Unworthy - Kirsten Beyer [113]
And then he had met Seven.
She had been resting comfortably for the last several hours and her medical scans confirmed that she was now out of danger. He did not doubt that the moment she awoke, she would be able to share more of her amazing communication with the Neyser. What he had observed of the connection between them had clearly touched Seven deeply, though it had come at too high a cost. Hugh was not anxious to see her push herself like that again, but he couldn’t decide if it was his personal or professional feelings talking.
He reached for her forehead and gently brushed away a few loose strands of hair which had pulled free. He allowed himself to imagine what this gesture might feel like if she was awake. In the midst of this he realized that her eyes were open, and meeting his in wide consternation.
“Counselor?”
Hugh immediately dropped his hand back to his side and attempted to mask what he hoped she hadn’t read on his face.
“How are you feeling, Seven?” he asked softly.
Seven paused, reflecting on her physical status, and replied, “I am undamaged.”
“That’s only because the Doctor is a brilliant physician,” Cambridge replied. “You were injured in your contact with the Neyser. It took an incredible toll on your body and we were all concerned that its effects might have caused permanent damage.”
Seven sat up in a swift, fluid motion. “I did not intend to cause you alarm.”
Hugh smiled, shaking his head. “That’s hardly the point.”
“Have we located the weapons that were stolen from the Neyser colony?” Seven asked.
“Not to my knowledge,” he replied. “But that’s not to say that the last several hours haven’t been exciting.”
“Explain.”
“It now appears that our illustrious Admiral Batiste was not human. He was apparently a member of Species 8472, genetically modified to pass as a human.”
Seven’s eyes widened as he continued.
“By overriding our control systems he brought Galen and Voyager to an area of Borg space filled with subspace instabilities and succeeded in opening a rift to fluidic space. After a tense but effective conversation between Species 8472 he was granted permission to return home. I observed the exchange from Galen’s bridge. After that, I excused myself to check on you.”
Seven accepted this with her trademark stoicism. “If the crisis has passed, why are we at Red Alert?”
“Apparently the Indign aren’t through with us,” Cambridge replied. “Last I heard, a few dozen ships were converging on our position. Unless I am much mistaken, in the next few minutes, they will engage Voyager and Hawking.”
Seven pushed herself off the bed to stand before him.
“I must return to Voyager.”
“Why?”
“They will require my assistance.”
“Seven, you’ve done your job. Now it’s time to let everyone else do theirs.”
“Conlon reports that all systems are nominal, as does Galen,” Paris noted as the Indign armada grew closer. “We could bring the slipstream online and make a run for it.”
“Too dangerous,” Eden replied. “It’s unclear if we’ve purged all systems of Batiste’s sabotage.”
“Your plan, Captain?” Chakotay asked.
“We’ll start with diplomacy,” Eden went on. “They’ve made no aggressive actions toward us so far. They sent a representative to make contact, frustratingly one-sided though it may have been.”
“And immediately following that they sent us a Trojan Horse,” Paris reminded her mirthlessly. Tom was still stunned by Chakotay’s report of Seven’s discoveries at the Neyser settlement and the idea that the “consciousness” had somehow been a weapon.
“We’ve assessed their tactical capabilities,” Eden continued, unruffled, “and they don’t compare with ours.