Chapter 5
Inside her shuttle, Annika concentrated her thoughts in order to hack into the Queen's telepathic communications by using the ship's synaptic interface. From where she hid in her cloaked shuttle, the Hub looked much larger than on the map. Fear coursed through her veins alongside with adrenaline, but she had long learned to harness them to her advantage. Today she would use them to draw the strength she needed to send Voyager home. She had to succeed. There was no other alternative. Her thoughts briefly went to Chakotay – the older man from her timeline – and to Miral Paris, and to all those they had lost or who had suffered, and it had the effect to strengthen her resolve, and find peace in what she was about to do.
It wasn't long before she felt the connection, and she almost recoiled from it. It had been years since she had been finally rid of her Borg implants – aside from her ocular implant – and she had not missed any of it. She quickly checked her thoughts as she focused on the matter at hand. It took a few moments to make sense of the Collective voices, and then the Queen joined in.
"Well, this is a surprise," the Queen drawled, almost in a singsong voice, at Annika's intrusion. "Seven of Nine. I didn't think you would join us again. Welcome. I see that Voyager has altered course."
"I have come to make an offer on behalf of Captain Janeway."
"How unexpected. I'm listening."
"As you are aware, we have a visitor from the future aboard Voyager. We are willing to give you access to her technology, if you agree to grant us safe passage through one of your transwarp conduits."
"How very bold of Captain Janeway. I must admit, I'm surprised that she would be willing to offer such power to the Collective, and for what? To go home." Her voice was derisive and dangerous. "She must be desperate indeed."
"We all are. All we want is to return home."
"I would be willing to consider it," she trailed off, as if she was considering it. "But I would need more."
"What more do you want? With this technology the Collective will be unstoppable."
"Hmm, perhaps. But I need leverage. Captain Janeway has proven to be untrustworthy and devious. You would do nicely, I believe."
"What could you possibly want with me?"
"We miss you, Seven of Nine. And with you within my grasp, your dear captain would think twice about trying to trick me."
"That is unacceptable."
"Then perhaps your visitor would volunteer to take your place." Annika felt her heart turn to ice at the Queen's triumphant tone. "Wouldn't you, Annika Hansen?"
Annika quickly recovered. "You have uncovered my ruse. Well done. It does not change the fact that my offer is real."
"Don't play me for a fool, and do not underestimate me," the Queen's tone had turned dangerous and icy. "While we were talking my drones have triangulated your signal."
"Computer, deactivate the interface," Annika commanded, instantly breaking the connection to the Collective. "Deploy armor."
Before she could move the shuttle out of the way, a tractor beam caught it in its net, and Annika felt the tingly sensations of being transported. When she became conscious again, she was standing inside the Borg vessel, facing the Queen.
Annika looked around, fighting the panic that arose in her chest at being here, once again. She searched for the calm resolve she had found earlier within herself, and she schooled her expression and focused on the Queen, who was leisurely pacing in front of her, like a wolf who had cornered its prey.
"Very clever," the Queen said. "Hiding right on my doorstep. Were you planning to attack us from inside the Unicomplex?"
When Annika didn't comment, the Queen turned to face her again. "Not feeling talkative?" In a few steps she bridged the distance that separated them, and before Annika could react, the Queen had her in her grasp, and she felt the assimilating needles penetrate her neck. She gasped in pain and slid to the ground, her lungs fighting for air.
"You disappoint me, Annika. You know full well that you and I don't need words to understand each other. Welcome back to the Collective, Seven of Nine, Tertiary Adjunct of Unimatrix Zero One."
~0~
"Mr. Tuvok, deploy armor," Kathryn ordered as they approached the Hub. "Prepare transphasic torpedoes."
She slowly paced the bridge as she kept her eyes on the viewscreen, which showed the extensive transwarp network, and countless Borg cubes.
"Take us in."
"Aye, Captain," Paris confirmed with a bracing sigh.
~0~
Crippled by the pain that seemed to burn through every vein of her body, Annika could barely move as the all-too-familiar sound of the Collective voice resonated in her mind. "Voyager has entered aperture 823. Access, transwarp corridor zero-nine."
The Queen gave a triumphant smile. Redirect vessels to intercept. But then she groaned and bent over with a cry of pain, and Annika knew the pathogen was finally being assimilated. The Collective voice faltered, and kept repeating the same words incoherently. "Redirect vessels to intercept…nine. New corridor, nine… Voyager… zero… nine… transwarp."
"I'm afraid my assimilation does not agree with you," Annika croaked with a chuckle, the likes of which she had rarely allowed herself to let out. It felt remarkably good.
The Queen squirmed and writhed with an anguished cry of pain. "What have you done?
"I am disappointed, you said words were irrelevant for us," Annika replied saucily, enjoying this much more than she should. Miral, she thought, this is for you.
Searching for air, and walking with difficulty, the Queen looked with morbid fascination as her arm disconnected from her body, and fell to the floor. "You have infected us, with a neurolytic pathogen," she panted.
Annika laughed again – it was an uncontrollable urge, and she relished it. It was liberating. "Merely enough to bring chaos to order."
The Queen cried in pain again, and she fell to the ground as one of her legs detached from her body.
~0~
"Annika has succeeded, Captain. The conduit's shield is destabilizing.
"Now, Mr. Tuvok."
"Launching torpedoes."
The torpedoes hit their designated targets, destroying the conduit's shields.
~0~
"Voyager will be destroyed."
It was difficult to breathe now, and Annika knew the end was coming, but she had to keep distracting the Queen while she still could. This was her revenge. She had to live through it. "They are well ahead of the shock wave. They will survive. We made sure of that. It is you who underestimated us."
The Queen perked up slightly, as if listening in for the Collective voice. "Sphere 634, they can still hear my thoughts…"
Annika heard the order as the Queen thought it. Sphere 634, pursue Voyager.
"I may have assimilated your pathogen," the Queen continued as her body shuddered and bolted from the ground on which she lay, "but I also assimilated your armor technology. Seven of Nine and Captain Janeway are about to die, and when they die, nothing that you have done here today will ever happen."
Annika closed her eyes as she shook her head. She knew the truth – that their plan would protect the future, and she trusted Chakotay to keep that mission alive. This fundamental truth, which she knew with every fiber of her human body, calmed her.
And then she felt the explosion rock the floor beneath her, and she smiled.
~0~
Voyager shook from the Sphere's attacks, and Kathryn held on tightly as she kept her eyes on the dizzying lights of the conduit on the screen, her stomach in a tense knot and her heart beating madly inside her ribcage.
"Aft armor is down to six percent," Tuvok stated from his station.
"Hull breaches on Decks Six through Twelve," Harry added.
"I can't stay ahead of them, Captain," Tom warned, his voice tight with worry and strain.
"The armor is failing," Tuvok stated.
"Where is the nearest aperture?" Chakotay asked as he ran from Tuvok's console to Seven's.
"Approximately 30 seconds ahead, but it leads back to the Delta Quadrant," Seven answered.
Kathryn took in a breath, and her voice sounded much calmer than she felt when she ordered: "Mr. Paris, prepare to adjust your heading."
"Yes ma'am."
The firing suddenly stopped, and the viewscreen was unsettlingly dark. "Mr. Paris, what's our position?"
"Right where we expect to be, Captain. Inside the sphere."
Kathryn nodded. Their plan seemed to be working perfectly so far.
"The transwarp network has been obliterated, Captain," Seven informed her.
"We'll celebrate later. Mr. Tuvok?"
"Ready, Captain."
"Tom, be ready to get us out of here."
"Aye Captain."
"Fire."
The explosion blinded Kathryn and she had to raise her arm to protect her eyes from the brightness, but then the sudden increase in speed made her stumble backward. She grabbed the console and stabilized herself. There was another shockwave coming from behind Voyager, this one pushing Kathryn forward, and she realized that the Sphere had been destroyed.
Two seconds later and they were clear of the blast, and Voyager slowed back down.
Kathryn looked around the bridge and quickly assessed that no one was hurt before she returned her eyes to the viewscreen.
Her eyes widened. She felt Chakotay step beside her, but her eyes were glued to the vision in front of her: an armada of ships. Federation ships.
Kathryn felt her eyes sting with unshed tears and she blinked. "We did it," she breathed.
There was a long second of complete silence, before suddenly the tension seemed to evaporate and the bridge officers sighed and even laughed. Tom covered his mouth with his hands incredulously, and she heard Chakotay chuckle quietly next to her. Then Tom stood, turned to face her, and started to clap. That shook her out of her shock, but was surprised when Chakotay, Harry, Tuvok and Seven all in turn joined in with Tom, grinning faces all around her.
Overcome with emotion, she extended her hand to Chakotay without thinking, and he grabbed it without hesitation, squeezing tightly as he stared into her eyes.
Looking into his expression of joy, relief, and pride, she almost wished she could spend just a little longer losing herself in it, but then he leaned a little closer and said: "Captain, would you like to announce the news to the rest of the crew?"
Grinning, she let go of his hand and tapped her combadge. "Voyager crew, my friends… This is your Captain speaking," she started moving around the bridge as she spoke, and walked to Tom, and shook his hand as she resumed her speech. "I wish you could all share with me the view I currently have, let me describe it to you: a dozen-"
"Eighteen," Tuvok corrected, and Kathryn chuckled.
"Eighteen Federation vessels," she continued as she made her way up the step to shake hands with Mr. Kim, who shook hers with emotion, "our welcoming party back to the Alpha Quadrant." She moved on to Seven, and looked into her eyes as she took her hand and squeezed. "The Borg hub has been destroyed," she resumed her round and walked to Tuvok. She took his hand and he gave her a solemn nod as she squeezed it. "And so has the Sphere that followed us through." She paused, savoring the words. "Mission accomplished. We're home."
"Captain, we're being hailed," Harry announced, his voice shaky.
Kathryn cleared her throat. "On screen."
Admiral Paris and Reginald Barclay appeared on the screen, looking as shocked as she still felt.
"Sorry to surprise you," Kathryn grinned. "Next time we'll call ahead."
"Welcome back," Admiral Paris said, still looking surprised.
Kathryn nodded, finding it hard to keep her emotions in check. "It's good to be here."
He frowned in wonder. "How did you…?"
"It'll all be in my report, sir."
"Of course. I look forward to it."
The connection ended and Kathryn released a calming breath. Her legs felt shaky after the adrenaline rush, and she closed her eyes briefly as she recalled Annika's sacrifice. They could not have done it without her.
"Sickbay to the bridge." The Doctor's voice was followed by strange gurgling sounds, and Kathryn smiled again as she realized where they came from.
"Doctor to Lieutenant Paris, there's someone here who'd like to say hello."
Kathryn turned to Tom, grinning, and found him looking up at her with a bemused and eager expression. "You better get down there, Tom."
She didn't have to tell him twice as he sprang to his feet. "Yes ma'am."
Letting out a satisfied sigh, Kathryn turned back to her first officer. "Mr. Chakotay, the helm."
He grinned, eyes twinkling. "Aye Captain."
Kathryn slowly sat in her chair. "Set a course, for home. Warp 5."
oooOooo
End Part I
This is where the "re-write" ends, I hope you enjoyed my take on the episode! Now we can move on to the fun stuff, the part where the crew actually returns to Earth, and of course, the developing romance between Chakotay and Janeway.