Covert

By the time the Doctor returned to Sickbay, Seven was lying in a bio bed unconscious. Thankfully the Hirogen guards didn't seem to notice his disappearing act. Letting a sigh, the hologram began to inspect Seven's wounds. He was appalled to find a twentieth century bullet lodged near the base of her skull. Still it would provide him with the necessary time to explain the plan to her and get her onboard.

"Hurry up," one of the guards barked after about ten minutes.

"You can't rush these types of procedures," the Doctor replied. "Another centimeter and you would have severed her spinal cord. I'll need at least another twenty minutes to a half hour."

The guard gave a grumble in response, walking over and scanning her. "Her neural interface has been disrupted. She'll need a new one. You'll implant it."

"Fine. But I have to treat her injuries first. Her body needs time to recover from this sort of trauma."

With a final look the Hirogen guard returned to his post. The Doctor picked up a tricorder and began to scan the rest of her body for other possible injuries. Satisfied that there were none, he concentrated on extracting the bullet from her skull and treating the wound. He couldn't stand to see his friends in such danger. A while later, Seven of Nine came to, her eyes fluttering open.

"Stay still," the Doctor whispered.

"What has happened?" Seven asked groggily.

"Several weeks ago, two Hirogen vessels overpowered us. They've placed most of the crew in holodeck simulations to be hunted."

"We must take back the ship."

"I agree. Ensign Kim and Q have a plan but we're going to require your help."

"How?"

"They've implanted the crew with neural interfaces to make them believe they are the characters they portray."

"I see. How will we disable it?"

"I believe I can modify one of your implants to emit a jamming signal. It will activate seconds after you're back in the simulation."

"I understand. What is my assignment?"

"You will need to find the bridge relay controls and disable them. That should effectively neutralize the interfaces."

"What simulation am I to be placed in?"

"It's an Earth conflict from the twentieth century, the second world war. Do you know anything about it?"

Seven shook her head and the Doctor's face drooped a little.

"That might be a little problematic. Just...do your best to play along." He picked up an instrument and began to tampering with her implants. "That should do it. Good luck."

"Thank you, Doctor."

Just as the hologram stepped away, the Hirogen guards approached. "Is she ready?"

"Yes." The Doctor looked as displeased as ever when they took her away.

Seven arrived back on the holodeck in Coeur de lion. She was dressed as Mademoiselle de Neuf, standing at the piano singing another song. It felt so natural at first, like it was who she was meant to be. But the noise in her ear reminded her otherwise.

The jamming signal whined in her ear as the neural interface was disabled. She suddenly became very aware that she did not know the words to the song she'd been singing. She cleared her throat.

"I must discontinue this activity." With that she darted from the stage.

Katrine looked at her and glanced at the Hirogen dressed in Nazi uniforms. With a frustrated breath, she followed after Seven.

"Get back on that stage. Those officers are here to hear you sing and we need them to stay as long as possible to get any useful information out of them," Katrine hissed.

Seven looked at the Captain and couldn't believe the words coming out of her mouth. Kathryn truly believed she was the matron of the establishment.

"I am ill. I cannot continue."

"I don't care if you're dying. You aren't going to leave us high and dry like this."

"I will not comply," Seven spat, turning and walking away.

"She is acting very strangely," Tuvok said from behind the bar.

"I don't know if we can trust her."

"We'll have no choice. We need all the hands we have."

"You're right but there's just something about her, Tuvok that rubs me wrong."

Time seemed to pass slowly for Q and Harry. They hadn't been able to find a moment to get away to check in with the Doctor on their plan. They finally snuck into the Mess Hall to find some respite.

"I never thought we'd get out of there," Harry gasped.

"I really dislike these creatures. When I get my powers back I'm going to send them straight into a black hole and hope they end up some place very unpleasant."

"Right now, that doesn't sound like a bad idea."

They sat at a table, eyes locked on both entrances to the room. Finally, harry stood and started for the replicator.

"What are you doing? Making a cup of tea?" Q questioned.

Harry rolled his eyes. "No. I'm going to see if I can transfer the Doctor's program here. We've got a few holo emitters in here."

"Oh."

Harry fiddled with the control panel for about five minutes before the Doctor's program appeared.

"Ensign, we've got to stop meeting like this."

"Did it work?"

"She's back in the program. If all goes according to plan, her implant should have emitted the jamming signal and she should know who she is. We just have to wait for her to find the bridge relays."

Q stood up and moved closer just in case they were being spied on. "You haven't...seen Junior have you? They came on board and I haven't seen him."

"I'm afraid I don't know where he is."

"If they've done anything to him I'm going to rip them apart. I'll..."

The Doctor and Harry shared a look. "Computer, locate Quinten."

"Quinten is in the Captain's quarters."

Q let out a sigh of relief. "Come on. Let's go."

"Go? We can't go in there. They'll phaser us for sure."

"Like a little phaser wound is going to stop me from making sure my son is safe," Q scoffed.

"You go if you want. I'm going to stay here and monitor Seven's progress."

"Fine."

With that Q disappeared from the Mess Hall. He marched through the corridors with determination in his step. The remaining crew members simply stood aside as he passed.

"Where do you think you're going?" one of the Hirogen called as Q walked into Kathryn's quarters.

The leader of the hunting party sat reading in one of the chairs. He looked up when Q entered.

"What are you doing in here?" the Hirogen asked. He appeared so calm.

Q didn't answer right away. He looked around the room, finally spotting Quinten's crib.

"I want you to get away from that boy now."

"Is he special to you?"

"He's my son. He's infinitely special. Beyond your meager comprehension."

"How very arrogant."

"It comes with the territory. You live forever, you build an ego."

"You're not like the others are you?"

"No. It's rather safe to say I am far superior to the rest of this crew." He looked to Quinten. "And nothing is going to keep me from my son."

"I'm afraid I've gotten used to his company."

Q did his best to bite back the anger building inside. He snapped his fingers, Quinten appearing his arms.

"Don't try and stop me. Who knows where you might end up...or how."

Back on the holodeck night had fallen and Seven was preparing to aid Katrine in her search of the Nazi bunker for relevant information. She'd done her best to play along and keep her cover but it was increasingly difficult when she had no prior knowledge of the situation. She only hoped the bridge relays were located in the area of the holodeck they were going.

"Are you ready?" Kathryn asked.

Seven looked up from the box of grenades. "I believe so."

"Good. Then let's go."

The two women made their way through the square and into the German bunker. Kathryn looked surprised to sneak in undetected. She motioned for Seven to follow her into the room at the end of a long hallway. Sure enough, a soldier sat at a desk with headphones on transcribing radio transmissions.

"Set the charges there," Kathryn instructed once she'd incapacitated the guard.

Seven did her best to look like she was following orders. She set one of the charges down and began scanning the area for the bridge relay controls. She found them easily and began to disable them so that the Doctor could finish the task from Sickbay. Unfortunately, Kathryn, still under the impressions she belonged in the simulation, turned around.

"What are you doing?"

Seven stopped and tried to think of something to say. "I believe this may be another transmission device. I am attempting to disable it. You must let me finish."

"I don't have to let you do anything." The sound of the safety being taken off a revolver clicked in the air.

Just as Seven turned around, Kathryn's neck throbbed and she blinked a time or two.

"Seven?"

"Welcome back Captain."

"What's happening?"

"I will explain later. Perhaps we should leave."

Kathryn looked around, taking in the gunfire that erupted outside.

"I think you're right. Let's go."

They made it out of the bunker just in time for a simulated explosion to rip a hole in the wall of the holodeck, exposing the metallic structure. People in the streets stopped firing to stare in awe and confusion.