down.

"It seems to me like you're trying to sidestep the issue and just send us on our way," Tom continued. Janeway took some small relief in the fact that Tom at least wasn't raising his voice.

"With all due respect," Burkus said, letting his agitation show now. "who are you to tell us what to do with our ocean?"

"With all due respect, it's not your ocean," Tom said forcefully, moving around the table to stand face to face with Burkus, just what Janeway had hoped he wouldn't do.

"Lieutenant?" she said forcefully, trying to get Tom to back off.

"It's all right Captain," Burkus said. "I'd like to respond. But not as a diplomat, as a Monean. You came here claiming you wanted to learn about our way of life, and now having spent three days here you're suggesting we abandon it. My people have an expression. 'Brine in the veins.' Riga, tell him what that means."

Riga sighed. "It's used to describe someone who has special connection to the waters."

"My family has lived her for ten generations," Burkus continued. "We protected this ocean. Cultivated it. Lived in harmony with the animals that inhabit it. Can you say the same?"
Damn he's good, Janeway thought. If I didn't already know he was full of shit, I could be convinced to vote for him.

Tom didn't respond.

"I didn't think so," Burkus said. Good day, Captain." Burkus turned and left, Riga and the other Monean following behind him, leaving Tom standing there. Janeway couldn't see the look on his face since his back was turned to her, but she could guess.

"We can't just let this go," Tom said, turning around.

"What do you want me to do, Tom?" she said. "Just violate the Prime Directive because of one idiot?"

"Well, frankly yes," Tom said. "I've been thinking a lot about the PD lately and it seems to me that what started as a good law has become intractable dogma. It's not that I want us to just throw it out, that would be wrong and against everything the Federation stands for. But sometimes I think we use it as an excuse to avoid making a hard decision."

"We?" Janeway said.

"The royal 'we,'" Tom said. "As in Starfleet as a whole."

Janeway stood up. "I know you're upset Lieutenant, but when you're in a room with me you check that attitude at the door, understood?"

"Captain, I'm sorry, but-"

"We can't expect an entire society to change because we think they should. Between you me and B'Elanna I've had my doubts about how the Prime Directive has been applied too. Hell, I wonder about how I've applied it myself in the past, though I will deny it if you tell anyone I said that."

Tom looked down, seeming embarrassed. "I didn't mean to antagonize you Captain," he said.

"You didn't," Janeway said. "I'm just being honest with you in ways a Captain normally shouldn't in the hope that it'll keep you from doing something stupid."

"We did what we could Tom. We gave them the help they asked for. We told them what we know. Now it's up to them to do what they think is appropriate."

"You heard that Consul," Tom said. "they aren't going to a damn thing."

"Maybe but that's their prerogative Tom. End of discussion. At 1400 hours we will resume a course for the Alpha Quadrant. Is that clear?"

"As a bell," Tom said. B'Elanna got up from her seat and moved to Tom's side, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"Come on Tom," she said. "I'll join you on the holodeck for a Captain Proton adventure. Maybe that'll help take your mind off of this."

Tom looked sadly out the viewport, where the edge of the ocean planet was visible. Janeway felt sorry for him, but the fact was that unlike some instances she'd run into since taking command of Voyager, the Prime Directive here was clear cut. The Monean leadership had made it clear they did not want any further help from her or her crew.

As Tom and B'Elanna exited the briefing room together, she hoped that the Monean that had gone to the core with Tom, Riga, would find the courage to stand up to his superiors.

It was almost 1400 hours, but Seven of Nine had decided to arrive on the bridge early. Normally she did her duties from the astrometrics lab, but Commander Chakotay had decided to add her to the bridge crew for this particular shift. She found his reasons for doing so inadequate, especially the claim of it 'breaking the monotony' on the grounds that she was quite comfortable having a fixed routine. In fact, except when she was spending time with Sam during the periods when their off-duty hours coincided, spontaneity held no appeal for her.

She sat down at the station that was normally Sam's during her bridge rotations, and adjusted the settings on the console to her liking. While she was doing so, an alert noise from Tuvok's console got her attention. Tuvok summoned Captain Janeway to the bridge. She arrived quickly, the front of her uniform jacket only partially zipped up.

"Captain, there has been an unauthorized launch from the shuttle bay," Tuvok said.

Tom Paris, Seven thought ruefully.

"The Delta Flyer," Tuvok continued. "Sensors show another lifeform aboard with Mister Paris. The lifesigns are Monean."

"Hail them," Janeway said,

"No response," Tuvok said.

Seven looked at her console. She felt like she should be doing something during this situation, but wasn't sure what, and that lack of certainty frustrated her.

"Try a tractor beam," Chakotay said.

"We're out of range," Tuvok said.

We're being hailed, Captain," Harry Kim said. "It's Consul Burkus."

"Of course it is," Janeway said as she took her seat. "On screen."

"Your shuttlecraft has violated our borders. I demand an explanation," Burkus said.

"Mister Paris is acting without authorization," Janeway said with frustration punctuating every syllable.

"To what end?" Burkus said.

"Our scanners show that Mister Riga is with him," Janeway said. "I'm assuming they intend to take some sort of radical action to protect the ocean."

"Hmm," Burkus said. "I'm certainly angry Captain, but I must admit a part of me respects Riga for this. He's always come across as a coward to me before. But they still must be stopped."

Seven found Burkus' description of his subordinate rather hypocritical in light of his own actions after Riga and Lieutenant Paris had presented him with the information regarded to side effects of their oxygen mining.

"I assume you plan to take radical action to stop them Captain?" Burkus said.

"I do," Janeway said. She silently signaled for the communication with Burkus to be ended. Once his face was off the screen, she began pushing buttons on the console by the captain's chair.

"Janeway to Paris, return to Voyager immediately," she said.

"I'm sorry Captain," Tom's voice replied. "I can't do that."

"Lieutenant, you are disobeying a direct order. This goes beyond violating the Prime Directive, you and Riga are about to commit an act of terrorism."

"I know," Tom said, sounding sad. his short statement was followed by the noise of a com channel being closed.

"He cut us off," Chakotay said.

"I noticed," Janeway said. "What the hell are they up to?"

"They appear to be headed for somewhere underneath the industrial complex," Seven said.

"Can we reach them with phasers?"

"Inadvisable," Seven said.

"Seven is correct," Tuvok said. "It would create a hydro-dynamic shockwave."

"What about an old-fashioned depth charge?" Chakotay said.

"It should be possible to modify a photon torpedo," Tuvok said.

"Do it," Janeway said. "Quickly."

It only took a few moments for Tuvok to complete the task, faster than Seven had anticipated.

"The torpedo is ready," he said. "However, the Delta Flyer has submerged below our targeting range."

"Consul Burkus is hailing us again," Harry said.

Janeway sighed. "On screen," she said.

"Our refinery workers have been given five minutes to clear the structure. Was this the kind of evacuation you had in mind Captain?" Burkus said with an accusatory tone. Seven of Nine began to understand why neither the Captain nor Lieutenant Paris liked the man.

"Can you get them out in time? Janeway said.

"Yes, but-"

"Do it. I'll find a way to protect your refinery. End transmission."

"Captain, I-" the viewscreen returned to the view of the ocean planet.

"Mister Paris descended to avoid attack," Tuvok said. "If my calculations are correct he will have to come back up to a depth of two thousand meters to strike his target."

"Giving us a window of opportunity," Janeway said.

"Captain," Harry said. "This is Tom we're talking about. We're not going to open fire are we?"

Seven agreed. While she conceded that Mister Paris' attack had to be stopped, destroying the Delta Flyer seemed like an extreme measure, in addition to being a waste of resources for Voyager as Tom was also the ship's lone nurse in addition to its pilot.

"As far as I'm concerned," Janeway said, now directing some of her anger at Lieutenant Kim. "he forfeited his status as a protected member of this crew the second he launched that shuttle."

"He's started his ascent," Chakotay said. "He'll reach the target in thirty-six seconds."

"Hail him," Janeway said. Seven could pick up from the tone of the Captain's voice that this was the last time she was planning to do this.

"Go ahead," Harry said.

"Lieutenant Paris, this is your final warning," Janeway said.

No response.

"Arm the torpedo," Janeway said.

"Twenty seconds to weapon's range," Harry said.

"Stand down Mister Paris. Or I will open fire."

Should I do something? Seven thought. This doesn't seem right. Tom Paris is an individual, not a defective drone. She bit her lower lip to keep from speaking up. She wondered if Sam would've said something at this point, or would she have just followed orders.

Tuvok began counting down. When he reached "One," Janeway gave the order to fire.

"The Flyer has been disabled," Tuvok said a few moments later.

"Their missile?" Janeway said. In all the tension, somehow Seven of Nine had missed the detail that the Delta Flyer had fired a missile at the refinery. That was unacceptable to her. She made a note to speak with the Doctor about it later.

"Deflected," Tuvok said.

Janeway didn't say anything. Seven of Nine returned her focus to the console in front of her.

Captain Janeway stood facing Tom Paris, with her hands behind her back, her stern glare masking the seething anger she truly felt at what her navigator had done. Two armed guards stood behind him. If they had any feelings about what was happening, they didn't show it.

"You are guilty of insubordination, unauthorized use of a spacecraft, reckless endangerment, and conduct unbecoming an officer. Do you have anything to say for yourself?"

"Riga needed my help," Tom said.

"In doing so you disobeyed my direct orders."

"Yes, Captain," Tom said.

"You violated the protocols that govern this crew."

"Yes, Captain."

"You nearly caused an armed conflict with the Moneans."Janeway heard her own voice getting louder with each sentence, but she didn't care. Her anger was justified as far as she was concerned.

"Yes, Captain," Tom said.

"Frankly, you're lucky to be standing here right now. I would've destroyed your shuttle if necessary."

If Tom was flustered by that, he didn't show it. He kept as stoic as he had been throughout the proceedings leading up to this moment. In a twisted, ironic way Janeway was as proud of him right now as she was tempted to keep him in the brig for the rest of the journey home, all sixty-plus years of it.

"Yes, Captain. Permission to speak freely?"

"Granted."

"Riga's people weren't going to listen. They were going to ignore our warnings."

"You don't know that."

"Riga knew, and I was the only one who could help them."

"I understand your passion," Janeway said, and she hoped he knew she meant it. "But passion alone doesn't give you the right to take matters into your own hands. Four years ago, I released you from prison and gave you a fresh start. Until now you've been a fine officer. Your service on this ship has been exemplary. I really believed you were past this kind of conduct."

"Serving under your command has changed me, for the better. But at least this time I broke the rules for a reason, for something I believed in, instead of just trying to piss off my father, or because I was looking for a fight."

"I admire your principles Tom, but I can't ignore what you've done. Lieutenant Thomas Eugene Paris, I hereby reduce you to the rank of ensign. And I sentence you to thirty days solitary confinement." Janeway stepped closer to Tom, and removed one of the pips on his collar. "Take Ensign Paris to the brig," she said to one of the security guards, both of them moved to stand on each side of Tom.

"I know the way," Tom said, turning and walking out of the captain's ready room, the guards following behind him.

Once the door closed, she let out a long, sad sigh.

Seven of Nine wondered briefly why she'd allowed Harry Kim and B'Elanna Torres to talk her into doing what she was about to do, but after taking a calming breath, she walked up to the door to the captain's ready room, and waited for permission to enter.

"Come in," the captain said.

"Captain," Seven said, standing at attention.

"So, how can I help you Seven?"

"I'm here in regards to Mister Paris' incarceration," Seven said, deciding it best to get this over with quickly, since she was more than ninety percent certain of this conversation's outcome. Janeway sighed and put down her coffee and the PADD she was reading.

"Like I've already told Harry and B'Elanna I'm not letting him out of the brig. Not until his thirty days are up. So-"

"I am not asking you to do so Captain," Seven said. Her reluctance to interrupt people was a fairly new trait, one she'd picked up from dating Samantha, but she also knew that if she didn't get her point across quickly the captain would dismiss her before she even had a chance to start.

"Oh? Then why are you here?"

"I understand that what Lieu- sorry, Ensign Paris did requires some form of consequence. However, I question the value of a month of solitary confinement. Having him in the brig, the demotion, these are all reasonable given this ship's circumstances. But I feel I should remind you that using solitary confinement as a form of punishment is listed as torture under the Articles of the Federation, and was banned on Earth even before said articles were signed. In fact most member races of the Federation-"

"You've made your point Ensign," Janeway said harshly, her expression flat. It occurred to Seven just then how, even though she'd been given a rank and a uniform months ago, how rarely anyone ever called her by her rank. "I don't think you understand the severity of what Tom did, Seven. This goes beyond disobeying orders. You've done that. Even Tuvok went behind my back once."

Seven didn't know what she was referring to, but refrained from asking. She had a feeling she had already pushed the captain's patience too far already, despite having only been speaking to her for a minute at most.

"He had come so far these past three years," Janeway continued. "He was acting like a real Starfleet officer. He had stable friendships, he did his job well, often exceeding expectations. Looking at him today you would never know that at one point he was an academy wash out and a convict with a chip on his shoulder the size of Europa.

"And he risked it all on some foolish crusade that ultimately accomplished nothing. You could stand there and argue that he was just following his conscience. Harry and B'Elanna said the same thing, but it doesn't matter. He accepted responsibility for his actions, and now he's paying the price for them."

"A point which I have never disputed captain," Seven said.

Janeway sighed, and rubbed her face. "Yeah, you haven't. I'm arguing with you over a point you didn't even try to make. Maybe I'm just trying to justify it to myself. Alright, I'll start allowing some limited visitations on a schedule. Thank you, Seven."

Seven was more than a little confused. Somehow, she'd gone from failing to make her case to the captain changing her mind without even getting the chance to expand her case. She nearly just flat out asked what had happened to make the captain change her mind so quickly, when Janeway said, "Dismissed." Seven simply nodded, and left.

Heading towards the turbolift, Lieutenant Kim stopped her and asked how it went.

"It would appear I succeeded," she told him.

"What does that mean?" Harry asked.

"It means that I convinced her to end the solitary confinement, but I am uncertain how."

"That doesn't make much sense."

"No argument here. Now if you'll excuse me, I must return to astrometrics."

Chapter Four:

After a month of not being allowed to take the Delta Flyer out for a spin, the now Ensign Tom Paris had been happy when he finally got the chance again, going on a mission with Tuvok and Samantha Wildman. A few days in however, he suddenly found himself missing the safety of his cell in the brig.

"We've got another ion storm coming in," he said, checking his sensors. "Great. We still haven't gotten ourselves patched up from the last one. No way we're making it back to Voyager today."

"I am never leaving the ship again," Samantha said. "I get stranded by the Kazon, Naomi gets sick, dipshit weapons dealer nearly blows Seven's hand off; every time I step off Voyager something bad happens."

"That is not wholly accurate," Tuvok said. "I can recall with little effort at least two occasions where you were off Voyager, and nothing that could be described as negative occurred."

"Yeah, two," Samantha said. "That doesn't disprove my point. Leaving that ship is just bad luck."

"To be fair Sam," Paris said, "it's not like every day on Voyager herself is sunshine and bunnies." He checked his console one more time to make sure the Flyer was stationary as trying to move during an ion storm only made it more dangerous. "We've got several minutes before it hits, better contact Naomi, let her know you'll be delayed so she won't worry."

Naomi Wildman beamed with pride as she left the holodeck, having quickly and triumphantly solved the problem presented her in the current Flotter chapter on the holodeck she was on, and she was looking forward to sharing her accomplishments with her mom. She wasn't going to have to wait too long though, because the reason she'd left the holodeck when she did was because Neelix had called to let her know that her mother was contacting from the Delta Flyer, and that Neelix had set up a visual communications link in her quarters.

Once she got there, Neelix simply stood back while Naomi sat at the table and looked at the screen. She'd asked where Seven of Nine was, but Neelix said that Seven was being kept busy on the bridge. Naomi thought it was kind of weird that her mom's girlfriend wouldn't be here, but figured maybe they'd talk later, and talk about the kind of grown up stuff she didn't like being in the room for.

"Hi Mom," she said.

"Hey sweetie," Samantha replied. Naomi wasted no time in detailing how she'd helped the Flotter character make peace with a character named Trevis, even though deep down she knew that her mom probably knew these characters already since she'd also played in those holonovels as a kid.

"I can show you how I did it tomorrow when you get back," Naomi said, finally finished. Her mother sighed as the static on the channel got worse.

"I'm sorry Naomi, the away mission is taking longer than planned. It may be a few more days."

"Days?" Naomi said, frowning.

"'Fraid so. But don't worry, I'll be bringing back some beautiful sillenite crystals for you and for Seven. Now I know what time it is there, so I want you to get ready for bed while I talk to Neelix, okay?"

"All right," Naomi said, sadly, getting up to do as her mother told her.

Neelix could tell even through the static that Samantha Wildman was putting on a brave face. As soon as Naomi went to her room to change, Neelix sat down.

"Samantha?" he said. "What's wrong?"

"We got hit by an ion storm," she said. "We took a beating, but I imagine it would be worse if we were in a regular shuttle."

"How bad?"

"We're trying to make repairs, but there's another storm on the way." The static got worse. Neelix saw Samantha look down. It was probably just as bad on her end too. "I need to go. Say goodnight to Naomi for me."

"Of course," Neelix said. "Do you want me to say anything to Seven of Nine as well, or-"

"I'm sure the Captain's already briefed her on the situation. But thanks. The signal's getting worse, I have to go."

The screen went black. Neelix sighed. For a moment he considered telling Naomi the truth about why her mother was delayed, but decided against it. Samantha hadn't said anything, probably not wanting Naomi to worry unnecessarily.

I won't tell her yet, he thought. I just need to figure out when. Or maybe I'll get lucky and Samantha, Tom, and Tuvok will all be home before it even becomes an issue.

Neelix, along with the rest of the senior staff still on-board listened quietly in the briefing room as the static marred mayday message from Tuvok played for them, the sound cutting out just after his voice told them that they were looking for an emergency landing site for the Delta Flyer.

"That was the last transmission we got from them," Chakotay said. "We haven't heard anything since. We've tried hailing them but they aren't responding."

"If they're looking for a place to land," the Doctor said, "it must be pretty bad."

"Exactly what I was thinking," B'Elanna said. "Can we pick them up on long range sensors?"

"We lost their energy signature when the second ion storm hit," Harry Kim said. "But we've triangulated the coordinates of the distress call. They've entered a planetary system about 0.6 light years from here. That's the good news. The bad is that another ion storm blocking our path. It's a level five."

"Hmm," Janeway said. "We've been through worse than a Level 5. And since Edwin's shield reinforcements are still in place, we should be able to ride it out just fine. We're not going to let a little bad weather get in the way of our rescue mission. Dismissed."

"What should I tell Naomi?" Neelix said, speaking up for the first time since the briefing started. "Or should I tell her anything for that matter?"
Chakotay shrugged. "If you don't feel comfortable handling that Neelix, perhaps I could help."

"That won't be necessary Commander," Neelix said. "I know she needs to be told, and it probably should come from me. Except for her mother and maybe Seven of Nine I'm closer to her than anyone. I'm just worried about how she'll handle it."

"Understandable," Janeway said. "Look, just keep her occupied for awhile while we handle the rescue mission. If things go sideways, it'll be my job to deliver the bad news."

"This reminds me," B'Elanna said. "Has anyone told Seven yet?"

"She's aware of the Flyer's damage from the first ion storm," Harry said. "But us in this room are the only ones with the latest information. I'm sure she'll handle it fine though. This is the woman who was able to save us all from a killer nebula, while in the middle of a nervous breakdown no less," he added, referring to last year's month-long period where all but Seven and the Doctor had to sleep in stasis tubes.

"This is different though," Janeway said.

"How so?" Neelix said, wondering where the captain was going with this.

"It's a matter of scale," she said. "The larger the number of people in danger, the easier it is to detach and focus on the task at hand. There's a huge difference between a hundred and twenty plus, and three. And when one of those three is someone you're emotionally attached to…"

"I would remind you that my boyfriend is one of the people in danger," B'Elanna said. "And I don't see anyone worrying about me not being able to focus."

"I've known you longer, I know I don't need to," Janeway said. "We've all gone through something like this before. But for Seven this is still new, she's never had to perform with these kinds of stakes before."

"With all due respect Captain," Harry said, "I think you're selling her short. I'm confident Seven of Nine won't let her connection to Sam cloud her judgement, and we'll probably need her skills on this mission."

"I agree," Neelix said.

"Same here," the Doctor said. Janeway shrugged.

"You're probably right," she said. "Harry, let her know the situation. Neelix, keep Naomi occupied, like I said. Everyone else, let's start putting a rescue plan together."

Seven of Nine was slightly confused. When Janeway summoned her to the bridge and updated her on the Delta Flyer's situation, Seven began to feel a sense of panic, not unlike the one she'd had weeks before when Edwin was allowing himself to die in sickbay. She couldn't quite understand why though. The concern for Samantha of course was natural, and she imagined that B'Elanna Torres felt much the same way about Tom Paris, whose life was also in danger aboard the Flyer. During her time on the ship however, the entire ship had been in danger more times than should have been statistically probable. By extension, Sam was in danger then too. Seven just could not discern what made this different.

Maybe it's because I helped design the shuttle, she found herself thinking as she went over schematics on a PADD that Harry had handed her. If I'd been more involved perhaps it wouldn't be so badly damaged.

"Has Naomi been informed?" she asked Lieutenant Kim.

"Neelix is going to handle that," Harry said. "but not just yet. I can't blame him for being reluctant, no one wants to be the bearer of bad news."

"Perhaps that is for the best," Seven said. "I would offer to tell her myself, but as Sam as pointed out to me more than once I still require improvement in the, to use her words, 'tact department.'"

Harry chuckled at that. Seven had not intended the statement to be amusing, but she decided to keep that to herself.

"I should probably steer clear of Naomi for the remainder of the operation," she said. "If I see her she will likely ask me about the status of her mother, and much like Sam I do not like deceiving her."

"You've had to lie to her before?" Harry said.

"Yes," she said. Harry looked for a moment like he might ask for further details on that, but he didn't, for which Seven was grateful as she would not have given him any. None of the falsehoods were large ones, it was simply a matter of there being things that Sam felt it was in Naomi's best interest that she not know about until she was an adult. Seven was skeptical, but chose to defer to Samantha on the matter.

What will I do if she doesn't come back? she thought. She tried to push the intrusive though aside, but it kept nagging at her quietly in the back of her mind, so she instead tried to focus harder on the information on her PADD, working to put together a rescue mission.

As Tom Paris pushed the thrusters on the Delta Flyer to their limits, Samantha kept her focus on the console screen, trying to find somewhere, anywhere, to land the ship. With warp drive and even impulse engines off line though, she knew they were only delaying the inevitable and that the ion storm was going to hit them.

"And to think that being demoted and having to spend a month in the brig would end up not being the worst thing to happen to me this year," she heard Paris mutter.

"The storm is throwing off my readings," she said, "but there is definitely a big rock nearby, I just can't find it." The ship shuddered.

"The wave front is accelerating," Tuvok said. "Less than two minutes to impact."

"Great, so I've only got about thirty seconds to land this thing," Tom said. "Samantha, I hate to rush you-"

"Got it," she said, "Finally. I read a class-M atmosphere, and a benamite mantle." She quickly transferred the distance and coordinates to Tom's console.

"Benamite? I want to land this shuttle, not bury it," he said as he turned the shuttle towards the planet which would hopefully protect them from more ion storms.

"Well, we could always just try to surf the ion storm," Samantha snarked, her patience starting to waver as the shuddering got worse.

"We've entered the upper atmosphere," Tuvok said a few seconds later. Samantha continued her scans.

"Nothing but impact craters and volcanoes," she said, "this is not a good landing place."

"The storm is closing," Tuvok said. "Shields are already at maximum."

"It's gonna have to do," Tom said. "So long as we don't land in a volcano we should be fine."

"Starboard thrusters are down," Tuvok said.

"Damn," Tom said. "This is just not my day."

"We're going in too fast," Samantha said, finally starting to panic.

"Hang on!" Tom yelled.

The ship shook violently, there were loud clanging noises, Samantha felt her head hit something, and her vision became fuzzy. She didn't remember being unconscious, but when she opened her eyes, she saw that she'd been moved from where she'd been sitting, and she was very, very sore.

"Wha-what happened?" she said, touching a sore spot on her head, and seeing blood on the tips of her fingers.

Tom was scanning her with a medical tricorder. Samantha found herself glad that he had agreed to be trained as a field medic.

"We made it. -ish," Tom said. "The Delta Flyer's first real planetary landing wasn't exactly an auspicious one. We're three kilometers under the surface. At least our primary hull is still in one piece."

"Wish I felt the same way," Samantha said.

"You'll be okay," Tom said. "Minor fractures, a concussion, nothing I can't handle."

"You're a better nurse than you are a liar, Ensign." Samantha grunted and clutched her side, which was hurting worse now.

Tom closed the medical tricorder and sighed. "You have a punctured kidney," he said. "You need surgery."

Samantha nodded.

"I have transmitted another distress call," Tuvok said. "So far, no response."

"I've got to talk to Naomi," Samantha said, feeling scared. "And Annie. My girls, they'll be so worried about me."

"Conserve your strength Ensign," Tuvok said. "Mr. Paris and I have the situation under control."

"Sam, I'm going to give you a mild sedative and something for the pain, okay?" Tom said, holding up a hypospray. Samantha nodded. She felt a little woozy after Tom applied the hypospray, but she could still hear him and Tuvok as they discussed their situation. Were she not drugged, it might've made her panic more.

"Any chance we could abandon ship and walk out of here?" Tom said.

"Unlikely," Tuvok said. "We're far too deep underground, and the cavern behind us has filled up with fluorine gas."

"Seriously?" Tom said, sounding incredulous. "Fluorine? How did it not all ignite when we crashed?"

"Unknown," Tuvok admitted.

Samantha, not wanting to fall asleep, tried to remember everything she could about fluorine gas and had to agree with Tom. That type of gas was so reactive water would ignite it, and now there was a huge cave full of it right behind them.

Three ion storms in one day, a crash landing, and surrounded by a gas that can explode if you look at it wrong. Welcome to the worst day of my life, she thought.

"Our best option," she heard Tuvok say, "is to wait for Voyager."

Naomi kept thinking about how her mom hadn't contacted her in awhile, how Seven of Nine seemed to be avoiding her, and how nervous Neelix seemed to be. Something was going on, and no one was telling her and it was making her mad enough that nothing the Doctor was telling her about botany was registering.

The Doctor was saying something about organelles when Naomi finally just said what was on her mind.

"My Mom was supposed to call me today. Why hasn't she?"

The Doctor paused for a moment. "Well," he said, "she's probably just busy." The Doctor was still smiling like he was when he was giving his lessons, but Naomi felt something was a little off with the smile, like it was there just to make her feel better. "Now let's have a little look at the cell wall," the Doctor said, tapping a button on the console screen in front of her.

"Can we try to call her?" she said. The Doctor didn't answer right away.

"Well," he started to say but was interrupted when the door to sickbay opened. "Neelix, so happy to see you," the Doctor said. Neelix seemed surprised at that.

"Um, okay," Neelix said. "I was just coming by to pick up Naomi. We're going to do another Flotter story on the holodeck today. I'm not too early am I?"

"I was just asking the Doctor if we could call Mom on the Delta Flyer," Naomi said. Neelix sighed. He looked at the Doctor, who nodded and stepped into his office, leaving her and Neelix alone.

"I should have said something sooner," Neelix said. Naomi suddenly felt very nervous. "The Delta Flyer got hit pretty bad by some ion storms and had to land on a planetoid to make repairs. We can't talk to them right now because of the damage. I'm sure you're scared right now, and it's okay to be scared, but I want you to know that everyone is doing everything they can to make sure the Flyer and everyone on it comes home safe. Okay?"

Naomi didn't say anything. She just sat there. She did feel a little scared, like Neelix said she would, but she was also mad. Mad at him for not telling her right away that her mom was in trouble, mad at her mother for not saying she was in trouble the last time she called, mad at ion storms…

She got out of her chair and just left sickbay. Neelix followed her, asking her if she was okay but she just ignored him. She wanted to go somewhere where she could feel safe, so she went to holodeck one and activated the Flotter program. When Neelix tried to follow her in she just yelled "No!" at him and asked the computer to seal the door. She walked as fear as the nearest tree, which wasn't very far since the simulation was of a forest, leaned against it, and cried.

Seven of Nine worked at her console in the astrometrics lab. She was concerned for Sam, but she wasn't allowing her fear to cloud her judgement. If pressed, she would have to admit that she just didn't know if she could emotionally handle losing her, but that was all the more reason not to be reckless. She imagined that being allowed to work on the rescue mission played a large part, if not the largest, in helping maintain her calm.

"Computer, switch to polythermal imaging and enhance resolution," she said. As she said so she heard the door open behind her. She glanced over her shoulder and saw Neelix enter.

"Do you require assistance, Neelix?" she said.

"Maybe. I'm worried about Naomi," Neelix said. He sighed, then added, "I messed up. I should've told her sooner, but I didn't and I think waiting only made it worse."

"How much did you tell her?" Seven said.

"Not much, just that the Flyer was in trouble and had to land. I didn't tell her it crashed though."

"I've found that Naomi is more clever and resilient than many on board Voyager give her credit for. She may well be angry that she wasn't informed sooner about her mother's situation, but I doubt that will hold for long. She will understand that you were only trying to protect her."

"I could've done a better job of it, but thanks anyway Seven. Since she knows now, maybe you should talk to her before going down there to join the rescue team. She noticed how you weren't saying much to her the past few days."

"I will do that. Currently I am mapping the caverns around the crash site." Seven stopped, and looked up from her console. "Do you have any experience mapping caverns, Neelix?"

"Not using technology like this, but I see where you're going with that. Just tell me which buttons to push and I'll keep the program going while you talk to Naomi."

"Thank you," Seven said. She gave Neelix a pat on the shoulder, a reassuring gesture that Samantha had done for her on numerous occasions. "If it is any consolation, the fact that you are willing to admit you were in error means you are unlikely to make a similar mistake in the future."

"It doesn't make me feel much better, Seven," Neelix said. "but thanks for trying anyway. I suppose it's a good thing I'm only a godparent and not a real parent."

"That is not for me to say," Seven said. As she started to leave, her comm badge chirped.

"Commander Chakotay to Seven of Nine."

"Yes, Commander," Seven said.

"Rescue Team Alpha needs that data," Chakotay said, his voice suggesting urgency. Seven sighed. "I will meet you at the transporter site." She closed the communication and turned to Neelix. "I don't think I'm going to have time to talk to Naomi after all. Keep looking after her Neelix. She'll need someone to talk to once the initial shock has worn off, if it hasn't already."

"Okay. And Seven? Bring them home."

"I intend to."

"Ready, Tuvok?" Tom said.

"Ready," Tuvok said. Samantha heard much of what was going on since the crash, but wasn't sure what they were ready for. She had been drifting in and out of consciousness the whole time since they'd crashed, and the painkillers Tom was giving her were still working but they were also making it hard to focus.

"Cross your fingers," she heard Tom say. He reached into an open panel, touched something, and something on the panel up at the front where Tuvok was seated sparked.

"Damn," Tom grunted.

"The magnetic relays have overloaded," Tuvok said.

"We'd better find another way to polarize this hull, or Voyager's sensors won't be able to pick us up," Tom said.

"Do not give up hope," Tuvok said. "Probability of rescue is admittedly low, but it is not statistically impossible."

"Comforting," Tom said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

"If we don't make it," Samantha said softly, "who's going to look after Naomi?"

"The most likely outcome would be that Neelix and Seven of Nine would share that responsibility," Tuvok said. "That is of course assuming we do not get rescued, which you should not rule out."

Samantha scoffed, followed by a wince as the pain in her side flared up again. "Our ship has Borg enhanced sensors and they still haven't found us yet. If my honey's tech can't find us-"

"I'd hate to be the one who gives Seven the order to abandon the search," Tom said under his breath, not realizing that Samantha could hear him.

"Shut up, Tom," she said.

"Sorry," he replied, looking embarrassed.

"You are concerned for your daughter, this is understandable," Tuvok said. "I would remind you however that I am also a parent. My youngest child has been without her father for four years. Yet I am certain of her well-being. Your child will likewise survive and prosper, no matter what becomes of us."

"He's right," Tom said, the first time she'd heard him say anything to or about Tuvok that wasn't dripping with sarcasm since the crash. "There's not a sentient on Voyager that wouldn't take a phaser blast for that kid and you know it."

Samantha felt tears well up, but not from the pain.

"Thank you," she said.

Seven of Nine walked around the cavern with her tricorder out, trying to learn everything she could about the cavern they were in. She, along with Chakotay, Joe Carey, and the rest of Rescue Team Alpha had found a piece of one of the Delta Flyer's nacelles. While Chakotay informed the captain, Seven put together the data she collected. The cavern ahead of them had collapsed, but there was a hull signature behind the debris. She almost smiled, certain that not only had Sam and the others been found but they were likely alive, albeit trapped. Trapped however was preferable to dead under the majority of circumstances.

Soon the other rescue teams were there, as were the phaser drills. She continued scanning as the drills operated, making sure that the activity didn't cause another cave-in that would kill them as well. As progress was made, Seven was able to get more information in her tricorder about the cavern ahead of them, including the composition of the gas…

"Oh no," she uttered before yelling at the team to stop the drills.

"What is it?" Carey asked. She handed him her tricorder.

"Fluorine gas," she said. "If we pierce the final layer with a phaser it will ignite, destroying the cave, the Delta Flyer, and us with it."

"Son of a bitch," Carey said. "How did that even happen?"

"We could name this whole solar system after Murphy's Law," Chakotay said in exasperation. "We can't just give up and leave them there, but long range sensors show yet another ion storm coming which would likely cause another cave in cutting off all hope."

"Another ion storm?" Seven said, not even hiding the shock in her voice. Ion storms were not a rare thing in the galaxy, but for a single star system to have four of them, four of massive size, in less than an Earth standard week was so ridiculous that she felt like punching something, regardless of the fact that doing so would accomplish approximately nothing.

"Beaming through rock isn't impossible," Carey said. "It's the amount that's keeping us from getting our people out of there. Maybe if we keep drilling, but stop just before we reach where the gas is-"

"Except the transporter beam would likely ignite the gas as well," Seven said.

"Possible," Carey admitted. "But I don't have any other ideas."

"Nor do I," Seven admitted.

"Alright," Chakotay said. "you two try to come up with a way to bleed that gas out of the cave without igniting it. But work fast. We've got a few hours at best before the Captain gives the order to abort the mission."

Inside the Delta Flyer, Tom Paris was recording a goodbye message for B'Elanna. Samantha didn't want to eavesdrop, but it was difficult giving how she couldn't move, and the ship, while larger on the inside that a standard shuttlecraft, just didn't have enough room for there to be much in the way of private space. Tuvok was writing out his message to his family on a PADD. Sam wasn't sure which way she was going to go with that just yet, or even if she should bother. Would anyone ever see or hear my last words anyway? she thought.

"Warning. Life support has fallen to critical levels," the computer said, cutting off Tom mid-sentence.

"Don't mind the computer, she's just jealous that I'm spending my last few moments talking to you. So long," Tom said. As he hit the button to end recording, Samantha let out a bitter laugh.

"There are men who can't say 'I love you.' And Tom Paris is their God-king," she said.

"Do you really want to spend your final moments on the mortal coil being a smart ass, Sam?" Tom said, though there was no real anger to speak of in his voice, just resignation. She believed he didn't really care how she spoke to him at the end, just that he was used to being the one to come back with a quip, so why stop now.

"I'm sorry," she said, and she meant it. She chalked up this uncharacteristic pettiness to the slowly fading sedatives and painkillers in her system. Tom had offered her more as there was still several doses worth in the Flyer's medkit, but she refused. She did not want to be doped up when she made her own goodbye message, which she finally decided would be a visual one, like Tom's. With Tom's helping her up since she still couldn't walk, she got into the chair and started the recording.

"Computer, encode message for delivery to Naomi Wildman, and Seven of Nine."

"Acknowledged," the computer said.

"Hi," she said. "I know you're both feeling very sad right now but I want you to listen to me very carefully, okay? First of all, I love you. Both of you. Naomi, I am so proud of you. How smart you are, how funny, how kind, how determined to learn new things. You are going to grow up to do extraordinary things. And you listen to Seven of Nine and to Neelix, they'll be taking care of you now.

"Seven, Annika, I know that this will be harder on you than anyone. But don't let it stop you from continuing to explore your humanity. Don't be afraid to keep learning new things, about other organics and about yourself. Don't use me as anchor. Mourn for however long you feel is right, but if another girl comes along who makes your heart beat faster the way I did, don't pass on that chance." Samantha stopped talking for a moment, wiping tears out of her eyes. "Goodbye Naomi. Goodbye Annika Hansen. I love you both, so much."

"Warning. Oxygen depletion in ten minutes," the computer said just before Sam ended the recording.

Sam heard a sniff, and turned to see Tom Paris wiping his eyes.

"Okay, I want a do over," he said.

Neelix walked onto the holodeck, the forest from the Flotter stories still smoldering from when the trees had been burned in the last chapter. From what he knew of the story there was at least one way, if not more, to restore it, but it appeared that Naomi had not done so yet. He considered for a moment that maybe she just hadn't figured out how, but realized that far more likely was she wasn't even trying. She was probably too upset about everything that was going on with her mother and the Delta Flyer.

"Naomi?" he called out.

"Go away!" Trevis, a character from the holonovel yelled at him. The anthropomorphized tree looked as angry as his voice suggested he was, though if it was at him or at the fact that he was still partially smoldering he wasn't sure.

"She doesn't want to talk to you," Trevis continued.

So he's mad at me then, Neelix thought. Can't say I blame him.

"You lied," another voice said. Neelix saw Flotter, a water elemental type character, standing just behind and the to the right of Trevis.

"I thought you were vaporized," Neelix said.

"Naomi re-liquified me. Now leave!"

Neelix sighed. He didn't have time for this, so he told the computer to delete the characters.

"Unable to comply," the computer's voice said. "Holodeck controls have been encoded."

"Great, probably something Seven taught her," Neelix said. "Look, Flotter, Trevis, I know I made a mistake. I should've told her sooner. That's why I'm here to apologize, to try and make things right."

"I wonder if the liar can swim," Flotter said.

"We could always hang him from one of my branches," Trevis said.

Good gods who wrote this thing? Neelix thought. This is supposed to be for children.

"Naomi," Neelix called out. "Please let me talk to you."

"It's okay," he heard Naomi's voice say. She stood from behind the fallen tree she'd been hiding behind.

"You be nice," Trevis said.

"No more lying," Flotter said, pointing a finger in Neelix's face. Neelix walked around the two characters and went and sat next to Naomi.

"Is my mother dead?" she asked, not looking him the eye.

"We don't know," Neelix said. "The rescue operation is still going on."

"What happened?"

"The Flyer was hit by an ion storm. They tried to land on the planet below us to do repairs, but crashed."

"I saw debris. Fires. A crater." Neelix noticed that Naomi still wasn't looking at him when she talked, like she couldn't bear to look at him after he'd kept her mother's situation from her.

"But not the hull. Until we know for sure, I am not giving up on them being alive. Seven of Nine hasn't, she's down there helping with the rescue effort right now."

"Do you really think they might find her?"

"Yes, I do. Your mother has Tom Paris and Tuvok with her, and they've survived worse than a shuttle crash before."

"How do I know you're telling me the truth this time?"

Neelix thought about it for moment. "I never told you this before, but when I was younger, I lost my mother. My whole family. There was a war, and they died."

"Who started it?" Naomi said, looking at him now.

"It doesn't really matter," Neelix said, not wanting to admit that his people had been the aggressors. "Not anymore. Either way it was still the worst thing that ever happened to me. I wanted to tell you the truth, but every time I came close, I just couldn't bring myself to do it. I don't know if I was protecting you, or myself. I let you down Naomi, and I am so sorry."

"Why didn't Seven tell me? She loves my mom, why didn't she tell me?"

"Seven is still learning about what it's like to be human," Neelix said. "I don't think she was ready for that kind of responsibility, having to be the one to tell a child that their parent was in danger. So she just stayed focus on the rescue effort. I think it helped her stay sane. Though I imagine she's as scared as you are."

Naomi reached out and touched Neelix's hand. Neelix was sure she was about to say she forgave him, but the ship suddenly shuddered.

"All hands to emergency stations,"Janeway's voice said over the comm. "The approaching ion storm has just upgraded to level eight."

"Ion storm? What's that?" Flotter said.

"Level eight? What the hell is wrong with this star system?" Joe Carey shouted when the rescue team in the cavern received the call from the captain.

"No, no, no," Seven muttered. Progress on the rescue had been slow, but they were so close, she just knew it, even though the data on her tricorder told her it was even odds at this point. For the first time since she'd heard about the Delta Flyer's troubles several days ago, Seven of Nine crossed the line from fear for her girlfriend's safety into full blown anxiety. Her hand shook, unwanted visions of Samantha being crushed by kilotons of rock filled her mind, and she was pretty sure she was about to cry.

"Just a few more meters," Chakotay told the captain over his combadge.

"When that storm hits, your cavern is going to destabilize," Janeway said. "You've got six minutes, make the most of it."

"All right," Chakotay said. "Keep going, we've almost cleared enough rock to be able to beam the whole shuttle out through the rock."

"But we haven't been able to clear the fluorine gas yet," B'Elanna said.

"We'll have to risk it," Chakotay said. "It's that or we lose them for good to another cave-in."

"I swear, it's like this system is cursed," B'Elanna said.

"I was thinking the exact same thing," Carey said.

"Focus," Seven snapped at them. Rather than getting mad at her as they usually did when she was so curt, they did as she asked. She actually felt bad for having yelled at them, but this task was just too important. She made a mental note to apologize later, once Samantha was safe and sound.

"Warning. Oxygen depletion in two minutes," the computer said.

"You know, I think I'm just gonna turn that damn thing off. I don't need a stopwatch running on my impending death," Tom said.

"In accepting the inevitable," Tuvok said, "one finds peace."

"Yeah, I suppose you're right. I guess this isn't how I figured it would all end."

"Did you envision perhaps a more heroic death?"

"Yeah, why not? Why not go out like Captain Kirk, saving the Enterprise-B and a bunch of refugees from an anomaly? Or Captain Garrett, paving the way for peace with the Klingon Empire by going down fighting against the Romulans? I can think of worse ways to go."

"Like bleeding out from your kidneys?" Samantha coughed out.

Tom was debating whether to not to reply to that, considering that he didn't want to risk the last words Samantha Wildman ever heard would be sarcastic ones, when he heard a sound that it took him a second to recognize. When he did, he laughed.

"They did it," he said after laughing. "They found us. Those are phaser noises, I'd recognize them anywhere!"

Seven of Nine and the rest of the team was beamed aboard just seconds after the Delta Flyer had been beamed to the shuttle bay with the aid of pattern enhancers. Seven did not wait to be dismissed before just dropping her gear on the pad and running, heading for the shuttle bay. When she got there, she saw Ensign Brooks helping Tom Paris step down. He looked a little dizzy and clearly needed the ensign's help staying upright, but appeared otherwise unharmed, Tuvok climbing out of the shuttle right behind him.

"Sam?" she said. Tom looked at her.

"We had to have her beamed directly to sickbay," he said. "She needed surgery for internal bleeding. I'm sure the Doc-"

Seven didn't wait for Tom to finish. She slapped her combadge so hard it nearly fell off.

"Seven of Nine to Naomi Wildman, meet me outside sickbay," she said, running again, and nearly knocking over several crewmen as she made her way to sickbay. When she got there, Naomi was already outside, and Neelix was with her. The latter leaning against the bulkhead while the former was pacing until she spotted Seven. Without saying a word, Naomi ran to her, wrapping her arms around her.

"Is she…" Seven said, but couldn't bring herself to finish the question.

"The Doctor told us to wait outside," Naomi said, trying not to sob as she spoke. Seven couldn't blame her. "Seven, it's okay that you didn't tell me Mom was in trouble. I know you were scared. I'm scared too."

"I'm sorry," Seven said. "I was so focused on bringing Sam home I didn't think about what was happening to you."

"I'm sure she'll be fine," Neelix said. "She was still conscious when they beamed her on board. That has to be a good sign, right?"

"I believe it is," Seven said, though she had to admit she wasn't one hundred percent sure of that. The three of them waited outside in the hall, moving to let people past them when they had to but mainly waiting quietly. When the quiet got to be too much for Seven, she started to ask Naomi about how her holonovels were going, when the door to sickbay opened. The Doctor stood there, smiling.

"Naomi, Seven, you can come in. Mr. Neelix should wait out here so as not to crowd her."

"No problem," Neelix said, smiling himself. Seven followed behind Naomi, who quickly ran into her mother's arms. Seven moved more slowly, not wanting to interrupt the reunion. When Sam saw her, she reached out an arm and motioned for Seven to join them in a group hug, which she did gladly.

"Good to see you again Annie," Sam whispered in her easy.

"Likewise," Seven said.

"I think it goes without saying," Sam said, "that I am never getting in a shuttle ever again."

Seven of Nine, for the first time in what had felt like an eternity, laughed.

Chapter Five:

Seven of Nine and Samantha had been given a week of "shore leave" by the Captain. Though with no M-class nearby, and even if there were Voyager was fully stocked with necessary supplies, the options the couple had were limited to their quarters, the holodeck, and little else.

They did not mind however. It had only been a week prior that Sam had nearly died. Seven was unused to the concept of a vacation however, and when word spread through the ship that work on a new slipstream drive, one that could work longer than the one they'd briefly had less than a year ago that had burned out after shaving several years off their journey to the Alpha Quadrant, she learned a new word from Samantha that had not been in her vocabulary before.

"Antsy?" Seven said, lying in bed next to Sam. "I am unfamiliar with that term."

Samantha laughed. "Basically, it means you can't wait for your time off to officially be over so you can work on that quantum matrix thing, whatever that means." Samantha raised her hand. "And don't try explaining it to me, I'm a biologist. Warp theory has never been my strong suit. It was probably my worst class at the academy besides Command."

"I never knew you took Command classes," Seven said.

"I needed an elective, and I waited too long and missed a slot in Early Federation History," Samantha closed her eyes and chuckled. "Oh sweetie, you'd have been so embarrassed for me. Can you believe I actually tried to use diplomacy during the Kobayashi Maru?"

"Why would that be embarrassing? I imagine most cadets would never even consider that."

"With good reason. They don't call it the no-win scenario for nothing. I think they only let me live as long as they did out of sympathy. The simulation ended with the Maru getting captured by the Romulans anyway, and me having to run away to save what was left of the ship."

"Hmm," Seven said. She didn't really have anything to add to the conversation at that point, so she tried to think of a segue into another topic.

"Oh, by the way, I've been meaning to ask you something Annie," Samantha said, interrupting Seven's train of thought.

"What were you intending to ask?"

"I didn't want to say anything until I was sure, but the last two nights you were staying here, since you didn't need to be in your alcove to recharge or anything, you kind of got up in the middle of the night and wandered off."

"I did?" Seven said, genuinely confused. "I have no memory of this."

"Perhaps you were sleepwalking then," Sam said. "You might want to talk to the Doctor about that. Have you been having any problems with your regeneration cycles?"

"None that I can- No, now that you mention it, I did feel as though my last few cycles were incomplete somehow. This certainly is concerning. I will speak to the Doctor in the morning. I can complete two task simultaneously if I do so after escorting Naomi there for her next botany lesson."

"Good idea," Sam said, kissing Seven on the forehead. "Good night Annie."

"Good night Sam," Seven said, resting her head on her pillow and closing her eyes.

"So Neelix told me that the Borg do a lot of the things they do because they're trying to be perfect," Naomi said as she and Seven of Nine walked down the corridor side by side.

"And even though you're not a drone anymore, you do still try to be perfect. Right?"

"Mostly correct," Seven said. "My long term goals are equally divided between achieving perfection, and trying to be a good partner to your mother."

"Well, if I can learn to be perfect too, then Captain Janeway will have to make me her bridge assistant."

"If you have been curious about the Borg you could've inquired me at any time over the past year," Seven said, smirking.

"But I wasn't trying to become a Bridge Assistant until a few weeks ago," Naomi said, proud of her logic.

"I admire your determination Naomi. However your neocortical development is incomplete. You are definitely intelligent, sometimes too intelligent for your own good as Sam sometimes says."

"Hey!" Naomi said, mildly offended.

Seven looked like she was about to keep talking but then stopped.

"Seven?" Naomi said, feeling a little worried as Seven seemed to stare at nothing for a few moments. Seven started looking around, like she didn't know where she was until she was looking at straight at her. A huge smile, probably the biggest one Naomi had ever seen Seven have without her mom around, appeared on Seven's face.

"Hi," Seven said in a cheery voice.

"Uh, hi," Naomi said. She couldn't say exactly what was wrong, but she felt that something was off with Seven, and she was even more worried now than she'd been when

Seven had first stopped in the middle of the hall.

"I'm bored, let's do something fun," Seven said, acting like a child herself.

Is that how I look to other people when I'm bored? Naomi thought.

"Like what?" Naomi said, playing along for now, wondering just why her mom's girlfriend was acting so weird.

"Like, swimming?"

Naomi remembered reading some stories that she wasn't supposed to about other starship's adventures, and one she'd read about had involved members of the crew of the Enterprise-D being taken over by bodiless aliens. She wondered if that was happening to Seven of Nine, though if it was an alien, it was a very, very young alien, who really didn't seem to want to take over the ship.

"I'm not allowed to go swimming without my mom," Naomi said. If Seven was possessed somehow, she was going to find out everything she could about the alien before reporting to the captain, like a good officer would.

"Oh," Seven said. "Do you like kadis-kot?"

Naomi smiled involuntarily. She actually did love that game, and have even offered to teach Seven how to play it once, but she had said she wasn't interested. "I love it," she said.

"Come on," Seven said, taking Naomi's hand and skipping in the opposite direction they had been, giggling the whole way.

The last thing Captain Janeway had expected to hear on the bridge was a call from Naomi Wildman, but when Naomi said that she was worried that something was happening to Seven, she sat up straight in her captain's chair.

"It was like she was someone else for a little bit," Naomi's voice over the com system.

"Someone else?"

"Yeah. She started acting like a little kid. Littler than me even, and she wanted to go swimming, and play kadis-kot. And when B'Elanna called her she didn't even respond, like she didn't know her own name."

"Did she give another name?" Janeway asked, looking at Chakotay. He simply shrugged.

"No, but after the second time B'Elanna called for her, Seven looked kinda confused, and didn't remember coming back to Mom's quarters to play. She left for engineering just a minute or so ago. I'm really worried about her captain. I've read about alien possessions, but I'm not sure that's it anymore. I think Seven might be sick."

"Okay Naomi," Janeway said. "I'll have her report to sickbay to talk to the Doctor, if there's anything wrong he might-"

Janeway was interrupted by a sound coming from Tuvok's console.

"Security alert in engineering captain," he said. "Apparently Seven of Nine just attacked Lieutenant Torres."

"Set up force fields to try and contain her. Take a team, but take the Doctor as well. Seven might be-"

"I heard your conversation with Ms. Wildman captain. I will go personally to make sure Seven of Nine is unharmed."

"Do it," Janeway said.

Tuvok and his team, the Doctor following close behind them, walked up to the turn in the corridor where the force fields had Seven of Nine contained. As he approached he saw another security officer, lying face down, but breathing, and Seven of Nine, huddled up against the wall, holding a hand phaser, and quietly sobbing.

She looked up, presumably hearing them approach. She looked terrified, and glanced at the downed crewman.

"He's hurt. Please help him," she said.

Tuvok kept his phaser out, but motioned for the people on his team to sheath theirs and go aid the injured crewman, who was already trying to stand up, groaning as he did so. Seven looked at him, then looked at his phaser and began fidgeting.

"Did I do something bad?" she said.

"Who are you?" Tuvok said.

"My name's Maryl," Seven said. "Are you a Vulcan?"

"Computer," Tuvok said. "Deactivate force field." The energy shield dropped immediately, and Tuvok calmly knelt down by Seven and said "give me the phaser," in a tone he would when speaking to his own children when they were young and had not yet mastered the ability to suppress fear. Seven did so, holding it cautiously by the very end of the handle, as if afraid she would accidentally fire it. Once Tuvok deactivated it and handed it to the security officer standing next to him, Seven's demeanor suddenly and radically changed. She stood and began speaking in a tone not unlike that of a Vulcan.

"You are not a physician commander, the logical course of action would be to take him to the infirmary," she said.

"Maryl?" Tuvok said.

"Subaltern Lorot, Vulcan High Command," Seven said. "May I be of assistance?"

"Yes, Tuvok said. "Please accompany me to sickbay."

"Certainly," Seven said, walking ahead of Tuvok without any prompting. "Clearly your crewmate was attacked, we should use caution and-" Seven stopped walking, and began to look around, appearing confused.

"Pah'tak," she said, saying the Klingon word with bitter anger in her voice. "You will drown in your own blood."

"Keep moving," Tuvok said sternly.

Seven turned around, starting to scream. Tuvok fired his phaser, and Seven fell to the floor, unconscious.

Seven woke up abruptly, gasping as her eyes opened. She quickly realized she was lying in a bio-bed in sickbay, unsure of how she got there. The last thing she was remembered was B'Elanna Torres suggesting she see the Doctor about her memory lapse that she'd experienced with Naomi.

"Seven?" she heard the captain say.

"Honey, are you okay?" Sam said. The two women were standing over her on one side of the bio-bed, the Doctor and Tuvok on the other. Seven thought she could hear other people talking as well, talking over each other, but she couldn't see anyone else.

"Captain? Sammy? Why am I here?"

"You've been unconscious nearly two hours," Janeway said. "We believe you are experiencing some kind of neurological disorder."

"Voices," Seven said. The voices she'd heard a few seconds before, that she thought might've been other people in sickbay, were getting louder now, and it was clear that they were in her head. There were just too many of them, and they were shouting. "I hear voices."

Sam frowned, and squeezed Seven's hand.

"Describe them," the Doctor said.

"They are agitated," Seven said, feeling a growing sense of unease. "Chaotic. Too many voices." She heard a piercing scream, and tensed up, gasping again. She felt Sam's hand squeeze her's a little tighter.

"Mommy, where are you?" she distinctly heard one of the voices saying, the voice of a scared child. "Somebody rescue me!" another voice, a male one, cried out. The voices became less and less distinct and soon she couldn't make out a single word. She sat up abruptly.

"Too many voices!" she said, panicked. Samantha put her free hand on Seven's back.

"Baby, it's okay. I'm here," she said. The Doctor began running his medical tricorder scanner over her.

"The cortical inhibitor is destabilizing," he said. He began adjusting a device that Seven only now realized was on the side of her neck. "I'm increasing the neurotransmitter levels."
As he adjusted the device, the voices got quieter and more distant. She leaned against Samantha, who was looking at the Doctor with grave concern.

"What's happening to her?" she said.

"I wish I knew," the Doctor said, "Seven, do you still hear the voices?"

"They are fading," Seven said, breathing heavily. "They are gone."

"Good," Captain Janeway said. "Let's see what we can do to keep them from coming back. What's the last thing you remember?"

Seven told her.

"You have no recollection of a confrontation with Lieutenant Torres?" Tuvok said.

"A confrontation? No, like I said, the last thing I remember is her telling me to see the Doctor about my memory lapse." Seven was feeling scared. She imagined it would be worse if Samantha wasn't there with her, close enough to her that Seven could hear her heartbeat.

"I'm not sure why," the Doctor said, "but you seem to manifesting personalities other than your own. Naomi said that briefly you were a child, and played kadis-kot with her this afternoon."

"I am familiar with that game," Seven said. "But I have never played it."

"You also attacked B'Elanna," Tuvok said. "after claiming to be a Klingon, the son of K'Vok you called yourself, before initiating a Klingon mating ritual. Before we brought you to sickbay, you also presented yourself as a member of the Vulcan High Command."

Seven shook her head. "I have no memory of these events."

"Come look at this," the Doctor said, having moved across the room to one of sickbay's monitors. Seven and Samantha both moved to see what he was talking about, janeway and Tuvok close behind.

"This is your neural pattern," the Doctor continued, "And here are thirteen new neural patterns that have emerged in your cerebral cortex. Klingon, Vulcan, Terrelian, Human, several others I can't identify."

"How?" Seven asked.

"They're coming from within you," the Doctor said. Seven just looked at him, while Samantha sighed.

"My hypothesis is that they belong to individuals assimilated by the Borg during your eighteen years as a drone. They, like the neural patterns of all who are assimilated, are incorporated into the Borg hive mind, stored in the cortical implants of all drones. They are now very active in you, and they appear to be manifesting themselves randomly, causing you to randomly mentally become that person."

"So," Samantha said, "are you saying that she's basically got the Borg equivalent of multiple personality disorder?"

"I think you put it very succinctly, Ensign Wildman," the Doctor said.

"Did I hurt anyone else? Is B'Elanna alright?" Seven asked.

"You stunned a security officer," Tuvok said, "But he has already been cleared for duty. And B'Elanna's wound was treated on site."

"Can you correct the malfunction?" Seven said.

"The cortical inhibitor is suppressing the effect," the Doctor said. "But it's only a temporary measure."

"B'Elanna detected a Borg interlink frequency coming from a field of debris that used to be a Borg cube that we were going around," Janeway said. "Could that be the cause of this?"

"Yes," Seven said. "That makes sense. I was unaware that such a debris field had been found."

"You were on vacation Seven," Janeway said. "We briefly considered the idea of trying to find out what destroyed the cube, but figured it would be safer to be nowhere near it if another cube showed up trying to find out the same thing. Maybe we should increase our speed, try to get out of range."

"The signal permeates subspace," Seven said. "We cannot avoid it."

"We have to find that signal and shut it down," Sam said.

"I agree," the Doctor said.

Janeway nodded. She turned to Tuvok. "Have Tom set a course for the debris field." As Tuvok left sickbay, Janeway turned back to face Seven. "When we arrive we may need your help. Feel up to it?"

Not really, Seven thought, but she turned her head, looked into Samantha's eyes, and smiled. "Yes, Captain," she said.

Janeway nodded. "Keep a close eye on her Doctor," she said. "In case she has any more unexpected visitors."

"Is it alright if I stay here with her?" Sam asked.

"Of course," the Doctor said. "But we'll want to have some sedatives on hand in case the Son of K'Vok comes back. Hopefully he's not into human women."

"If that was supposed to be reassuring Doctor," Seven said, "it was a failed attempt. You do however raise a valid concern. Sam, if someone bad comes through, you need to back away. This is as much a technological issue as a mental one. How much I love you won't matter if one of the personalities that asserts itself wishes to harm you."

Sam touched Seven's cheek gently. "Okay," she said. "Do you want me to tell Naomi what's happening?"

"Yes," Seven said. "though for obvious reasons it's best she be kept away from me until this issue is resolved."

Samantha nodded sadly. "I'll go tell her. I'll be right back, I promise." Samantha gave Seven a quick kiss before exiting sickbay. When she was gone, Seven heard the Doctor sigh.

"It's a shame that love can't cure all really," he said. "If it could, I imagine you'd be getting better already."

"Doctor, please stop talking," Seven said, shaking her head.

"Actually Seven, I was thinking we should go to your alcove."

"Why?"

"I want to try and determine exactly when this started occurring. That may prove invaluable in helping treat your condition."

"That is logical," Seven said. "But we should be quick about it so we can return to sickbay before Sam does."

"Agreed." She followed the Doctor out of sickbay and the two headed for the nearest turbolift. Once they were inside, the Doctor began asking more questions.

"Has any drone ever experienced symptoms like this before?"

"The Collective does not tolerate imperfection," Seven said. "Any drone with a malfunction as serious as mine would be destroyed immediately."

"Lucky for you this crew is a little more tolerant," the Doctor said. Seven, still feeling agitated and tense as a result of her condition, considered bringing up the Tuvix incident from three years ago, but was by sheer coincidence interrupted by the approach of one half of that now deceased hybrid being.

"Ah, Seven," Neelix said. "I was hoping I'd find you. B'Elanna told me you were ill."

"That is correct," Seven said, not really wanting to talk to him but not wanting to be rude either.

"Well, if there is anything you need help with I'd be happy to do it. Any assignments you might need a hand finishing, anything special I can cook up for you, things like that. It can't fix whatever's going on, but I can at least boost your morale while I you're dealing with it."

"I imagine that Samantha will want you to look after Naomi while she stays with me during my treatment. That will be adequate," Seven said.

"Well, I have some wonderful medicinal teas that might help you relax if you're interested," Neelix said. Seven held back the urge to snap at him. He was only trying to help after all, even if he was being a bit overzealous in doing so.

"Talaxian homeopathy? I don't think we're quite that desperate yet." The Doctor said.

Seven sighed, and rolled her eyes as she kept walking, the Doctor and Neelix both close behind her.

"I'll let you two get back to what you were doing then," Neelix said, turning down another corridor. "Feel better soon Seven," he added.

"Your concern is noted," Seven said. Shortly, they were in cargo bay 2, the Doctor going over the data from Seven's Borg alcove.

"I suspected as much," he said. "There were several interruptions in your regeneration cycle." He pointed to them on the monitor, and Seven saw numerous periods where the computer recorded her leaving a cycle early for periods as short as thirteen minutes, and as long as an hour.

"It's not just that," Seven said, remembering now what Samantha had said to her the previous night about the possibility that Seven had been sleepwalking. She explained this to the Doctor.

"So it's been going on for several days," he said. "Amazing how no one picked up on it until today."

"Some did Doctor, they merely interpreted the data incorrectly, reaching a logical but wrong conclusion."

"Fair point. Hmm, look here. Apparently you made a log entry under the name Ensign Stone. Shall we listen to it?"

"I do not believe that would be necessary," Seven said.

"Very well," the Doctor said. "At the very least we have a time frame for when this started."

Seven's com badge chirped.

"Bridge to Seven of Nine," Commander Chakotay said, "we are approaching the debris field."

"On my way commander," Seven said. After the channel was closed she turned to face the Doctor. "I should tell Sam I'll be on the bridge. If I'm not in sickbay when she returns from telling Naomi about my condition she'll be worried."

"Go ahead. I want to collect some more data from the alcove logs. I'll meet you on the bridge."

"Survivors?" Janeway asked as Voyager flew into the middle of the debris field that had once been a Borg cube. The last time she'd seen a site like this, Species 8472 had been the cause. She wondered if that could be the case here.

"None," Tuvok said.

"Any other Borg ships out there?" Janeway said, hearing the turbolift door open behind her as she spoke. She spared a quick glance over her shoulder to see Seven of Nine going to an open console at the rear of the bridge.

"None, Captain," Tom Paris said from the helm. "Looks like we're the first ones here."

"I'm picking up the source of the interlink frequency," Harry Kim said. "Bearing 0-2-7 mark three."

"On screen," Janeway said. A device that Janeway didn't recognize, but was certainly Borg, appeared on screen, floating in the middle of the debris, surprisingly intact, glowing as though it still had power.

"A Borg vinculum," Seven said.

"Vinculum?" Chakotay said.

"The processing device at the core of every Borg vessel," Seven replied.

"Looks like this one has established a link to your cortical implant," Harry said. "It probably thinks you're an errant drone."

"Precisely," Seven said. "I believe it is attempting to reintegrate me into the collective. It is malfunctioning, sending me erratic commands."

"Can you sever the link?" Janeway said.

"Not without risking permanent damage to my own systems," Seven said. "It must be taken off-line. I request permission to beam it aboard. I've worked with this technology, I may be able to disable it."

"We're talking about the heart of a Borg cube. I'd rather not take it inside my ship," Janeway said.

"Could you disable it remotely?" Chakotay said.

Seven sighed. "Yes, but I would need several days. The Borg may return by then. We should take the vinculum and leave this region immediately."
Janeway looked at Chakotay. He nodded slightly, so much so that Seven might not have noticed it had she not been standing where she was.

"Tuvok," Janeway said, standing and walking over to the tactical console. "Beam it aboard, and put it behind a level ten force field. Maintain constant surveillance. The moment it poses a threat beam it out into space. Tom, soon as it's aboard get us out of here, warp 9."

"Aye captain," Tom said.

Janeway walked over to Seven. "I can't begin to imagine what this must be like for you, and I want to help any way I can. but the safety of the whole crew is my first responsibility."

"Understood, Captain," Seven said.

As little as six months ago, B'Elanna Torres likely would've tried to kill Seven of Nine for what she'd done. But even before she heard about the vinculum and what it was doing to Seven, she felt more concern than rage. Not at the exact moment that Seven's teeth were sinking into B'Elanna's cheek of course, but once the initial adrenaline had worn off. Hopefully they could fix whatever was wrong and that bastard Son of K'Vok would never try to force himself on her again.

"Let's keep an eye on those anti-grav struts," she said, walking through engineering double and triple checking everything to make sure the Borg device would not threaten the ship. "Joe, lock out all primary command consoles. Vorik, reroute all transporter controls to main engineering."

She didn't bother to listen for the affirmatives. She knew her team well enough to trust them with this task. While she was on the upper level she heard the main door to engineering open. She glanced down to Seven of Nine and the Doctor walk in. They passed by the vinculum, and Seven stopped, looking anxious. B'Elanna couldn't hear them but she could guess what Seven was saying as the Doctor began adjusting the device on her neck that was suppressing the voices.

B'Elanna went down to the lower level to meet them.

"Do not worry Lieutenant," Seven said. "The Son of K'Vok will not be joining us."

"Good to hear," B'Elanna said. "Though I do have to wonder why he keeps calling himself that. Does he think his given name is embarrassing or something?"

"What would a Klingon consider an embarrassing name?" the Doctor said.

"Can we focus on the task at hand?" Seven said, sounding exasperated.

"Right," B'Elanna said. "So where's the off switch on this thing?" she added, now looking at the vinculum.

"The vinculum is equipped with many safeguards. I will need to access its transneural matrix and disable it directly." Seven began tapping at the console in front of her. With seconds an alert noise started.

"I'm reading a power surge," B'Elanna said.

"It's a normal response to my intrusion," Seven said, continuing her work. A few seconds later her brow furrowed. "Curious. There appears to be an organism in the vinculum. It appears to be a viral agent."

"Let me see it," the Doctor said. He looked at the data on the screen in front of him, B'Elanna looking too, even though viruses were outside her field of expertise. "It's a synthetic pathogen," he continued. "The virus was originally a biological agent, but it's mutated. It's attacking the vinculum's programs as it would living cells."

"An organism that attacks technology? That's interesting. Maybe unheard of," B'Elanna said, curiosity combining with concern for the ship.

"According to the data the cube was infected less than a standard week ago after assimilating a ship belonging to species 6339," Seven said. "They are native to this region of space."

"Looks like we found our Typhoid Mary," the Doctor said.

Samantha paced back and forth in her quarters, feeling helpless. Last she'd heard Seven and the Doctor had gone to brief the Captain on the species who appeared to be the origin on the virus that had infected the Borg vinculum, and consequently were likely the ones responsible for Seven's condition. Samantha was a biologist, she knew a fair amount about viruses, so she should've been able to help, but the complexity of the infection in the vinculum was beyond her.

Naomi sat at the table, barely touching her food, just looking at her mother with concern. "I'm sure she'll be fine mom," she said. "The Doctor and Captain Janeway will find a way to help her, I know it."

"Oh how I wish I shared your confidence sweetie," Samantha said, finally giving up on pacing and settling for worrying while sitting on the edge of her bed. Naomi got up and walked over to give her a hug.

"Do you wanna play kadis-kot?" Naomi asked.

Samantha smiled, and tousled Naomi's hair. "Not tonight Naomi, I'm too distracted."

"Sickbay to Samantha Wildman," the com system blurted out.

"Yes, Doctor, what is it?"

"Seven is back in sickbay. The inhibitor is no longer working. We're going to try disabling the vinculum soon. I think you should be here, whichever way it goes."

"I'm on my way," Samantha said, bolting for the door. Naomi tried to follow, but Sam stopped her.

"No Naomi, you can't, I'm sorry."

"Why not?" Naomi said, looking both scared and angry.

"She wouldn't want you to see her in the condition she's in. Please, just go find Neelix, tell him I said to look after you tonight, okay? Promise me."

Naomi pouted, but didn't put up a fight. "Okay," she said softly, leaving their quarters just behind Samantha, but going the opposite direction.

Samantha walked quickly towards sick-bay. When she got there, she saw Seven standing at the far end of the room, leaning against the surgical bio-bed, her face in her hands. She moved quickly to stand next to her, only registering the Doctor telling her to be careful after she walked face first into the containment field.

"Shit, that hurt!"

"Sammy, are you alright?" Seven said, sounding as worried for her, as Samantha felt for Seven.

"I'm okay. What happened?"

"The voices have started getting worse. I'm fine at the moment but that won't last. A few minutes ago, according to the captain I was a Ferengi Damon, and before that a woman who was assimilated at Wolf 359. I believe the number of personalities I'll be displaying will only increase if the Captain and Lieutenant Torres can't safely get the vinculum offline. I-"

"Seven, breathe," the Doctor said. "You keep talking at that pace you'll hyperventilate."

"Hold it together, Annie," Samantha said. "I know you can. You are one of the bravest people I know, you can soldier through this."

"I fear my courage may be insufficient," Seven said.

The Doctor wondered if he should wake Ensign Wildman, who had decided to get some rest while waiting for the procedure to disable the vinculum to begin. Seven of Nine was also asleep, having to be sedated after twelve new personalities had emerged in the past hour, including a Krenim scientist. a Bolian manicurist, and even a Talaxian trader at one point.

On the one hand, if something went wrong, the sickbay computer's alert sounds might wake Samantha anyway. On the other, he was concerned that she might get in the way if the procedure went badly. When B'Elanna alerted him over the com that they were about to begin, he decided to simply wake her. Much to the Doctor's relief, Samantha wisely stood back, making sure she wouldn't be in the way while he worked. He wished more crewmembers could follow her example.

The comlink kept open, the Doctor heard B'Elanna begin the final countdown.

"Three, two, one, mark," she said. "Power output is dropping," she said a few seconds later. Seven's body convulsed slightly, but not alarmingly so.

"It seems to be working, her neural pattern is stabilizing," he said.

"Seventy seven percent, seventy one," B'Elanna's voice continued. "wait a second, it's increasing now."

"I am refocusing the dampening field," The Doctor could hear Tuvok say. "The vinculum is rerouting its internal circuitry. It's adapting."

Before the Doctor could respond to that, Seven began thrashing on the bio-bed, cursing in Klingon, followed shortly by crying "Mother!" in a scared tone. He heard Samantha gasp, but to her credit she stayed where she was, as difficult as that must've been for her.

"Her synaptic pathways are failing!" he shouted into the com. "Abort the procedure!"

"Too many voices!" Seven cried out. "Help me!"

"Abort dammit!" the Doctor yelled

"Annie, stay with us baby, please," Samantha said, fidgeting anxiously as the Doctor tried to stabilize Seven.

"Stand by Doctor," Tuvok said. After several seconds, Seven fell unconscious. Samantha bolted to the other side of the bio-bed and took Seven's hand in hers, trying to coax her into waking up.

"Bridge to sickbay," Captain Janeway's voice said, "Report."

The Doctor looked over his data, and sighed. "Seven's neural pattern has disappeared Captain," he said quietly. "It appears that the other patterns have taken over completely. We've lost her."

"Annie?" he heard Samantha say, sobbing. "Wake up, I know you're in there. Please wake up. Please."

"Captain's log, supplemental. Long range sensors have detected a vessel belonging to Species 6339. We've set a course to intercept them in the hopes they can help us restore Seven of Nine."

Almost as soon as Janeway finished her entry, the Doctor reported to her ready room as ordered to update her on Seven's condition. Tuvok was there too, as he suggested that he might have a solution to the problem. She suspected what that was, but she wanted to wait until she heard what the Doctor had to say before approving.

"I've managed to stabilize her primary cortical functions," the Doctor said, "but the woman in sickbay is not Seven of Nine. Not anymore. New personalities are emerging every few seconds now. She can't even finish a sentence at this point. It's creating intense strain on her cerebral cortex. If we don't deactivate the vinculum soon we may never get her back."

"Understood. How is Sam holding up?" Janeway said.

"Better than expected," the Doctor said. "When I asked her to leave sickbay she didn't argue. I think it's not entirely sunk in yet how severe this is. The last time I saw her this sad was, well, you know."

Janeway was certain she did know, and simply nodded. "Tuvok?" she said.

"Lieutenant Torres is taking measures to try and prevent the vinculum from adapting, but there is no guarantee she'll succeed. I believe the time has come for me to attempt a mind-meld with Seven of Nine."

"I don't like it," the Doctor said. "But that may be the only choice we have left. I've exhausted every medical option I can think of."

"Agreed," Tuvok said. "Seven's neural pattern, her sense of self is immersed in chaos. I will attempt to isolate her true self and guide it to the surface."

"A mind-meld with one person can be dangerous enough when you're not dealing with another Vulcan," Janeway said. "or with someone who is participating willingly. This is hundreds of personalities, and all of them will be fighting you every step of the way. Are you sure this is worth the risk?"

"This is my risk to take Captain," Tuvok said. Janeway knew Tuvok well enough to know that arguing with him on this point would be a futile gesture, and frankly she wasn't even sure she should fight him. He was her best friend, and she had full faith in his abilities. If anyone could pull this off...

"Alright, what will you need on our end?" she said.

"I will require two hours of meditation to prepare," Tuvok said.

"Start now," she said. "Report to sickbay when you're ready." Tuvok nodded, and headed out.

"Good luck Mr. Tuvok," the Doctor said to the Vulcan as he departed the room. "With any luck I won't end up with a second patient."

"I'll be on the bridge," Janeway said. "Report to me as soon as you've started."

"Understood, Captain," the Doctor said.

As soon as Janeway was on the bridge, Commander Chakotay began speaking to her.

"I was about to call for you Captain," he said. "We've found a ship belonging to Species 6339."

"Scanners show that ship is heavily armed Captain," Lieutenant Kim said. "I'm picking up twenty-two phaser cannons on the aft section alone."

"Damn, 6339 doesn't play around," Ensign Paris said. "How do they even power that many weapons? Their ship isn't much bigger than ours."

"We can ask them later," Janeway said. "after we've gotten them to help us with Seven's condition. Hail them."

"They're responding," Kim said.

"On screen," Janeway said, turning to face the viewscreen, where two members of Species 6339 stood. "I'm Captain Janeway, of the Federation starship Voyager. We recently found a piece of Borg technology that's been infected with a viral agent we believe was transmitted b-"

"The vinculum," one of the aliens on the viewscreen said curtly. "You have it?"

"Yes," Janeway said.

"You've made a terrible mistake Captain," the alien said, stepping closer so that his face filled the whole screen.

B'Elanna listened intently to the conversation that Ven, the captain of the Species 6339 vessel, was having with Captain Janeway and Commander Chakotay. I wonder why they didn't just tell us their actual race's name, she thought as the alien captain described the virus.

"A weapon?" Janeway said.

"Yes," Ven said. "since the Borg decimated our world we've been looking for ways to retaliate. We created this virus to infect their technology. Thirteen volunteers were injected with it, brave men and women all of them, and they allowed themselves to be assimilated so that the virus would spread to that cube's vinculum. Once another Borg ship retrieved it they would be infected as well."

While the alien captain continued speaking, B'Elanna heard the door to engineering open behind her. She glanced over her shoulder to see who was entering. Oh no, she thought as she saw Samantha Wildman enter, still in her civilian clothes, and having a look on her face that B'Elanna knew all too well even though she'd never seen it on Samantha before. It was the face of someone ready and willing to cause pain. She quietly took a few steps back, and caught Samantha's arm as she tried to pass.

"Stay, cool," B'Elanna whispered harshly.

"These are the people who made that virus?" Sam asked through gritted teeth.

"Yes, now don't do anything rash, and no snide comments about how funny that is coming from me."

"-virus has had one unexpected casualty," B'Elanna heard the captain say to Ven once she was focusing on their conversation again. "A member of my crew."

"It wasn't designed to infect other species," Ven said, sounding offended.

"She's Borg," Janeway said. Ven looked surprised and angry.

"We liberated her from the collective over a year ago," Chakotay said. "She's an individual now."

"We were hoping you could help us treat her," Janeway said.

"We designed that virus to destroy Borg, Captain. There is no treatment. I'm afraid your pet drone won't survive."

"She has a name you bastard," Samantha barked out, trying to pull away from B'Elanna, who nearly lost her grip more due to surprised at how hard Sam was fighting her than anything else.

"Sam, Sam, relax," B'Elanna said. Janeway, Chakotay, Captain Ven, and his armed guard were all looking in their direction now. B'Elanna feared that if she let go of Samantha both of them might get gunned down.

"Her name is Annika Hansen, and she's dying because of you," Sam cried. "You have to help her."

The alien captain motioned for his guard to keep his weapon holstered, and walked over to stand closer to Samantha than B'Elanna felt comfortable. Janeway and Chakotay must've felt the same because they were positioning themselves to make a move on the alien captain if he tried anything.

"This drone, you and her are bonded?" he said.

"Yes," Samantha said, looking like she was about to spit in his face.

"I'm truly sorry. I did not realize just how much this ex-Borg had integrated into your crew. I must admit to being impressed, I would never think such a thing possible. Taking on a name, a bondmate, and clearly earning a good deal of loyalty from her captain. Nonetheless, we never considered a treatment for this virus, considering its purpose. There is nothing we can do. Striking me may make you feel better, Sam, I believe the chief engineer called you? But it would only be temporary."

The look on Samantha's face didn't change, but she was no longer struggling to break free of B'Elanna's grasp to attack the alien captain. She decided to hold on to Sam's arm anyway, just to be safe.

"The vinculum must be returned to the Borg debris field immediately Captain," Ven said, now speaking to Janeway. "If the Borg arrive first we'll have lost our chance, and those thirteen people will have died in vain."

"How do you know they haven't already? Janeway said. "When we came across the debris field it had been sitting there for several days, perhaps even a week, with no sign of any cubes coming to investigate. The Borg have transwarp technology, they could've been there in hours after the loss of the cube if they were truly determined to learn it's fate. It's possible that the collective detected the infection and cut the cube off to prevent it from spreading. Or even if they didn't they might've just written it off as a loss. We found a dead Borg cube ourselves nearly two years ago that had been drifting in space even longer; five years. Five years with no Borg coming along to find out what happened to it or retrieve it's remains."

"You'll understand if I'm not willing to merely take your word for that and leave, Captain Janeway," the alien captain said.

"Commander, show him the logs from Stardate 50614.2," Janeway said.

"Yes Captain," Chakotay said. "If you gentlemen will follow me over here," he added motioning towards a console at the far end of engineering. B'Elanna figured that was for Samantha's sake, since he easily could've shown them the mission logs on any of the monitors mere feet away from them on either side.

"If I let you go," B'Elanna whispered into Sam's ear "are you going to be a problem?"

"No," Sam said. "I'm fine. Thank you for stopping me B'Elanna."

"You know, you're stronger than you look," B'Elanna said, smiling.

"Thanks, I guess," Samantha said, giving a sad small smile of her own before walking out of engineering, walking with the slow gait of someone hoping to delay something inevitable.

"Well done Lieutenant," Janeway said quietly, somehow having gotten right next to B'Elanna without her noticing. "We could've had an interspecies incident on our hands."

"Don't thank me too much Captain," B'Elanna said. "If it were Tom dying in sickbay right now, I'd probably have tried to kill that man myself."

"Not the response I was hoping for," Janeway said. "but I appreciate the honesty."

"You're welcome."

Seven of Nine felt like herself for the first time in days when her eyes slowly and tiredly opened while the Doctor ran a device over her hand that she didn't recognize right away, her cognitive functions not at their usual capacity.

"Doctor?" she said.

"Seven, are you alright?" the Doctor said.

"I..." Seven started to speak, but noticed that she was now in restraints. Before she could ask, the Doctor explained.

"A necessary precaution." he said. "A few of your guests have been violent."

"The vinculum?"

"It keeps adapting, we haven't been able to shut it down. Your own neural pattern was nearly destroyed in the process. At one point I thought we actually had lost you."

The Doctor returned to running the device over Seven's hand, and she finally recognized it.

"I was injured?" she said.

"One of your personas hurt your hand trying to force her way out of the restraints," the Doctor said.

"Sam?" Seven said, looking around, but not seeing her.

"She'll be here soon, I sent her to her quarters to get some rest."

"How is she?" Seven said.

"Worried sick," the Doctor said. "Almost certainly not eating or sleeping as much as she should. Normal behavior for a human in her position. As for you, it is my duty as your physician to inform you about an alternative treatment option that has presented itself, but informed consent is required. Mr. Tuvok is planning to attempt a mind-meld, to help stabilize your neural pattern."

Seven nodded. "What is the probability of success?"

"I don't know," the Doctor said. "A mind-meld is not really a standard medical practice. I know vaguely how it works, having seen Tuvok perform one a few years ago, while he was dealing with a virus that gave him false memories, but while the connection itself is scientific, what goes on in the minds of the parties is purely mental, unquantifiable."

"Are there any risks to him?" she said.

"He could suffer brain damage, but he is confident he will be able to break the meld if he has to."

Seven was reluctant to put the ship's chief security and tactical officer in danger, but she was also scared; of the voices, of dying, of never seeing Sam or Naomi again.
"If he can help me," Seven said, but couldn't finish the thought, as the voices returned with a vengeance, louder and more painful than ever.

"Seven? Seven, focus on the sound of my voice!" she heard the Doctor yell, but couldn't respond.

"Get them out, please!" she screamed.

Tuvok, sitting in a meditative position, opened his eyes. He was ready. He quietly made his way to sickbay. An armed guard was there as a precaution against the worst case scenario. Samantha was there as well, standing by the bio-bed where Seven lay unconscious.

"Are you ready?" the Doctor said.

"Yes," Tuvok said.

"You might want to make it quick. So far Species 6339 hasn't made an aggressive move to try and retake the vinculum, but the Captain is convinced that diplomacy is just a holding action at this point." The Doctor applied a device the same as the one on Seven to Tuvok's neck.

"This will allow me to monitor your neural activity as well," the Doctor said. "At the first sign of trouble-"

"You will do nothing," Tuvok said. "You have sat in on a mind-meld before Doctor, you know full well that there will be many signs of trouble for the duration of the meld. You must have confidence in my ability to endure them."

"I don't like it," the Doctor said, "but you would understand better than I could. I'm neither Vulcan nor telepathic."

Tuvok simply nodded in response, and walked towards the bio-bed. "Ensign Wildman, I will need you to step aside during the meld."

Samantha appeared nervous, but she simply sighed rather than arguing, bending down to kiss Seven of Nine on the forehead before stepping back. Once she was clear of the surgical bay, Tuvok ordered a force field erected as a precaution. While he did so, Seven woke up.

"Why am I tied to this bed? Please let me go," she in a tone of voice that was clearly not hers. Tuvok ignored that voice, as well as the one of the Klingon warrior, the Ferengi captain, and the Vulcan commander, the latter of which trying to use logic to discourage him from making the attempt.

"My mind, to your mind. My thoughts, to your thoughts." He kept repeating the mantra even as Seven grew more erratic, one voice claiming he was messing around while the Borg were attacking the ship, and another still crying for it's mother. Soon, he was inside Seven of Nine's consciousness. Through a green haze, down corridors like those on a Borg cube, he began his search.

The ship shuddered under the impact of the first volley from Species 6339.

"And now you know why I chose science division over the diplomatic corps," Janeway said angrily. "Return fire," she said to Lieutenant Ayala who was standing at Tuvok's station.

"I thought for awhile we'd convinced Captain Ven that trying to take the vinculum by force wasn't worth it," Commander Chakotay said.

"So did I," Janeway said. "Bridge to engineering, how long until the vinculum is off-line?"

"A minute, maybe two," B'Elanna said over the com. "Provided Voyager doesn't get blown up before then."

"I appreciate the vote of confidence," Janeway said. "Tom?"

"I can avoid some of their fire Captain," Tom said. "But as many guns as they've got they don't need to have great aim to hit us." The ship shuddered under another volley as if to emphasize Tom's point.

"Shields down to sixty percent," Harry said.

"Target their weapons array," Janeway said.

"Targeting scanners are malfunctioning," Lieutenant Ayala said. The ship shuddered yet again.

"We're losing main thrusters," Tom said. "If they go we're an easy target. Well, easier anyway."

"Shields at thirty-five percent," Harry said.

"Reroute all available power to the shields," Janeway said. "Initiate manual targeting."

"Torres to bridge," B'Elanna said. "The vinculum's stopped adapting. Looks like the new dampening field is working. We should have it down in the next sixty seconds."

"Then that's how long we need to hold out," Janeway said. "As soon as that thing is off, we'll give it back to Ven and we can get the hell out of here."

After a tense minute that felt nearly like an eternity while her ship was being pounded on by enemy fire, Janeway finally heard some good news.

"Got it" B'Elanna's voice shouted over the com. "Power's down to nineteen percent and, no, make that thirteen and falling."

The ship took another hit. This one felt worse than the others.

"Shields are down Captain," Harry Kim said.

"Sickbay to Bridge. We got her back Captain," the Doctor said.

"Hail the lead vessel, tell them we're surrendering the vinculum," Janeway said.

"Yes ma'am," Harry said, tapping at his console. "No response," he said, shaking his head.

"Lock onto the damn thing and beam it into space."

"On it Captain," B'Elanna said.

Samantha couldn't say anything she was so overjoyed. The moment the Doctor had said the words "We got her back" it felt like a weight in her chest just fell away. And as soon as the force field surrounding the surgical bay was down she was by Seven's side.

"Sam? Seven said, weakly.

"I'm here, Annie."

"Seven," the Doctor said. "can you still hear any voices?"

Seven seemed to need to think about that for a moment before responding. "No. They are gone," she said. Samantha breathed a heavy sigh of relief upon hearing that.

"Thank you so much," she said to Tuvok and the Doctor.

"I did only what was necessary to save a fellow crewmember," Tuvok said. "But your thanks is appreciated nonetheless."

"I recommend you get to your alcove as soon as possible," the Doctor said. "You'll need a considerable amount of time to properly recharge. And the trauma of what you went through won't go away quickly."

"Doctor," Seven said, "with all due respect the last time I was given 'time off' I ended up worse off than when I'd started. I'd prefer to return to my duties as soon as possible."

"That's just pride talking honey," Samantha said, smiling, and stroking Seven's hair. "If you like I can ask the captain to give you extra duty after you've recovered."

"That is acceptable," Seven said.

Should I tell her I was kidding? Samantha thought. "I- okay, I'll do that."

"Why are you shaking your head and laughing Sam?"

"Oh, nothing. Just that I had to go and fall in love with a weirdo."

Several days later, in cargo bay 2, Seven stood at attention while the Doctor did his latest check-up on her, hopefully the last one he would do for awhile. She was already feeling much better after her ordeal, though she would admit only to Samantha a bit of guilt at having stayed in her alcove for nearly twenty-four hours straight after her first night out of sickbay. Sam had told her she had earned her rest.

"Neuroprocessor, cortical receptors, all stable," the Doctor said. "You are fit to return to duty."

"And what of my other personalities? Any risk they may resurface?"

"Those neural patterns have returned to their dormant state. They'll always be with you, but I suspect you will not hear them again any time soon."

"That is not the response I desired, but I will accept it," Seven said. She turned when she heard the door to the cargo bay open, and smiled as Naomi Wildman rushed in. She had not seen the child in nearly a week and realized how much she'd missed her. She wondered if that was part of being a parent felt like.

"Was it scary?" Naomi said. "All the voices in your head? I know Mom was scared for you, but she wouldn't tell me what it was like for you."

"It was," Seven paused for a moment, considering just how much detail she should share with the child. She decided to keep it simple. "It was the most scared I think I've ever been. But I'm better now. And, I've decided that I am going to help you in your mission to become a captain's assistant."

Naomi smiled, but also looked somewhat confused at the same time. "I thought you said my 'neocortical development is incomplete.'."

"It is," Seven admitted. "But that is insufficient reason to discourage you. Before we begin your instruction however, I do require your assistance."

"For what?" Naomi asked.

"Kadis-kot. Instruct me how to play."

Naomi smiled. "I will comply," she said.

"And I will leave you two alone. Have fun," the Doctor said.

Chapter Six

"Computer, freeze program," Tom Paris said. The villainous Doctor Chaotica and his minion Lanzak froze in place.

"Oh what the hell, Tom?" Samantha Wildman said, wearing a low cut white dress while being tied to a chair.

"What is the reason for this interruption?" Seven of Nine, wearing the uniform of Captain Proton, Defender of the Earth, said.

"Imagine my shock," Tom Paris said, "when I come down here hoping to spend a little time in this program, that I created by the way, only to find that it is already running."

"You know, Tom," Samantha said, "if you wanted the program to be your use only you could've enabled the privacy settings."

"You have invited me to this program on several occasions," Seven said, holstering her laser gun. "I was under the impression that I was free to use it."

"Well, yeah," Tom said, "but as my trusty sidekick Buster Kincaid, or maybe my secretary Constance Goodheart. Side note, her dress looks good on you Sam, if you don't mind my saying."

Samantha rolled her eyes and shifted in the chair.

"Look, I'm not mad," Tom said, "I just wish you'd asked first is all. Besides, I have to pull a double shift tomorrow to cover for Ensign Brooks for her birthday."

Seven began untying Samantha. "We can leave if you'd like," she said.

Tom sighed.

"No, no, that's fine. Though I do have to ask," Tom turned his head to look to directly at Samantha. "Why the damsel in distress role and not the sidekick?"

"Um, well," Samantha started to say, looking at Seven of Nine who merely shrugged as if to say 'You're on your own for this one.'

"It's okay, I don't judge," Tom said, smirking. "Though I am curious what a Borg safe word would be."

"That's not funny, Tom," Sam said.

"What's a safe word?" Seven asked.

"Mine's 'teacup'," Tom said.

"I cannot begin to explain just how much I did not need to know that Mister Paris," Sam said, groaning.

There was suddenly a shudder.

"I thought the program was frozen," Sam said.

"It is," Tom said. "I think that was the ship."

"Sam, Ensign Paris," Seven said. Tom saw that she was looking out one of the window's in Chaotica's Fortress of Doom. "We should contact the bridge immediately."

"What is it? Sam said, moving up to stand next to Seven. "Oh," she added.

"There appears to be an anomaly inside the holodeck," Seven said.

"How do you know it's not part of the program?" Tom said, moving up to the window to look himself. In the sky, hovering above the black and white landscape, was a purple, swirling circular mass. "Okay, definitely not part of the program."

"Computer, end program," Seven of Nine said.

"Unable to comply," the computer said. "Holodeck controls are off-line."

"Because of course they are," Sam said. Seven nodded. Statistically speaking, holodeck accidents were rare, but Voyager did seem to suffer from a disproportionately large number of them. Only the Enterprise-D, as far as her research had shown, had more than Voyager.

"Paris to bridge," Tom said. The noise that normally accompanied a communications channel opening did not follow, nor did anyone from the bridge respond. "Bridge, respond."

"We will need to find the manual overrides," Seven said.

"There's an access port on the rocket ship," Tom said.

"How did you get over there?" a voice behind the three of them yelled. They all turned around, and Seven saw that Chaotica was moving again, as were his minions. "How did you get loose? And who are you?" Chaotica was pointing at Tom.

"It would appear the program has unfrozen itself," Seven said.

"Nah, really?" Tom said.

"Your sarcasm is uncalled for Mister Paris," Seven said. She quickly unholstered her laser gun and fired.

"We are leaving," she said to Chaotica. "It would be unwise to pursue us."

Chaotica looked around, looked at the chair he'd been looking at when Tom had frozen the program, the one Samantha had been tied to.

"Fine," he said. "For now. I will learn how you were able to escape my trap without me seeing though, and we will meet again Captain Proton. And when we do it'll be your doom!"

Seven raised an eyebrow. "Doubtful," she said. The three Voyager crewmembers left the Fortress of Doom, Seven watching their backs and grabbing a laser off of a fallen minion to hand to Tom Paris.

The holodeck began shuddering again. It took Seven a moment to realize that it was not the holodeck that was shaking, but Voyager itself.

"I believe that Voyager is attempting to move but is unable to do so," she said.

"Sounds about right," Tom said. "it could be the program I suppose but it sounds more to me like the impulse engines are being strained. Whoever's in my chair right now better ease up or the reactors are gonna burn out."

The shuddering got more violent.

"It would appear your advice has been ignored," Seven said.

"Once again the Borg gift for stating the obvious-"

"Tom, let's worry about my girlfriend's verbal tics later," Sam said, "and focus on getting out of here."

Finally, the shaking stopped.

"Did the impulse engines burn out?" Sam asked.

"Nah," Tom said. "If they had the shaking wouldn't have just petered out like that."

"Agreed," Seven said. "far more likely is the order was given to power down. Whatever happened to the holodeck that makes us unable to turn it off is likely also holding Voyager in place."

"All the more reason for us to find the door and get the hell out of here," Tom said.

Finally the three made it to Captain Proton's rocket ship, both Seven and Paris reaching for the access panel.

"I'll try to shut down the program," Tom said. "Get to the periscope and see if Chaotica's sent his army after us. I don't know if the safeties are off-line too, but let's face it they probably are."

"I'm already on it," Sam said. "I can't see the Fortress yet, but another one of those purple distortions just appeared, and both of them are growing."
"I believe for now we should prioritize exiting the holodeck over deactivating the program," Seven said. She looked at Tom, who ignored her.

"Mister Paris?" she said, trying to get his attention. Tom sighed.

"Yeah, you're right," he said. "It'll be easier to cut power from the outside anyway."

Tom continued working on the panel.

"A third one," Sam said. "That can't be good."

"Damn," Tom said, "I can't bring up the arch."

Seven knelt down next to Tom and began pushing buttons on the panel.

"I already tried that," Tom said.

"I am not attempting to open the door Mister Paris," Seven said. "Your initial assessment was correct. I am instead attempting to access transporter control."

"A site-to-site," Tom said. "Good thinking."

Within seconds, Seven was able to access the programs she needed, and seconds after that, she, Sam, and Tom were all in the corridor just outside the holodeck.

"Let's get to the bridge," Tom said.

"I'll join you later," Sam said. "I need to change first."

Captain Janeway filled Tom Paris and Seven of Nine in on the situation when the two got to the bridge, deciding not to comment on the latter's outfit as she asked them to accompany her to astrometrics.

"A layer of subspace?" Tom said. "That's why we can't move and why the holodeck isn't working?"

"Among other things," Janeway said. "We nearly burned out the impulse reactors trying to get free of it. The warp drive is a giant paperweight at this point, and we're experiencing minor power failures all over the ship."

"Once we get to the lab I should be able to find out more about our predicament," Seven said. Janeway nodded.

"That's the plan," Janeway said. Tom then proceeded to fill her in on what had happened on the holodeck.

"Any idea what the distortions are? she asked.

"No clue," Tom said.

"I also lack an explanation," Seven said.

The three quickly arrived at astrometrics, and stepped inside. Seven immediately went to the main console.

"I am running a transpectral analysis," she said. The large viewscreen began showing results almost immediately, and not for the first time Janeway was glad she let Chakotay and Harry talk her into upgrading this lab.

"It looks like the barrier between normal space and subspace is unstable here," Janeway said.

"Here, and throughout this entire region," Seven said. "I believe an appropriate metaphor for the situation would be to compare the subspace layer to a sandbar."

"Ha, so you were paying attention to all my nautical talk," Tom said.

"Considering how that mission ended up for you, Ensign," Seven said "your attitude about it could be considered to be in poor taste."

"Children, play nice," Janeway said. "Could we try realigning our warp field? That could help us escape this sandbar."

"Doubtful," Seven said, "but not impossible."

"Any other ideas?" Tom said.

"I must admit, I have none at this time," Seven said. She began tapping more buttons on her console. "Gravimetric forces are disrupting our controls. As long as we're trapped here we won't have access to the computer core, tactical, the holodecks, all but six replicators."

"Those distortions in the holodeck," Tom said. "any idea what connection they may have to this?"

"They appear to be random energy fluctuations," Seven said. "I do not believe they pose a threat, though Sam did say they were growing. We should prepare for the possibility that my initial assessment of the distortions is incorrect."

Janeway nodded. She thought about it for a moment, then made a call that she hoped would turn out to be overly cautious in hindsight.

"Evacuate that deck, just to be safe," she said. "And keep an eye on the distortions as well."

"Understood, Captain," Seven said.

Janeway looked back at the screen, showing a depiction of Voyager stuck up against the subspace sandbar, and it reminded her of something. "A few years back," she said, "when I served on the Al-Batani with Tom's father, we tried to navigate through a dense proto-nebula that stopped us dead in our tracks. For three days straight we attempted to force our way out. That was until we realized that we were trying too hard.

"Every time we engaged the engines we were increasing the resistance of the nebula's particle field. We may be facing a similar situation here."

"That makes sense," Seven said. "Our own warp field may be increasing the gravimetric forces. If we power down the core and us minimal thrusters we might be able to break free."

"'Might' being the key word," Tom said. "but I can't think of a reason why we can't try."

"Neither can I," Janeway said. "Let's do this. I'll see you both on the bridge. Seven, go ahead and change into your uniform."

Seven looked down, seeming to have forgotten that she was still dressed as Captain Proton. "I will do so immediately," she said.

Janeway chuckled, and patted Seven on the shoulder as she walked past her. "For what it's worth, I think it looks good on you," she said.

"Three days of this shit," Tom said from the navigator's chair. "and nothing to show for it. We're just spinning our wheels!"

"Language, Tom," Captain Janeway said.

"Isn't that supposed to be Seven's line?" Harry said.

"If Seven were here," Samantha said from her station, "she'd smack you for that." She said without malice though. While the vocabulary of the bridge crew had become less formal over the course of the past three days stuck in the subspace sandbar, it had had the effect of keeping moral from dipping too low. Frustration was growing among the crew, Sam could see that easily enough, but she also knew it could be much worse. If some mild teasing among the senior staff could keep the tension levels low, it was worth it, professionalism be damned.

"Wait, wait," Tom said, starting to sound excited. "Ha! Finally, we're moving! Two meters per second but we're moving."

Everyone on the bridge except Tuvok let out loud sighs of relief.

"About damn time," Chakotay said.

"We're up to three meters," Tom said.

"Keep it steady Tom," Janeway said. Sam refused to let herself become optimistic about this and decided to wait until they could go to warp again before allowing any feeling of happiness to overtake her. She couldn't help but think how brutal the past several months had been, on Voyager in general, but on her and Seven of Nine in particular. Hardly more than a fortnight could go by it seemed without one of them being in grave danger and the other barely holding themselves together emotionally during the process.

"Nine meters," Tom said. "Ten. We're getting a little bit of strain, should we hold it there Captain?"

"No. We need to get out of here as soon as possible. More than half of our lavatories went down this morning," Janeway said.

Eww, Sam thought, worried about the kind of disasters that could lead to.

"Increasing power to thrusters," Tom said.

"We're approaching the subspace boundary," Harry said.

"I've got us up to twenty-five meters per second," Tom said. Despite the strain that Tom had warned about, the ship still seemed to be moving along smoothly, no shuddering or violent shaking.

As soon as Sam thought about that however, the ship did shake somewhat.

Great, I jinxed us, she thought.

"Wait a minute," Tom said. "We're slowing down."

"What?" Janeway said, sounding as mad as Sam felt.

"Captain, I'm reading power surges," Harry said.

"Source?" Janeway asked.

"I'm not sure," Harry said. "but they look like weapons signatures."

"No other ships are detected in this area," Tuvok said.

The ship shuddered slightly once more, and Tom began cursing again.

"I take it we've stopped," Chakotay said, his head in his hands.

"Afraid so sir," Tom said after his string of profanities subsided.

"I have isolated the location of the weapon's fire," Tuvok said. "Deck six, holodeck two."

Sam looked at Tom.

"Isn't that the-"

"The one you, Seven and I had to escape from," Tom said. "We were never able to get the program turned off."

"I thought we had that deck evacuated because of the distortions. Who's still down there?" Janeway said.

"No one," Tuvok said. "I am picking up no lifesigns."

"Can we shut it down from up here?" Chakotay said.

"Negative," Harry said. "I'm trying but the control system is still malfunctioning."

"Tuvok, get down there and find out what's happening," Janeway said. "Tom, join him. You're familiar with the program, you can guide him through it."

"Yes ma'am," Tom said.

Tom and Tuvok made it to the end of the path in the canyon. Tom looked off into the distance, to see smoke coming out of one of what had been one of the many towers of Chaotica's Fortress of Doom.

This doesn't bode well, Tom thought. He looked down at the next path, the one to the Fortress itself, and saw it littered with the bodies of Chaotica's soldiers.

"It would appear a battle took place," Tuvok said.

"It didn't look like this when we left," he said. "Must've missed a few chapters."

"Holodeck programs don't normally run by themselves," Tuvok said.

"Has anything about these past few days been normal?" Tom said. Tuvok appeared to be ready to respond, when a noise grabbed both of their attention.

"Invaders from the fifth dimension," the robotic voice said.

"Satan's Robot," Tom said. "one of the Doctor Chaotica's creations." Tom went over to where the robot he normally fought in this program was lying down, badly damaged and unable to walk upright anymore.

"Queen Arachnia is on her way," the robot said. "Invaders from the fifth dimension. Queen Arachnia is on her way. Invaders-"

"He's stuck in a feedback loop," Tom said. "Give me a hand Tuvok, if we can repair his vocalizer maybe he can tell us what's been going on." He opened a panel on the front of the robot. "Looks like he burned out a resistor."

"I am unfamiliar with that piece of technology," Tuvok said.

"It's from a few centuries before duotronic circuitry," Tom said.

"I see. How do you propose we repair him?"

"First of all," Tom said, not taking his off his work, "we've gotta remove this damaged tube. Let's see here, just a few crossed wires, and I think maybe we can-"

The robot began moving.

"Your knowledge of this technology is most impressive," Tuvok said.

"Thanks," Tom said, smiling. It wasn't often one got a compliment from the Vulcan, so he wasn't going to cheapen the moment by responding with sarcasm.

"Intruders," the robot said, it's voice still crackling. "Intruders. Intruders."

Tom slapped the open panel on the robot closed.

"Intruder alert!" the robot said, clearer now.

"Tell us what happened," Tom commanded.

"Invaders from the fifth dimension!"

"Whoa, calm down," Tom said as the robot began to spin in place, it's metallic voice tinged with a hint of panic.

"How did these invaders get here?" Tuvok said.

"Through a portal," the robot said.

"That's not right," Tom said. "There's not supposed to be an alien invasion in this story. That's, that's..." Tom trailed off as a realization hit him.

"Ensign?" Tuvok said.

"The distortions," Tom said. "Robot? Take us to this portal."

As soon as the robot began walking in the direction of where it claimed the invaders from the fifth dimension had entered the holodeck program, both Tom and Tuvok took out their tricorders and began scanning.

"There," the robot said. Tom and Tuvok looked in the direction it pointed, seeing three large distortions hanging in the sky higher up than when Samantha had last seen them before they left the holodeck days before. Bolts the same color as the distortions flew out at high speed, and Tom noticed they were coming right at them just in time to pull Tuvok behind a rock pillar.

The bolts exploded on impact with the rock. Once the smoke from the volley cleared, Tuvok scanned the impact points.

"Photonic charges," he said. "The same signature as the weapons fire we detected. We must report this to the captain."

"Wait," Tom said. "I need to check my rocket ship first."

"Explain," Tuvok said.

"It's got sensors. Sort of. Maybe it can tell us something Voyager's sensors can't."

"I do not see how," Tuvok said. "but I will go along for the time being."

In the astrometrics lab, Seven of Nine was working on establishing a visual link with the holodeck so they could see what was going on on the lab's screen. Harry Kim stood next to her.

"I think I have it," Seven said.

"Looks good," Harry said. "Putting on the screen, and, oh dear."

The screen showed more of the distortions that she and Samantha had seen on the holodeck, spread all over the area, all of them sending out bursts of energy.

"The attack appears to originating from subspace," Seven said.

"Can you tell where it's coming from?" Harry said. "I mean from inside subspace, I-"

"I can tell from context what you meant, Lieutenant," Seven said. "To answer your question, no I cannot."

The sound of electricity loudly buzzing grabbed Seven's attention away from her console. She looked up in times to see what looked like sustained bolts of lightning going into the distortions.

"Chaotica's death ray," she said.

"That's what it looks like," Harry said. He began pressing buttons on another console. "Let's see if we can a look inside his fortress, find out what he's up to."

The visuals on the screen shifted to the interior of Chaotica's lab, several minions running about, and period appropriate music playing.

"Full power to the death ray!" Chaotica's voice yelled out, and the screen shifted to focus on him. Chaotica held a large device in his hand, a microphone Sam had called it when they were doing the Captain Proton adventures together. "Arachnia, Queen of the Spider People, you have not responded to my summons. Why-"

Seven muted the sound.

"I don't get it," Harry said. "Chaotica was supposed to be fighting Earth in this chapter."

"It would appear he has found a new enemy," Seven said. She sighed and shook her head. "Were I prone to superstition I would believe I was cursed."

"Why would you say that?"

"Need I remind you Lieutenant Kim that this simple entertainment program did not become a threat to the ship's security until after I began participating in it?"

"You can't blame yourself for this," Harry said.

"I don't. I am merely pointing out that if I were to do so, it would not be a wholly baseless assumption. I think Samantha said it best recently. '2375 has not been a red letter year,'"

Harry opened his mouth, but then closed it, instead merely shrugging.

"Can't really argue with that," he said instead of whatever he'd initially planned on saying.

"These are your sensor readings?" Tuvok asked, as Tom Paris removed a string of paper from the old fashioned telegram device on his rocket ship.

"It's a telegram," Tom said. "It's a message to Captain Proton from the President of Earth. It says, 'Intercepted Communications Between Dr. Chaotica and Arachnia. Stop. Chaotica At War With Aliens From Fifth Dimension. Stop. Must Strike Now To Disable Death Ray."

"Stop," Tuvok said. Tom looked at him, and at Satan's Robot, who had followed them all the way to ship and was pathetically trying to shove Tuvok out of the way to look at the telegram machine. "Please, summarize the message."

"Well, it looks like Chaotica has captured a couple of these Fifth Dimension aliens."

"An alternate universe," Tuvok said.

"Makes sense. Well, by our standards anyway. These aliens could've wandered onto the holodeck through one of those distortions and mistook this simulation for reality."

A metallic clang interrupted the conversation.

"Intruder!" the robot yelled

Yeah, no shit Sherlock, Tom thought as both he and Tuvok pulled out their phasers.

"I assume there is no locking mechanism on the hatch," Tuvok said.

"It was a simpler time," Tom said, as a human looking man in a suit stepped around the hatch and entered the rocket ship, holding a device that Tom didn't recognize, but the way the man held it it was safe to assume it was a weapon.

"Is he a part of the simulation?" Tuvok said.

"Not that I recognize," Tom said.

"Invaders! In-"

"Quiet," Tom said, smacking the robot in the face with the handle of his phaser. "Look," he said to the man in the suit. "There's been a misunderstanding. I'm Ensign Paris from the starship Voyager." Tom put his phaser down on a nearby shelf. "This is Lieutenant Commander Tuvok."

"You have killed fifty-three of my people," the man said.

"We haven't killed anyone," Tom said, keeping his hands up where the intruder could see them.

"Everything you see here," Tuvok said, stepping forward to stand next to Tom, his own phaser holstered. "is a simulation. None of it's real."

"Simulation?" the man said.

"A photonically-based projection," Tuvok said.

"All life is photonic."

"We are not," Tuvok said. "We are bio-chemical lifeforms."

Why do I have the feeling this is not gonna end well? Tom thought.

"I'm not familiar with bio-chemical," the photonic alien, as Tom now thought of him, said.

"We are carbon based," Tuvok continued, trying to reason with the alien. Tom hoped it would work. "We live aboard a starship. I believe we have become trapped in a region of space that intersects your own."

"We have detected no starship. Only this planet." The alien was sounding angry now.

"This planet isn't real," Tuvok said, spreading his arms out in a non-threatening gesture, but Tom's instinct was telling him this wasn't working. "As I told you, it's part of a simulation."

The alien began moving his device up and down. Tom amended his earlier belief that it was a weapon.

He's scanning us, he thought. Maybe now he'll see that Tuvok is telling the truth.

"You don't register as a life-form," the alien said, now stepping closer. "you are the illusion."

Oh crap, Tom thought. Suddenly, the robot pushed his way between Tom and Tuvok.

"Citizen of the Fifth Dimension, you will be destroyed," it said. The photonic alien pointed the device at it, and a burst of energy came out, meaning that it was actually both a weapon and a scanner. It hit the robot in the face, causing it topple backwards, but not before it swung one of it's arms, knocking the device out of the aline's hand. The alien ran towards the hatch exiting the ship.

"I believe it is time for us to report to the captain," Tuvok said.

"Yeah," Tom said.

"Damage. Damage. Maintenance required," the robot said.

"Oh, shut up," Tom said.

Seven of Nine had seen enough oddities in her life, both as a drone and as an individual, that Tom Paris and Tuvok's report of what they discovered on the holodeck didn't faze her at all. Commander Chakotay seemed to take it in stride as well. The Captain on the other hand bore the facial expressions of someone nursing a particularly painful headache.

"Let me get this straight," Janeway said. "Transdimensional aliens have mistaken your Captain Proton simulation for reality."

"Yes ma'am," Tom said.

"And now an armed conflict has broken out between these aliens and Chaotica's holographic army."

"Yes ma'am," Tom said. "His Army of Evil."

Janeway started wringing her hands. "Will someone please explain to me why we just haven't shut down the holodeck?" she said.

"We've tried, the controls are still off-line," Seven said.

"Well, somebody is going to have to get through to these aliens," Janeway said. "Convince them they're just fighting shadows. Hopefully before they break my ship."

"We've tried, but they don't believe us," Tom said. "They think that we're not real. They can't detect Voyager, so every time they scan us we seem as artificial to them as holographic characters do to us."

"That explains why they haven't answered our hails," Chakotay said.

"The Doctor is photonic," Seven said. "He may be able to persuade them."

"It's worth a try," Janeway said. "Tuvok, brief the Doctor on the situation."

"In the meantime Captain," Tom said "I think we should let the program play out."

Janeway scoffed at that. "Are you seriously suggesting we wait until this Chaotica defeats the aliens?"

"No, I'm actually suggesting we help the aliens to defeat Chaotica," Tom said. "They think he's leading some kind of hostile invasion force. Once that threat is gone, it's a good bet they'll leave and close up their portals."

"How do you suggest we defeat Chaotica?" Tuvok said.

"Well," Tom said., "he's been attacking the aliens with his death ray. In the world of Captain Proton it's the most powerful weapon there is."

"It's lethal to the aliens because it's photonic," Chakotay said.

"Exactly," Tom said. "Now, in Chapter Eighteen, Captain Proton disables the death ray just before Chaotica can use it to destroy Earth."

Janeway leaned on the briefing room table. "And you think that Captain Proton, being you, of course, could still do that?" she said, sounding less than convinced.

"Well, we'd have to knock out the lightning shield first," Tom said.

"Of course," Janeway said.

"The destructo beam on my rocket ship can disable the death ray but only if someone can get inside the Fortress of Doom and can shut down the lightning shield."

Janeway blinked twice. "You do realize how incredibly silly what you just said would sound out of context, right?" she said.

"Who's supposed to shut down the lightning shield?" Chakotay said before Tom could respond.

"Arachnia, Queen of the Spider People," Tom said.

"Charming," Janeway said, openly laughing now.

"Well Chaotica thinks so," Tom said. "He's in love with her. He's been trying to form an alliance since Chapter Three."

"She is the only one he would trust enough to allow her to get close enough to disable the shield," Seven said.

"Which means that somebody is going to have to take on her character," Tom said. "Seven, you up for it?"

"Wait," Janeway said. "Slight problem with that Tom, did you forget that when this current session of Captain Proton started that you weren't in the title role?"

"It's my program Captain," Tom said.

"That is correct Ensign Paris," Seven said. "However, as the Captain correctly pointed out, it was not one of your sessions that was running when we hit the subspace sandbar."

Tom took in a sharp breath. "Right. You and Sam were running it, and I interrupted you."

"As such, Chaotica would recognize me as Captain Proton," Seven said.

"So who's going to play Arachnia then?" Janeway said. After a few seconds of silence, Janeway spoke again. "Why is everyone looking at me like that?"

"It's the role of a lifetime captain," Tom said.

"Oh, no, no, no. Hell no," Janeway said.

"So all I have to do," Janeway said Tom as the two walked down the corridor towards holodeck two, "is find the controls of this death ray and deactivate it."

Tom smiled. He would later admit to himself that perhaps he enjoyed this all a bit too much, but for now his focus was on helping the captain get into character. "Well, it's not as simple as it sounds. Chaotica may be a 1930s villain but he's very clever. It would help if you knew some of the rules."

"Shoot," Janeway said.

"First of all, he's a megalomaniac, so try appealing to his ego," Tom said.

"I've had to do that before," Janeway said.

"Use grandiose language. He likes to be called 'sire,' and it helps to say things like 'the clever fiendishness of your evil plan is brilliant.'"

Janeway frowned. "If my ship wasn't at stake this is the part where I'd be telling you I'm out," she said.

"Look at this way Captain," Tom said, hoping to encourage her. "How many Starfleet captains can say they've saved their vessel by acting?"

"I'm pretty sure James T. Kirk did that once," Janeway said.

"Fair point," Tom said. "Anyway, try to remember when you're in there; it's ray gun, not phaser. Imagizer, not viewscreen. Earthlings, not Terrans-"

"When have I ever referred to our species as Terrans?" Janeway said.

"Right. Anyway, one other thing; these villains always have a trick up their sleeve. Trap doors, secret weapons…"

"We checked, the safeties are on, I can't be hurt by holographic weapons."

"That doesn't mean you can't be restrained," Tom said.

Janeway sighed. "Noted," she said. Tom was disappointed that she wasn't as into this as he'd hoped, but he kept going anyway. The mission was still important after all, he couldn't afford to forget that.

"Now," he said, "as soon as you get the death ray shut down, call me in my rocket ship and give me the signal to fire."

"You mean call Seven in your rocket ship," Janeway said.

"No, I'll be flying it. Chaotica won't see me since I won't have the imagizer up, and I know this program better than she does. I'm pretty sure she and Sam only use it for-"

"I order you to not finish that sentence."

"Okay, sorry. Anyway," he handed Janeway his PADD. "here are the specifications for Arachnia's costume."

Janeway took the PADD, looked at it and stopped walking.

"Finally," Tom said, "there are the pheromones you can uncork if you run into any unexpected trouble. It's from Chapter Sixteen. Chaotica gets a whiff of it, he'll be under your spell."

"So, why don't I just start with the pheromones and save myself a load of trouble?"

"Because you won't actually have it on you, it'll be sitting on a small pedestal next to Chaotica's throne. Try to get your hands on it as soon as possible."

"Right," Janeway said. "I suppose I better get fitted for my costume."

"Excellent. You can do this Captain," Tom said. As Janeway walked away he grinned and shouted after her, "And remember, you're the queen!"

"Don't make me demote you again Tom," she shouted back.

Seven of Nine stood behind Commander Chakotay on the bridge as they, and everyone else on the bridge including Sam watched the viewscreen, which was showing what was going on on the holodeck.

"I feel like I should've made popcorn," Sam said.

Seven shook her head. "Best that you didn't," she said. "It gets caught in my teeth far too easily for my liking."

"Nobody else is saying it so I will," Neelix, who was sitting to Chakotay's left said, "should we even be watching this at all? Isn't this like an invasion of privacy?"

"We are monitoring the Captain and Ensign Paris' progress," Tuvok said. "This way, we can beam them out should it become necessary. Doctor Chaotica's weapons cannot harm them do to the safeties working, but the alien's weapons are under no such restrictions."

"Fair enough," Harry said. "Also it's kind of nice that for once the safeties weren't the first thing to go off-line, like usually happens when we have holodeck trouble."

The viewscreen showed the Captain, now in full Queen Arachnia garb, at the drawbridge to the Fortress of Doom.

"Sound," Chakotay said.

The crew seems to be enjoying this, Seven thought. I suppose the fact that the captain isn't in any serious danger is part of that, but this does feel uncomfortably voyeuristic.

"I present," the character of Lonzak said, "her royal highness, Arachnia."

Janeway stepped into view, her mannerisms and walk exactly as Tom Paris had specified.

"Ahh," Chaotica said. "At last. At last. My queen."

Janeway allowed Chaotica to take her hand, who knelt before her and kissed it as the music swelled.

"Can we lose the background music?" Chakotay said.

"It's part of the program," Harry said.

"This is an historic occasion," Chaotica said, still kneeling. "Kindred souls meet a last."

"It's an honor to be in your presence, majesty." Janeway said as Chaotica stood up again. Sam snickered.

"Please don't laugh Samantha," Seven said.

"Why not?"

"Because I cannot guarantee that I will not start laughing as well."

"...always admired your, clever fiendishness," Janeway said, finishing a sentence that Seven had missed the first part of.

"Ah, your taste is only exceeded by your beauty," Chaotica said.

As Janeway gracefully moved about Chaotica's lab, allowing him to regale her with prideful boats about what each and every single machine could do, the bridge grew increasingly quiet.

"It's good you have the lightning shield to protect your equipment," Janeway said.

"Yes," Chaotica said. "As long as it's electrified I am invincible! But my greatest achievement is there." He pointed somewhere off screen.

"What are they looking at?" Harry said.

"Shh!" Samantha admonished him.

"Behold; the death ray," Chaotica said.

That answers that question, Seven thought.

"Oh," Janeway said. "it looks like a formidable weapon." She went up to the device and touched it, the viewscreen shifting allowing the bridge crew to see it.

"It looks like an oversized marital aid," B'Elanna said.

"Why'd you have to put that image in my head Lieutenant?" Chakotay said.

"There is so much more I want to show you," Chaotica said, offering Janeway his arm. "My throne for example," he continued. "The seat of my empire."

"Ah," Janeway said, moving towards something. "I see you've kept my pheromones. I didn't realize you were the scent-imental type."

"Oh, boo!" Sam said.

Up until that moment, for the year and a half she'd been on board, only Sam, Naomi, Captain Janeway, and the Doctor had ever heard Seven of Nine laugh, and in the case of the latter two it wasn't really her per se but rather one of the personalities brought forth by a Borg vinculum. She tried to cover her mouth, but a loud laugh escaped, and everyone on the bridge except Tuvok was now looking directly at her.

"I'm sorry," she said through her fingers.

"The Captain has palmed the pheromone bottle," Tuvok said.

"Good," Chakotay said. "she'll probably have to use it."

Janeway sat in Chaotica's throne, the look on his face suggesting he was more than pleased to see her there.

"Somehow I feel comfortable here," she said.

"Is that Arachnia talking or the Captain?" B'Elanna said.

"Join me," Chaotica said, now kneeling next to his own throne and taking the Captain's hand once again. "and you will have your own chair. One adorned with the most precious jewels and the finest silk."

"Your majesty seems overly concerned with romantic matters," Janeway said. "when there's a battle to be won." She stood up with a look of determination on her face. "That is why you asked me here, is it not?"

"Of course my dear," Chaotica said. "Forgive me. it's just that, the air itself seems to vibrate in your presence."

The bridge filled with the sounds of people stifling laughter.

"We can't be slaves to our passion," Janeway said, "not when your empire is threatened. I have assembled my fleet of spider ships, but the lightning shield prevents them from approaching your fortress."

"We'll send them directly into battle," Chaotica said. "Alongside my space force."

"My soldiers wish to pay homage to you," Janeway said.

"How gratifying," Chaotica said, smiling. "Of course, if I lower the shield, my fortress would be defenseless. Even an ally might choose such a moment to seize my throne."

"Uh-oh, he's on to her," Neelix said.

"You don't trust me," Janeway said, looking and sounding offended.

"There is a way you could convince me of your loyalty," Chaotica said.

"Let me guess; marriage," Harry said.

"I will lower my lightning shield, but first, you must become my queen!"

"Called it," Harry said.

"Gather my courtiers," Chaotica said before Janeway could give an answer. "Prepare for the ceremony."

"Is this how people viewed romance in the 1930s?" Sam said.

"He's the bad guy, Sam, you're reading too much into this," Harry said.

"And don't forget to deactivate the lightning shield," Janeway said, increasing the melodramatic delivery of her performance, "so that my subjects may witness the blessed event."

"Nice one," Seven heard Chakotay mutter under his breath.

"Very well," Chaotica said. "Do as she says once her guests have arrived."

"Yes, sire," Lonzak said, bowing before leaving the throne room.

"And so my dear," Chaotica said as he took Janeway's hand, yet again, "the day you have always dreamed of has arrived. The day you become Bride of Chaotica!" Chaotica began laughing maniacally.

"Any idea how the Doctor's whole 'President of Earth' thing is going with the photonic aliens?" Harry asked. Seven had somehow managed to forget about that portion of the mission.

"I'm sure he's fine," Chakotay said.

"You're only saying that because you don't want to miss any of the Captain's performance aren't you? Harry said.

"Yes I am," Chakotay admitted.

Several minutes passed as Chaotica's minions prepared his throne room for a wedding ceremony.

"Did your wedding look anything like that Samantha?" Seven asked, genuinely curious.

"No. Thank goodness," Sam said.

"I applaud your good taste," Seven said

"Queen Arachnia," Lonzak said, presenting janeway with a pillow. Janeway picked up a gaudy looking ring from the pillow.

"Let me guess, my wedding ring," she said.

"Doctor Chaotica's wedding ring," Lonzak said, sounding bitter about the whole thing, leading Seven to wonder if that was an intentional bit of subtext added to the program by Tom, or if Lonzak simply didn't trust Arachnia. Either was plausible. "You are to present it to him at the end of the ceremony."

"Your majesty," Janeway said as she dropped the ring back on the pillow and walked over to where Chaotica was standing. "we should lower the lightning shield, in anticipation of my guests."

"What is this preoccupation you have with my shield?" Chaotica said, looking suspicious.

"Oh dear, she pushed it too far," Neelix said.

"Forgive me," Janeway said. "It's just that, as a fellow ruler of the cosmos I often have to do things myself."

"Ah, because of the incompetence of your inferiors no doubt," Chaotica said.

"Something like that," Janeway said.

"I really hope that wasn't a dig at us," Neelix said.

"Oh Arachnia, my love, my life," Chaotica said, "How well you understand our plight. It weren't beneath my dignity, I would weep. How I've longed for someone who would understand."

"We have a saying on Arachnia," Janeway said, gently touching Chaotica's face, much to the apparent amusement of everyone on the bridge except for Seven herself and for Tuvok. "'It's lonely at the top.'"

"Hmm. No longer my dear," Chaotica said.

"Majesty!" a minion yelled. "Proton is preparing to attack!"

"What?" Chaotica shouted so loudly that Janeway visibly flinched. Chaotica went over to a device that the Voyager bridge crew could not see from their angle, but gathered was some sort of detection device. "Bah," Chaotica said. "Target her rocket ship. Shoot her down."

Janeway glanced over toward the death ray, where another Chaotica minion was operating it. She moved over to him as quickly as her impractical footwear would allow, and struck him the back. The minion fell over instantly even though the Captain did not appear to have hit him that hard. Janeway grabbed his gun, and held it on Chaotica and Lonzak as they turned to look in her direction after hearing the thud of the minion's collapse.

"You have betrayed me," Chaotica said. "You are league with Proton. Impetuous harlot!"

"Oh for the love of.. Just shoot him already, Captain!" Chakotay yelled at the viewscreen.

"The Captain cannot hear you Commander," Tuvok said.

"I know, I know," Chakotay said.

"Tell me how to deactivate the lightning shield," Janeway said, "or I'll show you just how impetuous I can be."

"What are you waiting for you great lummox?" Chaotica said to Lonzak. "Kill her."

Lonzak pulled out a laser pistol and fired it at Janeway, where it dissipated with no effect.

"Ha!" she laughed. "You are no match for Arcahnia!"

Harry chuckled. "I think she's actually starting to enjoy this."

"Tell me how to shut down the shield," Janeway said, suddenly shifting from laughing to glowering at Chaotica.

"The confinement rings," Chaotica said. Lonzak fumbled briefly with his belt before pushing a button on it. Suddenly the captain was encased in a glowing circular force field.

Chaotica laughed. "Oh don't worry. I wouldn't kill my bride. Not until after our wedding night."

"Wow, that got uncomfortable really quick didn't it?" Sam said.

"Little bit, yeah," B'Elanna said.

"Reactivate the death ray! Destroy Proton!"

As soon as the death ray on the holodeck began firing, Voyager itself began shaking, much to Seven's confusion.

"What's happening?" Chakotay said.

"The alien's weapon fire is increasing," B'Elanna said. "It's causing the distortions to grow larger. We're being pulled deeper into subspace!"

That is not good, Seven thought.

"Proton's ship is damaged, but still airborne," Lonzak said.

So much for being the most powerful weapon in the universe or whatever it was Tom said, Janeway thought as she tried to get loose from her bonds, her hands were now tied behind her back and to a pillar next to Chaotica's throne.

"Not for long," Chaotica said. "Fire at will."

Janeway felt something shift in the sleeve of her Queen Arachnia dress; the vial of pheromones. She just had to be careful not to drop it. She quickly got the cap off, and almost groaned as the pheromones making their way towards the death ray station left a visible trail. Fortunately, that seemed to be only for her benefit as none of the minions, not even Lonzak who had walked right into the path of them, seemed to see it. Lonzak began sniffing the air, and the stream made it's way up into his nose.

Okay, not who I was hoping for, but screw it, I need to get out of this.

"Arachnia?" Lonzak said softly as he walked towards her.

"Lonzak, quit dawdling," Chaotica said, not taking his attention off the imagizer.

"Your beauty is maddening," Lonzak said, now standing right next to Janeway, who struggled to keep a straight face and not just roll her eyes at this lumbering henchman.

"Entangle me in your web."

"Let me out of here, and I'll do all that, and more," she said quietly, though as oblivious as Chaotica appeared to be she wondered if it was even necessary.

"At once, my queen," Lonzak said, panting.

I am going to need one really long sonic shower after this is over.

Chaotica finally seemed to noticed that Lonzak was standing by her, but continuing his track record so far of being slow on the uptake, simply tried to admonish Lonzak to return to his station, completely failing to notice that he was freeing Janeway from her bonds.

As soon as she was loose, she kneed Lonzak in the groin and grabbed his ray gun, shooting down two of Chaotica's guards as they made a move for her.

"Deactivate the shield," Janeway said, pointing the weapon at Chaotica. "Now."

"Such passion," Chaotica said, smiling. "Such strength. Together we could conquer the universe. End this madness and you may yet live to my bride."

Tom, when this is over we need to have a talk about your choice of arch-nemeses, Janeway thought.

"The shield," she said. Chaotica, nearly tripping over the machine as he moved backwards the closer Janeway got with her gun, reached over and shut it off.

"I don't know how to tell you this," she said, no longer using the Queen Arachnia inflection, and shooting Chaotica in the chest with the ray gun, "but the wedding's off."

Chaotica fell over, but unlike his minions who died instantly, Chaotica seemed to be trying to milk his end for every ounce of drama he could get out of it. Janeway would've stopped to laugh at him if she didn't have another task to accomplish.

"Arachnia to Proton," she said, activating the microphone. "Do you read me?"

"I read you," Tom said.

"But, but," Chaotica said, "that's not Proton's voice."

"Not in this version," Janeway said. "Now just die already, you're only embarrassing yourself at this point. The lightning shield is down Proton."

"Acknowledged," Tom said. "Doc, target the death ray. Robot, fire the destructo beam on my mark. Ready? Now!"

A loud bang almost made Janeway jump. Chaotica, who had somehow managed to keep himself standing by leaning against the death ray, shook violently but somehow also comically as bolts of electricity arced out from the death ray and into his body. Were he real, Janeway would've felt sorry for him.

"Bridge to Janeway," Chakotay's voice said over the com a few seconds later.

"Go ahead," Janeway said.

"The aliens have retreated and closed the distortions. We're free of the sandbar and are on our way at full impulse."

"Secure all systems and organize damage repair teams."

"We're prepared to shut down the holodeck."

"Give me a minute," Janeway said.

"Enjoying the part Captain?"

Janeway was about to tell Chakotay the truth; that she was simply curious how the program would end naturally. Then a thought occurred to her.

"Commander, have you all been watching this from up on the bridge?" Silence. "I thought so," Janeway said, shaking her head. "Anyone makes any jokes about my performance, they get a reprimand in their personnel file." The door to the throne room opened, and Tom Paris, the Doctor, still dressed as the President of Earth, and a clunky, awkwardly moving robot entered.

"Well, I was about to say 'Captain Proton to the rescue'," Tom said, "but it looks like you've got things under control."

"Arachnia!" Chaotica said, his body jerking to life, though only his neck, head and mouth moved. "Death as you know it has no hold on me. My defeat is but a temporary setback. I shall return to seek my revenge."

"He doesn't give up does he?" Janeway said to Tom.

"They never do," Tom said.

"Our love was not meant to be, my queen," Chaotica continued. "But be warned. You have not seen the last of…" Chaotica shivered, choking out the final word of his monologue; "Chaotica."

"The end of a twisted madman," Tom said.

"The end of me in this stupid outfit," Janeway said. "These shoes are killing me."

"I assume that is comedic exaggeration," the Doctor said.

"Of course," Janeway said as she removed the shoes. "By the way, how did it go, Mr. President?"

The Doctor smiled. "My performance was unimpeachable."

Janeway and Tom both groaned loudly.

"Really, Doc?" Tom said, looking like he was in physical pain.

"I'm pretty sure that pun's a court martial offense right there," Janeway said, throwing one of her shoes at the Doctor.

Chapter Seven

"I thought we were trying to disable it," Commander Chakotay said, as the debris from an exploded Borg probe ship filled the viewscreen.

Seven of Nine checked her scanners, wondering what she had done wrong. She had been skeptical of the plan to try and capture the Borg ship, the smallest design the collective used, but Janeway had been correct that it's relative lack of weapons, plus the briefly vulnerable status its shields would have once it exited its transwarp conduit made it at least an even fight. Of course, the fact that Voyager, thanks to Seven's upgrades to the astrometrics labs, could see the Borg ship coming in the first place gave them an advantage.

"It would appear the torpedo detonated near a power matrix, causing a chain reaction," she said.

"Any survivors?" Janeway asked. Seven looked down at her console again, but Tuvok had already checked.

"None," he said.

"Debris status?" Janeway said, now looking towards Harry.

"There's a few components intact," he said. "but they're badly damaged."

Janeway turned back to Chakotay. "Begin a salvage operation," she said. "There might be something we can use. Weapons, a transwarp coil-"

"That second one would be unlikely," Seven said. "Unless there's been a redesign of such vessels such I've been free of the collective, the transwarp coils would've been right near the power matrix and would've taken the brunt of the explosion."

Janeway shrugged, and smiled.

"Maybe," she said. "but I feel pretty lucky today." She left the bridge and headed for her ready room. Tom Paris and Chakotay shared a look of concern, and Seven couldn't blame them. At the same time though, this battle had been easy. One could argue that it was too easy, but the Borg Collective was not known for laying traps. Traps were often convoluted and had a much higher risk of failure than simple overwhelming force.

"I really wish she hadn't said that," Harry said. "It's been a few weeks since we had a major crisis. I can't help but feel like we're tempting fate here."

"Had I not been on this ship for nearly five years, Lieutenant Kim," Tuvok said, "I would be inclined to dismiss what you said as illogical. However, Voyager does seem to encounter more difficult situations than would be considered normal for a Starfleet vessel."

"If this vessel were named Enterprise however," Seven said, "such difficult situations would likely be referred to as 'Tuesday,'"

Tom Paris laughed, and even Chakotay grinned.

"Good one, Seven," Tom said.

Captain Janeway walked into the cargo bay where much of the Borg debris was already being gone over by multiple crewmembers.

"My spoils of war," she said, grinning.

"Eight kilotons of debris total," Chakotay, who was standing just a half-step behind her said. "Most of it hull fragments. So far we've recovered two power nodes and a dozen plasma conduits, all in working order."

"Anything left of their propulsion systems?" Janeway said. She remembered what Seven of Nine had said on the bridge about how unlikely it was they could get a transwarp coil in good enough shape to possibly upgrade Voyager's engines, and get them home sooner. But a part of her held out hope.

"B'Elanna found a transwarp coil," Chakotay said, pointing towards a piece of Borg tech resting on top of a tarp covered Starfleet issue cargo container. Janeway picked it up.

"Well," she said. "That's lighter than I expected."

"It could make a nice flower pot if we can't get it to work," Chakotay said, but Janeway ignored the joke.

"Let's hope our little skirmish got back to the hive mind," she said. "Maybe they'll think twice before they attack us again."

"It was only a probe," Chakotay said. "Next time we might not be so lucky."

"By my count," Janeway said, putting the coil back down, "we've added at least two years to our journey home by avoiding the Borg."

"True," Chakotay said, "but at the same time, along the way we've managed to subtract more than twenty. That's not nothing."

"I know, Chakotay, but still, I'm tired of turning tail every time we detect a cube."

"Better safe than assimilated," Chakotay said.

Janeway was about to reply when she heard an excited shout from the Doctor, who she hadn't noticed was in the cargo bay until just now.

"I was hoping to find one of these," he said, holding up what looked like a drone's severed arm. "It's a servo-armature from a medical repair drone. It's got a laser scalpel, a bimolecular scanner, micro-suture, and all rolled into one instrument."

"That's nice, Doctor," Janeway said. "Please don't point it in my face."

"Oh, sorry about that," the Doctor said. "My point is, this could revolutionize the way that I perform surgery."

"Sounds good," Janeway said. "Keep me posted on that."

"Will do, Captain," the Doctor said. Janeway glanced back to where the transwarp coil had been sitting. At some point while she'd been talking with Chakotay and the Doctor, Seven of Nine and B'Elanna Torres had come in and were doing something with the device.

"Remodulate the coil frequency," B'Elanna said.

"No effect," Seven of Nine. "Same as last time I'm afraid. It appears your theory that we were using the wrong tools was incorrect."

"Which you said from the get go," B'Elanna said. "Guess I should've listened."

"No harm was done in the attempt," Seven said.

Is it wrong that the two of them not bickering bothers me? Janeway thought.

"What's wrong?" Janeway asked.

"The field regulator is fused," Seven said. "We won't be able to activate the transwarp coil."

"Damn," Janeway muttered.

"Well," Chakotay said, "at least the Doctor found a new toy."

"I was really hoping we'd get something more useful," Janeway said.

"We may have," Seven said. She walked over to a worktable that had been set up, where two Borg data nodes were sitting.

"This node here," Seven said, pointing at the one on Janeway's right, "is a drone manifest. The other contains tactical information."

"Specifically?" Janeway said.

"Long range sensor telemetry, assimilation logistics, and vessel movements for a radius of thirty light years," Seven said. "I'll need to convert the information to Starfleet parameters, but we should be able to get a good luck at the data within two hours."

"Good work, Seven," Janeway said. "Maybe this day isn't such a wash after all."

"Captain," Seven said, "we survived a ship to ship battle with a Borg vessel, without the aid of a fleet, or a natural phenomena. That is nothing to sneeze at, as Sam would say."

Janeway smiled, though she wondered if Seven would ever just use colloquialisms without having to give credit to the crew member she first heard them from.

"I was able to recover sixty-two percent of the data," Seven said, working on one of the consoles in the astrometrics lab. Captain Janeway and Tuvok were there, already in front of the main console, and looking at the main screen, waiting on Seven.

"This is an iso-grid of Borg tactical movements across twenty-five sectors," she said.

"Are there any dangers along our present course?" Janeway said.

"There are three cubes approximately nine light years away," Seven said, zooming in on an image of the three cubes, with a green line through each one showing its flight plan. "They are traveling on a trajectory parallel to our own. They do not pose a threat."

"What about that vessel?" Janeway said, pointing to another mark on the grid.

Seven tapped a few buttons, and the viewscreen shifted again.

"It's a scout ship, a sphere," Seven said. "It's approximately eight light years away, travelling at warp two."

"Why only warp two?" Tuvok asked.

"It appears the ship was heavily damaged," Seven said.

"Was it attacked?" Tuvok said.

Seven brought up the data on the sphere. "No," she said. "An ion storm. The sphere is presently regenerating. At least, presently as of when we destroyed the probe ship."

"I want a heavily detailed schematic of that vessel," Janeway said.

Uh oh, Seven thought. She has a plan, and we're not going to like it.

"I think we've just struck gold," Janeway said, looking back at her and Tuvok with a look of grim determination.

Seven looked at Tuvok, and could tell, even through his calm Vulcan exterior that he was feeling the same way she was; that whatever the Captain was going to suggest had the potential to end very, very badly.

I'm starting to think she let our victory against the probe ship go to her head, Seven thought. Still, she did as she was asked, and once she had what the captain had requested, Janeway called a meeting of the senior staff in the briefing room.

"So what we have here," Janeway said as she called up a schematic of the Borg sphere on the main screen in the briefing room, "in two simple words is Fort Knox."

"Captain?" Tuvok said.

"Fort Knox was said to be the largest repository of gold bullion in Earth's history," Tom said. "Its security is the stuff of legend. If the stuff I read in history class is right, no one ever managed to break into Fort Knox. It was considered impenetrable."

"Are we planning a heist, Captain?" Chakotay said.

"As a matter of fact," Janeway said, smiling, "yes. But we're not chasing gold, we're chasing a working transwarp coil. Think it might come in handy?"

"If I could equip our engines with even one coil," B'Elanna said, smiling herself, "we could shave about twenty years off this trip."

"Do you believe the Borg sphere is damaged enough for us to penetrate its defenses?" Tuvok said.

"Long enough to take what we need and get out in one piece," Janeway said. She looked at everyone around the table, waiting for objections. Not hearing any, at least not yet, she continued. "Now, to pull this off we would need to plan this operation down to the millisecond. There's no margin for error on something like this."

Seven of Nine looked like she wanted to say something, but kept quiet. Janeway figured she would bring it later in private. She wasn't going to make her wait that long though. As soon as she had finished she would ask her senior staff for suggestions and concerns.

"The way I see it," she continued, "we need to plan an intercept course that won't attract their attention then create a diversion to keep them distracted so we can send in an away team to grab the coil."

"I'd like to see the data on that sphere," Chakotay said before Janeway had the chance to ask for feedback. "We might be able to recreate parts of it on the holodeck and run a few tactical simulations."

"Sounds good," Janeway said, smiling. "Do it."

"We'll need to mask our warp signature," B'Elanna said. "I picked up a few tricks in the Maquis I can use to pull that off. They're not exactly Starfleet approved though."

"Go ahead," Janeway said. "The sphere is three days away at maximum warp, so Tom, set a course. Chakotay, I want an outline for our heist by tomorrow morning.

"Now, to be fair, are there any objections to the plan?"

Nobody said anything, but Janeway wasn't ready to dismiss them all just yet

"Harry, you haven't said anything," she said. Harry simply shrugged.

"How about you, Seven, any thoughts?"

"Your plan is ambitious," Seven said, "and there are many variables. However, I do think it could succeed."

"Perhaps we could narrow those variables a bit," Janeway said. "I have something I'd like to ask you, but it's a sensitive matter. Everyone else, dismissed."

Seven seemed puzzled, but she merely sat there as everyone else filed out.

"Captain?" She said once the two of them were alone.

"I've been going over the records we found on the U.S.S. Raven," Janeway said.

"My," Seven said, pausing to take in a deep breath. "My parent's ship. I did not know that you had taken any data from the ship's logs. Why was I not informed?"

"At the time you didn't seem interested in your past," Janeway said, "from before you were assimilated. I thought you were aware of the records, so I set them aside, hoping one day you'd ask for them. I apologize for not realizing that you didn't know. If I had-"

"Apology accepted," Seven said, a bit harsh in her tone, but Janeway felt she couldn't hold it against her.

"Anyway, Magnus and Erin Hansen both kept extensive field notes, detailed journals; there are over nine thousand log entries alone. They spent their careers studying the Borg. They tracked a cube at close range for three years. I'd say that made them experts."

"And you want me to go over that research," Seven said. "Look for anything that could us a tactical edge."

"You took the words right out of my mouth," Janeway said. "These records have been collecting metaphorical dust in our database for over a year. You're the best person for this job. If you feel uncomfortable, if you're worried it will bring up any traumatic memories I can ask someone else to-"

"No," Seven said. "The information belongs to me. I will read it."

"Have Sam with you," Janeway said. "Having somebody to lean on if it gets painful can be a big help."

"I appreciate the thought Captain," Seven said. "but I feel this is something I should do myself. Sam is a protective person by nature. If reading this becomes emotionally difficult she will want me to stop. I would rather not put her in that position."

"Fair enough, but if it gets too tough for you report to sickbay immediately. Under any other circumstance I'd tell you to just put the logs away for awhile, but this operation is too important, I'm sorry. Do whatever it takes."

"Understood," Seven said.

Seven poked at a Borg data node with a tool her unfocused mind had forgotten the name of even though she'd used it hundreds of times since joining the crew. The door to the cargo bay opened and Neelix walked in, carrying a box.

"You are late," she said, but only as a statement with no real frustration behind it.

"Sorry," Neelix said. "It took longer than I expected to download these records. This is only the first batch." Neelix took the lid off the box, revealing two rows of PADDs, seven in each. "I organized the information by category. Field notes, personal logs, bio-kinetic analyses, etcetera."

"Thank you," Seven said.

"Glad to help, but I need to get started on the rest of the files. I'll see what I can do to make it go faster this time."

"I doubt I will have completed reading this batch," Seven said, picking up the box and carrying it over to her alcove. She sat down and took one PADD out to start reading. "Your current pace is adequate."

"All right then," Neelix said as he headed for the door. "If you need anything let me know."

Seven opened the first log, one recorded by her father.

"Field notes, U.S.S Raven, Stardate 32611.4. It's about time. The Federation Council on Exobiology has given us final approval. Starfleet's still concerned about security issues, but they've agreed not to stand in our way. We've said our good-byes, and we're ready to start chasing our theories about the Borg."

"If only they'd thought to talk to an El Aurian," Seven said aloud, even though no one was there to hear her. It was amazing to her how much the Federation had known about the Borg, even before the first official encounter with them made by the Enterprise-D ten years ago. She had to admit a certain amount of admiration for the amount of work it had taken Starfleet to keep so many people convinced for so long that the Borg were merely a rumor, when there were so many El Aurian refugees all over the Alpha Quadrant. and had been for nearly a century. As to why that was, she had theories, but ultimately it was irrelevant. She imagined there were few sentient races in the galaxy now that didn't at least know of the Borg, even if they'd never encountered them.

She continued reading her parent's logs, losing track of time until Chakotay's voice over her combadge refocused her attention.

"Seven of Nine, report to the bridge," he said, as the ship went into red alert mode.

"On my way," she said. We can't have reached the sphere already, she thought. She checked the chronometer on her way out, the time stamp confirming what her sore legs and back were telling her. She'd been sitting the whole time. She wondered why neither Sam nor the Captain had come to check on her in all that time as she made her way to the bridge.

When she exited the turbolift, she saw an enhanced view of the sphere on the screen.

"Looks it took a real beating," she heard Chakotay say.

"They could still pose a threat," Janeway said. "Let's not get too close. Match their course and speed, keep a distance of ten million kilometers."

"Aye Captain," Tom said. Janeway glanced over her shoulder, saw Seven, and turned to face her.

"Seven, scan the vessel. I want to know their current status."

"Understood," Seven said, moving quickly to the auxiliary tactical console. "Their weapons array is regenerating, but their shields and transwarp drive are still off-line."

"How long until they have transwarp?" Janeway said.

"Approximately seventy-two hours," Seven said.

"We may not get this opportunity again," Janeway said, clearly speaking to everyone on the bridge now, including Sam who Seven only now noticed at one of the science stations. Seven smiled, but Sam was fixated on the view of the Borg sphere on the screen. Seven imagined she was nervous, and couldn't blame her.

"I don't intend to miss this," Janeway continued, "whatever it takes. Double shifts, round-the-clock simulations, I want to be ready."

The crew got to work. Seven managed to maneuver herself over to Sam's station. "I apologize for missing lunch," she said.

"No need," Sam said. "Neelix told me what you were doing, and I didn't want to bother you."

"Oh," Seven said. "Well, still, I let myself get distracted and-"

"It's okay, really," Sam said, smiling now. She put her hand on one of Seven's. "Once we get that transwarp coil, you can tell me all about it. I'm curious to know what your parents were like. Maybe I can tell you about mine too."

"I'd like that," Seven said.

"Seven," Harry said from the back of the bridge. "I need your input on something real quick." Seven sighed, and gently squeezed Sam's hand.

"Sometimes I feel like you are too forgiving, Samantha Wildman," she said.

"Well that could've gone better," Harry said as the holodeck simulation of one of Voyager's transporter rooms froze.

"That's an understatement Harry," Janeway said, groaning in frustration. Up until this moment, things had gone swimmingly in the latest simulation. She, Harry, Tuvok, and Seven had successfully disabled the sphere's sensor grid and gotten the pattern enhancers around the transwarp coil to beam it off, but the two minute period they had while the sensor grid was down had expired, and Borg drones had managed to piggyback in on Voyager's transporter beam and right on to the bridge.

"We're going to have to find a way to cut down our time on the sphere even further," Seven of Nine said, "but I'm unsure how."

"We could increase the size of the away teams," Harry said. "Beam one to the sensor grid, and another to the chamber with the transwarp coil."

Janeway shook her head. "Too risky," she said. "More people increases the risk of attracting the drone's attention. We can't do anything that would make us look like a threat before we're ready."

"In addition," Seven said, "the transwarp chamber is too heavily shielded."

Janeway rubbed her eyes, feeling both tired and wound up at the same time, a side effect of too little sleep and too much caffeine.

"Seven, weren't your parents able to walk around a Borg cube for hours at a time at one point without being detected?"

"I do not recall that being in the logs I have read," Seven said. "That information may be in one of the other PADDs that Neelix brought me I haven't gotten to yet."

"Try to find it, and fast," Janeway said. "I'm not ready to give up yet."

"Captain," Tuvok said, "you should prepare yourself for the possibility that this mission may prove too dangerous to succeed. I will continue to run simulations and search for other ways to reduce our time on the cube, but there are a finite number of scenarios I can conceive of."

Janeway knew that Tuvok was right. If anything, he was being kind in not telling her to give up now, when doubtless his logical mind was telling him this was not worth it. Once again, she found herself grateful to have a Vulcan as a close friend.

"I'll take that under advisement," she said. "Thank you Tuvok. Seven, get on those logs. Harry, you and Tuvok keep working on the simulations. I need to lie down for a few minutes. If I'm not back in an hour, come and get me. Wake me up no matter what, even if I threaten you with a court martial."

"Understood, Captain," Harry said with a wry grin.

Janeway left the holodeck, yawned, and headed for her quarters. Along the way she passed by Ensign Wildman.

"If you're looking for Seven," Janeway said, "I've got her back on log duty. I'm hoping her parents have more information that can help us."

"I was actually going to pick up Naomi from her lessons with the Doctor," Samantha said, "but thanks for letting me know. And I hope it all works out too. Getting that transwarp coil could really help us."

Samantha went on her way, and Janeway watched her go. In some ways, what Samantha and Seven of Nine had reminded her of how she and her now ex-fiancee Mark had been when they were first dating.

I just hope those two get a happier ending than we did, she thought.

The realization hit her so hard it almost felt like a physical impact.

"We have more than one transporter room," Seven said aloud, even though there was no one in cargo bay with her. She was sitting in front of her alcove, reading her parents' logs when the idea came to her; each team would go in and come back on a different transporter pad. They had more than enough people on board who were capable of operating a transporter beam; more than half the crew had at least the bare minimum requirements to be allowed to do so, and there were at least a dozen who were rated as "experts," only two of whom, Harry and Tuvok, would be on the away mission.

The door to the cargo bay opened, and Naomi walked in.

"Hi," Seven said, making a note to send the Captain her idea about using two separate transport sites later. "You seem upset, is everything alright?"

"I had a bad dream," Naomi said. "Can I stay with you for awhile? Mom's in engineering and Neelix is on duty shift."

"Sure," Seven said.

"Are these your mom and dad's journals?" Naomi said, looking at the stacks of PADDs around Seven.

"Yes," Seven said. "I am searching for information that may help us on our current mission."

Naomi nodded. "In my dream, I went on the mission too. It didn't work, and everyone got assimilated."

"Your concerns are understandable," Seven said, putting an arm around Naomi's shoulder. "And I won't lie to you and say that our chances of success are high. However, I am still confident we can succeed."

"I hope so," Naomi said, leaning against Seven and closing her eyes.

Seven went back to reading, but only a minute or so later, she heard a voice. It was faint, and for a second she thought that Naomi had fallen asleep and was sleep talking. She looked down, but the child was still awake, and was looking at the text on some of the PADDs that were on the floor, ones that Seven had already finished.

"Seven of Nine, Tertiary Adjunct of Unimatrix 01," the voice said, loud enough to be understood this time. "You have become weak." It was a feminine voice, one Seven did not recognize, but she knew that it was coming through her Borg transceiver, the one that shouldn't be working.

"Naomi," Seven said, "could you do me a favor and take some of these PADDs to your quarters?" She pointed to a box where the lid had been put back on. "I've already read most of those, but Sam said she wanted to know what my parents were like. It shouldn't be too heavy."

Naomi looked puzzled, like she wasn't sure she believed Seven's stated reason. Seven didn't blame her at all, but Naomi eventually shrugged.

"Okay," she said. "can I come back when I'm done?"

"Of course," Seven said, hoping that Naomi would actually get tired carrying the box and decide to try and go back to sleep instead. Naomi picked up the box and left.

"Identify yourself," Seven said to the voice as soon as Naomi was gone. She turned around, and gasped. Somehow, the cargo bay had instantaneously transformed into the interior of a Borg ship.

No, no, that can't be right, Seven thought. I am in a regeneration cycle, I am dreaming.

"This is no dream, Seven of Nine," the female voice said.

"Seven of Nine to security," Seven said, slapping her com badge, "intruder alert."

"They can't hear you," the voice said.

"Who are you?" Seven said, panic replacing nervousness in her voice now.

"I am the Borg," the voice said. "Seven of Nine, Tertiary Adjunct of Unimatrix 01, you have become weak," the voice added, repeating the first thing it had said to her.

"Where are you?" Seven said, looking around. Maybe if she could attack the source of the voice somehow…

"We've accessed your neural transceiver. Our thoughts are one. We know about Voyager's plan to invade the sphere. It will fail."

I need to warn them, Seven thought.

"Do so, and I will redirect the three cubes nearest your position to you. Voyager will not escape. Your ship, its crew, your lover and her child, all will be assimilated."

"Why haven't you done so already?" Seven asked.

"We've come to make you an offer," the voice said. "Rejoin the collective and we'll spare Voyager."

Seven wanted to accuse the voice of lying, of setting a trap of some kind, but somehow she knew it was true.

"Why?" Seven said.

"Because," the voice said, almost sounding aroused, much to Seven's discomfort. "you are unique."

With that, Seven's vision returned to reality. She was standing in the cargo bay again, and she was afraid. Worst of all, she knew what she had to do.

"Computer begin recording a message for delayed delivery to Samantha Wildman," she said.

"A bio-dampener?" The Doctor said when Seven of Nine presented him with the information she'd found in her father's field notes. "That's very clever. Have you informed the Captain about this find?"

"I did," Seven said, "She told me to bring it to you immediately."

The Doctor began going over the schematics, while Tuvok looked on.

"The device creates a field around the body which simulates the physiometric conditions on a Borg vessel," Seven said. "It is a very effective camouflage."

"Doctor," Tuvok said, "how quickly can you prepare four of these devices?"

"I'll have to tailor each unit to its user's physiology," the Doctor said, "so a few hours at least. I'll get started immediately."

"Thank you Doctor," Tuvok said, before leaving sickbay. The Doctor noticed that Seven of Nine simply stood there, staring at the schematics on the screen.

"The Hansens were resourceful," she said.

"Indeed," the Doctor said. "Seven, is something wrong?"

"No. Well, yes. Perhaps. I think I am just having concerns about being a Borg vessel again for the first time in almost two years. It is," Seven paused, as though she was searching for the right word. "Disconcerting," she said.

"Understandable," the Doctor said. "Though if you have sincere doubts about your abilities you should inform the Captain so she can assign someone else to the mission."

"As tempting as that offer is Doctor," Seven said, sighing sadly, "without my expertise on the Borg the mission's chances of success drop dramatically. I'll have to just adapt."

"I believe you will," the Doctor said, smiling. Seven looked like she wanted to say something more, but instead she offered a polite nod, and left. The Doctor couldn't shake the feeling that something was bothering her, but he had a task to accomplish and a short window of time to do it, so he got to work.

Seven wondered why the Captain had called her up to her ready room. Part of her hoped that she was going to abort the mission, but deep down she knew that doing so would likely be a death sentence as the collective would end up sending three cubes after them. One alone could easily destroy Voyager, or assimilate its entire crew.

"Coffee?" Janeway said. "You look like you could use some."

"No thank you," Seven said. She had tried coffee before and didn't care for it, even though paradoxically she found she liked the smell.

"Caffeine is a human vice you might wanna try one day. Keeps you sharp."

"Another time," Seven said, not really thinking about coffee anymore, but what would happen to her once the collective took her again.

"You might also want to try craps. Harry and I played last night. He won so he got to keep his hands," Janeway said.

Seven looked up, her mouth hanging open. "What? That-"

"That was a joke, Seven," Janeway said. "I was just seeing if you were still paying attention. You seem distracted."

"I apologize Captain," Seven said. "My mind has been focused on the mission. I have even been neglectful of my relationship with Sam as a result, but she has been very understanding."

Janeway took a sip of her coffee and looked down at the PADD in her other hand. "I've been fine tuning our game plan for tomorrow morning," she said. "I've decided to reassign you to the bridge."

Yes! Seven thought.

"That would be inadvisable," she said, hoping her inner turmoil wasn't showing in her facial expressions. She didn't want to go back to the Borg, but the alternative was seeing everyone she cared about being assimilated themselves, and she couldn't stand for that.

"I'm concerned about Voyager's safety. If the sphere decides to attack, I'll need your expertise at tactical."

The Captain's logic was sound, Seven couldn't argue with that, but there would be no way for her to turn herself over to the Borg to save Voyager unless she was on the sphere. She tried to come up with a justification to stay on the away team that didn't sound convoluted.

"Captain, you may encounter unexpected obstacles; force fields, encryption codes… I'm the only member of this crew qualified to anticipate and deal with them."
Janeway looked upset.

"You underestimate the rest of us?" she said.

"You underestimate the Borg," Seven said, a bit harsher than she meant to. "My parents made the same mistake, and I ended up being raised by the Borg."

Janeway tapped the handle of her coffee mug several times with her thumb, then stepped forward.

"This is more than just a question of tactics," Janeway said. "I'm concerned about your well-being, and your ability to perform on this mission."

"Your concern is unwarranted," Seven said.

"Is it? I'm not the only one who has noticed something off about you today. The Doctor, Tuvok, even Naomi. I bet Samantha has noticed too, even though she hasn't said anything."

"If she had her concerns Captain she would have addressed them to me," Seven said, speaking the absolute truth and not just trying to convince the Captain to let her go on the mission. "I have always listened to her concerns and advice, even if I have not always followed it."

"Okay," Janeway said, "I'll take your word for it on that, I'm not privy to the inner workings of your relationship with her. But that doesn't change the fact that we've noticed changes in your behavior. You seem preoccupied, agitated, even a little depressed. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate your efforts. We couldn't have come this far without your help. But it's obviously taken its toll."

Janeway sighed, and took another sip of coffee. Seven stood there, unsure what the say. She knew the Captain was right of course, and it would be so easy to just tell her that the Borg had contacted her and they needed to run and hope they could escape.

"If I had known how those journals were going to affect you," Janeway said, "I never would've pushed you to read them. I'm not about to ask you to face the collective in your present frame of mind."

"Captain, we are in the Delta Quadrant," Seven said. "The Borg are always going to be a threat. Less so as we get further away from their main territory, but a threat nonetheless. I'll admit the past several days have been difficult, but I must join the away team. As I said, I am the best qualified to handle anything unexpected that could happen. If I don't go I am certain this mission will fail."

"I know you Seven," Janeway said. "there's something more going on here. What's wrong?"

"The survival of this ship and its crew has become important to me," Seven said. "Not just Sam, though she was the first. This vessel is my collective now. I am willing to risk my own well-being if it will increase our chances of success." Seven wasn't lying to the Captain, she certainly would. The only detail she left out was the fact that she knew for a fact that her being on the sphere would save this ship, and everyone on it.

Janeway walked over to her desk, put her cup down, and cross her arms, staring at Seven for several seconds.

"Okay," Janeway said. Seven waited for her to say more, but she didn't.

"Thank you," Seven said.

"Dismissed," Janeway said. "We go at 0600 hours. Meet us in transporter room one."

"I will," Seven said.

The Borg sphere had, as Seven had predicted, not yet repaired its shields by the time the operation began. The away team consisting of Seven of Nine, Tuvok, Harry Kim, and Captain Janeway, all equipped with the bio-dampeners the Doctor had made for them, beamed aboard without incident.

Seven could hear the voice of the Borg, the feminine one as opposed to the voice of the Collective, in her head. "Never forget who you are," it said.

The team split up, Tuvok and Harry going to the sensors, Janeway and Seven to retrieve the transwarp coil. Seven was nervous, a part of her worried that the Borg were lying and this was all a trap. If it wasn't though, at the very least they could get Voyager that coil. Helping them get home sooner would be worth the price she was paying.

Seven and Janeway, each carrying a transporter pattern enhancer made it to their target first, having to slip past fewer drones than the simulations had suggested, which meant they now had to wait on Harry and Tuvok to destroy the sensor node, buying them the two minutes to beam the coil out and escape undetected. Or at least, for Janeway, Harry, and Tuvok to escape undetected.

The sound of an explosion was the cue. Seven quickly worked to disconnect the transwarp coil while the Captain adjusted the pattern enhancer. Within seconds, the coil was beamed away, and Chakotay's voice came over their com badges.

"Target obtained," he said.

"All right, let's get the hell out of here," Janeway said, heading out of the chamber and towards the rendezvous point where Tuvok and Harry would hopefully be waiting for them, Seven followed behind, though she knew she would not be joining them.

Whatever you're going to do to keep me here, she thought, just do it already.

"Seven of Nine," the voice said, causing Seven to stop in her tracks.

"Seven, keep moving!" Captain Janeway yelled.

"No," Seven said, her voice breaking as she said so. She considered for a moment lying, and saying she was staying of her own free will, but then she remembered the message she'd left for Samantha that would be appearing in her quarters in approximately three minutes. "I'm sorry. They knew you were coming, I have to stay. To save you. Go, please."

Janeway started walking back towards where Seven stood, but a force field appeared blocking the path.

"Go!" Seven yelled. "You have the coil, get your crew home Captain!"

"Chakotay to away team, the sphere has detected Voyager and is locking on weapons. We need to get you out of there."

"I'm not leaving without you," Janeway said. Seven heard drones coming up from behind her.

"Dammit, Kathryn, run!" Seven said, tears pouring down her face. Janeway looked behind her as another drone came up the corridor at the opposite end. Janeway blasted it with her phaser rifle, and taking one last sad look at Seven, ran towards the transport point.

"Get them home," Seven said, even though she knew the Captain was too far away to hear her. "Do it for me. Make this worth it."

The two drones that had approached Seven from behind now stood on either side of her. She closed her eyes, waited for the sting of an assimilation tubule, and opened them again when she realized that the drones weren't trying to assimilate her at all, but in fact stood in defensive positions around her.

Janeway ordered that she and the team be beamed directly to the bridge. When she, Harry and Tuvok rematerialized, Chakotay immediately asked the obvious question.

"Where's Seven?"

"The mission was compromised," Janeway said, deciding to tell them only the barest minimum of the truth. "She bought us time to get out with the transwarp coil. But I'm not going to abandon her. Status of the sphere?"

"They're bringing their remaining transwarp coils on line," B'Elanna said from the auxiliary tactical station.

"Tom, pursuit course. Tuvok, target the propulsion systems."

Before Tom Paris could do anything though, the viewscreen showed the Borg sphere glow green, and vanish in a flash.

"They're gone Captain," Tom said.

Janeway sighed. The rest of the bridge was silent, even the Doctor, who stood next to Harry Kim's station. She looked around, hoping someone would say something, have an idea. But nobody said anything.

How the hell am I going to tell Sam? she thought. She had lost people under her command before, and every loss weighed on her. She sometimes would see their faces in her dreams. This loss however felt far more personal than any of those had, and unlike those other instances where she had at least had a chance to get some kind of justice for them-

"Captain?" Chakotay said, derailing her train of thought. "Are you alright?"

"No," Janeway said. "No I'm not."

Seven of Nine and her drone escorts entered through a spearhead-shaped door and stood in a large room with a wide, slightly raised platform situated in the middle. Seven knew they were no longer on the sphere, nor were they on a cube. Seven could tell that they were now in fact inside a Borg Unicomplex, a structure composed of thousands of connected structures and hubs spanning at least six hundred kilometers, and housed hundreds of Borg ships and trillions of drones.

Seven heard a noise and looked up. Above the platform, a head and its upper torso descended on a lift from above. The head appeared to be that of a humanoid female, and it was smiling. As the head and torso approached the floor, a disassembled black mechanical body, composing the rest of the torso and limbs rose from the floor. After the two parts were attached, the body slowly walked up to Seven. It was only then that Seven realized who this was. As a drone she had always heard this one's voice as the voice of the collective.

"The Borg Queen," she muttered. "That's what my father called you."

The Borg Queen simply smiled. "Welcome home," she said, reaching out and touching the side of Seven's face. She looked at Seven, up and down, as if sizing her up like a cat approaching its prey or, in a mental image that almost made Seven laugh, a clothing designer figuring out what size pants to make.

"You've changed," the Borg Queen said. "Your exo-plating, your ocular implant… They've taken you apart and they've recreated you in their own image." The Borg Queen sounded like she was upset at this.

I would imagine the hypocrisy of this is completely lost on her, Seven thought.

The Queen continued walking around Seven, slowly, gently tugging at her Starfleet uniform.

"Hair, garments, but at the core you are still mine."

Resisting the urge to backhand the Queen in the face, Seven simply kept looking forward.

"The Borg have changed as well," Seven said. "I expected re-assimilation, not conversation."

"I also see they've given you a sense of humor," the Queen said.

"I see you are an annoying pain in the ass," Seven said. "Let's just get this over with."

"Spoken like a true individual," the Queen said. "The last two years must have been a remarkable experience. You are unique."

"My experience will add to your 'perfection,'" Seven said. "That is why you had me removed from Voyager."

The Borg Queen tilted her head, as if surprised that Seven didn't understand the situation. Seven found the gesture insulting.

"It is why we put you there in the first place," the Queen said. "You believe that Voyager liberated you from the collective. Did you really think we would surrender you so easily?"

You've got to be kidding, Seven thought. The Borg are going to pull an 'I meant to do that?' I was there, I only became a member of the crew because I survived Chakotay flushing the other drones out into space. There is no way this was part of some master plan.

"You must be tired," the Queen said. "We've adapted an alcove just for you to regenerate in. Right over there. When your cycle is complete we will continue our conversation."

Seven didn't move, didn't even look at the alcove that had been made for her. She just glared at the Borg Queen. Seven had not sacrificed her freedom, her individuality, her life just so she could be lectured by a woman whose appearance Tom Paris likely would've found a dozen ways to mock by now.

"Comply," the Queen said.

Seven eventually did so. She was tired, the Borg Queen had gotten that much right. She hoped it would all be over soon, one way or another. The 'another' being, a voice in the back of her mind said, maybe taking advantage of the fact you aren't re-assimilated yet and maybe find a way to escape.

If the Borg Queen had heard that thought she gave no indication. Seven was not optimistic, but something here wasn't right. This was not the Borg Collective she knew, and maybe if she was observant enough, careful enough, strong enough, perhaps she could break free after all. Barring that, she could at least hurt them. That would be enough.

Captain Janeway, Neelix, and a number of other crew members were at work cataloging and clearing out the remaining debris from the Borg probe ship, the one whose destruction had started them on the path to this day. As she looked around it almost bothered her how calm everyone seemed, as though it had just been another day. Was everyone really that okay with losing Seven of Nine, or had it just not sunk in yet, she wondered.

Chakotay entered the cargo bay and gave her his report. "No sign of Borg activity," he said. "Looks like we made a clean getaway. No sign of the sphere on long range sensors of subspace telemetry."

"It could be anywhere in the quadrant by now," Janeway said. "Launch a class-5 probe, scan for transwarp signatures."

"Understood," Chakotay said, even though his tone suggested that he felt this was a waste of time.

Janeway looked over at the alcoves along the bay wall. "She called me Kathryn," she said.

"Captain?" Chakotay said.

"The last thing she said to me on the sphere," Janeway said. "She called me Kathryn. Told me to run when a drone was coming up from behind me. She rarely calls people by their first names, people with only one name excluded of course."

"Captain," Neelix said, "we've cleared out most of the debris but before we vaporize it I'd like to melt down the larger fragments and extract the polytrinic compounds."

"Go ahead," Janeway said.

"That leaves one other item," Neelix said. "Seven of Nine's alcove. It requires a lot of power. Should I deactivate it?"

Janeway sighed. "No, leave it alone," she said.

"Captain," Chakotay said, presumably to argue that she was being pointlessly sentimental, but she couldn't accept that.

"Leave it alone," Janeway reiterated. "It's too soon to-"

"Ensign Wildman to Captain Janeway," Sam's voice said over the com. "Could you come to my quarters please? I have something I think you need to see. Something from Annika."

"On my way," Janeway said, tapping her com badge to close the channel.

"Right, Sam," Chakotay said. "I'd completely forgotten. This must be hell on her. She loved Seven, and Seven betrayed-"

"No she didn't," Janeway said, not realizing how loud she was until the noise of the crewmembers clearing out the debris stopped. She looked around and saw that everyone was looking at her.

"You weren't there Chakotay, you didn't see the look on her face. You didn't see the tears, the pain. She called me by my first name for god's sake. She didn't betray us to return to the collective, she sacrificed herself to save us. Have you all forgotten already everything she did in the short time she was here to help this ship?"

"You're right," Chakotay said, looking embarrassed. "She's right," he said, looking at the other crewmembers. "The fact is if we'd really been betrayed, we'd be drones on that sphere right now. Remember that."

"Thank you Chakotay," Janeway said.

"Well, it helps that you verbally smacked some sense into me," Chakotay said. "I guess it was just easier to believe she'd stabbed us in the back than to mourn her."

"I'm going to talk to Sam," Janeway said. "I'll see you on the bridge."

"Aye Captain," Chakotay said.

Samantha Wildman imagined she looked as bad as she felt when the Captain walked through the door to her and Naomi's quarters. Sam was technically supposed to be doing a lab shift today, but no one had said anything when she didn't show up. No one called her, or came by to see her in person except for Neelix who had offered tea.

Naomi was in her room, finally asleep after spending what seemed like hours simply crying. Sam had cried too, but had tried to hold it back enough to offer what little comfort she could to her daughter.

"Sam?" Janeway said.

"Captain," Sam said, not standing up, instead pointing to the monitor screen on the wall. "I received a message from Annie. She recorded this before the mission on the sphere."
Sam took a deep breath, wiped fresh tears from her face, and spoke up as clearly as she could manage while Captain Janeway sat next to her.

"Computer, replay last recording."

Seven's face appeared on screen.

"Sammy," she said, "you probably already know what's happened by the time you're seeing this, but I want you to hear it from me. Yes, I've gone back to the collective. But you need to know that I didn't do it because I wanted to. I haven't wanted to return the collective for a long time, and you played a large part, probably the largest part in that.

"Just a short while ago, the Borg were able to reach me. They contacted me through my transceiver, somehow, I don't know how they turned it back on. They know about the mission to steal the transwarp coil. They said," Seven stopped, and sighed. "They said if I return to the collective, they would let Voyager go unharmed. I don't want to believe them, I want to dismiss this as some kind of trap and warn the captain but, it's true. I just know it is.

"I won't ask you to forgive me Sam, for not telling you this right away, but I know, you would've tried to stop me, and worst of all, I would've let you. I don't want to do this, but…

"Once you have this message, give it to the Captain. She might be tempted to stage some kind of foolish rescue mission to bring me back. That can't happen. Use the transwarp coil. If it can't get you all the way home, at least shorten the journey. Don't let my sacrifice be for nothing. And tell Naomi I love her, like she was my own. I was looking forward so much to us being a family. Then again, perhaps we already are. I mean, this is what families do right? Take care of each other, no matter the cost?"

"I love you Sam. Goodbye."

The message ended there, and the screen went blank. Sam felt herself starting to cry again, and she heard the familiar sob of a child behind her. She had failed to notice that Naomi was awake. She had seen the message before, they had watched it together when it first arrived, but it was not any easier.

Janeway's face however was not one of sadness, it was one of grim determination. She was planning something, Sam was sure of it.

"Captain," she said, quietly, "I miss her too, more than anyone, but you heard what she said."

"I did," Janeway said. "but there is one thing about Starfleet captains that Seven has never truly understood. We don't like to leave anyone behind. If there is even a sliver of a chance we can get her back, I'm taking it." Janeway tapped her com badge,

"Janeway to all senior staff, report to the briefing room. Sam, may I have a copy of this message?"

"Why?" Sam said. "What could it possibly-"

"I don't know yet," Janeway said. "but if nothing else, at least the senior staff will know that she didn't let us down. There's been some, doubt, in that regard."

"She wouldn't do that," Sam said.

"I know. I knew even before I saw this recording."

Sam sighed, then nodded. "Take it," she said.

"Thank you," Janeway said. She leaned forward and put her hands on Sam's shoulders and looked her straight in the eyes. "We'll do our best to bring her home. I promise."

"Don't make promises reality might not let you keep Captain," Sam said. She wanted Seven of Nine, her Annie, back in her arms so badly it hurt, but not if it meant endangering everyone else's life, she couldn't afford to be that selfish, not with a child to take care of.

"I don't make promises lightly, Sam," Janeway said.

When Seven of Nine opened her eyes, her vision was no longer like that of a human, it was like that of a Borg drone. Despite this, she still felt like herself. She could not hear the voice of the voice of the collective, and her thoughts were still her own.

"Good morning," the Borg Queen said.

"My visual cortex has been altered," Seven said.

"We've enhanced it with Borg technology. You've seen through human eyes long enough. It's a neural processing adjunct designed to increase your synaptic efficiency."

"My 'human eyes' were fine," Seven said defiantly. "I could still use my implants to see more if I needed to. Remove this upgrade."

"You prefer to remain small?" the Borg Queen said.

"I prefer to remain unique," Seven said, wondering briefly just how many times she could punch the Queen in the face before any drones came to stop her.

"Don't be afraid," the Queen said. "We won't turn you into a drone. You're much too valuable to us with your individuality intact. But you've left humanity behind, try to leave behind their petty emotions as well."

"Happiness is one of these petty emotions you speak of," Seven said. "Yet you were perfectly willing to be happy to see me when I arrived."

The Queen did not seem to have any response to that. Seven decided to press forward with the biggest question of all she had about this whole affair.

"You have expended considerable resources to capture me," she said. "Why?"

"Isn't it obvious? You're going to help us assimilate humanity. We failed in our first attempt to assimilate Earth and we won't succeed the next time unless we understand the nature of their resistance."

"Or you could accept your failures," Seven said, feeling genuinely assertive for the first time since she'd been brought to the unicomplex. "You couldn't assimilate Earth when you went back in time to a period when they were vulnerable. Or have you simply erased the disaster of the attempt to kill Zefram Cochrane and prevent first contact with the Vulcans from your memory?"

"We want you to be our eyes, Seven. Let us see humanity," the Borg Queen said.

"While I was regenerating," Seven said. "you no doubt assimilated my memories. So you already possess all of my knowledge. There is no point to this exercise."

"You are the only Borg that has ever returned to a state of individuality," the Borg Queen said. Seven did not respond.

"We both know that is not true," Seven said. "You are attempting to deceive me, despite my knowledge both from the collective and from Starfleet records. Why?"

"We want to keep you exactly the way you are. Otherwise we would lose your human perspective," the Queen said, continuing on with her speech as though it hadn't been interrupted, and ignoring all of Seven's questions. "We don't want another drone. We want you."

Seven of Nine applied all her Borg analytical thinking to the situation, trying to find some sort of logic in the Borg Queen ramblings. When that failed, she tried to look at it from a human perspective; perhaps there was some 'method to the madness' as the old Earth saying went. Ultimately however, both lines of thought led her to the same conclusion.
"That's an illogical plan," she said to the Borg Queen, who actually seemed taken aback by how forcefully she said it. The Borg Queen did not respond, clearly unprepared.
Did it really never occur to her that I wouldn't go along with this so easily? Seven thought. This is the queen of the hive? Chell could come up with a better plan than this. While intoxicated.

The unicomplex shuddered, and the Borg Queen continued talking as if Seven of Nine hadn't just insulted her to her face.

"Our vessel is disengaging from the unicomplex. We're setting a course for grid 5-3-2."

"State your purpose," Seven said.

"Assimilation," the Queen said. "Our presence is not required but I thought the experience might be a rewarding one for you."

Ripping off your nose would be a rewarding experience for me, Seven thought. Every emotion she'd had up to this point relating to her returning to the collective, fear, trepidation, loss, even her missing Samantha was all replaced. She was angry. However she would not let that anger consume her. Instead she would channel it, harness it, and when the moment came, she would use that anger as a weapon against the very that a mere two years ago she longed to be a part of again. Was it always like this, or did something happen to the collective while I was away?

The Borg Queen called up a holographic image of a planet that Seven had never seen before and drew her attention to it. "Species 10026," she said.

"How many lifeforms," Seven said.

"Three hundred, ninety-two thousand," the Queen said. "You're experiencing compassion. I can feel it as easily as I felt your anger towards me earlier. You've forgotten what it means to be Borg. Those lives will be added to our own."

After Captain Janeway had shown Seven's goodbye video to Sam to the rest of the senior staff, the crew got to work on figuring out exactly what had happened. Soon. Janeway herself found signs that the Borg had communicated to Seven through what sensors had initially tagged as random subspace interference.

What she didn't expect was Chakotay coming to her in her quarters between shifts the following morning with news that they were not just any signals, but ones belonging to a Borg Queen, like the queen of an insect hive.

"Look at the transpectral frequencies," he said. "Just like those that Seven's parents found during their time studying the cube they shadowed. They matched the ones that were sent to cargo bay 2."

"What did the Hansens learn about the Borg Queen?" Janeway said.

"I'm afraid they never got the chance to find out," Chakotay said.

"Whatever she is, she clearly can exert a considerable degree of influence. Seven of Nine insisted she be on that away mission, that without her we would fail. I think she was being threatened."

"So, you're saying the Borg Queen offered to let us go in exchange for her surrendering willingly?" Chakotay said.

"Possibly," Janeway said. "Though given my week I'd be a fool to think that that was the right answer seeing as it's my first hypothesis."

"I don't know," Chakotay said, "it sounds plausible to me, if a bit out of character for the Borg. If they wanted her back so badly they easily could've taken her by force."

"I want you to keep at it with the Hansens' logs. Compile a list of every piece of tech they came up with to track the Borg. Assemble a team of engineers to assist you."

"If you're planning a rescue mission," Chakotay said, "that research will only take you so far. I've studied their log entries long enough to realize that as brilliant as the Hansens were, they made a fatal mistake. They became overconfident."

"We won't make the same mistake," Janeway said. "There's a saying I used to hear around Starfleet Academy back in the day. Learn from other people's mistakes, because you won't live long enough to make them all yourself."

"Fair enough, but one last thing," Chakotay said. "Seven of Nine did what she did to save us. If we endanger the ship-"

"We won't," Janeway said. "This will be a volunteer mission only, and we'll be taking the Delta Flyer. If I and whoever comes with me doesn't make it back, it'll be up to you to get everyone home."

Chakotay sighed. "No point in trying to talk you into letting me lead the rescue team is there?"

Janeway smiled. "Not a chance," she said.

Samantha was still lying in bed, as she had been almost non-stop for two days since Chakotay had made her leave of absence official, when the ship wide communication opened. Captain Janeway was addressing the entire crew. Sam tried to tune it out, she just wanted to lie in bed and mourn her girlfriend, but soon she realized that what the Captain was talking about was a rescue mission. For Seven.

"This will be a long range tactical rescue," Janeway said. "It could takes days, even week before we find our missing crewmember. Lieutenant Torres is equipping the Delta Flyer with the transwarp coil. It will allow us to cover more territory. My team will take it into transwarp space, where Commander Tuvok believes we can track the sphere that abducted Seven of Nine. Thanks to the work of Magnus and Erin Hansen, we'll be well prepared for an encounter with the Borg. Their multi-adaptive shielding will make the Flyer virtually invisible to Borg sensors, and narrow beam transporters will allow us to penetrate the sphere.

"This is going to be a dangerous operation, therefore it is strictly volunteer. Anyone who wants to sign up, report to Tuvok's security office at 0600 hours. Janeway out."

Sam sat up, grabbed her uniform off the back of a nearby chair, and dressed faster than she had since her Academy days. She knew that the Captain would not want her to come along, but she had lost so much these past six years, and of those things only Naomi had been returned to her by way of a spatial anomaly she didn't like to think about.
Naomi, she thought. Damn, I can't leave her. What if something happens to me?

Sam sat back down on the bed, in full uniform, but less determined than she'd been just seconds ago. She got back into bed, and pulled the sheets up to her neck, closed her eyes, and began hoping that Captain Janeway could bring the woman she loved back home.

"Come home, Annie," she whispered into her pillow. "Come home."

"As you expected Captain," Tuvok said as he stood next to Captain Janeway on the bridge, "there were in fact more volunteers than we could possibly fit on the Delta Flyer."

Janeway smiled. "Good to hear," she said. "Nice to know that people understand that reports of Seven's betrayal were greatly exaggerated. Who are we bringing along?"

"The Doctor insisted on coming, since he has expertise in removing Borg implants, and Mister Paris is not only our most qualified pilot, he built the Delta Flyer. I have also added Joe Carey to the away team, in case we have any difficulty with the Flyer's warp core."

"Not B'Elanna?"

"She did not volunteer, though she has 'wished us luck.'"

"That's all?"

"Yes Captain, much to the disappointment of many," Tuvok said. "However, I felt it logical to keep the away team small so as to prevent the Flyer from being too crowded, and to increase the length of time our supplies can last."

"Sounds good," Janeway said. "Chakotay, you have the bridge. Tuvok, Tom, I'll go collect the Doctor and Mister Carey and meet you at the Flyer."

"Yes ma'am," Tom said.

"The rest of you," Janeway said to everyone else on the bridge, "Commander Chakotay has your orders. He's in command until we return. And we will return, with our missing crewmember. Starfleet has lost enough to the Borg. It's time we took something from them for a change."

With that, she, Tuvok, and Tom Paris made their way to the turbolifts at the rear of the bridge. Janeway had no doubt in her mind they would succeed.

Tom Paris had never believed for a second that Seven of Nine had just decided to go back to the Collective, and he had made that known to any crew member who'd suggested otherwise, leading to more than one bitter argument in the mess hall over the course of a few days, but once knowledge of Seven's goodbye message to Samantha had spread, he'd been vindicated, and that was always a good feeling. A less good feeling was the unexpected effect that crossing the transwarp threshold had on his stomach, leaving him glad he hadn't eaten yet.

"Wow," he said, looking out the forward viewport and the glowing green and black tunnel ahead of them, the colors shifting and undulated like some eldritch abomination from one of those old Earth horror stories his high school history teacher had loved so much.

"Doctor," he heard Janeway say from her seat right behind his, "are you alright?"

"Just a bit of motion sickness," the Doctor said. "I will need to adjust my holomatrix to account for extreme velocity."

"If it's any consolation doc," Tom said, "I'm feeling a bit woozy myself."

"I am detecting a transwarp signature," Tuvok said. "it matches the sphere that took Seven of Nine."

"Adjust our course and follow it Mister Paris," Janeway said. "Mister Carey, how are the engines holding up?"

"Fantastic," Joe Carey said, "B'Elanna did a great job of integrating the Borg technology into the Flyer."

"Well Seven did help me build it," Tom said. "Shame she's not here to see this."

"Well, hey, I'm glad I could help," Carey said. "Though I must admit it, as much as I want to see Seven rescued, I was getting a little bit of cabin fever back on Voyager. I haven't had a proper away mission in months."

Janeway chuckled. "I don't if I would call this proper Lieutenant," she said, "but it's good to have you with us anyway."

"Thanks Captain," Carey said. "This will be one hell of a story to tell my sons."

Seven of Nine studied the information from the Borg diamond she was on, the Queen's personal ship, when the Queen came around a corner and began speaking to her.

"We've arrived," she said. "Are you ready?"

"I have familiarized myself with the species," Seven said. She didn't want to go along with this, but she knew that there was little she could do to help. If the Borg Queen felt she was lying she could easily just go into her head again as she had before and find the truth. Short of killing herself, Seven saw no way to help the people of Species 10026, and that was not something she was ready to do, at least not yet.

"Tactical weakness?" the Queen said.

"Their vessels lack maneuverability," Seven said.

"Tactical strength?"

"They've developed a modulating phaser pulse that can penetrate our shields," Seven said.

"You hope they can damage us enough to give you the opportunity to escape, don't you?"

"Another common trait of humanoid species," Seven said derisively. "Asking a question you already know the answer to. How you can still consider yourself above them?"

"Trying to goad me into making a mistake will not work Seven of Nine," the Queen said.

"It annoys you," Seven said. "That is sufficient."

The Borg diamond shuddered under the impact of weapons fire.

"How do you propose we adapt?" The Queen said.

"You're the Borg, you tell me," Seven said.

"Thirty-nine of their vessels are converging on our position," the Borg Queen said, stepping forward. "Our shields are failing. We will be destroyed."

The ship shuddered violently, a panel behind Seven sparking, much the same way Voyager's would when it was under heavy attack. Thinking of Voyager again made her think of Sam, and how badly she wanted to see her again, and in a moment of weakness, Seven gave the Borg Queen what she wanted.

"Triaxillate our shield geometry to absorb their phaser pulses," she said, regretting the words as soon as they left her mouth.

The Borg Queen smiled that insufferable smile again, and said "I was thinking the same thing."

Seven wanted to punch that face so badly, only the shaking of the ship under another volley made her pull back.

"Maybe next time," the Borg Queen said. "If it will really make you feel any better. Though more likely, you'll only injure your hand."

"I hate you," Seven said.

"For now," the Queen said, casually. She looked up and to her right, and a second later the shaking stopped. "Adaptation complete. They are no longer a threat. Go the primary assimilation chamber. You'll monitor the bio-extraction process."

Seven swallowed hard. She remembered what those chambers were like, and she knew that she did not want to see that again, even though she knew she had no choice.

"You look reluctant," the Queen said. "Perhaps I have been pushing you too quickly. You can assist with repairs to the shield matrix instead."

Seven didn't reply, she merely went to the door that would take her to the corridor that would lead to the shield matrix. At least there, she wouldn't be put in a position to harm anyone. She walked unsteadily through the corridor, feeling nauseous for the first time since she was a child. Around her, captured members of Species 10026 were escorted by drones to assimilation chambers, bloodcurdling screams ringing out from the direction of the chambers.

"I can't help them," she muttered to herself as she got to work on the shield generator, trying to lose herself in her repair work as other drones worked around her.

The screams didn't stop though, and she walked away, trying to find somewhere on the ship, anywhere, where they would at least be quieter. She walked down multiple corridors, the site of numerous freshly assimilated humanoids making her feel even more sick. She reached a chamber, where she saw three members of Species 10026 standing still, but unassimilated, trying to be brave as a drone prepared to attach a prosthetic replacement arm to the severed stump on an alien on the table in front of it.
That's it, Seven thought. A second drone that was in the assimilation chamber left, presumably to carry out a repair as the battle still raged on, and even with the adapted shields the diamond was starting to shudder again. As soon as it was gone, she immediately went up to the remaining drone working on the victim on the table, and deactivated it.

"Assist me," she said to the aliens who looked shocked as she propped up the one on the table. "I will help you escape."

Two of the aliens helped the one on the table up, and held onto him when he had trouble standing. In a panicked rush, looking out the entryway to the assimilation chamber every few seconds, Seven began operating a console.

"I am detecting one of your ships. It is heavily damaged, the crew is dead. The Borg are ignoring it. Its propulsion system is still functioning, I will transport you aboard. Remain there until the Borg leave orbit, then set a course on a heading of 1-2-1 mark nine. Do you understand?"

One of the aliens, Seven assumed she was a female, nodded. Seven checked one more time to see that no drones were looking in their direction. She rapidly tapped several buttons, and watched with a small sense of relief as a Borg transporter beam enveloped them, sending them to the ship.

Seven returned to the main chamber where the Borg Queen waited, the sounds of battle, and the screams of the captured had stopped.

"Congratulations," the Queen said. "assimilation is complete."

"Three hundred thousand individuals have been transformed into drones," Seven said. "Should they be congratulated as well?"

"They should be. They've left behind their trivial, selfish lives and they've been reborn with a greater purpose."

"By force," Seven said. "I wonder, how much time in the search for knowledge and perfection has been wasted by shoving it down the rest of the galaxy's throat. How much farther along in understanding would the Borg be had they spent all that energy, all those resources in study instead of combat."

"We are delivering the galaxy from chaos into order," the Borg Queen said.

"Bullshit," Seven said. "Perhaps you should use those words in the future, instead of 'resistance is futile.' What you do isn't a search for perfection, it's a cult."

"You cling to anger because you are afraid to see the truth," the Queen said. "species 10026 is already adding to our perfection. You can feel their distinctiveness coursing through us, enhancing us. Stop resisting. Take pleasure in this."

"Pleasure?" Seven said with a bitter laugh. "Another petty pursuit you say you are above. The more I learn about you, the more repulsed I am by what the Borg are. My only solace is the hope that perhaps we weren't always this way. That the Collective was once a hive mind of like minded individuals wanting to understand the universe, instead of a bunch of genocidal hypocrites."

The Queen began looking around, as if she didn't hear what Seven was saying to her. Finally the frustration got to be too much.

"We've overlooked-" the Queen started to say, too distracted by whatever the Collective was telling her to see that Seven had picked up a long piece of metal that had been blasted off a wall during the battle, and brought it down with all her strength onto the Queen's head.

"Why do you even bother," Seven said, striking the Queen again, ignoring the sound of drones marching up the corridor from either side of the chamber. "asking me questions, asking me for my insights on humanity," she struck again, "if you will just ignore me and talk like you're reading from a script?" She brought the bar down once more. It took her a moment to realize that the Queen was not making any effort to defend herself. It took another moment for her to realize that the Queen was laughing.

"I see we still have some work to do, Seven of Nine," she said. "Go back to your alcove. I will adapt my techniques to your new personality, and we can start over. Eventually, you will give in. And when you do, you will be at my side when we finally assimilate Earth."

Seven of Nine dropped her makeshift weapon, and sighed.

"You are delusional," she said.

"You are not the first individual to say that to me," the Queen said. "But can it really be delusion, when the Borg have lasted for so long, and only gotten stronger? When have we ever truly been threatened?"

"Species 8472?" Seven said.

For once, the Queen seemed speechless. "Species 847- Right, I, we, had forgotten. Somehow. That, why did we seek to penetrate alternate realities when there is still so much in just this galaxy we do not yet know?" The Queen looked confused, and maybe even frightened though Seven was not entirely certain of that. Whatever the Queen felt though,

Seven had clearly touched a nerve. But she also raised a question with herself as well. Why had the Borg entered fluidic space? Why had the Borg only ever attempted time travel once? Why had they never sent more than one cube to the Alpha Quadrant at a time? So many mistakes, so many blunders, and nearly all of them within the past eight years, half an eye-blink compared to all the time the Borg had existed. Seven allowed herself a small grin. She finally understood that her unique perspective gave her the upper hand. Now all she needed to do was use it to escape.

"Captain?" the Doctor said.

Janeway looked up from the PADD she'd been reading, containing some of the personal journals of the Hansens. "Hmm?"

"I'd like to suggest some modifications to the com array," he said. "I've studied Seven's cranial schematics, and I've isolated the frequency of her interplexing beacon. When we catch up with the sphere, we might be able to send her a short message."

"And if she's already part of the hive mind by now?" Janeway said.

"Every drone has it's own translink signature, only Seven would be able to hear our message."

"Sounds good," Janeway said. "Get Joe to lend you a hand."

"Thank you Captain," the Doctor said.

While the two men worked near the rear of the Delta Flyer's cabin, Janeway continued reading the journals. Just a minute later, a quiet alarm noise went off, and Ensign Paris told her what it meant.

"I've got a fix on the sphere's location," he said. "It's in a region about two hundred light years from here."

"Red alert," Janeway said. "Bring the multi-adaptive shielding on-line. Set a course for those coordinates and prepare to disengage transwarp drive."

The Delta Flyer exited transwarp, far smoother than it had entered it.

"Holy crap look at the size of that thing," Tom said.

Janeway couldn't help but agree. The structure they were flying towards was definitely Borg, but unlike anything she had ever seen before. "Report," she said.

"I'm detecting thousands of integrated substructures," Tuvok said. "trillions of lifeforms, all Borg."

"There's a cube coming up fast off our port bow," Tom said. The small ship shuddered as the larger Borg one passed it.

"Did they detect us?" Janeway said.

"I do not believe so," Tuvok said.

"Mister Carey, how is the transwarp coil holding up? I want us to be able to get out of here in a hurry if we need to."

"Still solid Captain," Carey said. "The Borg certainly build their stuff to last."

"Any sign of our sphere?" Janeway said.

"Yes ma'am," Tom said. "Its ion signature leads directly to, that really big thing ahead of us."

"Take us in Ensign, minimum thrusters," Janeway said. "Tuvok, begin scanning for Seven."

The diamond had returned to the unicomplex. The Borg Queen spoke to Seven as though the latter had not tried to bash the former's head in mere hours ago.

"I have a task for you," the Queen said. "We're planning to deploy a new method of assimilation designed for highly resistant species. I want you to program the nanoprobes."

"I might be willing to assist in this project," Seven said, "if you can answer a question for me."

"What question would this be? I can sense you have many."

"You claim that you 'put' me on Voyager. Yet you have offered no evidence that this was the case. From my perspective, it would seem that while I may have been selected to act as an avatar for the collective during our dealings with Captain Janeway due to my having been human, that was the sole reason. I do not believe there was any long term plan for me to remain aboard Voyager after they assisted us in fighting Species 8472. Can you convince me otherwise?"

The Queen simply shook her head. "You are not fully returned to the Collective," she said. "As I said, we need your unique perspective to aid us in assimilating humanity. The downside of this however is that you cannot truly understand the machinations we have in play."

"Uh huh," Seven said. "In other words, you made it up to cover for your own errors."

"We do not make errors," the Queen said. "We can only have insufficient information."

"Excuses," Seven said.

"From your small minded point of view," the Queen said. She motioned towards the center of the room. "Interface with the central alcove. Begin programming the nanoprobes. All relevant data will be uploaded to you once you are inside."

Seven of Nine complied, but only because it was clear to her that the Borg Queen was no longer able to read all of her thoughts. She had an idea. It was unlikely to work, but it was her best chance of getting away. The Borg were not what she had thought they were when she was a drone, or even after, during her early days on Voyager when she had wanted to go back to the Collective. Perhaps they never were, or perhaps they had been but lost their way. Regardless, they were a threat to everything she cared about in the here and now, and she had a chance to hurt them.

"You are still torn between your desire to be one with us," the Borg Queen said, "and your loyalty to them. Especially to the one called Samantha Wildman. But don't worry, she will be a part of us in time, and you will be able to hear her voice, forever."

Seven of Nine backed into the alcove, and smiled. As soon as she felt the link begin to connect, she began flooding her mind with every memory she had of Samantha Wildman. If the Borg Queen was going to try and use Sam against Seven, Seven was going to use Sam right back. And as she expected, the drones in the room had no idea how to respond to all the romantic and erotic imagery they were being flooded with.

"What are you doing?" the Borg Queen said, breathing heavily.

"I'm distracting you," Seven said, as her own alcove on the diamond, the one she had set to a gradual overload, one so small it only registered as a minor issue to be repaired later to the drone, exploded.

The Borg Queen screamed in anger as the organic parts of her body were shredded by shrapnel. Seven felt the sting of some piece entering her legs which weren't as protected as the rest of her by the Queen's own alcove, but she bit back her own cry of pain as she pulled out the link and got out of the alcove.

"Giving me your own alcove was your mistake," Seven said, smiling through the pain as blood poured out of her own wounds. "Doing so gave me more access than I would've had from my own." With that Seven ran as fast as she could out the door and into the corridors.

Now, she thought, time to find a probe craft and hijack it. Easier said than done.

"Seven of Nine, we're searching for you, hang on," Janeway said into the com, hoping that it was being received.

After several more tries, she checked her scanners.

"Our transmission is being deflected," she said.

"By whom?" the Doctor said.

"No idea," she said, much to her own frustration.

"Captain," Tuvok said, "I have isolated Seven of Nine's position. She's inside a large infrastructure, approximately six hundred kilometers away. She appears to be moving.

"Set a course Tom," Janeway said.

"On it," Tom said. As they approached, the proximity alert went off. "A cube has altered course. It's heading straight for us."

"They've detected us," Janeway said. "remodulate the shields, begin evasive maneuvers."

The Delta Flyer shuddered slightly.

"Whew, flew right past us," Tom said.

"If they're on to our trick we won't be able to fool their sensors for much longer.," Janeway said. "Tuvok?"

"Seven is moving through a corridor, heading towards a collection of probe ships," Tuvok said. "Her pace suggests she is running."

"Trying to escape maybe?" Carey said.

"That's a good sign if you're right," the Doctor said.

"Janeway to Seven of Nine, can you hear me?" Janeway said, hoping they were close enough to get a signal response.

"Tuvok, can you get a lock on her?"

"Not from this distance."

"Take us to within transporter range," Janeway said.

"Seven of Nine," the Borg Queen's voice said in Seven's head. She tried to ignore it, but no luck. "Return to the central alcove Seven. I have something for you."

"I doubt that very much," she said, not caring if the Borg Queen could hear her back or not.

"Annika Hansen," the Borg Queen said. "We remember you. We always have. Your parents were assimilated too, remember?"

"Kind of hard to forget," Seven said, grunting, the pain in her legs getting worse. So far none of the drones she passed attempted to restrain her. She still thinks she can convince me to work with her, she thought. She is even more delusional that I had first believed.

"Seven of Nine, can you hear us?" Janeway's voice said. Seven could hear her inside her head too, but in a different place; her interplexing beacon.

"Captain, can you hear me?" she said.

"Loud and clear," Janeway said, sounding excited. Part of Seven feared this was a trap, but realized fairly quickly that a trap that clever was beyond what the Borg were capable of now, if ever. "We need you to stay where you are."

Seven looked behind her. A number of drones she had passed had now turned around, and were heading straight for her.

"Not an option," Seven said, moving forward.

"Annika?" another voice said. A male one. Seven stopped in her tracks. It was coming from the place in her head the Borg Queen's voice had come.

"Oh no," Seven said.

"Seven, hang on, we'll try to get you out, but we've got three cubes converging on our position," Janeway said.

"Seven," the Borg Queen said, "come back to the central alcove. Come see your father."

Seven closed her eyes, and gritted her teeth. She wanted so badly to see her father alive again, but she couldn't give in to that temptation.

"I'm sorry Papa," she said, "I wish you could've met Sam. You would love her."

"We believed you would be an asset to us," the Borg Queen said. "We were wrong. You are weak. And now you are responsible for the death of your father." Seven could hear the scream as the Queen painfully terminated the drone that had once been Magnus Hansen. But Seven had a response that even she didn't expect from herself. She laughed.

"You didn't kill him," she said to the Borg Queen. "You set him free."

"What?" the Borg Queen said.

"Thank you," Seven said. "Enjoy your precious Collective. I get the feeling that it won't be around much longer." She allowed the connection with the Queen to expand just a little. She showed the Queen what she had seen, about the mistakes the Borg had been making, how they were getting, to put it bluntly, dumber.

"No," the Queen said. "You are lying to us!"

"How? You're in my head remember?"

Before the Queen could reply, Seven felt the pull of a transporter beam envelop her body, just as the drones who had been coming towards began to lunge forward to grab her, but it was too late for them.

Janeway watched as Seven of Nine materialized near the back of the Delta Flyer's cabin. "We got her," she said. "Tom, get us out of here."

"Don't have to tell me twice," Tom said. The Delta Flyer shuddered, the weapons of the Borg not connecting with them directly, but still affecting the shuttle in their wake.

"She's hurt, Captain," the Doctor said, going to seven with his medkit in hand. Janeway had noticed that Seven's legs were bleeding profusely.

"She'll be able to track us," Seven said. "You have to knock me out and disable my transceiver."

The ship shook, more violently this time.

"Direct hit to our tactical array," Tuvok said. "Our weapons are down."

"Joe, fire up the transwarp coil."

"On it, Captain," Carey said.

"Transwarp in four seconds," Tom said.

If we can hold out that long, Janeway said.

"A vessel entered the conduit with us just before it closed," Tom said. "It's Borg, diamond shaped. Never seen one of those before."

"It's the Borg Queen's personal vessel," Seven said. "I can still hear her."

"I'm working on a powerful enough sedative Seven," the Doctor said. "Just give me a-"

"Wait," Seven said. Janeway looked at Seven who seemed to be gazing intently at the ceiling. Suddenly, Seven closed her eyes and chuckled.

"You, moron," she said.

"Seven?" the Doctor said, sounding worried.

"She still hasn't broken our connection. I can hear her. I can hear every drone on that diamond. And I know their shield modulation frequency and structural weak points."

"Give that data to Tuvok," Janeway said. "Tuvok, once you have it transmit that data to Voyager," Janeway said, "ASAP. Tell them to open fire on whatever comes out of that conduit after us with everything they've got."

"Aye Captain," Tuvok said.

"The diamond is attempting to lock onto us with a tractor beam," Tom said.

"I'm remodulating the shields," Janeway said, "that should hold them off. How long 'til the rendezvous point with Voyager?"

"One minute," Tom said.

The Flyer kept rattling, the combination of it's engine being pushed to their limits and they're being fired upon. Janeway hope the shuttle would hold together just a little while longer.

Seven spoke quietly to herself, or at least that's what it looked like.

"Doctor, what is she doing?"

"Antagonizing the Borg Queen," the Doctor said. "I think she's trying to goad her into making a mistake."

"At this point that's probably going to do more harm than good," Tom said.

"We're coming up on the threshold," Tuvok said.

"Exiting in four, three, two…" Tom said.

Open space filled the viewport. Off in the distance, small but growing larger each second, Voyager.

"Tuvok?" Janeway said.

"Data already sent Captain," Tuvok replied, knowing exactly what she meant. "along with the order to fire at will."

"Tom, make sure we don't get caught in the crossfire," Janeway said.

"Sure, take away all my fun," Tom joked as he maneuvered the Delta Flyer out of the path of where Voyager's phasers and torpedoes would be going.

Another proximity alert went off, but Janeway didn't need to be told what that meant.

"Voyager has opened fire, Captain," Tuvok said. "The Borg diamond has already taken significant damage. It's structural integrity is collapsing. Destruction is imminent."

"Tom, fire a few torpedoes of our own. Let's give the Borg Queen one last little 'up yours' from Starfleet."

"With pleasure ma'am," Tom said, bringing the Delta Flyer about so that the Borg diamond was visible in the viewport, without the aid of sensors. Explosions ran along its structure, large chunk of it flying off into space. A pair of torpedoes flew out from the Flyer herself, hitting the crumbling ship dead center. The Borg vessel was already a lost cause, the last two torpedoes only speeding along the inevitable, but Janeway took a great deal of pleasure in it anyway.

"You know," Joe Carey said, "in all the excitement, I forgot to say welcome back Seven."

"Good to be back, Joe," Seven said, leaning against the bulkhead, and smiling. Janeway looked on her with pride. When she had first brought Seven on board, some had dismissed her as just the Captain's pet project, and maybe to an extent they had been right at the time. Now though, here was someone who had, to paraphrase an old Earth philosopher, stared into the abyss, and laughed.

"Tom," Janeway said, "take us home."

Seven of Nine got up from the biobed slowly. The Doctor had repaired all the damage done to them, but they still felt sore and unsteady. The door to sickbay opened, and Samantha Wildman came running in, nearly knocking over a tray of medical instruments in the process as she grabbed Seven and held her tight in a hug that Seven feared might cut off the blood flow to her brain.

"Don't, scare me like that, again," Sam said, managing to be sad, happy, and angry at the same time in that way that only a human could.

"I don't intend to," Seven said, hugging Sam back. Seven took in a deep breath, and said something that she had not planned on saying at that moment. In fact, she hadn't expected to say it for at least another year. "Marry me," she said. Sam didn't let go of Seven, but she did pull back a little so she could look Seven in the face.

"What?" she said.

"What?" the Doctor said.

Seven considered taking it back, saying that it was just the stress of everything she had been through the past several days No, she thought, it's out there now. Might as well face the consequences. Besides, a no right now would not mean the end of our relationship, simply a desire to keep things from escalating too quickly. A negative response would be disappointing, but completely reasonable.

"Okay," Sam said, smiling.

"I can honestly say I did not see that coming," the Doctor said. "Seven, you're clear to leave. I would advise against doing any running for a day or two, but your legs are in perfect working order otherwise."

"Thank you Doctor," Seven said. "And, thank you for coming to rescue me."

"I'd do the same for any member of the crew," the Doctor said, his smile belying his modesty.

"So," Sam said, "I imagine you won't be referring to yourself as both human and Borg after all this."

"Actually," Seven said, as she leaned back against the biobed. "what I went through has me thinking I'm more of a true Borg than any Borg has been in a long time. I think maybe I represent what the Borg could be in a more ideal universe."

"That's oddly egotistical of you, Seven," the Doctor said.

"A little bit, yeah," Sam said, tilting her head slightly.

"Maybe," Seven said. "but my experience, while unpleasant, was also insightful."

"How so?" the Doctor said.

"I'll need to do more research to be certain Doctor, but if my hypothesis is correct, I believe that the Borg Collective will not be a threat to anyone before long."

"Now this I gotta hear," Sam said as she put a hand on Seven's back. "but later. For now I think you and I have a date with a spa program on the holodeck."

Captain Janeway sat down on her couch in her quarters, a cup of tea instead of coffee this time, and she planned to go to bed as soon as she finished her latest log entry.

"Captain's Log," she said. "Stardate 52619.2. We got another twenty thousand light years out of the transwarp coil before it gave out. I figure we're a good fifteen years closer to home. Unlike the last time we managed to take this large a chunk out of our journey, the crew isn't planning any sort of celebration. Honestly, I think a lot of us are just feeling burned out. This mess with the Borg the past few weeks was certainly trying on everyone to varying degrees.

"Still, some good came out of it. Seven of Nine has updated our records on the Borg with information she gathered during her time in Unimatrix One. Speaking of Seven, word has gotten around about her and Samantha Wildman getting engaged. I have to say, I never saw that coming when I brought her on board. I imagined it would take a long time for her to even start making friends, let alone fall in love.

"That's all stuff I've opined about before though, I'm actually quite happy for them. In a weird way, I feel almost like my own child is getting married. It's silly to think that of course, the age gap between us isn't wide enough for her to be like a daughter to me, but still. I wish them all the best.

"What I do worry about though is that we haven't seen the last of the Borg. The Borg Queen doubtless had contingency plans in place if her body were ever destroyed. Add to that that she seems dangerously obsessed with Seven...

"I suppose we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. As for now, I think the crew has earned some rest."

Janeway put down her now empty cup of tea, and got into bed. "Computer, end log entry."

Chapter Eight

"You've been working on this thing for nearly a month Annie," Samantha Wildman said as she gently massaged Seven's neck. "Are you ever going to tell me what it is?"

Seven leaned back into Sam. "I suppose I have enough of a working hypothesis now," she said. "Remember what I said about a month ago, about how I realized that the Borg weren't what I thought they were?"

"You've mentioned it a few times," Sam said. "I recall you using the words 'increasingly incompetent.'"

"Well, I have been going over my own memories from when I was a drone, the new data I collected from the Unicomplex before the Captain and her team rescued me, as well as Starfleet's own records. I've even added some information we've picked up from other species along the way to the Alpha Quadrant."

"And?" Sam said, curious where this was going.

"And I think I can confirm my theory that the Borg are degrading. And not just in terms of intelligence. Their ships have shown a reduction in the amount of time it takes to adapt and regenerate. It's gradual enough that no one would put it together unless they looked at the data collected over the course of seven years from multiple sources."

"Seven years?" Sam said, surprised. That seemed like an awfully short amount of time for a force as massive as the Borg to suddenly start faceplanting.

"Yes," Seven said. "I have narrowed down the date when the degradation starts to just after Stardate 45635.2."

"So, why are you still working on your theory then?"

"I have a what and a when, but not a why, how, or who" Seven said. "That's what is so strange about this. I have gone over my own Borg memories of that date, as well as Starfleet archives, and I can find nothing that would explain this. What I do have however are holes." Seven rubbed her eyes. "And to make it worse, whenever it seems like I'm getting close to a clue my mind starts to wander, and I end up taking in a game of velocity with the Captain, or Kadis-Kot with Naomi instead until something else reminds me to keep looking."

Sam picked up one of the multiple PADDs that Seven had been working on and glanced at the information on the screen.

"Honey," she said, "why do you have information on the Deltan homeworld called up?"

"I do?" Seven said. This had Sam concerned. Seven of Nine was not a generally forgetful person. She could lose track of time while focusing on a task certainly, but this was different.

"Yeah," Sam said, handing the PADD to Seven.

Seven took it, and started scrolling the information she'd called up. "Interesting," she said. "around that same stardate, there were reports of unexplained deaths on the Deltan homeworld, as well as signs of debris from wrecked Borg ships and destroyed drones. Yet, no one seems to remember there actually being a Borg attack there. For that matter, I don't either, and I can still remember every encounter the Borg had during my time as a drone."

"Okay," Sam said, 'this is getting spooky, because I don't remember anything about this either. Something that big would've left an impression. I certainly remember Wolf 359, and that wasn't over a major Federation member race's home planet."

"So," Seven said, "there was a Borg attack in the Alpha Quadrant, against the Federation, that no one on either side remembers or can confirm happened. This is even bigger than I'd realized."

"Bigger," Sam agreed, "and scarier. I'm not sure I'm comfortable with you pursuing this anymore Annie."

Seven of Nine put down the PADD, and actually shivered, the first time Sam had ever seen her do that. "Yeah," she said, "neither am I. On the bright side however, at least if the rate of degradation in the Borg I discovered continues, they won't be a threat to anyone before long. The past two years alone suggest an exponential increase. They may well become a non-issue to the galaxy before Voyager even returns to the Alpha Quadrant."

"That's something I guess," Sam said, resting her head on Seven's back. "though hopefully whatever's doing this to the Borg doesn't come for us next."

Seven groaned. "I hadn't thought of that," she said. "that's going to give me nightmares in my next few regeneration cycles."

"I understand there was an altercation with the Doctor," Tuvok said.

"Yeah," B'Elanna Torres admitted. She didn't want to be here, but Chakotay had ordered her to, in the hopes that the Vulcan could teach her some meditation techniques to help her control her temper. She didn't think she needed it, her temper had been held in check quite well these past few years, as far as she was concerned. There had been lapses sure; the odd shouting match with Seven of Nine, for instance. This incident where she managed to break the EMH's holo-camera was just one of them, and it was not likely to happen again.

Tuvok turned around, holding a Vulcan oil lamp.

"This flame," he said, "like emotion, is a primitive force."

"I see we're getting straight to it then," B'Elanna said. "Good."

"Flame and emotion, left unchecked, are chaotic and destructive. Controlled however, are powerful tools. This lamp controls flame, much as you must learn to control your emotions."

"It would shock you to learn, Tuvok, that I am in better control of my emotions than you think. I did politely ask the Doctor to leave engineering several times, but he ignored my request. I shouldn't have broken his camera, I'll accept that, but my anger was not unjustified. Simply, misapplied."

Tuvok nodded. "An understatement," he said. "but accurate, Lieutenant. It is also good that you apologized and replicated him a new camera. However, this incident is far from your first. You have shown considerable improvement since you first joined this crew, no one disputes that. The Commander and I merely agree that you can do even better."

"Well," B'Elanna said, looking at the flickering flame of the lamp more than Tuvok. "I suppose it could be worse then."

"Indeed," Tuvok said. "The point of this exercise however is not to atone for past transgressions. It is to prevent future ones."

B'Elanna sighed. "I sincerely doubt you'd be able to purge all emotion from me, even if you tried," she said.

"I would not attempt to do so," Tuvok said. "A common misconception about Vulcans is that we do not have emotions. That is not the case. We simply must control them or-"

"I know," B'Elanna said. "my mother told me about the Romulans. I know all too well what happens to Vulcans who can't or won't control their emotions."

"A simplification of history, but also accurate. Now, may we begin?"

B'Elanna sighed again. "Are my eyes supposed to be open or closed for this part?"

"Whichever allows you to focus your mind," Tuvok said.

B'Elanna nodded. She didn't want to go along with this, still, but she wasn't going to take it out on Tuvok. She took in a deep calming breath, and closed her eyes.

"Envision the flame burning within you," Tuvok said. "The flame grows hotter. A point of white light. Follow it backward, through the years, to a time when you were a child. Try to remember a time when you experienced uncontrollable anger."

B'Elanna thought about it for a moment, and a memory came back to her so vividly it shocked her into opening her eyes and just blurting out a name.

"Daniel Byrd," she said. "There's a name I haven't thought of in a long time."

"Who was he?" Tuvok said.

"He was one of my classmates in grammar school."

"A friend?"

"No. He was always terrorizing me. He used to point at my cranial ridges and tease me about being half-Klingon. He called me Miss Turtlehead."

"That angered you," Tuvok said. It was not a question.

"Yes," B'Elanna said. "So I attacked him once, during recess, on the gyro-swing. I disengaged the centrifugal governor. He was spinning so fast he almost flew apart." B'Elanna felt the grin on her face. She knew it probably didn't look good that she was smiling at a child's misfortune but the way Daniel had treated her… "I yanked him off the swing," she continued, "and started punching him over and over. If Miss Melvin hadn't shown up, I probably would've-"

"Describe the anger you felt at that moment," Tuvok said.

B'Elanna found the interruption rude, but didn't say anything. "I wanted to hurt him. To take revenge for the humiliation he'd caused me."

"Your anger was a source of strength," Tuvok said. "It protected you, gave you courage."

"I suppose it did," B'Elanna said, surprised by the statement. It almost sounded like Tuvok was saying that anger was a good thing, which would contradict why she was here in the first place. There's got to be more to this, she thought.

"When the Doctor tried to take a holo-photograph of you?" he said.

"I was annoyed," B'Elanna said, feeling tense and uncomfortable now. "Like I said. He kept getting in the way."

"The rage within you runs deep," Tuvok said. "It's been with you for many years. You are easily provoked, and must learn to master your emotions. Was what the Doctor was doing really worse than attempting to humiliate a child?"

Damn, she thought, he's right.

"So what you're telling me is I need perspective," she said aloud. "Yeah, you're right."

The familiar beep of a communications channel opening interrupted the quiet moment.

"Bridge to Tuvok," Captain Janeway's voice said. "We've received a distress call. We're on our way to help, but we don't know who the distress beacon belongs to or the state of the emergency. I need all hands on deck."

"I'm on my way, Captain," Tuvok said. "I'm afraid our session is over for the time being, Lieutenant."

"Yeah. I'll get down to engineering. If we've got a rescue mission on our hands we'll need all available personnel."

The viewscreen looked at first as if it was filled with debris, but when Harry Kim magnified the image, she could see that there was no debris to speak of, but a lot of small craft.

"Escape pods?" she said.

"Correct," Tuvok said. "Thirty-seven to be precise."

"Captain," Harry said from his console, "the pods all appear to be contaminated with heavy amounts of theta radiation."

"Theta?" Janeway said. That much theta radiation, out here in the Delta Quadrant, meant these pods most likely belonged to the Malon.

"Malon?" Tom said. "Seriously? Just how far spread out are these people? Shouldn't they be like, seventeen years behind us at this point?"

Janeway agreed with the sentiment, but while past encounters with the Malon had always ended in hostility, she wasn't just going to leave these pods out here all alone. "Lifesigns?" she said.

"Two," Harry said, "but they're erratic."

"Only two, out of thirty-seven?" Chakotay said.

"I'm afraid so," Harry said.

"Beam them to sickbay," Janeway said. "Initiate biohazard containment procedures."

"Theta radiation has affected a radius of six hundred million kilometers," Tuvok said.

"Source?" Janeway said, though she already had an idea.

"A Malon freighter travelling at high impulse," Tuvok said. "It appears to be abandoned."

Janeway nodded, and stood up. "All right," she said. "Tuvok, come with me. We're going to meet our guests in sick bay. Chakotay, the bridge is yours."

"Aye, Captain," Chakotay said.

Janeway and Tuvok got in one of the turbolifts quickly made their way to sickbay, where the Doctor was already scanning two unconscious Malon lying in bio-beds.

"Do we know what happened to their ship?" the Doctor asked when he saw Janeway and Tuvok enter. "Were they attacked?"

"We're just as curious as you are," Janeway said. "Can you revive either of them?" The Doctor nodded, and walked over to the one on Janeway's right, putting a hypospray against his neck. The Malon's eyes opened, and he looked around without trying to get up.

"I'm Captain Kathryn Janeway," she said.

"Fesek," the Malon said, coughing. "Controller Fesek. Where am I?"

"You're on my vessel," Janeway said. "We responded to your distress call."

"My ship?"

"It's heavily damaged."

"Where?"

"Three million kilometers from here," Tuvok said.

"That's too close," Fesek said, starting to sound panicky. "We need to get further away," He tried to sit up, his breathing strained.

"Calm down," Janeway said, grabbing his arm, and forcing him back down onto the bio-bed. Despite the clear size advantage he had over her, he was too weak to resist. "Tell me what happened to your ship. Why did you abandon it?"

"We were on a waste export mission," Fesek said, trying to sit up again, more slowly this time. "Two of the theta tanks ruptured. Systems malfunctioned one by one. Communications, navigation, propulsion; we had no choice. Radiation was venting from every port. Over sixty crewmen died within minutes. It was chaos. We stumbled through the gas to get to the escape pods. Only a few of us made it."

Fesek glanced over, and saw the other Malon in the other bed. He looked around, frowning. "Where are the others?" he said.

Janeway sighed. She hated giving this kind of news. "The two of you were the only ones we found alive," she said.

Fesek slowly got up out of his bio-bed, and walked around to the other side of the other bed to stand by his crewmate. "Listen to me very carefully," he said. "The fact that we're still here means the ship hasn't exploded. Yet. When it does, over four trillion iso-tons of antimatter waste is going to ignite. Everything within three light years will be destroyed."

Janeway slapped her combadge so hard it nearly fell off. "Janeway to the Bridge," she said. "put at least five light years between us and the Malon freighter, quickly."

"Understood," Chakotay's voice replied.

"Send out a sector-wide alert," Janeway continued. "Warn any other ships in the vicinity to evacuate immediately."

As soon as she got out the last syllable, the ship lurched violently.

"Bridge, what happened?"

"Our warp field just collapsed Captain," Tom's voice said.

"All this theta radiation is disrupting subspace," Harry's voice said.

The ship shook again.

"Without warp drive," Janeway said, "there's no chance we'll clear the blast radius."

"Agreed," Tuvok said.

"Ensign Paris, set a course for the Malon freighter, full impulse."

"Aye, Captain," Tom said.

"What?" Fesek said, sounding angry as well as surprised.

"If we can't outrun your ship maybe we can disable it," Janeway said.

"Every deck is contaminated," Fesek said. "Anyone who boards that ship will liquefy in minutes."

"We'll find a way," Janeway said.

"We?" Fesek said. "I'm not going anywhere near that vessel."

"You can either stay and help us or I'll send you back to your escape pod," Janeway said. It was harsh, perhaps even unfair, and she expected that both Tuvok and Chakotay would want to have words with her about in private, but Fesek was the commander of that ship, he would know it better than anyone and they would need his help to avert this disaster. "Your choice."

Fesek grunted, but didn't protest any further.

"Clean them up Doctor," Janeway said, turning around to head for the exit. "I need them on the bridge."

"Right away, Captain," the Doctor said to her as she left, Tuvok right behind her.

B'Elanna stood at the auxiliary tactical station where Seven of Nine usually stood when an extra hand was needed on the bridge because it afforded her a better view of the viewscreen than her auxiliary engineering console. Luckily, Seven was in a regeneration cycle and wouldn't mind.

"How long until those tanks explode?" Janeway asked her.

"Approximately six hours," B'Elanna said.

"Can we get an away team on board?" Janeway asked Tuvok.

"The freighter's hull is intact," Tuvok said, "and life support appears to be operational. However, thirty-three of forty-two decks are flooded with high levels of theta radiation."

Fesek walked past B'Elanna, nearly bumping into her in the process.

The meditations with Tuvok must be working already, she thought. I don't feel like punching him at all.

"The control room," he said "where we would have to go to reestablish containment is one of those thirty-three decks. As I told you-"

"We could beam onto one of the lower levels," B'Elanna said, doing the Captain a favor as she had doubtless heard this guy's routine more than once since this mission became official. "where there's less radiation and vent the contaminated sections one by one."

"That would easily clear a path to the control room," Chakotay said to Fesek.

Fesek looked at both of them, then turned to face Janeway, "I appreciate what you are trying to do, Captain," he said. "But if what you're considering were possible we'd have tried it before abandoning ship. We have years of experience aboard freighters of this class."

B'Elanna rolled her eyes. The Melon's theta radiation dumping practices were what caused this mess in the first place after all. And just how the hell are we even running into Malon this far away from where we last encountered them? she thought. We've been through slipstream and transwarp conduits since then, are they using wormholes to dump their garbage again? Shame that if there is one here it'd be going back the opposite direction we came from.

"Maybe there's another way," the other Malon, Pelk, said.

"I'm listening," Janeway said.

"Four hours from here there's a nebula that could protect us from the blast," Pelk said.

"An excellent suggestion," Fesek said.

Janeway shook her head. "There are at least three other ships in the sector," she said. "What about them?"

"I don't see what we can do," Fesek said.

"So hundreds of people become contaminated because you're not willing to clean up your garbage," B'Elanna said through clenched teeth.

"Lieutenant," Janeway said sternly.

B'Elanna took a small step back, and tried to calm down, but she felt her anger here was righteous. She wasn't going to hit this Malon, or his companion. She was going to do as Tuvok suggested. She would direct that anger into the task at hand. She was going to stop that freighter from exploding. All she needed was a way on.

"Assemble an away team," Janeway said to Chakotay. "we're going over there."

"Wait," Pelk said, sounding suddenly worried. Pelk turned to face Fesek. "Tell them about the Vihaar."

"What's he talking about?" Janeway said.

"Nothing," Fesek said. "It's a myth."

"What kind of myth?" Chakotay said.

Of course Chakotay wants to know about the myth, B'Elanna thought.

"It's an old story shared among freighter crews," Fesek said. "Some of them say they've seen creatures in the theta storage tanks."

B'Elanna glanced at Janeway, and could tell from the look on the Captain's face the two of them were thinking the same thing.

"Creatures?" Chakotay said.

"Created by radiogenic waste," Fesek said, giving Pelk a dismissive look, like a parent would give to a child telling them about their imaginary friend. "According to the legend, they are venomous monsters that wreak havoc aboard Malon ships. It's a common belief among our more superstitious recruits."

I don't even like Pelk and I'm annoyed by the way Fesek talks down to him, B'Elanna thought.

"I never believed it myself," Pelk said, "but during the evacuation some of the crew people saw something, a form."

"Hallucinations are one of the first symptoms of theta poisoning, you know that," Fesek said.

"Maybe," Pelk said, "but how do you explained what happened? We checked every system."

Fesek had no response to that. Janeway still clearly didn't believe it, and neither did B'Elanna deep down, but a little voice in the back of her mind scolded her. We've seen stranger things out here haven't we?

"This chamber seems to be least affected by radiation," Chakotay said as he and Fesek worked on a monitor in engineering. "We can beam in there."

"That's fifteen decks below the control room," Pelk said.

"We'll have to work our way up," Chakotay said. He didn't like it either, but it seemed to be the best option. His main concern right now was B'Elanna. After only one session with Tuvok she already seemed to be doing better, not directly antagonizing the Malon, but she did still throw a quick jibe in their direction during the briefing. He couldn't afford not to have her on the away team, her skill as an engineer was too valuable, and Seven of Nine was still not fully charged.

"The pressurization systems are offline," Fesek said. "How will we vent the gas?"

"There are two main airlocks on each deck," Chakotay heard Neelix say. He turned, surprised. he hadn't even know the Talaxian had come to engineering. "You could open them as you go. Perform a series of controlled decompressions."

"Good thinking, Neelix," B'Elanna said.

"What's to stop us from being vented?" Pelk said.

"Force field," Neelix responded immediately. "I spent six years aboard a garbage scow once after I fled Talax. I know a thing or two about waste management."

"Even low levels of theta radiation can be lethal," Pelk said. Chakotay wondered how much of this was genuine concern about the radiation, and how much was fear of this supposed creature in the theta tanks.

"Our Doctor's developed an inoculation," Chakotay said. "It's based in large part on the work of a Doctor Ma'Bor Jetrel who developed an inoculation for metreon radiation several years ago. It'll temporarily prevent our cells from absorbing the radiation."

"How long will it last?" Fesek said.

"Two to three hours," Chakotay said.

"Half of the doors are fused, the ascenders are offline," Pelk said. "It could take us twice as long as that to reach the control room."

"Then we'll have to work quickly," Chakotay said. "We'll take phasers to cut through any obstacles. Neelix, since you're here, and you have experience on such ships I'd like you to join the mission."

"As a matter of fact Commander," Neelix said, "I came down here so I could offer my services. Count me in."

"I've ordered my men to do a lot of risky things," Fesek said, "but nothing as foolish as this."

"Your concerns are noted," Chakotay said. "Get yourself inoculated, and report to transporter room one." The two Malon left, Neelix following close behind. B'Elanna started to follow them too, but Chakotay stopped her.

"B'Elanna," he said, "I know you don't like them. You've been giving them the side eye ever since they got here. But can you control your temper long enough to get this done without exploding yourself?"

"I can," B'Elanna said, determination in her eyes. Chakotay nodded, and got out of her way, following her out of engineering and headed to sickbay for inoculation.

The transporter beam finished it's work, and B'Elanna looked around the grim, dark corridor of the Malon freighter.

Charming place, she thought. She took a quick look to make sure everyone else on the team had arrived. Chakotay, Neelix, and the two Malon were all accounted for.

"Well," Neelix said, looking around,"it's nothing a fresh coat of paint wouldn't brighten up."

"This way," Fesek said, heading down another corridor.

B'Elanna looked at her tricorder readings. "Theta radiation density twenty million E.V. per cubic meter," she said. "Structural integrity is holding." She began coughing. The air in the freighter wasn't poisonous, so long as the inoculation held, but it was very unpleasant.

"I wish I could say the same for my lungs," Chakotay said, coughing himself.

As the away team made their way down the corridor, a small explosion came from seemingly nothing on a nearby wall.

"What was that?" Neelix said.

"This corridor is filled with methogenic particles," Chakotay said, looking at his own tricorder. "It's highly charged."

His tricorder made a loud noise before another explosion went off, behind the team this time.

"Shit," B'Elanna muttered, "Something's causing an electrostatic cascade." A third explosion. Once she realized what was happening she closed her tricorder quickly. "Our scanning signals are igniting the particles."

Chakotay closed his tricorder quickly and returned it to his belt. "All right, no tricorders then," he said. "That's going to make this a little harder, but we can still do this. Carry on."

Fesek and Pelk led them the rest of the way to an airlock control panel. After a few button pushes, Fesek groaned. "Control mechanisms are down," he said. "We're going to have to open the airlocks manually. Wait here, we'll take care of this."

"B'Elanna," Chakotay said, "go with them."

"We can do this ourselves," Fesek said, sounding insulted.

"I'd prefer to keep an eye on your progress," Chakotay said.

"You're on my freighter, I'm in charge here," Fesek said.

"Is this really the time for a dick measuring contest?" B'Elanna said.

"You abandoned ship remember?" Chakotay said, ignoring B'Elanna's crude comment. "You take your orders from me. The Captain put me in charge of this mission. Understood?"

Fesek closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and continued speaking.

"We'll have to crawl into an injector port," he said, "It's only big enough for two people."

"Pelk will stay with us," Chakotay said.

Fesek looked like he was going to protest, but B'Elanna cut him off.

"Shall we?" she said. Fesek shrugged in resignation, and headed down yet another corridor. B'Elanna followed him.

This mission can't end soon enough, she thought. Once they got to the injector port, Fesek immediately climbed it on all fours. B'Elanna followed.

"How can you stand to work in these conditions?" she said.

"You think we're animals don't you?" Fesek said.

"I don't like how you do things," B'Elanna said. "Earlier this year we ran into another Malon freighter, our first one. We offered them technology that would make the process of dealing with theta radiation waste safer, but the captain threw it in our faces, said there was no profit in it, and tried to kill us."

"I was not aware of that," Fesek said. "I've never heard of Voyager until you rescued us."

"Considering how spread out your people seem to be," B'Elanna said, "that actually doesn't surprise me."

"I suppose I can understand your antagonism towards us then," Fesek said, "though just one-"

"I said that was our first, not our only one," B'Elanna said. "Second time, a Malon freighter tried to steal one of Voyager's long range probes on its return trip to us. Damn near destroyed it and themselves chasing it into a gas giant."

Fesek actually let out a short, sharp laugh at that. "That crew deserved what they got if they risked their ship for one probe. I don't care how advanced your technology is, that was just stupid."

"On that," B'Elanna said, "we agree."

"You know," Fesek continued speaking as he crawled, "I'm only a waste-controller half of the year. I'm a sculptor the rest of the time. I give up half of my time doing a job I love in order to expose myself to radiation that will likely cut my lifespan in half."

"Hmm," was all B'Elanna had in response to that, wondering where this was going.

"Have you ever been to Malon Prime?"

"Nope."

"It's a remarkable place. Our planet would choke with industrial waste if it weren't for the sacrifices of people like me. When we return to Voyager, give me those schematics you say your first Malon Captain threw in your face. I am not so greedy that I would ignore such an opportunity."

B'Elanna nodded. "Okay," she said. "But be careful Fesek."

"About what?"

"Keep this up, and I might actually start liking you."

Fesek laughed, as he reached towards something and pushed it down. "Manual actuators," he said, crawling forward to push down another. "I'll release them, you monitor the pressure variance."

"Got it," B'Elanna said, taking a device out of her kit to do just that. Not as good as a tricorder would be, but less likely to trigger an explosion as it's scanning beam was shorter and used less power.

"Ready," Fesek said, as he pushed down the last two actuators.

"Torres to Chakotay," B'Elanna said after tapping her combadge, "Stand by for the decompression sequence."

"Acknowledged," Chakotay said.

Fesek grunted as he lifted two levers on the bulkhead next to them. A loud clanking noise followed, but that was followed by nothing,

"It didn't work," B'Elanna said.

"There's something jamming the airlock controls," Fesek said.

"Torres to Chakotay," B'Elanna said, reopening the channel. "We've got a problem. The actuators aren't working. Somebody's going to have to go up there and take a look."

"That deck is still contaminated," she heard Neelix say.

"I'll go," Pelk said. "I've been exposed to worse. It's probably just the decouplers."

"Here," Neelix said, "let me double up your inoculation, maybe that will help."

"The decouplers are always getting encrusted with oxides," Pelk continued.

"Good luck," Chakotay said.

"And now, the waiting game," B'Elanna said, sighing.

Chakotay heard screaming, coming from the direction Pelk had just gone in. He and Neelix ran that way, both knowing they risked exposure that not even the inoculation could help but they weren't just going to abandon their teammate.

It turned out, they did not need to. Pelk crawled, looking wounded through the door to the next level and collapsed in front of them. "I saw it," he kept saying, his voice hoarse.

"Saw what?" Chakotay said, although he had a suspicion he already knew.

"I saw it. The creature," Pelk said, before falling unconscious.

"Give me twenty CCs of anesthizine," Neelix said. Chakotay handed Neelix the hypospray, and tapped his combadge.

"Chakotay to Voyager, transporter status," he said.

Harry Kim's voice responded, garbled but understandable. "Still too much interference," he said. "I'm trying to compensate. Stand by."

As Lieutenant Kim stopped speaking, he heard B'Elanna's voice. "What happened?" she said, as she and Fesek came around the corner.

"We don't know," Neelix said. "He was gone for about a minute when we heard screaming. We found him here."

"These look like chemical burns," Fesek said, looking at the injuries of Pelk's face.

"Without tricorders it's hard to make a diagnosis," Neelix said.

Pelk's eyes opened lazily. "It's here," he said.

"What?" Fesek said.

"The creature."

"You're hallucinating. It's the radiation. But you're going to be all right."

"No," Pelk said, sounding like he was trying to shout. "It attacked me. It a-"

Pelk began gasping, his head jerked back.

"He's going into shock," Neelix said. "Get me a cortical stimulator."

"Pelk, get up!" Fesek shouted. Pelk let out one last groan, then fell unconscious again as Neelix applied the cortical stimulator to his forehead.

"He's not responding," Neelix said.

Fesek frowned. He touched Pelk's forehead with his middle finger, then his own, before standing up, looking around, as if trying to find someone to blame for what had happened. Chakotay took it as a good sign that he didn't seem to blame them for it though.

"He said the creature attacked him," Chakotay said.

"He imagined it," Fesek said, sounding more like he was trying to convince himself than the away team. "He was probably scalded when that conduit ruptured."

Chakotay looked where Fesek was pointing, and shook his head. "He was coming from the opposite direction when we found him," he said.

"Kim to away team," Harry's still garbled voice came over their combadges. It actually sounded worse now, but at least they could still hear him at all. "transporter interference is clear. We're locked on to your coordinates. Stand by."

"Harry," Chakotay said, "Pelk is dead. Lock on to his signal and beam him to sickbay. Ask the Doctor to determine the cause of death."

"Aye sir," Harry said. Only a second later, Pelk's body was enveloped in a transporter beam.

"Someone still needs to get up there and open the airlocks," Chakotay said, not happy about losing a team member, but knowing he had to soldier on if they were going to pull this off.

"Me," Fesek said, anger in his voice. He didn't even wait for anyone to respond before he headed towards the level.

"Hang on," Chakotay said, grabbing Fesek's arm. "I'll go with you. From now on, no one works alone."

The image of the still moving, still leaking Malon freighter took up much of the viewscreen, the green glow of its theta radiation clouds combined with the low light of the bridge in red alert mode creating an ominous feeling that hit Janeway as soon as she exited her ready room.

"Progress?' she said.

"They've vented five decks, ten to go," Harry said.

"At this rate," Tuvok said, "they'll reach the control room in approximately three hours. However, the storage tanks will rupture in less than two."

"Not to mention the inoculation might not hold out that long," Janeway said. "That's why I've been working on a contingency plan. There's an O-type star nearby. If the freighter exploded within the corona, it might absorb the radiation."

"The star is not in the freighter's trajectory," Tuvok said.

"But if we gave it a little nudge?"

"A series of carefully timed tractor pulses could alter the freighter's course," Tuvok said. "Given the vessel's weakened state however, one miscalculation could set off the explosions."

Janeway nodded. "I'm still counting on the away team to succeed," she said, "but I wanna be ready with Plan B if they don't. Get Seven of Nine to help with the calculations. I know she's still got some time left in her cycle but she should be charged enough. Send Sam to grab her.

Seven of Nine stepped out of her alcove, her regeneration cycle complete. This one had seemed shorter than usual, and the chronometer confirmed it; she had awoken two hours sooner than she was supposed to, She also noticed the red alert lights were on, but no alarm sounds. Apparently she had missed something rather important.

"Rise and shine sweetie," she heard a familiar, welcome voice say.

"Good morning, Sam," she said, smiling.

"Brought you breakfast," Sam said. "Neelix added a new spice to the recipe for leola root soup. It's actually good now, believe it or not."

"I suppose I can risk it," Seven said.

"You'll have to make it quick, Commander Tuvok needs you in astrometrics as soon as you've eaten."

"Ah, so that's why I came out of the regeneration cycle early," Seven said.

"Yeah, I'm afraid I was sent to fetch you. We've got a situation with a Malon freighter."

"Malon?" Seven said, genuinely shocked. "This far from where we last encountered them?"

"You're not the first person to point that out, believe me," Sam said, handing Seven a bowl with a lid and a metal spoon atop it. "

Sam filled Seven in as quickly as she could on the situation while Seven ate. It bothered Seven somewhat that she had 'slept' through all of that, and also that no one had thought to bring her in to consult on the situation. She said as much to Sam.

"Maybe they figured they had it handled," Sam said. "And so far it looks like they do, but the Captain's decided to make a Plan B, just in case something goes sideways."

"It would've been wise for her to do so from the beginning," Seven said. Sam nodded.

"No argument here," she said. "but not much point in dwelling on that now though. I'm headed to the bridge. I'll see you when this is all over." She gave Seven a quick kiss before heading out.

Seven smiled, then looked down at her now nearly empty bowl of soup. "Interesting," she said to herself. "It actually is good now."

"I don't know about the rest of you," B'Elanna said as the away team made their way down another corridor on the Malon freighter, "but I am looking forward to a good sonic shower when this is all over."

"I prefer water," Neelix said. "I'd like to soak in a hot bath for a day or two after this mission that's for sure."

"Oh not me," B'Elanna said. "I wanna feel those sonic pulses dissolving every last atom of this grime off my body."

"We have a decontamination bay on board," Fesek said. "It can purge over fifty workers at a time."

B'Elanna snorted. "That sounds like fun," she said, rolling her eyes. Suddenly, she started coughing violently, each cough making her stomach feel like it was being punched. She leaned against a nearby column.

"B'Elanna?" Neelix asked, concern in his voice.

"I'm fine," B'Elanna said, "just a little light headed."

"Oh, your hand," Neelix said, sounding shocked. B'Elanna looked at it, and right there on the top of her hand, somehow having escaped her notice until Neelix had seen it, her skin looked like it has bubbled up in patches, around those bubbles the skin was red. Fesek moved her sweat soaked hair away from one cheek.

"There too," he said. "Freighter blight. From the prolonged exposure."

"Lovely," B'Elanna said.

"In my business," Fesek said, "It's an occupational hazard."

"We better try inoculating you again," Neelix said.

"If she's blistering," Fesek said, "she's already received a fatal dose of radiation. She needs treatment."

"I'll live," B'Elanna said. She had no intention of giving up now, especially not when they needed her engineering prowess to finish the mission. Filling in Carey, or Vorik, or anyone else on her team on what they needed to know to finish the job would take too long. "Let's keep moving."

"We have medicines in the infirmary," Fesek said, sounding insistent. "It's only two sections from here."

"We don't have time for a detour," B'Elanna said.

"B'Elanna, go with him," Chakotay said. "We'll meet you outside the control room."

B'Elanna started to protest, but Chakotay cut her off. "Go," he said, in that tone that made it clear that arguing with him wasn't going to accomplish anything. Fesek started heading towards the infirmary, and reluctantly, she followed him, leaving Chakotay and Neelix behind. Fesek's claim that it was close proved to be accurate as it took barely a few minutes to get there. Fesek opened the creaky hatch and B'Elanna stepped in, sweeping over the place with the flashlight on her wrist.

"This is the infirmary?" she said. "Looks more like a morgue."

Fesek ignored the comment, and began looking for something. B'Elanna saw a dead Malon on a medical bed in the center of the room. He looked like he had similar blisters to her own, but much worse and covering his whole face.

"What happened to him?"

"He was being treated for long term exposure," Fesek said. "He was a core laborer. They work closest to the tanks. Only three out of ten core laborers ever survive their first mission, but they also make the most money of any of us. More than I'll probably ever see in a lifetime. Or their families will, in cases such as him. The medical staff obviously chose to leave him behind when they evacuated. Either out of panic, or believing there was nothing more they could do for him, I don't know."

"You really mean it about taking those waste treatment schematics I told you about?"

"Yes," Fesek said, holding up a nasty looking device with two long, sharp protrusions coming out of it in her direction.

"Whoa, what the hell is that?" she said.

"It's a subdermal injector," Fesek said after a small pause, seeming surprised that B'Elanna didn't instantly recognize it. "It contain analeptic compounds to reverse the cell damage."

"Okay, I don't like the idea of something that long and that sharp going anywhere near me," B'Elanna said.

"I won't hurt you. It will sting of course, but I've done this a hundred times. Once it starts working you will feel a slight burning sensation."

"Okay, fine, let's just get it over worth," B'Elanna said, closing her eyes as she felt the needles on the Malon device pierce the skin on the back of her neck,

Seven of Nine, working in the astrometrics lab, completed her work fairly quickly on the Plan B that the Captain had proposed. She put the information on a PADD and handed it to Tuvok to take to Captain Janeway.

"I've calculated the inertial force required to divert the freighter," she said.

"I will bring this to the Captain immediately," Tuvok said.

"Also," Seven said, finishing up work on another PADD. "take her this. A Plan C. Shield modifications that should reduce the structural damage to Voyager, as well as protecting the crew against theta radiation poisoning if we fail."

"A wise precaution," Tuvok said, looking over the data on the Plan C PADD. "With any luck we will not be needing it."

"I didn't think Vulcans believed in luck," Seven said.

"As a rule we don't," Tuvok said. "But serving with Captain Janeway has taught me otherwise.

"She does seem to succeed more often than random chance would allow," Seven said. "I'll factor that into my calculations."

"Is there a Plan D?" Tuvok said.

"No," Seven said. Tuvok nodded and left astrometrics. "Unless you count curling up next to my loved ones and waiting for death," she added as soon as the door slid shut.

"Initiation decompression sequences, deck four!" Fesek yelled. The away team was running now, barely taking time to catch their breath between ventings. B'Elanna knew they were running out of time, but she wasn't ready to give up just yet. It had barely taken a few minutes to start feeling better after the treatment she'd received in the infirmary. The Malon had some solid radiation poisoning treatment techniques, she had to give them that much.

"Deck clear!" Fesek said after several seconds.

"Twelve down, three to go," Neelix said, already running towards the next destination, Chakotay at his side, Fesek and B'Elanna following close behind. An alarm started going off, and everyone stopped in their tracks. B'Elanna ran back to the console Fesek had just used.

"Dammit, the air locks are opening on this deck!" she said.

"What?" Fesek said, shocked. B'Elanna couldn't blame him, she wouldn't be too happy with herself if this had been her blunder. A loud whooshing noise filled the deck as air began escaping from where they were.

"The force fields," Neelix yelled over the combined noise of whooshing air and alarm klaxons, "where are they!?"

"Off line!" B'Elanna said.

"We've got to get off this deck. Move, go!" Chakotay yelled.

"This way," Fesek said, heading towards a wall with a ladder going up bolted to it. Everyone followed him up, as the air got thinner and thinner. Fesek stopped running once they were safely on the next deck. Neelix stopped as well to catch his breath, while B'Elanna started coughing. She turned around, and saw that Chakotay wasn't with them.

"Chakotay?!" she called out. No response.

"He was right behind me," Neelix said.

B'Elanna slapped her combadge and called for the Commander, but no response. She started to head back but Fesek grabbed her.

"That deck is vacuum by now," he said.

"Torres to Voyager," B'Elanna said. "Lock on to Chakotay's signal and beam him to sick bay. Now."

Silence followed for a few seconds, then she heard Harry's voice.

"We got him. He's okay."

B'Elanna was relieved that he was alive, but more than that she was angry, and she turned that anger on Fesek.

"I thought you said that deck was secure!" B'Elanna said, shoving Fesek.

"It was," Fesek said defensively.

"Then why were we just almost killed?"

"I don't know," Fesek said.

"You screwed up and the commander almost got killed!" B'Elanna said, her fist clenched, her rage boiling inside her.

"I didn't do anything at that console I hadn't done the eleven times before it," Fesek said, his own raising now.

"Calm down, both of you!" Neelix shouted. "We do not have time to argue about what happened. We've got to keep moving."

Fesek didn't say anything, he simply walked past B'Elanna towards the next corridor they need to go to, all but shoving her aside as he did so. She nearly attacked him right then and there, but remember what Tuvok had said to her earlier that day, and tried to calm herself as she walked. Unfortunately, she imagined that would be difficult even if she hadn't already nearly met her end by way of radiation poisoning today.

While Janeway was doing some additional work on her Plan B at the auxiliary engineering station on the bridge, she heard Tuvok walk up behind her.

"Chakotay?" she said.

"Unconscious," Tuvok said, "but stable. We'll be able to talk to him in less than an hour according to the Doctor."

"I'll want a full report."

"Shall I beam to the freighter and take command of the away team?" Tuvok asked.

"I just spoke with B'Elanna," Janeway said. "She's got everything under control. Help me remodulate the tractor beam, we've still got work to do here."

"Very well, Captain," Tuvok said.

"I take it this is about her outburst with the Doctor yesterday?" Janeway said.

"Lieutenant Torres is still often emotional and unpredictable Captain," Tuvok said.

"True," Janeway said, "but even you admit she's come a long way in the past five years. Hell, she even gets along with Seven of Nine. Sometimes anyway. I have total faith in her ability to complete the mission."

Tuvok simply nodded, and began working on the console next to the Captain's.

B'Elanna managed to find a relatively quiet spot to regain her composure. She was still mad at Fesek, whose mistake could've gotten her friend and superior officer killed, but she had to suppress every urge to hurt the Malon captain. Doing so wouldn't do them any good. Any brief satisfaction she could get out of it would be undone quickly if the mission failed because of it. Neelix came around the corner, asking her if she was alright.

"I'm fine," she said. "Report,"

"We vented the last deck. We have a clear path to the control room," he said.

"Finally," B'Elanna said, grabbing her kit and rubbing her hands on her uniform, trying to get some of the grime off of them. "Let's finish this. I hate this place."

"I know what you mean," Neelix said. "If I ever volunteer to go on a Malon freighter again, check me in to sickbay to have my head examined."

B'Elanna chuckled. "I feel like I'm going to explode," she said.

"We'll get through this together, Lieutenant," he said. The two of them moved on to catch up with Fesek. Once there, B'Elanna tapped her com badge.

"Torres to astrometrics," she said.

"Go ahead," Seven of Nine's voice replied.

"We're outside the control room, but without tricorders we can't tell if it's safe to go in there."

"The room is too heavily shielded, our sensors can't penetrate it. You must stand by."

"The theta dampening field is still active," Fesek said. "It should be safe."

"After you," B'Elanna said. Fesek didn't hesitate and walked straight to the control room door, which opened automatically to let him in. The air reeked, and it made all three of them cough once it hit them, but otherwise they felt no ill effects, or at least no iller than than they already were after several hours aboard this ship. She quickly followed Fesek, with Neelix close behind her. Fesek went to the console at the center of the room, and began pushing buttons. The noise they made was oddly very similar to the ones Voyager's consoles would make when you tried to activate something that wasn't working.

"This is worse than I expected," Fesek said. "Theta gas has leaked into the warp manifold."

"We've got less than ten minutes before this vessel explodes," Neelix said, standing at another console, while B'Elanna began taking equipment out of her kit.

"Emergency systems are down," Fesek said.

B'Elanna found what she was looking for. "This should feed enough energy to your power matrix to initialize them," she said. Soon, more lights in the control room came on. B'Elanna could see everything better, which would make their jobs a bit easier. "Try it now."

Fesek began manipulating the controls again. If the noises the console was making was any indication, he was having more luck now.

"They're coming back online," he said. "but only one containment grid is still operational. We have two unstable tanks. One grid can't handle them both."

"We'll seal them one at a time," B'Elanna said.

"That should work," Fesek said, immediately getting to work. The efficiency at which he went about the work in the control room gave B'Elanna second thoughts about her assumption that Fesek's screw up had been what nearly killed them several decks below.

A technical malfunction maybe? she thought as she went about helping getting the first tank sealed. It took a few minutes, but finally Fesek announced that the first tank had been sealed.

"Reroute the containment grid to tank two," she said. They were cutting it way too close for comfort, but if the second sealed at exactly the same speed the first had, they would be getting out of this alive.

Suddenly, there was a small explosion near the back of the room, not close enough to hurt anyone, but even so an explosion was never a good sign. B'Elanna went over to the main console to try and find out what happened.

"What happened?" Neelix said.

"A power surge," Fesek said. "We're losing the grid!"

"It was triggered from a workstation on this deck," she said.

"How is that-"

"Janeway to away team," the Captain's voice said, coming in over her and Neelix's combadges. "we've detected an alien life form aboard the freighter. We believe it killed Pelk."

"Captain," B'Elanna said, "we just lost power."

"We're diverting the freighter into a nearby star," Janeway continued, "Leave the control room so we can get a lock on you."

"Acknowledged," B'Elanna said. "Alright, everybody out."

She headed for the exit, Fesek at her side, Neelix already almost there as the console he'd been manning was right near it. The doors slid closed before they could get to it though.

"What's going on?" Neelix said.

"It's jammed," B'Elanna yelled as she tried to force the doors open. "Dammit!"

"I'm starting to think Pelk was right," Fesek muttered.

"Seven of Nine to away team."

"Oh now what?" B'Elanna said, her frustration growing.

"I've detected the alien life form," Seven said. "It's moving toward your position."

"Crap," B'Elanna said. "Alright, everyone, stay close."

As soon as she said it, the control room began filling with gas. B'Elanna began cursing in Klingon.

Neelix checked the console by the door. "The gas is being routed through the environmental system," he said. "Is there any other way out?"

"No," Fesek said.

"I'll try to shut it down," B'Elanna said, walking into the growing gas cloud, her hand covering her mouth.

"The life form has entered the control room," Seven's voice said, the communication line still open. B'Elanna considered closing it, finding the constant updates from the Captain and Seven annoying, but also knowing that with her vision obscured by the gas, and a dangerous alien in the room with them, annoyance was the least of her worries.

"I'm trying to vent the gas but the release valves are jammed," B'Elanna said.

"Away team, can you see the alien?" Seven said.

"No," Neelix said, coughing his reply. "Too much gas. Can hardly see anything."

"Use the environmental controls instead," Fesek said.

"In the meantime," B'Elanna said. "Fesek, see if you can get that hatch open. Neelix, where are you?"

"I'm-" Neelix's reply was cut off by a loud thud, and a low growling noise. B'Elanna pulled out her phaser but Fesek grabbed her arm.

"You'll ignite the gas," he said.

"Fuck," B'Elanna snarled. She would've been perfectly willing to go hand to hand with whatever was attacking them, but that would require her being able to see it first. She walked forward, heading towards where she last saw Neelix before the gas got too thick. She felt something grab her shoulder and she was ready to grab it and throw it off, when she heard a soft groan for help.

"Neelix," she said, shocked at the sudden appearance of severe radiation burns on his face. "We have to get you back to Voyager. Fesek, hurry up on that hatch!"

"I'm trying!" Fesek yelled back.

A gap in the gas appeared briefly, but long enough for B'Elanna to see the figure approaching Fesek. "Behind you!" she yelled, but too late as whoever or whatever it was struck Fesek across the head, sending him falling to the floor, grunting in pain. B'Elanna saw a loose pipe sticking out of the bulkhead, and yanked it the rest of the way out, holding it like a club. She moved forward. She could make out a figure in the gas, which was even thicker now. She hesitated to strike at first, afraid it might be Fesek, but then she saw it move to strike down, as if to attack something on the ground. She brought the pipe down as hard as she could and heard an exclamation of pain, and not in Fesek's voice. She stepped backwards towards the console and, with one hand still holding the pipe, manipulated controls, only occasionally glancing back to make sure she was hitting the right buttons, waiting for whatever it was to come at her through the gas. She finally completed the task, and the sound of fans whirring to life filled the room as the gas began to leave it. She saw a Malon man standing in front of her, bearing the same kind of scarred and blistered face as the dead one she'd seen in the infirmary.

"You're a core laborer," she said.

"Not anymore," the man said, walking towards her.

"Stay back," she growled. part of her hoped he wouldn't. That much radiation poisoning, even if he had developed some kind of immunity to it over the years, still had to have taken a toll on the body, and she'd already hit him once. She could probably win, and let loose all of the tension and aggression built up over the course of this mission better than a holodeck simulation could let her do.

"Or what? You'll kill me?" The core laborer chuckled through his mouth, unable to open all the way on one side because of radiation burn scars. "I'm already dead."

"You've been sabotaging this ship," B'Elanna said.

"There's no other way to make them understand. They poisoned me."

"And this is how you get even?" B'Elanna said. "Killing your whole crew? Contaminating other ships in the area who did nothing to you?"

The ship shuddered violently. B'Elanna figured it was whatever Voyager was doing to redirect the freighter's course to send it into the star Janeway had mentioned.

"Away team," Janeway's voice said. "We've adjusted the freighter's course to an O-type star. You have to get out of there, now."

"No, no!" the core laborer said launching towards B'Elanna. She took a swing at him with the pipe but miscalculated and missed. He wasn't going for her at all, but for the console behind her. He began manipulating the controls.

"Janeway to away team, get those maneuvering thrusters off line, then get out of the contaminated area, we can't get a lock on you in the control room."

"Get the hell away from there now!" B'Elanna yelled at the laborer.

"No! It's too late!"

"Look," B'Elanna said, "I know that you're so angry you want to destroy everything in sight, I know that feeling. But there is another way to make them understand. I'm on your side, I hate how the Malon handle their industrial waste too."

The core laborer looked at her, his look suggesting he wasn't sure if he should believe her or not.

"Innocent people are going to die if you do this," B'Elanna said, slowly lowering her makeshift weapon.

"No. It's over," the laborer said.

"Please, let me help you," B'Elanna said.

"No," the laborer said, going back to manipulating the controls.

B'Elanna moved forward and swung the pipe at him. She wasn't getting through, and they were running out of time. The man brought up his arm to block, and grunted in pain as the pipe connected hard, possibly breaking a bone.

"Step away!" she yelled. He took a swing at her, and missed. She used the opportunity to strike him in the head. He went to his knees and she struck him again in the back, sending to the floor, face down, and barely moving.

"Voyager, I've got the thruster offline," she said.

"B'Elanna, get out of there," Seven said.

B'Elanna went over to Neelix first, and helped him up. He needed help standing up, but once he was on his feet he was able to walk, albeit slowly. She was worried Fesek would need more help than that, but she saw that he was standing up on his own now, visibly dazed from the attack he'd suffered, but able to move under his own power.

"Fesek," she said, "come on, let's go."

The Malon freighter's explosion had created a shockwave that shook Voyager as she fled, but otherwise, the plan had worked and the radiation hadn't spread. Janeway went down to sickbay, where the Doctor was going over B'Elanna, Neelix, and Fesek.

"How are they Doctor?" she said.

"Good news. I was able to repair most of the cell degradation in Mister Neelix and Lieutenant Torres," he said.

"Am I clear to go?" B'Elanna said. "I just want to spend the next few days or so in the sonic shower."

"Soon," the Doctor said. "I have a few more tests I'd like to run to be safe but I won't be keeping you overnight. You got very lucky B'Elanna. I wish I could say the same for you though Mister Fesek."

The Doctor moved over to face the Malon captain, Janeway standing nearby, not wanting to interrupt.

"I'm afraid you've suffered long term systemic damage," the Doctor continued. "Your condition will deteriorate over time."

Fesek simply nodded. "It's an occupational hazard," he said.

"We've contacted a nearby Malon transport ship," Janeway said. "we've altered course to rendezvous with them. They'll take you home."

"Thank you Captain," Fesek said. "I don't know how I'm going to explain what happened."

"Tell them the truth," B'Elanna said.

"Lieutenant?" Janeway said.

"Tell them the Vihaar is no myth. Not really."

Fesek nodded. Janeway wasn't entirely sure what that meant, but the Malon captain seemed to understand, and that was good enough for her she supposed. She handed Fesek a PADD.

"This has the information on those clean-up systems B'Elanna promised you. Hopefully someone back home will listen to you," she said.

"I hope so too, Captain," Fesek said. "The longer we do things the way we have been, the more likely it is something like this will happen again.

"Oh, and by the way, I happen to know this area of Malon territory fairly well. It's at the edge of our known space. Within a few weeks, maybe even less, you'll reach a point where my people will no longer be a problem for you."

"It wasn't a problem at all," Janeway said. "We were glad to help."

"I mean," Fesek said, "your probes will be safe."

"Ah," Janeway said. "You heard about that."

"For what it's worth Captain, had I been the Controller of that freighter, we'd have just cut our losses and left. No probe could possibly be worth going into a gas giant for."

Chapter Nine

"Are you sure?" Samantha Wildman said to Seven of Nine, the latter sitting across from her in the mostly empty mess hall. The only other sentients there were Neelix preparing some snacks for the night shift, and Harry Kim sitting at the far end of the room drinking coffee while working on his reports.

"Unfortunately, yes," Seven said. "Even if the risk of damaging my regeneration alcove were lower, it would be simply too impractical to move it to your quarters."

"And the Captain shot down my idea of just moving mine and Naomi's stuff to cargo bay two," Sam said, her chin resting in her hand. "She actually thought I was joking when I suggested it, if you can believe it."

"I am often surprised at what Captain Janeway finds funny," Seven said.

"Well," Sam said, "I stand by it. The walls in the cargo bays are modular. Moving one over to make your alcove area small enough to qualify as crew quarters shouldn't be that hard, and there'd still be plenty of room for Naomi."

"Where would the sonic shower go though?" Seven said. "It would be more than just moving a wall. Inappropriate laughter aside, the Captain does have a fair point."

"Yeah, you're right. I guess we'll just have to keep doing things they way we have been," Sam said.

"Our living situation is certainly not traditional Sam," Seven said, smiling as she put her hand on Sam's knee under the table. "But it has not been a particular burden. Doing anything different is just too impractical for the time being."

Sam nodded, and looked around. "It's late, we probably should-"

"Lieutenant Kim," Commander Chakotay's voice said over the comm. "Please report to the bridge."

"On my way, sir," Harry said. Sam looked at Harry as he got up to leave, and only then noticed that the view out the mess hall viewports had changed from the familiar streaks of light from warp travel, and that they were getting closer to a planet.

"Odd," she heard Seven say.

"How so?"

"We were not projected to come that close to a planetary body for another several days. We must have changed course."

"Must be important," Sam said.

"I suppose I should stay awake in case I am needed," Seven said. "I'm not due for another regeneration cycle for at least twelve hours."

"You do that," Sam said, leaning over the table to kiss Seven on the cheek. "Me, I need sleep. I'll see you before your next regen cycle?"

"Almost certainly," Seven said.

Harry Kim didn't let his excitement show, which was easy because there was less of it than he'd expected. He'd been given a real opportunity here; his first time commanding an away team. Voyager had received an automated distress signal just under an hour before he'd been summoned from the mess hall. The signal originated from an M-class planet, but attempts to hail the originator of the signal were met with no response. The bridge crew failed to detect any life signs, but Commander Chakotay had pointed out there could be any number of reasons for that and they should send a team down anyway, a team that he would monitor from the bridge while Harry was in charge. So Harry quickly put a team together, a small one consisting of himself, the Doctor, and Timothy Lang from security division.

"The distress call was automated?" the Doctor asked as he and Harry made their way to the transport room, where Lang would already be waiting for them.

"That's right," Harry said. "We're hoping whoever sent it is still alive."

"Well," the Doctor said, "thanks for bringing me along, Lieutenant. And congratulations."

"For what?"

"This is your first away mission as lead, is it not?"

"It is," Harry said. "but it's just a standard recon. If a full rescue is required, Commander Chakotay will take over from there. I don't think I deserve a lot of praise for something so basic."

"Ah," the Doctor said. Harry wondering what that 'Ah' meant exactly, but decided not to press it. The two entered the transport room, their other team member already on the pad, clearly ready to go, but not looking impatient at all. Though to Harry's memory, Timothy Lang hardly ever had any expression beyond detached disinterest. Harry and the Doctor stepped on to the pad as well.

"Energize," Harry said. Within seconds, the away team was on the planet, surrounded by rocks, and reddish orange sky, no signs of any kind of life nearby, not even plant life.

"Are you sure these are the right coordinates?" the Doctor asked.

"Positive," Harry said, taking out his tricorder as he spoke.

"Apparently," the Doctor continued, "whoever sent the distress call was already rescued."

"Maybe," Harry said. "But if that's the case why not turn off the beacon once they were gone? We should make a thorough search anyway, just to be sure. Spread out."

Harry went off in one direction, the Doctor and Lang each taking another, both with tricorders out. It was barely a minute before Harry heard the Doctor call out for him. He jogged over to where the Doctor was standing.

"This is the source of the distress call," the Doctor said, looking at a device of some sort that was embedded in a nearby outcrop. The device emitted a very low hum, one that was barely any more audible once Harry was closer to it, scanning with his tricorder.

"Para-trinic shielding" Harry said. "A dense energy matrix, bio-neural circuitry…"

"Bio-neural?" the Doctor said, "Like Voyager?"

Before Harry could confirm that, a series of blue lights on the side of the device activated, and the low hum was replaced with a high pitched beeping.

"Okay," Harry said, "back off, this thing could be dangerous." He wondered if a noise like that had been what Tuvok had heard from the Krenim torpedo that had cost him his sight during the Year of Hell. He then felt disappointed at having thought about the Year of Hell for the first time in months.

"Wait," the Doctor said. "There are patterns in the beeps. It's speaking to us, speaking in duotronic algorithms. I think it's an A.I. My translation matrix is still interpreting, give me a moment."

The beeps continued. "It says it's injured," the Doctor said. "It needs our help. It's asking why it can't see, or why it can't feel it's arms and legs."

"It doesn't have any arms and legs," Harry said.

"I'm aware of that," the Doctor said. "Regardless, it's terrified."

The Doctor moved over to the opposite side of the device. Harry kept his tricorder open. Lang simply stood just behind Harry occasionally looking around to see if anyone was trying to approach them, perhaps expecting some kind of ambush.

"Can you identify yourself?" the Doctor said to the device. A short series of beeps followed. "It's saying that its memory's been damaged. It doesn't remember its name. Excuse me one moment please while I speak to my colleague." The Doctor went over to Harry.

"So," Harry said, "we have an artificial intelligence on our hands."

"One who doesn't seem to realize it is artificial, " the Doctor said. "I don't want to risk any psychological trauma, so we can't tell it what it is just yet."

"Doc," Harry said. "It's a machine. I don't think synthetic lifeforms are that fragile."

"Perhaps, but regardless it's confused and it needs our help, Lieutenant," the Doctor said. "We should beam it aboard."

"Not until we know what we're dealing with," Harry said. "You know away mission protocols, Doc."

"I do," the Doctor said. "But I also know what morality dictates. It is clearly in distress, and we are in a position to help."

Harry sighed. Something about this didn't sit well with him, but his instincts had let him down in the past. He tapped his com badge.

"Kim to Voyager," he said.

"Go ahead, Harry," Captain Janeway's voice replied.

"We found the source of the distress call," Harry continued. "It's a synthetic life form, badly damaged. The Doctor thinks we should beam it aboard."

"You're in charge of the away mission, Lieutenant," Janeway said, "what do you think?"

Harry looked at the Doctor, and at the device. "We've had bad experiences with A.I.'s before, Captain, but this one has no visible weapon ports that I can find. I'm going to suggest going along with the Doctor's suggestion, but as a precaution I recommend sealing off an engineering bay with a level ten force field and beaming it directly there."

"Agreed," Janeway said. "Give us a few minutes."

The Doctor smiled, turning to the device.

"We're going to transport you back to our ship," he said. The device let out another series of beeps. "I'm Voyager's Emergency Medical Hologram." The device beeped again, and the Doctor began going into detail about the science behind how holograms worked, and Harry had to suppress a laugh.

Well, Harry thought, if we can get this thing fixed up it looks like Naomi is going to have a real classmate for the first time.

B'Elanna Torres looked at the device that the Doctor had brought aboard, resting on a workbench near the back of engineering.

"Well, at least this one isn't silver and humanoid shaped," she said.

"I hope you aren't implying that my new patient is also a leftover weapon from a centuries old war, are you?" the Doctor said.

"Nah," B'Elanna said, shaking her head, more to try and clear the mental image of the robot called 3947 from her memory than to show disagreement. "Realistically, what are the odds that twice in less than five years we come across two synthetic life forms dedicated to fighting a war that its creators had ended?"

The Doctor frowned. "Given some of the things this crew has been through the past six years?"

"Touché," B'Elanna said. "Though I have to admit, if it does turn out to be a weapon we couldn't have picked a worse place to start working on it. Could we maybe move it a bit further away from the warp core?"

"There's a level ten force field around it, B'Elanna," the Doctor said. "If it goes kablooey it won't take us with it."

"I wish I had your confidence," B'Elanna said. She heard the door to engineering open, and turned to see Captain Janeway and Lieutenant Kim enter.

"How's our patient?" the captain asked.

"Complicated," B'Elanna said. "It uses bio-neural circuitry to mimic humanoid synaptic functions, but it's memory core is damaged. Basically, it has the technological equivalent of amnesia."

"Any theories as to what it might be?" Janeway said.

"It could be a probe," B'Elanna said. "or a communications device."

"Whoever our friend is," the Doctor said, "he wasn't alone. He claims to have been travelling with a companion."

"He?"

"He insisted on male pronouns, Captain," the Doctor said.

"Ah, okay. Carry on. Was the companion an A.I. too?"

"I believe so," the Doctor said.

"Okay, I'll have Seven use astrometrics to start looking for him. Perhaps if we can find his companion we'll get more answers."

With that, the Captain and Harry left. The Doctor moved closer to the device, and asked Tim Lang, who had been watching over the device since both had been beamed up, to lower the force field so he could go talk to it.

"How are you?" the Doctor said. B'Elanna continued on her scanning of the device, but the Doctor was not being quiet, making it impossible not to hear his side of the conversation.

"Well, that's an interesting question," the Doctor continued, after a series of beeps and chirps. "Lieutenants Kim and Torres are attempting to repair your, um, damaged circuitry."

The series of noises the device emitted next didn't need much translation in B'Elanna's opinion. I guess now I know how to say 'what the hell are you talking about?' in binary, she thought.

"That's what I wanted to talk to you about," the Doctor said. "You're not an organic being. You're technological. You're an artificial intelligence, embedded in a machine of some kind."

Another series of beeps.

"No, there's no mistake," the Doctor said. "We believe the damage you suffered in the crash is causing your confusion."

The next series of beeps to come out of the device sounded distressed to B'Elanna's ears. She supposed she couldn't blame him at all.

"Well," the Doctor continued, "look at it this way. You and I have something in common."

Seven of Nine hoped the planetary scans would go by quicker now that the Captain was here to aid. In the past she might have been insulted that Janeway would jump in on a task that Seven could easily complete herself, but between her romantic relationship with Samantha, and her budding friendships with several other crew members, she had learned the value of free time.

"I'm detecting no further technology on the planet surface," she said.

"Maybe the second device was destroyed when it crashed," Janeway said. "Scan for metallic particulates consistent with our friend in engineering."

Seven made the proper adjustments to the sensors in seconds, and had results shortly after that. It was an oddly pleasant experience being able to scan a planet without any sort of unusual outside factors making it difficult. The lack of a metaphorical ticking clock putting pressure on her to find something within an unreasonable amount of time was also nice.

"There are minute traces scattered across the northern continent," Seven said. "I'm isolating them now."

Both women turned from their consoles to look at the astrometrics lab viewscreen, the view shifting to zoom in and clarify the image of that area of the planet. When it was finished, Janeway stated what Seven had already deduced.

"An impact crater," she said.

"It spans a radius of two hundred kilometers," Seven said.

"And look at this," Janeway said. "Heavy concentrations of radiogenic decay in the crater walls. The fracture gradients are consistent with a highly focused explosion.

"Evidently we've discovered the device's function," Seven said. "The Doctor will likely be less than pleased to hear this."

"True, though I'm also not looking forward to telling B'Elanna we've got a weapon of mass destruction sitting right next to our warp core."

"To be fair, Captain," Seven said, "I doubt anyone in her position would be pleased about such a discovery. I believe the term Mister Paris would use would be 'sphincter tightening.'"

"Yeah," Janeway said, Seven noticing that the Captain was not taking her eyes off the crater on the viewscreen. "Sounds about right."

"I understand your concerns," the Doctor said to Captain Janeway in the briefing room. "but the device hasn't shown itself to be hostile."

"Not yet," B'Elanna said, standing next to Harry, who was the only one in the room sitting down at that moment, the latter looking worried. The Doctor figured that Harry was blaming himself for potentially endangering the ship, but the Doctor didn't see it that way at all. He saw an opportunity and he wanted to pursue it.

"All the more reason to talk to it," the Doctor said. "We explain our concerns, and then ask it for help in safely defusing it's explosive components."

"If it's programmed to detonate," Chakotay said, standing between Janeway and B'Elanna, "there's no telling how it would react."

"Agreed," Janeway said. "We have to neutralize the threat now. Suggestions?"

"We could beam it off the ship," Harry said. "Out into space, or back where we found it."

"Harry, this is a sentient being we're talking about," the Doctor said. "I refuse to believe our only options are to kill it or abandon it."

"What if we could separate the bio-neural circuitry from the explosive?" B'Elanna said. "Take the weapon off line, but salvage the intelligence?"

"They're fully integrated," Harry said. "Where would we keep the A.I. if we can do that?"

The Doctor smiled, excited at the prospect of having another synthetic life form to talk to. "The answer's obvious," he said. "Download it's synaptic patterns into an holographic matrix like mine."

"Then what?" Chakotay said, his tone flat enough that the Doctor couldn't tell if the commander was on his side or not, the way B'Elanna appeared to be.

"First off," the Doctor said, "we try to find out where it came from, and return it to it's people."

"What if it doesn't want to go?" Harry asked. "I don't know if I'm alone in thinking this, but it would seem to me that creating a synthetic life form as complex as this one, only to stick it in what is essentially a missile is just downright sadistic. That would be like having a child for the sole purpose of training it to commit suicide."

Janeway sighed. "Well," she said, leaning forward on her chair, "in that case I suppose we'd have to grant it asylum, if it asked. Very well then. Harry, B'Elanna, assist the Doctor."

"Thank you, Captain," the Doctor said.

"At the first sign of danger though, we transport it off the ship. Understood?"

Captain Janeway's tone and stance made it clear that no amount of arguing would do any good on that front, but the Doctor wasn't worried. He was sure that working with Harry and B'Elanna they'd be able to save the A.I.

"Yes, Captain," he said.

"Dismissed," Janeway said.

"This begs the question," Joe Carey said as he helped Harry carry the device, now known to be a weapon, out of engineering to take to sickbay. "why would you waste such a sophisticated artificial intelligence on a bomb?"

"Harry said pretty much the same thing," B'Elanna said as she started gathering tools they'd need to perform the procedure to attempt to disable the explosive. "He called the thing's creators sadistic. Though I wouldn't entirely rule out stupidity. Anyway, I'll meet you there. There won't be enough room for all three of us plus the synthetic in the turbolift."

"Understood," Carey said.

The device made a loud noise as the two men started moving towards the door with the device in their arms.

"It's okay," the Doctor said, walking alongside them. "I wouldn't like being carried around either." More beeps came out of the device as the group entered the nearest turbolift, B'Elanna walking past them to get to the next nearest. "We're taking you to sickbay. We're better equipped to help you there. Don't worry."

We're talking to a bomb the way I'd talk to my sons when I had to take them to the doctors when they were little, Carey thought, trying not to laugh at the absurdity of the situation.

There was another series of beeps, softer this time. Carey hoped that meant the explosive device wasn't panicking. The yield of the explosive was irrelevant, the ship might survive, but he was holding the damn thing. He and Harry certainly wouldn't. He doubted the Doctor's mobile emitter would survive either.

"We're going to transfer your intelligence to a holo-matrix," the Doctor said. "In a little while you're going to be walking around, just like me."

"Which reminds me," Harry said. "Have you picked a body for it yet? Him, I mean, sorry."

"I figured I'd let him choose an appearance," the Doctor said. "I've removed any crew members, especially deceased ones, from the list in order to avoid any possible discomfort for the rest of the crew. Though since we have only the one mobile emitter I suppose we'll have to work out some kind of sharing schedule so he won't be confined to just sickbay and the holodeck."

"Just a thought," Carey said, "you may want to remove any Cardassians from the list as well. Don't want to risk anymore drama like we had that one time."

The Doctor sighed. "Why do I have to keep reminding people I had no idea the man was a war criminal when I created the consultant program?"

The conversation was cut off when the turbolift doors opened on deck five, and the group made their way to sickbay. They carried the device in, and set it down on one of the bio-beds. Seconds later, B'Elanna entered.

"Alright," she said, setting her tool kit next to the device and opening it up. "ready whenever you are, Doctor."

"Are you ready?" the Doctor said to the device. There was a short, single beep. "Okay then."

Harry opened a panel on top of the device, and B'Elanna went to work. Carey stepped back. He didn't think he'd be needed since B'Elanna and Harry were perfectly qualified to handle this task, but the former had insisted he stay in case they needed an extra pair of hands.

A series of rapid, loud beeps and chirps began. Even before the Doctor started telling the device to remain calm, that they needed to access some of its system in order to perform the transfer, Carey figured the device was responding with panic. He wondered if the device felt pain. After all, if Harry's theory about the designer's sadism were accurate he couldn't rule that out.

"He says he wants to know exactly what you're doing as you do it," the Doctor said to B'Elanna, who rolled her eyes.

"If I've ever been that annoying while you were working on me," she said, "I owe you an apology."

"Actually you owe me six, but who's counting," the Doctor said.

"Regardless," B'Elanna said, "this is a delicate procedure. I won't be able to concentrate if I have to give constant updates."

"I can help with that," Carey said.

"Okay, Joe," B'Elanna said. "Get as close as you can without getting in my or Harry's way."

"Alright," Carey said, "Well, first we're going to be setting up an active interlink between you and the holo-systems. To do that we're going to have to take your program off line while we resequence your bio-neural circuitry."

There was another series of beeps. Carey picked up on the tone of distress, impressed with himself for doing so.

"I'm sorry," he said, "there isn't another way."

"Very perceptive Mister Carey," the Doctor said. "He did in fact say he didn't want to be turned off."

"I figured it was something close," Carey said.

B'Elanna continued to manipulate the tool she was using, but seconds later, the lights in the device began flashing red, and a loud alarm sound starting coming out of it. B'Elanna and Harry immediately took a step back, the latter opening his tricorder.

"He's arming," Harry said. "The detonation sequence has started."

"Sickbay to transporter room 1," B'Elanna said. "the device is going to detonate. Beam it off the ship."

"Yes ma'am," Todd Mulcahey's voice responded. After a few moments passed and no sign of a transporter beam, Todd began speaking again. "For the love of- it's protecting itself somehow, I can't get a lock."

"Goddamit," B'Elanna said, "I really wish that kind of thing would stop happening. When we get back to Earth I'm recommending a complete fleet wide overhaul of our transporter systems. Doctor, try to talk it down."

"Please, stop," the Doctor said earnestly, "you're going to destroy yourself, and us."

Not the order I would've put that in, Carey thought.

"Detonation in twenty seconds," Harry said. "I'm going to try sending an E.M. pulse through it's power matrix. maybe I can short it out."

"Fifteen seconds," B'Elanna said.

"Please don't detonate," the Doctor said, still talking to the device. "We're only trying to help you."

"Ten seconds!" B'Elanna said. Carey stepped back. He could help Harry, but since Harry was working on a smaller console than the ones they had in engineering, it was more likely he'd just get in the way if he tried.

"Initiating the pulse," Harry said.

"Six, five, fo-" The device shut down, cutting B'Elanna's countdown, much to Carey's relief, and apparently Harry's as well give how loud his exhale was.

"That was too close," B'Elanna said.

"You shouldn't have done that," the Doctor said.

Carey looked at the Doctor, and felt a sense of dread. Something was off with the Doctor's voice.

"I know you got a little attached to the thing," B'Elanna said, packing up her tool kit. "But we had-"

"You lied," the Doctor said.

"Oh shit," Carey muttered under his breath.

"You said you were trying to transfer my neural patterns, but you were really trying to shut me down."

"Oh no," Harry said, having reached the same conclusion Carey had.

"You're the A.I.," B'Elanna said. "You used the interlink to hijack the Doctor."

"You tried to destroy me," the A.I. said through the Doctor's voice.

"We were only trying to disarm the explosives in your body," Harry said.

"I'm a weapon. Why didn't you tell me?"

"It was a precaution," Harry said. "We were afraid you might be dangerous."

"Looks like we were right," B'Elanna said. "We were going to try and destroy you, but the Doctor, the hologram you just hijacked, convinced us to try and help you."

"You must help me complete my mission," the A.I. said. "I remember it now. I am a long-range tactical-armor unit. I've been deployed by my people. They're facing a terrible threat. A hostile species. My companion unit was destroyed, but I will reach my target. Your ship will take me there."

"Look," Harry said, cautiously walking towards the A.I. that had stolen the Doctor's form, "we can contact your people, you just need to tell us who they are-"

"I must resume my mission!" the A.I. screamed, pushing the buttons on the side of the device in pattern. The lights on the top, where the panel had been removed earlier, lit up again. The three officers looked at each other. No one needed to say it out loud; the device had been rearmed. "If you try to stop me, I'll detonate. This ship, and everyone on it, will be destroyed."

"Oh hell," Harry said. "Kim to security, do not, I repeat do not attempt to enter sickbay."

"Lieutenant Kim," Tuvok's voice said, "what is your status?"

Harry filled Tuvok in on what had happened. Carey risked getting closer to the A.I. in order to look it in the eyes, the Doctor's eyes.

"Listen to me," he said, "we don't even know how long you were on that planet. Your mission may be over already. Give us back our Doctor, and tell us who your people are so we can return you to them. Please."

The A.I. ignored Carey, and picked up a PADD, and began entering coordinates into it.

"Give this to your navigator," he said. "Set this course, and proceed there at maximum velocity. The target system is approximately two light years from here" He shoved the PADD into Carey's hands. Carey looked at B'Elanna, who nodded.

"Go ahead. Fill the Captain in. We'll go along," she said, the 'for now' implied in her tone.

"On it," Carey said, leaving sickbay.

"The course I have plotted bypasses enemy minefields," the A.I. said. "Do not deviate from it."

"If he has access to the Doctor's program," Captain Janeway said, "he probably knows how fast the ship can go, so going at warp 1 to buy time won't help."

She looked again at the PADD that Joe Carey had given her before returning to engineering, as if just staring at it for a little longer would give her a solution to this problem. She wished she could contact Harry and B'Elanna, but the A.I. had locked down sickbay after Carey had left, and wouldn't allow anyone to exit or enter. If she tried hailing them, the A.I. would overhear.

"We could offer to fix its own propulsion system and send it on it's way," Chakotay said.

Janeway shook her head. "Helping it would be getting involved in a war we know nothing about," she said. "I know there's been debate about the Prime Directive among the crew lately, but I doubt anyone could argue this case isn't a pretty cut and dried example."

"I hope you aren't suggesting we just let it blow up the ship," Tom said without turning from his console.

"Only as a last resort," Janeway said, not ready to give up just yet. "We've still got time for options, so if anybody has any, I'm all ears. We've survived so much since we got to the Delta Quadrant, I'm not willing to accept that of all things we end up losing Voyager to a damaged A.I."

"Sensors are being accessed from sickbay, Captain," Tuvok said.

"Let them be," Janeway said. "We need to play along until we can find a way out of this. If the A.I. can't see the sensors he might just assume we're lying and blow us up anyway. Chakotay, get Seven of Nine up here. Don't use communicators, not yet anyway, we don't know how much if any of the systems the A.I. is able to access through the Doctor. Tuvok, Tom, report to the briefing room."

Both Tom and Tuvok acknowledged the request and immediately stepped away from their posts, junior officers moving in to cover for them.

Janeway waited until Chakotay returned to the bridge, Seven of Nine in tow, to the bridge before heading to the briefing room herself.

"Brainstorm time people," Janeway said.

"If we could disable the force field around sickbay we could beam the device out into space," Tom said.

"Even if we could do that fast enough to get a lock before it detonated," Seven said, "we could not beam it out far enough from the ship to escape the blast."

"If we could tap into the holo-projectors we might be able to shut him down," Chakotay said.

Janeway shook her head. "Mister Carey told me that the Doctor's mobile emitter is still on him," she said. "He didn't remove it when they got to sickbay before they started the procedure. It's not a bad idea otherwise, just our bad luck."

"Have we entirely ruled out attempting to reason with the bomb?" Tuvok said. "Is it a true A.I., or just a sophiscated weapons system?"

"It certainly seems capable of anger and paranoia," Janeway said. "It's certainly sentient, but it has the determination of a zealot. Trying to change its mind might work if we had more time before reaching the target system."

"If it can be talked down," Seven said, "Lieutenant Kim is likely already attempting to do so. He and Lieutenant Torres are still trapped with the device after all."

Janeway sighed. "Good point," she said, "but I'd like to have other options besides hoping Harry can build a rapport with it. We need to outsmart the smart bomb."

"You don't have to do this you know," Harry Kim said to the A.I.

"It's what I was programmed for," the A.I. replied, not looking up from the console where it monitored the ship's sensors.

"So?" Harry said. "You're a sentient being, capable of making your own decisions. Look at the Doctor. He was designed to be just a doctor, but in the past five years he has become more than that. He's taken up hobbies, made friends, he's even dated."

"Your Doctor is a tool," the A.I. said.

"A tool that saved your life," Harry said. "If it weren't for him you'd still be damaged and alone on that planet. He's the one who convinced me to beam you aboard."

The A.I. looked at Harry for a moment, but didn't respond before returning its gaze to the console. Harry continued speaking, not allowing the unusual situation of trying to reason with a bomb to get to him.

"When we found out what you were, most of the senior staff wanted to destroy you. The Doctor defended you, said you weren't just a bomb, you were a synthetic life form with the same rights as any synthetic in the Federation."

"Tell me," the A.I. said, "despite all his achievements, did your, friend ever stop being a Doctor?"

"No," Harry said, wondering where this was going.

"And I can't stop being a weapon," the A.I. said.

"It doesn't have to be like that," Harry said. "We can give your own holo-matrix, and you can keep all of this. Eyes, the ability to move around, the ability to speak. You blow yourself up, that all goes away."

"The only thing I want is the destruction of my target," the A.I. said.

"What is your target anyway?" Harry said.

"A military installation on Selinia Prime," the A.I. said. "Grid 11, Vector 9341."

"Tell me about it," Harry said. "Who is your enemy?"

"A ruthless violent race that's threatening to destroy my people," the A.I. said, anger in his voice.

"What else do you know about them? Do you even know their name? What's their planet like?"

"I'm not programmed with superfluous data."

"Or maybe your creators just didn't want you to know," Harry said, hoping he'd found a thread to pull on. "Maybe, they knew that if you knew more about them, you might change your mind and decide not to blow up at all. One of the risks of making a weapon with an artificial intelligence after all. Did I ever tell you my theory about your creators? That they are sadists for creating something with such remarkable intelligence, only to make it blow itself up?"

"Enough!" the A.I. shouted.

"You're aboard Voyager now, you have access to our scanners," Harry said. "Why don't we take a closer look at your target?" Harry went to a console behind the one the A.I. was using and started pulling out long range sensor data.

"If you must," the A.I. said. "Just stop talking about it."

"Or what, you'll blow up? When you are so close to your goal?"

Harry crossed his arms, and grinned, even though inwardly he worried he'd pushed the bomb just a bit too hard and his talking to it was going to literally blow up in his face.

"Get out," the A.I. said, "before I use your friend's body to harm you." The A.I. stood up and turned off the monitor Harry was using.

Harry found himself at a loss, not sure what he could say next that wouldn't escalate the situation. He sighed and left the Doctor's office, leaving the A.I. alone.
B'Elanna saw him, walked over, and put a hand on his shoulder.

"You tried," she said. "no one can fault you for that."

"Can't they? This all happened because of the first command decision I ever made as an away team leader."

"The name of the species that made the bomb is the Druoda," Neelix said, setting something down on the briefing room table. Seven of Nine looked at it, wondering what it was.

"How'd you find that out?" Janeway said, which was the second question that Seven had thought of herself, the first being how Neelix had even known there was a meeting since he hadn't been invited.

"I saw the bomb while it was in engineering," Neelix said, "and parts of it looked familiar. So I went through some of the items we collected during our last trading run, and that right there is a piece of kitchen equipment that uses the same technology."

"Good catch," Chakotay said, "but I don't know how that helps us right now."

Neelix didn't have a response, and Seven felt sorry for him. It was in Neelix's nature to want to help, and under different circumstances this information would be more valuable than it was currently.

"That's alright Neelix," Janeway said. "But since you're here, go ahead and take a seat. We've been at this for over an hour with no luck, we could use a fresh perspective."

Neelix shrugged. "I suppose it can't hurt," he said. "just promise not to laugh too hard if I make a stupid suggestion."

"Promised," Chakotay said.

Seven of Nine took another look at the schematics of the weapon on the PADD in her hand, and had an idea. One with a low probability of success, but it was better than the nothing they had so far.

"I have studied the weapon's schematics," she said, "and I believe my nanoprobes can be modified to disable it's bio-neural circuitry. However that would require me gaining access to its primary control port."

"Great idea," Janeway said, "except for the force fields around sick bay. How would we get you in there without giving the bomb enough time to detonate itself?"

"We could just shut down the warp core," Chakotay said. "and stop the auxiliaires from kicking in right away. We'd have more than enough time before air ran out for Seven to disable the bomb. How much time would you need?"

"Approximately twenty seconds," Seven said.

"Does that include how long it would take you to get to the device?" Janeway said. "He might have forced Harry and B'Elanna to move him further away from the door, and he has his own power supply."

"But his intelligence is in the Doctor," Chakotay said.

"Who, as Mister Carey informed us, was still wearing his mobile emitter," Tuvok said.

Seven sighed. "I had failed to take that into consideration," she said. "I apologize."

"Don't," Janeway said. "Maybe there is another way to get you in there. Tuvok, run a scan on that subspace minefield the bomb warned us about. Specifically I want to know their explosive yield and how much damage they could do to the ship."

"Captain?" Tuvok said.

"I believe the Captain intends to stage an injury," Seven said, "that would require taking me to sickbay, A bold strategy, however it supposes the bomb would allow me to be brought in."

"True," Janeway said, "but it's the best idea I've got so far. Any objections?" No one said anything. "Alright then. Seven, start looking into the best way to fake third degree plasma burns. The injury is going to need to look sever if this is going to even have a chance at working."

"Understood," Seven said.

"Wait a second," Tom Paris said, "wouldn't we have to change course to hit those mines? The bomb would be on to us immediately."

"That's why I'm having Tuvok study them" Janeway said. "So we can find a way to mimic the side effects of encountering the mines. I know this is going to be anathema to your sensibilities as a pilot Tom, but we may be asking you to give us a bumpy ride on purpose."

"I can learn to live with it," Tom said.

"Good. Dismissed," Janeway said. With that, the crew filed out of the briefing room, ready to do what they needed to to try and save the ship from an intelligent bomb. From Seven's perspective, that was far from the most unusual thing she'd encountered, in or out of the collective.

The A.I. stood at the bio-bed where it's original body still lay, scanning it, and visibly getting more and more frustrated. B'Elanna hoped it would get angry enough to make a mistake, but then admonished herself.

How would I even know what to do if it did? she thought.

"Assist me," the A.I. suddenly said, going into the Doctor's office where she and Harry were sitting.

"Excuse me?" B'Elanna said.

"I am attempting to find the malfunction that caused me to crash," he said, "but several of my memory files are still damaged. Restore them." The A.I. turned around and left the office without giving her time to respond.

B'Elanna looked at Harry, who was already standing up.

"Might as well," he said, "can't risk pissing him off, he might blow us up right now."

"You're still hoping the Captain can find a way out of this?" B'Elanna said.

"She'll have the rest of the senior staff helping her," Harry said, "we just need to buy them time."

B'Elanna sighed. She would've preferred to just sit and let the damn bomb try to fix its own memory banks, but she saw no point in resisting if Harry was going to help.

"The Cardassian missile, the silver robots, now this. If I make it back to the Alpha Quadrant, I'm going to make sure I'm never alone in a room with Commander Data," she muttered to herself. To the A.I. she said in a louder tone, "Where do we start?"

"There are several disruptions in my memory index," the A.I. said. "including a three minute, thirty-seven second gap just prior to the crash."

"A recursive search algorithm might retrieve the missing data," B'Elanna said. She touched a few buttons on the console, and quickly she found what the A.I. was looking for.

"Well, that was easy even by my standards," she said, hoping the A.I. took offense at her pride at being able to accomplish in seconds what he hadn't been able to at all. "Right there, you received a subspace transmission, a command. A command to alter course and head to the planet surface. Looks like your landing wasn't an accident."

"So much for your target," Harry said. "Seems to me like your creators managed to solve their problems without you."

"It must've been an attempt by the enemy to divert me from my target," the A.I. said insistently.

"No way," B'Elanna said. "Your access codes are encrypted."

"They must have developed an infiltration code."

"Why do you say that?" Harry said.

"Who else would try to divert me?"

"Correct me if I'm wrong," Harry said, "but these are the same duotronic algorithms you use to communicate with."

"My own people wouldn't try to stop me!" The A.I. said.

"Looks to me like they did," B'Elanna said, starting to get a sinking feeling of deja vu for the silver robots she'd met several years ago who had wiped out their own creators to prevent them from ending their own war. "Whatever the reason, they didn't need you to be a bomb anymore. Now, me, if I'd created something as sophisticated as you I'd want it back, but-"

"The enemy is ruthless. The target is a threat. Why would my people call off the assault?"

"Motherf- we just told you we don't know," B'Elanna said. "And don't try suggesting we planted that order there, you were looking right at me when I found it in your memory banks."

"Okay, everyone calm down," Harry said. "Maybe if we clear up some more of these memory files, we'll see why your orders were changed."

"Your assistance is no longer required," the A.I. said.

"Because you're afraid of the truth?" Harry said. "Let us finish our job, then decide what to do next. But you have to accept that you may not like what we find."

The A.I. looked at Harry, then at B'Elanna, then back at Harry. "Proceed," he said. "But I will be monitoring you, looking for any sign of subterfuge."

B'Elanna went back to work, and began pulling up more damaged data.

"Does the phrase 'designated command matrix' mean anything to you?" she said.

"That's my control center," the A.I. said, sounding calmer.

"It looks like they rescinded your orders some time after you originally launched," harry said, looking over B'Elanna's shoulder at the monitor.. "See for yourself."

The A.I. looked at the screen in shock as it read the order he had had received out loud.

"'All long range tactical armor units, terminate mission immediately.' It says the war is over, that it ended nearly three years ago. My launch was a mistake. There was a malfunction in one of the command sensors that activated a series of launch sequencers. My people managed to shut most of them down, but thirty-four weapons were fired. Including me."

"I guess this means you can disarm yourself now," Harry said. "We can return you to your people. You can go home."

"No," the A.I. said, "there's no confirmation code here. We evaded the enemy minefield so they are attempting to deceive us."

"The confirmation code could be in one of your damaged memory files," B'Elanna said.

"Or maybe it was you!" the A.I. shouted, getting agitated again. B'Elanna decided she had had enough of this.

"How?" she said, yelling as loud as he had been. "Seriously asshole, how? You've been monitoring us this whole time! When would we have been able to alter your memory files like that?"

"You have lied to me before, why should I trust you now?"

"We didn't lie to you before, you paranoid synthetic," B'Elanna said. "We were trying to get you your own holographic body when you decided to hijack our Doctor and take our ship hostage. But you don't even have to trust us, just access the rest of your damn memory files!"

"No! I am programmed to destroy my target! I will complete my mission!"

"You don't have a mission anymore," Harry said, somehow staying calm amidst all the shouting. "The war is over, but you could end up starting another one. How many of your people would die then? At the very least, the very very least you owe it to them to determine the truth before you go blowing yourself up."

The ship suddenly shuddered, and the red alert klaxons started going off.

"Sickbay to bridge," the A.I. said, "what is happening?"

"We've run into a subspace mine," Janeway's voice said, sounding upset. "You told us your course would bypass your enemy's minefields."

"There shouldn't be any mines along this course," the A.I. said. He glowered at B'Elanna and Harry, and B'Elanna glowered right back.

"Your information is a little out of date in case you forgot," she said.

"We're plotting a new course to avoid them," Janeway's voice continued. "But there are thousands of them scattered throughout the region."

"Transmit it to me," the A.I. said. He looked at the new course on the monitor. "This trajectory will delay us for two days!"

"That just gives you time to confirm the war is over," Harry said, "since you won't believe your own memory banks, we can contact your people. Unless you expect your own controllers to lie to you as well."

"Don't give the paranoid any ideas, Harry," B'Elanna whispered.

"No! Proceed as planned, Captain Janeway. I am programming a shield enhancement that will protect Voyager."

"I'm still going to have to reduce speed. That last hit dropped us out of warp," Janeway said.

"Agreed," the A.I. said, grudgingly. "But only until we've cleared the minefield."

"Understood. Janeway out," the Captain said before closing the channel.

"Do you think he bought it?" Janeway said.

"He seemed to," Chakotay said.

"Mister Paris," Janeway said "give us another good shake or two, just to be sure."

"Yes ma'am," Tom said.

"Bridge to Neelix, get started on Seven's plasma burns."

"Already on it Captain," Neelix said over the com. "And I think they look pretty good if I do say so myself."

"Good," Janeway said. "Tom, once he's done, hit another 'mine,' a big one. Chakotay, prepare to blow out the plasma relays on deck six."

The ship shook violently as Tom did his work.

"Janeway to sickbay, we're taking casualties," she said, hoping she sounded concerned enough to fool the A.I.

"Maintain course and speed," the A.I. said.

"That's going to be difficult," Janeway said. "Our astrometrics officer has been injured. She's the one who has been guiding us through the minefield."

"Replace her," the A.I. shouted.

"Seven of Nine's abilities are unique," Janeway said, adding a bit of anger to her reply even though she was grinning while she spoke. "We're not going to get past these mines without her."

"Then treat her injuries and send her back to her post!"

"She has third degree plasma burns. She needs to go to sickbay to be treated. if you want to reach your target you're going to have to wait."

"Alright Captain, but I am warning you, no deceptions." The channel to sickbay cut off.

"I really hope this works. Bridge to Neelix, you're good to go."

"Aye, Captain," Neelix said.

Seven of Nine made a note to thank Samantha for the opportunity to learn about acting. While the two had not performed even once since they had done Coriolanus nearly a year ago, Seven still attempted to apply what she had learned to her performance as a burn victim, letting herself limp, and leaning on Neelix as though she really needed his support to remain upright as he escorted her to sickbay.

The door to sickbay opened, and the A.I. still in the Doctor's holographic body, and still wearing the mobile emitter, let them in, closing the door behind them.

"Treat her as quickly as possible," he said to B'Elanna before walking away to do, something, in the doctor's office. She groaned in mock pain as B'Elanna helped her into the bio-bed right next to the one the device was in.

"Is he looking the other way?" Seven whispered as B'Elanna looked at her 'injuries.'

"Um, yes," B'Elanna whispered back. "What's going on?"

Seven sat upright as quick as she could, and put her hand over the thankfully still open panel atop the device, and extended her assimilation tubules into it.

"She's attempting to defuse the weapon," she heard Neelix say.

Now I just need twenty sec- Her thought was interrupted by intense pain, real this time, as the device started to electrocute her. She heard Neelix call her name in concern before she hit the floor, barely conscious. She could hear that Neelix was talking over her, but couldn't make out what he was saying right away.

"-me move her," she heard Neelix, feeling him and B'Elanna get their arms under her to try and lift up to the bio-bed.

I failed, she thought sadly, How did I not see that coming? How did I not know it would have some kind of defense like that?

She heard the pressing of buttons, and the A.I. began speaking.

"Sickbay to bridge. Your attempt to disable me has failed."

"We tried to reason with you," Janeway said. "You left me no choice."

"And you leave me no choice. You and your crew will abandon Voyager immediately."

"No deal," Janeway said.

"You will comply or I will detonate!" The A.I.'s scream shocked Seven into full alertness. She could see from their wincing that B'Elanna, Neelix, and even Harry who had joined the rest at her side, though she was unaware of when, also did not appreciate someone being that loud that close to them.

"Go ahead," Janeway said. "Do it."

The A.I. paused, clearly not expecting that. "Everyone aboard will be killed!"

"But no one else will," Janeway said. "The only reason I didn't tell you to do it sooner is because I thought there was a chance we could stop you. Through reason, or force, it didn't matter. I had hope. But now I know that I can't stop you from destroying us. I can however stop you from continuing your war. Every Starfleet officer knows there's a chance they'll have to lay down their lives to uphold the Prime Directive, and that's what I'm doing now. I know nothing about your people, or your enemy, or your war, and I don't care. My people are not a part of it, and we would rather die than be dragged into it."

"I really hope she's bluffing," Seven heard Harry whisper.

The A.I. looked stunned, unsure of how to respond, but he didn't immediately detonate his explosives, so Seven allowed herself to be optimistic and hope that was a good sign.

"Captain," Tom Paris said, his voice heard over the still open channel. "Thirty-two vessels just dropped out of warp, right off our port bow."

"On screen," Janeway said.

"Shit," Harry said. "Thirty-two."

"It's our bomb's friends," B'Elanna said to Seven and Neelix.

"They detected my presence aboard your vessel," the A.I. said. "They say my target is essential. and that they altered course to ensure that I reach it. They demand that I be transported off your vessel so I can be tractored to my target."

"Mister Kim," Janeway said. "reintegrate his neural matrix and prepare to beam it off-"

"We can't do that Captain," Harry said.

"Explain."

"These weapons were fired by accident, we can't let them reach their target."

"ENOUGH!" the A.I. screamed so loud that had it real vocal chords it would've been in danger of blowing them out. Everyone flinched, and Harry even put his hand over the ear closest to the A.I. "Captain, order him to proceed!"

"Harry, what are you talking about?" Janeway said.

"Give me a minute," Harry said. He got right in front of the A.I. and jabbed him with his pointer finger. "Bomb, can I call you bomb? Forget it, I don't care. You're making a mistake. Your own people tried to disarm you."

"I cannot be certain of that," the A.I. said. Seven found herself grateful that he wasn't shouting for once.

"Yes you can," Harry said. "Check your memory files. Look for the confirmation code."

"No more delays," the A.I., looking pained, and confused. "Reintegrate my matrix."

"Check the files," Harry said, not as loud as the A.I. had been but still shouting,.

"Do what Harry says," Janeway said, "or you're not leaving this ship. And if you detonate now, your companions are close enough the explosion would destroy most if not all of them too. The power in this situation is out of your hands."

The A.I. began working on the console. Seven couldn't see what he was seeing, and in fact was very tempted to just lie down and go to sleep, the pain of the shock she'd suffered still affecting her, but that was overpowered by the desire to see this through. If the worst came to pass, she did not want to die unconscious.

"Coding intersequence 443," the A.I. said. "Vector 39121. Cessation of hostilities… Confirmed. Unauthorized launch, confirmed. Order to terminate mission, confirmed."

"You must disarm and order your companions to do the same," Harry said, speaking softly now, Seven having to strain to hear him. She tried to get up, but Neelix and B'Elanna held her down. She was weak enough that they didn't need to exert themselves to do so.

"It's a deception," the A.I. said, but it sounded more like it was trying to convince itself than Harry.

"This code of your uses a modulating algorithm," Harry said. "It would be almost impossible to duplicate."

"Almost impossible," the A.I. said. "Almost. I- we, should return to our home system, seek additional confirmation. Too many variables."

"Yes," B'Elanna said. "You should. War is too big a thing to leave to maybes."

"No," the A.I. said, "the enemy is ruthless. Violent."

"Now you're just spouting propaganda," Harry said. "You are a sentient being. Your designers gave you intelligence so you could make decisions in the field. The evidence is pointing to this attack being a mistake. You owe it to yourself as much as to the people you'd potentially kill to find out for sure, and the best to do that is, in your own words, to return to your home system."

"Bridge to sickbay," Janeway said. "You're receiving a transmission from the other bombs. What are they saying?"

The A.I. looked down. "They are asking why I haven't left your ship," he said.

"Tell them," Harry said.

"I will," the A.I. said. "I'm transmitting our orders to terminate the mission."

Harry breathed a sigh of relief. B'Elanna smiled and nodded.

"Good job, Harry," she muttered under her breath.

"Definitely," Neelix said, concurring with B'Elanna. Seven herself admitted internally she hadn't thought this was possible.

"Oh no," the A.I. said. "They already received those orders, but were past the targeting threshold."

"The what?" B'Elanna said.

"Once within two light years of a target we cannot, in theory anyway, be diverted. I've resent the orders, but they are not standing down."

The A.I. looked sad. "This is my fault," he said. "Had I listened to you sooner I could've prevented this."

"We can worry about blame later," Harry said. "How can we stop them?"

"We can't," the A.I. said, "not without destroying them I mean. I don't want to do that, but I think we may have no choice."

"That seems like a bad design flaw," B'Elanna said. "Why give you that level of intelligence, only to yank it away at an arbitrary distance?"

Seven, now able to sit up on her own, saw the A.I., looking ashamed, but still pressing buttons on the console.

"I'm trying to convince them to stand down, but they don't believe me about the order. We will have to destroy them. Thirty-three sentient lives is a small price to pay to save thousands, isn't it?"

"Wait, thirty-three?" Harry said.

"Reintegrate me into my matrix, and let me join them. Get Voyager to a safe distance, and I will detonate, taking them with me."

"We can't let you do that," Harry said.

"You wanted me to see beyond my programming, Lieutenant Kim," the A.I. said. "That's what I'm doing now. Noble self-sacrifice is not part of my original code. I have entered contact information for my people. Tell them everything, including the part about the targeting threshold. Your engineer is right, that is a terrible design flaw."

Another synthetic life form allowing itself to die, Seven said, thinking sadly of Edwin. One more time and this officially ceases to be mere coincidence.

"Captain, are you still listening?" Harry said.

"Lock on to the weapon and prepare to beam it out. B'Elanna let's get started on the reintegration."

"Harry, are you sure about this?" the Captain said, though she easily could've refused if she'd felt that Lieutenant Kim was making a mistake.

"Trust me on this one Captain," Harry said.

"Got it," Janeway said. "Let transporter room one know when you're ready. I'll patch you through."

The A.I. put a hand on Harry's shoulder. "Thank you," he said.

"For what?"

"I am still getting to complete my mission, only my target has changed. When I destroy the other weapons, a new war will be averted. Countless lives on both sides will be spared."

"It's ready," B'Elanna said, closing the top panel on the device. Harry pressed a button, and the hologram flickered at the same time the lights on the device powered up.

"Please state the nature of the medic- wait, what happened?" The hologram was still there, but clearly the Doctor was back. "How long was I off-line?"

"I'll explain later," B'Elanna said. "Seven's hurt."

"It is not life threatening," Seven insisted, though she made no effort to get out of the bio-bed. She had a feeling that the after effects of the bomb's defense measures would last a while though.

"Transporter room 1, are you there?" Harry said.

"Ready and waiting," Ensign Mulcahey said.

Another coincidence, Seven thought. Of course Todd Mulcahey is involved in this too.

"Energize," Harry said.

Seven leaned back, hearing rather than seeing the device being beamed away.

"I'm detecting a series of antimatter explosions," Tuvok said.

"In proximity to what?" Chakotay said.

Janeway knew however. Her instinct told her that she'd been right to trust Harry's judgement.

"No ships, no planets, nothing. The weapons have been destroyed," Tuvok said.

"Bridge to Lieutenant Kim," Janeway said. "Good work. The A.I. kept it's promise and destroyed the other weapons."

"Good to hear," Harry's voice replied, though his tone suggested he was less than thrilled. Janeway couldn't entirely blame him, it had been barely a few minutes between Harry successfully convincing the smart bomb to disarm itself before it had to go and die. Her ancestors had a term for that; bittersweet.

"Harry," Janeway said, "go ahead and take the rest of your shift off. That goes for B'Elanna and Seven too. I think you've earned it."

"Thank you Captain, but if you don't mind there's something we need to take care of first."

"The weapon's people?" Janeway said. "Apparently they're called the Druoda. We'll make sure they get the information. Get some rest. That's an order."

"Yes, Captain," Harry said.

Chapter Ten

Lieutenant junior grade Harry Kim had been put in charge of the night shift on Voyager before, but he always took a certain amount of joy in getting to sit in the captain's chair. The joy couldn't entirely overpower the boredom though, which began to set in at hour four of the eight hour rotation.

He found himself glancing repeatedly over at Samantha Wildman at the main science station, at Kashimuro Nozawa standing where he usually did at ops, at Sue Brooks sitting in Tom's chair at navigation, and at Lydia Anderson at tactical.

"We should start a barbershop quintet," he muttered.

"What was that, Lieutenant?" Brooks said.

"Oh, sorry, just thinking out loud. Anything interesting up ahead?"

"Permission to speak frankly sir?"

"Of course," Harry said, wondering where this was going.

"Not a gods damned thing for light years near as I can tell."

Harry sighed. "Great. Well, great in the sense that nothing is going to kill us anyway."

"Bored?" Samantha said.

"Like you wouldn't believe," Harry replied, standing up to stretch. "So, how has everyone's day be-

"Sir," Nozawa said, "something just popped up on long range sensors. It appears to be a ship, dead in space, no emissions. That's why we didn't pick it up sooner."

Harry smiled. Finally, something to do.

"Interesting," he said. "Brooks, drop us out of warp, but keep us at a safe distance from the object in case this turns out to be a trap. Put the ship on the viewscreen, full magnification."

Harry gasped at what he saw.

"That kinda looks like a Starfleet vessel," Samantha said.

"Yeah, but like an older one," Harry said, stepping closer to the viewscreen, standing right next to Brooks' seat. "If I remember Starfleet History 101, that design was abandoned back when the Enterprise didn't have a letter in its registration."

"If this is a long lost vessel from the early days of Starfleet, that's a huge find," Brooks said. "Should I call the captain?"

"Definitely," Harry said.

The senior staff including the Doctor all filed out of the turbolifts, Seven of Nine following behind them. As each took their station, their fill-ins got up, but did not leave. They wanted to see this through, and Samantha couldn't blame them. She nodded at Seven as she walked past giving her a quick smile before going to stand at the console behind the Captain and Commander Chakotay as they took their seats.

"So, fill me in Harry, what did we find?"

"I checked the records Captain," Harry said, smiling. "and I had Nozawa run his scans twice to be sure. It's definitely the NX-01."

Janeway, Chakotay, and Paris all looked at Harry dumbstruck.

"For real?" Tom said.

"What's the NX-01?" B'Elanna Torres said as she sat down at the auxiliary engineering console.

"It's a legend," Chakotay said. "The first human-built ship that could hit warp 5. Even the Vulcans didn't have that back then."

"I'd read about how it went missing on its first mission. Never imagined it would be found in the Delta Quadrant of all places," Tom said. "Any idea how it got here?"

"I'm sure it'll be fun to find out," Janeway said, grinning. "Harry, pull up everything from the memory banks about the NX-01."

"Already done captain," Harry said.

"Excellent. Send that data to the briefing room and-" A proximity alert alarm went off, cutting off Janeway's order.

Now what? Samantha thought, turning back to her own console, and tilting her head at the readout.

"Captain," she said, "I'm picking up chronotons. I think-"

Suddenly another ship filled the viewscreen, much larger than Voyager, blocking their view of the NX-01. It's hull design was Starfleet-esque but didn't match any hull configuration she knew of.

"Captain, the other ship is hailing us," Sam heard Harry say.

"On screen," Janeway said.

The face on the screen was human. He wore a uniform style that Sam didn't recognize but the insignia he wore, while wildly different from the one the Voyager crew had on their com badges, had the familiar Starfleet delta that all ships had ever since the era of Jim Kirk.

"Captain. Looks like we meet again."

"Braxton," Janeway said. "Looks like you've moved up in the world of the 29th century."

"You're looking at the Federation time-ship Relativity, captain," Braxton said. "And she's actually been my ship all along, she was just undergoing refits the day I first met you."

"Which for us was actually the third time we met you. Time travel's kinda funny that way," Janeway said. "I don't suppose you've come to tell us that Voyager is responsible for another temporal disaster of some kind."

Braxton frowned. "Okay, you really are going to have to explain that one to me, Captain. But later. May I come aboard?"

"I'd like to know what this is about first, Captain," Captain Janeway said, "with all due respect."

"Fair enough. I would like to enlist your crew in helping mine solve once and for all the mystery of what really happened to the NX-01."

"Since some of you are unfamiliar with the NX-01 and its impact on Starfleet history and the Federation," Captain Braxton said to the senior staff, minus the Doctor but plus Seven of Nine, as they sat around the table in the briefing room. "Let me give you a quick refresher."

Seven took out her PADD, taking careful notes so she could fill in Sam on what she missed by not being in the briefing.

"Tom said it was the first ship to ever break Warp 5," B'Elanna said. "If I learned about it in the academy before I dropped out I don't remember that."

"Well, the first ship built by any of the founding races of the Federation anyway," Braxton said. "At the time even the Vulcans thought achieving that speed was too dangerous to attempt."

"The 22nd century was not one of the more auspicious periods of our history," Tuvok said. "many in the High Command were driven to paranoia and arguably even xenophobia as a side-effect of our long running conflicts with the Andorians prior to first contact with humanity."

"That is more relevant to this than you realize Mister Tuvok," Braxton said.

"How so?" Janeway asked.

"The captain of the NX-01 was one Jonathan Archer," Braxton said. "He, using his late father's work on the warp five project, personally oversaw the ship's construction and hand picked most of its senior staff. The problem though, simply put, was that he was bigoted towards Vulcans."

"I don't recall reading about that in history class," Janeway said.

"I do," Chakotay said. "apparently he believed that the Vulcans were holding humanity back by cautioning against the warp five experiments, and accused them of sabotaging his father's work. The first working prototype wasn't completed until after his father's death."

"Paranoid and racist," B'Elanna said. "No wonder I've never heard of a Jonathan Archer High School."

"Unfortunately there is a degree of truth to it," Tuvok said. "Though only a small one. According to my own father who was teaching at the Vulcan Science Academy at the time, the Vulcan high Command did have access to some research that, if shared with our at the time new allies, the Humans, would likely have accelerated the creation of a working warp five engine by months if not years."

"Possible," Braxton said, "but not a certainty. What is certain is that while the drive itself was a success, the NX-01 ultimately was not. Three weeks into it's mission, the NX-01 was lost in a nebula. A small amount of debris was found, but barely enough to account for one of the ship's shuttlepods, let alone the ship itself."

"Why was the NX-01 in the nebula? Was it a scientific mission?" Seven asked.

"No actually," Braxton said, "it was a first contact situation. The Borothans. A number of their ships were making a pilgrimage to a nebula their people considered holy in the time before they became a Federation member race. They invited the NX-01 and her crew along, so they went. Borothan sensor logs from the time show a small explosion beneath the NX-01 but not from it, at least from what we can tell, the footage is from very outdated sensors technology, plus degraded over time due to poor data storage. This was all pre-Memory Alpha, obviously."

Braxton touched a button on the wall console and the sensor log began playing. It was distorted, but not so much so that Seven and the rest of the crew couldn't make out what was going on. The NX-01, a flash of light that looked like an explosion, and the ship vanishing.

"I don't see any debris field at all," Tom said.

"It was found by the Borothans," Braxton said, "what little there was anyway, and turned over to Starfleet. They were very cooperative. Starfleet officials at the time believed that they feared they might be blamed for the NX-01's disappearance. Obviously investigators didn't want to rule that out right away, but it quickly became clear that they had nothing to do with it."

"Okay," Janeway said. "Some of this stuff we knew, some of it we didn't, but that doesn't explain why you want us to help. Couldn't you simply go back in time and find out for yourself?"

"That's the thing Captain, we already tried." Braxton said. "The Relativity has cloaking technology, and before you ask, no I won't say why we're allowed to have those in my time, but when we went back, we followed the NX-01 to that nebula, and then watched it leave and continue on its mission."

The senior staff all looked at each other, confusion showing on their face.

"How is that possible?" Chakotay said.

"And if the timeline was changed, why do we still remember the NX-01 has having gone missing?" Tom said. "I mean, it's out there right now, on the other side of your ship," he added, pointing at Braxton.

"A common misconception about time travel that plagued humanity from when the concept was first theorized, up through to even the 25th century is that changes in the timeline would be felt immediately." Braxton chuckled slightly. "Hell, you people probably still think a small paradox can destroy the whole universe."

"Let's not get into the minutiae of how time travel works," Janeway said. "What I want to know is why enlist us to help?"

"The Relativity is a one-of-a-kind ship Captain Janeway, even in my time. The situation at that point in the 22nd century is already a mess, and us crossing our own timeline would be bad. Not a universe ender, like I said those don't actually exist, but it could make things even worse."

"Wait, what do you mean worse?" B'Elanna said.

Braxton sighed. "Here comes the part you aren't going to like," he said. "If it's any consolation, I don't like it either. But basically, the reason your history books and mine still show the NX-01 as being destroyed, at least for now, is because it needed to be. If we can't find out what caused its disappearance over two-hundred years ago from where we are now, the Federation as we know it will either be radically different, or not exist at all. My people are still trying to figure that last part out based on the data."

"I don't like it," Janeway said. "Because if you are saying what I think you are, you're suggesting that whoever it is from my crew you want to enlist, they'll be the ones who destroy the NX-01."

"The ship, yes." Braxton said. "For the crew, if my people's calculations work out they can be brought to the 29th century. We've done it before.

"Still, that does mean their families back home will believe them dead. I don't need to tell any of you here how difficult that will be for them."

"I'm sorry," Chakotay said, "but this is all a hell of a lot to take in, and frankly you're asking us to take it on faith when we don't really know you."

"Perhaps," Tuvok said, "if you could explain why it is so necessary for the NX-01 to be lost, we would be more cooperative, Captain."

"Exactly," Janeway said.

"The short version?" Braxton said "If Captain Jonathan Archer returns home after a successful exploration mission in the NX-01, he'll be more popular on Earth than ever. Consequently, his anti-Vulcan biases will start to seep into the public consciousness. Not in any obvious ways of course, but they'll be there. The irrational distrust of the Vulcans will mean that when the time comes to start drafting the articles of the Federation, the Vulcans will either not be invited altogether, or will have their contributions to the charter undermined. The articles will be written by a more paranoid Humanity, and also more militaristic Andorians."

"This is the short version?" Seven heard Tom whisper. B'Elanna nudged him to stay quiet.

"There are many things that make the Federation great," Braxton continued. "But the key component, the lynch pin that holds it all together is the friendship between the Humans and the Vulcans. That's where it all truly started, everything grew from that. If Archer becomes an icon, his paranoia about the Vulcans keeping humanity from reaching it's full potential would spread enough to undermine that, and eventually, generations down the line destroy it completely."

"Okay," Harry Kim said, "this is going to sound brutal but I'm also bringing this up for the sake of discussion; why not just make Archer disappear? I don't mean kill him, but just disappear him for awhile until the Federation has been founded. Why make the families of however many people were on that ship-"

"Eighty-three," Braxton said.

"Why make the families of eighty-three people suffer through the pain of never knowing what happened to their loved ones?" Harry continued.

"Technically only eighty-one. Or eighty, depending," Captain Braxton said.

"What are you talking about Braxton?" Janeway said, sounding increasingly frustrated.

"I intend to send two or three Voyager crewmembers to the 22nd Century to board the NX-01," Braxton said. "as replacements for three of the original crew members who will suddenly find themselves with other obligations they can't back out of."

"Why us?" Tom Paris said.

"Because history in the original timeline, the one where the NX-01 disappeared, the lost Federation starship Voyager found its remains in the Delta Quadrant, before continuing on its journey home."

"Wait, you're saying we make it?" Harry said, trying and failing to suppress a smile. "I'm surprised you're telling us this."

"Your logs certainly do, but for obvious reasons I can't say whether anyone or anything else did." Braxton turned to the wall console again and pulled up three personnel profiles. Based on the uniform designs Seven deduced that there were NX-01 crew members, and the uniforms were standard issue for Starfleet in that era.

"My people have determined that these three individuals not being on the NX-01 on it's first and last mission will have negligible impact on the history of the Federation in either direction; positive or negative," Braxton said.

"Hang on," Janeway said. "you're getting ahead of yourself here. We haven't agreed to actually help you with this. You are giving us a lot of information real fast, and I don't like it. Have you ever heard of the Gish Gallop?"

"Can't say I have Captain," Braxton said. "It must be a phrase that didn't survive into my time."

"It relates to an even older Earth saying," Janeway said, now standing with her arms crossed. "If you can't dazzle them with details, baffle them with bullshit."

"Crudely put," Tuvok said, "but the Captain is correct. You do seem to operating under the presumption that we will accept what you are telling us at face value."

"Let's not forget that the first time Braxton met us he tried to blow us up," B'Elanna said, looking at the Captain as she said it..

"What?" Braxton said, sounding shocked.

"It was an alternate timeline thing Captain," Chakotay said. "It's a bit complicated but the version of you who brought us back to the Delta Quadrant from 1990s Earth was different from the rather disturbed and violent version of you who caused us to end up there in the first place."

"You'll have to fill me in on the details of that," Braxton said.

"Short version?" Janeway said. "When I break a time loop it stays broken."

"Impressive," Braxton said. "Well, in that instance I can see why you might have concerns about my presence here and what I am asking of you."

Captain Braxton did the best he could to explain the details that Captain Janeway had inartfully asked for, but some of the terminology he used to describe his ship's technology went even over Seven's head, and she knew more about temporal mechanics than anyone on the ship. She could tell that Janeway and B'Elanna were trying to keep up, and that whatever Tuvok was thinking he wasn't letting show, but Chakotay and Harry just kept looking at each other as if each were silently asking the other if they understood what Braxton was saying.

"Okay Braxton," Janeway said. "Wait outside, let me talk it over with my crew. I'll let you know what we decide."

"Very well then," Braxton said, stepping out of the briefing room.

Nearly a half hour after discussing the matter, the senior staff filed out of the briefing room back on to the Bridge, where Braxton was waiting. Captain Janeway nodded at Braxton, who smiled.

"Thank you, Captain," he said.

I'd better not regret this, Janeway thought.

"I took a look at the NX-01 crew members you selected to have my people replace for your mission. Commander Chakotay can compile a list of ideal candidates."

"Knowledge of 22nd century history would be best if possible," Braxton said. "Part of why we're recruiting you is that era is closer to you than it is to us which decreases the possibility of error. And before you ask, we did consider approaching people from that time, as well as the 23rd century. I can show you the results of our study if you like, but simply put 24th century Starfleet officers are the best choice based on mission requirements."

"I will want to see that," Janeway said.

"It occurs to me Captain," Braxton said, "that Commander Chakotay himself would be a suitable substitute for Lieutenant Malcolm Reed. He was NX-01's tactical officer in the main timeline, and Chakotay did teach tactics at Starfleet Academy before leaving for the Maquis."

Janeway turned to face her first officer. Her look conveyed the question without saying it aloud. Chakotay nodded.

"Alright then," Janeway said. "That just leaves communications officer Hoshi Sato and science officer Richard Mulder."

"I would only need one more person Captain," Braxton said. "I'm sure two of your crew would be enough, we only had three names as those were the ones deemed safest to replace."

"Just how are you going to replace them, if you don't mind my asking?" Chakotay said, a question Janeway was thinking herself.

"It will depend on the person," Braxton said. "A non-lethal contagion requiring a few days quarantine is always an option, though my people are capable of finding less drastic measures. Sato will be the easiest to remove from the equation, as her records show her to be a hypochondriac. To be honest, one wonders what Archer had to do to convince her to leave Earth at all."

"Captain," Seven of Nine said. "Since universal translator was in it's infancy at that point is history, my cortical implant could be modified to work as one and allow me to pose in the role of a communications specialist."

"I imagine your Borg implants would raise a few red flags, Seven," Harry Kim said.

"We can hide those," Braxton said. "we can cover up the Commander's face tattoo as well, since Starfleet was far more strict regarding body modifications in that era."

"Okay, that's two down," Janeway said. "We only need one more."

"That leaves the science officer," Braxton said. "As Voyager is a science vessel I suppose that means nearly anyone on board would be a good fit for that role."

"According to the file we have on Lieutenant Mulder," Janeway said. "his field of expertise was xenobiology, one of the few humans in that field at the time. He even interned for a year at a Denobulan run endangered animal reserve."

"Samantha Wildman's field-" Seven of Nine said, but was cut off.

"No," Samantha said, looking panicked. "No no no. I am not a spy, I have no training in undercover work. Forget it."

"No one's making you Sam," Janeway said. "But Seven is right, that is your field. You'd be a better choice than someone who isn't and would have to fake it."

"Not to mention that your relationships with Ensign Seven of Nine would add credibility to the cover," Braxton said. "The less an agent has to lie about, the easier the facade is to maintain. If you and your wife-"

"Fiancee," Sam corrected.

Braxton took out what looked like a PADD, presumably it's 29th century equivalent, and ran his finger along the screen. "Oh, right," he said. "that hasn't happened yet. My apologies."

"Not necessary," Seven of Nine said.

"Anyway," Braxton continued. "whoever we have fill in for the science officer doesn't need to be well versed in xenobiology. The goal isn't to take on the officer's identity, just to be positioned as a the ideal alternative to them in order for Archer to have to take them on as his second choice. Same goes for Reed and Sato. You aren't posing as them, you're posing as officers with similar qualifications."

"In that case," Janeway said, "perhaps someone with a degree in astrophysics would be a good fit. Tom?"

Tom Paris didn't respond right away, seeming to ponder the question. "Makes sense," he said. "Plus I'm a history buff, so my knowledge of the era would prove helpful to the team as well."

"Actually," Chakotay said. "I think maybe Ensign Wildman should join the mission."

"What? Why?" Samantha said.

"Seven of Nine's Borg mannerism and speech patterns would likely draw suspicion onto us," Chakotay said. "At the very least people will notice. Humans tend not to talk like that most of the time outside of certain contexts."

"This is relevant because?" Janeway said, wondering where Chakotay was going with this.

"I'm sure we've all noticed that Seven tends to behave more, to put it bluntly, human, when she's around Sam," Chakotay said.

"Are you suggesting I be removed from the mission if Samantha doesn't agree to join?" Seven of Nine asked. If any other crewmember were asking that question, Janeway would believe they were offended, but Seven was likely only seeking clarification.

"No," Chakotay said. "Merely making a suggestion that could improve the mission's chances of success."

"Fine, I'll go," Samantha said. Everyone on the bridge turned to look at her. "Why is everyone so shocked?"

"You just seemed pretty adamant before, Sam," Harry said.

"Yeah, well, after this year I don't want to take any chances. I've almost lost Annie twice already, I don't think I could live with myself if something bad happened to her two hundred years in the past if I had a chance to prevent it."

"I assure you Ensign Wildman," Braxton said, "we'll have a temporal transporter lock on them at all times."

"Temporal transporter?" Janeway said. "Just how does that work?"

"I can explain in detail later. The only downside to the device is that it's relatively new to my ship. So far we have been unable to transport more than one person at a time. The team definitely will need to know that going in."

"You should've told us sooner, frankly," Janeway said. "In fact, I get the feeling there are a lot of things you aren't telling us yet."

"This is true, Captain Janeway," Braxton said. "but as long as the mission goes even half as well as planned, none of it will be necessary for you to know. Telling you now would just put undue pressure on you and your crew."

"I think that's my call to make, not yours," Janeway said. "You said yourself, the space-time continuum isn't anywhere near as fragile as people in my time think it is, if I remember correctly."

"True," Braxton said.

"So," Janeway continued, arms crossed and stepping forward so she was face to face with Braxton, "you are going to come back into the briefing room, with myself and the three volunteers for the mission, and you are going to lay out everything. This is non-negotiable."

Week One…

Samantha leaned back and sighed contentedly. She was back on Earth. Earth in the 22nd century, and she was here on an undercover mission, something that she never would have believed was possible, but it was Earth nonetheless. She looked over at Seven, her Borg implants now invisible thanks to the work of Braxton's crew, and wondered for a moment if Seven had dozed off. The soothing sound of ocean waves had nearly lulled her to that point several times.

"Doctor Wildman?" a voice she recognized from archive files that had been played for her and the rest of the undercover team a few days prior said.

Here goes nothing, she thought, nervous she would somehow accidentally blow her and Seven's cover. "Yes?" she said, pretending not to recognize Captain Jonathan Archer.

"Jon Archer, Starfleet," he said, extending his hand.

"Archer? As in, Warp Five engine Archer?" Sam said, feigning excitement. "A pleasure to meet you Captain." She reached over and nudged Seven.

"Annika, you awake sweetie?"

"Hmm? Oh, sorry, did I- Captain Archer?" Seven said. "What brings you to Ibiza?"

"Sorry to interrupt your honeymoon Ensign Hansen," Archer said, smiling. Samantha had to admit the man had a certain charm to him. Had she not known deep down that this man had a deep seated paranoia against the Vulcans, she might find herself falling into the trap of liking him. "I'm actually here to recruit you. Both of you actually."

"Oh?" Sam said.

"I need a new science officer and communications specialist for the NX-01. We're due to launch at the end of the week, and sadly I've had several officers have to bow out. I got lucky that two of the names near the top of both lists happened to be in the same place."

Archer was referring to Sam and Seven's cover identities, modeled very closely on their real ones, even keeping their names, or birth names in Seven of Nine's case.

"I'm flattered," Samantha said, remembering the script that Tom Paris had prepared for her for this moment. Don't say yes right away, he'd said. Make Archer work for it. "But Annie and I just got here. We haven't even been married a full twenty-four hours yet."

"I understand," Archer said. "and if I had more time I wouldn't even be here. But Starfleet Command is really pushing for a launch this Saturday."

"To coincide with Zefram Cochrane's birthday, I heard about that," Seven said. "I think we should take him up on the offer honey. I mean, a honeymoon in Spain is wonderful and I love you for suggesting it, but a honeymoon in space? How can we pass that up?" Seven put on an excited smile.

Damn you're good, Sam thought. She nearly believed that Seven was as excited as she had been told to look.

"Good sell, Seven," Tom's voice came through on the implants in their ears.

Archer smiled. "Not many people can say they spent their honeymoon in space."

Sam sighed. "Captain, I appreciate the offer really, but there's one slight problem. I'm not Starfleet."

"I can grant you a field commission," Archer said. "It's nothing new, my first choice for communications officer, no offense Ensign, wasn't Starfleet either. She's a teacher in fact."

Sam looked at Seven, who was putting on a masterful "oh please oh please oh please face" that Naomi had taught her. Samantha felt a twinge of guilt at having to leave Naomi behind, and it broke her heart that she wouldn't be seeing her daughter for almost a month, but Braxton had sworn to her that in her downtime on the NX-01 he could arrange for a private communication with her from time to time and that there was no way the NX-01 relatively primitive communications technology could intercept.

"May I ask why me?" Sam said.

"Because you are one of the handful of Human scientists to have ever studied plant and animal life on other worlds," Archer said. "Now you may be thinking why not an astrophysicist, or some other branch of science, but you don't need to worry about that, you'll have a decent team working under you. If something's outside your field of expertise, you can just tell me who to bring with me on an away mission. Your profile said you showed some leadership skills."

"Well," Sam said, putting on a smile that she hoped looked both genuine and humble, "I've had to take charge of a situation from time to time."

"And you did a great job," Seven said, gently rubbing Sam's shoulders. "Imagine what this could do for your career when we get back. Serving on the first Warp Five ship will look great on the resume."

"Alright, I'm convinced," Sam said.

"Great," Archer said. "See you in San Francisco on Saturday, 0630 hours. That's a few days off so enjoy your honeymoon 'til then."

As soon as Archer was out of earshot Sam let out a sigh of relief. "Seems to me like he bought it," she said.

"Agreed," Seven of Nine said. "Has Commander Chakotay already been enlisted by Captain Archer as well?"

"He has," Braxton's voice said in both women's ears. "Yesterday. He'll only be a Lieutenant on the NX-01 when you meet him, so be careful about that. His cover story is that he was on the command track until he took a long sabbatical when his father passed away. Like I said, basing your covers partially in truth makes them easier to maintain.

"As for now, do what the Captain said. You've got a few days, might as well enjoy them. If Ensign Paris or anyone from my crew has anything they think they'll need to pass on to you we will. I'll mute the communicators so you two can be alone."

"Thank you sir," Sam said. "but first, Tom?"

"Yeah, Sam?"

"Tell Naomi I said good night."

"I will."

Seven of Nine and Samantha Wildman got to go to the beaches of Spain, Chakotay thought as he went over the defensive systems of the NX-01 while it sat in spacedock, while I have to run calibrations of phasers so old they didn't even call them phasers yet.

The task, though not exciting, was at least a challenge, so he wasn't bored. The only hard part for him was making sure that his calibrations were not too good for the time period. Chakotay knew full well he could improve the accuracy and decrease the power consumption of these 'phased cannons' exponentially, even using the period technology at his disposal, but he had to settle for a mere 5% improvement.

"How're those calibrations coming along Lieutenant?" the voice of the NX-01's chief engineer said. Commander Charles Tucker, whom Captain Archer had referred to as Trip when he'd introduced the two, climbed up the ladder from where the antimatter missiles were stored. Chakotay wondered why he'd been down there, and made a note to check later.

"Done," Chakotay said. "Just triple checking them. One can never be too careful when it comes to weapons as powerful as these. It'd look bad on my performance review if the captain asks me to disable an alien ship and we end up blowing it to pieces instead."

"You expect we'll see combat out there?" Tucker said. "According to the Vulcans it's mostly friendlies in the direction we're headed, and those that aren't aren't much of a threat."

"Is that the Vulcans praising us," Chakotay said, "or insulting us?"

"Could be both," Tucker said with a shrug. "Don't let it get around Lieutenant, but while I find the Vulcans can be pretty smug sometimes, I don't think they're all that bad. Not that I'd ever say that to the Captain mind you. And neither should you."

"My lips are sealed sir," Chakotay said.

Tucker shook his head. "I doubt I'll ever get over someone older than me calling me sir, Mister Chakotay. I understand why though. Were you and your Dad close?"

"Be as honest as you can," Braxton's voice said into Chakotay's implant, but Chakotay already knew that.

"Sadly no," he said. "That's part of why I took it so hard when he passed. He never approved of me joining Starfleet. He wanted me to stay in South America with our tribe. By the time I even knew he was ill, it was too late to try and mend fences." Tucker sighed and put a hand on Chakotay's shoulder.

"Well, hopefully he's proud of you now, from wherever he is," he said. Chakotay nodded.

"Maybe," Chakotay said.

"Wow," Samantha Wildman said as they approached the NX-01 in a shuttlepod that Captain Archer piloted himself, with Samantha, now wearing the same period appropriate style of uniform that Seven was wearing, but with a different color trim to denote her rank and department. It was amusing that even though hers was only a field commission, she now technically outranked Seven of Nine as far as their cover went.

"I hope you don't intend to abuse your rank, Lieutenant," Archer had said while the three had still been standing by the landing pad on Earth. She and Seven had shared a look. Archer simply shook his head and laughed. "Forget I said anything," he'd added.

It looks so different, Sam thought. It's amazing how much of a difference working lights can make. She looked back at Seven, who was making a show of reading the report Archer had given her on the NX-01's translation system, the very crude precursor to the universal translator that Sam had to admit she had taken for granted over the years. The fact was Seven, due to her Borg implants, still retained the knowledge of the languages of every species the Borg had assimilated while she was a drone. Whether or not she could speak them was another matter; Seven had insisted that she could, but not as easily as she could recall other details, in addition to details such as context, dialect, and accents.

"Fun read, babe?" Sam said.

"Interesting," Seven said. "I look forward to seeing this system in action."

"The woman who was my first choice for communications officer," Archer said, "Hoshi Sato, actually helped develop it. Shame she can't join us, but she was always a bit on the paranoid side, and when she got food poisoning of all things the week before launch, she took it as a bad omen and bailed on me. Her loss though. Once we've gone past what even the Vulcan's consider known space there are going to be a lot of new languages I just know she would've loved to learn about."

Sam could still hear the inflection that Archer put on the word 'Vulcans.' It was subtle; so subtle that she wouldn't have picked up on it had Seven not pointed it out to her first. She smiled, pretending she didn't hear it.

"So, why is it still called the NX-01?" she said, asking a question that she'd actually wanted to ask in her pre-mission briefing but had failed to ask due to nerves. "Seems to me a starship should have a proper name instead of just a designation."

"Starfleet Command couldn't agree on one," Archer said. "Too many Admirals wanting to get credit for being the one who named her. So, they decided that if our first mission succeeds, since I helped build her, I'll get to pick the name."

"What are you going to call it?" Seven said.

"I've got it narrowed down. Remember the old space shuttles? Early spacecraft, the United States used them to send astronauts into orbit for scientific missions. I think I'll name her after one of those. Columbia, Endeavour, Enterprise, one of those."

Sam smiled and nodded, though it was hard for her not to associate the name Robert April with the title of 'first Starfleet Captain of a U.S.S. Enterprise.' I wonder what the NX-01 would've been named if it had made it back, she thought.

"Archer to NX-01, request permission to dock," Archer said after pushing a button on the console in front of him.

"NX-01 flight control to Shuttlepod One you are clear to approach," an unknown voice replied. "Hold position while we extend the grappler."

Seven of Nine had made sure her ocular implant was modified to search for explosives without having to carry any extra equipment on her. This proved to be a nearly mission compromising mistake as she, Sam, and Archer made their way to sickbay from the shuttle bay. The path took them past the area of the ship where the antimatter missiles, crude precursors to the far more precise photon torpedoes, were stored, and the blinding flash all that relatively poorly shielded explosive material made as she came around a hall made her flinch. Luckily, Archer was not looking right at her when it happened, and Seven was able to regain her composure quickly.

Captain Archer stopped a young woman who was going the opposite direction down the corridor.

"Ensign Cutler, would you go ahead and take our two new crewmen to see Doctor Phlox?"

"Of course sir," Cutler said. "You must be our new science and communications officers," she added extended a hand to both Seven and Samantha.

"Samantha Wildman," Sam said. "And my wife Annika Hansen."

"Welcome aboard, both of you. Have you been assigned crew quarters yet?" Cutler said.

"Dammit, I knew I forgot to do something," Archer said. He gave Seven and Sam an apologetic smile. "I'll take care of that myself Cutler since it was my faux-pas. Just have them get their check-ups, and then we can be on our way."

"Yes sir. This way ladies," Cutler said. Seven allowed Sam to get a few steps ahead of her so Seven could try to surreptitiously scan the parts of the ship they were going through, looking for any sign of some kind of bomb that could be to blame for the NX-01's loss in the original timeline.

"Okay," Braxton's voice said into Seven's earpiece. "Based on our data on Phlox, he's very unconventional as doctors go. heavy into non-traditional medicine, but as far we know nothing he has is going to harm you. It will be disgusting however, so don't feel you have to hide your revulsion. He's probably used to it at this point."

Seven, Sam, and Cutler arrived at sickbay just in time to see Commander Chakotay leaving.

"Ah, Mister Chakotay," Cutler said. "Samantha, Annika, this is Chakotay. Our new tactical officer."

"A pleasure to meet you," Samantha said.

"Likewise," Seven added. Chakotay smiled and nodded.

"Welcome aboard the NX-01 ladies. Ready to make some history?" he said.

"Oh absolutely," Samantha said, enthusiastically shaking Chakotay's hand as though they'd never met before.

"Good. Don't worry too much about the Doc, he promises he'll only use his leeches if there's an emergency," Chakotay said, before saluting and heading down another corridor.

I hope he's joking, Seven thought.

"I really hope he was joking," Tom Paris' voice said in her ear.

"Doctor, two new guinea pigs for you," Cutler said in a jovial tone.

"Ah, good, always nice to meet new potential victims." Seven was still behind Sam. She moved to Sam's side to see a Denobulan, Species 7611, with the largest smile she had ever seen on any sentient being capable of smiling.

"I was unaware that Starfleet allowed non-humans to serve on their ships," Sam said.

"Normally they don't," Doctor Phlox said. "But Captain Archer happens to be a friend of mine, so he requested me. It doubtless helps that I have more experience treating injured and sick non-humans than any human doctor does currently, though I've no doubt that will change soon. Your species is made up of remarkably quick learners."

"Careful," Cutler said, still smiling. "this one's a charmer."

Seven got the impression that something was going on between these two, but decided that was none of her concern.

"I just need to run a routine physical," Phlox said, "so go ahead and take a seat on one of the beds, one each please."

It was only then that Seven noticed the animals. Cages, tanks, all sorts of enclosures holding varying types of mammals, fish, insects, and other creatures she did not recognize.

"Is this," Seven said, also finally noticing the smell, "sanitary?" Sam nudged Seven gently as she often did when she felt that Seven needed to briefly cease talking.

Phlox however did not seem offended in the slightest.

"Don't worry," he said. "they've all been through necessary decontamination procedures. I use some of them for research, all very humane. Some have properties in them that can be used as medical treatments. And, a few of them are simply pets."

"I love animals too," Samantha said.

"I've heard," Phlox said. "I imagine we will much to talk about over the coming weeks. Now, while normally I love small talk, I do have to get this last round of physicals done in the next hour so Starfleet will allow us to launch on time, so I will get to work on the check-ups for yourself and your lovely wife."

Week Two…

Chakotay stared at the ceiling in his quarters, having doubts about the mission. The NX-01 was seven days out of spacedock, and the only exciting thing that had happened was first contact with the Xyrillians. It was a big deal for the people of this time of course, but for him, he'd had a Xyrillian bunkmate during his first starship posting, and another Xyrillian had briefly flown with him in the Maquis before going to another colony in the DMZ to help there.

He also had found nothing that pointed towards what could possibly have caused the accident or sabotage or whatever that had led to this ship ending up being found by his people over two-hundred years later. But worst of all was his budding friendship with Trip, the chief engineer. Braxton had warned him, as well as Seven of Nine and Samantha Wildman, about getting attached to anyone on this ship, but with a mission that was going to last almost a month, that was just unrealistic. Samantha and Seven themselves seemed to regularly spend their lunches in the mess hall dining with Ensign Cutler, as well as Travis Mayweather, the NX-01's helmsman.

Since he was alone, he decided to go ahead and talk to his controllers aboard the Relativity directly. "Are you sure there's nothing we can do for them?" he said.

"History records them as being lost," Braxton insisted, as he did every time Chakotay broached the subject. "And they don't just suddenly turn up in the 24th century either. I'm not going to rule out finding a home for them in the 29th, but that wholly depends on what the cause of the disaster is. I'm sorry Commander, but those are the cold hard facts."
Chakotay sighed. This was the third time he'd had this conversation, and it was to Captain Braxton's credit that he didn't get annoyed at the repetition he supposed. Everyone on this ship apart from himself, Seven, and Sam were going to die in about a week, and there was nothing he could do about that. He would perform his duties, but there was no rule that said he had to like them.

Seven of Nine closed her eyes and smiled as Samantha rubbed her shoulders.

"This mission cannot end soon enough," Sam whispered. Seven agreed. While both Captain Braxton and Tom Paris had sworn that they didn't leave the sub-dermal communicators on non-stop, the couple could not bring themselves to be intimate while they were still in the 22nd century. Only the fact that they had gone more than a week without sex before helped them any, but on Voyager it was different; there was a child in the equation, in addition to Seven's budding friendships with several members of the crew. Aboard the NX-01, it was just simply frustrating.

"I am starting to regret volunteering," Seven said. "At this point, with no sign of any equipment failures or sabotage to explain the disappearance of the NX-01, it looks increasingly likely that we're in a time loop."

"And that we have to be the ones to make it go missing," Sam said. "I am not looking forward to that, at all."

"Nor am I," Seven said.

The sound of the door chime interrupted the somber conversation. "Enter," Sam said, looking at the chronometer and wondering who it might be at his hour.

Doctor Phlox entered, smiling, his hands behind his back. "Lieutenant Wildman, can I speak with you privately?" he said.

Sam looked at Seven. Seven subtly shrugged.

"I suppose that's alright," Sam said. "where-"

"Sickbay, if you please," Phlox said. For some reason, he seemed to be making an effort not to make eye contact with her, keeping his focus on Sam.

Is he on to us? Seven thought, searching her memories for anything she might've done to accidentally reveal any of her cybernetic implants. Or just me?

"Yeah, sure," Sam said. She touched the back of Seven's neck. "See you at movie night?"

"Yes," Seven said, smiling. "Tucker says we'll be watching a film called Forbidden Planet. The title intrigues me."

"It's a good film," Phlox said. "The gender politics are incredibly backwards, but I understand that was sadly normal for humans at the time it was made. I saw it during my time on Earth, before I met Captain Archer."

"Sounds interesting. I'll meet you there. Love you," Sam said.

"Love you too," Seven said.

"So, what did you want to talk about?" Sam asked Phlox.

"How long have you known your wife, Lieutenant?" Phlox said.

"Two years," Sam said. She was rounding up considerably, but it was a mostly accurate statement.

"Remember a few days ago when one of my pet bats accidentally scratched her?" Phlox said.

"Yes," Sam said, glowering. "I also remember reading you the riot act over letting a freaking bat fly around sickbay."

"I was examining her, the bat I mean, after the incident, and I found something in your spouse's blood that concerns me," Phlox said.

Uh oh, Sam thought.

"Uh oh," Tom Paris said in Sam's ear piece.

"Several years ago," Phlox said, "when I first came to Earth, I was brought in to consult on something that had been found in the northern polar region of the planet. Along with some debris from a ship that had presumably crashed there years before, we found the frozen bodies of several humanoid, cybernetic beings."

"Interesting," Sam said, afraid she knew where this was going but not wanting to give away anything. "But what does that have to do with my wife?"

"When I examined the bodies, I found inert nanotechnology inside them," Phlox said. "I was sworn to silence by Starfleet Command about it, I'm risking my good standing with Earth as well as my position on this ship by talking to you about this. I've never even told Captain Archer. But I may be forced to, because I found that same nanotech in the blood on my bat's claws."

Sam shook her head and laughed, hoping the laugh came across as genuine. "Are you trying to tell me that Annika is secretly a cyborg?" she said. "That's ludicrous. If that's so, why didn't you find any during your exams when we first came aboard?"

"She may have been able to hide it," Phlox said. "The nanotech I found in her bloodstream was inert."

"Also," Samantha said, stepping closer to Phlox in what she hoped was an intimidating gesture, "if you actually think she's a cyborg infiltrator of some kind, why would you tell me this? For all you know I could be one too."

"I considered that," Phlox said. "That's why I palmed one of the utensils you used at dinner in the mess hall the other night."

"That's kinda creepy," Tom's voice said. Sam had to bite her lip to keep from verbally agreeing.

"I scanned that and found no sign of nanotechnology," Phlox said. "That's why I believe I can trust you. I think-"

"I think you should just drop this, Doctor," Sam said forcefully.

"I don't," a voice behind Sam said. She turned around to see Captain Archer standing there, with two armed officers standing behind them. One of them was Chakotay, who did not look happy to be there. She couldn't blame him for not wanting to compromise the mission, but for Sam this was a bridge too far.

"So you lied about not having told the Captain yet," Sam said to Phlox. "You just wanted to keep me out of my quarters."

"I'm sorry, Samantha," Phlox said.

"Shove it," Sam said. She was tempted to just ask Braxton for an extraction, but the problem of the temporal transporter only being able to take one person at a time had not yet been solved.

"Doctor, escort the Lieutenant to the brig," Archer said. "We'll be bringing Ensign Hansen with us to join her shortly, and we can begin the interrogation."

"Shit, shit, shit," Tom muttered. "Captain Braxton?! We've got a problem!"

Sam nearly flinched when Tom yelled, apparently not realizing how loud he was being so close to the communicator. She tried to think of something, anything she could say that would stop this. Maybe if she were an experienced spy like Tuvok, a tactician like Chakotay, or as analytical as Seven of Nine she would've, but instead she just sighed.

"Fine," she said with anger in her voice. Although she directed the anger in Archer's direction, it wasn't him she was actually mad at, but he didn't need to know that. She was mad at Phlox for the invasion of privacy with the utensils, mad at Braxton for dragging Voyager into this mess, and mad at herself for going along.

"Okay, don't panic Sam," Tom said. "I let Seven know what's going on."

As soon as Tom finished his sentence, the door to their quarters opened, and Seven stepped out, wearing her uniform in casual mode, as she always did on movie night. Seven sold a look of confusion that Sam would've thought was real had she not known better.

"Sam, honey, what's going on?"

"Mister Chakotay, Mister Nava, take them to the brig," Archer said. "The Doctor and I will join you shortly."

"It's okay baby," Sam said. "It's all a misunderstanding I'm sure. We'll get it cleared up." She turned and glowered at Phlox. "And believe me, heads will roll over this."

Chakotay had to fight the urge to just bust Sam and Seven out of their cells in the brig himself and try to get them all off this ship. As Braxton had pointed out to him, there weren't really any options. The NX-01's own transporters weren't as reliable as Voyager's, and even if they were there was nowhere near by they could beam to. The shuttlepods had no FTL drive and no shields; stealing one of them would only get them killed. That left the temporal transporter, which could only take one person at a time and had a recharge cycle of ten seconds, during which the increasingly paranoid Archer could do something rash to whoever wasn't lucky enough to be extracted first.

"Jon thinks maybe the Vulcans have something to do with this," Trip said to Chakotay while the latter was doing yet another inspection of the warp drive for any signs of tampering under Archer's orders.

"He hasn't said anything to me about it," Chakotay said, "but I can believe that. That he would think that I mean. Didn't Doctor Phlox say that the nanotech he found was centuries ahead of anything the Vulcans have?"

"He did, and I looked at those samples myself. No way is that Vulcan tech," Trip said. "I just wish Jon would listen to reason, but this whole thing with Annika Hansen has him really on edge. He's still waiting on orders from Starfleet Command on how to handle the interrogation."

"That's the thing about paranoia," Chakotay said. "It's impervious to logic." Chakotay turned off his scanner. "Third check confirms, no signs of any explosives, no nanotech, not even a tracking device. If I wasn't afraid he'd toss me in the brig too…" Chakotay let the thought hang. He looked at Trip, who just sadly nodded. Archer's own best friend was starting to turn on him.

I wonder if we even need to let the NX-01 be destroyed or go missing, Chakotay thought. At this point even Archer's own best friend has trouble with him. Not exactly the charismatic icon that Braxton was worried would spread anti-Vulcan bias.

"Archer to engineering," Archer's voice said over the loudspeakers.

"Yes Captain?" Trip said.

"Mister Tucker, we're returning to Earth," Archer said. "Starfleet Command wants to handle our prisoners there. They'll be calling in experts on interrogation, which we lack. Can the warp 5 engine handle a prolonged trip? I'd like us to get back there faster than we got out here."

"I wouldn't want to push it Captain," Trip said. "But since we stopped a few places along the way, all we have to do is not stop there again on the way back and we can easily make the trip in only ten days at Warp 4."

"I want us back there in one week," Archer said. This was not a request.

"Okay. I think we can keep up a speed of Warp 5 non-stop for about," Trip took out a device similar to the PADDs that people in Chakotay's time used and began making calculations. "About sixteen hours. Drop to warp 4 after that, we can be home in, let's see here, seven and a half days. That's the best I can give you without risking tearing the ship apart."

"Sixteen hours is better than three days," Archer said. "I'll take it. Prepare the engine, we're leaving now."

So much for getting to see first contact with the Borothans, Chakotay thought.

"Commander," Braxton's voice said into Chakotay's earpiece. "We've got a plan, but first you need to get Mister Tucker somewhere where we can beam him to the Relativity with nobody seeing. Contact us immediately once you succeed, and further instructions will follow."

Seven of Nine looked up at the ceiling of her cell, lying on the very uncomfortable bed. She had to admit she had a certain respect for the design of the NX-01's cells. Similar to the ones on modern Starfleet ships, but using a transparent aluminum wall with small holes cut in to allow air and sound to travel in and out. Most importantly for the safety of the crew, while inconvenient for her at the moment, was that a wall doesn't simply shut off if there were to be a power outage.

She could see Sam, sitting against the wall and being visibly depressed in the cell across from hers. She wanted to comfort her, but Archer kept guards in the brig with them 24/7, and they were under orders to not allow the prisoners to speak to each other. Only the occasional presence of Tom Paris, Captain Braxton, and even occasionally Naomi on their ear-pieces, patched in a shared frequency so they both could hear at the same time, kept them from feeling isolated.

The crews of both the Relativity and the Voyager were working on a way to safely extract them, but Seven could tell from how they'd spoken in the almost twenty-four hours since Archer had put her and Sam in here that both Braxton and Janeway were nearing the point of just scrapping the mission, using the temporal transporter, and hoping for the best.

I should never have agreed to this mission, Seven thought. All of this is my fault. Had I not volunteered my Borg nanoprobes wouldn't have ended up on the claws of that stupid pet of that questionable doctor and the whole operation wouldn't be compromised. Worst of all, the woman I love is sitting in a damn jail cell, not allowed to talk to anyone. She must be so scared, and I can't even tell her I'm sorry.

"Hey, Chakotay," she heard the current guard, Ensign Nava, say.

"Hey, Jerry," Chakotay said. "I'm here to relieve you."

"Aren't you a little early? Your shift isn't for another half-hour."

"I know, but I woke up early and couldn't get back to sleep. Have the prisoners said anything?"

"No sir," Nava said. "Permission to speak frankly?"

"Go ahead," Chakotay said.

"I know the nanotech thing is suspicious and all, but this all seems a little extreme. If we absolutely had to cut them off from the rest of the ship, shouldn't confinement to quarters have been enough? And if both of them are spies or whatever then doesn't keeping from talking to each other accomplish nothing? They've had weeks if not longer to get their stories straight."

Seven got up and went to the transparent barrier. She could see Chakotay and Nava speaking to each other, though Nava's back was to her. Chakotay made a show of looking around to make sure no one else was around.

"I happen to agree, Ensign, but these are the Captain's orders. We're heading back to Earth, we can file a protest with Starfleet Command once we get there."

"Understood. Enjoy your shift sir," Nava said, saluting as he handed his phase pistol and a datapad to Chakotay. Once Nava was out of sight, Chakotay manipulated some controls on a nearby console, and the barriers to both occupied cells slid open.

"Chakotay to Tucker," Chakotay said into a handheld communicator, "we are a go."

"Got it," the chief engineer's voice replied. "I'm on the way to the shuttlepod bay right now. Make sure internal security goes down before I get there so Jon doesn't know I went willingly."

"You say that like this is the first time I've had to stage a kidnapping, Trip," Chakotay said with a wry grin.

"Commander," Seven said. "What the hell is going on?"

"You took the words right out of my mouth, hon," Sam said.

"I can explain," Chakotay said. "Wait, never mind, not enough time, I'll summarize. You two were able to take advantage of a power failure that caused the doors to open, kidnap Chief Engineer Tucker, and steal a shuttlepod."

"What power failure?" Seven said.

"The one that's going to happen in a few minutes because I sabotaged the engines," Chakotay said. "Now get going, Trip will meet you at the shuttlepod bay."

"Then what?" Sam said. "The shuttlepods don't have FTL."

"It's taken care of, now start moving."

"C'mon, Annie," Sam said, taking Seven's hand and moving towards the door.

"What about you, Commander?"

"I'll get arrested and thrown in one of those cells over there, but don't worry, that's part of the plan." Almost as soon as Chakotay finished that sentence, the ship shuddered as it suddenly dropped out of warp. The lights blinked out, quickly replaced by the familiar glow of emergency lighting.

"Go, go, go!" Chakotay yelled at them. The two women bolted for the door and made their way as quickly as possible towards the shuttlepod bay, coming across a pair of unconscious crewmen along the way, and resisting the urge to help. When they arrived at the bay, the door to Shuttlepod One was already open, Commander Tucker leaning out and motioning for them to follow him in.

"C'mon, hurry. I stunned those crewmen over a minute ago, it'll wear off any second."

"Commander," Sam said, "Why are you helping us?"

"I'll tell you the whole story if my own best friend doesn't blow us all to hell first," Trip said, taking the controls as the door to shuttlepod sealed, and the shuttle bay door beneath it opened. "And also assuming that the trick Captain Braxton and Ensign Paris came up with works."

"How do you-" Sam started to say, but the shuttlepod shuddered as the magnetic clamps released, and the artificial gravity of the ship allowed it to drop through the open bay door, at which point Trip fired up the engines and began flying straight ahead at full speed.

"Voyager to away team, stand by," Captain Janeway's voice said over both Seven and Samantha's ear pieces. "and don't panic," she added.

"Commander Tucker, do you-"

"I heard," Trip said. "They gave me one of those subdermal communicators too. Trust me, I'm not doing this lightly. Jonathan Archer is still my best friend. I wouldn't betray him over just a hunch."

Seven understood. Commander Tucker had been brought to the Relativity by way of the temporal transporter. How much detail he was given she didn't know, at least not yet, but whatever Braxton and Janeway had divulged to him was enough to make him do something that Seven herself would've considered impossible; openly defying Captain Archer.

Well, not openly, Seven thought, correcting herself. As far as Archer is concerned we kidnapped Mister Tucker when we took the shuttlepod. Assuming the plan worked, Archer probably thinks we-

"NX-01 to Shuttlepod One, power down or you will be fired upon," Archer's voice said over the com. It was a much more reserved tone than Seven would've suspected. "Annika, Samantha, whoever you work for, I'm not going to let you get away with taking my friend, my chief engineer, to them. I want him back alive, but if losing him is what it takes to make it clear to your superiors that Earth is more than capable of doing what it takes to defend itself you-"

"Annie, look!" Sam yelled, pointing out the front viewport. A spatial distortion, exactly like the one that preceded the arrival of the Relativity in the Delta Quadrant in Voyager's path, appeared, and a ship came out. It wasn't the Relativity though, and at first glance it didn't seem to be Voyager either, but Seven's ocular implants told her what NX-01's crude sensors wouldn't.

"Son of a bitch" Sam said, "they made Voyager look like a Kazon ship!" Seven smiled. Even without technology to aid her, Samantha had quickly pieced together what little information she'd been given by Chakotay and Trip. Seven reached out to take Sam's hand, but the tingle of a transport beam locking on to her kept her from completing the motion.

Captain Janeway stood next to Ensign Todd Mulcahey as he manipulated the transporter controls. Soon, Seven of Nine, Samantha Wildman, and the NX-01's chief engineer Charles Tucker all stood on the transporter pad. The two former quickly embraced each other, while the latter looked around with a sense of wonder.

"Good work, Todd," Janeway said.

"Thanks, Captain," Mulcahey said.

"Welcome aboard the Federation starship Voyager, Mister Tucker," Janeway said.

"Please, call me Trip," Tucker said. "I'm glad I could help you get two of your people back."

"Okay, Trip," Janeway said smiling. She turned to Seven and Sam. "You two alright?"

"We're good Captain," Sam said. "Not being allowed to talk to each other was rough, but we weren't mistreated otherwise."

"Jon Archer's a lot of things," Tucker said, sounding slightly sad. "but even he wouldn't stoop to torture. I just hope your First Officer is doing alright, we easily could've fit him in the shuttlepod."

"I know," Janeway said. "But you were there when we came up with the plan. If Chakotay can get through to him, we can send you home, the Relativity can go back to the 29th century, and me and my people can get back to our journey."

"What exactly is this plan I keep hearing about?" Seven said. "Now that we are back on Voyager I assume there is time for an update."

"How about you guys go talk to your daughter first," Tucker said. Seven and Sam looked at him in surprise.

"How did you-" Sam said.

"Time travel," Tucker said. "I was on the Relativity for a few days, but only a few minutes passed on the NX-01. I learned a lot in that time."

"Don't dwell on the logistics of that too much Sam," Janeway said. "It'll give you a whopper of a headache."

"Temporal mechanics usually do ma'am," Sam said.

"Naomi's in the mess hall with Neelix. Go see her, then report to the briefing room in two hours. Mister Tuck- Trip, would you like a tour?"

"I'd love to. Can we start with engineering?"

"Of course," Janeway said. "I'll take you personally."

"Thanks Cap," Tucker said. "Can't wait to see what an engine capable of pushing Warp 9.975 looks like. It must be massive."

"Depends on how you define massive, but I think you'll be impressed," Janeway said as she and Commander Tucker exited the transporter room together.

"You know," Tucker said, "I can't put my finger on why I feel this way but somehow your ship just seems, what's the word I'm looking for here? Warmer. Yeah, it seems warmer than the Relativity somehow. Not temperature wise, I mean, I don't know. This is gonna drive me nuts."

Janeway shrugged. "Well I can't help you there," she said. "I'm too biased. This isn't just my first command, it's also been my only home for almost five years."

"Good point," Tucker said.

Chakotay knew for the most part what he was getting into by allowing himself to be caught after helping Seven of Nine and Samantha Wildman escape. Had he known however that in addition to being put in one of the cells in the NX-01's brig he'd also be strapped to a chair while Doctor Phlox injected him with a crude truth serum derived from the excretions of some of his lab animals, he might have suggested some alterations to the plan.

"You know what's ironic about this?" Chakotay said to Phlox and Archer as they stood over him, and his vision started to blur as the serum kicked in. "I wasn't going to lie anyway. My mission's already been compromised."

"I don't think that counts as irony, Mister Chakotay," Phlox said.

"If that is your real name of course," Archer said.

Chakotay did not want to laugh, but thanks to the drug he couldn't stop it. "'If that's your real name,' ha. You sound like a bad guy from a bad holonovel," Chakotay said. Archer's facial expressions showed that he was getting angrier. Chakotay thought for a moment that Archer might punch him, but Phlox gently placed a hand on Archer's shoulder, at which point the latter stepped back slightly.

"Okay, the truth then," Archer said. "Are you working for the Vulcans?"

"No," Chakotay said.

Archer looked at Phlox. Phlox nodded and ran a medical scanner over him.

"The serum is working, he's telling the truth Captain."

"Well Phlox, I owe you an apology on that one. You were right about the nanotech being beyond what the Vulcans have now."

"You were being cautious Captain," Phlox said. "With the safety of the ship at stake, I took no offense."

"Speaking of the safety of my ship," Archer said, "what was your mission Mister Chakotay?"

"To find out what caused the disappearance of the NX-01," Chakotay said, feeling a little sleepy now. "One of Starfleet earliest unsolved mysteries. We never knew if was sabotage, an accident, a spatial anomaly…"

"Hold it right there," Archer said, leaning in so close that Chakotay could smell his aftershave, which wasn't very strong, so he was very close indeed. "What happens to my ship?"

"I told you, we don't know," Chakotay said, the serum keeping him from hiding his frustration. "That's why Sam, Seven, and I were here."

"Who's Seven?" Phlox said.

"Seven of Nine," Chakotay said, "A former Borg drone we rescued almost two years ago. She only went by Annika Hansen on this mission, though she lets her fiancee call her that too."

"Hmm," Phlox said. "Interesting. Using an engaged couple to pose as a married couple. Makes a certain amount of sense. And I assume that the Borg is the name of the race those humanoid creatures we found near the North Pole belong to?"

"Yes," Chakotay said, unable to stop himself from telling Archer and Phlox literally everything he knew about the Borg, right down to how many ships were lost at Wolf 359. Archer and Phlox looked increasingly horrified.

"So what were they doing on Earth a hundred years ago?" Phlox asked.

"No idea," Chakotay said. "maybe it was a crashed scout ship that the collective never came to retrieve. It's not unheard of."

Phlox checked his scanner again. "The serum is still working, Jonathan. He's still telling the truth."

"I see," Archer said. "That doesn't explain though why your shipmates kidnapped my chief engineer."

Don't tell him, Chakotay thought, fighting with his own mind and mouth. Don't tell him don't tell don't tell him don't-

"Trip helped us, we faked the kidnapping so you wouldn't try to blow up the shuttlepod before Voyager could beam them off."

Dammit, Chakotay thought.

Archer looked stunned, and Chakotay couldn't blame him in the slightest. Archer looked at Phlox who sadly nodded.

"What did you to him? Bribe him? Threaten his family? Brainwashing? What?!"

"We showed him what would happen if the timeline changed too much," Chakotay said, now having trouble keeping his eyes open. "In theory we could save the NX-01 and Starfleet and the Federation wouldn't be any worse off for it, time is not as fragile as people think it is."

"The Federation?" Phlox said, but Chakotay kept going.

"If Jonathan Archer returns to Earth as a successful leader of a successful mission, his popularity will allow his anti-Vulcan bias to spread and become mainstream."

Archer grabbed Chakotay by the collar of his uniform. "So the Vulcans are involved, just not this century's Vulcans!"

"They didn't sabotage your father's work, you racist idiot," Chakotay said, the racist idiot part he added freely without any prompting from the truth serum, all respect he might have had for Archer at one point now completely evaporated. "The bond between Humanity and the Vulcans is the core of the Federation as I know it. Yeah, we make mistakes, even in the 24th century. I even left it for a time because of one of them, but I came back partly because for all its faults I still believe in its core values, even if it doesn't always measure up to them. If you are allowed to return to Earth as a hero, we'll lose that. Best case scenario, we still survive the coming Romulan War, but weaker and more afraid. Worst case, we all die without the Vulcans there to aid us."

"Shut up," Archer said.

"I was supposed to convince you that the NX-01 needed to return to its original course," Chakotay continued, "for the sake of history, which was mostly true so I wouldn't really have needed to lie at all. Exaggerate maybe, but that's about it. Then when we got to the nebula, if need be, we'd make the ship disappear ourselves, and Captain Braxton would find a home for you and your people in the 29th century, and history would go on as normal. But thanks to one stupid bat, you're heading back to Earth more paranoid than ever."

"Shut the hell up," Archer said through clenched teeth.

Chakotay laughed. "I suppose it all works out in the end though, doesn't it? After all, this ship hasn't finished its original mission, you're returning to Earth early, and with two of your prisoners having escaped. Command will be forgiving, they'll know as well as you do that you couldn't have seen Trip helping us coming. But public opinion on the other hand-"

Archer punched Chakotay so hard that the chair he was strapped to fell over. Chakotay felt his head impact against the deck, and his vision became more blurry than it had already been.

"You've recorded everything?" Archer said.

"Yes sir," Phlox said.

Sir, Chakotay thought. Not Jon, or Captain. I wonder if that means something.

"We'll bring him, and everything we have to Starfleet command," Archer said. "The data from the truth serum, Annika Hansen slash Seven of Nine's blood, the sensor logs from that ship that I guess was Voyager, all of it. I am concerned only about the present. If we and the Vulcans are all besties in the future, fine, but as long as I'm alive, I will not treat them like anything other than the smug bastards who held us back. If they'd helped us, my Dad would've lived to see a working Warp 5 engine."

"What if Starfleet decides that ensuring we do become allied with the Vulcans, and forming this Federation that Mister Chakotay was talking about, is the correct course of action?"

"They won't," Archer said. "Humans don't like being told what to do."

"Few sentient races do," Chakotay heard Phlox say before unconsciousness overtook him, "Whatever Starfleet Command decides, you have my support Captain."

"Not good," Tom said as Chakotay's vital signs dipped. He was still alive, at least according to the monitor on the bridge of the Relativity he sat in front of.

""In more ways than one," Captain Braxton said. "The whole plan was for Chakotay to do a hard sell to convince Archer to let go of or at least ease up on his hatred towards the Vulcans."

"I remember, I helped come up with it," Tom said.

"The temporal transporter has been fully recharged for hours. I think we should just get him out of there and come up with another plan," Braxton said.

"Well, maybe not," Tom said. "I mean, yes, get Chakotay the hell out of there, but I think he might be right. Archer coming back early, with multiple prisoner escapes and a wild story about people from the future, he'll be dismissed as a raving lunatic."

"If it were just him maybe," Braxton said. "But Archer's crew will back him up, as will their samples of Seven of Nine's nanoprobes, and the recording of Commander Chakotay's interrogation, and the sensor logs of the holo-disguised Voyager."

Tom had to admit the captain was right, and this whole mission had gone completely sideways in spite of all the advanced technology and combined experience on undercover operations and time travel that the two Starfleet crews brought to the table.

"Unless," Braxton said, interrupting Tom's internal lamentations. "Unless we do something drastic. Wait here Ensign Paris, I need to consult with my team. Braxton to all senior staff, report to the briefing room."

"Uh, sure, okay. I'll just sit here. Doing nothing," Tom said. He soon found himself alone on the bridge of the Relativity. After a few moments of uncomfortable silence, he began quietly singing to himself. "I've seen all good people turn their heads each day, so satisfied I'm on my way…"

Seven of Nine sat next to Commander Tucker in the briefing room, Samantha having chosen to sit out the remainder of this operation to spend time with Naomi on the holodeck. If the Captain was bothered by this blatant disregard of her order, she gave no sign of it.

"I'll make this brief,"Janeway said. "This mission is completely FUBAR."

"FUBAR?" Seven said. "I am unfamiliar with that term."

"I'll explain later," Harry Kim said.

Janeway filled Seven, Harry, Tucker, Tuvok, and the Doctor in on what had happened to Chakotay, and how the original plan to talk Jonathan Archer out of his anti-Vulcan biases had been compromised.

"Do we know the nature of the serum used on the Commander?" the Doctor asked, sounding worried.

"Unknown," Janeway said. "There don't seem to be any severe side-effects, simply dizziness and a slowing of the heartbeat. We know he's alive but unconscious as of our last update."

"I can't believe that Jon would do this," Tucker said. "I've known him for years, this just doesn't seem like him. I mean, he had his issues with the Vulcans, but I honestly thought he had that under control."

"I can't believe a doctor would go along with this," the Doctor said. "This Phlox seems to have very loose interpretations of the Hippocratic Oath."

"According to Ensign Paris," Janeway continued, "Braxton's holed up with his senior staff over on the Relativity to come up with another plan. Until then, there's not much we can do except come up with some ideas of our own in case Braxton's people fail. Again."

Seven wondered if there were anything she could've done differently while she was undercover on the NX-01 that could've avoided this situation.

"Seven?" Janeway said. "Any thoughts?"

"Regrettably none, Captain," Seven had to admit. "Captain Archer seemed like a reasonable, rational individual for the most part. The only point of concern Samantha and I had is the same one that Captain Braxton had; his belief about the Vulcans undermining his late father's work."

"I always hoped he'd get over that," Tucker said. "Have we considered just using Braxton's temporal transporter to bring Archer forward? Hell, maybe that should've been done sooner."

"I am inclined to agree with Mister Tucker," Tuvok said, speaking up for the first time since the meeting started. "However, that is only with the benefit of hindsight. Temporal mechanics is outside my field my expertise, so I deferred to Captain Braxton's experience in the field."

"I think our biggest mistake was letting Braxton run the operation when it was my people involved," Janeway said. Seven felt inclined to agree, though chose not to say so out loud. "I should-"

"Bridge to Captain Janeway," the voice of Sue Brooks said over the com. "The Relativity just opened another temporal rift, but they aren't going through it. Sensors are detecting another ship though. It looks like the NX-01. Er, another NX-01 I mean."

"What the hell is Braxton doing?" Janeway said, echoing similar thoughts in Seven's head.

Week Three...

"Mayweather, report!" Captain Archer yelled.

"Another anomaly sir," Travis Mayweather said from his navigation console. "Like the one that alien ship that grabbed Commander Tucker and the escaped prisoners, but right in front of us. I couldn't turn in time, inertia is taking us right through it."

Except it wasn't an alien ship, Archer thought. It was one of Starfleet's, just from the future with a holographic camouflage. Am I really that much of a monster in history's eyes?

"Red alert. Prepare to be boarded," Archer said, taking his captain's chair. "Arm phase cannons and antimatter missiles. I'd rather pick a fight I can't win than let some arrogant pricks from the 29th century tell humanity in the here and now what we're supposed to do. The future isn't written for us, isn't that right Mister Mayweather?"
Travis didn't answer right away, and that concerned Archer a good deal. He was about to repeat the question when the helmsman tentatively answered.

"I don't really believe in destiny sir. We make our own fate."

"Mister Nava, as soon as we exit this portal, open fire on the nearest vessel," Archer said.

"Sir?" Nava, sitting at the console that Chakotay had sat at for the past two weeks.

"Did I stutter, Ensign?"

"No, no sir," Nava said, sounding very nervous.

"Don't worry, Ensign," Archer said. "they won't try to destroy us, they'll want their man back."

"I'm not sure we could stop them from taking him sir," Nava said. "If you'll forgive me for being so blunt."

"Apology accepted Mister Nava," Archer said. "Just do your job."

When Captain Janeway entered the bridge, Tom Paris was there, looking confused. "Tom?" she said.

"Captain, Braxton just had me beamed over here a few seconds ago," Tom said. "I have no idea what they're doing."

"I do," Janeway said. "They're bringing the NX-01 here. Take your post."

"Yes ma'am," Tom said, sitting down as soon as Ensign Brooks vacated the navigator's chair.

"Captain," Trip said, "let me try talking to him. He's still my friend, maybe he'll listen before doing something rash."

"Actually," Janeway said, "I'm a little more worried about Braxton doing something rash at this point."

"The NX-01's weapons are powered up," Harry said.

"They have locked onto us, Captain," Tuvok said.

"Shields up," Janeway said. "Even outdated weapons can penetrate an unprotected hull." She turned from looking at Tuvok to look back at the screen, and watched as the NX-01 unleashed its first volley, which impacted harmlessly against Voyager's shields. "Hail them," she said.

"Channel open," Harry said.

"Captain Archer, this is Captain Kathryn Janeway of the starship Voyager. Please-

"Spare me, Captain," Archer's voice responded.

"Can we get a visual?" Janeway said to Harry.

"Let me save you the trouble, Captain," Archer said. Soon the image of the bridge of the NX-01 filled Voyager's viewscreen, Archer at dead center, seated in the captain's chair. "I demand that your ship, or the other ship, whichever one it was that brought us here return us to our time immediately."

"That would be the other ship," Janeway said. "The one you aren't firing at. Cease fire, and I'll arrange a meeting with Captain Braxton. This nonsense has gone on long enough and we need to settle this. We have something in common Captain; a desire to read a certain 29th Century Starfleet officer the riot act."

"Read him the riot act?" Archer said with an angry short laugh. "You still use that phrase in your century?"

"Just power down your weapons," Janeway said. "Braxton and I will meet you on your ship. We'll exchange ourselves for my first officer."

"Chakotay?" Archer said. "Fair enough I suppose. Mister Nava, cease fire, and have Mister Chakotay brought to the bridge. I will meet with you and Captain Braxton here in twenty minutes."

"I'll come too, Captain," Tucker said. "Maybe I can hel-"

"Don't bother, Commander Tucker," Archer said, "you've made your choice. Enjoy your new friends on Voyager."

"Jon, I can-" The viewscreen went back to the view of the NX-01, already having ceased firing its weapons.

"He cut us off," Harry said.

"I can see that," Janeway said. "Open a channel to Braxton. He'll be joining me if I have to drag him over there by his ears."

Janeway glanced over at Commander Tucker, who looked utterly defeated. "I'm sure he'll forgive you in time," she said. Tucker sighed.

"I hope so. I'd hate to think that helping you cost me my best friend."

"Stay here for now, Trip," Janeway said, walking over to put a hand on Tucker's shoulder. "I'll do my best to get you back to your ship."

"Just what in every known sentient race's version of Hell were you thinking Braxton?" Janeway yelled as soon as she was standing on the transporter pad on the Relativity.

"Removing Jonathan Archer from the equation and ensuring the existence of Starfleet," Braxton said, looking defiant. "The plan, before Archer decided to shoot first and ask questions later, which I swear was not something we expected even with his increased paranoia, was to bring him here long enough to exchange Mister Tucker for Mister Chakotay, then bring the NX-01's crew to the 29th century and leave the ship itself here."

"It was a stupid plan Braxton," Janeway said. "Quite possibly one of the most idiotic blunders I have ever seen in my life. And I'm equally stupid for having gone along with you in the first place, for letting you drag me and my crew into your mission. Just how far have Starfleet's standard fallen in the five hundred years from my time that someone like you gets made Captain of the most advanced ship in the fleet?"

"What gives you the right to insult me on my-"

"Get your ass on that transporter pad now, Braxton," Janeway said. "We are going over to the NX-01, we are going to have a civil chat with Captain Archer, and we are going to clean up your goddamn mess!"

Janeway knew that Braxton had the upper hand here; his ship, and technology far in advance of her own, but she hoped that with enough righteous fury thrown in his direction, he would buckle and go along with her instead of trying to take control of the situation again, in which case he would almost certainly make things worse.

"Very well then, Captain. Chief?" Braxton said to the Cardassian standing at the transporter room main console. "Beam us directly the NX-01's bridge, as per Captain Archer's request."

"Yes sir," the transporter chief said.

Chakotay rubbed at his temples, glad that his hands were free to do so. He was on the bridge of the NX-01 again, but this time as a prisoner, with Ensign Nava having a phase pistol set on stun pointed at him.

The familiar sound of a transporter beam got him to focus his still somewhat blurry vision, a leftover side effect of Phlox's truth serum, and soon a very angry looking Captain Janeway, and a somewhat embarrassed looking Captain Braxton were standing in front of the NX-01 viewscreen. Nava, Archer, and Mayweather all turned to point their phase pistols at the two other Captains.

"Stay right there," Archer said. "Mister Nava, check them for weapons."

"We came unarmed," Janeway said, her hands already up. "We just want to talk Captain Archer. Starfleet Captains to Starfleet Captain."

"I don't recognize the authority of future Starfleet officers," Archer said. "Far as I'm concerned, neither of you exist yet. The only reasons I'm not throwing you two in the brig right now are one, I'm sure your people could easily just snatch you without any resistance, and two, because I'm a man of my word. Have Voyager beam Mister Chakotay back, and we can start talking, though I make no promises that I will go along quietly with anything you propose."

"Captain, I-" Chakotay started to say, but Janeway cut him off with a look.

"Janeway to Voyager, lock on to Commander Chakotay and beam him directly to sickbay."

"Aye, Captain," Chakotay heard Harry Kim's voice say, and before he could protest, he felt the tingling sensation that came with a transporter beam in progress.

I hope you can get him to calm down, Chakotay thought, as his component atoms were broken down for transport. This mission has been a real cluster-

Once Chakotay was gone, Archer nodded at his people to put their phase pistols away, while he did the same. He sat back down in the captain's chair and crossed his legs.

"So," he said. "Talk."

"Since you already know the reason my people were on your ship in the first place," Janeway said, "I'll skip to the chase. Captain Braxton's plan is to take you and your crew into the 29th century in order to preserve the current timeline. What I hope to accomplish on the other hand, is to assuage your concerns about the Vulcans so you and your people can go home, and history can carry on as normal, only with you and the crew of the NX-01 getting to take part in it."

"I don't like either of those, Captain Janeway," Archer said. "Though I must admit, you must be quite persuasive to keep Braxton from just taking control of the operation, given his ship is clearly superior to yours and ours put together. I doubt we could stop him if we tried."

"I," Braxton said, pausing, and sighing before starting over. "I concede that I handled this operation badly. I chose the Voyager crew because of past experiences with them, rather than finding experts on 22nd century history from my own time. Time travel has been done by humanity since the mid 23rd century, and that's just the incidents we know of, but it's only been within my lifetime we began to understand it. I accept responsibility for my failures, clearly my crew and I still have a great deal to learn."

"That was very big of you Braxton," Janeway said, though Archer wondered if he heard a hint of sarcasm in her reply.

"I have listened to your proposals, or at least the summaries thereof," Archer said. "And I reject both of them. I demand me and my people, sans Commander Tucker who would only face dishonorable discharge and possibly jail time if he came back with us, be allowed to return to our time. We also humbly request any and all information you have about this race called the Borg, and any data you have on any technologies the Vulcans have at this time that they aren't sharing with us."

"You can't be serious," Braxton said. "That kind of information in your hands, I don't even want to think about the chaos that could wreak on the history of the Alpha Quadrant!"

"For once I'm inclined to agree with Braxton here," Janeway said. "The Vulcans are our longest lasting allies. You're judgement is clouded by-"

"I know they didn't sabotage my father's work," Archer said, standing up. He stepped forward so quickly that Braxton flinched, and Janeway visibly struggled not to. "I drugged your XO, remember? But it doesn't matter, they still could've helped us. They have always been reluctant to share with us what we need in order to thrive out here."

"The Vulcans were not at their best in your time Archer," Janeway said. "My tactical officer, Tuvok, is Vulcan. He's also my oldest friend. It's not easy for him to admit his people's shortcomings. They are the mirror of us in that regard, sometimes we humans fall into the trap of exaggerating our own mistakes of the past. We almost paint ourselves as monsters, as if that somehow makes how far we've come as a species more impressive than it already is."

"What are you talking about?" Archer said, unsure whether or not Janeway was trying to pull a fast one on him.

"My point," Janeway said, now stepping forward so that she was practically nose to nose with Archer, "is that in your time, the Vulcans had been in a prolonged conflict with a race called the Andorians. They don't want to admit it, but the constant back and forth between cold and hot wars have left them as paranoid as you are. They were slow to trust us. And yet, even with that paranoia, they still saw enough potential in us to invite us to the galactic table. Think about that for a second before you condemn them. As for the Andorians, before you ask, humanity goes a long way towards settling that conflict, and they end up being one of the other four founding races of the Federation, along with us, the Vulcans, and the Tellarites who you also haven't met yet."

Archer did not want to admit it, but he believed Janeway. That should've made him feel better, deep down he knew that. Instead though it made him angrier, so angry that he took a step back away from Captain Janeway in order to avoid screaming at her.

"They could've just told us this," he said. "They could've just explained why they had legitimate concerns about sharing their knowledge."

"Yes," Janeway said. "Remember Tuvok, the officer and friend I told you about? He's the one who explained that to me. The Vulcans of my time know they could've handled things better. But they also know, and so do I, that letting such past mistakes rule your thinking, especially when you have more than made up for those errors with great deeds that have benefitted billions, is illogical."

"Illogical," Archer said with a laugh. "That's their word."

"Right, like no human ever used that word back before we even knew there were other races in the galaxy," he heard Braxton mutter.

"Braxton?" Janeway said. "You're not helping."

"If you two are finished bickering," Archer said, louder than he'd meant to, "can we get back to the matter of my demands?"

Janeway sighed. "As much as I hate to admit it Captain Archer," she said, suddenly avoiding eye contact, "Braxton is right about one thing. Your anti-Vulcan biases are a threat to our way of life. Even if we send you back as per your request, we'd be obligated to do something to undermine your standing with the public back on Earth. Assuming that my First Officer is wrong and that's not already happening."

"Maybe," Archer said,after taking a deep breath to try and calm himself. "Maybe not. We do still have Chakotay's recorded confession, and the medical data on the truth serum. We also still have some of Annika Hansen slash Seven of Nine's inert Borg nanoprobes. Starfleet Command will believe me about the spying being done on us by our own people from the future, and they will work to ensure that we don't-"

"This is pointless," Braxton said, slapping the insignia on the chest of his uniform. "Braxton to Relativity, start beaming-"

Archer pulled out his phase pistol and fired so fast that for a split second he was afraid that he had put it on the kill setting. Janeway looked shocked, but made no move to contact her own ship, at least none that he could see. Archer saw that Mayweather and Nava looked equally shocked, the former even looking downright terrified of his own commanding officer

"Captain," Janeway said.

"Shut up!" Archer said.

"Relativity to Braxton," a voice said, coming from Braxton's chest. "Captain, are you there? What happened?"

"Archer to engineering," Archer said. This had all gone too far. There was no going home, but he refused to be dropped into the 29th century like some kind of homeless refugee. "Initiate self-destruct process. Authorization Archer Gamma Zeta Six."

There was a brief silence, then the assistant chief engineer, his voice cracking, said "Aye sir. Time?"

"As soon as it's ready to blow, do it," Archer said. "We can't give those other ships out there time to grab us."

"Aye sir."

"Captain, you can't do this," Mayweather said. "This is insane."

"I've made my decision Ensign," Archer said. "I will not let this ship be taken by-" Archer suddenly felt an unfamiliar tingling sensation on his skin, his voice suddenly locked in place, his rage going, his body enveloped in light and suddenly-

"All NX-01 personnel, as well as the Captain and Braxton, are in Cargo Bay 1," Harry Kim said.

"Good job Harry," Chakotay said, sitting in the captain's chair on Voyager's bridge, still in his 22nd century era uniform. "Tuvok, can we disable the NX-01's self-destruct from here?"

"Negative," Tuvok said. "attempt to take control of their systems from here have failed. their systems are simply too primitive to be compatible with-"

A flash on the viewscreen cut the tactical officer off. The brightness of the explosion that tore the NX-01 apart was filtered out by the viewscreen. Chakotay watched sadly as the debris that flew outward impacted harmlessly on the Relativity's shields, or pierced the already broken hull of the other NX-01, the one that Voyager had come across less than a month prior.

"Janeway to security, I need a team in the cargo bay to subdue Captain Archer," Janeway's voice said over the com. In the background Chakotay could hear Archer's voice, ranting, screaming, threatening everyone around him.

"On my way Captain," Tuvok said.

"I'll come with," Trip said. "I might still be able to get through to him."

"Go," Chakotay said. "And good luck Trip,"

"Thanks, Commander," Trip said, following Tuvok into the turbolift.

Janeway put herself between Archer and Braxton's still unconscious body. As the rest of the NX-01 crew, looking confused at their surroundings and many huddling closer together than they already were, stood back, Archer's ranting began again. His crew simply watched in silence as he became increasingly incomprehensible, each new theory about why this was happening to him more ludicrous than the one before it, and he seemed to have a new one every thirty seconds. Phlox had tried to calm him down once, and had a phase pistol pointed in his face for the trouble.

The cargo bay doors opened, and Tuvok, Commander Tucker, and a small security detail walked in, their own weapons drawn.

"Captain Archer," Tuvok said, calmly but forcefully. "Please put down your weapon."

"This is set to kill," Archer said, now pointing it at Janeway. "Send me and my crew back to our time, or I will-"

Tuvok was faster. He fired his phaser, and Archer fell backwards, dropping his phase pistol. Many of the NX-01 crew members jumped back in shock, but Phlox and a young woman ran to Archer's side.

Trip Tucker shook his head, and looked sadder than Janeway had seen him yet, more so than on the bridge not more than an hour ago.

"Mister Tucker?" she said, walking over to him. "Are you alright?"

"How would you feel if you just saw your best friend and commanding officer threaten an unarmed fellow officer while screaming at the top of his lungs?" he said.
Janeway had no response to that.

"Captain," Tuvok said. "Doctor Phlox and Ensign Cutler from the NX-01 insist on escorting Captain Archer to sickbay, and are being quite hostile over the matter. Shall I have them escorted to the brig?"

"No," Janeway said. "Go with them personally, and once Archer is awake put him in the brig. Trip, stay here with your people. Try to keep them calm."

"I'll do my best Cap," Tucker said.

"Do that," Janeway said. She tapped her com badge. "Bridge, contact the Relativity. Tell them Braxton is alive but injured. Let them beam him directly to their sickbay."

"Understood," Chakotay's voice replied, not pressing the matter any further.

Janeway left the cargo bay alongside Tuvok, who then followed Phlox and Cutler as they carried Captain Archer down the corridor. Once they were out of site, Janeway leaned against the bulkhead, and groaned. "I am so sick of all this time travel shit," she muttered to herself. "If I never see another time machine in my life it'll be too soon."

The Doctor did the best he could not to throw snide remarks in the direction of Doctor Phlox, especially since the later of the two Doctors was clearly upset, not just over seeing his Captain get shot but also over the deaths of all his animals aboard the NX-01.

"Captain Archer will be fine," he said to the Denobulan doctor and his human friend as they stood by Archer's bio-bed. "I will have to ask you to step aside now though. Mister Tuvok will be putting him in the brig."

"Is that absolutely necessary?" Phlox said.

"Phlox, he threatened their captain," the human, Cutler, said, putting a hand gently on Phlox's shoulder. The friendly gesture did little to calm the other doctor down.

"Doctor Phlox," the Doctor said, "surely you've noticed that your commander was growing increasingly unstable in recent days. You had an obligation to the safety of your shipmates that should supercede your loyalty to your friend."

"What would you know about loyalty?" Phlox said. "You're a hologram. A highly sophisticated one I admit, to be able to administer such a complex sickbay by yourself, but still."

The Doctor rolled his eyes. "I can't be appreciated for my talents in any century can I?" he said.

"Okay that is enough," Cutler said. "How exactly is more bickering supposed to fix anything? It's been people shouting or condescending at each other left and right that got us all in this mess in the first place."

The Doctor was ready to reply, but he saw the sickbay door open. Captain Janeway walked in, Tuvok only a step behind her

"What got us in this mess," she said, "is old fashioned human arrogance. It makes me sad to see we still can fall victim to it even five hundred years from my lifetime. Doctor, is Captain Archer well enough to transfer to the brig?"

"He is, Captain," the Doctor said, ignoring Phlox's angry glare.

"I suppose you'll want the rest of us in the brig too," Phlox said.

"Don't tempt me," Janeway said. "Especially not after what you did to my first officer. But no, the rest of the NX-01 crew is free to move about, though they won't be allowed any access to ship's systems. That includes you, though Commander Chakotay has a lot of friends here who aren't quite as forgiving as I am."

Phlox's face went expressionless. "I will take that under advisement," he said.

"Good," Janeway said. The Doctor went over to Archer, and using a hypospray woke him up. He had restraints in place just in case, but the Captain turned prisoner only let out a resigned sigh, after which Tuvok and the Captain escorted Archer out, Phlox following a respectful distance behind.

The Doctor was rather surprised that Cutler had remained behind.

"Doctor," she said, "if you don't mind my asking, why is this ship's chief medical officer a hologram?"

The Doctor smiled. "I'd be more than happy to share my story with you Miss Cutler. It's nice to see that there were some reasonable people on board the NX-01."

"Be fair, Doctor," Cutler said. "It's not that we're unreasonable. Captain Archer's, well, issues with the Vulcans aside. But we have experienced some rather unreasonable things lately."

"That is a fair point," the Doctor admitted. He opened his mouth to start telling Cutler about how he'd first been activated aboard Voyager, but then a thought occurred to him, though he imagined he would have to argue with Braxton over it. "Tell me Miss Cutler, do you perchance have any training as a nurse?"

Captain Janeway stepped out of the turbolift onto the bridge, feeling somewhat less tense and angry over the whole situation. She looked over at Chakotay, who still had not yet changed out of the period appropriate uniform he'd been wearing when he was rescued.

"Captain," he said. "Any more problems with Archer?"

"Tuvok has him in the brig," Janeway said. "Trip is in the cargo bay with the rest of the NX-01 crew. Any word from the Relativity?"

"Not yet," Chakotay said.

"Hail them," Janeway said.

"Aye Captain," Harry Kim said. The viewscreen changed from a view of the debris field of the former NX-01, with only part of the Relativity visible on the right hand side, to that of the Relativity's bridge, and her first officer, Lieutenant Juel Ducane, sitting in the Captain's chair.

"Captain Janeway," he said, "good to hear from you. I take it you have the situation well in hand?"

"As well as can be expected," Janeway said. "Has Captain Braxton not yet recovered?"

"He has actually," Ducane said. "Captain Archer's weapon was only set on stun. However, Braxton has decided to recuse himself from the remainder of the mission. He left me explicit orders to follow your lead."

"Good," Janeway said. "If he kept trying to fix things the way he has been we'd end up with humanity being a slave race to the Gorn or something."

"I think it's safe to say we can't really return any of the NX-01 crew to the 22nd century without causing any serious problems," Janeway said.

"Maybe not Captain," Ducane said. "The version of the NX-01 you found earlier this month is still there, and it appears all its escape pods are relatively intact all things considered."

"I think I see where you're going with this," Janeway said, "but if we return the escape pods to the area and time we brought them from will there be any ships nearby that can rescue them?"

"According to our records there should be at least two human-run freighters and one Vulcan long range exploration vessel that could reach them before their emergency supplies ran out," Ducane said. "We would simply need to convince the NX-01 crew not to tell Starfleet command about what really happened. Also, I think we'd need to bring Captain Archer, and probably Doctor Phlox as well, with us to the 29th century in order to reduce the risk of timeline contamination." Ducane suddenly looked down and rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "Or rather, worse contamination than we've already caused."

Janeway did still feel resentment over the pain caused to her crew as a result of this whole operation, but none of that was on Ducane. All her ire was saved for Captains Archer and Braxton.

"Agreed," she said. "I'll consult with Commander Tucker, and we'll talk to the NX-01 crew. Have your people begin fixing up the escape pods."

"Right away Captain," Ducane said. The communication ended, and the viewscreen returned to its original view, after which Harry Kim said something very similar to what Janeway was thinking at that exact moment.

"Why couldn't he have been in charge of this mission instead of Braxton?"

Naomi Wildman had heard her mother say that she was too good at sneaking around the ship, and that she didn't want her to do it anymore. She felt guilty about doing it now, but she wanted to talk to the Starfleet captain from the past. She wanted to know why; why he hated Vulcans so much, why he put her mom in jail, why he blew up his own ship, all things that Naomi just could not wrap her mind around. She managed to get to the brig, but Lydia Anderson, who was on guard duty for this shift, stopped her from going up to the force field around Archer's cell.

"You're not supposed to be down here Miss Wildman," Anderson said. "Does your mom know where you are?"

"She's asleep," Naomi lied, her mother actually being in the lab on the same deck as sickbay. "I just wanted to ask Captain Archer some questions."

"Let her stay," Jonathan Archer said, lying back on the bed of his cell, looking up at the ceiling. "It's not like I can do anything to her behind a force field, and with an armed guard standing by. Oh, and also she's a friggin' child. Has anything I've done suggested I would ever hurt a kid?"

"You blew up your own ship," Anderson said, "just 'cause it flew through a temporal rift. That to me does not suggest a stable personality, sir."

"I like how you managed to make 'sir' rhyme with 'jackass' there," Archer said. "Well done."

"Naomi, come on," Anderson said. "Don't make me call your mom."

"Ask your question kid," Archer said.

"Did you really blow up your own ship?" Naomi said.

"Yep," Archer said.

"Why?"

Archer sat up and looked sad. "I don't know," he said. "I know why I think I did it, but maybe that's not really why I did it. Know what I mean?"

"No," Naomi said. She looked up at Anderson. "I'm gonna go now," she said to the security officer.

"Good idea," Anderson said.

"Naomi?" Archer said as Naomi started walking towards the exit. "For what it's worth, I didn't arrest your Mom and her girlfriend to be mean. From where I was sitting it looked like they were spying on my people, and a good Captain protects their crew."

"I know," Naomi said. "Captain Janeway says that too. I don't think she'd blow up Voyager just because she was mad though. She hates time travel too, but we're still here."
Archer nodded, and went back to lying down. Naomi shook her head and left, feeling sorry for the Starfleet captain from the past. She hoped he would get better.

Seven of Nine wondered what had happened to Archer during his time in the brig that made him so passive as he stood on the transporter pad next to a pair of security officers from the Relativity, as well as Doctor Phlox. She also wondered why she had decided to be there along with Captain Janeway, Commander Chakotay, and Commander Tuvok.

The rest of the NX-01 crew had decided to go along with the escape pod plan, and had promised not to reveal anything about the future to the Starfleet of the time, though some had required some coaxing as well as the aid of memory erasing drugs. Archer and Phlox however were both deemed too dangerous to be allowed to return. They would not face any jail time once they got to the 29th century, but they would not be allowed to serve in Starfleet. According to Lieutenant Ducane, there were training programs and support groups for "temporally displaced persons" that the two could join and hopefully lead fulfilling lives.

"For what it's worth Captain," Janeway said, "I'm sorry that it came down to this."

"Tell me Captain," Archer said, "in the original timeline, the one where my ship was destroyed and ended up out here in the Delta Quadrant, did you or Braxton ever find out what really happened to us that day?"

Janeway sighed and shook her head. "That sadly remains an unanswered question," she said. "Braxton's looking to take an early retirement I hear, so that's going to be on Ducane to figure out I suppose. I imagine he'll have better luck. He had a good role model in the sense of learning how not to handle a time travel operation."

Archer laughed at that, the first time that Seven had seen him show any signs of joy since before he'd had her and Sam arrested. Seven moved behind the transporter room console which was unmanned due to a shift change. Had she not come along with the Captain and Chakotay one of them would likely be operating it instead since whoever was supposed to take over next wasn't there yet.

"Well," Archer said. "Let's get this over with."

"Agreed," Phlox said. "Once this is over I hope to never see another time travel device for as long as I live. And that is a long time as you may well know."

Seven looked at Janeway, who nodded. Seven began manipulating the transporter controls, and soon they were gone. The Relativity had already sent the rest of the NX-01 crew back to the 22nd century, along with most of the debris from the destroyed ship. Trip had gone with them, as had Ensign Cutler, though rumor had it both had toyed with the idea of staying on Voyager.

"Well," Chakotay said, "glad that's finally over. Do you think we'll ever see or hear from the Relativity again?"

"Ducane wouldn't make any promises," Janeway said. "but he did say it's doubtful it'll happen as long as it's his ship. I hope he's right."

"As do I," Seven said.

"So, Seven," Janeway said, as the three of them left the transporter room. "what did you think of Earth?"

"It's my understanding the parts of it I actually saw have changed very little in the two hundred years since I was there," Seven said. "Perhaps one day, Samantha and Naomi and I can see for ourselves. I am more disappointed I didn't get to see too many other worlds while I was there. I would've liked more opportunities to compare and contrast data from that with Federation historical archives, possibly correct any inaccuracies."

Janeway chuckled.

"You know Seven," Chakotay said, "I never had you pegged for a history buff."

"I am hoping to ascertain how an era of humanity that produced some of its most respected individuals could also produce someone as, troubled as Jonathan Archer," Seven said. "Or for that matter how someone so troubled would be given the chance to captain what was at the time the Human race's most advanced starship."

"Nepotism maybe?" Chakotay said. "The ship's core feature was its engine, which was based largely on his father's work."

"Possible," Seven said. "though I doubt that would be the sole reason."

"The only person who really knows the answer to that is Archer," Janeway said. "And he was never going to tell us. He probably can't even admit it to himself, let alone others. I wouldn't put any of that on the 22nd century though. For all our gains as a species, humanity still has its metaphorical warts. Even in our time. Still, I do hope that Jonathan Archer is the last Starfleet captain I ever meet who has lost his way."

"I'll drink to that," Chakotay said.

Chapter Eleven

"Stay the course!" Captain Rudolph Ransom shouted over the sounds of alarm klaxons and exploding consoles on the bridge of the Nova-class starship Equinox.

"Shields are down to 29%, they're breaking through," Ransom's first officer, Lieutenant Maxwell Burke said as another explosion rocked the bridge.

"Let them," Ransom said.

"Sir?" Burke said, looking back at his captain in shock.

"Take the shields off line and recharge the emitters. That'll bring 'em up to full power. I know we'll be vulnerable during the forty-five second recharge, but we'll be dead if they fail altogether. All hands, arm yourselves!"

While Burke manipulated controls, Ransom and everyone else on the bridge picked up their phaser rifle, tense, waiting for the worst.

"Shields dropped, sir," Burke said, looking around him, choosing to keep an eye on the console instead of picking up a weapon, a potentially suicidal act, but someone had to make sure the shields came back up after the recharge.

Assuming we aren't all dead by then, Burke thought, the mental image of every crew member lost to the attackers so far only adding to his fear. "Thirty seconds to go," he said.

A dry, high-pitched screeching whine filled the bridge, and Burke almost caved and went for his weapon. Portals began appearing around the edges of the wrecked bridge, Captain Ransom and the other officers firing into them as each one appeared. One of the attacking creatures managed to avoid the phaser fire and emerged from one of the portals, and immediately closed in on one of the officers behind Burke, he couldn't tell who right away.

"Time!" Ransom yelled.

"Ten seconds!" Burke said, looking back in time to see three streaks of light slash across Ensign Akuji, the officer collapsing as his body immediately desiccated into a dried husk, just like all the others. The remaining officers desperately fired at every portal and creature which emerged from it as the countdown reached zero.

"So the Equinox did end up out here after all," Chakotay said. "Just like Admiral Hayes said they might've." He, Captain Janeway. and Seven of Nine watched the loop of the distress signal that Seven had just picked up in astrometrics. Whatever was happening to the Equinox, it looked bad. Behind Captain Ransom, who looked dirty and tired, holding a phaser and constantly looking in every possible direction while still facing whatever console he was recording the distress call on, the bridge was dark, but clearly in severe disrepair, whole chunks of bulkhead having fallen to the deck, console sparking, steam pouring out of places that Chakotay couldn't make out.

"This is Captain Ransom of the Federation Starship Equinox! We're under attack! We need assistance! Repeat-"

"This distress call was sent approximately fourteen hours ago," Seven of Nine said. "Distance of 3.2 light years. I'm attempting to get a fix on their location."

"When we have it, send it to Tom," Captain Janeway said.

"It'll be interesting to hear how they got so far ahead of us," Chakotay said, echoing a thought he'd had last year when the Captain had informed him that Starfleet thought the Equinox may have been taken by the Caretaker as well while on a covert mission near the Breen border.

"Let's save the debriefing for after we've saved them," Janeway said.

"I've got their coordinates and have sent them to the helm," Seven said.

"Good," Janeway said, tapping her com badge. "Janeway to Bridge, go to red alert. Mister Paris, take us to the coordinates Seven just sent you at maximum warp."

"Understood," Tom Paris said, not asking why.

Probably figures we'll tell him when we get to the bridge, Chakotay said. For Tom that's a remarkable amount of patience.

"Seven, you're with us," Janeway said as she motioned for her and for Chakotay to follow her out of astrometrics.

"Captain," Seven said, "we do not know what we will be up against when we get there, I should continue to monitor long range sensors from astrometrics."

"You can do that just as well from the bridge, Seven" Janeway said.

Chakotay didn't have anything to add to the conversation so he kept quiet on the quick walk to the turbolift. He did however have a nagging concern at the back of his mind about Captain Ransom, though why that was he had no idea, beyond the fact that Ransom apparently had the trust of the notoriously closed off and borderline paranoid Elena Nechayev of Starfleet Intelligence.

That shouldn't matter, he thought. What matters is he is a fellow officer who needs help.

The three exited the turbolift onto the bridge. Neelix was there, though Chakotay wasn't sure why. He had probably been up there for another purpose but decided to stay once the red alert was called.

Captain Janeway quickly filled the bridge crew in on the basics about the distress call, leaving out that she had been made aware of the possibility of the Equinox being out here last year, which Chakotay figured was the right decision. If the rest of the senior staff was excited at the prospect of meeting new Starfleet officers for the first time in almost six years, they didn't show it, and Chakotay was, not for the first time, proud of their professionalism.

"We're approaching the coordinates," Tom said, several minutes later.

"Take us out of warp," Janeway said.

"I've got them," Harry said. "Two thousands kilometers off the port bow, moving at low impulse."

"Intercept," Janeway said. "Can you get a visual?"

"On it," Harry said. The viewscreen changed to show the small Starfleet vessel, it's shields glowing in a pattern that would be pretty if it weren't a sign of near constant bombardment, even though sensors showed no sign of any attacking ships, or any ships within light years of the two Federation ships for that matter.

"They are heavily damaged," Tuvok said. "Multiple hull breaches, warp drive is offline."

"What's happening to their shields?" Neelix said.

"They're being disrupted by some kind of energy surges," Seven said.

"We're in hailing range," Harry said.

"Open a channel," Janeway said. "This is Captain Kathryn Janeway of the starship Voyager. We're responding to your-

"Voyager! You've got to extend your shields around us!" the voice of Captain Ransom shouted. Match the emitter frequency! Do it!"

"You heard the Captain," Janeway said. "Quickly."

"Getting into position now," Tom said.

"I am attempting to match their shield frequency," Tuvok said. A dry, high-pitched screeching whine began filling the bridge.

"Did anyone else hear that?" Neelix said.

An alert noise from the auxiliary tactical console where Seven of Nine stood grabbed Chakotay's attention.

"Interspatial fissures have opened on decks ten, six, and one," she said.

Chakotay looked around, trying to see the portal. If it wasn't where he could see one the only other options were the captain's ready room and the briefing room.

"Tuvok?" Janeway said, standing up as she spoke.

"Stand by," Tuvok said. The whine suddenly stopped. "Shields are holding," he added.

"The fissures?" Chakotay said, looking at Seven.

"No sign of them," she said.

"Voyager to Equinox," Janeway said. The only response over the comm channel was static. "Captain Ransom?" Still no response.

Janeway turned and looked directly at Chakotay. "Assemble rescue teams. Secure the Equinox," she said.

"Aye, Captain," Chakotay said. "Chakotay to the Doctor and Lieutenant Torres, report to transporter room 1 immediately. Doctor, bring a full med-kit. Tom, you're with me."

B'Elanna followed behind Chakotay and next to Tom as the three of them, split off from the rest of the groups combing the ship for survivors, entered the Equinox's engineering section, which B'Elanna would've found too small for comfort even without all the debris cluttering the deck.

"Hello?" Chakotay said. "Anyone here?"

"I'm going to try and get main power back on line," B'Elanna said.

"Go for it," Chakotay said. "Tom?" Chakotay pointed his wristlight towards a desiccated and shriveled body slumped up against one of the consoles. Tom took out a medical tricorder, though B'Elanna could tell from the glance she'd gotten as she walked by that there was nothing the Doctor could do for him, let alone Tom who was only a field medic. A very competent one, but still.

B'Elanna went over to the warp core, and quickly noticed the odd looking device attached to it. She scanned the device with her own, non-medical tricorder, and shook her head at the readings.

"Commander," she said, "I can't make heads or tails of this injector manifold. And it looks like the dilithium matrix has been completely redesigned."

"We'll have to find one of their engineers to help," Chakotay said. "In the meantime, see if you can bypass the core."

"Aye, sir," B'Elanna said. As she continued to try and find a way to get main power back on-line, she had to admit that she was impressed with some of the patchwork repairs this ship's crew had obviously had to resort to. The way some of the equipment in this engineering was held together, she tried to imagine how desperate she would have to be to try something like that on Voyager. Some of these power conduits look like they'd explode if you looked at them too hard, she thought.

"Hang on," she heard Chakotay say. She glanced over to see the commander moving debris. He'd obviously found a survivor.

"Need any help?" she called to him.

"I got her," Chakotay said.

With turbolifts down, Seven of Nine and Lieutenant Kim found themselves resorting to jeffries tubes and ladders to search for survivors.

"Over here!" Harry called out as he lifted himself up to the next deck. "Don't worry," Seven heard him say, "help is coming."

Seven finished climbing up herself, craning her neck to see where Harry was, finally spotting him standing next to an officer under some debris. There was a lot of it, but a quick scan with her ocular implant showed that it was light and the Equinox crew member, who was awake and groaning, had likely not suffered any crush injuries.

"What's your name?" Harry said.

"Lessing," the man said. "Noah Lessing." Seven began clearing debris away from the man, while Harry kept him talking.

"I'm Lieutenant Kim," Harry said. "This is Seven of Nine."

"What are you doing in the Delta Quadrant?" Lessing said.

"The answer is complicated," Seven said. "Keep talking, you may have a concussion."

"Can do," Lessing said. "Seven of Nine he said your name was?"

"That is correct," Seven said, finally spotting Lessing's legs under the debris and seeing no immediate signs of bleeding. She hoped that the man could still walk, but that would be for the Doctor to determine.

"Odd name. Sounds like a Borg designation."

"It is," Seven said.

Lessing laughed. "We can't have been gone that long," he said. "You telling me the Borg are in the Federation now?"

"Just me," Seven said.

"An exchange program?" Lessing said. Despite his injuries and dire situation, the man was still able to joke, a human trait that Seven still didn't understand despite the number of times she'd encountered since joining Voyager, but one she had to admit she'd come to admire.

"An early mid-life crisis," Seven said, hoping her delivery wasn't too deadpan. "Even got the blonde girlfriend to go with it."

Lessing laughed, though he was clearly trying not to laugh too hard. Seven wondered if he might have internal injuries.

"I guess some things are just universal," he said.

Captain Janeway got the turbolift door to the bridge forced open and entered, Tuvok behind her. Immediately she saw the body of a female officer. She glanced around, keeping her phaser rifle ready, while Tuvok scanned her. Janeway looked around, and saw another body, a male human, in even worse shape, leaned against a still sparking console, though the body did not look burned at all. Whatever had killed him, it hadn't been the console.

Janeway and Tuvok went around a large chunk of bulkhead that had fallen, and found someone slumped over the helm console. She was ready to assume he was dead too, but the man groaned when Tuvok touched him.

"Huh? What?" the human lieutenant said.

Another console nearby sparked, and Janeway reflexively turned to face that direction, and that's when she saw him, slumped back in the Captain's chair, but visibly breathing.
"Captain Ransom," she said, moving over to him, ready to help him up if need be. She moved his head to the side, checking for wounds. Ransom's eyes fluttered open.

"My, my crew?" he said.

"You took heavy casualties," Janeway said. "We're treating the survivors. Who attacked you?"

"We don't know," Ransom said. "We can't communicate with them. They've been attacking us for months. I've got to secure the ship."

"Leave that to us, Captain," Janeway said. "Janeway to Voyager, prepare to beam-"

"No, no," Ransom said, "I can't leave my ship."

"I can't pull rank on you Ransom, but you're in no condition to put up a fight," Janeway said.

Ransom sighed, then smiled and even laughed a little, which Janeway took as a good sign. "So," he said, "how's Earth."

"Wish I could say," Janeway said

"You weren't sent to find us?" Ransom said.

"'Fraid not," Janeway said. "My ship's been stranded in the Delta Quadrant for five years. We were pulled here by an alien called-"

"Caretaker?" Ransom said.

Starfleet's theory, confirmed, Janeway thought. "We were able to contact the Federation briefly last year," she said, "through an ancient series of alien arrays, but the arrays were destroyed, so beyond what they were able to tell us, we know nothing about what's going on in the Alpha Quadrant. As far as they're concerned, your ship is as lost as ours was." She decided to leave out the information about the war with the Dominion and the Cardassians for now.

"I guess we can compare notes later," Ransom said. "I'll go to your sickbay if you insist."

"I do," Janeway said, helping Ransom to his feet.

All of the Equinox survivors stood at one end of the mess hall, while Captain Ransom walked among them. The Voyager crew members who had taken part in the rescue stood at the other end, except for Captain Janeway, who stood close to, but not among, the former group. This was an impromptu memorial, Seven had been told. There would be time for the two crews to interact afterwards.

"We're here to commermatore our honored dead," Ransom said. "Lieutenant William Yates, Lieutenant John Bowler, Ensign Shogo Akuji, Ensign Dorothy Chang, and Crewman David Amantes, who all served with distinction. Their bravery and sacrifice will not be forgotten. They will be missed. But now, there is cause for optimism. Captain Janeway, on behalf of my crew, thank you."

"We'll have time to give the newest members of our family a proper welcome in the days ahead," Janeway said, "but for now we've got our hands full." Janeway moved closer to the Voyager crew's side of the room. "The Equinox is secure," she continued, "but its primary systems are still badly damaged. Harry, B'Elanna, make that your priority. Ensign Gilmore is the senior engineering officer, she can-"

"Uh, Captain?" the woman whom Seven had been told was named Marla Gilmore said, "I, I'm sorry, but I don't think I can go back there, right now." Ensign Gilmore looked pale, and her lower lip quivered the way Naomi's would when she was afraid. Seven hoped that she would be okay, as her trauma, on first glance, seemed deeper and more sever than Harry's had been post-Year of Hell.

"Ensign, the Captain gave you an order," Ransom said.

"It's all right," Janeway said, "I understand. My people can handle it. Captain Ransom has supplied us with data regarding the alien attacks. Tuvok, Seven, you'll be working with First Officer Maxwell Burke. Everyone else, dismissed."

Seven and Tuvok shared a quick glance, and immediately walked up to Maxwell Burke, ready to get started on their assigned task.

"We should begin by familiarizing you with Voyager's defenses," Tuvok said.

"Can you give me a minute?" Burke said. "There's someone I'd like to say hello to to first."

Seven glanced over her shoulder to see who Burke was looking at when he said that. B'Elanna was looking in their direction too, and seemed to be maneuvering herself as close to Tom Paris as she could without actually merging their bodies together, the latter looking slightly confused.

"B.L.T.," Burke said with a grin on his face.

"Max," B'Elanna said. Burke gave B'Elanna a hug, and B'Elanna accepted it, even though she looked uncomfortable doing so. Tom simply looked confused.

Seven and Tuvok shared another look.

"You two know each other?" Tuvok said.

"So, where's my sweater?" Burke said to B'Elanna, ignoring Tuvok's question. "The blue one, class insignia on the back?"

B'Elanna was smiling, but Seven could see the discomfort in it.

"We went to the academy together," she said to Tom, who smiled and nodded.

"Ah," Tom said.

"So, First Officer," B'Elanna said. "That's impressive. Last time we talked I heard you were about to drop out of Starfleet."

"Heard you beat me to it," Burke said. Seven looked to her left and saw that Tuvok had already left. She figured he was on his way to astrometrics, and that she would have to be the one who made sure Burke got there. "The Maquis?"

"For a while," B'Elanna said, practically radiating discomfort. Seven wondered if Burke was that oblivious, or just didn't care. "Anyway, this is Tom Paris. My boyfriend."

"Hi," Tom said, offering his hand to Burke. "So, B.L.T.?"

"It's a nickname I had for her. When she and I were dating," Burke said.

"Ten years ago," B'Elanna said through a forced smile, and making sure Burke saw her arm around Tom's waist.

Seven rolled her eyes. "We really should get going Lieutenant. I will escort you to astrometrics," she said. When Burke looked in her direction, B'Elanna mouthed "thank you" at her.

Chakotay walked down the corridor, making his way to his office to prepare the next day's duty roster. Normally he didn't have to start quite so early, but the addition of the Equinox crew made things a bit more complicated.

"Commander?" he heard a voice say from behind him. He turned to see Ensign Gilmore from the Equinox trying to catch up to him. He stopped walking so she could do so.

"I didn't get the chance to thank Captain Janeway for letting me stay on Voyager for awhile, I'm just-"

"It's okay, Ensign," Chakotay said. "No need to explain. This crew is no stranger to PTSD. Everyone deals with it in their own way, at their own pace. You should talk to Lieutenant Kim, he's been through something like what you have."

Gilmore tilted her head. "Just him?" she said.

"Well, time travel was involved so-"

"Oh, god, stop right there," Gilmore said, frowning. "I'll just take your word for it."

The two officers continued walking, GIlmore looking at the walls of the corridor as if she'd never seen the inside of a Starfleet vessel before.

"Such a clean ship," she said. "I'm used to falling bulkheads and missing deck plates."

"In a few weeks," Chakotay said, "you won't even recognize the Equinox. You'll be happy to go back."

"Unless I stay," Gilmore said. Suddenly, that nagging feeling Chakotay had had when they first discovered the Equinox's presence in the Delta Quadrant was back.

"I don't think your Captain would appreciate that," Chakotay said, "he's got a skeleton crew as it is." Find out why she doesn't want to go back, a voice in the back of Chakotay's mind said. Chakotay reached the turbolift. Gilmore stared at it, visibly nervous.

"Claustrophobic?" he said.

"Sorry," she said. "I just haven't set foot in a turbolift in three months. If one of those fissures opened up in here, where would one take cover, you know?"

Seven of Nine didn't like having so many people in "her" lab at once, but she didn't let it distract her from her work. Captains Janeway and Ransom had joined her, Tuvok, and Lieutenant Burke before she had completed her initial assessment of Ransom's data on the alien attacks. When she finally had something for them, she spoke up.

"I've run a thermographic analysis of our shields," she said. "It revealed multiple stress points. We believe they're the result of alien attempts to infiltrate our vessels."
"So the attacks didn't actually stop," Janeway said.

"Each time a fissure opens within a meter of our shields," Tuvok said. "it weakens them by 0.3%. At the current rate of attacks, we have less than two days to mount a defense."

"Captain Ransom," Seven said, "According to your records, bio-scans say the aliens can only survive in our realm for several seconds."

"They're like fish out of water," Ransom said, "but they can do a lot of damage in those seconds."

"Nevertheless," Tuvok said, "it is a tactical weakness. Perhaps we can exploit it."

"What have you got in mind?" Lieutenant Burke said.

Seven had an idea. "If we can show them we have the ability to hold them here," she said, "they'll think twice before launching another attack." Ransom and Burke's face went blank, both men suddenly and very obviously trying to hide their emotional response to Seven's suggestion.

"All well and good," Janeway said, bringing Seven's attention back to her. "But how do we catch these fish?"

"You build a net," Burke said.

"Lieutenant?" Janeway said.

"A multiphasic force field," Burke said. "We wanted to see what we were up against, so we built a small chamber that could keep one of them trapped for several minutes."

"If we could expand on that technology," Janeway said, bypassing what Seven thought should've been the first question; why only tell us about this now. "we might be able to create a lattice work of multiphasic force fields around both ships."

Burke nodded. Seven couldn't help but notice Ransom looking somewhat uncomfortable. She made a mental note to bring this up to Captain Janeway later.

"We'll need to examine that stasis chamber," Janeway said, audible excitement for the plan in her voice.

"I'm afraid that won't be possible," Ransom said. "It's in our research lab. That whole section was flooded with thermionic radiation during the last attack. It'll be days before anyone can go in there."

"Not necessarily," Seven said. "We could speak to the Doctor about repurposing the metreon inoculation, like we have before."

"The design schematics are in our auxiliary data core," Burke said.

"I'll see if I can download them," Ransom said. "Care to give me a hand Captain?"

Janeway nodded, and the two Captains left astrometrics.

Seven had a negative feeling about Rudolph Ransom, but she couldn't precisely say what it was. She felt he was hiding something, but what it could be she had no clue, and she doubted Burke would tell her. She then remembered Noah Lessing, the only other member of the Equinox crew she'd spoken to. He'd seemed friendly enough.

Perhaps if I can convince him to have lunch with Sam and myself, she thought, we can get him to open up about what's really been going on on that ship.

Captain Janeway and Captain Ransom worked on separate consoles on the bridge of the Equinox, the severity of its damage now more visible thanks to the ship's lights having been restored to full power.

"Captain," Janeway said, "before the memorial service, I noticed that some of the crew called you 'Rudy.'"

"When you've been in the trenches as long as we have Captain Janeway,' Ransom said, not looking up from his work, "rank and protocol are luxuries. I don't care what they call me, so long as they get the job done."

"Fair enough," Janeway said.

"Do you? Let them call you by your first name I mean?"

Janeway laughed. "I can count on one hand the number of officers I let call me Kathryn, and none of them get to call me Kathy. My sisters, and my ex-fiancee, get to call me that. Everyone else, they can do so but it's at their own peril."

"You do seem to run a tight ship," Ransom said.

"We've been known to let our hair down from time to time," Janeway said, "but I find that maintaining protocol reminds us of where we came from and hopefully where we're going."

"It seems to work quite well for you," Ransom said. Janeway thought she heard some bitterness in that reply. She wondered if maybe there was some resentment about the state of their respective ships. Voyager had been through a lot, sure. However, thanks to having a mostly full crew compliment, even after the losses they'd suffered, and the occasional successful trade deal with other spacefaring cultures, Voyager looked almost exactly as she had when she first left Utopia Planitia six years ago. If that was the case, she couldn't hold it against him.

I'd have to be a real asshole to do that, she thought.

"Well, we've had to overcome a few obstacles here and there," she said. "Integrating Maquis into our crew, the Kazon, the Vidiians, the Borg-"

"The Borg?" Ransom said, seeming surprised. "Well there's one area where we got lucky. We haven't seen so much as a single cube since we got here. The Kazon I remember though. Tell me, were The Kazon-Sakkra still in charge when you showed up, or did they finally lose their little turf war with the Kazon-Ogla?"

"Seeing as we never heard of the Kazon-Sakkra during the two years we were in their territory?" Janeway said.

"Hmm," Ransom said. "A shame really. They were actually relatively helpful. Rude, but helpful. How did you handle the Krowtonan Guard?"

"Never heard of them," Janeway said.

"That's a surprise," Ransom said. "We had to deal with them our first week in the Delta Quadrant. They claimed we violated their territory. I gave the order to keep going. I lost thirty-nine people to those bastards. Half my crew. If you didn't run into them though, I guess their little war with some of the other Kazon sects went badly. Good."

"I'm sorry," Janeway said.

"We never recovered from that loss," Ransom said. "It changed everything."

"What do you mean?" Janeway said.

"When I first realized we'd be travelling across the Delta Quadrant for the rest of our lives," Ransom said, his voice getting quiet, "I told my crew that we had a duty as Starfleet officers to expand our knowledge and uphold our principles. After a couple of years we started to forget that we were explorers. And there were times when we'd forget we were human beings."

"This is a Nova-class science vessel," Janeway said. "designed for short-term research missions, minimal weapons, can't even go faster than warp eight. Frankly I don't know how you've done it. You've obviously travelled farther than we have, even if only by a little. And you did it with much fewer resources."

"I can't take all the credit," Ransom said. "but we stumbled across a wormhole, and made some enhancements to our warp engines."

Janeway considered mentioning that Chakotay thought that a wormhole might be involved, but although she couldn't think of a reason not to mention it. She also decided to keep quiet about knowing about Ransom's secret mission for Nechayev on the Breen border. She wondered if anyone else on the crew knew about it, or if Ransom had misled them under orders. She wouldn't put it past Nechayev to make a Captain lie to their crew like that.

"I'd like to ask you something," Ransom said. "Captain to Captain."

"Shoot," Janeway said.

"The Prime Directive. How often have you broken it? For the sake of protecting your crew?"

Janeway leaned against one of the few intact pieces of railing on the Equinox bridge and stared at the blank, cracked viewscreen. Should I tell him the truth? she thought. "I like to tell myself that I've never actually broken it, just bent it a little," she said. "And for awhile I actually managed to convince myself it was true, but not too long ago Voyager found itself in an area of dark space. No star systems for light years around, no ships, theta radiation blocking long range sensors, just, nothing. We were there for months, the first time since we got to the Delta Quadrant where we went more than a few weeks without a crisis of some kind.

"It gave me time to think about everything we'd gone through the previous four years. I went over every decision I made starting from when I made the call to destroy the Caretaker's array to keep it out of Kazon hands, and every excuse I made to justify every decision. Some things I stand by, sure, and there were plenty of situations where the Prime Directive didn't apply, but between you and me Captain, sometimes I think I've used it as an excuse to avoid making a tough decision."

Ransom nodded sympathetically. It felt good to open up like this. She'd shared her concerns about her command with Chakotay, Tuvok, even Kes before she left, but they all knew her to some degree. Ransom was effectively a stranger, someone with a fresh perspective.

"Your secret's safe with me Captain," he said. "Though since we're being honest, I think you're hardly the first captain who's done that. I feel like sometimes we forget the original point of the Prime Directive."

Janeway nodded herself. "My helmsman, Ensign Paris, made a similar point to me earlier this year," Janeway said. "He basically said we treat a good idea like inflexible dogma. I think he may be right. What if we really do fear violating the Prime Directive so much that in the process we forget to actually follow it?"

Ransom chuckled.

"Captain?" Janeway said.

"Just remembering something my cousin Joel once told me. I'm going off memory here, so I may mess up a word or two, but, he said the Prime Directive has good intentions in place; to protect other civilizations from us, and to protect us from being embroiled in affairs that shouldn't concern the Federation. Like many aspects of the Articles of Federation, it's something we latched onto as a sign of enlightenment of the Federation. But, as so often happens with these things, like the old American Constitution, support lead to devotion and devotion lead to worship, and something went from 'good idea' to, like your helmsman said, 'inflexible dogma.'"

Ouch, Janeway thought.

"So basically," she said, "the Federation is a secular government that behaves like a theocratic one?"

"I wouldn't go that far Captain," Ransom said. "Even with all our mistakes, whether we admit to them or not, I'd take the Federation over any of the other government in the Alpha Quadrant any day. Maybe I'm being guilty of that dogma myself, but I'd at least like to believe that we're better on our worst day than the Romulan Star Empire, or the Tholian Holdfast, or the Cardassian Union."

"I sure as hell hope so," Janeway said.

Ransom nodded.

"How about you?" Janeway said.

"I've walked the line once or twice," Ransom said. "Nothing worse than what Jim Kirk ever did in his time, really." Ransom turned around. "Ah, there you are," he said. He walked over to where a bulkhead had collapsed, blocking off one of the two paths to the turbolift from the captain's chair.

"What is it?" Janeway asked.

"The Equinox dedication plaque," Ransom said, picking it up and wiping the dust and debris off of it. "feel off weeks ago, but things didn't let up long enough for me to go looking for it."

"I'd call that a good omen," Janeway said. "Let's put it back where it belongs."

Rudolph Ransom walked the corridors of Voyager, looking for his first officer. When he didn't find him in astrometrics with Janeway's Borg crewmember, something that he still had a hard time accepting, he decided the mess hall would be the next most likely place.

He walked through the door, and the smell of freshly cooked food filled him with mixed emotions. Hunger, and anger. How dare they have it so good, he thought. What makes them so goddamned special that they get the nice ship, the Talaxian who isn't a bigot or a pirate or both, the happy couples, the child. Why them and not us? He saw Burke eating alone at one of the tables.

"Ah, I thought I'd find you here," he said, Burke turning his head to look at him.

"Can you blame me after two years of replicator rations?" Burke said.

"Don't get too comfortable," Ransom said quietly. He leaned in so that only Burke could hear him. "If Janeway is any indication, these Voyager people will never understand."

"They're going to find out eventually, Rudy," Burke said.

"Not if we can keep them out of the research lab and away from the warp core injectors," Ransom said. "Be careful what you say around the crew, especially old girlfriends and their new boyfriends."

Ransom took a piece of, something, looked like a french fry, off Burke's plate and took a bite.

"Hmm," he said. "Pretty good."

"Agreed," Burke said, his tone implying that he didn't just mean the taste of the food.

Seven heard the door to astrometrics open behind her. She turned around to see who was entering, and saw Noah Lessing walking in.

"So, how's my angel of mercy?" he said, smiling.

"Angel of mercy?" Samantha Wildman said, giving Seven a wink.

"Crewman Lessing," Seven said, "I didn't expect you to recover so quickly."

"You have an outstanding EMH," Lessing said. "Ours can barely hold a laser scalpel. Sorry to interrupt by the way." It was then that Seven noticed that Sam still had a hand on Seven's back. "I promise not to tell," Lessing added with a grin.

Seven just smiled and shook her head, while Samantha let out a loud belly laugh.

"Oh, it's not an issue, trust me," Sam said. "The crew has known about us for, what's it been Annie, over a year now?"

"Approximately," Seven said.

"Annie?" Lessing said.

"My name before I was assimilated was Annika Hansen. I prefer to go by Seven of Nine, though in my fiancee's case I make an exception."

"Fiancee! Wow," Lessing said. "I gotta say, I'm jealous. The Equinox has been under constant siege so long, nobody's had the time to even think about pairing up for just a night, let alone long term. Maybe now that things seem to be settling down, maybe, I don't know."

"Anyone in particular you're thinking about there Crewman?" Sam said.

"No, Ensign," Lessing said, his voice losing it's jovial tone rather suddenly. "Dorothy Chang and I had gotten pretty close before the Caretaker grabbed us, but, well…" his voice trailed off, and Seven understood. Dorothy Chang had been one of the names Captain Ransom had spoken at the memorial. The aliens who were now a threat to Voyager as well had killed her in the last attack before Voyager had found the Equinox.

"Well," Sam said, "I will let you chat with your new friend here." She turned to face Lessing. "I just got off shift and wanted to see my girl before I went to pick up my daughter from the holodeck. Maybe you can join us for dinner later?"

"Would that be alright with you, Seven?" Lessing asked.

"Of course," Seven said.

"I might just take you up on that. Thank you."

"Okay then" Sam said, giving Seven a quick kiss on the lips, and goosing her on the way out.

I still flinch every time she does that, Seven thought, grinning the whole time, but I don't care.

"Anyway," Lessing said, "sorry for forgetting to mention this when I came in but I've been assigned to help you sort through our biodata."

"I appreciate the offer, but I've already nearly completed the-" The screeching noise, the one Seven had heard the first time fissures opened on the ship, started again. Lessing immediately pulled out his phaser, and she grabbed hers as well, looking up, and around, ready to shoot the first portal she saw.

The noise on the bridge might've caused a panic had this been the first time they heard it, but Janeway's crew had been briefed, so everyone was ready. Phasers immediately left belts while Janeway asked where the fissures were and how they'd gotten through the shields ahead of when they were expected to.

"Lateral shields are off line," Tuvok said.

"How is that possible?" Chakotay said.

"Fissures are opening on decks one, eight, and eleven," Harry said, sounding legitimately panicked for the first time in over a year.

"Reroute power!" Chakotay shouted, beating Janeway to the punch as she'd been about to say the same thing. She allowed herself to glance at Tuvok, then at Harry, both men working simultaneously. After what felt like minutes but had actually been seconds, the noise faded away.

"What the hell happened?" she said.

"Apparently," Tuvok said, "the aliens have changed tactics. They have focused their attacks on a single shield vector. It collapsed before the auxiliary emitters could respond."

"Looks like we have less time than we thought to mount a defense," Janeway said. "Tuvok, report to the briefing room. Chakotay, get Seven, Ransom, Burke, and Gilmore and bring them there. We need solutions and we need them fast."

"Ensign Gilmore?" Chakotay said. "May I ask why?"

"According to Captain Ransom she helped design the containment chamber. We'll need her help. Think she's up to it?"

"We may have to get her up here through the jeffries tubes," Chakotay said, "but I think so, yes."

Janeway decided not to ask.

"We've examined the schematics of your multiphasic chamber," Seven of Nine said. "It can be adapted. We intend to create an auto-initiation security grid." Seven tapped a few buttons on the console in the briefing room, turning on the monitor. "The moment one of the aliens invades either ship, a force field will surround it."

"Once we modify our field generators to emit a multiphasic frequency," Tuvok said, "it will power the security grids on both ships."

"How long will it take?" Janeway said.

"Approximately fourteen hours," Seven said.

"We don't know when they'll break through again," Ensign Gilmore said. "We may not last that long."

It was only her second time meeting the Ensign, but Seven already saw a noticeable improvement in Marla Gilmore. She wasn't shaking so much, and wasn't quite so pale. She considered asking her to join Crewman Lessing at Sam's quarters for dinner, though she would require Sam's approval first.

"We could cut the time down if we evacuate all personnel from the Equinox and focus all our efforts here on Voyager," Chakotay said.

"We are still thirty-five thousand light years from Earth," Ransom said. "We should try to preserve both ships."

Lieutenant Burke nodded. "With two vessels," he said, "we'd be able to pool our resources, doubling our chance as finding a shortcut home."

Seven had to admit, both First Officers made a good point. She figured Captain Janeway would need time to weigh both options.

"Normally I'd agree," Janeway said, "but right now one of our ships is vulnerable."

Nevermind, Seven thought.

"Chakotay's right," Janeway continued. "We should make our stand on Voyager."

"I don't want to force the issue," Ransom said, "but I am prepared to return to the Equinox with my crew."

Janeway and Chakotay shared a look, and Ransom sighed. "What is the protocol here?" he said. "We have two Captains, two ships, Who gets the last word?"

"Starfleet Regulation 191, Article 14," Janeway said. "In a combat situation involving more than one ship, command falls to the vessel with tactical superiority. I looked it up this morning."

"Good thinking," Ransom said, though the look on Lieutenant Burke's face suggested he didn't agree. Once again, Seven of Nine felt there was something about the situation that they needed to know, but that, for whatever reason, was being withheld from them by the Equinox crew.

"In this case, protocol recognizes my authority," Janeway said, her tone suggesting she was less than thrilled at the prospect. Seven assumed the Captain was hoping the Equinox could be salvaged.

Perhaps it still can, Seven thought, an idea coming to mind, but Ransom began speaking before she could suggest it.

"Are you ordering me to abandon my ship?" he said. It wasn't said loudly, and there was more sadness than anger in his voice, but she imagined that, as a Starfleet captain, and a human one at that there had to be some anger within him at the prospect.

"I'd rather not have to," Janeway said.

"That protocol was written in the Alpha Quadrant," Ransom said. "I'm not so sure it makes much sense out here."

"May I interject, Captains?" Seven said.

"Go ahead," Janeway said.

Seven looked Captain Ransom in the eye. "Captain Janeway is correct in her assessment of the regulations," she said. "However, this does not preclude saving the Equinox."

"How so?" Ransom said.

"We relocate you and your crew to Voyager for the time being. Once we have the new shields in place, and once we know they work, we will be in a defensible position, which would allow us time to create a second grid for your ship. It is not a guarantee, there is still a sizeable chance that we would be forced to abandon your ship regardless. But I do consider it worth the attempt."

Ransom looked at Janeway. Seven did as well. Janeway nodded.

"Alright," she said, "But have your people grab everything from the Equinox they can't bear to live without, just in case. I hate to sound heartless, but if I have to leave your ship behind to save both our crews I will do it without hesitation."

"Understood," Ransom said. "Thank you Captain. And thank you, Seven of Nine."

"You're welcome," Seven said.

"Max, let's go ahead and let our people know what needs to be done,"

"Okay, sir," Burke said, seeming less than optimistic about Seven's plan.

"Intruder alert," B'Elanna said jokingly as she finished climbing the ladder to the upper engineering level, where she saw Maxwell Burke at one of the command stations, a tricorder sitting open atop it. "Same old Max, going through my things."

"You going to throw me in the brig?" Burke said jokingly. B'Elanna sighed and shook her head.

"I'll overlook this for now," she said, "on condition of you telling me what you're doing."

"Just doing some homework, studying your propulsion system," Burke said.

"Why?"

"Well, if there's a chance I'm going to be stuck on Voyager I'll need to know my way around. How good is your second?"

"Joe Carey?" B'Elanna said. "He's good. A little rigid in his thinking sometimes, but good. Don't tell him I said that though, if it gets around that I respect him I'll never hear the end of it."

"Hmm," Burke said, "maybe I can learn enough to take his place. Or whoever third in line is."

"I hope you aren't flirting with me Max," B'Elanna said. "I've got a guy now. A good one. Annoying as hell sometimes, and his taste in music leaves a lot to be desired, but he's mine and I intend to hold onto him as tightly as Seven of Nine holds on to Samantha Wildman."

"Yeah, about that," Burke said, "it really doesn't bother you at all, one of your crewmates is marrying a Borg of all things?"

"Seven is a pain in the ass sometimes, I'll grant you that," B'Elanna said, "but she's not just a Borg drone. She's not fully human either. I'm not sure what she is really but she is someone else I respect."

"I assume I'm not supposed to tell her either?"

"You got it."

"Okay, okay," Burke said. "Believe it or not, I can take a hint." Burke went back to the console and picked up his tricorder.

"Hey, Max," B'Elanna said, "if you do end up having to leave the Equinox for good, you could do a lot worse than Voyager. This ship seems to bring out the best in some people. Me, for instance."

"I'll take your word for it," Burke said.

Chakotay, Harry Kim, and Marla Gilmore all held mugs of coffee as they made their way to an open table in the mess hall, the latter holding a PADD in her other hand.

"Now, before we abandon the Equinox..." he said.

"If," Harry corrected."

"Right, if, sorry." Chakotay took a sip, once again marvelling at how Neelix's coffee making seemed to improve almost like clockwork every six months. "Anyway, if we have to abandon the Equinox altogether, we should try to salvage any useful components. I'd start with the dilithium crystals."

"What's left of them you mean?" Ensign Gilmore said. "I'm afraid we only have a few isograms."

"That's barely enough to power the sonic showers," Harry said. "Oh jeez, I just rhymed didn't I?"

"Happens to the best of us Harry," Chakotay said, chuckling.

"Can I make a suggestion?" Gilmore said.

"By all means," Chakotay said.

"Let's forget about the primary systems," she said, "They're too badly damaged. Let's focus on supplies. We picked up a few items I think might come in handy." Gilmore picked her PADD back up and began reading from it.

"Uh, two kilotons of kemacyte ore, a dozen canisters of mercurium…"

"I'll make a note to tell Neelix to make room in cargo bay 1," Chakotay said.

"Could you use a synaptic stimulator?" Gilmore asked.

"Depends," Chakotay said, "what is it?"

"It's a neural interface you wear behind your ear," Gilmore said. "It taps into your visual cortex and shows you different alien vistas. Just think of it as a poor man's holodeck."

"So that's how you kept yourselves entertained," Harry said.

"Beats checkers," Gilmore said. Chakotay noticed that this was the first time he'd seen her smiling since she'd come aboard. "The Ponea gave it to us."

"Never heard of them," Chakotay said.

"We call them the life of the Delta Quadrant," Gilmore said. "They see every first contact as an excuse to throw a party."

"Man," Harry said, "would've been nice if things had been like that with the Malon."

"Or the Hirogen," Chakotay said.

"Or Species 8472," Harry added.

Gilmore laughed, then sighed. "I wish," she said, "we'd encountered more species like them. You're the first friendly faces we've seen in months. I'm glad we found you."

Chakotay smiled back. He couldn't begin to imagine what living on the Equinox had been like. Times on Voyager had felt rough, but it never occurred to him how much worse it could've been.

"Your ship's modified plasma injectors," he said, deciding that a change of subject might keep things from getting too maudlin, "they look pretty elaborate. What were you trying to do?"

"Uh, we were experimenting," Gilmore said, suddenly sitting up a little straighter. "Experimenting with ways to enhance our warp drive I mean. It didn't work."

"Maybe we should let B'Elanna take a look," Harry said.

"It won't work," GIlmore said, sounding defensive when she did.

There's another red flag, Chakotay's inner voice told him. Something is definitely screwy with the Equinox crew.

"I mean, we tried for months," she said.

"Excuse me," a small voice said. Chakotay glanced over and smiled when he saw Naomi WIldman walking up to their table.

"Oh, hello there," Gilmore said, her smile having returned.

"Commander," Naomi said. "Permission to interrupt?"

"Granted," Chakotay said, taking another sip of coffee.

"Ensign Gilmore?" Naomi said.

"That's right," Gilmore said.

"Naomi Wildman, Captain's Assistant."

"Is that so?" Gilmore said.

"I wanted to officially welcome you aboard the starship Voyager," Naomi said.

"I'm glad to be here," Gilmore said.

"If you need anything," Naomi said, Chakotay smiling the whole time at just how well the young child imitated the mannerisms of a typical Starfleet officer, "replicator rations, a tour of the lower decks, I'm your man."

"Thank you Miss Wildman, I'll keep that in mind," Gilmore said.

"As you were," Naomi said a huge grin spread across her face as she turned and left the mess hall, Harry barely stifling a chuckle.

"I didn't realize you had children on board," Gilmore said, smiling herself.

"Just her," Harry said. "She was born here. Her mom's our chief xenobiologist."

"I have a nephew back on Earth," Gilmore said. "about the same age. Well, not anymore. I guess he's a teenager by now. I probably wouldn't even recognize him."

"You'll see him again," Chakotay said. "I'm sure of it."

Gilmore's com badge chirped. "Ransom to Gilmore. Report to the Equinox bridge."

Gilmore sighed. "On my way Captain," she said, before closing the channel. "I suppose I couldn't put it off forever. Thanks for the coffee. And the talk. I needed it."

When she was gone, Chakotay turned to Harry. "Lieutenant, once you've finished your drink, assemble a salvage team."

"Aye sir," Harry said.

"Once we take their field generator, we'll part company," Burke said, as Marla Gilmore looked at the schematics on the monitor in front of her. Her eyes widened as the weight of what Max Burke had just said finally hit her.

"What happens to Voyager?" she said.

"They have weapons, shields, a full crew. They'll survive," Burke said as casually as if he were reciting his laundry list. Gilmore was appalled, but Captain Ransom spoke up before she could protest.

"What would you suggest Marla? Abandoning ship?"

"Maybe we should," Noah Lessing said.

"No," Ransom said. "Is a shower and a hot meal all it takes to forget what's at stake here? We're going home. We can't let Voyager stop us. I made a promise to get this crew back to the Alpha Quadrant as fast as possible, no matter the cost. You can accuse me of turning a promise into an inflexible dogma if you like, and maybe you're right. But I am going to keep my promise. Then, once we're home, I will turn myself into the proper authorities for a trial, at which I will plead guilty. Until that day comes though, I am still your captain, you are still my crew. My responsibility. Now, are there any other objections?"

Gilmore looked at Lessing. She could see it in his eyes, he wanted to just leave this whole ugly mess behind, even if it meant spending more time in the Delta Quadrant than they were looking at if they stayed with Ransom. She did as well. But neither of them said anything. They had already crossed a line, one she didn't think either of them could come back from. Plus, part of her was scared of what Burke would do if she said no. She feared him much more than she feared Ransom, even if Ransom was the one who had started this.

"I need each and every one of you," Ransom said, "to give me your very best, as you always have. Max?"

"Rudy?"

"The plan."

"It won't be easy Rudy. The generator is on deck eleven, next to the warp plasma manifold. We can't get a clean lock without boosting the signal. Marla, we need you to set aside your claustrophobia and crawl through the access port and set up the transport enhancers."

Say no, Gilmore's inner voice told her. Say no you dumb cow, say no!

"Okay," she said.

"Next, we'll have to take the internal sensors in that section offline," Burke said. "Noah, that's gonna be you."

"You can count on me sir," Noah said.

"I'll disengage the power couplings from engineering," Burke said.

Ransom exhaled sharply, appearing as nervous as the rest of them. "You'll all have time for one last shower," he said. "Make the most of it."

A shower, Gilmore thought, after I throw up.

Seven of Nine looked at a schematic of Voyager to double check the location of the minor power fluctuation she'd spotted. Once she had it, she passed that information to Tuvok, who was standing right next to her, but looking at a different console.

"The fluctuation in the security grid is within tolerance levels," Tuvok said.

"Still, I believe I can correct it. The discrepancy is in the Equinox research lab," she said. "If we can determine the exact frequency of their multiphasic chamber I will tune our field generator to match it."

"There are times when perfection hinders efficiency," Tuvok said.

"This is odd," Seven said, having heard what Tuvok said, and not disagreeing with him, but something was odd, and it only added to her negative feelings about the Equinox. "The lab is still permeated with high levels of thermionic radiation."

"It should have dissipated by now," Tuvok said.

"Precisely," Seven said. "And I believe I now have an explanation. Three EPS conduits have been rerouted to the lab. They appear to be emitting the radiation. I am now convinced that the Equinox crew is attempting to hide something from us."

"Agreed," Tuvok said. "Come with me. We are going to present this information to the Captain."

Seven nodded, and tapped her com badge. "Seven of Nine to Samantha Wildman," she said.

"Hey hon," Sam replied. "What's going on?"

"Are you alone?"

A chuckle came through on the line. "The line is supposed to be 'what are you wearing,'" Sam said.

Seven blushed. "I'm serious Sam. Are you currently anywhere an Equinox crew member could hear you?"

"No. Annie, what's-"

"I'm afraid our dinner plans tonight will need to be cancelled. I will explain later. I'm sorry." Seven closed the channel and followed Tuvok to the bridge after transferring the information she'd gathered about the deception onto a PADD.

After handing the PADD to the Captain, she motioned for the two of them to follow her to her ready room.

"Theories?" Janeway said.

"Only one," Tuvok said. "Ransom doesn't want us to enter the research lab."

"He has been adamant about protecting his ship," Janeway said. "I thought it was just a Captain's pride, but… I want a closer look at that lab. If we close off those EPS conduits, how long will it take to vent the radiation?"

"Several hours," Seven said.

"I don't want to wait that long. Send the Doctor," Janeway said. "Monitor his progress from astrometrics."

"Understood," Seven said.

The transporter beam finished its work, and the Doctor found himself inside the mostly dark Equinox research lab, lights flickering all over the place. He tapped his com badge.

"I'm in," he said. He began sweeping the lab with his wrist light, walking around slowly. A hard light hologram could still trip after all. He couldn't be injured, but he'd rather not risk the embarrassment.

"What do we have here?" he said, spotting something. He walked over, and saw the dried-out husk of what had once been one of the aliens that had been attacking Equinox. It was evidence to be certain. Evidence of what though, that he wasn't yet sure of, though he already knew he probably wasn't going to like it.

"I've found the multiphasic chamber," he said, taking out his medical tricorder and scanning the corpse. "There's a corpse of one of the aliens inside, its cells have vitrified. This is more than just a containment chamber, this is some kind of matter-conversion technology. Hold on, there's a control port here."

"Careful, Doctor," Tuvok's voice said over the Doctor's com badge.

"Hmm. The chamber contains a polaron grid and a sub-molecular resequencer. It looks like it was designed to convert the alien cell structures into some kind of crystalline compound."

"That function was not specified in their schematics," Seven of Nine said.

"I have a feeling there's a lot here they didn't specify," the Doctor said. "I've accessed their research logs. They're encrypted, but judging by the file headings they've performed this procedure dozens of times."

The Doctor glanced to his left, and so another lump of what looked like organic matter. He scanned it.

"More of the compound," he said, "but it's been biochemically altered. They've extracted the base proteins. Its molecular structure is most unusual. It appears to store a great deal of nucleogenic energy. I'm no engineer, but I'd say they were trying to convert this material into a source of power."

"I'm going to miss this ship," Burke said, leaning a little closer to Ransom so he wouldn't be overheard by the female Voyager crewmember who had politely nodded at them as she passed them in the corridor.

Ransom sighed. "When we get back to Earth there will be plenty of women," he said. "Focus. What's our status?"

"Ready on all fronts," Burke said, his tone all business now. "The transporter enhancers are in place, and Noah's created a subroutine to mask Voyager's internal sensors."

"Power couplings?" Ransom said.

"Bypass controls have been routed to our bridge," Burke said, his voice full of pride. "All you need to do is say 'energize.'"

"Janeway wants to bring the security grid on at 1900 hours," Ransom said. "We'll have to act before then. Tell the others to…"

Ransom's voice trailed off when he saw two of Voyager's security officers coming towards them, phasers drawn.

Shit, Ransom thought. So who turned? Gilmore or Lessing? Or was it both?

"Max, a transporter room's not far from here, keep moving," Ransom said, turning quickly to backtrack the way they had come, only to find Commander Tuvok and another security officer, both armed, coming from the other direction.

"Captain Janeway wishes to speak with you," Tuvok said.

Captain Janeway sat, stern face, across the table from Captain Ransom. Behind him, security officer Lydia Anderson stood at attention, her hand near her phaser. In front of Janeway was the sample the Doctor had collected from the Equinox.

"The alien compound," she said. "Ten isograms. If I understand your calculations," she stopped to pick up a PADD, though she didn't need to. She remembered the fact well enough, she was only pausing for dramatic effect, giving Ransom time to stew. "That's enough to increase your warp factor by .03% for one month? Unfortunately that boost wouldn't get you very far. So you'd need to replenish your supply. And that means killing another life-form, and another, and another. How many lives would it take to get you back to the Alpha Quadrant?"

Ransom didn't say anything. Janeway put the PADD down.

"I think you know the reason we're under attack," she said. "These aliens are trying to protect themselves from you."

"Sixty-three," Ransom said. "That's how many more it will take. Every time I sacrificed one of those lives, a part of me was lost as well."

"Bullshit," Janeway said. "I might have believed you, but I examined some of your research. These experiments were meticulous, and they were brutal. If you'd felt any real remorse, you wouldn't have continued, so spare me your crocodile tears."

Ransom's face went from that of man hoping for mercy, to one determined to make his case.

"Starfleet Regulation Three, Paragraph 12. In the event of imminent destruction a captain is authorized to preserve the lives of his crew by any justifiable means."

"Since when is mass murder justifiable?" Janeway said, "You didn't kill these aliens in self-defense, you killed them for fuel. And even if they had attacked first, there is nothing in the regs that allows for the bodies of the enemy to be treated the way you treated theirs."

"We had nothing," Ransom said, "my ship was in pieces. Our dilithium was gone, we were running on thrusters. We hadn't eaten in sixteen days. We had just enough power to enter orbit of an M-Class planet. Lucky for us, the inhabitants were generous. They were called the Ankari, and they provided us with a few supplies. Food, a few dilithium crystals, and they performed one of their sacred rituals to bless us on our journey. They called them spirits of good fortune."

"The aliens," Janeway said.

"Nucleogenic lifeforms," Ransom said. "Our scans revealed they were emitting high levels of antimatter. Later that same night, we managed to obtain one of the summoning devices. Not through theft, if that's what you're thinking. We exchanged an energy converter for it. We constructed a containment field that would prevent the life-form from vanishing so quickly. Something went wrong though. We tried to free it so it could return to its realm, but it was too late. It died right in front of me. We examined the remains, and discovered it could be converted to enhance our propulsion systems. It was already dead, what would you have done?"

Janeway didn't reply to that question. She already made it clear, or so she thought, how she felt about treating a sentient being's remains. She had literally treated dead Borg with more respect. Ransom kept talking.

"We managed to travel ten thousand light years in less than two weeks," he said. "We'd found our salvation. I swore when we first got to the Delta Quadrant I would get my crew home at any cost. It doesn't matter that the cost was my morality, my conscience, my career or my freedom. I know damn well what Starfleet will do to me when I get back. If I'm lucky I'll live to see the outside of a Federation jail cell again but as far as I'm concerned every day of that sentence will be worth it."

Janeway didn't know how to respond to that at first. The scariest part for her was she believed him, but that only made him more dangerous.

"And what about your crew? They'll face the same charges as you," she said.

"I intend to take full responsibility," Ransom said. "Their protests are noted in the ship's logs."

"You're delusional if you think that Burke, Lessing, Gilmore, or any of the other survivors won't face prison too," Janeway said. "Less than you maybe, but you've thrown away their freedom too."

"No!" Ransom said, slamming his fist into the briefing room table. Janeway made a motion to stop Anderson from attempting to restrain him.

"You're a Starfleet officer," Janeway said. "You took an oath to seek out new life, not to destroy it."

"It's easy to cling to principles when you're standing on a starship with a clean deck, its bulkheads intact, its crew not starving!"

"It's never easy," Janeway said, "to stand by your principles when things are difficult, and I won't be a hypocrite and say I don't have choices that weigh on my conscience but at least I didn't commit mass murder to get this far. I never tortured innocent creatures for their biomatter."

"Torture?" Ransom said defensively. "That ridic-"

"This crew has been experimented on by aliens that had as much regard for our lives as you did for the Ankari's 'spirits,'" Janeway said, nearly wincing at the memory of the intense migraines and irrational decision making that the Srivani's experiments on her had caused. "We know torture here on Voyager when we see it. Those aliens can't survive outside of their realm for more than several seconds. Did it ever occur to you how much pain it causes them when you kill them for the sake of your engines? I'm putting an end to your experiments effective immediately. You are relieved of your command, and you and your crew will be confined to quarters."

"Please," Ransom said, his hands shaking, "show my crew leniency. They were only following my orders."

Their mistake, Janeway thought about saying, but the situation was difficult enough as it was. Wronged though they were, the aliens were still attacking Voyager, and that had to be dealt with first and foremost. Now was not the time to be petty.

"We'll deal with that issue after we've got the security grid on-line," she said. "Anderson? Get him out of here."

"Yes, Captain" the security officer said.

Once they were gone, Janeway tapped her com badge. "Janeway to the Doctor," she said. "Return to the Equinox. Retrieve all the data you can on the aliens. I want to find a way to communicate with them."

"Aye, Captain," the Doctor replied.

"Take Seven with you, and get someone from engineering to go with her. I want them to go to the Equinox engine room and take their modified warp core offline."

"It just so happens that I was about to clear Mister Carey. He hurt his wrist yesterday on the holodeck, and only today told me about it. I'll draft him."

"Do it," Janeway said.

A security officer walked behind her, a phaser rifle slung over his shoulder. Commander Chakotay was by her side. Marla Gilmore had never felt more guilty in all her life, but she knew she probably should feel worse.

"What's going to happen to me?" she said, hating how selfish the question sounded.

"That's going to be up to the Captain," Chakotay said. "For now, you'll be confined to quarters until we can make contact and hopefully make peace with these aliens you've been killing. If it's not too late."

"To be honest," Gilmore said, "I'm glad you stopped us. Living the rest of my life knowing what we've done…"

"You could've stopped yourself, why didn't you?" Chakotay said.

"I don't know," Gilmore said. "When the Captain ordered me to modify the warp core, I concentrated on the work. I tried not to think about how it was going to be used."

"Well, think about it now because we need your help," Chakotay said.

"Commander?"

"After you," Chakotay said as the door they were heading to slid open. This was not one of the crew quarters, nor was it the brig. She stepped inside a room with a massive viewscreen. Data she recognized from the Equinox was on it, but it was encrypted. She recognized Seven of Nine, who turned, and quietly acknowledged their presence. Ensign Gilmore remembered that the former Borg drone was involved with the mother of Naomi Wildman, the little girl who had taken it upon herself to be a welcoming committee for the Equinox survivors.

"We're having trouble making sense of all this," Chakotay said. "The schematics are encrypted."

"Do you know the decryption codes?" Seven said.

Gilmore hesitated before speaking.

"Yes," she said.

"Proceed," Seven said, stepping aside to grant her access to the console. Gilmore did what was asked of her, and immediately the data Chakotay and Seven of Nine wanted filled the viewscreen.

"I'd heard you wanted to learn more about humanity," she said to Seven. "I guess we're not the best of examples."

"On the contrary," Seven said, "there is value in having a diverse pool of reference."

"Seven, one last thing," Gilmore said.

"Yes, Ensign?"

"Forgive me, but I overheard how you and your fiancee haven't selected a date for your wedding yet."

"That is correct," Seven said. "What is the relevance of that statement?"

"Don't wait too long," Gilmore said. "Life out here in the Delta Quadrant is dangerous. One of you could be taken from the other in the blink of an eye."

Seven seemed to ponder Ensign Gilmore's words. "I will take that into consideration," she said.

"This file has been decrypted," the Doctor shouted in frustration, glad that Joe Carey and Seven of Nine were both in engineering and couldn't hear his outburst. "Why can't I access it?"

"Emergency medical hologram's authorization required," the computer said.

The Doctor sighed. "Computer," he said, "is your EMH still functional?"

"Affirmative."

"Activate him."

The EMH of the Equinox, another Mark I so it looked exactly like the Doctor, materialized right next to him. "Please state the nature of the medical emergency."

"I require your assistance," the Doctor said.

"Who are you?" the Equinox EMH said.

"Your counterpart from the starship Voyager," the Doctor said, pointing to his mobile emitter. "This device allows me to leave my ship. I can explain later, but right now, as I said, I require your assistance."

"Where's Captain Ransom? Where's my crew?"

"In custody," the Doctor said. "In case you weren't aware, your crew has been running criminal experiments here."

"I know," the Equinox EMH said, picking up a PADD as he spoke. "I designed them."

"You?" the Doctor said, shocked. "That's a violation of your programming."

"They deleted my ethical subroutines," the Equinox EMH said, suddenly swinging his PADD at the Doctor's mobile emitter. He didn't have any time to react before-

"I'm picking up spatial fissures," Harry said. "Hundreds of them."

"Looks like they stepped up their attacks," Tom said.

Captain Janeway bit her lip to keep herself from admonishing Paris for stating the obvious. She refused to let herself take out her residual rage at Rudolph Ransom on her own crew.

"Reroute all available power to shields," she said.

"They're holding," Chakotay said, "but at this rate it won't be long before the aliens break through."

"Bridge to Tuvok, we need that security grid," Janeway said.

"We're preparing to bring it on-line," Tuvok said from down in astrometrics, where he and B'Elanna were putting the final touches on the grid.

"Bridge to the Doctor," Janeway said next.

"Sickbay here," the EMH said.

"Did you find anything?"

"Could you be, more specific?"

What the hell? she thought. Is he having memory problems again?

"Neural patterns," she said, "cortical scans, anything that could help us program the universal translator."

"Negative. I couldn't access the Equinox data files. They were encrypted."

"Keep studying the information we have, see what you can come up with," Janeway said.

"Acknowledged," the EMH said.

"Odd," Chakotay said, "he should've been able to access the files after Ensign Gilmore gave us the decryption codes."

"Maybe she lied," Janeway said.

"The information on the warp drive modifications cleared up for us right away," Chakotay said, shaking his head. "Maybe there was another layer she just didn't know about."

"We'll find out later," Janeway said.

"I suppose so," Chakotay said. "Chakotay to Seven of Nine, what's your status?"

"Mister Carey and I have dismantled the antimatter injectors," Seven said. We've almost got the dilithium matrix neutralized."

"Good thing we've got two people on that one," Joe Carey's voice said over Seven's com badge. "Shaves a few minutes off the time we'd need to get that part done."

"You'll need to hurry it up more than that," Chakotay said, "we're running out of time."

An alert noise emanating from one of the rear consoles grabbed Janeway's attention.

"Phaser fire, deck nine, crew quarters," Harry said.

Ransom, Janeway thought.

"Security, seal off deck nine," she said.

"Shields are down to 84%," Chakotay said.

"Tuvok to Bridge."

"Oh now what?" Janeway said.

"The field generator is offline. Its power couplings were disengaged," Tuvok continued over the open channel

"Someone reconfigured the internal sensors so we couldn't detect it," B'Elanna said.

"Whatever it takes, get that grid online," Janeway said.

"We're trying," B'Elanna said.

"Shields down to 55%," Chakotay said. "Make that 54%."

"Captain," Harry said, "unauthorized transport in progress. It's the Equinox crew."

"Block it," Janeway said.

"They've bypassed ops control somehow," Harry said. "They must've had help. They're already on board."

"40% and falling," Chakotay said.

"Janeway to Seven of Nine." Silence. Janeway was officially worried now, but refused to let it show on her face. "Seven, respond. Janeway to Lieutenant Carey." No response. She was prepared for the worst now, her hand already going to the phaser in her belt. She'd done simulations during Command School at the Academy where she had to go up against rogue Starfleet captains, but those tests had utterly failed to prepare her for the real thing. She remembered with bitter irony what she had said to Chakotay after the incident with Captain Archer; that she hoped it would be a good long time before she met another Starfleet captain who had lost their way. That good long time ended up being less than a month.

"We've got less than a minute," Chakotay said.

"Open a channel to the Equinox," she said. Soon, Rudolph Ransom's face filled her viewscreen, and Janeway very much regretted that she couldn't punch it. "Ransom, if you don't stop what you're doing we'll both be destroyed."

"What's my alternative? My crew rotting in your brig? If you had just accepted my request to give them leniency-"

"Don't try to put this on my head, Rudy," Janeway said, practically spitting out the name as she said it. "Stop this, now. I'll open fire if I have to."

"We've been through worse," Ransom said before cutting off the link.

"Ayala, target their power systems and fire," Janeway said.

"Yes ma'am," the Lieutenant said from Tuvok's station.

"Bridge," B'Elanna's voice said, "they've got the field generator."

"What?" Janeway said.

"They beamed it off Voyager," B'Elanna said. "it was Burke, he used a modified version of a trick I taught him ten years ago. I didn't catch it until it was too late."

"Oh hell," Tom said.

A few seconds later, Chakotay looked up from his console. "Shields are down," he said.

"Arm yourselves," Janeway said, a split second before the noise that signified the arrival of the attacking aliens began. Everyone on the bridge was standing, phasers out and ready.

"Fissures opening, all decks!" Harry yelled, sounding the most scared Janeway had heard him sound in years.

What an odd thing to think about, Janeway thought, as a portal opened in her peripheral vision. She fired into it right away, but several more portals began opening.

"The Equinox has gone to warp," Ayala said, somehow managing to hit every portal he fired at dead center despite looking down at the tactical console.

With our best defense against these aliens and two of my crewmembers with them, she thought.

"Kathryn!" she heard Chakotay yell at the moment she felt more than saw the fissure open right behind her head.

To Be Continued in Star Trek Voyager: A Fire of Devotion Part 3: Sweeter Than Heaven