Chapter 5 – The Investigation
"Crewman Jor to Lieutenant Commander Tuvok."
Tuvok opened his eyes. His meditation candle still burned in front of him casting the only light about his quarters. Tuvok checked the ship's chronometer. It was 0130 in the morning. "Go ahead crewman," he answered.
"I think there's a problem. Seven is gone."
"Gone?"
"When I returned to our quarters from my shift about fifteen minutes ago, she wasn't here. I noticed that her regeneration alcove was missing as well. Everything completely gone, and her communicator was left on the table beside the bed."
"Is she with Commander Chakotay?"
"I don't know sir. I don't think so."
Tuvok stood. "Stay where you are crewman, I will be in touch." The connection was terminated. He moved over to his desk and picked up his communicator and tapped it. "Tuvok to Commander Chakotay."
There was a short delay before the response. "Tuvok? What is it?"
"Is Seven with you?"
"No. What's the problem?"
"Seven is apparently missing. When was the last time you saw her Commander?"
"Last night. About 2230 hours. I walked her back to her quarters after our dinner."
Tuvok's communicator chirped indicating another hail. "Just a moment Commander." He touched his communicator to switch to the new connection. "Tuvok here."
"Sir, this is Crewman O'Donnell. I'm currently on duty on deck six. Marina just called me and asked me to check the shuttle bay. The Borg tetrahedron is gone. I checked the logs, but there's no indication anyone has been here since yesterday evening or the shuttle bay doors were even opened. I don't understand it."
Tuvok frowned. "Stand by crewman," he responded and tapped his communicator again to return to Commander Chakotay. "Commander. Seven's tetrahedron is gone as well. I will wake the Captain and gather everyone who had contact with Seven yesterday evening in the conference room immediately. Tuvok out."
A half hour later, nine people sat about the conference room table. In addition to Janeway, Chakotay, and Tuvok were Lieutenants Paris and Torres, Ensign Ayala, and Crewmans O'Donnell, Jor and Suder. Tuvok took charge of the questioning and investigation.
"Let's first establish a timeline of exactly where Seven was from the moment she finished debriefing with me yesterday afternoon. That was at 1630 hours."
Tom Paris cleared his throat. "Seven and I shared the turbolift down to deck eight," he said. "We exchanged some idle talk, but nothing I would consider concerning."
"What exactly did you talk about Lieutenant," Tuvok queried. "Any detail could be important."
Paris shifted in his seat. "Ah. Well, I paid her a compliment and, um…" he glanced briefly to the side in the direction of where Lieutenant B'Elanna sat next to him. "She advised me to not pursue Kes any longer and that there was someone else who would bring out the best in me and I in her." He cleared his throat again nervously.
Tuvok nodded. "Drawing again on the knowledge she possessed from the alternative universes. Did she happen to mention who your prospective match was? Someone currently on Voyager, or someone else?"
Paris looked down to his lap, as if to find the answer there, but then sighed and cocked his head in Lieutenant Torres's direction. "It's B'Elanna," he blurted out.
"What!" B'Elanna exclaimed, and Tom raised his hands to indicate it wasn't his fault.
Fortunately, Ensign Ayala saved Tom from any further discussion on the matter. "Next would be me. We could check the holodeck log for an exact time, but I think she showed up at about that time. She had messaged me and said she only had to regenerate for four hours per night, and so in the remaining time had created a holodeck program specifically for me."
"Did you say why she did this for you?"
"Yes. She said that since I was one of Chakotay's best friends, she wanted to make sure the two of us got along. That we became friends too."
"What was the nature of the holoprogram she created for you?"
"A birding program," Ayala replied. "Various habitats on Earth where I could search for and identify the various bird species native to the location or migrating through." He looked at Chakotay and smiled. "It's a hobby of mine. One I haven't had a chance to do for a long time now. Since, well. Since the Cardassians. And the Maquis. I didn't realize it until yesterday, but it's exactly what I've been needing. A diversion."
"And had you told her about your interest in birding?" Tuvok asked.
Ayala shook his head. "The first time I spoke with her was when she said she had reserved the holodeck for me yesterday after my shift ended."
"And you Commander, had you told Seven about Ensign Ayala's hobby?"
Chakotay shook his head as well. "No, but she has said Miguel is my best man at our weddings in various other realities. She must know things about him. She must know something about all of us."
"Precisely. So again, an instance where she drew on the knowledge she possessed from the alternative universes and applied it to her current situation. And most notably, to help someone."
"Next would be when she arrived at Crewman Suder's quarters at 1642 hours," Cathal O'Donnell piped in. "I was stationed out front, and she asked if she could go inside to speak with Crewman Suder for a moment. I asked if she wanted me to go inside with her, and she said she would be fine. She stayed inside for four minutes, and then left."
Tuvok turned to Crewman Suder. "What did you and Seven talk about Mister Suder?"
"She came to apologize," Suder said. "For exposing me. I told her no apology was necessary and that in fact I was relieved. No one else will get hurt. She then described to me what it was like to be a drone. How she participated in the assimilation of worlds. The horrors she witnessed and even participated in. She told me, if she could be redeemed, I could be redeemed as well." Suder glanced at those around the table, but then settled on Captain Janeway. Suder was normally so controlled, and yet he was struggling now to keep his composure. "Captain, I'm a full Betazoid. I can sense people's emotions. I know when they're lying, and I know when they're being genuine. Seven was concerned for me." His voice cracked and he looked down to the table. "Like Miguel, I haven't felt that in a long time. A long time."
"Now that we know what's going on," Captain Janeway said. "We'll take care of you Mister Suder."
"Thank you Captain," Suder replied, not looking up.
"I think the pattern we see is that Seven has been using what she knows from the other universes to help individuals in her own timeline," Tuvok concluded. "Our timeline." He didn't wait for comment and consulted his PADD. "After that, there's a fifteen minute gap where I speculate Seven returned to her quarters to change into a new outfit for her dinner with Commander Chakotay. Sensor logs indicate she arrived at your quarters, Commander, at 1712, about eighteen minutes early for your previously planned engagement."
Chakotay nodded. "Both B'Elanna and I were there. We all talked for a short time, and then Seven and I went to holodeck two and the Chez Sandrine's program. We ate a light dinner, and talked until about 2220. I walked her to her quarters and dropped her off at 2230."
"And she in no way gave the impression that something might be wrong?"
"Quite the contrary," Chakotay replied. "We talked about using the tetrahedron to shuttle Voyager crew back and forth to the Alpha Quadrant. All of us getting back, but not abandoning Voyager to do it. I'm at a loss for what happened. Why she's gone. I just don't understand…" Chakotay's voice trailed off.
"I've pieced together what happened next," Tuvok continued. "The Doctor's program was taken offline and security logs were altered in sickbay from 2303 hours to 2312 hours. I've checked, and all the Borg components that were removed from Seven are no longer in sickbay. A site to site transport from sickbay to the shuttle bay was conducted and erased from the primary log at 2311 hours. The shuttle bay's security logs were altered from 2310 hours to 2328 hours. I speculate that it was during this time she unhooked the tetrahedron from its docking clamps, opened the shuttle bay doors, and exited Voyager."
"How could she possible do all this without anyone noticing," Janeway asked incredulously.
"It was the middle of the night and she used a command override to alter the security logs and isolate the shuttle bay sensors from the bridge," Tuvok answered.
"Seven doesn't have the necessary command codes," Janeway protested. "She's barely just joined the crew."
"But I do," Chakotay guessed. He turned to face Tuvok. "She used my codes, didn't she?"
"You are correct Commander. Obviously acquired from alternative universes."
Janeway leaned back in her chair and placed a hand over her mouth. "I want all security codes changed within the hour. We need to secure all of Voyager's systems."
"But what was her motivation?" Chakotay asked. "Why would she leave so suddenly?"
"Isn't it obvious," Suder replied. "She's protecting us." He looked directly at Chakotay. "More specifically, she's protecting you. Her love for you is unmistakable." He turned to the other Betazoid in the room. "Marina, I'm sure you've sensed it as well."
"Of course I have," Marina said. "I was so happy for Chakotay."
"Protect me from what?" Chakotay shot back.
"Given who she is, and that she went out of her way to gather all the Borg technology from Voyager," Tuvok observed, "the logical conclusion is she is protecting us from the Borg. Somehow, she now perceives the Borg as a threat where before she did not."
"Something must have happened after Chakotay dropped her off at our quarters," Marina said. "Can we check sensor logs to see if there was a transmission of any kind?"
"I checked the logs and found nothing," Tuvok said, "but I'll check them again."
"I can run a diagnostic on the sensor array," B'Elanna suggested, "see if something comes up."
"We need to go after her," Chakotay pleaded. He turned to face the Captain.
"If it is the Borg," Janeway said soberly, "we'd be no match for them."
"I'll go after her in a shuttlecraft if need be," Chakotay replied.
"But we have no idea where she is," Paris observed. "If the tetrahedron has a trans-warp drive, she could be anywhere."
They all fell silent for a short time. Tuvok made some final notes on his PADD and then set it down. "Not anywhere, Mister Paris. I think I know exactly where she is going, and she is only traveling at warp, so if we decide, we could catch up with her. At maximum warp, we would be there in thirty minutes."
"Where?" Chakotay asked at the same time Janeway asked "How?"
Tuvok answered the Captain's question first. "When Seven arrived, I took the liberty of placing a tracking beacon on the tetrahedron. At the time, I did not trust her. It has apparently gone unnoticed, for our sensors have a strong signal. As for where…" Tuvok leaned forward and tapped on his PADD. A planet was displayed on the conference room wall along with various statistics. M-class with about an equal area of water and surface visible on the imaged side of the planet. "We cataloged this planet about a month ago, soon after Captain Janeway and Commander Chakotay were marooned for a short time on another nearby planet due to a contagion and the incident with the Vidiians. The planet is a trading outpost for the surrounding systems with a known Vidiian settlement on the southern continent."
"I don't recall ever discovering a Vidiian settlement on any planet," Janeway protested.
"We didn't," Tuvok replied. "This planet and particularly the Vidiian settlement, however, does factor in a number of alternative universes that Seven is aware of. The two of us cataloged and discussed a number of those timelines yesterday."
"Why would she seek out the Vidiians?" Chakotay asked.
"I think you already know the answer Commander," Tuvok replied ambiguously.
Chakotay slapped his hand on the table and leaned back. "Of course. It's the Vidiians who can use their technology to remove all of Seven's Borg components. She told me as well, when we first met. Those were the timelines when we meet on New Earth."
Tuvok nodded. "Something happened between 2230 and 2303 that convinced Seven she had to leave Voyager and purge herself of everything Borg."
All eyes turned to the Captain. She didn't take long to make her decision. "Tom, your shift starts now. Reverse course and maximum warp to the Vidiian planet. The rest of us have thirty minutes to come up with a plan on what we do when we catch up with her."
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Author's note: Tested positive for COVID today. First time, but so far not too bad. Might slow down on updates for a time. Please leave chapter reviews with comments and suggestions if you get a chance. Sometime I might go back and edit these chapters more thoroughly.
