Chapter Sixteen
Tom had no recollection of dozing off. One minute he was laying down and taking a break from watching over the small camp, and next thing he knew, the sun was up, and the stifling heat was already starting to set in. Surprised by his recklessness, he immediately sat up and stretched, his joints popping loudly as they adjusted appropriately. He should have been more careful, it had been his job to watch over the camp, to make sure everything went according to plan. He was lucky nothing went wrong while he slept. Next to him, Aritlin was fast asleep, curled up in a small ball a few feet away. At least he hadn't escaped in the middle of the night. It was one good thing that had happened. As Tom got to his feet, he realized that Chakotay was kneeling next to Seven. He could tell from the First Officer's body language that something was wrong. Temporarily forgetting about getting his day started, he immediately rushed to his side.
"How is she?" he asked.
"Her body is starting to reject her implants," Chakotay replied. Despite the fact that he had managed to sleep for a few hours throughout the night, he still looked like hell. There were dark circles under his eyes, and he had a ragged appearance that was made worse by the fact that he desperately needed to shave. When all of that was paired with the way his eyes darted back and forth over Seven's unconscious form, it unsettled Tom.
"How can you tell?" Chakotay gently turned Seven's head. Her flushed skin had cracked open along her cheek, revealing the shiny metal implant beneath the ragged slice. A thick, black liquid that he knew to be her blood mixed with nanoprobes lined the flesh, giving it a grotesque appearance. Unable to resist, Tom lightly ran his fingers over the wound.
"My God," he gasped. "This is bad. We need to get out of here. Regeneration is only part of the problem. There's damage to her body now." Chakotay pinched the bridge of his nose as Tom's words sank in. Unfortunately, he wasn't saying anything he didn't already know. Every moment they were stuck here, the worse Seven's condition got and the closer she got to being permanently damaged. Although he'd never admit it aloud, he started to fear that this away mission would destroy her. Concern about Seven made it difficult for Chakotay to come up with a plan, but he was still in charge of this away mission and needed to be able to think straight.
"I want you and Harry to find a way to get in touch with Voyager." His voice was low and strained as he struggled to wrap his mind around the stressful situation. "There has to be some way to bypass the interference in the atmosphere to get at least part of a message to them. We're supposed to rendezvous with them at 1400 hours, so they won't be looking for us for a few more days." It was a sobering thought. Both of them doubted Seven would last that long. Neither of the would go so far as to admit that though; they had to hold on to some hope. It may not be the best plan in the world, but it was better than nothing.
From across the camp, Harry watched Tom and Chakotay talk. He didn't need to look at Seven up close to know that she was in critical condition. Despite the fact that he wasn't hungry, he forced himself to take a bite of the strange food Notaxi had prepared for them. It tasted like the fruit they had been eating, only mashed up into some sort of paste and mixed with a mysterious grain. It honestly didn't taste half bad, but Harry simply wasn't that hungry, he was too stressed. It was similar to oatmeal, or as close to oatmeal as you can get in the Delta Quadrant.
Tom appeared over Harry with a grim expression carved into his wary face. They were all starting to feel the pressure of their current situation. In an attempt to help his friend feel better, he held out his bowl of food, which he turned down with a swift shake of his head. Neither were particularly hungry, and there were far more important matters to attend to.
"Chakotay wants us to try to and put out another distress call," Tom explained. Harry didn't say that he'd already tried twice. He knew Chakotay was grasping at straws at this point, and he would follow any orders the First Officer gave if it meant potentially helping Seven.
"Okay," he agreed as he discarded his food and got to his feet. A fine layer of sweat was already starting to form along the back of his neck. "We need to find a way to bypass the interference in the atmosphere." They began to walk towards the shuttle. "Then we need to find a way to bolster the signal so it'll reach Voyager. The comm system on the shuttle isn't strong enough to reach Voyager on its own."
"Well it's a good thing we have Starfleet's best operations officer here to help." Tom forced himself to sound cheerful as he clapped Harry on the back. Harry sighed. He hoped he would be able to live up to the pressure being put on him by Chakotay and Tom. He kept his pessimism to himself though. Like Tom, he needed to force himself to be cheerful, no matter how difficult the situation may be.
Chakotay hovered over Seven. He kept himself busy by gently wiping her creased brow with a cool cloth and attempting to get her to drink some water. Matters would be made worse if she got dehydrated. Mindful of the open wounds across her cheek and the new ones shoulder, he gently brushed her hair back from her face and stroked her cheek. Mentally, he berated himself for not arguing more with the Captain about Seven coming on this away mission in the first place; he should have made a bigger deal about not allowing Seven to come, he should have told her about their relationship and pointed out that it was a direct violation of Starfleet protocols. There was no reason for Seven to be on this away mission in the first place, she had nothing to offer a relief mission. Every other member of the away team had a purpose for being here, but there was no reason for her to have come. Had he brought that up to Kathryn, perhaps Seven would be back on Voyager. Yes, they would have been inconvenienced being stuck here, but the situation wouldn't be nearly as dire. Logically, Chakotay told himself that there was no way for them to know that it would come to this, but he still blamed himself completely. He should have spoken up to Kathryn, he'd never been fearful to do so in the past, so why should this have been any different?
A shadow formed across Seven's unconscious form. Chakotay looked up. As soon as he saw Aritlin, his eyes narrowed with anger. While he had no way of knowing if he specifically had taken Seven's mobile regenerator, he still blamed him, as he was the only person he could blame right now.
"What do you want?" he growled. Aritlin crouched down next to him. Chakotay immediately bristled with animosity. His muscles tightened, ready at a moment's notice to spring into action and protect Seven from any further harm as she laid completely prone and helpless in front of him. He wanted nothing to do with this alien, he was the reason Seven was like this. Suddenly, it all hit Chakotay at once. He was completely innocent in all of this, he had absolutely no reason to blame himself for any of this; it was the fault of the Kalrussians. They're the ones who summoned them here under false pretenses and then stole all their supplies, including Seven's mobile regenerator. They were the reason Seven was in her current condition, they were the reason she was suffering.
"I wanted to see how your friend is doing," Aritlin explained. His voice was weak, almost pathetic. Everything about him was meek and easily forgettable, hardly the type of being who could pull off such a coldhearted stunt. Despite that, Chakotay still blamed him entirely.
"She's dying," Chakotay explained. His voice was was ice cold and distant, not only from duress over Seven's condition but also because the last thing he wanted to do was talk to him. "Her body is rejecting her implants, she's had a fever for the past few days." He looked at the alien. "She's not going to make it if we don't get her mobile regenerator back." Aritlin's eyes shifted back and forth uncomfortably, refusing to look him in the eye. Chakotay assumed it was because he was uncomfortable with the current situation and facing the harm he had inadvertently caused Seven.
"I'm sorry," Aritlin whispered. As much as it went against everything he believed in, Chakotay refused to accept the apology. He always tried to find the best in people, but when he had Seven in front of him, literally dying in his arms, he found that he simply couldn't do it. He blamed the Kalrussians entirely for what had happened and refused to think otherwise.
Seven's eyes opened slightly and her hand instinctively fluttered to Chakotay's. Her fingers felt like small flames dancing across his flesh. Despite the fact that she was burning up, she started to violently shiver. He immediately stopped wiping her forehead with the cool cloth provided by Henan.
"Chakotay," she whispered in a barely audible whisper. Her lips hardly moved as she spoke, making it difficult to understand her. Her eyes flitted over to Aritlin. Once she realized that she didn't recognize the stranger, she looked confused. "Who...who is that?"
"He's nobody, muñeca," Chakotay replied. For a moment, he glared at the alien out of the corner of his eyes. Aritlin could take a hint. Wordlessly, he excused himself and crossed the camp. Even from a distance, he kept his eyes firmly locked on the couple, although Chakotay's broad back blocked his view. He was starting to feel concerned for the strange woman, which was only made worse by the fact that he knew it was partially his fault that she was suffering this much. "How are you feeling?" It seemed like a ridiculous question. Anyone with eyes could see that she was in failing health, and she would continue to deteriorate until she got back her mobile regenerator. Hopefully then they could at least stabilize her current condition until Voyager arrived to rescue them.
"Dizzy," Seven replied. "Cold." Chakotay glanced at the sleeping bag, which was discarded on the other end of the camp. He knew he couldn't cover her with it, "So cold." Her body temperature was dangerously high, they had to find a way to bring it down, which wouldn't happen if she was covered with the thick sleeping bag. "I know, we're working on getting your mobile regenerator back. All you have to do is rest and let me take care of you." She nodded. "Just a few more hours, muñeca, and then you'll be able to regenerate, and all of this will be nothing more than a distant memory." Seven slid her hand into his, prompting him to give it a gentle, reassuring squeeze.
"A few more hours," she repeated weakly as exhaustion claimed her once again. It wasn't lost on Chakotay that she was awake less and less now, and when she was awake, she could barely move or string together a coherent thought. He hoped the Kalrussians would hurry with her mobile regenerator, he hated seeing Seven like this, and he wasn't sure how much longer he could keep it together.
The metal hull of the shuttle served as an oven of sorts, literally baking Tom and Harry alive as they worked. Both men had already shed their outer uniforms and grey undershirts, leaving them in short sleeve t-shirts that clung to their sweaty torsos. Harry muttered under his breath as he worked sprawled on his back under the helm. A few feet away, Tom stood at a console working just as dutifully and doing his best to ignore the unimaginable heat. It had to be at least forty five degrees Celsius in here.
"Have you tried rerouting all power to the comm system?" Tom asked.
"Did that a few days ago," Harry replied. His voice was muffled and strained from his current position. "Still nothing." Suddenly, an idea hit him. Eyes bright with anticipation and excitement, he scrambled out from under the console and got to his feet. "What if we created a pulse?" he suggested. "We could use the energy from the core, and it could dissipate the interference just long enough to get our message through to Voyager." Tom carefully thought about the suggestion. That was assuming Voyager was within communication range, which was unlikely. The starship was probably approaching the rendezvous point as they spoke. On the other hand, it was also the only idea they had right now, so he couldn't exactly say no. They couldn't just sit around and wait for Voyager to show up, they had to be proactive.
"Let's do it," he agreed. "How do we get started?" Wiping the sweat from his brow with the back of his hand, Harry carefully thought about how to get started. They would have to do this without the use of any tools, but it could be done, albeit with a little bit more work.
As Chakotay paced the camp nervously, trying to think of what he could do for Seven to make her more comfortable, he saw a cloud of dust appearing in the distance, causing him to stop dead in his tracks. With the exception of those at the small camp and his interaction with the Kalrussions yesterday, that was the first sign he'd seen of other life forms. His hand instinctively flew to the phaser holstered on his hip, ready at a moment's notice to whip it out and protect them.
"That's my shuttle," Aritlin explained as he materialized at Chakotay's side. Relief washed over the First Officer. Not only were they safe, well safe as could be expected, but Seven was going to get back her mobile regenerator. They weren't out of the woods yet, but it was a step in the right direction. Feeling conflicted, Chakotay glanced back at Seven, who appeared to be sleeping as peacefully as possible given her current condition. He knew he had to go meet Syachu, but Tom and Harry were still at the shuttle, which meant he would have to leave Seven with Henan and Notaxi. He trusted the Ighanians, but he wasn't sure he trusted them enough to leave her alone with them in such a vulnerable condition. All Henan and Notaxi had to do was look at Chakotay to see the turmoil going on within him.
"Go," Notaxi assured. "She'll be fine while you're gone. We'll keep an eye on her." He still felt torn. He knew he needed to rendezvous with the Kalrussions, but he also knew he had a duty to Seven and needed to keep her safe, not only because of their romantic relationship but because she was a member of his crew.
"What if she needs me?" he asked. He sounded unsure and skeptical. It felt strange to him that he didn't know what to do. Usually he took command of any situation from the beginning. Now, he was torn between performing his duty and taking care of Seven.
"Then we'll be here," Henan replied. "You're not going to get her mobile regenerator back standing here. Take Aritlin and go. She probably won't even realize that you're gone." Chakotay knew he was right. He needed to go, even if he didn't want to. Sighing, he knelt down next to Seven and took her hand in his. It was limp and damp from the fever raging within her. He gave it a gentle squeeze before carefully resting it across her stomach. She didn't even twitch. Henan was right, she wasn't even going to notice that he was gone. With Aritlin in tow, Chakotay left the camp, stalking across the desert with newfound determination and hope that caused him to hold his head high.
As he crossed the desert, Chakotay kept his eyes firmly locked on the shuttle. Inside there was the one thing that could save Seven right now, and he was determined to get his hands on it. He needed to do something to save her. Artilin felt uncomfortable as he walked alongside the First Officer. Now that he'd seen the damage his people could do to others, he was fully prepared to bring that newfound knowledge back to his people and try to come up with other ways of survival; plenty of other species survived without pillaging and deception, so they should be able to do so as well.
"I want to apologize," Aritlin finally blurted out, slicing into the uneasy silence that had settled over them. Chakotay's gaze immediately hardened as he glanced over at the alien out of the corner of his eyes. He didn't engage the Kalrussian in conversation, but that didn't stop him from continuing. "I had no idea that our actions had such horrible consequences."
Unable to keep his comments to himself anymore, Chakotay snapped, "Well what did you think would happen? What I don't get is why you lure people here under false pretenses and rob them blind when they're here to help you. Almost everything you took off our shuttle was for you anyway. You didn't have to steal from us, we came here to offer you assistance."
"It's the only way my people can survive," Aritlin defended pathetically, although now he was starting to have his doubts about his people's way of life. "Look around, there's nothing here. We've been doing this for generations, it's the only way we know." He briefly glanced over his shoulder towards the camp where he knew Seven was resting. "Clearly we need to change how we do things." He sounded genuinely crestfallen and remorseful for his actions, but Chakotay remained stoic and unmoved. Now that he'd seen firsthand how his people's actions could have such negative consequences, he wasn't sure if this was the right way to live.
Inside the shuttle, the thick metal walls prevented noise from penetrating inside, so Tom and Harry didn't hear the Kalrussian shuttle until it landed practically on their doorstep. As soon as they realized what was going on, both men quickly abandoned their work and exited the shuttle warily. They were both unarmed, which meant they were vulnerable to any attacks from the pillaging alien race, but that didn't mean they were unprepared to put up a fight if necessary, not that they wanted it to come to that. The faintest hint of a breeze whispered across the desert, providing the briefest reprieve from the sweltering heat. It wasn't much, but after being inside the oven that was the shuttle, it felt heavenly to both Tom and Harry.
"There's Chakotay," Harry pointed out as he nodded in the distance. Chakotay and Aritlin were roughly a hundred and fifty meters away. Both men felt slightly better knowing that the First Officer was on his way, as he was the one with the phaser.
Flanked by two other Kalrussians, Syachu exited the shuttle. Tom's eyes immediately landed on the weapons holstered at their hips; they hadn't been armed yesterday. He glanced over at Harry. The ensign's expression said that he saw the weapons as well and felt uneasy about the new development. Both men tensed, ready at a moment's notice to spring into action if necessary. They may be outgunned, but they could put up one hell of a fight if necessary. So far, the mobile regenerator wasn't anywhere in sight, which added to the stress. As the senior-most officer present at the moment, Tom decided to take charge of the situation, at least for the next few seconds until Chakotay appeared.
Never one to beat around the bush, he asked, "Where's the mobile regenerator?"
"Not so fast, where's Aritlin?" Syachu demanded.
"He's right here," Chakotay called from a distance. "Safe and sound, as promised. Now give us the mobile regenerator, and we can all put this behind us." The duo came to a stop a few meters between the Kalrussians and Tom and Harry, forming a triangle of tension. Syachu turned to one of his peers and gave a quick, curt nod, prompting her to return to the confines of the shuttle. Chakotay's heart pounded nervously in his chest. This situation could go one of two ways: either they could bring out the mobile regenerator, putting an end to this standoff peacefully, or they could open fire on them, putting an end to the standoff violently. There was no way to be certain what would happen next. Each second seemed to stretch on for an eternity as they waited anxiously for the Kalrussian to reappear. Chakotay's fingers brushed against the phaser in its holster, ready to arm himself if necessary as his heart pounded anxiously in his chest.
Finally, the Kalrussian reappeared with the mobile regenerator in her hands. When Chakotay stayed rooted in his spot, Harry stepped forward cautiously to retrieve the device. He glared at the Kalrussians as he approached them and snatched the mobile regenerator from them. As soon as it was in his hands, something felt wrong. He'd worked with mobile regenerators many times over the years, and this one felt lighter than usual. He immediately crouched down on the ground and opened the device up.
"What are you doing?" Syachu demanded angrily. He couldn't believe that they didn't trust him. His people may steal from others, but they still kept their word, especially when the safety of their people were on the line. All Harry had to do was glance at the inside to know that something was incredibly wrong.
"This has been gutted for parts," he announced incredulously. Chakotay glared at the Kalrussians. His typically kind brown eyes were full of hatred and contempt. This wasn't what they had agreed to.
"What the hell did you do?" he growled. Anger boiled up inside of him. They had been played. All he had to do was look at the condescending look on Syachu's and know that the Kalrussian had known from the very beginning that the mobile regenerator had been scrapped for parts, but he conveniently left that out of their negotiations.
"By the time we got back to our settlement, the device had already been scrapped for parts. We tried to recover what we could. I'm sorry." Syachu's voice was calculated and smug. There was no remorse in his voice at all. If anything, he looked pleased that he had pulled one over on all three men. Jaw clenched and glowering with pure anger, Chakotay took a step towards Syachu. Tom saw the First Officer's fist clenched at his side and feared that he would take a swing at him. Everyone knew that Chakotay was accomplished in boxing and hand to hand combat, so all it would take was one punch to knock Syachu to the ground and send this entire transaction into chaos.
"Commander," he interjected boldly in an attempt to defray the situation. "We'll make it work. Harry's familiar with the technology, he can fix it." Tom sounded oddly optimistic. He knew that it was a longshot, but a physical altercation of any type would only make matters worse. They had the mobile regenerator, they could make it work...somehow. Unprepared to be brought into the conversation, Harry's head jerked up in surprise. He still hadn't found a way to send out a pulse to interrupt the interference in the atmosphere to get out a distress call, and now he had to figure out how to fix the mobile regenerator as well. It was a lot of pressure on his shoulders.
"We kept our end of the bargain," Syachu announced. "Give us back Aritlin." Chakotay's head whipped around to look at Aritlin. His mind quickly analyzed all possible scenarios. Between the three of them, they had one phaser; there was no way they could fight their way out of this one. They would have to keep up their end of the bargain and hope Harry would be able to fix the mobile regenerator, despite the fact that they didn't have any supplies.
"Go," he snapped as he motioned for Aritlin to leave. The Kalrussian didn't need to be told twice. He scrambled away from the First Officer and onto his people's shuttle, instantly disappearing inside. Once Aritlin was safely inside, the three remaining Kalrussians turned on their heels and left without a word. With his eyes locked on the shuttle, Chakotay stood next to Tom and Harry.
"What now, Commander?" Harry asked. He shrugged helplessly.
"I don't know," he admitted softly. It was the truth. He honestly had no idea what to do next. He thought that getting the mobile regenerator back would solve many of their problems, but now it only seemed to make matters worse. Now, they had to find a way to get in contact with Voyager, keep Seven alive and repair her mobile regenerator, all without even the most basic of supplies. They'd come here to offer aid, but now they were the ones in need of rescuing.
The familiar ethereal green glow was the first sign that Seven was no longer on Voyager. Once her eyes adjusted to her environment and the lighting, she knew exactly where she was. The exposed wires and conduits and constant whir of machinery were dead giveaways. She was on a Borg Cube. Seven's heart pounded anxiously in her chest. She looked down at herself. Her usual implants stretched across her hand and wrist. Her human hand flew to her face, lightly grazing over her implant above her eye and the starburst next to her ear. Her fingers trailed over her hair. She wasn't assimilated, which was a good sign, but it didn't make her feel any better about her current situation. None of this made any sense; the first thing the Borg would have done was reapply all her implants and bring her right back into the fold that was the Collective. It was inefficient to leave her on the Cube like this, she couldn't communicate with the hive mind and was unable to complete her duty effective as a drone, not that she ever wanted to do that again.
Confused, Seven began to explore. There had to be some sort of logical reason behind this. Voyager had managed to avoid any contact with the Borg for nearly a year, they'd purposefully given them a wide berth after the chaos that was Unimatrix Zero. She would have remembered a Borg attack; it was something nobody could forget. Instinctively, she reached for a tricorder, but none appeared on her waist. That didn't make any sense either. She always tried to keep one with her, during away missions just in case. Something was definitely wrong here.
As Seven continued to explore, she found that there weren't any drones anywhere in the Cube. Once again, that made no sense. A Cube wouldn't simply be abandoned. The Borg would have destroyed vessel if it was inoperable or returned shortly after its decommissioning and retrieved whatever technology they could still use. The Borg never just left their Cubes floating in space for anyone to come across, it would allow their enemies to discover their weaknesses and potentially destroy them. In the distance, she saw a collection of regeneration alcoves. They were all activated, indicating that drones were regenerating, indicating she wasn't alone like she originally thought. Drones didn't all regenerate at one time, it was highly inefficient and left the Cube prone to attacks from others. This went against everything the Borg practiced. Against her better judgement, Seven decided to investigate further. She would have to risk getting close to the drones to figure out what was going on here. Carefully, she skirted the exposed machinery and maneuvered the tight corridors. As obsessed with efficiency as the Borg were, the Cubes weren't always designed for optimal movement. They could learn from Voyager and make the corridors wider, allowing for easier foot traffic.
When she got close enough to the alcoves to see who was in them, a look of shock and horror flashed across Seven's face. The first alcove housed B'Elanna Torres. Borg implants snaked across her flesh, marring her translucent flesh, but there was no denying that it was her, her distinct forehead ridges and mole on her cheek gave it away. Horrified, Seven moved on to the next alcove where Harry Kim regenerated. The harsh Borg implants looked out of place against his peaceful, baby face. Seven's heart pounded in her chest as she continued her way down the line of alcoves, revealing all her friends from Voyager, including Neelix. No, Neelix was gone, he wasn't on Voyager anymore, why would he be here? The Borg had to have gone out of its way to capture him. They were doing this on purpose, they were trying to find everyone close to her and assimilate them. They were punishing her for leaving the Collective and for her work in Unimatrix Zero. When Seven got to the end of the row of alcoves, she let out a cry of despair. Her voice echoed off the hollow walls of the Cube, making her voice seem louder than it actually was.
"Chakotay," she wailed. His skin was hauntingly pale instead of its usual warm bronze. His hair, which she loved so much (although she'd never actually taken the time to tell him that), was gone, making him look far older than he actually was. Unfortunately, there was no denying that it was him. His distinct tattoo poked out from his optical implant, telling her that her worst fear had come to fruition, the Borg had finally managed to take everyone she cared about.
Unable to resist, Seven reached out to touch Chakotay's cheek. She needed to feel him to know that what she was experiencing was real, not some sort of twisted nightmare. The moment her fingers brushed against his ice cold skin, his eyes flew open. Caught off guard, she stumbled backwards in terror. All of the drones' eyes had opened simultaneously and were fixated on her.
"Seven of Nine, Tertiary Adjunct of Unimatrix Zero One, prepare to be assimilated." The crew's voice spoke in perfect unison, yet Seven could still make out slight variations of each person's voice that made them unique. It was a flaw in the Borg's assimilation process that would be rectified immediately as it represented imperfection and individuality. "Resistance is futile."
"No, this isn't happening," Seven stammered desperately. Tears began to well up in her eyes. "I am a unique individual." The drones broke free of their alcoves and surrounded her, pressing in from all directions, leaving her nowhere to run. "You are all unique individuals."
"Resistance is futile," they repeated as they closed ranks around her. Their shoulders pressed against each other, forming an impenetrable circle. She was trapped.
"No!"
"Resistance is futile."
Letting out an unearthly crying and flailing her arms in desperation and fear, Seven's eyes flew open. In an attempt to take in her surroundings, her head whipped back and forth. Her hands reached out, groping helplessly for Chakotay, searching for some sort of comfort to know that he was alright and not a part of the Borg Collective.
"Chakotay!" she screamed. It was the loudest and strongest her voice had sounded since they got her out of the caves. Henan flew to her side. He may not be Chakotay, but he was the best she was going to get. "Chakotay," she sobbed.
"Chakotay will be right back," Henan assured as he gently dabbed her forehead with a cool, damp cloth. Sweat covered every inch of her, leaving her drenched from head to toe. Her gaze settled on Henan and a sudden realization washed over her.
"Who...who are you?" Her voice came out in short, airy gasps as exhaustion slowly started to consume her once again.
"I'm a friend," Henan replied as he continued to attempt to cool her down, although he could feel her temperature spiking once again. It didn't bother him that he'd had a brief conversation with Seven before, and she had no recollection of it. This was obviously an incredibly sick woman, he shouldn't be at all surprised. "I'm keeping an eye on you until Chakotay returns. He should be back soon."
"You're Species 9937. The Borg have assimilated approximately a million of your species. You...you are known for being intellectually superior and cunning. You are also…" Henan had had enough of this conversation. He snatched up a mixture of the concoction he'd created to help Seven with her fever and pressed it to her lips.
"You're delirious. Drink this." His voice was surprisingly forceful. Much of the liquid ended up dribbling down her chin, but enough got into her mouth to hopefully do its job. Seven nodded. Her glazed over eyes continued to move back and forth quickly as if trying to take in her surroundings. Once he was done pouring the liquid into her mouth, Henan continued to dab her forehead with the cloth dutifully while he waited for Chakotay to return with whatever it was she needed to get better..
Grim faced and still feeling conflicted about the news from Aritlin, Chakotay returned to the camp with the mobile regenerator in hand. Henan, who had been sitting vigil at Seven's side, immediately rose to his feet.
"You got what you need," he observed cheerfully. He had only been focused on the mobile regenerator, not Chakotay's expression. Had he been paying closer attention, he would have seen that the situation was still dire.
"They gutted it for parts," the First Officer explained grimly. "It's useless now." Henan's face fell as well. He glanced over at Notaxi, who looked equally crestfallen at the news. Although they'd only been with the strangers for a little while, they had become emotionally invested in their saga. Not only did they want to see their new friends rescued, but they wanted to know that Seven was going to be alright.
"Is there anything you can do?" Notaxi asked hopefully. Chakotay shook his head.
"I don't think so," he admitted. "Harry and Tom are working on the distress call, then they're going to look at the mobile regenerator. Without any tools, though, it's basically pointless. All we can do is wait." Unsure what else to do, Notaxi put a supporting hand on Chakotay's shoulder.
"I'm sorry." He sounded genuine and sincere, although there was nothing for him to apologize about. He wasn't the one who did this to them, it was the Kalrussians' fault. Chakotay put the blame squarely on their shoulders and nobody else's. Had they not been tricked into coming here, they would all be safe on Voyager and on their way back to the Alpha Quadrant.
Rather than feel sorry for himself, Chakotay knew that he had to take charge of the situation. His attention turned to Seven, who was still asleep. She was always asleep now. He cracked a small, fleeting smile at the observation. Had she been fine, she would find this a horribly inefficient use of time; she hated just sitting around and doing nothing, althought that was his favorite thing to do with her, just enjoy each other's company. He knelt down next to her and stroked her cheek affectionately.
"I'm sorry, muñeca," he murmured. She didn't move. It was eery how still she was. If Chakotay didn't see the gentle rise and fall of her chest, he wouldn't believe she was still alive. Her skin was almost translucent as it stretched across her bones, which stuck out at hard angles. She was beginning to waste away. Henan knelt down next to him.
"She woke up about twenty minutes ago," he informed him. "It seemed like she had a bad dream of some sort."
"Did she say anything else?" Henan's mind immediately drifted back to the uncomfortable conversation and the information Seven had bestowed upon him. He wanted nothing more than to forget that the conversation had ever happened.
"Just some babble," he lied. It unnerved him at how easily he could lie about this. He felt no remorse for the lie, and he didn't think he should. He wasn't keeping anything from Chakotay about Seven's condition. "I gave her some more medicine to help with her fever and tried to make her as comfortable as possible, but her fever won't break." Chakotay shook his head.
"It's not going to break. Not until she can regenerate at least." He stroked her hair tenderly. Even that was starting to lose its usual shine and luster as it hung limply around her face. Although he fully blamed the Kalrussians for her condition, he couldn't help but feel guilty himself. He should have been able to do something to prevent this from happening.
Back in the shuttle, Harry threw himself down on one of the chairs and ran his fingers through his hair in frustration. They'd been at this for hours and were no closer to figuring out how to set off the pulse and get their distress call to Voyager.
"Look, Harry, let's head back to camp," Tom suggested as he put a supporting hand on his best friend's shoulder. "We'll take a look at the mobile regenerator together."
"I'm not sure I can fix that either," Harry grumbled bitterly. "It's missing crucial parts. It's as worthless as the flyer now."
"Well, we have to try." It felt strange to Tom to be the optimistic one, that was usually Harry's job while he complained and made whitty remarks. "Come on, let's go." He tilted his head towards the open rear of the shuttle as if that would be enough to get Harry on his feet and back to camp. The ensign shook his head.
"I'll be there in a few minutes," he stated. He wasn't ready to give up just yet. Tom sighed. "Just five more minutes. I want to send out one more distress call." It was a longshot, but Harry knew he had to at least try. Without the pulse, there was almost no way for the message to leave the atmosphere, but it was the very least he could do. He couldn't in good consciousness leave this shuttle without doing at least something to help, even if it was something as simple as sending out yet another pointless distress call. He figured that they more he got out there, the more likely Voyager would hear one of them.
When Tom returned to the camp, he could see in Chakotay's eyes how stressed he was. It looked like he was dropping weight, and fast. Now that he thought about it, he couldn't remember the last time he saw the First Officer eat anything more than a few bites of food before turning his attention on Seven. He needed to take better care of himself if he was going to get them out of this.
"Where's Harry?" Chakotay asked.
"He's sending out one more distress call," Tom replied as he crouched down to check on Seven. Her condition was unchanged. While that was incredibly frustrating since she wasn't getting any better, it was also a good sign because it meant that she wasn't getting any worse. She was perpetually in a feverish state and would remain like that until they either got her mobile regenerator working or until Voyager finally came to rescue them. "We don't know if Voyager will get it, but we gotta try." He instinctively checked Seven's pulse as he talked. It was weak but still there. She shivered against his touch, prompting him to stop. He didn't want to cause her any more discomfort than she was already experiencing. Out of instinct, Chakotay glanced up at the sky, although he knew that he wouldn't be able to figure out the time on this planet based on the position of the sun, it always varied from planet to planet. He would have to go with his gut and estimate the time.
"If I'm correct about the time, we should be rendezvousing with Voyager right about now," he observed. "Kathryn will probably wait about a day for us to show up before coming to look for us. At maximum warp, it'll still take about 18 hours to get to us." The name slip up wasn't lost on either man. Chakotay immediately mentally chastised himself for being so careless. He tried to make sure to never refer to the Captain by her first name in front of the rest of the crew, it was highly unprofessional. None of the other crew on Voyager referred to her by her first name, it was either "Captain" or "Janeway", although the latter was used amongst the crew and never to her face. Tom didn't say anything about the mistake. He knew Chakotay was under a lot of pressure. Just one look at the man told him how sleep deprived he was. It was amazing that he could put together a coherent sentence, let alone come up with some sort of plan to keep them all safe and get them back to Voyager in one piece.
"Do you think Seven will last that long?" Chakotay glanced down at Seven. Tom could have sworn he saw a few tears spring up in the man's eyes, although he couldn't be certain, and he definitely wasn't going to say anything about it.
"I don't know," he whispered. He sounded defeated. Tom wanted to console him, to say something to him, but he didn't know what to say. He realized that there wasn't anything he could say to take away his pain, only offer his support however he could.
When Harry returned to camp, he didn't give himself any break. Instead, he sat in the cool shadows of the cave with the mobile regenerator in front of him. When he first got his hands on it, he didn't have the time to really take a look at it and see the damage the Kalrussians had done to it. Now, however, he had a chance to really look. While they hadn't completely stripped it of parts, most of its major components were missing, including its power supply and the conduit that connected to Seven to allow her to regenerate. Essentially it wasn't worth the material it was made out of. He sighed. He had no idea how to tell Chakotay, although one look at the First Officer told him that he already knew. The realization made Harry feel worse than he already felt, which he hadn't thought possible. He already felt like a failure for not being able to get a decent distress call out to Voyager, but he was working with nothing and expected to perform miracles. Even the Doctor wouldn't be able to improvise his way out of this one.
Harry's thoughts of self-loathing and failure were interrupted by Chakotay crouching down next to him. Wordlessly, he took the mobile regenerator and began to examine it carefully. He was familiar enough with Seven's technology to be able to recognize what needed to be done, but Harry and B'Elanna were the real experts on Borg technology aboard Voyager. Even if he had all the necessary tools, he wasn't as skilled an engineer to repair the damage done to the device. All he knew for sure was that there were major components of the mobile regenerator missing, and without them, Seven's condition would continue to deteriorate.
"Is there anything you can do?" he finally asked.
"I don't think so," Harry admitted. "I originally planned on using some of the gel packs we removed from the shuttle to power the mobile regenerator, but look here." Without waiting for permission, he took the device and motioned towards a gaping hole in its side. "There should be a conduit here that connects to Seven. It's completely missing. Even if I were able to get the mobile regenerator up and running, there's no way to connect it to her. Now, if we were back on Voyager, we have enough supplies to fix it."
"But we're not on Voyager," Chakotay interjected. Harry let out a sigh.
"I'm sorry. Even the Maquis had more resources than we have right now." The words just came out. He hadn't meant to bring it up. No longer did Harry think of the crew of Voyager as Starfleet and Maquis but one big family. He was simply trying to make a point here. "No offense, Commander," he added as a quick afterthought when he realized that his words could be construed as highly disrespectful and perhaps even insubordinate given Chakotay's past.
"None taken. I appreciate your candidness. I know I've put a lot of pressure on you and Tom. It hasn't been fair to you."
"If I couldn't handle the pressure, I wouldn't have joined Starfleet in the first place." Chakotay knew that Harry was right. They had been under similar pressure countless times in the past, they would handle it once again. Unfortunately, they couldn't tell if Seven would be able to handle it.
As he got to his feet, Chakotay asked, "Do me a favor? Look at the mobile regenerator just a little while longer?" His tone spoke volumes. It wasn't an order but rather a request from a man running low on options.
"Aye, Commander," Harry agreed with a small nod. He wasn't sure how much good could come out of looking at the regenerator, but he was going to try. Perhaps there was another way to get the power from the mobile regenerator to Seven by bypassing the missing conduits. If only he could figure out how.
Author's Note: Well, we're about halfway through this adventure, I hope you stick around for the second half. In the mean time, make sure to leave a review and check out my other fic: Adjustment Period, which is another Chakotay/Seven story.