A/N: Sorry this update took so long. My fiction writing class is soaking up my time. Plus, these chapters are difficult b/c we are nearing the end. Oh, one more thing: I don't get stardates so I didn't put them in, but there are other time clues. Finally, the next chapter after this is written, I just need to put finishing touches. So it won't take as long to post. Any and all reviews are appreciated. Hope you enjoy it. ~Isobel
Time Enough
Chapter 14: Domesticity
Acting Captain's Log.
Voyager's repairs are slow. We are inside an unclassified type of nebula just two parsecs from the Ket'zali attack about a month ago. Their ships, which resemble squids lying horizontal, are nearly entirely black with little onboard lighting. They've circumnavigated the nebula but seem reluctant to enter it. We aren't sure why. But at this stage, the only thing we care about is how to get our girl fully operational and get our people home.
We have about twenty crewman working double shifts to repair major systems. Full life support was restored about a week ago. Weapons and Propulsion are the next priorities.
D'goba remains in coma. The backup EMH, who is just as testy the original, has been working round the clock to determine the cause of her coma and how to wake her from it. We need her. She carries the missing pieces to why the Ket'zali want Captain Janeway, Seven of Nine and the child.
=/\=
Chakotay's Personal Log.
I ordered a celebration for the restoration of life support. It was a big mistake. I must have had too much Ktarian Merlot because I ended up in bed with someone I never thought I was attracted to. It's been awkward between Lt. Samantha Wildman and myself, but that didn't stop us from seconds or thirds. This isn't like me. Now I sound like Sam. That's what she tells me after every episode. This isn't like me. Then she reminds me why I've never thought about her in that special way before. She said her sex life was never this way with her husband. The man who is now in the Alpha Quadrant, standing vigil for her. I know about her husband, the father of her child.
But I've been dishonest. I've never told her that I still have feelings for Seven. I'd hate to think I'm doing this to make Seven jealous. Maybe it's just the biological imperative to mate, after we were all nearly destroyed in the Ket'zali swarming.
Why isn't Seven of Nine here? Where are you, baby?
=/\=
Janeway had pulled back the window dressing, letting the double moonbeams fall magically on the long, lithe body beside her. She'd propped up her elbow, letting her eyes travel the voluptuous curves. She'd never spent so much energy exploring another non-celestial body and she'd trusted someone so much to allow it in return. She'd also never come so much or so hard. Despite it all, she was astonished to know she hungered for more.
Seven stirred, mumbling and turning away from the bright window light to nestle into Kathryn's breast. "Mmm," she said, finding a swollen nipple near her mouth that she dutifully kissed.
"Is that Borg stamina?" a hoarse voice said near Seven's ear.
She curled her fingers in auburn hair, pulling her head closely and kissing the parted lips she found. "What of you, Kathryn?"
The older woman moved closer, pushing her small breasts into Seven's arms. A thigh hoisted over the other woman's thigh, feeling prickly soft hairs. As she kissed the woman's neck, moving toward her mouth, Kathryn answered. "I think Gleewee coffee was quite invigorating."
Seven's eyes snapped open. "Your impetus is coffee?"
"No, darling," she said, brushing the blonde strands back from the beautiful face. "I said coffee is the fuel but you are my desire." She closed her eyes and leaned down softly to kiss the lips.
When she pulled back, she found Seven with closed eyes and a small smile on her lips. "Kathryn?"
Even the sound of Seven calling her name was a symphony. You have it bad, she told herself. "Yes?"
"I require more data." Seven's scratchy morning voice sounded absolutely adorable and Janeway could not help but smile.
"Yes, darling."
"You failed to complete this statement as we faced the attacking Mencari and Ket'zali aboard the Eesh'tob...." Then Seven performed a remarkable mimicked of Janeway. "'Damn right I'm stressed. It's not every day I get a bunch of reptiles attacking the woman I—.' Please complete the statement."
Seven heard a reluctant gurgle in the woman's throat, drawing her attention there. Kathryn looked up, giving Seven a view of the taut muscles of her kissable neck. When she didn't answer, Seven bolted up and over, pressing down on Janeway. "I believe," she said in that typical monotone. "That you perceived our situation dire and you were going to declare your love for me." She punctuated the comment with an arch eyebrow and a nod.
Kathryn closed her eyes; her auburn lashes falling like crescents on her classic cheekbones.
Seven waited, her breath tickling the woman beneath her. After some time, Seven realized that Kathryn was reluctant to answer. "You could not fall unconscious so easily, Pips."
Kathryn's eyes snapped open. "What did you call me?"
Seven felt control rush back to her. She rolled to one side, fluffing the pillow and rolling to her back, in a half sitting position. "I called you...Pips." She emphasized the first letter with a firm pinch of her lips. "Pips."
Kathryn narrowed her eyes. "Where did that come from?"
"Evidently, my counterpart in the other universe called you 'Pips' when you were frustrating."
Kathryn pulled back to study Seven's face, sitting up as well.
"It was presumably used quite often, as I understand."
"Pips?"
Seven tipped her head. "Yes, Pips," she whispered before pressing her lips to Kathryn's neck, where her Starfleet Uniform presented her rank. "As in one, two, three and four pips." Seven smacked her lips loudly after each number.
"Ridiculous name," she whispered, leaning her neck back to offer Seven more room.
Seven pulled back, licking the skin as she did. "Perhaps, but an appropriate one nonetheless."
"Appropriate?"
"Yes, it denotes an extraordinary need to remain in control...." Seven's hand slid up to cup a small breast. "Even when capitulation has its own reward."
Kathryn's eyes were heavily lidded and her mouth parted. She tried very hard to curb the instinct to arch into the hand. "Hardly a need," she whispered, her gravelly voice shaky from trying to resist the urge for more contact.
Seven let one corner of her mouth curl ever so slightly as she stared into the moonlit blue eyes as she took a fat nipple into her mouth. Kathryn hissed in pleasure, her chest pushed forward ever so slightly. Seven blew on the soaked nipple, drawing more hisses from the woman. "Need is an inaccurate rendering." Then without warning, she bit the nipple, drawing a moan of pleasure-pain. "Fetish would be more—"
Kathryn threw herself to the side, out of the woman's reach. Then she propped her head up, watching Seven peer over the curve of Kathryn's hip. "Fetish? Oh, Seven... you are full of surprises."
Seven leaned back, noting Kathryn's swollen and moist center when the older woman drew her legs up. The younger woman swiped a finger along the cleft once, drawing a shudder out of the woman. Her attention wandered from where the older woman wanted her the most. Seven circled the palm over the curves of her ass and hip. "I do not comprehend what I feel," she said, sliding across the curly hair. "We have made love three times this night and yet, I require..." She pulled back to look deep into Kathryn's shadowed eyes. "I require more."
"Oh, darling," she said, pulling the ex-Borg closer. "Then by all means, indulge yourself."
=/\=
Acting Captain's Log.
The Doctor succeeded in mending D'goba's extensive wounds and she emerged from coma after six weeks. She pronounced her surprise that the "Ush'maul" had not "vanquished the enemy." I have always been one to respect other people's creation myths, but I don't think I've ever seen anyone deify a living human before.
=/\=
"Ush'maul is the Mother of the Chosen," D'goba explained. "Our most ancient prophecy says that E'tza Ush'maul Po'pol Vuh will open the heavens. The Mother of the Chosen will destroy and create order all at once."
D'goba, like most Mencari, was expressionless, but judging from the waving of her powerful tail, this was an important moment for her. Chakotay was unsure how to proceed. She's talking about Kathryn Janeway, a good captain and a good person, but not prophetic.
"How is she supposed to accomplish this?" Lt. Commander Tuvok asked.
"The prophecy is ambiguous, declaring only that the Resplendent Cactus, shield of the Sun People will accomplish this with blood and water."
"Resplendent Cactus?" Lt. Paris inquired, his voice nearly riotous with mirth. "That's quite a title."
Chakotay cast a disapproving glare to Tom, who merely shrugged. "Is there nothing more on blood and water? On where they are? Or where they can be?"
"Is this not your home system?" Tuvok asked without missing a beat. "Perhaps you could contact—"
"She is not here?" D'goba jumped down from the bio-bed. Her tail was whipping back denting bulkheads. Her head was swaying to and fro and her eye turrets were swiveling erratically.
"No, she escaped your ship and she never made it back to Voyager," Tuvok said. "Neither she, nor Seven of Nine who boarded your ship during the attack to find her."
"The Precious Borg is gone as well?"
"And the child, Eridani Janeway," Tuvok added.
Her mouth fell open, pink saliva spilled in buckets. Her bifurcated tongue darted out to lubricate her eyes. Then suddenly, she ripped a bio-bed from its support and flung it across the room, using the confusion to dash toward sick bay doors. "We must find them."
They managed to stop her just as she entered the shuttlebay. Her eyes were both pinned on the silver bullet transport vessel that Tuvok and Paris commandeered from her ship.
"The Evil Ones will find them, no matter how long it takes! We must find them first."
Chakotay watched her grow so agitated, she could not control the jerky movements, wounding two security guards before the Doctor subdued her with a tranquilizer. "Hmm, she doesn't have much faith in her prophecy," the Doctor noted.
Chakotay's Personal Log.
Sometimes I wonder if I was right to give the "abandon ship order." Sam said if I hadn't Voyager would be spatial debris. I try not to pace at night while she's sleeping, but the burden of command is heavy. Sam said it's because I'm conscientious. If I were so conscientious I wouldn't be making love to another man's wife. Am I making love or just having sex? I can hear my spirit guide—the timber wolf—howling in my head when I come. Coincidence or wishful thinking? It was silent when Seven and I were intimate.
=/\=
Kathryn found herself tangled in sheets with her head at the foot of the bed and her feet bouncing on a pillow. The torchlight seemed brighter and she looked up to see a darkened, lanky form sitting stooped over a desk. Wrapped in a sheet, she stood behind Seven and lifted blonde locks from the back of her neck, where she placed her lips in greeting. "Didn't I exhaust you enough?"
Seven leaned back, her head touching the softness of the Captain. Her arm reached around to rub the woman's shoulder. They were close in every way, but one. Seven could not share with Kathryn her fear about her deteriorating health. "I do not require a great deal of sleep, Kathryn. I regenerated sufficiently."
Kathryn tried to stifle a yawn, as she propped herself against the wall to face Seven. She watched the light dance around the lithe fingers that had brought her so much happiness. "Is that the Doctor's mobile emitter?"
Seven pulled back, a soldering tool in her hand. "Yes. It malfunctioned after it was fired upon by a Ket'zali. I am attempting to...." Seven's eyes riveted to Kathryn's shaking hand. "To repair it post haste."
Kathryn shoved her hands behind her. "I'm fine, Seven."
Seven tipped her head. "I require a second opinion."
Kathryn couldn't help but let a corner of her mouth curl up. "Seven, I'm still...." What was she going to say? Still her commanding officer? How could she be if she didn't even have a ship any more? Before she knew it, Kathryn's tears welled up.
Seven bolted to her feet, the stone chair scraping the hewn mountain floor. She pulled Kathryn into a smothering embrace. She looked down sharply to see astonished and still grief-stricken face.
Seven wiped the tears that finally fell against Kathryn's will.
"I don't know why I'm acting this way," the Captain said. "It's like I have no self control."
Seven had been cataloging Kathryn's symptoms. Hand tremors. Unexplained fevers. Imbalances. And now a lack of self-control. She began to wonder if Kathryn's giving herself over to their passion was symptomatic of her illness, rather than an expression of her love. If only she would admit that she loved me, Seven thought.
To wipe those series of logical questions from her mind, Seven leaned in to capture the Captain's soft lips. She answered with hungry abandon, slipping her hands into the blonde strands. Seven was beginning to feel dizzy herself from the warmth of Kathryn's mouth and the avid response she found.
Her lips wandered to hover over the woman's ear. "Oh, Captain. You are my Captain," she whispered. "And I will see on Voyager's bridge yet."
Kathryn Janeway had never lost faith in herself, her crew or her ship until now. Why now at this most desperate of hours? Because it had been so long? Two months, is that really so long? She pulled Seven's body against hers, luxuriating in the friction of the pointed breasts. She felt so good to be in this woman's arms, better than she had felt in years, and better than she felt with anyone. Kathryn recognized this feeling as love. She wanted this to go on forever and she wanted Voyager. She feared they were mutually exclusive.
=/\=
Acting Captain's Log.
The force field in the brig shimmered and D'goba smoked. She'd probed its weaknesses with her own body. In the end, she'd given up and was standing motionless, even her eyes were uncharacteristically fixed.
Not even when I approached her did D'goba respond. The Doctor considered it catatonia. But not knowing much of Mencari physiology, he was at a loss as well. We've got to reach her.
=/\=
"The Lone Ranger," I said. Still D'goba was unmoving. "That's what you are."
Her eye turrets pivoted toward me, ever so slightly.
"A myth from my planet. A man who was mortal in everyway would right wrongs and restore justice."
"Noble," she said.
"Still a myth, D'goba. If we are going to save the child, Ush'maul and Seven of Nine, we've got to work together."
"What do you require?"
"Answers."
She finally relented, sitting on a bench, her eyes downcast. "The Ket'zali are part of us, Chakotay," she said. "The accursed children of our women who were taken in battle by Species 8472."
The Doctor shared a meaningful look with Chakotay and Lt. Commander Tuvok.
"Go on," Chakotay said quietly.
"The women are bred...." She pivoted her eyes to the men. "Against their will."
"We call that rape."
"Is it a crime where in your culture?"
"A crime punishable by severe consequences."
"In ours it is the ultimate sin."
"If it is against their will, are they not victims?" Tuvok asked. "Should be punished yet again?"
"Not the sin of the women, Commander," she replied gravely. "The Ket'zali, who perpetuate it, and their male forbearers who started it. The women and their offspring are cutoff from the land of the sun called Twenotlee, our homeworld. Only when Ush'maul the Destroyer and Ush'maul the Creator has fulfilled her destiny can the Mencari walk as freewomen again."
Chakotay scratched his head, trying to set aside the myth portion to concentrate on what they really know. "Let's step back, D'goba," he said. "How could a species from Fluidic Space mate with one of your females from our dimension? One of our ensign's named Harry Kim almost died from a mere touch of theirs."
D'goba tipped her head, regarding the man, but remained mute.
"Another important point is motivation, D'goba," Tuvok pointed out. "Why would Species 8472 cross into our plane of existence when their beliefs suggest they are perfection and we are imperfection. And why now?
"I cannot answer, Commander," she said with a defeated voice. "In five of our years, since the Evil Ones descended on us, we have never known. We know only that our women are taken."
"How did you find the Chosen?" Tuvok asked of Dani.
"We had just acquired her when Voyager rescued us from the pirates," she said. "We found her alive among the wreckage of a Ket'zali transport vessel near the place they breached our space-time." She stood up and ambled as close to the force field as she could. "Mencari rescued the Chosen."
"Why?" Tuvok asked.
"Because she can disappear from the eyes of the Ket'zali and their forefathers. She is the Chosen."
"Why is she your chosen?" He insisted.
"Because she is, Commander," D'goba said with the confidence of a true believer. "I do not know the reasons."
"In any case, the child is not the Ush'maul, D'goba." Chakotay felt compelled to point out the inconsistencies in her beliefs and her actions.
"No," she whispered, turning away. Her head hung low and she returned to slump low on the bench.
"Why did you harm the Chosen?"
"We did no such thing. We love her. We cover her in the sacred secretions that protect. She is Borg."
The comment surprised the men, knowing that the only known mechanical device was in her brain and it did not give off Borg signatures of any kind. But D'goba said she could not elaborate.
D'goba seemed to renew her strength. She stood as straight as the confining size of Voyager's brig would allow. "We must find Eridani before the Ket'zali. If they find her—and they will, Chakotay—then—" She flung herself into the force field. Its reaction was to propel her against the opposite wall. Again and again D'goba tested her confines. The shield held, but D'goba was bloody before the Doctor could sedate her again.
Chakotay's Personal Log.
Four months and that warp engines are still off line. B'Elanna said the damage to the warp core was more extensive than she initially realized. We are butting heads like two billy goats. If it were Kathryn, B'Elanna would have had that warp operational by now. She denies this, but I've always thought she carried a torch for the heterosexual Captain. B'Elanna, like most Klingons, are omni-sexual. Anything goes. She denies it and tells me I'm just jealous. "Get the damn engines online, Torres!" That's what I said to her. I've never referred to her that way or used vulgarities to get my point across. But the tension is getting to me. I think it is all of D'goba's claims about what the Ket'zali do with their enemies. If they took Seven, I'm not sure what I would do.
Personal Logs Supplemental.
No, I know exactly what I'd do. I'd pursue them to damnation itself to get her back.
=/\=
As they laid sated again in each other's arms, Seven stroked the small of Kathryn's back as the older woman lay nearly on her stomach, a leg hitched over the Borg's waist. "I've been thinking," Kathryn whispered against the pillow as a lazy thumb tip stroked the underside of the woman's large breasts. "The Ket'zali are familiar to me, Seven. It's like I've dealt with them before."
"Before Voyager was commandeered, the Doctor and I hypothesized that the Ket'zali bore a striking resemblance to Species 8472."
Kathryn's eyes went wide and she braced against an arm to push herself up. "Yes, that's it exactly."
"The blunt face, the latticed skull, the atrophied tail that is nearly a third leg—"
"The uneasy voices, as if they were using them for the first time."
"Do you recall Sa'feer's argument with Ba'tour?"
Kathryn laid her head on Seven's shoulders, allowing her hand to cover the younger woman's breast, the point poking her palm. "Ancient Earth history had civilizations stealing women from others to mate."
"Rape?"
Kathryn nodded. "Totalitarian regimes like the People's Republic of China. The country covered nearly a quarter of the earth and held nearly a billion people."
"How could a government sustain that many people?"
"They couldn't," she said, inhaling deeply to smell the residue of their lovemaking. "They imposed a harsh one child per couple policy. In a culture where males were prized, there were many sex-selective abortions."
Seven frowned. "They killed the unborn because females...were...insufficient?"
Kathryn looked into Seven's eyes, stroking her lips. "This was a long time ago, darling. But yes, in the Twentieth and Twenty-first centuries, parents needing a boy to feel secure aborted their daughters."
"Did this not distort the male-female balance?"
"Oh, yes. For every one hundred female births there were one hundred and eleven males."
"An insufficient number of females were available to mate."
"Chinese families resorted to stealing women along their borders. Innocent girls and women of child-bearing years were taken from their homes, their families, their cultures and everything they knew."
Seven had experienced that wrenching twice. From her parents and then from the Borg. "That is unspeakable."
Kathryn lifted her eyes when she heard the whispered declaration. "Oh, darling," she said. "I am so sorry that I was.... I did what I did to right the wrongs the Borg had done to you so long ago...I am—"
Seven touched her fingertips to Kathryn's mouth. "The situations are not comparable, Kathryn. You assimilated me to where I belonged."
Kathryn laid her head on Seven's shoulder, burying her face in her neck. After long minutes of nothing but the sound of the torch hissing, Seven pushed Kathryn on her back to gaze into her violet eyes. A yellow flame jumping in her pupils. "This is why the Mencari worship the Borg, who defeated Species 8472 with the bio-weapon."
"Well, they did have some help," she said sardonically.
"The Mencari did not know this. Eridani's ability to hide from the merging of Mencari and Species 8472 is vital to the continued existence of the Delta Quadrant species."
"That is the reason both sides want our daughter."
Seven stared out for long moments. "We must help the Mencari, Kathryn."
"We have no way to—"
Seven sat up, half turning to look down at the disarray of auburn hair and the sleepy expression. "I will work to recover parts for the emitter and supply us with sustenance."
"What about Dani and I?" Kathryn propped herself up on an elbow, drawing Seven's eyes to the tawny points of her breast.
"You will continue to remain home as a..." she lifted her eyes in thought. "As a home...maker, I believe is the correct term."
To Kathryn's horrified expression, Seven tipped her head. "Is that not the correct term?"
"No, it's not that. It's just...."
"That is currently what you do, is it not?"
"Yes, but I've never labeled it like that." With Seven's boring stare, Janeway softened her expression. "I suppose I never saw myself as a housewife."
"But you have tended us this way for several months."
"It's just I—" She kissed Seven thoroughly. "You, I understand completely." To Seven's dubious smirk, she amended. "Mostly. But Dani...she becomes increasingly restless."
"What did you do at that time index?"
"Apples and oranges, Seven. That was ages ago."
"I believe some work is timeless and mothering is one such. You will continue to do...fine."
Janeway made a noise in her throat. Seven knew it as arousal and frustration. Curious that the same sound could convey two unrelated feelings.
"Don't you think it would be better if I worked also? Now that I feel better."
Seven considered the question. "I know of no ship needing a captain or of any need for a scientist in this society."
"Are you saying I'm overqualified?"
"I do not believe I offered a superlative of your situation, Kathryn."
Kathryn eyed her suspiciously. "I think you like bringing home the bacon and having your little wife warm your bed."
Seven's eyebrows shot up. "You are diminutive of stature, yes. But I did not know we had entered a marital relationship."
"Figure of speech."
Seven ignored her. "However, I accept your proposal, Kathryn." She leaned forward to kiss the woman. Janeway kept her lips slack, but Seven's ended the union with a tug of her bottom lip.
"I find your enjoyment of my predicament quite sadistic, Seven of Nine."
Seven raised an eyebrow, realizing that she appraised their role reversal as stimulating. "I find your dependence on me both curious and quite agreeable, much to my immeasurable surprise, Kathryn O'Nine."
The Captain's eyes were dancing in amusement, her lips half quirked and tremulous. "Hmm, don't get used to it." The comment was accompanied by a playful smack to Seven's thigh.
Seven noted the positive outlook, so different from the previous few months since Voyager continued to remain missing. "I will endeavor to refrain from that."
"Good, because I don't want your ego to inflate any more than necessary."
Seven ran her thumb along Kathryn's jaw. "I believe, Kathryn, that Eridani will ensure that we are both sufficiently humble."
Sighing deeply, Kathryn dropped her head to Seven's shoulder. "That's what I'm afraid of."
=/\=
As usual, Kathryn prepared a breakfast of steaming eggs and rake strips, hot cakes with sap and fresh squeezed fenork juice. Both of the Captain's girls stared at the spread on the neatly set table. "Kathryn, this looks completely nutritious." It was the daily Seven-type compliment, but meaningful nonetheless.
"Sit, sit," she said. "Before it gets cold."
"This is better than Neelix' food, Cap," Dani said, around a mouthful of hot cakes.
Now she considered that nearly an insult, but Cappie smiled graciously. "Thank you, darling. I'm really glad you liked it."
"I can't remember. Did I know you could cook this good?" Dani asked before stuffing an overloaded fork into her mouth.
Kathryn's smile slowly dimmed, wondering at the curious question. "Well, I don't see why not. I was raised by old-fashioned parents. We didn't have replicators."
"Well, it's good," the girl said, sopping up some sap with hot cake on a fork. "Like always."
"Why don't you eat some eggs, too?"
Dani looked down. The hot cakes and rake were gone, while the eggs were scattered around the plate. "Cap, I..." She was going to say she did eat eggs, but the expression on her mother's face told her she shouldn't even try. "I will."
"Smart girl," Kathryn said.
Seven pushed away from the table, tightening the sash holding her sienna pantaloons and billowy blouse. Kathryn regretted the fashion trends on Gleewee, as she missed Seven's form fitting singlesuit. But their fabric and cut were conducive to the heat and cold of the desert climate.
Seven took Kathryn's hand, squeezing it gently as she rose and laying her napkin across the back of the rock chair. "It is time for me to assume my duties at the restaurant." She glanced at the Dani's strawberry blonde hair, long enough to swing down and cover her downcast face. The plexus of her Borg hand glinted from the torchlights around the room, as she squeezed Dani's shoulder.
Dani looked over at Cappie, who was smiling that crooked smile. She tried hard not to frown.
Last night when Seven tucked her in, Dani had asked begged once again to accompany her to the restaurant. Seven's Borg implant over the eye quirked as she studied her daughter's forlorn face. "You were not given employment. Cappie cares for you."
The corner of Dani's mouth descended. "I need a vacation."
Seven was unsure of the growing discomfort, but knew they would work it out. She took Dani's hand lovingly inside her human one. "Despite your high intelligence quotient and your heightened awareness, you are still a child, Eridani. Cappie remains home with you."
Dani twined her fingers with Seven's. "I wish it was you at home."
"I wish I could remain with you both as well. But I cannot."
Dani swallowed hard, a dread in her expression that Seven was sympathetic with. She had not always been comfortable with Kathryn. In the beginning they had been at odds and sometimes they still were. But the old tensions had given way to newfound respect and admiration.
"You enjoy it on occasion."
Seven had pecked the child's lips and tousled her hair. "You must sleep."
Seven brought Dani out her memories by tapping her shoulder with an index finger. "You must assist your mother."
Dani's eyes were wide as they met Kathryn's weary eyes. "You will adapt," she said, as if to both of them.
Seven gave Dani an affectionate peck, patting her on the shoulder one last time. She stood to her full height and offered a hand to Kathryn, who accepted it. At the front door, Kathryn glanced a Dani, who was punching keys in a padd while sitting lotus style on the couch across the room.
"It hasn't gotten any easier," she admitted. "I'm still scared to death of her, you know."
"As she is of you."
"That doesn't help, Seven."
Seven's hand against Kathryn's neck was warm. Kathryn leaned into the thumb strokes. Seven's whisper tickled Kathryn's ear, arousing her again, as if she hadn't been taken again and again in the last few days by this woman.
"You are sufficient for her needs, Kathryn."
"I think I'd rather face a Dresh warrior...naked...without a phaser than...." Her eyes darted to see the child smile at the padd.
"I would prefer you reserve exposing your pleasing bare form to no one's perusal but mine."
Kathryn pulled back to see nothing but a serious and implacable expression on Seven's lovely face. "I'll try to remember that," she said, a curl of a corner of her mouth told Seven she was being teased.
"See that you do." Seven dipped her head to find a hungry mouth waiting hers. Their lingering kiss was fiery and so overwhelming, that Janeway had to slip her arm around the ex-Borg to steady herself. The response took them both by surprise considering they believed they had quenched the sexual animals within last night and the previous seven nights since arriving.
Only after she closed the door behind Seven, did Kathryn turn to find Dani studying her with a surprisingly mature wry smile on her lips. "What?" Kathryn asked playfully.
Dani looked down at the padd. "Ah, nothin'." The girl shrugged, her pencil falling from behind her ear. "I just...." Dani looked out the window. "Like how my moms like each other."
Kathryn considered the girl for a moment longer, waiting for her to offer more information. She wondered especially at the longing in her voice. Misunderstanding her daughter, Kathryn said: "We love you, too, you know?"
Dani's little grin turned to a megaton smile. "Yeah."
Kathryn's heart began to pound when she considered the wisdom of the child. "My mother would say you're too smart for your own britches."
"That's funny, Cap," she said rising to leave her paper and pencil on the small table. "Geegee always said she had to remind you about that, too."
"It's a well known fact that grandmothers are a lot nicer than mothers." Kathryn held out her hand to the girl. "That's my way to ask you to help me clean up my mess."
=/\=
Hanging the dishcloth on a hook, Kathryn looked around the kitchen. Everything was clean and in its place, except for Dani, who was sitting on the counter. Kathryn laid her palms on the two knees, squeezing them. "Thank you, Dani. It was much more fun doing it together."
"Can you play with me now?"
Kathryn really had to fight the urge to grimace to the question Dani asked about seven times a day. What did she know about playing with a seven-year-old? "Maybe later, sweetheart," she said mildly. At her daughter's disappointed frown, she hastily added: "How about we go into town?"
The girl brightened instantly. "To see Mom?"
Kathryn struggled to keep her lips curled. "No, I don't think we should. She's very busy."
"Oh," she said, looking down. "So what do you want to do?" Dani was worried that Cappie wanted to shop for tonight's dinner.
"I thought we could just...."
"Explore?" The girl's eyes brightened, as did Kathryn.
"My thoughts exactly!" She was relieved that Dani didn't want to shop for clothes.
=/\=
In the bazaar, Kathryn delighted that she and Dani were drawn to the same kinds of objects like gizmos and exotic looking carvings. They both spotted a hanging whirligig, shimmering in the torchlight. Its metallic concentric spirals turned in the soft breeze making the silver bells tinkle. Blue orbs and geodesic beads spun inside tight coils of nearly invisible filaments. The wires hung in concentric circles from a silver saucer covered in holes of various sizes through which wind whistled quietly. The effect was a soft and mesmerizing visual and aural feast.
The pair stared at it in silence together. Dani reached up, letting one of the bells touch her palm, stilling the high tinkle. She drew back her hand and instantly the tinkling began low and slowly rose in pitch.
Kathryn smiled, as she took Dani's hand, drawing it to touch one of the wire spirals spinning in place. When their fingertips touched the cold metal, it began to vibrate slowly producing a soft tone that harmonized with the whistles above it. The wire also began to color shift from blue to violet and then yellow.
Both of them cooed with delight. With more confidence, Dani touched another swirl. The tinkle sliding between two notes before its crescendo complimented the other wire. The orbs changed from blue to red and then green.
Dani smiled at her mother, as if she had played the notes and brushed the pigments.
"What do you think would happen if we touched the other two wires?" Kathryn asked softly.
Dani's eyes widened as she turned to study the whirligig. "I don't know."
"Let's find out."
Kathryn urged her daughter to explore. They were both rewarded with a song of such sweet serenity and a light display so spectacular they did not notice the owner beside them.
"T'is a fair whirligig for two fair lasses," he said in a drawl.
Dani nodded, still unblinking as the wind chime intoned its hymn to mother and daughter. Never had she felt so close to Cappie.
Kathryn put an arm around Dani's shoulder, feeling connected to her as well in a way she had not anticipated that morning.
"How does it work?" Both Dani and Kathryn shared a look at their simultaneous question and then dissolved into soft laughter.
The owner was tall and wiry with red orbs for eyes and green speckled skin. One focused on each of them. "If I revealed me secrets, t'would be as good as pushing ye away. Ye would not buy from me." He stretched a finger out. "But I will share something of its riches. These little charms see how they float in the air. Put your palm under them."
Just as Dani reached up, the man shouted, "But don't touch it!"
Dani drew back, looking questioningly at Cap. "It's okay, darling."
She slowly raised her hand.
"Get as close as ye can, without touching it."
Kathryn nodded encouragingly at her daughter. When her palm was a whisper away from the spinning orb, a ring of red burst from the orbs equator. Bright golden rays of light shot out from the ring in all directions. "Wow!" she said, the red and gold deepening the strands of hair falling forward. "Did you see that, mom?"
"Beautiful," she whispered. "Absolutely breath-taking." Kathryn turned to the man. "How much for the whirlygig?"
The man rubbed his double chins. "Each person's color is unique. I have never seen those colors from another person before."
"Really?" Dani felt flattered.
"Perhaps your mother should try—"
"No, no," she tried to say graciously. "I don't think—"
"Oh, come on, Mom!"
Kathryn didn't know if she'd ever been called that before, but she decided she liked it. So she lifted her hand. "All right." The orb slowed its rotation. A blue ring circled the center of the orb and it shown with red rays.
"Ah," the owner said. "That's the one I know. How curious."
"Can we buy it?" Dani was nearly reaching up to take the chime from its hook when Kathryn asked the man again about the cost.
"One Palm and three Shades."
Kathryn wondered if he'd looked at their new native clothes and thought they were sleeping on credits. They should have bought second hand clothes, but Seven would not allow it. She looked to see an expectant Dani watching the chime spin wildly. The whirlygig was shifting to red and its notes sounded as if they were falling over each other in Allegro.
This is going to hurt, Kathryn thought. But she consoled herself with the idea that back in the Alpha Quadrant she had a large number of unspent credits and could indulge the girl there. But here, stranded on a desert planet, it was better to watch every Shade.
She put a hand on her shoulder and offered the girl an apologetic look. "I'm sorry, darling. But that's just too much. That could be—"
"You're not buying it for me?" Dani's look of shock took Kathryn off guard.
"It's simply too much money."
The proprietor leaned over to get the Captain's attention. "How about one Palm?"
She smiled politely. "The gesture is appreciated, but it is entirely too much money."
"But I want it," she whispered.
"And she can have it for eight Shades," the owner said, earning a frown from the Captain.
Anything over one Shade was too much, she thought. The funds she had left would barely be enough to cover meals until Seven's next paycheck. Kathryn shook her head sympathetically. "I know, Dani," she said, running her hand down the girl's hair.
"Not even for—?"
Kathryn pursed her lips, shaking her head nearly imperceptibly. "I'm sorry, Dani."
Dani looked back at the Whirlygig, tears stinging her eyes. Kathryn couldn't quite read her expression, but Dani was confused. Her Cappie never said no. But this Cappie didn't know the rules. The girl brushed at her cheek.
"Are you all righ—?"
"Seven Shades. My final offer."
Captain Janeway whirled on the man. "Thank you," she said curtly. "You are most kind. But we will not be buying the chime." When he lingered, she blasted a patented Janeway glare that had been known to fuse light through black holes.
The man raised his hands. "Fine. Do come again when you want to browse," he said sarcastically.
When Janeway looked back, the whirlygig was re-hung. Dani's arms were crossed across her chest and she was sitting on the floor with her back against a table. Dani could see Cappie's new brown leather shoes. A single tear fell on the tip, darkening the spot.
Cappie bent down, lifted Dani's chin, but she jerked herself away from the touch. "Hey," she said quietly. "What's going on here?"
"You don't love me," she said.
Cappie pulled her head back, watching the girl pout. If this were a petulant crewman or an insubordinate ensign, she'd have chosen the right word with the right inflection to snap them back to yesterday. Then Captain Janeway would have fortified them with a few steely words, just enough to sharpen the edges but not too much to shatter their mettle.
But a seven-year-old girl who was highly intelligent with wild mood swings was another matter entirely. Her lack of experience kept Kathryn off kilter, along with the knowledge that this child knew her in ways her crew did not. She witnessed Janeway's bad hair days, watched her lose her temper, watched her fall on her ass on the stairs and in countless other incidents where the Captain was not in control. I can keep the ensigns and the crewmen distant. I can maintain an illusion of total and complete command. But the child was different.
When Cappie didn't answer right away, Dani looked up at her, hurt there was no denial.
"I know you don't believe that, Dani," Kathryn finally said with a raised eyebrow for emphasis. "Because it isn't true."
She flicked her eyes away, but she felt Cap's fingertips on her knee. "I tell you what. Let me pay for the other stuff and we'll walk by the Plaza and toss a stone or two into the fountain. Then I'll make us some lunch at home. Does that sound good?" Kathryn stood up, offering her hand to the child. But Dani stood up on her own, careful to avoid brushing against her mother or looking her in the eye.
"I guess."
Kathryn was bewildered by the sudden mood change. But thought she'd come around at the fountain or after she'd gotten a bite to eat.
The check out line was long and Kathryn thought Dani was behind her. Ten minutes later, as Kathryn handed over a Palm and two Shades, she heard commotion behind her and then a shriek that sounded like her daughter.