Chapter 11 – The Queen's Gift
"I don't detect Chakotay's bio-signs," Grenell said. He and Annika stood at the control stations of a small Borg sphere. Chakotay's tetrahedron was empty beside them, and beyond that a Borg cube sat ominously still. A multitude of other vessels swarmed about the system, and the transwarp hub loomed nearby.
"Are we too late?" Annika replied breathless. There was a lump in her throat.
"It's possible he's just in a more heavily shielded portion of the cube," Grenell said working at the instrument. He stopped and turned to Annika. "Annika, we are putting ourselves in danger. It is likely Chakotay has already been assimilated."
"All the more reason from me to find him."
"Your plan is risky. It is possible, maybe even likely, you will also be killed."
Annika cringed. "I don't think Chakotay is dead, and I cannot allow him to be reassimilated."
"And if he's already been assimilated?"
Annika shook her head. She would cross that bridge if necessary. If Chakotay was already reassimilated, she couldn't allow him to remain so. The cost was too great and she wouldn't be able to live with herself if she didn't try to rescue him.
Suddenly there was a beeping sound. They both looked at the source. "The Borg is accessing our communications," Grenell said.
The comm line opened. "Annika, is that you?" That sickly sweet voice. It was the Borg Queen and she sounded as if she had been expecting her.
Annika paused for a moment. How did she know? How could she know? "Where is Chakotay?" Annika asked, deciding to ignore these questions and get straight to the point. What mattered most at the moment was to save him.
"We are here," the Queen soothed. "Would you care to join us?"
"I want to talk to Chakotay."
"Lower your shields and we will beam you over."
Grenell shook his head. It was clear to Annika he didn't like that idea at all. He had insisted on coming along, obviously hoping to protect her. The closer they got to Chakotay, however, the more evident it became that would not be the case. They followed his trans-warp signature deep into Borg space, and with each minute, the more determined she became. She had spent eighteen years as a Borg drone, most of her life wasted. The bits of a life lived in Unimatrix Zero were but a shadow. She couldn't let that happen to Chakotay. If only she could be with him for a moment and know she had done everything she could, that was enough. She wouldn't let the Borg have him, one way or another. Annika touched the item in her pocket to make sure it was still there. "I have to go," she said firmly. "I must know. I must see him and help him if I can, and even try if I can't."
Grenell lowered his eyes. He knew her chances better than anyone. He reluctantly nodded and tapped the control for the shields. Almost immediately, a Borg transporter beam activated and Annika was transported to the cube. She found herself in the cube's vinculum chamber. Two drones stood guard on either side of the vinculum at one end of the room, and at the other Chakotay lay on the floor unconscious. The Queen was kneeling down beside him, her hand on his forehead as if assessing his temperature. Annika stepped forward but then stopped when she noticed the two marks on Chakotay's neck.
"You're here," the Queen said and stood slowly. Chakotay remained still. His eyes closed. It was unclear if he was even breathing. "Is there another message you are delivering to us?"
"No," Annika choked out. She was too late. Chakotay was already reassimilated, or perhaps even dead. She wanted to go to him. Her heart felt heavy.
"A message for Chakotay then?" the Queen asked. She smiled and looked back down at his inert body. "We had a lovely conversation, Chakotay and I. You'll be happy to know, he delivered his message. I am not interested in assimilating more worlds anyway, so your precious Alpha Quadrant is safe… for now. We can assimilate what we need in a more disciplined manner. We have a different plan for how to proceed given recent developments." The Queen then narrowed her eyes and frowned. "This new pathogen you developed, however, is quite troubling. You force us to work on creating a defense. But that can wait. For the future."
Annika was only half listening to what the Queen was saying. She couldn't restrain herself any longer. She moved quickly over and kneeled beside Chakotay. The Queen had to move slightly to make room. Annika stroked his hair and then leaned her head down to listen for his breathing. It took several seconds. She was holding her breath, but then sighed in relief. Very slow and shallow, but he was breathing. Still alive. Still a measure of hope.
"You know, Annika, you have always been one of my favorites. I care for you like a parent. I can remember holding you, soon after you were born. So precious. So beautiful."
It took a moment for Annika to register what the Borg Queen had said. At first she didn't understand, but then she realized the horrible truth. The Borg had assimilated her parents as well, and so the Borg had these memories to draw on. The thought of that was repulsive and pushed her over the edge. The ultimate violation of her very self, stacked on a stolen lifetime. She stood up and faced the Queen, fury in her eyes. The Queen was smiling faintly and Annika wanted to wipe that smile off with her fist. Instead, she placed her hands on the Queen's shoulders and pushed her away. She didn't care about the consequences, just wanting more than anything to move that monster away from Chakotay and herself. Enough was enough.
The Queen stumbled back and the two drones by the vinculum turned to face Annika. Their manipulators suddenly activated and threatening. A red laser now targeted Annika's chest. There was an extended silence as Annika faced off against the Queen, ready to fight her with her bare hands if necessary. But the confrontation never came. The Queen turned her head slightly and the drones by the vinculum moved back to their original position. "You seem very agitated my dear."
"I am," Annika replied.
"There's no need to be. Although, I have a question. Why aren't you back at the settlement with Axum?"
How did she know about Axum? And again, Annika made the sickening connection. She knew through Chakotay's memories. Through Chakotay's mind. All of Chakotay's memories were now accessible to the Borg.
"If not Axum, you know, I could give you everything you ever wanted," the Queen then said, interrupting Annika's venomous thoughts. "You could be with Chakotay. The two of you together, wherever you wanted to be. Doing, whatever you wanted to do in complete safety."
"What do you mean?" Annika asked without really meaning to. The prospect of being with Chakotay made her say it before she could stop.
The Queen picked up on this and smiled. "Join us Annika," she purred. "All Chakotay wants is to be with you, and you can make that possible. He loves you Annika."
He loved her. That's what she wanted. But to rejoin the Borg was unthinkable. Even if she wanted to, the knowledge she carried regarding the true nature of the new pathogen made that impossible. The time had come. Her final gambit. She reached into her pocket and pulled out the small phaser she was carrying. It was already set. The thought of Chakotay wanting her, loving her, gave her strength.
"You cannot harm us with that," the Queen said, her continence changed. The Queen started moving slowly, as if she were stalking Annika.
"I don't plan to try," Annika replied. This was it. Whatever the outcome, she would be with the one she loved. "But I will induce an overload and destroy myself and Chakotay if you try to assimilate me."
The Queen stopped and looked confused. "You would give up a future with the one you love, the one who loves you?"
"It would be no future, our bodies used as drones. Better to die now, than a future such as that."
"I could have it so you don't remember being assimilated. You would think you escaped the Collective and live a long life together. A family. Anything you desire."
"No," Annika said firmly. She wasn't even tempted. A shadow existence as in Unimatrix Zero was not enough. "You told me once you would be happy to send us on our own way. We could part company amiably. That is what I desire. There's nothing more you can get from us. You've taken everything. What are two more drones to the Borg with billions? If you care about me as you say. If you retain those feelings for me from my parents, as you imply, then let me go now. Let us both go. We want to be together, but not as drones. Not in the Hive Mind. Search Chakotay's memory, and you know that to be true."
"You would rather die? End your existence." The Queen seemed repulsed by the notion. "There is no evidence of anything beyond this temporal life, Annika. You would die for nothing and leave nothing behind."
Annika turned and knelt back down beside Chakotay. She touched his face tenderly with her free hand, ready to activate the phaser overload with the other if the Queen but twitched. "I have this moment," she finally said. "And whatever comes next, we will be together."
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My neck hurts from where the Queen's tubules had injected me. I feel the touch of someone's fingers on my cheek.
"Chakotay, come back to me," I hear someone whisper. This must be a dream, for it sounds like Annika's voice. I open my eyes, and she is smiling. Her face is radiant with joy. I'm on my back, perhaps on a Borg vessel by the looks of it. But how can she be here? How can I be here? Her hands are cradling my face.
"Where are we?" I manage. It's difficult to focus my eyes.
She's crying and the tears are falling on my face. "On a sphere," she says. "Heading back to the settlement."
"The Queen," I start to say. I have so many questions. I was reassimilated.
"She let us go," Annika replies. "A gift to us."
A gift? The Queen had mentioned something about a gift during their conversation. Living in a virtual construct as if it were real but not knowing. I struggle and she helps me sit up. "Is this real?" I ask. "Have we both been assimilated?"
"No, no, no," Annika says. She's stroking my face, tears of joy glistening on her cheeks. "It's real, I'm real." She leans in and kisses me. I taste the salt in her tears. "We're together. We're here together."
"I was reassimilated," I protest. What if this is only a dream. A gift from the Queen to make me satisfied. To fulfill all my desires. All my dreams. To mollify me into submission as a drone.
"But she gave you back to me," Annika replies. She grabs my hands, and then takes one of them and places it on her abdomen. It is warm and soft. "To us," she adds, laughing and crying at the same time. What is she saying? And then I realize. "Your child, Chakotay. Yours and mine."
I wrap my arms around her and bury my face into her neck. A fulfillment of all that I have yearned for. If a dream, what a miraculous dream. But this is more tangible. Physical, emotional, and spiritual. It's what the Borg lacks. They have only memories of such things, but not the immediacy of the moment. A shadow of what life is. I now have immortality in the form of a love that transcends space and time.
A precious gift indeed…
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THE END