*Allison, Amber, and Six of Eight are our characters. Paramount
has no rights to them.
This story has been written by me. But the ideas are a mixture of mine and Nicole_15's so both of us get equal credit. We would appreciate all feedback from you. Enjoy!
Young Kathryn is in engineering talking with the ship's Chief Engineer,
Lt. Frederick Stevens. He is not much older than Kathryn but much
taller, with a thin face, and dusty brown hair.
"That particle storm got us bad, Captain. The main engines got
the worst of it" he spoke in a deep, powerful voice.
"I can see that" Kathryn said as she looked around. "How long
will the repairs take?"
"Well, it will take a few hours at least to just get the engines functioning.
But even then I can't guarantee they'll work. To get the engines
working at 100% again will take a few days."
"Well, I suggest we get started. Use any resources you feel necessary,
I don't want to be out in the middle of nowhere too much longer"
"Yes, Captain" Frederick answered and began to walk away.
**"Captain to the bridge"** came a woman's voice over the COMM.
"On my way Commander" Kathryn responded, and left engineering.
Kathryn entered the bridge. It was much the same size as Voyager's
bridge, but it lacked the technical advancements.
"Report" she ordered as she made her way to the captain's chair.
"It's the borg, Captain" the young ensign at ops called.
"The borg?"
"It's a cube, Captain. It's on an intercept course, they will
reach us in approximately 2 hours...maybe less" the lieutenant at
the helm added.
Confusion took over the young captain, the borg were practically unheard
of. Dealing with them was unusual and the Federation did not have
the technology nor the knowledge to defeat them.
Kathryn thought for a moment, they did not have enough time to repair
their engines, how could they get away? "Captain to main engineering."
she called over the COMM.
**"Stevens here, Captain. Go ahead"** the young man replied.
"Any chance you could get impulse power up within the next hour or so?"
**"No way Captain, we could have everyone on the ship down here and
we wouldn't be done for at least 4 hours"** the young man stated.
Kathryn's heart sank, they were sitting ducks, unless...."Ensign, open
a channel, all subspace frequencies...We'll send out a distress call, let's
just hope some one hears us before the borg arrive"
--
"Kathryn" Chakotay's voice broke through.
The weary captain opened her eyes to see Chakotay hovering over her.
As she became more aware she felt a sharp pain run up her right leg.
She looked down and saw her uniform was torn over her knee, there was a
piece of black material wrapped around her knee. Chakotay took a
piece of what was a uniform and ripped it in half. He bent down and
untied the piece around Kathryn's leg, revealing a nasty wound. Kathryn
moaned in pain as Chakotay tied the ripped uniform around her injury.
She looked away as he tied, trying to ignore the pain. She seen on
the floor, 3 more pieces--of what once was a Starfleet uniform--covered
in blood.
"Are those all mine?" Kathryn managed to choke out.
"Seems you don't do anything small" Chakotay answered, and gave a warm
smile.
"Where are we?" Kathryn said while she pushed herself up against what
she thought to be a wall behind her.
"On a Hirogen ship, we're all going to be killed in about...3 hours
now. Some kind of celebration."
"Can't wait"
Kathryn gazed around the room they were in. The room was very
large, its walls were bare and an off-white color. It was full of
people, Voyager's crew. It wasn't large enough to hold the whole
crew that was clear, but it did however hold approximately 1/4 of Voyager's
population.
"Chakotay, where is the rest of the crew?" the weary captain asked.
"I'm guessing in another room, or on another ship." he answered
"Well you can tell our Hirogen friends I won't be able to make it to
their celebration." Kathryn rose to her feet, placing her weight
on her left leg.
She looked to the other end of the room, noticing a door in a corner
on the other side of the room. Kathryn took hold of the wall beside
her and slowly made her way towards the door, passing injured members of
her crew, some unconscious. Once she arrived she noted there was
no console, so she placed her fingers between the door cracks as an attempt
to pry the doors open.
"It won't work Captain, Chakotay and Tuvok spent over an hour trying
to open that door" came B'Elanna's voice, she was sitting against the wall
beside Tom, who was unconscious or asleep a fair distance from Kathryn.
"There's got to be away out of here." Kathryn said as she looked
around the room.
"There isn't, we searched the room up and down there is no way out,
we're trapped" Chakotay called while he walked towards the frustrated captain.
"I don't know about you but I sure as hell didn't spend 5 years in the
Delta quadrant to become a Hirogen trophy!"
"Kathryn" Chakotay placed his arm on her shoulder, "there's no way out,
how I wish there were but there isn't!"
"No!" an angry Janeway shouted.
Unable to accept defeat Kathryn began to run her fingers along the wall,
hopping to find a secret passage, a vent, anything that could lead them
to freedom. After covering the entire wall and finding nothing, Kathryn
stopped.
"Seven, where's Seven?" she called to Chakotay who was behind her.
She thought perhaps Seven could see something with her enhanced vision.
And Kathryn could count on Seven to never lack optimism.
Chakotay pointed to the far corner of the room, which had cargo boxes
stacked on each other occupy it. Other than the cargo boxes it seemed
empty. -Apparently not- Kathryn thought. So Kathryn started
towards the corner, dragging her injured leg behind her.
As she neared the corner she spotted the back of Seven's head behind
a box. Slowly as Kathryn approached she realized Seven was not conscious.
Farther into the corner Harry Kim was sitting, his eyes were closed but
they opened when he heard the captain advance.
"She hasn't regained consciousness?" she asked.
"No..." Harry answered "she just lays there, not moving at all.
It's sad she'll die without knowing why, or how, and who was with her..."
Harry seemed as if he were going to say more but he didn't. He wanted
to take hold of Seven, tell her how much he loved her before they were
sent to their deaths.
Kathryn leaned back against the wall and closed her eyes. Her
mind began to wander back to the memories of 13 years ago.
Kathryn had to page Amber and ask her to meet Allison after school,
the young captain told Amber to tell Allison that there was an emergency,
and Kathryn was sorry she wouldn't make it back as planned. Kathryn
doubted that Amber actually told Allison, but there was little to be done
about that.
It was just before the borg had arrived that another star ship came
to their rescue. Kathryn ordered a complete evacuation. The
evacuation. was about 70% completed when borg drones began materializing
onto the ship, and that was when she decided it might be a good idea to
get off the doomed ship. Kathryn began to make her way back to her
living quarters, passing frantic crew member after frantic crew member,
she spotted Amber. The young captain couldn't help but let out a
sigh of relief at the sight of the woman who gave her daughter a difficult
time. As Kathryn approached the woman she realized Amber was alone!
"Where's Allison?" Kathryn cried.
"Your kid, your problem!" Amber snapped back.
Kathryn wasted no time in responding to the evil woman, she just took
off down the corridors of the ship. She entered her living quarters
yelling for Allison. She seen the door to her daughter's room was
shut, and she heard a loud shriek come from that direction. Kathryn
ran to the door, it was locked from the outside! Quickly she unlocked
it, only to see her daughter in the arms of a borg drone. Kathryn
fired her phaser at the drone but it had no effect. Kathryn darted
forward, but the drones began to beam off the ship, and she watched her
daughter reach out and scream for Kathryn to save her.
--
Kathryn stood on the Hirogen ship reliving that horrible day, when it
hit her like a Klingon tackle! Images of the drone carrying Allison
invaded Kathryn's mind. The drone was Seven of Nine! Seven
and Kathryn had developed their own mother/daughter relationship and this
whole time Seven had been the one that took Kathryn's daughter from her.
Thoughts of betrayal took over Kathryn, as she starred at an unconscious
Seven. Then Kathryn felt faint, her legs weaken and she blacked out.
If it weren't for Harry's quick reflexes and catching his captain, Kathryn
would have fallen on the hard floor--no doubt, it would have given her
an concusion--within seconds Tuvok, Chakotay, B'Elanna, Tom, Neelix, and
another 25 people surrounded Kathryn.
"What happened, Ensign?" an unemotional Tuvok asked.
"I don't know, she was just standing there and then she fainted!" Harry
explained.
Chakotay took Kathryn from Harry, then leaned over her. He told
everyone to move back, but few listened. He began to softly call
her name, and after a few moments Kathryn started to move again.
She opened her eyes, and couldn't help but smile when she seen Chakotay
hovering over her. She then stood with the help of Tuvok and Chakotay
pulling her to her feet.
"I'm all right everyone, thank you for your concern" she finally said
addressing the crowd. But no one moved. "Really I am" she repeated,
and finally the slowly the crowd scattered.
"Was that all for me?" she whispered to Chakotay who was still supporting
her.
"Told you, you don't do anything small" Chakotay whispered in response
and chuckled.
Kathryn returned his laughter but was quickly brought back to the thoughts
which had caused her blackout. But she didn't feel angry with Seven,
besides Seven didn't choose to be assimulated, she was a child only a year
older than Allison when Seven had been taken by the borg. And Seven
really couldn't be held accountable for her actions as a drone.
The room was washed over with silence once again. Kathryn gazed
around at what had been a motivated crew at one time. Optimism and
daring hearts were fading with each passing second. She couldn't
stand it any longer, she had to break the silence.
"I am shocked at this crews behavior, and to say the least I am not
liking it one bit! This crew has managed to get through anything
5 years in the Delta quadrant has thrown at us! It's seemed hopeless
before, but we have never given up! What makes this time different?
I didn't survive three borg attacks to be hung on a Hirogen wall.
We can beat them, we have before. This crew has proved to be capable
of anything, we can get out of this!" It was a great speech
but no one moved, they had given up.
Then pushing through came Neelix, who better the raise sprits but the
morale officer? "The Captain is right people we can't give up!--"
Neelix' lecture was cut extremely short, by the doors opening and Hirogen's
beginning to enter the room.
"I hope you have enjoyed your last hours of your lives! You will
make excellent trophies, your heads will make our pack admired by men and
desired by women!" the leading Hirogen shouted in a deep evil voice.
Almost as if timed, the Hirogen ship began to rock, many were thrown
to the floor and against walls.
**"WE ARE THE BORG, YOU WILL BE ASSIMULATED, YOUR BIOLOGICAL AND TECHNOLOGICAL
DISTINCTIVENESS WILL BE ADDED TO OUR OWN. RESISTANCE IS FUTILE!**
The powerful voice of the borg echoed over the Hirogen COMM system.
"Oh great, I'm not going to become a Hirogen wall display, but a borg
drone. Doesn't get too much better then this" B'Elanna muttered as
the ship continued to shake.
The Hirogen's continued to try and hold the Voyager crew from escaping,
while their ship was being attacked.
"How's it feel to be hunted?" Tom called to the Hirogen's by the door.
Before they could respond, borg drones started to materialize in the
room. The Hirogen's managed to get 4 shots at the borg before they
adapted. Hirogen's began to fight to hand but had little luck, the
drones surpassed even Hirogen physical strength and the borg began to beam
Hirgoen's off their ship. After the borg removed the Hirogen's they
advanced towards the Voyager crew. They came towards Kathryn and
the senior staff, gripping them the borg transported off the vessel.
But they didn't materialize on a borg cube but on Voyager's bridge--which
looked as if it had just been constructed--. It was swarming with
drones.
Harry took his place at the Ops computer console. He ran a few
scans of the ship. "Captain, the entire crew is back on board" a
confused and excited Harry called from his station.
Tuvok had by now taken his station at the security computer console,
he also began making scans "We are surrounded by 8 borg vessels, and we
have an additional 153 drones on board...they are making repairs to the
ship, Captain" he reported.
"Repair? Why?" Kathryn asked, to no one paticular.
"Captain, the borg are hailing us" Harry shouted.
"That's not suprising, maybe they'll tell us what they want now" said
a puzzled Chakotay, who now sat in his chair.
"Open a channel Mr. Kim" Kathryn called to the awaiting ensign.
He did as he was told and entered the commands. "Channel open"
he informed.
"On screen" Kathryn said finally able to sit.
The Borg Queen appeared on the view screen. "Captain Janeway how...nice
to see you once again"
"And to what do we owe the honor of your presents?" Kathryn asked
raising an eyebrow.
"I don't believe you have met my daughter," the Queen said seeming to
ignore the question, and into the view screen walked a young female drone.
She looked like the cross between a regular drone and a Queen. She
used both eyes like some drones and the Queen. Her left arm was artificial
like the Queen's and flesh on her right arm indicated authenticity. Her
eyes looked like glass, but where cold and held no emotions until she seen
a ship full of humans. Her eyes told of anger. "Her designation
is Six of Eight, and she is the reason for your survival" the Queen finished.
"Humans...I will not speak with humans!" Six snapped. She raised
her head and looked up, as she gave a command. And B'Elanna was transported
off Voyager and Six walked out of the view screen.
B'Elanna materialized infront of Six. And to say the least B'Elanna
was not happy.
"What...who the hell do you think you are!?!" the angry cheif engineer
yelled, and continued ranting at the drone.
As if not to hear B'Elanna's shouting Six said to herself "Klingon...human...half
human..." Six jerked her head to the right, giving another command and
B'Elanna was beamed off the borg vessel--in mid-sentence-- and Tuvok replaced
her.
--
"What are you doing with my crew?" Kathryn ordered an explanation
after watching B'Elanna return and Tuvok leave.
"Do not worry Captain Janeway, no harm to them will be done, Six of
Eight is not...fond of the human species" the Queen answered with a smirk
of enjoyment written all over her face.
-
---
"Species: Vulcan, I will speak with you" Six' voice was demanding and
her face was emotionless as Tuvok's.
"Why must you speak with me? I am only a tactical officer, it
would be logical to speak with Voyager's commanding officer which is Captain
Janeway."
"Captain Janeway is human, I refuse to discuss anything with a human"
she spoke harshly and her face began to show anger.
As Tuvok looked over the borg drone--who started to walk around--he
observed that she wasn't an adult, which was strange, borg drones went
through a naturation cycle, she obviously did not, her age, Tuvok guessed
was approximately 17 maybe 18. As he looked closer he realized she
herself was originally human.
"You are human" Tuvok finally spoke, breaking the quiet.
Six turned sharply "I am borg! My meaningless life as a human
ended many years ago," then she repeated "I am borg!" Tuvok
obviously struck a nerve, and he watched as Six' face exploded with rage.
Quickly she realized the emotion she was displaying and she took a deep
breath as if to push the feelings deep within.
Tuvok didn't know how to respond, so he stood until he brought himself
to ask "it is clear you dislike humans, yet the Borg Queen said you
were the reason the borg rescued Voyager, I do not understand why you would
save a ship full of a species you feel great animosity towards"
"One reason...Seven of Nine, I must speak with Seven of Nine" she answered.
Tuvok raised an eyebrow in suspicion. "Might I inquire as to why
you with to speak with Seven?"
"No" Six answered sharply.
"Then it would be illogical to allow you to allow you to speak with
Seven of Nine, the last time Seven came in contact with the borg they took
her from Voyager, it would be logical to assume you plan to do the same"
Tuvok explained.
"We have no such intentions!"
"How could we be sure?" Tuvok countered.
Six took a breath, then began to explain "as a borg, I have grown to
understand that assimulation is desired above individuality" Six paused
as she noticed Tuvok's reaction, he raised an eye brow in curiosity, then
she continued. "Species only resist because of ignorance, once assimulated
the desire to be an individual is terminated."
"No drone would ever want to leave the collective" Tuvok added as he
began to understand.
"Precisely. Seven of Nine spent her life as a drone. She
was disconnected from the hive and when she was given the opportunity to
rejoin the collective she refused, chose to remain small over borg perfection.
I wish to understand this, is individuality desired over perfection?
I must know, only Seven of Nine can answer my questions."
"I understand" Tuvok said.
"Then I shall speak with Seven of Nine?"
"That is not my decision, but I will relay your request to Captain Janeway.
But there is another issue, Seven of Nine is medically unable to speak
with you."
"Explain!" Six demanded
"Seven of Nine has been unconscious for the past several days, the doctor
is unable to help her" Tuvok told a concerned Six--as concerned as they
get any ways--.
Six didn't say anything for a second. Then she looked up at the
awaiting Vulcan. "Inform your Captain I only wish to talk with Seven
of Nine, and we do not wish to remove her from her home on Voyager, I only
wish to speak with her...As for her medical state, I shall repair her."
Tuvok was about the speak in response but he was not given the chance,
Six beamed him off the borg ship.
In the briefing room, the senior officers were deliberating the current
situation. Everyone was healed and showed no signs that they had
been attacked only a few hours ago.
"So all she wants is to talk with Seven?" Kathryn asked Tuvok.
"That is what she claims" Tuvok answered.
"Why should we trust them Captain? I mean common they are the
borg, not exactly keep their word people" B'Elanna objected.
"The Borg Queen, said they would get their answers by means of assimulation
if we don't co-operate. Doesn't leave us much of a choice" Kathryn
explained. "Tuvok...tell Six of Eight she may come on board.
But I want a security team monitoring her at all times" Tuvok nodded
"Dismissed" Kathryn finished.
The senior staff got up and began to exit the room, but Tuvok stayed
behind.
"Did I miss something Tuvok?" Kathryn asked noticing Tuvok not leaving.
"I believe it would be best if you assign a non human security team.
Six of Eight seems to hold a great amount of hatred against the human race."
Tuvok suggested.
"That would be the logical course of action wouldn't it?" Kathryn answered along with a smirk.
-
In sickbay Seven was lying on the biobed. There were still drones
in the other half of Sickbay making repairs and such. Kathryn, Tuvok, Naomi
Wildman and a non human security are also waiting for the arrival of Six
of Eight. They didn't have long to wait, Six materialized directly
into sickbay. She glanced around the room and gasped after noticing
it was filled with humans. But she soon gathered herself and tried
to focus on the task at hand. But she was again distracted by the
approaching of Naomi Wildman who was starring straight into the borg.
"Are you going to fix Seven?" she asked in her soft innocent voice.
Six stood and starred at the little girl, as a borg she had seen many
children, but she had never spoken to one. Six gave a warm smile
and said: "Do not worry, Seven of Nine will be operating at peek
efficiency in a moment."
Naomi leaned in towards Seven's ear, "did you hear that? She is
going to make you better and we can play catiscate again!" Naomi
said with excitement and anticipation.
Six knelt down to the child's eye level. "Now you must leave us,
let me aid Seven of Nine. I will be sure to tell her you wish to
see her when she is well."
"Okay, thank you for helping her!" Naomi said as she flung her arms
around the borg.
Six did not remember ever receiving a hug, affection is irrelevant in
the collective, and she remembered nothing of her past as a human.
But some part of her guided her in her reaction, she placed her right arm
around the child and returned the hug. It was an amazing moment,
all who witnessed it would never forget it. Right then and there
Six felt something that was unusual, different, unexplainable, she felt
a sort of amusement that was different from any she had experienced as
a borg, but for some unknown reason she knew what it was...she felt happy.
For the very first time she could remember she smiled inside because she
felt good. And for a brief moment Six could understand why Seven
would not want the return to the collective. -Emotions may cause
pain to many, they did give great pleasure in return- Six said to herself.
Six took her arm from around Naomi. "Now go, it is time I complete
my task" she said to Naomi in a half whisper. And they watched a
happy Naomi walk out of the room.
Kathryn stood in awe -This cannot be the same borg Tuvok told us about-
she thought.
But signs of emotions left the room with Naomi; Six' face became placid,
and her eyes turned cold once again. Six punched in commands on the
medical console on Seven's biobed, she ran a few scans to get an idea of
what happened. Then she turned to receive the results of these scans.
"What's happened to her?" Kathryn finally broke the stillness that had
once taken over sickbay.
"Seven of Nine is experiencing what we call, Borg Data Overflow; it's
a condition that occurs when chaos is not brought to order..." she looked
the Captain who obviously wanted Six to spell it out. "When a drone's thoughts
are not regulated...It happens mainly in drones that have been in the collective
an accumulative amount of time and are then disconnected, but it would
also happen in the collective each day if we did not take the proper pro
cautions " Six explained.
"What can we do for her?" The Doctor asked.
"Nothing, you can do nothing...I can however, I will establish a link
into Seven of Nine's mind and regulate her thoughts that way."
"Are you sure you can do that, is it dangerous?" Kathryn didn't like
the thoughts of the borg getting inside Seven's head again.
"I do this to trillions of drones on a single day, what would make this
different?" Six couldn't believe the distrust humans showed, and frankly
she was annoyed by it.
Six raised her fist to Seven's neck and injected it with borg tubes.
Six' eyes could show the process; she started to look for the problem first,
then she found it. She inhaled and her eyes widened as she took the
thoughts out of Seven's mind. Six stumbled back only a step, then
she swallowed and the memories that had paralyzed Seven were pushed deep
into Six. She removed her borg tubes from Seven's neck and she turned
to the console. Six inputted a few instruction then turned back to
the Star Fleet officers which were waiting for a response.
"Seven of Nine will wake in 3 minutes and 38 seconds. She requires
48 hours of regeneration. Inform the lead borg vessel when her cycle
is complete" Six looked at the drones in the other half of sickbay.
"The drones will continue with repairs to your vessel. They will
complete them within 24 hours. They will began making enhancements
in return for your co-operation, if you wish. I will return to my
vessel" she said then she beamed off the ship.
Once Six had left the security team was no longer needed so they also
left sickbay.
"Doctor?" came the groggy voice of Seven.
The Doctor turned around quickly to see a confused Seven finally coming
to. "Right on time" he said with a grin forming.
"I am in sickbay" Seven stated in a bewildered borg voice. She
looked up an directly around the biobed seeing the Captain and The Doctor
standing over her, "why am I in sickbay?"
"You had an...episode, you have been unconscious for the past week.
And boy you sure picked the right week to miss" Kathryn joked.
"Elaborate" Seven demanded in her interrogative tone.
Kathryn turned to her Vulcan friend, "Tuvok, tell Chakotay I will be
on the bridge shortly" Tuvok nodded and returned to his post on the
bridge. "Doctor could you give us a minute?"
"Of course, but remember Seven needs to regenerate, so don't be too
long" The Doctor said as he went into his office.
Kathryn turned back to Seven "how are you feeling?"
"Uncomfortable, my head is in pain...but I will survive"
Kathryn smiled, "What's the last you remember? Do you remember
our discussion in the mess hall, last week?" Kathryn had hoped Seven would
forget it, but she knew all to well the former drone forgot little and
it was a memorable conversation, the chances of Seven to forget were slim
to nonexistent.
Seven pushed herself up into a sitting position. When she noticed
the drones in the other room she panicked, "Captain the borg!" she cried.
"Seven, calm down, it's all right. They are giving us a hand,
don't worry everything is under control" Kathryn reassured as she lead
Seven to lay back down, but Seven would not comply.
"Do you hate me, Captain?" Seven asked out of the blue.
"Seven?"
"Do you hate me for taking your daughter?"
This answered Kathryn question of whether Seven could remember their
past discussion. "Seven..." she began "I don't hate you."
"Captain I could feel your anger when you came in contact with me, do
not lie to me."
Kathryn sighed "Look Seven, I don't hate you, I never could. In
the last few days I have become angry, that is true, but not at you, I
guess I have started hating some one all over again...Amber" Kathryn felt
such rage towards that woman, more than anyone she had ever hated combined.
"Amber?" Seven repeated. "Amber Gelant...she was Allison's caretaker
correct? Allison objected to her rules..."
"That's right Seven, how do you know that?"
"I am not certain..." Seven answered confused.
"I thought the collective disregarded memories that were irrelevant,
you would think a little girl's memories, would be no importance to the
borg."
"Again I am uncertain, but I believe the doctor instructed me to regenerate" Seven turned and placed her feet on the floor, she attempted to stand but her legs were limp and were difficult to stand on, Kathryn helped walk Seven back to cargo bay two.
After the two entered the cargo bay, Kathryn helped Seven into her alcove.
The captain was about to start up the regeneration cycle when she stopped
and gazed up at Seven.
"Seven..." she said quietly.
"Yes Captain?"
"When I first realized you helped in taking Allison from me, I won't
lie I felt a little betrayed..." the words cut through Seven and her guilt
tripled. "However..." Kathryn went on, "I came to realize it wasn't
your fault Seven, anything you did as a drone was not by your choice, you
can't be held responsible for them. You were assimulated as
a child, and I doubted you wanted it. Seven I can see everyday you
are haunted by things you did as a drone, please don't blame yourself...I
don't blame you" the guilt Seven felt didn't disappear but she felt liberated...only
a little. She watched as the captain left cargo bay two.
Seven stood for a moment, confused by the emotions she felt. The
borg part of Seven thought guilt was irrelevant, but her human part
felt guilty for the things she had done, or was it because she felt guilty
for not feeling guilty? Seven wished she had some one to discuss
this with.
--