Chapter 63
The reign of One of Many, née Annika Hansen; Queen of Borg.
Year 01, Month 12, Day 23, Hour 12, Minute 01.
Seven let her eyes drift across the large conference room. She had to admit that she wouldn't want to be in the position of some of these people. There were mortal enemies sitting beside each other because they found out that something even more dangerous had decided that the time for playing was over.
Her eyes stopped for a moment at the table of the Founders. Apparently the Hendricks imposter had been right. They had not seen the changeling called Shyra again ever since beaming them over to a Dominion ship. The following interactions with the Dominion also indicated that Shyra had apparently been ignored at best. At worse... who knew? In the end a show of force had been needed to show the Dominion that they were outmatched.
The Dominion had felt safe in the Gamma Quadrant, apparently forgetting that the Gamma quadrant was quite close to the Delta Quadrant and that Borg ships could reach them within days, at most. Twenty wings of cubes, two hundred cubes in total, had dropped out of transwarp close to the Founder's Homeworld. A single bioship had decimated the shipyards within a minute, after the cubes had beamed everyone off the shipyards despite shields being raised. Then the bioships had started to do flyovers of the pool that was the great link and had sent a polite message asking if they wanted to talk before weapons would start firing. Only after that were the founders willing to talk.
Seven checked the time and decided that it was time to start things moving. She stood up and felt eyes gather on her. In seconds the hum in the room had died down.
"I would like to thank the Bajoran government for lending us the use of DS9 for this meeting. A meeting that will end with something I propose calling 'the treaty of Bajor'. You will notice the distinct lack of words like Borg, surrender, peace, or capitulation. The reason is simple; I want all of you to be able to go home and give your own spin; how you were the ones that have ended up with the best deal and therefore decided to end the war. Look around you."
Seven waited for a few seconds as some did so, but others never looked away from her. "You will see all the parties that have an interest in this conflict, not just the ones that are actually at war at the moment. The Breen are here because the Dominion was negotiating with them for an alliance. The Romulans are here because the Federation was negotiating with them. This war was far from over; but all the closer to escalating. Well ladies and gentlemen, let me be clear. As of this minute the war 'is' over. Now your only choice is just how much futile resistance you want to offer the Borg, and how many of your people you condemn to death for no reason. Please, do not believe that you have any say in whether the war is over or not; your only say is about how much you want to bleed."
Seven gestured with her hand to the table where the Dominion representatives were sitting. "Some of you needed more persuasion than others to come here. At the moment there is a planetbuster located above the Founder's Homeworld. They know, only one command from me and the planet and most of the Founders will be dead."
A mumble went through the room; clearly this was news to most.
"If pressed, we will act," Seven assured. "But we prefer to work in different ways." Now she indicated the table that held the Klingon party, under command of General Martok. Then she pointed to the table with the Romulans, under control of Praetor Hiren. "As an indicator of this other way, I present to you the Klingon and Romulan Empires; both have agreed to become Vassal territory of the Borg Collective. Their territory should be considered Borg territory as of this minute. Both parties have also showed an interest in having people enter the Collective as Individualist drones. Ladies and gentlemen, it seems that both the Romulans and the Klingons see the Borg not as a threat, but as an opportunity. I hope that the rest of you will do the same."
Seven waited for a moment. She knew that all of them were expecting a 'but', and she wasn't going to disappoint them. "But let me be clear, besides those opportunities there is also assurance. Assurance to the ones we protect, and the ones we might need to protect our friends from. If need be we will bring in millions of cubes, millions of bioships, trillions of drones, to protect our partners. That, ladies and gentlemen is what you are facing. And let me assure you that this is not an empty threat. All of you must have picked up our First Fleet as it passed through your territory. There is an old Sol saying; a picture says a thousand words. This picture actually said 50,000 words. All the same word; cube. And ladies and gentlemen, there is a reason why it is called the 'First' Fleet. It is up to you if you see this as the biggest opportunity in your recorded history, or as the worst day of that recorded history. For it can be both, depending on how you act."
Seven indicated the table holding the Federation representatives, headed by the Federation President, Min Zife, and the Commander-in-Chief of Starfleet, Alynna Nechayev. "Others are not as reluctant to be here as the Dominion is, but are nevertheless still sitting on the fence about how they want to interact with us. Let me be clear to all of you. When this treaty is over, you will have made your choice. Even a non-choice will be considered a choice. If you strive for autonomy, we are willing to give you almost entire autonomy in the territory that was considered yours before the war. But territory that was gained in the war will be returned to the original owner."
Seven looked at both parties for a moment. "To both the Federation and the Dominion I say: you can have your autonomy, and I give you my personal promise that the Borg Collective will prevent the other party from infringing on things having to do with your territory. But you 'will' have to live from now on with the knowledge of knowing that the border guard between your territories does have the power to destroy you in one hour flat, if provoked. Do not provoke us. Instead work with us to turn this into a situation where you all can live in peace and prosperity."
Seven let her eyes drift across the room. "For the next two days I will hold meetings with various parties. That is your chance to tell me what you want, and what you would have a problem with. For the two days after that, I will be the mediator in talks between two parties at a time while they work out problems. And for the two days after that we will once more gather as a group and details of negotiations will be presented to you all. This so that people that were not part of the negotiation between certain parties can nevertheless speak up if they have a grievance. I know that normally one would only give a little while at the same time saying that they would never accept things that in reality they would accept. All in a simple matter of trying to get the most out of the deal. Ladies and gentlemen. I just proposed six days of talk. On the seventh day a treaty will be signed. Do not hold out trying to get more. Especially in the one-on-one talk with me, be honest. It is only when I know your true concerns that I can try to keep them in mind while talking with others. Are there any questions?"
After a moment of silence, the Federation President spoke up hesitantly. "Even if we reach agreements here, some of us, like the Federation, still have to get the agreement ratified to make it legal."
"Unacceptable," Seven stated resolutely. "These negotiations will not differ from others in the fact that details will have to be worked out over weeks, maybe even months. But details can still be worked out after the main treaty is signed, in which you will declare your general intentions. For instance. Part of the treaty will be that the Dominion will retreat... I mean pull back their overwhelming forces that could easily win the war... all depending who is explaining it to whom, to the Gamma Quadrant. However, in the detailed negotiations to be done later, it might be agreed that they will be allowed to have a starbase in Federation or Bajoran territory so that they can monitor the Federation, and maybe serve as a base of interest for the merchant ships that use the wormhole to travel to the Gamma Quadrant. Where, of course, those ships have to abide by Dominion law."
Seven let her eyes drift around the room before continuing. "But let there be no mistake. When this conference is over a treaty 'will' be sighed. Do not take the fact that I allow you to negotiate your points as a sign that you actually have the choice to ignore the Borg Collective."
"Then let me ask this," Major Kira Nerys, one of the Bajoran representatives spoke up, "You say that it's our choice on how we interact with the Borg, and for the parties at war, whether to continue. But what would happen to a party that's neutral in the war, and decides that they want nothing to do with the Borg?"
"Like Bajor?" Seven asked. "As long as you are not involved in hostile or clandestine activities against the Borg or any of our allies, then you would be left alone. However, because both the Klingon and Romulan Empire will become Vassal territory of the Borg Collective, you would not be allowed to enter that territory. Nor any of the formerly neutral territories between different parties for that matter. This because the Borg Collective now claims that as our territory. As we speak Borg cubes are going to those territories and placing the beacons."
Seven smiled before adding, "And it depends on just how... annoyed... the Collective is with you, in just what way we will react to infringements on our territory."
"There's always is neutral territory between factions," Kira objected.
"Not anymore," Seven disagreed. "It is not my fault that there is a tendency in the Alpha and Beta Quadrant to leave a piece of unclaimed territory between factions. It is also not my fault that you like 'no-man's-lands'. Now there is no longer such a thing. We claimed those lands."
"But that means that a Bajoran ship can't even leave Bajoran territory to go to a friendly party like the Federation," Kira objected hotly.
"That depends on just how much Bajor would get along with the Borg Collective, would it not?" Seven countered. It was almost as if she and Kira had practiced this conversation, which was not the case. Yet the Bajoran was asking all the right questions to make it clear to the others that even if they wanted to stay well away from the Borg they would not be able to do so, unless they wanted to be isolated to only their own planet.
"For instance," Seven explained, "Since the Klingons are getting along with the Borg so exceptionally well, and are actually part of Borg territory as of now, they could travel back and forth to, say, Cardassia without even having to ask permission, from us at least. But on the other hand, if a Cardassian ship were to try and travel to Qo'noS without documented permission, they would be intercepted, and depending on how nice we feel we might even ask them to explain themselves before we destroy the ship."
"You're not leaving us much choice here," Dukat, the Cardassian representative said, clearly not pleased at all.
"That is the point," Seven noted dryly. "We all know that there are too many parties in this to play nice to everyone and cater to egos. I am cutting through all of that. You 'will' come to an agreement, and the more stable that agreement is, the less the Borg will have to act as your guardian."
"So to come back to that Borg territory between factions," Kira spoke up again, and by now Seven was sure that the Bajoran was doing it deliberately. "If the Dominion and the Federation reach that deal, and the others, like the Cardassians, agree that they will not try and pick wars with others, then you would not deny travel between factions?"
"We would not," Seven assured. "We would monitor, and we would make sure that the treaty would be upheld. But other than that we would not interfere. Save of course if it concerns our Vassal territories. We will protect them with all we have if needed, but we will also make sure that they do not misuse that situation."
"So you would not permit the Klingons to occupy Bajoran territory, even though they are your vassal and even if we were to have no ties with the Borg at all?"
"That is correct," Seven assured. "But if it is you who started the problems," Seven didn't finish the statement, knowing that it would not be needed.
"So when we have those one-on-one talks with you, can others also bring up the issue of becoming a Borg Vassal?" Kira asked with a small grin.
"They can." Then Seven asked slightly amused, "Why do I get the feeling that the Bajoran representatives would be interested in such an option?"
Before answering, Kira looked to her side at the Bajoran First Minister, and her former lover, Shakaar Edon. He gave her the smallest of nods and she continued. "We might, if it would be very clear that we might join the Borg, but not dissolve into them. We Bajorans have always been explorers at heart, and always had a peace loving nature. While admirable, this is also a bad combination because sooner or later you run into people that decide that you are weak and that they can occupy your territory. It would be nice to be sure that we don't have to worry about that, and at the same time could go and explore the universe. Or at least the Borg territory."
"We will talk about this more in our negotiations," Seven assured. Then she once more looked around the room to see if there were more questions. When nobody spoke up she continued. "Ladies and gentlemen, I thank you for your time. In half an hour I will start talking with the first party. And since the Bajorans seem to have a few questions, we will start with them."
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Seven gestured to the other side of the table. She was in conference room one of DS9, and waited for the Bajoran delegation to sit down before doing the same.
When hearing someone mention conference room one in passing, Seven had been amused to hear such a familiar name and had commandeered the room as hers for the duration of the talks. Her determination for using the room had only increased when she was told that the room was normally only used for staff meetings. Most definitely not fit for political negotiations. But they had some ambassador class conference rooms a mere deck away.
Seven had liked it, liked the no frills, all business room. It was good, she had decided, to remind the people she needed to talk to that they were there to talk, not to get pampered. The only concession to diplomacy had been to have the Federation and Bajoran flags on the wall removed. Leaving those would have sent a wrong impression of favoritism.
Seven truly didn't have any favorites in this conflict. Because when all was said and done, it was far away from her home and all parties involved had shown both moments of great leadership, and great stupidity. She would not have minded if this conflict had resulted in a clear victor that ruled all the territory. At least that would have simplified these negotiations. But on a more basic level people were dying. People that never had seen someone from the other side were told that they were an evil and had to be destroyed. People were killing and being killed for nothing more than the fact that a few people that were in change had an ego that was too big for their own good. And that, Seven had decided, was ultimately the reason why she was here. Because that was going to stop.
'Well,' Seven corrected herself mentally, 'That is not correct, I do have favorites here; the ones that are able to talk without letting their ego get in the way.'
There were three chairs on her side of the table; one for her, one for B'Elanna, and one for Pagsha. Katzi had found a middle ground between being the Royal Guard, and someone that occasionally mentioned something in conversations. Seven and the others always sat on the side of the table that was to the wall, giving a clear view of the door. So Katzi took position against the wall with the other Royal Guards where they could oversee the room. But unlike the other Guards, Katzi was not linked to the Hive during the talks. She had chosen her position so that she basically stood between Seven and B'Elanna. This was easy to give suggestions. And not to forget, despite the fact that Pagsha was her Mate, Katzi's job was it to protect Seven and B'Elanna, in that order.
The Bajoran party existed out of three people. First Minister Shakaar Edon, Major Kira Nerys, and, Seven had been informed, some lawyer. She decided to ignore him unless he spoke up. She had a feeling that he was merely there because he had more knowledge of Bajoran laws. Apparently they didn't realize fully yet that these were the kinds of talks that worked the other way around. Things were agreed upon, and then after that the laws were formed around it to make it legal.
"I was surprised to hear that Kai Winn was unfortunately too sick to attend these meetings," Seven opened. "How about we start this off by you giving me the unofficial, but real, reason why she is not here?"
Shakaar and Kira looked at each other for a moment. "Off the record?" Shakaar finally asked.
Seven shook her head. "Apparently you do not yet grasp fully how this works. There is no on or off the record in these negotiations. Not until the final formal documents have to be signed. There will be no records of just which party was the most difficult, or how easy others were. Though the Klingons and Romulans did get a jump on you there because records will show that they already agreed to become Vassal territories of the Borg before the negotiations began."
Seven saw them relax a little and added, "I assure you that records are not needed while negotiating with me. I am Borg. I have a photographic memory and instant recall. I know each and every word you said and will say during these negotiations; I do not forget."
Well, she did actually, but not things like this. But because Seven was Borg, she did have the ability to 'flag' information as no longer important. Then there was a chance that she would actually forget those things. But as the fact that Seven still remembered some of her childhood proved, apparently not that much information was forgotten.
The Bajorans lost some of their just found ease and Seven prompted again, "The Kai?"
"As you probably know, we Bajoran are a very religious people," Shakaar began. "Because of that, the position of Kai as our spiritual leader is very important. So much so that a person that is Kai must also have a fondness for the power that comes with that position. Kai Opaka was a great example of how this should be done. She used her influence to better and even save countless lives. Kai Winn however, she likes her power more than she should. When she found out about the Borg, and especially when she read the information you sent over, she felt that Bajor's fate would be corrupted because with you spiritual leadership is not even second place; it is nonexistent."
"Ah," Seven said in understanding, "She feared for her power. But because you fear for Bajor more than for your own power, you decided that it is better to see how you can work with us. And the last thing you wanted was for the Kai to cause trouble. I assume that she is momentarily on some forced vacation at a luxurious resort, which has very high walls?"
"Something like that," Kira agreed.
"It is a shame that she saw obstacles where there are opportunities," Seven said. "While we do not have religious leaders in the sense that they can order things, we do have religious leaders that give guidance in their species. And quite some religions have proven interesting to other species as well."
Seven pointed behind her at Katzi. "Katzi is a Zamonan. They believe in a group of gods, but the Zamonan have a patron goddess that takes care of them specifically, protects them. The belief in this patron goddess is actually spreading quite fast in the Collective. It appeals greatly to women that want to be in control of their own life. They find solace in a patron goddess that teaches to love their Mate, but that their own wellbeing comes first. The Zamonan do not have one united spiritual leader, but if they did, that leader would by now be seen as their spiritual leader by twenty times as many people as there even are Zamonan. The Bajoran faith would not be discouraged in the Collective, as long as your spiritual leader has no illusions of having more power than the Borg Queen."
Kira and Shakaar looked at each other for a moment. Both of them envisioning Kai Winn coming to that conclusion. And while it would not mean having a powerbase in the Borg, it would definitely mean more power on Bajor. If she was the one who had been able to bring the word of the Prophets to the stars... She would be more powerful than the entire Bajoran government rolled into one person.
"Then maybe it's better if Winn likes her vacation so much that she wants to step down as Kai and enjoy retirement," Kira finally said. "Vedek Adami Ro is highly respected and she embraces change, as long as we keep the faith in the Prophets."
"A bit young though," Shakaar reminded. "She's only thirty-eight years old."
"All the better. That way she can potentially be a great and stable influence for decades instead of just years," Kira pointed out. "Plus she always says that people should decide for themselves, just let the prophets guide them. Instead of Winn who is always making a show of interpreting the prophet's wishes and saying that Bajor should do what the prophets wish. At worst Adami might insist that people on Bajor choose their own fate, even if this means not wanting to have anything to do with the Borg."
"And they are welcome to make that choice," Seven spoke up. "At the worst that might result in us not permitting ships to leave Bajor, but at best it might result in Bajor becoming a vital part of the Borg Collective. Though all species in the Collective are equally important to us, we do promote certain species to have a more prominent role in their sector so that they can be the people that oversee that things run smoothly at a localized level. Guide where needed, suggest where needed. The Zamonan have become such a prominent entity in their sector of space. The Siill are such an entity because they are the protectors that all others call on, no matter their species or beliefs. Here there are several species with strong opinions. Klingons, Cardassians, Romulans, Breen. This sector would benefit greatly from a gentle and soft-spoken species that urges people to talk instead of argue. Though not a leader over those species, Bajor could become a formidable guiding force in this sector."
"But," B'Elanna spoke up for the first time, "That's a best case scenario. So let's start with something more basic. Why don't you tell us what Bajor wants?"
"What we want?" Kira asked. It was on the tip of her tongue to say 'let me make a list', but she had a feeling that this would be a very bad answer to give. Luckily she was saved by Shakaar speaking up.
"What we want, is to..."
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"... keep our fleet," Nechayev stated firmly.
B'Elanna spread her hands a little. "No problem. In fact, that's what usually happens anyway. Just because starships are antiquated and mediocre at best compared to Borg ships, doesn't mean that they're of no use anymore."
She felt a twinge of guilt when saying that. One of those ships had been her inanimate love for years. And even now that Unimatrix 01 was her inorganic lover, there still was this place in her heart for that first true love. The first true love that wasn't a living person at any rate. That first true living love was sitting beside her and loved her all the more for loving their home so much. But still, she wanted to remind the Federation representatives of just how useless their precious fleet was in comparison with the Borg.
After just the right pause to let the words antiquated and mediocre sink in, B'Elanna continued. "When we reach agreements with species, we often find that it's hard for them to let go of their fleets; the one thing that kept them safe from their enemies for years. Be it in real battle, or merely by the fact of having them and therefore not having to use them. So they normally take over patrolling their territory to prevent pirates and smugglers from finding a home there. We find it a good middle ground. That way they still have their fleets, and we don't need to have more than a handful of ships in those sectors. Our ships are then normally the backup, the ships that respond when the weaker local ships have found a problem. As powerful and fast as our ships are, sensors still have only a limited range. So the local fleets become our eyes and ears."
"Having said that," Seven continued where her lover had stopped. "We know that especially in the Federation there are quite a number of species that are explorers at heart. Even if extensive reports exist, even if those people can look at holo-recordings of places, they want to go there themselves. They want to stand in that spot themselves and breath the air, so to speak. It is a tendency B'Elanna and I share as well. Depending how well negations proceed you could use your own ships to explore parts of space that were inaccessible to you until now."
"You wouldn't lend us a few of your ships for that?" Nechayev asked.
"We would," Seven assured. "However, we have found that in the beginning species prefer to use their own ships. If I may use your Starfleet name for a moment? They prefer to use their own ships so that, even though it is because of Borg influence that they can go to a certain location now, it would still be a Starfleet mission. For some reason a lot of species feel that if those same missions are done on a Borg cube they are suddenly no longer 'their' missions, but merely Borg missions. So we promote the use of own ships for such explorations."
"And let's be honest," Pagsha spoke up. "You want your fleets because you are still suspicious of the other parties, even after our assurance that we would not let them attack you. That too is not new to us. Basically we simply wait in the beginning until governments become more comfortable with the arrangements. It's only at that point that they finally realize that using Borg ships instead of their own is a much better option. Borg ships are better, faster, and on top of that they don't cost those governments a single..." she hesitated for a moment. "I think you would say 'not a slip of gold-pressed latinum'. Whereas building and maintaining their own starships is sometimes the biggest spending of governments."
"You get your ships for free?" President Min Zife asked amazed. Even though there was no use of money in the Federation, officially, you basically still paid heavily for starships. Just that it was in other ways. Food that was grown on one planet to be shipped to another, to be exchanged for certain materials, to be exchanged for... it was a logistics nightmare at times.
"That all depends on your definition of free," B'Elanna pointed out. "We have trillions of drones, all of which do a job for us. Some of those jobs exist out of mining ores on planets, some of those jobs exist out of shipping that ore, some out of refining, some out of using those materials to build starships. So, in the end what did a cube cost us? In the end it cost was nothing else than people doing their job. A job for which they're paid nothing, with the exception of us giving them a home, food... a life."
"That is one of the reasons why we have almost five million cubes in the Collective at the moment," Seven pointed out. Nechayev clearly paled at the number that was so casually spoken. And even the blue skin of the Bolian Federation President changed color somewhat. "We have an effective system in place for building cubes. And while we are not desperate for more cubes, we can never the less use them. They are also convenient vessels for group transport."
"With the Individualist drone system that we introduced, transport of drones has increased dramatically," Pagsha explained. "Before those changes a drone was stationed on a cube and that was pretty much it. Only a few ever moved to other locations. But now we have new drones joining, drones leaving again when their time of duty is over, people going to places for vacations. Group transport has pretty much doubled, and we don't see that slowing down any time soon. So we have already decided to let cube production continue at the pace that it's at now, to keep up with that extra traffic and prevent us ever entering the stage where we need more ships built desperately. We estimate that we'll have an estimate of ten million cubes in twenty years."
"You build a quarter million cubes every year?" Nechayev asked in disbelief after a quick calculation.
"As I said, we have a good system in place," Seven merely replied. "Now, we were talking about you keeping your ships. As my stay on the USS Voyager has proven, Borg enhancements can be added to a Starfleet ship and the crew will still consider it fully 'their' ship. So we would be more than willing to work with you so that you can upgrade your ships with Borg technology."
Once again the winds of the conversation clearly changed and a gleam entered Nechayev's eyes. "You would?"
"Sure," B'Elanna assured amused. "After all, even if we were to upgrade them to our latest technology, you'd still be restricted by available space on the ships. A cube will always be more powerful. Simply because we can afford to have weapon banks that are bigger than the mass of five of your Galaxy class ships all rolled into one heap. Plus, the Siill are our allies, and their Fluidic space is the only known source of stable Omega molecules. And that extra kick, the use of those molecules, is something we won't hand out. Even if we were so stupid that we're willing to do so, part of our agreement with the Siill is that the Omega molecules are only used in places where the Hive, and thereby the Siill as well, can directly stop the misuse of the molecules if someone would ever come up with a really stupid idea. So even if you were to take all of our technology and turn it against us, then we'd simply come by with a few bioships and blast you out of fucking existence."
The blunt statement had the desired effect and Nechayev and Zife once more deflated somewhat. Seven and B'Elanna wanted them eager to work with the Borg, but not too eager. Too eager normally resulted in parties trying to anticipate what the Borg wanted instead of listening to what they wanted.
B'Elanna smiled, and it was a genuine one. "Sure, we're looking forward to helping the Federation in any way we can, share any technology we can."
She leaned forward a little, and Nechayev automatically did the same. "As you know, I was the Chief Engineer on Voyager for over five years before I went to live with the Borg."
'Live with?' Katzi asked over the Borg link. 'You make it sound like you had a choice.'
'Oh, but I did,' B'Elanna assured. 'Seven didn't, I did. I could've stayed on Voyager. Besides, it sounds better than the Hive forcing us. As well as we are working with the Hive now, why hold old grudges?'
'Anidan does,' Pagsha reminded. 'And the Hive like her all the more for it.'
'True,' B'Elanna agreed. 'Which reminds me, Katzi would you mind checking how she's doing in her talks with that Romulan representative? I'd do it myself, but I want to focus here.'
'Over Borg link you mean? Sure. I talked to her about an hour ago while you were talking to those others. She had nothing new to say then, but I'll check to be sure. Those Romulans move fast though. They're already talking to our Chief Engineer, while these people only now realize that we have all kinds of goodies we can give them if they play nice.'
'That's because the Romulans were not yet part of the war,' B'Elanna reminded. 'They see us as an opportunity while both the Dominion and the Federation don't like the fact that we don't side with them in destroying their hated enemy. Now, excuse me while I see about getting my old home back.'
"Yes?" Nechayev asked, wondering why B'Elanna was bringing up Voyager, and obviously ignorant to the conversation that was going on over Borg link at the same time.
"Well, I love that ship," B'Elanna explained. "At the moment Voyager has a rich history. But we both know that now that she's back in the Alpha Quadrant, she'll only be assigned the tasks for which she was originally designed; scout work with a little light exploring on the side. She deserves better than that. What would you think of her and a crew being stationed on Unimatrix 01? Where she'll serve as the flagship of the Federation's representative to Unimatrix 01?"
Nechayev looked taken aback for a moment. Then she said on a hunch, "Let me guess, where she would be staffed by an experienced crew. Kinda like the one that's serving on her now?"
"Kinda," B'Elanna agreed. "Though you might find that some of them will now leave Starfleet. We've offered our friends a home with us, and some of them have already accepted. Tom Paris will become pilot of Unimatrix 01, on the Beta shift."
Nechayev wondered why the fact that Paris would join the Beta shift had been so deliberately pointed out. But seeing the small smile that was playing on all the three seated women from the Borg side, Nechayev assumed that it was some kind of private joke. But the fact still remained that a Starfleet officer was willing to leave Starfleet to join the Borg.
In the meantime, B'Elanna continued. "Harry Kim will join us and has shown an interest in setting up a ship's design department. He feels that the step we now have between shuttle and sphere is too big, and we want to see what he comes up with. Their partners are of course joining them. Crewman Tal Celes will be joining us as well. She'll take on the job of Assistant to Seven."
They had been surprised by Tal's request to somehow work for Seven. Not by her request to join the Borg though. After all, like Tal had once told Janeway; Voyager was not her home; it was merely the place she lived. It was clear that the young Bajoran was finally looking for a home. In the end it had been Pagsha who made the suggestion of Assistant. Though the Ghdibrian originally had started out as Seven and B'Elanna's assistant, Pagsha's tasks as assistant had fallen to the side more and more over time, long before this fact had been recognized by Pagsha becoming the Royal Advisor.
Somehow it had just happened, slowly but surely, pretty much from the start. As more people became Individualist drones, Pagsha was sent on errands less and instead people were simply contacted over the communicator. But as Pagsha had pointed out, it was exactly because of the Individualist drones that Seven now needed an Assistant again. With there now being so many Individualist drones that Seven interacted with, the Borg Queen needed a more focused point of interacting.
A person to which Seven could say five different things in five minutes and who then would contact the people in question over a period of hours when they were available, instead of interrupting them on off-duty time. A person who could keep track of meetings, and that would start shifting meetings around without even being told to do so if one meeting lasted longer than expected. A person that could take requests for meetings and tell people that today was already booked full and that, unless it was really important, they were the first tomorrow. That way Seven would not be interrupted only to have to say that she didn't have the time at that moment.
But Pagsha liked the work she now had, and had suggested that Seven should take a new Assistant. A real one this time that would really do assistant's work. While she would be in no way as close to Seven and B'Elanna as Pagsha had even started out with, but she would be a great help in taking care of several daily tasks of the Queen.
"Ensign... well, I could go on. Point is that about one quarter of them have already said that they'll move to Unimatrix 01 after leaving Starfleet."
"But maybe they would be more inclined to stay with Starfleet if they were closer to their new home," Nechayev said, seeing an opening and gladly taking it. "After all, if they were the staff of the Federation's representative, then they could also work for the Borg on a liaison basis while the representative is not in need of his or her ship."
"That is an excellent idea," B'Elanna said brightly. It was clear that they understood each other perfectly, and it was now also clear where Voyager and its crew would spend the rest of their lives, if they wanted to spend it there.
"You said that there are now several species in the Borg that have a certain degree of autonomy, care to elaborate?" Zife asked.
"Certainly," Seven assured. "I think it would be best if..."
Continued...