Unworthy - Kirsten Beyer [16]
“—they’d never let her go,” Icheb finished for him.
“What I have observed leads me to believe that Seven is actually at war within herself. She is battling her human nature, her Borg nature, and her new Caeliar nature, and it’s hard to tell right now who’s going to win. But if we can reach her and provide her with enough strength to hang on, I believe we can stabilize her condition long enough for me to find her the help she really needs.”
“The Caeliar?” Icheb guessed.
Chakotay grimaced. “What they broke they might be able to fix. I’m going to take Seven to find them.”
“Do you know where they are?” Icheb demanded.
“No, but I do know where to start looking.”
“Why do you need me for this?” Icheb asked.
“I have no experience in this sort of thing but you seem to …”
“Seven and I only recently reconnected after a long time,” Chakotay interjected. “I’m not sure she trusts me, but I know she trusts you. I need you there with me.”
Sveta nodded, though Icheb remained unconvinced. Taking Chakotay’s hand, she said, “You should prepare yourself. I’ll explain the ritual to your young friend here.”
“Thank you.” Chakotay smiled before retreating upstairs. Turning to Icheb, Sveta considered him kindly and said, “Don’t worry. It’s not like anybody died last time.”
“If it was your intention to comfort me with that remark, I suggest you try an alternate strategy,” Icheb replied seriously.
Icheb entered Seven’s bedroom behind Sveta. Something in him rebelled at this intrusion into Seven’s privacy, but if what Sveta had described as the rest of their afternoon’s activities was accurate, he had barely begun to compromise Seven’s personal space.
In all the years Icheb had known Seven, he had rarely given thought to the emotional connection between them or how to best categorize it. When they first met, she had been something of a mother to him and the other young Borg liberated from the Collective. Over time, however, especially after Icheb had the opportunity to meet his biological mother, that description had begun to feel inappropriate. The concern Seven regularly displayed for his well-being was certainly evidence of friendship, though he rarely felt that she was as needful of his presence as he seemed to be of hers. Only when the time had come for him to contemplate the possible loss of Seven, when her cortical node had failed, was he forced to accept that any label he might apply to their relationship was inadequate. Icheb had quickly discovered that he was more than willing to sacrifice his own life for hers, which spoke of a deeper bond. Her adamant refusal of his offer indicated that she shared his feelings. Since then, he had come to think of her as family. Perhaps sister came closest to an acceptable term.
Still, Seven had always remained an aloof and terribly private individual, and much as he understood the depth of her need, Icheb could not shake the belief that Seven would not approve of their present course.
Seven lay upon her bed, staring at the ceiling. A strange object—which Icheb supposed was the akoonah Sveta had described—rested by her right hand. Chakotay sat near it, his eyes closed. The room’s curtains blocked out the early morning sun, and the temperature approached stifling. Sveta had already explained that the ritual in which they were about to engage was traditionally performed in a sealed hut heated by a fire. Icheb was silently grateful that the home’s fire-suppression systems made that impossible.
Sveta had Icheb sit on the opposite side of the bed, next to Chakotay. Chakotay’s breath was shallow. Icheb understood that Chakotay had already entered a private meditative state.
During the Pacrathar, one individual would be the center of the group. In essence, that person, Sveta in this case, became a primitive, biological version of a Borg interlink node. As a disinterested, third party, she would remain firmly grounded in the real world while Icheb and Chakotay journeyed together into what Sveta had described