Nine Months – Voyager 3
By Kudara
Disclaimer: Star Trek Voyager and all who sail in her belong to Paramount/Viacom and no infringement of copyright/trade marks is intended.
Rating: Mature
Feedback: Always welcome, feedback is what encourages me to keep writing. Please let me know what you like and what you dislike about the story.
Revision History: 01/08/06; minor revision 01/26/07
Summary: The former captives meet up with Voyager.
Chapter 39 - Stardate: 53010.09 (Jan 4, 2376 4:43pm) (follows from Chapter 1)
They stood for long moments silent, wrapped in each other's arms. After a minute of silence B'Elanna sighed and spoke, "Lets go to our quarters and discuss this."
As they walked back to their quarters, B'Elanna couldn't help but mentally compare the quiet strength and innate politeness of Elizabeth Janeway, with the more fiery, outspoken and driven Kathryn Janeway. Both of them were strong leaders, both of them had their strongly held convictions, but Elizabeth had a strong dislike of forcing her point of view on anyone.
Probably a side effect of the past eight years, though B'Elanna suspected Elizabeth had always been one to tell people they could follow orders or walk out the door if they had a problem with it. One of the benefits of ground based command; there was no place to go on a starship. Kathryn Janeway had used to be more like Elizabeth, before the years in the Delta Quadrant, the constant attacks, and the tickle of people dying. Then she had become more and more controlling, and less likely to listen to dissent without seeing it as a challenge to her command.
"Am I that different?" B'Elanna asked, once they walked into their quarters.
"No, she was merely seeing a conditioned response to her anger. I reacted to it as well, as did everyone else from the Artemis at the table. As Maria has reminded us, it will take awhile for the memories to fade. You are still B'Elanna Torres, only, as you have stated before, with your emotions more under your control." Seven answered, coming up to her, laying her head against the half-Klingon's chest, and wrapping her arms around B'Elanna.
"The Doctor will fail; I believe he already suspects this after the results of the theta radiation test on the DNA samples he took. The bonds between the molecules broke much earlier than they should have. She will have to accept that the Ilanar are correct, and nothing can be done." Seven continued.
"I meant what I said you know, that I would refuse the changes," B'Elanna stated, her expression completely serious.
Seven looked at her intently curious, waiting for her to continue.
"Neither of us had a choice about them, but now that it's done." She trailed off, gathering her thoughts. "I like being taller, I like being stronger, and living to be a hundred and eighty or so isn't something I'm going to protest." B'Elanna paused, "Learning who you are and falling in love with you is the best thing that's ever happened to me, the child your carrying is second. But these changes, I feel like I've paid for them, in the pain I went through and the pain you went through, and their mine now, I'm not about to let Janeway decide she has the right to take them away."
Seven nodded understandingly, "I too felt resentful of the idea, but I did not understand why I felt that way. You are correct we did 'pay' for them, and now they are not something I am willing to give up either."
The half-Klingon nodded, and continued "I also wasn't at all thrilled by her reaction in the briefing room, we haven't been members of her crew for nine months, and she thinks she has the right to dictate our futures." B'Elanna fell silent for awhile staring into Seven's blue eyes. "I think Elizabeth is correct, the worst case scenario we designed, is now the most likely one." She pulled out of the hug long enough to shift positions so she could place a hand over Seven's lower stomach, as she stared into the blonde's eyes. "Our child would not be permitted to be an engineer or a scientist, and we would be denied the technology for us to have another one. You and I might not be permitted to work in our respective fields."
Seven placed a hand upon the caramel toned one resting upon her abdomen, "We are in agreement, I have reanalyzed the situation and I came to the same conclusion. We will vote to colonize, and travel with our friends to Amazonia. I have already sacrificed one child for Voyager; I will not sacrifice the future of this one."
B'Elanna nodded, silently, an unhappy expression on her face as she remembered the fate of One. She leaned over and kissed Seven on the forehead, "She deserves the best future that we can give her, one where she won't be discriminated against." She smiled wryly, "For that matter we do as well, I'd loose my mind if I couldn't be an engineer, or you a scientist." Changing the topic slightly she asked curiously, "Amazonia? I didn't know they had already picked a name?"
Seven smirked, "That is Aria's choice, apparently in ancient Earth history there was a nation comprised primarily of women. The women were called Amazons. It seems an appropriate choice, as our colony will consist entirely of women."
"Aria… she is… was rather, Morgan's hostage right? Short brunette with grey eyes and a child? From Beta Squad?" said B'Elanna frowning slightly as she tried to place the name.
"Yes," replied Seven, "They have a 6 month old daughter, Marian."
A smile slowly formed on B'Elanna's face, "There was a nation of lesbians on ancient Earth? I never heard about that in school."
"I am not certain, it was a matriarchal society. Given the primitive medical knowledge of the time I doubt they had access to ova fusion, thus it is not likely their population was comprised entirely of lesbians," Seven commented with a raised brow. "One would assume men were needed for reproduction."
B'Elanna chuckled in response, "Amazonia, I like it." More seriously she asked, "Are you sure Seven? Janeway might change her mind, we might be judging the Federation too harshly, and we planned out all the upgrades and modifications we wanted to do to Voyager. I'm not sure how much of a technical challenge building a colony will be, though I'm sure it will be challenging." The half-Klingon's hands shifted to gently hold Seven's waist and her brown eyes showed her concern.
"It is alright, B'Elanna. I know your main reason for finding Voyager was to fulfill your promise to me, and to see how Tom Paris was functioning. I found it very distressing that Captain Janeway would even consider that she had the right to give those orders. I have had enough of things being done to me; I am not willing to go into a situation where that might occur again." she stated emphatically. "Hearing her tell you she would order you to comply, reminded me of how she was when I was severed. For a moment I believed that she was about to tell you that you were not competent to make decisions for yourself."
"I had forgotten how autocratic she could be when she gets in the mood," B'Elanna commented ruefully.
"How was Tom Paris?" asked Seven changing the topic.
"Surprised by the changes, I don't think he stopped comparing our heights during the entire discussion. He's seeing Megan Delaney again; I wished him luck and happiness. Told him we were planning on getting married soon, and that you were pregnant," B'Elanna grinned mischievously. "That sure did surprise him, seems as if Janeway got entirely the wrong impression about our relationship. She thinks that we were forced upon one another and no one should bring up 'what we had to do to survive'." She finished disbelievingly. "I don't know whether or not to be insulted, or just amused at the conclusion she jumped to."
Seven gave her an incredulous look, "While I was aware that coercion by our captor might occur at some point, I choose to make love that night because I wished to, I was very aroused by your kiss and did not wish to stop."
B'Elanna chuckled softly, "Trust me; I am well aware of that fact, and very thankful for it. I hope I don't forget the tiniest thing about that night, how you looked, how you reacted to my touch, how you sounded…" her voice dropped to a purr, and the last was said almost touching Seven's lips. "I realized that night, how very easy it would be for me to fall in love with you."
"If you do forget you have only to ask me, I have ensured that I will not forget that night as long as I am functioning," murmured Seven.
"Mmm, perhaps we should make sure I haven't forgotten anything yet, it's been a few months after all." B'Elanna smirked.
"Indeed, from what point are we starting?" Seven asked softly.
"This one," B'Elanna kissed her passionately.
Chapter 40 - Stardate: 53010.37 (Jan 4, 2376 7:08pm)
"It is fortunate that we went over the events of that night, your memory of it has obviously been corrupted." Seven smirked at B'Elanna as she ran a washcloth over her arms.
B'Elanna grinned unrepentantly in reply, she stepped out of the tub and began drying off, "What are you planning on wearing tonight to the meeting?" she asked. Lately Seven had been 'thick as thieves,' as Elizabeth would say, with Maria, Lee, and Evelyn Brooks from Beta squad. Evelyn had been a fashion designer, and had been consulting with Seven to find out what fabrics the blonde could get the replicators to produce. In return for Seven's help she had designed several outfits with the blonde specifically in mind, and as an afterthought some for B'Elanna as well. As a result the amount of clothes in their closet aboard Artemis had multiplied.
"The woolen wine red split boot skirt, the antique-white cashmere sweater, and black boots," Seven answered, staring at her curiously. "I have not had the opportunity to wear them as yet."
"Gorgeous," commented B'Elanna, thinking of how Seven would look in the outfit.
Smiling she stepped to the closet and opened the door. One of Seven's latest accomplishments, at least in the minds of Maria, Lee, and Evelyn was a fabric that duplicated the look and feel of leather. Seven, B'Elanna strongly suspected, thought their fascination with fabrics was a bit peculiar, but she did enjoy the new clothes she got from assisting them. She pulled the pair of black leather pants from the closet and took a moment to admire them; Seven had really done an excellent job considering she had only been given a verbal description of the fabrics properties.
Pulling on the black pants, B'Elanna admired how she looked in them. They were designed to fit like a glove over her hips and thighs, and then flare slightly to fit over boots. Grabbing a cream colored silk shirt, and black boots, she completed dressing.
Seven appeared in the bedroom door, a towel wrapped around her. She stared at B'Elanna, taking in her appearance, her voice husky she commented, "I may have failed to appreciate the actual value of finding the correct replicator pattern for leather."
B'Elanna chuckled smugly.
Ten minutes later Seven joined B'Elanna in the main room of their quarters. Her hair was loosely gathered at the nape of her neck with a gold hair clip; the antique-white cashmere sweater she wore was cowl necked, providing the slightest glimpse of the hollow of her throat. The wine red divided skirt was basically A line in design, fitting closely over her waist and hips and then gathering into full loose folds to mid calf. Calf length black boots completed the ensemble.
"You look very beautiful," B'Elanna told her appreciatively. "Shall we," she asked holding out her arm for Seven to take as she had seen some of the other women do for their partners. Seven regarded her curiously for a moment then walked over and curled a hand around her forearm.
As they walked toward the Artemis' meeting room B'Elanna couldn't help but compare the many greetings, and compliments on their appearance, she and Seven received, with what Elizabeth had described had happened in the Mess Hall on Voyager. She knew that some of the disparity was due to the simple fact that these women had never met the unemotional Seven who had constantly stated that things were irrelevant, inefficient etc. Another was that these women had never lost anyone to the Borg, or had ever seen Seven when she had been a Borg drone.
But whatever the differences were, the simple fact was that Seven was welcomed and accepted here in a way that she had never been aboard Voyager. Here, Seven's reputation was that she was standoffish and wary of adults she didn't know well, was kind and helpful once she was comfortable with you, and had an immediate rapport with children. It was the last that had enabled the women to first see past the cool exterior, one had only to watch Seven interact with a child to see the person hiding behind the defensive behaviors.
They entered the room and found seats next to Maria, Mary and Ruth. Elizabeth was standing by the central podium along with Tanya. As soon as everyone was seated, Elizabeth stepped up to the podium. "The Ilanar have some new information for us, Trya Kryayh's criminal trial went to sentencing today. He was found guilty on all charges and received a sentence of a thousand years of consecutive imprisonment for his…" she had to stop as the noise level in the room drowned her out.
B'Elanna felt a surge of satisfaction, turning to Seven she saw that emotion mirrored in the blonde's blue eyes. She pulled her into a tight hug, felt Seven's arms wrap around her back and return the pressure.
Finally everyone quieted from their elation at the news, and Elizabeth continued speaking, "They also had a second piece of news for us. The Ilanar understand that we may not all be in agreement as to whether or not to colonize or go to Earth, and that we might feel in some way obligated to assist Voyager. Therefore, matter what our decision, whether to return to Earth or to colonize, they have decided to open a temporary wormhole just beyond the range of either ship's sensors that will go to the Alpha quadrant." The room broke out again into loud discussion, and Seven and B'Elanna stared at one another in complete surprise and dawning joy.
"Harry," B'Elanna breathed, thinking of how happy her friend would be to see his parents.
Seven smiled, "I am pleased that they will be able to return, no matter what decision we make."
"Quiet please, we do still need to make our report to you about how today's meeting with Captain Janeway before we can discuss anything further." The room quieted down, and Elizabeth was able to begin her report of the meeting on Voyager. Elizabeth included nothing about Captain Janeway's behavior, her initial insistence that Seven and B'Elanna submit to a treatment if the Doctor found one, she only went over Janeway's responses to their questions.
Finishing Elizabeth concluded, "Maria and I got the distinct feeling from Captain Kathryn Janeway that the idea of allowing us or our children to bypass the Genetic laws was like opening some type of Pandora's Box. Maybe it would be, after all if we are permitted to then why not all children that have been genetically engineered, they weren't given a choice either. I admit I hadn't looked at it before from that point of view. Unfortunately, I think the Federation might agree with her, it's probably a precedent they will not want to set."
B'Elanna frowned disturbed; it wasn't really a point of view she wanted to consider either. She understood the reasons for banning genetic engineering weren't just to prevent another generation of warmongering supermen; it was to prevent wholesale genetic engineering just to ensure that your children had a level playing field with everyone else's. She just hadn't wanted to think about whether or not their children could create that situation if the Genetic laws were waived for them. She glanced over and noticed a furrow between Seven's brows as she looked at Elizabeth, undoubtedly the idea the Alpha squad leader had raised was troublesome to her lover as well.
Elizabeth continued after a moment, drawing B'Elanna out of her own thoughts, "I don't know this for a fact, and I might be completely wrong, but my personal opinion is that we will find ourselves in an unfortunate position if we go back to Earth. I have no doubt the will welcome us, feel very sympathetic for what happened to us, and have a very hard time with allowing our children to compete with theirs for positions in Starfleet, medicine, and the technical fields."
She stepped back from the podium and Tanya took her place, "I don't know about a Pandora's Box, but it was very clear than Captain Janeway was very resistant to any suggestion that the Genetic laws be bent for us. Personally, I believe we should go to the planet we determined was the best choice for colonization and build our own society, one were we can be sure that our children won't be limited in any way because of what happened to us. Now there was one other point Captain Janeway brought up. I'll let Dr. Nancy Miller address it," Tanya nodded to Nancy as the blonde woman stood and made her way to the podium.
"Good evening," Nancy greeted everyone. "Captain Janeway raised the question of trusting the Ilanar medical doctor's opinion that any further genetic engineering to correct what was done to us would be fatal. She wanted Voyagers Doctor to examine us and make his own determination." She held up her hands, her face solemn. The rise of hopeful conversation in the room died down immediately, sensing that there would be no good news. "He did some testing on our DNA while we were there, in all cases it showed that the molecular bonds between the nucleotides were much weaker than they should be. He hasn't given up, but I think its more determination and hopefulness than any actual possibility. He informed us that he should have a better idea by tomorrow afternoon, but I'm more certain than ever that the Ilanar with their much greater medical knowledge are correct." Nancy stepped away from the podium after finishing
Elizabeth stepped up to the podium as Nancy retook her seat, "Tanya and I have discussed the vote we were to have tonight. We do not want there to be any doubt in anyone's mind about whether or not anything can be done for us medically before we make our final decision. Therefore we will put it to a quick vote whether or not to proceed, if there is any objection then we will delay the vote till tomorrow."
The two leaders looked around, finally Elizabeth stepped forward, "Please if anyone has any doubt speak up, twelve hours isn't any time to wait considering."
A woman stood up, "Tanya do you have any doubts?" she asked. B'Elanna didn't know her name only that she was from Beta.
"Absolutely none, my personal opinion is that Captain Janeway's grasping at straws hoping to get B'Elanna and Seven back." Tanya answered immediately.
"Then I have none," the woman sat back down.
"Well then I guess the next thing is to move onto voting on…" Elizabeth broke off as her communicator activated. She and Tanya stepped back from the podium and began a quiet discussion with whoever was on the other end.
B'Elanna looked inquisitively at Seven who had her enhanced ear tilted toward the pair; finally with a frown the blonde shook her head. "They are too far away, and there is too much other noise," Seven told her in a low tone.
Elizabeth stepped back to the podium looking rather bemused, "Diplomat Mryayh wishes to address us after we have made our decision. Apparently, there was what we would call a civil suit, entered on our behalf by the Ilanar government against Trya Kryayh, and the other Ilanar involved in the illegal games. The court decided in our favor, and he wishes to discuss the settlement with us, but our decision will affect what form it can take."
There was an excited buzz throughout the room as people immediately began speculating about the latest news.
"A settlement is usually money or goods awarded to those damaged by another's actions?" Seven spoke directly into B'Elanna's ear over the noise. B'Elanna nodded in reply, and returned to watching the commotion around them.
Finally Elizabeth shouted, "Quiet!" The room settled down some, "We'll never find out anything until we get this vote done, you guys are worse than a bunch of guinea hens today I swear."
"Well, since there are no guys here you can't be referring to us," Christina responded loudly from her seat.
Elizabeth gave her a dirty look in response, which quickly changed into a grin. There was a combination of good natured outrage and snickers over the comment but people got the point and quieted down.
Seven looked questioningly at B'Elanna but all she could do was shrug, she had no idea what guinea hens were or why Elizabeth would compare everyone to them.
"Alright we will begin voting, please vote according to what you actually want, not what you think anyone else wants. It's very important for us to get an accurate idea of everyone's opinion." Elizabeth stated earnestly. She looked around the room slowly meeting everyone's eyes, "Voting begins now, I'd like for it to be done in thirty minutes."