Chapter 10 – A New Channel in the River of Time
Q lowered his hand and looked about. Everyone else in Voyager's conference room appeared to be holding their breath. "Did it work?" he asked tentatively.
"The Vidiian fleet is gone," Tuvok stated, consulting the Borg sensor readings.
"Of course it is," Q replied irritated. "I took care of that as I said I would. I mean, did this plan to isolate our universe from these so-called Multiverse Stewards work?"
"You say so-called, and yet we supplied you ample evidence of their existence," the Borg Queen reminded him. She then turned to the others about the table. "Fourteen cubes were destroyed, but all had been evacuated as per our plan. There were some injuries on other Borg vessels during the final battle, but no casualties."
Commander Chakotay cleared his throat and shook his head, as if trying to clear his thoughts. "I think I must have blacked out for a minute," he said. "I don't remember what happened."
Seven of Nine turned to him and a look of concern flashed across her face. Her arm was still firmly wrapped around his waist. "You did not move the entire time," she said. "If a Steward had taken control of you, he was an observer only and didn't attempt to move you to interfere." She then returned her attention to the rest of the group. "I also felt something, perhaps an indication an attempt was being made to control me as well, but the localized dampening field in my communicator prevented it as we had hoped."
"As we had all counted on," Tuvok observed, remembering with distaste his own experience on the planet's surface.
Captain Janeway adjusted the communicator on her uniform unconsciously. "So we can assume the Stewards know what happened, up to a point," she said smiling. "Presumably, to them, our universe is now gone with a plausible explanation, and they won't be trying to circumvent the dampening field and find a way back in."
Everyone again looked around to each other and nodded. Seven and Chakotay's plan had seemed to have worked perfectly. The Borg Queen gave Mister Suder's hand one last squeeze with a sideways glance and then returned her hands to her lap before anyone noticed.
"So how long will this dampening field need to be operating within the continuum?" Q asked, now sounding a bit put out.
"For all time," the Queen replied. "Since the continuum touches all points of space within the universe, it will need to continue operating for our presence to go undetected by the Multiverse Stewards."
Q didn't like that answer, and he made sure everyone knew it by his expression.
"We suppose at some point it could be terminated, assuming our universe would be forgotten by the Hierarchy," the Queen added, "but we recommend staying the course."
Q grunted. "And it is necessary for a Borg drone to be allowed continued access to the continuum to provide this function? I'm not sure the Q will accept that as an ongoing situation."
The Queen was about to retort, but then bit her tongue. She instead turned to Seven beside her. "The Borg will let Seven and Chakotay decide," she said instead. "It was their plan to use the dampening field in combination with the continuum. To usher the Borg into a new age, we will continue to be directed by their guidance."
Q now laughed aloud. "Oh, how the mighty have fallen," he remarked with sarcasm. "The Hive Mind would take direction from two individuals from a backwater planet and insignificantly short existence."
"Yes," the Queen replied without hesitation. "The Collective's interest is the preservation of the Hive Mind into the future. Perpetually, if possible. Our conclusion at the start of this series of events, based on the evidence provided to us by the rogue Multiverse Steward, was to trust that future to the guidance of both Seven of Nine and Commander Chakotay working in concert. The success of the very plan we just executed supports this conclusion. Considering the continuum had to be convinced of the very existence of the threat from the Hierarchy of Multiverse Stewards, you would be wise to follow the Borg's lead."
Q scoffed at the idea, but then too faced Seven and Chakotay as if curious what they would propose. He raised his eyebrows in anticipation. "Well?"
Chakotay cleared his throat. "It seems to me, the Borg Collective and the Q Continuum already have a treaty in place that not only guards each party's interests but also precludes any tensions from boiling over to full-scale conflict."
The Queen nodded while Q scowled. "If you mean, we both have the other's head over a barrel and could destroy one another with a snap of our finger, that's about correct."
"That's not the right way to look at it at all," Chakotay replied diplomatically. "Your two species now play a critical role in protecting our entire universe from outside influence. Working together. Perhaps the continued presence of a Borg drone in the continuum to operate the dampening field is just an extension of the treaty. It will allow both the Continuum and Collective to build trust with one another."
"I agree with those terms," the Queen said immediately. "The New Borg Collective will abide by our agreement in perpetuity and will not attempt to assimilate any aspect of the Q continuum." She paused as she considered something else. "Our current goals are more directed inward as we work to also perpetuate the Hive Mind and individual drone quality of life."
Captain Janeway raised an eyebrow. Whatever that meant, but her thoughts were cut off by Q.
"So let it be written, so let it be done," he replied with a smile and wave of his hand, as if humoring himself with an inside joke. "I suppose you'll be wanting to get back to the alpha quadrant," he said, directing his question to Captain Janeway. "Would you like for me to take you all there instantly, or are you planning to stay encased in this Borg exoskeleton and go there via their antiquated transwarp technology."
"Thanks for the offer, Q," Janeway replied. "I think we have a few more things to work out here before we show up on Star Fleet's doorstep. Particularly if it's going to be in a Borg vessel."
Q shrugged. "Very well," he said. "I think though I will go pay an old friend a visit to prepare him, and Star Fleet I suppose, for your arrival. And regale him with the tale of how I saved the universe." With that, he raised his hand and snapped, exiting the room in a flash of white light.
Janeway turned to face the Borg Queen. "He'll be unsufferable from now on," she commented.
"A known deficiency in the plan, but manageable."
Janeway chuckled, but then narrowed her eyes. "I think I need to understand this New Borg Collective a bit more before we head back to the alpha quadrant."
"Of course," the Queen acknowledged, but then raised her hand. "I believe, however, there is a more pressing matter to attend to that was interrupted by the threat from the Stewards."
"What's that?" Janeway asked.
The Queen turned back to Seven. "Medical drones stand ready to remove all the Borg implants from your body per your request. We can accomplish this on a Borg cube, or we can beam the drones to Voyager's sickbay to perform the procedure there. The choice of time and place is yours."
Seven's eyes widened and she turned briefly to Chakotay who gave her an encouraging smile. She then turned back to the Queen. "I believe I would prefer Voyager's sickbay and would like to start immediately."
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Seven sat on the edge of a biobed in sickbay with Chakotay at her side. A Borg medical drone stood in front of them with the Doctor on one side and the Borg Queen on the other. Another medical drone stood a further distance away. "The procedure is actually rather simple," the first drone said. "The technique and device to be employed were assimilated from the Vidiians. It is loosely a combination of replicator and transporter technologies. Your genetic code is loaded into the device's memory such that a clone of any type of cell can be generated and replace an existing cell, or piece of Borg technology in your case, by cellular site-to-site transportation."
"Fascinating. It could be used to replace diseased or cancerous cells," the Doctor commented.
The medical drone nodded. "Precisely."
"That would be a valuable device to have on hand," the Doctor continued. "I suppose it could also be used to create a fully grown clone of an individual from scratch," he mused.
"A clone, in fact, of any age given the genetic code," the medical drone confirmed.
"If you would like Doctor," the Borg Queen interjected. "You could observe the procedure and see exactly how the device works, and we could leave with you a similar device for your own use here on Voyager."
The Doctor nodded enthusiastically. "That would be wonderful."
"How long will the procedure take?" Chakotay asked.
The medical drone turned to face Chakotay. His movements were jerky and a bit awkward, as if he was not used to addressing his patients. "Given the amount of material to be replaced," he said. "I estimate sixty-seven minutes."
"And the recovery period?" Seven asked.
"There should be no recovery period. You will awake and fully recovered when the sedatives wear off."
Chakotay reached over and took a hold of Seven's hand, to give her encouragement. With the situation with the Stewards resolved, he wanted to talk more about the future and implications of her knowledge from other universes. It seemed they were being swept up again in circumstances that prevented them from really spending time talking things through. Hopefully, there would be time enough after the procedure was completed. "I'll be right here the whole time," he finally said.
The medical drone motioned to a spot a bit further from the biobed. "Actually, sir, it would be more appropriate for you to stand clear as to not interfere with the procedure."
Chakotay laughed nervously and started to move to the indicated spot but was held back by Seven still holding his hand. The Borg Queen noticed. "Let us give them a moment before we start the procedure," she said smoothly. "Doctor, if we could speak to you about something."
The Doctor looked surprised and a bit confused, but then nodded. "Of course." He motioned for them to move to another part of sickbay.
When they were sufficiently far away, Seven squeezed Chakotay's hand. "I wish we had more time to talk with one another," she said. "Like the first few days we had together."
"I was thinking the same thing," Chakotay agreed.
"And leaving soon for Earth," Seven continued. "It will be overwhelming, and so many more people. I'm not sure I'm ready."
Chakotay nodded. "We'll have to find that time to be alone together. Work out our future together."
Seven smiled. She was happy Chakotay was open to working out a future with the two of them together. "So I haven't jeopardized our relationship in this timeline with all my knowledge of other universes."
Chakotay squeezed her hand back and winked. "I'm pretty confident we'll figure it all out."
Seven drew a deep breath and exhaled contentedly. She then swung her legs onto the biobed and laid down. "Let's get this over with then," she said with a grin. "I'm ready." The Borg medical drone and Doctor overheard and approached the biobed. Before letting go of her hand and taking his designated spot, however, Chakotay leaned over and kissed her good luck.
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Seven opened her eyes with Chakotay holding her hand and close by. The sedatives were wearing off and she felt comfortable. "Welcome back," he whispered.
"The procedures were completed without difficulty," the medical drone reported. "When you feel ready, you may get up."
"Thank you," Seven said.
The drone remained standing, as if confused by her response, but then nodded awkwardly. "You are welcome." He then moved off to tend to someone on the next biobed. Seven noticed for the first time that there was a second patient in sickbay. She started to sit up to get a better look.
"Easy," Chakotay said, putting his arm out to support her back and help her up.
The woman on the other biobed was dressed as Seven was, in loose fitting gray pants and top. She appeared human, but with a small ridge between her eyes similar to a Bajoran. Her long black hair cascaded off the side of the biobed's pillow. She looked vaguely familiar, but Seven couldn't figure out who she was. One of the Voyager crew? "Who is she?" Seven whispered.
Chakotay glanced behind him and then back to Seven. "You don't recognize her?"
Seven shrugged.
"I can hear both of you," the other patient said, opening her eyes and turning her head.
The voice was even more familiar, and yet Seven still couldn't think from where. Perhaps the sedatives were still working their way out of her system.
"Seven," Chakotay finally said. "May I introduce you to Lileth. Although, you know here better by her Borg Designation." He paused for dramatic effect and then cracked a smile. "Queen."
Seven opened her mouth, but then closed it without uttering a word. The medical drone tending to the Borg Queen helped her sit up much the same way Chakotay had helped Seven moments earlier. The Queen then swung her legs off the side of the biobed to face them. "An experiment, of sorts," she said. "The Borg Collective is rethinking the relationship between the Hive Mind and the individual drones." She shrugged. "We'll see how it works out. We are both the Borg Queen, but also the individual consciousness of Lileth of Species two-seven-four. I think it will take a bit of getting used to managing between the two. The procedure to restore my original form was actually much easier than your procedure because there was so little of my original form left." She lifted up her hand and examined her fingers more closely, rubbing their tips together. "My body is mostly a clone of my former self," she commented, "although soon enough all these cells will be replaced with new cells in the natural progression of aging."
"When are we talking to Lileth, and when are we talking to the Queen?" Seven asked, finding her voice.
The Borg Queen considered the question and then shrugged. "I guess both, for now," she finally said. "Something to be worked out." Something seemed to distract her. "It's time to get up," she said suddenly. "We're about to have visitors."
"Who?" Seven asked as Chakotay helped her to first sit on the edge of her biobed and then steadied her when she stood. Noticing the Queen wobble next to him, he reached out and steadied her as well.
"Thank you, Commander," the Queen replied, "but your place is next to Seven. Quickly. They're about to come in through the sickbay doors."
Sure enough, as if on cue, the sickbay doors opened and in walked Captain Janeway followed by two others and a Borg drone taking up the rear. Seven gasped and leaned onto Chakotay for more support.
"Annika?" one of them said. He was tall with graying short brown hair and sharp features. His companion lifted her hands to her mouth and fought back tears.
"Papa, mama," Seven choked out. Before she could say anything else, Magnus and Erin Hansen closed the distance between them, and both hugged their daughter they hadn't seen in sixteen years. Their tears now flowing freely.
"I'm so sorry," Magnus said, petting the back of Seven's head. "I'm so sorry."
Her mother had simply buried her face into her daughter's shoulder, weeping. Chakotay still held onto one of Seven's hands, but Seven's other arm was wrapped around her mother. Eventually, Erin Hansen pulled back a little and stood at arm's length. "I can't believe we're finally here," she said. "I had lost all hope."
"It's all just a fog," Magnus added. "Trapped in my mind as a Borg drone. I blame myself." He looked down. "I'm so sorry," he said again. "I'm still getting used to being free from all that, but the thought of what I put you through. What I put this family through haunts me."
"It's okay Papa," Seven said. She hadn't been sure how she would feel seeing her parents again. In a way, she did resent them for bringing their young daughter on such a dangerous mission all those years ago. Seeing them now, however, the blame and resentment melted away. "We're here now," she continued. "Together. The nightmare is over." She pulled on Chakotay's arm to bring him closer to her. "There's someone you need to meet."
Magnus and Erin Hansen seemed to notice Chakotay for the first time. Questions on their faces.
Chakotay reached out his hand and Magnus accepted it. "It's nice to meet both of you," he said. "I'm Chakotay. Your daughter's fiancée."
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Author's note: I'm writing these chapters without much reediting, wanting to get them out and complete the story while I have the time and motivation. If you notice anything egregiously wrong, please let me know, and please review if you are so inclined. One more chapter to go.