Chapter 5 added on 11 July 2000
Disclaimers are in part 1.
Rating: R
"Okay, Carey. What in the world did I ever do to you to deserve this?" The lieutenant had barged into her former office, waving the data padd in her hand dangerously.
"Good morning to you too, B'Elanna."
B'Elanna paused, remembering a time when she had bloodied the poor man's nose. But she knew they had patched things up a long time ago. She smiled sheepishly.
"Sorry. Morning." She let out an audible sigh. "You put me...and Seven...alone...in a shuttle together," she emphasized the last part.
"So?"
Her eyes widened in shock. Carey chuckled from having too much fun at the lieutenant's expense.
"Look, you're the expert at dilithium extraction. I need you out there. And Seven needs the experience."
"Harry and I can do the job quicker," she reasoned.
"Yeah, but he and Nicoletti are already paired with other team members. I need the experienced paired with the inexperienced. Besides, Seven didn't seem to have a problem with it," he mentioned.
B'Elanna raised her hands in mock surrender. "Alright. I'll just...deactivate the airlock doors before we leave the ship...."
~~~~~~~~
Seven of Nine had been waiting in the Shuttle Bay for fifteen minutes before Lt. Torres showed up. Dressed crisply in her brown biosuit, the ex-drone had set aside extra time to prepare herself and the shuttle for the away mission. The lieutenant tossed Seven a case full of equipment, which she caught without trouble.
"Let's go," B'Elanna told her curtly as she slipped past the Borg into the narrow aft section.
Seven quirked her brow in mischief, and followed the half-Klingon into the small craft, storing the case along the way. She favored the Class 2 shuttle for this away mission because it allowed two individuals at the conn to sit next to each other. Lt. Torres preferred to control the helm, but that was alright because Seven preferred to observe her.
B'Elanna noticed, with her keen senses, even while tapping in course adjustments. "You're staring at me."
"Yes," admitted the ever honest blonde, while monitoring the sensors.
"Why?" She sounded irritable, but it had been a bad day yesterday.
"To determine your attractiveness, " replied Seven, without missing a beat.
B'Elanna rolled her eyes. "Well, sorry to disappoint. I'm pretty unattractive for a Klingon. I'm too short and thin for a warrior, and my brow ridges are flat."
Seven disagreed, "Actually, I have done extensive research on what Klingons find attractive in mates. Though your brow ridges are less prominent than a full Klingon female, your ridge pattern is considered very elegant, and is a feature of many women pictured in popular-culture Klingon holozines. And anyone associated with you would hardly find you small, Lieutenant."
Seven said this with an entirely straight face, while the look B'Elanna gave her was absolutely priceless, a mixture of astonishment and embarrassment. B'Elanna looked away so Seven wouldn't see her blush from the roots of her hair to her fingertips. Recovering, she wondered why in the universe would Seven research this stuff if she was the only Klingon on board Voyager. She shook her head to dispel the disquieting thoughts.
"Lieutenant," the ex-drone inquired, "why did you allow Captain Janeway to proceed with Lt. Carey's plan?"
"Carey is the Chief of Engineering, and he felt that was the right course of action," answered B'Elanna neutrally, punching in the new coordinates.
Seven of Nine quirked her brow. "Even though it could have cost the lives of the crew."
"We're alive aren't we."
"As a matter of coincidence."
"We don't know that for sure. Just drop it, okay, Seven," B'Elanna requested decisively.
Seven looked down at her hands in confusion. "I do not have any object to let go of?"
"I mean I don't want to talk about it."
"You refrain from expressing your personal thoughts frequently. Do you not find it uncomfortable?"
"I shoot my mouth off enough about other things."
"I would not betray your confidence," Seven said quietly.
B'Elanna paused briefly but did not answer Seven, nor spare her a glance, before returning to piloting the helm. Seven resumed her duties as well, since there was nothing left to say. A few minutes later, the mutual silence was broken by the computer, announcing they had arrived at the designated sector.
"I'm heading for the nearest planet, class L. Setting up orbit in two minutes," informed B'Elanna.
"The planet appears to be uninhabited by humanoid life. Only dense vegetation with unsophisticated life forms," noted Seven from her scans.
"Huh, maybe Neelix would like a few specimens for his next menu," joked B'Elanna, in an attempt to diffuse the tension.
"I could always forgo the ingestion of organic sustenance, in the event," quipped Seven.
For the first time today, she saw B'Elanna crack a smile. It was such a pleasing sight that Seven felt her heart's pace quicken. B'Elanna ordered the engines to a halt, enabling the shuttle to drift in orbit around the unspoiled planet.
"We're in orbit."
"I will begin scanning for the dilithium."
Seven turned to her long-range sensors, and calibrated them to search the subterranean surface for dilithium crystals. B'Elanna readied the transporters, and went to the aft to retrieve the geological equipment.
"I have located a large vein of dilithium. Beaming a sample on board," the ex-drone informed.
"Got it. I'm scanning for impurities."
B'Elanna retrieved the large chunk of dilithium with a pair of tongs and placed it under the sensor hood at the science station. She also took a piece, and ran it through a series of chemical conversion tests.
"Sixty-six percent dilithium. Adequate, but too much impurity for my taste. It might take too long to purify back on the ship for the amount that Voyager needs," B'Elanna said, as she walked back to her seat. "Let's survey a few more samples elsewhere."
"Acknowledged. Scanning for other deposits in the southern continent."
A blip on her conn panel informed B'Elanna there was a ship approaching fast, coming in from the stern. But before she could complete hailing them, it opened fire on their shuttle. The jolts knocked the two women around. B'Elanna broke orbit, not bothering to stick around for a replay of yesterday's physical activity. She tried hailing again but the alien ship would not respond. The vessel was twice the size of their Class 2 shuttle, and looked more bulky than sleek, with a dark angular appearance.
"Why are they attacking us?" asked Seven, as she reinforced the shields.
"I don't know. Maybe claim jumpers. Fire phasers, see if that backs them off," ordered B'Elanna.
Seven reserved her questions for later, and aimed for the vessel's weapons and propulsion. She scored several hits but their weapons remained undamaged, and the vessel continued to pursue. Their shuttle was maneuverable but the spatial charges were damaging their secondary systems. B'Elanna sent out a distress call to Voyager and laid in a course for a nearby asteroid field.
"Lieutenant, I hope you do not intend to pilot us through that?" Seven obviously wanted a negative answer.
B'Elanna would have enjoyed teasing the Borg's discomfort except she was worried herself. It was easy watching Tom fly shuttles. Her skills were a different matter.
"Hold on," was the only thing she could say.
Steadily, they weaved their way around the large masses of rock. The alien vessel seemed to have a more difficult time, their flying pattern unstable. Seven must have damaged their propulsions more than she thought originally. They turned the corner around another rock only to find more waiting directly in their path. B'Elanna reversed the thrusters and pulled the shuttle upwards, barely clearing the asteroid, but the shuttle's bottom scraped against an edge leaving a piece of the hull plating behind.
"Whoops. Well, I've had enough. Let's get out of here," B'Elanna remarked, glancing over to the ex-drone, as she veered the shuttle the shortest distance vertically out of the vicinity.
Seven appeared unamused by the whole experience. If looks could kill... "The alien vessel has sustained heavy damage to its hull. Apparently, they were not as successful navigating through the asteroid belt."
"They're firing torpedoes, but they're way off," B'Elanna reported.
The lieutenant took the shuttle in a sharp break as the torpedoes sped past them far off to starboard. However, the torpedoes then turned back heading towards them and exploded 20 meters ahead of their flight path. Normally, B'Elanna would have passed right on through, but instead something inside her made her try another hard break to port.
"The torpedoes have created a massive electromagnetic pulse!" shouted Seven.
It was too late. The wave struck the shuttle on the starboard side, washing over the ship's systems, causing a chain of failures that traveled from one circuit to the next. The computer consoles in the aft section were blowing up one at a time as the EMP passed through.
"Attempting to counter the EMP!" B'Elanna yelled, forcing her hands to touch the console, receiving multiple shocks in the process.
"It's working, but it is also creating a feedback surge!" noted Seven.
"Navigation is damaged! Laying in a course for a class M planet, 5000 km ahead."
Seven stumbled over to the EPS conduits, while the shuttle shook as the inertial dampers failed. She removed the access panels, and began tearing out the non-essential conduits, trying to interrupt the EMP's pathway. They were shooting through the thermosphere, with little helm control and structural temperatures rising. B'Elanna searched for a flat surface to land on, amid the dry rocky terrain.
"Seven, what are you doing?!" B'Elanna demanded from the helm.
"I'm attempting to stop the feedback surge!" she explained.
"Get away from there! You're going to get fried!"
"I must stop the surge, or we will lose navigation!" Seven refused.
B'Elanna swore a string of curses, before she turned to hear the worst sound she would ever hear for the rest of her life, a scream of pain erupting from Seven when the EM surge traveled through her Borg-enhanced hand. Seven was unconscious when she was thrown to the floor as the shuttle hit turbulence. B'Elanna was forced to stay at the helm, piloting the shuttle as it tore through the skyscape, watching the yellow-orange land approach faster and faster. She pried a broken panel fragment away from the landing controls, and punched the descent thrusters. It was the last thing she remembered doing before her face hit the console.
To be continued....