Part 4 added on 15 Jan 2001
Disclaimers are in part 1.
Rating: PG13
Naomi woke up to her fifth day of imprisonment. Her stomach growled ravenously, reminding her that she hadn't been fed since she had been captured. A small hose snaked into her cage, from which she could drink and wash. A bucket sat in the corner that she realized quickly, much to her horror, was to be her only bathroom facilities.
She hadn't made any noise since coming here, afraid of what was waiting for her in the dark. She used the bucket, then filled it with water from the hose and dumped it through a small grate in the floor. She hosed out the bucket some more and dumped that water, too. It had become a routine, to keep her mind off her isolation. She had developed many routines.
After the bucket was clean, she washed her hands with the hose, then drank from it. She searched every inch of the cage for any way out, any loose links and, as usual, found none. She looked for anything that might contain food and again, it was a fruitless search.
But still, everyday, she maintained her routine.
Next, she began reciting her alphabets. Terran, Katarian, and finally Vulcan. She liked the sound of the Vulcan alphabet and had asked her mother to teach it to her after hearing only part of it once. She had enlisted Lt. Tuvok to help her with pronunciation. He had said she did an acceptable job. Her mom assured her that this was high praise.
Each one she recited in her head, whispering them out loud, stumbling over the thirty-seventh letter of the Katarian alphabet every time. She drew the letters on the ground in front of her with her finger, erasing the invisible marks with her thumb. Once this ritual was complete, she began her next and favorite: fantasizing about how she would be rescued.
And on her day went. Never did she hear from the bug people who kept her locked in the cold cage while her nose ran from a cold she had caught and her stomach growled for the food she was missing. Her eyes began adjusting to the dark she seemed permanently thrown into and her ears strained for even the slightest sound. But alone she was, and lonely, too.
Perhaps that's why she deviated from her routine that evening or morning or whenever it was--time being so hard to tell in a place that never got lighter or darker. One thing that she had noticed about her cage was that it was suspended above the ground. Now, she didn't know how high it was, only that it was held up in the middle so that the cage tilted whenever she moved from one side to the other.
She began thinking that maybe if the cage fell, it would land with enough force to open the door or crack enough links for her to squeeze through. What she would do when out, she had no idea. She tried not to think about what would happen if the cage were so high off the ground that the roof would collapse and squash her if it fell. But one fear that lay heavily on her mind was that the ground below her might be full of water and when she landed, the cage would fill up and she would drown. Certainly the room sounded like it was full of water.
Naomi decided to chance it. She walked up to the wall of the cage and began climbing. Once she reached the ceiling, she jumped off and braced herself for impact. She landed hard, but as soon as she landed, she began jumping up and down as hard as she could. The rusty clang and squeak of chains greeted her efforts and began echoing, revealing that her room might be a lot bigger than she had thought.
"Hello? Who is out there and why are you making so much noise?" Naomi froze at the sound of another little girl's voice. After a moment, it was joined with the sounds of at least half a dozen other little girls' voices. Over the din, the first girl's voice rose in a tone that was very familiar to Naomi. "This is unproductive! Only one girl should speak at a time! Otherwise, none of us shall be heard! The girl making the racket, if you are a girl, should speak first since I spoke to her first."
In the silence, Naomi almost couldn't find her voice. But she forced one choked, hopeful word out: "Mezoti?"
~~~~~~~~~~~
Seven had a small room in the corner of Cargo Bay Two that the captain had suggested she store personal items in. She had taken that suggestion. She was rifling through those items this morning, trying to sort out feelings that had been waking her up at night. Her personal items were few, but they were very personal.
She kept her favorite tools in here as well as a few things that the children had left behind. There was the clay sculpture that Mezoti had made of her, so flawed and childish--it was her most precious possession, though none on Voyager knew that she had it. A couple of almost identical drawings by Azan and Rebi were hung, side by side on the otherwise bare gray walls.
The Borg influences were strong, but they brought a small smile to Seven's face, especially Azan's entitled, "Breaking Off From The Hive Mind," which depicted small geometrically shaped pods breaking off from a honeycomb in pairs and groups and a few by themselves. Rebi's seemed cluttered, but made from the same basic shapes, showing enlargements of sections and entitled, "Mechanics of Art."
The way the boys carefully wrote their names and titles below each piece showed the most individual personalities. Azan wrote thick and wide, while Rebi wrote a little more childishly and didn't put a 'hood' over his a's. Both styles were distinct and imperfect. Seven stared at the signatures as tears began to form in her eyes. She missed the children. She sifted through all the art they had given her, watching how their styles had developed. How Mezoti never got the details quite right, how Rebi's pieces always seemed cluttered.
Then she came to Naomi's pile. It wasn't very big, just a few drawings that she had done with the borg children, only a few more recent than that. But she noticed how much talent Naomi had. She drew whatever she saw and she drew it very well. One piece in particular caught her attention. It was of Arynlliana and done in oil-based paint--Naomi's favorite medium.
Seven felt the tears well up in her eyes and threaten to fall and she dropped the pictures back into the storage crate she kept them in. If anything, she was now more determined than ever to rescue Naomi Wildman, whom she would always remember as being the first person on Voyager to seek out and gain her friendship. She would not fail.
~~~~~~~~~~~
Seven girls. Seven stories, all ending in the same place--this Ssckerellon prison. From there on in, all the stories were the same. Huddling in the dark with no food or people, just a hose and a bucket. But now that the voices had been freed, it was like a dam breaking. The voices echoed off the walls to mix into an unintelligible din. Naomi and Mezoti struggled to separate their conversation from the rest.
"So what happened to the twins?" Naomi asked.
"I do not know. It appears that only female children have been abducted."
"Either that, or they're hiding the boys somewhere else."
"That is plausible." Naomi's eyes were closed to help her concentrate and her head leaned against the wire mesh. She was beginning to lose the initial excitement of finding not only other people, but also her best friend in favor of the depression of their collective situation.
"You haven't changed at all, have you?"
"I suppose not. But it has been only seven months and four days since I left Voyager. You do not sound different, either."
"Do you know what happened to your, er, foster parents?"
"They were killed," came the soft reply.
"I'm sorry." Naomi opened her eyes and examined her hands. Neither she nor Mezoti spoke for a while. Naomi let herself be lulled by the dull roar of voices when suddenly she heard the hiss of a door opening. All the voices in the room stopped.
"Larvae," called a guttural voice. Naomi flinched at the word and made a face at the images it invoked. "I bring food." Immediately, the voices in the room began to crescendo with cries of hunger and calls for food. Naomi watched as the grate in the floor opened and a dull green sack appeared. A moment later the grate closed.
Naomi examined the contents. There was a loaf of bread, a few roots and leaves, dried and salted meat and a sculpture of pure sugar in the shape of a leaf.
"Why?" Naomi heard Mezoti ask. "Why now? Why are we being fed now?"
"For passing a test."
"What test?"
"Discovering each other."
"How were we to know that we were being tested?"
"That is not our concern. You will only be fed for passing tests."
"Will we be told that we are being tested?"
"No."
"That is illogical. How are we supposed to pass tests that we don't know exist?" A hissing laugh was the only reply. Naomi glared at her food.
"You call this food? This is supposed to make up for starving us?" Naomi's heart raced at her own boldness.
"You will eat it."
"And if we don't?"
"Then you will die."
"We have various nutritional needs. Not all of them are met with what you have provided us," Mezoti chimed in.
"We will tell you what you need. Meanwhile, you will eat what is given to you or you will starve." With that, the nameless Ssckerellon left. Naomi bit into a root and immediately bit into the sugar to get the bitterness out of her mouth. She sighed and tried the bread. It was edible and she set about trying to figure out how to make a root sandwich with sugar sculpture. She just hoped that she could keep it down.
~~~~~~~~~~~
B'Elanna stared at the doors to Cargo Bay Two. She held a bouquet of roses in one hand and a gift in the other. The wrapping paper glittered silver and blue while the bow just sat all dark, contrasting velvet. Her hearts pounded hard against her chest and she growled at them, afraid that Seven would be able to hear their frantic rhythm.
She stepped into the Cargo Bay and froze. Seven was singing, abusive to her voice, her head thrown back in beatific abandon. Her hair was down and her eyes closed as she poured her heart into singing. B'Elanna almost dropped her gifts as her arms fell to her sides, forgotten. Seven was wearing B'Elanna's favorite biosuit. Though she'd never admit it, she felt that the blue made her look softer somehow, more real.
She listened to the words pouring out of the speakers and out of Seven, feeling her heart in her throat, her eyes aching from the beauty in front of her, from the anguish that poured out of the lush lips to her ears. She swallowed and listened:
"This is my place to hide from everything
This is my place and time for everything
None are made before their time
And now you know: this could never be justified
Now you know: I could never be satisfied
Now you know: you can't love me if I can hide
Now you know: that this little child is terrified!"
Seven moved her body in a way B'Elanna found entrancing. As the music pounded through her body B'Elanna found herself walking towards Seven. Seven turned her head to see B'Elanna and shock colored her features before she began pulling herself together. She snapped at the computer to end the music program and it immediately complied.
In the sudden silence, B'Elanna stood, unsure what to do or say. "Hello, B'Elanna."
"Hi." B'Elanna was still stunned by the picture forever burned into her brain of Seven in her moment of total abandon. Suddenly, she felt embarrassed. "Am I intruding?" she asked, afraid that Seven would ask her to leave.
"I was... engaging in recreation." B'Elanna smiled at the answer. Seven raised her borg eyebrow at B'Elanna's limp arms. "Who are the gift and flowers for?" B'Elanna immediately snapped her arms up and held out the gifts.
"Happy Birthday," she said quickly. Seven's eyes widened.
"How did you know?" Seven took the presents reverently.
"I just looked up a few things," she mumbled. "Um, the reason I--that is the flowers, uh..." Seven raised her eyebrow again as B'Elanna stammered. "Look," B'Elanna said, falling into a more forceful approach. "I wanted to know if you wanted to have dinner with me tonight."
"That requires flowers?" Seven asked, puzzled.
"No, um, the, uh, the flowers are a present, but for another reason than your birthday."
"I don't understand."
"I'm trying to ask you out!" B'Elanna blurted, then blushed. "Just forget it." She turned and tried to retreat from the room when Seven's voice stopped her.
"I would like that." B'Elanna stopped and turned around hopefully.
"Shall I come for you at nineteen-hundred hours then?" Seven smiled.
"I will be waiting."
"Great," B'Elanna smiled, then fled from the cargo bay. Seven set the roses down, then gently unwrapped the gift, stroking the bow and ribbon. She liked how soft they were. Perhaps she would replicate a dress out of similar material.
Inside was a portable device with two wires leading to small speakers. She read the card: 'For away missions and times when you just need music. I added a couple songs to help you think of me.' She looked at the display and scrolled through the selections she had for music. It was all of her favorite songs and a few that she didn't recognize.
She looked at the doors B'Elanna had just exited and smiled, clutching her new possession to her chest. "Thank you," she whispered.
~~~~~~~~~~~
Naomi covered her ears. One of the bug people had come into the room without saying anything. The girls had waited quietly for any indication of what was coming, but none of them had any idea. It had grabbed Mezoti. Tears ran down Naomi's cheeks and she added her screams with her friend's. She had no idea what was happening, only that it had said, "I have a test for you." Then Mezoti started screaming.
The screams eventually stopped, but Naomi's ears rung with them long afterwards. She called to Mezoti, but received no response. She started crying, then screaming at the Ssckerellon, "You ugly monsters!" It was the worst insult she could think of. "Why don't you pick on someone your own size?" Silence filled the room until Naomi heard her own grate being opened.
Terror began to grip her until she saw--Mezoti! "How did you get out?" Naomi hissed. Mezoti's eyes were haunted and her eyes swollen from crying. She lifted her arm and Naomi choked back a sob. Her hand was gone and two assimilation tubules writhed loosely from her wrist. "I thought the Borg couldn't assimilate the bug people?" Naomi whimpered.
"They can be assimilated through--" Mezoti stopped herself. "Don't think about it. We must escape."
"How? Where do we go?"
"The ground is not far down. Let us start with freeing the other girls, and move on from there." Naomi nodded.
"Are you going to be okay? Won't you bleed to death?"
"My nanoprobes have stopped the bleeding. If we get medical assistance in the next day or so, I may even be able to have my hand reattached." She indicated a pocket on her dress and Naomi saw a bloody bulge in it. She quickly looked away. "This species obviously has no set of morals as we know them. Most species would draw the line at harming children, but obviously, Species 1013 has no such line."
"Yeah, even the Hirogen didn't hunt me with the rest of the crew, they put me in the brig."
"Come on. We don't have a lot of time." Naomi followed Mezoti, hoping that Voyager would get there in time to save them all.
~~~~~~~~~~~
Janeway walked into Sickbay, wondering why the doctor had called her down. Voyager had only just resumed pursuing the Ssckerellon ship after nearly a week of preparing the ship for the upcoming battle. She hated that it required the ship to drift for six days while the deflector dish was made ready. God only knew what was happening to Naomi in that time.
As she entered she glanced around, trying to guess why she had been summoned. Her eyes rested on Aryn, her legs folded to the side of her as she sat on a biobed. She was humming softly and smiling, her eyes half closed. Janeway had two guesses as to what this was about and as the doctor approached her smiling, one of them became more solid in her mind.
"Yes, Doctor?"
"Actually, captain, I believe you should speak to Aryn yourself." Kathryn walked up to the crooning young woman and smiled. Arynlliana glowed back at her and Harry came into the room. He was grinning ear to ear and Kathryn couldn't stand the suspense any longer.
"Well, go on," she urged. Aryn leaned her head back against Harry's chest and closed her eyes.
"Captain, we'd like for you to marry us," Harry stated. Janeway lifted a brow and put her hands on her hips.
"Right here, in Sickbay?"
"No," Aryn crooned, still smiling and humming. "After we retrieve Naomi. After all, I should have a--flower girl."
"Then why did you call me down here?"
"We just couldn't wait, Captain," Harry said enthusiastically, "To share our news with you." He licked his lips and smiled at Aryn. "We're going to have a baby." Aryn nodded and lifted her shirt to show the slight swell that had begun. Kathryn smiled back as her suspicions were confirmed. But one thing nagged at the back of her mind.
"How?" This is when the doctor came in.
"Apparently, J'marel have the same number and a similar enough type of chromosomes as Humans, Vulcans and Betazoids that they can procreate with any of those species without genetic assistance. It's really quite fascinating, considering the physiological differences of all four species."
"You only have one stomach, I have four, for instance." Aryn said, then resumed humming quietly.
"Plus there's the fact that you're a unicorn," Harry teased Aryn lightly. Aryn laughed, letting more whinny into it than she normally had. Janeway smiled.
"Well then, as soon as we rescue Naomi, I guess there will be a wedding!"
~~~~~~~~~~~
Naomi, Mezoti and the other five girls all slunk through the halls of the Ssckerellon ship, silently sticking to the shadows. The shuttle bay loomed up ahead of them, if Mezoti had assimilated the information correctly and just beyond that was the second 'specimen chamber' that held the captive boys. There were only four of them.
That was their destination. The Ssckerellon kept no adults on this ship, they only studied children. At least, that was what the computer had listed as their ship's mission. Naomi much preferred 'boldly going where no one had gone before.'
Except when she was doing it almost by herself. They had armed themselves from a weapons locker that they had passed, but none of them knew how to shoot beyond 'point and press the trigger.'
The big doors loomed ahead of them and Naomi felt the butterflies in her stomach turn into wild targhs. Taking a deep breath, she assumed point and the doors opened in front of them. The hall was relatively bright, so the room they entered seemed pitch black to the seven girls.
"To the sides of the door, so it will shut," Mezoti commanded and the girls obeyed. The doors shut and a moment later a voice hissed out at them from the darkness.
"Who's there? You don't sound like an insect." Naomi didn't recognize the voice as belonging to Azan or Rebi, so she let whoever did recognize it, answer it.
"Serben? Is that you?"
"Melly? Sister?" The siblings found each other quickly and Naomi set out with two of the other girls, Senli and Ralla to free the other boys. Azan and Rebi were not in the group. Naomi glanced at Mezoti in the dark and saw the quiet anguish on her face.
"Maybe they hid from the bug people when they came." Mezoti looked at Naomi, a little hope filling her eyes.
"Perhaps." It was the most hopeful word Naomi had heard today and she briefly hugged her friend.
"Let's get out of here." Mezoti nodded and Naomi led them all back to the shuttle bay. Once there, they slipped inside to find two Ssckerellon engaged in some sort of game with a floating ball and headsets. Naomi felt her finger flit to the trigger of the blaster and she began shaking at the prospect of shooting the two monsters.
"Cease this activity." Mezoti commanded. The Ssckerellon stood and turned quickly to raise their weapons at the children. They froze in mid-motion when they saw seven blaster rifles aimed at various parts of their anatomies. "Drop your weapons." The Ssckerellon on the left had a scar down the side of his face. This was the bug that spoke.
"Why should we? Do you truly believe we will let you live after this?" It looked at Mezoti's rifle, which was balanced on the remains of her forearm and held with her right hand over the trigger. "Ah... the little Borg beast. Whatever has happened to your hand?" It growled, laughing at her.
Mezoti's eyes narrowed. "The same thing that I will do to you if you don't comply."
"Yeah," Naomi added. "Watch who you're calling a beast, bug." It laughed hissingly at Naomi's defense of Mezoti.
"You are but larval mammals. You are of no threat to us. Look at you, you can not even shoot us while you have the chance. You wait while your absence is undoubtedly being noted and a search team being formed. You will die before you can find the courage to shoot us." This time, both Ssckerellon laughed.
Naomi shot the one with the scar. She was horrified to see his body eaten up by the beam until he became nothing--not even dust on the floor. Her hands tried to start shaking, but she forced herself to be calm and point at the second bug. Its hide shifted from blue to more green and Naomi wondered if that meant it was scared.
"Now are you going to drop your weapon or do I have to shoot you, too?" Naomi's mind screamed, 'Don't make me do it! Please, I can't!' everything in her body rejected the thought of killing another living creature. She hoped that this one would do as it was told so she wouldn't have to kill again.
"Comply." Mezoti demanded. It shifted its gaze between them, then as Naomi started raising her rifle menacingly; it dropped its weapon. Within a few minutes, it had opened a shuttle for them and fled the bay. Mezoti held her wrist out towards the main control panel and a moment later she was sitting at the helm, instructing them to find seats.
Naomi sat in a chair made for something shaped completely different than she was and she wiggled uncomfortably. One of the boys sat near her and looked over at her. "How old are you?" he asked.
"I was born on stardate 49548.7," she answered simply. He looked confused.
"When was that?"
"Five years ago."
"You don't look five years old."
"My species ages at one and a half times the speed of most humanoids."
"Oh," he said. "What's your name?"
"Naomi."
"Mine's Gremmel. My friends call me Grem. I'm eight." Naomi looked at him, wondering why he was talking to her. Admittedly, he was the only boy who didn't have a sibling, but surely he'd prefer to talk to one of the other boys. His eyes were an odd grey-violet color and his eyebrows had ridges instead of hair. His hair was reddish-blond, not that far from her own color. And judging by his expression, he was terrified.
"It'll be okay, Grem. I'm sure my ship is right behind us. It won't take long to reach it and then we'll be safe."
"You're sure they'll be able to protect you? Even though the insects took you once already?" He looked doubtful.
"Yep. Voyager won't lose me twice. They'll make sure we're all safe."
"All of us?" His eyes widened. "Are you sure your captain will let us hide on his ship?"
"Of course she will. I promise and you can believe me, because I'm the captain's assistant." Grem's eyes grew huge in awe.
"No wonder you're so brave," he said, beginning to smile. "Thank you for saving us. I know you didn't have to."
"Yes, I did. It would have been wrong to leave you behind. I was only doing what was right." Naomi smiled back at him. "Don't be afraid, Voyager will help us." One of the other children who had been listening spoke up.
"You're lying. Why would a captain have a child as her assistant?" Naomi glared at the boy. He had pale, greenish skin and ridges from his lip to his hairline. A shock of white hair fell down into his angry amber eyes as he leaned forward to accuse her.
"Naomi Wildman does not lie. I used to live on Voyager with her," Mezoti defended quietly as she worked the controls to the blaster cannon on the shuttle. It fired and the bay doors exploded into space. The ship, which was no longer moored to the deck, was blown out into space with a few crates and all the oxygen and loose circuitry in the large room.
Mezoti allowed the ship to drift in the debris, finally firing thrusters to head towards an asteroid cluster to hide once the Ssckerellon ship blinked out of sight. Mezoti navigated one-handed towards a crater that was just large enough to hide the shuttle inside and inconspicuous enough for it to take anyone a while to find them.
The green-skinned boy returned to his earlier attack on Naomi. "Of what possible use can you be to a captain?" His sister glared at him, but he ignored her.
"I was the first child born on Voyager. I'm her assistant so I can learn to be a starfleet officer or captain when I grow up!" The boy looked startled at her answer.
"I suppose I believe you. But, what's Starfleet?"
"An organization dedicated to exploration and the protection of the United Federation of Planets," Mezoti answered easily.
"Where's this 'Federation of Planets'?"
"In the Alpha quadrant, where my parents come from," Naomi answered.
"Where's the 'alpha quadrant'?" Naomi sighed in exasperation. Didn't this boy know anything?
"The 'Alpha Quadrant' is the designation given by the Federation and surrounding empires for their quarter of the galaxy. It is approximately sixty thousand light years from here." Naomi was grateful for Mezoti's ability to explain things so well.
"Well, how did your ship get all the way out here?"
"It's a long story," Naomi said. Suddenly, all the kids gathered around her.
"Please tell us."
"We want to hear."
"I'm so bored!" Naomi was suddenly the center of attention and she began squirming. She had never really been comfortable around other children, always keeping the Vaadwaur children in mind with the way they had talked about Neelix. Yet still, as all the eager children's faces looked into hers and rescue being hours or even days away, she couldn't help spinning the tale of Voyager, the ship far from home.
~~~~~~~~~~~
On the bridge of the USS Voyager, Harry Kim picked up a distress signal originating from not far ahead, blinking a short message, then it stopped. It was only one burst, but he caught it and called out to the captain.
"What is it, Ensign?"
"I just picked up a distress call." The captain turned to look at him.
"Where from?"
"Dead ahead on our current course. We'll reach it in about three hours if I'm not mistaken."
"Is it a message?" Harry looked down at the small data in front of him. It would have been so easy to miss.
"I can't tell, captain, it's encoded. But it was only sent once and it's very small, like someone didn't want the wrong person picking it up."
"What kind of encoding is it?" Harry was already working on that. Suddenly, his head shot up and he looked, startled, at the captain.
"It's Borg."
"Borg?!" The captain rose from her seat. "Send it down to Icheb in Astrometrics, see if he can decode it."
"Yes, Ma'am." Harry pressed a few buttons on the console and the little message was sent to Astrometrics. Less than a minute later, Icheb hailed the bridge.
"Icheb to the bridge."
"Go ahead," Janeway answered.
"Where did you get this message?"
"It was just sent to us, what does it say?"
"It's just three letters, captain. S-O-S. Unless it's the Klingon word for mother, I do believe it stands for--"
"Save Our Ship," Kathryn finished.
"Yes. But captain, the Borg do not use code like this. It is... It reminds me of..."
"Yes? Go on."
"Before Mezoti left, she took a fascination in the old earth methods of code, especially Morse code. She knows the particular encoding used in this message."
"You're saying," Kathryn looked over at Chakotay, who cocked his head to the side, "That you think Mezoti might have sent this message?"
"That, captain, is exactly what I'm saying".
~~~~~~~~~~~
The dress was velvet black and soft, shining ever so slightly in the dim light of the cargo bay. Seven looked around at her space. It was hers again, Icheb having moved into his own quarters months before, shortly after he saved her life by nearly giving his own.
Now the room was too large, the extra alcoves dark and cold. Seven shook her head, trying to banish the unproductive thoughts and slipped out of her biosuit. She set the biosuit in the storage closet she used for her clothing. She took off her utilitarian Starfleet issue grey bra and set it in its place in the closet.
Seven walked back over to the dress that she had laid across a cargo crate and picked it up again. She had never worn just a dress. Usually, if she wore a dress, it was just another biosuit, fashioned to look like a dress, courtesy of the doctor. But this was a real dress, replicated for form over function and Seven was shy about putting it on.
She had replicated a bra to go with it, simple black silk with just a hint of lace. She put on the bra and resumed looking at the dress. After a few minutes of just stroking the material, she finally slipped it on. It glided down her body, soft and form-fitting. She smoothed out imaginary wrinkles and wished for a full-length mirror to view how she looked. But such a thing was not practical, so she didn't own one.
She never thought she would regret that. She walked over to the small mirror she allowed herself for styling her hair each day. She let her hair down from its usual style and watched it fall down over her shoulders. She picked up her hairbrush and brushed it until it shined, falling behind her shoulders and down her back in soft waves. She pulled back the front of it until she finally decided that it looked nice enough for a fist date.
Date--she was going on a date. With B'Elanna Torres. A shiver of excitement ran over her body and she quickly slipped on the comfortable black, low-heeled shoes. She returned to the mirror to check her hair once more when she heard a peculiar sound. The door chimed. She looked at it, unaware that it could do that, considering the fact that usually, no one asked her permission to enter, they just came in.
She rather liked the sound of the chime. Then the sound came again and she realized that she should give them permission to enter. "Enter," she called and the doors slid open. B'Elanna stood in a thin-strapped, crimson dress of a similar material to Seven's. Seven flashed briefly on running her hands down that dress, then felt herself blush slightly.
B'Elanna, for her part, didn't notice. While Seven was staring at what she considered the most beautiful person in the galaxy, B'Elanna was staring, in her mind, at the same person. And indeed, they were a pair. Seven's milky skin glowed in the tight black dress whose sleeves were only long enough to cover the implant on her right shoulder and the slit that ran up the left side flashed some beautiful leg when she moved towards B'Elanna.
B'Elanna's creamy caramel complexion was complemented by the dark crimson dress and Seven glanced down to see that the high heels she wore sculpted her calves gorgeously. Seven stepped up to B'Elanna and did what she had felt the urge to do on many occasions--she ran her fingers through the other woman's hair. B'Elanna closed her eyes at the caress, her lips parting slightly.
"Seven," she breathed.
"Yes?" Seven asked quietly. B'Elanna looked up into her eyes and smiled.
"Shall we?" B'Elanna held out her arm and Seven took it, smiling back.
~~~~~~~~~~~
It was bound to happen. Seven had mastered crying, its opposite was sure to follow. She felt the laughter bubbling up inside of her and suddenly it erupted. The bark of laughter startled and embarrassed Seven at once. B'Elanna was immediately grinning ear to ear as Seven blushed.
"What's wrong?" B'Elanna wrinkled her nose in concern and Seven had to smile again, the gesture was just too cute not to.
"My laugh is... loud." B'Elanna started laughing.
"Don't tell me about loud laughs. You should have heard the way this kid in my class at school laughed when we were fifteen. He defined the term 'braying laugh.' He really sounded like a donkey!" B'Elanna demonstrated the laugh for Seven, which completely broke down Seven's new resolve never to laugh again. This time her laughter wasn't as loud, if it was still as abrupt.
But Seven began growing a little uneasy as she remembered that Voyager was hurdling through space to rescue Naomi Wildman, who could not be laughing herself at this moment. Guilt overwhelmed her and she began to shake.
"What is it?" B'Elanna asked worriedly, pausing with her food halfway to her lips, the linguini noodles dangling, threatening to fall.
"I was thinking about Naomi Wildman." Seven looked at her own half-eaten food and wondered briefly if Naomi was eating anything, or if they were even feeding her. B'Elanna put her fork down.
"Listen to me, Seven." Seven looked up and obeyed the quiet command. "There is nothing you can do about Naomi right now." B'Elanna raised her hand to stop Seven from interrupting with some chore she could create to make herself feel useful. "No, you've already done your part, the most important part before rescuing her--making the rescue possible. Now it's up to the captain and pilot to get us there. When we get there, you will use the deflector to break her out. But until then, you have to think about what Naomi would want."
"She would want me to rescue her and not rest until she is safe on the ship."
"Not at your own expense, though. Naomi would be happy for you that you're learning to laugh, that you're actually trying to enjoy yourself. She's your friend and she would want you to be happy. I'm worried, too, but Seven, you have to learn to live or else there's no reason to go on."
"I am alive," Seven said, puzzled.
"There's more to living than just a functioning body. You have to feel alive. Borg drones are technically alive, but would you say that they're living? Did you feel like you were alive?" Seven thought seriously on the subject.
"No."
"Then learn to enjoy life now, make up for what was taken from you. When we get Naomi back," B'Elanna promised, stressing 'when,' "Then she'll be immensely happy to see that you missed her, but didn't stagnate because she was gone. I'm sure that Naomi would love to hear you laugh, to see you smile." B'Elanna smiled at her. "I can't think of anyone who couldn't." They sat in silence for a minute while it all sank in for Seven, then she smiled over at B'Elanna gratefully.
"Thank you." The evening went on, with laughter, silly stories, deep thoughts and a growing sense of newfound happiness for both women.
And so it came as a great disappointment when Seven realized that the time to regenerate was drawing near, because she found that she was actually having... fun. She froze with the glass of sparkling grape juice (that B'Elanna had replicated in respect for Seven's dislike of the effects synthehol had on her body) just below her lips. B'Elanna noticed and asked what was wrong.
"Nothing. I just had a realization." Seven set the glass down on the coffee table. "I am having fun." B'Elanna smiled at Seven, but her smile faded as Seven's eyes lowered to her lap.
"What?" B'Elanna leaned toward Seven, putting her hand on the other young woman's leg.
"I should return to my alcove to regenerate." B'Elanna's eyes fell as well. Her heart fluttered confusedly, wondering what she had done wrong.
"I suppose it is getting late." She looked down at her hands and began picking at an imaginary imperfection in her nail to hide her disappointment. Seven stood and she followed her to the door. At the last moment, Seven spun, her eyes wide and upset.
"I do not wish to leave," she proclaimed in a voice that sounded like a little girl begging her mother not to go anywhere without her. A voice that needed reassurance and love. B'Elanna immediately offered that reassurance as she gently put one hand on Seven's hip and guided the beautiful blonde back to her, meeting her descending lips halfway. She lost herself in the silk of Seven's lips, the warmth of her embrace, feeling calm and peacefully happy at first.
They moved back to the couch to explore each other's eyes, their lips and mouths. A passion began building and the heat of their bodies began rising with it. Seven's fingers began dancing lightly up and down B'Elanna's hand, moving upwards ever so slowly, until she had reached the shoulder that the half-Klingon's dress left so enticingly bare.
Seven sat back and trailed her hand gently around the creamy shoulder, down the warm, soft skin. B'Elanna licked her lips, her breath changing at the touch. Seven looked up and into B'Elanna's eyes and felt a thrill at the reaction she invoked. She leisurely stroked the reacting flesh of her arm, playing lightly, barely touching, rubbing strongly over the palm of B'Elanna's hand, bringing the Klingon to short panting breaths of need, while things low in her belly twitched and moved.
Seven's breath started matching pace as she saw what this gentle touch did to the fiery young woman next to her and her hand moved across the back of B'Elanna's neck to flick gently across the baby hairs at her nape. B'Elanna let out a small sound of pleasure that made Seven's pulse thunder in her ears. B'Elanna's hand clutched at the fabric over Seven's thigh, running her nails down it lightly. Seven released a breath she hadn't known she had been holding and her mouth made its way to B'Elanna's hungrily.
B'Elanna wrapped her arms around Seven's shoulders and swung herself in a position to straddle her. Caramel hands found their way through silken blonde hair, clutching it carefully as a pressure inside her began threatening to explode.
Seven felt new desires beginning, burning through her body like a seismic disturbance. She couldn't seem to catch her breath or hold B'Elanna close enough as her hands clutched at the soft back of the woman in her arms, bringing her as close as she could without hurting her. Something in her mind began warning her that things were happening too fast and she stopped.
She held B'Elanna a little away from her, gazing at her beautiful face, with eyes closed in bliss and lips slightly pursed and swollen. Her breathing still labored, she managed to express her desire not to move so quickly. B'Elanna let out a shaking breath and agreed, turning slightly and snuggling against Seven's chest, listening to the frantic beating of her heart.
To be continued....