Part 1

"Warning, hull integrity at 20%," the computer's voice reminded the occupants of the shuttlecraft as they were tossed around by another shockwave.

Torres growled at the information, her fingers flying over the workstation, as she furiously looked for a way to re-route the power the shuttle had left to the shields.

"Lieutenant, communications are offline and life-support is failing." Seven of Nine's composure appeared to be a stark contrast to the Chief Engineer's. She remained seated and her body was still as her hands worked the console quickly.

"Life-support's going to be a fat lot of good if we lose hull integrity," B'Elanna spat back, annoyed that the ex-drone had distracted her. "Look for a way to get more power Seven. Use anything you can," she ordered, not even looking up at the blonde woman.

The two women had been sent in a shuttle on a complicated mining expedition. Ordinarily, Voyager would have diverted course, but a medical distress call had meant dividing resources. Knowing that minerals and ores were a precious commodity, Janeway was reluctant to pass an opportunity by. Knowing that B'Elanna and Seven would work quickly and efficiently, if not harmoniously, the Captain had despatched them in a shuttle with the assurance that they would rendezvous at the medical catastrophe site.

The Chief Engineer and Astrometrics officer had worked well together. B'Elanna had been glad to get away from Voyager and the break up of her engagement with Tom Paris. There were only so many sympathetic looks she could put up with and Seven had thankfully not brought the subject up. Seven had proven to be the ideal companion. They hadn't spoken much, but B'Elanna had found herself not so defensive or suspicious of the ex-drone's suggestions and solutions and even found herself complimenting Seven on some excellent ideas for mining the materials.

For her part, Seven had enjoyed the Klingon hybrid's company. Now that she was on her own and somewhat subdued by recent events, Seven had the opportunity to see B'Elanna's quick thinking and innovation at close quarters and she was impressed and somewhat envious of the older woman's talent.

The mining mission had been a total success and they had been well on their way back to meet up with Voyager when a nearby gas-giant had become unstable and exploded. The resultant shock waves had buffeted the small shuttlecraft viciously and all systems had suffered.

"Lieutenant, I have scanned the area. There is a Class N planet nearby. Landing may be our best option." The Astrometrics officer had long ago learnt not to tell B'Elanna in definitive terms the best solution to problems. The engineer always seemed to take exception to her theories. It was easier to just suggest an option and allow the Klingon to make the final decision.

B'Elanna didn't reply as she thought through the possibilities.

"Warning, hull integrity at 10%," the computer interrupted her musings abruptly.

"Damn, I can't get anything more out of her," the Klingon hybrid cursed, banging a clenched fist on the console in front of her.

She sighed. "Seven, how long will it take us to get to that planet?"

"On full impulse, we can reach the planet in eight minutes and twenty seven seconds," the ex-drone replied, still busy at her own station.

"That's too long," B'Elanna exclaimed in surprise. "We'll have broken up by then," she protested.

"If we re-route all remaining power to the engines, we will be able to engage the Warp Drive for thirty seven seconds. That will take us to within a few seconds of the planet."

"But with no shields to protect us when we land," the raven-haired woman pointed out, her voice rising in anger. "Seven are you mad?"

"My last examination with the EMH..." Seven began.

"Seven," the engineer warned, in no mood for the ex-drone's annoying ability to take everything she said in the literal sense.

The tall blonde woman ceased speaking and waited expectantly. She resisted the urge to point out to the Klingon that the longer she took to come to a conclusion, the less time they would actually have to run the engines.

Fortunately, it took Torres only a few seconds for her mind to race through the permutations. "Okay, here's what we're going to do," she surmised, her hands still working the console. "You're right Seven, the planet is our best option, anything else is certain death."

Seven raised an eyebrow at the lieutenant's acknowledgement but made no comment.

B'Elanna continued, oblivious to Seven's reaction to her statement. "Prepare a distress buoy repeating the co-ordinates of that planet while I sort the power re-route. Comms might be out but if we leave a calling-card, hopefully Voyager will find it and then us," she paused a beat. "Whatever's left of us that is," she amended.

Seven nodded, and mentally scolded herself for not thinking about some kind of distress beacon. It took her only a few moments to set the buoy and she jettisoned it from the hold without waiting for permission.

B'Elanna did not seem to mind the ex-borg working on her own initiative this time, she was too busy trying to maximise the power exchange. When she was satisfied she turned in her chair to face the younger woman. "You ready?" she asked.

Seven nodded. "There will be minimal power for control of landing once we are in range of the planet," she advised.

"Yeah, I know. Better buckle yourself in. I'm a terrible pilot," B'Elanna returned, smirking at the look of alarm that suddenly flitted across the usually stoic features of the tall woman. "I'm kidding. You didn't think that I'd get away with dating Tom for all that time without him insisting on me improving my skills did you?" she asked rhetorically.

"It is just a shame that he didn't appear to take any lessons from you regarding honour," Seven replied quietly, referring to Tom's indiscretions with other members of the crew that had finally lead to their less-than amicable break up a few weeks ago.

Torres was startled. She hadn't thought that Seven would take an interest in anyone's personal affairs. It was also the nicest and most appropriate thing anyone had said to her since the end of her relationship with the helmsman. "Thanks," she murmured. "Ready?"

"I am prepared," Seven acknowledged.

The engineer transferred the last of the power in the shuttle to the engines and engaged the warp drive, taking the craft on a course set by Seven. There was nothing more they could do now than hope that the engines would last long enough to take them close to the planet.

The engines lasted for exactly thirty-nine seconds. When they finally ran out of power, the shuttle came to an abrupt stop. B'Elanna smiled as she began scanning the planet. "Your calculations were slightly out Seven," she couldn't resist but point out.

"I neglected to factor in your uncanny ability to make something out of nothing," the tall ex-drone retorted.

B'Elanna couldn't work out if the comment was a slight or a compliment but she laughed just the same. "Let's hope you say the same when we land this thing," she replied. Suddenly she noticed the results of the surface scan. "Seven, you said this was a Class M planet, right?"

"Negative Lieutenant. Class N. It is a barren world, with surface temperatures varying between -40 and -10 degrees. I have detected no life signs other than hardy, scrub-like vegetation. However the atmosphere is breathable."

"We'll freeze down there," B'Elanna protested, shivering at the thought.

"We stand a better chance of survival than on the shuttle in space. I calculate that we have less than two hundred and eight seconds before the hull breaches." Seven's voice remained impassive.

"That doesn't give us much time to land," the Klingon grumbled but she concentrated on the controls and began to prepare.

As the lieutenant made her adjustments, Seven moved quickly to gather materials together. She was uncertain as to how successful the landing would be and she knew that the environment they were headed for was hostile. She managed to put extra blankets, clothing, tricorders and phasors into two storage holdalls that were stored in the rear of the shuttle. She just had time to throw in several ration packs before B'Elanna yelled back at her to take her seat.

The willowy blonde hurried back to the cockpit and sat down barely in time before the shuttle was thrown about, this time by the upper atmosphere of the planet.

"Hold on, Seven," the Klingon warned. "This is going to be rough." The dark engineer gritted her teeth and began the landing sequence.

"Warning: Hull integrity at 5%," the computer intoned.

"Computer, mute all warnings," B'Elanna ordered, wondering why she hadn't thought of that earlier. She could feel sweat begin to form on her brow as she concentrated at the controls, fighting the elements as the shuttle was thrown around.

The view screen changed from black to a deep red as the hull surface heated, the friction of the atmosphere inflicting yet more pressure on the beleaguered shuttle. Suddenly, the view changed again to a bright white and the half-Klingon squinted as her eyes adjusted to the change in luminance.

Unfortunately, there was nothing to see except a bright white expanse. B'Elanna concentrated on the instruments in front of her, knowing that she would not be able to judge the height of the shuttle visually. The brunette woman could feel Seven's eyes boring into the back of her head and realised that the ex-drone had said nothing for some time, obviously not wanting to distract B'Elanna from her task. Knowing that it wasn't just her neck on the block spurred the Klingon to concentrate and she willed herself to make the landing, even as she fought against the hostile environment.

For a brief second, the Chief Engineer thought that they had made it. The shuttle trajectory was good and their approach to the surface was sound. However, just as she was bracing for impact, a cruel but powerful gust of wind forced the shuttle to dip slightly to one side. The left undercarriage clipped the ground and suddenly, the craft flipped. When it landed again, the shuttle began to cartwheel through the snow, the sides crumpling with each impact. By the time it had spun twice, both occupants were unconscious.

* * *

B'Elanna opened her eyes and realised that she was slumped over the forward console of the craft. She made no further effort to move, having a dread feeling that there would be pain involved. The shuttle was in shadow, with beams of natural light slicing through the dark from the holes in the hull of the shuttle. The Klingon tried to mentally assess her injuries before moving. Her head was pounding and her left shoulder and right leg had localised pain. Now that she was conscious, B'Elanna was aware of icy cold drips hitting the back of her neck and it was irritating enough to force her to sit up, albeit somewhat gingerly. Her jacket creaked and she realised that she was soaked through from the water that had been dripping through a breach in the hull above her head, and most of the water had frozen on her back.

The brunette groaned as her back straightened and more pressure was put on her shoulder. Moving her arms disturbed the ice on her back and it dislodged and slipped to the ground. As she exhaled, a huge plume of mist escaped her lips indicating how cold it was inside the shuttle and B'Elanna registered the harsh environment for the first time.

She glanced down and saw that her tunic was not only soaked with water. Her shoulder was bloodstained from the injury she had sustained there. She lowered her right hand and examined her thigh carefully, grimacing as she found evidence of more blood. After gentle prodding, she surmised that the leg wasn't broken.

Now that she knew that she could stand up and move, B'Elanna forced herself to get up and look for Seven. The back of the shuttle had taken a great deal of damage and debris was scattered across the cockpit, much of it already frosted over.

Underneath one large pile, but clearly visible, was a pale hand. The engineer shifted gear and began to remove plating and wreckage off the Astrometrics Officer quickly but carefully, not wanting to collapse the wreckage onto the unmoving woman.

Once the area was clear, B'Elanna grabbed a tricorder and checked the ex-drone out. She was suffering with a severe concussion and some of her borg circuitry had fused, drastically slowing down the woman's nanoprobe healing process. Seven's left arm was twitching spasmodically as the conflict inside her body raged.

The Klingon shivered as the cold began to bite into her. She had to help Seven quickly so they could create a more survivable shelter. Coming to a rapid decision, B'Elanna hurriedly looked round for tools and equipment she could use to help the ex-drone. She located the instruments quickly and set to work repairing the damage, hoping that Seven remained unconscious during the procedure as she was convinced that the blonde woman would find it extremely painful if she were conscious.

B'Elanna worked steadily for the better part of an hour, getting frustrated with herself as her hands began to shake, a side-effect of her own injuries and the harsh temperature. Eventually, the job was done and the Klingon sat back, exhausted but certain that she could do no more to help her colleague.

Realising that she had neglected her own injuries long enough, the engineer used the emergency med-kit on her thigh and shoulder, fumbling a number of times as her numb hands wouldn't behave the way she wanted them to. She could not replace the blood she had lost, but at least now she would lose no more.

Light-headed from the intense concentration and blood loss, B'Elanna sat back and leant on the damaged hull, feeling icy droplets falling on her again, but now too exhausted to shelter from them. A groan from Seven prevented her from passing out, and B'Elanna forced her eyes open and sat forward, looking carefully at the ex-drone.

"We have survived," Seven stated dully, but with a hint of surprise in her voice.

B'Elanna narrowed her eyes at her companion. "You didn't think we would, did you?"

"The odds for survival were not favourable," Seven admitted, moving slowly. "What happened?"

"We crashed," B'Elanna responded dryly.

Seven ignored the comment. "My circuitry has been repaired," she stated, frowning as she tried to collate the data from her systems.

"Your abdominal implant was damaged. I had to do some surgery," the half-Klingon told her.

"The repairs are adequate," the blonde woman remarked. "Thank you." She frowned. "I still have pain in my head."

"You and me both. I'm not surprised after the impact we had. I didn't want to give you any painkillers until you were conscious though. I needed to make sure what I did was satisfactory," B'Elanna explained, reaching over to place a hypospray at the younger woman's neck.

As the pain receded, Seven's face relaxed slightly. "I was fortunate to be in the shuttle with you Lieutenant," she told the brunette. "There is no one else on Voyager who would have been able to deal with my condition so effectively."

"Yeah, well," the raven-haired woman tried to shrug the comment off. "I need you at your best if we're going to survive out here." She shivered again as her body reacted to the cold inside the shuttle.

Her action was enough to spur the ex-Borg into action. "I packed equipment and supplies. We need to leave the shuttle and make our own shelter."

"You're kidding right? It's freezing in here. How much colder is it going to be out there?" B'Elanna was incredulous at Seven's suggestion.

The younger woman was already standing and trying to locate the holdalls. "The hull is breached in many areas. We have no power to sustain a warm environment and the material of the shuttle will get, and then stay cold very quickly. We need to build a small shelter that does not require much to retain the warmth." Seven bent down and retrieved the bags. She tossed one in the engineer's direction. "If there is anything else you wish to take for immediate use, I suggest you pack it now. We can return to salvage other supplies once we have a base secured."

B'Elanna stared sullenly at the taller woman, but another icy blast reminded her of the conditions within the shuttlecraft and the engineer knew that Seven was right. She grabbed the bag and slung it over her shoulder, wincing as her shoulder was pulled by its weight. Transferring it to her other shoulder, B'Elanna made a sweeping gesture with her right arm. "Lead the way," she suggested.

Seven cocked her head slightly, wondering why B'Elanna had acquiesced so easily but made no further comment. Locating the exit to the shuttle, the blonde woman easily wrenched the door open and squinted into the blinding glare of the terrain.

"There are some hills over there," she pointed. "We should use the natural slope as a shelter."

"Just as long as I'm not out here too long," B'Elanna muttered, feeling her teeth chattering already.

The two women jumped down from the wreckage and surveyed the landing path of the shuttle. Seven raised an eyebrow as she saw the deep winding scar of the shuttle's path. "I believe my initial calculation of survival should be revised. The odds appear to have been far worse than I calculated," she commented blandly, her mouth curling slightly.

B'Elanna didn't respond. She was too busy feeling the cold. "Come on Seven. Get moving. I'm freezing," she muttered, annoyed that she was admitting weakness.

The tall borg looked closely at her companion with concern. B'Elanna was looking pale and she was shivering uncontrollably. "The exercise will help warm you," she told the Klingon and then set off at a brisk pace, all the while keeping a surreptitious check on the shorter woman.

They made surprisingly rapid progress, which was just as well as B'Elanna's Klingon physiology was beginning to suffer greatly from the environment. As she surveyed the hillock in front of her, Seven made some rapid calculations. "If we dig out a T shape hole, we can shelter in the top of it and store our belongings at the bottom. If made small enough, our own body heat should keep the shelter at a survivable temperature, particularly as there appears to be nothing that can act as fuel in the immediate vicinity."

B'Elanna just nodded: too cold to object to Seven's plan. She fumbled in her bag to retrieve a phasor and then handed it to Seven apologetically. "My hands are shaking too much. I think it'll be easier if you cut it," she admitted.

Seven tried to keep the shock from her face and quickly set to work in creating their makeshift shelter. She made several neat incisions and then several more so that the compacted snow could be taken out block by block. B'Elanna assisted in the removal of the blocks and in a few minutes they had managed to hollow out a small but adequate shelter.

Seven then ensured that the roof of the shelter was smooth so that no unwelcome drips would irritate them and also cut out a ventilation shaft so that there would be no dangerous build-up of carbon dioxide.

Satisfied with her handiwork, she turned to present the shelter to B'Elanna, only to find the Klingon slumped on the ground. "Lieutenant," she exclaimed, quickly dropping to the brunette's side.

"Frozen," B'Elanna mumbled, barely conscious.

The Astrometrics officer acted quickly. She grabbed a bag and dug out a survival bag and blanket, preparing one of the sleeping areas. Then she went back to where B'Elanna lay, picked the woman up and carried her into the shelter. Supporting her with one arm, Seven awkwardly removed the lieutenant's soaked and freezing tunic, shifting the smaller woman in her arms in order to free her from the garment. Then she worked off B'Elanna's trousers, managing to prise the woman's boots off with her feet at the same time.

Seven was frightened at how cold the Klingon's skin was but forced herself to work methodically, rather than rush and make mistakes. Once the smaller woman was clad only in a grey tank top and underwear, Seven rolled her into the sleeping area and worked the survival bag up from her feet to encompass the woman who had now, alarmingly, stopped shivering.

"You will warm up quickly Lieutenant," Seven told her before placing another blanket over the top of B'Elanna.

Seven rapidly prepared her own sleeping area on the other side of the T bar shape, knowing that her own body temperature was beginning to drop and recognising that she needed to sleep to assist with the recovery of her injuries now that regeneration was no longer an option. She was deeply worried for the engineer. The survival bags worked by retaining the body heat emitted by the user. At the moment though, B'Elanna was too cold to generate much heat.

Seven found herself in a dilemma. She knew that she should assist the lieutenant in raising her body temperature but was uncertain how the fiery Klingon would react. Coming to the conclusion that it was better for the engineer to be alive but furious, Seven quickly got down from her own sleeping area and approached B'Elanna.

"Lieutenant?" she asked softly.

There was no response. Torres lay unmoving in the shelter, her breath coming in short, shallow gasps.

"Lieutenant?" Seven tried again more forcefully. When there was still no reaction, the blonde decided to take action. She quickly removed the blanket that covered the Klingon and then rolled down the survival bag. She jumped up onto the ledge and stretched out next to the Klingon, alarmed at how cold the woman was.

"What are you doing?" the engineer mumbled, lucid enough to recognise the invasion of her personal space.

"Keeping us both alive," Seven retorted shortly as she adjusted her body next to the other woman. She worked the survival bag around the two of them. It was a tight fit but eventually, she managed to cover the pair of them with both the bag and the blanket.

Settling down, she wrapped her arms round B'Elanna, spooning the shorter woman and rubbing her hands roughly over her arms in order to encourage the circulation round her body.

At first, B'Elanna didn't react but after a few moments her body warmed enough to begin shivering again.

"Shared body heat is more efficient," Seven whispered into B'Elanna's neck, anxious for the woman's condition to improve.

B'Elanna could feel the warmth radiating from Seven's body and tried to relax into the younger woman's grip and soak up some of that heat for her own frozen body. She could feel the curves of the woman press into her back and took comfort from the close proximity of the ex-drone. Even in her semi-conscious state, she realised what Seven was trying to do and was grateful that the younger woman had thought to share body heat. She stilled Seven's moving hands by placing hers on top of them before pulling on them slightly to encourage Seven to hug her. She whispered into the dark. "Thank you."

Seven sensed the change in B'Elanna's body. Her shivering had become less violent and the woman was no longer rigid with cold. There was something else that changed, but the Astrometrics officer couldn't determine what it was.

She did know that she was revelling in the nearness of the older woman. She had been attracted to B'Elanna for some time but had not acted on her feelings. All the time B'Elanna had been in a relationship, Seven knew it would be inappropriate to reveal her desire. When Tom and B'Elanna broke up, Seven wasn't sure how long to wait before saying or doing anything. She had found it much easier to hide behind the relationship excuse and now had difficulty confronting her emotions.

All she knew at the moment was that B'Elanna needed her, if only for her body heat. For the time being, that was enough.

Part 2

When Seven woke up, she was surprised that she had actually managed to sleep at all. Her internal body clock told her that she had been asleep for over six hours and that the injury to her abdominal implant was healing nicely.

Once her internal checks were completed, Seven opened her eyes and found herself staring into the back of B'Elanna's head. Neither of the women had moved while she had been asleep. Seven was pleased to feel the heat radiating from the Chief Engineer. The engineer was sleeping naturally, her breathing normal and the colour of her skin was less pale.

Reluctant as she was to leave the warmth of their shared bed and its intimacy, Seven knew that she had to get up and get food. B'Elanna would have lost a lot of energy from fighting the cold and the Astrometrics officer knew that she had to deal with her own nutritional requirements. The willowy blonde resisted the urge to squeeze the older woman closer into her for a moment and instead, moved her arms gently away from the still sleeping Klingon and wiggled her way out from the survival bag. B'Elanna grumbled at the disturbance but did not actually wake up.

Once free from the covers, Seven gently pulled them back over the raven-haired woman but stopped as she noticed the angry red mark that covered B'Elanna's shoulder. The wound had been healed cleanly enough but it looked to be showing signs of infection. Making a mental note to examine it when the engineer was awake, Seven replaced the covers and then searched the holdalls for ration packs.

B'Elanna snuggled into the warmth of the survival bag as she woke. She inhaled deeply and caught a faint scent that was reminiscent of Seven. It reminded her of the events directly after the crash and her eyes flew open, trying to recall what had happened during the building of the shelter.

She found herself on one of the narrow ledges, tucked into a survival bag wearing nothing but her undergarments and vest top. She rolled over gently, wincing as she put pressure on her shoulder. The Klingon frowned slightly. She was sure she had treated herself correctly when she used the dermal regenerator. B'Elanna looked down and then towards the exit of the shelter, trying to locate her companion. She found her crouching over one of the holdalls, obviously trying to locate something. "Hey," she called softly.

Seven straightened up immediately. "Lieutenant," she acknowledged. "How are you functioning?"

B'Elanna grinned at the enquiry. "I'm feeling much better, thanks. I certainly feel warmer." She noticed the blonde woman blush slightly. "Thank you for looking after me," she told her with genuine emotion.

"I did not give you much choice Lieutenant," Seven replied wryly. "We both need to be fit if we are to survive for any length of time in this place."

The dark Klingon squinted towards the exit. "Doesn't look very hospitable out there," she mused.

Seven stood up and handed a bundle to the engineer. "It is currently -30 degrees out in the open. I suggest you put this environmental suit on. It will keep you warmer than your uniform."

As she stood, B'Elanna noticed that the ex-drone had also donned an environmental suit over her bio suit. "What happened to my uniform?" she asked as she sat up, shuddering as she lost the warmth from the survival bag.

"It was soaking wet and frozen," Seven began. She blushed again and B'Elanna frowned as she shrugged herself into the suit. "So where is it?" she pursued, rubbing her shoulder absently once she was attired in the silver clothing.

"I attempted to dry it by heating a piece of hull wreckage with my phasor," the tall ex-drone continued.

"And?" B'Elanna couldn't help but prompt.

Seven looked uncomfortable. "I burnt it," she admitted eventually.

The Klingon couldn't help but laugh at the mortified look on Seven's face. "I'll just have to run around in my underwear in our new shelter then," she teased, surprised to see the hue of Seven's face darken again. Wondering why the younger woman would react that way to her comment, B'Elanna decided to drop the subject for now in favour of a more pressing need. "Have we got any food?"

"I packed a number of ration provisions," Seven replied, relieved that the Klingon had changed topics. She searched the bag again and retrieved two packs, throwing one at the engineer who had now hopped off of the sleeping ledge to stand next to her. "They have an offensive taste but are nutritionally balanced," she commented with a slight moue of distaste.

"Hmm, I'm looking forward to it all the more now," returned the smaller woman sarcastically. It didn't stop her devouring the food though and B'Elanna realised just how famished she had been.

While Seven finished her own rations, B'Elanna spoke again. "You've done a good job with the floor area," she commended.

The end furthest from the entrance had been covered in a waterproof material that all their supplies were now resting on. There was enough room to sit on the material but it was quite cramped. Although it was colder in the gap between the sleeping areas, because both women had now recovered from their injuries and had warmed up, it was more bearable.

"I may need to excavate a bit deeper but I am reluctant to do so. The larger we make this area, the more difficult it is to keep it warm. While you were asleep, I dug out another shelter a suitable distance away that can be used as a toilet area. I suggest that we head back to the shuttle and see what else we can salvage now that we are appropriately attired."

"Sounds good to me," B'Elanna concurred. "Let's just be sure not to be out there too long. I'm not a fan of the cold," she continued, scouting round for her boots. She grimaced slightly as she put her feet into them. They were cold, but they were at least dry. "I see you were more successful in drying my boots," she commented with a grin.

Seven blushed again but this time replied to the tease. "I learnt from my previous mistake and did not use as much heat to remove the moisture from your boots."

B'Elanna nodded her approval before ducking outside the shelter and into the harsh winds and snow.

She was joined quickly by the blonde woman who handed her a now empty holdall. "It will be easier to carry supplies with these," she remarked blandly.

"Good idea," the Klingon commended and squinted in the general direction of the shuttle crash. She could see a long line of footprints that indicated Seven's previous journey. "Is there much more left for us to salvage?" she asked.

Seven was surprised. She had surmised that the engineer would want to fully inspect the damaged shuttlecraft herself and not take her advice. As she looked at the older woman, Seven could indeed see the Klingon's face frowned in thought. "I made a cursory inspection when I went back to retrieve some materials. It would better if we assessed the shuttle comprehensively."

B'Elanna seemed satisfied with the answer and began to follow the path Seven had already made when she was halted by an outstretched hand.

"I located these anti-glare visors. They will protect your sight." Seven handed the raven-haired woman a pair of dark glasses.

Impressed by Seven's anticipation, B'Elanna put on the glasses, feeling her eyes relax as the glare from the snow was instantly muted. "Thanks."

Once back at the shuttle, B'Elanna was able to examine the wreckage at leisure. Unfortunately, her initial assumption was pretty accurate. The shuttle had been almost completely destroyed by the landing and both women wondered how they had survived at all. The mining equipment and analytical tools were still working. B'Elanna gathered together every hand tool and power pack that she could utilise or had a hope of repairing while Seven studied the main instrumentation panels and systems.

As soon as the Klingon had completed her task she joined Seven at the main workstation and began her own examination, taking care not to repeat what Seven had already done. This consideration surprised the ex-drone and she couldn't help but comment on it. "I believe this is the first time you have trusted my judgement Lieutenant."

The shorter woman snorted. "Seven, we have a compliment of two here. I don't suppose it would be too difficult for you to call me B'Elanna would it?"

Seven's eyes widened slightly at the request. "I can try," she replied.

B'Elanna nodded. "Good. And there's no point in me checking your work. Unless we're doing anything that's new to the two of us, your summations will not differ from mine." The Chief Engineer knew that her admission was tantamount to a complete reversal in the way she had treated the ex-drone while on Voyager but B'Elanna had seen enough evidence of Seven's accuracy and talent during the mining operation to recognise that she was wrong. She was also honourable enough to act on her findings and treat the tall blonde accordingly. She smiled impishly. "Besides, I don't want to spend anymore time out braving the elements than absolutely necessary."

Seven agreed and then, on the demonstration of trust that the half-Klingon had shown, adapted her own style of working by providing a comprehensive summary of the results she had already obtained. "Engines and the main power supplies have been destroyed or are beyond repair, life support is irreparable, the hull has been compromised in too many areas to be viable and the shield generators and weapons array are unsalvageable." She drew a breath before continuing, noticing B'Elanna's frown deepen as the list of bad news lengthened. "Communications can be repaired but I estimate the time for completion to be in excess of seventy two hours."

B'Elanna hissed her displeasure at the news. "We'll only be able to work a few hours at a time in these conditions. It's going to take a lot longer than three days for repairs," she commented, folding her arms in front of her and hugging her body. "What about rations?"

"In ordinary circumstances, we would have food to last ten days," Seven began.

B'Elanna picked up on her reservation immediately. "In ordinary circumstances?"

"Because of the climate, our bodies will need a much higher calorific intake. I estimate that supplies will last just four days."

"Great." B'Elanna licked her lips as she thought through the situation. There was a short pause before she spoke again. "Have we got any power to the scanners?"

Seven frowned. She had not bothered to check the scanners as she had deemed them of no real immediate value. With elegant strokes of her fingers, she was able to glean the information from the onboard computer. "Short range scanners are functioning but without main power they will not be usable."

"We'll have to get power to them, Seven. We need to locate an alternative source of food or we'll die before we can contact Voyager." It was typical of the Klingon hybrid not to assume that Voyager would find them without assistance.

"I detected no life-signs when I made preliminary scans of the planet, B'Elanna," Seven reminded her companion, feeling awkward voicing the lieutenant's first name.

B'Elanna raised an eyebrow on hearing the ex-drone use her first name and was surprised at how pleasant it sounded from the taller woman's lips. "I remember," she responded. "However we need to locate anything we can that could be deemed edible. And I'm also hoping that anything living in this hell-hole will have dug in deep and may not have shown up on your initial scans. If we can take a closer look we might be able to find dinner."

"How do you suggest we power up the scanners now that there is no Supply in the shuttle?"

"You said that main power was out. You didn't mention back up and reserve. I'm hoping that I'll be able to squeeze enough from them to get the scanners working," B'Elanna replied, looking down at the console and beginning to run her hands over the controls. "If I can't get power from there, I'll bastardise the power supplies for the hand tools and try and generate the power that way." The engineer was already thinking far ahead into her plan and her voice had begun to take on the distant timbre that indicated that her mind was racing.

For Seven, it was fascinating to watch. If she was honest, she was envious of the older woman's ability to improvise and innovate. It hadn't even occurred to the younger woman to utilise the power from the other instruments they had the use of. Although unwilling to interrupt the creative flow of the Klingon's thought process, Seven knew that it would be more efficient if she had involvement in the workload. "How can I be of assistance?"

"Can you repair the auxiliary power pathways to the scanner arrays?" B'Elanna immediately tasked the ex-drone with one of the most difficult aspects of her plan, without even looking up from her console.

Seven found herself to be surprised again. B'Elanna immediately assigning her with such a complex and crucial undertaking was once again breaking from the way she normally treated Seven and the ex-drone found herself responding to the task with extra vigour.

B'Elanna knew that Seven was perfectly capable of sorting out the power supplies and was honest enough to realise that if she didn't share the difficult tasks, they would be stuck on the shuttle for far too long and they would end up dangerously exposed to the cold once again. As Seven worked on the power supplies, the Klingon tried to divide her time between realigning and refining the sensors, and trying to discover exactly how badly the communications systems had been damaged and what it would take to effect repairs.

Both women became immersed in their respective tasks and it was only when B'Elanna found that her hands had gone numb again, that she realised that they had been exposed to the elements for long enough. "Seven, we need a break and I need to get warm," she told the younger woman, looking up and rubbing her shoulder absently. For some reason her shoulder was aching but the Klingon put the sensation down to being hunched over a console in extreme conditions for so long.

Seven looked up and looked carefully at the older woman. B'Elanna looked pale again and her lips looked mauve from the cold. "Lieutenant," she began and hurriedly corrected herself when the raven-haired woman shot her a look. "B'Elanna, you must get back to the shelter. I can work for another hour yet..."

"No," the engineer interrupted. "We work together and rest together. It's safer," she justified. "I'm not having you work alone here."

Seven found that her heart started beating faster. It appeared that the half-Klingon cared for her well-being, for there was real concern tingeing B'Elanna's words.

"Very well. We can return later after rest and sustenance," she agreed. Seven stood up and located the holdalls that were now full of equipment. "I know that it appears inefficient but I believe that our equipment will last longer if it is less exposed to the extreme cold."

"Sounds reasonable to me," B'Elanna concurred. She hissed as she pulled on the handles of one of the bags.

"B'Elanna?" Seven was immediately at the shorter woman's side.

"My shoulder's hurting. I thought I'd healed it. I obviously missed a bit," the Klingon explained, trying to dismiss the problem.

"I noticed that it looked inflamed when I woke," Seven commented, her face reddening when B'Elanna looked at her curiously.

"I'll be okay. Just need a rest and something to eat," B'Elanna decided, using the other arm to pick up her load.

"I will examine you when we get back to the shelter," Seven told the older woman determinedly.

"Oh really?"

"Yes," confirmed the ex-drone. "Suffering for the sake of your pride is illogical and will reduce your efficiency."

B'Elanna stared open-mouthed for a few seconds before turning and exiting the shuttlecraft using the same hole they had used when they originally crashed, muttering as she left. Seven retrieved the remaining bag and followed the lieutenant through the opening and together they made their way back to the shelter.

Once again, by the time B'Elanna reached the shelter, she was shivering again but curiously, her shoulder was burning. Throwing the holdall onto one of the sleeping ledges, the half-Klingon unzipped her suit so that she could expose her shoulder for examination, knowing that any further argument with Seven would be futile. What she wasn't prepared for however, was the gentle probing from cool hands over her fevered skin. The half-Klingon shuddered slightly and hoped that the woman behind her would attribute it to flinching from pain.

"Does this hurt?" Seven's words were practically whispered into B'Elanna's ear.

It took a few seconds for the engineer to respond. "It's uncomfortable, and hot," she described, willing herself to stand still as Seven continued to run her hands over the injury.

"It's infected," Seven surmised, stepping away from her patient almost reluctantly. "Let me get a hypo spray," she told the other woman and she rummaged round in the storage area before locating the med kit. When she first touched B'Elanna's shoulder, she had felt a spark of energy pulse through her and it had taken her a few seconds to regain her composure. Fortunately, B'Elanna hadn't appeared to notice her lapse, possibly because of the pain the ex-drone had inadvertently inflicted on her. She knew that her attraction to the engineer was deepening but now was not the time to expose her feelings.

B'Elanna's shoulder was an angry red with a darker red line running a jagged path across the blade. Seven frowned. The wound should have been completely healed by the dermal regenerator B'Elanna had used on herself. What confused the Borg more was how the wound had become infected. There was nothing here that they hadn't both been exposed to, and Seven had been careful to scan for any anomalies that would affect both humanoid and Klingon physiology.

Seven pressed the hypo spray gently into B'Elanna's neck, enjoying their closeness again, even if it was only for a few seconds. "That should take care of the infection," she reassured the smaller woman. She handed B'Elanna a ration pack and opened one for herself. "You need to eat," she told her unnecessarily, her face contorting slightly as she tasted the food.

"We have got to get sensors back on line," B'Elanna replied, grimacing as she forced down her own food. Seven nodded in agreement.

When they had finished, the two women looked at the storage area to see how things could be re-arranged in order to accommodate the additional equipment that had retrieved from the shuttle.

"I will dig out a deeper area," Seven decided, realising that there was no way that all the stuff could be placed in the original space.

"No, wait up," B'Elanna stopped the Borg before she commenced work. "Look, Seven," she started, hesitating as she struggled to find the words. "You said yourself that the larger we make this place, the more difficult it becomes to keep it at a reasonable temperature."

Seven nodded, wondering where the brunette was heading with her argument.

"Well we already know that there's enough room on one ledge for us both to sleep, why don't we just use the other shelf as an additional storage area?" B'Elanna wasn't sure why she was blushing so hard, and she was also equally surprised to see Seven react in a similar manner. "It's just an idea," she added, trying to play down the suggestion now that she had seen Seven's reaction.

"And it is logical," the blonde woman concurred, settling the matter by placing her holdall on the ledge next to B'Elanna's. She extracted her survival bag from the shelf and placed it next to the brunette's. "B'Elanna, your body temperature has dropped to near hypothermic levels. You should use the sleeping area to return your temperature to normal."

"What are you going to do?" the engineer enquired, removing her suit completely before hopping up onto the shelf.

Seven hesitated. "I will wait until you are fit enough to return to the shuttle with me," she replied.

"Seven, you've been affected by the cold too. It might be a good idea to get yourself warm," B'Elanna suggested, suddenly feeling awkward again.

The tall Astrometrics officer nodded mutely and eased herself up onto the shelf and wriggled into her survival bag. Once comfortable she lay back down and faced the smaller woman but could not think of a single thing to say.

"Just relax," B'Elanna murmured, already drowsy and enjoying both the rise in temperature from the confined sleeping area and from Seven's closeness.

"I will comply," the ex-drone replied stiffly, eliciting a stifled giggle from B'Elanna.

"You do that."

Seven sighed and turned over onto her back. She knew that she would be unable to relax. She was still unused to sleeping as opposed to regenerating and was certain that the only reason she had been successful earlier was due to her injured state.

She was still in a state of contemplation when B'Elanna threw an arm over her, rolling closer as she did so. Seven stiffened in alarm, unsure of what was going on until she realised that B'Elanna was asleep and had unconsciously moved closer to glean more warmth from her.

Perversely, B'Elanna's action did begin to relax the blonde woman and she shifted her body weight to lean into the half-Klingon's embrace. Within moments, she too was asleep.

Part 3

When B'Elanna opened her eyes, her initial reaction was to pull away from her embrace with Seven. Not only was she conscious of the intimacy of the position she found herself in, she did not want to cause any unnecessary discomfort to the ex-drone. However, as she became more awake, she realised that Seven was sleeping soundly and she was reluctant to disturb her.

B'Elanna studied the Borg's face carefully, happy to do so in the knowledge that the close inspection would go undetected. Seven's features were softer now she was relaxed and B'Elanna wondered at how young the woman looked when she wasn't hiding behind a veneer of efficiency and aloofness. As her pulse increased slightly, the Klingon realised that not only did she think Seven attractive; she was indeed attracted to her. And it wasn't just a physical attraction, of that, B'Elanna was certain. In fact, she had spent her life determined never to judge someone by appearance alone, having been on the receiving end of that sort of treatment. She could discuss things with Seven on an equal footing, and their disagreements were usually down to what to do with the results of their work or how the results were obtained, not the results themselves.

If she was honest, B'Elanna had been jealous of Seven's intelligence and of her composure. The engineer still had difficulty reining in her temper and not reacting rashly. She had felt usurped by Seven's self-promoted superiority and her own self-doubts had returned to haunt her. Working closely with Seven during the mining operation had revealed the ex-drone's own insecurities. B'Elanna discovered that the younger woman was sometimes embarrassed by her lack of knowledge regarding basic manners and interaction, having relied on the Collective for so long. She hid behind an attitude of indifference that gave the appearance of arrogance when, in fact, she was probably more unsure of her position and status than B'Elanna was.

Having realised that she had misread the woman, B'Elanna was determined to rectify the way she treated her on board Voyager. By the end of the mining operation, she had begun to understand Seven's almost arid sense of humour and felt comfortable enough to not only tease the blonde, but allowed the Borg to tease back.

Had the mission ended and they returned to Voyager safely, B'Elanna was certain that she would have continued to treat the Astrometrics officer with respect and trust and perhaps the friendship that had tentatively begun during the operation could develop into something more. Now, they were stranded in a harsh environment with no communications and limited rations, and B'Elanna wasn't prepared to put any pressure on that friendship when they had to work so closely together in order to survive. It would be unfair to Seven and could have potentially disastrous consequences. B'Elanna just hoped that their enforced confinement together wouldn't put too great a strain on a relationship she already valued highly.

So lost was the Klingon hybrid in her own contemplation that she didn't notice Seven wake up. The tall blonde looked at the older woman and studied the frank emotion displayed on her face. There was a look of determined protectiveness emblazoned on her features and Seven found herself hoping that it was intended for her and not directed against her. The younger woman was captivated by B'Elanna's unique beauty. Seven had first admired the engineer for her incredible technical ability. Her innovation and lateral thinking was a totally new concept to the ex-drone and it took her some time to appreciate its value. The Klingon had not bowed down to Seven's superior knowledge but instead, argued with Seven, often reaching a better solution to problems by combining their efforts without even realising it. It was during those explosive confrontations that Seven realised that she was developing romantic feelings for the Chief Engineer. To see such passionate emotion displayed so openly entranced the tall Borg and the fact that B'Elanna treated her as an equal, allowing no quarter as far as procedures or even good manners went, meant that time spent with the woman was always a huge learning curve. A sometimes extremely frustrating learning curve, but an enjoyable one nevertheless. What she couldn't understand however, was B'Elanna's choice in partners. Lieutenant Paris was unreliable, fickle and, as far as Seven was concerned, totally unsuitable for the raven-haired woman. The Doctor had told her that love was the most illogical of emotions and followed no rules. Seven couldn't help but be relieved at the termination of B'Elanna's relationship with the helmsman but, recalling the words of the EMH, had no idea how to deal with her own emotions, much less admit them to B'Elanna. She sighed in frustration, a habit she had picked up from the dark Klingon.

B'Elanna was drawn from her thoughts instantly. She focused on the cerulean blue eyes of her companion. "Sleep okay?" she enquired softly.

"I am unpractised at sleeping, and yet I have succeeded in the task for the second time since we landed on this planet," the blonde replied.

The engineer raised her eyebrows. "I thought the Doctor and the Captain were trying to wean you off the alcove?"

"Their attempts were not successful. I suspect that it had much to do with my desire not to leave the alcove," Seven admitted.

"You would still rather use the alcove?"

"I believe it is more efficient," Seven began. She hesitated when she saw B'Elanna raise her eyebrows perceptively. "I am used to regenerating. I am familiar with the procedure and I do not have to work at it. Sleeping is unreliable and," she hesitated again, "difficult."

"Well you haven't had any problems so far," B'Elanna responded. She rolled her shoulder experimentally, and found that it was stiff but no longer painful.

Seven decided not to voice her opinion that the Klingon engineer's proximity was the only reason she had been able to sleep successfully, and instead concentrated on B'Elanna's injury. "May I look at your shoulder?"

"It's just stiff," B'Elanna demurred, but found herself shuffling round awkwardly in her survival bag so that Seven could examine her back.

Seven ran her hands over the healed skin carefully, noting that the area was still slightly inflamed. She couldn't tell whether the skin temperature was raised, as the whole of B'Elanna's back felt warm and the ex-drone had to force herself to concentrate on the task at hand and not savour the sensations she was experiencing from touching the other woman's back.

B'Elanna's eyes closed spontaneously and she had to bite down on a low growl that was threatening from deep inside her chest. Seven's hands danced over her shoulder and the engineer was willing them to continue their exploration. Recalling her earlier vow not to put their friendship in jeopardy, the older woman reluctantly pulled her back away from the gentle hands, but frowned as she thought she heard the ex-drone make a quiet sigh of protest as they separated. Dismissing it as wishful thinking, B'Elanna wriggled back round to face Seven, noting how flushed the normally pallid woman's face was. "Well?"

Seven frowned, flustered for a second at the enquiry after being so lost in the sensation of B'Elanna's skin. Hurriedly, she pulled her thoughts in order, remembering the original reason for the inspection. "It is not as inflamed as before, but I am concerned. The hypospray should have eliminated any infection from the wound, yet whatever is causing the problem appears tenacious."

"Yeah, well, I'm feeling better, so we'll take it that I'm on the mend," B'Elanna replied, sitting up slightly as a prompt for Seven to get up and off the sleeping ledge. The younger woman complied and they both jumped down on to the protective ground sheet, hurriedly putting on the environmental suits as they noticed the marked difference in temperature from the sleeping area and the gangway.

Seven looked at the other woman discretely as they dressed. She was confused by what had just happened. The tall Astrometrics officer was certain that B'Elanna was almost responding to her touch and not just reacting to any pain or discomfort her shoulder might have given her. And yet, just when she had made up her mind to investigate her theory a bit more thoroughly, B'Elanna had withdrawn and forced them both to get up. Now she wasn't sure if B'Elanna was distancing herself because she didn't want the attention, or if she was retreating because she did. The blonde found the emotional pull exhausting, but intriguing. No wonder humans spent so much time hypothesising on love and its variants.

Once suitably attired to combat the extreme cold again, the two women trudged back to the shuttle, taking rations with them.

"Is it me, or has the weather got worse?" B'Elanna yelled over the roar of the wind.

Seven could barely hear her, even with her enhanced auditory function and she wondered if the Klingon would hear her shouted response. "The temperature has dropped and the winds are at least twice as severe. I am not sure that it is wise to continue with repairs if the weather is closing in as it appears to be."

"We don't have any choice, Seven," the shorter woman shouted back, hunched against the force of the wind. "If we don't get sensors and comms back on line, we're dead."

Seven nodded despite knowing that B'Elanna wouldn't see the gesture. The brunette was right. If they couldn't find an alternative source of food, they would be starving within four days and they would only be halfway through the repairs needed to get comms back online.

B'Elanna squinted across the white expanse, watching the thick white flakes from the blizzard dance with the wind gusts. "Kahless, the shuttle will get buried in snow soon. We'll have to dig our way to the access hatch as it is." She shook her head. Time was precious enough without having to waste it on getting through yet more snow.

There was no point in using the phasors to cut the snow. None of it was compacted hard enough to be lifted out in blocks. Instead, the two women used their emergency spades to clear a path to the shuttle entrance. Both were breathing heavily by the time they dropped through the hatch and inside the broken craft.

"Well there's one good thing about all this snow," B'Elanna commented dryly as she brushed herself down. "At least it will help insulate the shuttle. It might even get a bit warmer in here," she finished hopefully.

"You mean -25 as opposed to -30 degrees?" Seven asked with a small grin.

B'Elanna rolled her eyes and then tried to remove some of the snow that had found its way inside the shuttle. As soon as she tried to deposit her gathered pile out of the shuttle, the fierce winds blew it, and more snow generated by the storm, back into the cockpit. Realising that the task was futile, the dark Klingon adjusted the plan and piled up the snow and ice from inside in a corner that neither of the women would need access to. With Seven's help, the task was completed swiftly and once B'Elanna was satisfied with her working area, she sat down at the console. "Seven, can you keep an eye on the time? I don't want to leave it quite so late before we stop next time, but once I get into something I just have no idea what's going on around me." The Klingon had no idea why she was justifying her request, particularly as Seven had already nodded at the query before she continued.

"It is logical B'Elanna. If we over-exert ourselves, we need to eat more rations to compensate for the excess use of muscles in keeping warm."

"It probably explains why I'm so damned tired too," the brunette muttered as she began work. "I can't remember ever sleeping so much."

"Nor can I," replied Seven, equally as softly as she continued her work on the auxiliary power conduits. B'Elanna raised her eyes and stared at the younger woman for a few seconds, wondering at the wistful tone of Seven's voice. She sent a silent prayer of thanks to Kahless that she had so much work to do. Otherwise she knew that she would be continually distracted by the other woman's presence and B'Elanna knew that she would worry continually about the distraction. There was no point wishing that they were back on Voyager where she could deal with the situation in a more controlled environment and at least could determine if Seven would be receptive to a more intimate relationship with her. All the time they were stranded here however, the Klingon would not exhort any pressure on Seven. It would not be honourable to use the situation to pursue intimacy, particularly as the ex-drone had extremely limited experience with romantic liaisons.

Within moments, the engineer had found a particularly complex problem with the communications relays and all thoughts of Seven were relegated to the back of her mind as she focused on finding a solution.

Seven glanced briefly at her colleague before starting her own work. She noticed the thoughtful look on B'Elanna's face and wondered what was occupying her thoughts. Her own centred on the last comment she had made. Seven had indeed never slept as long or as soundly as she had since their crash. At first she had put the reason down to sheer exhaustion and recovery from her injuries. Now she was not so sure. Having B'Elanna so close had relaxed and strangely comforted her. She had felt safe and protected, and yet if she had been asked if that had been a necessary requisite for sleep, she would have dismissed the notion, knowing that she was one of the strongest people on Voyager.

As she tried to analyse her feelings she came to the inevitable conclusion that it was who was sleeping next to her that made the difference. Seven's attraction to the Klingon hybrid was escalating. She had caught herself revelling in the feel of the woman's skin when she examined her shoulder earlier. Seven chastised herself. Now was hardly the best time to initiate a romantic relationship with the older woman, even if she thought that B'Elanna might return her feelings.

With a determined sigh, the tall blonde forced her mind back to the task at hand, working methodically with the power routings.

Two hours later, neither woman had moved position and had said nothing as they continued with their tasks but the silence was not oppressive. Seven looked up and decided that it was time to take a break. She stood and flexed her leg muscles, and then went to one of the holdalls to retrieve supplies. She noted with a small grimace that their emergency water rations had frozen, but she used a phasor on its lowest setting in order to return the ice back to its liquid state.

Once she had everything prepared, Seven made her way over to where B'Elanna was working and put the supplies on to a nearby console. "B'Elanna, you need a break," she called over softly.

The engineer didn't even look up, so engrossed in her work that she did not hear the other woman. Rather than call again needlessly, Seven laid a hand on the Klingon's shoulder in order to gain her attention. Her lips twitched into the tiniest of smiles as B'Elanna leapt at the touch, startled from her work. "I am sorry to disturb you, but you need to take a break," Seven explained gently.

B'Elanna looked up into the concerned eyes of her colleague and was about to embark on a long string of Klingon and human epithets when her brain registered that the ex-drone was right. "Thanks," she commented as she took an insulated cup and greedily drank the contents. She smiled ruefully as Seven sat down next to her. "I did tell you I get engrossed," she continued before taking a good-sized bite from a ration bar.

"I was well aware of that fact before we undertook this mission," Seven rejoined, also eating.

B'Elanna wiped a hand over her brow as she leant back in her seat. "Are you sure that the snow isn't insulating the shuttle. It feels damned hot in here," she complained, drawing another long draft of water.

Seven narrowed her eyes as she looked at the older woman. She noticed that B'Elanna was looking flushed and could see tiny beads of sweat forming on her forehead. "The current temperature in the shuttle is -26 degrees. It is 4 degrees warmer than the temperature outside but that is not a sufficient rise for you to feel hot," she remarked, snatching a tricorder from one of the workstations and running it in front of B'Elanna.

The Klingon frowned as she studied Seven's face, trying to read her emotions. "What's wrong?"

"I am not certain. Remove the upper part of your suit."

B'Elanna snorted. "Jeez Seven, I usually get a date out of someone before I follow that sort of order," she commented dryly and was quietly delighted to see the younger woman flush furiously at her implication.

"I need to examine your shoulder again," the blonde explained, stammering slightly and inwardly cursing herself for her lack of control.

B'Elanna smirked but refrained from commenting as she shrugged the suit from her shoulders. The movement invoked a jolt of pain across her back and the raven-haired woman sobered immediately as she realised that something was wrong. A sharp hiss of surprise from Seven alarmed her even more. "What?"

Seven did not answer immediately but methodically scanned B'Elanna's back, trying to make sense of the readings.

"What?" The Klingon repeated more aggressively, her concern rising. She tried to twist her head round to try and read Seven's expression but found that the action produced another wave of pain. She spun her whole body round instead.

"The infection has spread," Seven intoned, trying to keep her voice neutral. She tried her hardest, but her eyes betrayed her and they drifted downward to view the swell of B'Elanna's breasts, covered by her grey tank top.

The Klingon didn't appear to notice Seven's distraction. "Spread? I thought you gave me something to get rid of the infection. What the hell is going on?" B'Elanna's voice continued to rise as her concern grew.

"I am uncertain. It is difficult to extrapolate results from an ordinary tricorder," Seven hedged, focusing on the readout in an effort to keep control on her wayward optical senses.

"So the infection is why I feel so hot?" B'Elanna persisted. She rolled her shoulders again, wincing as the movement provoked more discomfort.

"I believe so. We need to ascertain the cause of the infection before a more appropriate treatment can be concocted."

B'Elanna could see that Seven was worried and noticed that the ex-drone fell back on more formal speech patterns in order to hide her emotions.

"All the medical kit is back at the shelter," B'Elanna commented, trying to work things through logically while she was physically capable. "If you can complete the power coupling repairs, I think I can have the sensors back on line in the next hour. Let's at least achieve one thing before we return to the shelter and then you can play nurse to your heart's content," she suggested.

"I believe that we should return now, Lieutenant. Your well-being should not be placed below the repair of equipment," Seven demurred.

"My well-being won't count for anything if we can't find food and get comms back up and running," the engineer objected. "And let's be honest. You're not a doctor. There's no guarantee that we'll be able to counter the infection anyway. I might as well work now while I can still function within normal parameters," B'Elanna continued, a small grin on her face as she finished her statement.

Seven nodded as she recognised the logic in B'Elanna's argument. "One more hour," she conceded. "But regardless of the state of repair, we will return to the shelter after that."

The Klingon raised her eyebrows at the forcefulness of Seven's statement but knew that fighting Seven would only distract them from continuing the repairs. She sat back down and was about to start work again when she felt the blonde's cool hand on her shoulder. "What now?"

"I know you are feeling hot, but you need to keep your environmental suit on. Your body will not tolerate such cold temperatures," Seven pointed out reasonably.

B'Elanna grumbled but tugged the suit back over her shoulders and zipped the garment up. Wiping her face again, the brunette studied the console for a few seconds before re-commencing repairs. Seven watched her with concern. B'Elanna's body temperature had risen significantly. For her not to notice her state of partial undress was worrying. Seven continued her work on the power coupling assembly, ensuring that she checked on the engineer frequently.

Forty-five minutes later Seven saw B'Elanna lift her head up in triumph. She arched an eyebrow expectantly and waited for the Klingon to make her announcement.

"Sensors are back on line, Seven. It's only short-range but we'd never be able to go exploring any further than that anyway," she explained enthusiastically.

The tall blonde nodded appreciatively. "I concur. It would be wise to initiate scans now. I am uncertain how long my repairs to the power supplies will last," she admitted.

B'Elanna shook her head in disbelief, caught up in the excitement of having accomplished what she had set out to do. "If you've made the repairs, they'll hold," she retorted confidently, grinning as her slender fingers drove the console to begin scanning. "But I'm not sure how long the rest of the circuitry will remain functional. It all took a battering when we landed." She made a few final adjustments before looking up. "Seven I need your help," she called out and waited for the ex-drone to join her at the workstation. "If I do a rapid initial sweep of the area, can you monitor the results and record anything that might need a lengthier scan? That way we can keep the scan to a minimum and focus on areas that might provide the results we need."

Seven nodded. "Proceed," she instructed once she was settled just behind B'Elanna's body. The blonde looked over the seated woman's shoulder at the screens in front of them. Sharing the same console meant that there was less strain on the already limited power supplies and it also gave each woman the excuse of secretly savouring the other's closeness.

B'Elanna commenced the rapid scan and paused the operation once a 360-degree sweep had been performed. She looked up expectantly at the woman standing behind her.

Seven quickly pointed out two potential areas that needed probing further and the engineer made the necessary adjustments before starting the sweep again, this time setting the scanner to retrieve more detailed information about the local area surrounding them.

"It would appear that there is limited vegetation and fauna present in the mountain ranges to the north of our location," Seven surmised once the scans completed their work.

B'Elanna nodded. "Yeah, but it's pretty steep terrain. I'm not sure that we've gained anything other than a tantalising glimpse into what is unobtainable around us." Her earlier enthusiasm for the project had dissipated as she studied the route needed to get into the mountains. "There's no way we'd be able to scale those mountains while the weather is so severe," she demurred.

Seven stared at the view screen as she contemplated the older woman's words. "I should be able to retrieve supplies, Lieutenant," she stated confidently.

B'Elanna was having none of it. "I don't think so. You're not going up there alone. It's too dangerous." She held up a hand to quell the protest that Seven was about to form. "And don't deny that you think it's dangerous. You addressed me by my rank. If that doesn't tell me you're concerned about the trip, nothing does." She wiped her brow again as sweat began to trickle down her face.

"It would be difficult," Seven conceded. "But not impossible. However, with your shoulder injury, it would not be viable for you to accompany me." The blonde tried again. She knew that B'Elanna would not be well enough to negotiate the mountainous terrain, but Seven knew unequivocally that supplies had to be procured somehow.

"Then we'll have to wait until the storm blows itself out," B'Elanna replied. "You have to admit that we stand a better chance of survival if we stick together," she pressed.

"In ordinary circumstances yes," Seven replied cautiously. B'Elanna emitted an exclamation of triumph but the ex-drone continued, ignoring the interruption. "But these are hardly `normal' circumstances. Even if the weather abates, your injury is debilitating you. The expedition would take an unacceptable amount of time."

B'Elanna could feel anger rising deep from within her but somehow managed to keep it in check. Exhaling deeply, her voice shook slightly as she continued to hold back her temper. "And if you don't return because you couldn't negotiate the terrain single-handed, my situation wouldn't change. It's better if we go together after we wait for the storm to die down." She stood up suddenly and retrieved the water canteen, once again having to defrost it with a blast from a phasor. She used the time to control her emotions. The older woman was furious that Seven would question her capability but in the recesses of her mind, she knew that Seven had a point, even if she had been rather blunt with it.

The raven-haired Klingon gulped the liquid voraciously before handing the receptacle to Seven and waited for the younger woman to take a drink before continuing. "How long would it take to get up the mountains?" she asked quietly.

Seven looked up sharply. She hadn't anticipated that question. After assessing the results from the scans and factoring in the weather Seven answered. "If the storm dies down, it would take nine hours to scale the terrain. It is impossible to estimate how long the foraging for supplies would take, as I have no idea of the nature of the local fauna. Getting back down would take approximately 2 hours longer due to the awkwardness of carrying extra supplies and the difficulty of the terrain."

"Twenty hours minimum if you go alone. That's one whole day of being separated." B'Elanna swallowed. "You can't tell me that it's safe for us to be apart for that long." She glanced at the ex-drone, daring her to interrupt but Seven remained silent. "We have at least two days worth of food left. I know it's risky to wait but there's still work to be done on the shuttle. None of it will be wasted time."

Seven studied the shorter woman for a few moments before replying. B'Elanna was uneasy about the situation. In fact, if Seven didn't know her better, she would have said that she was scared, though the willowy blonde was at a loss to determine why. She nodded curtly. "Very well, B'Elanna. We will wait one day and then reassess the situation tomorrow." Seven conceded. "But now it is time to return to the shelter." She began to gather their belongings but frowned as she saw the engineer still hunched over the console. "B'Elanna, we need to stop now," she emphasised.

The brunette looked up and nodded her agreement. "I know, but it makes sense to load the sensor results into our tricorders just in case there is some sort of corruption of the data storage units while we're away."

Seven nodded and took responsibility for collecting all their supplies while B'Elanna hurriedly completed her task.

Seven deliberately handed B'Elanna the lighter of the two holdalls, knowing that it would be painful for the Klingon to carry the bag. She had been tempted to carry both bags but decided that the engineer would be affronted by the inference that she was weak and in all probability over-react to her offer of assistance. As they headed back to the shelter, Seven took the lead, setting a steady pace as she hunched over in a futile attempt to get any protection from the still raging storm. Every so often, she would glance back to ensure that the brunette was following.

As she trudged along, Seven wondered how she could convince the half-Klingon that it would be more logical if she ascended the mountains alone. B'Elanna had already reacted in a typical knee-jerk fashion. However, the ex-drone was not convinced that B'Elanna would be any more susceptible to logic after they had rested and warmed up in the shelter. B'Elanna's stubbornness was a cause of great frustration to Seven. It wasn't as if she was questioning the engineer's physical prowess or her skills. She was acutely aware of the other woman's attributes. It was those attributes that kept distracting the Astrometrics officer while she was working in the shuttle. It had taken all her willpower to concentrate on the power couplings.

As she continued her inner monologue, Seven realised that she just wanted to protect the older woman, particularly as she was injured. It was by no means certain if the Borg could find a cure for the insidious infection that raged in B'Elanna's body so getting additional food supplies was essential.

Seven realised that it was ironic that she wanted to protect the tenacious Klingon. B'Elanna was one of the few people on Voyager who could come close to the ex-drone's strength. She also recalled the look B'Elanna had directed at her when she had awoken earlier. It would appear that they both wanted to look after each other. The tall blonde wondered whether the motives behind each other's intentions were similar.

She sighed to herself and bent deeper into the howling wind. She was over-analysing again. And her thoughts were going nowhere other than round in circles. She wondered how `human' it made her. Seven continued to trudge through the snow and picked up the pace as she identified the outline of the shelter and headed for it. She could see that the entrance had been partially blocked by the snow and ice blown around by the storm and frowned. They would have more digging to do before they could rest.

The tall blonde looked back to tell B'Elanna of the situation but the words stuck in her throat.

B'Elanna was some way behind her had sat down in a large drift of snow and had peeled off her environmental suit and was rubbing snow onto the back of her neck. Even as Seven began to hurry over to where the Klingon sat, B'Elanna keeled over, unconscious for the second time in as many days.

Part 4

B'Elanna knew where she was before she even opened her eyes. She could hear a deep creaking sound accompanying a nauseating rocking that originated from under her body. There was a smell of blood in the air so strong she could practically taste it. Her face and body could feel sense a burning heat, her nasal passages were raw from inhaling the arid air. Wails of torment could be heard over the creaking wood. The engineer knew that she was back on the Barge of the Dead. What bothered her was why she had returned.

The brunette sat up and looked round, the familiar surroundings doing nothing to ease her fear. As she stood up, B'Elanna noticed she was wearing the garb of a Klingon warrior.She touched her cheek to check for the mark of the dishonoured but there was no sign of it. Perhaps once again, it wasn't her time to enter Grethor.

There were a number of Klingons crouched in recesses across the deck, their positions revealed when flashes of lightning removed the shadows from the barge. All had their heads bowed, ashamed of their plight and avoided looking at the guards wandering through the barge as they carried out their patrols.

B'Elanna waited for two guards to walk past her before she moved from her position. She headed towards the bow of the Barge where the large ship's wheel was located. The brunette could see the tall, imposing figure of Kotar standing behind the wheel in his usual place. There was no point in hiding on the Barge. The Klingon Barge master would already know that she was on board. She could at least attempt to get some answers from the ancient warrior.

Kotar turned as she approached. "Mongrel child of Miral. You have returned once more," he greeted B'Elanna with familiarity.

B'Elanna wasted no time. "Why am I back here? I resolved the dishonour I placed upon my mother. What am I doing here?" Her voice was harsh and insistent.

"You ask many questions of me," Kotar's rumbling voice replied, unfazed by B'Elanna's demands. "You should be asking these questions of yourself."

B'Elanna was livid. "If I asked myself, I'd know the answers," she spat at the tall boat captain.

"Then you know why you are here," Kotar responded calmly. He looked at her with a penetrating stare. "Or have you not asked yourself?"

B'Elanna stared at the man sullenly as she tried to answer the questions for herself. She genuinely believed that she had dispelled the dishonour she had placed on her mother, and had accepted her heritage with less resentment. She hoped to meet Miral in Stovokor when her time came and to return to the Barge had come as something of a shock.

The brunette then began to examine her behaviour on Voyager. She had treated the rest of her engineering team with more respect and had been less inclined to lose her temper. When she did let rip, she refused to use her heritage as an excuse. And she made sure that her staff knew it too.

The engineer shook her head, confused. "I haven't exactly embraced my Klingon heritage," she admitted. "But I no longer use it as a justification for my behaviour. I have nothing to answer to as far as my engineering team is concerned," she declared confidently.

"Then you must look elsewhere," Kotar prompted.

B'Elanna changed her focus to the other members of the crew. As she thought of the senior staff, they appeared on the deck and stood in a semi-circle round her. Mentally, she rolled her eyes. Was she going to have to defend herself to her colleagues again? Her eyes settled on her ex-lover and she had to fight to keep the look of disgust off her face.

She had broken her engagement with Paris after one indiscretion too many. She had caught the helmsman performing more than routine manoeuvres with one of the shuttle bay technicians and their resultant argument had been witnessed by several of the crew. There was no way that they could hide the problem any more. B'Elanna felt she had no option but to terminate her relationship with Tom before gossip spread throughout the entire ship. The gossip spread anyway and B'Elanna found herself on the end of many sympathetic and quasi-understanding looks that she could barely tolerate. She dealt with the situation typically by burying herself in Engineering.

Unfortunately, Starfleet regulations meant that she could not demand justice or punishment against the pilot in true Klingon fashion. After a lengthy debate with both the Captain and Chakotay, the half-Klingon dropped the subject and her reaction to others trying to broach the subject encouraged them to drop the topic too. B'Elanna wanted the whole sorry episode forgotten about so that she could get on with her job and put the shame and dishonour she felt to the back of her mind.

The raven-haired woman looked up at the imposing figure of the Klingon helmsman. "I'm here because I didn't exact punishment on Tom?" she asked incredulously.

"Is that what you think?" Kotar responded blandly.

B'Elanna studied the taller man's face for a moment, even as she thought about the question. "No," she answered finally. "I followed the orders of my superiors and abided by the rules of the people I share a ship with. It was not I who behaved dishonourably."

"Then something else has brought you back to me," Kotar remarked, still giving nothing away.

B'Elanna looked back at her colleagues and noticed that Tom had the decency to look contrite. She flicked her gaze over the others standing there before resting on the tall figure of Seven of Nine.

"You're why I'm here," she whispered sadly.

Seven cocked her eyebrow inquisitively but said nothing. B'Elanna looked back at Kotar. "I'm here because I haven't confronted my feelings for Seven of Nine aren't I?"

Kotar remained silent and returned her gaze steadily. B'Elanna sighed and ran a hand through her hair before turning to face the ex-drone. "I'm sorry Seven," she began hesitantly.

"Sorry for what?" the blonde woman asked mildly.

"Sorry for not telling you how I feel about you." B'Elanna glanced round and was unsure that she could do this in front of the rest of the senior staff.

Seven didn't give her any choice. "How do you feel about me?"

B'Elanna looked at her steadily. She swallowed as the silence pressed in on her and she could feel the eyes from the rest of the command staff boring into her. "Seven, I know I haven't treated you fairly in the past, and I haven't got any excuse for my behaviour so I won't mar the apology by trying to explain myself." She stopped and coughed nervously as Seven continued to stare at her. The temperature on the barge was becoming oppressive and B'Elanna could feel beads of sweat trickling down her face.

"Do you believe that to be the source of your dishonour?" Kotar asked.

The small Klingon thought for a moment. "No. I have already made inroads into amending my behaviour towards Seven. I have tried to alter how I interact with her since the shuttle mission."

"Then why apologise?" It was Seven who voiced the question.

"Because I was wrong. And you need to know that. My treatment of you stemmed from my dislike of the Borg, but I never gave you a chance. You had difficulties adapting to life on Voyager and I pounced on every example I could to demonstrate how unreliable you were and how you didn't fit in."

B'Elanna paused suddenly, her eyes focusing on a distant inner memory. "How you didn't fit in," she repeated in the barest whisper. The small engineer closed her eyes for a long moment as she realised the irony of the statement. She had been fighting a battle all her life, acutely aware of her own differences and how she didn't fit in on the Klingon homeworld of Qo'nos anymore than she fit in with humans. She remembered the pain of isolation and sheer loneliness she had felt, and still often felt. The pain returned as she realised that her behaviour towards the tall blonde was even more unacceptable. She had experienced what Seven was going through and had sworn never to allow anyone else in her presence to suffer in the way she had. Instead, she had been the instigator of a number of incidents that had highlighted Seven's uniqueness and differences and had made no effort at all in trying to allay her fears or diminish the feelings of isolation.

B'Elanna took a deep breath. She could do nothing about the events of the past. All she could do was deal with the present and hopefully influence the future. If only Kotar allowed her the time to do it before she entered the gates of Grethor. She spoke again. "Seven, I truly am sorry about my behaviour towards you. But what I haven't done yet is tell you how I feel about you."

"Your actions have made it perfectly clear how you feel about me," the ex-drone replied evenly.

"No they haven't, and that's the problem," the brunette admitted candidly, wondering if all her efforts on the class N planet had been for nothing. Seven seemed to be entirely unaware how B'Elanna had tried to change how she interacted with the younger woman. She paused again and ran a hand through her thick black hair nervously. "Seven, I...I've fallen in love with you."

The tall Astrometrics officer gazed steadily at the engineer. She raised her ocular implant imperiously. "Really?" she asked, disbelievingly.

B'Elanna flinched. She felt as if she had been totally dismissed by the blonde woman and it took her by surprise. However she was determined to see things through. "Yes, really. I don't expect you to reciprocate, or even do anything. I just had to tell you."

"So you could feel better," the ex-drone surmised coldly.

B'Elanna heard Paris snigger maliciously from behind her but she refused to turn and look at him. "Yes," she continued honestly. "But also so that I no longer live a lie. Or twist my feelings so that they turn to anger or bitterness toward you. I can't continue to treat you badly because I can't deal with my own emotions."

"Despite the fact that your revelation has made me uncomfortable?" Seven queried in the same dull tone.

B'Elanna hesitated. She was confused by Seven's manner. While they had been on the mining expedition, the half-Klingon had thought that their volatile relationship had abated somewhat and that they had both come to understand each other. Obviously she was wrong. "I'm sorry to cause you more discomfort Seven. I'm just trying to right a wrong." The raven-haired woman shook her head slightly, reflecting the frustration she felt at the inadequacy of her words. She could feel rivulets of sweat rolling down her body as she spoke, and wondered why the temperature was rising.

"You are merely trying to prevent your entrance to Hell," Seven retorted angrily. "It is too late B'Elanna Torres. You should have reflected on your behaviour a long time ago."

B'Elanna bristled for an instant, and then forced her irritation back down. To react impulsively would just give Kotar yet another reason to throw her through the gates of Grethor. B'Elanna had consciously beaten him once and the Barge master had revealed that he had seen her on a previous occasion though she had no memory of meeting him when she almost drowned. Somehow she had to find a way to explain things to Seven. She had to make her listen, though she knew that she would not be able to make the ex-drone forgive her. "Seven," she began again. "I know I don't deserve it, and I certainly shouldn't expect it, but could you at least allow me some time to talk to you?" She looked into the icy blue eyes of the Borg but refused to be deterred. "Let me tell you a bit more about me. Allow me to ask more questions of you. I can't excuse what I've done, but I might at least be able to get you to understand my behaviour."

The tall ex-drone turned her back and began to distance herself from B'Elanna. "Why should I bother?" she asked as she drew away.

B'Elanna stared miserably at the retreating woman, allowing the pain of rejection and loneliness to sweep through her again. "Because I want you to," she admitted softly. Her voice was quiet and B'Elanna thought for a moment that the roar of the wind surrounding them had obliterated it, but Seven stopped and slowly turned back round.

Seven sneered at the shorter woman imperiously. "Don't worry. I'm not going anywhere yet. Not until I see you disappear into hell. Your pitiful explanation can pass the time until the gates open."

Sometime during the exchange, the figures of the other command staff had vanished. B'Elanna glanced round and realised that she no longer had such a large audience. She looked over her shoulder and stared at the imposing gates that were steadily increasing in size as the Barge neared its destination. Her head snapped back round when Seven spoke again.

"Well?" the Astrometrics officer prompted impatiently.

"Sorry. Just trying to work out how much time I have," B'Elanna stalled, hating the feeling that she was on trial for her life.

"You're not going anywhere yet either," Seven commented cryptically.

B'Elanna frowned at the comment for a moment before suddenly crashing to the deck of the barge with a sickening thud. The hybrid tried to get up, but found herself being restrained by taut ropes wrapped around her upper body. "What the hell?" she questioned as she tried to get up again. However, no matter how hard she struggled, the bindings would not move and B'Elanna realised that she was pinned to the floor. She twisted her head to look at the younger woman who was now seated next to her on a plain wooden chair.

"Now talk," the ex-drone commanded.

"Seven you have to believe me. I truly am sorry." B'Elanna's heart sank as the tall blonde sat back in her chair and looked at her with disgust. "And I'm sorry for telling you again, but I love you," she repeated, determined to face up to her feelings, no matter what the consequences.

* * *

Seven stared anxiously as B'Elanna continued to thrash in her survival bag, deep in the throes of a personal torment brought on by the fever that was raging through her system. She had begun mumbling several minutes ago and occasionally, her words were formed with absolute clarity. Seven had no idea what sort of hell the delirium had triggered but she knew that B'Elanna was suffering and she had to do something about it swiftly. The Klingon's temperature was continuing to rise, trying to fight the infection that was coursing through her body, but it appeared to have little affect on the pathogens. If B'Elanna's temperature rose too high, her body would start to experience cellular breakdown and she would die.

The tall ex-drone looked down at the tricorder and willed herself to understand its readings, despite realising the futility of the sentiment. She had never felt so helpless before. B'Elanna's condition was distressing her and her inability to help the stricken engineer compounded her frustration and concern. She had to discover the cause of the infection before she could even begin to make inroads into developing a cure, but she didn't know where to begin. The problem was compounded by time. Seven had no way of estimating how long the engineer could survive without treatment. All thoughts of leaving on an expedition to find food had been abandoned in preference to dealing with B'Elanna. Seven knew that her decision could have potentially fatal consequences. Even if she could find a cure, she had no idea how long it would take for B'Elanna to recover enough to assist with the shuttle repairs, let alone a strenuous foraging mission into the mountains to provide food for their continued survival.

Things were looking bleak indeed, but all Seven was concerned with was B'Elanna's immediate survival chances.

With a heavy sigh, she examined all the evidence again. Fortunately, her eidetic memory gave her assistance as she recalled the sensor sweeps she undertook when she was looking for a safe haven. No matter what way she looked at the data, the young Astrometrics officer could find nothing that might indicate the source of B'Elanna's infection. She knew that it was futile to study the data but Seven was reluctant to leave the shelter and continue working on the shuttle comms systems. That left her nothing else to do but nurse the delirious Klingon and trawl through the evidence in the hope that something new might miraculously appear.

She looked up from her readings as B'Elanna began mumbling again. Since the fever had taken hold, the brunette had muttered several bizarre and disjointed comments, and Seven's name had been mentioned frequently. The Borg could only assume that it was because B'Elanna had become incapacitated whilst marooned with her. On occasion, the ex-drone would look up in shock at the desperate emotion B'Elanna used to voice her name, wondering what it was she had done to trigger such an emotive cry. There were other times when the young blonde woman just wished that B'Elanna were awake and lucid, and actually meant the loving tone she adopted to call out.

Seven could see trickles of sweat running off the smaller woman's face. They slowed as they cooled down and the drips that settled in engineer's dark tresses crystallized into droplets of ice when they were no longer heated by the proximity of the sick woman. If she were not careful, B'Elanna would begin to dehydrate, further reducing her chances of survival.

The Astrometrics officer got up and grabbed a canteen, shaking it to gauge how much water was left. At least she could be thankful for one thing on the planet. There was a bountiful source of water available to them. Once their rationed water was finished, Seven could simply melt some snow.

That thought circled round in her mind, bothering her for some unknown reason, as she lifted B'Elanna's head up and dribbled a tiny amount of fluid past her dry lips. Instinctively, the Klingon swallowed and licked at the water. The action encouraged Seven. B'Elanna was not so far gone as to be totally unconscious or oblivious to her surroundings. With great care and patience, Seven continued to drip-feed the older woman until B'Elanna no longer craved the moisture and rested her head back limply in Seven's cradled arm. Gently, the willowy Borg wiped B'Elanna's face and then placed a cold cloth on her burning brow. She was unsure how effective her treatment was, but it soothed the brunette and made Seven feel better for doing something that got a positive reaction.

When she finished, Seven pulled the survival bag up around B'Elanna's shoulders to try and protect her from the freezing temperatures inside the shelter. The Borg knew that B'Elanna's core temperature had to be lowered, but exposing her to such an extreme of cold would be more detrimental to her health and would probably only result in frostbite. The engineer resisted, not wanting to be covered and craving the cooler temperature, but Seven was undeterred and managed to adjust the survival bag successfully.

It was when she was distracted by that task and no longer consciously trying to think why the water problem concerned her that she made her breakthrough. Seven recalled regaining consciousness on the shuttle and B'Elanna's torn and bloody clothing being soaked by the ice that the shuttle had melted on impact. Perhaps it was something in the water that had set off B'Elanna's infection.

Leaving B'Elanna's side, the Astrometrics officer took a sample of snow and ran a series of diagnostics on it. Her initial results showed nothing extraordinary. She tried to extrapolate how the snow would react if mixed with human or Klingon blood but again, there was nothing significant in the findings. Seven frowned. She believed that the snow had something to do with the cause of B'Elanna's infection but there was, as yet, no proof. The blonde felt a tiny smile tug at her lips. She realised that she was working on a `hunch' as B'Elanna liked to describe the guesswork. It was the first time Seven had recognised she was doing that. Perhaps spending so much time with the chief engineer was influencing her more than she realised.

Seven extrapolated her findings again, to ensure that she hadn't missed anything, but the readings were correct. She frowned as she thought about the sample she had analysed. Realising that the snow she had used was not an appropriate sample, Seven made preparations to return to the shuttle crash site. She grabbed a bag and collected a number of instruments to aid her analysis before looking worriedly at B'Elanna. The half-Klingon was still thrashing round on in her survival bag. Seven wondered how safe the woman would be if she left her alone. The ex-drone felt sure that if she left B'Elanna to her own devices, the smaller woman would somehow get out of the survival bag and end up freezing to death in the snow outside the shelter.

Coming to a decision, Seven grabbed a length of rope and several pitons. She leant over the delirious engineer and secured a piton deep into the snow and placed three more around B'Elanna's body. She fed the rope through the securings and tied B'Elanna down, effectively trapping the woman in the rest area of the shelter. B'Elanna struggled against the ropes and her mumblings became distressed. Seven hesitated and wondered if she had done the right thing, but she had to leave the stricken woman and she wanted her to be safe while she was gone.

She stroked B'Elanna's face tenderly and tried to soothe the woman. There was a dull ache in Seven's chest and she hoped that she would get an opportunity to express her true feelings for B'Elanna before it was too late.

B'Elanna seemed to settle after a while and Seven withdrew regretfully, slinging the bag of equipment over her shoulder. Just as she was leaving, B'Elanna called out again and Seven spun round in shock.

"Seven you have to believe me. I truly am sorry."

The willowy blonde stared intently at B'Elanna. The words were clearly spoken, laden with emotion, and for a moment, Seven thought that the fever had broken and that the engineer was finally lucid. She was about to answer when B'Elanna spoke again.

"And I'm sorry for telling you again, but I love you."

By now, Seven realised that B'Elanna was still deep in the clutches of the infection but the words still took her breath away. They had been spoken with such heartfelt need that Seven could feel her chest clench painfully. She stepped back to stand next to the dark woman. She traced her fingers lightly over her tormented face. "I love you too," she whispered brokenly. "I hope one day you tell me that when you are aware of what you're saying."

B'Elanna twisted against her bonds again and continued to talk. However, the words became garbled and unintelligible and Seven could no longer understand what she was saying. Whatever it was though, the hurt and raw emotion remained, and Seven found herself hoping to find a cure quickly to release the woman from hell she was currently residing in.

The Borg moved away from B'Elanna and ducked out of the shelter determinedly, knowing that if she turned back again, it would be incredibly hard to leave the Klingon. She strode purposefully toward the shuttle, bending into the wind once more, but barely noticing the swirl of snow that whistled past her, caught up in the ferocious wind.

When she got to the crash site, Seven walked around the shuttle and inspected the nose cone and the snow that had been disturbed by the impact. Eventually, she discovered a large area of snow that was discoloured by the earth it had once covered. She took samples of the clean snow and the dirty brown ice before going inside the shuttle to perform some more tests.

Once inside and sheltered from the elements, Seven set to work. Once again, she extrapolated results from mixing the snow with Klingon blood and with human blood samples but still she found nothing. Seven made a number of trips around the shuttle and also took samples from the snow that had worked its way inside but to no avail. She was beginning to wonder if her `hunch' had been unfounded after all. She leant back in her chair and stretched; feeling her joints pop slightly and mentally relived her experiments again. Perhaps she had missed something. On her third review, she sat up suddenly and sprang back to where the analysis equipment lay. Instead of introducing the snow to separate samples of Klingon and human blood, she combined the blood to see what the result would be.

When she used the sample of snow that had been tainted by mud on the blood combination, the result was startling. A bacterial pathogen began to multiply voraciously.

Seven cursed. So many times, B'Elanna's mixed heritage had saved her life. This time however, its very combination had provided the pathogen with the perfect breeding ground and it was killing her.

Parts 5 to 8