Strange New Worlds 2016 (43 page)

“It was a minute alteration, which is why it seems not to have had any impact on the
Borg as a whole. Whether it will allow us, or anyone else, to take advantage of it
in the future has yet to be seen. As for Seven, the Doctor thinks it was not fully
integrated into her Borg systems before she joined our crew. But for now, that isn’t
the main concern.” Janeway tapped the interface before her and an image materialized
on the screen beside the Doctor. Alien script flowed across, indecipherable to the
universal translator but apparent to all that it was a highly complex mathematical
equation. “This is a partial recording from Seven’s cortical node. She was working
to help Chakotay retrieve it before the Doctor placed her in the medical coma. We
were trying to access her Borg memory of the Lynnrali. Specifically, their warp mechanical
theory.”

“Why, Captain?” Kim asked, voicing the thought the other officers shared. “What was
Seven doing to cause this? I don’t understand what could be so important that she
would risk her life like that.”

“I asked her to,” Janeway said. Kim blinked in surprise. “I never would have if I
had known it would become so dangerous to her, but . . .”

The captain stood and paced to the screen, staring intently at the equations before
her as if sheer force of will could compel her to understand them. She turned to face
her senior officers, her blue eyes burning with determination and hope.

“The Lynnrali warp mechanics were more advanced even than the Borg transwarp conduits.
If we can interpret this information from Seven’s cortical node,
Voyager
could get home in a matter of weeks.”

“I don’t trust this, Chakotay,” Torres said. “I mean, how likely is it that the Borg
would assimilate a whole species like they’ve done god knows how many times, and only
now does it affect the one drone we happen to be traveling with? Seems pretty convenient.”

Torres and Chakotay were heading to cargo bay two and Seven’s regeneration alcove.
Harry Kim was already there, studying the fragments of Lynnrali data, working to directly
link the computer to the regeneration unit. He and Torres hoped that working directly
with the Borg technology in the alcove would allow greater efficiency in accessing
the information buried in Seven’s cortical node, bypassing the bioelectric loop caused
by the Lynnrali chip.

“Of course, it could allow greater efficiency in assimilating
us
,” Torres continued as they entered the cargo bay. Chakotay and Kim exchanged a subtle
glance. “What?” Torres demanded. “You never know. How do you know she wasn’t sent
here by the Borg to assimilate
Voyager
?”

“Come on, B’Elanna.” Chakotay sighed. “Seven’s been with us for months. She’s part
of our crew now. If she wanted to assimilate us, I’m sure she would have done so by
now. Starting with you.”

“Very funny. I just don’t trust her,” Torres grumbled.

“Doc says she’s in a coma,” Kim said. “She’s not going to fake that. Or visions.”

“Honestly, Starfleet,” she retorted, using her pet name for Harry, “you’re too trusting.”

“Enough!” Chakotay barked. “We have a job to do, and a crew member who needs our help.
We need to figure this out, and maybe if we’re lucky, we can all be back in the Alpha
Quadrant soon instead of fighting for every single breath we take out here.”

Torres had known Chakotay longer and better than anyone left on the crew. To hear
such an atypically tired and defeated sentiment from him told her more than anything
how deeply guilty he felt about Seven’s condition. Without another word, she turned
to her work. She may not like having a Borg on board, but she did respect Chakotay
more than anyone else she had ever known, barring, perhaps, Captain Janeway. She would
do her best for him.

“Commander, we’ve got it,” Harry said a moment later. He tapped the work station that
was set up in the cargo bay near Seven’s alcove and data began flowing across the
monitor. “This is amazing. I don’t know what half of these equations are at all.”

“And they are incomplete,” Torres added. She pointed. “See, here and here. It looks
like a complete file but it isn’t. What is that?”

The three officers watched the screen as data scrolled past, elegant mathematical
equations blended with what appeared to be musical notation.

“Eilara was a musician. These are her memories. We need to clean this up, get to the
general data, not the specific memories,” Chakotay said, entering commands into the
terminal. The images on screen shifted and distorted with each new set of commands.
Chakotay’s task was thankfully becoming easier as the computer learned the encryption
of the Lynnrali implant. Soon, it became second nature, and he was able to pay closer
attention to the images on the screen before him, scrolling directly from Seven’s
visions. The vision quest he experienced with her had been brief, and his role had
been to be her mentor and guide. He hadn’t had as much time to observe as he did on
a typical vision quest, and he was struck again by the uncanny resemblance between
Eilara and Seven. He forcibly pushed the observation from his mind. He didn’t have
time to be distracted.
Seven
didn’t have time.

“Argh!” came Torres’s frustrated cry. “Commander, this file is simply too incomplete
for us to continue. We can’t decrypt data that isn’t there. The Doctor sent through
the last bit he was able to retrieve from the connection he made to Seven’s cortical
node, but it simply isn’t enough!”

Chakotay pushed away from the console, his muscles stiff from sitting in one place
for so long. He’d had no sense of time passing; somehow, hours had gone by while he
and his officers had sifted through the massive amount of data. Even with the computer’s
help, it was a tedious process. He sighed.

“All right. Return to your posts for now. I’ll report to the captain.”

Chakotay entered the captain’s ready room at her invitation. He walked briskly toward
her desk but hesitated when he realized she was sitting on her couch on the upper
level, staring absently out into space. “Captain, are you all right?”

“Commander Chakotay,” Janeway replied, evading his question, “you needed to see me?”
Chakotay nodded.

“Yes, Captain. Status report on the Lynnrali data.” He handed her a padd, which she
reviewed as he quickly gave her his disappointing report. “At this time, we are unable
to fully analyze the Lynnrali equations for use in
Voyager
’s systems. However, once the Doctor is able to treat Seven’s visions, I’m certain
she will be able to assist us and provide the rest of the information we need. B’Elanna
and Harry both believe we are only missing a couple more pieces of the file.”

“A couple pieces.” Janeway huffed a humorless chuckle. “A couple digits in a warp
equation is a lot, Chakotay.”

“It’s better than needing a lot of digits,” he said doggedly. She smiled crookedly.

“
Touché
.” She waved him toward the couch and settled herself at one end. Chakotay recognized
the body language. His captain needed to talk, and he probably wasn’t going to like
what she had to say. “The Doctor just gave me an update. He has a treatment for Seven.”
She quickly held up a hand. “Before you get too excited, hear me out. He can treat
the neural pathways that are causing her visions, stop them entirely. But doing so,
he believes, will completely eliminate any memory Seven has of the Lynnrali. All we
will ever know about them or their warp mechanics is what we already have in the computer
now.”

Chakotay sat on the couch beside Janeway. “Okay. So what’s the problem? You have a
sick crew member and you have a treatment for her. Seems simple enough to me.”

“It’s not that simple and you know it, Chakotay.” Janeway rose and began pacing restlessly.
“The Doctor tells me he can treat her. He also tells me that he might be able to keep
her stable if we were to link the computer back into her cortical node again, but
that the risk of her neural function deteriorating further is high.” Chakotay sat
silently, waiting. “Chakotay, what if I can get this crew home and I don’t take the
chance?”

“Kathryn,” he said softly, “you’ll get us home. No one doubts that. But what if you
get us home and lose your humanity along the way?” Janeway looked at him sharply.
“The information Seven has in her head might get us home in a matter of weeks or months.
She might even be willing to sacrifice herself to get us there. But I know you, Kathryn.
I know you would never be able to live with yourself for it, because it would mean
that you turned your back on one of your own. Someone who trusted you to teach her
about herself and her own humanity. It would make you no different than the Borg you
freed her from.”

“And what of my duty to my crew to get them home? I can’t turn my back on that, either.”

“The way I see it, we aren’t any worse off than we ever were. We’re better, actually,
since now we have at least some of the Lynnrali equations. One day we might crack
the missing sections and make use of their knowledge. Until then, we keep going, we
keep struggling, but we remember who we are. You know the choice you need to make,
Kathryn.”

Janeway sighed and then smiled at her first officer. “Yes, I do. I always did. I just
needed to hear you speak for my better angels. What would I do without you, Chakotay?”

Seven opened her eyes to a bright light above her. Blinking, the Doctor’s face came
into focus. He smiled down at her. She frowned back at him, confused.

“Why am I in sickbay?” she demanded. The Doctor glanced to the side, and she followed
his gaze. Captain Janeway and Commander Chakotay stood on the other side of her biobed,
looking anxiously at her. “What happened?”

“What do you remember last, Seven?” the Doctor asked.

“I was . . . I had gone to Commander Chakotay’s quarters. He was going to teach me
about vision quests because I had been troubled with dreams. But I do not recall the
dreams now.”

Janeway sighed softly. “We had hoped you might remember . . . ah, well, it isn’t important
now. All that matters is that you are well, Seven.”

“Explain,” she said. The Doctor stepped in.

“Not now. You need to rest. I’m going to keep you here and when I am satisfied with
your progress, I will release you directly to your regeneration alcove for the next
twenty-four hours.”

“But—”

“Resistance is futile, Seven,” he stated with a smirk. “Doctor’s orders. Visiting
hours are over.”

Seven glared at the Doctor as he ushered Janeway and Chakotay away from her. On his
way out, Seven noticed that Chakotay stopped and looked back at her, a small, proud
smile on his handsome face. Then she didn’t notice anything as she drifted into a
dreamless sleep.