Farewell
CW: Borg-related horror, destruction, and violence against characters and children
By the time we reached Sinoso, there was nothing left intact. Countless ships floated aimlessly around us—broken, snapped in half, shot through with scorched-black holes, dead in space. The massive station that once looked down on the beautiful, blue planet was little more than a debris field. Shards of what used to be satellites sliced through the thermosphere and exosphere, still following their orbit.
Surely we hadn't been the first of the alliance forces to arrive in response to the distress call, but it was hard to tell how many ships were out there when they were all in pieces. The casualties here alone had to be in the tens of thousands.
"I'm not detecting any lifesigns," I said, my voice stumbling over the words. "Not up here… or on the planet." It seemed wrong, like maybe the sensors were malfunctioning and everyone we'd left behind was fine.
But when I rechecked my readings a fourth, fifth, and sixth time, they were unchanged. No one was on or around Sinoso—not anymore.
Chakotay made his way across the dais, stopping just behind the place where Janeway stood staring at the viewscreen. "Weapon signatures?" he asked.
"Two," Tuvok said. "Zahl and Borg."
"Any sign of Borg ships in the area?"
"None," I replied.
"Alliance ships?"
"Just us and Gik'tal."
"There will no doubt be more alliance vessels on the way," Tuvok said.
Not that it mattered.
For a moment, no one else spoke. Sinoso hadn't been the most heavily populated Zahl planet, but it wasn't minor, either—especially after it became a base of operations for Unity forces. Twenty-eight million people had lived there.
Twenty-eight million.
Beyond that, eleven of our own crew had been there. Korok, too, sent a number of people from Gik'tal for safekeeping, including First, Fourth, and Fifth. Between our two ships, we'd lost forty-six people. Children and families, all of them.
"Chakotay," Janeway said, the anger in her tone unmistakable, "take an away team to the surface. I want to make absolutely sure no one is down there, and I want to know what the hell happened."
Chakotay gave a curt nod and turned. "Tuvok, Talia."
Securing my station, I stood and followed him to the turbolift. My eyes met Harry's as I passed by ops. There was no fear in his face, nor shock, just a grim expression to convey all the things he must have been feeling inside.
He gave a single, solemn nod.
I returned the gesture, then stepped into the turbolift.
On the planet, Chakotay, Tuvok, and I were joined by Schmullis, Mike, and Annika. Korok lead a team of seven Unimatrix Zero troops to help us make a preliminary assessment. When our reports were written and sent to the alliance leaders, they'd no doubt assign a few fleets to do more in-depth surveys.
For now, though, it was just us.
A gentle breeze blew, cool against my skin. Apart from the wind, everything was eerily quiet. The whole neighborhood seemed like a ghost town. From the spot where we'd beamed down, nothing looked out of place. No shattered windows, no burning buildings, no signs of battle at all. It was as if everyone had just abandoned the place all at once.
Eager to check the row houses where our families had lived, we opted to split up, with Korok taking his team after their people while we looked for ours. Chakotay took Mike and Schmullis to investigate two of our crew's homes. Tuvok, Annika, and I took the other three.
Grischa and Tony's home came first, and I nearly asked Tuvok if we could give this one to Chakotay's team instead. The door opened to reveal a space that could have looked normal were it not for the attack.
The clutter was minimal. Most of Asher's toys were contained to his play pen, the kitchen table had nothing but two Zahl tablets laying on it, and all the drawers and cabinets were closed.
The peacefulness made me uneasy, and I had to fight the urge to run. Flipping open my tricorder, I set the device for a bioscan and slowly made my way around the place.
I was so busy dreading the prospect of finding a body that I didn't notice the toy until I stepped on it—a bright blue and yellow butterfly. Suddenly, all I could think about was Asher's soft baby hands exploring my face and my fingers pressed into the dirt on Rojel's grave. It made me feel sick.
Slowly, I put my tricorder away and knelt to pick up the toy. How had this happened? What horrible chain of events had brought me to this moment, and how could I undo it? The butterfly rattled quietly in my trembling fingers.
A hand gripped my shoulder. I jumped to my feet and spun away, reaching for my phaser.
But it was only Tuvok. "Commander, what did you find?"
"Nothing," I choked out, my hand falling away from the weapon on my belt. "One of Asher's toys. I, uh… he was playing with it the last day I saw him. I'm sorry." My voice broke over the last words. I cleared my throat. "I'll pull it together, sir."
He gave a slight nod. "Have you found anything else of interest?"
I set the toy on a nearby dresser. "Nothing yet. No signs of life, no bodies or blood, and no other biological substances or readings of importance. Honestly, from the looks of the place, they could just as easily be at the market as in Borg custody."
His eyebrow twitched. "Indeed. I have found no indications of a struggle as one would expect. It is… perplexing."
"I suggest we proceed to the next residence," Annika said, stowing her tricorder as she strode towards us.
Tuvok and I agreed.
Icheb's house was more of the same—perfect, pristine, and empty of life. Unlike Grischa and Tony's home, however, it gave me the slightest bit of hope.
"This might work in our favor," I said, glancing from Tuvok to Annika. "The Borg never adapted to Icheb's virus. The collective cut off the children's sphere before it reached them. If they assimilated Icheb, whatever ship they're on is probably free now. They might even be close by."
Annika gave a slight shake of her head. "It is more likely they abducted him in order to study his genetic modifications. It will not take them long to find a way to adapt."
Tuvok raised a brow. "All evidence we have indicates that the Borg learn through assimilation, not study. What leads you to believe they have changed their methods?"
"Loran is not like other Borg. This is her doing."
My gut tightened. "You think she was here?"
Annika eyed the room. "Perhaps, although it is more probable she sent drones to retrieve him for her." She pressed her lips together. "There is nothing here. We should move on."
In the Wildman's home, two of the dining room chairs lay on the floor, but nothing else was out of place. Reports from Chakotay and Korok revealed similar findings. It was as if no one had even gotten the chance to react.
They'd just been whisked away.
When we left the complex to explore other neighborhoods, however, it was a very different story. Doors were broken, bent out of shape, or simply ripped from their frames. Furniture, computer consoles, and other personal items were strewn everywhere. Closets had been locked and then forced open. Black marks from phaser fire singed the walls inside and out. A few bodies lay where they had died defending themselves and their families.
Unlike our people, they'd had time to panic, barricade themselves, or fight back. In the end, though, it hadn't mattered.
Resistance is futile.
"I believe the individuals from our two crews were specifically targeted by the Borg for assimilation," Annika said when we regrouped in the street.
"Why would they do that?" Chakotay asked.
"I don't know, but that is what the evidence indicates. The Borg must have transported directly into their homes to capture them first, then moved out from there to assimilate the rest of the settlement." Her blue-green eyes swept across the sky. "What I do not understand is how they were able to do so without alerting anyone to their presence when they entered the system."
"We can answer those questions later," Korok said. "First we must find a better way to scan the colony for survivors. If the Borg's primary target was our comrades, perhaps some of the others were left behind."
I frowned. "Survivors? I scanned the surface for lifesigns several times from Voyager. If anyone was down here, it would have shown up."
"Not if they erected dampening fields or took shelter in a structure that masks their lifesigns. It is possible some may still be here."
If nothing else, it was our duty to check.
"The main planetary sensor array will tell us what we need to know," Korok continued. "We can use Gik'tal and Voyager in place of the Zahl satellites to transmit the signal and triangulate anomalous readings." He turned to me. "How familiar are you with Zahl technology?"
"Don't ask me how to fix anything," I said, "but if their sensor arrays are operational, I can work them."
Annika nodded down the street. "We should proceed." The way she held her shoulders as she marched forward told me she was just as uncomfortable as I was.
This place was getting to her, too.
Eventually, the neighborhoods gave way to a line of one-story buildings. It was mostly restaurants meant to serve visitors and servicemen who wanted something other than the usual mess hall fare. There was also a tea shop and a store where people could get basic necessities and souvenirs.
On the other side of the road stood the embassy and visitor's center, only a few stories high but beautiful with off-white pillars and matching stone walls. Like everything else, it was marred by phaser fire and left open, wind whispering through the barren entryway.
Ahead of us was an impressively large grassy courtyard surrounded by tall buildings—a park sprinkled with trees, benches, sculptures, and a play area for kids. At the center of the park stood a large stone pavilion supported by eight columns. It was a memorial commemorating the Krenim revolution and all those who died to end Annorax's tyranny.
Beyond the park, just across from us, rose one building that towered above all the rest. The administrative building. Next to it was the base's science building where the planet's primary sensor array was controlled.
Chakotay stopped so suddenly I nearly ran into him. "Is that… a person?"
"Where?" Mike asked.
"Past the memorial," Annika said, pointing to the right of the pavilion.
Shielding my eyes, I stepped forward and gazed in the direction Annika indicated. Sure enough, there was one lone figure seated on a bench beneath a tree. They were facing away from us, unmoving in the shadow cast by the mid-day sun.
"Comrade!" Korok's voice boomed, echoing through the courtyard. "Do not panic. I am General Korok of the Unity Alliance. We are here to assist you."
The person didn't respond—didn't even flinch.
Schmullis took out his tricorder and set off towards them, medkit dangling from a strap on his shoulder.
"Doctor," Tuvok called after him, and Schmullis paused to look back. "I suggest we exercise caution in this instance."
"If they're alive," Schmullis said, "they might need help."
With a grunt, Korok marched after Schmullis and the rest of us followed. As we neared, I could make out cropped black hair, gray skin, and broad shoulders. I'd never seen Zahl with such a complexion, meaning they were probably from Unimatrix Zero, but my tricorder still couldn't identify anything about the person's biology. It didn't even recognize they were there.
"I think there's a dampening field around the park," I murmured to Chakotay.
"Why would they erect one here?" he asked. "There's nowhere to hide."
"I don't know."
When Schmullis reached the survivor, his eyes went wide. "First!"
"Dr. Schmullis," the young former drone replied, and got to his feet. Moving past Schmullis, he rounded the bench to face the rest of us.
Korok stepped forward. "Are you damaged?"
"No."
"How did you evade the Borg?" Tuvok asked.
"We didn't," First said, and touched an implant on his wrist. Green light shimmered on either side of him accompanied by the hum of a transporter beam. More than a dozen drones materialized, though I wasn't exactly counting. At the center, just beside First, stood their queen.
Loran.
"It's them," Mike breathed.
Chakotay threw his arms out wide, pushing all of us back. Instinctively, I reached for my phaser, but stopped just as my fingers brushed the smooth, metallic surface.
Sliding my hand under my jacket, I pulled out my knife instead.
Nobody moved—not the drones, and not the teams. This was my chance. I flipped the blade and whipped it at Loran, milliseconds stretching into eternity as my tagh turned end over end, slicing through the air towards its mark.
It sank to the hilt in her throat.
Her eyes widened, mouth gaping as she staggered and collapsed on the ground. First and the rest of the drones did the same. For an awful moment, they all gagged and convulsed in the grass. Then, finally, they went still.
For a moment, everything seemed to stop. All my energy had been focused on this one goal, and there she was lying dead in the grass. I'd killed Loran just like I was supposed to. But it seemed unreal, and the vague sense of accomplishment I felt was mixed with dread.
"What have you done?" Schmullis asked, hurrying over to one of the drones.
"My duty," I spat, though deep down I was horrified. What had I done? The others should have been liberated, not killed. Striding over to Loran's side, I knelt down to look into her dead, silver eyes.
Eyes that shifted to meet mine when my shadow reached her face.
I fell backwards with a gasp, catching myself on my hands. It was the knife. Drones could survive much longer than humans without oxygen, and clearly the blade hadn't been long enough to sever the nerves in her spinal cord like I'd hoped. I needed to pull it out. Finish the job.
My hand was closing around the hilt when Loran smiled, teeth stained red as blood spilled from her mouth.
"Did you really think death could stop me?" the drones around her said in unison.
I glanced at First, whose dark eyes were blank of emotion but fixed on me.
"Hasn't that Terran engineer of yours told you what we did for her? Death is not an obstacle for us. We are the Borg. You will be assimilated. Resistance is futile."
First's hand shot up, curling around my neck and cutting off my air as he crawled over the queen's body towards me. Suddenly, he wasn't wasn't the adolescent boy we'd rescued in the blue nebula, but a soldier at Korma outpost laughing at my failed attempt to take him out, whose brother-in-arms tortured me nearly to death, whose government wiped out the Maquis. He was the enemy responsible for unspeakable crimes against my mother's people. My people.
And now he was responsible for the loss of everyone we left on Sinoso.
Yanking my knife from Loran's throat, I buried it in First's eye. Then in his neck. When he fell, I straddled him and thrust the blade into his chest over and over, deep in that ugly Cardassian heart. I was screaming so loud, my vision so tunneled, that I didn't notice the other drones rising to their feet or hear the fighting begin all around me until someone grabbed my pony tail and forced me upright. My attacker yanked my head to the side, exposing my neck.
Then the pain was gone, the grip released, and a drone hit the ground face-down beside me. My eyes tracked upward, a shadow towering over me, and found Schmullis standing there with a smirk on his face and a hypospray in his hand.
"Resisting a good sedative is futile," he quipped, and helped me to my feet.
"You need to go," I panted. "If they get your mobile emitter—"
"They've adapted!" Mike shouted from somewhere I couldn't see.
"Fall back!" Korok ordered.
Schmullis returned the hypospray to his medkit and snapped the case shut. "We all need to go."
"Move," I ordered. "I'm right behind you."
"Aye sir." He turned and jogged away.
Just as I pivoted to check for enemies behind us, another drone slammed his palm into my chest, knocking me on the ground and forcing the air from my lungs. Somehow I managed to hold onto my knife, which I raised towards my attacker, ready to strike.
A phaser blast caught him in the middle of his chest, but a green force field shimmered around his exoplating, absorbing the energy. His face tilted down, one gray eye meeting mine. That's when I saw it.
The drone was Maxwell Burke.
My elbows fell to the ground, all desire to fight draining away. It made no sense. How was he here? I dug my heels into the dirt and scrambled backwards. "Burke?"
No emotion or sign of recognition crossed his features. Thick, metal-plated feet stomped heavily on the ground after me, menacing despite not being in any particular hurry. Drones never hurried. They didn't need to. They always got what they wanted in the end.
Resistance is futile.
"MAX!" I screamed, but he just kept coming, his long stride covering more ground than I could crawl. Fighting hand-to-hand with a Borg would get me nowhere. He was too strong. I was going to have to kill him.
And I had to do it quickly.
A uniformed man entered my field of vision, thrusting the heel of his hand up into Burke's nose with a loud crunch. Burke staggered back a step, then took an uppercut to his unprotected jaw that snapped his head back. Just as he regained his composure, the butt of a phaser smashed into his temple with so much force it sent him sprawling on the ground.
Chakotay whipped around, grabbed my arms so tight it hurt, and dragged me to my feet. "Let's go!"
He didn't need to tell me twice. Together we sprinted back towards our team, zig-zagging to avoid the Borg disruptor blasts hitting trees and structures around us. Mike and Tuvok had formed a line with Korok's crew, providing cover as Annika and Schmullis ran in the direction we'd come from, tricorders in hand.
"They're finding the edge of the dampening field," Chakotay explained as we joined the line. "They can call Voyager for a beam-out there. You need to go with them. When you're safe, we'll head that way, too."
"What?" My stomach squeezed. "No! I'm not leaving you behind! I won't break that promise again."
His eyes grew sad. "I thought you might say that." He glanced down at the phaser in his hand. "I'm sorry."
I barely had time to open my mouth in protest when he shot me.
The next thing I knew, Tuvok was carrying me away from the battle. My body jostled as he ran, head still swimming from the stun. The phaser burn on my stomach stung, my charred uniform scraping over it with each step. Soon, we had joined Annika and Schmullis in front of the embassy.
"What happened?" Schmullis asked.
"Now is not the time," Tuvok replied. He set me carefully on my feet but held onto my arm, his grip like a vice. He tapped his combadge. "Tuvok to Voyager."
Janeway's voice answered. "Voyager here. We're under attack by the Borg. What's going on down there?"
"We have also engaged the Borg. We require an emergency transport. Beam us directly to the bridge."
"I'm only reading four lifesigns," Harry said over the comm.
"That is correct."
"Do it," Janeway snapped.
Across the courtyard, Chakotay shouted. Turning in Tuvok's hold, I looked back at the battle, all of my rage having transformed into agony and fear. Just as the transporter beam enveloped us, a drone brought its fist to Chakotay's neck. He convulsed, fell to his knees, and let out a guttural cry.
Then Sinoso slipped away, the bridge taking shape around us instead.
Janeway stood in the middle of the dais, hands on her hips as the battle played out in front of her on the screen. Her eyes swept over what was left of our team, realization turning to shock, pain, and finally rage. "Raise shields," she barked, spinning on a heel and dropping into her chair. "Come about. Target—"
"Captain," Harry said, a note of terror in his voice. "Thirty Borg drones have materialized on decks twelve, eight, and four."
Janeway opened the console beside her seat. "Seal off main engineering and deck one. Encrypt the main computer. Target Equinox's weapons systems and fire."
Equinox?
"Direct hit," came a woman's voice—Lieutenant Clarke, a Terran tactical officer who was the same age as me. The blinking red alert lights turned her blonde bun and fair skin crimson. "No damage."
Tuvok's hold released. I dragged my eyes to the screen and found our fellow Federation ship covered in Borg technology. The nacelles still glowed blue, but everything else emitted an emerald green light—including the phaser that slammed into our hull.
Voyager gave a bone-rattling jolt, sending me crashing to the deck and waking up all of my dulled senses at once. Pain seared through my abdomen, making me cry out. The hilt of my knife pressed into my ribs, the blade secure in its sheath. Chakotay must have done that before he ordered Tuvok to…
I shook my head before the thought could go any further.
"Hull breach on deck seven!" Harry shouted. "The Borg are tapping into our secondary systems. They're trying to take control of the ship."
"Stop them!" Janeway snapped as Tuvok headed for tactical and Annika went to the secondary ops console behind the command chairs.
"I'm trying, but they're using Borg encryption algorithms to lock me out."
Scrambling to my feet, I shouldered my way past Schmullis and took my seat at science, logging into the station and accessing secondary systems. Annika, too, was in the computer helping to hold off the digital invasion.
There was blood on my hands, dying my skin red.
I tagged my combadge. "Eelo to Ghemor."
"I'm a little busy right now, Eelo," Iliana griped in reply.
The ship shook again. This time it was Lieutenant Clarke who gave the damage report. Janeway demanded more fire, and it still did nothing.
"Stop whatever you're doing and tap into the secondary systems," I ordered Iliana. "We've got Borg trying to hack their way in, so we're gonna blue-nebula these assholes."
The grin in her voice was unmistakable. "Excellent." A few seconds passed before she said, "I'm in."
"Okay just hang on a little bit…" I said as I connected a linguistic program to the secondary systems, automatically translating the Borg language and codes into Standard. When the computer began to recognize commands the drones were feeding into our systems, it was able to fight back.
Still, it wouldn't hold them off for long.
"Alright, Iliana," I said. "Translation algorithm is in place. Your turn."
"My pleasure."
On my console, several different Borg decryption protocols entered the system, further weakening the drones' work. More importantly, it distracted them while Iliana set up the other part of her plan—a feedback pulse like the one she'd used on Mezoti in the blue nebula... except much stronger.
"Initiating pulse… now."
The attack on our secondary systems stopped at once.
"Better?" Iliana asked.
"Perfect," I said. It wouldn't keep them out for good, but it bought us time. "Carry on. Eelo out."
A crimson notification overtook my display counting down from ten minutes.
"What the hell?" Janeway growled.
"Captain," Harry said, "someone just activated the self-destruct sequence."
"I can see that, Lieutenant." She tapped furiously on her console. "The question is, how?"
"I don't know."
"Why would the Borg want to destroy Voyager?" Tom asked. "Their own people are here trying to assimilate it."
"The Borg have not regained access to secondary systems," Annika said. "They are not the ones responsible."
Janeway stood and marched towards ops. "Then who the hell authorized it?"
"There's a code attached to the command, but I don't recognize it," Harry said. "The code has a Federation signature, but it doesn't belong to any of the crew."
I pulled up the command on my own console just as the captain reached ops. Harry was wrong. It did belong to one of the crew—one who should not have access to any systems.
"Goddamnit," Janeway swore under her breath.
"Captain?" Harry asked.
But she wouldn't tell him. She couldn't. It was a Section 31 code. Jen's code. There was no way for anyone to stop it—not even the Borg. It overrode everything, just like Section 31 intended.
Jen was going to destroy Voyager rather than let it fall to the Borg.
"Contact Gik'tal," Janeway ordered Harry. "Tell them the Borg have taken Voyager and we have initiated a self-destruct. We can't drop shields, so we're taking the escape pods."
The words hit me like a punch in the gut. We were leaving Voyager. For good.
"All hands," Janeway said in a loud, clear voice, "this is the captain. We are abandoning ship. Secure your stations and proceed to the escape pods immediately." She marched to the conn and tapped Tom's shoulder. "You're relieved, Lieutenant. Take Clarke and Hansen, and transport yourselves onto Tereshkova. Protect the pods and make sure everyone gets onto Gik'tal safely." She turned to tactical. "Tuvok, I want you, Talia, Harry, and Schmullis on the Flyer."
"What about you?" I asked.
"I'm the captain," she said gravely, her eyes returning to the screen. "I go down with the ship."
"That is not Starfleet protocol," Tuvok said.
"Actually," Harry said, "it's against protocol. A commanding officer's first duty is to their crew, especially in times of emergency."
"Don't tell me about my duty, Lieutenant," Janeway snarled. "Someone needs to stay on Voyager to help cover those pods. You all have your orders and I expect you to carry them out." She turned back to the conn. "Mister Paris?"
He crossed his arms and sat back, a silent challenge in his expression. I could almost hear him say it out loud. You'll have to make me.
"Mister Paris, you are in violation of a direct order. Take your team and evacuate the ship."
He shook his head. "I can't follow that order, Captain."
"None of us will," I said, standing and crossing my own arms, as well. "Either you come with us, or we're all staying."
It was Arturis' transwarp flight all over again—or so I'd been told. Captain Janeway seemed to have developed a death wish, but this crew wasn't about to let her see it through. We needed her, and she needed us.
Clarke crossed the dais and strode towards Janeway. "Captain, I'll do it. I can run every station on the bridge. I'll keep the pods safe."
"Lieutenant—"
"With all due respect, ma'am, the crew needs its captain now more than ever."
For a moment, the two women stared at each other. No doubt Janeway was giving Clarke her most withering look, but the other woman didn't back down.
Finally, Janeway relented. She put a hand on Clarke's shoulder. "It's been an honor serving with you, Lieutenant."
Clarke nodded. "And you, Captain."
Satisfied, Tom vacated his post so Clarke could take over, clapping her on the shoulder before taking his place beside Janeway. "So," he drawled. "Tereshkova?"
Janeway pressed her lips together, her expression still one of tamped-down anger. "Let's do it."
"Alright," Harry said, "I've got a site-to-site transport set up. The signal is encrypted, so the Borg shouldn't be able to piggyback on it."
"Energize," Janeway said, and they disappeared with Annika in blue beams of light.
I tried to take a deep breath, but it refused to come. My eyes slid over every feature of the bridge—the engineering station where B'Elanna, Iliana, and Marla had worked, Janeway's ready room, Tuvok at tactical, the command chairs where Janeway and Chakotay had sat side-by-side for five years, Harry at ops, my own science station, and finally the conn where Tom had gotten his life back.
Tears needled at my eyes as Clarke took control of every bridge station at the conn. When I called to her, she looked up.
"Good luck," was all I could think to say.
"You, too," was all she said back.
"Second transport is ready," Harry said.
"Energize," Tuvok ordered, and a moment later we were standing in the Delta Flyer.
Without a word, we headed for our respective stations. My fingers had just landed on the flight control panel when I gasped. "The orb!"
"Way ahead of you," Harry said. I swiveled around to find him working furiously at his station. "The Borg just entered Tuvok's quarters. Looks like they haven't gotten it yet. I'm trying to get a lock, but it's tricky. It's not reading as a lifesign, but it isn't reading like an object either."
"We have three minutes and thirty-seven seconds to warp core breach," Tuvok said. "If you cannot transport the orb, then you must abort."
"Hold on… I think I have it…"
The hum and blue glow of a transporter beam filled the cabin, followed by Schmullis gasping out, "What on Earth...?"
And there he was—not the orb, but Captain Sisko in a gray-shouldered uniform standing next to Schmullis at the science station behind Harry.
His brown eyes locked on me, and he raised his eyebrows. "You'd better go, Commander."
My mouth was open. Shaking my head, I snapped it shut and returned to my controls. "Engines?"
"Ready," Harry answered.
"Then let's get the hell out of here," I said, and lifted off from the deck.
"Wait a minute," Harry said. "Where's Baxial? I'm not detecting it in here or outside."
"We do not have time to concern ourselves with that, Lieutenant," Tuvok said. "Commander Eelo, please proceed as ordered."
"Aye, sir."
With that, we shot forward, following Tereshkova and a hoard of escape pods into space. At our departure, Voyager moved away, taking a protective position to provide cover as Gik'tal tractored our people inside. Harry grabbed a few of the stragglers with our tractor beam and I flew us a safe distance away from the ship that had been our home for five years in the Delta Quadrant.
Just as I came about beside Tereshkova, ready to defend our pods, I realized that Voyager was still moving towards Equinox and had gained speed. Clarke was going to ram them.
"I'm reading an overload in Equinox's warp core," Harry said.
I frowned. "What? How can that be? Our weapons were basically useless against them."
"It is not due to damage from the battle," Tuvok said. "I believe a self-destruct sequence is in progress on their vessel, as well."
"That doesn't make sense. Why would they—"
Just as the timer for Voyager ran out, the bow collided with Equinox's stardrive section. A massive explosion engulfed them both in a ball of flames, burning up the escaping oxygen and sending pieces of bulkheads speeding out in every direction.
Just like that, it was over.
They were gone. Voyager and Equinox were both gone. We were homeless, trapped in the Delta Quadrant without a ship to carry us, stuck in a war we'd started without any way to fight it. Our mission to find Equinox before the Borg did had failed, and so had my mission to kill Loran. Jen was right.
We had already lost.
