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I am Borg - Part 2 - Chapter 10
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.
Warning: Contains f/f situations between women.
Stardate: 52719
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.
Archiving: Archived at www.ralst.com; girlbitz.com;
www.fanfiction.net/~kudara (best place to find most recent
postings)
Summary: Seven and B'Elanna bring the chemical reactor online,
and begin investigations of the Jem'Hadar weapon. Tuvok joins
B'Elanna and Seven on the Holodeck and realizes M'ara's true
nature.
************************************************************
It had taken them a week of hard work to finish the chemical
reactor, they had made the final connections to the plasma grid
this morning and now they were ready to initialize the first
reactive process.
"Adding metallic ions," B'Elanna reported, standing next to the
input control panel.
A few minutes later, "Energy production at 10%, tritanium
molecules are starting to collect in the output chamber." said
Seven, who was standing at the reactor's main control panel.
"Bringing input mix up to 50% of nominal," B'Elanna looked over
at Seven waiting to see what the results of this action would
be.
Seven watched the displays in front of her intently, "Energy
production rising... 30%...35%...40%...45%... energy production
at 50%."
They continued raising the input mix in stages until they
reached a 100% nominal mix and Seven was able to report that the
energy production was at 100% as well.
B'Elanna gave Seven a triumphant smile and walked over to the
main EPS system displays, looking at the total ship's energy
levels. "There it is, energy levels are rising... 105%... 110%
of normal and holding steady, we've done it Seven!" B'Elanna
looked over at the woman still monitoring the output displays
and could tell that Seven was pleased. Over the past week
B'Elanna had grown much more adept at reading the expressions
that fleeted over Seven's face.
One night after an unarmed training session she had asked Seven
why she didn't show her emotions more openly. Seven had admitted
that she had attempted to learn how to smile more readily but
had been displeased with the results, declaring them
unsatisfactory. After she had managed to persuade Seven to show
her the 'smile' B'Elanna had to admit that Seven was correct, it
didn't look quite right, it was too forced.
"I think that smiles have to be spontaneous to look natural,
Seven," she had told her and had grinned at Seven's disgruntled
look.
Seven had also admitted that she didn't feel comfortable with
showing her emotions visibly. When B'Elanna had asked why, she
had admitted that she didn't really know why, the thought was
just uncomfortable. Noting how Seven had hunched over slightly
while she was speaking of the subject B'Elanna remembered when
she had been talking to Tom and Harry about the same subject and
had said that perhaps Seven didn't feel comfortable with the
crew knowing how she felt. Now looking at Seven she believed
that she had guessed correctly.
B'Elanna didn't know if Seven's reserved nature came from the
Borg or if it was part of Seven's own personality. After she had
managed to talk Seven into showing her some of the Raven logs
she thought that it might just be part of Seven's personality
exacerbated by Borg conditioning. B'Elanna's heart had ached for
the bright, inquisitive six-year-old revealed by those logs.
Young Annika's questions had almost been prophetic given what
had happened.
B'Elanna's wandering attention was drawn away from Seven as she
glanced to see who had come into engineering. B'Elanna stood up
straighter as she saw that it was the Captain who had come down,
probably to see how their project was progressing.
Janeway walked over to B'Elanna with an expectant look, "How is
it going?"
"Ship's energy levels are at 110%, Captain," B'Elanna reported
to her.
"Congratulations are in order then," Janeway said, "and I'll be
increasing replicator rations later on today. I'm sure the crew
will be appreciative of your efforts, I know I am." Janeway
smiled at the two of them, they had worked hard on this project.
She had dropped by engineering frequently to check on their
progress and to quietly observe the two of them as they worked
together. One didn't have to be an astute observer to notice the
growing friendship and attraction between the two women.
They might have thought they were being discrete, but anyone
watching would have noticed that Seven looked at B'Elanna when
she thought B'Elanna wasn't watching, and B'Elanna looked at
Seven when she though Seven wouldn't notice. And both of them
pretended to be engrossed with their work if the other noticed
them watching. Janeway had found it a rich source of amusement
the entire week.
Janeway had noticed Ensign Brooks hanging all over Tom Paris
earlier in the week at Sandrines. When B'Elanna and Seven had
walked in she had been prepared to intervene if B'Elanna got
angry, but B'Elanna had just given the helmsman an amused and
condescending look and had turned her attention back to Seven.
It had been at that point that Kathryn thought she was correct
about the two of them being attracted to one another.
Now, of course, she was absolutely certain the two were
attracted to one another. She was also pleased to note that they
seemed to be taking things slowly and that B'Elanna was
obviously working on regaining Seven's trust. It had seemed a
strange pairing at first, given their history, but after seeing
them work together for over a week she was beginning to see that
the two of them were suited to one another. Both of them were
incredibly bright, honorable, strong women, and both felt
themselves to be different from the rest of the crew. Janeway's
main concern now was that the two of them might be too alike,
which could work for, or against them.
"The chemical reactor is functioning as expected Lt. Torres,
Captain," Seven's voice intruded into Janeway's thoughts, and she
focused on the younger woman that had walked over to the two of
them.
"Yes, it is. I was telling B'Elanna that I will be increasing
the replicator rations for all the crew this afternoon. I would
like your input into how much of an increase we can afford, I
was thinking an increase of two replicator rations a day for
each crewmember?" asked Janeway. She could almost see the
calculations going on in both their heads.
B'Elanna nodded and turned inquiringly to Seven raising an
eyebrow. Seven responded, "That should be acceptable and still
leave the ship with a slight surplus of energy. B'Elanna do you
agree?"
"Sounds good to me, I know I will enjoy the extra replicator
rations," affirmed B'Elanna.
"You two will be starting on the Jem'Hadar weapon next?" asked
the Captain.
"Yes, I'd like for Harry to help us if that's alright Captain?"
asked B'Elanna.
"I'll let him know," the Captain assured her. "Well I've got to
get back to the Bridge, good job you two." Her praise brought
out a full smile from her Chief Engineer and a straightening in
posture and a pleased look from Seven. She smiled at the both of
them and then left for the Bridge, their next project should
prove interesting; no doubt Harry would be pleased to assist.
Back in engineering the two women discussed the possibility of
using the deflector dish to gather a metallic ion stream that
could be fed directly into the chemical reactor. Both of them
agreed that it should be fairly simple to do if they ever need
to do so. They finished up the last diagnostics on the chemical
reactor and filled out the necessary logs and reports, before
they were finally ready to look at the Jem'Hadar weapon.
"B'Elanna, Holodeck 1 will not be in use for another two hours,
should I reserve it for us to begin examining the Jem'Hadar
weapon?" asked Seven.
"Yes, and make sure you use engineering's hours and not your
own, I'll see if the Captain has spoken to Harry yet." B'Elanna
answered her as she tapped on her combadge to speak to Harry.
"Torres to Kim."
"Kim here," came the reply.
"Hey Harry, has the Captain spoken to you yet about working with
Seven and I on the Jem'Hadar weapon in our Infiltrator program?"
she asked.
"She just mentioned it to me, are you two about to start working
on it now? It sounds interesting." Harry replied.
"Meet us on Holodeck 1 Harry, we're reserving it for two hours."
B'Elanna
"I'll see you there in a few minutes," Harry closed the channel.
B'Elanna nodded to Seven and the two of them proceeded to
Holodeck 1. Once there the two of them copied the Jem'Hadar
weapons information from the Infiltrator program to a new
holodeck program and initiated it. When they walked into the
holodeck the Jem'hadar rifle was resting in the middle of the
holodeck floor.
"Computer, add a table to the holoprogram," B'Elanna requested.
A simple metal table appeared on the holodeck and Seven, who had
picked up the rifle, placed it on the table before requesting a
few more items. "Computer add three tricorders to holoprogram,
and place on second table." Immediately, approximately three
feet away from the first table a second one appeared with the
three requested tricorders upon it.
"Computer add firing range with weapons diagnostic sensors to
program," Seven said after the tricorders had appeared. Suddenly
the appearance of the holodeck changed to that of a standard
Starfleet firing range. They were now standing at the upper end
of a large rectangular area with the two tables they had added
earlier, the remainder of the area was filled in with the firing
range.
"Good idea," B'Elanna remarked as she walked over to examine the
diagnostic screens on the wall nearest them.
Harry arrived, stepped into the holoprogram at that moment and
looked around with an interested expression on his face. "Looks
like you have been busy."
"Ensign Kim," Seven smiled slightly at him, "Is there anything
you would like to add to the program?"
"No, it looks like we have everything we need," Harry commented.
Seven nodded, "Computer save program Engineering four five two."
The three of them each took a tricorder and began to examine the
Jem'Hadar rifle.
"It appears to fire tachyon pulses," noted Seven as they
examined the weapon.
"Nice power capacity, 5 x 108 megajoules," noted B'Elanna.
"I wonder what they use for a power source?" asked Harry, "Ours
only produce 3.45 x 108 megajoules"
"They appear to use a more advanced power cell; the technology
is not familiar to me." Seven admitted.
"So the Borg aren't in the Gamma Quadrant," said B'Elanna.
Seven nodded, "They had not been when I was last with the Borg."
Harry picked up the weapon judging the weight, "It's 158 grams
heavier than our phaser rifles, and 18 cm shorter. It uses some
type of durtanium alloy for the casing. I'm still tying to
figure out the composition.
"Harry could you take a look at the hologram and see what you
can determine from the coding?" asked B'Elanna.
"Certainly," said Harry.
By the end of their two hours they had a better idea of the
durtanium alloy composition of the outer casing of the rifle, as
well as some idea of how the power cell operated. Firing tests
had given them information on the weapon's tachyon particle beam
at different power settings. The weapon was capable of stunning
an enemy at its lowest two settings. The remainder of the
settings would kill most humanoids. At its upper range the
Jem'Hadar rifle was noticeably more powerful than the Starfleet
type 3b phaser rifle.
"Our holodeck time will end in 5 minutes," Seven looked up from
her tricorder at B'Elanna and Harry.
B'Elanna nodded, "Tonight's unarmed combat again, Seven?"
"Yes, B'Elanna. Lt. Cmdr Tuvok accepted my invitation to join
us." Seven responded.
Harry looked at the two women, amazed that there had been no
sign of irritation between them as they had worked together over
the past two hours. He knew they worked out together three times
a week for two hours and had been surprised when he had seen the
reoccurring time blocks. The past couple of hours had been
enlightening; the two women seemed very comfortable in each
other's presence, freely complementing each other and Harry
whenever one of them figured out something about the rifle.
Harry had also noticed how frequently they looked at one
another; he had heard rumors from the other engineers that
something was going on between the two. He had laughed when he
first heard it but now... it was definitely apparent that
something was going on. Harry glanced at B'Elanna only to see
that she was once again glancing at Seven and Harry could swear
there was a wistful expression on her face. Just then Seven
looked up and caught B'Elanna staring, and Harry was surprised
to see Seven's face soften and for her to give B'Elanna a slight
smile
Harry felt more and more like a voyeur as the two women stared
silently at each other for several seconds. Then Seven blushed
faintly but did not lower her eyes from B'Elanna's. Harry jerked
his eyes back to B'Elanna when he heard a faint growl off to his
right and noticed the decidedly possessive and hungry look
B'Elanna was directing at Seven.
"Well, I guess its time for me to get going back to the Bridge."
Harry said in an overly loud voice that brought him to the
attention of both women. As both women looked at him, surprised,
he nearly fled the Holodeck thinking to himself 'Seven and
B'Elanna?' Then he thought, 'I wonder if that was the real
reason B'Elanna was so willing to break up with Tom? Seven and
B'Elanna were spending a lot of time together even before they
broke up'.
'The truly amazing thing', he thought to himself, 'was that Tom
hadn't started a betting pool on when the two would actually get
together yet'.
************************************************************
B'Elanna and Seven stared at Harry's retreating back for a
moment then Seven looked at B'Elanna with a raised brow.
B'Elanna had the grace to look slightly embarrassed at her
obviousness. "I'm not going to apologize for being attracted to
you Seven."
Seven smirked, "I would prefer it if you did not," she allowed.
"Our Holodeck time is up."
"Computer save program." Seven paused waiting for the computer
to comply and then ended the program. The two of them walked out
of the Holodeck and to the turbolift. "I must analyze some scans
in Astrometrics. I will see you at 1700 hours at Holodeck 2."
"Ok, Seven. I'll see you there, is Tuvok showing up at 1700 or
later?" asked B'Elanna.
"Lt. Cmdr Tuvok stated he would be present at 1700 hours
B'Elanna," said Seven. The turbolift stopped at Deck 8 and Seven
smiled briefly to B'Elanna and exited the turbolift for
Astrometrics.
B'Elanna grinned and watched admiringly as Seven walked down the
hallway before the doors closed and shut off her view of Seven's
form. Seven's steady gaze and comment in the Holodeck had given
her a boost to her confidence that Seven would eventually trust
her enough for them to become lovers. B'Elanna felt a slight
quiver work its way along her back and shoulders at the thought
of having the blond woman underneath her, or over her for that
matter.
The turbolift stopped and the incoming crewman stopped and
backed away giving her a wide eyed look. B'Elanna was puzzled
for a moment before she realized she had been growling slightly,
embarrassed she pretended she was angry and stomped by the
crewman who flattened against the wall to let her by. B'Elanna
shook herself trying to work off the lustful feelings. She knew
that she felt more than just a physical attraction for Seven,
but right now it was hard to remember that with her Klingon
blood raging for her to claim the woman.
************************************************************
At 1700 the three of them met at Holodeck 2. Seven started the
program and they entered the recreation of the Mularan inner
temple grounds. Tuvok had declined being shown through the
holoprogram by High Priestess Analea, so he had never seen the
grounds before. After she heard this Seven suggested that they
take a few minutes to see the gardens before heading over to the
training area.
As she had suspected Tuvok found the gardens very interesting,
B'Elanna found them less interesting than Tuvok but she did
admire them. After taking longer than fifteen minutes the trio
headed back around the path and toward the practice area.
M'ara was waiting for them and spoke in flawless Vulcan, "Tuvok
son of T'Meni, thee are welcome here. I am called M'ara."
Seven quietly translated for B'Elanna knowing that she would not
understand the language; Tuvok gave her a glance as she did so
and Seven realized that he had not known that she knew Vulcan.
Seven was uncomfortable for a moment, her knowledge of Vulcan
was of course from the Collective, but then she gave herself a
mental shrug. She had not been responsible for the events at
Wolf 359 any more than she had the other events of her life
while she was in the Collective.
"I thank you for your welcome, M'ara," Tuvok replied politely,
both B'Elanna and Seven could see him staring intently at the
Klingon holo-character.
"I am pleased you enjoyed my gardens, I believe you would find
them an excellent place to meditate," commented M'ara.
"Your gardens?" questioned Tuvok intently.
"Yes, my gardens. You surely didn't believe I would leave
Seven's training to a holo-program no matter how well written?"
M'ara smiled at Tuvok.
Tuvok straightened, "Seven, Lt. Torres were you aware of the
nature of this program?"
B'Elanna felt a sinking feeling in her stomach, "I thought you
were already aware of the identity of the holo-character Tuvok.
I mean she's named M'ara... " B'Elanna trailed off.
"I too assumed that you and the Captain were already aware of
the purpose of the holo-program Lt. Cmdr Tuvok," said Seven. She
stared curiously at Tuvok, amazed that he had not made the
logical connection between the name M'ara and Mulara. Then of
course there was the fact that she still had an unknown task
that would be asked of her as a reborn. Mularan history made it
clear that Mulara personally made sure that the reborn had all
the information and training they needed to accomplish that
task.
Tuvok raised an elegant brow at them, "The similarities in names
had occurred to me, I should have pursued the information
sooner. I must inform the Captain of the situation now that I
have been made aware of it."
"Please do, I need to discuss a few things with Captain
Janeway," M'ara informed Tuvok. This statement drew looks from
all three present. Tuvok hesitated a moment, looked at M'ara
intently, then nodded and stepped away to contact the Captain.
M'ara turned to Seven, "Kayaln is dreaming, I believe you would
benefit from speaking with her Seven." M'ara made sure Seven was
looking at her and then she glanced over at B'Elanna, making it
clear what the topic of the conversation should be. Just then
Kayaln appeared among the trees on the other side of the
pavilion walking toward them. Seven glanced quickly at B'Elanna
and then back at M'ara and nodded.
As Seven strode through the pavilion she heard M'ara address
B'Elanna, "Let us see how much practicing you have been doing of
your Mok'bara katas B'Elanna." Seven smiled, knowing that M'ara
would be pleased she knew B'Elanna had spent several hours
practicing the Klingon martial arts forms. B'Elanna was
determined that she would not be a liability in the Infiltration
program.
Kayaln greeted her with a warm smile, "You look well, Seven."
Seven smiled briefly back, and then when Kayaln held out her
arms gratefully accepted the hug.
"M'ara said you needed to talk?" asked Kayaln.
Seven nodded and glanced over toward where B'Elanna was
practicing with M'ara. B'Elanna was moving through a kata with
M'ara performing the opponent's moves. B'Elanna glanced up and
looked intently over to where they were; suddenly M'ara moved up
next her and cuffed her across the side of her head, rocking
B'Elanna.
"Pay attention to your enemy, not your hormones!" M'ara yelled
at her.
"Oh," said Kayaln knowingly. "Perhaps we should go for a walk,"
she suggested.
Seven nodded to her and glanced one last time at B'Elanna who
was now paying strict attention to her teacher and then followed
Kayaln deeper into the trees.
"Tell me about her, Seven," Kayaln urged when they had moved out
of sight and hearing of the pavilion.
At first slowly and then with more confidence under Kayaln's
patient questioning Seven discussed the events of the last two
weeks, and the tumultuous feelings those events had stirred up
in her.
"Feelings are not irrelevant," said Kayaln with a smile.
"They are uncomfortable though," said Seven.
"They frequently are, but it's often worthwhile. What are you
afraid of Seven? There's something holding you back from moving
to the next logical step with her. What is it that stops you
from telling her you would like to begin dating?" asked Kayaln.
"I do not know if she feels anything beyond a physical
attraction for me, I find it... insufficient," admitted Seven.
Kayaln was silent for a moment, marshaling her thoughts, "From
what Mulara has told me of Klingons, B'Elanna has been very
restrained."
Seven considered the statement, "That is true, however, B'Elanna
is only half-Klingon."
"Perhaps, but from what you're telling me she's reacting to you
as a Klingon would, not as a human would," said Kayaln.
Seven frowned slightly, thinking, "She was attracted to the
blood smell of my exoskeleton, she growls when she is aroused by
my presence. You are correct; she has been reacting more like a
Klingon than a human." Seven looked slightly surprised as she
realized this.
"I would say that she has been showing a lot of restraint then,
wouldn't you? Isn't that indicative of something more than just
a physical attraction? Besides, most people start with a
physical attraction to each other and a friendship, and then
date to see if the relationship can develop into something
deeper," Kayaln grinned at Seven.
"The purpose of dating is to let these deeper feelings develop?"
asked Seven.
"If they can, sometimes it doesn't work out that way though.
Dating doesn't come with a guarantee of success, Seven. But you
will never know if it's possible unless you try," Kayaln said
gently.
"I have been in error then, I should have agreed to date
B'Elanna earlier," said Seven somewhat agitatedly.
"No you have not been in error Seven. You needed to be able to
trust B'Elanna before you started dating her." Kayaln's emphasis
of the word 'before' was not lost on Seven. "The question you
need to answer before you start dating her is: do you trust
B'Elanna Seven?"
Seven turned and looked back towards the pavilion, thinking of
the events of the past week, she had begun to feel a strong
yearning for the engineer's company at some point during it. The
warm smile B'Elanna gave her when she first saw Seven in the
mornings, the praise she now freely and easily gave when Seven
helped her work through a problem, and the intently aroused
gazes that made Seven sharply aware of her own physical
attraction for B'Elanna.
But did she trust her yet? "Yes, I trust B'Elanna," Seven
answered.
Kayaln beamed at her, "Then you might want to start thinking of
what you want to do for your first date, Seven." Seeing Seven's
suddenly anxious look Kayaln suppressed the desire to chuckle
and instead placed a reassuring arm around the younger woman's
shoulders. "An invitation to dinner is usually considered
acceptable Seven."
Seven looked at her perplexed, "We frequently eat our meals
together, those were not dates." Seven concentrated on
remembering what she had learned about proper dating protocol,
she knew Kayaln was correct but she was as well. "Proper dating
protocol specifies that the location where the food is consumed
is important."
Kayaln nodded, "Either that or the meal be special in some way,
but something should be different from the meals you normally
have together."
Seven considered her statement, "I have Holodeck time, there are
many restaurant programs available for use. Perhaps one of those
would be appropriate?"
"Would the food be real?" asked Kayaln curiously.
"It would be real food; each program has a set number of ration
slips that are used per person."
Kayaln smiled at Seven, "That sounds perfect."
The two of them continued to discuss various restaurant choices
for a short while then Kayaln insisted that they go back to the
pavilion so Seven could train.
*********************************************************
After the cuff upside the head B'Elanna focused on her teacher,
she had been angry for a moment then embarrassed. The
conversation between them since had been limited to corrections
and praise from M'ara and questions about certain moves from
B'Elanna.
Out of the corner of her eye B'Elanna caught sight of the
Captain approaching and hesitated only to have M'ara shout
"Focus! I didn't say we were done yet! How can you expect to
protect Seven if you can't focus." B'Elanna knew her surprise
was clearly visible for M'ara continued speaking as they
performed the moves of the katas. "What, did you think I was
teaching you all this for play? The time to decide will be soon,
Seven is one of my reborn and she will need you B'Elanna."
B'Elanna could feel the Captain and Tuvok watching and
listening, yet they did not interfere. B'Elanna could only guess
that M'ara meant for them to hear this conversation. "What do
you mean the time to decide will be soon and what do you mean
Seven is one of your reborn?"
"Your decision B'Elanna will be whether or not you can fully
commit to being Seven's mate when she makes the choice whether
or not to take on the task I will ask of her. I will not tell
you what the task is for Seven will not be ready for the
decision for several more months. Yet I want you to know that
the task will be a worthy one, as worthy as the one that
Kahless undertook. It will be one that will risk both your
lives and probably those of Voyager as well should the Captain
choose to support Seven." M'ara finally stepped back from
B'Elanna at this last and looked over to where Captain Janeway
and Tuvok stood.
M'ara looked back at B'Elanna, "I expect that Seven will decide
to undertake her task. She will need someone that she can depend
on to support her, and more than that, she will need someone to
love her. I believe you can be that person, but you need to make
that choice. And I want you to make it knowing that a future
with her will not be an easy path for it will mean that you will
have to commit to her task as well."
B'Elanna looked at M'ara's grave, serious face and nodded
understanding that M'ara was telling her that if she pursued a
relationship with Seven that she had better be certain about the
depth of her feelings. 'It's a good thing we are taking things
slowly' thought B'Elanna.
B'Elanna noticed M'ara turning toward the Captain, "Captain
Janeway, I am pleased to meet Annika's chosen mother."
B'Elanna noticed that Janeway had her hands on her hips and was
looking none too pleased with the situation. Upon hearing
M'ara's statement she seemed to unbend slightly, "Should I call
you M'ara or Mulara?" she asked in a neutral tone.
"Whichever you prefer," M'ara said smiling. "Seven and B'Elanna
call me M'ara, perhaps it would be simpler if you did as well."
B'Elanna tried to stay unnoticeable while the two of them gave
each other measuring stares. Finally the Captain said, "Thank
you for restoring Seven's life."
"She was unjustly killed by one of my people, and she was worthy
of the saving," said M'ara simply. M'ara smiled, "You have found
her worth saving a time or two yourself Captain."
Janeway's mouth twitched briefly, "Yes I have."
Both of them were silent looking at one another then Janeway
said, "What task will you ask Seven to perform?"
M'ara chuckled, "I cannot tell you that Captain. Seven will know
her task when it comes before her, then she will decide to
perform it or she will not."
"And if she doesn't?" asked Janeway.
M'ara shook her head, "I will not tell you that either, it would
unduly influence her."
Janeway looked narrow eyed at M'ara after that statement, then
in a surprising change of subject, "Could you transport Voyager
back to the Alpha Quadrant?"
M'ara looked at her calmly, "Yes I could but you do not want me
to."
"Why not?" Janeway asked in a tight voice.
"Because if I do the Federation will be destroyed within the
next 100 years, if you find your own way home then most
possibilities are that the Federation will survive well past
that point," said M'ara bluntly.
B'Elanna was stunned by the information, what possible
difference could it make how they got home? Janeway looked
stunned as well but also concerned thought B'Elanna.
"We do something on our way to the Alpha Quadrant that changes
the timeline so greatly?" Janeway asked, doubt obvious in her
tone. "Does it have anything to do with Seven's task?"
"It is a combination of events that Voyager will face on the way
to the Alpha Quadrant and the task to be placed before Seven.
But if you are not there to take place in those events things
will go badly for the Federation later. Do not underestimate
Voyager's influence in events in the Delta Quadrant, you will
continue to play a pivotal role in them," M'ara finished
speaking and she and Janeway stared at one another solemnly.
Janeway looked at B'Elanna and Tuvok then sighed, "I won't ask
for you to send us back then. Lt. Torres, Tuvok, M'ara's
identity is considered classified as is the conversation you
just heard. The crew doesn't need to know that Mulara could get
us home but we cannot take it."
B'Elanna nodded, "Understood Captain." Janeway was right the
crew didn't need to know about this, B'Elanna wished in a way
she didn't. The thought that Voyager and Seven would be required
to do something that would save the Federation from destruction
was intimidating.
"Captain Janeway, I need you to assist in Seven's training.
B'Elanna should also be included," said M'ara with a penetrating
look at B'Elanna that caused her to straighten warily.
"What type of training?" asked Janeway.
"Leadership, decision making, tactics... " said M'ara.
Janeway and Tuvok both stared at her with keen expressions, "You
want me to put them through command training?" Janeway asked.
"That will work as a basis, but they will need a different
emphasis than the standard Starfleet command training," said
M'ara. She turned toward B'Elanna, "B'Elanna why don't you go
and work with Kayaln and Seven while I speak to Captain
Janeway."
B'Elanna glanced over past the pavilion and noticed Seven and
Kayaln returning, she caught Janeway's nod to her and said
respectfully, "M'ara, Captain." Then she smartly turned and
walked toward the other side of the pavilion.
Seven and Kayaln paused as she approached and Kayaln said,
"Perhaps the two of you would like to practice against multiple
opponents?"
B'Elanna felt a anticipatory smile forming, and noticed Seven
looking at her with an amused expression on her face. B'Elanna
knew that Seven found her obvious enjoyment of fighting multiple
opponents amusing but it wasn't like Seven didn't enjoy herself
as well thought B'Elanna smugly.
Kayaln chuckled at the two of them, "It's obvious that both of
you think my suggestion is a good idea." Kayaln paused for a
second, "Defend yourselves," she suddenly said as the area
around them suddenly filled with opponents.
Janeway paused in her discussion with M'ara for a moment to
watch B'Elanna and Seven defend themselves against multiple
holo-characters that had suddenly appeared. The two of them were
outnumbered by six to two but they appeared to be easily winning
the battle.
"They fight well together," said M'ara.
Janeway nodded, the two of them did fight well together and if
M'ara's training request was any indication they would need to
depend on that ability. Leadership, ethics, both single and
fleet tactical training, and diplomacy, were the topics Mulara
wanted Janeway to teach Seven and B'Elanna. Janeway hadn't
gotten any further answers about the future from Mulara, but
given the training emphasis she had a few ideas about what Seven
and Voyager might be asked to accomplish to save the Federation.
**********************************************************
B'Elanna and Seven thanked M'ara and Kayaln for the evenings
training and ended the holoprogram. They exited the Holodeck and
began the short trip back to their respective quarters on Deck
9. Seven glanced uncertainly at B'Elanna, finding the prospect
of asking the woman for a date the following evening
irrationally daunting.
Gathering up her courage Seven said, "B'Elanna, if you have
tomorrow evening free I would like to invite you to a dinner
date on Holodeck 2 at 2000 hours."
B'Elanna stopped, which caused Seven to stop as well, and turn
to look at her, "A date?" she asked.
Seven squared her shoulders and looked into B'Elanna's eyes,
"Yes, a date B'Elanna. I feel it is time for us to see if our
friendship will... develop into a different type of
relationship."
B'Elanna felt like chuckling but knew that Seven would likely
take it poorly at the moment. Seven's erect posture and serious
demeanor would have once annoyed her, now though, especially
given the subject matter, she found herself fondly amused with
Seven. B'Elanna reached out and grasped Seven's right hand, "I
would like that."
Seven's face seemed to light up from within at B'Elanna's words
and she allowed the smaller woman to tug her into walking again.
B'Elanna did not let go of her hand and Seven squeezed it
gently, feeling happier and more optimistic than she could ever
remember.
Part 2 Completed.
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