Evolutions I: An Act of Betrayal
Part Three
'What am I going to do?' Naomi thought as she watched her mother, Samantha Wildman pace around their quarters.
Samantha was a woman in her mid thirties. She had the same reddish blonde hair as her daughter and wore a science blue uniform.
Naomi didn't know why, but her mother just didn't seem like herself anymore. It was like she was a stranger, but she knew everything that her mother was supposed to know and treated everyone else like she normally did.
"Look at me when I am talking to you young lady!" her mother shouted, causing Naomi to wince at her tone.
"Please don't yell mom, I didn't do anything." Naomi cried.
"Didn't do anything?" Samantha shrieked. "You completely embarrassed me in front of the crew. All you had to do was stay in your room."
"But Mom, I stayed in my room all week. I just wanted to see Seven," Naomi said softly.
"I don't even know why I bother with you." Samantha gave her daughter a hard look. "It's not like you're really my daughter anyway. Your mother is dead. Ensign Kim brought you here before the other Voyager was destroyed. MY daughter died when the doctor couldn't fix her genetic defects! You're just a cheap copy!" Samantha Wildman referred to the time Voyager went through an anomaly that created two Voyagers that had to share the same warp core.
The other Voyager was destroyed except for Harry Kim and Naiomi Wildman. They had crossed over to the other ship before it was destroyed.
"M-mom y-you can't mean that." Tears streamed down Naomi's face.
"Get the hell out of my house! Go stay with that Borg trash you like so much for all I care." Samantha pointed at the door angrily.
Naomi couldn't stand it anymore. She gave one final look at the woman that was supposed to be her mother before she turned and ran out the door. She didn't know where to go so she kept running aimlessly. Members of the crew she passed just glared at her. Everywhere she turned she saw the hate radiating from their eyes.
Eventually she was so tired she had to stop. She simply couldn't run anymore.
Naomi curled herself up into a tiny ball against a wall and began to sob. She didn't know what to do, but she knew that she couldn't face any more hatred. She buried her face in her knees and continued to cry, until she felt a warm hand on her shoulder.
She looked up into a pair of blue eyes that were also filled with tears. Naomi threw herself into the older woman's arms and began to sob anew.
"Please, please don't hate me too Seven! I'll be good, I promise."
Seven returned her embrace and rubbed her back soothingly before she spoke. "It is alright Naomi Wildman. I could never hurt you. You are the first friend I ever made on Voyager."
"Do you promise?" Naomi asked in a small voice.
"We have already promised to be best friends forever Naomi Wildman." Seven held her little friend. "Do you remember the first time that we played Kadis Kot?"
"Come on Seven I want to show you a new game that I learned," Naomi grabbed onto the older woman's hand and began pulling at her.
"I do not have time for 'games' Naomi Wildman." Seven said in her usual clipped tone.
"Come on Seven," the girl smiled, "it'll be fun."
Seven sighed. "Very well Naomi Wildman. Fun will commence for the next 30 minutes."
Seven finished entering her calculations into the computer while Naomi just rolled her eyes and tried to pull Seven to the game board.
Naomi had won six out of eight games before Seven realized that they had been playing for over two hours.
"I enjoyed this activity immensely, Naomi Wildman." Seven smiled.
"I had fun too, Seven." Naomi smiled back, "It's what best friends do."
"Best friends?" Seven asked.
"Yes, let's promise to be best friends forever, okay Seven?"
Seven simply nodded as Naomi picked up her hand and said, "Come on, pinkie swear." They linked their little fingers together and shook hands.
"I remember." Naomi said, smiling up at Seven.
Earlier...
"I had almost forgotten about Naomi Wildman," Seven said as she exited the ready room with B'Elanna.
"What do you mean? What does Naomi have to do with any of this?" B'Elanna asked.
"She has also expressed a noticeable change in the way the crew has been treating her." Seven sighed, "especially her mother."
"What?" B'Elanna exclaimed, "Even her mother is treating her like this? Whatever's going on, we'd better work it out soon."
"Have you ever noticed that Samantha Wildman never speaks of her Katarian husband?" Seven asked. "It is as if she is ashamed of him."
"Now that you mention it, I have noticed. Even after Naomi was born, Samantha never talked about her husband." B'Elanna agreed.
"The most important thing now is to find Naomi. I have noticed the crew's animosity towards us increasing every day. I am afraid that soon Samantha Wildman will do something to her." Seven said.
"You care a lot about her, don't you Seven?" B'Elanna said softly.
"She is my only friend. I would die to keep her safe," Seven answered.
B'Elanna followed Seven off the bridge while she thought about Seven's words, "She is my only friend." She'd never really thought about it until now but Seven didn't have a lot of friends.
Sure, there were people that admired the way she looked, but in Seven's mind there was only one person that saw her as a person instead of an object, and that was Naomi. All the other people who claimed to be her friend in the past seemed to have ulterior motives.
The doctor saw her as a science project, scanning her on almost a weekly basis, trying to teach her about being human, when he himself was no closer to it than she. Some of the things that he had done in his quest for humanity, most people would never even consider. There was the time he'd tried to integrate the qualities of historical figures into his matrix, and succeeded only in assimilating all the darker elements of their combined personalities. He'd nearly ended up going on a killing spree as a result.
The captain was no better. She'd tried to turn Seven into a copy of herself, rewarding her when she did things her way and punishing her when she did things differently. When the Hirogen, a war like species that lived and died because of a constant need to kill were hunting a member of species 8472 that had hidden aboard Voyager, Janeway had held the unshakeable belief that she was doing right. Seven was the one with the most knowledge about species 8472, but Janeway completely dismissed her advice. She had no way of knowing if the alien stowaway was lying, and didn't even stop to consider how much danger she was putting the rest of the crew in. In the end, Seven had had to transport the intruder to the Hirogen vessel to stop Voyager from being destroyed, but she was disciplined for her actions because she hadn't acted the way Janeway'd wanted her to.
As B'Elanna continued into the turbo lift with Seven, she couldn't help but think about her own interactions with Seven. The first time she had talked to Seven she had deliberately tried to hurt her verbally, expecting to find a monster. Instead there was this woman that she had gotten to know over the past few days.
'I actually thought she had a choice over what she did, that she was willingly assimilating other species,' B'Elanna thought.
In reality, not only had the Borg enslaved Seven's body, they'd also enslaved her mind. They'd used her intelligence to think of ways to assimilate other species, and altered her body with their technology to the point that Seven needed it to live.
'Seven deserves better than that, a lot better. I am going to find a way to make us friends.' B'Elanna promised herself.
"Computer, locate Naomi Wildman," Seven said.
"Naomi Wildman is in hydroponics," answered the feminine voice of the computer.
Hydroponics was an area set aside for Voyager to grow their own fruits and vegetables as well get some much needed fresh air. It was one of the few places aboard Voyager that truly represented Earth.
Seven turned to B'Elanna. "Lieutenant, will you please accompany me? I believe we will both be needed to explain what is happening to Naomi Wildman."
"Sure Seven," B'Elanna said before adding, "And Naomi doesn't have to be your only friend, because I'd really like to be considered one too."
Seven's face transformed with a smile. "I would like that very much Lieuten- B'Elanna," She pulled the engineer into a hug.
B'Elanna was shocked into immobility at first, but when Seven lay her head on B'Elanna's shoulder, she found herself once again able to move. She wrapped her arms around the taller woman and held her.
After a few moments she whispered into Seven's ear, "We should probably go get Naomi now."
"You are correct B'Elanna," Seven replied before pulling away, but she couldn't stop the feeling of loss when the half Klingon's arms discontinued their embrace.
B'Elanna felt it too, so she reached out and took hold of Seven's hand before they both headed off to Hydroponics.
When they found Naomi, the sight of her, curled up in a ball, rocking herself as she cried, nearly broke the hearts of both women. Seven let go of B'Elanna's hand and walked up to the child, putting her hand on her shoulder.
B'Elanna waited at a distance, unable to hear what the two were saying. When it appeared that things had been worked out, she approached them.
Naomi watched B'Elanna walk closer, arms tightening around Seven.
B'Elanna and Seven both noticed this, but B'Elanna was the first to speak, "It's going to be okay Naomi, I don't want to hurt you. The three of us will fix this together."
"I don't have anywhere to live." Naomi sobbed, "Mom said that I wasn't really her daughter, that she wanted me to leave."
Even though both B'Elanna and Seven had speculated this might happen, it still shocked them. Naomi's mother had actually abandoned her.
"It's going to be okay Naomi. You can stay in my quarters. Both of you can." B'Elanna said trying to cheer up the child.
"I do not think that will be possible, B'Elanna. I am still dependent on my alcove to regenerate," Seven said.
"It's isn't safe for you there anymore Seven. Anyone could walk in at anytime and you wouldn't be able to do anything to stop them," B'Elanna said as she and Naomi shared worried glances.
"I require 14 hours of regeneration a week. Perhaps I could regenerate two hours a day before or after our shifts ends," Seven said helpfully.
"Yeah, that would work. With me and B'Elanna watching, nobody would be able to do anything." Naomi said happily.
"Perhaps we should all return to Astrometrics. Giving the captain reasons to punish us will not improve our situation."
B'Elanna and Naomi nodded their heads in agreement. Seven stood up and B'Elanna unconsciously reached for her right hand while Naomi reached for her left.
Thankfully, no one was in Astrometrics when the three outcasts arrived. B'Elanna brought up the work list from the main computer. It was huge. Almost too much for the two of them combined. "Janeway sure gave us a lot to do." B'Elanna muttered as she started the first set of scans.
"I believe there is a reason for that, B'Elanna. The captain wants us out of the way. It is most likely the same reason that she wanted you out of engineering. The rest of the crew is planning something and our lack of involvement must be pivotal for their plan to succeed," Seven finished.
B'Elanna agreed, "I think you're right, Seven. Everything that the crew has been doing has built up to this. I just can't figure out what it's all about."
"Maybe they need all of this work to be done now because of what they are planning," Naomi spoke.
"I believe you are correct Naomi Wildman. B'Elanna and I are the only ones able to compile the data Voyager requires in such a short period of time. Whatever they are planning, they expect us to be unable to work for a long period of time."
"This doesn't give us any new information though. If we don't figure out what they plan on doing with us soon, we may not be able to stop them when the time comes," B'Elanna was growing more worried.
"Perhaps it is time to speak with Commander Tuvok. He is our only chance of determining what is occurring," Seven said.
"Are you sure that's a good idea Seven? If he's working with the rest of the crew, we're sunk," B'Elanna questioned.
"We do not have any other choice. If we do not speak with him soon, whatever the crew is planning on doing with us WILL happen."
The three began working on finishing the scans as quickly as possible, so that they could speak to Commander Tuvok.
The captain rubbed her neck lightly as she read over the message from the Socadan. Everything was going according to plan. The three hybrids had no idea what was going on and soon it would be too late.
Kim entered the ready room, interrupting her thoughts.
"I'm finished with Seven's alcove, the next time she regenerates she won't be waking up."
"Perfect," Janeway stood up from her desk and walked over to Kim. "I knew the Borg would come in handy eventually but I never knew the payoff would be quite this big."
Kim wrapped his arms around Janeway, pulling her closer, "They don't even suspect a thing." Harry said as he leaned down and roughly kissed Janeway.
Janeway reached up and grabbed Kim's head and brought it down harder against her lips, before they both pulled back.
"Everything that we have ever wanted is going to happen very, very soon." Janeway said in a sultry voice.
After finally finishing all of the tasks assigned them, Seven, B'Elanna, and Naomi headed to Tuvok's quarters.
Tuvok answered the door on the first chime. He looked at the three of them before saying, "Inside, quickly."
"By the tone of your voice I assume you know what is happening Commander," Seven said as they made their way to his living room.
"From what I have learned from the crew, Captain Janeway plans to hand you over to the Socadan," Tuvok answered.
"Why? What do the Socadan want with us?" B'Elanna asked.
"The Socadan have never seen hybrids before. I assume they plan on studying you," Tuvok said.
"But they have seen Hybrids before. When some of them were assimilated by the Borg, they became hybrids," B'Elanna said confused.
"Those Socadan have long since passed away. Besides, it is their pursuit of knowledge that is driving them. They only have archaic records of technological hybrids of their own species. That is nothing compared to the advancements the Borg have made over the years."
"What I still do not understand is what the rest of the crew will receive in exchange for us," Seven said.
"Tuvok, why are you letting them do this to us?" Naomi asked in a pleading voice.
"I will not allow the crew to harm any of you, and you will not be taken by the Socadan. I believe that the crew is being influenced by an outside source. When we discover what that source is, we will be in a better position to stop them," Tuvok said calmly.
"The Socadan must be the ones doing it. They want to experiment on us. The fact that they're here at this point in time can't just be a coincidence," B'Elanna stated.
"You are incorrect B'Elanna. The crew began treating us differently before anyone knew that the Socadan even existed," Seven said.
"This is strange," B'Elanna said, furrowing her brow, "The more we find out about this, the more confusing it gets."
"I am the only one that knew the Socadan existed, due to my Borg knowledge. The only logical conclusion is that someone has been able to access my Borg systems," Seven stated.
"How could that happen, Seven? And even if they were able to access your knowledge, how would they know what to do with it?" Naomi asked.
"The only way I would not know of such an occurrence would be during regeneration. Even so, there are only a small number of people with the technological expertise to complete the procedure successfully. It would also stand to reason that the person controlling the crew has either been planning this for a long time or had enough free time to correlate the data." Seven said, beginning to see the solution.
"If we figure out who may have done it, we can probably figure out what's going on," B'Elanna said excitedly and grabbed Seven's hand.
"You will keep us informed?" Seven questioned Tuvok.
"Yes. Now that we know where to begin searching, it will only be a matter of time before we discover what is going on." Tuvok said.
"We better get going, Seven," B'Elanna said, pulling on Seven's hand. "You still have to regenerate before tomorrow's duty shift."
Tuvok accompanied them to the door and watched them make their way to cargo bay 2.
As soon as Tuvok was sure that the three hybrids were out of hearing range he tapped his comm. badge.
"Tuvok to Janeway."
"Go ahead Tuvok."
"You were correct. They were able to discover that we have been planning something."
"Do they know anything important?"
"They only know what you have asked me to tell them. Why was it necessary to give them this information Captain?"
"For two reasons Tuvok. The first is that should they try to escape, I need someone to know what they are planning. The second is I want them to know what is going to happen to them. I want to them to know that there is nothing they can do to stop it."
To Be Continued...