Taken – Chapter 9

"Yes, I know. In case you did not return. But I am pleased he gave it to me. It explains so much and answers so many questions. So, did you mean what you wrote?"

There was a pause that stretched on and on and finally Seven broke the silence. "I see." She turned away in the direction of her cargo bay. Sheldon called after her.

"No, Seven, you don't. None of you do. I'm a fish out of water here on this starship and in this time. I don't belong here. I should be dead along with all the other people who were alive in my time. Instead, I'm out here, stuck in a tin can that'll take 66 years to reach home – but it's not my home any more, Seven. It's theirs. I can never go home again, Seven, never."

Seven wanted to comfort him but didn't know how. She opted for silence and paying attention to all the physical signs Sheldon was openly displaying for probably the first time in his life.

There were tears in his eyes and his hand that she held was sweaty and trembled. His voice was raspy and his breaths were quick and short and he seemed ready to run.

She spoke softly and gently, not wanting to 'spook' him. She didn't know it but she was using the same techniques humans used to gentle horses using a calm voice, slow motions and gentle touches.

Seven touched his wet cheek with a fingertip and brought it to her lips. His tears were salty. She could taste the seas of Earth in them but didn't know it.

"Sheldon, don't cry. I've learned that crying is an outward sign of great mental and emotional duress and I will do anything to help you just as you helped me. I just want to know, Sheldon Cooper. Did you mean what you wrote?"

Journal Entry – 3rd day The Asylum. I met a woman who had been abducted and assimilated into an alien culture that creates nothing it cannot take from others and seems to exist only to expand by assimilating any and all species it encounters.

She is a bio-mechanoid, a cyborg. Stupid me thought she was being tortured by the inmates who had taken over the asylum and I interrupted her 'regenerative cycle'. I asked her name and she replied 'I am Borg'. It's an ugly name for so beautiful a creature. She is all woman, though. She betrayed me to their ad hoc gendarmerie when I tried to escape to the outside world. Yes, she is a woman.

Journal Entry #2 – unknown date. [I will number these entries rather than append the number of days on board]

I was returned to 'sick bay' where the Doctor was quite beside himself. He was angry in a cold and remote way I'm quite familiar with. He would have fit in well in Pasadena. I have decided to call him 'Leonard' because he reminds me of Leonard Hofstadter in so many ways. Not all of them are bad.

I was taken away from sickbay and delivered to Captain Janeway. She is the captain of the starship Voyager and they are on their way home – to Earth – but not the Earth of my time. I have been in some sort of stasis for nearly 500 years and now a virtual prisoner in a new era of which I know nothing. I imagine they'll kill me eventually as supplies and tempers are both in short supply.

Journal Entry #3 – I don't have any idea of the date. I have been in a state of shock since Janeway told me about the war on earth, the First Contact between Earth and aliens and the birth of Star Fleet.

Borg is a human woman who had been assimilated into the Borg collective and can never return to them. She has had surgeries to remove Borg technology but some must remain or she will die. Even with no hair and mottled gray skin and a horrible attitude towards life, she is one of the most beautiful creatures I've ever seen. I hope she can reunite with her Borg. She seems more isolated than I because of the physical differences between her and the rest of the crew. She is as miserable as I am. I will try to become her friend but have low expectations. Seven of Nine, Leonard provided the proper designation, doesn't seem to like humans or need anything remotely like companionship. I wish I could reduce my needs. I feel so alone. It's pathetic. I'm pathetic. So much for Homo Novus.

Oh, yeah, I won the Nobel Peace Prize for Physics. Big whoop, as Penny would say. And I'm officially dead. Nice end to Sheldon Cooper.

Journal Entry #4: Today I met a Klingon, a real live Klingon named B'elanna Torres. She called me the Klingon equivalent of a rat and I smacked her down as I would Leslie Winkle had I the balls in Pasadena that I seem to have grown on Voyager. I think something is off here. How could I know that she was Klingon from a television program written and broadcast 2 decades before I was born? Is this all in my head?

Journal Entry #5: today I met a Vulcan named Tuvok. He seems to doubt my story and I don't blame him. Even Seven of Nine seems distant but perhaps that is just her way. Being her friend will be difficult at best. I have been 'paroled' into her custody.

Seven stood by me in what I'm certain was a court of inquiry. The officers of Voyager seem to doubt my story just as I seemed to have doubted theirs. Seven had copied my equations and formulae from the padd she had me use and now I wonder about her motives.

I believe this is a different time line since Harry Kim seems to think that the formulae and equations to prove the existence of the elusive monopole and String Theory formed the basis of Cochran's warp drive experiments that led to First Contact.

Tuvok thinks Roddenberry was a time traveler! Perhaps the Borg or the Progenitors still have access to such programs and I can go home! Even if I die in the coming war it would be worth it since without my 'discovery' Seven of Nine would have a totally different life. Would that be all that bad?

Harry Kim told me that Seven of Nine wants only to return to her collective. I would go with her gladly if only to lose all these painful memories of a past and life I can never return to.

Seven invited me to dinner on the holodeck and after some misunderstandings regarding copulation, we spent an enjoyable evening together – at least I did. There always seems to be a hidden agenda going on with Seven of Nine. I told her I was lonely and she suggested that we be lonely together. I would like that. There is something about her that draws me to her like a moth to a flame. She is a beautiful woman, yes, woman. I see that now. Of course, I thought she was a beautiful Borg.

Journal Entry #6: It has been several weeks since my last entry. I have not seen Seven of Nine but have met several people who are interested in learning about my time and they are friendly enough and I don't mind explaining a lot of misconceptions. A lot of the records of pre-War Earth were lost…most of them, actually.

I have finally been approved for away missions although not without difficulty. Seven of Nine was angry with me for turning off the security protocols on the holodeck but without risk can there be any true learning experience? Anyhow, Leonard fixed me up but then turned down my request for 400mg of Potassium Cyanide in capsule form.

Seven overheard my conversation with Leonard and declared us a new collective. She is, of course, One, while I am Two. She maintains that I have a purpose to fulfill, what, I don't know and she just smiles enigmatically like the model for the Mona Lisa when I ask her. She has taken to 'coaching' me when I run scenarios through the holodeck and she seems even more critical since her declaration than before. I wonder how much pity a Borg drone feels because that is what I think this new collective is, her pity for me. I cannot and will not be pitied!

I have taken a major step in my dealings with Seven of Nine: an invitation to dinner. I have made spaghetti and garlic bread. She will be on time and that is the only thing I'm sure of.

Journal Entry #7: Dinner was a disaster and now Seven of Nine is angry with me for what, I haven't a clue. She suggested coitus for dessert and I demurred and she got in a huff and walked out of my quarters. It's been several days since I've seen her but I doubt she has any desire to continue our collective. Women have always been and will always be a mystery to me.

Journal Entry #8: I am now a fully-qualified shuttle pilot, second only to Tom Paris in skill and competency. Tom invited me to 'wet down' my new designation but I wouldn't go. He also told me that Seven of Nine and Harry Kim have a holo-date set for some romantic thing. I wish her well. I also wish that I didn't feel sick at heart thinking about her and Harry together. Don't get me wrong, I like Harry Kim, just not as Seven's boyfriend. I am jealous and embarrassed by it. I am above such pettiness…I am, really.

Journal Entry #9: I have lost track of when I made the last entry. I have thrown myself into work and tasks on this starship. I am going on an away mission as command pilot for the first time! I haven't been this excited since Penny got me Leonard Nimoy's DNA!

Journal Entry #10: I have been ill and have totally lost track of time. Things have been busy and somewhat unsettling. I killed another being and I'm having trouble adjusting to being a murderer although he certainly deserved his fate for his intentions toward Seven of Nine. I stood by my collective and it was a strange feeling of rightness even if Seven and Harry are banging like bunnies. Her well-being is my only concern. If Harry hurts her, I will terminate his life functions. Note: I'm not serious. I will just 'fuck him up' as Penny would say.

Journal Entry #11: Whatever I caught on that turdball planet will not go away. I can hardly keep oatmeal and tea down and I am in more need of REM cycles than before I became ill. What irony: I survive 500 years in atomized state and succumb to some crap I catch protecting my collective. Irony. Neelix brought my sword by and checked up on me. He says Seven has been worried about me.

I want Janeway to beam me back aboard the Harvester Probe and leave me in the buffer and relaunch the probe. Anything is better than this. I have to find a way to end this. The loneliness is debilitating. Seven and Harry, be happy.

Journal Entry #12: I still am avoiding Seven of Nine. Seeing her with Harry Kim would not be wise given my state of mind. I'm depressed enough without seeing those two together.

She has become almost a constant in my mind. I cannot sleep or eat much because…I'm jealous. Me, Homo Novus, the New Man, has fallen hopelessly in love with a woman 500 years his junior. The irony is not lost on me. I have finally found love (Penny would be so shocked but pleased) and it's unattainable, she's unattainable.

I wonder how much potassium I can replicate 'under the radar'? Probably not something the monitors would catch but the Cyanide would ring alarm bells and I'd be on suicide watch and restricted to quarters. I need to find something to occupy my mind until an opportunity presents itself. Leonard said with proper nutrition and lifestyle, humans easily live 140 years or more. I don't want 100 more years of feeling this way. Heartbreak isn't fatal, unfortunately.

Journal Entry #13: I have been keeping busy and out of sight of most of the people I know well on Voyager. Tomorrow Tom and I are going to survey a planet for dilithium. Apparently Voyager is in dire need of it. Harry Kim will accompany the away team as geologist. I hope he doesn't ask Seven to accompany us. I don't think I could concentrate on my duties if she were sitting behind me all lovey-dovey with Harry. Success is critical for the future safety of the ship and crew. Despite what Tom says about their relationship being a non-starter, I believe Seven has made her choice and it's Harry Kim. Another reason to end this farce of a life.

I do not want to be in love with Seven of Nine. It is creating chaos where before there was order. I need to get my equations finished and then find a way back to my time. There is a war coming and I need to warn my friends and implement a plan that will ensure their survival. As for me? If I'm lucky, I'll be standing at ground zero. My last thought will be of her.

"I'll ask you one last time, Sheldon Cooper. Did you mean what you wrote?" His eyes had glazed over for a few seconds and she knew he'd reviewed what he'd written in his journal.

"Ah, well, you see, Seven, well, yes. I meant what I wrote in my journal. Why would I write lies to myself?"

"There are many factual distortions and errors in your writings, Sheldon. Shall I list them?" Her haughty and arrogant manner made Sheldon want to walk away but instead he simply replied, "Yes."

"Error number one: I do not pity you. What I feel is far different than pity. I did not propose that we 'be lonely together' out of a sense of pity. Far from it."

"Error number two: I am not Harry Kim's girlfriend." She paused as if evaluating the impact of her pronouncement of Sheldon but then continued.

"Error number three: I need companionship, Sheldon Cooper. Yours, specifically."

"Error number four: I never wish to re-join the Borg Collective. I am quite satisfied with the collective I have formed here on Voyager."

"Error number five: Harry Kim and I have never 'banged like bunnies'. We have never kissed, although he attempted to do so."

"Error num – " Sheldon interrupted her. "Are there many more of these errors of fact?"

"Yes, but I will summarize them in the interests of your REM cycle requirements. I am not unattainable, Sheldon. I have not chosen Harry Kim. I have chosen you. And finally, you do need to be in love with me because I am in love with you. You cannot resist me, Sheldon Cooper. I am Borg and resistance is futile."

A/N: Believe it or not, I wrote this chapter before I wrote chapters 4 & 5. i may go a bit 'm' with this but Ive got a LJ account and I'll post it there. No sense upsetting the mighty censors.

Reparata