Chapter 32

Resurrecting Anna


On board Borg Cube Magellan (formerly Five of Twelve)
September 8, 2377

3:30pm

Technomage Ing-Radi, a Kaitay, placed her four orange arms onto the body of Anna Sheridan, sending in organelles to help her heal and to calm her from the trauma she had experienced being beamed out of the heart of the Eye. When they had taken her out, the enemy ships retreated and headed away from the system. It was then decided to use the Yamato to destroy the planet, but not before a scan had been made of the planet's interior. Since what they had been expecting to find there wasn't on the planet, they let Yamato destroy the planet to deny the enemy their main staging area.

Ing-Radi was joined by Circe, who had once betrayed the Circle and the other technomages. Since the Legendora had brought them back from the dead, she had been remorseful for what she did, and wanted to do whatever she could to atone for her betrayal. Not many trusted her as they once did, but Ing-Radi was one of them, and she leapt at the chance to assist her in the treatment of Anna.

During a break, Ing-Radi balanced herself beside where Circe was sitting and asked her, "Are you coping well with being back among us?"

"I wish I could say yes, Ing-Radi. However, the others still view me with suspicion, after what I did. How could I be so stupid to let ambition blind me like that? I mean, knowing what I know now of all your responsibilities and demands, I find myself foolish in wanting to be part of the circle."

Ing-Radi touched her friend's shoulder with one of her orange arms, and Circe found that her healing touch had relaxed some of the tense muscles inside her. "Ambition isn't a bad thing, becoming obsessed with it is, and you were more than obsessed. It was the main reason why the others didn't want you as part of the Circle."

Circe nodded soberly, then said, "Is there a hope that they'll forgive me?"

Ing-Radi sighed and said, "I don't know. I forgave you because I knew that you aren't an evil person at heart, and that your ambition and obsession just took over and you became something you didn't want to be."

They were interrupted when the monitor indicated that Anna was nearing consciousness. Circe touched a button on the console and it alerted those involved with helping Anna to come to the medbay.

Jean-Luc Picard entered, along with Seven of Nine, who was Borg herself before becoming part of the Voyager crew when they were lost in the Gamma Quadrant. It was there that Voyager had discovered the homeworld of the Borg. They were able to come home using the Borg subspace network of wormholes. They were thought to have been destroyed, but the technomages had helped the Borg restore them to operational status and the alliance was using them in their fight with the Ragendora. Seven of Nine was impressed with the technomages ability, and was Federation liaison with them.

"She's close to waking up," Picard asked, to which Ing-Radi nodded. Entering behind them were technomages Blaylock and Elric, members of the Circle along with Ing-Radi, and they scanned the consoles beside Anna. Blaylock gave Circe a hard look, but Circe was pleased to find that Elric looked at her warmly. She still felt shameful at what she had done to him. Her ambition had led her to betray the technomages and trick Elric to get inside the control complex of the area where they were hiding, and led to her killing Elric as well as her own death. She was glad for his forgiveness, because it was hard enough to forgive herself for what she'd done.

Anna stared to stir on the bed, and Picard activated the force fields around Anna. "I see that the organelles have done some good at sedating her and healing her, but we need to find some way to counteract the Shadow programming inside her. I don't want to risk having Galen trying to free her tech and getting taken over again by her like he was on our first attempt at this. And I certainly want to keep her away from interacting with any Borg systems."

Elric nodded and replied, "Agreed. We're being patient with this because this could be a wealth of information if we're able to turn her to our side. We know that Borg tech and our tech have similar origins, and we've found that Shadow tech and that of the Borg also have a common origin, so it's worth the risk. However, Galen isn't well enough yet for another attempt, so we have to try this from another angle."

The intercom system inside the cube came on and another technomage, Federico, came on and made an announcement. "Elric, Blaylock, Picard,and Seven of Nine: your presence is requested on the bridge. A life pod has been spotted and we've detected a life form inside of it. It's human, from what I can gather."

The four made their way out of the sick bay, but not before Picard injected Anna again with a sedative to keep her under. With the bed that she was lying on, and the tubes connected to her body, he didn't have to risk physical contact with her to sedate her. An intravenous tube was feeding Anna, and the only monitor that she was near was that on the bed itself. She could take that over, but the force field would keep her from the more vital systems.

When they arrived on the bridge, they were looking at a projection of the object. They had also summoned Dr. Stephen Franklin as well, since he had just come on duty when the object had been spotted.

"That looks like an life pod off a Human ship, possibly a transport," mused Franklin. "Are you going to bring it on board?"

Picard thought for a moment, then activated a comm link. "Penelope, please beam the pod that we've spotted into shuttle bay 3."

Penelope, another freed Borg, replied, "Yes, Captain. Pod located...locked on...transporter activated...transport complete! The pod is in the bay, Captain. I've activated force fields just in case."

Picard acknowledged the reply and signed off. "Dr. Franklin, if you would accompany me..." Franklin nodded and went with Picard, followed by Elric and Blaylock.

When they arrived, the pod was still sealed. Penelope was joined by Drusilla and Ariadne in the bay. "We've scanned the ship for life forms, and there's one on board. Life signs are good, but a bit odd. They're human, but also a little alien.," replied Ariadne, who was a doctor and a scientist before being assimilated by the Borg.

Picard walked up to the edge of the force field, and Dr. Franklin joined him. "Drop the force field." Penelope did so and they made their way over to the hatch. "Do you know how to open it, Doctor?"

"Yeah, just give me a second to work on the hatch.," replied Franklin, who went to work on the lock on the pod. After a moment, it opened up and revealed a redheaded woman in a dirty outfit, surrounded by a mess of food packets, drink packets, and air bottles.

Franklin's eyes went wide and he exclaimed, "Lyta? It can't be!"

Picard asked him, "You know her?"

Franklin nodded and said, "Yeah, I know her. Last I saw of her, she was about to die. It's a long story."

Lyta Alexander began to stir and saw Franklin, saying in a very tired, quiet voice, "Stephen? Where am I?"

Franklin replied, "It's ok, Lyta, you're among friends. Why were you in the pod?"

Lyta said, "I was on G'Kar's ship. He had been abducted by a group of Narns wanting him to come back to their homeworld, and I had set out to find them when I was overcome by a flash. When I awoke, I was being hailed by someone called the Ragendora. They asked me to join them, and I sensed their evil and said no. They attacked the ship and I had to hurry up and get into the escape pod before the ship was destroyed."

It was then Lyta noted Picard. "Who's he," she asked.

Franklin replied, "That's going to take some explanation. Let's get you to sick bay first." He helped her up and they made their way to another sickbay.