Kadoss (Star Trek Voyager)

Setting and all non-original characters are property of Rick Berman, Michael Piller, and Jeri Taylor.
This is another really ole one (~1999?) that was originally posted on the Tarot of Sneezing.

"Captain's log, Stardate 67431.2."

"We sustained heavy damage attempting to pass through a large Nebula. Electrical storms disrupted our warp core, which had to be taken off-line. Fortunately we are entering a region of the Delta Quadrant with several inhabited systems. I've sent Commander Chakotay to one of the more distant systems to find us a safe place to dock and repair. Tom, Harry and Tuvok are with him. Meanwhile, Voyager is limping towards what is known as the Tricarros system under impulse power. We plan to dock with an orbital space station there and procure replacement parts...."

Captain Janeway finisher her log entry just as the injured Voyager docked with the station. Their reception at the station was cordial and the local merchants were all too eager to sell the crew the parts they needed - at a substantial markup, of course. Fortunately they were hauling cargo from a previous mission which proved valuable as barter material at the station. Elsewhere on the station, less friendly eyes watched as the ship docked.

"You claim I will be able to transport aboard the ship undetected?" The reptilian creature named Kadoss hissed.

"Yes, and once inside you will need to use this data chip to control the computer systems. You will be able to bypass all command lockouts and intruder protocols." The cloaked figure croaked. "But how will you move about the ship unseen by the crew? Surely someone will spot you eventually."

"That is my concern."

"And what of the crew? How will you overcome them? You surely can't kill them all."

"I won't have to kill any of them," Kadoss assured his cloaked ally, "All I need to overcome that particular obstacle is right here." He revealed a small vial, roughly 10 centimeters long, with a dull pitted surface, but with what looked like a secured, air tight seal. "This will be all I need."

The cloaked one clearly did not understand, but shrugged in acceptance. "Whatever you say."

Kadoss paid the cloaked creature and they parted ways. Kadoss did not like dealing with the shadowy Molock race, but they were as unsurpassed in the art of espionage as the Kraktar were in assassination. He was a Kraktar, but he did not care for the art of assassination as the rest of his race did. He preferred piracy as a way to make his living. The starship Voyager was his holy grail. An alien ship, full of new technology, the likes of which had not come through this sector of space since before the life of his great-grandfather, and his species lived a long time indeed. He had tried to take her once before, but was unable to even get on board. He also had little knowledge of computers. This is where the Molocks came in. They had been tracking and studying Voyager for some time. He now had the means to enter the ship and a means to control their computer systems once inside. As for dealing with the crew, he had two advantages.

His race has the natural ability to go unnoticed in a crowd. It is difficult to understand since they resembled no other species he'd ever seen. But in a crowed room or hallway, they blended in like a chameleon, appearing to the crowd to be an ordinary, unmemorable member of their own race. Victims of this trick could never describe the impostor later, the features just seemed too unremarkable to recall. Once trained in its use, the Kraktar used two more phenomena to their advantage. First of all, once past the exterior guards or security, most beings inside the penetrated area will assume you are there legally. The other is that as long as you look like you know where you're going, and appear to have a sense of purpose, almost no one will question you. The Kraktar practice these techniques and perfect them, blending them with there own natural abilities. This makes them capable of reaching almost any target. Once he penetrated the perimeter, Kadoss would use this skill to move about the ship unnoticed. He wanted the crew alive, and the object he grasped in his left hand would insure minimal resistance. Now all he had to do was wait for the crew to return to the ship.

Captain Janeway returned with three cargo lifters after only a few hours. Negotiations were fierce but quick and she now had all of the parts that Lt. Torres said she would need to repair the ship. Their purchases completed, they were no longer welcome to stay at the station to complete the repairs. Also, they had to rendezvous with Commander Chakotay's team and it would take just over a week to reach them at impulse power. Nothing could be done about the warp drive until they docked again.

"Janeway to Torres"

"Torres"

"One to beam aboard. Energize."

As the coruscating blue light engulfed the Captain, another being emerged from the shadows. "Energize." It hissed.

Kadoss found himself inside a cargo hold. According to his datapad it was in the aft section of the ship, just above the engineering deck. Perfect, he thought. He would need to get to a crawlspace called a "Jefferies tube," just outside in the corridor. While this cargo bay and the nearby Jefferies tube were rarely used, the corridor itself was fairly busy. Slowly, he crept to the door, leaned on it, and began to concentrate.

He could feel the vibrations of those coming towards him and going away. Kraktar were taught at a young age how to differentiate these vibrations. And more importantly to count those coming in and going out of a finite space. He kept count: 2 coming in, 2 going out, 4 in, 3 out, 2 in, 2 out, 1 out. He waited until all who had entered the corridor had left. When his count reached zero he waited a full twenty minutes, to allow any who had been there before he started counting to leave. When the corridor was empty he slipped out of the cargo bay, slinked to the Jefferies tube, pried open the hatch and slithered in. Now came time for the data card to give him access to the ship's computers.

It worked like a dream. He quickly uploaded the virus that would ensure the intruder alerts and all diagnostics fully ignored any of his actions, including his very presence on the ship. It even hid the fact that the Jefferies tube hatch had been opened. The event was not deleted, because it was difficult to make changes to the diagnostics log that would not be reported, but it was easily hidden from anyone who looked at the maintenance record. Now for phase two... the cylinder.

It contained ten grams of mekebve spores. Most mammalian species had nearly incapacitating allergic reactions to them, but reptilian species did not. There were four major species of mammals on the ship. Once he had the cartridge securely placed in Voyager's environmental controls, he could test it potency on one test subject of each before advancing to the final stage of the plan.

He had full access to all of the ship's systems that he needed, and there was an environmental conduit running right over his head, through the Jefferies tube he was hiding in. The Molock were thorough if not completely trustworthy, he thought. The cylinder was installed, and all that remained was a few tests. Of the four groups of species onboard, the humans and bajorans had the most similar physiology and one test subject would suffice for both groups. The Klingon chief engineer was another story. Fortunately, the Vulcan security officer was on the away mission. That left only the Borg as a possible threat to his plans. But first things first.

"Computer," he hissed, "Release ten micrograms of the pollen into Captain Janeway's quarters." Networking his datapad to the on-board scanners, he watched for the results...

Just having finished her four hour evening duty shift, Kathryn Janeway settled down in bed with a glass of cold water and her dog-eared copy of Milton's Paradise Lost. She preferred holo-novels, but there was something about an old book, and one that was still being studied, that was satisfying in a nostalgic kind of way. A return to simpler times. She found few things more relaxing.

Unfortunately, she was not halfway through the first page when, an oddly familiar sensation came over her. Her nose was tingling. She knew the feeling well. Although most hereditary conditions such as respiratory allergies were weeded out over a century ago, they still persisted in some family lines. Her's was one of them. She'd taken medication at the academy for it, but had not had any need for some time, since the air aboard starships was controlled and filtered, free of irritants and biological contaminants of any kind. Although she could not remember ever having sneezed aboard a starship, she was about to now.

"Oh my... ah... ahyehshew!" She sneezed into the crook of her elbow, not wanting to damage the pages of the old text. She placed the book down and slowly lowered her arm. But she was not finished.

"AhYEHshew!" She covered up with both hands this time, her nose beginning to run. She looked around, startled by this sudden bout. She sneezed twice more on her way to the replicator unit. "Com... Computer… ah... TISSUES."

Immediately a small stack of soft paper squares appeared in the replicator nook. She grabbed the top few and sneezed into them heavily, her eyes were beginning to itch.

On the other side of the ship a voice hissed, "Computer, purify air in Janeway's quarters." The pollen worked better than expected. Ten micrograms was usually not quite enough to get a reaction. If anything, this attempt worked too well. If he'd let it go on any longer she might launch a full scale inspection of the environmental systems. After purifying the air, he planned to lower the oxygen level by 30% so she'd go to sleep quickly, while reading her book, and hopefully not dwell on the incident.

After blowing her nose, she placed the soggy tissues back on the replicator. The ship's recycler dematerialized them immediately. She fully expected another bout, in her experience she had never gotten off THAT easy, but to her surprise, she felt fine. "That was odd." She said out loud to no one in particular. Still, she had just finished a duty shift and had no intention of going to sick bay, or to have engineering check the ventilation systems. After all, it was only a few sneezes, and the ship had been damaged. Engineering had more important concerns right now. She'd have them run diagnostics tomorrow, if it happened again. She settled in with her book, read five pages, remembering only four, and soon was fast asleep.

Despite the fact that he'd almost blown his cover, Kadoss needed more information. The Vulcan might be gone, but Klingons appeared to be a hardier, more resilient race than humans. He needed to be sure that the Lieutenant would be affected. "Computer, release ten micrograms of the pollen into Lieutenant Torres' quarters.

Lieutenant Torres was sitting cross-legged in front on her bed, attempting to do a meditation exercise that Tuvok had taught her. She'd had a very stressful couple of days since coming out of the Nebula they'd been caught in and Combat Training on the Holodeck was not helping her unwind. On the other hand, she also hated meditation.

"Nothing." The voice in the Jefferies tube hissed again. "Computer, release fifty micrograms of the pollen into Lieutenant Torres' chamber. Fifty micrograms would surely get a reaction, he thought.

Patience was not a trait that Klingons possessed in great quantity. As if this exercise was not difficult enough, now she was being distracted by a buzzing sensation in her nose. She got up from her position and rubbed her nose. It got worse, but she hated to sneeze. Klingon sneezes were exceptionally loud and powerful, and what was worse is that her half-human throat could not take a lot of the yelling that accompanied a Klingon sneeze. Put simply, it hurt.

"Computer, mm-MM, increase air temperature by ten degrees." That should take the chill out of the air, she thought, although she hadn't noticed it being very cold.

Kadoss was impressed by her resistance. "Remarkable. Computer, release one hundred micrograms of the pollen into Lieutenant Torres' quarters." If one hundred micros didn't get a reaction, she was surely immune.

As soon as she was in meditation position again, the buzzing sensation in her nose returned. "Argh." She growled. She pressed her fingers firmly against her nose. The feeling only grew worse.

"Computer," She started, but was not able to finish, "increa... ee... ee... AARGH-TCHOO!" The sneezed ripped at her throat, and her sinuses felt as if they had pushed in on her brain. She felt lightheaded, her eyes were teary, and her voice was going horse. She pinched her nose tightly and walked quickly toward her replicator.

"Ah... AAYAAHH-SHOO Computer... ah... tiss... tiii-AAHSSS-SHOOES."

"Unable to comply" Replied the computer.

"Tissues" She repeated, now growing quite horse.

By the time she had one in her hand however, she felt that she no longer need it. She DID need a glass of water though.

"One hundred micro's it is… Though I almost pity any humans who are in the area when I administer that dose." On the other hand, he though, exposure to the spores did have a way of rendering someone more vulnerable to future exposures. After purifying the air in B'Elanna's chamber, he went onto to the final round of testing. "Computer," he said, "release ten micrograms of the pollen into Seven-of-Nine's quarters."

Seven of Nine did not require much sleep and often worked, after hours, from the converted cargo bay she occupied. She was trying to develop a way to shield the warp core form the type of electrical discharges they experienced in the nebula three days before. She had Borg ingenuity, but was severely limited by the technology available to her. Still, she found the challenge facing her to be a stimulating way to spend her time before regenerating.

"No effect," Kadoss observed. "She IS human, but... OF COURSE! She is in a cargo bay. It's at least four times the size of the typical crew's quarters. Computer, release forty micrograms of the pollen into Seven of Nine's quarters." After five more minutes he could observe no effect. "Computer release eighty micrograms of the pollen into Seven's quarters." A double dose should over-come any remaining BORG immunities. It took ten more minutes, and Kadoss was just about increase the dosage again when the initial exposure finally began to take effect.

"Computer," started Seven of Nine sill engrossed in her work, "Recalibrate the Phase Emitter to a frequency of..." She stopped, suddenly, distracted by a strange and unfamiliar feeling: A strong and sudden tickling sensation in her nose. She had never experienced it before and found it both distracting and unpleasant. As a member of The Collective she had never experienced such a phenomenon first hand and she was not appreciating it now.

"a frequency of One-Seven decimal..." She could not concentrate. The tickle was maddening. It completely consumed her concentration, until it was the only sensation she was aware of. She was now experiencing difficulty breathing regularly.

"decimal... ah... dec... ah... ahtchoo." She inhaled sharply. She had only an academic understanding of what had just happened. She had sneezed. Because this was something she had not done in over twenty years, it left her rather flustered. The Borg were immune to almost all biological contaminants both natural, and those used as weapons. She still had enough of the Borg nanites left in her system to retain the benefits of an abnormally strong immune system. Still, she had sneezed.

The tickle returned. "Ah-tchoo. Ah." She inhaled sharply again, following it up with another sneeze. It was a rather awkward sight. Although she knew what sneezing was, she was not driven by the instinct to raise one's hand to their face when doing it, and though she what tissues were, again strictly in an academic sense, she was too distracted by this altogether unpleasant experience to make the connection. Her large blue eyes were beginning to tear, and her nose began to run profusely.

"Ah-tchoo, Ah-tchoo" She sneezed twice more, looking around for some implement to reliever her eyes and nose with, but since Federation Starches were impeccably clean she couldn't find so much as an oily rag in the cargo bay. "Ah, Ah-tchoo." She sneezed again, she needed to go to sick bay. "Ah-tchoo" Yes, sick bay, surely the Doctor could make this stop. She left the cargo bay, sneezing freely every few seconds as she went.

"Computer! Purify the air in the cargo bay!" Kadoss hissed frantically. But it was too late. The long exposure, combined with the high dosage had caused her immune system to launch a full counter-attack. It would probably last for some time. He only hoped they would not discover the cause. He still had work left to do.

The sight of Seven staggering through the corridors of Voyager was a fairly comical vision to those she encountered. He bright blue eyes were now red and irritated, and they stung when she opened them. Her memory of the ship's layout was sufficient for her to navigate the passageways without sight, but her constant sneezing was disorienting and the lightheadedness that resulted from it caused her to stagger to and fro, bumping into walls and personnel. What made it an even more bizarre sight was that her hands never left her sides. In most humanoid species it was instinctual to cover one's mouth and nose when sneezing. It was ingrained in children as good manners, and just became habit to most adults. If nothing else, it may reduce the amount of sneezing you do and help contain the resulting drainage to a manageable level. Not so with Seven. Sneezing regularly every three and half seconds, fully exposed, mucus running down onto her mouth, hair becoming disheveled, eyes swollen shut and staggering back and forth, she was barely recognizable to those who accustomed to the rock-solid exterior she typically presented.

"Computer... Ah-tchoo... Activate... Eh... Ah-tchoo! Emergency.... Meh... Meh... Ah-tchoo! Medicalholo... hah... holo... holograhicprogram... Ah... AAH-tchoo!" She though she'd never get the full command out, as she struggled against the onset of more sneezes.

"State the nature of the medical emergency." The doctor was capable of other greetings, having been reprogrammed with more personal liberties, but he found that the standard greeting was normally sufficient.

"Ah-tchoo ... AAH-tchoo! ....AAAHHH-tchoo!!" Seven was unable to speak.

"You don't say?" Replied the doctor. "Well at least cover your mouth for heaven's sake." He handed her a small stack of tissues.

Seven held them up to her face, not quite sure how this would help her. She continued to sneeze into them repeatedly while trying to get some more *effective* help.

"What... Ah-tchoo! What... Ah-tchoo! Whatishappeningtome?! AAAH-tchoo." She was clearly distressed. The experience was rattling her normally infalible composure.

"You're sneezing. Nothing to be alarmed at." The Doctors terse replies rarely gave any comfort to his patients. "Although the frequency of the symptom does concern me a little."

"Make... Ah-tchoo! it.... AHH-tchoo! STOP!"

"Certainly, but first I will need to ascertain the cause of your distress. Have you experienced this before?" Seven continued to sneeze even as he began to scan her.

"Neber. Ah... Ah-tchoo! I am Borg. Ah.. Ah... Ah-tchoo! I have never snee.. ah... sneezed before in my life. AHH-tchoo! Not that I can re... re... reAh-tchoo! remember anyway."

"Interesting. I cannot find any trace of viral or bacterial contamination, nor any known allergens in your system. Still, this should help..." He administered a hypospray on her face just over here left sinal cavity, then her right. She almost sneezed again, inhaling sharply, then stopped. She felt immediately refreshed and clear headed."

"Thank you, Doctor. I will inform you if these symptoms return." She said evenly, and started to leave.

"You're not going anywhere yet. I have a few more tests to run." He ran several more tests and finished the exam by instructing Seven in the proper use and benefits of tissues. She found the lecture somewhat pedantic, but since it was new information to her, she assimilated it, thanked the Doctor again and returned to her work. By then, her quarters were completely sterile again.

After several hours of monitoring shipboard communications, Kadoss was fairly certain nothing was suspected. Neither the Captain nor Torres shred their experiences with anyone else and the Doctor seemed to view Seven's sudden sneezing attack with scientific curiosity rather than suspicion. If he knew about the others though... Kadoss quickly uploaded the virus to the EMH program. If anyone else reported their symptoms, he would not remember Seven's case, nor any other, and he would never make a connection. This memory block would be discovered before too long, but he only needed a few hours to plan his attack.

Fortunately none of the others went to sick bay that evening. Janeway had completely forgotten her experience, and Torres would rather lie in a patch of Rogarian Blood Thorns than on a bed in sick bay. He needed to infiltrate engineering, and then the bridge. He needed to re-route the site to site transporter controls the bridge, and according to the Molock's technical readouts that could only be done from engineering. He had already overridden all of the command lockouts, all that remained was his fail-safe.

"Computer, on my command, release the necessary dosage of pollen into the area I am occupying. Base dosage on data gathered on test subjects alpha, beta and gamma. Multiple commands indicate cumulative dosage. Command Word: KADOSS."

The next step involved sneaking into the engineering area to override the command controls and routing control of the site to site transporter to the bridge. Getting there would be easy and with his biological weapon well tested he did not expect any trouble taking engineering. As soon as the corridor outside was clear he crawled out of the Jefferies tube. It always amazed him how gullible other species were. As long as he looked strait ahead, didn't make eye contact, and didn't speak to or touch anyone, no one seemed to notice or question the presence of a 240 pound reptile walking down the corridors in a grey jumpsuit. They just went about their business as he walked right past them and into engineering. He got all the way to the main control panel when he finally heard a voice from behind him.

"Hold it right there!" It was the Klingon, Torres. "Turn around slowly, and explain your presence here, or I will open fire." She had already leveled her phaser at Kadoss. When he turned around there were surprised gasps from all over engineering as crewmen suddenly realized there was an intruder in their midst.

"I wouldn't do that." He hissed, his tone cold, but calm.

"And why not?" Torres asked, keeping her composure.

"If you missed, you might hit the coolant tanks, or the warp core, killing everyone on the deck and possibly destroying the ship. Having already sealed off the doors, you've put yourself in precarious situation."

"I'll be the judge of that. Just who are you and what do you want."

"My name is Kadoss." With that he turned around, and resumed linking his data pad with the main computer.

"I said turn AROUND! Aaaah!" B'Elanna's eyes went watery and a maddening itch came to her nose. All around engineering crewmen were falling to floor sneezing, some on the verge of suffocation due to the necessarily high dose. B'Elanna couldn't see, if she started sneezing like the others she would be unable to fight. Not wanting to hit any critical systems she threw down her phaser and charged her enemy.

She began to pummel his head. When that proved ineffective she jumped on his back and looped her arms around his neck. His skin was think and scaly and hard to grab hold of. She grabbed her own wrist and tightened the hug she had on his neck. The alien didn't seem to be weakening, and her nose was starting to burn.

"Ha...ah....AAAYAH-SCHOOO" she sneezed loudly in what she assumed was he ear. The sneezing began to overtake her, one after another. With each one it became harder to breath, and they sapped the strength from her arms. After one last, wet sneeze, the hulking alien reached back over his shoulder and threw her to the floor. She was out cold. With no one else capable of action in engineering he made the necessary command path alterations and initiated one last program before heading to the bridge.

"Computer," Kadoss hissed, "Release the remainder of the pollen into Voyager's primary ventilation system."

In the mess hall, Neelix was beginning to serve the first crewmen reporting for breakfast. "Arquellian eggs," he described, "Absolutely scrumptious! They're even better with a little ground Greenaran Pepper seed..." Ensign Clark nodded his head, as Neelix began to administer the seasoning. After only a few shakes Ensign Clark let loose a powerful sneeze.

"Aht-CHOO." He sneezed into his napkin.

"Bless you! Perhaps a little TOO much Greenaran..."

"AAAHT-choo" The young ensign sneezed again.

Just as Neelix examined the top of the shaker, thinking it had come off, the entire mess hall seemed to explode as the two-dozen your crewmen all began to sneeze repeatedly en masse.

"Oh my!" Neelix cried. "Neelix to Bridge." The reaction sounded like an echo of the mess hall, several of the crewmen began to pass out for lack of breath. Others were struggling to function but were paralyzed by sneezing fits. "Neelix to Captain Janeway!" He called over his communicator. No response. "Emergency Alert!" he cried out.

"All Emergency Systems are under security lockout." The computer responded.

Captain Janeway called for Red Alert on the bridge, but the computer denied her request as well. "All person... AhYEHshew! personnel... this is the Cah... the Cahhh.... AhYEHshew! THE CAPTAIN!" As if the effort to keep from sneezing her way through commands was not bad enough, she was beginning to have difficulty breathing. "Brace for impah... ah... AhYEHshew! IMPACT! Clear sections 27 though.. ooh.... AhYEHshew! 35! Computer.... AhYEHshew! Open airlock on deck 4, aft... AhYEHshew! AFT SECTIONS!" She hoped this was an airborne irritant, and could be cleared if the ship partially depressurized, but it didn't matter. The airlock never opened.

"Unable to comply." The computer chirped. She tried to draw breath and ask why, but that was too big a strain. Her last chance was an Emergency Rebreather, but the door covering the small storage compartment wouldn't open. The last thing she saw was a hulking reptilian alien enter the bridge. Then nothing.

Neelix was making his way towards the aft sections. If the ship was under attack he had to assume that intruders could beam aboard. If the Intruder Alerts were over-ridden, they must already have control of the computers. He knew, however, that there was one system on board that was probably still functioning.

He arrived at Cargo Bay 5, where Seven of Nine was quartered. The Bay door opened and he saw that Seven was already trying to ascertain the situation on her own link to the computer system.

"Neelix!" She called out. "AAH... Ah-tchoo! What is the situ... sit... Ah-tchoo! situation?"

"Same as here! Everyone except me is incapacitated!" Her eyes were red and it was difficult for her to make out the images on the screen.

"There's an... an... Ah-tchoo! an intruder on the bridge! I can't... Ah-tchoo! Aahh-TCHOO! AAAH-tchoo! I can't identify the species! AAAH-tchoo!"

Neelix needed only one glance at the monitor. "He's a Kratktar. The have the ability to blend unnoticed in a crowd, he's probably been on board since the station at Tricarros, possibly longer..."

"Ah-tchoo! What is he DOING to us?!" She held her finger up against her nose, to no avail.

"I have no idea! And why aren't I sneezing as well?"

"How... Ah-tchoo! Ha... Ah-tchoo! How can we fight him?"

"In your condition it will be difficult. You need to strike the area in the middle of their chests, they have no protective covering over their lungs and hearts, but they're excellent fighters, I don't..."

"AH-TCHOO! Huh... Huh... To the bridge!" Seven stormed out the cargo, Neelix tight on her heels.

When they arrived at the bridge they had surprised the alien, who had not expected any of the crew to be able to function. Neelix, suspecting the same about seven, yelled the only Tallaxian battle cry he knew and charged at the alien hoping to take advantage of the surprise.

*WHACK*

Kadoss backhanded Neelix in the side of the head sending him reeling into the con panel. His head stuck the railing and he dropped the floor, unconscious, with a gash in his forehead. Surprised by the speed and ferocity of the attack, and having lost the element of surprise, Seven approached more cautiously. It hurt to open her eyes, they felt like insect were crawling on them, but she was Borg, and she could cope.

"Ah-tchoo! You will fail... Ah-tchoo!"

"Oh reeaally?" It hissed, "And how will you bring that about? SNEEZE on me?" He smiled, remembering the Klingon's fruitless attack.

Seven circled, closing the distance slowly, her concentration ruined by the incessant sneezing. Her attack was a wise one, but the alien was still to fast, he parried and with one quick grab had his hand on her neck. She grabbed at his crushing fingers as he lifted her up. The grasp was like steel, but the strangle hold did two things in her favor. Since she could no longer breathe, she didn't have to worry about sneezing, and once she was on the verge of blacking out, a left over Borg fail-safe kicked in. Although she was technically unconscious, she could now see clearly. The alien held her high over his head. She cocked her knee back and rammed it square into his chest. They both fell, unconscious.

Seven came to after several minutes, she was sneezing almost constantly now, one after another, but her Borg auto-pilot was still running and it no longer distracted her. Working with dizzying speed and precision, she was able to unlock the command systems, and clear the air on the ship. Within an hour the ship and crew were fully functional, and the alien attacker was in custody.

THAT EVENING:

After giving Captain Janeway her report and going to sick bay for one last check-up she returned to her quarters to make her own log entries. Her thoughts focused on the irony of the day. She had felt more human than she had since joining the crew of Voyager. She had experienced sneezing and, in a way, sickness and weakness. Not an experience she relished, but it did give her an appreciation for the struggles that humans faced. The irony though was that is was her Borg physiology that had saved them and the ship. She was not sure how she felt about that, or how the others would.