Chapter Three

Tom Paris had barely had time to kiss his wife before they were all shuttled off to the conference lounge for debriefing. Icheb had regained consciousness, and after a thorough scan the Doctor pronounced him fit for duty. All of them were now seated around the conference table, listening as Seven relayed the information they had gathered, the Borg's probable next course of action, and the weaknesses and strengths of a transwarp hub.

"A transwarp hub is a combination of two different structures. First, there are the interspatial manifolds which are used to create the entrance apertures and allow Borg vessels to enter into the transwarp corridors. If enough of them are destroyed, the entire hub structure will lose cohesion. However, they are protected by a number of force fields, maintained by drones controlled by the Queen through the hub's central plexus." Seven tapped the viewer.

"There are six transwarp hubs, but I do not know where the others are located. However, this is the only Borg transwarp hub with Alpha Quadrant exit apertures. Two of the hubs exist in order to allow Borg vessels to travel back and forth from the edges of the Delta Quadrant. A third provides Beta Quadrant exit apertures. A fourth provides Gamma quadrant exit apertures – although the Borg have not yet performed an extensive evaluation there. This is the fifth. I do not know the location or function of the sixth."

Janeway raised her hand. "Seven, I think the question we need to deal with right now is obvious. How do we destroy it? We can't allow the Borg to mount an invasion of this scale against the Federation."

Seven's head tilted slightly, then she turned back to the monitor. "In order to destroy the hub, there is only one option. Find and disable the force fields protecting the hub's interspatial manifolds, and then destroy enough manifolds to force the hub to disintegrate." Seven paused and turned back to Janeway. "We have neither the resources nor the time for either, and with the large number of Borg vessels currently stationed at the hub, we could not get close enough to make the attempt."

Seven's pessimism, or maybe it was realism, caused the room to go silent. Janeway scanned her staff, searching for an idea on someone's face. Eventually, she met Icheb's eyes. He looked thoughtful, and troubled. He looked up at her. "Captain, I have a suggestion," he said.

"Go ahead, Cadet."

"I believe I have a way to permanently disrupt the protective shields around the interspatial manifolds and give Voyager a window to destroy them. It may also disrupt a number of the Borg cubes protecting the hub and allow Voyager to survive the attack." Janeway was stunned. What could Icheb be proposing that even Seven had not thought to suggest? Then she realized what he might propose and her blood froze. "Captain, I suggest that I take a shuttlecraft and infiltrate the hub myself. Once there, I would allow myself to be assimilated by the drones that maintain the hub and infect them with the pathogen built into my genetic structure. It would spread and infect the entire hub and disrupt the drones maintaining the hub's structural defenses and, depending on the level of connection between the hub and the ships protecting it, could spread to some of the other cubes."

Janeway held her hand up before the rest of the room could object. Her heart was recoiling against the very thought of carrying out Icheb's plan. "Icheb, you understand what you are suggesting would be suicide." The young man nodded. "Why would you be willing to give your life for people you have never known? The Federation is not your home." Despite her misgivings, Janeway couldn't afford to say no. Icheb might well be proposing the only possible way out for the Federation.

"Captain… I told you yesterday that Voyager was my home. It is true, I think of all of you as my family. I know, that if it was the only option and you knew that it would stop this invasion, that any of you would be willing to give your life to save the Federation and all the people of the Alpha Quadrant. 'The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.' I am the only one who has the pathogen built into their genetic structure, and only I can neutralize the collective for long enough to allow Voyager to destroy the hub." Icheb looked away for a second, then turned back. "And, Captain, attacking the hub with Voyager once it is disabled would be no less of a suicide mission."

Janeway nodded once, slowly. "You're right, Icheb. It probably would be, and I'd be asking every member of this crew to be willing to sacrifice their lives for the Federation." She turned and met Tom's eyes, and then B'Elanna's. "Tom, B'Elanna, if I do this I can't ask you to stay, not with a child on the way. You, and Sam Wildman and Naomi, would all be welcome to leave Voyager before we began the mission."

"Unacceptable," said Seven. "You cannot allow Icheb to sacrifice his life. He is an individual and every life is to be protected. Allowing Icheb to do on a suicide mission is tantamount to murder." Emotions ran rampant, but controlled, behind Seven's face.

"Seven…" Janeway started, but Icheb cut her off.

"Seven, I know what the risks are. And the consequences. I am an individual, and I have the right to decide to go on a mission if I believe it is the right thing to do, even if I know I will not survive." He stopped. "Seven, if you knew that you could save the life and individuality of every drone from Unimatrix Zero at the cost of your own life, would you do it?"

Janeway opened her mouth to speak, but stopped as Seven's face fell. The semi-controlled rage was gone, and in its place was despair. "Yes," she said.

Icheb turned to the Doctor. "Doctor, for this to work, the pathogen built into my body will have to spread more quickly than it did naturally when I was first assimilated, and be more virulent. If it is contagious enough and dangerous enough, perhaps enough of the Borg cubes in the vicinity will be infected and Voyager will not be destroyed."

"You're asking me to help to commit mass-murder by means of your suicide."

"No. I'm asking you to save billions of lives in the Alpha Quadrant."

"By killing thousands of drones!"

"The Borg are the ones that forced it to come to this, Doctor, not us," said Chakotay. "In the end, if it is a decision between killing thousands of Borg and saving the Federation, or allowing the Federation to be assimilated, there is no choice."

"I am programmed to do no harm!"

"You're not just a computer program anymore, Doctor, and don't pretend you're a slave to your subroutines. You make your own decisions and can weigh the costs of this decision. You're the only one of us that has been to the Alpha Quadrant since we got stranded here. If we do not do this, there will be nothing left there to go home to," Janeway said.

"I…" The Doctor looked around the room. His eyes lingered on Icheb, and then on Seven. "All right. I'll help you, Icheb. We should get started right away."

With that, the meeting was dismissed. The crew dispersed back to their posts, working rigorously on all that would have to be done to prepare for their mission. Janeway retreated to her ready room, pouring over reports and data, looking for a solution, any solution, that would save her ship, her crew, and give Icheb a chance to live. The more she struggled with it, the more it became clear that she would have no luck with it, at least not today, and not under these circumstances. The words of her spirit guide came back to her. You will not find your peace until after your journey. And that the journey would soon be over. I hope that my guide meant the journey would be ending at home in Indiana, and not with the pieces of my ship scattered across the cosmos as the Borg march towards the assimilation of Earth.

Janeway looked up as several people entered her ready room. First were B'Elanna and Tom, and Samantha Wildman and Naomi followed them in. They all looked a little bit uncomfortable. "Yes? How can I help you?" Janeway said.

Samantha spoke first. "You gave us all the option of leaving Voyager before we departed on this mission. We've come to let you know that we're not going to be leaving."

Janeway stood. "You all understand that this mission is extremely dangerous, and Voyager isn't likely to survive, yes?" She knelt down and took Naomi's hand. "Naomi, I can't ask you to stay."

The girl looked up resolutely. "But you can't force me to leave either, Captain. Voyager is my home. If all of you are going into danger, I will come along, as I always have before." Janeway stood and faced Sam.

"Sam…"

"Captain. She's right. Voyager is our home, and it has been for years. If we go, we go together." Janeway sighed, and turned to Tom and B'Elanna, hoping for some sanity. Tom opened his mouth and spoke before she got the chance.

"Captain, you need the best pilot you've got. That's still me." Beside him, B'Elanna nodded.

"Captain… I'm pregnant, not an invalid. If this is going to work, you're going to need every person you can possibly get your hands on, and the best people. Even pregnant, I'm the best engineer you've got, and whether not I can hold a plasma torch, I can still order Vorik and Nicoletti around just fine." She grinned, a somewhat feral smile. "Maybe better." She met Janeway's eyes. "We're not letting you do this alone, Captain."

Janeway stood and looked them each in the eye. She finally nodded. "Very well. You don't have to go." She turned back to her desk. "But if you're staying, all of you should go get back to work. We don't have a whole lot of time."

"Yes ma'am!" said Naomi. Janeway couldn't help but smile.

"How soon until you'll be ready, Doctor?" Janeway asked. The EMH was giving her hourly status reports on the progress they'd made in modifying Icheb's genome to increase the ferocity of the pathogen.

"Captain, I'm playing around with the boy's genetic structure. This isn't something that I'm going to do quickly. I'm going to need another twelve to eighteen hours," he said. They were conversing in his office. Icheb was asleep on a biobed, and Seven was working in Engineering on potentially modifying her parents' multi-adaptive shielding to function on Voyager. She wasn't optimistic that they could be used to hide a ship the size of Voyager, but she would try nonetheless.

"All right, Doctor. Twelve hours, but then we leave. One way or the other." She walked from Sickbay and headed towards the officer's quarters. Most of the senior staff was resting. The ship was ready, only Icheb was not. Oh Icheb. I'm so sorry. Janeway knew she wouldn't be able to sleep as she arrived at her quarters, and walked past. She passed by Chakotay's quarters – he was one of the few on duty. They had decided before that at least one of the ship's ranking officers should be on the bridge at all times, and that meant him, her, or Tuvok.

She continued walking and came to Tuvok's quarters. She rang the chime, and entered when the door opened. Inside she found Tuvok, sitting in his usual chair. The room was darkened, and Tuvok was pondering a candle that lay before him. "Good evening, Captain," he said. She sat across from him and stared at the dancing flame.

"How did it come to this, Tuvok?" she asked. "Why did it come to this?"

"The how, Captain, is that the Borg decided to invade the Federation, and that Q thought to put us in a position so that we could prevent it. Why is something only the Queen and Q will ever know."

She continued staring into the flame. The glare was beginning to linger on her eyes. "But he put us in a position where only the sacrifice of the crew could possibly do any good. He has to know that. Voyager and her crew will have to sacrifice themselves to prevent the destruction of the Federation." She shook her head.

"As Icheb said today during the briefing, the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few." He paused. "Or the one." He reached out and snuffed the candle. Janeway looked up at him, the glare fading from her eyes. "Icheb has made his choice. So have you. So have I. And as Commander Chakotay said, Captain, there is no choice. If there is to be a future for our people, for any people in this galaxy, then the Borg must be stopped."

Janeway looked up at him. "Tuvok, sometimes I wish you had left me on that planet, all those years ago," she said. "Before New Earth, I had forgotten what it meant to be anything but a starship captain. In the years since, every once in a while I remember what it was like to be just Kathryn. The life of a captain is filled with regrets."

Tuvok nodded. "Yes, the life of a starship captain can be filled with regrets. Mistakes you made, mistakes you did not make, and mistakes you wish you had made." He took a breath. "Captain, the only decisions you should regret are the decisions you made and knew were wrong when you made them. Your decisions can be judged only by what you knew when you made them. You can look back, having more knowledge now than you did then. Regret only the decisions that were wrong when you made them, not those that are wrong only in hindsight."

Janeway looked up. "Do you regret anything, Tuvok?"

Tuvok met her eyes evenly. "Everyone has regrets, Captain. This situation we are in now, the decisions you have made, that you have been forced to make, should not be one of yours. Do not regret doing what you must do for the greater good of all." Tuvok reached out and relit the candle. "Do not resign yourself yet, Captain. To paraphrase one of Earth's greatest artists: there are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamt of in your philosophy."

"Thank you, my friend. I'll remember," Janeway said. She stood and patted Tuvok's shoulder, then departed from his quarters.

"All systems standing by, Captain. We're ready to head out," reported Harry Kim from operations. Her whole crew was standing by. Chakotay was in the seat on her left, Tuvok at tactical. Tom was at the helm. B'Elanna was in engineering, so Ashmore was at the engineering station. At the science station was Icheb – he would depart in the shuttlecraft Tereshkova once Voyager left the nebula.

It was time to face the music.

"Baton down the hatches, people. Mr. Paris, take us out, half impulse." She stood. "All hands, this is the Captain. We're preparing to set out to engage the Borg. Remember what is depending on us back home and what will happen if the Borg assimilate the Federation." She took a breath. "I offer the crew this salute once offered by one of our own: 'We do not stand alone. We are in the arms of family. We gather to extol the warmth and joy of these unshakeable bonds. Without them we could not call ourselves complete. We are thankful to be together. We do not stand alone'" She paused, letting Neelix's traditional Prixin toast linger. "I'm very proud of all of you. Janeway out."

Voyager burst from the cloud of gas and dust, trails of it trembling behind her. The hull was scorched and scarred – seven years of battle damage had left their mark on the proud ship – but thanks to years of scrounging and patched maintenance by B'Elanna Torres, there was nothing wrong with her engines.

Behind her, in the dark of the nebula, lurked another ship. Its hull, too, was scorched, and gaping holes had been blown in the sides. But its weapons were still functioning, and it had been waiting for this moment.

"Captain, there's something odd with my sensors – it looks like some kind of sensor ghost. An echo of Voyager, perhaps," remarked Harry Kim. He fiddled with his sensors some more. "I'm not sure…"

"Tuvok, what is it?" Janeway asked.

"I am unable to say with any certainty. However, I do not believe it to be a sensor ghost. It appears to be another vessel of some kind," said Tuvok. Janeway glanced at Chakotay, and turned back to Harry.

"You've got to do better than that, Ensign."

"I'm working to resolve the data… Captain, it's on an intercept course." When Harry spoke again, he was frantic. "Captain, it's a Borg sphere! They jumped out of the nebula behind us and are closing to weapons range."

"Bring us about, Mr. Paris. Tuvok, target their weapons and engines. Find a weapons frequency that will work on them and then knock em' out. Harry, modulate the shields." As her officers responded with affirmatives, Voyager shook as the sphere opened fire. "Damage report, Mr. Ashmore," Janeway demanded.

"Captain, they're focusing their weapons fire on our nacelles. I think their goal is to knock out our engines," Ashmore said. "Lieutenant Torres reports the port nacelle has sustained minor damage."

"Tuvok, we can't afford to lose our engines, not right now. If we do we'll never get to the hub in time to stop the Borg. Take out their weapons!" Janeway barked. Beside her, Chakotay was staring at something on the control panel. He suddenly stood and hurried over to the science station, bracing himself as the ship shook, and began conversing animatedly with Icheb.

Janeway had no attention to spare, however. "Captain, the shields around the port nacelle are buckling. Another shot like that and it's likely to take significant damage. The warp core is offline!" shouted Kim. Then, suddenly, it all stopped. Janeway turned to Tuvok, who looked over to his Captain.

"The Borg sphere has ceased firing. Its weapons and engines have been disabled. Captain, the sphere has undoubtedly alerted the collective to our presence. We cannot remain here," said Tuvok. His hands remained at the ready on his tactical console, looking for the slightest inclination of Borg activity on the disabled sphere. There was none.

"No, Tuvok. There will be no more drones on the way," Icheb said, standing with Chakotay at the science station. Janeway walked over to their station and began to peruse the data her first officer and Icheb had gathered during the combat. "This sphere is not in contact with the collective. Its central plexus is not functioning," said Icheb, glancing at Chakotay. "The drones aboard were not a part of the collective, and there seemed to be only a few of them – far too few to man a typical sphere. The ship itself also appears to be heavily damaged, which is why Commander Tuvok managed to disable it so easily."

"The drones on that sphere aren't part of the collective?" asked Janeway. As Icheb began to respond, Janeway held up a hand. "Wait. First things first," she said. She tapped her combadge. "B'Elanna, what's the status of the warp drive?"

"It's not good, Captain. We're looking at ten to twelve hours of work. We'll never make it in time," B'Elanna said over the comm. The bridge crew looked at one another. Harry's hand fell limply on his panel. Without warp drive, they couldn't reach the transwarp hub before the fleet departed for the Alpha Quadrant. Couldn't attack the hub after Icheb left it vulnerable. Couldn't save Earth.

"So it's over then. We can't stop the Borg," said Harry. "They're just going to waltz into an unsuspecting Alpha Quadrant and assimilate our home, and there's nothing we can do about it?" The agony in Harry's voice struck a chord in Janeway. She knew how he felt. But she wasn't about to give up just yet.

"No, Harry. We're not out of it yet." Janeway turned to Chakotay. "Take a team over there. Find out whatever you can about the sphere, and any information about the drones aboard. Figure out what you can about how it got separated from the collective and if we can use that to our advantage. I want to know why it was here."

Chakotay nodded. "Aye, Captain." He turned. "Tuvok, you're with me. Bring a full security detachment, and have Mulcahey meet us in the transporter room. Harry, I'm going to route any data we collect to you and Seven for analysis. I don't want to do it over there." Chakotay met Janeway's eyes, and then strode over to the turbolift. "Deck 4."

A few short minutes later, Seven and Harry were talking with Janeway in astrometrics. "Captain, from the information about the drones aboard the Sphere, I agree with Icheb's assessment. These drones were severed from the collective. They were functioning as individuals."

"What could have disrupted the collective, Seven?" asked Janeway.

"I do not know. This data suggests there was a shock transmitted through the collective, permanently breaking the collective's hold on the drones aboard by disabling their neural transceivers. It was most likely an intentional attack on the collective by an outside force." She turned. "It appears someone has devised a weapon that can sever the Borg collective and force all drones back into a state of individuality."

"Uh, Captain… there's something else here you should see," said Harry, cutting Seven off. He'd been focused on his console, although he'd kept up with Seven's short brief. "I've been scanning the Borg sphere, and I'm not sure what Seven has suggested is exactly correct."

"What do you mean, Harry?" Janeway asked.

"Well, while Seven is right about the drones having been severed from the collective, I don't think they were ever part of the collective here," he said. He pointed at the viewer on his console. "The sphere is emitting massive amounts of chronoton particles. It's definitely not from this time period. I think it's from the future." He looked up. "The sphere came from the future to prevent our attack on the hub. That's the only explanation that makes sense." Harry looked over. "Something happened in the future and broke all the drones free from the collective. Sometime after that, this sphere decided to travel through time to stop us from attacking the hub. Maybe they're related?"

Janeway tapped the console with her finger as she thought. "Yes, I assume that the sphere has come from the future to change the past. But I don't know why a group of freed drones would be so insistent on preventing the destruction of a Borg transwarp hub, or how it could relate to the destruction of the collective," Janeway mused. She looked up at the monitor. "Someone on that sphere was desperate to stop the destruction of the hub. I want to know who, and why, and I want to know as soon as possible. I think you're right, Harry, somehow it is related to the destruction of the Borg's collective mind in the future." She turned back to Seven. "Seven, have the Borg ever used time travel in an attempt to change the past before?" she asked.

"Yes. Once. Stardate 50893.5 – the Borg mounted an attack on Earth with a single cube. When a Federation armada in Sector 001 destroyed the cube, it launched a sphere that created a temporal vortex. It traveled back in time to prevent the flight of the Phoenix, an event that would eventually lead to the creation of the Federation. The attempt was unsuccessful."

"So the Queen has tried this before."

"Yes." Seven turned her attention to the console. "The chronoton radiation is consistent with the method of time travel used by the Borg in their attempt to prevent First Contact. I believe this sphere has traveled back in time approximately… fifteen years."

So they've come back fifteen years to prevent Voyager from attacking the transwarp hub, Janeway thought. That suggests in their timeline we were successful and prevented the invasion. Good to know. But how can we stop them now? A sudden thought occurred to her. Q said the only one who was up to standing up to the Borg on their terms was Kirk. Was it a hint? "Seven, what do you know about the slingshot effect?"

"A theoretical method of primitive time travel. A starship travels at high warp towards a star. The gravitational effect of the star causes the ship to travel forwards or backwards in time, depending on very precise calculations. It has never been tested by the Borg, as other methods of time travel are far more precise," Seven stated.

"Can you calculate a slingshot trajectory which would send Voyager forward in time more than fifteen years, and then reverse the procedure?" asked Janeway quietly. "If the Borg on that sphere can cheat, then damn it, so can we."

"I do not know. It is possible."

"Get to work on it, Seven. Maybe we could use whatever broke the collective in the future to break it now. Or we could find technologies in the future to come back and defeat the Borg with. We need more time, and if the Borg can do it then so can we."

"Captain," said Harry. "What about the temporal prime directive? It specifically states that no one can interfere with the timeline, no matter what actions other parties take to change events."

"Harry, you never heard me say this. But to hell with it," said Janeway. Seven's eyebrows raised and Harry smiled.

"Aye, Captain."

"Chakotay to Janeway." Chakotay's disembodied voice came through the comm. "You'd better get over here, Captain. Bring Seven with you. There's something here I think you should see." Janeway glanced at Seven, and jerked her head at the door. Then both of them set off at a brisk pace.

When Janeway and Seven materialized on the sphere, the Captain immediately strode over to Chakotay. He wore a look that was half bewildered, half serious. He gestured behind him to a room that had once been the sphere's command center. Janeway walked in. "Most of the drones here were dead. A few put up token resistance. But what you need to see is over here." He ushered them into a secondary room, one plastered with viewscreens and information terminals. Janeway stopped dead. Behind her, she felt Seven do the same.

Lying on the floor of the room was the corpse of the Borg Queen.

"It's all starting to make sense," Janeway murmured. "Only one individual Borg would be so insistent on coming back and stopping us. Her." Janeway smiled humorlessly. "If nothing else, she hates me. And she has the most to lose from the destruction of the collective." She stepped aside as Seven walked over to examine the dead Queen. "Chakotay, this ship came from the future to stop us from destroying the transwarp hub. She came back in time to stop it." Chakotay glanced around the room.

"What about the fact that none of these drones were part of the collective? Why would they help her?" he asked. "For that matter, how was the collective destroyed?"

Janway shook her head. "We're not sure yet if or how the collective's defeat in the future relates to our attack on the transwarp hub. Icheb's pathogen isn't capable of causing the kind of damage we see in these drones. As for the other Borg helping her…" Janeway gestured to the other Borg corpses. "You remember how Seven was at first. Some of them probably stayed loyal after they became individuals."

"So what are we going to do about it? We're out of time. She has prevented the destruction of the hub. We can't attack it in time to stop the invasion." Chakotay said.

"Well, we've only got one option left that I can see. We're going to buy ourselves some more time." She gave him her crooked grin, and his lips twitched up in response. "You were telling me that you thought I was a lot like Captain Kirk. Well, Chakotay, we're going to find out." She knelt down over the corpse of the Queen. "Welcome to the past, your highness," she whispered. "It appears the future wasn't kind to you. I'm going to make it even worse."