Chapter Twenty-Two
"That was a dirty trick, B'Elanna. No one makes the blood of a wanted fugitive run cold quite like you do."
"You've gotten too sensitive in your old age."
"Where are we going?"
"We're following orders. Welcome to the new rule of the Cassandras, one hundred women against the world. Our mandate is to help them locate the Psychic Sisters drug, in exchange for which, they probably won't kill us."
"Sounds like a fair deal."
"All we have so far," said B'Elanna, gesturing to the workstations in their underground hideout, "is this database. And the word of an informant that the answers to our questions lie with a woman named Peg O'Shaughnessy, who, as far as we can gather, doesn't exist. Where were you all this time, anyway?"
Chakotay scanned the basement absently, looking at nothing in particular. "I was trying to get some answers of my own."
B'Elanna would not allow him to avoid her prying gaze. "What do you mean? Oh, my - Janeway. You found Janeway, didn't you? Where is she?"
Chakotay shook his head. "I don't know, anymore. Apocrypha has theorized that what is happening here is the result of some type of alliance between Starfleet and the Borg collective. They have recruited Kathryn as their own personal flyer. She's gone to face the Borg, again."
B'Elanna stared. "And you couldn't talk her out of it."
"Please, B'Elanna."
"Okay," said B'Elanna, reconsidering the question. "But this pretty unbalanced, even for her. Does she really expect that she can make it out ali - " she paused, for once remembering the power of tact. "Well, I hope she's all right. How was it for you, seeing her again?"
She was once again made suspicious of the fact that he was looking absolutely everywhere but in her direction.
"She's inconsolable about Seven."
"What? What about Seven?"
Finally he met her gaze. "That's right, you couldn't have known," he said. "Before the war broke out, Seven and Captain Janeway went to one of the excavation sites for the Ultimate Starfleet Officer project. There were Starfleet men there, harvesting Borg technology and body parts. Seven, for whatever reasons struck her in the moment, decided to play the hero. She destroyed the cube, and Kathryn couldn't stop her. She's dead."
To his intense surprise and dismay, B'Elanna burst into laughter.
"B'Elanna!"
"Oh, I'm sorry Chakotay. It's just that Seven of Nine is about the farthest thing from dead that you could possibly conceive of."
"What?"
"Dead? The woman is a four-star general, Chakotay! I'm not even sure that this coup would have gotten off the ground without her. Say what you will about Seven, but she has certainly found her niche as a military strategist. In fact, my orders to intercept you were passed down by none other."
"But – how could it be?"
"Well, rumor has it that these Cassandras have a habit of both seeking out death and uncannily surviving it, and I guess she's one of them now. I certainly wouldn't mind having some of that luck thrown my way."
"Don't even joke about that."
"Oh tell me you've never been tempted to cast in your lot with them, Chakotay. They don't care whether they live or die, and they're fighting for the mere principle of freedom. You have to admit it's appealing."
"I see too many parallels between that and what Captain Janeway is doing. It's impulsive, and disorganized, and I'm very afraid that a war can't be won that way."
"I think that has everything to do with who one's opponent is."
Chakotay sighed. "Well, I'm very glad she's alive. I only wish there were a way to tell Kathryn."
"Do you think that's why she's doing this? Some type of vindication for Seven's supposed death?"
"No. That might be part of it, but it's about Starfleet, about what these men are doing. Kathryn truly believes this is the only way to stop them. I don't know, maybe I should have argued with her more."
"And you? What do you believe?"
Chakotay sighed. "I was told," he replied after a moment, "by a source of dubious dependability that the only way Kathryn could survive all of this would be to return to Starfleet. The same source gave me this – " he withdrew the tablet he had carried with him since his encounter with Balthasar, "and offered me no information about what it is, or what it's for. And yet, for some reason, I believe him. Perhaps it's out of blind faith, perhaps it's simply because there is no one and nothing else to believe. And yourself? You must have a theory."
B'Elanna shook her head. "Only the very same source of dubious dependability."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, while you were freezing me out I had to go somewhere for information. The same man you met was the man who told me about Peg O'Shaughnessy. I think we should follow every lead we can to find her."
They were interrupted by the sound of a door clanging, and a team of Cassandras charged inside. In a split second, one of them had Chakotay pinned to the metal desk, while another held a phaser to his back.
"Come with us."
"What are you doing?" shouted B'Elanna.
"I have orders to take him to Headquarters."
"He's with us. We picked him up on orders that came from Headquarters, as you call it. Not to mention that your ex-drone commander-in-chief used to be our subordinate officer. Let him go."
"What is this?" One of the Cassandras reached for Chakotay's tablet.
"Let me the hell out of this restraint and I'll explain it to you."
After a silent conference between colleagues, Chakotay was allowed to stand.
"I received this," he said, glaring venomously at the armed women, "from a source who claims to have information about Psychic Sisters. Do you have any idea how to interpret this image?"
The Cassandra who had held him down scanned the document with her limpid hazel stare.
"This is a map of Alpha Walker's infrastructure."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes. Alpha Walker was built on a bio-neural network, much like the modern starships. This must be a map of a specific region in that network."
B'Elanna's eyes widened. "And do you know who Peg O'Shaughnessy is?"
"No. I've never heard of her."
"That last name," said Chakotay. "O'Shaughnessy. There is an Admiral O'Shaughnessy who seems to have a large hand in this Ultimate Starfleet Officer project. I had some dealings with him when I was under cover. Maybe there is a relation?"
"Let's see." The Cassandra searched the database and pulled up a file. "O'Shaughnessy. Here he is. Never married, no children. One sister, Peg. Nine years younger."
"Did she ever work for Starfleet?"
"It looks like she was rejected from the Academy. But she still has a file on record. I'll generate an image for you."