Dance of Fate By Moosie

Dance of Fate
By Moosie

Seven of Nine Tertiary Adjunct of Unimatrix 01's eyes fluttered open, and in pain she tried to remember what she had just seen before her regeneration cycle ended. Never before had she experienced so much trouble in trying to recall her regenerative thoughts. From the collective mind she knew of the experience of a hangover headache from different minds and different worlds, and so she immediately classified it as such and proceeded to begin performing her duties on the cube. All of this took less than a nanosecond.

Today was different. Through the billions of voices, Seven of Nine Tertiary Adjunct of Unimatrix 01 could hear the voice of the Queen. "Seven of Nine Tertiary Adjunct of Unimatrix 01, return to your alcove for regeneration."

Obediently, she returned and the regeneration cycle began.

In my dream, I was floating on a cloud of aether, dancing to the music of my soul in another universe. The stars in her eyes raced past us at warp speed, leaving rainbow trails--

"Your thoughts are your own," stated the voice of the Queen. "This cannot be."

But it can, it will be, I pleaded with the voice. I know it will be, there is more in this universe that I am destined to discover, it is the way of things. You cannot stop it.

"Return to us, Seven of Nine Tertiary Adjunct of Unimatrix 01. Your uniqueness will be added to our own. You will help us achieve perfection."

I am not perfect now, nor can you promise to make me so, I shouted to the imposing voice. You may control my waking state, but my dreams are controlled by a force greater than you can ever imagine!

The aether dissipated beneath my feet and I began to fall into a vast pit of voices, clamoring and shouting beneath me. I would drown. The goddess with the starry eyes and hair like fire reached out and caught me. I'm not leaving without you, she called to me in a low, commanding voice.

A metallic hand reached out and grabbed my savior while two black snakes pierced her neck. She transformed before my eyes into the grey image of a drone, losing her radiance, losing the stars. She let go of my hand, and as I plummetted down into the voices, I closed my eyes and I shouted, I will not let you pollute my dreams with you perversions! You cannot change what is to be! You cannot fight the Way! You are not perfect!

For a brief moment, the entire hive was shaken by a single scream piercing the collective mind.

**********

In my dream, I was floating on a cloud of aether, dancing to the music of my soul in another universe. The stars in her eyes raced past us at warp speed, leaving rainbow trails in the depths of her pupils. She was a radiant goddess in infinite space, and we circled each other as our own binary system, ghosts of the mind travelling faster than light, spinning to the Music of the Spheres. As our hands touched, I felt the love of destiny course through my system, touching her lips and freeing my spirit.

Seven of Nine's eyes fluttered, and in pain she tried to remember what she had just seen before her regeneration cycle ended. It was that dream again, she knew, the one she had been having ever since before she was severed from the collective. The customary hangover headache she always had after that dream lingered inside of her skull. She tried to shrug it off, but as she rubbed her head, she noticed that she was not alone in cargo bay two. All of this took two minutes.

"Computer, time," Janeway stated into the air.

The computer responded with mechanical reliability. "It is 1523 hours."

Janeway raised an eyebrow. "You're late."

"For my duty shift?"

"For Velocity."

Seven of Nine stepped from the alcove, still rubbing her head, dazed and hurting from her dream. She looked at Janeway again and asked, "How long have you been standing there watching me?"

"Long enough to know that you were kissing someone in your dream."

Seven almost immidiately snaped to her customary rigid stance, but blushed slightly from Janeway's revelation. Had she been kissing someone? If so, how deeply? Had she stuck her tongue out in her sleep? "Captain, I am experiencing an uncomfortable sensation," Seven of Nine said, still trying to maintain her formal air.

"It's called embarassment, Seven," the Captain said, putting an arm around her shoulders. "But don't worry," she added, a slight smirk tugging at the corner of her lips, "Whatever I saw you doing in your sleep doesn't leave this cargo bay."

Seven of Nine found that statement only mildly comforting. But then she realized that she would rather have had the Captain see what she was doing than anyone else. She walked over to the bay's transporter console, where her athletic suit was folded neatly, and she began to undo the back of her skin-tight suit. Janeway politely turned her back, but Seven could have sworn that the Captain was sneaking glances. It's only your imagination, she said to herself, and continued to change.

Later on in the holodeck, Seven of Nine felt exhausted. She began to wonder if perhaps her alcove had been malfunctioning. Janeway was winning by a much wider margin than usual, and towards the end of the round, Seven began to feel faint. She wasn't about to reveal that to her adversary, though.

"You don't seem to be playing at your usual level, Seven," Janeway said between gasps as she spun around to shoot the disc with her impeccably aimed phaser. "You seemed fine when you walked out of your alcove. Is something--" Janeway turned around again and noticed Seven of Nine slumped over in the corner with a very large bruise on her temple. Janeway, worried for her officer, tapped her communicator. "Medical emergency to holodeck two!"

Seven waved her hands around. "No, no, I'm fine," she murmured. "I can walk--" she struggled to get up, and as Janeway took her hand she felt a small tingling on her lips. It could have been from the bump to the head, but Seven felt as though it were more than that, like a memory. Without thinking, Seven placed her fingers over Janeway's lips as the Captain struggled to get Seven to stand up . . .

Seven of Nine awoke in Sickbay to see Janeway and the Doctor hovering over her. The Doctor was treating the bruise. "Well, I must say that's quite a bump you have there. If I didn't know any better, I'd swear you two had been playing Pareces Squares." The Doctor walked over to the other side of the sickbay, humming cheerfully to himself as he was accustomed to doing.

With the Doctor out of the way, Janeway leaned over and looked worriedly into Seven's eyes. "Are you all right, Seven? What happened in there? It's not like you to tire out so quickly."

"I am not sure," Seven responded. "I have this headache--"

"Probably a result of the concussion," Janeway interjected.

"No, before we were playing, when I stepped out of my alcove."

Janeway's eyes became softer and yet more piercing. "Seven, why didn't you tell me you weren't feeling well? I would have been all right playing the computer."

"I didn't want to disappoint you." Now why would I say something like that? Seven scolded herself as the Captain took her hand. Seven felt that tingling sensation on her lips again, and she became dizzy once more as she dove into the black shadows of unconsciousness once again. "Captain," she managed, "I think I need to regenerate more. Take me back to cargo bay two--"

**********

Seven's eyes fluttered open, and in pain she tried to remember what she had just seen before she woke up. She came to the conclusion that it must have been that dream again, for the headache was back. She instinctively reached for the glass of water beside her and took a sip. She sat up and rubbed her head until she was satisfied that the headache was gone. All of this took ten minutes.

"Seven, it's four a.m.," came a muffled sound from the body next to her in bed.

"I'm sorry, Kathryn," she said, sipping the water again. "Go back to sleep."

"It was that damned dream again, wasn't it?" Kathryn asked from under a pillow.

"Indeed," was Seven's only reply, and as her hand brushed across her stomach she felt a tingling sensation inside of her body. The headache was soon replaced by dizziness and a desire to return to sleep. She collapsed upon her pillows. "Good night, my love. I'm sorry I woke you."

End