Copyright 2001, Susan S. McCrackin  Reprinted with permission of the author.

Kathryn Janeway stood in the shower, feeling the water beat down on her, plastering her hair to her head. She raised her hands to place them on the wall of the shower stall and lifted her face to take the full impact of the stream.

There was something cleansing about water, she thought. But there would never be enough water to cleanse her of the guilt she was feeling. No, never enough water.

Her mind went back five days, and she squeezed her eyes tightly trying unsuccessfully to block the pictures that rolled though her mind. It had been a glorious homecoming until….

She turned her back to the water and sank to the floor of the shower, allowing the water to beat down on her head and back. She raised her hands to her face, covering her eyes and remembered.

The reception line had been a blur. Five days later and she could still not remember exactly whom she had met or the words that had been exchanged. She had stood beside Admiral Paris and watched as her senior staff had walked off of the docking bridge and stepped onto the space station deck. Chakotay had entered first, head held high, the lineage of his people apparent in the way he walked. Her fear for his safety had been quickly put to rest as she heard the cheers of the crowd raised as he walked onto the deck. The guards flanking the walkway had immediately snapped to attention, saluting him. He had pulled himself to attention and returned their salute. His eyes had found hers, holding them for a moment before he advanced toward the receiving line, shaking hands and sharing salutes, as appropriate. Then, he had taken his place beside her.

Together, they had watched as Tuvok and his family walked forward. She had not thought she had ever seen him move with such dignity as he returned the salute of the guards and led his family forward. She had seen, however, the excitement behind his look and how he had been touched by the reception of the people. He had kept his family close to him as he moved through the line. Janeway had almost cried when T’Pel leaned forward and quietly thank her for bringing her husband home to her.

Next had come an excited Harry Kim, holding his parents’ hands as they flanked him. Even she had had to laugh at the broad grin on his face. It had taken him a minute to realize that the guards were saluting him, and that he should return their salute. She had watched as he had extricated himself from his mother’s grip and smartly saluted the guards, then had taken advantage of his free hand to wave enthusiastically at the crowd before grabbing his mother’s hand and leading them toward the reception line. 

Next, had come Neelix, holding tightly to Supala’s hand. He had waved to the crowd even as Supala had seemed to shrink at their welcome. Janeway had smiled, thinking about how much convincing it had taken to get Supala to accompany Neelix. The young stow-a-way had kept insisting that she should stay on Voyager until the homecoming was over, but Neelix had won her over by telling her he didn’t want to leave the ship by himself. Her red eyes had immediately started to glisten with tears, and she had slowly nodded her head. He had smiled his thanks at her and the argument had come to a quick end.

It had taken almost an hour for the rest of the crew to disembark from Voyager, but Janeway had felt as if it only took minutes. The entire event had seemed surreal. The cheers had never diminished and the smiles had never faded. But even she had been aware of the growing excitement of the crowd as they had felt it was time for Seven of Nine, the Doctor and Kathryn B’Elanna to step onto the space station deck.

As the last crewmember took their place, a sudden hush had fallen over the crowd. Janeway had pulled herself up, allowing her pride to show in her face as she joined the crowd in waiting for the Hansen family to step forward. She had seen the shadows of them as they walked toward the space station and had watched as they paused. She had seen the shadow of the Doctor lean toward his wife and their heads touch briefly before they continued.

They had appeared at the end of the docking bridge, and she had felt the tension in the room build. Screens overhead had showed the family and she had seen the darting eyes of Seven of Nine as she had looked around. Janeway had immediately noticed she was not excited, but her eyes had been searching expectantly, their apprehension obvious. The Doctor had been grinning broadly. But it was Kathryn B’Elanna who told her that something was wrong.

The child’s head had been turning back and forth, the eyes going wide with fear. Janeway had known it wasn’t the noise of the crowd that was scaring her. Quickly, she had looked around, finally seeing the guards moving forward, weapons drawn. She had turned in surprised to Admiral Paris, grabbing his arm. He had looked down at her and she had known he was as surprised as she was. They had started to move forward when each had felt a hand on their arms, pulling them back. They had turned in unison to see the stricken face of Darrian Green behind them.

"Don’t." His voice had been tight. "There is nothing you can do. Stay still."

"What are they going to do?" Janeway’s voice had been tinged with fear and anger. "The Federation promised them protection."

But Darrian Green had simply looked at her, "For their safety right now, stay still. You don’t have a choice." He had swallowed hard, "Please. Their lives might depend on it. Don’t do anything."

She had turned back to look, immediately seeing Seven’s face as she watched the guards approach. Janeway had seen that the presence of the guards had not surprised her. Her expression had turned to complete resignation. Janeway had seen that the Doctor had turned to Seven, a puzzled look on his face. Then, she had watched as Seven had dropped his hand and stepped away from her husband and her child, standing tall, clasping her hands behind her back, her look going cold and distant. Janeway had watched as the guards flanked her and the lead guard had stepped up to address her, his voice ringing through the hall.

"Seven of Nine, Tertiary Adjunct of Unimatrix Zero One. You are under arrest for crimes against the Federation as a Borg, for the assimilation of humans by the Borg and for the sabotage of Voyager and the attempted murder of its crew."

Janeway had watched in horror as the guards on both side of Seven had held their weapons on her, and the guard behind her had reached to place handcuffs on her arms. Seven had never moved. She had raised her head, gave a slight lift to her chin and had never looked toward her husband and child. 

As they had started to walk her away, the Doctor reached toward one of the guards, roughly grabbing the man by the arm. Janeway had seen he had been demanding to know what was going on. The guard had not responded, but had pushed back at the Doctor, striking the mobile emitter, knocking it off his arm. The Doctor had dematerialized and Kathryn B’Elanna had fallen to the floor, landing on her right arm.

Janeway’s hand had gone to her mouth in shock and she had watched, as Kathryn B’Elanna lay there, stunned. She saw as the child had reached out with her left hand to grab her father’s mobile emitter, then had called out loudly for her mother. Seven had tried to turn in the direction of her child, but the guards had pushed her forward. It was obvious they had not seen the mobile emitter dislodged from the Doctor’s arm or Kathryn B’Elanna fall to the floor. Most of the guards between them and the crowd had been standing facing the crowd, intent on keeping the peace. Janeway had looked in horror as Kathryn B’Elanna tried to push herself off the floor and a look of surprise come in her face. Then, she had heard the child scream in pain.

Janeway had watched as Seven of Nine went berserk.

She had snapped the cuffs and had fought the guards to reach her child. Janeway saw one guard had been thrown ten feet back and another had been thrown into the crowd. The crowd close by had fallen back in fear as they had watched the ex-drone fight the guards. Kathryn B’Elanna had lay on the deck, screaming her mother’s name, clutching her father’s mobile emitter in her left hand with tears of pain streaming down her face.

Seven had fought, screaming Kathryn B’Elanna’s name, begging for the guards to let her go to her child. But they had been too scared by her strength and too angered by her efforts to fight them to react rationally to what was happening. Instead of backing down, more guards had joined in the effort to restrain her. Janeway had lost count as more guards entered into the fray, the sheer numbers forcing Seven to the deck, even as she had continued to fight them.

Suddenly, a figure had come running from the docking bridge, going directly to Kathryn B’Elanna. Janeway had taken her eyes off of the mass of guards to see that Alta Ro’bara had lifted the child into his arms, had cradled her tenderly to him, supporting her right arm and had tryed to quiet her. Then, he had gone up to the fighting guards and had yelled for Seven to stop fighting, telling her that he had Kathryn B’Elanna and that she was all right. Janeway could tell he had been getting through to Seven, and she had stopped her struggle. She had started to breath in relief when she saw the guards had separated and a hand with a phaser had dropped down into the center of the mass. She had watched Alta Ro’bara yell out, as he had tried in vain to stop the shot, then had turned and run with Kathryn B’Elanna back toward the docking bridge.

Holding her breath, she had seen as the guards had slowly pushed themselves away from the unconscious body on the deck and had called for arm and leg restraints. It had taken them almost ten minutes to secure the restraints before the guards had lifted Seven roughly from the deck and had dragged her toward a waiting vehicle, driving away from the homecoming with lights flashing.

By the time they had gotten to Kathryn B’Elanna, Alta Ro’bara had brought the Doctor online, and he had been treating his daughter in the sickbay. The child had still been crying, tears streaming down her face, and calling for her mother. The Doctor’s face had been full of grief, anger and pain as he concentrated on his daughter’s right arm.

"How is she?" Janeway had rushed up to Kathryn B’Elanna’s biobed.

"Her arm was broken." He had almost shouted at her in his anger. Working hard to pull back his emotions, he had addressed his sobbing daughter, "It is okay, Kathryn B’Elanna. Daddy will fix your arm." He had given the group a look that told them to stay back and remain quiet, then had finished treating the arm. Turning, he had grabbed a hypospray, holding it up for his daughter to see, "Kathryn B’Elanna, this will help the hurt. Okay?"

She had given him a sobbing nod of her head, and he had pressed the hypospray against her neck, administering the dose. Then, he had picked her up and sat down on the biobed, holding her close to him. After a few minutes, she had quieted down and soon drifted off to sleep. The Doctor had looked up at the Captain, "I also gave her a light sedative. I thought it would be a good idea for her to sleep for a little while."

Janeway had heard his words, but the look in his eyes had told her there were other reasons he wanted her asleep right now. She had agreed with him. Angrily, she had turned to address the man standing quietly behind her, his arms crossed in front of him.

"Mr. Green, do you want to tell me exactly what happened? I thought the Federation promised that Seven would not be arrested and that her family would be safe. I want to know what that debacle was all about!"

She had watched as the man tried to control his reaction to her, and she realized that, even now, she still was not certain what his look had meant. But he had drawn himself up and responded, his voice cold and controlled, "The leadership felt that Seven of Nine was too much of a security risk to allow her on the space station. Your logs convinced them that she was a threat."

"My logs!" She had exploded at the man, "What are you talking about?"

"Did you not record that Seven of Nine admitted responsibility for the explosion on Voyager?"

Janeway had thought, trying to understand what the man was saying. Finally, she said, "I recorded that she blamed herself for the explosion. She thought she should have known there was a conflict between the transwarp coil and Voyager’s own warp drive. I told her she could not be held responsible for knowing something when the Borg had taken away her memories."

"A convenient explanation for her subterfuge." Darrian Green’s face had grown harsher at their exchange.

Janeway had started to move toward him, but had found herself held back by Admiral Paris, "Captain, now is not the time. For Seven of Nine’s sake, we need to stay calm." He had glanced at the child in the Doctor’s arms, "Doctor, I think we should get you to your quarters on the space station so you can be there when Kathryn B’Elanna wakes up."

"Admiral," the Doctor’s had spoken, his voice tense, "I would like to see my wife."

Janeway had watched the snarl that appeared on Darrian Green’s face at the Doctor’s words. She had bitten her top lip and closed her eyes, knowing that seeing Seven was going to prove to be difficult. It did not take long for her suspicions to be confirmed.

Darrian Green had stepped forward, "That, Doctor, is not going to happen any time soon."

Before the Doctor could say anything, Alta Ro’bara had stepped forward, "Mr. Green, I don’t understand. Why can’t the Doctor see his wife?"

Mr. Green had taken a deep breath, "She has been taken to a maximum confinement section. They will not allow any visitors until they have debriefed her carefully. I suspect it will take at least a week for that to happen."

"Mr. Green," Admiral Paris had spoken, "I want her checked by Dr. E’Nalto immediately. She was involved in a significant altercation, and I want to ensure that she is in good health and not in need of medical attention."

Darrian Green had turned to face the Admiral, "I will do what I can, Admiral, but you must understand, this issue is not in my control. I can only represent your…request to the leadership. It will be their decision."

"Mr. Green," Alta Ro’bara had suggested, his words carefully chosen, "it will be important for the leadership to consider the…public relations aspect of her treatment. Perhaps it would be possible for me to see her and make a recommendation based on my findings." He had then lowered his voice and spoken forcibly, "It would be good for the leadership to carefully consider the repercussions of public opinion."

He had left the implications of his comments hanging in the air, but Darrian Green had understood what he was saying. Nodding slowly, he had replied, "Your comments will be shared, Mr. Ro’bara, and considered carefully." He had looked up at the other faces in the room, "I think it would be advisable to transport all of us to the leadership hall. The Doctor and Kathryn B’Elanna, of course, will be transported to the suite where Dr. Zimmerman and Counselor Troi are housed. They can continue their work with the two of you." He had turned to Admiral Paris, "And I will see if it is possible to get Dr. E’Nalto in to check on Seven. Perhaps, we can have Mr. Ro’bara accompany her."

"If you see her," Janeway stepped forward, "I would like a full report."

Mr. Ro’bara had turned to her, his concern full in his face, "Of course, Captain. And I will do everything in my power to encourage her to cooperate with the Federation. Hopefully, that will help things go easier on her. She is an unknown to them, and the fear of the unknown can make even great men act irrationally. We just have to give them the opportunity to see the Seven of Nine we all know."

She had found a certain amount of encouragement in his words. She would realize later that she had been desperately grasping at straws.

Seventy-two hours later, they had still been fighting the battle to get Dr. E’Nalto in to see Seven. They had seen her on the view monitors as she had been half-dragged before a panel of judges for the charges against her to be aired. Her court appointed attorney had entered a plea of not guilty on her behalf, but she had never spoken. It was obvious to Janeway that she had been heavily drugged. While the camera had carefully filmed her only from a distance, it was possible to see that she had sustained many blows during her arrest – or afterward. It had taken them almost an hour to calm the Doctor down.

Janeway had felt a great comfort that her senior crew had fought beside her, each arguing passionately with Darrian Green to be allowed to speak for Seven during the hearing. Finally, he had promised to allow them to meet with the leadership to repeat their arguments, but only in a private meeting. True to his word, they had been ushered into the main meeting room of the leadership where they each formally entered their statements into record in support of Seven of Nine. Even as they had left, however, it was obvious their arguments had fallen on deaf ears. 

Kathryn Janeway did not think she had ever been so mad. She could not believe the coldness and the disdain with which they had been met. The minds of the people in the room had been made up and nothing any of them said had made a difference.

Only Alta Ro’bara had seemed to have an impact on the leadership and then only because he had appealed to them to consider the public relations folly of not allowing Seven of Nine to be cared for by her physician, Dr. E’Nalto. He also had argued strongly for at least having Captain Janeway visit her, if for no other reason than to confront her about the charges of sabotage against her ship. He had given Janeway a look that told her to stay quiet and go along with him in his arguments. He had then turned his attention back to the men behind the desk and shared the newest public opinion polls that showed an increasing support that Seven of Nine be attended by her doctor. He had warned against allowing her to go unattended too long and risk turning the public against them.

Regardless, it had taken them the better part of two days to get permission for Dr. E’Nalto, Janeway and Alta Ro’bara to visit with Seven. They had gone immediately to the high security section where Seven was being held and had waited almost two hours for her to be brought into a small examination room where Dr. E’Nalto would be allowed to check her. It was also where Janeway would be allowed to visit with her.

Janeway did not think she would ever forget her first sight of Seven of Nine as they brought her into the small room. She had been dressed in a loose fitting orange and black prison uniform that zipped up the front. She was heavily manacled with a metal belt around her waist and her arms bound in rings that came off the belt. There were metal manacles on her ankles that allowed her to shuffle slowly, swinging one leg slightly forward at a time. She was barefoot. Her hair was down, falling in her face. She was dirty and had blood caked under her nose and down one side of her mouth. Her face was bruised, and she seemed to favor her right arm.

Her eyes had been dazed, and it was obvious she was still heavily drugged. Regardless, as soon as she saw Janeway, she had spoken, her voice a ragged whisper, "Kathryn B’Elanna? Is she all right? What happened to her?"

"She is okay, Seven," Janeway had moved toward her, but had been stopped by the guards in the room. "Did they not tell you anything about her?"

She had shook her head, "No. They would not tell me anything. The Doctor?"

Fighting back her anger, she had responded, "He is fine, Seven. They are both okay. They send you their love. They would be here if they could but they are not allowed to see you."

She had shook her head, "I do not want them to see me. It is enough to know they are okay."

Dr. E’Nalto had stepped forward, "Seven, I want to examine you. Please, come to the table over here." She had helped Seven move slowly toward the table, then addressed the guards who were holding their weapons on the prisoner, "Can you please remove the restraints?"

They had responded with only a shake of their heads.

"If you do not take them off, I cannot examine her." She had walked up to the lead guard, "Please remove the restraints." When she did not get a response, she had spoken again, her voice more forceful, "I am her doctor. Remove the restraints or I will file formal charges against you and your superiors. If you do not believe I can cause trouble for each of you, I suggest you continue to ignore my orders."

She had allowed the threat to hang in the air. Finally, the lead guard had motioned the guard to his right forward and the guard had moved quickly to unlock the restraints. Janeway’s anger had grown as the remaining guards had immediately aimed their weapons on Seven as if expecting her to charge them as soon as the restraints were removed. Once the restraints were off, Seven had simply turned her back on them and had rubbed at her arms, shaking them, trying to restore the circulation to them.

Dr. E’Nalto had turned to the guards again, "Please wait outside." She had given them a hard stare, "This is a secure room, and she will not harm us. I know you have monitors in here and the ability to flood this room with a gas to disable all of us if anything happens. However, I can assure you, nothing will happen. Please leave."

Reluctantly, they had turned and left. Once the door closed, Dr. E’Nalto had turned to Alta Ro’bara, "Would you please give us some privacy."

"Of course," he had replied, his eyes giving Seven a sympathetic glance, and he had turned his back on them.

She had returned immediately to Seven, had gently taking her by the arm, "Please, Seven, lie down and let me check you." Seven had moved stiffly to the table, but it had taken both Janeway and Dr. E’Nalto to help her get on it and stretch out. Dr. E’Nalto had started to scan her immediately, her frown had increased as she did. "When did you last regenerate?"

"I have not regenerated."

"What?" She had lowered her tricorder in surprise.

"They do not have a regeneration unit for me to use."

Dr. E’Nalto had not tried to hide her anger as she had responded, "We will see about correcting that immediately." She had continued to scan, stopping at Seven’s right arm, "There seems to be a problem with this implant. Can I take a closer look at it?"

Seven had nodded and had sat up with their help. When she had tried to grab the zipper on her suit, Dr. E’Nalto had noticed she was having trouble manipulating her fingers. The doctor had reached up to help her. Janeway had reached out to assist and, between them, they had pulled the top of Seven’s suit down. Janeway had had to work to keep from gasping at the bruises on Seven’s back. She had been able to see their spreading darkness through the camisole Seven had worn under the uniform. 

Dr. E’Nalto had concentrated on the implant, "It seems to be damaged. Can you help me in repairing it?"

"If I can regenerate, it should repair itself."

"It appears to be interfering with the function of your hand and arm."

Seven had nodded, "Yes, it is causing me problems."

"Does it hurt?"

Seven had not responded, and Dr. E’Nalto had just given her a knowing nod, "I will give you something for the pain." After a moment, she had asked, "Are you eating?"

"It is difficult for me to do so."

"Why?"

"I am shackled most of the time."

At her words, Dr. E’Nalto had closed her eyes in anger, "Seven, we are going to do everything possible to improve your situation." She had paused and taken a breath before asking her next question, "Are you guarded by male or female attendants."

"Male." 

"Seven," Dr. E’Nalto’s voice had softened, "I need to ask you…."

Before she could finish her sentence, Seven had shaken her head, "No. I have not had any…problems with my guards. They have treated me very well." She had glanced briefly at the door, "They are different from the guards who accompanied me here."

"Good," Dr. E’Nalto’s voice had sounded relieved, "I am going to make my report to Admiral Paris and the leadership of the Federation immediately. You have a slight fever, and I am going to prescribe some medication for you, as well as a pain reliever. I will check on you every twelve hours for the next few days. You will let me know should you need anything or if your condition deteriorates in any way. Do you understand me?"

"Yes," Seven had nodded as she had slipped her arm back into her suit and struggled to zip it up. 

Dr. E’Nalto had reached and helped her, "I would like to see if we can get you into a shower. Would you mind if I helped you?"

Seven had hesitated only a moment, "No. I would appreciate the assistance."

Dr. E’Nalto has looked around the small room and noticed a door. Going to it, she opened it to reveal a small bathroom with a sonic shower. She had returned and helped Seven off the table and supported her as they had moved toward the small bathroom. Speaking over her shoulder, she had spoken to the Captain, "We will be out in a few minutes."

As soon as the door closed behind them, Janeway had whirled to address Mr. Ro’bara, "Can you tell me why in the world she is being treated like this?"

He had turned to face her, his own face as angry as hers, "No, Captain. I don’t understand this myself." He had looked up at one of the cameras in the room, "And I don’t think the public is going to be very happy when they hear what is happening to Seven of Nine."

He had barely finished speaking when the door opened, and Darrian Green had walked through. The man’s face had been grim, and it had been obvious to both Janeway and Ro’bara that he had heard what Alta Ro’bara had said. 

Janeway had walked up to him, her anger apparent in her face and her words, "Can you explain all of this?"

"Captain," his voice had been tight when he had responded, "I am afraid the leadership feels they are justified in their actions in restraining the drone. They believe she is dangerous. Her strength means that extreme measures are in order so as to protect the people who guard her. One of the guards who tried to restrain her is still in the hospital recovering from his injuries."

"Mr. Green," Janeway had advance on him, "her child was hurt. She was trying to protect her. What did you expect her do to?"

"Captain, what you or I think is not important. The leadership considers her dangerous."

"What about their promises to her?"

"The facts that were discovered subsequent to their promises invalidated those promises."

"And what is that supposed to mean?"

"They made their promises to her before it was discovered that she tried to sabotage Voyager and kill members of your crew."

"That," Janeway had drawn herself up, "is ridiculous, and you know it as well as I do."

He had just looked at her. Finally, he had said, "What I think is not important, Captain."

She had simply looked into his eyes and knew it would not do any good to waste anymore words on him. She and Alta Ro’bara had exchanged disgusted looks, turned to lean against the examination table, and had waited on Seven and Dr. E’Nalto to emerge from the small bathroom.

When they had emerged, Seven had looked weaker than she had before. Janeway and Alta Ro’bara had moved to help her to the examination table, and Dr. E’Nalto had immediately approached Darrian Green, demanding a meal be brought in. He had not responded, but had lifted his eyes toward one of the mounted monitors and given a slight nod of his head. Dr. E’Nalto had turned to the same monitor and specified exactly what she wanted brought in. It had only taken a few minutes for a tray to be delivered to the door. Dr. E’Nalto had taken the tray from the guard and placed it on the table next to Seven.

"Seven, can you eat this by yourself or do you require assistance?"

"I can eat it by myself."

"Good." She had helped Seven balance the tray on her lap, but had held onto it.

Janeway had watched as Seven struggled to hold the fork in her right hand, noticing that she had not quite been able to grasp the utensil. Finally, she had changed to her left hand and clumsily managed to lift the food to her mouth. It had been obvious she was hungry but was trying to act as though she wasn’t. She finished the meal, then Dr. E’Nalto had taken the tray from her and had her lie back down on the table, and she started scanning her again, nodding in satisfaction as she did.

"That helped, Seven. We are going to make certain you get regular meals and some exercise."

"Dr. E’Nalto?"

"What?"

"What happened to Kathryn B’Elanna and the Doctor?"

Dr. E’Nalto had thrown a quick glance over to Janeway, then responded calmly, "The Doctor’s mobile emitter was dislodged from his arm, and Kathryn B’Elanna fell when he dematerialized." She had paused when Seven’s face crumpled into pain at the thought, then she had continued, "She landed on her right arm." Dr. E’Nalto had taken a breath, "I am afraid she broke her arm." At Seven’s look of horror, Dr. E’Nalto had quickly reached out to grab her arm to calm her, "But she is okay. Mr. Ro’bara got her out of the way of everyone and managed to get the Doctor back online so he could care for her."

Seven had looked over at him, "Thank you."

He had walked up to her, "No thanks is necessary, Seven." He had clasped his hands together in front of him, his eyes cast down sadly, "I am just so sorry. This…" he had looked at her, then around the room, "should not be happening. It wasn’t what they said would happen." Suddenly, he had turned angrily toward the camera, "This wasn’t what you promised at all." Then, he had whirled to face Darrian Green, pointing back to Seven as he did, "What is happening here is wrong!"

Darrian Green had given him a hard look, then said, "The leadership disagrees with you." Then, he had looked to Dr. E’Nalto, "I can only give you thirty more minutes. Then, the drone will have to be returned."

Janeway had blocked his retreat, "Her name is Seven, Mr. Green."

But he had simply looked at her before stepping around her and leaving. She had exchanged angry, concerned looks with Alta Ro’bara. She had turned to Seven when she heard her speak.

"How is Kathryn B’Elanna handling all of this?"

Janeway and Dr. E’Nalto had understood her question immediately. Neither had looked at Mr. Ro’bara. Dr. E’Nalto had taken a deep breath before responding, "The Doctor has kept Kathryn B’Elanna slightly sedated. He is monitoring her very carefully. They are staying with Dr. Zimmerman and Counselor Troi." She had cut her eyes to Janeway, then continued, "You should not worry about her, Seven."

Seven had breathed a deep sigh of relief, then asked another question, "How is B’Elanna?"

At that, Janeway had moved forward and smiled, "She is doing fine, although her mother is driving her a little crazy."

"Yes," Dr. E’Nalto had laughed lightly, "I have been monitoring her very carefully and am pleased with her progress. I am hoping she will be able to go at least another week before she goes into labor."

"Good," Seven had sighed in relief, "I was worried she would be upset by my incarceration."

Janeway had reached out to touch her arm, "Seven, we haven’t told her." When Seven had raised an eyebrow in surprise, Janeway had continued, "Neither the Doctor nor Dr. E’Nalto thought she should be told."

Seven had nodded, "Yes, I can understand that. When you do tell her, please assure her that I am okay. She should not worry about me. She should only worry about herself, her child and Kathryn B’Elanna."

Janeway had heard the message behind Seven’s words and had been frightened by them. She had responded forcibly, "Seven, do not give up. We are going to find a way to get you out of here and back with your family. I promise you that."

But Seven had simply looked at her and said, "Captain, you should not make promises that are not yours to keep."