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DISCLAIMER:
Star Trek, Star Trek Voyager, and Characters, are property of
Paramount. I am not making a profit from this story.
This
story takes place in the middle of the sixth season. There has been
some deviation from canon: B'Elanna dumped Paris in the fifth season.
I added a fictional account of her history after leaving Starfleet
Academy, and how she met Chakotay. Seven's emotional development is
closer to what it was at the end of the seventh season. ‘Vulcan
Love Slave’ is a holo sex program mentioned several times in
‘Deep Space Nine’ and various Trek novels.
Your
Love is an Oasis
by
Cygirl1
Voyager
glided quietly and majestically on her long journey home to the Alpha
Quadrant. Her silhouette outlined by the violets, purples and blues
of the nebula, gave one the impression of a night creature, perhaps
an owl, returning from the hunt, in an early dawn sky. Captain
Janeway stood behind the helm and gazed with the discerning eyes of a
scientist at the nebula's image on the view screen.
“Tom,
reduce speed to warp four. I want our instruments to make detailed
readings,” she said and then returned to her command chair,
picked up a PADD from the console, and concentrated on the data
received so far.
Unfortunately,
this nebula, like the Mutara Nebula, stood in the direct path of
Voyager's route to the Alpha Quadrant. The radiation levels were much
higher than the previous nebula's, thus preventing Seven of Nine from
monitoring ship's systems while the crew was placed in stasis.
Seven’s remaining Borg implants would not be able to protect
her for the four-day journey required to reach the other side. Their
holographic C.M.O, better known as the Doctor, was out of the
question. The radiation would severely damage his matrix. The only
option left was to detour around it. The good news was that it would
only add three weeks to their journey.
"Captain,
long range sensors have detected what appears to be a Borg signal at
mark 255, 1.6 light years from our present position. Its location is
the surface of a small asteroid," Tuvok announced, as he
continued to study the information on his monitor.
Captain
Janeway immediately placed the PADD she was purveying on the console
of her command chair and ordered, "On screen."
"Captain,
the signal appears to originate from a vessel. It is stationary and
on a repeating pattern." Tuvok said in his evenly modulated
voice.
Janeway
tapped her com badge. "Janeway to Seven of Nine."
"Seven
here."
"Report
to the Bridge at once."
"Yes,
Captain. On my way."
Janeway
briefly fingered her com badge and announced, "If this is a
disabled cube or sphere, we could get our hands on another transwarp
coil."
Chakotay,
seated in the first officer's chair, voiced his opinion, "This
could be a trap."
Janeway
dismissed his comment with a snort. "The Borg set traps? I doubt
that. That's not their style. They have no need for deceit. They
declare their intentions in a direct assault."
A
'swoosh' was heard as the turbo lift doors opened and Seven of Nine
stepped out of the lift and onto the upper level, and proceeded
quickly down the step, to stop in front of Janeway's chair. Standing
straight, with her hands behind her back, she regarded Janeway with
her cool Borg stare and inquired, "Captain, you wished to see
me?"
Janeway
ran her eyes quickly over the long form of her astrometrics officer,
noticing how the blue of her biosuit complimented her blond hair and
ice blue eyes. "Seven, we may be able to get our hands on a Borg
transwarp coil. We are receiving what appear to be Borg signals from
a ship on a nearby asteroid. I want you to review the data Tuvok has
and give me your analysis."
Seven
tilted her head slightly to her left in acknowledgment, turned
quickly, went to Tuvok's console, and started assessing the
information. Her eyebrows rising in surprise, she quickly looked
toward Janeway and informed her, "Captain, the Borg signature is
one that was last utilized by the Collective 257.3 years ago. It is
from experimental ship 561 which was supposedly destroyed 263 years
ago in an early attempt to utilize technology that would open a small
singularity for distant travel to various destinations in the
galaxy."
Janeway
again fingered her com badge and inquired, "In other
words...travel through an artificial wormhole. What are the chances
that the ship still has information and technology that we can
salvage?"
Seven
lifted her left eyebrow and stated, "That the technology
necessary to open a singularity has survived this long is highly
improbable. In the event the technology has survived, it would be
incompatible with Voyager's systems. More so than the current
problems that a Borg transwarp coil presents."
"We
won't know until we try. I want you and B'Elanna to take a shuttle to
the area and investigate. If there is technology and information, I
want it brought back to the ship. Radiation levels are not so high at
this distance from the nebula and should not pose a problem."
Seven
nodded once. "Understood."
Before
Janeway could dismiss her, Seven turned and headed toward the turbo
lift. Janeway smiled wryly and thought, 'That's my Seven. On
Voyager for almost three years and still ignores protocol.'
x
x
x
Both
women were silent and intent on their tasks as the shuttle maneuvered
between various sized asteroids to reach its goal. B'Elanna was
piloting and Seven monitored the radiation levels emitted from the
nearby nebula.
Ahead
was their destination; a small asteroid that resembled a potato with
its numerous potholes and elongated ovoid shape. It measured 16,000
yards long and 9,000 yards across.
B'Elanna
had donned a Starfleet issue set of thigh length tight fitting black
exercise pants, a blue tank top undershirt to wear under her
environmental suit, and a black pair of sneakers, that would fit
easily in the environmental suit's gravity boots.
Seven
wore her black velocity suit and flat soled black velocity shoes.
B'Elanna's
hands worked quickly on the shuttle’s controls. "Target in
sight. I'll find a place to put down."
Seven
did not acknowledge. Her attention was on the remains of the once
spherical vessel, now severed in half, the other half nowhere in
sight. The exposed walkways and corridors easily identified the
sheared section.
“Lieutenant,
I would suggest that you land the shuttle by the section that is
sheared. This would facilitate a more expedite entry into the
sphere,” Seven said.
B'Elanna
put the shuttlecraft down in a smooth area 25 yards from the vessel.
Before leaving her seat to don her environmental suit, she looked out
of the cockpit window and exclaimed with awe, "Would you look at
that? Cut cleanly in half as if sliced by a knife through an apple.
What could have done that?"
Seven's
voice was cool and clipped. "Unknown. Perhaps we can discover
the cause when we are aboard the vessel."
B'Elanna
reached for her environmental suit and began stepping into it and
adjusting the fit. She donned her backpack, which contained tools,
and shrugged her shoulders to settle it.
Seven
also donned her environmental suit and checked the readings on the
cuffs of her glove. She reached for her helmet and put it over her
head, attaching it onto her suit. She turned and spoke to Torres, her
voice clear over the helmet's radio, "I will function as guide
when we have entered the vessel."
Torres
agreed, "Be my guest, Seven. Just give me enough warning to get
the hell out if you see any of your Borg cousins."
"That
is highly unlikely. My cousins reside in the Alpha Quadrant and have
never been assimilated."
B'Elanna
snorted in amusement. "I just don't want to run up against any
drones."
"Your
concerns are unwarranted. Scans indicate no life form readings."
Both
women exited the Shuttle and made their way toward the derelict
vessel. It looked to be approximately the size of Voyager's saucer
section. Seven took tricorder readings of the hull and walked several
yards until she came to an open area, and entered into the darkness,
B'Elanna right behind her.
Both
women turned on the lights attached to their wrists and helmets to
illuminate the darkness. They were walking on what appeared to be a
catwalk some five feet across. After several yards, Seven stopped and
took tricorder readings. "I am detecting energy readings
consistent with tachyon technology on section 2 corridor 5, level 8."
"This
is your neighborhood, Seven. You lead the way."
Seven
continued walking until she came to an incline that led up to the
next level. Taking more readings, she continued up to the second
level.
B'Elanna
nervously gazed around her. Various conduits and metal pipes hanging
loosely from the ceiling looked similar to Borg arms and limbs.
Catching them out of the corner of her eyes gave the illusion that
they were moving. The enhancing of the illusion was the result of the
faint, eerie, greenish glow, of apparently active Borg equipment.
'Great, a haunted Borg ship. Just keep repeating,' "I
ain't scared of no ghost."
"I
assure you, Lieutenant, no residual energy remains from the deceased
drones."
"Hey,
Borg. I wasn't talking to you," B’Elanna said sneeringly.
"Perhaps
your suit's communicator is malfunctioning."
"Nothing
like that. Talking to one's self is a human thing. Not that you would
know anything about that," B’Elanna said derisively.
"What
purpose does it serve?"
B'Elanna
could not come up with a reply and curtly answered, "Drop it,
Borg. You can ask the Doc later."
"You
are implying that talking to one's self is a medical condition?"
B'Elanna
rolled her eyes. "No. But you may need the Doc's services if you
don't SHUT UP."
Seven
raised her left eyebrow while giving B'Elanna a measuring look. She
then turned away, and proceeded to walk.
After
steadily climbing upward for a while, Seven stopped. She shined her
wrist light on a recessed area of the bulkhead and moved her
tricorder up and down over the area, reading the results then
replacing the instrument back on her utility belt. Even with gloved
hands, she quickly and efficiently entered a code into the wall pad.
A panel opened to reveal an oblong luminous canister. Seven again
used her tricorder to scan the device.
B'Elanna
walked up to Seven's side to study the object. "If this is what
we're looking for, let's get the damn thing and head back to
Voyager."
Seven
removed the tricorder and began tapping information into it.
"Lieutenant, I suggest we do not disturb this...device, until
further study."
B'Elanna
sighed dramatically and looked at the Borg through her faceplate.
"What's the matter? This device is what we came to get isn't
it?"
Seven
scanned the wall and area surrounding the device. "I am
detecting an anomalous energy signature surrounding the device. Until
we determine the origin and nature of the signature, we should not
disturb the device."
B'Elanna
also scanned the device and surrounding area with her tricorder.
"Anomaly? This looks like the decayed trace remnants of tachyon
energy to me. It's certainly not anything to get your nanoprobes in
an uproar over. Besides, I don't have time to wait for you to analyze
every mote of dust in here. I have to get back to Voyager and run
diagnostics in engineering." She stepped up to the coil and
placed both hands on the object. An intense blue light shot from the
device, enveloping both women, and they vanished.
x
x
x
Harry
Kim gazed intently at his monitor and blinked in surprise. "Captain,
I read a high energy tachyon pulse originating from the coordinates
where Seven and Lieutenant Torres are located." He paused to
review the information now presented, looked up and announced to the
Captain, "It has now dissipated."
Captain
Janeway briskly ordered, "Contact the away team, Mr. Kim."
A
few seconds passed and Harry Kim, his fingers moving rapidly over his
station's com pad, replied without looking up, "I have hailed
them, Captain, but they are not responding."
Tuvok
calmly replied from his station, "I am not detecting any life
signs from the asteroid or signatures from their com badges Captain.
The Shuttle remains on the surface. I have determined that the source
of the tachyon pulse originated from the Borg vessel. It appears to
have opened up a singularity for .75 seconds before dissipating."
Captain
Janeway quickly rose from her seat and faced Tuvok, her features and
voice stern, and ordered, "Tuvok, I want you and Lieutenant
Paris to take a team to the asteroid and search the area, including
the Borg ship. Get as much information as you can. I don't need to
tell you to take extreme caution."
Tuvok
nodding once and replied, "Right away, Captain."
x
x
x
"What
the... Where the hell am I?" B'Elanna exclaimed excitedly. She
tried to focus in the total darkness around her, her wrist light and
helmet light were rendered non-functional. Suddenly, the lights were
on again. She saw a beam of light slice the darkness from Seven's
wrist light and sighed in relief. B'Elanna directed her wrist light
to search the area.
Seven
said in a precise voice, "It would appear that we are no longer
on the Borg sphere that we were sent to investigate, but on another
Borg sphere."
B'Elanna
impatiently and sarcastically blurted out, "No kidding. Why I
would have never guessed."
Seven
looked at her tricorder, her eyebrows arched as if surprised. "We
are indeed on the same Borg vessel. However, it is the other half of
the vessel. I am reading a strong tachyon signature consistent with
that of a singularity."
"You
mean we’re in a wormhole?"
"Incorrect.
We have passed through a wormhole that has terminated at this point.
The singularity has dissipated."
There
was silence for a few seconds before Seven heard an intake of breath
through her helmet's communicator, and a concerned voice asked, "Tell
me we're not stuck here? Wherever here is."
"I
will have no answers until I can determine what has occurred, and,
where...'here' is."
B'Elanna
was about to reply when she noticed that Seven was removing her
helmet. She shrilly blurted out, "What the hell are you doing
you crazy Borg?" B’Elanna quickly realized that Seven’s
removal of her helmet had no ill effect, and deduced that the vessel
contained a breathable atmosphere.
Seven,
briefly diverted her attention from her tricorder readings, and
answered coolly, "I am attempting to conserve the environmental
suit's energy and air. It may be required later. I suggest we refrain
from utilizing the suit's heating or cooling unless absolutely
necessary."
B'Elanna
did not answer. Instead, she removed her own helmet and activated her
tricorder. "The readings show that the air is very close to that
of earth normal." She sniffed audibly. "It sure is musty in
here. I'm just glad it doesn't smell like a Borg cube. Is this air
being generated somewhere in the ship? I don't hear anything to
indicate functioning machinery, nor feel anything. It's just silence
and stillness." 'Like a tomb'. She mentally shivered.
"There
are no indications that any of the systems remain functional."
Seven tapped in information on the tricorder pad. "We are on a
planet, or other planetoid object, capable of sustaining life."
"How
do you figure that?"
"Analyzes
of the air content show minute pollen and spores from various plants.
There are as well, other organic traces." Seven swept her wrist
light over the deck. "In addition, there is a layer of dust and
fine sand particles on the deck."
B'Elanna
scanned the area around them, feeling a certain amount of alarm. "No
energy. What about the wormhole device?” She took more readings
and a few seconds later replied with some alarm, “Oh, no. I'm
not detecting that device anywhere. If it is that device that got us
here, why isn't it here with us?"
Seven
looked at B'Elanna and answered, "Analyzes of the findings
indicate that the device opened a singularity that terminated at this
location. The singularity then collapsed." She quickly ran her
tricorder over an object placed near an empty alcove. "This
device appears very similar to the one on the asteroid. These devices
positioned at various sectors in the galaxy opened a singularity. In
addition, they also functioned as a terminus point. One would have
been placed a distance away from another. When one device was
activated, it would open a singularity linked to another. When one
wished to return, the initial device acted as the terminus. A
succession of devices placed throughout the galaxy enabled the Borg
to facilitate travel from one sector, or parsec, to another."
"That
would take centuries to place these things throughout the galaxy."
"Lieutenant,
time is irrelevant to the Borg. Apparently, one of the Sphere’s
devices activated a singularity into which the ship entered. It
appears the singularity collapsed before the entire ship could pass
through, leaving part in the vicinity of the asteroid, and this part
in the gravitational pull of this planet, where it crashed."
"That
method to transverse space doesn't seem very efficient to me. They
could have ended up anywhere in the galaxy."
"Indeed.
If the destination were not to the Collective's advantage, the ship,
or ships, would continue to open singularities until optimum
locations were established. This method was inefficient, and was
abandoned once we assimilated species 812, and could use a more
efficient method, that of transwarp technology."
"So,
the Borg aren't infallible after all?" B’Elanna wryly
said.
"The
Borg learn from their failings and attempt to perfect a more
efficient method."
"Gee,
well let's give them a big fat A for effort and an even bigger F for
failure.” B’Elanna said facetiously. Then added, “Now,
how do we get back? I'm not detecting any energy from this device."
"This
device apparently has been rendered useless by our arrival here."
B'Elanna
took a deep breath and expelled it slowly through her mouth, "Can
we repair this thing?"
"Negative.
It appears many of the components are fused. We would need to have a
source of components to replace them, and an energy source to charge
them."
"Surely
there are components around somewhere we could use? Can we remove the
power cores from our suits and phasers and use them?"
"Negative.
The components would be stored near the device. I am detecting none
of the essential components necessary to repair this device. The
power from our suits and phasers would not be compatible."
B'Elanna
growled in frustration, "Let's find a way out of here and see if
Voyager is within hailing range."
"Your
attempts at contacting Voyager will be futile. While on Voyager, I
scanned the surrounding sector for M and L class planets. None were
detected in the area."
B‘Elanna
closed her eyes and said exasperatedly, "Great, that's just
great. We're stuck the hell who knows where, with no food or water.
Not knowing what's outside this ship. Damn it to hell, could it get
any worse?"
"Indeed.
We are fortunate that the air is breathable. The pollen in the air
samples indicates this planet does support carbon based life. This
fact alone establishes the presence of water."
"The
question is what kind of life is waiting out there? I hope its not
some giant Venus fly trap or walking mutant tomatoes?" 'Gee,
I watched too many of Tom's old mid 20th century horror movies.'
Seven
had a glint in her eyes and a small smirk at the corners of her mouth
as she glanced at a frustrated B‘Elanna and said, "Perhaps."
x
x
x
"I
want them found gentlemen. I'm not leaving here without them. Is that
understood?" Janeway's voice held the bark and bite of command,
as she stood by her conference room chair, hands on hips.
Tuvok,
not fazed by the Captain's tone, reiterated again, "We have
conducted a thorough search of the Borg ship, asteroid field, and
surrounding area, Captain. The probes sent into the nebula do not
detect any signs that they are inside. The device, which we believed
opened the singularity, is no more than a container of fused parts. I
have Engineering examining it. However, Vorik tells me the damage is
too severe to effectively separate the various components that made
the device operational."
Janeway
took her seat, back stiff, and her jaw tightly clenched. "Mr.
Kim. What are the results of the simulations you ran in the
holodeck?"
Harry
had a hangdog expression as he said nervously, “Ah...there is
no way we can reconstruct the singularity in the holodeck to see
where it terminates. I have run every scenario I know. Even using a
holographic Borg transwarp coil. I can't open a singularity. If
Engineering can reconstruct even part of the components of the
device, I may be able to run diagnostics on them to help determine
their function. Other than that, Captain, I don't know what else I
can do."
Janeway’s
features tightened and her command glare caused Harry to cringe.
Chakotay
interceded drawing Janeway‘s immediate attention toward him,
"Captain, I suggest we leave a communications marker in this
area and move on. If they should return, it would transmit readings
from their com badges."
Janeway
glared at him for a moment, and then said, "We will hold station
for 48 hours. I want every test we are capable of performing, no
matter how insignificant, done to either locate them, find out how
this singularity was created, and where this singularity ended."
She
turned and looked at the EMH. "Doctor, I want you to go over any
information you have on Seven's Borg Implants. Concentrate on the
information you have on her cortical node. The Borg queen
communicated with her over great distances in the past. See if we can
somehow communicate with her. Ensign Kim can assist you. Perhaps her
Borg Alcove has some feature that could be used to contact her."
"Aye,
Captain," Harry answered.
"Very
well, Captain," The Doctor replied.
Janeway
closed her eyes for a moment and rubbed her brow, feeling the
beginnings of a major headache. "If that is all...dismissed."
Everyone exited but the Captain. She remained seated, her command
mask slipping to reveal the worry in her eyes, her mouth turned down
in a frown. 'I'm not giving up on you two. I will do all in my
power to bring you both back here to Voyager.'
x
x
x
"Damnation,
Seven. How much longer until we find a way out? I'm roasting in here.
It must be at least 200 degrees."
"99.2
degrees. Perhaps you are malfunctioning. My data on Klingon
physiology show that Klingons have a high tolerance for hot
temperatures."
B'Elanna
rolled her eyes. "I'm only half Klingon. It wouldn't be so bad
if I could take this suit off or turn on the cooling unit. I know.
Have to save the energy in case we run into anything worse.”
She then added with a slight edge to her voice, “ I'm going to
be really pissed off if we get out of here and it's a cool spring
morning."
"I
would advise against removing your suit Lieutenant. Tricorder
readings indicate various insect life forms. Some may be venomous and
a bite may prove toxic to humanoid physiology."
B'Elanna
tried not to brush against any of the numerous spider webs among the
Borg machinery. "How much of this ship do you estimate is buried
beneath the surface?"
"Approximately
75.21 percent. We have only 400 yards to traverse before we come to
an exit."
"At
least this thing didn't crash into a sea, or worse yet, at one of the
poles. Are you sure we're in a desert? With all these insect webs I
would think we're in a jungle."
"Tricorder
readings show the presence of sand, heat, and low humidity. These
factors, combined with the pollen count, indicate that we are in an
arid and warm environment."
A
rustling sound of wings in the hanging conduits and hoses above
B'Elanna's head, startled her, and she and blurted out, "Bats!"
She quickly put on her helmet.
Seven,
seemingly unfazed, scanned the ceiling above her. "The creature
is not mammalian, but an avian species. It appears to be harmless."
B'Elanna's
voice, muffled by her helmet, said, "I'm not taking chances. You
know bats like to fly into your hair and they carry rabies. Some are
even bloodsuckers. Not that you have to worry about that. They aren't
attracted to ice water." B'Elanna mentally patted herself on her
back for coming up with that one. "Speaking of which, a big
glass of ice water sounds good right now. I hope that we can find a
source of water nearby. I hear dehydration is a bad way to die. I bet
even you need water to survive. Unless those biosuits you wear
recycle sweat and urine for drinking."
"Your
memory appears to be faulty. I am wearing my velocity outfit under my
environmental suit. It is standard Starfleet issue and has had no
augmentation added to function as a biosuit. Urination and other
bodily waste are unnecessary to the Borg. We do not derive our energy
from the ingestion of organic matter. Our implants and nanoprobes
cleanse our systems of contaminates and impurities."
B'Elanna
huffed and said under her breath, "Figures. Bet you don't fart
or belch either.” She saw what appeared to be a patch of light
ahead of them and said excitedly, “Hey, is that light I see up
ahead?
"Indeed.
This exit should lead to the outside."
B'Elanna
pushed herself ahead of Seven, in a hurry to get to the opening.
Seven reached out her right hand and grabbed the impetuous woman's
shoulder in an effort to halt her. "Lieutenant, caution is
advisable."
B'Elanna
snarled and jerked herself out of Seven's grasp. "Hey Borg, I'll
look after my own ass and you look out after yours." She resumed
her course, hurrying toward the bright opening, into which the light
poured in. Instead of feeling cooler air from the outside, there was
an increase in the temperature and the amount of sand and dust.
Seven
followed at a more careful pace. She watched B'Elanna's quick
progress, unheeding of the tangled mass of cables on the deck. At
five feet from the exit she saw B'Elanna trip on a coil of cable and
dive head first out the opening with a surprised cry. "Ahhh!"
Seven
gingerly picked her way through the fallen cables and coils to the
opening. Peering down, she saw one cable wrapped boot sole three feet
below the opening, followed by the rest of B'Elanna, struggling to
bend her body upward to grasp the cable and right herself. Seven
reached down with her left hand, grabbed the booted foot, and quickly
pulled the Lieutenant up and into the ship.
B'Elanna
sat on the deck, breathing hard, with her eyes closed. Her helmet and
backpack had fallen to the desert floor some 35 feet below. "Damn."
B'Elanna brushed her hair out of her eyes and stood up facing Seven.
"Thanks, Seven."
Seven
appraised B'Elanna, looking for injuries. "Thanks are
unnecessary, Lieutenant. You are a valuable member of Voyager's
collective. Your death would result in a less than optimum
functioning of Voyager."
B'Elanna
snorted derisively. "Valuable member hmm? Coming from a Borg I
guess that's high praise. I guess you would've left me dangling there
if I weren't such a 'valuable member'."
"Negative.
Voyager is my collective and all members function for the welfare of
the whole."
"Hey,
next thing you know, you'll be assigning us numbers. 1 of 20."
She looked out the opening to survey the area. Pale light gold sand
reflected the sunlight, almost blinding to look at for long. Heat
rose in wavering sheets. "There is nothing but sand. Not even a
dried up bush." She unzipped her suit to access the communicator
pinned to her undershirt. "Voyager, this is Lieutenant Torres,
do you copy?" She rapped her right index finger on the
communicator, as if this would cause the device to function, and
tried again. "Voyager this is the away team. Do you copy?"
Her answer was silence.
Seven,
using her enhanced left eye, gazed out across the desert. She
accessed her infrared sight, searching for an area of violet or blue,
which would indicate a cooler area that might be indicative of a
water source or plant life. She saw only yellows and whites in
shimmering sheets. She accessed her own communicator. "Voyager,
Seven reporting." Receiving no reply, she informed B'Elanna,
"Perhaps the composition of the ship or interference from the
sun is preventing our com badges from functioning properly. We should
wait until sunset and travel a distance from the ship and attempt
communication."
"Good
idea, Seven. Let's make a long enough line from all this cable to
reach the ground."
Seven
inclined her head in agreement and both women set about gathering
enough cable to construct a makeshift rope to reach the desert floor.
Seven began to tie the pieces together in a knot that wouldn't slip.
B'Elanna searched for pieces of cable that would be thin enough and
long enough to take with them. She found a one inch diameter cable,
hanging from the ceiling, which she pulled down, dislodging debris
and dust, which splattered her face and hair. "Ugh." She
shook her head and pushed her fingers through her hair to try to rid
it of the dust and debris, then continued to pull until the piece
hung up. With a strong jerk, she dislodged it. She estimated that the
piece was 60 feet long and gathered it up. She took it back to the
front opening where Seven was working.
B'Elanna
retrieved her phaser rifle, aimed at the middle of the cable, and cut
it with a ruby beam. She wound each piece in a loop. She finished her
task and sitting across from Seven, watched her knot the cable
together. One thing she could say in the Borg's favor, she never
minded getting her hands dirty, not even when required to work in the
Jefferies tubes. B'Elanna had to admit that the Borg was brilliant
and more intelligent than anyone else on the ship was. However, she
acted so damned superior. Captain Janeway was always taking her side,
too. The Captain's pet: Her golden haired wonder child. B'Elanna
mentally shook her head to get back on task. 'What have we got
ourselves into? It may be days or even weeks before help comes. No
food or water. We won't last long without that. Especially water. I'm
already thirsty. One glass of juice at breakfast isn't going to keep
me hydrated long. What about Seven and her need to regenerate? What
do we do about that?' "Uh, Seven, when do you need to
regenerate?"
Seven
did not look up from her task. "In 30.4 hours."
"What
would happen if you can't regenerate? You know...if we're stuck here
for awhile?"
"I
would need to ingest nutrients and sleep."
B'Elanna
thought about that for a minute. "We'll need to find a source of
water and food. Water is the priority though. I'm not sure about you,
but I can only go about two, maybe three, days without water,
especially in this heat."
"Locating
a source for potable water will be our first priority. If I fail to
regenerate, my nanoprobes can sustain me for an additional 12 hours
before I would require hydration.”
B‘Elanna
thought for a moment and said, "Usually, where there is potable
water there is something eatable, either animal or plant. It may be a
good idea to travel by night when it's cooler than in the heat of the
day. Our environmental suits can insulate us against the cold desert
nights, and if needed, we can turn on the power in them to warm us.
Heating them is less energy consuming than cooling them. I did manage
to pick up some usable information in Old Sneezy's survival course
while at Starfleet Academy."
Seven
looked up from her task and inquired, "Old Sneezy?"
B'Elanna
smirked, "Yeah. That is the nickname for my professor who taught
survival courses at the academy. Seems he had allergies to various
pollens and plant spores. Whenever we went out into the field, he
always started sneezing."
Seven
lifted her left brow for a moment and then said, "Ah...I
understand how he acquired his... 'nickname'" Seven went back to
her task and said, "We have approximately three hours until
sunset."
B'Elanna
tried to suppress a snicker. 'Yeah, 'nickname'...Ice Queen. Be
nice, she kept you from breaking your neck.' B'Elanna cleared her
throat and said, "Good. I think I'm going to take a nap. If
you're unable to nap, I would advise you to rest. Wake me at sunset."
With that, B'Elanna stretched out on the floor, resting her head on a
coil of wound cable, and closed her eyes.
x
x
x
Seven
scanned the horizon for a possible source of water. The light was
failing and the desert was already starting to cool as evidenced by
the orange seen in her infrared scan. She caught a glint of violet on
the horizon in the northwest. She could approximate the distance to
36 miles. B'Elanna was right; it would be easier to travel by night,
and out of the sapping heat of the sun.
Overhead,
a moon was at half light, and on the east horizon, a large full moon
was rising, reflecting a bright blue and green glow. Apparently, this
moon had some type of atmosphere to reflect the sunlight more
intensely than an airless moon. They would have no problem seeing at
night. Not that it mattered to Seven. She could always access her
night vision. However, it would make easier going for B'Elanna to
have the moons' lights.
Seven
knew that a source of water was a priority and if not found in the
next two days, B'Elanna would perish. She would be able to survive a
few days more before she too would succumb to dehydration.
She
turned to B'Elanna, noticing that the smaller woman had put on her
helmet with the faceplate open and was carrying the backpack, which
contained her tools. B’Elanna also had a coil of cable over her
right shoulder and a phaser rifle in one hand. Her hand phaser and
tricorder were fastened to a utility belt around her waist.
Seven
had her tricorder and a hand phaser attached to her utility belt, as
well as a coil of cable over her left shoulder. Both women had
discarded the heavy magnetic outer boots from their suits and wore
only the light flat soled inner boots over their sneakers.
"Lieutenant
Torres, my infrared sight has located a possible source of moisture
to the northwest. I shall lead the way."
"Fine
by me, Seven. Let's eat up some miles before sunrise."
Seven
translated the term 'eat up' in relation to miles and quickly
concluded that it met to acquire numerous miles toward the designated
time or place. She put this away in her eidetic memory with the
dozens of other connotations and euphemisms she had collected from
various crewmembers.
They
walked at a steady pace making no sound except for the squeaking
their soles made indenting the desert sand. The planet's half moon
was setting and the full moon appeared to be at its zenith. Stars in
the thousands blinked and twinkled in bright whites, muted reds and
yellows. Distant suns and galaxies spun from the great galactic core
to fill the void: A siren's call to past explorers eons ago on wind
swept seas, and now, and in ages to come, explorers that sail between
the stars and into the unknown. One day the galactic center will call
the stars home again: Only to be reborn, bursting from the fire of a
new creation like the phoenix in Earth's myths. For the time being,
neither Seven nor B'Elanna contemplated this great mystery in the sky
above them.
B'Elanna
was concentrating on ignoring the pain in her calves and Seven was
mentally performing the logistics on which actions they should take
to ensure their survival; based of course, on the data so far
obtained. The heavens traveled their westward course. The half moon
had set and the full moon was now a beacon in the west.
'Damn,
she isn't even slowing down. I'll be damned if I let the Ice Queen
outlast me.' A few more minutes and the fatigue and calf cramps
caused B'Elanna to stumble and fall.
Seven
stopped abruptly when she heard the steps behind her falter from
their rhythmic beat. She turned to see B'Elanna fall to the sand, her
helmet falling from her head and rolling on the ground. She quickly
went to the smaller woman and knelt down beside her. Pulling
B'Elanna's pack from her back, she inquired, "Lieutenant Torres.
Are you injured?"
B'Elanna
sat up, grabbing her right calf, and gave Seven a baleful look. "No.
Just got some cramps in my calves. Guess I'm not used to walking this
long."
"Can
I assist you, Lieutenant?"
'Be
nice. She saved you from falling and breaking your neck.'
"Ah...No Thanks, Seven. I'll be OK in a few minutes."
"Perhaps
we should rest. We have walked for nine hours." Seven sat down
by B'Elanna and gazed back toward the east, the implant over her left
eye rising in surprise. "Lieutenant, a nebula is rising. Perhaps
it is the one where Voyager is located."
B'Elanna
viewed the gaseous violet and purple cloud. It covered a good eighth
of the eastern horizon. "Uhm, I don't think so. The shape is not
the same."
Seven
studied it by using different filters in her optical implant. "My
infrared vision shows it to have the same spectrum as the other. You
are correct; the shape is different. However, if you should reverse
the shape, they are very similar. Perhaps it is the same nebula, but
we are on the opposite side from it and Voyager."
B'Elanna
studied the nebula again. "Perhaps you're right, Seven. Then
Voyager's journey around it should bring her to this side in 3 weeks,
depending on how fast they travel, and if they don't run into any
problems. I'm sure Captain Janeway hasn't given us up for dead. She
will be on alert for any Starfleet signatures, and should pick up
signals from our com badges, once they clear any interference in the
area surrounding the nebula."
"Captain
Janeway is persistent and failure is not an option she will accept.
She is a most determined and forceful individual."
"Is
that your way of saying she's stubborn, Seven?"
"Is
that not what I stated?"
B'Elanna
laughed humorously, and replied in her best imitation of Seven,
"Indeed." She thought she saw a quick flash of a smile and
white teeth in the silver moon light. 'Naw, no way. The Ice Queen
smile? Just a trick of the light.'
x
x
x
Sand
and more sand. With the sun rising at their backs, and already an
inferno, Seven looked for a place to rest for the day. She estimated
that they had gone 24 miles during the night. She knew B'Elanna would
not be able to go on much further. The heat was in waves rising from
the desert floor. There was nowhere to get out of the sun's cruel and
sapping heat.
"Lieutenant,
we should stop and attempt to rest until dusk. I cannot locate a
source of shade. It would be advisable to utilize our suits cooling
units to keep from dehydrating."
B'Elanna
didn't refuse to turn on her cooling unit. She also activated her
helmet's sun filter, and placing her backpack and coil of cable on
the sand, laid her head on them.
Seven
activated her sun filter, but found it impossible to sleep. Seven's
keen sense of hearing picked up B'Elanna's even respiration, which
indicated she had fallen to sleep. Seven stretched her body out on
the sand. She knew she could not obtain sleep, and used this time
going over the data she currently had on her most recent project:
That of creating a transwarp coil that would get Voyager home. She
pulled up her previous work from her eidetic memory. When they
returned to Voyager, she would ask Lieutenant Torres to assist her.
While it was true that she and Lieutenant Torres had an adversarial
relationship, they were able to put this aside to work together on
engineering problems. Lieutenant Torres was the most qualified out of
all of Voyager's crew to assist her. Indeed, the Lieutenant had a
formidable intellect when it came to engineering, and a propensity to
solve complex problems. Together, they would make a very acceptable
team.
x
x
x
At
dusk they readied themselves to resume their journey. Seven picked up
B'Elanna's pack, put it on her own back, and resumed their walk.
B'Elanna did not protest. She shouldered her rifle, coil of cable,
and fell in line behind Seven. Seven slowed her walk so that B'Elanna
could keep up.
Their
travel went slower than their first night. It was harder going now
that the sand was finer. Each step sucked them down ankle deep.
B'Elanna appeared drawn and conversation was sparse when they stopped
to rest.
Now,
the sun was rising at their backs and Seven knew that the Lieutenant
needed water in a desperate way. She scanned the horizon in the early
morning looking for a tell tale sign of blue or violet. She saw a
lavender hue a few hundred yards ahead. Seven used her telescopic
vision to try to see details. She saw what looked to be a long and
low sand hill. She increased her eye implant to its maximum
magnification, which was, 10X. In the wavering heat she saw what
looked like the branches of shriveled bushes. "Lieutenant. I
observe what I surmise to be brush or similar plant life .51 miles
ahead."
B'Elanna's
lips were dry and cracked. Her voice was harsh, low, and barely an
audible croak, "Finally." She looked in the direction that
Seven pointed. "Where? I see nothing but sand."
"I
accessed my visual implants telescopic abilities."
"What
the hell are you waiting for? Lead the way." B’Elanna
croaked out.
Without
a word, Seven resumed walking, B'Elanna struggling to keep pace. They
had not walked quite a quarter of a mile, when B'Elanna rushed past
Seven, dropping her rifle and helmet.
"Lieutenant
Torres, you must refrain from depleting your energy."
Unheeding
Seven's request, B'Elanna hurriedly stumbled and ran onward, her
breathing harsh. Suddenly, 90 yards ahead of Seven, she faltered and
abruptly stopped.
Seven
looked through the wavering swells of heat and noticed that the woman
was hip deep in sand and sinking fast. She sprinted toward her and
stopped abruptly a few feet away from a barely noticeable depression
in the desert floor, which was roughly nine feet wide and 12 feet
long.
"What
the...? Help me. Get me out of here! Help!" B'Elanna was
screaming in a full panic, sinking fast, and already chest deep in
sand.
Seven
took the coiled cable from around her shoulder and quickly unwound
it. "Lieutenant, I am throwing you the cable and will pull you
out." The Borg's throw was accurate, landing a foot from
B'Elanna, who was already sinking up to her collarbone. She managed
to grab the cable with both hands and Seven pulled, using her Borg
increased strength, wrenching her free from the greedy sand.
B'Elanna
lay on her back, her eyes closed, not moving except for the expanding
of her chest as she took in deep harsh breaths. Seven noticed a
sticky black substance mixed with sand clinging to her suit. She used
her tricorder and scanned the substance, discovering it to be raw
petroleum. This was evidence that eons ago the desert was perhaps a
forest or jungle. Apparently, the sand had settled over a pit of the
substance effectively hiding it.
Seven
turned up B'Elanna's cooling unit. "Stay still, Lieutenant. I
will retrieve your helmet and phaser rifle." Seven sprinted back
to where B'Elanna discarded them and snatched up each object.
Returning quickly, she lifted B'Elanna's head up, slipped the
backpack under it, and gently guided her head back onto it.
After
a few minutes, B'Elanna croaked through cracked lips, "Water,
Seven, I saw water and trees. Just up ahead. You don't have to walk
far. Go and get me water."
"You
saw a mirage Lieutenant: The heat waves, nothing more. We have only a
few hundred yards to go to where I observed vegetation. Perhaps there
is water to be found."
"I
can't go on any further. Leave me here and go for water."
Seven
pulled B'Elanna into a sitting position. "Lieutenant Torres, you
must get up and walk with me. I will lead the way and look for
possible areas of danger. You cannot remain here."
B'Elanna
said in a harsh and raspy voice, "Damn you, Borg. I can't get
up. Go for water. That's an order."
Seven
balked, staring down at B'Elanna, and trying to formulate a plan to
get her moving.
B'Elanna
screamed in fury, "Gods damn you! Do it you piece of Borg
trash." She then fell back onto the sand gasping through cracked
lips.
"Lieutenant
Torres…B'Elanna. Get up. You will comply."
"Go
to hell, Borg," B’Elanna rasped.
Seven
stood up, gazed down at the prone woman, and said in a voice taking
on the affectation of the perfect Borg, cold and condescending,
"Lieutenant B'Elanna Torres, you are weak and small. You are
insignificant, flawed, and not worthy of consideration. You have
failed Voyager and her crew. You have failed Captain Janeway. When
Captain Janeway retrieves me I shall tell her of your weakness…your
insignificance. You are a failure. You are worthy only of pity. I
have seen that you are indeed inferior to me. I shall request Captain
Janeway to assign me as Chief Engineer. I will ensure that Voyager's
operation runs efficiently and flawlessly." With that, Seven
turned and walked toward the west and hearing an outraged scream
behind her.
"BITCH!
I'll take every bolt and screw out of you and melt it down for a
plasma scraper. You are dead, Borg!" B'Elanna pushed herself to
her feet and stumbled after Seven, her anger a whip driving her on.
Seven
used her hearing to determine the distance and stayed approximately
30 feet ahead of the angry woman. She stopped and turned once, giving
the Lieutenant one of her superior Borg sneers, then purposely walked
on in even strides.
Seven
observed small shriveled trees and long skinny limbs of cacti.
Glancing down she saw squat gray barrel cacti bristling with fine
needles. She scanned a nearby specimen with the tricorder and
discovered it to contain a fair amount of watery juice and to be
agreeable to humanoid physiology.
B'Elanna
had closed the distance to 12 feet. Seven could hear the harsh
breathing and she moved on a few yards and crested a small ridge of
sand. Below her was a dry gully which showed signs of running water
in the not to distant past, the mud dry and scaling in a mosaic
pattern of pale yellow and ocher. Small clumps of dry brown rushes
grew on the gully's edge. B'Elanna grabbed Seven by her left arm as
she struggled to stand on the crest. Seven used her Borg strength to
steady her. B'Elanna quickly forgot her anger and stumbled down the
incline and onto the gully's floor. Kneeling, she dug into the caked
mud, searching for moisture. Throwing the dried clumps of mud from
her, she howled in frustration, and fell full length, cursing and
crying.
Seven
quickly searched the backpack and removed a small laser cutter. She
knelt beside the nearest barrel cactus and sliced off the top.
Reaching her Borg hand into the fibrous, moist, pale pulp, she
scraped out a hand full. She proceeded down to B'Elanna and knelt
with both knees touching the ground. She lifted B'Elanna's upper
torso and gently placed her head on her upper left leg. "Lieutenant
Torres, I have liquid that will relieve your thirst." She
squeezed the pulp in her left hand, causing a small stream of juice
to flow down a few of the fibers, and onto B'Elanna's lips. B'Elanna
immediately opened her mouth allowing the liquid to trickle in and
swallowed. Seven squeezed until all moisture was gone. She threw the
fibrous mass to one side and laid B'Elanna's head back against the
dry ground.
Seven
made several trips to nearby cacti to remove the moist pulp and
squeeze the life saving moisture into B'Elanna's mouth. Finally,
B'Elanna stirred and sat up on her own. "Enough. Yuck."
Seven
had squeezed some of the juice into her own mouth and found the taste
to be slightly bitter. 'Taste is irrelevant'. Seven looked
around her for shelter from the sun's rays. She saw an overhang on
the side of the gully that the rushing waters had carved out. It
would offer some amount of shade. "Lieutenant Torres, I have
found adequate shelter from the sun. I will assist you in reaching
it." She put her left arm around B'Elanna's waist and pulled her
to a standing position. "Lean against me, it is only a few yards
away." Torres put her right arm on Seven's shoulder as they
walked to the shaded overhang. Seven helped her in and to lean
against the earthen wall at the back. "I shall retrieve our
equipment and return." B'Elanna nodded her head.
Seven
retrieved the helmets, backpack and phaser rifle and took them back
to the overhang. B'Elanna was sleeping, her breathing even. Seven ran
her tricorder over the woman, noticing that while her hydrolytes were
still low, she had enough hydration to keep her out of danger for
now. She took one of the helmets with her and the small laser cutter
from the backpack and left the overhang. She returned some short time
later with a helmet full of the murky bitter cacti juice, as well as
several small white tubers she had dug from the gully's bank that she
had thrust into her utility belt. She lay them aside and leaned
against the back wall to rest beside B'Elanna. The temperature under
the overhang was cool compared to the oven outside. B'Elanna opened
her eyes with an intake of breath and her body jerked as she felt the
light brush from Seven's shoulder. "I apologize. It was not my
intent to startle you."
"I'm
fine."
"I
have cacti juice if you require liquid."
B'Elanna
sighed tiredly and said, "No thanks, Seven. I just need rest.
Wake me when it's dusk."
"Agreed."
Seven closed her eyes and took in the sounds and smells around her.
She had some concerns that her nanoprobes would be unable to sustain
her for long unless she found a source of water and nutrition.
B'Elanna was sure to perish long before she would. She would do all
in her power to increase their chance for survival. She knew her
Captain would do all in her power to find them. She had faith in
Captain Janeway. Faith was irrelevant to the Borg. Perhaps she was
regaining her humanity more quickly than she realized.
x
x
x
B'Elanna
heard a heavy buzzing in her ears and felt something crawling on her
cheek. She quickly brushed her face and opened her eyes. She felt
warmth against her right shoulder. Turning slightly, she saw Seven
next to her, apparently sleeping. Small puffs of breath exhaled from
her mouth, blowing against fine strands of blond hair that had come
loose from her customary bun. 'Jeez, Sleeping Beauty. Only thing
she needs is a kiss to wake her.' The vision that came to mind
shocked B'Elanna: Her leaning over to kiss those full lips. 'Oh
no, I have heat stroke.'
She
saw the rays of the sun starting to creep into the overhang and knew
it was well past its zenith. The other side of the gully was now in
shadow. The annoying buzzing started again. She spied the winged
heavy brown insect, about the size of her thumbnail, as it landed on
the edge of a helmet full of a murky liquid. She leaned forward and
swatted at it. "Shoo fly." Seven stirred beside her.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you."
Seven
blinked in surprise. "You are mistaken. I only closed my eyes
for a few seconds."
B'Elanna
smirked. "Uh huh. How many more hours until sundown, Seven, or
better yet, before noon?"
Seven
saw that the sun was way past its zenith and worriedly said, "This
is disconcerting. I am malfunctioning as are my nanoprobes."
"Seven,
don't forget I know something about your Borg functioning, and your
nanoprobes, having assisted the Doc on repairing a few of your
implants. Under normal circumstances, that may be true. These are not
normal circumstances. Those little devils have to work overtime
battling heat and lack of water. As long as you're still able to
think, talk and walk, you are functioning. Maybe not at optimum
levels, but at acceptable levels."
Seven's
expression looked uncertain. "Perhaps you are correct."
"Ok.
Let's move to the other side of this gully and into the shade and
plan our next move."
x
x
x
The
sun was setting when both women climbed out of the gully. Before
leaving, they ate the tubers, hoping they would give them energy.
B'Elanna said they tasted a lot like water chestnut. B'Elanna still
felt drained and tired, but gone were the tormenting thirst and
confusion resulting from dehydration. Seven estimated that a
permanent source of water lay to the west as evidenced by the blue
visible in her infrared vision, which indicated an area of condensed
coolness. She calculated that it lay 10-12 miles away. Seven agreed
to lead the way and use her tricorder to locate any petroleum pits in
their path.
They
had not discussed B'Elanna's loss of control, and B'Elanna did not
mention Seven's insulting and hateful words. B'Elanna suspected Seven
had used those words to goad her into moving. Still, she wondered how
much Seven believed of what she said. She found herself caring what
the Borg thought about her. Hell, the woman had saved her life at
least two times, perhaps three, if you counted Seven pulling her into
the ship when she found herself hanging upside down with a 35 foot
drop to the desert below.
B'Elanna
was wondering how to thank the woman. 'Thank you' did not seem
enough. Moreover, would Seven even care is she were thanked? She had
made it clear earlier that she saved B'Elanna because she was
important to Voyager. Then again, she had called her weak, small, and
a failure. Why would she save her if that were true? Perhaps she was
a failure, and Seven spoke the truth. Seven was always
straightforward. B’Elanna had failed at many things: Starfleet
academy came to mind as well as past relationships. Nevertheless, she
had also pulled Voyager's butt out of the fire many times. Janeway
thought her a miracle worker when it came to engineering. B'Elanna
knew she was a damn good engineer. She wondered if Seven thought her
a good engineer. B'Elanna decided that later, given the opportunity,
she would find out what Seven really thought of her.
Seven
was lost in her own thoughts of the recent interactions between her
and B'Elanna. It was obvious that B'Elanna did not hold the same
animosity as she had earlier. B'Elanna had actually looked at her
several times without a scowl on her face. She even conversed with
her without the usual disdain in her voice so often evident before.
B‘Elanna even tried to assure her that she was not
malfunctioning.
B'Elanna
had intrigued her from their first interaction. She was a brilliant
engineer and an organized problem solver. She was straightforward.
She let you know what she thought. What intrigued her most was the
dichotomy of logical precision and chaotic emotion. Emotions rolled
off in waves from the engineer. When she was in B’Elanna’s
vicinity, she could actually feel the force of them in a visceral
way: Anger, hate, compassion, empathy, and caring and warmness toward
friends. That B’Elanna felt animosity toward her, was of no
concern. It was the fact that the Klingon felt anything for her, and
so strongly. She thought B'Elanna was a perfection of balance of the
two most opposing forces in the Universe: Order and Chaos. One could
not exist without the other. Order would have no meaning or purpose
if not for Chaos. Chaos would obliterate itself if not contained by
Order. B'Elanna Torres was Omega in the form of flesh and blood.
x
x
x
The
moons were bright enough for the women to make their way safely.
Seven noticed several small species of mammal and reptile scurrying
out of their path. She also heard the rustle of wings overhead as
well as a small squeal from some unfortunate prey animal.
After
walking for five hours, Seven halted for a rest. She was aware that
B'Elanna was doing well since their rest and hydration, but Seven did
not want to tax her reserves. The going was now easier as the earth
was firmer after leaving the gully, and was dotted with more growth
in the form of stunted bushes, areas of brown grass and cacti. Seven
had scanned much of the vegetation and discovered that it was not
dead, but dormant. This fact, and the presence of the gully,
indicated a seasonal rainfall in between a longer season of dryness.
Seven
took her helmet, walked a few feet to a large cactus, and cut the top
off, removing the stringy wet pulp and placing it in the helmet.
Seven sat next to B'Elanna and offered her the pulp filled helmet.
"Lieutenant Torres, I have prepared cactus pulp for our
consumption."
"Thank
you Seven." She reached in and took a handful of the mass,
throwing back her head and squeezing the juice into her mouth. She
continued looking up at the night sky for a few moments, lost in
contemplation of Voyager's whereabouts, and if Janeway had resumed
her journey. She turned to look at Seven. 'Now is as good a time
as any.' She cleared her throat. "Er, Seven. I want to thank
you for saving my ass back there." She braced herself, prepared
for Seven to brush her thanks off in her usual cold Borg manner.
"You
are welcome, Lieutenant." Seven's voice actually sounded warm to
B'Elanna's ears.
"Uhm,
Seven. Please call me B'Elanna."
There
was silence for a few seconds as Seven looked at B'Elanna and saw the
sincerity reflected in the woman's face. "Acceptable...B'Elanna."
Seven's voice held the hint of a smile, which somehow caused B'Elanna
to feel warmth fill her chest.
x
x
x
Captain
Janeway stood on the upper deck of her ready room staring out her
window at the nebula without really seeing it. Voyager resumed her
journey home without her chief engineer and astrometrics officer. She
tried not to dwell on the fact that they might never find the two.
She felt that something was stole from her. She had battled the Borg
queen and Ransom to retrieve Seven. She saved B'Elanna from the
Vidiians and from a mind purge by the Mari. She knew that both women
were resourceful and if still alive...no. She would hold to the
belief that they were alive. More than any other crew, these two
women held a special place in her heart. B'Elanna, angry and volatile
and wearing her emotions as her best garment. Her bravado and bluster
were a means of hiding her insecurities. She had not yet come to
terms with who she really was. She remained torn between two
cultures, two races, feeling a part of neither.
Seven,
who could not remember what it was to be an individual or human, as
the Collective will was all she remembered, and had ever known since
her sixth birthday. She had no tolerance for human weaknesses in
others as well as herself. She hid her insecurities behind a false
sense of superiority. Janeway knew that beneath her cold exterior and
emotional control was a being who very much could feel emotion.
Underneath all that Borg behavior was a warm and loving individual.
Seven had yet to learn to express her emotions. One could see a
glimpse of them in her interactions with Naomi Wildman, a child alone
in a ship of adults. Seven was much like Naomi, a child in a ship
full of adults and all their emotional interplay.
She
cared deeply for these two women. She needed them. They helped her to
focus not on Janeway the Captain, but Kathryn, the all too human
woman. She learned to look at her own emotions and motivations by
counseling B'Elanna.
Seven
looked to her for guidance and clarification in a bewildering
universe. She was always questioning her motives and morals in their
‘philosophical’ discussions, which had a way of keeping
Janeway rooted to her belief in the High Road. She could easily lose
control and forget all principles that she believed in given the
right circumstances. She mentally shuddered as Captain Ransom came to
mind. She would not give them up. Not yet. Not Ever. She would do all
in her power to find them. Janeway’s one constant belief as
captain was that you never left a crewmate behind.
x
x
x
The
larger of the planet's two moons was well past the zenith and half
way to the western horizon when B'Elanna hurried up to walk by
Seven's side. "Seven, ahead, is that ragged black area
silhouetted by the moon really there, or am I experiencing some
moonlight mirage"?
"No,
Lieutenant...B'Elanna. Your observation is correct, that is no
mirage. It is indeed an area of dense vegetation. I believe we may
find water and nutritional plants there."
B'Elanna
sniffed deeply. "I smell moisture…water."
Seven
looked intently at B‘Elanna and asked, "Do you intend to
run recklessly toward the source? If so I will need to restrain you."
"Hey,
I do have self control you know. That last incident was due to the
intense heat and severe dehydration. If you weren't Borg, you would
have done the same, probably sooner. I'm fortunate to be half Klingon
and can take it better than if I were entirely human."
"Indeed.
It is fortunate that I am Borg, or we both would have perished."
B'Elanna
stumbled slightly. 'That sounded suspiciously like dry humor to
me, very dry, but humor all the same.' "Well, I'll admit,
that's true and I owe you a debt for saving my skin. And I always
honor my debts."
Seven
was on the verge of saying that B'Elanna owed her nothing, but some
unknown instinct caused her to reconsider and accept the debt. Out of
curiosity, she asked, "Is your honor that of a Klingon?"
B'Elanna
sucked in her breath. She had never really thought about herself as
truly being Klingon. She felt an outsider to both races. What was
she? Both? Neither? One or the other? She always tried to be Human,
as that was the culture that first influenced her, and the one she
understood the best. However, Humans saw her as a Klingon. Her mother
wanted her to be Klingon. But her mother's people saw her as weak and
Human. Sometimes, she felt both were pulling her apart. She often
thought of a new twist to the Bible story of King Solomon her Nana
Torres read her. Her Klingon mother and Human father stood before
King Solomon fighting over who should have her. Neither conceded and
Solomon cleaved her in half. Then her two halves lay in the dust and
both parents turned from her saying, she is not mine, you may have
her.
She
only knew one honor. "It is B'Elanna Torres honor."
x
x
x
It
was early dawn when the two tired travelers reached the first strand
of tall willowy palms whose trunks slightly curved and reached at
least twelve to thirty feet high. There was actually a small breeze
caressing the fronds topping each tree. A few yards ahead stood more
of the graceful palms as well as lower squat palms only eight to
twelve feet high with clusters of ovoid yellow fruit. B'Elanna
examined one of the 3 inch fruits. "This fruit is much like the
ones the Pendo Palm produces. It will ripen to a deep orange and is
sweet if somewhat stringy."
As
the sky brightened, the sounds of birds were heralding the sunrise.
Seven took in the plant growth and said, "I believe this area to
be what is termed as an oasis."
"I
think you're right. It sure looks to be bigger than I thought. My
nose tells me the water is in the area of the thickest growth."
Seven
was already using her tricorder to scan the area. "My readings
show an area of intense H2O concentration 80 yards in the area your
olfactory organ indicates. You possess superior olfactory
functioning, B'Elanna."
"Is
that a compliment, Seven?"
"It
is a fact."
B'Elanna
smiled and answered in a teasing voice, "Thanks, Seven. Nice to
know I have something to impress a Borg."
"You
have many attributes that are impressive, B'Elanna."
B'Elanna's
eyebrows rose at that comment. 'Attributes? Hmmm, and just what
kind of attributes are you referring to? Gee, Torres, get your mind
back on track. Seven did not mean it like that. It's been months. I
need to run an x-rated holo-adventure when we get back on Voyager.
'Vulcan Love Slave' Yup, that's the cure.' She cleared her throat
and said, "That's me, a woman of many talents." 'Maybe I
can demonstrate a few... stop it, stop it, stop it.'
"Voyager's
Collective would agree with that assessment."
B'Elanna
attempted to divert her thoughts to her surroundings. "Hey, look
at those grasses over there, they're standing in water."
B'Elanna walked quickly to the edge of a large area of waist high
grasses, their tops crowned by a ball of small brown seeds. Her shoes
squashed down in soft mud. Not caring, she walked to a spot ankle
deep and quickly bent down to scoop up the cool liquid and jumped as
she was startled by birds flying from the reeds. “Geez!”.
She dipped her cupped hand into the water once again.
Seven
was right behind her scanning the water. "Do not consume it. It
contains organisms and microbes that may be harmful. We shall
sterilize it before consuming."
B'Elanna
splashed the water on her face. "We'll move on further up the
bank and see if there's a better spot. This water is cold enough that
I believe it comes from a spring. I can hold my thirst for a while
longer."
The
sun was now up and blazed orange on the eastern horizon and casting a
golden glow over the area. Three green and brown reptiles, resembling
iguanas, and ranging from a foot to three feet in length, scurried
from the water's edge and up a nearby tree trunk.
B’Elanna
quickly moved her hand to her phaser but realized they were harmless
and said, "Hey, fellows, what's the hurry, why don't you stay
for...lunch?"
"B'Elanna,
I do not believe them to be sentient. Therefore, they are incapable
of understanding your invitation."
"I
don't know, Seven. They may be baby Gorns."
"Perhaps
you are correct. I will search my eidetic memory for information on
their dietary requirements, if they decide to accept your
invitation."
This
caused B'Elanna to laugh. Seven really did have a sense of humor. “I
was thinking that they could meet ‘our’ dietary
requirements.”
Seven
raised her left implant in surprise and B’Elanna snickered and
said, “Starfleet survival course 101. Learn to utilize all
natural resources for survival. That includes consuming what is
edible.”
Seven
nodded once and replied, “Logical.”
The
heat from the sun caused patches of steam to rise from the water's
edge. The grasses thinned out and fringed the water's edge around a
crystal clear pool. It was some 60 feet across and 80 feet long. The
water was clear and showed a pale ivory sandy bottom, slopping to an
area that apparently was a drop off, where a small amount of
disturbance showed on the surface, indicating a spring.
"Oh
Gods, Seven, tell me this is at least safe to bathe in."
"Tricorder
readings show it to be free of harmful organisms and microbes. Our
inoculations will protect us from any detrimental effects should we
consume it."
"Hot
damn!" B'Elanna exclaimed, already in the process of stepping
out of her suit, and leaving it in a crumpled pile on the shore. Clad
only in her blue tank top and black athletic pants, she ran out into
the pool and opened her arms wide, falling full length into the clear
water. "Eeeeh, damn this is freezing." She stayed in and
immersed her head, drinking long swigs of water. Then lifting her
head up, she pulled herself up in a sitting position in the water
with her legs in front of her, and the water up to just below her
breasts. "Come on, Seven, shed that suit and jump in, the
water's great."
Seven
stood with her hands clasped behind her back, head tilted, staring at
B'Elanna. She noticed how the Klingon's wet tank top clung to the
roundness of her breasts and revealed the protruding nipples. She
felt heat in her lower abdomen and seemed to be slightly short of
breath.
"What
are you waiting for? Your implants aren't going to rust you know."
Seven
drew her eyes quickly from the tableau before her and looked down. "I
have never been immersed in water. What is the purpose of immersing
one's body in a pool of water?"
"Well,
I'm rinsing all the sweat and grime off. Plus, it feels good. Haven't
you ever taken a hydro bath?"
"I
have not. I understand from Naomi Wildman that a tub is utilized in
which you use a cleansing agent to remove particles of dead skin and
grime from the body. She actually prefers this method to that of the
sonic shower as it allows her to perform an activity of play she
refers to as... floating her rubber duckies."
"Since
we have no sonic showers or bathtubs, this will have to do. And you
won't need a cleansing agent. You can rub the wet sand over the
really dirty areas of your skin. I would advise against using that
method to clean your hair, as sand is hard to rinse out. Oh. Sorry, I
didn't bring my rubber duckies with me."
Seven
knew that B'Elanna was being facetious with this last statement. She
doubted B'Elanna possessed any 'rubber duckies'. Seven looked at
B’Elanna, gave her a small smile, and said, “Indeed.
Unfortunate.”
B'Elanna
laughed and said, “Well, come on in anyway.”
Seven
removed the outer shoes, unzipped and stepped out of her suit, and
then bent to remove her velocity shoes, exposing a good amount of
cleavage at the top of her velocity top. B'Elanna caught herself
staring and looked away. 'What am I doing?' She returned her
gaze to Seven as the women stepped gingerly into the water and waded
toward her. Seven stopped until she stood about three feet from
B'Elanna: The water only reaching her knees.
Seven
frowned and said, "The water’s temperature is at 77.8
degrees. I believe any prolonged exposure would induce hypothermia.
Perhaps we should forgo our...bath... and heat the water in our
helmets for cleaning purposes."
B'Elanna
rolled her eyes. "That's not a very efficient method of bathing
without a sponge or washcloth. Believe me, Seven. If you immerse your
body, it will adapt to the lower temperature quickly and feel good.
We aren't going to get hypothermia. You'll see. Just throw yourself
in like I did. The shock of the cold only lasts a few seconds."
Seven
balked and said with a slight strain to her voice, "I have
intense feelings of apprehension and find that I am reluctant to
further immerse myself."
B‘Elanna
looked intensely at her and sighed dramatically. "Ok. I guess
I'm ready to get out now." She reached out her right hand to
Seven. "Here, pull me up." Seven leaned over to grasp
B'Elanna's hand only to find herself pulled off her feet and landing
face first into the cold water.
Seven
drew herself up and gasped, but then sat in the water and looked
balefully at B'Elanna, who looked back at her, laughing, and said,
"See, Seven. It's not so bad once you're all the way in."
"B'Elanna
Torres. This incident will be filed in my eidetic memory until such
time that I retrieve it to give me incentive to devise suitable
retribution."
B'Elanna
rolled her eyes skyward in a fake swoon and hugged her arms around
her chest, shivered and mockingly declared, "Ohhh. I'm scared."
Seven
tried not to smirk and replied, "You are prudent to be...scared.
I am Borg."
B'Elanna
barked out a short laugh and said, "Since when do Borg let such
superfluous emotions as revenge determine their actions?"
Seven
let her smirk show. "Since you deceived me."
x
x
x
A
short time later both women exited the water and sat on their
environmental suits in the sun. B'Elanna ran her fingers through her
hair and started bemoaning the fact that she had no comb and her hair
would snag up. Seven squeezed the water out of hair and didn't worry
about the consequences of it drying in disarray.
B’Elanna
decided to remove her clothing and let the sun dry them as well as
dry her body. B'Elanna had thought briefly of not removing her
clothes due to a sudden bout of shyness. 'We're going to be here a
while, and our clothes will have to come off to get them properly
clean. So, might as well do it.'
Seven
observed B’Elanna removing her clothing and stared in
fascination at what was revealed. ‘She is aesthetically
pleasing’ She felt heat infuse her and a quickening of her
breathing. ‘I am malfunctioning’.. She watched as
a nude B’Elanna walked over to a nearby palmetto bush and
spread her wet clothes out on the fronds.
B’Elanna
turned toward her and stopped, noticing Seven‘s intense
scrutiny. She felt herself blush, cleared her throat loudly, and
said, “Ah…Seven…”
Seven
focused her attention on B’Elanna’s face and quickly
realized that B’Elanna was displeased.
B’Elanna
said, “It’s not nice to stare at a person when they are
in a …state of undress.”
Seven
blinked in confusion and quickly accessed her eidetic memory.
‘Cultural taboos concerning nudity and sexual mores.’
Her mind quickly processed all known data that she had studied in
Voyager’s data bank, as well as some of the information the
Borg collective had assimilated. Her eyes widened in both surprise
and consternation when she realized that she had violated a major
cultural taboo of many humanoid cultures, including those of Humans
and Klingons.
Seven
quickly averted her gaze and felt a strong wave of heat infuse her
face. ’I am experiencing…’embarrassment.’
“I apologise. I…unknowingly have breached a cultural
taboo. It was not my intent to cause you…distress.”
B’Elanna
realized that Seven was being truthful. ‘I’m probably
the first person she’s ever seen a’ la natural.’
“Well…you might as well get used to it. We’ll be
here for a while and will have to take our clothes off to bathe and
wash them. Believe me, after a few times seeing a person in the buff,
the novelty wears off.” B’Elanna went over to her
environmental suit, which was in the shade of a palm, and stretched
out on it. She glanced at Seven and noticed that the young woman was
nervously looking any where but at her. ‘Geez, she’s
really rattled.’ “Uhmm, Seven. Don’t worry
about it. I realize this is probably all new to you. Just chalk it up
to a learning experience. Besides, you can’t avoid looking at
me every time I take my clothes off. Just don’t stare like I’m
some specimen under a microscope.”
Seven
glanced at her and looked away nervously. B’Elanna snorted and
said, “Okay, here‘s what we‘re gonna do. You remove
your clothing, put them over there with mine, come over here, stretch
out on your environmental suit, and dry yourself. Believe me, you
don’t want to go around wearing wet clothes all the time.
Besides, you’re Borg. Nudity should be irrelevant. Especially
in the situation we find ourselves in.” B’Elanna grinned
and added. “I promise I won’t stare at you.” ‘Peek
maybe.’
Seven
considered what B’Elanna said. ‘You are being
illogical. Nudity is irrelevant within the parameters of our current
situation.’ Somehow, Seven felt uneasy that B’Elanna
would see her remaining external implants…that she would find
them repulsive. Seven suddenly felt disgust at her concerns.
‘Irrelevant. I am Borg.’ She then began to remove
her clothing.
B'Elanna
tried not to peek. However, resistance was futile, and she stole
several glances, noticing the generous but firm breasts, with a
thin-banded implant curving along the bottom line of them and around
the ribs to the back. Two other thin bands girdled her hips and
dipped toward her apex. To B'Elanna, these implants accented Seven’s
breasts and small waist, and looked to her like adornments. Seven's
shapely hips and long legs were adorned by a few swirling areas of
mesh. 'Gods, she's beautiful. Those implants give her an exotic
look.' B'Elanna felt a sharp jolt of arousal. This was not the
first time she found herself aroused by the Borg. Those biosuits left
very little to the imagination. And, despite her now past animosity
toward the young woman, there had been a few times when she had had
decidedly erotic and arousing dreams about her. Especially, after she
had an antagonistic encounter with Seven. Usually, when Seven
encroached on her domain, which was Engineering, and would tell her,
not ask, but tell her she needed more power to Astrometrics. Or, she
would adjust Voyager's systems without permission. B'Elanna would
lose her cool, make threats, and chew her out, and not very nicely.
Seven would just look down her nose disdainfully at her and produce
some stuck up snotty sounding remark. This had made B'Elanna even
more rabid in her response. It really disturbed her to have these
dreams. She figured there must be some deep rooted psychological
meaning to the dreams other than sexual. She just didn't want to
explore the reasons and preferred to try to forget them.
Her
opinion of Seven was changing. She was actually starting to see her
in a more positive light. Seven had a different sense of humor, very
dry and subtle. You just had to listen closely and watch the subtle
change in her facial expressions to catch it. Seven had been there
for her. She would not have survived if Seven hadn't taken care of
her. There was a lot more to Seven than just an emotionless Borg
drone, of that, she was sure. B'Elanna was actually looking forward
to getting to know the young woman inside the Borg drone.
Seven
finished spreading her clothes out to dry, went over to her
environmental suit, and reclined on her stomach. She was keenly aware
of B'Elanna lying only three feet away. She could hear her
respiration and the subtle gurgles in her stomach, which gradually
were increasing in frequency and volume.
She
turned her head away from B'Elanna, but her eidetic memory brought
into sharp clarity the woman’s shapely and well toned body. The
first thought that came to her was that she would like to explore
that body…with all her senses. She eradicated that thought
immediately, knowing that B'Elanna would not be pleased and would
take offense, even though that particular activity would please Seven
immensely.
Seven
turned her focus back to the mundane. Soon, they would need to search
for compatible nutritional flora and fauna. She herself would need to
ingest solids in order to survive, something that she was not in the
custom of doing. Sleep was another requirement she would have to
accommodate herself to. Sleep. Yesterday's few hours of sleep had
been the result of exhaustion, heat, lack of hydration, and her
nanoprobes strained to the limit to maintain her functioning. She did
not think sleep would be easy to obtain now that she had adequate
rest and nutrients. Perhaps B'Elanna knew some method that would help
her achieve sleep.
About
thirty minutes later, Seven heard a loud and prolonged growl issuing
from the vicinity of B'Elanna's stomach. She immediately sat up and
gazed at the reclining woman‘s face, who had her eyes open.
"B'Elanna, I believe it is now required for us to immediately
search for compatible plant and fauna for our nutritional
consumption."
"You're
right. Our clothes should be dry enough now. Let's get dressed and go
and check out that grass in the shallow water. Tricorder readings
show the seeds to be edible. We can make a fire and boil the seeds in
our helmets. Maybe we can snag one of those iguana looking things. I
heard iguana taste like chicken. Later we can scout around for more
edibles. Maybe find some ripe dates. You know, you can actually make
a wine from Pendo dates."
"Alcohol
debilitates my cortical node. I easily become intoxicated."
B'Elanna
snorted and said, "Hell, Seven, that's the point of alcohol. If
you're not dancing on the table and starting a knock down drag out in
the joint, then it's pig swill."
Seven
stared at B'Elanna with a quizzical look on her face. It was obvious
to the engineer that Seven didn't have a clue to what she just said.
B'Elanna sighed. "You know, making wine isn't such a good idea.
We don't have the equipment and it would take time. We'll just stick
to water and date juice."
x
x
x
The
sun was overhead and both women sought shelter under a stand of palms
60 feet from the water. The first order of business was to gather
fuel for a fire. Close by, they found dried fallen palm leaves, and
what appeared to be the dried dung of an herbivore, which would burn
nicely. The large sized patty indicated an animal the size of an
earthen milk cow.
They
dug out a shallow three foot diameter fire pit. Their shovels were
the woody boat shaped pods that had once held the flowering stage of
the date clusters. Seven started a fire by igniting the fuel with her
phaser. B'Elanna had filled one helmet half full of the wild grass
seed, which she termed wild rice. They had also found several of the
long white tubers, which B’Elanna named water chestnuts. She
set the helmet in the fire. Seven had brought their environmental
suits over and they sat on them while waiting for their meal to be
ready.
B'Elanna
watched the fire. "You know, when I was in the Maquis we had to
sometimes live off the land like this while on a mission. Sometimes,
we had to eat our food raw, as a fire would have drawn the Cardies
right to us."
Seven's
interest was piqued. "What were your reasons for joining the
Maquis?"
B‘Elanna
was quiet for a few seconds, her sight focused on the fire as if she
were drawing memory from the flickering flames and reasons from the
winding smoke. "Er…, many reasons. It was right after I
left Starfleet. I signed on to a cargo ship as the Engineer. Little
did I know when I signed on, that the ship was running weapons to the
Maquis. A Cardie Man of War intercepted our ship and demanded our
surrender. Believe me, I was prepared to die rather than let those
evil bastards capture me. My crewmates felt the same way. We were
about to set the ship to self-destruct when Chakotay showed up in his
ship and crippled the Man of War. I decided to throw my lot in with
him, especially, after hearing the eyewitness accounts of the rape
and torture of children and murder of civilians in Cardie
concentration camps. We had a Bajoran on our ship who managed to
escape one of their camps. Tuls Riad. He had that look about him that
you learn to recognize as fanatical. He could think of nothing, or
talk of nothing, except killing Cardies. He had seen his own children
and wife raped before his eyes and then murdered. I had no other
plans and decided to do something worthwhile with my life…to
free as many prisoners as I could and kill as many Cardies as I
could. So I joined the Maquis and did both."
Seven
was quiet for a minute, keeping her eyes on the makeshift pot that
was starting to boil. "Do you...feel remorse that you...killed?"
B'Elanna
looked closely at Seven, noticing how young she looked with her blond
hair hanging loose and tangled around her shoulders. Seven‘s
eyes not meeting hers, as if she were shy. She was child like in her
obvious unease at having asked the question. B'Elanna hesitated. She
never revealed that dark part of her soul. She remembered Seven also
had her 'dark part' and decided to be honest.
She
instinctively knew Seven wouldn't repeat to anyone what she was about
to tell her. "No. I never feel guilt, shame or remorse. When I
killed my first Cardie, I felt cheated because it had been such an
easy thing. I got him from behind, and killed him quickly. I really
wanted to face him in battle and beat him face to face. I wanted him
cowering at my feet and begging for his stinking life, knowing that
he was going to die for what he had done to the families of many of
my Maquis comrades. This was the first time I felt battle lust, or
blood lust, and I wanted to feel it again, and did many times. I
relished facing them in one on one combat and killing them. It was
even better to know that they knew they were going to die. The look
in their eyes, knowing that there would be no mercy: To give them
that same 'mercy' they had shown innocent men, women and children. I
enjoyed taunting them, of laughing in their faces. I enjoyed every
second of it. This was the only time I truly felt what it meant to be
Klingon. I have turned away from much that is Klingon, yet my blood
boils |