The Four-Pips Club

Part 2 of 2

Over the course of the next several weeks, Kathryn became even more enthralled with AH!'s stories. In addition to the love and devotion the author evinced for her captain through her protagonist, the stories also managed to convey a profound understanding of Kathryn's true sensibilities regarding her station and her lot. While most of the other Four-Pip writers painted the captain as some sort of sex-starved dominatrix, AH! depicted her as a complex figure, both strong and vulnerable in her loneliness, singularly devoted to ship and crew but desperately craving an impossible closeness with someone. It was that sense of loneliness that always drew Kathryn and Anne together in AH!'s tales, and Kathryn, the real Kathryn, felt that pull acutely now through the medium of these stories. There was an emotional connection there, and it made her increasingly desperate to discover the identity of the person who knew Kathryn apparently better than anyone ever had.

Despite her considerable code-breaking acumen, however--not to mention the benefit of her command codes for overriding most of the ship's security systems--Kathryn was no closer to discovering who AH! was than when she started this personal project. Feeling weary after another stab at the database access logs, she rubbed her tired eyes and ambled over to her replicator.

"Coffee. Black. Double strength," she sighed.

She blew the steam off the top of the cup and inhaled the aroma, beginning to feel rejuvenated even before her first swallow. Then she blew again to cool the liquid down a bit and took a sip, smiling to herself as she remembered a conversation she once had with Seven.

"Captain," the young woman had begun, "is your replicator malfunctioning?"

"Not today, Seven. Why do you ask?"

"Because the unit is capable of preparing beverages to your precise specifications, but evidently the coffee you just ordered is too hot for you to ingest."

"I like it like that," Kathryn had responded.

Seven had frowned looking adorably confused, making Kathryn laugh outright, as she did again now, remembering. Then taking pity on the young woman, she had explained.

"It's part of the ritual, Seven. There's something about having to blow on it first, letting the steam rise up and blast your face with that rich, full-bodied aroma. It just tastes better that way."

Kathryn smiled and then let the warm memory fade as she returned to the task at hand. She began pacing again to work out the kinks and frustrations of several more hours of fruitless desk work. She strummed her fingers against her stout chin, setting her scientific mind to work on the problem and feeling her body bristle with coffee-fortified determination, Irish-bred stubbornness, midwest-cultivated tenacity, and a healthy dose of Starfleet-trained discipline to boot. She smiled again at her own cockiness and began to take another sip from her cup. Then she stopped abruptly.

"Coffee," she said aloud. There was something about coffee niggling at her memory. Something from the stories.

"Computer," she called, "list all story titles in the Four-Pips database in which the terms 'coffee' and 'captain', 'Kathryn', or 'Janeway' appear within twenty-five words of each other."

The computer chirped and then began reciting its response. "'A is for Abstinence', 'Affairs in a Void', 'Alien Adventures', 'An Alpha Captain in Every Quadrant'....."

"Computer, abort!" Janeway interrupted. She took a breath. "Exactly how much of the database fits the parameters of my query?"

"92.8 percent."

"Hmm! I guess my appreciation for coffee is well remarked." She smirked, thinking. "Computer, what percentage of AH!'s stories meet those parameters?"

"100 percent."

"Well now honestly!" Kathryn huffed, feeling a bit too predictable as she set her coffee cup down on her desk rather forcefully. "All right, let's think about this....Computer, query same database for the same author, change the range to within ten lines of text, and add the search terms 'hot' and 'aroma'. How many passages meet those parameters?"

"Two segments from two different entries by AH! satisfy the query requirements."

"Now we're getting somewhere," Janeway announced, rubbing her hands together in anticipation. "Recite the first search result."
 

["Without even being asked, Anne handed her a mug of hot coffee. Captain Janeway smiled in satisfaction at the robust aroma, pleasantly surprised that the ensign had anticipated her next request."]

"Oh, yes," Kathryn nodded, musing to herself. "That was from the third of her stories I read. I guess that's what I was remembering." She tried to shrug off her unease as she leaned against her desk dejectedly, not sure of what more she was expecting but aware that she was feeling mildly disappointed nonetheless.

"Computer, how does the second selection read?" she asked more for the sake of closure than curiosity.

The computer responded programmatically.
 

["'Well, Ensign,' the captain explained, 'for me, it's an important part of the ritual. There's something about blowing the steam off a hot cup of coffee and letting its full-bodied aroma blast you in the face that just makes it taste better."]

Kathryn gasped and felt her legs melt beneath her, suddenly finding herself in a heap on the deck. Not bothering to get up, she untangled her limbs and rested her chin on one bent knee to consider the situation further.

How was it possible? The passage from AH!'s story was almost verbatim from the conversation she had had with Seven. She frowned trying to remember whether she'd ever had a similar conversation with anyone else. Or could Seven have mentioned their conversation to someone else?

Tweedle-lee.

Kathryn subconsciously registered the chime of her doorbell and answered involuntarily. "Come." Then she slowly became aware of two curvaceous, plum colored legs standing in front of her. Kathryn followed the curves up and up and up to find Seven of Nine towering over her with a too-amused expression on her face.

"It's you," Kathryn whispered, realizing more in that moment than Seven was aware.

"Am I interrupting something important, Captain?" the Borg asked in exaggerated politeness.

The question brought Kathryn out of her reverie. She realized that Seven had once again found her sitting on the deck, but she refused to get embarrassed this time. Instead, she crossed her arms, stretched her legs out in front of her and crossed them at the ankles, then leaned back against her desk before responding.

"No. I was just doing a little reading."

"I see," Seven responded slowly. She turned quizzically to study the captain's undisturbed couch, lounger, and chairs, and then returned her attention to the figure sprawled out on the deck. "You appear to be doing all your reading on the floor lately, Captain. Is your furniture malfunctioning?" she asked.

"Nope."

"I see," Seven repeated, not really seeing.

"I'm getting a crick in my neck, Seven. If you're staying, sit down, will you?"

The young woman opened her mouth as if to say something but stopped abruptly. She turned and studied the furniture again and then studied the carpeted deck. Then she sighed and slunk resignedly to the floor.

Janeway hid her smile. "So what brings you here, Seven. More corrected Astrometrics reports?"

Seven opened her mouth again to say something and was again stymied for a response. She discerned the subtle mockery in the captain's statement, but she could tell, too, that it was intended affectionately rather than mean-spiritedly, and it was the tone of affection that took her off guard.

"Yes," she finally answered, handing over her padd without further explanation.

Janeway smiled again and accepted the padd, setting it aside for later. She then turned back to the ex-Borg and cocked her head inquisitively. She needed to know for certain if Seven was AH!

"Still working during your off-duty hours, Seven?"

"Yes, Captain," the young woman answered guilelessly, not perceiving the trap.

"Maybe you should try a more interesting hobby than reading. Have you tried writing?"

Seven's wide-eyed, nervous reaction was all the confirmation Kathryn needed.

"I've been reading something very captivating in the last few weeks," Kathryn said softly. She reached up and retrieved one of the padds from her desk, keying in her favorite story. "I'd like to share it with you." She cleared her throat and began to read.
 

[Personal Log: Ensign Anne Hollings

Captain Janeway spoke with me today. I don't mean that she gave me a directive or bade me a good morning. I mean she actually had a conversation with me. She spotted me in the mess hall. I had, of course, noticed her already when she entered, although I pretended to be surprised at seeing her when she approached my table. Then she asked if she could join me for breakfast. Somehow I managed a polite reply saying I'd be delighted, or something like that. In the next moment, my cerebrum stopped functioning altogether as she beamed a smile at me and sat down. I felt a little dizzy and now can remember only about half the conversation, but I think she asked me about my home, my family, my goals, as if she were genuinely interested. I must have said something funny at one point, because she started to laugh out loud and took several minutes to compose herself. I never realized laughter could sound so beautiful.]

Kathryn had spoken the last line with a hushed reverence and then let off the reading to study Seven.

The young woman was nervous, unable to meet the captain's eyes. Janeway cleared her throat.

"You realize, of course, that this story is completely implausible."

Seven looked up sharply and then lowered her eyes again, but not before Kathryn saw the pain and disappointment flash across the young woman's features.

"You mean because you could never get involved with a member of your crew....even someone who isn't in Starfleet," Seven guessed.

"No," Kathryn replied gently. "I mean it's implausible because there's no way someone could feel that strongly about me without my noticing." She paused to study Seven's response.

The young woman looked up, a glimmer of hope in her features.

"Seven," Kathryn continued gently, "I see you." She scooted closer to the young woman and cupped her face. "I notice you."

"But I'm--"

Kathryn pressed two fingers against Seven's lips to interrupt her protest. "You're breathtaking."

She looked into Seven's eyes and let the knowledge that Seven was AH! wash over her, the pieces all suddenly clicking into place. The insecurities, the innocence, the odd mix of intellectual arrogance and emotional immaturity that was uniquely Seven's: Kathryn understood now why she had felt such affection and compassion for the protagonist. She guessed that on some level, she had recognized that Anne was Seven. And yet, in one sense, the comparison was unfair. Seven was no longer emotionally immature. In crafting a character who loved with such a depth of emotion, Seven had discovered her own heart, her own humanity.

"I'm afraid," Seven whispered.

"Why?"

"Because I don't know if I can adequately express what I feel for you."

"You already have," Kathryn smiled.

"Is that all right?" Seven asked uncertainly.

"What? That you wrote these stories or that you love me?"

Seven's eyes grew wide at the sudden realization that she perhaps had more to worry about than she initially thought. "I suppose both," she answered.

Kathryn chuckled. "Well, I have to admit, I wasn't happy when I found out about this little writing club. Some of the stories are way out of line," she added light-heartedly, rolling her eyes. She then reconnected with Seven, and her expression became fond and serious. "But not yours, Seven. I love your stories."

Seven swallowed at the intensity of that look. "And the second part?"

Kathryn's face broke into a huge smile, but she didn't answer verbally. Instead, she placed her hands on the young woman's shoulders and pushed back gently until Seven was lying on the deck of the captain's living quarters with the small woman sprawled on top of her. Both women inhaled deeply, excited at how good this position felt. Then Kathryn focused on the full lips that had been tantalizing her for so long. She gave in to the temptation, leaning in close to Seven's face and tracing the bottom lip with the tip of her tongue.

Seven gasped and then felt Kathryn's teeth gently tugging on the same lip. She became aware of a series of noises, whimpers and moans that sounded at once familiar and foreign. When she inhaled again and the noises stopped, she was surprised to realize that she had been making those sounds. Just as suddenly, she couldn't think anymore as Kathryn's mouth smothered her own in a hot and wet penetration that she felt to the very core of her being. The touch was invasive, but she didn't perceive it as an intrusion. Instead, she found the touch surprisingly pleasant. It was an intimate caress, one she cherished because it was Kathryn's mouth that was drawing out those emotions and swallowing up her moans.

Seven couldn't help smiling against Kathryn's mouth, and then she began to laugh.

Kathryn pulled back, at once bemused and amused by the young woman's reaction. "What's so funny?" she asked smiling.

"That feels good!" Seven exclaimed.

The older woman chuckled back knowingly. "Yes, it does," she purred.

Kathryn started moving in for another kiss, but Seven pressed up until they were both sitting--the older woman straddling the younger one's lap. Seven then began kissing the delicate neck at her lips as she unfastened the captain's tunic.

"Don't you think we're moving a little fast?" Kathryn complained half-heartedly.

"No."

The decisive response made the older woman chuckle. She then relented, the full lips against her own smothering any further complaints. She was amazed at how well Seven's hands played her body, strumming her ardor in a rhythm that perfectly matched the quickening beat of her heart.

The sudden coolness of her skin was her first clue that Seven had somehow managed to remove her shirt and bra. Before she had a chance to react to having her breasts exposed to the young woman's view, she felt Seven's hands cupping them from underneath. A gentle squeeze followed suit and then she felt herself arching into the delicious sensation of Seven's thumbs flicking back and forth across her suddenly stiff nipples. She opened her eyes, surprised to find Seven looking intently at her, watching her reactions. Kathryn stared back, mesmerized as much by the bold gaze as she was by the equally bold and surprisingly experienced caress.

They continued staring at each other, Kathryn swallowing hard as Seven began pinching her nipples and rolling them expertly between her thumbs and forefingers. They both looked down briefly at the point of contact as Seven pulled up harder on the nipples, squeezing more intensely until the nubs turned a deep red. When their eyes reconnected, Kathryn found herself doubly aroused by the mix of passion, confidence, and triumph that flashed across Seven's face. And when the young woman's nostrils flared as she inhaled deeply, Kathryn wondered if the former Borg could also smell her arousal. She was frankly surprised at Seven's expertise.

"How do you know all the right ways to touch me?" she asked breathlessly.

"Research," Seven replied abruptly as she groped the captain's breasts with still more intensity.

"Uhm, anecdotal or first-hand," Kathryn continued, trying to sound matter of fact.

Seven cocked her head, considering her response. "Both," she finally answered. "I read numerous accounts on human sexuality, and I also engaged in experimentation."

Kathryn would have frowned at the idea that her new lover had perhaps slept with someone else, but when Seven dipped her head and began sucking noisily on the older woman's nipples, she could barely remember her own name, let alone their conversation.

Seven pressed Kathryn back down onto the deck and resettled herself over the smaller woman, hunkering down to feast leisurely on the willing bosom in front of her.

Kathryn wallowed awhile in the ecstasy of having her nipples tugged so sweetly into the rough, wet heat of Seven's hungry mouth. After a few moments, however, her thoughts finally broke through the distraction of her wonderfully over-stimulated nipples.

"Who with?" she croaked.

Seven released the left nipple with a loud pop. "Myself," she blurted just before attacking the right nipple with equal fervor.

Kathryn looked down as nearly half her breast was pulled into Seven's sexy mouth and gasped at the sight, a fresh rush of excitement soaking through the crotch of her uniform pants. "I'd like to see you practice that technique on yourself," the older woman murmured.

Seven caught the comment and laughed around the nipple in her mouth.

Kathryn arched again into the sensation and became suddenly aware of the unyielding deck beneath her. "Maybe we should move to a more comfortable spot," she suggested, thinking of her soft bed.

"Agreed," Seven said.

Kathryn was thrilled when the Borg easily lifted her in her arms, but she frowned in confusion when the young woman headed in the wrong direction. Before she knew it, she felt herself being laid out efficiently on her dining room table. She took a breath preparing to protest but was again distracted when she felt her hips being lifted and then suddenly stripped of both pants and undergarments, her bare legs falling open against the table top. Too shocked to utter a sound, she watched as Seven seated herself at the end of the table and pulled the captain's lower body toward her, an arm wrapping possessively around each thigh.

As Seven moved the captain's body into this fully receptive position, she brazenly stared at the older woman's splayed sex, unconsciously licking her lips.

Before Kathryn realized what was about to happen, she felt Seven's fingers unceremoniously spread her slippery lips apart, and then the young woman's face was pressed against her, lapping at her sex with a hungry passion that surprised them both.

"Oh, God!" Kathryn cried out.

The erotic feast was straight out of one of Seven's stories. Simply reading about that scenario had so aroused Kathryn at the time that she had been able to bring on an orgasm by stroking herself for scarcely more than a minute. Now she was actually living through that experience, and it was Seven of Nine's tongue that was intimately coaxing her sex to give up its control.

If there was any doubt that Seven was in control, the young woman quashed those doubts when she suddenly pulled back from Kathryn's sex.

The older woman groaned in frustration but was just as quickly appeased when Seven began sucking one of the folds of Kathryn's sex. The sensation surprised Janeway. She had been used to having the sensitive nub of her sex stimulated, and she had experienced the delight of penetration, the intimate stroking deep within her sex also bringing her to orgasm on a number of occasions. Seven's unhurried licks and nips, however, were making her feel stimulated in areas she had never realized would be so sensitive to a tongue's caress.

Every millimeter of her sex was treated to Seven's singular attention as the young woman spent the next two hours devouring the area between her captain's legs. Finally spent, Kathryn pushed a wet strand of hair off her sweaty forehead and begged Seven to stop. The young woman relented, lifting her flushed face up and then gently removing several fingers and a thumb from their respective burrows.

Kathryn gave a little squeak as she felt herself emptied. "Wow," she said on an exhale. "Let me catch my breath....and then we'll switch places."

Seven smiled.

*****

Having spent the night trading techniques from Seven's stories, Janeway logged them off duty the following day. Then they cuddled together in bed, Seven spooning Kathryn's body and casually probing the small opening between the captain's cheeks. Kathryn didn't mind. She liked the intimacy of it and sensed it was more exploratory than erotic. Still, she couldn't resist the temptation to tease.

"You do realize that if I have another orgasm, I'll explode."

"Didn't you beg me earlier to turn you 'inside out'?" Seven joked back.

"When did I say that?"

"Just before you climaxed for the fifth time, when we experimented with the techniques from my twelfth story."

"Oh, yeah, Number Twelve," Kathryn said in fond memory. "Those toys were fun."

"I was impressed with your ability to put them to still more inventive uses, Kathryn," the young woman complimented

"Well it helps that your body is sensitive in so many wonderful places."

"As is yours," Seven retorted, demonstrating her comment by pushing her finger all the way into the captain's backside for an intimate tickling.

"Mmmm," Kathryn responded, enjoying the pleasant sensation.

Seven nuzzled and kissed her ear, slowing her movement again to a deep, languorous boring and then delicately removing her finger.

Kathryn reached toward her night table for a moist towlette and absently cleaned the young woman's hand. "So when's your next story," she asked out of the blue.

Seven was surprised. "You wish me to continue writing them?"

"Of course, why wouldn't I? You're a wonderful writer, Seven, and the stories are very sweet. Don't you want to continue participating in the writing club?"

"Yes, Kathryn, I do. I enjoy discussing the stories, and I appreciate hearing how much others have liked my stories, even if they don't know I'm the one who wrote them. But I....I thought that you'd want me to stop, especially now that we're together."

"Not at all, Seven. What difference could it possibly make.....other than the fact that now you'll have me to practice your techniques on," Kathryn added almost lecherously.

Seven smiled and kissed the captain's ear again, hugging her closer. "I'm pleased you feel that way Kathryn since I most certainly need help with my next story. What would you think if Kathryn and Anne did this." The young woman began whispering seductively in her captain's ear, describing in graphic detail what she had in mind for her next story.

Kathryn's eyes grew wide, and then she closed them, imagining the scene her lover just described and moaning in reaction.

"Perhaps you'd like to co-author the next story with me?"

"Writing isn't my forte, Darling. You'd have to call it a story by AH! and uhhmm!"

"Those are not your initials."

"What? Oh, Seven, do you realize I didn't see that until you said something? A.H. Annika Hansen. It was right in front of me the whole time!"

Seven laughed. "If the initials didn't give me away, then how did you finally determine it was I?"

"Something in one of your stories was straight out of a conversation you and I once had about why I like my coffee hot."

The young woman cuddled closer, smiling fondly at the memory. "Yes, I remember. I suppose I'll have to be more careful now. After all, once the crew find out about our relationship and if it also gets around that I've written those stories, they will assume quite a lot about our private lives."

"Mmm," Kathryn hummed in agreement.

"Unless, of course, you wish to keep our relationship a secret," Seven added, the uncertainty evident in her voice.

"Are you kidding? A crusty old captain like me managing to woo a beautiful young woman like you. I'd be declaring my love from the treetops....if there were any treetops in space."

Seven laughed again, as much from the joy of Kathryn's pronouncement as from her joke.

"Besides," the captain continued, "the crew will put two and two together the minute they see the same silly grin on both of our faces and realize that we were both off-duty today."

Seven reached up and felt her face realizing that she did, indeed, have a silly grin. She breathed in happily. "What do you wish to do now, Kathryn?"

"Want to do a little reading from the Four-Pips library? Some of them are very good, and even the ones with the overdone imagery are good for a laugh."

"Overdone imagery?"

"You know, stories that are self-consciously creative--exceptionally flowery prose, lots of metaphor and hyperbole, that sort of thing."

"Ah, yes. I believe many of the 4-3 stories are like that, particularly those involving Chakotay. I have wondered at times if he was perhaps contributing his own stories in that category."

Janeway laughed aloud and was soon joined by Seven when she explained that she had accused her First Officer of the same thing just a few weeks before.

After their laughter subsided, they settled down with a few padds in hand and spent the rest of their day off indulging in stories and romance and good, old-fashioned sex.

*****

Epilogue

"So do you think they're finally a couple?" Paris asked his companions as they watched the captain and Seven seated together on the other side of the officer's mess hall. There was definitely something different about them. They even looked different, although the captain was in her usual command uniform and Seven wore her two-tone suit, the blue one with the grey sleeves. The hair styles were the same, too. But the expressions were softer and happier, especially when they looked at each other.

B'Elanna and Harry turned to study them. The captain was so busy gazing fondly at Seven that she accidentally spilt her coffee on the Borg's suit. Then she reached out with her napkin and gently dabbed at the young woman's bosom right there in front of everyone and completely oblivious to the fact that there was anyone else around.

"Oh, yeah," B'Elanna said. "They're definitely a couple."

Across the mess, Seven looked down at the black coffee stain splashed across her blue suit and then looked up at Kathryn, growing instantly suspicious of the mischievous glint in the captain's eyes.

"No, Kathryn. Don't you dare say it."

Kathryn smirked, obviously intending to disregard the warning as she eyed the coffee stain again.

Seven closed her eyes and groaned even before Janeway uttered the last syllable.

"Obsidian met indigo....."
 
 

 

THE END