Chapter 2

Seven of Nine felt that there was something different about herself as her regeneration cycle ended. She couldn't pin it down, not exactly, but her thoughts felt clearer, sharper. More alarmingly, the sight of the Queen should have filled her with apprehension and unease, yet her presence near the central alcove brought only a sense of familiarity.

The Queen smiled gently as Seven's eyes locked onto her own, holding out an inviting hand.

"Come, I have something to show you, Seven of Nine."

Cautiously, but also very curious, Seven came up to the Queen and cocked her head enquiringly.

Laying a hand on Seven's shoulder, the Queen remarked softly:

"We have never told you before why we regard you as so unique, why you are our favourite drone. For you are our favourite, and you must never forget that this is so. You have always been very good at adapting to new situations, at taking the unconventional approach. That is why we put you on Voyager to speak for the Collective. That is why you survived and adapted when your scout ship crashed, and your link to us was severed. Let us see what you make of this new information."

Turning away from Seven, the Queen waved a hand towards the wall. Immediately, a large holographic screen appeared. What it showed caused Seven's eyes to widen. It appeared to be an enormous web of light, constructed with individual green dots. As she stared at it, she knew for certain what was being shown, even without being told. She murmured in awe:

"The Collective!"

Beside Seven, the Queen struggled not to let her triumph show on her face. Her former drone's reaction had been exactly what she'd hoped for. Stepping forward, the Queen remarked softly:

"You can do more than just look at the Collective. That is another reason why you are special. If you interface with the central alcove, you will understand."

Once again, the Queen hid her triumph. To a limited human, Seven of Nine looked as stoic as she normally did. However, the Queen had known her for far longer, and was easily able to discern any fleeting emotion on those rare occasions where one of her drones possessed free will.

It was clear that Seven was conflicted, she seemed both curious, but worried. The Queen knew very well what was worrying her favourite drone, and murmured reassuringly:

"Your mind will not be submerged by the Many, you will still hear them, communicate with them, but you will be apart, as am I."

Somewhat reassured, Seven moved to the central alcove and activated the console there. She stiffened suddenly, as the voice of the Collective, a whisper that had been ghosting at the edge of her mind ever since she had entered the Borg sphere, became startingly clear.

Designation Seven of Nine, formally Tertiary Adjunct of Unimatrix 01. We hear you.

Pushing away her discomfort with an effort, Seven closed her eyes and focussed on what she wanted to see. The screen on the wall shrank slightly, as Seven drew the central focus to any Borg vessels in the sector of space where Voyager had last been.

The Queen, who had been expecting Seven's first central action, took precautions to block access to the Collective's tracking of the Delta Flyer. While it was clear that Seven would draw conclusions about the position of Voyager, the moment she saw how close Janeway was, all the Queen's hard work thus far would be ruined.

Seven mused on the information she had received, seeing that two cubes were travelling on a parallel course to Voyager, likely keeping track of them. They were travelling on a circular course in Borg space, it was likely they were searching for her, since they hadn't removed themselves from the danger of attack. At least the cubes were not a threat to Voyager on their current course.

Frowning slightly, Seven considered what the Queen had told her, that she could do more than just look at the Collective. If that were true, she might be able to do something concrete. Focussing on the cubes, Seven was startled to suddenly hear thousands of muted voices, all speaking at once. After a moment of reflection, she realised that she was hearing the drones on the cubes.

Resolving to reflect on that issue later on, Seven deliberately shifted the screen to another sector, showing a planet where Voyager had previously encountered the Kazon. While the Queen was distracted by the change on the screen, Seven hastily attempted to narrow her focus on the drones she could hear on the cubes. Eventually only hearing one voice, Seven smirked at the successful result. The voice of the drone was as clear to her as if it was standing right next to her.

Transwarp engine out of alignment by .2 microns. This drone must align the engine perfectly.

This was exactly what she'd been hoping for, connecting to a maintenance drone. Very cautiously, she opened her mind to the other drone, startled to realise its designation without being told. Another puzzle to solve later.

*Two of four, Secondary Adjunct of Unimatrix 04, disalign the engine. Otherwise your vessel will run into an ion storm and become damaged.*

Seven was doubtful that this would work, as the Two of Four was connected to the Hive Mind and could verify from the other drones on the cube about a potential ion storm. However, to her surprise, the drone replied:

I will comply.

A few moments later, Seven smirked as the cube veered slightly off course and away from Voyager's own course. Now for the other cube….

Still pretending to be distracted by the screen change, the Queen raised an eyebrow as the voice of one of her drones became slightly fainter. Just as she had planned, Seven of Nine was discovering her potential, her talents. Talents she could only utilise with the Borg, and not with lesser species. She smirked as cube 562 began to deviate from it's confirmed course.

Clever, my child, very clever. We suppose such a change can be allowed.

She would be able to stop things before Seven could do anything that harmed her plans, but could easily allow Seven of Nine to believe that she had control, that she was outsmarting her true Mother.