“I want to know everything that happened and I want to know now.” The menace in her voice left no doubts as to her intent.

Chakotay sat down heavily. “Last Thursday after my debriefing session, a Starfleet Security officer took me into another briefing room and told me that I was facing charges for my actions in the Maquis. He told me that if I proved my loyalty to Starfleet and the Federation by helping them determine if Seven’s Borg implants were a threat he would see to it that the charges were dropped, and that I could keep my commission in Starfleet.”

“Who was this Security officer? What was his name? Was he part of your debreifing team?”

“He told me his name was Commander Wilson…Rath Wilson. He had all the information from my debriefings, and he told me that I was going to be charged with treason for my activities in the Maquis.”

“Had anyone in your debriefings implied that at any time?” demanded Janeway.

“No, no one said anything about charges…”

“That’s because there were no charges going to be filed against you! I told you that last week! I have Admiral Paris and Admiral Patterson on record that you will be welcome in Starfleet if you want it. I told you that!”

“But Commander Wilson said…”

“I asked you this earlier and by Kahless, I’ll ask it again. How fuckin’ stupid are you?” growled Torres at this new information. “Did you even bother to check this guy out before you bought his bullshit?”

Chakotay could not look them in the eyes.

“He…he seemed legitimate…He knew all about the debriefings and my history with the Maquis. He made it sound like even though you’d stood up for us that it wouldn’t do any good. That I’d spend years in prison for joining the Maquis. And he explained about Seven’s Borg technology and how it could be a threat to Federation security and that they had to ascertain that it wasn’t.”

“And did you, for one minute, stop to think that those same assessments had been done by our EMH all during her service on Voyager? Every week when she had her implant maintenance? And that we transmitted that information to Starfleet Medical before we docked at McKinley Station? You were supposed to oversee the data transfers. Did you never look at what you were transmitting?” Janeway was furious and letting it show.

“Commander Wilson said that even if Seven didn’t want to cooperate, that if she was taken that her technology could be used against the Federation and Starfleet…”

“So that’s exactly what you let him do! You let him take her…against her will! You are an idiot!”

Chakotay flashed with anger and stood up.

“I’m not an idiot! I love her! Do you think that I’d just let them take her away?”

Janeway strode furiously up to him and bristled. “That’s exactly what I think. You claim you love her. Did you make sure she got to see her aunt? You claim you love her. Did you try to shield her from all the new things she was having to contend with? You claim you love her. When they came to take her did you scream bloody murder until somebody in an official capacity arrived to sort things out? You claim you love her. Did you put yourself between her and whoever wanted to harm her and defend her with your life? Don’t talk to me about loving her. The only thing you loved in this whole mess was your career and your freedom! You disgust me!” With that, she spun on her heel, stalked to the opposite side of the room and slapped her comm badge.

“Janeway to Tuvok.”

“Tuvok here, Captain.”

“We’re at Chakotay’s. He let them take her. He probably helped them take her. And he claims that a Commander Rath Wilson met with him the day before and told him he was going to prison unless he cooperated with them.”

“Do you believe him, Captain?”

“I think there’s more here than he’s telling us.”

“Very well, Captain. Standby.”

“Acknowledged. Standing by.” Janeway paced, waiting for her Security Chief to contact her again while B’Elanna looked at Chakotay like a particularly vile parasite she had a mind to exterminate.

“Tuvok to Janeway.”

“Janeway here, Tuvok. Go ahead.”

“Starfleet Security lists no officer of any rank by the name of Rath Wilson, Captain. Lieutanants Valik and T’Paq will arrive shortly. They will have identification for you to verify and use the code word ‘Kal-toh’. They will take charge of Commander Chakotay.”

“Acknowledged. Janeway out.”

As she turned back to confront her former First Officer, there was a knock at the door. Janeway motioned to Torres to answer it. Two Vulcan Starfleet officers armed with hand phasers stood in the hallway.

“Captain Janeway? I am Lieutenant Valik and this is Lieutenant T’Paq. Lieutenant Commander Tuvok sent us.”

“Yes, gentlemen. May I see your ID, please?” Both officers handed over their Starfleet credentials to the captain. She verified them and handed them back.

“What is your code word authorization, Lieutenant?”

“Code word authorization is Kal-toh, Captain.”

“Very well, Lieutenant. Carry on.”

The young Vulcan faced Chakotay.

“Commander Chakotay, you are under arrest as an accessory to the abduction and assault of Federation citizen Annika Hansen also known as Seven of Nine, Tertiary Adjunct to Unimatrix 01. Come with us, Commander.”

“But, but…I…I was doing my duty! I was trying to…”

“You may explain yourself at Headquarters, Commander. Please come with us.” With that the two officers grabbed Chakotay’s arms, hustled him into the hallway and promptly beamed back to Starfleet Security.

B’Elanna chuckled. “Leave it to Tuvok to dispose of that little problem with typical Vulcan efficiency.”

Janeway was still too angry to see any humor in the situation. “That bastard! And he claimed to love her!”

B’Elanna raised one eyebrow at Janeway’s outburst. She and Tom had had many conversations about the Captain’s relationship with Seven of Nine. Tom maintained that Janeway felt protective of the former drone because she had ordered her separation from the Collective. B’Elanna thought the feelings went a whole lot deeper than that. Janeway’s comments made her think she was more right than she had previously thought.

The two women headed back to Starfleet Headquarters to meet with Tuvok and check on Tom and Harry’s progress.

In a small conference room on McKinley Station, Tom and Harry were furiously running search algorithms on the mountain of flight data from the previous Friday evening. Their search had narrowed considerably from when they started and Harry thought they were finally making progress.

“Tom, take a look at this.  I cross referenced holding patterns and flight plan changes for the time period in question and I’ve got it narrowed down to seven ships, three very possibles.”

They examined the flight logs of the shuttle Chicago, the deep space trading vessel Moloki and a privately owned space yacht called Peer’s Folly. The shuttle Chicago was in a holding pattern over Seattle waiting on a contingent of Federation exobiologists and had logged a flight plan to the Vulcan home world. The flight plan was changed at the last minute to DS4 in response to an outbreak of Bolian Pox in the area. Everything was documented and checked out.

The private yacht Peer’s Folly was holding over Las Vegas for an industrialist from the Alpha Centauri system. Originally slated to return there, the flight plan was changed to the pleasure planet of Risa when the industrialist beamed back aboard in the company of five ladies of Betazoid and Deltan heritage. Again, their logs and flight plans seemed to check out.

The deep space trading vessel Moloki was logged as holding over Los Angeles awaiting final cargo loading. Their flight plan was logged to DS9, heading for the Bajor system, but requested a last-minute change to pick up additional cargo on Mars before leaving the Terran core system. No bills of lading were available for the last-minute cargo pickup, but the brief stop-over on Mars had been confirmed. After leaving the Terran core system the trader had dropped off the sensor grid and its whereabouts were currently unknown.

“We need to let Tuvok know,” Tom replied. He slapped his comm badge “Paris to Tuvok.”

“Tuvok here, Lieutenant.”

“Tuvok. We’ve got three likely candidates. I’m sending the data we’ve got to you at Headquarters.”

“Very good. Do you have propulsion specs on the crafts as well?”

“We’ve got Federation registry information on them.”

“Could you use that data to scan for particle trails and warp signatures from Voyager?”

“Harry says he thinks so, Tuvok.”

“Then proceed to the Astrometrics lab on Voyager and do so. The Captain and Lieutenant Torres should arrive back here momentarily. I will bring them up to date on your findings.”

“Acknowledged. Paris out.”

Tom and Harry left the conference room and headed for Voyager’s berth.

When Janeway and Torres arrived at Starfleet Security, they settled in with the records Tom and Harry had uncovered and began to develop the histories of all three vessels. While there was extensive documentation on both the shuttle Chicago and the private yacht Peer’s Folly it didn’t take long for them to discover holes in the logs of the deep space trader Moloki. While the ship’s registry listed the vessel as launched over fifteen years ago, no records of ownership or maintenance logs could be found for earlier than the previous two years. Additionally, there were also discrepancies in the physical configuration specs of the ship. In fact, the vessel had a marked resemblence to a vessel listed as ‘LOST in the Gamma Quadrant’ three years previously. Tuvok immediately set the Security staff to investigating every detail of the freighter, while he, Janeway and Torres began to discuss likely scenarios.

“I strongly suspect that there is an element of truth in the story that was told to Chakotay,” Tuvok explained to the women. “The Borg technology that could be obtained from Seven of Nine has several military and weapons applications that come to mind immediately, and there are probably many more if we spent any time analyzing them. The key factor in this scenario is that they need a secure facility that either has been, or could be, equipped as a medical center, as well as medical personnel to staff it. That means one of two things, either an abandoned Starfleet medical facility or a black market facility. I do not believe that Section 31 would trust a criminal element for something they deemed this critical to Federation security, so I would begin searching for abandoned or decommissioned Starfleet facilities. Starfleet Medical is the logical place to start. Do you know anyone stationed there, Captain?”

“I certainly do,” Janeway stood up and donned her uniform tunic. “Come on, B’Elanna. We’re going to Atlanta.”

“Captain? Might I suggest that you take…precautions? Section 31 has very likely infiltrated many areas of Starfleet,” said Tuvok. Janeway nodded and on the way to the transport center grabbed two small type-1 phasers from a weapons locker.

Janeway and Torres arrived in the receiving area of the Starfleet Medical Headquarters administrative section and asked to see Admiral Kate Pulaski, Director of Starfleet Medical. When they were shown into her office the statuesque older woman rose to greet Janeway.

“Kathryn, it’s good to see you again. I was delighted to hear you’d made it back to us in one piece.”

“You might not be so delighted when we’ve finished here, Admiral.”

“Oh? What can I do for you?”

“I want to know where you’re holding my Astrometrics officer.”

Pulaski looked confused. “Holding your Astrometrics officer? Was there some medical problem we weren’t aware of when you berthed at McKinley?”

“No, she was taken by Starfleet Security last Friday evening for a physical examination. I want to know where that examination is taking place and on whose authority it was requested.”

Pulaski frowned, swung around to her data terminal and began inputting queries. “I’m not aware of any physical examinations that are necessary for your crew. Your EMH transmitted complete medical records for all of Voyager’s crew shortly before you docked. Kathryn, I think you’re mistaken…” As she swung back around to face Janeway, she came face to face with two phasers aimed directly at her.

“Kathryn, what the hell is wrong with you?” she demanded.

“I want the truth! Did you or did you not authorize the arrest and physical examination of Seven of Nine?”

“Seven of Nine? Oh my god…your Borg! That’s who was taken?”

“You’re damned right that’s who was taken, and I want to know where right now!”

Pulaski raised her hands in a placating gesture. “Kathryn, I know nothing about ANY of this. We don’t send Security to bring people in for physical exams! I’ve known your family since before you were born. You’ve known me your whole life.  I taught you at the Academy. Am I the kind of physician – the kind of person - who would be party to something like this?”

Janeway regarded her fiercely for a moment, then lowered the phaser. Torres did likewise.

“No, you aren’t. She’s been missing for three days and all we know is that Security came and took her for a physical exam. We don’t know if they were actual Starfleet Security agents and we don’t know why they took her. All we’ve got to go on is they claimed it was for a physical exam of some kind. Wouldn’t they need some kind of medical facility for that?”

Pulaski hailed her adjunct. “Reilly? Get me the complete log of our facilites in the quadrant, active and inactive. I need it yesterday, Lieutenant. And while you’re at it get me our logs of any and all medical personnel currently on leave, suspended or separated from the service for cause and make sure my away kit is ready to go.” She turned back to face Janeway. “All right, Kathryn, now it’s time to tell me what you haven’t yet. If it wasn’t Starfleet Security, then who was it that took her?”

Janeway hesitated. “We’re not sure.”

“Agents of the Dominion? Section 31? The Romulans?”

“How do you know about Section 31?”

“Kathryn, I AM an Admiral in Starfleet. I have security clearances you know. I presume your suspicions lie with Section 31, otherwise you wouldn’t be looking for Starfleet facilites that they might use.”

Pulaski’s adjunct entered at that point with a PADD, a type-2 phaser and a medium-sized shoulder kit. Pulaski stood up and shrugged into her uniform tunic.

“Okay, let’s go.”

Janeway looked at her suspiciously. “Go? What do you mean?”

“I mean, lets get back to wherever you’re coordinating your search and get busy. I’m coming with you.”

“Oh no you’re not.”

Admiral Pulaski clipped on the phaser, took the PADD from her adjunct and shouldered the medical away kit.

“Captain, let me remind you that I outrank you. I am coming with you. When we locate your Seven of Nine, you may need a physician along. That would be me. Now let’s move, we’re wasting time.”

B’Elanna chuckled quietly. “I like your style, Doc.”

Tuvok didn’t seem surprised when the three of them entered their command post. A few moments later, Harry arrived carrying several PADDs. He quickly downloaded the data to the workstation and everyone gathered around the screen.

“As you can see, we’ve isolated seven ships that might fit the criteria we’re looking for, but these three seem to be the most likely prospects. We’ve traced the ion trails for all three, and only this ship – the interstellar trader Moloki – doesn’t show up where it’s supposed to be. In addition, they filed a last-minute flight plan change to Mars to supposedly pick up cargo, but there’s no bills of lading for any Mars cargo and the traffic control logs for Mars only show it in orbit for a couple of minutes. That’s not enough time to on-load and secure cargo of any size. We can’t be sure, but we think this is the ship they used to transport Seven.”

Admiral Pulaski busied herself with the PADD she’d brought from Headquarters. After a minute she frowned slightly.

“There’s a medical receiving facility on Mars that we used during the Dominion War. It’s been decommissioned and slated for demolition in four months. It’s away from Utopia Planetia and the rest of the Starfleet facilities; relatively isolated. Tuvok, can we get a scan to determine if there are any life signs there?”

“I’m picking up a damping field around the facility. Was there any shielding left in place for security reasons when it was abandoned?” the Vulcan asked.

“No, given the location it wasn’t deemed necessary. If there’s a damping field somebody else activated it,” replied Pulaski.

“Tuvok, let me take a look at the sensor readings on that energy field,” said B’Elanna. She studied the readings for a moment then turned to Janeway. “I can get us through the field in less than a minute with a couple of tools off Voyager.”

“What do you need B’Elanna?” asked Harry.

“A hyper-spanner and two induction-modulated relays,” replied the engineer. Harry went to a workstation and quickly entered some data. “Taken care of,” he said after a minute.

“Okay, are we all agreed that this is the most likely place they’re holding Seven?” asked Janeway. Everyone nodded. “All right, then let’s go get her back.”

“Captain, we need to make a short stop first,” said Tuvok.

“And I need to make a short comm link,” said Pualski.

“I don’t want to waste any more time. We need to get her out now!” said Janeway.

“I understand, Captain, but by taking a few more minutes now, we will have an easier time when we arrive on Mars.”

“All right, Tuvok. I yield to your tactical experience. Let’s go.”

The Vulcan turned to Admiral Pulaski. “Admiral, meet us in storage bay 427 on the lower level within ten minutes. After that we leave without you.”

“Acknowledged, Commander,” the physician replied. As the rest of the group left she hailed Dr. Lewis Zimmerman in his holographic lab on Jupiter.

“Lewis? Kate Pulaski. I need to speak with Voyager’s Mark 1 immediately.”

The balding EMH quickly appeared on the screen. “What can I do for you Admiral?”

“Doctor, I need you to get to the Starfleet Medical Center adjacent to Headquarters immediately. Seven of Nine has disappeared and it looks like someone’s trying to steal her Borg technology.”

The EMH was stricken. “Anyone unfamiliar with her Borg implants could kill her if they attempt to remove them!”

“I know that, Doctor. I’m going along on the rescue mission. I can probably keep her alive if they’ve tried, but I’m going to need your expertise to reconstruct her implants if any have been damaged or harvested. Get to the medical facility right now!”

The EMH felt he should be the one to go on the rescue mission, but realized that it would take even more time for him to rendezvous with his former shipmates. “I’m on my way, Admiral. I’ll meet you at Emergency receiving as soon as you get back. EMH out.”

Admiral Pulaski logged off and raced for the lower levels.