Kathryn removed her dress jacket, revealing a blue tank top underneath, and tossed it across the back of a chair. She motioned to Seven to have a seat and walked to the replicator built into the far wall, “Two Coffees. Black.” The replicator materialized two steaming mugs of the hot beverage and Kathryn carried them back to the couch where she sat next to Seven.
“Thank you.”
“Have you thought about joining Starfleet?”
“The thought has crossed my mind.” Seven took a sip from her mug then sat it on the table.
Kathryn saw in Seven’s eyes that her mind was somewhere else, “Is something bothering you Seven? You seem a little distant.”
Seven gazed into her companion’s eyes and felt her heart melt. The first two years after joining Voyager’s crew, she and the Captain had developed a special bond and seemed to grow closer everyday. New to her human emotions, Seven was unsure what exactly she was feeling at first, but knew something special had been forming between them. After some research and collecting thirty thousand gigaquads of data on human relationships, she concluded that she and the Captain had been falling in love. That led her to research dating behavior in hopes of becoming the perfect mate. Shortly after completing her study, something about Kathryn changed, and a small barrier went up between them. Eventually, Kathryn became romantically involved with a hologram, and Seven realized she’d made an error in judgement. With hope of exploring her feelings with the Captain lost, she pushed her own feelings aside, dating the holographic Chakotay before moving on to the real one.
Now things were changing once again. The visit from the future Admiral, whose attitude and emotion toward Seven ironically reminded her of the past Captain, once again opened her mind to the possibility that Janeway returned her feelings. Seven was quickly losing interest in Chakotay, and her heart and thoughts were once again being filled by Kathryn. But how could she tell her all of this? And how could she hurt Chakotay? She had tried breaking it off with the Commander a week ago, using the revelation of her death as a scapegoat, but quickly lost her nerve at Chakotay’s persistence that they stay together. “I was just thinking about the events of the last week,” she responded finally.
Visions of the future Admiral’s warning flashed through Kathryn’s mind once more. “They’ve been on my mind a lot too.”
Seven thought back to the lecture the future Kathryn had given her before the Admiral had developed a new plan with Captain Janeway about getting home. The way the Admiral had desperately pleaded with the young woman to help her convince the Captain to change things and get the crew home sooner, which would in turn save Seven’s own life. Seven, wanting to stay loyal to her Captain as well as alleviate the guilt of assimilating millions while she was a drone, stubbornly refused to listen and told the Admiral she was willing to die if it meant saving others from the Borg.
The Admiral had then called her selfish and warned of the impact her death would have on everyone in her life, “We’re talking about real life. Your colleagues. Your friends. People who love you.”
There was something about the way the Admiral’s voice cracked as she spoke the last sentence that had surprised Seven into meeting her gaze. Captain Janeway’s eyes had always shown a level of strength and confidence no matter how bad the circumstance, but all Seven saw in the Admiral’s was sorrow, regret, and love. She realized there was obviously more behind the Admiral’s actions than just getting the crew home sixteen years sooner.
Seven returned her thoughts to the present and looked over at Kathryn staring into her coffee as if it held the answer to all of life’s questions. She wondered whether the present day Admiral felt the same way now as her future counterpart had in the other time line. Perhaps her initial assumption of Janeway’s feelings were correct after all. She had seen Kathryn’s pupils dilate on more than one occasion while looking at her body, a response she received mostly from the male members of the crew. “Kathryn?”
“Hmm?” Kathryn raised her eyes to Seven’s.
“Are you okay?”
“Just thinking about some of the things the Admiral said,” she admitted.
Tell her how you feel, Seven’s heart demanded. She might feel the same way. Seven felt her pulse quickened at the idea, but nervousness kept her from listening to her heart. “What kind of things?”
Kathryn took a deep breath and looked back down into her coffee, “About the future.” She wasn’t sure if she should tell Seven about her future, or at least the future Seven would have had in the other Admiral’s time line, or keep it to herself.
“She did seem to hold little regard for the Temporal Prime Directive.”
Janeway studied Seven’s face. “Did she discuss the future with you too?”
“Yes. She believed by warning me of future circumstances it might persuade me to help with her original plan.”
The Admiral rolled her eyes. “She used the same tactic on me.”
“Did it work?”
“It did make me give her plan more thought and in turn develop the modified version, yes.”
“Which part?”
“Excuse me?”
“Which part of the Admiral’s revelation made you change your mind so quickly?” Seven hoped it had something to do with her. While risking the many to save the one is illogical, it’s still flattering, and it would provide a clue as to how Kathryn felt. The Captain of Voyager was hardly one to put the life of the crew at risk for such a long shot as using the Borg hub with hundreds of vessels in the area under normal circumstances.
Kathryn took a deep breath. “Well, she warned me of Tuvok’s degenerative disease. And that I would lose a few more crew members...”
“Including me?”
Kathryn paused and met Seven’s gaze. Just the thought of losing her and never being able to look into those eyes again brought a burning sensation to her own eyes. She turned away, hoping Seven didn’t notice a tear which was threatening to escape. “I knew we would probably suffer more casualties, what starship doesn’t? But I admit, the thought of losing you...” The Admiral’s voice broke.
Seven started to hug her friend, but suddenly overcome with shyness only managed to place a hand on Kathryn’s knee. “It is all right, Kathryn. That time line no longer exists. I am safe now.”
The Admiral wiped the moisture from her cheek and looked back into those captivating blue eyes. She lifted the Borg enhanced hand off of her knee slightly, so she could slide her own hand underneath and intertwine her fingers with Seven’s. The soft metal was warm, and felt just like natural skin. She couldn’t help the stray thoughts that wondered if the rest of Seven’s body felt as good.
At first Kathryn was surprised at herself for letting her affection take control, and worried that she may make Seven uncomfortable. But the way Seven was gazing at her pushed all those thoughts to the side. Before she knew what she was doing, she inched closer to Seven until their thighs were touching.
Seven found her breath coming faster, and her heart beat like a bird trying to escape the confines of it’s cage when she noticed Kathryn’s face was also inching closer to hers. Their eyes locked together, trapping them inside their own universe where only the two of them existed. Their mouths only four inches apart now, Seven swallowed the lump in her throat, moistened her lips, and prepared to taste the lips she had been longing for so long.
Chirp. “Incoming priority one message from Starfleet Command.”
Kathryn and Seven jumped back from each other at the unexpected interruption of Kathryn’s computer.
Breathless, Kathryn excused herself and went over to her desk.
What was I just doing? Her head swam as it replayed the last few seconds in an endless loop. Once she could concentrate on the task long enough, she keyed in her command codes and once again was greeted by Admiral Paris, only this time he looked very serious. “Admiral? I wasn’t expecting to hear from you again so soon.”
“I’m sorry Katie. I’m afraid something’s come up. I need you to report back to Headquarters immediately. Is Seven with you?”
Kathryn frowned, “Yes.”
“We need her too.”
“We’ll be right there.”
“Paris out.”
Kathryn sighed and switched the computer back off. “Wonder what it is this time.”
Seven stood, “Only one way to find out.”
Kathryn went into her room and quickly changed into her updated Starfleet
uniform, and placed the Admiral’s pins on her collar. Upon returning to the
living room, Kathryn and Seven said nothing to each other and started off to
Starfleet Headquarters in silence.
Lt. Reginald Barclay stood next to a viewscreen at one end of the conference room displaying the latest deep space scan from the outer rims of the Alpha Quadrant. “The graviton emissions are preventing us from getting a clear reading, but we estimate there are least twenty Borg vessels on an intercept course for Earth.”
“And that’s not the worst of it.” Admiral Paris leaned forward, his brow furrowed and he suddenly looked very tired to Kathryn. “The readings we have managed to get indicate the presence of technology that hasn’t even been invented yet.”
Janeway’s mouth dropped open, the impact of what Admiral Paris said hitting her like a ton of bricks, “Admiral Janeway...,” her voice trailed off. With all the thoughts that were traveling through her mind at warp speed, she was only vaguely aware she said anything at all.
“The future Admiral Janeway, yes,” Admiral Paris straightened and nodded for Reg to turn off the display.
The present Admiral Janeway sat in a nauseated daze. All she wanted was to get home as soon as possible. How could she had been so selfish? She knew very well how dangerous it was dealing with the Borg, but she wanted to avoid losing Seven, or any other member of the crew. Now, not only had she doomed them anyway, but the entire Federation as well.
Seven spoke up, “How long before they arrive?”
“Less than 48 hours.” Lt. Barclay took a seat next to Admiral Paris.
A light suddenly went off in Kathryn’s mind, “Seven, you did a thorough analysis of the Admiral’s ship right?”
Seven nodded.
“Including her time travel technology?”
“Wait just a minute,” Admiral Paris interrupted, having a pretty good idea where Janeway was heading. “You know very well that the Temporal Prime Directive strictly prohibits the use of time travel.”
“But sir-,”
“Absolutely not!” Admiral Paris’ usually calm features flushed bright red, “It was your time traveling that got us into this predicament to begin with!”
Admiral Janeway stiffened with both guilt and stubbornness, but she held her tongue. She knew that once Admiral Paris, or any Admiral for that matter, made up his mind, the debate was over.
“Seven,” Paris’ features softened slightly. “You’re an expert on Borg and
their technology. You also studied the future Janeway’s ship from top to bottom.
I want you, Lt. Barclay, and Admiral Janeway to head down to Special Ops and
develop a way to update our defenses to future standards as much as possible
before those ships arrive. And I want an update on your team’s progress every
hour. Dismissed.”
Kathryn threw the PADD she’d been studying down on the desk and rested her face in both her hands. This is hopeless. There’s no way we can defend against twenty Borg vessels armed with 25th century technology.
“Are you all right, Admiral?” Seven, who was seated next to Kathryn at their work station, laid her PADD down and studied her exhausted partner.
“This is all my fault. There’s no way we can win this battle, and the entire Federation has seen its last days all thanks to me and my ignorance.”
“Kathryn,” Seven lowered her voice even though they were the only ones working in this corner of the large room. “You had no way of knowing what would happen. The Collective’s link to the hive mind was supposed to have been destroyed before the Admiral’s knowledge got too far, even from my own calculations.”
“No,” Kathryn tried to keep her patience in check, but it was difficult under the circumstances. “I knew very well the risks of dealing with the Borg, but I chose to put my selfishness in front of the lives of others.”
“You were trying to get your crew home in one piece. How is that selfish?”
Kathryn closed her eyes and sighed, “Seven,” She began, but then stopped, unsure what to say.
She glanced around at the other officers. Some worked at their stations, while some carrying PADDs ran around frantically. While we’re just sitting here, the Borg get closer and closer to achieving one of their ultimate goals: The assimilation of humanity. I have to stop them.
Kathryn already had a rough idea on how to prevent the invasion, but she needed a shuttle, and she needed it now. With everything so chaotic and all of Starfleet preoccupied with the Borg invasion, she wondered if it would be possible to steal a shuttle and get away before they had time to stop her. Admiral Paris already knew what she wanted to do, so he may be keeping an eye on her. She needed help. “Seven?”
“Yes, Admiral?”
Kathryn glanced around one more time to make sure no one was in ear shot. “You and I both know that this battle against the Borg is hopeless. The only way to save the Alpha Quadrant is for me to go back and undo the damage I caused.”
“Admiral Paris already forbid the use of time travel.”
“Please! What’s he going to do? Demote me? By this time tomorrow we’ll all be Borg drones anyway.” Kathryn regretted her harsh tone when she saw the slight flicker of hurt in Seven’s eyes. “I’m sorry Seven. But I need your help.”
“How?”
“I need a shuttle, and I need to be