Parts 1- 4
Disclaimer: Well, everyone knows the song, so I won't bore you by repeating it. Not Mine. Mighty Paramount. No disrespect. Resistance is Futile... wait... strike that last one. Morgan Dalton, however, is my own creation, with a little creative theft in the form of her mutant abilities. Yes... I stole shamelessly from a Marvel X-Men comic book for that.
Ratings and Warnings: NC-17. Well, first warning has to do with f/f sexual situations. Yes there are a few graphic descriptions of two consenting adult women engaged in hot monkey love. The second warning has to do with this being the first time I have attempted Voyager fiction in a looooong time. Yes... since before Seven of Nine ever showed up. Not to mention that this is the first time I've ever crossed to the 'Dark Side'. Namely B'Elanna/Seven romance. There is also some Janeway/f at some point, but we'll cross that handcuff... err... bridge, when we cum... err... come to it.
Comments to katelin_b@hotmail.com
That being said... on with the show.
Chapter One
Like a great white shark gliding silently through the dark sea depths, so too went the USS Voyager, cutting a line through the blackness of unending space. Thousands of light years from home, with no safe haven, its constant struggle for survival touched all it encountered. Perhaps that is why, after a long battle with hostile forces, the ship found itself in orbit of a strange world, accepting whatever help its citizens could offer. It was a familiar story, played over and over during the course of the 4 years the Starfleet vessel had been stranded in the Delta Quadrant.
Captain Kathryn Janeway relaxed as much as she could on the stone chair outside the First Minister's home, sipping a slightly fruity drink and enjoying the sunshine. She smiled politely as the serving girls once again cleared glasses and dishes, leaving her and First Minister Jorai to speak privately.
Jorai was a typical example of the Ten'dor race that inhabited this lush green world. Tall and gangly, the humanoid race had gray skin, their arms and legs twice as long as any human's, while their torsos remained the same size. But despite their difference in appearance, the two civilizations had developed very similarly with only one major difference. While Earth had discovered warp travel in their own time, the Ten'dori had been given warp technology by another race, that they now revered as gods.
It was this topic that Janeway was trying to expand upon with the Ten'dori political leader over lunch. Commander Tuvok and Lt. Torres had learned quite a bit from the engineering crews assigned from the capital to help them with the ship's repairs. As far as she could determine, a race they didn't recognize had come to this world as little as 400 years earlier, depositing their trash in the wastelands at the center of the largest continent.
"Have you ever sent anyone out to examine this trash, First Minister?" Captain Janeway asked, thoroughly intrigued by this planet's history.
"Sadly, no," he responded, his long slender fingers, fluttering around the drink he held, "The area is heavily pocked with deposits of kelvinite, which will not allow our sensors to penetrate the area with scans. Couple that with the lack of water or access points and we have just never found the effort necessary to examine what the Great Books call 'waste'."
"I find it rather difficult to believe that as far back as the records of your people go, there has been no foray to discover just what's out there," Janeway responded, her curiosity getting the better of her.
"Oh no Captain," he chittered gently, "There have been many such journey's made by more foolish leaders than I. I have sent no one to this place, because in the entire history of our people, no one has come back from that waste land alive."
"Really," Janeway drawled in fascination, "It seems as though you have somewhat of a mystery on your hands, First Minister." She leaned forward and laced her fingers together, her elbows supported on the table. "If you would permit me, I would like to see if I can discover anything."
The First Minister chuckled softly, reaching out his overly long gray limb and patting Janeway's shoulder. The Ten'dori were a very tactile race, and physical contact meant they trusted, liked and more importantly, respected the one touched. "Your engineering team will be here for a few more days refining the dilithium and gathering food stuffs," he commented, "You are more than welcome to investigate all you like. I will provide you with what little information we have of the area."
"Thank you, First Minister," Janeway gave a very grateful and relaxed smile, "I can't tell you how enticing it is to my people, when we are presented with a mystery and given the opportunity to solve it."
"It would seem we can learn much from each other, Captain," Jorai smiled back, "Of course I will give you any assistance I can in your 'investigation', and I wish you much luck."
"Thank you," Janeway nodded respectfully, knowing their time was up, and she had to get back to her ship. She communicated this to her host, and awkwardly accepted his embrace of good parting. She wasn't used to such physical displays, but it was their way, and she bit back her discomfort for the sake of first contact and good relations. Stepping back, she gave one final parting smile, before contacting voyager with a tap of her combadge and feeling the tingle of the transporter take hold and whisk her away.
~~~
"Son of a..." B'Elanna Torres yelped as she drew her hand back from the sparking panel, clutching it to her chest. The answering sparks from the shorted plasma conduit caused her to jerk back even further, losing her balance and tumbling into the exposed back of Seven of Nine.
The ex-drone crashed into the opposing wall, more in surprise than anything, before righting herself and maneuvering the compact engineer away from her. "Lt. Torres, you are injured," Seven commented with no more inflection than if she had just noticed someone drop a tool.
"Thanks for noticing," B'Elanna grunted, keeping her mildly burned hand tucked against her sternum and stepping back to the malfunctioning panel. Voyager never got the better of her, and she wasn't about to let some singed skin get in the way of that perfect record.
"You must report to sickbay," Seven continued, abandoning her recalibration and stepping into B'Elanna's personal space. She didn't understand why the engineer would let an injury go untreated when she wasn't forced to.
"When I'm finished," B'Elanna snapped, rummaging through her tool case for a spanner, "This plasma conduit isn't going to repair itself." She tried to ignore the closeness of the blonde ex-borg, feeling her body reacting as it was prone to doing lately. B'Elanna couldn't stand the arrogant woman, and hated the attraction she felt for her.
"Unacceptable," Seven clipped without emotion, "You are damaged. Another crewmember can complete the repairs." She didn't know why the fiery little engineer was being so difficult, it was an injury after all. All drones on the Borg cubes were repaired the instant they were injured, and ceased their actions until they were functioning at peak efficiency once again. Seven was constantly being reminded that Voyager was not a Borg cube however, but she still didn't understand the irrational behavior that individuals were prone to.
"Back off, Borg," B'Elanna growled, hunching down over the panel, and hissing as she bent too far, realizing her sudden movements recoiling from the sparks had pulled something in her back.
"You are in pain," Seven commented rationally, stepping around to view what the engineer was doing, "That is unacceptable. You must report to sickbay. You will comply." She hesitated for a long moment while the half-Klingon woman continued to work on the panel, ignoring her completely. Seven frowned and opened her mouth to repeat the order, but then thought better of it. Remembering one of the Doctor's lessons in his attempt to help her fit in with the crew, she refined her approach. "Please," she said softly, her expression unchanged, but the inflection of her voice slightly off from her normal tone.
B'Elanna stopped cold and blinked. Had the Ice Queen just said please? I must be hearing things, she thought. "What did you say?" she looked up at the ex-borg curiously.
"Did I not use the term properly?" Seven inquired, raising her eyebrow under the ring of metal over her left eye.
"No that's not it," B'Elanna stumbled over her words, straightening up and facing her, "I've just never heard you use that term before. Why now?"
"You are injured," Seven commented, as if that answered everything. After a moment, seeing that B'Elanna wasn't accepting that answer, she elaborated. "You require medical attention to function at peak efficiency. Furthermore, your condition is distracting to the crew."
"Distracting?" B'Elanna echoed, completely forgetting the plasma conduit and blinking owlishly at Seven. She glanced around engineering and regarded the ex-drone seriously. "Seven, no one else is even looking over here. It's not distracting anyone."
"It is distracting me," Seven clipped, growing frustrated. She was not accustomed to social interactions, and did not understand why the Doctor's lessons had failed to outline the next step in 'politely requesting' when please was not sufficient. Why couldn't she simply make Lt. Torres understand that she did not wish to see her injured.
"Sorry to be bothering you," B'Elanna snarled, going on the defensive instantly and throwing the spanner back into her tool case. Her temper had flared yet again, believing she had just been told she was a bothersome distraction to the Borg, and she stomped out of engineering, barking to Lt. Carey that he was in charge while she went to sickbay.
Seven of Nine watched her go, completely at a loss for what had failed in their conversation. Once again, her attempt at social interaction with Lt. Torres had proven to be faulty, ending in their customary way, with the half-klingon engineer stomping away, muttering curses to herself. Seven busied herself with the repair of the plasma conduit, needing something to do while her mind reexamined the conversation, wondering where she had failed this time. She didn't know why it displeased her so much, but Lt. Torres' anger with her was not acceptable, and she wished to rectify the situation as quickly as possible.
~~~
Captain Janeway turned over control of the bridge to her First Officer shortly after returning from the planet, and retreated to the privacy of her Ready Room. After learning that nothing but a few minor plasma repairs littered the duty roster, she was eager to begin study of the mysterious desert lands of Ten'dor, and the secrets that lay within.
The natural deposits of kelvinite that heavily sprinkled the area made the mystery even more intriguing to her. Why would an unknown alien race with warp travel use that area for a junkyard and trash pit? Surely if they were space fairing, they knew that the minerals in the rocks would hamper sensor readings. Which made it an excellent place to hide something.
She knew from First Minister Jorai and the scientific council that the race had been an advanced one. There were records of them reaching the furthest areas of the galaxy, and returning within days. If this were true, there could be technology within that unreadable area that might give Voyager scientists a clue to getting home.
"But why use such an area, unless there was something there they didn't want anyone to see?" Janeway muttered to herself, pulling up the Ten'dori scans of the outer rim of the area. Though the readings were scattered, they had picked up heavy deposits of duranium and tritanium, which were not native ores, and had to be specifically refined. She was more certain than ever that there was something to this mystery. And there was still the matter of every expedition sent to the waste land, had never returned. If there was nothing there but junk, what had stopped them from coming home?
A resounding chirp echoed through her Ready Room, disrupting her thoughts, and Captain Janeway called out automatically, "Come." She expected it to be a problem that needed her attention, but she certainly didn't expect it to be 120 pounds of pissed off Klingon, stomping in like a rabid targh.
"Captain, it's gotta stop," she snapped, launching right into a tirade, "I am so beyond my breaking point it's not even funny." She was absolutely fuming, but that was no reason to address her Captain with such a tone.
"Lt. Torres," she commented icily, "Since you find it necessary to bring this to my attention it must be of great importance, but I expect you to continue purporting yourself as a Starfleet Officer, and not as a wild targh with a bad case of PMS."
That seemed to stop the Klingon in her tracks for a beat, and she took a deep breath. "I'm sorry Captain," she apologized, "I'm just frustrated, but I shouldn't be taking it out on you."
Captain Janeway accepted that, knowing it was the best she would get from her fiery Chief Engineer, but it was also more than she would have gotten even a year ago. "Now then, what seems to be the problem B'Elanna?" she asked, using the Klingon's first name as she was prone to do more and more often when they were on duty. She thought it would strengthen the trust between them, and she was right. B'Elanna had begun turning to her more and more often with personal problems, and they found each other's company comforting after a ship wide distress had ended.
"It's that damn Borg," she grumbled, rubbing the ridges on her forehead with her newly repaired hand, "She's making me crazy." The Doctor had given her a lecture about remembering to cut the power to outlets before she started working on them, and as usual, it had just given her a headache.
"What's she done this time?" Janeway sighed, thinking she'd have to repair yet another antagonistic situation between the two women.
"Now she's telling me that even every day actions are bothering her to the point that she can't work," B'Elanna sputtered, her voice raising again, "In my own Engine Room, no less!"
Janeway held up her hand to forestall the shouting that would undoubtedly be next. "B'Elanna why don't you start from the beginning, and tell me what happened?" She was eager to get this over with and return to her mystery, but it didn't sound like the ex-Borg to be so sensitive, and Janeway needed the whole story to give an accurate answer. She motioned her Chief Engineer to a chair and watched her slump down into it.
It only took B'Elanna a few minutes to explain the detail of the encounter, and when she was finished, Janeway sat back and sighed. She knew Seven wasn't trying to annoy the engineer, she simply didn't have the understanding of social interaction to do that. Janeway honestly believed the ex-Borg had been worried about B'Elanna, but her social skills just weren't up to par.
"B'Elanna," she began diplomatically, lacing her fingers together on her lap, "I think she was just concerned for your health." She held up her hand when the engineer opened her mouth to argue the point. "She is still trying to understand social mannerisms, and the fact that she said please, where she hadn't before tends to make me think that she was attempting to communicate that she was worried about you."
"But she said I was bothering her," B'Elanna persisted, still not quite getting it. Janeway sighed and rolled her eyes.
"No B'Elanna," Janeway corrected, "She said it was distracting to see you injured. If you knew Tom or Harry had been injured, would you work quite as efficiently?" The captain deliberately used one of Seven's phrases, hoping it would open the engineer's eyes.
Suddenly, the half-Klingon's eyes widened to saucers and he jaw dropped. "I'm such a P'taQ," she muttered, feeling more shamed than she wanted to. After a long moment of silence, B'Elanna rose from her chair. "I have an apology to make, Captain," she sputtered, angry at herself and irrationally angry at the ex-Borg for making her come to the captain with this, "If you will excuse me?"
Janeway nodded, and watched her move to the door. "And B'Elanna?" she called just before the door opened, "Remember she's human. She has the same emotions, she just doesn't understand them yet, and is communicating in the only way she knows how."
"Understood, Captain. And thank you." B'Elanna strode out to the bridge, eager to return to engineering and a very long overdue talk with the tall ex-Borg. Janeway watched her go and simply shook her head, returning it to the readouts on her terminal.
Chapter Two
B'Elanna made her way back to Engineering a little slower than usual. She was still eager to finish the daily repairs, but she needed time to formulate a proper apology to Seven as well. She didn't want to do it, but she was honorable enough to know when she was wrong.
Rounding the corner to Engineering, the half-Klingon woman stopped dead in her tracks at the sight before her. Standing under the panel she had been working on before her accident, packing up her tool case in a very efficient manner, was Mizoti, one of the children saved mere months ago from the Borg training vessel. With Seven no where to be found.
"What are you doing here?" B'Elanna snapped before she could catch herself, stepping up to the young girl and looking down at her.
"Lt. Torres," the young girl straightened up immediately, assuming a pose that reminded the engineer of Seven's own, "I am tidying your tools."
"I can see that, Mizoti," B'Elanna said, her voice much smoother now that the shock had worn off, "Where is Seven?" She glanced around the room, but didn't see the tall blonde.
"Seven of Nine left approximately 4.2 minutes ago," Mizoti stated matter-of-factly, "Her destination was Sickbay."
"Sickbay? Was she hurt?" B'Elanna didn't know where the sudden feeling of panic came from, but she did her best to choke it down.
"Negative. Seven of Nine went at the Doctor's summons. Icheb was rejecting another implant." There was worry peppering her words, but she was trying very hard not to let it show. Icheb was the oldest of the Borg children rescued from the training vessel, and the one the other three looked up to for guidance when Seven was busy with her day to day duties. And for some reason, his physiology seemed to be constantly warring with the Borg implants, making him almost constantly on the brink of some illness or another.
B'Elanna was at a loss for words for several moments. Seeing the girl crouch down and resume her task finally pushed the engineer into action, and she moved down beside her, gathering the tools quickly. "Let's get this finished and we'll go join Seven in Sickbay, okay?"
Mizoti looked up and nodded quietly, her bottom lip quivering slightly. B'Elanna noticed it and dropped the tools, scooping the small girl into her arms without warning and hugging her tight. It seemed to be the ice breaker Mizoti needed. She burst into tears, soaking the front of the Klingon's uniform and clutching tightly to her.
B'Elanna sighed softly and wrapped her arms more supportively around the young girl, standing up in one fluid motion. "Carey, you're in charge," she said quietly as she walked by him, ignoring the looks she was getting from several of the officers. She had no idea what prompted her to pick the child up, but now she was in it for the long haul. Striding away from Engineering, carefully supporting the precious bundle, she pushed aside her thoughts of apology and found herself joining Mizoti in her worry for Icheb.
~~~
Stepping into Sickbay, B'Elanna's senses were instantly assaulted by the flurry of activity. She clutched Mizoti more tightly to her and stepped back towards the door, watching Seven and the Doctor barking commands at Tom Paris. They scrambled as much as a hologram and an ex-drone could, frantically trying to save the young boy's life as his body rejected the Borg technology. Several terminals flickered as they rerouted power to Icheb's failing systems, trying to give the boy a few more precious moments of life while they worked.
"There is insufficient power," Seven snapped to the Doctor's demand for more energy, "I cannot give you what is not present!" There was abject fear and panic in her voice, and it tugged at B'Elanna's heart strings.
"Torres to Engineering," she said quietly, after tapping her combadge, "Reroute all available power from the secondary systems to Sickbay."
"Carey here," came the voice over her com system, "We've got diagnostic's running, we can't spare any."
"Carey don't argue," Torres said quietly, not even raising her voice, "Shut them down on my authorization. Just give Sickbay all the power you can. Do it now." Carey ended the transmission and mere seconds later, B'Elanna watched all the terminals light up brightly again, even the overhead illumination growing brighter. She saw the relief flash over Seven's face for an instant before it was covered by the cool Borg exterior, and nodded silently when the tall woman looked up at her.
"Thank you, Lt. Torres," Seven clipped professionally, her fingers still flying over the terminals as she rerouted system after system in Icheb's neural matrix, keeping his body functions active while the doctor began removing another of the many abdominal implants in his body, "Mizoti, are you injured?"
The young girl was still sniffling quietly, and just shook her head against B'Elanna's chest. "She's fine physically," the engineer answered for her, "She was just worried for Icheb."
Seven looked up again, her work completed on Icheb's systems as his nanoprobes finally took over repairing the damaged systems. "Thank you for watching her, Lt. Torres," she said, setting her tools down on the tray and stepping away from the bio bed where the doctor and Paris were continuing to work.
"It's okay, Seven," B'Elanna answered, still unconsciously rubbing the young girl's back, "She was a little upset. I think she just needed to be close to someone."
Seven frowned slightly, not quite understanding. B'Elanna glanced down at the young girl and saw that her eyelids seemed to be getting very heavy. Mizoti was doing an admirable job of trying to hold them up, but the girl's expenditure of energy was something she wasn't used to. "Explain," Seven demanded quietly, confused by the engineer's behavior toward the young girl.
"Children are easily upset by stressful situations, Seven," B'Elanna said, moving her hand in small circles on the girl's back, "Unlike adults, they rarely have anything to focus their attention to during those times, so they usually end up expressing that emotion."
"I see," Seven answered, clearly understanding the tears, but still at a loss for why the engineer thought physical contact would solve this problem. She told B'Elanna as much and was puzzled at the Klingon's amused expression.
"Expressing such strong emotions causes a great sense of vulnerability," B'Elanna said, watching realization dawn in Seven's eyes, "Children do not have the aversion to vulnerability that adults do, but they tend to recover more quickly when they have physical contact to remind them that they are safe."
"Thank you, Lt. Torres," Seven said politely, "Your explanation was efficient. I believe I understand Mizoti's need 'to be close to someone'."
"You're welcome, Seven," B'Elanna said with a soft smile, "But it's also helpful to adults. Knowing that we are needed makes us feel special." She smiled wider as Seven's confused frown returned. "Here, try it." She reached out and pulled Seven's human hand up, splaying it over Mizoti's back and moving it slowly up and down.
The ex-Borg tilted her head slightly to the side, and then started slightly in surprise at Mizoti's answering whimper. The young girl shifted against Seven's touch, and B'Elanna watched in near awe as Seven immediately reached out, lifting the child from her arms. Mizoti went willingly, fresh tears beginning, though much less energetic the second time, as she wrapped her small arms around the blonde's shoulders and buried her face in the fabric of the blue bio suit.
B'Elanna watched quietly as the tall women's eyes closed and she buried her face in Mizoti's hair, rocking from side to side, her natural instincts taking over where her experience lacked. The Klingon engineer decided to give them a moment alone, and approached the doctor, who was completing the adjustment to a gel medipack around Icheb's torso. The gelpack would remain there for 48 hours to help stimulate the growth of flesh and muscle where the implant had been removed.
"How is he?" B'Elanna asked, not wanting to break the silence. The doctor continued his work without comment as Tom came around the table to speak to her.
"I don't know much about Borg technology," he said quietly, glancing over at Seven and Mizoti, "But from what I heard Seven and the Doctor saying, his body is rejecting the implants at a genetic level. The nanoprobes are trying to adapt, but they can't keep up." He stopped suddenly and looked over at the frail boy looking so very small on the table. "They're only delaying the inevitable. Unless Seven and the Doctor can find a method of modifying the nanoprobes to be less obtrusive, he'll keep rejecting implants until..." Tom's reluctance to finish the statement told B'Elanna everything she needed to know.
"Have you told the Captain?" she asked, knowing Janeway would put everyone available to the task.
"The Doctor is going to call her down once Icheb is completely stable," Paris answered, "And once we can get the Borg to refocus her circuits away from playing huggy-bear." He was referring to Seven and the fact that she was still clutching the young girl tightly to her.
"Tom," B'Elanna frowned, giving him a little poke, "She's upset." She didn't mention to him that she would probably have made a similar comment up until her talk with the Captain earlier.
"Whatever," he shrugged, focusing his attention back on her, "So how about dinner tonight?"
B'Elanna blinked at him for a long moment, stunned at how he could change gears so quickly. "Not tonight, Tom," she answered, "I'm going to see if I can help the Doctor with his research."
"B'Elanna," he persisted quietly, "We haven't had any time for us in a while." He was starting to pull the puppy expression she always hated.
"And who's fault is that?" she hissed, effectively putting an end to that hated expression. He knew exactly what she meant. Paris had been spending so much time with his Captain Proton holonovel lately that they hadn't spent any off time together in weeks.
"There's nothing you can do that they aren't already trying," he rationalized, trying a different approach. B'Elanna glared at him.
"I have to try." Her tone had an air of finality to it that cut off whatever comment he was going to make next and he went back to the Doctor's side, clearing the different tools away and tidying up.
"Lt. Torres!" Seven's frantic call caught her attention and she hurried over in concern, "Mizoti has lost consciousness."
B'Elanna rushed over and looked at the girl carefully. She was breathing normally and occasionally whimpering softly. The engineer knew exactly what had happened. "Seven, relax," B'Elanna put a soothing hand on her arm, still wrapped around the girl, "She's just fallen asleep."
"She is sleeping?" Seven blinked, looking down at the girl, the unfallen tears of panic in her eyes drying immediately.
"It's perfectly normal, Seven," she soothed, "Mizoti expended a great deal of energy by expressing her emotions, and it is very common for a child to cry herself to sleep." Seven seemed to relax at that, but her face still bore the signs of intense worry. "Seven," B'Elanna continued after a long moment, "The twins are probably just as concerned as Mizoti was. Perhaps you should check on them as well. I will watch Mizoti for you if you like."
"Yes, thank you, Lt. Torres," Seven nodded, loosening her grip on the sleeping girl in her arms, "I appreciate your assistance in this matter. I shall speak with Rebi and Azan after I inform the Captain of Icheb's condition."
"No Seven," B'Elanna shook her head, taking the child and cradling her carefully, "I will speak with the Captain. Go to the children, they need you."
"I will comply," Seven clipped after a long moment, and then abruptly spun on her heel and left. B'Elanna watched her go and sighed. Now I'm stuck with a borgling, she sighed internally, wondering at her own actions. She didn't even like children, and now she was looking after one.
"Better get it over with," she grumbled softly, tapping her combadge, "Torres to Janeway."
~~~
"This is not making sense," Janeway muttered to herself, going over the first of the sensor sweeps from the wasteland. Jorai had gotten permission from his fellow politicians for Voyager to do any investigation she wished while they were in orbit. But even the powerful scans at her disposal, Janeway wasn't getting any answers. The scans were showing several large readings of tritanium and duranium, but because of the kelvinite, the readings were constantly shifting. Janeway had ordered Harry Kim to fine-tune the sensors to cut out the kelvinite interference as much as possible. She hoped it would give her a clearer reading of the area, but she knew, eventually they would have to get a closer look at the area.
"Torres to Janeway."
Frowning quietly, Janeway slapped her combadge. "Go ahead."
"Captain, can you please report to Sickbay?"
"Lt. Torres," Janeway commented as she raised an eyebrow in her ready room, "I trust you and Seven aren't too badly injured this time?" The two women had a penchant for ending up in sickbay with broken fingers, or busted lips when their verbal sparring went to the next level.
"No Captain, we haven't been fighting," Torres said patiently, and Janeway heard an amused snort come over the link, from Tom Paris it sounded like, "The Doctor has just finished surgery on Icheb again."
Janeway's tolerant smirk melted away. "Is he stable?" she inquired.
"Yes Captain," came the answer, "But the Doctor would like to speak to you about it."
"I'm on my way," she clipped, "Janeway out."
Pushing back from her desk, Captain Janeway tugged her uniform straight and stepped onto the bridge. "Chakotay, you have the bridge," she called as she headed up the ramp to the turbolift, "I'm going to Sickbay."
"Everything all right, Captain?" he asked, rising out of his chair.
Janeway nodded. "I'm going to discuss a problem with the Borg children," she said, "Harry, when that new sensor sweep is finished, send it to my Ready Room."
"Aye, Captain," he answered, watching her leave. Janeway stepped into the turbolift and named her destination as Sickbay, feeling the tube speed off to deck six.
Chapter Three
After cutting the link with Captain Janeway, B'Elanna tried several times to dislodge Mizoti from her arms. Every attempt she made ended quickly with the child's shifting and soft whimpers that signaled she wasn't quite prepared for the contact to end. The engineer even went so far as to ask the Doctor to take her, but his reluctance to leave Icheb made him refuse. The young boy was stable and resting comfortably so B'Elanna figured that was just an excuse.
She finally gave in to Mizoti's need for comfort and her own natural maternal instinct. She padded back and forth around Sickbay, rubbing the child's back soothingly, while waiting for the Captain to arrive. "How do I get myself into these things?" she muttered to herself quietly, not wanting to wake the girl again.
"You bring it on yourself," was the reply, and B'Elanna spun around quickly, careful not to jostle Mizoti too much.
"Captain," the engineer acknowledged with a slight nod of her head.
Janeway's eyes widened at the sight of the little Borg girl in B'Elanna's arms, but she recovered quickly. "Where is Seven?" she asked, expecting her to be present as she usually was when Icheb was sick, which was more and more often lately.
"I sent her on a mission," B'Elanna explained when the captain raised an eyebrow, "She's discovered the art of comforting children in times of stress. She spent some time here with Mizoti but I sent her to see on the twins before I called you. It looked like she was going to snap if she stayed here any longer."
"That was an admirable thing to do, B'Elanna," Janeway said, the pride and thinly veiled surprise evident in her voice. She reached out and gently brushed a lock of hair off Mizoti's face. "Where's the Doctor?" she asked quietly.
"In his office. He's expecting you." Janeway nodded, and left B'Elanna to her pacing. She wasn't looking forward to what was certainly bad news, but as captain of the ship, she had to know what it was, and if anything could be done to help.
B'Elanna watched her sit down in the Doctor's office and regarded them quietly for a long moment while she paced. When she could stand the silence no more, she quietly told Paris she was going to the take Mizoti home. He tried his invitation to dinner again, and she merely glared, having no interest in beginning another argument with him. Cradling the young girl carefully, she left Sickbay and headed down the corridor for Cargo Bay 2, hoping also to find out how Seven was fairing with this. B'Elanna knew the ex-borg had been hurt deeply by One's death, and now with Icheb getting worse and worse, the young woman was bound to need support. Even if she didn't realize it.
~~~
Seven input the last few commands into her com station, watching as a slightly lesser than normal regeneration cycle closed down the twins systems. They had both been upset, just as Lt. Torres had predicted, but not nearly to the point that Mizoti had reached. While they had cried for a few moments, both tried to control it, and voiced that they did not wish to be hugged. Seven was quite puzzled with this differing reaction, and decided to research it at a later time. What she didn't quite understand, however, was the emotion inside her that this refusal had caused to surface.
Though she was newly introduced to comforting the children, and still examining the set of emotions that had come to her during the time she held Mizoti, she felt a keen sense of loss when Rebi and Azan decided they didn't wish to be hugged. They simply wished to regenerate long enough to replenish the energy spent in their worry and tears. Seven knew from her research that this might be considered a 'nap', and voiced no objection. After making sure the regeneration cycle would complete in 90 minutes, rather than the 7.5 hours that it usually did, Seven called up an image of One that no one realized she still had, and looked down at the screen quietly.
Seven knew from her limited experience that she felt a sense of loss at One's death. It was an unpleasant emotion, but one that she would not give up if it meant wiping out her memory of One's short life. Now she knew, as she tried to examine what she was feeling with clinical detachment, she was feeling apprehension about Icheb. B'Elanna had called it worry. Just the same as the children, she was worried about the boy in Sickbay, hoping he would recover. She just didn't know how to deal with it. Crying was acceptable for the children, but it was not for her.
The doors to Cargo Bay 2 hissed as they opened, breaking her from her thoughts. Seven knew from the footfall and the unique scent in the air that it was Lt. Torres, and greeted her, forcing her voice to show it's normal inflections. "Lt. Torres," she acknowledged, clasping her hands behind her back, completely forgetting about the image of One still on the com station screen.
"I wanted to bring Mizoti back to regenerate for a while, and see how you were doing with the twins," B'Elanna explained, looking up at the alcoves and seeing the boys already in their cycle.
"Thank you, Lt. Torres," Seven answered automatically, stepping over to look down at the sleeping girl, "For watching Mizoti." She hesitated briefly, not sure of how to express her thanks. "I appreciate your assistance in this matter." The ex-Borg fell back on familiar phrasing, feeling a little more comfortable with it.
"How were the boys?" B'Elanna asked, making small talk while she helped Seven wake the girl just long enough to get her upright and into her alcove.
"They did not wish to be held," Seven blurted immediately, lifting Mizoti's cybernetic arm up to lock into the regeneration port, "While they were both crying, neither wished the physical comfort that you suggested. I find I am puzzled by their reaction."
B'Elanna brushed a lock of hair out of Mizoti's eyes as they closed again, the regeneration cycle taking over. "I suppose I should have thought of that," she said, by way of an apology, "Some children, during upset, initially cope with the emotions by blocking them off. Rebi and Azan were probably just reacting in that way. But given time, they will need the same treatment as Mizoti."
"I do not understand why similar emotions cause such radical variations of response," Seven remarked honestly, as she stepped back from the alcove and looked at B'Elanna, obviously expecting her to answer.
"Well, Seven," she shifted slightly from one foot to another, a little uncomfortable with having a discussion about emotions with the ex-Borg, "I don't think I'm the one to be having this discussion with. Expressing emotions isn't exactly something I'm very good at either." She voiced her concern rapidly, her apprehension growing.
"I apologize for making you uncomfortable, Lt. Torres," Seven clipped quickly, going ramrod stiff, her arms clasped behind her back again, "I will conduct my research on this topic with another crew member at a later time." She tipped her head to the side quietly for a second, and spun on her heel. "I must check on Icheb and speak with the Captain."
B'Elanna shook her head quietly, watching her go and groaned. "Why me?" she muttered to the walls of the Cargo Bay as it's door's closed behind Seven. Stepping around the com station, she intended to double check the regeneration cycle, making sure it was stable. What she saw make her stop in her tracks. Seven had forgotten, in her emotional upset, to close down the image of One that she had been looking at. B'Elanna recognized it immediately and sighed. "Oh, Kahless," she swore, realizing that Seven's eagerness to leave the situation was more than it appeared.
Hesitating no more than a brief moment, she decided it would be better for the Captain to deal with this, since that's where Seven was headed at the moment anyway. She's been helping Seven anyway, she thought silently, what's one more emotion to explain? Feeling better about extracting herself from the situation, B'Elanna decided to head off to Sickbay as well, to see what she could do for the Doctor to help with energy increases to Sickbay whenever Icheb was relapsing.
~~~
"What can we do, Doctor?" Janeway asked, not at all happy with the news she was getting. According to the Doctor's reports and research, the young Borg didn't have much time left. She didn't like losing any crewmember, regardless of the cause, not if there was anything she could do to stop it.
"To be honest, Captain," the holographic doctor said, steepling his fingers, "I have run out of ideas. The only thing left to continue with is changing the modulation of the nanoprobes, but it's a question of finding the least offensive frequency. Everything we've tried so far has either shut down the nanoprobes we've tested, completely or still caused some sort of genetic reaction."
"We've seen from Seven's report that Icheb's species has a numerical designation," Janeway reminded him, gesturing with the padd in her hand, "Which leads me to believe that they somehow solved the problem of genetic rejection." She hoped to perhaps jog his database enough so that he might come up with another idea.
"Seven has been researching that, Captain," he answered with a nod, "However it seems to stem from their repeated regeneration in the Borg Cubes. Every regeneration, the nanoprobes are completely replaced with fresh ones."
"Which isn't really an option to us," Janeway concluded, remembering how long it took the Doctor and Seven to replicate enough nanoprobes to fill one warhead against Species 8472, "What about putting him in a stasis tube?"
The Doctor shook his head. "Stasis won't affect his implants or the nanoprobes."
Janeway sighed softly, pinching the bridge of her nose. "How much time does he have, Doctor?" she finally said, accepting that unless he and Seven could come up with a new way of adjusting the harmonics of the nanoprobes, Icheb wouldn't survive.
"A few months at best," he answered, pain evident in his voice, "Providing he makes it through the surgeries that are becoming more and more necessary." The finality that hung in the air at his words seemed to pull the air out of her lungs, and the captain wondered how she would approach helping Seven if they didn't find a way to save the boy in time.
The hiss of Sickbay's doors opening effectively ended their conversation when Janeway saw who it was. Seven strode in, ignoring their presence in the office and went directly to Icheb's bedside, looking down at him. It pulled at the Captain's heart to see her so tender with the unconscious boy, brushing his hair out of his eyes in an instinctively maternal gesture.
"Doctor, we'll continue this later," she said with a degree of finality, rising from the chair and leaving his office. The hologram, for his part, said nothing, merely taking a long look at Seven, and turning back to his terminal, and examining the latest readings from the nanoprobe tests.
"Seven?" Janeway called quietly, stopping several feet from the bio bed.
"Captain," Seven acknowledged, pausing for a long moment before facing the older woman, and lacing her fingers behind her back, "How can I be of assistance?" Her response was automatic, the woman reverting back to her Borg phrases as she tried to stamp down her emotions.
"For starters you can tell me how you're coping with all this," Janeway stated sympathetically, taking a step closer.
"I am functioning," Seven responded instantly, though Janeway couldn't help but notice the absence of her customary 'within acceptable parameters'.
"But how are you feeling, Seven?" the captain pressed, trying to get the woman to open up.
"I find I am having... difficulty," she said after a long moment of thought. She was struggling to keep the emotions back, not wanting to show what B'Elanna had called, vulnerability, "But I will adapt."
Janeway opened her mouth to try to gently force the issue, but then thought better of it. Not even the Captain could make Seven divulge what she didn't feel ready to say, and trying to make her expose her emotions would only cause her to react negatively and push everyone even further away. Not sure what else to say, Janeway watched the ex-Borg go back to her silent vigil of Icheb, simply being there, and watching him breathe.
It was a blessing in the disguise of a half-Klingon engineer that broke the uneasy silence as she breezed in the door. "Captain," she acknowledged, and then stopped in her tracks, seeing Seven standing quietly by Icheb's bedside.
Janeway nodded and then stepped over to B'Elanna, moving away from Seven so their hushed tones wouldn't disturb her. "I'd like permission to help the doctor with his research, Captain," the engineer said softly.
The Captain noticed the woman oozed tension, just like Seven, and wondered if perhaps a distraction might be a better idea. The Doctor had told her his tests for changing the harmonics of the nanoprobes was the last option available to them, and was easily done by one person. "Thank you for offering, Lt. Torres," she said just as quietly, "But the Doctor is doing all that can be done. Every other option has been looked at and discarded." A thought came to her as she politely denied the engineer's request. "However, I think what you and Seven both need right now, is a distraction," she continued.
"Captain," B'Elanna started, holding her tongue when Janeway put up her hand to forestall the argument she new was coming.
"Hear me out, Lt.," Janeway interrupted, "Everything that can be done, is being done. I need someone to get Seven away from here for a while. Occupy her mind with something other watching helplessly while another Borg child is dying."
"Aye, Captain," B'Elanna nodded, her voice barely above a whisper. She glanced over at Seven, watching the blonde run her mesh-covered hand over the boy's hair. "I see your point." Indeed she saw it better than even Janeway realized, remembering the image of One from the com station in Cargo Bay 2.
"I'll brief you on the sensor sweeps of the Ten'dor wasteland," the Captain said, "I want you and Seven to take the Delta Flyer into the wasteland and report exactly what is out there."
B'Elanna nodded, having talked with Harry Kim about the Captain's investigation. "We'll leave immediately Captain," she said.
"No, B'Elanna," Janeway shook her head briefly, "Give Seven the rest of the day. Icheb should be awake by then, and the other children will be regenerating on their regular schedule. It will give her some time to actually work."
"Good idea," the engineer commented, "I'll finish assigning the Gamma shift duties and be ready at 1700 hours." When Janeway nodded, B'Elanna exited quickly, leaving the Captain to deal with giving Seven her new orders.
Chapter Four
At 1700 hours, B'Elanna was sitting in the Delta Flyer, checking the systems to make sure everything was within tolerable levels for it's flight. She had expected Seven to show up early, and had arrived in the shuttle bay 30 minutes earlier, but the ex-Borg was nowhere to be found. She was contemplating asking the computer to track down her errant away team partner, when the doors of the shuttle bay hissed open, and the very identify of her intended search marched in.
"I apologize for my tardiness, Lt.," Seven clipped in a very professional tone, "But I was re-examining the necessity of my presence on this away mission with the Captain."
B'Elanna smirked. "That's Borg for 'You told the Captain you didn't want to go, and she ordered you to go anyway', right?"
Seven stopped right in the middle of the hatchway and raised her eyebrow. "There was more to the conversation," she commented primly, "But, essentially you are correct." The ex-Borg continued inside the Delta Flyer and took her station without another word, logging herself into the terminal and running standard pre-flight checks.
"Don't worry, Seven," B'Elanna said, turning back to her own terminal and finishing up her own preparations, "We'll be back before you know it."
"That is a highly unlikely event, Lt. Torres," Seven answered, "I already... 'know it'." Almost as an after thought she added. "I do not worry. I am Borg."
"You just keep telling yourself that, Seven," she muttered, shaking her head. She hit the com panel to open a link. "Delta Flyer to Bridge," she stated, "We are ready for launch."
"Acknowledged," Chakotay's voice filtered through the com system, "Shuttle Bay doors opening. Good hunting."
"Thanks," B'Elanna replied, and then closed the link, using the Flyer's directional thrusters to maneuver through the force field and away from the ship. "Course set and laid in," she automatically called to the ex-Borg, who was already plotting trajectories for their arrival.
"We are entering the upper atmosphere," Seven called back, allowing B'Elanna time to make minute changes to their flight path to absorb the worst of the tremors and heat caused by their entry at such a high speed. In less than a minute, they were inside the atmosphere and gliding down towards the wastelands, the little Flyer leveling out and it's external temperature declining.
"Okay, let's get this over with," B'Elanna stated quietly, tapping in a few commands on the flight panel, "Commencing first pass of the wasteland." Janeway had told them how strong the kelvinite readings were in the wastelands, and the two of them had devised a fly-by pattern to cover the region as effectively as possible. With the natural mineral masking most sensor readings, the only way they were going to see anything definite, was to literally fly right over it.
Seven focused on laying out a grid pattern over the area, and fed the new map to B'Elanna's console. "I suggest we focus our beginning passes on grid references D four, five, and six," the ex-Borg commented, "It seems to have the highest levels of kelvinite."
"Why?" B'Elanna didn't seem to understand the reasoning behind the comment.
"Because if the Captain's theory is correct and something is hidden in the wasteland," Seven rationalized, "That's where I would hide it."
"Of course," the engineer snorted, rolling her eyes, "By all means then. Let's go look there." She knew the tall woman would pick up on her sarcasm, but also that she would ignore it. "Coming about, course 220.4"
After several uneventful minutes of directing the Delta Flyer back and forth along the grid, B'Elanna was growing quite bored. She was just about to start snapping at Seven to pick a new section, when the ex-Borg's voice cut her off. "Lt. Torres, I am reading what appears to be sensor ghosts, coming from heading 480.3," Seven remarked, "We need to get closer."
"Sensor ghosts?" B'Elanna questioned, but made the course correction. She didn't want to be in the cramped little ship with Seven all afternoon chasing ghosts, but even a spirit would be better than dirt and rocks. She flew quietly, waiting for the other woman to say something else that would guide her blind flying. The ground a thousand feet below them was literally covered in scrap and junk metals, nothing really standing out, more so in this grid location than any other that they had scanned. She wondered why so much of it was concentrated in one area, but her thoughts were broken into once again, by Seven's soft, yet strong, voice.
"Lt., I am detecting..." Seven's voice broke off suddenly as the Delta Flyer's collision alert blared and the ship jerked hard to port. Sparks shot from her com station, and Seven of Nine was thrown back out of her chair. The ex-Borg shook her head slightly to clear it and blinked up at blue sky, through a very large tear in the hull. "Hull breech!" she barked and tried to rise. For some reason she couldn't identify, she was unable to summon enough strength to stand.
"We've lost port thrusters!" B'Elanna shouted, her hands flying over the console, "We're losing altitude!" Warning alarms began to blare of another collision, and Seven clutched at a bulkhead, bracing for impact. B'Elanna's shouted warning came almost too late. "Hold on!"
~~~
"Captain," Harry Kim blurted from his com station, peering at the screen, "The Delta Flyer's signal has just dropped completely off the screen."
"What?" Janeway blinked up at Harry, waiting for him to comment further. She knew the signal was going to be difficult to hold onto, with the kelvinite bouncing their signals, but the locator beacon they set up before launch had taken care of that.
"I registered a surge in tetrion particles, and then the signal just dropped off the sensors, Captain," the young man said, still frowning at his console, trying to readjust the scanners to another frequency.
"Tetrion particles?" Janeway echoed, facing the screen again, "Scan for wreckage."
"No trace of an explosion, Captain," he reported almost immediately, not adding that he probably wouldn't be able to tell if there had been any kind of combustion until he was able to analyse the sensor readings.
"Keep looking Harry. Tuvok, inform First Minister Jorai that we've lost two crew members." She stood up and called to Chakotay. "I'll be in my Ready Room."
"Captain?" her First Officer called, the confusion evident in his voice.
"Whatever's down there is going to an awful lot of trouble to remain a mystery," she snapped, "And I'm going to get to the bottom it." Janeway stalked away, disappearing into her Ready Room. Letting the door close behind her, the Captain sighed quietly and pinched the bridge of her nose. She hoped B'Elanna and Seven hadn't been injured in some kind of accident. Remembering the women's animosity for each other, she also hoped they hadn't injured each other.