Galatea Part 5

     Seven was onboard awaiting the arrival of her crew, the events of the 
last few months playing heavily on her mind as she ran through her 
pre-flight checklist.

The contemplation distracted her almost to the point of inefficiency. 
Her beautiful blue eyes stared at the console in front of her, not 
responding to outside stimuli. What could she do? Seven did not give up 
on anything if she could help it, but no matter what she did, she 
sensed that the Doctor was somehow displeased with her. She dressed and 
ate and slept as he wished. She had curtailed her social activities as 
he had stipulated, seeing only Naomi and the captain, unless he was 
with her. Attaining the level of perfection that he required was 
proving difficult.

     Seven trusted him implicitly. She truly believed that he knew what was 
best for her. He had helped her regain her humanity, guiding her every 
step, taking pride in her accomplishments as if they were his own.

     She was, however, confused by his behaviour towards Ensign Kim. She 
had retained her friendship with him, unwilling to remove him from her 
life as the doctor apparently wished. Ensign Kim and Naomi Wildman were 
the two people that she found it easiest to interact with, although it 
had lately become more difficult for her to interpret his actions.

"Penny for them?" said an amused voice. She looked up into a smiling 
face.

"Ensign Kim reporting for duty, sir" continued Harry. She nodded and 
stood up.

     The Doctor came onboard muttering about Tom's inadequacies and they 
left.

Two hours later Seven brought the shuttle out of warp to a dead halt 
and they began work on the partially installed systems.

     It quickly became obvious that when the doctor had stated his ability 
to perform any function, he had not been entirely truthful. His 
attention was also focused more on Seven than on his supposed 
evaluation of Harry's mental state.

     Harry had long since learned that it was unwise to disturb a Borg deep 
in concentration. Seven put up with conversation as long as it did not 
impede her efficiency but the doctor started importuning for attention.

"One kiss won't hurt you, sweetpea"

"It would impede my vision of this interface board considerably. Please 
attend to your duties." She said, her voice devoid of feeling. 

"Continue to learn the functions of the communications systems."

"My primary function is to evaluate the counselling needs of the 
ensign. I must observe him at work"

The Ensign, who didn't like to be referred to in such an offhand 
manner, counted to twenty in klingon under his breath. He shifted his 
grip on the tool he was holding "How's that Seven?"

"Hmm. The tolerance variables?" She replied.

"Doc? Can you read them off please?" Said Harry sweetly.

"It isn't my function" Replied the doctor"

"Then will you move your head?" The Doctor stepped huffily out of the 
way, his fingers jabbing at the Padd birdlike. He continued his 
observations from a more distant point until at last Seven turned to 
him.
     "It is almost time for me to go to sleep. Doctor, you have the watch 
from 12:30 until 5:00" She nodded goodnight to Harry and she and the 
Doctor went to bed together.

     Left on his own for several hours, Harry finished the board he was 
working on, the tasks going much faster without the doctors 
interference. Then because he didn't really want to think about what 
was going on in the sleeping area, he replicated a mug of coffee and 
read his book, one eye on the unresponsive alert panel. He'd gotten 
through about half of it and he couldn't remember the story so far when 
the Doctor turned up, grinning like the Chesire cat.

     "I'm relieving you ensign. Try and get some sleep" He dropped into a 
seat, humming cheerfully, and put his feet up.
Harry signed over and left without a word. He noticed the green glow of 
the little night light as he got into his bunk and felt touched, 
slightly. He guessed correctly that the Doctor hadn't known who'd given 
it to Seven.

     Seven awoke bright and early, her sleep having been uneventful. She 
showered and dressed in her unitard, pinned up her hair and re-entered 
the Main Cabin.

     "Good morning sunshine!" twittered her lover at her approach. She 
unclenched her fists slightly and chose her breakfast, noting his look 
of disapproval as she daintily ate the waffles laden with syrup.

"A nutritional supplement would have been sufficient, Seven" He said 
sternly. "You must watch your figure" Sevens Borg ancestry kept her 
metabolism at peak efficiency and he knew that. She continued to eat 
anyway. Her rebellions against him were always very small things. Then 
she amended her schedule and showed him how to use the comms systems, 
intending for the Ensign to take over the tuition when he got up. The 
Doctor appeared to be paying close attention.

     Harry hauled himself out of bed at the beeping of his alarm, the off 
switch just out of his reach. He exercised, showered, dressed and ate 
in silence. Then, at Seven's request, spent half an hour showing the 
Doc over the comms and sensor systems. The attention of the EMH 
wandered slightly, his eyes flicking to the portion of Seven that was 
sticking out from under a console.

     "Doc? Look, I've got other stuff to do if you don't want to listen" 
said Harry.

"Easily irritable" muttered the Doctor, making a notation on his Padd.

Harry shook his head and went back to running tests and simulations on 
the new sensor array. The Doctor spent the day either at his elbow or 
Sevens. Harry noticed the tension between them. Was the Doc putting 
this nauseating performance on for his benefit or was he always like 
this?

     By the fourth day out Harry wished he'd paid more attention to 
B'Elanna. He couldn't do anything without the Doc making some 
observation, some smart comment, entering some tiny bit of data on his 
Padd. What it was all going to prove was beyond him. Why hadn't he said 
anything to Tuvok about the Doc's threat, that would have ensured at 
least one of them wasn't here. He could have had a quiet word with the 
captain, made some objection in that last meeting, but no, he had to 
try and prove to himself and everyone else that he was over Seven and 
that her love life didn't concern him. He'd been almost fine until the 
Doc had started pushing the relationship in his face, started blaming 
him for everything that went wrong. It had been difficult and he'd 
slipped up once or twice but this was ridiculous. Harry lost count of 
the times he wanted to switch off that emitter. He restrained himself 
to sarcastic comments and staying out of the way, and promised that 
he'd go and beg forgiveness from B'Elanna.

     Seven kept out of it. She said very little to either of them, 
occasionally refusing to respond to the 'beloveds' and 'cutie pies'. 
Seven had the ability to focus on one thing exclusively, she preferred 
it to be something of an engineering bent where her humanity did not 
enter into the equation. While the long range sensors were her goal, 
she did not need to worry about her social problems.  

     Ensign Harry Kim woke on the fifth morning after four hours sleep to a 
loud chorus of 'Oh what a beautiful morning' He had been sleeping with 
his head under the pillow, trying not to hear the Doctor's voice, ever 
so slightly louder than necessary. When the noise showed no signs of 
abating he threw himself out of bed and promptly tripped over a pile of 
storage cartons in the aisle way. Getting up from his hands and knees he 
saw that they had contained the new circuit boards. Who the hell had 
stored them here? His good nature finally frayed beyond repair, he 
stormed through the door into the main cabin to where the doctor was 
standing singing along to the racket.

     "It's five thirty in the morning!" he said loudly over the noise.
The Doctor turned round to him with a look of calculated innocence.
"Is there a problem?" he said. "Shouldn't you be in bed"
Harry shut his eyes and pleaded for mercy. "B'Elanna, I'm sorry."
"I beg your pardon?" said the EMH. "Talking to yourself is a primary 
sign of an over stressed mind" He made a sympathetic moue and made a 
notation on the ever present Padd. Harry could have cried.

     There was no way he'd get back to sleep now. He shook his head and 
went to pull on the gear that he exercised in, he was awake now, might 
as well continue with the routine. There was no room in the little 
sleeping area so he went back and faced the doctor again. 

           Ignoring the supercilious hologram he started the daily program of 
exercises that Starfleet recommended. The doctor did make an approving 
nod. "At least you are in adequate physical condition- for a change" he 
said. "Would you like any assistance?"  Harry moved on to push ups.
"Of course as a hologram I have no need for exertion to keep myself in 
trim."

         Harry started on some moves that B'Elanna had been teaching him. He 
imagined the doctors amiably arranged features as the target. 
Definitely not recommended by Starfleet but it made him feel a lot 
better, which surprised him. He was not by nature given to lashing out 
with his fists.  The doctor tutted "Klingon martial arts are hardly-"

     Seven crawled out from the innards of the ship, distracting the doctor 
instantly. She dusted herself off, taking in the scene in moderate 
surprise. She removed the ear defenders and mask she had been wearing, 
her gaze, unobserved by the doctor, resting on Harry for perhaps a 
fraction of a moment longer than necessary.

"You are not usually awake at this hour Ensign. Would you join me for 
breakfast?"

"Not eaten yet?" Harry stopped kicking at the air.

"Not yet. Waffles?"

"No syrup" he pulled a face "I don't know how you can eat all that 
sweet stuff"

"I am making up for lost time" she said as she went to the replicator. 

Harry pulled on a t-shirt and sat down as she passed him a mug of 
coffee.

"How are the modifications going?" he asked her

"Within schedule, although a non standard connector on a power coupling 
has been causing some trouble. I took all the sensors off line while I 
was working on them. I have just re-integrated the primary ones." He 
nodded reaching for a spoon.

The Doctor insinuated himself into the seat between the two, and rested 
his elbows on the table. Before he could speak, a peculiar silence hit 
the room. The usual background bips of the equipment vanished and 
lights started blinking all over.

Harry and Seven were out of their seats and at the controls before the 
doctor could look around.

"Engines offline, Navigation offline, trying to get controls to 
respond" Began the Borg, fingers flying rapidly.

"I'm getting nothing, Bringing all sensors back online but" he creased 
his brow "It's as if we're in a mirrored bubble"

"A what?" Said the Doctor sharply.

"Nothing's getting out, and nothings getting in. The phenomena extends 
to a radius of half a klik around the craft."

"Why? What's going on?" the EMH was getting worried.

"I don't know" said Harry "We're trying to find out."

"Can I help? What can I do? Seven will you-"

"Doc, see if you can raise Voyager" said Harry

"I do not take orders from you" He said huffily walking to Sevens side. 

"I am an observer. What would you have done if I had not been here?"

Harry just looked at him. Seven was worlds away, locked in a struggle 
to fight free of the bubble. After much coaxing she got the engines 
online, and tried to power free of the field that was being projected 
around them.

"Is there anything out there, ensign?" she said her voice slightly 
tense.

"Nothing we can see. Doc, please?"

The Doctor was looking blankly at the comms console. After a few false 
starts he brought up a channel.

"We are clear" Said Harry "Sensors detecting nothing" he stared at the 
screen, trying to think
.
"I do not know how long we can sustain this, I am avoiding a field I 
cannot detect" said Seven

Back on Voyager, it was a lazy sort of day. They were going nowhere, 
B'Elanna was overhauling this and cleaning that, as she described her 
day to Tom at breakfast. He was in the pilots seat, humming a merry 
tune, keeping position. Janeway was in her ready room reading countless 
padds and a luckless ensign was at Ops.

"Incoming signal from the away team," She said. Chakotay looked up from 
the chair,

"Onscreen" thinking that it was a little early for them to be calling 
in with their progress.

"Mayday! Mayday!" said the Doctor, his face filling the screen "Unknown 
phenomenon affecting all systems, Seven is trying to stay ahead of it. 
We don't know where it is or how big or what's causing it" Said the 
Doctor succinctly. He folded his arms and waited.

Harry's voice came from offscreen.

"Zip the data, Doc"

"Zip the? Really, I have no idea what you are talking about, that 
procedure isn't mentioned in the manual and-"

"Never mind." Harry blurred in front of the screen for a moment, 
fingers flying on front of the console then vanished again.

"Receiving data transmission" said Tuvok,

"Detecting energy from- Sev, Incoming!" yelled Harry's voice.

Chakotay sat up further, "Doctor, we're coming to find you, hold on"

The beginning of an explosion was briefly visible before the 
transmission cut off abruptly.

"The data stream was interrupted" Said Tuvok managing, of course, to 
keep his features calm.

"They've vanished" Said the woman at Harry's station. "They were there 
and then gone. I'm detecting no other ships in that area"

Janeway appeared on the bridge a few seconds after the explosion.
"What was that?"

"The away team," said Tuvok.

"Lay in a course for their co-ordinates, I want to know what's going 
on."

It was hours later when they picked up a data burst aimed at them. It 
contained compressed information from the sensor logs, cabin monitors 
and some other bits and pieces. B'Elanna was given the arduous job of 
sorting it all out. When they had closed on the away teams last known 
co-ordinates, they found parts of the shuttle, specifically the comms 
and sensor array that would have decorated the hull. It was beamed 
aboard in silence. When B'Elanna and Kathryn reported that they had 
made some progress, the senior staff met in the holodeck of all places.
Rumour had of course flown around the ship. Stories were bandied around 
about the unknown fate of the missing team.

"How is the search going?" asked the captain as she sat down, motioning 
for the others to do the same. The program was a replication of her 
ready room with one exception. The EMH was present, minus his mobile 
emitter.

"Wherever the shuttle is, it's in one piece. I only hope we can say the 
same about Seven and Harry." Reported Chakotay staring at the doctor.

"What is going on?" demanded the hologram. "One minute I'm on the 
shuttle and the next I'm here. An explanation would be nice" He glared 
at the others.

"Its been a few hours since we spoke to you on the shuttle. What's the 
last thing you remember?" Said Janeway, trying to get some idea of what 
had occurred

"The ensign was doing something with the comms array, he was very rude 
to me, then that's it, I cant remember anything. This is intolerable." 

He finished, "Anything could be happening to Seven by now, it"

"Calm down Doctor. The sooner we find out what happened, the sooner we 
will find them. Any little clue at all could make the difference" Said 
the Captain in a soothing voice. She was worried. Her crewmen had 
simply vanished.

     "The first I knew of anything wrong was at about oh six hundred hours. 
Seven was eating breakfast with the ensign and-"

Tom made a surprised cough "Harry got out of bed that early?"

"The ensign had some trouble sleeping" said the doctor evasively, "As I 
was saying" he continued with a stern look from under his brows, 

"Everything went quiet" He told the tale, not really going into 
technical details. "After the explosion, we were apparently back in 
that bubble. Seven was trying to free the shuttle again and I was 
assisting" He did not specify how.

     "Perhaps if I played the cabin logs, you could fill us in on a few 
details?"

"You have the-?  Ah. Certainly." The Doctor seemed a little 
discomfitted by this announcement.

The captain motioned him to silence and then replayed the cabin logs 
for the half hour preceding the accident.

The Doctor's somewhat unkind playing of the loud music was there as well 
as Harry's outburst. B'Elanna heard her name very softly from Harry's 
lips at the doctors commentary and would have laughed if it hadn't been 
so terrible. the Captains lips tightened as she realised how the Doctor 
had manipulated her.

Seven was the first to get up after the explosion, when the emergency 
lights came on. The Doctor helped her to her feet, cradling a broken 
wrist over which he ran a bonesetter, even as she looked around.

"Ensign?" she queried, noting the state of the comms console. "Ensign 
Kim?"

There was a groan from that direction and Harry hauled himself upright 
with the aid of the damaged station.

"Are you injured?" asked Seven. The doctor was trying to make her sit 
down and rest. She ignored him.

"I'm fine, you?" he replied, intent on his examination of the rather 
defunct looking console. Sparks issued from it at regular intervals,

"I think we lost our external arrays" He said in disgust "Damn. The 
transmission didn't get through."

"I cannot fire weapons. I cannot target anything because there isn't 
anything out there and the engines are not responding." Seven was 
frustrated. "We are vulnerable to another attack"

"Attack?" Said the Doctor "What can we do, I mean we have no weapons, 
no sensors and no engines, we may as well just sit here and wait to be 
destroyed"

"Unacceptable" said Seven with a sneer. "The attack was meant to 
disable not destroy. They have some further objective. We will not sit 
quietly" She went for the locker where the phasers were kept.

When she turned to issue one to Harry she noted that he was on the 
floor by his console, ripping bits out of it and re-assembling them in 
an unusual fashion. "Ensign?"

"I need an output transducer, this ones dead" Seven paused for a moment 
before pulling the front of the audio panel behind her. She extracted 
the device and passed it to Harry who muttered his thanks as he tried 
to concentrate. She left him to it, returning to her station and giving 
one last try to getting everything back online. Even jamming her 
assimilation tubules into it could not coax it back to life.

     The Doctor paced back and forth, "What will they do to us? Who are 
they? What do they want?"

"This attack is consistent with several species encountered by the 
Borg. However none of those were in this sector." Sevens comments were 
crisp. "We are currently stable, I am uncertain of our current 
co-ordinates"

When Harry glanced up, the Doctor was pacing frenetically.

"Can you do something constructive?" He said sharply.

"I can mend the laceration in your scalp" The Doctor seemed eager for 
the distraction. Harry dismissed him with a shake of his head.

"Something useful? Can you see if anything's out there?"

"You have disabled the sensors. How am I supposed to-"

"Look out of the fucking window" growled Harry very pointedly.
The doctor scuttled to do his bidding, turning around every now and 
then to glare.

"Do you observe anything?" Said Seven finally removing her tubules with 
a look of irritation. She took up position facing the door with a 
phaser.

"I can see a ship, it looks like its going to dock with us."
"Right, I've sent it all again, but they aren't going to know where 
we-" An intrigued look crossed Harry's face "Doc, can I just play with 
that for a minute?" Without waiting for permission, he took the cover 
from the mobile emitter and inserted a small tool into it.

"What are you doing? Don't play with that" his image wavered for a 
moment.

"Hold still and watch my back will you?"

"My programming does not require me to shoot sentients!"

"Why not pretend they're me, you might feel happier about it."

Harry slapped the cover back on and waved his tricorder at the Doc's 
arm

"It seems to be working. I'm still uplinking the logs to that data 
burst so its continual until it loses power but"

The doors glowed cherry red and burst open in a matter of seconds. 

Seven chopped down the first one, with her phaser set on severe stun. 
The doctor waited for one of them to fire directly at the unarmed 
ensign before he shrugged and then sent back a burst. Harry dropped to 
the deck and his tricoder bounced out of his hand along the floor.
Seven was next to fall and a judicious shot at the doctors emitter 
knocked him offline.

     The aliens entered the craft, armoured and bulky. After a moments 
quick scanning they shot out the internal sensors, revealed by fuzzing 
of the picture and then there was nothing.


Galatea Part 6

     This was intolerable. He paced back and forth, helpless, confined and 
frustrated. He had been accustomed to this variety of incarceration; 
only seeing one room, the same walls, oddly enough usually with the 
same companion he now had. It did not comfort him in the slightest.

     Eventually he gave in to his growing impatience and, bending down, 
yelled loudly in the young mans ear, "Wake up!"

     The ensign flinched and slowly started to rouse, making much of an  
apparently slight burn to the shoulder and shaking his head as if to 
dispel an ache. He said nothing, his dark brown eyes scanned the room, 
face filling with panic as he realised that he and the hologram were 
the only occupants of the small sealed room.

     "Where's Seven?" He demanded.

The Doctor shrugged, spreading his hands to indicate a lack of 
knowledge.

"You don't know? How long have we been here? Do you know where we are?" 
continued the query, unabated. The Doctor turned to face him with an 
implacable expression on his face.

"In case you hadn't noticed, my emitter is damaged, and I can't touch 
anything. I can't do anything." He raged. The Ensign appeared 
unconcerned. You're a lot of help" He started to examine the walls, and 
the door, looking up at the ceiling far above, seemingly out of reach.

"I didn't notice you doing anything to prevent them from taking Seven 
away" Remarked the Doctor.

"Why didn't you wake me earlier? How long did you let me sleep?" Harry 
was annoyed.

"A few hours, perhaps. What could you have done? You're not much use in 
a fight, Ensign!" The response was spiteful. Harry ignored him. The 
door was integrated into the wall, apparently. He couldn't even find 
it. There were no obvious switches or handles or buttons. not even a 
lip to reveal its presence. Luminescence poured from the high up 
ceiling and the floors were a curiously warm polymer of some sort. Not 
even fingernails made a dent in it.

     He turned to the Doctor "Do you want me to look at your emitter for 
you?"

The hologram moved backwards "No. You may damage me further. It's all 
your fault that we're-"

"My fault?" said Harry dangerously.

     The discussion didn't get any further, for a panel in the wall slid 
open and several beings entered. Harry had not seen the ones that had 
attacked them on the shuttle, so he was surprised by their powered 
armour and pale translucent skins, almost blue. Large round eyes, 
totally black stared at him and he noticed  after his initial shock at 
their presence, that all four held weapons trained in himself and the 
doctor. He didn't move and no-one said anything.

     Another two figures came forwards, one robed in floor length dark 
blue, the other in a deep yellow garment.

     "It" said one, indicating the Doctor "Stated that you were something 
of an engineer. We require your services."

     "Where is Seven?" Said Harry stubbornly.

"Seven? The Borg drone? That is not your concern. Repair this" the blue 
robed one motioned to the figure in yellow, who walked uneasily 
forwards and dropped something into Harry's hand, distaste at the touch 
evident.

     Harry Kim glanced down at the small metallic object and saw that it 
was the semicircular device that habitually surrounded Seven's eye. 
Tiny dots of blood decorated it, he turned it over and over in his 
hands to try and regain his composure before he spoke.

     "Well? Can it be made functional?"

     "Yeah" he heard himself saying. "I'll need my tool kit, our medical 
kit and the Borg girl"

     "For what purpose?"

"Because this" he held it up in front of the yellow alien "Won't work 
unless it's connected to Seven's biosystems."

     "Kadith, fetch the drone" Said the Blue one after some time. The 
atmosphere was tense. Two guards peeled off to accompany Kadith, and 
the blue robed alien in charge, remained, regarding The Doctor and 
Harry in some sort of amusement.

     "You didn't think to tell me that you'd already spoken to them?" 
complained Harry.

"It wasn't much of a conversation" said the Doctor.

     Footsteps warned them of the approach of others and they both turned 
to watch. Seven was both restrained and supported by the two guards. 
She held her head high and walked with as much disdain as a Borg could 
generate. It was not immediately obvious that she was in pain, but 
Harry was usually attuned to her subtle moods. She was also naked, and 
other of her implants showed signs of having been tampered with. He 
didn't focus on her nudity, merely that she was hurt.

     "Remove whichever additional components you require to repair the 
device" stated Kadith.

     "I need the medical kit, and my toolkit" said Harry evenly. The Doctor 
was outraged and beyond speech, but he found breath enough to say that 
the medical tools would do Harry no good because he didn't know how to 
use them.

     "Then tell me what I need to do" Harry was losing patience. "Starfleet 
academy requires at least basic first aid and I've spent enough time in 
sickbay that I'm not completely ignorant"

     "I don't want you putting your hands on my girlfriend, Ensign" 
retorted the Doctor.

     "The matter is academic. We only require the device to be in working 
order. The donor is irrelevant." The leader of the aliens appeared 
amused.

"Sevens relationship with her implants is symbiotic. She can't survive 
without them and they won't work without her." The Doctor stated 
forcefully, his attention diverted from Harry for a moment.

     The blue gowned one nodded. "Give it what it requires" Then it stood 
back.  Reluctantly they gave Harry the two kits and pushed Seven forward. The 
weapons, he noted absently, were trained on him at all times. He tried 
very hard to ignore them. He quickly repaired the connectors on Sevens 
optical device.
     
          "Okay, Sev, I'll need you to stretch your eyebrow as much as you can, 
I know it might hurt-"

"Pain is irrelevant" she said stoutly. With two gentle hands he clicked 
the semicircular device back into place and then repaired the 
surrounding area. At the doctors prompting he repaired several of her 
other implants as well as abrasions and minor breaks and burns. The Doc 
was drawn between worry for his beloved and anger at Harry having to 
touch her to heal her.

     "Is the task completed? Kill it" the sound of weapons charging 
startled Harry, but Seven reacted:- "No!" and she pushed the muzzle 
away, leaving it to fire harmlessly into a corner.

     "I see. We will be forced to find other means towards your 
capitulation, Drone"

"My name" Spat the blonde "Is Annika Hansen. I am not a drone. I will 
not comply with your demands. Release us and you will not be harmed" 
She spoke with absolute certainty that bad things would happen to those 
who threatened her. She was usually right.

     "The first single drone that we have captured successfully? I think 
not. Contemplate your decision, drone. I will return to hear it. I hope 
it pleases me"

     "You cannot make me comply. I will not give you Borg technology and I 
will not assist you in any way. You have failed."

     "Then you will all die" Stated the blue robed one simply. It turned 
and walked out of the door, flanked by guards and with a chillingly 
amiable expression upon its face.

     Voyager had located the shuttle, alone in a deserted area of space, 
bereft of crew and contents, anything moveable had been stripped from 
it, and the signs of force docking obvious. There was no other trace 
that the aliens had been there, all sensors had been blown and logs 
deleted. The information that they had received was to be their only 
clue.

     Meanwhile Seven paced the floor of the cell, her bare feet making 
little pit pat noises. She had gracefully accepted Harry's offer of his 
T-shirt, to the Doctor's consternation. He didn't want her to accept 
anything from the ensign, but neither did he want her wandering around 
naked in front of anyone but himself. He sulked instead.

     "We must return to Voyager" Seven scrutinized the walls minutely, 
eventually coming to the same conclusion that Harry had, that there was 
no way out of that cell except for the door, which they could not open 
from inside.

Therefore, by logical deduction, their escape must wait until the door 
was opened or they were outside. Her head ached. Harry had been 
permitted to perform minimal necessary healing on her, no more. She was 
unaccustomed to the lingering discomfort and tried stoically to ignore 
it. The keenness at which their abductors had attempted to prise her 
implants from her flesh had appalled her. She shuddered at the memory.
     
          She turned to face her companions, "Doctor, can you-"
"I cannot do anything" snapped the EMH in retort. The loss of his 
solidity had affected him badly. He was used to performing his miracles 
with a smirk and a gracious nod, used to being invulnerable to frailty 
himself. This feeling of uselessness had invaded him completely. "My 
solid state is impaired" and he waved his hand through her face, making 
her step backwards out of his way "I cannot touch anything!". He paced 
back and forth also.
     
         Harry was quiet, thinking, his eyes tracking the two who expressed 
their frustration physically.

     "I will not give in to their demands" Seven continued, to herself 
"Their utilization of Borg technology would be-" she could not find a 
word in all her vast store. "What can I do?" she turned to the two men. 

The hologram snorted.

"What do they want?" Said Harry.

"My nanoprobes, my implants, my assistance in assimilating others. They 
wish to develop their own race to rival and defeat the Borg." Seven 
sounded sad, but she continued with a bitter note in her voice. "I will 
not comply"

"Have they taken any of your nanoprobes?" Harry was concerned.

"A small quantity before they damaged my tubules. However, I have 
refused to re-program the nanoprobes to their requirements. They may be 
able to replicate more if they have the technology, but they do not 
have the knowledge to manipulate them." She knelt down, stiffly, her 
back still ramrod straight.

     "I am not a drone. I am not an object yet-" she drew a breath. "When 
they were removing my implants, their language and behaviours indicated 
that I was not a person, not a sentient being with my own mind" she 
stared at the floor. "I am weak. As a drone their actions would not 
concern me. My fate would not concern me. The threat of death, the 
termination of my existence would not have been-" Her voice trailed 
off. "Thank you for repairing me" she addressed both men.

     Janeway walked onto the tense bridge, and handed a Padd to Tom. "Set a 
course for these co-ordinates" she said simply, and took her seat.
     "This is the system that you asked Seven to avoid?" He asked, 
recognising the information.

"Exactly. B'Elanna and I decided that the shuttles disappearance was 
too similar to the shielding around this system for it to be a 
coincidence" she nodded decisively at him "Someone down there knows 
something, and I intend to find out what-"

     She ran, strangely small feet pounding the floor. She didn't think 
that she would ever stop trying to flee. Behind her nameless horrors, 
inches from her flesh. If she turned around she would know that they 
existed, but if she didn't then she would run forever. A wall loomed 
ahead of her and she didn't slow down. She had nowhere else to go. She 
stopped in front of it, waiting for the inevitable touch.

      As the fingers touched her shoulder, she screamed so loud that she 
hurt her throat. She ignored the voice calling an unfamiliar name.

     "Sev?" It was a concerned voice and the hand that went with it was not 
graced with the metallic devices that she knew destroyed all they 
touched. She stared at it dumbly, not wanting to look up, not wanting 
to display her fear or shame.

     "Seven, control yourself!" Said another voice, also known to her. She 
was sitting with her back against a wall, arms wrapped around her 
knees, everything on a larger scale than it was supposed to be.

     "Annika" She whispered "My name is Annika. Where's mama?"
"Oh for the love of-! Hallucinating!"

     The hand was still on her shoulder. It squeezed gently. "She's looking 
for you, Sev, don't worry"

     "My name is Annika" She stubbornly repeated, certain of that one 
thing. Everything seemed odd. Even her name was not right. Why had they 
called her Seven? Sev?

     "Okay, Annika. You don't remember where we are, or me or the Doc?"
She peeped out from her arms, through long lashes. A grownup knelt 
beside her. Not old, not as old as Mama or dad, but far greater than 
her seven years. He had black hair and his skin was almost golden. His 
face was smiley. She decided that she liked it and raised her head 
further. She saw the other man, now walking towards her, looking stern.
     
"I'm glad you've decided to be sensible. Are you going to continue 
sleeping or offer some intelligent conversation?"

     "Doc!" Said the smiley man impatiently.

"Her developmental stage is far beyond childish behaviours and 
nightmares" Now he approached her. Doctor? Something nagged at her, 
told her she should know what was going on, but she was very afraid. 
She kept quiet instead. If she was quiet then the monsters wouldn't 
come. The metal men that had taken everything away. Had it really just 
been a bad dream?

     Annika looked at her hands. Saw the implants that graced them and her 
eyes widened. She wanted to scream again, but her throat had tightened 
so much that noise wouldn't come out.

     "Seven! Act your age!" Again the stern man was there.
"How, how old am I?" She stammered. She saw how big her hands were, how 
big she was.

     "Twenty six at my best estimate." The voice was clipped.

"Really?"

"Really" said the other man. A name attached itself. Kim. Ensign Kim. 
She squeezed her eyes tight shut. It had not been a dream. The last 
time that she remembered being happy, being someone that she knew how 
to be was when she was a little girl. She was no longer a little girl. 
She was- and she gulped to admit it- Borg. Her family were gone. After 
what seemed like a long time she stared out at the ensign and the 
Doctor again.

     "I- I apologise for my behaviour. I was disorientated and confused"

"I'm not surprised" Said Harry. They had taken her away yet again and 
questioned her for hours. She had fallen wearily asleep upon her 
return. She had given them nothing but a defiant stare and the one- She 
mentally tagged him grand Vizier, he reminded her of a character in a 
story she had watched with Naomi, he looked nothing like the cruel 
twisted man, but his character was oh so similar. The vizier had grown 
irritated at her, had made more threats. That he would take everything 
from her that she held dear. Her response had been, what can you take 
from me that the Borg did not? He had ground his eating surfaces at the 
reply. Still she held him in steely disdain. His threats had hurt her 
far more than the numerous blows. Bruises and contusions marred her 
creamy skin, threats and taunts and childish fears roamed her mind. 
What could he do? What would he do to her. She could not give in. She 
would not.

     "There is" she said slowly "Indication of a small shuttle bay not far 
from here. It would appear to be a small habitat structure. I have not 
observed any other persons than the few we have already seen. I do not 
believe there to be many more"

     "Yes, but we're stuck in here" said the Doctor ungraciously.

"You think if we can get out, then we can escape?"

"Your optimism is misplaced, Ensign" Seven sounded weary.

"You think we should just give up?" Harry was surprised "I thought you 
knew me better than that." she gave a weary little smile in response to 
that and then yawned.

     "If you're tired then go back to sleep, we aren't going anywhere in a 
hurry."

     "I am apprehensive, I may become disorientated again" she huddled back 
in her corner.

     "I am concerned about your lapse, perhaps counseling sessions will be 
required if we return to Voyager"

     "You're not helping, Doc, can't you leave her alone for a minute?"

"That's it, as soon as I can't touch her, you jump in, trying to-"

"Never mind. You go to sleep if you want to, Sev. I'll wake you up if 
anything happens, okay?"

     She nodded and closed her eyes. After a minute she looked at Harry, 
her hand extended. "Please?"

     He took it, not looking at the Doctor who immediately began to seethe. 

He waited until Seven was once again asleep before whispering harshly 
to Harry.

"If you think this is the end of it, Ensign, you're very wrong. She is 
mine, I tell you and nothing you do- when this is over you will regret 
all of this, I promise you." He sat down by Seven's side, staring into 
her face so fixedly it was worrying. He didn't breathe, he didn't 
blink, he didn't move.


"This is Captain Janeway of the Federation Starship Voyager. I am 
seeking information on three of my crewmen. I believe them to be in 
this area." She stood hands on hips, wrath in her heart, facing the 
main screen. She nodded at her first officer.

"Well, that was their warning" she said "If there is any response, let 
me know immediately. Monitor all transmissions" then walked from the 
bridge.

Seven woke with the doctors voice in her ear. "Wake up, they're here 
again" She opened her eyes to find the Vizier standing before her. She 
jumped to her feet and made a step towards the aliens. The Vizier spoke 
before she could open her mouth to frame indignation.
"You did state that nothing we did to you would change your mind?" He 
sounded bored.

"What have you-"

"Nothing to you?" The insinuation was subtle. Sevens mouth went dry and 
the words died in her throat. Ensign Kim was not present. Panic, fear 
and anger crossed her face before she settle on icy Borg calm. Still 
she said nothing. That seemed to irk the Vizier, as if he had been 
expecting an outburst or threat of some variety.

He waited until she had fully appreciated his comment and then said 
simply. "I ask you once more, will you co-operate?"

"No. I will not."

"As you will. Wait here" They left as suddenly as they had arrived, her 
dash to the door too late. It sealed itself after them.

She stared at it for a little while then turned to the Doctor.

"Did they take the ensign?"

"Yes. I'm glad we're going to have this chance to talk between 
ourselves. Frankly, Seven, I've been more than a little worried about 
your conduct lately." He had his hands folded behind his back, and 
paced nonchalantly in front of her. She stared at him. "My conduct?"

"Yes. You have not been terribly supportive of me through this crisis. 
I am uncertain of your true affections, Seven. Here I am, afflicted by 
this" he waved his fingers indicating his present form. "I am now a non 
corporeal entity. I have been ignored and treated as irrelevant. Once 
they had ascertained that I would not tell them anything, and that they 
could not force knowledge from me, I was cast aside, I am-"

"Irritating" she said simply. Seven never minced her words. As he 
spluttered in indignation she continued "I wish to cease my association 
with you, Doctor." She turned her back on him.

The door opened once more at that point. "I almost forgot" said the 
vizier with a charming grin. He entered the room with two guards 
closely in step.

"I had not quite completed my discussions with you.
     
To be continued.