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Here's the next installment...


Star Trek: Final Hour

Lieutenant Tom Paris was awoken in the middle of the night by the chirping of his communicator. B'Elanna, of course, stayed sound asleep. He groaned, slapping around until he hit the lights, and rolled over into the blinding glow.

He tapped the button for communications access.

"Lieutenant Paris here," he said, or at least, gurgled.

"Tom," came an authoritative female voice, and Tom immediately woke up completely. "I need your help, Tom."


When Tom and B'Elanna arrived at Admiral Janeway's office roughly twenty minutes after she had paged him in his room, he was still as confused as he had been at first as to why she would be calling him.

"Admiral," Tom said as Kathryn rose from behind her massive desk to greet them. "Reporting as ordered." B'Elanna tossed him an amused glance.

"Thank you, the both of you," Kathryn said in a relieved voice. She looked tired, with dark circles encompassing the whole of her lower eyelids, and a weary expression in her eyes. "We have something of a situation on our hands." She chuckled mirthlessly. "Actually, it's more than just a situation." She leant back on the edge of her desk and stared right at Tom and B'Elanna and sighed. "The anti-peace faction on the Council has seized power by a coup d'etat."

"What?" B'Elanna demanded, posting hands on hips, voice cracking with repressed Klingon fury.

"Three hours ago, at 0305, persons unknown arrived at the spacedock and stole a ship from there." She paused and Tom caught a flash of pain in her eyes. "They stole Voyager."

"What?" Tom echoed B'Elanna.

Kathryn held up a hand. "From there, they proceeded to query and engage every ship in Earth's vicinity that would not side with the anti-peace Council faction." She looked down at the floor. "Those who did not fall into line were destroyed with ease."

B'Elanna looked shocked. "The transphasic torpedoes."

"If they can destroy Borg, Starfleet technology is no match for them," Kathryn said, grief visible behind her gaze. "But that's not our only problem." She reached for her terminal and spun it toward B'Elanna's field of vision. "Three days hence, the U.S.S. Odin self-destructed on the outer limits of our known space. They left behind traces of two types of technology." She pointed at the screen.

B'Elanna leaned closer. "Borg nanoprobes and…" she frowned, and then her face took on a horrified cast. "Fluidic DNA structures unique to Species 8472."

"Wait a minute," Tom interjected, frowning. "That's not possible. The Borg were at war with Species 8472. The Borg were trying to exterminate them, for God's sake. They'd never join forces."

"No," Kathryn said ominously. "They wouldn't."

B'Elanna threw a sharp glance at Kathryn. "You think the Borg assimilated them? But they can't do that… we know that."

"Do we?" Kathryn said in a tired voice as she retreated behind her desk. "How do we know the Borg haven't gotten a new Queen and assimilated some bit of technology that helped them along to that point?" She shook her head sadly. "There are so many unknowns."

Tom rubbed a hand back through his hair. "So… why are we here?"

Kathryn turned off the terminal and reached under her desk and produced three hand phasers. She gave one each to Tom and B'Elanna. "I've been saved from the fate of the other Starfleet officers who don't side with the anti-peace activists because I head Borg operations. But that won't last. We need to get off this planet. For that, we need a ship."

Tom thrust the phaser in the waistband of his pants. "You want us to steal you a ship?" His voice was incredulous.

"No," Kathryn smiled wanly. "I want you to fly the ship as soon as Tuvok and Chakotay get back with it."


The U.S.S. Leonardo was a Nebula-class ship, of about half the dimensions of the large Galaxy-class starships. Kathryn hoped it was a good omen that it had been under the guidance of Voyager's holographic Leonardo Da Vinci that she had first defeated both Borg and Species 8472.

Tuvok was already on the bridge, as was Chakotay, when she, Tom, and B'Elanna arrived from the surface of Earth. Tuvok was standing at his customary place at Tactical, and Chakotay quickly abandoned his post at Helm.

"Admiral on the bridge," Chakotay said firmly, and everyone snapped to attention, including a tall, blond woman with medium length hair that Kathryn didn't immediately recognize. Then, she took in the straight, imperious stance and smiled.

"Seven," she breathed.

The blond human woman smiled faintly, as if it were an unfamiliar action. "Annika, now, Admiral."

Kathryn smiled again. "Of course," she said. "Well, let's get moving. We don't want to be here when Voyager finally arrives."

"Yes ma'am," Tom fervently said, and practically leapt into the helm controls. "Full warp as soon as we clear the atmosphere and gravity attraction."

"Engage, Mr. Paris."


The nebula that they found after about three hours of uninterrupted travel at sustained warp 6.5 was large enough and obscuring enough that the Leonardo could easily hide amongst the gaseous clusters and dust conglomerations. The compact Starfleet vessel settled down amidst a particularly spectacular deuterium-243 dust cloud. The metallic contents made sensors useless, and the reflective properties would help divert physical attention.

The entire crew of 26 met on the holodeck, in a simulation of a Starfleet conference room. Kathryn looked out over the small crew to run a vessel normally requiring up to 300-375 crewmembers for its function, and tried to identify the ones she knew.

Chakotay. First officer for over seven years on Voyager, and one of her closest friends on that lonely little vessel. He was the one she could count on, the one who always was there to back her up if she was thinking straight. The incident with the Borg and Species 8472 came to mind, but she pushed that away.

Tuvok. The tall, slim Vulcan had been with her for even longer than Chakotay. She couldn't recall the last time that Tuvok had made a serious mistake. She hated to drag him back into action after just a few short months home, and only two of those with his family, but it had to be done.

Tom and B'Elanna. Their relationship had surprised her at first, but now, it seemed as if it had always been there. Tom was the best pilot she knew, and B'Elanna would keep the ship able to fly to Tom's liking.

Seven- no, Annika. She had changed so much from the Borg drone they had taken with them those three years ago. Kathryn was unsure how well she still knew S- Annika, but a more determined and capable woman, she did not know.

Harry, the latecomer. He had boarded just after Kathryn had, arriving on the bridge only after the Leonardo had made warp. His recent promotion to Lieutenant left him glowing with pride, but still the same solid, obedient Harry Kim she'd known from the start.

She realized someone was missing.

"The Doctor," she murmured to herself. He had been left on Voyager as a sort of guardian, should things go wrong. Kathryn had made efforts to visit him if she could, and each time he expressed a need for them to make a decision about him soon. It was too late for regrets, now.

"Admiral?" Chakotay said softly, questioningly.

Kathryn shook herself mentally. She needed to appear strong, decisive. Without respect, a captain did not truly command. Without strong action, a captain had no respect.

"Thank you all for joining me here," Kathryn began, gesturing for all of them to sit down. They did so in unison. "I know it must have been hard to make the decision to abandon friends and loved ones back on Earth, but it was necessary."

All of the crew nodded slowly. Being officers of discipline and character, they had known exactly what they were getting into signing on with the now renegade Admiral Janeway, legendary though she was.

"I think it only fair to fully inform you what we are up against. Some of you were only recruited through my first and second officers, Mr. Chakotay and Mr. Tuvok," she indicated the Amerindian and the Vulcan with a hand motion. Kathryn turned to the wall screen behind her and punched in several buttons.

The image of floating debris sprang to life, and Kathryn quickly ran through her summary of the loss of the U.S.S. Odin and the connection to the Borg and Species 8472.

"The presence of both races' devices leaves me ill at ease when I consider how chaotic the Federation is at this point," Kathryn concluded her presentation. "My plans up till now have simple involved getting free of the warmongers and admirals who now control Starfleet, but I have not considered how to deal with this Borg threat. My hope is that other Federation loyalists will flee and join us."

A Bajoran Kathryn didn't know raised her hand halfway down the long table. "Lieutenant Noran Perys, Admiral." She swept a lock of black hair back over her ear. "What about the Klingon Empire, Admiral? They are our allies, yes?"

Kathryn acknowledged the point with a nod. "The Klingon Empire may prove to be an ally in this strange situation, but due to recent Empire-Starfleet disputes, I'm not counting on getting aid from them."

A human male spoke up loudly. "Admiral, the last time you faced the Borg, you had the advantage of surprising weapons and Voyager at your disposal. How is this ship supposed to be able to fight the Borg?"

Kathryn shot him a thin smile. "I was hoping someone would ask that question." She tapped another few keys, and an in-depth schematic of the Leonardo appeared in midair over the conference table. "The Leonardo has a registry of NX-2015. X for Experimental. This, for the past four months, has been the Borg Tactical Response Office's major project in the continuing preparations against Borg invasion." She pointed to several key anomalies in the otherwise traditional Nebula-class starship design. "Transphasic torpedoes have replaced photon torpedoes in the main bays, or have started to. Various shielding and scanning concepts have been tested here, and even the phasers have undergone substantial modifications."

A murmur of wonder started to run around the table.

"However," Kathryn said quickly and firmly. "90 of the Leonardo's offensive weaponry is still only half-ready or half-built. The defenses are almost up to specifications, but the weapons need much more work. I'm trusting that we can work together and get them complete in time to use."

Kathryn pointed at her officers. "For chain of command purposes, I'm now going introduce the senior staff. These are all people I trust implicitly and I expect you will grow to trust their judgment as well."

She waved Chakotay to rise. "This is Captain Chakotay. He will be my first officer. He is also in charge of duty rosters and minor disciplinary actions."

Next she indicated Tuvok. "Commander Tuvok is our Security Chief and Tactical officer. He will be choosing three of you as he sees fit to comprise his Security team, which will perform all the duties a Security department fulfills on a fully crewed warship." Tuvok bowed his head slightly in acquiescence, and benefited the rest of the crew with a level stare.

"B'Elanna Torres is our Chief Engineer. She keeps this ship running, but anyone with engineering experience needs to talk to her."

Tom's cocky smile showed as she pointed at him. "Lieutenant Tom Paris will be piloting Leonardo. He will need an auxiliary helmsman. If you have that ability, talk to him." Kathryn smiled. "He's also married to B'Elanna and has a child currently on leave with her parents, so he's off limit to any of our female crew members, who, for reasons unknown, may find him attractive."

"Admiral," Tom said in indignation. She ignored him with a smile.

"Lieutenant Harry Kim is our Ops officer, or Science Officer, if you prefer. He will also be working closely with Annika Hansen." Kathryn waved Annika to her feet. "For those of you who do not know, Annika was once Seven of Nine. She was a Borg drone since Wolf 359, and will be doing mainly astrometrics work, computer analysis, and Borg tactical analysis."

Kathryn glanced down at the floor. "Unfortunately, we have no EMP on board this ship at the moment, so unless one of you has medical training, we will be without a Medical Officer." No one raised a hand. "I would suggest that you all get some primary medical information off the computer and study it. This will not be an easy fight." She put up both hands in a defensive posture. "This may seem like a lot to absorb, but I plan on staying in this nebula for at least two more days. Use that time to adjust yourselves to this new situation." She glanced around, and saw only respect and determination around the room, the same determination that had marked Voyager seven years ago. The focus that said they knew the odds were stacked millions to one against them, and they did not care. It brought a lump to her throat.

"Dismissed."

It took less than a minute for the crew to file mutely out of the holodeck, leaving Kathryn standing alone in the replication of a life she'd left behind when it crumbled around her ears. The lump in her throat swelled, and she turned to leave.

"That was a remarkable speech, Kathryn," said a smooth, obsequious voice from behind her.

She spun quickly, cursing mentally as she did so. "Q," she said distastefully. "How wonderful of you to attend."

The omnipotent being smiled in a way he probably imagined was charming. "My, aren't we being sarcastic today, Kathryn. And I thought our relationship was doing so well." Q smiled again, resplendent in a new Starfleet uniform, with full Admiral's rank pips on the collar.

"Get to the point, Q," Kathryn said with a growl. "Either that or get off my ship."

"Tut, tut, Kathryn," Q said with a waving finger, eyes twinkling. "Such venom in your voice. One might think you were upset to find me here."

Kathryn sighed. "What do you want?"

Q pressed a hand over his heart. "I merely want to check to see if everything is all right with you. I couldn't resist dropping in on old friends." He chuckled hollowly.

"Q…!"

Q frowned in a sulky manner. "Humans can be such bores at times," he remarked carelessly to the air. "I just thought I'd come to tell you how nicely you've screwed things up for your Federation."

"I've-? Q, your omnipotence must be failing you." Kathryn already felt tired, and having an annoying godlike alien who wouldn't go away on her hands would wear thin very quickly. "I had nothing to do with the coup."

"Oh, the coup," Q said scornfully. "How ethnocentric you humans are. All large problems must be about your own inner struggles." He leaned closer, voice growing ominous. "It's the Borg you should be worried about." His face grew introspective. "I remember Picard being very much like this. How it galled him to admit I was right." Q winked at Kathryn. "You would do well to imitate him in that regard." His gaze turned far away. "Though of course, you never will…"

"The Borg are a problem, I know that, Q," Kathryn said, weariness edging into her voice. "But if Voyager alone can hold off the might of the Borg, the entire Federation can." She knew the words were false bravado, but she hoped Q would just go away if she were stubborn enough.

"Oh, the arrogance," said Q with a clap of his hands. "They're not just Borg anymore. Or at least not all of them. The Borg still remain of course, but there are some who have changed… oh, yes indeed."

"Changed?" Kathryn's interest was peaked. "How?"

"Oh, surely you don't want me to reveal the whole puzzle?" Q said in a reprimanding tone, smiling humourlessly at the same time. "It would take all the fun out of it." And he winked out with a flash of light.

"Q!" Kathryn yelled to the air, but knew it was no use. The throb of a familiar headache began behind her eyes. It was going to be a long few days.