I was wondering if anyone was interested in being a beta reader for Evolutions II? If anyone is interest could you drop me a line at
As always PLEASE REVIEW!!
Anyway on with the story
Evolutions II: The Quest for Perfection
Chapter One
Seven woke up with a smile on her face, a site that was becoming common place aboard Legaia. An unforeseen benefit of merging with Omega had been the removal of her emotional inhibitor. She was now free to experience the full range of her emotions.
Seven smiled as she looked at the still sleeping form of B'Elanna. They had not made love yet, but both had decided that they preferred to share the same room. B'Elanna because she had taken her role as Seven's protector very seriously, and Seven because after experiences with the Socadan simply felt more comfortable around Seven.
"You're up early." B'Elanna yawned as she sat up in bed. "What are you thinking about?" She said as she kissed Seven tenderly.
"I am thinking about us." Seven said thoughtfully as she rested her head under B'Elanna's chin.
"What about us?" B'Elanna asked as she ran her fingers through Seven's hair.
"Have you ever wondered why we have been able to use our new abilities only in situations where they have been absolutely necessary to our survival?" Seven asked referring to how she was able to heal B'Elanna in the bar fight, and how B'Elanna was able to block a phaser beam.
"Well that isn't entirely true." B'Elanna pointed out. "I still have my strength. I'm still not even sure how it's possible." She said thoughtfully.
Truthfully B'Elanna could bench press Seven if she really wanted to, and that was only the beginning. She had found in day to day activities she had no trouble lifting the heaviest of equipment.
"I meant more along the lines of how we are able to manipulate energy directly." Seven said as she rubbed B'Elanna's arm. She too had wondered how B'Elanna was as strong as she was.
"Sure I've wondered Seven, but it isn't like we can find out without the rest of the crew finding out as well." B'Elanna pointed out. "All the information would have to be stored on Voyager's computer core. Anyone with the right clearance codes could access it."
"Have you ever heard of optical information storage?" Seven asked.
"Sure, all of Voyager's consoles have optical ports but even so optical storage devices have a limited storage capacity. They can only store as much information as a standard data pad." B'Elanna said.
"I would not be storing the information on a data pad." Seven said with a smirk.
"Then where?" B'Elanna asked. Her interest peeked.
"I have discovered that I am able interact with optical ports." Seven revealed.
"Really?" B'Elanna asked as began to playfully run her fingers over Seven's body. "I wonder where you keep all of it."
"Certainly not there." Seven laughed as B'Elanna cupped her bottom.
"Well we can't be too sure." B'Elanna smiled as she kissed Seven.
"I can store large quantities of information in what I believe is my cortical node." Seven said as B'Elanna broke the kiss.
"What you believe is your cortical node?" B'Elanna asked curiously. Seven usually didn't have to guess about things like that.
"Since I merged with Omega I have been able to do things that I can not explain. The only conclusion is my body was altered radically, much more than my outward appearance. I believe that the only way to discover more about our abilities is to examine ourselves. With my access to sickbay it should not be a problem." Seven declared.
"It sounds like a plan, but how do you interact with the optical port?" B'Elanna asked curiously. "Do you think that I can do it too?"
"When I look into an optical port I am able to form a connection. We may find out if it is one of your abilities then." Seven said.
"Seven, B'Elanna are you awake yet?" Naomi asked from outside the door.
"You can come in Naomi." B'Elanna said as Seven moved off her lap.
Naomi entered the bedroom, also wearing her pajamas.
"Are you going to be staying with us in sickbay too B'Elanna?" Naomi asked.
Since B'Elanna had agreed to be the civilian acting head of engineering she had only worked in engineering if major repairs or projects were taking place. She left Lieutenant Carey in charge of the day to day activities, and spent most of her time helping Seven in sickbay.
"Sure," B'Elanna agreed. "I'm sure that Carey can handle the rest of the shield emitter tests."
"Good." Naomi smiled. "Can you help me with my essay on warp mechanics then?" Naomi asked hopefully.
"Only if she does not give you the answers, and only helps you with the research." Seven added.
The last time that B'Elanna had helped Naomi with an essay she had become so engrossed with the subject that she had written most if not all of the essay herself.
"I can't believe you failed Naomi" B'Elanna said incredulously. "That essay was absolutely perfect."
"You are correct B'Elanna, the essay was very well written." Seven said looking up from her desk.
"Then why? The part about the warp relays and the intermix ratio was brilliant." B'Elanna defended.
"I am not arguing the fact that the essay was well written B'Elanna." Seven said with a smirk, as she started to do her work again.
"Then what?" B'Elanna asked as she walked behind Seven's desk and spun her chair around. "I spent four hours on that essay. How could you fail me?"
"So you wrote the essay?" Seven asked with a knowing smile.
"Yes that's what I said I- Wait a minute you knew?" B'Elanna asked as realized she just admitted it as well now.
"It had become obvious after the first paragraph B'Elanna. For future reference Naiomi does not know the exact resonance frequency of the warp core, or how to calculate it." Seven said openly laughing now.
"That happened one time." B'Elanna argued with a laugh.
"We promise it won't happen again." Naomi agreed.
The three hybrids spent the next half hour getting ready and going down to the ready room for the morning meeting.
When the hybrids arrived they noticed that they were the last ones. This was a usual occurrence considering that they had to travel the furthest to reach the ready room.
"Does anyone have anything new to bring up?" Janeway asked, starting the meeting.
"I do, actually." Lt. Carey said. "We've recently begun to have some problems with the recent upgrades."
"What kind of problems?" Janeway asked. Most of the upgrades that received from the delta quadrant natives were notorious for being unstable.
"Most of the new systems are unable to communicate properly with the rest of Voyager's systems. There are system conflicts all over the ship. It's like they're fighting each other, I've never seen anything like it before." Carey said, thoroughly confused.
"B'Elanna, any ideas?" Janeway asked. She knew that this was a sensitive subject for the hybrids but she had to know of this problem was serious.
"Carey's right. The new systems you had installed are fighting the old ones. The Socadan probably planned it this way." B'Elanna agreed. In all honesty she had been suspicious of for the last couple of months.
"Why would they do that?" Chakotay asked. "And why didn't anyone see it coming?"
"Is it not obvious?" Seven asked, considering Chakotay's intelligence. "Did you truly believe that they would part with technology of that caliber so easily?"
"They never had any intention of keeping their word. The technology was only supposed to last until we left Socadan space, and we'd gone too far to come back." Paris deduced.
"You are correct." Seven said, sparing a glance at Paris.
"Don't we have procedures in place to catch these kinds of problems?" Janeway asked. They used to always catch this kind of thing early on.
"You used to." B'Elanna said, now seriously wondering how they had gotten as far as they did.
"It was B'Elanna's job to examine the possibility of integrating new technology." Seven clarified for everyone.
The senior staff had nothing to say to that as an uncomfortable silence descended upon them.
"You should probably just rip out all the Socadan technology, before it starts doing some serious damage to the rest of Voyager's systems." B'Elanna advised after a few minutes of silence.
"Isn't their anyway we can keep at least some of the technology?" Janeway asked, feeling a little desperate. If none of the technology could be saved she would be forced to admit that everything they had done to the hybrids was in vain.
"There really isn't any way of knowing." B'Elanna said with a sigh, sensing how much work she would end up having to do. "Right now they're causing more damage than good. After everything's been removed then it would be safe to look through each one and see what can be saved."
"How long do you think it's going to take?" Kim asked.
"I'm not really sure. I wasn't there for the installation." B'Elanna said, with a thinly veiled barb. "You should probably get Carey to take care of it."
"Alright," Janeway said with a sigh. "Carey get started on removing the modifications. You're all dismissed." Janeway ended the meeting.
Samantha Wildman sighed as took a break from her work. She hadn't seen or spoken to her daughter since she returned with Seven and B'Elanna to fight off the Socadan ship.
At first she was sad about not seeing her daughter, and the fact that her daughter was still very angry with her, but as much as she hated to admit it she began to enjoy her time alone.
It reminded her of the times before she had met Naomi's father. She could admit to herself now that she really wasn't ready to be a mother, and neither was Naomi's father. In fact she had received a letter from him shortly after they began to use the Midas array.
He basically said that he wasn't ready to be a father and was signing over full custody of Naomi to her. It turned out that after they were all declared legally dead he had moved on. He wasn't married, but after that length of time he said his feelings had changed.
At first Samantha was angry and hurt by his abrupt dismissal of her, but after a while she had to admit to herself he was right. Any feelings that he had for him had dwindled after all the time that had passed in the delta quadrant.
Looking back it all started to make sense. The doctor was right, all the emotions had to be come from somewhere, and they were most definitely heightened because she certainly didn't hate Naomi, she just wanted to go back to a life where she didn't have to take care of another living person.
Subconsciously she guessed that she had always been looking for a way out, and when an opportunity presented itself she had taken it. It was why she had encouraged Naomi's friendship with Seven from the beginning.
'I know that Naomi likes Seven and B'Elanna, she spends all her time with them. Maybe I should just step back and let them make their arrangement permanent.' Samantha decided as took her lunch break and headed to sick bay, positive that the hybrids would be there. 'It would be just like I was the aunt that visits every now and then.'
When Samantha stepped inside sickbay she was greeted by the sight of Seven, Naomi, and B'Elanna talking about what she presumed was Naomi's school work.
"Samantha Wildman." Seven greeted as she stood up to meet her.
"Seven, I wanted to talk to you about something, well all three of you I guess." Samantha said keeping her voice calm.
"What would you like to discuss?" Seven asked, a little worried that Samantha was going to try and take Naomi away.
"Seven, do you enjoy taking care of Naomi?" Samantha asked carefully. She wanted to be careful not to send them the wrong message.
"Yes." Seven answered without hesitation. "I enjoy my time immensely with Naomi." Seven said as Naomi smiled at her.
"What's this about?" B'Elanna asked, always the most straight forward of them.
"Would you like to stay with Seven and B'Elanna permanently?" Samantha asked Naomi.
Naomi looked at her mother for a long moment before answering, "Yes." She didn't want her mother to see how she felt about it.
"That's great." Samantha smiled, not picking up on how Naomi really felt about it. "I'll tell Chakotay to draw up the custody papers." She said as she turned on heel and left.
Naomi was about change her mind when she noticed the look of relief on her mother's face. She didn't want to be her mother anymore.
"Naomi." Seven said as the door closed behind Samantha. She immediately rushed over to the girl and hugged her.
"It's really over." Naomi said as the tears began to fall. "I always thought that eventually we would be able to work it out, but it's over. Did she ever care about me?"
"I am sure that she still cares about you Naomi." Seven said saying it more than feeling it herself. "She just does not feel ready to be such a large part of your life."
"Naomi if it helps, we all come from broken homes, and I can tell you that parents never stop caring for their children. Some part of Samantha will always love you, and eventually that part is going to get bigger until she's ready to be part of you life again." B'Elanna said, hoping that her words would have some kind of impact. She didn't know what those words would have meant to her when her father left.
"It still hurts." Naomi said with a quiet sigh. "I guess I always knew on some level that I would forgive her one day."
"I know it does Naomi." B'Elanna said as she hugged her as well. "The pain isn't going to go away over night, just remember that none of this is your fault."
Janeway sighed heavily as she all but fell into her captain's seat beside Chakotay. "I just got Carey's assessment of the Socadan upgrades."
"I'm guessing it isn't good news." Chakotay noted the tired tone in her voice.
"The whole thing was completely pointless. We've completely alienated Seven, B'Elanna, and Naomi for nothing. Carey tells me that none of the upgrades can be saved, and it's going to take months to properly adapt them to Voyager, after we repair the damage that's already been done."
"Well all we have to do is get B'Elanna to look them over, I'm sure she can cut down the time for that." Chakotay said hopefully.
"This really isn't the best time to push it with them. We're going to need their ship to guard us while we remove the upgrades. I hate to say it but without them we're sitting ducks out here." Janeway was finally able to admit it.
"Captain, they can't live out of that ship forever. It has got to be cramped in there. It's only a little larger than the delta flyer." Chakotay said. He was very uncomfortable with the idea of B'Elanna and Seven having so much control over the welfare of Voyager.
"They seem to have been doing just fine for the past couple of months." Janeway said. She had also been thinking along those lines originally, but she eventually had to face facts. What ever they had on that ship of theirs made it possible to use only a small fraction of Voyagers resources, and it was most likely for convenience than anything else.
"Do you think they'd give us a tour of their ship?" Tom interrupted hopefully. He still hadn't given up on his crush for Seven, and was more than curious about the powerful little ship sitting in the hangar.
"It is highly unlikely." Tuvok stated. He hated to admit it but he too wanted to examine Legaia. The fact that it was such a powerful ship could not be contested. Knowing about all off its systems would be extremely useful for a security officer.
"They can't stay mad at us forever." Harry said hopefully. "Eventually they have to forgive us right?"
"I hope so, because without the upgrades we are not going to reach the alpha quadrant as soon as we thought. Instead of a year it's going to be closer to nine years." Janeway already worked out the calculations when they were informed about the upgrades.
"I must also point out that we still have no medical data about Seven, and B'Elanna. What we could learn from them would be invaluable." Tuvok said.
"We're going to have put that on the back burner for a while." Chakotay said. "Seven's in charge of sickbay now, she's the only one qualified to give medical examinations, and I don't think she'd want to help us out on this one."
'Reconnaissance data from Borg Sphere 2713 correlated. Vessels identified: Voyager - explorer class, Star Fleet. Ragnor – battle cruiser, flag ship, Socadan. Legaia – unknown, unknown, insufficient data.'
Two months ago The Borg detected a battle between three ships. Normally it wasn't a cause for concern but the energy signatures on all three ships were very large, especially the smallest ship.
A scan revealed that all three ships were of extreme interest to the Borg. Voyager was the last known location of Seven of nine tertiary adjunct to unimatrix 01. Ragnor was the flag ship of the Socadan, one of the few races to offer true resistance to the Borg, and Legaia was completely alien to them, they had never come across a ship even remotely like Legaia. Both Legaia and Voyager were prime candidates for assimilation.
A scan of Legaia revealed the most interesting data however, even more important that the fact that it was an unknown species. Two beings on the ship were composed of almost entirely Omega molecules, stable Omega molecules.
The Borg had theorized that the two individuals were B'Elanna Torres, chief engineer of Voyager, and Seven of nine, Astrometrics officer. This had further lead them to the conclusion that it was Voyager that had developed this new and powerful ship.
"You have been busy Seven of Nine." The Borg Queen thought aloud. "The information that you have will be very useful to the Borg."
"Borg cubes 1121, 1302, 987, and 1132 begin search patters for enterprise ship: Voyager, top priority, disregard all other current missions."
To Be Continued…
On a side note though I would really like it if this part could break the 100 reviews barrier, so far there's eight, only 92 left to go.
Thanks for reviewing: Linkinparkgundam, Devaro, Shawn Provoncha, Molly, Spaceman 546.
Goddess Anjanee: thanks, and if you thought the story line for one was twisted you haven't seen anything yet.
Halie: Thank you. I hope I can finish this part a little faster than the first one.
Crashcart9: Well, Seven's going to become better at it as the story goes on, and her feelings about the crew of Voyager lead to her bad bedside manner more than anything else.