A/N: It's short but I felt awful about leaving everyone hanging for so long. I'll try to get another chapter up in a far more reasonable time frame. As always, thank you for your continued interest and support!
Time Enough Chapter 15
"Come to order." B'Elanna stepped back and took up a position next to the table where Janeway, Chakotay and Paris sat. They were all in their dress uniforms.
Janeway clicked on the vocal amplifier positioned at the middle of the table. She glanced over at Paris on her right. He seemed nervous. Hell of a first court martial. "We'll keep this somewhat informal," Janeway said. "That said, disruptions from the gallery will not be tolerated. Mr. Nels, the charge against you is the intentional killing of a sentient being. Mr. Kim, please begin."
Harry felt his mouth go dry. He looked longingly at the pitcher of water on his table but decided his hand might shake if he poured a glass and that would not be an auspicious start to the day. "Call Seven of Nine." A crewman opened the door and Seven walked in. She looked vaguely annoyed about the whole thing.
"Please state your name," B'Elanna requested after Seven sat to the left of the panel's table.
"My designation is Seven of Nine," the Borg stated. She had been instructed on proper decorum. Normally she might choose to ignore it, but the Captain would not appreciate it. She glanced over and frowned slightly at the subtle signs of exhaustion on Janeway's face. No, she would not make this more difficult for the Captain than it already was.
"Please explain the circumstances leading up to your breaking into the holodeck with an unauthorized weapon."
Seven fidgeted under Janeway's gaze. "Not that I don't appreciate that you had a weapon," Janeway said, "but I'd love to know why you had it in the first place."
"There have been numerous occasions where the ship's security has been breached," Seven replied.
"And there are weapons in many places in the ship for just such an occasion." Jane way used her best "Captain stare" on Seven. "You found a way to circumvent ship's sensors in order to hide an unauthorized weapon."
Seven wilted under the disapproving gaze. "I am Borg," she said quietly. "There are some on this ship who will always see me as one of the Borg who killed or assimilated their loved ones. When I first created the Astrometrics lab, I felt it prudent to have a way to protect myself and placed a weapon in a hidden compartment. I do not see evidence of the same hostility in the crew now but I saw no compelling reason to remove the weapons."
"Weapons?" Janeway repeated. "You have more of them hidden?" Janeway shook her head. "Just remove them, all of them, and turn them in to Tuvok."
Seven started to object but was hit with that look again. "Yes, Captain," she said in an almost meek tone.
Janeway sighed and rubbed at her face. "Just where do you have these weapons hidden?"
"I had one in Astrometrics. I also have two in the cargo bay near my alcove, one near the Engineering deck, one near Sickbay, and one in the hall outside your quarters." She could not help but notice Janeway's raised eyebrow. It nearly hit the ceiling. "I felt it prudent to have a weapon available should anyone attempt to harm you or take you hostage."
Janeway was oddly touched. "All right, report the locations to Tuvok and give him access. I'll let him decide what to do with them." After all, had Seven not had a weapon handy, who knows how many more would be dead. "Oh, and Seven? I don't recall ever telling you that you could not have a weapon in Astrometrics. And I would never want you to go into a situation where the danger was immediate and extreme without a weapon."
"The weapon was not forbidden," Seven replied to Harry. "I had it in a secured compartment in Astrometrics in the event of an emergency."
"How did you know there was an emergency?" Harry asked.
"I detected unusual changes to a holodeck program being utilized by my assistant. Given the threats made against my assistant's paramour, I traced the changes and realized that they originated from Ensign Johnston's quarters. The personnel file for Ensign Johnston indicated she did not have the proficiency to make these changes. One change was to disable weapon safety protocols. I also knew from crewmen speaking in the cafeteria that Ensign Johnston had been romantically involved with Ensign Nels following the return of VS-4. I determined that Ensigns Cavanaugh and Sato were in danger and notified Lieutenant Commander Tuvok."
"What did you do next?" Harry prompted.
Seven continued dispassionately, "I accessed a weapon and went to the holodeck as rapidly as possible."
"Why?"
"I believed the danger to Ensigns Cavanaugh and Sato was immediate and extreme," Seven replied. She recalled hearing the Captain use those words. Perhaps Janeway had been giving her subtle hints but it was true.
"What did you expect to see when you entered the holodeck?" Harry asked.
"I had no expectations," Seven replied. "I did hope to see Ensigns Cavanaugh and Sato unharmed and safe."
"Is that what you saw?"
"No," Seven replied dispassionately. "It was not."