Chapter 5 – Touchdown

Captain Kathryn Janeway frowned as she scanned sickbay. It was abuzz with activity. All six of the main biobeds were occupied with Borg drones in various states of disassembly. They had arrived the day before, simultaneously with the warp core going offline after a severe power surge. Somehow, Kes had done both with her new found powers. Unlike Annika, the Borg implants in these drones had begun to fail almost immediately and emergency surgery was required on all of them. The Doctor, Tom Paris, Jenny Delaney, B'Elanna Torres, Vorik and T'Vora worked steadily on removing what Borg armor, implants, and appendages they could. Besides the Doctor, only Tom and T'Vora had any sort of formal medical training. The others were recruited due to their engineering expertise, which happened to be appropriate in this particular circumstance. Fortunately, for the case of the engineers, only after the warp core had been brought back online. A half dozen others were assisting while Tuvok, Annika Hansen and a security detail also hovered nearby.

The Doctor carefully removed one of the last forearm implants from one of the drones and placed it carefully on a tray nearby. Borg pieces littered the area and he motioned to a nearby crewman to help clear the tray. He looked up and caught the Captain's eye, and then moved over to speak with her. She had been waiting for his status report. "It's progressing slowly, Captain, but so far without incident," he said to her unasked question.

"And their transceivers?"

"They were already deactivated when they arrived," the Doctor replied. "In fact, the key component in each of the devices were not even present." He glanced over to the final biobed within sickbay's surgical area where Kes lay unconscious. "Whatever Kes did when she brought them here, she disconnected them from the Collective quite effectively."

Kathryn remained thoughtful. "And from what Chakotay and Annika reported, apparently unconsciously as well. Perhaps that's why their Borg implants began to fail so rapidly."

"That's possible," the Doctor confirmed. "As it was, I think the situation wasn't as dire as I had first thought. The critical Borg components were still functioning and I believe the individuals would have survived for several days untreated."

Tuvok and Annika had moved closer. "May I remind you, Captain," Tuvok interjected. "Commander Chakotay and Crewman Hansen also claimed that Kes saw the connections between them and this Unimatrix Zero despite Annika's transceiver being disabled and her link to the Collective severed. It is probable this link continues to exist with these other drones as well and it is possible it could be exploited by the Borg to determine our location."

"A link she claims to see by looking beyond the subatomic," Kathryn replied.

"However illogical that might sound," Tuvok answered. "Yes. We cannot deny Kes' growing power and the events that have recently transpired." He gestured towards the biobeds. "We have six new Borg drones aboard, and the testimony of both Commander Chakotay and Crewman Hansen as to their origin."

Kathryn sighed and rubbed her chin. "Well, they're here now, and just like with Annika, we're going to do our best to integrate them with our crew." She looked at the drones and then turned to Annika. "Tell me what you know of these… people." She was about to say drones, as Tuvok had done, but then changed her mind. Having a former drone standing next to her undoubtedly had something to do with that.

Annika moved to the first biobed and Janeway and Tuvok followed. The Doctor returned to his own work. T'Vora was just removing a piece of Borg exoskeleton from the patient's abdomen and exposed a bit a gray-white skin. "This is Lieutenant Laura Hernandez," Annika stated. "A human who was serving aboard a Federation Starship at the Battle of Wolf 359 and assimilated after her ship was disabled and boarded."

"How is that possible," Tuvok countered. "The Borg cube was itself destroyed at the battle above Earth."

"Chakotay had a similar objection. She guesses that she and the others assimilated at the Battle of Wolf 359 were dispatched in a sphere back to Borg space before the final confrontation."

Tuvok grunted, but had no further comment. T'Vora glanced up, perhaps startled by her fellow Vulcan's display of emotion. She turned to address the Captain. "I am proceeding along the procedure detailed by Doctor Beverly Crusher when she restored Captain Jean-Luc Piccard after the events just mentioned," she said. "The Doctor considers this a textbook case. It is likely we will be able to remove all of her Borg implants and replace her left hand with an artificial one."

"Why weren't we able to do the same with Annika?" Janeway inquired.

T'Vora glanced towards the Doctor but then returned her attention to the Captain. "Although I was not involved with that procedure, it is my understanding that Crewman Hansen's assimilation at such a young age and the time she spent in a maturation chamber complicated the restoration process. Some of the Borg implants could not be removed without jeopardizing her life."

Janeway nodded curtly. She recalled the Doctor explaining that to her at the time. T'Vora returned to her work and the others moved to the next biobed. Tom Paris was working on the armor attached to one of his patient's arms. "It appears we've assimilated some more members for our merry crew," Tom joked. "It's been an interesting day so far Captian, don't you agree?" Janeway shook her head but smiled despite herself.

"I was not formally introduced to this individual," Annika said, ignoring Lieutenant Paris's attempt at humor. She examined him more closely. "I believe, however, his name is Siral. A friend of Laura's and…" Annika frowned and then stepped back.

Kathryn moved closer. "What is it Annika?"

Annika was still frowning. "I had a sudden flash of a memory. I believe I knew him as well. In fact, I know I did. A friend of mine as well. He's Brunali, a species in the Delta Quadrant. His world was assimilated about ten years ago."

Kathryn and Tuvok exchanged a quick look. "So it's true," Tuvok said. "You believe you were a member of this Unimatrix Zero while part of the Borg?"

Annika nodded slowly. "We were skeptical at first, but the more we're around these individuals, the more we remember. It's very strange."

"We?" Janeway inquired.

Annika shook her head. "Commander Chakotay and myself," she clarified.

"Where is Chakotay anyway?" Janeway responded looking about the rest of sickbay.

"He's in our quarters," Annika replied, again using the inclusive pronoun, but decided to ignore the Captain's raised eyebrows. She had never physically been there before, having regenerated in one of the functioning Borg alcoves in Cargo Bay Two.

"And…" Janeway prompted.

"I require a shorter time regenerating than he requires sleep. He is still preparing for the day's activities."

"I mean, the link between the two of you. Any changes?"

"No," Annika replied. "But we are managing. We can… effectively ignore the other for a time. In a sense, stop paying attention. I suppose similar to closing your eyes, or perhaps a better analogy would be tuning out a particular conversation you might be overhearing."

"But you can still tune right back in if you wanted," Janeway asked.

Annika nodded. "For instance, right now he's…" She shook her head to get the resulting image out of her mind. He was indeed still getting ready. "Never mind." She quickly moved to the next table and the others followed. On it was a Klingon male. Vorik was in the final stages of removing the armor from his legs. "General Korok," Annika said.

"I've heard of him," Tuvok commented. "Years ago he was the head of Klingon counter-intelligence operations. He disappeared suddenly and Star Fleet Intelligence assumed he had been removed by a rival family on the High Council."

Annika shook her head. "He was assimilated along with the crew of his warbird while conducting clandestine operations along the Federation and Romulan neutral zone over nine years ago."

"Fascinating," Tuvok replied. "The missing colonies Enterprise surveyed in the neutral zone from that same time period. It was concluded the Borg were responsible for their destruction. General Korok must have been operating in the vicinity and was swept up in that incursion."

Annika turned to the next biobed and narrowed her eyes. The Doctor was working on this patient. Most all of the Borg devices were already removed and he was covered with a blanket.

"Someone else you know?" Janeway inquired, detecting Annika's uneasiness.

Annika nodded. "Axum," she said without enthusiasm. "He's from a Delta Quadrant species far from here. Assimilated many years ago along with his entire colony world."

"Is there some sort of problem between the two of you?" the Captain asked, now also picking up on her tone of voice and change in disposition.

Annika straightened. "Quite the contrary," she replied matter-of-factly. "I believe, however, Axum and I were involved in a romantic relationship during our times together in Unimatrix Zero." This revelation elicited another glance between Janeway and Tuvok. Annika moved to the next table without further comment and Tuvok and the Captain again followed. Annika looked back and forth between the two biobeds. B'Elanna and Jenny worked steadily without looking up. The two drones appeared almost identical. "I'm not as familiar with these two individuals," Annika finally said. "Identical twins. I believe that is common for their species, although I do not recall the name other than species three seven two. Ial and Eal. I do not know which is which. For the most part, our regeneration times did not overlap for more than a fraction of an hour each day, so we did not interact all that often."

"Regeneration times were fairly regular then?"

Annika nodded. "The Borg is very regimented in that way. Even when a cycle is missed, the next cycle would not start earlier to compensate. For the inhabitants of Unimatrix Zero, an unintended consequence was that we were at least with the same group each time while in the construct."

"So there are many drones in Unimatrix Zero you have never met," Tuvok commented.

Annika thought about it some more. The memories were coming back and they wondered if Kes had 'flipped the switch' in their minds as she had mentioned. "I suppose that's true," she finally replied. "I think, however, there was enough overlap between drones, throughout the day, that we were aware of the others existence despite never meeting them directly in the construct."

"How many drones, in total, would you estimate occupy Unimatrix Zero?" Tuvok asked.

"There are about a thousand drones at any one time within the Unimatrix Zero construct," Annika replied. "On average, drones regenerate for four hours in a twenty-four hour period, so that would imply approximately six thousand individuals."

The Captain shook her head in amazement.

"Star Fleet estimated the Borg Collective contained four hundred billion drones," Tuvok commented. "If that is the case, the recessive mutation you spoke of earlier occurs in one in sixty-six million drones and not the one in a million drones you quoted before."

Tuvok was a stickler for precision. "Regardless," Annika said. "We must go back and help them."

"How?" the Captain asked.

Annika narrowed her eyes. "When we were there, the inhabitants spoke of a plan. A way of retaining their memories of Unimatrix Zero when their regeneration cycle was complete."

"I would advise against exposing Voyager further to the possible scrutiny of the Borg," Tuvok countered. "We are still deep within Borg space. Their numbers may have been depleted in their war with Species 8472, but we are no match for the Borg if confronted with one of their cubes."

"We have to do something," Annika said forcefully.

"I appreciate your passion, but we have a more pressing problem," Tuvok replied. He turned towards the surgical bay and placed is hands behind his back. It was obvious who he was referring to, the final patient in sickbay.

"Kes?" the Captain asked incredulous.

"All the plasma relays in Jefferies tube twelve were fused when Kes was undergoing her metamorphosis," Tuvok explained. "It is why the warp drive was disabled. Whatever is happening to her is detrimentally effecting ship's systems. With each occurrence, the effect becomes more pronounced and the destruction of nearby equipment more severe."

"Whatever is happening to her," the Captain replied, "she wants to see it through to the end. She's made that clear."

"If that is the case, Kes cannot remain aboard Voyager," Tuvok concluded.

"She asked to be transferred to a shuttle if her condition threatened the ship or crew," Janeway mused. "Perhaps we should start giving that some more thought."

"You can't be serious," Annika interjected, sounding a bit annoyed.

"I beg your pardon," Janeway replied, a bit taken aback. She wasn't used to being addressed in that manner.

Annika looked back and forth between the Captain and Tuvok. "Kes has spent the majority of her life aboard Voyager. Captain, you are a mother figure to her. We are the only friends she has and knows. We can't just abandon her to an unknown fate because her presence has become inconvenient. There must be an alternative."

The Captain narrowed her eyes. "Is this what Chakotay is thinking?"

"It is what I think," Annika replied. "Although Chakotay and I are of one mind on the matter."

Janeway raised her eyebrows again. "An interesting choice of words," she replied.

"That has nothing to do with it."

Janeway opened her arms exasperated. "I'm open to suggestions."

"We must transport her to a planet," Annika continued. "Away from Voyager. Stay with her during this transformation."

"That would be inadvisable," Tuvok said. "Use of the transporter is out of the question. One power surge and we could not only lose Kes, but destroy Voyager."

"This ship can land on a planet's surface," Annika countered. "We must find a suitable planet and land. Move Kes to a safe distance and see this transformation of hers through."

The Captain was holding her chin and nodding slowly. "Annika's right," she finally said. "Kes deserves our full support. She's a part of the crew. A part of the Voyager family."

"If that is your decision, the sooner we initiate this plan, the better," Tuvok commented. "The frequency and intensity of these occurrences with Kes is increasing. It is unclear how much time we have left."

"We passed a star system containing an uninhabited M-class planet yesterday," Janeway said. She touched her comm badge. "Captain Janeway to the bridge."

"Yes ma'am," Ensign Kim responded.

"The M-class planet we passed yesterday. At maximum warp, how long would it take to reach it?"

There was a moment's hesitation as Kim must have been making the calculations. "Just over ninety minutes Captain."

"Reverse course. Best speed to that planet Ensign."

"Yes ma'am. Bridge out."

Almost immediately, the feel of the ship changed as the Captain's orders were carried out. At maximum warp, it was difficult for the inertial dampers to eliminate all the vibrations. There was now a slight hum that could be felt as Voyager unleashed the full power of the matter/antimatter reactions in the engines.

"The engines will be hot and venting dry plasma after that much time at maximum warp," Tuvok said. "It is not advised to enter a planet's atmosphere under those conditions."

"Not advised, perhaps, but necessary. Besides," she said, gesturing over her shoulder, "we'll have the best pilot on Voyager at the helm." Janeway turned back towards the Doctor. "Doctor, when Lieutenant Paris is done here, have him report to the bridge."

The Doctor shook his head. "Captain, we still have several hours of surgery left. I need Tom's expertise, such as it is, here with me. I can't complete this without him."

"Why thank you Doctor," Paris chimed in.

"Commander Chakotay can pilot Voyager," Annika suggested. "Ensign Jor was not scheduled for last night's shift and can be our back-up."

Paris nodded. "Marina is an excellent pilot," he said and winked at Annika. "Oh, and of course Chakotay will perform satisfactorily as well."

Annika ignored him.

"Very well," the Captain agreed. "Annika, I want you, Commander Chakotay and Crewman Jor in my ready room in one hour. Tuvok, I want you there as well. Stay here for now and keep watch over Kes and our other new additions."

#

"There's something else we need to talk about."

Annika had just stepped out of the sonic shower and was pulling her hair back into something called a 'pony tail' and then tucked it underneath itself in a twist and fastened it in place. She found she preferred to keep it out of the way like that. She then moved over to where she had placed a fresh uniform. "And what is that?" she finally asked.

"He deserves an explanation," Chakotay said bluntly.

Annika shrugged and pulled on her uniform. She had taken some time to clean up as Chakotay had done earlier. She was in their quarters… Yes, their quarters and to hell with what the Captain thought. It wasn't as if the cargo bay was fit to be her quarters anyway. "It's quite simple. I don't have the same feelings for him now as I did before."

"I know. You don't have to tell me, but you will need to tell Axum."

Annika frowned and adjusted the collar of her uniform. It sometimes became very uncomfortable if not worn correctly, as she had discovered earlier. She examined herself in the small mirror and tucked a stray bit of hair back in place.

"I know you're hesitant, but I'll be right there with you," Chakotay said.

"Very funny," Annika replied without humor. "In any case, he is still unconscious in sickbay, so we'll deal with it when the time comes."

"Are you done getting ready? Aren't we running out of time?"

"Yes," Annika replied. "You can… open your eyes. By the way, I haven't been paying attention to what you've been doing. Where are you right now?"

"Engineering," Chakotay replied. "You look beautiful by the way."

Annika realized she was still standing by the mirror and her reflection was in her peripheral vision. Or might he have been peaking? She straightened out her uniform. "And people aren't looking at you strangely as you appear to be talking to yourself?" she asked instead.

"They're too busy managing the engines now that we're at maximum warp," Chakotay replied. He looked about. Even with B'Elanna and Vorik in sickbay, several others on the Engineering staff were on duty to help out. "Joe has the team hopping, and some of them I think are also talking to themselves. I fit right in."

"Lieutenant Carey will have to make do without you. You are right we have little time. We meet with the Captain in twenty minutes."

"I'll be there. Stop by Marina's quarters on the way. She wanted to talk to you."

"What's that all about?"

"She's curious about you. And…"

"I know, I know. The Maquis are all very protective of you. I get that." Annika smiled mischievously. Through Chakotay's memories, she knew all about the Voyager crew, as well as the half-Betazoid Maquis member Marina Jor. "Should I tell her what you were really thinking that time on Bajor when she…"

No.

Annika smiled. Just asking. I'm on my way. See you in nineteen minutes.

"Out in the corridor now I see," Chakotay commented as he sat down at an engineering station to monitor the plasma pressure in the nacelles.

I'm not like you in that way, at least. I don't want to appear to be talking to myself.

#

Marina and Annika entered the Captain's ready room laughing and both Janeway and Chakotay looked up. Chakotay shifted in his chair. "What's so funny?"

"Don't you know?" Marina asked, her ink-black eyes, a testament of her Betazed heritage, a combination of curiosity and mirth.

"I knew you were both talking the whole way here, but I wasn't listening," Chakotay replied self-consciously.

Annika waved her hand. "It was nothing," she said sitting down next to Chakotay. I see why you like her so much. Marina sat on the other side of the table across from them. The door swished open again and Tuvok entered, moved across the room and sat next to the Captain.

Something was on the tip of Janeway's tongue as she looked back and forth between Annika and Chakotay, but she decided not to say it. Instead she displayed an image of a planet on the Ready Room's main screen. It appeared very Earth-like with blue oceans, swaths of tan and green land, and swirls of white clouds. "Ensign Kim just completed long range scans of the M-class planet we're approaching," she began. "Our preliminary scans from yesterday indicated it was uninhabited, yet another of the myriad of worlds we've surveyed and cataloged so far in the Delta Quadrant, but we found something in these new more detailed scans." She pressed some buttons on her console and the image zoomed in to a spot on the planet's northern hemisphere.

"Borg," Annika spat out disgusted. On the screen were lines, some straight and others conforming to the contours of the terrain. They were evidently roads, many converging on a spot where whatever had been there before appeared to have been scooped off the planet leaving behind a crater.

"In the portion of the planet surveyed so far, we've discovered fifteen such sites," Janeway continued. "Given the cloud cover and the fact we've only surveyed about sixty percent of the planet due to its rotational period, we estimate there are forty sites in total across the globe." The fifteen former cities that had been imaged where now shown on the screen in turn.

"A technological civilization to warrant a planetary assimilation apparently once existed on this planet," Tuvok commented.

"The majority of the planet's population was undoubtedly assimilated in the process," Annika said. "It is likely, however, a remnant of the original inhabitants remained."

"Exactly," Janeway concluded. "Not ideal. We have no way to know how our arrival will be treated if those inhabitants still exist."

"How long ago?" Marina asked.

"Given the erosion evident along the rim of the craters, Ensign Kim estimates forty to fifty years," Janeway replied.

"If there are inhabitants remaining, they must be few and far between to have been missed on our initial long range scan," Chakotay commented. "There's obviously no detectable current technology, large concentrations of population, or EM emissions."

"Nevertheless," Tuvok replied, "any contact would complicate our situation, particularly if they discovered we had Borg drones aboard and become hostile."

Janeway waved her hand. "That's neither here nor there. We're still landing. We have little choice given Kes's advancing condition. I just wanted you all to know what we're getting into."

Marina pointed back towards the screen which now showed the entire globe and location of the ruined cities. "Captain, could you go back to the fourth site in the sequence before."

Janeway touched some more controls and the images scrolled back until the one specified returned to the screen. This city appeared to be a coastal city where the scooped portion now formed an irregular bay on the coast. Green vegetation, perhaps forests, formed a strip along the water's edge. Nearby and bordering this inland appeared a featureless tan terrain. "A desert," Janeway said.

"I would speculate," Marina said, "if there were inhabitants remaining, they might avoid these areas where their cities had been assimilated."

Everyone turned to Annika, but she shrugged. "Once a planet is assimilated on this scale, the Borg rarely return. I would hesitate to make any speculations."

"In any case, we could bring the ship down right on the edge of that desert," Chakotay added. "That would be a perfect spot. We could come in over the ocean from the west and have plenty of space to land."

"About that," Marina continued. "We'll be coming in hot and venting dry plasma from the nacelles. The venting will cause additional lift and the ship will want to turn over and go in nose first."

"Have you ever piloted a vessel in such conditions?" Tuvok asked.

Marina hesitated and glanced at Chakotay. "In a small class one shuttle once," she replied. "Chakotay and I were evading a Cardassian frigate over Bajor and had to make an emergency landing after a high warp chase through the system. I realize it won't be the same, Voyager being much larger, but similar enough I think."

"But you and Chakotay got down in one piece," Janeway prompted. "Given you're here to tell us about it."

Marina shrugged. "More or less. Between the two of us, we managed to get through okay."

As Marina and the Captain were talking, Chakotay had turned to face Annika. Bajor? he asked. A coincidence only, she assured him. He turned back to address the Captain. "Marina's right. We'll have to compensate with the thrusters and it might get rough. As I recall, we had a pretty hard landing."

Janeway smiled. "I've gotten used to your piloting, Chakotay."

"I could operate the thrusters from a separate bridge station," Marina suggested. "That would free up Chakotay to concentrate on flying Voyager through the atmosphere to the landing spot. Voyager's larger size will moderate the turbulence we felt in the shuttle."

Tuvok nodded. "I have my trepidations, but that sounds logical. Annika, if you could assist me at one of the science stations. We'll monitor the sensor input for signs of the indigenous inhabitants as we get closer. We could adjust our landing accordingly depending on what we detect."

Suddenly Voyager exited warp. Simultaneously, the comm chimed. "Captain, we're entering orbit about the planet," Ensign Kim reported.

"We're early," Janeway commented as she stood up. "It's settled then. We'll land at site four. Everyone, take your stations." They filed out of the Ready Room and moved to their respective positions. When Janeway was in her Captain's chair, she turned to Tuvok who was positioning himself at the security console. "Code blue Commander."

Tuvok turned on the ship-wide comm. "Commander Tuvok to all hands. Go to Blue alert and report to Code Blue stations." Bridge lights changed to a blue color in preparation for landing. "Annika, I'm feeding sensor data to science station four."

"Understood," Annika replied and took her position.

"I've lined up our trajectory for a landing on the planet in the spot we specified and atmospheric controls are at standby," Chakotay said. "Landing struts online. Inertial dampers at maximum."

"I have all thrusters online and routed to my station," Marina added.

Tuvok turned back to the Captain. "All operative decks report condition blue."

Janeway nodded satisfied. "Let us down easy, Commander."

"Aye Captain."

The planet now filled the viewscreen, mostly blues and white. At first there were no sounds and the ride was smooth, but as they entered the thicker parts of the atmosphere, there was some buffeting and the faint sound of rushing air as it passed over the ship's hull could be heard. A red glow about the periphery of the viewscreen testified to the increasing temperatures due to friction. "We're on a declining glide trajectory," Chakotay said. "Altitude one hundred and ten kilometers. Everything appears nominal."

"Port thrusters are at maximum," Mariana commented.

"Compensating."

"I detect no evidence of an indigenous population within a hundred kilometers of the landing site," Annika remarked.

The buffeting increased, but that was to be expected as they entered the lower atmosphere. The image in the viewscreen angled down to show the projected landing spot. Right on the edge of the desert close to the location of the former city.

An alarm suddenly sounded on Tuvok's security board and there was a sudden jerk to the left. "Energy discharge in sickbay!" he reported. Several more alarms sounded and Tuvok glanced across his board to take it all in. "Muliple power disruptions. Shields are going down."

"I'm losing thrusters," Marina added.

There was another violent jerk as the nose of Voyager tilted perilously downward. The viewscreen was now completely obscured with a red glow. "Stay with it Commander," Janeway said trying to retain a sense of calm.

"It's fighting me," Chakotay said. Slowly, however, the ship righted itself. The ground was close, however, and coming up fast. He lifted the nose of Voyager further in an attempt to slow their descent. "We need those shields for landing!"

"Shields are at thirty percent and falling," Tuvok said. "There's nothing I can do to compensate."

Chakotay shook his head. It was too late now for anything other than a landing, regardless of the status of the shields. "Engaging landing struts. Brace for impact!" The expected hard landing wasn't as bad as expected. The desert sand must have absorbed some of the impact. Voyager was enveloped in a cloud of dust and sand as it skidded to a stop, but remained upright and intact. For a moment, everyone on the bridge was quiet, as if holding their breath. Tuvok silenced the last of the alarms.

Janeway turned to face Tuvok. "What happened?"

As if in answer, the comm system chimed. "Sickbay to bridge. O'Donnell here. Kes is semi-conscious and sickbay power systems are now offline. We're escorting her to the nearest hatch as best we can. Captain, you better get down here."

#

Author's note: So a number of fanon characters entered the story this chapter. All are Maquis and appeared briefly in an episode or two of the show:

T'Vora (named by The Cheshire Cheese) is Vulcan, and in a previous story of mine ("Family"), it was mentioned she had some medical training, so it made sense to refer to that again here. She's also appeared in my story "Les Exiles" and was briefly mentioned in "Legacy."

Marina Jor (first name also from The Cheshire Cheese) is half-Betazoid and has appeared in many of my alternative universes, "Les Exiles," "The Folly of the Stewards," "Legacy," "Family," "The Borg Insurgency," and "Close Quarters." She's often depicted as Seven/Annika's friend (thinking of that for this story) and once in an alternative/alternative paired with Chakotay (see "The Folly of the Stewards" chapter 3). I've thought about expanding on that alternative/alternative (the Federation lost to the Dominion and Chakotay and Marina are stuck on Bajor after their shuttle crashed…), but not sure if there are any J/C fans out there, ;-), (the J here referring to Jor of course).

Cathal O'Donnell is a human security officer and was one of Chakotay's childhood friends and has appeared or was at least mentioned in my stories "Les Exiles," "Legacy," "Family," "The Borg Insurgency," and "Close Quarters."

Anywho, I think, only Marina will figure prominently in future chapters. Not yet sure exactly where this is headed, however, so who knows. Thanks for the reviews, I do appreciate them. The fuel of fanfiction.