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THE GIFT

Episode 70
Part A

 

picture of the CGI model of the Borgified Voyager in WALLPAPERS and SHIP USS VOYAGER: Detailed Interior Tour: Engineering

USS Voyager, still Borgified after a group of Borg, including Seven of Nine, assimilated part of it earlier. Borgified USS Voyager - flypast. (pop-up window)

the camera pans across Borgified Cargo Bay 2 to where Seven of Nine is regenerating in a Borg alcove. (pop-up window) Seven of Nine in a Borg alcove in Voyager's Cargo Bay 2.

Janeway, the Doctor and Tuvok enter the cargo bay. cargo bay doors Janeway leans forward to look at Seven of Nine more closely: "So, how is the newest addition to our family?"

Doctor: "At the moment she's stable but the prognosis isn't clear. Her human physiology has begun to reassert itself - respiratory system, neurological functions, immune response. But those systems are swarming with Borg implants. There's a battle being waged inside her body between the biological and the technological. I'm not sure which is going to win." Janeway: "Well, it's time we brought her up to date. Wake her." The Doctor uses a hypospray on Seven of Nine. hypospray injection

Seven of Nine comes to consciousness. First she sees the Doctor and Tuvok.

Then she sees Janeway.

Seven of Nine: "Captain Janeway. What have you-" She stops and is suddenly very disturbed. She talks, as much to herself as them, with rising panic: "The others, I can't hear the others. The voices are gone." Janeway: "We had to neutralise the neurotransceiver in your upper spinal column. Your link to the Collective has been severed." Seven of Nine orders: "You will return this drone to the Borg." Janeway: "I'm afraid I can't do that." Seven of Nine repeats the demand: "You will return this drone to the Borg!" Janeway: "If I were to turn this ship around and head back into Borg territory I would be putting my crew at risk. I'm not prepared to do that. Try to understand: you have to stay on board Voyager. But I'm offering you freedom from the Collective. I assure you we will do everything we can to-" Seven of Nine interrupts: "You will supply us with a subspace transmitter and leave us on the nearest planet. The Borg will come for us." Janeway: "It's too late for that. Your human cells are starting to regenerate. You won't survive without medical care. Seven of Nine is disdainful. "We need nothing from you. We are Borg! We-"

She stops as a spasm of pain shoots through her. The Doctor scans her with a medical tricorder: "This implant has been rejected by the tissue underneath. It's going to have to be removed."

Seven of Nine: "You will suppress the human immune system." Doctor: "I'm sorry, but the process has gone too far. We've got to get you to Sickbay."

Seven of Nine: "No!" She pushes him away. She struggles - against the pain and physically against Tuvok who rapidly steps forward to restrain her. "We are Borg!" she shouts. "We...are...Borg!"

The Doctor steps in and administers a sedative. Seven of Nine slumps in the alcove.

The Doctor's face is grim - Seven of Nine's prognosis has just got worse.

In Sickbay the Doctor's analysis uncovers the scope of the problem. "This armour plating is anchored to the skull with over 3 million microconnectors. There's no time to cut through them. I'm going to have to remove the outer layer of the skull itself."

He is hampered by the close presence of Tuvok. "Lieutenant, will you please leave the surgical bay!"

Tuvok: "This Borg is a security risk." Doctor: "She is heavily sedated. I assure you, she is not going anywhere." Tuvok reluctantly moves away but he stays watchful. "Thank you."

He turns to Kes. "Kes, I want you to anaesthetise the cranial nerves. 20 milligrammes anaetrizine." Kes: "Yes, Doctor." Kes puts out her hand and the hypospray jumps from its tray on the trolley across the room.....

.....straight into her hand! Seeing this the Doctor asks: "Kes?"

Kes: "I don't know what happened. I thought of the hypospray and it just came to me." Tuvok: "Have you been experimenting with your psychokinetic abilities?" Kes: "No, not for months. But I have been feeling a little strange lately - lots of energy, sleeping less."

The Doctor scans her with a tricorder: "I can see why. Your serotonin levels are 62 per cent above normal. It's the telepathic centres of your brain, they're in a state of hyperstimulation, like they were a few days ago when you were in contact with Species 8472."

Tuvok: "Are they attempting to communicate with you again?"

Kes: "No. But this time it's different. I don't feel their presence at all."

Tuvok: "Perhaps she's experiencing an after-effect of some kind." "A reasonable diagnosis," remarks the Doctor, finishing condescendingly: "for a security officer. I'll run a full microsynaptic analysis but it will have to wait. We should get back to our Borg."

Janeway's Ready Room.

The door signal sounds. door signal "Come in." standard doors Chakotay enters carrying a PADD. Chakotay enters the Ready Room. (pop-up window) He hands her the PADD. "Ship's status report. We've got two teams on the hull stripping off the Borg armour. They're working around the clock but it's still slow-going." Janeway: "What about the warp drive?" Chakotay: "Torres is having problems cleaning out the plasma relays. It's disrupting the antimatter reaction. Until she's got it fixed, we're stuck at impulse. She's requesting all personnel with a level 3 engineering rating or higher to lend a hand." Janeway: "Granted. Tactical update?" Chakotay: "Long-range sensors are picking up residual transwarp signatures - Borg vessels. They passed by probably about three days ago."

Janeway: "So we're not out of the woods yet." Chakotay: "Having half our propulsion system overrun by Borg implants doesn't make repairs any easier." Janeway: "Seven of Nine could help us with that."

computer display of data on Annika Hansen. (pop-up window)

Chakotay: "That might be true if she were willing, but she's not in the most co-operative mood." Janeway: "That could change. I just have to reach her somehow." She indicates her personal computer and the file she was reading when he arrived. "Annika Hansen." Chakotay: "Our Borg?" Janeway: "It took some digging through the Federation database, but I managed to find a single entry in the records of Deep Space 4. Her parents were unconventional. They fancied themselves explorers but wanted nothing to do with Starfleet or the Federation. Their names were last recorded in a remote outpost in the Omega sector. They refused to file a flight plan. Apparently they aimed their small ship toward the Delta Quadrant and were never heard from again." Chakotay: "For all we know, Annika and her parents were the first humans the Borg ever assimilated." Janeway: "From what she's told me, that was almost 20 years ago." Chakotay: "So she was raised by the Borg. It's the only life she ever really knew. If you were thinking of bringing her into the fold, that might not be possible." Janeway: "What's the alternative? Toss her back to the wolves?"

The comm. signal sounds. comms. signal Doctor, via comms: "Sickbay to Captain Janeway. Janeway, via comms: "What is it, Doctor?" Doctor, via comms: "Could you come down here, Captain? We're having some problems." Janeway, via comms: "I'll be right there."