In Dreams

Part 7

Z’ela had just heard about Seven's miraculous recovery. The news was supposed to stay in sickbay until the Captain said otherwise, but it took just an hour for the entire crew to hear about the rehumanizing of Annika Hansen.
 
Many were suspicious. Z’ela was just sure that this meant trouble, and she wasn't the only one who felt that way. It felt too good to be true. Some were just happy for Seven. Not many of the crew had that kind of optimism. They had grown accustomed to expecting the strange and unusual from the Delta Quadrant.
 
What was it the Captain had once said? We're Starfleet. Weird is part of the job.
 
It was the ship's secret catch-all-catch-phrase now.
 
Stuck in her quarters until they found Tepes, Z’ela was trying to make the best of her time by studying Tuvok’s security logs.
 
She sighed to herself.
 
That Tuvok. What an amazing specimen of man.
 
She rolled her eyes at herself. It seemed every object of her affection had been unattainable… first the Captain and now Tuvok, a married man from a race which allowed no emotions. And all through her school years, it was always a professor or a trainer.
 
Not that anyone could blame her for aspiring to partners of intellect and power.
 
Z’ela thought about Captain Janeway. What bothered her about that crush was that not only was the Captain unobtainable because of her position on the ship, but her heart belonged to someone else on board. Z’ela had seen it in Kathryn's eyes one day, when Z’ela walked into Seven's bay to get some information and accidentally saw the Captain watching her in her sleep. Z’ela immediately, and quietly, left the bay.
 
It hurt Z’ela, but it got her over Kathryn. Z’ela had the feeling that a few others on board had some inkling of the Captain's feelings. No one said a word about it.
 
She didn't expect what happened next. She wasn't looking when Tepes somehow stepped up behind her. She felt nothing, saw and heard nothing.
 
And then there was nothing.
 
*
 
The Doctor made sure that Seven was assigned quarters immediately, but with all the security over this Tepes, she couldn't go to them yet, and was waiting in sickbay with the Doctor until further notice.
 
The Doctor had downloaded the ship's files on Tepes, and was now up to date on that situation.
 
She sat on a biobed, her legs hanging over the side, her feet lightly kicking back and forth. She was still in the sickbay robe, and was anxious for some real clothes.
 
“Doctor, when may I have something to wear? I wish to wear a dress.”
 
He turned from his data- he'd been studying Seven's vitals and some tissue samples since she had reanimated from death.
 
“You wouldn't prefer a uniform?”
 
She thought about it. “I have been resigned to very few choices in my clothing. I wish to experiment.”
 
“The holodeck would be ideal. You could ‘try on’ a few things, get a feel for your style.”
 
Seven's bottom lip found it's way under her front teeth, and she bit down lightly for a moment. Then she pouted, and focusing on the Doctor, her eyes seemed to glimmer. “But Doctor… couldn't I use the replicator, and have something pretty to wear now?”
 
Taken aback momentarily, the Doctor had to pause. He had seen enough in his life as a hologram that he knew what she was doing. Seven? A coquette?
 
“Seven,” he approached her, and was stopped when she stood quickly, close to him. Her face was inches from his, and her fingers played at his collar. He backed away a step, his professionalism at the fore. “Seven. Please tell me what you are feeling right now.”
 
She slowly nodded. Her voice was quiet, nearly a whisper, “I am restless. So restless, Doctor.” She came close enough again that her body heat brushed his uniform. “I… need… something.”
 
“I'm afraid I’ll have to ask you to stay at least two paces back.” He stepped back again.
 
She pouted again, but it was not childlike as the Doctor expected to see. There was only woman in those eyes now, a woman hungering.
 
He'd seen that hunger before.
 
Where was that part of his memory?
 
He and the Captain hadn't even discussed where he'd been lost, he'd been so involved in the work at hand.
 
His matrix seemed to realign itself. He remembered now…
 
“Seven-” He was surprised momentarily, remembering that she took his mobile emitter, which was still missing. He remembered being quickly lost in the computer, his memory files corrupted.
 
He'd keep this to himself for now.
 
He spoke to her again. “What do you need? If there's anything I can get for you, please, Seven, just let me know.” He watched. If her hand moved toward his emitter, he'd be able to move away before she could touch it.
 
Her tongue peeked out from her lips, her eyes wandered to the floor. She lifted herself easily back up onto the biobed, and there she sat quietly. Her eyes wandered back to her own hands, folded in her lap now.
 
The computer beeped to let the Doctor know his inquiry was finished. He turned back to the computer while he spoke to Seven. “Since you won't be needing to regenerate anymore, I’ll need to monitor your sleep patterns for awhile. I also want to monitor any changes in your tastes for food and art. I'm sure you will discover you desire-”
 
Desire. Seven breathed the word in, and the Doctor's words faded. That was it, that was what she was flooded with. Desires such as she had never imagined, and such as she had never allowed herself to feel or express. Desire… it was in her blood now, her veins surged with it, it was in her bones, in her belly, in her skull.
 
And her need was to fill that desire.
 
She wanted to know now. She wanted to feel the touch of another human being, she wanted to be kissed, she wanted someone to feel her inside and out, and she wanted to feel them. She wanted to drink them up, devour their desire for her….
 
And there were those on board whom she could experience that with, she had only to say the word.
 
Her mind raced… had she ever thought so quickly? Had she ever felt so much sensory input at once? Suddenly, it was as if she had never seen, heard or felt before. Every tactile experience exploded into vibrant colors and sounds, and her fingertips rubbed together for the mere sensation of it. Her ears pricked up at the humming of the ship's engine. Her tongue played with the roof of her mouth, then her lips.
 
And she understood that the Borg implants had given her something like these sensations, but not so full of life. The implants were gone now. She didn't know who she was anymore.
 
Suddenly the colors meant nothing, the sounds were empty echoes, and her own touch reminded her of how empty her life had been.
 
And Annika Hansen cried, cried hard, and broke down on the biobed, sobs shaking her body as she lay down. She curled her legs up while she let the crying have its head, and she heard the Doctor call for someone.
 
She heard him call for Kathryn.
 
Not knowing why, Seven cried harder.
 
Time might have passed, but she didn't know how much. All she knew was that someone had their arms around her, and was guiding her to sit up. Someone was whispering comfort into her ear. Someone's warmth penetrated her tears, and someone's hand was wiping strands of hair off her face.
 
She inhaled the scent of this person, and it brought her peace again, it seemed it was really all she needed.
 
Kathryn.
 
Seven let her head fall on that strong shoulder, heard the voice of the Captain again.
 
“Seven, Annika. It's all right.” Kathryn left her protocol at the door when she'd seen her beautiful blonde crying like that. She sat on the biobed with her now, arms holding Seven. “I know this must be a frightening change for you.”
 
Seven allowed her crying to slow, and she grasped the hand nearest her own. “Captain. I apologize. I have duties I should attend to. My behavior is not the behavior of an officer.”
 
“Not true.” Kathryn said, her hand going to Seven's chin, she grasped her slightly there, and met eyes. “You need to adjust to what you're going through. We still don't even know exactly what's happened to you.”
 
Kathryn's heart stopped for a moment when she thought she saw Seven's eyes returning the feelings she herself held for the Astrometrics officer. She broke the gaze, and stood now, her hands in Seven's.
 
“You will take all the time you need to recover. The Doctor will let me know when you're ready to go back to work.” She looked back at the Doctor, who feigned as if he was not watching this entire exchange.
 
What in Kathryn gave her the strength to pull away, she didn't know. But Seven was in a delicate state, and whatever Kathryn might have thought she'd seen in Seven's eyes, it was likely the result of torment of being newly rehumanized, free of implants, and having Kathryn as the source of comfort.
 
Kathryn paused, as her only thought was that Seven shouldn't be left here in a sterile, boring sickbay. The Doctor was busy, and wouldn't be good company. She turned to the Doctor.
 
“Permission to sign out your patient?”
 
The Doctor almost flustered his next words. “Where to?” He hadn't expected to see the Captain comfort Seven quite the way he'd seen.
 
“My quarters. I want her to rest, and my quarters are safe.”
 
“Of course. I can monitor her from here.” He smiled, but was thrown. Inside, his holographic stomach twisted at this. He was the one meant for Seven. He was the one who had loved her all this time. And the Captain? He'd had no idea.
 
He was losing his touch. This, he should have seen!
 
“Wonderful.” Kathryn turned back to Seven. “Will you join me? I was just about to have coffee.”
 
Seven smiled, “Yes, Captain. Thank you.” She sniffled, and wiped the last of the tears from her eyes. Seven moved from the biobed and walked with the Captain.
 
“We'll have to get you some clothes.” Kathryn said, “I imagine you'll want to experiment.”
 
The Doctor's senses returned, and he stopped them briefly. “One moment, Captain. May I speak with you in private for a moment?”
 
Kathryn nodded, and Seven leaned against one of the beds, which pleased Kathryn. It was such a human behavior, and unusual for Seven.
 
The Doctor led Kathryn behind the iso unit wall and erected a shield so that sound would not travel.
 
“I have some news.” He said, “And I'm afraid it's not good news. My disappearance- it was Seven. She took my mobile emitter offline and fairly well catapulted me into the ship's computer.”
 
Kathryn's brow furrowed in concern, “Why did she do that?”
 
“I can't recall exactly.” The Doctor admitted, “She also seems to have corrupted a few of my more recent memory files. They are gradually realigning, but in the meantime, she either doesn't remember that she did it or she has decided not share that bit of information.”
 
“I see.” Kathryn said. “Maybe I can talk to her. See if I can find out if she remembers or not.”
 
“Yes. Please do. And if she remembers, I would like my mobile emitter back.” He glanced over at Seven who was examining the ends of her hair in great detail. “One other thing, Captain. Seven's behavior. She is experiencing such a tumult of new emotion, it seems to be throwing off her emotional stability. She was, well, flirting with me earlier. She is experiencing what I would say is probably lust. And mood swings. As you saw, her emotions are in turmoil right now. I don't believe she's a danger, but you need to be aware of her at every moment if you intend to stay with her.”
 
“Janeway looked out at her Seven of Nine, who now sighed in boredom, and was folding her arms. “I can handle it, Doctor.” Inside, she herself sighed. Indeed. She hadn't seen affection in Seven's eyes. She'd seen turbulent mood swings and the influx of new feelings and sensations. “Thank you for the update. Monitor my quarters, and if you discover anything about what's happened to her, let me know immediately.”
 
“Yes, Captain.” He removed the shielding and waited while Janeway joined Seven.
 
He watched them leave sickbay. He couldn't believe what he'd just witnessed a few minutes ago.
 
Thank heavens he had work to do. He really thought he'd like to analyze every past encounter he'd witnessed between Kathryn and Seven, looking for signs of the Captain's infatuation. But no time for that.
 
There was a mysterious blood type, innocuous from all he could find, flowing through Seven's veins. There was total regeneration of her body, all systems functioning normally.
 
Her Borg technology had been activated somehow to assist in the regeneration, and then had been evicted by the same mysterious force that started it all. The regenerative properties of that new blood, which he had sitting in tubes and being scanned by every instrument he had available to do so, were apparent, but as to where it came from, where Tepes had come from, he didn't have any clues.
 
He had confidence he'd find the clues soon, and as he went to his desk to take another look at the implants he'd removed from Seven, he decided that he'd use most of the data stream in the next Starfleet transmission to send what data he had so far to Earth. Maybe Starfleet had some knowledge he didn't.
Not likely. But he'd best get the data together, as the next transmission was in twelve hours.
 
He went back to work.

*
 
End Part Seven