The Turn
The collective uproar was deafening. Billions of voices became trillions in an instant, chaos rising so much I thought it would tear me apart. I squeezed to Harry's hand, anchoring us both to Tuvok and Kes' minds, wherever they were.
"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?" Loran cried, but she wasn't alone. Two other voices rose above the fray with her—the remaining two queens, former councilors Gott and Bennin, who stood on either side of her.
Despite the strain on my mind, I smiled. Without a doubt, this was a part of the plan Janeway had intentionally kept secret from us. Seeing it in action made it crystal clear.
Loran's pained expression twisted into a scowl. "Q."
Almost as soon as Q showed up to our meeting with Mezoti four months ago, he had insisted that most of us be dismissed from the room before laying out what needed to happen. We were briefed later, and only with pieces of the plan. Knowing that Harry, Seven, and I were going to be assimilated at the start of the mission, we were kept in the dark so that Loran wouldn't find out how we were going to take her down.
But I knew Q's work when I saw it. Loran did, too. He pulled the same trick he had all those centuries ago in an effort to stop the Borg—binding the minds of the queens together. Now Loran's plan to assimilate her former colleagues and make them subservient to her was thwarted. They were her equals once again, and the collective finally was whole.
Which meant it was time to set them free.
"You weak-minded trash," Loran growled at me. She lunged at me but was yanked back at the last second by chains that had suddenly appeared around her wrists.
"No," said Bennin. "We need their minds intact."
On cue, the chains around my ankles vanished. Harry relaxed his grip and crawled up beside me, his chains gone, as well. Bennin grabbed me by the neck, bringing her face close to mine. "You're going to help us win this battle. Then you and Captain Sisko will help us assimilate your Prophets."
"No she won't," came Captain Janeway's commanding voice, sending shock through my entire being. She was standing next to Annika, chin raised and hands on her hips. Lyndsay was on Annika's other side, freeing Annika of her shackles.
Loran's expression soured. "Janeway."
Gott frowned. "I do not sense your presence in the collective. How are you here?"
In reply, Janeway turned and lifted her hair, revealing a neural transmitter attached to the back of her neck. She dropped her hair and turned back. "Miss Ballard located Annika's interplexing beacon and linked our minds to hers." She glanced at Annika. "Sorry for the invasion of privacy."
Annika raised her eyebrow. "Apology accepted. It was an apt decision considering your unorthodox plan."
"You should leave, Captain," said a voice from somewhere behind the alcove. Out of the shadows stepped a woman in a flowing white dress, skin glowing like an angel in ancient Terran paintings. "There's no telling what will happen to you when I destroy the hive mind."
"Alixia," I whispered, heart sinking.
Q had told us we needed to act quickly if we were going to undermine Susperia's plan and save the innocents trapped in the collective. We hoped that with the element of surprise on our side, we could liberate the collective before Alixia and Susperia caught on. Apparently, we weren't quick enough.
We had lost.
