Chapter 35
The reign of One of Many, née Annika Hansen; Queen of Borg.
Year 00, Month 10, Day 15, Hour 06, Minute 21.
Seven decided that as much as she liked lying in bed with her naked Mate, this was a waste of time since neither of them was talking about what was clearly on both their minds. Reluctantly she moved up until she was sitting against the headboard.
"Come here."
B'Elanna had looked at her as soon as she had started to move, and now reluctantly moved into the open arms. Not that she was reluctant to be in Seven's arms, but she was reluctant because she knew that now they would have to do the dreaded T word; talk.
"You only slept three hours, at most," Seven started. "Your slow heartbeat as you sleep has a triggering effect on me. If you sleep I am able to sleep as well. If you do not, then the longest I can sleep is the three hours my body truly needs these days."
"So, if I sleep you sleep," B'Elanna surmised.
That would explain why Seven had been able to sleep ten hours on the few days that they slept in. It was because B'Elanna had been able to sleep that long then.
"I can't tell you how long I slept, but I can tell you that I'm surprised that I was able to sleep at all." B'Elanna took a deep breath before admitting, "I'm scared shitless."
"Should I contact Lonika and tell him that the procedure has to be done at some other time?"
B'Elanna shook her head. "That won't matter. It'll only mean that I'll be scared shitless then, and feel like a coward now for not going through with it and getting the implants. I have to do it eventually, and I really do want to do it now and get it over with. But still."
"It scares you."
"Yeah, it does. Some warrior, huh? Scared of undergoing surgery while fully under anesthesia."
"Fear is not rational," Seven countered. "Did you know that Fralin is scared of needles?"
"What?" B'Elanna asked surprised and turned a little to look at Seven. "We are talking about Fralin, Anidan's third in command? The guy that has his whole body tattooed? Done by needles?"
"That would be the one," Seven agreed. "I asked him about the meaning of his tattoos last week. While the meaning of them is interesting, it is not of relevance now. The important part is that he is scared of needles. He even passed out, as he called it, five times over the years that it took him to get the tattoos. Oh, and he also does not like pain, at all. Yet he still had the tattoos because of what they mean to him."
"One could say that that's part of the reason for me as well," B'Elanna said thoughtfully. "Once I have implants I am truly Borg."
"It is not the implants that make you Borg," Seven noted.
"But it goes hand in hand," B'Elanna countered. "How often are the words 'Borg' and 'implants' said in the same sentence? Baby, even if I didn't want any implants at all, I still would have to get some simply to show the Borg that I'm truly one with them. Just what message would it send to the Hive if their princess, their second in command, rejects the very thing that we're asking them to embrace about themselves? We're bringing new drones into the Collective because we use the implants to heal them, to give them a life. I, in my position, simply can't say that I don't want implants. I can't."
"True," Seven was forced to admit.
"And let's be honest," B'Elanna continued, "One would be a fool not to at least take some of the implants. Things that can be undone, or that leave no impact on the body. And what's more, I really do want some of those implants really bad. Take the Borg link. To not just to be able to talk to you or our friends over it, but also to be able to address the computer. You know how frustrating it's becoming for me that every time I want something, I need to ask someone else to do it? A new holodeck program, activating scanners, changing settings on some things. I can do none of it. Hell, I've even taken to having a damn fridge in our kitchen because I don't want to ask you if you could get me a drink from the replicator every time I'm thirsty."
Despite the seriousness of the subject, Seven smiled. "Yes, I have never seen such a look of abhor on ZAn's face as when you told him that you wanted him to incorporate a refrigerator in the extremely modern kitchen he designed."
B'Elanna shrugged. "Well, maybe that was a bad example because I would have asked for that no matter what. Replicators are fine, but sometimes I don't really know what I want. On those occasions I want to open a fridge and see different tempting drinks there so that I can pick from them."
"What scares you the most?" Seven asked, not wanting to get too far off subject. "You originally started out with a list of small things that were not really permanent, but,"
"But," B'Elanna interrupted, "I wised up. I'll need those access tubes as much as the Borg link. I'm just glad that with the design Anidan and Lonika came up with and that is used for new drones now the arm doesn't have to be removed; just one muscle."
"And the eye?" Seven asked.
"I think that that scares me the most," B'Elanna admitted. "But, I really do like the benefits, like the micro zoom, the night vision, and the thermal imaging."
"But are you ready to see that reminder every time you look in the mirror? We know that Pagsha really loves the reminder, but that right there indicates that a person is indeed reminded of the fact that the eye is not real with every time they look at a reflective surface."
"I'm hoping that it won't come to that," B'Elanna said thoughtfully. "I was kinda thinking of trying a middle way. Remember how the Doctor on Voyager was able to make your artificial eye look just like the real one? I was hoping that Lonika will be able to do something like that for me now."
Seven thought about that for a moment. "Well, he could scan my artificial eye and use that to replicate one for you, which would then be adapted to look like your real eye did before removal. The technology of the eye is so relatively basic that Lonika won't need any help from Anidan for that. However, it will severely limit the quality of the eye. As much as I appreciate the Doctor's creation on Voyager, the eye he designed does not come close to the eye design Anidan made."
"Yeah, but that's for people that already have an artificial eye, like Pagsha did, or people that need one for their job, like Katzi does. But there's nothing that says that people that don't need it can't go for the 'looks better, but is not so good' option. I don't need the eyepiece for my job so I can settle for the design the Doctor came up with on Voyager. Alright, so my night vision will only be half as good and Katzi's, but the fact remains that it's still about twenty times better than what I now have with my normal eye. Same for thermal imaging. It will only be half as good as Anidan's design creates, but the fact remains that now I actually don't have thermal imaging at all. But after the operation I will. People that don't need the new eye for the job they want, might want to take the option to get an improved eye that looks like their real eye did, just that it's not the best that the Borg have to offer. If they want the best, then they'll have to take the eye implant where you can see the lens if you look the person in the eyes."
Seven tilted her head a little. "A middle way indeed. It fits, since we are offering the Borg a middle way between drones and Individuals."
B'Elanna turned further in the arms until she could kiss her Mate. "I guess that after today I can't call you a walking machine anymore."
Seven smiled at hearing one of the insults that B'Elanna liked to use when Seven had just joined Voyager. "Sure you can. I am, after all, still a walking machine. Just that now I can counter with, 'look who is talking'."
Then she became more serious. "Do not worry my Mate. This I can promise you; after a short time of adapting the implants will feel like they are part of you. You will not hesitate to use them, will not loathe having them. No, they will simply be part of you. And you will use them if needed without even thinking about them, just like you now use your arms or hands without thinking about it."
"Maybe we should contact Lonika to tell him that we might as well get it over with now, this waiting is killing me," B'Elanna admitted.
"At this time Lonika will still be asleep, I hope," Seven countered. "Give him his time of rest, I want him rested when he operates on you."
Seven moved her arms and playfully cupped her lover's breasts. "I could distract you in a very enjoyable way if you are interested."
Seven had expected an amused, 'I'm always interested', but instead she got a nod and B'Elanna admitting, "I would really appreciate it. If I think much more about this operation, I think I'm going to puke."
"Then let me distract you," Seven said before starting to do just that.
~~~~~~~~~~{}~~~~~~~~~~
The reign of One of Many, née Annika Hansen; Queen of Borg.
Year 00, Month 11, Day 02, Hour 19, Minute 04.
"How about Annika?" B'Elanna asked as she rinsed Seven's hair. "I really have to thank ZAn by the way; I love this bathtub."
Seven laughed. "You already thanked him 12 times, but I am certain that he will never tire of hearing you thank him."
"Well, I never had a bathtub before that I could swim in."
"It is only big enough to sit six people," Seven pointed out.
"You're always so damn logical," B'Elanna countered with a fake pout, only to stop when she realized that since Seven was sitting with her back to her, she would not be able to see the pout anyway. "Kahless I love washing you. I love you, my Mate."
"And I love you, my Mate. Hold us."
Hearing the 'us' instead of 'me,' B'Elanna dutifully hugged the blonde in such a way that her arms were resting on the swollen stomach. "Only one and a half months to go, we really should pick a name."
"You are correct," Seven agreed. "However, I do not think that Annika is a proper choice."
"Why?" B'Elanna asked as she started to caress the skin that was protecting their child. "Your abdominal implant is still not giving you problems?"
"It is not," Seven assured. "As you know, the bands exist out of individual segments that are linked together. Those links are stretching to accommodate for my ballooning size. As for the name, I think it is not a proper choice since the name means absolutely nothing to me. I am not Annika; I am Seven. I think that it would be more suited if we give our daughter a name we both like for a reason we both like, instead of the unreasonable fact that it just so happens that my parents once came up with the name Annika."
"You are not ballooning; merely rearranging shapely forms I love to see."
Seven smiled. "B'Elanna Torres, I told you before. You do not have to worry. My hormone levels are regulated. I may suffer from the occasional mood swing but I do not start to cry or think that nobody loves me merely because I am pregnant."
"Good, because you are most definitely and most extremely loved."
Seven turned in the arms and scooted away a little, only to beckon B'Elanna closer. Getting the hint, B'Elanna moved and put her legs over Seven's so that she could come closer until they were touching. B'Elanna loved this as much as Seven did. Like this, stomach to stomach, B'Elanna could also feel it when the baby moved or kicked. Plus, they could look each other in the eyes, and kiss.
Seven winked, one of the rare times she did so. "Yes I am most definitely extremely loved. And our friends also like to see me being loved."
B'Elanna chuckled. "I think that especially Katzi suddenly got the bug."
"The bug?" Seven repeated.
"Yes, the one where suddenly the most sexy curve on a woman's body shifts. It's suddenly no longer the boobs, or the ass, or the legs. Suddenly the most sexy thing is the incredible curve of the stomach. But more than seeing us make love, I think that it's simply that she is enjoying being so close to a pregnancy for the first time in her life. I think it could only be better for her if Pagsha were the one being pregnant."
Seven thought about that for a moment. "I am not sure whether I should tease you about how you just said that you do not like my boobs and my ass anymore, or whether I should comment on the fact that they decided to wait with having a child."
B'Elanna laughed. "Kahless, I'm really grateful that you have that implant regulating your hormones. I don't think I would even want to start fighting the battle of telling you how much I like your boobs and ass, but I also like your stomach."
"You can be very grateful indeed," Seven agreed. "Because I have a feeling that I would butcher you. I do, after all, remember ever single word you said."
"Thank you baby, you're the best," B'Elanna said sincerely before kissing her Mate senseless.
After a long moment of enjoyable kissing they finally broke apart and Seven asked, "Since we cannot agree on a first name, let us concentrate on the last name. And before you suggest it, Hansen also has no meaning for me."
"And Torres has no real meaning for me," B'Elanna said. "My father walked out on my mother and me. One can argue about the reason why of course, but what's the use? I personally think that he just didn't try hard enough. He just wanted a Klingon to fuck to show what kind of man he was. Then he knocked her up and ran away when he found that he couldn't handle a stubborn Klingon with a stubborn child that doesn't listen to, 'because I said so'. I still can't understand why she gave me his last name."
"Torres is most definitely not an option," Seven agreed. "I do not want our daughter to be subjected to such crude language when she ever asks you the history of the name Torres. More so because it has no Klingon history."
"Sorry," B'Elanna relented. "It just still pisses me off at times. Because honestly, that's what I think he did it for. Can you imagine in the Federation of 30 years ago... a man being able to say that he's having sex with a Klingon woman? That would almost make him a hero, at least amongst his drinking buddies."
"So," Seven started, but then didn't continue.
"So," B'Elanna repeated, but she did continue. "Both Hansen and Torres are out. That means that we have to give her another last name. We could go with one of our closest friends, but I really don't want to single one out that clearly. It would be Pasha's last name because Katzi doesn't have one. But Anidan is also becoming a really close friend of mine, of us, just in a different way than Pagsha and Katzi, and I don't want to hurt her feelings."
"I think that the solution for the last name is actually easy," Seven said thoughtfully. "Did you know that in the Borg the name Borg is only used to indicate the whole that is our combined species? But there is not a single person that has the name of Borg. We are changing the Borg, we are making things so that the next Queen, our daughter if all goes right, is the new kind of Queen that the new kind of Borg need. We are the transition stage. We could make the name 'Borg' the official Royal last name. A name that nobody else in the Borg Collective is allowed to use."
"Oh, I like that," B'Elanna agreed. "Just like the implant above the eye that only we two now have is a Royal thing. A Queen does deserve some compensation for the unity she gives to the Borg. Just that we have to make sure that this compensation doesn't lead to her having more power than the Hive."
"True," Seven agreed. "Very well, the last name is decided on. Now let us finally pick a first name. If we choose it today we can 'try it out' until our daughter is born to see if it is a name we like to hear being used for our child."
"Good point. And if we get tired of it within a week we can still pick something else. Alright, let's see. If we don't go for names that are linked to us in some way... so that means also no calling her Lanna or Ann or something like that, right?"
Seven nodded. "I would agree."
"Then I think that the best option is to go at it from the other side. There are over 12,000 languages in the Borg database. I say we pick something that we want a name to mean and then go looking at how that word sounds in different languages and pick the one we like."
"I like that approach."
B'Elanna thought about it for a moment. "So what do we want the name to mean? The first, leader, Queen, woman, pain in the ass, what?"
Seven smiled. "Do you know that in the Gralikiruom, 'pain in the ass' actually translates to Gwendia? So we could actually pick that."
"And have our daughter hate us for the rest of her life because she knows only too well what the name means?" B'Elanna asked amused. "No thanks. How about... what would we do? If she becomes Queen, what would be one of the first things said? Something that still sounds nice even if translated? Maybe, 'You can do it'? Eh, no."
"Be wise, be just?" Seven countered. "Good fortunes to you?"
B'Elanna bit her lip for a moment. "Hmm, the last might be a good start. How about simplifying that? Good fortune to you... how about good luck?"
She laughed. "Yeah, come to think of it, I might actually tell her that. 'Good luck; you are going to need it'."
"Good luck sounds like a good choice," Seven said thoughtfully. "If you look at it not as the name giver, but as the person that hears the name, then it still fits a leader of the Borg. As in; she brings good luck to all."
B'Elanna agreed. "Alright, let's go with that. Good luck. Now let's find a language that it sounds good in. You can do that, if you don't mind. How about you narrow it down to a list, of say hundred names? You know how much I don't like going through the Borg database."
"How about, since we are now enjoying this nice bath, I instead connect now with the Hive and go over the list and read out the translations I would like as names?" Seven suggested instead.
"Alright, go."
Seven connected to the Hive and moments later she stated, "Starting from the first languages recorded in the Collective, the founding species of the Borg, there is actually one that does sound nice. 'Good luck' translates to Vasha. It was often used in greetings; Vasha to all. The next,"
Wait," B'Elanna interrupted. "I like that one. Vasha Borg. How about it? We might find better names, but the more choice we have, the harder it will get to pick a beautiful name."
"Vasha Borg," Seven repeated slowly. "I do like the sound of that. Let us try it for a while. Whenever we refer to the child we call her Vasha. By the time we have to decide permanently on a name, the name will either feel normal and comfortable in use to us, or we would have long picked something else."
"Let's do that," B'Elanna agreed. "There, that was pretty painless. And here I thought we would be going over names for hours. So, now what?"
"Now we leave this water and go eat," Seven decided.
"Good idea, I am your humble servant, my Princess, and I'm more than willing to follow your command."
"Now that it suits you," Seven countered. "Let us leave before I decide that I should order you to feed me."
"That could be fun though," B'Elanna grinned. "In fact..."
~~~~~~~~~~{}~~~~~~~~~~
The reign of One of Many, née Annika Hansen; Queen of Borg.
Year 00, Month 11, Day 27, Hour 14, Minute 22.
"Are you alright?" Seven asked slightly concerned.
"I am," Chief Engineer Anidan Dubinak assured. She rubbed her neck slowly with one of her hands before adding with a sigh, "I'm just tired; not enough sleep."
"You, just like the rest of your species, only need around five hours of sleep every three days," B'Elanna pointed out as she looked up from the PADD she had been studying.
On the PADD there was yet another suggestion from Anidan for a change, and yet again it was brilliant. It would need a little bit of tweaking to fit into the bigger scheme of things, but B'Elanna already knew that in a month, at most, the new design for surge-back protection would be standard on every Borg vessel. The unit would be destined to replace the old units at regularly scheduled maintenance to the unit. This in turn meant that in half a year the unit could be found on millions of ships; Making catastrophic overloads on Borg starships virtually impossible. Sometimes it still boggled B'Elanna's mind how a simple idea discussed between friends could end up on ships throughout the galaxy.
But at the moment she was more concerned about her friend than about the design on the PADD in front of her. "Only five hours, every three days, and yet you're tired?"
"There's a lot to do," Anidan merely said with a shrug, indicating that she simply didn't have time to sleep, even if that was only five hours in three days.
"Since we are on the subject of sleep, let me bring up the subject of regenerating," Seven said.
"I regenerate," Anidan said defensively. "I don't skip hours there, so theoretically I don't even need the sleep at all."
"Theoretically," Seven agreed.
That too had been something the tests with Pagsha had shown early on. Individualist drones didn't need to sleep because they regenerated. But somehow they felt more relaxed and at ease with themselves if they also slept some besides the regenerating. With Pagsha's species it was two hours every day. With humans, Seven included, it was three hours every day. Though Seven slept more now that she slept with B'Elanna in her arms. And for Anidan's species it was five hours every three days.
"But that is not the point I wanted to discuss. When it was agreed that you could regenerate like I do; in a conscious state, one of the stipulations was that you would regenerate at least once every month in the normal way, with you joining the Hive mind again. It has however been four months now since your mind joined the Collective. The Hive is getting worried,"
"Let them worry," Anidan interrupted. "I agreed to stay and even if you were to offer me a ship right now I wouldn't leave. But I will not join the Hive again. I like my individuality just fine."
"And what a lonely individuality it is," Seven added. "You made a few friends, but hardly see them. You spend time with B'Elanna and me, not because we are your friends, even though we are, but because of your work. The Hive and I agree that you do a lot for us, so for now we will continue to condone the fact that you are breaking one of the ground rules that apply to every single drone, including me. But, Anidan, let me give you advice as a friend; join the Hive, you might be surprised by,"
Seven was suddenly interrupted by the united voice of the Borg, and Anidan was all too glad for it.
{One of Many, your attention is required.}
"Yes?" Seven merely said, knowing that the Hive rarely contacted her so directly. Mostly they would first check if 'now' was a suitable time to discuss something.
{One of Many, cube X4 has detected activity of species 8472.}
"Red alert," Seven immediately commanded.
The red, yellow, and blue alert had been implemented in Unimatrix 01 on the same day the Senior Staff had their first shift, five months ago. The alerts didn't matter to the drones on Unimatrix 01 because for them an alert of any color was irrelevant. They only cared about the Hive mind making decisions and then telling drones what to do. But there now also were Individualist drones. Drones that were off duty, drones that were sleeping, drones that were having private conversations with drones on other parts of the ship, or somewhere else in Borg territory, through their individual link. For all of those drones the alerts did mean something. It meant that they had to go to their station, or go to strategic places where they would be on standby. Ready to be called upon within one minute if needed.
"Does the senior staff know?" Seven asked.
{Yes, One of Many.}
{They were informed at the same time as you, with the exception of Third officer Anidan Dubinak since she is with you.}
"Tell them to get to the conference room, we will go there now." Seven didn't wait for any further comment as she, B'Elanna, Pagsha, and Anidan nearly ran out the door.
"Status," Captain Wolkav demanded from the Hive mind as soon as the women had entered the conference room and would hear the information as well.
Thus was the clear line. Wolkav was in undisputed control of Unimatrix 01 and as such had the command of the most important ship in the Borg Collective. While Seven was in control of all things Borg, including Unimatrix 01, and therefore could make suggestions, or give orders, at any time. Including counteracting orders given by Wolkav. So while Wolkav was in control of the situation, Seven merely was in control; period.
{Cube X4 has not yet been detected and is awaiting further orders,} The united Borg voice stated.
Everyone around the table knew only too well that it had been a blessing in disguise that it had been cube X4 that had come across species 8472. The short designation 'X4' was the designation of Experimental cube 4, which was the result of the X cube program Anidan had suggested.
The idea had paid off extremely well. The Borg's old approach had been crude, but fast. New technology would be adapted for use within days, sometimes hours or even mere minutes. Anidan's X cube approach was slower, sometimes taking weeks to test technology that had been already tested to the full by the species that had supplied the technology to the Borg.
But surprisingly the Borg did not mind the slow approach, unless it was an 'it is needed now' situation. This because there were clear benefits. While testing technology its uniqueness was discovered, and its flaws. Flaws for which the Borg almost always had the knowledge to remove them. This then resulted in the technology, when it was finally used, being of a much purer, stronger, and more useful level.
As was the case with cube X4. This cube had mainly been testing two things; a cloak system, and an enhanced engine system that was testing Anidan's new and improved transwarp coil design. The abundant source of the new metal used in the coils had resulted in an extremely prolonged life of the coils. But more than that, because of it, Anidan had been able to tweak the coils differently. The result of that was that now a ship using the new design could travel at warp 18 without needing a transwarp corridor. Normally Borg ships could only travel at warp 15 without the corridor. And even there they could only travel at transwarp without a transwarp corridor at all ever since Anidan had been assimilated and the Borg had been able to use the knowledge that had been in the brilliant engineer's mind.
Cube X4 had proven successful. The cloak had been tested by entering the space of species that were known to have powerful detecting technology, like the Hirogen and the Joika; none had detected the cube even though in some cases the cube was mere kilometers away from their ships. The speed had been tested too, this by traveling at warp 18 in random directions for as long as the engines would allow before overheating.
It had turned out that Anidan's guess had been almost right; the X cube had managed to travel at transwarp for 380 hours before a shutdown had been needed. And best of all, there too Anidan had been right. After replacing the shield around the warp coils the cube had been ready to go, after only two hours of downtime. It was on they way back to Borg space, still far away from normal Borg territory, that they had come across the signs of species 8472.
"Have cube X4 hold position for now and have it send all sensor data to us, including visual," Wolkav commanded.
Mere moments later information was coming in and the main monitor was used to show the view that would normally be projected onto a view screen. There were the things they were expecting; the bioships and the planetbuster ships. But there also were other ships. They gave the impression of being bioships as well, but they were much, much larger.
Where a standard bioship was a little under two hundred meters in length and only a mere forty meters across in diameter, at most, most of the other ships were actually much bigger than a standard Borg cube with its 3.036 kilometers across. Scans showed that some of the ships were even five kilometers across. Yet at the same time the scans showed that these ships were far inferior in weapon power; only having half as much firepower as the small bioships.
"Looks like transporters to me," Wolkav noted.
"I would say so as well," Anidan agreed. "Which makes it my guess that the smaller bioships are the fighters. Built only to carry and protect their main weapon while these bigger ships are used for other things. Things where you don't want to use a lot of space for weapons; especially if you can provide those weapons by having a few of these bioships escort the big ships."
"I find it rather interesting that they seem to be building up their forces in our space and not in fluidic space," Pagsha noted. "The last time they came in waves that made it very clear that they had entered into formations before traveling through the singularity. But now they are just dripping in; just as if they are hurrying out of fluidic space for some reason and travel though the singularity whenever a ship happens to reach it."
"Though the sensors can't read much from inside the ships, they do suggest that the big ships are full with millions of separate life signs each," Second officer Lachakivediras observed.
"It could be their soldiers; ground troops that they bring in now while the other ships are still coming," Wolkav guessed. "True, last time they weren't much interested in doing any ground warfare. They were more interested in simply destroying ships and planets. But we don't have enough information on them to know for sure that this is how they always behave. Maybe they simply changed their approach."
"One way or another, we need to deal with this situation before they bring in so many troops and ships that we cannot defeat them, despite having the upper hand this time around," Seven said, before adding decisively, "Set a course, we are going to prevent species 8472 from destroying this universe."
{Species 8472 has proven to have weapons that are vastly superior to our own,} The united voice of the Borg spoke up.
{Given enough blasts they could destroy Unimatrix 01, and if the first blast is accurate enough and damages the engines you would be in grave danger.}
"I thought that we had a deal?" Seven asked. "I could go places, and the Borg would then decide on how to protect me there."
{This agreement still stands.}
{However, in this case the risks are too significant.}
{We can only protect you to a satisfying level if you are not in the vicinity of species 8472.}
"So you are not allowing me to go?" Seven asked.
"I don't think that's it, baby," B'Elanna spoke up, not caring at all that the senior staff, and probably the entire Collective had heard the endearment.
"They never said that they wouldn't let you go; they even said that the deal still stands. They are merely voicing their concerns. In fact, I'm willing to bet that if Katzi was here right now that she, as your guard, would be much more vocal and demanding than the Hive mind was. They have a point, Seven. It's too dangerous. I know that we two agreed that there might be occasions where you might have to go somewhere while knowing that it's dangerous. But this is not the battle to fight that. This is too much of a risk, and totally not needed as well. There's no reason for you to be there unless there might be a chance for a dialogue, and that could only be possible if the situation has been secured. Right now we don't even know if we really do have the upper hand, or if they adapted to our nanoprobe weapons. Remember, as a show of good will, Janeway did give a warhead with the nanoprobe technology to those members of species 8472 that we encountered, that were running a Starfleet Academy program to see how they could destroy Humans the best way."
"But she did reach an agreement with them, clearly negotiating with them is possible," Seven insisted.
"And I'm not saying that it's impossible. All I'm saying is that you wait until we make the situation secure. And if negotiating is then possible you can go in, fully protected, and do your thing."
Seven thought about B'Elanna's words and after a moment agreed that she had a point, and that the Hive mind had been right as well. "You are correct, my Mate. My security has to be assured."
Then she addressed the Hive mind. "And the Hive was correct as well. I thank the Hive for being concerned about my safety. The fact that you did not actually forbid me to go, but merely pointed out the dangers of going, shows me that you cared about my safety because you do care for me. And that it is not just because you do not want to lose a Queen. My Mate was right, this was not a battle I should have been fighting, and I apologize for it. It pleases me to find that the Hive is so concerned about me because of who I am, and not merely because of what I am. One of the things that was the previous Queen's undoing was that she made foolish choices. Hive, feel free to always point out when you think that I am about to make a foolish choice. I promise that I will seriously contemplate your objections."
The united voice of the Borg was quiet for a surprisingly long time before they finally spoke up. {Yes, our Queen, we will advise where needed.}
Seven looked startled when she heard the new designation the Borg had just given her. The Borg did not change designations on a whim; clearly something had changed. Confused she looked at a grinning B'Elanna.
"If you ask me, they just accepted you as their Queen; unconditionally this time. No conditions, no restrictions. You showed that you actually value their opinion while the last Queen just brushed them off and did whatever she wanted. You, my dear, are now truly One of Many; Queen of Borg."
{Your observation is correct, our Princess.}
"See, and I even got a boost out of it too," B'Elanna said, the grin never leaving her face. "Probably because I also thought that you were making a bad choice, and thereby showed the Hive that I'll side with them if I think your safety is an issue; which I will."
"Then how do we deal with this situation?" Seven wondered. "I also do not want Borg ships to simply go there and open fire. As I stated, Captain Janeway has shown us that at least with some of species 8472 negotiations are possible."
"You're right," B'Elanna agreed. "And as much as I don't want you to just simply go there, I do think that you should be there 'if' negotiations are possible. Seven, Hive, listen up. How about this compromise? At the moment we have cube X4 there. We pull back X4 beyond species 8472's sensor range. Then we send the cube back in, this time without the cloak active so that we don't give away that we are experimenting with a cloak system and just how good that system is. My guess is that species 8472 will attack the cube to remove the Borg threat. The cube will be our testing ground. We'll see if the new shielding system that Plojkian created holds against their weapon power."
The 'Plojkian' that B'Elanna mentioned was the Individualist drone that had created the new Borg body armor, and the new personal force field armor. Besides that he had also taken a closer look at the force field shielding that protected the Borg ships. He had changed it, surprisingly with the help of the changed shields that B'Elanna, Seven, and Harry had created for Voyager. Though the three hadn't known it at the time, the method they had found to prevent the Borg from beaming onto the ship could be adapted to prevent a lot more from reaching the ship.
And so Plojkian had adapted the shields to where they now existed out of two layers. The first, closest to the ship, still had the Borg strength and endurance. The second, placed directly above the first, was the shield that had been created on Voyager. The result of this was that the power drain of the shields had gone up 125%, so any ship that didn't have a transwarp power source would not be able to run the shields for more than on hour or so, at best. But transwarp ships had always had a surplus of power simply because the transwarp coils provided it, even if not traveling at transwarp. Such ships could run the shields without any problem at all.
Plojkian had explained that it was better to have the two layers instead of having incorporated the technology in one single force field armor, which he could also have done. This because now the most outer layer would protect the inner layer from getting damaged, basically creating a reactive multilayer armor that could withstand six times as much impact as the strength of the individual shields was if you merely added those two strengths together. At the time Plojkian had boasted that this new shielding could even withstand weapon fire of species 8472. And today, it seemed, the time had come that his boast would be tested for truth.
"Since it's a new cube it was built with the new force field technology built in," B'Elanna continued. "We test if the shields can withstand the weapon fire of species 8472, and if it can, the cube turns tail and runs at transwarp. As you know, species 8472 can only travel at warp 9.99993 at most. Then when cube X4 has run far enough they activate the cloak and head back. This time to see if they'll be detected by species 8472 now that species 8472 knows that Borg ships might be around. Besides checking if the new shields can cope with the weapons of species 8472 we can test the cloak some more as well."
"We would be putting cube X4 in danger," Seven pointed out.
"They are an X cube, the Individualist drones knew that they have a risk of dying if something goes wrong; they still freely accepted the positions. And the linked drones... Seven, we need to get info and if it's not with cube X4 than with a different ship, or waiting for a war to start that will kill a lot more than just the people on cube X4. But if we know for sure that the shields can take the weapon damage, then we can go there with Unimatrix 01 in relative comfort since we have the same shields on this ship as well. After all, the Borg were quick to use it on this ship because tests showed it to be stronger than the old shields. Even though how much stronger was still a question of testing, stronger is stronger, so they used it."
"You are correct, some calculated risks have to be taken," Seven agreed reluctantly.
"Hive?" B'Elanna merely asked.
{Your compromise has been deemed acceptable, our Princess,} The Hive spoke up.
{There is however still risk even if the new shields are up to satisfaction.}
{Species 8472 could do a lot of damage because the amount of numbers they have.}
"We will have numbers as well," Seven spoke up. "I want to go there, but not without taking a sizable force with us. I hope that we can negotiate with species 8472, but if not we need to be prepared to eradicate them if needed. When Unimatrix 01 travels to where species 8472 is, we will be accompanied by every Borg vessel that has the improved shields and that can reach us in time. I also want 50,000 standard cubes to be there as well and be held in reserve at a distance that they can reach the destination in five minutes if they travel at warp 15."
{Yes, our Queen.}
{The ships will be ready.}
"Who would have thought a mere year ago?" Wolkav asked with a grin. "Borg; protectors of the galaxy. I for one like to be part of that force, even if we are protecting the galaxy from species 8472 purely out of self interest."
Then he bowed in the direction of Seven before adding with a grin because he knew he was needling the blonde, "Long live our Queen."
Seven merely rolled her eyes while B'Elanna burst out laughing.
As this was going on, none of them, not even the Hive itself, realized that deep inside the oldest layers of the Hive mind something was stirring. The conversation had been an awakener. There had been a mix of the Queen listening and agreeing to the concerns of the Hive, the Queen hoping for a peaceful solution to the problem, and yet at the same time the Queen not hesitating to bring in the might that was the Borg Collective if it was needed. It had been millennia, but maybe the time had come to speak up once more; to be more than just some of many voices in the Hive mind.
The ancient were awake.
Continued...