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SCORPION Episodes 68 & 69 Part H

Tuvok and Torres are reporting to Chakotay. The monitor shows Borg data scrolling across the screen - starmaps, Borg vessel diagrams, telemetry, etc. Torres: "We've analysed the Borg's tactical database. They refer to these new aliens as Species 8472." Tuvok: "Over the past five months, the Borg have been attacked by them on at least a dozen occasions. Each time, the Borg were defeated, swiftly." Torres: "The Collective has very little information about the species."

Chakotay: "Is anything known about where they come from?" Torres: "I'm afraid so." She turns to the console and taps a few commands. Chakotay watches the monitor. When he sees the display, his expression turns grim. Chakotay: "Get the Captain."

The viewscreen shows a murky region of space which is filled with the bio-ships of Species 8472. Voyager is at red alert status. Janeway: "The Northwest Passage..." Chakotay: "It's clear of Borg activity for a very good reason."

Tuvok reports: "I'm picking up one hundred and thirty-three bio-ships. More are approaching." Janeway: "From where?" Tuvok: "They seem to be coming from a quantum singularity."

Torres: "I'm localising the gravimetric distortions." Chakotay: "On screen." The viewscreen changes to show a large undulating fissure in space - the quantum singularity. Bio-ships are swarming out of it.

Janeway turns to Kes. "Kes. Anything?" Kes: "Yes. I can hear them." She sees in her mind the image of a member of Species 8472 piloting a bio-ship.

Kes: "They're in a place where they're alone. Nothing else lives there." Chakotay: "Some kind of parallel universe?"

Kes: "I don't know." She continues: "I feel malevolence, a cold hatred. 'The weak will perish.' It's an invasion! They're intent on destroying everything." Janeway: "Tom, reverse course, maximum warp. Take us five light years out and hold position." Paris: "Aye, Captain." Janeway to Tuvok: "Maintain red alert."

She considers the shocking discovery, then hurriedly heads for her Ready Room, calling to Chakotay: "Commander."
He follows her swiftly for an urgent conference.

Janeway: "That moment we spoke about. It's here. Any thoughts?" Chakotay: "Just one. Flying into that corridor would mean certain death." Janeway: "Agreed. The Northwest Passage is no longer an option. So now the choice is between facing the Borg in their space, or finding ourselves a nice planet here in the Delta Quadrant and giving up on ever getting home."

Chakotay: "We'd be turning around, but we wouldn't be giving up. We may find another way home."

Janeway: "I'm not ready to walk onto that bridge and tell the crew we're quitting. I can't do that. Not yet. There must be another alternative."

Chakotay: "Kathryn, you haven't slept in two days. Try getting some rest, and clearing your head. We're safe, for the moment. We can tell the crew tomorrow, if we have to." Janeway: "See you in the morning."

Chakotay heads for the door, leaving Janeway still thinking.

USS Voyager cruises at warp speed.

Janeway lies on her bed in the darkness, still in uniform, eyes wide open. She sits up and takes a deep breath. There is no way she is going to get any sleep tonight. She stands up, acting on a sudden decision to....

....visit the Holodeck and the holographic simulation of Leonardo da Vinci's workshop.

Janeway: "Maestro? Leonardo?" The Da Vinci hologram is seated at a bench. He is staring fixedly at the wall. Da Vinci hologram: "Catarina. Buona sera." Her eyes attempt to follow his gaze but he appears to have been staring at the blank wall nearby. Janeway: "Am I disturbing you?" He does not answer the question but instead he indicates the wall. Da Vinci hologram: "What do you see?" Janeway: "A wall, with candlelight reflecting on it. Why? What do you see?" Da Vinci hologram: "A flock of starlings, the leaves of an oak, a horse's tail, a thief with a noose around his neck. And a wall, with the candlelight on it. There are times, Catarina, when I find myself transfixed by a shadow on the wall, or the splashing of water against a stone. I stare at it, the hours pass, the world around me drops away, replaced by worlds being created and destroyed by my imagination - a way to focus the mind. Sit and tell me why you have come." She sits. "There's a path before me, the only way home. And on either side, mortal enemies bent on destroying each other. If I attempt to pass through them. I'll be destroyed, as well. But to turn around, that would end all hope of ever getting home. No matter how much I try to focus my mind, I can't see an alternative." Da Vinci hologram: "When one's imagination fails to provide an answer, one must seek a greater imagination. There are times when even I find myself kneeling in prayer." He stands. He moves to a table and picks up a foot-tall object wrapped in muslin. Da Vinci hologram: "I must deliver a bozzetto to the Monks at Santa Croce. Come with me, Catarina, eh?" He takes her hand to encourage her. "We will wake the abbot, and visit the chapel and appeal to God." Janeway: "Somehow, I don't think that's going to work for me." She sees the light dancing against the wall but this time, his words and the shifting patterns give her an idea. "But there is an alternative I hadn't considered. What if I made an appeal to the Devil?"

A bozzetto, Italian for "sketch", usually applied to models for sculpture, but can also be used for painted sketches, though these are more often called 'modelli'. Strictly speaking, it is a small three-dimensional sketch in wax or clay made by a sculptor in preparation for a larger and more finished work, and by extension, a rapid sketch in oil, made as a study for a larger picture.