Chakotay had to cling on to the back of his chair to stay upright as the Bridge's floor rolled more violently with every shot fired by the aliens, yet he barely noticed, his eyes fixed on the spot on the viewscreen where he'd last seen the Equinox before it had sped off, taking Seven with it. "They're attacking the warp core Captain!" Harry shouted from somewhere behind him.
"Try hailing them again!" the Captain ordered in breathless desperation.
"It's no good." Tom reported after a long few seconds, "The universal translator still can't interpret, there's no way to tell them we're friendly."
"Captain, there is a cloaked Ankari ship within hailing range." Tuvok intoned from Tactical.
"I think if they were going to come to our assistance they would have done it by now." The Captain replied wryly as the engines shuddered beneath their feet then gave out altogether.
"Wait!" Harry interjected suddenly, "I read in the Equinox's files that the Ankari can communicate with the aliens, are even on good terms with them…"
"Hail them then!" Chakotay ordered sharply, stiffening when the Captain shot him an uncertain frown, "What choice do we have? We need their help if we're going to have any chance of finding Seven!" He justified. The Captain pondered only for a moment before giving Harry a definite nod, who then hailed the Ankari.
The angered flat grey face of an Ankari Captain appeared on the viewscreen almost instantly, "What do you want? We do not interfere in the affairs of the Onkoni, they are our allies!"
"Please get them to hold their fire! This crew would never harm a peaceful species, we consider the crew of the Equinox traitors and criminals! We want the Onkoni's help to stop them." The Captain told him earnestly, standing with her palms outstretched in a sign of friendliness.
The Ankari frowned, deep in thought, before conceding, "Alright, I will help you to put your proposal to them."
The Ankari Captain was true to his word, almost as soon as their comm. link was broken, the aliens, whom they now knew the Ankari called the Onkoni, stopped firing and for a few spine tingling moments the was complete silence on the Bridge until that is two transports spontaneously occurred, bringing the Ankari whom they'd spoken to and one of the Onkoni, whose high frequency, rumbling language began immediately, the entire Voyager Bridge crew transfixed by the agile, shimmering mass. "They want the Equinox, they need to be punished." The Ankari translated.
"I completely agree with that." The Captain replied honestly, keeping her eyes focused on the Onkoni rather than the translator, hoping her truthfulness shone through despite the language barrier. "But they have captured a member of my crew, she is entirely innocent of the Equinox's crimes, I want her to be safely returned to this ship."
Another long flow of Onkoni language later, and the Ankari said, "They agree to your terms. We will all pursue the Equinox and return your crewmember to you."
"Thank you." The Captain breathed softly, smiling at Chakotay as he sank into his chair in relief and rested his head in his hands.
"Well done Captain." Chakotay said quietly as they walked together towards the Briefing Room, "But the problem still remains, how are we going to find the Equinox?"
Janeway patted his arm, "Don't get dispirited Chakotay, we're a step further forward, and it's a badly damaged ship, we'll find her, even if we need to find a way to lure them out."
"I can't help it Captain!" He snapped, "I don't like the idea that we're looking in all the wrong places while the danger Seven's in increases all the time!" He flushed a little at his outburst, abruptly realising it wouldn't help, and ran a stressed hand through his hair, "I'm sorry Captain, I'm just so worr…"
He was interrupted by B'Elanna's running steps up the corridor, shouting, "Captain!"
"You found them?" Chakotay asked eagerly as she reached them, before the Captain could even get a word in.
She looked at him sympathetically, "No, but I think I did find out how they escaped."
"How?" The Captain asked curiously.
"The Doctor isn't our Doctor! They swapped him with theirs somehow, who doesn't have any ethical subroutines, he helped them escape."
"A secret agent of sorts, ingenious." The Captain murmured thoughtfully, "What have you done to him?"
B'Elanna shrugged slightly, "Just restored his ethical subroutines and put him into the Computer as a back up, why?"
The Captain exchanged smiles with Chakotay, "Because I think we've found our lure."
Consciousness returned to Ransom slowly, but as it came he turned his head to the side to see the EMH bent over Seven of Nine with a drill and despite his thumping headache he sat up. "What are you doing to her?" he demanded.
The Doctor smiled crudely at him, briefly lifting his eyes from his work, "Just doing a few modifications." He said smoothly, picking up a hypospray and heading towards Ransom, "I suppose I'd better sedate you until I'm finished with her, Commander Burke wouldn't want you to be talking."
"Well, I don't want you talking!" Ransom retorted, "Computer, emergency deactivation of the EMH programme, authorisation Ransom Beta 3!"
"Oh no you don't…" The Doctor began angrily, but his programme deactivated before he could finish the threat.
Ransom breathed a sigh of relief and jumped painfully down from the biobed, walking gingerly up to Seven's and gently stroking her battered cybernetic arm the Doctor had been gradually dragging away from the flesh. "Seven? Seven of Nine? Can you hear me?" Her glazed, dim eyes didn't even flicker, continuing to stare vacantly up at the ceiling, and Ransom's set in anger as he found a phaser and set off for the Bridge.
"There it is!" Chakotay exclaimed excitedly, lifting his head up from the scans on the console to confirm it with his own eyes out of the viewscreen, "They're hiding behind that moon."
"I see them Chakotay." Janeway replied in a murmur, holding her hand up to him in an unspoken order, commanding restraint. She tapped her comm. badge, "B'Elanna, has the lure been set?"
"Yes Captain, he's sent out an encoded message saying that our engines and shields are down after a battle with the Onkoni."
"And who can resist a sitting duck?" Tom muttered wryly.
Janeway allowed herself a small smile at that, "Warn the Onkoni to be prepared Harry."
"I already have…" Harry began, stopping as he read something on his console he couldn't quite believe, "Captain, we've just had a mass transport over from the Equinox!" he exclaimed in disbelief.
"Seven?" Chakotay asked in a near whisper, barely willing to hope.
"She's in Sickbay, with the Doctor's programme." Harry confirmed with a laugh of relief. "Five Equinox crewmembers are in the Brig."
"How did that…" The Captain started to ask, but was shocked into silence by the face that suddenly appeared on the viewscreen, Ransom.
"Captain, are my crew safe? Please be magnanimous towards them, they were under my command and I was too blind to see just how unhinged Max Burke had become, I'm sorr…" A jolt visibly rocked the Equinox.
"The Onkoni are attacking their warp engine Captain, it won't last much longer." Harry reported.
Janeway winced, "We still have time to beam you over too Captain…"
"No." Ransom said with remarkable calm. "I'm going to do the first right and honourable thing I've done in years and go down with my ship. I really do hope you all get home."
"But…" Janeway choked out, but she was too late, at that moment the Equinox exploded.
Chakotay stared in horrified disbelief at Seven's catatonic body. Apparently she was technically conscious, but he didn't really believe it. Yes, her eyes were open, but they seemed to have lost the blink reflex, she was paralysed, unspeaking and unresponsive, even to pain. He held her limp, bruised hand; it made his heart twist when he saw how much of her milky skin was covered in huge black and blue patches, and gave it a squeeze. "Seven, I…I know you can't respond to me right now, but you can hear me, right?" He sighed at his momentary expectation of a response, grief bubbling up inside him when he got none. "I'm right here with you, and I'm going to stay here until you're aware enough to tell me to leave, okay?" His voice cracked and he had to swallow. "Celeste is fine, missing you of course, but Tom and B'Elanna are doing a great job of looking after her for us, you know how she giggles at their marital bickering…" He paused, feeling hopeless, and slowly reached into his back pocket, pulling out a small box clad in faded maroon velvet and letting his hand clasp around it while keeping it out of Seven's view. I wonder if I'll ever get to use this? He thought unhappily as he cracked it open just a little, enough to prove to him that his mother's ring still lay bundled up inside, and sighed again at the working of fate. Why had he carried this about with him for two weeks waiting for the "right time"? He may never get any time with Seven again…
The Doctor's high pitched tone, arguing with Tom, broke through his thoughts, "No! You'll have to treat her Lieutenant!"
"I'm just a medic; I can't operate on a cortical node! You have to do it, for Seven's sake!" Tom shouted back in frustration.
The Doctor's voice cracked in near hysteria, "I'm the one who did this to her! How could she ever let me touch her again! I dissected her! Disabled her higher brain functions, her voice when she screamed in pain and begged me to stop…" A groan of guilt left his throat and Chakotay snapped, unable to take it anymore, storming into the Doctor's office.
"If the only reason you won't treat her is because of your own self-pity…" He raged at the hologram, at his own breaking point after three sleepless, anxiety ridden nights.
"Self pity?" The Doctor echoed in hurt incredulity. "No! I betrayed her, I won't risk hurting her again, she'll never forgive me for this…"
"You're hurting her by not treating her! You're not even giving her a chance to forgive you if you leave her like this!" Chakotay shouted. "Do it or I'll disassemble you and get our new back up to do it!" He threatened when he saw that there was still uncertainty on the Doctor's face.
The Doctor's normally confident demeanour was gone, he looked broken, traumatised. "You…you really think she'll forgive me?"
Chakotay breathed an exhausted sigh, though he was relieved that his harsh, desperate tactics had gotten through to the hologram. "Ask her yourself when she recovers."
The Doctor nodded slowly and turned to Tom. "Prepare the med bay please Lieutenant."
A few hours later, when the restorative operation had finished, Chakotay returned to Sickbay with Celeste in his arms. "How is she?" he asked Tom in anxious whisper as he watched the Doctor bending over Seven.
"Just bringing her round again." Tom told him softly, "I think you can go and sit with her, but ask the Doctor first."
Chakotay nodded and immediately headed over to where the Doctor stood, "How did it go?"
The Doctor sighed heavily, a small smile flickering across his features, "Exactly how I wanted it to, thank God. Don't expect her to be herself right away though; it might take a couple of days before she's back to normal."
Chakotay couldn't hold back a beaming smile, "Thanks Doctor." He said sincerely, "Can we go and sit with her?"
"Of course." The Doctor replied quickly, disappearing into his office as Chakotay sat down by the biobed and put Celeste on his lap, peering into Seven's dazed face, "Hey love, look who I brought to see you." Celeste gurgled loudly at her mother, obviously expecting a reaction and frowning deeply when she didn't get one, prodding her mother's arm. "Celeste, stop that!" Chakotay rebuked her sharply, pulling her arms back.
The baby's eyes immediately began to well up. "Ma…ma…" She whimpered brokenly. Chakotay jolted in shock; surely she was a little young for words? Yet she spoke again, more distinctly this time, "Mama!"
Chakotay felt a lump form in his throat at the unfairness of it all, here she was, saying her first word, "Mama" no less, and Seven was catatonic! A sudden sound made him shiver and he stared at Seven, he was sure he'd seen her move, "Seven?" he asked uncertainly.
This time the move was unmistakeable, for she turned her face towards them. "Mama!" Celeste exclaimed again, joyfully this time. Seven smiled slowly at the baby, though she didn't speak and Chakotay beamed back at her in realisation.
"Hey, I knew you were still in there…" He murmured, his voice thick with emotion as he squeezed her hand and she weakly squeezed his back.
A/n: PLEASE PLEASE REVIEW! :D I hope you liked the 50th chapter! Thanks for all the support everyone! I don't know if the aliens had a name in the episode, if they did, I apologise, I just made up the name Onkoni. I also realise that Celeste is probably a little bit young to be saying her first word, but that idea came to me and it was just too cute to resist!
