RAGNAROK 1
Author: Rocky

The battle was still enjoined when Voyager arrived at the coordinates, the sphere looking much worse for wear than it had a short time ago. The aggressors, meanwhile, were seemingly unscathed.

"Hail the cube," Janeway ordered in a tone that brooked no argument.

"No response," Kim replied after a moment.

"They appear to be ignoring us, instead choosing to focus all their efforts on the sphere," Tuvok stated.

"Let's try to attract their attention," Janeway said. "Mr. Tuvok, fire a warning shot across their bow."

The phaser burst shot out in front of the cube. "No response," Tuvok reported.

Chakotay turned to Ops. "Mr. Kim, anything from the sphere?"

"I'm reading numerous hull breaches. Their engines are off-line; they're venting plasma and rapidly losing atmosphere."

"Life signs?"

"I'm reading approximately fifty-but they're very weak."

Janeway briefly considered her options, then said, "Target the cube's weapons system. I don't want to destroy them, just disable them long enough to get in close enough to beam off the people on the sphere. Mr. Paris, Mr. Tuvok, prepare to execute 'Red Right 82' on my mark."

"Aye, Captain," the officers said in unison. The exercise would require pinpoint timing and execution-an opportunity both Paris and Tuvok welcomed, albeit in different ways, to show the captain what they were capable of. They'd practiced it numerous times in simulations-but this was real. More than one person on the bridge held their breath.

"Notify the transporter room to beam the survivors directly to Cargo Bay One," Janeway said softly to Chakotay, her eyes never leaving the main view screen. "Erect a forcefield and have security teams standing by, just in case."

"Understood." Based on their previous contact, Sarexa and her group were not a threat, but the captain clearly preferred to err on the side of caution. Chakotay approved. All too often appearances were deceiving. He rapidly issued the orders, the better part of his attention focused on the unfolding events.

Janeway counted off the necessary seconds. "Now!"

Voyager banked sharply to starboard, sending twin bursts of phaser fire to a specific target on the cube. At the same time, the ship's pass brought them close enough to the sphere to begin transport.

"Direct hit," Tuvok said. A moment later, Voyager shuddered.

"I thought the idea was to disable their weapons first," Chakotay said under his breath, then remembered how acute Vulcan hearing was. He shot an apologetic glance at Tuvok.

Tuvok didn't deign to reply, but fired at the cube once more.

"Mr. Kim-what's the progress on those transports?" Janeway said.

"Nearly completed," Kim answered. He looked up. "Captain-the sphere's warp core is going to breach in less than a minute!"

"Mr. Paris!" snapped Janeway.

"I'm on it," Paris said, his fingers flying over his controls. Voyager came about once more, and then fled in the direction of safety.

Janeway's hand clenched convulsively on the arm of her chair. It would take an additional three seconds till Voyager could be sure of clearing the corona of the breaching core; seconds that they did not necessarily have.

"The cube is in pursuit," announced Tuvok.

"Or they've also detected the warp core breach," said Chakotay, leaning forward, just as a brilliant explosion lit up nearby space.

Voyager was caught in the leading edge of the shock wave. On the bridge, the crew were shaken about like dice in a cup. Janeway clung to her seat, trying desperately to remain upright. The lights went down; when they came back up they were only at half-strength.

The captain cast a sharp eye around her. Here and there a console sparked, but there appeared to be no serious damage. Over at Ops, Kim was juggling numerous incoming reports from all decks, which confirmed that the rest of the ship had fared about the same as the bridge. And thankfully, there were no reports of serious injuries.

Chakotay, nursing a twisted ankle, reclaimed his seat. "Tuvok, is that cube still on our tail?"

"Negative. They were caught in the backwash of the explosion."

Janeway breathed a shuddering sigh of relief, then turned to her first officer. "Let's go greet our guests and see if they can shed some light on what just happened."

Janeway stood outside the perimeter of the force field of the cargo bay, observing the former drones within. They looked, Janeway decided, much better than they did the last time Voyager had encountered the Trefla. Most of their visible implants were gone, as were the majority of the scars inflicted by disease and their own desperate attempts to remove all traces of their cybernetic past. The vaccine developed on board Voyager had evidently worked wonders.

On the other hand, the drones were all very thin, still haggard-looking. They sat in clusters on the floor of the bay, not making any attempt to move, or even converse among themselves. Many shoulders were slumped in defeat; most faces wore expressions of resignation or fear.

Janeway and Chakotay's presence had been noticed. A Talaxian female rose and made her way to where the Starfleet officers stood. Her manner was tentative, as if she wasn't sure what her reception would be. "Captain Janeway?"

"Hello, Sarexa," Janeway said. "You remember Commander Chakotay."

"Of course." Sarexa nodded briefly to the man who was looking at her with undisguised suspicion, then refocused her attention on the captain. "Once again, we owe you our lives."

Janeway studied her for a moment more, then turned to the security officer beside her. "Release the force field."

Chakotay took a step forward. "Do you think that's wise, Captain?"

Janeway held up a hand to cut off his objections. Yes, they'd had their problems with the Trefla, but Sarexa and her group hadn't been a part of it. "Go ahead, Lieutenant." The guard did so, but eyed the former drones warily.

Once the barrier was down, none of the refugees made any moves to rush forward. It was almost as though they didn't even notice that it was gone.

Sarexa gave a shaky smile. "You have nothing to fear from any of us, Captain."

"Why were you under attack?" asked Chakotay. He folded his arms across his chest as he waited for an answer.

A pained expression flitted across the Talaxian's face for a moment. "As you recall, my companions and I left the Trefla on a scout sphere. We were too tired, too ill, too dispirited to face the prospect of rebuilding or attempting to form a new society among the different factions aboard our ship. Though he did not like the idea, Sakat gave us permission to go. We called our vessel the Tikvah. Our hope was to find a world that would be willing to take us in, allow us to live in peace. Instead, we have been set upon and victimized at every turn-including by our own people."

Janeway reached out and gently touched Sarexa's arm. "Your people?" she asked. "You mean Talaxians?"

"No, I mean others like ourselves-drones freed from the Collective."

For a moment no one spoke, as the implications became clear.

"The consequences of our introducing the Doctor's virus to the Borg all those months ago obviously are more widespread than we had anticipated," Chakotay said quietly to the captain.

"Exactly," Sarexa said in the same matter-of-fact tone, giving no hint of the anguish that must have been below the surface. "Most of the freed drones are harmless, wanting only to return to their homes, resume the lives that were disrupted. Others, whose homes are too far away or whose planets were devastated by the Borg, are trying to form new societies, build new homes together with their comrades." She shivered involuntarily. "But some are no better than pirates."

"Like the cube that attacked you," Janeway said.

"They prey on the weak. The cube demanded our central processor, and our deflector. We yielded to their threats, though those losses seriously crippled us-there is no fight left in any of us. But once their demands were met, they set about to destroy us anyway."

Janeway nodded sympathetically. "I understand. For the time being, you and your people can remain on Voyager. We'll arrange quarters, and I'm sure the Doctor will want to run some follow-up tests on all of you." She tapped her comm badge. "Janeway to Seven of Nine. Please report to Cargo Bay One."

"Thank you, Captain," said Sarexa. "We are grateful for your assistance and hope we won't present too much of a burden."

Janeway smiled and then signaled Chakotay to follow her. Neither of them spoke until they were in the turbolift.

"Pirates," Janeway said. "Victimizing those weaker than themselves."

Chakotay nodded. "Remember Harry's report about the drones that attacked the Pojzan refugees? I'm thinking this is somehow related."

"You're probably right. Not necessarily the same group, but similar circumstances-I'm afraid we're looking at a new development in the history of the Borg," Janeway said. She passed her hand wearily over her face.

"Not unexpected," Chakotay said somberly. "But disheartening." He paused for a moment. "No, strike that. 'Ominous' is probably more accurate."

"What do you mean?" Janeway said, looking at him in surprise.

"This new breed of drone, freed from the Collective will and restraints, may prove to be even more dangerous than anything we've encountered until now."

And for that, the captain had no answer.