Kathryn did not cooperate once in sickbay. She apparently had another agenda in mind, and it took Chakotay and the Doctor a lot of time to coax her into even being scanned.
"Please hold still, Captain," the Doctor urged, waving the tricorder around her head.
Kathryn complied only for a moment before she tapped her combadge. "Janeway to Seven of Nine. Report to sickbay."
"Yes, Captain."
"Is there anything wrong, Doctor?" Chakotay asked when the EMH had finished scanning. Or rather when he gave up scanning. As usual, Chakotay was more concerned about Kathryn's health than she was.
"As far as I can tell, which is a lot less than I would like to, no," the Doctor said. "The captain is fine now. But there is evidence of tampering in her brain. There's no question R did something."
That was stating the obvious. "But, physically, there's nothing wrong now?"
"Yes, Commander. But I don't know the extent of R's abilities. I believe it entirely possible for the captain to have a relapse."
"I doubt it," Kathryn said. She seemed unperturbed by the men talking about her as if she wasn't there.
"To be safe, you should stay in sickbay until R has left Voyager. There may be something latent in your mind that he can switch back on."
"I can't stay in sickbay, Doctor," Kathryn said firmly.
"But—"
"I've got things to do elsewhere. I'm leaving."
"Captain, I must insist. You could be in grave danger."
"I'm too busy for grave danger, Doctor." She slid from the biobed she was sitting on.
Chakotay decided to intervene. "Captain, the Doctor raised a valid concern. We need you at your mental best."
For a moment she stared at him, blue eyes scrutinizing, and he could practically see the inner battle played therein.
Finally she conceded and hopped back onto the biobed. "Give me a cortical monitor if it will make you feel any better."
The look on the Doctor's face indicated it wouldn't but he left to prepare a cortical monitor nonetheless.
Chakotay sat with Kathryn in silence while they waited. He discreetly observed her appearance. From the bags under her eyes, to the wisps of hair that had fallen from place in the struggle they'd had in the brig, to the way her hands mindlessly gripped then released the fabric of her uniform pants on her knees. She wasn't in the best condition, but she was definitely Kathryn.
He inhaled sharply when he flicked his gaze back to her face and realized she was watching him look at her. He didn't look away though. It was an opportunity to see behind the mask by way of her eyes. They were sad and conflicted but gleamed with steely determination.
"Here you go, Captain," the Doctor said, interrupting the moment as he placed the monitor on her neck.
Seven arrived shortly after. "You need to see me, Captain?"
Kathryn rose to her feet. "You and the Doctor are going to develop those nanoprobes."
Seven nodded but the Doctor objected. "Excuse me, Captain, but you realize what those nanoprobes would do?"
"I know exactly what they will do."
"Well, I don't. Why don't you enlighten me?" Chakotay said, concerned by the tension that had risen between Kathryn and the EMH.
Seven obliged before either of the other two could stop her. "I have designed a version of the nanoprobe that can effectively kill R by attacking his brain structure."
Chakotay blinked before asking, "Kill?" The question was directed toward Kathryn.
"Yes." The hardness in her tone matched the determination in her eyes.
"Captain, I cannot harm R," the Doctor said.
"You can and you will, Doctor. That's an order. He's a threat and needs to be dealt with." Kathryn looked to Seven. "When will you be done?"
"Two hours at most, Captain."
"Good. Do it."
Chakotay followed Kathryn out but didn't say anything until they were in the turbolift en route to the bridge. "This seems drastic, Kathryn."
She looked at him with eyebrows slightly raised. "What else would you have me do, Chakotay?"
"Have Q take him back. This isn't our fight."
She lowered her hands to her hips in a defensive stance. "Q won't take him anywhere. And it became our fight the moment R set foot on my ship."
"There has to be a different option."
"There isn't Chakotay. I've tried the other options already, and all it got us was you offering to kill yourself." She raised one hand from her hip to smooth back stray wisps of hair. "I'm going to do this with or without your support. It won't be easy, and I don't want to, but given what's happened in the last twenty four hours, I don't really have a choice." Both hands dropped to her sides. The defensive stance was gone. "I'd like to know you're here for me, Chakotay."
He'd seen the results when he promised his support and then broke the promise. He's also seen what happened when he opposed her outright. Neither outcome was desirable. It seemed to him that the best option would be to offer his support and mean it. It wasn't easy; he didn't understand her motivations, and he disagreed with her actions. But she needed him.
"If you say there's no other way, then I trust you."
The turbolift stopped and the doors opened, but Chakotay and Kathryn stood still. Her eyes flicked between each of his. The rapid movement always made him feel like she was reading him.
"Thank you."
Then she entered the bridge in full captain mode and apprised Tuvok of the recent developments in R's supervision.
Seven and the Doctor had the nanoprobes ready ahead of schedule.
"R is too dangerous to approach at this time, so we have devised an airborne strand of nanoprobes. I suggest a level ten containment field around the entire brig area to ensure the nanoprobes do not spread anywhere else on the ship," Seven explained, addressing the senior officers in the briefing room.
"They'll be fast acting?" Kathryn asked.
"The nanoprobes are efficient. Results will be evident after a minute at the latest."
The captain slapped both hands on the table. "Let's do it. Tuvok, the containment field. Seven, the nanoprobes."
Chakotay was surprised. She was being much too casual about this. It was if they were doing nothing more exciting than testing a new shield technology rather than executing a practically unknown alien.
Seven went down to environmental controls to set up the nanoprobe dispersion. Kathryn pulled up the brig on the view screen. R was sitting in the middle of the cell, doing nothing. Everyone in the room, except Tuvok, wrinkled their nose in disgust when they noticed the slime oozing from his body.
"Seven to the Captain."
"Do it, Seven."
Chakotay halfway expected a dark, ominous vapor to pour from the vents. In reality, there was no visible threat. R lifted his head to look around but did not appear alarmed or worried.
The minute mark came and went. R did not suddenly drop dead or collapse in a fit or spontaneously combust.
"Seven, what's going on?" Kathryn asked urgently.
"The nanoprobes were properly dispersed, Captain. I do not understand their failure."
"Doctor, get down there and take a couple scans. Find out what went wrong and you and Seven fix it. Let me know when we're ready for take two."
"Engineering to Lt. Torres."
Kathryn nodded for B'Elanna to take the call.
"Torres here. Go ahead, Vorik."
"The force field in the brig is failing. At the present, there is only minor damage, but I suggest you come at once."
"On my way."
All present exchanged nervous glances before Harry and B'Elanna headed to engineering.
Kathryn looked to the EMH. "Make it fast, Doctor."
"Yes, Captain."
"Tuvok, put the ship at red alert. Make sure everyone knows to report any unusual behavior."
"Yes, Captain."
"Everyone else, it's business as usual until Seven and the Doctor have something for us, but be on your guard. We really still have no idea what we're dealing with."
A force field was placed around the entirety of the deck containing the brig. It was necessary after several crewmembers attempted to enter the brig while exhibiting symptoms similar to Kathryn's while R had been manipulating her. One of the occurrences had resulted in a crewman viciously assaulting another when he was prevented from reaching his objective. Both crewmen were in sickbay.
R's power and influence were growing, and they were as of yet unable to stop him. Thanks to B'Elanna's ingenuity, the forcefield was holding, but just barely.
The Doctor's scans had revealed the nanoprobes were unable to enter R's brain. But neither he nor Seven knew what modifications could be made to remedy the problem.
"Could its airborne quality be the cause of the failure?" Kathryn asked. She and Chakotay had joined Seven and the Doctor in sickbay.
"I don't see how. Any breathing organism should have been dead in a matter of seconds."
"Maybe he doesn't breathe," Chakotay suggested. The others considered him with inquiring expressions. "Your scans can't pick up any definite information on his body. What if he doesn't actually have a body? He could be a floating brain or something, and what we see is a projection he puts straight into our heads."
"Interesting theory. It has merit, but the nanoprobes would have adhered to the brain with or without projections of a false body," Seven said.
"He must have some sort of protections. Brains are vulnerable and delicate. He probably has a skull of some sort."
"Then we need to break it." Kathryn's tone was harsh. It made Chakotay clench his jaw. "We'll have to enter the cell and apply the nanoprobes by force."
"Captain, I don't think that's possible. We've seen how powerful R's abilities are through a forcefield. Imagine how dangerous he'd be without that barrier," the Doctor contended.
"Looks like you're the man for the job then."
"I'm afraid not."
"Doctor?"
The EMH seemed reluctant to explain himself. "I don't know how, but I believe R has gained access to my program. When I was with him last, I had a very difficult time completing my task. It was unlike anything I'd ever experienced."
The Doctor's revelation was met with silence.
Kathryn broke it. "Prepare more nanoprobes Make it possible to administer them by hand."
"To what end, Captain?"
"I'll need them to kill R."
"No offense, Captain, but R has already demonstrated substantial control over you," the Doctor pointed out.
"It has to be me. I'll be able to resist this time. Though, it'd be helpful if you could come up with something to protect my mind."
"I don't like it," Chakotay said, moving his hand protectively to her elbow.
In reply, Kathryn emphatically repeated, "It has to be me."
It took more argument on Kathryn's behalf, but eventually she convinced the Doctor and Seven to help her kill R with her bare hands. It pained Chakotay to watch her prepare herself for such an encounter.
But action was becoming increasingly necessary. Almost half the crew had had intermittent bouts of hallucination and manipulation. Nothing serious had resulted yet, but it was only a matter of time. Especially since the forcefield continued to degrade.
The last preparation was a hypospray from the Doctor. He'd protected Kathryn from the hive mind of the Borg collective, and Chakotay had faith the Doctor could protect her from R as well, but he was still nervous.
Chakotay accompanied Kathryn to the turbolift. He put a hand on her shoulder and wished her luck. She thanked him and stepped into the 'lift.
Chakotay hurried back to sickbay to watch Kathryn's progress on the view screen with Seven and the Doctor.
He forgot to breathe the moment she entered the brig. R leapt violently to his feet and approached the containment field, his skeletal form tall and imposing. Kathryn hesitated at first, but then strode purposefully toward the cell and straight through the field.
The two circled each other warily like boxers in a ring. Chakotay knew the real fight was happening inside Kathryn's head. He wished he could see it, wished he could be there to guide her in the right direction. Actually, he wished he could do it for her. As it was, he sat by helplessly. Her facial expressions were the only indicators of her status.
Without warning, the pair flung themselves toward each other, and Chakotay thought he was going to be sick. His Kathryn was passionately kissing the revolting, skeletal monster that was R.
It wasn't until Seven looked at him with a look of apprehension that Chakotay realized he had vocalized some sort of sound of distress. The sound turned into a gasp when Kathryn abruptly broke the kiss and pulled brutally at R's head. His image flickered and faltered until at last he was nothing more than an exotic looking rock oozing black slime.
Kathryn staggered away from it until she found support against a bulkhead. He couldn't be sure with the resolution of the view screen, but Chakotay swore she was crying. Instantly he felt the need to run to her side and put her broken pieces back together.
But before he could move, Q had materialized beside Kathryn, scooped her into his arms and disappeared.
Chakotay was going to kill him.