"Admiral," Deanna stood as Kathryn entered her office.
"Were you able to locate her?"
"Unfortunately, no," Deanna sat on the edge of her desk, hands folded. "Have you…"
"Computer, seal the doors and bar this conversation from record."
"Doors sealed," the computer responded. "Communications for this room have been disabled."
Deanna knew better than to protest, though she couldn't help but look uneasy.
"What on earth is…"
"I was visited by Q," Kathryn confessed.
Deanna's eyes went wide.
"Q? The Q?"
"Yes," she nodded. "I understand you're familiar with him."
"I'm afraid so," the brunette rolled her dark eyes. "He used to wreak havoc on board the Enterprise."
"He paid his fair share of visits to Voyager as well, but today I'm glad he made an appearance."
"What did he want?"
"Nothing," Kathryn swallowed. "Only to provide information on Seven's situation."
"That's peculiar," Deanna shook her head. "Why would he…"
"Let's just say, he owed me," she interrupted. "Commander...I need to ask you something, and I need you to promise you won't tell Starfleet unless it is absolutely necessary. Can you do that?"
"It depends," Deanna spoke honestly. "If it involves potential harm to you or anyone else, I…"
"It does," Kathryn told her bluntly. "Or...it might. I really can't be certain. I just need to tell someone, and you're the only person I feel I can trust right now."
"Well, the only way we'll know is if you tell me."
Kathryn knew she had no choice.
"Is there any possible way," she began slowly. "The Queen...could still be alive?"
"The Borg Queen?" Deanna didn't skip a beat, nor did she appear to be particularly flummoxed.
"Yes," Kathryn looked at her intently. "I know it sounds crazy, but…"
"It doesn't sound crazy," Deanna shook her head, circling back around to behind her desk. "But I can assure you, the chances of the Queen being resurrected are slim to none."
"Q doesn't seem to think so, and he's an omnipotent being, so as far as I'm concerned there's room for…"
"Admiral," Deanna spoke calmly, which continued to perplex Kathryn. "Let me show you something."
Kathryn turned to face the large projection screen on the wall opposite Deanna's desk as the Betazoid worked to bring up images.
"As you know, Starfleet conducted extensive scans, not only of this Quadrant, but the other Quadrants as well," she instructed as data and charts appeared one after the other. Kathryn followed them with her eyes. "When they were initially made aware of the cubes, they began searching for their origin, for the possibility that the Queen was responsible, and to this day they've found no evidence that she exists. The vessels found their way to Earth's orbit through a wormhole completely by chance, the same virus you inflicted twenty years ago damaging their navigational systems beyond repair. There is no sign whatsoever of…"
"That's all well and good, Commander," Kathryn began to become impatient. "But according to Q…"
"What exactly did he tell you, Admiral?"
Kathryn took a deep breath, trying to remember the precise words of their conversation.
"He said," she began. "The threat was somewhere we couldn't yet see. That she...the Queen...had been contacting Seven, working to destroy her from inside. This isn't the first time it's happened, Commander. If we don't…"
"What else did he say?" Deanna interrupted again. "Anything?"
The Admiral sighed, pursing her lips, cheeks turning red as she continued to tow the line of losing her cool.
"He said that she could be defeated. And not to tell Starfleet, but that doesn't make any sense."
Deanna sat back in her chair, looking as if she was searching for just the right words.
"It makes sense to me," she breathed.
Kathryn's eyebrow rose sharply.
"How?" she spat.
"Please," Deanna continued to speak softly. "Sit down, Admiral. I'll explain everything."
"I'd prefer to stand," Kathryn scowled, leaning against the edge of the desk.
"Very well," Deanna nodded. "I'm afraid there's been a component to this entire project that's been kept classified, not just from you, but from Seven as well."
"Go on," Kathryn seethed.
"When Starfleet agreed to partner with Seven and the Center for Advanced Nanotechnology, from the very beginning, they believed the only way the program would succeed was if someone was tasked with continuing to monitor Seven's own progress, her own development, as a former drone."
Kathryn couldn't help but find her way into the chair sitting across from Deanna. No matter how many times she swore loyalty to Starfleet, once again, they'd proven distrustworthy, or at least not completely transparent.
"You've been watching her," Kathryn acknowledged. "Just as she feared from the start."
"I can assure you, it hasn't been easy," Deanna shook her head. "Over the past year, not only has Seven been a most admirable colleague, but she and I have become friends. Her heart's been in the right place from the very beginning, I can attest to that. Starfleet asked me to assure them of her stability, her allegiance to the Federation. I've given them no reason not to trust her, because no such reason exists."
"Good to know where they stand," Kathryn rolled her eyes. "But you're not telling me anything I didn't already know, not to mention anything I hadn't told them myself. Their lack of confidence in my recommendation is astounding."
"It's not that they didn't trust you, Admiral," Deanna tried to assure. "The fact remains that Seven was with the Borg for half her life. They don't know her like you do, no one does. Given everything she's been through, it was only logical to assign someone to keep tabs on her progress. Clearly they've been convinced, given the medal she was awarded. But looking at it objectively, can you really blame them?"
Kathryn shook her head, looking anywhere but at Deanna, knowing she was right.
"I suppose if someone had to, it may as well have been you," she finally breathed.
"I'm sorry you're having to find out like this," Deanna continued. "But again, this was a classified assignment. However, given what's happening now, I felt like I had no choice but to let you know."
"But you haven't told me everything," Kathryn pressed. "I still don't understand what's happening. How can the Queen be involved if you're saying she's really dead?"
Deanna pulled up a few more charts before standing, crossing the room to point to certain elements on screen.
"Over the past few days, I've noticed increased levels of anxiety in Seven while we've dealt with Isak and the other remaining drones. All of them are about ready to transition to civilian life, except for Isak, who continues to display threatening behavior and an aggressive attitude, particularly towards Seven."
She pointed to a scan of Seven's brain, an image Kathryn had seen in Sick Bay many times.
"I decided to run a few tests, again, without Seven knowing, to check for any anomalies, but found nothing other than the increased levels of anxiety I had witnessed and predicted, along with a general increase in her neural activity."
"That seems rather invasive," Kathryn shook her head once more.
"I know," Deanna looked down, taking a breath. "Again...it hasn't been easy, but it's my job. I'm a counselor above all else, and when Starfleet asked me to look after Seven, I decided I wouldn't only keep their interests in mind. You of all people know how difficult it's been. Seven may be in charge of this project, but that doesn't mean her own journey, her own recovery's ended. She's still incredibly unique, the only person we know who was with the Borg for as long as she was and has now been severed from the Collective longer than any other former drone. The truth is, in order for these drones to be able to succeed, it's necessary to continue learning from Seven's experience, which is ever evolving. I don't think she was prepared for that."
"No," Kathryn sighed. "I don't think she had any idea how triggering this experience would be."
"She's come a long way, Admiral," Deanna attempted to smile. "She's even taught me a thing or two about mindfulness, about resilience. But our journey never ends. There's still a lot of healing left for her to undertake, which is why how we handle this situation is so critical."
Kathryn had fallen silent. She stared at the screen, at the scans of Seven's brain, wondering how she could have missed whatever this was, reminded that as much as two people can share with each other, practically becoming one, they remain individuals. Seven's struggle with her past, with learning how to be human, was her own. Kathryn could only help as much as Seven let her in.
"How does the Queen fit into any of this?" she finally asked.
"When we linked Seven with the drones using our simulation of the hive mind, we activated her neural transceiver in order to allow them to hear her thoughts and give her the ability to hear theirs, but still distinguish them from her own," Deanna continued. "However, once that phase of the project ended, we deactivated the transceiver again. I can confirm with absolute certainty that it remains offline."
"Then there's no way the Queen could be contacting her," Kathryn swallowed.
"Exactly," Deanna nodded. "We can't yet prove the Queen doesn't exist somewhere, in a remote part of space our scans haven't reached, but I can assure you that it's highly unlikely, and that even if she does exist, she's had no contact with Seven, period."
Kathryn felt the color returning to her cheeks.
"But," Deanna cautioned. "That doesn't mean Seven isn't hearing her voice."
The Admiral froze again.
"Are you saying...she's hallucinating?" she asked hesitantly.
"Not exactly, but I believe the increased brain activity I discovered may indicate she's experiencing some level of mental anguish," Deanna told her. "The thoughts she's having are in fact her own, but she currently has little control over them. This is just a theory based on what Q told you, but I believe Seven's neural pathways may have been so formed and shaped by her time with the Borg that the Queen's voice has become an almost indistinguishable part of her own thought process."
"That's…something I never would have considered, but it makes sense," Kathryn swallowed. "How do we get rid of it?"
Deanna slowly returned to her desk, sitting on the edge again, near Kathryn, trying as always to appear as collected and reassuring as possible.
"Again, this is just my own hypothesis," she spoke softly. "But it may not be possible for her to ever completely silence it."
For the first time in several minutes, Kathryn once again felt a surge of hopelessness. Refusing to let it take hold, she took a deep breath, gathering every spark of fight left within her, and looked at Deanna with as much fierceness as she could muster.
"Then what can we do?"
"There's no clear template for this kind of intervention," Deanna admitted. "Except for what we've used with the drones here and the work I've done with Admiral Picard over the years, given his own recovery from assimilation. That said, I may be able to recommend treatment that could substantially curtail the effects of what she's been experiencing, but it will require her full participation."
"We'll get through to her," Kathryn swallowed. "She must be terrified. When the Queen contacted her in the past, she made every attempt to isolate Seven, make her feel that if she shared what she was going through, told any of us, the consequences would be catastrophic. I have to find her."
"Did Q give you any indication of where she might be?"
Kathryn shook her head.
"He only said that she was safe at present."
Deanna thought for a moment, pacing a bit.
"Has she been keeping up with her Reiki practice recently?"
"Not as much since the project started," Kathryn admitted.
"Maybe she's trying to use her own methods to deal with the situation," Deanna offered. "Can you think of anywhere she may have gone that would allow her to focus on meditation? Somewhere spiritually significant to her?"
Kathryn pondered the question for a moment, until suddenly, the light seemed to flicker on.
"I may have an idea," she spoke softly. "I'd prefer to use the sensors to confirm it before venturing there myself, but it's too risky."
"Agreed," Deanna nodded. "Given the personal nature of Seven's condition, I feel no need to communicate this to Starfleet Command, yet. However, if we can't find her in a reasonable amount of time…"
"We'll find her," Kathryn swallowed. "By any means necessary. But yes….I'll go first. I'll let you know as soon as I have any information."
Kathryn made her way to the exit, turning once she reached the door, looking back at Deanna.
"I feel incredibly conflicted about this entire project, you understand," Kathryn practically whispered. "But even so...thank you."
Deanna sighed, raising her concerned eyes once again to the Admiral.
"Normally, I would never violate a patient's privacy...but…given the circumstances...I know this is the only way for her to find peace."
Kathryn nodded slowly, biting her inner lip as she again composed herself, before embarking on the journey that would hopefully bring the woman she loved home.