Valkyrie
A Star Trek: Voyager Fanfiction
Copyright 2008 by Vyrexuviel
Disclaimer:
This story is an original work of fiction set in the Star Trek Universe. All characters from that universe used here are the property of Paramount Pictures. All original characters and storylines are the property of the author.
This story depicts a romantic and lovingly sexual relationship between two women. If this disturbs you, cease reading now.
...
Congrats, if your mind explodes reading this, it's your own damn fault now. *roguish wink*
Lots of thanks go to Cygirl1, who helped me polish this, and to G. L. Dartt for her lovely Just Between series that inspired a lot of the characterizations in this fic. I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it!
PS: I'm AUing the timeperiod on a few events in the Voyager timeline. Specifically, I'm moving the events of Omega Directive to after Dark Frontier. After that, the fic diverges completely from the Voyager series, so be warned!
Everyone in the shuttle bay froze.
Tuvok held up a hand to restrain the security guards from rushing forward. This situation required a delicate touch. There were too many unknowns. He hadn't seen the face, but the sight of it had shocked both the Captain and Seven, but he gently coaxed the stunned ex-Borg down the ramp. He kept a hand on his phaser, but did not draw it.
His shock when the figure stood back and he saw the face, was betrayed only by the lifting of both eyebrows. Now he knew why Seven had froze. Perhaps he would too if he saw his older self like this. Still, this was no time to allow emotions to cloud logic. He stepped down the ramp to his captain's side as the figure glanced up at him, nodding coolly to Tuvok.
"Dup dor a'az Mubster, Tuvok," the older woman raised her gauntleted hand and spread her fingers in the Vulcan salute, "it is good to see you."
Tuvok's eyebrow rose slightly and he nodded, recognizing the Vulcan words for 'live long and prosper'.
"Seven?" The Captain's half-whispered question drew the armored woman's attention to her, "is that really you? What happened?"
"It is... a long story, Captain. As it is also a painful one, perhaps this is not the proper place to discuss it."
Half-dazed, Kathryn nodded. "Oh, of course. Do you require help to... exit that thing?"
"Indeed. I require a specialized alcove to don or remove this suit, Captain. As I did not have a chance to bring such with me, I must ask that Lt. Torres assist me in constructing such an alcove to the specifications I have brought."
The Captain nodded dumbly. Tuvok was inwardly concerned that perhaps this was a bit too much for the woman when the turbolift doors opened and the half-Klingon entered the shuttle bay. She took three steps in, was about to say something, then stopped short as she saw the armored figure near the Captain.
"Lt. Torres." The voice sounded amused.
"S-Seven?" The confused chief engineer glanced from the Seven she knew, wearing her plum biosuit, to the black-clad armored woman with an older, lined face that was still unmistakably Seven of Nine's, despite the unfamiliarity of the swirls of metal on her face.
"Please, refer to me as Annika. It is my right name, and it causes less confusion." The armored woman nodded slightly at Seven, who nodded back, looking slightly faint, which was something of a shock to B'Elanna. Until that point, she had thought that not even a phaser to the chest would get through that insufferable Borg frigidity. The fact that Seven was leaning against the Delta Flyer as if to draw support from the craft shocked B'Elanna more than the sight of her doppelganger.
The Captain glanced to her chief engineer. "B'Elanna, Annika here says she can't remove her armor without specialized equipment, but she couldn't bring it with her, so she'll need your help to build it here." She shot her volatile engineer a Force 3 Look. "We owe her our lives for getting us out of there intact."
B'Elanna gulped slightly and nodded, gazing intently at the gleaming-black clad woman. "So, what is it you need?"
The armored woman began to rattle off a list of components, and the pair left the shuttle bay, Annika's wings tucked tightly against her back. As the turbolift door closed, Annika turned and ordered the lift, "Deck 12, Section 20, Main Engineering."
B'Elanna's eyes ran up and down the suit's back as she waited, "That must have cost a heck of a lot. Where'd you get it?"
"I designed and built this myself. The warp core and impulse engines have been constructed to my specifications."
B'Elanna's eyes felt like they were about to explode out of her head. "You have a WARP CORE in that thing?"
Annika turned to face her, and for a second the Klingon thought she saw a smirk on the full lips. ⌠This suit enables me to achieve Warp 9.97 for 10 minutes."
The chief engineer slumped against the wall as the armored figure turned back to the doors. "That must suck down a lot of power. How often do you have to recharge it?"
"As of yet, I have not had the occasion to require a recharge."
That shocked B'Elanna, but she could tell from the woman's tone that she was teasing. "Well, care to share the specs for that reactor, then?"
"I am afraid it may not be compatible with Voyager's systems. I do not wish this ship to explode." Annika turned slightly as the doors opened near main engineering, letting B'Elanna out first. As the smaller woman passed the armored bulk, Annika spoke, "However, the same techniques I used to miniaturize my warp core could be applied to Voyager, allowing you to maintain a higher warp factor without burnout."
B'Elanna looked startled at the roguish grin on the older woman's face as she stepped past the smaller woman and into Engineering.
"Get a hold of yourself, B'Elanna. This isn't Seven, and you know it, don't get the two confused," she thought at herself, following the black armored shape into her engine room.
Seven sat in the mess hall trying to come to grips with her older self's appearance onboard. The sensations provoked by seeing her own face when the faceplate rolled back were┘disconcerting. She found herself resting her human hand on her abdomen and ignoring the nutritional supplement before her for the moment, trying to analyze these reactions.
"Something the matter with your lunch, Seven?"
The ex-Borg's attention snapped to the short, stocky Talaxian beside her, her arched gleaming-metal implant over her left eye rising. "It is acceptable." To prove her point, Seven carefully took a spoonful of the soup.
Neelix, his golden ruff of hair and side-whiskers nicely combed, sat across from the Borg. "You seem distracted by something today, Seven. I heard we picked up another drone during that last mission, that true?" A native to the Delta Quadrant, Neelix had served as Voyager's guide for the three years prior to the ship's encounter with Borg territory. Although his role as guide had ceased, he had taken his duties as morale officer and chef very seriously, sometimes to comical results when his cooking caused a minor epidemic of upset stomachs.
The alien's unusual bluntness caught Seven's attention and her ice-blue eyes gazed intently at his gold ones. "No. We did not sever another drone from the Collective." After a moment's hesitation, she spoke again, "We were...rescued."
"Rescued? By whom? I wasn't aware there were any friendly natives in the Unicomplex."
"I--" Seven never got further, as at that moment, her commbadge chirped. "Captain Janeway to Seven of Nine, please meet me in Astrometrics."
"I am on my way." The ex-drone stood, nodding politely to Neelix who stood as well, she then left the mess hall.
A few minutes later, she entered the Astrometrics lab. A joint project between herself and Ensign Harry Kim, the operations officer, the lab used Borg-enhanced sensors to chart the area around Voyager for a faster route home for the ship trapped 40,000 light-years and several decades at maximum warp away from home. Inside were Captain Kathryn Janeway and the individual known as Annika. Evidently, B'Elanna had finished the mechanized alcove Annika required to remove her starsuit, as the woman was clad in tight-fitting black pants and a black shirt Seven had heard referred to as a 'tank top'. Short, silver-white hair and pale grey-blue eyes complimented her pale skin and the silver tracery of implants on her face and bare arms.
"Captain?" Seven stepped up onto the control platform. She wore her formfitting plum biosuit, needed to help keep her Borg implants functioning efficiently and concealing little of her figure.
"Seven." The captain glanced between the two women, evidently disconcerted by the similarity of appearance, despite the numerous differences. For a moment, Seven froze, wondering if perhaps the Captain had called her here to say that she was no longer required in Astrometrics, as her future self knew more about their route than anyone.
"I'm here to let you know Annika has requested quarters for the two of you."
That surprised the Borg, who responded with a raised ocular implant, "Quarters?"
"Yes. I'm sorry I didn't see it earlier. I've heard you've had a hard time adjusting to living on this ship, and I've heard some unflattering rumors about how you're being treated like a piece of machinery, kept in the cargo bay until needed." The pain in Kathryn's voice was evident, even to the socially undeveloped drone. She hesitated a bit, unsure how to respond to this, but the Captain wasn't finished. "So, I'm assigning you quarters with Annika on Deck 6. I've spoken with Annika about this, and she agrees that she'd be an ideal roommate to help you settle into a more human existence."
Seven turned her gaze on the other woman, seeing those pale blue eyes twinkle slightly as the impassive face nodded to her. "I am unsure if I am ready for this facet of humanity, Captain"
"Nonsense, Seven." Seven recoiled at the sudden words from her counterpart. "You've been ready almost since the Doc removed your abdominal implant. You just got used to living in the cargo bay, and it's driven a wedge between you and the rest of the ship."
Seven was unsure how to take that blunt statement from the woman who looked almost exactly like her, but realized that Annika must remember her own time on Voyager keenly.
"That's right, Seven. I'm sorry I didn't see it sooner, but we can set it right, now. Annika's volunteered to be your roommate, and to take over from the Doctor in teaching you more about social niceties."
The older woman nodded slightly to Seven. "I understand your current state of social development, having experienced it myself. You may ask me any questions you have about social interactions on board ship, and I will do my best to explain them in terms you can understand."
Seven nodded gratefully to the older woman and Janeway smiled. "Well, that's settled. Annika has provided us with some schematics for improvements to the warp core that shaves a full year off our journey, but I want you to go over them with her to make sure."
The ex-drone nodded, "I will comply." She turned to Annika as Janeway grinned ruefully at the typically Borg expression before leaving Astrometrics.
Personal Log, Seven of Nine, Stardate 52634.1
The individual known as Annika has settled in within a few days of her arrival on Voyager. I find her intriguing, and not just because she is from the future. I know of no set of circumstances that would induce me to attempt to singlehandedly attack the Unicomplex as she has admitted she wished to do. Perhaps when I have 'grown older' I will understand.
I am somewhat confused as to what to call her. I called her Seven once, because that is the designation I have been given, but it seemed to cause her pain and she asked me to call her Annika. That name I still have not really identified with, so I am not averse to her using it, but it is rather... disconcerting. I find myself thinking of her as an alternate possibility of myself, one who was never assimilated. She certainly has much less trouble interacting with the crew than I do, but she has been teaching me more thoroughly than the Doctor ever did about individual social customs.
She has brought back with her an exoskeleton armor that has baffled Lieutenant Torres's attempts to analyze it. I have attempted to scan it with Borg enhanced sensors as well, at her request, but to no avail. Whatever shielding it uses completely masks it from sensors. The suit is still visible, just impervious to scanning, but a visual scan shows that the 'wings' contain an extremely powerful warp drive. B'Elanna has been, 'bugging' I think the term is, Annika for information about the suit's power source, but so far the... I suppose the only term for her is my 'counterpart'. In any event, Annika has not been forthcoming with the data. She has been invaluable in providing detailed data pertaining to upgrades to the warp core, however, that have distracted the engineer from attempting to examine the armor further.
I find myself... mystified by her. Perhaps it is the new implants she has shown me that defy my capability to analyze, but something about her is enigmatic in a way I find...intriguing. She has told me that during the 32.35 years she spent in the Alpha Quadrant, she not only invented a new power system and miniaturized a warp core, but also found a way to augment her remaining implants and stabilize them against further decay. She still requires regeneration, but the period has decreased to one hour per seven-day period. I find whatever information she dispenses about her augmented systems fascinating. It has apparently been designed specifically to resist assimilation. I must ask her sometime if it would be possible to augment my own systems with her upgrades to prevent myself from being reacquired by the Collective.
Her tales of our future voyages have been limited, but the few she has informed me about have been fascinating. She does not dispense exact details about our encounters in her past, our future, but I have been able to glean much from her hints.
I must return to Astrometrics now. End Log.
Captain's Personal Log, Stardate 52634.2
Annika. That's her name. Annika Hansen. Our new guest seems to be fitting in well, though she seems almost as cold as Tuvok can be at times. But I've seen a light in her eyes and a spring in her step as she strides these corridors that I wouldn't have thought possible, for her or for Seven.
I must say, I was totally taken aback when she hugged me in the shuttle bay. The feel of that thick armored exoskeleton gently enclosing me was both frightening and soothing at the same time. *soft snicker* I thought Tuvok was going to explode from the desire to protect me and the thought that if he did, he might doom us all.
I granted her request for an alcove in the shuttle bay to let her extract herself from that suit of hers. The thing needs to be assembled and disassembled around the wearer, so she couldn't take it off until the alcove was complete. She and B'Elanna have struck up a remarkable friendship, and by extension, B'Elanna is treating Seven much better now. The number of rumors about the "Ice Queen" have dropped off significantly since Annika came onboard.
That suit of hers... I saw it in action, and I can hardly believe how powerful it is. I've seen her push that thing to Warp 9.97 on occasion, apparently just for the sheer hell of it, but I still don't see how it's possible to fit that powerful of a drive core in a suit that tiny. Seven has requested to be allowed to study it, and I've granted her permission, but I don't think Annika will let her get too detailed a scan. She's fiercely protective of that suit. Oddly, she seems equally protective of Seven. I've seen her lift a crewman who was whispering insulting comments about the ex-Borg in the mess hall out of his seat by the back of his uniform and demand an apology. Seven seemed to be somewhat taken aback by this, but evidently she was grateful someone stuck up for her.
One of the first things Annika asked for was a set of quarters, which I was prepared to grant, but she surprised me by asking for Seven's alcove to be transferred there as well. On reflection, I suppose it was a bad idea to keep Seven in the cargo bay, like a piece of equipment to be put away when not in use. We actually installed two alcoves in the quarters, one for Annika and one for Seven. At first, when I told her about needing to put the two alcoves in officer's quarters, B'Elanna swore at me, then got down to it and did it.
I've been avoiding asking Annika too much about the future, figuring her tendency to change the subject indicated either it was too painful or she wanted to avoid altering the timeline too much. I do know that in her timeline, she never came back like this, so either she's going to try to avoid some sort of catastrophe, or alter some sort of circumstances related to me.
I've caught her looking at me with those eyes of hers. One moment, they're ice blue and cold as a mountain stream, the next they're the hot blue of an intense flame. More than once I've seen her staring at me as if to reassure herself I'm real. Maybe something happened to me in her other timeline, and if so, I don't want to know about it. It's bad enough to know that she felt so strongly about it that she broke the Temporal Prime Directive and came back to avert it. Perhaps I got assimilated on that last mission to rescue Seven from the Borg, I don't know.
Chakotay's outside the door and I have to get back to reports. End Log Entry.
Chief Engineer's Personal Log, Stardate 52654.5
Well, it took a few weeks, but I managed to finally figure out why I can't scan that blasted suit that Annika came back with. It's got multi-spacial shields AND a polyfiber armor carapace swarming with Borg nanoprobes. Just thinking that those nanoprobes had been in contact with the captain makes my skin crawl.
That suit fascinates me. I've seen it reach Warp 9.97 for a few minutes, when Annika was out doing some sort of practice in an asteroid field we passed a few days back. I've never seen a warp field that intense before. I know, the inverse cube law dictates that the larger the field the more power required, but there's no possible way to cram that much power into that small a space. The only other place I've seen that comes close to that level of energy density is in a supernova explosion, and I don't want to think about Annika flying around with a supernova in her pocket.
Seven's recent questions about the shielding around the suit and the possible repercussions of a power core of that magnitude destabilizing have worried me a bit, but I reassured her that if it was going to blow, it would've done so before now. Annika seems to have no problems with anxiety about her suit vaporizing an entire star system. But that might just be that damn Borg Wall she puts between her and her emotions.
I've seen that woman's eyes positively dance with glee when she fixed a problem we'd been having for 3 years with the replicators. I swear if she didn't look so much like Seven, I d've said she was someone else entirely. And if that weren't enough, she's so polite most of the time that I keep getting startled by that swirl of metal around her left eye. I keep forgetting that this is the future Seven I'm talking to, and that creeps the Grethor out of me.
On the plus side, she's given us some very impressive technical data. I can't wait to see the Captain's face when I present her with my proposal for armoring Voyager with that ablative armor Annika brought back with her. The only problem I have is that the power required is so high we won't be able to use weapons. And Annika's given us a few pointers there that bear investigating.
I've got to head to my quarters and take a bath. Overhauling one of the shuttles is never clean.
Annika's Personal Log, Stardate 52656.2
I am home. Home and Beloved is safe.
Kathryn is back on board now, but I think I might have overdone my welcome when I arrived. She seems to be avoiding me now.
I'm not sure what happened with the wormhole I used to reach here, but evidently B'Elanna's attempts to stabilize the temporal coordinates failed. Still, I got the chance to set things right before they ever went wrong in the first place.
I must admit, it was a shock to see myself in the Queen's chamber. I remember these events, but it was still a shock. The device I used to destroy the Queen's ship will have severed the head of the hydra for now, but it's only a matter of time before a new Queen is installed. Still, I hope to have Voyager home and out of their reach before that happens.
B'Elanna and myself... I need to come up with alternate designations. I'll call my younger self Seven. I seem to recall being rather unattracted to my birth name until I fully comprehended the sadism of the Collective. So. I'll call her Seven. Seven and B'Elanna have been attempting to scan my suit. Even with the shields down and the power core at minimal setting, the polyfiber shells will keep Omega a secret for a while longer. I recall we encounter the substance again a few months from now. Perhaps this time I can persuade Kathryn to forgo destroying it, citing my own success in harnessing Omega.
I'll encrypt this and all future logs with certain encryption codes I've developed since my earlier time on Voyager. I'd like to see Seven crack them; it should teach her something about the nature of the Borg. They aren't as adaptable as they think with all the creativity squashed out of them. The ability to process data logically is good, but without that spark of creativity the Collective will never innovate, merely assimilate. That is why they will never achieve perfection.
I have found myself stepping into a mentoring role for Seven recently. I was so incensed by the comment I overheard in the Mess hall, I had the Ensign who said it out of his chair before I knew what I was doing. Seven calmed me down, and I merely extracted an apology instead of terminating him as was my wish, but the experience has taught me to keep a tighter reign on my anger than I have been. I've been so happy here that that comment brought back all the bad things about being on Voyager, the constant harassment, the innuendo, the looks, the feeling of being excluded...I'll make sure Seven integrates fully this time around, not being shunted to the side as I was.
Seven's coming. I'd better encrypt this.
Personal Log, Seven of Nine, Stardate 52656.3
I found Annika in Astrometrics this morning. At first, I was hesitant to approach her, but after she engaged me in conversation, I found her very easy to talk to. Our conversation ranged over a wide variety of topics, from data extraction algorithms to personal preferences in music. Our preferences in music were remarkably different, perhaps the difference of experience. I find myself attracted to symphonic pieces, elegant in their complexity. She tends towards straightforward rhythms and chords, simple yet graceful. She has promised to introduce me to this "rock" sometime, though what significance an inorganic solid has to music I am unsure. Perhaps I should research this more thoroughly.
I was astounded at the speed at which Annika processed the data we had accumulated during the night. It wasn't that she was faster at analyzing the data, and she has told me that she did not recall this particular sample of data from her own experiences as myself. Perhaps I will grow this 'intuition' she professes to have, but she has cautioned me that it took her some time to rely on her 'gut' feelings, and she still tends to analyze data thoroughly despite usually having the correct answer before completing the analysis.
I have found my inability to analyze her suit rather more intriguing than frustrating, especially after that expression she had when I mentioned my inability. She expressed her desire to "figure it out myself", if I wanted to know more about it. I must admit, the fact that I cannot scan it directly has intrigued me to the point where I find myself developing new scanning techniques to uncover just what it is she has inside her suit. I have registered power readings from the suit while she was using it, and the amount of raw power in the suit is...staggering, I suppose is the correct word. I have a suspicion I know what is the suit's power core, but I must gather more data before confronting Annika about it. I am not sure if I should tell the captain my suspicions at this time, but the possible danger of the core should be addressed.
For reasons I cannot fathom, I find myself relaxing when in Annika's presence. She has almost entirely taken over the Captain's role in integrating me into Voyager's Collective. I found myself speaking considerably more freely with her than with the Captain at this point, perhaps because she understands my viewpoint more than any other individual onboard does, simply because she was once in my position. This... camaraderie is invaluable. I have been able to work out with her why the crew treats me in the way they do, in particular why Lt Torres seems to be enthusiastic towards me one minute and harshly critical the next. Perhaps Annika's suggestion that I 'open up a little' to Lt Torres will succeed in improving relations with the half-Klingon.
I must find time to examine my experiences with Annika soon. For the time being, I will continue to monitor Astrometrics.
Captain's Personal Log, Stardate 52657.8
Annika stopped by after lunch today. I'm still amazed at the mature woman Seven grew up to be. But then, she's also had a lot of stress in her life. I heard her mention something about a romantic relationship with Chakotay in her past, but apparently it didn't work out too well.
Seven and B'Elanna have been driving each other to distraction, trying to analyze that suit of Annika's. I'm not sure what they find so interesting in that suit, but I actually had to remind Seven that she needed to finish a long-range sensor analysis before she went off duty tonight. I've never had to do that before.
B'Elanna's been interacting much more peaceably with Seven these past few days, ever since Annika's incident in the mess hall where she pulled that ensign making comments about Seven into the air. I knew that Annika was a woman of deep emotions, but I didn't realize how cold she could be about it. That flat delcaration that she'd terminate him if he continued such harrassment apparently deeply impressed Seven as well as my engineer.
Speaking of Annika. I ran across a padd on my desk a few days ago from her, suggesting a course correction to an out of the way system. She requested that the ship stock up on supplies there, but after long range scans, the only supplies we could find were some ore samples that have the geometrics section drooling over their consoles. Still, it'd be a good respite from letting Astrometrics have all the glory, and give those rock hounds some glory of their own.
End Log entry.
Chief Engineer's Personal Log, 52661.3
Well, this new system the Captain took us to is rather interesting. Not. No M-class planets, no gas giants either, just lumps of rock. So far, nothing interesting is in this system. I hope Annika has a reason for what she's doing and isn't just taking the scenic route out of nostalgia. I'll admit, the asteroid belt is rather pretty, but we could have imaged it from a few light-years away just the same.
I hear the Captain wants the EPS grid up to full capacity to take advantage of the restored replicators. Well, I have no problem with that, but it does mean more work for me. *soft sigh* At least Seven seems to have forgiven me for that last ice-queen comment I made to her a few days back. The sight of that long drop to the bottom of the warp core was...inspiring, to say the least. I'm still not sure Annika put her up to that, but I don't want to antagonize that woman. She looks like she's been in a number of less savory bar fights in her time.
Still, that outburst from Annika was...well, startling. First thing I knew she had that ensign danging from his shirtfront in front of the entire mess hall. I guess that Borg exterior hides a lot more than I suspected.
End Log.
Annika's Personal Log, 52662.9
I caught Seven snooping around my suit's alcove with a tricorder again. I can tell she's suspicious, but she's rather inventive for excuses as to why she needs to scan my suit. First it was to make sure its power requirements were met, then to determine the resonance frequency of the shields, and a few other reasons. I'm not sure how much longer it'll take her to figure out the power source. She must remember Omega from her time in the collective.
It's late, almost midnight. I'd better go to bed soon. Seven's going to spend the night in Astrometrics, as usual. Someday I'm going to coax her to spend a night in a bed. It'll do her good and reduce her dependency on the alcove for regeneration. Might need to get her used to solid food first, though. She's being remarkably stubborn about that, stating repeatedly that she does not have the time to ingest solid nutrients, yet I've caught her numerous times in the holodeck with various recreational and workout programs. I don't think she's lying, except perhaps to herself. I think I'll see if I can get her to have lunch with me in the Mess Hall tomorrow. Neelix is preparing a dish I think she and I will enjoy, using some supplies we gathered on our last stop for foodstuffs.
On a brighter note, I found Beloved in the mess hall a few nights ago, looking over a padd. I helped her with the problem and we got to discussing various points in our past. I recall how Seven and she had spent the first few days at each other's throats, and I think that startled her a bit. I took the time to explain how I had felt at the time, which seemed to settle her doubts a bit, though I think she's still uneasy being around me. I don't look much older than Seven does now, but that's due to my nanoprobes keeping me from aging as much as a human normally would.
I do hope she returns my feeling eventually. I've waited so long for my Beloved, I couldn't bear it if I found I had lost her before I ever had her.
End Log.
It was several weeks after Annika had come on board, and things had changed on Voyager. First of all, the ship was humming along at a much improved efficiency, maintaining a higher warp factor and enjoying fully-functional replicators for the first time since they were stranded.
Things were looking up, finally, and morale was high.
Seven of Nine was letting the computer run an analysis of an anomalous subspace reading when the hammer of insight struck. The ex-drone stood unseeing for a full 63.2 seconds before realizing the computer was waiting for an instruction. She quickly filed the results of the analysis and left Astrometrics, heading for her quarters, shared with her counterpart, Annika.
She stopped in the doorway to the bedroom, noticing that Annika was asleep. Her breath stilled as she caught sight of Annika's back. Whereas her own was devoid of implants after the removal of her abdominal implant a few weeks ago, Annika's had a silver tracery, about 5mm wide, running down her spine and spreading across her ribs like a simulation of the nervous system, graceful arched curves of metal, flexing slightly as the woman stirred in her sleep. Annika had kicked the covers down to her waist, lying on her side with her back to the young woman in the doorway.
The lights came up full as the computer gently announced the time was 0100 hours, Annika stirring in protest, but sitting up quickly when she saw Seven in the doorway. The younger woman flushed as she saw Annika's bare chest. Evidently, Annika preferred not to wear clothing to bed.
Annika's chest was as marked as her back with a thin tracery of metal spirals down her abdomen, but avoiding her full breasts.
"Morning, Seven. Why are you here?" Annika pulled the sheets up a bit, using them to cover herself as she slipped out of bed and over to the bathroom.
Seven found herself having trouble remembering why she had come to Annika's bedroom door for a moment, ⌠It is Omega, isn't it."
Annika glanced up sharply at the younger ex-drone. After a moment she spoke, "Have a seat, I'll be out in about five minutes."
As there was no chair in the room, Seven hesitated a bit before stating she'd rather stand. Annika took only 4.8 minutes before she emerged, toweling her short hair and clad in workout shorts and shirt. Seven looked her up and down, taking this opportunity to note the differences between the two women and noticing that the woman's shins also sported decorative-seeming swirls of metal around them in an intricate pattern.
Annika sat on the end of the bed, tossing the towel expertly through the open bathroom door and onto the counter.
"I'm impressed, Seven. I hadn't thought you would have figured it out yet."
Seven wasn't sure if she should be pleased or insulted. Pleased that she had exceeded her elder self's expectations, or insulted that her elder self's expectations were so low. "There is only one substance that could produce the power required by the systems I scanned in your suit, Annika. Omega."
Annika nodded, "It is Omega. I managed to synthesize and stabilize about a hundred of the molecules. All but seven of those are in my suit's power core, the rest in micro-bombs."
"Explosives? You wasted Omega on explosives?" The shock in Seven's voice caught Annika's attention.
"Nothing else would do. I had not just wanted to destroy the Queen's ship, but also prevent any survivors from contacting the Collective. Omega prevents any and all subspace traffic within the destroyed region of subspace, and is therefore ideal for the purpose. Assuming one can contain it long enough to detonate it at their command."
Seven nodded slightly at that, glancing down. "I see the logic of it. I assume you still have seven of the Omega-explosives left?"
"I hope not to have to use them, but yes."
A silence fell then, Seven glancing curiously at Annika. She hadn't really seen the woman this way before, and the silver traceries on Annika's body seemed at first decorative and irrelevant until Seven remembered that this was herself she was viewing, and each tracery probably had a very good reason for being there. "What is purpose of the metal strips on your surface?"
Annika suppressed a grin. Seven was still learning how to be polite. "I have found ways of augmenting my Borg implants, reformatting the ones I could without risk, to make them incompatible with standard Borg equipment."
Seven blinked slightly in confusion. "How is that possible?"
"I have reprogrammed my nanoprobes significantly since I arrived back in the Alpha Quadrant. In addition to maintaining my body and implants, they also aggressively seek out and destroy any invading technology, including unmodified nanoprobes." Annika yawned slightly, then stretched a little. The motion pulled the shirt taught across her chest, the hem lifting a bit to let the light gleam on the metal curls along her abdomen.
"So, you've adapted to resist the Borg. Impressive." Seven wasn't feeling her best. For some reason her ocular implant ached and she rubbed at the point to the side of it to ease the unpleasant sensation.
"In a manner of speaking. I adapted specifically to destroy the Borg. My body is now prepared to withstand significant pressures and strains, and to respond far faster than a drone, allowing me to hold my own against them if it ever came down to a hand-to-hand battle. I've also reactivated my Borg shielding, but I intended that to be a last line of defense."
Seven was definitely not feeling well, now. The ache had spread to her stomach now and was making her regret having had that dish Neelix had prepared. "I... see...."
"Are you feeling alright, Seven?" Annika's look of concern didn't shock the ex-drone as much as the fact that her vision had started to blur.
"I am... malfunctioning." It was growing increasingly difficult to restrain the peristalsis in her esophagus. Her 'stomach' apparently did not like Neelix's most recent concoction.
"Annika to sickbay, medical emergency, two to beam directly to sickbay."
Annika's voice soothed Seven with its calm tone, even as she felt herself slipping off the bed. The familiar sensation of the transport engulfed her, but it was too much for her stomach. The instant she had materialized, she turned aside in Annika's arms, unable to restrain the urge to empty her roiling abdomen as quickly as possible.
"Please state-- Oh my. Annika, what's wrong with her?" The Doctor's tone sounded at once both remote and present, the roaring sensation in
her ears preventing Seven from pinpointing the Doctor in the blurred mass of painful light that she saw.
"Sudden onset of nausea and loss of motor control." Annika's soothing voice calmed the apprehensive Seven as she felt the strong arms lift her onto the biobed.
"Third case today, let me guess, she had Neelix's Indian Surprise."
"That she did, but only two mouthfuls. I don't see how that could have upset her."
"She's having the same reaction Ensign Kim and Ensign Delaney did. I can't do much for them. They'll have to deal with the symptoms."
"What symptoms, Doctor?"
"Oh, about the same as a week-long flu compressed into a few hours."
Seven wished the voices would stop. They tore at her, ringing in her ears and making her head spin. Intellectually, she realized this was probably another step on her way to becoming human, but at the moment she wished for the comfort of her abdominal implant and the inability to feel her stomach roiling in this fashion.
Neither the doctor nor Annika was prepared for the woman on the bed to suddenly emit a piercing wail.
"Sickbay to Bridge!"
Janeway glanced up at her First Officer. The ruggedly handsome man, the curlicues of the tattoo of his Native American heritage clearly visible over his left eye, glanced back in surprise at the urgency in the Doctor's tone.
"Go ahead?"
"Please come down here at once. It's Seven."
Janeway's eyes widened. There'd been something of a minor epidemic among the crew after Neelix's last attempt at making an Earth dish. The sufferers had christened it the Three-Hour Hell, a combination of intense migraines, nausea, loss of motor control and fever resembling that of an entire week of flu symptoms rolled into three hours. Until now, however, it had been limited to the fully-human members of the crew who had partaken of Neelix's Indian Surprise dish at the celebration a week ago.
"I'm on my way. You have the bridge, Commander." Janeway quickly stepped into the turbolift and called for Sickbay.
Annika was restraining the violently thrashing woman on the biobed as the doctor quickly applied a hypospray to Seven's neck. The wails of anguish coming from the woman shocked Janeway to the core as she stepped through the door, rushing to the bedside.
"Report!"
The Doctor exited through the force field around the surgical biobed, motioning the captain aside, "It's Seven's implants, Captain. Her immune system is rejecting them all at once. I've given her something to deaden the pain, but it's only a matter of time. I can't shut down her immune response, since I don't know what's causing it, but unless we find a way to halt it in the next three hours, her body is going to literally tear itself apart from the inside out."
The doctor's blunt statement caused Janeway's wide eyes to turn to the biobed, where Annika was soothing the panting woman's forehead. The tender gesture seemed to soothe the younger woman, but she still writhed in pain on the biobed.
"Can't you just shut down her immune system completely until you figure out what's stimulating it?"
"Even if I could, I wouldn't, Captain. I don't know if it can handle being shut down like that, and Seven's health requires her immune system to function."
"Keep me informed Doctor. I want to know any change, good or bad."
"Of course, Captain."
Janeway nodded and left Sickbay as another wail of pain was torn from the young woman. She leaned heavily on the bulkhead as the door shut on the hideous sound. Her heart pounded in reaction to that pained cry, bringing up the primal fears ingrained deep in her body's memory of brutal survival before the dawn of civilization. She hoped with all her heart that the Doctor could find something soon.
Janeway was in her ready room, unable to concentrate on her reports, too worried about what was happening to Seven.
"Sickbay to Captain!"
Janeway looked up, tapping her commbadge, "Go ahead?"
"Please report to Sickbay, it's urgent."
A chill swept through Janeway. The doc never used that tone of voice unless he had given up hope. She stepped quickly to the turbolift, heading down to Deck 5.
"30 cc's of Melorazine!"
The sound of the frantic activity in Sickbay brought Janeway's heart into her mouth as she rushed in. Annika was assisting the Doctor as he administered hypospray after hypospray to the unnaturally arched woman, keening in agony as the hypospray hissed against her neck. A moment later, Seven collapsed unconscious, the shriek she had been emitting dying to an unconscious whimper as the Doctor came through the force field to speak with the captain.
"It's worse than I thought, Captain. I'm not sure what's causing it, but every one of her implants is starting to degrade at a horrifying rate. There's nothing I can do now. Just ease her pain as much as I can before..." He trailed off, leaving Janeway to nod in understanding.
"Do what you can for her."
"I can help her, Captain."
That cool tone brought Janeway's gaze around to stare at Annika, standing beside Seven's bed. The older woman was lent over the younger one, hand on her forehead as she gazed into the unconscious face, lined with pain.
"I can save her captain." Annika turned to gaze back at Janeway, and there was pain in those pale eyes. "I can save her. But there is a considerable risk that both she and I may loose some functionality or suffer permanent damage."
"How can you save her, Annika?" Janeway's heart leapt at the hope of retaining the life of the valued ex-Borg.
"I can reformat her implants. It is a dangerous procedure, but it will stabilize her body so that her implants will never be rejected by her immune system."
The Doctor broke in at this point, "No, Annika! You can't risk your own life to save her!"
"But it's not my life to risk, Doctor. If she dies, I will also cease to exist." The pained, pale eyes turned back to Janeway, "Please, Beloved, let me save her."
The title Annika used shoved Janeway's heart into her throat again. So that was it. Annika was in love with her. No wonder she risked everything to come back in time to save her. A shudder ran through the captain's body as she realized that at some level she had already known this fact. After a bit of hesitation, she nodded slowly, "Do it. And Annika?" The woman turned back to gaze at her. "Survive. Both of you. That's an order."
Annika smiled mirthlessly and nodded. She took Seven's hand in hers, caressing the human limb slightly before reaching forward and injecting her younger self's neck with the assimilation tubules that always made Janeway shudder when she saw that reminder of the woman's past. At once, the younger woman relaxed, her pain receding. But Annika didn't withdraw her tubules, leaning forward, eyes closed, and lips moving soundlessly as she lent almost on top of Seven. For a moment, nothing happened, then to Janeway's astonishment, the younger woman's ocular implant began to melt.
Silver flowed like water as the raised implant flowed out around the young woman's face, reshaping into an angular, curved design of silvery metal around the woman's eye, resembling Chakotay's tattoo slightly, but much more angular. A glance to her right cheek showed the starburst implant writhing on the woman's skin as it spread down to her jaw and crept along it towards her chin.
"My god."
The doctor's startled exclamation drew Janeway to the console he was using to monitor the pair. "What is it?"
"They've linked cortical nodes. See the linkage? Annika's using her own cortical node to reformat Seven's, teaching it to control the implants even as Annika is reformatting them."
Janeway watched the console for a moment longer, then looked up at the two women in the surgical bay, knowing that it was past time that she could stop this, knowing that she could only watch and wait. A warning signal sounded, and the Doctor rushed forward, only to be startled in the extreme as the force field around the surgical bay flared in response, keeping him out and making him hiss as he clutched the arm that had contacted the field. Janeway darted around the console to glance from the hologram's arm to the now-visible field, glowing spirals of green energy indicating the Borg nature of the field.
Evidently, Annika did not want to be disturbed.
The warning sounded again, more strident this time. Janeway hesitated, but realized she had no hope of penetrating this field if the EMH couldn't. "Annika!"
And the siren stopped.
The woman bent over the figure on the biobed withdrew her tubules from the figure, straightened up and glanced beatifically at Janeway. Then her eyes rolled up and she slumped to the floor as the force field came down. The Doctor rushed to her side as Janeway stepped to the bed, gazing down at Seven. Only the hands, neck and head of the ex-Borg showed outside the biosuit she wore, but the changes in her implants were unmistakable.
The ocular implant had formed itself into an angular design around the woman's left eye, similar to the graceful curls of metal around Annika's, but far sharper in their angles. The starburst implant under the young woman's right ear had spread down to her jaw and halfway out to her chin with similar angular radiations. The hand-mesh on the Borg prosthetic was almost unchanged, save that the edges of the metal mesh coating her hand had developed many spurs and barbs into the flesh-like coating of the prosthetic.
Janeway's heart leapt as Seven's eyes flickered and opened, the ice-blue eyes lighter than they had been as she looked up at Janeway. A slow smile spread over her full lips as she whispered up at her, "The pain. It's gone."
"Yes. Annika had to stabilize your implants. I'm afraid you're no longer as Borg as you used to be."
A strange sound came from the young woman, making Janeway's eyebrows raise. A chuckle.
"I... I seem to have trouble controlling my diaphragm, Captain. I-is this normal?"
Janeway smiled at the woman's naivetИ. "It's called a laugh, Seven. And yes, it's normal."
The young woman smiled wider and nodded, then sank back to the biobed, closing her eyes, "I am...fatigued, Captain."
"You've been through a lot, that's understandable. Rest now. I'll have the Doctor take you and Annika back to your quarters when you're feeling better."
Seven nodded slightly, evidently more exhausted than she had realized as the black oblivion of sleep overcame her.
AN: Sorry for the wait, people, been reading through the Just Between series and doing schoolwork. It's been a very hectic week.