Only a Glimpse of the Future

::Janeway is approaching the ship.::

"Thanks, Fae," I said, finishing up the last bit of my breakfast.

"Do you think she'll agree?" Katye asked, sipping on her coffee.

"I hope so... I really don't want to head into the future off script after everything that has happened so far on our journey," I replied with a sigh.

"We'll make it work one way or another," Raven said, encouragingly, before she stood up. "Come on, we need to make mana crystals anyways."

Katye and Echo stood up as well, and they all headed downstairs. By the time that I brought all of our dishes to the sink, Janeway had made it upstairs. I grabbed a clean cup out of the cabinet, then poured some coffee into it, and passed it to her.

"Good morning, Captain," I said.

"Morning," she replied, taking the coffee with no hesitation.

"I take it that you had a long evening," I remarked.

She gave me an annoyed look over her cup of coffee as she drank, but there was no mistaking the bags under her eyes. "I talked with Chakotay and Tuvok. They were both surprised by your offer, since you have never suggested anything like this before, but I also explained that you don't believe that we can make it through Borg Space if we don't follow your original vision. With the few clues that you gave me, they believe that you are right, and that we should go with whatever my original plan was, but they did bring up some good points and questions. If Tuvok and I don't remember you, how will you assist Voyager without exposing yourselves?"

"Through Chakotay. We will give him a device that can connect to our ship while we remain cloaked and off to your port side. I'll be the first one to engage any enemies if Voyager is unable to handle the matter, since the Borg can't tie my Dragon form to Starfleet, but the Fae Dragon will assist if I am not enough to turn things in our favor, though the cat will be out of the bag then," I explained.

"What if Chakotay doesn't like my decision?" she asked.

"He won't, which is why I don't want to seal his memories. I'll need the trust that I've built with him over the years for him to believe in me to coordinate all of this," I replied.

She frowned at that, but it was easy to understand why. Aside from Tuvok and possibly myself, Chakotay was the closest person to her, even without the six months spent stranded on a planet together that had happened in the show, a fate that they avoided because of my group. For him to disagree, she knew that her decision must have been a controversial one.

"How does the rest of the crew react to my decision?"

"There are some who question it, but everyone respects you enough to follow your orders."

Janeway sighed and looked into my eyes for a few moments, looking for any doubts or lies. "What do you need to do to accomplish this?"

"Come, sit on the couch. Originally, I was just going to transfer my memories to you, but Katye suggested that it would be better to watch them than to directly give them to you as it can be difficult to incorporate other people's memories. I've stored my memories within Fae's database, so you can use the Mind Linker to see them," I said, though it was not the complete truth; doing it directly would transfer my emotions along with the memories, so there was a chance that she might have gotten suspicious of my 'visions'.

She did as I asked and sat down on a couch. I sat down across from her and pulled out one of the silver discs, and then offered it to her.

"Place it on your temple then press the button in the center," I instructed as I pulled out a second one. "You'll fall into a trance while your mind is drawn into a Mental Realm controlled by our computer. I'll join you and answer any questions you might have, that I can answer, as I'm not all-knowing."

Janeway nodded her head and placed the Mind Linker on her temple. With the press of the button, her eyes closed, and she slumped back against the couch. I did the same and was pulled into a world of white where Janeway was standing, looking around.

"Fae, activate 'Scorpion' memory," I said, walking over to her.

The surroundings around us changed like we were on the holo-deck, but it was far easier to craft ideas here than there. The scene started with Janeway on the holo-deck, attempting to convince Leonardo da Vinci to allow her to set up in his workshop. The real Janeway gave me a look of surprise since the events had already happened and had little to do with the matter at hand.

I shrugged and said, "I don't decide where these visions start."

She gave me a look but chose not to say anything as her counterpart was called by Chakotay. The scenery changes and 'Janeway' was walking into Engineering where Chakotay and B'Elanna told her about the Borg finding their probe. Next came the Senior Officer briefing with a noticeable difference, I was not present. There were flashes of the crew as they readied the ship, before the event centered on Kes as she had her visions.

New things started happening after that. They found the wreckage of the fifteen destroyed Borg cubes, which had passed us the day before, and discovered the bio-ship. We followed Chakotay, Tuvok, and Harry through the damaged cube as they approached the bio-ship and then Harry was attacked. She had to see how he was being eaten alive, Kes's warning that Species 8472 wanted to purge the galaxy, and her decision to align with the Borg. Even as she watched Chakotay break the alliance and then the Borg's betrayal, she did not say a word.

Part of me wanted to end the 'vision' where the two-parter episode had ended, but I knew that she needed to know how the ship got past Borg space. It was already too late to prevent Kes's transformation unless we could figure out how to remove the mana signature on her, but even Fae was unable to suggest a way to remove it. Unlike in the show, she did not hold back the tears as she watched 'herself' say goodbye to Kes, and things faded out to white after she used the excess energy of her transformation to send Voyager nearly ten thousand light-years ahead, completely out of Borg space and ten years closer to home.

"Is there no way to save Kes?" Janeway asked.

I sighed, shaking my head, and replied, "Kes's body is unique, and that's coming from me. Her body absorbs whatever mana that invades it, and turns it into its own power. Katye and I can achieve this as well, but this is due to our unique affinities and minor mastery over them; Kes's body does it naturally. That mana signature on her is putting out a constant stream of mana which her body is absorbing at a fast rate. If this lasts for a few weeks, there will be so much mana in her body that she will be forced to undergo a Telo transformation, as we call it, which was what changed my physique from that of a Human to a Dragon's. She's not going to die, but she won't be the same after it."

"Any luck with removing it from Katye and Raven?"

"Unfortunately, no. We think that because Species 8472 are from another universe, unlike any that my kind has ventured to, their magic is so alien from ours that it's making it difficult to unravel and even Fae's database can't help us," I explained.

Janeway scoffed, but it was easy to see that it was out of frustration as she took several steps away, shaking her head. "An alliance with the Borg? Despite seeing it, I still find it hard to believe that I would and yet... This is what you meant before, this is only a piece of the puzzle... This decision will have lasting consequences throughout the entire galaxy," she sighed.

"Exactly. You are wandering into a fight amongst Devils, so you choose to side with the one you know, and if you don't side with them, there is no telling what Species 8472 would do to the galaxy after they destroy the Borg and don't underestimate Species 8472. If they are given the chance to truly invade the galaxy, only a few races will even be able to put up a fight against them, and the Federation is not among those numbers without the nanoprobe technology that the Doctor has yet to create," I warned.

"And that's why you want to seal my memories only after we face them; you're not sure if the same method will work!" she realized.

I nodded and sighed, "The mana signatures can also probe the minds of those who are marked. Katye believes that Fae's shielding has blocked that ability while they are onboard, but she and Raven knew why I assigned them their tasks. I don't know if they were able to glimpse the information and, even if they did, how quickly they could come up with countermeasures, but there is the chance."

"Damned if you do, damned if you don't," Janeway repeated my words from last night with a bitter tone and a heavy sigh. "How do we leave here?"

I smiled, and Fae returned our minds to our real bodies. Janeway blinked a few times as she pulled off the Mind Linker then set it on the table between us with a sigh. I took hers, and my own, and put them away in the drawer for them to charge.

"I agree with your request and will have Chakotay work with you to have things play out similar to your vision, but I see one problem. How is the Doctor going to develop the nanoprobe treatment without someone, not a part of your group, injured?" she asked.

"Well... Katye has laid the groundwork for it, so our tricorder data could provide the information that we need to, but..." I let my words trail off with a sigh.

"I need someone dying and saved to consider such actions," Janeway finished. "I'll talk with Tuvok. If anyone..."

"Kathryn, ask Harry first. He holds a special spot in the heart of the crew, and you, and he is stronger than you think. Originally, this was a moment of growth for him, and it could change his future if he doesn't go through this trial," I said shamelessly since I had prevented his first 'death' experience.

Although I had saved him from that episode, it was more to save myself because I could have been the one to take in his place. One of the greatest misjustices on the show was that Harry had never been promoted, so it was something that I was determined to fix. The problem was rooted in the fact that Janeway treated him like the innocent child of the Senior Officer since she got him fresh out of the academy, so I needed to break this mindset if I wanted to help the eternal Ensign. If they had not been stranded out in the Delta Quadrant, Harry likely would have been a Lieutenant or Lieutenant Commander by the time that the ship got home because he was truly talented.

Janeway looked conflicted for a few moments before she sighed again and agreed, "I'll speak with him."

"Thank you," I said, relieved that she seemed to understand that we needed events to play out as closely as possible to what I had shown her.

"Captain Janeway to the Bridge," Tuvok's voice chimed from Janeway's badge.

"I'll be right there," she replied, tapping her badge, as she stood up.

"Mind if I come along too? It's about time for us to stumble across the remains of the Borg ship," I requested.

"Of course not," she agreed.

I stood up too and followed her downstairs. Raven's and Echo's mana were low, and they were meditating off to the side while Katye was preparing the 'warhead' for more V-type torpedoes. She was busy enchanting, so she did not look away from what she was doing as we passed, but I knew that she noticed our departure. Janeway was quiet on our way up to the Bridge and, just as I had guessed, she was called about the Borg armada.

"Gentlemen?" Janeway asked as Chakotay, Tuvok, and Harry were gathered around one of the terminals.

"Something strange is going on," Harry remarked.

"The power signatures of those Borg vessels have terminated," Tuvok stated.

"All of them... They are dead in the water, about five point two light-years from here," Chakotay added.

"Cause?" Janeway asked.

"Unknown," Tuvok answered which made Janeway give me a sideways glance.

"Mister Paris, set a course for their position, warp six," Janeway ordered.

"Aye, Captain," Tom acknowledged.

Janeway walked around the railing and sat down in her chair while everyone else took their normal positions. I sat on the bench on Janeway's right side, opposite Chakotay, and waited for the ship to approach where the cubes were. It only took an hour to get there, and no one, other than myself and Janeway, could believe what we found.

"We're approaching the ships," Harry announced.

"Slow to impulse. On screen," Janeway instructed.

All that could be seen on the view screen was the wreckage of all fifteen cubes which made the others stare in shock.

"Life signs?" Chakotay asked after a moment.

"A few, but they're erratic," Harry answered.

"Captain, I'm detecting two residual weapon signatures in the debris. One is Borg. The other is of unknown origin," Tuvok informed.

"Who could do this to the Borg?" Tom asked with disbelief.

Janeway looked back at me with a hard expression, but there was little that I could say. "Scan the vicinity for other vessels."

"There are none," Tivok stated.

"Hold on. I'm picking up some sort of bio-readings. They're coming from the outer hull of one of the Borg ships," Harry said.

"Let's see it," Janeway said.

The viewscreen changed to show a large chunk of one of the cubes with a strange tan ship attached to it. It was almost arrow-shaped with a wide, pointed front and narrow mid-section with a few points that spiked out near the end of the ship.

"It's definitely organic, but our sensors can't penetrate its surface," Harry stated.

"Send a standard greeting," Janeway instructed.

"No response," Tuvok said after a moment.

"This could be a space-dwelling organism or a biological weapon," Chakotay suggested.

"Can we beam it away from the ship?" Janeway asked.

"I can't get a lock on it," Harry said.

"Tractor beam?" Chakotay asked.

"No effect," Tuvok replied.

"Whatever that thing is, it's impervious to our technology," Harry commented.

"Tuvok... are you reading an atmosphere in the cube?" Janeway asked.

"Affirmative."

"Rebecca... I want you to take an away team inside. Try to get a short-range scan of the bio-mass," Janeway instructed.

"There are still Borg life signs, but they're unstable," Tuvok cautioned.

"We'll keep an open comm link and an active transporter lock, and we will pull you out of there at the first sign of trouble," Janeway stated.

"Of course, Captain," I agreed, standing up, then looked Harry's direction.

She had not been able to speak with him, so I was not sure if she would still allow him to join the away team since he needed to be injured. I was basically asking her to send him into a life-and-death situation with no warning and only my 'vision' as the basis of why he needed to go. She understood my unasked question and gave a slight nod with a soft sigh.

"Chakotay, Tuvok, Harry, you're with me," I stated and made my way towards the turbo lift.

The four of us took the turbo lift down to Transporter Room Two then beamed over to the remains of the Borg cube. My group and I had run a few simulations where we had to navigate a Borg cube since I knew that there were several episodes where the crew of Voyager invaded a cube, but stepping foot into the Domain of one of Star Trek's greatest villains, I understood that there was a difference between the holo-deck programs and real life. The creepy dim lighting, the hum of Borg machinery, and the occasional sweep of the red laser beam that were attached to a drone's head... scary elements on their own, but I could feel a nauseating mana running through every drone and piece of technology which I knew from experience was related to Order.

"Rebecca? Are you okay?" Chakotay asked when I remained unmoving.

"Sorry," I replied with a sigh, coming back to my senses. "I've had to shut off my connections to the elements; a Borg cube isn't particularly inviting with my sixth sense."

"It's not anymore inviting without it," he retorted with a weak smile.

I smirked back at him, before I pulled out my tricorder and took the lead. Chakotay, Tuvok, and Harry all carried phaser rifles while I had no weapons, but I really did not need any. After a couple of twists and turns, we stumbled across one of Kes's visions.

"The alien bio-readings are getting stronger. We're close," I noted as we walked.

We all fanned out and looked down the different corridors, with Harry being the lucky one to find it.

"Rebecca?" he called out, drawing Chakotay and Tuvok as well.

There, in the middle of a junction of the corridors, was a pile of dead Borg, dismembered and obviously arranged by their killer to make a gruesome tower of bodies.

"Curious," Tuvok remarked.

"That's not the word I had in mind," Chakotay said.

"Those bodies are reminiscent of one of the premonitions Kes described."

"Didn't Kes say we were all going to die?" Harry asked with a somber tone.

"Not while I'm around. Let's keep moving," I said.

We moved passed the bloody totem and continued down the corridor as it seemed like a marker of sorts. Another minute of walking and we found the entrance to the bio-ship which we approached slowly. Almost comically, there was a drone at the opening that was repeatably trying to assimilate the ship, only to be shocked by an electrical discharge and stumble back a step or two, before retrying the same futile action.

"It looks like the bio-mass dissolved right through the Borg hull," Chakotay said.

"This Borg is attempting to assimilate it," Tuvok stated.

"Doesn't look like he's having much luck," Harry remarked.

I took a few more steps towards the ship, tapping on my tricorder, and said, "There's a chamber beyond this opening, forty meters wide, high concentrations of antimatter particles. It looks like a warp propulsion system of some kind."

"It's a ship?" Harry asked.

"Starfleet has encountered species that use organic-based vessels, the Breen for example," Tuvok remarked.

"There doesn't seem to be anybody inside. Chakotay, Tuvok, you two go inside and see what you can figure out. Harry, that's a Borg distribution node; see if you can download their tactical database. I'll see if I can find the missing pilot with my senses. Be ready to move quick if I say so," I instructed.

They nodded and did as I had told them. I closed my eyes as I let out a deep breath and reopened my senses to the mana around me. The feeling of Order around me was overwhelming and blocked out nearly everything but itself because I was so sensitive to it. Though, being this close to the bio-ship, I could feel the Yang mana radiating from the ship and recognized it to be similar to the tracker on Katye and Raven. Using that feeling, I refocused my efforts and tried to pierce the wall of Order around me, searching for the member of Species 8472... and I found it.

{Impure! Corrupted! Tainted! You shall be cleansed! The weak will perish!} an inhuman voice screeched at my mind.

It was on the far side of the cube, oblivious to my presence until I went searching for it. It was not a cold hatred as Kes had described in the show, but rather, utter disgust and loathing. All that it wanted was to purge me, the Borg, and everything else in this galaxy, and it would do it in the fastest, cruelest method possible. It was the logical intelligence behind the creature which made it seem cold, but I recognized that hidden fury as I had felt it when I first faced off against my previous self.

"Shit! Let's go, now!" I shouted, opening my eyes, since I could tell that the pilot was on a similar level of strength as my Dusa form, and it was now racing in our direction.

Harry had just finished downloading the tactical database from the Borg distribution node, but Chakotay and Tuvok were still inside the ship.

"What is it?" Harry asked alarmed, shouldering his rifle.

"It's coming," I replied then tapped my badge. "Rebecca to Chakotay. Get out here, now! The pilot is coming our way!"

"Understood!" Chakotay replied.

It took them about thirty seconds to come out of the ship, but the pilot had already closed within twenty meters of us.

"Voyager to away team," Janeway's voice rang through our comm badges.

"Go ahead," I replied.

"Stand by for transport. We're getting you out of there," Janeway said.

"No complaints from us," I replied, but I already knew it would take a few minutes before they would be able to get a lock on us. "We need to get away from the bio-ship. Let's go!"

No one argued with me as they all had their tricorders out. The pilot was now registering on them and quickly approaching. I led them down a hallway away from the creature that was coming, but it did not have to navigate the corridors like we did.

"The life form's five meters away and closing," Chakotay said, looking at his tricorder.

"From where?" Harry asked, pushing ahead of me foolishly.

As if to answer his question, the pilot broke through the wall, sending several drones and debris flying. Harry was simply too close, even if I wanted to save him, and was struck by Species 8472 as they swatted him away then leapt at me. I released a pulse of Wind mana as I shifted into my Dusa form, throwing Chakotay and Tuvok away, right before it crashed into me.

For the first time, my scaly defense was breached as Species 8472's claws dug into my flesh at my left shoulder and right forearm as I tried to defend myself from its attack. I roared in pain as I fell to the ground, but I released a jet of violet flames from my mouth, causing the creature to shriek and retreat a few steps. I pushed myself to my feet, ready to keep on fighting since it had incurred my wrath but found myself being teleported away.