Path: newsspool2.news.atl.earthlink.net!stamper.news.atl.earthlink.net!elnk-atl-nf1!newsfeed.earthlink.net!prodigy.com!news.glorb.com!postnews2.google.com!not-for-mail From: cobaltwolf2002@yahoo.com (Kudara) Newsgroups: alt.startrek.creative Subject: NEW VOY I am Borg - Part 1 1/6 R Date: 21 Aug 2004 09:00:53 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Lines: 381 Message-ID: <3f3213d8.0408210800.7fd113af@posting.google.com> NNTP-Posting-Host: 68.13.213.47 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit X-Trace: posting.google.com 1093104054 12636 127.0.0.1 (21 Aug 2004 16:00:54 GMT) X-Complaints-To: groups-abuse@google.com NNTP-Posting-Date: Sat, 21 Aug 2004 16:00:54 +0000 (UTC) Xref: news.earthlink.net alt.startrek.creative:160485 X-Received-Date: Sat, 21 Aug 2004 09:00:56 PDT (newsspool2.news.atl.earthlink.net) Title: I am Borg - Part 1 - Chapter 1 Author: Kudara Contact: cobaltwolf2002@yahoo.com Series: VOY Part: NEW 1/6 Rating: R (Violence) Codes: 7 Summary: Seven is captured by the orders of a Mualan because she is ************************************************************************* As Seven slowly regained consciousness, the first thing she was aware of was the pain in her head, and the second thing she realized was that she was lying on a hard grey floor. The last thing she remembered was turning around to reply to one of the Mualan security guards on the space station and registering that the guard was firing at her before pain exploded in her head and everything went black. The pounding pain in her head made it difficult to focus on her surroundings, but Seven made the effort to raise herself to a sitting position and proceeded to examine the bare room that she found herself in. The floor, ceiling, and three walls of the room were uniformly light grey in color. The fourth wall of the cell was not a wall at all but a steady shimmering bluish force field. Seeing no immediate way out of the room Seven began to evaluate her physical condition. Gingerly she examined her face and head with her Borg enhanced hand, using its advanced sensory capabilities to assess the extent of the damage, the results were not promising. From her initial investigation she could tell that her cortical node had been damaged and the flesh around it was deeply bruised. Looking at the floor beneath her she could tell that she had bled slightly from the injury as well but that appeared to have been healed by her nanoprobes. Of more concern was the fact that her continued headache and dizziness indicated that her cortical node might be beyond the capabilities of her nanoprobes to repair. If that was the case she only had a few days for Voyager to find her before her system started rejecting the implants and she died. Seven refused to further consider that line of thinking and instead continued to evaluate her physical condition. After a few more seconds she decided that aside from a few bruises on her legs she was functioning adequately. With the self evaluation finished Seven decided it was time to see if she could free herself from what appeared to be a holding cell. She stood up unsteadily using the wall to balance herself and walked closer to the force field to look out into the corridor. Across the way from her and slightly further up the corridor she could see another cell identical to the one she was in, it appeared to be empty. Past the next holding cell she could tell the hallway extended further but she could tell nothing else. Straining her senses she tried to gather more information, but she could hear nothing aside from the faint hum of the force field. Seven began a careful examination of the force field that barred her cell. After an exhaustive examination she could tell that the cell was constructed similarly to Voyager's brig and was just as impassable. Seven sighed to herself and reviewed the events that had lead up to this point in the hope that she might garner some insight as to why she had been attacked. Species 3567 – humanoid, prominent facial ridges, similar genetically to the Kazon. They called themselves the Mularan after the energy being they believed to be a goddess known as Mulara. The Collective had assimilated them nine years ago in the hopes they would find out the secrets to long disused buildings that their "goddess" Mulara had apparently built. The Borg came to the conclusion after 3000 Mularans had been assimilated, that one of the more powerful energy beings had once taken a personal interest in the Mularan but that being had apparently left them to fend for themselves around 100 years ago, leaving behind useless technology and artifacts that only Mulara could power. The Collective had attempted to assimilate the technology but had failed. Seven had recited all of this to the Captain at the senior staff meeting before they decided to accept the Mularan's offer. Seven had been on her way back to the ship after a meeting with some of the Mularan astrometics scientists. Once the Mularan scientists realized that she had been Borg they had become very upset and tense around her, evidently they expected her to turn and assimilate them at any moment. Such reactions were not uncommon but they never failed to distress Seven even though she was certain that she was able to successfully hide her emotions from the Mularan's. Seven had taken the earliest opportunity to leave what had become a tense situation, by stating that she needed to return to Voyager in order to complete her analysis of the most recent nebula Voyager had come across. She had been walking along a relatively deserted corridor when she was hailed by one of the Mularan security guards that had just passed her. The fact that the guard had a weapon drawn and aimed at her caught her by complete surprise, giving the Mularan guard a perfect shot. ********************************************************************* In another part of the complex, several Mularans were arguing over what to do with the Borg they had just captured. She had been taken at the Space Station by the orders of the Commander of the Guard and transferred, while unconscious, to the planet below. Now she was in the custody of the Intelligence arm of the Mularan military. Or more specifically, one Ahaoe Muahe, whose entire family had been wiped out by the Borg nine years earlier. The Intelligence complex was very close to one of the major Mularan temples and nearly all of the Mularans serving there were devout believers. The idea of physically harming the humanoid woman in the cell, Borg not withstanding, could only be justified if she was guilty of assimilating Mularans. If she was not, what the Ahaoe Muahe wanted to do was not only illegal according to their justice system, but also completely detestable in the eyes of their religion. Even if she was guilty, the proper response was a quick death and everyone in the room was uneasily aware that Ahaoe Muahe seemed to have other ideas for the Borg. Such was the subject of the intense debate that was being held in the room. Finally Ahaoe Muahe yelled, "I don't care if the Borg drone was personally involved in our people's assimilation! They have a collective mind therefore all of them are equally guilty of what any of the Borg do. This discussion is over; bring the drone to the interrogation room for questioning immediately!" Though still reluctant his sub-officers rushed off to do his bidding leaving only his immediate subordinate Buaea Vauar in the room. Ahaoe Muahe stared at his subordinate and snarled, "Are you disobeying me?" Buaea Vauar calmly replied, "I am officially informing you that I am going to notify Commander Mlaer of your actions." Ahaoe Muahe stepped in close to Vauar and said, "You do that, and you had better pray that he agrees with your interpretation or you will find yourself assigned to the worst hell hole I can find." Vauar merely nodded calmly and with a respectful salute sharply turned and exited the room. Ahaoe Muahe paced for a while and then upon being told that the prisoner was in the interrogation room smiled cruelly and left to extract his vengeance upon the Borg drone. First he would have to make sure that all of his subordinates were well away from the chamber, they would not agree with what he was planning on doing. ******************************************************************* Seven had drawn herself up straight with her hands behind her back when she heard the sound of several humanoids moving toward her. She contemptuously examined the group of ten guards that came for her, and was about to inquire as to their intentions when the force field dropped and several of them immediately fired upon her rendering her temporarily unconscious again. When she awoke she was strapped securely to an upright platform, and a Mularan male was the only other occupant of the room. The cold glittering look in his eyes as he noted her awakening chilled her, as did the menacing nature of his posture. Seven asked coolly "Why have you detained me?" hiding her unease behind a calm veneer. The Mularan sneered and said "For your crimes Borg. You will die for all the Mularans you have killed. And I shall take great joy in being the one that kills you. Nine years ago you assimilated or killed my family, and their blood cries out for vengeance." Seven replied, "I was one of the Borg that assimilated the Mularan. What proof do you have that I assimilated your family?" Ahaoe Muahe blinked and then growled out, "I am Ahaoe Muahe, it looks like Mulara smiles on me today… to find one of the actual drones that killed my people shows that she favors what I am about to do." Seven replied, "I do not know the individual names of the Mularans that I assimilated, how do you know that I assimilated your family?" Seven was frightened but also curious as to why Ahaoe Muahe believed that she was responsible for his family's assimilation. Ahaoe Muahe smiled coldly and replied, "That is… as you would say… irrelevant. The fact is that all Borg are responsible for what you did the Mularans, the fact that you were actually involved is just a bonus." Seven shifted in her bonds and Ahaoe Muahe said, "Don't even bother, not even you can break those." Seven looked back at him coldly and stated, "Captain Janeway will search for me, she is probably already aware of my disappearance. By what legal right do you hold me?" Ahaoe Muahe simply sneered, "Captain Janeway is the only one on the Voyager who would miss you. We have been quietly asking questions about you Borg, you have no friends on that ship, and most of them would not mind your disappearance at all. Especially the Chief Engineer, she had quite a few things to say about you Borg. As for legal rights, the fact that you admit to being one of the Borg who murdered the Mularans is quite enough." Seven paled but said "I have showed my loyalty to the crew of the Voyager many times, you are lying." Ahaoe Muahe laughed and said "What? Do you think they actually care about you drone? I've heard how rude you are to all of them. How you sneer at them and treat them as lesser beings, showing your Borg arrogance." This last was practically screamed at Seven, and it was quickly becoming apparent that Muahe was loosing control of himself. Seven was trying hard to hide her trembling at this point and said defiantly "I have risked my existence several times for the crew of the Voyager, they are my Collective." Muahe laughed mockingly and said "What? Do you think you bought acceptance from them with that? I can tell you that you didn't, they don't want to be your Collective Drone. They reject you and your pathetic attempts to win their approval. The only one who wants you on that ship is the Captain and that's only because you are some type of project to her." Seven decided not to dignify that with an answer, as she was more concerned with new evidence that her cortical node was malfunctioning. She was experiencing several uncomfortable sensations including constriction of her throat and chest and a feeling of nausea. The symptoms seemed to have been triggered by Muahe's words and Seven realized that she was feeling severe emotional pain at the thought of the crew of the Voyager telling all this to the Mularan. Ahaoe Muahe looked at her coldly ignoring the signs of Seven's distress and said, "Enough of this, time for you to pay for what you did to my people." With that Ahaoe Muahe turned around and selected an instrument and began to sever Seven's Borg arm, at first she was shocked by the extreme pain to scream, but that soon changed. Ahaoe Muahe ignored the drone's cries and continued severing Seven's arm, when he was done he sarcastically asked "What? you must have done this to countless Mularans." Seven had ceased screaming and was attempting to focus on something besides the pain, nevertheless she replied in a weak voice, "New drones are sedated during the process of Borg attachments, Borg do not intentionally cause pain." Ahaoe Muahe stared at Seven of Nine, and completely lost what little control he had left. He glanced around the interrogation chamber and found a length of metal. With it he began to beat the drone that, in his mind, represented the terrible mindless Borg who had taken his family away. He started by beating her across the abdomen trying to break the implant he could see under the silver suit she wore. Ignoring her screams when she could no longer restrain them, he continued beating her, far past the time when her cries stopped. At some point several guards piled into the room and pulled him off the drone and subdued him. His superior, Huiah Mlaer, hurried into the room and stared, shocked at the blood on the floor and walls, and then looked sickened at the torn and bloodied body on the interrogation platform. In a shaking voice he called for medical assistance, though he had no hope that the Borg drone known as Seven of Nine was still alive. The medic that rushed in a few seconds later quickly confirmed to that the drone was indeed dead, and in a flat tone he pronounced, "There is no heartbeat or brain activity, the pelvis has been broken at several points, as have the bones in the remaining hand, forearm and arm. Several ribs have been broken and driven into the lungs and other internal organs. The upper leg bones are fractured on the left and broken on the right; both lower legs are broken as well. That's beside of course, the obvious damage to the skin and muscles and the extensive blood loss." The medic finally concluded, "There is nothing we can do for her, she is dead." Huiah Mlaer's thoughs turned to the very angry Captain of Voyager, who had been speaking to him earlier demanding to know why her crew member had been attacked by his security forces on the space station. How she had so quickly discovered the facts of the Borg drone's abduction was a mystery to him. Huiah Mlaer said, "Ahaoe Muahe you have chosen to take justice into your own hands, we will have to convene a court to determine whether or not you were right to do so… however this appalling level of violence cannot any way be justified." Ahaoe Muahe said, "I demand my right for this to be decided by Mulara, I demand that I be taken to the Arch of Judgement. Mulara brought this drone to me to be punished, let her show the justice of my actions." Huiah Mlaer stared shocked at Ahaoe Muahe for a moment but then nodded saying, "That is of course your right, it matters not that Seven of Nine is dead. Mulara can still determine her guilt or innocence and by that your guilt or innocence as well Ahaoe Muahe." Huiah Mlaer called for a stretcher and ordered that the body of Seven of Nine be carried to the Arch of Justice. Carefully the guards released the restraints on the body and lowered it to the stretcher; one of them gingerly picked up the severed arm and placed it next to the body on the stretcher. They waited until Huiah Mlaer exited the room and proceeded to follow him to the temple, Ahaoe Muahe brought up the rear of the procession, head held high despite the watchful presence of the guards around him. Ten minutes later the High Priest ushered them into the room containing the Arch of Justice. The room contained what looked like a simple diagnostic bed under an undecorated arch comprised of some type of yellowish stone. Two stone statues of Mulara stood at the head of the bed. The statues were humanoid in shape and about seven foot tall; the features were smooth and vague only hinting at a face that did not show any Mularan characteristics. The High Priest was obviously trying not to become ill at the sight of the body of the accused as the guards placed it on the bed under the arch. The paleness of his complexion and the perspiration dotting his forehead bore silent witness to his struggle. Immediately the arch began to glow and what looked like a golden scanning beam passed over the body of Seven of Nine. A disembodied voice stated, "What is the accusation?" Ahaoe Muahe stated, "That the Borg Seven of Nine is responsible for assimilating and murdering several thousand Mularans. She is guilty personally by her own admission that she participated in the assimilation, and because of the nature of the Collective Mind of the Borg, for all the assimilation's and murder's of three thousand Mularans." The beam once again swept over the body of Seven of Nine then its focus changed to concentrate over the head where it stayed for several minutes. The High Priest shifted nervously saying, "Perhaps there is too much damage for a judgment to be made?" The disembodied voice replied, "Memories are undamaged, still determining judgment." Ahaoe Muahe who had previously looked so confident started to look nervous and his eyes flickered about the room obviously looking anywhere but at the bloodied body of Seven of Nine. Finally the voice spoke again, "Seven of Nine is innocent of all charges, the nature of the Collective mind of the Borg is such that there is no individual will, without individual will there can be no guilt assigned to any single member of the Borg. Perhaps the entity known as the Borg Queen at the time of the attack upon the Mularan might be found guilty of the accusation since she directed the hive mind. However, the Borg drone Seven of Nine is innocent of the accusation; in addition due to the unusual nature of her past she has been found to be insufficiently emotionally and socially developed to be considered an adult by Mularan law. Ahaoe Muahe is declared guilty of misuse of his authority, kidnapping, torture of a minor and murder of a minor. Any person who directly assisted in the kidnapping of Seven of Nine is guilty of assisting in the murder of a minor." The voice fell silent and an anguished scream was heard from Ahaoe Muahe as he fell to his knees in disbelief. Finally he stared at the body of Seven of Nine as it sunk in what he had done. Then the guards lifted him back onto his feet and he was lead away unresisting to his fate. Huiah Mlaer stared at the body and started wondering exactly how he could explain what had occurred to Captain Janeway, perhaps they could get rid of the body before the angry woman saw exactly what had been done to her crewmember. As he was thinking this something occurred that had not happened in several hundred years, the lights came on in the deeper part of the complex and one of the statues of Mulara beside the diagnostic bed began to glow with a faint golden aura. As the Mularans stared in amazement, the stone statue began to move as if it were alive. The statue walked around the diagnostic bed and picked up the body of Seven of Nine, including the detached Borg arm and turned and walked deeper into the complex. All of the Mularans had stared speechless while this occurred, even the High Priest. When the statue disappeared into the depths of the temple they suddenly all started speaking excitedly, trying to understand the meaning of what had just happened. The High Priest quickly shook himself out of his astonishment and attempted to follow the statue but was stopped by a golden force field that had unexpectedly appeared only a few steps down the hallway that the statue had taken. NewMessage: Path: newsspool2.news.atl.earthlink.net!stamper.news.atl.earthlink.net!elnk-atl-nf1!newsfeed.earthlink.net!prodigy.com!news.glorb.com!postnews2.google.com!not-for-mail From: cobaltwolf2002@yahoo.com (Kudara) Newsgroups: alt.startrek.creative Subject: NEW VOY I am Borg - Part 1 2/6 PG-13 Date: 21 Aug 2004 09:31:54 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Lines: 673 Message-ID: <3f3213d8.0408210831.cb7e119@posting.google.com> NNTP-Posting-Host: 68.13.213.47 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit X-Trace: posting.google.com 1093105914 14129 127.0.0.1 (21 Aug 2004 16:31:54 GMT) X-Complaints-To: groups-abuse@google.com NNTP-Posting-Date: Sat, 21 Aug 2004 16:31:54 +0000 (UTC) Xref: news.earthlink.net alt.startrek.creative:160486 X-Received-Date: Sat, 21 Aug 2004 09:31:59 PDT (newsspool2.news.atl.earthlink.net) Title: I am Borg - Part 1 Author: Kudara Contact: cobaltwolf2002@yahoo.com Series: VOY Part: NEW 2/6 Rating: PG-13 Codes: J, C, P, T, K, Doc, m Summary: Huiah Mlaer must break the news of Seven's fate to Voyager's Notes: Ghuy'cha' – strong swearword. Ha'DIbaH – abusive insulting word meaning Animal. Peta'Q – abusive insulting word, implies that the thing or person spoken of is useless, garbage, non-functional. ***************************************************************************** Several hours later Huiah Mlaer found himself staring at a very angry Captain Janeway, he had agreed to come aboard Voyager to meet her personally, simply stating that he had a duty that he must discharge to her and her crew. He was met in the transporter room by the ship's First Officer and a stiff and formal Captain Janeway who immediately said "I demand to know what has happened to Seven of Nine." Huiah Mlaer sighed then said, "I do not think this is the place for me to discuss this matter Captain Janeway." The tone of his voice must have made it apparent that the news he had was dire, for the Captain paled and swayed slightly, her First Officer immediately supported her with a firm hand under her elbow and nodded to Huiah Mlaer saying "Follow us to the Captain's Ready Room." Huiah Mlaer wracked his brain for the man's name, Commander Chakotay he thought it was. Huiah Mlaer said "Certainly Commander Chakotay…"Huiah paused to see if he had pronounced the human's name correctly and was rewarded with a nod and a small smile as the First Officer lead the way out of the transporter room. Huiah Mlaer stared as they passed through the ship wishing that he could ask for a tour but the nature of his news made it unlikely that it would ever occur. Too soon for his taste they had passed through the ship and into the Captain's Ready room. Captain Janeway seemed to have regained her composure and she said firmly "What news do you have of Seven of Nine." Huiah Mlaer waited until both of the humans were seated then nodded and said formally, "Two days ago Seven of Nine was illegally kidnapped from this space station and taken to the Intelligence Base on Mularan. There she was…" Huiah Mlaer paused and paled, trying to think of the kindest way to say what had been done to her crewmember and trying to block out of his mind the vision of the interrogation room. He continued in a shaking voice "There she was..." Huiah Mlaer could not continue looking at the woman he was speaking to and instead he dropped his eyes to the carpet in shame and continued, "…brutally beaten by the head of the Intelligence Department, Ahaoe Muahe. I was informed of his intent but arrived too late to prevent the death of your crewmember." A stifled gasp drew his attention back to Captain Janeway. The woman looked pale and shocked, he hurriedly continued, "Ahaoe Muahe claimed the right to use the Arch of Judgment. As required by tradition and law we took the body of Seven of Nine and Ahaoe Muahe to the temple, where judgment was rendered in favor of your crewmember. Ahaoe Muahe is due to be beheaded within the hour; all of his lands and titles are forfeit to the government. The guard who initially attacked her and the Commander of the guards of this station are also sentenced to beheading. Any guard determined to have been involved in the transportation of Seven of Nine will be confined and sentenced to no less than 10 years." He finished the last in a rush, earnestly holding the Captain's gaze, determined to demonstrate to Captain Janeway that the Mularans took the crime seriously. Captain Janeway focused on the litany of beheadings, trying to remember the law code that had been transmitted to them before their arrival at the space station and said, "Beheading is not the usual punishment for murder, is it?" Huiah Mlaer shook his head and said, "Not usually, but in this case the judgment was rendered by Mulara herself, Ahaoe Muahe claimed that Seven of Nine was guilty for all the Borg assimilations and murders that occurred nine years ago on Mularan. She was found innocent of all accusations, Mulara said that since she had no individual will she could not be found guilty of any of her actions while she was part of the Collective. Since Mulara rendered the judgment the sentences are more severe. Mulara found Ahaoe Muahe guilty of misuse of his powers, kidnapping, torture of a minor and murder of a minor. Beheading is the traditional punishment when Mulara's judgment is invoked and the resulting charge is murder. Forfeiture of all lands and money is an additional punishment since the person involved was a minor. The 10 year sentence for anyone involved in the kidnapping is, of course, the standard punishment for kidnapping a minor." Captain Janeway looked at Huiah Mlaer and said, "Minor? Seven of Nine is… was twenty-seven years old. At what age are Mularan's considered to be adults?" Huiah Mlaer said, "Mulara said that her emotional and social growth was not that of an adult and that she was to be considered a minor. The age of adulthood varies in Mularan law; one must prove that they have the emotional and social maturity to be considered an adult. The average age varies between eighteen and twenty one years of age." Janeway nodded then asked, "When can we have the body of Seven of Nine for burial?" Huiah Mlaer looked suddenly uncomfortable and said, "Ah… I'm not sure, as we do not have access to Seven of Nine. One of the guardians at the Arch of Judgment took her body and force fields have been erected around the lower parts of the temple and the inner temple gardens. We cannot enter the area where the guardian took her body to find out what has happened to her." Captain Janeway stared at Huiah Mlaer, "Where exactly is this temple located, have you scanned for any signs of Seven of Nine?" Huiah Mlaer said, "Our equipment cannot penetrate the force field that surrounds the temple but I will be happy to give you the coordinates, perhaps your equipment will be allowed to penetrate the shield." Captain Janeway gave Mlaer an odd look at his phrasing but merely nodded, remembering that the Mularans devoutly believed that their goddess was real and also remembering Sevens reciting of the Borg findings that a higher energy being was involved. Janeway had asked Seven if Mulara was one of the Q and Seven had indicated that the Borg knew of the Q but were unsure if Mulara were one of them or another type of energy being. Suddenly hopeful despite the odds of any reason to be so, Janeway requested the coordinates from Huiah Mlaer and relayed them to the bridge instructing them to specifically scan those coordinates for any sign of Seven of Nine. It was not long before Ensign Kim reported back "Captain, we are able to pick up the signs of a human life form at the indicated coordinates. I am unable to detect any signs of Borg implants though. I am still trying to get a more detailed scan through the force field that surrounds the entire area." Captain Janeway stood with hope upon her face and said, "If you will accompany me to the bridge Mr. Mlaer?" Huiah Mlaer who was also suddenly hopeful that events might not be as dire as he thought, nodded and they exited the Ready Room and stepped onto the Bridge. The view screen showed a close up of the Mularan Temple, the force field showed up as a golden dome covering part of the temple grounds. Ensign Kim nodded to the Captain and said, "I have confirmed that the human life form DNA matches that of Seven of Nine, she's alive Captain, but there are a lot of differences in the data I'm seeing compared to the information we have for her. With your permission I would like to forward it to Sickbay for the Doctor to analyze." Janeway nodded thoughtfully then said, "Let the Doctor know I would like that analysis to be completed as soon as possible, what have you determined about the force field Ensign?" Ensign Kim grimaced, "I have not been able to determine the power source that's causing the force field, and I cannot get a transport lock on Seven of Nine. That force field is incredibly strong. I can't understand why I can't find what's powering it; I'm not sure why our scans are penetrating it at all. From what I can tell about the force field we shouldn't be able to." Janeway nodded to Ensign Kim and said, "Remember what Seven said during the briefing, the power source of that force field may not even be in this dimension. Look for any spatial anomalities or singularities that might be feeding it power." *********************************************************************************** Janeway had made an effort to persuade Huiah Mlaer that perhaps those condemned to death should be spared since Seven was alive, but he was quite adamant that Mulara had declared that she had been murdered. Nothing could change that fact, not even whether or not Mulara had decided to restore her back to life. Janeway lodged an official protest of the sentences, which was taken as a noble gesture by the Mularans and promptly ignored. In their viewpoint Mulara had been very clear about the nature of the crimes committed. It had taken a lot of persuading, but the Mularans had finally sent along copies of all the information they had about Seven's abduction, torture, death and the few pictures they had of the events at the Arch of Judgment. Commander Chakotay had escorted the grateful Huiah Mlaer around the ship while the information had been gathered and the Mularan had taken his leave as the information had been sent to Voyager with a grim look on his face. He admitted to Janeway that he had no desire to view Seven's death; the memory of walking into the interrogation room was such that he was having problems with nightmares already. With that as a warning they looked through the reports of the events leading up to Seven's disappearance first. Both Janeway and Chakotay were extremely disappointed to learn that the engineering crew was the main source of the negative information Ahaoe Muahe had obtained about Seven of Nine. Apparently Muahe had actually come to believe that except for the Captain of Voyager and a few of the crew, the majority of Voyager would not regret the disappearance of Seven of Nine. Thankfully the information made it clear that the main source of the discontent with Seven of Nine had refused to gossip with the Intelligence agents. But every report made it clear that the Chief Engineer of Voyager Lt. B'Elanna Torres was the greatest critic of Seven. Brief mention was also made of Commander Chakotay's continuing lack of trust in the drone. The report glossed over all the times Seven had risked her life for the crew of Voyager, dismissing it as Seven of Nine trying to justify her continuing existence as a member of the crew. All of the information had been gathered within a few hours at the request of Ahaoe Muahe, apparently it had been all the information he needed to decide that Seven of Nine was the perfect target for his vengeance. Janeway sighed and looked over at her First Officer; there were only two more pieces of information to look at, the detailed information on the torture and what had taken place at the Arch of Judgment. Chokoty said "Perhaps a break would be a good idea before we look at these; I've read over the data the medical personnel took when they were called to the interrogation. It reminded me of some of the things I saw as a Marquis that the Cardassians had done. Maybe the Doctor has some information for us; I for one would like to know that Seven is alive despite these reports." Janeway nodded thankfully, the medical reports had been very sickening to read and she had understood why Huiah Mlaer had been so adamant that he did not want to see any more than he already had. Janeway tapped her combadge, "Janeway here, Doctor I was wondering if you had finished your analysis of the data Ensign Kim sent you?" The Doctor replied, "Yes I have, would you like me to send it to your console there? Or come and tell you myself?" Janeway said, "Why don't you come up here, I also have some medical data that I need to show you that was given to us by the Mularans." The Doctor replied slowly, "I've heard that Seven actually died from being tortured. Is it the medical data from when they examined her?" Janeway said, "Where did you hear that Doctor, I haven't released any of this information yet." The Doctor replied, "The Mularans officially announced the death of Ahaoe Muahe twenty minutes ago for the kidnapping, torture, and murder of the minor Seven of Nine. It's all over the ship by now. The medical listing of her injuries leading up to her death and a short segment showing the ruling at the Arch of Judgment was made available Captain, it's part of the public record of the execution." Janeway sighed and said, "Come to my Ready Room Doctor and give me your report. Sounds like I may need to make an announcement that Seven is alive, though honestly after what I've read in these reports a little ship wide guilt might do some good." It was only a few minutes before the Doctor arrived and with a consenting nod from Janeway began his report. "From the data Ensign Kim sent me, Seven's physiology has changed considerably. There is more human physiology present than Seven had three days ago, the good news is that the extra mass could be accounted for if her Borg arm were replaced with a human arm." The Doctor grimaced and then continued, "The confusing part of the data is the extra metallic alloy elements. Seven used to have about 10% metallic alloy elements present in her physiology. This has increased five fold to 50% metallic alloy elements. I am uncertain as to what this could mean, it might mean that her Borg armor has been replaced or it might mean something else entirely. The metallic alloy elements include tritanium and poly-deutonic alloy. All of the metallic alloys are in some type of matrix, perhaps with better data I, or engineering, could figure out the specifics." ******************************************************************************** After the Doctor left Janeway and Chakotay looked at each other and sighed before Janeway said, "Well only two data files left. Let me know if you want to stop watching at any point, and I'll certainly do the same." With almost identical grim looks the two began watching the information the Mularans had discovered detailing the specifics of Seven's torture. Thankfully the video portion of the information was poor and though they could tell basically what happened to Seven they were not assaulted with detailed scenes. Fortunately or unfortunately the audio was excellent and they were able to make out every word of the conversation between Seven and Ahaoe Muahe. Janeway had watched in disbelief as Ahaoe Muahe had coldly amputated Seven's Borg arm and had been amazed by Seven's continuing defiance of him and her statement that the Borg did not intentionally cause pain. Fleetingly considering the statement she realized it was entirely accurate, the Borg might cause pain during assimilation but if so it was accidental. They had no sympathy or pity if it did but they had no malice either. When it became obvious that there would be no more conversation besides Seven's screams they gratefully turned down the audio, the pain filled cries had torn at both of them. Finally they watched as Huiah Mlaer and the guards pulled Ahaoe Muahe away from Seven's mutilated body. They continued watching until the guards with Seven's body marched out of the room for the Arch of Judgment and the data disk ended. Janeway picked up the last data disk and with an inquiring look at Chokaty, who nodded, she inserted it into the console. The Arch of Judgment was monitored closely and the video and audio was of excellent quality. It was the first detailed view either of them had of the devastation Ahaoe Muahe had wrought upon Seven's body and both of them stared horrified at the blood-drenched form on the diagnostic bed. Only Seven's face had been left untouched except for some blood spattering. Both of them continued watching in silence, listening to the disembodied voice and Muahe's arrogant assertion that his savagery against Seven was justified. The announcement of her innocence and Muahe's guilt drew deep breaths from both and they watched as Muahe was dragged away. Then Chakotay pointed at the screen and said, "Look at the statue; it's changed, it's glowing. Everyone's attention is on Muahe but it began glowing a few seconds ago." Janeway backed up the data to the point Chakotay indicated and they both focused on the statue as first the eyes and then the entire body glowed. By this point the Mularans were also staring and Janeway and Chakotay were as silent as the Mularans had been as they watched the statue move gracefully over to pick up the body of Seven of Nine and bear it into the depths of the temple. After the last of the data had finished playing Janeway said, "What do you make of that," Janeway indicated the frozen last picture on the console, "Given that we just found signs that Seven is alive again and somewhere inside that force field?" Chakotay steepled his fingers together and looked pensive, "Mulara has obviously taken an interest in her, not surprising given the mythology surrounding her. I looked it up when we first arrived out of curiosity. Were you aware that the first time she showed up on Mularan was 500 years ago? The Mularan's were split into several opposing kings and violence between these groups was very common. One of these kings kidnapped the teenager daughter of another and had her raped and tortured. When she died a golden light formed around her and she disappeared, at the same time the king and all the men who had participated in the kidnapping and violence died as well… by decapitation as a matter of fact, probably where the traditional punishment began. The daughter showed up almost two weeks later with a tale of a goddess who had gathered up her body and healed her." Janeway looked at Chakotay and said "Sounds rather a lot like Seven's experiences, does this mean that we will have to wait two weeks for her?" Chakotay shrugged and said "The story says almost two weeks so I would guess that it was around 10 or so days. She died yesterday, if the story is correct, we have somewhere between seven to twelve days before she will be returned to us. The story describes her time with the goddess as healing and peaceful, if we are lucky Seven will be treated the same." Janeway nodded, "I hope so because I don't know what Seven's emotional state will be after going through that. That story, if it's accurate, tells me that she will remember what happened to her." Janeway paced some and picked up the PADD with the Intelligence reports, "Is the situation between Seven and the crew as bad as this makes it out to be? Does she really have no friends beside the Doctor and I on Voyager?" Chakotay paused, trying to choose his words carefully, "I know she is friends with Naomi Wildman, but Seven's mannerisms have not made her many friends, especially in engineering. I'm certain they don't realize that neither you nor I consider her to be as mature as she appears, so they don't understand why we let her continue to behave the way she does. They just see her getting away with behavior that wouldn't be tolerated in them." Janeway nodded and said, "I guess I haven't done her any favors by doing so but she didn't exactly want to join Voyager so I've tried to be easy on her. Did you know that less than six months ago when we found Artruis's ship that she didn't want to go to the Alpha Quadrant? I told her that she had no other place to go but Voyager. I thought at the time she was merely afraid of the unknown, now I wonder if she wasn't more afraid of meeting more people that might react to her the same way." Chakotay said, "Kathryn you can't blame yourself for wanting her to experience her humanity. She's grown so much this last year, we just have to figure out how to fix the situation that exists between her and the crew and how to make sure it doesn't happen again." Kathryn Janeway nodded and asked, "Any suggestions?" Chakotay smiled, "As a matter of fact, yes. Given that the Doctor said that the medical record and pictures of the Arch of Judgment were posted publicly I'm betting that the entire ship has seen them by now. B'Elanna is stubborn but she's also honorable, and I bet she's feeling pretty bad about how Seven was treated about right now. If we can get her to change how she treats Seven, the engineering crew should follow her." ****************************************************************************** In engineering the mood was anything but jovial, there had been a guilty sense about the crew ever since Seven's disappearance and especially after Tuvok found out that several of them had been gossiping about Seven of Nine to Mularan Intelligence agents. The fact that they had not known the identity of the friendly Mularans who had wanted to know more about the ex-Borg had not diminished the decidedly disapproving look the Security Chief had given each of them. None of them had been looking forward to the inevitable note that would be placed in their records about their indiscretion. Torres had already dressed several of them down for falling for the tactic, she had been instantly suspicious of the Mularans curiosity and her Marquis experiences had kept her from sharing any information about Seven of Nine. She might dislike the arrogant Borg but she would never betray a shipmate like that. The transmission from the Mularans of the execution of Ahaoe Muahe for the death of Seven of Nine had upset everyone. The images of Seven of Nine's body had been graphically shocking evidence of her abuse and the news that she was declared a minor under Mularan law just piled one shock after another in the minds of the engineering crew. Torres had disappeared into her office shaken by the sight of the dismembered body of Seven of Nine. She had read the dispassionate medical report and had looked up the Mularan law to find out what was considered the age of adult hood. Now finished with her research she sat with her head in her hands thinking of how Seven of Nine had always acted and comparing it to her own teenage years and seeing entirely too many similarities. Why hadn't Janeway made it clearer that Seven was not an adult? But then memories of Janeway and Chakotay continually telling her that she was expected to be above reacting to Seven's behavior intruded, and in the light of this new information, B'Elanna saw their admonitions with deeper insight. If the Captain and Chakotay considered Seven to be socially around the age of eighteen or so, then of course they would tell her that she was expected to be above reacting to Seven's actions. Now she would never have the chance to apologize for all the hateful things she had said to the Borg. Never have the chance to show the Captain that she was capable of dealing with Seven in a mature manner. She also accepted that the antagonism between Seven and most of the engineering crew had been in part her fault; she had not bothered to discourage it and by doing so had indicated to her crew that the hostile behavior was acceptable. If she had stopped the behavior instead of tacitly encouraging it Seven might not be dead. Her summons to the Bridge to meet the Captain and First Officer in the Ready Room came as no surprise to her. She stepped out of her office and met the eyes of her engineering crew and said, "I must apologize to all of you. I should have said something sooner about the gossip and behavior you displayed towards Seven. I should have stopped it but I didn't, instead I said nothing and by that I pretty much encouraged all of you to continue. I'll accept the responsibility for the information that was given to Mularan Intelligence; if I had behaved more like a senior officer I'm certain the security lapse would have never occurred." With that she turned and left engineering and headed for the Bridge with a decidedly grim look on her face that had everyone in the hallways moving to the side to stay out of her way. ***************************************************************************** B'Elanna Torres strode through the Bridge ignoring Ensign Kim's attempt to catch her attention and asked for permission to enter the Ready Room. When the door opened she strode in and stood stiffly at attention in front of the Captain and Commander Chakotay. Captain Janeway raised an eyebrow and said, "Lt. Torres I think you know why you are here. Would you like to explain to me why engineering had the need to share their opinions of Seven of Nine with Mularan Intelligence?" B'Elanna took in a deep breath and said, "That's my fault Captain, I should've stopped the gossip and their behavior toward Seven months ago, but I didn't. I realize that by doing so I was encouraging the behavior because of my dislike of Seven. I accept full responsibility for my crew's actions on the space station." Captain Janeway said, "Well this is a change; we've been trying to get you to realize how much influence you had over your engineering crew for months. Too bad Seven had to die before you realized it." Janeway was not going to pull any punches, she was fairly irate that the situation in engineering had been allowed to continue as long as it had. Lt. Torres flinched, "Yes Captain." Commander Chakotay asked, "Why did you let the situation in engineering continue Lt.?" B'Elanna paused in thought then answered, "From the first she was rude to me; she always behaved as if she had the right to do anything in engineering she wanted. And I resented that both of you allowed her to. I guess I was also jealous that she got as much of the Captain's attention as she did." B'Elanna hadn't wanted to be as honest but with what little honor she had left she figured honesty was the only way of regaining any of it. Janeway blinked, "You were jealous of the time I spent with her? Did you not realize that she needed it? I made the choice for her, against her will, that she would become human; I decided that she was unable to make her own decision about the matter. I took on the role of her guardian B'Elanna, I thought you realized that." B'Elanna shook her head and said, "I'm sorry Captain, I only realized that you and Chakotay were treating her as a minor a few minutes ago. The news that the Mularans had declared Seven a minor caused me to think about it. I was too wrapped up in my own reactions to see I guess." "And now," Janeway questioned, "How would you treat her now B'Elanna?" B'Elanna laughed bitterly, "If she were still alive you mean? She would still get on my nerves and infuriate me, but I hope I would react differently. I would try to tell her what she was doing wrong and if she continued it I would tell her to leave engineering until she could behave in an acceptable manner. I guess I'd be more inclined to report to you and Chakotay when she really did something out of line, instead of just yelling at her. But I'll never have the chance now to make things right, will I?" Janeway tilted her head to the side when B'Elanna had started speaking but had let her finish, now she said, "B'Elanna you don't know that Seven may be alive do you? We can't get a transporter lock on her but we have detected her life signs in the main temple complex where the Arch of Judgment is located. I'm sorry, I thought that you knew." B'Elanna stared at her and said, "That's what Harry was trying to get my attention about, and I just walked past him. No I didn't know." B'Elanna closed her eyes and a feeling of relief swept through her, she would have the opportunity to regain her honor. B'Elanna opened her eyes and looked at the Captain and said, "I do have one request of you Captain." Janeway looked at her and nodded and B'Elanna continued, "Don't let her get away with the way she treats people. If nothing changes I can ask my people not to be actively hostile to her, but I can't make them like her, and she still won't have any friends." B'Elanna thought but didn't say ‘just like I didn't have any friends when I was a teenager.' "When I'm right and she's out of line back me up please." Janeway rubbed her forehead and asked, "What is it that she does that annoys people the most?" B'Elanna shifted her weight and considered the question and tried to respond to it as diplomatically as possible. "She treats people as if they were inferior to her, she constantly tells people they are inefficient, and their feelings are irrelevant. The way she corrects mistakes makes it clear that she believes that she would not have made it. Even though she may not want to rejoin the Collective she makes it obvious that she compares us to the Borg and finds us lacking. Being told that you are inefficient and your thoughts and feelings are irrelevant… well no one reacts well to that." Janeway looked at her with understanding in her eyes and said, "I don't want to make radical changes immediately when she comes back, chances are she will remember everything that happened to her and she will need our support. I'm afraid she would take that type of change to mean that Ahaoe Muahe told her the truth, that she's not welcome here. Can you be patient for a while longer and try and treat her gently for a few weeks. Let's ease into the change instead of springing it on her all at once. I don't want to hurt her more than she's already been hurt." B'Elanna looked puzzled at the Captain and asked, "What did Ahaoe Muahe say to her?" Janeway reached over to her console and typed in a few commands and turned the screen around so that B'Elanna could watch the first few minutes of Seven's ‘interrogation'. Janeway stopped it before Muahe moved back over to cut off Seven's arm. B'Elanna rubbed her forehead ridges absently and sighed, the petaQ had taunted Seven with the things her engineering crew had told his people. Suddenly she straightened and said furiously, "That Ha'DibaH! he told Seven that I had told him those things!" B'Elanna got up and started to pace angrily. Janeway watched her pace for a few moments and said, "Tuvok's reports and the information we got from the Mularan's make it clear that you did no such thing Lt. I'll make sure that Seven understands that you never told Mularan Intelligence anything." B'Elanna turned and looked at her and said in an angry tone, "But she's going to know where the information came from, and that's engineering which means me." B'Elanna slumped and said in a quiet tone, "How can I make this right?" Janeway said "Try to be patient with her, figure out whether or not she means to be rude or not. B'Elanna she hides behind that Borg mask when she feels uncertain or threatened. You react with anger to situations you don't like; she reacts by acting like the perfect Borg. Try to take that into account when you are dealing with her. Try and look for what's behind the behavior instead of reacting to it." B'Elanna bristled at the comparison but then frowned and nodded to the Captain. "If that's all Captain I need to go back to engineering. Let me know if there is any more news about Seven?" Janeway nodded and said, "I'll forward the sensor readings to you, the Doctor said he might need your help to figure out some of the changes in Seven's physiology. She has a lot more metallic alloy in her physiology than she used to and the Doctor isn't at all certain why. Maybe you can tell something from the data, if we get better sensor readings I'll send them to you." B'Elanna frowned and asked, "The Mularans are holding Seven somewhere? The way they reacted to her death I wouldn't have expected that." Janeway gave her a grim smile and said, "No the Mularan's aren't but it appears that Mulara is. There is some type of force field around parts of the temple. If the Mularan mythology is correct we won't be allowed to retrieve Seven for several more days." B'Elanna nodded, "That's why we diverted all available power to the sensors, and we still can't punch through the force field? Could you send me the information on the force field as well? Maybe I can figure out some way to get through it." Janeway nodded, "Thank you for offering to help B'Elanna." B'Elanna left the Ready Room and walked over to Harry Kim, "What do you have on this force field?" Harry smiled at her and said, "Look at it, see that power reading. I've never seen a force field this strong and I've finally found what's powering it, I think. I'm getting readings indicating some type of quantum singularity inside the force field and I think that where the force field is getting its power. The interesting thing is that before we diverted power to the sensors we were picking up readings on Seven from inside the force field, and we shouldn't have been able to. Not with that strong of a force field, even now we shouldn't be able to get the level of detailed readings that we are." Tom who was at the helm said, "I don't see why everyone is so worried about Seven, she always turns up ok. I'm sure we will get her back ok and she will be her charming Borg self." B'Elanna rounded on Tom angrily saying, "I'd hardly call being beaten to death ok Tom, it's not like she's just going to be able to forget that. Nor will she forget that it was engineering that was so eager to talk to her torturer's intelligence people and that's my fault." Tom gaped for a second and then laughed nervously, "Hey, don't get mad at me, I mean she's the one who says emotions are irrelevant. And it's not as if she hasn't caused all of her problems on this ship with her attitude. Besides, it's not like she's dead…" B'Elanna growled at Tom, "Ghuy'cha' No one deserves to be tortured to death! And certainly not Seven... Not after all the times she's risked her life for us. Just shut up Tom before I really loose my temper!" With that B'Elanna strode angrily from the Bridge leaving a surprised looking Tom Paris staring after her NewMessage: Path: newsspool2.news.atl.earthlink.net!stamper.news.atl.earthlink.net!elnk-atl-nf1!newsfeed.earthlink.net!feed1.news.rcn.net!rcn!news.maxwell.syr.edu!postnews2.google.com!not-for-mail From: cobaltwolf2002@yahoo.com (Kudara) Newsgroups: alt.startrek.creative Subject: NEW VOY I am Borg - Part 1 3/6 PG-13 Date: 21 Aug 2004 16:09:07 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Lines: 567 Message-ID: <3f3213d8.0408211509.40dac7b@posting.google.com> NNTP-Posting-Host: 68.13.213.47 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit X-Trace: posting.google.com 1093129748 32282 127.0.0.1 (21 Aug 2004 23:09:08 GMT) X-Complaints-To: groups-abuse@google.com NNTP-Posting-Date: Sat, 21 Aug 2004 23:09:08 +0000 (UTC) Xref: news.earthlink.net alt.startrek.creative:160492 X-Received-Date: Sat, 21 Aug 2004 16:09:12 PDT (newsspool2.news.atl.earthlink.net) Title: I am Borg - Part 1 Author: Kudara Contact: cobaltwolf2002@yahoo.com Series: VOY Part: NEW 3/6 Rating: PG-13 Codes: 7, f Summary: Seven's experiences in the Temple. ****************************************************************** Love, comfort, acceptance, a gentle voice, and the sensation of a hand that brushed her forehead soothingly; Seven was dimly aware of being comforted as the pain that had wracked her body faded away and she fell into a deep healing sleep. When she woke again she was aware of floating in a warm thick liquid, how or why she was floating inside the tank did not concern her for some reason and she looked around in mild curiosity at her surroundings. She was floating freely in some type of liquid filled tank; a breathing mask covered her nose and mouth. Through the thick fluid she could see the outlines of a moderately sized room. The walls, ceiling and floor were made of large cream-colored sandstone looking blocks, intricate designs ran along molding at the top and bottom of the room's walls. A large clear door ran from floor to ceiling directly in front of her tank which gave her an excellent view of what she knew were the inner temple grounds. Dimly she wondered how she knew this but the thought faded and she simply watched the play of the sunlight through the branches on the grass, feeling peaceful and slightly tired. The deep green of the grass and the golden sunshine made a pleasing contrast and she fell asleep wishing that she could be outside enjoying what looked like a beautiful day. Never did the words efficient or irrelevant run through her mind, and she did not even consider why not. She was completely unaware that she was gently but firmly being prevented from thinking about certain things until her mind and body healed from her ordeal. The next time she awoke she found that she was no longer in the tank, but lying on a soft small bed, and a light sheet was all that covered her. She stretched and looked sleepily out the door and noticed that it was dark outside. She became aware that she was hungry and she sat up in her bed to look around. A small table was now beside the bed and upon it she saw a glass full of some type of orange fluid and a bowl that contained what looked like different types of fruit. Seven picked up the glass and sniffed the fluid, the rich smell of fruit filled her senses and she took a small taste of the liquid. It was rich and sweet but with a faint sour after taste that quickly faded. She decided she liked it and took a larger sip. Examining the bowl, she chose an oddly shaped oval fruit that smelled nice and began nibbling upon it. The flesh of the red skinned fruit was light blue in color and had a pleasantly creamy texture and sweet taste. Between the juice and fruit Seven soon felt pleasantly full and with one last look outside at the dark grounds she snuggled back into her bed, pulled the sheet back up over herself and fell back into a pleasant sleep. The next morning she awoke and sat up then smiled, the sun was shining outside and she wanted to explore the gardens this morning. A childlike sense of curiosity gripped her and she swung her legs over the side of the bed and stood up. Her reflection in the doorway caught her attention and she stared at herself curiously then looked down at herself. The silver lines that covered her torso enthralled her; she noticed them on her arms and hands as well, and lifted her forearm for closer inspection. The silver lines were about as wide as her smallest finger, a design of gold and deep blue chased along its length. Looking up at the molding in the room, she realized that the designs on her arm were the same. She touched her stomach, remembering dimly that she used to have something like this before, but it hadn't been as nice as what now adorned that area. She looked at her hand and noticed that a silver line ran down the top and bottom of each finger and covered the fingertips. The lines from her fingers met and curled in a simple interlace design on the top of her hand and palm then continued in a more complex interweave pattern on either side of each arm. The silver lines on the top of her arm crossed over the top of her shoulder and split to run down the front and back of her shoulder then met again under her arm to continue down the sides of her torso. The lines on the bottom of her arm ended in a triangular pattern that covered the area of her armpit. The design on her abdomen ran along the width of her torso; the lines sweeping in an arching flowing design that almost but not quite met the pattern that ran down her sides. The design ended just beneath her breasts, and then met in two silver lines that ran between her breasts, then separated out to either side into smaller silver lines that arched gracefully across her upper chest and ended just beneath the collarbone near her shoulders on either side. The twining pattern on her sides continued down the outside of her hips and legs, ending in a delicate spiral around her anklebone. The design on her abdomen ended just above her groin and arched around and down the front of her hips and down the front of her thighs, there it widened and ran down the front of her thigh to the tops of her feet. Turning around she noticed that the design on her abdomen and front of her legs repeated across her backside. Looking at her face she gently touched the silver pattern that ran around her left eye; turning her head she noticed a smaller silver pattern on her right cheek near her ear. She could hardly feel the difference between her skin and the silver, a slight raise between the two and the smooth metallic feel of the narrow silver bands. The lines around her eye were finer than the ones on her torso; they formed a delicate arching pattern around the eye that she found pleasing. She realized belatedly that she was nude and looked around the room for clothing, she noticed a new piece of furniture in the room and walked over to investigate it. Opening the two long doors on its front she found clothing hanging inside the upper part and drawers of underclothes at the bottom. Curiously she examined the tops and pants and various wrappings that she knew were meant to fit around her wrists and waist. She put on a set of underclothes and then picked a sapphire blue shirt and black pants to wear. The top was flowing and loose in the body and upper sleeves, made of a thick material that felt soft against her skin. The sleeves narrowed in at the wrist and she chose matching blue wrist wraps to wear with it. The wrist wraps were meant to look as if they were made of narrow bands of cloth what wound around her lower forearm and wrist but they were actually all one large piece that wrapped around and adhered to itself. The black waistband was about five inches wide and made to be worn in the same manner. A set of matching black calf length flat-soled boots completed the outfit. When she was done she looked at herself in the door way and admired the way the wrist and waist wraps caused the shirt to blouse gracefully, the pants were tight fitting but not skin tight and narrowed at the calf to meet the boots without any blousing effect. A one-inch banding formed a collar at the neckline of the shirt that ended in a V, which showed the skin of her throat and some of her chest. Once dressed she realized that she was hungry again and she went to the table to grab up a few fruits from the bowl before opening the doorway and stepping out into the temple gardens to explore. She found that the inner temple gardens were laid out in a cross design, with formal flower gardens at the center and ends of the crosses, in between the gardens where stone walkways bordered by green grass and trees. Her room exited into the garden midway between the middle and one of the branches of the cross. She spent the day admiring the different flowers that comprised the garden and resting on the grass in the shade of the trees. Several of the trees were fruit bearing and she knew which ones were good to eat from her experiences with the fruit in her room. The fruits ranged from sweet to tangy and some of them were very juicy, causing her to frequently need to wash her hands in the fountains that dotted the area. Somehow she also knew that the water pouring out of the fountains was good to drink and throughout the day she slaked her thirst by drinking from them. Sometime in the afternoon Seven wandered back to her room and laid down for a nap, while she slept her new cortical node received information about her exoskeleton and implants. When she awoke in the evening she sat up and looked at her hands examining what she now knew was a complex poly-deutonic alloy matrixed with a complex organic material. No longer would she have to worry about her implants being rejected by her immune system, all of her implants were now comprised of a metallic-organic matrix that her immune system recognized as part of her own body instead of alien. She also knew that she could control several different aspects of her exoskeleton, including the color. Given time she could ‘request' for it to change color and it would change to a blue with silver and gold markings as well as a red with gold and silver. She could also overlay the top with a thin organic layer that mimicked her skin to hide the exoskeleton all-together. All of these processes took time and she closed her eyes and instructed her exoskeleton to begin the process to change to blue. That done she knew it would be an hour or so before the process was complete, while she waited she tried to remember what else she knew about her exoskeleton. Slowly more information came to her; she ‘remembered' that her exoskeleton was part of a complex supportive structure under her skin. Her bone structure was now entirely supported by more of the metallic-organic matrix, poly-deutonic and tritanium alloy support rods ran around the bones in her limbs to her exoskeleton to ensure that her flesh could not be crushed between the exoskeleton and reinforced bone. Fine metallic-organic filaments ran through every inch of her skin, muscles, and organs, which supported, reinforced, and improved their function. A different metallic-organic fiber worked in conjunction with her nervous system, increasing the speed of her reflexes, and her sensory capabilities. These fibers interacted with her exoskeleton, allowing it to be an extension of her skin. In fact her exoskeleton was dense with sensory fibers, allowing her to process information about her environment that she would be otherwise unable to sense. These fibers also ran through her brain, interacting with her cortical node and increasing her brains synaptic speed as well as allowing her to process information more quickly. As before…Seven paused and wondered what she had been before but there was no memory of what she was before now. She remembered her name, or names, she knew she was Annika Hansen and also Seven of Nine. Though she could not remember why she had two names. She was troubled by the lack of memory for a moment, but it faded, and she continued with her self-examination. She no longer wondered how she knew that she had bio-organic chips, embedded within her major muscle groups, which interacted with the metallic-organic fibers to both feed the muscles with energy and cleanse waste products away. Or why she also knew that behind her left eye was a large implant that stored information for retrieval and controlled her exoskeleton and nanoprobes. She also knew that it was redundantly backed-up by other implants in her chest and legs. If for some reason the main cortical node malfunctioned it would shut down and the other implants would take over its functions. Implants scattered throughout her abdomen interacted with specialized organic fibers in her mouth, esophagus, stomach and intestines allowed her to efficiently process several different types of organic and inorganic matter as ‘food'. Pretty much anything that wasn't highly caustic or poisonous could be used to fuel her body. Faced with a lack of ingestible substances she knew she could modify her exoskeleton to take in energy from her environment as well as break down non-organic materials by secreting various acids or enzymes, the resulting non-organic sludge could then be absorbed by her exoskeleton and used to fuel her systems. It wasn't the most appealing process, reminding her of several insect species methods of digestion, but it would allow her to stay alive in otherwise barren environments. Finally she realized that she could control her body temperature by using her exoskeleton to either cool or heat her body. This was usually controlled without her thinking about it by her cortical node but she could also consciously control her body temperature. Seven glanced at her hands and realized that enough time had passed for her exoskeleton to modify its color; she smiled and stripped off her clothing, admiring the blue metallic bands that now adorned her body. Feeling tired and hungry she realized that the fruit on the table had been replaced and there was a new glass of juice on the table. After she ate she decided to lie down and rest. Seven slept but her eyes fluttered as she began remembering her past, she relived her childhood remembering her parents and her life aboard the Raven. She remembered when the Borg had come upon the disabled Raven, how she and her parents had been assimilated. She remembered being Borg and the united mind of the Collective, then being severed from the Collective by Voyager's captain Kathryn Janeway. She recalled her experiences on Voyager up to the point where the Mularan guard had fired upon her. ************************************************************ Seven awoke with a start, looking around her at the simple room, she was now aware that she had suffered some type of major trauma. Looking down at herself she absorbed once again the information about her new exoskeleton and implants. She brought her hands up for examination realizing that she no longer had a Borg arm, momentarily she missed the functionality of the limb, then she realized that she knew how the banding on her hands could adapt to provide much of the same functionality. Suddenly she grasped the fact that she actually had two organic arms again. Wondering, she stared at her left hand, running her thumb over her fingers and comparing the sensation to the same action with her right hand. They were identical, the feel of human skin and warm smooth flexible metal. Concentrating she identified the sensations felt by her exoskeleton, the identification of oils and slight perspiration, a measurement of heat. Accessing her cortical node she went over the specifics of her exoskeleton again, this time admiring the efficient design of it. Her torso was not supported from her spinal column but rather a complex radial waffle shaped array of rods that supported and protected her internal organs. Her spinal column was reinforced throughout its length and solidly covered with a flexible poly-deutonic-organic coating what was perforated to allow nerve bundles to pass through. It would take significant pressure to collapse her poly-deutonic and tritanium alloy support structure. A small smile graced her features and Seven said, "Efficient." in an approving tone to the empty room as she finished reviewing what she knew about her new physiology. Seven turned her attention to her new nanoprobes and realized they were no longer Borg either; they were vastly improved and had several safety measures to ensure that they could not be removed from her and used for other purposes. If she did not administer them through her exoskeleton or specifically program them to remain active outside her body they would automatically become inactive and break down within 30 seconds of being removed. Several new programming options were available to her from her cortical node that had previously only been possible in using external methods. Seven pondered all the physical changes wondering how they had come about, she remembered looking out from the regenerative tank and guessed that she had been damaged by the Mularan guard somehow but why she had ended up in the main temple of Mulara instead of the Sickbay on Voyager she had no idea. Seven remembered the previous day looked outside and found herself once again admiring the garden. It was not a sensation she was entirely comfortable with, obviously she had been malfunctioning yesterday, yet the memory of it remained and with it the emotions that she had experienced. Seven stood and stared down at her exoskeleton, she remembered that she had thought it beautiful; today she thought it aesthetically pleasing. Considering her response again she glanced down and agreed with yesterday's assessment, her exoskeleton was beautiful. It combined form and functionality in a manner that appealed to her sense of perfection. Seven looked out the door and knew that if she went the opposite way from the direction she had taken the previous day she would find a bathing pool. Seven grabbed up a few fruit to eat for her morning meal then paused as she fully realized something, she would never need to regenerate again as her new implants and exoskeleton did not require it. Once again a small smile graced her features and grabbing a robe from the dresser to slip around herself she walked with light steps out into the garden. Following a small path through broad-leaved plants she found the hidden bathing pool. Soap, shampoo and towels were laid out next to it and Seven realized that her needs had been anticipated, though she had seen no other person in the garden besides herself. Somehow she knew that she was still alone in the garden and that she would not be interrupted while she bathed. Settling herself into the warm water she looked around at the profusion of growing plants and the small stream that meandered away from a tall waterfall that was only a few meters away. She guessed that the water from the waterfall would be the perfect place to rinse after she was done with her bath. Seven laid back in the soothing water and relaxed, realizing as she did so that until yesterday it had been an unfamiliar sensation. She found herself distracted by thoughts that this was an inefficient waste of time but at the same time something in her now recognized that perhaps a bit of inefficiency could be tolerated now and then. Letting the thoughts of her current inefficient use of time drift away she consoled herself by thinking that she had nothing better to do anyway besides looking around the garden again. Eventually she sat up and began washing her hair and body then she exited the pool and walked over to rinse herself under the waterfall that was obviously designed for this purpose. The water was cool but not unpleasantly so and she stood under it for a while, appreciating the feel of it after the warmth of the bathing pool. Once done with her rinsing, she toweled off and put back on her robe and walked back to her room. Walking over to the dresser she chose a cream-colored shirt and dark red pants along with dark red boots to wear. Seven considered the different wristbands and waistbands and chose cream wristbands and a dark red waistband. Closing her eyes for a second she concentrated on initiating the change in the color of her exoskeleton from blue to red. Glancing at the door of the dresser she realized it was mirrored on the inside and she looked at her reflection. She noticed a comb and several hair clasps were now inside the dresser. Seven glanced around the room, wondering if someone had come in, but she saw nothing else that appeared to have been touched. Seven reviewed what she knew of the being called Mulara. It was entirely possible that things were being transported directly to various locations in anticipation of her needs, though why Mulara would take an interest in her she did not know. Seven knew from the Borg all the myths surrounding Mulara, she was aware that very few people were allowed into the area where she now found herself; the high priestess of the Mularan religion and those who were called the ‘reborn'. Uneasily she realized that since she did not belong in the first group that meant that she must belong to the second, the reborn, those who had died violently and unjustly and had been brought back from the dead by Mulara. She knew that several days were missing from her memory, what had happened to her during that time? And why had Mulara taken an interest in her? The second thing she realized was that the reborn in Mularan mythology always ended up playing an important role in Mularan history as peacemakers. Seven wondered uneasily if she would be required to do the same and how Captain Janeway would react to what she would probably see as a violation of Starfleet's Prime Directive. Shaking herself out of her thoughts she grabbed up the comb and combed her hair, and then she chose one of the hair clasps that looked as if it were made from a dark red wood that matched her pants and bound her hair back at the nape of her neck with it. She looked at her reflection and was vaguely dissatisfied with it; she unbound her hair then tried combing back only the hair above her ears and fastening that. Now the hair clasp rested midway down the back of her skull and held tightly the hair from the top of her head and above her ears. The lower half of her hair was left free, examining herself in the mirror Seven decided she liked the look and nodded in satisfaction. Suddenly she heard the sound of a polite knock on the door and turned to see a Mularan woman standing outside her door, awaiting her acknowledgement before entering. Seven glanced at the woman's dress and recognized the high collared heavily embroidered robe of a high priestess. Seven walked over to the door and opened it, looking curiously at the Mularan woman. The woman smiled at her and said, "I am High Priestess Analea, I have been sent to answer some of your questions and to see how you are recuperating." Seven nodded and said, "I am Seven of Nine, what am I doing here and why have my Borg implants been replaced?" Analea replied, "Perhaps we can walk in the garden and I will answer your questions?" Seven nodded stiffly, "That is acceptable." Analea's mouth twitched and she turned and walked toward the garden area asking, "What is the last thing you remember Seven of Nine?" Seven followed her and strode swiftly to catch up to where she could walk beside the woman and replied, "I remember being hailed by a Mularan guard, when I turned he had his weapon drawn and he fired at me. I assume that he succeeded in firing upon me." Analea nodded and said, "The rest of your memory will return to you in time when you are healed enough to remember it. Suffice to say events happened that caused your death, Mulara intervened and brought you to the inner temple and brought you back to life. All of the reborn are gifted in different ways; your gifts are your new implants and exoskeleton. Your Borg cortical node and abdominal implant were badly damaged and needed to be replaced as it was, so Mulara decided to replace everything while you were healing. Do you like them? I thought they were beautiful when they appeared on your skin." Seven asked, "You were there when I was healing?" Analea nodded, "Yes I was there when the guardian brought in your body and placed it in the healing tank. Then the guardian placed its hand on your face and you glowed for several minutes. When the guardian removed its hand from your face, you were breathing again and all your Borg implants had disappeared. Your new exoskeleton showed up a few hours later." Seven thought about this then asked, "Am I being held here? Why was I not transported back to Voyager?" Analea paused and looked at Seven and said, "Well Mulara has put up a force field around this entire area. So I guess the answer for now is yes you are being held here, but it's just until you are completely adapted to your new implants. I've seen the schedule of the High Priestesses that are supposed to meet with you, and it only continues for a week. I would guess that you will be completely healed by that time and free to leave. Think of this as an enforced convalescence, not a prison Seven, you were injured so badly that you died just three days ago." The last was said softly and earnestly to Seven. Seven sighed and said, "I will comply. May I contact Voyager while I am… convalescing?" Analea looked confused and said, "I don't know how, there isn't any communications equipment in the inner temple and Mulara has already made it clear that only High Priestesses will be allowed to enter and exit the inner temple while you are healing." Analea tapped her chin for a few seconds then said, "I can give them a message for you; I will be visiting Voyager later today to give them an update on your condition." Seven inquired, "What will you tell them?" Analea said, "I don't know yet, we haven't talked about how you are doing after all. Do you have any more questions for me? If not I want to find out how you are doing." Seven wondered, "Am I considered to be one of the reborn?" Analea nodded and waited, suspecting that there would be another question. Seven asked, "Will Mulara expect me to act in some way to change Mulara? Captain Janeway will not be pleased if I am required to do so as it breaks several Federation laws and directives." Analea replied, "No you will not be expected to do something for us, some task may yet be expected of you but it will not be for my people." Seven nodded and then stated, "I am functioning within acceptable parameters High Priestess Analea." Analea chuckled and said, "Mulara said that you would say so, I'm pleased to see that she was right. I'm more interested in what you think of your new implants and exoskeleton. I see that you have figured out the process to make it change in coloration." Analea pointed at Seven's hand where the exoskeleton had just changed from blue to red. Seven looked at her hand and noted that the color and nodded, "I have tried all the modifications except for the modification that covers them with a layer of skin. I shall try that next, but I believe I have mastered this skill." Analea nodded, "How do you feel Seven, are you in any pain at all, any signs of a headache or any aches?" Seven shook her head and said, "There are no signs that my body is rejecting the implants, the organic matrix is functioning as expected. My implants are all functioning normally." Analea nodded and asked, "And how are you feeling, Seven? What's your emotional state?" Seven said, "Feelings are irrelevant." Analea shook her head, "No they are not; feelings tell us a lot about our state of being. Feelings can indicate whether you are stressed, or feeling threatened by something, they can even indicate illness. Now, how are you feeling?" Seven sighed, "I am feeling well, it is peaceful here. I am starting to feel bored though; perhaps there is something I could study?" Analea grinned at Seven and said, "Your boredom will soon be over, today is your last day of complete freedom, and starting tomorrow you will have a succession of teachers. You need to learn how to increase your strength; right now you are not much stronger than a normal human. But that can be changed and tomorrow you will start learning how, as well as learning how to properly gauge and control your strength. I think it's time for me to be going today, why don't you experiment with your exoskeleton more. Have you tried solar and thermal energy gathering with it yet?" Seven leaned her head over to the side and then shook it saying, "I have not attempted that as yet." Analea smiled, "I suggest combining it with sunbathing, you could use some color to your skin. I'm sure there are some towels…" A folded towel suddenly appeared in her hands in a shimmer of golden light and Analea laughed, "Such as this one right here, that you can spread out and use." With that Analea handed the towel to Seven who bemusedly accepted it. Seven said, "I do not have specified attire for sunbathing." as she unfolded the towel. Analea shook her head and replied, "Once I leave there will be no one else in the garden, take the opportunity to sunbathe nude. I do occasionally when I have the chance." With those parting words she turned to leave. Seven called, "My message for Voyager." Analea paused and looked back inquiringly. Seven paused for a moment, "Tell them I am feeling well." Analea's mouth twitched and she nodded to Seven and then continued along the path. Seven watched her leave then shook out the towel and accessed her cortical node seeking information on how she was to absorb solar and thermal energy. As she absorbed the information she absently began undressing, folding her clothes and neatly laying them on the grass by the towel. Seven lay down on the towel and found herself enjoying the feel of the sun on her back and the sensation of the occasional breeze. Luckily something woke her before she experienced the condition known as sunburn first hand, and she rolled over onto her back. An hour later she sat up and gathered the towel around her, picked up her clothing and walked the short distance to the waterfall. There she cooled off under the stream of water, satisfied that she understood the thermal and solar energy conversion process satisfactorily. NewMessage: ath: newsspool2.news.atl.earthlink.net!stamper.news.atl.earthlink.net!elnk-atl-nf1!newsfeed.earthlink.net!feed1.news.rcn.net!rcn!news.maxwell.syr.edu!postnews2.google.com!not-for-mail From: cobaltwolf2002@yahoo.com (Kudara) Newsgroups: alt.startrek.creative Subject: NEW VOY I am Borg - Part 1 4/6 PG-13 Date: 21 Aug 2004 16:12:12 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Lines: 733 Message-ID: <3f3213d8.0408211512.22f14651@posting.google.com> NNTP-Posting-Host: 68.13.213.47 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit X-Trace: posting.google.com 1093129932 32362 127.0.0.1 (21 Aug 2004 23:12:12 GMT) X-Complaints-To: groups-abuse@google.com NNTP-Posting-Date: Sat, 21 Aug 2004 23:12:12 +0000 (UTC) Xref: news.earthlink.net alt.startrek.creative:160493 X-Received-Date: Sat, 21 Aug 2004 16:12:17 PDT (newsspool2.news.atl.earthlink.net) Title: I am Borg - Part 1 Author: Kudara Contact: cobaltwolf2002@yahoo.com Series: VOY Part: NEW 4/6 Rating: PG-13 Codes: 7, J, C, P, T, K, Doc, f Summary: High Priestess Analea visits Voyager. Seven's continues to ************************************************************** High Priestess Analea stepped off the transporter platform looking curiously at the two people waiting for her, from the memories Mulara had shared with her from Seven she knew that the red headed woman who radiated confidence was Captain Kathryn Janeway, and the taller man with a tattooed design around his eye was Commander Chakotay. Seven had an interesting relationship with the Captain; and Analea briefly wondered if the woman knew just how much Seven looked up to her and tried to emulate her. Janeway smiled and greeted the High Priestess, "Welcome aboard Voyager High Priestess Analea, I understand you have news for us about Seven's condition?" Analea nodded, "I do, and some issues that Mulara wants addressed before Seven can be returned to your crew. Mulara was most unhappy about some of the things she found in Seven's memory." Analea noted how Janeway's face tightened for a moment in a frown but then the woman sighed and nodded. Janeway replied, "Certainly, I haven't been too pleased about some of the things I've found out about Seven's experiences either. Shall we go to my Ready Room?" Analea nodded wondering how Janeway would react to some of the criticisms Mulara had about Janeway's treatment of Seven. Squaring her shoulders she resolved that she would make sure all of Mulara's concerns were dealt with before Seven stepped foot aboard the ship again. The young woman she had met this morning was so innocent and unknowingly open. Behind the words and mask of the Borg was a very sensitive and loving person. Analea moved through the ship with a sense of familiarity from Seven's memories, though she had no intention of letting the Captain know just how much she knew. They had reached the Captain's Ready Room and Janeway politely offered Analea a seat before taking her chair. Commander Chakotay took another seat and they both looked at Analea expectantly. "First I have a message from Seven for you, she said to tell you that she is feeling well." Analea chuckled as she watched the two Starfleet officer's faces and explained "I had to explain to her that feelings were not irrelevant when it came to her health. I'm fairly sure she wanted to convey that she was not in any pain or discomfort." Janeway asked, "How is she doing medically? Has she fully recovered from her injuries?" Analea replied, "She is recovering fairly quickly; she still doesn't have all her memories back yet. She remembers being fired upon at the space station but she doesn't remember anything past that point yet. It will probably be tomorrow or the next day before her mind is fully healed. The injuries to her body, though they were extensive are already fully healed. I suspect Mulara is deliberately suppressing the remaining memories until she feels that Seven is capable of handling them." Janeway frowned, "Mulara is capable of suppressing memories?" Analea said, "Mulara is a goddess; I know you think of her as a higher energy being but really, what difference is there between the two words? Mulara is a powerful being; suppressing Seven's memories until she is prepared to face them is a trivial task for her." Janeway replied, "I didn't mean to offend you; I just have issues with Seven's mind being tampered with." Analea frowned, "You did not offend me. If Mulara is suppressing Seven's memories then she knows that it would harm Seven if she were to remember them now. Give Mulara the benefit of a thousand years of experience Captain, she is acting in Seven's best interest." Janeway considered Analea's words and reluctantly nodded, it wasn't like she had much of a choice anyway. There appeared to be no way that Voyager could penetrate the force fields surrounding the temple, they were just too powerful. Seven would not be returned to them until Mulara decided to let her go, and that meant persuading her High Priestess that Seven should be returned to Voyager. Janeway straightened her shoulders, "I apologize if I sounded like I thought she wasn't High Priestess Analea." Analea said, "Apology accepted Captain, now about Mulara's concerns. Her primary one is Seven's living arrangements. Mulara finds the idea of Seven living in a cargo bay repulsive; it makes Seven sounds like a piece of machinery that is stored away until needed. Mulara feels that it contributed to the problems that Seven has with the Voyager crew." Janeway winced, "I had already considered that myself, I should have noticed it months ago and taken steps to change her living arrangements. When Seven came onboard as the representative of the Borg they set up their alcoves there, when Seven was severed from the Collective it just made sense not to move them and let her use the area. I should have considered that it was not really an acceptable arrangement for her though. There are a few empty quarters she can use; we just need to figure out a way to move an alcove into one of them. My Chief Engineer is working on trying to figure out how to modify one of the quarters for Seven already." Analea was surprised that the Captain had already taken steps to address the issue; perhaps Seven's admiration of the woman was not misplaced after all. Analea replied, "That is excellent news, but you do not have to move an alcove for Seven's use. Mulara replaced all of her implants; she does not need to regenerate using Borg technology anymore. Indeed she cannot use a Borg alcove; the interfaces are just not there." Janeway looked nonplused for a moment and then said, "Maybe you should fill us in on these changes." Chakotay spoke up then, "Maybe I should let B'Elanna know that she doesn't need to work on modifying the alcove anymore." Janeway nodded and Chakotay tapped his combadge, "Chakotay to Torres." A moment later the reply came, "Torres here." Chakotay continued, "You can stop working on the modifications of the Borg alcove for Seven's quarters; we just got news that she no longer needs it to regenerate." A distinct sigh came over the combadge, "And I just figured out how to successfully modify the alcove to work in her quarters. At least I won't have to figure out how to fit the thing in there now. Thanks for letting me know Commander." Chakotay smirked and replied, "Of course B'Elanna." and tapped his combadge to end the conversation. Janeway and Chakotay shared an amused look for a moment then turned back to the Mularan High Priestess. Analea said, "Now about the issues between Seven and the crew." Janeway grimaced to herself, this Mularan High Priestess was entirely too well informed. Janeway could tell this was going to be a long day. ************************************************************* The next morning Seven awoke with a dry mouth, she now remembered waking up in the cell and the guards coming for her. She also remembered them shooting her with phasers when the cell's force field dropped. For a moment she wondered if the combined fire had been what killed her, but that didn't feel quite right. With a sickening sensation in her stomach she felt sure that what she didn't yet remember was frightening. Seven got up and found a fresh glass of juice and fruit awaiting her, this morning however there were new fruits available and with some curiosity Seven examined the greenish smooth skin of the fruit before she gingerly bit into it. The flesh inside was starchy in texture and had a sweet, bread like taste to it. Seven decided that she liked the taste as she finished the first and picked up another one to eat on her way to the bathing pool. Seven had just finished dressing after her bath when she noticed Analea outside the door with her hand poised to knock. Seven nodded to her and Analea dropped her hand and opened the door instead. Analea smiled at Seven and asked, "How are you doing this morning?" Seven stood stiffly with her hands behind her back and said, "I remembered more of the events leading up to my death while I slept. I am experiencing some… distress over what I do not yet remember. Why I should experience distress over what I cannot remember? Perhaps I am malfunctioning." Analea examined how the young woman was standing and said, "You are not malfunctioning, what you are feeling is probably anxiety, it usually manifests itself as elevated blood pressure and heart rate often accompanied by a mild nausea and muscle tension. Your body is getting ready for a possible threat so it's dumping endocrines into your system, which cause the physical symptoms. It's a typical response humanoids have to situations that they find threatening but the threat isn't obvious." Seven considered what Analea said and responded, "Memories cannot threaten me, this response is illogical. I am malfunctioning." Analea said, "No you are not; you know that the memories are of the events that lead to your death. That's reason enough for you to feel anxiety over remembering them. What you are feeling is understandable Seven; I would be concerned that you were malfunctioning if you didn't feel anything." Seven looked puzzled, "Clarify…please." Analea nodded, "You are human Seven, it's normal for you to feel anxious about remembering exactly how you died. If you didn't respond that way then something would be wrong with you. Now we should go over the healthiest way of dealing with situations in which you are feeling anxiety and there is nothing you can do about the situation that caused it. In this case there is nothing you can do to either prevent or hasten when you will remember, it will happen when your mind is healed enough." Seven nodded and said, "What is the proper protocol for dealing with anxiety?" Analea chuckled for a moment then with a more serious demeanor said, "First accept the emotion, that validates your response. The reason for this is you let your body know that you recognize it believes there is a threat situation, usually that automatically causes the body to relax when it knows its message has been received. The second thing is for you to try and relax. That lets your body know that it doesn't need to continue to stay prepared for a threat. The second step is very important; you can wear yourself out if you allow your body to stay in a prolonged state of threat preparedness. In your case your cortical node will process your attempt at relaxation as instructions for it to limit your biological response; your nanoprobes will start to break down the excess hormones in your system. I know that your Borg systems automatically attempted to limit your biological responses, but your new implants will allow you to control whether or not you wish your responses to be limited or not. The only time they will automatically act is when your implants determine that your biological response is damaging your health." Seven nodded and proceeded to comply with Analea's instructions, she found it odd at first to ‘accept' the feeling of anxiety but after a few moments she realized that oddly enough the act of telling herself that it was ok to feel the way she was, did in fact cause a lessening of the emotion. Perhaps Analea was right and her body needed to know that she had received and understood the message that it thought there was a threat. Seven realized that she had no idea how she should ‘relax' and asked, "How should I relax?" Analea had been expecting the question, "There are several methods, meditation, breathing techniques, and exercise are the most common. Do you know anything about any of those already?" Seven said, "Lt. Commander Tuvok has shown me how to perform Vulcan meditation techniques but that requires a candle." Analea nodded and replied, "Perhaps I could teach you some breathing techniques which do not require anything; you don't even need to have privacy which I believe is required for most meditation techniques." Seven nodded, "Please proceed." Analea said, "If it helps at first close your eyes, take a deep breath and on the exhalation think of breathing out the anxiety, when you inhale concentrate on relaxing your muscles. It shouldn't take but a few of these for your cortical node to activate your nanoprobes to take up the excess endocrine. It won't do it for long but it that should be long enough for the physical symptoms to ease." Analea watched as Seven immediately closed her eyes and began breathing deeply, she could see the blond woman's posture relax after a minute and knew she had been successful. Analea continued, "Sometimes you won't have time to fully understand why your body is reacting to something as a perceived threat for whatever reason. If that's the case you might want to use the meditation techniques to help you figure out why you reacted later in the day when you have some time and privacy." Analea said, "Now I am just the first of your visitors for today, remember I told you that yesterday was your last day of full relaxation?" Analea said the last with a small grin and Seven gave her a small smile and nodded. "And I told you that you would learn how to increase your strength as well as learning how to control it?" Seven nodded and Analea continued, "Think of your muscular system as having safeties like your nanoprobes, by default you will be limited to normal human strength and reactions. Automatically during times of stress you will be 20% stronger and faster than a normal human, not really enough for you to have to worry about accidentally harming someone. Your enhanced strength will only be available when you concentrate in a particular way. This information should already be in your cortical node." Analea looked inquiringly at Seven not entirely sure how this was supposed to work but she had been assured by Mulara that Seven would understand what to do once she was told to access her cortical node. Seven accessed her cortical node as she had been instructed thinking about accessing enhanced strength, suddenly information flooded her mind about exactly how she would have a ‘normal' or resting state and an enhanced strength state. The fibers in her muscles and the nerve fibers that enhanced her muscular reactions were normally inactive, they would become active only when instructed by her cortical node, when they were activated they would greatly increase her muscular strength and reflexes. Seven wasn't sure how strong or fast she would be but it the information in her cortical node indicated it would be significantly more than her ‘normal' state. Seven nodded to Analea and said, "I have successfully accessed the information; I understand how to initiate the fibers in my muscles and nerves for enhanced strength." Analea nodded pleased and pulled out a data pad, "Here are some exercises for you to do, I believe you already understand how to perform all the exercises listed?" Seven scanned the list and nodded to Analea "I know how to perform the listed exercises, why must I exercise though? In the past my nanoprobes ensured that I remained in good physical condition." Analea answered, "And they will continue to make sure that you remain in good physical condition, but you need to exercise to train your nervous and muscular fibers how to function in your enhanced strength state. Also the amount of fibers is directly related to how much you use your muscles and reflexes, the more you exercise the more fibers will be created until you reach the maximum level. Before you ask I don't know what the level is, I only know that there are only so many of the fibers that can be integrated into your muscles and nerves without actually harming you. Also, you don't have to access your enhanced state to exercise; only about one out of every five exercise sessions should utilize it, the remainder should all be done at your normal strength." Seven nodded and said, "When should I begin this exercise protocol?" Analea grinned at Seven and replied, "No time like the present, remember to monitor your hydration levels and drink when you need to. Oh and make sure you exercise today in normal state, tomorrow you will want to exercise in enhanced state." With that Analea nodded to Seven and turned and walked away. Seven looked back at the data pad, scrolling through it quickly and memorizing the data contained on it, when she looked back up she began what was called the ‘Warm Up' which appeared to be a sub-routine of her exercise protocol. A few hours later Seven completed her exercise protocol, it had proven to be quite interesting giving her a chance to experience how her exoskeleton acted to moderate her body temperature and how her new nanoprobes reacted to physical exertion. Seven realized that she needed to eat; she had used up most of her energy reserves in the past two hours and needed to replace them. The feelings of hollowness in her stomach and the desire for food she identified with some regret as hunger, it was not a sensation she had felt when she had her abdominal implant. Seven wasn't sure she was pleased with these particular new sensations. Seven walked back to her room and found a fresh glass of juice awaiting her along with a fresh supply of fruits. She chose one of the greenish bread tasting fruits to eat along with her juice. After she ate she realized that she was tired, frowning Seven hoped that she would regain her previous levels of Borg endurance. For now though she gave into her body's needs and lay down on the bed for another afternoon nap. Seven's sleep was restless as information flooded her cortical node preparing her for the next stage of her physical training. Information equal to one year worth of training in unarmed martial arts, as well as training in several different melee weapons and ranged weapons were added to the wealth of knowledge already in her cortical node. As the information was processed Seven absorbed the knowledge as if she had actually spent the time practicing each skill. When she awoke Seven sat up abruptly trying to sort out all the information that she had suddenly acquired. Seven was finding what had occurred during her sleep unsettling; it seemed that every time she slept she either remembered something or received new information. Seven closed her eyes a moment and accessed her cortical node, all of her Borg gained information seemed to be there as well as everything she had experienced during her time on Voyager. All the information she had been receiving lately about her implants and now various forms of combat was entirely new to her. Seven reviewed the information available to her and decided that Mulara was making the new information available when she decided Seven needed it. Which logically meant that… Seven's thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door. A Mularan woman stood at the door, she was not dressed in the traditional robes of a Mularan High Priestess but in clothes that were similar to the ones Seven had been wearing while in the temple. Seven opened the door and the two of them stared at each other for a moment before the Mularan woman said, "Greetings, I am High Priestess Kayaln. I am your unarmed and weapons trainer." Seven studied the other woman for a moment then replied, "What is the purpose of this training?" Kayaln smiled tightly and said, "To train you to use your muscles and reflexes, nothing like the possibility of being hurt to inspire a person to move as quickly as possible." Seven arched her new cortical node pattern around her left eye in response to the comment, but merely replied, "Indeed." It was a useful response when one did not agree with a statement but did not feel inclined to argue that she had picked up from Lt. Commander Tuvok. Kayaln snorted and answered, "You need to do something that will require strength, agility and quickness. Unarmed and weapons training is the best way to incorporate all of that into an activity that can be useful and, dare I say it… you might even find it fun… I do. I understand you play Velocity with your Captain correct?" Seven wondered where the Mularan had learned this fact but she nodded in agreement. Kayaln said, "That's weapons training even if it doesn't appear to be, it combines accuracy, agility, quickness and strategy. And I suspect you consider it a pleasurable activity. This will just be more of the same. I will also give you some phaser training to improve your accuracy if you would like." Seven considered Kayaln's words and had to agree with them, Velocity was a very demanding sport and she enjoyed her matches with Kathryn even if the older woman won more often than not to Seven's disgruntlement. Seven nodded cautiously to Kayaln and asked, "Mulara provided the information on several different schools of unarmed martial arts and several different types of weapons, correct?" Kayaln nodded, "That would be correct, I know that you learned some unarmed martial arts and basic knowledge of how to handle various weapons. I will be training you in unarmed martial arts, which will by the way include how to attack opponents that have weapons. Something I think that may someday prove useful for you to know." Kayaln smirked at Seven and then with a more serious demeanor said, "What I need to know from you is which weapon would you like to concentrate on? Sword, staff, axe, or Klingon bat'leth. I can teach the sword, staff and axe, the bat'leth I can give you some instruction on how to use it, but Mulara will have to provide a teacher if you choose that weapon. No one on Mularan knows how to use it, which is not surprising since we hadn't heard of it before Voyager visited." Seven glanced at Kayaln wondering what she meant by the statement that Mulara would have to provide her with a teacher and out of curiosity she said, "Teach me how to use the bat'leth… please." Kayaln laughed loudly, "Somehow I knew that was the weapon you would choose when Mulara let me know which weapons you had to choose from. Let's start with the training I can teach you by myself. We will start the bat'leth training tomorrow. If you will follow me Seven, I will show you where the training area is located." Seven frowned slightly and said, "I have noticed no training area, nor any other doors besides the one leading to this room. Where is this training area?" Seven had followed Kayaln out into the garden as she was speaking and followed the Mularan woman into the garden. Kayaln replied, "I believe this is a new area, it's past the path that you take to go to the bathing pool." They walked past the path leading to the bathing pool and Seven looked in surprise at a path that had not been there earlier this morning. They walked up the new path and came to a pavilion like structure. In the middle of it was a large square that was covered with firm matting. To the side of it was a low table with a candle, it reminded Seven of the table in Tuvok's quarters. This was obviously the new training area. Seven asked, "This structure was present before my arrival in the inner temple garden?" Kayaln shook her head and answered, "No there is an indoor training area in another part of the temple. This is entirely new." Seven asked, "How did you know it was here? How does Mulara ‘speak' to you?" Kayaln smiled at Seven, "Oh not in words, I'm sorry if we have been implying that we are actually spoken to, she talks to us in dreams. I learned about this when I was dreaming about teaching you; we walked from your room and up the new path and this was here. In the dream I mean, that's how I knew it would be here now." Seven frowned slightly and said, "When I regenerated I never dreamed, will all my dreams now come from Mulara?" Kayaln chuckled kindly, "No some of them will just be dreams, and you will know the difference. Mulara's dreams feel different, maybe it's because you remember them perfectly when you wake up. Normal dreams usually are hard to remember once you wake." Seven continued to look puzzled but nodded to Kayaln. Kayaln continued, "Ok I want to see your katas, run through them please." Seven nodded and bowed politely to her teacher before taking the mat and flawlessly running through the katas that she had been ‘taught' during her nap. It took some time and when she was done Kayaln said, "Nicely done, each move looked very powerful. Remember though that martial arts moves are about more than power and force, they are also about grace and beauty. Your actions should flow from your soul to your body, from your body into the world. Ideally the way you perform your katas should be a reflection of your soul. And I know you have a beautiful soul Seven, Mulara would not have made you one of the reborn otherwise. What are some of the things you think are perfect Seven, and what are some of the things you think are beautiful?" Seven looked at Kayaln curiously but was willing to answer the woman, "When I saw the Omega Particle I saw perfection, I also saw beauty. I think my exoskeleton is beautiful. I think many of the flowers in this garden are beautiful." Seven paused and continued thinking, "I think that the Lt. B'Elanna Torres is beautiful, and Captain Kathryn Janeway is beautiful." Kayaln fought to keep a smile from her face and nodded seriously, "What is it about the things and people that you have mentioned that elevates them into beautiful, instead of merely being pretty?" Seven looked confused for a moment then her face fell into a Borg mask and standing stiffly upright she put her hands behind her back and questioned, "Clarify." Kayaln examined the woman in front of her and sighed inside. It was not the best time to turn this into a conversation about body language but it needed to be done. Kayaln said, "In a moment, right now we need to address something else. The way you are standing now, do you mean to be telling me that you are arrogant, prideful and perhaps there is something about my question that offends you?" Seven's mask fell for a moment and she glanced at Kayaln in pure confusion, "I am standing in a manner most comfortable for me. How can my way of standing say anything?" Kayaln tilted her head to the side and said, "Your abdominal implant and banding… that was the most comfortable way to stand with it?" Seven replied, "Yes." Kayaln nodded, "But you don't have an abdominal implant now. Have you ever studied human body language Seven? Humans and for that matter Mularans react instinctively to many things, the way you position your body when you interact with people is part of the conversation. The stance you are in now is usually interpreted as prideful and arrogant. The only time it would not be interpreted that way is if you were officially standing at ease, and even then I don't think that's Starfleet's at ease stance." Seven looked confused and dropped her hands from behind her back, now she looked entirely uncertain what to do with them. Kayaln's heart went out to the woman and she said, "Seven, look at me. I'm not telling you this to make you feel uncomfortable. I'm supposed to teach you, and that includes teaching you about how to interact with your chosen Collective. No one has told you about body language I gather, and it's put you at a disadvantage when dealing with others. Body language adds to your verbal communication, it can support your verbal communication, be neutral to it, or it can negate it. I suspect you have often unsuspectingly negated or altered the meaning of your verbal communications." Seven continued to look confused and Kayaln said, "Here watch me when I ask you to explain something. Hopefully my thinking about this won't mess me up; it's not something I think about consciously." With that Kayaln assumed a neutral stance, arms down loosely by her sides, shoulders square towards Seven but not rigidly so, posture upright but not stiff. "Seven, could you explain why the Omega Particle represented perfection to you?" Seven observed Kayaln's posture and mimicked it before replying, "I experienced a…moment of clarity when I watched the Omega molecule stabilize, and it seemed to be watching me. It was… perfection." Kayaln said, "Ah, such moments of perfection are difficult to describe. It was more than how the molecule looked; it was how you felt about the experience of looking at it. I was shown this Omega particle, at first it looked simplistic, yet the more I examined it the more I realized that behind the surface it was very complex. The harmony of the whole molecule, how one part flowed into the next, made the complex appear simple. That is what I saw in the Omega particle." Seven considered her words and nodded, "You are correct, it is a very complex molecule, yet in its stable state it forms a harmonious whole that is beautiful." Kayaln held up a finger and said, "Remember what we just discussed about the Omega particle, after I finish going over some more information about body language we will go back to it and I will explain what it has to do with your katas. Now the stance you are in is a basically neutral stance. Lets go over why, one your arms at your sides indicates that you are not defensive. Crossed arms are usually a sign of defensiveness especially when they are crossed over the chest area. A straight but neither too relaxed or tense posture indicates that you are attentive but not expecting an attack. Your shoulders are square facing me, which indicates that you are paying attention to what I am saying." Seven stared at Kayaln incredulous, "You are interpreting this all from how I am standing?" Kayaln nodded, "Yes I am, I'm convinced that in both our species social body posturing predated the development of speech. With the development of speech our body language's influence relative to spoken language decreased. However, we still instinctively use it to communicate certain things like how we are reacting to what the other person is saying, what we perceive our social position is relative to the person we are speaking to, and the level of threat we think the other person represents. So crossed arms are usually defensive, they indicate that the person feels the need to protect the torso, while dropped arms indicate that you aren't feeling threatened, and arms behind the back indicate that you either think the person is no threat to you, or in the case of a military stance, that you will initiate no threatening actions. However, I have noticed that for some people crossed arms represents a fairly relaxed stance, so it differs from person to person." Kayaln crossed her arms in a relaxed pose to demonstrate what she meant for Seven. Seven looked thoughtful and crossed her arms under her breasts, trying to mimic Kayaln's new pose, instead she succeeding in supporting and uplifting her chest and framing it perfectly. Kayaln's eyebrows rose and she decided that the body language the woman was projecting was other than what she had intended. Seven's face went from thoughtful to uncertain, Kayaln's reaction was not what she was expecting. The Mularan woman had a decidedly odd look on her face as if she were deciding how to react. Kayaln took a breath and said, "Seven with your build you need to cross your arms higher up on your chest, you should never cross your arm's underneath your breasts like that unless you are intending on making what would be considered to be a sexual display in any culture where women had secondary sexual development such as Mularans and Humans. In our culture the level of vulgarity would depend on the place and person that you did that to. A spouse or lover depending on the circumstances would probably consider it amusing and most likely an invitation." Seven's eyes widened and she flushed slightly as she hurriedly crossed her arms again, this time higher up on her chest. Kayaln nodded and said, "You're slightly tensed up so I would interpret this as slightly defensive." Seven took a few breaths and relaxed her stance. Kayaln made a suggestion, "If you are going for a relaxed look try arranging your hands so that your fingers rest on the outside of the arm and your thumbs are tucked under your arms to hold your hands there. One hand out, one hand tucked under looks more defensive than both hands outward. Both hands tucked under looks very defensive if you were wondering." Seven made the suggested change and looked down at herself saying, "Captain Janeway often uses this form of body language. This would be interpreted as defensive but not threatened?" Kayaln smiled and replied, "Very good, that would be how I would interpret that stance." Kayaln continued, "I think that's probably enough social lessons for right now, lets go back to discussing what the Omega molecule has to do with katas. You said that the Omega molecule's harmony makes it beautiful, I said that I thought that its harmony made it appear simple; we both agreed that it was actually very complex. Now to how this applies to your katas, your soul recognizes harmony of form as beautiful. Do you agree or am I incorrect?" Seven thought about what Kayaln had said and replied, "Harmony of form can be interpreted to be beautiful, it is what I find to be beautiful about these gardens. Harmony of form with function is what I find beautiful about my exoskeleton." Kayaln nodded and looked at Seven and stated seriously, "Then let your katas show harmony of form with function. Concentrate on making every move you make harmonious with its form and function. You know what attacks and defense moves the katas practice, make sure that the moves reflect their purpose. In that way they will show harmony with function. They should also reflect harmony of form, move precisely and with intent, and make sure you flow from one move to another. Your soul has a desire for perfection, bring it forth to your mind then show it in your body as you perform your katas." Seven looked at the Mularan woman uncertain as to how to go about accomplishing what suddenly appeared to be an insurmountable task. Kayaln interpreted the look correctly and said, "Start with a meditation of the Omega particle. Then strive to bring your passion for perfection into your performance of the kata. Remember that perfection is a goal; it is not going to be reached in one session. Strive to do your best every time you practice is all that I ask. Now meditate and when you are ready start your katas again. And do not forget that the Omega molecule is the most powerful known in the universe." With Kayaln's instructions fresh in her mind, Seven went over to the side of the pavilion where she could see a convenient low table with a candle and lighter set on top of it. Once there she knelt and lit the candle with the lighter and stared into the flame. She strove to clear her mind as Tuvok had taught and then she accessed her memory and watched again as the Omega molecule stabilized and she saw perfection. She held the memory in her mind and looked into the molecule, realizing that Kayaln had been correct, its harmony made appear simple, yet it was an incredibly complex structure. Seven strove to understand how this might apply to her katas and decided that she would have to be very precise and detailed yet harmonious in how she performed each move. If she succeeded the kata should look simple on the surface, yet when a more detailed examination was taken the complexity of each move should be seen. Seven was still uncertain how to accomplish the task however. Seven recalled that Kayaln had said that each move should reflect its purpose, and she should move precisely and with intent while flowing from one move to another. Perhaps if she concentrated on accomplishing that first, she would see how to accomplish the other. With this in mind she ran over the katas, focusing first on the purpose of each move of the kata. Each move had a purpose, as an attack, a defense or a mixture of both. Then Seven thought about how she could make each move flow more into the next, when she had performed them before each move had been very distinct. Now she understood that she needed to move continuously from one form to the next. When she thought she was prepared to try again she blew out the candle and went over to where Kayaln standing saying, "I believe I am ready to try again." Kayaln nodded saying nothing and Seven walked onto the mat and began her katas again from the beginning. When she was done Seven looked over to Kayaln and was pleased to see her teacher looking back at her with a smile. Kayaln said, "Much better, each move showed that you understood its purpose. You did not pause between them this time but kept your flow from one to the next, that is how it is supposed to look. Now let us spar for a while and I will see if you can put that knowledge into practice." They sparred until Kayaln called a halt for a break for water and food, then Kayaln started explaining to Seven how to react to armed opponents, another hour passed by before Kayaln finally called it a night. NewMessage: ath: newsspool2.news.atl.earthlink.net!stamper.news.atl.earthlink.net!elnk-atl-nf1!newsfeed.earthlink.net!prodigy.com!news.glorb.com!postnews2.google.com!not-for-mail From: cobaltwolf2002@yahoo.com (Kudara) Newsgroups: alt.startrek.creative Subject: NEW VOY I am Borg - Part 1 5/6 PG-13 Date: 21 Aug 2004 16:14:22 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Lines: 662 Message-ID: <3f3213d8.0408211514.1dab1f91@posting.google.com> NNTP-Posting-Host: 68.13.213.47 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit X-Trace: posting.google.com 1093130063 32417 127.0.0.1 (21 Aug 2004 23:14:23 GMT) X-Complaints-To: groups-abuse@google.com NNTP-Posting-Date: Sat, 21 Aug 2004 23:14:23 +0000 (UTC) Xref: news.earthlink.net alt.startrek.creative:160494 X-Received-Date: Sat, 21 Aug 2004 16:14:27 PDT (newsspool2.news.atl.earthlink.net) Title: I am Borg - Part 1 Author: Kudara Contact: cobaltwolf2002@yahoo.com Series: VOY Part: NEW 5/6 Rating: PG-13 Codes: 7, J, C, P, T, K, Doc, f Summary: Seven remembers how she died. Seven's new quarters get a ***************************************************************** After Seven bathed, ate, and drank again she immediately fell deeply asleep, it had been a very tiring day. Seven dreamed of waking up on the interrogation platform, she remembered the cruel words that Ahaoe Muahe had spoken to her. She remembered how she had thought they were true, that B'Elanna had told this man how much she hated the drone. Now though she knew it was not true, seemingly suspended above the establishment where the agents had approached the Chief Engineer, Seven watched as the scene unfolded. B'Elanna was immediately suspicious of the Mularan who offered her drinks, then began asking questions about Voyager and had told him in no uncertain terms to leave her alone. A very few of the other members of the crew though had not been so suspicious and had accepted the offers of free drinks in exchange for news about Voyagers crew, and especially about Voyager's ex-Borg. Seven experienced what occurred next in a state of remote detachedness, she knew that she had experienced terrible pain during the torture but what horrified her most was the unreasoning look of hatred on Muahe's face. She suddenly understood why hatred was an emotion to be avoided; it made one into something much worse than what one hated. Muahe had let his hatred for the Borg consume him to the point that, when he acted upon his hatred, he became a monster. Seven watched as her own body was taken down from the interrogation platform. She followed as she was taken to the Arch of Judgment, and she knew what Mulara had seen when she scanned Seven. Resistant at first, Seven eventually accepted the conclusion Mulara had reached, she was not guilty of what she had done as a Borg. Guilt required the ability to choose between what was right and wrong, it required free will. Without the ability to choose one's actions guilt was irrelevant as Seven had once stated to B'Elanna. Seven felt a gentle agreement that she could feel remorseful over what she had been forced to do, she could feel angry that she had been used in such a manner. She could even hate the Borg Queen for what she had forced Seven to do, but with Muahe's hate filled face fresh in her memory Seven understood only too well what a perilous emotion hatred could be. Seven observed as Mulara's guardian was activated and moved to pick up her body and take it deeper into the temple where she was immersed in the healing tank as High Priestess Analea watched in wonder. Then the guardian healed her enough for her body to remain alive and reactivated her neural pathways. The healing tank gently removed all her Borg implants and replaced them with new implants specifically designed for her by Mulara. Seven fell back asleep after the memories were finished and in the morning she awoke, slowly stretching and enjoying the feeling of the sheets against her skin. She had gotten into the habit of sleeping nude and discovered that she enjoyed the feel of soft sheets and bedding. Seven frowned as she recalled that she would have nowhere to sleep on Voyager and resolved to ask Analea if she could relay to Captain Janeway a request for quarters. Seven sat up in the bed and thought back to what she had learned while she slept, she rubbed her left arm absently remembering how Muahe had severed it. Now looking at it she felt the remembered pain fade, everything she remembered had already happened, it could hurt her only if she allowed the memory of it too. Seven tried to dismiss the memory of her torture as irrelevant but failed. Seven decided to comply with the desire she felt to walk around the garden for a while. She dressed in a leaf green blouse and pants and went out to wander the garden. Seven found the harmony and beauty of the garden comforting as she thought about what she had experienced before she died. The garden reminded her that she was alive, and it dawned on her that her attacker had died several days ago by the ritual punishment of beheading. Seven wasn't sure how to react to the sudden realization, part of her was fiercely pleased that the one who had hurt her so badly was dead, part of her was relieved that she would never have to fear Muahe finding her again, and part of her sorrowed for what he had let himself become and his eventual fate. Such complex emotions were unfamiliar and particularly unpleasant decided Seven. Seven wandered slowly back to her room and ate her morning juice and fruit. Curious, and wondering why it hadn't occurred to her before, Seven stuck a finger in a bead of juice on the glass interior and concentrated on analyzing it. Somewhat to her surprise she realized that the ‘juice' was probably anything but fruit juice, unless Mularan had some fairly unusual fruits. The juice was composed of various proteins, complex sugars, and carbohydrates. No surprise there except for the high protein content, what was surprising were the presence of several different metallic elements, enough to probably kill a human of heavy metal poisoning. Several chemical's that were not usually considered ‘food' were present as well. Seven knew that she had suffered no ill effects from the ‘juice' and thought about why the metallic elements and chemical might be present. It was only a second before she realized that the chemicals and metallic elements in the juice were precursors for the metallic alloys and chemicals used in her exoskeleton and in the fibers that ran through her body. Seven picked up one of the red skinned fruit and bit into it and then laid an inquisitive finger against the blue flesh of the fruit to analyze it as well. Her exoskeleton detected more proteins, complex sugar molecules, and several minerals and vitamins. Seven raised her ocular implant pattern at this finding and she quickly grabbed one of the green skinned fruits to test as well. The green skinned fruit was much higher in carbohydrates than the red skinned one, but otherwise they were very similar. Seven drained the rest of the juice and considered the empty glass; obviously the juice was required for her non-organic systems. Idly she thought that the Doctor was going to find the composition of it interesting, and then with an audible groan she realized how interesting the Doctor was going to find her, she would never escape from Sickbay. Seven finished off both fruits and wondered if she would see either Analea or Kayaln this morning. Seven waited twenty minutes after eating then, when neither of the women appeared, decided to proceed with her schedule for the day and picked up the padd with her exercise protocol. This morning she would be exercising in her enhanced state, and Seven was looking forward to the experience. Seven noted she was supposed to use something called a resistance belt while she was exercising today and wondered where she would find the item. A golden shimmer at the edge of her vision caught her eye and she turned and looked at her bed. A thick black belt now rested upon it and Seven walked over to the bed and picked it up in order to examine it. The belt was three inches wide and about an inch thick, the back was covered by a soft cushion and the front was covered in a protective black acrylic except for a few buttons on the side that activated it. Seven wished for a moment that she had a tricorder so she could examine the belt closer and determine exactly how it operated. According to the padd the belt would generate a field that would provide resistance to her movements, allowing her to exercise in her enhanced state without having to perform any more repetitions of an exercise than she would in her normal state. Seven put the belt about her waist and went out into the garden to find a good place to complete today's exercise protocol. **************************************************************** Janeway sat at her desk in her Ready Room reviewing the reports from Voyager's different departments. The Mularan government had been very apologetic about Seven's death and had been very generous when trading with Voyager for supplies. Indeed, Janeway had come to the conclusion that the Mularan government was actually giving them too much dilithium and had firmly informed Huiah Mlaer that no more was needed. Janeway didn't want them depleting their reserves for Voyager at the expense of their own ships. Lt. Torres had Engineering working around the clock making repairs to Voyager's external hull. Knowing that Voyager would be at the space station for at least another week the Chief Engineer had felt comfortable in requesting that they take full advantage of the extra time to make more extensive repairs. Lt. Torres had even requested that they implement some of Seven's suggested upgrades to the ESP Systems while they were in space dock, they had not been seriously considered before because they required taking shields and weapons systems offline while they were upgraded. Janeway had authorized taking the systems down and the upgrades were due to be completed today. The admittance chime sounded at that moment and Janeway said "Come in," looking over to see who wanted to see her. Chakotay entered the room, "High Priestess Analea would like to bring some items onboard for Seven's quarters. She also mentioned that she would like to talk to the Doctor and anyone else usually involved in Seven's care and let them know about the changes in Seven's physiology." Janeway looked surprised for a moment and then thoughtful, "Do you think this means that they will be releasing Seven soon?" Chakotay said, "I would say so, if they are bringing things for Seven's quarters and briefing us about what we need to know for Seven's health. I would think they are planning on releasing Seven fairly soon. Perhaps the High Priestess will let us know when today." Janeway replied, "I think so too, tell the High Priestess that she can come up as soon as she is ready. Let me know when she is ready to be transported up, you and I will meet her as will Tuvok, I want him to do as unobtrusive a scan of what the High Priestess is bringing aboard as possible. I don't want to offend her but I need to make sure they aren't transporting anything aboard that isn't permitted." Chakotay nodded, "Understood, I will let him know. I'll let the High Priestess know that she can come up as soon as she is ready to as well." Chakotay waited for Kathryn's answering nod before she turned back to her reports and then turned and exited the Ready Room. An hour later Chakotay contacted Janeway on her combadge, "High Priestess Analea is ready to come aboard. We transported up the items for Seven first and Tuvok is going over them right now. They sent up clothes, some pictures, a Bat'leth and some data padds. Tuvok wants to examine the data padds further; it looks as if they are sending up replicator patterns and holodeck programs." Janeway raised an eyebrow at hearing holodeck programs, "Interesting, especially since they don't have holographic technology that I'm aware of. I'll be right there Commander." Janeway tapped her combadge again to close the channel and exited her Ready Room to head toward the Transporter room on Deck 4. Janeway arrived at the Transporter room a few minutes later and nodded to Chakotay and Tuvok, then looked at the transporter operator and said, "As soon as the High Priestess is ready beam her aboard Ensign." A few moments later the form of High Priestess Analea appeared on one of the transporter pad with a short stack of data padd's in her hand. "Good morning Captain, Commander and this must be your Security Chief, Lt. Commander Tuvok," she said as she stepped off the transporter pad she smiled at the people awaiting her. The two men returned the pleasantries and Janeway said, "Good morning High Priestess Analea, I understand you have a few things you brought up for Seven's quarters." Janeway glanced at the two containers that had been transported up earlier and said, "Site to site transport authorized to Seven's quarters, Ensign." As the two containers disappeared Janeway looked at the data padds Analea carried and asked, "Those have the information about Seven's physiological changes that you need to go over with us?" "Yes, they do. What time did you want me to discuss them with your Doctor?" Analea asked. Janeway looked at the chronometer and said, "Which did you want to do first? Unpack the items you sent for Seven's quarters or brief my staff?" Analea looked surprised, "Staff? I didn't know so many people were involved in Seven's medical support." Janeway replied with a small smile, "I would have to have the Doctor repeat everything to them if you only briefed him. I would like for Commander Chakotay, Lt. Commander Tuvok and Lt. Torres to attend the briefing in addition to the Doctor." Analea nodded, then said, "It should not take me long to unpack the items for Seven if there is a way to display the pictures and her Bat'leth easily. I would prefer to do that first then meet with your…staff." Janeway knew she really didn't have the time to help the High Priestess unpack but she was intensely curious about what the Mularan woman had brought so she said, "Certainly if you will follow me I will show you where Seven's quarters are located. I understand you brought some replicator patterns and holodeck programs along as well?" Janeway asked determined to find out how if there had been a violation of the Prime Directive. Analea answered, "Yes, Mulara made those for Seven. I understand the replicator patterns are for the liquid supplement that she drinks, and for the Pujaa and Quara fruits that she has been eating. I don't really know much about the holodeck programs, I gathered from Mulara that you have some technology that allows you to make a room look like other places. The program Mulara showed me was one to make the room look like the inner temple gardens. I don't know what the other programs are of, except that they are exercise programs." "The inner temple gardens? Perhaps before you go you can show me around those in the holodeck, I would like to see where Seven is recovering." Janeway turned to Chakotay, "Commander would you contact Lt. Torres and the Doctor and let them know of the briefing, and you have the bridge while Tuvok and I show High Priestess Analea to Seven's quarters." Chakotay's lips twitched and his eyes laughed at Janeway but he only said, "Of course Captain," and turned to leave for the Bridge. Janeway knew the Commander was laughing at her curiosity, he knew she hadn't finished with the departmental reports yet. "This way High Priestess Analea," said Janeway. She waited for the woman to follow her then headed for the turbolift for Deck 9. The three of them made their way to the quarters that had been assigned to Seven of Nine. As the door opened they walked into a large open room, a table was placed immediately to the left. The room was rectangular with openings on either side that lead to the bedroom on the left and to the bathroom on the right. A sofa in a blue-grey fabric was placed against the wall farthest away from the door, in front of it was a nondescript grey coffee table. Another couch and chair were placed next to it on the right hand wall. The walls of the quarters were the usual metallic grey of the rest of the starship. High Priestess Analea examined the room and winced at the monochromatic nature of it. "Can the lights in this room duplicate natural sunlight?" she asked. "No, that takes hydroponic lights," said Janeway. "I can have engineering install some if they are needed." Puzzlement was obvious in her voice. Analea said, "Yes she will need an area where she can absorb natural light at least a few hours each week for maximum health. Her exoskeleton is designed to use thermal and light energy as part of her energy sources. Perhaps around the bed or the couch area?" proposed Analea. Janeway took another look at the room trying to decide which area would be better and replied, "The bed would probably be the easiest, a set of ceiling lights should be sufficient. I'll get engineering to fix it later today." Analea walked over to the two containers and opened one of them revealing several paintings. Janeway walked over to look at them and was amazed; they ranged from scenic landscapes, studies of flowers, and impressionistic compositions of various complex shapes. One of which, she realized with surprise, was an impressionistic drawing of the stable Omega molecule. This was the first painting that High Priestess Analea picked up and she walked to the far wall and looked at Janeway inquiringly, "How do I hang these?" Janeway walked over to her and examined the back of the painting and then walked over to the replicator and replicated the proper hanger. A metallic clamp would affix it to the wall. She took the painting from Analea and attached the hanger then with a raised eyebrow asked, "Where did you want to place it?" She lifted it above the couch and looked at Analea. Analea smiled and said, "That's where I was thinking of placing it." They both stepped back and examined the placement, the painting was rather large and its cool whites and blues added a touch of light to the wall. Analea pulled out two other paintings, this time smaller ones of flowers and said, "I was thinking of placing these on either side of the bed." Placement of the paintings continued while Tuvok busied himself with examining the replicator and holodeck programs with the occasional raised eyebrow at the two women as they discussed the best placement of the paintings Analea had brought. Finally finished, the two women stood back and examined the effect. The art completely changed the tone of the room, altering the impression of monochromatic emptiness, to one much more welcoming and colorful. Next Analea carefully unwrapped the silver poly-deutonic Bat'leth, Janeway came over and examined the weapon, admiring the workmanship. Tuvok came over as well and together, the three of them appraised the Bat'leth. Light shimmered along its surface, revealing that the blade was composed of many layers of metal, giving the metal of the blade a watered effect similar to old Earth Damascus steel. The outline of the Bat'leth was different from modern Bat'leth blades, the tiq and van at the ends of the main blade were more flared than the typical Bat'leth. Inscribed onto the length of the blade, one word under each grip, were the Klingon words for Duty, Loyalty, and Honor. Qu', matlh, and batlh. "Beautiful," commented Janeway. "But why give Seven a Bat'leth?" "Seven will need to exercise to maintain her enhanced strength and agility, unarmed combat and weapons training is part of the exercise program that was developed for her. She chose the Bat'leth as the weapon she wanted to learn," said Analea. Janeway tilted her head to the side as she considered Analea's words and said, "I'm starting to really get curious about the briefing you will be doing. Let me replicate a hanger for this." They choose to place the Bat'leth on the wall to the right side of the door; finally all that was left to unpack were the clothes that Analea had brought up with her. As they unpacked the clothing Janeway asked, "Why bring clothing instead of replicator patterns?" "Power cost," replied Analea, "This material is somewhat like the biosuits Seven used to wear. Like them these are designed to work with Seven's implants, they are also designed to work with Seven's new exoskeleton. They are threaded with poly-deutonic and tritanium fibers which not only provide protection but also work with Seven's systems to maintain her body temperature and allow her to sense different environmental information. It will all be clearer after I explain some of the things her exoskeleton can sense and analyze." They unpacked blouses and pants like those Seven had been wearing, they also unpacked blue science Starfleet uniforms. Janeway looked in surprise at them and Analea asked, "This is the proper uniform that Seven should wear?" Janeway nodded, "The Doctor designed her outfits, I never thought about having him make ones that looked like Starfleet uniforms. Perhaps it might have helped her fit in better, I assume that she will be wearing these while on duty?" "I would suggest it, for the reason that you mentioned. It will help her fit in with the rest of the crew, especially since she is the Chief of Astrometics," answered Analea. Tuvok spoke up at that moment, "I would like the Doctor to go over these replicator patterns. I see nothing wrong with the two fruit patterns but the liquid supplement would appear to be deadly to most humanoids. The amount of metallic and chemical elements would appear to be poisonous." Analea nodded, "To us yes it would be poisonous, but not to Seven. She needs those elements; they are the precursor molecules for the fibers that support her nervous and muscular systems." Janeway looked at the now empty containers and the time and said, "I believe that we are done here? It's about time for the briefing." Analea took one last satisfied look around the quarters and nodded to Janeway. "Lead on," she said. Janeway smiled and lead the way back to the turbolift, "Briefing Room," she said. When the doors opened Janeway lead the way to the Briefing room and took the seat at the narrow end of the table and indicated to Analea that she should take the seat on her immediate left. The rest of the senior officers filed into the room within a few moments and settled themselves. Janeway said, "You already know everyone here except for the Doctor and Lt. Torres my Chief Engineer." The Doctor said, "I understand you have information on Seven's medical condition?" Janeway frowned at the Doctor slightly but Analea merely handed the hologram one of the data padds she was carrying. "All of these contain the same information; I only brought three though so you will have to share." With that statement Analea handed Janeway the other two remaining padds, leaving it up to her to decide who received the third one. Janeway handed the extra padd to Lt. Torres and then looked expectantly back at the High Priestess. Analea said, "I am not an expert in engineering or chemistry so you will probably understand more of the data contained on those padds than I do. I was present when the guardian brought Seven's body into the inner temple and placed it in one of the healing tanks. I assisted the guardian by inserting the breathing tube and mask and then the guardian brought Seven back to life. She was still severely damaged though; her cortical node had been damaged by phaser attacks to her head prior to the torture. Her abdominal implant was severely damaged by Muahe's attack. Over the next six hours I watched as her Borg implants dissolved away and her body healed. Six hours after that her new implants and exoskeleton started appearing." Analea paused for a moment to see if anyone had any questions but they were all silent and obviously waiting for her to continue, "Mulara moved her to the reborn's room off the inner temple gardens the next day. I understand she woke briefly the day she was moved but did not stay awake for long. The third day Mulara removed her from the healing tank, I know she woke that day and walked around the garden for a short time but we were not permitted to see her. On the fourth day she had regained enough of her memory to know who she was and remember everything leading up to her kidnapping. This morning I was informed that she remembered everything leading up to her death. She is dealing with the information very well, I understand that she walked in the garden some and then began her exercises for today or her exercise protocol as she calls it." The Doctor asked, "Do you know why it took her so long to regain her complete memory?" "I believe it was a combination of the damage done to her cortical node before her torture, then the removal of all her Borg implants and the need to fully adapt to her new implants," said Analea. The Doctor nodded, "Do you know how many more days you will keep her before releasing her?" Analea answered, "Three more days, she's still needs training on how to use her new muscular and nervous system enhancements. We want to make certain that she can safely use them without injuring herself or others." B'Elanna said, "Your talking about these metallic-organic fibers that are incorporated into her muscles aren't you?" "Yes, and the fibers that assist her nervous system," said Analea. B'Elanna frowned at her data padd and said, "This would be easier to understand if I could program it into a holoemitter, I'm not a molecular biochemist. Doc these descriptions of Seven's support structure…is it saying that the support rods expand and contract?" The Doctor replied, "Yes, using almost the same mechanics as your ligaments and muscles. I could create a hologram of this information within a few minutes down in Sickbay. Commander Chakotay and Lt. Commander Tuvok would then be able to see the data as well then." Janeway looked at him and then over at the High Priestess who nodded and said, "That would be very helpful." Janeway nodded to the Doctor and said, "We will meet you down in Sickbay then Doctor." A few minutes later the five of them walked into Sickbay, the Doctor was in his office and as they entered the area and arranged themselves around his desk a hologram appeared of Seven's exoskeleton and support structures. They all looked at the hologram for a few minutes then B'Elanna said, "Can you take out all the fiber systems for now?" The Doctor made a few adjustments and the haze that had obscured the rod support structure disappeared, giving everyone a clear view of Seven's new exoskeleton and the skeletal support structure. Janeway said, "What's the metal that's covering her skeletal structure?" As she looked at the silver representation of Seven's skeleton. Analea replied, "A tritanium-poly-deutonic alloy matrixed with an organic, I don't know the name of the organic, sorry. But I do know that it's tagged with Seven's own immune markers so that her body will not attempt to reject it." B'Elanna asked, "Doctor can you get the hologram to bend and move, I want to see how those support rods react to movement." The Doctor nodded and made a few adjustments and they all watched as the exoskeleton support structure reacted to the simulated movement. A side projection showed a greatly magnified section of the rod, detailing at a molecular level the specifics of how they were expanding and contracting. B'Elanna examined the exoskeleton and rods with a practiced eye, admiring the aesthetics and functionality of it. "Look at how these rods are arranged to dissipate force by dividing it along several rods instead of just one. It reminds me of Voyagers hull reinforcements." Janeway nodded, "Yes it does. Oh, before I forget, B'Elanna engineering needs to put in hydroponics lights over Seven's bed. Now, I would like to see how this exoskeleton transforms light and thermal energy into a form Seven can use." The Doctor nodded and the expanded view of the rod disappeared to be replaced by a magnified cutout of the exoskeleton. "It's rather ingenious actually," the Doctor said with a smile for Analea, "These fibers extending through the exoskeleton contain molecules that react to photonic and thermal energy. Then the energy is transferred to produce Adenosine Triphosphate or ATP, which of course is the molecule the body uses to supply energy to our cells. The exoskeleton system is very similar to the method plants utilize to process photonic energy. Next the ATP molecules are transferred to these specialized nanoprobes, which then travel through the bloodstream and migrate into the cells where they remain until the body's own ATP has been exhausted. Then they release their ATP into the cell and return to the exoskeleton to be replenished." Analea nodded, "That's correct, the exoskeleton can also excrete a complex enzymatic and acidic liquid that can break down most inorganic into molecules that can either be absorbed if they can be used by her body or molecules that can be broken to produce energy. It can also recombine molecules to produce more energy or to produce useful molecules. The energy produced is then transferred in the same way that light and thermal energy." Janeway looked amazed, "Chemical fission and fusion reactions? Federation science hasn't really done much with either since it's easier to produce energy by other means. The complexity of the chemical reactions required though…" Janeway shook her head, "All of this takes place in the exoskeleton? I don't see how…" Analea replied, "Oh no, the exoskeleton only breaks down the molecules so far, then they are transported by nanoprobes to the bio-implants that are connected to her stomach and intestines. The exoskeleton doesn't have the ability to break down the molecules further. Only these bio-implants have the ability to break and recombine molecules. If the Doctor would bring up just the digestive tract data?" The Doctor made a few more entries and everything cleared away except for what were obviously the modifications to Seven's digestive tract. To everyone's surprise the modifications extended almost the entire length of Seven's digestive tract, from her mouth through to her lower intestines. "As you can see Seven's mouth and esophagus are protected by an artificial epithelial layer, this ensures that metallic and chemical compounds that would damage her tissues are not absorbed until they reach the stomach. Once they arrive at the stomach they can be broken down for use by the body. Any toxic elements that are left over are neutralized and can be safely expelled through her urinary tract." Analea explained. "What is this?" asked Tuvok indicating what appeared to be linkages between Seven's mouth and nasal passages and her brain and cortical node. Analea answered, "She has conscious control over how sensitive her sense of taste and smell are she can modify either or both to be very sensitive or conversely rather insensitive depending on the situation." "Lucky her," replied B'Elanna dryly, thinking of some of Neelix's cooking. Analea's eyes danced and B'Elanna wondered if Seven had said something about the spicy food the Talaxian cook frequently served. "Redundant cortical nodes," muttered the Doctor and everyone but Analea stared at him curiously. He tapped his console and suddenly the digestive system information disappeared to be replaced by what was obviously Seven's nervous system. "Redundant cortical nodes in the chest cavity and legs, can she use them concurrently with the main cortical node?" "Yes, she has not learned how to do so yet, but she has that ability," replied Analea. "As you can see every part of her nervous system is augmented by fibers that can transmit nerve impulses much faster than her organic systems. Her exoskeleton is also connected to her nervous system and can detect a large amount of environmental information. The exoskeleton also contains thermal and pressure sensors exactly as her organic skin does and feeds into the same area of the brain. The amount of tactile sensitivity she feels is under her conscious control." They were all silent for a few moments studying the data they had been given, "Anyone have more questions right now?" prodded Janeway. "Oh, she used to have an ocular implant. It was visible and I see the exterior part has been replaced by exoskeleton. But the ocular implant doesn't appear to have been replaced; if I understand this correctly she now has two organic eyes. But there appear to be several of the nervous system fibers directly interacting with her eyesight and the cortical node," said the Doctor. Analea answered, "I don't believe that part of her nervous system is completely finished. From my understanding she will eventually regain a lot of the functionality of her ocular implant, for now though she just has enhanced visual acuity. A lot of that will depend on what she consciously chooses, I believe that's one of the area's that Seven will have control over how it evolves." Janeway looked around the room again, the Doctor and B'Elanna were still studying their padd's, but looked more thoughtful than confused. "If that's all I for one would like to see the holodeck program High Priestess Analea brought along of the inner temple gardens. Provide of course that my Security Chief agrees?" Tuvok said, "I see nothing wrong with the program, I too would appreciate seeing where Seven is staying." Tuvok paused and then handed the Doctor the replicator pattern padd and said, "I would like for you to go over these replicator patterns as well, as soon as you clear them they can be added to Seven's replicator in her quarters." The Doctor nodded to Tuvok and said, "I'll go over these today, in the meantime I would like to examine this data further." B'Elanna said, "I'll pass for now, I'd rather go over this data with the Doctor. Will the program be public so I can see it later?" Analea replied, "All of the programs I brought were designed for Seven, but they can also be used by others. I see no problem with making them public." Janeway, Chakotay, Tuvok and High Priestess Analea left for one of the holodecks, leaving the Doctor and B'Elanna engrossed in the data the High Priestess had brought. NewMessage: ath: newsspool2.news.atl.earthlink.net!stamper.news.atl.earthlink.net!elnk-atl-nf1!newsfeed.earthlink.net!prodigy.com!news.glorb.com!postnews2.google.com!not-for-mail From: cobaltwolf2002@yahoo.com (Kudara) Newsgroups: alt.startrek.creative Subject: NEW VOY I am Borg - Part 1 6/6 PG-13 Date: 21 Aug 2004 16:17:00 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Lines: 558 Message-ID: <3f3213d8.0408211517.12bf7e06@posting.google.com> NNTP-Posting-Host: 68.13.213.47 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit X-Trace: posting.google.com 1093130220 32557 127.0.0.1 (21 Aug 2004 23:17:00 GMT) X-Complaints-To: groups-abuse@google.com NNTP-Posting-Date: Sat, 21 Aug 2004 23:17:00 +0000 (UTC) Xref: news.earthlink.net alt.startrek.creative:160495 X-Received-Date: Sat, 21 Aug 2004 16:17:04 PDT (newsspool2.news.atl.earthlink.net) Title: I am Borg - Part 1 Author: Kudara Contact: cobaltwolf2002@yahoo.com Series: VOY Part: NEW 6/6 Rating: PG-13 Codes: 7, P, T, K, f Summary: Seven has her first Bat'leth lesson. Seven learns more Klingon: jInepbe' - I do not lie jItojbe' - I do not deceive jIHoS - I am strong wanI'mey vIqaSmoHbogh vIlaj – I accept the events which I cause to happen batIh jIvang - I act with honor. MajQa' – Very good or Well done ******************************************************** Seven finished with the day's exercise protocol, the resistance belt had functioned perfectly. Even when she had used her full strength the belt had provided enough resistance that every repetition of an exercise had been difficult to complete. Now feeling drained and tired, Seven wanted nothing more than something to eat and drink, as well as rest, to regain her energy. Seven walked back to her room and helped herself to the juice and fruit available there, then she laid down on her bed and dozed lightly. She wasn't feeling particularly sleepy so she didn't actually fall asleep; instead she ran over her Bat'leth moves in her head as she waited for her energy levels to return to normal. After an hour had passed Seven felt refreshed and she sat up, wondering when Kayaln or Analea would arrive today. As she gazed out into the garden she saw Kayaln approaching along the path. Seven swung her feet off the bed and stood up, eagerly exiting her room and going to meet the woman. Kayaln smiled at Seven and asked, "Anticipating your first Bat'leth lesson are you?" Seven quirked her lips slightly, "Yes, I am also curious to find out how I will be trained." "As a matter of fact, so am I," said Kayaln, "why don't we head over to the training area and find out who awaits us." "Mulara gave you no indication?" asked Seven curiously. Kayaln replied, "Not this time, but then Mulara likes to surprise people. I suspect this will be one of those times." As they spoke the two women walked toward the training area, when they approached the pavilion they saw a tall form awaiting them. As they got closer it was clear that the form belonged to what appeared to be a Klingon woman. A weapons rack holding three Bat'leth's was also a new addition to the pavilion area. The two women approached the Klingon who stood with her arms at her side giving them both an intelligent penetrating look as they approached. Her gaze rested longest on Seven of Nine who straightened under her regard as they paused in front of the woman. "I am M'ara," said the Klingon woman, "I understand you think you are worthy of learning how to fight with the Bat'leth." Seven was uncertain how to respond to the Klingon, it sounded as if the woman was challenging her to prove that she was worthy. Finally she chose a cautious answer. "I desire to learn how to fight with the Bat'leth." "Desire!" laughed the Klingon woman, "You can desire many things, I am speaking of honor. Why should I teach you how to fight with Kathless's Sword, why are you worthy of learning? You are not even Klingon, why don't you choose to learn how to fight with a sword or axe?" "I want to learn how to fight with the Bat'leth, not the sword or axe. If you did not want to teach me how to use the Bat'leth, then it should not have been one of the weapons that you taught me while I slept," said Seven with a decidedly arrogant tone, not backing down an inch from the Klingon woman. Kayaln had to resist chuckling over the scene. The ex-Borg was certainly not lacking in courage, or maybe foolhardiness in this case, considering who she probably was confronting. "Well you certainly are not lacking in courage. But what of honor?" said M'ara. "jInepbe', jItojbe', jIHoS, wanI'mey vIqaSmoHbogh vIlaj, batIh jIvang," growled Seven. "MajQa'!" laughed M'ara. "Let us begin then with your kata's then." M'ara indicated the weapons rack and waited for Seven to select a Bat'leth. Seven paused for only a second, then walked over and chose the uppermost Bat'leth. Carefully holding it under her arm she walked over to a spot several feet away from M'ara and began her kata's. In a few moments M'ara said in disgust, "Stop! You are not chopping down trees. If you want to chop down things take up the axe. The movement of the Bat'leth should always be fluid, it should never stop. The end of one motion should flow into the beginning of the next. Begin again." Seven glanced for a moment at Kayaln recognizing that she needed to move with the Bat'leth the same way as she had learned the day before in unarmed training. Taking a breath she paused for a moment to think of the Omega molecule then began the first Bat'leth kata again. M'ara watched her for a few minutes nodding to herself then asked, "Can you clearly visualize the moves by your opponent that you are countering?" Seven considered the question for a moment then shook her head, "No I cannot." M'ara nodded looking satisfied, "I thought that might be the problem." She turned and picked up a Bat'leth and walked over across from Seven. "Begin the first kata again; I will demonstrate the opponent's moves." Seven began the first kata again, and M'ara moved with her, gracefully and powerfully demonstrating the counter moves. The two of them worked through the afternoon, until they had completed the final kata. "Well done," complimented M'ara after they had finished, "Meet with me again tomorrow after you have completed your exercises and we will continue your training." With that statement the Klingon woman walked over to the weapon rack and hung her Bat'leth upon it, she then disappeared in a golden shimmer of light. Seven raised her ocular implant at this and turned to Kayaln and stated, "My Bat'leth training appears to be completed for today. Did you want to continue my unarmed training at this time?" Kayaln smiled, "Lets get a bite of something to eat and drink first. I also want to go over a few things with you before we begin your training. More body language information," Kayaln clarified seeing Seven's questioning look as they began walking back to Seven's room. Seven looked pensive for a moment, "Kayaln would you relay a request to Voyager for me?" "Quarters," guessed Kayaln with a smile. Seven was surprised, "Yes, a request for quarters. I do not need to regenerate anymore. I will need a place to sleep… the thought of sleeping in the Cargo Bay is…unpleasant." "You need your privacy Seven, it's something you have the right to. You should have been given quarters already…at least that's my and Analea's point of view. In any case, the request has already been made and accepted, you have quarters on Deck 12 waiting for you. Analea requested that quarters be assigned to you during her first trip to Voyager," said Kayaln. Seven replied, "Thank you," and graced Kayaln with one of her rare smiles. "Your welcome," replied Kayaln looking at Seven and watching the minute play of emotions that were running across her face. Kayaln realized that Seven was experiencing several different emotions at the thought of having her own quarters. "It's quite a change isn't it," she stated. Seven nodded thoughtfully, "I will adapt." ************************************************************* B'Elanna sat in the mess hall slowly eating her dinner and studying the information High Priestess Analea had given them about Seven. B'Elanna and the Doctor had thoroughly went over the information earlier in the day. Now B'Elanna was going over how the bio-implants generated energy using chemical fission and fusion reactions. She had a second padd that she was entering notes into; her mind was germinating the idea for a chemical reactor for Voyager's use based upon Seven's bio-implants. The Federation had not deeply researched chemical fusion and fission due to the fact that other energy sources were available that were far simpler to use. In the Delta Quadrant, however, resources such as dilithium, were far more scarce and difficult for Voyager to obtain. Seven's new bio-implants were very sophisticated, and the matter to energy conversion rate was very efficient. It wasn't as efficient as the warp engines matter anti-matter energy conversion but any type of matter that didn't produce dangerous waste products would work as fuel. The trick would be to replace the end product, adenosine triphosphate, with something that was compatible with the existing plasma grid. The seating of Tom Parris and Harry Kim across from her drew her attention from her reading. "Those the technical specifications for Seven," smirked Tom. Harry frowned slightly at his friend, he had never been happy with the way Paris spoke of Seven. B'Elanna frowned, "What do you mean by that, Paris." Tom rolled his eyes and said, "What's up with you, you're the one who always called her a machine. Now she's even more of one." "And I was wrong," replied B'Elanna shortly. "Hey, just because your feeling guilty doesn't mean your were wrong. She does act like a machine, all efficiency and little emotion. As you've said, the perfect Borg Ice Princess," replied Tom trying to needle B'Elanna. After all he wasn't the one who had made up most of the nicknames for Seven, where did B'Elanna get this self-righteous attitude from all of a sudden. B'Elanna grimaced at the reminder of one of the derogatory terms she had made up for Seven, "Why would she want to show us whether or not she was hurt by what we said? I wouldn't if I were her. Did you know she can hear even better than I can? She could before she died," B'Elanna tapped the data padd Analea had brought. "This information makes it clear that the new implants provide the same auditory sensitivity as the Borg implants did. I doubt that there was much that was said in whispers around her that she didn't hear. Somewhat like I hear everything that's said about me." B'Elanna finished with an angry look at Tom. "I've never said anything about you B'Elanna," protested Tom. Harry had been silent throughout the exchange but now he spoke up, "But you've said several things about Seven. And most of them were when she was near. What B'Elanna's saying is; why would Seven want to trust you enough to show her emotions, you treat her like a friend to her face but you talk about her behind her back." Tom turned to Harry with a betrayed expression on his face, "What's this, the defend Seven club?" B'Elanna stood up with her tray, "I treated her dishonorably, I won't allow you to sway me into doing so again, Tom. If you want to remain friends you'll change your attitude." With that she turned and left a gaping Tom Paris and a pleased Harry Kim sitting at the table. ********************************************************** Kayaln finished off her piece of fruit and looked thoughtfully at Seven, unsure of where to begin. A raised ocular implant caused her to grin at the blond woman. "Ok, body language lesson part 2," said Kayaln. "Ah…what did I leave out last time." Kayaln paced around the room some trying to order her thoughts. "Oh, don't imitate male body language. Men generally have a different way of holding themselves than women." Kayaln paced some more thinking, Seven watched while she helped herself to another green skinned fruit. "Don't be too obvious about watching people if you can help it, it makes people uncomfortable if they think you are analyzing them. And yes I know you are examining them Seven, just try to be discrete about it." Kayaln paused a moment then continued, "Everyone's body language will be to some extent uniquely their own. Most people learn their body language while they are still children. Thus, they learn it mostly from their family, peers and teachers. Your Chief Engineer for example will probably have a unique body language; she would have learned Klingon mannerisms from her mother and human ones from her peers. You will have to develop your own body language; a personal ‘accent' might be an accurate term. It will probably be a blend of what you see others doing on Voyager." Kayaln looked inquisitively toward Seven and asked, "Do you have any questions? Any thing you used to do that caused a reaction that didn't make sense to you?" Seven considered the question and said, "Yes, I was constantly asked to sit when others sat. Due to my abdominal implant sitting was not comfortable, therefore I would decline the request. It seemed to frequently cause an antagonistic response; at the time I could see no reason why whether I sat or stood should cause such a reaction, so I decided such reactions were examples of human irrationality and thus irrelevant. I wonder now if I was unknowingly saying something in this ‘body language' that caused the antagonism." Kayaln nodded, "You were, there are two ways that your refusal to sit would be usually interpreted. The first would be that you were intending to be rude, the second that you were stating that you were of higher social rank than the person inviting you to sit. Sometimes it is interpreted as both." Seven looked pensively out the window, "I did not mean to imply either of those, it was merely uncomfortable for me to sit." A flash of anger crossed Seven's face and she said in a tight voice, "It would have been more efficient if I had known of this ‘body language' sooner. I have offended several members of the crew, it is not surprising that they dislike me and call me Ice Princess and Borg Queen." Kayaln put a comforting hand on Seven's arm attracting her attention and said softly, "Seven I think you will find that your death and the finding at the Arch of Judgment has caused several of you fellow crewmembers to reevaluate who they thought you were. Many of them have decided that they judged you unfairly, what they though was arrogance was actually unfamiliarity with human customs. I think you will find that several people are willing to ‘start over'. If you try your best to adapt to your Collective I think you will find that you will develop several new friends." "Now about whether or not its appropriate to sit or stand. You should sit if you are invited to do so; if you are not invited to sit then you should remain standing. Both of these actions show respect for the other person. If you are in your office or quarters and someone comes in it is polite to offer them a seat. Unless of course the amount of time you are planning on speaking to them is less than a few minutes. If you plan on talking to them for say over five minutes and you don't invite them to sit then you are usually implying that you are displeased with them. Your Captain when she is disciplining someone probably does not invite them to sit, though she may sit herself," Kayaln paused with a questioning look at Seven. Seven said, "Sometimes when she is angry with me she invites me to sit, sometimes she does not." Kayaln nodded thinking, "The times when she's asked you to sit, has she been angry over professional issues or more personal issues." Seven considered the question trying to decipher the difference between what Kayaln would consider professional and personal. Finally she said, "Personal." Kayaln said, "That's the difference then, its fairly standard in military organizations to have a person whose being disciplined have to remain standing until their superior is finished chastising them." Kayaln sighed, "Most of this will just take time to learn. One final thing about sitting and standing, if you are not being disciplined and you wish to sit but have not been invited to simply ask politely if you may take a seat. Sometimes people simply forget, and in your case they may have grown so use to you standing that they don't make the offer anymore." A silence ensued while both though over what had been said, finally Kayaln asked, "Any other questions?" Seven looked thoughtful for a few seconds, "I can think of no other questions at this time." Kayaln smiled, "Well we have three more days counting today before you are released back to Voyager. If you think of any between now and then just ask either I or Analea." Seven looked sharply at Kayaln, "Three days until I return to Voyager…" Seven wasn't entirely sure what to feel about her return. She missed Astrometrics, the challenges that she faced almost every day on Voyager. She missed the times when she and Lt. Torres were discussing new engineering ideas or working against time to solve a problem. She even missed their arguments; there was something so open about her emotions that fascinated Seven. The Chief Engineer showed what emotion she was currently feeling so clearly, Seven found herself sometimes behaving irrationally by intentionally doing things she knew would elicit strong emotions from the woman. Yet she valued the peacefulness she was experiencing in the inner temple, she enjoying talking to Analea and Kayaln, their calm thorough explanations. The way they never seemed to get angry or irritated when she did something that was incorrect. She was also enjoying her training more than she anticipated, the movements of the unarmed combat, the feel of the Bat'leth in her hands. She was used to extending and exercising her brain, not her body, and the feel of extending her physical strength and agility to her limits was more satisfying than she had imagined. "How will I continue my training when I return to Voyager?" Seven asked. Kayaln said, "Mulara has already prepared several holodeck programs for you to use, you don't have to worry about ending your training. I think you will find the programs quite satisfactory." Seven tilted her head slightly surprised by the information, "I am sure they will be sufficient." Kayaln smiled, "I have no doubt they will be. Now what about some unarmed lessons?" ************************************************************ Seven's remaining days went by quickly, she did her exercise program in the morning, stopped for a quick lunch then went to Bat'leth training. In the afternoon was unarmed training, then dinner. After dinner Kayaln gave her various lessons. The first night Kayaln brought a strange device that looked somewhat like a wind chime, a metallic wire frame supported several hanging four inch squares of some type of whitish metal. Kayaln grinned at her as she brought it in and hung it up and then tapped one of the squares. Seven watched as the square changed color from white to blue before it faded again. "Pressure sensitive coating," said Kayaln, "Its set for you to practice controlling your enhanced state strength. Its set for humanoids, blue means you haven't damaged the skin, red means that you have either bruised or broken the skin. If you change this setting," Kayaln showed her a small input area at the top of the structure, "You can change it to combat conditions, at that setting red means that you have used excessive force and probably broken a bone or severely injured your opponent. I want you to practice with both settings each day; its yours, so take it with you to Voyager. If you need to use your enhanced state to rescue someone you don't want to accidentally hurt them while doing so. If you are subduing someone that is hostile then you don't want to accidentally kill them, I think your Captain and Security Officer would rather they were alive." Seven nodded, she did not necessarily agree that hostile boarding parties should be captured alive but she knew it was preferred by Janeway and Tuvok. "How do I utilize this device?" asked Seven. "Touch each square as quickly as you can without turning it red, each time you practice change a variable. Stand close to it, stand far away, or change your angle. Its meant to teach you to gauge the speed and force with which you interact with an object," explained Kayaln. "Try it out," she encouraged. Trying to touch the various squares that seemed to move most erratically without turning them red proved to be more difficult than Seven had anticipated at first. She finally had to slow down her movements and pay close attention to how hard she touched each square before she managed to touch all of them without turning them red. The next night Kayaln told her about one of the holodeck exercise programs that Mulara had sent to Voyager. The program could replicate several different landscapes, mountainous, forested, scrub covered flatland, and swampy terrain were some of the choices. The program could be run alone or with up to four others. If a group played they could either cooperate, form two teams, or play against each other. The goal of the program was to start out without any weapons or supplies and make ones way through various guards and obstacles to the mission objective. You could choose to disable or kill the guards and take their supplies or choose to try and get by them without being detected. Kayaln told Seven that she thought it would be a good way for her to interact with the others in the crew. She pointed out that Janeway, Chakotay, Tuvok and Lt. Torres would likely be highly interested in playing through the program with her. After Seven thought about the four people Kayaln mentioned she agreed that Kayaln's assessment was probably correct. Kayaln and Seven spent the next few hours going over the basics of moving silently, how to move without being detected, how to observe your surroundings to spot others and how to approach your target so that you could incapacitate or kill them. Seven was not pleased with her progress after the evenings practice but Kayaln assured her that the program had training routines built in; she could practice whenever she had the time. Seven's final night upon Mulara was spent much more sedately than the previous two. Both Analea and Kayaln came to walk with her around the garden and talk. The discussion ranged over several topics as they discussed how Sevens training was progressing. Analea related the events of her visit to Voyager and assured Seven that she would like the paintings she had put up in her quarters. Seven was not sure about some of the paintings but she was intensely curious to see the painting of the Omega molecule. "Seven, you are not going to loose contact with us tomorrow. Mulara will keep in contact with you, and through her us," said Analea realizing that some of Seven's uneasiness was coming from the thought of never seeing her or Kayaln again. Seven turned and looked at each of them, "Through dreams as she has before?" "Yes," replied Kayaln, "though I suspect the dreams will be less like the lessons you have had previously and more like what is happening now. A dream of a walk through these gardens and discussing things. That's more like what my dreams are like when Mulara talks to me. And, I suspect that you may find your holodeck instructors to be…more than what their program allows." Seven paused and seemed to absorb this information, then nodded. "I…" Seven paused and looked at Analea then at Kayaln, "It is comforting to know that I will be allowed to contact you from Voyager." "You are concerned about what your reception from the crew will be on Voyager," said Analea. Seven didn't directly respond but looked her in the eye for a moment then dropped her gaze. Seven didn't really want to think about having to listen to the hurtful comments that she was sure she was meant to hear. "Seven, one thing everyone has to learn is that not everyone will like you. I have people who whisper behind my back as well, it's a fact of existence. Just make sure you are treating people properly and if they do not treat you well in return then ignore their opinions. Some people are just small minded and petty," said Analea. Kayaln said, "Value the friends you have now and when people reach out to you in friendship when you return to Voyager make new friends. Remember to make friends you have to be a friend in return." From there the discussion quickly evolved to delve deeply into matters such as how one developed a friendship, and how friends treated one another. The night ended on a positive note and Seven went to sleep in a much lighter frame of mind than she had begun the evening. The next morning Seven awoke and felt a thrill of anticipation, this was the morning that she was going back to Voyager. Looking about the room she saw a small bag by the dresser. After she had eaten Seven went to enjoy one last bath in the bathing pool then dressed in her favorite set of clothing the sapphire blue shirt and black pants. When she was done she packed her belongings in the bag and went out to walk about the garden for one last time. She was still walking around the garden when she saw Analea and Kayaln approaching. Kayaln was carrying her bag and as they approached Analea held out a combadge to Seven which she took and affixed to her shirt. They looked for a moment at each other then Kayaln stepped up and embraced Seven, which was enough for the younger woman to begin crying. Kayaln just held Seven until she stepped back and said, "I will see you again, this is not goodbye. Believe me Seven." Seven nodded, "I know but I am still feeling sorrow at the thought of leaving. Though I want to go to Voyager." Analea said, "Understandable Seven, emotions are not ruled by logic. I shall miss you too, even though I know this is not goodbye either." With that Analea stepped close and gave Seven a warm hug as well. Seven calmed herself and picked up her bag looking at them and wiping her face dry. "Until we meet again then, my friends…" Seven said hesitantly. Warm smiles rewarded her and Kayaln said, "Yes you are our friend Seven. Until we meet again." Analea repeated the sentiment and then nodded to Seven indicating to her that it was time for her to contact Voyager. Seven took a breath and activated her combadge, "Seven to Voyager." A voice replied, "Voyager here." Seven looked one last time at the two of them and straightened, "One to beam up." NewMessage: Path: newsspool2.news.atl.earthlink.net!stamper.news.atl.earthlink.net!elnk-atl-nf1!newsfeed.earthlink.net!feed1.news.rcn.net!rcn!wns13feed!worldnet.att.net!199.218.7.141!news.glorb.com!postnews1.google.com!not-for-mail From: cobaltwolf2002@yahoo.com (Kudara) Newsgroups: alt.startrek.creative Subject: NEW: VOY I am Borg - Part 2 - Chapter 1 (1/10) PG-13 Date: 8 Oct 2004 16:50:16 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Lines: 696 Message-ID: <3f3213d8.0410081550.55fe85ed@posting.google.com> NNTP-Posting-Host: 68.13.213.47 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit X-Trace: posting.google.com 1097279417 20368 127.0.0.1 (8 Oct 2004 23:50:17 GMT) X-Complaints-To: groups-abuse@google.com NNTP-Posting-Date: Fri, 8 Oct 2004 23:50:17 +0000 (UTC) Xref: news.earthlink.net alt.startrek.creative:161008 X-Received-Date: Fri, 08 Oct 2004 16:50:20 PDT (newsspool2.news.atl.earthlink.net) Title: I am Borg - Part 2 Chapter 1 Author: Kudara Contact: cobaltwolf2002@yahoo.com Series: VOY Part: NEW 1/10 Rating: PG-13 Codes: 7, J, T, crew Summary: Seven returns to Voyager Disclaimer: Star Trek Voyager and all who sail in her belong to Paramount/Viacom and no infringement of copyright/trade marks is intended. Feedback: Always welcome, feedback is what encourages me to keep writing. Please let me know what you like and what you dislike about the story. Klingon: qatojbe' - I will not deceive you taHqeq – swear word meaning dishonest, deceitful. Classic Klingon insult. ****************************************************** Seven materialized on the transporter pad and looked around at the group assembled to greet her. Captain Janeway of course was there as was Commander Chakotay and Lt. Commander Tuvok. Seven felt slightly uncomfortable under their intense looks; she was uncertain how to break the silence that seemed to have fallen. "Captain?" said Seven tentatively, with an inquiring look at Captain Janeway. Janeway smiled reassuringly and said, "Welcome back Seven, I've missed you." Seven looked at the Captain's face and realized that the older woman had missed her; not surprising after all this was the woman who had been willing to confront the Borg Queen to bring her back to Voyager. "I have missed you as well Captain," admitted Seven. Seven turned and acknowledged Chakotay politely and then with more warmth she said, "Lt. Commander Tuvok, I was able to use the meditation techniques you taught me during my recovery. They proved most helpful in assisting me with my unarmed martial arts training." Tuvok tilted his head and raised one eyebrow, "Indeed, meditation is most useful in centering oneself before any type of physical training." Seven gave him a small smile, "From the soul, to the body, into the world." Tuvok quirked his lips very slightly and said, "Perhaps you can demonstrate what you have learned at some point." Seven nodded to him and then looked at Janeway and Chakotay who for some reason were looking at her rather strangely. Seven shifted and looked inquisitively at Janeway, finally Janeway seemed to shake herself out of whatever had been bemusing her and she said, "You must want to see your new quarters." Seven smiled slightly, "I am looking forward to seeing the paintings Analea brought for me." Janeway said, "Your quarters are on Deck 9 Section 11. She also brought several sets of clothing; some are of the same style you are wearing. I wondered what they would look like, they suit you Seven." "Thank you," replied Seven recognizing that Kathryn was complementing her. Seven was determined to adapt to her Collective. Analea and Kayaln had taught her that politeness was much more important than she had ever realized. Therefore Seven was determined to understand what was polite behavior and what it was not, and apply what she learned to her own behavior. Tuvok, saying that he was on duty declined to accompany them to Seven's quarters. Chakotay declined as well saying that he needed to return to the bridge. Thus only Janeway and Seven stepped out of the turbolift at Deck 9 and proceeded along the corridor toward Section 11. Lt. Torres who had been headed toward the turbolift paused in the corridor to let the two pass, quickly glancing at Seven who met her eyes gravely and nodded to her. Seven paused and said, "Lt. Torres." B'Elanna wondered if Seven was about to confront her for her part in Seven's death, she straightened and said, "Seven." "I understand that Analea brought several training programs designed by Mulara to Voyager. The program of the inner temple garden has a training area, there is a Bat'leth trainer there named M'ara. You are welcome to use the program anytime you wish, and perhaps sometime you would be willing to practice with me," said Seven. She was being very careful to maintain neutral posture during this speech though she desperately wanted to stand with her hands behind her back. B'Elanna said the first thing that came into her head after Seven's speech, "I didn't know you knew how to fight with a Bat'leth." Seven dropped her eyes for a second and stiffened then forced herself to relax, "I have just begun my training. I am not very skilled. I understand that you might not want to practice with me due to my inexperience." B'Elanna was quick to reply before Seven continued, "No, that's fine we can just take it easy… Do you have a Bat'leth or do you use a replicated one?" B'Elanna asked curiously. She realized that she needed to wrap up the conversation quickly, Janeway was starting to look annoyed but Seven appeared to be willing to stand in the hall and talk for along time. Seven was even being polite, and she wasn't standing like she usually did at all. B'Elanna was also trying very hard not to stare at Seven's exoskeleton, from the data she knew basically the outline of it, but the reality was much more beautiful than she had thought. The exoskeleton around Seven's left eye gleamed brilliantly silver in the light with fine lines of blue and gold forming intricate patterns. Seven replied "I do not have one of my own; I assume I will be using the ones provided in the program." Janeway interrupted, "Actually you have one of your own, Analea delivered it with your paintings and clothes." Seven turned toward her, surprise and pleasure obvious for a moment on her face before it smoothed again. Seven turned back toward B'Elanna, "It appears I have a Bat'leth." B'Elanna glanced from Janeway to Seven and said, "Perhaps I can drop by and take a look at it later, I need to get headed to engineering now…" Seven nodded, "I did not realize I was keeping you from your duty Lt…my apologies." B'Elanna gaped for a moment then said, "That's alright. Well I had better get going. Captain, Seven." B'Elanna turned and walked toward the lift. As soon as she was safely in it she shook her head and wondered where the real Seven was. That had almost been surreal; Seven had never been that painfully polite to her, she sounded almost like Tuvok. B'Elanna had hardly recognized Seven between the fact that she wasn't wearing her usual biosuit and that she had her hair down. B'Elanna considered how Seven had looked and thought bemusedly that Seven was much more attractive in the looser clothes than she had ever been in the skintight biosuits. Seven turned back to the Captain and noticed the odd look once again, Seven wondered uneasily if she had already erred somehow. Maybe she should not have paused to talk with Lt. Torres. Seven resolved that as soon as she could she would make a detailed analysis of what was considered polite behavior. When they reached Deck 9 Section 11 they paused in front of a door and Kathryn indicated that Seven should precede her, as Seven approached the door it opened automatically to admit her. Seven stepped into her quarters and her gaze was immediately drawn to the painting at the other end of the room. Seven walked across the room towards it, barely glancing at the contents of the remainder of the quarters. She stared at the painting looking at how the soft brush strokes revealed both the simplicity and complexity of the molecule. Seven stepped back and looked at the painting again, this time she saw something in the whole which reminded her of when she had watched the Omega molecule form. Somehow the Omega molecule in the painting appeared to be watching her as she looked at it. "I don't know who painted it but they were very good," said Janeway. "Mulara did, her signature is in the bottom left corner," replied Seven absently. She was aware of Janeway moving closer to the painting and then a stifled sound of surprise. "I don't understand how I missed that before. Well Seven I would think few people could say they have original works of art painted by an energy being," said Janeway. Seven looked curiously at her, "You are probably correct." Seven wondered why Janeway was commenting on the painting, Mulara had made several things for Seven. The most notable was her own body in Seven's mind. Seven moved away from the Omega painting and began examining the rest of her quarters. She recognized the flower stills; they were of her favorite flowers in the inner temple garden. Continuing around the rooms she noticed the hydroponics lights above the bed and smiled at the thoughtfulness. The last thing she noticed in the room was her new Bat'leth. Seven walked over to it and picked it up, testing the weight of it and the length. She read the inscription ‘Duty, Loyalty, Honor.' Seven admired the watered appearance of the blade for a few moments longer then reverently returned the weapon to its display hanger. "So do you like your new quarters?" asked Janeway with a smile. Seven returned the smile for just a second and replied, "Thank you for assigning them to me, and for assisting Analea with their decoration." "Of course, Seven, you should have been assigned them sooner. I'm sorry it took all of this for me to see that I should have never had you stay in the Cargo Bay for as long as I did." Janeway paused and looked at Seven seriously, "I owe you and apology for that, I never thought of how it affected the crew's opinion of you. I want you to know that I never though of you that way, and I didn't intend to imply that to the crew," finished Janeway. Seven was puzzled as to what ‘that way' referred to until she recalled comments she had overheard of how she was a machine, stored away in the cargo bay between uses. Seven thought she should clarify the phrase before replying to the Captain. "Do you mean how some members of the crew referred to me as a machine that was stored in the cargo bay?" asked Seven. Janeway winced and nodded. Seven wondered how she was supposed to reply and finally settled upon, "Apology accepted, though if that was not your perception of my previous quarters why are you responsible for others erroneous perceptions?" "Because I'm the Captain, and I should have considered it. Analea brought several things to my attention, Seven. When I ordered that your Borg implants were to be removed the first few day's you were on Voyager I ordered the Doctor to ignore your own wishes in the matter. I argued that you were not capable of making your own decisions and essentially took on the role of guardian. Since then however, I've been rather haphazard in my treatment of you, sometimes I'm your Captain, sometimes I'm your mentor, and sometimes I still think of myself as your guardian. But I ignored something rather essential, and that was the fact that you needed me to be just one person, you needed me to react in more of a consistent manner than I did. I must have confused you quite frequently. I was too permissive with you at times letting you break the rules I expected others to follow, then suddenly I insisted that you follow those rules," explained Janeway. Seven listened to Kathryn's statement and thought back over the past year and had to agree, the shifting standard had been unsettling. "It was confusing, but I should have followed the standard others were held to. Instead I choose to follow the more ‘permissive' standard for my own benefit… except it did not benefit me…" Janeway said, "Seven, its human nature to want to explore boundaries, it's not your fault that you wanted the most lenient boundary that I would allow you and resented it when I restricted them. I should have been more consistent…I should have been more like my mother was with me," commented Kathryn somewhat wryly. "I certainly did you no favors by allowing you so much freedom. I promise that I'll try to be more consistent with you, I'll let you know when you do something wrong and I'll try to explain as best I can why. I wanted to let you know this so that you don't think I'm punishing you in any way. I don't ever want you to think that, I'm correcting my own mistake, what I did wrong." Seven considered the Captains words and asked hesitantly, "You wish to act consistently as my guardian? I am not considered an adult then, you are following Mularan law." Seven was not particularly pleased with this turn of events; she did not consider herself to be a minor no matter what Mulara thought. Kathryn replied, "The fact that I feel you still need guidance does not mean that I think you are not an adult Seven. I don't think of myself as your guardian anymore in a legal sense. I do however care about what happens to you, and I want to do what's best for you if you will let me. Seven, I still feel the need for guidance; it's not something you outgrow. I wish almost every day that I could talk to my mother about things." Seven considered everything Kathryn had said and came to a tentative conclusion, "You think of yourself as my parent?" Seven looked curiously at her. Kathryn looked surprised for a second then thoughtful, "I guess I do, if that's not being too presumptuous. That's up to you of course; do you mind that I think of you more as a daughter than just a friend?" "That is acceptable," said Seven. Seven considered the woman in front of her and felt a rush of emotion, she barely remembered her own mother. Her own mother had not been able to save her from the Borg, but Kathryn had and not only once but twice. "By what term should I call you?" asked Seven. Kathryn smiled, "Captain in public and when you are acting as a crewmember. When we are in a more private setting please call me Kathryn." Seven nodded then asked, "Would you like anything Kathryn." "Coffee, black," said Kathryn starting to wonder what the Mularan's had done to make Seven so polite. Frankly it was starting to worry her; Seven was not acting like her old self. "Analea brought up three replicator patterns for you, the Pujaa and Quara fruits and the juice with the metallic and chemical elements in it." Seven was pleased to hear this and when she went over to the replicator she said, "Coffee, black," and picked up the cup then she said, "Quara fruit, sliced, room temperature". When the bowl appeared she picked that up as well and sat the coffee and fruit on the table. She then ordered some of the juice for herself. Kathryn had wandered over to the table and sat down with her coffee cup. "Have you tried the Mularan fruits yet Kathryn?" asked Seven. "No I haven't," answered Kathryn. Seven said, "I believe you will like this one." Kathryn took a slice of the fruit and bit into it, a surprised expression crossed her face, "It tastes like sweet bread. I'll have to remember the name so I can order it for breakfast sometimes." "I often have one for breakfast myself," said Seven as she took a few of the slices before Kathryn could eat them all. When Kathryn had finished her coffee she said, "I must return to the bridge, let me know if you need anything. You have the rest of today off of course, tomorrow morning we have a senior staff meeting at 0900 hours. If you want to talk more I'll be off duty in six hours." Seven nodded to Kathryn and watched her leave. Seven was pleased to have the day off though she had expected it. She needed to figure out how to schedule her days; her exercise protocol would take an hour a day to complete. She did not have enough holodeck time to practice unarmed or weapons training every day but she did have enough to practice every other day for an hour. Seven considered her quarters and realized that there was enough room for her to practice her katas here if she moved the furniture out of the way. Seven unpacked the pressure sensitive plates and hung them in a corner of the room, and then she looked around at her quarters in satisfaction. *********************************************************** Several hours later B'Elanna was headed back to her quarters and remembered that Seven had invited her to come by and look at her Bat'leth. She tapped her combadge and said "Torres to Seven." A few moments later Seven replied and B'Elanna asked if it would be convenient for her to come over. "You are welcome to come over now Lieutenant, I will probably be practicing my katas if you don't mind. I will set the door to admit you," replied Seven. B'Elanna was definitely curious now, what katas would Seven be doing she wondered. As far as she knew Seven had never practiced any form of martial arts in the past. "If you don't mind me watching sure Seven," said B'Elanna as she walked the few final meters to Seven's quarters. Seven had already set the door to admit her B'Elanna noted as the door opened when she approached it. B'Elanna walked in and tried to not be too obvious as she stared at Seven moving gracefully and powerfully though an unarmed martial arts kata. B'Elanna was not an expert in unarmed styles so she couldn't tell exactly how well Seven was doing the kata. But she could tell that Seven was fairly skilled, each movement flowed into the next making it appear that Seven was actually performing some type of dance. In between one kata and the next Seven said, "Please sit Lieutenant, I will be finished shortly. You are welcome to replicate a drink for yourself if you would like one." Seven was proud of herself, she had spent several hours today going over Starfleet protocol and courtesies for a second time, she had studied them over a year ago but had deemed them irrelevant at the time. She had also read several studies on what humans called polite behavior or manners. B'Elanna looked at Seven oddly, "Um, thanks for the offer but I'm not thirsty right now." B'Elanna heard what sounded almost like a chuckle from Seven and stared at her for a moment before grinning, "That's usually your line isn't it." A brief smirk from Seven answered her statement. B'Elanna sat down at the table and looked about the room, finally noticing the Bat'leth in its display hangers beside the door. Seven finished her katas and walked over to the replicator and got herself a glass of water, she looked at Lt. Torres and said, "You may pick up the Bat'leth if you would like." B'Elanna had been waiting for the invitation and she walked over to the blade and examined the layered surface, "What metal is this made of, it's not baakonite." "It is made of poly-deutonic alloy," replied Seven. B'Elanna looked at her and then back at the blade then gently picked it up feeling the weight of it. She read the inscription that ran below the grips, "Qu', matlh, batlh; who made this Seven?" B'Elanna was aware of what the words meant she was surprised that someone had inscribed them upon the blade. Seven looked at her curiously, "I imagine that Mulara made the Bat'leth. The Mularan's do not have the technology to work with poly-deutonic alloy." "Mulara," said B'Elanna surprised and looked back down at the Bat'leth she was holding. "Yes," said Seven, "She also created the pictures I have. I especially like the painting of the Omega molecule." B'Elanna carefully replaced the Bat'leth and walked over to the indicated painting, "I recognized it, Janeway didn't say anything about it? I mean you pretty much have classified information hanging on your wall." Seven considered this and said, "I shall refer to it as a kal-toh sphere from now on, I had forgotten that Starfleet classified all information about it. All the Borg know about the Omega Molecule…they even know the resonance frequency now." Seven grimaced, the last time she had been onboard a Borg vessel they had assimilated her memories, which meant they had access to all the research she had done on the Omega molecule. "How would they know that? Oh when you went back to the Borg after they blackmailed you." B'Elanna answered her own question. "An antiquated, but accurate term," acknowledged Seven. B'Elanna snorted, glancing at Seven she finally asked what had been bothering her all day. "Seven, why are you being so polite?" Seven glanced at the Lieutenant and said, "I had dismissed such behavior before as inefficient and irrelevant. However, being regarded as impolite and rude caused me to be generally disliked by the crew. My behavior resulted in Muahe being able to gather information about me, which he used when he decided to kill me. I no longer regard being polite as irrelevant; I have no desire for that to occur again. Therefore, I am making the adaptation to this Collective my highest priority. I have identified politeness and accurate communications to be essential in this effort." B'Elanna stared at Seven stunned that she had come to the conclusion she had. Then she said, "Why don't you hate us, why don't you hate me? Or do you? And don't hide behind politeness." "qatojbe'," replied Seven and paused to make sure B'Elanna understood what she had said, "Why would I hate you?" "They sent us their security tapes; I know that Muahe told you that I had given them that information. I didn't though Seven, I didn't talk to their intelligence people, I wouldn't do that," said B'Elanna earnestly. Seven interrupted her, "I know… I remember watching, but I was never there…Perhaps Mulara gave me those memories. I was at the establishment when they tried to elicit information from you by offering alcoholic beverages. You called the man a taHqeq and told him you would drink nothing with him." B'Elanna was surprised, she hadn't told Tuvok that she had swore at the man in Klingon. "You watched?" she tried to understand what Seven was describing. "As if I were overhead when the conversation took place," clarified Seven. "Then you saw the people who didn't keep their mouths shut." stated B'Elanna. Seven replied shortly, "Yes." "Then you know that almost all of them were from engineering. So I am responsible, I'm the one that started the names and I'm the one that didn't stop them from treating you rudely," said B'Elanna in a rush looking angrily at Seven. Seven was confused and uneasy, why was Lt. Torres angry with her. She had done nothing that she knew of to anger the engineer, maybe her reply had been too short or maybe the Lieutenant was angry that she knew what happened in the bar. "I'm sorry," essayed Seven trying to diffuse the other woman's anger. "Damn it!" said B'Elanna angrily and took a step toward Seven, "why are you…" B'Elanna found herself on the floor gasping for breath. Seven was now several feet away from her in a defensive stance. B'Elanna could hear her rapid breathing and smelled… fear. She gazed at Seven and saw the fear she had smelled in the woman's eyes. B'Elanna started to growl and lunge to her feet angered that Seven had shoved her, when she saw Seven tense and actually bare her teeth at her. Suddenly she froze realizing that she might be in real danger of Seven attacking her. She also knew that if Seven hit her at full strength she would probably kill her. B'Elanna relaxed backward, "I'm not going to attack you Seven. I wasn't angry at you, I was angry at myself. I shouldn't have…I'm sorry you thought I was angry with you Seven." B'Elanna moved slowly and ruefully rubbed her chest where she was certain there would be a palm sized bruise shortly. "I'm definitely sorry I made you think I was about to attack you." B'Elanna watched Seven trying to figure out if the other woman was relaxing yet. Seven dropped her hands and stood straighter a haunted look on her face, "I'm sorry I injured you Lieutenant. I believe I overreacted to the anger you displayed." Seven glanced at the Lieutenant shamed and asked, "Do you need to go to Sickbay?" Seven hesitantly moved toward Lt. Torres wondering if she had hurt the woman such that she could not get up. B'Elanna sat up and said, "No I'm fine I just didn't want to threaten you any more than I already had." Seven stopped moving towards her when she sat up, looking at her with concern. B'Elanna got slowly to her feet and sat back down at the table. "You will report me for striking you," said Seven in a monotone. B'Elanna looked at her trying to figure out what she was thinking, "No I won't, it was my fault. I've gotten used to you just ignoring me when I do things like that, I should have realized that you would react differently now. Honestly, I should never have invaded your personal space like that in the past." "I might have hurt you…for a moment I saw Muahe's face…I could have killed you," Seven was definitely agitated now, "I am a danger." "Woah, Seven stop. You didn't hurt me," B'Elanna rose from her seat at the table and approached Seven slowly. "Seven, I'm sorry I frightened you. I've just gotten used to you not being afraid of me when I'm angry." Seven closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths to get her nanoprobes to deal with the hormones rushing through her system, she should have done it earlier but had been so shocked by her reaction that she had forgotten for a moment. Shortly she felt the physical symptoms abate and she felt calmer. Lt. Torres was watching her and asked, "Well you look better. What just happened?" "I instructed my nanoprobes to remove the excess adrenaline in my system, with my Borg systems it happened automatically. Now I must consciously initiate the process. I forgot to do it earlier; I apologize for being so emotional," said Seven and sat down at the table. B'Elanna put two and two together and said, "Is that one of the reasons you always were so calm? I used to wonder why you never were afraid or angry with me, I thought you were…" B'Elanna trailed off uncomfortably, realizing what she was about to say. Seven finished for her, "Incapable of feeling emotions. I have always been capable of feeling emotions Lieutenant. Emotions like anger and fear are usually caused or accompanied by a hormone reaction, therefore I could experience them only briefly before my nanoprobes compensated. However, I seldom was afraid of you Lieutenant; I generally stopped the actions that annoyed you when your physiological responses reached a certain level." B'Elanna stared at Seven, going through what she had just said to figure out what had caught her attention. "Wait, what do you mean you stopped? You knew what you were doing that made me angry and you kept doing it until just before I really lost my temper?!" said B'Elanna incredulous. Seven looked remarkably like a child that had been caught with their hand in the forbidden cookie jar at that moment. B'Elanna couldn't decide whether to be angry or amused at the obviously inadvertent admission. "Why did you do that Seven? and the truth Seven not some polite answer." Seven looked at Lt. Torres uncertainly and flushed slightly, she had not meant to ever let the woman know she had sometimes purposefully angered her. Seven was desperate to not anger Torres any further so she softly admitted, "Your emotions, you always display them so clearly. I have always been fascinated by your ability to feel. So sometimes I would anger you just to see them." B'Elanna gaped at the admission, everyone on this ship tried to not anger her, except apparently for Seven who sought it out. "You purposely angered me… to watch my emotions. Because you couldn't feel them?" hazarded B'Elanna. Seven nodded, "I could only feel mine fleetingly, I can always discern yours clearly." Seven continued speaking almost to herself, "It's why I included you when Kayaln asked me what things I thought were beautiful." B'Elanna looked at Seven closely her irritation derailed completely by the last comment. Seven looked back at her evenly, no sign of uneasiness apparent on her face. B'Elanna was confused, what had Seven meant by that, was Seven telling her she thought she was beautiful or was Seven saying her emotions were beautiful. B'Elanna felt she was suddenly floundering in unexpectedly deep waters, looking for solid land she asked, "Who is Kayaln and why was she asking you that?" "Kayaln was one of the High Priestess of Mulara. She is the one who taught me unarmed martial arts. She asked me what I thought was beautiful to help me with my training. Kayaln told me that I should bring what I felt was beautiful into my katas so I could bring them closer to perfection." Explained Seven. B'Elanna was completely confused now, "You want to show anger in your katas?" Seven shook her head, "No, not anger…" Seven frowned slightly thinking, trying to clarify why she had included Lt. Torres in her list. Hoping the woman wouldn't get angry again she finally said, "Passion, your ability to feel and project emotions so clearly." B'Elanna knew how she would take that admission from anyone else but Seven. With Seven however she just wasn't sure, B'Elanna looked searchingly into Seven's eyes but saw nothing but sincerity. Uneasily she wondered if Seven would even recognize attraction if she did feel it. With one more searching glance B'Elanna asked lightly, "What else made it onto your list?" Seven was relieved; apparently Lt. Torres had decided not to be angry with her. "The Omega molecule, the three flowers that I have paintings of, the design of my exoskeleton, you and the Captain." B'Elanna glanced at Seven at the last, and almost felt like laughing. B'Elanna glanced at the flower paintings in the room and had to agree that all of them were indeed beautiful. As for Seven's exoskeleton, well she would take her word on that, though her imagination helpfully supplied her with the flash of an image of a nude silver adorned Seven. "The Captain, what about her do you find beautiful?" asked B'Elanna carefully. Seven considered the question, "Her strength, her compassion, and her decisiveness in dangerous situations. I feel protected when she is near. I was confused by my feelings before today; now that we have agreed that she fills a parental role my feelings make sense to me." B'Elanna felt adrift again, "Parental role?" "Yes, the Captain asked if it was permissible for her to consider me as a daughter and I agreed that it was. Therefore she is in a parental role, Correct?" asked Seven. B'Elanna nodded, feeling slightly jealous of Seven. No wonder Janeway looked out for Seven's interests so fiercely. Seven commented pensively, "Kathryn is a better mother than my own. She took me away from the Borg instead of delivering me to them." Suddenly B'Elanna felt ashamed, remembering that Seven had just commented that Janeway made her feel safe. Seven certainly deserved someone to look out for her given what she had been through during her life. B'Elanna rubbed her forehead ridges, a headache was starting. She almost laughed aloud at herself; she had been so sure how things would be when Seven got back. Seven would be her usual self and she would struggle with her anger and take the honorable route and try to help Seven understand what she was doing wrong. Instead Seven had come back with the Borg superiority apparently knocked out of her; she was still confident but uncertain of her place and welcome. This Seven was polite, but the reasons behind the politeness made B'Elanna feel sickened and angry. No one should have to feel they had to perfectly adapt to the majority culture just to feel safe on Voyager, yet Seven felt just that way if B'Elanna was interpreting what she said correctly. "Janeway to Seven," interrupted Seven's com badge. Seven answered, "Yes Captain." "Seven, I forgot to mention that you need to go get an examination in Sickbay, the Doctor just called to ask when you would be in. And would you like to come to my quarters for dinner this evening? We can do an informal debriefing on what happened on Mulara." said Janeway. "I will report to Sickbay as soon as possible Captain, what time should I report to your quarters for dinner?" asked Seven. "1900 hours sound fine Seven?" said Janeway. "1900 hours is fine Captain." said Seven. They both heard the communications channel close and B'Elanna took the opportunity to escape from what had become an increasingly confusing situation. She needed time to think over all that had happened and all that she had learned. "I should get going, you need to go visit the Doctor, and I'm supposed to meet Tom and Harry at Sardines." said B'Elanna. "Certainly Lieutenant," said Seven standing. "Seven call me B'Elanna when we aren't on duty. And Seven don't tell everyone about your list of what's beautiful. I would only tell the Captain and maybe Tuvok, no one else." B'Elanna saw the question in Seven's eyes and before she could ask replied, "just trust me on this one, ok?" Seven nodded and said, "I will comply." B'Elanna smiled at this sign of the old Seven, "Have a good evening Seven," she said as she left and the door closed behind her leaving a curious Seven behind. NewMessage: ath: newsspool2.news.atl.earthlink.net!stamper.news.atl.earthlink.net!elnk-atl-nf1!newsfeed.earthlink.net!feed1.news.rcn.net!rcn!news.maxwell.syr.edu!postnews1.google.com!not-for-mail From: cobaltwolf2002@yahoo.com (Kudara) Newsgroups: alt.startrek.creative Subject: NEW: VOY I am Borg - Part 2 - Chapter 2 (2/10) PG-13 (7/T) Date: 8 Oct 2004 16:58:26 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Lines: 668 Message-ID: <3f3213d8.0410081558.759778b9@posting.google.com> NNTP-Posting-Host: 68.13.213.47 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit X-Trace: posting.google.com 1097279907 20883 127.0.0.1 (8 Oct 2004 23:58:27 GMT) X-Complaints-To: groups-abuse@google.com NNTP-Posting-Date: Fri, 8 Oct 2004 23:58:27 +0000 (UTC) Xref: news.earthlink.net alt.startrek.creative:161009 X-Received-Date: Fri, 08 Oct 2004 16:58:29 PDT (newsspool2.news.atl.earthlink.net) Title: I am Borg - Part 2 Chapter 2 Author: Kudara Contact: cobaltwolf2002@yahoo.com Series: VOY Part: NEW 2/10 Rating: PG-13 Codes: 7/T, J, crew Summary: Dinner with the Captain. Paris gets a reprimand. B'Elanna Disclaimer: Star Trek Voyager and all who sail in her belong to Paramount/Viacom and no infringement of copyright/trade marks is intended. Feedback: Always welcome, feedback is what encourages me to keep writing. Please let me know what you like and what you dislike about the story. Klingon: vay' DaneHbogh yIchargh – Conquer what you desire. ********************************************************* Seven had barely escaped from Sickbay in time to arrive at Kathryn's door by 1900 hours. She was finally able to persuade the hologram to stop running various scans on her, only by informing the Doctor that she was expected to report to the Captain. Seven rang the admittance chime and after a few seconds the door opened and Kathryn greeted her with a smile and invited her to enter. The dinner Kathryn had prepared was simple, pasta with alfredo sauce and chicken breasts, accompanied by a light white wine. After the meal was completed Kathryn invited Seven to sit on the couch with her and asked Seven to tell her about what she had experienced in the inner temple. Seven began with her first awakening in the healing tank and over the next few hours related the events up to the point where she had beamed up to Voyager. Kathryn had asked her questions about the discussions she and Analea and Kayaln had about how to read body language. Kathryn had sighed and after verifying that the Doctor had never mentioned the subject, apologized for not considering that Seven needed to know about such a thing. Kathryn grumbled aloud that perhaps the Doctor had not been a good choice for a teacher after all. Seven assured her that the Doctor had helped her quite well the first few months, lately though he seemed to have reached the conclusion that Seven knew all she needed to know. Seven looked at Kathryn and said, "I suspect that the Doctor feels I know all I need to know…in order to get along with the Doctor." Kathryn looked at her and said, "I suspected he was attracted to you, I never thought that he would purposefully limit what you knew so you would be dependent on him." Seven frowned slightly, "I did not mean to imply that, I have been imprecise. I do not believe he would do such a thing consciously. However, I do believe the Doctor may be concerned that I will…outgrow him and choose not to interact with him if I progress much farther in regaining my humanity. From his perspective the fully human members of the crew do not care to interact with him unless forced to do so, it would be logical for him to assume that I would do the same." Kathryn replied with some heat, "That doesn't give him the right to limit what he chooses to teach you. Now I wonder what else he hasn't mentioned in his lessons. I'll have to go over his lesson plans and see exactly what he has taught you." Kathryn paused then asked, "How do you feel about the Doctor Seven?" "He is a friend, I believe he would like to be more, but I do not share that desire. I have no wish to be more than a friend to the Doctor. I was…disappointed that he would bet on the state of my social development with Lt. Paris and then choose to win the bet by inviting me to the reception for the Kadi Ambassador," replied Seven. Kathryn stilled for a moment and asked, "How did you learn of this bet?" Seven's face tightened, "Lt. Paris discussed it with the Doctor during the reception." Kathryn asked, "Where were you when you heard them?" "Standing beside the Doctor," clarified Seven. Kathryn closed her eyes a moment, "I will discuss with Mr. Paris the appropriate subjects for betting and the inappropriate ones. That was inappropriate of Mr. Paris to bet on and inappropriate of the Doctor to accept. I'm sorry their behavior hurt you Seven, especially since it was your first date?" Seven said, "Second date, my first was with Lieutenant Chapman. The premature ending of the evening was unfortunate; I accidentally dislocated the Ensigns shoulder while dancing." "Any dates since the reception?" asked Kathryn hesitantly. Seven answered, "No, I determined that there were no potential mates for me aboard Voyager." Kathryn looked at Seven puzzled, "How exactly did you determine that? It takes time to decide if you are attracted to someone, you have to get to know people before you can establish whether you are attracted to them or not." Seven stared at Kathryn, "The Doctor told me to pick a suitable candidate from among the male members of the crew. I prepared a program that created a list of candidates based on work performance and compatible interests." Kathryn sat back on the couch and looked out for a moment to the stars streaking by, "Seven, you really cannot make a decision on who might be a suitable partner by that method. There are other variables that you need to consider besides work performance and compatible interests. But, perhaps now isn't the time to discuss this, not after what you've been through. Perhaps in a couple of months you might be ready to reconsider your decision." Seven was puzzled, "Why not now?" "You have just been though a very difficult experience Seven; it would not be the best time for you to begin a romantic relationship with someone. Not while you're going through so many changes, in a few months when things have settled down for you would be a better time," explained Kathryn. And give me more time to get used to the idea, thought Kathryn. I'm getting used to the idea of being her ‘mother' I'm not sure if I'm ready to deal with the worries of her dating on top of that right now. Not to mention the fact that she would have to explain to Seven that she might also want to include the female members of the crew. Seven considered Kathryn's explanation, "I will comply. Though I will research the subject on my own, apparently the Doctors explanations were not complete." Kathryn took a deep breath and yielded to the inevitable, "That might be a good idea, you will probably have questions afterward, and I'll do my best to answer them…Unless you would prefer to ask someone else?" Kathryn remembered that she hadn't wanted to discuss certain things with her mother at all. "I can think of no one else I would ask besides you, or maybe Lt. Torres," responded Seven. "Lt. Torres?" questioned Kathryn, wondering what had changed between the two women to cause Seven to suddenly look upon her as a suitable confidant. "Lt. Torres, though we have frequently been antagonistic towards one another, has always been honest and direct in her dealings with me," said Seven. Kathryn had to admit that Seven was probably correct, B'Elanna was not one to be anything less than honest and direct. However, Kathryn wasn't certain that B'Elanna met the criteria for someone suitable for the type of discussion Seven would probably want to have after her research. "Yes, well you should probably choose a friend for those discussions, I'm not certain that you and B'Elanna are friends quiet yet, though I believe you could be given time," said Kathryn. Seven replied, "We discussed several issues today when B'Elanna came over to see my Bat'leth. I believe her invitation to call her B'Elanna while not on duty was an indication that she intends our relationship to change from an antagonistic one to one more amicable." Intrigued Kathryn asked, "What issues did you discuss?" Seven began explaining that they had discussed the reason behind Seven's decision to be polite. Kathryn did not react quite as negatively as B'Elanna had to her reasoning, but she seemed upset nonetheless. "Seven, while I agree that you should probably be more polite than you have in the past, I am upset because it sounds as though you feel that you are not safe from the crew unless you are polite to them. I understand why you feel that way though, it's just that it upsets me. I hope that everything works out to where you feel you can trust them again, and they realize that you aren't the person they assumed you were," said Kathryn. Seven said softly, "Arrogant, rude and superior? But I frequently did act that way. Even if sometimes it was unintentional on my part." Kathryn sighed, uncertain of what to say, "You are prideful of what you know, and for good reason, you are one of the brightest people I have known. You just need to learn how to express yourself …" "More politely?" broke in Seven. "I am trying to do that but both B'Elanna and you have reacted negatively to my solution. How else can I correct the problem? People perceive me as being arrogant, rude and superior. My research indicates that the method of correcting my communication error is to be more polite." Seven finished with some agitation. Kathryn reached over and took one of Seven's hands in both of hers, hoping that the contact would calm her. Seven looked at her wonderingly, and then down at their joined hands, tentatively she returned the reassuring pressure. Seeing that Seven was calming down Kathryn tried to explain, "Seven, I don't disagree that you being more polite will help matters. I am upset though, with the events that lead you to this point, I'm upset that some of the members of this crew betrayed you. I don't disagree with your conclusion, I'm just unhappy with the incentive behind the rationale." "My reasoning is correct; you are upset with the events that lead me to make the conclusion. You can do nothing to change what happened, I can do nothing to change what happened. I can only modify my behavior so that it is unlikely to happen again," said Seven. "I know Seven; I know that I can't change what happened. I just wish…I could do something to lessen your pain," said Kathryn with suppressed emotion in her voice. "I am not in pain," said Seven, not quite meeting Kathryn's eyes. Kathryn raised an eyebrow, "Emotional pain Seven, which I think you know I meant." Seven looked at their joined hands, "I do not wish to feel this pain, how do I make it go away? It does not seem to have a hormonal component; I cannot command my nanoprobes to do anything about the cause of it." "Time helps Seven, and talking about how you are feeling, like we are now. It also helps to know that people care about you; I think there are more people than you know of that care about you Seven. I do, as does Chakotay, Tuvok, Harry, B'Elanna and of course the Doctor. And I haven't mentioned how much Naomi was concerned about you," finished Kathryn. "I wish it to go away now," said Seven, then she sighed "But I accept that it will take time." Kathryn thought that it was probably a good time to change the subject, she couldn't think of anything else to say about Sevens decision to be polite. "Would you like some coffee and some desert?" Seven remembered how she had said just before going back to the Borg Queen that one day she would try coffee, maybe now would be a good time to please Kathryn and try some of the beverage. "I would like that," Seven said, not adding on the please that she would have before their conversation. Kathryn's smile rewarded her and she felt that she had gauged her response correctly. Apparently a decrease in the formality of her responses was warranted to calm Kathryn and probably B'Elanna. Kathryn replicated two black coffees, some milk and sugar and two cheesecakes. Seven looked curiously at the milk and sugar when Kathryn brought them over. "Not everyone likes their coffee black like I do Seven, milk and sugar are commonly added to coffee according to taste. Try it without either first and see if you like it or if it's too bitter." Seven tried the coffee and grimaced at the taste; Kathryn obligingly added some milk to her coffee and urged her to try it again. This time the taste was much more acceptable, the milk having sweetened the coffee. "Is that alright or would you like to try sugar?" asked Kathryn. "Perhaps next time," said Seven. "It is acceptable with just the milk." Kathryn nodded and the two women chatted over the cheesecake about some of the holodeck programs that Mulara had provided and arranged a Velocity match in two days. Seven admitted afterwards that the coffee had been a pleasant choice with the cheesecake and Kathryn was certain that she had a new convert to her favorite obsession. Finally Kathryn noted the time and mentioned that they both needed to get some rest so they would be ready for the next day. Seven hesitated before she left and shyly asked if it were permissible for her to hug Kathryn. With a warm smile Kathryn said, "That would be most acceptable, Seven." Seven bent down and hugged Kathryn about the shoulders and said softy, "Thank you." Her embrace was returned as Kathryn hugged her back and said, "Any time you need to talk to me let me know," Kathryn released her and then said with laugh, "Well unless there is a yellow or red alert." Seven smiled back and nodded then turned and left, Kathryn stepped out into the hallway and watched her new daughter walk to the turbolift. She was pleased to see that Seven appeared to be walking more confidently than she had earlier in the day. ********************************************************* B'Elanna, along with the other senior staff, was surprised to see Seven walk into the Briefing room the next morning wearing a science blue Starfleet uniform. The Captain had smiled proudly and the other senior staff complemented Seven on how good the uniform looked on her. After Seven briefly blushed from the attention they stopped, surprised at the show of emotion. The meeting turned out to be a short one since the only Department with anything of significance to report was Engineering. After B'Elanna had reported that repairs would be completed in the next four hours the Captain hurried though the rest of the meeting so she could go arrange for Voyager to depart from the space station. B'Elanna caught up with Seven after the morning brief, "Seven you mentioned practicing the Bat'leth together? When were you thinking?" "I have Holodeck One this evening from 1800 to 1900 hours, would you like to accompany me?" answered Seven. "I'll meet you there then," replied B'Elanna with a small smile. Seven was surprised and without thinking she returned it with a shy smile of her own before she stepped off on Deck 8, while B'Elanna stayed on the turbolift to descend to Deck 11. B'Elanna thought back to the meeting and was certain she was the only one who noticed when Seven briefly closed her eyes and breathed deeply to activate her nanoprobes. It brought home to B'Elanna how that one change made so much difference. Seven had to consciously choose to limit her emotions, before they had been limited for her and everyone had wrongly assumed she had none. B'Elanna resolved to keep her ears open for gossip about Seven; she didn't want anyone being hurtful towards her. ***************************************************** Janeway finished the last of the diplomatic communications with the Mularans. Once again assuring them that Seven was fully recovered and that she had forgiven them for not stopping Muahe in time. Janeway didn't know whether the last was true but felt reasonably certain enough to make the statement to reassure the Mularans. After the last communication was done Janeway stepped out onto the Bridge and fixed her eyes on Tom Paris. "Mr. Paris if you would come to my Ready Room," she said in a flat voice. She was rewarded by the sight of his head whipping around at her tone and a worried look that entered his eyes. Janeway turned and went back into her Ready Room, not waiting on the Lieutenant. In a moment the chime sounded and she said "Enter." Paris walked uncertainly to stand in front of her desk, waiting for her to tell him to sit down. Instead she stood and leaned over the desk looking him in the eyes. "Mr. Paris unfortunately this is coming a bit late, however, I want you to understand something. Your betting is getting out of hand. If I hear you making another bet dealing with another crewmember's personal life I will bring you up for conduct unbecoming an officer." Janeway could see his eyes flicker with understanding and resentment. Janeway decided to stomp any ideas he might have, "More specifically I had better not hear of you making any bets that pertain in any way to Seven of Nine. Consider that a direct order, Lieutenant. I don't believe I have to explain myself further." The last was said with a definite chill that Janeway hoped got through Tom's ego. Janeway didn't really want to be too harsh with him but the idea that he had made such a callous bet and had humiliated Seven had severely disappointed her. "You are dismissed Lieutenant," finished Janeway. She sat back down in her chair and watched as he smartly turned around and left the room. *********************************************************** Seven arrived outside of Holodeck One at 1755 hours precisely. B'Elanna was already waiting for her wearing a pair of black tights and tank top. Seven was wearing her Mularan clothing, a cream colored blouse and blue pants. She had changed her exoskeleton from silver to blue as well and B'Elanna gave a start of surprise when she saw her. "It changes color," B'Elanna exclaimed. "Yes, it can also change to red and there is a means for me to cover the entire surface with a thin layer of skin as well," stated Seven. Seven glanced once again at B'Elanna, experiencing a sense of appreciation of the woman's apparent strength revealed by the musculature of her arms and shoulders. B'Elanna absorbed this information realizing something important, "You can conceal the entire exoskeleton and appear fully human. Why don't you?" "I am not fully human; I am part Borg even though my implants are not anymore. It is part of who I am," said Seven. "Aren't you ashamed of your Borg past," blurted B'Elanna. She then realized what she had said, "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked that. Forget it." Seven knew how hard it was for the half-Klingon woman to apologize, and she knew something of how hard it was for the woman in front of her to accept her dual nature. She had overheard enough comments over the past year and a half for her to know that B'Elanna did not always appreciate her Klingon half. Seven choose to answer, "I am angry that I was used to assimilate and kill others. I feel remorse for the things I was made to do. But my Borg enhancements allow me to be stronger than anyone aboard this vessel, they allow me to operate for far longer than anyone else, and my cortical node allows me access to the knowledge of thousands of species. It would be hypocritical for me to be ashamed of being Borg when I enjoy so many advantages from it." B'Elanna listened to Seven and was silent for a moment after she had finished. The holodeck doors opened and two crewmen exited, their Velocity outfits mute testimony as to their previous activity. Seven waited until they had left then said, "Computer activate holoprogram Seven Mulara Temple." Shortly the computer beeped and replied, "Holoprogram activated." Seven nodded to B'Elanna and they walked toward the holodeck doors which opened at their movement. Seven wondered where they would enter the program and smiled slightly when the doors closed and she found herself standing outside the glass door that lead to the room she had stayed in on Mulara. Looking curiously into the room she noted that it was completely bare. "The training area is to the left along this path, the gardens are to the right," Seven said and then proceeded up the left hand path. B'Elanna followed her looking curiously around at the park like area. "This is a recreation of the inner temple where you stayed?" B'Elanna asked curiously. "Yes, we entered outside of the doors which lead to my room; it was not bare though when I stayed here." They passed the path leading off to the bathing pool and Seven paused, "This path leads to the bathing pool and a waterfall that is used for rinsing." B'Elanna peered up the path and hesitated, Seven stopped looking at her curiously. "Do you think we could see if its still there?" B'Elanna asked. Seven nodded and they turned aside to walk single file along the path, it was not long before they reached the bathing pool and waterfall. B'Elanna stared at the large rock lined thermal pool and the small waterfall that fed the stream that meandered through the area. Seven looked at her and said, "I will be training on the holodeck three times a week, if you would like to use the pool at one of those times for bathing you may." B'Elanna looked a bit embarrassed but finally she chuckled, "I think I will take you up on that sometime. This looks relaxing." Seven nodded and asked, "Are you ready to proceed to the training area?" B'Elanna looked at Seven, "You're not being so formally polite, not that I want you to be," B'Elanna said the last in a rush, "just why the change?" "It seemed to bother you and the Captain. I determined that a less formal mode was required in order to not annoy you. It also seemed to cause both of you pain, which was not my intention," explained Seven. B'Elanna regarded her soberly, but just nodded, "Well it sounds more natural. I still wish though that you didn't feel that you have to be polite." Seven almost smiled, "You and the Captain sound alike, she too was not pleased with my reasoning and wished that circumstances were otherwise." B'Elanna nodded then looked ahead as they came around a corner and stared at the large pavilion. Two women stood by the structure, a Mularan woman dressed similarly to Seven and a Klingon woman. A weapons rack beside the structure held four Bat'leths. Seven paused saying, "B'Elanna there is something you should know." "What?" asked B'Elanna curiously. "The holograms may be more than just holograms," stated Seven. She watched to see if B'Elanna understood what she was saying and seeing the other woman whip her head around to look at the holograms, knew that she had. Seven started forward again toward the waiting woman and in a moment B'Elanna followed. "M'ara," Seven respectfully greeted the Klingon woman. "This is B'Elanna Torres, Chief Engineer of Voyager." "I know who B'Elanna Torres is," said M'ara. "Kayaln is sleeping right now, why don't you go and practice your katas with her Seven." Seven looked at her curiously and then asked, "She is here then?" M'ara nodded and Seven started toward the Mularan woman then paused looking back at B'Elanna. "I will evaluate her training," said M'ara. "Go or you won't have time to talk with her." Seven turned at that and went to join the Mularan woman, B'Elanna was surprised to see the two embrace in a quick hug before they walked to the other side of the pavilion. She hadn't been aware that Seven had gotten so close to either of the High Priestesses she had spoken of. B'Elanna had gathered, from the somewhat odd discussion, that in some manner Mulara was enabling Kayaln to actually be here while she was dreaming and that's why Seven had been so eager to talk to her friend while she could. B'Elanna turned her attention toward the Klingon hologram, she wasn't afraid but she was wary. The holograms words had affirmed what Seven had said, this wasn't just a hologram. Obviously Mulara had no intention of letting Seven go unsupervised on Voyager. B'Elanna wasn't certain if she should mention this to the Captain or not, Seven seemed entirely unconcerned about it, perhaps the Captain already knows thought B'Elanna. "Shall we begin," said M'ara and walked over to the weapons display to choose one of the two Bat'leths left. B'Elanna walked over toward her but found herself distracted by Seven. She hesitated for a moment watching Seven perform her Bat'leth katas. There was something different about how she moved with the Bat'leth than from what B'Elanna had seen when Seven had been doing her unarmed katas. B'Elanna was puzzled, Seven still moved gracefully and powerfully. But there was something else, finally B'Elanna realized the difference, Seven had looked calm while doing her unarmed katas. These however, had an element of emotion to them; there was an intensity that had been missing from the unarmed katas. Suddenly it dawned on B'Elanna what she was seeing. Seven had said that she tried to bring what she saw as beautiful into her katas. Seven had said that she saw her passion as beautiful, and B'Elanna was sure that this was what she was seeing in Seven's kata. B'Elanna had decided not to think of what Seven had admitted, but now seeing Seven striving to bring a sense of passion to her Bat'leth katas, B'Elanna had to admit she was flattered that Seven thought her passion was beautiful enough to want to emulate. "She comes closer every day to displaying her own passion, her own people's warrior spirit," said M'ara. B'Elanna jerked, surprised, she had forgotten for a moment that M'ara was there. "Her own people's?" asked B'Elanna. "She is descended of Viking blood from both parents, there is a banked fire under the ice she shows the world. For her to reach the perfection she desires she will have to touch her own fire. For now though she uses your fire as a guide, perhaps it will lead her to her own." M'ara paused and then turned her attention to B'Elanna, "Enough of Seven though, let us see what you know of the Bat'leth." B'Elanna was not particularly surprised when M'ara frowned at her after a few minutes of sparring and had asked if she had ever learned the katas for the weapon. After admitting that she hadn't M'ara had promptly began teaching her the first kata. B'Elanna was embarrassed, she was the half-Klingon, and the Borg knew more about how to handle the Bat'leth than she did. Seven had completed her katas, but she was still dissatisfied with them. She knew there was something missing, they felt incomplete. Kayaln gave her a one armed hug and said, "You are getting closer, that was much better than your last time. You need to use B'Elanna's passion as a guide to find your own passion, instead of trying to find her passion in yourself." Seven sighed, uncertain that she had a passion as intense as B'Elanna's inside herself. Seven glanced at her hand and noticed that her exoskeleton was now red; she had initiated the change when she realized that B'Elanna had not known that her exoskeleton could change color. Seven looked at it puzzled, the color seemed to be deeper and darker than she remembered from before, checking the current color against her memory of the old she realized that it had changed, curious. Seven and Kayaln wandered back over to where M'ara and B'Elanna were still training. M'ara had stopped the kata training due to B'Elanna's growing frustration and the two were now sparring, working out some of B'Elanna's anger. M'ara called a halt to the sparring when the two approached, B'Elanna was feeling much better her anger had worked itself out and she was feeling energized from the fighting. Suddenly a new scent entered the immediate area, salty-sweet with a tang of metal. B'Elanna took in a deep breath intrigued with the scent, and feeling the sharp stirrings of desire. She shook her head to clear it and looked for the source of the scent. M'ara chuckled and said, "I see that your exoskeleton is fully completed now Seven. I can scent the traces of your blood in the red coloration. Last time you tried the red it was not the proper color, now it is." Seven raised her hand to her nose and sniffed bemused, "You are correct, the scent is very faint but it is present. I had not realized the Klingon sense of smell was that well developed, I can barely scent the blood traces." "That is because it is your own," explained M'ara with an amused look at B'Elanna. B'Elanna stared at Seven and the now deep blood red design around her eye stunned. Seven was the source of the scent, B'Elanna was suddenly overwhelmed with the desire to know what it would feel like to conquer the Borg, to lay claim to such a strong and intelligent mate. Her Klingon half said vay' DaneHbogh yIchargh. B'Elanna fought off the desire, Seven was an innocent, and she was with Tom Paris. It was wrong of her to feel this way, looking into Seven's eyes she knew that Seven had no idea what the smell of her blood was doing to the half-Klingon. There was only concern there and B'Elanna fought hard to quell the desire to growl her desire to the woman. B'Elanna knew that she had to come up with a reason to get away from the other woman. She couldn't tell Seven that the scent of her blood was bothering her it would only take Seven a short period of time to figure out exactly what that was likely to mean. She needed another excuse, luckily the computer announcing the five minute warning of the end of their holodeck time gave her the perfect one. "Well I'm going to head to my quarters for a quick shower, thanks for the invite Seven. We will have to do this again soon," said B'Elanna. Seven replied, "There are two teachers, you are welcome to join me any time B'Elanna. I will be running this program Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday between 1800 and 1900 hours." Seven realizing their time was almost up turned and thanked M'ara for her time and with a smile told Kayaln that she hoped she would see her again soon. The two holograms nodded and then disappeared as the holodeck returned to it's natural state. "I'll have to get used to that," muttered B'Elanna belatedly realizing that she had been rude. Seven looked at her curiously and B'Elanna elaborated, "I didn't thank her for her teaching, I'm just not used to needing to thank a holodeck program." The two of them exited the holodeck and greeted the two Ensigns who were impatiently waiting their turn. "Do you switch up training unarmed and Bat'leth?" asked B'Elanna curiously. "Yes," replied Seven as they continued along the corridor to the turbolift. "Deck 9," said Seven. After the two had agreed to meet again on Thursday night they separated and went to their respective quarters. B'Elanna leaned against the wall when she reached the safety of her quarters and took a deep breath of air. She desperately hoped that Seven had not been able to pick up the scent of her arousal, she really didn't feel up to the questions it would generate and she was quite sure Seven would bluntly ask her why she had been aroused. B'Elanna wondered how Seven would react if she knew, with the past between them, would she reject B'Elanna? Or did the fact that Seven found B'Elanna's passion beautiful mean that Seven would welcome B'Elanna's desire for her? B'Elanna knew she would not try to find out, she would not dishonor herself by betraying Tom. B'Elanna sighed and went to take a shower; with any luck Seven would not use that particular color of exoskeleton around her again. Maybe she would mention to Seven that she had thought that the woman had been hurt, no… she couldn't do that, it would be lying, she had never thought the faint smell had been from a wound. She would just have to control herself. B'Elanna hit the shower wall in anger, why couldn't she have had this reaction to Tom and why have this reaction to the Borg now? NewMessage: ath: newsspool2.news.atl.earthlink.net!stamper.news.atl.earthlink.net!elnk-atl-nf1!newsfeed.earthlink.net!feed1.news.rcn.net!rcn!news.maxwell.syr.edu!postnews1.google.com!not-for-mail From: cobaltwolf2002@yahoo.com (Kudara) Newsgroups: alt.startrek.creative Subject: NEW: VOY I am Borg - Part 2 - Chapter 3 (3/10) PG-13 (7/T) Date: 8 Oct 2004 17:01:54 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Lines: 611 Message-ID: <3f3213d8.0410081601.5c708328@posting.google.com> NNTP-Posting-Host: 68.13.213.47 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit X-Trace: posting.google.com 1097280115 21244 127.0.0.1 (9 Oct 2004 00:01:55 GMT) X-Complaints-To: groups-abuse@google.com NNTP-Posting-Date: Sat, 9 Oct 2004 00:01:55 +0000 (UTC) Xref: news.earthlink.net alt.startrek.creative:161010 X-Received-Date: Fri, 08 Oct 2004 17:01:58 PDT (newsspool2.news.atl.earthlink.net) Title: I am Borg - Part 2 Chapter 3 Author: Kudara Contact: cobaltwolf2002@yahoo.com Series: VOY Part: NEW 3/10 Rating: PG-13 Codes: 7/T, J, crew Summary: Paris gets no sympathy from B'Elanna. Seven reads human Disclaimer: Star Trek Voyager and all who sail in her belong to Paramount/Viacom and no infringement of copyright/trade marks is intended. Feedback: Always welcome, feedback is what encourages me to keep writing. Please let me know what you like and what you dislike about the story. ****************************************************** B'Elanna had just dressed after her shower and eaten a replicated dinner when the door chime rang, it was Tom. B'Elanna was still feeling guilty over her reaction to Seven so she gave him a warmer greeting than she normally would, however he seemed to be distracted and didn't respond very enthusiastically to her kiss. Concerned she asked, "What's wrong Tom?" "I know you don't want me to talk about Seven but I can't believe she went and told the Captain about that silly bet that I made with the Doctor. It's not like it was that big a deal. She overreacted to the whole thing," said Tom with a definite whine in his voice. B'Elanna said in confusion, "What bet?" Tom sat down on the couch and explained about the day that Seven had told them she had been observing their relationship. Tom had walked into Sardines that evening and the Doctor had taken it over for one of Seven's social lessons. "I was hard pressed not to laugh at the both of them, she was doing so badly. So I explained to the Doc that it was one thing for him to set up a controlled environment for her and another thing for her to be able to manage in the real world. We made it a bet, one month of freedom from the Sickbay if I won," explained Tom. "The date with Chapman," said B'Elanna remembering how she had reacted after Harry had sadly confided to her that he had not made Seven's list. She had been angry that Seven was so blind to how she had hurt Harry. She had just added it to the list of things that the arrogant, rude drone had done wrong. Now she wondered why Seven had thought that was the correct way to go about choosing a date. Then remembering who had been giving Seven lessons in humanity, she groaned to herself that had the Doctor written all over it. No telling what he had told Seven. "No actually I wasn't there for that, though it ended more disastrously than even I had anticipated, poor Chapman. No the date was supposed to be for the Kadi Ambassadors dinner. I guess the Doc took his opportunity and asked her himself. Personally I thought it was cheating, but the evening was going pretty well until I mentioned the bet," said Tom. "Oh," said B'Elanna keeping her temper under tight reins, she knew how angry Tom had been that day, and didn't put it past him to do something mean to get even. "Yea, when Seven heard we had made a bet about the date she got rather upset and walked out, threatened to rip off the Kadi Ambassador's arm when he stopped her in the doorway too. It was quite the scene, I hadn't realized that the Doctor had feelings for Seven until then," finished Tom. "So you humiliated her publicly," said B'Elanna. "Revenge for her doing that study on us?" "I didn't realize she would get so emotional," Tom tried to defend himself, "And she shouldn't have said that about everyone hearing us, she said that publicly." "That was my fault Tom, I knew as soon as I asked that I had done something stupid. Seven always answers me with the truth, if I hadn't wanted her to say it I shouldn't have asked. Why do you think I let you lead me away, I had already recognized I should have never asked if I didn't want to hear the answer," said B'Elanna. "She never intended to hurt either of us with that study Tom. Yet you deliberately set up a situation where you really could hurt her," B'Elanna said to Tom bluntly. "So what did the Captain say to you?" Tom was still smarting over the last comment; none of this was going like he wanted. B'Elanna was supposed to see his side of the situation, not still be defending Seven. Sulkily he said, "She gave me a direct order not to make bets about anyone's personal life anymore and to make no bets about Seven at all." "I would follow that suggestion Tom, and by the way don't even think about retaliating against Seven. Because I'm with the Captain on this one Tom, that was uncalled for, and if I hear of you planning anything I'll go right to Janeway. Now get out, I'm so angry right now I want to hit something and if you don't want it to be you I'd leave," growled B'Elanna. Tom looked at her stunned at her response, not only was she taking Seven's side but she was letting him know that she would take action to protect Seven from him. Seeing her obvious anger he decided that retreat was definitely the wise thing to do and hurriedly left. B'Elanna sat down on the couch after Tom left, she knew the only reason she hadn't told him it was over was because the betting incident had happened a week before Seven died. It would not be fair for her to end the relationship over something that had occurred when she was still treating Seven dishonorably. However if he pulled something like that again then the relationship was over. She had been furious when he had left but now that all seemed to be gone, now she only felt saddened that Seven's two attempts at romance had both went so disastrously. ***************************************************** Seven spent the remainder of the evening reading various studies on human sexual behavior. Much of it was confusing to her, it seemed as thought there were no definite ways of efficiently choosing a mate, she corrected herself, partner. She had been surprised to learn that she perhaps should not have left out the female crew members, apparently though it was comparatively rare a significant percentage of humans preferred to choose partners that were of the same sex. To further complicate matters; apparently one had to figure out whether or not you were interested in males or females essentially by empirical observation of your own reactions. There was no scientific test that would quickly and decisively answer the question for you. No wonder Kathryn had told her that the method she had chosen would not work, thought Seven. There were multiple methods for suitably choosing potential partner. Most of the methods stressed that the person should be a friend first, only then should a mutual attraction be acted upon. Some of the studies suggested that the approach she had taken might help to weed out obvious mismatches, but other papers gave case studies where successful couples had not had many common interests to begin with but had developed common interests after they started dating. Also not all relationships progressed linearly to a long term monogamous relationships as the Doctor had insinuated. That might be the ideal relationship but the studies made it obvious that humans expected to have several sexual partners over the course of their lifetime. Only settling down with one preferred partner when they found someone they felt they wanted to spend the rest of their life with. Interestingly enough it was a book written for non-human species dating of humans that was of the most help to her, all the books written by humans made certain assumptions about the knowledge level of their reader. The book written to help aliens understand human sexual practices made no such assumptions and went into detail about almost every aspect of human sexual behavior, cultural expectations, polite behavior as it pertained to mentioning sexual topics, and even a linguistics section. It was in the linguistics section that Seven learned that humans usually used the term copulate when referring to intercourse between animals and rarely in scientific papers. The Borg referred to all sexual acts as copulation so Seven had naturally used the term, now she knew why she had gotten generally negative reactions whenever she used it. Seven wondered why the Doctor had not corrected her earlier. Others had tried to correct her usage but had not explained why the term copulate was unacceptable, she had thought they were merely adding euphemisms which were inefficient and so she had ignored them. However, this book made it clear that the different terms, though all referring to the same act, differed in their usage depending on the level of emotional commitment. Seven quickly found out that she should have been using the term intercourse instead of copulate. Having sex was intercourse with minimal emotional connotations, whereas making love implied that the two people involved cared for one another, though it did not necessarily imply they were in love. After reading the book Seven understood why her study of Tom Paris and B'Elanna had angered the two of them so. Even though she technically had not invaded their privacy she had studied them without their permission which was an implied invasion of their privacy. Further she had not informed them that their assumption of privacy in B'Elanna's quarters was compromised by inadequate soundproofing. Seven was uncertain how she was supposed to have responded to B'Elanna's question about how she knew when they were having intimate relations, but apparently her answer in the mess hall had been inappropriate. Perhaps she should have insisted that she answer the question in a less public place, Seven mused glancing at the field notes which indicated that all discussions involving a sexual topic were generally discussed privately among humans. It was getting very late and Seven realized she needed to go to sleep; she would have to think of a way to apologize to B'Elanna, hopefully one that would not make the engineer angry with her again. Seven undressed and slipped into her bed, as tired as she was it was not long before she slipped into slumber. **************************************************************** She stood on a rocky hilltop looking out over a dirt track that wound through the valley below her, the cold wind chilled the metal of her chain mail and helm, and she held her Bat'leth under her right arm. Seven was aware that she must be dreaming, but where was this place? Why was she here? A sound attracted her attention back to the dirt track, a small group of women and children appeared walking along it. They looked behind them frequently with anxious and fearful faces. Seven could tell they appeared to all be humans; they also appeared to be of the same racial group. Without exception all of them were pale, and had various shades of blond hair, rather like her own coloring she realized. Their dress was primitive, layered wool garments covered by fur cloaks. A few of the older women held spears appearing to be guarding the rear of the group from something. They had not yet looked upward so they did not see her and she quietly watched the group as they drew near a point directly below her. Looking at them more closely she realized several of the older boys and women were injured with coarse bandaging wrapped around the wounds on arms and legs. There were seven women, four boys, three girls, and two infants being carried by their mothers, Seven noted. Seven thought the most likely cause given the groups general attitude was that they had been recently attacked and expected their attackers to be following them. As they passed by her position one of the women finally looked up and spotted her and called out in surprise. With astonishment Seven recognized the speech; it was Old Norse a language she knew only because the Collective had acquired it from her father. The woman had cried out, "Ware, enemy on the hill above us!" Seven watched, careful to make no aggressive moves as they paused and looked uncertainly at her. Comments of ‘who is he', ‘is he one of Chieftain Hakan's men', and ‘what type of weapon is that' drifted up to her. Seven realized that between the thigh length chain mail with its undercoat of leather and her helm they could not tell she was a woman. "I mean you no harm," Seven finally called down to them to reassure them. The group fell silent as they realized that the person on the hill was no man. Suddenly a band of 10 men carrying spears in their hands, shields across their backs and swords at their sides came jogging into the valley. The group below Seven promptly ignored her and focused their attention on the men who had just come into view. Seven could tell from their frightened looks that these were the people they had been fleeing. Seven looked from the group of women, children and infants to the group of men approaching and without thinking began to move down the hill. She could hear the men approaching muttering in Norwegian to each other. Their muttered comments made it clear that they planned on making the women and children into slaves. A comment of ‘what about the babes' was met with a short ‘kill them they are of no use to us.' Seven's jaw tightened and she could feel her anger begin to rise, she decided not to control it with her nanoprobes yet though. This anger felt right, and as she heard comments from the oncoming men of what they planned to do with the women she made the decision that she would not permit any of what they were speaking about take place. The men had not really noticed Seven moving to put herself between them and their prey but the group of women had noticed her moving to protect them. Incredulous comments of ‘what can she hope to do alone' and ‘who is she' sounded clearly to her ears. She was not surprised when some of the women decided that if she wanted to delay the men they would take the opportunity she was giving them to escape. Others were arguing that they should help her. Seven turned and faced them for a moment and ordered, "Keep moving, I will stop them." The men had finally noticed her and they slowed somewhat trying to evaluate what the stranger was doing. Seven heard the women and children move away from her obeying her instruction. The band of men stopped about fifty feet away from her and their leader stepped forward and said, "Step out of our way stranger, this does not concern you. Chieftain Hakan is now the lord of these lands, and these women are now our slaves." Seven had already instructed her cortical node to activate her enhanced systems. Seven considered his words and replied, "By what right do you call them slaves." The man straightened and grinned derisively, "A shield maiden hopes to stand against all of us?" He laughed and his men laughed with him, "As soon as we kill you and catch up to them they will be our slaves." Seven calmly replied, "Then they are not slaves, and I will not let you capture them." Seven paused and then said, "There is no honor in attacking the weak. Let them go and leave, we do not have to fight unless you force me to." The man stared at her then drew back his arm and threw his spear. Seven did not bother with her Bat'leth, she easily stepped to the right and knocked the spear aside with her left arm. Seeing how easily she dealt with the thrown spear the other men hesitated a moment, but when their leader yelled for them to kill her, they also threw the spears they were holding. Seven wasn't entirely sure how to defend herself against multiple spears but watching their flight she realized that if she ran forward and engaged them she would avoid most of their spears and possibly surprise several of them. The tactic worked better than she expected, she only had to deflect two spears as she closed with the lead man. He barely had time to draw his sword before Seven attacked him, managing to block her first blow he was caught by surprise when she shifted her weight to her left foot and continued driving forward. Seven forced his blade to slide past her on the edge or joj of the Bat'leth and impaled him on the tiq. Seven continued moving and spun on her left foot, pulling her Bat'leth from the body and twisted around to meet her next attacker. She blocked his blade and then performed a glissade exactly as taught in her katas. Knocking the blade aside to the left she lunged forward and drove the tiq into the man's unprotected neck. Not letting her forward momentum stop, Seven moved around the dead man's left side and pulled her Bat'leth free of his neck. Seven's attack shifted her from in front of the group around to its left side and the men were struggling to reposition themselves so they could effectively attack her. Seven felt her lips curl back from her teeth, her anger no less intense because of the deaths of two of her attackers. She considered whether or not to activate her nanoprobes but then decided against it as her anger did not seem to be clouding her judgment. Distantly she wondered if this was what B'Elanna felt when she fought, did her anger sing through her blood, as Seven's did now? Seven struck the next man, forcefully pushing his sword to the right and leaving his left side unprotected to her attack, lunging forward she thrust the tiq into the man's chest. She did not have time to pull the weapon out when the next man attacked; Seven lifted the Bat'leth's free side upward and caught the descending sword on the Bat'leth's right chevwl, the curved area between the tiq and van. Using her strength she shoved against the man's sword and freed the other end of the Bat'leth. Seven trapped the sword blade between the right tiq and van and pulled the man to her right and downward as she stepped to his left. Continuing the Bat'leth's motion Seven brought the left side of the Bat'leth slamming down into the man's relatively unprotected back. The remaining six men were looking at her in shock; she had dispatched four of their group in less than thirty seconds with the strange weapon which seemed not to be slowed by their armor. They had dismissed her as a woman, yet she moved quicker and more powerfully than they. The men now approached her with more caution and two of them attacked at the same time. Seven stepped forward into the attack and caught the two blades on her Bat'leth, and then she shifted her weight to her left leg and snapped her right leg forward in a kick that broke the right most man's kneecap causing him to fall to the ground. One of the men had been smart enough to grab up one of the spears while the others had been fighting. When the man in front of him fell down screaming and clutching his knee he took the opportunity to thrust with his spear at the shield maiden. Seven saw the spear too late and bit back a cry of pain when it went through both mail and padding and into her side, desperately the man leaned over his companion before Seven could pull back and Seven felt the spear slide deeper into her until it just exited her back. Seven knew that the fibers surrounding her lung would constrict around the wound preventing further damage to her lungs. The same would occur with her muscles and skin, so she ignored the spear for the moment but knew she would have to deal with the length of the shaft soon. Seven stepped aggressively to the right and with a single left handed hold brought the joj of the Bat'leth across the back of the man who had thrust the spear into her with a slashing move that cut through his leather armor and sliced him nearly in half. Seven then continued moving away from the group and grabbed the spear shaft with her right hand and, being careful to not cause fresh damage, withdrew the spear from her torso. Flipping it she quickly drew back and threw it at one of the men who was closing on her, successfully skewering him through the chest. Seven continued to ignore the wound, counting on the fibers in her lungs and nanoprobes to repair the damage. The three remaining standing men charged her, desperately hoping that they could overwhelm the injured woman. Seven shifted the Bat'leth to her right hand and stepped widely to her left, allowing the mail and exoskeleton covering her left arm to deflect the sword of the leftmost attacker. Spinning around behind him she brought the Bat'leth around one handed in a graceful sweeping move that ended with it buried in the backs of two of her attackers. Seven finished the move by moving back and to the front of the left most man and freeing her Bat'leth by drawing the blade free in a slicing motion that increased the damage it had done. The remaining man backed away from her, turned around and started running back the way he had came. Seven looked around in surprise at the carnage she had wrought; the man with the broken kneecap was still alive. He was covered in the blood of the man she had killed who had speared her and he looked at her terrified as he lay on his side cradling his swelling knee. Suddenly Seven felt slightly sick as she looked around at the blood and smelt the odor of the dead men. She knew intellectually that the dead lost control of their bodily functions but smelling it was another matter. Seven quickly sent a command to her cortical node to deaden her sense of smell and another one to her nanoprobes to cleanse out the remaining hormones in her system. Seven left the injured man and glanced down the road where the women and children had retreated. She was surprised to see that they had stopped and were standing about 150 feet away from her. The awe and fear on their faces disturbed her and her and she glanced down at her gore covered Bat'leth. Seven considered how to clean the weapon and her eye fell on the cloak of one of the dead men. Seven stepped over to the body and tugged the cloak off the body and slowly walked toward the group as she began cleaning her blade. When she got closer to them she stopped and repeated what she had said earlier, "I mean you no harm." The woman at the front of the group who Seven took to be the leader said, "We thank you for your defense of us shield maiden, you are marvelously skilled with the strange blade you wield. I saw you were grievously injured, yet you walk as if you were not." Seven replied, "I was injured but the wound was not severe, I will recover from it shortly." The woman eyed her oddly but did not say anything further about her wound though she could see the slice in the chain mail where the spear had been thrust through it. "We are headed to seek refuge with my cousin the Earl Eric Haroldson. It is but an hour's journey if you are able to walk it shield maiden, if you are hurt we can arrange a litter for you. I am certain my cousin will want to meet such a skilled warrior as yourself." The woman hesitated and then asked, "May we know your name shield maiden?" Seven looked at her considering and then said, "I am called Annika." I am "Altea," the woman introduced herself. Seven finished cleaning her Bat'leth and the group continued up the road with Seven and some of the other women keeping a close eye on the road behind them incase Hakan's men decided to attack again. By the time they arrived at the village Seven was satisfied that she was mostly healed, a slight soreness remained but the wound had closed over and she felt no pain when she breathed deeply. Seven looked in wonder around her at the people and buildings of the village. Though Seven stood taller than many of the women, most of the men were her height or taller. They had eyes of varying shades, but all were blond and pale skinned. The buildings were all sturdily constructed of thatched steeply pitched roofs and wood and stone walls. Seven noted the lack of doors, the door openings were covered with a wool blanket or fur skin. They were working their way toward a long low building that stood in the middle of the village, their progress frequently halted as people hailed them and excited conversations were carried on about attack on the other village by Chieftain Hakan and how the shield maiden with them had saved them. Finally they arrived at the hall and paused, and Altea who had been leading them stepped beside Seven and whispered, "Why do you not remove your helm shield maiden?" Seven looked at her curiously, "Should I have removed it earlier? I know your language but not your customs. I apologize if I have offended." Altea looked at her and said, "You speak our language perfectly, I thought you were from one of the villages further north. How can you not know it is the custom to remove your helm so that all can see your face?" Seven replied, "I know the language from my father but I have never been to these lands before now." Seven removed her helm and was not surprised at the woman's gasp of astonishment as the exoskeleton around her eye was revealed; she pushed back the chain and leather cowl from her head as well and shook loose her hair. Raising her ocular exoskeleton at Altea she waited to see what the woman would say. Altea quickly got over the shock of seeing what appeared to be silver jewelry embedded into the skin of the shield maiden and noticed her awkwardly juggling her helm and strange weapon. "May I take your helm?" Altea asked politely. Seven replied, "Thank you" and handed her the helm. Seven didn't know how to take the fact that the woman seemed to have accepted her exoskeleton so quickly. Perhaps she assumed it was some type of jewelry, Seven thought. Now that Annika had removed her helm the villagers stared at her curiously, several of them had heard the low voiced conversation and speculation started up about the stranger who spoke their language but did not know their customs. Altea lead the way into the hall and Seven looked around curiously. The walls of the building were rough smoothed boards covered with animal skins and decorative shields. Benches and tables were placed against the wall and a row of open hearths ran along the center of the building. Several people were seated inside the building, either talking in groups or working on various tasks. Altea lead her to the other end of the building where she smiled at a tall older man with white streaked hair and beard. "Altea!" roared the man and he embraced her, "I had thought the entire village lost, a rider from another village told us that Chieftain Hakan had everyone slain or taken into slavery." Altea freed herself and said, "Eric Haroldson this is Annika the shield maiden who defeated ten of Chieftain Hakan's men. If it were not for her we would have been captured." Eric turned toward the shield maiden and looked at her, she was tall and slender, and the strange ornament around her eye only added to her beauty. She returned his gaze calmly as if her feat was no deed of note to her. He took note also of the strange weapon she carried; it was a thing of beauty and the surface of the metal had the look of rippled water. Altea continued, "Though she knows our language from her father she is not from this area and is unfamiliar with our customs, Eric." Eric nodded, "We shall have to teach you our customs then. Tonight there will be a great feast for my warriors, I would like for you to join us Annika and tell us your tale. Tomorrow we go to fight Chieftain Hakan; he kills my people and takes my village. He will learn of the folly of angering me. Perhaps you would join us in the battle tomorrow shield maiden?" Seven tilted her head and considered, "I do not know how long I will be allowed to stay, if I am still here tomorrow I will join you." Seven was amazed at how detailed the dream was, she recognized the general time period. She appeared to be dreaming of ninth century Norway, which made these people Vikings. Though why she would be dreaming of Vikings she had no idea, perhaps this was more of Mulara's training. Eric looked at her curiously, "Who would cause you to leave?" Seven replied, "You would term her a goddess. I believe I am here to learn a lesson. When she feels the lesson is learned I believe she will return me to where I came from." Eric stepped back and said, "Are you a Valkyrie?" Suddenly fearful that seeing the woman meant his death tomorrow. "Valkyrie," said Seven searching her memory, "A handmaiden of Odin whose task was to bring worthy warriors slain on the battlefield to Valhalla the Viking afterlife. No I am not a Valkyrie." Seven remembered that the Vikings believed that seeing a Valkyrie meant that one would die the next time they were in battle and added, "You do not have to fear that seeing me is a warning that you will die tomorrow Eric Haroldson." "You sound as though you have an interesting tale to tell us shield maiden, I look forward to hearing it tonight. But you probably want to clean your armor and wash yourself before this evenings feast," said Eric turning and motioning to a younger woman behind him. "This is my daughter Jorunn; she will show you to your room and assist you." Altea added, "She should have her wound tended as well. She was pierced by a spear; you can see where her armor was broken by it." Eric looked at the woman in surprise, noting now the jagged tear in the chain mail underneath her breast. He looked at her again, the wound should have been disabling if not a mortal one, yet she stood relaxed with no sign of injury. Who was this woman who casually spoke of a goddess sending her here to learn some lesson? Seven smiled slightly at Altea, "I have already healed, though I thank you for your concern." Jorunn had come up to them and Seven looked at the younger woman, she was slightly shorter than she and had a delicate heart shaped face and emerald green eyes. As with all the Vikings Seven had met she had blond hair. Seven noted that Jorunn was staring rather intently at the exoskeleton around her eye, which made Seven slightly uncomfortable until the young woman noticed it and gave her a warm smile saying, "It is beautiful, I'm sorry I shouldn't stare." Seven nodded and then when Jorunn reached out for her hand allowed her to take it. Seven paused and asked Altea, "You will be at the feast as well?" Altea looked toward Eric who nodded, understanding that Annika wanted a familiar face present at the feast. "I will be happy to sit with you Annika," said Altea who then directed a warning look at Jorunn saying, "I will stop by later and see how you are doing as well." Jorunn just smirked at Altea and tugged on Seven's hand and Seven let her pull her out of the feast hall and into one of the smaller buildings nearby. Seven wondered at the interaction between the two women, they did not appear to be friends, and Altea appeared to have reservations about Seven being sent off with Jorunn. Yet Seven could detect no sign of hostility from Jorunn toward her at all. The young woman appeared to be fascinated by her exoskeleton and seemed to be very friendly. NewMessage: ath: newsspool2.news.atl.earthlink.net!stamper.news.atl.earthlink.net!elnk-atl-nf1!newsfeed.earthlink.net!prodigy.com!news.glorb.com!postnews1.google.com!not-for-mail From: cobaltwolf2002@yahoo.com (Kudara) Newsgroups: alt.startrek.creative Subject: NEW: VOY I am Borg - Part 2 - Chapter 4 (4/10) PG-13 (7/f) Date: 8 Oct 2004 17:05:19 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Lines: 762 Message-ID: <3f3213d8.0410081605.3ffdadb3@posting.google.com> NNTP-Posting-Host: 68.13.213.47 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit X-Trace: posting.google.com 1097280320 21422 127.0.0.1 (9 Oct 2004 00:05:20 GMT) X-Complaints-To: groups-abuse@google.com NNTP-Posting-Date: Sat, 9 Oct 2004 00:05:20 +0000 (UTC) Xref: news.earthlink.net alt.startrek.creative:161011 X-Received-Date: Fri, 08 Oct 2004 17:05:23 PDT (newsspool2.news.atl.earthlink.net) Title: I am Borg - Part 2 Chapter 4 Author: Kudara Contact: cobaltwolf2002@yahoo.com Series: VOY Part: NEW 4/10 Rating: PG-13 Codes: 7/f, f Summary: Seven dreams Disclaimer: Star Trek Voyager and all who sail in her belong to Paramount/Viacom and no infringement of copyright/trade marks is intended. Feedback: Always welcome, feedback is what encourages me to keep writing. Please let me know what you like and what you dislike about the story. ******************************************************* The building Jorunn pulled Seven into appeared to be living quarters, a small cot was against one wall and there was a hearth at the end of the building. A gently steaming pot of water hung over the hearth. A short round barrel partially filled with water before the hearth had Seven resolving that any bathing occurring would be brief and quick. Jorunn turned to Seven, "Let me help you take off your armor shield maiden, and see if your wound is truly healed." Seven gave in to Jorunn's insistence and pulled her gloves off her hands and allowed Jorunn to unbind the chain sleeves from the coat. Jorunn paused when she was done, noticing for the first time that the strange metal around Seven's eye was also on her hands. Exclaiming Jorunn gently lifted Seven's left hand in her own and ran her fingers over the metallic strips. Seven was surprised at first, no one had touched her exoskeleton but the Doctor when he was examining her and then only briefly. Seven wasn't entirely sure she was comfortable with the situation but, seeing the rapt look on Jorunn's face, decided not to pull her hand back. Undoubtedly Naomi would be the same way, thought Seven. "Does it hurt?" asked Jorunn. Seeing the puzzled look on Seven's face Jorunn elaborated, "The metal in your skin, does it hurt you?" Seven replied, "No it does not hurt me, it is part of my body." Seven was wearing her set of blue Mularan clothing under the chain mail and Jorunn examined the wrapping around her wrist, calling it clever when she realized it was one piece instead of the banding it looked like. Jorunn paused after she figured out the wrist wrappings and said, "Lets get the chain mail off, if you bend over I will pull it over your head." Obediently Seven did as she had suggested and shortly the heavy chain mail was removed and carefully laid across a table. Jorunn turned and looked with concern at the slightly blood stained hole in Seven's blouse. "You were injured; please take off your tunic, your wound should be looked at if only to make sure it healed properly." Reluctantly Seven undid the other wrist wrap and waistband and pulled the top over her head, leaving her upper body covered only by her bra. Jorunn looked curiously at the garment and asked Seven what it was, upon hearing the answer she told Seven that they used strips of cloth to bind their breasts. Jorunn had been gently examining the red mark that was all that was left of the wound. "It does look well healed; I don't understand, this wound should have injured your lung. You should be seriously injured or even dead from it," said Jorunn. Seven replied, "I heal quickly, it is a…gift from the goddess I spoke of." Seven had been trying not to pay attention to the young woman's hands as she examined the wound. But when they started tracing the lines of the exoskeleton on her stomach Seven looked at Jorunn curiously. "You can feel that?" said Jorunn surprised. "Yes they are as sensitive as my skin," answered Seven. The feel of Jorunn's fingers trailing gently over the exoskeleton of her stomach was not at all unpleasant but it was making Seven slightly tense. Seven relaxed when Jorunn moved around to her back and examined the red mark where the exit wound had been. "These are beautiful," said Jorunn her breath ghosting over Sevens back where she was leaning close to her shoulder. An odd shiver at the sensation ran though Seven's body and she slowly became aware that the gentle trailing touch was definitely pleasant. Seven catalogued her body's responses, slightly increase breathing rate, increased body temperature, slight dilation of the eyes. She also detected the same changes in Jorunn. Suddenly Seven realized why they seemed so familiar, she had detected these changes in others but never in herself, she was becoming aroused by Jorunn's touch. And judging from what she could tell of Jorunn's physiological changes she was as well. What Seven was completely unsure of was what if anything did she wanted to do about the situation she found herself in. This was the empirical evidence she needed to decide whether she was attracted to women, it appeared that she was. Seven decided to simply let her dream take her where it would; perhaps this was what she was supposed to learn. Seven felt the press of soft breasts against her back just before Jorunn's touch shifted and she moved her hands upward along Seven's shoulder blades to her shoulders then down along her arms. Seven's strength training along with the additional bulk of the muscle fibers had changed the appearance of her upper body. She had looked thin and muscular before, the thin part of that description no longer applied. She did not look overly developed, but the strength in her upper body was apparent in the development of her shoulders and arms. "You are very strong shield maiden," said Jorunn next to Seven's ear. The feel of Jorunn lightly pressed up against her back and the warm breath upon her ear sent tingles of nerve reactions along Seven's spine. Bemusedly Seven suspected that this was what humans termed seduction. Deliberate actions designed to arouse another to persuade them to have…Seven considered the term that would be correct and decided upon sex since she did not know Jorunn well enough to have strong feelings for her. At that moment Altea called out from the other side of the door and Jorunn stepped away from her just before Altea entered the building. Seeing that Seven was standing half clothed Altea hastily closed the door covering behind her and gave Jorunn a suspicious look. Seven realized that Altea had suspected that Jorunn would be attracted to her and that was the reason for Altea's slight hostility. "Her wounds look nearly healed," said Jorunn, "only faint marks remain where the spear wounded her. Her tunic needs to be washed and mended; I will take care of it while Annika bathes and bring her one of mine to wear while it dries." Jorunn gathered up Seven's shirt as she said this and turning to her said, "I will be back in a few minutes with a shirt for you." Jorunn passed by Altea with barely a look as the exited the building. Altea politely looked away from Seven and said, "I had not realized your jewelry covered more than the area around your eye." "It is not jewelry, it is…" Seven considered what to call her exoskeleton, "part of my skeleton, it protects me from injury." Altea glanced at her surprised and exclaimed, "That's how you were able to block the spears and the sword at the end of the fight without being damaged. I thought the sword blow would surely have broken your arm but you were not wounded. It was only because the spear was thrust in between your armor that it damaged you." "That is correct," said Seven. Altea asked, "Are you protected inside as well, is that how you healed so quickly?" Seven nodded and they both glanced at the door as Jorunn entered with a white tunic and walked over and handed it to Seven along with some strips of absorbent cloth which she told her were for drying herself after her bath. The two of them left together, giving Seven some privacy for her bathing. Altea took Seven's Bat'leth promising that she would return it later after she had cleaned the leather hand guards and cleaned the blade with oil. Seven undressed and shook the dust and dirt from her pants and boots. A few passes of her hand over the worse of the stains and they were gone. She suspected no one knew that one aspect of the specialized fabric was its ability to interact with her exoskeleton for cleaning and mending. She could have cleaned and mended her blouse but it would not hurt it to be washed and mended by hand. Finally Seven poured the heated water into the barrel and quickly washed herself using the soft soap provided. Seven tested the composition of the soap before using it and decided that it was safe to use. Seven suspected that it was produced by boiling animal fat with potash. Seven decided to wash her undergarments as well since they were slightly sweaty; it was not difficult to dry them afterwards between using her exoskeleton to wick the moisture from them and the heat of the fire. Voices outside had her replying that she was not finished and Seven hurried to redress before letting the two women know they could enter the building. Jorunn had her tunic repaired though it was still damp from its washing, she also had a cleverly designed comb for Seven to use. Seven examined the comb curiously, each tooth was made separately from iron, and the top of each tooth was flattened into a disk. The disks were then slotted in between two iron plates that were then riveted securely together. Seven suspected the plates were lightly incised on the inside to prevent the disk from twisting. Seven realized the two women were grinning at her over her examination of the comb and blushed. "It is well made," Seven commented to them before using the comb to unsnarl her hair. Jorunn offered, "If you would like I can braid your hair and arrange it like ours." Seven nodded and sat down on one of the benches in the room, she had noted how most women's hair was braided into either one or two large braids which were then knotted once and left hanging down the back. Seven thought the style was elegant and simple. "One or two braids?" asked Jorunn holding out her hand for the comb. Seven handed it over to her and said, "One braid please." A cry of "Altea" was heard outside and Altea left the building seeking whoever had called her. Jorunn took the opportunity to step closer to Seven and her hands that had been business like became more gentle, her touch more caressing. Seven was amazed at how aware she was of the slight changes now that she had recognized what was occurring between them. Jorunn began braiding her hair, and Seven wondered whether the occasional light touches down the nape of her neck were intentional or not. Seven had not thought that the nape of her neck was so sensitive to touch; yet it seemed to have become extremely sensitive over the past few minutes. Each delicate touch of Jorunn's fingers increased the level of arousal Seven was experiencing. Seven was busy cataloguing each sensation with one part of her cortical node while the majority of her brain was simply enjoying the sensations as they occurred. She knew she could go over the information later and analyze it. Jorunn finally finished braiding and knotting Seven's hair and then in a move that only slightly surprised Seven, gently reached out and with a gentle pressure turned Seven's head toward her. Seven didn't fight the pressure nor did she draw back when Jorunn slowly brought her face nearer until their lips touched in Seven's first kiss. It was gentle and delicate, a light meeting of lips that became more firm as Jorunn delicately brushed and then applied a light pressure to Seven's lower lip and then her upper. Jorunn drew back and Seven looked at her wonderingly, her lips still tingling from the contact. Jorunn smiled and softly asked, "Have you never been kissed by a woman before? I trust I did not offend you, you did not draw away from my touches earlier." Seven said honestly, "I have never been kissed before. You have not offended me Jorunn." Jorunn looked at Seven astonished, "But, you are older than I how is it that…" she paused and then asked hesitantly, "This goddess who you follow, she requires that you be chaste?" Seven's mouth twitched in a slight smile, "I have not had the opportunity until recently to have such an interaction with anyone. And no, she does not require that I be chaste." "Did you find it pleasing?" asked Jorunn. Seven simply nodded, it had been much more pleasant than she had thought it would be from the descriptions she had read. Jorunn smiled at her, "Perhaps next time you will kiss me back then." Seven flushed slightly realizing that she should have been participating in the kiss instead of remaining motionless. "Don't be embarrassed Annika, I believe I did the same thing when I was kissed for the first time as well," said Jorunn as she gripped Seven's shoulder reassuringly and gave her an understanding smile. Seven smiled back at her, "I will endeavor to do better next time." "That's the first time I've seen you actually smile," commented Jorunn. "You look even more beautiful when you do Annika." Seven flushed and asked, "You think I'm beautiful?" "You are beautiful Annika," said Jorunn. Seven looked at Jorunn and said sincerely, "You are beautiful too Jorunn." Jorunn laughed and said, "Thank you. As much as I would like to continue spending time with you alone, we must go to the banquet. I believe your tunic is dry if you would like to wear it." Seven nodded and retrieved her blouse, noting that the mended hole had disappeared and the garment was undamaged. Jorunn noticed it as well and after Seven finished dressing she walked over and brushed her finger tips over the area she had mended, not so accidentally brushing the underside of Seven's breast as well. Seven stood rooted for a moment astonished at her reaction to the touch, Jorunn grinned at her with a smile that Seven tentatively identified as teasing. "Are you teasing me Jorunn?" asked Seven hesitantly. Jorunn sensed her uncertainty and said, "Yes, I'll stop if it's bothering you though. I don't want to make you uncomfortable." "It did not make me uncomfortable Jorunn, I was just trying to identify your behavior," explained Seven. "You haven't been teased before Seven? Verbally I mean. I guess no one has touched you teasingly before," said Jorunn. "No, no one has touched me like this before. People have told me they were teasing or joking with me before but it was generally not a pleasant experience," said Seven. Jorunn's face tightened for a moment in anger, "If you didn't find it pleasant then they lied to you, they were not teasing you they were taunting you. They just said they were teasing. That's the difference between teasing and taunting, with teasing both people find it pleasant and amusing, and with taunting only one person does." Seven considered this and replied, "An efficient distinction between the two. I have only been teased by a few people then." Jorunn drifted closer to her and asked in a low voice, "Well I would like to tease you some tonight, let me know if it changes from teasing to taunting and I'll stop." Seven was wary of what Jorunn might consider teasing at this point and was thinking of how to reply when Jorunn chuckled and said, "Your face, I don't think you trust me Annika. I promise, I will do my best not to embarrass you, I will be discrete. How's that, now will you let me tease you?" Seven definitely could identify Jorunn's grin as teasing now and she couldn't help but reply with her own smile. "You will stop if I ask?" "I promise," said Jorunn with a solemn look. Seven was uncertain as to why Jorunn wanted to tease her; finally she asked "Why do you want to do this?" Jorunn looked at her seriously and realizing that Annika honestly had no idea why considered how to answer her, "I hope your tale explains how you are so innocent Annika. I want to tease you because I know what I'm doing to you when I touch you. I know how it feels and that pleases me, to know that you are reacting to my touch." Seven wondered about the wisdom of what she was about to do but, remembering this was a dream, she nodded her permission. Before they exited the building for the feast hall Jorunn reached up and pulled Seven down for another brief kiss. This time Seven kept her wits about her better and managed to return the pressure of her lips. Seven gasped softly as Jorunn suddenly nipped her bottom lip lightly before ending the kiss. The sensation caused by Jorunn's action seemed to jump directly from Seven's lip to her groin. Jorunn didn't give Seven time to further analyze what had happened, she grinned up at Seven knowingly and pulled her by the hand outside the door. "Much better," said Jorunn over her shoulder as they walked into the feast hall. Seven replied softly, "I adapt quickly." An amused snort was her only reply before Eric rose upon seeing them enter and boomed out "Shield maiden, here come and take your seat, everyone this is the brave warrior who defended my cousin Altea and the other women and children from ten of Hakan's warriors who pursued them." Eric sat at a table raised upon a platform instead of on the earth, the seat Jorunn lead Seven toward was at one of the tables nearest the Earl's table. Altea was already seated and Seven took the spot beside her looking curiously at Jorunn who whispered, "I will be serving you." Seven noticed one of the shields had been removed and her Bat'leth had been placed behind her seat. Seven observed several of the warriors looking at it curiously. In a short while Jorunn returned with a water filled basin and towels, she brought them to Seven and instructed her to wash her hands as was the custom before every meal. After all of the people seated had cleaned their hands the food was brought from the hearths in the middle of the building. Seven watched as Jorunn took small servings of various meats that were roasting as well as ladling stewed vegetables into a rectangular wooden dish that her memory eventually identified as a trencher. A piece of a flat bread from the flat pan where it was cooked was added last and Jorunn brought over the trencher and advised Seven to eat the bread before it hardened. Seven watched as those around her started eating and picking up the sharp knife and spoon provided she began to follow suit. Seven could identify only some of the foods she was eating, such as fish, but she had no idea of what type. There were three types of red meat and Seven finally asked Altea in a low voice what the meats were. Altea smiled and explained that the fish was sea-trout; the meats were beef, pork and red deer. The vegetables Seven could identify as a mix of cabbage and onion with some herbs. The bread was coarse ground but good and made from oat and barley. Seven was cautious about drinking too much of the mead that Jorunn had served her in a silver cup. Jorunn was very attentive, she would frequently pause in her rounds to stop and in a low voice inquire whether or not Seven needed anything. Seven was aware that Jorunn was always careful to make sure that she touched her when she came by, either on Seven's back or arm. Seven was suddenly aware of exactly what double-entendre meant the second time Jorunn's voice purred huskily in her ear, "Would you like anything more Annika," and her hand trailed along her back to her thigh. Suddenly her mind was wondering exactly what other things Jorunn might have in mind and she almost choked on the mouthful of mead she was drinking. With a satisfied chuckle Jorunn left her coughing to clear her throat and finally moved away and went to another one of the guests. Altea whispered to Seven, "You don't have to let her do that to you, just tell her no. I tried to tell her to leave you alone but she refused." Seven looked over at Altea and considered what to say; finally she whispered back, "Thank you, she has already informed me that she will stop if I tell her too." Altea gave her a wide eyed look and then shook her head, "I hope you know what you're getting into Annika," she whispered back. Seven smirked slightly, "No I do not, but it has been instructional so far." At that Altea choked over her mead and gave Seven an incredulous look, then grinned at her and shook her head. "No doubt," she finally whispered back. Finally Eric stood and called for Annika to tell her tale. Seven looked at him uncertainly and he smiled and said, "You are new to tale telling shield maiden. Tell us how you came to be a warrior, instead of a maiden." Seven looked at him uncertainly, "I had no choice in what I became, I was taken at the age of six by the Borg." Eric looked at her and asked, "Borg? I have never heard of these people. They took you as a slave? Where were your people, your family?" Seven replied "The Borg live very far away from this area, it will be thousands of years before they are a threat to you. My mother and father were exobiologists they went to study the Borg and took me with them. Eventually the Borg noticed our ship and captured us. My mother and father were assimilated immediately, but I was not. We traveled to where the Queen was located; Unimatrix One, and my mother and father lead me into her chamber. I remember being afraid, my mother and father were there but they were now drones and they did not speak to me except to tell me to come with them. The Queen walked around me and told me I was very intelligent; intelligent enough to be brought to her for assimilation. She was impressed that I was not afraid of her. Then she assimilated me and I was put into one of the maturation tanks where I stayed until I was fully grown. I was eighteen when I was released from the maturation tank and given the designation Seven of Nine, Tertiary Adjunct to Unimatrix One." The entire hall was looking at her uncertainly trying to figure out what she had told them. Eric asked, "Your parents were spying on these Borg?" Seven considered the question and replied, "They were watching and studying the Borg without the Borg being aware of them." One of the men spoke up, "They took their child with them on a spying mission?" Seven could hear the disbelief in his voice. Eric interrupted, "What is this assimilation you speak of?" "You are joined to the hive mind, your thoughts become one with the hive mind, your will becomes one with the hive mind. The Queen orders the hive mind, she controls the hives thoughts and actions," explained Seven. Eric paled, "What foul sorcery do you speak of, she enslaves the body and mind to her will?" Seven considered attempting explaining the process of assimilation, then she nodded, "When you are assimilated you are not aware of yourself as an individual, only as part of the hive mind. You have no thoughts of your own; no will of your own." Eric looked at her with pity and said, "So your parents when they lead you to her were not aware you were their child?" Seven looked away for a moment and then nodded to him. One of the men farther down the table from her asked, "This maturation chamber you stayed in it for twelve years? How were you kept alive, more sorcery? Were you aware during the time?" Seven looked over at him and replied, "I was in the chamber for twelve years, I was not aware of the passage of time, I was supplied with nutrients by the chamber and waste was taken away by the chamber." "Sorcery," the man replied and Seven resisted the urge to correct him. She knew there was no way to explain to him how a maturation chamber worked. "What happened once you came out of this chamber?" asked Altea. Seven hesitated and then answered, "I did what the Queen wished, I interpreted various types of data that had been collected, and I participated in the assimilation of several different species." Eric asked, "You remember what you did even though you were enslaved?" "I remember every action; I remember the look on their faces as I assimilated them as a drone. I remember killing those that were found unfit for assimilation. I remember that I had no emotion as I did these things, no remorse, no anger, just the will of the Collective that they were to be added to us to increase our perfection." said Seven. Seven was staring in front of her as she said this, her voice a monotone. Jorunn walked over behind her and rubbed her arms, whispering to her, "You're free now Annika, you're not a slave of these Borg anymore." Seven started and then relaxed somewhat and gripped her hand briefly in thanks. Eric looked at the young woman with pity; it had been disconcerting to see how she had slipped into an expressionless unemotional way of speaking when she talked about her time as a slave. It was obvious that it still affected her greatly and he had to admit if he could remember doing such things and having no control over his actions he would be strongly affected as well. "Yet you are free of them, how were you freed?" Seven's face relaxed and she smiled slightly, "Not willingly, I was assigned as liaison to a ship called Voyager. The Captain of the vessel knew of a way to defeat an enemy of the Borg and in exchange for her assistance the Borg promised her passage across Borg territory." Eric asked, "She wasn't afraid of being enslaved by the Borg?" "She was but Voyager had been transported by a powerful being far from their home. Captain Janeway knew that it would take Voyager seventy years to return; if they could cross Borg territory it would cut several years off their journey. She felt the gain was worth the risk." explained Seven. "The Borg ship I was on was destroyed protecting Voyager so the weapon would not be destroyed. Four drones including me, Captain Janeway and Lt. Commander Tuvok were able to transfer to Voyager before the ship was completely destroyed." Seven paused and then continued, "Captain Janeway was injured when the Borg ship was destroyed and we were forced to interact with her First Officer. He proved unwilling to honor the agreement and we were ordered to force Voyager into a confrontation with our enemy. He managed to destroy the other three drones but I succeeded in forcing Voyager into the confrontation and our enemy was defeated with the help of the weapon they developed." "Captain Janeway resumed command and when the battle ended I was ordered to assimilate Voyager. However, Captain Janeway had anticipated my action and she successfully stopped my attempt and in doing so broke my link with the Borg," said Seven. The hall had been silent listening to the tale; Eric broke into the noise and asked, "She broke the sorcery that enslaved you?" Seven nodded, "She did, though I was not pleased about it for a long time. I demanded to be taken back to the Borg to rejoin them. I only had my memories as a child of being an individual. It was uncomfortable, lonely; I missed the constant presence in my mind of the billions of voices of the Borg." An older man with white hair and a long beard asked, "You could hear their voices in your mind all the time?" Seven nodded, "Yes I was never alone, when I became an individual I could not stand the silence at first, the separateness. I did not understand the people around me, they were irrational, inefficient, each with their own agenda each acting apart from the others. I did not fit in. Captain Janeway tried to help me as best she could, but it took me along time to begin to appreciate being an individual." Eric asked, "When were you freed from your slavery." Seven answered "Twenty one months ago." Eric asked, "What has happened to you during that time, how did you come to be here?" Seven continued speaking telling them of her experiences, her arguments with the Captain, her growing respect for the woman who had taken her in and tried to help her become an individual again. She spoke of how she finally came to cherish her individuality, yet she still continued to be separate from the other members of Voyager though she had risked her life for them several times. They could not see beyond her Borg mannerisms and she was unwilling to admit to how much their behavior hurt her preferring to hide behind her emotionless Borg mask. Seven paused and drank some of the mead and continued explaining how the Queen had threatened Voyager and forced her into joining her again. While she was speaking Jorunn came and sat down beside her occasionally stroking her back and arm. Seven was aware of the quiet reassuring presence of Altea as well and between the two of them she felt surprisingly comfortable talking about her experiences. "The Queen surprised me; she did not wish to assimilate me but allowed me to keep my individuality. She linked my thoughts only with hers and while I was regenerating looked through my memories of what had occurred since I had been severed from the Collective. When I awoke she told me that I had been allowed to be taken by Voyager, that she had planned for me to become an individual so that she could understand what it was to be human. I stayed aboard her vessel for several days before she ordered me to develop a weapon that would allow her to enslave Voyager and the people they were from. I refused; she told me I was allowing my emotions to cloud my mind. She told me to forget Voyager they were not my family, the Borg were my family. Then the Queen brought forth a drone that I recognized, it was my father." Seven paused and looked around at the faces of the people they were quiet. "It did not have the effect she wished, I called him Papa but he did not recognize me. He was emotionless, a drone, a Borg. Then I heard Captain Janeway's voice telling me to hold on and I knew she was coming to rescue me. Unfortunately the Queen detected it as well and began to search for them. Eventually she found their ship and I believed they would be assimilated, I attempted to attack the Queen but she was too strong. It was then that Captain Janeway entered the Queens Chamber and told her to call off her attack on the shuttle, a small ship, and release me or she would destroy her," said Seven. Eric stirred and asked, "How many warriors did she bring with her to rescue you? How many made it through her lands with her to confront the Queen?" Seven smiled and replied, "She brought four members of the crew beside herself, and she confronted the Queen alone. Lt. Commander Tuvok was with her but she sent him to sabotage the…magic the Queen was using to protect herself." The hall stirred at hearing this and several voices were heard discussing Captain Janeway's bravery in confronting so dangerous a foe alone. Seven continued, "She threatened to use…powerful destructive magical weapons to destroy the Queen's chamber. The Queen did not believe that she would kill herself and began to attack but Captain Janeway ordered the shuttle to prepare to use the weapon and the Queen stopped the attack." Eric broke in, "She was willing to kill you and herself if she could not free you?" Seven nodded, "I was not afraid to die; the alternative was to become a drone again. To loose my individuality and be forced to assimilate Voyager. Captain Janeway was also willing to die rather than become a drone." Eric smiled and said, "And willing to risk death to save you from such a fate as well, she must have planned that when she took so small a rescue party. She would either succeed or they would all die. A bold and daring plan, she must be a brave woman. What would be her name in our tongue, Captain seems to be a title?" Seven straightened and nodded, "Captain is her title, and her name would be Kathryn Edwardsdottir by your custom." Seven continued her story, "The Queen freed our vessel and Lt. Commander Tuvok succeeded in his mission. But before we could escape the Queen managed to bring back her…spells. I informed Captain Janeway where to attack to destroy the Queens ability to control the Collective and once that was done she could not control her drones and we were able to escape. It did not take her long to repair the damage enough to order her ship to give chase. The damage was extensive enough to prevent her from communicating with the other Borg ships so only her ship gave pursuit. We were able to make to where Voyager was waiting and they were able to destroy the Queens ship." The hall gave a great cheer but Seven was aware of Altea frowning beside her, when the noise died down she asked, "Was your father still on the Queen's ship?" Seven nodded, and the hall grew quiet again as this sunk in. Eric asked, "Shield maiden you seem to never have any blessings that do not come with a great sorrow." He paused and asked, "When did the events you just spoke of happen?" Seven replied "Five weeks ago." Eric said, "Then tell us of what has happened since then and how you came to be here to protect my cousin." Seven told them about the last month, of how she had been captured by Muahe. When she spoke of her death the hall was eerily quiet, and Jorunn put one arm about her waist and her other hand crossed over and gripped one of Seven's. She told how she had been reborn by the power of a goddess. How her Borg implants had been replace by ones made by the same goddess. How she had begun training to be a warrior. Finally she told them that she had fallen asleep on Voyager and had woken to find herself standing on the hill watching the group of women approach. "I could not do anything but defend them once I heard the plans Hakan's men had for the women and children. They were going to kill the infants. I was made to enslave others once…but I will not stand by and allow that to happen now that I am an individual," finished Seven. The hall was silent for a moment as everyone looked at her resolute face, many of them still trying to comprehend what it would be like to be made to do such things, to exist without any will of your own. Finally the old man asked, "But why didn't the Queen simply put you under her spell again and make you do what she wanted? Seems as though it would have been easier than trying to persuade you." Another voice spoke up, this time it was from a downy cheeked youth, "Perhaps she wanted Annika to become like she was, maybe she was lonely, maybe she wanted a Heir." Seven started violently, staring at the youth, everyone noticed her sudden movement and the frightened stare she directed at the young man. They had seen many expressions flitting across the woman's face tonight but this was the first they had seen her look frightened. Eric gently questioned, "Annika, you think he is correct don't you? Why?" Seven tore her gaze away and took a deep breath and then answered, "There is always a drone that is designated to become the next Queen in case something happens to the present Queen. That drone is always a female, always assimilated by a Queen, assimilated while young so that the Borg implants are fused with their structure while they grow, they are intelligent and must be able to operate as an individual." Jorunn said, "So you were going to be her Heir, but she didn't persuade you Annika and she died." Seven said, "The new Queen will have the memories and personality of the old, the drone that was chosen will have their memories overlaid with the personality and will of the old Queen. That is the way that the Borg ensures that the new Queen does not change the nature of the Collective. She will still seek me out if I am one of the designated drones." Jorunn shook her and said, "You are not a drone now Annika, your Captain Janeway will protect you, she has before why don't you trust her to again." Eric spoke up, "So even the Queen is not really free, each new Queen is enslaved by the old, does she think to live forever by transferring her spirit to a new body?" Seven stared at Eric pondering his words, they were superstitious but in a manner he was correct the first Queen in a sense had lived on in each of the succeeding Queens. "I do not know, I only know that I do not want that fate," said Seven. Eric nodded and said, "It is a horrible fate to have hanging over you head, yet you have a goddess who has made you one of her own. Surely she will not allow this to happen?" Seven said thoughtfully, "Perhaps she will help me; I believe I am here to hear what I heard. To realize that I was one of the drones designated to be a possible Queen." Eric said thoughtfully, "You cannot fight a battle if you do not know what the enemy desires. Now you know what she desires, maybe that will suggest a strategy to you shield maiden." Seven nodded, and Eric said kindly. "You look tired shield maiden; if you wish Jorunn and Altea will show you to your quarters. If you are still here on the morrow, will you join us for the battle?" Seven replied, "If I am still here I will join you to fight Hakan." NewMessage: ath: newsspool2.news.atl.earthlink.net!stamper.news.atl.earthlink.net!elnk-atl-nf1!newsfeed.earthlink.net!prodigy.com!news.glorb.com!postnews1.google.com!not-for-mail From: cobaltwolf2002@yahoo.com (Kudara) Newsgroups: alt.startrek.creative Subject: NEW: VOY I am Borg - Part 2 - Chapter 5 (5/10) PG-13 (7/f) Date: 8 Oct 2004 17:08:36 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Lines: 674 Message-ID: <3f3213d8.0410081608.75dfa7bc@posting.google.com> NNTP-Posting-Host: 68.13.213.47 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit X-Trace: posting.google.com 1097280517 21720 127.0.0.1 (9 Oct 2004 00:08:37 GMT) X-Complaints-To: groups-abuse@google.com NNTP-Posting-Date: Sat, 9 Oct 2004 00:08:37 +0000 (UTC) Xref: news.earthlink.net alt.startrek.creative:161012 X-Received-Date: Fri, 08 Oct 2004 17:08:39 PDT (newsspool2.news.atl.earthlink.net) Title: I am Borg - Part 2 Chapter 5 Author: Kudara Contact: cobaltwolf2002@yahoo.com Series: VOY Part: NEW 5/10 Rating: PG-13 Codes: 7/f, f, J, Tu, EMH Summary: Seven dreams. Seven wakes on Voyager, why are Janeway, Disclaimer: Star Trek Voyager and all who sail in her belong to Paramount/Viacom and no infringement of copyright/trade marks is intended. Feedback: Always welcome, feedback is what encourages me to keep writing. Please let me know what you like and what you dislike about the story. ****************************************************** Seven followed Altea and Jorunn out of the feast hall and back into the building she had bathed in earlier. Though it was late, it was still light outside, as the sun did not set till almost midnight during the summer. Thus the building was still dimly illuminated as they entered it. Altea looked at the two of them and directed a stern look at Jorunn who quickly replied, "I won't, not after hearing her tale. I promise I won't take advantage of Annika, Altea. I suspect she wouldn't mind me holding her tonight though." The last was said with a questioning look at Seven. Seven looked at the two concerned women then into Jorunn's eyes and saw gentleness and sympathy there. "I would like company tonight, Jorunn." Altea came over and hugged Seven and then kissed her briefly on the cheek saying, "If I do not see you tomorrow, I hope everything turns out well for you Annika. You are a strong woman; you will find a way to defeat the Queen. I hope the people of your ship realize what treasure they have in you." With that she turned and left, leaving a bemused Seven. Jorunn came over and wrapped her arms around Seven's waist and leaned her head against Seven's chest, tentatively Seven put her arms around Jorunn's waist as well and when Jorunn stepped closer and wrapped her arms tighter, Seven followed suit until they were pressed against each other. Seven closed her eyes for a moment and just absorbed the sensation; she had never been so physically close to another person before. Jorunn felt very nice in her arms, Seven took a moment to analyze the two times she had been physically close to men and realized how different the two situations felt. She had also never been as aware of her body with a male, Seven tried to analyze what she was feeling. She was very aware of Jorunn's body pressed against hers, of her breasts pressed softly against her, of where her stomach, her thighs, her arms and hands rested against her. She had never been aware in this manner of Ensign Chapman or of the Doctor. They had simply been physical bodies that she was in close proximity too. Finally Jorunn stirred and said, "We should go to sleep Annika." Seven nodded and looked at the narrow cot in the dim room, wondering how the two of them would fit comfortably on it. Jorunn grinned at her and said, "Lie down and I will arrange myself around you Annika. It will be more comfortable than you think." Seven pulled the fur and woolen blankets down and slipped into the bed lying on her back and then waited. Jorunn slipped into bed beside her and laid her head against Seven's chest, laying on one of Seven's arms as she did so and pulling the covers up against the cold night air. Seven knew something of sleeping like this, she could faintly remember running into her parent's room on the ship and seeing her mother resting on her father like this. Seven turned slightly and using the arm beneath Jorunn pulled her closer and wrapped her arm around her shoulder. Jorunn chuckled, her breath warming the hollow of Seven's throat, "You do adapt quickly don't you." "I remember seeing my parent's like this," admitted Seven. "Now I understand why they liked to hold each other in this manner." Jorunn gripped her tighter and Seven could feel her nod against her chest. Seven asked quietly, "I would like to kiss you again Jorunn." Jorunn groaned and said, "Annika I promised Altea…" Seven said, "I did not agree to anything," somewhat petulantly. Jorunn laughed, "You are not making this easy on me are you, very well but we stop when I ask Annika." Seven smiled and said, "I believe the correct expression to say at this moment would be ‘turn about is fair play'." Jorunn pondered the unfamiliar saying and then chuckled, as she understood the meaning, "Very well then, I guess it is your turn to tease me." With that she lifted herself up and raised her head and looked into Seven's face waiting. Seven paused a moment and brought her free hand up to touch her face, memorizing it. Then she slid her hand around the back of Jorunn's head and gently pulled her face toward her. They kissed for several minutes; Seven learning many new things about what one could do with lips, and teeth. Finally they pulled back from one another both of them breathing slightly more heavily and Jorunn looked at Seven seriously for a moment then said, "I know I'm going to regret this but there is one more thing you might want to learn about kissing Annika. But we will have to stop soon or I will not be able to sleep tonight." With that she brought her lips to Seven's again but this time she paused and with her tongue delicately traced the line of Seven's lips before pressing her lips against Seven's. Seven had stilled at the first touch, amazed at the sensations that it triggered. Her breathing and heart rate increased rapidly as did her body temperature and eye dilation. All these increased yet again as Seven felt Jorunn's tongue press against her lips seeking entry into her mouth, reflexively Seven relaxed her lips and let Jorunn do as she wished. Seven was surprised at the rush of arousal the feel of Jorunn exploring her mouth with her tongue produced, now she understood why Jorunn had said they would have to stop afterward, as it was Seven wasn't sure she would be able to fall asleep the way her body was reacting. Jorunn pulled back and looked at Seven, "You are so beautiful Annika." Seven pulled her back into another kiss, and practiced the technique Jorunn had just demonstrated to her. A groan from Jorunn rewarded her when she stopped and she could feel Jorunn's heart pounding against her. Both of them were breathing heavily and Jorunn lowered her head to Seven's chest again. Seven tightened her arms around her and they both concentrated on relaxing again. "Annika, I…I hope you find joy without sorrow. I want you to find happiness, you deserve it." said Jorunn. Seven knew that Jorunn did not expect her to be there in the morning, this then was goodbye. "I want you to be happy as well. I will always remember you Jorunn, and everyone I have met. I will always be able to think of you and see you and remember everything." "Everything?" asked Jorunn. "As if it had just occurred," confirmed Seven. "Describe to me when you first saw me," asked Jorunn. Seven began to describe in painful detail the scene when she had first saw Jorunn and after a few minuets of it, Jorunn laughed and pleaded with her to stop. "I believe you, you see everything in your memory perfectly don't you? I have heard of one other person with a memory like yours, they could recite everything they had ever seen or heard. Seven nodded and could feel Jorunn smile against her chest and they fell silent. In a moment Jorunn asked, "What do you feel for Kathryn Edwardsdottir?" Seven wondered at the question, "She is as a mother to me." "Ah, you sound as though you admire her greatly," said Jorunn. "I do," said Seven. "What was your father's name?" asked Jorunn. "Magnus," answered Seven. "So you would be Annika Magnusdottir," said Jorunn. Seven shrugged, "I do not use my father's name." Jorunn smiled against her and said, "Perhaps Annika Kathrynsdottir would suit you better?" Seven thought and replied, "I would like that." They stopped talking after that and their breathing slowed and evened as both of them slipped finally into sleep. ***************************************************** B'Elanna rolled over and glanced at the time, why was engineering calling her at 0400 hours? She found her communicator and tapped it answering, "Torres to Engineering this had better be good." The Ensign on the other end stammered out something about spatial and temporal distortion readings coming from inside the ship. B'Elanna woke up quickly at that point and asked if they had pinpointed the readings. The Ensign answered that he had not been able to contact Seven and Crewman Celes was on her way to Astrometics. B'Elanna frowned, "Computer locate Seven." "Seven of Nine is not in her quarters," responded the computer. "Torres to Seven," B'Elanna opened a communications channel. Silence followed. "Computer scan quarters of Seven of Nine for bio-signature," B'Elanna said. "Bio-signature not present," reported the Computer. B'Elanna was putting on her uniform at this point and paused to say, "Computer scan Voyager for Seven of Nine's bio-signature." B'Elanna finished dressing and ran a quick brush though her hair and was headed out the door when the computer reported, "Seven of Nine Bio-signature not found on Voyager." B'Elanna paused and tapped her combadge, "Torres to Celes." "Celes here," came the response. "Is that distortion on Deck 9 Section 11?" asked B'Elanna. "How did you know Lt. Torres? I just managed to narrow it to Deck 9," she responded. "Seven's not in her quarters nor is she on Voyager, I suspect that this distortion is the cause," responded B'Elanna, and then closed the channel. "Torres to Janeway," B'Elanna grimaced over waking the Captain but knew she would want to know what was happening. The groggy reply came, "Janeway here." "Captain, Engineering detected a slight special and temporal distortion and contacted me about it earlier. Crewman Celes has narrowed the source to Deck 9. I had the computer search for Seven since Engineering could not find her and she's not on Voyager. I suspect the distortion is the cause," explained B'Elanna. She was standing outside of Seven's quarters and waited for the Captain to respond, "Go to Seven's quarters and wait there, Tuvok and I will be there in a moment." "Will do Captain, I'll see what readings I can get from outside her quarters," answered B'Elanna. B'Elanna had been taking readings and had noticed the distortions fading until they seemed to disappear. On a hunch she asked, "Computer scan quarters of Seven of Nine for her bio-signature." "Seven of Nine is located in her quarters," came the reply. B'Elanna grimaced, "Mulara," she muttered. Tuvok came up followed by Janeway and Torres reported, "The distortions have faded and I had the computer scan for Seven again. She's back in her quarters. I strongly suspect Mulara had something to do with the distortion and Seven's disappearance." Tuvok raised his eyebrow at this statement. Janeway looked at her appraisingly and said, "It wouldn't surprise me, I didn't really expect her to just leave Seven alone after what happened. Let's see if Seven knows the reason for the distortions." Janeway rang the admittance chime to Seven's quarters and a few moments later Seven opened the doorway looking at them with an indecipherable look. She said, "Captain I appear to have been out of my quarters." B'Elanna noticed that Seven was wearing her Mularan clothes, her hair was done up in a braid that was wound into a knot at the neck. It was an unusual hairstyle, but it looked good on her. Sniffing curiously she detected an odd fatty soapy odor drifting faintly from Seven, as well as the smell of blood? B'Elanna knew it was not Seven's, it didn't smell right, but where was it from? Seven looked at her and said, "I am sorry for the odor, the last time I bathed I used a soap made from animal fat and potash. I will use my shower as soon as possible." "Its not that, it's the blood I smell. It's not yours…" said B'Elanna. Seven looked down and lifted up a booted foot and examined the bottom, and indicated the tread. "I believe my boots are the source Lt. Torres, I stepped in some blood earlier." Janeway looked at Seven oddly but didn't comment on the statement instead she said, "Engineering detected a spatial and temporal distortion coming from your quarters. Where were you Seven?" Seven moved from the doorway and invited them in saying it might be better if they sat down while she explained and would they mind if she took a quick shower and changed clothes before she spoke to them? Janeway nodded her permission and they waited on Seven's couch while she took a quick shower. When she emerged from the bathroom she was dressed in her Starfleet uniform and was busy combing out her hair. Seven sat down and began braiding her hair saying, "I thought I was experiencing one of Mulara's dreams, until I woke up and determined that physical evidence suggested that I had actually been to ninth century Norway." "What type of physical evidence?" asked B'Elanna. "Blood on my boots and pants which I had not cleaned off earlier, the residue of the specific soap I used, and my hair was as it had been braided and arranged for me. All of these along with your statement indicate that I was not dreaming but was actually physically there," responded Seven. Seven related her experiences in what she identified as mid ninth century Norway, starting with her appearance on the hillside. She told of how she had decided to help the group of women and children, and of her battle with the raiders. Seven paused for a moment and then told them somewhat abashedly of how she had gotten wounded during the fight by one of the raiders. At that point Janeway insisted that the Doctor come to Seven's quarters and make sure she was as fully healed as Seven thought she was. Seven took the opportunity to comment to B'Elanna in a quiet aside that the blood she had smelled was likely from the raiders as the ground had become covered with it during the fight. B'Elanna glanced over at Janeway who thankfully hadn't heard the comment and caught sight of Tuvok's raised eyebrows. B'Elanna was surprised at Seven's matter of fact acceptance of her killing. But then B'Elanna remembered the cold, angry look on Seven's face as she told Janeway that the raiders had planned to rape the women and kill the younger children and realized Seven had no regrets about the raiders deaths. B'Elanna thought frankly that she would probably not have felt any guilt about killing animals like them either. B'Elanna glanced from Seven's Bat'leth to Seven wonderingly, she had never seen Seven sparring with the weapon, only doing her katas. Obviously Seven was more practiced than she thought since she had managed to take on ten experienced warriors and win. B'Elanna resolved to get Seven to describe the fight in detail later, she wanted to know exactly what moves Seven had used. Seven continued her story as the Doctor transported over and upon being filled in about the nature of the injury, began scanning her. He commented on the amount of natural meat and alcohol she had consumed and with a comment about the wisdom of eating them, checked her for parasites as well. "Well if you had any your nanoprobes have already taken care of them as well as healing your injury," the Doctor concluded, "What did you eat anyway?" Seven quirked her lips and replied, "Sea-trout, beef, pork, and red deer along with cabbage and onions and bread made from oats and barley. The dinner was more pleasant tasting than I had thought it would be." "And the beverage?" he asked. "Mead," Seven replied, "It was rather sweet. I did not get drunk from it Doctor." "No you wouldn't get drunk, you might have been slightly affected by the alcohol though," the Doctor replied. Seven looked thoughtful but did not argue further with him. Janeway inquired if he was finished and when he nodded she asked him to return to Sickbay. He grumbled but obeyed. After he departed Seven continued her story. She told them about the village, meeting Eric Haroldson, and the feast she had attended later that evening. Janeway paled when she related that she had told them about her past with the Borg and about Voyager and the events she had experienced. "I'm sorry Captain, I thought I was dreaming. Dreams sent by Mulara are very vivid and difficult to tell apart from reality until you wake. I did not realize I was breaking the Temporal Prime Directive," apologized Seven. "I do not believe though that Mulara would have sent me there if it negatively impacted the timeline. Perhaps the information was quickly forgotten or the tale changed beyond recognition." Janeway looked at Seven intently, "You may be right, they would not have been able to understand most of what you were talking about. Do you know why Mulara sent you to that time?" Seven nodded and was silent. Janeway said gently, "Do you want to tell us or should I talk to you alone?" Seven sighed and said, "You would have to tell the senior staff what I learned anyway for the safety of the ship. The Borg Queen will not give up trying to reclaim me. I was sent to hear a statement made after I had told my tale. One of the men at the feast commented that the Queen wanted me to be like her, that she wished me to be her ‘Heir' as he put it. The word is inaccurate, the idea however is not. I realized when he made the statement that he was in essence correct, I meet all the requirements to be one of the drones designated to take over the position of Queen if needed." Seven watched as they stared first at her and then at each other after she had made the last statement. Tuvok spoke up then and asked, "What are these requirements?" "That the drone be female and of sufficient intelligence, they must be assimilated by the Queen while immature and thus requiring time in a maturation chamber, and be capable of acting as an individual," said Seven. Janeway said, "But you were not captured by the Queen were you? Where your parents were captured was along way away from the center of Borg space." "Correct, Captain, my parents were assimilated when we were captured, I was not however. I remained unassimilated until we reached Unimatrix One and the Queen assimilated me," replied Seven. Janeway said, "Why have you never told me of this?" in a slightly hurt tone. "I did not remember it until I remembered everything after I died. Even then it was not clear to me until tonight, all of those memories are from before I was a drone, they are not like the memories that are stored in my cortical node," explained Seven. Janeway nodded understanding and asked, "What do you remember from when your parents were captured?" Seven though back and tried to remember, hesitantly she began. "I remember the drones materializing on the ship, they overpowered my father first and assimilated him, my mother was assimilated next as she stood in front of me." B'Elanna noticed how Seven's body posture had changed, she was slightly hunched and her arms were crossed protectively over her chest. The Captain was trying to catch her eye but Seven was staring fixedly at the floor as she spoke, not seeing her concern. B'Elanna could tell the Captain was torn between maintaining her professional distance in front of them and comforting Seven whom, B'Elanna knew, she thought of as her daughter. B'Elanna got up from where she had been sitting and went to sit beside Seven where she tentatively rested a hand on Seven's back. Seven paused and looked over at her in slight surprise. B'Elanna was prepared for Seven to reject her touch as she had never touched her in a friendly way in the past. B'Elanna was a bit ashamed to remember that the only time she had ever touched Seven was to push or pull her out of her way in Engineering. However, after an intent look, Seven said nothing but relaxed and even placed her hands back down on her thighs. Seven was surprised by B'Elanna's touch, it reminded her of Jorunn when she had come to comfort Seven in the feast hall. Seven looked into B'Elanna's eyes, tying to discern what the woman was thinking but saw nothing except perhaps concern. Seven realized she had her arms crossed protectively and loosened them, carefully placing her hands on her thighs before continuing. "The Borg beamed us up to the cube and led us all to an assimilation chamber. Two drones stood on either side of me; I believe to make sure that I did not attempt to escape. The cube must have begun traveling into Borg space at that time." Seven paused again not really wanting to remember the next part but forcing herself to continue, "Thankfully the sedative effect of the initial assimilation held and neither of my parents experienced any pain as they underwent secondary assimilation." B'Elanna frowned trying to remember but Janeway was faster, "You were there while they were fitted with Borg implants?" B'Elanna noticed the horrified look on the Captain's face right before Janeway got up and moved to the other side of Seven and took one of her hands. Seven glanced over at the Captain as she sat down beside her and took one of her hands. Seven smiled weakly at her and returned the pressure before continuing, "Yes, I did not know of course at the time what the implants were, I think I was in a state of shock at that point. The operation must have went on for an hour or more as they installed their optical, cortical and aural implants and amputated one of their arms and attached a Borg limb." Seven paused and then continued, "When their secondary assimilation was completed they were sent to regenerate, I was allowed to sit on the deck nearby. I believe I slept for a time, when I awoke my father instructed me to stand and follow them. They lead me to where the Queen was located. I remember seeing her for the first time when she was lowered into her Borg body. I remember I was…unsettled but not afraid. My parents were there and I knew they were drones now, they did not look at me but they were my parents and I found their presence reassuring. I believe that was her intent. She walked around me and told me that I was special; I was intelligent enough to have been brought to her instead of being assimilated by a drone. She then reached out and touched my cheek and raised my head and bended down, I remember noticing that her pupils were silver. She commented that she was impressed that I was not afraid, and then she assimilated me. I dimly remember being carried to the maturation tank afterwards and it closing over me. I remember nothing after that until I was released from the chamber twelve years later and received my designation." Janeway examined Seven closely and asked, "Are you ok Seven? I don't think I would have asked you to tell all of us if I had known what all you had witnessed." "I am ok, it is easier to speak of this since I have related it once already. When I realized I was one of the designated drones I became somewhat… upset. Jorunn comforted me and reminded me I was free. I found that her assistance enabled me to recover quickly and without using my nanoprobes. Also, B'Elanna reminded me of Jorunn when she came over to offer comfort," said Seven thoughtfully. B'Elanna was embarrassed about having it stated so clearly but she was also curious, who was the Jorunn that Seven mentioned. "Who is Jorunn? And what did she do?" asked B'Elanna curiously. From Janeway's interested look B'Elanna could tell that the question had been on the Captain's mind as well. "Jorunn is…was the daughter of Eric. She came over like you did Lt. Torres only she sat closer and placed her arm about my waist, she also held one of my hands like Captain Janeway is doing," explained Seven. Both B'Elanna and the Captain blinked at one another and then looked at Seven. Janeway asked, "You were comfortable with her being that close?" "Why would I not be?" asked Seven. Janeway paused searching for a response and finally settled on, "You have always seemed uncomfortable with people touching you in the past Seven, it just surprised me when you described how Jorunn interacted with you." "I was comfortable with Jorunn touching me after we discussed the parameters of how and why she was doing so," commented Seven with a slight flush to her cheeks. Silence. Janeway stared at Seven, B'Elanna stared at Seven, Tuvok raised an eyebrow at the statement. Seven listened to the silence and waited to see what would happen next, she did not particularly feel like talking about the things that had occurred between Jorunn and her yet, at least not in front of so many people. And she was feeling somewhat sad at the thought of not seeing Jorunn again; holding her in her arms as she fell asleep had been more than pleasant. It had chased some of the loneliness Seven always felt away, if only for a while. Finally Janeway glanced at Seven and noticed that she was looking unhappy and decided not to press the issue with B'Elanna and Tuvok present. She would ask Seven later when they did not have an audience exactly what she had meant by that statement. And why bringing up Jorunn made Seven unhappy. Janeway gripped Sevens hand and when she looked up smiled at her reassuringly. "Are you tired Seven?" she asked. Seven looked at her oddly and said, "No I am not tired, I must have fallen asleep for awhile after Jorunn and I stopped talking. I will be able to function normally today." Janeway smiled and said, "It sounds like you and Jorunn became good friends during the time you were there." Seven considered this and replied, "I hope so I came to care for her and I will always remember her with affection. I told her I hope she lived a happy life." Seven paused and continued, "She wished that I would find joy without sorrow, and said that I deserved happiness." Seven looked at Janeway and asked, "Does that indicate friendship?" Janeway nodded, "Yes that was a very caring thing for her to say. I believe you would not be wrong to call her your friend." Janeway paused and then said, "Tuvok will you search the database and see if there is any evidence of Seven's visit? Lt. Torres, quick thinking in identifying what the anomaly was and why it occurred. I will see the both of you at the briefing later this morning." B'Elanna and Tuvok knew a dismissal when they heard one and they both rose and left Seven's quarters leaving her along with the Captain. After they had left Kathryn said, "I'm sorry Seven I shouldn't have had you describe that, I had no idea you had seen your parents be fully assimilated." Seven nodded and then said, "I told Altea my name was Annika, I think I would like it if you called me Annika as well." "Altea, Jorunn, Eric all these names, would you tell me about all these people you met Annika?" asked Kathryn. Seven smiled and Kathryn found herself smiling back. "Jorunn said I should try to smile more, she said I looked even more beautiful when I did." Kathryn looked at Seven quizzically, "She's right, would you like to tell me about her?" Over the next hour Kathryn was by turns concerned, angry, then amused and finally she hugged Seven when Seven related their conversation after the last kiss. Kathryn asked, "So how do you feel about her Annika?" "I am…was not in love, maybe I could have been had I stayed longer. I came to care about her and I was very attracted to her," said Seven. "I feel lonely now though, falling asleep with her in my arms was…comforting, I did not feel alone. I know I will feel alone tonight and I will miss her." Kathryn looked over at Annika and saw slow tears roll down her face. Kathryn pulled her into her arms saying, "Oh Annika you have been through a lot tonight haven't you." Seven cried for only a little while and when Kathryn asked, "She really whispered that in your ear right in the feast hall?" Seven chuckled, and mimicked the tone Jorunn had used, causing Kathryn to start laughing. Seven admitted, "She had to do it twice before I realized what she meant, and I choked on a mouthful of mead when I did. It was her stroking a hand down my back and along my thigh as she said it which finally made me realized what she actually meant." Kathryn stared at her wide eyed and shook her head, Seven remarked, "Altea had somewhat of the same reaction when I told her that I had agreed to allow Jorunn to tease me if she didn't embarrass me in front of everyone." Seeing the curious look on Kathryn's face Seven related the tale of what Altea had said to her in the feast hall. They talked some more and Kathryn marveled at how relaxed Seven…Annika seemed. She had been shocked when Annika calmly described how Jorunn had touched her while checking out her injury, and even more shocked when Annika related that she realized that Jorunn was attempting to seduce her and let her continue out of curiosity and the realization that she was reacting to Jorunn's touch. Annika did admit that she probably would not have been so willing to let the situation progress if she had been aware that it was real instead of just a dream. Then as Annika described the rest of the evening Kathryn realized that she had enjoyed Jorunn's attentions. That the promise that it would stop if Annika asked had made her willing to just experience her reactions to Jorunn, and her innocence allowed her to experience them without embarrassment. Kathryn also realized that though Jorunn might have started the evening with the intention of seducing Annika she did not end it that way. Kathryn suspected that Annika had stolen her way into Jorunn's affections just as Jorunn had Annika's. Annika paused and asked, "Do you mind that I told her I would prefer Annika Kathrynsdottir instead of Annika Magnusdottir?" Kathryn smiled, "No, I do not Annika. I wish that you didn't resent your parents so much that you don't like to use Hansen but I do understand. If you continue to feel that way after another year we can discuss whether you would be willing to be Annika Janeway." Annika responded with a brilliant smile and a nod. "Do you feel alright about coming to the senior staff meeting or did you need some time off today to think about last night?" asked Kathryn. "I will be fine Captain," said Seven with a smile. Janeway nodded and then asked, "Did you want to start using Annika with everyone or did you want me to use it?" "You for right now please, I would prefer to still use Seven while on duty." Seven explained. "Alright, we had better get headed up to the bridge or we will be late for the meeting," said Janeway as she rose. Seven got up as well and the two of them headed to the bridge together. NewMessage: ath: newsspool2.news.atl.earthlink.net!stamper.news.atl.earthlink.net!stamper.news.pas.earthlink.net!elnk-nf2-pas!newsfeed.earthlink.net!newshub.sdsu.edu!postnews1.google.com!not-for-mail From: cobaltwolf2002@yahoo.com (Kudara) Newsgroups: alt.startrek.creative Subject: NEW: VOY I am Borg - Part 2 - Chapter 6 (6/10) PG-13 (7/T) Date: 8 Oct 2004 17:11:40 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Lines: 606 Message-ID: <3f3213d8.0410081611.10c7b8af@posting.google.com> NNTP-Posting-Host: 68.13.213.47 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit X-Trace: posting.google.com 1097280700 21883 127.0.0.1 (9 Oct 2004 00:11:40 GMT) X-Complaints-To: groups-abuse@google.com NNTP-Posting-Date: Sat, 9 Oct 2004 00:11:40 +0000 (UTC) Xref: news.earthlink.net alt.startrek.creative:161013 X-Received-Date: Fri, 08 Oct 2004 17:11:44 PDT (newsspool2.news.atl.earthlink.net) Title: I am Borg - Part 2 Chapter 6 Author: Kudara Contact: cobaltwolf2002@yahoo.com Series: VOY Part: NEW 6/10 Rating: PG-13 Codes: 7/T, J, crew Summary: Staff meeting. Saga of Annika and her foster mother Disclaimer: Star Trek Voyager and all who sail in her belong to Paramount/Viacom and no infringement of copyright/trade marks is intended. Feedback: Always welcome, feedback is what encourages me to keep writing. Please let me know what you like and what you dislike about the story. Note: Information about B'Elanna's father contacting her from Pathways by Jeri Taylor ******************************************************** Seven and Janeway entered the briefing room together, Tuvok had left the seat nearest the Captain's chair, in which he usually sat, empty apparently for Seven. He had two padds in front of him and when they had sat down he handed a padd to both of them. Janeway raised an eyebrow at him, as the rest of the senior officers especially Chakotay were quite curious as to what was going on. Only B'Elanna had an idea of what was going on and she had adamantly insisted that the Captain be the one to brief everyone. "I have restricted access to these documents to your command code Captain until you have time to review the information I have found and come to a decision about it," Tuvok stated as he handed the padds over. Janeway replied, "Good thinking, Seven and I will look these over after the briefing and come to a decision about them. Now, to fill everyone in on the cause of the spatial and temporal distortion that was detected early this morning at 0345 hours. The location of the distortion was Seven's quarters, undoubtedly Mulara was the cause of the distortion which sent Seven to mid ninth century Norway for several hours." She paused and then continued, "Seven believed she was dreaming as she has experienced very vivid dreams ever since her…death on Mularan." Janeway paused and looked curiously at B'Elanna who had straightened up with a thoughtful look on her face. "You have something to add Lt. Torres?" "I believe I know why Seven was certain she was dreaming. Mulara sent her there to hear a certain statement. Seven would not have knowingly broken the Temporal Prime Directive, but in order to hear what she did she had to break it. I believe that Mulara influenced her to believe it was a dream so that she would tell her story instead of either remaining silent or making something up," said B'Elanna. Seven nodded, "The thought had crossed my mind as well Lt. Torres. I do not understand now why it did not occur to me to consider the possibility that it was real given some of the events. I do not remember even once thinking it was anything but a dream at the time." Janeway nodded, "I suspect you are right." She went on to give a brief explanation of what had occurred during Seven's trip to the past. If anyone thought it curious that the Captain was the one telling the tale instead of Seven they did not mention it during the brief. When Janeway revealed that Seven had told her life story to the gathering at the feast hall eyes widened but still no one dared to interrupt the Captain. By this time Chakotay was looking back and forth between the two wondering why exactly the Captain was protecting Seven from questioning by giving the brief herself. Finally Janeway related to them the statement that Seven had apparently been taken to the past to hear. That she was one of the drones designated as a possible Queen and it was not likely that the Borg would quit trying to reclaim her. "How high a priority would the Collective place on reclaiming you Seven?" asked Chakotay. Seven frowned slightly, "I cannot say, Commander. No designated drone has ever escaped the Collective. I do not believe it would be a high priority task though. It is likely that the Borg would only attempt to reclaim me if I came into close proximity of a Borg ship." Janeway broke in, "We can discuss the implications of this later after Seven and I have reviewed the data Lt. Cmdr Tuvok located. Now, lets move on to the departmental briefs." Chakotay, Paris and Kim stared for a moment at the Captain then looked back to their padds. Thirty minutes later after the departmental briefings were done Janeway dismissed the meeting after requesting Lt. Torres and the Doctor to keep the information they knew about the incident to themselves until further notice. With that Janeway dismissed everyone but Seven, who accompanied her to the Captain's Ready Room. As they walked through the bridge area Janeway was heard to ask, "Would you be interested in breakfast Seven, I'm starving." Seven smiled slightly, "Coffee perhaps and some Quara fruit would be nice." Janeway crowed, "Ah ha, another convert, I knew you would like coffee," as they disappeared into the Ready Room leaving the officers on the bridge staring after them with expressions of surprise. Seven watched as Kathryn replicated two coffees and the some fruit for the both of them. Before she could start reading her data padd Seven asked a question that had been puzzling her, "Captain why did you give the brief instead of me? I assumed that I would be the one giving the brief since I of course am more familiar with what occurred." Kathryn said, "I wanted to make sure that certain questions were not asked until I had a chance to go over things with you. I know your briefs are very through and there are some things you told me about that I didn't want certain officers there to hear about. Your personal life does not need to be part of the ship's gossip." Seven considered her words and realized that she had not informed Kathryn of the extensive research she had conducted into the topic of human sexual behavior and cultural expectations about that behavior. "I have conducted research as you suggested, including a through work by Uahae Aayhea, an Andorian researcher on human-nonhuman relationships written to assist the non-human with understanding human cultural beliefs and mannerisms relating to human sexual behavior. I believe I have a better understanding of what is considered private knowledge and what is considered public knowledge now. I would not have included any information about what Jorunn and I shared at the briefing. I understand it is considered part of my ‘personal life'." Kathryn looked at her oddly for a moment then with a snort laughed quietly for a moment. Seven straightened wondering if she was laughing at her but Kathryn quickly explained, "I'm not laughing at you Annika, I'm laughing at myself. I used to hate it when my mother was overprotective of me, and yet here I am doing the exact same thing to you. I felt so helpless and angry when you were on Mularan knowing that I had failed you, I guess I've been overcompensating since you got back." "You should not blame yourself Kathryn for what happened on Mulara, you did not have time to rescue me," said Seven. Kathryn responded pensively, "Intellectually I know that Annika, I still feel as though I failed you." Seven felt at a loss as to how to respond to Kathryn, finally getting up and moving to sit next to her and then taking one of the older woman's hands in her own. As Kathryn looked at her in surprise and smiled, Seven said, "I do not feel that you have failed me Kathryn. "Thank you, Annika," said Kathryn. The two were silent a moment then Kathryn gently pulled her hand free and picked up her padd and began to read. "Oh my," she immediately said. "The title," commented Seven. "Yes," responded Kathryn, "I guess I am your foster mother aren't I?" "Do you mind?" asked Seven hesitantly. "Everyone knowing that I think of you as my daughter? No, and it's better than some of the other rumors floating around," commented Kathryn. "You are speaking of those that think we have an intimate relationship," Seven said calmly. Kathryn looked at her in surprise, "I didn't know you had heard those, but yes. At least this will lay that fallacy to rest." Seven finished reading the ‘Saga of Annika and her foster mother Kathryn Edwardsdottir' far quicker than Kathryn. The Vikings had obviously been much impressed with her description of Kathryn's actions. Seven waited patiently for Kathryn watching her intently to see what her reactions would be to some of the more heroically phased passages. Seven was surprised when Kathryn didn't comment on any of the phrasing but looked up at her with sorrow in her eyes. "Oh Annika why didn't you tell me your father was on the Queen's ship," said Kathryn. Seven flinched and looked away for a moment then said, "There was no time, and there was no other sound tactical choice but to destroy the Queen's ship." "And afterwards? Why not tell me then Annika. We must have seemed so insensitive. Is that why you were still working that night?" asked Kathryn. "I…I did not want to tell anyone," Seven said, "I am not certain he was present on the Queens ship when it exploded." Kathryn looked at her penetratingly, "But you are almost certain, aren't you." Seven glanced at her and nodded. "What are you feeling Annika?" asked Kathryn. Seven stood up at the question and looked out the window at the stars streaking by with her arms crossed. Kathryn thought for a few moments that she would not answer her but finally she started speaking. "He…they should have left after they had a year's worth of data. They knew what would happen if our vessel was detected, yet they stayed. Because of them I was…am Borg, I remember all those I assimilated…remember killing… men, women, children…because they were deemed unfit for assimilation. Seven had started pacing as the first few words and was now making angry passes across the Ready Room floor, her voice rising as she spoke. Then she stopped and turned and looked at Kathryn. "All because of their curiosity," said Seven in a low angry tone. She paused and then started speaking again, "I do not know what I feel about his death. I am relieved he is no longer a drone that he is not assimilating others. I…I do not know what I would say to him if you had saved him from the Borg. He was my Papa… I…loved him… and yet…I was…I am still angry at him." Kathryn got up and walked toward her and put an arm about her waist and hugged her, "I can see why you would feel that way. I've never asked if you could remember the things you did while you were a Borg, I guess I wanted to believe that you wouldn't clearly remember them. But I never asked… maybe because I didn't want to know that you did." "There is a difference in the memories and the one's I have of events since I became an individual. They are…" Seven paused as she tried to find the words to explain, "I feel removed from them... I know that I was the person doing the action but they do not have the… clarity and focus of my memories of my time on Voyager." The two stared out into space for a few moments silent then Kathryn sighed, "What do you think of releasing the Saga? I'm a bit embarrassed about how they portrayed me, but I'm more concerned about you being comfortable with the crew reading it. I don't know how many have ever considered events from your perspective, and I don't know how you feel about them knowing about your father's death." Seven said, "I am uncertain, perhaps it would be useful to get the opinion of others, perhaps Lt. Cmdr Tuvok and Lt. Torres." ********************************************************** Lt. Cmdr Tuvok had stated two main reasons to release the Saga, the first was that the Saga was public information; the second was that he thought it might be beneficial for the crew to know what Seven's view of events had been. B'Elanna had been honored that Seven had wanted her opinion on whether or not to release what the Norse had written about her tale. Janeway had called her to her Ready Room to read the Saga while Seven took the opportunity to catch up with some work in Astrometics. She had thought it would be interesting to read something from Seven's perspective, and it had been. It had also been disturbing; she had not really considered the fact that Seven had essentially lost 12 years of her life while in the maturation chamber. With a sense of shame she remembered the day that she had angrily asked Seven if she ever felt guilty about assimilating others, she had thought that Seven's reply of "guilt is irrelevant" indicated that Seven did not care about those she had assimilated. After Seven was found innocent on Mularan she had realized that Seven had been answering her question precisely and honestly. Guilt was irrelevant when you had no free will; it was rather like asking a weapon if it felt guilty over being used to kill someone. What she hadn't realized until now was that Seven did have strong feelings over being used in such a manner, the Saga made it clear that she felt anger and remorse and B'Elanna suspected a strong sense of helplessness over her past. B'Elanna had never really equated being assimilated with being enslaved, but the Vikings had interpreted what she had said with a sorcery that enslaved both body and mind. After considering it B'Elanna thought that perhaps they had come closer to the truth than her more technical understanding of the process. B'Elanna had always thought the Borg had broken the alliance just like Chakotay had predicted they would when Seven had tried to assimilate the ship. What she found interesting from the Saga was that from what Seven related, the Borg had not been breaking the alliance at that point. There had been no alliance in the Borg's viewpoint, Chakotay had already broken it and Janeway's actions in helping the Borg while in fluidic space were, she thought, deemed ‘irrelevant.' B'Elanna had always held it against Seven that she hadn't been more grateful when they had freed her from the collective. That she hadn't made more of an effort to fit into the crew. She had blamed her for trying to contact the Borg right after they had freed her from the Collective. B'Elanna had never considered that Seven had not seen herself as rescued at all, from what B'Elanna had read kidnapped would be more accurately how Seven had seen their actions. Kidnapped and forced to try to fit into what she had obviously seen as a chaotic and confusing group of people who made no effort to understand her except for Captain Janeway…and Harry, B'Elanna added. "Finally Annika came to cherish herself as an individual and to understand why those around her thought so highly of it. Yet she did not feel welcomed by the crewmates of her ship, though she risked her life no less than they did in battle they would not accept her, not seeing past her mannerisms and way of speaking that were foreign to them. The room was still as she spoke, her face calm as befitting a warrior but in her voice and eyes everyone could see the pain and loneliness of the beautiful shield maiden. The Earls daughter Jorunn seeing her pain came and sat down beside her and comforted her, as did Altea the Earls cousin. Her pain eased she once again began speaking. …" B'Elanna knew something about that passage bothered her, suddenly she realized what it was. Both she and the Captain had been surprised when Seven had told them that she had not been uncomfortable with Jorunn touching her. And the passage made it clear that not only had Jorunn reached out but Altea had as well, and had comforted Seven as she told the gathering about how difficult things had been for her aboard Voyager. Which meant that two women who barely knew Seven had reached out to offer comfort even through Sevens aloof shell, and no one aboard Voyager had ever tried to do the same that B'Elanna knew of. ‘Sometimes', B'Elanna thought to herself, ‘I wonder why Seven helps us as much as she does, why is she willing to risk her life for people who treat her so badly.' A bitter bile taste arose in the back of her mouth as she contemplated this and she closed her eyes for a moment then shook her head and went on reading. B'Elanna was surprised when she read that the Queen had brought the drone of Seven's father out to try and persuade her to rejoin the Borg. Seven had apparently called him Papa when she recognized him and then upon seeing the lack of reaction or emotion in his face had become even more resolved to keep resisting the Queen's attempts to turn her loyalties back to the Borg. ‘Something even I could have predicted,' thought B'Elanna, ‘Not a particularly smart move Borg Queen.' Even through the dour mood she was in B'Elanna had to chuckle at the description of Kathryn Edwardsdottir's daring rescue of Annika and her courageous and brave lone confrontation of the Queen. Much was made of Janeway's willingness to risk death rather than let Annika be enslaved again, and also of Annika's acceptance of death being preferable to being made a slave once more. B'Elanna was almost smiling by the time she read of Voyagers victory over the Queens ship, she remembered the relief when they had successfully collapsed the transwarp conduit and then the elation when the several Borg signatures from the collapsed conduit had turned out to be the fragments of the Queens ship. Suddenly the next sentence wiped the smile from her face as she made a connection that she had missed…Seven's father, they had killed him. "Shield maiden you seem to never have any blessings that do not come with a great sorrow. Spoke Earl Eric Haroldson…." B'Elanna sighed as she realized how true these words were, why hadn't Seven told them that her father had been on the Queen's ship? She had appeared more icily Borg than ever right afterward and B'Elanna had just put it down to her being exposed to the Borg and picking back up old habits. Now she realized that Seven had been dealing in silence with her father's death while they had been celebrating their victory over the Queen. B'Elanna read the rest of the story as she tried to sort out the thoughts and feelings that had arisen. The remainder of the story she was familiar with, the events on Mularan, and the revelation that Seven was one of the designated drones. B'Elanna finished reading the Saga and pondered, she was once again angry with herself for how she had treated Seven. Before she felt ashamed because she had failed to realize that Seven was not an adult and that she hadn't responded in a more mature manner. Now she felt ashamed because they had taken a frightened unwilling woman from the Borg and then failed to give her the kindness and understanding she needed to feel accepted and welcome among them. B'Elanna sighed and then dropped her forehead into her cupped hands as she rested her elbows on her thighs and tried to think of what to say to Seven about whether releasing the Saga was a good idea or not. "B'Elanna are you in pain?" asked Seven as she walked into the Ready Room and saw the Chief Engineer with her forehead cupped in her hands. B'Elanna jerked upward and looked at her with an expression Seven didn't quite recognize. "Seven," B'Elanna said, "I…I wanted to tell you how sorry I am for how I treated you. I should have apologized days ago when you first came back on board but I was a coward and didn't want to bring up the past when we seemed to be getting along so well. I should have stopped the gossiping about you, it's my fault that the engineering crew told the Mularans about you." B'Elanna stood and turned staring out the window and wrapped her arms around herself and whispered, "It's my fault they thought they could take you and kill you." Seven pondered B'Elanna's words and asked, "You told them to share the information with the Mularans?" B'Elanna turned around and with a spark of anger, "No! Of course not. I meant that I didn't stop the gossiping and the way they treated you. I…I just saw that they were standing up for me; I didn't realize how much it hurt you. Or maybe I just didn't want to see what I was doing…" B'Elanna turned back toward the window at the last statement. Seven watched the reflection of her face in the window for a moment and asked, "Why did you want to hurt me B'Elanna?" B'Elanna's form jerked and her eyes met Seven's in the reflection. Suddenly Seven thought she recognized what emotion was in them…pain, just before B'Elanna tore her eyes away. "I…Damn it Seven don't you ever want to lash out at us?" said B'Elanna as she turned suddenly and looked into Seven's concerned face. Seven considered the words and came to a realization, "How have I hurt you B'Elanna?" Seven felt a heaviness in her chest and said in a low voice, "I hurt you when I provoked you," Seven answered her own question, "I apologize." B'Elanna looked into Seven's face and could only see honest regret there and sighed, she could not let Seven continue to believe that it was all her fault. "Seven sometimes you did hurt me when you were rude to me, but mostly I lashed out at you because I was so jealous of you. Of how smart you were, how beautiful, and because I felt you had taken my place with the Captain. None of which is your fault, Seven, I have dishonored myself by how I acted. I can only try and make it up to you." Something flickered in Seven's eyes before she said, "You are only willing to be around me because you feel guilty." B'Elanna noticed how she made it a statement and rushed to correct her, "No Seven, well maybe at first, but not now. Seven, you've let me see more of who you are in the past two days than I saw the past… what almost two years now? And I like the person I'm getting to know, I just wish I had known who was behind all that Borg shielding before." B'Elanna made sure that Seven was listening to her before continuing, "I want to get to know who Seven is... I would like to be her friend…if she will let me." Seven found the third person phrasing odd but understood that B'Elanna was asking her if she would allow her to be her friend, "I will let you." Seven hesitated and then continued, "B'Elanna, I do not understand why you are jealous of me, you are as smart as I am, and as beautiful. And the Captain does care about you." "You think I'm smart?" asked B'Elanna, looking at Seven wonderingly. Seven took a few strides through the room closer to her and answered, "Yes, your ability to come to the correct conclusion without going through a linear thought process is…remarkable. I must work through problems logically to reach a conclusion, you often do not. It is an ability I wish I could emulate." B'Elanna smiled, "It's usually called intuition. You've always impressed me by your ability to make logical sense of data that at first look is bewildering. While I'm trying to make heads or tails out of it, you've already analyzed it and come up with an explanation and answer. You know, now that we are going to be friends, maybe we could work on things together more often. I bet we would make a great team." Seven smiled, a full happy smile instead of one of the slight ones she usually used, "I would like that." B'Elanna could swear she felt her hearts pause for a moment then start again at a quicker pace at the openly pleased expression on Seven's face. She only realized that she was staring at Seven in wonder when the smile disappeared and Seven looked at her uncertainly. B'Elanna said, "Sorry for staring Seven, I've never seen you smile like that before it surprised me, you look…different when you smile." Seven tilted her head to the side and said; "Jorunn said I looked more beautiful when I smiled." B'Elanna stilled for a moment, "She did? Well…I would have to agree with her. It sounds like you two got along well during your time there." B'Elanna knew she was fishing for information, something was informing her that this Jorunn seemed entirely too flattering and friendly for her liking. Seven nodded, "I believe we were friends before I left, I know I shall miss her." Seven stared pensively at the window before noticing B'Elanna's slight frown. Seven stared curiously at her wondering what was bothering her new friend. B'Elanna stared at Seven trying to read the emotions playing across the normally controlled face. The sad expression on Seven's face when she said that she would miss Jorunn triggered a reaction that B'Elanna was ashamed of when she recognized it. Jealousy, she was jealous of this Jorunn woman who had comforted Seven and had won her friendship within a few hours of meeting her. B'Elanna noticed Seven looking at her curiously and weakly offered, "Well, you do have one friend here, remember." Seven's mouth twitched and she replied, "Yes, but I do not think you will be offering to hold me while I sleep tonight B'Elanna. Or giving me lessons on how to kiss." Seven's eyes twinkled merrily as she watched B'Elanna's jaw drop, her pensiveness gone for right now. B'Elanna stared at Seven in shock, "She tried to seduce you!" she stated, feeling a building anger. At what she wasn't certain, at Jorunn for taking advantage of Seven's innocence, at Jorunn for doing what B'Elanna wished she was free to, or at Seven for accepting another woman's advances. Seven frowned at B'Elanna catching the anger in her tone, "Yes, she did. It was quite enjoyable. Why are you angry?" B'Elanna sputtered, "Because she took advantage of you Seven, she …" "Did not do anything to me that I objected to," interrupted Seven. B'Elanna realized belatedly that she was standing there opening and closing her mouth trying to find a way to respond to Seven's statement without betraying herself and snapped her mouth shut angrily. ‘It's not as if you have a right to say anything B'Elanna' whispered her conscious ‘you're the one who decided to ignore your attraction to her and stay with Tom, what right do you have to object just because someone else didn't?' B'Elanna ruefully acknowledged the truth of her thoughts; she didn't have any right to get angry with Seven for accepting the advances of another at all. "I have had several members of Voyagers crew attempt to initiate physical intimacy with me, B'Elanna, and I had no difficulty refusing them. I made the decision to allow Jorunn to continue, indeed it would be difficult for anyone to ‘take advantage of me' as you stated, if I did not allow it," stated Seven. B'Elanna held up her hands in a gesture of surrender, "Ok, ok… I get the message. Your perfectly capable of taking care of yourself." B'Elanna decided it was time for a tactical change of subject, "So I guess you want my opinion about releasing this Saga." Seven was confused by B'Elanna's reaction to her words; she had intended to amuse the other woman but instead had apparently upset her. Perhaps B'Elanna like Kathryn was in an overprotective mode, Seven thought. "Yes," said Seven simply. B'Elanna looked directly at Seven for a moment, "I think you should. I think it would help a lot of people see who you actually are, and I'm sorry about your father. Why didn't you let us know?" B'Elanna was stunned by the emotions that ran across Seven's face when she mentioned her father, anger, sadness and then a look of weariness. "I do not want to discuss my father," said Seven stiffly, shifting and fighting to not slip into her old Borg stance. B'Elanna noted how Seven started to stand with her hands behind her back and caught herself, instead choosing to cross them over her chest. She hadn't really considered what Seven thought of her parents, even though she had heard through the grapevine that Seven had made some harsh comments when she had read their journals awhile back. B'Elanna hadn't really thought about it then, but now after reading the Saga she stared at Seven and considered how the other woman felt about her parents. Parents that, as the Saga put it, took their young daughter along with them on a spying mission. B'Elanna smiled without any humor and said, "I've always been mad at my father for leaving me when I was a child; I guess you wish yours had left you." Seven looked at B'Elanna somewhat perplexed by her statement. "My father left my mother and I because he could no longer stand living with two Klingons when I was a child. Your father took you with him to study the Borg and got you assimilated," said B'Elanna. "You are asking whether I wish that my parents had left me behind instead of taking me with them," said Seven. She was quiet for awhile, her face both pensive and bitter before she finally said, "I do not know, three weeks ago perhaps I would have said yes. Now though I am unsure if I would trade my life for a different one." "My father sent me messages while I was at the Academy," said B'Elanna. "I never responded, I didn't know what I would say to him so I just didn't." B'Elanna was aware of Seven's sharp gaze on her as she continued, "Some days I think that if I were to meet him I would want to beat him, other days…I don't know ask him why he couldn't love me I guess." B'Elanna felt tears threatening but she continued, "Now of course I probably won't ever have to worry what I would do if I meet him, because he's likely to be dead by the time we get back. And sometimes I'm relieved that I won't have to figure it out." B'Elanna looked into Seven's eyes and saw understanding there. Seven nodded not trusting her voice and breathed deeply a few times before saying, "When what remained of the Queen's ship exited from the transwarp conduit, I did not feel anything though I was certain he was dead. Since then I have experienced feelings of anger, sorrow, remorse…love. Sometimes I am also relieved that I will never have to face my father and ask him why." The two women looked at each other, both knowing that this was something that they could safely share with each other that few others on the ship would be able to understand. B'Elanna noticed that Seven had lost her fight to hold in her tears and impulsively she walked over and wrapped her arms around Seven who after a startled second returned the embrace. B'Elanna felt Seven rest her head against her shoulder and closed her eyes, feeling her own tears slip down her face. NewMessage: ath: newsspool2.news.atl.earthlink.net!stamper.news.atl.earthlink.net!elnk-atl-nf1!newsfeed.earthlink.net!border2.nntp.dca.giganews.com!border1.nntp.dca.giganews.com!nntp.giganews.com!news.glorb.com!postnews1.google.com!not-for-mail From: cobaltwolf2002@yahoo.com (Kudara) Newsgroups: alt.startrek.creative Subject: NEW: VOY I am Borg - Part 2 - Chapter 7 (7/10) PG-13 (7/T) Date: 8 Oct 2004 17:14:29 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Lines: 679 Message-ID: <3f3213d8.0410081614.480dbbd5@posting.google.com> NNTP-Posting-Host: 68.13.213.47 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit X-Trace: posting.google.com 1097280869 22042 127.0.0.1 (9 Oct 2004 00:14:29 GMT) X-Complaints-To: groups-abuse@google.com NNTP-Posting-Date: Sat, 9 Oct 2004 00:14:29 +0000 (UTC) Xref: news.earthlink.net alt.startrek.creative:161014 X-Received-Date: Fri, 08 Oct 2004 17:14:32 PDT (newsspool2.news.atl.earthlink.net) Title: I am Borg - Part 2 Chapter 7 Author: Kudara Contact: cobaltwolf2002@yahoo.com Series: VOY Part: NEW 7/10 Rating: PG-13 Codes: 7/T, J, crew Summary: Seven decides to release the Saga. B'Elanna loans out Toby. Disclaimer: Star Trek Voyager and all who sail in her belong to Paramount/Viacom and no infringement of copyright/trade marks is intended. Feedback: Always welcome, feedback is what encourages me to keep writing. Please let me know what you like and what you dislike about the story. ********************************************************** Janeway walked into her Ready Room and stopped at the sight of Seven and B'Elanna in a loose embrace. Upon hearing he doors the two stepped away from each other at her entrance and glanced over to see who had entered, relaxing noticeably when they saw it was her. She could tell they had been crying from the evidence on their faces before they circumspectly began trying to wipe the tears away. "Why don't you two use the refresher before we discuss things," said Janeway deciding to be matter of fact about the matter in the hope of not embarrassing them. B'Elanna motioned Seven to go ahead first and as the doors closed behind the woman met the Captain's eyes for a moment and simply said, "Fathers." Janeway who knew something of B'Elanna's feelings for her own father nodded, "Thank you B'Elanna, if anyone on this ship could understand Seven's conflicted feelings about her father's death it would be you." Seven came back out of the refresher and B'Elanna took her turn while the other two women waited silently for her return. Janeway noted that Seven looked calmer and hoped that the two women would help each other come to some acceptance of their respective pasts. When B'Elanna came back she said, "Well B'Elanna what do you think of the Saga?" B'Elanna grinned at the Captain, "They liked you quite a lot, oh brave, courageous and bold Captain." A mock stern look from Janeway merely caused B'Elanna to chuckle and then she sobered and continued, "I think it would be a good idea to release it, if Seven is comfortable with the crew knowing what she felt when she joined Voyager. I didn't realize before I read it just how hard it was for her to understand us, and I didn't know how unwilling she originally was to join us." B'Elanna looked thoughtfully at the Captain, "I thought that once she was freed from the Collective that she wanted to join Voyager. I never knew that Seven made several requests to be returned to the Borg and you denied them Captain." Janeway frowned slightly, "Would it have made any difference if you had known? I did what I thought was best for Seven then, and I know she appreciates my stubbornness about the matter now." Janeway smiled at Seven who nodded in return. "That's true, but I, and I think a lot of the crew, thought that Seven was grateful to be rescued. When she continued acting and sounding so Borg… well, we held it against her. If I had known then that she hadn't joined us willingly I wouldn't have expected her to be grateful. I mean its one thing to expect a person to be grateful when you rescue them, but I wouldn't expect the same thing from someone who saw themselves as kidnapped. And… well the Saga makes it quite clear that Seven didn't see us as rescuers for awhile," replied B'Elanna with a regretful look at Seven. Seven stared back thoughtfully at B'Elanna; she had never understood exactly why the crew had acted like they did toward her in the very beginning of her time on Voyager until now. Seven nodded in understanding to B'Elanna, "Thank you for your explanation Lt. Torres. You believe that releasing the Saga will change many of the crew members' perceptions of my past actions?" "I hope it will," answered B'Elanna, "But I'm concerned about how you will react to them knowing about your father's death. They will want to speak with you about it, if only to offer their condolences." Janeway looked at Seven and knew that B'Elanna was correct; Seven would not react well to the innocent comments about how the crew thought she would be feeling about the death of her father. It had been her main concern about releasing the Saga as well. "Perhaps if I put in a notice asking the crew to not bring up the matter for now, that Seven does not wish to discuss her father's possible death at this time?" offered Janeway. They both looked inquiringly at Seven who thought about the Captain's offer, "If you believe that would suffice to discourage their inquiries then I have no other concerns about releasing the Saga." Janeway looked into the calm steady eyes of the ex Borg and nodded satisfied, "I'll write up something and then release the restrictions on the story." *********************************************************** The evening of the same day Seven and Janeway met outside of Holodeck One for their scheduled Velocity match. Seven was wearing an all red Mularan outfit and had caught whispered comments as she walked through the hallways to the Holodeck about how flattering and more appropriate her new clothing was. "New ground rules, no use of your new fibers while playing the Captain," said Kathryn as they waited for the previous occupants to exit. Seven raised her ocular exoskeleton, "I had not been planning on doing so Captain that would be… cheating. Though I am uncertain how I will play without the advantage my Borg enhancements gave me before. I hope I will prove to be as able an opponent for you." "I'm certain you will Seven," Kathryn responded and then nodded in greeting to Naomi and Samantha Wildman as they exited Naomi's Flotter program. It was the first time the young girl had a chance to see Seven since her disappearance and she squealed in excitement and ran over to Seven and hugged her about her legs. Samantha had not told her about the ordeal Seven had went through, only saying that Seven was on a mission with the Mularans for several days. "Seven!" cried the girl happily, and then she stared in wonder at her friend. "What happened to your implants?" Seven looked inquiringly at Samatha Wildman who shook her head slightly with an entreaty in her eyes. "They were changed as a gift to me by Mulara." Seven showed her hand to Naomi then she unwrapped the wristband and folded the sleeve up to show her that the exoskeleton extended up her arm. Naomi exclaimed in wonder as she touched Seven's arm, "It's beautiful, what is the pattern in the lines?" "I do not know if it has a name, it is a pattern frequently used by Mulara," said Seven. Naomi looked at her curiously, "Does this mean you aren't Borg anymore?" Seven raised her ocular exoskeleton as she pondered the question, "Being Borg is more than the composition of my implants Naomi Wildman. I am still Borg…just as I am also still human." Seven was aware of Kathryn and Samantha Wildman looking at her in surprise but Naomi seemed to understand what she meant. "Are you and the Captain playing Velocity?" Naomi asked. Seven nodded and Naomi said, "Can we play a game of Kadis-Kot soon?" "I am exercising with Lt. Torres tomorrow, perhaps the next day?" Seven inquired. Naomi smiled enthusiastically, "1700 hours, my quarters?" she looked at her mother for permission. Samantha Wildman smiled and nodded, "That would be fine, we will see you then Seven?" "I will be prompt," Seven replied and the four of them went their different ways; Kathryn and Seven into the Holodeck, Naomi and Samantha Wildman toward the mess hall. From the start of the match Seven was aware that she was more attuned to the location of the target than she had been in the past. Her marital arts training emphasized calmness and alertness, and she was finding that those lessons were serving her well now. The first match went to Kathryn but only because Seven had been unable to acquire the target quickly enough after one of Kathryn's amazing saves to prevent it from hitting her. "Almost, Annika you're staying with the target better than I remember from… before." Kathryn grimaced briefly at the reminder that they hadn't played since before Seven died. "References to my death do not bother me Kathryn; you need not avoid the subject. I believe my martial arts training is proving beneficial to my game. I am more aware of where the target is located now." Seven waited for Kathryn to acknowledge the second match and then directed the computer to begin. The second set went to Seven and the third as well. During the fourth set Kathryn asked, "Annika what did you mean by your comment to Naomi that there was more to being Borg than your implants?" Seven had been expecting the question and was slightly surprised that it took Kathryn until the fourth match to ask it. "Trying to distract me Kathryn?" Seven asked with a lifted brow. Kathryn quirked an eyebrow back and they remained silent for the rest of the match until Kathryn won it. "2-2," Kathryn said, "Water break? And you can tell me what you meant without being distracted." Kathryn gave Seven a lopsided smile. "I believe you know that I meant my Borg ways of thinking, seeking perfection, valuing efficiency, my dislike of what I view as irrelevant." Seven paused thoughtfully, "There are many actions I regret being commanded to do during my time with the Borg, yet there are also many things that I value about being Borg. I…" Kathryn waited but Seven didn't finish her statement, "You what?" she asked gently. Seven looked at her wistfully, "I wish I could have the things I value about being Borg without things I regret." Seven's face tightened and she said in a colder tone, "An impossible wish and therefore irrelevant. Are you ready to begin the fifth match?" Kathryn sighed and looked as if she would say something but then shook her head and simply replied "Computer begin fifth match." At the end of their time the score was 6-8 and they reluctantly surrendered the Holodeck to the next crewmember. "Good match," commented Kathryn, "I can see it won't be long before you will be winning your share of them. You're certainly going to keep me on my toes." Seven tilted her head slightly obviously deciphering the comment and then nodded, "That is my intention Captain." Seven wished Kathryn a good night before heading to her quarters to shower and change. She was supposed to meet B'Elanna over dinner to discuss her ideas for a chemical reactor to supply additional power for non-essential systems like food replicators. Kathryn walked to her quarters thinking of how Annika seemed to be struggling with several different issues lately, her father, her feelings about being Borg, and her relationship with the rest of the crew. She was concerned that Annika was dealing with too many difficult problems and wondered why they seemed to have all come up at once. Suddenly she realized that Annika was finally allowing herself to feel instead of ignoring or burying the emotions. All the issues she was struggling with were deeply emotional ones. Issues that she had dismissed undoubtedly as irrelevant before her death, now apparently were not. Kathryn realized suddenly that because Annika was evaluating the aspects of her Borgness she wanted to retain, along with all the other issues she was contemplating from an emotional and subjective point of view, she was becoming more human every day. ******************************************************** B'Elanna was slowly working her way through Nelix's rendition of Black Beans and Rice in honor of one of their Cajun crewmembers birthday and blessing the fact that she had a Klingon instead of a Human stomach when Seven came into the mess hall. Seven nodded to her and went to get her own serving of dinner before joining her. B'Elanna decided to sit back and wait for Seven to take her first bite of the amazingly hot meal rationalizing that she wouldn't decrease the sensitivity of her taste receptors until afterward. The look on Seven's face right after she took her first bite did not disappoint B'Elanna who chuckled and grinned at Seven. Seven raised one brow at her in reply and then focused upon decreasing her sensitivity to the hot spices used by 50% before attempting another bite. Finding the food to be acceptable at that sensitivity level she started eating with more assurance. B'Elanna grumbled, "That's not fair." As she handed Seven a data padd with the research work she had done so far. Seven's lips quirked and her eyes danced, "You are envious of my ability to control my sensitivity to taste?" B'Elanna groused back, "Yes I am, my stomach can handle almost anything but I still have to taste it and this stuff is incredibly hot." "I can always assimilate you B'Elanna, by tomorrow you should have no further concerns about Nelix's meals," Seven offered with a deadpan expression. B'Elanna just shook her head at Seven and replied lightly, "I've been trying to eat this for ten minutes now, don't tempt me." Seven smirked and almost imperceptibly chuckled slightly before turning her attention to the data padd missing B'Elanna's surprised look as she caught the slight laugher. B'Elanna noticed that Seven's hair was in yet another braid style tonight; ever since her Nordic adventure Seven had been experimenting with different braids. Tonight's seemed to consist of two rows that started at her temples and extended backwards to meet in one braid that she had left hanging down her back. While on duty Seven often wore her hair in the chignon that she had worn since she joined the ship, but after duty hours she often wore it braided or gathered loosely in various styles. Seven's willingness to experiment with new hairstyles was just one among many examples of how she had changed since her death on Mulara. B'Elanna frequently felt that in many ways she didn't know the woman in front of her at all or maybe she had just let her hostility blind her to the person under the Borg shell. B'Elanna watched the minute expressions crossing Seven's face as she quickly considered the remaining issues B'Elanna had with the chemical reactor and reluctantly acknowledged that she was starting to feel more than just physical attraction for the woman across from her. There was something about watching Seven begin to acknowledge her emotions and her attempts to deal with them that made B'Elanna feel extremely protective of her. B'Elanna remembered watching a young foal one summer morning when she was a child exploring its pasture for the first time. The young horse had looked at everything with wide eyed wonder, jumping and snorting at butterflies and then finding its legs and running around in short dashes that never took it far from its mother. The youngster had stumbled and fallen during one of these dashes and the young B'Elanna had watched anxiously as its mother had come over to nuzzle it as it shakily stood. It had stayed close by its mother after that for awhile looking suspiciously at the ground as if it had attacked it before venturing back out again. Seven reminded her of that young horse these days, she seemed to have emerged from the emotional cocoon she had been in and was now tentatively exploring a new world. B'Elanna looked pensively out the mess hall window as she considered the fact that her own choices had resulted in Seven taking some of those first steps with Jorunn. B'Elanna remembered Seven's sad demeanor when she spoke of Jorunn and realized that she had stumbled slightly already during her explorations. Seven broke into her thoughts with a suggestion and she and B'Elanna were swiftly involved in a technical discussion on the relative merits of different chemical fusion reactions and methods to convert the energy formed from them into the existing plasma system. Eventually the two whittled down the options each had presented into a few that they both agreed upon, and after a few more minutes of discussion it appeared that the next logical step was to perform simulations of the proposed options and then choose the most likely one. The final step would be to inform the Captain and get her approval and input on the proposed project. As it was quite late when they finished the two of them parted ways at Seven's quarters. "See you tomorrow in engineering?" B'Elanna inquired. Seven nodded, "Yes, we can run the simulation's and further narrow down the best energy conversion method before presenting our proposal to the Captain." "Goodnight then Seven," B'Elanna hesitated for a moment and seemed to want to say something else but remained silent. Seven looked at her inquisitively then seemed to understand that B'Elanna did not know how to bring up what she had said about missing Jorunn tonight. "I am tired enough that I am sure I will be able to sleep B'Elanna." B'Elanna seemed to suddenly come to a decision, "Wait here Seven." B'Elanna strode off towards her quarters and before she could too closely examining her motives grabbed up Toby and returned to Seven's quarters, thanking Kathless that no one had seen her walking through the corridors with her stuffed Targ. "Toby always helps me sleep when I'm feeling lonely," she said as she thrust the stuffed animal toward Seven. Seven gave her a surprised look as she accepted the stuffed animal and gave it an experimental hug and lowered her face to smell B'Elanna's familiar scent on the fabric. "It smells like you," she said her voice softening, "I'm certain that Toby will assist my efforts to successfully sleep B'Elanna. Are you certain you will sleep well without his assistance?" B'Elanna whose heart rate had decidedly increased upon seeing Seven hug Toby to her hoped that the too observant woman missed the signs of her arousal, saying "I'll be fine." She couldn't help but add, "I'll just think of Toby and I'm certain I will have pleasant dreams." Realizing what she had just said she comforted herself with the thought that it would likely go unnoticed by Seven and berated herself silently for the slip. "Pleasant dreams, Seven." B'Elanna wished before quickly leaving before she betrayed herself further. Seven entered her quarters still holding Toby and considered B'Elanna's actions. Jorunn had certainly made her much more aware of the ways that people showed sexual attraction. Curious because of certain physiological changes she had sensed, Seven ran through the last few minutes of interaction with B'Elanna. She had heard B'Elanna's heart rate increase, and noticed her eyes dilate slightly the moment she had accepted the stuffed animal and hugged it. Seven wasn't certain how to interpret the statement B'Elanna had made except that she was aware that it could be interpreted to mean that B'Elanna would have pleasant dreams thinking of her holding Toby. Seven decided that her data was inconclusive; she could not determine whether B'Elanna might be attracted to her or not with the data she currently had. More data would have to be obtained. Seven undressed, preparing for bed, as she slipped into bed she wrapped her arms around Toby and pulled the stuffed animal snugly to her chest. Burying her face into the fabric she took a deep breath of B'Elanna's scent. It was a comforting one and it was not long before Seven feel deeply asleep. The next morning Seven presented herself and Toby at B'Elanna's quarters. When B'Elanna opened the door to admit her Seven presented her with Toby. "You were correct, the presence of Toby did facilitate my sleeping," Seven observed carefully as B'Elanna reached out and took Toby from her and gave him a hug. "Toby's good at that," B'Elanna allowed distractedly as she noticed that Toby now wore the scent of Seven. Noticing that Seven was looking at her curiously she said, "He smells of you now." "Not surprising," Seven stated, "He has spent several hours next to my skin." Seven had observed the signs that indicated arousal earlier and now she noted an increase as B'Elanna realized what she was saying. "I have found that I do not like wearing clothing while I sleep." Seven informed B'Elanna casually and noted the Lieutenants reaction to her words. She was now almost positive that B'Elanna was physically attracted to her like Jorunn had been, though she wasn't sure what to do with the information. B'Elanna was, as far as she knew, still involved with Tom Parris and Seven was not certain what she felt for B'Elanna. B'Elanna delivered Toby back to her bedroom while Seven waited in her living room, she paused a moment to collect her thoughts after the surprising revelation Seven had so casually shared. ‘Lucky Toby' she mouthed to the stuffed targ as she laid it on her bed. B'Elanna paused after straightening and thought about what had just occurred. Seven's first comment was understandable but the second comment… surely Seven hadn't made it solely to ensure that B'Elanna realized that Seven slept nude? If Seven had, it meant that Seven had been watching for B'Elanna's reaction to the revelation. The more B'Elanna thought about it the more certain she was that Seven hadn't made the comment innocently. Seven was certainly growing up quickly, first Jorunn now this. So much for innocent ex-drones not realizing what was going on around them, thought B'Elanna wryly. The question now was what was Seven going to do with the information she had gathered? ************************************************** B'Elanna was starting to wonder if she had imagined everything earlier, Seven had not treated her any differently during breakfast as the day before, perhaps she had been incorrect B'Elanna thought. They were running through the first simulation when Seven looked over at B'Elanna and asked, "You are still intimately involved with Tom Paris?" B'Elanna glanced at Seven whose face was in profile to her as she watched the data from the simulation. Then again, she thought, maybe she hadn't been incorrect. "Yes, we are Seven. Why do you ask?" B'Elanna wondered what Seven's reply would be. "After further research into human relationships, I believe I now understand why my study of your relationship with Lt. Paris angered you. If I am correct then I… owe both of you an apology?" the last was said hesitantly by Seven who wondered if she was correct to mention the matter at this time. B'Elanna looked at Seven surprised by the answer and question; it was not what she had been expecting. B'Elanna debated the wisdom of asking Seven exactly what she was apologizing for and after a look around to verify they were out of the earshot of the other engineers asked, "What exactly are you apologizing for?" Seven had noticed B'Elanna looking around before she asked the question and after a quick glance assumed that she had been checking to make sure no one else could hear them. "I found that although I was careful not to break any Starfleet regulations during the research, I did break cultural privacy expectations. I also was in error when I answered your question about how I knew about the timing of your intimate relations with Lt. Paris in a public setting." Seven glanced at B'Elanna trying to see if she had angered the engineer with her reply. She was relieved to see that the woman was showing no signs of anger when she replied, "Apology accepted Seven." B'Elanna mulled over Seven's explanation and then asked, "You didn't break any regulations?" "No," Seven looked at her curiously after the short answer. B'Elanna frowned slightly at the answer, "Regulations prohibit you from using audio detection devices specifically for the purpose of overhearing sounds from quarters without command authorization don't they?" "Correct B'Elanna," Seven replied. B'Elanna turned and stared at Seven, "You don't think your enhanced hearing falls into that definition?" Seven was puzzled for a moment, "I did not need to use my enhanced hearing, the standard sound proofing is designed to block Human vocal emanations, Klingon's are capable of producing sounds that are lower than the rating of the standard sound proofing." Seven looked somewhat apprehensively at the half Klingon as she explained, concerned that B'Elanna would become angry with her. B'Elanna froze then looked at Seven and noted her tense features, she guessed that Seven was afraid she would be mad at her and she took in a deep breath before speaking. "Are you saying that… certain sounds were clearly audible to any human crewmember who passed by my quarters?" "Yes, B'Elanna that is why I said everyone when you asked instead of saying that I could tell when you were…" Seven stopped when B'Elanna raised a finger and indicated she should be silent. After she had answered the crewmembers question and watched him walk away from Seven and her B'Elanna hissed, "You mean everyone in my section knows and no one has thought to inform me?" "I would not know that B'Elanna, though I can infer that they did not, since you were unaware of the matter." Seven replied trying to be exact in her answer, she had overheard various crewmembers whispering about this very subject in the past. Indeed it was how she became aware of the matter and had decided to use the information to further her study of human sexual interactions. She was not eager however, to share this with B'Elanna in engineering when the volatile woman was likely to react badly. B'Elanna narrowed her eyes staring at Seven, sensing that she was tying to hide something. She was doing it poorly too, for she was unable to meet B'Elanna's eyes when she usually had no problems doing so. This meant that Seven was aware of who knew about the lack of soundproofing and hadn't mentioned it to her. "I thought we were friends Seven," questioned B'Elanna oddly disappointed. Seven's shoulders slumped and she glanced around then looked resignedly at B'Elanna, "Yes, B'Elanna. I do not feel it wise to inform you of what I know here." Seven emphasized the word here and was relieved when B'Elanna finally nodded her acceptance. They spent the rest of the shift working through the various options they had developed the previous evening. By the end of the shift they were pleased to note that the most efficient chemical reaction they had developed was also the one that appeared most likely to work. If it was successful they could take the common, but normally useless, metallic elements found in the Delta quadrant and combine them into more useful forms such as duranium and tritanium while producing small but useful amounts of energy. Throughout the day Seven had caught odd looks and snippets of conversation from the engineering crew. None of them approached her, however, and she attributed that to B'Elanna's presence. Yesterday while in engineering, she had heard one of the crewmembers saying to another that Lt. Torres would have their head if they upset Seven. Thus, she was not surprised to see curious looks directed at the two of them during the day while no one actually dared approach to ask her any questions. The conversations today that she overheard revolved around the releasing of the Saga. The most common topic of conversation was the revelation of her actual relationship with the Captain and her position among the Borg. More than one of the engineering crew considered it ironic that Lt. Torres had been more accurate than they knew when she dubbed Seven our Borg Queen and Ice Princess. Very few of the conversations she overheard concerned any other topics and for that Seven was both relieved and disappointed. One thing Seven became rather certain of however, few people would dare to approach her to ask any questions about the Saga. It seemed that everyone now feared the wrath of the two most powerful women on the ship if they were to cause her any distress. Seven considered the situation and though it was not ideal, it was better than the previous situation where she had frequently overheard derisive or degrading commentary from the engineering crew and the rest of the ship. Not that she had heard as many comments about her breasts or buttocks since she had started wearing a Starfleet uniform and the Mularan outfits Seven realized. While the form fitting nature of the biosuits had been necessary to ensure the fabrics contact with her implants Seven had come to realize that it had been the cause of much of the perspective the crew had of her as a sexual object first and then a person. Now although the random comments she over heard still concerned how she looked, most of them were no longer offensive in nature. "Seven?" Seven glanced at B'Elanna and noticed the quizzical look on the woman's face. B'Elanna grinned at her, "What have you been thinking of so intently? I've had to say your name twice before you noticed." Seven blushed lightly, "I apologize for my inattention, I was thinking of the difference my wearing a uniform has made in the crew's perspective of me. The number of offensive comments I have overheard has dropped considerably and I have had no requests for copulation since I ceased wearing my biosuits." Seven paused thoughtfully, not noticing the darkening look on B'Elanna's face, "Of course it has been only a few days and that was not a frequent occurrence." she added. B'Elanna listened to Seven with a building inner anger that wasn't totally outwardly directed. She had once listened with amusement at the tales of some of the men in engineering who had approached Seven in the hopes of her repeating the offer she had made to Harry Kim. B'Elanna herself had been the cause of that gossip making the rounds of the ship, and Harry had not been appreciative of her repeating what he had told her and he had chastened her for repeating it. Unfortunately by then it had been too late to stop the spread of the amusing tale of Seven propositioning Harry in the mess hall and Harry's retreat. "That's good to hear," B'Elanna offered rather subdued at the further evidence of her mistreatment of Seven. "It was unfortunate that I did not fully understand human behavior when I choose to comment on Ensign Kim's physical attraction to me. Had I known that the other male members of the crew would take it as an expectation that I would make the same offer to them I would have chosen a different manner in which to discourage him," Seven said wryly. B'Elanna stared at Seven; her mouth started twitching in an incipient smile, "Are you saying that you propositioned him because you knew he would run?" Seven briefly smirked, "I believe the correct saying is, ‘the look on his face was priceless'. It was as efficient a method of dissuading him from further attempts at engaging me in an intimate relationship as my observation of him had indicated." B'Elanna shook her head; she had never thought to interpret Seven's actions as anything like this. Finally she started chuckling, the look on Harry's face had probably been priceless and knowing that Seven had intended that her actions would cause Harry to retreat made the entire matter even more amusing. "What's wrong with poor Harry?" B'Elanna inquired after she had stopped laughing. Noticing that the engineering crew was staring at her in surprise she raised an eyebrow at the watchers and noted that they quickly returned to their work. Seven tilted her head considering the question, "After my experiences with Jorunn I believe the answer would be that I am not attracted to men. I have never experienced any signs of physical arousal when I have been in close contact with any male aboard Voyager. Perhaps it is the limited sample however, so I cannot make that determination with any degree of certainty. At the time I did not know that it was possible to be attracted to a member of the same gender, I was only aware that Ensign Kim's advances made me uncomfortable. I knew that I felt only friendship for him, and the prospect of interacting with him in a more intimate manner was distasteful." "Oh," said B'Elanna in surprise as she stared at Seven. She hesitated a moment then asked, "That list you made of men, was Harry really not on it?" Seven glanced at her surprised, "I was not aware you knew of that list… Ensign Kim was indeed on the list, I felt it was inadvisable to make him aware of that fact given that I already knew I was not attracted to him. He had accepted that we were friends and I believe it would be considered unkind of me to give him ‘false hope' of anything more." B'Elanna nodded, "That would be correct." B'Elanna decided to change the subject; she needed to think of what to say to Seven about her part in the gossip about Seven and Harry. "I've scheduled an hour in the Holodeck immediately following your time slot so we will have two hours tonight if you would like?" Seven nodded, "I had noted your scheduling and had hoped that it meant I was invited to share your Holodeck time. I look forward to having more time to practice this evening. Did you want to bring our research to the attention of the Captain this evening or tomorrow?" B'Elanna answered, "Tomorrow will be good, let's break as we barely have time to change before our scheduled Holodeck time. I'll meet you there? And Seven, of course I meant to share my Holodeck time with you, after all you're sharing yours with me." NewMessage: ath: newsspool2.news.atl.earthlink.net!stamper.news.atl.earthlink.net!elnk-atl-nf1!newsfeed.earthlink.net!prodigy.com!news.glorb.com!postnews1.google.com!not-for-mail From: cobaltwolf2002@yahoo.com (Kudara) Newsgroups: alt.startrek.creative Subject: NEW: VOY I am Borg - Part 2 - Chapter 8 (8/10) PG-13 (7/T) Date: 8 Oct 2004 17:16:22 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Lines: 687 Message-ID: <3f3213d8.0410081616.6e4f6ce4@posting.google.com> NNTP-Posting-Host: 68.13.213.47 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit X-Trace: posting.google.com 1097280982 22218 127.0.0.1 (9 Oct 2004 00:16:22 GMT) X-Complaints-To: groups-abuse@google.com NNTP-Posting-Date: Sat, 9 Oct 2004 00:16:22 +0000 (UTC) Xref: news.earthlink.net alt.startrek.creative:161015 X-Received-Date: Fri, 08 Oct 2004 17:16:25 PDT (newsspool2.news.atl.earthlink.net) Title: I am Borg - Part 2 Chapter 8 Author: Kudara Contact: cobaltwolf2002@yahoo.com Series: VOY Part: NEW 8/10 Rating: PG-13 Codes: 7/T, J, crew Summary: Weapons training. Seven tells B'Elanna who knew about her Disclaimer: Star Trek Voyager and all who sail in her belong to Paramount/Viacom and no infringement of copyright/trade marks is intended. Feedback: Always welcome, feedback is what encourages me to keep writing. Please let me know what you like and what you dislike about the story. ************************************************************ Seven arrived at the Holodeck before B'Elanna, wanting to avoid discussing the topic they had been talking about earlier she entered and began the program, setting the door controls to allow B'Elanna to enter. She walked around to the pavilion and saw M'ara waiting for her. As she got closer the Klingon woman shook her head at her, "Luckily for you your new physiology allows you to survive spear thrust wounds to your abdomen. I see we need to work on your skills when dealing with multiple opponents. You're lucky that strike wasn't any higher, if it had hit your heart you would have been disabled and perhaps killed." "You would have allowed me to die?" questioned Seven curiously. "I do not coddle my reborn, but you need not fear dying in training. However, during any other time… you are not any more protected than any other member of this crew. Do not let yourself start believing you are invulnerable." M'ara informed Seven sternly. Seven nodded, "I will keep that in mind," she replied with a lifted brow. "Best you do," said M'ara with a growl. "I would hate to loose you; I've grown rather fond of your continued presence." Seven's face softened, "I will comply", she assured M'ara. "Hey, what's this starting without me?" came the amused voice of B'Elanna. M'ara grinned at B'Elanna as Seven turned, "I believe she wanted to escape your curiosity for awhile longer." B'Elanna looked at M'ara startled, "How do you know about that?" B'Elanna glanced at Seven wondering why she had mentioned the subject to M'ara but Seven shook her head slightly, silently informing B'Elanna that she had not spoken to M'ara about the subject. "I am always aware of Seven," said M'ara to B'Elanna. B'Elanna groaned inwardly, great not only was there a protective Captain watching over Seven but also a energy being powerful enough to be termed a goddess. M'ara smirked at B'Elanna, and then turned to Seven. "Let us go over your performance with Hakan's men." Thus began a different type of training session, M'ara recreated Seven's attackers along with a hologram of Seven and the three of them watched as Seven engaged and fought her ten attackers. B'Elanna watched most of the fight admiringly; Seven's moves had been a flowing, graceful and ultimately deadly dance. The Klingon in her was awed; the Human part of her was slightly dismayed at the combination. Seven watched the fight with a critical eye, wincing internally as she saw what she had missed right before the moment when the one man had managed to catch her by surprise and injure her. When the fight was done M‘ara asked, "So what did you see that you did wrong?" "I failed to focus on the entire environment, thus I did not see him pick up the spear," admitted Seven shamed. B'Elanna nodded agreeing with the assessment, and honesty had her admitting, "I don't know if I could have done any better though. It's hard to keep from focusing on the enemy right in front of you." "True," said M'ara, "But it is a dangerous habit to get into and one I want to break now. Not only in physical fights such as this but also in other situations such as battles with ships and even political battles. You cannot focus solely on what is right in front of you, you must be mindful of your total environment." M'ara stared at Seven intently, "This is a critical skill you need to learn. I want you to start going through the infiltrator simulation as well; it also has things to teach you about keeping your focus wide instead of narrow." Seven raised a brow at these words and looked intently at M'ara, their eyes met for a moment then Seven nodded. Most of the rest of the training session comprised of B'Elanna focusing on her kata's under the tutelage of Kayaln while Seven practiced against multiple opponents. Then for the last half hour the two of them practiced fighting together against multiple opponents. B'Elanna, though she was just learning the formal kata's, excelled in multiple opponent combat since that was how she usually practiced her Bat'leth training on the Holodeck. Now with the formal moves under her belt, B'Elanna found herself using the new moves along with the ones she had taught herself. She found that fighting with Seven was an interesting and invigorating experience. Where B'Elanna fought with passion and emotion, Seven fought with passion and intellect; between the two of them they made a deadly pair. When they finished fighting it was all B'Elanna could do to not turn to Seven and kiss her. Her blood was running high from the fight and the feeling of how well they fought together. Seven was aware of B'Elanna's arousal; with her sense of smell she could not miss the clear evidence of it. Part of her wanted to respond to it, but a larger part remembered all the unkind words and actions of the half-Klingon. Seven had forgiven B'Elanna enough to consider her a friend, but letting the woman close enough to become a lover was not something she was willing to do without trusting her more. Thus Seven spoke to B'Elanna somewhat coolly ignoring the woman's arousal, "I will shower and meet with you later to discuss the topic of our discussion of this afternoon?" B'Elanna nodded somewhat taken aback as she watched Seven stride away quickly. "How many times today did she look at you afraid of a return to your previous adversarial relationship?" M'ara asked B'Elanna after Seven had disappeared from sight. B'Elanna glanced at M'ara guardedly, "A few," she allowed. M'ara looked back at her steadily, "She has forgiven you enough for you to be a friend, when she no longer fears your anger perhaps she will forgive you enough to think of you as a possible lover." With those words the hologram of M'ara disappeared leaving B'Elanna alone with her thoughts. ************************************************* The two of them distractedly discussed the day's simulation results over dinner then proceeded toward B'Elanna's quarters. "Seven please stop acting like you're going to your own execution," said B'Elanna as the doors to her quarter's closed behind them. "I promise that I won't get angry with you for telling me who knew." Seven still looked at her uncertainly and B'Elanna explained, "Seven you were not my friend then, I don't blame you for not informing me about it. But you are now, and I'm asking you as my friend to tell me who knew and didn't inform me. Obviously from the way your acting it's someone who you think should have told me." Seven said in a quiet voice, "I first overheard Lt. Carey informing Lt. Paris of the matter. That is how I knew I could include such data in my research." B'Elanna was stunned, suddenly understanding why Seven had been so reluctant to tell her the information, just two weeks ago she probably would have erupted angrily at Seven for telling her this. "How long ago did you hear that conversation?" "Fifty-six days, 8 hours and 45 second ago B'Elanna," said Seven. B'Elanna smiled weakly at Seven for the exact answer, then turned and walked around her quarters with her hands on her hips considering the information. "Did you happen to hear how Tom reacted to the information?" asked B'Elanna. "Lt. Paris asked what Lt. Carey meant. Lt. Carey informed him of low toned growls emanating from your quarters. Lt. Paris then informed Lt. Carey that you would be extremely angered to learn of this fact from Lt. Carey and that he would take care of the matter. He then told Lt. Carey that such sounds were evidence that he was doing something right and the two of them laughed," Seven recited the content of the conversation from memory. "Really," said B'Elanna agitatedly. "I can recite the conversation verbatim if you would prefer," offered Seven cautiously. B'Elanna paused, "No, I'm not questioning what you said Seven. I'm just reacting to the thought of Tom implying that he would tell me and his comment that he was doing something right." "From your reaction, Lt. Paris failed to inform you of the matter," stated Seven. B'Elanna nodded, "Did you overhear any other similar conversations?" "I overheard two more conversations similar to the one with Lt. Carey," said Seven. "And always with Tom?" asked B'Elanna. Seven nodded, "Yes, they were always with Lt. Paris. The individuals seemed reluctant to approach you with the information B'Elanna." B'Elanna clenched her fists and thought about rearranging Tom Paris's features. "Thank you, Seven for letting me know. I will discuss this with Mr. Paris later," she said with a definite growl in her voiced. "B'Elanna please do not injure Lt. Paris, he is not worth being punished for. And I would miss our training sessions together if you were restricted to the brig," Seven stood in B'Elanna's path and caught her eye. "Don't want to lose your workout partner so soon Seven?" asked B'Elanna lightly, keeping in mind M'ara's words from earlier. "I do not," Seven answered her with a slight smirk. "I'll try not to damage Lt. Paris," B'Elanna promised Seven with a smile. Seven nodded and the two of them parted for the evening. B'Elanna stood in her quarters after Seven had left thinking of the ex-drone. In many ways the evidence of Tom's actions relieved B'Elanna. Now she had an honorable reason for ending the dying relationship. M'ara's words had made it clear that B'Elanna had an uphill battle to fight for Seven to trust her enough to even consider her as a lover, but B'Elanna was beginning to appreciate that the Borg woman was more than worth the fight. "Argg," B'Elanna groaned aloud as she realized she had totally forgotten that she needed to apologize to Seven. After a few moments of thought she decided she might as well get it over with and tapped her combadge. "Torres to Seven, can I come over to your quarters for a few minutes?" Sevens voice responded affirmatively and B'Elanna could pick up the slightly puzzled tone. As she walked the short distance to Seven's quarters B'Elanna acknowledged that she was not looking forward to admitting her part in the gossip about Seven and Harry. When the door to Seven's quarters opened B'Elanna marched in and without waiting for Seven to greet her she launched into her apology, "Seven I forgot to tell you earlier that I was the one who made the mistake of repeating what Harry told me about the events in the Messhall to other people. I apologized to Harry right after it happened, I should have apologized to you as well at the time…but well, I didn't. I am apologizing now though, I'm sorry it caused so much trouble for you." Seven waited for a moment to make sure the rush of words was finished, "I estimated a 50% probability that you were the source of the ‘gossip' B'Elanna." Seven told her with a raised brow and a slight smirk, "I accept your apology and believe it is my turn to tell you to stop acting like you are going to your own execution." B'Elanna gaped for a moment at Seven then started chuckling, "Yea, I guess so; I really hope though that this is one of the last apologies I have to make to you. I've never apologized so much during one week as I have this one. It's not something I do well." "I appreciate that it is not easy for you B'Elanna, I do not believe Klingons are known for apologizing," remarked Seven. "Klingons do not apologize, so I guess you're lucky I'm only half Klingon," B'Elanna said with a smile. Seven actually returned the smile briefly, and B'Elanna felt a sudden sharp flash of attraction that she did her best to ignore. Now was not the time to be thinking of her nascent attraction to Seven, she still needed to speak with Paris first. Seven caught the signs of B'Elanna's arousal and looked at her curiously, uncertain what she had done to cause the reaction. B'Elanna noticed the look and for a few long moments the two of them stared into each others eyes as the feeling of connection between them grew. Suddenly Seven tore her eyes away and when she looked back at B'Elanna uncertainly B'Elanna was suddenly struck by how very much the look in Seven's eyes reminded her of that young foal. It was the same uncertain and slightly fearful look the young horse had given the spot of ground it had stumbled over and hurt itself on. A sudden sharp pang tore through B'Elanna as she realized what the look meant; emotionally Seven didn't trust her not to hurt her again. M'ara had been very accurate in her assessment of Seven's feelings for her. Huskily B'Elanna said, "Seven, I can't change what I did in the past. I promise though that I'll try my best not to hurt you that way again. I know I have a temper, but I'll do my best not to direct it at you. Please just give me a chance to show you that you can trust me." Seven had been looking directly at B'Elanna during her entire speech, and now she dropped her eyes feeling ashamed. "I am sorry B'Elanna, I told you I had forgiven you and I believed it was true. Yet, I find myself unable to forget some of your past actions. My emotions do not seem to want to forgive you; I apologize for lying to you Lt. Torres, I will understand if you do not want to be my friend now." "No Seven," B'Elanna walked close enough to the woman to place a hand on her arm and get her to look back at her. "You did forgive me, you didn't lie to me. But forgiving me doesn't mean that you trust me, and after the past two years I can't blame you. I have to earn that Seven; I just want you to give me a chance. You're still my friend Seven, unless you don't want to be?" "I want to be your friend," Seven assured her, "I will give you a chance B'Elanna, I want to trust you. I do not like these emotions." "That's all I can ask," B'Elanna gave Seven's arm a squeeze and then released it. "Well I'll see you tomorrow morning to make our report to the Captain?" Seven nodded and B'Elanna wished her a good night. Seven stared at the closed doors after B'Elanna left, analyzing the events of the last few minutes. She had been deeply disturbed when she realized that at some level she had not forgiven B'Elanna, yet her admission had not made the woman angry. Instead she had been understanding and even supportive of Seven's failure, telling her it that it was not a matter of forgiveness but one of trust. Seven didn't quite understand the difference, to her forgiving someone meant that you trusted them not to repeat the action that they were being forgiven for. Yet, obviously she had failed to do when it came to B'Elanna. Perhaps Kathryn might be of assistance in figuring out why, thought Seven. *********************************************** B'Elanna sighed as she walked into her quarters, thinking of the upcoming discussion with Tom Paris. The day had gone well, Janeway had been rather excited when B'Elanna and Seven had presented their idea for a chemical fusion reactor to her, and she had authorized them to do more testing. If those tests worked then they would be building the chemical reactor shortly. Seven had spent the day in Astrometrics going over her sensor logs, and B'Elanna had spent the day in Engineering answering some not so subtle questions about the ex-Borg and her changed relationship with her. It hadn't taken the crew long to realize that her guilt induced kindness had changed into an actual friendship, and they were all curious as to why. The only explanation B'Elanna would give them was that she had misinterpreted the ex-drone all along and it was only now that she was getting to know the person behind the Borg shell. And that she liked the person she had met the past few days. She also informed them that she was lucky that Seven had a forgiving nature and was willing to forgive the things she had said and done in the past. She had essentially admitted to anyone courageous enough to ask her that she had been wrong and the entire engineering crew knew how rare an admittance such as that was. B'Elanna hoped it would help them begin to look for the person she had met, and undo some of the damage she had done to Seven. When the admittance chime rang she was not surprised to see Tom Paris. "Hey, B'Elanna," he said bending over to kiss her and looking surprised when she turned her head so that it landed on her cheek. "You ah… wanted to talk to me?" "Yes, I do Tom. I think we need to discuss our relationship. Or lack of one to be more precise," said B'Elanna. "Well, that's not my fault," protested Tom, "You're the one whose been spending all your free time with Seven these days." "And a certain rumor I've heard recently about several people discussing the lack of soundproofing in my quarters with you," B'Elanna informed him slowly getting angry. Tom froze and looked at her, catching the rising color in her cheeks and the tight look to her face. "Oh, well yea I meant to discuss that with you… soon. But… I mean it's not like it has been an issue lately." B'Elanna just stared at him, "Really and when did you plan on having this discussion? Another two or three months from now?" Tom seemed to deflate, "I guess Carey or Seven mentioned it to you didn't they?" Tom stared at B'Elanna but she didn't answer him. "That's ok, it doesn't really matter. Maybe you're right, we do need to discuss the lack of a relationship." B'Elanna raised an eyebrow trying to figure out where he was going with the suddenly reasonable attitude. "Seven has definitely shown me one thing, you don't dislike holoprograms. You just dislike the ones that I like," Tom informed B'Elanna. "If you mean I like training programs instead of holonovels, then yes you're correct," said B'Elanna. "And I like using the Holodeck for relaxation not training. You've spent more time with Seven this past week in the Holodeck than you ever spent with me. And well, I've been thinking that perhaps I would like to find someone who enjoys my holoprograms as much as you enjoy playing with your Bat'leth in Seven's," said Tom looking at B'Elanna with a frank look on his face. B'Elanna looked at Tom and noted the hurt puppy dog look in his eyes, she wasn't sure if he was serious or not but she wasn't about to feel guilty because she didn't like playing Constance Goodheart to his Captain Proton. "I can understand that Tom, and I wish you luck in finding her." Tom looked surprised for a moment then thoughtful, "So you have someone in mind to replace me already?" B'Elanna rolled her eyes, "Tom the only thing I have in mind is to get this chemical reactor tested and completed and to try to get my honor back by being a friend to Seven." "You're taking that honor thing rather seriously," Tom said in surprise. "Yes, I am. But it's not just that anymore, I've found out we have a lot in common. Both of us have a part of ourselves that we rely on for strength and yet dislike at the same time." B'Elanna paused for a moment then continued in a lower voice, "Both of us have complex feelings about our parents." Tom looked at her searchingly and then nodded, knowing something about her feelings about her father. "Well," he said, "I hope you two become good friends. Maybe we could go back to being friends too? I seem to remember that we used to do more things together. Like shoot a game of pool or just have drinks occasionally." "I think we could do that," allowed B'Elanna with a small smile. Tom grinned back then sobered, "I think I know where we went wrong." B'Elanna raised an inquiring eyebrow at him wondering what he would come up with. "I think we both expected each other to change, I expected you to become interested in the same things I was, like my Captain Proton holoprogram," Tom said. "And I expected you to stop wanting to play your holoprograms and spend time with me," finished B'Elanna surprised at his insightfulness. It was something she had forgotten he could show occasionally. B'Elanna gave him a somewhat sad smile but Tom shook his head, "Well, I'd better be going. I hope to see you in Sardines sometime soon, maybe we can see if I can still beat you at pool with one hand tied behind my back." He gave her a taunting smile. B'Elanna chuckled at the old teasing tone, "In your dreams flyboy. Maybe I'll drop by tomorrow night." She looked thoughtful for a moment, "If you don't mind I'd like to ask Seven to join us, she should be good at pool and she needs to socialize more." "Certainly, but don't confuse an analytical mind with playing pool. Tuvok is a good pool player yet no better than you or I, but the more the merrier. Besides, I'd like to meet the new and improved Seven," Tom replied. B'Elanna shot him a look and he raised his hands in a gesture of surrender, "I'll be nice I promise. No way am I messing with the Captain's daughter, at least not again. Having the Captain mad enough to bite off my head over her once was quite enough for me. Not to mention that having you mad at me is a bad idea as well. I'm not stupid," Tom reassured her. B'Elanna looked him in the eyes and was reassured by the steadiness with which he met her gaze. She nodded at him, "I'll see if I can't get her to go with me after our workout, I think we are going to try that infiltrator program tomorrow. I'm looking forward to it." "What's that?" asked Tom intrigued. "Well depending on the technology setting, you're either dropped into a combat zone with nothing but the clothes on your back or a standard Starfleet scout combat suit. From there you have to successfully sneak up and disarm or kill the enemy to gain supplies and eventually break into their base and reach your objective," explained B'Elanna with a definitely predatory grin. "Ah," said Tom looking at her predatory smile uncertainly, "Sounds like work instead of relaxation. I think I'll skip that one." B'Elanna grinned at him; she was looking forward to seeing what Mulara had programmed. Doubtless it would be a challenging and difficult program to complete. "Yea I'm expecting it to be pretty hard, no telling what the program is going to throw at us. From what I saw the higher the technology setting the more technical the traps and security measures will be that you have to break through. And it looks like it increases the difficulty setting if it thinks you are breaking through them too easily." "Ah, well you and Seven knock yourselves out. I'll look for you two tomorrow evening," Tom said as he rose to leave, a rueful look on his face at the obvious pleasure B'Elanna was showing in participating in what sounded like a cadet training exercise to him. B'Elanna looked at the door to her quarters for a few moments after Tom had left, reflecting that the ending to their relationship had gone much differently than she had imagined it would. Instead of a fight she got agreement, she just hoped Tom would continue to be as calm if he ever figured out that she did have someone else in mind, she just didn't know if Seven would ever return her interest. B'Elanna shook her head free of those thoughts and went over to the computer in her quarters. She had been meaning to do some research on the Viking ancestors that M'ara had mentioned Seven being descended from. B'Elanna knew very little about them and M'ara's comment about them being warriors combined with the recreation of Seven's battle had raised her curiosity. ******************************************************* At 1700 hours Seven presented herself at the Wildman quarters for her game of Kadis-kot with Naomi Wildman. "Seven!" Naomi greeted her enthusiastically as she opened the door to the Wildman quarters to admit Seven. "Naomi Wildman, you have been doing well?" Seven asked the young girl. Naomi looked at her, slightly surprised at the question; it wasn't quite like she remembered Seven. It was not long, however, before they were sitting on the floor playing Kadis-kot and Naomi was informing Seven of all the things she had done since the last time they had played. After the game Samantha invited Seven to stay for dinner, which Naomi eagerly seconded. Seven, with a slight smile for Naomi, agreed and over dinner she told them about her time on Mularan. Leaving out the details of how she had been injured she told them about the beautiful gardens and invited them to use her Holodeck program to visit them. After dinner she replicated some of the Mularan fruit for desert and was gratified when both of them expressed their liking of it. After she left the Wildman quarters Seven contacted Kathryn to see if she was free. "Of course Annika, I'll make us some coffee?" came back the reply, to which she replied "That would be acceptable, Kathryn." Seven made her way to the Captain's quarters and Kathryn meet her at the door. "Good evening, Annika," she greeted her. "Good evening, Kathryn," Seven returned the greeting as she entered the Captain's quarters and walked over to the couch to sit down in her accustomed place. Kathryn replicated two cups of coffee, one black and one with milk and sat down beside her. "So how have you been doing Annika?" Kathryn asked. "I am well…" allowed Seven, "However, I am experiencing some difficulty with B'Elanna." Seven paused trying to find the words to explain what she was experiencing. "I thought I had forgiven her as she asked but I am having some difficulty in doing so. I explained this to B'Elanna and she informed me that I did not trust her and that she would have to regain that. I am confused as to the difference. I tried to explain to B'Elanna that I had inadvertently lied to her but she insisted that forgiveness and trust were not the same." Kathryn listened to the rush of words patiently and when it looked like Seven was done she smiled at the confused woman, "Annika its difficult to forgive someone so completely. B'Elanna understands that, which is why she told you she would have to regain your trust." Seven stared at her unsatisfied, "I have forgiven others without this difficulty. I am finding that my emotions are proving to be a source of difficulty when I try to forgive B'Elanna." Kathryn noted how Seven seemed to hunch slightly after her last statement, "What are you afraid of Annika?" She knew she had guessed correctly when Annika whipped around her head to stare at her. "Fear is irrev…" Seven paused mid word and then glanced away from Kathryn and sighed, "I am afraid we will return to the previous antagonistic relationship we had before." "And if you did?" questioned Kathryn softly. "I would be hurt if we returned to our previous relationship," answered Seven. "Those other people you forgave, would you have been hurt if they did the same thing again after you forgave them?" asked Kathryn. Seven stared at her for a moment then answered, "I would have been disappointed in their inability to change. I would not have been hurt by their action to the degree that B'Elanna doing the same would injure me." "So the difference is that you care more about your relationship with B'Elanna than you did with them, thus she has the power to hurt you more deeply than they did, which is why you're afraid of opening up to her," Kathryn explained. "You need to be more patient Annika, your new relationship with B'Elanna isn't going to be built in a week. Over time you will be able to trust that the friendship between you isn't going to disappear. And your fears will fade." Seven nodded slowly, "It was simpler before I started feeling these emotions, they do not seem to be easily controlled by logic. Perhaps I should approach Lt. Commander Tuvok for training in Vulcan methods of emotional control." "I think you are doing just fine, but if you feel overwhelmed perhaps he could help," allowed Kathryn. She hoped though that Annika would give herself a chance to become used to her emotions before she attempted to replace her Borg emotional controls with Vulcan ones. Seven caught on to Kathryn's tepid response, "You do not wish me to take that course of action, why?" Kathryn raised an eyebrow at being so quickly caught, "I just think you should give yourself a chance to become used to feeling your emotions before you attempt to control them. You're Human not Vulcan, you don't have to fear your more aggressive instincts taking control of you." "You believe that what I am feeling is appropriate then, like B'Elanna," Seven stated. Kathryn nodded, "Just give yourself some time to become used to not having your nanoprobes control your reactions." Seven raised a brow, "I believe there is a human saying appropriate to my situation." Seven was remembering how she used to wish that she could feel emotions like the people around her, most especially B'Elanna. "Be careful what you wish for, you may get it." Kathryn looked at her inquiringly and Seven explained how she used to bait B'Elanna just to see the half-Klingon's open emotions because she could not feel such passion herself. She also rushed to assure her that she had already told this to B'Elanna after seeing Kathryn look at her in disbelief. "And what was her reaction?" asked Kathryn faintly, still trying to come to grips with the fact that Seven hadn't been as innocent a party in the altercations in Engineering as she had once believed. "She was more amused than angry; she commented that most people tried to avoid angering her," Seven responded. "Now, however, I find that I do not want to anger her, I am enjoying our friendship much more than the antagonistic relationship we had before." Kathryn looked intently at Annika, a thought beginning to worm its way through her mind. Could Annika possibly be attracted to B'Elanna? And if so, had she been all along? Kathryn gestured, spreading her hands apart, palms up while she said, "All I can suggest is that you give it time Annika. I really think that's the only thing that will allay your fears." Seven nodded, accepting Kathryn's voice of experience in these matters. After Seven had left, Kathryn stared out of her viewport thinking of the surprising revelations of the evening. If she were to suppose that Seven was attracted to B'Elanna then a lot of Seven's actions since she had come back from Mularan made sense. Her willingness to trust B'Elanna even with their past interactions, could be looked at in a new light. The question remained though, was she correct and if she was what did B'Elanna feel about Seven? The engineer had certainly been spending much of her time with Seven lately, but as far as Kathryn knew she was still seeing Tom Paris. Kathryn shrugged, as she had told Annika earlier, time solved many things. Likely it would be the solution for this puzzle as well. NewMessage: ath: newsspool2.news.atl.earthlink.net!stamper.news.atl.earthlink.net!stamper.news.pas.earthlink.net!elnk-nf2-pas!newsfeed.earthlink.net!newshub.sdsu.edu!postnews1.google.com!not-for-mail From: cobaltwolf2002@yahoo.com (Kudara) Newsgroups: alt.startrek.creative Subject: NEW: VOY I am Borg - Part 2 - Chapter 9 (9/10) PG-13 (7/T) Date: 8 Oct 2004 17:19:24 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Lines: 715 Message-ID: <3f3213d8.0410081619.8439af9@posting.google.com> NNTP-Posting-Host: 68.13.213.47 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit X-Trace: posting.google.com 1097281164 22469 127.0.0.1 (9 Oct 2004 00:19:24 GMT) X-Complaints-To: groups-abuse@google.com NNTP-Posting-Date: Sat, 9 Oct 2004 00:19:24 +0000 (UTC) Xref: news.earthlink.net alt.startrek.creative:161016 X-Received-Date: Fri, 08 Oct 2004 17:19:28 PDT (newsspool2.news.atl.earthlink.net) Title: I am Borg - Part 2 Chapter 9 Author: Kudara Contact: cobaltwolf2002@yahoo.com Series: VOY Part: NEW 9/10 Rating: PG-13 Codes: 7/T, J, crew Summary: Kathryn learns Tom and B'Elanna have broken up. Seven Disclaimer: Star Trek Voyager and all who sail in her belong to Paramount/Viacom and no infringement of copyright/trade marks is intended. Feedback: Always welcome, feedback is what encourages me to keep writing. Please let me know what you like and what you dislike about the story. *********************************************************** The next day Kathryn was surprised to overhear a discussion between Paris and Kim about Tom's newly single state. From what she was able to gather B'Elanna and Tom had both decided they were better suited as friends than lovers. What exactly this might have to do with the previous night's conversation with Annika, Kathryn wasn't certain. However, the possibilities were intriguing to say the least. Certainly the developing friendship between her foster daughter and her Chief Engineer warranted more of her attention than it had given this new development. Besides, Kathryn thought with a mischievous twinkle in her eye, she wouldn't want to deprive Seven of one of the essential daughter experiences of being completely mortified when her ‘mother' grilled her first potential suitor. ********************************************************** "Tom and I agreed to go our separate ways last night," B'Elanna casually informed Seven, who was assisting B'Elanna with routine monthly maintenance on the EPS conduits. Seven looked up from where she was examining the readings from her tricorder, surprised at the casual admission. She was uneasily aware that the information she gave B'Elanna was the probable cause of the failure of B'Elanna and Tom's relationship. Seven frowned, "I did not mean for my apology to cause conflict in your relationship with Lt. Paris, I have erred." "No, you didn't err Seven, Tom did. And it wasn't really that anyway, your information was just the final thing that made it clear to me that Tom couldn't be the person I needed him to be. We even discussed how both of us went into the relationship thinking we could get the other person to change. Of course, that failed. The fact that we both felt the other one had to change meant the relationship was doomed anyway. So don't blame yourself Seven," B'Elanna hastened to reassure her. "I do not understand, B'Elanna, clarify…please," Seven requested puzzled. B'Elanna sighed lightly, "I thought that Tom would stop playing around with his cars and Captain Proton program and spend more time with me when we decided to be in a relationship. He thought that I would be more willing to spend time with him playing around with his cars and playing Constance Goodheart," B'Elanna said rather sarcastically. "We both expected the other to make rather radical changes so that we could be together, and not surprisingly that didn't happen. It wasn't a good way to begin the relationship, its not surprising that it didn't work out. You just helped me see that Seven, you didn't cause any of it." Seven recalled the reading she had done, "My studies indicated that potential intimacy should start with a mutual friendship which included common interests or the willingness to develop common interests. Though you had a friendship with Lt. Paris neither of you were willing to develop common interests. Is my understanding correct B'Elanna?" "I'd say that pretty much sums it up," agreed B'Elanna wryly. Seven paused and stared at B'Elanna, uncertain how to ask what she was curious about. Finally she decided to be truthful. Seven paused to scan for life signs other than their own in the Jeffries tube, mindful of the cultural need for privacy, and ignoring B'Elanna's inquisitive look. "I have noticed signs of physical arousal when you are around me B'Elanna, was that also one of the reasons for the termination of your relationship with Lt. Paris." B'Elanna winced inwardly, she had certainly just been thoroughly disabused of any remaining illusion that the ex-drone hadn't noticed her attraction. "It might," B'Elanna allowed, "But that doesn't change the fact that the relationship was pretty much over anyway. Besides I would say we need to work on building a friendship first, and I don't know if you're even attracted to me Seven. So once again, you were not the cause of my break up with Tom." Seven nodded, "This relay is functioning within acceptable parameters, B'Elanna." She informed the Lt., while she considered whether or not she was expected to reply to B'Elanna's statement that B'Elanna did not know whether or not Seven was attracted to her. B'Elanna stared at her for a moment, and Seven wondered if she had seen disappointment in her eyes before she indicated they should move on to the next relay. Seven reached out and stopped the half-Klingon, "I am unsure what I feel for you B'Elanna. I believe I am still too uncertain that the current state of our relationship will continue." Seven paused then continued in a lower tone, "You already know I consider you to be beautiful B'Elanna, it is not just your emotions that I find beautiful. I also find you physically beautiful." B'Elanna looked at her doubtfully. Seven let go of B'Elanna's arm and tilted her head to the side, "I am being honest B'Elanna. "Even my Klingon ones," asked B'Elanna with a definite doubtful tone. "Your Klingon heritage is part of your beauty B'Elanna. Your forehead ridges, your skin tone, your physical strength, the sound of your double hearts, your increased body temperature and your distinctive smell are all part of what I find to be beautiful about you B'Elanna," Seven stated calmly. "Oh," said B'Elanna surprised at the listing of the physical traits. "My smell?" she questioned, then winced wondering if she really wanted to hear Seven's answer. "Yes, I find your scent to be pleasing, when we are not arguing it has a…" Seven paused then inhaled deeply and looked thoughtful, "soothing effect on me. I am uncertain why this is." B'Elanna stared at Seven, soothing was not what she had expected Seven to say, she didn't see herself as a soothing type of person by any stretch of the imagination. Yet she knew Seven wouldn't say it if it wasn't true, "I don't really see myself as a soothing type of person Seven," she finally admitted. Seven nodded, not surprised by B'Elanna's words. She had trouble understanding why she perceived the other woman's scent as soothing as well. In the past it had always produced a strange ache in her as the dichotomy between her feelings of safety in the engineers presence was contradicted by B'Elanna's aggressiveness toward her. Lately however with their changed relationship there was no such dichotomy and Seven was free to experience the first without the second. "Yet I find it to be so, because I feel safe in your presence… It hurt when we would argue. Even when I would initiate the argument," a touch of the sadness of that time reached Seven's eyes for a moment then she straightened. "We should continue to the next relay B'Elanna." Kathless, thought B'Elanna, I have been such a Peta'Q. Please let me not have destroyed all hope of anything between us. Impulsively B'Elanna reached up and gently cupped the side of Seven's face. "I want you to feel safe with me Seven… I wish I had realized it earlier." Seven stilled feeling the warmth of B'Elanna's hand cupping her cheek so gently. Almost instinctively she turned her head into the contact deepening it and took a breath smelling the scent of B'Elanna from the pulse point in her wrist. Suddenly Seven was aware of something she hadn't been willing to face before, mixed in with the feeling of safety was the stirring of desire. Seven looked at B'Elanna, not certain what to do about the feelings the woman's touch had stirred in her. B'Elanna watched with surprise as Seven turned her head to rest her face more fully in B'Elanna's hand. As Seven turned to look at her with eyes that had deepened from grey blue to blue B'Elanna recognized the desire in them and the uncertainty. B'Elanna breathed in deeply, controlling her own rising desire and stroked Seven's face with her thumb softly before dropping her hand away. "Let's get moving to that next relay or we will be late for our Holodeck time tonight Seven," said B'Elanna with a smile. Then at the slightly confused expression on Sevens face she explained softly, "Friendship first." Seven nodded understanding and picked up the tool kit and followed along behind B'Elanna as they moved toward the next relay. She couldn't help but be aware that the nature of the relationship between them had just changed yet again. For one thing she didn't recall ever being so quite aware of exactly how B'Elanna's uniform emphasized the muscular nature of her buttocks as she walked. Or how the slenderness of her waist contrasted so pleasingly with the width of her shoulders and the roundness of her hips. It was as if the simple touch had awakened something inside her that had been there all along but previously dormant. B'Elanna reached the next relay and turned around to glance at Seven only to see her drop her eyes away from her gaze and blush slightly. Slightly confused by her reaction she automatically began examining the relay while Seven took readings of the plasma flow. Suddenly a possible reason for Seven's embarrassment came to her, had Seven been checking her out? B'Elanna tried to remember where Seven's gaze had been directed when she turned around. She found it most frustrating to realize that she couldn't remember. Suddenly B'Elanna realized she really hadn't given serious thought to what she wanted. In many ways Seven's seeming indifference to her attraction had made it easy for her to just react without seriously considering the further implications. Seven might not be totally innocent any more but she was still very innocent when it came to relationships. B'Elanna glanced at Seven as they worked out of the corner of her eye. Seven was definitely beautiful, she was also loyal, honorable and truthful almost to a fault. Add to that the sheer physical strength she possessed and it was no wonder her Klingon half was attracted to the blonde. B'Elanna knew… or thought she knew that Seven would be hurt if her first relationship was based purely on physical attraction. She was beginning to see how gentle and caring the ex-drone was capable of being. Seven did have a ruthless side, but it always showed up when Seven was protecting someone or something she cared about. B'Elanna decided that perhaps being as honest as Seven usually was might be easier than trying to speculate as to what Seven expected from her first relationship. "Seven, what are you expecting from your first relationship? I mean are you looking for a casual relationship or a serious one?" Seven looked at B'Elanna surprised for a moment then she considered her question. "I am uncertain B'Elanna, the Doctor prior to my own research had given me the impression that one only could only have one relationship that progressed through several well defined stages to a binding relationship such as marriage. My research since has indicated that his description is flawed." B'Elanna stared at her gaping, "That's an understatement, I can't believe he told you that. What is he back in the twentieth century?" Seven smiled briefly at B'Elanna, "My own research has indicated that several different approaches to relationships are acceptable. It is permissible to engage in casual relationships for the purpose of sexual intercourse for pleasure without any expectations of marriage. It is also permissible to ‘date' several people while searching for the person one intends to ‘marry'. Such dating may or may not involve sexual intercourse." Well that was definitely succinct thought B'Elanna, "Well yes those are all true, but what approach do you want to engage in Seven?" Seven was silent for a long moment, "While I have come to understand the desire to engage in sexual intercourse for physical pleasure I believe I would prefer to ‘date' with the intent of finding someone I would wish to…marry." "That's my preferred approach as well," said B'Elanna. They worked together for a few more minutes in relative silence, only speaking when it was required by their work. Seven had been replaying the events of the afternoon in her mind in between the moments when she needed to work. She knew the conversation they had just had was significant, she believed they had just defined the parameters for a potential intimate relationship between the two of them but she was not entirely certain. "B'Elanna should I interpret our recent discussion as an indication that you wish to date me?" inquired Seven deciding to continue the honest tone the conversation had kept so far. B'Elanna chuckled softly, "I knew you would get around to asking that Seven. You took a few more minutes than I expected actually… To answer your question, yes eventually I hope we can date. But I think we both know that we still need to work on our friendship first. We have common interests and enjoy spending time together, but we can't date until you trust in our friendship and in me." B'Elanna paused in her work to look frankly at Seven as she said the last. Seven nodded solemnly, "I will comply B'Elanna." B'Elanna frowned slightly, "Comply with what? Working on our friendship?" "I did not mean to be inexact, B'Elanna. Yes, I will comply with working on our friendship. I wish to trust you," Seven's voice dropped and she sounded almost shy when she spoke again, "I find the thought of dating you to be… very appealing. I am having a very different reaction than when I contemplated dating Lt. Chapman." B'Elanna grinned at the last comment, "Well I certainly hope so Seven. So, what tech level were you planning on playing tonight?" B'Elanna decided a move toward a less intimate conversation was needed at this point. Seven accepted the sudden change in subject, replying "I was planning on playing at current technology levels. I have looked at the specifications for the current Starfleet stealth combat suit and believe they can be greatly improved. I would like to work with the unmodified suit first though, if you do not have any objections B‘Elanna." "No, none at all. As a matter of fact would you like some help in modifying the suit? That sounds fun quite frankly," B'Elanna replied intrigued by the thought. "Your assistance would be welcome, B'Elanna," Seven smiled at B'Elanna briefly with pleasure. ***************************************************** Promptly at 1700 the two of them met outside of the Holodeck for their first Infiltrator program run. Seven was dressed identically to B'Elanna in a standard Starfleet workout pants and halter top. Which was not surprising as it was the suggested outfit to wear under the combat suit. B'Elanna stared at her arms for a moment admiring the intricate interweaving of the exoskeleton bands running along her arms and shoulders. Seven looked at her curiously then held out her arm. "You may examine my exoskeleton more closely if you wish, I have had many crewmembers stare at me as I walked here. A few of them seem to have had difficulty navigating the corridors as they walked into the corridor walls after I had passed," Seven said dryly. B'Elanna glanced at her and detected the slight twinkle in the blonde's eye and laughed at the statement. "I can't blame them for looking Seven, its very eye catching." Curiously she gently reached out and touched the design finding it to be the same temperature as Seven's skin and oddly enough soft and supple to the touch. She had expected it to be different, harder and less giving. She looked at Seven who was watching her touch her arm with an intent expression and her breath caught at the darkness in Seven's eyes. The phrase sensitive to tactile touch went through her mind and she wondered exactly how sensitive Seven's exoskeleton was. "Thanks," she said somewhat huskily. Seven nodded silently and seemed to shake herself slightly and nodded toward the Holodeck doors. The previous occupant had already left so they were able to step immediately into the program once Seven had started it running. Seven had specified a forested terrain and as a result the combat suits they found themselves wearing were colored with various shades of green and brown in random patterns designed to allow them to blend into a forested environment. Combat Stealth Suits were comprised of an outer exchangeable shell that covered the actual suit. The Combat Stealth Suit was designed with built in sensor technology that was able to duplicate many of the detection capabilities of a tricorder. The readout was displayed on a hands free display projected onto the interior of the polarized face plate. The energy and bio readings of the suit and occupant were masked so that most sensors would not be able to detect them. Their first task was to establish encrypted local range communications between the suits. Seven quickly accomplished this and encrypted the transmission using Borg encryption codes. The transmission also allowed them to monitor each other's biosigns so they could tell if the other was injured. "Transmission encryption complete, successfully reading your biosigns B'Elanna. All suit senor readings functioning normally, energy and bio sign masking operating normally," Seven reported when she was finished. Seven could not see B'Elanna's face behind the camouflaged face plate which was disconcerting, but it also mean that B'Elanna would not notice that she was admiring the how the form fitting suit looked on the muscular woman. B'Elanna finished the diagnostics on her suit and indicated to Seven that they were ready to get their mission objective. The mission was fairly simple, they had been inserted two miles away from their mission objective which was a small communications station that they needed to infiltrate and destroy the communications equipment. Preliminary reconnaissance reported signs of Jem'Hadar troops guarding the area as well as various types of sensors. "This is at a medium setting?" B'Elanna questioned thinking of the difficulty of getting past Dominion troops. "Yes, B'Elanna," Seven verified. "Ok, any suggestions?" asked B'Elanna wondering what the difficult setting might throw at them. "bISovbejbe'DI' tImer," growled Seven. B'Elanna started, then grinned at the incongruity of having to figure out how to translate Klingon spoken perfectly by a Borg ex-drone. "When in doubt, surprise them?" she hazarded. "Yes, we need to figure out what type of attack they are expecting by the placement of their personnel and sensors, then attack them in an unexpected manner," Seven offered. B'Elanna nodded, it was sound strategy. It took them thirty minutes to work their way to within a mile of the communications station, during that time they figured out that most of the sensors and personnel seemed to be set for large scale troop movements, not small unit destroy operations. Suddenly the medium difficulty setting made sense, all they had to do was not be detected by the Dominion troops or sensors and the mission should be easily accomplished. Of course both of them were aware that battle plans rarely lasted past the first engagement. Using their suit's equipment they worked their way toward the station at a deliberate pace, avoiding the sentries and working their way around the various sensors. At one point they were almost surprised by one of the sentries, they quickly rolled into some bushes for cover. Seven was surprised to find herself rolling down into a small gully and stopped herself and then caught and stopped B'Elanna from rolling any further. B'Elanna had been surprised when the gentle slope suddenly turned into a more steep one and she started rolling faster than she wanted, arms caught her and she found herself resting atop Seven who had caught and stopped her. They both froze at the sound of the sentry calling out to another, both of them knowing at this point that trusting in their camouflage was probably the best option. B'Elanna was very aware of the form of the woman underneath her, and she couldn't help but relax into the body beneath her fitting them even closer together. She could see nothing of Seven's face but the bio readouts told their own tale of Seven's heart and pulse rate. B'Elanna knew that her own readouts were telling Seven much of the same information. Finally Seven indicated that they could move and B'Elanna reluctantly levered herself off the taller woman. They continued their way cautiously toward the station, finally dropping and crawling the remainder of the way until they were within visual range of the station. The two of them watched the movements of the guards and figured out where all of the sensors were located and what area's they covered. Unfortunately it appeared that their ability to evade the Jem'Hadar had ended. From now on they would need to neutralize the enemy quickly before they could alert the surrounding troops. After some argument they agreed that they would attempt to take out the two outer guards first then quickly move to neutralize the remaining inner guards. From here on out they would have to count on luck and speed to accomplish the mission. Seven crawled close to her designated guard then when she was as close as she thought she could safely get she signaled her readiness to B'Elanna. When she received the counter signal she sprang from where she was lying and sprinted to the guard. The Jem'Hadar's moment of surprise was all she needed to snap his head back with a decisive blow to his face. Somewhat sheepishly she felt the facial bones break and realized she had probably killed her opponent. Seven felt it was somewhat of a failure for her since she was trying not to be lethal during the program, however the she had prevented the guard from raising the alarm so within the scope of the mission it was a success. She glanced over to check on B'Elanna only to see her opponent go down with an unnatural angle of the head that indicated that B'Elanna had snapped her opponent's neck. Efficient noted Seven with some pride at the other woman's evident strength, a Jem'Hadar was not a weak opponent. Seven brought her attention back to her mission and entered the building with B'Elanna following only a few steps behind. Seven split off to the right while B'Elanna took the left hand corridor. Both of them had appropriated the rifle that both guards had been carrying. Seven with one intent look at the foreign weapon resolved to pause and examine it in more detail later. It was likely that Mulara had provided them with an accurate duplicate of a weapon with which they were totally unfamiliar. Seven focused her attention forcefully back onto her surroundings, reminding herself that she was supposed to focus on her environment at all times. Noting her sensor readings she detected a room with three Jem'Hadar 9 meters down the corridor. Observing their positions she leapt to the entrance of the room and fired at the first Jem'Hadar then dove under the return fire an took out the second. The third Jem'Hadar almost managed to fire upon her but she shot at him almost instinctively and was surprised to see him drop. Perhaps Kathryn's ability to instinctively aim and fire were not out of her reach, Seven thought. Seven kept on the move continuing around the corridor in time to assist B'Elanna who had been pinned down by four remaining Jem'Hadar. Taking them by surprise Seven was able to take down two of them which allowed B'Elanna to move to a more advantageous position and take down the remaining two Jem'Hadar. The two women examined the communications equipment and were able to quickly devise a feedback loop that would overload the equipment with energy and fuse the components. It took them another minute to set up the loop and initiate it, then they destroyed the sensor network with their Jem'Hadar rifles and proceeded back out of the communication station. Using the sensor equipment in their suits they were able to evade the sentries that were responding to the attack. A minute into their ex-filtration the computer announced the successful accomplishment of their mission goal and asked if they wished to continue the scenario until they reached their entry point. Seven responded with a quick affirmative and the two woman raced as quickly as they could toward their entry point. As they were running Seven caught a flicker of movement out of the corner of her eye. Before she could entirely process the information she found herself reaching out and pulling B'Elanna into her and rolling the both of them onto the forest floor as energy beams passed over their heads. Seven had retained possession of her rifle and it only took her a second to identify and target one of their attackers. B'Elanna had lost possession of her rifle when Seven had grabbed her but she located it and crawled over and grabbed it and began firing back as well. Between the two of them they managed to take down all of their attackers. They only had ten minutes left in the program by the time that they were finished with the fire fight. Picking up their pace they decided to rely on speed to get them the last quarter mile. Four Jem'Hadar suddenly beamed into a space directly in front of them surprising Seven and B'Elanna momentarily. Seven did not slow her momentum and used it to deliver a devastating kick to the first Jem'Hadar she reached. Blocking the blow from another one she noticed one of them drawing a weapon and threw herself at him, tackling him midsection and bearing the both of them to the ground. B'Elanna had been a few paces behind Seven snapped off a quick shot that took out one of the remaining two opponents and then when Seven and the Jem'Hadar she had tackled separated she shot him as well. "Run," she gasped out knowing they were close to their designated entry point. Seven who had rolled to her feet, spared a moment to nod and the two of them reached the designated location with only moments to spare. As the Holodeck faded to reveal the machinery that emitted the holo programs the two of them smiled at each other. "Qapla'," exclaimed B'Elanna. Seven's mouth quirked up in a smile, "Qapla'," she agreed. "Sardine's for a cup of bloodwine, Seven?" B'Elanna suggested still running high over the final fight and sprint for the entry point. "Tom wanted us to stop by if we could." Seven nodded, "I believe it is customary to toast a victory." B'Elanna reached up and slapped the blond on the back in agreement, not surprised when Seven didn't move much. An amused look and raised brow was all the reply she got right before Seven returned the favor, rocking the smaller woman slightly. B'Elanna grunted slightly and then laughed at Seven's return of the gesture. B'Elanna was happy to see that Seven was at ease with her tonight, fighting together in the Holodeck always seemed to improve Seven's level of confidence in their friendship. As they walked into Sardines B'Elanna noted the presence of the Captain and Chakotay in addition to Tom, Harry and a woman hanging all over Tom who B'Elanna finally recognized as Ensign Brooks. Everyone paused in surprise at seeing the pair of them, or perhaps it was at the sight of Seven thought B‘Elanna. "Computer provide Mularan shirt and wrist wraps in royal blue in my size and a similar set in dark red in Lt. Torre's size," Seven said when they were fully in the Holodeck. The neatly folded clothes appeared in Seven's hands and she handed the red set to B'Elanna as she quickly slipped her shirt over her head and wrapped the banding about her waist and wrists. B'Elanna followed suit and curiously touched the soft fabric after she had figured out the wrist and waist wraps. "The style and color suit you B'Elanna, I am glad that you did not mind that I asked for a set for you. I have been wanting to see how you looked in the style." Seven commented before she turned to the bartender and said, "cha' 'Iw HIq" B'Elanna noted some curious looks from those who overheard the Klingon phrase for two bloodwines, she noted that the Captain merely looked amused as she examined her two officers. Tom was looking a bit sour as she continued to calmly ignore him and the red headed woman who was hanging all over him in favor of getting her drink with Seven. "No I don't mind, I'm glad you like how I look in them," she replied to Seven. Seven took the two drinks and handed one to B'Elanna, the two of them ritually tapped their glasses together and Seven said, "Sigr, victory." B'Elanna smiled guessing Seven had spoken Old Norse and replied "yay." With that the two of them took deep drinks of their bloodwine, celebrating their first win over the Infiltrator program. The Captain came over and said, "I understand you two were running through Mulara's Infiltrator program. I gather you succeeded in your first mission." She indicated the two glasses with a smile. "Yes, Captain," Seven answered. Between the two of them they began to enthusiastically fill in the Captain and Chakotay who had wandered over to listen. "Jem'Hadar," mused the Captain, "Seven you said you thought the rifle might be an accurate replica of one of their weapons?" "I believe so, Captain," answered Seven. "Might be a good idea to study one then, the Federation probably already knows everything about their weapons but we don't. And you never know we might run into a race in the Delta quadrant which uses similar technology," Janeway said, informally ordering them to research the Jem'Hadar rifle. Janeway and Chakotay left Sardines shortly afterward, in the corridor after the doors had shut Chakotay commented on how he had never thought that the two would make friends much less Seven start picking up Klingon habits from B'Elanna. Janeway smiled, "I think part of the reason Seven does that is to see the expression on people's faces. She has a very dry sense of humor and I could see her smirk right after everyone reacted to her ordering those drinks." "How did you notice that?" asked Chakotay, "she had her back to us." "Reflection behind the bar," Janeway smiled at Chakotay. Chakotay shook his head smiling, "Now I'm going to start looking for it, I wonder how many other things she does just to see people's reactions." "Oddly enough, less than you might think. She still has trouble understanding the concept of humor. I just noticed the Klingon thing tonight because she was watching B'Elanna's reaction and B'Elanna was watching ours," said Janeway. Back in the Sardines program B'Elanna and Seven had joined Tom, Harry and Susan Brooks at their table. The three of them had apparently been playing one of Tom's Captain Proton programs. It was all B'Elanna could do not to chuckle at Tom as he tried to make her feel jealous over Brooks who apparently enjoyed playing Constance Goodheart. "I believe you are better at participating in Lt. Paris's programs than I am," Seven said to Ensign Brooks, "I misunderstood the role of Constance Goodheart and proceeded to disable the robot that threatened me. It was not a challenging opponent." B'Elanna almost spit out the mouthful of bloodwine she had at Seven's comment, she recalled that Tom had whined to her about that once and she had found it amusing even then. Susan Brooks leaned over and put an arm around Tom's shoulder, "Oh I don't mind letting Tom and Harry rescue me, I find it enjoyable just to play along in the role." "Well Tom was saying he wanted to find someone that liked participating in his programs with him, I'm glad it didn't take him long to find you Susan," B'Elanna commented with only slight sarcasm. Knowing full well that Tom had probably already been seeing Ensign Brooks when they broke up. Seeing Tom's startled faced at her comment helped, apparently he thought that he would be rubbing his new girlfriend in her face. So much for the lets be friends like we used to be, she thought. "Why don't we go have some real bloodwine instead of the holographic type Seven," she commented. Seven nodded, "That would be acceptable B'Elanna." Seven stood and waited for B'Elanna to get up. She had caught on to the fact that the presence of Ensign Brooks was designed to make B'Elanna regret ending her relationship with Lt. Paris. After watching B'Elanna's amused reaction and Lt. Paris's disgruntled expression she realized that he had failed. She wondered if he was aware of B'Elanna's interest in her but from the way he reacted around her she thought he was not. "I thought you couldn't drink Seven," said Tom. "I could not before I died, now though I react normally since my cortical node is not affected by it," Seven replied as she and B'Elanna stood to leave. "Oh," came the reply from Tom. The two of them left Sardines and started for B'Elanna's quarters. "You were not upset by the presence of Ensign Brooks?" questioned Seven. "Nope," replied B'Elanna lightly, "I hope they get along well together and Tom gets over trying to make me feel jealous." Seven nodded as the two of them entered B'Elanna's quarters. B'Elanna replicated them two bloodwines and they sat down and began discussing how to examine the hologram Jem'Hadar weapon. The conversation continued as they went to the mess hall for a late dinner where Harry Kim joined in the discussion. Tom Paris was no where to be seen and B'Elanna assumed that he was probably still with Ensign Brooks. She shrugged internally and focused on listening to the conversation. They all agreed that they should study the weapon first in the Holodeck then when they had learned all they could there they would replicate the actual weapon and finish their study. B'Elanna and Seven parted company late in the evening, agreeing to meet in engineering the next day to finish their experiments on the chemical reactor. Projects were starting to stack up and they needed to get that one completed before they could start studying the Jem'Hadar weapon in earnest. NewMessage: ath: newsspool2.news.atl.earthlink.net!stamper.news.atl.earthlink.net!elnk-atl-nf1!newsfeed.earthlink.net!prodigy.com!news.glorb.com!postnews1.google.com!not-for-mail From: cobaltwolf2002@yahoo.com (Kudara) Newsgroups: alt.startrek.creative Subject: NEW: VOY I am Borg - Part 2 - Chapter 10 (10/10) PG-13 (7/T) Date: 8 Oct 2004 17:21:27 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Lines: 744 Message-ID: <3f3213d8.0410081621.49c88772@posting.google.com> NNTP-Posting-Host: 68.13.213.47 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit X-Trace: posting.google.com 1097281287 22588 127.0.0.1 (9 Oct 2004 00:21:27 GMT) X-Complaints-To: groups-abuse@google.com NNTP-Posting-Date: Sat, 9 Oct 2004 00:21:27 +0000 (UTC) Xref: news.earthlink.net alt.startrek.creative:161017 X-Received-Date: Fri, 08 Oct 2004 17:21:30 PDT (newsspool2.news.atl.earthlink.net) Title: I am Borg - Part 2 Chapter 10 Author: Kudara Contact: cobaltwolf2002@yahoo.com Series: VOY Part: NEW 10/10 Rating: PG-13 Codes: 7/T, J, crew Summary: Seven and B'Elanna bring the chemical reactor online, and Disclaimer: Star Trek Voyager and all who sail in her belong to Paramount/Viacom and no infringement of copyright/trade marks is intended. Feedback: Always welcome, feedback is what encourages me to keep writing. Please let me know what you like and what you dislike about the story. ************************************************************ It had taken them a week of hard work to finish the chemical reactor, they had made the final connections to the plasma grid this morning and now they were ready to initialize the first reactive process. "Adding metallic ions," B'Elanna reported, standing next to the input control panel. A few minutes later, "Energy production at 10%, tritanium molecules are starting to collect in the output chamber." said Seven, who was standing at the reactor's main control panel. "Bringing input mix up to 50% of nominal," B'Elanna looked over at Seven waiting to see what the results of this action would be. Seven watched the displays in front of her intently, "Energy production rising…30%...35%...40%...45%... energy production at 50%." They continued raising the input mix in stages until they reached a 100% nominal mix and Seven was able to report that the energy production was at 100% as well. B'Elanna gave Seven a triumphant smile and walked over to the main EPS system displays, looking at the total ship's energy levels. "There it is, energy levels are rising… 105%... 110% of normal and holding steady, we've done it Seven!" B'Elanna looked over at the woman still monitoring the output displays and could tell that Seven was pleased. Over the past week B'Elanna had grown much more adept at reading the expressions that fleeted over Seven's face. One night after an unarmed training session she had asked Seven why she didn't show her emotions more openly. Seven had admitted that she had attempted to learn how to smile more readily but had been displeased with the results, declaring them unsatisfactory. After she had managed to persuade Seven to show her the ‘smile' B'Elanna had to admit that Seven was correct, it didn't look quite right, it was too forced. "I think that smiles have to be spontaneous to look natural, Seven," she had told her and had grinned at Seven's disgruntled look. Seven had also admitted that she didn't feel comfortable with showing her emotions visibly. When B'Elanna had asked why, she had admitted that she didn't really know why, the thought was just uncomfortable. Noting how Seven had hunched over slightly while she was speaking of the subject B'Elanna remembered when she had been talking to Tom and Harry about the same subject and had said that perhaps Seven didn't feel comfortable with the crew knowing how she felt. Now looking at Seven she believed that she had guessed correctly. B'Elanna didn't know if Seven's reserved nature came from the Borg or if it was part of Seven's own personality. After she had managed to talk Seven into showing her some of the Raven logs she thought that it might just be part of Seven's personality exacerbated by Borg conditioning. B'Elanna's heart had ached for the bright, inquisitive six-year-old revealed by those logs. Young Annika's questions had almost been prophetic given what had happened. B'Elanna's wandering attention was drawn away from Seven as she glanced to see who had come into engineering. B'Elanna stood up straighter as she saw that it was the Captain who had come down, probably to see how their project was progressing. Janeway walked over to B'Elanna with an expectant look, "How is it going?" "Ship's energy levels are at 110%, Captain," B'Elanna reported to her. "Congratulations are in order then," Janeway said, "and I'll be increasing replicator rations later on today. I'm sure the crew will be appreciative of your efforts, I know I am." Janeway smiled at the two of them, they had worked hard on this project. She had dropped by engineering frequently to check on their progress and to quietly observe the two of them as they worked together. One didn't have to be an astute observer to notice the growing friendship and attraction between the two women. They might have thought they were being discrete, but anyone watching would have noticed that Seven looked at B'Elanna when she thought B'Elanna wasn't watching, and B'Elanna looked at Seven when she though Seven wouldn't notice. And both of them pretended to be engrossed with their work if the other noticed them watching. Janeway had found it a rich source of amusement the entire week. Janeway had noticed Ensign Brooks hanging all over Tom Paris earlier in the week at Sandrines. When B'Elanna and Seven had walked in she had been prepared to intervene if B'Elanna got angry, but B'Elanna had just given the helmsman an amused and condescending look and had turned her attention back to Seven. It had been at that point that Kathryn thought she was correct about the two of them being attracted to one another. Now, of course, she was absolutely certain the two were attracted to one another. She was also pleased to note that they seemed to be taking things slowly and that B'Elanna was obviously working on regaining Seven's trust. It had seemed a strange pairing at first, given their history, but after seeing them work together for over a week she was beginning to see that the two of them were suited to one another. Both of them were incredibly bright, honorable, strong women, and both felt themselves to be different from the rest of the crew. Janeway's main concern now was that the two of them might be too alike, which could work for or against them. "The chemical reactor is functioning as expected Lt. Torres, Captain," Seven's voice intruded into Janeway's thoughts and she focused on the younger woman that had walked over to the two of them. "Yes, it is. I was telling B'Elanna that I will be increasing the replicator rations for all the crew this afternoon. I would like your input into how much of an increase we can afford, I was thinking an increase of two replicator rations a day for each crewmember?" asked Janeway. She could almost see the calculations going on in both their heads. B'Elanna nodded and turned inquiringly to Seven raising an eyebrow. Seven responded, "That should be acceptable and still leave the ship with a slight surplus of energy. B'Elanna do you agree?" "Sounds good to me, I know I will enjoy the extra replicator rations," affirmed B'Elanna. "You two will be starting on the Jem'Hadar weapon next?" asked the Captain. "Yes, I'd like for Harry to help us if that's alright Captain?" asked B'Elanna. "I'll let him know," the Captain assured her. "Well I've got to get back to the Bridge, good job you two." Her praise brought out a full smile from her Chief Engineer and a straightening in posture and a pleased look from Seven. She smiled at the both of them and then left for the Bridge, their next project should prove interesting; no doubt Harry would be pleased to assist. Back in engineering the two women discussed the possibility of using the deflector dish to gather a metallic ion stream that could be fed directly into the chemical reactor. Both of them agreed that it should be fairly simple to do if they ever need to do so. They finished up the last diagnostics on the chemical reactor and filled out the necessary logs and reports, before they were finally ready to look at the Jem'Hadar weapon. "B'Elanna, Holodeck 1 will not be in use for another two hours, should I reserve it for us to begin examining the Jem'Hadar weapon?" asked Seven. "Yes, and make sure you use engineering's hours and not your own, I'll see if the Captain has spoken to Harry yet." B'Elanna answered her as she tapped on her combadge to speak to Harry. "Torres to Kim." "Kim here," came the reply. "Hey Harry, has the Captain spoken to you yet about working with Seven and I on the Jem'Hadar weapon in our Infiltrator program?" she asked. "She just mentioned it to me, are you two about to start working on it now? It sounds interesting." Harry replied. "Meet us on Holodeck 1 Harry, we're reserving it for two hours." B'Elanna "I'll see you there in a few minutes," Harry closed the channel. B'Elanna nodded to Seven and the two of them proceeded to Holodeck 1. Once there the two of them copied the Jem'Hadar weapons information from the Infiltrator program to a new holodeck program and initiated it. When they walked into the holodeck the Jem'hadar rifle was resting in the middle of the holodeck floor. "Computer, add a table to the holoprogram," B'Elanna requested. A simple metal table appeared on the holodeck and Seven, who had picked up the rifle, placed it on the table before requesting a few more items. "Computer add three tricorders to holoprogram and place on second table." Immediately, approximately three feet away from the first table a second one appeared with the three requested tricorders upon it. "Computer add firing range with weapons diagnostic sensors to program," Seven said after the tricorders had appeared. Suddenly the appearance of the holodeck changed to that of a standard Starfleet firing range. They were now standing at the upper end of a large rectangular area with the two tables they had added earlier, the remainder of the area was filled in with the firing range. "Good idea," B'Elanna remarked as she walked over to examine the diagnostic screens on the wall nearest them. Harry arrived, stepped into the holoprogram at that moment and looked around with an interested expression on his face. "Looks like you have been busy." "Ensign Kim," Seven smiled slightly at him, "Is there anything you would like to add to the program?" "No, it looks like we have everything we need," Harry commented. Seven nodded, "Computer save program Engineering four five two." The three of them each took a tricorder and began to examine the Jem'Hadar rifle. "It appears to fire tachyon pulses," noted Seven as they examined the weapon. "Nice power capacity, 5 x 108 megajoules," noted B'Elanna. "I wonder what they use for a power source?" asked Harry, "Ours only produce 3.45 x 108 megajoules" "They appear to use a more advanced power cell; the technology is not familiar to me." Seven admitted. "So the Borg aren't in the Gamma Quadrant," said B'Elanna. Seven nodded, "They had not been when I was last with the Borg." Harry picked up the weapon judging the weight, "It's 158 grams heavier than our phaser rifles, and 18 cm shorter. It uses some type of durtanium alloy for the casing. I'm still tying to figure out the composition. "Harry could you take a look at the hologram and see what you can determine from the coding?" asked B'Elanna. "Certainly," said Harry. By the end of their two hours they had a better idea of the durtanium alloy composition of the outer casing of the rifle, as well as some idea of how the power cell operated. Firing tests had given them information on the weapon's tachyon particle beam at different power settings. The weapon was capable of stunning an enemy at its lowest two settings. The remainder of the settings would kill most humanoids. At its upper range the Jem'Hadar rifle was noticeably more powerful than the Starfleet type 3b phaser rifle. "Our holodeck time will end in 5 minutes," Seven looked up from her tricorder at B'Elanna and Harry. B'Elanna nodded, "Tonight's unarmed combat again, Seven?" "Yes, B'Elanna. Lt. Cmdr Tuvok accepted my invitation to join us." Seven responded. Harry looked at the two women, amazed that there had been no sign of irritation between them as they had worked together over the past two hours. He knew they worked out together three times a week for two hours and had been surprised when he had seen the reoccurring time blocks. The past couple of hours had been enlightening; the two women seemed very comfortable in each other's presence, freely complementing each other and Harry whenever one of them figured out something about the rifle. Harry had also noticed how frequently they looked at one another; he had heard rumors from the other engineers that something was going on between the two. He had laughed when he first heard it but now… it was definitely apparent that something was going on. Harry glanced at B'Elanna only to see that she was once again glancing at Seven and Harry could swear there was a wistful expression on her face. Just then Seven looked up and caught B'Elanna staring, and Harry was surprised to see Seven's face soften and for her to give B'Elanna a slight smile Harry felt more and more like a voyeur as the two women stared silently at each other for several seconds. Then Seven blushed faintly but did not lower her eyes from B'Elanna's. Harry jerked his eyes back to B'Elanna when he heard a faint growl off to his right and noticed the decidedly possessive and hungry look B'Elanna was directing at Seven. "Well, I guess its time for me to get going back to the Bridge." Harry said in an overly loud voice that brought him to the attention of both women. As both women looked at him, surprised, he nearly fled the Holodeck thinking to himself ‘Seven and B'Elanna?' Then he thought, ‘I wonder if that was the real reason B'Elanna was so willing to break up with Tom? Seven and B'Elanna were spending a lot of time together even before they broke up'. ‘The truly amazing thing', he thought to himself, ‘was that Tom hadn't started a betting pool on when the two would actually get together yet'. ************************************************************ B'Elanna and Seven stared at Harry's retreating back for a moment then Seven looked at B'Elanna with a raised brow. B'Elanna had the grace to look slightly embarrassed at her obviousness. "I'm not going to apologize for being attracted to you Seven." Seven smirked, "I would prefer it if you did not," she allowed. "Our Holodeck time is up." "Computer save program." Seven paused waiting for the computer to comply and then ended the program. The two of them walked out of the Holodeck and to the turbolift. "I must analyze some scans in Astrometrics. I will see you at 1700 hours at Holodeck 2." "Ok, Seven. I'll see you there, is Tuvok showing up at 1700 or later?" asked B'Elanna. "Lt. Cmdr Tuvok stated he would be present at 1700 hours B'Elanna," said Seven. The turbolift stopped at Deck 8 and Seven smiled briefly to B'Elanna and exited the turbolift for Astrometrics. B'Elanna grinned and watched admiringly as Seven walked down the hallway before the doors closed and shut off her view of Seven's form. Seven's steady gaze and comment in the Holodeck had given her a boost to her confidence that Seven would eventually trust her enough for them to become lovers. B'Elanna felt a slight quiver work its way along her back and shoulders at the thought of having the blond woman underneath her, or over her for that matter. The turbolift stopped and the incoming crewman stopped and backed away giving her a wide eyed look. B'Elanna was puzzled for a moment before she realized she had been growling slightly, embarrassed she pretended she was angry and stomped by the crewman who flattened against the wall to let her by. B'Elanna shook herself trying to work off the lustful feelings. She knew that she felt more than just a physical attraction for Seven, but right now it was hard to remember that with her Klingon blood raging for her to claim the woman. ************************************************************ At 1700 the three of them met at Holodeck 2. Seven started the program and they entered the recreation of the Mularan inner temple grounds. Tuvok had declined being shown through the holoprogram by High Priestess Analea, so he had never seen the grounds before. After she heard this Seven suggested that they take a few minutes to see the gardens before heading over to the training area. As she had suspected Tuvok found the gardens very interesting, B'Elanna found them less interesting than Tuvok but she did admire them. After taking longer than fifteen minutes the trio headed back around the path and toward the practice area. M'ara was waiting for them and spoke in flawless Vulcan, "Tuvok son of T'Meni, thee are welcome here. I am called M'ara." Seven quietly translated for B'Elanna knowing that she would not understand the language; Tuvok gave her a glance as she did so and Seven realized that he had not known that she knew Vulcan. Seven was uncomfortable for a moment, her knowledge of Vulcan was of course from the Collective, but then she gave herself a mental shrug. She had not been responsible for the events at Wolf 359 any more than she had the other events of her life while she was in the Collective. "I thank you for your welcome, M'ara," Tuvok replied politely, both B'Elanna and Seven could see him staring intently at the Klingon holo-character. "I am pleased you enjoyed my gardens, I believe you would find them an excellent place to meditate," commented M'ara. "Your gardens?" questioned Tuvok intently. "Yes, my gardens. You surely didn't believe I would leave Seven's training to a holo-program no matter how well written?" M'ara smiled at Tuvok. Tuvok straightened, "Seven, Lt. Torres were you aware of the nature of this program?" B'Elanna felt a sinking feeling in her stomach, "I thought you were already aware of the identity of the holo-character Tuvok. I mean she's named M'ara…" B'Elanna trailed off. "I too assumed that you and the Captain were already aware of the purpose of the holo-program Lt. Cmdr Tuvok," said Seven. She stared curiously at Tuvok, amazed that he had not made the logical connection between the name M'ara and Mulara. Then of course there was the fact that she still had an unknown task that would be asked of her as a reborn. Mularan history made it clear that Mulara personally made sure that the reborn had all the information and training they needed to accomplish that task. Tuvok raised an elegant brow at them, "The similarities in names had occurred to me, I should have pursued the information sooner. I must inform the Captain of the situation now that I have been made aware of it." "Please do, I need to discuss a few things with Captain Janeway," M'ara informed Tuvok. This statement drew looks from all three present. Tuvok hesitated a moment, looked at M'ara intently, then nodded and stepped away to contact the Captain. M'ara turned to Seven, "Kayaln is dreaming, I believe you would benefit from speaking with her Seven." M'ara made sure Seven was looking at her and then she glanced over at B'Elanna, making it clear what the topic of the conversation should be. Just then Kayaln appeared among the trees on the other side of the pavilion walking toward them. Seven glanced quickly at B'Elanna and then back at M'ara and nodded. As Seven strode through the pavilion she heard M'ara address B'Elanna, "Let us see how much practicing you have been doing of your Mok'bara katas B'Elanna." Seven smiled, knowing that M'ara would be pleased she knew B'Elanna had spent several hours practicing the Klingon martial arts forms. B'Elanna was determined that she would not be a liability in the Infiltration program. Kayaln greeted her with a warm smile, "You look well, Seven." Seven smiled briefly back, and then when Kayaln held out her arms gratefully accepted the hug. "M'ara said you needed to talk?" asked Kayaln. Seven nodded and glanced over toward where B'Elanna was practicing with M'ara. B'Elanna was moving through a kata with M'ara performing the opponent's moves. B'Elanna glanced up and looked intently over to where they were; suddenly M'ara moved up next her and cuffed her across the side of her head, rocking B'Elanna. "Pay attention to your enemy, not your hormones!" M'ara yelled at her. "Oh," said Kayaln knowingly. "Perhaps we should go for a walk," she suggested. Seven nodded to her and glanced one last time at B'Elanna who was now paying strict attention to her teacher and then followed Kayaln deeper into the trees. "Tell me about her, Seven," Kayaln urged when they had moved out of sight and hearing of the pavilion. At first slowly and then with more confidence under Kayaln's patient questioning Seven discussed the events of the last two weeks, and the tumultuous feelings those events had stirred up in her. "Feelings are not irrelevant," said Kayaln with a smile. "They are uncomfortable though," said Seven. "They frequently are, but it's often worthwhile. What are you afraid of Seven? There's something holding you back from moving to the next logical step with her. What is it that stops you from telling her you would like to begin dating?" asked Kayaln. "I do not know if she feels anything beyond a physical attraction for me, I find it… insufficient," admitted Seven. Kayaln was silent for a moment, marshaling her thoughts, "From what Mulara has told me of Klingons, B'Elanna has been very restrained." Seven considered the statement, "That is true, however, B'Elanna is only half-Klingon." "Perhaps, but from what you're telling me she's reacting to you as a Klingon would, not as a human would," said Kayaln. Seven frowned slightly, thinking, "She was attracted to the blood smell of my exoskeleton, she growls when she is aroused by my presence. You are correct; she has been reacting more like a Klingon than a human." Seven looked slightly surprised as she realized this. "I would say that she has been showing a lot of restraint then, wouldn't you? Isn't that indicative of something more than just a physical attraction? Besides, most people start with a physical attraction to each other and a friendship, and then date to see if the relationship can develop into something deeper," Kayaln grinned at Seven. "The purpose of dating is to let these deeper feelings develop?" asked Seven. "If they can, sometimes it doesn't work out that way though. Dating doesn't come with a guarantee of success, Seven. But you will never know if it's possible unless you try," Kayaln said gently. "I have been in error then, I should have agreed to date B'Elanna earlier," said Seven somewhat agitatedly. "No you have not been in error Seven. You needed to be able to trust B'Elanna before you started dating her." Kayaln's emphasis of the word ‘before' was not lost on Seven. "The question you need to answer before you start dating her is: do you trust B'Elanna Seven?" Seven turned and looked back towards the pavilion, thinking of the events of the past week, she had begun to feel a strong yearning for the engineer's company at some point during it. The warm smile B'Elanna gave her when she first saw Seven in the mornings, the praise she now freely and easily gave when Seven helped her work through a problem, and the intently aroused gazes that made Seven sharply aware of her own physical attraction for B'Elanna. But did she trust her yet? "Yes, I trust B'Elanna," Seven answered. Kayaln beamed at her, "Then you might want to start thinking of what you want to do for your first date, Seven." Seeing Seven's suddenly anxious look Kayaln suppressed the desire to chuckle and instead placed a reassuring arm around the younger woman's shoulders. "An invitation to dinner is usually considered acceptable Seven." Seven looked at her perplexed, "We frequently eat our meals together, those were not dates." Seven concentrated on remembering what she had learned about proper dating protocol, she knew Kayaln was correct but she was as well. "Proper dating protocol specifies that the location where the food is consumed is important." Kayaln nodded, "Either that or the meal be special in some way, but something should be different from the meals you normally have together." Seven considered her statement, "I have Holodeck time, there are many restaurant programs available for use. Perhaps one of those would be appropriate?" "Would the food be real?" asked Kayaln curiously. "It would be real food; each program has a set number of ration slips that are used per person." Kayaln smiled at Seven, "That sounds perfect." The two of them continued to discuss various restaurant choices for a short while then Kayaln insisted that they go back to the pavilion so Seven could train. ********************************************************* After the cuff upside the head B'Elanna focused on her teacher, she had been angry for a moment then embarrassed. The conversation between them since had been limited to corrections and praise from M'ara and questions about certain moves from B'Elanna. Out of the corner of her eye B'Elanna caught sight of the Captain approaching and hesitated only to have M'ara shout "Focus! I didn't say we were done yet! How can you expect to protect Seven if you can't focus." B'Elanna knew her surprise was clearly visible for M'ara continued speaking as they performed the moves of the katas. "What, did you think I was teaching you all this for play? The time to decide will be soon, Seven is one of my reborn and she will need you B'Elanna." B'Elanna could feel the Captain and Tuvok watching and listening, yet they did not interfere. B'Elanna could only guess that M'ara meant for them to hear this conversation. "What do you mean the time to decide will be soon and what do you mean Seven is one of your reborn?" "Your decision B'Elanna will be whether or not you can fully commit to being Seven's mate when she makes the choice whether or not to take on the task I will ask of her. I will not tell you what the task is for Seven will not be ready for the decision for several more months. Yet I want you to know that the task will be a worthy one, as worthy as the one that Kathless undertook. It will be one that will risk both your lives and probably those of Voyager as well should the Captain choose to support Seven." M'ara finally stepped back from B'Elanna at this last and looked over to where Captain Janeway and Tuvok stood. M'ara looked back at B'Elanna, "I expect that Seven will decide to undertake her task. She will need someone that she can depend on to support her, and more than that, she will need someone to love her. I believe you can be that person, but you need to make that choice. And I want you to make it knowing that a future with her will not be an easy path for it will mean that you will have to commit to her task as well." B'Elanna looked at M'ara's grave, serious face and nodded understanding that M'ara was telling her that if she pursued a relationship with Seven that she had better be certain about the depth of her feelings. ‘It's a good thing we are taking things slowly' thought B'Elanna. B'Elanna noticed M'ara turning toward the Captain, "Captain Janeway, I am pleased to meet Annika's chosen mother." B'Elanna noticed that Janeway had her hands on her hips and was looking none too pleased with the situation. Upon hearing M'ara's statement she seemed to unbend slightly, "Should I call you M'ara or Mulara?" she asked in a neutral tone. "Whichever you prefer," M'ara said smiling. "Seven and B'Elanna call me M'ara, perhaps it would be simpler if you did as well." B'Elanna tried to stay unnoticeable while the two of them gave each other measuring stares. Finally the Captain said, "Thank you for restoring Seven's life." "She was unjustly killed by one of my people, and she was worthy of the saving," said M'ara simply. M'ara smiled, "You have found her worth saving a time or two yourself Captain." Janeway's mouth twitched briefly, "Yes I have." Both of them were silent looking at one another then Janeway said, "What task will you ask Seven to perform?" M'ara chuckled, "I cannot tell you that Captain. Seven will know her task when it comes before her, then she will decide to perform it or she will not." "And if she doesn't?" asked Janeway. M'ara shook her head, "I will not tell you that either, it would unduly influence her." Janeway looked narrow eyed at M'ara after that statement, then in a surprising change of subject, "Could you transport Voyager back to the Alpha Quadrant?" M'ara looked at her calmly, "Yes I could but you do not want me to." "Why not?" Janeway asked in a tight voice. "Because if I do the Federation will be destroyed within the next 100 years, if you find your own way home then most possibilities are that the Federation will survive well past that point," said M'ara bluntly. B'Elanna was stunned by the information, what possible difference could it make how they got home? Janeway looked stunned as well but also concerned thought B'Elanna. "We do something on our way to the Alpha Quadrant that changes the timeline so greatly?" Janeway asked, doubt obvious in her tone. "Does it have anything to do with Seven's task?" "It is a combination of events that Voyager will face on the way to the Alpha Quadrant and the task to be placed before Seven. But if you are not there to take place in those events things will go badly for the Federation later. Do not underestimate Voyager's influence in events in the Delta Quadrant, you will continue to play a pivotal role in them," M'ara finished speaking and she and Janeway stared at one another solemnly. Janeway looked at B'Elanna and Tuvok then sighed, "I won't ask for you to send us back then. Lt. Torres, Tuvok, M'ara's identity is considered classified as is the conversation you just heard. The crew doesn't need to know that Mulara could get us home but we cannot take it." B'Elanna nodded, "Understood Captain." Janeway was right the crew didn't need to know about this, B'Elanna wished in a way she didn't. The thought that Voyager and Seven would be required to do something that would save the Federation from destruction was intimidating. "Captain Janeway, I need you to assist in Seven's training. B'Elanna should also be included," said M'ara with a penetrating look at B'Elanna that caused her to straighten warily. "What type of training?" asked Janeway. "Leadership, decision making, tactics…" said M'ara. Janeway and Tuvok both stared at her with keen expressions, "You want me to put them through command training?" Janeway asked. "That will work as a basis, but they will need a different emphasis than the standard Starfleet command training," said M'ara. She turned toward B'Elanna, "B'Elanna why don't you go and work with Kayaln and Seven while I speak to Captain Janeway." B'Elanna glanced over past the pavilion and noticed Seven and Kayaln returning, she caught Janeway's nod to her and said respectfully, "M'ara, Captain." Then she smartly turned and walked toward the other side of the pavilion. Seven and Kayaln paused as she approached and Kayaln said, "Perhaps the two of you would like to practice against multiple opponents?" B'Elanna felt a anticipatory smile forming, and noticed Seven looking at her with an amused expression on her face. B'Elanna knew that Seven found her obvious enjoyment of fighting multiple opponents amusing but it wasn't like Seven didn't enjoy herself as well thought B'Elanna smugly. Kayaln chuckled at the two of them, "It's obvious that both of you think my suggestion is a good idea." Kayaln paused for a second, "Defend yourselves," she suddenly said as the area around them suddenly filled with opponents. Janeway paused in her discussion with M'ara for a moment to watch B'Elanna and Seven defend themselves against multiple holo-characters that had suddenly appeared. The two of them were outnumbered by six to two but they appeared to be easily winning the battle. "They fight well together," said M'ara. Janeway nodded, the two of them did fight well together and if M'ara's training request was any indication they would need to depend on that ability. Leadership, ethics, both single and fleet tactical training, and diplomacy, were the topics Mulara wanted Janeway to teach Seven and B'Elanna. Janeway hadn't gotten any further answers about the future from Mulara, but given the training emphasis she had a few ideas about what Seven and Voyager might be asked to accomplish to save the Federation. ********************************************************** B'Elanna and Seven thanked M'ara and Kayaln for the evenings training and ended the holoprogram. They exited the Holodeck and began the short trip back to their respective quarters on Deck 9. Seven glanced uncertainly at B'Elanna, finding the prospect of asking the woman for a date the following evening irrationally daunting. Gathering up her courage Seven said, "B'Elanna, if you have tomorrow evening free I would like to invite you to a dinner date on Holodeck 2 at 2000 hours." B'Elanna stopped, which caused Seven to stop as well, and turn to look at her, "A date?" she asked. Seven squared her shoulders and looked into B'Elanna's eyes, "Yes, a date B'Elanna. I feel it is time for us to see if our friendship will… develop into a different type of relationship." B'Elanna felt like chuckling but knew that Seven would likely take it poorly at the moment. Seven's erect posture and serious demeanor would have once annoyed her, now though, especially given the subject matter, she found herself fondly amused with Seven. B'Elanna reached out and grasped Seven's right hand, "I would like that." Seven's face seemed to light up from within at B'Elanna's words and she allowed the smaller woman to tug her into walking again. B'Elanna did not let go of her hand and Seven squeezed it gently, feeling happier and more optimistic than she could ever remember. Part 2 Completed. NewMessage: Path: newsspool2.news.atl.earthlink.net!stamper.news.atl.earthlink.net!stamper.news.pas.earthlink.net!elnk-nf2-pas!newsfeed.earthlink.net!newshub.sdsu.edu!postnews.google.com!f14g2000cwb.googlegroups.com!not-for-mail From: "Kudara" Newsgroups: alt.startrek.creative Subject: New: VOY "I am Borg - Part 3" 1/? PG-13 (7/T) Date: 26 Jan 2005 05:07:46 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com Lines: 797 Message-ID: <1106744866.287563.309590@f14g2000cwb.googlegroups.com> NNTP-Posting-Host: 68.13.213.47 Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" X-Trace: posting.google.com 1106744870 25611 127.0.0.1 (26 Jan 2005 13:07:50 GMT) X-Complaints-To: groups-abuse@google.com NNTP-Posting-Date: Wed, 26 Jan 2005 13:07:50 +0000 (UTC) User-Agent: G2/0.2 Complaints-To: groups-abuse@google.com Injection-Info: f14g2000cwb.googlegroups.com; posting-host=68.13.213.47; posting-account=OA7ZrQ0AAABCd3Iq7g2kyLCDY3B1zVwg Xref: news.earthlink.net alt.startrek.creative:162080 X-Received-Date: Wed, 26 Jan 2005 05:07:51 PST (newsspool2.news.atl.earthlink.net) I am Borg - Part 3 - Chapter 1 By Kudara Disclaimer: Star Trek Voyager and all who sail in her belong to Paramount/Viacom and no infringement of copyright/trade marks is intended. Warning: Contains f/f situations between women. Rating: PG-13 Feedback: Always welcome, feedback is what encourages me to keep writing. Please let me know what you like and what you dislike about the story. Summary: Seven goes on her first date with B'Elanna. ********************************************************* B'Elanna, Seven and Harry spent several hours in the Holodeck studying the Jem'Hadar rifle the next day. After the second day's testing Seven felt confident that she and B'Elanna could build the Jem'Hadar power cell. Harry had concentrated on finding out the alloy that was used for the rifle components and had reported that he was fairly certain he had the material structure figured out. B'Elanna had focused on determining how the weapon produced a coherent tachyon beam. As they were finishing up the second day's worth of testing, B'Elanna felt that she was starting to understand how it was created. Seven saved the program and the three of them left the Holodeck, Harry headed back to the bridge while Seven and B'Elanna headed towards Engineering. Seven waited until they were alone on the turbolift before asking, "B'Elanna, do you have a dinner preference for this evening?" "You mean what style of food?" B'Elanna asked trying to clarify what Seven meant. "Yes," answered Seven. She had looked at the descriptions of the standard restaurant Holodeck programs and quickly realized she had no idea what B'Elanna would prefer to eat. Crewmembers had been expected to make use of the mess hall facilities the entire time she had been aboard Voyager, which meant they were expected to attempt to eat Nelix's cooking. The only thing Seven knew of B'Elanna's food preferences was that the woman was not fond of leola root, or Nelix's idea of spicy. "I like Italian food, while I was at the Academy I used to go out and eat at an Italian restaurant quite often," said B'Elanna. Seven immediately thought of one of the holoprograms she had noticed earlier of a restaurant located upon Capri Island off the coast of Italy. It was very highly rated and the description of the restaurant included what were apparently scenic views of the islands rocky coast. The two of them had reached Engineering and Seven turned to B'Elanna and asked, "With your permission Lt. Torres I would like to perform routine maintenance on the Holodeck replicator." The Holodecks did not normally produce real food, however on those occasions when it was being used for dining purposes there was a replicator located behind the hologrid that produced the food served. All the restaurant programs carefully located the kitchen of the restaurant within the vicinity of the replicator so that the waiter holo-characters appeared to bring the food from the correct location. B'Elanna smiled, "That sounds like a good idea, I'd hate for there to be anything wrong with that particular replicator today." Seven smiled back at B'Elanna, well she quirked her lips upward in her personal version of a smile, "That would be unfortunate," she said as she picked up an engineering kit and then walked back out of Engineering. Seven made her way back to the Holodeck, once there she realized that someone was already running a holoprogram. Seven checked to see who was utilizing the Holodeck and discovered that Samantha and Naomi Wildman were running a Flotter program. "Seven to Ensign Wildman," Seven decided to ask if she could come into the Holodeck and perform the maintenance while it was in use. "Ensign Wildman here," came the reply. "Ensign Wildman, I need to perform maintenance upon the Holodeck replicator. Would you or Naomi Wildman mind if I entered and performed my maintenance while you were utilizing the Holodeck?" Seven asked, being careful to be polite since she was asking for what was termed a favor. Unless it was an emergency repair, Engineering was not supposed to interrupt scheduled Holodeck time. There was a pause then, "Sure Seven, it won't affect the Flotter program." "Thank you, Ensign Wildman," Seven said and then closed the communications channel. Stepping into the Holodeck she opened her tricorder and used it to locate where in the holoprogram the replicator was hidden. She could not see Samantha or Naomi Wildman and was pleased that she was not interrupting their time together. Using her optical implant and tricorder Seven carefully checked all the systems of the replicator thoroughly ensuring that it would produce faithful replications of the dishes that were to be served this evening. As she was finishing up Samantha Wildman and Naomi Wildman appeared. Samantha Wildman gave Seven a smile and curious look, "Usually that replicator gets checked out of schedule when someone from Engineering is planning on using the Holodeck to take someone out for a dinner date." "Yes," replied Seven interested in the trivia which indicated that she was performing the pre-date protocol correctly, though this had not been included as one of the steps in her studies. A tactical review of the possible failures of the evening planned had brought this up as an equipment check that was needed. Samantha Wildman shifted, Naomi who had been staring back and forth at the two women grinned at Seven and asked, "Who are you going out on a date with Seven? Lt. Torres?" Samantha Wildman looked at her daughter with and outraged mother look and then was thoroughly sidetracked from rebuking her daughter by Seven's reply. "You are correct Naomi Wildman, Lt. Torres and I are going to dinner together this evening. It will be our first date," replied Seven. "What are you going to wear?" asked Naomi curiously. Samantha was embarrassed at her daughter's questions but she was so thoroughly curious by now that she didn't attempt to stop her daughter from grilling the ex-Borg. "I have not decided," admitted Seven, "I believe I should consult with Lt. Torres before making a decision." Naomi nodded and Samantha finally found her voice, "That's probably a good idea Seven, nothing is more embarrassing than showing up for a date and being either under dressed or over dressed." Seven looked at Samantha confused as to the woman's meaning. Literally the words did not make much sense, as they implied that one would either be wearing too few or too many clothes. Samantha, seeing Seven's confusion tried again, "You don't want to be wearing casual clothing and Lt. Torres show up wearing a formal dress or vice versa." Seven nodded, that was the situation that the Andorian dating guide had described as a social gaffe that should be avoided. "I will consult with Lt. Torres as soon as our duty shift is over," she assured them. "I must return to Engineering..." Seven hesitated searching for the correct phrase, "Please enjoy the rest of your day." Samantha Wildman stared for a second and then stammered out, "You too Seven, I hope your date goes well." Naomi Wildman grinned at Seven, "Lt. Torres is pretty." Seven raised a brow at this observation then nodded, "I concur, Naomi Wildman." Samantha now feeling a vast sense of unreality broke into the conversation, "Well our Holodeck time is up." Samantha had taken a long time to get used to the fact that the ex-drone was no threat to her daughter. She had done her best to keep Naomi from finding out the grim fate of her friend and had been overjoyed to find out that Seven was still alive. However, this new Seven had her off balance, it wasn't that she didn't like the new polite and more emotional Seven, it was just... odd. Seven left the Holodeck and returned to Engineering. Lt. Torres was absorbed with running some dilithium matrix diagnostics and Seven did not want to disturb her with what was after all personal business. Instead Seven waited and monitored the warp displays, when the power fluctuation that had been present stabilized Seven knew that B'Elanna had been successful. She turned and looked at the Chief Engineer giving B'Elanna a congratulatory smile and receiving a warm smile in return. The smile caused Seven to reflect on how much she enjoyed the current state of affairs between her and B'Elanna much more than their previous adversarial one. Seven briefly brought up images in her minds eye, of B'Elanna when Seven had been particularly successful in irritating the woman, and realized that she still was entranced by how the engineer looked when she was angry. The way her skin colored more warmly from being flushed, the way she seemed to vibrate with energy, and the passionate look in her eyes. Now if there was only a way to obtain that look without the unpleasant argument, Seven thought. Unbidden her memory brought up the image of Jorunn right after their last kiss, Seven was confused as to what one had to do with the other before she noted how Jorunn's face had changed because of her arousal. Suddenly she realized why her memory had presented this image to her. Seven paused and looked across Engineering at B'Elanna and tried to imagine how she would look in a state of arousal. The picture that rose in her mind was very like the one's she remembered from their arguments, but instead of anger there was an intent look of desire. Seven's breath caught for a moment at the image, and she felt an odd tingle race through her body that seemed to end concentrated in her groin and fingertips. B'Elanna looked up at that moment and their gazes met, for both of them the rest of Engineering seemed to fade away for a moment until Lt. Carey actually coughed trying to get Lt. Torres attention. The moment broken both women jerked their gaze away from the other. Seven looked at the displays in front of her, not really paying attention to their meaning, but trying to regain control of what suddenly seemed to be a runaway endocrine system. She seemed to be in a state of hyper awareness, her body taunt, her breathing increased, eyes dilated. Seven wondered if this was how B'Elanna felt when she was looking at her and growling. Seven felt the sensations drain away and knew that her nanoprobes had taken care of them, feeling calmer she wondered how B'Elanna dealt with the emotions, they had seemed so overwhelming. Thankfully Alpha shift was over relatively quickly and Seven and B'Elanna headed out of Engineering toward B'Elanna's quarters agreeing that a snack of some type was in order since they would be eating late. Once they had reached her quarters B'Elanna replicated a selection of fruit and cheese. It had become a favorite of Seven's since the first time B'Elanna had prepared a plate for them during one of their late night discussions over the chemical reactor. "B'Elanna," said Seven somewhat hesitantly, "I wish to discuss the appropriate clothing for this evening. I understand it is important that we agree upon the appropriate..." Seven frowned searching for the correct words. "Casual or formal clothing, you mean," said B'Elanna. Relieved Seven nodded, and then looked expectantly at B'Elanna. "So... which would you prefer Seven, you're the one who gets to decide since you invited me." B'Elanna smiled at Seven's confusion. Seven stared at B'Elanna in uncertainty for a moment, "How does one decide," she finally asked. "Well," said B'Elanna considering, "Usually the type of restaurant you are going to decides the level of clothing appropriate. Usually the holoprograms are marked as formal if formal evening wear is suggested," B'Elanna said helpfully. Seven straightened reassured, "No dress requirements were mentioned for the holoprogram I have chosen, therefore the dress for this evening will be casual." With the unexpectedly difficult task of addressing clothing issues completed, Seven began to worry that B'Elanna might not like her choice of holoprograms. Seven of course knew that B'Elanna liked Italian food but further study into that particular ethnic food revealed distinctive differences in regional food preparation. "Seven," B'Elanna said, "I'm sure I'll like wherever you chose for dinner." Seven jerked her gaze away from her abstract perusal of the floor to B'Elanna's face, wondering how the other woman had guessed her thoughts. B'Elanna smiled, "I'll be worrying about the same thing the first time I take you out to eat Seven," she explained. Seven smiled shyly back and then noticed the time, "B'Elanna, I must go to my own quarters to prepare for our date. I will meet you here at 1945 hours if that is acceptable." "That is acceptable," B'Elanna agreed still smiling. Seven headed to her own quarters to shower and dress, uncharacteristically she hesitated for a long moment over the various color choices she had, finally settling on a Mularan outfit of a white shirt with blue pants and wraps. She left her hair down and loosely gathered at the nape of her neck, knowing that B'Elanna preferred her hair this way. Heading back to B'Elanna's quarters she waited somewhat patiently for B'Elanna to respond to the admittance chime. When the doors to B'Elanna's quarters opened Seven was surprised to see B'Elanna wearing a white sleeveless shirt and black pants with sandals. Seven allowed her eyes to roam for a moment over the torso of the compact woman, admiring the contrast between the whiteness of the shirt and the caramel skin tone, the discrete but defined musculature revealed by the sleeveless top. Suddenly Seven was uncertain of her own clothing choice which was what she usually wore after working hours. "You look good in those colors, Seven," said B'Elanna correctly interpreting Seven's glance from her own clothing to B'Elanna's. Reassured, Seven replied "Thank you B'Elanna, you look..." Seven paused for a moment wondering what adjective would be appropriate, "very nice as well," she finished. Touchable was more of a correct adjective for what Seven thought but she was fairly certain it was not the polite comment to actually make. The two women paused for a moment awkwardly then Seven said, "It is almost 2000 hours, we should proceed to the Holodeck." B'Elanna nodded and the two women made their way to the Holodeck which was already empty. "Computer run program Capri Island," instructed Seven. B'Elanna looked at her curiously not familiar with the islands name as they entered the Holodeck. They stepped directly into the restaurant and were greeted by a gentleman wearing an old fashioned black suit and white shirt that lead them through the restaurant to the open air seating area. "Welcome to Le Grottelle," he said, "your waiter will be with you shortly. In the meantime please enjoy the view of the Arco Naturale." B'Elanna and Seven looked out over the ledge of the seating area down a steep cliff face to where the man was pointing. Towering in the air no less than 100 meters away, was a natural rock arch that dominated the view of the cliff and ocean. The cliff face was rocky and densely covered with short pine trees and vegetation. The grey limestone rocks and dark green of the pine made for a beautiful view. The open eating area was covered with a wooden awning and vines with deep purple flowers ran up the poles to the awning and along its top. Seven was pleasantly surprised with the view and enjoyed the feel of the breeze and the height that allowed her to look out far over the ocean. Looking at B'Elanna's openly interested face as she leaned over the railing to examine the cliff, arch and ocean; Seven knew she had made the correct choice for their first date. "Where are we?" asked B'Elanna curiously. "Capri Island," answered Seven, "Approximately 5 kilometers off the coast of Italy in the Gulf of Naples. The island is about six kilometers long and three kilometers wide, and has a total coastline of seventeen kilometers." Seven recited from her studies of the island. Just then their waiter appeared with menu's which he placed before them, "Ladies may I get you any drinks before you order?" he asked politely. Seven who had researched non-synthol beverages in preparation replied, "San Pellegrino water." B'Elanna looked at her curiously before ordering a glass of white wine. "What's Pellegrino water?" "Sparkling mineral water originally produced in Italy," explained Seven as she opened her menu to examine the dinner choices. Seven had already decided to try some of the local cuisine after reading about the combination of Greek and Italian influences upon it. Seven quickly decided to have the Insalada Caprese, a salad of mozzarella, tomatoes, basil and olive oil, followed by an appetizer of stuffed calamari and a dinner of Ravioli alla Caprese. The ravioli sounded quite interesting being stuffed with a filling of caciotta cheese, parmesan and marjoram and served in a tomato and basil sauce. When the waiter came back Seven quickly gave her order and then waited to see what B'Elanna would choose. To Seven's surprise B'Elanna gave her a considering look and then said, "I'll have the same please," to the waiter. When the waiter left B'Elanna turned to Seven, "I was thinking of having the wild quail but the ravioli sounded more interesting." "What made you choose this program?" B'Elanna asked Seven curiously. "I knew you liked the ocean and Italian food B'Elanna, combining the two seemed a logical choice. It is more... beautiful than I thought it would be," admitted Seven. "Yes it is beautiful," agreed B'Elanna. She wondered how Seven had known she loved the ocean and then remembered the extensive study Seven had done of B'Elanna's relationship with Tom. Undoubtedly that was when Seven had noticed B'Elanna's fondness of water. "I usually like sandy beaches, but I think I may have to expand my choices due to this view." The waiter appeared once again with their salads and placed them before the two women. After inquiring whether there was anything else they needed he went to check on one of the holographic couples at the restaurant. Seven examined the salad in front of her curiously and then picked up what she knew from her studies was the salad fork and began eating. The salad was an interesting mixture of flavors, the creamy mild salty taste of the mozzarella, with the clean sharp taste of the basil and tomato and the mild olive flavor of the oil. Thankfully the serving was small or the two women would have found themselves stuffed from the filling salad alone. As they ate the salad they discussed the stone arch and Seven described how it had once been the opening of a large grotto. The interior of the grotto had worn away over time and fallen into the ocean, leaving only the rocky opening remaining. Once Seven had described the formation of the arch it was not difficult for B'Elanna to form in her mind the original grotto, obviously far in the past the edge of the cliff face had extended several meters further. A few minutes after the two of them had finished off their salads the waiter brought out the stuffed calamari. B'Elanna, to get a conversational ball rolling that wasn't about engineering or astrometrics, asked Seven about the history of the island. Seven was more than willing to comply and began telling B'Elanna about the excavated villa's that Emperor Tiberius had built on the island in the Terran year 30 A.D. Capri had remained under Roman control until 1200 A.D. when it changed hands to the Normans, then to the Spanish, and finally to the French until around 1800 A.D. when it again came under Italian control. Their main course had been delivered by the waiter by this time and Seven paused while they both turned their attention to consuming the pasta dish. The combination of cheeses, herbs and tomatoes was quite good and both women settled back from their dinners feeling rather full. When the waiter came back over and took their dinner plates and left the dessert menu with them. Seven, who had already researched the desert choices, knew that she wanted to try the Torta Caprese, a flourless torte made of chocolate, ground almonds, butter and sugar. As soon as the waiter came back she confidently gave her order, "I will have the Torta Caprese and a cappuccino, please." B'Elanna smiled at Seven amused, she had heard that the Captain had made another coffee convert and obviously it was true. "Rakatajino and Torta Caprese," B'Elanna ordered, preferring the Klingon version of cappuccino with its spicier and nuttier taste. While they waited for their deserts Seven continued relating the history of the island. Describing how it had survived through the Eugenics Wars and World War III only because of its low strategic value. Colonel Green had actually visited the island on vacation and had from all accounts enjoyed his time there. When the waiter reappeared with their drinks and deserts both women stopped talking and examined the slender slices of torte that were placed in front of them. The apparent density of the torte spoke to it's richness before either of them tasted it. Seven picked up her fork and separated a small piece and tasted it, the richness of bittersweet chocolate and almonds filled her mouth eliciting an appreciative noise from her. B'Elanna chuckled softly at Seven's obvious enjoyment of the torte and took up her fork to start eating the desert herself. After the first bite she understood the look on Seven's face. "Very rich," she commented to Seven enjoying the strong flavors. A nod was all the reply she got for the moment as Seven was experiencing her first taste of the cappuccino. B'Elanna mused that the evening was already more of a success than Seven's other two dates. She still felt a twinge of sorrow for Seven, but she also felt a bit of victory that she was the one who was sharing this experience with Seven. Seven had also been a good conversationalist... granted a discussion of the history of the island hadn't been what she had expected at the beginning of the evening. It was something she associated with Chakotay, but not a side of Seven that she had expected. The ex-drone had apparently found the history of the island very interesting and had mentioned that she would like to come back to look at the Roman excavations and the gardens that had been built in the early 1900's. Seven glanced at B'Elanna examining the proud profile of a face that was turned to look out over the restless ocean. A pleasing steady breeze was blowing inland and pushing B'Elanna's hair back from her face. Seven wasn't sure she had been pleasant company during the evening, the Andorian study had been quite sure that she should have let B'Elanna talk about herself. Instead Seven had spent the entire evening discussing the general history of the island. The only thing that gave her any consolation was that B'Elanna had asked about the history of the island first and she hadn't shown any signs that she found the conversation boring. They had finished their deserts and beverages and were enjoying sitting on the open deck in the sunshine when Seven realized they only had thirty minutes of Holodeck time remaining. "B'Elanna," she said hesitantly, "There is one other place on the island I would like to visit before our time expires." B'Elanna looked at Seven curiously, "Sure Seven, can we walk there from here?" "I believe it would be more expedient for us to change locations in the program, it would take us too long to walk there from here," said Seven as she stood and waited for B'Elanna to stand as well. "Computer change location to La Grotto Azzurra." Suddenly the landscape changed, now they were standing on a rocky ledge right next to the ocean. Metal railing separated them from the water and a set of steps lead down to a boat that was being held steady for them by a waiting boatman. "Ladies, I was not certain you would be arriving this evening, if you will step down into the boat I will row us into the grotto. Remember you will need to bend down as we enter the grotto to avoid injury, the opening is very low," the boatman said. His smile was bright against his seamed and tanned face. Seven nodded back to him, then turned to B'Elanna and indicated that she should go first. Bemusedly B'Elanna did so and as she got into the boat she looked up at the sheer cliff face that hung above them. There was no beach here, the ocean waves dashed themselves directly against the stony cliff. Fifteen meters away she could see the low narrow grotto opening that was their destination. Seven stepped into the boat behind her and the boatman started rowing them toward the opening. The boatman was correct about them needing to bend down reflected B'Elanna as they scraped under the rocky opening and into a stunning cavern. As the boatman kept rowing B'Elanna glanced around at the low stone cavern they had entered and gasped. The cavern itself was fairly unremarkable; limestone walls enclosed a long narrow area of sixty meters by twenty-five meters. What gave the grotto its name was the intense blue color of the water. Seven examined the color intensity of the water with satisfaction; she knew that the blue color was the result of an underwater opening that refracted the sunlight into the grotto. Knowing the explanation behind the intense color however did not dim her enjoyment of the experience. As they reached the midpoint of the cavern Seven said, "Computer pause boat at this location and delete holo-character." The boat obediently paused and the boatman disappeared leaving them alone in the middle of the cavern, the under lit blueness of the water playing along the cavern walls and the face of the woman across from her. B'Elanna was suddenly struck by how the reflected water color made Seven's eyes look almost the same color as the water. Gingerly B'Elanna crouched, "Computer hold boat steady," she moved toward the prow of the boat where Seven was seated looking at her curiously. "It may be a bit premature," B'Elanna said as she sat on the slat directly opposite Seven, "but I believe this is the perfect location for us to have our first kiss if you don't mind." Seven felt suddenly short of breath, "I believe that is the expected ending to the first date. This location is ...," Seven initially wanted to say acceptable, but in truth this location was more than acceptable. "This location would be perfect for our first kiss." B'Elanna grinned, "Perfect huh, I just hope the kiss can live up to its location then." B'Elanna had been imagining this moment for the entire week, and she wanted it to be perfect. Examining the situation she could see only one satisfactory way to get close enough to Seven to kiss her the way she wanted, she just hoped that it wouldn't come across as too aggressive. Slowly she stood in the now rock still boat and straddled Seven's knees looking down at her. To her surprise Seven reached up and placed her hands on her waist and pulled her down so that she was sitting on Seven's knees facing her. 'Well I guess I wasn't being too aggressive' B'Elanna thought as she rested her hands on Seven's shoulders. B'Elanna examined Seven's face noting the dilated eyes and increased respiration. With a grin she stated, "Seven your eyes are dilated and your respiration has increased." "As have yours," Seven responded. "I guess that means we are both aroused then," B'Elanna said right before she leaned in to lightly brush her lips across Seven's. As Seven's hands at her waist pulled her in closer she leaned back, preventing Seven from deepening the kiss. What she thought was a frustrated sigh caused B'Elanna to grin mischievously before she leaned in to gently brush her lips against Seven's again, an answering light nip across her bottom lip both surprised and excited B'Elanna. Seven shifted one of her hands from B'Elanna's waist and moved it up her back, pressing B'Elanna forward and causing her to slide toward Seven until they were firmly resting against one another. A light nip from B'Elanna in response to her action, increased the feeling of arousal Seven was experiencing. Remembering her lesson's from Jorunn Seven gently raked her teeth over B'Elanna's lower lip then gently soothed it with her tongue. The resulting groan from B'Elanna was all that she could have wished, letting Seven know that she was performing correctly. When B'Elanna repeated the same move Seven found that rational thought was becoming increasingly difficult. Seven felt B'Elanna's hands move from her shoulders to rest with one behind her neck and one gently cupping the back of her head. When B'Elanna's tongue slipped between her lips and started exploring her mouth all thought fled and she reacted instinctively meeting B'Elanna's tongue with her own. Neither of them particularly realized that the five minute warning had passed unnoticed, they did however notice when the boat disappeared from beneath them leaving them sitting on one another's laps on the floor of the Holodeck. "Ladies, I believe your time has expired," said the voice of the Captain. B'Elanna felt as thought someone had suddenly dumped ice water over her, as she jerked her head around to look at what was essentially the mother of the woman she had just been kissing. Stumbling to her feet she extended her hand to help a confused and slightly disgruntled looking Seven to her feet. "Uhm... sorry Captain, I didn't hear the five minute warning," babbled B'Elanna, noticing that the Captain was dressed in her Velocity outfit and that Chakotay was also present. He was standing several feet away from the Captain with his hand covering what was undoubtedly a wide grin. "I noticed," said Janeway dryly. "I gather your dinner went well?" she asked. "Yes, Captain," responded Seven, somewhat confused as to why Kathryn was asking how their evening had went. Searching her memory for a reason she realized that Kathryn was properly fulfilling her role as 'mother' as described in the Andorian study. It was the duty of the mother to frustrate and block all efforts at intimacy until a sufficient emotional bond had formed between the daughter and her suitor to ensure that they would have meaningful instead of casual sex. Apparently there was an important distinction between the two forms of intimacy, and mothers were in fact supposed to ensure their daughters did not experience the lesser form. Satisfied that she knew the answer Seven realized that Kathryn's attention was on B'Elanna not on her; obviously B'Elanna was currently in the 'suitor' role as far as Kathryn was concerned. B'Elanna must have realized this as well for in the next moment she said, "The dinner was excellent Captain, we spent most of the evening discussing the history of Capri Island. I was just about to escort Seven to her quarters if you have no objections." "No of course not, I have no objections to you escorting Seven to the door of her quarters," said Janeway with an emphasis on the word door. "Yes, ma'am," replied B'Elanna nervously. "I'll escort her there now Captain unless you have anything else?" Finally Janeway turned to Seven, "Did you have an enjoyable evening Annika?" Seven graced her with one of her rare full smiles, "Yes I did Kathryn, and B'Elanna and I will not engage in casual sex this evening. Your interruption had its intended effect; I believe it was the equivalent of 'turning the front light on'?" "I've got to read that Andorian study, apparently it was quite comprehensive," said Kathryn chuckling over Annika's bluntness. "And yes that was the equivalent of turning the front light on." Seven nodded satisfied; tilting her head to the side she pondered the correct course of action from this point. "I hope you have a good Velocity game, Kathryn. Would it be acceptable at this point for me to wish you a good night and exchange hugs?" Kathryn's face relaxed into her mother look and she huskily replied, "Yes it would be acceptable." Seven walked over to Kathryn and gently bent down and hugged the older woman, "Have a good night Kathryn, and thank you for caring about my wellbeing." Kathryn returned the hug firmly, allowing herself to acknowledge the bond she had with this one extraordinary person she had freed from the Collective. Kathryn broke the hug and stepped back slightly then reached up and gently cupped Annika's face, "You have a good night as well Annika, and I've always cared about your wellbeing." Seven flashed to a similar moment with the Borg Queen, looking into Kathryn's eyes now though she saw what had been lacking in the Queen's eyes then. Caring, love, compassion. It was why, after all, she had been able to break the Queen's hold over her to obey Kathryn's order in the Queen's ship. "I know," Annika admitted softly. "I care about yours as well." The two women stepped back from one another, Annika nodded politely to the now slightly stunned looking Chakotay, "Have a good game Commander." Then she turned back to B'Elanna. "Captain, Commander," B'Elanna said surprised herself at the openly emotional moment between the Captain and Seven, 'Kathryn and Annika', she corrected to herself. "Enjoy your game." With that the two of them left the Holodeck and proceeded quietly back to Deck 9. Noting that B'Elanna had remained silent Seven hesitantly asked, "B'Elanna are you displeased with the way our first date ended?" B'Elanna pulled out of her thoughts looked into Seven's uncertain face and hurried to reassure her, "Surprised by how it ended. I guess I hadn't really considered all the implications of your relationship with the Captain. It's probably best though that she 'turned the front light on'," said B'Elanna with a grin. "I've never had the experience of dealing with a date's parents." "A new experience for the both of us then," noted Seven. "B'Elanna, I would be pleased if you would call me Annika when we are off duty." B'Elanna smiled broadly; she had noted the Captain's use of Seven's human name and had been hurt that Seven hadn't yet invited her to use it as well. "I'd be happy to Annika." They paused in front of Seven's quarters, both of them suddenly hesitant and searching for something to say. B'Elanna finally said, "Thank you for the date Annika, it was wonderful. I'll have to think of something that will be just as nice to invite you to go out with me to." "You would like to go on another date with me?" Seven asked hesitantly. "I would be very disappointed if we didn't Annika," B'Elanna said and then stepped forward to pull Seven's face toward hers for a brief kiss. "Good night," B'Elanna wished her as she stepped back from Seven who now had a soft smile on her face. "Good night B'Elanna," replied Seven as she stepped through the door into her quarters. ************************************************************* "Do you want me to take Seven off my Away Team list?" Chakotay asked Kathryn after the other two women had left. "Why would you do that?" asked Kathryn puzzled. "Well, because of the nature of the relationship between you. I assumed you wouldn't want to put her in any more danger than necessary," Chakotay said hesitantly, unsure of Kathryn's reaction. Kathryn shook her head, "I would never do that to her, my parent's never tried to shield me from difficulties, and though I may not have appreciated it when I was younger, I do now. I've certainly relied on my early lessons of not to give up just because something was difficult out here in the Delta Quadrant. Besides, out of everyone on this ship, Seven is the most likely to be able to survive an attack and be able to protect the rest of the Away Team." "So she really did get injured with a spear and just pulled it out and used it to kill the man who attacked her with it?" asked Chakotay who had been uncertain if the fight description had been exaggerated. "Yes, she did. From her description to me she barely bled from the injury and was pretty much fully healed after an hour. And that was with her walking at a brisk place for the entire time," said Kathryn. Kathryn still wasn't sure what to think about the extensive modifications that Mulara had made to Annika. In many ways she was, as she had just stated to Chakotay, reassured that Annika could survive most attacks. On the other hand, given what Mulara had told her the other evening she was becoming more concerned that those modifications would be needed for Annika to survive whatever task Mulara asked of her. "That reminds me," said Kathryn as they began the Velocity program, "I've got a reading list put together for Seven and B'Elanna. I would like you to go over it as well, see if you think I've left out anything important." "The studies Mulara asked you to start?" inquired Chakotay who had been informed of the events on the Holodeck. He, like the Captain, was dismayed at the thought that Voyager would play such a pivotal role in future events. Though, unlike the Captain, he wasn't as certain that Seven would be able to fulfill the role Mulara had in mind for her. He was more dismayed by the thought that B'Elanna was getting involved with the ex-Borg, and thus involving herself directly in whatever plans Mulara had for Seven. He had hoped that the two of them would become friends, but the passionate scene he and a positively gleeful Captain had interrupted definitely proved that the rumor mill was correct. He had been confused as to why the Captain had wanted to play such a late Velocity game, but she had filled him in as to her actual reason as they stood outside the Holodeck and waited for Seven's reserved time to expire. The following scene between Seven and Kathryn had not been one he had expected. He had thought that Seven would be irritated at the very least by Kathryn's actions, and her amused and accepting reaction had surprised him. As had the muted emotional declaration of caring between the two of them that had spurred him to inquire if he should refrain from assigning Seven to any more Away missions. As they started playing Velocity, Chakotay glanced at Kathryn, thinking that she had seen something special in Seven from the beginning. Perhaps he should trust more in her judgment of Seven than he had previously, he considered. "Yes, I was planning on starting the training as soon as I finalized their first reading list," said Kathryn. "Sounds like a good idea, I'll read it over first thing in the morning and get back to you," he offered. ************************************************************* Seven finished getting ready for bed and slipped underneath the sheets, wishing for a moment that B'Elanna was present to hold her. She accepted that it was a good idea that they hadn't continued their actions on the Holodeck in either of their quarters, however, she didn't like the aching feeling of desire that was still with her. After turning restlessly for a while, Seven finally got up and lit a candle, starting the first meditation that Tuvok had taught her in an effort to regain control of her emotions enough to sleep. NewMessage: ath: newsspool2.news.atl.earthlink.net!stamper.news.atl.earthlink.net!stamper.news.pas.earthlink.net!elnk-nf2-pas!newsfeed.earthlink.net!newshub.sdsu.edu!postnews.google.com!c13g2000cwb.googlegroups.com!not-for-mail From: "Kudara" Newsgroups: alt.startrek.creative Subject: New: VOY "I am Borg - Part 3" 2/? PG-13 (7/T) Date: 26 Jan 2005 05:09:13 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com Lines: 646 Message-ID: <1106744953.597182.146750@c13g2000cwb.googlegroups.com> NNTP-Posting-Host: 68.13.213.47 Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" X-Trace: posting.google.com 1106744957 25821 127.0.0.1 (26 Jan 2005 13:09:17 GMT) X-Complaints-To: groups-abuse@google.com NNTP-Posting-Date: Wed, 26 Jan 2005 13:09:17 +0000 (UTC) User-Agent: G2/0.2 Complaints-To: groups-abuse@google.com Injection-Info: c13g2000cwb.googlegroups.com; posting-host=68.13.213.47; posting-account=OA7ZrQ0AAABCd3Iq7g2kyLCDY3B1zVwg Xref: news.earthlink.net alt.startrek.creative:162081 X-Received-Date: Wed, 26 Jan 2005 05:09:18 PST (newsspool2.news.atl.earthlink.net) I am Borg - Part 3 - Chapter 2 By Kudara Disclaimer: Star Trek Voyager and all who sail in her belong to Paramount/Viacom and no infringement of copyright/trade marks is intended. Warning: Contains f/f situations between women. Rating: PG-13 Feedback: Always welcome, feedback is what encourages me to keep writing. Please let me know what you like and what you dislike about the story. Revision History: 9/5/04; 9/19/04 Summary: Alternate events of Warhead. ***************************************************************** "The time is 0600 hours," the voice of the computer waking her up seemed much too loud to Seven given that she had fallen asleep at 0100 hours. Grumbling she forced herself out of bed and into the sonic shower. Seven knew she had a full morning, first an hour's workout in the gym, followed by a quick breakfast. Then she needed to work several hours in Astrometrics before meeting B'Elanna and Harry on the Holodeck, just after lunch, to finish their work on the Jem'Hadar weapon. Seven did not see B'Elanna until she walked into the mess hall for lunch where B'Elanna and Harry were sitting at a table together. Seven wasn't prepared for the warm rush of feelings that surfaced when she looked at the dark skinned woman, her expressive hands emphasizing something she had just said to Harry. Just then B'Elanna looked up and saw her, and with a welcoming smile, greeted Seven causing a slight acceleration in her respiratory rate and pulse. Before she could restrain herself Seven responded to the smile with one of her own. Several startled looks directed her way caused the smile to slip away, and Seven reflexively retreated behind her usual cool mask. B'Elanna shook her head slightly at this, but directed a tolerant look at her as Seven went over to Neelix to get a plate of whatever he was serving today. After getting some of the Leola root stew Seven sat down with the two and B'Elanna quickly filled her in on what they had discussed so far. B'Elanna and Harry had been going over what they knew about the weapon and discussing what testing they should do to answer the remaining questions they had about it. Seven listened intently as she ate her meal then made a few observations that got the discussion rolling again. Between the three of them, when 1400 hours arrived, they had a fair idea of what needed to be done to complete their research of the weapon. After a few more hours in the Holodeck the three of them felt they were ready for the next stage of their work, actually building a working model of the weapon in Engineering. Harry declined their invitation to work on building the weapon components citing his need to sleep before needing to be on the bridge as duty officer during gamma shift. Seven and B'Elanna headed to Engineering both of them very interested in building a working power cell. If they were able to build it, they knew they could modify the more powerful cell to work in Federation phaser rifles. And that would give them a needed advantage out here in the Delta Quadrant. It was 1900 hours, "B'Elanna I believe we should take a break and consume food. Perhaps an increase in blood sugar would enhance our ability to solve the problem," said Seven. B'Elanna sighed in frustration, Seven was probably correct, a break for food might be just what they needed. They had been trying to solve the latest problem for a full hour with no luck. "Alright let's go see what Neelix had come up with tonight," she agreed. An hour later when they went back to engineering it was not long before a renewed discussion of the problem bore promising fruit. By midnight the two of then were looking at a working Jem'Hadar power cell that matched the output of the one on the Holodeck perfectly. "B'Elanna, I believe there are several modifications we can make to improve the reliability, power flow, and longevity of this power cell," Seven said, already thinking of how to apply her Borg knowledge to the design of the cell now that they understood how it worked. B'Elanna nodded, "I've got some ideas on how to modify it for Federation use and maybe even increase the total capacity of the cell. It's a very different design than what we use, and its better, but it does have some room for improvement doesn't it? I bet these things rupture and blow up on a fairly regular basis. I guess the Dominion doesn't care that it's not as safe as it could be," B'Elanna yawned. "I believe it is time we got some sleep, B'Elanna. We can begin designing the modifications tomorrow morning," suggested Seven. "Sounds like a good idea Seven," then musingly B'Elanna commented, "I wonder how Harry's doing on the bridge?" They proceeded to Deck 9 and paused outside of B'Elanna's quarters. "Come in for some bloodwine Seven?" inquired B'Elanna. "That would be nice," responded Seven as she followed B'Elanna into her quarters. A few moments later B'Elanna handed her a glass of replicated wine and sat down on the couch. Seven followed suit a moment later sitting down beside her. When B'Elanna wearily rested her head against the back of the couch Seven took a moment to examine the features of the woman beside her. Despite the tired circles under B'Elanna's eyes she was still very beautiful to Seven. Seven took a few more sips of her wine then quickly retrieved B'Elanna's glass which was listing heavily to one side as she dozed on the couch. Placing both of the glasses on the coffee table Seven stood and slid her hands under the half-Klingon's back and knees, easily lifting her from the couch. "What?" came the startled sleepy response from B'Elanna as Seven carried her into her bedroom and laid her on the bed. "Stay with me Annika," asked B'Elanna, "I'm too tired to do anything but sleep; I just would like for you to be here." Seven, still crouched over the bed, looked down at the sleepily blinking woman and considered her request for a moment. Seven debated the wisdom of staying, then realized that she didn't want to leave, the thought of cradling B'Elanna in her arms all night was too enticing to walk away from. "You should change into something to sleep in and I should as well," said Seven. B'Elanna nodded and sat up then shuffled to the shelves inset into the wall and pulled a set of dark red satin night clothes from it. Turning her back to Seven she quickly stripped out of her uniform and underclothes and pulled on the pajamas then laid the uniform over a convenient chair for recycling in the morning. Seven found she was having trouble breathing, the sight of B'Elanna disrobing, seeing her bare muscular back and legs. 'Just sleeping, will be a hard task' thought Seven as she brought her breathing under control only to loose it again as she opened her eyes to see the red draped form of B'Elanna standing in front of her holding an ice blue set of night clothes like those she wore. Seven reached out and accepted them, glancing as she did so into the eyes of the woman she was so strongly attracted to and realizing they were dancing with amusement. Seven realized that B'Elanna knew exactly what the effect of her undressing in front of her had been, either because of her sense of smell or by design. That realization was all Seven needed to change her mind about undressing in B'Elanna's bathroom. Putting aside her doubts about her current course of action, Seven moved over to the chair B'Elanna had undressed in front of and turned her back to B'Elanna. Keeping a slow but steady pace she unhurriedly stripped off her uniform jumper and removed her bra then pulled on the satin night clothes. The phrase 'playing with fire' ran through her mind, as she heard the sharply indrawn breath of the woman behind her. B'Elanna hadn't really thought things through when she decided to change clothes in front of Seven. She had only been hoping that Seven would find her beautiful and had been pleased to see the obvious reaction the woman had to her actions. Never had she thought that Seven would return the favor, and the slow almost leisurely pace with which she did so... 'Kathless, she is beautiful', thought B'Elanna as she beheld the exoskeleton design across Seven's back for the first time. When Seven turned around B'Elanna took one long look at the satin draped form and started wondering if she was possibly tired enough to actually manage to sleep beside this woman. B'Elanna was highly embarrassed to hear a higher pitched growl that sounded suspiciously like it was mixed with a whine issuing from her throat. From the raised brow she received from Seven, B'Elanna knew she had noticed it as well. "Perhaps I should go to my own quarters," offered Seven reluctantly. "No," said B'Elanna. She took a deep breath and reminded herself that it was late and she wanted the first time with Seven to be special. "I am tired, and I want our first time to be something special for both of us; which means when I'm fully awake and when we have several hours free." B'Elanna felt herself calming down as she said this. "Which side of the bed do you want?" she asked. Seven looked at her searchingly for a moment then nodded, "I usually find myself on the left side of the bed." B'Elanna nodded and went over to the right hand side of the bed and slipped in under the sheets. She laid on her back and looked at Seven, waiting till she got into the other side of the bed then ordered the lights off. Tentatively she shifted over toward Seven till she felt the woman's arm beside hers, reaching down she laid her hand over Seven's and smiled when Seven entwined their fingers. Giving a contented sigh B'Elanna felt the softness of the bed and the warm presence beside her relaxing her. Sleepily B'Elanna wondered why Seven had a comforting effect on her and could only come up with the fact that Seven felt 'right' beside her. Like something she had been missing without ever knowing. Seven listened to B'Elanna's breathing even out into sleep, she was not as tired as B'Elanna was but then she needed less sleep than the half-Klingon due to her Borg/Mularan physiology. She was enjoying watching B'Elanna sleep when the woman rolled toward her. Instinctively Seven moved her arm so that B'Elanna could cuddle up beside her. As Seven glanced down at the head of the woman which now rested on her shoulder she felt a rush of tenderness which moved her to drop a kiss on the brown hair. Seven was drifting off to sleep when she felt B'Elanna shift again, this time to drape a definitely possessive arm and leg over the ex-drones body. Seven smiled and wrapped both arms around B'Elanna, feeling rather pleased by the woman's possessiveness. Seven's last thought before she fell asleep was of how good it felt to have B'Elanna wrapped around her. "The time is 0600 hours," announced the voice of the computer, waking up both women. B'Elanna was surprised to find herself resting essentially on top of Seven with a leg thrown over hers and one arm curled possessively around her midriff. A sudden awareness of Seven's body under hers immediately followed her realization of where she was resting. B'Elanna groaned to herself as she ran through the tasks she had to accomplish today in Engineering. Reluctantly she concluded that she could not possibly ask for a day off. So instead of staying wrapped around Seven B'Elanna slowly pulled away from her and looking up exchanged a regretful look. "Good morning Annika," she said with a smile. "Good morning B'Elanna," Seven replied somewhat huskily. B'Elanna shifted herself further up in the bed and leaned over Seven, slowly bringing their lips together in a gentle kiss that rapidly grew in passion. When Seven brought up both hands to B'Elanna's back and pulled B'Elanna more firmly against her, B'Elanna regretfully groaned and pulled away. "I have to go to Engineering this morning Seven, though I wish I could take the day off and make love to you. Soon though, Kathless it had better be soon or I think I'll loose my mind... I'd better go take a shower now," B'Elanna almost babbled as she forced herself to get out of bed and away from the temptation of Seven. Grabbing her uniform and a robe B'Elanna hurried out of the bedroom leaving behind Seven, who sat up in the bed and stared after the retreating woman, confused. Reluctantly Seven got out of bed and walked over to the replicator, ordering some coffee with milk and enough Quara fruit for the both of them. As she ate Seven reviewed the events in the bedroom tying to figure out B'Elanna's actions. Reluctantly Seven decided it had been mostly her fault, B'Elanna had been willing to exchange kisses with her until she had attempted to deepen the intimacy between them whereupon B'Elanna had pulled away knowing that they had to begin their duty shifts shortly. Something that Seven had forgotten entirely in that moment, it was a good thing B'Elanna had been more responsible than she. Seven smiled wryly, agreeing with B'Elanna's comment that they would have to have physical intimacy soon. B'Elanna obviously wasn't the only one who was starting to feel overwhelmed by the intensity of the desire between them. B'Elanna stepped out of her bathroom dressed in a fresh uniform and looked rather uncertainly at Seven, not quite certain what to say after her ungraceful retreat earlier. "Would you like some Quara fruit, B'Elanna?" offered Seven, "I believe you will enjoy the taste, it is a Mularan fruit." B'Elanna focused her attention on the plate of fruit slices Seven was offering her and took a slice. Surprised at the taste she said, "This is good; it reminds me of nut bread." "The remainder is for you, I have already eaten my fill," said Seven, "If I might use your shower?" "Of course," replied B'Elanna accepting the plate of fruit. Seven went back into the bedroom and retrieved her uniform; laying it on the bed she quickly passed her hands over it, activating the self cleaning properties of the material. When she was finished she replicated her self some under clothes and with her uniform in hand went to use B'Elanna's shower. When she finished and returned to the living area B'Elanna was looking over some padds intently. She looked up when Seven walked out of the bathroom, "I need to get going, will you be in engineering this afternoon to continue working on the Jem'Hadar weapon?" "As soon as I have completed my work in Astrometrics I will join you in engineering," answered Seven. "Great, I'll see you for lunch?" B'Elanna inquired. Seven smiled as at her as they walked out of B'Elanna's quarters, "That is acceptable, I will contact you to arrange the time later." The two of them went their separate ways at the turbolift, Seven to Astrometrics, B'Elanna to Engineering. Seven had read the morning's reports and found out about the distress call that Ensign Kim had responded to by diverting their course. The away team had found that the source of the signal was an artificial intelligence and had transported it aboard Voyager. Later in the morning when Janeway walked into Astrometrics, Seven was already scanning the surface of the planet looking for any other signs of technology like the artificial intelligence that currently resided in Engineering where Harry and B'Elanna were busy examining it. Janeway requested that she scan for metallic particles similar to the AI's and it did not take Seven long to locate them. Unfortunately they were located within impact craters that were 200 km in diameter, a closer scan of the crater confirmed what they both had suspected upon seeing it. The AI in engineering was a weapon. During the following senior staff meeting Seven, when asked for suggestions, first recommended destroying the weapon. When that met with resistance from the Doctor she suggested returning it to the surface and leaving a warning buoy. She knew the Doctor was outraged by her lack of sympathy for the AI, but she was far more concerned with the thought of the danger the weapon represented to the crew and especially to a certain Chief Engineer. The Captain, however, was moved by the Doctor's argument that they attempt to save the AI by transferring it's matrix to a hologram and separate it from its weapon components. When the AI seized control of the Doctor's matrix and sealed Sickbay, accusing Harry and B'Elanna of trying to deactivate it, Seven's nebulous fears became reality. She immediately began reviewing everything Harry and B'Elanna had found out about the weapon so far, looking for a way to safely neutralize it. When Janeway called for another staff meeting Seven still hadn't come up with any good ideas, though she now had a better idea of the weapons capabilities. When Lt. Paris suggested lowering the shields around Sickbay and beaming the weapon away Seven was able to inform him that the weapon would be able to arm itself and detonate before Voyager could get a safe distance away. Seven was relieved when Neelix brought up the idea of asking one of the regional traders about the weapon. He had noticed that a power node he had acquired from them used similar technology, perhaps they might have more information about the AI. Not surprisingly when the trader offered to take the weapon off their hands the Captain was unwilling due to concerns about whom such a device might be sold to. Seven was taken aback when the trader opened fire on their ship trying to beam the weapon away. She was more astonished when the AI was able to send a feedback surge to the trader ship that destroyed it when the trader attempted to transport the weapon away. Seven made a mental note to herself to check the sensor logs later to try and determine exactly how the weapon had accomplished that, she was rather impressed. When the third staff meeting was called Seven had only one suggestion to make that had any chance that she could see of succeeding. The trader had given them some basic schematics of the weapon, Seven could tell there were details missing but there was enough there to give her hope that she could use her nanoprobes to disrupt the bio-neural circuitry of the weapon. The difficulty in her plan was that she would need direct access to the weapon's primary control port. The Captain tentatively accepted her suggestion if they could come up with a way of getting her into Sickbay and distract the AI while she was accessing the control port. A group comprised of Lt. Paris, Seven and Neelix was formed, and within a few hours had a workable plan to present to Chakotay. Lt. Paris, using the inertial dampeners in a decidedly unorthodox manner, would pretend that the ship was encountering mines. Neelix would doctor Seven so it would appear that she had been injured in a plasma leak to get her into Sickbay. Once she was there Tuvok would disrupt the power to the Doctor's matrix allowing Seven time to access the control port of the weapon. Chakotay thought about it for a few minutes then nodded and gave them the go ahead to prepare for the deception, he would inform the Captain of their plan. Seven had instructed her exoskeleton to grow an overlay of skin when the idea of her suffering plasma burns had first been brought up as a means of getting her into Sickbay. The astonished looks on the faces of her crewmates as her exoskeleton was slowly covered over made Seven realize that they had never seen her without some sign of her Borgness; the last time she had done this had been back on Mulara when she was testing out the different exoskeleton colors. Thus by the time that Neelix was ready to create the appearance of plasma burns he had a clean canvas, so to speak, to work upon. Seven sat very still as Neelix worked going over the plan in her mind and worrying about the missing specifics in the diagrams the trader had given them. When Neelix had completed his work they met with the team one last time to go over last minute details, then they took their positions in the corridor outside of Sickbay and awaited the signal for Seven to pretend to be injured. After a few minutes while the ship jolted from Lt. Paris's maneuvers, Neelix and Seven got the notification from Janeway they had been expecting. Seven carefully collapsed into Neelix's arms and let herself go limp as he dragged her into Sickbay. A frantically worried half-Klingon awaited them just inside the doors unaware of the deception that was occurring. "Seven!" B'Elanna exclaimed in a panicked tone as the doors opened and Neelix dragged in the apparently unconscious woman. Seven felt B'Elanna's arms around her shoulders as B'Elanna took over from Neelix and they both raised her to one of the biobeds. Then there was a gentle touch on her hand and Seven could almost see the puzzled look on B'Elanna's face as she realized that Seven's exoskeleton was not showing. Seven hoped B'Elanna would figure out that she wasn't actually injured; she did not want her to continue to be worried. Just then Seven heard the words she had been waiting for from the AI, he, or rather his stolen holomatrix was destabilizing and he was demanding that the Captain tell him what was going on. As soon as the Captain informed him that they had sustained damage to the secondary systems and he would have to stand by Seven opened her eyes and looked into the face of a bewildered B'Elanna Torres. "What's going on here?" B'Elanna asked in an aggravated tone. As Neelix explained that Seven was going to try and defuse the weapon Seven extended her tubules, wincing as they tore through the new skin covering her exoskeleton and interfaced with the command port. Immediately she realized that the missing sections of the schematic were indeed critical, the system immediately reacted to her intrusion. She attempted to counter it but she had too little knowledge of what she was fighting against. As a feedback surge entered her system Seven felt a flash of anger at herself, she had underestimated the AI and it's abilities and had failed to save B'Elanna and the ship. It felt as if someone had set her exoskeleton on fire Seven realized dimly as she frantically sought to disengage her tubules from the port. Suddenly she felt someone forcefully pull her away from the weapon. "Seven," she heard both B'Elanna and Neelix exclaim. >From the closeness of B'Elanna's voice Seven was able to guess that she was the one who had pulled her away from the port, disengaging her tubules and saving her from further damage. Seven realized with some fear that she couldn't respond to B'Elanna, she was still aware of her surroundings, but she couldn't seem to move. After a few moments of frantic effort to force her body to cooperate Seven forced herself to calm down and run what diagnostics she could to determine what the problem was. Seven felt herself being lifted once again onto the biobed and allowed herself to feel a moment of irony, now she actually did need medical attention. As information flowed into her cortical implant Seven realized that the feedback surge along her tubules had damaged her neural fibers, her body had automatically blocked certain pathways to her brain in an effort to prevent damage to her neural pathways. The effort had not entirely succeeded as certain areas had been damaged. This was why she could not currently move but her nanoprobes were repairing her as quickly as possible. Seven was relieved when she realized that she would probably be healthy enough to move within the next 10 minutes or so and entirely healed within the hour. With a time limit on her helplessness, Seven allowed herself to relax somewhat and enjoyed the feel of B'Elanna stroking her hair. Seven had heard Neelix quietly tell B'Elanna that he thought she would make a full recovery on her own and that there were signs that she was already repairing herself, so she was hopeful that B'Elanna would not be too upset with her. Seven focused on the sounds around her and realized that the other bombs that had been fired with this one had found Voyager and were demanding that they release the weapon in Sickbay so they could tractor it with them to their destination. In the mean time, Harry was busy arguing with the AI about some codes it had received ordering it to disarm itself. As the argument continued Seven realized Harry was succeeding in getting the AI to recognize that the war had ceased and it had been launched in error. Suddenly Seven realized that Harry was talking about her as he used her injuries to point out that the weapon already had one victim and was it prepared to kill several million people. From the following conversation it was clear that Harry had made his point, the AI was attempting to get its fellows to accept the orders and disarm themselves. Unfortunately the other thirty-two bombs did not believe that it had received the orders before crossing the targeting threshold. Suddenly the AI asked to be beamed to the other weapons assuring Harry that it would make sure that the other weapons never reached their target. Confused at first Seven quickly realized what the AI planned to do, it would detonate itself before reaching its target. In such close proximity to the others, it would destroy them as well. Harry obviously believed the weapon as well, for he asked B'Elanna to help him reprogram it's bio-neural matrix. Seven felt B'Elanna leave and strained her hearing to determine what was happening. In a few moments she heard Harry ask the Captain to lock onto the weapon and prepare to transport it into space. Janeway paused as if to measure the confidence in his voice and then agreed, a few moments later she heard B'Elanna tell Harry that she had completed reconfiguring the weapon's matrix. Seven heard Harry ask the AI if it was ready and it apparently replied with an non-verbal affirmative for the next thing she heard was Harry telling it that he was sorry. The AI replied that it was completing it's mission, only that the target had changed. There was a long moment of silence then B'Elanna informed Harry that the transfer was complete. A few seconds later Seven heard the voice of the Doctor. "Please state the nature of the emergency..." the Doctor's voice trailed off and he started asking what had happened an how long had he been offline. B'Elanna cut him off and apparently dragged him over toward Seven for the next thing Seven heard was B'Elanna's voice near her telling the Doctor that he needed to treat her. Seven heard the minute sound of the medical tricorder being run over her then the Doctor's voice said, "She's sustained quite a lot of injury to her neural pathways. It looks like her Mularan systems reacted to some type of feedback surge by breaking and in some cases blocking her neural pathways. Her nanoprobes are busy reconnecting them, she's entirely conscious of what's happening around her right now she just can't move. She should be regaining control of some of her nervous system within the next fifteen seconds or so." Since this matched what Seven had determined ten minutes ago she was pleased to hear the Doctor confirm her diagnostic results. As she felt control of her body returning to her Seven opened her eyes, the blurry world that greeted her was disconcerting and she blinked several times trying to clear it. "Fine control of the muscles around the lens of your eye are not completely re-established, Seven. You should be able to focus in a few minutes when all the neural connections are established," commented the Doctor upon seeing her difficulty. Seven was able to nod and with difficulty reply, "Thank you Doctor. B'Elanna?" "I'm right here Seven," said B'Elanna and a dark blur moved into view as Seven felt her hand being grasped in a firm reassuring grip. Over the Sickbay communications channel the four of them heard the Captain say, "Bridge to Ensign Kim, the weapons have been destroyed." There was utter silence in Sickbay as they absorbed the meaning of the message. Seven felt a moment of admiration and sorrow for the AI which like One, had gained individuality and had chosen to sacrifice itself to preserve the lives of others. Seven blinked again and was relived to see that things were coming into focus; she could now distinguish B'Elanna's form from the Doctor's instead of them both being indistinct people shaped blurs. Seven was now able to grip B'Elanna's hand reassuringly, "I misjudged the defensive capabilities of the weapon," she rather sheepishly admitted. Seven could tell that B'Elanna was staring at her. "I would say so," B'Elanna replied, "You could have been killed Seven. Why did you do that and why did the Captain let you?" she exclaimed in a clearly upset tone. Seven winced, "I neglected to tell her the information we obtained from the trader was missing several pieces of information." There was silence from B'Elanna, but the Doctor broke in with an aggrieved tone, "Maybe I should run some diagnostics on your cortical node, obviously it's affecting your judgment." He paused for a moment, "And while I'm at it I should run one on myself as well. What happened, why was I deactivated?" Seven's improving vision allowed her to see that Harry had come over to the group, now he pulled the Doctor aside and started explaining what had occurred to him. "Seven," said B'Elanna, "why did you not tell the Captain about the missing information." "She would have prevented me from making the attempt," explained Seven. "Why would I have prevented you from making the attempt? And speaking of which, what went wrong?" the Captain appeared suddenly behind B'Elanna. "She forgot to mention that the plans you got from some trader were rather incomplete," B'Elanna explained to the Captain in a tight tone. "The weapon had more defensive capabilities than where included in the schematics Onquani gave us. I was damaged by a feedback pulse it was able to generate within my Mularan exoskeleton," Seven explained to the Captain. "I was aware there were elements missing in the diagrams, but I had not anticipated they were so... extensive." "And you neglected to mention this to me," said the Captain coming up alongside the biobed. Seven sighed internally and forced herself to move enough to sit up so the two women were not looming over her. "At the time I did not feel they were serious enough to mention to you Captain." "Yet obviously they were," Janeway said giving Seven a serious look. "Yes," admitted Seven reluctantly. "Well you still haven't explained to me why you took such a risk!" B'Elanna exclaimed loudly. Seven looked her in the eyes, "You were in danger," she explained simply. B'Elanna stared at her with frustration apparent in her gaze and stance. "Damn it Seven don't risk yourself like that again." "You would rather I did not care about you as much as I do," asked Seven feeling rather chilled suddenly. "No!" B'Elanna said, then moved up close and loosely embraced her, "You just really frightened me." B'Elanna spoke as she rested her head against Seven's shoulder. Seven put her arms around B'Elanna's shoulders and pulled her closer as the Captain gazed at them with a small smile playing about her lips. "I am sorry," Seven apologized. "What's going on here?" came the voice of the Doctor. Seven and B'Elanna looked up from where they were resting their foreheads against one another at the bewildered and hurt looking hologram. "Doctor, I need to speak with you about a few things," said the Captain. "Seven will make a full recovery?" The Doctor looked back and forth at the three women, "Well yes, she should be fully recovered already." "Then you two should probably go to lunch," suggested the Captain to Seven and B'Elanna. Then she reached out and placed a firm hand on the Doctor's arm, "I've been meaning to ask you some questions about the social training you prepared for Seven, Doctor," the Captain said as she drew him away into his office. Over her shoulder she said to Seven, "Seven, I'll discuss your actions with you later this afternoon." Seven nodded, not particularly looking forward to the conversation as she slid down from the biobed and tested her legs. Discovering that they appeared to be functioning perfectly she turned to B'Elanna, "I believe we were supposed to have lunch together?" NewMessage: ath: newsspool2.news.atl.earthlink.net!stamper.news.atl.earthlink.net!stamper.news.pas.earthlink.net!elnk-nf2-pas!newsfeed.earthlink.net!newshub.sdsu.edu!postnews.google.com!c13g2000cwb.googlegroups.com!not-for-mail From: "Kudara" Newsgroups: alt.startrek.creative Subject: New: VOY "I am Borg - Part 3" 3/? PG-13 (7/T) Date: 26 Jan 2005 06:23:08 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com Lines: 608 Message-ID: <1106749388.330031.119860@c13g2000cwb.googlegroups.com> NNTP-Posting-Host: 152.121.36.65 Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" X-Trace: posting.google.com 1106749392 32013 127.0.0.1 (26 Jan 2005 14:23:12 GMT) X-Complaints-To: groups-abuse@google.com NNTP-Posting-Date: Wed, 26 Jan 2005 14:23:12 +0000 (UTC) User-Agent: G2/0.2 Complaints-To: groups-abuse@google.com Injection-Info: c13g2000cwb.googlegroups.com; posting-host=152.121.36.65; posting-account=OA7ZrQ0AAABCd3Iq7g2kyLCDY3B1zVwg Xref: news.earthlink.net alt.startrek.creative:162082 X-Received-Date: Wed, 26 Jan 2005 06:23:13 PST (newsspool2.news.atl.earthlink.net) I am Borg - Part 3 - Chapter 3 By Kudara Disclaimer: Star Trek Voyager and all who sail in her belong to Paramount/Viacom and no infringement of copyright/trade marks is intended. Warning: Contains f/f situations between women. Rating: PG-13 Feedback: Always welcome, feedback is what encourages me to keep writing. Please let me know what you like and what you dislike about the story. Revision History: 10/11/04; 10/28/04 Summary: Seven and Janeway discuss Seven's choice in Ch. 2. M'ara ************************************************************* Seven made her way toward Holodeck 2 where she would meet B'Elanna for their training session. Her thoughts drifted momentarily to the events of the afternoon, the meeting with the Captain had been... uncomfortable seemed like too mild a word for the experience. Janeway had made it obvious that she had disappointed and hurt by Seven purposefully leaving out such critical information. And that had only been the Captain to crewmember part of the discussion. The mother to daughter discussion had happened right afterward, its start signaled by the Captain shifting to the use of her birth name. "What were you thinking Annika? I understand you wanted to save B'Elanna, but being reckless doesn't help anyone." Kathryn paused only for a moment then continued, "I don't want to think that I can no longer trust your judgment when it comes to situations involving her." Seven had winced internally at the statement, "Captain... Kathryn." She corrected herself after receiving sharp glance in response to her use of rank. "I made an error; I underestimated the capabilities of the weapon." Seven grimaced, "Something I should not have done, given the sophistication of the attack it carried out against the trader who attempted to take it from us." "I was mistaken when I did not tell you everything I knew. Though you might have forbid me from trying, you might have also foreseen the weapon's reaction and come up with a method of defense. I did not give you the..." Seven searched for the correct phrase, "benefit of a doubt when I assumed in which manner you would act." "No you didn't," replied Kathryn in a softer tone, her anger apparently dampened for the moment. "Annika, I might not have approved your plan had I known, but I would have understood your need to do something to help B'Elanna." Kathryn looked thoughtful for a moment, "I think I overestimated your abilities, as well as forgetting about your feelings for B'Elanna, I should have talked to your group myself instead of letting Chakotay handle all of it." Kathryn continued, "You have to learn how to balance your feeling for B'Elanna with your professional duties. Normally I would not assign someone to a rescue mission when they have an emotional involvement with one of the one's being rescued. But your unique abilities mean that you get assigned to away missions more often than others," Kathryn paused right after she said that and looked out the viewport at the stars pensively. After a few moments she turned and looked sadly at Seven. "How can I expect you to separate your feelings in such a manner when I couldn't manage when it came to Justin and my father..." she trailed off. Impulsively Seven walked over to Kathryn and gripped her lightly about the arm, "I understand that I should not have let my feeling for B'Elanna override my logical assessment of the situation. I will attempt to not let them do so in the future." "I know you will I'm just saying that first love is... well it can be overwhelming. It's very easy to let your feelings overrun your judgment," Kathryn patted Seven's hand where it was resting on her arm as she said this. Seven nodded thinking of how she had forgotten about when her duty shift began this morning when B'Elanna had kissed her, and completely unaware of the smile that had crept across her face as she did so. Kathryn raised an eyebrow and chuckled softly, causing Seven to look at her curiously. Kathryn shook her head briefly, "I do wish we had the luxury of letting you discover love like most of us did, the impulsive asking of a day off, paying less attention than you should to your duties because you're thinking of being with that special someone. It's an experience you would have probably already had if you hadn't been assimilated." Seven looked at Kathryn surprised, the conversation had taken several unexpected turns and Seven was uncertain what if any response she should give to Kathryn's last statement. One side of Kathryn's mouth turned up in a half smile, "What I mean is that I wish we were in a situation where I could let you have the experiences most of your peer's have had. Instead here I am lecturing you on how we... I... can't afford for you to be distracted because of your feeling for B'Elanna." "Seven?" the subject of Seven and Kathryn's conversation broke into the ex-Borg's thoughts. Startled Seven blinked and brought herself back to the present, smiling at the woman who stood beside her, "I am sorry I was thinking of my conversation with the Captain earlier." B'Elanna winced, "How did that go, was she very hard on you?" Seven considered the question with a tilted head, "It was an interesting conversation." This statement drew a questioning raised eye from B'Elanna. "She was disappointed with my actions." Seven paused for a moment, "She also said that she wished she had the luxury of allowing me to experience love like the other member's of the crew have. Apparently it is expected that the emotion will affect judgment and cause one to act in a less than efficient manner?" B'Elanna smiled, "You could say that. If it's any consolation you're not alone, I've never fallen in love yet either." "Is that what we are doing?" asked Seven curiously. B'Elanna put her hands on her hips and gave Seven a slightly narrow eyed look, "I thought it was." Seven eyed her uncertainly, not quite sure why B'Elanna was displeased, "I do not precisely know what is occurring between us B'Elanna. It is different from what I felt for Jorunn, it is..." Seven broke off as Lt. Paris and Ensign Kim exited the Holodeck. "Well hello ladies, you two playing your infiltrator program?" asked Tom. Seven replied, "No Lt. Paris tonight is unarmed combat practice." "I really should give that program a try, is the instructor the Mularan's programmed any good?" asked Ensign Kim. B'Elanna coughed causing everyone to glance at her and Seven fought to keep from smiling at the innocent question. "I have found the instructor to be quite satisfactory," Seven commented. Harry looked surprised, "That's quite a complement coming from you, now I'll definitely have to try it out." He looked inquiringly at Tom. "Ah... Sure, Harry I used to actually like unarmed combat back at the Academy. I should probably get back in practice," Tom said. "I think you two will enjoy it," said B'Elanna, "And we should be getting started if you two would excuse us." B'Elanna followed up her comment with bringing up the training program at the Holodeck controls. "Ah, sure, don't let us keep you," said Tom with a raised eye. "Coming along Seven?" B'Elanna asked as she stepped through the Holodeck doors. "Lt. Paris, Ensign Kim," Seven nodded to the two men politely and followed B'Elanna into the Holodeck staring curiously at the half-Klingon. B'Elanna waited till the doors were closed then whirled to face Seven, "How is it different from what you felt for Jorunn," she asked. Seven blinked, "You were rude to Lt. Paris and Ensign Kim because you wished to know the remainder of my statement." It was not a question but a statement and B'Elanna replied, "Yes, now finish it... please." Seven looked at B'Elanna keenly, then reached out and cupped B'Elanna's face with her hands and drew B'Elanna closer. "My feelings for you, my desire for you, is much more intense." With that Seven kissed her trying to show B'Elanna the emotions she was feeling since she could not find the words to describe them. The kiss was soft and tender for several moments, then Seven heard B'Elanna growl and she was slowly pushed backward until her back rested against a convenient tree, slowly but certainly the shorter woman took control of the kiss and it became more passionate. When B'Elanna took Seven's wrists in her hands and pushed them around the tree behind her, Seven could have protested but she did not want to, for B'Elanna's body was pressing her firmly against the tree and the continual low growl now coming from B'Elanna aroused her. Seven let her head fall back to rest against the bark of the tree when B'Elanna's lips left her own and trailed kisses and gentle nips along her jaw line and then explored her neck, unaware of the low moans coming from her own lips. The loose neckline of Seven's Mularan shirt allowed B'Elanna access to explore the line of Seven's collarbone but no further. Aggravated by this B'Elanna let go of Seven's wrists where she had been holding them and reached to tear off the waist wrap. That accomplished she slipped her hands under Seven's shirt and slid them up Seven's back as she returned her lips to Seven's. "Well I understand what has been keeping you two now, you've been thinking of trying out a different type of unarmed exercise," the amused voice of M'ara intruded abruptly. B'Elanna let out a frustrated growl as she removed her hands from under Seven's shirt and stepped away from her and turned around to face the Klingon hologram. Seven, brought rather abruptly out of the sensual haze she had fallen into, moved away from the tree she had been pressed against by B'Elanna. Steadying her breathing, Seven looked inquiringly at M'ara, wondering why the Mularan goddess had sought them out. She understood Kathryn's concerns to be of a parental nature, but was unaware of what objections M'ara might have. M'ara smirked at the angry look B'Elanna was directing towards her, "Let us walk through the gardens for a few moments," she said and proceeded to do as she suggested, turning after a few steps to look at them commandingly. Intrigued Seven nodded and looked at B'Elanna entreatingly; finally the half-Klingon sighed and nodded. The three of them walked along the path toward the gardens, M'ara was silent until they reached the first bedded area of red and yellow flowering plants, then she stopped to look at them. "Seven you know that I shall ask you to accomplish a task for me, what you do not know though is that I have told B'Elanna that you task will be easier if you have a partner that will support and help you. Now I am telling both of you, the task I will require of Seven will be made much easier if there are two, not one, attempting it." B'Elanna, having heard this before merely nodded in acknowledgement of M'ara's words. Seven who had not known of M'ara's conversation with B'Elanna was, of course, much more surprised by this information. "I have also mentioned to B'Elanna, and now I will to you as well Seven, that you two should be certain of your feelings for one another before you enter into a more... intimate relationship. If you two begin a relationship and then one of you decides you were mistaken then Seven will most certainly fail her task." M'ara looked at them with a solemn expression on her face as she said the last. The two women looked at one another with grave expressions for a moment, then Seven said, "B'Elanna you never shared this information with me." "I... "B'Elanna looked confused for a moment as she halted what she had been planning to say, then she began looking embarrassed, "I forgot to." Seven looked at her surprised but M'ara broke in again, "This would need to happen anyway, but in order to insure a certain level of commitment from you both I will link B'Elanna's development of her implant and exoskeleton to the onset of intimate relations between the two of you." Two sets of eyes focused on M'ara unwaveringly as they both absorbed this unexpected information. "B'Elanna will become as I am?" asked Seven. "Not exactly as you are, but yes the same implants and supportive structures. Her exoskeleton will develop differently from yours though. It will be uniquely hers, as yours is uniquely yours," responded M'ara. "I'll get the photographic memory and the Borg engineering knowledge as well?" B'Elanna finally responded to the information with intrigue rather than dismay. M'ara chuckled, "It was supposed to cause you to hesitate, not be an incentive," the Klingon woman said grumbling, but with a smile. "Yes, you will receive all the knowledge Seven has gained from the Borg, without paying the high price she had to pay for the receiving of it. And due to the cortical node you will gain the photographic memory." B'Elanna sobered at the comment, "Seven..." B'Elanna hesitated searching for the words to ask the ex-Borg whether or not she would resent her gaining the engineering knowledge. Seven stepped toward B'Elanna and raised her hand and gently touched the side of B'Elanna's face. "I would not want you to become Borg for that knowledge, but I am troubled by the thought of you becoming like I am, how will the rest of the crew treat you?" B'Elanna looked troubled, "Hasn't everyone been treating you better since you returned Seven?" "Yes, but it is clear that it is only because they fear you and the Captain. I do not want to be the cause of you being treated as I am treated," Seven said with a dismayed expression. "Well since I was the main cause of your problems," B'Elanna glanced at M'ara as she said this with a shamed expression, "I doubt I will have the same issue, and maybe once they know we are together they will believe me when I say that I was wrong to treat you the way I did." "There is one other consideration," M'ara spoke up, "When there are two of you, you will be able to share one other characteristic of the Borg. You can know each other's thoughts and feelings." She held up a reassuring hand to the both of them upon seeing their suddenly apprehensive expressions, "you will not loose your individuality, the implants you will both have will not make either of you a slave to the other, only allow you to know each others thoughts." Seven and B'Elanna stared for a moment at M'ara then glanced at each other out of the corner of their eyes uncertainly. Neither of them seemed willing to discuss what M'ara had just told them. M'ara smirked at them both, "You seem suddenly quiet, perhaps now we can head to the training area and get some unarmed combat training accomplished." Seven wasn't certain how she felt about the possibility of B'Elanna being able to know her thoughts and feelings. Even though she had been part of the Collective and had shared their thoughts, it hadn't been as an individual. Her thoughts had been ordered and task driven, not at all like the chaotic collection that she experienced as an individual. She wanted to get closer to B'Elanna but she wasn't certain she wanted to give up the privacy of her own mind, not when she had just gotten used to having it. Glancing at B'Elanna as they quietly walked to the pavilion, Seven realized that she wasn't quite entirely certain that B'Elanna's opinion of her had changed or if B'Elanna was only being nice out of guilt. Seven didn't really want to find out that the later was correct. B'Elanna was uncomfortable with the silence that had grown between them since M'ara's second revelation to them. She knew she wasn't comfortable with the idea of anyone else knowing her thoughts and feelings, not even Seven. But she was hurt at the same time by the evidence that Seven, who at least had more experience with such a situation, didn't seem to want B'Elanna to know her thoughts either. B'Elanna knew this wasn't fair of her, to want to know Seven's thoughts without sharing her own, but it was just an example of one of the reason's she didn't want her thoughts known to Seven. She didn't want Seven to know how self absorbed she often was, the extent with which she considered Seven's feelings recently was unusual for her and a sign of how much her feelings had grown for the other woman. Both women were relieved when they reached the pavilion and M'ara set them to practicing separately against multiple opponents. It allowed them to quit focusing on each other's silence and focus on something else entirely. When it came time for their time on the Holodeck to expire they both became tense and nervous again, as they stepped out of the Holodeck B'Elanna sighed in frustration, "Seven lets go to my quarters and talk about this over a bloodwine. I can't stand this... silence between us." It was evidence of Seven's mental state that she replied, "I will comply," to B'Elanna instead of a less Borg like statement. When they reached B'Elanna's quarters B'Elanna indicated that Seven should enter first and then went over to the replicator to get two glasses of bloodwine. She silently handed Seven's glass to her and then sat down beside her on the couch silently. After a few silent moments they began in unison, "Seven," "B'Elanna." They smiled briefly at each other as they both halted and glanced at each other. "B'Elanna," began Seven again, speaking first, "I should be more comfortable with the thought of you being linked to me." She stared pensively at the carpeted floor for a moment before continuing. "I became accustomed to the silence in my mind only a year ago. I now find myself uneasy at the thought of loosing that privacy." B'Elanna glanced at Seven in surprise, and then reflected that Seven's reasoning shouldn't really have been a surprise to her. Just because she had been part of the Collective and had once wanted to return to it didn't mean that she wanted to return to a similar situation now. B'Elanna took another sip of her wine appreciating its thick rich flavor. "I'm... well I guess I'm afraid you won't like me much if you get to know me too well," admitted B'Elanna hesitantly. Seven looked at B'Elanna in surprise for a moment then realized suddenly that their opinions of one another would affect the link between them very differently that if they were both drones in the Collective. In the Collective their feelings and opinions would have been stripped from them, leaving the thoughts to be shared between them dry and emotionless. This link would be nothing like the one she was familiar with, it would be filled with all types of information the Collective would have deemed 'irrelevant'. Wiping suddenly sweaty palms on her workout pant's Seven admitted, "I had not considered that factor, the link would be very different from the one I knew as a drone." B'Elanna noticed the surreptitious movement but it took her a moment to connect the nervous gesture with the normally controlled Seven. 'She's as nervous about this as I am,' realized B'Elanna with surprise. There was something about the situation they now found themselves in that bothered B'Elanna but she could not pin down what was the discrepancy. Instead staring at her now empty glass she reluctantly suggested, "Let's both sleep on it Annika, maybe it will be less confusing in the morning." Seven looked momentarily surprised by the use of her name, then she smiled a small but warm smile at B'Elanna and nodded. "Perhaps it will," she allowed and rose from the couch. Before she moved close enough to the door for the sensors to automatically open it for her Seven turned and raising her hand lightly gripped B'Elanna's chin raising the woman's face towards hers. Seven paused and looked questioningly at B'Elanna unwilling to initiate the kiss unless it was agreeable with the half-Klingon. B'Elanna moistened the surface of her lips with her tongue staring into Seven's eyes and was caught by their darkening blue tone as Seven focused on her action. She swayed toward Seven who correctly interpreted the motion as consent and lowered her lips to B'Elanna's. The two of them kissed slowly, gently and lingeringly, promising to one another through it that they hadn't given up on the idea of physical intimacy. By the time they broke apart Seven half wished that B'Elanna's Klingon blood would take over and she would continue touching her, Seven suspected she would not even half-heartedly struggle. Unfortunately though B'Elanna was able to push herself back from Seven and said in a ragged voice, "You should probably go to your own quarters now Seven. I can't... I can't stand to have you so close yet not be able to touch you like I want to." Seven nodded, releasing a breath she hadn't been aware she had been holding, and turned and quickly exited the quarters. She almost bowled over Lt. Paris who had just come up to the door on her way out, surprised she stepped aside quickly barely avoiding a collision. "Lt. Paris, please excuse me," Seven said properly, unaware that her appearance betrayed what had just occurred between her and B'Elanna. Tom stared at Seven trying to figure out what appeared different about her, her face was flushed for one thing and her lips looked like she had colored them or perhaps they were simply darker than normal. Tom shook his head slightly unwilling to accept what experience was telling him, that he was looking at a woman who had just been thoroughly kissed. "No harm done Seven, having an after workout bloodwine?" "Yes Lt.," Seven was uneasy under Tom's searching look and she started wondering if the signs of her arousal were as evident to him as they would be to her. After a few seconds of silence Seven stiffened and said coolly, "Good night Lt. Paris." Tom who was still trying to puzzle out Seven's appearance gave her a fake smile, "Of course Seven." Seven turned smartly and proceeded down the corridor toward her quarters, leaving an increasingly suspicious Lt. Paris behind. Tom watched as Seven disappeared around the curve of the hallway then requested entry into B'Elanna's quarters. In a few moments the door opened, "Sev...," B'Elanna's voice initially had a husky timbre to it but trailed off upon seeing Tom, unfortunately not before he had caught the tone and the clear signs of passion on his ex-lover's face. A sound midway between an astonished laugh and a protest burst from Tom, "I can't believe this, you broke up with me over Seven?!" B'Elanna stiffened and drew herself up straight under Tom's disbelieving look. "Well I guess you've been doing a bit more than just practicing with your Bat'leth in the Holodeck." "Tom we agreed that it wasn't working out between us, and for your information Seven and I only recently started dating," she paused for emphasis, "after we broke up." B'Elanna's first impulse had been to tell Tom it was none of his business, but concern for Seven made her want to make it clear to Tom that their break up was not Seven's fault. "So what did you want Tom?" B'Elanna finally asked after several moments of silence between them. Tom stared at her for a moment longer then with a bitter look shrugged, "Nothing, I just dropped by to say hello I guess." With that he turned and proceeded down the hallway toward the turbolift. B'Elanna stared after him for a moment then stepped back into her quarters and let the doors close upon the corridor. She devoutly hoped he wouldn't do anything stupid that would require her to hurt him; she didn't really want to spend any time in the brig or locked in her quarters. Seven entered her quarters and glanced at the painting of the Omega molecule trying to calm the rapid beating of her heart, she knew that she could command her nanoprobes to act but she preferred to try and moderate her breathing herself. Seven knew that the end of the relationship between B'Elanna and Lt. Paris was supposed to be a mutual one, but now she wondered. Given the fact that he was, as far as she knew, seeing Ensign Brooks romantically Lt. Paris had seemed rather antagonistic toward her. The next morning Seven worked a few hours in Astrometrics then met B'Elanna and Ensign Kim in Engineering to finish working on the Jem'Hadar rifle. The three of them broke around 1300 hours for lunch, when they returned to Engineering they worked with renewed interest and finally around 1500 they looked with satisfaction at the completed weapon. "Go to Security and test it in their weapons range?" asked Harry of the two women. B'Elanna nodded, "Yea, sorry Harry I was already thinking of how to modify it to make it more reliable." Harry grinned cheerfully at B'Elanna, "Planning on making a few of these for us? They would need to be modified so they had lower range settings, but the extra power... well I can thing of a few times when I would have liked to have one of these." "It would be advantageous if we could design a weapon that utilized an improved version of this power cell to produce a phased or tachyon beam depending on the setting," Seven said musingly. "The weight," started B'Elanna. "Would be an issue," finished Seven. "I have not thought of a method to reduce the weight of such a weapon sufficiently enough to make it practical for use as a hand weapon." Seven hesitated, and then with a glance at B'Elanna continued, "I was hoping that perhaps either of you might determine a method where I could not." B'Elanna was shocked to hear Seven openly soliciting their ideas, then she growled silently in annoyance at herself for her surprise. Seven had changed considerably and she had recently considered whether or not that change was due to Seven's death or the changed relationship between them. If she had been treated like she had treated Seven, she wouldn't have been eager to admit failure or ask for help in front of such a person either. "Between the three of us maybe we can come up with a solution. People working in teams usually progress faster than people working alone," B'Elanna grinned, "an example of the power of collective thought." Seven's mouth twitched in amusement at B'Elanna's sally. Then an utterly serious expression crossed her face, "I have been considering the differences between this collective and the Borg. Though the Borg are quicker to find a suitable adaptation for an existing system, this collective is capable of generating new ideas and methods, something which the Borg are unable to do." "The Borg have to assimilate something before they fully understand it, we don't. And because we are individuals we have imagination which allows us to conceive of entirely new ways of dealing with a given situation," said B'Elanna in a carefully neutral tone. She was fully aware of the fact that this was a new way of thinking for Seven, usually Seven assumed that the Borg were superior to those aboard Voyager, being unable or unwilling to see that the Borg had some severe limitations placed upon them due to the nature of the hive mind. "I wonder what the Borg could achieve if they were more like the Bynars," mused Harry. "The Bynar are an organic-cybernetic species originating in the Alpha Quadrant on the planet Bynaus. They are all linked to each other though a central computer system on their home planet but retain their ability to think individually," Seven said, obviously reciting from memory. "Exactly," said Harry. "Exactly what Ensign?" asked Seven with a raised brow. "The Bynar's prove that it can be done, that you can link large groups of people into a communications network without causing them to loose their individuality," said Harry. Looking thoughtful Seven nodded. After they had test fired the weapon thoroughly and Harry left Engineering to return to his station on the bridge B'Elanna turned to Seven after glancing around to make sure no one was in hearing range. "I've managed to get the Holodeck tonight for two hours, would you like to have dinner with me." Seven who was currently standing by one of the wall consoles glanced over at her and smiled warmly, "I would be pleased to have dinner with you B'Elanna." "Holodeck 1 1900 hours, wear casual clothing," said B'Elanna. Seven glanced at her curiously wondering where B'Elanna planned on taking her, and why type of food they would be eating. "Temperate climate?" she asked, after their first date she had promised herself that she would choose clothing different from those she usually wore. B'Elanna tilted her head slightly and smiled at Seven wondering why she had asked the question, "Warm climate." Seven nodded sorting through the clothing choices she remembered from the replicator patterns and tentatively choose a tight fitting sleeveless blouse and dress pants. Alpha shift was over and Seven finished up the work she was doing and turned fully toward B'Elanna. "I meet you at your quarters at 1850 hours." "I look forward to seeing you then," B'Elanna said, now intensely curious about what Seven was thinking. Once in her quarters Seven showered and went to stand in front of the replicator looking through the clothing patterns. She found the blouse and pants she had considered and replicated them. The blouse had a silk like feel to it and she had chosen a white for the color, having noticed from her perusal of several pictures that an all white outfit was frequently chosen for warm climates as the color did not absorb the heat of the sun. The pants were white as well but in a linen material and she choose simple flat white shoes for her feet. Considering herself in the mirror she chose to let her hair hang loose about her face, she had noticed that B'Elanna seemed to like it that way. It was now 1840 hours, time for her to meet B'Elanna for their second date. NewMessage: ath: newsspool2.news.atl.earthlink.net!stamper.news.atl.earthlink.net!elnk-atl-nf1!newsfeed.earthlink.net!newscon02.news.prodigy.com!prodigy.net!news.glorb.com!postnews.google.com!z14g2000cwz.googlegroups.com!not-for-mail From: "Kudara" Newsgroups: alt.startrek.creative Subject: New: VOY "I am Borg - Part 3" 4/? PG-13 (7/T) Date: 26 Jan 2005 06:25:41 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com Lines: 558 Message-ID: <1106749541.403537.66280@z14g2000cwz.googlegroups.com> NNTP-Posting-Host: 152.121.36.65 Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" X-Trace: posting.google.com 1106749545 32178 127.0.0.1 (26 Jan 2005 14:25:45 GMT) X-Complaints-To: groups-abuse@google.com NNTP-Posting-Date: Wed, 26 Jan 2005 14:25:45 +0000 (UTC) User-Agent: G2/0.2 Complaints-To: groups-abuse@google.com Injection-Info: z14g2000cwz.googlegroups.com; posting-host=152.121.36.65; posting-account=OA7ZrQ0AAABCd3Iq7g2kyLCDY3B1zVwg Xref: news.earthlink.net alt.startrek.creative:162083 X-Received-Date: Wed, 26 Jan 2005 06:25:46 PST (newsspool2.news.atl.earthlink.net) I am Borg - Part 3 - Chapter 4 By Kudara Disclaimer: Star Trek Voyager and all who sail in her belong to Paramount/Viacom and no infringement of copyright/trade marks is intended. Warning: Contains f/f situations between women. Rating: PG-13 Feedback: Always welcome, feedback is what encourages me to keep writing. Please let me know what you like and what you dislike about the story. Revision History: 12/02/04 Summary: Second dinner date, discussion of Warhead events. ******************************************************** When the door opened B'Elanna looked at Seven in appreciation, the simple all white outfit contrasted nicely with the tan she had gotten from the special lights B'Elanna had installed over her bed, and made the blue of her eyes more noticeable. "You look wonderful Annika," B'Elanna said in approval. Seven smiled, pleased that her choice of clothes had the desired effect, "Thank you, B'Elanna." "Shall we go?" B'Elanna asked. Seven nodded and the two of them proceeded to the Holodeck. B'Elanna typed in some commands and indicated that Seven should precede her. When the doors opened they stepped into an arid desert landscape, a small whitewashed and red clay roofed adobe building was located directly in front of them. "I know it's not as scenic as the place you choose but I programmed this by myself; it's a little place I know of from my time at the Academy." B'Elanna paused for a moment looking around, "It's a place in southern California, a little mom and pop Mexican restaurant called The Good Burrito." Seven looked at her puzzled by the description of the restaurant, "Mom and pop?" B'Elanna nodded, "Term for a company run by a family, in the case of restaurants it usually means that the food, while it may not be very fancy, will usually be very good. Which is the case here, lets go in." The interior of the restaurant was a blend of colorful floor tiles done in a mosaic of blue and green, round tables covered with white table cloths, yellow lacquered chairs and whitewashed walls covered with paintings that were hung close to one another. Seven stopped for a moment in the doorway, taken aback at the cacophony of colors and multitude of paintings that greeted her. B'Elanna turned to see why she had paused and said defensively, "I know it's... different from what you're used to but you will get accustomed to the colors." Seven's eyes jerked from their investigation of the multitude of paintings to B'Elanna's face, "I am sure I will. I was just examining the paintings." She indicated the walls around them, "There are a number of them to inspect." "I couldn't remember much about them, only that there were a lot so I had the computer randomly pick painters of the right style and kept adding in paintings until it looked right," B'Elanna said looking around the room. "I asked one of the owners about them when I came here for the first time when I was at the academy, and she said that she bought them from the students at a local art college and wanted to display them all. She was worried that she would run out of wall space soon and might have to take some of the older one's down." "Ah Paedro our guests for the evening have arrived!" exclaimed an older woman who had just appeared from the back of the restaurant. "As arranged the entire restaurant has been reserved just for you this evening," she said beaming at B'Elanna. "Gracias Senora Mantego," replied B'Elanna. "DeNada," the woman replied dismissively, but Seven could see the pleased look on her face, "And please call me Maria." She indicated the empty restaurant with a wave of her hand, "Please choose where you want to sit and I will get menus for you." B'Elanna indicated one of the tables in the middle of the restaurant and gave Seven an inquisitive look, "Would this be ok Annika?" Seven, who had been examining one of the paintings on the wall from a distance as B'Elanna had talked to the woman, quickly glanced at where B'Elanna was pointing and stifling a sense of disappointment that they would not be seated next to a wall nodded. B'Elanna stared at Seven for a moment with her head cocked to the side while Seven fidgeted slightly under the penetrating look. "I never knew you liked art, well except for the painting of the Omega molecule," said B'Elanna, then turning to Maria she said, "We will sit by one of the walls so Annika can admire the paintings you have collected Maria." Seven blushed slightly as she felt she should be concentrating on B'Elanna instead of the holo-program but was pleased that B'Elanna was facilitating her curiosity about the paintings the computer had chosen. "Which one were you looking at Annika?" asked B'Elanna curiously, as she examined the area of the wall she thought Seven had been examining. Seven walked over to a particular painting and B'Elanna followed, "This one." Seven indicated a painting of a nude woman with her back to the painter kneeling in front of a basket filled with impossibly large white flowers. "Nude with Calla Lilies by Diego Rivera," B'Elanna leaned in to read the information tucked into a corner of the frame. "I doubt this is actually on the restaurant walls." "What is the cultural significance of these flowers?" Seven asked B'Elanna looking around her. "They are depicted in several of the paintings." B'Elanna looked at the white flower for a moment then had to admit, "I have no idea, they are in quite a few of them though, aren't they." She paused for a moment then turned to Maria who had been patiently waiting and looking pleased that they were admiring the paintings. "Maria do you know what the significance of the white flower in this painting is?" "Claro, that is the calla lily often used in weddings because it symbolizes both beauty and innocence," Maria said. B'Elanna glanced at Seven dressed all in white, her hair gleaming golden under the lights of the restaurant. She was still examining the painting and B'Elanna was struck by how much Seven resembled the calla lily she was looking at, 'and not just physically' she thought to herself. "Gracias," replied B'Elanna somewhat absently to Maria and then to Seven she said pointing to a table near the wall, "Will this do Annika?" Seven nodded to B'Elanna and went to sit down at the indicated table. After they were both seated B'Elanna said, "I only remembered the one beverage I had here, a light beer that went well with the food, I think you would like it. And I would suggest having the sampler platter; it's a small serving of several different types of Mexican foods." Seven eyed her curiously for a moment then nodded, "Acceptable, it seems an efficient manner in which to experience the cuisine." "It is, I had it the first time I came here and it's been my favorite choice every time since." B'Elanna turned from Seven and directed her attention to Maria, "Maria we will have two of the house beers and two sampler platters." Maria beamed at them, "I will return with your beers shortly." She left heading towards the bar and bellowed, "Pedro! Two sampler platters for our guests." Dimly from the back came the reply, "Si, two sampler platters." B'Elanna, her mind turning to the concerns of the day said "I've been looking at the sensor logs and Doc's readings of the damage to your systems and I believe I know how the sentient bomb created the feedback surge that hurt you Annika," said B'Elanna with an angry flexing of her jaw. Seven who had turned to watch Maria, turned back to B'Elanna when she said this, "The weapon used a variation of the same method it used to destroy the trader's ship?" She asked curiously. They had been working, both separately and together, trying to figure out exactly how the sentient weapon had destroyed the trader ship by sending a feedback surge through its transporter system and how it had incapacitated Seven when she attempted to interface with its command circuits. Now B'Elanna confirmed what they had suspected from their initial look at the data, "Yes it looks like basically the same type of response. Now to figure out if we can defend against it." B'Elanna looked soberly at Seven, "I want to develop a way to prevent or mitigate the effects of such an attack for both you and Voyager." Seven quirked her brow at this and smirked slightly, "Agreed." B'Elanna chuckled at Seven's comment, then more seriously commented "I don't want to see you helpless like that again." B'Elanna watched as Seven's face softened in response then glanced up and smiled at Maria as she returned with their beers and placed them in front of the two women. As B'Elanna watched amused, Seven took a cautious sip of the light amber beverage and then with a surprised look said, "It is pleasant tasting." Maria humphed, "Of course it is I brew it myself from an old family recipe. Amber, Carapilis and Crystal malts and Saaz hops." B'Elanna and Seven regarded her blankly for a moment then glanced at each other in confusion. "It tastes just as good as it always does," B'Elanna finally said in reply. Maria beamed at B'Elanna in response and then bustled off towards the kitchen. "Anyway," B'Elanna said after a final inquisitive look at her beer. "I don't see how we can really improve on your system's response. I mean we can't make your exoskeleton not conduct the feedback, its metal. Pretty much the only thing you can do to stop feedback once it's started is to install break points, and that's how you responded. We need to figure out a way to prevent the feedback from entering your system in the first place." They both pondered the issue for a few moments silently, then finally Seven spoke up, "Unless we introduce an intermediary system between my implants and the system generating the feedback I see no way to prevent it." "Which means we need to develop a system that duplicates the ability of your... well they used to be assimilation tubules but they aren't now... are they?" asked B'Elanna. "I would have to consciously modify my nanoprobes to assimilate someone," Seven said with an expression of extreme distaste. "Perhaps interface tubules would be a more accurate term." B'Elanna frowned, "Would any intermediary system have to deliver nanoprobes?" "Not necessarily. For data gathering and interaction with another system, no, I do not need to deliver nanoprobes to accomplish that task. I use nanoprobes to change or modify existing systems," Seven answered. B'Elanna frowned absently as she stared off into space, "So really what we need is a direct data connection that can interface with your exoskeleton." B'Elanna paused for a small while then continued, "Since we are talking about making something that would fit over your hand why not add it into the modifications we are planning for the ATIA." B'Elanna grinned as she spelled out the acronym. Seven raised a questioning eyebrow. "If we are completely redesigning the Stealth Combat Suit it deserves a new name," said B'Elanna. "Advanced Tactical Infiltrator Armor?" guessed Seven after a few moments. B'Elanna looked at Seven surprised, "How did you guess?" "After running through some of the possible permutations that seemed the likely choice," answered Seven with a smile. "It is a suitable choice for a name." "Does that translate into, 'I like it?'" "Yes B'Elanna, I like it," said Seven. Maria walked out of the kitchen just then bearing a tray with two large platters heaped with an assortment of enchiladas, burritos, tacos, flautas, and taquitos. Beans and rice and sweet soft corn cake were placed in bowls on the side. After she had served the food Maria inquired if there was anything else they needed, and after being assured that there was not she left them alone again. Seven stared wide eyed at the platter of food in front of her and then with curiosity at B'Elanna who had started chuckling. "I'm sorry Annika, it's just the look on your face... you don't have to eat everything, just try one of every type and eat seconds of what you like. I'm certainly not planning on finishing everything on this plate!" B'Elanna waved her hand at the heaping platter for emphasis. "I will proceed as you have suggested," said Seven with relief apparent in her voice. She picked up a taquito and gingerly bit into one end as B'Elanna watched. Regarding it curiously as she chewed, Seven waited until she had finished to comment, "Intriguing combination of flavors and textures between the crispness of the corn shell and the finely ground and spiced meat." "I told you the food was good here," B'Elanna said smugly as she dug into her own food with enjoyment. B'Elanna found herself fascinated with watching the looks of surprise and pleasure that crossed Seven's face as she tried the various types of food on her plate, and congratulated herself with her choice of dinner locations. Once her initial hunger had been sated, Seven started up the earlier conversation again. "You wish to design interrupt points in certain systems to prevent a feedback cascade failure of Voyager's systems?" B'Elanna nodded thoughtfully, "At least for critical areas where it could severely damage or destroy the ship. We need to look at the transporter and tractor beam systems to see how we can prevent that specific type of attack. Then maybe consider what other systems might be vulnerable." "The existing feedback control system diverts feedback into an energy absorbing device, however, it can be easily overwhelmed," said Seven. "The Borg had recently assimilated information about a superior energy absorbing material when I was last in contact with them. I believe we can synthesize this material and use it in our own systems, it should have four times the energy absorbing capacity of the current composite material being used." "Four times?" said B'Elanna in surprise, "How did they manage that?" "We will have to first duplicate the replication system species 2678 used to make the material. It requires a specific molecular matrix which was achieved by the use of a specialized replicator using that specific matrix instead of a standard general use molecular matrix," answered Seven. B'Elanna absorbed the information then replied, "This molecular matrix pattern duplicates specific molecular energy states?" Seven nodded, "Specific molecular energy states are required for maximum energy absorption." "That's definitely not obtainable with a standard replicator," said B'Elanna. "I'd be surprised if the Captain says no to this when we submit a proposal since the energy absorption gain is so high." They continued their engineering discussion through the rest of the meal, hammering out specifics and coming to an agreement about the engineering proposal they would present to Captain Janeway. Both of them looked up surprised when the computer announced the standard five-minute warning. "Already?" B'Elanna asked in surprise. Then to Seven, "We still need to decide a few things, my quarter's or yours?" "Mine," said Seven. "Captain Janeway sent over a reading list this afternoon, I believe we are supposed to study the first two chapters of 'An Introduction to Command Philosophy' this evening as well." B'Elanna's eyes glazed over, "Sounds like a good way to send myself to sleep. Where are we supposed to come up with the time to do all this?" she said in frustration. Seven's face fell a little at this and she said stiffly, "You do not have to do the command training B'Elanna; I understand it is more difficult for you with your duties as Chief Engineer." B'Elanna looked at Seven confused for a moment, then her face cleared, "Annika you have to learn to not take my complaining so seriously. I'll find the time to study because M'ara said it would help you... help us to succeed." B'Elanna paused then musingly said, "That's one thing that would probably be solved by you knowing my thoughts." Seven's face had cleared at B'Elanna's first two sentences and B'Elanna's last comment drew an amused look and a raised brow from her but she did not choose to comment on the statement. The computer chimed a one-minute warning at them, B'Elanna exited the program, and the two women left the Holodeck for Seven's quarters. They went to Seven's quarters and spent another hour hammering out and writing the engineering proposal they would present at the morning's briefing. Once that was completed, they went over and discussed the Captain's reading assignment. "As goes the Captain, so goes the ship," commented B'Elanna thoughtfully when she finished. Seven looked at her inquiringly. "The results of lead by example," said B'Elanna. "It's an old statement that expresses that the ship will reflect the ethics, personality and leadership style of its Captain." "Though I have disagreed with her decisions occasionally, overall her decisions follow Starfleet guidelines and values." Seven paused thoughtfully, "There have been notable exceptions, her decision to ally with the Borg being one of them." "Yea, I don't know what Starfleet will think of that. However, Species 8472 was threatening to kill all life forms in our galaxy. And besides it had its upside," said B'Elanna with a warm look at Seven. Seven's cheeks picked up the slightest bit of color at this statement and a brief smile crossed her lips. "I am thankful she made that decision as well." Seven glanced at the chronometer and realized with regret how late it was getting. "We should stop studying and begin sleeping if we are to be prepared for tomorrow," Seven said with a sharp pang at the thought she would be sleeping alone once again instead of with the woman sitting across from her. B'Elanna frowned, and then sighed deeply looking resigned, "Yea I should get back to my quarters." Her eyes flickered up to meet Seven's who could see her clench her fists for a moment when their eyes met. Seven was not certain what this meant until B'Elanna admitted, "It gets harder every time to leave you and go sleep alone. But I don't think we should be intimate until we are absolutely sure it's what we want." B'Elanna paused for a moment, "I'm not sure why M'ara would make me like you, but I trust her, there has to be a good reason for it." Seven nodded her face serious. "Can I kiss you 'good night' B'Elanna?" she said after a moment, looking wistfully at the other woman. "I'd be unhappy if you didn't," replied B'Elanna with a relieved sounding sigh. Seven crossed the room with three quick strides and cupped B'Elanna's face with her hands, bent and captured B'Elanna's lips with her own. Almost immediately the kiss deepened, mouths opening to let tongues touch, and both women groaned nearly in unison at the sensation. They kissed for several moments, then almost without thought, Seven slid her lips across to B'Elanna's cheek and opening her mouth gently raked her teeth across the other woman's cheek where months before the son of K'vok had bit her. "Annika," growled B'Elanna, reacting to the almost mating bite. Seven suddenly realizing what she was doing, jerked back from B'Elanna. "I... I...," Seven stammered, "I am sorry B'Elanna, I should not have done that." "Don't apologize for wanting me, unless you didn't mean it," B'Elanna said in a voice that still held overtones of a growl. "Then I don't apologize," said Seven in a low voice, looking directly at B'Elanna out of eyes that had darkened to stormy blue. "You're not afraid to lose the privacy of your own mind anymore?" asked B'Elanna with what appeared to be a nervous moistening of her lips. "Not to you," replied Seven with a grave, yet tender look. "Annika," said B'Elanna in an obviously distressed tone, then she stopped apparently unable to say the rest of her sentence. "You are still uncertain," Seven said gently and trailed a reassuring hand down the side of B'Elanna's face, trying to reassure B'Elanna that she was not upset. B'Elanna leaned into the caress and sighed, "My actions still bother me, Annika. I know you've forgiven me for how I treated you in the past, but as we get closer it bothers me more that I ever did some of those things." B'Elanna pulled away from Seven and began pacing, "I mean I was called names when I was a kid, I can't believe I turned around and did the same thing to you. I always thought I was an honorable person, but now I wonder." "B'Elanna," Seven said then stopped. Seven looked briefly frustrated then followed the pacing half-Klingon woman and snagged her in an embrace from behind. "I do not hold the past against you, but you must let it go as well. If you do not think you acted honorably in the past then decide to not repeat those actions." B'Elanna snorted, "That would seem to be the logical answer wouldn't it." Her voice was hard but she leaned into Seven's embrace instead of struggling against it. After a few moments she said in a more normal tone, "I just can't seem to stop thinking about the things I said to you, the fact that I assumed you had gone back to the Borg willingly when the Queen threatened to assimilate Voyager if you didn't permit yourself to be taken on that away mission. I broke into your personal logs did Janeway tell you that? And when she confronted me about it all I said was that you were obviously never a part of this crew. How could I have been so blind about you?" "Kathryn informed me a week after I had returned, I am glad that the designs in them helped you adapt Voyager so you could use the transwarp coils. If you had not done that I might be a drone now," replied Seven thoughtfully. B'Elanna pulled away from Seven far enough to turn around in her arms and look up at her confused, "I thought she wanted you to keep your individuality?" Seven nodded, "However, I was not cooperating as she wished and refused to assist her willingly with programming the nanovirus to assimilate humanity, the price of my refusal was to help her as a drone. If Captain Janeway had not contacted me at that time, I am certain I would have been re-assimilated." Seven's voice was level but B'Elanna had grown sensitive to the minute expressions that told volumes about Seven's emotions. Now she recognized from the tenseness around Seven's mouth and eyes how disturbed she was just from relating the experience. It wasn't necessary to say that Janeway would have probably failed in the attempt to rescue Seven if she had been assimilated. "I'm glad Janeway decided to go after you," said B'Elanna. "If it hadn't been for her instincts about you, the rest of us would have never realized what you did for us." Seven sighed at this comment, then with a wry smile said, "Perhaps you knowing my thoughts would help you realize that you do not need to continue punishing yourself over past events." A short bark of laughter greeted this effort, "You would learn to not take me so seriously and I would quit feeling so guilty. Perhaps that's why M'ara is enabling us to hear each other's thoughts." "Perhaps," agreed Seven softly. Seven pulled B'Elanna closer and sighed in pleasure at the full body contact. "Stay tonight, I believe I will sleep better when you are next to me than I will wishing you were. And I will not kiss you in the morning," Seven said referring to the previous time they had slept together. B'Elanna wavered uncertainly, though she had to smile at the comment, and the pleading look in Seven's eyes persuaded her, "Ok." Seven replicated sleeping clothes in red and blue, just as they had slept in before. "I will go and change in the bathing room," Seven said to B'Elanna. "I'll change in here," said B'Elanna with a slight smile, remembering when she had changed in front of Seven the time before. After B'Elanna changed she slipped into Seven's bed and stared up at the lights on the ceiling noting that Seven was giving her plenty of time to change. Finally the lanky blonde entered the bedroom and slipped into the other side of the bed. Seven turned onto her side and looked uncertainly at B'Elanna, not sure if she should try and hold her. B'Elanna settled the issue by turning over and scooting backward until she rested in Seven's arms. With a satisfied sigh, Seven wrapped her arms around B'Elanna and nuzzled her hair, breathing the scent of B'Elanna deeply. Within moments Seven's eyelashes fluttered and with her face buried in B'Elanna's hair she fell asleep. B'Elanna did not fare so well, wrestling with both her desire and fear for another hour or so before she finally fell into an exhausted sleep. *** B'Elanna looked around herself in confusion; she was no longer sleeping in Seven's bed but seemed to be in some type of chamber aboard a Borg cube. Drones in regeneration alcoves stood peacefully around her. Looking out the chamber, she saw Seven kneeling in front of some type of access panel. B'Elanna breathed a sigh of relief and stepped forward only to wince back from a force field at the entrance. "Seven," she said loudly. Seven did not turn or even seem to hear her. "Annika!" B'Elanna said more loudly. Still Seven did not seem to hear her. A drone walking by the open door paused for a moment then turned and looked directly at Seven. It started walking toward her obviously noticing what she was doing, "Seven!" B'Elanna shouted now not caring if the drones in the room noticed she was there or not. Still Seven did not turn, nor did she notice the drone approaching her. "Seven!" B'Elanna screamed and threw herself against the force field, frantic now to warn the other woman. "No!" B'Elanna howled in despair as the drone pulled Seven up from where she was crouched; and in one smooth motion drove its assimilation tubules into her throat. Finally, Seven seemed to notice B'Elanna and her eyes stared despairingly into B'Elanna's seeming to ask why she hadn't warned her before they blanked over and her skin mottled. NewMessage: ath: newsspool2.news.atl.earthlink.net!stamper.news.atl.earthlink.net!elnk-atl-nf1!newsfeed.earthlink.net!newscon02.news.prodigy.com!prodigy.net!news.glorb.com!postnews.google.com!f14g2000cwb.googlegroups.com!not-for-mail From: "Kudara" Newsgroups: alt.startrek.creative Subject: New: VOY "I am Borg - Part 3" 5/? NC-17 (7/T) Date: 26 Jan 2005 06:29:10 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com Lines: 649 Message-ID: <1106749750.195018.308580@f14g2000cwb.googlegroups.com> NNTP-Posting-Host: 152.121.36.65 Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" X-Trace: posting.google.com 1106749754 32518 127.0.0.1 (26 Jan 2005 14:29:14 GMT) X-Complaints-To: groups-abuse@google.com NNTP-Posting-Date: Wed, 26 Jan 2005 14:29:14 +0000 (UTC) User-Agent: G2/0.2 Complaints-To: groups-abuse@google.com Injection-Info: f14g2000cwb.googlegroups.com; posting-host=152.121.36.65; posting-account=OA7ZrQ0AAABCd3Iq7g2kyLCDY3B1zVwg Xref: news.earthlink.net alt.startrek.creative:162084 X-Received-Date: Wed, 26 Jan 2005 06:29:15 PST (newsspool2.news.atl.earthlink.net) I am Borg - Part 3 - Chapter 5 By Kudara Disclaimer: Star Trek Voyager and all who sail in her belong to Paramount/Viacom and no infringement of copyright/trade marks is intended. Warning: Contains f/f intimate scenes between women. Rating: NC-17 Feedback: Always welcome, feedback is what encourages me to keep writing. Please let me know what you like and what you dislike about the story. Revision History: 12/02/04; 12/06/04 Summary: Events following B'Elanna's dream ******************************************************** B'Elanna sat up in bed staring about her, her hearts pounding rapidly. "B'Elanna?" the sleepy sound of Seven's voice came from beside her and Seven's arm wrapped around her waist. "What is wrong?" came the more alert sounding question as Seven woke more fully and realized how agitated the other woman was. "I had a nightmare," B'Elanna replied looking with relief at the woman beside her whose normal skin tone reassured her that it had just been a dream. A hand came up and gently cupped her face. B'Elanna reached up and held it with her own, turning it so the wrist was upright and lowering her face to inhale the scent there deeply. Reassured by the scent B'Elanna grazed her teeth over the delicate skin tasting the unique combination of fragrances and flavors that were Annika. "B'Elanna?" came the questioning whisper, then "Lights 20%."The lights brightened just enough for the two women to see each other clearly. "reH bang larghlu" said B'Elanna in a low intent voice, her eyes dilated and fixed on Seven's face. B'Elanna heard Seven's breath catch as she realized that B'Elanna had said 'love is first smelled.' The half Klingon could clearly hear Seven's heart rate speed up and felt the increased flutter of Seven's pulse under her lips which still rested lightly against Seven's wrist. Seven awkwardly pulled herself upright without pulling her hand from B'Elanna's grip and stared intently into her face. "You are no longer uncertain," Seven stated. "No, I understand now why we must be able to communicate mind to mind. I don't know if the dream was sent by M'ara or whether it was my subconscious making the connections, but in the dream you were assimilated because I couldn't warn you. We were on a Borg cube and I was separated from you by this force field and you couldn't hear me no matter how loudly I yelled," B'Elanna's eyes grew haunted as she remembered the last betrayed look the dream Seven had given her. B'Elanna continued in a sure voice, "I won't let that happen, I'm certain we will need that connection in order to succeed. I'm not going to let my fears hurt you... and besides I really want to make love to you," she admitted in a husky low toned voice. "It was only a dream B'Elanna, I was not there," Seven reassured her. "I do not want you to make this decision based upon the fear of what might happen. I do not believe that will make a good basis for a relationship." This last was said with concern evident in the tone of Seven's voice. "It's not that, remember when I said that something was bothering me about what M'ara had told us, that I felt there was something I wasn't understanding?" asked B'Elanna earnestly. "Yes," answered Seven with a nod and an intent look. "This is it, I knew she wasn't doing it just to stop us from being together, I knew there was another reason. This is it, being able to speak to one another mind to mind will be an incredible advantage, and I think it will be critical to our succeeding in whatever this task is." B'Elanna paused, "It's enough for me to feel certain about this, I'm no longer afraid to have you in here," B'Elanna pointed to her head. At Seven's continuing uncertain look B'Elanna questioned, "Have you changed your mind?" "No!" Seven replied with certainty. "Do you want to be my mate?" asked B'Elanna. "Yes," Seven replied simply. Seconds later B'Elanna detected an increased musky undertone to Seven's scent that drove an involuntary growl of desire from her. "Seven," she said in a slightly desperate tone, staring into eyes that had darkened to a stormy blue, concerned that Seven might not be prepared for her to be as Klingon as she knew she would be. "You will not hurt me B'Elanna," Seven reassured her, correctly interpreting her sudden concern. When she still looked uncertain Seven twisted her hand under B'Elanna's light grasp and pulled the darker woman toward her. She could see the surprised look in brown eyes just before she took B'Elanna's chin in her hand and pulled her caramel toned face toward her. She lowered her face to B'Elanna's now exposed neck and opening her mouth slightly raked with tongue and teeth from just below the ear downward, growling deeply as she did so. A responding growl from B'Elanna let Seven know she was arousing the other woman with her actions. When Seven pulled back for a moment B'Elanna's eyes drifted shut and she was breathing deeply. Looking at the willingly exposed cheek Seven knew that her next action would seal what would follow for the rest of their lives. She had done this once under the influence of another personality and had always regretted that she could not remember it, this time though she would. With carefully calculated pressure Seven quickly made the mating bite, just deep enough to break the warm caramel skin and bring up the slightest amount of blood. With the hormones currently raging in B'Elanna's blood, Seven knew this would not feel painful to her. Finishing the ritual Seven ran her tongue over the newly made marks, listening to the aroused tone in B'Elanna's growl as she did so and said, "I have tasted your blood, and it is sweet." Just then Seven's exoskeleton made the change from silver to blood red, the scent of Seven's blood in the air drove a strangled sounding "Annika," from B'Elanna. B'Elanna roughly pulled herself from Seven's grip and turned to face her, eyes fully dilated in arousal stared at Seven. Seven returned the look in full measure and lifted her chin defiantly, daring the other woman to prove she was strong enough to take her. This action drew another growl from B'Elanna and the not unexpected action of gripping Seven's chin and forcefully turning her face to expose the side of her face and neck. Seven was careful to resist the pressure enough to satisfy the demands of the dance they were playing out, yet not enough that her enhanced strength would stop B'Elanna from actually being able to turn her head. Seven had already instructed her nanoprobes to duplicate the effect increased hormones were producing in the half Klingon, the bite she was about to receive would not be painful but pleasurable. Knowing this she enjoyed fully the feel of B'Elanna's mouth trailing down her neck and in pleasurable anticipation waited for what would follow. When B'Elanna's teeth broke her skin and then her tongue ran over the marks Seven groaned aloud at the rush of pleasure that followed. "I have tasted you, and your blood is sweet," B'Elanna finished the ritual. B'Elanna pulled away and looked at Seven, "Your exoskeleton," she said hoarsely. "I did not consciously choose to change it," said Seven. "It seems appropriate though," she admitted. "Very," agreed B'Elanna then pulled the blond woman toward her and kissed her deeply. When B'Elanna pulled back she looked intently into Seven's face and satisfied with what she saw there moved to straddle Seven's legs. B'Elanna hesitated and then looked directly into Seven's eyes and in a husky voice that left no doubt as to the depth of her desire, "I want to see you." Seven raised her arms in reply and B'Elanna reached down, pulled the silky blue top upward and off, then paused and stared as if mesmerized at what was now revealed to her. "So beautiful," she said after a moment and more gently reached out to cup Seven's shoulders and pushed her backward until she was lying prone on the bed. B'Elanna's eyes traced the flowing lines of Seven's exoskeleton and the full curves of her breasts then she let her fingers trace the same path. When Seven gasped and arched in response under her at B'Elanna's touch on her exoskeleton B'Elanna realized how sensitive it was with a smile. Taking intense satisfaction in every gasp, every reflexive arch, every suddenly indrawn breath Seven made, B'Elanna delicately traced her way along the interweaving banding until she was stroking the delicate skin of Seven's breasts. Seven made a desperate sound at the continuing maddeningly light touch on the sides of her breasts and looked pleadingly at B'Elanna. The darker woman growled, bent and took the peak of one breast into her mouth, suckling hard upon it and rolling her tongue around the nipple. A strangled moan erupted from Seven at the intensity of the contact and she bucked her hips into B'Elanna who was straddling her. A possessive growl and increased downward pressure to hold her in place was B'Elanna's initial response, the grasping of her hands and sudden move to pin them to the bed was B'Elanna's second. B'Elanna continued her attentions to Seven's breast, enjoying the reactions they produced from Seven. Now she flicked her tongue rapidly across the nipple and fought to hold the writhing woman down as Seven tried to increase the contact between them. Satisfied that she had paid enough attention to the one breast B'Elanna switched to the other and enjoyed the strangled "Yes," this action evoked from Seven. B'Elanna was determined to drive Seven to the point where the Borg in her would quit analyzing things and the woman could only react to what she was doing to her. To this end B'Elanna was determined to control her Klingon desire to immediately claim Seven and take all the time needed to reduce Seven to a point where she would stop thinking about what was happening to her and just experience it. After several minutes of this B'Elanna alternated it with gently raking her teeth along the sides of Seven's breasts being careful not to hurt her, during all this the woman's responses grew less and less restrained. Finally B'Elanna moved to the exoskeleton bands on Seven's stomach and began exploring them with her tongue, inhaling deeply the slight blood scent they exuded. It was then that she realized how sensitive the bands were, she knew Seven had control over how much feeling she had through them and it was obvious from Seven's reaction that they were currently much more sensitive than her skin. When Seven's writhing grew more desperate and her breathing irregular, B'Elanna judged that Seven had finally stopped thinking about what she was feeling and was fully experiencing it. B'Elanna groaned; pulled Seven's pants over her hips, down her legs and threw them to the floor. She paused a moment and took in the full body view of her lover before quickly stripping off her own clothes and returning to Seven. B'Elanna lightly traced the intertwining lines of banding down Seven's sides and followed it over the front of her hips and down the front of her legs. B'Elanna enjoyed watching how Seven whimpered and moaned under her touch, finally after a long teasing moments of this she moved to where she could lie between Seven's legs. B'Elanna nipped Seven slightly harder over her right hip and growled possessively; "mine," before kissing her just where the curled blond hair began. Seven groaned and arched upward, "Yes, yours," she agreed raggedly. "B'Elanna, please." Inhaling the scent of Seven's moisture B'Elanna nipped, kissed and licked Seven's inner thighs and occasionally the banding near them, but never once going near where she knew Seven wanted her to touch. B'Elanna watched as Seven opened her legs wider to her, finding the sight intensely arousing as Seven offered herself to her and noting with satisfaction the moisture gathering on the curled hairs. "B'Elanna please touch me," Seven finally pleaded. B'Elanna hovered over the moist curls and ever so gently tasted them with her tongue, learning the taste of Seven. A whimper escaped Seven and B'Elanna felt the blood pound through her head, "Mine," she growled. "Yours, now!" a suddenly frustrated Seven growled back and B'Elanna suddenly had a hard time not laughing, she did grin though in satisfaction before she obeyed the demand and buried her tongue deep in the tender flesh. An almost exulting cry greeted this, and Seven began rocking slowly in response to the up and down dance B'Elanna's tongue was performing across her most intimate flesh. B'Elanna had let go of Seven's wrists earlier and now she wrapped her arms under Seven's bent legs and across the top of her hips, anchoring herself so she could move with Seven. Moving her head from side to side she buried her face deeper into Seven and listened to the almost continuous moans Seven was now making. B'Elanna set up a rhythm between thrusting her tongue deeply into the blond woman's depths and then moving upward to suck Seven's sensitive nub into her mouth and flick her tongue hard over it several times. Seven's motions became more pronounced and B'Elanna could feel the flesh under her mouth twitching and contracting in response to her attentions. Seven was now lifting B'Elanna off the bed with every lift of her hips. B'Elanna could just see Seven's face, her eyes were closed, the skin of her face and neck was flushed and the muscles stood out in taunt relief in her arousal and she was breathing in irregular pants through her open mouth. Suddenly Seven's movements changed, became more pronounced and she arched her head fully back. B'Elanna began focusing on Seven's nub and flicked her tongue as fast as she could over it. Seven began rocking more quickly, her hips going up, her head back, then returning to the bed and curling her head up slightly. B'Elanna felt a particular pressure rising in her head, a certain tightness across the forehead as she watched this intently; knowing that Seven was very close now. Finally she felt the muscles under her mouth clench and release in waves and her face was bathed in moisture. Just as that happened Seven's hips arched upward violently, B'Elanna could hear and feel her head snap back against the bed and a hoarse inarticulate cry came from her. B'Elanna closed her eyes focusing on the wonderful feeling of Seven climaxing against her mouth and felt waves of mental release wash over her just before she came as well, though it was not nearly as intense. B'Elanna stayed where she was and moving her face in a wide motion ran her tongue over Seven in broad motions from the top of her to the bottom causing Seven to continue to climax in smaller reactions after the first. Finally after almost full two minutes Seven's body went limp. B'Elanna could feel light aftershocks twitching the flesh beneath her tongue and after they had faded away as well she finally lifted herself away from her lover. B'Elanna straightened and moved up along Seven's body to look into the fully relaxed face, 'very relaxed' thought B'Elanna as she noted that her eyes were closed and she appeared to be sleeping. 'Oh yea,' thought B'Elanna cockily as she realized that Seven was not entirely conscious at the moment. 'Mine,' she said to herself feeling a rush of intense emotion for the woman beside her. A moment later Seven's eyes fluttered open and she swallowed abruptly and turned her head toward B'Elanna. Seven looked wonderingly at B'Elanna, "B'Elanna...," Seven stopped apparently at a loss for words. "More than you expected?" asked B'Elanna and smiled pleased at Sevens wordless acknowledging nod. B'Elanna raised a hand to gently touch Seven's cheek where she had bitten her. "It didn't hurt?" "No, did I hurt you?" asked Seven. "No, it didn't hurt at all," B'Elanna assured her. Noting how her face had a soft, vulnerable appearance to it, B'Elanna moved up the bed and opened her arm's invitingly. Seven quickly accepted and laid her head down on B'Elanna's chest and threw an arm and leg over her, snuggling up as close as she could possibly get. B'Elanna bent her head, took in a long deep breath of her lover's scent and wrapped her arms protectively around Seven. Running a soothing hand up and down Seven's back B'Elanna was not surprised when Seven fell asleep quickly. 'Good timing,' B'Elanna thought to herself just before she drifted off, 'We both have today off.' **** When she awoke to gentle kisses and nibbles along her jaw line, B'Elanna realized that Seven was straddling her and had her hands pinned to the bed. Noting that she was awake Seven gently licked the now healed mating bite on her cheek and then moved down to rake her teeth down the side of her neck Seven was not surprised to hear an aroused growl from B'Elanna in response. Seven was determined to perform well at making love to the caramel skinned woman. Having B'Elanna make love to her had been much more of an intense experience than she had imagined in her dreams, and she desperately wanted to do the same for B'Elanna. Seven had read about how physical intimacy could be an expression of love, but she hadn't realized how intensely it would affect her feelings for B'Elanna. Right now she wanted to surround B'Elanna, touch her intimately everywhere, claim her, possess her, and most of all feel her come and cry out because of what she was doing to her. Seven was however, uncertain how to proceed; B'Elanna had been much more tender and gentle with her than her research indicated Klingon's usually were; she wasn't certain whether it was due to B'Elanna being half-human or due to the fact that Seven was human. She decided to follow B'Elanna's lead from when she had made love to her. She would be dominant but gentle and see if that was pleasing to B'Elanna. Thus, when B'Elanna tested the grip she had on her wrists Seven did not let her even move her hands the slightest amount. Glancing at the caramel toned face Seven verified that she was not distressed and was reassured by the aroused look in B'Elanna's eyes and the scent she was giving off. Seven lowered her lips to B'Elanna's and nipped gently at the lower one, when B'Elanna parted her lips she deepened the kiss, running her tongue over B'Elanna's teeth the way she knew the other woman liked. "You are my mate," Seven informed B'Elanna boldly when she pulled away and received only a challenging look in reply. Seven took up the challenge willingly, biting B'Elanna with gentle firmness at the juncture of her shoulder and neck. When she moaned in response and bucked underneath her Seven widened the distance between her knees on the bed and pressed more firmly down across B'Elanna's hips, holding her in place. Seven wasn't certain if B'Elanna would respond to this in a Klingon fashion or not, but when B'Elanna twisted and bucked again Seven knew that at least in this she was following her Klingon instincts and challenging Seven's dominance of her. She knew that B'Elanna would continue to test her until she was satisfied that Seven would be a suitable mate whereupon she would submit to Seven's touch. Seven's mouth wandered down over B'Elanna's chest, marveling at the soft smooth caramel colored skin under her lips. With reverence she let her lips explore the rising line of one breast until she reached the top and groaned in satisfaction as she enclosed the hardened nipple. Seven listened with satisfaction to the rather loud growl moan that B'Elanna made in response to this. Seven continued with light teasing strokes of her tongue until B'Elanna demandingly lifted one shoulder and thrust her breast deeper into Seven's mouth. In response Seven opened her mouth wider and suckled as much of B'Elanna's breast into her mouth as she could and flicked her tongue rapidly over the nipple. A strangled sounding, "Yes," from B'Elanna followed by a moan let Seven know she was reacting correctly. After several long moments of this she switched her attention to the other breast, being careful to pay it the same amount of attention, 8 minutes precisely. When Seven slid further down B'Elanna's body and began working her way across her stomach B'Elanna willingly opened her legs and let Seven lie on the bed between them. Seven released B'Elanna's wrists, knowing that this meant that B'Elanna had accepted her love making and gripped her hips firmly instead as she trailed her lips across the line where skin gave way to brown curls. An entreating moan came from B'Elanna at this action and Seven's breath caught in her throat in wonder when B'Elanna bent her knees and opened herself up to her. Seven marveled at the dusky rose pinkness revealed to her gaze for a moment then reverently lowered her head and ran an explorative touch over the exposed tender skin. Seven had enjoyed B'Elanna's higher body heat when she had run her lips over her skin, this flesh though was even warmer and Seven hoped that her mouth didn't feel unpleasantly cool to B'Elanna. Seven spent the first minute learning B'Elanna's taste then she began experimenting with different strokes of her tongue, narrow tip only strokes and then broad flat strokes. Carefully monitoring B'Elanna's responses Seven quickly learned what was most pleasing to her. She had been imagining just this moment for the past few days and thinking of the ways she wanted to touch B'Elanna. One of the things she knew wanted to do was to be inside her. Increasing the sensitivity of the exoskeleton of her hand Seven slid two fingers through the dusky rose folds, moistening the fingers thoroughly and almost forgetting to continue stroking B'Elanna with her tongue at the sensation. Reminding herself that this was about B'Elanna's pleasure and not her own, Seven resumed the delicate tracing she was performing with her tongue along the Klingon sensitive ridge of flesh that ran from a very human clitoris down and then inside her. Seven had been gently stroking from the sensitive bud of flesh, down the ridged line and back again, now she slid two fingers into B'Elanna, groaning against her as she did so at the sensation of being enclosed in warm, moist, soft flesh. B'Elanna had been rocking against Seven's mouth ever since she started touching her with her tongue, now she paused and growled and then a strangled, "More," came from her as Seven felt the flesh surrounding her fingers contract twice as if welcoming her. Following the request Seven slid her fingers back out and added a third and carefully entered B'Elanna again enjoying the increased tightness around her fingers and carefully sliding down the line of the sensitive ridge that continued from outside. "Kahless," B'Elanna groaned and increased her rhythm. Seven anchored herself firmly with one long arm and increased the pace of her actions as well. Seven was starting to lose her objectivity regarding what she was doing, lost in the sensations of B'Elanna against her mouth and the intimacy of sliding in and out of her. Seven found herself sliding her fingers almost entirely out of B'Elanna and then swiftly thrusting them into her and gliding two fingers down either side of the sensitive ridge until she could go no further. "Annika," B'Elanna pulled on Seven's shoulders, "up," she commanded, then, "stay inside me." Keeping her fingers inside B'Elanna, Seven levered herself up B'Elanna's body with B'Elanna's help. "Straddle my leg," B'Elanna ordered and then bent her leg until it was pressed firmly against Seven's center. B'Elanna then began moving again, only this time sliding her leg up and down against Seven and holding onto her shoulders. Seven quickly caught on to what B'Elanna wanted and matched her movements, thrusting into B'Elanna as she rose toward her and withdrawing as she pulled away. Soon Seven's world consisted of the sensation of sliding in and out of B'Elanna, the feel of B'Elanna's leg pressed against her and the intimacy of looking into B'Elanna's face as she made love to her. "Mine," Seven gasped with liquid emotion to B'Elanna. B'Elanna's eyes focused on Seven's face, "Yours," she agreed. Seven lowered her head and kissed B'Elanna, thrusting her tongue by instinct into her mouth in rhythm with her fingers and eliciting a groan. The two women continued to move together the tension building until finally B'Elanna pulled Seven fiercely against her and howled loudly as she came powerfully. Seven's fingers were gripped tightly and rhythmically as B'Elanna came, a sensation she found so arousing that it drove her to own climax and with a hoarse shout Seven followed B'Elanna holding onto her tightly in return. What Seven did not realize was that the feel of her climax against B'Elanna's leg was having the same effect on B'Elanna, causing her to respond once again. The two of them followed each other in pleasure until they were exhausted finally stilling against one another only when they could not possibly continue. Seven breathed in deep gulps against B'Elanna's neck, her body quivering with exhaustion and noting that the other woman was doing the same. Seven finally rolled over, pulling B'Elanna with her until their positions were reversed and B'Elanna was resting on top of her. Holding her tightly Seven realized she did not want to let go, part of her fought against the need she had for B'Elanna, but a much greater part of her accepted and welcomed it. Slowly she loosened her arms and pulled back enough to look into B'Elanna's face. They had discussed whether or not they were falling in love just before M'ara told them what would happen the first time they were intimate. Now looking into eyes that held as much wonder as hers Seven knew there was no place she would rather be but in B'Elanna's arms. She felt warm, protected, cared for as well as contented, peaceful and yet excited in a way. So many emotions, yet they did not feel chaotic but harmonious. The last time she had felt so many emotions that were harmonious in their totality was when she looked at the Omega molecule. Seven had known then that she was experiencing a moment of perfection, now she knew she was experiencing another. "I love you," she whispered to B'Elanna. B'Elanna's eyes widened and brightened and she smiled beautifully, pulling herself up along Seven she kissed her. "I love you too," B'Elanna whispered back when the kiss finally ended. "Take the Oath with me?" Seven searched B'Elanna's face looking for any sign of doubt but could find none. "Yes," she replied simply. B'Elanna reached up and traced the now healed marks on Seven's cheek, somewhat surprised they were still there. "jiH dok," B'Elanna said looking into Seven's eyes. "maj dok," Seven completed as she touched the marks on B'Elanna's face as well. B'Elanna grinned, "I should have asked if you knew the Oath but somehow I thought you would." Seven flushed slightly, "I studied the Oath along with the information about Klingon mating practices." B'Elanna considered this information, "Were you thinking of exchanging it with me before today?" "Ever since the Captain walked in on us after the end of our first date I have been considering whether or not I would wish to make the Oath with you," admitted Seven. B'Elanna's eyes widened, then an unmistakable look of pride crossed her face, "I kissed that good did I," B'Elanna grinned at Seven. Seven quirked an eyebrow at this reaction and a look of amusement crossed her face, "That did factor into my deliberations," Seven acknowledged. Just then B'Elanna's stomachs rumbled loudly interrupting their conversation. "I agree," said Seven, "It is time to eat, I am quite hungry as well." B'Elanna reluctantly rolled off Seven and the two of them got up, ate and showered. By the time they were done, both of them admitted to being tired, though it was morning. Crawling back into bed they curled up against one another and fell asleep with B'Elanna resting on Seven's chest. Several hours later they awoke again. Seven, feeling B'Elanna stretch against her, enjoyed the feel of heated bared skin against her own and to her surprise found herself wanting to make love to B'Elanna once again. Wrapping her arms around the other woman she rolled over and reversed their positions with an aroused growl, taking B'Elanna by surprise. Seven captured B'Elanna's lips with her own and claimed them kissing her with all the rising passion she was feeling. She was trailing her mouth across B'Elanna's cheek where the mating marks had been when she felt an odd texture underneath her mouth just as a strangled sounding moan erupted from B'Elanna. "Kahless, that felt good," gasped B'Elanna and then reached up and felt her own cheek. "What?" she said in surprise. Confused Seven pulled back and looked at where she had been kissing. Radiating outward from the center of the mating bite were angular shaped exoskeleton bands. They were black in color with gold borders and red highlights forming a pattern on top of the lacquered looking black. Other bands at the perimeter of the spiral traced where the mating bite had been made and then marched in a pattern up to the corner of B'Elanna's left eye. Seven's first impression of the bands were how much like Klingon writing they looked, but there the resemblance ended for they were not Klingon letters or numbers. They did share the same angularness and sharp points where they shifted direction though. Then B'Elanna's eyes fixed on Seven's left cheek and her mouth formed an O of surprise. "Seven your cheek," she said and then touched Seven. Seven felt the touch at the core of herself, and groaned at the pleasure of it. Dimly she realized that she must have her own set of newly exposed exoskeleton and its sensitivity to touch was obviously set at maximum. "It's beautiful," said B'Elanna tracing the spiraling lines with her eyes, the design reminded her of filigree work, several bands erupted from the center of the mating bite on Seven's face then twined with each other in a spiraling design that covered the area of the mating bite and ended up merging with the banding around Seven's left eye. "Well I guess there won't be any keeping this from the rest of the crew," said B'Elanna with a rueful look at Seven. Seven sighed, she had been hoping for a few days before they were the prime source of gossip about the ship but obviously that was not to be. "We will be a prime topic of conversation," she agreed. "How do you control the sensitivity?' questioned B'Elanna. "Just think about the sensitivity reducing to the point of the skin around it," instructed Seven. "Ah," said B'Elanna touching her own face. "What does mine look like," she asked curious. Seven smiled and then rolled out of bed and held out a hand. B'Elanna took it and allowed herself to be pulled out of bed and into the bathing room where she could see herself in the mirror. Seven watched as B'Elanna examined the first signs of her exoskeleton in the mirror. Listening intently she tried to determine if she could hear B'Elanna and then reluctantly concluded that she could not, doubtless her internal systems were not completely formed yet. "How long do you think it will be before the rest of it shows up?" B'Elanna asked Seven looking at her reflection in the mirror. "I would guess a few days," replied Seven. "We should see the Doctor to determine the rate of progress; doubtless you will need to consume the same chemical drink that I did while my Mularan systems developed. But you cannot until your systems can handle the metallic compounds otherwise it will poison you." B'Elanna frowned, "I think I would rather just ask M'ara. And that can wait until later today," B'Elanna turned around and stroked Seven's cheek again and then caught Seven around the waist as her knees buckled from the strength of her reaction. "Definitely, it can wait till later," B'Elanna said huskily. Seven's eyes opened dazedly, and met the fully aroused eyes of her mate and nodded in complete compliance. It could definitely wait until later. NewMessage: