Mixed Signals
Harry looked up from the console he was working on and jumped a little. Laili walked farther into the room and gave him a reassuring smile.
"I didn't mean to startle you."
"Oh…no it's fine. I've…been up a while. I figured if I could get some of this stuff done, I uh…wouldn't have to spend so much time with Seven of Nine." Laili's brow furrowed.
"She seems nice enough."
"Oh…yeah…but…uh…things are kind of…complicated." She let out a small laugh. She could tell he was attracted to Seven of Nine and she couldn't blame him.
"Complicated how?"
"Well…" He set his tools down and sunk to the floor. Laili joined him.
"When she first came on board, she was part of the Collective. We offered to help the Borg develop a weapon to fight against Species 8472. They were in the middle of a war with the Borg and we thought we were on the right side. I saw what Species 8472 could do. It wasn't pleasant at all."
"What happened?"
"My body was necrotizing from the inside out."
"Sounds painful."
"Yeah…I try not to think about it." He took a breath before continuing his story.
"Turns out neither side was 'right'. We would have been screwed either way."
"Anyway, when Seven was still on board, Captain Janeway decided that she wanted to severe Seven's link to the Collective."
"Any reason why?"
"She felt responsible or something. So Seven's been here ever since. And…working on getting the astrometrics lab ready…I..."
"What?" She could read the emotion in his eyes and was trying her best not to laugh.
"I guess…I'm attracted to Seven of Nine. I made a mistake…asking her to the Mess Hall after hours…and things got out of hand." Laili just grinned. He caught her expression and let out a cough.
"Not like that…though she did offer…and it was tempting. But it would have been taking advantage of her, you know."
"I understand." They lapsed into silence for a while. Harry glanced sideways at Laili. He noticed her face looked very serene in profile. Her eyes were half closed and her lips parted slightly as if she were almost asleep.
"So…what's it like where you come from?" Her eyes opened and she turned to look at him.
"Cold. You probably wouldn't like it much. Minus seventeen degrees Celsius." Harry laughed a little.
"Just a little chilly." Harry picked up a tricorder and fiddled with it between his fingers. He wanted to ask questions, get to know her but he didn't want to seem too interested.
"I…don't think I got your name earlier," he blurted.
"I'm Laili…and you're…"
"Harry. Harry Kim." He extended a hand. She shook it.
"Nice to meet you Harry."
"So what do you do for a living?"
"Oh…not much right now. I'm working my way up in one of the merchant businesses on the southern continent. We were on a trade mission to a neighboring system."
"You normally bring children on trade missions?"
'We try to expose our children to different cultures at an early age. It helps build tolerance and understanding."
"You must have seen lots of places growing up."
"Some. What about you? How did you end up on Voyager?"
"Oh…it was my first assignment out of the Academy. I was so excited to be on my first mission…I wasn't counting on getting lost in the Delta Quadrant."
"How far away is home for you?"
"We've got about sixty years to go to get there."
"That's a long time."
"Yeah…we're not giving up though. Captain Janeway is determined we'll see Earth again one day."
"She must really care about her crew to be willing to take sixty years to get home."
"She does. And we've learned a lot while we've been in the Delta Quadrant. Just think…we might not have met you otherwise." Laili snickered and ran a hand through her hair. She picked up one of the stray tools lying around and examined it.
'Do you want some help? Before Seven of Nine gets here."
"Sure." They stood up and Harry led her over to one of the side panels.
"We've got to realign these relays. I'll show you how." He demonstrated the necessary steps and watched her carefully as she tried one on her own.
"So…who exactly are the Borg? We've never run into them."
"That surprising. Their region of the quadrant is huge."
"Maybe they aren't interested in our society?" Harry shrugged.
"Maybe they didn't think you had anything to add to the Collective. If you haven't met them, you should be glad. They're not very nice people."
"They assimilate species to achieve perfection. No one really knows where they came from but they've destroyed entire civilizations, torn apart whole star systems throughout the galaxy."
"They don't like someone you'd want to piss off."
"Definitely not."
"But Seven of Nine doesn't seem to be like that."
"Well she's not connected to the hive mind anymore. She's her own person. She was assimilated when she was a child." Laili stopped working and took a step back.
"How does that look?" Harry leaned in to examine her work.
"Perfect." Just then, the doors slid open and Seven of Nine walked in. Both Laili and Harry turned around as the doors slid closed.
"State your purpose here." She was looking directly at Laili.
"Oh…I was just helping Harry. I'm fascinated by your ship's internal circuitry. I thought I'd get my hands dirty and give it a try…I hope that isn't a problem." Seven pushed past them and examined the relays.
"Your work is acceptable. You may continue." Harry and Laili spent the better part of two hours realigning every plasma relay in the room while Seven worked on getting the few screen to function properly.
"Looks good," Harry commented a few hours later.
"I will inform the Captain of our progress."
"Right of course." Seven turned left without saying a word. Harry leaned against the console behind him and looked at Laili.
"You want to grab something to eat?" he asked.
"I'd love to. I skipped breakfast. It was a little crowded when I went earlier." The pair walked out of the lab and headed for the turbolift to take them down to the Mess Hall.
Meanwhile, Kathryn sat in her Ready Room, reading over the ship's status report from the day before. A chime sounded, alerting her to the presence of someone outside the room.
"Come in." The doors slid open and Seven walked in. Kathryn set the report down and turned her full attention to the young woman.
"Seven of Nine. What can I do for you?'
"I wished to inform you of the progress of the astrometrics lab."
"You could just submit it in a report next time. Save you some time." Seven seemed to disregard the Captain's statement.
"Ensign Kim and I have completed the preparations for the lab. I will begin transferring all relevant data to the system immediately."
"Wonderful. I have to say, Seven. I can't fault the Borg for their efficiency. You've certainly made this process go a lot more smoothly"
"I wish to be useful. Working efficiently ensures I achieve that goal at all times."
"Understood." Seven started for the door when Kathryn stood to stop her.
"Seven."
"Yes, Captain?"
"Why don't you take a break for a little while. I'm sure the ship can survive without all of its astrometrics data in the database for a few hours. Relax, get something to eat. You deserve it."
"Thank you, Captain but I prefer to finish the task at hand."
'I don't want to make it an order, but I will. You may have been able to go for days without stopping as a drone, but you need rest now. Your human physiology needs it." Seven let out a breath of annoyance. Captain Janeway could be frustrating at times in her insistence on the fact that Seven was no longer a part of the Collective.
"Yes, Captain." Kathryn nodded, silently dismissing Seven. Seven left the Captain's Ready Room and walked past the bridge crew without looking at any of them. She made her way to the Cargo Bay Two and began a regeneration cycle. It would give her something productive to do with her time off and she would be able to function longer when she emerged from her alcove.
On the bridge, Chakotay got up from his chair and went in search of the Captain. He found her coming out of her Ready Room.
"Everything ok?"
"Fine. Seven of Nine and Harry have finished the astrometrics lab. Well all except uploading the data. I sent Seven to rest for a while."
"Impressive. And our guests. How are they holding up?"
"They seem to be doing quite well. There's something I'd like to tell you all at the next briefing."
"Alright. Things have been pretty quiet on the bridge. We're cruising at warp four. We should reach their system in four days and their planet in five."
"Good. Maintain course and speed. I'll see you on in the bridge in an hour."
'Yes, Ma'am."
