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When Captain Janeway devises a plan to steal a transwarp coil from a damaged Borg sphere, the mysterious Borg queen learns of it and uses it to try to get Seven of Nine to return to the Borg by issuing her an ultimatum: rejoin the Collective or watch as Voyager is assimilated.

Summary

Act One

2375

File:VoyagerProbeFight.jpg

A Borg probe attacks; Voyager defends itself...

Darkness. The soulless multi-track resonant voice of the Borg Collective is heard. It has detected a vessel. It activates the drones aboard one of its ships and instructs them to alter course to intercept. The darkness gives way to the inside of a Borg ship. Drones immediately step forth from their alcoves and move to carry out the instruction. One of them goes to a console. In the clipped, precise manner of a computer, the Collective identifies the vessel: Federation Starfleet; Template:ShipClass; 143 lifeforms. It instructs the drones to prepare for assimilation.

The target vessel is seen on the console: the USS Voyager. The Collective sends forth its usual hail: "We are the Borg. You will be assimilated. Resistance is futile". The image of Voyager is replaced by one of her bridge. Commanding Officer Captain Kathryn Janeway stands with First Officer Lieutenant Commander Chakotay at her side.

Behind them, at the auxiliary tactical console, is one of the Collective's former members, Seven of Nine. As her foremost authority on the the Borg, Janeway has her there for tactical expertise. Janeway shows no fear or intimidation. In a voice of iron, she warns the Collective to break off pursuit or they will open fire. "Irrelevant", the Collective dismisses. Janeway begs to differ, and makes the following statement: "You've scanned our vessel; you know we can match your firepower".

Borg probe destroyed

...and prevails.

The Collective repeats that its intent to assimilate them, and ends the communication. The ship is seen closing on Voyager. It is neither a cube nor a sphere; instead, it is merely a probe, little bigger than Voyager herself. The two ships exchange fire. Aboard the probe, explosions are seen as its deflector shields are disabled. The Collective instructs that they be regenerated and the weapons re-modulated. A large, coffin-shaped object materializes out of a transporter beam. The Collective identifies it as a Starfleet photon torpedo and a drone moves to disable it. But it is too late; just as the drone is about to begin, the torpedo detonates, destroying the probe and all drones aboard.

On Voyager's bridge, Janeway and Chakotay watch the explosion on the viewscreen. But there is no air of triumph; only disappointment, and from Janeway, annoyance. Chakotay asks what happened; the goal was to merely disable it, not destroy it. Seven explains that the torpedo detonated near the power matrix, causing a chain reaction. Janeway asks about survivors; Lt. Commander Tuvok, her Vulcan chief tactical officer, reports that there are none.

Janeway stares at the viewscreen for a moment. A crafty look appears in her eyes. She orders Chakotay to begin a salvage operation; the debris, she tells her surprised first officer, could have something they could use, such as weapons or, best of all, a transwarp coil. This is a key component of Borg FTL technology, allowing them to travel at speeds very much greater than possible with warp drive. If they can modify it and their warp engines to work together, thousands of light years can be put behind them in mere days, taking years off their journey.

Act Two

Janeway and Chakotay enter Cargo Bay 2, where the charred debris from the destroyed probe is being studied. They walk around, inspecting various components. Chakotay informs her that they have indeed gotten some useful stuff: power nodes and plasma conduits. Also, a transwarp coil has indeed been found.

File:SevenTorresJanewayUnusableCoilReport.jpg

Seven informs Janeway and Chakotay that the salvaged transwarp coil is unusable.

They go to see it, and find Seven of Nine and Chief Engineer Lieutenant B'Elanna Torres examining it. But their report instantly sours Janeway; the coil is unusable. Seven explains to her that when a Borg vessel is critically damaged, all of its vital technology, such as its transwarp coils, self-destructs.

But Seven also has news which eases Janeway's chagrin somewhat. She shows her and Chakotay two Borg data nodes, one of which contains tactical information about the movements of Borg vessels for a thirty light year radius. This is vital information; they can use it to avoid any further encounters with the Borg entirely for a time. Still, the unusable transwarp coil is a great disappointment. Janeway orders Seven to translate the node's data from Borg so the ship's computer can read it.

File:JanewayIdea.jpg

Janeway gets an idea to steal a transwarp coil from a damaged Borg sphere.

In astrometrics, Seven shows Janeway, Chakotay and Tuvok the translated tactical information. There are, she reports, three cubes on a course parallel to their own, nine light years distant; no threat. But Janeway's eyes lock onto a sphere whose position is not far from them. She asks Seven about it. Seven reports that it is damaged from an ion storm and traveling at low warp. The crafty look re-appears in Janeway's eyes as a plan begins to form in her mind. She orders Seven to provide her with a detailed schematic of the vessel.

Janeway calls a meeting with her senior staff in the briefing room. There, she announces the plan she has conceived: they are going to steal a transwarp coil from the damaged sphere. She labels the plan as "Operation Fort Knox", after the 20th century facility which, all through its existence, defeated all attempts at intrusion. Flight Controller Ensign Tom Paris, their resident 20th century guru, explains the reference to the others present. Chief Engineer Torres makes no bones about how useful even one coil would be in drastically shortening their journey time.

Tuvok asks Janeway if she believes the sphere's defenses are low enough for them to do this. She does, but she warns that the operation must be planned to the smallest detail; they cannot lose sight of who it is they are dealing with. She lays out the plan in general terms: they head for the sphere and use a diversion to allow an away team to beam aboard undetected. The away team pinches the coil and returns with it. Chakotay recommends they create a holodeck simulation of the operation to practice it. Torres recommends the use a few "old Maquis tricks" she knows to mask their warp signatures. Janeway agrees, and ends the meeting.

Act Three

After the meeting, Janeway calls Seven into her ready room. She tells her that she has a specific assignment for her, relating to the operation. She wants her to peruse the logs of her parents, Magnus and Erin Hansen, for any information which could give them a greater tactical advantage. These logs were found over two years before, on the remains of the Hansens' ship, the USS Raven. (VOY: "The Raven")

Seven, however, blanches and makes excuses why the logs should not be consulted: they are irrelevant; they are flawed since her parents, despite all the knowledge they had gathered, were caught and assimilated. Janeway, however, reads her real reason for not wanting to read them: they chronicle the events leading to her assimilation. She does not want to read anything that will make her think of that. But Janeway cannot afford to forgo the potentially invaluable tactical information contained in the logs. She tells Seven that she will assign the task to Chakotay if she refuses. Seven immediately says no; the logs are her property. Despite her trepidation, she will read them.

Seven is in her Cargo Bay 2 quarters, near her alcove, examining one of the Borg data nodes. Neelix, the Talaxian ship's chef, among other things, enters, hefting a large box full of PADDs. Seven irritatedly notes his tardiness. Neelix apologizes and explains that cataloging the logs took much longer than he expected; there is a huge amount of data: field notes; personal logs; bio-kinetic analyses. He sets the box down close to her and quietly muses that she is fortunate to have so huge a reminder of her own parents; all he has of his own is a faded holo-image. As he leaves to go prepare the rest of the logs, Seven gingerly picks up one of the PADDs and, with a deep breath, activates it.

2353

MagnusSeven

"We're off to see the Borg tomorrow."

Little Annika Hansen is playing with a model of a Borg cube. Magnus Hansen enters. He leads her to a couch, sits with her and explains to her, in the manner of a parent breaking something down for a young child to understand, that they, her included, will be leaving the next day, off to study the Borg. Annika is full of questions: do the Borg have kids? What do they look like? Are they friendly? Her father answers her questions as best he can.

Eight months later

Aboard the Raven, Magnus and Erin Hansen debate whether or not they should refuel. Magnus does not want to; they are too close, he insists; if they stop now, they may as well return home. This elicits a sarcastic reply from Erin: home to what? They have committed numerous felony violations: unauthorized deviation from flight plan, crossing of the Romulan Neutral Zone, failure to obey direct orders to return. Their colleagues, she opines, obviously think they have gone insane. There is no going back; their bridges are burned. Annika enters from her bedroom, complaining that she cannot sleep. Her parents amuse her with light-hearted banter, "hypothesizing" reasons why she cannot sleep.

File:HansensFindBorgCube.jpg

The Hansens encounter a Borg cube for the first time.

Then sensors sound an alarm, detecting massive subspace eddies. Magnus and Erin hurry to the main console. A ship is detected. Scans reveal it to be a Borg cube. They enter visual range and bring it up on the viewscreen. The enormous, foreboding vessel is seen, moving slowly. Magnus, Erin and Annika stare at it. A tense moment passes as it scans them. But it does not alter course to intercept; instead it moves off. Magnus muses that this confirms his theory: the Borg ignore anything living unless they consider it a threat, or a target for assimilation. They follow the cube, remaining well behind it.

2375

A hail from the bridge by First Officer Chakotay brings Seven back to the present. She acknowledges and responds. She emerges from the turbolift to see the operation's target, the damaged Borg sphere, on the viewscreen. Janeway orders Ensign Paris to match its course and speed, keeping 10 million km. away. On her order, Seven goes to the auxiliary tactical console and scans the sphere. She reports that its weapons array is regenerating, but its deflector shields and transwarp drive are off-line. But not for very long; they will again be operational in 72 hours. Janeway knows what this means; they therefore have a window of 72 hours to execute the operation, before the sphere races away at speeds they could never hope to approach. She orders double shifts and 24-hour simulation drills.

Act Four

Captain Janeway, Seven of Nine, Tuvok and Ensign Harry Kim, Voyager's operations manager, stride down a corridor on the Borg sphere, armed with phaser rifles. Chakotay, on Voyager's bridge, counts down from two minutes, keeping them informed of their remaining time. The operation is going well, but Chakotay warns them they are behind schedule. Drones walk to and fro, ignoring them. Janeway and Seven proceed to the transwarp chamber, while Tuvok and Kim go to sphere's shield generator. They plant spatial charges around it, while Janeway and Seven position transporter pattern enhancers on the coil. Kim and Tuvok detonate the charges. The coil disappears in Voyager's transporter beam. Chakotay confirms they have it. The team proceeds to the pre-arranged coordinates for beam-off.

But their time runs out. The two-minute period it takes for the Borg sensor grid to regenerate after being disabled expires. Chakotay tensely informs them. Aboard the sphere, an alarm sounds as drones immediately stop, face them and advance. Tuvok fires at the two coming at him and Kim. They fall dead. Janeway and Seven face another two drones, but the Collective adapts; Janeway's phaser shot is harmlessly absorbed by the drones' personal shields. Unhindered, the monstrosities continue coming. Janeway turns to go along another route, ordering Seven to follow.

File:SevenFreezesinFear.jpg

Seven is disquieted by the realism of the simulated sphere's interior.

But she does not. Janeway looks back and sees her, standing petrified. She calls her sharply. Seven snaps out of it and follows her quickly. They arrive at the coordinates, where Tuvok and Kim are waiting, and the four of them beam out.

On Voyager's bridge, Paris reports their successful return to Chakotay. But then a contingent of drones appears, right there on the bridge. Chakotay tensely orders Paris to beam them off. He tries but fails. The drones fan out and advance on them.

Computer, Freeze Program!

"Computer, freeze program; both holodecks!"

Then Chakotay barks an order to the computer: "Freeze program; both holodecks!". The drones stop dead in mid-stride. It was all a simulation.

Chakotay demands an explanation from Paris. Paris muses that they must have piggybacked in on Voyager's transporter beam. Chakotay hails Janeway and informs her that they got the coil, but also some most unwelcome guests. Janeway and the other team members look at each other, chagrined. The two minute window before the sphere's sensor grid returns online is all they have; they have to cut their time to less than that. Beaming into the chamber directly is considered, but Seven responds that the chamber is too heavily shielded. Modification of their transporter beam? No help. It looks impossible, but Seven then informs them that her parents were able to spend several hours at a time on a cube undetected. Their logs may explain how they were able to do this. Janeway orders her to find out, and ends the simulation.

As Janeway and Seven walk briskly along the corridor outside the holodeck they were in, Janeway asks her about her freeze-up; she cannot afford to do that during the operation; Janeway asks her if is she really up to this. Seven unsteadily responds that the simulation unsettled her; the last time she was on a Borg vessel, she was a drone. Janeway wonders if she she is pushing her too hard and fast, making her face her past by looking at her parents research and now having her this mission onto a Borg vessel. Seven insists she will be fine. Janeway hopes so; the next time it will not be a simulation, she tells her. Seven swallows nervously, acknowledges and walks off. Janeway watches her go, gravely concerned.

Seven prepares to read another batch of her parents' logs in her quarters. The doors hiss open and young Naomi Wildman, half-Ktarian daughter of crewmember Ensign Samantha Wildman, enters. She complains that she is having nightmares and desires to stay with her, promising not to bother her. Seven agrees; she and Naomi are close. But then, as Seven works, Naomi begins peppering her with questions; questions that are uncomfortably close to those she asked her father about the Borg as a child: does it hurt to be a drone? Do the Borg have kids? Are they friendly? Seven cannot take this in her current state. She tersely orders her to return to her quarters.

File:NaomiBorg.jpg

"Resistance is futile."

Then the child advances on her, and in a cold, hard voice, intones, Borg-style: "Resistance is futile." A Borg implant emerges on her cheek.

Seven panics. She looks around. Borg drones step out of the shadows. She frantically hails security, but gets no answer. Instead, she hears an ageless, female voice; disembodied, seeming to come from everywhere and nowhere. "They can't hear you," it informs her. She demands to know the voice's identity. "I am the Borg," it responds. It calls her by her full Borg designation: Seven of Nine, Tertiary Adjunct of Unimatrix 01, and states she has become weak.

Seven frantically tells herself that this is a dream; she is, in fact, regenerating. But the voice assures her it is not. "We've accessed your neural transceiver. Our thoughts are one. We know about Voyager's plan to invade the sphere," it informs her. "It will fail." If this is true, Seven demands, then why has Voyager not been assimilated? "We've come to make you an offer," the voice responds. "Rejoin the Collective and we'll spare Voyager."

This baffles Seven; she had been just a drone, like any of the trillions of other drones. The only thing "special" about her was that she happened to have been chosen by the Collective to speak for the Borg during the events which had led to her de-assimilation. The Collective could easily have chosen any drone aboard that cube. (VOY: "Scorpion", "Scorpion, Part II") Why would any effort be put out to try and retake her when it has since then undoubtedly assimilated thousands of new drones, replacing her in droves? She asks this of the voice. "Because..." it responds, "... you are unique."

The voice and drones vanish. The cargo bay is as normal again. Seven stands rooted.

Act Five

2353

Three months after first encountering the Borg cube, the Hansens have followed it through a transwarp corridor it created, arriving behind it in the Delta Quadrant, the region of origin of the Borg. Magnus Hansen is on the cube, wearing a bio-dampener to remain undetected. The Raven itself is outfitted with multi-adaptive shielding to mask it from Borg sensors. Both technologies have worked magnificently, allowing them to move follow Borg ships and beam on and off them without detection.


Bill, Junior and Needle Fingers

"Bill", "Junior" and "Needle Fingers".

Magnus reports back to Erin, who sits with little Annika on her lap. He is observing a badly-damaged drone, which the Hansens have dubbed "Junior" as it goes to an alcove to regenerate, repairing itself. But two other drones, which they have dubbed "Bill" and "Needle Fingers", arrive, deactivate the damaged drone and begin dismantling it; the Collective has determined that it is too badly damaged; better to salvage its parts than to waste resources regenerating it. On the Raven, an alarm notifies Erin that Magnus' bio-dampener is almost out of power. She informs him, but he responds he can stay for another minute.

2375

Seven shows the designs for her parents' bio-dampeners to Tuvok and the Doctor, the ship's holographic chief medical officer, in sickbay. She found the designs in her parents' logs. These devices solve the timing problem; Tuvok instructs the Doctor to manufacture four of them, one for each away team member.

After Tuvok leaves, the Doctor compliments the Hansens on their ingenuity. Seven tensely responds that they were efficient. Thinking that she is warming up to them, he happily cites this as an important stage in her social development, and encourages her to think of it as an exploration of how she was raised, an important part of her humanity. But he has read her completely wrong. She glares at him angrily. "My parents underestimated the Collective," she responds, her voice anguished. "They were destroyed. Because of their arrogance I was 'raised' by Borg!" She storms out as he gapes after her, goes into a corner and struggles to regain control of herself.

After much preparation, Captain Janeway notes in her log that the operation is ready to proceed; all departments are standing by. They begin at 0600 the next "morning". But she has made a change in the away team composition. She calls Seven into her ready room, and tells her that she has decided to replace her with Chief Engineer Torres. She explains that if the sphere attacks, she will need someone with Borg expertise at Tactical. Seven is horrified. She insists that she must be on the team; giving the excuse that they may encounter unexpected problems that only she can overcome. Janeway takes offense, thinking that Seven simply considers them not up to that task.

But, looking at her, she sees none of Seven's usual aloof arrogance; only fear. Seven fervently tells her that, in the time she has been on Voyager, the crew has become her Collective. Their survival is important to her. She would do anything to prevent harm from coming to them...anything. She begs to be put back on the away team. Janeway is moved. She looks at her and, then acquiesces, telling her gently that she is very pleased with the remarkable progress she has made as an individual and a crewmember; the ship would not be the same without her. Seven nods gratefully.

Act Six

The Borg Collective detects a vessel and activates the drones manning the damaged sphere. They alter course to intercept. Getting within sensor range, the Collective identifies the vessel: a Federation Class two shuttlecraft; three lifeforms aboard.

But it does not instruct the drones to prepare for assimilation. The sphere resumes course. On Voyager's bridge, Chief Engineer Torres reports this to Chakotay. The shuttle is the diversion part of the plan; when the sphere drops its shields to take it in to assimilate it, the away team beams aboard. But the Borg are not taking the bait. Chakotay informs Janeway, waiting in one of the transporter rooms on the platform with the other team members, Seven included.

Ensign Kim suggests having the shuttle fire a phaser shot at the sphere, but Seven responds that that would not work; they would simply destroy the shuttle as a perceived threat. Janeway gets an idea. She orders Chakotay to have the energy output of the shuttle's warp signature increased. He does so. That works. Warp signature detected. Prepare for assimilation; relevant technology. Engage tractor pulse, the Collective instructs.

File:SevenVision.jpg

"Never forget... "

File:SevenVision2.jpg

"...who you are..."

On Voyager's bridge, Ensign Paris reports that the sphere has locked a tractor beam on the shuttle and is taking it in. The sphere's shields drop and the away team beams aboard, wearing the bio-dampeners the Doctor produced. They move to their tasks. Then Seven of Nine suddenly stops. She has a vivid vision of herself when she was a drone. She hears the voice she heard in the cargo bay. "Never forget who you are," it tells her.

Janeway, worried, touches her shoulder and asks if she is alright. She shakes herself out of it and follows her to the transwarp coil chamber. Tuvok and Ensign Kim place the spatial charges on the shield generator as practiced. Janeway and Seven plant the transporter pattern enhancers on the coil. Tuvok and Kim blow the generator and the coil is beamed out. Janeway and Seven move briskly toward the away team's beam-out coordinates.

But then Seven halts again. She again hears the voice, reminding her of its offer: "Rejoin the Collective, and we'll spare Voyager." Janeway, realizing she is not behind her, turns and sees her standing, looking at her. Annoyed, she orders Seven to keep moving.

"No," Seven responds, a look of desperate sadness on her face. "I wish to stay. I intend to rejoin the Collective."

Janeway is thunderstruck. She firmly tells Seven she cannot let her do that. Seven responds that she, Janeway, has no choice. Janeway aims her rifle at her, prepared to stun her and take her back to Voyager, to remain under guard in the sickbay or the brig until she regains her obviously lost senses. She again orders her to keep moving, her tone sharp.

But a force field appears between them, and two drones come up behind Seven. "Go!" Seven pleads. Chakotay hails and informs Janeway that the sphere is moving to intercept Voyager. The implication is clear; the team has to return so that Voyager can flee, now. But Janeway does not move. She adamantly tells Seven she will not leave without her. "Then you will be assimilated," Seven responds, voice choking. Janeway gazes at her for a moment. Then she wheels and dashes to the beam-out point.

She, Tuvok and Kim arrive at the coordinates, and she hails Chakotay: three to beam out. Chakotay queries the number; three? Janeway does not explain. "Energize!" she snaps. They vanish and reappear in the transporter room. Chakotay asks where Seven is. Janeway responds, her tone sharp and angry, that she "had a change of heart". She orders a situation report. He responds that the sphere is altering course away from them. Lt. Torres reports its transwarp drive is powering up. Janeway, even though she knows it is hopeless, orders Paris to follow it. In a glow of green, the sphere goes to transwarp and races away in the blink of an eye. Janeway gazes at the now-empty space in the viewscreen, her shock and anger very evident.

Unicomplex2

The colossal Borg Unicomplex.

Seven is led by the two drones through the corridors of the sphere. The sphere itself drops from transwarp into an incredible sight: a Borg complex that is immense. Structures interconnect with each other in a web so huge that it seems to take up an entire sector. Borg cubes, enormous in their own right, flit about among the structures like fruit flies. The sphere cruises toward a hatch in one of the main structures. The hatch opens and the sphere disappears inside. Seven of Nine is brought by the two drones to a door shaped like a spearhead. It opens and they take her through it.

Before her, in the middle of the large room, is a wide, slightly raised platform. Above the platform, a head and its upper torso descend on a lift from above. The head appears to be that of a humanoid female alien; Borg, but unlike any Borg Seven has ever seen before. The eyes regard her. A small smile is on the lips. As the head and upper torso approach the floor, a disassembled black mechanical body, composed of the rest of the torso and limbs comes up from the floor.

Like the head and upper torso, it looks Borg, but it is unlike anything Seven has ever seen. With quickness and precision, it is assembled and positioned directly beneath the descending head and upper torso. At the top of the mechanical torso, between the shoulders, is a metal, collar-like structure, like the collar of a woman's broad-collared dress. It stretches and receives the upper torso, closing and fitting itself over the shoulders. A ring of small clamps on it lock down on the installed chest and shoulders.

File:WelcomeHome.jpg

"Welcome home."

The thing slowly rotates one shoulder, then another, then, in measured steps, it steps forth, comes off the platform, and walks slowly up to Seven.

Seven stares, astounded. Standing before her is the owner of the voice she heard in the cargo bay; a Borg unlike any other; not a drone, but greater; the only Borg that could truly be called "special"; a Borg she had heard her parents talk about, but never, in all her years as a drone, personally encountered; the personification of the Collective.

Her parents had a name for it. A name she remembers hearing them use.

The Borg Queen.

"Welcome home," it... she... tells her.

Act Seven

The Borg Queen walks slowly around Seven, appraising her, noting dryly how the individuals on Voyager have 'remade her into their image', removing her Borg features, such as her exo-plating and eyepiece, and giving her back hair and clothing. Seven sarcastically responds that she expected re-assimilation, not conversation. The Queen notes her sense of humor, and comments that the last two years must have been remarkable for her. She repeats what she told her in Voyager's cargo bay: she is unique.

Seven muses that this is why she wants her back; her experience will 'add to their perfection'. But the Queen's response is shocking; this is why, she says, they put her there to begin with. "You believe that Voyager liberated you from the Collective," she tells her. "Did you really think we would surrender you so easily?" Astounded beyond measure, Seven demands she explain. But she does not. Instead, she offers her a chance to regenerate in an alcove that has been adapted for her; they will speak further after. Seven accepts. As she regenerates, the Queen watches her.

Aboard Voyager, in Cargo Bay 2, crewmen clear away the debris from the Borg probe. It has been scoured clean of useful components; they will now melt it down for the polytrinic alloys it contains and then dispose of it. Janeway and Chakotay look on. Janeway is at a total loss to explain Seven’s action; why choose now to rejoin the Collective? Chakotay muses that perhaps she had been planning it all along; he reminds her of what Seven had said when they first severed her from the hive mind, two years earlier: "I will betray you." (VOY: "The Gift") Janeway does not accept this; she tells him what Seven had told her in her ready room, two days earlier: that Voyager had become her Collective. She had meant it.

File:JanewayDeterminedToRetrieveSeven.jpg

Janeway is determined to retrieve Seven of Nine.

Neelix, who is helping with the clean-up, comes up to them. He asks Janeway what to do with Seven's alcove. With her gone, logically the alcove, which uses a lot of power, has no function. Should he shut it down? Janeway tells him no. He nods and goes back to work. Chakotay gives her a concerned look. But her look back at him is one of determination: she intends to get her back... somehow.

In her ready room, Janeway sits at her desktop monitor, reviewing sensor logs from the day before their operation to steal the transwarp coil from the damaged sphere. She has a hunch that the Borg somehow influenced Seven to rejoin them, and thinks the logs have evidence of that. Tuvok brings Naomi Wildman to see her. Naomi presents a plan she has developed to find Seven. Janeway looks at it. It would not work, but she smiles and commends Naomi for her initiative. Naomi worriedly asks her if she will give up trying to find her, but Janeway assures her she will not. The computer then beeps: Janeway had instructed it to analyze the sensor logs, and it has found something. They look at the monitor. Janeway’s hunch is confirmed: the analysis shows that Borg communication signals were indeed directed at Cargo Bay 2.

In the Borg Unicomplex, Seven awakens from regeneration to find her vision altered, Borg-style. The Borg queen informs her that her brain's sight-controlling region has been re-enhanced with Borg technology: a neural processing adjunct "You've seen through Human eyes long enough," the Queen tells her. Seven fearfully and angrily demands its removal. The Queen disappointedly comments that she prefers to 'remain small'. Seven heatedly responds that she prefers to remain unique; putting Borg technology back into her is akin to re-assimilation.

The Queen reassures her that this is not what they want; they want her individuality intact. Seven returns to her biggest question: why was all this effort made to capture her? The Queen responds that they need for her individual, Human perspective. Seven does not understand; they assimilated her memories; what more do they want? The Queen's answer chills her; they want her to help them finally succeed in doing what they have twice tried and failed to do: assimilate Humanity. (TNG: "The Best of Both Worlds", "The Best of Both Worlds, Part II"; Star Trek: First Contact)

File:BorgQueensShip.jpg

The Borg Queen's personal vessel, the Borg Diamond

Seven stoutly tells her she will resist. The Queen blithely responds that she knows this.

The chamber shakes. Seven demands to know what is happening. The Queen's answer frightens her even more; they are off to assimilate a species. She shows Seven a holo-projection of the target: a planet with a population of 392,000, which she calls Species 10026. Their presence is not required, she tells Seven, but she deems the experience necessary to remind her of what it means to be Borg. Seven looks at the projection fearfully. The Queen notices, remarking that she is experiencing compassion, a Human emotion. "Those lives will be added to our own," she reminds her.

A hatch opens in a structure in the Unicomplex, and a diamond-shaped vessel emerges, carrying Seven, the Queen, and attendant drones. It moves out of the Unicomplex and meets up with two Borg cubes. The three ships head off for the target planet. Aboard the diamond, Seven continues gazing at the projection in sympathetic terror. She knows what she is going to see, only this time she will see it from a perspective that, as a drone, she would have considered irrelevant.

The perspective of the victims.

Act Eight

2354

Three of Five

A new drone is examined by the Hansens.

Aboard the Raven, Magnus and Erin Hansen examine a regenerating new drone that they have beamed over from a cube they have been shadowing. They ascertain the species it came from: Species 6961; Ktarian. Its infrastructure is titanium, revealing it to be a tactical drone. But their big surprise comes when they check its previous designation: Three of Five, Tertiary Adjunct of Unimatrix 01; it used to work close to the Borg Queen.

As Annika watches with interest, they decide to put a tracking device on it to keep an eye on it; if it should ever return to Unimatrix 01, they could get the opportunity to study the Queen herself. An alarm alerts them that its regeneration cycle is almost complete, and they quickly beam it back to its alcove aboard the cube. Then, while Erin and Annika go and eat, Magnus inspects its downloaded cranial transceiver logs, looking for communication signals from the Queen.

2375

In her ready room, First Officer Chakotay reports to Captain Janeway that a comparison between the signals Magnus Hansen was looking at, recorded in the Hansens' logs, and those that Janeway discovered had been sent to Seven in Cargo Bay 2 show a match; Seven was indeed getting communication from what he terms "this...'Borg queen' " (the existence of such a thing is unknown to Starfleet at the time Voyager was pulled into the Delta Quadrant, since the Hansens never returned home with their data).

Janeway notes that, whatever the nature of this 'queen', she obviously is very influential, having made Seven turn herself over to the Collective the day after contacting her. She recalls her conversation with Seven before the mission; Seven had insisted that she had to be on the away team and go aboard the sphere or the mission would fail. She had seemed very afraid, as if there was something she knew that she could not tell. In hindsight, Janeway sees what it was, and she burns with anger thinking about it: the queen had done more than influence her; she had coerced her, threatening to assimilate Voyager if she did turn herself over to them.

She turns to Chakotay, eyes bright with that same look of determination she gave him in Cargo Bay 2. She orders him to compile a list of every available technology the Hansens developed to track the Borg. It is time to find and retrieve her.

Janeway addresses the crew from the bridge. As she speaks, various preparations are seen taking place. She outlines the mission: a long-range tactical rescue. Chief Engineer Torres is equipping the Delta Flyer with the transwarp coil. An away team will go after the sphere that took her through transwarp space using tracking technology Chakotay found in the Hansens' logs. The Hansens' multi-adaptive shielding will mask the Flyer from Borg sensors, and narrow beam transporters will allow the away team to board the sphere.

The away team will be composed of Ensign Paris as pilot, Tuvok as tactician, The Doctor, to immediately undo any physical re-assimilation they may find has been done to Seven, and Janeway herself. Chakotay will keep Voyager at the threshold of the Flyer's transwarp conduit, to offer tactical support against any pursuing Borg ships on the Flyer's return. She ends her address with the following exhortation: they will be looking, she says, for one individual among thousands of drones. "But she is one of us," she finishes, "and I am not about to let her go." She looks at the expectant bridge officers. "Let’s get started."

The Flyer takes off. On Janeway's order, Ensign Paris brings the transwarp coil online and, in a flash of green, the shuttle goes to transwarp, heading in the direction the sphere went off in. Tuvok detects the sphere's residual transwarp signature, and Janeway orders Paris to follow it.

File:HowDoWeAdapt.jpg

"How do you propose we adapt?"

The Borg diamond and the two Borg cubes arrive at the planet. The Borg queen coldly manipulates Seven into suggesting a way to adapt to the intended victims' weapons; a modulating phaser pulse that can penetrate Borg deflector shields. Initially, when the Queen asks her, Seven refuses to provide a strategy; "You are the Borg; you tell me," she says sarcastically. The Queen does not respond; instead, she lets the aliens pound them until Seven's eyes become bright with alarm. She then calmly looks at Seven and repeats her question: How does she propose they adapt? Not wanting to die, Seven's survival instinct forces her to suggest a strategy. The Queen smiles, voices her agreement with it and communicates it to the drones for it to be implemented. Immediately the damage ceases as the victims' weapons fire is rendered completely ineffective.

Pleased, the Borg queen then instructs her to go and assist in the primary assimilation chamber. But upon seeing Seven’s terrified reaction, she changes her mind, blithely musing that perhaps she is pushing her too hard. She instructs her to assist in repairing their shield generators instead.

Seven walks unsteadily through the corridors, going to her assigned task. Around her, captured members of the humanoid species are escorted by drones to assimilation chambers. Bloodcurdling screams ring out from the directions the chambers lie in. Fearfully, she reaches a panel and, trying her best to shut out the screams, she gets to work. An explosion knocks her down. She moves to rise, but two drones come up behind her and pick her up roughly. She struggles as one brings a most evil-looking Borg prosthetic to her face. But it simply passes it over a cut she sustained, healing it. They release her and continue on their way.

File:10026-Assimilation.jpg

A species 10026 man is assimilated.

A small group of aliens pass by, on their way to a chamber, escorted by drones. Suddenly one of them, a man, tries to run away, past her. Instinctively, she grabs his arm, stopping him. Her Borg-enhanced strength ensures he cannot escape her grip. But she immediately realizes what she is doing and releases him. Too late, however; one of the drones returns for him. It seizes him and mercilessly plunges its assimilation tubules into his neck. He freezes, trembling in agony. Black lines radiate over his head and neck, as millions of Borg nanoprobes flood his system, beginning his assimilation. Seven watches, horrified. As a drone she had done this atrocity herself, thousands of times, without a thought. Now she sees just what she had subjected her victims to. She stumbles back, shuddering and hyperventilating.

But then she sees she is just outside an assimilation chamber. She enters. Inside, a few of the aliens watch helplessly as a drone works on assimilating one of them, with cold, brutal precision. Another drone looks on. The victim is lying on a platform. His right arm has been severed; an attachment for the prosthetic replacement the drone is about to install is on the stump.

The second drone leaves the chamber to go and carry out a repair. As soon as it has gone, Seven immediately comes up behind the drone working on the victim and deactivates it. She lifts the victim up off the platform and orders the others to assist her. They stare at her uncomprehendingly. She tells them sharply that she is not Borg; she will help them escape. "Assist me!" she orders. They take their comrade as Seven instructs them what to do. One of their ships is nearby. It is heavily damaged and the crew is dead, but the propulsion system still works. She will transport them aboard; they must remain there until the Borg leave, and then they must flee on a heading she gives them. They nod understanding, and Seven goes to a console and beams them out.

Seven re-enters the Borg Queen's chamber. The queen is pleased: assimilation is complete. Seven angrily asks if the 300 thousand individuals who have just been destroyed should be congratulated as well. They should be indeed, the Borg queen responds; they have been delivered from chaos into order. Seven sarcastically comments that she should use those words next time instead of 'Resistance is futile'; they may actually get some of the victims to volunteer. The Queen retorts that Seven is simply hiding behind sarcasm in order not to not acknowledge the pleasure of a new species being added to the Collective, a pleasure which she fully remembers. Stop resisting, she urges her; revel in it.

Seven pauses. She can indeed feel it. But the sickening horror of what she has seen makes her roundly reject it. Instead, she again remembers how she used to be part of such atrocities herself. Full of guilt, she responds that she will not take pleasure in the destruction of a race. The Queen is again disappointed and angry with her reaction. Impatiently, she insists that her feelings of guilt, compassion and empathy are irrelevant. Seven hotly disagrees, retorting that they are relevant to her. This angers the Queen even more; there is no 'me', she insists; there is only 'us'; one mind.

File:PleaseLetThemGo.jpg

"Let them go! Please!"

Then her head tilts to one side as she detects the ship containing the unassimilated aliens. It appears on her chamber's viewscreen. She asks Seven what should be done with it. Seven haltingly responds that they should be ignored; the ship is badly damaged and there are only only 4 of them. The Borg queen disagrees; if so much as one escapes, then the species itself remains unassimilated. As they watch, a cube intercepts the ship and seizes it in a tractor beam. Seven watches, close to tears. She begs her to release them.

"I'm sorry this lesson has to be so painful for you," the Borg queen tells her with false sympathy, "but you are a difficult pupil." She again urges her to abandon her Human emotions; "They are the cause of your pain," she insists. But, again she is disappointed; Seven begs harder; "Let them go! Please!" The Queen looks at her impatiently. And, shockingly, she releases them; the cube cuts its tractor beam and the ship speeds off. Seven is dumbfounded, but the Queen gives no explanation.

Act Nine

2356

The Raven flees at maximum warp. As Magnus explains in his log entry, a subspace particle storm knocked their multi-adaptive shielding off-line, leaving them exposed to Borg sensors. It was only off-line for 13.2 seconds, but that was enough; the Borg detected them and perceived them as a threat . Now they flee desperately, a Borg cube hot on their tail. They have masked their warp signature, but this has not worked; the cube still pursues them. Annika lies in bed, frightened, listening as her parents agitatedly discuss what to do; a nearby Mutara class nebula may offer a hiding place, but Magnus rejects it, saying its particle density is too high; their hull would rupture. Erin argues that they have no time to look for anything else. Annika calls for Magnus. He goes and comforts her.

2375

On the Delta Flyer, The Doctor pitches an idea to Captain Janeway; he believes they can send a message to Seven through her interplexing beacon. Janeway approves. Ensign Paris reports he has found the sphere, located 200 light years from their position. Janeway orders him to head for it, and orders Tuvok to raise the multi-adaptive shielding.

They drop out of transwarp and find themselves in the Unicomplex. The humans and the Doctor are awestruck at its incredible size. Tuvok scans trillions of lifeforms within it, all Borg. A cube comes toward them but passes straight; their multi-adaptive cloak is working. Janeway orders Paris to head into the Unicomplex and Tuvok begins scanning for Seven.

Species-5618

Species 5618: Human.

In her chamber, the Borg Queen makes a decision; it is time for Seven to serve her purpose. She informs Seven about a new mode of assimilation they have developed, for 'highly-resistant species', surreptitious as opposed to direct assault: an assimilation virus. Seven is confused; she has no knowledge of this technology, having left the Collective before it was developed. The Queen disagrees; her knowledge of the species they had in mind when designing it is invaluable. She brings up a holo-image of a member of that species: Species 5618 - Human.

As Seven watches in shock, the Queen explains how the virus will work; it will infect every lifeform on the planet, assimilating the planet's life slowly. By the time the population realizes what is happening, half of it will be drones. Seven gazes at her, eyes wide, realizing that they are planning to release this virus into Earth's atmosphere. She tries to raise the seemingly valid objection that such a method would be inefficient, as it would take many years to yield results. The Queen merely responds that they have waited this long; they can wait the required period. She gives Seven the job of programming the nanoprobes.

Seven gapes at her. No. She will not to be part of this. She will not assist in Humanity's destruction. She tells this to her in no uncertain terms. The Queen responds by reminding her of the thousands of assimilations she had been part of as a drone; this is no different. Seven does not budge. The Queen again loses patience. They all came from 'lesser species', she presses; she herself came from Species 125. But that is irrelevant, she asserts; they are Borg. "I am an individual!" Seven responds firmly.

The Queen's patience runs dangerously low; this is the purpose they require Seven for, and she will fulfill it. She threatens Seven; comply or she will be re-assimilated. To emphasize the threat, she has drones converge on her. But Seven sets her jaw and determinedly tells her to proceed if she wishes.

The Queen sees that threats will not work. Instead, she tries even more intense psychological manipulation. She and the drones close in on Seven even further. Seven backs away. "You're torn between your desire to be one with us and your loyalty to them. It's time for you to complete your task," the Queen tells her. All her grief, all her guilt remorse and compassion, she asserts, will become irrelevant once Humanity is assimilated. Seven looks around at them fearfully. The Queen presses her. "Forget Voyager. They were never your Collective." Seven stands her ground like a cornered animal, retorting defiantly that she is Annika Hansen - Human.

Magnus Hansen borg

Magnus Hansen, now a Borg drone.

The Queen smiles. She remembers Annika, she remarks; does Annika remember them? She tilts her head. A drone steps forward. A horror-stricken Seven recognizes it immediately; it is... was... Magnus Hansen, her father. The Queen goes for the kill. "Your family's here," she says in a soothing, inviting voice. "You're here. Be one with us again." It works. Seven's resistance starts to crumble. The Queen watches her expectantly.

And then Seven hears a voice; a voice which she never thought she would hear again; the voice of Captain Janeway, urging her to hold on; they are coming. "Captain..." Seven whispers. But the Queen hears her. "What did you say?" she asks sharply. Seven realizes her blunder and tries to say it was nothing, but the Queen does not buy it. She seizes her face and, through the hive mind, probes her thoughts, and finds the com link the Doctor set up.

Act Ten

On the Flyer, the Janeway and the Doctor discovers that their com link to Seven is suddenly being blocked; the Queen knows they are coming. Tuvok reports he has found Seven’s location. Janeway orders Paris to head for it. In her chamber, the Queen comments that though Janeway's com signal originated close by, they cannot detect her vessel. But she guesses why; they are using the Hansens' multi-adaptive shielding. However, she notes, they assimilated that technology, therefore they can adapt to it quickly and easily.

Paris tensely reports a cube has altered course to intercept them. The implication is clear: they have been detected. Janeway immediately orders re-modulation of the shielding. This works, but she knows that they cannot fool the Borg sensors forever. They have to hurry. Tuvok reports that Seven is in a large chamber; he cannot get a transporter lock at their current distance, though.

Janeway orders Paris to take them in closer. In her chamber, the Borg queen attempts to use deception to kill Seven’s hope of rescue, telling her that the ship has been captured. But, connected to the hive mind, Seven immediately knows she is lying. As Seven once told Janeway, Borg make lousy liars; they cannot practice deception, as the hive mind makes it impossible. (VOY: "Day of Honor") Seven tells this to the Queen. The Queen looks greatly chagrined.

The Flyer approaches the structure containing the Queen's chamber, but Paris reports it is too heavily shielded for the transporter to lock onto Seven. Janeway orders Tuvok to break out the bio-dampeners and accompany her; they are going to beam into the structure, close to the chamber. She orders Paris to target the chamber with the Flyer's weapons. This makes him pause. "Ma'am?" he asks, concerned, "Won't you be down there?" "Do it" she insists. He acknowledges. Janeway and Tuvok beam in, armed with phaser rifles. Their dampeners work, keeping them undetected as they march down a corridor.

Borg subdermal probe

A subdermal bioprobe.

But security is amplified; force fields go up along the corridor. These force fields, however, do not block drones; only non-Borg, like them. They watch as a drone walks right through one. Janeway gets an idea. She orders Tuvok to give her subdermal bioprobe.

On the Flyer, alarms alert Paris that their shielding is again being seen though. Three cubes start converging on the shuttle. He re-modulates. In her chamber, the Borg Queen watches the viewscreen with great annoyance as the Flyer vanishes. Seven watches as well. "You underestimate them," she says with satisfaction. The queen's voice becomes icy. She remarks that it is time for a more aggressive approach. The Flyer is suddenly rocked by Borg weapons fire as the approaching cubes fire blindly in the vicinity of its last known position. Aboard, Paris tensely bobs and weaves the shuttle to avoid the blasts.

In the corridor Janeway and Tuvok go up to a regenerating drone. Janeway sticks it with the subdermal probe and then has Tuvok wake it. Activated, it marches up to a force field, pauses and then walks through. Janeway reads the force field's modulation and adjusts her dampener to suit; now she can walk through the force field as well. She does do, but the act damages the dampener; she is now detectable by the Borg sensor grid. She orders Tuvok to disable the shields around the chamber, and hurries forward, rifle up.

File:YouAreWeak.jpg

Seven tries to stop the Borg Queen and fails.

Aboard the Flyer, Paris realizes the game is up; the Borg have fully adapted to the shielding and are seeing through it the no matter how fast he changes the frequency. The familiar, chilling hail comes through: We are the Borg. You will be assimilated. Resistance is futile. In her chamber, the Borg Queen speaks the words along with the rest of the Collective. She does not need to look at Seven to know the misery that is now on her face. She rubs salt in the wound, telling Seven she has failed them.

In anguish, Seven charges at her, her exo-skeleton-enhanced arm raised to strike her down. But the Queen wheels and seizes her arm with hardly an effort. Seven would be able to break free of such a grip from many. But not from a full Borg. She struggles, futilely. The Queen gazes at her icily. It is now obvious that retrieving her was a waste of time. "We believed you would be an asset to us. We were wrong," she tells her coldly. She scornfully calls her weak.

"Don't listen to her, Seven," a commanding voice says from the doorway. They turn to see Captain Janeway standing at the door. She walks in slowly, a stone-cold gaze locked onto the Queen, rifle pointed at her. Drones converge on her. She warns the Queen to call them off or be destroyed. The drones stop. The queen matter-of-factly tells her that her weapons are useless. She disputes that, retorting that her tactical officer is disabling the rooms shields, and her ship's weapons are trained on the chamber. The queen observes that she and Seven will be killed along with her.

This is completely irrelevant to Janeway; she responds that death is better than being one of them. The Queen tests her resolve by having the drones resume their convergence on her. Janeway calmly orders Paris to fire on her command. Seeing that she bluffs not, the Queen again halts the drones. Paris reports that the attacking cubes have backed off. She orders him to beam her, Tuvok and Seven out. But then a strange shadow falls in the chamber; a dispersal field has gone up around it. Paris reports this; he cannot beam them out.

Janeway turns her gaze to Seven and orders her to shut the field down. The Queen, though, attempts one last appeal to the Borg Seven used to be. She tells her not to listen; "She's poisoned your thoughts long enough," she says sharply. Janeway has no time to engage in any long psychological battle with her; she simply makes her instruction to Seven a direct order. The Queen tries to counter: "One order!" she scoffs. "One voice! Insignificant!"

Seven looks at her and then at Janeway. The two sides of her clash; the Human she has grown to love and the Borg she has now fully grown to loathe. There is no contest. She marches to a console and plunges in her assimilation tubules.

File:Borg-Queen-Defeated-and-Angry-As-Hell.jpg

The Borg Queen looks angrily at where Seven was, before she transported out.

The field drops as the queen glares at her in naked anger. Janeway smiles and orders Paris to energize. But then the Queen tilts her head and the shadow returns. Paris reports the field is back up. She looks at Seven and Janeway with contempt. Drones begin converging on them both. The Queen orders them assimilated. The drones march on them mercilessly.

Seven, however, informs Janeway that there is a power node directly above the Queen; if it is destroyed, her interface with the field will be broken. The Queen's head whips to face her with a shocked, accusing glare.

"Our thoughts are one," Seven reminds her with a satisfied sneer.

Janeway wastes no time; she immediately destroys the node with a blast from her rifle, and she and Seven disappear from the chamber in the Flyer's transporter beam. The queen watches, her eyes full of cold fury.

Act Eleven

On beaming back onto the Flyer, Janeway welcomes Seven back. The Doctor runs a quick scan and finds Seven has not been in any way re-assimilated. She joins Tuvok at tactical and the Delta Flyer speeds away. Two cubes are hot on its tail. The Borg diamond emerges and joins them. On Janeway's order, the Flyer jumps to transwarp. Only the Borg diamond does the same – the cubes stay behind.

In transwarp space, the diamond fires on the Flyer, scoring a direct hit to its port warp nacelle. The shuttle begins to rapidly lose energy; Paris reports that they will drop out of transwarp in under a minute. Janeway tensely orders rerouting of power from life support to the engines: better to suffocate than vaporize.

On Voyager's bridge, Torres, at tactical, reports to Chakotay that a transwarp conduit is opening; the Flyer is returning. Chakotay orders battlestations. In the conduit, the diamond tries to catch the Flyer in a tractor beam, but Seven deflects it. Paris counts down until they return to normal space where Voyager is positioned.

File:BorgDiamondRemains.jpg

The Borg Diamond is destroyed.

The Flyer drops back into normal space. Janeway hails Voyager and informs Chakotay of the Borg vessel on their tail. Chakotay gets an idea; he orders Torres to fire a full spread of photon torpedoes at the conduit's threshold; this would implode the conduit for distance of at least a light year, destroying anything inside it for that distance. Torres does so. Massive space-transwarp space explosions are seen as the torpedoes detonate, having the effect that Chakotay desired. Janeway hails and Chakotay informs her of the action taken. They seem to be home free; she orders him to clear the Flyer for docking.

But then a shocked Torres reports the appearance of a large number of Borg signatures, coming from the conduit. Neither she nor Chakotay can understand; they were certain the conduit was collapsed. Chakotay tensely informs Janeway and orders battlestations and weapons ready. He and the bridge officers watch as the conduit opens...

All that comes out is debris from the destroyed Borg diamond. They breathe a collective sigh of relief.

Epilogue

Janeway records in her log that the stolen transwarp coil gave them 20,000 light years of service before giving out; they are now a good fifteen years closer to home. She enters Cargo Bay 2 and finds Seven at a console working, despite orders from The Doctor to regenerate for at least 72 hours. She is downloading Borg tactical data into the computer's database. She explains that she acquired a vast amount of data during her time at Unimatrix 01, connected once again to the hive mind. This data may prove useful in any future encounters with the Borg. Janeway approves.

But there is something on her mind. She tells Janeway that she betrayed them, threatened them with assimilation.

File:JanewaySevenSweetDreams.jpg

"Sweet dreams..."

Yet they came back for her. She had not expected that at all. Why did they do it? Janeway smiles and responds that she apparently still has much to learn about Humanity. She tells her it is time to regenerate; she has to follow the Doctor's orders.

"When I am finished," Seven ventures.

"No," Janeway responds, her smile widening, "now."

Seven's own mouth upturns slightly as she acquiesces. She goes to her alcove and installs herself. As the regeneration cycle kicks in, she closes her eyes serenely. Janeway looks at her fondly and wishes her sweet dreams.

Memorable Quotes

"I don't know about the rest of you, but I feel lucky today."

- Captain Janeway


"Now this is how I prefer the Borg... in pieces."

- Captain Janeway to Commander Chakotay, looking at the Borg debris in the cargo bay


"Captain! Don't touch that!"
"What is it?"
"I don't know, but a few minutes ago it was crawling around on the floor."

- Ensign Kim and Captain Janeway, speaking about a sphere-shaped piece of salvaged Borg technology.


"How do you propose we adapt?"
"You are the Borg; you tell me."

- The Borg Queen and Seven of Nine


"It's impossible to offend a mindless drone."

- Seven of Nine


"They left behind their trivial, selfish lives, and they've been reborn with a greater purpose. We've delivered them from chaos into order."
"Comforting words. Use them next time instead of 'Resistance is futile.' You may elicit a few volunteers."

- The Borg Queen and Seven of Nine, on the assimilation of 300,000 new drones


"There are three things to remember about being a starship captain: keep your shirt tucked in, go down with the ship, and never abandon a member of your crew."

- Captain Janeway, to Naomi Wildman


(Horrified) "Papa...?"

- Seven of Nine, on seeing the Borg drone that used to be Magnus Hansen


"Re-route power from life support"
"Captain?"
"I'd rather suffocate then vaporise, do it!"

- Captain Janeway and The Doctor, while under attack from The Borg


"Are we gonna be assimulated?"

- Annika, to Magnus

Log Entries

Background Information

  • The Borg Queen tells Seven that the Voyager crew removed her (Seven's) Borg technology, including her ocular implant. This is an incorrect term; the correct term is eyepiece.
  • Susanna Thompson previously played Lenara Kahn in the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode "Rejoined".
  • The stardates given in the flashback scenes for the work done on the Raven appear to correspond to only a few months, not the several years that Annika and her parents were chasing the Borg. Given the incongruities present in the stardate system, however, little can be derived from this.
  • The Hansen logs indicate that Federation knowledge of the Borg existed prior to the events of TNG: "Q Who", citing the limited information as, "rumor and sensor echoes." The small amount of data collected at the Borg encounter in ENT: "Regeneration" and the El-Aurian accounts of their planet's assimilation prior to Star Trek Generations may be responsible for these rumors.
  • The transporter effect used in the flashback scenes corresponds with the effect used in Star Trek: The Next Generation.
  • Seven is seen in her purple-tone jumpsuit for the first time in this episode.
  • The Queen states that Seven of Nine was the only Borg to return to a state of individuality. She seems to have either forgotten or neglected Locutus, as well as Hugh and any of the Borg that followed him in the events of "Descent". It's possible that she did not count Locutus as he was considered to be unique and more than just another drone. It is also conceivable that she still considers the "Descent" Borg part of the Collective and are simply malfunctioning drones that needed to be recovered; as was seen in "Survival Instinct", or may not know about them at all. Finally, the Borg Queen may simply be trying to manipulate Seven of Nine under the guise that she is unique.
  • Magnus Hansen, Seven of Nine's father, presumably dies when the Queen's ship explodes at the end. It is not known whether or not he remained on the Queen's ship when it gave chase of Voyager.
  • The wide shot of the Delta Flyer being retrofitted with the transwarp coil is a re-use of the shot from "Extreme Risk".
  • Some have speculated that Seven was going to be groomed to become a replacement as a Borg Queen, upon the current queen's death, given her state of "individuality" but still having her connection to the Collective.
  • When describing Fort Knox, Paris states that it contained 50 metric tonnes of gold, worth $9 trillion dollars. This means that gold would have to cost $2.9 million dollars per ounce.
  • The Borg Queen said the Borg failed once to assimilate humanity. The Borg have in fact made two attempts on Earth. The first attempt occurred in the events of "The Best of Both Worlds" and "The Best of Both Worlds, Part II" and the second attempt during Star Trek: First Contact.

Episode length

  • This episode originally aired as a feature-length episode that was later broken up into two parts for reruns in syndication.
  • Unusually for the BBC (which frequently aired Trek two-parters as feature-length editions), this episode was broadcast as the two-part version on 11 June 2000 and 18 June 2000.
  • This episode is the second of only three feature length episodes that are not series pilots or finales within all the Star Trek series. The first was the Deep Space Nine fourth season episode "The Way of the Warrior" and the third was the Voyager seventh season episode "Flesh and Blood".

Awards

Video and DVD releases

The episode was released in feature-length format, and the video featured a reversible sleeve: one side with the standard Voyager design, the other a special "Feature Length TV Movie" design, "featuring the return of the Borg Queen".

Links and References

Guest Stars

Co-Stars

Uncredited Co-Stars

References

Alixia; assimilation; assimilation chamber; asteroid field; auto-regeneration unit; bio-dampener; biogenic charge; biomolecular scanner; Borg; Borg Collective; Borg cube; Borg diamond; Borg drone; Borg probe; Borg scout ship (Borg sphere); camouflage; class 2 shuttlecraft; class 5 probe; compression phaser rifle; cybernetic; data node; Delta Flyer; dilithium; dinosaur; dispersal field; Earth; exobiologist; exo-plating; Federation Council on Exobiology; Ferengi; field regulator; field notes, USS Raven; Fort Knox; Grid 325; Grid 532; holo-image; human; Intrepid class; interplexing beacon; ion storm; kiloton; Ktarian; Ktarian beer; laser scalpel; medical repair drone; megawatt; metric ton; micro-suture; money; motion sickness; multi-adaptive shielding; museum; nanoprobe; nanoprobe virus; neural transceiver; New World Economy; ocular implant; Operation Fort Knox; pattern enhancer; phaser pulse; plasma conduit; polytrinic alloy; power node; Romulan Neutral Zone; servo-armature; shield generator; spatial charge; Species 125; Species 5618; Species 6961; Species 10026; subdermal probe; tactical drone; teracochrane; teradyne; teraquad; tractor pulse; transpectral analysis; transwarp; transwarp coil; transwarp conduit; triquantum wave; tritanium; Unicomplex; Unimatrix 01; Unimatrix 424; United States dollar; Wildman, Samantha

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