Author: Nathan Yuen
Email:
Rating: G
Parts: 1/1
Pairing:K/7
Genre: Drama/Romance
Summary: Seven stumbles into a secret of Harry's life. A coda to "Deadlock."
Disclaimer: None of these guys belong to me. I'm just using them to channel my muse and take me to where no one has gone before, so hopefully Paramount won't be too displeased when I return their favorite characters to them after I borrow them.
Author's Prescript: There are references to the episodes "Deadlock" and "Imperfect." If you don't know them, I suggest you watch them. Takes place in the seventh season after "Imperfect," which means that Voyager's near the last leg of its journey. This one's dedicated to all who have sacrificed a very valuable part of their lives (favorite toys, people think Sting's "If you love someone, set them free" line), and were never noticed for it.
I'd like to thank Magen for taking the time and energy to sift through this little story and find all the horrendous errors that cropped up during my fit of inspiration. Magen should be held up as an example for all Beta readers out there.
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All was quiet as Seven of Nine, former drone of Tertiary Adjunct of Unamatrix 01, performed her usual sensory analysis of the star systems nearby. Any other human would be awed at the extraordinary beauty of the nebulas that the astrometrics lab's borg-enhanced sensors picked up, but Seven found stellar beauty irrelevant on-duty; it was inefficient to gape at stellar objects when the ship could run into a spatial anomaly or pass a planet rich in dilithium. Therefore, Seven's eyes only were drawn to anomalous readings or signs of resources. Only her off-duty hours were utilized for the appreciation of objects that had aesthetic value.
Though she would die a very slow and painful death before she admitted it to anyone.
Her thoughts snapped back into order as she consciously recognized a wavelength on the sensors. It was Beta radiation; a sign of a nebula with trace amounts of deuterium. Seven glanced at the chronometer. For maximum efficiency, she would have contacted the captain directly with the results, but it was most likely that the Captain was communing with the Commander in her weekly repast. Though Seven regarded such matters as irrelevant, it was most certainly relevant to the Captain and the Commander, as Seven discovered the first time that she interrupted them. She learned that it behooved her to pay attention to the Captain's schedule after that. In this case, she would follow the less efficient and more etiquette- conscious way through the ops officer, Harry Kim.
"Seven of Nine to Ensign Kim."
Messages to Ensign Kim's combadge are restricted to command clearance only.
Seven's only visible reaction was a raised eyebrow to the computer's unusual reply.
"Computer, locate Ensign Kim."
Ensign Kim is located in Holodeck Two.
Seven expelled a small sigh, downloaded the information into a pad, and walked out the door.
It seems as if the conveyance of this information was becoming more inefficient with each passing second.
She stood outside the holodeck and hesitated. In her rush to deliver the information, she overlooked the fact that the ensign might take offense at being disturbed. Why restrict communications to his combadge if it were otherwise? Hesitantly, Seven asked, "Computer, is there a lockdown in effect on Holodeck two?"
Negative. Modifications to current holodeck program need a level five clearance or higher.
Knowing that frankness was the better part of efficiency, Seven stepped in, speaking immediately. "Ensign Kim, these are the most recent scans..." Her voice trailed off as she realized that in fact Harry Kim was not present and given the environment she was in, she could be hard pressed to find him.
She was in a forest. Various trees and plants grew in the rich soil, covering the ground. The branches and leaves extended overhead to give a natural roof, permitting the occasional beam of light to penetrate and provide sufficient illumination for Seven to pick a path through the undergrowth. Seven knew that it could prove difficult to find the young ensign through such foliage.
She became aware of much more through her borg-enhanced senses. The scent of lilacs and lavenders settled in her nose, offering a fragrant bounty to every breath, but the sky overhead rumbled with grieving thunder, and...
The mournful song of a saxophone playing "Amazing Grace" could be heard playing in the distance. Seven processed the new information she was receiving, and headed in the direction of the music. Perhaps it would not be difficult to retrieve the wayward ensign after all.
She made her way through the forest, tracking the melody with precision grace. Not that it really mattered: there was a dirt road that seemed to lead directly toward the music. Shortly, the foliage thinned and Seven correctly expected an opening. But what she didn't expect came in a very unusual and very large form.
One person had his back turned to her as she approached him on the large plain. Because the saxophone's song was emanating from this one person, she inferred that it was Ensign Kim. Standing in front of him in formal fashion were a large number projected Starfleet personnel; she could tell because the hologram emitters were beneath their feet. And behind them was a life-size stone replica of Voyager, resting upon a marble column as thick and as tall as one of 20th century Earth's skyscrapers. Attached to this marble column was a stone plaque that read in enormous letters,
"This memorial is in honor of the 156 members of the Voyager Crew, who gave their lives in the service of Starfleet on stardate 49548.7. May they rest in peace, knowing that their sacrifice was not in vain."
Seven purposefully strode up to the ensign's back and tapped him on the shoulder. His saxophone went silent in mid verse and he turned around. Seven was disturbed to find Kim red eyed and tears streaming down his face. "Yes? Oh, hello."
That was it. "Hello." Not a "hello, Seven," a "hi, Seven," or even an annoyingly perky "hi Seven." Just a "hello," as if she could be anyone that couldÕve walked in here. Since the day she was removed from the Borg Collective he greeted her by name. But it wasn't simply the fact that she wasn't acknowledged, but the tone was that of utter desolation. Not even when he said farewell to Tal did Kim look so downcast. It disturbed and frightened Seven to see Kim in such a state.
She shoved all her emotions, kicking and screaming, under the facade of Borg arrogance. Such fragile emotions only breed inefficiency. She thrust the pad in his face. "Current sensor scans detect Beta radiation. Review the report and deliver it to the Captain at her earliest convenience."
"...uh, okay," came the subdued response.
As Harry put down the saxophone and read over the report, Seven took the time to walk up to the holographic projections and examine them. The first thing she noticed that at black roses were laid at the feet of each projector, from the captain at the center to the lowest crewman. She also noted that a few feet in front of the captain, there was a duplicate Kim, standing and holding a baby bundled in his arms. Like all the others, he wore a solemn expression and lifeless eyes.
"Explain." Seven said without thinking, startling both herself and the preoccupied ensign.
"Seven?"
"Explain why you have created this simulation. This is a memorial to all the crewmembers of Voyager and Voyager itself. Yet the crew of this ship is still alive. There is no logical explanation for such a creation."
Kim sighed, the forlorn expression never leaving his face. "I'm sorry... I just forgot that you weren't a part of the crew at that point... I just thought you knew... okay, give me some time to think."
Seven waited patiently while the clouds mourned overhead with thunder and not rain.
"Five years ago to the day," Kim began in a passionless tone, "Voyager ran into a nebula in order to avoid the Vidiians, aliens who stole organs from others in order to prevent their own deaths from a plague ravaging their species. A divergence field split Voyager into two ships that interacted in the same time-space. One of them suffered ongoing damage at the other's attempts to reactivate the power grid through proton bursts. In the chaos, Ensign Samantha Wildman had a stillbirth." Kim walked up to his projected double, seeing it eye to eye unflinchingly. "Ensign Harry Kim was sucked out of a hull breach after repairing a conduit."
After a pause to let that sink in, Kim turned away to look at Seven. "Once the problem of two Voyagers was discovered, both crews tried to solve the problem. But there was no way to split the ships. Eventually, the Vidiians found the ships, vulnerable in such a state, and by some fluke they boarded the undamaged one. Captain Janeway made the decision to utilize the self-destruct. I..." Kim swallowed with visible difficulty. "...I was ordered to go through a spatial bridge to the other ship, taking the newborn Naomi Wildman with me."
Harry turned to regard the entire projected crew with his gaze. "In order to protect a duplicate crew from an alien invasion, my Captain ordered the sacrifice of all hands on board. They deserved a memorial this worthy."
Kim's face turned bitter. "But none of them out there remember," he cried, gesturing in the general direction of the exterior of the Holodeck. "None of them remember the sacrifice that the Captain made! They'd rather regard this crew as some abnormality, an astronomical fluke that appeared and just as quickly discarded, rather than the living, breathing, feeling humans that they were! No one remembered," Kim said, whispering to the ground, "No one save a man who died and had another take his place. He will never see Earth and his family will never welcome him home. I, I have taken his place... and the crew who died in this one's place will be forgotten when Voyager's computers are purged in the Alpha quadrant, or will be doomed to be a noteworthy quirk in the annals of history." Kim bowed his head and closed his eyes, looking much more older and much more tired than the ensign that he portrayed to the outside world.
Externally, it looked as if Seven was regarding the ensign's tirade with dispassion and even a bit of Borg distain. Internally, however, she never felt more emotional distress in her human existence. Sorrow, pity, and compassion for the seemingly boyish ensign who held this inner burden for so long, roiled within her. She never realized that under his optimistic demeanor, Kim might feel even more alone than Seven did as a former drone. She pursed her lips slightly as she scanned through her eidetic memory, trying to find one of the Doctor's social lessons that might be able to aid her in expressing her sympathy to the grieving man. Unfortunately, she found none. But she recalled a particularly relevant piece of information that came up in their conversations.
She had asked the Doctor, "In the event that I encounter an unprecedented situation, or a situation that we have not covered yet, how should I proceed."
The doctor had paused for an instant, looked at her insightfully, and said pensively, "Why Seven, that should be the easiest thing for even a hologram."
Seven had raised an eyebrow at that point, and the Doctor chuckled a little in response before stating, "You should follow your heart."
The simple turn of phrase brought to mind events when her cortical node started degrading, how she discussed with Lieutenant Torres the afterlife, and how the half-Klingon commented, "I think you're a little more memorable than that."
Suddenly, Seven knew how to proceed. She analyzed Kim's information once more, assessing the situation, and realized that yes; this was the solution she should implement.
Because she was facing Kim's back, she walked around and positioned herself to face him. His eyes were still closed face still downward in pity.
"Ensign." Her voice was passionless, and he looked up blandly. "Your concerns are irrelevant," she said.
Kim's eyes blazed fire, and his cheeks filled with heated blood as he took insult to the comment. "How dare you- "
"Your concerns are irrelevant," Seven continued, as if Kim never spoke, "Because you yourself have eliminated the parameters required for such concern."
In the shocked silence that pervaded, Seven proceeded to explain. She did so with an increasingly gentle voice, knowing what a precarious line she was crossing, and that empathy was needed in such a situation "Ensign, it is apparent that you have not forgotten these individuals. You still honor them in your memory, placing them in high regard. That is all that is required to preserve their existence. As long as you exist, they exist as well, in your memory." She paused, lost in thought for an instant. "Moreover, you have informed me of the existence of these individuals, therefore, they 'live on' in my memory as well. There is a high probability that I, in turn, will inform others of the crew's existence, thus assisting them in achieving immortality."
As she spoke, Harry's eyes brightened, not with the spark of fury that had existed earlier, but with the fire of hope and optimism that Seven had come to know so well. And for the first time in her memory, she sat down cross-legged before anyone requested her to, and gestured Harry to do the same.
He did, commenting, "You know, Seven, Harry would've loved to talk to you."
After swiveling around to face the memorial abreast with the man beside her, Seven regarded him with a glance, saying, "Do you have any genetic discrepancy from the offspring of John and Mary Kim, born in 2349?"
Harry regaled her with an automatic, astonished "No!" Which suited Seven just fine.
"Then you are John and Mary's son, Harry Kim. That is the way the situation exists, and that is the way HE would have preferred it to be." At "HE," Seven gestured to the holographic Harry, standing tall, the delicate life of Naomi Wildman in his arms, the sun beginning to peek out of the clouds behind them. "No one is considered more worthy of the name than you, Harry. Take it with pride."
Harry turned to face her in the brightening light. "Thanks, Seven, for being here. Now, I don't feel so... alone." And Seven offered an open smile in reply as the warmth of pride warmed her chest and suffused throughout the rest of her body.
Emotionally, physically, and mentally drained, Harry rested his head on Seven's left arm. Rather than push him away, Seven let him rest there and even held his head steady by reaching out with her right hand and resting it softly on his temple.
The last thing Harry murmured before he dozed off was, "Hey... you just called me Harry, didn't you?"
Seven looked down, feeling the warmth emitted through her eyes and whispered, "Yes, I suppose I did, didn't I?"
And as she sat there, basking in the external warmth of an artificial sun and the internal warmth of compassion, of pride, of love and being loved, Annika Hansen of Earth felt just a bit more human.
The End.
Author's Postscript: I'm proud to call this my first shortie, but I'm also kinda dismayed as well. When inspiration strikes, it strikes fast and hard and all in a jumble, so this story is a cross between a rough draft and a final. To give you an idea, the original protagonist was B'Elanna, that's how rapidly far this story has come. I didn't expect Seven to evolve so fast throughout the story, either, so if you readers have any idea whether these guys are Out of character, please tell me so I can do a few tweaks on it. Maybe I'll do a few more shorts as well, but I have a timeline for most of my stories, and most of them aren't stand alones.
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