Chapter 13

Two minutes.

The walls of the structure were moving. For a moment, Seven thought it was alive. She looked closer and realized that it was the nanoprobes eating away at the structure, like termites. She smiled, enjoying the spectacle of melting walls.

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Three seconds…

A bright light gathered and was focused by the deflector dish, set up as per Seven's instructions in her last message. In a last ditch attempt, some of Species 8472's pods collided with the Enterprise, but they were too late.

Tom shut his eyes.

Two seconds…

The act was useless, but he still braced himself in his chair. A tingling sensation took hold of his body.

One…

Voyager went to warp as the Enterprise collided with the structure. At first the structure simply melded with the starship, but then the self destruct went off and the whole scene disappeared in a flash. With the Mud Hole disappearing before their eyes and the threat of destruction looming, Species 8472 escaped back through smaller, temporary rifts into fluidic space.

"Welcome back to Voyager, Commander." Ensign Kelly stood behind the controls in the transporter room. He had a cut above his right eye and a bruise forming on his cheek. Despite the obvious signs of a hard day, the man was smiling.

Tom smiled, the first real smile in at least two weeks. "Thank you, Ensign." He headed for the doors.

He reached the bridge in no time where he found the crew cheering. Tom joined Captain Chakotay at the front of the bridge. They stood together looking out at the empty space where the Mud Hole used to be. "I take it things went well."

Chakotay smiled, overflowing with pride in his crew. Around him, they congratulated each other over their incredible success and luck. "It was perfect." His smile faltered. "But we haven't heard anything from Seven, not since before the structure was destroyed."

Tom slapped Chakotay on the back. "I'm sure she's fine." Tom steered him to the captain's chair. "Don't worry. We'll find her."

Chakotay nodded, but concern for Seven remained in the forefront of his mind.

Reports were coming in on both the Regulus and Voyager, describing the extent of damages and number of people dead and injured. None dead, everyone sporting at least some injury was cause for celebration. Doctors burdened with patients was better than even one body in the morgue. And they had succeeded.

Scans showed that the rift had closed, and that the nanoprobes were eating away at the Mud Hole. The structure had completely disappeared. The only signs of the effort it took to destroy it were a few small pieces of the Enterprise.

Despite having asked the question twice before Tom arrived, Chakotay asked about Seven again. "Any word from the Justice?"

One of the ensigns on Chakotay's far left, a dark-haired Trill, checked the computer and answered. "None, sir."

Chakotay tried to calm his growing worry. She could be keeping an eye on the nanoprobes to make sure they would follow their programming and automatically self destruct after assimilating the Mud Hole. "Hail the Justice."

The ensign nodded and sent the hail. He frowned over the result.

"What is it? Does she have bad news?"

"No, sir," he interrupted, checking the computer even further. "We're not getting any signal from the Justice at all."

Tom caught Chakotay's eye. "She should have turned off the cloaking device by now."

Chakotay nodded, trying to think why Seven would keep the cloak up and not answer a hail.

The ensign took a deep breath, well aware that he was going to be giving news no one wanted to hear. "Sir, even with the cloak up, we know what to look for. I don't think the Justice is out there."

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Four hours later and there was still no sign of the Justice. Worse was evidence that the ship had exploded. Chakotay refused to believe what he was told and ordered his crew to continue looking.

With a tired sigh, Chakotay entered his ready room. He could barely work up the energy to do more than shuffle over to his desk and sit. He sat for a minute with his head in his hands, staring at the blank computer screen before him. There had to be something else he could do, some other means of finding Seven that he hadn't explored. Had she transported to one of the planets? Was the Justice damaged and Seven unable to communicate? Was she really dead? No, he refused to believe the last thought.

Running his hand roughly over his face, Chakotay signed onto the computer terminal. He had a message. It was encrypted with a Borg algorithm. Surprised, he looked at the time stamp on it and found it had been received just before the Enterprise collided with the structure. He opened the message and ran it through every decoder available. The computer finally provided a sequence. It was an older Borg algorithm, more complex than the one Harry had used for the other messages.

With trepidation, Chakotay began to read. Only a few sentences in and Chakotay called Tom to let him know they could stop looking for the Justice; they wouldn't find it.

It took all night for Chakotay to finish with the letter. It wasn't very long, only a few sentences, but he just kept running over the words again and again. He couldn't stop. With every word, Seven's voice echoed in Chakotay's mind, clearer and clearer with every fresh reading.

Tom entered the ready room at 0600 hours, carrying an update on repairs. "We've successfully retrieved all the Enterprise's escape pods. Were you up all night?"

Chakotay glanced up and gave a slight nod.

Tom took in the sight of his captain sitting with a pale, tired face and grew worried. He caught a glimpse of what Chakotay was reading. "What is that?"

He turned the screen so Tom could see. Chakotay read along from memory. "The weapon was too damaged to fix, but I won't let you down. I'm sorry." Chakotay couldn't bring himself to repeat the last three words of Seven's letter, but the letters burned into his mind as though he was reading it again.

Tom mouthed the words of the letter, but stopped at the last line. He had the grace not to mention Chakotay's omission.

In its entirety, the message read: "The weapon was too damaged to fix, but I won't let you down. I'm sorry. I love you."

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The return of the two ships to Earth was a quiet affair since only a few had known about the mission to begin with. Both the Regulus and Voyager were taken in for repairs while the crews were debriefed and given time off.

It was during the debriefing that Chakotay once again saw Admiral Janeway and related to her how her friend and pupil had died. He recited the final message perfectly. Her eyes watched him closely the entire time. Afterwards, they walked the grounds of Starfleet Headquarters together.

"I was worried when we couldn't get any communiqués in or out," said Janeway. "I guess I was right to worry."

"I guess so." They walked down the path with bright flowers, bees, and tall trees surrounding them. He hid it well, but the beautiful greenery failed to give Chakotay a feeling of peace.

Kathryn watched him closely. He was miserable, just as she knew he would be without the person he loved. "When Admiral Janeway came to us from the future, she tried to get me to reconsider trying to destroy the Borg hub by telling me some things about the future."

This disturbed him slightly. "What did she tell you?"

"She warned me that you and Seven had become an item."

"She told you that we were dating in order to stop you from destroying the hub?"

Kathryn chuckled, but it was bitter. "Not exactly. She said the two of you were involved and when Seven… was injured, it caused you quite a lot of pain." Janeway deliberately avoided telling him that they had been married and Seven had died in that reality as well. It didn't seem fair to give him more heartache. "I believe she told Seven that as well."

"You think Seven wanted to put distance between us to spare my feelings?"

Janeway nodded. "I do. I think that even after the timeline was changed, she saw potential for you to be hurt and it frightened her." Kathryn paused, hoping her next words would give him some small measure of comfort. "I think in the end, that's why she did what she did. Giving her own life was preferable to seeing you suffer."

Chakotay nodded, for a long while too overcome to say anything. Luckily, he was with one of his dearest friends, who waited patiently and with understanding. Tears rimmed her own eyes as he battled for composure. "I admit, I didn't take it too well when she decided to call it quits." He looked down, ashamed of some of his initial anger. Just as it was not his nature to obsess over or abuse a woman, it was not in his nature to easily forgive himself for even the slightest transgression.

"I think I can understand you being upset over losing such an attachment. You never were one for frivolous relationships." She placed her hand on his shoulder to stop him and he turned to face her. "I know you, Chakotay. You didn't do anything to upset or hurt her. Seven needed to find her own way and the fact that you let her go and do that very thing just shows how much you loved her…" she examined his eyes, "or do love her."

They held hands, taking some small measure of comfort from the closeness. However, a pain in Chakotay's chest had started to grow since he first read Seven's last words and so far it had just gotten worse. He had lost friends and family and girlfriends before but never had he felt like a part of him was missing, a part that could never fully heal.

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If this was death, it sure wasn't how she imagined it, not that she really had anything to guide her in her expectations. She had feared it, but not been able to settle her mind as to what it would be like. Everything was black and cold, very cold. As some time went by, bright light crept in around the edges and feeling came back. Mostly there was pain.

She realized that things were only black because her eyes were screwed shut. For some reason, it took a good amount of effort to open them, but she did it.

With a gasp, Seven's eyes adjusted to the lower light and saw the now familiar walls of the ship's structure. The brown walls surrounding her were so close that she didn't know how there was enough air for her to breath, let alone where enough light was coming in for her to see. Her tool kit was beside her, pressing so tightly into her side that it hurt to breathe. It cost her some soreness, but she looked all around her. Everything seemed to be solid.

Lacking anything else to do, Seven began to assess herself. It seemed nothing had changed except an escalation in physical pain all over. During the collision she must have sustained more injuries.

The walls were melting. Seven jumped a bit in surprise when she noticed this. With a trembling hand, she reached out and brushed a bit of wall with her fingertips. It was as cold as ice. Lazy tendrils crept from the walls and around the tip of her index finger. She watched as it grabbed hold. It attempted to grow around her finger and down her wrist, but couldn't make it. The tendril shuddered and then just shrivelled into nothing before her eyes.

"The nanoprobes." She smiled. Apparently they would continue eating away until their whole job was done. She looked around herself again and wondered just how long it would take for her prison to completely disappear. She also wondered why it was not already demolished. The Enterprise had collided with the structure. She had felt it. So then how was she alive?

Ever so slowly, the walls melted until there was a large hole to the right of where Seven was lying. It was so bright in comparison to her current drab surroundings that she couldn't tell what lay beyond it. Curious and with nothing to lose, Seven crawled towards it. She had to pull away part of the wall, which crumbled in her hands, to squeeze through.

It was a ship, or at least part of one. The light was coming from a flashlight lying on the floor. The rest of the area was pitch black. Seven picked up the light and shone it around her. Her only conclusion was that a great amount of luck - whether good or bad had yet to be decided - had been on her side.

Some small part of the Enterprise had survived as had some of the structure. The two had melded together due to the heat and force of impact, forming a pod of sorts. Her tools were still in her belt so she took one out and began to scan her surroundings. Seven decided she had very bad luck. There was only a little air left in the small enclosure, but she wouldn't have to worry about freezing or suffocating. The nanoprobes were doing their job well, eating away at the viscous wall and beyond that was fluidic space, actual fluidic space. She dropped her scanner and lay back on the ground, too tired and sore to do anything else. What was the point anyway?

I should disable the nanoprobes before they get into fluidic space. The thought, one that once would never have entered her mind, now stuck there with a stubbornness unlike any she had known. She lay there on the floor, wondering why the thought of infecting all of fluidic sat so uneasily with her. Species 8472 was her mortal enemy. She supposed the ideals of Starfleet, particularly Voyager's crew, had rubbed off on her.

With only so much time left, Seven forced herself into a sitting position and dragged her toolkit out from the rubble. She gripped the familiar edges of her tools, taking comfort from doing something so familiar… and doing something that felt inexplicably right.

By the time the programming was done, all energy had left her. Seven lay back on the carpet and stared into the blackness, waiting for death. Her expectation was disrupted by the familiar feeling of being transported. Voyager?

She rematerialized on a curved, but soft surface inside what looked to be one of Species 8472's vessels. Two of the creatures looked down on her, their eyes glowing yellow. Despite her nightmares and the natural fear she had of the species, she didn't get the impression these individuals meant her harm. Their gazes bore into hers and instead of feeling anxious or afraid, a sense of calm settled over her. It filled her body and mind, lulling her into a deep sleep.

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Seven woke up in what first appeared to be a forest. Her hair was loose and brushed, the grime had been washed away from her body and she was wearing clean, typical civilian Earth clothes.

She stood, curious but not surprised that her legs and the rest of her body was healed, and could see that she was really behind a few trees on the corner of her aunt's property. There were lights on in the little, white house. It looked inviting, but there was an ethereal quality about everything. Her aunt was in the kitchen when she entered.

"Oh, hello." Irene placed a pie on the table and gestured for Seven to sit. "I was wondering when you'd be getting up."

"You're not my aunt," said Seven.

The visage that looked so much like Seven's last relative looked at her with pity. "No, I'm not." She gestured to the chair once more. "Please, sit."

Seven looked around the kitchen. It was very realistic and yet it didn't feel right. "Then what is this, a hallucination?"

"Not really. We're giving you this vision so we can communicate while you rest. Our minds are connected, if only on a superficial level. You can probably feel us if you try."

Seven closed here eyes and found that she could indeed feel something like tendrils in her mind. Focusing on any one strand led her to another creature's thoughts and feelings, but it took a lot of effort and she quickly broke off. Returning to her own mind with relief, she realized she was sweating, even though it was not real sweat. She sat down.

Irene patted Seven's hand kindly. "Your body took quite a beating so we placed you in a stasis unit. You'll be right as rain in a few hours. We chose this location from your memory because it gives you comfort."

"Why are you helping me?"

"It's kind of complicated."

"According to you, I have a few hours."

"Fair enough." Irene cut up a piece of pie and offered it to Seven, who shook her head. "Not long after Captain Janeway negotiated a truce with us, a malcontent group began to grow. They didn't trust Janeway, or any humans for that matter."

"Kathryn Janeway is a good person. She would not lead you astray."

"I know, but they were determined and that you were part of her crew ensured their suspicion."

"You speak of them in the past tense. Have they all been destroyed?"

"Not all of them, but their movement has been thanks to your people. They were never a large group, just disruptive. The fleet they attacked Voyager and the Regulus with was all they had."

"That explains their cautious behaviour, but if they were so small, why didn't you and your people control them?"

"We tried, but we don't attack each other. Such a thing is unheard of. When negotiation and reason failed, we ran out of options." Irene folded her hands in front of her, reminding Seven of Janeway trying to explain some aspect of humanity that Seven stubbornly refused to understand.

Seven thought of the Borg Collective. Like Species 8472, they could hear each others' thoughts, share in experiences and work as one towards the same goal. The difference was that Species 8472 was a collective of individuals with their own thoughts, identities and desires. An attack on each other would be devastating for their race.

"I understand."

Irene's eye flashed yellow as she stared at Seven. "Yes, I suppose you do. You already know they were controlling your dreams, giving you nightmares to intimidate you."

"The Enterprise was destroyed as was the structure?"

Irene nodded.

"Then, how did I get here?"

"We watched from behind one of -- what did you humans call it -- Beta 12's moons." She smiled. "It was quite something, actually. The Enterprise crashed into the structure, partly melded with it, and exploded. However, it took too long to close the rift. You have some amazing luck, child. A corner -- the corner with you -- was pushed through the rift before it closed and here you are."

"Here I am." Seven nodded, looking around the simulated environment. It was nice and peaceful, but there was a desire for something she had never really felt before. She wanted to go home. "Am I going to have to stay here?"

Irene poured herself a cup of tea and made a cup with cream and sugar for Seven before answering. "We can help you get back, but it will have to be in an escape pod. We're a little short at the moment so I'm afraid we can't give you a ship and we wish to avoid direct confrontations with your species."

"I understand, but aren't you nervous about leaving Starfleet with an example of your technology to study?"

"The pod will degrade naturally after it lands," said Irene. "The only problem is that you will not be able to work the controls. We'll have to pre-set the coordinates." Irene nudged the tea closer until Seven took a sip. "So, where would you like to land?"

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Unnoticed due to its exceptionally brief existence, a rift opened from fluidic space just above the outermost reaches of Earth's atmosphere. In a second it had both formed and disappeared, ejecting a small, brown pod into space. The pod automatically headed to Earth's surface, burning as it fell. By the time people noticed its presence, it had already landed on the grounds of Starfleet Headquarters.

Seven got out of the pod. It was already degrading into nothing. Trees and ferns blocked her view of the whole area, but she knew where she was anyway. The representative for Species 8472, Irene, had insisted the pod land where it could hide until it fully decomposed. She watched until every bit had vanished before trying to find a path that would lead her out of the forest.

Thankfully, the park was not too large. She soon struck upon an old gravel path that led to a paved and well-tended trail bordered in bright flowers and tall trees. Half an hour into her walk, she spotted one of the buildings of the Starfleet complex. There were several paths crisscrossing over the grounds. Several people were out for a stroll, but none took notice of the blond-haired woman in civilian clothing on the outer edges of the park. She headed towards the buildings.

Then, like an epiphany, she spotted two of the people she most wanted to see. Kathryn Janeway and Chakotay were walking together on a path ahead of her. They were too far away to hear her and they were too focused on their conversation with each other to notice her waving in the distance.

Her excitement was cut short, however, as they stopped and turned to each other. They were holding hands in such an intimate way that even Seven knew to be a gesture of more than friendship. She dropped the hand that had been waving at them so excitedly a moment ago.

Her throat felt clogged. As in Astrometrics when Chakotay visited her, she wanted to call out to him, to let him know she wanted his presence, wanted him. As before, though, she kept her tongue. If this made him happy, then she would let him go, even if it hurt. But it wouldn't have to hurt.

Love, she decided, was a useless emotion for her to engage in. It led only to pain, another useless feeling. It did not occur to her that it was her love for her friends which gave her the strength to destroy the structure and face death.

She released a breath and turned from them, looking for a direct way to Starfleet Headquarters. There wasn't one so she stepped over the flowerbeds and made her own path.