"Captain?" echoed Chakotay
Harry smiled at his shocked face. "It was Admiral Janeway's idea, the Resistance has to go on a test mission and she thought what better cover for the rescue than the Falcon accompanying it.
"We're not going to file an exact flight plan of course, but the cloak Seven built can apparently disguise the fact that we're going to Romulan space." Tom explained.
"How long will it take to be ready?" asked Chakotay eagerly.
"Just a week."
Nine weeks later the pair of state of the art ships, Kettering on the Falcon and Chakotay on the Resistance, were just approaching Rumola II where the last sign of Seven had been found. Chakotay turned to Icheb at Tactical, "Any sign yet, Icheb?"
"No, sir." Icheb replied grimly.
"Kettering to Chakotay."
Chakotay put Kettering on the bridge view screen. "Have you found anything sir?"
"No, I think our best bet is to split up so we can cover more ground. Ensign Icheb told me that he had created a certain signal we could emit that only Seven would recognise, is it complete?"
Chakotay turned to Icheb and he nodded. "I'll send the specifications and we'll start using it immediately."
"We'll keep a comm. blackout until we have something, we can't risk alerting them."
"Yes sir."
"Good luck Captain."
"You too." When Kettering cut off, Chakotay sank into his chair. Please God, let luck be all we need, he prayed silently.
Seven was now being forced to build faster engines for the ship. Thankfully she no longer had to take the risk of climbing into engine ducts as at twenty seven weeks even Johnson had to face the fact that she was now far too large and weak to be doing such work. Thus she had the dangerous freedom of a console, meaning that she had two guards to her back the whole time, Johnson had learned the lesson of her failed escape attempt thirteen weeks before and now had her confined to quarters when she wasn't forced being forced to work or having her ten minute weekly scans, her only contact with the Stonetskys. She was running a scan of the surrounding space to begin her test run of the new engines when she saw it. She checked at least five times but her mind was not deceiving her, someone was sending out Borg alphanumeric signals in short bursts. The number 7.9 occurred over and over followed by the access codes to Astrometrics on Voyager for extra confirmation. They were coming for her. The hope that flowed into her entire being was indescribable and unfortunately was obvious on her face.
"What are you smiling at?" snarled one of her guards in suspicion.
Mercifully her natural presence of mind kicked into action. "My…baby moved." She lied as convincingly as she could, putting her hand to her stomach for extra effect.
"Shouldn't you be getting used to that by now woman?" responded the guard grumpily, not totally believing the lie.
"Yes I should be…perhaps you should take me to sick bay…"
"Get on with your work!" snapped the guard.
His companion looked at Seven thoughtfully, "Maybe we should…the boss will kill us if she dies because we didn't take her to sick bay…"
Seven hid the triumph from her features, remaining stoic as they argued and then eventually took her to sick bay.
As soon as she entered, Alexander scanned her with an unreadable expression on his face which Lyudmila caught but Seven didn't. Seven was desperate to tell them about the message so gave them the prearranged signal which Lyudmila acted on instantly. "Right, all men out!" she told the guards and Alexander.
"Why?"
"Because we have intimate female matters to discuss." Lyudmila replied coldly, taking advantage of the guards' visible squeamishness when it came to pregnancy. The ploy worked and the guards trooped out taking Alexander with them.
"What's wrong, dear?" asked Lyudmila anxiously.
"I received a coded message from Starfleet; they are definitely within a relatively close range of us."
"Oh that's wonderful!" exclaimed Lyudmila, feeling overjoyed.
"Hurry it up in there!" growled a guard, made suspicious by Lyudmila's happy voice.
"Hopefully they will pick up the tracer I put in the exhausts of the new engines." Seven whispered to her as she left.
Lyudmila excitedly told Alexander the news but was disturbed by his dark expression. "What's wrong? Aren't you happy?"
"Yes of course I am…but they'd better hurry up."
"We've waited this long…"
"Yes, but Seven can't! The drugs I have to give her are destabilising her implants, she needs specialist care!"
"Will her baby be all right?"
"I…don't know, she won't get to full term that's for sure…I'm surprised she's managed this far…"
"For God's sake don't tell her Alexander, it would destroy her!"
"I'm not a fool! We'll just need to pray that Starfleet arrives before we have to cross that bridge."
Meanwhile Johnson was sitting in his comfortable ready room on the phone to a nervous Berg. "Johnson, we're worried that you've been compromised…"
"What? It was your job to make sure that didn't happen! What makes you think so?"
"Chakotay and several former Voyager crewmembers have disappeared from their homes. Commodore Kettering and his ship are also gone."
"Even if they are searching there's no way they'll find us."
"What if the Borg…"
"Trust me; they won't be getting guidance from anyone here."
Kettering was sitting in his ready room pondering the mission; it had been over a week since they had separated from the Resistance and began transmitting the signal, but still nothing. Maybe he had been misguided in pursuing this, giving a desperate man false hope and risking his career over a mirage. He was jolted from his thoughts by T'Mera, his Vulcan First Officer, calling him to the bridge urgently. "What is it T'Mera?"
"We have found traces of a Romulan war bird."
"We're in Romulan space T'Mera."
"No known Romulan war birds have had warp signatures which also have Borg markings."
"Rendezvous with the Resistance!"
"They are twelve hours away at maximum warp. It is highly likely that the trail will be gone by then."
Kettering made a snap decision. "Send them a message informing them and then follow the signal at maximum warp."
"Yes sir."
Seven was curled up on her bed, trying to think of anything but the crippling knot of pain in her back which had been with her relentlessly since she'd stepped out of her alcove that morning. She had never longed for one of Chakotay's back massages more in her life, she should expect new symptoms, but was this level of pain really normal? I should consult Dr Stonetsky. One glance at her guards told her this would be impossible, she had not been not of her room for a week, Johnson had suddenly clamped down on her movements without explanation even her medical checks had ceased entirely and she had been given no new tasks. Not that I am capable of doing anything. Suddenly the ship rolled violently to one side, an explosion boomed in a far away corner and the lights flickered ominously. "Bring Seven of Nine to the bridge immediately!" Johnson shouted the comm. Her guards grabbed her roughly and dragged her onto her feet. She couldn't stop a gasping groan leaving her mouth as a spasm of pain coursed through her body, but had not choice but to obey as they half carried her to the bridge.
They dumped her as soon as they entered the bridge; Seven grasped the wall to keep herself upright but was now finding the pain intolerable. As she glanced around she saw Alexander and Lyudmila being held at gun point by a stressed looking Johnson. Another blast of weapons fire directed her to where it was coming from, a Defiant class Federation ship, their rescuers had come. A broken up signal filled the bridge. "Give…up….your…hostages…..surrender." Despite the interference Seven recognised the voice, Commodore Kettering.
Johnson seized Seven by the arm and hissed in her ear, "Give them our answer, fire the weapon!"
"No!" By now so wracked with pain that only Johnson was keeping her up, Seven knew that her resistance was futile, but her emotions kept her going.
Johnson forced her up against the console. "Do it or I will kill your little hybrid brat the moment you give birth!"
Seven winced in both pain and horror, that was the one threat she couldn't withstand, especially now. Bent over the console she set the weapon on the lowest setting possible and pressed the button with a wretched sob. She saw the blinding white flash and screamed both from guilt ridden grief and pain as pain shot through her like a lightning bolt and her legs gave way beneath her.
Her confused brain couldn't process what had happened. Have I been shot? She pressed her hands to the floor and came to the slow realisation that she was both sitting in and covered in blood. Her red stained hands began to shake and her conscious mind shut down in shock as her body gave in to the pain.
Lyudmila and Alexander took advantage of the chaos to rush to Seven's side. Lyudmila put her arms round her shoulders. "Listen…listen, your waters have broken…but everything is going to be fine…just try to breathe deeply…" Seven was understandably unresponsive; her breath coming in short panicked bursts between the spasms. "Try and stand up…" pleaded Lyudmila who running out of ideas looked to her husband in desperation. Alexander thought back to his emergency medical training, when to a console and beamed all three of them to sick bay.
Lyudmila took charge, ordering Alexander to barricade the door and lowering Seven onto the biobed. "How far apart are the contractions?" she asked urgently.
Seven stared at the ceiling, her eyes glazed over. "It's too early…my little girl…"
"Is going to be fine! The best thing you can do for her right now is try to relax and you'll have her soon enough, okay?" Lyudmila was met by silence before noticing electric shocks surging through Seven's implants. "Alexander!" she cried out in fear.
He ran a scan over her, "Her implants are destabilising!" He injected her with a drug and the distressing surging stopped. "She's haemoraging…but only five centimetres dilated…"
"Can't you perform a caesarean?"
"If I cut into an implant they'd both be dead!" He kicked the wall in frustration.
"You'd better get that incubator working while we wait then!" snapped Lyudmila.
Over the next six hours Lyudmila had to constantly soothe a delirious Seven, who seemed to see Borg everywhere. As late night turned into early morning, she took a turn for the worse, her implants needing to be constantly stabilised which left her unaware of where she was and weeping for Chakotay. "Can't you give her a painkiller or anything?" cried a desperate Lyudmila.
"It's all Romulan drugs in here!"
As he said that he heard Seven's voice, "Doctor…the pain…is…different…like pressure…"
Lyudmila choked back a sob at hearing a coherent, if very weak Seven. She checked her progress and almost cried in relief. "You're ready to push."
They tried to keep her talking but blood loss was taking hold of her again, although she pushed when they told her to. After twenty minutes of running on nothing but adrenaline it was over, a tiny unmoving baby girl was caught by Alexander and she was rapidly whisked away by Lyudmila, who immediately began to try to revive her. Seven slumped back, her body aching for the release of unconsciousness as she began to haemorrhage even more, but she didn't give into her body's demands until she heard a weak stuttered cry fill the room which both gave her relief and heartbreaking sorrow as she fainted.
