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I am Borg – Part 1 - Chapter 6
By Kudara
Disclaimer: Star Trek Voyager and all who
sail in her belong to Paramount/Viacom and no infringement of
copyright/trade marks is intended.
Stardate: 52683
Rating: PG-13
Revision Date: 7/3/04; 7/09/07
Summary: Seven has her first Bat’leth lesson. Seven learns
more about how to interact with humans. B’Elanna has an
interesting discussion in the mess hall with Harry and Tom.
Seven begins to learn how to control her enhanced strength and
agility. Seven says goodbye to Analea and Kayaln.
Klingon:
jInepbe’ - I do not lie
jItojbe’ - I do not deceive
jIHoS - I am strong
wanI'mey vIqaSmoHbogh vIlaj – I
accept the events which I cause to happen
batIh jIvang - I act with honor.
MajQa’ – Very good or Well done.
********************************************************
Seven finished with the day’s exercise
protocol, the resistance belt had functioned perfectly. Even
when she had used her full strength the belt had provided enough
resistance that every repetition of an exercise had been
difficult to complete. Between her earlier emotional distress
and then the strenuous workout, she was feeling drained and
tired. Currently, she wanted nothing more than something to
eat, drink, and rest to regain her energy.
She walked back to her room and helped
herself to the juice and fruit available there, then laid down
on her bed. She wasn’t feeling particularly sleepy, and she
felt that continuing to dwell upon her death was illogical. To
distract herself from unwanted thoughts, she ran over her
Bat’leth moves in her head as she waited for her energy levels
to return to normal.
After an hour had passed, Seven felt
refreshed once again. She sat up, wondering when, or if, Kayaln
or Analea would arrive today. As she gazed out into the garden,
she saw Kayaln approaching along the path. The blonde swung her
feet off the bed and stood up, eagerly exiting her room.
Kayaln gave her a searching, intent look.
Then, as if discerning an answer to an unspoken question, she
nodded once sharply. “Anticipating your first Bat’leth lesson
are you?” she asked with a smile.
Seven had her suspicions as to why the
Mularan woman had nodded, but was relieved that the topic of
woman’s question was not her reaction to her newly acquired
memories. She quirked her lips slightly, returning the other
woman’s smile, “Yes, I am also curious to find out how I will be
trained.”
“As a matter of fact, so am I,” remarked
Kayaln, “why don’t we head over to the training area and find
out who awaits us.”
“Mulara gave you no indication?” asked the
ex-Borg curiously.
Kayaln replied, “Not this time, but then
sometimes Mulara likes to surprise people. I suspect this will
be one of those times.”
As they spoke the two women walked toward
the training area, when they approached the pavilion, they saw a
tall form awaiting them. As they got closer, it was clear that
the form belonged to what appeared to be a Klingon woman. A
weapons rack holding three Bat’leth’s was also a new addition to
the pavilion area.
The two women approached the Klingon who
stood with her arms at her side giving them both an intelligent
penetrating look as they approached. Her gaze rested longest on
Seven of Nine who straightened under her regard as they paused
in front of the woman. “I am M’ara,” said the Klingon woman, “I
understand you think you are worthy of learning how to fight
with the Bat’leth.”
Seven was uncertain how to respond to the
Klingon, it sounded as if the woman was challenging her.
Finally, she chose a cautious answer. “I desire to learn how to
fight with the Bat’leth.”
“Desire!” laughed the Klingon woman, “You
can desire many things. I am speaking of honor. Why should I
teach you how to fight with Kathless’s Sword, why are you worthy
of learning? You are not even Klingon, why don’t you choose to
learn how to fight with a sword or axe?”
“I want to learn how to fight with the
Bat’leth, not the sword or axe. If you did not want to teach me
how to use the Bat’leth, then it should not have been one of the
weapons that you taught me while I slept,” said Seven with a
decidedly arrogant tone, not backing down an inch from the
Klingon woman.
Kayaln had to resist chuckling over the
scene. The ex-Borg was certainly not lacking in courage or
maybe foolhardiness in this case, considering whom she probably
was confronting.
“Well you certainly are not lacking in
courage. But what of honor?” said M’ara.
“jInepbe’, jItojbe’, jIHoS,
wanI'mey vIqaSmoHbogh vIlaj, batIh jIvang,”
growled Seven.
“MajQa’!” laughed M’ara. “Let us
begin then with your kata’s then.” M’ara indicated the weapons
rack and waited for Seven to select a Bat’leth.
Seven paused for only a second, then walked
over and chose the uppermost Bat’leth. Carefully holding it
under her arm she walked over to a spot several feet away from
M’ara and began her kata’s.
In a few moments, M’ara said in disgust,
“Stop! You are not chopping down trees. If you want to chop
down things, take up the axe. The movement of the Bat’leth
should always be fluid, it should never stop, the end of one
motion should flow into the beginning of the next. Begin
again.”
Seven glanced for a moment at Kayaln
recognizing that she needed to move with the Bat’leth the same
way as she had learned the day before in unarmed training.
Taking a breath she paused for a moment to think of the Omega
molecule then began the first Bat’leth kata again.
M’ara watched her for a few minutes nodding
to herself then asked, “Can you clearly visualize the moves by
your opponent that you are countering?”
Seven considered the question for a moment
then shook her head, “No I cannot.”
M’ara nodded looking satisfied, “I thought
that might be the problem.” She turned and picked up a Bat’leth
then took up a position across from Seven. “Begin the first
kata again; I will demonstrate the opponent’s moves.”
Seven began again, and M’ara moved with
her, gracefully and powerfully demonstrating the counter moves.
The two of them worked through the afternoon, until they had
completed the final kata.
“Well done,” complimented M’ara after they
had finished, “Meet with me again tomorrow after you have
completed your exercises and we will continue your training.”
With that statement the Klingon woman
walked over to the weapon rack and hung her Bat’leth upon it,
she then disappeared in a golden shimmer of light.
Seven raised her ocular implant at this and
turned to Kayaln and stated, “My Bat’leth training appears to be
completed for today. Did you want to continue my unarmed
training at this time?”
Kayaln smiled, “Lets get a bite of
something to eat and drink first. I also want to go over a few
things with you before we begin your physical training. More
body language information,” Kayaln clarified seeing Seven’s
questioning look as they began walking back to Seven’s room.
Seven looked pensive, “Kayaln would you
relay a request to Voyager for me?”
“Quarters,” guessed Kayaln with a smile.
Seven was surprised, “Yes, a request for
quarters. I do not need to regenerate anymore. I will need a
place to sleep… the thought of sleeping in the Cargo Bay
is…unpleasant.”
“You need your privacy Seven; it’s
something you have the right to. You should have been given
quarters already…at least that’s my and Analea’s point of view.
In any case, Captain Janeway anticipated our request and you
have quarters on Deck 9 waiting for you,” said Kayaln.
Seven replied, “Thank you,” and graced
Kayaln with one of her rare full smiles.
“Your welcome,” replied Kayaln looking at
Seven and watching the minute play of emotions that were running
across her face. Kayaln realized that Seven was experiencing
several different emotions at the thought of having her own
quarters. “It’s quite a change isn’t it,” she stated.
Seven nodded thoughtfully, “I will adapt.”
*************************************************************
B’Elanna sat in the mess hall slowly eating
her dinner and studying the information High Priestess Analea
had given them about Seven. She and the Doctor had thoroughly
analyzed the information after the Captain and High Priestess
had left for the holodeck. Now B’Elanna was going over how the
bio-implants generated energy using chemical fission and fusion
reactions. She had a second padd that she was entering notes
into; her mind was germinating the idea for a chemical reactor
for Voyager’s use based upon Seven’s bio-implants.
The Federation had not intensively
researched chemical fusion and fission due to the fact that
other energy sources were available that were far simpler to
use. In the Delta Quadrant, however, resources such as
dilithium, were far more scarce and difficult for Voyager to
obtain. Seven’s new bio-implants were very sophisticated, and
the matter to energy conversion rate was very efficient. It
wasn’t as efficient as the warp engines matter anti-matter
energy conversion, but any type of matter that didn’t produce
dangerous waste products would work as fuel. The trick would be
to replace the end product, adenosine triphosphate, with
something that was compatible with the existing plasma grid.
The seating of Tom Parris and Harry Kim
across from her drew her attention from her reading. “Those the
new technical specifications for Seven?” Tom smirked. Harry
frowned slightly at his friend, he wasn’t pleased with the way
Paris spoke of Seven lately.
B’Elanna frowned, “What do you mean by
that, Paris.”
Tom rolled his eyes, “What’s up with you,
you’re the one who always called her a machine. Now she’s even
more of one.”
“And I was wrong,” replied B’Elanna
shortly.
“Hey, just because your feeling guilty
doesn’t mean your were wrong. She does act like a machine, all
efficiency and little emotion. As you’ve said, the perfect Borg
Ice Princess,” replied Tom trying to needle B’Elanna. After
all, he wasn’t the one who had made up most of the nicknames for
Seven. Where did B’Elanna get this self-righteous attitude from
all of a sudden. Her jealously was even the reason he had quit
being as friendly toward the ex-Borg, as the half-Klingon had
accused him of being attracted to the curvaceous blonde.
B’Elanna grimaced at the reminder of one of
the derogatory terms she had made up for Seven, “Why would she
want to show us whether or not she was hurt by what we said? I
wouldn’t if I were her. Did you know she can hear even better
than I can? She could before she died,” B’Elanna tapped the
data padd Analea had brought. “This information makes it clear
that the new implants provide the same auditory sensitivity as
the Borg implants did. I doubt that there was much that was
said in whispers around her that she didn’t hear, just like I
hear everything that’s said about me.” B’Elanna finished with
an angry look at Tom.
“I’ve never said anything about you
B’Elanna,” protested Tom.
Harry had been silent throughout the
exchange but now he spoke up, “But you’ve said several things
about Seven, and most of them were when she was near. What
B’Elanna’s saying is; why would Seven want to trust you enough
to show her emotions, you treat her like a friend to her face
but you talk about her behind her back.”
Tom turned to Harry with a betrayed
expression on his face, “What’s this, The Defend Seven club?”
B’Elanna stood up with her tray, “I treated
her dishonorably. I won’t allow you to sway me into doing so
again Tom so just change your attitude.” With that, she turned
and left a gaping Tom Paris and a pleased Harry Kim sitting at
the table.
**********************************************************
Kayaln finished off her piece of fruit and
looked thoughtfully at Seven, unsure of where to begin. A
raised ocular implant caused her to grin at the blond woman.
“Ok, body language lesson part 2,” said the Mularan. “Let’s
see…what did I leave out last time.” Kayaln paced around the
room some trying to order her thoughts. “Don’t imitate male
body language; men generally have a different way of holding
themselves than women.” Kayaln paced some more thinking. Seven
observed her curiously while she helped herself to another green
skinned fruit. “Don’t be too obvious about watching people if
you can help it, it makes people uncomfortable if they think you
are analyzing them, and yes I know you are examining them, just
try to be discrete about it.”
Kayaln paused a moment then continued,
“Everyone’s body language will be to some extent uniquely their
own. Most people learn their body language while they are still
children. Thus, they learn it mostly from their family, peers
and teachers. Your Chief Engineer for example will probably
have a unique body language; she would have learned Klingon
mannerisms from her mother and human ones from her father and
her peers. You will have to develop your own body language; a
personal ‘accent’ might be an accurate term. It will probably
be a blend of what you see others doing on Voyager.” Kayaln
looked inquisitively toward Seven and asked, “Do you have any
questions? Any thing you used to do that caused a reaction that
didn’t make sense to you?”
Seven considered the question, “Yes, I was
constantly asked to sit when others sat. Due to my abdominal
implant sitting was not comfortable, therefore I would decline
the request. It seemed to frequently cause an antagonistic
response; at the time I could see no reason why whether I sat or
stood should cause such a reaction, so I decided such reactions
were examples of human irrationality and thus irrelevant. I
wonder now if I was unknowingly saying something in this ‘body
language’ that caused the antagonism.”
Kayaln nodded, “You were, there are two
ways that your refusal to sit would probably be interpreted.
The first would be that you were intending to be rude, the
second that you were stating that you were of higher social rank
than the person inviting you to sit. It also could have been
interpreted as a bit of both.”
The ex-Borg stared pensively out the
window, “I did not mean to imply either of those. It was merely
uncomfortable for me to sit.” A flash of anger crossed the
blonde’s face and she said in a tight voice, “It would have been
more efficient if I had known of this ‘body language’ sooner. I
have offended several members of the crew, it is not surprising
that they dislike me and call me Ice Princess and Borg Queen.”
The Mularan woman put a comforting hand on
Seven’s arm attracting her attention, and said softly, “I think
you will find that your death and the finding at the Arch of
Judgment has caused several of you fellow crewmembers to
reevaluate who they thought you were. Many of them have decided
that they judged you unfairly, what they though was arrogance
was actually unfamiliarity with human customs. I think you will
find that several people are willing to start over. If you try
your best to adapt to your Collective, I think you will find
that you will develop several new friends.”
Kayaln looked at her student
compassionately. After a moment she continued, “Now about
whether or not it’s appropriate to sit or stand. You should sit
if you are invited to do so; if you are not invited to sit then
you should remain standing. Both of these actions show respect
for the other person. If you are in your office or quarters and
someone comes in it is polite to offer them a seat, unless of
course the amount of time you are planning on speaking to them
is less than a few minutes. If you plan on talking to them for
say over five minutes, and you don’t invite them to sit then you
are usually implying that you are displeased with them. Your
Captain when she is disciplining someone probably does not
invite them to sit, though she may sit herself,” Kayaln paused
with a questioning look.
Seven said, “Sometimes when she is angry
with me she invites me to sit, sometimes she does not.”
Kayaln nodded, “The times when she’s asked
you to sit, has she been angry over professional issues or more
personal issues.”
The blonde considered the question, trying
to decipher the difference between what Kayaln would consider
professional and personal. Finally, she replied, “Personal.”
Kayaln said, “That’s the difference then,
it’s fairly standard in military organizations to have a person
who’s being disciplined have to remain standing until their
superior is finished chastising them.” Kayaln sighed, “Most of
this will just take time to learn. One final thing about
sitting and standing, if you are not being disciplined, and you
wish to sit, but have not been invited, simply ask politely if
you may take a seat. Sometimes people simply forget, and in
your case they may have grown so use to you standing that they
don’t make the offer anymore.”
A silence ensued while both though over
what had been said, finally Kayaln asked, “Any other questions?”
Seven looked thoughtful for a few seconds,
“I can think of no other questions at this time.”
Kayaln smiled, “Well we have three more
days counting today before you are released back to Voyager. If
you think of any between now and then just ask either I or
Analea.”
Seven looked sharply at Kayaln, “Three days
until I return to Voyager…” The ex-Borg wasn’t entirely sure
what to feel about her return. She missed Astrometrics, and the
challenges that she faced almost every day on Voyager. She
missed the times when she and Lt. Torres were discussing new
engineering ideas or working against time to solve a problem.
She even missed their arguments. There was something about the
half-Klingon’s emotions that fascinated Seven, the Chief
Engineer showed what emotion she was currently feeling so
clearly that Seven found herself sometimes behaving irrationally
by intentionally doing things she knew would elicit strong
emotions from the woman.
Yet she also valued the peacefulness she
was experiencing in the inner temple. She enjoyed talking to
Analea and Kayaln. They always gave her calm, thoughtful
explanations and never seemed to get angry or irritated when she
did something that was incorrect. She was enjoying her training
more than she anticipated, the movements of the unarmed combat,
and the feel of the Bat’leth in her hands. She was used to
extending and exercising her brain, not her body, and the feel
of extending her physical strength and agility to her limits was
more satisfying than she had thought it would be.
“How will I continue my training when I
return to Voyager?” Seven asked.
Kayaln replied, “Mulara has already
prepared several holodeck programs for you to use, you don’t
have to worry about ending your training. I think you will find
the programs quite satisfactory.”
Seven tilted her head to the side,
revealing her surprise, “I am sure they will be sufficient,” she
finally responded.
The Mularan woman smiled, “I have no doubt
they will be, now what about some unarmed lessons?”
************************************************************
Seven’s remaining days went by quickly, she
did her exercise program in the morning, stopped for a quick
lunch then went to Bat’leth training. In the afternoon was
unarmed training, then dinner, and after dinner Kayaln gave her
various lessons.
The first night Kayaln brought a strange
device that looked somewhat like a wind chime, a metallic wire
frame supported several hanging four inch squares of some type
of whitish metal. Kayaln grinned at her as she brought it in,
hung it up, and then tapped one of the squares. Seven watched
as the square changed color from white to blue before it faded
again.
“Pressure sensitive coating,” said Kayaln,
“Its set for you to practice controlling your enhanced state
strength. Currently it’s set at it’s non-combat setting. Blue
means you haven’t damaged the skin, red means that you have
either bruised or broken the skin. If you change this setting,”
Kayaln showed her a small input area at the top of the
structure, “You can change it to combat conditions, at that
setting red means that you have used excessive force and
probably broken a bone or severely injured your opponent. I
want you to practice with both settings each day. It’s yours,
so take it with you to Voyager. If you need to use your
enhanced state to rescue someone, you don’t want to accidentally
hurt them while doing so. If you are subduing someone that is
hostile, then you don’t want to accidentally kill them. I think
your Captain and Security Officer would rather they were alive.”
Seven nodded, she did not necessarily agree
that hostile boarding parties should be captured alive, but she
knew it was preferred by Janeway and Tuvok. “How do I utilize
this device?” asked Seven.
“Touch each square as quickly as you can
without turning it red. Each time you practice change a
variable: stand close to it, stand far away, or change your
angle. It’s meant to teach you to gauge the speed and force
with which you interact with an object,” explained Kayaln. “Try
it out,” she encouraged.
Trying to touch the various squares that
seemed to move most erratically, without turning them red,
proved to be more difficult than Seven had anticipated at
first. She finally had to slow down her movements, and pay
close attention to how hard she touched each square before she
managed to touch all of them without turning them red.
The next night Kayaln told her about one of
the holodeck exercise programs that Mulara had sent to Voyager.
The program could replicate several different landscapes,
mountainous, forested, scrub covered flatland, and swampy
terrain were some of the choices. The program could be run
alone or with up to four others. If a group played, they could
either cooperate, or form two teams and play against each
other. The goal of the program was to start without any weapons
or supplies and make ones way through various guards and
obstacles to the mission objective. You could choose to disable
or kill the guards and take their supplies, or choose to try and
get by them without being detected.
Kayaln suggested that it might be a good
way for the blonde to interact with others in the crew. She
pointed out that Janeway, Chakotay, Tuvok and Lt. Torres would
likely be highly interested in playing through the program with
her. After Seven thought about the four people Kayaln mentioned
she agreed that Kayaln’s assessment was probably correct.
They spent the next few hours going over
the basics of moving silently, how to move without being
detected, how to observe your surroundings to spot others and
how to approach your target so that you could incapacitate or
kill them. Seven was not pleased with her progress after the
evenings practice, but Kayaln assured her that the program had
training routines built in; she could practice whenever she had
the time.
Seven’s final night upon Mulara was spent
much more sedately than the previous two, both Analea and Kayaln
came to walk with her around the garden. Their discussion
ranged over several topics as they discussed how Sevens training
was progressing. Analea related the events of her visit to
Voyager and assured Seven that she would like the paintings she
had put up in her quarters. Seven was not sure about some of
the paintings, but she was intensely curious to see the painting
of the Omega molecule.
“Seven, you are not going to loose contact
with us tomorrow. Mulara will keep in contact with you, and
through her us,” said Analea realizing that some of Seven’s
uneasiness was coming from the thought of never seeing her or
Kayaln again.
Seven turned and looked at each of them,
“Through dreams as she has before?”
“Yes,” replied Kayaln, “though I suspect
the dreams will be less like the lessons you have had previously
and more like what is happening now, a dream of a walk through
these gardens. That’s more like what my dreams are like when
Mulara talks to me, and I suspect that you may find your
holodeck instructors to be…more than what their program allows.”
Seven paused and seemed to absorb this
information, then nodded. “I…” Seven paused and looked at
Analea then at Kayaln, “It is comforting to know that I will be
allowed to contact you from Voyager.”
“You are concerned about what your
reception from the crew will be on Voyager,” stated Analea.
Seven didn’t directly respond, but looked
her in the eye for a moment then dropped her gaze. Seven didn’t
really want to think about having to listen to the hurtful
comments that she was sure she was meant to hear.
“Seven,” Analea waited until the blond met
her gaze once again. “One thing everyone has to learn is that
not everyone will like you. I have people who whisper behind my
back as well, it’s a fact of existence. Just make sure you are
treating people properly and if they do not treat you well in
return then ignore their opinions. Some people are just small
minded and petty.”
Kayaln added, “Value the friends you have
now and when people reach out to you in friendship when you
return to Voyager make new friends. Remember to make friends
you have to be a friend in return.”
From there the discussion quickly evolved
to delve deeply into matters such as how one developed a
friendship, and how friends treated one another. The night
ended on a positive note, and Seven went to sleep in a much
lighter frame of mind than she had begun the evening.
The next morning, Seven awoke and felt a
thrill of anticipation; this was the morning that she was going
back to Voyager. Looking about the room she saw a small bag by
the dresser. After she had eaten Seven went to enjoy one last
bath in the bathing pool then dressed in her favorite set of
clothing the sapphire blue shirt and black pants.
When she was done she packed her belongings
in the bag and went out to walk about the garden for one last
time. She was still walking around the garden when she saw
Analea and Kayaln approaching. Kayaln was carrying her bag and
as they approached Analea held out a combadge to Seven which she
took and affixed to her shirt.
They looked for a moment at each other then
Kayaln stepped up and embraced Seven, it was enough for the
younger woman to begin crying. Kayaln just held Seven until the
tears ceased then she assured the blonde, “I will see you again,
this is not goodbye.”
Seven nodded, “I know but I am still
feeling sorrow at the thought of leaving even though I want to
go to Voyager.”
Analea said, “Understandable, emotions are
not ruled by logic. I shall miss you too, even though I know
this is not goodbye either.” With that Analea stepped close and
gave Seven a warm hug as well.
Seven calmed herself and picked up her bag
looking at them and wiping her face dry. “Until we meet again
then, my friends…” Seven said hesitantly.
Warm smiles rewarded her and Kayaln said,
“Yes you are our friend Seven, until we meet again.” Analea
repeated the sentiment and then nodded to Seven indicating to
her that it was time for her to contact Voyager.
Seven took a breath and activated her
combadge, “Seven of Nine to Voyager.”
A voice replied, “Voyager here.”
Seven looked one last time at the two of
them and straightened, “One to beam up.”.
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