Part 07

She desperately wanted to find a reason to break Seven out of her holding cell. She wanted to find a reason to sweep her away and take her back to the safety of Voyager. More importantly, wanted a reason to be Seven's hero.

But she knew nothing like that would be forthcoming. She was Seven's Captain. And as such, she couldn't be her friend, her confident, or her protector. Her duty was to Voyager, the Prime Directive, and Starfleet. She couldn't go against everything she had been taught and trained to do just because her heart was literally wrenching in her chest.

It wasn't the thought of sex with the tall beautiful drone that was upsetting her. It was the method and the means. She had certainly given lengthy thought to engaging in sexual activity with the drone on numerous occasions.

But every other time the thought of their naked limbs mingling the normally stoic Captain had always used the term making love. She had never imagined that their first time together would be under the watchful gaze of a crowd of aliens. She had never even considered that there would come a time that she would have to force the drone to accept her touch.

She had always imagined that their first time would be filled with wonder, romance, and deep passionate love. She had wanted Seven's first time to be gentle and soft. She wanted to wipe away the cold steel memories of the Borg Collective. She wanted to erase Seven's fear and recollections of pain.

But now, she would just add to it. She had become a part of the problem. And no matter how much she wished it could be some other way, Kathryn knew that she had no other option. She would have to take Seven's innocence and hope that somehow the drone would learn the art of forgiveness.

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She wasn't going to wait for them to come and take her. After all, she was once a member of the Borg Collective. She was far from defenseless.

She could leave this place and disappear. She would go so far that they wouldn't find her. No one would hurt her, not anymore?

Seven wiped at her eyes with her hand wondering why they seemed to be malfunctioning. The doctor had once explained tears to her. He told her that often, humans felt the need to cry. It was cathartic and a response to grave sadness.

But at the moment, Seven knew she wasn't experiencing sorrow. It was fear that was plaguing her body. And it was the kind of terror that made her miss the cold safety of a Borg Cube.

T'knar had come to visit her. He had explained the ritual that she was about to undergo. And then, when he had seen the shock, outrage, and horror play across her features he did his very best to sooth her fragile nerves.

"Seven it is going to be all right, your Captain has seen to it. N'eli will not be permitted anywhere near you. A member of your very own crew is going to be there with you in his place." He said in a soft and gentle voice.

He had thought the information would somehow allay her fears. Someone as beautiful as Seven must surely have a long list of suitors. He figured that she would have her hands full trying to pick the one person that she would bestow this honor upon.

But his instincts had been wrong. Instead of relief, the woman only lashed out in pure rage. He didn't understand that this situation had just grown steadily worse.

And now mere hours later, Seven walked over to the force field trying to remember the code he had used to leave. If she could find the right frequency she might be able to adapt her implants to emit a small charge. Once the force field had lowered, the drone had every confidence in her ability to physically defend herself.

She couldn't let a member of the crew touch her in this way. When she thought that N'eli would be allowed to have his way with her, she felt pure rage at the very idea. But when she learned that it would be someone that she knew, the normally unfeeling drone had felt her body tremble in pure white-hot terror.

Her relationship with her crew mates was strained enough. She didn't want anyone to see her weak. She didn't want anyone to see her helpless. And she certainly couldn't abide such an intimate violation from someone she knew.

The very idea was completely abhorrent. And she couldn't believe that the Captain couldn't see how this was now so much worse. At least if she had been left to N'eli, then these memories could be left behind. Voyager would leave orbit and she would never have to see her offender again.

But now, she would have to see this person every single day of her life. She would never be able to forget what had been done to her. And the drone didn't understand how she would ever tolerate such pain.

It would be better to just leave. The normally logical woman wasn't even thinking in terms of where or how. Seven simply knew that she had to run away.

With her rather determined mind made up, it only took a few tries before she found the right frequency. Her body hurt from her continual contact with the force field. But she knew that her nanoprobes would fix the damage.

Besides, the pain didn't even bother her. As she stepped over the threshold she knew that she was finally free. Letting her panic seize control of her body, she easily fell into steady run and set out for the nearest escape that she could find.

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"I was glad to hear from you Captain. I hope that we can set this matter to rest now." T'knar said taking the seat he had vacated less then an hour before.

"As do I. But before I give you my decision I have another question." The Captain said staring at the man through her skeptical eyes.

"Yes?" He asked eager to provide what information that he could.

Nervously, he glanced around at his surroundings. He was beginning to wonder if he should let the Captain know how emotionally devastated her drone was. Under any other normal circumstance, that was the type of information that he would readily share. But this Captain was easily prone to anger. He had no wish to provoke her further.

"You said the Elders watch. How many people are we talking about? And how close will they be?" She asked wondering about the little specifics that had so far been overlooked.

"Well, it is not just the Elders. Such ceremonies are always open to those that wish to attend. Normally, perhaps 50 or 60 citizens would attend. But since Seven is so different, I'm afraid she's raised a lot of curiosity. It will probably be several hundred." He said knowing that the information would gravely displease the Captain.

In his society, the larger the crowd the greater honor and respected bestowed upon the participants. But these humans were so very odd in manners in sexuality. From what Tuvok said this strange species only mated behind closed doors, without an audience to even cheer them.

"And the participants will be on the sacred cloth kept in the very center of the Basilisk. The crowd will be in the seats, high above and far behind. You needn't worry Captain. There is considerable distance." He said somehow hoping to achieve some sense of connection with the woman.

But the Captain didn't care for T'knar's feeble attempts at kindness, courtesy or friendship. She had far too much on her mind then to think of one Y'rians feelings. After all, she was about to sex her drone in front of hundreds of aliens.

And as she sat there trying to imagine the scene that was about to unfold, she just couldn't stop the hammering in her chest or flutter in her stomach. It didn't seem to matter to her body how she made Seven her own.

On so many different levels she wanted the drone. But now, thanks to her duty as Captain she was beginning to think she would never have the drone in the only way that she had truly needed. Because beneath her tough, feisty, and cold exterior all the Captain had ever really wanted was to fall completely in love with her beautiful Borg drone.

Part 08

She ran for a great distance. She needed to put as much space as possible between herself and the Y'rian holding cell. She knew that it wouldn't be long before they realized that she had escaped. And when they did find her cell empty, Seven knew that Voyager would be the first to hear from them.

And for the briefest of moments, Seven of Nine let herself entertain a wonderful fantasy. It was funny. The drone had never really had occasion to daydream before. When the doctor had described such a human compunction to her, she had assumed that one fantasized during times happiness, joy, and just plain self-exploration. That was certainly how it seemed that the Doctor dabbled in this particular habit.

But now Seven found that she had a real reason to escape the confines of her reality. She wanted to believe that if she touched her comm badge, Captain Janeway would whisk her away. She wanted to believe that if she only contacted Voyager that her friends and crewmates would come rushing to her aid. She even wanted to believe that the Captain might congratulate her on her rather inventive escape.

And yet, Seven knew that such a scenario was not only unlikely it was ridiculous. The Captain didn't back down, not once she had made a decision. And Seven knew that in this case Janeway firmly believed that she was doing the right thing in the somewhat distant eyes of Starfleet.

So, the drone did the only thing she could. She ripped the comm badge from her biosuit. And threw it hurdling into the ravine at her side.

Recently, it had come to mean so much to her. She had truly begun to adapt to life on Voyager. She firmly believed that the Captain was proud of the efforts she had made to rejoin and recapture her own humanity.

But if this pain was what humanity was all about, the drone didn't want any part of it. She had never known betrayal or deceit. These were gifts from her human side. And of all people to teach her such a cruel lesson, it was her only real friend.

Yet, Seven knew she couldn't think of such things now. She still had to escape Voyager's sensors and that wasn't going to be an easy task. The drone was grateful that the holding cell had been located in a remote part of the city. The building was surrounded by forest on all sides. It had been prudent to slip away under the dense shrubbery.

Yet, the drone knew that Voyager could easily pick up her unique life signs. But Seven also knew the geography of this region better then perhaps the Captain realized. When she had been working on her ideas for their planetary shield, she had taken long-range topographic readings of the planet's surface. She knew that that there were caves nearby, dense in a rock substance known to the Y'rians as cendrior. It would mask her signature from Voyager's sensors. So, with a frantic step and a frightened mind, the drone headed off in search of safety.

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The Captain was tired of discussing the arrangements for the ceremony. It was all that they had done for the last hour and she was growing apprehensive of the final hour. She knew that it was the only decision that she could have made. But still, she was broken hearted about having to hurt Seven. And she wanted a focal point for her anger. She needed someone to unleash her doubts, fears, and deep self-loathing onto. And T'knar was quickly turning into just that person.

"I tell you Captain, the ceremony is simply a thing of beauty." He said trying desperately to convince her that his people were not cruel or unusually callous.

But he suspected that his cries were falling on deaf ears. The Captain had done nothing but stare at him through a near blinding rage for the better part of the hour. And there didn't seem to be a single thing that he could do to change that.

"You are certain of this decision?" He asked wondering if the woman was beginning to second guess herself.

When she had first told him that she had decided to go through the ceremony with the drone he thought it for the best. The Captain clearly had deep feelings for the blonde woman they called Seven. But to T'knar it seemed like the Captain was truly unsure of the situation. To him it seemed like on several different occasions she wanted to berate herself for not doing more to protect the drone.

"No, I haven't been certain of anything since we came here. But I don't feel like I have much of a choice." The Captain said feeling more awful by the moment.

The longer she heard T'knar ramble about the upcoming ceremony, the worse she felt. Truly the ceremony would prove to be humiliating for both Seven and the Captain. And Janeway couldn't stand to think of it any longer.

And yet, it wasn't even the ceremony itself that was truly bothering her. It was all that would happen afterwards. Kathryn couldn't begin to even imagine how Seven would react once she was brought back aboard Voyager. The Captain could only hope that somehow she could manage to repair the trust between them. Kathryn could only hope that the bond between them was somehow strong enough to survive.

A loud chime coming from her door stopped the words threatening to spill out of T'knar's mouth. She looked at him, expecting him to finish his thought anyway. But he only shrugged clearly at a loss to resolve the tension between them.

"Come." She snarled unable to keep the icy tones from lacing her voice.

Her chief security officer walked in apparently apprehensive by T'knar's presence. A less astute person would never have noticed the change in Tuvok's demeanor. But Kathryn did. They had been friends far too long for her not to know when something was amiss.

"Captain, Counselor T'knar?" Tuvok said bowing before the Y'rian representative as their customs demanded.

The Vulcan stopped his motions looking to the Captain for some kind of guidance. Kathryn didn't know why, but she suspected that Tuvok's impromptu visit had everything to do with Seven of Nine. The notion was ridiculous. There could be any number of other reasons for the Vulcan's visit.

But somehow the Captain just knew it had to do with her drone. Maybe it was the man's slight bristle whenever he looked at T'knar. Or maybe it was the strong bonds of love that held her firmly to the drone. Whatever the reason, Captain Janeway sensed that something dreadful had happened to the drone.

"What is it Tuvok?" The Captain asked clearly giving him permission to speak in front of the Y'rian native.

"We have just received a communiqu頦rom the planet's surface. It appears that Seven has managed to adapt her Borg implants to the frequency of the force field that was holding her. She has escaped the holding facility. They have begun searching for her but so far their efforts have proved fruitless. They have asked for our assistance." He said wondering what the Captain would do.

This was the perfect opportunity to let Seven escape the fate the Y'rians had planned for her. And the Vulcan found himself pondering the possibility that the Captain may use this chance to beam the drone safely away from Sodic forever.

Part 09

When the message had first come in Tuvok had wanted to wait for the Captain's presence on the bridge before listening. Normal operating procedure would dictate as much. But Chakotay had insisted that they listen to the audio only message before waiting for Janeway. And though the request was out of the ordinary, it wasn't something that Tuvok felt the need to openly disagree with.

So, the Vulcan had listened to the message with the others on the bridge. It was no secret what was to happen to Seven in a few short hours. Voyager was a small ship with a deep hunger for gossip. And unfortunately, the drone was definitely the topic of the hour.

To Tuvok, it seemed like everyone had an opinion. And many crewmembers were openly volunteering to share in this ceremony with the blonde drone. And while Tuvok understood that Seven was generally considered to be acutely attractive, he doubted the emotional sincerity behind those that offered their service.

He noticed that at lunch, many vulgar tales were being told of what the crew expected the ceremony to be like. There were rumors floating from all sides in the mess hall as to whom the Captain would ask to participate. As of yet, it seemed the lead contender was either Chakotay or Harry Kim.

And even though Tuvok knew that both men would probably easily agree to such a proposition, he doubted strongly that Seven would want help from either of them. As far as the astute Vulcan could tell, there was only one person on board that Seven had displayed any romantic interest in. And even though Tuvok had only the highest regards for most of Kathryn Janeway's abilities he noticed that when it came to matters of love, the woman seemed almost dense at times.

First it had been Chakotay. Tuvok watched as the former Marquise tried to win the heart of a cold woman. At times, the Vulcan wondered if Chakotay's interest in the Captain stemmed more from a place of accomplishment then true love. If there was one thing that Tuvok had learned about Chakotay, it was that he liked a challenge.

Eventually though, the first officer had realized that his feelings would never be returned. He had moved on. And unfortunately, Tuvok was relatively positive that Chakotay had moved right from one impossible woman to another.

He had seen the way that the first officer had gone out of his way to encounter Seven. Chakotay had fused the 'accidental on purpose' meeting down to a fine art. And Tuvok had noticed with much amusement that Seven was totally unaware of the man's infatuation.

Tuvok suspected that Chakotay's affection for the drone was the reason for his somewhat irregular behavior on the bridge. When the message had arrived it would seem that given the Captain's decision, the logical course of action would be to start scanning the planet's surface for signs of Borg technology.

But instead, the Commander had done nothing. It had taken several verbal prods from Harry Kim before Chakotay had even responded at all. And from the silent sentiment on the bridge, Tuvok could tell that no one wanted to look for Seven.

Most people on board Voyager felt that the Captain was being unfair to the drone. Their relations with the Y'rians were of no consequence to their long-term goal of getting home. And though most of the crew understood why Janeway felt it necessary to apply the Prime Directive and obey the laws of another world, some people still didn't agree with it.

And someone had started a rather unflattering rumor about the Captain herself. Though Tuvok had yet to discern its origin, he hoped to protect the Captain from the cruel words. There was gossip floating around the ship that Janeway was only forcing Seven to comply with Y'rian law so that she could take the drone herself.

Tuvok found the whole thing rather illogical and somewhat repugnant. He had known Kathryn Janeway for many years. He would never attribute such traits to her character.

But he couldn't disagree with the fact that out in the Delta Quadrant, she had changed. The woman that he knew had been molded into another. This was one was stronger, smarter, and perhaps a bit more courageous.

Yet this woman didn't always play by the same rules as the Kathryn he had known so long ago. He had seen Captain Janeway do many things to save Voyager that he never would have conceived possible. She had done things out of necessity that was she wasn't proud of.

Desperately, Tuvok hoped that this incident with the Y'rians would not prove to be another regretful action. Legally, the Captain's reasons for staying behind and applying Y'rian justice were valid and logical. But Tuvok couldn't deny the fact that the Captain had displayed strong feelings of attraction towards Seven of Nine.

And Kathryn was after all, only human. He knew from experience how often their feelings tended to cloud their better judgment. He could only hope that now was not one of those occasions.

Though he knew how the Captain felt about the drone, he doubted that anyone else did. She was an adept master at hiding her feelings. He knew that she felt they only weakened her position and her authority. But in the case of the drone, he firmly believed it prudent for the Captain to confess her true feelings.

He suspected that she had no idea that Seven returned her emotions. Even though the drone followed the Captain about like a lovesick puppy, he knew that Seven had never vocalized her adoration. The mating behavior of humans never ceased to confuse him.

And now it would appear, that Chakotay was attempting to give the Captain an 'out.' Tuvok was aware of the fact that the Y'rians didn't know the full spectral range of Voyager's systems. It was conceivable that they could tell the planet's government that they had been unable to locate the drone. Then, at a later time they could return for Seven without alerting the Y'rians to their presence.

"Captain, this is most alarming. I implore you to find the woman as quickly as possible. The holding facility is located deep in the Shastarta Forest. There are many wild animals that prey in that territory. One woman alone could not defend herself." T'knar said very clearly concerned for Seven's well being.

"What did the sensor scans turn up?" The Captain asked wondering why they hadn't been able to locate the drone.

"Nothing Captain. Commander Chakotay instructed me to deliver the news to you before doing anything. We have yet to scan the planet's surface." Tuvok answered easily recognizing all the familiar signs of anger lacing the woman's eyes.

"I see." She quipped quickly rounding her desk before practically barreling out of her ready room.

The Captain came rushing onto the bridge shooting her first officer what could only be described as a dagger-filled stare. She knew what he had been trying to do and she didn't appreciate it. She had made a decision. Seven would stay on Sodic until she had met the requirements of their legal system. And the drone wouldn't be allowed to leave until the ceremony had been completed. That much, Janeway was absolutely sure of.