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I am Borg - Part 2 - Chapter 1
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: 52691
Rating: PG-13
Feedback: Always welcome, feedback is what encourages me to keep
writing. Please let me know what you like and what you dislike
about the story.
Summary: Seven returns to Voyager
Klingon:
qatojbe' - I will not deceive you
taHqeq – swear word meaning dishonest, deceitful. Classic
Klingon insult.
******************************************************
Seven materialized on the transporter pad and looked around at
the group assembled to greet her. Captain Janeway of course was
there as was Commander Chakotay and Lt. Commander Tuvok. Seven
felt slightly uncomfortable under their intense looks; she was
uncertain how to break the silence that seemed to have fallen.
"Captain?" said Seven tentatively, with an inquiring look at
Captain Janeway.
Janeway smiled reassuringly and said, "Welcome back Seven, I've
missed you."
Seven looked at the Captain's face and realized that the older
woman had missed her; not surprising after all this was the
woman who had been willing to confront the Borg Queen to bring
her back to Voyager. "I have missed you as well Captain,"
admitted Seven.
Seven turned and acknowledged Chakotay politely and then with
more warmth she said, "Lt. Commander Tuvok, I was able to use
the meditation techniques you taught me during my recovery. They
proved most helpful in assisting me with my unarmed martial arts
training."
Tuvok tilted his head and raised one eyebrow, "Indeed,
meditation is most useful in centering oneself before any type
of physical training."
Seven gave him a small smile, "From the soul, to the body, into
the world."
Tuvok quirked his lips very slightly and said, "Perhaps you can
demonstrate what you have learned at some point."
Seven nodded to him and then looked at Janeway and Chakotay who
for some reason were looking at her rather strangely.
Seven shifted and looked inquisitively at Janeway, finally
Janeway seemed to shake herself out of whatever had been
bemusing her and she said, "You must want to see your new
quarters."
Seven smiled slightly, "I am looking forward to seeing the
paintings Analea brought for me."
Janeway said, "Your quarters are on Deck 9 Section 11. She also
brought several sets of clothing; some are of the same style you
are wearing. I wondered what they would look like, they suit you
Seven."
"Thank you," replied Seven recognizing that Kathryn was
complementing her. Seven was determined to adapt to her
Collective. Analea and Kayaln had taught her that politeness was
much more important than she had ever realized. Therefore Seven
was determined to understand what was polite behavior and what
it was not, and apply what she learned to her own behavior.
Tuvok, saying that he was on duty declined to accompany them to
Seven's quarters. Chakotay declined as well saying that he
needed to return to the bridge. Thus only Janeway and Seven
stepped out of the turbolift at Deck 9 and proceeded along the
corridor toward Section 11. Lt. Torres who had been headed
toward the turbolift paused in the corridor to let the two pass,
quickly glancing at Seven who met her eyes gravely and nodded to
her.
Seven paused and said, "Lt. Torres."
B'Elanna wondered if Seven was about to confront her for her
part in Seven's death, she straightened and said, "Seven."
"I understand that Analea brought several training programs
designed by Mulara to Voyager. The program of the inner temple
garden has a training area, there is a Bat'leth trainer there
named M'ara. You are welcome to use the program anytime you
wish, and perhaps sometime you would be willing to practice with
me," said Seven. She was being very careful to maintain neutral
posture during this speech though she desperately wanted to
stand with her hands behind her back.
B'Elanna said the first thing that came into her head after
Seven's speech, "I didn't know you knew how to fight with a
Bat'leth."
Seven dropped her eyes for a second and stiffened then forced
herself to relax, "I have just begun my training. I am not very
skilled. I understand that you might not want to practice with
me due to my inexperience."
B'Elanna was quick to reply before Seven continued, "No, that's
fine we can just take it easy... Do you have a Bat'leth or do
you use a replicated one?" B'Elanna asked curiously. She
realized that she needed to wrap up the conversation quickly,
Janeway was starting to look annoyed but Seven appeared to be
willing to stand in the hall and talk for along time. Seven was
even being polite, and she wasn't standing like she usually did
at all. B'Elanna was also trying very hard not to stare at
Seven's exoskeleton, from the data she knew basically the
outline of it, but the reality was much more beautiful than she
had thought. The exoskeleton around Seven's left eye gleamed
brilliantly silver in the light with fine lines of blue and gold
forming intricate patterns.
Seven replied "I do not have one of my own; I assume I will be
using the ones provided in the program."
Janeway interrupted, "Actually you have one of your own, Analea
delivered it with your paintings and clothes."
Seven turned toward her, surprise and pleasure obvious for a
moment on her face before it smoothed again. Seven turned back
toward B'Elanna, "It appears I have a Bat'leth."
B'Elanna glanced from Janeway to Seven and said, "Perhaps I can
drop by and take a look at it later, I need to get headed to
engineering now... "
Seven nodded, "I did not realize I was keeping you from your
duty Lt... my apologies."
B'Elanna gaped for a moment then said, "That's alright. Well I
had better get going. Captain, Seven." B'Elanna turned and
walked toward the lift. As soon as she was safely in it she
shook her head and wondered where the real Seven was. That had
almost been surreal; Seven had never been that painfully polite
to her, she sounded almost like Tuvok.
B'Elanna had hardly recognized Seven between the fact that she
wasn't wearing her usual biosuit and that she had her hair down.
B'Elanna considered how Seven had looked and thought bemusedly
that Seven was much more attractive in the looser clothes than
she had ever been in the skintight biosuits.
Seven turned back to the Captain and noticed the odd look once
again, Seven wondered uneasily if she had already erred somehow.
Maybe she should not have paused to talk with Lt. Torres. Seven
resolved that as soon as she could she would make a detailed
analysis of what was considered polite behavior.
When they reached Deck 9 Section 11 they paused in front of a
door and Kathryn indicated that Seven should precede her, as
Seven approached the door it opened automatically to admit her.
Seven stepped into her quarters and her gaze was immediately
drawn to the painting at the other end of the room.
Seven walked across the room towards it, barely glancing at the
contents of the remainder of the quarters. She stared at the
painting looking at how the soft brush strokes revealed both the
simplicity and complexity of the molecule. Seven stepped back
and looked at the painting again, this time she saw something in
the whole which reminded her of when she had watched the Omega
molecule form. Somehow the Omega molecule in the painting
appeared to be watching her as she looked at it.
"I don't know who painted it but they were very good," said
Janeway.
"Mulara did, her signature is in the bottom left corner,"
replied Seven absently. She was aware of Janeway moving closer
to the painting and then a stifled sound of surprise.
"I don't understand how I missed that before. Well Seven I would
think few people could say they have original works of art
painted by an energy being," said Janeway.
Seven looked curiously at her, "You are probably correct." Seven
wondered why Janeway was commenting on the painting, Mulara had
made several things for Seven. The most notable was her own body
in Seven's mind.
Seven moved away from the Omega painting and began examining the
rest of her quarters. She recognized the flower stills; they
were of her favorite flowers in the inner temple garden.
Continuing around the rooms she noticed the hydroponics lights
above the bed and smiled at the thoughtfulness.
The last thing she noticed in the room was her new Bat'leth.
Seven walked over to it and picked it up, testing the weight of
it and the length. She read the inscription ‘Duty, Loyalty,
Honor.' Seven admired the watered appearance of the blade for a
few moments longer then reverently returned the weapon to its
display hanger.
"So do you like your new quarters?" asked Janeway with a smile.
Seven returned the smile for just a second and replied, "Thank
you for assigning them to me, and for assisting Analea with
their decoration."
"Of course, Seven, you should have been assigned them sooner.
I'm sorry it took all of this for me to see that I should have
never had you stay in the Cargo Bay for as long as I did."
Janeway paused and looked at Seven seriously, "I owe you and
apology for that, I never thought of how it affected the crew's
opinion of you. I want you to know that I never though of you
that way, and I didn't intend to imply that to the crew,"
finished Janeway.
Seven was puzzled as to what ‘that way' referred to until she
recalled comments she had overheard of how she was a machine,
stored away in the cargo bay between uses. Seven thought she
should clarify the phrase before replying to the Captain. "Do
you mean how some members of the crew referred to me as a
machine that was stored in the cargo bay?" asked Seven.
Janeway winced and nodded. Seven wondered how she was supposed
to reply and finally settled upon, "Apology accepted, though if
that was not your perception of my previous quarters why are you
responsible for others erroneous perceptions?"
"Because I'm the Captain, and I should have considered it.
Analea brought several things to my attention, Seven. When I
ordered that your Borg implants were to be removed the first few
day's you were on Voyager I ordered the Doctor to ignore your
own wishes in the matter. I argued that you were not capable of
making your own decisions and essentially took on the role of
guardian. Since then however, I've been rather haphazard in my
treatment of you, sometimes I'm your Captain, sometimes I'm your
mentor, and sometimes I still think of myself as your guardian.
But I ignored something rather essential, and that was the fact
that you needed me to be just one person, you needed me to react
in more of a consistent manner than I did. I must have confused
you quite frequently. I was too permissive with you at times
letting you break the rules I expected others to follow, then
suddenly I insisted that you follow those rules," explained
Janeway.
Seven listened to Kathryn's statement and thought back over the
past year and had to agree, the shifting standard had been
unsettling. "It was confusing, but I should have followed the
standard others were held to. Instead I choose to follow the
more ‘permissive' standard for my own benefit... except it did
not benefit me... "
Janeway said, "Seven, its human nature to want to explore
boundaries, it's not your fault that you wanted the most lenient
boundary that I would allow you and resented it when I
restricted them. I should have been more consistent... I should
have been more like my mother was with me," commented Kathryn
somewhat wryly. "I certainly did you no favors by allowing you
so much freedom. I promise that I'll try to be more consistent
with you, I'll let you know when you do something wrong and I'll
try to explain as best I can why. I wanted to let you know this
so that you don't think I'm punishing you in any way. I don't
ever want you to think that, I'm correcting my own mistake, what
I did wrong."
Seven considered the Captains words and asked hesitantly, "You
wish to act consistently as my guardian? I am not considered an
adult then, you are following Mularan law." Seven was not
particularly pleased with this turn of events; she did not
consider herself to be a minor no matter what Mulara thought.
Kathryn replied, "The fact that I feel you still need guidance
does not mean that I think you are not an adult Seven. I don't
think of myself as your guardian anymore in a legal sense. I do
however care about what happens to you, and I want to do what's
best for you if you will let me. Seven, I still feel the need
for guidance; it's not something you outgrow. I wish almost
every day that I could talk to my mother about things."
Seven considered everything Kathryn had said and came to a
tentative conclusion, "You think of yourself as my parent?"
Seven looked curiously at her.
Kathryn looked surprised for a second then thoughtful, "I guess
I do, if that's not being too presumptuous. That's up to you of
course; do you mind that I think of you more as a daughter than
just a friend?"
"That is acceptable," said Seven. Seven considered the woman in
front of her and felt a rush of emotion, she barely remembered
her own mother. Her own mother had not been able to save her
from the Borg, but Kathryn had and not only once but twice. "By
what term should I call you?" asked Seven.
Kathryn smiled, "Captain in public and when you are acting as a
crewmember. When we are in a more private setting please call me
Kathryn."
Seven nodded then asked, "Would you like anything Kathryn."
"Coffee, black," said Kathryn starting to wonder what the
Mularan's had done to make Seven so polite. Frankly it was
starting to worry her; Seven was not acting like her old self. "Analea
brought up three replicator patterns for you, the Pujaa and
Quara fruits and the juice with the metallic and chemical
elements in it."
Seven was pleased to hear this and when she went over to the
replicator she said, "Coffee, black," and picked up the cup then
she said, "Quara fruit, sliced, room temperature". When the bowl
appeared she picked that up as well and sat the coffee and fruit
on the table. She then ordered some of the juice for herself.
Kathryn had wandered over to the table and sat down with her
coffee cup. "Have you tried the Mularan fruits yet Kathryn?"
asked Seven.
"No I haven't," answered Kathryn.
Seven said, "I believe you will like this one."
Kathryn took a slice of the fruit and bit into it, a surprised
expression crossed her face, "It tastes like sweet bread. I'll
have to remember the name so I can order it for breakfast
sometimes."
"I often have one for breakfast myself," said Seven as she took
a few of the slices before Kathryn could eat them all.
When Kathryn had finished her coffee she said, "I must return to
the bridge, let me know if you need anything. You have the rest
of today off of course, tomorrow morning we have a senior staff
meeting at 0900 hours. If you want to talk more I'll be off duty
in six hours."
Seven nodded to Kathryn and watched her leave. Seven was pleased
to have the day off though she had expected it. She needed to
figure out how to schedule her days; her exercise protocol would
take an hour a day to complete. She did not have enough holodeck
time to practice unarmed or weapons training every day but she
did have enough to practice every other day for an hour. Seven
considered her quarters and realized that there was enough room
for her to practice her katas here if she moved the furniture
out of the way. Seven unpacked the pressure sensitive plates and
hung them in a corner of the room, and then she looked around at
her quarters in satisfaction.
***********************************************************
Several hours later B'Elanna was headed back to her quarters and
remembered that Seven had invited her to come by and look at her
Bat'leth. She tapped her combadge and said "Torres to Seven."
A few moments later Seven replied and B'Elanna asked if it would
be convenient for her to come over.
"You are welcome to come over now Lieutenant, I will probably be
practicing my katas if you don't mind. I will set the door to
admit you," replied Seven.
B'Elanna was definitely curious now, what katas would Seven be
doing she wondered. As far as she knew Seven had never practiced
any form of martial arts in the past. "If you don't mind me
watching sure Seven," said B'Elanna as she walked the few final
meters to Seven's quarters. Seven had already set the door to
admit her B'Elanna noted as the door opened when she approached
it. B'Elanna walked in and tried to not be too obvious as she
stared at Seven moving gracefully and powerfully though an
unarmed martial arts kata.
B'Elanna was not an expert in unarmed styles so she couldn't
tell exactly how well Seven was doing the kata. But she could
tell that Seven was fairly skilled, each movement flowed into
the next making it appear that Seven was actually performing
some type of dance.
In between one kata and the next Seven said, "Please sit
Lieutenant, I will be finished shortly. You are welcome to
replicate a drink for yourself if you would like one." Seven was
proud of herself, she had spent several hours today going over
Starfleet protocol and courtesies for a second time, she had
studied them over a year ago but had deemed them irrelevant at
the time. She had also read several studies on what humans
called polite behavior or manners.
B'Elanna looked at Seven oddly, "Um, thanks for the offer but
I'm not thirsty right now." B'Elanna heard what sounded almost
like a chuckle from Seven and stared at her for a moment before
grinning, "That's usually your line isn't it." A brief smirk
from Seven answered her statement. B'Elanna sat down at the
table and looked about the room, finally noticing the Bat'leth
in its display hangers beside the door.
Seven finished her katas and walked over to the replicator and
got herself a glass of water, she looked at Lt. Torres and said,
"You may pick up the Bat'leth if you would like."
B'Elanna had been waiting for the invitation and she walked over
to the blade and examined the layered surface, "What metal is
this made of, it's not baakonite."
"It is made of poly-deutonic alloy," replied Seven.
B'Elanna looked at her and then back at the blade then gently
picked it up feeling the weight of it. She read the inscription
that ran below the grips, "Qu', matlh, batlh; who made this
Seven?" B'Elanna was aware of what the words meant she was
surprised that someone had inscribed them upon the blade.
Seven looked at her curiously, "I imagine that Mulara made the
Bat'leth. The Mularan's do not have the technology to work with
poly-deutonic alloy."
"Mulara," said B'Elanna surprised and looked back down at the
Bat'leth she was holding.
"Yes," said Seven, "She also created the pictures I have. I
especially like the painting of the Omega molecule."
B'Elanna carefully replaced the Bat'leth and walked over to the
indicated painting, "I recognized it, Janeway didn't say
anything about it? I mean you pretty much have classified
information hanging on your wall."
Seven considered this and said, "I shall refer to it as a
kal-toh sphere from now on, I had forgotten that Starfleet
classified all information about it. All the Borg know about the
Omega Molecule... they even know the resonance frequency now."
Seven grimaced, the last time she had been onboard a Borg vessel
they had assimilated her memories, which meant they had access
to all the research she had done on the Omega molecule.
"How would they know that? Oh when you went back to the Borg
after they blackmailed you." B'Elanna answered her own question.
"An antiquated, but accurate term," acknowledged Seven.
B'Elanna snorted, glancing at Seven she finally asked what had
been bothering her all day. "Seven, why are you being so
polite?"
Seven glanced at the Lieutenant and said, "I had dismissed such
behavior before as inefficient and irrelevant. However, being
regarded as impolite and rude caused me to be generally disliked
by the crew. My behavior resulted in Muahe being able to gather
information about me, which he used when he decided to kill me.
I no longer regard being polite as irrelevant; I have no desire
for that to occur again. Therefore, I am making the adaptation
to this Collective my highest priority. I have identified
politeness and accurate communications to be essential in this
effort."
B'Elanna stared at Seven stunned that she had come to the
conclusion she had. Then she said, "Why don't you hate us, why
don't you hate me? Or do you? And don't hide behind politeness."
"qatojbe'," replied Seven and paused to make sure B'Elanna
understood what she had said, "Why would I hate you?"
"They sent us their security tapes; I know that Muahe told you
that I had given them that information. I didn't though Seven, I
didn't talk to their intelligence people, I wouldn't do that,"
said B'Elanna earnestly.
Seven interrupted her, "I know... I remember watching, but I was
never there... Perhaps Mulara gave me those memories. I was at
the establishment when they tried to elicit information from you
by offering alcoholic beverages. You called the man a taHqeq and
told him you would drink nothing with him."
B'Elanna was surprised, she hadn't told Tuvok that she had swore
at the man in Klingon. "You watched?" she tried to understand
what Seven was describing.
"As if I were overhead when the conversation took place,"
clarified Seven.
"Then you saw the people who didn't keep their mouths shut."
stated B'Elanna.
Seven replied shortly, "Yes."
"Then you know that almost all of them were from engineering. So
I am responsible, I'm the one that started the names and I'm the
one that didn't stop them from treating you rudely," said
B'Elanna in a rush looking angrily at Seven.
Seven was confused and uneasy, why was Lt. Torres angry with
her. She had done nothing that she knew of to anger the
engineer, maybe her reply had been too short or maybe the
Lieutenant was angry that she knew what happened in the bar.
"I'm sorry," essayed Seven trying to diffuse the other woman's
anger.
"Damn it!" said B'Elanna angrily and took a step toward Seven,
"why are you... " B'Elanna found herself on the floor gasping
for breath. Seven was now several feet away from her in a
defensive stance. B'Elanna could hear her rapid breathing and
smelled... fear. She gazed at Seven and saw the fear she had
smelled in the woman's eyes. B'Elanna started to growl and lunge
to her feet angered that Seven had shoved her, when she saw
Seven tense and actually bare her teeth at her. Suddenly she
froze realizing that she might be in real danger of Seven
attacking her. She also knew that if Seven hit her at full
strength she would probably kill her.
B'Elanna relaxed backward, "I'm not going to attack you Seven. I
wasn't angry at you, I was angry at myself. I shouldn't have...
I'm sorry you thought I was angry with you Seven." B'Elanna
moved slowly and ruefully rubbed her chest where she was certain
there would be a palm sized bruise shortly. "I'm definitely
sorry I made you think I was about to attack you." B'Elanna
watched Seven trying to figure out if the other woman was
relaxing yet.
Seven dropped her hands and stood straighter a haunted look on
her face, "I'm sorry I injured you Lieutenant. I believe I
overreacted to the anger you displayed." Seven glanced at the
Lieutenant shamed and asked, "Do you need to go to Sickbay?"
Seven hesitantly moved toward Lt. Torres wondering if she had
hurt the woman such that she could not get up.
B'Elanna sat up and said, "No I'm fine I just didn't want to
threaten you any more than I already had." Seven stopped moving
towards her when she sat up, looking at her with concern.
B'Elanna got slowly to her feet and sat back down at the table.
"You will report me for striking you," said Seven in a monotone.
B'Elanna looked at her trying to figure out what she was
thinking, "No I won't, it was my fault. I've gotten used to you
just ignoring me when I do things like that, I should have
realized that you would react differently now. Honestly, I
should never have invaded your personal space like that in the
past."
"I might have hurt you... for a moment I saw Muahe's face... I
could have killed you," Seven was definitely agitated now, "I am
a danger."
"Woah, Seven stop. You didn't hurt me," B'Elanna rose from her
seat at the table and approached Seven slowly. "Seven, I'm sorry
I frightened you. I've just gotten used to you not being afraid
of me when I'm angry."
Seven closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths to get her
nanoprobes to deal with the hormones rushing through her system,
she should have done it earlier but had been so shocked by her
reaction that she had forgotten for a moment. Shortly she felt
the physical symptoms abate and she felt calmer.
Lt. Torres was watching her and asked, "Well you look better.
What just happened?"
"I instructed my nanoprobes to remove the excess adrenaline in
my system, with my Borg systems it happened automatically. Now I
must consciously initiate the process. I forgot to do it
earlier; I apologize for being so emotional," said Seven and sat
down at the table.
B'Elanna put two and two together and said, "Is that one of the
reasons you always were so calm? I used to wonder why you never
were afraid or angry with me, I thought you were... " B'Elanna
trailed off uncomfortably, realizing what she was about to say.
Seven finished for her, "Incapable of feeling emotions. I have
always been capable of feeling emotions Lieutenant. Emotions
like anger and fear are usually caused or accompanied by a
hormone reaction, therefore I could experience them only briefly
before my nanoprobes compensated. However, I seldom was afraid
of you Lieutenant; I generally stopped the actions that annoyed
you when your physiological responses reached a certain level."
B'Elanna stared at Seven, going through what she had just said
to figure out what had caught her attention. "Wait, what do you
mean you stopped? You knew what you were doing that made me
angry and you kept doing it until just before I really lost my
temper?!" said B'Elanna incredulous.
Seven looked remarkably like a child that had been caught with
their hand in the forbidden cookie jar at that moment. B'Elanna
couldn't decide whether to be angry or amused at the obviously
inadvertent admission. "Why did you do that Seven? and the truth
Seven not some polite answer."
Seven looked at Lt. Torres uncertainly and flushed slightly, she
had not meant to ever let the woman know she had sometimes
purposefully angered her. Seven was desperate to not anger
Torres any further so she softly admitted, "Your emotions, you
always display them so clearly. I have always been fascinated by
your ability to feel. So sometimes I would anger you just to see
them."
B'Elanna gaped at the admission, everyone on this ship tried to
not anger her, except apparently for Seven who sought it out.
"You purposely angered me... to watch my emotions. Because you
couldn't feel them?" hazarded B'Elanna.
Seven nodded, "I could only feel mine fleetingly, I can always
discern yours clearly." Seven continued speaking almost to
herself, "It's why I included you when Kayaln asked me what
things I thought were beautiful."
B'Elanna looked at Seven closely her irritation derailed
completely by the last comment. Seven looked back at her evenly,
no sign of uneasiness apparent on her face. B'Elanna was
confused, what had Seven meant by that, was Seven telling her
she thought she was beautiful or was Seven saying her emotions
were beautiful. B'Elanna felt she was suddenly floundering in
unexpectedly deep waters, looking for solid land she asked, "Who
is Kayaln and why was she asking you that?"
"Kayaln was one of the High Priestess of Mulara. She is the one
who taught me unarmed martial arts. She asked me what I thought
was beautiful to help me with my training. Kayaln told me that I
should bring what I felt was beautiful into my katas so I could
bring them closer to perfection." Explained Seven.
B'Elanna was completely confused now, "You want to show anger in
your katas?"
Seven shook her head, "No, not anger... " Seven frowned slightly
thinking, trying to clarify why she had included Lt. Torres in
her list. Hoping the woman wouldn't get angry again she finally
said, "Passion, your ability to feel and project emotions so
clearly."
B'Elanna knew how she would take that admission from anyone else
but Seven. With Seven however she just wasn't sure, B'Elanna
looked searchingly into Seven's eyes but saw nothing but
sincerity. Uneasily she wondered if Seven would even recognize
attraction if she did feel it. With one more searching glance
B'Elanna asked lightly, "What else made it onto your list?"
Seven was relieved; apparently Lt. Torres had decided not to be
angry with her. "The Omega molecule, the three flowers that I
have paintings of, the design of my exoskeleton, you and the
Captain."
B'Elanna glanced at Seven at the last, and almost felt like
laughing. B'Elanna glanced at the flower paintings in the room
and had to agree that all of them were indeed beautiful. As for
Seven's exoskeleton, well she would take her word on that,
though her imagination helpfully supplied her with the flash of
an image of a nude silver adorned Seven. "The Captain, what
about her do you find beautiful?" asked B'Elanna carefully.
Seven considered the question, "Her strength, her compassion,
and her decisiveness in dangerous situations. I feel protected
when she is near. I was confused by my feelings before today;
now that we have agreed that she fills a parental role my
feelings make sense to me."
B'Elanna felt adrift again, "Parental role?"
"Yes, the Captain asked if it was permissible for her to
consider me as a daughter and I agreed that it was. Therefore
she is in a parental role, Correct?" asked Seven.
B'Elanna nodded, feeling slightly jealous of Seven. No wonder
Janeway looked out for Seven's interests so fiercely.
Seven commented pensively, "Kathryn is a better mother than my
own. She took me away from the Borg instead of delivering me to
them."
Suddenly B'Elanna felt ashamed, remembering that Seven had just
commented that Janeway made her feel safe. Seven certainly
deserved someone to look out for her given what she had been
through during her life. B'Elanna rubbed her forehead ridges, a
headache was starting. She almost laughed aloud at herself; she
had been so sure how things would be when Seven got back. Seven
would be her usual self and she would struggle with her anger
and take the honorable route and try to help Seven understand
what she was doing wrong.
Instead Seven had come back with the Borg superiority apparently
knocked out of her; she was still confident but uncertain of her
place and welcome. This Seven was polite, but the reasons behind
the politeness made B'Elanna feel sickened and angry. No one
should have to feel they had to perfectly adapt to the majority
culture just to feel safe on Voyager, yet Seven felt just that
way if B'Elanna was interpreting what she said correctly.
"Janeway to Seven," interrupted Seven's com badge.
Seven answered, "Yes Captain."
"Seven, I forgot to mention that you need to go get an
examination in Sickbay, the Doctor just called to ask when you
would be in. And would you like to come to my quarters for
dinner this evening? We can do an informal debriefing on what
happened on Mulara." said Janeway.
"I will report to Sickbay as soon as possible Captain, what time
should I report to your quarters for dinner?" asked Seven.
"1900 hours sound fine Seven?" said Janeway.
"1900 hours is fine Captain." said Seven.
They both heard the communications channel close and B'Elanna
took the opportunity to escape from what had become an
increasingly confusing situation. She needed time to think over
all that had happened and all that she had learned. "I should
get going, you need to go visit the Doctor, and I'm supposed to
meet Tom and Harry at Sardines." said B'Elanna.
"Certainly Lieutenant," said Seven standing.
"Seven call me B'Elanna when we aren't on duty. And Seven don't
tell everyone about your list of what's beautiful. I would only
tell the Captain and maybe Tuvok, no one else." B'Elanna saw the
question in Seven's eyes and before she could ask replied, "just
trust me on this one, ok?"
Seven nodded and said, "I will comply."
B'Elanna smiled at this sign of the old Seven, "Have a good
evening Seven," she said as she left and the door closed behind
her leaving a curious Seven behind.
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