Life Goes On

A fateful day came and went without Echo having me stop the events, since I was not keen on the idea of doing so, just as she was not. It was the Day of Honor, a Klingon holiday where a warrior evaluated his or her deeds for the past year to see whether they had been honorable. L'Naan was surprisingly resistant to the idea of performing the ritual, but B'Elanna had made the holo-deck program with Tom, just as she had in the episode, though I only found out later after checking the program list to sate my own curiosity.

As Seven's ultimate caretaker and personal guard, thanks to Janeway, I would escort her to, and from her duty assignments, often staying in Engineering while she worked, meditating off to the side. Since I did not need to sleep really and I only needed to regenerate once a week, it was not too much trouble for me as Echo and I rarely talked, so I was happy to also pick up graveyard shifts to fill my normal duty roster. I had also had a talk with Janeway where I told her that I was taking a significant step back from making decisions, allowing Echo to make the choice of whether we act upon any future knowledge that I had. While she was not thrilled with my decision, she knew that she could not change my mind... and I gave her full permission to nag Echo as much as she wanted since Echo had already gone through all of the information that I could remember which was stored away in Fae's database. Perhaps she thought that Echo would be less stubborn, or easier to manipulate, to get the information that she wanted, but that was her mistake and Echo's headache, so I could only chuckle to myself after the conversation.

"I've never navigated a transwarp conduit," Tom remarked as he, Seven, and I stepped off the turbo lift. "Any problems I should be aware of?"

"You'll have no idea what you're doing. If we attempt to enter one, I'll have to take helm control," Seven stated, dismissively.

"I am a quick study," Tom retorted as we rounded the corner.

"What species is that?!?" a voice yelled.

I turned around, remembering the scene and glaring at the alien who Voyager had just offered numerous supplies for free. While I knew his race had recently been decimated by the Borg, he also took advantage of Voyager's weakened state to extort them for not only supplies, but also demanding that Seven be handed over to his fleet of ships. The show tried to paint him as a decent person after Seven came up with some device that could be used to power all of their ships with a bit of effort, so he agreed to let Voyager go, but honestly, he made me sick when I would watch the episode. He was the epitome of biting the hand that fed him which was why I could not help but be annoyed with the Federation practices; a long-standing argument amongst my group which this event weakened significantly.

"They are Borg who have been liberated from the Collective," Tuvok replied.

"Borg!!!" the man shouted, glaring hatefully at me.

"They are disconnected from the Collective. They won't harm you," Tuvok said as he tried to restrain the alien.

Unlike Seven and Tom who kept walking, I had stopped and turned around, which allowed him to get into my face.

"Where's my wife?!? Where are my children?!? What did you do with them after you took them?!?" he demanded, striking my chest. "What did you do with my family?!?"

I let him hit me since the punches were on the minor side of pokes to me, but not everyone understood that.

"Captain Cox, please proceed," Tuvok said as he wrestled control of the alien.

"I lost everything! My family, my home...!" the alien shouted as Tukok dragged him away.

Tom and Seven were just a little ahead of me, so they had seen all of the exchange. I let out a heavy sigh as I straightened my uniform and turned back to them.

"Sorry about that," Tom said.

"Part of the gig," I remarked. "His mind is clouded by the grief of losing everything he held dear. Sadly, I understand that grief more than I would like, even before I had dealings with the Borg."

"There are many people on this ship who have similar feelings towards me," Seven remarked.

"I'm afraid you're right. Does that bother you?" Tom asked.

"No," she said, flatly.

"Well, I'm not one of those people. We all have a past," Tom replied.

"And, despite you being the one who tried to assimilate me, I also agree," I added.

"I'm uncertain of what you're trying to say," Seven remarked.

"Basically, Tom and I are here for you if you have problems adjusting to life on the Voyager," I explained.

"I will remember your offer," Seven replied.

We continued after the confrontation and made our way to Engineering. L'Naan was there, who I gave a smile and a nod to, before I found a quiet corner to settle myself. Despite the show making it seem like they jumped straight into a forming transwarp conduit, it actually took an hour or so before they were ready, even with the preparations that they had made over the past week. I simply meditated and ignored the world around me until things started to go wrong.

An alarm blared and I opened my eyes. B'Elanna and Seven were closest to the warp core with Tom behind a console to one side while Vorik was at another on the opposite side. I sighed and stretched before standing up while everyone else began to panic.

"Tachyon particles are leaking into the propulsion system! Shut down the deflector," B'Elanna ordered.

"Done, but the leak is continuing," Vorik replied, emotionlessly.

There was an explosion that sent sparks flying and smoke billowing out of something. With a wave of my hand, I conjured a gust of wind to blow away the majority before the mana-infused air created a dome around the conduit. There were a few glances my way as I walked towards B'Elanna, but before anyone could ask, Janeway's voice came over the comm system.

"Janeway to Engineering."

"Tachyons are flooding the warp core, Captain!" B'Elanna explained quickly.

"If you can't stabilize the core immediately, evacuate Engineering," Janeway instructed.

"Aye, Captain. I'll get back to you," she replied.

"I've cut all power relays, but the tachyon levels are still rising," Vorik stated.

The frustration coming from B'Elanna was impossible to miss, but she still kept her cool and ordered, "All right. Everybody out! Now! That means you as well."

"I could be of help," Seven tried to explain.

"That's an order!" B'Elanna snapped, shoving Seven away from the console.

Though few would notice it, and I only did because I could sense emotions rather easily due to my beast-like nature, Seven was hurt by B'Elanna's words and actions, but she did not show it. The ship gave another minor shake which caused a few people to stumble as they walked, though I was not among them.

"Come on, Seven. We can't stop it," I said gently.

She wanted to argue, but she also understood the difficulty. She nodded her head, and we were the last two, aside from B'Elanna and Tom, to exit the room.

"You can't order me. I outrank you," Tom said, closing the distance between him and B'Elanna to help her at the console next to the warp core.

"We've got to neutralize the core," B'Elanna instructed, leaving Tom to the console as she ducked under the railing around the core.

"I'll try decoupling the dilithium matrix," Tom said.

"No effect. Try it again..."

The scene trailed on without me, but I was confident that I did not need to interact to protect the ship. In less than a minute, Tom and B'Elanna ran out of the room.

"Computer, eject the warp core," B'Elanna ordered as she slid down the wall and crumpled to her knees.

"Torres to Janeway," B'Elanna sighed, tapping her badge.

"Go ahead," Janeway replied.

"We've dumped the core," she sighed then waited a few moments before saying, to Tom, "Welcome to the worst day of my life."

Since I knew that B'Elanna would likely take her frustrations out on Seven, I said when B'Elanna finally stood back up, "Unless you would like Seven's assistance with repairs, I think it would be best for us to step away from the matter. L'Naan would probably be better to help you."

I could see the anger in B'Elanna's eyes as she looked at Seven, but when she looked at me, those flames dimmed.

"No, I don't need her," B'Elanna stated, unable to completely hide the anger in her voice.

"Alright then; we'll be off. Come on, Seven," I said.

Seven did not reply but followed me all the same. While she would not have been too bothered by B'Elanna's anger, there was no reason to let her take her frustrations out on Seven. I had not forgotten that Katye wanted to pull Seven into our group, and with L'Naan all but an official member, I wanted to keep the tension between the brash engineer and cold ex-drone to a minimum when possible.

Although she had been quiet through our walk, when we reached the cargo bay, Seven asked, "Why did you have us leave? I could have assisted with the repairs."

"Yes, you could have, but B'Elanna would not have let you. While you did nothing wrong, she would have taken her anger at the situation out on you. Sadly, normal people react more off their emotions than logic and, as the outsider and with your status as a former Borg, you would have been the easiest target. You don't need that kind of attack and she would regret it later, so I saved all of us the trouble," I explained.

"I am finding it a difficult challenge to integrate into the crew. It is full of complex social structures that are unfamiliar to me. Compared to the Borg, this crew is inefficient and contentious, but it is capable of... surprising acts of compassion," she said with a rare bit of emotional honesty.

I gave her a soft smile and replied, "Unexpected acts of kindness are common among the Federation, humans in particular. That's one of the ways we define ourselves, and one of the qualities I do my best to hold on to after becoming what I am these days."

"You were not born Vazukuru?" she asked with surprise.

"No, I was born human and lived for thirty-seven years before I was reborn as a Vazukuru. My memories from that time are fully intact, thankfully, since that's what keeps me from losing myself to my draconic nature, though I can get carried away at times."

"I see..." Seven said thoughtfully.

"Well, standard procedure will have Janeway calling on you to help figure out what happened, so just wait here until then, I guess. I'm going to head up to the Bridge and see if there is anything that I can do, though I'm pretty useless for technical things," I said, then sighed as I thought of Raven. "I'll see you later, Seven."

She gave me a slight nod and walked over to her usual console. I left and made my way to the turbo lift. Of all the people who could be inside, coincidentally, it was Janeway.

"Just the person who I was looking for... Is there any way that I can help out?" I said, stepping onto the lift.

Janeway sighed and shook her head. "Not really. Tom and B'Elanna have already left to take a shuttlecraft to retrieve the warp core, and Engineering should have impulse back in a few hours."

"That's good," I replied with a half-smile, remembering how things would play out for the awkwardly forming couple. "Could you use an extra set of hands on the Bridge? I could relieve someone with more technical knowledge."

"Echo still not talking to you?" Janeway asked.

"Yeah, not that I blame her... It was one thing when I stopped her from fighting alongside Katye and I during the Final War, but Raven would still be here if I had just let her go instead. Echo was raised similarly to a Klingon warrior, so that is probably one of the most insulting things that I could do, even if I say that it was for her safety," I sighed.

"We all make mistakes," she said.

"And I've made a lot," I huffed as the doors opened.

Janeway took some mercy on me and had me replace a random ensign who she sent down to Engineering to assist with the repairs. Seven came up to the Bridge half an hour later and headed straight for Janeway's Ready Room. She stayed in there for an hour before we picked up a carrier wave with a Starfleet signature. After we got no replies from Tom and B'Elanna, Chakotay went to alert Janeway of the problem while I decided to scan for some visitors that I knew were inbound.

"Commander Tuvok, I'm picking up a number of ships heading our way. Do you have them on your sensors?" I asked.

"I do now. Tuvok to the Captain. Can you come to the Bridge?" Tuvok asked after tapping his badge.

"On my way," she replied through the comm system.

It only took a moment for her to walk out of her Ready Room with Seven and Chakotay right behind her.

"We're being approached by an armada of Caatati ships," he explained.

"They are hailing us," Harry said as his console chimed.

"On screen," Janeway instructed, moving to the center of the room.

"Hello, Captain," the gray-skinned alien, who had shouted at me before, said when the viewscreen changed to him.

"You've brought some friends," Janeway replied with an edge to her voice.

"Needy friends. We're hoping you'll offer us more supplies," he stated shamelessly.

"I made it clear last time that we couldn't possibly provide you with enough for all your ships."

"And I had to accept that because your ship is more powerful than ours, but the situation has changed, hasn't it? You seem to be at a disadvantage now. We have your warp core. You can't escape. I'm hoping that will make you more generous," he extorted.

"We've given you everything we can spare. Return the core, and we'll be on our way," she said firmly.

"One of our ships might not seem threatening to you, but I assure you, twenty-seven can inflict considerable damage. We are desperate. Prepare to send us food, weapons, and your entire supply of thorium. And those Borg you're protecting, we want them too. There are many who would enjoy a chance to repay one of them for what they did to us. You have an hour to get everything ready," he demanded.

He cut off the connection while Janeway gave Seven a look.

"Our weapons are more powerful than theirs, and we have the Fae Dragon and Rebecca to assist us. I say we fight," Chakotay suggested, the first to speak up.

"Maybe if we give them something," Harry thought aloud.

"Like what?" Janeway asked. "I can't imagine what would satisfy them now."

"I will go. They asked for me. If I surrender myself, perhaps they'll let you leave," Seven offered.

"That's very generous, but I will not turn you over to them," Janeway said.

"I was only offering to do what would be best for this group," Seven retorted with a bit of confusion.

"You're a part of this group now and we are going to protect you. It's time to stop talking about this. Tom and B'Elanna are in trouble, and we have to find them. Tuvok, what's the status of our weapons array?"

"Weapons are at the ready, Captain, but our shield strength is extremely low," he replied.

"We'll have to shut down non-essential systems. Reroute power to the shields. Rebecca, call Echo and prepare your ship; we'll wait for your signal. We're going to fight," Janeway instructed.

"That might not be necessary. Caatati technology is dependent on thorium isotopes. If they had enough, they could become self-sustaining," Seven said.

"But we don't have that much thorium to give them," Harry said.

"When the Borg assimilated the Caatati, the survivors lost their ability to replicate the isotopes, but I have retained that knowledge. I could design an energy matrix that would produce thorium in large quantities," Seven explained.

"If you've had this knowledge all along, why didn't you say so?" Chakotay asked.

"I am not accustomed to thinking that way. Borg do not consider giving technology away, only assimilating it."

"And what do you suppose made you consider it now?" Janeway asked.

"I am not certain," Seven answered honestly.

"Maybe... it was just an unexpected act of kindness," I said which made Janeway smile.

"Work with Vorik to build the energy matrix while I convince the Caatati there's a better way out of this," Janeway said.

Seven was a little unsteady, due to her confusion, as she walked to the turbo lift. I caught her eye as she walked past and gave her a smile, and a nod. A little awkwardly, she returned it and kept walking.

Thankfully, everything played out like the episode from there. The Caatati were appeased with Seven's energy matrix. We found Tom and B'Elanna alive, though nearly out of oxygen. While it had been a long, and eventful day, it had been a good one overall.