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When he entered the conference room, he noticed several individuals who were still sitting around the table. Besides Captain Janeway, Captain Chakotay, and Admiral Paris, he saw Seven, Tom Paris, the Doctor, Captain Picard, Admiral Bulloch, General Korok, and next to him, Axum. The Species 8472 replicant of Boothby and the woman he hadn't recognized sat near the former Borg.
"At ease, Cadet. As I said to Mr. Kim a very long time ago, relax before you break something! Please, take a seat."
Icheb heard a slight chuckle coming from Tom's direction, although Seven's face bore a grim expression. If Tom could find humor in the situation, Icheb thought everything was probably going to be all right.
The captain identified everyone at the table Icheb didn't know. The woman was Valerie Archer. And, much to his surprise, this Admiral Bulloch was not the admiral who was stationed on the Australia. "You are also a member of Species 84 . . . I mean, you are from Fluidic Space?"
"Hrrumph. Yes, I'm that Admiral Bulloch."
The Boothby replicant chuckled, "I see you're aware that we despise being called by a Borg designation. Has Mr. Paris told you about his term for our people?"
"No, sir. I can't say that he has."
Tom responded, "I've been calling them Fluidians in my personal logs for a long time. Our Fluidian friends have decided they like it. And it's a lot easier to say than all of those numbers," Tom replied with a grin.
Ignoring Tom's response, the Bulloch replicant said to Icheb, "I see you were once Borg, Cadet."
"I was only partially assimilated, but yes. That would be an accurate statement."
After Icheb's reply, there was a lull in the conversation, marked only by the sounds of the chairs around the table creaking as the individuals sitting on them shifted their weight from side to side. Icheb wished they'd tell him why they'd called him in to see them. He had no idea why they would wish to speak to a third-year cadet.
When Admiral Paris broke the silence in the room, Icheb was relieved, since he was sure the true reason he'd been called in to speak with such an august group was about to be revealed. "Cadet, we have information we'd like to share with you prior to our general announcement about this meeting. First, since you must be curious about what took place here, we've agreed to work on a treaty between the Federation, the Fluidians, and the Borg Resistance Movement, in order to secure long term peace and a close working relationship. We're in the preliminary stages, of course, but we've made a strong beginning. I'm optimistic we'll succeed."
"That's very good news, Admiral Paris." Icheb smiled at Korok. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Axum turn his face to Seven and touch her hand lightly.
"It is, young Icheb," General Korok stated, showing his teeth in a broad Klingon grin.
"There is, however, some news our visitors brought us which we believe will upset some Federation citizens." The admiral hesitated and took a deep breath before continuing, "Better than almost anyone, you're aware of the steps the crew of Voyager took which allowed the ship to return to the Alpha Quadrant at the time it did."
"Yeeesss," Icheb said, dragging the word out so that it sounded the way it would have when he was still on his Collective's cube, before Seven adjusted his vocal processor. How open could he be about Admiral Janeway's involvement? Glancing around the table, he thought most of those sitting here, if not all, probably knew about her by now, but it wouldn't hurt to be circumspect. "Are you speaking about the substance I helped the Doctor prepare that was, uh, delivered to the Queen's Unicomplex?"
"I'd say the boy has a future in diplomacy," the Boothby replicant commented.
"You may speak openly about our visitor from the future, Cadet. Everyone at this table knows about Admiral Janeway's involvement," Admiral Paris informed him. "Yes, we are speaking about the serum you developed, which was injected into Admiral Janeway before she went through the transwarp hub and invaded the Unicomplex. We might as well call it an invasion, in this room, at least. That's what it was."
"The Doctor and I worked on it together, Admiral," Icheb demurred.
"Much as I'd like to take the credit," the Doctor said, "I only assisted you in its development. While I have sufficient knowledge of the genetic resequencing techniques we used, it was your genome we modified. I doubt I could have developed that serum independently."
Icheb silently thought about all the people who'd contributed to the development of the serum. "Without my parents' actions when they altered my DNA to use me against the Borg, I wouldn't have had that resource lodged in my chromosomes for us to use."
"True, Icheb," Captain Janeway admitted. "From speaking with Seven, I know that's been something you've found difficult to accept."
"It hasn't always been easy, but facts are facts. My parents gave birth to me to become a weapon against the Borg. The only thing the Doctor and I changed was the method of delivery. Instead of me producing the pathogen from my own body, after I was assimilated, the admiral was injected with the means to produce a neurolytic pathogen if the Borg assimilated her. Are you confirming this is the reason the transwarp conduit system is no longer in operation?"
"Not only that, Cadet Icheb," Korok stated. "The Borg Collective as we have known it was also destroyed. We have investigated the former site of the Unicomplex. There is nothing there but tiny bits of debris. After an extensive search of the galaxy, there is no sign of it anywhere else, either. We believe the Queen herself assimilated the Admiral Janeway. It's the only explanation for such complete devastation of the Borg."
"Are you saying that billions of drones died, along with the Queen?" Icheb had trouble imagining this was possible.
"We believe the number wass probably in the trillionss," Axum clarified, hissing many sounds because of his faulty vocal processor, "We've exsplored the four quadrantss with the help of the people of Fluidic Sspace. Sseveral sspheress exisst in the far reachess of the Gamma Quadrant. They were probably too far away for the pathogen to do itss work before their link wass broken when the Queen died, sso they sssurvived. Thesse droness operate asss a Collective on their own shipsss, but none have any link to other Borg vessselsss - nor do they desssire any. Even that far out, none of the cubesss or larger sspheresss are intact. Mosst of the other droness we've found have adjussted to individuality to ssome degree, including the group known to Captain Picard and led by the former drone Hugh. There iss another group which callss itsself the Cooperative that Captain Chakotay met. If we do disscover other living droness who were linked directly to the Queen at the time of her desstruction, it will come asss a great ssurprisse."
A hush came over the room. Even Icheb's parents Yifay and Leucon could never have predicted their decision to turn their son into a weapon against the Borg would have such destructive power when it was fully unleashed.
"This confirms what Ambassador Neelix has been telling you through Operation Watson, doesn't it, Admiral Paris? And Mezoti's messages to us from Wysanti?"
"It does, Cadet," Admiral Paris said softly.
"Icheb, if you're bothered by this, please, come see me," Seven said anxiously. "The captain has already granted us leave from our duties if you require my aid."
He thought carefully before he answered her. "No, I don't think that will be necessary. It is a lot to take in; but when the Doctor and I developed that serum, we knew if it worked the way we hoped, it might have such consequences. We even spoke of that once in Sickbay, do you remember, Dr. Zimmerman?"
"I do, Icheb. We spoke of something else that day, too."
"Yes. My destiny." Icheb leaned forward, placed his elbows on the table, and looked out over the heads of those sitting between him and the conference room windows. He had a clear view of space, but it didn't register at that moment. He was looking back in time, into his past. "After Voyager rescued me, after my parents sent me to be assimilated by the Borg a second time, I was angry with them. But then I spoke to you, Tom, and you helped me gain perspective about my parents. I had to understand that all beings are imperfect. It is the striving for perfection that is important, even though none of us will ever be able to attain it."
"I remember, Icheb," Tom replied.
"I eventually came to wonder if I would have volunteered to let the Borg assimilate me, if my parents had bothered to tell me why it was so important. I spoke of it in Astrometrics with Seven one day, too. I told you it might have been my destiny to destroy the sphere that was coming after me. Do you remember that?"
"I've never been able to forget it," she solemnly said. "I told you that you might decide to fight the Borg yourself someday, but as an individual, and in a manner of your own choosing."
Icheb nodded his head in agreement. "And now, it seems I have. I've destroyed not just that sphere, but multitudes. I guess it was my destiny to act as a weapon against the Borg after all - just not the way my parents planned for it to happen."
"Your parents decided to protect their home planet by sacrificing your existence as an individual," Tom said. "Instead, you may have saved the entire galaxy from the Borg, because you remained an individual and were able to choose to take action against them."
"And also because I was willing to set aside my bitterness and work with the tools they'd placed into my DNA. Life is very strange, isn't it?"
Icheb's eyes began to work again the way they should, taking in the images of those who sat with him at the table. The two captains, Janeway and Chakotay, who were openly acknowledged as a couple now. His adoptive mother, whom he noticed was sitting very close to Axum. Tom and his father Admiral Paris, whose own difficult relationship now appeared to be warm and loving - or Tom would not have been at this big meeting with his father, at the admiral's request. Captain Picard, who had been, for a very brief time, the Borg Locutus, tabbed by the Borg Queen to act as her "liaison" to the beings she wished to subjugate. General Korok, who had been assimilated by the Borg at Wolf 359, but who was now free. The Valerie Archer, Admiral Bulloch, and Boothby Fluidian replicants, who hopefully would soon become good friends with the Federation. And Dr. Mark Zimmerman, their EMH-Mark-1, who had been his partner in developing the "ultimate weapon," despite the Doctor's avowal that his primary dictum was, "First, do no harm."
"Very strange," Icheb repeated softly, almost at a whisper.
After this utterance, no one spoke for a prolonged period, despite the presence in the room of several notably loquacious individuals of various species. The thought that trillions were lost to death, after they'd already lost the ability to live full, independent lives, was overwhelming. What could anyone say in the face of such a tragedy?
"Well, now," Admiral Paris finally said, "unless one of you has something else to add to our discussion, I suggest we adjourn this meeting. Our priority must be the preparation of a statement to share throughout our respective fleets concerning our future meetings, which we hope will lead to a lasting agreement. Anyone?" He paused, but no one responded.
"Then this meeting is adjourned. Thank you all for remaining after our first meeting."
Captain Janeway turned to Icheb and gently placed her hand on his forearm, "And thank you, Icheb. If there's anything at all you wish to speak with me about, do not hesitate to contact me."
As the participants began to filter out of the room, Icheb approached his adoptive mother. Axum was standing next her and said, "I have many questionss I wishh to assk, but for now, let me just ssay I'm very pleased to meet Annika'ss sson."
Seven put her arms around Icheb and hugged him very closely. Icheb was suddenly reminded of her good-byes to Azan, Rebi, and Mezoti. Seven and Icheb were family; nothing would change that; but he realized he was saying a kind of good-bye to her now, too. With this meeting, he'd crossed a bridge to his future. He could not escape his past or alter it the way Admiral Janeway had done, nor did he wish to.
Icheb perceived, however, that Seven herself - or rather, Annika Hansen, as everyone else was finally beginning to call her - had crossed a bridge to her own future. Axum had been someone precious to her while she was a drone in the Collective. Now he might turn out to be a vital part of her future as an individual as well. In fact, because of their shared past in Unimatrix Zero, Icheb was almost certain of it. They seemed so at ease in each other's presence, with their bodies in close proximity, suggesting an intimacy he'd never seen from her before, even when Seven and Chakotay were a couple. In fact, they already reminded Icheb of another couple he knew very well: Tom, when he was with his B'Elanna.
Icheb knew this wasn't the right time to say anything like this to them now, although he knew he had to say something to them. Then Icheb recalled an incident from his own past which made him smile.
"Axum, I notice your vocal processor has what we call a 'glitch' in it."
"Yeesss, I have been very buusssy and have not had it fixxxed yet."
"Seven repaired a glitch in mine a long time ago. She's very good at it. It will only take a few moments for the adjustment. And it won't hurt at all."
Axum turned to her and rattled out, "Would you be willing to do thiss for me, Annika?"
They smiled warmly at each other as she said, "Of course. If you come to Cargo Bay Two, I'll be happy to take care of it for you."
As Icheb followed Seven and Axum out of the conference room, he realized his relationship with Seven would change, although how, he didn't yet know. As apprehensive Icheb had felt about what would happen to him when Seven began dating Chakotay, he felt nothing like that now. Was it because Axum shared being Borg with Icheb, as he did with his Annika? That was undoubtedly it. And the more Icheb thought about what was happening here, the better he felt.
His thoughts turned to Mezoti. For two long years Icheb and his Norcadi sister had been separated by many light years of space. While he was happy technology existed which allowed them to communicate with each other, Icheb needed to be able to speak with her in real time, and better yet, in person. He wondered how soon Federation ships might be able to reach her on Wysanti. If Seven and Icheb ever did welcome Axum into their family, he wanted his sister to be part of it, too.
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