Borg Again

by Kath Tate

Disclaimer: Star Trek Voyager and its characters are the property of Paramount. This story is not meant to infringe upon the trademarks or copyrights of Paramount.

Kath's notes: This is a post "Unity" story which is more or less complete except for that one bang-up sentence to finish the damn thing off.  My apologies!

*****

Prologue

Dr. Riley Frazier sat in the gloom of a corner of the room. From this vantage she could watch the stars they were passing. She could almost forget that she had been thrown from her home yet again by the Collective. She could almost forget that friends had died resisting what was futile. Almost.

She looked down at her hands.

If she closed her eyes and thought carefully she saw him in her mind, standing by their old communications array. He was smiling and offering her the chance for a replicated Texan barbecue. She smiled at the thought. He never said goodbye.

"Riley?" There was Orem, disrupting her thoughts.

"What?" she asked dully. What else could possibly happen?

"We've found Voyager. We are just outside their sensor range."

"Good," her soft voice came from the dark corner. Orem moved closer to her, hoping to see her expression.

"Riley," he began a plea, "do not do this. Please."

"Don't," she held up a hand, "even start that again."

"I can't do it," he told her sadly. She was not surprised. She was only surprised it had taken him this long to get the courage to say it out loud.

"Orem, you know as well as I do that unless we get off this cube we are sitting ducks for the Collective. They will not just leave us alone." She wasn't sure why she was bothering to convince him.

"Riley," he started, but she interrupted him.

"What's the point of settling down on some nice planet if they're only going to come and destroy it again and again and *again*!" He didn't respond to this. She stood and paced in the small area. "Orem, the Voyager crew are headed for the Alpha Quadrant. That is where we belong. Not stuck out here in the middle of God knows where, with that Collective threat always hanging over us."

"Riley you don't have to convince me of the need," he said gently, "it is simply your methods that I can't condone."

"You didn't meet Captain Janeway, Orem, I did. She will not help us. Not unless she is forced to do so."

"My role is healing people, I cannot do this," Orem said.

"You weren't opposed to using him the last time," she pointed out sharply.

"Don't try to ease your guilt with that," he rebuked. "Our backs were to the wall and no one was hurt."

"Our backs are to the wall this time too!" There was a silence between them.

She turned back to face the space portal again. Perhaps she would get that replicated Texan barbecue after all.

*****

Captain's Log - We are scanning for the presence of any ships in this area but so far have only detected a nebula. While it appears that to be harmless, sensors and communications may be affected if we entered. I remain worried about Commander Chakotay...

Janeway paused in her logs, distracted long enough for the computer to signal her to continue. She shut down the log and looked at the work on her desk without feeling any desire to tackle any of it.

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath trying to focus but in her mind's eye all she could see was Chakotay on the bridge.

The day had started out as any other. She had joined Chakotay in the Mess Hall where he was finishing breakfast. A little light banter about how much better his stomach could handle the food and then they went to the bridge together and he presented his morning report to her in her ready room.

Aside from being tired Chakotay was feeling in fine form. His spirits were high and the Captain seemed to be in a relaxed happy mood. The ship was working at peak efficiency, all things considered, and they hadn't run into any problems or hassles for several weeks. Paris had even been complaining that it was almost dull. Chakotay's only complaint was a lack of sleep. His meditation last evening had been unsuccessful; afterwards his sleep had been disturbed by upsetting dreams. But in the light of day it was easy to chase away those demons.

Chakotay liked teasing the Captain; he especially enjoyed it when she shot barbs back at him for fun. She was telling him a story of the first time she'd had an Admiral inspect her ship and how nervous she'd been. It was hard to imagine the confident woman before him, quaking in her boots with anxiety over an inspection.

"The worst part was when we went into Engineering," Janeway chuckled.

*"Chakotay can you hear us?"*

Chakotay visibly jerked in his chair. He looked around him, half expecting to see Riley Frazier standing in the doorway. Of course he did not. Of course not. He relaxed again. He was just tired and imagining things.

Janeway noticed the difference in him. One minute he was smiling at her, his lips twitching with a teasing comment to give her and the next he looked disturbed, almost afraid.

"So the admiral insisted on seeing the logs...." Janeway continued with her story.

*"Chakotay can you hear us?"*

"No!" Chakotay said aloud, sharply. Janeway raised an eyebrow.

"Yes, really, he insisted on going through all the logs," she repeated. "And then...."

*"Chakotay please hear us. We need your help. Chakotay can you hear us?"*

Chakotay closed his eyes, willing the voices out of his mind. The voices that spoke as one voice. He did not want to hear them. He did not want to help them. He did not want to deal with them at all.

He felt like a cold wind had swept through his mind, pushing his own thoughts to the very far corners, out of the way, unnecessary. He was losing control of himself as the voice invaded further; it taking over more than his thoughts, it was taking over his body.

"Of course, things improved considerably after I tossed the admiral into the warp core," finished Janeway slowly, regarding Chakotay. He opened his eyes and looked back at her, but she didn't feel he was really seeing her.

"Of course," he murmured from far away. Some part of him recognized that those were not the correct words for the situation, and yet he did not seem to have any control over what came out of his mouth. "Borg" was what he wanted to say. He wanted to scream it as loud as he could as a warning to her. He wanted to say 'Get away! Far away!' Some part of him that was still him was thanking the heavens that he didn't carry a phaser. Because as suddenly as they had re-entered his mind he knew why they had come and it frightened him.

"What we didn't realize was how much this would improve the engine's efficiency." There was a pause. "You know, just because you love telling stories doesn't mean you can't listen to a few of mine, once in awhile," she gently teased him, hoping for a response.

*"Chakotay help us!"*

The response she got was not the one she'd expected. Breathing deeply, as though he was struggling with some kind of pain, Chakotay gave her a look that seemed to bore right through her. He was pleading with her, but for what reason?

Could she tell that something was wrong? Chakotay wondered. Could she sense the internal conflict he was battling?

"Chakotay? Are you alright?" she asked slowly.

Then his eyes seemed to glaze over again. As though in a trance he stood and walked stiffly onto the bridge. Now concerned, Janeway quickly followed him.

The bridge officers acknowledged their superior officers but continued with their tasks. Paris glanced up from the conn to see Chakotay moving slowly towards him. The commander had never been one to wear his emotions on his sleeve but today Paris found Chakotay's blank expression a bit unnerving. The helmsman peered around the big commander to catch a glimpse of the captain. Had they fought? But the captain's expression was more worried than angry.

Without warning Chakotay swung at Paris, hitting him square on the jaw and knocking him from his seat. From his sprawled position on the floor Paris raised his hand to his mouth. Blood.

"Hey!" he protested, his words cut off by the sharp voice of the captain.

"Commander!" Janeway was down near the conn in a flash, her eyes blazing. Maybe they had been fighting after all, thought Paris. The rest of the bridge crew seemed to pause.

Chakotay sat in Paris's former seat, his fingers flying over the controls. Paris came slowly to his feet watching as the commander's hands suddenly stopped. Chakotay's fists clenched. His blank look was suddenly replaced by as open an expression as Paris had ever seen on the commander. It was fear.

"Captain, we've come to a full stop," Kim informed the bridge. "Engines are offline. Shields are down."

Janeway turned a confused expression back to Chakotay who had stood back up from the helmsman's position with a struggle.

Now Chakotay could see Riley, almost as though she stood before him on the bridge of Voyager, even though he knew that she wasn't here, not on this ship. She was on another ship, a Borg cube perhaps, that was following them. And he could see the others with her, standing in a semi-circle, all joined in mind, joined in purpose. And they had dragged him into their collectivity without warning, against his will. There was a steady hum of the voice in his head, even without speaking it was making its presence felt in him.

Closing his eyes to the images of the others, Chakotay fought to push the voice out of him. He almost felt like he had jumped into deep cold water and was now struggling to swim back to the surface.

"Borg," he hissed through clenched teeth. He drew a deep breath, holding up a clenched fist. "Borg!"

"Captain, we may have to consider this an intruder alert," came Tuvok's cold voice, even as the chief of security raised a weapon. There was another security officer on far side of the bridge with his phaser now pointed at Chakotay as well.

Tom's glance around the room stopped on Harry's surprised face, even as the ensign's hands remained poised above his console awaiting orders. Paris wondered if he should attempt to sit back at the helm. He wasn't keen on getting another punch from the commander, but he also didn't like the idea of sitting at a full stop with the Borg out there. He was also wondering what Chakotay's next move was going to be.

"Hold your fire!" Janeway ordered, lifting a hand to Tuvok. She turned back to Chakotay, who still hadn't moved from his position. Watching her First Officer's face she could see him drifting between emotions. "Commander? Chakotay? Are you there?"

Chakotay hoped he was nodding. He wasn't able to feel the movement of his body anymore. He must have made some motion, because Janeway was coming closer to him.

"Are they here? On the ship?" Janeway watched him carefully, but there was no response to this. She reached up slowly and touched his forehead lightly. "Are they here?"

Chakotay blinked.

Janeway's mind was reeling with the situation. How had they managed to accomplish this? And for what purpose? Was it the greater Borg Collective, or the Cooperative set up by Riley Frazier all those months ago? What did they want with Chakotay? What did they want with Voyager?

"Computer! Remove command code access for Commander Chakotay. Authorization Tuvok Alpha 6." Tuvok had moved from his tactical console to come closer to Janeway. His phaser was still raised.

Yes! Good idea Tuvok, Chakotay approved. Make sure that I can't do any harm.

"Removal of access for Commander Chakotay requires validation from a superior officer," was the computer's response. Tuvok looked at Janeway. She glanced back at her First Officer.

"Validation Janeway Phi 3," she added.

"Command code access for Commander Chakotay removed," the computer confirmed.

"Chakotay, what do they want?" Janeway was asking him.

*Chakotay, Chakotay, Chakotay...."* the voice echoed in his head, blocking out other sounds.

"Mr. Kim, scan for ships," Janeway ordered. Kim complied then shook his head grimly.

"I'm not picking up anything, Captain," he informed her. She turned her attention back to Chakotay.

"What do they want Chakotay?" she asked again. She fought back the urge to shake him.

He whispered something but she couldn't hear. She stepped closer to him, causing Tuvok to move as well. Suddenly he reached out and grabbed her by the arm, pulling her up to his chest. She gasped, staring up at him wondering what was going through his mind. His grip tightened on her arm. For the first time since knowing Chakotay she was afraid of him. Was there anything of the man she knew left?

Chakotay looked down at her, his dark eyes intense with a myriad of conflicting emotions. He saw the fear flicker across her face before she drew up and fixed him with an icy glare. That she would think she had anything to fear from him tore at his heart, yet he was powerless to lessen his hold on her. He barely managed to open his mouth to speak.

"The ship. They want the ship," he said in a strangled voice.

"Let me go," she ordered with a tone that caused Chakotay to wince. He would never hurt her. He *could* never hurt her. But then, he would have once said the same about Torres and he'd shot her at point blank range.

Waves of the link were washing through him, with warmth and comfort, trying to ease his agitation, his desperation. He was losing this battle. His was just one mind against many. Like a drug taking over his body they relaxed his muscles. They seemed to tug on his personality, pulling it into themselves to make it a part of the whole. His grip on the captain lessened slightly and she pulled away.

Before he could make any other move Tuvok shot him.

The pain, like a feedback loop, echoed throughout the link and for the briefest of seconds it was broken. He was himself again, enough to realize Tuvok had not set his phaser to stun. But his freedom was shortlived, as they reached out to him almost immediately with their healing powers, taking in his pain, absorbing, diluting it, washing it away. He lost consciousness.

"I told you to hold your fire!" snapped Janeway, looking with some horror at the crumpled body of her second-in-command.

"Captain, he was a significant threat not only to the ship, but to you personally," Tuvok said, and then added, "I regret taking action that you consider to be against your orders."

"Transporter room 2!" called Janeway, hitting her comm badge, "Please beam the body of Commander Chakotay to the brig." She noted the shocked looks of the bridge crew, including the one on Tom Paris's face. Tom had no reason to feel sympathy towards Chakotay at the best of times, certainly not after receiving a split lip from him, and yet even he was surprised at her command.

Down in transporter room 2 Torres was half in, half out of a console she'd been overhauling. She jerked her head out, banging it painfully on the corner.

"Did she say *body*?" she asked Ashmore, who was working the transporter.

"Did she say *brig*?" he asked back.

*****

"Why on earth have you brought me here?" The Doctor's acid tone was even more grating to Janeway's ears today. She sighed and decided to let Tuvok handle the situation. She was just going to stay long enough to be sure that Chakotay was alright.

"We believe that Commander Chakotay's mind was taken over by the Borg. As such, he is a threat to the ship and must be under strict observation." Tuvok's steady voice informed the Doctor. The Doctor looked with some horror down at the commander's body, which lay on the bed in the cell in the exact position the transporter beam had deposited him.

"I'm not accustomed to working in a prison," the Doctor grumbled, scanning Chakotay with his tricorder. "I'm a Doctor, not a jailer."

"Which is precisely why we could not have had Commander Chakotay confined to your sickbay," Tuvok responded reasonably. "The security of the ship is in the hands of my officers here. You are here to explain how the Borg could have reestablished their link with him."

"And tend to his wounds," Janeway added, fixing Tuvok with a cold stare.

"I see no evidence of wounds," was the Doctor's response. "Well, aside his uniform." He pointed to where Tuvok's phaser had cut into Chakotay, the fabric burned and bloody.

"How is that possible?" demanded Janeway, wishing that she could be closer to see, but also recognizing the wisdom of Tuvok's suggestion that they remain outside the prison's force field. The Doctor continued his scan.

"Considering that Commander Chakotay first initiated a link with those Borg in an attempt to cure neural trauma, I should think that it is obvious, Captain." He snapped his tricorder shut and turned to face her. "They have healed his phaser wounds. And done a beautiful job of it too."

"Then why is he unconscious?" Janeway asked suspiciously.

The Doctor gave a little sniff.

"Obviously the Borg recognize the value of rest for a patient more so than do humans!"

Janeway rubbed her forehead, thinking that her headache was so far down on their list of problems as to be basically insignificant.

"Doctor," interjected Tuvok, "can you see evidence of their link in the commander's nervous system?"

"Yes," the Doctor replied immediately, "but I have no explanation as to how it is happening."

"Could they have…" Janeway almost didn't want to suggest it, "Could they have implanted the neuroprocessor in him the last time? Without his knowledge?"

The Doctor scanned Chakotay's head once more.

"If they did, then they have discovered a way to hide it from our technology."

Janeway and Tuvok looked at each for a moment, neither one having any answers. Janeway tapped her comm badge.

"Janeway to senior staff. We're having a meeting. Keep me informed Doctor!" She didn't pause to hear his reply as she exited the brig.

"You're leaving me here? In prison?"

"Please monitor Commander Chakotay to see if we can establish the means by which he is linked," Tuvok instructed the nervous hologram. "Of course, in the event of an emergency in sickbay, transfer yourself back there." As with Janeway, he did not wait to hear a response before leaving.

*****

Harry and Tom waited for the others. Harry sat with a calm that belied his anxiety, but Tom stood by the computer console on the far wall. He gazed out the portal, wondering if a Borg cube was going to suddenly materialize. A few possibilities raced through his mind.

"You don’t suppose they’re cloaked, do you?" he asked Harry suddenly. Harry looked startled at the idea. He didn’t get a chance to answer as B’Elanna then entered the room.

She had been in a fairly good mood until overhearing the transport call from Janeway. Curiousity burned in her now, with a fair degree of worry. Usually unscheduled staff meetings spelled trouble. Her tight smile fell completely when she saw Tom’s face.

"What happened to you?" she asked, trying not to show any concern. Tom reached up, his fingers lightly brushing over his chin and mouth. He supposed he should have gone to sickbay, but in truth it didn’t hurt all that much any more, just a dull throb. Besides, he figured the Doc was most likely making a house call down in the brig.

"My face made unexpected contact with Chakotay’s fist," he told her. They stood opposite each other across the table. Harry glanced up at Tom, then B’Elanna. He felt uncomfortable.

"Chakotay hit you!" B’Elanna exclaimed, as though she couldn’t believe it. "Why?"

"I’m afraid I can’t even take the credit for that," Tom said, trying to make light of it. "It appears that Chakotay has been, er, … partially assimilated by the Borg."

B’Elanna’s eyes grew wide with shock. She remembered with sudden clarity Chakotay under Borg control all those months ago. He’d shot her. Without hesitation. A shiver ran down her spine.

"But how? Why? What happened?!" The questions spilled out of her. Her friends just looked back at her blankly.

"We don’t know," Harry finally said. "It was downright strange, watching him."

"He was out of control," Tom put in. "First he hits me out of my chair, then starts shutting down the engines, then he struggles to his feet…"

"Then he grabbed ahold of Captain Janeway…" added Harry.

"Then Tuvok shot him!" finished off Tom.

"Oh…my…" B’Elanna was equally at a loss for words.

"He seemed to be struggling to fight them off," Paris commented, finally taking a seat next to Harry.

"I was kinda surprised by the Captain’s order though, weren’t you?" Harry’s voice dropped to a near whisper.

"Kinda!" snorted Paris. "I don’t think I’ve ever been more surprised by Captain Janeway. I would never have thought she’d send him to the brig. I mean, this is Chakotay we’re talking about here!"

"She should have sent him to sickbay," Harry kept his voice low. Criticizing Janeway’s orders was not something about which he felt comfortable. "I don’t think Tuvok’s phaser was on stun."

"I know it wasn’t," Tom confirmed, remembering the wound on the commander’s body.

"Please tell me this is some kind of elaborate joke you two are playing on me," B’Elanna whispered.

"I wish it was," Harry said glumly as Janeway and Tuvok entered the room.

*****

The senior staff had assembled in the conference room. Janeway was too upset to sit; she paced behind her chair pausing now and then to grip its back with an increasing sense of powerlessness. Another chair was empty as well. He remained three decks below<<WHAT DECK IS THE BRIG ON? WHAT DECK IS THE BRIDGE ON?>>, with only the doctor and a security guard for company.

"Mr. Kim, were you able to detect any sign of a ship? Any ship?"

Harry shook his head.

"Negative Captain. No ship, no Borg cube, no indication of any kind of transmission…" Harry referred to his PADD which contained a summary of his scans. "Clear skies in all directions except for the nebula we detected two days ago."

"Where *are* they?" Janeway muttered.

"Could this be some kind of general Borg broadcast?" Paris suggested. "We are in their space. Maybe Chakotay was just picking up residual telepathic waves…" He didn’t appear convinced and Torres looked even more skeptical.

"This does not appear to be the work of the Collective," was Tuvok’s contribution. "I believe it more logical that it is the Cooperative set up by Dr. Riley Frazier."

"But we left them behind months ago," protested Harry, "and their cube was destroyed!"

"Nonetheless," continued Tuvok, unruffled by Harry’s exclamation, "the tactics are more consistent with those used by Dr. Frazier’s Cooperative than with the greater Borg Collective."

"I don’t think they could reestablish a link over so great a distance," Torres said, "so they must have picked up some transportation from somewhere."

"In which case," put in Tom, "what do they need Voyager for?"

"Chakotay said they wanted the ship," Janeway finally sat down, lightly tapping her fingers on the table with excess nervous energy. "So maybe their ship is not suitable for them? Maybe it is breaking down?"

"There is also the possibility," interjected Tuvok, before anyone else could add a hypothesis, "that Commander Chakotay was not telling us the truth."

Torres sat up a little straighter in her seat, as though preparing for battle. Tom rubbed his sore chin thoughtfully.

"I’m inclined to disagree," Janeway said sharply. "I think it was obvious from Commander Chakotay’s behaviour on the bridge this morning that he was doing the best he could to fight off the link. That he managed to warn us of them at all is no small feat. Let’s not forget that he is not the enemy here."

"And I must disagree with you Captain," responded Tuvok. "Chakotay is most certainly an enemy to this ship so long as he remains under the control of the Borg. In fact, I put it to you that so long as he is even capable of becoming linked with them he is a threat."

"Chakotay would not hurt this ship or anyone on it!" burst out Torres, unwilling to listen to Tuvok’s paranoid security logistics any longer.

"B’Elanna," Tom said gently, "he took control of the helm, disengaged the engines, and lowered the shields. And he didn’t exactly ask nicely either."

Torres glanced at Tom’s split lip then looked away. She had the disadvantage of being the only one who had not witnessed the scene on the bridge.

"Not only did he physically assault Lieutenant Paris, but also the Captain as well. He may very well have taken her as a hostage," added Tuvok.

"The idea," Torres punctuated her words with her index finger in Tuvok’s face, "of Chakotay doing ANYTHING to hurt Captain Janeway is so totally ridiculous…"

"Lieutenant," Tuvok remained unbothered by Torres’s outburst, "You seem to be forgetting that Commander Chakotay is under mind control by a group of people who’s history is one of intolerance, inflexibility, violence, …"

"Let’s not forget that Chakotay is NOT the enemy," repeated Janeway, sternly directing this to Tuvok. "He is a victim."

"Perhaps, but he is also a danger to the wellbeing of this ship," insisted Tuvok, calmly. "He cannot be allowed to leave the brig. Furthermore, we must assume that his knowledge of Voyager, including knowledge of our tactics and security measures, is now in the minds of the Borg. He must not be informed of any new plans or strategies that we make."

"Are you saying we have to keep him in the dark about what we’re doing?" Torres was incredulous. "What about working together? What about sharing information to reach a common goal? I doubt he’s very happy with them in his head!"

"Lieutenant," Tuvok sounded as weary of the topic as a Vulcan could, "you insist on regarding Commander Chakotay as the officer and comrade we once knew. I must put it to you that that man no longer exists. His mind belongs to the greatest enemy known to the Federation. For all intents and purposes he has been assimilated."

"So that’s it?" Torres asked. "We just abandon him to them? Sorry. Maybe I am insisting on seeing him as my friend. That’s because he is my friend. And I am NOT going to just turn my back on him…"

"No one is suggesting that we abandon him," interrupted Janeway. "But Tuvok is right to be concerned about the safety of Voyager . Until we figure out how to stop them from entering his mind without warning he will stay in the brig."

Torres scowled but did not offer any more resistance. It appeared to be futile.

"Interaction with him must not reveal any of our discussions here," continued Tuvok. "Our planning, our location, even our theories about what is happening must not be spoken of where he might hear. Is that clear?" He looked to Torres.

"Perfectly," she responded icily. Both Tom and Harry nodded, identical glum expressions on their faces.

"If, however, you are able to get any information out of him as to the whereabouts of the Borg…"

"I’m sure that Chakotay will cooperative with us in every way to stop them," Janeway stated, "I don’t think we need to send a team of interrogators to his cell."

"So," Paris cleared his throat, "we *are* we going to do?" Four pairs of eyes swung towards Janeway.

"Harry," Janeway began, "that nebula we passed. Would it disrupt normal communications?"

"Yes," Harry immediately saw where she was going with her question. "One of the reasons we avoided it was because it would have scrambled our long range sensors. But Captain, we aren’t talking about normal communications

here."

"Yes I know," Janeway conceded. "But perhaps entering the nebula will scramble the reception enough to break him out of their link."

"It will also render us essentially blind to them," Tuvok reminded her.

"And them to us," she countered. She pondered the idea for a moment, then pushed herself up. "Tom, lay in a course to enter the nebula. Let’s see if it has any effect. If it does then maybe we can get some answers from Chakotay about the location of these Borg." She spat out the last word as something distasteful to her.

*****

Tom coaxed B’Elanna out of engineering to take a break for dinner. It had been a bad idea from the start. She was in a totally foul mood, and wasn’t responding to any of his usual tactics for getting her to smile. He wasn’t even able to get her to fight back with her quick wit. She looked more likely to take a swing at him. That was all he needed today, he thought, another blow to the head.

"Computer halt lift!" he called. She stared at the floor. "B’Elanna, what’s wrong?"

"You have to ask?" she snapped, her head coming up. He saw a familiar spark of irritation in her eyes. "Having Chakotay thrown into the brig isn’t enough of an excuse for you?"

"Frankly, no," he paused for a breath. "Chakotay was in the brig well before our staff meeting this morning and you were upset but dealing with it. He remained in the brig throughout the meeting and although you nearly took off Tuvok’s head, you managed to survive. Janeway decreed he will stay in the brig until this is over and you accepted that. Now, it’s dinnertime, why is it harder to take all of a sudden?"

"Some of my…" she started and then stopped, frowning. Paris inclined his head to encourage her to continue. "Some of my staff were discussing the situation. Someone actually made the comment that the brig is where Chakotay should have been all along! I thought we were past Maquis-Starfleet differences! I thought we were a team!"

Tom silently wondered which idiot on B’Elanna’s staff thought it prudent to make such a comment within her hearing, and whether or not the idiot in question was still living. It was a blow to their solidarity to have someone still harbour animosity against Chakotay even after three years of serving with him. And, Tom suspected, a personal blow to Torres, who had thought that her engineering crew had come together as a close knit group.

"That was a dumb thing to say," he told her, "and I bet if whoever it was who said that just took a moment to think about it then that person would realize it too."

"I don’t understand it," she whispered, "people hear the word Borg and all of a sudden any good act that he’s ever done is wiped away as though it never happened. Have they all forgotten the kind of man he is? How quickly they all are to judge him! How quickly to turn away from him!"

"People are afraid, and when they’re afraid they do, and say, stupid things," Tom said, reaching up to lay an easy hand on her shoulder. He thought she might shrug him off, but her fiery temper was gone. She was sad.

"All the hallowed Starfleet training and…"

"Even Starfleet officers are just people down at heart," he said. "Just because you’re an officer, doesn’t mean you don’t get scared."

"You know what is really upsetting me?" she asked him, looking away and avoiding his eyes.

"What?" he asked, pulling her chin gently around so that she faced him again.

"I’m afraid of him too," she confessed. Tom held out his arms and she walked slowly into them, feeling some comfort in the strength yet gentleness of his hug.

*****

Janeway was in engineering with Torres when the Doctor contacted her. She called for Tuvok, who had the bridge, and then made her way to the brig. He was awake.

Janeway's feelings towards the Borg were fairly typical of those in Starfleet. There wasn't an officer in the entire fleet, from the lowliest Ensign up to the highest Admiral, who hadn't lost someone to the Borg. Friends, relatives, colleagues - everyone had been touched by the assimilation. The Borg were feared; they were hated. They were best avoided.

Somehow, after the experience with Riley Frazier and her Cooperative, Janeway's attitude towards the Borg had shifted slightly. Things were more personal now. They had used one of *her* officers. And not just any officer, but her *First* Officer. While Janeway would avoid the Borg at any cost, knowing that her ship was no match for their superior technology, she almost wanted to have another conference with Dr. Frazier. All of that woman's lofty ideals fell flat in light of her abuse of Chakotay's mind. Janeway had a thing or two to say to that woman.

Tuvok had somehow managed to arrive ahead of her despite having collected an extra two security personnel along the way. The security officers hovered in an annoyingly expectant way. She'd never suspected she had such itchy trigger fingers amongst her crew.

"Everyone just take it easy," she said, in what she hoped was a calm voice. "He's not going anywhere with that force field in place."

Janeway stepped closer to the field, to stand next to Tuvok. Drawing herself up to prepare for the worst she looked in.

Chakotay remained on the bed with the Doctor anxiously standing near his head. It became immediately clear to Janeway that the only reason Chakotay was still immobile was because the Doctor had put him in restraints. What had happened to everyone?

"Remove those restraints," she commanded the Doctor in a low voice.

"But Lieutenant Tuvok said..." the Doctor began.

"I'm not that interested in Lieutenant Tuvok, I'm far more interested in Commander Chakotay!" interrupted Janeway, starting to show her annoyance. She stopped abruptly when she realized exactly what had just come out of her mouth.

"Captain," began Tuvok, about to protest her leniency, but she cut him off with an upraised hand.

"We are not going to get anywhere like this. If we are going to communicate with him ... with them, then we need to be able to look each other in the eye. Remove those restraints!" Janeway was the Captain, it was about time everyone remembered that.

The Doctor moved forward to release the mechanism that held Commander Chakotay's wrists and ankles to the bed. Then he lept back as though he expected the commander to attack him. Chakotay did nothing of the sort.

While five pairs of eyes watched him, some anxious, some worried, some afraid, he slowly rose from the bed and began to move along the wall.

"Commander Chakotay?" called Janeway. He did not acknowledge her.

"Captain, I believe he is examining his surroundings," murmured Tuvok near her ear. Janeway watched with some fascination while Chakotay did precisely that.

He pulled out empty drawers, ran water in the sink, pressed buttons on the computer console. That computer had the sole function of providing a log and was not connected to the main system. The holographic doctor seemed to fascinate Chakotay as he circled around the medical officer warily. When he reached out to touch the Doctor, the hologram faded slightly allowing Chakotay's hand to pass right through. Thoughtfully, Chakotay examined his hand. Then, losing interest he moved closer to Janeway and Tuvok, and the force field.

Even knowing the field was there Janeway took a few steps back as Chakotay approached. He showed no sign of stopping. Behind her, Janeway sensed that Tuvok's security team had raised their weapons again. Chakotay reached out as though to touch her and his hand connected with the force field causing a crackle of electricity. With a howl, he snatched his arm back.

The Doctor tentatively stepped towards Chakotay, holding his medical tricorder at arm's length before him.

"May I be of assistance?" he asked timidly.

"I don't understand," Janeway spoke to Tuvok in a low voice, "Chakotay would know about the field, he would know about the holographic Doctor...."

For once, Tuvok did not provide a logical answer.

The Doctor had made his way over to Chakotay and was gently pulling the commander's good hand away from the burned one. Janeway stepped closer again to look.

"Remarkable!" breathed the Doctor as he and Janeway watched the burned skin turn from an angry shade of red, to deep pink, to a healthy skin colour like the rippling of waves. Within moments it was as though he had never been hurt.

Chakotay stood stiffly, as though at attention, his gaze now focussed on Janeway. She tried to match his look but found it hard to maintain and her eyes flickered over to the Doctor and back again. He was still staring at her.

Her First Officer had stared at her in the past. She had caught him in the act more than once. She tried to remember now the expression of his eyes at those moments. He might be smiling at her, with his eyes reflecting amusement, even light flirtation. Or maybe he was watching her with a serious, somber look, his eyes intensifying the expression. On occasion she had seen him sad, with unhappy eyes revealing hurt or sorrow.

His eyes now were completely blank, totally devoid of expression. It was unnerving her. He stood before her nothing but a shell of the Chakotay she knew. It was his body, but where was his soul?

"Commander?" Janeway asked, hoping to get a verbal response.

"Commander Chakotay is no longer available," he said. Janeway felt a chill.

"Where is he?" she questioned. He did not respond. She tried a different tactic. "With whom am I speaking?"

"You are speaking to the New Cooperative," he replied.

"Why have you entered Commander Chakotay's mind?" The Captain tried to remember how angry she was at Riley Frazier, but it was so hard when the vessel Dr. Frazier was using was one so dear to Janeway's heart.

"It was necessary."

"I'm beginning to get a sense of deja vu," Janeway snorted. Chakotay said nothing. There was a short silence. "As you can see, your instrument on Voyager is now under lock and key. So unless you want to communicate, I'd say our business is done."

"Our business is just beginning."

'Damn them for using him!' thought Janeway. His calm voice, so familiar, it's tone so unfamiliar.

"And what is our business, exactly?" Janeway stepped even closer to the field, so close that her skin could feel the charge. "I want to speak to Commander Chakotay!"

"Commander Chakotay is us. We are Commander Chakotay," he intoned without inflexion.

"This is pointless!" Janeway snapped, turning to Tuvok. He did not offer any advice, other than to raise an eyebrow with perplexity. She half turned back to Chakotay. "When you've got something to say, you let me know, until then enjoy your stay in the brig."

Chakotay watched her leave the room wanting more than anything to cry out to her to stay but he was completely powerless to speak or to move. The Doctor may have removed the restraints on his body, but there was a much stronger force restraining his mind.

*****

Chakotay awoke suddenly, feeling cold. It was very dark. He sat up quickly, an almost overpowering sense of fear flooding through him. He shook his head, trying to sort through the disorientation that seemed to surround him.

Then he realized what was so odd. It was quiet.

He looked carefully around, his eyes adjusting to the dark.

"Computer! Standard illumination!" he called, but the computer did not comply. Even more peculiar, it did not acknowledge his command.

Somewhere beyond his vision, beyond a line of blue light, he could hear another voice.

"Lieutenant Tuvok, he’s awake again," the voice was saying. And then, fainter,

"Acknowledged."

Chakotay tried to stand but he felt a little lightheaded. More than that, he felt sore, he felt bruised. So he sat on the edge of the bed willing away his dizziness and trying to make sense of his confusion.

Where was he?

"Computer! Acknowledge voice print for Commander Chakotay!"

"Cannot comply to request," the computer supplied. "Voice print does not match known authorizations."

Chakotay’s eyes saw movement at the far side of the room, far past the blue light.

"Who’s there?" he asked, hoping to have more luck with a person, than the computer. Whoever was there did not respond.

‘Why was it so quiet?’ thought Chakotay. He was beginning to panic. Something was definitely wrong.

He stood, fighting the dizziness and stumbled towards the light. As he got a little closer he realized what it was. An active force field. ‘Oh my god, I’m in the brig!’ he thought, with some horror. What had he done? Why couldn’t he remember?

Why was it so QUIET?!

The security officer at the far end of the room had raised his arm as Chakotay approached the field. At first Chakotay thought it was to activate his comm badge again, but then the commander saw the phaser in the young man’s hand. It was pointed at Chakotay.

"Take it easy," he said, "I’m not going anywhere with the field in place." Even with his memory feeling scrambled Chakotay knew what would happen if the guard fired a phaser into the force field. Things would get really messy. The officer neither replied nor lowered his weapon.

Tuvok entered the room, with another security officer.

"Computer, standard illumination!" the Lieutenant called.

The brightness of the lights caused Chakotay to squink. He covered his eyes with his hands.

"Tuvok, what is going on?!" he asked, anger starting to surface.

"That is precisely what I was going to ask you," said Tuvok, coldly. No that wasn’t fair, Chakotay thought, because Tuvok’s voice always sounded cold.

His eyes more used to the light, Chakotay blinked through the force field at Tuvok’s rigid form. It was a gradual feeling but he was starting to feel a sense of distrust towards Tuvok, a sense of ... fear. The panic was coming back.

"They’re gone," Chakotay whispered, as another realization bore through the fuzziness of his brain, "They left me." It was quiet because the everpresent hum of the borg mind was no longer buzzing in his brain. He felt empty somehow, cold. Deserted. Alone.

Chakotay stumbled back to sit awkwardly on the bed, his hands touching his ears, his cheeks, rubbing his eyes. His brain felt numb. He was torn between not knowing what to resent more, that they’d invaded his mind, or that they’d left him behind. That he would resent their leaving him sickened him.

"Why am I here?" he demanded of Tuvok, who hadn’t spoken again.

"Do you not remember your actions on the bridge?" Tuvok asked.

Chakotay thought for a moment but could not recall anything about the bridge.

"No," he admitted, "I can’t remember much...Ahhh! It hurts!" he cried suddenly, gasping, grabbing his hand.

Tuvok raised an eyebrow watching him, then tapped his comm badge.

"Tuvok to the EMH program, please report to the brig."

Without any acknowlegement, the EMH Doctor appeared out of the air next to Tuvok.

"Please state the nature of the medical emergency," he said.

"I believe Commander Chakotay requires some assistance," Tuvok informed him.

The Doctor hesitated, not much but enough for Chakotay to notice, and then stepped through the field to enter the cell. He called the computer to send him his medical equipment, which appeared a few seconds later.

"What’s the matter?" he asked, as though he had been raised from a deep sleep and dragged out to a house call in the middle of the night.

Chakotay shook his head with bewilderment. He did not know.

The Doctor examined the commander’s hand, grunting with some surprise.

"The injury you sustained earlier, it appears it wasn’t healed as thoroughly as we thought."

"What injury?" asked Chakotay through clenched teeth.

"The one when you tried to walk out of your cell," said the Doctor, "I’m sure you recall it."

"Doctor," cut in Tuvok, "Commander Chakotay claims to have no memory of the events leading up to and during his stay in the brig."

*Claims to?* thought Chakotay, What’s with that?"

"Hmph," the Doctor made sound kind of noise that didn’t indicate whether he believed Chakotay or not, "that is curious."

"You’re telling me I tried to walk out of this cell?" asked Chakotay, suspiciously, "What, right *through* an electromagnetic field?"

As he spoke, the Doctor applied a healing wand over the sore hand.

"Well, you didn’t get very far, as you can imagine, so fortunately only your arm was damaged. It had been healed, but the effects seem to be reversing themselves."

The Doctor paused, and stood still as if thinking. So this is what a computer looks like when processing data, Chakotay thought grimly.

"Commander, you’d better lie down," the Doctor said suddenly, giving him a little push to emphasize his point. He turned to retrieve something out of the medical kit. Chakotay complied, lying on his back, wishing his head felt sharper, wishing he could think more clearly.

"What do you mean it *had* been healed? How can the injury be coming back?"

"Commander!" Tuvok’s voice was sharp. It seemed there was very little patience in the room. "Please do not continue this charade! Are you going to provide us with their location? Do you have any information on how they made the connection? Will you tell us what they want?"

"I don’t know what you’re talking about!" yelled Chakotay, rising from his prone position only to have another pain stab him in the chest. He fell back.

"Just as I suspected," the Doctor commented calmly, "the phaser wound is returning."

"Ph..ph..phaser wound?" gasped Chakotay.

"Please, try to relax," the Doctor said, shortly, "it is nothing to be worried about."

Nothing to be concerned about? Chakotay stared up at the Doctor with disbelief. A phaser wound? He closed his eyes, hoping that he’d been trapped in some weird nightmare and that he’d soon find himself awake, in his own quarters, healthy.

In the darkness behind his eyelids he suddenly saw Riley’s face. Even as her presence in his mind was soothing he rejected it. His eyes snapped open again. Better to look at the grouchy face of the HoloDoc than to succumb to Riley.

The Doctor, having given Chakotay something for the pain, and applied a dermal tissue regenerator to his chest, now began scanning the commander’s head.

"Fascinating," he murmured.

"Doctor," called Tuvok, from behind, "can you determine if the link is still there?"

He thinks I’m lying, Chakotay thought, feeling helpless, even when I’m free from their influence they are still controlling me.

"That depends on what you mean by ‘there,’" was the Doctor’s response. "If you mean, are they controlling his actions, the answer is no. However, I suspect they are making themselves felt even so."

"Could you be more specific?" asked Tuvok.

Chakotay was reminded of his recovery in sickbay after the incident with Riley. He’d sat on the biobed listening to Janeway and Tuvok and the Doctor discuss the situation, discuss *him*, as though he was a piece of ship’s equipment. Right in front of him, without including him. He’d never felt so low on Voyager before. He’d just been shot by Harry Kim, for crying out loud! Who shot him this time?

Turning his head to see past the Doctor, Chakotay looked at Tuvok’s unemotional face. It was him.

With a flash Chakotay saw the bridge. He saw himself holding tightly to the Captain. He saw Tuvok with a weapon pointed at him.

"It was obvious you were acting against your will." He heard the Captain’s voice from before. Whatever had happened this time, it wasn’t so obvious.

"The link has affected the chemicals in Commander Chakotay’s brain. This could account for his loss of memory. Are you feeling dizzy, Commander?"

Chakotay nodded, mute.

"I wouldn’t be at all surprised if there are some other symptoms," the Doctor said loftily, "many a so called ‘mental’ illness can be easily explained by a chemical imbalance."

There was a short silence while the Doctor finished with his scan.

"I’ll see what I can do to adjust for their effect on you, Commander," he said gently, "but, well, we’re all flying a little blind here..."

"Doctor!" Tuvok’s sharp voice interrupted. Chakotay’s eyes narrowed a little, watching the play of facial expressions between the two of them. An amazing display of non-verbal communication between a Vulcan and a hologram occurred.

Chakotay felt stripped of all respect. They no longer trusted him enough to even tell him what he’d done.

"Are you going to cooperate with us, Commander?" Tuvok asked.

"How can I cooperate with you when I don’t know what’s happening?!" snapped Chakotay.

The Doctor packed up his equipment.

"I’ll return with a treatment shortly, Commander," he said, as though the interchange between his patient and the chief of security had not happened. "And I suspect that your memory will return in time. Don’t worry."

Chakotay nearly laughed. In fact, as the hologram disappeared before him laughter threatened to escape his lips until it bubbled over and he felt himself shaking.

"Is there something amusing about this situation?" asked Tuvok.

"Nothing. Nothing at all amusing," Chakotay managed finally, sobering his expression.

"If your memory returns I would appreciate another conversation," Tuvok said shortly, turning and leaving Chakotay alone, the lights off once again.

*****

Chakotay was pacing the small space when B’Elanna arrived. She approached the cell cautiously, holding his medicine bundle with both hands. He noticed her at once and came to stand by the force field. She remained several feet away, watching him with wary eyes.

"B’Elanna," he said urgently, "What’s going on?"

"You tell me," was her response.

"The Borg, they’re here somewhere," he blurted out.

"You have acquired a knack for stating the obvious," Torres commented. She fixed him with an icy stare. "But you seem to be a lot more in control of yourself than you were on the bridge yesterday."

The bridge. He remembered the bridge. He turned away.

"At least you didn’t shoot anyone this time." He was surprised at the bitterness in her voice. It hurt him but he tried not to show it.

"What is going on?" he asked her again.

"What do your friends tell you?" she challenged. He turned back towards her and stepped closer to the force field. Involuntarily Torres stepped back, but not before he noticed. She was afraid of him.

"They are not my friends," he told her, "you are my friend. They are *not* my friends." When she said nothing he added, "They are simply using me because I’m ... I’m convenient!"

Now Torres’s mouth twitched in what could have been a smile, under better circumstances.

"They are using *you* because Riley Frazier fell in love with you," she told him. Watching his eyes widen with surprise Torres let out a short laugh. "C’mon Chakotay! Did you think it wasn’t obvious by the way she looked at you? It’s not so hard to believe after all. Especially not after having been inside your mind."

‘How much does she know?’ Chakotay wondered, uneasily, feeling a little sick to his stomach with the memory.

"It *is* Riley, isn’t it?" she asked, looking at her feet, all her humour lost.

Suddenly it dawned on Chakotay what B’Elanna was doing. This was not a social call to swap old prison stories. She was here to get information from him. Chakotay felt inexplicably torn in two. While he knew that he should open up and tell B’Elanna everything about the Cooperative, their purpose, their plan, their location something held him back. Part of it was resentment that he should be held in this prison as though the situation was his fault, when it was totally beyond his control. But part of it was some unwelcome, unwanted sense of loyalty to *them*.

It must be residual because the link was lost. Unless they were merely hiding in the background somewhere. Hidden within the dark subconscious of his mind ready to strike out if necessary when the right time presented itself. He didn’t think so. He remembered the feeling of the broken connection from the last time. He felt lost and confused.

When he didn’t answer her question Torres sighed. She held up his medicine bundle.

"The Captain thought you might want this."

‘If she’s so considerate of my feelings, why didn’t she bring it herself?’ thought Chakotay bitterly.

"How did you break the link?" Perhaps two could play at the questions game.

"Oh, is it broken?" Torres asked with an innocent look.

"Whatever you did, it must be only temporary," Chakotay surmised, thinking aloud, and resuming his pacing.

"What makes you say that?" Torres’s voice was sharper than she’d intended.

He stopped in front of her again.

"Because if it was a permanent fix then I wouldn’t still be in here, now would I?!" he snapped. He hadn’t meant to raise his voice. Torres drew herself up and prepared to leave him.

"Do you want it or not?"

"Will you come in here to hand it to me?" Chakotay’s voice softened to almost a whisper.

"No," she said honestly, sadly. He sighed, turning back to face the wall. He hadn't really expected more from her. "Chakotay, you are my friend. You’re a very dear friend. But right now you are a big risk to this ship and to everyone on it. How do I know you won’t hit me like you hit Tom yesterday? Or shoot me like you did the last time?"

"I don’t even have a weapon!" he protested, feebly.

"Your weapon is them. Or rather, *you* are their weapon." Torres drew a shaky breath. She wasn’t sure how much she should tell him. Tuvok had been pretty clear that he wanted no information getting to Chakotay. But B’Elanna didn’t think this would risk ship’s security and she hated to see Chakotay this way. He needed to know what was at stake. "I will tell you this. There are a lot of people on Voyager who are happy enough to see you locked up."

He swung around with surprise, his face neutral but his eyes betraying him. Her words had stung.

"In their eyes you are no longer Commander Chakotay, First Officer. In their eyes you are Borg, just as sure as if you had the implants."

"But …" he didn’t finish his thought. There didn’t seem to be much to say. Torres moved forward, coming as close as she’d been to the field between them.

"Can you stop them? Do you know how?"

He gave her a look that would have melted steel.

"Don’t you think," he said slowly, deliberately, "that if I could stop them, I would have? Do you think I enjoy having my mind taken over like this? Do you think I like being so out of control that I attack my friends, that I hurt people I care about?!"

Torres examined her boots again and then lifted her head to meet his gaze.

"Of course not. But Chakotay," she hesitated thinking of Tuvok again, "if I were you, I’d try to figure out some way of shutting them down. For good. Or you are looking at a life sentence in this room."

Her words shocked him, even as he acknowledged their validity. If the Cooperative could come along at any time and invade his mind without warning, forcing him to do their bidding, then there was no way the Captain could let him have free run of the ship. In fact, given Chakotay’s expertise in terrorism giving him *any* run of the ship would be a huge security risk. Tuvok would not allow that.

Torres left him with his medicine bundle which did not bring him its usual comfort.

*****

The Captain strode into sickbay with a walk that said she had little time and was impatient to be gone.

"Doctor?" She found him sitting at his desk. He did not rise to greet her. "You wanted to see me?"

He still said nothing, gesturing for her to sit down. Janeway sighed. It looked like there was no way she could get out of this. She sat, but gave him a look that indicated he should get to the point.

"Captain, I have been monitoring Commander Chakotay and I am greatly concerned," he began. Janeway held up a hand to stop him. Perhaps she could cut this off at the pass.

"Doctor, we are all concerned about Commander Chakotay…"

"Are you?" he asked, rather coldly. Janeway’s eyes narrowed.

"Yes, I am." Then her tone softened slightly. She hated to feel so on edge all the time. "Of course I am. What, exactly, has you concerned?"

"I am not immune to the ship’s gossip. In fact, I am in an extraordinarily good position to hear most of it. And what I’ve been hearing, and what I’ve been observing down in that brig of yours, has me very worried about the commander." The Doctor leaned across his desk. "A great many of the crew now look upon Commander Chakotay as an enemy. His, er, unique relationship with the Borg Cooperative has made him more of a renegade than he ever was as a Maquis. He is not unaware of this attitude. And I believe it is detrimental to not only his mental health, for which I am responsible, but also to finding a viable solution to our current problem," the Doctor paused dramatically, "for which you are responsible."

Janeway took a deep breath, pondering this.

"I’m very good at watching people, you know. Sometimes it comes in handy to be a hologram, people often don’t pay any attention to the fact that you are standing right there." The Doctor leaned back in his chair, nodding thoughtfully. "And frankly what I am seeing right now disturbs me, not only on behalf of Commander Chakotay, but for the sake of the entire crew!"

"Doctor…" began Janeway, but he interrupted her.

"Do you know what I see, Captain?"

She shook her head, mute. The Doctor stood and paced behind his desk.

"I see security officers keen to play policemen, eager for a chance to discharge their weapons. I see a chief of security so fixated on locking up the Borg that he’s become a character of which Victor Hugo would be proud!"

Janeway raised an eyebrow with surprise, unconsciously imitating the very chief the Doctor had described. She hadn’t known that the Doctor was reading Classical Earth literature.

"I see," continued the Doctor, his voice rising "friends of the commander fearful of visiting him. Afraid of what he might do, afraid of letting slip some new piece of ship’s security to the enemy. I see the Captain, putting in the brig without hope of parole a man she once trusted as her second in command, without even the courtesy to talk with him about her decision!"

"Doctor!" snapped Janeway standing. The two leaned over the desk, nose-to-nose.

"I see a man who has had his mind taken over by an alien and hostile group, forced to behave in a manner that goes against all he believes in, made to put people he cares about, people who trust him, in danger against his will. Then to have that mind control suddenly, abruptly, released only to find himself locked up in prison. I can explain to you the physiological causes of depression that the broken link has generated in Commander Chakotay’s brain. But surely I don’t need to spell out for you the sense of abandonment he must be feeling from the Voyager crew! And we are supposedly his friends!"

During this speech Janeway had sat back in her chair. The Doctor’s words disturbed her, stirring up a wave of guilt in the pit of her stomach.

"I’m not entirely convinced the link is broken," she said.

"I assure you, Captain, the Borg are no longer connected to his mind." The Doctor also sat down, his voice softened.

"What about the last time? We thought, he thought, it was over but they still had control over him…" she paused, thinking of the conference with Dr. Frazier and Chakotay. He’d had such a blank look on his face, animated only with a special smile thrown in Riley’s direction. A smile of gratitude? Of a shared experience? And yet all that time she still had him linked to her group, just waiting for an opportunity to use him, to abuse his trust. "You examined Chakotay when he first came on board and found no evidence of their connection."

"I didn’t know what I was looking for," the Doctor admitted. "Now I do."

"If he was in his right mind why didn’t he cooperate with Tuvok?" asked Janeway, still not ready to believe the Doctor.

"Contrary to Lieutenant Tuvok’s rather rigid beliefs, this is not simply a matter of ship’s security," stated the Doctor.

"The hell it isn’t!" Janeway’s anger resurfaced. "They are trying to take the ship. That’s a big threat to our security!"

"I must beg to differ Captain!" the Doctor said sharply. "This is about Chakotay’s mind, something we all seem to have forgotten. Is your nose itchy?"

Janeway’s hand paused above her nose which she’d just scratched; she was surprised at this sudden turn.

"Yes, but let’s try to stick to one topic at a time please Doctor," she said.

"Imagine not having the ability to do something as simple as raise your fingers to your nose," the Doctor put to her. "Imagine, in fact, having your hand move in an entirely different direction, perhaps to scratch my nose instead. Imagine having no control over your actions or your words and yet being aware all the time of what you are doing. Or I should say, being made to do. Then imagine being *judged* on those actions. How do you think you would feel?"

"I think I would probably feel resentment. A lot of resentment," Janeway admitted, slowly, after a moment’s thought. "Both towards the person who took over my mind, and the person who was judging me."

"So would you feel so inclined to cooperate with your judge? Would you be willing to share all you knew with a group of former colleagues who are under orders not to share information with you" The Doctor tapped quickly at his computer console. "You know, I’ve been reviewing all that we know about the Borg. We don’t have a lot of information on post-assimilation experiences. The very famous Picard incident …" the Doctor flipped through some more screens. "And our very own Commander Chakotay. The last time we dealt with him much better, in my view. You made sure that there was no doubt about your trust in him. It was plain to all that he had acted against his will. He was back on the job as First Officer within 2 days."

"That was different," Janeway said, stiffly.

"How so?" queiried the Doctor. "In that instance he shot Lieutenants Torres and Tuvok, and reactivated an entire Borg cube, thereby putting Voyager at risk of destruction, or worse, assimilation. In this case he, what was it? Oh yes, he took the engines offline and lowered the shields. Well, then …" The Doctor spread open his arms with a wry smile.

"The last time," Janeway said sternly, "they released him of their own free will once they had achieved their goal. Their wish was to remain on the planet building a settlement. They were no further threat to Voyager, and we were not aware of their ability to relink with Chakotay’s mind."

"Thank goodness for him we did not know," murmured the Doctor.

"This time," continued Janeway, ignoring his interjection, "they are in an unknown location, with unknown wishes. I stand by my decision."

"Then Chakotay remains caught between two opposing groups, cast out of each. Powerless in one because of his inability to act independently from them. Powerless in the other because security matters take priority over his personal wellbeing."

The Captain stood to go. She’d heard enough from the Doctor. He closed down his computer file and stood also.

"You know, it’s not as though I don’t understand where this fear is coming from; I felt it too," he said, sadly. "If it comes to it, I don’t think I’d last very long in a Borg-infested Voyager. After witnessing their healing powers it is obvious they’d have no use for a Doctor. But our fear is mostly generated from ignorance. Perhaps if we understood them better, we’d discover we have less to fear than we think. And right now our only connection to them, no pun intended, is Chakotay." The Doctor could sense that Janeway’s attention was lost. He decided to pull out his last point. "From what I could extract from Commander Chakotay’s report of his last encounter with the Cooperative they were missing the connection. It was almost … addictive for them. We should remember that they were once people just like Chakotay, made victims by the Borg Collective."

"In my mind, that makes it even more unforgiveable," said Janeway coldly.

*****

Chakotay remained on the floor with his medicine bundle before him. The lights had been dimmed indicating a passage of time into late evening. He no longer had any control over the light in his surroundings; it was handled by the computer on the basis of time. Perhaps if he proved himself to be a model prisoner Janeway would grant him some privileges. The control of the lighting may be one of them.

Janeway. She had sent a murderer to his quarters to be confined, but she locked Chakotay in the brig. Well, what was a psychotic killer compared to a Borg? The very thought of it made Chakotay's blood run cold. Based on the reactions of the security officers, and of B'Elanna, Chakotay was public enemy number one. One far more sinister than he had been as a Maquis criminal.

It seemed to Chakotay to be no small irony that he would have ended up in the brig. After all, wasn't that Voyager's mission? He almost felt that if it had come to that he would have accepted his fate, and taken his imprisonment gracefully. One does not become a terrorist without risking jail. But the idea that he would be seen as a Borg to the crew left him feeling deserted and betrayed.

Chakotay supposed he should get up off the floor and move to the bed, now that it was night time. But the comfortable mattress galled him. He'd rather sleep on the hard floor, his sore back a reminder that he was a prisoner. He closed his eyes and leaned back against the wall.

Chakotay wondered if it was possible for him to initiate a mind link with them. He doubted it. Everything about this situation was out of his control. He almost wanted to join the link again, it's hypnotic state infusing him with strength and peace. Then he recalled the feeling of its release, leaving his mind cold, his spirit alone, and his body in prison.

Suddenly he became aware of another presence in the room. He opened one eye to see a pair of boots standing by the force field. Another eye opened and he gazed upon the captain's rigid form. He couldn't recall a time when he'd seen her hold herself so stiffly, so closed.

"I thought maybe you were meditating, or asleep," she stated after they'd stared at one another for a moment.

"In between," he informed her. "Thank you for … permitting me my medicine bundle," he added.

"I hope it was a comfort to you," she said, sincerely. He did not reply.

"Are they still there?"

"No." His voice was low. She knew they were not. Tuvok would have reported to her by now. She paced a little outside the field.

"They're not there at all?"

"All gone," he said quietly, simply. She stopped pacing and faced him again.

"But they'll be back?"

"Yes," he answered, knowing it to be true, even if he didn't know how Voyager had managed to break off the link.

"Can you tell me anything, anything at all that might help me understand this?" Her eyes were pleading, the first sign of emotion towards him. Chakotay slowly got to his feet but remained by the wall.

"Are you asking your First Officer, or interrogating a Borg?" His voice was cold, revealing the hurt. Janeway sighed.

"Chakotay…" she began, then stopped, "You must surely see why I had to … take this action."

"I don't know how they did it," he stated. "If I'm not able to find out…." he didn't finish. He gave a bitter laugh. "Why don't you just execute me as a traitor to the Federation?"

"Chakotay!" she was shocked by his words and by the intensity of his tone. Before she could continue he added,

"It would be more humane than locking me up for the rest of my life!" There. He'd said it out loud.

"I'd much rather find a way to stop them," she said icily, "Wouldn't you?" It was a taunt, a dare. It was a verbal poke to say stop feeling sorry for your situation and do something about it. When he didn't respond she turned to go.

"Kathryn!" he called, moving away from the wall to go to the field. She stopped but did not turn back. "You know I would never willingly do anything to hurt Voyager. It's just so hard…."

Now she turned to face him again, their bodies separated only by the force field.

"Tell me! Explain it to me! I want to understand."

"It's like…..it's like a ….. a drug that puts you to sleep. No matter how hard you try to stay awake your eyes close and your body relaxes. Their voices talk to me in my head. All of them, all as one. I can…..I can feel them. All of their emotions come through me. Their anxiety, their fear, it takes over me. And I can, I can see things that they see, things that they've seen, things that they've done…."

"Can you see where they are now?" Janeway asked.

"They're on a cube, but…" he hesitated, wondering why his loyalties would feel so divided. Could they have planted this sense of guilt in him as well? "There's no Collective there. It's just the Cooperative."

"Chakotay, why? Why have they relinked with you?" Janeway resisted the urge to reach out to him. There was more than the force field between them.

"They want Voyager. They want passage back to the Alpha Quadrant."

"We offered that to them once before. They refused. Why now?"

"The Collective….attacked them. Tried to reassimilate them."

 *****

Janeway's eyes shifted around the table. She made eye contact with each of her senior officers and watched sadly as each of them turned away, even Tuvok. Only the Doctor, who was not actually at the table, but had joined them via a computer console, held her gaze with a frank look.

"Captain," he said, "I cannot predict the effects on Commander Chakotay if we leave the nebula."

"We can't hide in here forever, Doctor," she said.

"Chakotay wasn't able to give an exact location?" Torres asked, a bit timidly. It was an unusual expression for her.

They're all ashamed, Janeway realized. All ashamed of the way they've been treating him, and no one more ashamed than I am.

"I am convinced that Commander Chakotay has divulged all that he knows about the situation, and that does not include their present location," Janeway said firmly. Tuvok managed an expressionless look of skepticism. How he does he do that? Janeway wondered.

"I will monitor the commander during our departure from the nebula," stated the Doctor.

"As will I," offered Tuvok. Janeway shook her head.

"No, Lieutenant, I need you on the bridge."

"Captain?" Harry asked, "What will we do if they appear? Will we fight them?"

"If necessary, yes," Janeway said evenly. "But let's try to get through this without having to fight them."

The mood was not optimistic. Janeway wished she had some inspirational words to finish the meeting but she could think of nothing. Nodding her head to dismiss them she added,

"Mr. Paris, set a course out of the nebula. Full impulse."

He acknowledged her with a subdued, "Yes Ma'am."

*****

The atmosphere on the bridge was oppressive as Voyager cleared the last of the nebula's protection. But down in the Brig, the atmosphere was equally dark. Even the Doctor, not usually in tune with such things, was aware of it. Chakotay sat on the floor, with his back against the wall, his hands resting casually on his bent knees. He had been cross-legged, but had shifted position slightly when the left the nebula. The Doctor wasn't sure if that was nervous energy, or a reaction to the return of the Cooperative's presence.

Outside the protection of the forcefield the security ensign watched warily. Chakotay looked straight ahead, not seeing the Doctor, not seeing the guard. And suddenly, not seeing the far wall either. His muscles tensed, his head tilted back with his eyes closed and the Doctor was over to him in a second with his medical tricorder.

Chakotay felt them enter his mind again like the trickle of cold water down his skin. They were there, after being gone. The sound in his ears of their thoughts suddenly coming into focus out of noise. The strange, comforting feeling that he resented so much enveloped him, wiping away the resentment, the tension, the hatred.

"EMH to Captain Janeway." Chakotay heard the Doctor's voice as though from far away, even though he knew the hologram to be at his side. "They've returned."

*****

Up on the bridge Janeway acknowledged the Doctor with a tight voice that did not accurately convey her feelings. But she had to remain in control through this. When it was over, *when* it was over, she would have time to let her shoulders sag, time to take a deep breath, time to let her hands tremble. But until then she would have to remain cold and restrained.

"Anything, Harry?" she asked, her voice low.

Kim was conducting thorough sensor sweeps. He was not particularly optimistic. After all, there had been nothing out there the first time they'd tried this. However, as the Captain had pointed out in their meeting, the Borg had nothing to gain by remaining hidden. If they wanted the ship, they'd have to show themselves.

There were a few strained moments of silence. Even Tom Paris, usually quick with the glib remarks to ease tension, was quiet. Then Harry saw on his monitor what they'd all been anticipating. A cube.

In the Brig Chakotay's eyes snapped opened.

"Here we are," he said, tonelessly.

*****

Riley Frazier hadn't changed much in the months since Janeway had first met her. At least, that was Janeway's first impression. Closer scrutiny revealed signs of stress on the blond woman's face. Her smile seemed a little more forced than it had been in the conference room as she had requested that Janeway reactivate her cube.

Janeway tried to remember that this woman was responsible for Chakotay's current plight. That she had once been a victim too, as the Doctor had reminded the Captain, seemed of little importance. This was the woman who asked for favours, and then took just what she wanted regardless. Never mind that she looked human, she was all Borg.

"Captain Janeway how nice to see you again."

"Dr. Frazier," Janeway acknowledged. She decided to be blunt. "What do you want?"

"I think you already know," Riley said, with a smile. "But if you like, I'll ask you again."

"I don't recall you *asking* for anything!" Janeway said through clenched teeth. She glared at the viewscreen. Riley looked away, embarrassed.

"I ..... I apologize for the manner in which we've become reacquainted, Captain. It was necessary. We are in need of safe passage to the Alpha Quadrant. I'd heard you were heading that way."

Riley's attempt at humour fell flat. The bridge crew, all witnesses to what Riley and her Cooperative could do with Chakotay, was an unsympathetic audience.

"I'm so sorry," Janeway said, sounding not too sorry at all, "but we're not taking on any passengers at the moment."

"Captain," interjected Tuvok. Janeway had Harry mute the communications link, leaving Riley watching her conversation with a sad look. "My analysis of the cube indicates that although their weapons systems are intact, they've suffered serious damage to their engine. They would not be able to maintain our speed."

Janeway considered this. She nodded thoughtfully.

"Thank you Mr. Tuvok. Doctor?"

"Yes, Captain?" came the voice of the Doctor from the EMH channel on her console.

"What would be the effect on Commander Chakotay if we were to attempt to outrun this cube?"

"I cannot predict those results, Captain." He sounded a bit peeved to be put on the spot. "This is rather new to all of us, after all."

"Understood. Please let me know if the commander's ........ situation changes. Thank you." Janeway turned on her heel to face the Ops station. "Harry, reestablish the communications channel."

Harry complied without a word. Janeway turned back to face the screen.

"Where were we? Oh yes, I was just telling you that you are not coming aboard my ship."

"Captain, I think it would be in the best interests of Commander Chakotay if you and I could negotiate some kind of arrangement."

"Dr. Frazier!" Janeway's voice was sharp enough to make Paris wince. "I do not respond well to threats and I do not negotiate with hostage takers! I repeat, you are *not* coming aboard *my* ship!"

"You would sacrifice the commander rather than *cooperate* with me?" Riley asked, with a trace of amusement. "And here I thought he was someone special for you."

"He *is* a very special person. One who deserves more than to be used by the likes of you!" Janeway said, shortly, "But I will not sacrifice my ship to save one crewmember. Particularly when it would mean the loss of all our independence."

"You misunderstand me, Captain..." Riley began, but Janeway had heard enough.

"We are leaving. I'd like to say it's been nice to see you again, Doctor, but I'd rather we hadn't crossed paths. Goodbye."

"Just so you know, you'll be leaving *Chakotay* behind as well, Captain Janeway," Riley said, icily.

Janeway turned around and made a slashing motion; Harry cut the transmission for her. She took a deep breath.

"Mr. Paris, warp 8 to the Alpha Quadrant."

*****

Janeway paced outside the forcefield looking troubled. It was very quiet in the cell.

"I've given him a sedative, Captain, he won't awaken for several hours," the Doctor said softly, stepping through the field easily.

"Is it total amnesia then?" she asked, hanging on to the barest hope that Chakotay would be alright despite Riley's threat.

"It's more serious than that, I'm afraid," the Doctor said somberly. "It's not so much that he has lost his own memory, but he has gained the memories of others. It's like the Cooperative have somehow 'grafted' themselves onto his brain."

"But is there anything of *him* still left?" she asked. "Anything at all?"

"I don't know," admitted the Doctor. "It could be his memory, his personality will return in time and the others will fade. Or ..."

"Or?" whispered Janeway.

"Or not...."

*****

Chakotay stared blankly at the computer screen. He'd been reading his personal logs. At least, that is what he'd been told they were. He could not recall having made them. Nothing within them seemed familiar. None of the details triggered any kind of memory in his mind. He knew that is what the Doctor had hoped. He felt, somehow, that he should hope it as well, but he didn't. Truth be told, he didn't feel anything at all.

But that was far preferable than the anger he'd felt earlier. It had been rage, the likes of which he'd never known... or had he? In a fit of madness he'd struck out at everything, trying for destruction, maybe even self-destruction. He had broken his arm, the Doctor told him. That Doctor seemed less than impressed.

And his current numbness of spirit was also preferable to the overwhelming despair that had followed the anger. During that confusing time he'd finally given up trying to sort out the mess of memories inside his head and he had walked into the forcefield. The Doctor told him he'd been badly burned. The situation could have been worse, except the security guard had shut down the field. It didn't make a lot of sense to Chakotay to have a forcefield in place that would be shut down when someone attempted to escape through it, but then, he didn't fully understand why he was in a prison cell.

Although his brain was fuzzy when it came to details, he couldn't remember ever feeling this confused.

The door to the brig swished open and a small but formidable woman walked in to stand by the field, her hands on her hips. She regarded him cautiously but with compassion. He stared back indifferently.

"Turn it off," she said finally, to the guard, a different one to the fellow who had rescued Chakotay from the burning beam earlier. The hum ceased. The guard stood and came closer as the woman entered the cell.

"Chakotay? How are you feeling?" she asked with a smile.

He looked up and down her figure. She was quite attractive a part of him realized. But most of him still wasn't feeling much. He said nothing. She sat down on the low cot.

"Have the logs been helping you at all?"

"Helping me what?" he asked.

"Helping you to remember who you are," she told him slowly. When he didn't respond she asked, "Do you know who you are?"

He had to think about it for a moment. She could tell, he didn't know, he really didn't know. Then, slowly,

"I am Chakotay."

"Let's go for a walk," she suggested, standing and offering her hand. He took it reluctantly. Although he didn't know why he was in the prison cell, there was some degree of comfort here. He wasn't sure he wanted to venture out into the rest of the ship. He'd been reading about the ship, and all the people, and himself. It was like reading stories from a book.

They stepped out into the corridor, shadowed by the security guard. He noticed the looks on the faces of the crewmembers they passed. Many seemed uncomfortable, some were afraid, most wouldn't make eye contact with him.

The woman guided him along the corridor, talking in a low voice about general shipboard happenings. He didn't understand most of what she said and he didn't any of the people to whom she was referring. He let himself be led, passively, into a turbolift.

"Officers' quarters!" she instructed the lift, startling him slightly with her command tone.

He looked at her intently.

"You're the captain," he said, suddenly. She smiled.

"That's right!" She nodded with approval. He felt like a school child who'd just produced the correct answer.

They departed the lift, with her still guiding his arm, and walked a short way down the corridor. Stopping in front of a door, she hesitated.

"Thank you for your attention, ensign," she said, to the security shadow. Chakotay had almost forgotten the man was there.

"Captain," he was obviously reluctant to leave her alone, "he was very .... destructive when ...."

"*Thank* you for your attention, *ensign*," she repeated, and he stepped back, preparing to wait outside the door.

"Computer, override door lock, security authorization Janeway beta 14!"

The door slid open.

Chakotay stepped inside slowly. It was a reasonable sized quarters. There was a desk, a couch..... He seemed totally enthralled by the viewport which showed the streaking stars. But then the captain tugged on his arm, pulling him over to the couch where there were several items laid out on the table. He sat down without protest and examined them.

Small wooden and stone carvings, polished stones, and a few photographs. He picked up one of the photos. It was of the captain, and of him he realized. They were standing together, laughing ... it looked like it was from a party.

"Harry took that at one of Neelix's 'morale boosting' parties," she told him.

He looked at her blankly wondering who Harry and Neelix were.

He wanted to go back to looking at the stars but when he put down the photo she thrust something else into his hands. It was soft, made from some kind of animal skin. As she didn't seem to object, he opened it, only to have some of its contents spill out onto the floor. Chakotay got down on his knees to collect the items, another rock, a feather. He handed them to her and she placed them sadly back into the pouch.

He stared out at the stars.

"Chakotay," she was waving a hand in front of his face to get his attention. He turned to her. "Do you know where you are?"

Maybe a dozen ship names flickered through his mind, dancing before him as choices. Instinctively, he knew they were all wrong. He thought back to the logs he'd been reading in the prison.

"Voyager," he said. "The starship Voyager. And you are .... Kathryn Janeway. I am Chakotay."

Janeway nearly lost her control then. Watching him struggle to remember the name of her ship. The name of *their* ship. To know his name only because he'd been told by others. It made her want to weep.

"And this room? Do you know what this room is?"

"No," he said, wondering if this was some kind of test. The Doctor had been giving him a lot of tests lately.

"We are in your quarters. These are your belongings." She sat a bit closer to him, causing him to lean backwards with surprise. "Chakotay, does nothing here mean *anything* to you?"

His eyes scanned the table once again but without a trace of recognition. He was beginning to feel something again. It was panic.

*****

"Tuvok you should have seen him," Janeway said to her acting first officer, who remained standing stiffly. She couldn't help but compare him to Chakotay who would often sit opposite her, relaxed and comfortable. Tuvok's strict adherence to protocol she found suddenly smothering. She stood, so that they'd be closer to eye to eye.

"Captain, I have observed Commander Chakotay several times since...."

"No Tuvok, that's not what I meant! We were in *his* quarters. I had brought out all these personal items that were close to *him*! His own medicine bundle, perhaps the closest personal item he has, and it meant *nothing* to him. His eyes were completely blank." She began to pace.

"The Doctor has determined that very little of the commander's personality remains. Therefore it is logical that items of personal value to *him* would no longer be significant."

"I guess I was just hoping it might trigger something," she muttered, turning away from him. Tuvok waited, knowing she hadn't dismissed him, yet wondering what else she needed. He could not guarantee for her that the commander's condition would improve, in fact, the Doctor believed it only to worsen.

"This is a lot harder than I thought," she whispered. Tuvok wasn't certain she meant those words for him.

"Captain?"

"You know, I meant it when I told Riley I would not turn over the ship to save one crewmember. But to watch Chakotay like this? To see him, and know that it's not really him? It's a lot harder than I thought it would be."

"The needs of the many...." Tuvok started, but didn't finish as she flashed him a look.

"The ship always comes first Tuvok. Always. And in this whole DAMN situation, the ship has superceded Chakotay. He's been used like a pawn. First his mind was used by *them*." She couldn't even say the word Borg. "And then I used him too. To say 'Too bad Riley! You're not getting my ship this time!' I threw him back to her like he meant nothing! And that, my old friend, was a bigger betrayal that anything Riley ever did to him."

"I don't believe that Commander Chakotay would see it like that. He also believed that the ship and crew's safety was paramount to any individual right of ...."

"No," Janeway shook her head, "no, I think you're wrong there. I think you, and I, believed that he felt that way, but I don't think he really did. Chakotay has nearly killed himself to save others. He has put himself at risk to save others. And because of that we thought that he felt as we do. But if it came down to it, if he was the Captain and someone was caught in the Borg's mind trap....he would have fought them."

"Captain...."

"Tuvok, you served under him in the Maquis. And you're going to tell me that he wasn't a fighter?" Janeway stood before Tuvok, with a defiant stance.

"The commander also knew when to withdraw," Tuvok pointed out. "He knew how to survive."

Janeway's eyes filled with tears suddenly, unexpectedly.

"Oh Tuvok! Listen to us! We're speaking about him in the past tense." She turned away, ashamed of her outburst of emotion in front of her stoic friend. "It's like he's dead."

"Captain, in a way Commander Chakotay is dead."

She whirled back to face him, her expression dark, her eyes still glistening.

"No, he is not. Not if I can do anything to help him."

*****

The Captain was uncomfortable with their discussion. Kes didn't need to be a telepath to know this. In fact, pretty much every crew member would be able to spot it - except the Doctor. His sensitivity towards the other crew members had grown, but he was still incapable of reading body language effectively. The Captain stood, rather than sit in the chair he'd offered her in his office. And she held herself with rigid posture, as though she really wanted to be somewhere else.

They were discussing Commander Chakotay. A topic that brought great sadness into Kes's heart. It was hard watching the crew, - his friends, his colleagues - deal with the disappearance of the commander. Especially when his body remained right in front of them. But even worse, was watching the commander himself. Seeing him struggle to find an identity, to maintain a personality and then witnessing him forget all over again.

"Captain, Kes and I have observed six distinct personalities in the commander," the Doctor was saying. "And traits from over 20 others that seem to come and go. On average, he shifts between these personas every 2 to 3 hours."

The Captain shifted on her feet, listening to the Doctor's statistics.

"I really have no basis for comparison for this kind of disorder." The Doctor raised an eyebrow as he consulted his computer console. "Even the documented cases of split personalities do not seem to cover the magnitude of the commander's situation. One of his personalities is a Klingon; it is practically unheard of to have a cross-species split in such a manner."

"What about his own personality?" asked the captain, hoping to stave off a lecture on multiple personality disorders. "Where does it fit into the scheme of thing?"

The Doctor shook his head.

"Sadly, I have not been able to discover any portion of Commander Chakotay's own personality. Certainly, some of his traits appear now and then, but he has no memory of his own life, no recollection of his time aboard Voyager at all."

"Do you have any reason to believe that this situation will improve?" asked the captain.

"No, in fact, it's getting worse," responded the Doctor with a frustrated tone. "I've tried all known techniques, I've scoured the database for information on this subject but ...... I'm not a psychotherapist Captain! In any case, I'm not convinced that he would be cured by conventions methods."

"What do you mean?" The Captain leaned in closer to the Doctor's desk.

"This is purely conjecture on my part Captain," he started. When she nodded for him to continue, he stood and activated a diagram on the computer console behind his desk. It displayed a model. "Let's assume for the purpose of this demonstration that Dr. Frazier's group consists of 100 people. When they are linked together they share the minds of 100 people spread across 100 minds. Each one retains a measure of individuality, as seen by the ability of Dr. Frazier to converse with you separately from the Cooperative. As well, we saw that in Commander Chakotay when he returned to Voyager after being linked with them the first time." The Doctor's model spun around showing a web of links. "But what happens if the mind link is broken, rather than discontinued? Well, we now have 100 minds shredded into one mind. One mind that is proving itself incapable of handling the group on its own. So when connected to them, Chakotay's personality joined with them, adding a piece of the whole. Suddenly he is yanked from the connection, leaving him with fragmented pieces of the others, instead of his own mind."

Janeway silently watched the model demonstrate the Doctor's words.

"Are you saying that his personality is just gone?" Janeway spread her arms.

"I doubt it. I suspect for the most part it remains inside of the Cooperative's mind link. From what he told us, adding new minds invigorates the link. I wouldn't be surprised if the assimilation process of the Borg Collective makes them stronger for a similar reason. Of course they would also become more powerful by...."

"How can his mind remain with them, and not with him?" asked Janeway, cutting off the Doctor's thoughts on the Collective.

"No Captain, you misunderstood me, his mind was spread out over the Cooperative a little bit for each member. As such, he was not strong enough to affect any change over their behaviour. Now with all their minds in him, he is not strong enough to surface. Nor will he ever be. As I said earlier, his condition is getting worse." The Doctor deactivated his model.

"What I can't understand," started Janeway, pacing in front of his desk, "is why this didn't happen when we entered the nebula. Wouldn't the link have been 'broken' then?"

"I have no explanation for it Captain. There is a lot I still don't know. How they are able to connect to his mind in the first place remains a mystery. My only theory, and this is just a theory, is that the connection is similar to a communications signal. When we entered the nebula the signal was blocked. When we retreated from the cube the signal was cut. The exact nature of the difference is .... unknown."

"Then there is no possibility he will be able to regain his personality, his memories?" Janeway asked abruptly.

"Captain, as I said, I'm hypothesizing here, I have no data to ...."

"Hypothesize for me Doctor!" snapped Janeway. Noting the reaction to her tone, by both the Doctor and Kes, who'd been listening quietly in the corner, she softened her voice. "Please, let's continue tossing around a few theories."

"The only way I see Commander Chakotay regaining his memory of himself would be if he were to reestablish a link with the Cooperative and then disconnect that link *properly*. Either have them remove themselves voluntarily, as they did after he activated their <<BLANK>>, or have us block the transmission without cutting it."

Janeway was shaking her head. She was silent for a moment, considering all that the Doctor had told her.

"That is not an option. Thank you for your efforts Doctor." The captain headed for the door. "And you too Kes," she added before leaving.

Kes looked over to the Doctor, who'd slumped down in his chair. He did so hate to be frustrated by a problem. He glanced up at Kes with an expression of helplessness.

"I don't know what else to do."

*****

Kes entered the conference room just as they were starting the morning briefing. Janeway looked surprised to see her, Kes didn't always participate in the daily staff meeting. Usually she only came when invited or if there was something particular on her mind. However, Kes remained silent throughout the status reports from the department heads.

"Any other items?" asked Janeway, preparing to wrap up. No one said anything. The captain opened her mouth to dismiss everyone but snapped it shut abruptly when the Ocampan finally spoke.

"What about Commander Chakotay, Captain?" asked Kes. "Don't you think that *he* should be an *item*?"

It took the members of the meeting a moment to recognize the tone in Kes's voice, it was so unusual for her. She was angry.

"Kes, no one is more upset than I am over what has happened to Chakotay," the captain began gently.

"Well, then what are you going to do about it?" Kes stood up and circled the table. "He used to be a member of this forum. He used to be considered your friend. He used to be *worth* something to you! And now he doesn't even make the agenda?"

No one around the table was able to hold her gaze, except the captain. Her eyes were like ice.

"Kes!" Janeway said sharply. "There is nothing we can do for him."

"You heard the Doctor," Kes said, her voice equally sharp. Tom looked amazed, Harry looked scared, B'Elanna looked at Kes as though seeing her for the first time. "There *is* something we can do."

"There is?" asked B'Elanna, turning her gaze to the captain. Janeway didn't look at all pleased to have Kes challenge her, but she was unable to fall back on rank as the Ocampan didn't have one.

"Yes," Kes told the table. "The Doctor believes that the only way to cure Commander Chakotay is for him to reconnect with the Cooperative's mind link."

"Interesting idea," commented Tom dryly.

"To return to the Cooperative's cube would not be wise," Tuvok interjected. "Their weapons system is far greater than our own."

"But we can outrun them," Harry put in bravely, his voice losing confidence as he added, "since we've already done that once."

"Kes," the captain began, wondering how to explain.

"What did Riley ask for that was so terrible?" demanded Kes. "A ride to the Alpha Quadrant? Didn't you *offer* that to her once already?"

"Actually, that was Chakotay who made the offer," put in Torres, regretting she'd opened her mouth even as the words tumbled out.

"It wasn't so much what she wanted, Kes, but the manner in which she asked. Her group has the ability to assimilate us into the Borg. Maybe not the Collective, but Borg nonetheless," Janeway explained.

"Captain, you told her you would not sacrifice your ship to save one crewmember," Kes said, moving closer to Janeway. "But don't you see? You *did*. Look around this table. If this is a representation of morale then Neelix has his work cut out for him. And you have lost Chakotay as surely as if you'd killed him yourself."

Janeway glanced around the table to be met with somber and uncomfortable looks.

"Captain," Kes now pulled on Janeway's arm, "please do not do this to him. You have risked the ship to save others in the past. You've even risked the ship to save Chakotay in the past. Do not condemn him this way just because his body is still breathing."

"I have heard tales," spoke up Neelix, clearing his throat, "of the great negotiating powers of Starfleet."

"You can't *negotiate* with the Borg," Harry told him. "They don't *negotiate*!"

"Even Tuvok agrees that these people are not the Borg Collective," B'Elanna said, "so perhaps we shouldn't be judging them as though they are the same."

"These *people*" snapped Janeway, standing up and leaning on the table, "forced Chakotay to reactivate a cube, against his will. These *people*,"she spat, "entered his mind and STOLE it without warning. Don't tell me we shouldn't be judging them!"

"Was it malevolence?" asked Kes, standing also. "Or desperation?"

"If we assume that they are following a similar course to us, and they are travelling at their maximum speed, we could return to their position in three days," Harry informed the table.

"They could destroy us," Tuvok stated.

"They'd have to catch us first," remarked Tom, with the hint of a grin.

"Why would they destroy the very ship they are trying to board?" asked Torres. "They wouldn't. It would make all this effort for nothing."

"They could assimilate us all," pointed out Tuvok.

"If they could do that so easily, why didn't they already?" asked Tom. "I think they were only able to get into Chakotay's mind because of their previous link with him."

"We do not know that for certain, Lieutenant," Tuvok said.

"If we could get them to reestablish a link, and disconnect it, then it doesn't really matter how we get away, does it?" asked Kes. "Just as long as Commander Chakotay is whole."

"And another thing, Captain," added Harry. "They might have information that could be useful if we encounter the Collective."

Janeway had remained standing, listening to them all with a sense of growing amazement. They were planning to do it. They were considering the possibility. She'd said it wasn't an option, and they were still looking over the details. She was torn between wanting to dress them all down for not following their captain, and wanting to thank them for their selflessness.

There was a moment of silence while the table turned to her for direction.

"I think we should at least try," Paris said. "I think we owe the commander that."

*****

Kes peered into the cell from behind the safety of the force field. Chakotay lay on his side asleep. It seemed to Kes that the only time he was at any peace these days was when he slept. Even then, he'd had some terrible nightmares the last two nights.

During his waking hours she was reminded of the time the Doctor had lost his memory. This was somehow worse, as there was no reinitialization for the commander's personality. They couldn't just shut him down and reboot.

The only sound was the light hum of the field, and the tricorder in the Doctor's hand. The Doctor was grim. When Kes had gone back to tell him of the results of the senior staff meeting he'd been distressed.

"Kes! That is only a theory I have! I have no way of knowing whether or not it will actually work. We may very well return to have no effect on Commander Chakotay. And why wasn't I included in this meeting!"

She'd soothed his sore feelings at being discluded, and rubbed his ego about the likelihood of his theory actually working. Now they were waiting to see the results. Harry had said they could expect to find the cube any time now.

Chakotay stirred restlessly in his sleep. Another nightmare? Kes wondered. Then he sat up abruptly, his eyes wide open and staring. Startled, she stepped back.

"This is interesting," murmured the Doctor. He tapped his badge. "EMH program to Captain Janeway. I believe we've made contact."

"Acknowledged," came the response.

"Chakotay?" asked Kes, stepping forward again. He turned his head slowly to look at her but did not speak. 'Well that was something,' thought Kes, 'this morning he didn't know his name.'

*****

Janeway paced behind Tom a bit before Harry was able to establish a communications link. The viewscreen flashed with the face of Riley Frazier once again.

"Captain, I didn't expect to see you again so soon," she said.

Janeway wondered briefly if she was allowing her personal dislike for Riley Frazier to cloud her judgement. That was something she didn't want to dwell on. The Doctor had informed her that the first part of their plan had happened. Now onto the second part.

"Dr. Frazier," Janeway began. They had decided on honesty. "I want my first officer's mind back. Intact."

"Are you willing to consider allowing us to join your journey?" asked Riley.

"Yes," Janeway said shortly. "But I want your personal guarantee that there will be no more linking to anyone's minds. We do not live like the Borg on *this* ship."

"Agreed," Riley said, a bit too quickly. "As for Chakotay, I'm sorry to lose him, but he's all yours now Captain."

"Captain," interrupted Tuvok, "There is another cube."

This was not part of the plan.

*****

They left him so suddenly, so abruptly it was like a cold hand reaching in and yanking out the warmth from his body. Chakotay fell, dizziness overcoming him. He landed on his side and promptly turned over on his back to stare blankly up at the ceiling of the cell. The Doctor's head popped into view, out of focus at first. Then the hologram's frown became all too clear. Chakotay blinked.

"Doctor," he said, leaning up on his elbows. The Doctor continued his irritating scans. Chakotay pushed him away slightly in an effort to rise to his feet. Deciding that might be overdoing it a bit, he settled for seating himself on the edge of the bed. He rubbed his eyes.

"Commander?" asked Kes softly. She had deactivated the force field and walked into the cell. Kes knelt beside him, placing a gentle hand on his leg. He looked down at her. He'd never felt so drained. But somewhere out of the confusion in his brain he made the realization.

"Why did we come back?"

"And who might you be?" asked the Doctor. Chakotay looked up at him with disbelief.

"Name: Chakotay. Rank: Commander. Serial number...."

"That will be quite enough thank you." The Doctor sounded sarcastic, but his face displayed a large grin. Kes laughed with relief. Chakotay stood, wondering if they'd both gone crazy. Or maybe he was the one who was finally crazy.

"Why did we come back?" he asked, with more urgency.

"EMH to Captain Janeway I have some news to report." The Doctor was beaming.

"Not now Doctor thank you!" came the harrassed sounding reply. The Doctor's smile faded and his brows creased with perplexity.

"What...?"

The ship rocked with an explosion, throwing Chakotay to the floor, knocking Kes over. Now the Doctor's expression was one of alarm.

"I have to get to the bridge," said Chakotay, pushing himself up off the floor. Kes scrambled to her feet.

"But commander!" protested the Doctor following them both.

Once outside the cell Chakotay was met with a phaser pointed to his chest by the security guard. He slowly raised his hands to indicate he was not going to do anything rash.

"Ensign," Chakotay said calmly, "please put down that weapon before someone gets hurt."

"Get back in the cell," ordered the ensign, without much bravado.

"No, I am going to the bridge," Chakotay informed him quietly. "I've spent entirely too much time in that cell. So I would appreciate it if you would not shoot me as I leave the room."

"Ensign!" barked Kes, stepping in between the two. "What are you doing? The whole purpose of this mission was to bring Chakotay back to us, not shoot him!"

The ensign hesitated.

"I'll join you then," he said finally, indicating with his phaser that Chakotay should leave the room.

"I'm going to have to have a word with Tuvok," muttered Chakotay, thinking that if the security team could be so easily persuaded to back down the ship was in serious danger.

*****

On the bridge Janeway braced herself against the railing as Voyager took another hit from the other cube. Tuvok yelled out the shield strength. It was dropping. She hollered at Tom to try evasive maneuvers. As that is what he'd been attempting already he agreed wholeheartedly with her.

Riley's cube shifted position to place itself closer to the newcomer. A battery of phasers attacked the cube from the Cooperative. Janeway watched, fascinated while the attack on Voyager shifted over to the Cooperative's cube.

Borg versus Borg. The Collective against the new Cooperative. Cube and cube battered back and forth.

The turbolift opened and Chakotay strode onto the bridge with Kes, the Doctor and a very nervous ensign in tow.

"Captain Janeway," he said, "get us out of here, now!"

"Who are you?" she asked, recovering from her surprise at seeing him.

He startled everyone by responding,

"I am Orem. I am with the Cooperative. You cannot trust Riley. Do not trust her."

Chakotay reached forward and gripped the captain's upper arms. His guard from the cell moved into position with a phaser held high.

"Hold your fire!" barked Janeway at the young man. She placed her hands on Chakotay's arms, even as he shook her slightly.

"And why should I trust *you*, Orem?"

"You have no reason to trust me. But know this. I did not take part in the conquest of Commander Chakotay's mind. I linked with him only to heal him. The subsequent use of our bond to force him to reactivate the <<BLANK>>> went against my conscience. Riley and the others are using him to take your ship. You cannot trust her. I will do what I can."

With those last words Chakotay's grip went slack and he stumbled forward into the captain. She steadied him as best she could while he tumbled to his knees.

"Kathryn," he whispered, looking up at her with a dazed expression.

"Captain!" Harry's voice called out a warning. She turned her attention back to the viewscreen for an instant to see the Collective's cube burst into a series of explosions, tossing debris into space with a spectacular flash of light.

Janeway turned back to Chakotay who was squinting at the viewscreen as the light faded. She guided him to her seat where he collapsed.

"Chakotay, who is Orem?" she asked him. For a moment she was afraid she'd lost him to that zombie state once again but then he replied.

"Orem is the Cooperative's medic. He was ... is a Romulan."

"Captain?" Paris had half-turned in his seat awaiting her instructions for the third part of their plan. She signalled for him to wait.

"Is he with you now, Chakotay?" she asked the commander. He held her hands loosely, leaning forward in the chair, rocking slightly.

Eyes closed, he nodded. Helplessly, Janeway looked up to the Doctor, who'd remained on the upper level of the bridge.

"I don't .... know, Captain," was his reluctant response to her unasked question.

Janeway reached one hand around Chakotay's shoulder to pull him towards her protectively.

"They're hailing us, Captain," Harry informed her. She nodded.

"Onscreen."

Turning slightly, so that she could view the screen without letting go of her commander, Janeway greeted Riley Frazier once again.

"Is everyone alright Captain?" asked the other woman.

"More or less," responded Janeway.

"Go away!" spat Chakotay, standing from the captain's chair and stepping away from her comforting grasp. "Get out of my head! Get out of my sight! Get out!"

"As you can see, I kept my end of the bargain by returning Commander Chakotay to you," Riley commented, unruffled by his outburst. "Guess we won't be sharing a replicated BBQ, huh Chakotay?"

"You know, Dr. Frazier, if you had opened a hailing frequency and told me of your plight, if you had *asked* for safe passage on my ship, I have no doubt I would have very seriously considered bringing your group aboard." Janeway stepped to Chakotay's side, noting his clenched fists. "But I have to admit that I find your communications methods abhorrent."

"Captain," Harry pitched his voice low, "the cube has set its self-destruct."

Janeway whirled around to look at her Ops ensign with wide eyes. He nodded. She looked up at Chakotay, whose fists had relaxed.

"Don't hate us," he said softly, "for what we became. We really had no choice...."

"Tom, get us out of here!" Janeway ordered. Paris snapped back around in his seat, his fingers already tapping the helm's console.

The shockwaves of the exploding cube caused Voyager to rock violently, but Tom kept them on a steady course. As the ship evened out and crewmembers picked themselves up off the floor, Janeway stood in the centre of the bridge, her hands on her hips, her mouth a tight line.

Chakotay was on his knees, one arm resting on the captain's chair, struggling to stand. He elected to sit, clumsily, with his face in his hands. Except for the regular chirps from the computer there was silence.

"Mr. Kim," Janeway finally broke the stillness, "are there any signs of other Borg ships in the area?"

Harry busied himself with the sensors.

"No Captain," he reported.

*****

While Janeway waited for Neelix to return with her tray she surveyed the crowded Mess Hall. Laughter at one table drew her attention. It looked like Joe Carey had told a joke. One funny enough to cause Ashmore to choke on his <<NEELIX FOOD>>. Her eyes skimming over the length of the room they came to rest on Commander Chakotay, who was sitting by himself in a corner. His body language suggested he’d rather not be in so public a place and Janeway could hardly blame him. Being ignored by the crew was bad enough, but to be shunned was far worse. She cast a quick look around for some of Chakotay’s more loyal companions, Torres for example. The Chief Engineer was conspicuously absent, as was Paris, who would have also not avoided Chakotay.

"There you are Captain!" Neelix’s perky voice interrupted her thoughts. He noticed her troubled expression and his own cheerful face curled into a frown. "It’s shocking the way that ......"

Janeway stopped him with a hand on his arm.

"Thank you Neelix, this looks delicious."

She made her way slowly and deliberately over to Chakotay’s table.

"May I join you, commander?" She had purposely pitched her voice loud enough to be heard by many in the room. He knew it, and so did they.

"Of course," he replied, with a tight smile. She sat, noting that he’d done little eating.

"Poor appetite? Or is it really bad?"

He tossed his fork lightly onto the tray, not even pretending to eat anymore.

"I guess I’m just not that hungry."

"You’ve won them over before, you can do it again," she said, taking a bite. The food was remarkably bland, for Neelix. Perhaps the cook was learning.

"I beg your pardon?"

"The crew. A lot of them didn’t appreciate being put under the command of ‘the enemy’ when you first came aboard. You proved to them that we are one team."

"Captain," he sat back, not sure how to respond to this pep talk. "There’s the enemy and there’s the Borg. That’s like comparing the common cold to a Tiberian Plague."

"Why commander," Janeway smiled, "I believe you just made a joke! Rumours of your depression must be highly exaggerated." She took another bite. "They’ll come around." She jerked her head in the direction of the rest of the crew, some of whom were openly watching the exchange between their senior officers. "But I’m more worried about you. How are you feeling, really?"

Chakotay cast his eyes down to the table wondering how to answer. In his mind he could hear the Doctor giving a lecture on the function of the synaspses in the nervous system. Chakotay could accept that he felt the way he did because of the chemicals in his body. But he could not accept that the realignment of these chemicals to normal parameters was going to make everything alright.

"I feel angry," he admitted, surprising himself as much as Janeway with his open honestly. "I haven’t felt this angry in a long time. And I don’t like it very much." He looked up at her.

Janeway wished, and not for the first time, that they had a qualified counsellor on board. Although, Chakotay was not the type of person to easily talk about his innermost feelings. But sometimes, Janeway felt that the shoulders of friends were not quite enough to help them through these crises.

"It’s not good to hold onto your anger......" she began.

"I’m angry with them, for not even trying to understand what it was like," he interrupted, his voice low. "And I’m angry with me, for not being able to cope with it better. And I’m angry with you, for putting Voyager in a position of danger just to rehabilitate my mind."

Janeway considered this.

"Some gratitude, commander," she tried to be light.

"Don’t ever tell me you don’t care about me," he stayed serious, "when you would risk your ship and crew to save my life."

"Did you really doubt that I cared?" she asked, astonished, forgetting for a moment how public this conversation was.

"When you would lead me by the hand into my own quarters and place before me items of personal value in the hopes that it would trigger my memory..." Chakotay was shaking his head.

"You remember that?" interrupted Janeway with wide eyes.

"You’d be amazed at what I remember, Captain," he told her. "I remember breaking my arm .... I remember walking into the prison force field. I remember the Doctor’s exasperation, Kes’s patience, Tuvok’s indifference, Paris’s cautious skepticism, B’Elanna’s fear. I remember seeing the hope in your eyes die as I spilled the contents of my medicine bundle without any thought to what they were. And I remember feeling like I was totally lost and I would never be found."

"Oh Chakotay," whispered Janeway. Her meal was forgotten, as were the spectators in the room.

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