Captain Janeway sat on the bridge late this evening. Her duty shift had ended over two hours ago but she wasn’t ready to be off duty. Not yet. She glanced around the room at the rest of her senior bridge crew working this evening: Tuvok, Harry, Tom, and Chakotay. With the exception of Tuvok, they were all about to retreat to the holodeck for the evening, no doubt to meet B’Elanna. Their duty shifts ended in minutes, but they continued manning their stations and paid no attention to her as her mind wandered. She had a stack of reports to finish that she could be working on, mostly because she preferred to let them build up and tackle them at once, but something about being on the bridge and watching her people develop into a fine crew, knowing she was somehow responsible for it, left her feeling complacent.
Despite how hard she tried, her mind kept wandering from the good points of her crew back to her feelings for Seven of Nine, and the more she thought about it, the more obvious it became to her that things between her and Seven were moving too far too fast. She loved Seven, there was no doubt about it, but never in her life had she experienced the kind of love they shared. There were times when she found it difficult to breathe when they were in the same room because she loved the young woman so much, and being apart was even harder. She was restless, moody, and even overbearing at times when she couldn’t be with Seven. Simply put, her heart cried out to Seven in a way it never had with anyone else before and it scared the hell out of her.
“Captain, there’s an energy source I can’t identify giving off strange readings five light years from here. Should we alter course to investigate?” Harry asked.
“Yes, let’s take a look. Tom, lay in a course. Warp 3.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Tom said as he keyed in the new trajectory. After another minute of silence, he added, “So who’s up for some pool tonight?” referring to a game in the Sandrine’s holodeck program that everyone was frequenting lately. Although it had been two years since he created this program, every once in a while it would make the round of popular programs among the crew.
“Are you still trying to hustle people with that game, Tom?” Harry asked.
“I’m not saying yes and I’m not saying no,” Tom joked. “How about you, Captain, you up for a few rounds?”
“Hmm?” Janeway snapped out of her trance. “Oh, no, I don’t think so, Tom. Not tonight anyway.”
Janeway tuned out the bridge banter again and continued reflecting upon her relationship with Seven. Of all the things that bothered her most about her feelings for the young woman was the way she discounted everything she believed regarding personal relations and an ethical command structure. Her feeble reasons for distancing herself from the crew weren’t valid any longer- not alone out here in the Delta Quadrant. Her professional conduct had been degrading slowly too, almost to the point that she was behaving like an adolescent, and she couldn’t possibly demand a professional attitude from her crew if she couldn’t abide by her own rules. They tried to keep their private moments to themselves but that was like asking a Klingon to be gentle going into battle. So far they had been caught holding hands in the corridor, giving small pecks on the cheek after leaving the holodeck, and once they had been so unrestrained in the ready room during a wild sexual encounter that Chakotay had to muffle them out on the bridge with music from his personal collection. Janeway couldn’t help herself, though. This was love in full bloom, and it was far different from a lusty affair. Besides, she suspected for a while that just about everyone already knew about their relationship because of the way she had treated Seven from day one, but she couldn’t tell for sure. Gossip had a way of circulating like a plague, especially something as juicy as romance, and sometimes she was just so blind to her surroundings.
“Captain,” Harry called to her, breaking her from the trance she was in, “I’m picking up more strange readings ahead.”
“What kind of readings, Mr. Kim.”
Harry tinkered with his console, keying in commands and reported back, “There’s a huge distortion wave two light years away moving fast and heading right for us.”
“Can we avoid it?” Janeway asked.
“No. It’s too big. I think it’s a temporal flux but I’m not certain.”
“Raise shields.” Janeway gripped the arms of her chair in anticipation of the wave.
“It’s within visual rage,” Tuvok noted from her right.
“Onscreen.”
The wave looked vast and majestic. Ripples of light danced in a swirling pattern, blending shades of blues, purples, and greens, and giving the illusion it was harmless. It was spellbinding the way it whirled before them.
“It’s beautiful,” Tom awed as it sped toward their location.
“It’s right on top of us,” Harry shouted with concern. “Captain, I’m definitely reading tachyon particles within the wave.”
“Shields to maximum,” Janeway warned as the wave was right on top of them now. “Scan for…”
Before she could finish her orders a loud hissing sounded from deep within the bridge. A beam of light blinded them temporarily as the ship vibrated violently, rocked from side to side, and was eventually thrust into an uncontrollable spiral, knocking everyone to the floor. After the wave had passed, everyone climbed back to his or her stations and Janeway looked around to check for casualties. “What the hell was that? Report!” she barked out.
Tuvok scanned from the tactical station as Tom steadied the ship. “No major damage sustained. However, the warp core is offline, there are micro-fractures in the hull on deck 9, sickbay reports minor injuries,” he paused, unsure how to break the news that came next, “and Captain, Seven of Nine has left the ship.”
“Where is she?” Janeway demanded.
“I do not know at this time, Captain. All I can tell you is she disappeared from Cargo Bay 2 when the wave hit,” Tuvok reported.
“Erect a level ten containment field around the fractures and seal them before they become breaches,” Janeway said sternly. “Scan for anything that would’ve caused Seven’s disappearance: cloaked ships…anomalies…anything.” She glanced at the view screen with a blank expression, concentrating on Seven’s disappearance but came up short of answers.
Within minutes, Tuvok added, “I regret to inform you, Captain, there are no readings of abnormalities within thirty light years. Seven of Nine is gone.”
Janeway swallowed hard as the possible thought of never seeing Seven again swelled in her mind. “Commander, you have the bridge,” she murmured. She rose from her chair, briskly walked to the turbolift and said without looking back, “I’ll be in Cargo Bay 2.” The crack in her voice exposed her profound concern for Seven, perhaps more than the disappearance of any other crewmember would have caused, but she really didn’t care right now. She only wanted Seven’s safe return.
Seven of Nine lay on a bench in the brig barely able to open her eyes. Her head was pounding harder than anything she had experienced since becoming severed from the Collective and she had a very unsettling feeling in her stomach. Having only been in the brig once before, when she was still a full Borg drone, the interior still felt alien to her, but that’s not what this strange sensation was about. She sat upright with a great deal of hesitation, still feeling the ill effects of whatever it was that broke her from the regeneration cycle before it ended.
Her first clue that something was wrong was the crewman monitoring the force field on the brig. She could see two pips that signified the lieutenant rank but the face was unknown, and she had made a conscious effort to know everyone onboard Voyager. As she sat studying the face of the young man guarding her, the door hissed open and Captain Janeway walked through with Tuvok in tow. Seven’s instinctual reaction was relief that Kathryn had somehow known she was in trouble and had come to help her, but something about Janeway’s presence dashed her preliminary response altogether.
Janeway leaned in to Tuvok and whispered, “I see our guest has woken up.”
“Captain, I want to know why I am in this brig,” Seven demanded as she stood up to meet the captain’s eye. She immediately noticed Janeway’s hair was much longer, tied up in a bun above her head similar to how she wore her own, and the captain’s movements were more mechanical than she was used to seeing, unbending and brittle.
Janeway stood back, surprised at the other woman’s gall. “You’re in no position to be making demands,” she insisted. “I want to know why you’re wearing a Starfleet comm. badge first of all, and how you got on this ship.”
Seven was puzzled beyond belief by Janeway’s remarks. She rested her achy body back on the bench and recalled the last minutes she remembered before she woke up in the brig, but her thoughts were scattered. She was supposed to have dinner with Kathryn but needed to regenerate beforehand due to almost two full days of neglecting her cycle; she had been sleeping with Kathryn in the captain’s bed, but her body still needed to regenerate. She remembered processing bits of data she had encountered during her duty shift, much like working out problems in a dream. She also remembered the warm feeling of Kathryn watching her regenerate a few nights before. Then she woke up in the brig. Nothing was making sense at this point. Had there been an accident and Janeway became injured? How could Kathryn not recognize the woman she claimed to love? “Kathryn, I am confused. Did you hit your head while playing Velocity again?”
“Are we on a first name basis now?” Janeway had a reputation for being tough with prisoners. Once, she lowered a force field protecting a member of the Equinox crew from attacking aliens in hopes of scaring information out of the man, and when Tom Paris was confined to the brig, to add insult to injury after he was stripped of his rank, it was thirty days of Leola root stew, which was worse than bread and water if you asked him about it now.
“Captain, I believe something is wrong. Why do you not recognize me?” Seven’s feelings were hurt that Janeway didn’t remember her, but she understood that it was only because something was gravely wrong with this scenario.
“Should I recognize you? It’s not everyday I pick up Borg passengers on my ship.” If you’re really Borg, Janeway thought. She had never seen a drone outside of the Collective that was so beautiful. She had only known of two that were severed from the hive mind, Locutus and Hugh, and female drones were thought to be quite rare in the Collective since none were ever witnessed or documented prior to the massive invasion at Wolf 359. In fact, her studies of the Borg through all the knowledge Starfleet had acquired never gave an indication that they came with such exquisite features: lips so full, eyes so blue, and curves so enjoyable to look at through a suit that revealed more than it hid. She looks more like a goddess than a Borg.
This wasn’t the Janeway Seven knew and loved. She looked up and stared into Janeway’s eyes, trying desperately to read any hint of compassion through the commanding facade the older woman carried out. She knew there was compassion in that heart, she saw it and experienced it first hand, even when Janeway was at her most authoritative, but for some reason it wasn’t there right now, and only the strong front of this woman that Seven hardly recognized stood out. “I am Seven of Nine. I am a member of your crew. You liberated me from the Collective almost two years ago, Kathryn.”
Janeway motioned for Tuvok and the lieutenant at the console to leave the two women to talk alone. There was obviously something more here than meets the eye, she decided. “Tell me more about this…liberation.”
“First I need to know the star date, Captain.”
“It’s 50312.4. Why?”
It was starting to make sense to her now. “Captain, I believe I have…somehow… traveled backward through time,” Seven said with relief. Kathryn hadn’t recognized her because this was a time before Seven even appeared on Voyager. She was still a Borg drone thousands of light years away in this timeline and wouldn’t meet Janeway for almost another year.
“You expect me to believe you’re a time traveler?”
“Take me to the doctor,” Seven insisted. “He can scan my cortical node and verify I am telling the truth.”
Janeway remained impressed with Seven’s story and decided to take her at her word. She called Tuvok back in and the three of them left for sickbay.
As they walked down the corridor, Seven displayed her knowledge with the ship by leading the way, and Janeway admitted to Tuvok that the possibility of Seven being a time traveler might not be as far fetched as she had believed. Although she had no idea what would make her want to liberate a Borg drone in the first place and allow that drone to become a member of her crew, she believed Seven had an interesting story to tell.
They arrived in sickbay as the EMH and a petite, blonde aide with elf-like features were completing a checkup on a toddler. Seven immediately recognized the youngster and couldn’t resist taking a closer look at the child who would later become her friend.
“Do you know this child?” Janeway asked, fishing to see if Seven was indeed who she claimed to be.
How could Seven not know? The strawberry blonde hair and pronounced forehead were both dead giveaways. “Naomi Wildman,” she offered, “but I have never seen her this young.” She looked back at the child and smiled. “It is good to see you again, Miss Wildman.”
Janeway pulled the doctor aside while Seven was occupied with the child and informed him of their new guest’s condition. “Doctor, this is Seven of Nine. I want you to give her a complete physical and check her cortical node. Look for anything that indicates temporal displacement and report back to me when you’re finished.” She left Tuvok to guard the Borg and headed back to the bridge.
Several hours had passed when the doctor finally managed to call Captain Janeway back to sickbay for his analysis of Seven’s condition. During the time she waited, she considered alternative possibilities for Seven’s emergence, including a secret Borg invasion, but found none that were plausible. When she entered sickbay, she locked eyes with the scantily clothed woman sitting erect on a biobed, causing her to freeze in the doorway as butterflies tingled in her stomach and blood rushed from her brain, giving her a very uneasy feeling. She discounted the feeling as arousal since she had never met the woman before today but recalled having the same feeling prior to the first time she made love with Mark, her fiancé from Earth. When she managed to regain control of her motor skills, Janeway entered the room and admittedly noticed Seven in a new way, far different from the woman she met in the brig a few hours before. Seven’s cleavage was barely contained within the drapery the EMH gave her for the examination, her skin was a creamy tone enhanced by the lights in the room, and her long, smooth legs went on for miles. She had several metallic implants interwoven in her flesh, and Janeway assumed most people would find them frightening reminders of the Borg, but she found them appealing. They weren’t intrusive. They were part of this woman. She couldn’t put her finger on it, but there was also something intriguing about Seven of Nine, she considered to herself as she thought about the innocent expression on the face sitting atop the body of a woman who assimilated thousands, maybe even millions of individuals into the Borg Collective.
“Doctor, report.”
The EMH stood up from his workstation and walked over to talk to the captain in private. “Captain, I have completed every test I know of. Her physiology is fascinating. I’ve never worked with the Borg before so I know nothing of these nanoprobes she has in her blood, but so far from what I can tell from her cortical node, she is from another time. However, I have to also tell you, there is no evidence of temporal displacement. I know it doesn’t make much sense, but I’ll need several more days to decipher this information if you want a clearer description of what happened.”
“Thank you, doctor. Keep looking for any evidence that would give us a better understanding of the situation,” Janeway said before quickly glancing at Seven.
“Captain, there’s another problem.”
“What is it?”
“Seven informed me of a regeneration process she has to undergo for several hours a day. It’s to…recharge the technological parts within her body. We lack the technology to build a chamber for her, so whatever we do it’ll have to be fast. She won’t survive more than four days without regenerating.”
Janeway felt a strange sensation overcome her; she was saddened by the thought of losing someone she barely knew. Though they had just met, she somehow felt a connection with this woman. “Is she able to leave sickbay now?”
“Of course.”
Janeway walked over to the biobed Seven sat on and discussed the idea of assigning living quarters while the engineers attempted to construct a way for her to regenerate. With her assistance, of course, they could design the specs and have it built in a couple days. Until then, at the very least she would have a bed to sleep in and a food replicator at her disposal, and she was free to walk the ship without supervision, though vital ship systems were off limits. Janeway was also going to put her best engineers on discovering what exactly it was that brought Seven to their timeline since no evidence of tachyon particles or temporal disturbances of any kind were found in scans Tuvok made before Seven woke up in the brig. Maybe, with any luck, they would dig up something he had missed in his original scans. Janeway was grasping at straws, but it was all she had to go on so far.
“That would be acceptable, Captain. Thank you.” Seven’s gratitude was genuine despite the rising concern she had about her situation. She became deeply saddened when she realized the possibility was quite real that she may never see the Kathryn she loved again. She could make a life here with this Kathryn and this crew; it would slowly kill her to be so near Kathryn and yet be so far from the woman she loved, but she could adapt. However, without Borg components, there would be no way to replicate an alcove that would function properly. The parts couldn’t be replicated; it was that simple. And without traces of tachyon particles, it was impossible to find a way to send her back to her own time. One way or another, she was going to die.
Seven sat alone in her new quarters with her knees pulled up to her chest and arms wrapping them, trying desperately to comfort herself. The room was dark, the quiet was deafening, and the depression was finally settling in. It had been two days since she woke up in the brig and so far nothing of significance was found in the searches for a possible return to her own time. To make things worse, all attempts at recreating an alcove from replicated parts proved as futile as she originally thought so she hadn’t regenerated since arriving here either. She slept for a couple of hours here and there, but restlessness was settling in now with no end in sight. A soft chirp from the door caused a temporary distraction from her thoughts and she wiped away a small tear that trailed down her cheek. “Come in.”
Captain Janeway walked through the door and stepped into the darkness that became Seven’s world. “I haven’t seen you around today. How are you feeling?”
Seven fought off the urge to confess her true feelings. She badly wanted to tell the other woman how much she missed her, knowing it wasn’t really her that she missed but her counterpart in another time. “I am functioning.”
Janeway walked across the room, guided only by dim light from stars passed, and approached Seven on the couch, sitting down next to her in an effort to reassure the young woman. She placed her arm around Seven’s shoulder in a maternal way that somehow seemed familiar and offered, “I know this is difficult for you, Seven. We’re doing everything in our power to send you back, and we’re not giving up on the alcove either. Is there anything the doctor can do in the meantime? Perhaps administer a sedative to help you relax?”
“No. I will adapt.” Seven recalled her social lessons with the doctor and remembered how important it was to show appreciation. “Thank you for your concern.”
Janeway took that as a cue to leave but something inside her wanted to stay. Something about Seven’s presence on Voyager called out to her in a way nothing else had in her life. There was a strange familiarity being with Seven like this, she noted, holding and comforting her, and Kathryn wanted to show the Borg how much she had come to care for her over the last couple days. She also noticed the strange way Seven’s guard dropped in her presence, more so than in anyone else’s, as if there was a deep sense of trust between them that she was unaware of. “I assume you haven’t eaten much. Would you like to have dinner together?”
Seven continued to look blankly ahead. It was tearing her up inside to have Kathryn’s arm around her shoulder, painfully reminding her of the future that slipped farther away with each passing moment, and she had to remember that despite the warm touches and attempts to ease her pain, this was not her Kathryn. This was Kathryn from another time.
Lost in the embrace, Seven thought about her first days on Voyager and how Kathryn had changed over the course of time from the woman she was after the encounter with the Borg to the woman she fell in love with not so very long ago. That first impression she had of Kathryn wasn’t so different from the woman in this room with her now, holding and comforting her like her mother did before they were assimilated. When she first met this Kathryn in the brig two days ago the captain was rigid and tense. Now she seemed more relaxed with the idea of a former Borg drone on her ship. Seven also wondered if her presence was somehow altering the timeline because she couldn’t find another way to explain how Janeway’s response could changed so much over so short a time.
“Seven?”
“Yes, dinner is acceptable. I will require nutritional supplements soon.”
Seven stood up and freshened up in her bathroom, cleaning her face and washing away any traces of sadness that trickled down her cheeks earlier. She thought about the irony of having dinner with Kathryn and unable to regenerate in this timeline compared with how she was supposed to have dinner with Kathryn the day she turned up here but was regenerating instead. She continued thinking about her condition and knew she was going to die before the week was out if something didn’t change soon. However, she was confident that if she did die soon, the last thing she would see would be Kathryn’s face. Although she wasn’t the same woman Seven loved, it made things a little more comforting to know that this Kathryn Janeway was as much a compassionate woman as her own Kathryn and would be there in the end if Seven needed her to be.
Through the course of the evening, Janeway and Seven had a nice meal in the messhall, returned to Janeway’s quarters for some private talk, and just enjoyed being in each other’s company. Both women felt some awkwardness toward each other at first, secretly recalling the strange feelings they shared in sickbay earlier that day but eventually settled into more tranquil atmosphere as Janeway released her hair from the power bun, freeing herself from command in the process, and just relaxed by sharing stories of her life she was sure she would not have told anyone before and wouldn’t endanger the timeline. She talked endlessly about her childhood, growing up in Indiana, and eventually discussed Mark when Seven commented on the picture displayed on the desk of herself, Mark and their dog Molly.
It bothered Seven deeply to know facts of Kathryn’s future that Janeway did not know herself, mainly that her future with Mark wasn’t as secure as she hoped. A recent transmission with Starfleet passed along personal letters to the Voyager crew and Seven knew that Mark had moved on with his life and married someone else. Of course, in this timeline Mark was still holding out hope the ship would be found, but there was nothing Seven could do to change the inevitable so it was pointless to bring it up. She did wonder when Kathryn’s feelings for Mark began to change because, as she listened to stories of Mark’s devotion to Kathryn through their youth, she sensed this Kathryn was more in love with Mark than she had known her own Kathryn to be.
“I don’t know what it is about you, but I feel like we’ve known each other for years.” Janeway smirked at the paradox of this whole situation. “I mean, I know we have, meaning you and my future self, but I don’t understand how I could come to be so familiar with you without knowing anything about you.”
“I understand your confusion. I do not understand it myself,” Seven admitted.
“I couldn’t help but notice your reluctance to open up to me, Seven. If you don’t mind me asking, how well do we know each other in the future?” Janeway’s curiosity was at its peak now. She sensed for days there was a deep connection between them, and she felt an absolute need to protect this woman from whatever dangers lay in her path. She even made it a top priority to build a regeneration unit for Seven until they could discover a way to get her back to her current timeline and put every available engineer on the job.
“Captain, as much as I would like to tell you about future events and what your life will offer you in the future, I do not believe you would want me to endanger the timeline.” Seven was adamant about keeping quiet, respecting how much Kathryn believed in the value of the Temporal Prime Directive.
“Well, if you can’t tell me about the future, tell me about your past. What was your childhood like?” Janeway asked as she smiled, and for the first time since Seven had been here, she saw a glimpse of the Kathryn she knew.
“I do not believe you would want me to discuss the details of my life with you, Captain. It may play a part in your decision to liberate me from the Collective and I do not wish to alter my timeline.”
“I see.” After giving further consideration, Janeway offered, “Perhaps, you’re right.”
Seven’s urge to tell Kathryn about Mark deepened. She wanted so badly to spare this woman from the pain she would cause herself if she continued to think about the man the way she had tonight. She saw the confusion in the older woman’s eyes and the struggle she faced. Instead, all she could do was repeat those very same words that Janeway had once offered to her as a means to forgive herself for atrocities she committed while in the collective, hoping that Kathryn would see the meaning behind the words. “However, I can tell you that it is important to look back on your life before you can move forward.”
Kathryn considered Seven’s words carefully. Is she attempting to prevent some situation in the future from happening by warning her or was this just friendly advice?
“Thank you.”
Seven felt awkward about not reciprocating personal details of her life with the captain, especially when Janeway shared so much of her life already with a person she considered a stranger only two days before, and used it as an excuse to get back to her own room. “It is getting late. I must go back to my quarters and rest.”
“Would you like to have lunch tomorrow if you’re feeling up to it?” Janeway asked, not wanting to let go.
“That is acceptable.” Seven said as she left the captain’s quarters and walked back to her room. She noticed that things were looking more promising between her and Kathryn at the moment. Little reminders of the life she left behind, such as shared meals and long talks, brought back the warm feelings she felt for Kathryn, and this version of her lover wasn’t as bad as she originally thought. Seven was beginning to accept her fate and sink into her new surroundings as if she never left. She still wanted to return to her own time more than life itself, but in the meantime she would make the best of a bad situation. She also still had the regeneration problem to contend with, but she was determined to take things one small step at a time.
Captain Janeway sat in the messhall well past closing hours drinking coffee and analyzing status reports, Starfleet logs, and anything else that mentioned strange disappearances related to temporal distortions. She needed to find the energy signature of the wave that washed over them if she was to have any luck bringing Seven home again, but she was driving herself crazy and getting nowhere fast. It was days since she last had decent sleep or ate anything other than crackers to coat the lining of her stomach, and her thoughts of Seven consumed her like a disease. She knew Seven was still alive, she could feel it, but where the woman was remained a mystery to all who considered it.
Hours after since she last found something interesting, something of importance that could shed some light on the current situation here with Seven, she got up to make some breakfast before diving in to a fresh pile of leads and an even fresher pot of coffee. As she neared the replicator, the messhall doors hissed open and Neelix entered with a smile a little too chipper for her this early.
“Good morning, Captain,” Neelix sang out, pleased to see someone in the messhall so early.
“That remains to be seen,” she barked in response.
He glanced at her table and saw the work she was heavily involved in and immediately modified his tone. “Any luck yet?”
“No. I need some food and more coffee, black.”
If there was one thing Neelix did well it was fill stomachs and make people happy. “One breakfast fit for a captain and a fresh pot of coffee, black, coming right up!” He ran behind the counter and whipped up the quickest omelet, toast, juice, fruit, and coffee he ever had in his life, knowing that if anyone could find Seven it would be the captain. When he brought her the food, he noticed she had her head resting on the table and had fallen asleep waiting.
“Captain, you’re exhausted. Why don’t you get some sleep. I’m sure a few hours won’t make a difference,” he said, waking her up with the fragrance of fresh coffee.
“Neelix, a few hours of sleep won’t make a difference to me, but to Seven they could be the difference between life and death.” She picked up her work and began the long and grueling job she had ahead of her: sorting and making use of the information she saved. She looked up to see the Talaxian walking away from her table with his head down, knowing what he said wasn’t the right thing to say to her at this moment. “Neelix, I appreciate your concern, but it’s important we don’t give up on her.”
He walked back to her table and sat down across from her, and although they were eye level right now, he knew they would never be equals. “Captain, can I speak freely?”
“Of course.” She studied his expression and had the feeling what he was about to say was going to blow her away.
“It’s no secret…your relationship with Seven. Everyone knows.”
“Thanks for your honesty, Mr. Neelix,” she managed to respond with only the slightest hint of embarrassment. Her suspicions had been confirmed: everyone knew. I guess that little argument in the messhall we had wasn’t as obscure as I hoped. It was no big deal really; aside from the fact that she was sleeping with someone she commanded which was considered one of the biggest no-nos in Starfleet. Now the question is, Katie, what are you going to do about it?
“What I’m trying to say, Captain, is it’s ok to feel the way you do. You don’t have to hide it.” He picked up the fresh mugs he brought her and poured them both some coffee. “I never did like this flavor much,” he said with a bitter expression after tasting it. “My point is, I’ve known you for five years now and I know what you’re thinking. People see the handholding, the kisses, the looks you two give each other, and we still respect you. We realize you’re a person too, and you have needs and wants the same as everyone else on this ship. You’ve been in love with her for a long time now, so you don’t have to hide it. You’re the envy of half the people on this ship because she loves you back just as much.” He took another sip of coffee and watched her stumped response. “Captain, you’ve found a good thing. I see you struggling with this but I have to warn you. Don’t let it get away. It’ll haunt you.”
Janeway sat there stunned. His words were right on the mark, so true to what she was feeling, and she had heard that very same advice from the doctor before she even admitted to herself having romantic feelings for Seven. How could she be so dense as to think things with Seven were moving too far too fast? This kind of love doesn’t happen twice in a lifetime. She knew it, and she wasn’t about to let her precious ego throw it away. Suddenly, with the realization of what she wanted, the huge weight she carried with her for the last few days had been lifted. “Neelix, if we get her back, I want to arrange a celebration. Can you work with me on it?”
“Not if, Captain. When. We’re going to get her back. It’s just a matter of time,” he assured her.
Janeway picked up her coffee and downed the last of the fresh pot; she was consuming it like water and now she was more wired than the ship. “I’ve got some work to do so we can find our lost friend.” They shared a brief smile before he left the table and she began the grueling task of finding a way to detect that energy signature.
Kathryn Janeway was in her ready room for nearly an hour this morning. Her walk down memory lane with Seven last night rekindled her spirit and made her rethink the status of her life. Sure, she got her ship lost on the other side of the galaxy on her first command of Voyager, but worse things could have happened. She spent the night dreaming about Mark and, oddly enough, Seven. The dreams about Mark were normal; they would be walking along the beach holding hands or horseback riding through the desert at sunset. The things she dreamt about Seven last night made her blush as she vividly remembered them; warm embraces, long, wet kisses shared between them, running her fingers through Seven’s soft hair, and more accurately, a sexual encounter that would even embarrass B’Elanna. Her senses were definitely awake now and a wave of desire rushed to her private parts upon further recollection, arousing her as she refused to let it go. She considered taking Seven’s advice from last night about looking back before moving on. With a little more clarity about things in her life, she made a vow to herself at breakfast to enjoy her life a little more by taking joy in the simple things life had to offer and decided to take up playing tennis again.
During the hour she spent in her ready room she practiced her strokes and remembered the lessons her mother made her take when she was younger. She was horrible at it and always running into Mark, who was much better at tennis than she was, only made her resent the sport more. She continued practicing her swings anyway by throwing the ball into the air and unsuccessfully attempting to hit it as a soft chime at the door sounded just as she wound up for her next serve. “Enter.”
Tuvok walked through the door as she released her mighty serve and sent the tennis ball flying right into his face. His quick Vulcan reflexes allowed him to catch it effortlessly, though he did appear a little surprised.
“Sorry, I was just practicing my serve,” Janeway said as she chuckled at his reaction.
“Your serve?”
“Tennis. After 19 years I’ve decided to take it up again. I’m a little rusty,” she confessed. “I played in a novice tournament on the holodeck. I lost my first match in straight sets.” The defeat was disheartening at the time and made her never want to play tennis again, until now.
“Perhaps if you maintain eye contact with the ball at the apex of its trajectory your serve would be more effective,” he offered smugly.
Did she understand this right? He was giving her tennis lessons? She stopped her swinging and stood face to face with the Vulcan, “You’ve played tennis?”
“Simple physics, Captain.”
“Not as simple as when I played on the high school team.” She walked up the stairs and plopped down on the couch, reaching for the data pad he held. “What can I do for you Tuvok?”
“I have received some rather disturbing news from Engineering. Lt. Torres reports that the database contains fragments of Borg algorithms, and my assessment of the weapons and shields matrices concludes that Borg signatures are present there as well.”
Since Vulcans generally did not show emotions, it was understandable that the look of horror on Janeway’s face displayed enough emotion for both of them. “Are you telling me that Seven of Nine has somehow broken through our security and placed Borg algorithms in the computer? Why?” Janeway was certain she could trust Seven. The woman appeared to be harmless, but this news Tuvok brought her proved to her that the Borg should never be trusted, no matter what the circumstances.
“That remains to be seen, Captain. Shall I have her escorted back to the brig for security purposes?”
Before Janeway could answer, the red lights in the ready room flashed on as they simultaneously heard Chakotay’s voice over the comm., “Captain to the bridge.”
Captain Janeway walked onto the bridge with poise and confidence, able to handle any crisis that shot her way, not that this was unusual for her, but there was something different in the way she carried herself today. “Report.”
“Captain, there’s a temporal distortion forming ahead,” Harry reported as he watched the image from the view screen that displayed a growing wave of brilliant colors.
“Shields to maximum.” Janeway moved to her chair as Tuvok manned the Tactical console.
The flashing red lights and deafening silence on the bridge added more anxiety to an already tense situation. The crew watched the distortion as it grew larger and eventually darkened in the center where a rift had formed. A small ship emerged and grew in size as it flew further from the distortion’s center.
“Captain,” Harry announced, “That ship has a Federation signature. We’re being hailed.”
With a quick nod of her head, Janeway acknowledged the hail and ordered it put through.
A darkly handsome and well-dressed human male looked into his viewer as he continued pushing buttons within his own ship. “Starship Voyager, I’m Captain Doyle of the Timeship Requisition. Drop your shields and prepare for transport.”
“I’m Captain Janeway. Transport to where?” Janeway asked apprehensively.
“We have the ability to scan time with as much ease as you scan space. Our sensors tell us your ship is out of sync with this sector. We’re taking you back to your original temporal coordinates.”
Janeway and the rest of the crew looked at each other startlingly as confusion settled in at his accusations. It was Seven who was out of sync, not them. “Excuse me, Captain, but we have a member of our crew who claims to have traveled back through time. I think it’s her you want to take back.”
Doyle looked up at Janeway for the first time and locked eyes with the straight-faced woman. A few seconds had passed when one of his crew whispered something into his ear that gave insight to the situation. He had to be careful not to divulge too much information about the situation and, therefore, carefully chose his words. “Captain…Janeway is it? Our sensors indicate that you have a human/Borg hybrid on your ship. Is this the crewmember in question?”
“Yes she is.”
“This crewmember of yours is also out of sync, but the parameters of her…situation are more complex. Her Borg implants have provided a catalyst for the distortion wave that hit her ship, creating a duplicate Voyager that was sent to this timeframe and knocking her back to this ship instead of remaining on her original. Drop your shields so we can transport you through the rift and reintegrate you with the original ship.”
“Captain, with all due respect, how do you know we aren’t the original ship?” Janeway boldly asked.
Doyle laughed. “I assure you, Captain, we know how to scan time with accuracy. Your memories of this event will be altered once you’re integrated so you’ll have no remembrance of this temporal occurrence. Prepare for transport.” Without warning the transmission was cut off and a tractor beam was placed on Voyager’s hull, pulling it into the temporal rift.
Doyle’s allegation had proved to be at the very least insightful regarding the Borg algorithms in the weapons and shields matrices. “I guess we don’t have much choice. Drop shields,” Janeway said with defeat.
Kathryn sat in her chair waiting for transport, thinking about how she changed over the last few days, and hoping she would remember how Seven had brought a new light into her life with just her presence. She didn’t even have the urge to reach for Chakotay’s hand the way she normally did in tense situations like this. He had always been there when she needed even the smallest bit of encouragement against the fiercest of enemies, but right now her thoughts were with Seven and her courage was elevated. Within minutes, Voyager was pulled through the distortion and a beam of light engulfed the ship, blinding the crew, and as they slipped quietly into unconsciousness she whispered softly, “Seven, I love you.”
Captain Janeway sat on the bridge late this evening. Her duty shift had ended over two hours ago but she wasn’t ready to be off duty. Not yet. She glanced around the room at the rest of her senior bridge crew working this evening: Tuvok, Harry, Tom, and Chakotay. With the exception of Tuvok, they were all about to retreat to Sandrine’s for the evening, no doubt to meet B’Elanna. Their duty shifts ended in minutes, but they continued manning their stations and paid no attention to her as her mind wandered. She had a stack of reports to finish that she could be working on, mostly because she preferred to let them build up and tackle them at once, but dreams she had last night about Seven and the sudden urge to rejuvenate her tennis game left her wondering about the future she had with Seven. For a while now she had been having doubts about their relationship, believing it was moving too far too fast, but the dream she had last night about losing Seven forever made her wake up in a cold sweat and paralyzed her with fear. Since then she became determined to never let her reservations stand in the way of her true feelings again. She loved the woman more than anyone else she had loved in her life and there was no doubt the former Borg loved her equally as much.
“Captain, there’s an energy source I can’t identify giving off strange readings five light years from here. Should we alter course to investigate?” Harry asked.
“No. Not tonight Harry. I’d like to skip this one if no one has any objections,” Janeway added, looking around the bridge for signs of protest. None. “Good. Continue on our original course, Tom.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Tom tapped his console for another minute before asking, “So who’s up for some pool tonight?”
Always amused by Tom’s attempts to be the crew jester, Harry asked while shaking his head, “Are you still trying to hustle people with that game, Tom? You never give up, do you?”
“I’m not saying yes and I’m not saying no,” Tom joked. “How about you, Captain, you up for a few rounds?”
Janeway snapped out of her trance. “That sounds wonderful, Tom. Seven and I will meet you there after dinner.” Just saying Seven’s name out loud brought a smile to her lips and she blushed when she looked around and saw everyone else smiling with her, no doubt aware of her feelings for the woman, and sharing in an experience she hadn’t felt a part of since she left Earth- the bonding of a family. She was proud of this crew...her friends...her family.
She stood up, left the bridge in Chakotay’s command for the remaining of the shift, and headed directly for Cargo Bay 2. Seven was regenerating right now but Kathryn was sure the young woman wouldn’t mind an early visit from her beloved captain. She stopped by her quarters on the way to replicate some dinner, candles, and a bottle of wine before inviting Seven for a romantic meal in private, then walked into her bedroom to retrieve the small box she kept in her top drawer. What she had in mind seemed impulsive, but deep in her heart she knew this was how she wanted it to be. Everything was perfect for what she needed to make this a special night for them, a special night that would end with a question she had never asked anyone before but had been asked herself twice. Kathryn only hoped Seven would respond the same way she did in the past: Yes.
The End