Part Four
*

Janeway and Seven stood with the Doctor in sickbay. Caela sat on a biobed in the isolation unit.

"She has human DNA," the Doctor explained, "There are some basic evolutionary differences, because her people evolved on a different planet than most humans." The Doctor went back to his readings. "I'd still like to know how that happened. Still, I'd classify her as human."

"Why doesn't she show up on sensors, Doctor?" Janeway inquired, asking her question quietly.

The Doctor answered, "I can't be sure yet. It could be another evolutionary adaptation. I'll want to look through the data on the planet, which Voyager collected. I'll need more time."

Janeway sighed, "Any reason to think she's a danger?"

"I can't find any physical reason. At the risk of sounding uncaring, you might want to tag her, for location purposes." The Doctor said.

"I don't think that'll be necessary, Doctor." Janeway said, "She's too small to be much of a threat, and if she wanted to hurt anyone, why would she have saved my life? Why would she come aboard a ship where the people are armed? No. I don't think we need to tag her like an animal."  He turned his back to Caela, and spoke quietly, "Perhaps what's needed here is a course of psychiatric treatment."

Seven did not like the sound of that. She watched Caela, who sat on the bed, absolutely crestfallen. She hugged her coat to her chest.

"Run the tests again," Janeway said, "We have to be sure. And let me know as soon as you know anything." She thought a moment. "Let's keep this quiet."

"Of course," he said. "I'm a doctor, not the town crier."

Janeway turned to Seven, who had made her way to Caela's bedside. "Seven, why don't you assign quarters to Caela."

"Yes, Captain."

Caela lowered herself off the bed, and walked out of sickbay without a look at Janeway or the others.

Seven followed, but Janeway stopped her. "Seven, I'm depending on you to keep an eye on Caela. If she needs anything, provide it. I can only imagine what she's feeling right now."

"Yes, Captain."

Seven left and found Caela waiting in the corridor, her arms wrapped around the thick fur of her coat.

They walked to the turbolift, and once inside, Caela spoke.

"They don't believe me." She said, "If it's not in their science, they won't believe."

Seven knew that was usually true. She herself preferred science to faith of any kind.

"Do you believe me?" Caela watched Seven. She shook her head and laughed in bewilderment, "Why would I claim-“ She stopped. "It doesn't matter. You are to assign a place for me to sleep. Will this place be secure?"

"It can be made so."

"Take me there.'

*

In her quarters, Caela stood at the window watching the stars speed by. "I was born on that planet. It's better I should die there."

Seven had no idea how to reply to such a statement. In her mind, there was all the evidence she had compiled, and a sense of something about Caela.

"I believe you."

Caela twisted to look over her shoulder, "Instinct. You are using your instinct." She sat on the bed, "You know I'm a monster. I understand if you want to leave."

"I do not think you are a monster," Seven said, "You saw the Borg. You might think me a monster."

"No." Caela answered immediately, "That's what you used to be." She picked up her coat, rubbed her cheek on the fur. "This is what I am."

Seven was next to the bed now, and she sat slowly, unsure of if she really wanted to, but not feeling right standing above Caela. "That was you we heard in the forest."

Her head was down, but she gave a nod. "I will change again. It's a cycle, and I am in that cycle. Your Tuvok is sensitive, and he almost saw it."

Seven recalled his reaction to Caela. "You came aboard Voyager while in a cycle?"

"To be near people. To hear conversation. I thought I'd be back home before I became dangerous. I can control it to a degree, but not forever."

"You will become the Howl."

"Seven, I won't know who I am, I won't know you. I won't know anything but the hunt, and the kill."

"How long is your cycle?"

"Three nights. Last night was the first. The longest I've controlled it was two nights. Tonight, I'm safe. But I want to be locked in." Caela closed her eyes, "I don't want to hurt anyone."

From the bed, she stared out at the stars again. Her voice was far away. "I'm not like them, Seven. I never was. My people relished the Howl. Our entire culture was based on the change. I never wanted it."

"You had no choice."

"It comes just after childhood." She looked back to Seven. "I should be taken back. Or left somewhere. Where I can't hurt anyone."

"Perhaps the Doctor can help you. "Seven offered, "He is a more than efficient diagnostician. I am confident he will find the physical evidence he needs to prove your claim. With that, perhaps he can find a way to stop the change."

Caela either wasn't listening or didn't want to acknowledge Seven's words. "How long before my world is gone?"

"The probability of its already having been destroyed is high."

Sad green eyes teared up. Her hand moved to find Seven's. "Thank you for staying."

"I will stay until you no longer desire my company."

Caela's free hand went to her hair, pulled out her barrettes and set them on the bedside table.

Seven waited, but Caela did not release her hand.

Caela's fingers gently squeezed Seven's. "You make me feel less alone. Inside." She released her hand. "Watching you from the woods that morning, I could feel you were a kindred soul. I yearned to speak with you that morning."

To her surprise, Seven felt her heart beat a little faster. Physical attraction, a feeling that had become familiar around many crew members, now grew for Caela. There was emotional attraction as well. It had been there since Caela had sat next the pond, Kathryn recovering. Seven had been too angry about her inability to  help Kathryn to acknowledge it. Now, she saw the beauty in Caela’s eyes. Her lips, and the way the tip of her tongue would moisten them when she was thinking. Her slender throat, and the delicate way about her. Seven felt it in her chest, a metaphysical flutter of the heart.

Following closely behind, a sense of disloyalty.

Caela touched Seven's face. "It's all right. I know how you feel about Kathryn."

Quickly, Seven stood. She caught her breath, and willed herself to not be angry with Caela. She was an empath and could not help but know. Seven would not be angry. She found herself facing Caela again, a question she almost dared not ask on her lips. "Do you know- can you sense Kathryn? Her feelings for me?"

"Not as I can sense yours." Caela stood, thinking about it, "She has a wall up that I can't get past. Her strength of mind is exceptional. I can read you because you are very open- at least in your own mind, if not to those around you. The more time I spend with you, the more impressions I get. Not so with Kathryn. Something has closed her." Caela paused. "And your Doctor. I read nothing of him."

"He is a hologram."

"A hologram." Caela's eyes widened. "I am in awe of your technology."

Seven thought about what Caela had said a moment before. Something had closed Kathryn.

Caela spoke again, interrupting Seven's thoughts. "Seven, do you remember what I told you about the conflict? I felt in you- the longing, and the fear."

Seven nodded.

"I feel conflict of a similar kind in you now." Caela's eyes, slowly blinking. "Your nature. In conflict with your feelings."

"My nature." Seven did not understand.

Caela nodded, more sure now of her impression. "Your nature. Your... bodily urges. Your need for touch. Why do you push it away? Why are you afraid?"

"I have never known until such things until recently." Seven quietly confirmed. "It confuses me. It can be overwhelming. To have these feelings for so many. They are strongest for Kathryn... but they are there for so many."

"And that's why you are afraid of allowing your nature to join with your urges?" Once her question was asked, she knew the answer. "You fear the lack of control. And you don't like being out of control."

Seven listened intently. She would remember every word. She would consider this her first personal education on the matter. An education she had begun receiving from Kathryn, but was interrupted that night by the Howl. By Caela. And Seven had lost the courage to continue the conversation with Kathryn.

"Seven, you cannot control what feelings or urges you have. You have no choice in that.  It is your choice as to what you do with them. You do have control over them." Caela walked closer to Seven, "What do you want to do with the feelings?"

Seven knew it would be pointless to tell Caela she had no urges for her.

Caela reached up, touched Seven's chin, and traced a slender finger up Seven's jaw line.

Seven felt shivers travel through her. Her eye closed to take it in, her heart reached, her breath caught in her throat.

Caela brought her hand down, and let her fingertips play with Seven's, gently and slowly. "The change brings freedom such as you could never imagine. In return I become a killer. But you can have your freedom, Seven. As a Borg you had no choice about what you thought or felt. You are no longer Borg."

The words were barely audible, "I am an individual."

Fingers intertwined. Seven let them, tentatively moving her fingers in the slow dance with Caela's.

"Embrace what you're feeling," Caela's voice had stayed quiet. Seven could feel the words in every fiber of her being. "Follow your instinct."

Seven could feel Caela's body heat, the closeness of the room. Her fondness for Caela, this beautiful and kindred spirit... no one had yet understood her as Caela did, and in so short a time. This morning she resented her. Now, she desired her. Slowly, she allowed the physical urges, the emotions, and the needs, to surface.

But Seven, who so many thought of as cold and unfeeling, was afraid. She knew Caela could feel her fear, and she knew Caela could also feel that she didn't want to stop.

Caela's fingers more tightly entwined Seven's, her other hand finding Seven's, and she stepped forward until they were inches apart.

Green eyes met blue, pale hands found their way to the former Borg's hips, and soon their bodies touched. Hips against hips, breasts against breasts.

Seven had never been this close to anyone... she followed her urges, and when Caela lifted her face to kiss her, Seven's lips met the smaller woman's lips, open, inviting. Feeling what rushed through her. New feelings. Pleasure. Something so soft about the kiss....

Caela's tongue gently caressed Seven's, and she pulled the blonde closer, Seven encouraging, her hands exploring Caela's back.

Seven's hands tentatively moved lower, caressed Caela, reaching under and between Caela's legs. A small sound of pleasure escaped Caela's throat.

She pulled away, her eyes never leaving Seven's as she pulled her to the bed.

Enjoying this, Seven laid back on the bed, her head on the pillow, and pulled Caela with her. Caela lay with one thigh between Seven's legs, one hand touched Seven's body, next to her breasts, and Caela kissing her. She pulled away for a moment, and whispered in her ear. "Tell me if I need to stop. Tell me..." Her lips played with Seven's earlobe. "...if you become unhappy with any of this."

Seven nodded in understanding, but her eyes closed to feel all Caela did, and her arms reached around Caela's body.

They kissed for long moments, Seven letting Caela's mouth find her ears, her neck, her shoulders.

Caela allowed her lips to travel down Seven's throat, her leg applying pressure to where she knew Seven would enjoy it, and her fingers ran just under the neckline on Seven's suit.

Seven pushed herself to sitting, and twisted so that Caela could remove her suit, but first, Caela removed the pin from Seven's hair. Her blond locks fell around her shoulders, and she proceeded to remove Seven's suit.

The suit and hairclip discarded on the floor, Caela and Seven kissed while Seven's hands pulled off Caela's shirt. She straddled Seven's hips, and took in the sight of the beautiful woman lying beneath her.

Seven's hands reached up, caressed Caela's breasts, moved to her shoulders, and pulled toward her.

Caela's mouth found Seven's breasts, her hands holding and squeezing them, her tongue making little circles around the nipples, one after the other.

Soon Caela's kisses made their way down Seven's belly, over the stomach implant, and to her hipbone. She kissed tenderly along the line of Seven's platinum curls, and down to the inside of her thigh.

Again, her breath caught. Seven felt her body stiffen, felt her heart race. She swallowed her anxiety.

Caela laid her head on Seven's thigh, waited.

Seven nodded. "Continue, " she breathed.

Caela kept her eyes on Seven's face, and she kissed the folds over Seven's clitoris. It peeked out from between the folds, and Caela let her tongue play over it, tenderly, then with more pressure as she felt Seven relax into the pleasure.

Her tongue parted the delicate folds, exploring Seven, the fingers of her free hand holding the folds open. The tip of her tongue traced around Seven's most sensitive part, and she her tongue entered Seven gently.

Seven relaxed into this now, her mouth open as she breathed in the pleasure, her legs spreading a little further. She found her hips tilting to meet Caela's mouth. She found her head laid back, her lips pursing as the pleasure built.

Caela's eyes had closed now as she lost herself in Seven's taste. Her mouth embraced Seven, her tongue reaching deep, her fingers joining. Her fingers slowly worked their way inside, and her thumb made tiny circles over Seven's swelling clitoris.

Seven felt herself tightening around Caela's fingers. She felt her breath moving free and fast. She felt the pleasure increasing.

The pleasing pressure built, Seven had lost herself in it, her body filled with it. Her arms were over her head now, and she grasped the pillow. The intensity built.

And finally, Seven could not hold back her voice as the damn broke, and waves of intense, colorful pleasure broke outward and upward, her body moving with them, her body tilting against Caela's mouth.

The waves came again, and again. She breathed with this, feeling her voice again, letting the waves take her over and over, until finally, she rested.

Caela slowly withdrew her fingers, she licked at Seven's juices, kissed the inside of her thighs, and lay her head on Seven's hip. She gazed up at Seven.

Eyes closed, Seven lay in bliss.

Caela slid up, her skin against Seven's, until she rested against her, head on Seven's shoulder.

Seven thought for a moment. "I am pleased."

Caela laughed lightly, "Good." Her fingers lightly stroked Seven's breasts.

Seven turned onto her side to face her. "You have experience with this... lovemaking."

Dreamily, Caela's lips were snuggling under Seven's neck, "Mmm hmmm."

Seven let her hand cup Caela's breasts, cupping them, rolling the nipples between her fingers. She lifted Caela's chin to meet eyes. "Remove your pants."

Caela smiled, rolled onto her back. "You remove them."

Seven climbed cat-like over Caela, and her finger worked at the laces on Caela's skin pants.

The stars outside raced by.

*

She awoke with Caela's head on her belly, the woman curled up against her.

Seven had forgone regeneration for sleep again, and she felt the effects. However, the sheer pleasure of the night before seemed to have done her a high degree of good.

Memories of the long and experimental night played through Seven's mind. She found herself smiling again, something she had done a lot of last night. Her fingers played in Caela's long dark waves. Caela had shown her much. She would remember as she remembered everything, but this would hold a special place in her mind.

Seven thought of Kathryn, melancholy thoughts. She had hoped that Kathryn would have been her first lover, but Kathryn's life was so full already. So much responsibility. Seven believed that the Captain would not have time for her. She thought about the times Kathryn did seem interested. But for the Captain the ship and her crew came first. As it should be. And Kathryn, Seven thought, who surely thought of her as a daughter-figure, would never imagine Seven might want her in a more intimate fashion.

Seven remembered again the night on Caela's world. Kathryn had withdrawn after their discussion.

Perhaps she should inquire as to why. She wanted Caela to have the ability to tell her.

Caela's breath was coming shallow and quick, Seven noticed. She watched the sleeping woman's face, the dreams moving beneath her closed lids. She stroked the Caela's face softly, and her breathing relaxed.

Carefully, Seven slid out from under Caela, who didn't wake, but simply curled up tighter, her arms over her head.

Seven dressed, and took up her clip. She held the clip, chose to let her hair stay down for now. A change of uniform was in order, and perhaps a short regeneration. Then she would return to Caela's bed.

As she left Caela's room, she told the computer to turn out the lights. She turned to watch the doors close. "Computer, secure this room."

The computer chirped its acknowledgment.

Seven left knowing Caela would not be able to leave if she chose to. She made her way down the corridor, and as Harry Kim happened by, he turned.

"Wow. Seven. Your hair's down." He watched her in surprise, swearing that Seven of Nine had a bounce in her step.

"Good day, Ensign Kim." Seven continued her walk, leaving Harry standing in the corridor.

"Wow." He said again, and shook his head. He went on his way.

*

Seven turned into her cargo bay, and stopped as she saw Kathryn leaning against her chamber, her eyes on the ground.

"Captain." Seven approached her.

Kathryn had been lost in thought. She stood straighter now, and didn't speak at first. "I-" She held small pile of replicated books out to Seven. "I thought these might help you with your problem. What we discussed."

Seven took the books, read the titles. "Poetry. Sappho. Elizabeth Barrett-Browning. Lord Byron." She met Kathryn's eyes.

Kathryn looked away, uncomfortably straightening her uniform. "Well... I'll leave you to your-" She stopped, and realized she had been the one waiting. "I'll see you in Astrometrics. Your shift starts in a few hours?"

Kathryn made her exit, her boot heels echoing on the cargo bay floor.

Seven watched her leave, knowing that somehow Kathryn knew where she had been for the past eight hours. And it was hurting her.

She set the books down, stepped into her chamber. She would regenerate for one hour. Then she would find Kathryn.

*

The creature's eyes opened. She stretched, her claws ripping through the strange surface beneath her. She leapt from her sleeping place, paced the small area.

No trees. No brook. No land. No scents of her world.

What was this place.... Strange smells, sounds on the air. She explored the space, and finding no way out, she sat on her haunches, lifted her head, and mournfully, she howled.

*

Harry Kim stood outside Caela's door. What should he say to her? He wasn't sure; he just knew he'd like to get to know her.

He pressed the compad, and the bell chimed that would tell her someone was calling.

No answer.

Again, he chimed his presence, and then he noticed the door was locked.

He hoped she was okay. Everyone on the ship knew that Caela's world was gone. He felt so sorry for her.

"Computer, override the lock on this door." He said, "Authorization Kim 23b6"

The door slid open. The dark room was empty, the bed mussed, but empty.

So she wasn't here. Well, he'd find her. Maybe in the mess hall. Or in one of the holodecks.

He turned, and left, the door sliding shut behind him.

*

Captain Janeway sat in her ready room, the coffee in her mug getting cold. A report sat in front of her, but she stopped reading when she realized she had read the same sentence three times.

Kathryn had wanted to give Seven the poetry books, and had gone to her chamber. She had expected Seven to be there. When she found she wasn't, she asked the computer to locate Seven.

Kathryn had asked Seven to keep an eye on Caela. So it made sense that she was with her. Seven would need to regenerate tonight, so Kathryn would wait.

Hours passed. Kathryn couldn't yet bring herself to leave.

Again, she asked the computer, and again, she was informed. Seven was still in Caela's quarters.

Kathryn had thought about going to Caela's room. She thought about contacting Seven. She didn't.

When Seven had finally walked into her bay, Kathryn realized how long she had been waiting.

But her suspicions couldn't be right, could they? The sexual feelings she and Seven had discussed came to Kathryn's mind.

Seven's hair was down. She never wore her hair down. Would it have been easier for Seven, Kathryn wondered, to be intimate with Caela- a strong, beautiful stranger, who had come into their lives so unexpectedly- than it would have been with someone who knew of her past?

Kathryn sipped her cold coffee, making a face when the bitter liquid touched her tongue. She went to the replicator.

"Coffee. Hot, black." She took the fresh mug, and Seven walked in.

"Captain."

"Seven." Kathryn was surprised to see her. "I thought you were regenerating."

Seven held her hands behind her back. "I would like to talk."

"Of course, " Kathryn went to her sofa. "Of course we can talk."

*

The creature didn't like the light here. These passages smelled strange, the surface was alien against the pads of her feet.

She padded along, foreign and unnatural smells in her nostrils. Stepping too close to doors would make them open. She found herself following the scent of meat, dead already.

She found the darkness that held the scent, found the odd casing around it. She knocked over the large metallic cabinet, and the meat fell out.

Corrupted. No blood, no life.

The creature heard doors open. She turned, hackles raised.

The odd looking two legged had brought light, and she blinked as her eyes adjusted.

Neelix froze, his fingers tightened on the grip of his frying pan. He dropped the roots he held.

Cold fear gripped him. The large black animal in his kitchen laid its ears back. Its lips curled up over fangs. Its mouth dripped saliva. It lowered its head. It growled, low and wet.

Neelix slowly backed away.

It took a step toward him, its tongue lashing out to lick its long teeth.

The doors opened behind him.

*

End Part Four