As much as she felt for the plight of Sekaya's brother, Irene never would have guessed that news of the U.S.S. Voyager would ever affect her personally. When Starfleet's message came for her, though, it proved otherwise.
"But they were assimilated," she whispered. "I thought … there was no coming back from that."
She stared at the personnel file photo until it blurred like an optical illusion. Blink, and little Annika's face was clear as daylight. Blink, and it was a Borg drone, with implants crawling across her face and hand. Blink, and it was a stranger with Magnus' eyes and Erin's nose.
Ungrateful as it felt to ask, couldn't they have been saved too?
"Jean-Luc Picard came back," Sekaya pointed out. "Remember, from the newsfeeds?"
"Yes, but … eighteen years?"
"Maybe this niece of yours was - is - especially strong-minded."
"Oh, she is." Irene startled them both by laughing through her tears. "When I took her strawberry picking, only the ripest ones would do."
"My brother was just the same when we were little. He could spend ages looking at pebbles on the riverbank, just to find one in a million that sparkled."
"Do you think they know each other? On Voyager, I mean?"
"He's the First Officer. They'd have to."
Seeing the wisdom and compassion in her friend's face, Irene hoped so. She prayed to whatever spirits might be listening that Annika had someone like this watching over her.