DISCLAIMER: You all know the drill - Paramount is God.  All hail Paramount.  They own everything in the Star Trek Universe - I'm just using my overactive imagination to take their characters where they refuse to go.  All in the name of fun, not profit (I wish).

ORDER AND CHAOS

CHAPTER TWO: TRIAL AND ERROR, PART I

First Officer's Log, Stardate 54039.5  It's now been ten days since our confrontation with the Borg.  Seven of Nine and Ensign Kim have been continuing their attempts to locate the Captain or the cube we encountered.  Unfortunately, they have yet to make any progress.

Harry looked up as Chakotay entered Astrometrics.

"Anything yet?"

Harry shook his head and returned to his work.

Chakotay moved over to stand beside him, and Harry glanced sideways at him.  He looked like hell.

"Have you slept at all, Commander?"

"Not really."

Harry sighed.  "Me neither.  I don't think anyone has since this whole thing started."

"We'll get her back, Harry," said Chakotay with a confidence he didn't feel.

Harry's console beeped at him.

"What is it?"

Harry's eyes widened.  "We've got it.  The frequency of the Captain's cortical implant."

Chakotay felt his heart leap into his throat.  "What?  How?"

"The holographic transmission from the Borg.  I was able to isolate the frequency from the signal."

"Begin scanning for it.  Use any personnel you need."

"Yes, sir," replied Harry, his voice tinged with hope for the first time in days.

Chakotay watched as Harry began scanning the surrounding sectors.  Hang on, Kathryn. 

*    *    * 

"I will not calm down!" yelled B'Elanna furiously. 

The Doctor was standing in front of her, trying to stop her from leaving.  "Lieutenant, I want to keep you here for observation for a few more days."

"You've already kept me caged up in here for ten days!  I'm needed in Engineering!"

"You're in no condition to --"

"Don't tell me how to do my job!" snapped B'Elanna, pacing back and forth.

"What's going on?" asked Chakotay as he entered Sickbay and moved towards them.

The Doctor turned around with a sigh of relief.  "Commander.  Perhaps you can talk some sense into her.  She seems to be immune to reason."

She continued pacing, her agitation increasing.  "How can you expect me to sit here when the Captain is still on that cube?" she demanded.

"Seven and Harry are working on scanning for her cortical implant frequency, but they haven't had any luck."

"I can't just sit here and do nothing!" she yelled, emotion creeping into her voice.

"B'Elanna…"

"There has to be something -- "  She cried out in pain and her knees gave out from under her.  Chakotay caught her and he and the Doctor helped her back to the bed.

The Doctor quickly scanned her with a tricorder.  "You've ruptured a disk in your spinal column.  No doubt from moving around against my advice."

B'Elanna was in too much pain to argue with him as they helped her lay down on the bed.  The Doctor applied a hypospray to her neck, and she relaxed as the drugs flowed through her system.

"B'Elanna.  We're working on getting her back.  And the faster you recover, the faster you can help us."

"I'm sorry, Chakotay.  I didn't mean…I know you're doing everything you can to find her."

"Get some rest.  That's an order."

*    *    *

Harry and Seven looked up as Chakotay entered the cargo bay.  The room was strewn with the debris from Korok's ship that they had recovered.

"What have you got?" he asked.

"We've found a part of the transwarp coil," Harry informed him, handing him a piece of Borg equipment.

He turned it over in his hands.  "Not functional?"

"No," said Seven.  "However, we have recovered enough components that I may be able to construct one myself."

Chakotay looked up in surprise.  "You could build a working transwarp coil?  I didn't think that was possible."

"Normally, it's not.  But most of the required components are undamaged."

"I thought when Borg vessels were critically damaged the essential components self-destructed."

"The sphere wasn't under the control of the hive mind," Harry reminded him.

"I believe it is worth the attempt," added Seven.  She handed him a PADD as Harry took the salvaged component back from him.  "Ensign Kim and I have run five holodeck simulations."

"The first two didn't work," elaborated Harry, "But the last three went without a hitch."

He was stunned.  "This is incredible work, Seven."

Seven took the praise with no reaction other than a raised eyebrow.  "I only hope it will help us rescue the Captain."

*    *    *

First Officer's log, Stardate 45064.6 - Seven and Harry are nearly ready to test their transwarp coil.  We've determined that it's not feasible to equip Voyager with the makeshift coil  so I've ordered them to prepare the new Delta Flyer instead.

Tom and B'Elanna were the last ones to take their seats around the conference table.  As soon as they were seated, Chakotay leaned forward purposefully on his elbows and began the briefing.

"Seven, Harry.  How close are you?"

"We should be ready to install the coil in the Flyer within forty-eight hours," reported Seven.

"We could be looking at a test flight in the next three or four days," Harry added.

"Good work."

"I don't mean to be a wet blanket," said Tom, "But how are we going to find the Captain once we've got transwarp capability?  If I remember correctly, the coil is only good for a few jumps."

"Lieutenant Paris is correct," concurred Tuvok.  "We have been unsuccessful in scanning for the Captain's cortical implant frequency.  How do you propose to locate her before the coil becomes useless?"

Chakotay turned to Seven and Harry.  "Well?"

Harry sighed.  "We haven't exactly figured that out yet."

"What if," suggested B'Elanna, leaning forward on the table, "We infiltrated a Borg cube?  We could use their own systems to locate the Captain."

"Infiltrating a Borg cube would be highly dangerous, Lieutenant," said Tuvok.  "We have managed to escape in our previous encounters.  We may not be so fortunate next time."

"And some of us," B'Elanna retorted, "Weren't that fortunate last time.  I'm willing to take the risk."

"That may not be necessary," interrupted Seven.

She instantly had the undivided attention of the room.

"I believe the Captain is in Unimatrix One."

"What is your basis for that conclusion?" asked Tuvok after a long silence.

"The Queen went to great lengths to prevent us from rescuing her.  I believe she would want to keep the Captain near her."

"To gloat, in a sense," guessed Chakotay.

"Yes.  The Captain was responsible for allowing the drones in Unimatrix Zero to be liberated.  Having her as a drone in Unimatrix One will feed the Queen's desire for revenge."

"The Captain's her consolation prize for losing the drones in Unimatrix Zero," said Tom with disgust.

"Precisely."

The staff nodded in agreement, and all eyes turned to Tuvok, the most likely to object to her reasoning, and Chakotay, the one who had the final say.

Tuvok raised an eyebrow.  "Your logic…is sound."

Chakotay nodded as well after a few seconds.  "Unimatrix One it is.  All right -- let's get to work."

*    *    *

"Powering thrusters," said Tom as the Delta Flyer slowly lifted off the floor of the shuttle bay.

"Preparing to bring the coil online," reported Harry from the engineering console behind him.

Chakotay to the Delta Flyer.

"Go ahead, Commander."

You're cleared for launch.

"Understood.  Clearing the shuttle bay…now."

Keep it short, Paris.  And bring the shuttle back in one piece.

"You got it," said Tom as he reached for one of the other controls.  "Paris out."  He swiveled his chair and looked over at Harry and Seven in the back of the shuttle.  "Are you sure this is going to work?"

"No," said Seven candidly.

"Great," he muttered, turning back to the helm.  "Powering up the warp engines."

"We will need to achieve a velocity of warp two," Seven reminded him.

"I know.  I've done this before."

Seven raised an eyebrow but made no comment.

"Engaging at warp 1," said Tom, and seconds later the Delta Flyer jumped to warp.  Voyager followed close behind.

"I'm bringing the main deflector online," reported Harry.

"Powering up the transwarp coil," added Seven, seated at the engineering station behind Harry.

"Warp 2…warp 2.5," reported Tom.

"Activating the coil and the main deflector," said Harry.

"The tachyon matrix is stable," said Seven.  "I'm detecting the formation of a subspace field directly ahead."

"I see it," said Tom.  "Holding steady at warp 2.6."

"The subspace field is increasing," said Harry.

Alarms suddenly went off at Seven's station and the Flyer shuddered.

"What's going on?" asked Tom over his shoulder.

"The tachyon flow is becoming unstable," said Seven, an agitated undercurrent in her normally calm voice.

"Can you compensate?" asked Harry.

"I'm trying."

"I'm reading a neutrino buildup in the coil," said Harry.

"I don't understand!" said Seven, uncharacteristically frustrated.  "It should be working."

"I'm going to drop us out of warp," said Tom.

"No!" she insisted vehemently.  "I can stop it!"

"The subspace field is destabilizing," reported Harry.

"Seven -- " began Tom.

"I can stop it!"

The Flyer shuddered again.  "The subspace shear is increasing," said Tom.  "Structural integrity at 74 percent."  Another jolt.  "62 percent."

Voyager to Delta Flyer.  What's going on?

"The coil is destabilizing the main deflector," said Tom.  "Seven's trying to regulate the tachyon flow."

The Flyer shook again and Tom nearly lost control. 

"We can't keep this up!"

Harry turned around to face her.  "Seven!  Shut it down!"

She was working furiously at her console.  "I can -- "

She was cut off by a massive explosion that ripped through the Flyer, taking out her station and sending sparks and smoke flying around the cabin.  All three of them were tossed around violently as the Flyer dropped out of warp.

Warning -- hull breach detected.  Emergency forcefields are in place, said the computer.

Tom slowly pushed himself off his console.  Alarms were sounding, and he looked at his readouts.  "Looks like the coil overloaded.  It caused a hull breach near the cargo hold.  We're lucky the whole cabin didn't depressurize."

Harry made his way over to Seven, who was motionless on the floor near her station.  He turned her over and saw that she had severe burns over her face and upper body.

Voyager to the Delta Flyer.

"Go ahead, Commander," said Tom as he ran a quick systems check on the Flyer.

We're reading a hull breach.  Are you all right?

"Harry and I are fine."  He glanced over his shoulder.  "Seven needs medical attention."

Hang on, we'll beam her to Sickbay.

Harry stepped back, and a few seconds later Seven dematerialized.  Chakotay's voice came over the comm again shortly.

Can you get the Flyer back to the shuttle bay?

"Shouldn't be a problem," said Tom.  "I think I can take her in under her own power."

Understood.  We're opening the shuttle bay doors.

Tom powered up the thrusters and turned the Flyer towards the waiting shuttle bay.

Doctor to Lieutenant Paris.  Please report to Sickbay as soon as you've docked.  I'll need your assistance in treating Seven.

"Acknowledged."

*

The Doctor didn't look up from Seven as Tom approached the surgical bay.

"20 milligrams inaprovaline," was his only acknowledgement, with an outstretched hand.

Tom handed him the hypospray.  "How's she doing?"

"She has second degree burns to her upper body and one of her cranial implants was severely damaged.  Cortical stimulator."

Tom handed him the instrument.  "An EPS conduit exploded right next to her station."

"So it would appear.  She's fortunate to be alive.  Laser scalpel."

"We're all lucky to be alive.  The coil overloaded and caused a core breach."

The Doctor gently peeled back a section of blistered skin from Seven's forehead to expose the damaged implant.  "I'll have to bypass the damaged micro circuitry."  He reached for an instrument behind him and held it over the exposed implant.  "She also has second-degree burns to her alveoli.  Begin regenerating the lung tissue while I stabilize the implant."

*    *    *

"How's Seven?" asked Chakotay to begin the morning briefing.

"She's stable," the Doctor informed him.  "We treated most of her burns and I managed to repair the damage to her implants.  She'll need to regenerate for at least another 48 hours."

Chakotay nodded, then turned to B'Elanna and Harry.  "What happened?"

"We're still not quite sure," said Harry.  "It looks like one of the relays in the coil might have been damaged.  It destabilized the tachyon flow when we brought the coil online."

"Why wasn't it detected before the test flight?"

"We don't know," offered B'Elanna.  "It didn't show up in any of our scans or the simulations.  It might not have been obvious until we actually powered it up."

"It's also possible that the relay wasn't damaged until we brought it online. It may just have been weakened, and trying to use the coil damaged it."

"Is there any way we can repair it?"

B'Elanna and Harry looked at each other in disappointment.  "No," she said simply.  "It's hopeless.  It doesn't look like we'll be able to use it again."

A heavy silence settled around the table.  Chakotay rose from his chair and walked around, staring out the window.  "Suggestions?"

"What about getting another coil?" offered Neelix.  "B'Elanna suggested infiltrating a Borg cube."

"That would be extremely dangerous," said Tuvok.

Chakotay turned back to the table decisively, resting his hands on the back of his chair.  "We're running out of options.  Harry, start scanning the sector for signs of any Borg activity.  Get Seven to help you as soon as she's recovered.  Tuvok, I want you to prepare tactical scenarios.  B'Elanna, you need to find the quickest way of getting a coil off a cube without getting caught."

"Commander," interjected Tuvok, "I must object.  Attempting to infiltrate a Borg cube would be inadvisable.  It would put the crew at great risk."

"Objection noted."

"Commander -- "

"I know it's risky, but I'm not going to give up on the Captain."

"I doubt Captain Janeway would approve of you risking the entire crew to rescue her."

"Right now I don't give a damn if she would approve or not."  His voice had grown louder, and he took a few seconds to take a deep breath and calm down.  "I'm not going to sacrifice Voyager to get her back…but I am willing to take risks.  Understood?"

Tuvok raised an eyebrow but nodded curtly.

Chakotay looked back at the rest of the crew.  "Anything else?" 

When nobody spoke up, he nodded. 

"Dismissed."