Maquis Day

The Voyager crew was obviously less than thrilled to be reminded about being stranded in the Delta Quadrant. However, Neelix refused to be deterred from marking the anniversary and had instituted a holiday to celebrate the day that the Maquis and Starfleet crew’s became one.

The holiday had been celebrated for the last five years and had grown to be a success. It made the Maquis feel rather special, and it reminded the Starfleet members of the special friendships that held the crew together.

By now the holiday had spawned its own rituals. On the day itself the whole crew wore Maquis outfits, and Commander Chakotay was addressed as "Captain", although in reality the command structure was not altered. All through the day the ship-wide intercom would play sound-snippets that had been gathered by the Maquis crewmembers, using traditional methods to tap conversations during the week before the holiday.

Highlights this year included Seven's flawless rendition of the Muppets classic "Fuzzy and blue, I am so fuzzy and blue" and a conversation tapped from the Ready Room:

 

In the evening there was a big party, during which the ship would only travel at impulse, so that an absolute minimum of crewmembers had to work on the skeletal shift.
And this year, the mess hall was once again filled to the brim with dancing, talking, and eating happy people.

Seven was standing in a corner trying to digest a fried leola flake. She was watching the Captain who was dancing in a rather flamboyant manner with the doctor. The Captain seemed happy and relaxed, which also relaxed Seven.
After the song had ended, the Captain made her way over to Seven. "Enjoying yourself?" she asked with a smile. She grasped some leola flakes from Seven's hand saying: "Oooh, delta Cajun flavour! My favourite. Aren't you going to dance, Seven?"

"I do not think anyone dares to dance with me anymore."

"Oh! I dare! Come on." Enthusiastically the Captain got hold of Seven's hands, pulled her into the dancing crowd and put her arms around her.
"Just move however you like Seven. This is not a formal dance."
The Captain laid her head on Seven's shoulder.

This was all rather awkward. Seven had no idea how she should properly 'move however she liked', and the pressure and warmth of the Captain's body was pleasing as well as disconcerting. Seven also felt she had to start a conversation, but she couldn't decide upon an acceptable topic. Remembering the doctor's lessons, maybe a compliment was in order?

"You scent is soothing."

"What?" the Captain mumbled against Seven's shoulder.

"Your scent is soothing. It is soothing from a distance, but in these large quantities it is even more so."

"Oh."
The Captain looked up for a moment and smiled her trademark crooked smile. From this, Seven concluded she had once more failed to adhere to the appropriate social standards.
After a few more awkwardly silent seconds, Seven asked: "It is not acceptable to speak about scents?"

"Yes. Yes, sorry. I guess it is. It's just that no one ever brings it up quite as..." The Captain's laughter rippled along Seven's body. The slight quivering of the Captain and the somewhat increased multitude and fortitude of the breaths on Seven's shoulder felt wonderful.

In fact, Seven felt disappointed when the laughter stopped. Maybe it was time to put the doctor's "elementary humour" lessons to good use. She remembered overhearing Ensign Paris, who had told a joke to Ensign Kim that had made him laugh for approximately 14 minutes. It had also made him blush every time he looked in Seven's direction that day. 14 Minutes of laughter and some blushing of the Captain was worth the experiment.

"How do you make the Borg scream?"

With only half of it told, the joke seemed to have immediate effect: the Captain started laughing already. "I beg your pardon?"

"How do you make the Borg scream?" Seven repeated, and upon seeing the Captain's amused but questioning expression, she added: "It is a joke."

"Make the Borg scream..?" The Captain shrugged. "You tell me..?"

"You give them a Borgasm."

Suddenly it seemed like the Captain had collapsed. Seven quickly got hold of her and tried to get her in an upright position again. It appeared that the Captain had difficulty breathing and her face was bright red. Strange sounds escaped her.
Immediately the whole room fell silent and Seven felt as if everyone was watching her while she was struggling to keep the Captain upright and breathing. Meanwhile the Captain continued to produce hiccups, giggles, hisses and bursts of laughter, with some "Ow Seven!"s mixed in for good measure.
Then the doctor appeared next to them with a glass of water. Somebody brought the Captain a chair and some others were tapping her on her back. It still took two more minutes before the Captain was capable of speaking again, but she was still blushing and she refused to say what had made her laugh so much.

The whole crew was standing around the Captain and a slightly worried Seven. They were all laughing too, and asking each other whether anybody knew the joke.

In the midst of that, the Captain's combadge chirped. "Chakotay to Janeway!"

While suppressing some more giggles, the Captain tapped her combadge.
"Yes Commander...Uh, Captain."

"I don't mean to spoil the fun, but it's 22 hours and 40 minutes."

The Captain's face got a bemusedly shocked expression. "Oh...I'm sorry, I'll be right up to relieve you of duty!" She stood up and made a gesture of apology to the assembled crowd. "Sorry people... Somebody has got to make sure we go roughly in the right direction tonight."

With that, she walked passed Seven on her way to the exit of the mess hall. Seven quickly stopped her by laying her hand on the Captain's arm. "I apologise, I did not know the effect my joke would have on you."

"You're sorry?! Oh my, I think that was the best...no I have to correct that...the *worst* joke I've ever heard!" The Captain briefly brushed her fingers along Seven’s jaw. Her eyes were bright blue. "Thank you. Enjoy the rest of the party."



And strangely enough, Seven did enjoy the rest of the party. People gave her appreciative looks. And Lieutenant Torres said to her that she admired her 'Borg magic'.
Lieutenant Paris and Ensign Kim beckoned her to join them at their table, and they wanted to know exactly what had made the Captain laugh.
Seven told them which joke she had told, and this resulted in another bout of laughter at their table, and later around the mess hall as the joke quickly spread.

"Wow, you have some guts telling that one to the Captain!" Ensign Paris looked extremely smug that his joke had gained so much attention.

Ensign Kim, who was yet again laughing and blushing because of the joke, asked Paris to tell them the other jokes as well...about the Borg pickup lines.
Seven was a little annoyed when some lower deck crewmen, who were standing behind her, were slapping her shoulder in laughter, but she had to admit she enjoyed analysing the strange spasmodic reactions of the crew members that were caused by Ensign Paris' fake pickup lines. It also seemed that no one took offence at her presence.

After Lieutenant Paris’ usual display of wit, they decided to go around the table and tell their favourite jokes, but when Seven’s turn came, she informed them that she had already told the only one in her repertoire

"OK then," Ensign Kim said. "What is the funniest species the Borg ever assimilated?"

Inwardly Seven sighed. The Borg did not assimilate species for their humorous qualities. She was about to mention this, when she suddenly saw something reflected in Ensign Kim's face. He had the same kind of expression as the Captain had had before. He was relaxed and happy. He was amongst friends. Seven realized that each of the individuals around her had formed these friendships by sharing a common purpose. They had all commited themselves to the same ideals and standards the Captain held so highly. And like her, would be willing to give their lives for what they believed was right. They put their trust in her. And in each one of them she recognised a character trait of the Captain. Ensign Kim had learned to make quick decisions on the spot. Lieutenant Paris had learned to trust in his own abilities. Lieutenant Torres had gained the authority of command. Commander Chakotay had learned to channel his aggression.
For the first time Seven realised that there was a bit of the Captain in all these 'friends'. Just like there was a bit of the Captain inside herself. Maybe, if she tried, she could amuse the Captain indirectly, by amusing these individuals. The Captain's friends; her own friends.

She looked at Harry Kim for a moment. What would he enjoy to hear? Definitely not that the Borg did not assimilate species for their humorous qualities. Instead she would pick a species that had qualities that amused Harry.

"We assimilated species 7293 who had a flute as a respiratory organ. They would communicate by producing various musical tones."

"No way!" Ensign Kim's eyes had become extraordinarily bright. "So...since you have assimilated their knowledge..do you know their language?"

"Yes." Seven sang a short, slow and sad melody. It abruptly ended. "I applogize. That was not amusing...It was the song that was sung by one of them upon assimilation."

"Oh, I'm sorry." For a moment, Ensign Torres put her hand on Seven's arm. "What does it mean?"

"Sing it to the wind, sing it to a child who is young enough to understand, how much I loved you. Sing it to an animal, maybe by simply looking into its eyes, sing it to the stones of our house. But do not sing it to another of our kind. They will not believe, that I you and you me, that we loved each other as much as we did..."

A shiver went through Seven's spine. The moment of assimilation of another being... The Borg felt a thrill of accomplishment when another being was added to their perfection. Of course. But always, at that one moment, just before it could be suppressed by the nanoprobes, the extreme fear and sorrow of the newly assimilated drone rushed through the collective...

Once again Seven felt Ensign Torres' hand on her arm. The pressure and warmth felt reassuring. "That is so beautiful...Do you think of such things often?"

"No, I try not to. I try to keep my thoughts occupied."

"I understand. That must be quite something to deal with." Commander Chakotay's face was full of genuine compassion. This reassured Seven as well. It was so easy now, to recognise his friendship. And it had nearly the same effect on her as the Captain's friendship. She felt a strong need to be with these people, to protect them and make sure they reached their home safely.

"The Borg did not assimilate more of this species. They were not very intelligent or adaptable. Besides, our assimilation was unsuccessful in suppressing their need for musical expression." Seven sang three more notes, perfectly executed, all the same length and at exact pitch. In the silence that followed she was surprised to hear herself laugh.

The others could not help but laugh with her. "What does that mean?" Lieutenant Paris asked.

"Resistance is futile."

 


The elevator doors opened to a nearly deserted bridge. The only person there was the Captain, who had draped herself across her command chair, reading a padd.

Upon hearing the hiss of the elevator's doors, the Captain immediately sat up straight. She looked confused.

"Seven! What are you doing here? Aren't you enjoying the party?"

"Yes, I enjoyed the party very much. They are special indiv..people."

The Captain smiled. "So they are." But then the worried look was back in her eyes. "What are you here for?"

"At the party, it occurred to me how important company is. It greatly improves one's mood, one's feeling of security and one's self-image." Seven handed the Captain a metal bowl. "So I have brought you some fried leola flakes and myself. For company."

The Captain gestured that Seven should sit down in the Commander's chair. For once, Seven decided not to protest.

"Thanks Seven. I don't think I could have wished for a better way to celebrate this day."

The glow on the Captain's face was no doubt produced by the reflective properties of her skin and the dim lights on the bridge. But to Seven it seemed as if the Captain was glowing from the inside. The Commander's chair felt like an embrace. Seven felt at home.

"Shall I tell you about Borg pickup lines?"

"OK, but first, let me put this bowl down safely!"

 

-------------------THE END--------------