Don't Fear the Reaper
Chapters Seven and Eight
Chapter Seven
"Will!" Deanna said with relief as she reached out to embrace him.
He quickly walked over to her and hugged her. "Are you alright?"
"I will be." She replied. "Oh, Will! I know why they want Admiral Picard."
"I think it's time we had a meeting and I want Janeway in on it." Will stated. Then he looked at Beverly. "I would like Admiral Picard to attend, if he's up to it."
Beverly nodded. "I'll see what I can do."
A few minutes later Will, Deanna, Geordi, Worf, Beverly, and Jean-Luc were in the Titan's observation lounge. They were gathered like old times and were attempting to contact Voyager and include them in the meeting.
"Admiral." Will greeted. "I'm glad you are here."
"Somehow I have a feeling this meeting is going to need me to help make some decisions. How can I let my friends down?" Picard replied.
*Captain Riker, how are you holding up out there?* Janeway asked as she finally blink onto the screen before them.
"We're holding, but that's not by much." Will replied. "What's your current ETA?"
*Less than an hour.*
"Great." Will was not sure if he was happy that it was not going to be much longer or disappointed it was not going to be sooner.
*Are they still attacking you?*
"Not currently, but they are waiting for us to hand over Locutus of Borg."
Janeway frown. *Have they communicated anything else to you since we last spoke.*
"Counselor Troi-Riker has the answer to that." Will replied.
Deanna took her queue to speak. She was tense and felt very uncomfortable telling everyone what she had experienced. "They do have our people. They have been tortured and I saw one die at their hands or I am assuming he is dead by now. They infected him and informed me he would die soon without treatment. That's been approximately thirty minutes ago."
*Lieutenant Kim was able to hang on for a while until the doctor modified the Borg nanoprobes. Hopefully, he can also. Have the others been saved from the infection?*
"Yes." Beverly replied. "The modified Borg nanoprobes were remarkable in how they treated the infection."
*Glad to hear that.* Janeway replied with a smile.
"It seems." Deanna continued. "Species 8472 wants to commit genocide on the Borg, including Picard and Seven. They want all Borg killed, including those that have been recovered from the Borg."
"But they aren't Borg anymore!" Beverly protested.
"They feel they are if they have any Borg implants left in them." Deanna replied.
"But all Borg implants have been removed from Admiral Picard." Worf stated.
Picard moved uneasily in his seat. "Not all."
Everyone but Beverly and Will turned and stared at him.
"I discovered a problem with one." Beverly admitted regrettably. "It was the reason I had his records sealed. It is lodged in his cerebral cortex."
Everyone but Picard and Riker were now staring at her. She wiggled with discomfort in her chair.
"It was that or give him brain damage or worse." She said sadly.
Janeway looked at her sympathically as she remembered all the difficult decisions she had made in the past with various crewmembers on her ship. *I understand how difficult of a decision that was for you.*
Beverly flashed her a look. She felt Janeway had no idea.
Will adjusted his position in his chair. "The question is, why do the Borg want Locutus?"
*Or Seven for that matter.* Chakotay finally spoke. *She is also struggling with their communications to her.*
*They are also calling her back.* Janeway added.
"If we do not turn over all Borg, including Picard or Locutus as they call him, they will kill us all." Deanna informed.
"Even though they are not Borg?" Beverly asked with alarm.
"As I said, if they have even one Borg implant or nanoprobe left in them, they are all considered Borg." Deanna restated.
"A drop of Borg, you're all Borg." Geordi said with disdain. He could taste the remnants of persecution. It was very vile. "Reminds me of another time in history."
There was a pause in the conversation. Everyone was unsure what to do in this matter. They all knew they could not just hand Picard or Seven over to them, but they could not let the others die.
"I say we let the ones abducted go and fight our way out." Worf finally said.
"Worf, my wife is one of the captives." Geordi stated with a lot of emotion.
"We won't let anyone die if we can help it." Will reassured. "We'll get your wife and the others back, Geordi."
"The Borg need us for whatever reason." Picard stated. "I suggest we rescue at least one and talk to them directly."
Everyone on the Titan looked at him like he had just lost his mind.
*I agree.* Janeway concurred. *But I have an idea why they may need us. We have modified Borg weapons or at least Voyager does.*
"That doesn't explain Picard." Will said.
*They may think their former leader has this technology.* Janeway stated. *They know Seven's ship, Voyager, does.*
"What's needed for these modified Borg weapons?" Geordi asked.
*You need modified Borg nanoprobes for starters.* Janeway informed. *Then you have to be able to use Borg weapons to fire them onto their ships. What I can't figure out is that we shared this knowledge with the Borg to form an alliance with them to get through Borg space. Why aren't they using this knowledge?*
"Species 8472 has the ability to do many things." Deanna informed. "Maybe, like the Borg, they've adapted."
*I'll buy that assumption.* Janeway said. *Now, if that's true, what do we do about it?*
"Modify them again." Geordi surmised.
*Next question.* Janeway said with a nod. *If we succeed in modifying them again, how soon can you get your weapons ready to use them, assuming that you can adapt them to use the modified Borg nanoprobes.*
Geordi shook his head. "I'm not sure. It could take longer than we have."
Janeway thought for a moment. *We'll be there in a few minutes. I'll see if I can talk to 8472 and see if we can at least negotiate a better deal for the release of our people. In the meantime, see if you can smuggle at least one Borg on your ship and get some information from them.*
"I do not like that idea." Worf growled as he stared at the table. Then lifting his head he added, "It's too dangerous."
*I'm not so sure, given the circumstances, that it is.* Janeway replied. *Mr. Worf, I have dealt with the Borg more times than I care to remember. You learn a lot about them under those circumstances. I'm willing to risk being assimilated by one Borg, just to find out why they want Seven and Picard. It's worth it to end this situation.*
Worf showed his disagreement, but did not voice it.
*You don't get to be admiral by playing it safe.* Janeway added.
Picard did not agree or disagree with her. He sat there contemplating what the next move should be.
"Is there anything else?" Will asked.
No one had anything else to add.
*We'll see you in a few minutes then. Voyager out.* Janeway said and the screen went back to the view of 8472's ships and the debris of Borg ships.
"Everyone has their orders. Meeting adjourned." Will stated.
*Security to the nursery! Hurry! Please!* It was a frantic female voice. They heard the sound of an 8472 and screaming children. It sent chills up everyone's spines.
Worf hit his comm badge. "On our way!"
"I'm going with you, Worf." Will said with determination.
"So am I." Geordi also stated.
"No, Geordi." Will insisted. "You take care of the nanoprobe situation. Worf and I will make sure the children are fine."
Geordi wanted to insist that he come too, but he decided against arguing the point. He realised that if he did not get the nanoprobes modified no one would be safe. So, he watched Will and Worf rush out of the Observation Lounge.
Deanna and Beverly felt like they had been slapped in the face with fear. Their stomachs fell and their hands shook. They could not remember a time when a situation, no matter how drastic, caused them this much distress. They felt like they would die if anything happened to the children.
Granted none of the children were Beverly's, but she loved them as if they were her own. She had become very attached to everyone of them, including Worf's. She did not know if it was the motherly instinct within her or what it was, but the fear of loosing them felt overwhelming.
Deanna sensed the children's fear and she tried her best to reassure them, but to no avail. Her and Mriana's children's minds were not open to hers at the moment. They were too scared to even hear her thoughts. Therefore, Deanna felt helpless in communicating with them and comforting them. She did not know what she would do if anything happen to them. Tears began to run down her face and the feeling helplessness was overwhelming. Her head was begining to pound hard again and she felt very dizzy as she fell to the floor.
Chapter Eight
Janeway sat in her Ready Room pondering the current situation in the few minutes they had left until they contacted Species 8472. She knew if they had the mock Academy set up, then surely they could make contact with them. The question was, would they allow the contact.
Her chime rang. "Come in." She saw who it was entering her Ready Room. "Oh, Chakotay. Have we've made contact?"
"No, but I thought I would check on you in the meantime."
She brushed off his concern. "I assure you, I'm fine."
He came closer to her and studied her briefly. "Are you really?"
He knew her better than anyone. She knew that. She also knew he knew something was troubling her.
"Actually, no. I'm not alright." She admitted. "Oh, Chakotay. I don't know how much more of the Delta Quadrant I can take."
"We're not in the Delta Quadrant anymore." He replied.
"No, but we're still dealing with them." She replied. "I'm getting too old and too tired to deal with all of it anymore. I want to rest. I want to escape from it, but there it sits."
She pointed out of her window. Unknowingly to her the remains of what was left of the Borg from the previous battles with Species 8472 was floating just outside her portal.
Chakotay looked up and saw it. Then he calmly replied to her, "When this is over, I promise you, you will get some well deserved rest."
She noticed he was looking out her window and turned around just in time to see a Bioship in the mist of all the Borg escape pods. It was shooting at them and instantly destroying everyone it hit instantly.
"No time for wishing to escape the Delta Quadrant." She said as she hurriedly walked out the door of her Ready Room onto the Bridge.
"Get those Borg weapons online and fire at my command." She ordered. "If they don't respond to me, then they will regret they hadn't. Harry open a comm channel."
"Comm channel open."
"This is Janeway of the Federation Starship Voyager. I would like to know the nature of your visit to our side of the galaxy." She said as though she did not really have an idea what was happening.
There was no verbal response, but the ship stop pursuing the Borg escape pods for the time being. It sat motionless in space.
"No response." Stated Harry Kim.
"Oh, we got a response." Janeway stated. "They just aren't verbally responding."
"What do you think they are up to?" Chakotay asked.
"I'm not sure, but my guess is they are trying to see what we are going to do." She replied. "Janeway to Species 8472, I understand you have some of our people. I'd to see if we could discuss the terms of your negotiation."
There was still no response. The ship sat in space without any reaction.
"Why are they just sitting there?" Paris asked. "Are they trying to plan an attack or decide on another tactic."
"I don't know." Janeway stated. "It's not like them."
"Maybe we scared them so badly last time that they are waiting us out or thinking about going back to fluidic space." Harry suggested.
"No, I have a feeling it's more than that." Janeway stated. "Now that we are close, scan for their training area. According to Counselor Troi-Riker, it sounds like that's where the hostages are."
"Wouldn't the Titan have found it by now?" Paris asked.
"They don't know what they are looking for." Janeway stated. "We do. In the meantime, I'm going to prepare to beam over when we find it."
"Kathryn." Chakotay said as he pulled her aside to talk to her. "I can't let you do that."
"And why not?"
"How would we get you back if they decide to keep you there?"
"The crewmembers of the Titan had their comm badges removed. Thus, keeping them from being found. I'm going to have the doctor place a tracking device in me so that you will still be able to find me if that happens." She informed him.
"I can't let you go alone, either."
"I plan on taking someone with me." She moved closer to him. "Are you up to it?"
"Who would take the Bridge then?" Chakotay asked feeling a little intoxicated by Kathryn's closeness.
"Tuvok can handle it, I'm sure."
"Mm, another adventure with my old captain. Sounds thrilling."
"You could keep an eye out for me." She suggested suggestively. Then she reverted to her admiral status. "Only because I'm an admiral."
"I always do. Someone needs to watch your back."
"What are friends for?"
They were now more than just friends and Chakotay planned to keep it that way. He was not ready to loose Kathryn, his long time lover and friend. He wanted to be more than lovers and friends, but Kathryn had her mind on other things in the past. Getting home was one of them. Now, her mind was on getting Species 8472 out of the Alpha Quadrant or at least freeing the hostages.
"If you're serious about going with me, meet me in Sickbay in five minutes." She told him. "Otherwise, I'm going alone on this one."
"Oh, no way!" Chakotay informed her. "You didn't survive this long only to die as an admiral. I'm not letting you go alone."
"I somehow guessed you would say that." She replied. "I'll see you in Sickbay."
"That should do it." The doctor replied. "If they try to take your comm badges from you we'll still have a lock on you and be able to monitor your every move."
"That's reassuring." Chakotay stated.
"I must say, Admiral." The doctor began. "I don't like this anymore than Captain Chakotay does or any other person on this ship."
"Noted." Janeway replied.
Back on the Titan, the children were terrorfied of the strange being in their nursery. It was suppose to be a safe place for them, but the hideous creature was what nightmeres were made of.
They screamed for their parents and when Riker and Worf walked through the door, they took some comfort in that. Laura could hear her uncle's voice and Lydia could see him. The younger Will was begining to feel somewhat encouraged by his father's presence and Kestra breathed a sigh of relief, while Worf's son began to feel brave like a warrior should at his father's presence.
However, their comfort was short lived when the creature decided to grab one of them. Will and Worf had no idea why, for it was strong enough to take on both of them with no problem.
Lydia, who was deaf like her mother, began to shriek again. Her voice sounded different than the other children's voices. As she shrieked in terror the alien also made noises that almost deafen the others.
"Hold your fire, Worf!" Will shouted.
Worf did as he was ordered. He too was worried about missing the alien and hitting the young girl.
Will took note of the alien's reaction to Lydia and mentally compared it to what Mriana may have sounded like to the species. Could it be that their voices caused a reaction in the creatures? He wondered.
Lydia, unlike her mother was born deaf, so she never learned the correct intonations of Federation Standard. She sounded like any other deaf child when she tried to speak. The controlled nasaled tone that was common in a lot of deaf people who were born deaf was also present in Lydia. Her mother only sounded that way when she was upset about something and was not concentrating on her speech.
Before Will could finish analyzing the situation and decide on a course of action, the alien and the child were gone. "Damn!" He exclaimed.
"Daddy, is it gone?" Kestra asked as she tried to move from the corner she had retreated to in order to flee from the monster.
Will did not know exactly how to answer her.
He finally told her the truth. "Yes, baby. It is for now." He said sadly as he wrapt his arms around her and hugged her. "What about Lydia? Will she be alright?"
"I don't know, hon."
Laura sat down where she stood and cried upon hearing her sister was now gone also. She was blind, like her father, but she had heard the demon and pulled away into a corner just as the other children had. Through her visor, the creature was hideous and fearsome. "I want my mama! I want Daddy! And my sister too! I want them all back!"
Will walked over to the corner and picked the child up in his arms. "Your daddy is still here, honey."
"I know, but I want us all together!" She cried.
"You will be. If your daddy and I have anything to say about it. You will be." Will reassured his niece.
"Where's Aunt Deanna?" Laura asked.
"She's back. Here on the ship again." Will told her.
"Please, Uncle Will, take me to them. I'm scared." The little girl weeped.
"Tell you what." Will began. He was searching for the words that would hopefully comfort her. "Will it make you feel better if I took you to see your aunt? Your daddy is rather busy."
"I guess." She sobbed.
"Can we go too, Dad?" His son asked.
Will decided that since Deanna was with Beverly that maybe it would be best if at least his children stayed with as much family as they could. Deanna at the moment was the best person to watch over them. As for the other children in the nursery, he thought he would have to see if other arrangements could be made so they could at least be with one family member. It would provide some sort of comfort them. At least, he hoped it would.
His next concern was what he was going to tell Geordi about his daughter. At the moment, he could only surmise why Geordi's wife and daughter had been taken, but he had no real answers. At least none that would satify a man who was missing all but one of his closest family members. His next question was, would Geordi be able to hold it together enough to work on the modifications? He was not sure if he would be if he was in the same situation.
There was one hope for the child. Her mother was down there also. If they had the hostages together, then maybe she would be with her mother.
Will's heart ached. Not only did he have to tell his friend that his daughter is now missing, he would also have to tell Deanna her niece was now missing. It pained him that he could not do more for the child. He wanted to do more for the child, but could not. Not without risking hurting her in the process. Their phasers were set to kill. She would have never survived if they had missed. Now his niece was gone. If only he could have done more. If only there had been more time to figure out what else could have been done to save the child.
Now, he could only hope to get Mriana, Lydia, and the rest of his crew that had been taken hostage, back safely and alive.
*Bridge to Admiral.*
"Janeway here."
*We have a lock on their training similation.*
"Send those coordinates to the transporter room." She ordered. "The captain and I will be beaming down momentarily.
*Yes, ma'am.*
"Well, it looks like it's time for us to beam over there." She said looking at Chakotay. "Are you still game?"
"I am."
"Then let's go."
Lydia was curled up in the fetal position on the floor of the Academy training ground the creatures created crying in fear. She was oblivious to their discussion, which was in their own language. She did not hear the clicks, chirps, growls, and other vocal sounds the Species 8472 made.
"Why did you bring one of their offspring here?" The leader of the group who looked like Boothby asked in anger. "Don't you know this could cause us even more problems. They become wild creatures when you mess with their young."
"It was the noises the young one made, Sir." The one who took her from her home stated. "It was just like the other."
"The other?"
"Yes. It is quite painful to listen too."
"So, you had to bring the young one here?"
"Aren't we suppose to terminate the impure?"
"Get out! Leave the young one and get out!" Boothby growled. "Now, we have to figure out what to do with this one, because you had to bring it here!"
The one on three legs left in a hurry. Boothby turned and looked at the child. She had dark hair and dark eyes. Her skin was a very deep olive shade.
"Humph, your skin could almost pass for one of our young." He said in Federation Standard.
Lydia stared at him and just shook with fear. Her breathing was heavy and laboured.
"Somehow, I get the feel you do not understand a word I am saying, just like the other." He said to her. He thought for a moment. Then sent telepathically. "I wonder, can you hear my thoughts?"
She blinked and sat up cautiously, but continued to stare. Her breathing calmed just slightly, but it was not missed by the alien Boothby.
"I think you can. Would you believe me if I told you I am not going to hurt you?"
Lydia shook her head with wide eyes and crawled back away from him without taking her eyes off of him.
"I can understand that. What if I told you I was going to take you to your mother?"
This peeked her attention. She looked at him suspeciously.
"I think I know who your mother is and if so, I know where she is." Boothby sent to her. "What if, I walked towards the door? Would you follow? I would lead you to her?"
She shook her head. "No!" It was a bit distorted, but understandable.
"OK, sit there. You don't have to go see your mother." Then Boothby headed for the door.
Lydia cautiously watched then as he was about to open the door, she stood. She slowly walked in his direction, but did not get close to him.
"I figured you would be at least curious." He sent to her. "I promise I am going to where your mother is. I may not be someone you want to meet anywhere else, but I am one of the more honest people here."
She stopped and watched him as he sent to her.
"Well, are you coming?"
She did not nod or say anything. Just waited for Boothby to start walking again. She did not want to get too close to him.
As soon as he started walking again, she began to follow again. She kept her distance from him, even when he walked into the room where her mother was.
"Mriana?" Boothby sent. "It this young one your's?"
Lydia peeked around the door cautiously and then spied her mother. "Mama!" She sent as she ran to Mriana.
Mriana came out of her tortured state upon hearing her daughter in her mind. She stood up and reached out for her daughter and gave her a big hug when Lydia reached her.
Then anger built up inside her at the realization at what had happen. "You bastards!" She shrieked as she pushed her daughter behind her for protection. Her voice was uncontrolled and therefore almost ununderstandable. "How dare you!"
Guinan stood up and was instantly at Mriana's side. She grabbed Mriana's arm to get her attention. When Mriana looked at her, she looked directly at Mriana and said, "Calm down. It's alright."
"It's not alright!"
Janeway and Chakotay just beamed down and caught the tale end of Mriana's shrieking.
"Adults weren't enough for you!" Mriana shrieked. "So, you had to use children as your pawns now! You bastards!" Then she got really close to Boothby's face, almost daring him to pit his overwhelming strength against hers. "If you lay one hand on her, I'll kill you!"
"I bet you would." He sent in a condensending manner. "I told him you all become animals when it comes to your offspring."
Janeway smiled. There was something about this woman she liked. She had spunk, that much was for sure. Then she spoke. Alerting Boothby to their presence.
"It looks like you just messed with the wrong woman." She said firmly. "Or shall I say women, because now you have me to deal with again."
"How did you get in here?" Boothby asked.
"Oh, we have our ways. I thought you already knew that."
Chakotay stood behind her with his phaser set to kill, incase Boothby or any of his friends tried anything. He was on guard and ready for anything.
"You can put your weapon down, Chakotay." Boothby stated. "I'm not going to call for back up."
Chakotay relaxed slightly, but he was not about to let his guard drop.
"So we meet again." Boothby stated.
"Seems like it." Janeway replied. "Now, why do you have part of the Titan crew here?"
"We want Locutus for starters. Have you by chance brought Seven for us?"
"No." Janeway said flatly and firmly. "But I am here to at least get the hostages back."
"Tell you what." Boothby began as he gestured toward Mriana and Lydia. "I'll let you have these two. They aren't worth anything to us. They don't have the information we need to get Locutus, but this one does." He said looking at Guinan. "These two officers will be our examples."
"No deal. We want all of them back." Janeway stated.
"I can't do that. I can let you take the woman who does not hear and her young. That's my final offer."
Janeway nodded to Chakotay. "Alright, but you have not heard the last from us yet."
Janeway tapped her comm badge. "Four to beam up."
As they shimmered out of Species 8472's training ground, Boothby said, "I'm sure we haven't. I just hope the young one doesn't think we are all bad."