Seven of Nine - Christie Golden [52]
'I 64
Unkindness. Murder.
The last line of the song, the line she had somehow never been able to recall before. Wasn't that a tasty dish to set before the king?
"Unkindness," she rasped, as understanding burst over her. "Murder."
The world began to grow gray around the edges and she was aware that she was about to pass out from lack of oxygen. She forced herself to breathe deeply and slowly. The haze went away. Her mind clear, she gazed searchingly at the ravens, then, despite the earliness of the hour, pressed her commbadge.
"Seven of Nine to Captain Janeway."
A pause, then: "Seven? What's wrong? Are you all right?"
Her lips curved in a smile. "I am well, Captain, but I have some urgent information. I believe that the Skedans are using us to transport them to Lhiaari so that they can murder the Emperor."
SEVEN WAS ALREADY IN SICKBAY, PER HER CAPTAIN'S orders, when Janeway entered. Janeway looked tired, Seven observed, but her body was taut with anger.
The Doctor nodded in acknowledgment, but continued his adjustments on Seven's implants.
"There are times when I work with you, Seven, that I feel like Mr. Paris tinkering with his '69 Camaro," he muttered. "Good morning, Captain."
"Status report?" Janeway demanded, ignoring all pleasantries.
"I've almost completed-" the Doctor began, but Seven interrupted him.
"You need to monitor the activity of the neurotransmitters in the captain's brain," she said. "Until the Doctor finishes his adjustments to my implants, I will not be able to tell if the Skedans are monitoring your thoughts. Because of the hour, I do not think so, but we cannot be sure."
"Seven, what's all this about?" demanded Janeway.
"You wake me up in the middle of the night, with some vague theory that the Skedans are plotting an assassination-" "They are," replied Seven calmly. "I am certain of it."
"How do you know?"
"A little bird told her," said the Doctor. "Actually, seventeen birds, and they aren't quite so little. Seriously, Captain, I have evidence of my own that will support her theory. If I may?"
Janeway searched Seven's eyes, then nodded. Nimbly the Doctor affixed a small neural monitor to Janeway's temple and quickly ran a tricorder over it.
He nodded. "I detect no unusual activity. You're clean, Captain."
"Now," said Janeway slowly, "I want an explanation, and I want it fast."
"As the Doctor has told you," said Seven, "I have been reliving the experiences of people I have assimilated. One of these was Rhly, the lifemate of Tamaak Vrs. As my memory has returned, I now recall that the Skedans are powerful telepaths. The Borg decimated their planet.
We assimilated millions and utilized their telepathic skills to enhance our own biological and technological distinctiveness. From what I am learning about non-Borgs, it would be natural for the Skedans to harbor a great deal of resentment toward the Borg. Especially for Tamaak Vrs."
"I follow you," said Janeway, nodding. "You're saying that you believe that these memory flashbacks of other lives were caused by the Skedans?
To punish you?"
"There appears to be no other reason," put in the Doctor. "One can't completely rule out spontaneous memory recall, of course, as we have learned. Coincidences do happen. But the fact that there is a race of telepaths on this ship who have cause to hate the Borg-one of them very personally-does seem to be a bit too much of a coincidence. Especially as these memories were very wrenching for Seven to experience. Sounds like revenge to me."
"It would also explain the ease with which they were able to get us through all that red tape," said Janeway. "Seven, I'm sorry you had to go through all that."
"It is irrelevant," Seven replied. "What is more to the point is the fact that they seem to be influencing the minds of others