Copyright 2000, Susan S. McCrackin  Reprinted with permission of the author.

B’Elanna and Kathryn B’Elanna were picking up twigs for Tom to use in building a campfire so he could cook breakfast. She chuckled, thinking about how seriously Tom was taking this camping adventure. He insisted they really "rough it," as he referred to it. She had to admit, she was having a good time. 

And so was KB. She and Flotter had chattered away for over an hour the night before, sharing a language that was not understandable to anyone but them. B’Elanna had finally threatened to deactivate Flotter in order to get them to quiet down. She wasn’t surprised when KB sleep late this morning. She herself had slept longer than she meant to. Despite the fact she had slept on the ground, she felt better than she thought she would. 

She turned to see Tom and Flotter working to build a fire. Flotter was being his usual helpful self, but Tom seemed to actually enjoy the holo-character’s presence. She was constantly amazed at his patience with KB and with Flotter. He was going to make a wonderful father one day.

She was delivering her load of sticks and twigs when she heard KB squeal in delight.

"Keta. Kk."

She turned her head to see KB running toward Ketaria, her arms waving in the air. She brushed her hands together and turned toward them. Tom stopped working on the fire and came to stand beside her as Ketaria and Kahkar approached.

"Good morning, you two," Tom greeted them, grinning from ear to ear, "have you come to join us for breakfast? I’m cooking over a real campfire this morning."

"Actually," Kahkar responded, "we have come to play follow the leader with Kathryn B’Elanna and Flotter."

Flotter started jumping up and down, excited, "Oh, joy! I’ll be the leader."

B’Elanna put her hand on his arm, "You will be a good leader, Flotter, but wait just a minute." She turned back to the couple who had joined them, seeing something in Ketaria’s eyes that worried her, "Where are the Doctor and Seven?"

Ketaria responded, "They are in their quarters." She paused, then added, "They would like to talk to you."

B’Elanna looked from Ketaria’s face to Kahkar’s, then grabbed Tom’s hand and said, "Let’s go."

He looked at her, his face turning grim, and they quickly left the holodeck.

They rushed from the turbolift towards the living quarters, and the door opened as soon as they neared. They saw the Doctor sitting on the edge of the sofa and, as they approached, saw that Seven was stretched out on it, her face pale.

"What’s wrong?" Tom’s grip on her hand was tightening, his voice worried.

The Doctor rose, indicating the chairs, "Why don’t you two sit down. We need to talk to you about something."

They quickly sat, and B’Elanna leaned forward, looking intently at Seven, "What is going on? Seven, what’s wrong?"

The Doctor opened his mouth to respond, but could not speak. Seven gave him a smile and spoke instead, "My implants are failing."

Tom gave B’Elanna a quick look, "What?"

"My implants are failing."

B’Elanna asked, "Exactly what does that mean?"

Seven looked at her, "They are going to fail, and I cannot survive without them."

B’Elanna opened her mouth, but only air came out. Finally, she said, "No. There has to be something we can do. Doctor, can’t you replace them? Can’t Kahkar do something?"

"No," Seven shook her head, "nothing can be done."

Tom cleared his throat, "How..when…"?"

"Kahkar thinks a couple of weeks."

At that, B’Elanna gave a grunt and fell back against the chair, "No. There has to be a mistake."

The Doctor finally found his voice, "No, there is no mistake." He sat back down on the couch, near his wife’ knees, gently placing his hand on her leg. She reached out to put her hand over his. 

They all sat in silence.

**

Seven was walking around their living quarters, putting things away. The Doctor walked up to her, "I wish you would rest."

"I am feeling stronger than I was earlier. I would like to…take care of our home." 

He nodded, allowing her to continue moving around their quarters. Soon, he noticed her adjusting the device on her arm. "Is it working?"

"Yes. It is performing adequately."

"Are you in pain?"

She did not answer. Instead, she said, "Kahkar did a good job developing this."

"Yes," the Doctor examined it as she came up to him, "this should help you with the pain management." He noticed she had turned up the medication dosage on the device. Kahkar had developed the medical device to administer small doses of pain medication on a continuous basis. It had already made a difference in Seven’s ability to function. 

He stayed quiet, knowing there was something she wanted to say. He did not have to wait long.

"Doctor."

"Yes, Seven."

"There is someone I need to talk to."

He lowered his head. He knew who that someone was.

While they had not discussed it, he knew something significant had happened between Seven and Harry during the experience with the crew of the Ikora. He had never asked her what it was and she had never offered to tell him. Even more, he knew Harry was in love with his wife. And he knew Seven felt something special for Harry.

He raised his head, a smile on his face, and leaned forward to kiss her lightly, "I will leave a light on for you."

She looked at him gratefully and turned to leave their quarters. It did not take her long to find herself outside of Harry’s quarters. She hesitated, then asked the computer to announce her.

The doors opened immediately and Harry stood in front of her, his expression both pleased and surprised. "Seven. Come in." He moved to allow her to enter.

She walked in, taking a moment to look around his quarters. She realized she had never been in here before. His quarters were…interesting. The objects, while not plentiful, were unusual and well placed. The room suited him, she decided. She noticed both his clarinet and his saxophone sitting in the corner. The site of them made her smile. As she turned to face him, her eyes were caught by a holo-image and she stopped to stare at it.

Harry grinned sheepishly as he walked to pick it up, "I got a copy of the picture from Neelix. I hope you don’t mind."

"No. I do not mind." She looked at the picture of the two of them taken at Tom and B’Elanna’s wedding. "It is a nice picture."

"I thought so." He put it down, then turned his attention back to her, "So, to what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?"

She signed deeply and tried to give him a smile, "I am afraid it is not for pleasure that I am here."

His eyes darkened and he moved a few steps closer to her, "Why are you here?"

"I need to talk to you." She bit her top lip, then continued, "I have something I need to tell you."

The tone of her voice scared him, and he knew from the look in her face that what she had to tell him was bad. He took a deep breath to steel himself, "Okay."

"Harry," she almost choked on her words and had to fight to be able to continue. Then, she pulled herself together, lifted her chin, and spoke, "Harry, my implants are failing. I do not have long to live."

He froze. He could not believe what he had just heard. He did not want to believe what he had just heard. He allowed himself to fully absorb what she had said before he responded with a question, "Are you certain?"

She nodded. They stood there, facing, a meter apart. Then, he moved toward her, taking her face in his hands, looking deeply in her eyes. Finally, he let go of her face and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her to him. He felt her hold herself straight, not giving into his embrace. He could tell she was fighting to maintain her control. He leaned his head against hers, then pulled back from her, "Tell me everything."

She told him. He watched her face while she spoke and looked at the device on her arm when she explained it. He saw the strength she showed him, knowing that was all she allowed anyone to see. His look did not waiver as he watched her face. He stayed quiet until she finished, then asked, "What can I do?"

"There is nothing you can do, Harry. I just wanted you to hear it from me." She looked deeply into his eyes, "You have been a good friend to me. I wanted to tell you how much you mean to me."

He continued to watch her eyes. Finally, he saw what he was looking, for and he walked up to her. His movement slightly unsettled her.

"What?"

He did not speak but quickly reached and lifted her in his arms, carried her to the bed and gently laid her down. She looked at his face in surprise as he sat down and stretched next to her, pulling her to him.

"Harry, please. No. I cannot give you what you want from me."

He put his hand to her face and gently pulled it so she was facing him. "Yes you can, Seven." He was smiling at her, his look kind, gentle and loving, "All I want from you is for you to let me be the person you can be weak with."

Her eyes widened and he could see she was fighting with herself. Then, he watched as the tears started to spill. He held her while she cried.

**

It was late when she walked back into their bedroom. She smiled at the sight of the Doctor in their bed, his eyes closed.

"You are not asleep."

He opened his eyes, "How did you know?"

"You were not snoring."

He laughed and she gave him a smile. She sat next to him on the bed and he reached up to push a stray strand of hair behind her ear, "I didn’t want you to think I was waiting up on you."

"Were you not?"

"I guess I sort of was." He waited a beat, noticing how puffy her eyes were, "Did you have a good visit?"

She nodded, "Yes. It was a good visit." She looked down at the exoskeleton on her left hand, but did not say anything more.

Finally, the Doctor said, "Want to come to bed?"

She nodded again, then moved to get ready for bed. Once she was settled, the Doctor removed the medical device from her arm and administered a dose of medicine with a hypospray. Then, he got back into bed and pulled her close to him.

"I think I want Kathryn B’Elanna back tomorrow. I want to spend as much time with her as I can."

"I think that is a good idea."

He felt her body relax as the medication started to take effect. Then, he felt her start to drift toward sleep. He was surprised when she spoke.

"Doctor."

"What, Seven?"

"I love you."

He put his head on the top of hers and replied, "I love you, too, Seven."

The words were barely out of his mouth before he knew she was asleep.

**

B’Elanna was walking around their living quarters, moving things around, slamming some things down. Tom watched her, trying to stay out of her way. Finally, he walked up to her, putting his hand on her shoulder.

She dipped out from under his touch, "Don’t, Tom."

"B’Elanna…."

"Tom," she whirled to face him, "why can’t you understand that sometime, I just don’t want you to touch me. Sometimes, I just need to be left alone." She slammed down the book she was holding and moved to stand behind the chair, away from him, "You would think you would have figured that out by now!"

He saw the fire flashing in her eyes. He knew she was egging him on, trying to get him to argue with her. He did not respond but stood in the middle of the room, waiting. His silence unsettled her.

"What?" She demanded.

He did not respond. 

"Say something!"

"I know you are not angry at me, B’Elanna."

She tightened, her eyes cutting around the room, trying desperately not to look at her husband. He gave her a few minutes, then moved to stand in front of her.

"I understand, B’Elanna."

She took a deep breath, "It isn’t fair, Tom." The words fairly exploded from her, "KB deserves to have her mother in her life. She needs her mother." She picked up the pillow from the chair and threw it across the room, "I just can’t believe there is nothing we can do. I can’t believe we are just going to stand here and watch her die." She put her hands to her head, pushing her hair back and quickly walked in a circle around the room. "There has to be something we can do!"

"If there was, Kahkar and the Doctor would have already done it."

She glared at him. He knew she wanted to fight. She wanted to do something. Anything. She could not stand the thought of doing nothing.

"KB needs her mother." Her voice was strained and Tom could hear she was losing control of her emotions.

"You will be there for her."

"But I won’t be her mother." She looked down at the floor, "I don’t know how she will do. She loves her mother so much. She will be devastating by this."

"I know she will be." He walked up to her slowly. He did not want to push her but he could feel some of the fight leaving her. "She is not the only one."

"What?"

He reached up and ran his finger along the line of her hair and down her cheek, "KB is not the only one who will be devastated by Seven’s death."

She looked up at him, her eyes wide and vulnerable, "Don’t go there, Tom."

He smiled at her, "B’Elanna, I know you. You keep talking about KB, but you are also talking about yourself."

She started blinking back tears, "That’s ridiculous, Tom. The only thing Seven and I have in common is KB."

He stayed silent, watching her eyes. 

"The Borg queen and I are anything but friends."

He nodded, but did not respond.

She opened her mouth but could not find any words. Finally, her eyes teared and she leaned her forehead against his chest. He felt her body start to shake as he embraced her. 

**

B’Elanna rearranged the food on the tray, doing her best to make it look more appealing. Seven had not had much of an appetite the last couple of days. She glanced over her shoulder to see if Seven and KB had returned to awareness. They were on the couch with KB nestled in the crook of Seven’s arm. Seven spent as much time with her as she could, and they had been spending much of that time in their special place. She could tell they were in the process of returning so she took advantage of the time to gather herself. She had practically moved into the living quarters to care for Seven. The Captain had agreed for Vorik to take over in engineering and she had spent practically every minute here since. 

Today was not a good day. B’Elanna knew that it would not be much longer. Seven was very quiet and had barely moved from the sofa. At least she did not complain much. Actually, she did not complain at all. B’Elanna had to watch her carefully for signs of trouble. There had been a couple of close calls already. The Doctor had barely arrived in time during the last implant failure. Later, Seven told both of them she did not want them to do anything other than pain maintenance the next time. Neither of them had argued with her.

She heard a sigh behind her and turned, forcing a smile on her face, and walked with the tray toward the sofa.

"Welcome back, you two." Her voice was cheerful, "Did you have a good time?"

"Yes. We had a good time together," Seven looked down at the child in her arm who was lying, still, beside her mother.

KB’s reaction to all of this was surprising to B’Elanna. She seemed to understand what was happening. Seven stayed in the living room most of the day so they could be together. KB played around her mother but stayed close, and B’Elanna knew she often provided her mother comfort. When Seven slept, KB would often sit on the floor next to her mother and stare at her face. Sometimes, it was almost more than B’Elanna could handle. 

Ketaria had tried to take KB to their ship, but the child had cried to be returned to her mother. She did not cry around her mother, though. Around Seven, KB seemed to do everything possible to make her mother smile and, sometimes, even laugh. 

"So, Seven, are you ready to eat a little lunch?" She put the tray down on the table beside her.

"No, thank you. I am not hungry."

"Seven, you did not eat breakfast. You need to eat."

"B’Elanna," Seven looked at the food, hesitantly, "I do not think I can eat."

"Seven, you need to try. Please."

Seven gave her a reluctant look as KB reached for a piece of fruit on the tray.

B’Elanna laughed, "Well, looks like someone is hungry." She handed KB the fruit.

Kathryn B’Elanna turned and pushed herself to her feet and B’Elanna quickly reached to balance her as she stretched her arm out, holding the fruit to her mother, "Eat, Mama."

Seven laughed, allowing Kathryn B’Elanna to put the food in her mouth. She chewed it and swallowed, "The two of you are teaming up against me."

B’Elanna smiled and lifted KB up to hold her in one arm and put the tray on Seven’s lap with her free hand. Seven moved her legs so B’Elanna could sit on the side of the sofa with her and proceeded to pick at her lunch, aware that both B’Elanna and Kathryn B’Elanna were watching her eat. Finally, she leaned heavily back against the arm of the sofa and said, "I cannot eat anymore."

B’Elanna nodded and reached to take the tray from her, placing it on the table. KB wiggled to get down from her lap, and she placed her on the floor. The child went to her toy box and pulled out her bag of blocks and brought them back to sit on the floor near her mother to play. Seven watched her. B’Elanna noticed the device attached to her arm had been turned up to administer the maximum dose and she knew Seven would probably drift off to sleep soon. She started to rise from the sofa to take the tray away when Seven reached out to stop her.

"B’Elanna," Seven’s words were slightly slurred from the medication.

"What, Seven?"

She watched as Seven’s eyes drifted back to her daughter, "Promise me something."

B’Elanna sat and waited.

Seven took a deep breath and continued, "Promise me you will not let her forget me."

"I won’t, Seven." B’Elanna watched as Seven’s eyes drifted back to catch her own, "I promise."

Seven closed her eyes. After a moment, B’Elanna got up and picked up the tray, taking it to the recycler. She leaned heavily against it for a moment, allowing herself time to regroup. She closed her eyes for only a second, then plastered the smile back on her face and turned. Immediately, she saw that KB was standing next to her mother, staring intently at her face. The child’s expression was blank. B’Elanna walked back to check on Seven and was surprised to see her eyes were open.

"Seven?"

Seven’s eyes were locked on Kathryn B’Elanna. "B’Elanna, please call the Doctor."

**

Kahkar came out of the bedroom, closing the door behind him, and looked at the people who had gathered in the small living room. "It will not be long now." Ketaria moved to him, and he put his arm around her. 

B’Elanna was gripping Tom’s hand, not caring that she had tears running down her face. Harry was sitting, stoned-faced in a corner of the room. Janeway was sitting in the rocking chair, absent-mindedly rocking back and forth

Suddenly, the room was filled with Chakotay’s voice.

"Bridge to the Captain. Report to the bridge immediately."

She shot out of the chair, torn between anger at having to leave and a strange sense of relief at having something else to have to deal with. As soon as she entered the turbolift, she hit her combadge, "What is it, Chakotay?"

"We have identified a transwarp conduit less than a light year from here and headed in our direction."

"The Borg?"

"Yes."

"Wonderful! Just what we need right now, "she muttered under her breath.

The doors opened and she strode out onto the bridge, her eyes locked on the view screen but all she could see was stars. She didn’t even glance at Chakotay, commanding, "Report."

"Scans identified a transwarp conduit in that section." He indicated the view screen. "It should be appearing…now." He turned to the screen and they both saw a ship emerge and come into view in front of them. They both stood in shock when they saw the ship.

"Captain," Tuvok spoke from behind her, "we are being hailed."

She exchanged looks with Chakotay and said to Tuvok, "Open a channel."

"The message is coming in now." Tuvok’s voice was even.

The view on the screen changed and they found themselves staring into the face of the Borg queen.

"Hello, Captain Janeway."

She was quiet a moment, then said, "I just realized, I do not know how to address you."

"I am the Borg."

"Okay. Borg," her voice carried a hint of sarcasm, "I must say, this is a surprise."

"I would imagine it would be. I do not imagine you expected to ever see me again."

"No. Also, hello sounded a little strange. I was expecting something a little more… Borg-like. What happened to ‘resistance is futile, you will be assimilated?’"

The face on the screen in front of them turned slightly, the corners of the mouth turning up a little as if in a smile. Then, the head came up, "Captain, I would speak with you privately." 

"Really?"

"Yes. And I would prefer face to face."

She could not stop herself from looking over to Chakotay to see if he was as surprised as she was. It took only a second to confirm that he was.

"So I guess you want me to transport over there."

"No, actually, I would prefer to transport to your ship."

This time, she gave Tuvok a signal to temporarily halt the signal.

"Signal is halted, Captain."

She turned to face Chakotay, then Tuvok, "Did I hear her right? Did she just say she wanted to transport to Voyager?"

"That’s what I heard, Captain," Chakotay’s face was grim.

Tuvok nodded.

"Tuvok, any other signs of Borg vessels?"

"Negative, Captain."

She glanced back at the frozen picture on the screen, "Well, Chakotay, what do you think?"

"You know what I think, Captain. There is no way we should let her on this ship."

She glanced at Tuvok and he nodded in agreement with Chakotay. She stared up at the screen, thinking, then gave Tuvok the signal to continue the transmission, "Tell me, Borg, why should I trust you?"

"Why should you not?"

"Interesting question. Does the fact that you have tried numerous time to assimilate my ship and my crew give you any indication of why I do not trust you?"

"That is why you should trust me."

"Would you like to explain that?"

"When it was the intent to assimilate you, you have always been told. That is not the intent."

Janeway’s eyes narrowed. The silence between them stretched long. Finally, she said, "How would you propose we do this?"

"Captain?" Chakotay stepped closer to her but stopped when she put her hand up.

They watched as the Borg queen raised her head, then lowered it to level her look at Janeway, "I have lowered our shields. You can lock onto my coordinates and transport at will."

She turned to Tuvok and he confirmed it, "Shields on the Borg vessel are down." He raised an eyebrow as he continued to read his scans, "And there is only one life-sign on board."

Janeway turned back to the screen, this time not trying to hide her amazement, "You are alone?"

"Yes."

Janeway was quiet only a second, "We will prepare to transport you. We will let you know when we are ready."

The Borg queen did not speak, only nodded her head at Janeway. The Captain signaled Tuvok to cut the signal.

"Captain, I don’t care what she said. I don’t think you can trust her."

"Oh, I don’t trust her, Chakotay. I don’t trust her at all." She started pacing, then turned to her Commander, "When I contact you, lock onto her coordinates and beam her into cargo bay two. If anything other that the queen materializes in there, blow it. I’ll be outside until you give me clearance to enter." She turned and ran up the steps toward the turbolift, "Tuvok, you’re with me."

He quickly joined her in the turbolift and she gave the command. They were silent as they made their way to the doors outside of the cargo bay. She slapped her combadge, "We are ready, Chakotay. Are you?"

"Yes, we are locked onto her signal."

"Any sign of any other Borg vessels yet?"

"No, Captain."

"Have you scanned the queen’s ship?"

"Yes. Shields are still down and no other life signs."

She shared a look with Tuvok, then took a deep breath, "Chakotay, open a channel to the Borg."

"Channel open, Captain."

"This is Janeway. We are about to begin transport."

"I am ready."

"Chakotay, begin transport."

She looked up at Tuvok, holding her breath, waiting on Chakotay to report.

"Transport is complete, Captain. Only one life sign beamed into the cargo bay."

Tuvok stood reading his tricorder and gave her a single nod. She prepared to go inside.

"Keep scanning, Tuvok. If you get the indication that anything is going wrong, blow the cargo bay doors. That is an order."

He gave her a hard look, "Yes, Captain."

She turned from him and walked for the doors, not hesitating as they opened, her eyes locking on the figure in the middle of the bay.

"Welcome to Voyager." She walked up, keeping her distance, her arms crossed in front of her.

The queen looked off at the alcoves to her left, then turned her head back to Janeway. "This is where Seven of Nine regenerates."

"Sometimes. She does have private quarters." She walked closer, "You said you wanted to speak to me privately. This is private. Speak."

The queen also moved closer, "Seven of Nine is dying."

"How…." Janeway caught herself, "never mind. I don’t know if I want to know how you know that." She took a breath, "Yes. She is dying. Her implants are failing."

The queen raised her head, concentrating, "It will not be long."

Janeway watched her carefully, "No, it will not be."

The queen turned her head back to the alcoves before facing Janeway once again, "We can replace her implants."

Janeway caught her breath and blinked quickly, "What?"

"We can replace her implants."

Janeway’s anger was clear on her face, "Right. Why don’t I just hand her over to you so you can assimilate her again. That is the last thing Seven would want."

"I said replace, Captain. Not assimilate."

Her eyes narrowed, partially in surprise and partially in suspicion, trying to figure out what her response should be. Finally, she decided on honesty, "I don’t understand."

The queen turned and walked over to the alcove, and Janeway prepared to give the order to Tuvok to blow the doors but the queen just stood in front of them for a few minutes before responding, "I will take her with me, and we will replace her implants. Then, I will return her to you. She will not be…fully Borg. She will not be connected to the collective. We will only replace the implants she has. We will not add more, although," she turned back to face Janeway, a smile coming to her face, "the implants she will receive will be improved. She will be better than she was before. She will receive programming that will repress her human memories. That cannot be helped." She looked at Janeway, "We will give her back her life. You will have to give her back her humanity. But she will live." She stopped and stood, waiting on Janeway’s reply.

Janeway stared at the…person in front of her. The face looked back at her with that same sickly smile. There was nothing that could be read in the black eyes or in the plastic face. The body language gave away nothing, but this offer was not made out of kindness. That was one thing she was certain of. There had to be another reason. "Why?"

The queen walked around the alcoves, careful not to touch anything. It was obvious she knew Janeway was watching for her to make a false move. It was also starting to become obvious she was not going to do so.

"You have been away from the Alpha Quadrant for many years. There have been…conflicts on the borders. We wish for Seven of Nine to speak to the Federation for us, to tell them that we will not cross our border if they do not cross theirs. We need her to be our ambassador."

"She would never agree to it."

"We think she will."

"It isn’t like the Borg to back down from a fight." Janeway moved closer, "Unless you are losing."

"We are not losing, Captain. But we do not wish to have any further conflict." She increased her sick smile, "At least not at this time."

"Why Seven?"

"Because she was Borg. And because she is human."

"You think they will listen to her."

"We think they will listen to her before they will listen to anyone else." She paused just a beat, "Yourself included."

"And why is that?"

"Because she knows us."

"How do I know that you will do what you say you will do?"

"If you do not trust us, you or your people can accompany her and watch what we do."

"I cannot put my people in that kind of danger."

"They will not be in danger, Captain Janeway. And they will be returned to you. We will not assimilate them. They will be more valuable to us as they are."

Janeway was silent, her mind working desperately to work her way through what she had learned. She desperately wanted to believe what she was hearing, but she knew part of that desire was really her desire to save Seven’s life. She was still running through all of the arguments in her own mind when the queen spoke again.

"Captain, you are running out of time."

Janeway took a breath, "It is not just my decision."

"Who else should make this decision."

"There is her husband."

"Yes. The hologram."

This time, Janeway had to ask, "How do you know that?"

"She is still…of the Borg. She has left the collective and she has lived as an individual but she has not left us completely."

Janeway tried hard not to give away anything, but the queen’s comment unsettled her.

"You do not have to worry, Captain. We are only able to connect with her sporadically. Seven has not even been aware of the contact we have been able to make. It is almost a residual contact. Most of the contact is not of interest to us." The queen drew herself up and spoke again, this time, her voice almost tentative, "I would like to see the child."

"No."

"Perhaps the father should make that decision."

They stared at each other. Finally, Janeway said, "Do you want to transport back to your ship while I talk to the Doctor, or would you prefer to stay here." She smiled and added, "Heavily guarded, of course."

"I will stay here, Captain Janeway." She smiled her sick smile, "Heavily guarded, of course." Then, she added, "You will not have to worry about me being here."

"I won’t worry." She reached up and touched her combadge, "Tuvok, bring a security force." They stayed quiet, measuring each other, waiting for Tuvok to bring in a heavily armed security force. As soon as they approached, she turned to them, "Guard her carefully. Make certain your phasers are set to random modulations. If she does the first suspicious thing, shoot her."

Tuvok nodded to her and she turned and left the cargo bay.