A/N: I should have done this from the beginning but I never realized the effect that having people 'favorite' or 'alert' or review my story would have on me. So thank you, to those who were here from the start, JosieRevisited, Biggest-Baddest-Wolf, nightterror56, Housebroken, whittigerwolf, and anyone else I forgot as well as the new folks, T.S. Hubbard, Squidgod812, etherialpuppy, kihakukage, Moon Firestar, hulkbuster04, hazel-jade, Dark Raven 19, Lenn.n.n and anyone else I might have missed.

So what's goin on with the Borg Queen? Let's see...

Chapter 14- A Plan is Forming...

One Human was insignificant. She was the Borg Queen. She was the Collective. The representation of thousands of ships, thousands of species, thousands of worlds. One Human was insignificant.

She paced. She was distracted. Long tubes connecting her body to the massive amounts of data collected by the Borg, as well as allowing her to regenerate while 'conscious', hung behind her as she walked. She paced from one end of her central chamber- located at the heart of the Borg Unicomplex- to the other. Visual data streams displaying Borg operations in all quadrants covered a section of each wall in the octagonal room. She was aware of each stream but preferred to be able to focus on an individual screen from time to time.

The Queen's alcove- which looked more like a modified throne- rose up out of the floor in the centre of the room. The cables connecting to her upper spine trailed back and up from her body to the data hub Vinculum in the ceiling above her alcove. Radial arms moved laterally controlling the cables so the Queen could walk freely. A previous design had her head and shoulders along with her synthetic spinal column separated from her body allowing for regeneration of her organic components in a compartment at the top of the chamber while her cybernetic body was stored in the floor. Recent assimilated data led to the new adaptation of having a singular cybernetic body fully integrated with her organic core. It made for a more efficient transfer of the Queen's consciousness in the event of an emergency as a new central nexus allowed the Queen to transfer her essence directly into and out of the Hive.

An ominous mist wafted around the Queen's chambers. Exacting environmental systems maintained a temperature of 39.1 degrees Celsius and a relative humidity of 92% providing optimal conditions for Borg physiological and cybernetic function. She stopped in front of a two-dimensional image of the sensory data acquired by Scout vessel 3179 frozen on the tiny image of USS Voyager. An unspoken thought enhanced and enlarged the ship to encompass half the screen.

"...Janeway..." She spat the word with venom as if doing so would wipe the offending word from the galaxy. She paced again. The Borg Queen did not need to pace, yet she did. The Borg Queen was not subject to the weakness of emotion, yet she was angry.

{Human, designation Janeway, Kathryn Elizabeth is insignificant. Intrepid Class Star ship USS Voyager NCC-74656 contains no unique biological distinctiveness, no unique technology; it is therefore irrelevant.}

*SILENCE!*

{...}

{Borg Queen, designation One of Many; emotion is irrelevant, only the Collective is relevant. Only perfection is relevant. One of Many is to emulate perfection; uncontrolled emotion is a weakness.}

*I AM Perfection*

{One of Many's focus on biologically insignificant Species 5618 detracts from the perfection of the Collective.}

*They are NOT biologically insignificant, that is your weakness and my strength- to see the intangible.*

{There are no significant resources within 12 000 light-years of Federation vessel USS Voyager's last known position. Former drone Seven of Nine, Tertiary Adjunct to Unimatrix Zero-One no longer serves the Collective.}

The Queen stopped pacing. There were three other drones in her chamber- she could talk to none of them. They could provide her no unique insight. They were part of the Hive, individually- useless. The Borg had long ago adopted the "Queen" concept in an attempt to bring cohesion to the inherent chaos of the Collective. Perhaps spending too much time independent of the Hive mind was straining on the individual no matter who they were. The need to simply 'talk' to someone- to garner an opinion she didn't already know and control was increasing over time. Her time 'taunting' Axum was unfulfillable in that regard. Her goal with him was to break him, not to communicate with him. He was too far beneath her perfection. The Locutus experiment was a failure but it did not stop the growing need.

Janeway had taken away her only real opportunity to find an equal. The Voyager experiment had been a failure and the Queen had lost her most valued resource. Her one regret.

Seven of Nine, Tertiary Adjunct to Unimatrix Zero-One. Everything she had worked for since the young girl's assimilation had been wasted. She would have been the next Queen. Seven of Nine's will rivalled only that of herself.

It was the Queen's own arrogance and ignorance that caused her failure the last time. She knew she would not be able to deceive Seven of Nine while she was connected to the hive mind but she had succumbed to weakness; desperation.

Other than that, her previous deception had been successful. Her plan to covertly assimilate humanity was a truth, but only because it was a possible truth. She had wanted Seven of Nine to feel like she had a purpose within the Collective but had gone about it the wrong way. The Humans were not so special because they have destroyed a few Cubes. It was merely their fierce independence that intrigued the Borg Queen. The truth was Humanity was not nearly 'resistant' enough a species to be a true threat to the Borg. They were more a passing hobby; an interest of the Queen. She could easily designate 500 tactical Cubes and 1000 Cubes, Spheres and other vessels to conquer the Federation- but it would be time consuming and a waste of resources currently allocated to strengthening the Borg Collective in the Delta Quadrant.

The Collective also needed to remain vigilant of Species 8472. The foray into fluidic space had been a disaster and the resulting war had left the Collective weakened. Whole systems lost, hundreds of ships destroyed. Despite having a weapon against them, Species 8472 truly was a resistant species. It was highly probable they had adapted to the Borg weapon already. Resources that took time to replenish. The Queen was not simply going to assimilate an inferior species to make up the numbers of the Collective. The galaxy was her garden; its species her crops to harvest. One did not pluck fruit before it had ripened. To do so would spell the doom of the Collective. By its very nature it was incapable of innovation. This is what Humanity could bring to the Collective if she were able to perfect a way to completely assimilate all that it was to be Human.

She had not understood Humanity. She knew more now. The concepts of family were stronger than she would have believed. She knew enough that a threat of assimilation of Voyager would guarantee Seven of Nine's return to her, but to use Drone 23 of 77, Adjunct to Quadmatrix 73, formerly designated Magnus Hansen to try and sway Seven of Nine was a mistake in its execution. Fortunately, she had beamed him off her diamond along with herself before she sent the diamond after the Delta Flyer.

'But there may be two Humans more willing- the answer had been within my grasp the whole time.'

A plan was forming. A plan that would crush Kathryn Janeway. Assimilating Janeway was too easy and a waste of resources. Destroying Voyager was too easy and again a waste of resources- but taking the one thing she refused to lose... the one thing the Queen could truly make use of, that would be... satisfying.

*Designate Drone 23 of 77, Adjunct to Quadmatrix 73 now Drone One of Two, Primary Adjunct to Unimatrix Zero-One.*

{Designation assigned, Drone One of Two, Primary Adjunct to Unimatrix Zero-One proceeding to new operational matrix}

*Designate Drone 477 of 936, Assimilation Drone on Cube 3144 now Drone Two of Two, Primary Adjunct to Unimatrix Zero-One*

{Designation assigned, Drone Two of Two, Primary Adjunct to Unimatrix Zero-One proceeding to new operational matrix}

"Erin and Magnus Hansen... we have much to discuss..."

Time was unimportant to her yet now it was only a short matter of it before Seven of Nine, Tertiary Adjunct to Unimatrix Zero-One... was home.

End Chapter 14