=/\=
Everyone on Voyager was abuzz with anticipation as the ship approached the "Wormhole Nebula," as Tom Paris had duly christened it, to unanimous approbation. Icheb had secretly hoped Seven would be standing at the station she usually used when she was on the bridge, but today, she decided to remain in Astrometrics and had pointedly refused his suggestions that she needed a backup today. Fortunately, the Ensigns Delaney had invited Icheb to come and stand with them, along with virtually the entire Sciences Division, as Voyager entered the swirling gasses. Every screen in Stellar Cartography was tuned to views of the bridge as recorded by the official log imaging system. Icheb had no doubt that everyone else had a way of watching, as well. Ensign Wildman had even consented for Naomi to stand with them, holding baby Aimee, since Marla Gilmore had to man her station in Engineering.
Thus just about everyone on Voyager was privy to the near collision with the Borg cube, and to the way Lieutenant Paris suddenly ducked down as the vessel swooped all too close overhead. The sound of everyone in the room sucking in their breath, waiting to see if the cube would come back to assimilate them, swirled around Icheb. His discussion with Noah Lessing about the fate of any drones who made the mistake of assimilating Icheb, which had taken place only days before, came back to haunt him, until it was clear the cube had failed to change course and, instead, was proceeding on its established heading.
Icheb excused himself and ran to find Seven staring at the main screen of Astrometrics. She barely glanced up as he entered, but when he whispered to her, "Is it Borg matrix of some type?" she turned to face him.
"I'm not sure. It could be. Help me evaluate the data, Icheb. I'm sure the captain will need it very soon."
They worked in silence for several minutes before Icheb reported, "I count at least forty vessels."
"Forty-seven, to be exact," Seven replied.
:::Seven of Nine, report to the conference room for an urgent staff meeting,::: the captain's voice summoned.
Tapping her combadge, she responded, "I will comply." Turning to Icheb, she commanded, "Continue monitoring all activity in the nebula. If you notice a deviation in the flightpath of any of the vessels, contact us in the conference room immediately."
"I will comply," Icheb responded. A chill ran up his back as he realized he was speaking as a drone, not an Starfleet Academy cadet. He hoped he could remain the latter, and not have some reckless Borg drone try to assimilate him back into the Collective. Such an action would not be conducive to a long life for either of them.
=/\=
For the next couple of days, life on board Voyager continued much as it had for the prior seven years. Astrometrics was manned at all times, of course, since neither the captain nor Seven was ready to assume the Borg had not noticed them in the nebula, even though none of the vessels detected there had shown up on long range sensors. It was possible, if unlikely, that the Borg, for some unknown reason, could be tracking Voyager in a manner that was undetectable to Federation sensors. Continued vigilance was therefore mandatory.
When Icheb visited the Paris-Torres quarters the evening after the near-miss, Tom regaled him with a story about how Harry Kim had tried to entice Tom into taking the Delta Flyer for a spin back into the nebula in a last-ditch effort to find a way home. "He put it to me as 'one last adventure' for Captain Proton and Buster Kincaid to indulge in before I was too busy with fatherhood. I told Harry I already was home," Tom laughed. "When he insisted Captain Proton would never walk away from that kind of mission, I reminded him that Captain Proton didn't have a wife, with a baby on the way!"
Icheb thought it was a funny story. He noticed B'Elanna wasn't laughing, though.
=/\=
Icheb was surprised when he glimpsed Seven holding a floral bouquet as she called for an internal transport to the first officer's quarters. She realized he'd entered Borg Central just as the transport was beginning to take hold. Seven put her forefinger to her lips, the universal sign to keep quiet, as she flickered away.
Icheb sighed as he walked towards the computer console. So their relationship was progressing. With Voyager's journey to the Alpha Quadrant again expected to last for decades, he couldn't really blame Seven for wanting to explore the emotions that had been denied her while the emotional inhibiter chip was still part of her being, but Icheb would have preferred another potential adoptive dad. Commander Chakotay was a very good officer and a great role model, but somehow, he didn't seem right for Seven. She must be able to see qualities in him that Icheb couldn't. He should learn to accept the situation, because he had a feeling it was going to happen now, whether he liked it or not.
When Megan Delaney contacted him, Icheb had just opened the program holding the paper he was supposed to hand in to Commander Tuvok the previous week. Because of all the momentous events which had necessitated Icheb's functioning more as an officer in Sciences than a cadet, Commander Tuvok had deferred the assignment. Megan's shift was ending, but her scheduled relief was her sister. Jenny had ended up in Sickbay with a holodeck injury. Could Cadet Icheb relieve Ensign Delaney so that she could go to Sickbay to make sure her twin was all right? With a deep sigh, Cadet Icheb agreed and shut down his console. He needed to remember to let Commander Tuvok know what happened, so he would understand the possibility that his paper would not be handed in yet again - because Duty had Called. Again.
=/\=
Megan had just walked out of the door when the order came from the bridge. Some sort of spatial rift was opening in front of Voyager. Commander Tuvok wanted Ensign Delaney to evaluate its properties and report her findings as quickly as possible. When Icheb responded affirmatively, while also letting the commander know he'd been called to Astrometrics by Ensign Delaney, he knew that was one thing he could check off his "to do" list. At least Commander Tuvok now knew Icheb was too busy at the moment to be composing a paper for him.
Only seconds later, Icheb reported, "From the tachyon emissions coming from the rift, I believe it is temporal in nature, Commander."
:::Thank you, Cadet,::: Tuvok answered. :::Continue evaluating the situation. Report any new details to me.:::
A minute later, Icheb contacted Voyager's tactical officer again. "Commander, I'm detecting evidence of weapons fire in the form of nadion discharges." He paused as he considered how unlikely the rest of his readings were, but the commander had asked him to report all his findings. This might be a very significant one. "I may be mistaken about this, Commander, but the weapons fire appears to have a Klingon signature."
Tuvok had not broken their communications link, so Icheb could hear him tell the bridge officers about the nadion discharges coming from the other side of the rift, along with Icheb's conclusion that they were consistent with Klingon weaponry.
While continuing his observations of the rift, Icheb turned on a console screen to enable him to monitor what was happening on the bridge even after Tuvok closed off their communications link. He heard Harry report they were being hailed. He heard a familiar voice and saw a face he recognized on the viewscreen, even though it was changed markedly from the one he knew. Shocked, he almost forgot to check the main Astrometrics screen to see the shadowy outlines of two Klingon vessels following the small vessel, one which held a person who looked and sounded exactly like his Captain Janeway - albeit a considerably older version.
Before Icheb had a chance to report this new discovery, Commander Tuvok proved he'd noticed those in pursuit. :::Captain, a Klingon vessel is coming through.:::
The Janeway on the viewscreen ordered his captain to fire an anti-tachyon pulse at the rift to close it. :::In case you didn't notice, I outrank you, Captain. NOW DO IT!:::
Icheb couldn't even imagine what Captain Janeway was feeling, but she followed the orders of the woman on the screen. She identified herself as Admiral Janeway. Icheb's head began to spin. Was this another temporal anomaly? Would he actually meet this Captain Braxton of the Federation Temporal Police that Tom had told him about? What was happening?
When Admiral Janeway responded to a query Captain Janeway posed to her, Icheb's last question was answered, at least in part. To the captain's acid, ". . . what the hell is going on?" the Admiral had simply replied, :::I've come to bring Voyager home.:::
=/\=