Evolutions I: An Act of Betrayal
Part Two
When the meeting ended, B'Elanna started to stand up only to be forced back into her chair with a bump from Lieutenant Paris. She turned around to face him but he acted like she wasn't even there and continued out the door. Thinking it was just an accident, B'Elanna shook her head and began picking up her data pads. Attempting to stand again, she felt another shove and looked behind her to find that this time it was Ensign Kim who was responsible. He stared at her coldly before leaving as well.
'What the hell is going on?' she thought. 'This doesn't feel like the Maquis against Starfleet thing, and anyway, Chakotay is on their side.' she concluded referring to hostilities that were present in the beginning when the maquis crew had to merge with the Starfleet crew in order to survive the delta quadrant.
"Was there something else, Lieutenant and Borg?" the captain inquired as she looked Seven up and down. "Or do you think that you could start doing your job?" she sneered from behind her chair.
B'Elanna looked around the room to find that only she and Seven were left in the room with the captain. She was about to say that she and Seven were the only ones that seemed to be doing their jobs recently, when Seven walked up to her.
"Lieutenant, I have a proposal I would like you to look over." she said as she handed her a data pad. She added in a quieter tone, "It would be counter productive to argue with them, Lieutenant. I will explain more in Astrometrics."
B'Elanna's gaze swapped between the captain and Seven. "I'm sorry Captain, it won't happed again." she said in a controlled voice before turning and leaving the ready room with Seven.
As B'Elanna made her way to engineering, the nerve center of Voyager Seven's words kept running through her head. "It would be counter productive to argue with them. I will explain more in Astrometrics."
B'Elanna then remembered the data pad that Seven had given her. Glancing over it quickly, she realized it was a proposal to increase power to Astrometrics. 'Surprise, surprise.' she thought.
As she read further she found herself growing more and more impressed. The proposal was brilliant. Not only did it show why the extra power was needed for Astrometrics but outlined a way to get it without diverting power from any of the other systems. Basically it was a new scanning program for the Astrometrics computer that eliminated the need to use multiple programs to correlate data. Streamlining the software meant the computer didn't have to expend energy switching back and forth between applications, providing all the extra power that Seven needed.
B'Elanna finished reading through the pad just as she reached engineering. Upon entering, she automatically scanned the room and found her eyes narrowing. Her entire staff was just standing around, apparently waiting for her to do something.
In the center of the room was the glowing warp reactor that reached from the first floor to the second. Off to the left side was her office where she did most of her paperwork.
"Why aren't any of you working?" B'Elanna demanded. "I made out a whole list of stuff that needs to be finished."
"We've been thinking," Lieutenant Carey began. "Why should we take orders from a half-breed like you? I can do this job better that you ever could. Hell, the only reason you have this job is because Janeway wanted an integrated crew."
Murmurs of agreement from the rest of the staff echoed throughout the room.
B'Elanna was seething. "Well despite what YOU think, I am still in charge of engineering, not YOU. So you will follow my orders or I will have you thrown in the brig for insubordination!"
Carey shouted back with just as much venom, "You may be in charge now but I am going to file a complaint with the captain. When I'm done you will be lucky to be allowed to set foot back in engineering."
B'Elanna was really confused now. "What the hell are you talking about, Carey, you're the ones that are disobeying orders?"
"Does it really matter? The captain is never going to believe anything you say anyway." Carey said smugly.
In that moment, B'Elanna knew she was stuck. She couldn't do anything to stop them, but she wouldn't give in, she was going to try to fight this.
"I need to take care of some things in Astrometrics and talk to the captain, I'll be back in a while," B'Elanna growled.
Carey just sneered before beginning to give orders to her staff.
As the doors closed behind B'Elanna, she thought, 'I hope Seven knows what's going on, and how to fix it, because I sure as Hell don't.'
B'Elanna walked into the Astrometrics lab and looked around. It was a relatively small room with a console in center and a screen that spanned the entire back wall.
Currently it was displaying their present course through the delta quadrant.
"Did you have the time to look over my proposal, Lieutenant?" Seven asked without turning around, when the doors to Astrometrics opened to admit the Klingon.
"You know, one day you're going to have to tell me how you always know it's me."
B'Elanna said, smiling for the first time that day.
Seven turned around to look at B'Elanna. "It is actually a number of things, Lieutenant. The sound your footsteps make when you walk, the scent you give off, and the displacement of air when you enter the room."
"So you think I smell?" B'Elanna asked, trying hard not to laugh.
"No, no it is not that, well it is but the-" Seven stuttered and actually blushed.
"Relax, Seven, I was joking." B'Elanna interrupted, finally losing the battle with the urge to laugh.
"This is the first time someone has talked to me today without commenting on my Borg physiology. Thank you." Seven said softly.
"They've been saying the same stuff about my Klingon side too." B'Elanna said, becoming serious again. "You said you would explain what's going on. The way they're treating us; it happened almost over night."
"You are correct, Lieutenant. The crew began to 'hate' us approximately three weeks ago. The only ones that do not seem to have been affected are you, me, Commander Tuvok, and Naomi Wildman." Seven said referring to young half Katarian child that lived aboard Voyager.
Naiomi Wildman was the youngest member of the crew of Voyager. She had three small horns protruding from her the center of her forehead and reddish blonde hair that reached a little passed her shoulders.
From the moment that the little girl had met Seven she was intrigued by her. It had first started with Naiomi following Seven around the ship almost like a spy until she had gotten to know the woman.
The feelings of mistrust that she had in the beginning quickly melted away to form a sense of hero worship followed shortly by a solidifying friendship.
In the presence of Naiomi Seven allowed herself to experience some of the childhood that had been robbed from her by the Borg.
"Why isn't Tuvok affected?" B'Elanna asked. "I can see the connection between you, me and Naomi, but Tuvok doesn't make any sense."
"I have not been able to discern why Tuvok is not affected and yet not treated like us." Seven answered, also confused.
"At least with Naomi there's a connection, we're all women, we are all not completely human, and we've all played key roles in keeping Voyager safe."
"I do not understand, Lieutenant. When has Naomi Wildman played a key role in keeping Voyager safe?" Seven asked.
"It was during the time the alien entity was causing everyone except the two of you to hallucinate, she helped you to hold on to reality until we were safe." B'Elanna answered.
"I see now, the three of us are connected. However, it may not be in our best interests to assume the commander is unaffected. He is Vulcan and, as such, has been trained not to show emotions."
"Until we figure out what's going on I don't think that we should trust him. Before I came to Voyager Tuvok was a spy for the Federation, doing something like this is right up his alley." B'Elanna added.
"That would be something Tuvok could perform without difficulty," Seven agreed.
"There's another problem. By the end of the day I probably won't be head of engineering anymore." B'Elanna added sadly.
"Explain." Seven stated.
"The engineering crew is planning to file a complaint with the captain. They're going to make up something that will let the captain have what excuse she needs to throw me out of engineering."
"This could escalate into something worse, Lieutenant. They may be able to convince the captain that you should be put in the brig. At this point, our only option is a tactical retreat." replied Seven.
"I don't want to just give in but I see your point," B'Elanna conceded with a growl.
"Until we find out what is happening to the crew we will continue to be at a disadvantage."
"Do you have any ideas?" B'Elanna asked.
"Their objective is to remove you from engineering. If you told the captain that you wanted to be transferred, they would have no reason to escalate matters," Seven replied as a plan began to form in her mind.
"The captain would have control over where I was reassigned to. She's probably going to give me the worst possible job."
"Then we make her believe that working in Astrometrics is the worst job. It should not be difficult. The captain will believe that it is a chance to hurt both of us." Seven said with a small smile.
"I'm beginning to like the way you think, Seven." B'Elanna said, smiling back.
Ensign Kim laughed silently as he entered Cargo Bay 2. 'Everything is going according to plan. They're starting to give up, and pretty soon it's going to be too late to stop any of it.'
Kim walked up to Seven's alcove and opened his tool box. 'You stupid bitch, you're not going to know what hit you. I'll be right there watching as you ask yourself what the hell is going on? Then, when you're just barely strong enough to stand up on your own, I'm going to lean over and whisper into your ear "It was me." Then you will know why, and everything is going to fit together. It's just too bad nobody is going to give a damn.' he thought as he finished altering the alcove.
He stepped back, massaging the stiffness in his neck, and gathered his tools. He then walked out of the cargo bay, whistling happily as if nothing had ever happened.
Captain Janeway looked up from her coffee as B'Elanna Torres entered her office. The warm smile on her face was quickly replaced by a scowl before she said, "I thought I ordered you to get back to work, Lieutenant?"
"That's actually why I'm here, Captain," B'Elanna replied, lowering her head. "I think that you should choose someone else to be Chief Engineer. The crew doesn't seem to trust me or my decisions and that's not good for the ship's efficiency."
On the inside Janeway was jumping for joy. 'Finally the bitch knows her place.' she thought. She didn't let any of her emotions show when she replied. "You have been far less than what I expected, Torres. I can't say that I'm surprised that you turned out to be such a failure. You would only get in the way down in engineering, so where can I put you?"
B'Elanna flinched at the words of her former friend. Knowing beforehand that something like this was going to happen was still not enough to prepare her for the captain's hateful words. "Actually, Captain, I made a list of other jobs that I can do." B'Elanna said in a subdued tone as she placed a data pad on the desk.
Janeway picked up the pad and began to quickly skim through it before replying, "Lieutenant, I don't think you're qualified for any of these jobs."
'The plan is going good so far, I just hope that Seven knows what she is doing.' B'Elanna thought as Janeway continued with her tirade. "I can work pretty much anywhere, Captain, all I ask is that you keep me out of Astrometrics."
Janeway smirked, 'Of course, why didn't I think of it before? Sticking her with Seven would be the perfect punishment.'
"Actually, Lieutenant, the only place I can think of where you won't get in the way is Astrometrics." Janeway said, tapping her comm. badge, "Seven to my ready room now."
The order was followed shortly by the clipped voice of Seven saying, "I will comply."
Seven entered the ready room soon after. 'I have to make this look believable.' she thought as she fixed a hard glare on B'Elanna, and then turned to the Captain. "You wished to see me, Captain?"
Janeway could not believe how well this was turning out. 'With the look Seven just gave Torres, they'll probably kill each other within a week or at least spend a lot of time in the brig.' Janeway thought with a smirk.
"Yes, Seven. I have noticed a shocking decline in the quality and quantity of your work recently. It's time for you to learn how to do things right. Lieutenant Torres will now be in charge and you will do whatever she says." Janeway said, glancing between the two of them.
"Captain, I know far more about alien cultures and our surrounding space than Lieutenant Torres, and I can complete my job without her." Seven said as she pointed an angry finger at B'Elanna.
"I hate to agree with the Borg, there is no way the two of us are going to be able to work together, even if Seven has to do whatever I tell her." B'Elanna said, unable to keep the tiny smirk off her face.
"This is not up for negotiation! You will do what I tell you and if I find that the two of you have been fighting in any way, I'll put you both in the brig until we get back to Earth."
From the look in Janeway's eyes they knew she was serious, and if she ever found out what they were planning they would both be dead or worse. But there was no turning back now.
"Yes, Captain." they both replied quietly as they left the ready room.
To be continued...