The force had finally hit Darvon V. Wesley existed only by reaching out with his mind, sending it out into the far reaches of the Universe. He was part of the Universe, and as long as it existed, so would he.

Unfortunately, he had bought him self only a matter of a few hours. Soon the force would finish unraveling reality, and the entire Universe would cease to exist. Until then, he wanted to watch the tapestries, see them unravel. It would be his last lesson.

Only a few strings held the tapestry together. All the Starfleet ships, including the Enterprise and Voyager, had unraveled. He looked at the threads that used to be those ships, unraveled, on the floor. Then he saw something that made him start; not all of Voyager had unraveled. A few strings were still woven together. . . .

"Tuvok?" The Vulcan was all Janeway could see. Everything else was black.

"Yes, Captain?"

"Where is the rest of the crew?"

"I do not know, Captain," Tuvok answered. "You and Seven are the only ones here."

"Seven?"

"She is standing next to you. Do you not see her?"

"No, Tuvok, I do not."

"Fascinating." He stepped forward to her and placed his right hand on her face, covering her katra points, and placed his left hand on an invisible face, doing the same. At once, Janeway felt her mind merge with Tuvok's. She felt another mind, as well--he was melding with Seven at the same time. Tuvok was chanting in the background, "Your thoughts to your thoughts, your mind to your mind." She let her consciousness merge with Seven's, enveloped her very sense of being. Suddenly, Seven seemed quite tangible to Janeway. When Tuvok broke the meld, Janeway looked next to her, and there the ex-Borg was.

"Captain," she nodded, politely.

"Okay," she said, "where are we?"

Tuvok answered. "Judging from what Q told us, we are in no physical place."

Janeway shook her head. She hated these philosophical paradoxes. "Tuvok, do you have an explanation?"

"I do, Captain. It seems that Q was correct when he said the Q were the custodians of the Universe. When the anti-Q substance destroyed him, the physical world we resided in--Voyager--ceased to exist."

She still didn't understand. "Then why do we still exist?"

"Our bodies do not, Captain. It is our minds, our katras, that still exist. We think, Captain, therefore we are--by our own volition, not Q's."

Janeway nodded. "And since you experienced the thoughts of both Seven and my self, you were joined in our existence."

"That is the most logical explanation."

Janeway looked at him. "I assume you don't have any more of my crew in there?"

"I do not, Captain. I do not meld casually."

"Of course. With our crew I don't blame you."

Seven interrupted. "Captain, it is possible that I have another crew member in my mind."

Janeway looked at her strangely. "Have you been developing telepathic powers behind my back, Seven?"

"No captain, but I have been lately reviewing the Doctor's programming."

Tuvok nodded. "If the doctor is a conscious creature, then Seven should be able to break through to his mind."

"The doctor isn't supposed to be conscious."

"He is active several hours of the day," argued Seven. "His matrix has expanded considerably. He interacts with humans on a daily basis. He has explored facets of individuality his creators never intended."

Janeway relented. "It can't hurt. You remember his entire program?"

"I have a perfect memory."

"Of course." Janeway turned to Tuvok. "Will I be able to see the Doctor?"

"You should, Captain. The link between your mind and Seven's is still strong."

"Very well. Seven, try it."

Seven concentrated, remembering each and every line of the Doctor's programming. In all, it added up to all his thoughts, every slice of his being. "My thoughts to your thoughts," she chanted, reciting the ancient Vulcan words as an aide to her concentration, "my mind to your mind." Suddenly, the Doctor, like Janeway, seemed incredibly tangible to Seven.

Please state the nature of your medical emergency," he intoned, and then looked around at the void. "Then again, this seems to speak for it self."

"The material world has deteriorated," explained Tuvok. "Only our consciousnesses remain."

The doctor's features lit up. "That would mean I was indeed conscious, wouldn't it? We must celebrate."

"If we do not remedy the situation at hand," cautioned Tuvok, "we will have all eternity to do so."

"Do you have any suggestions, Tuvok?" Janeway asked. Eternity in this void was not a pleasing concept.

"Indeed I do, Captain. I suggest we generate an inverse karokian fluctuation pulse."

Janeway blinked. "You told me it was impossible."

"It was, Captain. As Q said, such a thing does not exist in the physical world. We are, however, no longer in the physical world."

"So what do we do?"

"We would need the resources of a ship."

Janeway frowned. "Have you ever melded with the ship's computer?"

"The ship's computer is not conscious. Melding with it would be illogical, Captain, even if it were possible."

"Then where are we going to get a ship?"

Seven spoke up. "We may no longer have access to Voyager, but we still have access to the Borg collective."

Janeway sighed. "Are you telling me that we have to commandeer a Borg cube to save reality?"

"Indeed, Captain."

Just great. That was the last thing Janeway needed. "Do we have any other options?"

"None," answered Tuvok.

"Then we do it."

Tuvok interrupted. "Captain, although the katra cannot die, it can be destroyed. We must be sure to proceed with caution."

Janeway nodded. "Noted."

Even now, when Seven was cut off from the Borg, they still existed in her mind. She had been part of them, and would always be. Every day, every moment, she fought them. It had become habit. Swiftly, she broke the habit, allowed her self to shift back into the familiar, almost comfortable mindset. The collective was real, tangible. She was Borg.

Janeway watched as Seven's normal outfit disintegrated, turning into the familiar Borg outfit. Her optical implant, most of which the Doctor had removed, was once again in place. And as Seven changed, so did the space around them. Instead of a blank void, it took on shape and color. Frightening shape and dismal color, but shape and color nonetheless.

Seven looked at the three, and walked away. Like the Borg she once again was, she didn't perceive the three to be a threat

"The Borg assimilate civilizations, not individuals," Janeway reminded her self, partly to keep her own fear in check.

"Granted," replied Tuvok. "However, once we begin to reconfigure their systems, they may perceive us as a sufficient threat to destroy."

Such was the bitter truth. "Agreed. How long will it take to generate the pulse?"

"Two hours at the most."

"Make it an hour," she commanded. "And even then we'll have to fight for time."

"Captain," Tuvok insisted, "I am not an engineer. I do not round up my estimates. It will take two hours to reconfigure the Borg systems."

Janeway looked at him. "Make it an hour, Mr. Tuvok."

The Vulcan realized persist would be illogical--he had lost. "I will endeavor to do so, Captain."

"Doctor, I want your help fending off the Borg."

"Captain, I must admit that my combat skills do not meet Starfleet regulations. I was not programmed to engage in hand-to-hand combat."

"I wasn't talking about fighting, Doctor. If I remember correctly, the Enterprise was able to place the Borg in a hibernation stage. I need you to be able to input a similar command on my mark. "

The Doctor said, "If I remember correctly, Captain, the Borg cube promptly exploded."

Janeway nodded. "The Borg should have adapted to such a command--I doubt they'll blow up this time. However, that means they'll have quicker reaction time. Compensate for both sides of the problem."

"Yes, Captain. May I inquire as to what you will be doing?"

Janeway pulled some type of power outlet right off the wall. Reconfiguring this thing into a weapon. Someone needs to stand guard."

Tuvok nodded at her initiative. "Captain, the Borg will expect these precautions--Seven knows us well enough to predict our actions."

"We'll just have to use something she doesn't know against her. Any ideas?"

"She was not present when I was briefed by Q," Tuvok answered. "She does not know the particular characteristics of the pulse or this void."

"And the characteristics are . . . ?" Janeway prompted.

"The rift spanned our concepts of space and time, Captain. Such are physical concepts, and they passed away with the physical world. If we seal the rift, the universe will revert to its earlier state."

Janeway caught on. "And we, as we are now, will cease to be--we will revert to our earlier state."

"Exactly."

Janeway considered this. "Damn."

"Captain?"

"That means we'll have to fight that Cazore ship all over again."

Tuvok had been working on the console for almost an hour when, suddenly, it started beeping. "They have detected my efforts, Captain," he said.

Janeway turned to the Doctor. "Now," she commanded, as Borg after Borg came down the corridor toward them, ready to fight.

The Doctor typed in a code. Suddenly, the Borg fell to the ground.

"How long will it last?" asked Janeway.

"Impossible to tell, Captain," the Doctor replied. "Anywhere between twenty and forty minutes."

"Tuvok?"

"I need approximately another half hour."

"I gave you an hour."

"And I told you it would take two, Captain. I am working as quickly as I can."

"Captain," shouted the Doctor, "the Borg are responding faster than I had anticipated."

"Try to stop them," commanded Janeway.

"I am, Captain," he said, his fingers flying over the console. Suddenly the Borg, turned around, and walked away to their alcoves to regenerate. The Doctor's fingers continued to fly over the console, and for about fifteen minutes the Borg continued to regenerate. Their slumber, unfortunately, was not to be eternal. It was only a matter of time until the Doctor called out, "I can't help it, Captain! They're starting to revive!"

"Very well," said Janeway, and picked up the weapon she had built. "It was going to come down to this sooner or later."

"And you knew it would be sooner," said a familiar, though frighteningly monotone, voice, "rather than later."

"Seven."

"Seven of Nine, Tertiary Adjunct of Unimatrix One. Your inaccuracy is excused. You are not yet Borg. You are, of course, Captain Kathryn Janeway, U.S.S. Voyager, NCC-74656."

"You predicted that I would order the Doctor to put the Borg asleep--that's why they reacted so fast."

"Yes. We gained all of her knowledge when she rejoined the Collective."

Janeway winced as she heard Seven refer to herself in the third person. "When you rejoined the collective, Seven."

The Borg didn't seem interested in fighting. "As you wish. I must correct the damage done to the console." The other Borg began to revive, but they didn't advance. They must have considered Seven able to conduct the repairs by her self.

Tuvok stood up from it. "I need a few more minutes."

Seven walked toward it. "I know what you have in mind. You will not succeed."

Janeway said, "It's necessary to restore reality, Seven. There's nothing to fight over."

"Reality is irrelevant. We are Borg."

Janeway sighed. She should have known better than to try to reason with the Borg. "I have to make sure that pulse goes off." She held up the weapon.

The Borg didn't budge. "You will not fire that weapon. You will be too worried about keeping my psyche for the return to reality."

Janeway smiled. She had been hoping for that response--sometimes, it was your opponent's ignorance that was the true bliss. "Don't bet on it," she said, and fired. An arc of energy shot out of the device toward Seven, but instead of hitting her, it hit the automatic shielding the Borg used whenever they adapted to a weapon's frequency.

Seven laughed. Janeway had never heard her laugh before, and she didn't like it. It was the terrible sound of the entire collective ridiculing her. "I was able to predict your order to the doctor, but I knew you would attempt actions that would be most unpredictable--and unorthodox. Therefore, I took the liberty of monitoring your conversation."

"Very clever, Seven."

"Stand back. Resistance is futile."

Janeway hesitated, but Seven didn't seem to mind. She simply grabbed the captain's shoulder and pulled her out of the way. As she did so, however, the Doctor came behind her and delivered a quick karate chop to her back. Seven dropped Janeway and blinked.

Tuvok, taking advantage of the Borg's surprise, rose from the console and used his Vulcan strength to throw Seven across the corridor. He then returned to his console and resumed working.

Janeway turned to the Doctor. "I thought you didn't know how to fight."

"I cannot fight well, Captain. Anyone can hit somebody when their back is turned."

Ignoring their banter, Seven pulled her self up off the floor as the other Borg exited their alcoves. They marched toward the three Starfleet officers.

Tuvok rose from his console at last, as it started beeping. "Pulse initiated," he said.

Janeway sighed.

Suddenly, the Borg cube faded, and Seven and the Doctor with it. Even Tuvok seemed misplaced in her thoughts. The cube, Seven, the Doctor, and all her memories of the adventure--suddenly, they all seemed extremely abstract, intangible. They had all been a dream. It had never happened.

A/N: Where the heck is Kes? I can only answer that I wrote this during Season 5, and I didn't know who Kes was. So suppose that the general Kes-amnesia which in retrospect seems to infect all of Season 5 affected Tuvok as well, wiping the connection to her katra from his mind.