• Choose a category
• All
• Classic-Fiction

“We’re reading a massive energy buildup within the docking bay where the Monorhan ship is berthed. It looks as if an autodestruct system of some kind has been activated.”

Janeway knelt beside Assylia and grasped her by her forearms, forcing her to look directly into her eyes.

“What have you done?” she demanded firmly.

“I didn’t know,” Assylia stammered through her sobs, “I didn’t… what he said isn’t possible.”

“Why are your ship’s systems suddenly overloading?” Janeway pushed.

“The dataport connecting my ship to the array regulated the flow of information between the two systems,” she began.

“We are maintaining a similar connection now, Captain,” B’Elanna offered.

Shuddering, Assylia continued, “Thanks to that connection I have been able to monitor the array’s systems and interact with them from time to time.”

For example, when you disabled the array’s guidance system and almost destroyed my ship, Janeway thought, but thought best to keep to herself. Nodding sternly, she willed Assylia to continue.

“My ship and I were one. It knew my thoughts and wishes. The only thing which kept it from acting on those wishes all this time was the cable that connected us to the array. The dataport regulates all commands between the Betasis and the array and will automatically override commands that could damage its systems. It would never allow my ship to execute my final order.”

Janeway didn’t have to ask what that order had been.

B’Elanna had moved to another computer interface and re-rerouted the sensor data.

“Captain, Rollins is right. The Betasis is going to explode.”

“How much time do we have?”

“Ten minutes, no more,” B’Elanna replied.

Janeway wanted to shake Assylia but forced herself to remain calm.

“Can you stop it?” she asked. “Is there an emergency override?”

Assylia shook her head weakly. “It was my last wish… to die here… as they did.”

“But they’re not dead,” Janeway said, then turning to B’Elanna asked, “Will the explosion be contained within the docking bay?”

“No, Captain,” B’Elanna replied. “It will destabilize the ring’s structural integrity. Once the explosion hits the singularity’s event horizon it will set off a chain reaction….”

“Can we return Assylia’s consciousness to her ship? Could she counteract the command from within the system?”

“The bioneural systems of the Betasis were infected with Borg nanoprobes. It was the only way we could force her consciousness into the holobuffer. I don’t think she could survive within…”

Janeway raised her hand. She didn’t need to hear any more. She had less than ten minutes to get Voyager a safe distance from the array.

Seven watched in alarm as Chakotay fired on the entity known as “Phoebe.” Had she been in command of this mission, it would certainly not have been her first choice. Though she would not have hesitated to defend herself, or the team, she sensed vulnerabilities in Phoebe that Chakotay seemed oblivious of. Why had she not simply killed them and taken the Key if that was her goal? To Seven it seemed obvious that the captain was, most likely, just as Phoebe had said, alive, and that up until the moment Chakotay fired, might still have the upper hand in her dealings with the Nacene.

Nonetheless, Chakotay’s aim was true. The blast from his phaser rifle stuck Phoebe’s chest, and she was thrown to the deck, where she remained motionless for a full five seconds.

“Good shot, Commander,” Neelix offered too soon.

The Monorhans were agitated, fluttering about the room but keeping a safe distance from Phoebe’s inert body and Chakotay’s team.

“Commander?” Seven said.

“Take Neelix and get back to Voyager,” he ordered, kneeling to remove the Key from his pack.

“You may yet require our assistance,” Seven replied.

“That’s an order, Seven,” he snapped.

But even as she turned to comply, courses of bright blue energy began to stream visibly through Phoebe’s body. At first it appeared as if she was undergoing some sort of primitive electroshock treatment. But when her eyes opened and she started to sit up, Seven’s curious fascination was instantly