Chapter 37
The beaming took more than an hour. First the patterns of the four individuals had been stored in four separate transporter buffers that were in no way connected to any other part of the Borg vessel, save the power source and the transporter console. Then security and doctor Lonika had gone over the patterns with a fine tooth comb to see if there was any potential risk or if the individuals might be part of some biological trap. In the end the conclusion had been that they were 'safe.' Which of course still was a relative term.
They still had their immune system that could be used as an attack as well. Just a mere scratch from them could bring their blood cells into a victim's bloodstream and start to attack, and kill, the victim from the inside out. But the Borg nanoprobes new design could handle those, as had been proven when they were used to save Harry Kim when he had been scratched by a member of species 8472 years before.
It was interesting. Species 8472 was apparently immune to assimilation; their blood cells would attack and destroy the nanoprobes. Yet when their blood cells were in the body of another being, nanoprobes were capable of attacking and destroying the blood cells of species 8472. B'Elanna had guessed that it came down to numbers. The nanoprobes and the blood cells of species 8472 were evenly matched, and it was simply that the owner of the body had the advantage of having millions of cells or millions of nanoprobes to fight the invader. While the invading cells or nanoprobes only measured in the hundreds or thousands; until they started to reproduce.
Species 8472 also still had the extremely dense skin and powerful muscles that enabled them to walk through normal force fields, and rip through metal bulkheads. But the Borg had their new shielding system that had been adapted to line the walls, ceiling, and floor of the meeting room, and serve as an invisible barrier to protect the Borg party.
Species 8472 still had the ability to heal within minutes from wounds, and still had claws that could rip through metal... well, at least some of them did, as the tests during beaming had shown.
B'Elanna could understand only too well why the Borg had been, and actually still were, interested in species 8472. They were the true pinnacle of biological evolution. Far advanced of anything the Borg had, despite 'merely' being biological beings. B'Elanna was also struck by how fate had seemed to want to prove Seven and B'Elanna right. For B'Elanna realized, and she knew that the Hive also realized, that if Seven hadn't become the new Queen and hadn't insisted on implementing some changes like the Individualist drones, then the Borg would not have detected species 8472 at that point. They would also not have the new and advanced shields to protect themselves against species 8472, and would never have had the chance they apparently had now; to have a dialogue with species 8472.
B'Elanna looked through the force field shield to the other side of the room and at their 'guests,' and the reason why she had corrected her self to thinking that only some of species 8472 had claws. Apparently, not every member of species 8472 was alike. Oh, there were two as they knew them. Three meters tall, standing on three legs, green, gray, or red skin color; depending on how the light reflected off the skin. They were boney, with some of their skeleton being on the outside to give more protection. B'Elanna knew that those bodies that looked so thin and weak were actually filled on the inside with muscles that were packed with sinews that were actually stronger than Borg implants. And of course there were the eyes; those golden colored eyes with cross shaped pupils.
But the other two had been a surprise. Unlike the first two these two were wearing clothing; something that looked like a simple throw cloak, leaving their feet as bare as their hands and head. One of the two was a golden skinned humanoid woman that was about as tall as B'Elanna and looked surprisingly much like a Bolian woman, including its soft flesh, hair, and clearly a visible swell in the chest area. There were two things that showed that she wasn't a Bolian though. First was the fact that she had a golden skin color instead of the blue skin that the Bolians had. The second was that the ridge that ran across this woman's face split into two parts just above her nose and veered off to the sides creating a Y form. Her hair was also golden colored, if just a shade darker, and had been pulled back into a ponytail that came halfway down her back. Of course, B'Elanna had no way of knowing if this woman was truly a woman, considering that the Borg did know that species 8472 actually had five different sexes.
The last person of the group was a, B'Elanna guessed, man with a red skin and hair color. He also had a humanoid body, but his looked more like the images of the Vorta that Starfleet had sent Voyager, and he was about two meters tall. With him the things that made clear that he wasn't actually a member of the Vorta were the fact that his skin was dark read, with his hair being a shade lighter, and the ridges that made up the Vorta's distinctive ears actually continued on along the cheeks until halfway down his chin. Of course, B'Elanna once again had no idea if he actually was a he.
As she looked at them B'Elanna could have sworn that she was looking at three totally different species. There was only one thing that showed that this was not the case; their eyes. All four of them had the same golden colored eyes with pupils in the shape of a cross. B'Elanna's observation was stopped by the door opening and Seven walking into the room with Pagsha at her side.
For a moment Seven looked at the four royal guards that were in the room besides B'Elanna. She wondered if she should send them out. But she knew that Katzi would object, rightfully so, because there was always the chance that they had missed something, and species 8472 had proven to be able to walk through a force field. Maybe they could do the same thing with a force field they couldn't beam through. Seven was 96% certain they could not, which meant that there was still a chance that they could and that her guard had to be there.
"And?" B'Elanna asked.
Curiosity had driven B'Elanna to go and have a 'peek' at their guests while Seven and Pagsha had talked with the Hive about the suggestion the Hive had brought forth. As soon as the guests had been beamed onboard and the tests had begun, the Hive had spoken up and had noted that telepathic species were quite common, and that they felt that such a species should be represented in the Senior Staff of Unimatrix 01. If for nothing more than to know in situations like the present one if the other side was trying to speak telepathically.
"I could see their point," Seven said, answering the 'and' question. "Yet at the same time I did not want a person to be nothing more than a telepathic receiver for the Senior Staff. I suggested that the highest ranking telepathic councilor for the Individualist drones would be promoted into the Senior Staff. The Hive considered him an adequate choice, so they did not object."
B'Elanna had noticed that the four members of species 8472 had turned to Seven when the blonde walked in, and then all of them had clearly reacted a second time as if seeing something that had totally surprised them.
"You are producing," The red skinned man said amazed.
"And I see that you can actually talk," Seven stated. Then she put her hands on her swollen belly. "And if you mean this, yes, I am pregnant. In three weeks the daughter of my Mate and me will be born and the Royal bloodline will be assured."
She put one of her hands on B'Elanna's shoulder before continuing, "I am One of Many; Queen of Borg. Seven for friend," then a pointed look, "and enemy. This here is my Mate B'Elanna Torres. She is Two of Many; Princess of Borg."
Then she indicated Pagsha. "This is First Officer Pagsha Yahif, assistant and advisor to me and my Mate. And you are?"
"I... I am F'loR FnT, ruler class." Then he indicated the two three legged members of species 8472 in turn and said. "This is Clia'W Ali'R, and Dlk'E Las'tJ, both are Warrior class, and my personal guards."
Lastly he indicated the golden skinned woman. "And this is Si'zaG Fe'R, my maintainer."
"Your maintainer," Seven repeated. "That can be a lot of different things."
"My... controller. My... fixer," F'loR tried. "If it doesn't work, she fix. If it breaks, she fix. If she does her job right, it will not break to begin with."
"Your Engineer," B'Elanna offered, taking the 'she' as an indicator that her guess had been right. The golden skinned person was indeed of the sex considered female; a woman.
The red skinned man pointed at B'Elanna to indicate that her guess had been right, and that this was what he meant. He was clearly startled by the reaction this simple pointing provoked. Suddenly a flash of green light engulfed the four guards for a second before it was gone again, and in the meantime the drones had moved to form a wall before Seven and B'Elanna.
"It is not wise to point at us; you are considered a threat," Seven explained as the guards slowly moved away again, but never deactivating their personal force field armor.
"So are you, a threat, I mean," The red skinned F'loR said. "You killed our ships, our staff."
"We gave you all the chance to prevent that; all you had to do was cease firing on our ships," Seven countered. "Besides, you did the same to us in the past. You destroyed every Borg ship you could find. You are a threat and we cannot let you bring more ships into our universe and destroy it. As a member of your species once said was your intention."
"You tried to assimilate us," F'loR countered on his turn.
"You attacked us when we were exploring fluidic space," Seven countered right back.
"You entered our territory, of course attack we did."
"We did not know it was your territory; you gave no warning."
"All of Fluidic space is our territory."
"Which we did not know." Seven lifted her hand to stop F'loR from speaking up again. "Let us just say that first contact between us was a disaster for which we are both to blame. Even if you had welcomed the Borg with open arms back then, the Borg would still have tried to attack you and assimilate you. I became Queen of Borg exactly one year ago tomorrow. Since that time my Mate and I made many changes. One of those changes is that we no longer assimilate species and force them to become part of the Collective against their will. But when first contact was made between the Borg and you, the old Queen was still alive and she thought that assimilation was the answer to all. So no matter what you would have done, with the biological distinctiveness you have, the Borg would have wanted to add you to the Collective."
Seven could see that F'loR was clearly surprised by her so readily admitting that the Borg had made mistakes. So she continued with the 'but' part. "On the other hand, you could not know this because the first thing you did on seeing Borg ships in fluidic space was open fire. You did not know why the Borg were there. The Borg had no idea about your existence and we only realized that there was life in fluidic space when you attacked. The Borg were exploring a for them new phenomena; fluidic space. Had I been Queen back then and had our new ways already been in affect, you would still have started a war with us. The only reason we are talking now is because now we have the means to protect ourselves against you and kill you if need be. Back then, even with the new Borg mentality you would have set out to kill us all, and might very well have succeeded."
Now Seven saw that F'loR didn't look as confident anymore. Clearly he didn't like hearing that they were to blame as well. "Both sides are to blame for this war between us. Both sides have killed and both sides have had to suffer losses. Now we are talking however, and now is the point where we can either stop the killings, or we go on until one side is no more. Be warned though, if you force me into the position of having such a battle, I assure you; I fully intend it to be your side that is no more in the end."
"You have to let the ships enter," F'loR, suddenly said. "Time is hasty."
"We cannot allow your ships to enter," Seven stated resolutely. "Again, the last thing we know for sure is that your species threatened to destroy all in this universe. Captain Janeway of the starship Voyager might have been able to reach a deal with some of you, but the only thing we know for certain about your plans is that you want to destroy us all. I cannot let you enter more ships that can be used for just that cause."
"That then was, now is now. We don't want to destroy, we need," F'loR started to explain hesitantly.
As she listened to him talking, Seven wondered why his speaking was translated in such a strange way. Then she realized that the biological side was not the only thing advanced with species 8472. Their language was advanced as well, and the translator device build into the meeting room simply had a hard time translating the language and turning it into something Seven could understand.
She wondered why the members of species 8472 they encountered in that Starfleet enactment had been able to talk in what the Voyager crew considered a normal way while now this member could not talk in the same manner. Then she guessed that it was exactly because those other members had been running a simulation. They had also been learning and speaking Federation so that their language would not show that they weren't human. This being clearly had never had that training.
"We need this universe to survive. The other side is dying, you killed. We need to move here where space is empty," F'loR continued to explain.
"Also, other ones, contact with Voyager they had, showed us that not all has to be destroyed. Just have to be prevented from entering our home. But home is now dying, you killed."
Seven frowned and looked at an equally frowning B'Elanna. Both of them were wondering how they could possibly have 'killed' fluidic space.
"We do not understand," Seven finally admitted. "How did we 'kill' your home, why can you no longer live there?"
"You introduced technological disease. It is spreading and stop it we cannot."
"We did not introduce any technological disease," Seven assured. "With the old Queen it was not used because she did not want to kill possible drones, and if they were not suited for drones they were either ignored, or destroyed by using normal plasma cannons to destroy all life on their planet. Presently we do not introduce any diseases because I will not allow it and I see no need for it."
"You used just moments ago, outside," F'loR said, now pointing to one of the walls.
"I think he's talking about the nanoprobes," B'Elanna suddenly said in understanding. "Technological disease... yeah, guess the nanoprobes could be seen as a technological disease; viruses."
Then she looked at F'loR before adding, "Just like your blood cells can be seen as viruses by us. They attack and destroy any body they don't belong to, and the only thing I know of that can stop them is in fact our nanoprobes. But you are wrong, the nanoprobes are no disease. They are small machines that can be used in many ways. Yes, they can be programmed to kill. Yes, they can be used to assimilate someone. But that is not what they were created for. The Borg started using the nanoprobes to assimilate people because it was easy and efficient, but they were already assimilating people long before they acquired the nanoprobe technology. We stopped the involuntary assimilation by the Borg. Nowadays people join the Borg willingly, and most of them opt to take the nanoprobes because of what they can do, not because we force them to. Nanoprobes can stop disease, they can heal wounds, they can neutralize poison. They are a wonderful thing to have, and they protect the drone."
"Then why use as weapon?" F'loR asked.
"Because they were the only thing that could stop you," Seven spoke up. "You saw out there that we have ships that are powerful enough to destroy your ships even if they have their shield at the highest setting, but back then the Borg did not have the shields they have now. If they would have brought those powerful ships in back then, you would have destroyed them long before they could have a true impact on the battle. Your warrior class, why do they not use other weapons in their fights? Why do they only use their claws? You know that your blood cells are lethal to other beings, still your warrior class does all it can to use those blood cells as a weapon. Yet here you are, accusing us of using something as a weapon to fight you. Something that we consider of our body and that we see as fundamentally part of it. Just as your blood cells are of your body. We are very much alike; you just do not like that this time around we have the upper hand because we adapted."
"Our blood cells only active are as long as body of enemy is not dead. When dead, our cells die, not spreading any further. Your nanoprobes, they not die," F'loR accused, wanting to find a difference between what species 8472 did and what the Borg did.
"Normally we can fight off your nanoprobes when they come into our body, without problem. Not these. They enter body, they destroy. They are spreading, producing, killing."
"What do you mean they are spreading?" Seven wondered. "Producing, you asked me before if I was producing; you meant me being pregnant. Are you saying that the nanoprobes are still active and multiplying?"
"Yes. Warriors came back from battle with you victorious. We feel we won that battle; showed you not to come into our home ever again. Some warriors infected they were by you. It did matter not, our bodies were fighting it and it would not be long before they were healed. Not that way it went. Once back home the disease got worse, ferocious, unstoppable. It consumed the bodies of our warriors, but it was not enough for the disease. It spread. Fluidic space not your space is, it is all around us. We live in it, it is against our skin, we breathe it. Your disease... it infected our space itself. It made fluidic space sick, and used it to spread. It is spreading now, using fluidic space. Killing all in it. Flee we must here, but you are stopping our ships."
"Kahless, Seven. I think I understand," B'Elanna said with a sickening feeling. "Those big ships out there aren't filled with troops; they're refugees. Nanoprobes are built to be able to adapt. Assimilate now, heal a wound next, infect a computer and take over a ship next. Normally this is coordinated by the drone. The drone sets the nanoprobes a task and then uses them to do that task, even if that task is outside the body. We, the Individualists have the new nanoprobes, but the old ones couldn't be changed after that last order was given. Once they left the drones body they did what they were programmed to do and then deactivated."
"But those nanoprobes that were used in those first weapons were mine, before the change," Seven said in understanding. "They were more resilient than normal nanoprobes. As F'loR just rightfully pointed out, in fluidic space there is material around that the nanoprobes can use to move around and fulfill the order they had because they were in the weapons; search and destroy."
Then she looked back at F'loR who clearly was the speaker since the others hadn't said a word. Probably because F'loR was of the 'ruler class.'
"I assure you, we had no idea that this would happen. Back when we created those weapons we thought that my nanoprobes were the normal Borg nanoprobes and that they would automatically deactivate after some time. In fact, with the new weapons we used today this could also not have happened because the nanoprobes might be of the new kind, but we added an irreversible shutdown command to their programming. They become inactive thirty minutes after the weapon is activated. Again, the truth is, the previous Queen would have been glad to hear that our nanoprobes are destroying you and forcing you here. But that was then and I am now. Believe me, a continued destruction is the last thing I want. How bad is the situation over there?"
F'loR thought for a moment before admitting, "Bad it is. Thousands of home places are unlivable because the nanoprobes have infested fluidic space there. We lucky are now. We still have ships to flee, take ours and leave the home places. But there have been instances where ships didn't arrive soon enough. Thousands are no more. Soon all ships will be in use to flee, and not all will be able to come with us. Millions will die, then billions, then we are no more. We need to come here before nanoprobes spread throughout fluidic space."
"Or we need to stop the nanoprobes," Seven corrected.
"You can?" F'loR asked amazed, only to then ask, "You will?"
"We can, and I will," Seven assured before addressing the Hive. "Hive, I am about to do something you will not like."
{Our Queen is placing herself in unnecessary danger,} The Hive reacted, knowing what Seven meant.
{We are destroying species 8472.}
{We did not want their destruction.}
{We wanted their biological and technological distinctiveness to be added to our own.}
{We have the tactical advantage, we should not surrender that.}
{The continued existence of species 8472 is irrelevant.}
{The continued existence of species 8472 is not irrelevant.}
{Their biological and technological distinctiveness should be ensured so that it can de added to the Collective at a later date.}
{Our Queen wants us to change.}
{With change comes risk.}
{We have to adapt to where we do not only evaluate the level of risk in a situation, but also if we nevertheless want to take that potential risk despite the level of it.}
{We do not know if we want to take this risk.}
{Then we should trust in our Queen.}
{Our Queen's choices have proven beneficial until now.}
{The decision is yours, our Queen.}
"You talk to them, they have say?" F'loR asked when the Hive stopped talking.
"We are moving them in that direction," Seven agreed. "It is an ongoing process. They were used to having a Queen that was in total control. Then they forced me to become their Queen when the old Queen got herself killed. At that point the Borg were making decisions for themselves even though they did not realize it. Even though those decisions were about not letting me do certain things. My Mate and I decided to go from there. We felt that the Borg should have a say about their own fate. We are striving to reach a state where it is an equal sharing; where the Queen focuses on specific situations, like I am now, and where the Borg do the every day things. We would like an ongoing situation where the Queen and the Collective coexist and enhance each other without the one trying to truly and totally control the other."
"You produce. Borg do not produce, they take."
"We did, and we still do," Seven agreed. "The difference is that we now 'take' only people that want to join the Collective. We realized that we had the ability to help people with personal needs and could ask something in return. For instance, give the ability to walk again to someone that lost that ability. We help them out and in return we expect a limited time of service in the Collective. It is working, we are actually adding more people to the Collective than we did before through forced assimilation. Of course, the numbers will decline slightly again when people that served the agreed upon time leave the Collective again."
"But some might not want to leave," F'loR said in understanding. "People needing help are often the outcasts, the ones that have home none. If given new home for some time, they might find they like and they might want to stay."
"We are hoping they will," Seven agreed. "But we are no longer forcing them. Another way to ensure numbers is to allow people that want to, to have children. Families with children will live on Unimatrix 01 and will have a home here. Children will grow up in the Collective and to them it is only normal that Unimatrix 01 is home. Eventually they themselves have children and numbers are ensured from family, not from force. The same will happen on other Borg ships, starbases, and planets."
"Force. You say they forced you, you not want to be Queen?"
"Yes and no," Seven said, thinking about it for a moment. "No, I did not want to be Queen. I was happy on Voyager; it was my home. But the Borg left me little choice. Come back or Voyager would be destroyed. I could not let my friends die, so I agreed to come back to the Borg. It was my Mate that made me see that maybe this was not as bad as it seemed. She reminded me that as Queen of the Borg I could do things that none other could do; I could change the Borg."
Seven indicated the four people opposite of her. "Move the Borg to where we are talking to species 8472, not mercilessly killing them because now we can. Once I did not like to be Queen, now I like to be Queen because of the changes I can make, but I do not want to be Queen just to be Queen."
"Siill we are, not species 8472. Please, stop nanoprobes, talk we can more then, now time is hurrying."
"You are correct. I do hope that you are sincere when you say we will talk more, but right now we have to enter fluidic space. I will deactivate the force field that separates us, please do not make any irrational choices. My Mate and I have an active transporter lock on us, and sensors set to trigger automatically. If any of you comes closer than ten centimeters to either of us, my Mate and I will be automatically transported to sickbay. Do not destroy the chance for a peaceful end to our conflict."
A mere moment later there was a green haze between both parties as the force field was deactivated and then the moment of trust started. When after ten seconds no attack had occurred, Seven spoke up again.
"We will lead you to the bridge, please be advised that talking to me in the corridors will be of no use since there are no translator devices installed there. I will be able to understand you once more on the bridge."
At the door there was a little bit of a holdup when it came to who would go first and who would be in the back. In the end Seven and B'Elanna went first, followed by their four guards, on their turn followed by the two humanoid Siill and then the two Siill warriors.
Continued...