Notes: Reposted. Thanks to Biggest-Baddest-Wolf for spotting the typos and the comments. Oh, and I absolutely LOVED "SOLDIER". Very underrated movie in my opinion- but that's not what I was referring to. As a writer, I find that I get these stupid things in my head and just assume everyone will think like I do... I know, it's silly. Answer is now at the bottom.
Chapter 7- Awakenings
~Internal diagnostic complete. Energy levels at 27%. Nanoprobe saturation at 31%. All systems are functioning within normal parameters and sustainable for 6.14 hours. Physical recovery from recent trauma 97%. Current Voyager Standard Time is 0253. Surrounding ambient temperature is 20.3 degrees Celsius. No micro-changes in local air density indicating movement…~ As Seven's internal systems 'sounded' off their reports to her slowly awakening mind, she once again concluded that she did not like this sluggish part of the `sleep' experience.
This state leaves me vulnerable upon `waking'. Klingons do not have this problem. I shall have to do more research on humanoid waking protocols to determine which will result in my being at my most efficient in the least amount of time.
Seven opened her eyes slowly and adjusted her vision focusing on the ceiling of Sickbay. Testing her motor functions and finding no major issues, she began to look around as she stretched her long form on the biobed. She noticed that she was naked and only covered by a surgical blanket. As she sat up, she wiggled her toes enjoying the sensation of freedom from her oppressive footwear as evidenced by the tiny satisfied smile playing on her soft lips. There was a tingling sensation in the small starburst implant on her left foot that sent a brief chill up her leg. Clutching the blanket to her chest, she looked around and spotted Lieutenant Torres lying on a biobed to her right.
Concern welled within her as she quickly looked over the Engineer for any outward signs of trauma. She gingerly hopped off her own bio bed, taking a moment for her cybernetic-physical interface systems to calibrate. She then padded over to the Lieutenant while wrapping the blanket around her lithe form. She looks so… peaceful thought the tall blonde having to search for a second to find the right word.
B'Elanna Torres was lying under a medical covering that left only her bare shoulders, neck and arms exposed. Her caramel-coloured skin showed no outward flaws that the blond ex-Borg could see. Accessing her memory, Seven concluded that she had never seen B'Elanna's skin look so... perfect, or rather, more perfect. She also noticed distinct evidence of muscle from her shoulders down her arms that was far more pronounced than Seven could recall before. She found her own body responding in unexpected ways, it was...
The Doctor, having been alerted to the change in Seven's bio-readings when she woke, interrupted her thoughts as he strolled into the main area out of his office to check on his most frequent of `customers'.
"Ah Seven, my number two patient in all-time in Sickbay appearances behind only Lieutenant Torres who has claimed top spot and hung on to it for so long. How are you feeling?" His attempt at being jovial was lost on the lithe beauty and her concerns were not to be deflected.
"Is Lieutenant Torres damaged? What is her current functional status? You will tell me now. Comply." Seven spun on the Doctor and fixed him with an ice-cold Borg stare that would freeze Neelix's Four- alarm Leola Chilli Delight. Her Borg mannerisms were in full command to cover her inner emotional turmoil.
The Doctor rubbed his temple absently. If he was not a hologram, he might not have time for `this shit'. As it was, and being such an evolved being, he chose to ignore Seven's tone and fill her in on Lieutenant Torres' condition while keeping within the parameters of doctor patient confidentiality.
"Calm down Seven, Lieutenant Torres is going to be just fine, she was exposed to the same deoxi-mutating toxin that you were, but without nanoprobes, she experienced more severe side effects. She is healing well from her ordeal and that is all I can tell you unless I get permission from Lieutenant Torres herself. As for you, now that you're up, I need to do a few scans and then you are to go to your alcove immediately for a minimum twelve hour regeneration cycle." The Doctor had used his best `I'm-your-friend-Seven' voice in hopes that it would calm the woman down. Stress after a major surgery was not a good thing and she needed to regenerate. Her body's nanoprobes had used up stored energy exponentially during her ordeal.
Understanding the Doctor's position, Seven fought to bring her emotions in check. "I… will comply. I will speak to Lieutenant Torres after my regeneration cycle." She spoke the last part while straightening her posture and raising her chin as if daring the Doctor to contradict her.
"Of course Seven, you'll no doubt be having to chat with a few people, the Captain, Chakotay, Icheb, Harry, Neelix, Sam and Naomi Wildman all came in briefly last night to see you while you were recovering." The Doctor guided Seven to the en suite bathroom so she could shower and change before heading to Cargo Bay Two.
Chakotay… yes, I need to speak with him after I speak with Lieutenant Torres. Seven considered what needed to be done after she finished her regeneration cycle as she stepped into the sonic shower while the Doctor retreated to B'Elanna's side to check her status and give Seven some privacy.
Chakotay had been brooding on the bridge all day long. Captain Janeway, sitting in her command chair beside him, was contemplating going to her ready room just to be away from the sullen man. She hadn't thought he was so emotionally involved with Seven and it bothered her. He seemed so hurt after finding out she was injured on the away mission. She couldn't focus on the dead sector of space ahead of them with her thoughts continuing to circle the idea of Seven and Chakotay being and staying together.
Apparently, last night he had prepared a magical evening on the holodeck for the two of them involving dinner and a magical walk through a forest which was why he was unaware of her return and injury until late into Beta shift. Captain Janeway rubbed her brow absently as if a headache were coming on. She would have to talk to Seven about this. Seven hadn't mentioned that she was even interested in a relationship to the Captain and Janeway honestly did not believe that Seven was ready for that kind of thing… yet. Perhaps Chakotay had somehow tricked Seven? Was he coercing her?
Shaking her head slightly, Janeway found herself unnaturally irritable. She'd only gotten four hours of sleep which would have been less had Lieutenant Myles not dragged her from the Lab when MacKennie turned the night shift over to Crewman Tallis. She had to admit that it was a bold move from the tall redheaded security officer and secretly Janeway might even have liked it a bit. Said woman was currently stationed with Tuvok at Tactical doing some simulation training with the Vulcan Security Chief.
Still, this Chakotay business was sitting the wrong way with Kathryn Janeway and private crew matters or not, she decided to broach the subject with Seven when she finished her regeneration cycle. 'She is an exception. She is *the* exception.' A good `philosophical discussion' in the evening after a debriefing on the away mission is just what was needed to ease the Captain's mind.
"Commander, you have the con, I'll be in my ready room."
"…yes Captain"
The Captain didn't care to linger on the response of her first officer as she got up and walked briskly to her ready room as she'd gone long enough without a good dose of her favourite black coffee. Just something to take the edge off, she thought. A raised eyebrow was the only response from Tuvok while Myles gave a brief nod to the passing Captain and Harry and Tom exchanged knowing glances.
Sara Myles was used to operating on limited sleep. Training at Starfleet Academy included late night exercises and early wake up calls just for this reason so she was feeling no ill effects of her impromptu 'science' lessons the night before. Today was her day to learn the basics of the Tactical station as a back-up for Lieutenant Commander Tuvok during an Alert situation. With Lieutenant Ayala moving to Beta shift permanently in the Tactical position, Myles was the 'logical' choice to fill his position on Alpha shift as Tuvok's second in command. Because Security was normally not a full-time position for the bulk of its ranks, Lieutenant Myles was one of only six full-time security personnel on Voyager.
For the most of the morning, Tuvok had been instructing her on standard and emergency protocols for communications on Voyager, hailing frequencies and comm. channel manipulation. It was not difficult to pick up and Myles had a keen enough mind for it. Communication protocols for tactical teams are taught in basic so it wasn't much of a stretch for her to focus on both the Tactical station, Tuvok and what was going on on the rest of the bridge. After lunch, they were working on targeting exercises, focusing on disabling an enemy ship's weapons or engines.
Myles had noted early in the morning that Harry Kim's posture was stiff and he radiated nervousness. Tom Paris looked fairly relaxed at the helm if not a bit bored by the fact that he would catch himself staring at various parts of the view-screen for long moments before shaking his head and re-focusing on his station. The young Brunali, Icheb, was at the Master Systems Display at the back being tutored by an engineering Ensign that Myles didn't readily recognize. Science and Engineering stations were currently vacant.
I should go over the Alpha crew manifest and Icheb's study schedule in case I ever need to know where he is- Seven is known to care for him.
However, it was the Captain and First Officer Chakotay that had held her attention when she wasn't focused on tactical. She hoped Tuvok didn't notice and thus far he had not said anything to her about her divided attention.
Chakotay on first glance simply looked sullen and upset. To the casual observer, they might think he was simply concerned over the situation with Seven of Nine. Sara Myles was not the casual observer. It was his eyes. They tightened almost imperceptibly every so often.
Anger... why anger? Was he mad at B'Elanna? Seven? Me? Something is off there, it's not concern... why isn't there any concern? Upset and anger could be explained if there was concern, but there isn't any.
The Captain was another story. She had been obviously tired all day. Not only that, she was obviously not happy with her First Officer's mood. He was performing his tasks well enough so it was likely that she was simply unable to say anything to him about it- even though she clearly wanted to. Her posture had her leaning away from the man despite her frequent glances towards him. She only leaned to her left to check her command update screen.
Likely to check for updates from medical... I wonder if Seven knows just how many people she affects on this ship on a personal level?
Re-focusing her mind on her exercises, she didn't notice the Captain get up until she was walking past her and Tuvok, a small nod was all she felt she could get away with towards the woman who looked like she was about to either pull out her hair or hook a coffee-IV to her arm.
Myles was surprised after a few moments when Tuvok spoke in an almost whisper.
"Do you believe the Captain's command ability has been compromised, Lieutenant?" Tuvok had stopped the information scrolling at the station and turned toward her.
"Sir?" Inwardly Myles cringed knowing Tuvok's directness. He would not ask her a question without purpose. This was about the Captain's mood regarding Chakotay and Seven. She quickly recovered and responded to the best of her ability as Tuvok opened his mouth to clarify.
"No sir, I believe she may be distracted to a small degree, however, she seems quite capable of performing her command responsibilities."
Apparently satisfied with the answer, Tuvok glanced quickly to the Captain's ready-room door. "I agree. However, it seems her inability to resolve her feelings for Seven of Nine may become an issue in the future."
Myles could only agree. The question was, why was Tuvok telling her this? It was almost... gossip. He clearly had a purpose to this line of dialogue so Sara merely nodded and waited for him to continue.
"However, it is not a situation where I need to address the Captain personally. I am also aware of her... distaste for my 'prodding' into her personal life as she would say. I believe your behavioural analysis skills and interpersonal skills are adequate enough to 'get through to her'."
Sara Myles prided herself on not being easily confused.
She was confused.
Eh, "pride is a fool's fortress" my grandma used to say...
"Sir, is it not irregular for a security Lieutenant to have a 'hear-to-heart' with the Captain of a starship?"
"While normally I would agree, since I've put forth the application for your transfer to Alpha shift as my second-in-command, the Captain reacted favourably to your files and I understand you spent some 'off-duty' time with her last night. I believe she would respond positively to you."
What Tuvok would not tell her is that he had purposefully left her on Gamma shift since Voyager arrived in the Delta Quadrant for a reason and has recently pulled her to Alpha shift for a reason. Knowing the Captain as long as he has, Tuvok was aware of the Captain's Academy crush on a redheaded combat instructor not unlike Lieutenant Myles. In the first few years, he felt the distraction would negatively affect the Captain if the young Lieutenant was a member of Alpha shift. Over the past few years however, the Captain's attachment to Seven of Nine had overridden that concern. Knowing Seven as he did, he knew she would not enter a long-lasting relationship with the Captain. He had also drawn the conclusion that the Captain would benefit from a healthy relationship. Also, of course, if Vulcans could be glad, Tuvok would be glad that the Captain had ignored all of First Officer Chakotay's advances... if Vulcans could be glad.
Myles furrowed her brow as she thought of all the ways the Captain may kill her in the next few minutes if this went poorly. She gathered her courage as an idea came to her. "Very well sir, shall I go see her now?"
"Officially, you are required to be proficient in the basic aspects of Tactical by the end of today's shift, however, your training is proceeding above expectations, perhaps you require a break?"
Subtle. Lieutenant Myles tried to not smirk at the raised eyebrow that seemed to say so much that the dark-skinned Vulcan never would. She nodded and headed towards the Captain's ready-room.
Chakotay slumped into the Captain's chair with all the enthusiasm of a deactivated Borg drone. It should have been a good day for the commander, but it wasn't and not because he was worried about Seven having gotten hurt. He had lost three months worth of rations that he had put into the lower decks betting pool through Crewman Stanz last night.
Not to mention the two weeks worth or rations I spent on that damn holodeck date…
The thought of enduring Neelix's Leola Root menu for the next three months sent a shiver up the large man's back. Still, he had lived off worse… or… at least similarly terrible food during his Maquis days.
Chakotay tried to stifle a frustrated sigh and focus on his duties as he decided to simply make the best of the situation and get his `money's worth' out of the ex-drone over the next few weeks before he got bored of her. Still, he was pissed at the loss of rations, there was no way around it. Crew assignment rotations and his future plans for himself and Kathryn were what kept him grounded in this ancestors-forsaken quadrant…
Other than the sudden departure of the Captain to her ready room and the brooding of the first Officer, things aboard Voyager were relatively calm at the moment. Repairs were complete and they were back to warp six en route to the Alpha Quadrant. Harry took the moment to ask Tom about B'Elanna and Seven's condition.
"Tom, it's been all day, any news on Seven or B'Elanna?" He tried to sound as nonchalant as possible as he kept his eyes and fingers working over his console at Ops. Tom was thankful that his back was turned to his friend as he rolled his eyes. "Harry, don't worry, they're both going to be fine. Seven is regenerating and B'Elanna will likely be clamouring to get out of Sickbay-" He was cut off by a voice over the comm.
"Torres to the Bridge, why am I still stuck in Sick Bay? I've got a ship to take care of!" The Doctor could be heard in the background biting back his frustration at his uncooperative patient. 'Speak of the devil,' thought Tom snorting quietly and rolling his eyes again while grinning like a fool at Harry.
"Has the Doctor cleared you for duty, B'Elanna?" Chakotay said with a hint of amusement. 'Some things never change.' He at one point thought he should be mad at his former Maquis comrade over the incident on the away mission but had concluded that it was Seven's own stupidity that had cost him so many rations so he found B'Elanna's discomfort more humorous than anything else. Besides, despite the uses, or `potential' uses of the Borg, B'Elanna was vital to the operation of Voyager and losing her would not be acceptable. Chakotay had a tremendous respect for the woman after all.
"I most certainly have not! Commander, inform the Captain that she is needed here in Sickbay." The Doctor shouted into B'Elanna's combadge as the fiery half-Klingon was hastily putting on her uniform top in an attempt to escape Sickbay. "Doctor, I'm fine, Chakotay, tell the Doctor I'm fine!" Tom was sure he could hear a low growl through the comm.
"B'Elanna, you know that you can't leave Sick Bay until the Doctor clears you. I'll send the Captain down now Doctor. Bridge out." B'Elanna could be heard grumbling something approximating a `fine' as the channel was closed.
End Chapter 7
***Bonus points if you find the tiny reference to one of the great Sci-Fi films of our time.***
It's a really obscure reference, so...
****In Alien, when asked how the device tracks the alien, Ash says that it measures "micro-changes in air density". When I was writing I got this stupid idea in my head that the Borg would be wary of the Xenomorphs and have a way to try and track them.****