First off I really want to thank HW, and Daniel for doing all the beta wok for me on this chapter. It really helped me to get a better understanding of the chapter and look at it from different angles, and the fact that my grammar and spelling really aren't the best. Pretty much spelling and grammar check on word is all I got.
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Evolutions II: The Quest for Perfection
Chapter Two
"Captain, can I speak to you in the ready room?" Chakotay asked as he walked onto the bridge with a troubled look on his face.
"Certainly," Janeway said as she immediately picked up on the man's tone. What ever he had to say, it sounded important.
"Tom you have the bridge." Janeway said as she stood up and followed Chakotay into the ready room and closed the door.
"Take a look at this." Chakotay said as he placed a data pad in front of Janeway.
Janeway briefly skimmed through the document before her eyes widened. "Samantha wants to give custody of Naomi to B'Elanna and Seven?" She asked, not expecting this turn of events.
"I was just as surprised when I talked to her." Chakotay agreed. "Now they have no reason to stay here at all."
"This couldn't have come at a worse time." Janeway sighed, something she had been doing a lot recently. "Is there any way for us to stop this?" She asked, not really expecting to hear a plausible scenario.
"Not without alienating them more than we already have." Chakotay said. "But how long can we allow this to go on for? We walk around them on eggshells now, and they have far too much control over what happens on this ship for me to be comfortable with." He said with a tinge of anger in his voice.
"I don't like it anymore than you do." Janeway said her voice rising as well. "Do you know how difficult it was to ask them for their help with the Socadan when they could have just left us to die? I find myself making all the decisions about my own ship based on how I can stay on their good side the longest."
"Then why do you do it?" Chakotay asked. "We've survived out here on our own for a while now, I'm sure that if push came to shove we could hold our own."
"When push came to shove Seven and B'Elanna were both here." Janeway reminded him in a tired voice. "We have to put our own beliefs to the side for the welfare of our crew."
"I'm sorry Captain." Chakotay said, realizing the tone that he was using wasn't helping the situation. "We do need them."
"Did Carey tell you how long it would be until all the upgrades are removed?" Janeway changed the subject as she pinched the bridge of her nose.
"They're going to be finished in the next twenty hours. He has crews working round the clock." Chakotay said. "How many of the upgrades do you think that B'Elanna's going to be able to save?"
"Honestly, I have no idea. We may leave this situation with none of the upgrades available to us, but at least we were able to get this far with the upgrades. A few years ago nine years until we reach the Alpha quadrant would have been something to celebrate."
"I suppose you're right." Chakotay agreed reluctantly, but truth be told, going from believing that you would get home in one year, to have it turn into nine wasn't good. Neelix would have his work cut out for him.
"It may not even be nine years." Janeway said hopefully. "Who knows? We might be able to find a way to get the engine upgrades on line sooner. It's only nine years if we can't get any of the upgrades to work."
Seven had just completed her bio-scan of herself and was looking through the data while B'Elanna was helping Naomi with her homework.
"B'Elanna." Seven called as she sifted through the data. "I have found something very interesting."
"What is it Seven?" B'Elanna asked as she leaned in over Seven's shoulder and took a look.
"Do you remember our current data about the Omega molecule, the amount of energy that it puts out?" Seven asked.
"Sure, it was supposed to a phenomenal amount of power just from one molecule." B'Elanna remembered.
"My body is teaming with the molecules. At present 43.873 of my body is comprised of Omega molecules and rising slowly. I am unable to calculate the exact rate of change, there are still some unknown variables but I believe that Omega will eventually comprise 100 of my body." Seven said a little surprised at all the different processes that her body was performing.
"Wait a minute Seven." B'Elanna said as she thought over what Seven had just said. "If your body is replaced with Omega molecules, then you'll just be a bunch of molecules. What are we going to do if it goes too far and you turn into one giant molecule?" She finished in alarm.
"Forgive me B'Elanna. I am not explaining it correctly." Seven said as she thought about it. "All the data we have on the Omega molecule suggests that it is just that, a molecule, when in fact it is so much more. Think of it more along the lines of a stem cell. It has been duplicating itself and replacing my existing cells. So far it has begun to replace my bone, muscle, blood, and skin cells with almost the exact same outward appearance as my normal cells."
"Then the same thing is probably going to happen to me." B'Elanna deduced, starting to feel worried. The changes she was going through were not the same as Seven's. She had no idea what would happen to her when she reached the same stage that Seven was at now.
"I do not believe that Omega will harm you B'Elanna." Seven said as she picked up on B'Elanna's worry and hugged her. "We will not have our minds replaced with others when all of our cells are replaced with Omega. If that is all that Omega wanted it could have used anyone. I believe that it is our minds that are necessary, and that Omega is at least partially sentient, and will not make any changes that we would not approve of." She hoped that it was enough to ease B'Elanna's concerns. Seven had to admit that a lot of what she had said had to be taken on faith.
"Pretty soon we might even be able to find out how I was able to merge with Omega as well." She said hopefully, as she realized that Seven was most probably right about everything.
"I believe that we should complete your scan soon as well." Seven agreed, as B'Elanna kissed the top of her head and let her go.
"Seven, can you bring up a magnified sample of your blood?" B'Elanna asked, curious to see the results.
Seven did as she was asked with a few key strokes. They were both shocked by what they saw.
Instead of the normal red blood that they had expected, they saw a silvery white liquid.
"It's the same color as your light when you use you abilities." B'Elanna said as she leaned even further to get a closer look. "Magnify section G7?" She requested.
"It is a nanoprobe." Seven said in surprise. "I had assumed that they were removed after I merged with Omega."
"They seem really advanced, Seven." B'Elanna pointed out. "Are they the same ones you got from the Borg?"
"No," Seven said as she began to retrieve data about the nanoprobe. "It is considerable more advanced, and is constructed of organic circuitry, the same as my remaining implants. They are also 73.349 more powerful than my previous ones, and are currently in the process of converting my body to Omega molecules." Seven added, even more surprised by what they had discovered.
"Do you know what the nanoprobes are going to do after they've finished converting your body to Omega molecules?" B'Elanna asked. "When they're finished you're going to have a lot of excess nanoprobes."
"I am unsure." Seven replied. "I believe that they will either deactivate themselves, or remain active to assist with my energy based abilities."
"With this amount of data, it's going to take months just to figure out what's happening to our bodies, let alone how to control our new abilities." B'Elanna said. She had been hoping for some answers, but they had only ended up with even more questions.
"Perhaps we should scan you as well, B'Elanna. I can then upload the data to Legaia. Perhaps she will be able to correlate the data faster than us." Seven suggested. As fast as she was able to process data, there was no way she could do this fast enough for her.
"Good idea Seven." B'Elanna agreed as she lay down on the bio-bed that Seven had been using for her scan.
"One moment B'Elanna," Seven said as she looked into the optical port. Immediately a white beam of light connected with the port, and small to medium sized balls of light traveled along the beam and into Seven's eye.
Seven finished downloading the data B'Elanna's scan started, and she waited patiently for it to complete.
"That was so neat." Naomi said. She had looked up from her work to see Seven interacting with the optical port. "Does it hurt?"
"The feeling is not altogether an unpleasant one, simply odd." Seven said as she thought about it. "Have you ever had a muscle twitch that last between two and four seconds?" she asked.
"Sure," Naomi said. "It feels kind of nice."
"I have a similar feeling in my head as I upload and download information." Seven said.
Just as Seven and Naomi finished talking B'Elanna's scan completed and she hopped off the bio-bed. Seven immediately downloaded the data, which they did not bother to save to Voyager's computer core.
"Let's go back to Legaia." Naomi suggested. "She's probably getting bored all by herself."
The hybrids had found out a few weeks ago that when Legaia became bored she would not stay idle for long. By the time they had all returned Legaia was ready to take off and have a quick flight around the system they were currently in. Both Seven and B'Elanna had to promise they would go for a flight at least three times a week before Legaia settled down.
As the three hybrids entered the corridor the ship shook slightly, which was immediately followed by red alert lights, and claxon.
They immediately turned around and headed towards the bridge. Whatever was going on, the bridge was the best place to go to find out.
The hybrids entered the bridge, to see the crew in a heated battle with two enemy ships.
The ships were a little strange in design. It was as if each ship was cut from a perfect circle. It was a triangular ship with the warp nacelles on the curved stern of the ship. The ship had a smooth flow to it, until it reached the edge of the triangle where it met a sharp 90 degree angle leading to the sides of the ship.
"Seven, do you recognize the ships?" Janeway asked, as soon as she realized who had walked onto the bridge.
"They call themselves the D'Larma, the Borg have designated them as species 137. They have been decided unworthy of assimilation. Their brain patterns are too erratic for complex and unified thought. They are also seemingly incapable of creating their own technologies. The ships that they have designed are made to be compatible with a wide variety of technologies, which they steal from any species they come across." Seven finished her mini-report to the rest of the bridge.
This was by no means a new situation to them. They had come across many species in the same situation. It was only their sheer number of ships that made them any kind of threat, and of course the liberal use of technologies that they did have.
"We're going to engage them in Legaia." B'Elanna said as she looked at the view screen for a few seconds longer.
It seemed like the deflector dish was being targeted, and they were getting close to disabling it. Without a working deflector they couldn't go to warp, which meant that they were planning on stripping Voyager, and wanted to take their time.
Janeway could only nod as another explosion rocked the ship.
B'Elanna quickly pulled out one of the communicators that Seven had designed for them. It seemed a little big by comparison to the comm. badges that Voyager used, but it was capable of a variety of other jobs.
"Legaia, beam us up."
A few of he crew watched as a white pillar of light enveloped each hybrid before shooting upwards and disappearing entirely with the hybrids inside. It was very different from any teleportation they had seen previously.
The lead ship, Galtia, watched as a significantly smaller ship left the hangar of their quarry.
The D'Larma was a race that looked very similar to humanity. They shared most of the same skin tones, hair colors, and basic body types. One of the few things that set them apart where the feelers on each side of their head, a little above the eye.
"Ignore the smaller ship." the Captain said. "They know our victory is imminent, so they flee, or offer us a distraction so that they may regroup."
To the surprise of the Captain and the rest of the crew the smaller ship didn't run. Instead, it set a collision course with them.
"Captain, should we engage them?" The helmsman asked as the small ship drew closer.
"No." The Captain said adamantly. "They are no match for our shields. We will deal with them after our main target."
Legaia cut the distance between the two ships easily and began to open fire on the bridge, which was considered an insult to the D'Larma.
"Take out the small ship." The Captain shouted in rage. Now when he had his ship repaired he would have to do it amidst the gaze of any other Captain who would almost certainly be looking down on him because of it.
The Galtia quickly turned to fight the smaller ship while the secondary ship, the Astago, still continued to fire on Voyager.
Legaia skillfully dodged the enemy ship's torpedoes and phasers, only allowing the Galtia to graze its shields as it let loose a volley of torpedoes at the weapons ports and bridge for good measure.
"They dare to fire upon us again?" The Captain shouted as the ship was rocked back and forth, landing him on the floor. "Prepare to ram them!"
The crew knew that their Captain was getting desperate when he gave that order. That little ship was just far too maneuverable in comparison with their ship and conventional attacks didn't seem to have any effect.
Even as they prepared to ram, the smaller ship seemed to be two steps ahead of them. It spun around and preformed a dive releasing another volley of torpedoes to the unprotected deflector dish and nacelles as it avoided them again.
The mighty Galtia, as the crew sometimes referred to it, was loosing quite badly to the admittedly formidable smaller ship. While they were showing obvious battle scars, the little ship's paint wasn't even scratched.
Suddenly the unthinkable happened. "Captain, our weapons are offline." The security officer shouted in panic.
"Our engines are almost gone as well sir," said the second in command. "I suggest we retreat."
"Now that we know what we're up against lets send them packing." Janeway said confidently.
"Captain, Legaia has attacked the lead ship. I advise we open fire on the secondary." Tuvok said calmly.
"Agreed, Tuvok target the secondary ship's weapons, and send a few phaser blasts to their engines to keep them guessing." Janeway said as she remembered the battle strategy they had used on the Socadan flag ship.
A full spread of torpedoes impacted on the shields of the secondary ship, bringing them down to almost nothing. It seemed that the shield technology that enemy had acquired was not designed to withstand such an attack and was visibly buckling.
Most of the crew was sent to the floor in the next moment as the enemy ship landed a couple of torpedoes against their warp nacelles reminding them that the enemy even though using stolen and inferior technology was still a formidable foe.
Janeway couldn't help but glance over at the Legaia through the view screen. It was like watching poetry in motion. Just as she had thought the Legaia was going to be rammed it made a seemingly impossible rolling dive as it fired upon the main ship, causing quite a bit of damage. Janeway couldn't help but be impressed. The Legaia seemed to grow more powerful with each battle.
"Captain the lead ship is breaking off." Harry said feeling a little relived.
"Keep firing on their weapons array until they retreat." Janeway said, not wanting to take any chances.
It seemed to have taken a little longer for the secondary ship to notice that the main ship had left because it continued to fire until Legaia also opened fire on them, and jumped to warp when they realized they were out gunned.
The only other possible explanation was that it hadn't wanted to give up on the battle until it was absolutely sure it couldn't win.
"Captain, Legaia is hailing us." Harry said from his station.
"Put it on screen." Janeway said as she leaned back in her chair and straightened herself up a bit.
"How did you manage?" B'Elanna asked as her face filled the view screen.
"Some minor hull repairs on the deflector dish but the shields took the brunt of the attack." Janeway said, with a hint of pride. It wasn't everyday that Voyager was able to walk away from a battle with only minor repairs needed.
Janeway didn't need to ask how well Legaia did. It was plainly obvious by what she had seen on the view screen.
"Are there any injured?" Seven asked as she stood beside B'Elanna.
"No, there wasn't a single injury report," Janeway confirmed. "Do you think that they'll be back with more ships?"
"It is highly unlikely that the D'Larma will acquire new ships. It would be giving away a trophy, and would make them seem weak to their fellow hunters. They usually only hunt in packs; however the two ships we fought may not have been the only ones in the pack" Seven explained using what she knew from her Borg knowledge.
"Is there anything else you can tell us about the D'Larma?" Janeway asked. "Do you think that their other ships are going to be more powerful?" She really didn't want to get into another battle with the D'Larma, now that the enemy knew of their defenses and weapons.
"I believe that we should discuss this aboard Voyager." Seven said as she moved to the rear of Legaia.
"We'll meet you in the ready room in half an hour." Janeway agreed, giving them ample time to start whatever minor repairs had to be done to their ship.
A lone figure stood in Astrometrics, taking a chance on using the enhanced communication array one last time before it was removed.
"Sir, I have some concerns about Seven of Nine, the former Borg drone, and B'Elanna Torres." He said with a frown.
"You have nothing to worry about." Admiral Neechev said in a calming voice. "Captain Janeway informed us months ago that she was no longer a threat, and has given me her word that she is not a danger to the crew."
"With all due respect sir, the Captain has not told you everything." he said.
"Starfleet does not look well upon officers that go behind their captain's backs." Neechev said in a warning tone.
"I realize that sir but this is far too important, and potentially dangerous to be left alone."
"Very well," Neechev said with a sigh. "What is this about?"
"Seven of Nine was experimented on by a group of aliens, as best as we can tell she has been altered on the genetic level, using the Omega molecule." He said in a flat tone.
"The Omega molecule!" Neechev shouted in alarm. "Where did you learn about that? Only Captains are privy to that information."
"We discovered an alien race that was experimenting with the Omega molecule, trying to find a way to stabilize it. Captain Janeway decided to inform us of it so we could deal with the threat together." He informed him knowing that it would be at least another month before Starfleet began to read that Captains log.
"I suppose it could not be helped." Neechev conceded. "You are after all alone out there, but more importantly how were they able to do this and why wasn't Starfleet informed of this immediately?"
"We are not sure how it was possible. Seven has not divulged that information to anyone. Starfleet was not informed because of our situation." He said.
"What situation?" Neechev asked.
"We have to remove all of the enhancements. They have been causing system conflicts that have been compounding on each other for the past month. They have come to the point where they are affecting all the core systems. In addition Seven of Nine and B'Elanna Torres have acquired a remarkably powerful ship. They have the ability to leave whenever they wish. For the time being our continued survival is dependent upon them."
"How powerful could this ship be?" Neechev asked in wonder. No normal ship of that size could stand toe to toe with Voyager, especially if it was only a fraction of the size. They had only begun to create ships like that, the Defiant being there best work to data.
"It is currently more powerful than Voyager, and a deciding factor in any battles we enter."
"You were right to tell Starfleet of these developments." Neechev commended. "I want you to covertly gather as much information you can about this. You have the full backing of Starfleet command. It is imperative that we study this subject."
"I can not be sure but I believe that B'Elanna Torres has also been affected by the Omega molecule. She has recently been able to do things that are at the very least suspect."
"I was under the impression that Seven of Nine was the only one that was experimented on." Neechev said with a frown.
"She was, but B'Elanna Torres has shown abilities similar to that of Seven, in the way that she uses her abilities."
"Very well, gather the information discreetly. Only tell the rest of your crew about Starfleets position if you are discovered ."
Seven and B'Elanna walked into the ready room to find that they were not the last ones to arrive. Tom Paris's seat was empty as well.
"Sorry I'm late." Tom said as he rushed in a few moments after Seven, B'Elanna, and Naomi. "I had to finish looking over our new flight path." He said quickly as he sat down, catching odd glances from the rest of the senior officers, since he could have just as easily looked over the flight path after the meeting, instead of rushing back and forth like that.
"Well Seven since you know the most about what's going on, why don't you fill us in?" Janeway asked.
"The D'Larma will more than likely attempt another attack as soon as their ships are repaired, and they have deduced a battle strategy that they believe will work." Seven informed them.
"They really don't seem like too much of a threat." Tom said confidently. "We beat them easily enough this time, and only took minor damage."
"Their ships weapons and shields could easily be replaced. They were only carrying what they call light weapons and armor. They do it to conserve energy while searching for suitable ships. When they return they will be using heavy weapons and armor. That battle will not be as easy as the previous one. There is also the fact that there might be more than two ships. It is very likely that they have another two, possibly even three ships with them next time. It would be difficult to take on more than two at a time." Seven said in a calm voice, unlike the rest of the crew that had paled considerably over the news.
"Why were they not with them for the first attack?" Tuvok asked reasonably.
"They probably split up so they search a wider area." B'Elanna guessed.
"How long do we have until they come back?" Harry asked in alarm.
"If I had to guess I would say about ten hours, fifteen hours max, and I'm guessing they probably have repair docks somewhere if they can interchange parts." B'Elanna said, her new tactical way of thinking showing.
"Can we prepare Voyager for a battle like that in time?" Chakotay asked, differing to B'Elanna as well.
"No, all the upgrades to the ship are almost removed. Voyager doesn't have enough fire power, and neither does Legaia." B'Elanna said as she remembered the data that Seven had uploaded about it to Legaia.
"Maybe we can find a place to lay low for a while." Chakotay suggested.
"I do not believe that idea will work." Seven said, shooting down the idea.
"It worked well enough in the Maquis." Chakotay defended. "Eventually they'll get bored and give up the search."
"D'Larma will spend the rest of their lives searching for us if necessary." Seven denied. "They are not in the habit of giving up."
"Well what do you suggest we do?" Chakotay demanded. "We can't fight them, we can't hide from them...we don't even know where they are."
"We must reach this destination within ten hours." Seven said as she brought up a map of the area they were in.
"What's there?" Paris asked curiously. "And how is it going to help us against the D'Larma?"
"This is the location for the home world of the D'Rama, Borg designation species 138. Approximately 300 years ago they were considered the same race as the D'Larma. It was thought to be a massive social and biological experiment. The D'Larma concentrated on warfare, and tactics, while the D'Rama concentrated on peaceful exploration, much like Starfleet.
Unfortunately, due to the corruption of the leaders of the D'Larma, they spiraled into a stage similar to that of the dark ages on earth. They have still not recovered from it, and free thinking is usually punished. That is why they have made so little technological advancement.
The D'Rama have advanced their technology significantly in the last 300 years however. Due to feelings of jealousy on the parts of the D'Larma they have been at war for the past century.
If we can reach D'Rama space in time we will be protected. The D'Larma have not discovered how to penetrate the D'Rama planetary defense grid, and will not for many years to come." Seven finished her explanation to everyone.
"How long is it going to take to reach the D'Rama?" Janeway asked. She knew that she was loosing ground to the hybrids by not taking control of the meeting from the beginning but they didn't have any other options.
"At maximum warp Voyager will reach D'Rama space in 13.5 hours." Seven said.
"Will that be enough time?" Chakotay asked. "B'Elanna said that they could be ready in ten hours."
"They're almost certainly going to be ready back here in ten hours. The further we get from here the better. They'll probably catch up with us just before we reach D'Rama space so it's going to be tight." B'Elanna warned, hoping that it would get them moving as soon as possible.
To Be Continued…
Skye: I know that the Samantha thing is a little abrupt and I only vaguely alluded to it in the first part, but I will go more in depth into it in later chapters. Laying the ground work for part two is taking a little longer than I thought. Instead of there just being one story for Seven, there's going to be multiple stories also going on for the other charcters.
Richard Shultz: Well it was always the chief engineer that checked to make sure the technologies could merge properly. Without one... As for the technology working in the short run but not the long run, I hope I explained it better in this chapter.
Lt. Tina: I guess I did drop the whole adoption thing out of the blue. It will definitely be explained more in depth as the story progresses.
Melinda: Thanks, and for future chapters I'm going to try to keep them above 4000 words, and possibly get them to 5000 words a chapter.
Sonja: The doctor is also one of the characters that I still have to lay the ground work for, because he is definitely making a reappearance in future chapters.
Albedon: I don't want to say who it is right away but in the next few chapters the hybrids are going to forgive someone.
Goddess Anjanee: Thanks, It's definitely going to be more chaotic, especially since multiple stories for multiple characters are going to be going on in the background instead of just one main story that everything else feed in to like the first part.
Devaro: Well right now they wouldn't be a match for even one of the Q's, but they can definitely hold their own.
Thanks for Reviewing: Shawn Provancha, Just a fan, Caren H
Once again Please Review, I usually get the chapters out faster with more reviews to inspire me.