Zimt woke up to the bittersweet feeling of being alone in bed. She was used to the warmth of the Commander, and the feeling of hugging her. Still groggy from the sedative, she sat up and looked around. She was the only one sitting on the wide biobed, there was no sign of the commander. Well, here was a little bit, because she left her blanket behind, which still held the strange, metallic-human smell of the Borg. Zimt clutched it in her hand. She looked around, but she didn't feel any particular change compared to her condition the day before. Her skin was also warm, pink and soft to the touch. So the commander did not fulfill her wish. She enviously looked at the young Borg drone sitting on the other side of the energy wall. She sat quietly by the wall with her arms hugging her knees. The eyes were closed while she beat her head rhythmically against the wall from time to time. By the looks of it, she was on the verge of clinical insanity. Zimt realized how ironic life is! Amelia Janeway didn't want to be a Borg, at all! She hated being a cybernetic chimera with every inch of her being. Yet she was assimilated. She simply got what the young doctor wanted. A gift, so to speak. And Zimt always yearned for implants, for the feeling of being one with millions of other people, and yet she couldn't get it, even though she worked hard for it. Zim sighed.
"The commander went to the captain's meeting," Beverly Crusher informed him.
"Captain's meeting?" asked Zim, though she had nothing to do with how Captain Picard decides the tasks assigned to his commander. "How did the commander feel?"
"She was fine, her condition stabilized, thaks to your care. She was fit for duty." Zimt nodded. She trusted the old doctor and her decision. If she had no objection to the behavior of the commander, then it will suit elsewhere.
"I don't think it was possible to dissuade her from going either," the young woman smiled at her superior. Beverly Crusher also smiled.
"Not with a whole army! You got to know the commander very well in a few days! You will make a great doctor, Zimt!"
With that, she placed a tray with a generous breakfast on her young colleague's lap. "Eat breakfast and join the meeting, just to be safe. No need to hurry!" she added, as Zimt began to foam the food, as if she wanted to pour the entire quantity down her throat at once. "It won't be a short meeting."
Well, the meeting really wasn't short. Five more Starships led by the Stargazer went on a deep space mission to the Delta Quadrant. There were all captains for the meeting, joined by their first officers, and Admiral Janeway and her husband Chakotay also reinforced the team. When choosing captains, this time Starfleet insisted on selecting experienced, strong-minded people. But even these captains could not overcome their hatred of the Borg and glared angrily at the Stargazer's first officer. They didn't trust her, and that tension was palpable. Captain Picard couldn't do anything either. Starfleet has worked hard over the past 20 years to fuel hatred of the Borg. And the fact that Commander Seven assimilated a defenseless person a few days ago was just fuel to the fire. It is true that the official circles did not speak about the matter, but they could not limit the rumor.
"Ah! Doctor Zimt is here!" Captain Picard was pleased to see the young woman enter.
He introduced her to the other captains and sat her down in the last remaining chair between Seven and the others, building a wall around the Borg commander. The meeting was indeed boring after the young doctor joining the team. At least for Zimt. The senior officers coordinated tactical maneuvers and discussed weapons and their use. Among the weapons, there were also many newly developed ones that even Zimt, who had just graduated from the academy, had never seen before. The young woman was not even surprised by this, since she planned to deal with saving lives rather than exterminating them. Although she kept her eyes and ears open. A Starfleet officer has a lot to understand in a war.
But he also noticed something else, not just the enormous amount of weapons. Senior officers spoke of the Borg as a pest to be exterminated. A very dangerous pest, to speak the truth. Zimt was shocked. So where is the free choice voiced by Starfleet? How do they know that there are only those ones among the Borg who were forcibly assimilated? How do they know that there are only those ones among them who are unhappy about this? But by the way, don't these victims deserve to live? To live an entire, a full human life, or even the entire life of a being?
Besides, why wouldn't anyone want to join them of their own accord? If you just look at Seven's life, the commander was also much happier as a Borg than as a human. If one can talk about emotions in the case of a Borg. However, among the undeveloped drones there were those who wanted to join the Collective. That was his wish. So he still had feelings for the Borg on some level. He was not a helpless victim. It was his conscious decision to join the Collective. And the Federation refuses to acknowledge this. They simply wanted to destroy a lifeform. Destroying life, who want to be what they are. But why? They didn't mean any harm to the Federation. They are simply too far from the Alpha quadrant.
Zimt could not find an answer for the question. She pondered how the initially peaceful Federation had transformed into a military formation constantly fighting with others. Is it possible, that the whole alliance alive now only by fighting? As she looked at the composition of the races of the captains and first officers, their behavior, their facial expressions, as they talked about killing living beings, the tip of the scales in her heart began to tip this way. The Federation preaches peace while constantly at war. And wherever there is no war, they take it there. But why, if it could be resolved through negotiations? There could be neutral zones that neither side crosses. Everyone could live in peace, as they like, as their hearts desire. So why can't they?
It was as if ice water had been poured on Zimt's neck, and the realization hit her: she was on the wrong side.