Chapter 6

The first ever staff meeting for the new members of the senior staff was about to get underway. All of the new, as well as old senior staff members, were already in attendance and seated in the conference room. Seven had finally taken the captain's chair at the opposite end of where she used to sit, while Harry moved into Chakotay's old seat to the right of the captain. B'Elanna was seated where Tuvok used to sit on the left of the captain, while Lt. Keller the new operations officer sat next to her. Next to Keller sat Lt. Ben Harris, the new tactical officer. Rounding out the left side was a empty chair. On the opposite side next to the commander sat the Doctor and next to him sat the ship's chief pilot, Lt. Beth Kayla. Next to her was seated Lt. Delaney the new head of astrometrics. They were all waiting for one other person to arrive. Lt. Davis had asked the captain if he could join the meeting and she had readily agreed wondering what he would have to contribute. Davis walked in two minutes before the staff meeting was scheduled to start.

"Am I late?" Davis had the audacity to question the captain as he took his seat. He knew that Seven had impeccable timing and he wanted to show that he also took his new responsibilities seriously by being so busy he couldn't be early but not so busy that he would end up being late.

"No, Lieutenant. You are right on time." Seven gave a small nod as she directed him to take a seat.

"Though we were starting to worry," Keller piped up. He and Davis, as well as the others, began to feel a bit more comfortable around the command team ever since their meetings with Seven concerning their promotions.

Seven cleared her throat, something she had seen Tuvok do on many occasions when he wanted the attention of others. "Shall we 'get down to business'?" Seven received a few nods and respectful silence in response. She nodded over to Harry suggesting that he start the meeting off with his report.

"Right. In the data pads that are in front of you are copies of the planned scheduling changes as well as all of the proposed promotions. Since you are all now heads of your respective departments, Captain Seven thought it would be wise for you all to check through them. If you find any conflicts or problems with some of the changes, please let me know so that we can do something about it. Otherwise, the changes will go into effect the day after tomorrow. If you have any other personnel problems please make an appointment to see me and we will get it all settled. I also would like to say that I do know how hard everyone has been working lately and we all appreciate it. But we do know how tired we can all get especially after such a stressful time. With the captain's blessing, I have asked Lt. Delaney to go some of our most recent sensor data looking for a nice M-class planet that would be suitable for shore leave. And with that cue, I'll let our astrometrics officer take the floor."

"Yesterday, I discovered a M-class planet that is only a few days away at warp three, which would be quite suitable for shore leave. There are no other species occupying this sector of space, so it will definitely be a good time for all of Voyager to kick back and relax. It seems to be very similar to Earth in it's atmosphere and vegetation and I recommend we settle Voyager down on the planet itself." Jennifer was extremely proud of herself by the time she finished her report. Even though she was extremely nervous she didn't stutter or go 'uh' once.

"Captain, that would probably be a great idea." B'Elanna cut in. "Right now, being on this moon, it's very difficult to go outside the ship and repair some of the outer hull damage that we sustained from the attack. If we could land on a planet that had breathable air, we would be able to repair the hull damage quicker and more thoroughly. Not to mention that we still have yet to check for any warp fissures that may have formed on the hull due to the stress from the warpfield."

"Alright, I'll consider the request once we are able to leave this moon and begin our travels toward the planet. I also agree that we could all use some shore leave. Commander, will you please set up a tentative leave schedule for that possibility. Lt. Kayla, I also believe you had a request to make?"

"Yes, Captain. I was wondering if you could possibly allocate some holodeck time for me to use during my off hours. With Tom being the best aboard Voyager he was the one who tended to fly the ship during the most dangerous situations as well as he Delta Flyer. I was hoping that I could train a bit in the flight simulators on the holodeck to hone my skills?"

"That would be acceptable. I will discuss the times you can use the holodeck with the Commander and get back to you once we have figured out the best time for you to accomplish your goal. Perhaps you would also be willing to train another pilot while you are training?"

"Sure, no problem."

"Lt. Harris, how are you managing with your new security squad?" the captain asked.

"Fine, ma'am. I've already held a little meeting with everyone involved in security matters and discussed what I expect of them and how I plan to run the department. No problems here."

"Good. Mr. Keller how are operations coming along?"

"Some of the communications equipment is still a little banged up as well as some of the sensor equipment, but Torres has assured me that it will all be dealt with in due time. There's no problem with any of my personnel except for the fact that a few were grumbling over the change in shifts, but I'm sure they'll get over it. Since there's not much else to do here, I was wondering if I could help the lieutenant with some of the repairs that still needed to be done?"

"It is acceptable with me. Lt. Torres, do you require any more help with the repairs?"

"Yeah, I could always use more help. If you want Coty, you can report to my office around 1600 hours and we'll see about placing you somewhere." Keller nodded his head in agreement as Seven continued on with the meeting.

"And I believe that brings us to you, Mr. Davis. You were not required to attend this meeting as you are not a senior staff member yet you requested to take part." The captain left it at that, allowing an intro for Davis into the conversation.

"Yes, well, I was wondering if I could join the senior staff. I may not be a diplomat but I do perform a vital function aboard Voyager just as Neelix had as cook and morale officer."

"Indeed." Seven smiled a knowing smile letting those around he know that she suspected as much. "So you now consider yourself as a morale officer instead of just a cook?"

"It's like you said, Captain, regardless if I want the job or not I still have the ability to affect the moods of the crew. Might as well make it official."

"Acceptable. Was there anything else you wished to contribute?"

"Yeah, I wanted to update the rest of you on our food supply and such. We may have enough stuffs to last us at least another month, but I would like to collect some of that vegetation in which Delaney was talking about earlier from that planet since we are going on shore leave there anyway. I also wanted to mention that I talked with the bioengineering staff about some possible improvement to the airponics bay. I think we could increase our harvest if we do convert it into a garden just like you said, Captain." Seven looked quite surprised about that last part especially since she didn't remember suggesting turning the bay into a real garden. While everyone else began to whisper about the table concerning this new development, Seven raised her hands to quiet everyone down just like she had seen Janeway do a hundred times over.

"Please continue, Lieutenant."

"Well, the bio team and I discussed harvesting real earth vegetables and tress from replicated seeds and they would be in charge of 'farming the lands'. I already have several volunteers who are willing to learn about their profession by actually experiencing it. The first problem we have is creating the grounds but with us possibly landing on this M-class planet, we could transport large amounts of soil into the bay and create harvesting lands. The second problem we would face would be trying to jump start an atmosphere in the bay. The bio-engineers are, as we speak, hard at work finding a solution to that problem. Once we create viable atmosphere, the natural environment will be able to sustain it without an help from us. I'm also in the process of hunting down another assistant chef. I already have two volunteers willing to learn the trade, so give me a few more days and I should have the messhall up and running again."

"Impressive." Was all the compliment Seven needed to give and that said a lot in and of itself. "Please keep me updated upon the possible creation of this garden. I expect a full report detailing exactly what you plan to do on my desk before you actually set out and do anything. Now Doctor, how are the patients?"

"I have released everyone from sickbay except for Ensign Frengle who is still recovering from severe burns to over 75% of his body and Lt. Vorik who I am helping to adjust to his lose of sight. Everyone else has been cleared for limited duty for the next week and may return to full duty thereafter barring no complications. I, too, have been searching for two medical assistants and believe I have found at least one who is willing to train under my tutiledge. We'll begin studying once Voyager is under way again."

"Very good, Doctor. Is there anything else that needs to be added? Then I would like to ask of you all that what was stated in this room is to remain confidential. You will not speak to any other than who is in this room now about the matters which were just discussed, especially about the shore leave as I have not made my decision yet as to if we will receive shore leave on the planet. If that is all, you are all dismissed." Seven ended the meeting and the staff filed out of the room. She sat still in her chair thinking about the latest surprise to come her way. 'A garden. I do not like all of these surprises and being captain does seem to grant more than the normal amount of surprises. Perhaps Commander Kim was right to turn down the opportunity to become captain. I seem to be getting a headache, at least that is what I think it is.'

"Seven?" Lanna interrupted the captain's thoughts. "Have you had dinner yet?" The engineer wasn't too sure of what drove her to ask the question besides her growling stomach, but the small but bright smile Seven just gave her was the only answer she needed.

"No I have not had dinner yet."

"It's nice to see that at least Naomi is teaching you some of our improper and imprecise language skills. How about the two of you join me for dinner in the messhall? I mean if you don't have plans or if you think it would be okay..." The lieutenant trailed off as Seven interrupted.

"That would be acceptable Lt. Torres. Naomi and I will meet you there at 1900 hours."

"Great, and Seven, just call me B'Elanna. Captain Janeway did." Again there was that smile and Lanna felt herself giving a smile in return.

As she turned and left the room Seven thought out loud, "Perhaps all surprises are not bad, just some."

Chapter 7

Although the messhall was still officially closed, there seemed to be a fairly decent amount of people there to eat their dinners. Until the kitchen actually opened up again in a few days, the crew were forced to use their rations and replicate their meals but that didn't stop them from gathering together to eat. Seven had arrived in the messhall 14 minutes before the scheduled dinner. After the staff meeting earlier in the day, the captain had remained quite busy going over 'paper work' and had not managed a break until now. It was tedious work but even with the ability to let her mind wander while being able to complete a task, the ex-drone found herself bored out of her mind. She now had an even greater respect for her mentor and friend, Kathryn Janeway. 'How had she managed to remain sane while having to do 'paper work' for seven long years? Perhaps the time spent with Chakotay was more professional than personal then I had previously considered.' The captain pushed aside her wandering thoughts and scanned the room. Just as she had predicted, Lt. Torres had yet to arrive.

"Lt. Davis." Seven greeted when she had reached the kitchen counter. Davis along with the Bolin, Chell, were busy making quite a ruckus banging around pots and pans from behind the counter. "Is there a problem, gentlemen." A favorite saying Janeway used whenever she was curious about something but already had an idea as to what was going on.

"Uh, Captain. No, no problem. We were just reorganizing the kitchen a bit. Trying to straighten out the mess Neelix left. He may have known his way around his kitchen but he would have been the only one to know. Are you here for dinner? I could try and whip you up something?" Davis responded.

"Lieutenant, although it is a kind offer, unless you are prepared to make dinner for the entire crew compliment then I am forced to decline such an offer. I am here for dinner though and am just awaiting the arrival of my company."

"Yeah, that's right. Where is Naomi? I haven't seen her all day today. Usually she's out and about running errands around the ship to keep busy."

"Naomi went back to school today. At least for part of the day. As most of the repairs are near completion and normal routines begin to resurface, Ensign Morter felt it best if Naomi try to go to her classes for at least half of the day. As per the message I recieved earlier, Naomi stated that she had finished school early and completed her homework all before 1400 hours. She then requested to play on the holodeck with her friends Trevis and Flotter where she has been ever since. Being that she has not engaged in a Flotter program since her mother died, I allowed it but reminded her that she had a 'dinner date' tonight at 1900 hours."

It was more then Davis had asked for in regards to an answer but he let it slide realizing that for the borg to babble on like that something must be concerning her. "I'm sure Naomi enjoyed her time with the Flotter program and it's a good sign that she's ready to play again and try and be happy."

"Indeed? I find that because I am unfamilar with emotions more specifically grieving that I do not know what is a 'good sign' or not when it comes to Naomi's emotional well being."

"Well, from what I heard, Sam Wildman was the one who introduced Naomi to Flotter and if she was ready to visit with him today, a program that will remind Naomi a great deal of her mother, then I'd say that she is definitely dealing with her grief the right way. It's really nothing to worry about, Captain. Naomi is a strong girl and she'll get passed this, of course with a little help from an aunt who happens to be an ex-drone." Mitchel smiled as the said person's eyes widened slightly.

"An aunt? Indeed." Seven smiled at that thought. She liked considering herself apart of Naomi's family. But she couldn't see herself as a mother figure or as an older sister figure. Now as for aunt, that was a description the blonde could connect with. "And you, are certainly proving yourself as a morale officer."

"Hey, I gotta practice my moraling skills on someone."

"Moraling?"

"Yes, moraling. If I'm going to be morale officer then I'm going to make up my own words to go along with it." Davis crossed his arms over his chest and tried to look indigant.

"Indeed. Keep me informed." Seven walked away leaving Davis bowled over with laughter while Chell looked on surprised by the whole encounter.

"Hey, how come you're so comfortable around the captain now? I mean with her being considered so unapproachable and well.... frightening, and that was before she became captain how do you manage to be so congenial around her?" Chell asked once Davis recovered enough to breath again.

"She's really not that bad once you get to know her. She is, after all, human just like the rest of us." Davis answered as best he could not really understanding his new found friendship with the ex-borg himself.

As soon as Seven had stepped away from the counter, Naomi came bouncing into the room. It was the happiest the blonde had seen, the little Katarine in days.

"Naomi Wildman. I assume your trip to the holodeck was a pleasant one?" The captain asked as she lead the girl over to a table near the full length windows.

"Yeah, it was great Seven. At first I was kinda of sad to go see Trevis and Flotter cause they made me miss mommy but then we started talking and it felt good to be with them again. I did so miss Flotter. I told them about mommy's death... and well, they were sad too, but then they told me funny stories of when mom was little and she used to pay with them. I promised to go see them again tommorrow if that's okay with you?"

"As long as you go to school and comlete your assigned homework, then yes you may go to the holodck tommorrow. But, I do need to talk to you about a suggestion that Lt. Torres brought to my attention so I expect that you will not spend too much time with Trevis and Flotter."

"Sure Seven."

"Hey, did I hear my name being said?" Lanna asked as she came upon the two sitting at the table.

"Lieut... B'Elanna." The ex-drone managed to correct her greeting just in time. Old habits were hard to break or so it seemed.

"Lt. Torres, will you be joining us for dinner?" Naomi asked with a smile as she noticed the half-Klingon taking a seat. She really did like the engineer because of all the cool stuff she would teach her about Voyager's engines.

"Yep, if fact, I was the one who invited the both of you to dinner and I'm glad you two could come. Harry may be a funny guy but you can only have but so many dinners with him." Lann smiled down Naomi. Even though she had never really spent much time with her, B'Elanna like the small child sitting next to her. She was extremely smart for her age and tended to be a good kid. "So, Naomi, how are you doing?"

"I'm doing much better, lieutenant. Thanks for asking." And with that response came an accompanying smile to prove her point.

"Please, I just got Seven to call me B'Elanna so why don't you?"

"Okay."

"So, what are we having for dinner tonight?" Lanna asked of the other two.

"I was thinking maybe a hamburger with some french fries and pickles and a cup of soda. Oh, make that organge soda." Naomi's mouth nearly watered from just thnking about having her own little barbeque.

"I do not believe I have ever had a 'hambuger' or 'french fries' before but I do remember Mr. Neelix cooking such named foods for a dinner he called a 'barbeque'. Perhaps I will try the same but in a smaller portion." Seven looked over at Naomi who was sitting off to left a little and across the table from her. The little girl nodded her head and smiled in approval over the drone's choice of food.

B'Elanna who had yet to order stopped the captain as she was about to get up. "No you sit and I'll go get the food. After all, I did invite you to dinner not the other way around. I'll be back in a minute." The engineer left and within a few minutes brought back the promised food along with a hot dog and onion rings for herself. She also had two glasses of water replicated knowing that Seven's stomach was still pretty sensitive to most foods and drinks, soda being one of them. They sat and ate all sharing fries and rings from one another's plates, talking and laughing, and enjoying the time spent with one another. But alas the time had come to say goodnight. As the three parted ways heading for their own quarters on deck three, they each had a similar feeling when reflecting back on the evening; a sense of family.

Chapter 8

It was a little over a week later. Repairs were completed and the ship was now running at peak efficiency. Voyager had finally taken flight off of the moon after being marooned there for several days and was now resting on the M-class planet many of the crew had dubbed, 'Risa II'. It didn't have the luxurious comforts of home that Risa offered, but compared to the past few weeks aboard Voyager, it was heaven.

Captain Seven had finally agreed to allow the shore leave, but only after she sent out an away team to make sure the planet was not more hostile than it first appeared. With the reports all being very positive, Seven ordered Vyager to land and instructed Commander Kim to begin preparations for shore leave.

Since all of the repairs had already been completed and there was not much else to do aboard Voyager, most of the crew were given shore leave during the first few days aboard Risa II. Although the ship ran under a skeleton crew, Kim had made sure all officers received some time off. It was a very difficult feat when considering all officers also included an ex-Borg who found shore leave ineffiecent and a half-Klingon engineer who just loved to over-work herself. However, Harry had a plan up his sleeve.

"Hey, Lanna. How's the retro-fit coming?" Harry asked when he arrived in engineering.

"I have never seen so many damned little warp fissures in my entire life. I'll tell you I was this close to pulling my entire team off of shore leave just so that we could finish the fitting before we return to the Alpha quadrant. And now I receive reports from astrometrics informing me that a nearby mountain range has deposits of dilithium which we are kinda in need of." The engineer complained as she waved around a data pad.

"And don't forget you need to schedule some time in for shore leave yourself, Captain's orders." Harry smiled all the more happy to add to the Klingon's already heavy schedule.

"Harry, I don't have time for that. I wish I did, but I don't. Being that there's no one else left to go and investigate the possibility of mining some dilithium crystals, I'm going to have to head that up myself."

"But..." The commander seemed to hesitate. "I know that Seven isn't going to want to take shore leave either and I was hoping that since you to have seem to have gotten really close lately, you could convince her. Or perhaps, take her and show her how to have shore leave." Harry had noticed that over the past week the two women seemed to spend a lot of time together and most of it was off duty time. Seven and Lanna had dinner together every night since the engineer had first invited her and breakfast together every other morning. They also spent time together on the holodeck with B'Elanna supposedly showing Seven things that the Borg missed out on during her nonexistent childhood. B'Elanna was really growing quite... fond of the former drone.

"Oh, alright. I'll take Seven out to experience her first shore leave." The exaggerated reluctance to do just that was blatantly clear. "But it'll have to wait until I get back from surveying the mountain," Lanna warned Harry. She really did enjoy spending time with the beautiful blonde, but ship's business came first. "I'll be leaving Vorik in charge of continuing to oversee the retro-fit on the hull. He may not be one for showing is emotions, but I think he was getting frustrated with not being to help with repairs all that much."

"Right, I'll let the captain know of your plans. When do you plan to leave and who are you taking with you?"

"Today, as soon as I get everything organized and I'll be taking Ensign Jamison with me."

"That's fine. Good luck, Lanna."

"Thanks," was the only mumbled response Harry got. He had a feeling that the lieutenant would much rather be teaching a certain captain the joys of shore leave than conducting a survey, even if they were accompanied by a litte Katarine. If he wasn't one of Lanna's closest friends, he probably wouldn't have realized just how in love B'Elanna was with Seven or how Seven was just as in love with Lanna. 'Too bad they both have heads as thick as duranium and probably won't admit their love until something drastic forces them to. I just hope that the ship can with stand that something drastic.'

* * *

The following day found Lt. Torres well on her way to surveying the mountain, Commander Kim running the bridge, and Captain Seven sitting in her ready room going over reports from the few still operating departments. But her thoughts had been wandering all day. From remembering the private lunch she had with her chief of engineering yesterday before she took off to planning what the two women would do once they did finally take their shore leave. She really did enjoy spending time with the fiery Klingon and when she was not around, Seven couldn't think of anything else but that woman. She found that she always had a smile on her face when with Lanna and felt a deep sadness when not with her,but that did not seem appropriate given the nature of their relationship. She did not feel the same when away from Naomi although the two of them were best friends. With Lanna it felt different. Suddenly her thoughts were interrupted by the chime to the door. 'I wonder if Kathryn's thoughts were always interrupted in a similar fashion as mine seem to constantly be.' But before the chime could re-sound, Seven spoke up.

"Enter."

Lt. Gavens walked in, an engineering officer.

"Um, Captain. I have a request to make." Gavens waited until Seven nodded for him to continue. "Well, with Lt. Torres away on a mission and Vorik blinded, I thought it prudent to ask for your assistance. You see, while the rest of the engineering team is busy fixing the fissures on the out side of the hull, Torres instructed me to give the warp core a once over and test for possible warp fissures there." Well, it was partially true. Actually, Gavens had suggested the inspection right before B'Elanna had left for her mission and volunteered to carry it out himself. "I could use someone with a lot of engineering experience to make sure that I don't overload the engines when applying pressure to test for leaks. If you're not busy, I could use your help." Gavens already knew the answer to that question.

"I will assist you, Lieutenant. When do you plan to conduct these tests?"

"Now, if that's okay with you. I set up everything earlier this morning so the only thing left that I need is you."

"Acceptable. After you," the captain answered as she followed the lieutenant out of her ready room. After all, Seven was only reading non-essential reports which could be done at any time. She was the captain and had to make herself availible to the crew. Besides, she liked being helpful and needed.

* * *

The two arrived in engineering a few minutes later after Seven had informed the commander of where she was going. Gavens instructed the captain to monitor the pressure the warp core would be put under from a panel up on the second level of engineering. In fact, it was the same panel that Seven was working on when Lanna had found her hiding from the Doctor during the time of Borg's failing cortical implant. It was the first time in which their relationship had changed from adversarial to friendly. Seven had realized then and there that she and the engineer had more in common then previously thought and on of those commonalities being a mutual resect for the other. Thinking of B'Elanna always brought a smile to Seven's lips and it was with such an expression that she turned to Gavens and informed him of her readiness. The lieutenant hesitated for a minute shocked at seeing such a human expression cover the normally cool features of the ice princess but he soon got over it. After all, a smile won't change the fact that she's still Borg no matter how angelic that smile looked.

The test began shortly there after and Seven turned back to monitor her console. A few minutes later, an usual bleep caught her eye but before she even had time to react, the console exploded in front of her. It was such a powerful blast that it sent Seven flying backwards and over the railing rounding the second level. Anyone within a few feet of the blast were instantly deafened by the thunderous sound, yet they still claimed to hear the captain's crumpled lifeless body hit the floor on the first level. Suddenly, the calm and serene engine room errupted in a state of panic. Engineers ran about trying to contain the damage the explosion caused, while others ran to help their injured captain. Gavens just stood about, shocked at seeing such pandamonium errupt over the injured captain and one damaged console.

"Medical Emergency. One to beam directly to sickbay," someone finally thought to say realizing that Seven was seriously injured and needed medical attention right away. Seven's unconscious, unmoving, and no longer breathing body disappeared in a bunch of sparkles, leaving the engineering crew fretful over the life threatening condition Seven was in.

* * *

"Commander Kim to Lt. Torres. Please respond." Harry hailed from the bridge.

"Torres here. What's up Harry?"

"Seven's been hurt. I think you should get back to the ship."

"I'll beam directly there. Torres out," B'Elanna some how managed to get past the huge lump that formed in her throat. 'Please let her be okay. I love her.' Lanna sent out the prayer immediately to any god that may be listening.

Chapter 9

'Please let her be okay. Please let her be okay,' was Lanna's mantra as she practically ran from the mountain base she was surveying to the Delta Flyer. Once inside, she programmed the transporter to beam her directly into sickbay and that's exactly where she materialzed when the Doctor finally came out of surgery. It was almost two hours after Seven had been injured when B'Elanna had first been informed of the incident. Harry himself didn't even find out what had transpired in the engine room until 20 minutes after the fact and it took him another 55 minutes to investigate and then decide whether or not to call Torres back from her mission after discovering the severity of the situation.

"Doc?" Lanna asked as she saw the hologram wipe off blood stains that had accummulated on his hands. It was an unnecessary jesture considering that he was just a hologram who could easily have dissolved the blood from his hands, but after spending nearly two hours trying to repair Seven's body, he found the exercise a symbol of a job well done.

"Lieutenant! I thought you were on a scouting mission?"

"I was but I was called back. What happenned?" B'Elanna asked in a voice just barely above a whisper. Not only was the thought of Seven being hurt affecting her voice, but she also didn't want to disturb the now sleeping woman on a distant biobed.

"Well, apparently, there was some kind of explosion in engineering. In fact, it was at the console Seven was working on on the second level of engineering. She was thrown back from the blast and off of the second level, coming to rest on the first. She recieved minor burns to most of the front part of her body, which were easily repaired, but what gave us all a scare was all the internal bleeding plaguing her body. As a result from the force of the blast, most of Seven's rib cage collapsed causing internal injuries to her abdoman and lungs, but thanks to her nanoprobes her vital organs were kept well oxyginated, even though she had in fact stopped breathing for a while. I repaired the lungs and managed to stop all of the internal bleeding, then went about mending all of her broken bones. I think the captain now holds Voyager's record for most damaged bones in one incident. She either broke, cracked, shattered, or bruised at least 29 different bones. It probably would have been more in it weren't for the Borg reinforcements to her body structure. In fact, if it was any one else who was caught in that explosion, they would sure enough be dead now."

It was a few minutes before the engineer found her voice again. "You said an explosion in engineering. That's not possible 'cause everything was just repaired and fixed up only a few days ago. How can something just explode without a cause?" B'Elanna was near hysterics at the thought that she might have over looked a repair and therefore caused the ex-drone to get injured. 'How could I have done this to her.'

"Actually, Lieutenant, there was a very specific cause for the explosion," Lt. Harris began as he walked into sickbay accompanied by Commander Kim.

"Sabotage?!" the half-Klingon nearly screamed.

"It's what all the evidence is pointng to. Yes, sabotage."

"Who?" she asked, which sounded more like a growl than an actual word.

"Lanna, calm down and I'll explain everything. Right now, Harris has to get a report from the Doctor. How is Seven by the way, Doc?" Harry added to the conversation.

"Right now, she's resting comfortably. I have her protable regenerator running while she sleeps to help give the nanoprobes some extra energy to help heal the rest of Seven's body. I expect she'll make a full recovery by the end of the night."

"By the end of the night?!" was all any of the three officers could manage to squeak out.

"Yes. She may have been severely injured, but thanks to my medical assistance and some Borg technology, it was really nothing beyond repair. I'd like to keep her overnight for observation but after that, she should be able to return to limited duty. I also may have to extend her regeneration periods slightly, but that would be only to replenish her energy and help encourage the production of extra blood cells. She really is fine."

"Wow. Alright, you are the Doc, so do what you think is best. May I borrow your office for two minutes?" Harry asked and receved a nod in reply. He grabbed Lanna's arm and nudged her in, signaling he wished to speak with her in private.

"Look, I really don't want you to fly off the handle here but you do need to know what happened." Harry went on to explain that Ensign Gavens had asked Seven for help in engineering and had suggested where she should stand, essentailly putting her in harms way, which was all circumstantial evidence to begin with, but that was not all. "Harris has just finished up a preliminary investigation. What he found was that there was tampering with two different consoles in engineering, the one Seven was working at and the one in which Gavens was working at. Unfortunately, the only evidence found was that there was tampering. Harris could not trace it back to someone in particular. It really could have been set up by anyone. But Harris then did a check to see when the tampering was done and found that Gavens was on duty in engineering during that time. Furthermore, the tampering had to be done by someone with engineering knowledge and engineering bypass codes. All of the evidence points to Gavens, but unfortunately it's all just circumstantial evidence. We could conduct a hearing and then trial, but we would only be able to try him for attempted murder and not treason like we want to. Gavens has yet to be arrested because Harris and I want to conduct a secondary investigation. But to do that he insists that shore leave must be cancelled so that all of the crew is present for the investigation. Quite frankly I agree and since most of the crew already had their shore leave during our first few days here, I don't see a problem with it. We'll also be taking off from the planet tonight since the outer hull repairs were finished today and the retro-fit has been put on hold until a later time due to the chaos in engineering right now. I will also be breaking orbit from this planet and continuing our journey home since Ensign Jamison just reported in that the dilitium in the mountain isn't pure enough to mine. Right now everything is being taken care of including Gavens. We want to get this guy and get him good. Besides, Seven needs you here. Lanna, please don't do anything to interfere with this," Harry nodded his head in the direction of the still sleeping blonde. He could seethe veins bulging out of the Klingon's neck but he was confident that she would stay put.

"Fine, Harry. But you had better get this guy, 'cause if you don't, I will make sure I do. You have two days to do it the Starfleet way and then I'm going to step in and do it the Klingon/Maquis way." With that promise, Lanna left to go pull up a chair by Seven's side. She got comfortable, knowing that she wasn't going anywhere for a long while.

* * *

An hour later found Lt. Harris sitting in his office. It was located on deck two and pretty much just had a desk with two chairs and a computer console. The new chief of security had yet to find a few minutes to add a few personal items into the office as the previous owner had left the room sparce. Ben could actually see the logic behind that, as he too found that he didn't actually spend much time in the office therefore didn't have a reason to decorate it. As he was reviewing some of the latest reports from the incidet earlier that day, the door chime sounded.

"Come in."

"Hi, Lieutenant. Am I disturbing you?" an ensign from the engineering department asked as she walked in the room.

"Not at all. What brings you by?" Harris motioned for the young woman to take a seat.

"Well, I know that you are investigating what happened to Seven and I wanted to report what I know. All of my department really feels bad for what happened to the captain and we all feel a little guilty knowing that it was one of our own that did it. We all respect Seven, even if we may not all like he,r but we would never want to see her hurt. Gavens, on the other hand, did. He couldn't believe it when the senior staff made Seven captain. She was Borg. At least that's what he kept complaining about. I think he habors some resentment toward the Borg for all the treacherous things that they have done to so many species. He blames Seven for being a part of that. I also saw him making some adjustments to the console the captain was going to work on and then add in some sort of programming into the console he works at. When I asked him what he was doing, he just said 'repairing a mistake someone made'." The ensign ended her report there, hoping that Harris now had enough evidence to convict Gavens and lock him away for life. 'I wonder if they'll just leave him on the planet as punishment.'

"Thank you, Ensign, for you candor and for stepping forward with this information. You are actually the third person to come foward and report that Ensign Gavens is the guilty party. I think it is time to make an arrest." Harris stood up along with the engineer, gathered his pads and walked out of his office to go and arrest the now guilty looking Gavens.

* * *

Meanwhile, B'Elanna kept vigil over the woman she loved, holding her hand, hoping to give strength to the pale looking form beneath her with the simple contact. It was only a few hours later when Seven finally began to stir.

"Lanna?" The Borg's eyes had yet to open and her voice sounded hoarse, but the engineer heard her whisper her name and relief flooded through her body.

"I'm here, love. It's okay." The normally aggressive woman gentled her voice and softly stroked the Borg's golden hair.

"Lanna?" Seven asked again, this time with a stronger voice but with even more of a questioning tone in her voice. She opened her eyes to indeed see B'Elanna Torres standing over her. 'But why did it not sound like her and why did she just call me love?'

"Yes, it's me. How are you feeling? You gave us all quite a scare."

"I am tired, but I feel fine. What happened to me and how did I end up in sickbay?"

"What do you remember?"

"There was an irregularity with the console I was working on but before I could fix the problem, it exploded. That is all I can remember."

"Well, after that, you were brought to sickbay because of the nasty fall you took. You were injured pretty badly, but I'm sure the Doctor can explain all of that later. When I found out you had gotten hurt, I was so scared," Lanna said as she stroked her blonde hair. Her eyes were full of tears and her voice was quivering. "I was so worried that you were going to die on me and all before I got the chance to tell you...." Lanna broke off, not sure if she could actually say the words.

"Tell me what?" Seven persisted.

"That I love you. No, more than that. That I'm in love with you. More then I have ever loved anyone else, even Tom. You have become so much a part of my life and when I thought that you might die, I realized that I couldn't bare to lose yet again someone I love more than my own life."

"I, too, have realized how much apart of my life you have become. But I was unsure of what I exactly felt for you. When you just told me that you loved me, I realized what it is exactly that I feel. I love you as well, B'Elanna Torres." Accompanying the declaration of love was the biggest smile anyone had ever seen on Seven's face. And Torres was hard matched not to smile in return. Cupping the blonde's face in her hands, Lanna leaned over.

"I want to kiss you," B'Elanna whispered as her lips hovered over Seven's.

"Please," was the answer the half-Klingon got to her barely asked question.

Their lips met for the first time and each woman felt as if they had awakened from a life-long slumber. It was only a gentle grazing of the lips accompanied by soft sweet moans, but it was enough to cause passions to flare. All too soon, B'Elanna ended the kiss not wanting to further injure Seven nor get caught kissing by whomever may walk into sickbay at the moment. Sitting back in her chair, B'Elanna could only gaze into Seven's eyes which held so many feelings and emotions within.

That was the moment the doors to sickbay slid open. Lt. Harris walked in and headed directly to the now fully awake captain.

"Captain, I'm pleased to report that an arrest has been made in regards to your attempted murder. I have arrested Ensign Gavens and he is now being held in the brig until further notice. We have charged him with your attempted murder and with treason against Starfleet. We have plenty of evidence to convict him in a trial, but it seems that won't be necessary as he has chosen to plead guilty. The commander and I have yet to discuss possible punishment for such crimes, but I wanted to inform you first of his arrest. I'm also glad that you're going to be okay, Captain. I don't think this crew could go through the loss of another well respected and admired captain." Harris's update was fill with as much emotion as Seven had ever seen from the young man. She watched him leave with a smile on her face.

"I guess he's not so Vulcan-like after all," Lanna smirked.

"Indeed." Seven's smile soon faded from her lips. "I wish to speak with the Doctor."

"Umm, sure thing Seven. Computer activate EMH."

"Please state the nature.... Oh Seven, you're finally awake. How are we feeling this morning?" the Doc asked as he scanned her with his tricorder.

"It is not morning, but I am functioning at acceptable levels." Seven had returned to her Borg mannerisms, but this time she was not nervous, rather, she was upset.

"Well, this little device here concurs. You're almost as good as new. I would just like you to rest and maybe by tomorrow I'll release you."

"I wish to be released now, Doctor. I feel fine and would much rather rest in my own quarters. Naomi may also be worried about me." The Doctor looked lke he was about to argue, but seeing the haunted look in the ex-drone's eyes, he gave in.

"Alright, Seven. I'll release you, but only into Lt. Torres's care. B'Elanna, you are to make sure she eats, sleeps, and regenerates for the rest of the night. Nothing else. Got it?"

"Right. Got it. Seven, are you ready to go home then?"

"Yes," was the only clipped reply Lanna got.

The engineer helped the woman down off of the biobed and walked out of sickbay with her arm wrapped around her waist. They walked into the turbolift like that but before Torres could state their designation, Seven piped up.

"Brig." With that, the lift doors slid shut on a very determined ex-Borg and a very confused half-Klingon.

Chapters 10 to 13