Chapter 9

(Author's note. In the Star Trek Voyager episode 'dark frontier II' the Borg Queen tells Seven that they are about to assimilate species ten thousand two hundred something. I used that number as an indication for the amount of races there are in Empress Shadeen's Empire.)

Somewhere else in the galaxy.

"I don't care."

Zerisan was the aid of Empress Shadeen from her birth. She was one week younger than the Empress and they had been brought together for that single purpose. Shadeen was to be a possible heir to the throne and Zerisan was to be her aide. Luckily for both of them, they fitted together perfectly and a strong friendship had built between them from a time even before they could speak. So, Zerisan could see that her Empress was in danger of losing her patience.

"By the Divine ones." Empress Shadeen continued. "Why do I even bother with these fools if they really think that I would, for one minute, believe their excuses. They start wars with everyone they can find. They are stupid enough to actually begin an attack on MY empire. And then, after they don't have a single spaceship left, they come crying and begging to ME for help because the other races they had started wars with suddenly saw the chance at vengeance. And when I agree to protect their miserable excuse for a society, they have the impudence to tell me that OUR researchers were faulty. Tell me, Zerisan, I have twenty-one thousand six hundred and eighteen races in my empire. Why do I even bother with such fools as the BroN'es?"

"You bother because you DO care, my Empress. But not about the fools that are in power, you care about the common people. Because the government was so set on winning wars, ninety-five percent of the population now lives in poverty. Thousands die each day of hunger. THAT, my Empress, is why you bother."

"Well then, I guess that means that I have to do something about the fools that are in power. The time for playing nice is over. Send in the troops. Occupy the planet. I want each government position filled with one of my soldiers."

"You want to occupy the planet because they falsified reports? Isn't that a bit... drastic?" Zerisan asked. Being the aide of the Empress, Zerisan was one of the few from whom it was actually expected that they questioned the Empress's orders. Questions made a person think. Only dead rulers had no one to advise or question them.

"It isn't about the falsified records. It is about what they are lying about. They agreed that in exchange for protection they would abide by our rules. Now, I have no delusions. I know that gifts are exchanged to gain favor. But on a government level, there is NO, I repeat, NO corruption in my empire, or anything I protect. I do not allow it and I do NOT tolerate it. If they wanted to keep their precious system of buying their way into government help then they shouldn't have come to me. They shouldn't have agreed to follow the rules. So now it is time I introduce them to the first rule. 'Abide by the rules or suffer the consequences.' I want that planet up to standard within two years. I want poverty erased in one year. And within three months, nobody will die of hunger anymore on that plant. Also, introduce our standard government system into their society. I have a feeling that the population will like it, even though the 'rulers' won't."

"Do you want to take the planet into the Empire, Empress?"

"The size of the Empire hasn't changed in three thousand years. And it's also not going to change for these idiots. I will be glad to hand the planet back over them once a government is in place that can actually think. But until that day, their planet will be occupied territory, but not part of the Empire."

"And if the new government asks us for our continued protection?"

"Then it will become one of the places outside the empire which are not possessions of the Empire but still protected by it. Zerisan, if I were to take everybody who asks into the Empire then everybody would come begging for help against their biggest enemies. I would end up ruling over the entire galaxy and frankly, I don't need the headache of that."

"Yes, Empress, it will be done." Zerisan said with a smile. She knew what Empress Shadeen was talking about. At least once each month somebody came pleading for help. If it wasn't against the Borg, it was against the Hirogens or against the Voth, or, or, or.

"Anything else?"

"Several things, Empress. But they are subjects with blurred lines."

Empress Shadeen lifted her hand to Zerisan. Indicating that she wanted her to come forward. "In that case join me, my wife, I have gone too long without touching you."

Their race was proud of the fact that they were multifunctional. Everybody had more than one function. It often happened that a person receiving orders from somebody one moment, would, at the next moment, be giving orders to the same person because they both were filling a different function at that moment. Zerisan had several functions. Imperial Guard. Bodyguard of the sole heire of the Empire. Chief pilot of the Imperial wing. Aid to Empress Shadeen. And Lady of the Empire, wife of Empress Shadeen.

Zerisan joined her wife on 'the throne' as it was called. It really was simply a comfortable chair with buttons built into the armrests. All the Empire was at Shadeen's fingertips. It was positioned with the back against the wall, directly opposite of the only entrance to the room but it certainly wasn't the lavishly decorated center of the room that most would expect. While their race did know what luxury was, even though they were warriors, Empress Shadeen had never been one for excess. As long as her clothes fit her well and her chair was comfortable she was satisfied.

Zerisan opted to sit on her wife's lap and took a good deal of time to properly welcome her wife with leisurely kisses. They both had long ago grown accustomed to not holding back their love for each other because others where present. If they were to do that, then they only would have the five hours a day that the Empress tried to spend with her family.

Not that any of the operatives in the room had a problem with this show of affection. As a matter of fact, in the entire Empire only a few would have problems with it. The rest, as the operatives, wanted their Empress to be happy. They wished her a healthy and lucky family life. And the operatives in the room knew only too well that occasionally, weeks went by without the Empress being able to enjoy her family life. She tried to spend several hours each day with her family but too often the Empire came first. So, nobody in the room would even think about the possibility of being upset over the fact that their Empress took a few minutes with her wife.

"Talk to me, love. What is wrong?"

"Before I came in here, the minister of family affairs wanted a moment to talk with me as Lady of the Empire. He asked me when we were planning on having more children. He reminded me that it was tradition for an Emperor or Empress to at least have fifteen potential heirs to the throne."

Shadeen laughed at that and then once again kissed her wife. "Just like it is also tradition for the Emperor or Empress to have a harem of three thousand wives and or husbands. But you are all the harem I need. There isn't , and won't ever be, anyone else but you." Then she got more serious. "You should have reminded him that only THE divine ONE, The Traveler, the ruler over all of the other divine ones, has the powers to make a mortal pregnant without the interference of technology. So when I found myself pregnant with Xakana seven years ago, and tests showed that the rest of her DNA came from you, my wife, I saw that as a clear sign that Xakana is to be the sole heir to the throne. If The Traveler wants more heirs to my throne then he will take care of that. But as long as neither of us suddenly becomes pregnant, there will be no other heirs."

"Um, I did tell him this. He took that opportunity to tell me that it was time that we told the Empire the truth. That we used technology to create our child."

"He said what?! Get him in here, NOW!" Empress Shadeen shouted. The minister of family affairs was the last descendant of the previous imperial family before the throne was appointed to family Shadeen almost twenty thousand years ago. He was one of the few who was against the rule of Empress Shadeen. Simply because he wanted to rule for himself. He had actually entered the last election three years ago and only seventy-four people in the entire empire had voted for him. Yet, he still harbored illusions about his family name once again being the Imperial one.

"Beloved." Zerisan said. Trying to temper the angry ruler. "It is his right not to believe in the Divine ones."

"Zeri, I couldn't care less about what he believes in. That has nothing to do with this. What this is about is that I proclaimed that I found myself pregnant with Xakana, OUR child, something you know is true. And he basically says that he doesn't believe that our child was conceived only with the blessing of The Traveler. That, is what this is about."

When Zerisan understood what her wife was saying, she too got became furious. The actions of the minister were inexcusable. "Carizon."

That one word was enough to be considered an order for Carizon. An order which he had received from the Lady of the Empire. "Yes my lady, my Empress." The last two words were directed at Shadeen and then he was out the door.

"You wanted to see me, Empress?" The minister asked calmly after Carizon shoved him through the door. Carizon and Zerisan had understood the hidden insult after the Empress had made it clear and now they both could barely themselves in check. They wanted to kill this worm who dared to insult their Empress.

Empress Shadeen waited until Zerisan had stood up and was standing to the side of the throne. "Zerisan tells me that you told her that we should officially announced that we used technology to conceive our child. What do you have to say for yourself?"

"Empress, as you know, we may all choose whether or not we believe in the Divine ones. And I do not believe in them. There is no crime in that."

Shadeen slowly rose from her throne and came closer to the minister. "Do you really believe that I wouldn't recognize the real meaning behind those words?"

"Empress, I, eh, really don't know what you are talking about. It is my right not to believe."

"This has nothing to do with your right to believe and you know it. I said that one day I suddenly was pregnant, and the second parent of that child is my wife and that this has happened thanks to intervention of THE Divine One. And you say that you don't believe this?"

"Agan, Empress, it is my right..."

"So you are saying that I lied to my own people, my own race? You accuse ME, Empress Shadeen, of lying to her soldiers? How dare you?" Shadeen reached to her hip and pulled the ceremonial warrior's knife out of its sheat. This knife was given to each soldier to indicate that they had passed the training and could now call themselves soldiers to the Empire. In this time of phasers and projectile weapons the knives were rarely used, but it was the first weapon one had to master before one could become a soldier. The knife was still used in challenges and close combat; when an enemy was so close that phasers or projectile weapons were more a hindrance then they were of help. They were made of a special material so strong it could cut through duranium and it wouldn't even leave a mark on the thirty-centimeter long blade.

The knife Shadeen was holding at the moment had been handed down through time from Emperor to Emperor for the twenty thousand years that the Emperor or Empress had been called Shadeen.

"Defend yourself, for you are going to die today." Shadeen said in the standard opening to a challenge ritual.

The minister drew his knife and started circling the Empress, who did nothing more than keep him in her line of sight. Tradition stated that the challenged, in this case the minister, should have the first attack. That first attack was nothing more than a pathetic slicing of air and to her disgust, Empress Shadeen could easily see that the minister had only kept his training proficient enough to pass the tests without being punished. While his skill was enough to serve in a war, it was pathetic compared to someone like the Empress.

But still, the first attack had been made and now she could kill him. She was just about to move forward and plunge the knife into his heart when he started talking, hoping that he could break her concentration enough for him to win the battle.

"Do you really expect people to believe that crap about The Divine One being behind your pregnancy? I bet that you and your little whore got it on one night and decided to use the 'services' of one of the guards. Am I right?" He asked with a sneer.

Even though his words had an effect, it was not result he was expecting. Empress Shadeen slowly put her knife away, deciding that it was too good to get dirty with blood from the likes of him. Then she looked at him and her eyes told him that at this moment Empress Shadeen was at her most ruthless. Now, he was facing the person who could order millions of people to death because they had threatened the Empire. And the minister realized that the last minutes of his life had just begun.

"Not only do you call me a liar, you also dare to insult my wife?"

Before the minister could answer, Shadeen slipped through his defenses and hit his chest with so much force that the splintering rib bones penetrated every vital organ in his body. "Nobody insults my wife unpunished. Die slowly, you vermin."

Their bodies were strong, built for battle. So even with a pierced heart it took the minister almost ten minutes to die. The last thing he saw before everything went dark around him was the Empress looking at him with contempt in her eyes. At that moment, when he knew that this ambition would never be fulfilled, realization hit him. He understood how poorly he had served the Empire the last years. Even if he didn't like the Empress, he still should have served the Empire. And with his last breath he was glad that he was about to die. Because the Empire didn't need people like him. He thought about how the Empire would have fared with him as Emperor and for the first time in his life he was glad that such a good person as Empress Shadeen was sitting on the throne. So with his last breath he whispered: "Long live Shadeen."

Two guards stood beside the body of the minister, waiting for the order of what to do with the body. Empress Shadeen had heard his last words and knew that in his last moments of life he had once again become a worthy servant of the Empire. "Give him a soldier's funeral. Let his body burn up in the sun of or Homeworld so that his spirit is free to be judged by the Divine Ones."

"Yes, Empress, it shall be done."

Zerisan took hold of her wife's hand and they both went back to the throne. "Are you coming home with me now?"

"Yes, my wife. When we were joined I promised you that the Empress would never enter our household, save for when she had to give orders to others. But in our household, she would never exist. When Xakana was born six years ago I promised you both that I would always be there on special days. The only thing that would keep me from that would be an all-out war. I may be an hour ore so late, but I will never miss one of those days. So yes, my love, we will go home now as I do not intend to miss my daughter's birthday." Shadeen then took a deep breath before slowly beginning. "My love, today or daughter celebrates her sixth birthday. I know that training only starts after the eighth birthday usually. But she IS the heir to the throne. I think it would be best that from now on she would attend official gatherings. And I would like it if, from now on, everywhere we go she would be introduced as the heir to the throne. I want to slowly start introducing her to the knowledge of politics."

"But love." Zerisan countered. "I know that one day she will take your place on the throne, and I know that training usually starts at eight years; mine did. And I also know that this training builds gradually, leaving enough time in the beginning for the child still be a child and play. I know all that. But still, love, can't we wait till her eighth birthday just like the rest? Can't we give her those two extra years?"

"Zeri, it is time. When I was six years old, I was leading admirals, generals, and tens of thousands of troops into mock battles against my father in training exercises. I was seven when I won the first training battle against my father's troops. I was eight when I succeeded in capturing my father. Yes, I know, the outcome would have been different if it was a real battle and actual people would have been killed; then I would never have won those battles against the Imperial Guards. But the fact is, when I was as old as Xakana, I spend all my time training and learning. I don't want that for my child. But it IS time for her slowly start. Simply accompany me and watch and listen."

"The reason why the Emperor was training you so hard was because he was already aged two hundred and eighty-five years and even though we stay strong and healthy till the moment we die, we still only rarely live beyond three hundred years. The reason he was training you so hard was because he was disappointed in his other children and you were born fifty years after the last of his sons. He saw you as the last hope to keep the name Shadeen a proud one. A name that the soldiers would want to die for. And he was right. His hard training paid of and also prepared you for the Imperial Guard training you did later on. But you, my beloved wife, are merely thirty-seven years old. You have still more than enough time to prepare your heir."

"And that, Zerisan, is the reason why I want Xakana to slowly ease into this. To merely accompany me in the beginning; to just sit and see what my job really is. She will still have years to be a child and play, to form that strong friendship she has with the girl which will one day be her aide."

Shadeen smiled knowingly at her wife. Both of them had seen the strong connection between Xakana and Dorani, the young girl who accompanied Xakana everywhere. They both knew that the bond between the two young girls had been made. Pending intervention from the Divine Ones, the name Dorani would one day make its entrance into the imperial family's history.

"I know, and understand that, but still..."

Shadeen sighed deeply. She was used to giving orders and whatever she said happened. But at that moment she was not the Empress. She was a woman talking to her wife about the future of their daughter. Her wife, whom she had to convince, not order. And Shadeen was glad that her wife had always been able to stand up to her on those occasions where the Empress did want to surface and give orders. That did not happen in their marriage and Zerisan was sure to remind her of the fact often enough. That was one of the reasons why Shadeen loved her wife more than life itself. Even if it sometimes made things a little bit harder.

"Beloved, we can't wait too long with this. Because one day, there will come a time when I have to teach my daughter to give orders." Suddenly Shadeen touched a couple of buttons on the armrest and a small screen came out of the chair, filled with information. "One day I will have to teach her how to say 'attack' and then later on, read a report like this. This is about the BroN'es. More than six hundred thousand dead. Over two million that will never be the same again because of wounds they had suffered. How many of those were fathers? Or mothers? Or daughters? Or sons? How many little six-year-old BroN'es will never see their parents again because I said the word 'attack'?"

"They started a war against us, they suffer the consequences."

"I know that Zeri, and I would have still given the order if ten million of them had died. But that is not what I'm talking about. I can give that other because of my training. I can give that order because, if needed, I would destroy everyone who would dare to attack the Empire. But I know that I couldn't have given those orders if I hadn't been trained to handle their effects. Beloved, I don't want our daughter to suffer because her training was not good enough. I would rather train her too much then have her experience a single nightmare over the results of orders she has given. Zeri, beloved, it IS time for her training to begin."

Now it was Zerisan who had to sigh deeply. "You are right, of course. It is time. But promise me, love. Promise me that it will happen slowly."

"That I promise you. I promise you that as your wife, the birthmother of our child, AND as Empress Shadeen, ruler of the Empire. That is the major advantage I have over my father. He had only ten years to train me. I have one hundred years to train Xakana, and hopefully more than one hundred fifty years to be her adviser. Her training will be so slow that she won't even really realize that she is being trained. As I said in the beginning, she will merely accompany me and listen. She will be excited about the fact that she can see the Empress of the Empire at work. She won't even realize that she is learning things at the same time."

"Very well, that approach I can except. You have my blessing, Empress."

"Thank you, my wife. Now, let's go home and celebrate our daughter's birthday."

"Gladly."

But just when they were about to get up Carizon approached them.
"Empress, my lady, the ISS (Imperial Space Ship) Zakood has encountered a spaceship which might just be the 'something' we are looking for."

"Zakood, Zakood." Shadeen said while thinking which ship this was. "Ah, scout ship eight thousand seventeen. At the moment it is patrolling sector ninety-five of the border."

"That this correct, Empress. They are, at the moment, blocking the way of a Federation starship..."

"Federation? What are they doing at sector ninety-five of our border? Besides the fact that they don't have the technology to get there in the first place, there is also the small detail that my Empire lies between their current position and their Federation in the Alpha Quadrant."

"That is correct again, Empress. The Zakood has scanned the ship and from their database, it seems that they were taken to the Delta Quadrant against their wishes by..."

"... The Caretaker." Shadeen finished. "I told him that we could help him reproduce offspring. Or else that we could take over protecting the Ocampa. But no, mere mortals couldn't possibly protect the Ocampa. Whatever happened to the Ocampa by the way?"

"I don't know, Empress. Do you want us to send a scout ship and see?"

"Yes, does that. But whatever happened, do not intervene. We offered our help and it was rejected. Now survival is up to them."

"It will be done, Empress." Carizon said and then returned to the subject at hand. "About the ship. From their files we know that they are on route to the Alpha Quadrant and that is what brought them to our border."

"Ah, yes. A little inconvenient that my Empire lies between them and the Alpha Quadrant. Did they try hailing our ship?"

"Of course. It is a Federation ship after all. And from what we know from their database, they survived seven years in the Delta Quadrant while keeping their Federation principles relatively intact."

"I almost feel sorry for them. The sophisticated Federation people suddenly being dropped in the roughest part of the Delta Quadrant. You said that their principles stayed 'relatively' intact. So they were tried?"

"Yes, Empress. And you have every reason to feel sorry for them. The first enemies they made were the Kazon. Their database shows that over those seven years they had to break their 'Prime Directive' on several occasions to survive. But it seems that their Captain also had the difficult task of incorporating criminals into her crew."

"Now it becomes interesting." Shadeen said leaning forward a bit, which caused Zerisan to stand up and take her rightful place beside the throne.

"Yes Empress." Carizon agreed. "Apparently, they were pursuing a group of what the Federation called terrorists when both they and the terrorists were taken to the Delta Quadrant by the Caretaker. The detailed information is in this padd." Carizon handed Shadeen the padd and continued. "But, to make a long story short, they ended up integrating the 'terrorists' into the crew. And then some years later they came across another Federation starship brought there by the caretaker. They hadn't succeeded in living up to Federation standards but the crew of Voyager, that's the ship by the way, ended up taking them on board also. And from this data it seemed that the Captain was able to make a functioning crew from this."

"Hum, you are right. This might just be that 'something' we are looking for and..." Shadeen interrupted herself when she saw the gleam in Carizon's eyes. "And what else? I know that look, my friend. You are keeping the best for last. So what more is so special about this ship?"

Carizon smiled at his friend and Empress and then specifically looked at Zerisan to indicate that she would find the following information also very interesting. "It's about two of the crewmembers. One is a former Borg drone. Severed from the collective and now an extremely productive member of the crew who has actually helped defend the ship against the Borg on several occasions."

"Interesting." Shadeen agreed.

"Yes, my Empress. And you, my lady, will find the other crewmember very interesting. She is a human/Klingon hybrid."

"Klingon?" Zerisan asked excited. I like the Klingons. They are a little bit like us and..."

"Yes, beloved, we know about your hobby of keeping up with different honorable warrior races in the Galaxy. And it seems as if you are about to meet your first Klingon, even if she is only a hybrid."

"Ah, but with the Klingons, their hybrids often are more like what the Klingons want to be then the real Klingons are themselves."

"We will soon find out. Carizon, give the orders. The imperial wing will leave in one-hour." Then Shadeen focused her attention on our wife. "And you will be on the bridge with me as my wife."

"But I am your chief pilot. I should be at the helm."

"Not this trip, beloved. On this trip you will be my wife and bodyguard of the heir to the throne. Xakana is coming with us."

"But..." A sigh. "Yes, a good choice, my love," she then said, specifically saying 'my love' to indicate that she was agreeing with her wife that this would be a good opportunity to start the training of their daughter. And that she wasn't bowing to the orders of her Empress. "However, we can't be too careful. There is Borg technology on that ship. I want our daughter to be injected before we even leave."

"Of course, I was about to suggest that you do that while I prepare everything on board the ship." Shadeen agreed. "And please tell our daughter that I haven't forgotten about her birthday. That Federation ship isn't going anywhere. They have to get through our space. So, we won't be traveling quickly. Once the wing is underway we will celebrate her birthday and she can have a good time with her friends."

"Thank you, beloved. Thank you for taking time for your family."

"I won't lie to you and say that I would destroy the Empire to save my family, you know that this would be a lie. But I would die for my family and I will certainly take the time for you if I can. Now go and make preparations. By this time tomorrow, you might just meet your first Klingon."

"Yes, Empress." Zerisan said while she turned and left the room.

Shadeen looked at her wife as she was leaving the room and with difficulty suppressed a lustful growl. By the Divine Ones. How I love that woman.

Chapter 10

Since the most of the senior staff had been on the bridge anyhow, the doctor and Neelix were the last to arrive. Almost no one had noticed the change in seating positions. The only person who had noticed was Tom, since Seven was sitting in the chair he usually sat in, the one beside B'Elanna. So, he had taken the chair that the Borg usually occupied and was now sitting across from them, looking at them with a triumphant smile on his face.

"Now that we are all here." Janeway opened. "Care to fill us in, Seven?"

The Borg took a deep breath and was thankful for the feeling of B'Elanna's calming hand on her leg. "Species thirteen. They, and everyone else, simply refer to them as 'The Empire'. But their name is The Followers."

"The Followers?" Janeway asked. "Strange name."

"As far as the Borg know, it is because of their spiritual belief system. They are highly devoted to a race with almighty powers. And even though they believe in the entire race of omnipotent beings, there is one that is placed even higher than the others. The leader of that race. And that is where the name comes from. For wherever that leader of the omnipotent race leads, they will follow. Hence, the Followers."

Chakotay leaned forward when hearing that. "Gods? You mean that they believe in a race of gods?"

"That term is relevant." Seven said carefully, not really certain herself what would be considered a god. "It depends on one's description of 'gods'. The Q, for instance, would be considered gods to a many races in the galaxy. Yet, we have all seen Q and felt his powers. But we still do not call him, or his race, Gods. The same description applies to this race with omnipotent powers. The Followers have seen them, have actually experienced some of the results of actions taken by these powerful beings. It is up to the person if they want to call them Gods. The Followers call them..."

"Wait a minute, Seven." Janeway interrupted. Just hearing the word 'Q' always gave her a headache. "Are you telling us that these people see the Q as their gods?"

"Not at all. The leader of this almighty race is more powerful than the Q could ever be. You have to make a distinction between the Followers and their Divine Ones, as they call them. The Followers are the people which are in that ship out there. They are the guards of their Empire. It is when a race like the Q threatens this Empire that their Divine Ones start protecting it. But only then. For anything other than threats of omnipotent beings, the Followers take care of themselves."

"And what happens if the Q do decide to attack the Empire?" Tuvok asked.

"If the Q were to do so then they would be eradicated, and they know this. That is why no one with almighty powers has ever threatened the Empire, as far as the Borg know. If they ever were to do this, their existence would be wiped out, down to the last member of their race. As far as the Borg know these Divine ones have never attacked any of the other races with omnipotent powers, but the fact that none of those races have ever attacked the Empire would suggest that these Divine ones are indeed capable of killing beings like the Q."

"Sounds like a 'you stay away from my home and I will let you do what ever you like outside of my home' kind of deal. No wonder the Q would stay away." Harry said impressed.

"Simply put," Janeway cleared up. "If immortals attack the Empire then their Divine Ones defend it; if mortals attack the Empire, the Followers defend it?"

"Simply put? Yes. That explanation is acceptable."

"So... Seven." Neelix started slowly. "You said that the Empire calls their gods the Divine Ones?"

"They never actually call them Gods. They only call them Divine Ones. Whether or not they are gods is left to the personal belief of the individual."

"Why do you ask, Neelix?" Janeway asked kindly, seeing that this was difficult for the furry man for some reason.

"Because rumors of this Empire are known all over the Delta quadrant. When the war, which eventually destroyed my homeworld, was raging at its fullest, some wanted to ask for help anywhere it could be found. Rumors were heard of a race so powerful that nothing could defeat them. So some wanted to try and find them to ask for help. But since the government didn't know if this 'Empire' really existed and where it could be found, the government finally decided that the spaceships that the search for this Empire would require would be better spent fighting in the war. And... well, I find it difficult to accept that my homeworld is ruined because it was decided by the government that the spaceships were too valuable for a 'wild goose chase', and here we come across one of their ships. Maybe we could have found them and they could have helped us. Maybe..."

"They would not have helped you." Seven interrupted, trying to make Neelix understand that his 'what ifs' were of no use. "The Borg have assimilated almost one hundred species who asked this Empire for help, usually help against the Borg. They do help and protect certain races on occasion but they decide who and why they help. They most probably would not have helped you because, though you may have lost your homeworld, for them it would have been a simple war between two parties in which they had no business interfering."

"We are digressing." Chakotay spoke up. "Tell us what you know, Seven."

"They are..." Seven paused and looked a bit uncomfortable. "First, I must say that all this information is secondhand. The Borg were never able to assimilate anyone of their race, or any of their technology. The information I have is from encounters the Borg had with them, and from information that races had which have been assimilated by the Borg."

B'Elanna laughed quietly at that. "Are you trying to tell us that the information you have comes from the Borg equivalent of rumors?"

Seven surprised everybody by merely smiling tolerantly at the remark and then went on surprising them even more by saying, "Kyamo, if anybody knows the value of rumors then it is you." And for the first time in her life Seven experienced the strange phenomenon of how a quiet room can get even quieter. But just as it is with most phenomena, it lasted only for a couple of seconds.

"Yes!" Tom said excited. Even though he couldn't understand the word, he understood an endearment between lovers if he heard one.

After Tom's outburst, realization hit the others and everybody started talking at once.

Hu? (Harry)

What? (Neelix)

But... (The Doctor)

Interesting. (Tuvok)

Oh boy. (Janeway)

This is not good. (Chakotay)

Everybody started quieting down when B'Elanna reacted. They all wanted to hear her reaction to this slip of the tongue. "You sure as hell know how to break the news, Mesh."

Janeway decided that she better take hold of the situation before anybody could start asking questions. "Um, am I to understand that your relationship has shifted to a more personal level?" Deliberately 'forgetting' that questions about personal matters were usually not discussed during a senior staff meeting.

"You could say that, Kathryn." B'Elanna replied. She specifically called Janeway 'Kathryn' to indicate that she was now talking unofficially to one of her friends, and not to the captain. "Yesterday Mesh... Seven and I finally had 'that talk' and..." B'Elanna started blushing now but still continued. "And we confessed what we've been hiding for months."

When she heard 'for months' Janeway quickly made the small calculation and then looked to Tom who was sitting there with a smug look on his face, as if he was somehow responsible for what had happened between B'Elanna and Seven. And now the relatively sudden divorce between Tom and B'Elanna made complete sense to her. He had known before either of the women had wanted to accept it. "Well then, let me congratulate you both on taking your relationship a step further."

"Actually, Kathryn, Captain." Now B'Elanna changed back to using 'Captain' to indicate that the next part was more official. "We did more than taking it 'one step' further. We combined Borg efficiency with Klingon straightforwardness and got engaged last night. And this morning I asked Seven to move in with me, and she said yes." Now her eyes found those of Tom. She apologized quietly, apologized for giving more to Seven in twelve hours than she had ever given to him. She never asked him to move in with her. It had been his idea. B'Elanna could see the trace of hurt in his eyes that he couldn't quite disguise but luckily, she also saw how his smile was genuine, and that he was really happy for them.

"Congratulations to both of you." Tom said with a clear voice that led no doubt to anybody in a conference room that he sincerely meant it.

It was Chakotay who disrupted the good reactions to this news. "I must admit that I would never have pictured you two together since you are really nothing alike. But let me also congratulate you on taking your relationship further." Nobody in the room had any trouble hearing that Chakotay certainly didn't mean his felicitations. "But, I must also admit that the engagement doesn't really sound too wise. Don't get me wrong, if you have been together for some time and feel then that you should get engaged, fine. But isn't this just a little bit... quick? Wouldn't it be better if you waited some time before getting engaged?"

B'Elanna couldn't believe that her 'friend' would say something like that but before she could react, Seven did.

Seven shifted the chair back and stood, leaning forward on her arms and fisted hands, which she had placed on the table. "B'Elanna and I ARE engaged according to Klingon tradition. And according to that tradition anybody who does not agree with the engagement can challenge the person who is not yet part of the Klingon house, in this case me, to an honorable combat. Do you wish to challenge me? Please, say yes."

Those last words gave Chakotay a pretty good indication of what would happen if he were to say yes. "No, I don't want to challenge you. I was just wondering if you two had actually thought this through."

"Okay, that's enough." Janeway intervened. She had waited so long because first she couldn't believe what Chakotay had asked and after that she had a feeling that interrupting them before Chakotay had answered would have been the wrong thing to do.

But Seven wasn't quite finished with making a few things clear. "Let me make this clear to you. B'Elanna and I have not made this move without reason. We may have become engaged relatively quick by your standards, but you seem to forget that for the last three months B'Elanna and I have spent at least twelve hours each day, seven days each week, together. When we became engaged yesterday, we did so because we simply could not hide how we felt for each other anymore. So, do not DARE to question our motives. I would die protecting my Kyamo, and I would certainly defend our relationship to someone like you. So... do... NOT... try... me... on... this, or else I WILL show you how much I intend to embrace Klingon customs under which B'Elanna and I are engaged." By now her tone of voice had changed from the cold Borg monotone to something best described as barely contained danger.

"That'll do, Seven." Janeway interrupted with a tone in her voice that could have chilled the room by ten degrees. She knew that Chakotay was not a man to back down from being challenged like that. But the Borg chose to ignore the captain, for the moment.

"Have I made myself clear?" Seven whispered dangerously.

And then Chakotay surprised the captain by saying; "Very clear. I didn't intend to offend you, Bo... Seven. I'm sure you two will be very happy together."

"We will." The Borg said, accepting the fact that Chakotay was backing down. She then set down again and immediately felt B'Elanna take her hand and place both hands on the table, showing without a doubt her support to Seven in this. The ex-drone then took a calming breath and focused her attention on Janeway. "I apologize, Captain. I had expected some resistance from the crew against our engagement." She then looked at Chakotay again for moment. "Resistance which till now has only come from one single person." Then back to Janeway. "My behavior does not belong in a senior staff meeting. It is just that the Commander's reaction so openly during this meeting still came as a surprise, even though I expected that he would not approve of our engagement."

"I can accept that." Janeway said understandingly because she too was surprised at Chakotay's reaction. "But this is the first and last time this happens. Such a reaction, while on duty, is unacceptable." Janeway's tone made it clear that a next time there would be severe consequences.

"Yes, Captain," Seven agreed.

"Very well, let's get back to the matter at hand. We have a spaceship out there."

"Actually, Captain." B'Elanna spoke up. "Now that we are talking about this, I would like to officially request that my quarters be designated from now on, as the 'Torres - ...'" A quick look to Seven. "Nine, or Hansen?"

"Hansen is acceptable."

"Then I would like to ask if from now on they will be the 'Torres - Hansen' quarters."

"Very well." Janeway agreed. But before she could finally start about the ship again, Seven spoke up.

"And I would like my status changed. Humans are listed as either single or married, according to Federation rules. However, engaged Klingons have status as such which is accepted by the Federation. From now on I would like to be listed as Seven of Nine, Tertiary Adjunct to Unimatrix Zero One, née Annika Hansen, Lady-to-be of the House of Torres."

"If you ask me, you're just going for the record of longest name." Tom reacted amused.

Even the serious Janeway couldn't contain a small laugh at this. She then looked at Seven and merely asked; "Lady-to- be?"

"Yes. Since the Klingons put the females equal to the males long before the humans ever did, the names Lord and Lady are not necessary restricted to respectively male and female. Usually it is, but with the same gender pairings, as B'Elanna and I, the names are assigned differently. Since B'Elanna and I agreed that she will be the leader of the house, she will be called Lord of the house. Which means that I will be the Lady of the house."

"And what is if two males get married?" Tom asked. "Sorry, but somehow I simply don't see a rough male Klingon warrior calling himself 'lady'."

"You're right." B'Elanna spoke up. "But as far as I know they change the name then to ruler of the house, and Lord of the house. Still indicating that one is higher. Klingon customs simply demand as much."

Janeway sat up a little bit straighter and cleared her throat. "Okay, now, officially we should be talking about something else entirely. So, Seven, we know by now that the Borg call them species thirteen, that they and everybody else simply call them the Empire, and their official name is The Followers. Now, what more can you tell us?"

"They are a warrior race. The average height of the individual is two meters and ten centimeters (Seven feet), and they have an according body bulk."

"Like the Hirogen?" Neelix asked.

"No, more like a broad shouldered human of that height. Though their body is much more enduring than a human's, or Hirogen's for that matter. Just as with humans there is a distinct aesthetic difference between males and females of their race. However this is only limited to aesthetics and biological differences in the bodies. Male and female are of equal heights and strength."

"So male and female look different but basically are the same?" Harry wondered out loud. It wouldn't be the first time that they encountered a race in which male and female were almost the same.

"Not at all. There is a distinct difference between the two, just as with humans. Basically you could actually compare them with big humans, it is just that the average male is not taller or stronger than the average female. On first impression they look quite a bit like humans. But there are distinct differences. Their bone structure is much stronger than that of a human. So strong that it is difficult for a Borg drone to break any of their bones, it would be impossible for human to do so without the help of heavy objects. Physically, they are also much stronger. Strong enough to overpower a Borg drone."

"That doesn't say much." Chakotay interrupted. "Everyone of us has the fighting skills to outfight a Borg drone."

"That may be. But I said that they are strong enough to overpower a Borg drone, not outfight. They are actually physically stronger than eighty-nine percent of Borg enhanced drones. One thousand, one hundred and eighty-five races are stronger than The Followers if those races have Borg enhancements. The Borg do not know of a race that is physically stronger than The Followers without Borg enhancements."

"You said they are a warrior race. Do you mean like the Klingons?" B'Elanna asked.

"Partially. Just like the Klingons, they have certain warrior beliefs, traditions and customs. But they are more... sophisticated. More like what the Klingons can be in the future, if they do not destroy themselves in the process of getting there."

"You said that you could basically compare them with big humans, do they also look the same as humans?" The Doctor couldn't help but ask. His programming automatically made him curious to what these aliens would look like.

"At first sight they do. But if you take a moment to look at them you will see certain differences. The heavier bone structure and more dense muscle tissue does give their bodies a look quite different from humans. Just like the Klingon's bodies look different than humans, though their faces and foreheads do look more human than Klingons although, their heavier bone structure makes their foreheads more prominent. More like yours, B'Elanna, except that the lower ridges go on and circle the eyes, like with the Cardassians, and the most upper ridges are almost invisible. But unlike the Cardassians their skin is as smooth as that of a human, and their skin color is, in general, also more like yours, B'Elanna. Though, just as with humans, this varies from white to almost entirely black. But the majority of them are just a little bit darker than you."

"Thanks for the visual, Seven." Chakotay interrupted "But why not tell us about important things now."

"You said that the Borg never succeeded in assimilating any of them." Janeway intervened. "Why not? Aren't they suitable for assimilation?"

"To the contrary. The Borg believe that they would be very suitable for assimilation. However, they use one of the most effective Borg systems against the Borg. Nanoprobes."

"You mean they are cybernetic, just like the Borg?"

"Not at all, Doctor. As far as the Borg know, the children of the Followers only get injected with their nanoprobes when there is the possibility that they will encounter the Borg. And they will also be injected at the moment they become soldiers. But unlike the Borg, the nanoprobes of the Followers lie dormant in their bodies and only become active and reproduce when needed. As far as the Borg know, that is when the person comes into contact with something that is not natural. As long as damage to the body has occurred naturally, for instance in battle, the nanoprobes stay dormant, even if they could save the life of the person. They believe that letting the nanoprobes save the life on occasions like that is 'cheating'. However, the nanoprobes will become active as soon as something happens to the body that the normal immune system cannot defend itself against. For instance, if the person were to be poisoned or would come into contact with chemical or biological weapons. Thanks to their nanoprobe technology, the Followers are almost immune to weapons of this kind.

"But it is when a Borg tries to assimilate the person that these nanoprobes show their true potential. If this happens, then the nanoprobes first destroy the Borg nanoprobes that are trying to enter the body, then the Follower's nanoprobes travel up the Borg's assimilation tubes and destroy every nanoprobe and implant in the Borg's body. Leaving nothing more than a dead drone which obviously died because all the Borg technology that was needed to sustain the drone's life was turned into nothing more than useless and irreparable metal."

"Wow, talk about unlucky thirteen." Tom said.

"Lieutenant?" Janeway asked.

"Um, sorry Captain. Old Earth superstition. Far into the twenty-second century it was believed that the number thirteen was unlucky. Even going so far that in the high-rises of that time they most often skipped the thirteenth floor. Going from the twelfth to the fourteenth floor. And since Seven said that the Borg called them species thirteen and the Borg are not able to assimilate them, it reminded me of that old superstition."

"Indeed." Seven said, lifting her eyebrow. "It seems appropriate. They are also far more advanced than the Borg as far as weapons and shielding is concerned."

"I would say so, judging from the readings we got from that ship out there." Chakotay couldn't help but point out the obvious.

"That 'ship out there' is only one of their Scout ships. Just as Voyager's weapons are superior to one of the shuttles, the Scout ship has only light weapons and is only lightly armored compared to one of their bigger ships. As far as the Borg know, their battle cruisers are the most powerful ships they have."

"Even more powerful than that ship?" Harry asked, surprised.

"The last battle between the Borg and the Empire was sixteen years ago. The Borg were on the verge of assimilating a heavily populated solar system. Six planets were populated with possible drones, all worthy of assimilation. Twenty-nine billion in total. So to assimilate efficiently, the Borg had come en force. Twenty-seven cubes and sixteen spheres were dispatched. The Borg were just about to begin assimilation when they noticed an Imperial battle cruiser coming through the system." Now Seven looked at Neelix. "Since the assimilation that was about to happen was of no business to them, the ship continued its course through the solar system without interfering." Then she looked to the Captain again. "However, since the Borg were there in such great numbers they saw this as the perfect opportunity to finally succeed with assimilating Imperial technology. They shifted their attention from assimilating the solar system to attacking the battle cruiser. Now that they were attacked, the battle cruiser came around and answered the attack. F..."

Seven took a deep breath and was once again thankful for feeling B'Elanna's comforting hand. "Five hours later, one single, heavily damaged sphere was all that was left of the Borg force and the Imperial battle cruiser allowed it to go when the sphere set a course for Borg space."

"The single battle cruiser destroyed twenty-seven cubes and fifteen spheres?!" The Klingon asked surprised. "Did the Borg later return to still assimilate the solar system?" B'Elanna then asked quietly because she knew that if this had happened sixteen years ago the ex-drone would actually know every detail of the massacre, even though she never was at the actual battle. 'Thanks' to the collective Borg mind.

"The Borg did return eight months later. However, when they arrived they found an Imperial Starbase and four Imperial battle cruisers waiting for them. It appeared that since the Borg had decided to attack a battle cruiser in that solar system the Empire had punished the Borg for this by protecting the entire solar system."

Janeway understood now. "So that is what you mean with that they choose who they protect, and why. They first didn't protect the solar system against the Borg, and after they were attacked there they started protecting it as a punishment to the Borg."

"That is correct. However, make no mistake about the sincerity of their protection. They would defend the solar system down to the last person. Their honor as Warriors demands it."

"So did the Borg try another attack?" Harry asked.

"The Borg collective did not achieve its present magnitude by taking stuped risks. They often make calculated sacrifices but attacking a second time would not have served any purpose. The Borg retreated without a single shot being fired."

"So if you knew that we were heading for this 'Empire', why didn't you warn us before?" Chakotay asked. "If you had, we could have set a course around it without losing too much time."

Seven could clearly hear the challenging tone in that question. However, since it was a legitimate question, she chose to answer it and ignore the tone, for now. "I could not warn you because I do not know where this Empire is. I do not know if that ship out there is guarding the borders of the Empire, or if it is protecting something else. It is always assumed, and I must admit that I have often said so, that a Borg drone possesses the knowledge of the entire collective. That is not entirely correct. There is approximately two percent of information that is only known to the Borg Queen. The location of this Empire is information that is not known to the normal drone."

"Why not?" A surprised doctor asked.

"Voyager itself succeeded in severing a drone from the Collective --me --and giving me my individuality back. It is conceivable that somebody else would do the same and then the knowledge of that Borg drone would be at the disposal of that somebody, just as my knowledge is at the disposal of Voyager. It would be unacceptable to the Borg if some one was to learn the position of the only known thing that can destroy the Borg Collective. That is why certain knowledge is kept from the average drone."

Janeway leaned forward and held up her finger for a moment. "But in that case, why not keep ALL the information from a normal drone? I mean, the information you have provided us with has been, and continues to be, of immense value to us."

"A drone needs information to be able to function properly." A quick look to Tuvok. "For instance, to know that they simply have to kill Vulcans because they are not suitable for assimilation. And a Borg drone also needs to know how important information about the Omega molecule is. Only things that have the potential of destroying the Borg collective are partially kept from the average drone. For instance, I still know that this is an Imperial scout ship out there; I still know that trying to assimilate one of the species would mean the end of my existence. But I do not know the location of the Empire. I do not know the place that races could go to ask for help against the Borg."

"Okay." Janeway agreed, seeing the logic Seven's speech. "What more can you tell us about them? And what now? Set a course and see if we can find a way around this Empire, if this is the Empire?"

"I still have a lot of information about them, but I can not tell you more that is really relevant at the moment. Perhaps that they exist far longer than the Borg. The first contact the Borg had with them was early on in the Borg's existence, hence the designation species thirteen. Since before that day, they have had a technology far superior to that of the Borg. And up-to- date, that superiority has only increased. And IF this is the border of the Empire, then setting a course to find a way around it is not advised. I do know that the expanse of the Empire rivals that of the Borg and that the Borg actually expect that the Empire is far greater than Borg space. It is likely that finding away around their Empire would prolong the journey to the Alpha Quadrant by decades. We could try going around them at a distance of several light-years. If they still block our way then it is conceivable that this indeed the border to the Empire. And in that case I would suggest, waiting."

"Waiting?" Janeway repeated.

"Yes." The Borg answered shortly. But then realized that the Captain would not be satisfied with that answer. "If this is their Empire, we have only the option of receiving their permission to pass through their space, or basically spend the rest of our lives trying to go around it. But if we wait, they will eventually contact us, even if it is only to say that there will be no further contact. That is what they usually do. I just informed you of the Borg retreating the second time they wanted to assimilate that solar system. The Followers also sent the Borg a message that day. Very clear, very simple: 'Leave, or be destroyed.'"

"Anybody else have any suggestions?" The Captain asked. When nobody replied she continued. "Okay then, but I am not going to back us up any more. Tom, I want you to set a course to starboard, warp six. If they are blocking our way only for something they are protecting then they will keep up with us until we have reached a distance far enough away and then we can go through. If it is the border to the Empire then they will eventually have enough of us sliding along their border and contact us."

"Or blow us to bits." Tom added.

"I doubt that." The Borg replied. "If they were looking for a provocation, they would have destroyed us by now. That time is over. Now they will wait until we do something they find unacceptable. At this point we would receive some kind of warning. That is one of the paradoxes with this race. Once the first threat is over and they have not destroyed you, they will give you the opportunity to leave."

"Very well, dismissed." The Captain ordered.

As soon as everybody stood, Chakotay intercepted B'Elanna at the door. Seven realized that now was not the time to intervene, now was the time to let the Klingon have her say.

"B'Elanna, I really think..."

"Stuff it, Chakotay. Just stuff it. I can't believe you are doing this. The only reason I didn't react like Seven did is because I have learned to control myself, at least during staff meetings. But if you are even thinking about saying that Seven is no good for me, I swear to Kahless that I will honor my Klingon heritage and stand up for my fiancée. So think really hard about what you're going to say now, really hard."

"I..."

"Yeah, I thought that this would be what you had to say. You be really careful Chakotay because right now you're on my bad side. And if you really think that I would give this up, give up my love for Seven, give up life, just because you think it's a bad idea, then you've got another think coming. Now, you are my commanding officer and I have to work with you, but outside that you better stay the hell away from me, you got that?"

"I got it, Klingon. Well, if you want to throw away your life that's your business." With that said, Chakotay headed the last couple of steps toward the door but he just didn't make it.

"Commander, a word with you, if you please." The Captain said in that quiet tone of which everybody knew that it meant nothing good. "Ladies, you're dismissed.

Chapters 11 to 12