Protocols Unknown: A Decision of The Stars

Two to Beam Out

"Captain?"

Janeway turned to her. "You and Harry will pilot the Sacajawea. Follow our trajectory and stay sharp. We'll maintain an open but silent channel unless there's an emergency."

B'Elanna gave a firm nod. "Understood." Then, after a beat, she added, "We could deploy a localized dampening field inside each ship—mask our comms interference without severing the connection between them. Keep the signal stable, but hidden. It'll require power redistribution and subspace phase tuning, but I can do it on the fly."

She looked toward Tom just once—briefly—then turned to Paris and walked him through the dampening field's routing adjustments. "Keep the subspace channel narrowband and route power through the secondary EPS taps. If the field fluctuates, you'll need to reroute manually."

Tom gave her a small salute. "I've got it."

Only then did she move toward the Sacajawea's boarding ramp without another word.

The team split—Janeway, Tom, Seven, and Icheb boarding the Flyer; B'Elanna and Harry heading for the Sacajawea.

The bay thrummed as engines came online. Lights shifted from standby to active. The deck shuddered slightly beneath their feet as both vessels powered up.

"Delta Flyer and Sacajawea ready for launch," came Tom's voice over the internal channel.

"Voyager to launch control," Chakotay replied from the bridge. "You are cleared. Bring our girls home."

Both ships lifted in tandem, rising in perfect sync. The launch bay doors split open, revealing the waiting stars beyond.

And then they were gone—two bright sparks vanishing into the stars.

Space was quiet—unnaturally so. No subspace echoes. No plasma trails. Just three derelict Borg cubes floating like broken teeth.

The Delta Flyer and Sacajawea held position at the center, hovering in the stillness between.

Inside the Flyer, the console blinked green.

Seven's voice cut through the tension.

Icheb leaned over the console, his voice steady but low. "The neural interface is holding. Seven's enhancements stabilized the link—we're getting clear signal separation now."

He tapped twice. The screen pulsed with a slow, synchronized waveform.

"Cube Three," he said, pointing. "That's the one. Her pattern resonates strongest there. Astrea is alive, that's where she is."

Seven glanced at him, then at the readout, and gave a small nod of agreement.

Tom glanced back from the helm. "Then that's where we go."

Janeway nodded once. "Inform Harry and B'Elanna."

Seven tapped her console. "B'Elanna, we have a match. Cube Three."

"Understood," B'Elanna's voice came through, clear and steady. "We're right behind you."

Tom's fingers danced across the helm. "Coordinates locked. Engaging warp seven."

With a sudden burst of light, both ships jumped to warp, streaking through the void in perfect tandem. Stars blurred around them as they cut across space.

Moments later, they emerged near Cube Three—the one pulsing faintly in the dark, the one holding the signal. Their engines quieted as they dropped back into formation, gliding forward into final position.

Janeway looked to Icheb. "Are you ready?"

Icheb glanced at the waveform again, hesitation flickering in his eyes. "Captain... if I go over there and something disrupts the signal, we could lose it. I think I should stay here. Maintain the link."