STAR
TREK: VOYAGER
An Original J/7 Voyager Story
Ó2007 by Patricia L.
Givens
Rudbeck’s Prize
October 2007
Disclaimer #1: This story is an original work of fiction set in the
pre-existing universe of Star Trek: Voyager.
As such, many of the characters and references used within belong solely
to Paramount Pictures. I have borrowed
them for the purpose of creating this scenario and promise to return them
unscathed, and smiling, as soon as I am done.
No gain, monetary or otherwise, is expected from their use and no
copyright infringement is intended or should be inferred.
Disclaimer #2: All original characters and storylines contained herein
belong to the author. (Like anyone else would claim them! J
) This story may be archived upon
request with the stipulation that it must be posted exactly as it was written,
with all disclaimers intact.
Disclaimer #3: This story depicts a loving relationship between two
women. If this bothers you then please
feel free to tell me so I can print it out and put it at the bottom of my cat’s
litter box (He deserves a good laugh too!).
If you are under 18, then please share this with a friend (You’ll be
moving out soon and will probably need the toaster oven). If this is illegal
where you live then we have obviously traveled back in time so please don’t
tell me about it. I hate temporal
mechanics…
Who To Blame: Thanks
must go out to Ky (Who is now a refugee from the Hyphenated Semi-Colonic
Militia), Andrea and aw61 for being my Collective.
This one is dedicated
to Rudbeck, because she did win after all…
I hope this is true to your ideas.
No naughty Ensigns
were harmed during the writing of this story.
However, one did get a firm spanking from all the women on the Janeway/Seven
Faction…
To all that makes us
unique!
DAx =/\=
“I love you, and because I
love you,
I would sooner have you hate me for telling you
the truth, than adore me for telling you lies.
-Pietro Aretino
“Regeneration cycle complete.”
Seven of Nine stepped
down from her alcove in time to see the doors to Cargo Bay 2 slide shut. She cocked her head to one side, a small
smile playing about her lips.
“Computer,
locate Captain Janeway.”
“Captain Janeway is on the
bridge.”
Seven frowned, a
small furrow of confusion appearing on her forehead. She was used to catching the Captain’s
backside as she left the
In some ways, the
fact that it was so completely out of character made it all the more intriguing
and, for lack of a better word, charming.
She had often
considered asking the fiery redhead about her propensity to so often end up
where Seven herself was, but that would undoubtedly end up leading to one of
two scenarios. The first would be that
she would embarrass the Captain, something she was loath to do. The second would be the Captain offering her
assurances that she was merely checking on her wellbeing out of the
responsibility she felt for every member of her crew. And the fact that she was merely another
member of the Captain’s crew was something she loathed to hear.
Seven sighed. No, it was better just to leave things as
they were and enjoy the Captain’s presence without her knowing she was aware of
it.
Going to her
terminal, she accessed her personal agenda for the day, slightly confused to
find the board already up and running but then, Cargo Bay 2 was hardly her own
private space. Adding a few final
details to her planned activities, she shut down the board and headed on her
way to Astrometrics.
* * * * * * * * * *
Captain Kathryn
Janeway sat in her command chair listening idly to the chatter on the
bridge. Tom was regaling them with yet
another tale of Captain Proton while Harry interjected good-natured insults in
regards to his friend’s performance as the protector of the universe. Chakotay laughed along with them while Tuvok
listened in with a vaguely disapproving expression on his face.
Janeway smiled. The conversation wasn’t exactly the correct
discourse for a bridge crew by Starfleet standards but it wasn’t as if much
else was Starfleet standard out here in the Delta either. Protocol would survive a little banter here
and there.
“So, what do we have
on the agenda today, Commander?” She
smiled at her first officer.
Chakotay
held up a PADD with a grin. “Crew
rotations.”
“That time of the
month again already is it?” She nodded,
giving up a sigh of mock weariness.
“Well, let’s get to them shall we?
You have the bridge, Mr. Kim.”
Her First Officer
followed her into the ready room, accepting her offer of coffee with a nod
before folding his large frame into a chair across from her desk. She joined him with her own cup and held out
her hand, taking the PADD from him to look over the list of requests as she
sipped at the hot beverage, enjoying the slight burn and the bitterness of it
as it coursed down her throat.
“These all look
fairly standard.” She set the cup down
as her eyebrows furrowed in confusion.
“Except this one. Ensign Rudbeck
is requesting a transfer to Astrometrics.
Why don’t I recognize that name?”
Chakotay thought for
a moment. “Rudbeck… ahh… Anne
Rudbeck. She was Maquis. Had a talent for communications, if I
recall.”
“Not according to this.” Janeway passed the PADD back to him. “It shows she excelled in astronomy and
science at the academy before leaving to join the Maquis. Why do we have her in Maintenance?”
“I have no
idea.” He looked at the screen with no
small amount of confusion. “The aptitude
she showed for communications alone should have her on a higher rotation. How did she slip through the cracks?”
The Captain
sighed. “Maybe she wanted to slip
through them. The fact that both of us
needed a moment to remember who she was indicates that she’s been a peripheral
entity up until now. It could be she has
decided to step up and fulfill a bigger roll that she didn’t feel she was able
to handle before now. Either way, I’m
sure Seven would welcome her expertise.
Assign her to Astrometrics on Seven’s shift and let’s see what she can
do.”
“Aye,
Captain.” He grinned at her. “You want to tell Seven or should I?”
Janeway drained the
last drops of coffee from her mug before throwing him a wry look. “I’ll do it.
We haven’t been arguing much lately.
I guess we’re overdue. I’ll be in
Astrometrics.”
* * * * * * * * * *
Seven felt the hair
on the back of her neck stand up as the doors to Astrometrics slid open. The corners of her mouth curled into a small
smile as she spoke, her hands never ceasing their movement across the data
screen. “Captain, is there something you
require?”
“Good morning
Seven.” She could hear the smile in the
Captain’s voice as she moved to stand beside her. The presence of the smaller woman at her side
radiated a heat that seemed impossible for a being so small. “I wanted to talk to you about the duty shift
rotations this month.”
The
Borg stopped and turned to face her.
“Yes, Captain?”
“We’ve discovered
that Ensign Rudbeck possesses a high aptitude for astronomy and science and we
believe your department will benefit from her assistance.”
Seven’s
face grew solemn. “You believe my
efficiency to be inadequate.”
Janeway
held her hands up. “That isn’t what I
said, Seven.”
“Then
why do you deem it necessary to provide me with assistance?”
“You have often
stated that Tal Celes did not perform her duties adequately and since she has
been reassigned to Biometrics I thought you would welcome another hand to help
out.”
“I
was unaware my performance has been lacking.”
Janeway reached out
and placed a hand on her arm. “Your
performance is exemplary, Seven. But you
cannot be expected to run this whole department by yourself. Especially if we’ve found a crewman that
could not only aid in your endeavors but also benefit from the time spent
working with you.”
“I see.” Seven’s tone was cool, remote. “How long is this duty rotation to be in
effect?”
“For the moment we’ll
place her here for the standard monthly rotation. Once we see how it works out then we’ll make
a decision as to whether to assign her here permanently or not.”
The blonde turned
back to her console, entering the information slightly more forcefully than
necessary. “I assume that I am to have
no input in this decision.”
“Of course your
opinion will be taken into consideration, Seven. You are the head of Astrometrics.” The Captain gentled her tone. “All I am asking is that you give her a
chance.”
Seven
nodded stiffly. “Of course,
Captain. I will do as you request.”
Janeway bit back a
sigh. For some reason the difference
between an order and a request seemed to escape the younger woman. She was about to explain it to her when the
doors slid open again to admit the Ensign in question. The Captain looked at her speculatively. She was human, slightly shorter than herself
with an athletic build, a thick crop of short black hair and wide, dark
expressive eyes.
“Ensign
Rudbeck reporting for duty, Captain.”
Seven turned to meet
the newcomer and felt herself stop cold as her thoughts spun strangely in her
mind. “Anne?” She said softly, looking almost as surprised
as the Captain did by her use of the woman’s given name.
“Hello, Seven.” The Ensign gave her a wide, sensual smile,
her eyes sparkling with warmth that made the Borg’s heart catch briefly in her
chest.
Janeway blinked,
looking from Seven to Rudbeck and back again.
“I take it you two know each other?”
Anne turned her
bright smile on the Captain. “Oh, we’ve
seen each other around.”
What the hell? Janeway
swallowed her confusion and forced a smile.
“Well then, I’ll let you two get down to work. Seven, meet me in my ready room at 16:00
hours. I’d like to go over your scans of
the upcoming sector before the end of your shift.”
“Of course, Captain.” The Borg said quietly, never taking her eyes
off the black haired beauty.
The older woman cast
one last look at both of them, feeling something dangerously close to jealousy
wind its way down her spine. “As you
were then.”
Once the Captain had
gone, Anne slid up next to the much taller woman, looking up at her through
dark eyelashes. “You look wonderful
today, Annika.”
Seven began to
correct Anne’s use of her human designation but found that it felt… familiar
for some reason. “My appearance has not
been altered, Ensign Rudbeck.”
The shorter woman
smiled at her sensually. “I thought we
agreed that we wouldn’t worry about titles when we were alone? And just because you haven’t changed your
appearance doesn’t mean you aren’t lovely.”
The Borg felt her
heart rate increase, a reaction that had only ever occurred when she was in the
company of one other individual. She
found it disconcerting. “Thank you. You… look lovely as well?”
Anne
slid her hand down Seven’s arm. “I’m
glad you noticed.”
Seven shivered at the
touch. Suddenly she felt the need for
some space, as quickly as possible.
“Anne, could you take these projections to Lieutenant Torres in
Engineering? She has been requesting
them.”
“Sure
Annika. I’ll be right back.”
When Anne had gone,
Seven leaned heavily against her console, trying to get the thoughts racing
through her mind under control. Images
of the young woman seemed to surface faster than she could process them, all of
them becoming increasingly personal in nature.
For some reason that she could not fathom, she had been noticing the
Ensign for some time and only her close proximity had reminded her of it.
Willing herself to
focus solely on the work at hand, she felt the images recede until she could
once again concentrate on her spatial scans.
The
Ensign was an enigma that would have to wait.
* * * * * * * * * *
Janeway left
Astrometrics sorely vexed. First, Seven
had been offended by the addition of Ensign Rudbeck to her department, then she
had practically fallen all over herself when the young woman appeared. Ok, falling all over herself was a bit of a
stretch but the fact that she knew the woman’s first name and seemed to look at
her in stark appreciation were both extremely unusual occurrences.
Making
her way to the mess hall, she stepped up to the counter. “Neelix?”
The jovial Talaxian
smiled broadly when he saw her, setting a mug on the counter that he filled to
the brim with coffee. “How are you this
morning, Captain?”
“I’m
fine, Neelix.” She smiled at him. “How are you?”
“Doing
well. Just getting the last of the
breakfast customers taken care of.”
Janeway
looked at him thoughtfully. “Neelix, do
you know Ensign Rudbeck?”
“Rudbeck…
Rudbeck.” He scratched his chin. “Short?
Black hair?”
“That’s the
one.” The Captain leaned in closer,
lowering her voice so that only the two of them would hear. “What do you know about her?”
“Not
very much. She’s quiet. Keeps to herself a lot.”
“Has
she ever come in here with Seven?”
“Seven?” He shook his head. “Not that I can recall. Is there something wrong, Captain?”
“No, no, not at
all.” She patted him on the hand. “Just trying to get to know everyone as well
as I can.”
“Well,
if I hear anything I can certainly let you know.”
“Thanks, Neelix, but
I’m sure I’ll run into her more now that she’s no longer in maintenance.”
“All
right, Captain. Have a good day!”
Janeway took her
coffee and headed for the turbo-lift.
“Deck Four.” She wasn’t sure why
but her wanderings were taking her directly to Cargo Bay 2. As she neared the doors, she was startled
when they slid open to reveal Ensign Rudbeck just leaving.
“Ensign?” She looked at the young woman
quizzically. “What are you doing in the
“I didn’t mean to startle
you, Captain. Annika forgot one of her
PADDs and she asked me to run up here and get it for her.”
“Annika?” Janeway’s eyebrows shot up.
“Oh,” Anne looked
contrite. “I forgot she prefers that you call her Seven.” The young woman held up the PADD. “Well, I’d better get this back to
Astrometrics, unless there’s something else?”
“No, you’re
dismissed.” The Captain watched her go
and then entered the
Frowning
to herself, she headed back to the bridge.
Chakotay took one
look at her face and raised an eyebrow questioningly. When she inclined her head towards her ready
room, he followed her in silence until the doors slid shut behind them. “I take it the conversation did not go well?”
The Captain sat down
with a sigh. “Actually, it didn’t at
first. But when the Ensign showed up, it
was like they were old friends.”
“Old friends?” Her First Officer couldn’t keep the
skepticism from his voice. “With Seven?”
“Exactly!” She leaned back in her chair and placed a
hand on her forehead. “I don’t
understand it. It was like all of the
fight went out of her as soon as she laid eyes on her.”
“Love at first
sight?” He blanched at the glare that
earned him. “Or maybe not. What do you think is going on?”
“I have no idea. But I intend to find out. Get me all of Ensign Rudbeck’s service
records, from both the Maquis and Starfleet databases. Something’s… off. And I intend to find out what it is.”
* * * * * * * * * *
Seven glanced up as
the doors to Astrometrics slid open, her gaze becoming immediately concerned
when she saw the unhappiness apparent on her friends face. “Anne?”
She reached out and put her fingers under the smaller woman’s chin,
using them to lift her face, gasping softly when she saw the dark eyes were
full of tears. “What is wrong?”
Anne
sniffled, her lower lip trembling slightly.
“It’s the Captain.”
“The
Captain? What has occurred?”
“She
doesn’t like me, Annika. She never has.”
Seven felt a fierce
protectiveness flow through her. “You
must be mistaken. Captain Janeway treats
all of her crew in a fair and consistent manner.”
“Didn’t
you see the way she looked at me this morning?”
The Borg thought back
and truthfully the Captain had seemed a little off with the Ensign.
“I just ran into her
on the way back here and she treated me like a bug. I swear, Annika, she’s jealous of how close
we are.”
“Why
would Captain Janeway be jealous of our friendship?”
Anne’s
face became angry. “Because you’re her pet Borg! She’s
apparently the only one that’s supposed to have anything to do with you. You don’t know what I had to go through just
to get her to give me a chance to work in Astrometrics. I studied advanced astronomy at the academy
but she had me assigned down in maintenance.
Why do you think that is? If
Chakotay hadn’t gone to bat for me I’d probably still be flushing out plasma
conduits.”
Seven felt
confused. Her thoughts seemed to swim
with images of Anne again. After sifting
through them, she could find no reason why the Captain would harbor animosity
towards the young woman. She was
friendly and vivacious, and if she was honest with herself, very pleasant to be
around. “You must be mistaken.” She was astonished to find herself wrapping
her arms around the smaller woman. “I
will speak to the Captain on your behalf.”
“No!” Anne returned the hug tightly. “That will only make her angrier. I think for the time being our best course of
action would be to keep our friendship between us. I don’t want to give her any reason to pull
me out of Astrometrics. Not now that we
are finally getting to work together like we always talked about. Promise me,
ok?”
The blonde looked
down and felt herself falling into the darkness of the young woman’s eyes. “Very well, I will not broach the subject
with her for the time being.”
The Ensign sniffled
one last time and then smiled up at her before standing on her tip toes to kiss
her gently. “Thank you, Annika.”
The kiss electrified
Seven, causing a cascade of images to flood through her mind of them engaging
in that same activity before. Bending
down, she brought their lips together again, enjoying the feel of the mouth on
hers and sighing when she felt a shy tongue reach out to touch her own briefly.
“Now.” Anne pushed her away playfully. “We better get some work done or we’re both
gonna be on the Captain’s bad side.”
“Agreed.” Seven smiled at her and turned back to her
work.
* * * * * * * * * *
Captain Janeway
frowned at the PADDs before her. They
contained Ensign Rudbeck’s entire history, both with the Maquis and on Voyager. They clearly outlined her proficiency in
astronomy and communications, including commendations from her professors at
the academy for outstanding work before she resigned and joined up with the
freedom fighters.
The records of her
service to the Maquis before she came to be aboard Chakotay’s vessel were
rather limited, but contained the same kinds of glowing praise as her Starfleet
records did.
Apparently, her
abilities and contributions only became muted once she joined the crew of
Voyager. From that time forward, there
was next to nothing, aside from receiving adequate personnel ratings, up until
her request to be transferred to Seven’s department.
It
was like she was a ghost lost in the machine.
How could both she
and Chakotay have missed her potential?
It just didn’t make sense.
When her door chimed
several hours later, she looked up, rubbing her eyes. “Come.”
Seven of Nine strode
purposefully into the room, coming to stop before her desk where she stood
patiently.
“Seven.” The Captain smiled. “What can I do for you?”
“It is 16:00 hours,
Captain.” Seven raised one eyebrow. “You requested my presence to discuss our
scans of the upcoming sector.”
Our scans?
“Oh, right, I’m
sorry. I didn’t realize it had gotten so
late.” She stood and went to the
replicator to get a coffee. “Can I offer
you something to drink?”
“I do not require
liquid refreshment at this…” Her voice
trailed off and Janeway turned to see her looking down at the PADDs strewn
across the desk. “Why have you accessed
Ensign Rudbeck’s personnel files?”
Janeway
felt her hackles rise. “I beg your
pardon?” She said coolly.
“Why are you studying
Ensign Rudbeck’s personnel files?” Seven
looked at her keenly. “I can read upside
down, Captain.”
“While I am sure that
you can, Seven, it is not for you to question my activities regarding another
crewmember.”
The Borg looked her
directly in the eyes, her chin jutting forward slightly. “Even when those activities are
inappropriate?”
The Captain moved to
stand toe to toe with the angry young woman.
“Again, my decision to peruse the Ensign’s personnel files is none of
your concern. Your behavior is bordering
on insubordinate, Seven.”
“And
your behavior is bordering on harassment!”
“Seven!” Janeway’s countenance changed from angry to
concerned. “What is wrong with you?”
“I could ask you the
same question, Captain. Are you so
threatened by my personal interest in Anne that you feel the need to
investigate her covertly?”
“Threatened?” Janeway reached out only to be shocked when
her hand was batted aside. “Seven what
has gotten into you?”
The younger woman
looked as though she would become violent for a moment, then all the fight went
out of her, leaving her looking very young and very confused. “Captain?”
She seemed to fall back slightly.
“I do not believe I am functioning correctly.”
“I would say that’s
an understatement.” The Captain reached
out again, relieved when Seven accepted the hand on her arm. “Come on, we’re going to sick bay.”
She led Seven quietly
through the bridge, shaking her head at Chakotay’s questioning glance.
In the turbo-lift,
the younger woman leaned on her heavily and the Captain felt herself give into
the tenderness she felt for the Borg, reaching up to brush back the strands
that had come loose from the normally elegant bun.
She was grateful to
find sickbay quiet when they arrived, leaving Seven to rest on a bio-bed as she
went into the Doctor’s office.
“Captain?” The Doctor looked up at her concerned face
from where he sat behind his desk.
“What’s wrong?”
“It’s
Seven. She’s behaving extremely
erratically.”
The Doctor glanced
out the window, taking in the blonde’s confused expression with worry. “What is she doing?”
“She seems to be unusually
attached to an Ensign that I just assigned to her department this morning. When I first informed her that the woman
would be working with her, she was completely against the idea. But as soon as she met her, she began acting
like they were…”
“Were
what?”
“Involved.” The Captain said the word like it left a bad
taste in her mouth. “Personally.”
“I
see.” He looked at Janeway
thoughtfully. “Is there any chance they
might be?”
She pinched the
bridge of her nose between her fingers.
“I suppose it’s possible, but I find it highly unlikely. She was so adamant about not wanting Ensign
Rudbeck in her department and then did a complete 180 on the subject. Then there is also her behavior towards me.”
“You?” He picked up a medical tri-corder.
“Yes. You know that Seven and I are close.” She raised her hands helplessly. “But she attacked me verbally when she found
out I was looking into the Ensign’s past.
It appeared as though she was close to striking out at me…physically.”
The Doctor’s eyes
widened. That was completely out of
character for Seven. He was very aware
of her affinity for the Captain. At
times it almost appeared as though the Borg harbored feelings for the older
woman. “Let me do some scans.” He walked over to Seven, a carefully pleasant
expression on his face. “Hello,
Seven. How are you feeling?”
The Borg looked up at
him, confusion apparent on her face. “I
am unsure, Doctor.” Her voice was quiet,
small. “I am not operating within my
normal parameters.” She looked up as
Janeway joined them, shame filling her features. “I have been most unpleasant to the Captain.”
“Alright.” He smiled at her reassuringly. “I’m sure we can figure out what is going
on. Why don’t you lie back on the
bio-bed.”
The young woman
complied docilely, causing his concern to double. He ran the tri-corder over her entire body,
and then localized his scans over her head.
“Wait here, Seven.”
Janeway followed the
Doctor over to his console where he downloaded the information into the
computer. His brow furrowed as he read
the results.
“What is it,
Doctor?” Janeway stepped closer, looking
at the scans over his shoulder.
“Seven’s cortical
node has been hyper-stimulated.” He
tapped the controls, pointing at the screen.
“Look at these memory engrams. It
almost looks as though her cortical node has malfunctioned, causing several of
them to be stored over the same areas as other memories. It’s no wonder she’s behaving
erratically. Her thoughts must be
running all together, conflicting with each other.”
“What’s
causing it?”
“I won’t know until I
can do further research.” He glanced
back at the young woman in concern. “I
think the best thing for her now is to regenerate. It could help to bring some order to the
chaos going on in her mind and it would definitely be better for her cortical
processes to be limited for the time being.
I would recommend a full eight hour regeneration period while I go over
these results.” As they rejoined the
Borg, he said gently “Seven, there seems
to be a discrepancy in your eidetic memory.
The Captain is going to escort you back to Cargo Bay 2 where I want you
to regenerate for a full cycle while I go over your scans more thoroughly,
alright?”
Seven nodded, sliding
off the bio-bed and allowing Janeway to slip an arm around her waist
protectively. “You will contact me when
you know more?”
“Of
course.” He assured her. “Just go rest
for now.”
She nodded, walking
silently with the Captain until they reached the
“Captain…
I am… I am…”
“It’s
alright, Seven.” Janeway said
gently. “It isn’t your fault. We’ll figure it out.”
The Borg nodded,
closing her eyes as the Captain began her regeneration cycle. Janeway stood beside her, looking up at the
Borg’s beautiful features for several long minutes before she sighed.
She knew what she
felt for the young woman went beyond friendship, beyond being her mentor and
the fact that she was suffering was more than she thought she could bear.
She
would figure out what was causing the problem.
No matter what it took.
* * * * * * * * * *
Seven smiled,
sitting up in bed to hold the sheets modestly around her chest. Anne looked up at her, reaching out to run
her hands through the Borg’s pale mane of hair.
“I love you, Annika.”
“I love you as well, Anne.”
The smaller
woman sighed, sliding out of bed to reach for her uniform. “You know we’re going to have problems if we
stay here on Voyager. People aren’t
going to like that we’re involved.”
“People?”
Seven looked at her in confusion.
“Why would anyone be concerned?”
“Because you
used to be Borg, Annika. None of them
can see beyond that. They still think
you’re some kind of monster. They don’t
know you the way I do.”
“They will adapt.”
“Will
they?” Anne sighed. “As much as I love working with you, I wonder
why the Captain finally allowed it? She
has been so against it up until now. I
can’t help but wonder what her personal agenda is.”
“Why do you
believe the Captain will be unhappy with the natural progression of our
affiliation?”
“Haven’t you
seen the way she looks at you? She wants
you all to herself. She doesn’t want to
share you with anyone, even as she isn’t willing to give you the things you
need.”
“Captain
Janeway has always been very supportive of me.”
Seven replied, but part of her began to doubt her own words.
“That’s what
she wants you to believe. But think
about it, Annika. Really think about
it.” She finished dressing and handed
the Borg her bio-suit. “Come on, let’s
go get some breakfast before our duty shifts.”
The two of
them left the Ensign’s quarters, holding hands lightly as they headed for the
mess hall. As they were arriving, the
doors slid open and the Captain walked out into the hall. She took one look at their linked hands and
her face went cold.
“Seven. Ensign.”
Her voice was like steel. “This
behavior is completely inappropriate. I
would expect more professional behavior from two officers on my crew.” She leaned in closer, her eyes full of
anger. “If they wish to remain officers,
that is.”
“Regeneration cycle incomplete.”
Seven stepped down
from the dais, her eyes flashing anger as she took in the empty
“Captain Janeway is in her ready
room.”
Seven strode
purposefully through the ship, her anger only growing stronger as she entered
the bridge. She stalked passed Commander
Chakotay, not even looking at him to enter the ready room without announcing
herself.
“Seven?” The Captain looked up at her in alarm, her
coffee mug halfway to her lips. “Why
aren’t you regenerating?”
“I discerned your
intentions behind assigning Ensign Rudbeck to my department.” She said coldly.
Janeway leaned
forward in her chair, carefully setting her coffee aside. “What are you talking about, Seven?”
“You assigned the
Ensign to my department so that you could then cite Starfleet protocol against
Senior Officers becoming involved with subordinate officers as a reason to keep
us apart.”
The
older woman paled. “Is that what you
think?”
The Borg
straightened, her hands going behind her back as her face took on a look of
disgust. “You desire me, and yet you
will not allow yourself to act on that desire due to your own adherence to a
Starfleet principle wholly irrelevant here in the Delta Quadrant. And yet, even though you will not allow
yourself to act, you seek to prohibit my involvement with Anne by placing us in
the same situation. I find your actions
reprehensible.”
The Captain stood,
holding on to her patience by the thinnest thread. “Seven, you are not well. You will return to the
“I am not a member of
your crew.” The Borg spat. “I have followed your orders only because I
chose to, not out of some sense of duty.
I owe you nothing and I will not allow your jealousy to dictate the
course of my interaction with Ensign Rudbeck.”
Without
another word, Seven turned and left the ready room.
Janeway moved to
follow her and then stopped herself, trying to allow herself time to cool off
before speaking with the young woman again.
* * * * * * * * * *
Seven headed directly
to the crew quarters, not stopping until she found herself standing in front of
Anne’s door. She punched in a code,
allowing herself admittance to find the beautiful young woman curled up on the
couch reading a book.
“Annika?” Anne stood immediately, walking over to her
to cup her face in her hands. “What’s
wrong?”
“You were correct,
Anne. The Captain placed you in my
department to then use Starfleet protocol to keep us apart. She will never allow us to be together while
we remain on Voyager.”
Rudbeck
sighed. “What do you suggest we do about
it?”
The Borg placed on
palm against Anne’s smooth, pale cheek.
“We should leave this vessel.
Immediately.”
“How
would we do that?”
“I am Borg.” Seven looked down at her. “Assemble any items you wish to take with
you. It will be simple for me to
over-ride the commands on a shuttle craft.
Once we are away from Voyager, we can decide where we wish to go.”
The Ensign looked
torn for a moment, and then her face cleared, a bright smile replacing her
worry. “You’re right. We need to be together. Let’s go.”
* * * * * * * * * *
Captain Janeway
stepped out of her ready room, her anger and worry apparent on her face as she
slid into her command chair.
“Captain?” Chakotay looked at her in alarm. “What’s going on?”
She
had just opened her mouth to answer when Harry spoke.
“Captain! We have an unauthorized shuttle launch, bay
one.”
Janeway
stood. “Who is it?”
Harry scanned the
vessel, his eyes widening. “It’s Seven
of Nine and Ensign Rudbeck.”
“Seal
the bay!”
“I
can’t, Captain! Seven’s locked me out
with a Borg encryption code!”
She turned to the
view-screen to see the small craft sliding away from them. “Lock on a tractor beam!”
“They’re
offline!”
“Hail
them!”
Harry
punched his console. “No response!”
Janeway turned back
to the screen, watching helplessly as the shuttle went to warp. She looked at Kim.
He
shook his head. “They’re gone, Captain.”
She stared at the
empty space in front of Voyager, her heart catching painfully in her chest.
* * * * * * * * * *
Anne glanced over at
the beautiful drone beside her, taking in the pale complexion and console
lights reflecting off the implants still adorning her face. “We made it.”
She said in wonder.
“Yes.” Seven’s lips curved into a faint smile. “Did you doubt we would?”
“Well, I had my
concerns. Captain Janeway can be pretty
wily when she needs to be, even if she was idiotic enough to get us stranded
out here in this God forsaken quadrant.
Seven felt a momentary
twinge of anger at hearing Janeway disparaged in that manner, but it was lost
quickly in the feel of the smaller woman’s lips against her own. When they broke the contact, she leaned her
forehead against the other woman’s, asking quietly, “Do you have any thoughts
as to a destination?”
Anne looked down at
her with her dark, hypnotic eyes. “Oh, I
have an idea or two.”
Without warning, she
pressed a hypo-spray to the Borg’s neck, watching in satisfaction as the much
larger woman slumped in her chair.
The
smile on her face turned into a sneer.
“I very definitely have an idea or two.”
* * * * * * * * * *
Janeway stood quietly
on the dais of Seven’s alcove, her eyes closed as she tried to sort out her
thoughts. What the hell had
happened? She went through her memories
of the past two days carefully, examining every interaction, every nuance of
conversation until she thought her head would explode.
“Captain?”
Her eyes flew open to
find the Doctor standing in front of her.
“I was just trying to make sense out of all of this.”
“I think I can
help.” He led her over to the computer
console, pulling up his data from Seven’s scans. He pointed at the screen. “These are Seven’s normal memory
engrams.” He pressed in another command,
causing a second set of readings to overlay the first. “These are the results of my scans. What do you see?”
Janeway
bent closer, studying the screen. “The
synaptic patterns don’t match!”
“No, they don’t. I wouldn’t even have noticed it except that
two of the engrams have the exact same time index. Meaning Seven would have had to be
experiencing two distinctly different set of circumstances at the same time.”
“How
is this possible?”
The Doctor
sighed. “All I can come up with is that
someone has been feeding false memories directly into Seven’s cortical node.”
The Captain’s head
came up. “Something like this happened
before; when she downloaded too much information directly from the data banks,
throwing her thoughts into chaos!” She turned
back to the alcove and started to run her hands over and behind it. Her eyes closed as her hand came in contact
with something attached firmly to the back of one of the contacts. Pulling, she ripped out a rectangular
box. “A Borg data node.”
The Doctor took it
from her and connected it to the computer console through an interface that
looked as though it had been added for just that purpose. He frowned in anger. “This is how they did it. They falsified memories and uploaded them
directly through her alcove. This would have to have been done by someone
extremely intelligent. Someone well
versed in science-“
“And
communications.” The Captain ground her
teeth. “Ensign Rudbeck.”
* * * * * * * * * *
Anne closed the
stasis drawer, sealing Seven’s unconscious body inside. With a snarl of disgust, she tore the
Starfleet uniform from her body and threw it to the ground before slipping into
the comfort of her Maquis uniform.
Moving back to the
fore compartment, she sat down in the pilot’s chair and accessed the
communications array, sending out a signal to the ship she knew was waiting for
her several sectors away.
She smiled when the
signal was answered and the view screen lit up with a familiar face. “Darius.”
She greeted.
“Rudbeck.” The alien,
a member of the decimated race that Seven would have referred to as Species
116, smiled back at her. “Do you have
the Borg?”
“Yes,
I do.”
Darius
leaned forward, his eyes glittering with malice. “Is she alive?”
“Alive and in stasis,
as we agreed.” Anne stared at him in
distrust. “Do you have my ship?”
He nodded. “It is prepared, complete with its own
quantum slipstream drive. If you do have
the Borg and she is alive as promised, meet me at the coordinates I am
transmitting to you now. We will make
the exchange. You will be back in the
Alpha Quadrant before the week is out.”
“Acceptable. See you very soon.” Rudbeck closed the link and relaxed back into
her chair. Everything had gone
perfectly. In a week she would be back
home, telling everyone who would listen how the stupidity of one woman had
caused the loss of Voyager and its entire crew.
“The Klingon’s were
right.” She smiled to herself. “Revenge is a dish best served cold.”
* * * * * * * * *
Captain Janeway
slammed her hand down on the Astrometrics console in frustration. Beside her, Harry Kim jumped slightly, unused
to seeing emotional outbursts of any kind from his commanding officer. He had seen her upset before, over the loss of
a crewmember, but this all out fury… that was new.
“Are you telling me
we can’t find anything? Even on long
range sensors?” Janeway breathed in
deeply, pulling her temper into check.
It wasn’t Harry’s fault that Seven was so good at hiding their trail.
“Not about the
shuttle. But I was thinking.” He turned to her. “The shuttle is short range; they couldn’t be
planning on using it to go very far. If
Rudbeck is planning to do something… unsavory… to Seven, then she is going to
need help. It doesn’t matter what
memories Seven believes are real, once Rudbeck begins to show her true colors,
she will defend herself.”
“You think the Ensign
planned on meeting up with someone else.”
The Captain pursed her lips.
“That was my thought too.”
“What I can do is a wide
scan on the upcoming sectors to see if there are any ships holding their
position somewhere nearby.”
“Do it.”
Harry changed the
search criteria. “Going over each sector
of space is going to take a while.”
“And me standing here
breathing over your shoulder isn’t going to help?” She asked dryly then held up her hand as the
Ensign began to disagree. “It’s alright
Harry. I’ll go and see if the Doctor and
B’Elanna have been able to get any information off the data node.”
She left him in
Astrometrics and made her way up to
“Problems?” She asked.
“It’s the way Ensign
Rudbeck had this thing set up. The woman
is a rutting genius when it comes to communications. If she wasn’t a psychopath, I wouldn’t have
minded having her working for me.” The Klingon motioned towards the screen
where the she had the data from the node displayed. “Not only did this thing download whatever
she programmed into it, it uploaded a good deal of Seven’s memories as well,
making it a pain in the ass to determine what is real and what is fiction.”
“Why is that
important?”
“Because we were
hoping the false memories would somehow give us a clue as to where they would
be heading.” The Doctor chimed in. “But now we’re stuck having to check each
memory separately to verify which ones are false. It’s a painstaking process.”
“Can I help?”
B’Elanna glanced at
her, wondering how to phrase the next comment correctly. “I think so.
You ‘know’ Seven better than anyone.
Maybe if you took a look at some of the memories we’ve been able to
decode so far, you can give us some help weeding out the real ones.”
“I can certainly
try. Where do you want me to start?”
The Doctor handed her
a PADD. “Go over these to begin
with. The ones marked with an asterisk
are real. If you can verify one, just
add an asterisk to it.”
Janeway thumbed the
screen and began scrolling through the data.
Most of the entries were pretty dry.
Seven’s memories of Astrometics, bits and pieces of her duty shifts, and
conversations that seemed benign; then she came across something interesting.
It was Seven’s
internal musings over the actions of someone else. The thoughts seemed jumbled and disjointed,
tinged with what seemed to be almost a sense of longing. Something about being watched and not knowing
why it was happening but that the feelings it evoked were strong and positive. She was enjoying the attention and was
confused by her own reaction to it. What
she was describing seemed like an intense infatuation of some sort. She was pulled to this person, wanting to
touch them, wanting to be touched by them.
Wanting to know… what her lips felt like?!?
Janeway swallowed,
flushing slightly as she realized the same thoughts had wandered through her
own mind on more than one occasion where the Borg was concerned.
“I think I found
something.” She handed the PADD to the
Doctor and B’Elanna. “That seems rather
out of character for Seven don’t you think?”
“I should say so,”
The Klingon frowned. “Let me dig a
little deeper into it.”
Minutes passed as
B’Elanna reconstructed more of the memory engram. When she finally looked up again, the Captain
was surprised to see her cheeks were slightly red. The Doctor merely cleared his throat and went
back to the other data.
“Uhm,” B’Elanna
handed the PADD back to her. “No, that
one’s real.”
“Real?” She raised her eyebrows. “Are you sure?”
“Yeah, she describes
the woman she’s thinking about right there.” The Klingon seemed to hesitate
then sighed. “I don’t think Rudbeck
could ever be considered a ‘fiery redhead with an invigorating glare’.”
The Captain
paled. “Oh.” She accepted the PADD back. “I’ll… just move on to another one.” But she
found herself reading over the rest of the information B’Elanna had translated.
Seven was frustrated
over her inability to control her body’s responses when the person was near
her. Her memories seemed to run in a
self-perpetuating loop as she tried to quantify the feelings with external
data. Her thoughts ran the gamut from
wanting to stand close enough to ‘breath in the scent of her hair’ to ‘the fire
that grew exponentially when she touches me’.
Through it all were references to the persons command position and sense
of duty that seemed to always keep her just out of reach, but close enough to
leave her wanting more.
Janeway realized she
was holding her breath and released it quietly.
Her heart was thudding in her chest and her palms were moist.
Seven thought of her
this way?
“I think I have
something.” The Doctor’s voice brought
her out of her reverie. “It’s a memory
of a friendly sector of space.”
“Why is that so
unusual?”
“Because we haven’t
reached it yet.” He smiled in
triumph. “I think this memory was
implanted to make her choose a trajectory that would take them through that
sector.”
“Transfer the
coordinates to Astrometrics.” She
slapped her commbadge. “Janeway to Kim.”
“Here Captain.”
“Harry, The Doctor is
sending you some data. Plug in the coordinates and search that sector thoroughly
for any ships waiting out there.”
“Understood, give me a few minutes.”
Janeway pushed her
own curiosity aside to run through the rest of the memories on the PADD. Aside from a few additional entries that
could only have been about her, the rest were all about Seven’s duties and
research activities.
“Captain?”
“Go ahead, Mister
Kim.”
“I found something.
There’s a ship maintaining its position about a light year from here, on
the other side of a small moon. I can’t
tell the make of the ship, but I did discover one interesting thing about
it. It’s running a quantum slip stream
drive.”
The hair on the back
of Janeway’s neck stood up.
“Arturis.” She whispered.
“Captain?” B’Elanna was looking at her curiously.
“Arturis. The alien that took Seven and Myself hostage,
the one that disguised his ship to look like a Starfleet vessel. His race invented the slipstream technology.”
“But he was
assimilated.”
“Yes, but he did mention
that there were a few other surviving vessels out there. And if he hated us enough to get himself
assimilated during the course of his revenge…”
“Then others of his
race might feel the same way.” B’Elanna
finished.
“Exactly. Mister Kim, transfer the coordinates of that
ship to the bridge, then get up to your station. I’m on my way.”
When she reached the
bridge, Janeway slid into her command chair.
“We have a course that will lead us to a ship maintaining its position a
light year from our present location.
Rudbeck has a twenty hour lead on us but that shuttle can only travel at
warp six. I think we can do a little
better. Mister Paris, set a course. Maximum warp.
Engage!”
The first four hours
went by with excruciating slowness, but when they were only twenty minutes out,
Janeway leaned forward in her chair.
“Bring us out of warp on the far side of the moon. I don’t want whoever is manning that thing to
know we’re here just yet.”
“Do we have a plan of
action, Captain?” Tuvok asked calmly.
Janeway smiled. “Yes we do.
We just need to find out what their status is when we arrive.”
When they finally
dropped out of warp, she turned to Kim.
Harry checked his
monitors. “Their engines are offline,
but their shields are up, as are their weapons.”
“Tuvok, I need you to
target their shield generators, their weapons, and their core. I also want their outgoing transmission
blocked for the time being. I’m going to
transporter room one. Have a full
security team meet me there.”
“Aye, Captain. Ready when you are.”
Janeway headed to the
transporter room, stopping only long enough to outfit herself with a phaser
rifle. She stepped up onto the dais with
the waiting security team, slapping her commbadge. “Alright, Tom, you bring us
around the moon. As soon as we’re in range, fire. Once their shields are down, we’re going to
transport directly onto their bridge.
Arturis was able to operate his ship on his own. We’re going to have to hope this vessel is
running on a skeleton crew as well.
Let’s do it.”
Janeway held her
breath as Voyager came about. She heard
the phaser fire faintly and then smiled when Tuvok’s voice came over the
comm. “Engines, shields, weapons and
communications are offline, Captain.”
“Energize!”
The security team
appeared on the bridge of the other vessel, fanning out to cover their position
from all directions. There were four
members of Species 116 present. One of
them turned to her with a sneer on his face as he reached for his phaser.
She leveled her rifle
directly at his face, remembering that the chest didn’t seem to be the best
target. “Try it.” She snarled.
“I’d rather take you alive, but trust me when I say I won’t feel too
badly about stepping over your dead body to reach the controls of this ship.”
The aliens face fell
as he relaxed back into the command chair.
“Captain Janeway.” The hate in
his voice was the only confirmation she needed that they were in the right
place. “You are an annoying little
being.”
“Thank you.” She threw him a feral grin. “Let me assure you the feeling is
mutual. As I am sure you are aware, your
engines and weapons are offline. You are
no match for Voyager, no matter what you try at this point. So you have a choice. Help me secure the return of my crewmember
and I will release this vessel back to you.
By the time you repair it we will be long gone.”
“Or?”
“Or, I’ll get her
back myself and you can spend however long it takes to find the nearest
authorities in Voyager’s brig after I blow your ship out of the sky.”
The alien considered
his choices for a few moments. “What do
you want me to do?”
Janeway smiled.
* * * * * * * * * * *
Rudbeck checked the
computer console. They were only minutes
from rendezvous and she hadn’t gotten a response to her hails as of yet. She had just started inputting a course
change when the computer beeped at her.
Smiling, she opened the channel.
“Darius. I was becoming
concerned. You didn’t respond to any of
my messages.”
“My apologies.” The alien smiled back at her through the view
screen. “This little moon seems to give
off an electrostatic charge of some kind that interfered with our sensors. We had to move off slightly before we
received your incoming transmissions.”
“So everything is in
order?”
“Yes, my dear. You are cleared to dock in our hangar
bay. I will have my men waiting for you
to take possession of the Borg. Once I
am satisfied with her condition, you will take control of your new vessel. It is small but for a trip as short as yours
will be, it will be sufficient.”
“Excellent.” She
leaned back, enjoying the feeling of success.
“We’ll be docking in ten minutes.
Rudbeck out.”
True to his word, she
found the docking bay doors open and she slid the small shuttle inside,
unconcerned when the doors closed behind her.
She could see a small contingent of well armed security in black
uniforms waiting for her as she set the vessel down.
Opening the outer
door, she stepped down, the grin on her face fading when she found herself face
to face with Captain Janeway, who was holding a pulse rifle trained on her
midsection.
“Ensign
Rudbeck.” Janeway’s smile was broad, but
nowhere close to friendly. “How good to
see you again.”
“Wish I could say the
same.” She spat. “For a stupid woman, you have an inordinate
amount of luck.”
“It didn’t take luck
to find you, just a crew that takes care of its own.” She motioned to Tuvok, who had transported
over with his full security team. “Take
her into custody. I want her transported
directly to the brig. Post a four man
detail on her around the clock.”
Brushing past the
irate Ensign, she hurried into the shuttle, frantically searching for
Seven. The Borg was nowhere to be
seen. Moving to the aft section, she
opened the stasis drawer, letting out a long sigh of relief when she found
Seven inside. She looked up at the
Vulcan with a grin. “She’s alive. I’m going to transport the two of us to sick
bay. Stay only as long as you need to
disable the ship fully. I don’t want this
vessel moving for at least a week.”
Tuvok nodded. “An hour should be sufficient.”
The Captain tapped
her commbadge. “Janeway to Voyager, two
to beam directly to sickbay.”
* * * * * * * * * *
The Doctor muttered
in frustration as he stepped around Janeway to continue his scans. The Captain had refused to budge from Seven’s
side since they had arrived. “She is in
perfect physical health.” He closed the
tri-corder. “The sedative Rudbeck gave
her should wear off in an hour or so.
The effects of the implanted memories are a different matter.”
“How so?” Janeway looked at him in concern.
“They can’t be
removed the same way they were placed, there’s been too much cross
contamination. We’re going to need to
work Seven through this situation slowly by getting her to recognize which of
the memories are real and which are false.”
“Any suggestions on
how we do that?”
“When she wakes up,
she is going to be angry. She will still
consider herself in love with Ensign Rudbeck.
I think that you would be the best choice to try and reach her. You have the most experience with her on a
social level. Plus, you seem to occupy a deeper place in her memories than the
rest of us. But you will have to be
patient. She isn’t going to like you
much at first. I also think it would be
best if she undergoes a full eight hours of regeneration before you begin. With the data node disabled, it may help her
own memories to move closer to the surface.”
He looked down at the prone form.
“I suggest you transport her there now, we should be able to stand her
in her alcove and once the cycle begins, the unit will do the rest.”
“Agreed.” Janeway escorted a small security detail to
the
Alone with the Borg,
she stood quietly, taking in the beautiful features of the woman she had come
so close to losing, for the first time allowing herself to feel the emotions
she had held in check for the last two days.
She had been content
to live with wanting Seven, with quietly offering her support and friendship to
the young woman as she rediscovered who she was. But now that she knew her feelings were
returned…
With a sigh she
lowered herself onto the steps of the alcove.
Leaning back, she closed her eyes and, without meaning to, drifted off
to sleep.
* * * * * * * * *
“Regeneration cycle complete.”
Seven of Nine opened
her eyes looking around in confusion.
The lights were too bright… the room too large.
She stepped down from
her alcove, almost tripping over the form at her feet. Glancing down, she took in the sight of the
Captain in full uniform, sleeping on the steps before her. For a moment, her thoughts whirled in
chaos. Images of Anne sped through her
mind but they were interspersed with other images and feelings as well. They were very strong and left the Borg feeling
torn between anger and longing. She
knelt down to study the face of the woman sleeping before her.
“Captain.”
Janeway blinked, her
eyes full of sleep, a beautiful smile gracing her lips as she stared up at the
face above hers. “Seven.”
The Borg swallowed. That smile… She shook her head. “Why have you returned me to this
vessel? What have you done with Anne?”
The smile disappeared
as the older woman rose to her feet.
“She’s in the brig.”
Seven drew herself up
to her full six feet, her chest swelling in anger. “Why?”
“She kidnapped you,
Seven.”
“She did not. I went with her willingly. If you believe her proper place is in the
brig, then that is where I belong as well.”
Janeway stepped
closer. “No, it isn’t.” She laid her palm on the Borg’s arm,
gratified to see a small tremor travel through Seven’s body. “What do you remember after you left the
ship?”
“Anne and I evaded
your tractor beam and engaged the warp engines.
I thought I had succeeded in masking our warp trail. Apparently I failed.”
“Oh no,” She
smiled. “You succeeded in that part of
your little adventure. Go on.”
“We were sitting
together and I inquired as to whether she had any thoughts as to a
destination. She replied that she ‘had
an idea or two’.”
“And then?”
Seven’s forehead
furrowed in confusion and she shifted uncomfortably. Her voice was soft when she responded. “I recall nothing else until I awoke here, in
my alcove.”
“Do you know why?”
The Borg’s memories
shifted to an image of Anne coming closer to her, of soft lips touching her
own. There was the impression of a hand
coming towards her quickly.
Unconsciously, her own came up to cover a spot on her neck. “Something…”
“Yes.” Janeway looked at her gently. “She injected you with a sedative. That’s why you don’t remember.”
For a moment, Seven
looked lost. Then her eyes cleared and
she glared at the older woman. “I do not
believe you. Anne loves me. She would
not have done such a thing. You would
say anything, to keep me aboard this vessel.”
“Seven, do you
remember the conversation we had when we first met?”
“I demanded that you
not engage us in further irrelevant discourse.”
The Captain
smiled. “No, not when I met the Tertiary
Adjunct to the Unimatrix Zero One. I
meant when I met you.”
“We were in the
brig. I had betrayed you.” She blanched slightly. “I informed you that I would betray you
again. To which you responded ‘I've met
Borg who were freed from the collective. It wasn't easy for them to accept
their individuality, but in time they did. You're no different. Granted, you
were assimilated at a very young age, and your transition may be more
difficult, but it will happen.’”
“Then what?”
“I inquired if I
would become autonomous, independent.
You said that you ‘hoped’ so. I
asked if, once that had happened, you would allow me to return, should I choose
it. You said ‘I don't think you'll want
to do that.’”
“Was I wrong,
Seven?” She slid her hand up to the
Borg’s bicep. “Do you want to return to
the collective?”
Seven looked down,
replying in a small voice. “No.”
The Captain
nodded. “And do you remember when you
downloaded too much information into your cortical node and you thought that we
were all conspiring against you?”
This time Seven
actually flushed in shame. “Yes.”
“I asked you to trust
me. Did you regret doing so?”
“No.”
“All I am asking,
Seven, is that you trust me once more, just long enough to let me present my
case to you; long enough to allow me to show you all the evidence we have
against Ensign Rudbeck.”
“And if I still wish
to leave with her?”
Janeway smiled. “I don’t think you’ll want to do that.”
Seven studied the
small woman before her, her emotions and memories fighting against
themselves. She began to deny the
request, only to stop short as she recognized the smell of lavender emanating
from the Captain’s body. It was a scent
that was attached to many of the memories she was trying to work through. “Present your evidence.” She said tersely.
The Captain reached
out to the console behind her to grab something and hold it up. “You know what this is.”
The Borg nodded. “It is a data node, but it has been altered
in some fashion.”
“Yes, it has been
fitted with an interface that allows it to be connected with a Starfleet data
terminal. Rudbeck used it to design and
download false memory engrams directly to your cortical node through your
alcove.”
Seven’s eyes widened
slightly. “That is not possible.”
The Captain handed it
to her. “Check it for yourself.”
The younger woman took
it over to the computer, her eyebrows rising as she saw the two connected
perfectly. “This proves nothing.”
“Run the program.”
“No,” Seven stepped
back. “You are lying. You have created this node to deceive me.”
“How would I do that,
Seven?” Janeway held her hands up. “Communications isn’t my area of
expertise. It's Ensign Rudbeck's.”
The Borg looked down
at the node suspiciously and then activated it, her confusion as to its
contents apparent on her face. “Anne has
no reason to do such a thing.”
“You just recited to
me from memory when you and I first met.
Tell me, can you do the same thing regarding Anne Rudbeck?”
Seven focused hard on
her memories of Anne, but they all seemed to swirl together, colliding with
each other in a fashion that made it impossible for her to discern the
moment when she had first encountered her.
Janeway slid her arm
around the Borg, steadying her, fairly certain Seven wasn’t even aware that she
was swaying slightly.
“When we caught up to
the shuttle, it was docked in the bay of a very specific type of ship, one with
a quantum slipstream drive that was manned by four members of Species 116.”
“Species 116… the
same as Arturis?”
“Yes.” She looked directly into the deep azure eyes,
trying to convey her honestly through that connection. “You were in stasis, where Rudbeck placed you
after she drugged you.”
“That is not
logical. Anne loves me. She has to be aware of the situation that
occurred the last time we encountered Species 116. Why would she take us there?”
“According to their
captain, Darius? She was going to trade
you for a shuttle outfitted with a slipstream drive. She was going to trade you for a way home.”
“For what purpose did
this Darius wish to acquire me?”
Janeway swallowed back
the bile that had immediately risen in her throat. “It was his intention to exact his revenge on you, Seven. I recorded his
confession. His intent was to remove
your implants, one by one, while you were conscious and when there was nothing
left but your human components, he intended on keeping them in stasis, until he
could find a way to return them to the collective, so that you could be
assimilated all over again.”
Seven paled, her
hands beginning to shake. “No. Anne
loves me. She would not give me to an individual who wished to perform such
atrocities upon me.”
“We caught up to
Darius’ ship and disabled it, Seven. We
have logs of the entire event that you can examine. You will see that I am
telling you the truth.”
“Show me these logs.”
Two hours later,
Seven looked up. The logs were real, as
far as she could tell and the amount of precision necessary for falsifying them
would have been staggering.
But how could it be
true?
“How did you know
where to look for us?” She asked.
“The Borg
node. B’Elanna, the Doctor and I went
through every bit of data on it. It was
a big job. Rudbeck deduced that it would
take us longer to find anything of value if she downloaded your real
memories into it to tangle up with her false ones, but eventually we found an
engram containing information about a sector of space that we hadn’t even
visited yet. I assume she put it there
to make you more apt to go in that direction.
Once we had the coordinates, it was easy to scan that area and find the
ship waiting for you there.”
“I wish to see Anne.”
Janeway gave her a
long careful look before finally nodding.
They exited the
Janeway rolled her
eyes, using all of her formidable will power to keep herself from dropping the
force field and knocking the woman senseless.
“Tell her.”
“Tell her what?”
Rudbeck growled at Janeway. “That you
can’t stand the idea that she could care for anyone but you? That it drove you
so crazy you followed us, disabling our shuttle and knocking her unconscious
when she tried to keep you from hurting me?
She was going to kill me, Annika!
She would have shot me right then if Tuvok hadn’t stopped her.”
Seven stared at the
young woman. “Why did you take me to
Species 116, Anne?”
“Species what?” The black eyes filled with tears. “Oh, Annika, they’re brainwashing you. I don’t know anything about a Species 116. All I know is that we wanted to be together
and she couldn’t stand it.”
The Borg raised her
hand slowly, extending it towards Anne.
Then she dropped it and looked at Janeway, her face contorted with
emotions she did not understand.
“That’s enough.” The Captain growled. She motioned to one of the security guards,
whispering something in his ear. “Seven,
go with Ensign King. I’ll catch up.”
Seven allowed herself
to be led away, leaving Janeway to glare at Rudbeck, who began to smile as soon
as the Borg had left the room. “Nice
try, Captain.”
“Why are you doing
this?” Janeway paced outside the cell.
“You’ve been caught and while you may be able to play on Seven’s fragile
state of mind, you’re never going to convince me or any other member of this
crew to allow you to get near her again. You’ve lost. Why won’t you let her go?”
“Why?” Rudbeck laughed, her voice cruel. “None of this was really about her, although
I can’t say I care much for the Borg bitch.
But she matters to you, and
that I do care about. I may not be able
to use her to get what I want, but I can make sure she never trusts you
again.” She sat down casually on the
bench, drawing one leg up comfortably.
“You might be able to fool the rest of this crew, Janeway, but you don’t
fool me. I’ve watched you. The way you act when you’re around her, the
way you look at her. The way you
endangered us all to go after her when the Borg Queen came and took her back to
where she belonged. Your interest in
Seven goes way beyond being a mentor.
You love her. Losing her trust,
her closeness… it pains you. I can feel
it… rolling off you in waves. I may not
ever be able to kill you, but if you think I’m going to give up any chance I
might have to hurt you, you’re stupider than I thought you were. She’ll want to come and visit me. If you deny her that right, then she will
assume I am telling her the truth. I
win. If you let her, I will take every opportunity
I have to ensure she continues to hate you.
I win. Face it, Captain,” She sneered. “You’ve lost her.”
Janeway studied the
woman for a moment, her face composed.
Then a smile slowly appeared on her lips.
Rudbeck flinched,
suddenly realizing that she had been very, very foolish.
The Captain turned to
the young man at the console behind her.
“Did you get all of that, Ensign?”
“Yes ma’am.” He smiled.
“Recorded every word.”
Janeway faced her
again. “You know, in all my years in
command, I have found one thing to be true.
Love and hate, they may be at the opposite ends of the spectrum as far
as emotions go, but they both have a tendency to trip you up when you indulge
in them. You’re inability to resist
taunting me, goading me… that was your hate talking. And I knew I could get it to say so much more
than you wanted to. Thank you.”
Without another word
she left the brig, the sound of Ensign Rudbeck’s anger propelled body bouncing
off the force field was music to her ears.
* * * * * * * * * *
Seven stared down at
the PADD in her hand. She had watched
Anne unknowingly confess three times and each time it had cut through her like
a knife. She refused to cry, but her jaw twitched where she ground her teeth
together to keep the emotions from overcoming her. “I have been foolish.”
Janeway joined her on
the couch in her own quarters. She had
requested Seven be taken there from the brig so that they could talk in a
private environment. “Seven, it wasn’t
your fault. Rudbeck manipulated
you. She messed with your mind… you
aren’t to blame for any of this.”
“That is not what I
was referring to, Captain.”
“What then?”
“Allowing myself to
believe that anyone could come to care for me in such a manner was
foolish. I am Borg. That is all anyone ever sees.”
The Captain felt her
heart break. If she only knew… “Seven, that’s not true. You are a wonderful, incredible woman. I’m so sorry that she put you through this.”
Seven looked
down. “Captain, it is late. You must sleep. I wished to ask if I could impose upon your
hospitality just this once. I have no
need to regenerate and the thought of spending the next several hours in the
cargo bay, where people can come and go at will… is not appealing.”
“Of course you can
stay here. In fact, I would prefer
it.” She went to the closet in her
bedroom and pulled out a blanket and an extra pillow. “Just make yourself comfortable on the couch
and if you feel the need to talk, about anything, please wake me. I know how hard this must be.”
“Thank you. Goodnight, Captain.”
She laid her palm
briefly on Seven’s cheek. There were so
many things she could say at that moment.
And every single one of them scared her to death. “Good night, Seven.”
* * * * * * * * *
Three hours later,
Janeway sat up in her bed. No matter
what she tried, she could not get her mind to shut off. She was consumed by thoughts of the woman who
was currently occupying her couch and while most of them were sincerely
concerned with Seven’s welfare, she had to admit that several were also
startlingly lascivious.
Slipping from beneath the sheets, she quietly made her way over to the open doorway, thinking she would just
look in on the Borg, to see if she had fallen asleep or if she needed
anything. What she saw made her heart
lurch painfully.
Seven was sitting on
the couch, the blanket clutched between her hands, her shoulders trembling as
she cried softly. She didn’t look up as
Janeway came to sit beside her, but she did move away when she tried to place
an arm around her shoulders.
“Seven, what’s
wrong?”
“Captain,” The Borg
would not meet her eyes. “I must request
your permission to leave Voyager.”
“What?” It came out louder than she intended and she
immediately gentled her tone. “What are
you talking about? After all this, after
everything I’ve shown you, you still want to leave with Rudbeck?”
Seven raised her
chin. “I do not wish to go anywhere with
Ensign Rudbeck. You misunderstood
me. I am merely requesting a shuttle so
that I may leave the ship… alone.”
Janeway was
floored. “Why would you want to do
that?”
The blonde pointed to
the Borg data node which was laying on the coffee table, still attached to a
PADD. She had apparently been going
through all of the information it contained.
“What about the
node?”
“It contains my real
memories and thoughts as well as the ones implanted by Ensign Rudbeck.”
“Yes it does. Why does that matter?”
Seven looked out the
window. “Because you know.” She drew in a long, shuddering breath. “As does the Doctor and Lieutenant Torres.”
“Know what?”
The Borg finally met
her eyes and Janeway saw the longing she had witnessed in Seven’s memories
reflected back at her. “Oh.” She whispered. She took the younger woman’s hand in her own. “Seven, listen to me…”
“No, please.” Seven pulled her hand away and stood. “You do not have to respond. I know what you must think of me. After the way that I have behaved with Ensign Rudbeck. You have offered me nothing but kindness and
friendship and I have had the audacity to want for more. More that you are not able to give. It was one thing for me to remain silent, it
is yet another for me to live with your silence.
It is an unavoidable eventuality that you will tire of my infatuation
and separate yourself from me entirely.
I cannot stay here and be faced with that outcome, wondering when it
shall actually occur. It is better that
I leave Voyager, now, then have you ever look on me with pity.”
“Seven, sit down.”
Something in the
Captain’s voice caught the younger woman, tore through the anguish she was
feeling and drew her back. When she was
seated, Janeway took her hand again.
“Listen to me.” Janeway swallowed, not knowing where to even
begin. If she had her way, she would
never begin, but Seven needed honesty, and she was going to get it. “It is true, that initially my only desire
was to return your humanity to you, to watch you blossom into who you are
now. But my feelings towards you have
been changing for quite some time. When
I look at you now, I don’t see the Borg drone that you were or even someone
that needs my help any longer. When I look at you now, I see an incredibly
beautiful, intelligent woman. When I
look at you now, I see someone that fills me with the wonder she has for
everything around her.” She allowed her
fingers to stroke slowly over across the inside of Seven’s palm. “When I look at you now…”
The Borg’s attention
was complete; every fiber of her being hanging on whatever words fell from the
Captain’s lips next.
Janeway sighed. “When I look at you now, I see someone that I
have come to love, as more than a member of my crew, as more than a
friend. I see someone that I want to
have in my life, in my heart… in my arms.”
Slowly, she moved closer, not stopping until their faces were so close
she could feel Seven’s breath on her cheek.
When the younger woman did not move away, she closed the space, pressing
her lips against the full ones that opened in surprise.
Not hesitating, she
reached out and slipped her hand around the back of the Borg’s long, elegant
neck, pulling her closer until she could wrap her arms around her. She felt the lips beneath her own open and
slid her tongue hesitantly inside, tasting the warmth of Seven’s mouth as she
moaned softly. When she pulled away, the
younger woman was staring at her with wide eyes, a look of shock on her face as
she brought her fingers up to touch her lips.
“Captain?”
“No, Seven. I don’t want to be your Captain right
now. Right now I want to be your
Kathryn. I want you to be my Annika.”
“You wish… for us to
be together? For us to… copulate?”
Janeway laughed
softly. “I wish for a lot of things from
you, but I don’t want to copulate. I want to touch you and be touched by
you. I want you to kiss me until I can’t
stand not having your hands on me. But
for right now, I’ll settle for hearing you call me by my name.”
“Kathryn.” Seven
whispered before pulling the smaller woman against her to take possession of
her lips once more. Leaning backwards,
she pulled them both down onto the couch, reveling in the feel of the body
lying on top of her. Kathryn’s lips were
possessive, demanding and she felt herself answering that demand with a burning need of
her own. She listened intently to the
small noises of pleasure that surrounded her, surprised to discover that many
of them were her own.
Bringing her hands
up, she moved them across the strong shoulders before sliding down the elegant
back hesitating at the swell of the Captain’s hips. When the older woman made
no move to stop her, she continued downward, sliding her fingers around the smooth
buttocks, pulling against them, feeling the legs tucked between her own pressed
harder into her center.
“Seven, stop.” Kathryn pulled her lips away, her breath
coming in harsh gasps as she tried to control the desire burning through
her. “This doesn’t have to be tonight. You’ve been through a lot and I don’t want
you to regret this later. I just wanted
you to know that there will never come a time when I will turn away from you,
or look at you in pity. I love you,
Seven. I have for a while now and that isn’t going to change.”
“Kathryn,” The Borg
raised her hand to run her fingers across Janeway’s lips. “Have you ever been informed that you are far
too loquacious?” Before she could
respond, Kathryn found herself pulled back down, with Seven shifting slightly
to allow their bodies to press together more fully. “If I had but known how you truly felt, there
would have been no amount of trickery that could have persuaded me to go with
Rudbeck. My feelings for you are not
new, nor are your advances unwelcome. I
wish to do more than merely whisper your name.”
Whatever reasonable
protests she had been about to utter disappeared as Seven’s hands began to
explore the rest of her body, sliding up her waist to brush against the sides
of her breasts. “If we’re going to do
more than talk, I can think of a better location.”
With a bright grin,
the Borg stood, picking her up in the process.
Without hesitating, she moved them both into the bedroom where she laid
her down carefully and proceeded to remove the biosuit that clung lovingly to
her every curve.
Janeway watched in
rapt fascination as inch after inch of smooth pale skin emerged. Seven’s body was marked by implants in
several locations and three bands of metal encircled her waist, but Kathryn
thought that she had never seen a more beautiful woman in her life. She untied the belt at her own waist and
allowed the robe to fall open. She
hadn’t worn anything to bed that night and she wondered vaguely if part of her
hadn’t been hoping that something like this might happen.
When Seven slid onto
the mattress, she felt goose bumps raise on her skin, felt her heart beat
quicken and a very noticeable ache begin between her legs.
The Borg wasted no
time in sliding up against her, slipping her hands inside the robe to brush it
back off her body. When they were
pressed tightly together, a low sigh escaped from her lips and she merely laid
there for a moment, thoroughly enjoying the feel of the warm body she held
against her own.
“Seven?” Janeway whispered softly. “Are you alright?”
“I am fine, Cap…
Kathryn. I am better than fine. What is better than fine?”
“MMMmmm...
wonderful?”
“Yes, I am
wonderful.”
The Captain
laughed. “You certainly feel wonderful.”
“I do?” Seven looked up at her, her uncertainty plain
in her eyes.
“Yes, you do; the way
your skin feels so smooth, like silk.” She brushed her fingers down the elegant
spine. “The fullness of your
breasts…” She brought her hands around
to cup them, her pupils dilating as she stared at the rosy nipples before
her. Leaning forward, she caught one
between her lips, her teeth grazing over it softly as she pulled it deeper into
her mouth.
Seven’s body went
rigid, her entire being focused on the sensation of the Captain’s tongue
swirling against her. Instinctively, she
spread her legs, one of them falling snugly between Kathryn’s thighs, earning a
slight pause in the motion of her tongue and a soft ‘oh’ from the contact.
Seven pressed into
the warmth on her thigh, gratified when Janeway sighed in pleasure and began to
suckle her again. She moved her leg
slightly, noting that the hips beneath her moved with her and the skin on her
leg became slick with moisture.
Desire exploded
within her and she rolled them over, bending her knee so that Kathryn was
sitting directly upon it. The older
woman leaned back, her fingers closing on the nipple she had released from her
mouth as she began to rock gently back and forth. Reaching up, Seven carefully captured both of
Janeway’s already swollen nipples between her own fingers, rolling them carefully
as Kathryn was doing to hers, the noises they were both making pushing her
passion further and further until she was sure she would die from the
sensations flooding her body.
When Kathryn shifted
to press her knee between the Borg’s legs, Seven closed her eyes, bright
pinpoints of light playing behind the lids as she felt her own hips begin to
press upwards. Each movement seemed to
make the need for the next even greater, each sensation leading to another and
then another until she sat up and grabbed Kathryn, catching her lips in a hard
passionate kiss as their bodies continued to move against each other.
Everything was soft,
smooth, her muscles slick with sweat, both her own and Kathryn’s and a heady
scent of lavender and something else, something musky and sweet, reached her
nostrils, causing them to flair as a low growl began to emanate from her
throat. The growl intensified, becoming
a moan of ecstasy as her body began to shake.
“Kathryn!” she cried out, feeling the other woman’s body began to shake
as hers did. They pushed into each other
wildly, their tongues tangling together deliciously as a wave of euphoria
passed through her, followed by a heated release she had never experienced
before. It was all consuming, making her
tremble violently, every muscle in her body going rigid as Kathryn’s did the
same.
They hung together in
that precious moment for what seemed like an eternity before tumbling backwards
into the bed, the sheets tangled around them, hot and damp from their exertion.
They lay together,
panting quietly, trying to gather enough breath to speak.
“Kathryn…” Seven finally whispered her voice thick with
emotion. “That was… an orgasm?”
Janeway laughed
softly. “I certainly hope so. I know mine was.” She laid her head on the Borg’s ample chest,
listening to the heavy beat of her heart in wonder. “I was right.”
“Kathryn?”
“You are
wonderful.” She kissed the smooth skin
beneath her lips, the saltiness of it leaving her wanting more. Tentatively, she slid lower, her tongue slipping
between the metal bands on Seven’s abdomen lovingly. She caught the scent of arousal that carried
up to her from between the Borg’s legs and her mouth began to salivate. It was such a lovely scent, light and clean,
slightly metallic. Suddenly she wanted
nothing more than to lose herself in it and slid further down until her breasts
rested comfortably between Seven’s legs.
She nuzzled her face into the thin patch of pale, fragrant hair,
enjoying the way it tickled her cheeks, before moving even lower to kiss the
top of her cleft.
The essence she
picked up on her lips was heavenly. It
was thicker than sweat, slicker, slightly salty and yet so very… Seven. Sighing, she parted the Borg’s folds with her
lips, finding the swollen bundle of nerves with her tongue.
Seven groaned loudly,
her head pressing back into the pillow as her human hand tangled in the auburn
hair she so loved. She dug her Borg
enhanced fingers into the bed as the Captain’s tongue quickened. All of her senses seemed to go into
overload. What she had felt before, what
had seemed to so totally take command of her entire body, was nothing compared
to the sensations Kathryn was evoking with the slow, simple movements of her
tongue.
Janeway took her
time, knowing Seven would come quickly and she wanted to savor the taste of the
flesh in her mouth for as long as possible.
When the thighs beneath her began to tremble, she wrapped her arms
around them, using her strength to hold them open as the younger woman began to
shake. A low moan began above her and
rose in its intensity as Seven’s body reached its limit and waves of pleasure
pushed her over the edge. Moisture
flooded against Janeway’s lips and tongue and she groaned in pleasure at the taste
of it, staying where she was to lap at the juices languidly until she heard a
quiet voice from above her.
“Please…” Seven whispered.
Knowing it was
enough, she climbed back up the glorious body to wrap the weeping woman in her
arms. Kissing away her tears, she
smiled. “How do you feel?”
“Loved…” The Borg took Kathryn’s face between her
hands and stared directly into her eyes.
“I love you, Kathryn.”
Janeway smiled. “I love you, Annika.”
* * * * * * * * * *
Captain Janeway sat
in her chair at the conference table, trying her hardest not to look at the
woman across from her. Everything felt
normal, unless she looked at her. When she did that, she felt the heat from
those bright blue eyes threaten to immolate her and now was not the time for it.
The entire senior
staff had been talking heatedly for the last hour and they were no closer to a
solution to their dilemma.
“All right.” Janeway held up her hand, causing all those
present to fall silent. “We need to
figure out how we are going to deal with this situation, so first let’s decide
what we are going to enter into the official records. Tuvok?”
The Chief of Security
stood. “Ensign Rudbeck is guilty of
inciting insurrection, false imprisonment of an Officer assigned to a Starfleet
vessel, of slave trading, of the willful endangerment of Voyager as a whole and
Seven of Nine in particular, and of conduct unbecoming a Starfleet
officer. Any one of these crimes, once
proven, would be cause enough for a Court Martial, were we in the Alpha Quadrant.”
“What difference does
it make what quadrant we’re in?”
B’Elanna asked hotly. “Alpha or
Delta, the bitch is still guilty.”
“Settle down,
Lieutenant.” Janeway looked at the
Klingon pointedly. “There is no question
as to Ensign Rudbeck’s guilt. Her crimes
have been verified and will be entered as official immediately. The problem we’re facing is what to do with
her.”
“Any one of her
crimes would earn her a life sentence in a Federation Penal Colony.” Tuvok continued. “That she is guilty of all of them, coupled
with the fact that she was well aware of the fate Seven would have suffered at
the hands of Species 116, brings into play the question of Capital Punishment.”
“Death?” Janeway raised one eyebrow. “You’re talking about putting a member of
this crew to death, Tuvok?”
“The death penalty is
not something I have ever been in agreement with, Captain. I am merely presenting all of the avenues
available as punishment.”
“Well,” She shook her
head. “I am not about to put someone to
death, not without the input of the Admiral’s Council and Starfleet approval.”
“Then what?” Chakotay asked. “Keep her confined to the brig for the next
thirty or forty years until we get home?
That smacks of cruel and unusual punishment to me.”
“Which is what she
deserves!” Tom Paris looked at the First
Officer, his disdain clear on his face.
“She was going to sacrifice Seven to those butchers just to get herself
home a little faster. Cruel and unusual
suits me just fine.”
Inwardly, the Captain
agreed with
“So we’re back where
we started.” The Doctor pointed
out. “What do we do with her?”
Janeway looked across
the table. “Seven? The Borg looked back at her and the Captain
was gratified that she had curtailed the heat in her gaze, at least
somewhat. “You’ve been awfully
quiet. This matter concerns you most of
all. What are your thoughts?”
Seven looked at each
of the senior officers in turn. “I admit
that I am angry with the Ensign’s actions.
And while I feel that, as the victim of her crimes, I should be removed
from having any say in her sentencing, I will offer my thoughts as you have
asked for them. The logical course of
action would be to terminate her life signs.
It would remove any further threat she may pose to this ship or this
crew.” She took a deep breath. “However, I find that I am not comfortable
with the idea that her death would have occurred because of her actions against
me.”
“So what would you
suggest?”
“In my study of
Starfleet historical data, I came across one other situation that was somewhat
similar to our own. In 2267, Captain
James T. Kirk came into contact with a criminal known as Khan Noonien Singh. This individual had fled from crimes he had
perpetrated during the Eugenics Wars, which occurred in the latter years of the
twentieth century. He had stolen a ship,
renamed it the
The entire table was
silent for several moments as they absorbed her words. Finally, Janeway spoke. “Exile.
That’s what you’re talking about isn’t it? Banishing Rudbeck to a world somewhere here
in the Delta Quadrant?”
“Yes.” Seven returned her look evenly. “Ensign Rudbeck has made her desire to leave
this vessel quite clear. If you were to
present her with this opportunity, she may choose it over the prospect of
spending the rest of her life in prison.”
“Not bad.” B’Elanna looked at the Borg with respect. “Not only would you be getting her off the
ship, but the official records would indicate that she, herself, chose to
go. It covers all the bases.”
Janeway turned to
Tuvok who raised one eyebrow at her questioning glance. “It does seem a logical course of action,
Captain.”
“All right. Then we will leave the decision to her. She can either accept being put down on a
habitable planet, with enough gear and food to get her started, or she can rot
in the brig until we get home. Tuvok,
will you please present the former Ensign with her choices?”
“Gladly, Captain.”
* * * * * * * * *
Four days later,
Janeway walked into Astrometrics, smiling when Seven greeted her without
turning around.
“Captain, is there
something you require?”
“Just to be near
you.” She stood next to the tall blonde,
one arm sliding around her waist as she looked at the planet hanging in the
center of the view screen before them.
It was a beautiful place, lush with plant life and very few predators
bigger than a small cat.
Seven smile. “I trust the relocation is complete?”
“Yes. Tuvok and his security detail deposited
Rudbeck and her supplies on her new home ten minutes ago. Most of it went off without a hitch, although
there was some creative swearing when she realized that we would not be leaving
her any communication devices or weapons.”
“She will adapt. She is a formidable being, for one so
small. But then, I have come to
appreciate that size is not a factor in an individual’s strength.”
Janeway accepted the
light teasing with good grace. “Have you
now?” She pressed against the Borg’s
side. “Your duty shift is over, you
know. What do you say to joining me in
my quarters so that we can discuss this size versus strength argument in more
detail?”
Seven gazed at her
partner lovingly. “I will comply.”
* * * * * * * * * *
Anne Rudbeck looked
up at the sky, watching as Voyager disappeared from view. When it was gone, she sorted through the
supplies they had left for her.
Humming quietly to herself,
she began to set up the portable habitat she would call home for a while.
At least until she
found a way to get back out into space.
She never doubted that she would for a single moment.
And the vengeance she
would then serve Janeway and her pet Borg would be considerable indeed.
The End (?)