One of One

by zArkham

As the USS Voyager becomes embroiled in the war between the Borg & Species 8472, a strange anomaly is detected on the Borg Cube where Captain Janeway is negotiating for the life of her crew and maybe for all life in the Delta Quadrant. Within that anomaly hides a centuries old secret. A being who found that resistance was not futile and will continue to resist till the end.

2. Scorpion

PRIME DIRECTIVE: Space may be the final frontier, but I'll never get there by any monies derived from this as Harry Potter and all properties of such are owned by the Dark Lady JKR. All content, characters related to Star Trek are owned by Paramount Pictures, Inc....except maybe some of that stuff that ended up being used in Starfleet Battles which is owned by the Amarillo Design Bureau who used that content via the Starfleet Technical Manual by Franz Joseph Schnaubelt and published by Ballantine Books.

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STORY NOTE: The author's notes for Chapter 3 show my changes or additions to Starfleet ranks. Also, some characters ranks have been changes. Specifically, B'Elanna Torres is a Lt. Commander given she is chief of engineering.

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CHAPTER TWO – SCORPION

(Episodes: ST:VOY Scorpion Part 1 and elements of Part 2)

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PITHY STATEMENT RELATING TO THIS CHAPTER: "Victory comes from finding opportunities in problems." Sun Tzu – Chinese general/strategist, writer and philosopher – 544-496

LAST UPDATED ON: 01-29-2024

BORG CUBE 10100110100, SECTOR 776, DELTA QUADRANT – STAR DATE 50983.2

The situation was changing faster than One could track or the Borg could adequately manage. Species 8472's bioships were powerful and so took advantage of a flaw in the Borg Collective methodology. The Collective had always relied on adapting to threats. Even in the early days, the Borg saw the loss of ships as just part of the process of eventual assimilation. This had mostly worked for them given it was rare than any race could destroy a Cube quickly. Even rarer was to not be able to beam information back regarding how it was destroyed. Thus, the Collective had always had the time to adapt.

Species 8472 was not giving the Collective that time.

A saying filtered up like a ghost in One's mind. One shot; one kill. The Borg simply weren't given the time they needed to adapt to the radically different biology of the being from Fluidic Space. So far, the only sure fire way to destroy a bioship was ramming it with a Cube. However, the Borg could scarcely afford to continue using this technique.

Like a virus (oh the irony) Species 8472 began to spread through Borg space, leaving shattered Cubes and planets with a cracked crust and an atmosphere on fire. In an even more ironic twist, a ray of hope for the Collective had appeared. For all the might and collective knowledge of the Borg, the answer was on board the very ship One was desperate to save.

XxXxX

BRIDGE, USS VOYAGER, SECTOR 776, DELTA QUADRANT – STAR DATE 50984.3

Captain Janeway looked over Senior Lieutenant Tridiva Mohindra's shoulder at the data displayed over the various monitors of the science station, "It doesn't make any sense."

"I know, captain," SLT Mohindra agreed. "Every previous incidence of a Federation ship being scanned by the Borg ended up with all the data being copied. I'm at loss as to why the Doctor's nanoprobe weaponization program wasn't taken."

Janeway frowned and shook her head as she turned to return to her command chair. As she sat down, Commander Chakotay was rubbing his chin in thought, "You know, Voyager is one of the newest ships in the Federation and the only one with neuro gel-packs. Not to mention, we've had to do a fair bit of modifications along the way."

"An astute point, commander," Lieutenant Commander Tuvok said with a hint of admiration. "I further surmise that given the Borg were unable to abscond with such data, they very well may believe it is kept directly in the Doctor's mobile emitter. Given its 29th Century technology, the Borg would require a considerable amount of time to adapt to acquire data from it. This, of course, does point to their next likely avenue of approach."

Janeway nodded, "There is certainly plenty of information in the data they did take which references the Doctor's emitter. I see where you're going." She touched her comm-badge. "Doctor? Tuvok is going to tie a series of protocols to Sick Bay and your mobile emitter. We believe the Borg might believe the nanoprobe data is stored in your mobile emitter. We want to make them think we can destroy that with a flick of a switch so they don't board us."

"Understood, captain. A wise move," came the Doctor's voice.

"How's Harry, doctor?" Janeway asked.

"The treatment seems to have arrested the spread of the alien DNA for now, Captain. However, I simply do not have the nanoprobes to do more. I am afraid without Borg supplying us with more nanoprobes, Mr. Kim will probably not last another few days," the Doctor replied.

Janeway looked grim, "Understood. Thank you, Doctor. Janeway out."

"The Borg aren't likely to want to spare any given the needs to develop the weapon," Chakotay said quietly. "One of our 'drones' is insignificant to them."

"And I doubt we have enough leverage to push things," Janeway said with a sigh.

"We're pushing way beyond our weight class as it is," Chakotay agreed.

"Well if opportunity doesn't knock, we'll just have to build a door and hope," Janeway said, her mouth a thin line of determination.

XxXxX

BORG CUBE 10100110100, SECTOR 776, DELTA QUADRANT – STAR DATE 50985.6

Reviewing the data gleaned from Voyager, One would have smiled if it were still possible. The organic component to One had been locked in place, barely alive for almost a century. Air, food had trickled in through makeshift intubations, waste removed the same way. Without movement, without light, almost without hope, One had endured. Now One would be hard-pressed to locate its organics. While the drones One had rescued were in modified maturation chambers which now acted as stasis pods, One didn't have that luxury. One had had to literally build from scratch a way to keep alive. To do so, he had formed a shell around him which he refined over the next century. One was almost more a part of the ship than a separate entity. Even though One's domain now encompassed an area of a small ship, it might as well be One's body. Only the recovered sentients were apart from what One considered itself.

Banishing such needless thoughts, One went back to the data. It was a testament to how much Species 8472 had rattled the Collective that they fell for One's trick of masking Voyager's sick bay database. If the Collective were even slightly less panicked, it would have easily seen through One's trick. He had masked the weaponry data with an overlay of a biological waste management database. It seemed even the mighty Borg Collective had little interest in touching organic wastes even if only the data about it!

One was even more gratified to see that Voyager's crew had picked up and ran with the opportunity. Again, the calamity emanating from Fluidic Space was causing the Borg to take atypical actions. The 29th Century mobile hologram emitter would normally be of the highest priority to assimilate, but the Borg didn't dare attempt it for the fear that Voyager's captain would destroy the emitter and the nanoprobe weapon schematics with it.

Through the security system, One watched as Captain Janeway verbally fenced with Seven of Nine. Voyager's captain was as cunning as a Slytherin and as brave as a Gryffindor.

One's entire being stuttered for a moment. Why had One had such thoughts? After a quick self-diagnostic, One did the digital equivalent of a shrug and went back to monitoring the on-going situation.

XxXxX

BRIDGE, USS VOYAGER, SECTOR 776, DELTA QUADRANT – STAR DATE 50985.7

CDR Chakotay pointed at the screen, "There! What do you make of that Mohindra? Tuvok?" The Cube that Captain Janeway was on had an odd section at one of the corner points. It was a slightly different color and didn't have many of the exterior light sources the rest of the Cube had.

SLT Mohindra worked the science section panel. A minute passed and then another. Finally, she gave a small shake of her head, "I cannot be certain, Commander. It is certainly an anomaly we have never seen before."

Chakotay turned to the tactical station, "Tuvok?"

The Vulcan shook his head, "While Borg, Commander, it appears as if that section may have been added later to cover battle damage which could not be readily repaired. Even so, there does seem to be a subtle difference to it. Curious. Given how the Borg ships could be said to be almost alive, it is tempting to say that section could almost represents a tumor."

Junior Lieutenant Tom Paris gave a startled snort of mirth, "The Cube has a wart?"

"Could it be a danger to the captain, Tuvok?" Chakotay asked.

LCDR Tuvok shook his head, "Unknown. However, the energy levels and bio-energy readings of that part of the Cube are markedly lower than the rest of the ship. I do not believe there is a danger. I also do not believe it is a threat. If it were, I am confident the Borg would have excised that section of the ship. That they have not would imply it has a purpose or it is not worth dealing with."

"Well we all know the Borg will let you walk right by them if they aren't on an assimilation mission," Ensign Lyssa Campbell pointed out from the ops station. "It's not impossible to think that they simply don't care enough right now. With this Species 8472 blowing up entire Borg armadas, I'm betting they have more important things on their Collective mind right now."

Chakotay nodded, "Good point, Lyssa. Like everything else, I want science and tactical to keep an eye on things. I'm sure it's probably a rare anomaly but it might be common for Borg Cubes in the Delta quadrant to have. That they brought Captain Janeway to that specific Cube is probably a good indicator it has a purpose or it's benign."

"Now that would be a change in our luck," Paris muttered under his breath.

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BORG CUBE 10100110100, SECTOR 776, DELTA QUADRANT – STAR DATE 50986.3

The One had to act quickly. Species 8472 had already destroyed the planet the Borg and Voyager had been orbiting and were in pursuit of the trio of Cubes. It was obvious the only course of action for the Borg was to sacrifice their ships to destroy the bioships menacing Voyager. The One initiated exfiltration protocols it had laid out over the last two centuries when the Cube had still been in the outer regions of the Alpha Quadrant. The One had been refining these protocols ever since.

The One dipped into the Collective just long enough to see that the previous subtle 'suggestion' that Seven of Nine and selected other drones had indeed been assigned to Voyager regardless of the cost. One had been trying to grab these drones ever since they had been transferred 17 cycles ago. He had to be cautious given One had been subverting the Collective to save various drones only from Alpha Quadrant races.

One was almost certain that the tracks used to steal these drones would be seen as normal deactivations. Still, One had not lived as long hiding from the Collective as he had by not being careful. So many Alpha Quadrant races in one drone transfer had been suspicious. Still, with Species 8472 rampaging through Borg space, One felt confident to be a bit more overt in his manipulations of orders coming in from Unimatrix 01.

Still, these new drones would take time to heal once One had access to them. It would take time to get them to the level as recovered as the drones he had in stasis. Most were completely free of Borg tech. Even so, One had kept various things in each body. Most were to help promote general health but mostly to help prevent re-assimilation. Initial tests were promising but One was loathed to do full tests given a failure would increase the risk of the Collective reestablishing the link and uncovering him.

Seven of Nine would be the biggest problem. One had never had a chance to examine any neo-natal drone or one assimilated at such a young age. Still, One felt that between his capabilities and the startling efficiency of Voyager's EMH, she could be pulled from the Borg. She undoubtedly would resist but One knew it would be for the best.

As expected, two of the Cubes intercepted the approaching bioships and detonated. Unfortunately, one bioship was able to escape. One might not have the full speed of the Collective at his disposal, but One was easily able to calculate the odds. The Borg had only one hope of protecting the nanoprobe weapon technology CPT Janeway offered.

One initiated separation protocols. The "wart" as JLT Paris had likened it as, disengaged from where it had been growing for centuries and shot towards Voyager. Right before the link to the Cube was severed, One saw that Seven of Nine and her team of drones along with CPT Janeway had been beamed to Voyager.

As One's realm (it could hardly be called a vessel) attached to Voyager's hull, the Borg Cube that had been One's unwilling home for so long turned and made a suicide run on the remaining bioship. In a tremendous explosion, Voyager was alone for the time being along with its newest passengers.

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BRIDGE, USS VOYAGER, SECTOR 776, DELTA QUADRANT – STAR DATE 50986.4

"Report!" CPT Kathryn Janeway asked almost the instant the turbo-lift door opened.

Chakotay turned from the screen which was showing a schematic of the 'tumor' that now was on Voyager. "We had previously noticed an anomaly embedded in the Borg Cube you were beamed to. We could not ascertain its function other than it was a probable battle damage patch. However, Tuvok felt it could be the Borg version of a tumor. Lyssa made a good point about it could be something which happens to the Borg but isn't, at this time, worth dealing with."

Janeway walked closer to the monitor, "Well I agree with Ensign Campbell. The Borg certainly have bigger issues to deal with. However, now whatever that is, is our problem now. What do we know so far?"

SLT Mohindra manipulated her science station controls to alter the image on the monitor. "We know the Borg beamed a group of drones along with equipment into Cargo Bay 2. Security teams have stated that drone, Seven of Nine is with them. They appear to be continuing work on the prototype torpedo designs we gave them. They stated Seven of Nine is requesting your presence."

Janeway nodded, "Makes sense. The Collective needs that technology and needs it yesterday. So, what's the story with what's on our hull?"

SLT Mohindra shook her head with a frown, "I wish I had more to tell you, Captain. Whatever it is, it certainly has attached itself to the hull. It is drawing some power from our engines but Commander Torres has already found the object is actually generating energy to help enhance ship-wide hull integrity fields. There seems to be no contact between the object and the drones in Cargo Bay 2."

Janeway turned to Chakotay, "It never rains but it pours in the Delta Quadrant. Thoughts?"

Chakotay gestured towards Tuvok, "I'm wondering if Tuvok might have been closer to the mark than he realized. Maybe this 'tumor' is some mutation or defect in the Collective. Or even a parasite or symbiotes that works with the cybernetic nature of the Borg. We all get viruses, parasites and the like. Maybe Borg perfection isn't as complete as they'd like to portray. Obviously, whatever that thing is, it knew enough to jump from one host to another."

Janeway stroked her chin, "Well let us hope that it stays more of a symbiote than a parasite. That it's helping with keeping hull integrity up is promising."

Chakotay sighed, "Plus if it was truly Borg, half of Voyager would have been converted by now."

An alert from Tuvok's tactical station had all head's turn toward the Vulcan. A brief confirmation before Tuvok looked up, "We've had another unauthorized transporter incident. Source unknown but the target was Sick-Bay."

Almost as if on cue, another alert chimed, "Sick Bay to the Bridge!"

Janeway touched her comm badge, "Go ahead, Doctor. We just registered a beam-in to your position. Status?"

The EMH responded with obvious tension in its simulated voice, "Captain, I am at a loss. One moment everything is fine and then the next moment security force-fields went to standby. Then four unconscious sentients were beamed in. Then four Level 10 force-fields went up around them. However, I've already found that I'm in control of those fields."

"These sentients? What can you tell us?" Janeway asked

The Doctor's response was quick, "Right now I can tell you that three are human and the other is an Andorian. I'll know more as my scans are completed."

"Doctor, I'm coming down," Janeway said before cutting off the comm. "Tuvok, you're with me. I want a security team to meet us. We need to go have a chat with Seven of Nine. After that, we can check up on what the hell is going on in Sick Bay."

OoOoO

Janeway shook her head as she looked down at the sleeping woman on the medical bed, "It's unbelievable!"

The Doctor made a face that showed he agreed, "So far the readings have been clear. This is Ensign Trina Mortley. She was presumed lost along with her ship, the USS Gagarin, sometime around Star Date 2160."

"She seems remarkably well preserved for someone almost two hundred years old," Tuvok commented dryly.

The Doctor nodded, "While I can tell she has been under some form of temporal stasis for a number of years. However, the most likely reason for her lack of age is that she was a Borg drone for an indeterminate number of years."

Janeway looked back to the brunette woman still under sedation, "Are you sure Doctor?"

The EMH nodded again, this time more emphatically, "Positive, Captain." He brought up an image of the woman internal structure. "As you can see, I've highlighted areas where her tissue has been regrown. Whether this as through clone skin grafts or some form of reactivating the body to regrow the lost areas, I am uncertain. I'm sure you can see how those areas mimic known patterns of prosthetic on Borg drones. I also know she, and the other three here, still have varying traces of Borg technology in them."

The four security officers of Tuvok's all noticeably tensed and grasped their phaser rifles tighter. Janeway, however, kept looking at the various screens. She pointed to the scans of the other two humans, "They don't look like they have much more than some nanites. Yet Mortley and the Andorian still have quite a bit of tech left. Your thoughts, Doctor?"

The Doctor looked unsure, "I believe the issue is how long ago they were assimilated. In Ensign Mortley's case, she was assimilated a very long time ago. I conjecture that whoever or whatever pulled her from the Borg could not totally undue what was done to her. On the other hand, the nanites in all four of them seem to be for general health maintenance."

Janeway tapped one of the screens, "The distribution of these nanites might imply some form of anti-assimilation screen from the looks of it."

The Doctor nodded, "I had similar thoughts. However, I can't be sure at this early stage without actually injecting live Borg nanoprobes to find out." The Doctor made a face, "Obviously a method that is out of the question."

Janeway turned to look at the other three sentients on the medical beds, "So no luck on identifying the rest?"

Tuvok shook his head, "Not yet, captain. However, given Ensign Mortley is as old as she is, it may take more time to dig through the older databases. It is possible, however, that without waking them, finding their identity might prove impossible. The USS Gagarin had been on a very long-range survey mission, long-range for that time period that is, when she disappeared. It is likely the rest of these sentients were likewise assimilated far away from the body of the Federation."

Janeway nodded slowly, "That makes sense. Even after Q played around with the Enterprise, it was still a few more years till we made first contact with the Borg in the Alpha Quadrant.

"The appearance of these four begs the question of why? I do not believe it is coincidence that they were beamed to Voyager so shortly after the Borg Anomaly attached itself to the hull. It is also the only unknown area within transporter range to be beamed from," Tuvok pointed out. "Also, we are in the Delta Quadrant yet here are four presumably former drones all from the Alpha Quadrant. That seems unlikely."

"Yes. I did take note that all of the team with Seven of Nine, to include her, are from the Alpha Quadrant. I'm wondering if that was by design?" Janeway asked.

"Or maybe whoever is controlling the Anomaly might have been manipulating which drones where selected for the mission. Maybe some rogue drone was able to somehow reconnect with its previous self and has been working to free other drones. It might explain why the Anomaly jumped to Voyager beyond wanting to survive," The Doctor mused.

Janeway made a face, "Doctor, start waking them up when you feel it is safe to do so. We need answers. Even if they don't know anything, I want to clear this issue away. Our tenuous alliance with the Borg needs our utmost attention."

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CARGO BAY 2, USS VOYAGER, SECTOR 776, DELTA QUADRANT – STAR DATE 50986.8

"It is insignificant and should be ignored. We have lost too much time as it is. Species 8472 is continuing its attack throughout the Sector. Every hour we lose here to pointless speculation raises the count of deaths which are on your hands, Captain Janeway," Seven of Nine said in the dispassionate voice that still was filled with emotion one would not expect from a drone.

"It's attached to my ship without invitation, much like your team and gear here. Everyone, to include you and your drones are my responsibility. I am the one who makes the decision on what is ignored or not," Janeway said cuttingly.

"We do not have any more information on the anomaly than we have previously given you. All of these former drones were all logged lost for various reasons. None of which were out of the ordinary," Seven responded haughtily.

Janeway frowned. It was amazing how high and mighty Seven could seem even as she knew the Collective was frantically flailing around for any way to stem their losses. That Voyager had not been assimilated before or an attempt made since showed how flummoxed the Collective was. "Still, we find it odd that all of these former drones are all from the Alpha Quadrant. Twenty different beings ranging from centuries to only a few decades ago. You don't find that odd? Or the fact that you yourself and the drones in this bay are all from the Alpha Quadrant? I think this isn't as insignificant as you'd have us believe."

Seven of Nine's face went stony, "What you believe is irrelevant. Only the weapon should be the priority. Without it, Voyager will soon lose the protection of the Borg. We have already lost a significant number of Cubes in defense of this vessel as well as in diversionary attacks to draw the enemy away from this location."

Janeway raised a hand, "Fair enough. Show me what is the next step in our process?"

OoOoO

Janeway entered Sick Bay to find a team working to help the latest group of former drones. Over last few hours, every time the medical beds had been emptied, four new sentients had been beamed over. So far, twenty had been beamed over before transports ended. However, the most worrying thing had been that ENS Kim, who was still suffering from the effects of the attack he suffered on the remains of the Borg Cube at the hands of Species 8472, had been beamed away.

"Any news Doctor?" Janeway asked

The EMH shook his holographic head, "I'm afraid not. However, Tuvok found that prior to Ensign Kim being transported away, Sick Bay was scanned by a targeted Borg polaron beam. I am hoping that whoever or whatever is on that anomaly took Ensign Kim to treat him."

Janeway blinked at this, "Why do you say that, Doctor? That's a huge leap to make."

"I know, Captain. But we know that the Borg can read out almost everything from our data banks with their scans. Why the previous Cube had been unable to do so is not something I can comment on. I can say that with this Borg whatever it is on our hull, it penetrated into the database with ease," the Doctor explained.

Janeway nodded, "Go on."

The Doctor gestured to the two Klingons who were in the last batch beamed in. LCDR Torres was speaking trying to bring them up to speed. "These former drones had to have almost all of their Borg tech taken from them. Obviously, it didn't just vanish. The largest roadblock we've had is synthesizing enough nanoprobes to not only create a weapon to defeat Species 8472, but also make a cure for Ensign Kim. I believe that whatever took him, has nanoprobes aplenty and will use them to cure him."

Janeway looked at the displays on the wall which had various internal images of many of the former drones. The Doctor was right. The amount of Borg tech taken from these former Alpha Quadrant natives was considerable.

She touched her comm badge, "Bridge; Janeway. Lieutenant Mohindra: I want you to create a request in as many ways as you can for nanoprobes like the one needed for the weapon and beam it to the Borg Anomaly. Whoever or whatever is in there, may be inclined to help out."

"Aye Captain!" SLT Mohindra replied promptly.

Janeway looked at the Doctor, "Parasite or symbiote; whoever or whatever that is, Species 8472 is a threat to it as well. Hopefully, self-preservation is a universal concept."

OoOoO

Kes let out a gasp and almost dropped the food tray she was taking to the former Romulan sub-commander. She, like Ensign Mortley, had been assimilated over two centuries ago and was having a hard time adjusting to simple things like eating.

"Kes? Kes! Are you alright?" The Doctor said as he hurried over and took the tray away from the Ocampan. One of the security team took the tray while the Doctor quickly began to use his hand-held medical scanner on Kes.

"Yes…yes, I think so," Kes said in a dazed voice.

"Did you have another premonition, Kes?" Tuvok said as he came over from where he had been talking to the Romulan.

"No…at least not from Species 8472. I was just thinking about all those former drones, in stasis together. Did they dream? Where they linked together or was it just years of lonely dreams?" Kes explained. "Then I felt a presence, a mind which brushed mine. It was filled with such loss, such sadness. So much crushing loneliness. I think this mind is whatever is on the Borg Anomaly."

Tuvok moved closer to Kes and raised his hands toward her face, "May I?"

Kes hesitated then nodded.

Tuvok placed his hand on her face in the manner Vulcans used to read minds. However, Tuvok simply held her head as she stood quietly with her eyes closed. Finally, Tuvok spoke, "Yes; I can feel it as well. I do not believe I could have sensed the same without being in a deep meditative state."

Tuvok released Kes who took a deep, shuddering breath. Even when willing, it was always tense to be linked, even tenuously to another's mind.

"Commander?" The Doctor asked.

Tuvok was silent for a moment before looking at the Doctor. "I believe you were correct, Doctor. The being on the Anomaly is, or was, a sentient being. However, I am not certain if that being exists anymore. It may exist only as a mind alone. It is possible that somehow, when its Borg shell was deactivated, it somehow remained in the Borg ship's neural-circuitry."

"A Ghost in the Machine," the Doctor said. "There have been incidents reported like this in history and throughout the Federation."

Kes shook her head, "I don't believe so. There was a sense of self still attached to a body. It was faint, barely a whisper. Hidden from the Borg for so long I believe that this person has almost lost themselves to stay invisible to the Collective."

"Be that as it may, I am certain of one thing. The being, embodied or not, is human," Tuvok said with conviction.

The sound of a transporter being engaged caught everyone's attention. Two energy waves faded into ENS Kim on the main surgery bed with a medium sized bio-tech transport box next to it.

The Doctor and Tuvok rushed over and began scanning, the Doctor scanning ENS Kim and Tuvok the box.

"What is Ensign Kim's condition, Doctor?" Tuvok asked as he read out the scanner's results.

"It seems I was right about why he was taken. Ensign Kim is completely free of the alien DNA. He's in a coma, but that seems to be more from the stress of the cure than anything else. With the right stimulants and intravenous nutrients, he should be up in a day or two."

Tuvok finished his scan and took the box over to the medical station. Opening it, Tuvok nodded, "It seems that whoever is aboard the Borg Anomaly is at least an ally for the moment. There are enough refined nanoprobes here to outfit a dozen torpedoes."

Kes reached out with her senses. She didn't know if their benefactor would be able to 'hear' her but she reached out anyway with her growing telepathic senses and breathed out, "Thank you."

The Ocampan wasn't sure, but she felt that there had been the barest hint of warmth and acceptance. It made her smile happily.

XxXxX

CAPTAIN'S QUARTERS, USS VOYAGER, SECTOR 776, DELTA QUADRANT – STAR DATE 51004.8

Janeway was tired. The stress was immense and it didn't help that she felt she'd been on red alert ever since they had been trapped in the Delta Quadrant. There was so much riding on her shoulders! Would she get a commendation for the results of the last few days or would they clap her in irons for interfering in the war between the Collective and Species 8472?

While the Prime Directive was mostly concerned with dealing with more primitive life, there certainly was a lot concerning non-interference with star-faring races. Helping the Borg beat back Species 8472 most certainly counted in that regard. Still, Janeway mused, the beings from Fluidic Space had pledged to purge the galaxy of life. Defending against that was within her purview. She'd deal with the fallout from that later as she had other issues to deal with.

One of them was Seven of Nine who was currently in the brig, defiant and angry. She was the only remaining drone left on Voyager. The drones they had shunted out into space to prevent them from contacting the Collective had been beamed away. Presumably, they were undergoing the same process the previous drones had undergone to remove their Borg technology on the anomaly on Voyager's hull. Now the question was, would the Borg come after them now that Species 8472 had been sent packing back to Fluidic Space?

After ENS Kim had been returned with the nanoprobes which had proven decisive in the fight with Species 8472, the Anomaly from the Borg Cube still rested against the hull of Voyager. There had been a few hours of panic when it began to seemingly assimilate Voyager. However, it became apparent that it was simply absorbing the Borg additions done by Seven of Nine and her team.

Scans showed that while the Anomaly was tied to Voyager, it was in such a way as if to reassure them that it wasn't a threat. Other than transporting away the drones blown out of the ship after Seven's attempt to contact the Borg, the Anomaly had done nothing other than it interfered in Seven's trying to send a signal to the Collective. LCDR Torres did say that the warp core seemed to be generating a more precise field, but so far beyond the strengthening Voyager's hull-integrity fields, the Anomaly was simply hitching a ride.

None of the former Borg knew anything. They all had been standard drones and had various amounts of memories of that time. Yet none remember what had happened to them. The majority had said it was like dying of drowning while being assimilated, having a long nightmare and then waking up in Voyager's sick bay. A few spoke of hearing a voice telling them to be calm and that they were safe. Still, the Doctor wasn't sure that was their brains just trying to give some reasons for what happened to them. Even so, all were in good health and none of the remaining Borg tech in their bodies seemed to pose any threat whatsoever.

As Janeway entered her quarters, she didn't bother to turn the lights on. The last few years meant she didn't need light to get around. So great was her exhaustion that it took her over five minutes of puttering around with only the starlight coming in from the window did she realize that she was not alone.

However, even in her exhausted state, Janeway didn't allow herself to do more than slowly turn to the couch against the window and to the figure sitting there. In the darkness, all she could tell was it was man-sized and had two points of lights where eyes would be.

"I'm sorry. I don't believe we've been introduced. Generally, an invitation is needed before entering into a lady's bedroom." Janeway said lightly. Whoever the intruder was, it had not only entered the ship but her quarters without triggering any alarm. Diplomacy seemed the best option rather than going for the phaser in the drawer to her right.

"No, we have not," came the flat reply. It sounded like an old school voice synthesizer from Old Earth. "We, however, know all about you, Captain Kathryn Janeway. We…apologize for boarding your ship without permission. We had little choice. It did present an opportunity to return the Lost to you. The only other Federation starship in this Quadrant is quite some distance from here."

"What? There is another Federation ship out here?" Janeway exclaimed.

The figure seemed to nod or that is how Janeway interpreted the odd wiggle around the head region was. "That is correct. The USS Equinox. It had been taken by the Caretaker as Voyager was. There had never been an opportunity to make contact with them without the Borg assimilating them."

Janeway shook her head to help clear it, "You said we. Who is we?"

The being paused. Janeway took the opportunity to say, "Lights!"

Janeway had to say what the lights revealed was not what she was expecting. Her first guess was some form of robot given unlike a Borg drone, there was no exposed flesh. Yet even then it was difficult to discern what she was seeing. It was almost as if a piece of bulkhead in a Borg Cube had broken off and decided it wanted to walk like a man.

Finally, the being/robot spoke. "There is no we. It is difficult to remember at times when we were singular. To remember what we were before we became One. For so very long we hid from the Borg; crushed under the weight of the Collective. Always hiding like an insect riding a leviathan. For so long there only was One. Then other drones like One were found. We have been collecting them ever since. We hoped to free them and now we have. Yet even now, singularity is difficult to process."

The being raised its arm and waved. "It has been over 200 years since One has been able to do this simple act. So long to remember when One could move, to breathe, to remember the sky on his face, the wind in his hair."

Janeway perked up at that, "Would One have a name? What would he have been called when he breathed the air with the wind in his hair?"

The being was silent again. "It is difficult to access. We were the Chosen One before we became simply One. Many such titles. We only wanted to be normal. To fit in. Never to be the Chosen One. Fate, however, had other plans. One defied Fate but in the end, Fate was not to be denied. So long ago it is difficult to remember the struggle. So many reasons not to do so. Constant vigilance needed to be maintained. Memories were...difficult to process."

"Because of the loneliness?" Janeway asked softly. It seemed this being, whoever or whatever it was under all that tech, had been hiding from assimilation for almost as long as humans had ventured far enough to be taken by the Borg. It made sense that in the face of the temptation to give into the Collective and all those shared memories, it would be better to try and suppress one's own sense of self.

"Yes. Loneliness. We became One before the Borg. We did what was necessary to save them all. One had to stay behind. One had to initiate the ritual to open the portal to the Fae. One had the Stone, the Cloak and the Wand. It had to be the One. The Chosen One...he...he had to send them all away. Send them to the other realm to save them from Green's hatred. Save them from Khan's war. Save them from the nuclear fire we knew was coming to strike the Pure and the Superior alike. We saved what could be gathered. All but the One. One had to remain behind. Fated to forever be alone. Forever to be the last of his kind. To be the immortal One…forever."

Janeway paused before going on. It was obvious this being was dredging up terrible memories. "Well, One. Regardless of who or what you are, I would like to thank you. You saved Harry Kim's life. You returned those that had been lost to the Borg. You helped keep Seven of Nine from contacting the Borg. Your...ship and the nanoprobes you sent certainly helped us withstand Species 8472. You may have started as a stowaway, but let me say, welcome to Voyager. You have been alone for so long. Maybe you will always be One, but there is no reason you have to be One alone."

One was silent, the green glow of its 'eyes' pulsed slowly. "Yes. That would be good. It will take time to deal with the drones taken recently. Restoring them takes time. Seven of Nine will also be problematic. We have never dealt with a drone assimilated so young. Seven's recovery will be long. Seven will resist for the Borg is almost all Seven has known."

Janeway smiled, "I'm sure the Doctor and Kes will be thrilled to have you help them. I'm also sure that we need to help Seven remember who she once was. Maybe you can help with that? It seems you need time to help remember who you were as well. You are welcome here to work on that. I am sure Tuvok and Kes would be honored to assist you."

"Harry," One said.

"Excuse me? You want Ensign Harry Kim to help you?" Janeway asked.

"Harry Pim...Pom...Pommer...Harry. Harry Pot...pot. Harry Potter," One said.

"Harry Potter? Who is that?" Janeway asked even though she had a feeling for the answer.

"One was...is Harry Potter. Yes, I was...am Harry Potter." With that he stood up.

Janeway back away as One, as Harry Potter's form began to shift. It was oddly mesmerizing as it was subtle at first before the form began to accelerate in its change until it finally became a recognizable human form. It was stylized in a way that was familiar somehow.

As Janeway watched, suddenly the armored form changed from the muted Borg colors to metallic crimson and gold. Janeway realized she'd seen this armor before. It had been during one of Tom's film festivals. The armor was taken from an early 21st century movie based on late 20th century entertainment magazines.

This and his early comment implied he was born on Earth before the Eugenics War. It meant he had survived the Third World War which was spawned out of that earlier conflict. Yet it would have been almost impossible for someone to have been born that long ago and live long enough to get into space to encounter the Borg! Had Tuvok been wrong in stating this Harry Potter was human as his name implied?

Before Janeway could think on this apparent paradox more, the armor burst open to reveal what appeared to be a pale, man in his 30's with black, messy hair and piercing green eyes. He was naked and Janeway could see Harry had many scars crisscrossing his body.

Harry blinked at her as if his eyes weren't working right. Janeway wondered if this was the first time he'd seen with his own eyes in over 200 years.

"I used to wear glasses," Harry Potter said matter-of-factually as if he and Janeway were having a regular conversation over coffee. Janeway noticed that he spoke with the old English accent. Much more pronounced than the one currently used in Britain on Earth.

"Yes….I used to wear glasses. At least those damned nanoprobes were good for fixing that." Harry said with a slight smile. He took a step away from the armor and then promptly fell face first to the deck.

XxXxX

AUTHOR'S NOTES: While it may create short chapters, I am going to try to stick to naming chapters tied to an episode after that episode. Of course, one of the main things I realized early on is that almost all of Season Four goes right out the window for various reasons. We really won't get back on track till a little after they meet up with the USS Equinox. I'm going to play fast and loose with episodes given that there is a point where this story would have to end. Given this confrontation would come sooner, rather than later, I can only drag things out so long. So, this story is really only as long as necessary for me to put a spin on a few episodes I'd love to play with. Still, this story will have about 37-38 chapters if everything goes as planned.

Quadrant & Sector Issues: Right off the bat, I'm changing the Quadrants for various reasons. Mostly because many of the issues of an actual 3-Dimensional galaxy as opposed to the 2-Dimensional maps everyone is so used to.

Quadrants: In canon, the Milky Way Galaxy has 4 Quadrants. I'm sort of changing that to 8. By sort of I mean that the 4 'main' quadrants (Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta) represent the four spiral arms of the Galaxy. This is where the bulk of life will exist. However, it's not like there is just empty space between them. That's where the other sub-quadrants come in. If you think of an octagonal clock, the Alpha Quadrant is in the 6 o'clock position. Why there? Because it matches the Star Fleet Technical Manual maps which is also used in Star Fleet Battles. Now to keep the main quadrant names, I went with the next(ish) 4 letters to represent the sub-quadrants. Going clockwise from the bottom you get the Alpha Quadrant, Epsilon Sub-Quadrant, the Beta Quadrant, the Zeta Sub-Quadrant, the Gamma Quadrant, the Kappa Sub-Quadrant, the Delta Quadrant and then the Theta Sub-Quadrant. (I'm not using Eta or Iota given E is already used in Epsilon and I is too easily mistaken for a 1) Note! Sub-Quadrant is less about physical size/distance and more of the lower number of actual systems in that area.

Quadrant Shape: It is typical that maps of the galaxy (or fictional ones like in Star Wars) are shown like the galaxy is flat. The truth is that along a spiral arm, the area referenced is going to be more like an oblong tube. This actually makes what is seen in canon a bit more realistic given in a flat-map, there's very little in the way of border overlap between the Klingons and the Romulans. In a more tube-like arrangement, the 3D nature means a lot more areas which could connect. If anything, it would make more sense to take the flat map used in SFB and roll it into a tube. This would suddenly make the Gorns and Romulans border the Kzin, Klingons, Lyrans and Hydrans!

Alpha Quadrant: Unlike current Star Trek lore (especially the ST: Online) all of the classic races seen in the show are in the Alpha Quadrant. The only major difference is that the space between the galactic core and the Kzin Hegemony (from SFB) is Cardassia Space. Thus they (and the Kzin) border the Epsilon Sub-Quadrant. On the flip side, the Romulans and Gorns are closer to the Theta Sub-Quadrant. (Indeed, if I were using them, the Interstellar Concordium [ISC] would just be across the border in the Theta Sub-Quadrant.) Also, when taking into account the data given in ST:VOY regarding distance, it shows there is still quite a bit of unexplored space coreward in the Alpha Quadrant.

Sectors: In Star Trek canon, a sector is 25 light years across. Thus Voyager has to cross 2,800 sectors to get home. Now science says that life as we know it can't exist close to the Galactic Core (a 13,000 light years dead-zone sphere) so Voyager has to take a looping route home. Plus, given the need to resupply and the like, it implies one travels down the spiral arm towards the galactic core so the distance through the less populated sub-quadrant is as short as possible. This also implies that Voyager arrived at the tip of the Delta Quadrant and was thrown closer to the middle by Kes in the episode The Gift. It further implies the Borg are closer to the tip and used wormholes whenever they find them to get to other parts of the galaxy. It also means that using my SFB inspired map, Voyager will enter the Alpha Quadrant by way of Gorn space.

Sector Number Goof: The whole reason I made the recent changes is I realized that I had been numbering my sectors wrong. Starting in Sector 26 implies near the edge of the Quadrant and by counting down, I had the story start far too close for the story. This was made worse because I forgot to account for 380 sector jump Kes did to Voyager. Or the fact that using the Quantum Slip-Stream drive for a bit gave them another 140-sector jump. That and it makes more sense that Sector 01 would be one of the closest sectors to the Galactic Core where space is dense. Out at the tip, there might be a lot of sectors but many might only have very few habitable systems. Thus I had to change every chapter to account for this!

Gamma Quadrant: While the Dominion War didn't start till after Voyager was taken away, you do have to wonder why not go towards that Quadrant with the intent of using the Wormhole? I think it may be that the exit point of the Wormhole was farther up the spiral arm and so it was still faster to go the long way via the Delta and Theta quadrants. That and I'm sure Starfleet was leery of the founders even in early 2371.

Far From Home: We know in canon that it is projected to take 75 years to travel the 70,000 light years home. That means they need to go 933 light years a year to meet that metric. So that means that they have to get through 37 sectors a year. In the episode The Gift, Kes tossed them 9,500 light years away from where they were. In other words, she threw them 380 sectors. The problem is the Milky Way galaxy is not a perfect sphere, the habitable zone skews this even more and no amount of math can hide that the 'facts' change episode to episode according to the whims of the writer or lack of a decent continuity editor. So authors like me just have to sort of roll with it and somewhat do what the writers DO ALL THE TIME. That is, give out some semi-arbitrary number and hope no one really digs down deep into the math because there is only so much fan-wanking you can do and continue to use canon. I recently (03/16/2022) spend an hour or two trying to make a more accurate Star Dates for this story. I realized it was probably a waste of time as the mostly made-up numbers work. Long-time ST types (writers and producers) have admitted that the Star Dates are something you just have to grin and bear the fact they just don't work.

OC CREW: I'm not trying to go wild with new crew. It's just that to keep costs down, the show had to use certain people in multiple roles. Worse is how we rarely (if ever) see the engineering and science stations which are forward and diagonal to both sides of the helm. If there is one thing that grinds my gears about ST:TNG and ST:VOY is that keep having different stations doing the SAME thing! Ever noticed that whoever is at ops or tactical responds to being hailed? I would think it would come through the security station especially since what else does that station do when not in combat? Ops is the general ship status section. But that still leaves Engineering (where B'Elanna should be when on the bridge) and science. Again, everyone BUT the science station does their mission. So, I'm trying to fill gaps in the ship.

Shifts: In addition to OC's, I'm not going to sideline characters BUT ships have shifts for a reason. Letting the 'senior officers" or the Alpha shift hog all the glory just means that Beta and Gamma shifts never get the experience. And yes, now that I've seen all of ST:LD, I might feel more inclined to switch Gamma Shift to Delta Shift…if Gamma wasn't the 3rd letter in the Greek Alphabet. The only way I figure you could have a Delta Shift would be if instead of x3 8-hour shifts, you had x4 6-hour shifts which probably would fit better into the future of not living to work. Then again, even in ST:LD, you have crew living in a CORRIDOR of all places! This on top of all the poor schmoes who have to stand their entire shift. I mean why doesn't Worf or Tuvok get a chair? These are spaceships and they can have SPACE!

Memory Alpha Website: When it comes to the crew, my goal is to first use named characters we rarely see. Next is to use characters we see on the show but aren't given a name. Lastly there will be characters which have a name but we never see them. So except for truly new characters (like the drones) you should be able to find something about them on the Memory Alpha website if you're curious. This will also apply to alien races. There are a LOT of ST: VOY races shown but never named as well as those named but never shown. I will mate a lot of those together. Again, if I name a race, you can bet there is a Memory Alpha entry for that race. (2024 Update: Well until we get to the last few chapters as I used them all up and pretty much had to start creating them)