August 2012
Author's Note: You're just gonna have to read-this one's a surprise!
"Harry Kim to Seven of Nine."
Seven's eyes snapped open instantly. There were 5 minutes left on her regeneration cycle but she stepped off her alcove and tapped the commbadge pinned to her shiny silver biosuit anyway. "Yes Ensign Kim?"
"Seven, we need your help in the mess hall. Report immediately!"
Seven frowned slightly as she strode out of the cargo bay. "What is the nature of the situation, Ensign? Should I inform Lieutenant Commander Tuvok?" She inquired as she stepped into the turbolift.
Harry's voice dropped to a dramatic whisper. "No time to explain-just hurry!" The connection fizzled out.
Seven approached the doors to the mess hall but then paused, pondering what could possibly need her attention. It was 20 minutes before the start of the beta-shift, and the room should've been packed with crewmembers eating breakfast- but disturbingly so, the only sound to meet Seven's searching ear was silence. It unsettled her, although she, of course, adapted. Seven very slowly walked in.
The room was completely empty, the lights turned off. Once the door closed behind her and the florescent lighting was shut out the only illumination was starlight filtering in through the expansive windows on her left. There was no sign of Harry, or indeed of anyone. Abruptly, she heard someone shifting behind her.
Seven immediately flung out a sharp elbow behind her, then turned and kicked with all the strength she could muster. Satisfactorily, she felt her boot connect with something soft followed with a thump and a loud grunt of "Oof!"
"Computer, lights on!" Captain Janeway's voice rang out harshly through the pitch black room.
The sight that met Seven's hard eyes was that of a group of almost 30 crewmembers along with most of senior staff rising from their hiding places in the galley and behind tables to stare at her in various states of shock. Seven followed their gaze to the floor on her right. She turned to see Tom Paris clutching his stomach and curled up on the carpet, piercing blue eyes watering in pain. "Surprise," he mumbled weakly.
Seven glared at the horrified crowd.
"Explain," she demanded.
It was, as Harry reassured her many times, simply, a surprise birthday party. Seven had done research after attending one herself, but still, luring her to the mess hall with a fake distress call seemed somehow…inefficient. Regardless, she allowed herself to be shepherded into the room while the EMH helped Tom up.
The light danced in Seven's wide eyes as she stared at the single candle burning merrily on the frosted cake set in front of her. The room was once again darkened and she was seated at a table, her shipmates standing around her. As she stared at the firelight, memories of another candle floated back…
"…happy birthday dear Annika, happy birthday to you!" Five year old Annika Hansen giggled, kicking her feet with delight as her mother brought forward a big cake covered in snow white icing. Six pink candles- one for good luck- swayed as she set it down on the table in front of her excited daughter. Annika's father quickly snapped a holophoto before joining them at the table and taking his wife's hand. "Make a wish, darling," he told her, grinning. Annika's shining face grew a little more serious for a moment as she considered exactly what she wanted. Cake every day? That didn't seem realistic. Neither did a pony. Finally, she settled on her important birthday wish: To have family forever. Annika blew out the candles in one puff, and the little family was plunged into darkness.
"Blow out the candle and make a wish, Seven!" Janeway told her encouragingly. Normally she would have demanded to know the purpose, but nothing in this useless ritual seemed to make sense, so she merely nodded swiftly and turned her attention back to the beautifully-crafted confection in front of her. The many birthdays Voyager had celebrated had given Neelix plenty of opportunity to perfect his cake-making skills, and he had really outdone himself; the cake was huge and round, easily enough for everyone present, covered in blue icing with little yellow dots. Seven realized it was a representation of Astrometrics and suddenly felt a jolt of sentiment at the level of personalization. He had even included "Happy Birthday, Seven!" scrawled in white icing.
Another bead of wax dripped down from the gleaming candle. "Seven?" Harry asked concernedly. Seven squeezed her eyes shut tight as though focusing extremely hard. "I wish for-"
"You can't tell us, Seven, or else it won't come true!" Naomi Wildman cried exasperatedly, bouncing on the balls of her feet at Seven's elbow. A rumble of laughter swept through the crowd. "I understand," she told the cake-impatient little girl seriously.
Seven paused once more to gaze at her expectant, smiling friends. There was Neelix, knife raised and ready to slice the cake; Tom Paris, still clutching his stomach but grinning nonetheless; Harry smiling at her a little worriedly; the captain and Chakotay (the fact that they were clasping hands underneath the table did not escape her notice); and the EMH, who was in a buoyant mood after giving what he considered a singularly rousing performance of "Happy Birthday". Seven took a deep breath and blew out the candle. The party cheered as smoke curled into the air. For family, Seven thought. She had a feeling that this one would be a little more permanent.