A/N: Sorry this one is A) late and B) short, but I've had a lot of other things to do - mainly parenting. Still, I just wanted to let you guys know I haven't forgotten you, or this story!
"You asked to see me, sir?"
Th'rana paused in her reading and set her PADD aside, looking up at the helmsman she had argued with earlier and leaning back in her chair.
"I did indeed, mister...?"
"Fraim, sir. Enam Fraim."
"Mister Fraim," she finished. "That was quite a...passionate response on the bridge," she started, keeping her tone cool. "Care to explain the cause?"
Fraim frowned at the Andorian in confusion.
"Sir?"
"Well, you and several other members of the crew clearly have some kind of personal hatred of liberated Borg officers, despite the fact that they have been serving in Starfleet for the past thirty years." This much she had gathered, from the masses of recent history she'd been forced to read as well as Quincie's own knowledge. "You're too young to have lost someone at Wolf 359, or even Voyager's contact with the Borg, so where did this come from?"
Fraim sighed heavily, closing his eyes as he seemed to recall something painful.
"Vega colony, sir."
"Vega colony?"
Th'rana recalled something about a resurgent Borg attack hitting a small colony in the Vega system, but she had heard that other Federation ships had been involved in evacuating the colonists.
"Yes, sir. Me and most of the crew were from there. The Assegai was on a science survey near Bajor when the Borg attacked our home. We...we were too far away to help."
Th'rana couldn't help but feel sympathy for the man. If she had been in his position, she would have no doubt felt the same way. However, Quincie was a part of their crew now, and he and his colleagues needed to understand that she was not the enemy.
"Ensign, I feel for you," she told him, her voice much more sympathetic, "and I'm sorry for the losses you and this crew have suffered. But you have to understand, Lieutenant Seven is not the enemy – the Borg Collective is. The liberated Borg officers now serving in Starfleet have all earned their place, earned their ranks, and they deserve to be treated with the respect that goes with it. Now, I've seen your record – you're a competent officer and a valuable asset to this crew, but if you can't work past your personal prejudices I will have to have you reassigned. The same goes for all of your friends from Vega, and that...wouldn't work for me. I can't run this ship alone."
She offered him a small smile with her last comment, and he seemed to acknowledge it.
He took a deep breath, held it for a moment, then let it out in a long sigh, and Th'rana sensed a shift in his mood afterwards.
"Alright, sir," he said, his tone lighter than before. "I'll do better from here on. And I'll pass on your words to the other crew members as well, try and bring them around. I...would you pass on my apologies to the Lieutenant?"
Th'rana nodded, pleased they'd managed to get passed their issues without any difficulties, and offered him a smile.
"I will, Ensign. Don't let me down."
"I won't, sir," Fraim answered with his own smile, and Th'rana gestured to the door.
"Good man. Dismissed."
Only a few moments after Fraim had left, an odd, insistent tone began emanating from a drawer in Th'rana's desk. There was only one thing it could be, and she swore under her breath as she took out the temporal transponder that she'd been issued upon her 'recruitment'.
"Be thankful you aren't here in person, Daniels, or else I'd punch you," she warned, as soon as she'd answered the call.
"I'll bear that in mind," replied the calm, efficient tones of Daniels' voice. "In any case, I have a mission for you."
"I figured that," Th'rana answered bitterly. "What is it?"
"During their seven-year journey through the Delta quadrant, Voyager encountered a race called the Krenim Imperium. As far as they know, the Krenim Imperium was just a relatively small region with limited warp capability, but we in the temporal agency know the rest of the facts: until Janeway's involvement, the Krenim had a single, large vessel, capable of completely removing entire settlements, colonies and even races from the timeline. It was only with the destruction of that ship that the timeline you know was restored."
Th'rana listened intently, nodding despite not really understanding what he was talking about.
"So where do I fit in?" she asked, her eyes flicking to her door, making sure no-one entered.
"The Na'kuhl have been to that timeline. They've appropriated the Krenim timeship, and they've brought it to the Beta quadrant. I don't need to tell you just how much damage they could cause if that ship's abilities were unleashed on any of the major worlds of the Federation, not to mention Earth itself. It has to be stopped, Th'rana, and you're the closest agent I have for now."
Th'rana swore again, certain that this 'timeship' was not going to be an easy target.
And she was going to be alone in fighting it.
"Fine," she sighed. "Give me all the information you can, and we'll be on our way."
"Already done. Be safe, Th'rana – while death is usually relative for a temporal agent, if they hit your ship with their main weapon you won't just die, you will never have existed."
Before she could reply, the link went silent, and Th'rana growled in frustration before tapping her commbadge.
"Sho'than to Lieutenant Seven," she announced, "meet me in my ready room please. We have an urgent matter to discuss."