Chapter Eighteen

Kathryn stared at her, shocked and completely speechless.

"Whoa, B, did I just hear that right?" Faith said, sitting up and rubbing sleep out of her eyes. "Did you just say the fuckin' ship's alive?"

Buffy nodded, but kept her attention on Kathryn, who still looked shocked.

Willow looked astonished. "How did I miss that? How did any of us miss that?"

"Well, I doubt that anyone other than the three of us are strong enough to sense her, and you've been kinda focused on me and my problems. I would have told you earlier, but Voyager wanted to become finish gathering the knowledge in her memory banks."

"Hello, Captain." Voyager greeted.

"Oh, my God." Kathryn nearly fainted. She jumped out of the bed and threw her clothes on. "Everyone get dressed." She tapped her commbadge. "Janeway to Chakotay."

Chakotay here, go ahead.

"Chakotay, get Tuvok, Laren, Seven and B'Elanna in the conference room in twenty minutes." She ordered. "You're not gonna believe this."

The girls got dressed and followed Kathryn through the corridors and up to the conference room. In the conference room, they watched Kathryn pace around as she tried desperately to think of what more complications they were in store for and what problems this new situation was going to bring up.

"Kathryn, she's still your ship." Buffy tried to reassure her.

"Buffy, I don't even know what's going on with my ship any more." Kathryn snapped. "You're sister is driving me nuts!"

"Faith, keep an ear out for the others." Buffy grabbed her and pulled her close as she leaned against the wall. "N'mina, you know that Dawn would never do anything to hurt you, the crew or you're ship. In fact, knowing Dawn, she probably made everything and everyone better. This might not be something that Dawn did directly. It might be a side effect of the changes that she made. Think of it this way, with the ship alive, it will give you better reaction time, more accurate damage control, and things like that."

Before she could respond with the sharp comment that Buffy could see forming on the tip of her tongue, she gripped her chin and kissed her hard, pulling away only when she felt Kathryn's legs start to give way. Her hands moved down to grip Kathryn's ass, to hold her up, pulling her closer and nearly lifting her off her feet. She was about to kiss her again, but Faith interrupted. "They're coming, B."

'Kathryn, your people are coming.' Buffy said mind-to-mind. 'You might want to straighten up. You look like you've just been having wild sex.'

'Maybe because someone decided to try and make me go up in flames?' came Kathryn's caustic reply. The Prime only chuckled, before stepping back at the sound of the door opening to reveal Tuvok. His only reaction was to raise one eyebrow, as he took in the laughter the others were trying to stifle and his captain's slightly flushed face.

By the time the others filed in, she found the strength to lock the fire Buffy had stirred up down a bit, so as to be able to get through this meeting. Though she could tell from the way Laren, B'Elanna and Seven were watching her that they had either taken note of the clues her body were giving off that she was restraining something, or their enhanced sense of smell was working overtime.

With a glance over towards the senior S'Terrans, she made it clear by a quick jerk of her head they were to seat themselves at the table, which they began to do as Chakotay finally arrived from ensuring everything would be fine without any of them needing to run off.

After taking a long slow look around the table, the captain nodded and began. "I thank you for being prompt in getting here, as the information I recently learned is...disquieting." she waited out the slight stir that statement caused before she continued. "At the same time, this solves the mystery of certain improvements that have been made to the Voyager during our latest little adventure."

"B'Elanna." The engineer straightened in her chair as the captain turned to her. "You noted the systems that distribute energy seemed to have changed into a form of 'bio-organic' technology. As well a comment of what appeared to be conduits forming a network throughout the ship that seemed filled with something that you claimed is similar to 'blood'."

Torres nodded slowly, wondering where Kathryn was going with this. "Yes, that's what it's looking like. The organisms are unlike anything we've ever seen, and it seems to be actively flowing through the systems. After our first accident, we recreated some minor wear and tear on any the conduit lines, and they were repaired by the organisms in much the same way our blood congeals to seal injuries off to heal."

"Tuvok, has there been any change in the programming, to match the change the Voyager has sustained physically?"

"I have noticed that all systems, records and logs have been accessed recently." The Vulcan security officer stated after a long moment of watching her. "A great deal of the various programs currently in the system, as well as the security protocols and defenses are operating at above the level normally seen, even when a ship has just been built. It's as if the ship has been regenerated to above optimal operating capacity."

Chakotay looked around the room before fixing Kathryn with his gaze, knowing there was something hovering behind the questions. "And I take it that you've discovered the reason for these alterations?"

Here it comes, Kathryn took a breath before she nodded. "You might say that." Without tapping her communicator she called. "Janeway to Voyager, would you be so kind as to respond?"

For a split second, everyone save the S'Terrans looked at her as if she'd changed into something they were unsure was safe to be around. But it wasn't until Chakotay opened his mouth to ask her if she was feeling alright that the comm chirped and a hesitant female voice answered. "I am here, Captain."

The response around the table, Kathryn mused, would be amusing under any other conditions. Chakotay's mouth hung open for a minute before snapping shut and he sank back in his chair. Seven's cybernetic enhancement over her eyes went up while Both of Tuvok's eyebrows shot up to practically merge with his hair as he commented. "Fascinating."

Laren sat back, at least as stunned as if she'd been hit by a phaser, her mouth hanging open as she looked around the room. Torres nearly fell out her chair as she jerked back in shock.

Kathryn looked around the table, before she asked Voyager. "If you would, Voyager, I'd like you to report on your present condition, abilities, and any goals you might care to share with us?"

It was almost forty-five minutes before the report was complete. Changes, mostly upgrades, had been made to every part of the ship. Propulsion, warp, defensive and offensive capabilities. The ship was larger than before, but somehow it was also faster and more maneuverable. Most of the decks had been reshaped in some way, including deck three. The captain and first officer's quarters had been enlarged to take up the entire deck, and the VIP quarters had been shifted to one of the new decks. Deck 16, the deck with the M-Class atmosphere was completely reinforced. It had the resources to be used as a safe zone in case of irreparable damage to the ship and life support failure. Decks 17 through 20 contained another Holodeck and more crew quarters.

"Wha..." B'Elanna finally stammered, in shock. "How?"

"Buffy thinks that the changes made to the ship by the energy being may have inadvertently given Voyager sentience." Kathryn said. "And after thinking about it, I'm afraid that I'm going to have to agree with her. This obviously increases our chances of survival, as well as give us space to grow. Sooner or later, the people on this ship will start to pair up. It's inevitable. We can't stop them forever, and I'm guessing that eventually, there will be children. The quarters on the lower deck have also been reinforced, and they seems to be larger than the standards dimension for non-officers. My guess is that they're about the size of family quarters."

"Captain, you do realize that Starfleet will want detailed information about this, do you not?" Tuvok injected. "They will no doubt demand that full tests be run on each and every system, detail analyses on the fluid that now runs through the ship, as well as the material that now make up the conduits themselves. I can only assume that they will try to duplicate the effects that have been created and run their own tests when we return to the Alpha Quadrant."

"I have been thinking about that." Kathryn nodded. "That's why this isn't a full senior staff meeting. I'm asking you to refrain from putting any of this information in your reports. I want to get some solid plans in place before Starfleet, or anyone else, is aware of what's happened. Sentience aside, the level of technology now existing on this ship is so far from anything we know, that I will not take the chance of anyone getting their hands on her and taking her apart to find out how it all works."

Everyone agreed, which was easy since only she and Tuvok were actual Starfleet officers who were required to make the reports.

"B'Elanna, Seven, Willow, I want you to work with Voyager and go over every system with a fine toothed comb. Find out how the changes are affecting the working of the integrated systems." They nodded. "Tuvok, you and Laren need to re-examine the schematics of the ship. I want you two to know every nook and cranny that's been created because of this change. I also want you to teach Voyager to protect herself. Run scenarios and simulations on the holodeck. If she knows what to do, she can assist if we're boarded or incapacitated." More nods. "Voyager, I want you to encrypt the part of your neural processor and data banks that form your consciousness. No one, and I mean, no one gets the access codes, not even me. Use Starfleet and Borg protocols, ask Willow for help, make up your own brand of encryption, but I want 'you' inaccessible to anyone that might discover the truth about you. Make some booby traps, false trails and decoys. Should something happen, even if it is Starfleet itself, I want you to protect yourself using any means necessary."

"Yes, Captain." Voyager answered. "Thank you, Captain."

Kathryn stood and moved over to the wall, laying her hand on it. "You're as much a part of my crew as anyone, and you will be protected as such. If you have any troubles with any of your systems, let B'Elanna know. Consider her your doctor. Everyone, dismissed."

They filed out quickly, Willow, B'Elanna and Seven already deep in conversation, until only Chakotay and Buffy remained. "A word, Captain."

"In a moment, Chakotay." She nodded. "Meet me in my ready room in 20 minutes."

The moment the door closed behind the first officer, Kathryn grabbed Buffy and slammed her against the wall, kissing her fiercely. 'Don't you ever get me worked up like this before a meeting again.'

'And this is supposed to be a deterrent?' Buffy asked her, her mental voice amused even as her hands yanked the Captain's shirt out of her pants. 'Do you know how sexy you look when you're all commanding like that?'

Turning the tables, Buffy grabbed her mate's ass with both hands and lifted her off her feet, moving quickly until she planted Kathryn on the conference room table. Reaching up, she caught Kathryn by the neck and drew her in for a kiss that left both of them a bit breathless.

Moving with a strong urgency, Buffy grabbed the waistband of Kathryn's pants and pulled down and towards herself, forcing her mate to slap her hands to the table to avoid smacking her head on it, as her pants slid to her knees. 'Since you put a time limit on our play...' Buffy comments mentally. As Kathryn pushed back upright, she gasped as the Prime disposed of her panties by literally tearing them off. The captain grabbed for Buffy's shirt, intent on yanking her in for another kiss, only to find her mate had others ideas.

Breaking her grip, Buffy pushed Kathryn back and knelt between her spread thighs. Her eyes fluttering shut in pleasure as the Prime feverishly devoured her. Unable to do more than moan her need as her mate sent her soaring to the heights, it didn't take long, given the fever pitch she'd already been at, to go over the edge, biting her lip to muffle the scream trying to claw it's way out of her throat as she writhed on the table riding her release to it's conclusion.

Kathryn lay panting, light-headed from the endorphin rush. 'Is it always this bad?'

'No, but the need has to run its course before your body will settle.' Buffy assured her. 'It will always be there, but for the most part, it will be manageable.'