Chapter 72.

Retrospect.

(Scott POV)

I was on the Bridge testing a new weapon. As Tuvok fired it and it scored a direct hit.

"Direct hit," Tuvok said.

"The Target buoy is solid monotanium, 10 meters thick, shields by a chromoelectric force field," Kovin said.

"Impressive," I said.

"I'm glad you agree, It's not wise to travel this region Without adequate defences, I've seen scuttled ships With more firepower than Voyager," Kovin said.

"I'm sure you have," I said.

"Imagine what you'll be capable of once the Isokinetic Cannon is integrated into your defensive systems, One projectile can penetrate the shield of any heavily armoured Vessel," Kovin said. "Hostile Species will know to avoid Voyager by reputation alone,"

"You've made your point, Mr Kovin," I said. "I want the Cannon, And I'm prepared to give you astrometric charts spanning 12 sectors, You'll find them unusually precise,"

"Even the most sophisticated charts become obsolete, One random anomaly, and they're no longer accurate," Kovin said. "However I could be persuaded if you were to include the mapping technology that created them,"

"Sorry, Our Astrometric sensors were designed specifically for this ship, They'd be of no use to you, What I cam offer you is a generous supply of Isolinear processing Chips, We'll even show you how to integrate them into your systems sensors technology," I said.

"How generous a supply?" Kovin said.

"100 chips," I said.

"150," Kovin said.

"115," I said.

"125," Kovin said.

"Done, Escort our guest to Engineering," I said. "You'll be supervising the installation of the cannon?"

"Of course for a modest fee," Kovin said.

"5 additional chips. No more," I said.

"It's good to see the art of negotiation isn't lost on you, Captain," Kovin said as he left the Bridge.

"That guy is worse than a Ferengi," Tom said.

"Just be glad Quark wasn't here. I swear those 2 would be going at it forever," I said. "Assign 7 to work on this, She's got a knack for adapting alien technology,"

"Should I give her complete access to the Engineering control systems," Chakotay said.

"I'm ready to give her some latitude, She's been behaving herself lately," I said as Chakotay left.

"Captain Since when did you know about Quark," Tom said.

"Before we left DS9. I went to OPS for a bit. Then Had a run in with Quark Tried to sell me something," I said.

"What happened?" Tom said.

"Kira came and threw him off," I said.

"Kira. Major Kira," Harry said.

"Yeap," I said. "Guess She was just sick of Quark doing that,"

XXX

I was called down to Sickbay. Something Happen making 7 attack Kovin, But the question is Why?

"There's a hairline fracture of the premaxilla bone," Doc said.

"Do you see this, Captain, She shattered it," Kovin said.

"It's easily repaired," Doc said.

"Do you have any idea why 7 attacked you?" I said.

"It was unprovoked she came at me like an animal," Kovin said.

"Well, I wouldn't put it like that, I was at another console about 10 meters away, I heard Kovin raise his voice and when I looked around, I saw that he was holding her arm," B'Elanna said.

"I barely touched her," Kovin said. He was lying. "A gentle gesture to move her out of my way, So I could get to the Console, Then she turned on me, Attack me,"

"What did you say to her?" I said.

"I told her how to reconfigure the tactical control systems properly," Kovin said.

"Is that all," I said.

"That's all," Kovin said.

"And that's when she knocked him down, Ashmore and I had to hold her back," B'Elanna said.

"She would have killed me, That woman is dangerous," Kovin said.

"It's a miracle you survived, Now hold still or this won't heal properly," Doc said.

"Why are you questioning me on this?" Kovin said. "You should be disciplining your crew member,"

"Believe me, I'll deal with it," I said. "please accept my sincere apology, Now if you'll excuse me, Lt Out side a minute," As B'Elanna followed me out.

"Captain," B'Elanna said.

"Since when have you ever seen 7 act like that," I said.

"Never," B'Elanna said. "He must be lying about something. No one can make 7 do that. Not even me,"

"Go over everything I want to know if there is anything," I said.

"Aye Captain," B'Elanna said.

XXX

I was in my ready room as I got 7 up here. As the door bell rang.

"Come in," I said as 7 came in.

"Here we are again, Oh. I'm tired of having this conversation, You know what I going to say and I know how you're going to respond, so It seems pointless to say anything. But What really has me going is. What on Earth made you attack him for," I said. "Even there were a few times I would like nothing more then to wrack him on the nose myself, But what the hell happened?"

"I don't know," 7 said. "One minute I was working on the Tactical systems then Kovin grabbed my arm and pushed me away. Next minute I don't know what happened. But I hit him then Lt Torres and Ashmore was holding me back, Other than that I have no idea,"

"Get the Doc to check you out just in case this is something," I said.

"Aye Captain," 7 said.

"Dismissed," I said as 7 left.

After 10 minutes. The Doc called me down the sickbay. Something was wrong with 7.

"She experience an episode of acute anxiety with all the trimmings, Intense apprehension, shortness of Breath, dizziness, I finally managed to sedate her," Doc said.

"Could this have been cause by her cortical implants," I said.

"I don't thinks so, I think the problem has to do with memory suppression," Doc said. "I've detected a high concentration of biogenetic amines in 7 hippocampus, a substance I haven't noticed before, It's blocking several portions of her memory center,"

"Do you know where it came from?" I said.

"No, but it seems to be dissipating," Doc said. "7 unusual behaviour may be the result of the blocked memories beginning to surface, Memories which she can't identify yet,"

"Can you treat her?" I said.

"Treatment would involve integrating the repressed memories into 7 consciousness, I may be able to use a stand therapeutic regression technique," Doc said.

"I wasn't aware that you were programmed with psychotherapeutic Capabilities," I said.

"I wasn't but in the absence of a ship's counsellor, I've been developing a psychiatric subroutine," Doc said. "To add to my program, I'll be even more valuable to you than I am now,"

"Keep me informed, Doc," I said. "I want to know what is going on with 7,"

As I left.

XXX

We were in the Conference room. With the Doctor.

"There's no doubt that 7 was the victim of a brutal assault," Doc said.

"How is she?" I said.

"As well as can be expected, She's regenerating in her alcove," Doc said. "I predict her emotional recovery will take some time, I certainly hope you intend to hold Kovin responsible for what he's done,"

"First, I want to know how much of her story we can corroborate, Tom you were with her on the planet, How long was she alone with Kovin," I said.

"At least 2 hours," Tom said.

"When she came back, did she say anything about what happened?" I said.

"Only that they'd finished their work on the rifle, She seemed fine," Tom said.

"Clearly. Mr. Kovin used some artificial means to suppress her memories of the event, that would explain the unusual engrammatic activity I found in her neurological scans," Doc said.

"Did you find any other physical evidence of the medical procedures she described?" I said.

"No," Doc said. "I suspect Mr. Kovin used 7's own nanoprobes to repair any cellular damage, She distinctly remembers Kovin extracting them,"

"You seem to be accepting 7's recovered memories as fact," Tuvok said.

"Are you suggesting otherwise," Doc said.

"Historically, recovered memories have often proven unreliable," Tuvok said.

"Yes, in cases where a traumatic experience has been repressed for years, But we're dealing with a very recent memory here that was blocked by artificial means," Doc said. "When I removed the mechanism, 7 remembered everything that happened,"

"Human memory is rarely perfect," Tuvok said.

"What are you saying, Tuvok." Tom said. "That 7 is making this up,"

"No, but we must remember that she's experienced hallucinatory images before," Tuvok said.

"Which led us to the USS Revan," I said.

"That was in direct response to a signal from the ship where she was assimilated, She's not having hallucinations now, She's remembering what happened to her, I've confirmed this by analyzing the specific engrammatic activity in her hippocampus, We're not talking about conjecture," Doc said. "We're talking about science,"

"Let's bring it down a bit, 7 has made a serious accusations, and I won't dismiss them, If Kovin Assaulted her and took a sample of her Borg Technology, we can't stand by and do nothing," I said. "In the wrong hands a single nanoprobe could lead to disaster, Doc, I want you to keep searching for any physical evidence to back up 7's claim, I will talk to Kovin, Dismissed," I said.

XXX

"This is offensive and absurd," Kovin said. "She's obviously lying,"

"Why would she do that?" I said.

"Maybe you can answer that," Kovin said. "She's your crew member, First, She attacks me, Then she invents these ridiculous stories, and you try to place the blame on me, Is this some kind of negotiating tactic,"

"I have no hidden agenda, I'm simply trying to clarify what happened," I said.

"I told you already, We went to my laboratory, to adjust the guidance system on the particle beam rifle," Kovin said.

"And that took 2 hours," I said.

"She insisted on absolute precision," Kovin said.

"We've confirmed that 7 was exposed to an intense thoron discharge," I said.

"She was, After the rifle's power cell overloaded," Kovin said. "We reported the accident immediately,"

"She now remember that you fired the weapon at her deliberately," I said.

"That's preposterous," Kovin said.

"The Doctor Tells me the blast could have been enough to render her unconscious," I said.

"But it didn't," Kovin said. "We were both startled for a moment, and after I apologized for the accident, she asked if I had a dermal regenerator, Which I did, and I used it on her arm, the one with the Mechanical implants,"

"Which you recognized as Borg," I said.

"I was aware she'd been a Borg, She told me herself," Kovin said.

"Did you ever express curiosity in that technology, or try to examine it more closely?" I said.

"No," Kovin said.

"You never considered the potential value it might have as a weapon?" I said.

"Is that what you think I've done?" Kovin said.

"You may not realize how dangerous Borg Technology can be, If you've taken even a single Nanoprobe, I need to know about it right now," I said.

"I haven't taken anything," Kovin said.

"I'd Like to examine your Laboratory to be absolutely sure," I said.

"No," Kovin said. "This has already gone too far,"

"Then I'll have to contact the authorities, Maybe they'll be more helpful," I said.

"Are you willing to risk our trade agreement all on the basis of one crew member's delusions?" Kovin said.

"Yes," I said. "Now, Are you going to cooperate with our investigation?"

"I don't seem to have much choice," Kovin said.

As Kovin left with Tuvok as he started with him.

XXX

I was on the bridge. As Tuvok and the Doc was down on the planet.

"Tuvok to Voyager," Tuvok said.

"McCall here," I said.

"Mr. Kovin has transported out of the Laboratory, Can you track his present position?" Tuvok said.

"Stand by, Harry," I said.

"I'm picking up a transporter signature 100 kilometers about the surface," Harry said.

"Captain, There's a ship powering its engines at those coordinates," Tom said.

"Magistrate, Do you want us to follow him?" I said.

"Yes, But I'd like to join you," Magistrate said.

"Very well, We'll beam you to Voyager, Stand by," I said. "Harry Energize,"

"We have them," Harry said.

"Tom Pursue course," I said.

"Kovin's ship is on a heading of 18 mark 25," Tom said.

"Set an intercept course," I said. "Get ready to lock on a tractor beam,"

"He's only at half impulse," Chakotay said. "His ship may not have warp engines,"

"Or he is going to trick us," I said.

"We're at 9,000 kilometers and closing," Tom said.

"I'm engaging the tractor beam," Chakotay said. As something filled up the viewscreen with a light.

"I can't find him," Tom said as he was gone once the light was too. "All of my sensors reading have disappeared,"

"He generated a photonic pulse, It took them off line," Harry said. "We'll have to reinitialize the entire sensor array,"

"Do it," I said. "Our investigation has suddenly turned into a manhunt,"

"The fact that he is running shows that he's got something to hide," Chakotay said. "Until we find out what that is, we can't risk letting him go,"

XXX

"Captain log Stardate 51679.4. we've detected the warp signature from Kovin's ships and we're not in pursuit. In the meantime, Tuvok and I have been examining the tools from Kovin's lab, End log," I said.

"This isn't getting us anywhere," I said. "7 cellular residue is on every one of these, but that would be true if she simply handled them,"

"My Examination of the rifle is equally inconclusive," Tuvok said. "It may have overloaded accidentally, Or not,"

"I'm getting a bad feeling about this, Tuvok," I said. "We aren't finding anything that implicates Kovin,"

"I told him our investigation would be impartial, I believe It has been," Tuvok said.

"It has, But I'll admit, I had some preconceptions about him, they may have influenced my judgement, The strongest evidence so far is the nanoprobes The Doc found, That fact they were regenerated suggest that Kovin was experimenting with them," I said.

"We don't know a great deal about the interaction between nanoprobes and Borg Physiology, It might be worthwhile to simulate the effect of the rifle blast on 7's arm and see what happened to the nanoprobes," Tuvok said.

"Good, Maybe that'll give us some answers," I said.

As we got to sickbay.

"Is this really necessary, Captain, She's suffered enough trauma already," Doc said.

"I know. But we don't want to make accusations against an innocent man, We have to do everything we can to find some concrete evidence," I said.

"He is not an innocent man, I know what he did to me," 7 said.

"But we must have proof, And this experiment may provide us with it, We've configured this hypospray to simulate the energy of a thoron blast, We'll collect thin layers of your skin tissue and examine the effects. It won't be painful," Tuvok said.

"I am not afraid. I am angry," 7 said.

"I know, Try to be patient," I said. "We may have some answers soon," As Tuvok went ahead. "All right, let's see what we've got, I think you better take a look, Doc,"

"What do you see?" 7 said.

"The Nanoprobes are regenerating, in exactly the same pattern we saw in Kovin's laboratory," Doc said. "It appears to be a spontaneous response which could have been caused by the energy release from the thoron weapon,"

"It doesn't matter, Kovin is guilty," 7 said.

"7, There's no doubt in my mind that you believe what you're saying, but is it possible just possible, that the memories you and the Doc recovered aren't accurate?" I said.

"How could that be?" 7 said.

"During your time with the Borg, You were subjected to invasive medical procedures, You undoubtedly witnessed other victims being assimilated, Could that be what you're remembering?" I said.

"You know that's not right," 7 said. "Tell them,"

"Everything led me to believe that you were a victim, Your extreme response to Kovin in Engineering, your irrational fear when I was examining you, Something prompted that behaviour and I believed it was a repressed memory of your ordeal with Kovin," Doc said.

"That is what it was," 7 said.

"But If I'm to be impartial, I have to acknowledge that your neurology is still something of a mystery to me, I can't be certain what triggered those memories, And we can't ignore the fact that this evidence supports Kovin's story and not yours," Doc said.

"You were the one who helped me to understand what happened and now you're denying it," 7 said.

"7, No one's abandoning you, but we have to do what's right," I said. "We have to find Kovin and tell him what we learned,"

"The Doctor told me I would feel better when Kovin gets what he deserves, I want him to be punished, I won't settle for anything less," 7 said.

Then 7 walked out.

XXX

"Captain, He coming into range of Kovin's ship," Tom said.

"Red Alert, Shields up," I said. As the Klaxons went red.

"He's in range," Tom said.

"Visual," I said. "Hail him,"

"No response," Tuvok said. "He's charging weapons,"

"Full power to Shields, Open a Channel, All frequencies," I said. "Mr. Kovin, This is Captain McCall, We believe we've made a mistake in accusing you, We only want to correct the situation, Stand down your weapons,"

"He's responding," Tuvok said.

"On Screen," I said.

"Stop your pursuit," Kovin said. "I can damage your ship,"

"We're not here to take you by force," I said.

"Then let me go," Kovin said.

"Kovin, listen to me, The proceedings must be resolved," Magistrate said.

"This is a trap," Kovin said.

"No, We've discovered information that supports your story," I said.

"I don't believe you," Kovin said.

"We've re-examined the evidence, Finding the Nanoprobes led us to the wrong conclusion, We know now that your thoron rifle did overload, Please," Doc said then Kovin ended the channel.

"He's firing a spread of Photon pulses," Tuvok said. As we got hit

"Shields down to 82%," Harry said.

"Back off, give him some breathing room," I said.

"He's coming about, Heading right for us," Tom said.

As he hit us again.

"Direct hit to the power grid," Chakotay said.

"Shields down to 50%," Harry said.

"ZPM 1 to Shields," I said.

"Shields up to 95%," Harry said. "But I can't tell you how much that ZPM has left,"

"Innocent or not, he's going to destroy your vessel," Magistrate said.

"Captain," Chakotay said.

"He's come under enough fire from us already, Harry beam him off his ship," I said.

"He's thrown up a scattering field," Harry said. "I can't get a lock,"

"Keep trying," I said. As we got hit.

"He's shunting all power to his photonic emitters," Tuvok said.

"We must protect ourselves, Disable his ship," Magistrate said.

"No, This is my Ship. Don't ever think about giving order on my vessel. Tom, Evasive maneuvers hard to port. Full thrusters," I said.

"Aye," Tom said.

"I've almost got a lock on him, A few more seconds," Harry said.

"He's charging weapons again," Tuvok said. "Captain his emitter are overloading, all his system are destabilizing,"

"Open a channel," I said. "Kovin shut down your scattering field, Let us beam you aboard, Kovin,"

"He's firing," Chakotay said.

As it destroyed his ship.

"Harry," I said.

"I can't find anything to lock onto captain," Harry said.

"There's nothing more we could have done," Magistrate said.

"Stand down Red Alert," I said. As the Klaxons went normal again. "Get repairs on the way. Tom Set a course back to the Entharan Colony, Maximum warp,"

XXX

I was in my ready room with the doc.

"I've isolated the algorithms responsible for my desire to expand beyond my original programming, I want to delete them," Doc said.

"Why?" I said.

"It was my, Urge to experiment, my infatuation with improving myself that led to this tragedy," Doc said. "I fancied myself a psychologist, a ship's counsellor, But I wasn't prepared for the complexities that come with such a responsibility, In my enthusing to help 7, I lost my medical objectivity, I became a self righteous advocate, I didn't stop to think for one second that I might be wrong, That mustn't happen again," Doc said.

"You want to go back to the state you were in when we first activated you?" I said.

"I'll still be capable of treating any and all medical conditions, But without the risk of overstepping my bounds, It's for the best, Captain," Doc said.

"Oh, I'm not so sure, This crew has benefited greatly from your improvements over the years, Request Denied," I said.

"Captain," Doc said.

"I won't turn back the cloak because of one mistake, no matter how serious, and no matter how you might feel," I said.

"I'm a physician, I'm supposed to preserve life not destroy it, I can't live with the thought that, I might do it again," Doc said.

"With any luck, That knowledge will prevent it from happening again, We all rallied around 7, Doc, Myself included, I wanted her to know that she was part of this family, That we would support her, fight for her, no matter what, We let our good intentions blind us, We all bear responsibility for Kovin's death, And we all have to live with it," I said. "But to delete that burden would be the last thing any of us should do. Because I can live with this,"

That's all for this chapter.

More to follow.

Stay tuned and safe.

Love Y'all

PEACE!