Fate Needs a Push

Part 5: Mission Nearly Impossible

Randie felt like a creep, doing all of this sneaking around for Tom,
but she figured it would be worth it just to see Seven again.  Just
thinking about that buxom young piece of womanhood sent shivers up and
down Randie's spine, but even Seven couldn't compare with . . . Nothing
wins against true love, Randie thought to herself as she turned the
corner and found herself outside of Cargo Bay 2.

About two hours earlier Tom had prepped her for this special mission.
"Here is the security code," he had said, handing Randie another small
piece of paper.  "Eat this one too when you're done with it.  You don't
know how hard it was for B'Elanna to get this, so don't lose it, for
god's sake."

Fine, fine, whatever, Randie had thought to herself.  "Hey, Tom,
here's an idea, why don't we just ask Seven if she wants to become part
of your little club?  Wouldn't that be a lot simpler?"

"First of all," Tom said, shaking his finger, "That would be too open
and we would risk exposing ourselves.  Second of all, you obviously
don't know Seven very well.  You have to sort of, well, get under her
skin before she'll respect you enough to do anything you ask her to.
The only person who has that privilege is the Captain."

Lucky her, Randie had thought, but she kept her mouth shut.  "What
makes you think I can do as well as the Captain in a matter of weeks?"

Tom put a confident hand on Randie's shoulder.  "I have faith in you,"
he said.

I have faith in you, he says, Randie mocked his voice in her thoughts.
 Don't lose it, he says.  She stared at the little white square in her
hands.  At least I won't have to worry about getting enough fiber in my
diet.  She was about to enter the code when she noticed that the little
display next to the console read "Unlocked."  Hmm, I wonder why she's
feeling so lucky this evening?  Randie looked at the piece of paper,
and decided to keep it for future reference rather than digest it.
After all, she thought, what if I need it again?

Inside of Cargo Bay 2, Janeway was leaning against the console next to
Seven's alcove, admiring the view.  I baby her too much, she thought as
she reached out her hand to stroke Seven's cheek.  She's so young and .
. . what the hell am I doing?  Janeway pulled her hand away from
Seven's face.  It tingled where the fingers had made contact, and
Janeway grabbed and rubbed her hand to make the tingle go away.  "I
don't know what's been getting into me lately," she whispered aloud,
afraid she might wake the sleeping beauty.  "Neelix is right, I need to
get out more."  She turned to exit the bay, but in the instant she
turned around she heard a beeping sound from the other side of the
door.  Someone's coming in, she thought.  Did I forget to lock the
door?  Looking around her, she finally decided to crouch behind a stray
canister.  Breathing heavily, she barely had time to gather her
thoughts together.  I'll just wait for whomever it is to leave, and
then I'll come out.  But Seven's regeneration cycle is almost complete.
 Oh, shit, I guess I'll have to use the usual excuse, that I was going
over some files and . . . but how will I explain why I'm behind this
thing?  Her heart pounded inside of her ears and she feared
irrationally that the intruder might hear it too.  You'll be fine, she
tried to comfort herself, they have to leave sometime, and then you'll
be fine.  You'll go back to your quarters and curl up with a nice
trashy novel and go to sleep.  And you'll wake up tomorrow and report
for duty and you'll forget about this little mishap.

Randie wandered into the Cargo Bay, looking around.  "Seven?" she
called, and then jumped when she saw the tall robust woman standing in
an alcove in the wall.  The green lights flashing around her made her
look eerily beautiful, but Randie knew that she was in a look, don't
touch situation.  What's she doing? She thought as she paced back and
forth in front of the Borg.  Is she asleep or hibernating or using some
sort of super-technology to absorb information or what?

Janeway turned her head at the first sound of the voice in the bay.
Randie? She asked herself.  What's she doing here?

Randie jumped again when the computer announced, "Regeneration cycle
complete."  "Jeez, this place is full of weird surprises," she said out
loud to the waking Seven in the alcove.

Seven's eyes flew open and she glared at the intruder with the same
stony expression she used for all strangers.  "Miranda Johnson," she
stated at her guest.

Randie laughed nervously.  "Uh, that's my name, don't wear it out,"
but her laugh was soon absorbed by her uneasiness.

From behind the canister, Janeway rolled her eyes.

Seven looked as though she was about to ask a question, but then the
inquisitive look seemed to disappear behind the gray fog of
indifference Seven seemed to carry with her.  "State your purpose."

Randie looked down at her hands, which folded and unfolded rapidly.
"Well, uh, you see, um, I was working down in the holodeck . . ."

"And?" Seven said after a pause.

"Well, I've reached a sort of, uh, snag, there's something I can't
figure out how to do, and I was uh, wondering . . ."

"Yes?"

"If you've got nothing else planned . . ."

Seven shifted her weight a little.  "You wish for me to come and
assist you."

Randie finally had the courage to look up at the lady before her,
taking in the view along the way.  "Yeah, sort of."

Seven glanced at the door and then back at her visitor.  "How did you
manage to gain entry?"

"Well, believe it or not," Randie laughed again, "The door was
unlocked."

Janeway put her head in her hands.  Damn it, she thought, I knew I
forgot something.  Today, of all days . . .

"That is not possible," Seven said to Randie, marching towards the
door.  "I lock the door to the bay every time I am about to begin my
regeneration cycle."

Randie shrugged.  "In this crazy universe, anything is possible, I
suppose."

"You are not trying to deceive me?"

Randie put her hands on her hips.  "Why would I do that?  Do I look
smart enough to you to unlock one of these doors?"

Seven looked Randie up and down, slightly amused, and then turned to
approach her console.  "I suppose not."

"You're darn . . . hey!"

Janeway had to stifle a giggle.

"Now," Seven said, entering codes into her console, "What is the
trouble with your program?"

With Seven's back to the canister, Janeway felt that it was an
opportune time to peek out and see what was going on.  What she found,
though, was that even though Seven's back was turned, Randie's wasn't.
Randie's eyes got wide and she looked as though she was about to say
something, but Janeway shook her head violently and pressed her finger
to her lips.

Randie immediately straightened up.  "Uh, maybe we should go to the
holodeck and work on this."

Seven looked at Randie, slightly surprised.  "Perhaps you're right.
Even though most programming problems could be solved from right here.
Just give me a moment to lock up my console . . ."

When Seven had returned to the console, Randie looked at Janeway again
and gave her a "What am I supposed to do?" gesture.  Janeway began to
point at the door and make "shoo-shoo" motions with her hands.  Randie
nodded and turned back to Seven with a nervous smile.  "Uh, time's
a-wastin', we'd better get there before someone else does."

"Very well," Seven said, turning to Randie.  "I am ready to . . . your
body temperature has risen two full degrees.  Are you feeling all
right?"

"Yup, never better, let's go," she said, grabbing Seven's arm.

Seven reached out and grabbed Randie's pulse with a vice grip.  "Your
pulse is abnormally high.  Perhaps you should report to sickbay."

Randie was getting annoyed.  She clenched her teeth and said, "No
need, let's go . . ."

Seven turned around and looked ready to leave when she paused again as
Randie was dragging her out of the door.  "Wait, my optical implant is
detecting infrared radiation behind that . . ."

"That's nice, now hurry up," Randie almost shouted as she pulled Seven
the last few feet to the door and through them as they closed behind
them.

A few moments later, Janeway staggered out of the Cargo Bay with her
sweaty forehead in her hand.  Crewmembers were staring at her as she
stumbled down the corridor, but she didn't care.  "God," she said to
herself, "I need to lay off the coffee for a while."