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

"Captain." She turned to look at Tuvok, eyebrows raised, inviting him to continue, "We are picking up a message streaming through on multiple frequencies."

She cut her eyes to the screen that showed the ships waiting outside the nebula, then turned back to her Security Officer, "Do you have an opinion about why they would try to contact us like that?"

"I do not believe they can identify us through the electrical activity. Therefore, they are using multiple frequencies to try to contact us."

"And when we accept a message, they will key in on that frequency?" He nodded at her. She put her hands on her hips and walked back and forth in front of her chair. After a few moments, she walked up to him, "Do you think you can take pieces from all of the messages and re-sequence them?"

She watched as he considered her question, then saw his eyes clear, "Yes." He lowered his head and worked silently. It did not take him long. He looked back at her, and she nodded. The sound of the voice filled the bridge.

"You cannot escape. Surrender the Borg, and we will allow you to leave. We only want the Borg. If you stay in the nebula, you will be destroyed. If you come out fighting, we outnumber you, and you will be destroyed. We have no desire for either of those things to happen. Turn over the Borg to us. She is all we want."

No one moved. She looked at the screen. They were right. If Voyager came out fighting, they would not be able to raise their shields in time to avoid being heavily damaged or destroyed. If they stayed in the nebula much longer, the convergence of the three highly electrically charged areas would probably destroy them. Their shields were no good in the nebula. Neither was their warp drive. They were trapped.

One life for the rest of the crew.

She knew that the advantage belonged to their unknown enemies, and the rules of survival sometimes required sacrifices. Offering freedom to a crew of almost one hundred and fifty people in exchange for giving up one seemed like a reasonable demand. She knew most captains would accept such an offer.

She was not most captains.

She walked up to stand beside Tom, aware that her pilot was watching her closely out of the corner of his eye. They were all waiting on her. 

"How much time before the convergence?"

Tuvok replied, "Twenty-two minutes."

She turned to look at the screen, feeling the seconds ticking away. "Tuvok?"

"Yes, Captain."

"You said they scanned us."

"Yes."

"Have you been able to run any diagnostics on their scan?"

"I could tell very little about it."

"But you do not think they were able to find us in this nebula?"

"No, I do not."

She turned to face Chakotay and Tuvok, "If you are right, Mr. Tuvok, and they could not locate us inside this nebula, then it is reasonable to believe that their scanning capabilities are not as sophisticated as ours."

Chakotay and Tuvok exchanged glances, both nodding with Chakotay allowing the hint of a small to show on his face.

"If Voyager’s scans cannot get through to the holodeck program, it is reasonable to believe their’s won’t be able to either." She crossed her arms in front of her, "So, if we go out with a flag of truce and allow them to scan the ship…." She looked up at Chakotay, and he finished her statement for her.

"We convince them that Seven is not on the ship."

‘Exactly." She allowed herself to smile and turned to look over her shoulder at the screen, "If they believe she is not on the ship, they might let us go without a fight. If not, at least we will have the time to try to react. Tuvok, you will have to try to get as much information as you can about them once we emerge from the nebula. In the meantime, contact Harry and B’Elanna, and tell them to suspend their work. We don’t need for them to fix that problem until were are free and clear of our visitors."

He nodded, and she gave both men a confident look. She started to walk to her chair in preparation to respond to the messages when she suddenly stopped in her tracks and caught her breath.

Chakotay looked at her, "What is it, Captain?"

She slowly turned to Tuvok, "Where is Kathryn B’Elanna?"

He read his console, "She is in her living quarters."

"Scan the living quarters."

"Captain?" Chakotay stepped closer to her.

She put up her hand to stop him, "Do it, Tuvok."

He gave her a puzzled look, but followed her orders. After only a few seconds, he looked up at her in shock. "I am reading Borg signatures."

Every eye on the bridge turned toward her, and she closed her eyes to shut them all out. Think, she had to think. She had to come up with something, and she was running out of time. They had to block the scans, but how? Then, she opened her eyes. They could not. But maybe…. She raised her hand and touched her combadge.

"Janeway to Ketaria."

The response was immediate. "Ketaria here."

"Is Kathryn B’Elanna awake?"

"Yes."

She sighed, selecting her words carefully, "Ketaria, I do not have time to explain. You will have to trust me, and I will explain later. Kathryn B’Elanna needs to be able to hide from a scan. Do you think you can help her do that?"

She felt the seconds ticking away as she listened to the silence. Finally, the voice came back at her, "We can only try."

"Ketaria, if this works, I cannot tell you how long you might have to stay hidden."

"Captain, we will try to hide first. We will figure out when to come back later."

Janeway looked at Tuvok, "Keep scanning. Let me know what happens. We will give them ten minutes. After that," she looked around at the people staring at her, "we leave this nebula fighting." She walked to her seat and heavily sat down. 

Chakotay moved to sit in his own seat and leaned closely to her. "Captain, how?"

"I can’t answer that right now, Chakotay."

He looked at the pain in her face and sat back. If they survived this, he would get the details from her later. If they didn’t, it wouldn’t matter.

He was different, but the minute he looked at her, she saw the warmth in his eyes. He reached to her, "I can help you find your humanity. Let me be your friend."

It was the Doctor, but he was dressed in robes of blue and black. When he reached his hand out to her, the sleeves draped down from his wrist. The holographic Janeway took her hand and placed it gently in the Doctor’s. She could not take her eyes from his.

"This is our healer," the holographic Janeway was speaking as she walked away from them, "he will help you on your journey."

He smiled at her, and she felt herself warmed by it, "You can trust me. I will never hurt you." 

His voice was rich, and she heard the music behind it. She allowed him to pull her forward into another part of the forest. At first, she did not even notice her surroundings. Then, she saw that the trees took on unusual shapes, and she saw they became almost Borg like. She turned her head slightly and saw what looked like her alcove. She glanced over to Flotter, and he nodded at her.

"Go ahead, Mama Seven. This is the next part of the adventure."

"Please," the Doctor was pulling on her hand, "I can help you. Let me help you."

She did not fight him. She allowed him to guide her onto a bed and watched as he went through the motions of removing implants from her body, listening as he talked to her.

"You do not need these anymore. You will become a beautiful human being without them." He leaned over her, his smile soft, and she found herself lost in the depths of his eyes, "You just have to give up your fear, Seven of Nine. You do not have to be alone. You are part of our family now." He stood and offered her his hand. She reached for it and, when he wrapped his fingers around the metal of her hand, she felt the comfort flow through it.

"Come," he smiled at her, "join me."

She walked with him, and his lab dissolved around them as they moved, and the woods shifted into a scene that was similar to Sandrines. Suddenly, she glanced at Flotter and noticed that he, also, was confused. She spoke softly to him, "This should not be the next adventure."

"No, Mama Seven," his voice was surprised, "I don’t ever remember this adventure."

The sound of music drew her attention away from Flotter, and she looked at the Doctor in surprise. The robes had changed. It was not his uniform, but it was something different from the robes he had been wearing. The top was deep blue with an open collar. The pants were black, gathered at the waist, trim at the hips and falling down to his shoe tops. He offered his hand, "Will you dance with me, Princess Seven?"

Without thinking, she reached out to take his hands, her eyes locked on his. He started to move with the music, and she moved with him.

The silence on the bridge was almost deafening. Kathryn Janeway felt her body grow more and more tense as she waited for Tuvok to report. She watched the chronometer on her command console, watching as it ticked off the seconds toward her self-imposed deadline. She prepared herself to give the order to take Voyager out of the nebula, shields down, weapons firing.

Finally, he spoke, "She has disappeared from our scans."

Her head went back as her breath escaped her body. Putting her hand to her mouth, she gave herself a moment to recover – and to breathe. She heard the turbolift doors open behind her and knew B’Elanna and Harry had entered the bridge. She stood to face them, "Report."

They looked at each other, and B’Elanna spoke for them, "We had started rebuilding the program. We still don’t know what is going on in there, and nothing we tried could override the program." She crossed her arms in front of her, "We don’t even know for certain that Seven is in there. Not even Ketaria could get in there."

Janeway thought about what she said and replied, "Good." She barely registered the surprised look on B’Elanna’s face before she turned to face the screen, giving the order as she did so, "Open a channel."

"Channel is open, Captain."

"This is Captain Kathryn Janeway of the Federation Starship Voyager. We have received your message and are coming out of the nebula. Our shields are down, and our weapons are deactivated. You are free to scan us."

She nodded to Tom, and he moved the ship slowly out of the nebula, breathing a sigh of relief as he did so. The convergence would occur only minutes behind them. They would have been trapped in its center, acting as a conduit again in a matter of seconds. One disaster behind them; one disaster in front of them. He shifted in his chair to prepare for the next few minutes.

Harry and B’Elanna watched in confusion, then moved to their positions on the bridge. They exchanged glances, their looks offering the other encouragement. Whatever was going on would become clear soon enough. All either of them knew was that they trusted their Captain completely.

They watched as Voyager emerged from the nebula and came to a full stop in front of the fifteen vessels positioned in a semi-circular array.

Tuvok spoke, his voice shattering the silence on the bridge, "We are being scanned."

They had danced, and he had held her close. Then, he had taken her by the hand and started walking her through the forest, leading her away from trees that had been Sandrines. They reached the edge of a clearing, and he looked at her, regret in his eyes, "You will walk alone now, but not for long. Do not be afraid. Remember our time in the dance." He smiled at her, his eyes locked on her face. "Always remember our time in the dance." He backed away and dissolved into the woods.

Flotter came up to her, "We have to go, Mama Seven."

She stood, not wanting to leave this place, suddenly wanting him to return to her. She started to move back in the direction that she had come when they heard the growling sound again.

Flotter started to tremble, "It’s the Grobdab! Hurry, we have to leave." He grabbed her hand and pulled her away, in the direction the Doctor had sent them. Reluctantly, she allowed him to lead her deeper in the forest.

She watched as the forest evolved into Borg components again, and she stopped, her eyes widening in fear. Flotter moved to stand slightly behind her, and she could feel him trembling, "It is the evil witch."

The evil witch stood in the center of another clearing, dressed in a long gray gown, her crown a mass of cybernetic tubes. But all Seven could really see was the blackness of her eyes. 

The witch approached her, "You should leave this realm and return to ours, Seven of Nine."

She felt Flotter pulling on her, and she moved with him. The black eyes followed her as she moved away.

"You will never find the peace you are looking for in the realm of Voyager, Seven of Nine. There is only the peace of the unknowing that you can have in our realm."

Seven grabbed to Flotter’s hand and ran with him, moving past the Borg trees, finally stopping when they entered into another clearing. She stopped, breathing deeply. It took a few moments before she recognized the figure working at an object in front of her.

It was B’Elanna, but she was dressed in Klingon warrior garb, and she looked up at Seven angrily, "It is about time. We were about to lose the Great Healer. Help me." The voice was harsh and unkind.

Seven looked at Flotter, and he shrugged at her. She shook her head. This was getting more and more confusing the deeper they moved into the forest. She looked around, trying to understand what was happening to her. The words of the witch kept playing through her mind.

"There is only the peace of the unknowing."

She laughed to herself. She had found no peace in the unknowing. The unknown was all she knew, and all it meant to her was a darkness inside herself. She closed her eyes and bowed her head. She was so tired. She was tired of running, of hiding, of trying to know.

"Always remember our time in the dance."

She raised her head, looking for the sound of the voice, suddenly realizing it was only inside her head. She concentrated on the memory of her hands in his, their bodies close, moving to the sound of the music that surrounded them. It gave her strength.

"Hurry!" It was the holographic B’Elanna. "You must help me before it is too late."

She quickly moved forward, moving her hands over nothing, mimicking the holographic B’Elanna’s actions. Then, the Doctor materialized in front of them. She stopped in shock, for the first time starting to connect the path she was on.

She was reliving her life on Voyager. She had studied her personal logs and knew these were the experiences that had meant the most to her. It had been apparent from the way she had described them. She had heard it in the sound of her voice, recognizing even as she had listened, that the person she had been had not allowed herself to admit what she was feeling. She had remembered the calculated tone of the voice, the cold and measured words. It was a person she could not connect with even though she knew it was who she had been.

He stepped forward, his warm eyes smiling at her, "Thank you for saving me. I owe you my life."

My life. Not my program. He had said my life. What did that mean?

She shook her head, lowering it as she did. He walked up to her, taking her Borg hand in his and spoke softly, "Seven. Do not be afraid."

She stared at him, starting to tremble.

"Don’t mind me, you two," the holographic B’Elanna walked up to them, and Seven turned to look at her, surprised at the warmth in the eyes, and the smile on the face. "My job here is done. B’Elanna the Great will take her leave now." And she dissolved.

Still holding her Borg hand, he reached to take her human hand and lifted it to his chest, placing it there. Unconsciously, she pressed her hand against his chest and did not fight him as he pulled her to him, taking her in his arms. He looked at her lips, then raised his eyes to hers, and she felt as if she were falling into them. She tilted her head as she moved toward his, meeting his lips.

"Nope," said Flotter as he covered his eyes with his hands and turned his back on them, "Naomi never wrote this adventure."

The screen flickered in front of them and a figure appeared, "Prepare to be boarded."

"I would prefer you did not do that."

"We must search your ship."

"We have given you free access to our ship with your scans. Anything you need to know, you should be able to discover with your scans." She crossed her arms in front of her, "Unless…" she allowed her voice to take on a questioning tone, "your ships are not as…sophisticated as Voyager." She allowed herself to smile at the face on the screen, "That might give us a tactical advantage."

She saw the look that crossed the face and knew she had rattled him, "No." He leaned back, and she could see him gathering himself, "But your ship is not from our space. How do we know you don’t have some technology we know nothing about?"

She acted as if he had gained an advantage over her, "A good question." She paused as though she needed time to think, "Perhaps it would be appropriate if I invited you…and some other guests of your choosing to take a tour of Voyager." She gave him a knowing smile, "We are always interested in making new friends."

He squinted his eyes, and she could tell he considered her offer to be one of saving face. She had learned a lot in the Delta Quadrant, and she knew she had won this hand.

"We will transport a team…our ambassadors in a few minutes."

"I will look forward to your visit." She turned and gave Tuvok a look.

"The transmission has ended."

She nodded and took a deep breath. She gave herself only a moment, "Tuvok, you and Chakotay are with me. Mr. Paris, you have the bridge. Please bring Mr. Kim and Lieutenant Torres up to date." She paused, then added, "Let’s just hope that holodeck program stays corrupted." Then, she moved toward the turbolift with Chakotay and Tuvok immediately behind her.

Tom watched as Harry and B’Elanna walked up to him, obviously confused by what had gone on. 

"Tom," B’Elanna looked at her husband with concern, "what in the world is going on?"

"Those are the great wizards," Flotter was whispering to her as they walked through the forest. The Doctor was holding her hand tightly, leading her toward the two figures in the center of a clearing.

They stood in a brilliant circle of light, the male large and broad shouldered; the female small and delicate. She recognized Ketaria immediately and knew the man beside her was Kahkar.

"He has a sickbay, too, Mama Seven," Flotter’s eyes were bright with excitement as he looked at Kahkar.

"Princess Seven," the holographic Ketaria moved toward her, "we have been waiting on you." She reached out and took Seven’s free hand, pulling her away from the Doctor who immediately dissolved behind her. Kahkar reached out, taking her freed Borg hand, and she felt the comfort flow from him to her. She looked up at him, feeling the warmth of his smile on her face. She looked back to Ketaria, seeing the smiling eyes and the kind face. They pulled her forward, and she entered the circle between them.

Kahkar looked down at her, "We have come to grant your heart’s desire, Princess Seven. You must keep walking forward along your journey, but know that we are with you. You are part of our family now."

They walked her to the opposite edge of the circle and let go of her hands. She turned to face them, and they smiled their love at her.

"Go now, Princess Seven," said Ketaria, "you must continue on your journey." They backed away from her and dissolved. 

She turned to face Flotter. He reached out and took her by the arm, "We must walk again, Mama Seven." 

She nodded reluctantly. Hesitating, she looked back at the place where Kahkar and Ketaria had been. 

"I am waiting for you to walk with me."

She whirled and saw the Doctor, his hand outstretched. She reached out her hand, feeling him wrap his fingers around the metal of her hand, the warmth of his hand contrasting with the coldness of hers. Without speaking, they turned and started walking toward the darkness of the forest. As they walked, Flotter reached down and took her other hand.

Janeway waited as the figures began to materialize in front of her. She squared her shoulders, preparing herself. "No weapons, gentlemen. At least not unless they leave us no other choice." They solidified, and she stepped up to face them, "I welcome you to Voyager. I am Captain Janeway, and this is Commander Chakotay and Lieutenant Commander Tuvok."

"I am Follar. This is my Second in Command, Nomar, and my Chief Guard, DaMara." He stepped down from the transporter platform, "Where is the Borg?"

"She has left Voyager."

She could tell he did not believe her, but she did not offer him any additional information. She would not give away anything. He would have to ask her everything he wanted to know. The secret to a good poker game was to play your cards in close, and don’t play with your face.

"Then you will not mind if we search your ship."

"As I told you, I would prefer that not happen." She stepped forward, allowing a small smile on her face, "I will, however, be more than happy to personally give you a complete tour of my ship. And," she glanced at the devices held in the hands of her guests, "you are free to use your ‘devices’ to more carefully study my ship."

The three men looked at each other, smirking. They would allow her her pride, but they would search the ship for the Borg.

"If you will allow, I will have Commander Chakotay begin the tour." She used her hand to invite Chakotay to lead the group out of the transporter room. She hung back, hoping that Follar would also. She was pleased when he did. As the group walked out of the room behind Chakotay, she and Follar walked slightly behind. She glanced up at him, "I would appreciated it if you would tell me why you are after…the Borg."

"That is none of your business."

"You are on my ship because you are searching for her. I think that makes it my business."

He hesitated, "We are at war with the Borg."

"Then that should make us allies, not enemies."

He glanced down at her, "But you harbor a Borg."

"We did have a Borg on Voyager," she emphasized the did, "but she had been separated from the collective."

"Once a Borg, always a Borg."

"I don’t believe that. Seven is an individual. She is…rather," she allowed her voice to express regret, "she was a valuable member of my crew." When he did not respond, she continued, forcing a hard edge to her voice, "That doesn’t explain why you were willing to destroy my ship and kill my crew to capture her." 

He concentrated on listening to Chakotay’s description of the ship, but Janeway could tell he was not interested in learning about Voyager. After a few minutes, he addressed her again, "As a…former Borg, she has important tactical information that we need to be successful in our fight against the Borg."

Janeway nodded her head as if understanding, but she knew there was more. Just needing tactical information from Seven would not be worth risking so many lives. Plus, if this was the case, why would they not have simply asked? Why would they have been willing to kill the very person they said they needed to talk to in the process.

Suddenly, she realized, it did not matter to them whether Seven was alive or dead. It did not matter whether she was a whole body, or if they recovered her in pieces. She knew then, what was at stake, was Seven’s DNA. 

She felt the bottom of her stomach fill with a coldness she had never known. For the first time, she completely understood Kahkar’s fear. It was a fear he had not been able to give voice to. It was a fear she had not been able to completely understand. Now, she shared it.

How could they know? Then, she realized. Keeping her face still, her eyes focused in front of her, showing nothing of the thought process that was rolling uncontrollably through her mind, she allowed herself to think about the pieces of the picture that had just fallen into place. 

The Borg were at war with each other. It was a civil unrest that she herself had instigated. The independent Borg would have known about Seven. All of the collective would have known about Seven. It made sense that the independent Borg would have found allies and shared tactical information. Now, there was a wild card in the Delta Quadrant, and it was Seven.

The side that captured her gained a long-term advantage over the other. She thought back to the picture that Kahkar had showed her of the two DNA strands, side by side. There was another wild card. She glanced up at the man walking beside her. Did they know about Kathryn B’Elanna? The collective had to know, but did these aliens know? Did the independent Borg know?

She forced herself to maintain her outward appearance of calm. She had to give herself time to think. They had been scanning every room they came to. They had scanned every person they met. They would eventually come to the Doctor’s and Seven’s living quarters with Kathryn B’Elanna. They would scan her, but they would not be able to see her on their scans. They would see the pictures of the Doctor and Seven. She had not thought about that. 

What could she do? She had to think. There had to be something she could do.

Think, Kathryn. You have to think!

Her body was swelling. She felt nauseous, and her back was aching. But the feeling was wonderful. She glanced over to the Doctor, seeing the smile on his face and feeling the connection between them grow stronger. He turned his head to face hers.

They were one. She had never felt so connected to anyone or anything, not even in the collective. That had been a physical connection. This one went beyond the physical.

She looked forward and saw the holographic B’Elanna standing in front of them. She watched as the holographic B’Elanna’s eyes went to her swollen belly and looked up at her with a smile on her face.

"May I feel her?" Seven nodded to her and watched as the holographic B’Elanna leaned over and gently placed her hands on her swollen belly, then looked up and said, "She and I will be special friends."

Seven nodded to her, "Yes. You will be."

The holographic B’Elanna stood, smiled warmly at her, then dissolved. The Doctor let go of her hand and backed away from her, "Keep walking, Princess Seven. You must continue on your journey." He dissolved as he moved into the darkness of the forest.

She turned to look at Flotter as he pulled at her hand. "We must keep walking, Mama Seven."

She nodded at him, "Why am I walking alone in this part of the adventure, Flotter?"

"I don’t know, Mama Seven."

"I do not think I was ever alone during this part of my life." When he did not respond, she continued, thinking out loud, "My personal logs during this time speak to never being left alone." She looked over at Flotter, "Apparently, I found that disconcerting."

He was quiet for a moment, as if thinking about what she had said. Then, he spoke, "Maybe it was because you were alone in your head." He stopped to admire a leaf, then continued walking, pulling her along with him, "You can be alone in a crowd."

Before she could respond to him, a sharp, stabbing pain shot through her body. She gasped for air and jerked Flotter to a stop.

"Mama Seven," his eyes widened in fear, "what’s wrong?"

The pain dropped her to her knees, and she released Flotter’s hand, grabbing to her stomach as she did so. She was only able to take a half a breath before she felt herself falling forward. She twisted her body as she fell. As she hit the ground, she looked up at Flotter, but he was not there. She was alone. She was totally alone.

Then, they were there. She felt hands on her body, and the face of the holographic B’Elanna came into her line of sight. Then, there was the Doctor, his touch warm and reassuring.

"We are with you, Princess Seven." His voice was rich and reassuring.

"Yes, don’t worry." It was the holographic B’Elanna, "We will make certain you are all right."

She knew she was giving birth, and the pain was real. She felt the child pass from her body and felt herself falling into the depths of darkness again. Then, she was aware of light and voices and faces and the warmth of his smile as he handed her the child. Her child. Their child.

"Here is our daughter."

She felt the wonder. She felt the bond. And she felt his love for her.

Then, she felt Flotter pull on her arm, "Come, Mama Seven. We have to keep walking. The adventure isn’t over yet."

Reluctantly, she rose, holding her child in her arm and took the Doctor’s hand. With Flotter leading the way, they continued their journey through the forest.

They were standing at the doors of the holodeck program. Chakotay looked at his captain. He could see the look in her eyes and prepared himself.

"This, gentlemen," he kept his voice level and informative, is another storage area. You may scan it. Unfortunately, this is another door that was sealed by the electrical charge. We have been unable to open it."

This was the third door they had come to that had been sealed. The three aliens had insisted that the first two be opened. They had worked to get the first one open and had released a crewmember grateful to be freed from the small storage area. The second had refused to budge, regardless of how hard they had worked to force the doors open. They had finally brought in a crew with a laser to cut through the door.

Follar indicated with his head, and Chakotay and Tuvok moved forward to attempt to pry the doors open. Kathryn Janeway stood outwardly calm and unresponsive. Inside, her heart was in her throat. To her relief, they could not even get the door to crack. Then, Follar stepped forward, and Chakotay and Tuvok moved to allow him and his men to try to open the door. After several minutes, they stood back.

Janeway took a deep breath, "We could call in the crew with lasers again."

Follar looked at her for a long moment." Then, he turned to Nomar, "Are you certain there were no Borg signatures in there?"

Nomar looked at his device carefully, "Yes. Scans do not indicate any Borg signatures."

Follar slowly turned to face Janeway, "No. Doing so will not be necessary." He cut his eyes to Chakotay, "Continue."

She did not allow her relieve to show as they resumed their "tour." How sensitive were their scans? Would the fact that the devices would not show any Borg signatures when they reached Kathryn B’Elanna satisfy them, or would they pick up on the fact that she did not appear on the scans at all? There had to be a way to stop them from entering the living quarters. There had to be something.