A/N: **Slight edit to correct some bolding and italic issues... Well, it seems if nothing else, I've encouraged a few more people to drink! (...more?) Big shout out to ScOut4It, Swishla, Guyana Rose, Moon FireStar, cj-cold, and Crispy75 for the wonderful reviews and the new people adding this to their Alerts and Favorites. You are all awesome. So, here were are at Chapter 18... I wanted to start moving things along and this is what came out. A bit more 'administrative clean-up' and some other stuff. More notes to follow at the bottom.
Chapter 18- The Next Five Days
Several days had passed since Seven's date with the Captain and B'Elanna and Myles formed a friendship at Sandrines. The two women had ended up talking for hours while Tom, Harry and the Delaney sisters occupied themselves with food, drink, dancing and the pool table. They talked about fighting with a Bat'leth and B'Elanna found herself asking the other woman for pointers when she discovered just how much she knew about Klingon combat. She'd also found out that Myles had spent four years in an Asian monastery learning ancient martial arts from the monks living there which certainly threw her for a loop. They also laughed at Tuvok's Holodeck score handle of "Logical One" and they could only conclude that it was just so Seven to use "IAMBORG" sitting in top spot in a few programs. B'Elanna decided that she would have to change her handle from simply "Torres" to "The Berserker" which caused another fit of laughter between the two women which only morphed into incoherent giggling and sputtering when Myles began to describe the 17 different versions of Tuvok's 'raised eyebrow' expression and each of their meanings. B'Elanna couldn't believe how dead on she had him pegged.
A side comment from B'Elanna had revealed that Janeway did in fact ask Seven out the other day and both Myles and B'Elanna discussed why they were uncomfortable with the whole situation. B'Elanna was uncharacteristically open with Myles and found her to almost be a kindred spirit. Myles had also talked about how she felt she was being manoeuvred into spending more time with the Captain but in truth didn't actually mind it because she really did find the woman interesting on several levels.
They talked about previous relationships, B'Elanna about how most men she dated were scared of her, and the women she dated… were also scared of her. Myles talked about how she also dated both men and women and they both concluded that it was not gender, but the person who mattered. Both wanted the best person for them, regardless of gender.
When the evening finally ended, B'Elanna asked Myles to stop by the Holodeck sometime during the next couple days while she was doing her testing with the Doc to help save her sanity and possibly give pointers on different exercises and tests the Doctor could do. He was particularly uncreative when it came to research in B'Elanna's opinion.
Seven's evening, however, finished almost as awkwardly as it began. She and the Captain had been able to find a small amount of comfortable ground talking as they sorted out and discussed things like her being assigned actual crew quarters, the possibility of putting the biosuit technology into a Starfleet science uniform and a temporary privacy barrier around her alcove until they were able to determine how to either move it into her new quarters or find another solution. Seven knew by the end of the evening that there was not and would not ever likely be a romantic connection between them, but she'd be willing to try another date just to make sure.
Because of the way the date started, Seven had been unable to state her intentions regarding the date in general up front but finally managed to make it clear near the end of their evening. Janeway was shocked at her friend's honesty, but if she were truthful with herself, she should have expected it. She took it as at least a good sign the woman wasn't running out the door as fast as her long legs could take her after how poorly the evening had started. Finally, for the sake of protocol and curiosity, as they got to the door and Janeway struggled to find something witty to say, Seven grabbed a distracted Janeway and kissed her briefly before quickly saying good night to her stunned friend and heading to Cargo Bay 2. Janeway didn't move from her door for five minutes while her brain rebooted.
For Seven, the kiss had been a similar experience to kissing the Commander and she became mildly disappointed when she thought that it might be that way when she kissed anyone. She thought of B'Elanna and wondered- no, believed that it would be different with the fiery hybrid should she ever get the chance.
Two days later, Chakotay, Tuvok, Neelix and two security officers left as the small Vor'Tin ambassador vessel met Voyager five light-years outside their space and escorted the Delta Flyer back to their home world of Vinn for two weeks of 'negotiations'. During an unscheduled staff meeting that afternoon, Seven had debuted her new Starfleet Science Officer's uniform. The only difference anyone could tell between it and a normal science uniform was the metallic 'glint' to the black portion of her uniform, much like her old biosuits.
The Captain had to put a stop to the brewing shouting match between B'Elanna and the Doctor that followed when B'Elanna had remarked that she and Seven were able to easily incorporate the biosuit tech into some normal Starfleet uniforms after only an hour of looking into it and the Doctor should be reprimanded for 'inappropriate behaviour'- or being a 'photonic pervert' as she had put it. The Doctor defended his position by pointing out the fact that her body had to get used to new flesh that had simply never been there before due to her Borg implants thereby making the form of the biosuits necessary. Truth be told, he suspected the Chief might have had a point that Seven certainly hadn't needed the snugness of the material for a couple of years.
After a couple of Force 7 glares and downing a cup of coffee, Janeway was able to get things settled and back on track. Not one for being a complete fool, she had brought in a pot of coffee that she kept possessively close during the meeting, her eyes spelling doom for any hapless soul that tried to reach for it.
Seven gave her report on the restructuring of the Science Departments on Voyager. She would still do her work in Astrometrics during Alpha shift, allowing Icheb to shadow her when he was not being instructed elsewhere. She broke the Sciences into two divisions and assigned to them department heads that would report to her. During Alpha shift, Ensign Wildman would head up Bio Sciences, which included Xenobiology, Organic Stellar Phenomena and Hydroponics while Seven would head Astrometrics which included Astrophysics, Stellar Cartography and data storage. During Beta shift, Ensign MacKennie would take over for Sam Wildman while Tal Celes ran Astrometrics. Gamma shift had Crewman Tallis and her team run Bio Sciences while Ensign Murphy would head up Astrometrics. She would meet with all her department heads together once every two weeks, but would personally meet with each individual department head once a week. B'Elanna had joked that going to Astrometrics was like wading through a "sea of blue" since Seven had assigned the science blue to even those who had worked in the non-biological sciences.
Janeway liked the fact that Seven had brought instant structure to the department while showing great trust in those working under her by granting them more opportunity to gain experience in handling larger responsibilities. She seemed to be taking a page from B'Elanna's and now Tuvok's book of showing more faith in their crew. She was especially impressed with the revelation that Crewman Tal Celes had accepted the role of department head of Astrometrics for Beta shift with Crewman Telfer as her assistant. The two of them had come a long way since the away mission where Celes had said that she didn't belong on Voyager, but just lived there.
Janeway had not, however, been able to snag the lanky blonde for another dinner in the meantime due to how busy Seven had been- she'd been spending the past few nights working part-time during both Beta and Gamma shifts with her new department heads and instructing them on what she expected from each of them. The rest of the time she seemed to either spend regenerating or collaborating with B'Elanna. While she had briefly considered that Seven had been scared off permanently after their first date, the kiss and the fact that all of Voyager had been busy kept her hopes alive. So, she kept herself professional as the days passed by and stayed patient for another opportunity to ask out the beautiful blonde.
Another change to the status quo had been that an original set of small guest quarters on Deck 3 were finally made available for Seven although she had not had much time to do anything with them other than move her small amount of personal possessions in. Seven had tried sleeping for a few hours one night but found the experience once again difficult- like there was something missing. The only real difference between her quarters and a regular set of single crew quarters was that she had a small kitchenette and a bath tub in her en suite- since the other Officers quarters were all outfitted the same, it was only fair. B'Elanna had made a case for a tub in the officer's quarters a couple years back during a peaceful and energy plentiful stretch of their trip and those who accepted had them quietly installed without much fuss.
Lieutenant Myles had finally managed to stop by the Holodeck on the last day that B'Elanna and the Doctor had been running their tests. Being the 'acting' head of Security was considerably more work than she had first realized but wasn't something she couldn't handle. While she saw the point to most of what the Doctor was doing, there seemed to be very little practical application for most of the tests- for B'Elanna. The Doc might have been learning her medical limits, but B'Elanna was still getting used to coordinating her senses, reflexes and strength and his tests did little to help her. When they were finally done and the Doctor actually thanked B'Elanna for her patience- which left the half-Klingon almost sputtering in confusion- he officially released her from his care giving her a clean bill of health with positively no sign of possible contagion or any seemingly negative side effects- with the addendum that she see him immediately should she come down with even the slightest cough, of course. B'Elanna had sarcastically asked him when she had become his favourite patient only to nearly throw a holographic tricorder at him when he, with the utmost self-satisfaction, revealed that he was likely going to get an award for the paper he was going to write on her. Myles just laughed and told the Doc he should transfer his program back to Sickbay immediately lest he learn the full measure of the Klingon appreciation for medical curiosity. With the look B'Elanna was giving him, it still felt for the Doctor like it took too long to say the words "Computer, transfer my program back to Sickbay".
B'Elanna and Myles quickly got to talking about their busy week and B'Elanna's current frustrations. Myles thought that B'Elanna would actually benefit from practicing a combination of martial arts like Tai Chi and Mok'bara to help her centre herself and that some of the slower training forms would aid in relearning her muscle control. Apparently, B'Elanna had not mentioned to the Doctor that she had broken four circuit boards and three EPS connectors during regular maintenance that week and confessed to Myles that she really needed some way to simply 'get used' to herself once and for all. The young Lieutenant told her that starting with some Tai Chi forms and then moving up to some Klingon Mok'bara forms and finally weapon forms would likely help her achieve just that. Despite some initial grumbling, over the next three days, B'Elanna, Myles and on the third day, Seven had all met for an hour before going for a late supper to train B'Elanna in the basic forms of both Tai Chi and Mok'bara.
"I'm sure you can probably teach her more about this than I can due to your Borg heritage." Myles was putting the finishing touches on another position for B'Elanna's latest form, moving an arm just a bit here, loosening a wrist there and testing her balance. B'Elanna had been an excellent student when she put her mind to it and Myles would have been surprised at her energy if she didn't know about the changes B'Elanna had undergone. The brunette was dressed simply in black shorts/tank top combo and was trying to perfect the latest form that Myles had shown her. Myles was in her basic Starfleet light grey sweat pants and grey tank top.
"Why do you believe that?" Seven was at a console near the two women in the holographic dojo inputting the parameters for a training program she had somehow found a small amount of time to create for her hybrid friend.
"Well, don't you have the combined knowledge and experiences from like 10 000 species or something? You've got to be like a martial arts wiz. " Myles turned to Seven as she spoke letting B'Elanna restart the last form. B'Elanna's muscle memory was absolutely astounding. They had concluded that she'd been making mistakes not because she couldn't coordinate her body, but that her body simply hadn't done what her brain knew how to do. She was learning forms in record time. Perfecting them would come with time and inner reflection, but to start- it was staggering. B'Elanna looked so focused while she performed each one but stole a glance at Seven as the two women talked.
"That is a common misconception about the Borg. While databases and individuals are assimilated and knowledge of martial arts is retained, it is merely to determine its viability as a possible threat to the Collective and not a single drone. If the threat to the Collective is minimal in comparison to the threat to a single drone, the knowledge and experience regarding the philosophy and execution of a particular martial art is deemed irrelevant and discarded."
B'Elanna stopped in the middle of her form as a thought popped into her head. "Huh, I guess that makes sense, no need worrying about a kick to the head if it doesn't prevent the assimilation tubules from finding their target."
"Scary sense." The more Myles thought about hand-to-hand combat with a drone, the more she realized that either a quick and fatal strike or using a drone's weight and stiffness against it to delay or cause confusion would be an optimal technique. A Judo hip-throw of a drone into oncoming drones might prove more effective than punching it in the face or even neck.
I bet we could even develop a specialized martial art for combating Borg drones if we put our heads together.
"Indeed." Was all Seven said as she inputted the last of her program getting it ready to go. Brief flashes of her parents pounding their fists in vain against the armoured chest of a drone crossed her mind. They were the last memories of a life that was no longer hers. She was learning with each new day that her life could be how she made it, not how someone else wanted it to be. She had gone from a neglected child to a Borg drone and was now growing into the woman Seven of Nine, aka Lieutenant Hansen, starship officer, friend, scientist, engineer and perhaps someday, lover. She stepped away from the console and approached her two friends.
"For example, I know that you are teaching B'Elanna aspects of the ancient earth martial art of Tai Chi, other than that however, my knowledge of the skill is non-existent. You must remember, although the Borg have downloaded partial Federation databases, there have only been 283 Humans ever assimilated by the Borg and the bulk of those coming at Wolf 359 and during the 'First Contact' temporal incident involving the Enterprise E. None of those individuals here 'masters' of any one particular martial art so the Collective would have no practical experience to draw on regardless of whether or not it would have been deemed relevant." Seven looked mildly out of place like someone doing an evaluation of the two women in workout outfits in her Science blue outfit standing between the redhead and the brunette in her usual perfect posture. She'd been distracted by B'Elanna's attire the whole time she had been in the Holodeck and her current closer proximity did not lessen the sensation. She could only focus on B'Elanna's dark brown eyes as she spoke.
"I believe I would enjoy participating in learning these forms if you are willing to take on another student, Lieutenant. There are some similarities to certain Tsunkatse moves, however that martial art focuses more on flourishing movements that favour entertainment value over practicality." She said turning to Myles after finally tearing her eyes from the slightly glistening yet powerful form of B'Elanna Torres.
"Well, if you're to become a student with Torres here, you'll need to find something other than a uniform to wear. For the more advanced stuff, I'd actually like to see what you have in terms of overall skill first, so I'd have to put you through an evaluation if you don't mind."
"Very well Lieutenant, I will have the appropriate attire when necessary," she nodded towards the redhead. Myles briefly wondered if she could get Seven to at least just call her 'Myles', but she seemed to call everyone by a proper name or title except for B'Elanna and she knew that was significant for the ex-drone so she didn't try pushing her luck.
"Perhaps we can do my 'evaluation' after I complete my Bridge Officer's Test this week. For now, I would like to show B'Elanna the training program I have designed to help her coordinate her reflexes, auditory processing and application of physical force if that would be acceptable." Seven found herself constantly excited over the prospect of spending more time with B'Elanna. It played havoc with her instinctual need for organization and structure. Each new day she was around the fiery brunette, she was calm yet excited, reserved yet easily distracted and she found B'Elanna's erratic thinking contagious. She was instinctively seeking to impress her attractive friend and craved her gaze, but she still held back telling herself she wasn't ready for B'Elanna. Besides, they were here for B'Elanna, not her.
"Sounds good, but I want to have you both participate in one of the "capture the flag" training sessions I have planned this week and to do that I'd like to know more about both of your skills and limits if that is alright? Torres, I think we'd both like to be sure you're not going to be accidentally breaking any limbs."
"No kidding, I'll run technical support for the exercises until you clear me to participate. Blue over here can probably participate at any time if you just give her the parameters you want her to work within, I've witnessed her physical control first hand on many occasions. I'm… probably the most guilty of trying to get her to lose it. You saw her on that planet likely at her most unrestrained." B'Elanna had produced a small smirk and glanced at Seven when she'd given her a new nickname to gauge her reaction. The new uniform and the deep blue eyes that she'd come to enjoy so much had simply burned the colour into her brain. The corners of Seven's mouth seemed to turn up slightly and she raised her silver brow to its "approving" height. After her discussion with Myles, B'Elanna had been paying more and more attention to the smaller quirks of the tall blonde's face and categorizing them as best she could. It might make for fun future drunken conversation with Myles if she 'compared notes', as it were, with the redhead and her take on Seven's expressions. She just hoped her constant staring didn't freak the beautiful blonde woman out.
The exchange was not lost on Myles who inwardly rolled her eyes at the constant stubborn emotional restraint the two women before her held for each other. Both Seven and the Captain's behaviour since the 'date' indicated that it simply did not go well. The Captain continually glanced at Seven during meetings and on the bridge as if she wanted to ask her something but held herself back due to apparent nervousness and her duties. Seven had not spoken of the evening to either her or B'Elanna and otherwise seemed generally occupied by all the current changes happening in her life. Clearly the arrangement of a second date had not happened.
The passion rolling off these two is palpable. If something doesn't give soon, one of them might get hurt. Maybe there is a way I can nudge this in the right direction...
It wasn't sabotage or direct intervention, but a platform for the two women to finally connect- but that would need to come later. She concluded that pointing flat out that the two of them should really stop dancing around each other and get it on already might not go over well and since she liked and respected both women, she'd let them figure it out on their own- by actually making them dance together- so to speak.
"That's a heck of a testimonial you just got there Seven, so I'll keep it in mind. I for one am curious about this program you've developed and if it works the wonders I assume it will, I'd like to show the two of you the basics of a martial art training exercise the two of you can practice together. I'll let you judge the results of Torres's training and adjust yourself accordingly if you're able. I figure if you're both similar in strength and speed, it might be just the thing for you both."
"Alright by me, how about you Blue?" B'Elanna stifled a giggle at her own silly rhyme as she looked at Seven expectantly. Seven had for the briefest of moments been irrationally worried about B'Elanna's opinion of her skill, but if both she and B'Elanna would be learning the same thing from the same starting point, she felt no reason to succumb to doubt. She was Borg after all. B'Elanna's new nickname for her however, threatened to shatter every emotional pillar of control she had and buckle her knees each time she said it. Each new wrinkle to their relationship only helped cement her growing feelings for her. Her answer was easy, like calculating the tendency fluctuation of a star's gravity field- well, easy for Seven anyway.
"I would like that." B'Elanna first grinned brightly at Seven then turned her smirk to Myles. "Now she's just showing off by not using her usual 'acceptable' to throw us for a loop." she stepped back as Myles chuckled and shook her head.
B'Elanna then backed up a few steps. "Alright Blue, do your worst." While she might previously have thought to correct herself lest Seven interpret what she said literally, B'Elanna just crossed her arms and grinned like a Cheshire cat as Seven gave the briefest of Borg eye-rolls and motioned Myles over to the console as she walked to it and initiated the program.
The Holodeck around them shimmered as the old Asian-style dojo they were in previously changed to a matte grey high-domed room with B'Elanna now standing in the middle of a circular pad approximately four metres in diameter. Around B'Elanna in the three dimensional space just outside of her reach, five hexagonal shaped two-dimensional blue coloured glowing 'pads' appeared. Each hexagon was 15 centimetres in diameter and was bordered by six more blue hexagons on each side of the centre hexagon forming a cluster. Each cluster of hexagons faced B'Elanna perpendicular to her position in the circular pad and they were at random angles and positions with respect again to her position. The first was at her chest height directly in front of her, another was slightly above her eye level to her right, another around knee level on her left and the final two were behind her, one at waist height, the other up and about one meter to the right of that.
"B'Elanna, this is similar to a training simulation of species 441; it was used to help their soldiers coordinate and use their tail in hand-to-hand combat with exceptional precision, the Collective found the concept relevant to the assimilation of their biological distinctiveness and kept the program concept. I have modified it to allow for maximum parameter flexibility. Each blue hexagon can be programmed to respond to very specific pressures and force. Currently, they are programmed to the parameters of the average human or near-human physical resistance threshold. When you strike one of the pads, if it turns green, then you will have not done any significant damage to a human or near-human. If it turns yellow, you will have done some damage up to and including the bruising of bones. A red indication is in response to force equalling that which would cause significant physical damage including broken bones, ruptured organs and severe muscle damage. You may strike the pad in any manner you wish, and I suspect that Lieutenant Myles will coach or even tell you before hand what she may want you to use; your fist, palm, elbow, knee, foot, finger tips and so on. Also, I have keyed an audio cue that can be triggered from each individual pad, either the centre pad or any of the six surrounding it in each cluster so when you hear the sound, not only will you have to determine which cluster you heard it from, but you will also have to determine which of the individual seven hexagons it emanated from. Then you will have to determine how you are going to strike it and do so based on a small window of time that can also be modified. I've selected a three-second window to start."
Myles was damn impressed. The idea had fantastic training potential and it was very likely that B'Elanna was going to love it.
You could run this thing with a windstorm in the background, with someone standing near swinging a bo staff at you, on top of a mountain setting in the snow... so many interesting things can be done. It's brilliant really, no wonder B'Elanna has the googly eyes happening right now.
B'Elanna did love it and couldn't wait to get started, but it was going to be tricky and it was going to take some time to get used to. "So you'll cause an audio tone to sound randomly from one of the seven hexagons in any of the five clusters and I have just three seconds to strike the appropriate pad with the appropriate amount of force? How do I know how hard I'm aiming for?"
"There are several methods, Lieutenant Myles could simply tell you how hard she wants you to try and hit the pads and with which strike. I would suggest starting off simply striking as hard has you can. Since the pads are visual representations of holographic sensors only, you will encounter no resistance and therefore do not need protective gloves. The audio tone cue I have designed uses five critical tones of the major scale in a 12-tone chromatic musical scale. Studies have shown this particular combination of harmonic partials are among the first and most audible of what are considered the 'universal' partials by most alien species. It should therefore be easier to associate the tones with chained movement. Musically, they are represented by the partials "re", "me", "do", "do"-an octave lower and "so". Use the tones to help initiate movement and as your skill progresses, specific strikes can be assigned to specific tones and so on." Seven glanced at Myles and got a nod of approval in response.
"I think it's genius Seven, with many applications and stages of complexity. Torres, it's a good idea to start off as hard as you can and then we'll start dialling the power back until you start hitting the other colours. Use closed fist strikes and think about your movements from the forms you've been learning this weekend- scratch that; don't think, just do. Seven?"
Seven nodded and keyed in the first sequence. "The first tone will sound in five seconds." B'Elanna jumped into an opening base stance and eagerly awaited the first tone while quickly scanning the three clusters in her field of view. Her body was almost shaking in anticipation. The first tone sounded behind her and she spun and swung wildly at what she thought was the correct target- and promptly toppled over. She did not shift her feet enough to compensate for the momentum created by a full power strike with her right hand.
Flustered and springing to her feet like a cat, B'Elanna shot a playful glare in the direction of her two snickering friends who both took the opportunity to purposely look at the ceiling... or wall, while trying not to burst into laughter. Myles and Seven had seemingly coordinated their 'innocent' reactions with a surprised glance and smirk when B'Elanna fell. B'Elanna stared at the ridiculous scene before her of the two women looking like Naomi Wildman caught sneaking a sweet pop from the replicator. It was only a second before she burst into a roaring laugh followed shortly by the loud laughter of Myles and the soft chuckle of Seven.
B'Elanna recovered after a few moments. "Alright young lady, laugh now but I'll have this mastered soon enough, you'll see." She got back into her starting stance staring straight ahead and focusing on her breathing and not smiling. She would not smile, for it gave power to her enemies...
Seven kept her smirk and raised her brow slightly before saying, "one."
"What's that?"
"One. I am one year younger than you according to the Federation database. Less if you want to be specific... but I have decided to let you have the full year since you know me to be normally so imprecise..." Oh, Seven could be a devious tease when she put her mind to it despite her lack of accumulated social experience. Her normally hidden or reserved social skills simply seemed to flow so easily around B'Elanna that she didn't seem to have to think about them.
"I'd tell you you just heard your second Borg joke Myles, but Blue has been cracking wise for the past week. Keep your keen eyes on your chair in the staff room for Whoopee cushions. We might even get a new addition to Vorik's Vulcan Comedy Quarter-Hour at this year's talent show." B'Elanna settled back into her opening stance but the grin never left her face.
"I did think there was a bit of mischief behind her offer to do the maintenance on the Doctor's program..." If anything, Seven's mock-innocent look became even more mockingly innocent.
"It was a perfectly innocent-" *huff* "-the next tone will sound in five seconds." No need to lie when both women and their disbelieving looks knew the truth. B'Elanna thought her reactions were nothing short of adorable but now was not the time for distraction. This time B'Elanna was ready. The tone sounded and B'Elanna's keen senses honed in on the lower-right hexagon on the cluster up and to her right. The blue image of the hexagon seemed to shimmer for the briefest of seconds. A little hint? Thanks Blue. A quick step and strike of her left fist ending five centimetres past the image which turned red was followed by the next tone somewhere behind her, she spun quickly catching the end of the brief shimmer of the pad she'd already zeroed in on. Left step; right strike; red pad. The next tone sounded back and low. This time instead of spinning left, she stepped back and then lunged down and to the right with another left strike, this one through the centre hexagon of the cluster. Another red.
Myles looked on, impressed with how quickly B'Elanna was adapting. Seven quietly sent a message from her terminal to the Doctor requesting three hours of extra Holodeck time under medical authorization. Her request came back granted faster than she would have suspected, so she logged quickly onto the computer to add the time to their current session. Maybe he did sense my request to perform his maintenance may have been less than altruistic... Internally she chuckled as of course she would not sabotage her friend's program... but she might just teach him a lesson about respecting her privacy.
After the next five minutes of the simulation, Seven removed the visual cue from the pads and B'Elanna didn't seem to miss a beat. The burgeoning warrior was in her element; she let go and simply allowed her senses to guide her; her muscles to learn and react; each new movement to flow into the next. It happened so easily with Seven in the room as opposed to when she was with just the Doc. Her eyes had sharpened like that of a predator honing in on its prey as the grin she'd been sporting disappeared and was replaced by focused- yet calm- determination.
One-and-a-half hours later, the strike window had been lowered to two seconds and Myles had assigned specific strikes to each tone. A closed fist strike for the first tone, an open palm strike for the second, knee for the third, foot for the fourth and elbow for the fifth. She'd also started shouting out random colours of "red", "yellow" or "green" to further complicate the pattern and keep B'Elanna off balance to see how she would respond. During the first hour she'd been able to dial back her power to consistently strike the pads and turn them yellow but she'd had more trouble finding consistency with getting the greens. She'd stumbled a few times, was awkward for a few moves and there were some short breaks for water and laughter, but by the end of the first 90 minutes, she was hitting her target within the time window using the appropriate strike and power with an 87% success rate. It was nothing short of incredible.
"Ok, I think that's enough for now Seven. Torres, you are a beast, that was awesome. How much time do we have left? Wait, what time is it? Did we even eat?" Sara felt the grumble begin in her belly telling her it was long past due being fed and was getting grumpy.
B'Elanna was a glistening sweaty mess. Her hair was all over the place and plastered to her sweat-soaked face in spots. Beads of sweat were trickling down her neck, rolling and winding around her caramel-coloured skin to finally disappear into the shadows of her sports bra cast between her heaving breasts. She was breathing heavily as she called the computer for a towel and began wiping herself down while Seven filled them in on the lateness of the hour and that they had about an hour-and-a-half left if they wanted it. Still, she felt great.
"Some of us do need to eat and if I don't feed the beast, she gets angry and holds a grudge for several days- can't have that as acting Security Chief. So- Seven, if you're up to it, and Torres, if you still want to do something I can quickly show you two the 13 original movements of Tai Chi, also known as the "Eight Gates and Five Steps", to the training art of Pushing Hands. I think the two of you might find an interesting skill-set base for training. After I show you two, I'll activate the martial arts holographic instructor to help with your form and go grab some grub and a shower and come back in an hour or so to kick your sweaty asses out. We've got things to do this week after all." The comfort level between the three women was now high enough that neither Seven nor B'Elanna batted an eye at the comments of the tall redhead.
"I'm in." B'Elanna started hopping from foot to foot like a boxer indicating her readiness to go. Seven took one long look at a smiling B'Elanna before turning to Myles. "I believe I will need to change."
End Chapter 18
What can I say? I'm an old-school Spielberg fan. I grew up with E.T. and Close Encounters, how could I not pay homage? Interesting note: the first time I saw Jaws was when I was 5 and it was AT NIGHT on my Dad's BOAT with just my brother. Needless to say we both have complexes about water and death-by-shark. Ironically, we still spent most of our lives on or around boats.
The training program is in part inspired by a similar training mechanism in the great Kudara's work "I am Borg". The inspiration for "Pushing Hands" comes from wkgreen's wonderful TSCC Camerah work "Time Loop". I highly recommend it for Camerah fans out there. You can find it on ralst dot com. I found the relationship between Sarah and Cameron to share similarities to B'Elanna and Seven.