Part IX.

She realized that the ship had now been on 'yellow alert' for over twelve-hours. At that, she sighed. Ensign T'Punn at Ops interrupted the silence.

"Captain. Internal sensors indicate that one fusion generator on Deck eleven has been upgraded to nominal status."

"In other words.. it's on. Our engineers certainly get things done."

"Is it not their required function?"

"Yes Ensign. But I've served on ships with mediocre engineers; even an intoxicated chief engineer during a warp-core breach. I'm definitely grateful to have such dedicated engineers on my ship."

"Unfortunately, are not the majority of them former Maquis operatives?"

"You know, Ensign, that little 'title' really doesn't apply to them now. With the exception of Jonas and Seska... and I believe even they received some version of justice; to say the least. If we ever get to the Alpha quadrant, I'm going to push for a full exoneration for the rest." the loyal Captain oozed.

"Is that a logical choice? The Federation considers th.."

"Right now, Voyager is more important to me, than the Federation or Starfleet. I would risk Court Martial in a minute.. why am I even talking about this now?" she wondered, rubbing her forehead from the slight headache that was beginning. "Thanks for the update. Continue our exterior scans, Ensign."

"Affirmative, Captain." the Vulcan stated.

As the dawning hour of five had been reached, on the viewscreen a trickle of this planet's early sunlight was changing the ebony sky to blue. Would this day present longing or hope? Enemy or ally? Loss.. or find?

In the dank subterranean gallery, he straightened his cravat. From where he stood, the sound of merriment could be heard in the opera house above - a retirement party. Everyone past and present would be there to wish MM. Debienne and Poligny well. A most elegant masquerade ball indeed. He gave a sigh which echoed against the stone walls, then carefully affixed his mask...

...Once upstairs, his fine form blended into the throng of partiers, which also appeared to include Paris' more prominent social figures. Since no one had looked up to see his face at first, he was able to maneuver deep into the throng before a teenage boy caught the ominous bony façade.

"It's the Opera Ghost!" exclaimed Jammes.

Seven of Nine rubbed her forehead. The pain was becoming difficult to ignore. For a moment, she considered rerouting the turbolift to Sickbay and asking the EMH program for an analgesic. No, she decided: the hologram would doubtless insist on numerous scans and tests; a trip to Sickbay would cost her all the time she had saved in Engineering, and more. She would report for treatment only when her discomfort became intolerable.

She dropped her hand to her side and composed herself. The turbolift doors slid open, and she stepped out onto the Bridge. "Captain Janeway," she said.

The Captain turned to face Seven. She stood near her usual station console - when on the Bridge - which sat on the railing behind the command bench.

"Seven. How are you feeling.. this morning?" asked the Captain.

Seven politely muttered one of her usual responses to the overused, annoying human question. Her forehead was throbbing.. and that question did not help.

"I realize that you are needed desperately in Engineering right now. But something equally important was brought to my attention recently.. which also requires your insight."

"Explain." Seven said.

"I've read one of the PADDs with your Borg part removal instructions; specifically the one regarding our sensors." the Captain explained, reaching the PADD in question to the ex-drone.

As Seven looked it over, Captain Janeway continued.

"I need to know if this.. omniphasic booster-matrix - an enhancement I was not aware of - could provide any help in scanning for our missing people."

Seven paused in thought, trying to ignore the pain. Still, the Captain spoke.

"I will be the first to admit that most of this Borg technology is beyond my comprehension.. but that's not the case with you. So please explain to me what the enhancement does, and if it could help us in any way." the Captain said, gesturing instructively.

Lingering still and unbreathing behind the wall, he listened to the three-way conversation still in progress.

"Mademoiselle," the man's voice was familiar, "since you are pleased not to recognize me, I should like to say something to you in private, something very important."

In the darkness of the wall's hollow, his fists tightened by his sides. Then, the object of his affection spoke.

"When I am better, do you mind?"

Her voice carried a tinge of irritation, which lightened his heavy heart somewhat. Then, the acoustics changed, as though she turned her head to address another:

"You have been very good," she said.

"Yes, you must go," said a new male voice. This one was older, gruff. "Leave me to attend to mademoiselle."

"I am not ill not," she said quickly. There was a shuffling as though chairs were moved. "Thank you, Doctor. I should like to be alone. Please go away, all of you. Leave me. I feel very restless this evening."

The sound of footsteps as the two men left lifted his eyes in blackness. A final pair of footsteps - female - and the time was upon him. He steeled himself, and opened a panel.

At once, the young woman, who sat alone in her dressing room, straightened up in her chair. A breath left her in anticipation of what she expected to hear:

"Christine, you must love me!"

Through the mask's eyeholes, he could see her shoulders tremble. "How can you talk like that? When I sing only for you!"

In the mirror, he could see his reflection. And hers. "Are you very tired?"

Christine turned to gaze into the eyes beyond the mask. She stood and took a step forward. "Oh, tonight I gave you my soul and I am dead!"

He hesitated, awed by her beauty. "Your soul is a beautiful thing, child," he said gravely, "and I thank you. No emperor ever received so fair a gift. The angels wept tonight." He bowed.

Seven of Nine frowned. Once again, she was being asked to explain. "The omniphasic booster matrix allows direct observation of the non-luminous universe through superspace," she said.

Captain Janeway blinked. "Wait a minute," she said, holding up a hand. "Run that by me again. Direct observation of what?"

"The non-luminous universe."

"You mean, dark matter and dark energy."

"Yes. Through superspace."

"Superspace?"

"The non-luminous counterpart of subspace."

"I...see," said Captain Janeway. "How does it do this, exactly?"

"With a Scodar beam," said Seven of Nine.

"A Scodar beam. I don't believe I'm well versed in those either."

"Scoton wave detection and ranging. A scoton is a dark light Quantum-A dark photon. Scodar is the dark energy equivalent of radar, or lidar. Just as radio and light waves are reflected by luminous matter, scodar beams are reflected by dark matter."

Janeway nodded. "All right. So we can scan for dark matter. Does it have any other uses?"

"Other uses?" Seven asked.

"Is it good for anything else? Can it be used to scan the luminous universe?"

"It could be used to scan through a luminous forcefield, or to conduct a deep scan of a luminous object. Dark matter absorbs normal light, but luminous matter is practically transparent to dark light. However, the reflections would be extremely faint. Resolution would be poor, and few details would be visible."

"Would it be affected by phasic interference?" the Captain wondered

"Not as badly as ordinary sensors. Why?"

"Here." Janeway called up the ship's sensor logs. "When Mr. Neelix and his security team entered that cave, we lost contact. We couldn't communicate or lock transporters. We almost couldn't detect them at all. Something in the bedrock of this plain is causing phasic interference-probably aspidite."

Seven of Nine considered. "Aspidite deposits would generate a magnetophasic field powerful enough to disrupt sensors and communications," she said.

"Exactly. We lost contact with Commander Chakotay, Lieutenant Tuvok, and their security detail hours ago. They were looking for polyferanide: they must have entered another cave, and gotten trapped or lost. We need some way of getting through that interference and scanning for their life signs. Can this Borg scodar do that?"

"I would have to tune the emitter to an extremely low frequency. But-yes. I believe so."

"Do it." replied the Captain.

Seven nodded, and stepped over to the Ops console next to Ensign T'Punn. She stepped aside as Seven made numerous adjustments on the controls.

"Captain. Make the following adjustment at science station one." Seven instructed, waiting as the Captain approached the console.

"Okay."

"Activate the particle delimiter grid. Change the EM handler to setting 23667-iota. That will require your command code."

The Captain made the adjustment, talking as she went along. "Interesting. You know, the last time I used this grid, we were still in space dock.. that one blasted admiral wanted to make sure I knew how, I guess. Anyway.. all finished."

Seven sighed at that bit of anecdote, and continued making adjustments. After several minutes, she paused. Her headache was now approaching migraine status. She fought back the pain enough to proceed.. but she did not know for how much longer.

"The emitter is ready Captain. Activating it now."

For nearly ten minutes, sensor sweeps took place, this time with the Borg enhancement doing it's magic. Captain Janeway and T'Punn observed nearby. Seven stopped the sweep abruptly, focusing on one spot in their general area of the planetary terrain.

"Captain. I believe.." Seven said, pausing mid sentence.

"What is it? Have you found them?"

She stopped and shouted at him "Tom!"

Tom turned to look at her.
"B'Elanna! I thought you were busy?"

"I am, I was, I mean" B'Elanna seemed to be getting confused.
Tom walked over to her. "Are you alright?"
"I'm fine and you?"
"Good. See I told you we would get out alright!"

"About that, um! about what I said when we were in the jeffries tube, I" Tom stopped her.

"I understand that the situation we were in was intense and serious, but" B'Elanna butted in.

"Listen to me! I meant what I said, but I don't want anything from you! I understand if you don't feel the same way or if, um!" She stopped dead in her tracks.

"Don't be stupid. Of course I feel the same way. Why wouldn't I?" Tom asked her.

Tom moved closer to her.

B'Elanna moved back a little. "Um! I just wanted to speak to you. I've got to get back to engineering. Seven is in charge, I don't want her to ruin my ship."

A crewman walked past both of them.

"Duties call, Lieutenant! If I need anymore help I will contact you"

"Be sure you do that" Tom smiled at her as she walked off back towards engineering

B'Elanna entered Engineering and looked around to find Seven.

"Crewman, where is Seven of Nine?" She asked him "She was called to the bridge by the Captain. She told me to remove the Borg mialoids by disconnecting the primary regeneration sequencer"

"Borg mialoid?" B'Elanna asked.

"This, Lieutenant" The crewman handed B'Elanna one of the Borg mialoids. "Seven said that we cannot replicate them because they will assimilate the replicators."

"Borg! Assimilate. Is there anything better she can do?" B'Elanna was frustrated.

She had just opened up to Tom once more and didn't need this.

"Lieutenant?"

"Never mind. How many have you removed so far? and how long will the rest take?" She asked.

"I have removed 10 so far, and the rest will probably take about 40 more minutes."

"Concentrate on the transporter ones first. The transporters and more important than the holodeck. I'll check back with you then" B'Elanna started to head out of engineering.

"Where are you going?" The crewman asked.

"To speak to the Captain, about the damn Drone!"

B'Elanna left engineering and headed for the bridge.

`She needs to be sorted out!` B'Elanna thought to herself.

After speaking with B'Elanna, Tom finally arrived at the turbolift.

As he entered, he realized that the helm diagnostic could wait until later in the day. He was dead on his feet from the events of yesterday.. so he headed to his quarters instead of the Bridge.

As he shortly reached his floor, en route to his quarters, he passed the still unassigned quarters of his terribly missed friend.. the late Harry Kim.

Tom smiled fondly, but continued to his own abode. As he entered, he passed out on his bed, just laying there to tired to go to bed. He sat up momentarily, and noticed Harry's clarinet on it's own shelf.

A few days after Harry's memorial, the Captain had his personal items put in storage until his parents could one day claim them. But as for his clarinet, the Captain personally gave it to the one who'd miss him the most - Tom Paris.

That day served the evening in which Tom did his crying; and now the memories were mostly sentimental. He walked over to the clarinet and held it for a moment.

"Harry. I sure miss ya' bud.." he sighed.

Tom put it back down, and walked to the bathroom. After a quick sonic shower, he dressed in his bed attire, turned down the lights.. and went to sleep for the few hours he had.

Seven of Nine stared at the readout. Impossible, she thought. Error. Input failure.

She winced, shut her eyes, and pressed the palm of her left hand against her ocular implant. The pain was becoming intolerable.

"Seven?"

She took her hand away from her face, sniffed, blinked. The trembling in her left hand was worse. She put her hand down on the workstation, and struggled to focus on the sensor readings. The readings hadn't changed. They were still impossible.

"Seven, what's the matter?" The Captain's voice was full of concern.

"Nothing," said Seven of Nine. "A headache. I will report to Sickbay when my task here is complete."

The Captain looked at her narrowly. "All right," she said. "What have you found."

Seven of Nine took a deep breath, and fought back the pain. "Life signs," she said, pointing at the sensor image with her right hand. "Here. One Vulcan, two human, and several thousand unknown aliens."

B'Elanna walked out of the turbolift onto the Bridge.

She saw Janeway, Seven and Ensign T'Punn talking to each other at the Ops console. They were trying to locate the away team.

B'Elanna marched up to them all and stood behind Janeway. She gave Seven an idle look before turning to Janeway.

"That's them. We've found them." the Captain stated numbly, with a cautioned hope. "Where are the readings located in relation to Voyager?"

Seven tried to answer as clearly as possible, in spite of pain, now approaching agony.

"Captain.. the location is approximately 4.8 kilometers north-northeast of the ship. The life signs of our.. crewmen.. appear to be in a.. different section from the unknown species readings."

"A different section. Like within a structure of some sort?"

"That is unclear, though most likely. But I estimate.. that all of the life signs.. are at a subterranean depth greater.. than 500 meters." Seven replied, fighting to utter each word.

About at that moment, Lieutenant Torres entered the Bridge from the turbolift. As the Captain stood silently looking at the readings by Seven's side, the Chief Engineer took that opportunity to speak.

"Can I have a word, Captain? In private!"

"B'Elanna.. if it's important, go to my Ready Room. I'll be there as soon as I can."

She nodded, figuring something more important was underway, and proceeded to the Ready Room. Captain Janeway continued with Seven-of-Nine.

"Seven. Is there any type of entrance indicated in the area?"

"None. However, the readings.. are.. too faint to discern any.. architecture.." the ex-drone said. She put both hands on her forehead, wincing in pain more severely than ever.

"Seven. Let's call the Doctor. I don't think you..."

"No. I must continue as long as possible." she interrupted, as she barely continued to take scans. But a sudden look of frustration overcame her countenance.

"What is it?" the Captain inquired sharply.

Seven began frantically adjusting the control panel. "It appears that the omniphasic booster matrix has stopped functioning. We... we cannot..."

"Seven?.... Seven!"

Seven of Nine took a trembling step back from the Ops console, and fainted. T'Punn and Janeway reached out quickly, caught her, and lowered her gently to the deck. Her human eye was closed, but her prosthetic eye was open, staring blindly. Her left arm jerked and twitched, and her breath came in gasps.

Oh no, no, thought Janeway. She tapped her combadge. "Bridge to Sickbay," she shouted. "Medical emergency!"

As the Captain held the afflicted ex-drone in her arms, Kes responded to the emergency hail. She told the Captain to lie Seven gently on the floor. With T'Punn's help, they laid her accordingly.. and stepped back. Within moments Seven was transported to Sickbay.

Captain Janeway was affected badly by the whole scene. She turned and walked slowly, silently and blank faced toward her Ready Room. T'Punn asked a question about the sensors, but the Captain was oblivious to it and maintained her course.

Upon entering, the Captain paused her steps and stared out of her windows, drifting in her own thoughts. Lieutenant Torres was sitting in the chair facing the Captain's desk, studying an engineering PADD.

Turning toward her, she knew something bad had happened - as she noticed the Captain's odd behavior. Captain Janeway then looked in her direction.

"B'Elanna. Glad to see you've recovered.. was there something you wanted to discuss with me?" she mumbled.

It was approaching 6 AM. In the Mess Hall, Neelix had straightened the tables, stacked the trays, put the coffee on, placed each breakfast dish in serving pans... and was prepared for the breakfast rush.

As he put on his chef's hat, and grabbed his serving utensils; crewmen slowly began to trickle into the room.

"Ensign Caviar. Good morning." the chipper cook said, spooning a glob of glowing mush onto his tray.

"Neelix, I am Cavanaugh... not Caviar. Caviar is eggs from a sturgeon - an earth fish."

"Oh. Sorry about that. Would you like pancakes or waffles?"

"Waffles, thanks. What is this glowing stuff, if I may ask?"

"These are scrambled kow eggs."

"Cow eggs? Eww.. no thanks. I can't believe Captain Janeway would approve th.."

"Mr. Cavanaugh, I said kow.. k-o-w. It's a big white bird on Rinax. These are a delicacy where I'm from, so I thought they'd raise everyone's spirits if I served them." he said, holding up one of the pink eggshells. "I had 15 dozen of these in stasis in the hydroponics bay. Four long years now."

"Why do they glow?" Ensign Cavanaugh asked.

"It's just a trait of the species. The full grown kows glow too. Coffee?"

"Yes." the Ensign replied, staring oddly at the eggs.

"Orange juice, or shizoot juice?"

"Orange.. definitely. Thanks." he said.

As Cavanaugh went through the line, the next patron was served. The bright orange sun glared through the large windows, and the smell of food cooking added to the charm of the place.

The breakfast hour in true form.. as Voyager's second busy day on the planet officially began.

"This is my bedroom, if you care to see it. It is rather curious," he said.

Christine had been carried off to an underground kingdome beneath the opera house, a place she never would have imagined. Led on horseback along the banks of an underground lake, where a house stood in the dank darkness. Her "host" turned out to be the keeper of the voice, that same voice which enchanted her with its soul. So much so that with every moment of terror and fear she felt in this place, she was drawn to it as well.

She looked up into the direction of his face. It was entirely covered by a black mask, so she could only guess as to what his expression would have been. The dark eyes behind the concealment were unreadable without eyebrows to embellish the mood.

Passing him, she walked into the room, and was aghast. It looked as though it had been prepared for the dead. The walls were all hung with black, but, instead of the white trimmings that usually set off that funereal upholstery, there was an enormous stave of music with the notes of the Dies Irae, many times repeated. In the middle of the room was a canopy, from which hung curtains of red brocaded stuff. Under the canopy was an open coffin.

"That is where I sleep," he said as she stared it. "One has to get used to everything in life, even to eternity."

She turned away at the disturbing sight, when her eyes caught an organ, whose keyboard took up a considerable portion of one wall. "What's...?" Christine went over to the desk there and beheld a music book. She read the red ink: "Don Juan Triumphant..."

"Yes," he said, "I compose sometimes. I began that work twenty years ago. When I have finished, I shall take it away with me in that coffin, and never wake up again.'

"You must work at it as seldom as you can."

He walked into the room. "I sometimes work at it for fourteen days and nights together, during which I live on music only. Then, I rest for years at a time."

"Will you play me something out of your Don Juan Triumphant?" It was hard to gauge whether Christine made her request because she was sincerely interested in the piece, or tried to diffuse her own tension by being personable.

"You must never ask me that," he said gravely. "I will play you Mozart, if you like, which will only make you weep. But my Don Juan, Christine, burns - and yet he is not struck by fire from Heaven..."

The two returned to the drawing room, where he sat himself before a piano. "You see, Christine, there is some music that is so terrible that it consumes all those who approach it. Fortunately, you have not come to that music yet, for you would lose all your pretty coloring and nobody would know you when you returned to Paris. Let us sing something from the Opera, Christine Daaé."

Together they sang a duet from the operatic adaptation of Othello, he the role Moor of Venice and she that of lovely Desdemona. Enthralled by his voice despite his spiriting her away to his underworld, despite his ominous ways and ominous home, despite his warnings, she was compelled in that moment to see the face of the voice of the tormented soul, the voice she was compelled to love. She came closer to him with this sudden, impulsive urge, and

=/\= Sickbay to the Doctor. =/\=

Kes' voice startled him as it broke into the height of his tension. "Computer Freeze program!" He took in a breath. Christine Daaé's hand was but inches from his mask. "What is it, Kes?"

=/\= Medical emergency: It's Seven of Nine =/\=

"I'm on my way."

He allowed himself but a second to dwell on the fatal timing of the interruption, then:

"Computer, save minus nine point four two minutes and end program, and transfer the EMH to Sickbay."

Kes had just returned to Sickbay from working in the aerponics bay when a message came through from the Captain.

She materialised to see Seven looking very unsteady and apparently in great pain. The Captain was supporting her. Kes took some swift readings.

"Please lie her down, I'll take her straight to Sickbay"

With T'Punn's help, they laid her accordingly.. and stepped back. Within moments Seven was transported to Sickbay. Kes tapped her combadge yet again.

"Sickbay to the Doctor"

=/\= What is it, Kes? =/\=

"Medical emergency: It's Seven of Nine"

=/\= I'm on my way. =/\=

Having contacted the Doctor, Kes began to scan the areas around Seven's implants while she waited for his transfer, knowing that this was by far the most likely reason for her distress.

"A way to leave? Preposterous. In countless centuries - "

"Because our ancestors could no longer operate - " Astorah began heatedly, only to be cut off by a noise that caused his hair to stand on end. He was not the only one, for it was a sound all of them had been taught to hear since infancy.

"They've broken through the first security tier!" cried one of the councilors. "All stations reporting implementation of defense plan alpha underway."

This announcement was met by a babble of confused and worried voices, even as the warning klaxon shut off.

"It's worse than that," Lintorhan added, quickly accessing her desk console. Her voice cut through the noise despite its softness. "They know we're here."

"What? That shouldn't be possible," Mrindaw exclaimed. "The system is designed to transfer control to the next highest tier the moment it even looks as though alien sensors might pierce it!"

"I know, but it's happened. See for yourself. I don't know how long for, and how much they saw, but they would have gotten good enough readings to be able to pick up life signs nearby."

There was a brief pause as everyone scrambled to check the data.

"This changes everything," Astorah said sharply, moments later.

"It changes nothing!" hissed back Mrindaw. "We still simply sit back and wait for - "

"Wait for what? Because they certainly won't be waiting! They know we're here - it's only a matter of time before they come looking for us - perhaps even find us! What then?"

"I…I don't…"

Sensing the moment was at hand Lintorhan again spoke up. "Astorah is right. We can't afford to have them actively looking for us. They know we are here. We need to find a way to stop them from using that knowledge against us! What have we ever done for them that would stop them, right now, selling knowledge of our existence to the Borg in exchange for safe passage? Or perhaps they might choose instead to bomb us into submission! We've seen the superiority of their hand-held weapons - imagine the full capabilities of their ship's weaponry. We must establish contact now, on our terms, not theirs!"

"I put it to the vote now: shall we make contact with the aliens?"

Raising her left arm, she glared around the room. Three others followed suit.

"The decision has been made. So let it be written and done: we will contact the aliens."

B'Elanna sat there staring at Captain Janeway. `Something is wrong` She thought.

"Captain! I wanted to discuss Seven of Nine, but I don't think it is the right time" B'Elanna looked at Captain Janeway and awaited her reply.

B'Elanna wanted to know what had gone wrong, but didn't want to come right out and ask.

The Captain was silent for a second. She was terribly worried and distracted by the thought of Seven's episode on the Bridge, and strolled over to her sofa.

Looking out her window at the sunlit terrain, she responded to B'Elanna.

"If it's about a problem with Seven of Nine.. your weariness of her presence in Engineering can be put at ease for now. This planet's radiation is catching up with her. She collapsed just minutes ago on the Bridge. She's in Sickbay now. Your department's ability to remove the Borg technology without her should be your next worry." Captain Janeway said a little strongly, as she turned to face her.

B'Elanna stood to her feet with folded arms and looked slightly irritated at that last statement. She responded.

Within seconds, the Doctor materialized in Sickbay. He rushed in the direction of the surgical bay, where Seven of Nine was lying in convulsions. She had to have walked around long enough with severe symptoms for them to have gotten this bad, he thought; a grimace was plastered on her face. But now was not the time for admonishment. "Kes! 2cc's Delactovine!"

In the space of a moment, he heard the sound of a hypospray loading, then felt the instrument hit his palm. Once administered, the seizures abated only slightly. Seven grit her teeth, as though she were attempting to fight her rebellious musculature. She grabbed the Doctor's arm and looked at him with intense eyes.

The hologram knew that in her condition, the ex-Borg was unable to speak; any ordinary human would have already succumbed to a coma. Her grip was strong despite the constant twitches plaguing her fingers. It was as if her fingers spoke for her. The Doctor placed his hand over hers and squeezed it. "I *WILL* help you," he said, with an expression just as intense.

Seven of Nine's eyes closed and the grip on his arm loosened. He turned to Kes. She had his tricorder open and ready. With a look he'd hoped she would recognize as "thank you," he took the diagnostic tool and scanned Seven's body from head to foot.

"Her cortical node is still connected, but tenuously."

"Doesn't the cortical node control her higher brain functions?" Asked Kes. She had assisted the Doctor in removing the majority of Seven's implants, and he'd pointed out that the cortical node was too essential to bypass.

"Yes," he said, "and we have to act fast so that it doesn't lose that control. Prepare for surgery."

"Captain, Permission to speak freely?" B'Elanna asked. "Go ahead"

"Seven has done nothing but hinder this crew since we entered Borg space. Actually, the whole collective have hindered this crews chances of getting home" B'Elanna paused. "We lost Harry thanks to them and now we could lose more. It has to end" B'Elanna walked over to the ready room door.

"My department will be totally capable of removing the Borg technology, Captain!" and with that B'Elanna left the Captains' ready room and headed towards the turbo-lift.

`Without her! What does she think I am, incapable?` B'Elanna thought to herself.

"Lieutenant Torres. I really hate to pull rank, but I haven't dismissed you yet." Captain Janeway said, somewhat amused at B'Elanna storming out of the room.

B'Elanna reluctantly came back into the Ready Room. She put her hands on her hips impatiently waiting for the lecture. No lecture came, to her surprise. The Captain gestured - and they both sat on the sofa.

"B'Elanna. I must admit, I was probably out of line with the tone of that last.. remark. I am certainly not too big to apologize when I'm at fault. I apologize."

B'Elanna smiled half way. "That's not necessary, Captain."

"I think it was. I definitely have found myself saying things out of character ever since we've been stuck on this big rock. Captains aren't immune to stress.. we just pretend we are."

B'Elanna nodded in agreement and they talked about things for quite awhile. The Captain explained that it isn't disgraceful for B'Elanna to be unable to remove some Borg technology without Seven's direction. B'Elanna admitted the merits of that fact.. to a point.

The Captain updated her on other happenings, too.

"Yes. According to our Borg-enhanced sensors, Tuvok and two other away-team members are alive and well.. hopefully the fourth member is too."

At that, the headstrong women wrapped up their discussion.. feeling better from the other's candor. They bid more respectful good-byes, and B'Elanna returned to Engineering.

Ensign Vorik was at a work station, taking inventory of Borg removals up to 0700.. the fast approaching hourly update.

Lieutenant Carey entered Engineering having repaired the damaged fusion generators. As he approached the console below the upper balcony.. a blank PADD hit him flatly on the crown of his head.

Two male Ensigns were trying to keep Nicoletti's PADD away from her.. a momentary tension breaker. As Carey caught on, for a brief moment of weakness, he joined in.

When Nicoletti came to the lower level to get the PADD, Carey threw it back up to the Ensign waiting on the upper level. On and on, back and forth it went on.. now involving several engineers.

Vorik thought it was foolish. As he continued his work, the Captain called.

=/\= Mr. Vorik.. you may now remove the Borg technology from the sensor array whenever you'd like. It has stopped working. =/\=

"Captain. I shall undertake the removal procedure at once. The malfunction indicates the procedure's import. Vorik out."

Vorik finished the inventory and headed for Jeffries tube one. On the way, he passed B'Elanna in the corridor.

Meanwhile, after nearly ten minutes of the playful fun.. the more professional Carey was set to take charge and end it. He did not get the chance, unfortunately.

Through the Engineering doors... she entered.

Tom had slept soundly for over two hours. His stomach was growling.. so much that it woke him.

"Computer. What time is it?"

=/\= The time is 0744 hours =/\=

"Dammit." he said in disgust.

Neelix would be closing down at 8 - until lunchtime - and Tom was out of replicator rations until tomorrow. He quickly dressed, and headed for the Mess Hall.

As he arrived, he noticed that only a handful of crewmen were still eating. He approached the serving window.

"Good morning, Tom. I figured you'd be late today, so I have your tray in the warming oven." Neelix said quietly.

"Neelix.. you're a lifesaver. How did you know I was out of rations?"

"Are you kidding? Word gets around on a ship this small. Especially when that bet with Ayala was an easy win.. who figured you'd lose at checkers?"

"Checkers? Oh my gosh.. is that the gossip that's going around!? It was poker, hardly checkers." he replied, highly embarrassed.

He took the tray, juice, and blue coffee.. and sat at a table. Neelix grabbed a cup of the coffee, and joined him. Tom used this opportunity to start an interesting conversation.

"I have a hypothetical question for you, Neelix."

"Certainly. What is it?"

"If two people.. like.. a girl and a guy for example.. say things in a moment of certain death; how does one know if the other was serious?"

"That's a tough one. What exactly did B'Elanna say?" the Talaxian innocently inquired.

Tom stared at him in exasperation. It genuinely bugged him that Neelix already knew of whom the question pertained.

'How much does everyone else on this ship know? Are we THAT transparent?' thought Tom.

Neelix laughed, trying to hide it. Tom quickly changed the subject.. and continued eating.

The council chamber was empty now - empty, that was, save Lintorhan. Once forced into making a decision, the Council of Five acted with impressive speed and purpose. It was only just over five minutes ago that a vote has been called, those subsequent five minutes spent hammering out an immediate game plan - and choosing the representative for their people. The one who'd first member of their race in centuries to openly contact another species.

In the end, and in the complete lack of anyone actually qualified, Lintorhan had wound up with the job. Suddenly faced with the enormity of what she was about to do, it seemed less and less like a good idea.

Her hands shook as she activated communications equipment long-dormant and hailed the alien ship across what records said were the standard audio frequencies of most space-going races. And then she waited.

Kes turned to prepare the instruments. Firstly, the surgical instruments for invasive surgery. Then, a collection of modified engineering tools for adapting Seven's technology. Kes glanced at the Doctor, who was scrubbing up over to one side. "Ready Doctor."

"Thank you, Kes." The Doctor shut the sonic scrubber and walked cautiously over to the surgical bay. Arms were at his sides as usual, sleeves rolled up and hands calmly still. The same couldn't be said for his face, which wore a very tense expression.

Passing the Doctor a hypospray of Anesthezine, Kes looked thoughtfully at the ex-drone. If they weren't successful the chances were that even if she survived the operation Seven wouldn't live long past it.

As expected, the Anesthezine did little to reduce the remaining tremors in Seven's body. All it served was to deaden sensation and induce unconsciousness. He looked at Kes for a moment, then down at Seven and sighed.

"Doctor, I'm sure that you'll get Seven past this crisis - after that we have to rely on the Captain and the others to find a more permanent solution."

"I'm not so sure, Kes. We're caught in a cycle right now: I cannot perform neurosurgery if she isn't still, and we cannot control these tremors without surgery." He looked back at Kes. "I' not the most ideal situation we have here."

Kes looked back at the Doctor. It was one of those medical situations where whatever one did seemed the wrong decision. However, making no decision would be the worst one of all.

Captain Janeway had just enjoyed a large breakfast in her Ready Room. She returned to the Bridge and sat down in her chair.

"Ensign T'Punn, nothing much is going on right now. If you'd like to go have breakfast.. feel free."

"Thank you, Captain. However, I require no nutritional intake at this time. It is my daily procedure to abstain from the morning meal."

"Oh. Then run a complete diagnostic on the computer systems.. since it's overdue." the Captain said.

"Very well."

As the Vulcan began the process, an alarm sounded on the communication's panel. She told the Captain, who was now reading a small book brought from the Ready Room.

"Captain. We are being hailed."

"What? From where?" Captain Janeway asked, putting down her book and briskly walking over to the Ops station.

"The telemetry vector indicates a subterranean source, although our sensors are unable to determine the location. The signal is on a very low frequency band. It is audio only."

"This must surely be the aliens we detected. Re-route our signal through the deflector grid, just to be sure it's received. Open a channel on their frequency."

T'Punn made the proper adjustments to several controls. The channel was opened. The Captain took a deep breath, then responded.

"This is Captain Kathryn Janeway of the Federation Starship Voyager. Is there something we can do for you?"

Through the Engineering doors... she entered.

In front of her, her engineering staff were playing cat and mouse with a blank PADD.

"What is going on here?" B'Elanna looked directly at Lieutenant Carey and then at the Ensigns on the upper balcony.

They all turned and stared, as the PADD went flying to the floor. "Well?" B'Elanna asked again as she walked towards them.

"It was a bit of harmless fun Lieutenant. To relieve the tensions that have been building up" Carey replied. The two male Ensigns nodded and then swiftly went back to their duties.

"Fun! To relieve tensions? There is too much work to do for that! We have all these Borg components to get rid off and all you are worried about is having fun?" B'Elanna looked extremely stressed at this moment in time.

Carey didn't want to have this argument with her.

"The backup holodeck and transporter supply is back online. We were just about to move onto the Sensor array. Vorik has just gone to Jeffries tube ?? to begin work" Carey explained.

"Well then get back to it. We should be leaving this planet soon and I want everything at peck efficiency when we do."

"Yes Lieutenant" Carey headed to the upper level to help the two male Ensigns finish removing the Borg components. B'Elanna walked over to the main engineering station.

"Computer, Display a schematic of Voyager" B'Elanna asked. A display of Voyager flashed up at the engineering station viewscreen. "Display all remaining Borg components"

Just under half the ship was covered in a light green colour. "Computer, Estimate the time remaining to remove the Borg components at peak efficiency?"

=/\= 72 hours =/\=

`Still too long` B'Elanna thought to herself.

She walked over to the next console and began working on getting all the backup powers supplies up and running. She wanted the remaining Borg components off her ship as quickly as possible.

Lieutenant Carey, and two engineers remained on the upper level. A sensor array backup processor control panel was here, and as Vorik was in Jeffries Tube one.. they monitored his progress and relayed data to him.

B'Elanna was having great progress in routing Voyager's primary power around many of the minor Borg-enhanced relays which remained. Unfortunately, a snag here and there cost her a profane outburst at everything Borg.

When she discovered that the entire secondary power grid was relying on a major Borg enhancement.. she slapped the side of the console and cursed.

Carey looked down toward her. He knew that any minute she'd be storming off to another part of the ship to try and fix the problem, regardless of the difficulty.

'Captain Janeway certainly picked an excellent chief engineer.' he thought. He chuckled in professional admiration of her, and continued his work.

Tom left the Mess Hall and soon entered the turbolift. "Bridge." he said.

On the way up, he mentally replayed the events of his and B'Elanna's entrapment. He sighed and shook his head. The turbolift arrived not long after.

As he emerged onto the Bridge, the Captain and T'Punn were intensely occupied at the Ops station. He heard the Captain giving her standard greeting of 'first contact'.. and wondered if the missing away-team had been found.

He put that aside for now, and went to the Helm to catch up on some backlogged work. He began the process of undertaking a complete Helm system diagnostic.

He knew that he would be there for awhile.. the boring side of a career in Starfleet.

"This is Captain Kathryn Janeway of the Federation Starship Voyager. Is there something we can do for you?"

So, this was their leader? She spoke in the same flat and nasally voice Commander had, but higher. Feeling more confidant now that she'd actually established contact, she hit the send button again.

"I am Lintorhan, Justice of the Whoontos," she replied with a calmness she didn't feel. It was only polite, she supposed, to introduce herself in turn. "You are trespassing on our planet. Please state your intentions."

"The neurosequencer appears to be working." The Doctor worked on stabilizing Seven of Nine enough to operate. Rerouting her synaptic pathways to avoid an irritation to her trigeminal nerve seemed to do the trick.

Kes watched as the hologram's dark eyes focused keenly on the task at hand. The Doctor appeared less like a computer and more like a well-coordinated person externally. He was just so fascinating to observe. No one could have programmed the subtle human quirks he constantly exhibited. Even now, he was biting his lip...

Gradually, Seven's body ceased its twitching. The Doctor straightened and handed the apparatus back to Kes with a nod. His sigh of relief caused her to smile despite the severity of the situation. His mouth curved slightly in response. They would make it through this yet.

She was getting more frustrated about all the Borg enhancements by the minute.

"Computer! Is there any way to bypass the Borg enhancements which are tied into the entire secondary power grid" She asked the computer.

=/\= Negative =/\=

She slapped the side of the console again. "Computer, Can the Borg enhancements be removed"

=/\= Unknown. The procedure has never been tested =/\=

She didn't like what she was hearing. "Is there any way to use the Borg enhancements to our advantage"

=/\= Clarify =/\=

"Can the secondary power grid be used in conjunction with the Borg enhancements"

=/\= Unknown =/\= "Unknown, You stupid computer"

=/\= Please rephrase the question =/\=

B'Elanna gave out a yell and stormed out of engineering. Carey watched her as she left. `Maybe the position of chief engineer is open again!` He thought.

B'Elanna headed towards her quarters, she needed time to think over what to do and she also needed a break from engineering.

Once she reached her quarters, she headed straight for the Sonic Shower.

"Computer, activate Sonic Shower"

The shower was activated.

"Chief engineers personal. This past few days have been hell. I can't stop thinking about Tom and those goddamn Borg enhancements. I was thinking of inviting Tom out for a meal, but I don't know. Once Voyager is back to it's normal self, then I can worry about Tom. That Goddamn Borg. It is all her fault and the blasted Collective. I heard that she was taken ill and that she may die." B'Elanna stopped and got out of the shower. "Lets see!" She walked over to her bed. "Computer, delete last line and save" She sat down on her bed and her mind began to race.

The low volume response was somewhat surprising to Captain Janeway in its promptness. This planet seemed to only be causing problems, and a glimmer of something hopeful felt surreal.

"We certainly did not mean to trespass on your planet. Our intention is survival.. nothing more. We are peaceful explorers, just trying to get home." the Captain replied, strangely unsettled.

Lintorhan remained silent. Captain Janeway used this pause and inserted a request of her own.

"By the way, four of our male crewmen are missing, somewhere on this part of your planet. They were last heard from nearly 30 hours ago. If you would happen to know anything about them, we would be very appreciative."

"We have…" How to frame this? "… captured your crewmen as they attempted to enter one of our facilities. Unfortunately, one of them was seriously injured in the firefight and we were unable to save his life. We would like to arrange a meeting to… return the captives to you and discuss reparations for your loss, among other matters."

Captain Janeway sighed in guilt ridden despair and shook her head. Another death under her command. She tried not to let it show in her response.

"I will be glad and to meet with your people, if I have your word that the remaining captives will not be harmed. Also, our customs require us to have the body of our dead comrade in our possession.. I hope that is included in the reparations. Where should we meet?"

The relief on the Doctor's face was so apparent that Kes had to smile. He mirrored her smile as they exchanged a look of understanding. This hurdle was over, but unless something could be done about the cause of the problem, there was an insurmountable hurdle yet to come. A serious look replaced Kes' smile and she looked again to the Doctor.

"If the rate of deterioration remains the same, how long do you estimate we have before Seven will need further treatment?"

"That all depends," said the hologram. "Depending upon our success our maintaining Seven's biotechnological interfaces during this procedure, the best course of action would be to hold her in stasis, until a solution is found. Although the rate of deterioration is the same regardless of her biological exertion, moving around challenges these precarious connections.

"Our main concern..." he pointed to the external implant located at Seven's right temple, the one whose unraveling connectoids irritated her trigeminal nerve and triggered the Borg's spasms. "...is finding that solution before the implants themselves begin to seriously lose their integrity. It may have already begun. There will be just so much I can do then; the Borg use technology far beyond what the Federation comprehends."

"Like the Cortical Node." Kes interjected.

"Yes. It is unreplicatable by our ship's systems. Analysis when I first scanned Seven's physiology revealed little on how it worked, not to mention its molecular construction..." The Doctor lowered his head slightly, focusing at nothing. This was looking more and more like an effort in futility, even for his brilliant repertoire.

This seemed to be going better than they'd originally hoped. Continuing to gain confidence, Lintorhan continued:

"The body of the dead one will be returned to you, and the remaining captives will not be harmed if possible - but we can not guarantee what will happen if they attempt to escape before we return them to you.