# Chapter 3 – Repairs and Plans
Everyone was still present on the bridge to witness the examination of this ghost from the past. Saychek examined the readout more closely. "I think that's done it Captain," he finally said.
Before them was Voyager. By using the Phoenix's tractor beam, they had successfully stabilized Voyager's attitude. The extent of the damage was now clear. Hull breaches were evident across the saucer section, although once power was restored, none appeared too large for a force field to contain. The port nacelle, however, was a different story. It would require significant repairs, and with just the eight of them, that would require time.
"Lifesigns?" Captain Janeway asked, her voice catching on the word.
"There are no signs of life," Seven answered from her station. Captain Janeway had asked the same question soon after they arrived, and Seven's answer hadn't changed. She decided to expand a bit. "In fact, there is no evidence of any biological material, living or dead."
"What about on the planet?" Janeway asked.
"The planet below is L-class, and so does not support life. There are no energy signatures nor evidence of any artificial structures. In fact, no planets in this system support life of any kind."
"Can we send an away team to Voyager?"
Seven examined the sensor readings more closely. "Much of ship appears to be open to the vacuum of space. There are only pockets of breathable atmosphere, and this it at very low pressure."
"We can go over and operate in a vacuum for a limited time," Saychek said, obviously referring to the ex-Borg drones.
"We also have two environmental suits in the shuttle," Chakotay added. He turned to Saychek. "If we are to communicate, however, even you will need a mask to provide some atmosphere to carry the sound of your voice. I think we have some masks that might serve that purpose in the shuttle as well."
Captain Janeway continued to examine the image of Voyager before her, a frown deepening on her face. What had happened? Where was her crew?
"Saychek, you have the bridge. Stay here with Kizati. The rest of us will examine Voyager from stem to stern. Kizati, you'll keep a transporter lock on us at all times."
"Captain," Saychek replied. "I have studied Star Fleet regulations. Possible threats aboard Voyager have not yet been established. Your place, as Captain, is on this ship."
"Not this time," Janeway replied, with steel in her voice. "Minnik, you're with me. We'll start on the bridge." She turned to Chakotay and hesitated. He stood close to Seven of Nine. Like two planets whose gravitational fields inexorably drew them closer together. "Chakotay, you and Seven start in the shuttle bay and work your way forward. Lemore, you and Ak start in engineering. Assess what you can with regard to re-establishing power."
Each acknowledged their assignment. They all first went to the shuttle in the Phoenix's cargo bay to retrieve the environmental suits and masks, and then each group beamed over to Voyager in pairs.
"Can you hear me," Seven asked. Her voice sounded distant, as if she was across the room speaking softly, but it was clear enough through the environmental suit's comm. system.
"I can," Chakotay replied. "And you me?" Chakotay aimed his light towards Seven. She stood in the center of the shuttle bay. The bay doors were open to space, and inside the Delta Flyer and remaining two shuttles were absent.
Seven nodded and turned on her own light. They moved about to examine what remained. Besides the missing shuttlecraft, nothing else was out of place.
"Some of the crew could have escaped in the shuttles," Chakotay ventured.
"It seems unlikely," Seven countered. "If you recall when we examined the hull from the Phoenix, none of the escape pods had been deployed. I would guess the shuttles were removed by the hostile force after Voyager was secured.
Chakotay nodded solemnly. It did seem like a reasonable explanation. He motioned to the door that led to the rest of the ship. It was closed without power and of course did not open when they approached. He placed a portable power unit on the door's panel to power it individually, and presently it slid open. A breath of air rushed past them as the atmosphere on the deck escaped into the shuttle bay.
They opened and examined a few of the rooms on their way forward, mostly crew quarters. Only occasionally was there evidence of a struggle; items scattered on the floor or a phaser burn on a corridor wall. They worked in silence for the most part.
As they neared sickbay, Captain Janeway called the other away teams. "Minnik and I have downloaded Tuvok's logs. We're heading back to the Phoenix to examine them in detail. Lemore, what's the situation down in engineering?"
"A bit of a mess Captain," Lemore replied. "It appears as if the crew made their last stand here against whatever force boarded. Main power and auxiliary power are offline. I'd like Seven to take a look, but I believe we'd be able to convert one of the Borg power systems as a temporary fix if we plan to initiate repairs."
"Chakotay, what's your status?"
"We're making our way to sickbay. The Delta Flyer and other shuttlecraft are missing. We suspect the hostile force that invaded Voyager took them."
"OK. Finish with sickbay, and then join Lemore and Ak in engineering. We'll beam over a Borg power unit to power Voyager's systems and begin repairs."
"We're going to attempt to salvage Voyager?" Chakotay asked.
There was silence on the comm, and Chakotay realized Captain Janeway must be battling the demons of her lost command. Voyager had been her ship, and to see it in this state, the crew missing and presumed dead, must be devastating. "Let's get power restored and then assess our options," she finally said. "Janeway out."
They entered sickbay. As with most everywhere else they had encountered, nothing seemed out of the ordinary. If only the lights and the environmental systems would turn on, it would look like any other day. Seven made her way to one of the computers and attempted to use her portable energy unit to power up the station. It was only partially successful.
"Chakotay, there appears to be an active program in this station's memory buffer," she remarked.
Chakotay moved over to her side and examined the read out. "There's not enough power to activate it," he said and had a sudden inspiration. "This might very well be the Doctor."
Seven turned to him curiously. "Explain."
"The Doctor was Voyager's emergency medical hologram program. He was activated after the incident that brought Voyager to the delta quadrant, and has been, or at least was operating continuously ever since. If we can activate him, he would undoubtedly be able to tell us what was happening and who did this."
Seven examined the computer terminal more closely. "Give me your power unit," she ordered, putting her hand out to Chakotay. "I will attempt to combine their output and activate the Doctor's program."
Chakotay had grown used to Seven's demeanor and was unfazed with her ordering him. In fact, he had come to enjoy her forthright manner. He handed her his power unit and she combined it with her own already on the terminal. Some additional systems within sickbay powered up. Chakotay looked to the corners of the room and realized a few of the holographic projectors had come online. The Doctor, however, didn't materialize.
"It might be waiting for a voice command," Chakotay offered.
"Unfortunately, without an atmosphere, that won't be possible," Seven countered.
"Can you access environmental control for sickbay? I believe its system was separate from the rest of the ship for quarantine purposes."
"I will try." Seven worked at the terminal for a short time, and then the doors to sickbay closed and sealed. All at once, Chakotay could hear the hiss of a gathering atmosphere through the helmet of his environmental suit. He reached to start undoing the latching mechanism to his helmet, but Seven reached over and touched his upper arm. "Not yet Chakotay," she said with concern. "Please wait until full atmospheric pressure has been restored." Chakotay nodded, but Seven kept her hand on his arm. After a few minutes, the hissing became less noticeable, and Seven removed her hand.
Chakotay opened his helmet. The air was very cold and dry. He blinked several times and took shallow breaths to get used to it. "Activate EMH program," he said, after acclimating.
Before them there was a shimmering of light, and the Doctor materialized. "Please state the nature of the medical emergency," he said, and then catching a glimpse of Seven, he stepped back in alarm.
"It's all right Doctor," Chakotay assured him. "It's me, Commander Chakotay."
The Doctor looked at Chakotay warily, as if not believing his visual processors. "Commander, what are you doing here? Was Tuvok successful in obtaining the antidote after all?"
"Doctor, Voyager left Captain Janeway and myself on New Earth over seven years ago. What is your last memory?"
The Doctor looked about the darkened sickbay as if looking at it for the first time. "We were in a firefight with the Vidiians," he said. "I was speaking with Denara, about obtaining the antidote for the New Earth virus. My memory stops in mid sentence. The power to sickbay must have been disrupted and I was not reactivated until this moment. Did you say seven years?"
Chakotay glanced at Seven beside him, and then back to the Doctor. "Voyager has been adrift in space for the past seven years, and the crew is missing. Do you suppose they were captured by the Vidiians?"
"Commander," the Doctor pleaded. "Denara had nothing to do with this attack."
"Who is this Denara?" Seven interjected.
"A brilliant Vidiian doctor," the Doctor replied. "She only wanted to help us and had no idea of the treachery the other Vidiian ships had planned." The Doctor turned indignant and added, "and who are you?"
"Seven of Nine, Tertiary Adjunct of Unimatrix Zero-One," Seven replied evenly.
The Doctor turned to Chakotay. "Am I to believe we are now allied with the Borg?" he asked incredulously.
"The Captain and I and six ex-Borg drones are traveling in a repaired Borg sphere. We're station keeping in orbit near Voyager. Seven is our chief engineer."
The Doctor turned back to Seven. "Well, I'm pleased to meet you then."
"And I you," Seven replied. "You are not what I expected from a simple holographic program."
"I'm not just any holographic program," the Doctor said indignantly. "My program required fifty million gigaquads of memory and I have the combined medical knowledge of all Federation species, and now a great deal of delta quadrant species as well."
Seven was impressed, the wheels in her mind turning.
"Doctor," Chakotay interrupted. "Seven and I need to get to engineering. You'll have to stay here while we power back up Voyager's systems."
"You forget Commander," the Doctor replied. "I'm a prisoner in these walls. Unless this Borg sphere of yours has holographic projectors, I'm stuck here in sickbay."
"There are no such projectors on the Phoenix," Seven stated.
"Don't worry Doctor," Chakotay said. "I don't think the Captain is about to abandon Voyager, particularly now that we know you're still aboard."
"That's good to know."
"We'll return here as soon as we get power established."
#
The meeting was being held in Voyager's sickbay, for the Doctor's benefit. Ak remained on board the Phoenix with an open comm. link and transporter lock on everyone in case another ship was detected in system. They had been in orbit for three days with no other ships detected within two light years, and so Captain Janeway deemed the possibility of them being interrupted as remote and that it was safe for her and the rest of the crew to attend the meeting.
Complete power had been restored to Voyager earlier in the day, although impulse and warp drive were still offline. At least maneuvering thrusters were available, and so Voyager could be kept in a stable orbit and attitude indefinitely.
The group stood together between two of the biobeds. Captain Janeway sighed heavily, and then began. "So, here's where we stand. Seven tells me the repair of Voyager's warp nacelle is possible, even with our limited manpower, but it will take months to complete. We can tow Voyager with the Phoenix's tractor beams, but that will limit our speed to warp two point three. If we met trouble, Voyager would be a sitting duck. Although the phaser banks have been recharged and are operating, all the photon torpedoes have been confiscated, presumably by the Vidiians.
"Minnik and Seven made a complete sweep of the system and have identified three Federation-like warp signatures, all leading off in the same direction. By comparison to the warp signature we followed here, it is likely these are from the Delta Flyer and two remaining shuttlecraft that the Vidiians also took from Voyager. Along the trajectory, there is a system with an M-class planet about a dozen light years distant. I think it highly probable this was there destination, and possible that answers to the whereabouts of our missing crewmen will be found on that planet.
"I fully intend to investigate that nearby system and look for survivors. In the past, the Vidiians used their captured prisoners for slave labor because they were too weakened by the phage to work themselves. If it is possible even one of Voyager's crew has survived these past seven years in a Vidiian prison, I intend to get them out."
Captain Janeway looked from face to face to gauge their reactions. The ex-Borg drones were as impassive as ever, and she could see disgust on Chakotay's face, evidently thinking of his time in the Vidiian camp when he rescued Tom Paris and B'Ellana Torres from the Vidiian experiments and organ processing. The Doctor's program was registering a bit of trepidation as well. He was likely concerned that they might be considering abandoning Voyager. "I'm not putting this up to a vote," the Captain continued. "I do want to know what each of you is thinking."
Chakotay spoke first. "I agree that it would be wiser to leave Voyager in orbit about this planet. There is substantial evidence that this system is infrequently visited, and it will be safe here until we return."
"Would it be wise to arrive in the system in a Borg vessel?" Saychek ventured. Another vessel might be more easily ignored."
"What do you propose?" Janeway replied.
"Perhaps we should consider reinstalling the warp drive into the shuttlecraft," Saychek replied. "Depending on how much traffic is in the nearby system, it might go unnoticed."
"But that would leave the Phoenix without a warp drive," Janeway protested.
"Not necessarily," Seven said. "Voyager's warp drive is essentially intact, although the damage to the port nacelle makes establishing a stable warp field impossible." She paused and turned to Minnik, as if she was about to ask the Kazon a question, but then returned her attention to Janeway. "If you allow us three more days, I believe Minnik and I could retrofit the Phoenix to accept Voyager's warp drive. In fact, it would allow the Phoenix to operate at warp speed for greater lengths of time."
Janeway didn't like the idea of cannibalizing Voyager's systems, but it sounded like a viable option. "If we all helped in the retrofit, could you complete the transition faster?"
"Yes," Seven replied.
"Have you given further consideration in attempting to contact Doctor Denara Pel?" the Doctor cut in.
Captain Janeway turned to the Doctor, sympathy in her eyes. "Doctor, I know how much you care for Doctor Pel, but until we know more about what happened seven years ago on Voyager and the fate of the crew, I'm reluctant to reveal to the Vidiians what we're up to."
"Doctor Pel had nothing to do with this Captain," the Doctor replied emphatically.
"I know that Doctor, but until I know more about the Vidiians who did do this, we'll be keeping a low profile." She reached over and touched the Doctor's holographic sleeve, and he reluctantly nodded. Turning back to the rest of the group, she continued, "OK. So now the question is who goes on this scouting mission?"
"I will go," Chakotay stated. "I know the people we're looking for, and they know me. I've also had experience with the Vidiians and their internment camps."
Seven was about to speak up, but Janeway lifted her hand to stop her. "Seven, I'm fully aware that you intend to propose going on this away mission as well. If you stay here, however, you could oversee the retrofit of Voyager's warp core into Phoenix while Chakotay is investigating the planet."
Seven turned to Minnik. "Minnik would be more than capable of accomplishing the oversight," she said, which made Minnik smile in return.
Janeway narrowed her eyes and glanced at Chakotay. "Seven and I work well together," he offered. "She would be my first choice to accompany me."
Janeway shook her head and smiled. There was obviously no point in fighting this. "Very well. The two of you will take the shuttle to the neighboring system and assess what we're up against."
"Are you sure sending Seven is wise," Saychek remarked. "It will be hard for Seven to blend in and I don't think an ex-Borg drone will be welcome."
"The intention of this away mission is to assess the situation on the ground, not to launch a rescue attempt," Janeway replied. "Chakotay and Seven will remain concealed and return with the information. By that time, the retrofit will be complete, and depending on what we find out, we can return with the Phoenix and launch a rescue if necessary."
"What do you need from me during this time?" the Doctor asked tentatively, sounding deflated.
"I have an idea about that," Seven said. "Some research the Doctor could conduct that would be helpful to us all. For the present, however, I would like to discuss it with the Doctor in private."
Chakotay raised his eyebrows, and the others looked at one another, but didn't comment. Only Minnik seemed to understand. Janeway was about to protest, but then decided against it. "At some point, I will have to become privy to what this idea of yours is, but for now, hear her out Doctor."
She turned to the rest of the group. "Does anyone have something else to add?" After waiting a moment, she turned to Chakotay. "Prepare the shuttle and help Seven and Minnik move the warp drive back inside. You will leave as soon as you are able." She touched her comm badge and said, "Ak, beam all of us back to the Phoenix except Seven. She will be returning shortly."
Almost immediately the group of them dematerialized and was gone.
Seven moved over to where the Doctor was standing and regarded the hologram. He was not at all what she had expected. How could a collection of computer algorithms and sub-routines simulate complex human behaviors and emotions so well? At times during their interactions over the past few days, it was possible to forget he was artificial. He spoke often of this Vidiian doctor and Seven had been surprised to learn he apparently had a romantic interest in her. Somehow he felt love without the neurochemicals in a biological brain; without being human. That intrigued her. She reached out and handed the Doctor a data chip. "I have something for you to work on while we are absent," she began. "I know what the Captain has said concerning this endeavor, but I would like for you to keep this research between the two of us for now."
"Of course," the Doctor replied and accepted the data chip.
"This chip contains a full scan of my cybernetic implants as well as all relevant information from the Borg data nodes concerning the removal of Borg armor, implants, and components. It's a medical encyclopedia, if you will, about the Borg."
The Doctor looked surprised. "Do you desire for me to research how to remove some of your Borg implants?" he queried.
"No," Seven replied flatly. "I desire for you to remove them all."
#
Author's note: I was going to tweak on this some late tonight, but decided I needed to get more sleep instead. I think it's good enough to go. I'll perhaps have Chapter 4 ready in a few days… updates will be a bit more spread out from this point forward.