Chapter 105: One Becomes Seven
A/N: The original title of the episode is 'One' for those of you who don't know Voyager... I just couldn't come up with a better name for the chapter lol
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I moaned softly as Katye absentmindedly ran her fingers along my horns while she laid on my chest. Echo and L'Naan were asleep next to us, thoroughly worn out from the night's activities. It had nearly been two months since Katye's Telo transformation and this was how most nights ended, not that anyone was complaining.
"So, do you want to wake those two up?" Katye asked.
I opened my eyes and looked over at the sleeping pair with a light smile, resisting the urge to stroke Echo's cheek affectionately. "No, it's Echo's day off, and we both know that she's going to spend all day training. Let's let her sleep while she will."
Katye chuckled softly, and then kissed me, before getting out of bed carefully to not wake up those next to us. I followed her off the bed and into the bathroom, enjoying the view of her naked backside. She started the shower and gave me a wink before stepping inside. I smirked and walked in behind her.
Hot water poured down her back, dripping down her wings and all of her alluring curves. I could not help but be drawn to her and reached out, wrapping my arms around her waist. Her wings dipped down, and she leaned into my embrace, but as my fingers slid down, she caught me by the wrist.
"We have a busy day before us, and you already won't get breakfast with how long you lounged in bed," Katye chuckled.
I kissed her neck and nipped at a sensitive spot, but she just chuckled again and pulled out of my grasp.
"We have less than ten minutes before we are expected on duty, and I'm not going to work frustrated," she said as she turned to face me.
"Have I mentioned how much your Time bending abilities annoy me?" I growled lightly.
"You enjoy them plenty when you get to wear out Echo and L'Naan during the 'night'," she retorted, pulling my hand back to her waist.
"Fine, fine... use logic against me," I grumbled.
She chuckled and kissed me on the cheek. Despite wanting things to get much dirtier, Katye made sure that the shower stayed clean, other than a few stolen touches here and there... mostly me copping a feel. We finished our shower quickly and got dressed before heading to our duty shifts.
I was on the Bridge today and was not expecting much, but I was in for a minor surprise. A massive nebula, on scale with the Nekrit Expanse, came up on sensors and I recognized the episode, though said nothing. Going around the nebula would add more than a year to their journey, but going through it would have its own set of problems; things needed to play out before I could start changing things, though I was not too worried.
"What have we got here?" Janeway remarked, walking around the banister and staring at the viewscreen.
"Looks like a Mutara-class nebula with a few trace constituents that aren't in our database, but they're showing up in minute quantities," Harry reported.
"The nebula is vast, Captain. It extends beyond the reach of our sensors," Tuvok added.
"Huh, then I guess we won't try to go around it. Tom, take us in at one-half impulse," Janeway ordered as she walked over to Conn Station.
"Yes, ma'am," he replied as he piloted the ship towards the nebula.
"I'm detecting a slight radioactive field," Harry warned before he groaned.
The radiation passed through the shields just as he spoke, which I sensed. I had history with radiation, so I recognized the sensation instantly, though it was not as bad as Praimfaya and I did not even need to use my mana to resist it. Unfortunately, the same could not be said about everyone else.
"Harry?" Janeway asked with a note of concern, turning around to face him.
"Nothing," he replied, looking incredibly dizzy. "Uh... it's just a headache coming on."
"Maybe you should go to Sick Bay," she suggested.
"Yeah, maybe so," Harry agreed with a grimace, clutching his temple.
"Captain!" Tom called out as he fell out of his chair, starting to feel the effects, but he was not the only one.
Within seconds of Harry's initial warning, all the bridge crew collapsed due to the radiation and were groaning in pain. Now that the problem was obvious, I did not waste any more time and rushed to the Conn Station. I piloted us back out of the nebula and, once we were outside of it, people began to feel better.
"We've cleared the nebula," I reported, looking over everyone.
"All stop," she ordered.
I ignored her order as I saw a crewman that was unmoving. I teleported myself to his side and dropped to my knees, placing my hands on him. Immediately, I started channeling my healing spell into his and, thanks to my quick action to leave the nebula, I managed to save his life.
"Is he…?" Janeway asked.
"He'll be fine," I cut in as the glow faded. "I should go see if the Doctor needs any help unless I need to treat anyone else here."
"Does anyone feel like they need to be treated by Rebecca?" Janeway asked.
Everyone had minor radiation burns, but no one stepped forward. She gave me a nod, so I knew that I was free to go. I took the turbo lift down to Deck Five and headed for Sick Bay. The Doctor, Danara, Katye, Filigree, and even Seven were moving between the numerous patients that had been brought to the small room, with more streaming in. Once they saw me, the Doctor grabbed me to be an assistant, like Filigree was doing for Katye, since those with more serious injuries had already been treated. About ten minutes later, someone surprising came in with her own radiation burns.
"L'Naan? You were affected?" I could not help but ask with surprise since she should have been able to channel her mana to resist the radiation.
"I was training when we entered the nebula and Fae can't raise the main shields while in the Shuttle Bay, just the cloaking ones. It was a rather rude wake-up call with her kicking me out with no warning," she complained.
"Better than letting the radiation build up," I retorted as I cupped her cheek then used my healing spell on her.
She grinned as the light died away, then leaned forward and kissed me. "I'm going to head to Engineering and see if B'Elanna needs help."
{You know the episode that we're in. Start working on a list of duties for all of us because it's just going to be the four of us with Seven and the Doctor for the next month.} I sent to her silently.
She huffed with a wave of her hand as she walked away. L'Naan was not the biggest fan of Seven, but she also knew that Katye wanted to draw her into our group as she would quickly become a powerful arcane mage once she had access to mana like the rest of us. The Borg language that Seven knew was completely based off of Tori's understanding of the Arcana, so she would only be limited by her mana in whatever adventure that we went on next.
After she left, I helped the Doctor for the rest of the day, working through all of the crew. The only people not affected by the nebula were the Doctor, Seven, Katye, Filigree, Echo, and me, though L'Naan could have been added to that list if she had been fully conscious at the time. Janeway made her rounds between Seven in the Astrometrics Lab and the Doctor in Sick Bay before heading to the Fae Dragon.
::Captain Janeway is approaching the ship.:: Fae chimed just as we sat down for dinner.
"I'll get another plate," Katye remarked as she stood up.
"Do you actually think that she will join us?" L'Naan retorted.
"It wouldn't be the first time," Echo remarked.
"Let her in, Fae," I said as I stood up as well.
Katye walked off to get another plate while I headed for the stairs. By the time that I made my way down, Janeway was entering the engineering section.
"Would you like to join us for dinner? Katye is already making you a plate," I asked with a smile.
She chuckled with a light smile herself and nodded her head, "That sounds good."
I smirked and headed back upstairs with Janeway not too far behind. I sat down at my usual spot which left Janeway to sit either at the front of the table or next to Echo or L'Naan. In the end, she chose the front of the table, placing her closest to Katye and myself, but no one was surprised by the action. Katye was always happy when people enjoyed her food, so no one really talked while we ate, but when the meal finished, the small talk turned more serious.
"...The nebula isn't something that we can just avoid. Adding another year to our journey is just ridiculous," Janeway commented.
"It is, but I imagine that the Doctor has already told you of how things could be handled," I retorted with a knowing smirk.
"He has given me two options," Janeway replied.
"Two?" L'Naan could not help but remark.
"Apparently, the bloodline mutation that the 'human' members of the Vazukuru have are able to be replicated in the human members of the crew, which would allow most of the crew to tolerate the nebula. Rebecca and Katye can't be used anymore, due to the changes in their DNA, but Echo, he could replicate your bone marrow with a small sample and create an inoculation," Janeway explained.
"No," Echo stated strongly, while Katye and I sighed uncomfortably and looked away.
"Can you tell me why you aren't willing to help my crew?" Janeway asked with a bit of agitation and confusion.
"The Blood of the Commanders shall die with us, as the rest of our people are no more," Echo said firmly.
"Kathryn, I know to you, it is just a bloodline mutation, but to our culture, to Echo's culture, the black blood that we have is sacred. We could have saved a lot of people in our past using it, but it also would have destabilized the ruling government as it was akin to a religion. The Blood of the Commanders is something that we can't share, especially if Echo is refusing," I stated.
"Then, the only option left for us is for all of us to go into hibernation pods for the entire journey. We would have to rely on your group, Seven, and the Doctor, to get us through," Janeway said, but then she noticed L'Naan and my smirk. "You've seen this whole event, haven't you?"
I chuckled, "Seven and the Doctor could handle things, so with us, there really isn't a problem. The main question is... Do you trust us?"
Janeway sighed, "Obviously, I do... With us using that method, we will completely rely on you to monitor the crew and maintain the ship throughout the journey. Are you willing?"
"Of course, Kathryn, Voyager is our home, and we will do whatever we need to protect it," I replied.
"Thank you; I'll leave you to enjoy the rest of your evening. The meal was wonderful, as usual, Katye," Janeway said as she stood up from the table.
"You're always welcome to join us," Katye said with a smile.
"I'll remember that. Good night," she replied as she headed down the stairs.
"I guess that means no training for me for the next month," L'Naan complained.
"There is still the holo-deck which will be mostly empty," I retorted.
Echo chuckled with a grin and remarked, "Oh, this is going to be a fun month."
"You three are still going to have to pull your own weight while the rest of the crew is in those pods. Just because Seven and the Doctor could do it before doesn't mean they are going to do most of the work," Katye chided with a knowing smirk.
"You're no fun," I chuckled. "But still, we are going to have a lot more time to train on the holo-deck than normal, so we might as well use it. Do you want to make the schedule to make sure that it's honest?"
"Fine," she agreed, rolling her eyes as she knew that I was just passing the task onto her. "I've been meaning to setup a training program for Filigree since her evolution, and this would give her the chance to really focus on it."
The Lesser Yang Fairy in question was asleep on a foldout bed, which was Katye's couch that we had switched out after her transformation. Nyka was fully tucked into her embrace, sleeping contentedly, which I swore was all the fox did aside from eating. Filigree had an excuse today as she had worked hard to keep up with Katye treating the patients, but the lazy Soul Beast was willingly missing the meal only because Filigree had replicated her food when she and Katye returned to the ship.
[You're one to comment, lazy Dragon.] Echo sent silently, picking up my thoughts as I looked at the sleeping pair.
I chuckled but did not argue, as I knew that she was right. Unless it was something that I had to do or was interested in, I would rather lounge about, especially if the others were free. The rest of the night passed quietly as we all retreated to our training programs in the Mental Plane.
From that night on, with the addition of our involvement, things played out as they had in the episode, though even less dramatic. Seven never had her mental breakdown as Katye made sure to have her join us for every meal, breakfast and dinner, and, when the two of them had time off together, she would seek her out. Katye was determined to integrate her into our group and, while none of us would argue with her, Seven really did not fit with the aggressive, competitive nature of the majority... which, honestly, was good for us. Another rational mind to stop us from getting into whatever trouble that our group would inevitability stir would be more than helpful, especially with us testing ideas with the crew; once the 'Night' episode reared its ugly head, we would see a lot of returns on my idea.
The whole episode was barely worth noting aside from the fact that Seven was getting more comfortable with us. Sadly, that would be more common in the future we realized after going over the timeline again. We were rapidly outgrowing the story, and, with our future knowledge, we could avoid or solve most problems before anything got serious. With three more years left to this journey, it made me wonder how bad would the things that could challenge us be with Sancu pulling the strings.
A/N: So, we still have over 70 episodes to go through and, like I hinted at, a lot of them the MCs could stop before they became a problem, if they would even pop up at all. Any fans of the show, please let me know if there is any specific episode that you would like to see; otherwise, a lot will get glossed over so that I can focus on the episodes that I can tweak to make more interesting.
A/N: With each chapter, you can place another vote for the next world by just saying the name of your pick in the comments. The current tally is (including votes from my other site):
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