* * *

“NO! I said to check the power flow regulators on the ‘B’ side circuits! If we don’t balance the circuits independently the alcove won’t cycle up properly. Remember, the Borg think in a linear manner. Each circuit is independent of the others; each circuit with it’s own backup. They get a built in redundancy that way and their technology is less vulnerable to weapons damage. Is that clear?”

“Problems, Lieutenant?” barked Janeway as much to announce their presence as to inquire on the state of the diagnostic.

B’Elanna straightened up and grinned at the new arrivals. “Captain,” she nodded in greeting as she trotted up to Seven, threw her arms around the taller woman’s waist, lifted her off her feet and spun her around before setting the stunned former drone back on the deck. “I am so happy for you! Congratulations! Lemme see, lemme see, lemme see!”

Seven’s rather bemused smile belied her happiness at B’Elanna’s greeting. “See what, Lieutenant Torres?”

“The ring, Seven, the ring! The Doctor just hailed me and told me the big news. He said your engagement ring is a whopper! Lemme see!” Janeway mentally rolled her eyes wondering if there was any member of the senior staff who didn’t know by now.

Seven held out her left hand and her smile broadened as B’Elanna’s eyes popped. “Kahless! It’s a damned good thing you’ve got a duranium reinforced skeleton and Borg-enhanced musculature. No ordinary human could hold her hand up with a rock this big on it!” She looked up at Janeway and grinned again. “Congratulations, Captain. So when’s the wedding?”

“Captain Janeway and I will be married in 5.3 weeks. Invitations will go out within the next week to all members of the crew and the other guests.”

“That’s great! Right before everybody’s leave is over. The whole crew will be able to make it. Where’s it going to be?”

“What’s that, Seven?”

“Would you stand up with me? Commander Tuvok is standing with Kathryn, with the Captain, and I would like you to stand with me.”

Torres let out a whoop and hugged Seven again. “You bet I will!”

Janeway smiled at her Engineering Chief. “Well then, now that we’ve got the social obligations out of the way, how are we coming with the alcove diagnostics?”

“We’re getting power fluctuations between the alpha and beta relays, Captain. It’s not serious, and I think all it needs is a minor adjustment, but I don’t want to take any chances.”

“And I don’t want you to. How long before you’ll know if you’ve got it under control?”

“Fifteen minutes, tops, Captain. Why don’t you and Seven head down to Astrometrics? There’s a group from the Science Institute down there trying to figure out how it works. I’m sure Seven could save them a lot of time.”

“All right, Lieutenant. Let me know when the diagnostics are complete here. There are a couple of things in Engineering that we probably need to go over this morning too.”

“I’ll let you know when we finish here, Captain. Catch you later, Seven!”

“I will see you in Engineering, Lieutenant.” The women turned away from each other and Janeway and Seven left Torres to finish her work on the Borg alcoves. As they headed for the doors, Seven called out over her shoulder, “Come with us, Ensign Radcliffe. There is much you can learn in the Astrometrics Lab.” The young officer wasted no time complying.

The doors to the lab on deck eight were open when Janeway, Seven and Radcliffe rounded the corner and came to it. A group of engineers and scientists huddled over the control interfaces, and were talking quietly among themselves; their voices oddly grating in the silence of the room.

“Good morning, gentlemen!” Again, Janeway’s voice seemed to command rather than greet. It had the intended affect causing the group to snap almost to attention at their arrival. “Are you having problems with the Astrometrics arrays?”

“Not problems, exactly, Captain,” said one man, apparently the lead researcher. “The power protocols appear to be compromised and the control interfaces are non-responsive. We’re attempting to interface our tricorders to analyze the blockage and then we plan to utilize an encryption algorithm to bypass the compromised interface modules.”

“Do you understand what he’s trying to say, Ensign Radcliffe?” asked Janeway with a hint of asperity in her voice. She had little patience with those who used verbal obfuscation to hide their inadequacies.

“Not a clue, Captain,” replied Radcliffe.

“They cannot turn it on,” answered Seven with disdain, “And they are planning on destroying the control consoles and interfaces to try and bypass them.”

“Is that about the size of it, gentlemen?” queried Janeway.

“I wouldn’t say that, no, Captain,” answered the head scientist, “We were planning on asking the control center at the shipyards to see it they could override the command codes – “

“They cannot. If you have compromised the control interfaces, then the Borg encryption codes built into the backup modules will safeguard the command codes. Utopia Planetia will not be able to break them,” snapped Seven. She had built the Astrometrics Lab virtually by herself and had certainly run it by herself for nearly four years; she was a bit possessive of it. The fact that a group of scientists who didn’t know what they were doing were in the process of tearing it apart angered her greatly.

“And how do you know that?” demanded the scientist, showing a bit of temper himself.

“Because she is Seven of Nine and she built this lab,” barked Janeway, quashing his display of ire most effectively. “You can do one of two things at this point, gentlemen. You can ask for her assistance and learn how the lab works, or you can get thrown off this ship in favor of a team that’s willing to acknowledge when it’s in over its head. Which will it be?”

“You can’t do that! You don’t have the authority!” sputtered the red-faced scientist.

“You’re relieved, Dr. - ?”

“Hendricks,” supplied another member of the team helpfully.

“You’re relieved, Dr. Hendricks,” Janeway nodded her thanks to the team member supplying the information and slapped her COMM badge. “Security to Astrometrics, deck eight.” A security detail arrived in moments and Janeway issued her orders. “Escort Dr. Hendricks off the ship and out of the shipyards. His access is revoked immediately. My authorization.”

“Yes, ma’am!” the security officers politely grasped Hendricks’ arms and hustled him out of the lab.

“Now who’s in charge of this detail?” asked Janeway a bit more calmly.

“I guess that would be me, Captain,” said a sandy-haired man stepping forward. “I’m Jason Boatwright from Quantum Array Development. Hendricks didn’t appreciate the safeguards built into the system; he just tried to break in past them.”

“He would not succeed. Why did he not just utilize the instructions we left for the lab when we stood down?” asked Seven in frustration.

“I don’t know, ma’am. He just seemed like he didn’t think it would be any big deal. Apparently he was wrong, because he brought the whole system down.”

“Seven, do you think you can find the problem and fix it?” asked Janeway.

“I can try, Captain.” Seven strode to the control console and tapped several keys with no results. She spun on her heel and moved to a wall interface with the central computer core and tapped in her control codes and encryption overrides, her fingers moving so fast as to be nearly invisible. The group of scientists trailing in her wake reminded Janeway of a flock of ducklings following its mother on the pond back home.

“Captain, Dr. Hendricks has caused considerable corruption in the online interfaces between the central processor and control console. I will have to access the system at the processor level to correct the data corruptions.”

“Go ahead, Seven,” authorized Janeway, crossing her arms on her chest and leaning back slightly towards Radcliffe. “Watch this,” she whispered to her awe-struck aide.

Seven took a half step back from the computer interface, made a fist of her left hand and extended it toward the console. Her assimilation tubules shot out and imbedded themselves in the control surface, linking her cortical node directly with the ship’s computer core. The console leapt to life, controls flashing and cycling. The group of scientists gave a collective gasp and took a step backwards.

“How…how are you doing that?” whispered Boatwright.

“I am Borg,” declared Seven arrogantly.

“Hot damn!” muttered Ethan in amazement.

“Isn’t she something?” said Janeway with a wry smile. “I’m gonna marry that girl, Ensign.”

Radcliffe just grinned at her.

After several moments, Seven withdrew her tubules from the console and turned to an access panel adjacent to the computer interface. “Ensign, assist me!”

Radcliffe sprang to her side and helped her shift the panel. Seven pulled out the array of isolinear chips and began to shift them in their slots, bypassing the damaged data sectors. “By utilizing the existing isolinear array and rerouting the power and control pathways around the damaged sectors, we can still activate the arrays and the repairs will be minor. We need only reprogram some isolinear chips and replace those that I have deactivated and the original control interfaces will again function. If you are ever in a situation where a fast repair is necessary always think to reroute your power and control pathways through existing interfaces rather than install new ones. The time you save may save your life and your ship, Ensign.”

“There you are, gentlemen. The array will need to be recalibrated as soon as I affect repairs, but in the meanwhile a mere sector display will have to suffice.”

Boatwright finally found his voice. “Do you mean to tell me that this array can display more than the sector?”

“Of course, Dr. Boatwright. It can display the entire quadrant if need be.”

“Are you telling me you’ve extended the sensor arrays so that they can scan the entire quadrant?”

“Yes, Dr. Boatwright. It is a simple matter of power mechanics utilized in a controlled harmonics cascade. However, optimal resolution is reduced if you extend the array beyond six sectors.”

The scientists gathered around her all talking at once. Apparently, Seven’s designs were indeed the breakthrough they had been billed to be.

“Ah, gentlemen? Seven needs to break for lunch right now, but I promise I’ll have her back to you soon. Do you think you can keep from further damaging the lab until she returns?”

“Of course, Captain Janeway,” replied Boatwright. “Now that we’ve got the system online, the instructions we’ve got will let us experiment with the array.”

“Do not attempt to extend the array further than this sector until I have reprogrammed the isolinear chips or you will overload the system and initiate another cascade failure.”

“No, ma’am. We won’t. I promise you.”

“See that you do not.” Seven turned and strode over to the beaming Janeway. “Where shall we consume lunch?”

“How about the Commissary? Ethan, why don’t you join us?”

“Yes, Captain!”

* * *

Janeway and Radcliffe spent the afternoon in the office going over requisitions while Seven worked in the Astrometrics lab first repairing the damage and then demonstrating its capabilities to the scientists. B’Elanna finished the alcove diagnostics and when she was finally satisfied that Seven’s alcove was fully functional again, moved to main Engineering and worked with two of the crews there on the transwarp coils. The women met in their office suite early in the evening to do a recap of the day and plan what needed to be done the next day.

“So, are you headed back Earth side?” Janeway asked her engineer when they had finished.

“Yeah, I’m going to try and catch the shuttle that leaves at 1830 hours. Tom and his father were going to take Miral out on a class two shuttle this afternoon; apparently, you’re never too young to do aerobatics according to my husband and father-in-law. I need to make sure they don’t have her too worked up to sleep. What are your plans?”

“Dinner at the O club, some time alone together and then Seven needs to regenerate. It’s going to be a pretty quiet evening for us.”

“Nothing wrong with that, Captain. Everybody needs quiet evenings. They keep you sane.”

“We’ll see you in the morning, B’Elanna. Do you want to try to grab breakfast with us at the Commissary or eat at home?”

“I’m really enjoying letting Tom handle the feeding chores with Miral. I think I’ll meet you for breakfast. 0730 hours?”

“We’ll be there. Have a safe trip home.”

The group broke up and went their separate ways. Seven of Nine enjoyed the Officers’ Club, although she maintained that Gretchen’s food and Radcliffe’s tea were better, and she seemed pleased at the guest quarters Janeway had been assigned.

“It is appropriate that they treat you with respect, Kathryn. They should make quarters like these available to you; after all, it is your ship everyone is working on.”

“Come over here and sit with me. You need to understand it stopped being my ship the moment I surrendered the command codes and we stood down. It’s very unlikely that I will be given command of Voyager again. Most likely, I’ll get a completely different ship. That is, if I don’t opt for a desk job and Admirals bars.”

“What will you choose to do, Kathryn?”

Seven wrapped the smaller woman in her arms and drew her close. “Kathryn, you are incorrigible.” She leaned down and kissed Janeway firmly, her tongue lightly brushing across Kathryn’s lower lip.

They snuggled together exchanging soft kisses. Without any conscious thought they wound up lying together on the couch, legs entwined, wrapped tightly in each other’s arms. Seven was never sure where she stopped and Kathryn began when they lay like this. What she did know for certain was that she had never experienced anything like the feelings that surged through her when she kissed Kathryn. If she needed any further proof that her relationship with Chakotay was not meant to be she had it now. To hold Kathryn and be held by her caused her heart to beat irregularly and made it difficult to breathe. Her hands trembled when she touched Kathryn and often she could not seem to burrow close enough to her love.

Seven had never known peace like she did when she lay in Kathryn’s arms. It was as if the two of them were floating alone on a peaceful sea. All the cares and worries and fears of life were left behind when they were together like this. The thought of having this kind of peace for the rest of her life left Seven weak in the knees.

“Kathryn?”

“Hmmm? What love?”

“Are you disturbed that we have not yet copulated?”

Seven could feel the soft chuckle rumble through Janeway’s chest. “No, darling, I’m not disturbed that we haven’t made love yet. I’ve told you why. I know you think you’re strong enough, but I don’t want to take any chances. Once the doctors release you then we can make love all the time if you want. Plus, and I’m almost ashamed to admit this, I’m not entirely comfortable making love in my mother’s house – don’t ask why. It’s a parent-child thing.”

“But Kathryn, if you don’t wish to make love in your mother’s house, where will we be able to make love?”