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.

12. Hunters - Part II

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 much of their content via the Starfleet Technical Manual by Franz Joseph Schnaubelt and published by Ballantine Books.

XxXxX

CHAPTER TWELVE – HUNTERS, PART 2

(Episodes: Elements of the episodes ST: VOY Prey and In The Flesh)

XxXxX

PITHY STATEMENT RELATING TO THIS CHAPTER: "Let us never negotiate out of fear. But let us never fear to negotiate." John F. Kennedy – American politician and 35th President of the United States – 1917-1963

LAST UPDATED ON: 03-15-2021

Commodore's Log, Star Date 51217.4. The search for the 8472 we suspect has boarded Voyager has begun. I've moved the other ships away from Voyager to avoid the intruder from somehow escaping to one of the other ships. So far, we have little to show for our efforts. Even Harry's magic has failed initially to find our stowaway. However, he believes this is due to the fact that Species 8472 is a being from a different dimension where the rules could be vastly different. Harry is working with the Doctor to review the information he gathered from Harry Kim when he was infected by the 8472 while on the away mission to the derelict Borg cube. Both are confident that Harry will be able to refine his ability to locate our intruder. I've ordered the few former drones serving on Voyager over to the Equinox just as Seven remains on the Phoenix. Now all we can do is wait as our search continues.

XxXxX

MAINTENANCE JUNCTION BRAVO, SECTION 3, DECK 11, USS VOYAGER, SECTOR 378, DELTA QUADRANT – STAR DATE 51218.6

Harry had to admit he was getting a bit brassed off.

Throughout the Eugenics War, Harry got used to having his magic be able to trump almost any problem he encountered. For once, he was really having to work at it and as such he was a bit cross with himself. Once again, he lamented how he had let Hermione do most of thinking for him back in school. Over the years this had come to bite them in the arse again and again.

Even with having access to some of the blood or whatever the 8472 was leaking hadn't helped him magically detect the intruder and he was starting to think the best he could do was start creating detection wards that would alert him when tripped. Still, that only worked if the 8472 was on the move. And it ceded the initiative to it. Harry had learned his lesson during his fight with Voldemort that allowing your opponent to set the terms of the battle made winning that much harder.

"You know, Harry…," V'Lana said from where she and the two security types waited.

"Yes?" Harry asked.

"Maybe you're going about this in the wrong way," V'Lana said slowly. "You are having trouble detecting the 8472 because it's so different. Okay, well shouldn't that difference potentially affect the world around it?"

Harry took a second to see what she meant, "You mean since Fluidic Space is a whole different set of rules, that the 8472 might sort of destabilize things it comes in contact with?"

V'Lana nodded, "Why not? It might act like how radiation leaves a trace. In this case, instead of radiation it's contact with matter not of this dimension. It is logical to believe it would leave some form of mark. So instead of looking for 8472, look for stuff it has affected."

"Well given I know my magic works on our universe's stuff, I'm willing to give it a try," Harry said as he crouched down. "Be back in a bit," Harry said before apparating away.

V'Lana waited patiently while she began to search Voyager's computer records of any unusual equipment failures or changes in environmental controls on her tricorder.

Harry popped back into the juncture with a smile, "Man you're good! I'm going to have to see if it's only reactions to its blood that is constant contact or if just being in an area for a bit works."

He was lost in thought for a bit before he manifested the Elder Wand before creating a stand for the model of Voyager he had picked from the training room. He then cast a few spells on it before he was satisfied. While he had gotten so much better with magic, Harry knew this type of magic wasn't his forte. When he was finally satisfied, Harry levitated it and with a wave of his wand, caused the model to separate such that there was space between every deck.

"What are you attempting?" V'Lana asked curiously. Harry rarely used magic and so seeing him using it so regularly in the search was proving to be an educational experience. In her long career, the Romulan-Vulcan-Human hybrid had seen a lot of things, but Harry's magic was amazing to watch.

"A bit of sympathetic magic. I'm going to use a spell that will detect readings like I just took. This will be projected from where they are on the actual Voyager to the model," Harry explained. He took a deep breath and focused his will on what he wanted, "Invenire Pertubatio!

A bluish pulse expanded, sphere-like, from Harry's wand into and through the decks. After a brief pause, little points of red started to appear at various points on the bottom decks of the Voyager model.

"Gotcha!" Harry said with a satisfied smile.

XxXxX

FLEET COUNCIL ROOM, USS VOYAGER, SECTOR 378, DELTA QUADRANT – STAR DATE 51218.8

"So, before we continue, I want to be quite clear what our end goal is," Harry asked of the assembled officers. One of the things done while back at the Pit Stop had been to expand the conference room on Voyager to accommodate the 'fleet council' of important stakeholders. All the members were sitting at a round table with the center section empty except for a holo-projector.

"What do you mean, Harry," Chakotay asked. Around the table, it was obvious that many in the felt the same confusion.

"I'm saying is before we confront this 8472, what is our end state? Shoot on sight? Capture and detain? Catch and release? I certainly hope we're not just going to give it over to the Hirogen down in Sick Bay."

"Certainly not!" Janeway said in a voice that was halfway between being shocked that Harry would think that was an option and that he might think she'd ever allow such to happen.

"Well I had to asked given I know from just the last half hour of talk that many of you would be just fine with the 'dead on arrival' option," Harry said with a slight glare at Seven who did not show any indication how she felt about the rebuke.

"Still, as odious as it may be, what other option do we have?" Janeway asked. "We helped the Borg against its species. I doubt it is going to give in. And we do not have the capability to detain it."

Seeing the nods from many around the table, Harry scowled, "So because it may do something or that we can't do something, we're just going to execute it? Not feeling the Federation vibe here, people. Also, correct me if I'm wrong, but no matter what dimension it's from, it is a wounded enemy combatant. Unless Starfleet has changed the Rules of War we humans have been using going back centuries, killing out of hand is against the regs."

"Very well then, Captain Potter. Do not castigate us for our security concerns unless you have a viable alternative," Commander Tahl said in the calm, even tone of his which hid what he was thinking about the matter at hand.

"As a matter of fact, I do have a good avenue we should pursue. I used sympathetic magic to narrow down where the 8472 is. I think I should be able to do something similar in using the dimensional resonance so that I could open a portal into Fluidic Space. Given this is a magical portal, it will hopefully be undetected given we're only going to send a message through it. Given how Species 8472 reacted to Voyager being in their space, a physical probe might be seen in a similar, hostile light. That and we don't have to use the graviton pulse you used before which might as well be a big sign saying, 'Come get me!' to the Borg," Harry pointed out.

"A message? Why type of message?" Chakotay asked as he leaned forward in anticipation. Harry could tell he was against terminating the 8472.

"Hey, come pick up your wounded," Harry said simply.

"And you expect that they will take no other action? That is not only illogical but naïve," Sakonna said with the cold haughtiness Vulcans were often reviled for.

Harry nodded, "Yes I do and you, of those present, are one of those who should understand why. We know from Kes and now Tuvok that Species 8472 communicates using some form of telepathy. Well, between myself, the Vulcans and Romulans, we've got our own battery of telepaths. My sympathetic magic can also be used to help transmit a message using our captured 8472 to send the telepathic message to its target. Now given it's a telepathic message, the emotions can't be faked. So as long as all of us are onboard with honestly wanting to do a battle hand-off, then that intent will come through. So sure, a coded transmission could be a deception. This telepathic hail? Not a chance."

Sarkonna's flinty look didn't change but both Tahl and Dhael nodded at the truth of Harry's point.

Harry made a sweeping gesture around the table, "Plus this gives us a chance to try again with First Contact. Need I remind you that we have no idea how distance works in Fluidic Space. It is possible that they could be attacking the Federation right now in retaliation for Voyager helping the Borg. While a small risk, the consequences of not trying to ease tensions between us and Species 8472 are too high. If the Borg couldn't stop Species 8472 without Voyager's specialized help, I highly doubt the Federation at war with the Dominion would last very long. I'd really hate for us to finally get home only to find it a wreck we would be responsible for."

This was met with silence. Finally, Tuvok spoke up, "Species 8472 did say they were going to purge our galaxy."

"Did they Tuvok?" Harry asked. "It's what Kes felt they were saying. We're talking about beings from a completely different dimension interacting mentally with beings from another completely different dimension. Can we say that Kes was accurately translating what they were saying? Can we risk not finding out one way or another?"

Harry paused, "Plus, I know you all were very fond of Kes, but you have to admit that her powers were beginning to go into a state of flux. So I think Kes is not the most reliable of narratorsin this case. It is highly likely they were saying they were going to purge the Borg from the galaxy. As I told Commodore Janeway earlier, when I was hooked up to the Collective, there had been no attacks on non-Borg targets before I had to sever my connection to the Collective. Given they had some opportunities to attack non-Borg targets, that lack should be a taken as a hopeful sign."

"I can't comment on this Kes, but more to the point, Captain Potter's plan is a chance to show Starfleet we've not abandoned our principles out here," Commissioner Ransom said. "I know I got very close to abandoning the Prime Directive and other general orders many times when things got rough. It's a hard choice when it's your principles or the lives of your crew so I'm not going to gainsay Commodore Janeway's decisions. That being said, I agree with Harry that in the principles we took an oath to uphold, it is the right thing to do. Even if we never make it back home, as long as we wear the Starfleet uniform, we need to act on the principles that uniform represents."

"The right thing to do? Is it right to risk our entire fleet and everyone in it just to say, 'I hope you didn't mean it about killing all of us?'" Riker scoffed.

Harry stood up, "First off, we do still have some of those nanotech torpedoes. It's not like we can't protect ourselves. But that's beside the point. I was born into war. I killed for the first time when I was 11. I didn't mean it but that doesn't change the fact that my actions led to the death of a professor helping the enemy. I was faced with a lot of choices, most of them had a choice between bad and worse. This certainly didn't change during the Eugenic Wars. I had to make a lot of moral compromises to try and save people I thought could continue the spirit of humanity. A lot of blood, innocent or otherwise is on my hands due to those choices. Through it all, I always remembered something a great wizard told me. 'One should always do what is right over what is easy.' It would be easy to find this 8472, kill it and move on. But it's not the right choice. We have an opportunity to talk instead of to kill."

Harry turned and looked pointedly at Janeway, "This is exactly the type of moral choices you are supposed to make if you believe in your Federation and Starfleet creed. You can also bet that regardless of Kathy here being in the hot seat with little support, if we get back to the Alpha Quadrant early, that the Starfleet admirals will be all over her for her decisions. She'll get all sorts of congratulations for getting her people home just to be tossed into prison. And don't think that can't possibly happen. I think we're all aware enough of how bureaucracies work."

Again, there was silence.

Harry sighed, "And if you're wedded to going with what is easy, what is safest for your crews, then fine. I'll do it alone. If we can capture this 8472 alive, you can take the fleet and leave. I'll muddle through by myself. I know a few of the crew who will stick with me."

Riker snapped his fingers, "Sounds like a viable plan to me. Soon as we capture the intruder, we can be on our way and leave you to it."

Seated next to Tahl, his XO Dhael scowled, "We do not leave anyone behind. Maybe abandoning your comrades is acceptable to Starfleet, but not to us! We former drones owe our rebirth to Harry. Do not forget that the bulk of the weapons used against Species 8472 came from nanoprobes taken from our bodies! I realize you've been fighting a war in the Alpha Quadrant, Commander Riker, and so are not as invested in this, but I assure you that many of the crew would not accept just leaving Harry while we sneak away like a thief in the night. Her voice was as cold as the vacuum of space.

"No one is being left behind. Still, this is a huge risk. I made a unilateral decision the last time. This time, after we capture the intruder, we will put it to a vote," Janeway said. She looked to Harry. "Is that acceptable to you?"

Harry nodded, "I'm confident that with all that the members of this fleet have gone through, they will not vote to run away from their principles."

"We shall see, won't we Captain Potter?" Sakonna said in a tone that showed she believed the opposite.

OoOoO

"I must reiterate that I find this course of action to be highly dangerous with little or no chance of success," Seven said archly as she followed Harry towards the next site to check for the wayward 8472. With them was Ensign Vorik and Technician First Class Yin along with two crewmen acting as security.

"Seven, I was doing highly dangerous things with little to no chance of success over 300 years before you were born and yet I'm still here," Harry said evenly as he slowly waved the Elder Wand from side to side. "Look, I know you feel strongly on this, but you know what? The Fleet Council has voted on this course and so I would expect you, the one who likes to harp on Borg efficiency, would bow to the will of our Collective. So, like I told our Hirogen guest, it's out of your hands now."

Seven scowled which he ignored. They continued on for a while before his wand began to vibrate slightly. Harry stopped and motioned for Vorik and Yin to his side, "Okay, I think we're close enough to try to make contact. When you're ready."

Neither the Vulcan nor the Romulan said anything. Both closed their eyes and cleared their minds. Finally, both reached out a hand which Harry took. While his initial lessons with Snape had been a disaster, Harry had later gone on to become a skilled occludemenser as well becoming an expert in lectiomension. However, since the later was best with eye-contact, Harry mostly lent his magical power to boost the natural esper talents of his partners.

There was a moment of silence before all three jolted slightly. Vorik hissed in pain while Yin stuttered out, "It's hurt. It's in so much pain!"

Harry opened his eyes and dropped the other's hands from his, "Okay, it's showtime folks. I want you all to hang back. Both Kim and Chakotay saw how fast an 8472 can move. Even if it's hurt, it might panic."

"You are in danger of becoming infected like Ensign Kim was, Captain Potter," Vorik said as he rubbed his side. It was where the 8472 was wounded and Vorik still felt a ghost of that pain.

Harry chuckled, "Don't worry about me. I've already got my tame nanotech prepped with what I learned from curing Kim. I'm the last one here who has to worry which is why I want you folks to stay back."

Harry moved away from the group towards the hatch that would lead him into a Jeffries Tube and hopefully to the wounded alien. He touched his comm-badge, "Harry to Janeway."

"Go ahead Harry," Janeway replied from the bridge.

"I'm pretty sure I've found our lost lamb. I'm about to enter the Jefferies Tube and try and make contact. I've got my team on as back-up to lessen the risk to them. I can apparate away if things go pear-shaped," Harry said as debated going in invisible or not.

"Understood. Good luck, Harry," Janeway said.

Harry laughed, "Luck is my super-power, Kathy. Potter out." He touched his comm-badge again, "Alars, I'm in position so beam over GO-4."

"Beaming now," Alars responded.

In haze of scintillating green, the small scout droid appeared. Harry visually checked the droid before asking, "Zim? Are you linked in?"

A voice that sound similar to the Doctor's voice came from a small speaker on one side of the droid, "Link-up has been established. Testing comms. Alpha, Beta, Gamma."

Harry nodded as his earpiece repeated it, "Audio link is good."

Zim was his newest member of the Phoenix crew. He was essentially a copy of the Doctor's programming with more of the Doctor's own changes enhanced more toward ops. In a sense, Zim was the adventurous side of the Doctor. Which was ironic given Zim hadn't bothered to manifest even when the holo-projectors on the Phoenix would allow it. Zim preferred to remain online at all times within the holo-matrix. He was working on the issue of what it meant to be the type of being he and the Doctor were. Still, Zim was also tasked to monitor the fighters during combat. He could remotely monitor and over-ride the droids if needed or even link in and direct them like he was going to do with the GO-4 scout.

"Okay Zim, your primary mission is just to provide a video feed for the team here. Do not engage and let the droid get smashed rather than take any actions that could be seen as aggressive."

Harry touched the door controls causing the hatch to open, "Nice and slow, Zim." He waited for the droid to get about two meters ahead before turning and giving a jaunty salute before fading from view.

His team, as well as others on the bridge of the various ships, watched feed as the droid slowly made its way down the cramped tube. Harry never could understand why Voyager was like this Mass wasn't as big of an issue for 24th century ships so why they didn't make these regular corridors instead of forcing engineers to crawl around like babies to get to various areas of the ship? It's not like it would add that much to the over-all size of the ship.

He continued to crawl, following GO-4 through another hatch until suddenly the droid stopped and sat down. "Contact!" came from his earpiece. "The 8472 is leaning against the next hatch junction. It seems to be in a bad way. There is a significant amount of fluid around it."

"Has it reacted to you yet?" Harry whispered as stopped moving.

"It is difficult to tell," Zim responded.

"Okay, I'm coming up," Harry said as he resumed moving. In a minute he was parallel to the droid. As Zim had said, the 8472 seemed to be just lying and seemingly gasping for air. It's great bulk barely fit into the tube. Even invisible as he was, Harry noted that the alien looked over as he moved up. Perhaps it had been ignoring the droid as just part of the ship. As good as the Cloak was, who knew what senses a being from Fluidic Space might have?

The 8472 didn't do anything else so finally Harry faded into view. The 8472 moved its head slightly to get a better look at Harry.

Harry raised his hands in a surrender gesture to show he held no weapons. He waited till the injured alien made eye-contact. When it did, Harry pushed the feeling of his intent through a type of lectiomension not often used. Magical telepathy didn't exist, or at least any hint of it had been lost over time. Still, with eye-contact, it was possible to push one's own's impressions and emotions over to the target. Harry figured that while they came from different dimensions, mind to mind contact was probably the best bet.

The 8472 seem to squint but didn't radiate the hostility Harry had expected. Given what the logs had said, Species 8472 felt disgust at contact from non-Fluidic Space beings. On the other hand, this alien didn't have a lot of options. It was enough that Harry kept eye contact and manifested the Elder Wand, "Expecto Patronum!"

The alien reared back a bit in surprise but otherwise made no other movement as Harry urged his Patronus forward. He held it in place, letting the warmth of it fill the cramped tube. Finally, he let it fade. "Okay there. How about you let me take a look at you?" Harry said in an even voice.

The 8472 didn't react but Harry hadn't expected it to. It just sat there watching him but seem far less agitated than when he first revealed himself.

"Zim, come up slowly and let's start doing some scans," Harry ordered.

"Acknowledged," Zim said as GO-4 moved a bit closer and deployed sensor probes. Together they began to test what could be done to help the alien. After about 20 minutes, Harry felt he could probably help with the wound but it was obvious that just being in normal space was causing the alien to slowly degrade on a fundamental level.

Harry coughed to get the alien's attention. It had closed its eyes after it was apparent what Harry and the droid were doing. It had let out what sounded like a sigh of relief when Harry had done some basically magical healing spells used on wounds like it had. It opened its eyes and Harry projected a question of whether being in fluid of some kind might help.

He spent a few minutes sending various images over before the alien made a hand gesture which seemed to imply it understood. It then sent back some images Harry knew he didn't have the science background to understand. Luckily, that's what mind-melds were for.

XxXxX

SHUTTLE BAY, USS VOYAGER, SECTOR 28, DELTA QUADRANT – STAR DATE 51219.5

"It's disgusting but it seems to like it," Ensign Kim said as he took some readings of the tank. After healing up the 8472 as best as he could, Harry had returned and had Vorik do a mind-meld with him. Ensign Vorik easily recognized various elements that the alien had projected into Harry's mind. Now it was floating in a large tank in the shuttle bay. The tank was filled with a fluid made up of various things which would make any human deciding to take a swim in it very sick, if it didn't kill them outright

"If it keeps its wounds from getting worse, I don't care how nasty it is," Janeway said as she and Torres came up over from overseeing the necessary materials being pumped into the tank. She turned to Harry who was off to one side, "Well Captain Potter, the first part is done. What's next?"

Harry frowned, "Well that's up to you, Commodore. I could do the next part from the Phoenix and the rest of the fleet could be off a ways. Or we could do it from here given the Phoenix still is going to read like a Borg like ship. So how we want to present ourselves is up to you. Given their over-all strength, if they send a lot of those bio-ships, they could wipe us out even with casualties. But do we want to go with 'We've got nothing to hide' or 'We're taking precautions' posture?"

Janeway nodded, "I've already discussed this with the others. While there is a very vocal minority, the consensus is to be cautious with the fleet arrayed as best we can with the fighters out but beyond that be on a low-level yellow alert. I don't know how much Species 8472 can pick up on emotions from non-telepaths but I'd rather not have the fleet on edge more than needed in case they pick up on that."

Harry nodded, "Sounds prudent. Well I should be able to get a gateway open in about two hours and once that's open, well the signal will be easy to send. How long it takes for them to respond is beyond me."

"Let's hope they're still being vigilant since it hasn't been that long since Borg tried to access Fluidic Space," Torres pointed out.

Harry smiled, "Yes, I do hope they are practicing constant vigilance for it will make this go faster.

XxXxX

SHUTTLE BAY, USS VOYAGER, SECTOR 28, DELTA QUADRANT – STAR DATE 51222.3

I still can't understand that while it can eat what its floating in, doesn't that mean it's also voiding into that as well?" Specialist James Morrow asked with a look of disgust on his face.

Tapping in changes to the forcefield covering the shuttle bay, Junior Lieutenant Kashimuro Nozawa chuckled, "Best not to think too much on it. I doubt their bodies eat and secrete like ours do. Besides, the last time one of the Romulans were down here, they didn't report that it was unhappy."

Morrow harrumphed at that as he adjusted the tank temperature. They had found that the alien liked the fluid to go through a warming and cooling trend over an 18-hour cycle. Many had wondered if this might be an equivalent of a day and night cycle for the 8472. Even though it had been 3 days since the signal had gone out, little was known about their guest.

A rush of motion made Morrow yelp and pull away from the tank. The alien was facing the shuttle bay door which was open with a containment field covering it. The 8472 had its hands against the side of the tank. Morrow looked over to the Nozawa, "Sir?"

The JLT touched his comm badge, "Nozawa to the bridge."

"Braga here; go ahead," came the voice of the Beta Shift commander.

"Sir, the 8472 just perked up something fierce and is looking out the shuttle bay door. Maybe it's people are coming?" Nozawa said in a tight voice. Everyone in the fleet knew the risk they were taking.

"Acknowledged. Bridge out," Braga said. "Tactical; go to yellow alert," he said without looking over his shoulder. He touched his comm-badge, "Bridge to Janeway. Commodore? We may have incoming."

As the yellow alert began to sound, Janeway came out of her ready room, "What do we have?"

CDR Braga shook his head, "Not much right now. Lieutenant Nozawa just called in that the 8472 is acting like it's interested in something that…"

"Commander! Reading a large gravimetric distortion opening up behind us!" came a slightly panicked cry from the science station.

"Show me!" Janeway ordered even as she turned to Braga, "Go to red alert."

As the alert klaxon became more strident, the main screen switched to the camera angled down the length of the ship as seen from the impulse engines. Sure enough, a large, bluish-yellow distortion was forming about 5,000 kilometers from the ship. As the bridge crew watched, three bio-ships came through in rapid succession. One took station facing the Equinox while the other stayed closer to the portal. The final ship slowly moved towards Voyager before finally stopping only a few hundred kilometers away.

Janeway looked down at her Number Two, "Brannon, take it soft but don't hesitate to attack if needed."

CDR Braga nodded, "Where will you be?"

"Hopefully making first contact. Computer! Beam me to the shuttle bay!"

OoOoO

Janeway materialized onto the transporter pad onboard the Delta Flyer. She quickly made her way out to find that the 'esper' team along with Harry were already there. She noticed that Seven was as well and wasn't sure if she should send the former drone away or not. "Status?" Janeway asked as she came up onto the group.

Harry shook his head, "Nothing as of yet. Our friend here seems excited but we're not getting much from the bio-ships.

Janeway's comm badge beeped, "Commodore? We're getting a sub-space message from one of the bio-ships."

"Send it down here," Janeway ordered. "Shall we?" she asked Harry who just smirked as they made their way over to a station with a video link. She activated the screen and after a moment of odd static, an image of a humanoid came up. Humanoid was the best description. Janeway felt it was almost as if a mannikin had melted. For some reason, Janeway was reminded of the old groundskeeper Boothby at Starfleet…if Boothby could survive being melted a bit that is. Still the eyes of were bright. "This is Commodore Janeway. I take it you have received our message and are here to take your wounded soldier off our hands?"

The being frowned, "I have to say we were very surprised to get your message given you were instrumental in helping the Borg."

Janeway nodded, "That is true. However, much of what happened was done quickly with little in the way of looking at the larger view. The ships you see are all the ships that we know of from our part of space. We are decades away from home. At the time, from the info I had at my disposal, it was felt that your forces were a bigger threat. However, later I was to learn that your people were only attacking Borg vessels or planets. Therefore, I acted rashly and I hope that returning your wayward soldier is a small token of our apology for those actions. I can only say that in my defense that we had gotten a telepathic message that implied your forces were going to purge our galaxy of all life."

The humanoid pursed it lips, "I find this hard to believe."

Harry stepped up, "Sir, I was connected to the Borg at the time. I have a special circumstance which keeps the Borg from assimilating me. At the time, I had been trapped on a Borg Cube for a long time. I was able to jump to Voyager before your ships destroyed the cube I was stuck on. Prior to that, I had examined the Borgs records of the fight between them and your people. So, I knew that your forces were only attacking Borg targets. Voyager, on the other hand, did not have that capability to obtain this knowledge. Also, the rapid advance of your forces put an enormous pressure on the captain and crew which made it harder to step back and try to see a larger view."

"And so you admit you wrongly helped created weapons of mass destruction for the Borg?" For all its melted face, the sneer came through just fine.

"Yes and no," Harry said. "I have taken Commodore Janeway to task for her jumping the gun but as she said earlier, we're all that we know of of our people in this part of space. Much of it we only found recently. So, Voyager was alone and trapped between the Borg and your forces which seemed about to attack any and all life forms in our galaxy. So Janeway made a decision that turned out to be incorrect. I myself am also to blame. One of her crew had come in contact with one of your people and was dying. Before I was in a place for open communication, they requested nanoprobes of me. I gave them thinking, wrongly, that it was for more medical usage. Unfortunately for me, I was not fully aware and being severed from the place I had spent over two centuries had been jarring. I should have known better and realized that the nanoprobes were for weapons. But, again, I was dealing with my own issues at the time. Still, I will not deny those weapons would not have been deployed as quickly without my inadvertent help. It is why I have been actively working to return your soldier to you. To do the right thing but also to explain ourselves to your people. To show we acknowledge we did wrong and to show that our people are not against yours."

"Our sensors show many Borg among you. Why should we trust you?" the being asked after a moment of reflection.

"They are no longer drones," Janeway explained. "One of the things that occupied Captain Potter at that time was he had been collecting drones taken from our part of space by the Borg and curing them. Except for two cases where removing most of their Borg implants would kill them, the only other former drone we have went through a maturation chamber as a child and thus she too has more Borg components that, at this time, cannot be removed."

The being was silent for a moment. "Very well. Lower your force-field and we will take our pilot back from you. Do nothing. We will speak to the pilot and see what he has to say."

"Understood. Give us a moment to clear the bay," Janeway said with relief obvious in her tone.

"You have five of your minutes," the being said and switched off.

"Computer; public address to shuttle bay," Janeway ordered.

"Public address active," the computer promptly replied.

"This is Commodore Janeway. All personnel are to immediately leave the shuttle bay as fast as possible. We have four minutes before I will lower the containment field. If you cannot make it, board one of the shuttle craft." Janeway touched her badge to sever the link. "Want to hang around and watch from the Flyer?"

Harry nodded, "Beats trying to hoof it to the auxiliary bridge."

The shuttle bay cleared out quickly leaving only Harry and Janeway. Harry had briefly gone up to the tank and sent a mental good-bye to the 8472 before joining the commodore on the Flyer.

With a klaxon warning, the force-field keeping the bay pressurized went down after the atmosphere had been vented out of the bay. Harry and Janeway watched as the tank was enveloped in an oddly colored tractor beam. It quickly brought the tank out of Voyager and onto the nearest bio-ship.

The shuttle bay doors shut and the bay began to repressurize. Janeway had a link from the main sensors being sent to her screen on the Flyer, "How long do you think they'll need?" Janeway asked.

Harry shrugged, "Depends. I don't know how fast they communicate. That and if my old school nurse is any indication of how medical types are throughout the universe, I figure they'll want to have its wounds treated first."

Janeway nodded, "That sounds about right." She activated the Flyers' comm, "Bridge, any changes from the bio-ships?"

"No commodore," Braga replied. "They are still holding steady in their position. While our scans can't penetrate their hulls, they do not seem to be at any sort of enhanced readiness."

"They know they can probably destroy us before we could fire," Janeway muttered to herself. "Stand down from red alert but keep all essential combat systems on yellow minus status as it may be a while before they can treat and interrogate their pilot. I'll be up to my ready room presently. Janeway out."

"So, I guess it's poker night on Voyager for now?" Harry said with a lop-sided grin.

"Speak for yourself. I intend to go back to the book I was reading or maybe a nap. I'd rather not have to deal with Species 8472 in the middle of the night, half asleep."

"Well given I barely sleep, I'll take first watch as it were," Harry offered as they both made their way out of the Flyer and towards the nearest turbo-lift.

XxXxX

DINING HALL, USS VOYAGER, SECTOR 26, DELTA QUADRANT – STAR DATE 51223.5

"You wanted to see me?" B'Elanna asked as she came up to his table with her tray of food.

Harry looked up and waved her down. He had long finished his own meal and was simply drinking tea. "Yes I did. However, I have a delicate issue to discuss and I'm not sure the mess hall is the best place for it."

B'Elanna waved his concerns away with an irritated gesture. "I'm a busy person. Just because we're still waiting on what Species 8472 is going to say doesn't change my workload. Do some of your magic-man moves to keep eavesdroppers away and we'll be fine. So long as you don't mind me eating while you talk."

Harry took a sip of his tea before choosing some topics related to the Phoenix that were important but not what he wanted to go over with the half-Klingon while she was eating. Even so, he did throw up a Murmuro Vox spell to be safe. B'Elanna picked up on this as once she was done, she wiped her mouth of the remnants of the Shepherd Pie Harry had conned Neelix into making for the evening meal and pointedly said, "I highly doubt that was the sensitive topic you wanted to discuss."

Harry shook his head, "No it wasn't. I know you are a straight talker so I'll get right to it. Seven came to me the other day because she had concerns about your relationship. She felt troubled that you were asking for something she didn't feel capable of giving. So she asked for my help."

If B'Elanna had eyebrows, they would have raised up in surprise, "Seven asking for help? That's a new one. And what was I asking for?"

"During one of your times together, you told her to 'kiss me like she meant it' and Seven felt she lacked the quality to comply with that request. Now, I think I know why you might ask such a thing. You and I came from very different backgrounds but I know what it's like to live with everyone having different expectations from you even as they ignore what you yourself say on the matter."

"You got that damned right!" B'Elanna muttered as she took a sip from her coffee.

Harry grinned, "Like I said, I don't think it takes much to make the jump into thinking you have abandonment issues like we've discussed before. So I could see what you were asking. Of course Seven has validation issues. She respects you like she respects the commodore so your opinions of her and about her are a big deal."

B'Elanna mulled that for a bit, "Okay; I can see that. So why tell me all this? I mean I'm glad you feel you can talk to me about such things but one could argue that your breaking confidence with Seven in telling me."

Harry sighed, "Well for all I tell you folks that things aren't as different in the 24th Century as you might think, I am very much a product of mine. So while you may or may not think it a big deal, I feel better to tell you that in the process of trying to teach Seven how to better understand the feelings you want her to express I…"

B'Elanna waited a second before prompting, "You…what?"

Harry looked embarrassed and turned his face away. "Well I slept with Seven," he said softly.

B'Elanna laughed at this. "You slept with Seven? How did that happen? You couldn't even get an erection watching us have sex not too long ago! Not that Seven isn't built for a tumble if you get my drift."

Harry looked back with a curious look on his face, "I thought you'd be more upset about this."

B'Elanna shrugged, "Oh I'm sure I might be a bit cross about it later. Still, you wouldn't be telling me if it wasn't a sort of accident. So what happened?"

Harry looked confused. After a moment he blinked a bit before replying, "Well I was trying to show her how she needed to disconnect from her analytical brain and just be in the moment while kissing. I showed her what I meant. I told her to think of you and I was thinking of two women in my life that I should have been pursed. As you said, it hasn't been that long since I was shut off from such things. Well, it came roaring back. Also, like you said, it's not like Seven isn't easy on the eyes. Actually, after sex, she brought up what you did about how she is like she is. She felt that after such intense sexual encounters with you and I, she shouldn't be feeling the emotions she does without some Borg fail-safe kicking in. So we do need to pursue that sooner rather than later.

"So…intense sexual encounter, huh?" B'Elanna said with a sly grin. "You dog!"

Harry blushed to his roots, "Well if I was going to botch the lesson, I figured I might as well go all the way. Still, I took it slow to give Seven a different view of human sexual interaction. From a comment she made, your encounters are a bit more…volatile than how I do things."

B'Elanna chuckled evilly but didn't reply.

"Anyway, I just wanted to give you a heads-up and not have her blurt it out it out at a bad time. I realize she's trying to be better but we both know she's even worse than a teenager in the clueless, tactless comment department. That and while I haven't heard anything on the Fleet Rumor Mill, again I'd rather you heard it from me first. Especially since Seven sought me out because she wanted help in pleasing you," Harry explained.

B'Elanna made a dismissive gesture, "Well it's not like I haven't gotten laid a bit along the way. Korath is interesting romp given we both know nothing is going to come of it. I have to give Seven credit for seeking out help. It's really not like her so I guess I should be flattered. Of course, I'm still tempted to let Tom talk me into a threesome with Treana. But then Maria might get involved and I probably traumatize the poor girl if I didn't break her first."

Harry chuckled, "I'd like to say you're wrong but I think we both now I'd be lying. She does seem to be the quintessential 'girl-next-door' type. Still, I respect that she can get Tom to slow down a bit. That's something no one has been able to do yet."

Before B'Elanna could reply, both their comm badges beeped. "Torres here."

"We've received a message from Species 8472 that they will speak to us soon," came Tuvok's voice. "All primary staff to their posts."

Harry and B'Elanna shared a look as Harry hit his own comm-badge, "I take it this is about the message given what Tuvok just told B'Elanna?"

"Yes it is," came Janeway's voice. "I would like it if you could come to the bridge given we both were the main point of contact last time."

"On my way," Harry said. "Well again, don't be too surprised if we get things settled that Seven might come knocking at your door. Of course you could always just jump her early and save her the trip."

B'Elanna smirked as she got up from the table, "You'd like that wouldn't you? Setting us up so you could be perving again from under that cloak of yours."

Harry laughed, "Well I hadn't planned on it but now that you've said it…" Harry laughed a bit harder at rude gesture Torres tossed his way as she walked towards main engineering.

OoOoO

Harry sat in the counselor seat next to Janeway as both waited silently for the 8472 to make contact again. Riker was softly giving instructions to a crewmember who nodded and left the bridge. He looked over and sighed, "I know Starfleet duty is 90% waiting but after eight years of it being stranded on Nervala IV, I find I don't have the patience for it."

Harry nodded, "Try being stuck on a Cube, wedged between bulkheads for a century. Still, I guess it's a good sign they are going to talk. Beats having them just haul off and attack us."

Janeway nodded as well, "It is encouraging."

SLT Susan Nicoletti turned from her science station, "Commodore, I'm picking up the resonance we've seen before they contact us…yes, communique coming in now."

"On screen," Janeway ordered as she stood up. Riker and Harry swiftly mimicked her.

The main screen activated and Janeway struggled not to react. The humanoid they had spoken to, the one that gave her an odd impression of the old Starfleet Academy groundskeeper, now looked exactly as she remembered him. Which was a clue given she knew Boothby had died two years prior to Voyager being launched.

"Well Commodore, it seems your outlandish story pans out. We have reviewed our own records and scans do show something leaving a Borg cube before it rammed one of our ships. The drones you have onboard are indeed stripped of most of their tech. So, while there is little in the way of consensus on how to proceed, I am inclined to take you at your word. As you said, you are a handful of your people far from your home. Your actions may have been hasty but understandable in retrospect." The faux Boothby said. Even his voice was accurate to what Janeway remembered.

"I am glad to hear it. I must say, however, I'm wondering why you are wearing that body? Is it a construct you use to interact with us?" Janeway asked.

"None of your business!" Boothby snapped. Still, it paused before going on more calmly. "We will be watching you carefully, Commodore Janeway. Make sure you do not make any more hasty and rash decisions."

"Wait!" Harry spoke up. "I have a gift for you."

Boothby's eyebrows went up, "And what could you possibly have that would interest us?"

Harry face was firm, "I am offering you a sample of the nanotechnology we used to create the weapons the Borg used against you."

Gasps went up from all over the bridge. Janeway gave him a side-look, "Harry!"

Harry waved her off, "Look, even with our torpedoes, you could easily swamp us. So if you're willing to lose some people, it would seem to be the better option just to kill us and keep such technology from spreading. That you haven't tells us a lot about your intentions. However, while I doubt the Borg will do anything to you now, the same cannot be said in the future."

Boothby sneered and gave a dismissive gesture, "Bah! We can handle the Borg."

"Can you?" Harry asked. "Right now, they are cowed. Still, they have the technology they know can hurt you. The Borg will continue to assimilate more and more technology. Their nanotechnology will become more and more refined. Can you say the same about your bio-technology? All I know from my time connected to the Collective is that they are patient. They cannot help but see you as a threat and the Collective didn't really defeat you; Voyager did.

Boothby scowled, "Are you trying to bribe us into attacking the Borg? It's not going to happen, boy!"

"Not at all," Harry said. "I'm offering this to you as reparations for my own actions in the conflict. I also know that the Borg won't give up. You only came out of Fluidic space due to the Borg. We know you physically are not meant to be here. So you have no reason to come unless provoked. I don't want the Borg to someday have an edge on you. Because I don't want them getting their hands on your bio-tech nor do I want to see the type of war your people will probably unleash if the Borg attack again. Because I know that just because the nanotech torpedoes worked against you, I doubt you don't have other ways of destruction. Our dimension suffers enough from the tribulations of the Borg. We don't need your people waging a war of extermination on top of it."

Boothby was silent, appraising Harry. "A gift you say. No strings attached?"

Harry laughed, "As you said, what could you give us? Your bio-tech is antithetical to ours. We do this because not only is it the right thing to do but I'll freely admit we're afraid."

"Afraid? Afraid of what?" Boothby asked suspiciously.

"Look at you! You're wearing a body taken from someone from Earth. Janeway here obviously recognized the body as her body language gave away when she saw you. So given we're in the Delta Quadrant, it's someone from her memories. So why would you grab something like that? Maybe to infiltrate and learn more about how much of a threat the Federation might be? We don't know how your realm works. Time and space may act differently. I offer this tech to you as an incentive not to take retribution on our home worlds. Not accusing you of such things, but we know your strength. We know our people, already in a war against a civilization from the Gamma Quadrant, could not survive an attack by your forces. So, if there are any strings attached, it is the hope that this is a peace offering." Harry said solemnly.

"And you, Commodore? Do you agree with this?" Boothby asked.

Janeway turned her head briefly to scowl at Harry, "Not exactly. It's not a course of action I would have taken. But realistically, I doubt I could stop him. More to the point, he is correct. We have been concerned that your people might somehow attack the Federation in retaliation for what Voyager has done. That and I agree that the Borg will not forget nor forgive. I expect they will be working towards another foray into your space. Maybe not for centuries, but their entire credo is resistance is futile. They will not stop."

Boothby was silent for a long moment before nodding with a slight smile, "The others felt it was better to just destroy you. I argued that you were not the threat you originally seemed to be. I like being correct. Very well, put your package in a space-worthy housing and we'll tractor it from your shuttle bay as we did before. Then we shall leave. As you said, my people have no desire to be in this impure abomination of a dimension. Given your Federation has no idea of our existence, yes…it might be better to destroy you. However, I'd like to keep my options open. You somehow created a weapon not even the Borg could create. Keeping you alive is keeping options open if we have questions later. It costs us nothing."

Harry threw up his hands, "Not that it's fun to be told you could squash us like a bug, but if we're good, then I'm not going to complain. Give me about an hour and I'll have everything you need ready. Also, is your pilot okay? I did my best but your people are so different I worried I was doing more harm than good."

Boothby made another dismissive gesture, "Your poor efforts were enough. Luckily for you, his testimony was enough to keep us from destroying you. Do not concern yourself with things that are beyond the scope of your imagination."

The screen went dark.

"Wow; I really feel validated for working to help keep his people safe from the Borg," Harry said flatly with sarcasm dripping from his tone.

Janeway couldn't help but chuckle as the specter of being annihilated was lifted, "I guess it is humbling to be around beings who see us as we see primitive cultures."

Riker harrumphed, "Well I'll dress in animal skins and carry a wooden club if they leave us and the Federation alone."

"I'm sure that image would do well on the crew chat boards," Harry quipped. He turned to Janeway, "Well I need to head over to the Phoenix to get the package ready."

"You know, Harry, we are a fleet. I realize you've been on your own for a long time but it would have been proper to bring up your plan," Janeway pointed out.

Harry sighed, "Oh I fully know it. Sadly, in my experience it is always better to ask for forgiveness then try and get permission. It's been that way for me for almost 400 years. Why change what works?" With a lop-sided grin, he disappeared in a slight pop of air.

Riker sighed, "You're going to go grey in a month around him."

Janeway sighed as well as she sank back into her seat, "I'd like to say your wrong but my blood pressure would make a liar out of me!"

XxXxX

AUTHOR'S NOTES

I want to say up-front that I'm not trying to bash or even show certain characters in a bad light. The decision to contact Species 8472 was a huge risk and a lot of the crew wouldn't go for it. Especially after getting their hopes back up of things going well. Doing something that could easily result in their deaths, a lot of people would jump at the easy choice over the right choice. So I'm not trying to paint Riker as an arsehole or Sakonna as an unfeeling bitch. Sakonna is looking at the odds logically and she's not Starfleet to begin with. Riker probably still has some PTSD issues from his time in the Maquis along with the fact he was completely alone for EIGHT YEARS along with time in a Cardassian prison (which I doubt is very pleasant) so I'm thinking his brain pan isn't what it should be.

RELATIONSHIPS: Folks…two adults occasionally having sex is NOT a committed relationship. Seven was NOT cheating on B'Elanna last chapter because they are NOT in a committed relationship. They are co-workers with benefits at this point. In fact, B'Elanna has probably had sex with Korath (or someone else) since she last hooked up with Seven. It's the 24th Century here people. Hook-up culture is going to be viewed differently.

SPELLS: For those not as familiar with my other Harry Potter work, I refuse to use a lot of JKR's bad attempt at spell creation. One pet peeve of mine even before JKR first penned the Philosopher Stone was people don't realize that the "-mancy" suffix relates to divination. Necromancy isn't raising the dead; it's speaking to the dead or using them as some way to divine the future. Using a Ouija board is a form of necromancy. Lectio Mens is literally Mind Reading in Latin while Occlud Mens can be translated as a Shut Mind or Shut Out Mind. (Check out my explanation in Chapter 23 why I use occludemension with an 'e' in it.)

So, depending how you see it, you're either protecting your mind (Shut Mind) or keeping others out in the first place (shut out mind) I'm sure most of you figured out that Murmuro Vox is my version of the Muffilato spell. It means 'buzzing voice' in Latin which is a pretty accurate description of the effect from HP canon.

I realize a LOT of people HATE that I replace canon spells. In regard to those folks, know that I feed on your tears of anger. (evil grin)

NAMES: I had a reviewer think that I made up the name Brannon Braga. I got the impression they thought it cheesy. I just responded that it's a canon name and I try to use canon characters whenever possible even if it's just the name. However, I just found out it's also the name of one of the show's writers. He was the one who came up with the name for Naomi.

STARSHIPS

The Marianne

This ship took a bit of work to find. As mentioned back when she got updated, she now looks more like an over-sized Federation "Mission" scout ship. If you google that, you can get a few good shots of it. This was shown in one of the Star Trek films I didn't watch. (Nemesis?) While the canon Federation Mission class scout ship was barely bigger than the Delta Flyer, the Marianne is 80 meters long.

To put that in perspective, it means it's bigger than a Jem'Hadar fighter (68 meters) but smaller than a Bird of Prey (110 meters) or the Defiant (120 meters) so in real terms it's easy to think of the Marianne being a three-fourths size Defiant.

One aspect of this ship is that while it was modified to be longer, it's still built off a hull of a raider. In a real sense, it's a scaled-up version of the Starfleet Battles pseudo-fighter with the same issues. While the Val Jean had a crew of 23, you can bet that they were rarely on the ship for long. You'd fully expect the ship to be cramped and having to "hot-bunk" the crew. It's new mission of being a sub-light support ship takes this further. The Marianne isn't meant to go off on its own. So, my feeling is that none of the crew live on it. This frees up a space for more weapons, sensors and the like. Sure, it probably has a better mess room now and an area where crew members might be able to rack out for a nap, but the actual crew live on Voyager or the Equinox.

Primary Crew

Commander (Ops or Tactical): CDR Chakotay (Human Male) While he has the title of Captain, he is an O-6. In fact, if the Marianne were a Starfleet ship, the Captain would probably be an O-5 given a ship of this size would most likely be a short-ranged, police type ship.

XO (Tactical): LCDR Sakonna (Vulcan Female) She has her own Memory Alpha page for more info. I find it interesting she sports a much more Romulan haircut. Also, my Sakonna is going to be different than the one seen in her DS9 debut episode (which I haven't seen) given she would not be one to go undercover to get supplies as she finds lying to be antithetical to the Vulcan way. She's a rebel and she will be the first to tell you that right up front.

Marianne Crew: Given the nature of the Marianne being so short-ranged and lacking in crew quarters, it made me realize that it would be a perfect place to rotate crews to, even if they aren't posted there, for training. So, while there is a "primary crew" (of which I don't feel the need to research at this point) even they aren't onboard any more than any other shift. By this I mean unless the fleet knows they are going into something dangerous (like seen in last chapter) the ship is going to have a mix of crew members, and junior members at that. In fact, this means that LCDR Tuvok might actually spend less time on Voyager and more on Marianne as a trainer. Thus, you could give promising JLT and SLT officers some "command" time as shift leaders. Like Tuvok, Chakotay would excel at being the captain of such a training ship.

The Phoenix

The basic design is pretty much an 85-meter-long Star Destroyer. To put that in perspective, that means it's 9 meters longer than Padme's ship in Phantom Menace, but 5 meters shorter than the Rebel transports seen leaving Hoth. In real world terms, it's about the length of most modern submarines and 20 feet(ish) shorter than the USS Constitution (the wooden one). However, the main difference is that while there is a slight ridge from the prow of the ship to where the tower section is on a canonical Star Destroyer, on the Phoenix it's more pronounced to where at the end, it's pretty much a fin and no tower. So the over-all look of the ship is more triangular even though the bottom of the ship is still flat.

Primary Crew

Commander (N/A): "Captain" Harry Potter (Magical Human) Pretty much however you'd imagine Harry Potter to look in his early 30's. Also, while he hides them, Harry has a few ports in his flesh that are similar to the ones people plugged into the Matrix have. (The ones on the body, not the big one at the nape of the neck) The two he uses the most are the ones under each collarbone)

Crewman (No rank): Veer (Edosian male) In regard to what he looks like. I had said go look on Memory Alpha but there is a better picture on the Memory Beta site. In fact, I had forgotten that Edosians have three legs as well. While his head is uncovered with no implants, Veer from the base of the neck down is completely covered in the Borg shell. In fact, it's a reinforced shell given Veer's job as a drone was to work in heavily radiated areas. Edosian's third arm comes out right about at 'comm badge' level. Veer's mechanical arms at waist level with a third, retractable arm, is at the same level as the center arm but on Veer's back. So usually Veer only has five arms in play at a time. As with Alars and Uriash's arm, the Borg shell has been smoothed out. In Veer's case, he has modified it to have markings with cultural significance to him. Sort of like having tattoos.

Crewman (No Rank): Alars Zenkar (Cardassian male) Due to his genetic Yerem Kel syndrome, Alars is mostly still a Borg drone in that little was changed. While Harry was able to get his skin and hair back to normal although Cardassians skin tone isn't that far from the Borg's. He still has an optical implant but it's subdued like the one on the Borg that gets shot when it beams onto the Enterprise bridge instead of one like Hue's or Seven's. Unlike Veer, Alars Borg shell has been altered to look like he's mostly wearing the standard Cardassian armor like the type Gul Dukat is seen wearing.

Zim: (A.I.) Zim is a copy of the Doctor's programming. However, while there is an area on the Phoenix which could be used as a sick bay with holo-projectors, Zim prefers to just stay "inside" the equipment that houses his matrix. He communicates pretty much like the typical ship's computer does. Mostly Zim is noodling on the issue Harry presented to the Doc back in Chapter 6. He does, however, have a job in that he constantly monitors the life-signs of the Marauder pilots when they fly. He has the authority to activate the emergency droid if it fails to do so itself or even fly the ship remotely if possible, back to safety. Zim's personality is more in line with the part of the Doctor who wants to be more adventurous even though he can only manifest if he borrows the Doctor's mobile emitter away if an area doesn't have holo-projectors. He does, however, have a portable unit which stores a streamlined version of his matrix which can be linked to the Delta Flyer or the Earhart. After a mission, this copy of Zim would then upload the memories of the mission to 'Zim Prime' on the Phoenix.

Fighter Crews: Being a pilot is an additional duty. So it's not like they just sit around when they're not flying.

One issue Star Trek has is how it shows warp drive travel. Too often it looks like they are traveling at sub-light speed when they are probably traveling at warp. However, given so many episodes of all the series start with the ship in question being in a star system, well most sci-fi has gravity wells make travel more difficult so I'm sure it's SOP to just drop out of warp when just outside a system and then move in on impulse. Even at half-impulse, it would only take you a little over four minutes to go from the Sun to the Earth so you can still get around pretty quickly on impulse. Of course, it does make you wonder how these ships deal with time dilation "full impulse" is as fast as you can go and not go to warp. Perhaps it's a minor effect. It would explain, however, the Federation having "Time Beacons" (as shown in the TNG episode Cause and Effect) so as to ensure that no matter what time it might be on the ship, they synch their clocks with the "actual" time everyone else is on. If I understand the theory of relativity right, moving at speeds closer to light speed would mean, relative to everything else, time moves slower than you. So it would make sense that even if it's minor, after moving around a star system on impulse, that the ship's time clock would start running behind the official time. Again, I doubt it would be more than a few seconds or minutes given how starships are on impulse for long. Also, ships operating in well-known areas could safely zip right to their destination in a star system which would minimize impulse travel even more.

But back to the topic at hand, I'm thinking there the fleet has a CAP mission (Combat Air Patrol) going on while at sub-light speeds. Either the fleet drops out of warp and then deploys fighters or they stop outside the system, deploy the fighters and then do a quick warp jump into the system so the fighters are already in position. Likewise, as mentioned above, the Marianne would rotate to have their primary crew on duty in case of trouble.