The Beginning Of The Way Home
They finished the salvaging the next day, and after destroying the remains of the cube with its own warp core, Naomi ordered Voyager to resume its course back to the Alpha Quadrant. The data they had taken from the cube's navigational logs indicated that there was a distinct lack of Borg activity in this area, and Icheb had updated their course with this and other information. After recalculating the route, he managed to scrape two months off the final total. Naomi looked around the otherwise empty bridge as most of the consoles hummed, beeped or twittered to themselves, and then the girl sighed heavily to herself in annoyance. Most of the others were asleep or regenerating in alcoves. Because of the low amounts of Borg technology, the former drones did not need to regenerate as much as Seven and the Doctor had made out at first. They had found that they could sleep normally, and did do, except for three times a month when they had to regenerate. The Doctor had been working for a few months now to remove most of the remaining implants. He planned to dissolve them like Kes had done to Seven when she had first come onboard – minus the mental powered assist she had used.
"Morning, Naomi" said Icheb as he stepped on the bridge to begin his shift.
"I'm glad you're here, Icheb. I was beginning to get cramps in places you wouldn't think of" Naomi stretched her legs before getting up to head to the turbolift and her nice comfy bed.
"I have the bridge" Icheb said formally. He was halfway to the Captain's chair when the tactical console started beeping. Naomi froze as Icheb slipped past to look at it.
"What is it?" she asked him.
"Four ships coming out of the nebula bearing 234 mark 123" Icheb said. "They are on an intercept course"
"Do we know them?" asked Naomi, and then she saw Icheb become pale as the sensors identified the incoming ships.
"Borg Cubes" he replied, looking up and meeting her shocked gaze.
"Red Alert! Shields up, and ready Phasers" Naomi ordered. The alarms blared out as Icheb obeyed the order and readied the ship for battle. She rushed over to the helm and sat down in the seat. "Time to intercept?" she asked.
"Twenty seconds" Icheb said. The turbolift doors opened and the twins and Mezoti ran out.
"What is going on?" asked Mezoti.
"Four Borg ships are on an intercept course"
"Shit" the normally pleasant girl swore.
"My words exactly" replied Icheb. "You can take the tactical station. You are much better at shooting things, and you are the one with the most time on it" and without another word, he stepped aside for her to take the station. Azan and Rebi had taken the Operations and Engineering stations respectively, and only the science station was left unmanned.
"Icheb, you have the helm. I don't think we can out run them, so we need creative flying" Naomi said. With nothing else to do, she went and joined Mezoti to halve the work load.
"We are being hailed" said Azan.
"Tell them that they can to hell" Naomi said. She engaged the viewer in time to see the lead cube fire disrupters at Voyager. The ship shook as Mezoti replied with full phasers, and they caused the cube's shield to flicker slightly. "Shields are at 96 percent" Naomi said.
"I have been scanning these cubes" Azan said. "They appear to have some kind of additional plating on their hulls. I Believe they are Tactical Cubes" he added as the ship shook from the assault of all four cubes.
"Phasers are beginning to have no effect" Mezoti said. "I am rotating the frequencies, but they adapt too quickly to us" and the rear consoles overloaded again, as did several power lines in the ceiling.
"We can't hold off four tactical cubes" Naomi said. "Icheb, how well did you install the Borg shields and weapons?" she asked him.
"Everything is installed" Icheb replied, swinging Voyager around so that it didn't get hit by torpedoes.
"Lets see how they test then" Naomi muttered.
"Activating Borg systems" Azan said.
"We've lost internal communications" said Rebi. "One of the forward torpedo launchers is leaking radiation, and it is moving aft. Emergency force fields are only at half strength"
"Borg systems are online" Azan said.
"Good" Naomi said thickly. "Stand by all weapons" she ordered.
"Standing by" Mezoti replied crisply.
"We're through running from these bastards" Naomi said. "Bring us about and prepare to engage the enemy" and Icheb swung Voyager around and put the vessel on a direct course for the nearest cube.
"Target locked" Mezoti said.
"FIRE!" and Borg disrupters and torpedoes sprung from Voyager and ripped through the shields of the Borg who didn't expect this. The plating of the Tactical cube was ripped apart, and the weapons flew in and detonated the power core – tearing the ship to pieces.
"Yes!" Mezoti watched the explosion from her console, and one cube vanished off sensors.
"Switch to secondary target and fire again" Naomi said. After being pounded at, the hunted became the hunter and Voyager attacked the remaining cubes one by one. Naomi and Mezoti took a grim pleasure in tearing them apart, and both girls criss-crossed the debris with more weapons fire to ensure that nothing was left that could harm them.
"All cubes have been destroyed" Azan said.
"Very well" Naomi said. "All stop. All stations: damage report" she added.
"We lost power to decks 4 through 9, we have a couple of micro fractures in the hull, torpedo launcher 2 is still leaking plasma radiation…" Rebi said, and listed the rest of the damage sustained.
"We have full warp drive and our impulse engines are responding, though they are sluggish slightly due to a few minor impacts" Icheb said.
"Standard weapons and shields are at 50% power each" Mezoti said. "Borg systems are at 100% though" she added.
"Are there any more cubes in range?" asked Naomi.
"Negative" replied Azan. "None of our sensors can pick any vessels up that are close to us. This doesn't exclude the chance more Borg vessels are on the way in transwarp space" and Naomi rolled her eyes.
"Always one with the good news" she muttered. Stand down from Red Alert, but keep an eye out for the smallest sign of trouble. Scan the debris for anything that you can salvage" the girl said to Azan.
"Understood" he replied, and set to his work.
"Rebi, Mezoti you are with me. Icheb, you have the bridge" and with that, Naomi and two of her friends left the bridge to begin effecting repairs.
# # # # #
"This is hard enough as it is" said Mezoti. She was in an environmental suit because radiation from the launcher. Naomi and Rebi were covered in the same manner, and all three worked on plugging the leak before it spread more.
"Makes you wish for a full crew" Naomi said as she used an arc welder to secure a replacement valve.
"Azan to Naomi"
"Go ahead"
"The leak has stopped, but radiation is still coming from the launcher. I think one of the torpedoes must be damaged" he added.
"Can you beam it into space?"
"No"
"Too much of a risk to throw it out of the shuttle…" Naomi paused in thought.
"Is something that matter?" asked Mezoti.
"We already have a ready made hole" Naomi mused. "I'm going to push the torpedo out of the launcher by hand, and then Icheb can destroy it with phasers" and Mezoti and Rebi weighed up the risks.
"But the radiation could kill you, Naomi" said Mezoti carefully.
"True, but then again one life for many is worth the price" and Naomi stepped into torpedo bay and sealed the door behind her.
"Rebi to the Bridge. Prepare to beam Naomi aboard" he spoke into the suit's comm. As it happened, Naomi was in sickbay for several days because of the radiation she had absorbed into her body. Both of the forward launchers had been cleaned out, stocked up from the magazines, and phasers had been brought up to 50% of standard power. Naomi still wanted to use the Borg weaponry as much as possible though. After the attack by the Borg, nothing happened for several weeks as they cruised in low warp as they made final tests on the Transwarp Drive. The monotony of shift after shift with nothing but minor course corrections had grated on the nerves of Mezoti and Icheb, and so they had arranged for the Doctor to cover an entire two days worth of shifts so that the former drones and Naomi could go camping – something they had never done before in their lives.
#
It was the end of the sixth week after the Borg attacks when everything started to happen once more
#
"Captain on the bridge!" Mezoti grinned as Naomi stepped out of the turbolift. It was Naomi's birthday, and one of the few days when she – or any of the other former drones – could get away with calling Naomi 'Captain'.
"What do we have?" Naomi asked as she stepped to Tactical.
"Sensors have detected a small wormhole approximately two light years away from us" Icheb said from over at Ops.
"Where does it lead to?" Naomi asked as she started hoping it was a way back to the Alpha Quadrant.
"Unknown" supplied Mezoti. "We are about to launch a probe to investigate. Prelimenary reading indicate that this may have some abnormal features" she added.
"Indeed" agreed Icheb. "Readings indicate that this wormhole is not big enough to allow Voyager to fly through. However…" but Naomi was already ahead of him.
"We could widen it for a short period, go inside and maybe cut a few years off the journey" she nodded. "Launch the probe, and give me a report in about ten minutes. I'll be in the ready room" and with that, the girl went into what she still considered Janeway's Ready Room and started going over fuel reports and supplies. They had enough deuterium to last another four weeks so long as they went no faster then Warp 6. The twins were currently in the shuttlebay getting all the fuel out of everything but the Delta Flyer and a couple of the larger shuttles in order to stretch the situation just a little longer.
#
"… this time" Icheb finished his report to everyone in the conference room.
"I would like to take a close look at those readings" the Doctor asked politely. "Radiation inside wormholes can cause serious health issues" he added.
"That is why we would raise our shields as we passage through the opening" said Mezoti. "Once we are safely past the first thirty seconds, we can go from impulse drive to engaging the Borg Transwarp drive" and Azan tapped a panel on the table top.
"Despite the fact the wormhole most likely ends up in the Delta Quadrant, once we have entered Transwarp, we can get to the Alpha Quadrant in a little under sixteen hours" he said.
"After all this time, sixteen hours seems like an age" the Doctor said.
"What do you think will happen to us?" asked Mezoti.
"I don't know" said Naomi truthfully. "Starfleet will want to debrief you on everything you know about the Borg, their tactics and heaven knows what else I suppose" she added.
"Do you think they will cut us up?" asked Azan.
"I doubt that very much" the Doctor assured him.
"This is Starfleet, Doctor" Icheb said. "We are unable to determine if the Admiralty has had an intelligence removal performed on themselves" and it took a few moments for the others to realise Icheb had made a joke.
"Are there any ships nearby?" asked Naomi.
"There are three transports on the extreme edge of sensors" reported Rebi. "They will not come any nearer to us. Current indications are no Borg vessels nearby, however sensors are scanning all the time for changes in that status" he added.
"Right then" Naomi thought long and hard. "I want sensors manned all the time. The rest of us will secure the ship for transport through the wormhole and Transwarp space. The damage we have sustained will have to wait until later. If we manage to actually get through this, and we end up in the Alpha Quadrant, we'll get all of the support we need" and she dismissed the meeting.
#
24 Hours Later
"Begin long range scan of the surrounding area for any ships" Icheb ordered.
'Acknowledged' replied the computer. 'There are no ships within sensor range' it reported after a few minutes. Icheb worked on the bridge consoles alone before the others arrived.
"Report" Naomi said. Icheb reflected on how far she had come since her mother's death. She had been forced to grow up at an extraordinary rate, and had to take on many adult situations and problems.
"We have no ships within sensor range, the ship is secured for transit and we are ready to get underway" Icheb said. Naomi nodded and manned her mother's old station.
"Set course for the threshold of the wormhole, and got to yellow alert" she ordered. Mezoti brought the shields up, and put the weapons on hot standby. Voyager moved forwards the wormhole, and the ship shook a little from the turbulence but it kept on moving.
"We have reached the outer layer of the wormhole" said Rebi, and the viewscreen was filled with swirling blue light with white energy sparks dancing all around them.
"Radiation increasing to harmful levels" said Azan.
"Auxilary power to shields" said Naomi.
"Aye" and Azan placed more power into the shields. The ship shook and tremored as it was buffeted by the turbulence, but after a few moments it stopped and all was peaceful.
"Damage report" Naomi called out.
"Hull damage to decks 2 through 7. Forcefields are in place and holding. Impulse drive is offline, and the starboard power coupling has fused. Shields are at 75%, but holding. We lost the forward phaser array, but all other systems are operational" Azan said. Naomi scanned the space around them for both ships and the scientific data she could collect.
"Icheb?" she turned in her seat. "Is the ship capable of using the Transwarp Drive?" and Icheb nodded.
"Transwarp Drive is at your command" he said.
"Lay in the course for the point of arrival in the Alpha Quadrant, and pass it to helm" Naomi said. Moments later, Voyager had left the wormhole and had entered Transwarp space towards the Alpha Quadrant.
#
With nothing to do for the sixteen hours it would take for them to complete the transit, the former drones and Naomi had taken the chance to get a little rest. The Doctor was compiling reports for Starfleet Medical, and he was excited to have the chance to visit his creator again. With the bridge running under computer control, Naomi decided to go play in the Flotter and Treevis programs. As she passed Holodeck 1, she heard a lot of screaming from inside. Using her override, Naomi opened the doors to the holodeck and saw Mezoti engaged in something she thought was for adults only. Mezoti was completely naked with an older girl with her head between Mezoti's legs near her groin. Turning extremely red in the face, Naomi turned round and ran out of the room and raced to the Doctor. Mezoti had ended the program, dressed quickly and hurried after her friend. Both she and the Doctor explained to Naomi that Mezoti was going through a period of puberty, and that the program was designed to bleed off some of the Norcadian's urges whilst she went through the changes.
"Why a girl though?" Naomi asked.
"During puberty, Norcadians become very sexually active. I studied my culture in the Borg database, and well…" Mezoti trailed off and looked at the Sickbay floor.
"You should have just told me" Naomi said, hugging her friend, and after making up the pair went off to Naomi's quarters for Ice Cream. The Doctor watched them go before turning back to his report making. Apart from the reports to Starfleet Medical, he was also taking the chance to make a full inventory of all medical equipment and drugs – one never knew what Starfleet Command would need.
#
Fifteen Hours Thirty Minutes Later
Voyager had travelled through Transwarp space with few issues other then course corrections here and there. All sensors were recording as much information on the trip as possible for research purposes. They had all arrived on the bridge an hour before they were due to drop out of Transwarp space because Naomi wanted everybody to be ready. During the trip, they had managed to get impulse working at 50% power so they could at least limp to Deep Space Nine.
"I wonder if we'll get a big party" Mezoti spoke aloud.
"I hope so" Naomi giggled, "And with a cake about ten fee…" she was cut off as the ship violently trembled, shook, pitched and came to a jarring halt.
A/N:
I realised I still had this outstanding on my list, and so I thought I'd do a little to it – ending up as just over 7000 words which I have had to split into two separate chapters. Therefore chapter 7 is today, and if you are good little elves and review, chapter 8 will be tomorrow!
No doubt people will flame me for the Mezoti in the adult situation scene, but I'd point out that it was with a hologram and as they don't exist it is technically masturbation – and this is an M rated fic anyway so if you don't like it, don't let the back button hit you on the way out!
Now for a request from the author:
If anybody out there speaks good Russian, or is in fact Russian themselves, can they please make themselves known as I am in need of your help. I picked up some rather odd radio broadcasts, and I know they are in Russian, but would like a translation please. Your help shall be rewarded in chapter 8 or chapter 9.
Many Regards
Pixel
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