This is approximately 2 weeks before Naomi's return. And about 1 month away
from where the Voyager part left off.
Disclaimer: This story is a lot shorter in my mind.
Tri's voice sounded peeved as she summoned Chief to engineering. This
announcement was quickly followed by the sounding of a level 3 alert. 'At
least we were both still in uniform', Tas said extremely annoyed by the
interruption. Although, she had realized things had been getting a little
out of control, the interruption was still unwelcome. Quickly putting on her
uniform jacket which she found hidden halfway behind the couch, she found
her motion completely stilled as she looked over at this goddess of a woman
who had turned her life upside down, a woman who at the moment was
attempting to make her tunic look a little less rumpled by tightly tucking
it into her pants. After a quick embrace they left Nik's quarters in silence
heading for the lift. The trip progressed in silence both lost in their own
thoughts until the lift halted and the command deck. Tas looked at Nik with
a crooked smile, 'Do not forget about your hair'. Nik was startled by the
statement realizing once again she was headed to engineering without pulling
her hair back. As she reached back to braid her hair she once again wondered
at her continued decision to keep it long. It would definitely be more
efficient to have short hair she decided and filed the thought away to
explore more fully later.
Chief entered engineering to find everyone working frantically trying to
finish their different duties. Tri walked up to her purposely, every
measured step a calculated maneuver on her part to reassure her crew.
Although, Tri found her self stopping short and blushing as she met the
Chief's gaze. 'Sorry, I interrupted your evening; but, it appears the Art
are preparing yet another attack. It had been almost 24 hours before Chief
had left engineering; only a direct order from Qel had forced her to go back
to her quarters to regenerate for 2 hours and sleep for 4 after that. After
regenerating went to go take a shower and was bemused and more than slightly
embarrassed as she went to put her hair down. Well, at least now she
understood the strange looks she had been receiving. Nanoprobe's she thought
ruefully, they could repair damaged internal organs, protect her from
disease, even allow her to be revived 72 hours after her death; but, a
couple of small bite marks and bruises on her neck those they did not bother
to with. She briefly wondered what Tas was up to before drifting to sleep.
Chief and Tri spent the next 2 weeks doing nothing; but, patching their
ship back together in an effort to limp back to the nearest space station
where much needed repairs could be completed.
'Qel you can not do this to me I am the Captain'
'Well, Captain as your Chief Medical Officer I definitely can make you take
leave'
'I am Captain, I need to oversee the repairs'
'Everyone, including Engineering are taking the next 2 to 3 days off due to
the theta decontamination the ship needs to go through; besides, I already
made arrangements for you and Chief aboard the station. If need be I will
assign a security team to you to assure you have fun'
'You made arrangements for the two of us, and Chief agreed to this'
'Yes', Qel answered not admitting that Chief had been as hesitant as Tas to
take leave until he had pointed out the Captain was taking leave also. It
was only after seeing Chief's smile that he had made the arrangements for
the both of them on the station. He sighed internally, he missed his
coconspirators they were so much more subtle than he was. He had always
known his sister was a traditionalist. He had heard her state her views on
the subject more than once. He wondered briefly if he had done the right
thing; yet, after seeing her sister smile as she scampered off to find Chief
he was sure he had.
Chief stopped off in engineering to make sure all the loose ends were
wrapped up before heading to her quarters to pack for the first time
actually looking forward to shore leave; especially since every shore leave
she had taken on Voyager ended bizarrely to say the least.
Tas quickly went to her quarters to pack stopping only long enough to relay
a quick message to Nik stating that she would meet her at her quarters so
they could disembark together. Tas once again nodded acknowledging another
crew member before asking Nik if she knew exactly where they were staying.
'All Qel would tell me was that it is the one place on the station where we
will not be bumping into the crew each time we turn around, gave me these
directions and this neoprene card; although, I am beginning to find that
highly unlikely ', Nik said nodding to a fellow member of engineering.
Abruptly, Nik stopped before an unmarked lift and slipped the card into the
slot. The doors opened to a lift startling both woman. As quickly as
the
ride began the lift stopped opening onto one of the most opulent gambling
establishment's Tas had ever seen. 'Well I really need to talk to my brother
and Mor about their gambling habits this is a high rollers club', Tas said
approaching the desk to check in and get their room cards.
'It seems that my brother only reserved one room for the two of us', Tas
said abashed as she handed Nik her room card.
The ride to the room was uncomfortably silent; yet, it was nothing compared
to the silence as they entered the room and realized there was only one bed.
'My brother really needs to learn to be a little more subtle', Tas said
turning red.
'Indeed; however, we are both adults and I am more than willing to sleep on
the floor so I do not expect a problem', was the quiet reply.
'I suggest we unpack and than see what this club has to offer; although,
we
both need to be careful not to lose all of our mission pay'
'Mission pay?', Nik asked obviously confused.
'Weren't you paid for your services aboard Voyager?'
'I was given all I needed and more for survival aboard Voyager plus an
opportunity to solve difficult problems, why would I expect compensation
beyond that?'
'Why indeed', was Tas' sarcastic reply, 'Well when you came aboard I made
sure you started receiving standard consultant pay for engineers. I imagine
since you were unaware of the pay it is still completely intact'.
'Since, I do not see the need to pay me for something I would do regardless
of remuneration let us go try gambling.
Although neither would admit it they were both relieved to leave room even
though both were still distracted by the idea of one bed.
'Well, Nik now that you are high roller can you go back to the mundane
existence of an Engineering Consultant'
'The past two weeks have been anything but mundane.', Nik said taking a
swallow of yet another free drink which had been offered to her before
winning another hand.
'I believe dinner would be a wise endeavor for both of us', Tas said
realizing she and Nik seemed to be swaying slightly even though seated and
took her hand leading her towards a restaurant she had noticed earlier.
After a quiet dinner which did little to help either's sobriety they entered
the lift to return to their room both leaning on the other in order to
remain upright. Upon entering they both turned towards one another and
quickly found themselves kissing. Although this was not the first time they
had engaged in such an activity both were aware of a ferocity that had not
been present before. Nik pushed Tas back onto the bed and her own momentum
combined by her lack of balance caused her to quickly land on top of the
only slightly smaller Captain. They both moaned in unison as there bodies
were pressed together. Tas struggled to regain her control as Nik gently
cupped her breast while savagely sucking and biting her neck. She knew she
had to stop this; yet , was unsure as to why. She lifted Nik's head up
from
her neck and looked deeply into the blue eyes above her and suddenly the why
was clear and immediately pushed Nik far enough away to catch her breath and
sit up right.
'Nik, we can not do this'
TBC
part 16 P.G. -13
This is approximately 1 month away from where the Voyager part left off.
Disclaimer: Blah, Blah, Blah, Paramount, yada, yada, yada, Star Trek,
gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous, Jeri Ryan, Please, Please, Please, do not sue
me.
'Nik, we can not do this'
Nik quickly moved away as if just now becoming aware of where she was.
'I am sorry, I will leave immediately', the raw pain in Nik's voice tearing
Tas' heart to shreds.
'Nik, let me clarify', Tas said her voice husky, 'We can not do this when
both of us are in a drunken stupor'.
She slowly reached over and pulled Nik back onto the bed with her taking
both of hands into her own before continuing.
'I love you too much to allow this to happen tonight'
Nik's head snapped up looking deeply into the warm brown eyes of this woman
and felt the last of the ice around her heart melt.
'I love you, also.'
Tas let out the breath she had been unconsciously holding since confessing
the love she had felt growing for this woman from the first time she had
seen her if not before.
'Well, we have a lot to discuss; nonetheless, we are both in need of sleep'
Tas said pulling Nik down into the bed with her and snuggling up against the
woman she loved with all her being.
Nik awoke feeling as though she had been on the losing end of a match in the
Arena. The last nights events arranged themselves in her mind and she
quickly rolled over in an attempt to find the woman who had claimed her
heart. She became agitated when she found herself unaccompanied in bed. It
only took her a nanosecond to realize she was also alone in the room.
Immediately, dread filled her mind as she concluded that Tas had run off
unwilling to face her this morning after her behavior the night before.
Silent tears began to slide down her cheeks. Her heart ached and once again
she was left wondering why would she ever want to become more human if all
that she ever felt was hurt and confusion. Her body stiffened as she heard
the almost silent hiss of the door open. She buried her head into the pillow
and curled up in a ball trying to make herself as small as possible. Given
the directions her thoughts had taken she was surprise to feel Tas slide
into bed behind her slowly drawing her back towards into Tas' body. Nik
reached behind her pulling Tas' arm around her allowing her fear to begin
sliding away, 'You were not here when I awoke, I was afraid.... that I had
offended you' .
'There were a couple of things I wanted to check on ', Tas said vaguely, 'I
hurried back hoping you would not notice my absence, waking up in your arms
was the most glorious experience of my life'
Nik blushed and snuggled even closer wondering just briefly what Tas had
checked on before letting sleep envelope her again. This time when she awoke
Tas was sleeping on her shoulder. She realized that even with all the
wonders she had seen as Borg Drone and the remarkable phenomenon seen since
then this was the most incredible sensation in the universe. A full smile
lit up her face and eyes as those beautiful brown eyes opened and reflected
her own happiness.
'How are you feeling?' , Tas questioned softly.
Nik found herself blushing profusely as she tried to formulate an answer.
Tas chuckled, 'Let me elucidate, are you hung over?'
'Slightly'
Tas slowly untangled herself from the woman next to her, 'I have something
for that'. She reached over to the nightstand and retrieved a hypospray
identical to the one she had administered to herself earlier that day and
gently pressed it against Nik's neck.
'I went an retrieved one for myself and you earlier, it seems that the Club
keeps a large supply on hand. '
'Logical, they would not want hang over's to get in the way of gambling''
'You feeling better, are you up for a late lunch?'
Nik was momentarily disorientated as she realized that it was already late
afternoon according to station time. She was quite aware that she had never
slept this long before and found herself to be quite hungry, 'I would
enjoy
that'.
With an efficiency that only two ex-drones could truly appreciate they both
showered and dressed to go to lunch. Tas could feel her nervousness
increasing as their meal ended.
'Is something wrong?', Nik queried concern coloring her voice.
'No, I just wanted to ask you something?'
Nik cocked her head towards her in the way she found so absolutely
endearing.
'I am listening', Nik added as the silence from Tas continued.
Tas dipped into the well of courage and resolve that had served her so well
as a Captain. However, that all dissipated as she met Nik's eyes once more.
'I was wondering, I mean I would like to ask you, that is I would like you
to consider, what I am trying to say is, its just that, I am a little old
fashioned and before, what I mean is, well I love you very much and I know
we have only known each other 648 days and only been dating 377 day, so if
you think we should wait I will understand', Tas was forced to stop
realizing she was totally breathless.
'Understand?', Nik was confused and a little shaken by Tas' unusual display
of nerves.
'I would like you to consider becoming my bond mate' Tas said in a rush.
The silence seemed deafening to the young Captain and while it had only been
a second since she had asked the question it had felt like it had been
minutes if not hours.
Recrimination rushed through her mind causing her to babble,'Take as long as
you need, I do not need an answer right away, I am so sorry if I embarrassed
you, Its just I have never felt this way about anyone before and want to
spend'.
Her babbling was finally ended when she heard Nik sharply say her name.
'Tas!'
'Sorry Nik, you were saying', Tas said chagrined.
'I was saying, yes', then realizing clarification was needed Nik reached
over taking Tas' right hand into her own. 'Nothing would give me greater
pleasure than being bonded to you'
'Oh', it seemed to be the only thing she could think to say at the moment,
so she slowly leaned over to kiss this woman that had claimed her heart
and
soul utterly.
After they finally parted, Tas realized they still had much to discuss.
'You do realize what this would mean?', Tas said.
'I am quite aware of the significance of becoming bond mates' was Nik's
quick reply before stealing another kiss.
After parting Nik asked, 'When and where would you like the bonding. The
only family I have is Naomi and her presence along with perhaps Tri is all I
require'.
'Well, that is one of the things I went to check on this morning; since, we
are docked here at the station Naomi and Mor managed to catch rapid transit
here to the station. It was to be a surprise for you. I know you have missed
Naomi horribly. I should inform you though that somehow she convinced
command and Mor to bring Puma with her', Tas chuckled at Nik's delight.
'What time will they be arriving?',
'They should be here in an hour, why?'
'I wish to be bonded with you as soon as possible, after all it would be the
most efficient thing to do', Nik paused suddenly embarrassed, 'Unless you
wish to wait?'
'No I do not want to wait, Qel and Mor will be here. The abbreviated
ceremony is fine with me; although, next time we go home my mom will
probably want us to go through the full ceremony, if that is not a
problem.', Tas shuddered internally as she imagined her mom discomfiture
over her being bonded on a space station.
TBC
Changes part 18
Back to Voyager for now. I hope the rest of this will go quickly; although I
never expected it to be this long. But, still consider this the last 15
minutes. I am a little sidetracked on the last challenge. J/7, time travel,
Xena three of my favorite things, OH MY
Disclaimer: I never promised you a rose garden.
As the doors slid open Janeway abruptly stopped causing Chakotay to
practically bowl her over.
What the hell, was all she could say as she saw the form laying on the
biobed.
That had only been four hours ago; but, the confusion she felt was still
present . She hoped to get some answers presently as she watched her command
staff enter. After they were all seated she inclined her head indicating
that the Doctor should begin his report.
The Doctor had just begun by stating the obvious yes the alien they had
rescued from the escape pod was formerly a Borg drone, when Tuvok's command
badge chirped,' Commander, the prisoner has ended her regeneration cycle and
is not happy' the guards noted. 'On our way', was Tuvok's clipped reply as
the whole group rose to leave the ready room. Janeway hesitated before
entering the cargo bay 2 with the rest of her command staff. She had not
returned here since Seven's disappearance. Disappearance she thought
ruefully she would never accept the fact Seven or Naomi had died that day
regardless of how often Star Fleet tried to get her to accept that they had.
She was brought out of her musing as a 5 inch heel whizzed by her smacking
the closing Cargo Bay doors with authority. The security team quickly
brought up their phaser's awaiting orders to fire. B'Elanna had to stifle an
urge to laugh as another torrent of Klingon expletives left the furious
woman's mouth.
'So is this how you hobble your prisoners Captain Janeway and I truly do not
understand your amusement B'Elanna Torres' as another heel clattered against
the wall.
Janeway was momentarily stunned by the use of her and Lt. Torres' names
causing her to remain silent for the second it took the Doctor to answer.
'Actually I designed the heels myself to fulfill two functions. First they
contain all the circuitry necessary to ground you during regeneration.
Second, they bring your height to the optimum for regeneration., the Doctor
explained smugly.
'A small box would suffice and be a lot less hard on my feet and back,
Doctor, actually after being forced to listen through 4 hours of lesson's in
humanity while regenerating I believe you to be sadistic.', was the
uncharitable reply.
Although the Captain felt a wave of sympathy for this young woman,
considering that the last four hours must have been torture, she had to
intercede.
'State Your Designation', she said in her most commanding voice noting with
some amusement that her entire staff had immediately come to attention.
'My designation, My designation, I assure you Captain I am not some Drone.'
was the sharp reply however the tone quickly softened,'I am sorry Captain I
am a bit out of sorts, I have not regenerated that long in years I am
feeling extremely energized, tense and slightly singed. I was wondering if
I could have access to a small medkit I had on me along with my uniform I
find this outfit a little disconcerting', for added emphasis she pulled at
the form fitting silver collar as if it was strangling her.
The Captain glanced at Tuvok, everything the woman had with her had been
analyzed by security to ascertain if any of it was a weapon. 'Captain it is
a small medkit although its purpose we were unable to discover, I will
dispatch a member of security to retrieve her uniform shortly if that is
your order' with his usual Vulcan lack of interest.
'Make it so'; Janeway said approaching the young woman handing her the
medkit. She was surprised when the woman brought it close her neck and
watched in horror as 2 tubules extended and bored into her although the
woman showed no discomfort.
The woman frowned after the 2 tubules retracted obviously upset by something
on the display and slowly approached the Doctor in order not to alarm
security finally stopping close enough to show him the reading.
'Is this your doing?'
'When you arrived I deemed your Nanoprobe level to be depleted. I injected
you with some we had stored in stasis, and ordered your regeneration. It was
the proper medical treatment given your state', the Doctor replied but
without his usual arrogance this woman definitely had him off balance.
'Doctor, I assure you that my Nanoprobe levels were quite within acceptable
levels when you found me. At least now I understand my increased agitation
and can correct it' once again bringing the medkit to her neck after
entering a few commands.
Janeway once again found herself wincing in horror as the tubules broke the
skin; but, was fascinated to watch a small stasis tube fill with objects
which must be Nanoprobes although they were to small to discern
individually. She also realized that their guest's demeanor seemed to be
relaxing as the procedure progressed and decided once again to begin a
dialogue.
'Mind telling us your name?', the Captain said gently trying a new tact.
'I am Lt. Tas, I apologize for my outburst it is just the idea of
designations is considered contemptible in my society', Tas said easily. She
knew that proper protocol would be to state she was an Ensign; but, she
could not bring herself to lower her rank that much either because of her
own Romulan or perhaps some of her brothers Klingon pride.
The doctor interrupted before the Captain could ask her next question and
she was about to reprimand him until the import of the question occurred to
her.
'I noticed from my scans that your body already contained Nanoprobes from a
former crew member which is why I deduced there would be no harm in
injecting you with more of Seven's Nanoprobes that I had in stasis, I was
curious however how this came about?'
Tas seemed to consider the question for a moment although after her
discussion with her brother 2 days before she had already formulated an
answer.
'I still carry some of the Nanoprobes from my original assimilation so
perhaps this Seven is the Drone who assimilated me as a child', Tas said
with distaste she new these members of Voyagers crew would hear and
hopefully end this line of questioning. Although, internally she was in
turmoil over her deception, just knowing how much this implication would
hurt her bond mate was enough to make her wish she had been able to come up
with any other explanation.
'I see', was the Doctors reply as the rest of the command staff shifted
uncomfortably.
The silence was broken as a security officer arrived carrying a uniform
handing it silently to Tuvok before being dismissed.
'Captain', Tas said hopefully, ' I am more than willing to answer any
questions you may have; however, I was hoping to shower and change first if
that is possible'
'Yes of course, I will have security escort you to sickbay, we will meet
again in an hour', the Captain stated calmly. This would give her command
staff to finish their meeting before she met with this young woman again.
The command staff once again gathered into her ready room as before;
although, the Doctor was much more subdued as he began his report. She
listened as all the officers completed their reports making a short list of
what she knew and than once they were finished gave her own breakdown of
what they had provided.
'So we have a former drone who is a Romulan Human hybrid who is a Lt., who
stated that perhaps she was assimilated by Seven as a child. There
was
nothing of any technological value in the escape pod, she seems to know who
we are, and she was carrying no weapon's of any sort. Am I missing
anything?', Janeway said suddenly aware of how little they new about Lt.
Tas.
'Captain, if she was exposed to the Doctor's humanity lessons she would have
learned most of our names that way.', Tuvok stated.
Yes, Captain in order to make the lessons more useful I often used real life
situations; including, all the command staff', the Doctor said brightly
obviously dismissing Tas' discomfiture with his lessons.
'Well, it is time for me to meet with our guest; hopefully, it will provide
more answers than questions this time
Janeway and Doctor entered the turbo lift together silently. Although,
Janeway knew with the doctor along the silence would not last. She was
surprised; however, when it was Neelix's appearance on the lift which broke
the stillness.
'Captain, the crew is all a twitter about our guest', Neelix said excitedly.
Janeway just sighed internally, nothing could remain quiet on a starship
this size.
'Actually Captain, I wanted to ask if she had any news about Naomi' Neelix
said the hope evident in his voice.
'I was on my way to ask her that now and if she has any news I will relay it
to you promptly, now if you will excuse me'.
'Of course Captain, and thank you', Neelix said leaving the lift.
'Something wrong Doctor', Janeway was becoming unsettled by the continuing
Doctors silence.
'I am concerned that my medical treatment of Seven may have been error'
'Doctor, regardless of what we learn in the future, you must remember
without you and Kes, Seven would have not survived being separated from the
collective. Now lets go talk to our guest.
Janeway left the two hour discussion with Lt. Tas feeling her world had
tilted off its axis. She had met with a member of a military group who had
outright defeated the Borg twice in the last eight years something she
believed most would find impossible. She asked the computer to locate Neelix
and proceeded to the Mess Hall. She had promised to tell him of any word of
Naomi and that was a promise she could keep. She tried to ignore her inner
voice which chided her unlike all those promises you made to yourself
regarding Seven. She could feel the self doubt and recriminations filling
her mind and she just did not have the energy or time for it now. Instead
focusing on her discussion with Lt. Tas perhaps would offer her self-imposed
guilt a respite. She had been surprised to find she liked the Lt. and had
quickly decided the young woman was not a threat; however, Security would
still keep an eye on her during her stay. Lt. Tas had been very
forthcoming
with her, if a little disconcerting, some of her mannerisms seemed so like
Seven She explained that the listening post she had been manning alone had
been attacked been attacked by the Art. A species her equivalent of Star
Fleet, the United Front, had been constantly skirmishing with for years.
It
seemed the two sides were stymied by an inability to communicate; although,
the two sides always set aside their apparent differences to work together
in order to defeat the Borg. She left the lift and wondered if perhaps she
should call Neelix to her quarters in order to give him the information. She
noticed the noise level in the mess hall dropped precisely when she entered
and became deadly silent as she motioned Neelix over to a table in the
corner.
'Neelix, I have news about Naomi, it seems are guest has heard of her, she
is something of a celebrity, and she is doing fine.'
The Talaxian broke into a bright smile, 'THAT IS GREAT NEWS, CAPTAIN'
Neelix was practically quivering with joy; but, that was quickly dampened
when he realized the Captain was not sharing in his joy completely and he
felt a lump form in his throat, 'Any news about Seven?'
'Lt. Tas said, she was unaware of anyone with that name.'
'Captain, that does not mean she's.... gone', Neelix said compassionately.
'I realize that; anyway, we should have answers in a month when we enter
United Front space if not before if a rescue ship is sent for Lt. Tas',
Janeway said trying to force hope into her voice.
Janeway stood up to leave giving Neelix's shoulder a,'I have a request of
you, Lt. Tas should be arriving here shortly for dinner could you make sure
she is treated properly'. 'Of course, Captain' Neelix said to the retreating
back of the Captain. Neelix quickly began to prepare for Voyager's guests