Chapter 2 – Lesson One
Chakotay quickly scanned the room, but the two aliens were no longer with them. He and Seven appeared to be in a ship's quarters, the curved wall to his right indicating their proximity next to the outer hull. Indeed, although a set of curtains were drawn, he could still make out the star streaks of a ship at warp through the gaps. The room was dimly lit, but it was clear it was the sleeping chambers set off from the main area of the quarters which opened up behind him.
"Are we back on Voyager?" Seven asked, scanning the room herself. She was standing by the side of the double-sized bed as if ready to get in.
"I don't recognize these quarters," Chakotay responded, and then turned to face Seven. She appeared to be in sleeping attire. He looked down at himself and he was similarly clothed. It was as if the two of them were just about to retire for the night.
Seven apparently realized the same thing but the repercussions didn't fully register. "What sort of uniforms are these?"
"They're not uniforms at all," Chakotay replied. "They're pajamas."
Seven and Chakotay locked eyes for a second. The implication was now clear. Seven pivoted to look down at a night stand beside the bed and something caught her eye. "Commander," she called lifting a frame off the stand. "Take a look at this."
Chakotay moved closer to examine the item in Seven's hand. It was a holoimage showing the two of them posing in front of a waterfall, arm in arm. Obviously he didn't recall the image ever being taken, but more startling was the fact that he vaguely recognized the location. If he was not mistaken, they were standing on the bridge in front of Ouzel falls in the Colorado Rocky Mountains. "I recognize this location," he said. "It's on Earth."
"Could they possibly have read our minds to fabricate all this?" Seven remarked. She studied the image more closely. Perhaps the most remarkable aspect of the hologram to her was how happy she looked. She didn't recall a time when she was ever smiling so broadly.
"Or time travel," Chakotay mused. "Is this the future? Or a possible future?"
Seven raised her eyebrow in response and placed the holoimage back on the night stand. Beside it was a tricorder, so she picked that up and initiated a scan.
"I imagine this must be your side of the bed," Chakotay remarked.
Seven looked at him sharply. "I see no humor in our situation Commander," she said. "Is this some sort of simulation? Or time travel as you suggest? Or perhaps a shared illusion projected into our minds. We have been abducted by aliens who have now inserted us into this environment for an unknown purpose."
"Not quite," Chakotay replied stepping back towards the main living area. "The one alien said they will teach us, and we will learn."
"Learn what?" Seven asked in return. "To help their faction achieve their results, according to the female. What does that mean?"
Chakotay motioned to the tricorder. "What are your scans showing?"
Seven studied them more closely. "It appears we are on a Federation ship, at warp. It is not Voyager. There are ninety-seven crew members aboard including ourselves representing twelve different alpha-quadrant species. I detect no evidence of chronotron radiation, tachyons, or anything else that would indicate a temporal event."
Chakotay looked again at both night stands but didn't see what he was looking for. Their comm badges must be somewhere else. If it truly was a Federation ship, the computer voice interface should be active even without the badge, although the computer would have to recognize his voice. It was worth a try anyway. "Computer," he then spoke aloud into the air. "What is the name of this vessel?"
"The USS Sacagawea."
"List the ship's senior officers."
"Commanding Officer Captain Chakotay Hansen, First Officer Commander B'Elanna Torres, Science Officer Lieutenant Commander Annika Hansen, Chief Engineering Officer …"
"Cancel request," Chakotay interrupted. He and Seven exchanged a look of interest.
"So apparently we are married," Seven commented. "Computer, what is the current star date?"
"Fifty-eight six twenty five point nine."
"Six years eleven months from now," Seven remarked after a quick calculation.
"So we know we get back Earth," Chakotay said.
"In this representation of the future," Seven replied. "I'm still not convinced, however, this is not simply an illusion to ..." The tricorder started to beep, interrupting Seven. She looked down, but before she could read it, everything changed. The transition was unlike any transporter she was aware of, the change being instantaneous. She was now laying on her side and someone's arm rested on her shoulder. Given the previous setting, she guessed it must be Chakotay and he was laying behind her. Or at least, somehow she knew it was him. The two of them were on some sort of animal fur and under a covering of the same. Chakotay quickly sat up and she did as well.
It was night and more humid than usual. Indeed, they were no longer on a ship but rather in a cave. The flickering light from a fire at the entrance cast shadows on the ceiling and walls. Inside at the far end of the cave were vague metallic shapes, and night sounds of insects filtered in from the entrance. Their attire had changed as well. They were both now dressed in what appeared to be coarsely woven fabric, although the outfit felt quite comfortable.
Chakotay was about to say something, but then stopped to look at Seven's ocular implant more closely. "Seven, your ocular implant appears discolored."
Seven lifted her arm to examine the implant on her hand, but then squinted. "I cannot see out of my left eye," she said with unease.
"I know the light is funny, but the skin about your implant also looks different."
"I feel different," Seven said and started to stand. Chakotay quickly stood as well to help her. She wavered noticeably. Chakotay's eyes widened as he noticed Seven's abdomen. Seven unconsciously rested her hand on her extended belly and then looked up in alarm. "What is this?"
"I… I think you might be pregnant," Chakotay stammered. She appeared to be in her last trimester. Perhaps even the eighth or ninth month.
Seven glared at him. "How is this possible?"
Chakotay grinned and was not quite sure what to say. He had always assumed her Borg past would make it impossible for her to conceive and have children, but obviously that wasn't the case. At least in this simulation, or possible future, or whatever it was. He was about to state as such when a movement behind Seven caught his eye. Someone else was in the cave with them. The young girl was asleep and curled up near the cave's entrance. She had just stirred, but fortunately they had not woken her.
"Another one of our offspring, no doubt," Seven whispered irritated.
Chakotay stepped forward to take a closer look. "I don't think so," he finally whispered back. "She's at least sixteen or seventeen years old. And look at the shape of her head, and her … well, what looks like hair."
Seven moved forward and stood beside Chakotay. "Where are we?"
"And when are we?" Chakotay added.
Seven reached down and picked up something that was beside the girl. It was a tricorder. She glanced at Chakotay with a wry smile and then initiated a scan.
"Trust us to have one of those around," Chakotay laughed.
"This tricorder has an active chronometer," Seven observed, ignoring Chakotay's comment.
"What's the star date?"
"Fifty-eight six twenty five point nine."
"That's identical to before."
"An alternative future perhaps," Seven mused. "Wherever we are, the chronometer indicates we have been here for five hundred and ninety-three days." She looked about the cave. "I can't imagine we are here by choice."
"Perhaps marooned. Perhaps there are nearby caves with other Voyager crew."
Seven was about to respond, but then reached down to hold her abdomen, a look of shock and concern on her face.
"What's the matter," Chakotay said and touched Seven's shoulder.
"I felt movement," Seven said tentatively. "I believe the child within me just kicked." Her eyes widened. "The baby is kicking again." She reached up and grabbed Chakotay's hand and placed it on the right spot. Her skin was soft and warm to the touch. They waited for several seconds. "It has stopped."
"My touch must have a calming effect," Chakotay remarked.
Seven frowned and moved his hand away. "I'm glad you still see humor in our situation."
Before he could respond, everything changed again. Again, the change was instantaneous and accompanied by a moment of disorientation. Chakotay was lying in a biobed. He turned and saw the Doctor tending to someone on the bed beside him. They were back on Voyager. He was about to speak when he noticed who it was on the other biobed. It was Seven. Not the Seven of recent memory, but the Seven of when they first encountered her. Most all of her Borg armor and implants were still in place and only the ocular extension had been removed. She was also conscious and turned to face Chakotay.
"Doctor, what's going on?" Chakotay asked.
The Doctor turned to face Chakotay. "Your status remains unchanged Commander."
"What status is that?"
The Doctor now looked at Chakotay curiously. He lifted a medical tricorder scanning device and moved it over Chakotay's head. "You don't remember?" he said with concern.
"Indulge me Doctor," Chakotay said with more than a note of irritation.
The Doctor frowned. "Nothing has changed. The mental link between you and the Borg drone remains active," he said.
"Between Seven and myself?"
The Doctor raised an eyebrow. "Seven?"
"Clarify Doctor," Seven said, sitting up. The Doctor stepped back in alarm and then looked between the two of them.
"I've deactivated both links," the Doctor said. "I can't explain why your minds remain tethered."
"Did you remove the transceiver node at the base of my skull?" Seven asked.
"Of course," the Doctor replied, still a bit taken aback. "There must be a biological component in play, but so far, I can't isolate the cause."
"Why didn't this happen before?" Chakotay wondered and looked at Seven.
"What do you mean before?" the Doctor asked.
"I don't know," Seven responded. It took Chakotay a moment to realize it was with her thoughts and not by speaking aloud.
"Apparently we're not only seeing possible futures…"
"…but alternative pasts as well."
"Is this what we are supposed to learn? Of the many possibilities."
"And the two of us are connected. In this alternative, quite literally."
"Commander," the Doctor persisted. "Are you referring to your experience with the Borg cooperative we encountered three months ago?"
They turned to face the Doctor in unison, and then back to each other. Seven's expression, under the Borg surface, was one of curiously. "Who is this Riley?"
"No one of concern…" Chakotay replied.
"Of course," Seven said sarcastically, and then glanced about. Everything had changed again. She and Chakotay were on a trail, the sunlight filtered through tall trees. What sky they could see was a deep blue, and the air had a slight chill to it. They both wore backpacks. "Now where are we?"
Ahead of them, or at least in the direction they were facing, the trail crested a saddle and appeared to fall into a valley on the other side. Behind them the trail switch-backed up the side of the hill they were now on. Chakotay reached for the side of Seven's face. "Seven, your implants."
Seven reached up too. Her ocular implant was gone. Only a small scar remained. The implants on her left hand were also missing. She looked at it in disbelief.
"Let's reach into your pack and use your tricorder," Chakotay said.
"How do you know there's a tricorder in my pack?"
Chakotay shrugged. "Just a guess."
Seven took off her pack and rested it on a boulder at the side of the trail. She unfastened the front pocket and reached in. Sure enough, there was a tricorder. She rolled her eyes and opened it for a scan. She passed it over twice to be certain of the results.
"All my Borg implants have been removed," Seven commented.
"Perhaps you were never assimilated in this reality," Chakotay mused.
Seven shook her head. "No. There's evidence of extensive surgical reconstruction. I didn't think it was possible, but someone has removed all of the Borg technology."
Chakotay looked overhead. "I don't recognize these trees from Earth," he commented. "The needles are too blue."
"I don't believe we're on Earth," Seven replied, now scanning their surroundings with the tricorder. "The magnetic field is different and the spectral type of this sunlight is slightly redder than Earth's sun."
Suddenly they heard something ahead of them on the trail. They looked up and a young girl appeared. Upon seeing Seven and Chakotay, she stopped and put her hands on her hips. "There you are," she scolded. She then noticed the tricorder in Seven's hands. "Mama! You promised to leave your work at home."
"I, ah…" Seven stammered.
"It's alright dear," Chakotay cut in. "We just stopped for a moment to catch our breath."
"Ha!" the girl responded with a grunt. "Robert is almost to the lake and Nenetl's just ahead and won't go a centimeter further until you guys catch up."
"We'll be there in a moment," Chakotay responded. At first it looked as if the girl wasn't going to budge unless they started walking. Her long black hair reminded Chakotay of his sister. Eventually, she shook her head and moved back up the trail and over the crest of the saddle.
"I suppose we now know the names of some of our children," Seven commented.
"Two of the three anyway."
"There could be more with Robert down by the lake," Seven suggested.
Chakotay looked at Seven for a moment. "Well. I'm glad to see you're finding the humor in this situation now."
Seven sighed and returned her attention to the tricorder. "This is curious," she eventually said. "I'm detecting an elevated subspace potential about us."
"What does that mean?"
"I don't know," Seven said. "It's asynchronous with the rest of the matter in the vicinity."
"What does that mean?"
Seven shook her head and continued to observe the readings. "It's starting to spike," she commented.
They were now someplace else. It took just a moment to figure out where. The Omega particle chamber stood behind them and they were both facing the control panel.
"Turn off the power," Chakotay suggested quickly, and just as quickly Seven cut all power to the station and the chamber. To be doubly sure, she stepped over to the chamber and disconnected the power cable.
"It seems we're back to the very moment before the Omega molecule formed," Chakotay said. He touched his comm badge. "Chakotay to the bridge."
"Go ahead," Lieutenant Paris replied.
"Tom, what's our status?"
"Captain Janeway and Tuvok are still on the moon's surface. They're attempting to shut down the containment field so we can beam the Omega molecules into the chamber Seven is constructing."
"What's the exact star date?"
"Sir?"
"The star date Tom."
There was a slight pause. "Fifty-one seven ninety-three point six."
"Just a moment Chakotay," Seven said and stepped back to the console and picked up her tricorder. The scan took just a few seconds, and she shook her head. "I still read an elevated subspace potential surrounding the two of us. We don't belong here either."
"Where do we belong?" Chakotay asked.
As if in answer to his question, Seven and Chakotay again found themselves on a remote, alien beach. It was the same as before with the same strange moon poised on the horizon and the glow of morning or evening twilight filling the air. For now, the two aliens were not with them. They were alone. As they looked about, there was an addition to their surroundings, at least Chakotay had not noticed it there before.
A small bungalow set on stilts was at the edge of where the beach met the forest beyond. Its door was open and inviting them to enter.