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Princess
By H.W.

Chapter 21

The reign of One of Many, née Annika Hansen; Queen of Borg.

Year 00, Month 00, Day 00, Hour 00, Minute 00.

"Um, I don't know, what have I done?" B'Elanna asked, biting her lower lip.

"The Borg just accepted me as the new Borg Queen; with the temporary limitation that my orders are reviewed to see if they do not hurt the Collective."

Seven stepped from the alcove and took the few steps to B'Elanna. She tenderly caressed B'Elanna's face before placing a soft kiss on her lips. "You saved me. Beloved, you were there for me, just like you promised."

B'Elanna took Seven in a tight embrace, frowning when her arms touched the tubes connected to Seven's back.

"I always will be," B'Elanna assured before asking, "Um, do these things have to be attached to you at all times now?"

"Not at all," Seven said and at the same times the tubes detached from Seven's back and disappeared into the alcove. "I did not know that there were attachments for these tubes in my abdominal implant."

Seven tilted her head a little while thinking about it. "But I believe I like it. These tubes enable me to regenerate in a conscious state, which means that I can perform tasks while regenerating."

"Seven, why didn't you use the virus?" B'Elanna asked, getting down to business.

"Because we were wrong. We designed the virus in such a way that the link between the drones would be destroyed, but we did not fully take into account what the results would be."

"I don't understand," B'Elanna said, looking to her side and seeing that for now, the twenty or so drones around them seemed to be satisfied with just standing around.

"B'Elanna, we did not take the vastness of the Borg Collective in mind. At this very moment the Borg are involved in four wars, all of which they will win in the next couple of days. They are exploring star systems, spaceial events, doing tests on the Omega molecule, six thousand cubes are in a position where the disappearance of the link between the Borg would result in their destruction. All in all, if I had used the virus, I would have immediately killed three billion drones, not even taking into account what the prolonged effect on the Collective would have been. I could not do that. I could not kill three billion drones."

"Damn, you're right; we didn't think of that." Then B'Elanna frowned. "If that would've been the result of the few things you just mentioned, just how many Borg drones are there anyway?"

"Accounting all things Borg would take too much time. Sufficing to say, species 13,231 was assimilated one month ago. Multiply that number with three billion drones on average."

B'Elanna's jaw dropped just trying to imagine the number of people, ships, and worlds, Seven now controlled. "But... but... Surely the first couple of thousands of species that were assimilated are dead by now."

"B'Elanna, species were added to the Collective for a reason. If the number of a specific species drops below two billion, the Borg start breeding them to ensure that at least two billion drones of that species still exist in the Collective. There are some species that have been part of the Borg like this for over ten thousand years, while the average lifespan of one of their drones is fifty years. True, there are also species that existed out of nothing more than a few individuals when assimilated, or species that have not been assimilated but are merely known, but there have also been species that had over fifteen billion individuals when they were assimilated. On average, that comes down to three billion per species."

"But..." B'Elanna sighed. "Anyway, that's something for later. First things first; now what?"

"A good question," Seven said, looking around her. "I have come to hate this environment, now it seems that I will have to spend the rest of my life in it."

B'Elanna nodded her head a little. "Alright, let's start with the basics. Realistically, is there any chance that we can get out of here? That we can get away from the Borg without them coming for us or at least without them finding us if they come for us?"

"Realistically? None what so ever."

"I thought so," B'Elanna agreed. "I just can't see them simply giving up. Especially not now that I saw how helpless they have become without having their precious Queen. Kahless, I never thought I would say this, but I almost feel sorry for them. When the Borg were first introduced to the Federation they were this unstoppable force of evil that came to destroy the Federation... or at least that's the stories I heard back then. And now? They just aren't that anymore. The only thing they still have in their advantage is their numbers, and even that they don't know how to use. With the numbers you just told me, they could have simply overrun the Federation a million times over. Yet they never did."

"Are you suggesting that we do so?" Seven asked disbelievingly.

Despite the situation, B'Elanna had to chuckle at the question. "No baby, that's not what I'm suggesting. What I'm suggesting is that we follow a piece of advice that Tom, of all people, once gave me. He said; 'if life hands you a lemon, squeeze it and make lemonade.' Fact is, we are here and we aren't ever leaving the Borg. Fact is also that you are their Queen. I say, let's take that lemon and squeeze it. Let's use the fact that you are the Borg Queen to change things about the Borg. Don't assimilate entire species just to get some technology. Instead trade for it. Don't destroy entire species just because they might be a threat in the future. Instead sit them down and work something out. Seven, you didn't want this, but you 'are' the Borg Queen. As that Queen you have possibilities hardly anyone has ever had. You, as that individual that the Borg want, have more power to change the Borg than any power with weapons ever had."

"Me actually being the Borg Queen?"

B'Elanna rested her forehead against Seven's. "Baby, what other choice do you have? If you object to it, the Borg will only end up turning you into a drone again. But if you try, you just might find that being the Borg Queen is something you like being. That you like the changes you can make, the things you can do. But..." B'Elanna took a step away from Seven and looked around them. "But, I'm not going to spend my life living in this room. I want a real home,"

B'Elanna was suddenly interrupted when Seven once again closed the distance between them and kissed B'Elanna with so much passion that B'Elanna had to actually concentrate on keeping upright.

"Buh... wow... Um, not that I object or anything, but what did I do to deserve that?"

"You talk as if it is only logical that we will spend our life together."

"You mean it isn't?" B'Elanna asked surprised.

"B'Elanna, there are countless people that would have blamed me for condemning them to a life with the Borg if they were in your place. Where as you actually are encouraging me to accept my role within the Borg and talk about our life, together, in the Borg."

"Baby, get a clue. I'm yours, for good and for bad. Now all we have to do is turn this bad..." B'Elanna lifted her hands to indicate her surroundings... "Into something good. Besides, whether as Astrometrics officer on Voyager, or as Borg Queen, you'll always be my Princess, and I wouldn't give up my Princes for anything, including the annoying Borg."

"Hmm, Princess," Seven said before she started to walk back to the alcove.

"Seven, what are you doing?" B'Elanna asked nervously as Seven stepped into the alcove.

"Testing the Borg... and myself."

Before more could be said, tubes shot out of the alcove and into Seven's back once more. Seven went rigid again, but just as a curse started to form on B'Elanna's lips, Seven started to move. She looked at B'Elanna and gave her a broad smile before stepping off the alcove, tubes still firmly attached to her back.

"Seven, are you alright?"

"I am. I am still fully myself, even though I am now connected to the Borg Collective and can hear all the voices again."

Seven smiled again, but before B'Elanna could ask what she was smiling about, the united voice of the Borg spoke up.

{Status change accepted.}

{The individual B'Elanna Torres is as of now considered part of the Borg Collective.}

{New designation is Two of Many.}

{New special status activated.}

{Two of Many has the special status of Princess of the Borg Collective, Mate of the Queen.}

{Protection level; equal to that of the Queen.}

{Command status; secondary to the Queen.}

"Please don't tell me that I have to get hooked up also," B'Elanna finally said when the Borg stopped talking.

"You do not," Seven assured. "You have no objection to your new status?"

"Neh, it didn't really tell me anything I didn't already know, though the fact that I'm the second one in command of the Borg is kinda cool. That's fuel for my Borg fetish."

"Do not get too excited, the Borg still has the power to disregard any order we give them."

"Maybe that's a good thing," B'Elanna said as she put her arm around Seven, making sure to not get tangled up in the six tubes that were still attached to her back.

"I think that the trouble with the Borg is that they listened too much to their Queen. Maybe one of the changes we can incorporate is to give the Borg a little of its power back. If we succeed in doing that right, maybe any future Queen can't screw things up to this extent again."

"It is something to think about," Seven agreed.

"So tell me, you said before that these tubes don't have to be attached to you at all times... why are they attached to you now?"

"For now they have to be attached when I am regenerating or when I want to have direct contact with the Hive mind, as I still have now. I was planning on designing a new neural transmitter together with you. The one the doctor removed existed out of a permanent link to the Borg. I was thinking of designing a transmitter that I can activate and deactivate at will. If we can achieve this, then I will no longer need these tubes as a direct connection to the Hive. The only other option at the moment is to have the standard transmitter implanted, which I do not want. When I am alone with you, I do want to indeed be alone with you."

"Good point," B'Elanna agreed.

"I thought you would agree. I am however planning on using this way to regenerate in the future."

"So that you don't have to stand around and do nothing, but instead we can work on something," B'Elanna said in understanding.

"Indeed. Do you object?"

"Not at all. I mean, before you didn't sleep and instead regenerated, so you only 'lost' the time of the regenerating. Now that you are sleeping with me, also regenerating besides that would be a total waste of a good eight hours."

B'Elanna grinned before adding, "If I had to choose between you going and regenerating, or you sleeping with me... easy choice. So no, I don't mind one bit if you sleep with me, and regenerate while doing other stuff."

{The Federation Starship Voyager has returned,} The voice of the Borg suddenly spoke up.

"They're returning for us," B'Elanna explained. "That was part of the plan. Once Seven had used the virus, Voyager would pick us up again.

{The departure of One of Many and Two of Many will not be permitted.}

"We aren't leaving," B'Elanna assured before looking at Seven and asking, "Right?"

"Correct."

Of course, Seven's approval was not only to the fact that they would stay since, as B'Elanna said, they didn't really have a choice. The 'correct' was also an agreement that they would indeed stay and do their best to change the Borg.

"Alright, listen up," B'Elanna said to nobody in particular and the Borg in general. "One of Many and Two of Many have agreed that we will stay with the Borg willingly. Even if we would now get the opportunity to leave, we would stay. We have some plans for the Borg Collective, plans that hopefully will be to the satisfaction of all. However, to make that possible we also need the trust of the Borg Collective. And the first way to show that trust is to let me beam something off Voyager."

"B'Elanna?" Seven merely asked.

"Hey, since Voyager is out there waiting, might as well beam over our personal belongings."

"Should we not let them know that we are alright, but not coming?"

B'Elanna thought about that for a moment and sighed. "Maybe it's better if we don't. When Unimatrix 01 leaves, they'll think that our plan didn't work and that we're dead, or at least assimilated. Seven, depending on how things go with the Borg that might actually still happen. I'm looking at us staying with the Borg in the best way possible, but you know as well as I that the chance of us becoming just drones is still pretty damn big. Better to let our friends think we're... gone, than having them wonder all the time if we're still alive. If we manage to survive, we can apologize to them at a later time."

"Very well," Seven agreed, seeing B'Elanna's point.

"So can we beam something off the ship?"

{Limited beam access has been permitted.}

{Items selected for beaming will be scanned for potential hazards before beaming will commence.}

"Wow, I'm impressed. That trust thing might actually work," B'Elanna grinned, knowing that only Seven would understand the sarcasm in her voice.

Seven showed B'Elanna to one of the walls and an access screen there before the Klingon asked, "Can I have a scan of Voyager please?"

Seven's eyebrows lifted at the last word.

"Hey, if they can play nice, so can I. Just wait until you hear me curse when they deny something. Oh, speaking of that. I'm going to incorporate some Klingon decorations in that beaming; including bladed weapons. Got a problem with that?"

"Are you asking me?" Seven asked surprised.

"No, them. Come on, I know how good your hearing is. You can't tell me these drones here haven't been listening to every word we say. You know, that's one of the first things we have to work on; some privacy for us."

{Bladed weapons have been deemed acceptable.}

"Thought so; not much damage you can do with a knife when you are surrounded by Borg drones that don't react to getting stabbed. Alright. Here, scan that," B'Elanna said as she finished entering the last of the coordinates.

"The alcove I normally regenerate in?" Seven asked.

"Sure. Didn't you tell me you had some private possessions still stored in the access compartment of that alcove?"

"I did, I was planning on bringing those to our quarters the next time I regenerated," Seven agreed. "Speaking of our quarters, you have incorporated all in our quarters, including the carpeting, the shower/bath combination in the bathroom, the dresser in the living room, the food stasis unit..."

"Yeah, and the entire bedroom, don't forget that. Got to have our bed you know."

B'Elanna made a show of looking around her. "As I said before, this room sure isn't something to live in, at least not like this. So I figure we beam it all in here, put up some walls to actually make it rooms again, and we can call this our quarters until some real quarters are created for us. Sound good?"

"Sounds good," Seven agreed. She turned around when a transporter hum was heard and had to smile when some of B'Elanna's wall decorations fell to the ground, since now suddenly the walls they had been hanging on were gone.

"You could have beamed the walls over as well," Seven said amused. Only to then realize that despite the situation, she could be amused. Maybe B'Elanna was right. Maybe they really could make this work.

"No way! Beaming the walls over would have weakened Voyager."

"Concerned about your precious ship until the last minute."

"What can I say; I'm a real Engineer at heart."

"Just imagine how much you can do with Unimatrix 01. This is more ship than you could have ever imagined. I am just sorry that I can not replace the friends we are leaving on that ship."

"At least we know that they're alright. Besides..."

"Besides, what?" Seven asked.

"Besides..., don't they happen to have a new Borg drone on Voyager? The Borg were able to contact you, maybe you'll be able to contact her and we can keep up-to-date with what's going on with our friends. It's not like actually being in contact with our friends, but at least we'll know what's going on with them."

"I like that idea, I will look into that." Seven walked over to what B'Elanna had beamed over and then looked behind her to the tubes that were still attached to her back.

"While I will be able to move with this system, I will still be limited to one room. Even if these tubes would follow me through the living quarters, they might prevent you from being able to move from one side of the room to the other because they are in your way since they are going from the door to the room I am in."

B'Elanna shook her head no. "I don't think so. All it really needs is some redesigning. Not how the unit works, mind you. What I mean is to simply have doors that go all the way to the ceiling and then have a unit attached above the ceiling and a groove in the ceiling that the tubes fit through. And presto, you can walk from room to room with tubes attached because the groove in the ceiling also continues from room to room."

"Simple, but effective. The unit itself can still be stationary because the tubes can extend to the length needed for me to be able to move throughout all of the quarters," Seven said with a smile, liking the idea.

The more she talked to B'Elanna, the more she came to actually think that a happy life with her Mate was possible on Unimatrix 01. As B'Elanna had said, they were both looking at the whole situation from the best angle possible, but they simply had no other option except doing so. Either things would work out or... "I think it is time to leave. For the moment we can go to the center of Borg space and make some actual plans on what we want to do next."

"Yeah," B'Elanna agreed. "While we do that, we can have some of those drones throw up some walls here. Maybe they can put up a ceiling so that we can test the idea for those tubes."

B'Elanna had barely stopped speaking when the drones that were still in the room started to move and the hum of transporters was heard once again. This time as large sections of wall were beamed directly into place from where they had been created by a maintenance replicator.

"Hmm, you know, maybe working with a Borg work force isn't so bad. But I do think that one of the first things we must do is to select some drones that we can bring back to being individuals so that they can help us. Maybe some with architectural knowledge, stuff like that."

"The Borg will have certain limitations to giving drones their individuality back," Seven pointed out.

"Then we'll listen to their objections, make some suggestions, listen to objections once more. All until we finally reach a middle ground we can all live with."

"You are already making that lemonade, I see," Seven said with a slightly raised eyebrow.

"Sure, the freshly squeezed lemons make the best lemonade, my dear," B'Elanna happily agreed.

"There are bound to be a number of drones that could be of value to us as individuals that are at the moment on other Borg ships or worlds. If the Borg agree to having drones with an individual status, we can look for suitable drones and have them brought to Unimatrix 01. By the time we have finished our initial plans and negotiations with the Borg, the drones will have arrived and can help us with the next stage," Seven suggested.

"Now who's making the lemonade?" B'Elanna asked with a grin.

The reign of One of Many, née Annika Hansen; Queen of Borg.

Year 00, Month 00, Day 00, Hour 22, Minute 43.

"Not bad," B'Elanna said as the door closed behind them. "It's just as if we stepped into our quarters on Voyager."

The quarters had indeed been erected where the materials from Voyager had been beamed in. The changes to the doors and ceiling had been made to enable Seven to regenerate while moving through all of the quarters. The big room the quarters were actually built in had also been coated by a sound dampening material. Not only would it probably keep any sounds from the quarters from passing through and out of the big room, but more importantly it would also prevent an echo from building up in the big room that would remind them that not all was as it seemed. B'Elanna and Seven had decided that for temporary quarters, it worked fine.

B'Elanna walked in to the bedroom and looked at the freshly covered bed. She turned around to Seven who had followed her and winked. "You know, this may be our old stuff, but theoretically these are new quarters. More so because we cheated a little and added that kitchen unit."

"Your point being?"

"My point being, that we should do the proper 'new couple, new house,' thing and christen every room by making love in it."

"Really? And this is a tradition?"

"Well, I don't know how many people actually do it," B'Elanna admitted. "But I certainly think it would be a fun thing to do."

"So you would not have a problem with making love the first night we are with the Borg?"

B'Elanna shrugged her shoulders. "I don't see why. What's the difference between the first night, the second night, the thousandth night? This is our home now, if we can't make love at home than where can we?"

"Considering the size of Unimatrix 01, probably about a couple of million places," Seven said amused. "I am actually glad that you feel that way. I like making love with you, and I do not want to stop merely because outside those walls there is no Voyager."

She tilted her head a little when an idea came to her. "Maybe we could combine the christening of our quarters with the christening of something else?"

"Like what?" B'Elanna asked curious.

"Like this," Seven replied as she walked to the nightstand and took out a leather bag.

"So what is it? When I asked you what was in that bag when you took it out of your alcove you said it was a toy for me, but didn't let me look."

"And it indeed is a toy for you, for us actually. I got this on Zamona. I actually wanted to buy it for us, but did not have the financial means to pay. So, because of the giving friends we made there, it was given to us as a present."

Seven was quiet for a moment before putting the bag on the night stand and turning fully to B'Elanna. "Beloved, since this is a new start of sorts, I want to start wearing the clothing I bought on Zamona, but I am uncertain what kind of reactions I would get."

"What do you mean? I don't see why you wouldn't be able to wear them here. First of all these drones wouldn't care less if you walked around naked or in a pink tutu,"

"What is a tutu?" Seven asked confused.

"Never mind, you don't want to know. Anyway, my point is, they don't care. And even if they did care... On Voyager you weren't even officially in the chain of command, because of that some people took liberties they couldn't have taken with Starfleet people; we both know that I was one of them. I said things to you that would have landed me in the brig if you had been Starfleet. But, here, here baby, you 'are' the chain of command. You are the Borg Queen. Now, we still don't know how this is going to end, but one thing is for certain, if there's ever someone in the Borg, besides me, that would actually care what you look like, they sure as hell won't be making wisecracks about the Borg Queen. At least not when surrounded by a gazillion Borg drones who would die to protect their Queen."

Seven frowned. "In one of the Doctor's recitals I was forced... asked... to attend,"

"I personally think forced is a better word," B'Elanna chuckled, remembering how Janeway had always 'politely' reminded them to not forget to come to recitals or plays performed by daring crewmembers.

"But please go on."

"He once mentioned a sentence; 'it's good to be the King.' Are you suggesting I should adopt a mentality of 'it is good to be the Queen?'"

Thinking about that for a few seconds, B'Elanna finally nodded her head.

"Yeah. Maybe I am. Mind you, I'm not talking about an 'I am god' mentality. But if there's some small perk to being Queen, why not take it? You can be sure that even if this whole Borg thing works out better than we can even dream, there are going to be certain limitations placed on you simply because you are the Queen. For instance, you might have free time on your hands, but for as long as you are Queen you will always be 'on call.' When there's something that the Borg need their Queen for, you and only you can do that. So why not also pick up the little benefits? Why not be glad with the fact that we'll soon get bigger quarters? Or the fact that from now on you can regenerate without having to stand comatose for eight hours? Small benefits make for a happy life full of pleasure."

"Maybe you are right," Seven had to agree. But she also knew that the subject needed some more thought, but not now. Now she wanted something else. "And talking about pleasure brings us back to this 'toy.'"

Seven picked up the leather bag and after opening it spilled the contents out onto the bed. B'Elanna frowned for a moment when all she saw were some hollow leather shafts and a piece of leather with straps attached to it, on which there were two thin wooden pins, one pointing up and one pointing down and set some distance apart. "What the..."

But then her engineering mind started to put the pieces together, literally, and realization set in.

"Oh my. Is that what I think it is? Can you build up the ends with those shafts to make a double sided strap-on?"

"It is what you think it is," Seven agreed. "I saw this and other 'toys' after we talked about the fact that we both would like to use one and I just had to have it. Seeing that this is my surprise for you, it is you who may decide."

"Decide what?" B'Elanna asked as she looked at the different shafts, deciding on which size she would actually prefer.

"Two things. First you may decide how I use the toy on you, and then you may decide how you use the toy on me... or should I say 'in' instead of 'on'?"

"Well baby, I think that isn't really much of a decision," B'Elanna smiled. "To break this gem in I think we should go with our favorite positions. I always liked to be on top with a guy. I think I really would like to ride you using this work of art. And as for you..."

"Yes?"

"Seeing how you love for me to fuck that sweet pussy of yours from behind..." B'Elanna didn't finish her statement, but the eager look in Seven's eyes told her that Seven definitely liked the idea.

"Do you see a size you like?" Seven asked as she herself picked up the middle size shaft. Seven knew that for humans this was an average size and she had a feeling that she would like it.

"That's pretty much what I was thinking of too," B'Elanna agreed as she picked up a second shaft of that size.

Seven put the shafts over each other on the toy until she had reached the size she wanted.

"You were?" She asked as she took the shaft from B'Elanna's hands and started to build up the second extension to that size. "I would have assumed that you would have at least preferred one size bigger, the way you like to be filled."

"Baby, you just said it yourself; I like to be filled; not stuffed. For normal lovemaking, that's a nice, comfortable, size. Something I think I would really like to be fucked with."

B'Elanna picked up a shaft that was actually two sizes bigger. "But next time when we... let go a little... I think I would like it if you used this size for me."

Seven took the shaft and looked at it. She knew of course that at the times she and B'Elanna let go, there had been times where four of Seven's fingers had been deeply inside her lover. This shaft was actually less in circumference than Seven's four fingers were when folded to form a cone, but because it was longer than Seven's fingers it looked quite... big.

"Do you think you will be able to take all of that, my beautiful Mate?"

"Um, actually... no. I know that the width should fit. As for the length..." Now B'Elanna grinned. "It will be fun to find out just how much I can take. Because at that time it is indeed the circumference that counts. At those moments I actually love a stuffed feeling, as you know. God baby, just the thought of you sliding into my pussy from behind with that and telling me to take it like the Klingon I am..."

"I thought you preferred to ride," Seven pointed out as she put the now build up toy down on the nightstand, ready for use when they reached the point where they were going to use it. She put the rest of the shafts back in the bag and placed those in the nightstand draw.

"Oh, I have always liked to be on top while making love with a guy. But I got to tell you baby, there is just something wild, basic, and extremely satisfying about the thought of me standing bent over and you just... taking me from behind. Fuck baby, I get wet just thinking about it."

"Then we will do so one day, but not today. Maybe when we christen the living room," Seven assured as she stepped closer and kissed her lover.

She let her hands drift down B'Elanna's back and put both her hands on the Klingon's shapely ass. "Or the kitchen. Yes, maybe the kitchen is better. That way you can hold on to the counter while I take you, again, and again, and again, until you beg me to stop, and then I will still take you one more time until you really want me to stop."

"Mmhmm, I like that picture," B'Elanna agreed before starting to kiss and nibble Seven's neck. "Now, let's fuck."

Chapter 22

Seven laughed and dutifully got onto the bed. "You are such a romantic at times."

"I'm just eager to play," B'Elanna defended as she crawled up Seven's body and kissed her.

Seven let her hands drift over B'Elanna's back until one was resting at the Klingon's neck while the other was kneading one of those smooth ass cheeks. "And here I thought you were just horny."

B'Elanna grinned and winked. "Well, that too. Kissing you does that to me, you know."

They spent a few minutes undressing each other. Once they were naked they spent a couple of minutes sharing leisurely but deep tongue kisses. Soon this wasn't enough anymore and B'Elanna started to drift down Seven's body. She placed small kisses all around Seven's breasts until she finally took one of the blonde's aching nipples into her mouth and sucked as hard as she could; producing a surprised gasp from her lover. She let go of the nipple and looked up at those blue eyes looking down and spent a moment playing with the soft flesh under her hands. Not even kneading it, just moving the breasts, rolling them around.

"Did I ever tell you how much I like your large breasts?"

It was a rhetorical question, because both of them knew B'Elanna had told Seven several times already. "I love how big they are, how they fall to the side like they do when you lie down, how they hang when you are above me. Fuck baby, just looking up at you and seeing your breasts, knowing that it's all for me to touch... I love them. I love you."

B'Elanna moved to the other nipple, but instead of sucking it, she captured it between her teeth and flicked her tongue over the tip before opening her mouth a little wider and using her tongue to roll the nipple around. As she paid homage to one nipple with her mouth she captured the other one between her thumb and index finger; pinching, rolling and pulling it in no particular rhythm.

Reluctantly abandoning the nipples she loved to play with so much, B'Elanna moved lower, and closer to something else she also really loved to play with. But before getting there she made a stop at Seven's abdominal implant and spent a moment to kiss the bands and the flesh between them. She followed one of the bands until she had reached Seven's navel and dipped her tongue inside, grinning at the sound this produced. As always, it was the perfect mix between a moan and a ticklish giggle.

Looking up, B'Elanna grinned. "You're getting excited baby, I can already smell you and I've only reached your navel."

"B'Elanna, you with that Klingon nose of yours would be able to smell me across the room. Now, stop talking and concentrate on what you set out to do."

"My, my. Demanding little Princess," B'Elanna mumbled in fake protest as she moved lower and between Seven's legs. She took a moment to look at Seven's open center; never getting enough of the sight. She loved how the blonde would spread for her, open herself so completely for her. How the lips would part and show Seven's most intimate flesh to B'Elanna. And how the blonde always got that little wetter from just having B'Elanna look at her like that.

"You are beautiful," B'Elanna said before closing her mouth around as much of Seven's center as she could. Knowing that this was only a buildup, B'Elanna concentrated fully on Seven's clit. Sucking it into her mouth and rapidly moving her tongue over it, making the blonde moan in delight.

After a few minutes of concentrating on the little bud, B'Elanna heard her name being said. Nothing more, no question, no suggestion, just her name. But B'Elanna still knew what it meant. Seven was letting her know that if they wanted to use the toy, they better do it now. Or else the toy would be the last thing on Seven's mind.

"Hand it to me, baby," B'Elanna said after a last lick over Seven's center. The toy came moving down and B'Elanna spent a minute to figure out just how the straps should be placed.

"Should I?" Seven asked while looking down.

"No baby, I'll do it. I think I've figured it out. Just lift your body when I tell you to do so that I can pass the back strap under you."

Seven's short nod was enough and B'Elanna placed the extension that would go into Seven at the blonde's entrance.

"You ready baby?" Of course B'Elanna knew Seven was ready, but that didn't mean that B'Elanna couldn't tease the master of teasing a little.

Seven merely growled, giving a very good impression of B'Elanna's growl.

"Alright, alright," B'Elanna said with a chuckle. "No more teasing, for now."

B'Elanna pushed forward ever so slowly, wanting to commit the wonderful image she saw fully to memory. For a moment the soft flesh clung to the dry leather as if wanting to refuse entry. But then Seven's wetness won out and the shaft was past the first ring of muscles. The soft flesh came back as if now wanting to suck more of the shaft in. B'Elanna smiled at the satisfied long moan Seven produced.

Having moved in a few centimeters, B'Elanna pulled back out again, only to move back in a little further. Slowly she moved in like that, letting Seven's wetness always coat a new piece of the shaft. Until she was all the way in and the leather base of the toy was covering Seven's center.

"Want me to fuck you a little more?" B'Elanna asked, more than willing to use the toy in this manner to make love to Seven.

"You can fuck me a lot more, later, when it is my turn. But right now, I want to be the one fucking you. Secure the straps."

"Yes ma'am. Commanding little thing aren't you? We really should do something about that control thing of yours."

"You love it when I talk to you like that," Seven pointed out.

"Yeah I sure do, but what if I didn't love it?" B'Elanna asked with a grin while she secured the straps.

"Then I would do the commanding little Princess thing and order you to like it."

B'Elanna secured the last strap and looked up at Seven. "You know, you may be the Borg Queen now, ruler over more than I can even imagine, but let me tell you, only my Princess will ever be able to boss me around like that and actually make me like it."

Seven curled her finger, indicating that B'Elanna should move up. "In that case, come here and kiss your Princess."

B'Elanna dutifully did as she was told and they shared a series of sensual kisses, both of them knowing that the words were only play, but that this, the kisses were real. The equal sharing, the equal give and take; that was them. The rest was just fun.

Eventually B'Elanna sat up, her full weight resting on Seven's abdomen. Another thing why she actually loved Seven's abdominal implant. If there was one thing she didn't have to worry about, it was about squishing Seven.

"I have to tell you, beloved. Yes, your breasts are smaller than mine," Seven said as she lifted both hands and cupped B'Elanna's breasts. "But I still consider them ample, and looking up at you like I am now, excites me. I like the roundness of your breasts. Now from this angle, the fullness, the firmness, of the undersides of your breasts is so clear to see. I love your breasts; I love you B'Elanna Torres."

B'Elanna smiled down at her lover. "I love you to, baby. So damn much that it amazes me every day that it's possible to love so much, yet the next day I find that I love you even more than the day before."

B'Elanna placed her own hands over Seven's for a moment before asking, "Please baby. Pinch my nipples. Make me wet... make me wetter than I already am that is."

She groaned in pleasure when Seven did as she asked and B'Elanna could feel herself indeed get even wetter. She brought her hand to her center and she rubbed herself a couple of times. Oh yeah she was ready for this. She would love to enter herself with two fingers, she needed to be filled. But she knew that there was something way better waiting. Something that would fill her more, go deeper than fingers ever could. Now all that was needed was to get the toy ready. She looked at how Seven was watching every movement of her hand and had to grin. B'Elanna took her time to enter herself with her pinky and slowly moved the finger in and out.

"Like seeing that?" B'Elanna asked as she removed her pinky, only to replace it with her ring finger. "Oh god, this feels so damn good."

"I like it a lot," Seven agreed, her eyes never leaving the spot between B'Elanna's legs where at that very moment the ring finger was replaced with the middle finger. "You know how much I love to watch you touch yourself," Seeing how wet B'Elanna's fingers were, Seven added, "Let me lick them."

"Nu-uh," B'Elanna said with a grin. Once again a finger was removed, only to be replaced with the index finger this time. "Tell you what, when I'm done riding you, I'll let you clean me up and you can taste right from the source. But right now I need my juices for something."

She slowly pumped her finger in and out. It was actually way too slow for her own liking, but the look on Seven's face was well worth it. With a fake sigh she removed her finger and moved the palm of her hand over her center, making sure to put just a little bit of pressure on her clit. "Awww, I feel so empty now. Guess I need to use something else to fill me."

"Beloved, your fingers are dripping, let me clean them off," Seven asked again, knowing only too well that she would not get her wish.

B'Elanna brought her hand up as if to offer her fingers to Seven for a lick, but at the last moment moved her hand away to look at it. "Well, look at that. My hand is all wet now."

"I will dry it off for you," Seven offered hopefully.

"Baby, licking it doesn't dry it off; it only replaces one fluid with another. But don't worry; I know just the thing to do with it."

She moved back a little until she was sitting on Seven's thighs and brought her hand down once more. This time she didn't move to her center though. Instead she gripped the toy and moved her hand up and down two times, looking back up and grinning when she heard Seven moan. "Hmm, did I tell you how much I like the fact that this is two sided? That you feel every move I make?"

She wiped the back of her fingers against the toy, making sure that as much as possible of her wetness was transferred to it, and then moved her hand op and down one more time to spread out the wetness evenly.

"That feels nice," Seven said.

B'Elanna let go of the toy and moved back up Seven's body until she was straddling Seven's abdomen. "Mmhmm," She hummed as she moved her center slowly up and down the center of Seven's abdominal implant. "You know that I really love the fact that I can sit on you like this and don't have to worry about crushing you?"

"And how your clit rubes against the edge of the diamond cut out?" Seven asked amused.

"That too," B'Elanna happily agreed as she moved her body, trying to follow the edge until she had followed the entire form.

"Sixty-three," Seven informed as she decided that she had enough and brought her hand to B'Elanna's center, immediately entering her with two fingers.

"Oh yeah," B'Elanna moaned happily as she moved herself against the fingers now buried deep inside her. "I was wondering how long it would take you to realize that I said that you couldn't lick 'my' fingers clean. And what's that supposed to mean, sixty-three?"

Seven was about to remove her hand and taste that flavor she loved so much, but before she had fully removed her fingers from within her lover she felt her wrist being captured.

"One more... no, five. Five more."

Knowing only too well what B'Elanna meant, Seven entered B'Elanna again. "One," She said as she moved her two fingers in as far as she could reach in one quick push. A satisfied smile came to her lips when she saw how B'Elanna threw her head back in response. The smile only got wider when she heard B'Elanna not moan but actually growl/purr softly.

"Sixty-three, as in sixty-tree percent of the time did you manage to keep you clit on the edge of my implant," Seven explained as she slowly pulled her fingers back until only the very tips were still inside.

"Really? Only sixty-three percent?" B'Elanna managed to say as she looked down and into those wonderful blue eyes of her lover. "We definitely have to practice that some m..."

"Two." Once again the fingers quickly went as deep as they could.

"Fuck me!" B'Elanna shouted as reaction.

"I thought I was," Seven pointed out amused. "Or was that a request for me to just forget the other three and commence with fucking you with the toy?"

"I will not give you that satisfaction, you cold, heartless, Borg bitch."

Seven smirked at the exclamation. "Heartless Borg bitch you said?"

B'Elanna's eyes got a little wider in mock horror. "Oh, no. No, no, no. Please baby, no. You know I love you. Please don't."

But she knew that it was no use, the fingers had already retracted as far as they could without leaving her.

"Threeeeeeeeee," Seven said in a drawn out way as she moved back in with an agonizingly slow pace.

"Fuck. Bitch, if you really want to know I called you a COLD, heartless Borg bitch, not just a heartless Borg bitch."

"But I am your bitch, and that makes all the difference, right?" Seven asked as she started to remove her fingers again.

"It does," B'Elanna agreed, groaning at feeling empty once more.

"You do realize that since you are now also part of the Borg, and since you are shorter than me, I could actually call you my little Borg bitch?" Seven asked. "I let you decide; slow or fast?"

"You can call me anything you want baby. I'm yours, and the choice is yours. I'm yours, this body is yours; take it how ever you want it."

"Maybe I will do it..." Suddenly B'Elanna felt herself being entered hard and... "Fast. Four." Seven lifted her other hand and flicked one of B'Elanna's nipples, making her gasp in surprise.

"Will you let me suck your nipples when I fuck you with the toy?" Seven asked.

"Only if you do that again," Her lover quickly agreed.

"My pleasure... as well as yours." Seven now flicked the other nipple, making sure to keep in mind that the metal would add to the firmness of the flick. The blonde looked at the mesh covered hand and then up to those caramel eyes that were burning with passion. "I got one more," Seven said, never moving the hand from between their line of sight and showing B'Elanna what she wanted to do.

"Yes, god yes baby."

Seven removed her hand from between B'Elanna's legs, only to replace it with her other hand. As she brought the wet fingers to her mouth she entered her lover with two mesh covered fingers. She left her fingers inside as she took her time to lick her other fingers clean. "Wonderful. Oh, by the way, five."

"I kinda noticed the five, baby," B'Elanna grinned.

"Tell me beloved, how does it feel to have two Borg fingers deep inside you?" Seven smirked when she felt B'Elanna's body react before the Klingon could ever do with words. "Your muscles say that you love being filled by Borg fingers."

"Your Borg fingers," B'Elanna reminded. "And yeah, I love it. I simply love to feel that." B'Elanna rocked her hips softly to accommodate the soft pace that Seven was setting.

"You and that Borg fetish of yours," Seven said with a smile. Then she curled her finger at her lover. "Come down here and give the Queen the attention she deserves, and after that I want to fuck my little Borg bitch."

B'Elanna laughed when she heard what her lover said. She kissed Seven and ran her tongue across the blonde's bottom lip, making the lips immediately part in invitation. She slipped her tongue inside and took her time to make love to Seven's tongue.

As they continue to share wonderful kisses, Seven started to move her hands over B'Elanna's back. Slowly but surely she moved lower until one of her hands was moving over B'Elanna's behind.

B'Elanna moaned into the kiss with pleasure when she felt how Seven slowly started to move her hand more and more between the cheeks of her ass. How Seven started to tease the puckered opening a little longer with every pass she made over her lover's wonderful behind. She let out a lust-filled 'yes baby' when Seven slowly pushed her pinky in to B'Elanna's rear. For a moment B'Elanna concentrated on the wonderful feeling of Seven moving in and out of her in a slow but steady pace.

Suddenly Seven captured the Klingon's lower lip, sucking on it and running her tongue over it, before finally letting it go with a soft pop as she removed her pinky from inside B'Elanna.

"And now, my little Borg Bitch, sit up so that the Borg Queen can fuck you." Seven tilted her head right after saying that and then added. "That sounded unintelligent."

B'Elanna laughed, triggering a laugh from Seven as well. "Baby, that even sounded plain stupid. As much as I like hearing the references, don't go overboard with the Borg stuff, alright? Or else you lessen the impact of me hearing you say it."

"Very well," Seven agreed before placing her hands on B'Elanna's hips and pushed her back a little.

Getting the hint, B'Elanna moved back slowly until she felt the toy bump against her center. She reached between them to position the shaft and when the tip was resting against her opening she removed her hand and looked Seven in the eyes. "Now I show you why I needed that toy wet, I absolutely love this."

In one flowing motion, B'Elanna sat down, burying the shaft deep inside her all the way until her center reached the base of the toy. "Oh yeah," B'Elanna moaned, throwing her head back in sheer ecstasy. For a moment she didn't move, just concentrated on the wonderful feeling of being deeply and wonderfully filled, just the way she liked it. Another advantage of a toy, she realized. Men normally wanted to move, wanted to feel themselves. But Seven, using the toy, was apparently more than happy to just wait a minute while B'Elanna concentrated on her pleasure.

Finally she looked back down again and smiled. "Sorry about that, I just love to be filled in one go and just feel it inside."

"Do not apologize; you are beautiful to look at when you do this. I could look at you for hours."

"Well, it's great for a minute, but then I want something else," B'Elanna said, starting to rock her hips a little.

Seven moaned softly when she felt the extension inside her start to move with B'Elanna's movements. Now she understood fully why Fawza had suggested she take this kind of toy.

Smiling down, B'Elanna rocked her hips a little more, liking how besides the feeling of the shaft inside her, this motion also made her clit rub against the leather base of the toy. But soon that wasn't enough anymore. She wanted to feel the shaft moving in and out, wanted to be filled again and again. Her eyes never leaving those of Seven, she slowly lifted herself up a few centimeters, only to let herself drop back down again. The next time she lifted herself a little further, and on every following lift she moved yet a little further until only the tip of the shaft remained inside.

By now she was panting, she loved it. She loved Seven, loved the love making, loved all the different ways Seven would love her. But there had been one thing Seven hadn't been able to do for her; fuck her deep, fill her all the way. But now she could. She looked down at Seven, saw the face she loved, those breasts she loved to play with, felt Seven's hands move all over her body, and now she felt Seven inside her. Deeper than the blonde had ever been.

She placed her hands on Seven's shoulders for support as she increased her pace. She knew she had to be so wet that she was dripping; the wet sounds of the shaft moving in and out of her were music to her ears. She removed one hand from Seven's shoulders again when she realized that at least one arm was needed somewhere else. She crossed her breasts with the free arm to stop them from moving too much, only to have her arm be replaced by Seven's hands. Seven started to pinch her nipples and B'Elanna howled in response. She didn't care if the whole damn Unimatrix 01 could hear her. She just threw her head back and let the howl go, never trying to even temper it as the first of her orgasms shot through her body.

She didn't stop; she needed more. Even as the orgasm shot through her she kept moving up and down the length of leather that felt so great inside her.

She felt herself being pulled closer to Seven and for a moment she had the urge to resist. Leaning forward would mean less leverage to work the shaft in as fast as she needed it. But then she saw Seven's open mouth and remembered what they had talked about before.

"Yes, fuck yes," She said in happy agreement as Seven bit down on one of the nipples with just enough force to move B'Elanna's focus from between her legs to her breasts. She slowed the movement of her hips so that Seven would be able to actually hold on to the nipple in her mouth. Then she groaned in satisfaction when she felt something else.

Seven's hand was back on her ass, moving between her cheeks. For a second the fingers stilled against her puckered opening, letting her contemplate what was coming next.

"Yes baby, fuck me," B'Elanna agreed as she felt herself being entered by two fingers. Seven was blowing her mind, being everywhere that B'Elanna needed her. Seven timed her movement, whenever B'Elanna moved herself down the shaft, Seven would slide her fingers in the Klingon's ass.

"Now ride me. You like to be on top; show me how good a rider you are," Seven knew that the slight taunting would spur the Klingon on even more.

Hearing the words, B'Elanna leaned in further and captured Seven's lips in a hungry kiss. "I love you baby. You are my perfection."

Then she sat up again, looked down at Seven and then with a grunt lowered herself quickly onto those two wonderful things in her body. The shaft was great. Giving her pussy the deep and full feeling she really needed now. But Seven's fingers were even better, wonderful. They moved, curled, spread apart a little. B'Elanna knew that there could never be any contest between any toy or just simply having Seven touch her. But that didn't mean that the combination of Seven 'with' a toy didn't blow her mind.

She sped up her movements again until she was grunting with almost every trust. There was nothing slow and tender about this. This was simply a good, honest, basic, fuck, and B'Elanna had been craving it for weeks. And just to think, from now on all she had to do when she needed that was to ask Seven to use the toy.

She looked down her body, looked at how the shaft moved into her time and time again. She looked back at Seven's eyes, only to see that Seven was looking at the same spot where B'Elanna had been looking.

"God baby, see how wet I am? I'm fucking creaming," B'Elanna managed to say between trusting herself down on the shaft time and again. She looked back down, enjoying the sight of the foamy liquid at the base of the shaft. By now the shaft was so wet and her body had adapted that the shaft moved in and out with incredible ease. She tried to speed up more. She was working herself into a frenzy; her body had gone way too long without the deep fuck she was finally getting now, and it felt as if she was making up for lost time, she just couldn't get enough.

Suddenly Seven gripped B'Elanna's hips and stilled her. "I promised you that you could be on top, but beloved, can we change position? I want to be the one fucking you," Seven said, making both of B'Elanna's hearts skip.

"Yes. Fuck me baby," B'Elanna agreed and felt herself being rolled over a mere second later. They rolled until Seven was on top, the toy never leaving B'Elanna's heated flesh.

Seven raised herself on her arms and looked down at her lover. She pulled back and sank the toy in one swift motion, making B'Elanna groan in pleasure. Again, and soon a pace was set. B'Elanna loved it, how Seven would sink the shaft all the way to the hilt with every stroke, making the leather base brush over B'Elanna's clit time and time again.

Minutes passed and the feeling was getting better and better for B'Elanna; Seven had perfected her stroke. Sinking the shaft, and then pulling up a little so that the base would rub B'Elanna's clit. Then she pulled back out as far as she could without running the risk of actually slipping out. Only to then start the cycle again, and again, and again.

B'Elanna had long since moved her legs as far apart as she could; hooking them at her knees behind Seven's arms that were still placed on the bed for support. Her eyes were drawn to Seven's swaying breasts, moving with every thrust the blonde made with her hips.

She looked up, wanting to see Seven's eyes. Their eyes found each other, but neither of them spoke as for over five minutes their eyes were locked. They were feeding off the burning lust that was so clear to see in both their eyes, while Seven continued to move in and out, making B'Elanna grunt with every thrust.

Finally the moment came where B'Elanna climaxed so hard that her eyes closed in reflex and her vocal sounds were reduced to nothing but a high pitched shriek. Seven never stopped her movement, long since knowing that B'Elanna would let her know when to stop loving her, not her orgasms. Then, after loving B'Elanna through the spasm of her orgasm, Seven finally felt the Klingon's hands coming to rest on her ass, pulling her in for one final thrust, and then keeping her there.

Seven lowered herself onto her lover, but made sure that she kept enough weight on her elbows to not crush B'Elanna. She never removed the toy from inside her lover, liking how it connected them. For a few minutes B'Elanna just lay there while her muscles refused to obey her commands. But eventually she managed and the first thing she did was take Seven's head between her hands and gave her a searing kiss that the blonde felt down to her toes.

"Wow. Baby. I... Wow."

"I gather you like the toy?" Seven asked, flexing her hips and making the toy move inside her lover.

B'Elanna gasped at the sensation. "It was the best ever... wait, that sounds wrong. Loving you is always good; I'm not saying that this was better than the other times. What I mean is that this was the best... um... well, for lack of better words... deep fuck I ever had. When I was with a man, I actually didn't like the missionary position that much; knowing that there would come a point where the man would get excited and change the act to how he liked it best. Or even worse, I would be close and he would come before I could. But with you... maybe it's because it's a toy and you don't feel it like a man does, you only feel the extension inside yourself. But you just kept giving it to me like I wanted it; you fucked me all the way through my peak. I don't have to worry about you coming first... you just... wow."

"So the toy is definitely a part of our love life now?"

"Most definitely," B'Elanna agreed. "Mind you," She added, wanting there to be no confusion, "not too often. You using the toy on me is great, but I sure don't want it to replace all our lovemaking. I love the miracles you work with your tongue and fingers just fine."

Seven moved back and sat up, finally removing the toy from her lover. She undid the straps and removed it from herself as well. Then she lay back down, this time beside B'Elanna and held the toy close so that they both could look at it. B'Elanna looked at the toy, especially the part that had been inside her and smirked. She moved a finger over the toy and collected some of the foamy fluid at the base.

"Damn, baby, if that isn't proof, I don't know what is." B'Elanna put the finger in her mouth and sucked it clean. "Never, never I tell you, have I creamed like that. It's like my body telling you how wonderful you were. This is the ultimate proof that you really did give me a Royal fuck."

Seven agreed with a smile. "And talking about Royal fuck; I believe that it is time for you to put action to the words 'fuck the Queen.'"

"Better," B'Elanna grinned. "We'll have you cracking halfway decent Borg jokes yet."

B'Elanna picked up the toy that Seven had dropped onto the bed. "Do you want me to clean it first?"

Seven lifted an eyebrow at the question. "B'Elanna, you know that it turns me on to feel your fingers slip inside me when they are covered with your wetness, why should this be different with a toy?"

"Sorry, stupid question," B'Elanna agreed before slipping the side of the toy that had been inside Seven into herself. "Oh my," She said when she realized just how sensitive she still was.

"Are you alright?" Seven asked.

"Yeah, just a bit sensitive."

Seven smiled, knowing from experience that she didn't have to offer to stop. B'Elanna didn't mind sensitive. In fact she didn't even mind 'a bit sore.' As B'Elanna had told her, 'it reminds me with every movement I make just what a wonderful time I had.'

Once B'Elanna had secured the straps, Seven asked, "Since you were the one that would decide, and you said you wanted to take me from behind, do you want me on hands and knees?"

B'Elanna looked at the bed and then back at Seven. She had made love to Seven in that position several times. Seven loved to be taken from behind, B'Elanna loved how accessible all of the blonde's body then was; a perfect position for both of them. But when using such a fine toy for the first time, B'Elanna felt that standing up would be an even better experience for the blonde.

"No. You know what? We've now christened the bedroom; we will christen the kitchen when I'm in the mood for a hard loving. So how about... Oh, I got it! The living room. Go to the living room and stand by the dresser. That way I can take you from behind, and we can still see each other in the mirror."

"I like that idea," Seven agreed, moving off the bed. Mere moments later Seven was standing as B'Elanna had suggested. Hands on the dresser, facing the wall and mirror, which made her upper body lean forward in a forty-five degree angle.

"Mmhmm," B'Elanna hummed when she took in Seven's naked form. "You look like the sweetest piece of candy, standing like that, waiting for me to touch you." B'Elanna walked around Seven as if not knowing where to begin. Then she kneeled behind the blonde.

"Here, prepare yourself for another bad Borg joke." She placed a few kisses on Seven's rear before continuing. "See, I want to become something in life, so I'm learning how to kiss the Queen's ass."

Seven couldn't help but groan. "You can cease the bad jokes, but you can persist with the ass-kissing."

"Yes, my Princess," B'Elanna happily agreed as she placed a series of kisses all over Seven's cheeks. "Tell me, do you also want me to fuck your ass with the toy? With your cleanness I don't even have to change the shafts."

Seven thought about that for a moment, then an idea came to her. "I would love for you to do that, but not now. You want to christen the kitchen by me taking you there hard, I want to christen the bathroom by you fucking my ass. Same height dresser, same size mirror..."

"Different hole," B'Elanna finished, liking the idea. "Alright, spread your legs a little more."

B'Elanna continued to place soft kisses, moving more and more to the center between the cheeks. Finally she placed a kiss on Seven's puckered opening. She circled the ring of muscles with her tongue before finally applying more pressure and pushing the tip inside, producing a moan from Seven.

As she moved the tip of her tongue in and out, she moved her right hand up Seven's leg on the inside until she reached the juncture of the Blonde's legs. She let her fingers rest on Seven's clit; just letting her know they were there.

She dipped her tongue in one final time, as far as she could this time, and then moved lower a little. She ran her tongue a couple of times over the sensitive flesh between Seven's openings. Up and down, always just barely tipping her tongue inside the hole on either side before moving away again.

Finally, much to Seven's delight, B'Elanna stayed at her center. This time moving from her entrance over the lips to her clit, only to follow the lips back to the opening. B'Elanna made sure to never stay at one place too long, and even though it frustrated Seven, she absolutely loved it. She loved the uncertainty of never knowing where that tongue was going next. Suddenly she felt her inner lips being sucked into B'Elanna's mouth. The total unexpectedness of it made her moan deeply, all the way up from deep in her chest.

Then the mouth was back around her clit, flicking the tongue over it as a finger was pushed into her wet center. The finger was removed and replaced with a wider, but shorter finger; Seven assumed that it was B'Elanna's thumb. She was proven right when a moment later the wet thumb was being pushed into her puckered opening while the other finger returned into the warm wetness of her center.

"I like that," Seven said as B'Elanna started to move the two fingers, one in as she pulled the other out. It didn't give her much leverage for long moves, but that was alright.

"I know you do," B'Elanna agreed from between Seven's legs. "So, are you ready for a little more?"

"Was that one of those rhetorical questions you are so fond of?" Seven merely asked.

B'Elanna chuckled and stood up, placing herself directly behind Seven. She stepped closer until she was standing against the blonde, the toy sticking out and going between Seven's legs. B'Elanna rocked her pelvis a little, pushing the toy against Seven's sex. That was another advantage to having Seven spread her legs. Beside the fact that it had given B'Elanna room to play, it now also put the hips of the taller Seven at an equal level with B'Elanna's.

"Stand up for a moment, baby," B'Elanna said, and when Seven had done so she rested her chin on the blonde's shoulder. "Look in the mirror. See how incredibly beautiful you are. See why I get so hot just from looking at you?"

She moved her hands around Seven to cup the blonde's breasts. "Look how they fill my hands. God baby, how I love to feel your breasts in my hands. How your nipples get so hard... see?" B'Elanna pinched both nipples to prove her point. "Look, see how hard they are."

One of B'Elanna's hands drifted lower, over Seven's abdominal implant and down to her legs. "I love to see your bald pubic bone. Because of it's baldness you can see the swell so nicely. You, my Princess, are totally amazing, and I count my lucky stars every time I touch you..." A kiss on the shoulder. "Kiss you..." One finger slipped over Seven's clit and between her folds. "Love you."

B'Elanna placed one hand on Seven's hip and gripped the base of the shaft with her other hands. "And now I'm going to make love to you. Lean forward, baby."

Knowing from her little finger dip that Seven was still plenty wet enough, B'Elanna placed the shaft at the blonde's wet opening and looked up in the mirror. With one swift push she sunk the shaft as far as it could go, producing a grunt from Seven, who moved her hands to steady herself a little better.

Hearing the grunt and seeing the expression of joy on Seven's face, B'Elanna asked, "Like that?"

"Yes," Seven said, looking into the mirror and into the eyes of her lover.

"Did you like the feeling of the toy inside you when you fucked me?" B'Elanna asked, slowly pulling back out.

"Yes," Was the one word reply again after B'Elanna pushed back in in one go.

B'Elanna pulled back out, looking down at the wet sound this produced. "This is one of the reasons I also like taking you from behind. I love to see how your lips cling to my fingers, or now the toy; as if they don't want to give up their prize."

Looking back up into the mirror, B'Elanna decided that it was time to get down to business. She started to move, abandoning the single trusts for a steady pace, placing one hand on Seven's shoulder and the other on her hip. In and out she moved, sometimes moving so that the toy would penetrate Seven at a slightly different angle, but over all just concentrating on giving her lover what she needed. The image in the mirror had changed. Now all that was looking back at her was her totally aroused lover. Mouth half open, panting with every thrust, eyes also only half open, blonde hair hanging loose and shaking with every thrust Seven answered.

They moved in rhythm, when B'Elanna pushed in, Seven pushed back. They looked at each other in the mirror and B'Elanna grinned. Seven smiled in reply, but the smile disappeared with the next thrust and next grunt of the blonde. In and out the shaft moved, bringing Seven closer to her unstoppable peak. Finally Seven couldn't look in the mirror any longer; the feeling of the shaft moving in and out was so wonderful, so demanding, that she wanted to concentrate on nothing else but the movement, the feeling, the pleasure. She bent forward more, stretching her arms and pushing her ass back into B'Elanna's trusts. She lowered her head onto her arms and stayed like that as B'Elanna continued to fuck her with an urgency that blew Seven's mind.

As Seven leaned forward, B'Elanna moved both her hands to the blonde's hips, guiding her, setting the pace, as she pushed in again and again. The sight was a huge turn-on for B'Elanna; seeing Seven bent like that, her vertebra clearly sticking out and her head hidden in those blonde strands. Seeing even from above those breasts she loved so much moving with every thrust she made.

Suddenly Seven threw her head back to clear the hair out of her face and she looked back at B'Elanna once more. B'Elanna knew why Seven had done this; Seven was ready to give B'Elanna something that the Klingon would never tire of seeing. B'Elanna put a little more force in her final trusts and where B'Elanna's orgasm had come with a shriek, Seven's came with a deep, long, grunt. Seven had closed her eyes as she came, but that was alright, by lifting her head, she had once again given B'Elanna the beautiful sight of seeing her lover's face as she came.

B'Elanna stilled her movements, but stayed inside. For a moment she let her hands drift over Seven's back in a soft caress as the blonde came down from her peak. Finally Seven opened her eyes and looked at B'Elanna.

The Klingon winked at Seven and reached around until her hand had found the blonde's swollen clit. "Fair is fair baby, I came twice for you, you come twice for me."

Seven didn't answer with words, but she did nod her head in eager agreement. B'Elanna started to move her fingers over the hard bud in a circle as she kept looking at Seven's face in the mirror. The blonde was still panting from her orgasm, her normally so neatly kept hair was in disarray because the blonde had simply thrown her head back to keep the hair out of her face. Her mouth was partly open and her eyes seemed closed. But B'Elanna knew better, she knew that the blonde was looking back at her. Mere seconds later she was proven right when a smile formed and those beautiful lips silently formed those three wonderful words that B'Elanna would never tire of hearing.

"I love you too, baby," B'Elanna assured as she started to speed up her rubbing. She smiled when a moment later, Seven started to rock her hips again in an unmistakable sign.

"Want me to also use the toy?" B'Elanna asked though she knew the answer.

Seven merely nodded her head, and then threw her head back again to get the hair out of her face. She wanted to be able to look in the mirror, she wanted to see B'Elanna. Because she was bent forward, Seven could see more than just the Klingon's face in the mirror. She could actually see all of B'Elanna from her waist up, she could just see a little of the straps and the leather base, but more importantly, she could see her lover pull back for every trust she made.

B'Elanna had started to push in and out again, but soon noticed that the back and forth motion she was making, made it impossible for her to keep rubbing Seven's clit in a circle. Reluctantly she stopped rubbing and concentrated on her movement with the toy again. But then she thought of something. Seven had wanted to change position when she was taking B'Elanna; it was only fair B'Elanna changed position now.

Suddenly she pulled out and took a step back, actually laughing when Seven turned her head and looked at her over her shoulder in total outrage.

"Just a change baby. Turn around and sit your ass on the dresser. Fuck the mirror; I want to see your eyes up close and personal."

Understanding what the Klingon was planning, Seven did as she was told and once she was sitting, she also pulled her legs up and placed her feet on the edge of the dresser as well; opening her legs as far as she could.

B'Elanna stepped between those legs, placed the shaft at her lover's opening and then as she kissed Seven, she pushed the shaft as far in to her lover as she could; swallowing the moan that action produced. B'Elanna pulled back again and soon they had established the same rhythm they had before. Only this time they had their breasts pushed against each other's and they shared a hungry kiss every so often. But that too changed a few minutes later when the need to take and be taken became too great.

B'Elanna looked down to where the shaft moved in and out of her lover and she loved what she saw. How Seven's inner lips were fully open as if begging for entry, how her clit was so hard that it was clearly peeking from under its hood, and how Seven was so wet that some drops had already fallen onto the dresser. And she, she B'Elanna, was doing this to her. She was making Seven feel so good. The sight and the idea made her so hot that she knew that she would need Seven's attention again later. Not with the toy, no, she would need the personal attention of a slow swirling tongue.

Looking back up at her lover's eyes, B'Elanna knew Seven was close, even if the telltale mix of moans and groans hadn't been enough of an indication. She sped up her thrusting, actually making the dresser rock slightly with every thrust. In and out she went, as fast as she could now. She was trying to use the same trick the blonde had used on B'Elanna. She pulled up a little whenever she had sunk the shaft to the hilt, letting the specially designed leather base rub against the clit.

However, B'Elanna managed more to just slap the base against Seven's wet pussy than rub her clit with it, adding more wonderful wet sounds to the orchestra that was their lovemaking. So B'Elanna decided to go back to basics and just settled on a hard and fast straight in and out, making the dresser rock even more with every thrust; knowing just as the first time that only a few more of those trusts would do it for the blonde.

And then... suddenly it was over. Seven's body convulsed as a strong orgasm shot through her. "tp," She mumbled incoherently, but B'Elanna had understood the mangled 'stop' and did as Seven had asked. She stopped her movement, leaving the toy inside her lover and spent a few minutes placing soft kisses all over Seven's face and neck while she helped the blonde come down from her peak.

"I gather you like the toy?" B'Elanna finally asked, mimicking the words Seven herself had spoken earlier.

Seven's head had been lowered because B'Elanna had been placing soft kisses on her forehead. Her reaction to B'Elanna's words was to look up through her eyelashes, through the blonde hair sticking to her sweaty forehead and into amused brown eyes.

Then she grinned. "As you said; it was the best ever."

B'Elanna stepped back, removing the toy from her lover and helped Seven to put her legs down. As Seven was standing on shaky legs, she continued, "It is not something to replace our normal love life, but this toy is definitely going to get a special place in our nightstand. I think I would enjoy the toy about once every week or two."

"On a regular basis, but uncommon enough to keep it special," B'Elanna agreed as she undid the straps and removed the toy. Then she reached up and with a soft caress removed some of Seven's blonde strands from in front of her face. "I made you sweat baby."

"Beloved, in case you missed it; you did a lot more to me than merely make me sweat. I believe a bath is in order."

"Actually, if you don't mind, I would really like to go to bed right now so that you can give me a tongue bath. The normal bath can come after that."

"Is this a proper time to ask; 'is my little Borg bitch horny'?"

"It is, and she is," B'Elanna happily agreed.

Chapter 23

B'Elanna woke and found blue eyes looking back at her; something she had gotten accustomed to, and something she hoped she would see every morning for the rest of her life. "Good morning my perfection."

"Good morning my Mate," Seven replied with a smile.

"I really like this little routine we've established."

"What little routine?" Seven asked confused.

"First of all, of me waking up to find you watching over me."

Seven smiled. "I find it a good compromise for how you watch over me while I regenerate."

"I also like how we talk in the morning. At night I either want to go to sleep or make love to you... not necessarily in that order of preference of course. I never was one to jump out of bed in the morning. I need some time to tell my body that I'm awake now. I think I really like just laying in bed with you and do nothing but talk for half an hour or so while my body prepares for facing another day."

"And we are going to talk about something? Why do you know this for certain?"

"Besides the fact that we're already talking now?" B'Elanna asked amused. "Simply, because that's what we've done every single day since the first time we made love."

"That is very observant of you." Then Seven admitted, "I like it as well. Sometimes when we make love things are said that raise questions in me. Knowing that we will talk the next morning allows me to file away those questions and concentrate on the loving."

"Last night brought some questions as well?" B'Elanna asked surprised.

"Yes."

"Well then, let's hear it."

Seven hesitated, wondering what to bring up first. Then she figured that the first thing she had been wondering about the night before was also a good first thing to start with. "The first thing I am curious about is this; you really enjoyed being entered by the toy in one go. While I can appreciate the pleasure of being filled, I'm curious about the fact that you achieved so much pleasure from that first thrust."

B'Elanna nodded. "Yes, I always liked that. But it's more than that first thrust only. I guess it's more that I love that first thrust so much because it's... a reminder of what's coming. I simply like being filled so deeply."

B'Elanna thought about how to explain the difference. "It's, there's just something about being filled deeply. To be filled deeper than fingers can reach. You've been with Harry; you must know what I'm talking about." A little evil smirk. "Or was the poor guy not big enough for you to feel him deep?"

"Actually, he is just a little bigger than the toy was last night," Seven said. She knew that B'Elanna was just joking, but Seven didn't want to sell Harry short... in any way. "But for me the penetration part is the important part, not how deep the penetration is. Whether it is your tongue, your fingers, the toy, or back then with Harry. I do feel the difference in width and length, but I enjoy the entering more than how deep the penetration is."

B'Elanna shrugged, never having given it much thought. "Well, maybe it's simply a personal preference I have, or it's actually because I'm partly Klingon. As you know, Klingons don't like to do things small. The men are on average twenty percent longer there than humans. Maybe Klingon women have pleasure zones deeper inside to take advantage of this longer length. The Doctor once told me that just like the rest of my body, my sexual organs were a mix between Human and Klingon. I never really did any research on the subject, having long since found out what I like and didn't like simply by doing it. So maybe I have some kind of... spot deeper inside that you don't have. Either way, for me, there is something absolutely wonderful about a deep penetration, something the length of fingers can't reach. It's like... I don't know, there's a part deeper inside my pussy that just loves to be rubbed by something moving in and out."

B'Elanna frowned, realizing how what she said sounded. "Mind you, as I said, I love your fingers, and,"

"But sometimes you would like something else, something bigger, longer; something to 'rub' that part inside your pussy that I cannot reach with my fingers. Just like I sometimes want, need, for you to let go fully and fuck me hard."

"Right," B'Elanna agreed.

"If you like the feeling of deep penetration so much, we could add a different toy," Seven suggested. "Something I can use on a regular basis when I make love to you."

"Please baby, don't think that you are not enough, I'm more than happy with making love to you, only you."

"I do not worry about that. I merely believe that it is illogical to forgo something you like simply because I was not born with the thing that is needed for me to give that to you. We could replicate one of the handheld toys that were in the Voyager database. The same size as the shaft size we used last night, just with an added length so that I can hold on to it. I can still make love to you with my fingers and mouth, just that we would have the option to do something else as well. I could love you until you come all over my fingers, and then I use the toy to make love to you again. An advantage of this would be that I can still lick and suck your clit while I fuck you with the toy."

B'Elanna's eyes closed while just imagining the blonde taking her like that made her hum. Then she opened her eyes again and said a little sheepishly, "I think I just told you that I'd really like that, didn't I?"

"You did," Seven agreed with a smirk.

"You know what I really love?" B'Elanna asked when she saw that smirk.

"What?"

"The way you smirk. I really like the fact that with me, you allow yourself to do things you normally don't do."

"Like smirking," Seven repeated.

"And shortening your words."

"You just like to see me come, and since I shorten my words only when I am close to a sexual peak you like to hear me shorten my words."

"Yes and no," B'Elanna partially admitted. "In bed, or more to the point when we make love, is just a catalyst because that's where you let go the easiest. I would also love to hear you shortening your words when we fight and you get annoyed with me. The same as profanities. I love to hear you say things like 'touch my ass' but, I would also love to hear you say 'you can kiss my ass' in an argument. But, please baby, don't go doing that just because I said that I like to hear it. I like you to be you. Just know that I won't be upset if you start talking differently at some point in the future."

"Very well," Seven agreed. "I will simply talk the way I prefer to talk. Which means that depending on the situation we are in you might hear me talk differently."

"Deal," B'Elanna grinned. Then the subject of Seven's talking reminded B'Elanna. "Last night you called me your little Borg bitch. I have to admit that I kinda like how that sounds. I wouldn't mind if you kept that one. You know, as an endearment for when you want to use something else than 'beloved'."

"You mean so that I could ask 'is my little Borg bitch horny' instead of 'are you aroused beloved?'"

"Yeah. I think in certain situations 'beloved' just sounds wrong. Beloved sounds... dignified, complementary. You know, something you would say more when others are present or in a serious conversation like now. But it doesn't really fit in playful banter. My endearments for you are more general. I can call you honey or baby when we are making love, or talking like now, or when we are in a room with fifty people. While your beloved fits in the last two, it doesn't really fit with the first one."

"You are correct," Seven had to agree. "However, 'my little Borg bitch' is a bit on the long side. I will keep it, as you say, for the kind of situations that you indicated, but what would you think of me shortening 'beloved' to 'love' as a different endearment?"

"You know, I think I really like that one," B'Elanna approved. "And it's something you can't really go wrong with. Hell, you can use it to shout 'fuck me harder, love,' and you can use it in a room full of people to say something like 'I agree with you, love.'

Seven smiled before saying, "Very well. As of now I claim the endearments 'beloved,' 'love,' and 'My Little Borg bitch' as mine. You are not allowed to use those endearments to address me on punishment of... well, some very fun punishment."

"Neh," B'Elanna disagreed. "I claim equal rights to using the endearment 'love.' That is one I am more than likely to use as well without truly realizing it. But deal on the other two. If I use them than I just have to suffer your punishment."

"You are right," Seven had to agree. "It should not be something you might actually truly say without doing it deliberately."

The were quiet for a moment. Neither wanted to get out of bed yet, so they were thinking of what next to talk about.

"I find it interesting how you sometimes entwine your fingers with my Borg enhanced hand when you are about to come and happen to be able to reach that hand," Seven finally spoke up.

"Why?" B'Elanna asked. "We talked about this before, how I actually like the fact that I can do things like touch your assimilation tubes. Does it really come as a surprise to you that I like to hold on to the hand that can crush every bone in my hand if you want to? What can I say, it's that power trip. I,"

Suddenly B'Elanna started to laugh and buried her head in the pillow beside Seven in a hopeless attempt to stop her fits of laughter.

"What is so funny?" Seven asked confused.

"Never mind," B'Elanna giggled.

"B'Elanna Torres. May I inform you that it is considered really bad manners to suddenly start laughing when you are lying beside a naked woman? It is the kind of thing that has more then once resulted in the laughing individual being banned to the couch for a month or two."

"Oh wonderful, the first night in our new home and you're threatening to kick me out of it already." B'Elanna grinned. "Never mind baby, silly inside joke."

"Talking about inside," Seven said in a fake threatening tone. "If you do not start talking there will be no inside for you for a week, at least."

"Alright, alright," B'Elanna relented. She knew that Seven wouldn't really stop their lovemaking for a week; Seven herself liked it way too much. But she also knew that going on any longer might make Seven start to wonder what B'Elanna was hiding.

"Remember when Janeway tried to get those transwarp coils some years back? Well Tom told me that he was afraid that the Borg Queen had planned it all to lure us into a trap. I was pissed because we were once again going to get into danger because of Borg technology. So to get rid of Tom I told him rudely, 'yeah well, you know what? The Borg Queen can fuck me. Now get out of my office'."

Now Seven smiled as well. She put her hand behind B'Elanna's head and pulled her in for a kiss. "And here you are, a few years later on Unimatrix 01, on the morning after being royally fucked by... the Borg Queen."

"Told you it was silly," B'Elanna said.

"It is not silly," Seven disagreed. "B'Elanna, the fact that you can joke about things Borg, that you accept me as I am, that you enjoy it when I touch you with my implants, that you enjoy touching my implants... All of those things make it bearable for me to even think about the fact that I am truly going to spent the rest of my life with the Borg. It is the fact that you are here with me, that you do not hesitate to call me a 'Borg bitch' in fun and love, that makes me realize that maybe, just maybe, I can view my life as a life worth living."

"Hey now, don't get all serious on me," B'Elanna said softly. "We'll get through this baby. You'll see. We'll manage to turn this around. I promise you that there will come a day that you will call this place home because you want to, not because you don't have any other choice."

Seven reached up and cupped the face of the woman she loved more than life itself. "You are such a beautiful person."

"Likewise babe," B'Elanna assured. After a moment of silence she then sighed and said, "Alright, let's get started with the day. What are we going to do first?"

The reign of One of Many, née Annika Hansen; Queen of Borg.

Year 00, Month 00, Day 01, Hour 10, Minute 05.

"Holy crap!" B'Elanna exclaimed when she saw the huge room. Normally empty rooms resulted in echoes, but this room was so big that the walls were too far away for the sound of normal talking to reach it; let alone actually make it back.

"This isn't a room, this is so big that it classifies as an entire area. You could fit a cube in here."

"Or twenty-seven," Seven corrected slightly amused.

"What?"

"On cubic kilometers you can actually fit twenty-seven cubes in this area."

"And they want to make this our private holodeck? There's the technology to do so?"

"Yes and yes," Seven assured. "The technology does not exist out of the normal holodeck projectors that you are used to. It is not much more complex, just different. As for why they want to make this our private holodeck... ulterior motives."

"What do you mean?"

"B'Elanna, it is simple. They want us to have a holodeck where we can create every environment we want so that we do not long for other things. The more we want to be here on Unimatrix 01, the less they have to worry about us planning to find a way to leave."

B'Elanna nodded her head in understanding. "I see. So is there also a reason why they suggest exactly this storage area and also suggest that we have our living quarters right beside it? I know that they have more storage areas like this."

"There is," Seven affirmed.

She walked back into the corridor that had brought them to the storage area and only a few meters down the corridor she touched what was clearly a security door that was set into a bulkhead. B'Elanna guessed that it would close automatically in a case of an emergency to partition the ship.

"This right here is the geometric center of Unimatrix 01."

"I get it," B'Elanna said in understanding. "In case of an attack, in some worst-case scenario where shields and the exterior armor fail, this is still the safest place for you, their Queen, to be located. Simply because you need a damn powerful weapon to cut through the bulk of this ship and hit this area."

"Indeed," Seven could only agree.

"Well, we could object, but I don't think that this is a fight we should even start," B'Elanna said thoughtfully. "I can see their point from a security standpoint. And from our side," she shrugged, "we just need an area for our quarters and a place is a place is a place. Unless you want a window so that you can see the stars."

Seven shook her head. "A window would actually be nice, but I have to agree with you and the Borg that us having quarters at the hull of Unimatrix 01 is an unacceptable security risk. If we want a view then we would be better off having windows in the wall of the holodeck and have a program active there all the time."

"Hey, I like that idea," B'Elanna said brightly. "We could sit in the living room, or kitchen, or whatever, and look out the window and see a forest or a beach. It has potential."

"If we indeed let the Borg turn that area into a holodeck," Seven reminded.

"Let's think about it for a while," B'Elanna suggested.

The reign of One of Many, née Annika Hansen; Queen of Borg.

Year 00, Month 02, Day 01, Hour 20, Minute 01.

(On USS Voyager.)

"Thank you, I had a great evening."

"As did I," Tom assured as he looked into the eyes of the bright purple haired woman that had come to mean so much to him over the last few weeks. "Perizn, would, I, um, I could stay you know?"

"And what, sleep on the floor?" Perizn asked amused. "We are in the cargo bay, Tom. Don't worry, I'll be fine tonight. Now, let me go regenerate. The faster I do that, the faster it will be tomorrow and then I can fall asleep again while you hold me."

"Alright," Tom relented. "I love you."

"And I love you," Perizn assured as she stepped back into the alcove. The last thing she saw before going comatose was Tom turning around to leave.

Or at least, that was how it was supposed to be. Instead she found herself back on a Borg ship. She gasped. "No. Oh, no, please no."

"Do not worry, you are not really here."

Perizn turned to the voice that had spoken and was surprised to see Seven of Nine.

"I apologize for the scenery. This location is not real; it is a scene from your memory. I had actually expected a location on Voyager to form, but I guess that being contacted by a Borg signal also triggered a Borg location."

As she had been talking, Seven had walked closer until she was standing in front of Perizn. "You know who I am, do you not?"

"You, you are Seven, Tom talks about you a lot."

Seven smiled. "I am glad to hear that our friends still think of us. I am also the Borg Queen now."

Then it hit Perizn. She remembered under what circumstances the blonde had been forced to leave. She was talking to her Queen. "My Queen."

"Am I?" Seven asked. "Your Queen that is. Tell me Perizn, what do you want? If you want I can send a cube for you to take you back to the Collective. However, I still care for my friends on Voyager. Because of that, I could also assure you that the Borg will never come for you, will never try to take you away even if Voyager comes across a Borg ship. I could even give you vital information that you can use to serve Voyager. You could be my gift to them. You could never have to hear from the Borg again. I can do that."

"Or?" Perizn asked. "I have the distinct feeling that those two options are both not what you want me to take."

"Or, you could actually be telling the truth the next tine you say 'I am Borg.' You could be part of a Collective far greater than the crew of Voyager can even imagine. You could be the Borg link to Voyager. You could be their shield, their savior, their strength... and my servant."

"I,"

"Do not worry," Seven interrupted. "I am not asking you to leave them, or betray them. Far from it, I want you to stay. I want you to live there, be your own individual, have friends. And in the mean time be my eyes and ears."

Perizn hesitated for only a moment before saying, "I am yours to command, my Queen."

Seven shook her head slightly. "No commands, other than what I just told you; be my eyes and ears. I care about my friends, so I will contact you from time to time to ask how they are doing. But more important than that. Next time that Voyager is in danger, or you need help with something Voyager cannot solve, tell them that you need to regenerate to be able to concentrate better. Tell them that it has to do with your species, that you will work a lot better if you have regenerated, even if for only thirty minutes. The next time you regenerate you will notice that while your body goes comatose right away, there is one minute in which you can still think. In that time, think clearly, as if speaking, that you have information the Queen needs to know. I will then contact you like I am now if I can. If not your mind will be scanned for relevant information I need to know."

"Yes, my Queen."

"In that case, Perizn, tell me, how are you doing? How are you being treated? How are my friends doing?"

The reign of One of Many, née Annika Hansen; Queen of Borg.

Year 00, Month 02, Day 14, Hour 19, Minute 28.

"You know how you explained the vastness that is the Borg Collective to me shortly after you became their Queen?" B'Elanna asked before pointing at the viewscreen. "That is the perfect visualization of that."

They were in the heart of Borg space, at the location where Unimatrix 01 was normally located, and they were looking at the construction simply known as cluster 01. Arms thicker than a Borg cube stretched out in all directions. Giving, from a distance, the impression as if somebody had taken a bunch of straws and twisted them together, and then had used the result as a blueprint for building cluster 01.

"It's not easy to guess dimensions in space," B'Elanna continued. "But thanks to those dots flying around which I happen to know are cubes, I would guess that some of those arms have to be at least 10,000 kilometers long. This is a visualization of vastness alright."

Seven pointed to a spot on the viewscreen. "You see that sub-cluster over there? That is the main Borg shipyard. Five cubes are built there every day."

"And that cluster over there?" B'Elanna asked as she pointed at an, in comparison, smaller cluster on the other side of the screen.

"That is the main data storage facility. As you know, every Borg drone knows what the Collective considered relevant information. However, it is impossible for us to know literally all information of over 12,000 species. So all information that is not considered relevant, yet too important to simply delete, is stored here and accessible by every drone that is linked to the collective."

Seven hesitated for a moment before adding, "I guess you could call this a visualization as well. A visualization of all the information I lost access to when I was severed from the collective by Kathryn."

B'Elanna made a show of playfully measuring Seven's head with her hands and then looking back at the viewscreen. "They can fit all the relevant information in here, but for the rest they need a structure that has to be at least 5,000 kilometers across?"

"That is because the Borg economize. When the Borg evaluate the knowledge of a species, they pick one thing of something as the best option and that is the information that every drone gets. For instance, if a species is assimilated and there exist 3,000 different opinions in that species about what the best setting for their warp drive is, then only one setting is saved as relevant information while the other 2,999 opinions are stored here so that they can be accessed if needed but do not take up unnecessary storage area in the brain of a drone. On top of that, if things are the same for different species, then the information is only stored once with there being links to which species it applies. Obviously, these links take up a lot less room than storing the same information three hundred times because it applies to three hundred different species."

"That explains why in the beginning you were always so determined that this or that one setting was the best thing to do for whatever, and it took you time to accept that my settings worked as well," B'Elanna said in understanding. "You knew your setting, but you actually had to learn the other settings before being able to accept them."

"Partially," Seven agreed. "But it was more than only the fact of me having to learn things like data. It was also that I had to learn that there can be more than one optimal setting. Borg drones know that there is one optimal setting, the other settings are saved as well because we know that in certain situations those settings worked best for that one situation. You taught me that there are actually more than one optimal setting and that what is an optimal setting often depends on what kinds of different things you want to do at the same time. You taught me that the setting of the warp core that produces the most energy is actually not the optimal setting, like the Borg would have assumed. The optimal setting actually only delivers eighty-nine percent of the maximum amount of energy possible, but at the same time is much more stable and can actually cope with the power fluctuations you get from living on a ship with individuals, where not all power usage can be planned and scheduled."

"I wonder why they built that thing here in the middle of nowhere though. Wouldn't it have made more sense to build this in some solar system where the structures could be divided over several planets?"

"They built 'this thing' here exactly because this is the middle of nowhere," Seven said amused. "There is not a single celestial body to be found in a six light-year radius. This means that nobody can use such a body as cover and close in unnoticed."

"I disagree," B'Elanna said with a grin. "There's a celestial body right here beside me."

Seven smiled tolerantly before explaining, "Also, do not be misled. This may look like one big structure. But all of those sub-clusters are capable of transwarp flight, and are separate ships with individual weapons banks. They are merely docked to a Starbase of sorts. They can disappear in different directions if ever needed."

Seven pointed to an area of one of the main arms where there were no smaller arms sticking out. "That is the standard docking location for Unimatrix 01. There is actually a very simple reason why all of these ships are located together. All of these ships have one thing in common; massive communications traffic. To prevent the Borg communication link from being flooded with communications that the vast majority of the drones do not have to hear anyway, these ships communicate via optical wires when connected. Once we have docked the communications of Unimatrix 01 to these ships will also be transferred to being done over optical wire."

B'Elanna looked at the viewscreen for a moment. "I see. You know, one could say that this is also a visualization of what we try to do. We will dock there. From there the changes we make will move to the shipyards there. Then to that sub-cluster there. Then there, and there, and there, and before you know it they reach the Main Data Storage Facility."

"True," Seven agreed. "However, I do think that we have to put more effort into finding the right people to help us. Hearing the distress call of ZAn's ship, and then reacting to it, was a true blessing for us."

B'Elanna chuckled. "Oh yeah. Here we were, having spent three days just thinking how we would build our new quarters. Then we hear that he's a designer and we show him our designs to see what he thinks and he goes, 'that doesn't work, but if you shift this here, and this here, and put this there... that would work.' In five minutes he designed our new quarters way better than we were able to in three days."

"We need to find people like that in the Borg," Seven noted. "At this moment just to save on time alone is already enough of a reason. But also, as ZAn showed, because there are people that have a better expertise on the subject than us. But soon we will need to make decisions on subjects that we have no expertise in all. We will need people then that we can trust to make decisions. People that we trust enough that we can approve those decisions they made not because we know what we are doing, but because we know that this person knows what they are doing."

"You're right," B'Elanna agreed. "And now is as good as time as any to go over some more people."

Chapter 24

The reign of One of Many, née Annika Hansen; Queen of Borg.

Year 00, Month 03, Week 00, Hour 14, Minute 36.

"That looks great; it's as if we designed it ourselves... Well, you know what I mean, since obviously we can't design something as wonderful as this," B'Elanna said as she looked at the final design of their living quarters. To say that she was happy about the layout would have been an understatement. She loved it, with the exception of just one thing.

She looked up from the PADD to look at the man sitting across the table, who was actually waving his hands a little in excitement. "It's just that..." B'Elanna cringed mentally when she saw the hands stop moving. Now she knew why her beloved coward of a Mate had disappeared saying that she had some 'important Borg business' to take care of.

"Don't you like the design? You said you did. I worked so hard on it..." Was that a tear forming, B'Elanna wondered.

"No, no," B'Elanna quickly assured. "The design is great. I, Seven and I, really are amazed with how you are able to come up with these designs. Until now you have always exactly designed things how we wanted them."

"Until now. So you don't like it!"

"No ZAn, we really do," B'Elanna assured once more. "The only thing we aren't that comfortable with is all the green." There, she had said it, and mentally she sighed with relief when ZAn didn't start crying.

"Oh, that," ZAn said, waving his hand dismissively. "We can work with that."

Then he leaned slightly across the table and whispered as if sharing a huge secret with B'Elanna. "To tell you the truth, I wasn't that thrilled about the green either."

"Then why use it in such abundance?"

"Well, helloooo, it 'is' the color of the Borg. I mean, really, you can't turn a corner on this ship without seeing green, green, and more green."

"Yeah, we know," B'Elanna agreed. "And really, Seven and I don't mind the color. We actually kinda like the fact of how the color adds to the whole of Borg. Just that... we think that it can be toned down a little. Use some green, but use it in those accents you so excel at. Come up with some other colors that will work well with green accents. Light, soft, warm, colors. Colors that make a home truly a home, and then throw in some green accents to keep the green theme going, you know?"

"Oh... I know exactly what you mean," ZAn assured.

And B'Elanna felt that he did. What B'Elanna had said was true. ZAn did always manage to come up with designs that fit B'Elanna and Seven's taste perfectly. And just as important, his designs were actually functional. It was just that sometimes he needed a little tweaking in the right direction, which was unfortunately quite a task to accomplish with the finicky designer. But that's what you got for working with the most famous interior designer of ONvt prime.

"Tell me, are the drones that were assigned as your helpers to your satisfaction?"

"Oh, they are wonderful, just wonderful." ZAn sighed happily before going on. "You know, I can't tell you how happy I am to have such quiet workers. I mean, at home, I have the workers put something here... it doesn't look right. So I have them put it over there... it also doesn't look right. You know what I mean? So I have them put it back... still doesn't look right... so I have them... And they just moan and groan, complain, complain, complain, I tell you. I mean, sure I do know that I can be fussy, I really do. But the workers at home just don't seem to understand that sometimes you have to look at something four or five times before you can make up your mind. But those drones? They just move it around, and move it, and move it."

Another happy sigh. "They are a designer's dream come true."

Yes, B'Elanna silently agreed. Sometimes it did have its advantages to have Borg drones as helpers. Especially since those Borg drones were still linked to the Collective and couldn't care less if they had to move a couch two, or two-thousand, times.

"So when do you think Seven and I can move in to our new quarters?"

"Oh, honey, I'll have that little old color scheme changed in no time. How about tonight I'll have it ready for you and Her Majesty to move in?"

"That would be great," B'Elanna said with a grin. Yes, the temporary quarters had worked out. But they really wanted to move into their new quarters, to start their life in their new home without being surrounded by things that reminded them of Voyager all the time. Not their private possessions, no, it was the thing they had liked so much in the beginning; how when you stepped into the quarters that they looked just like you walked onto Voyager. In the beginning this was nice, but over the weeks it had started to feel wrong. Now Unimatrix 01 was their home, not Voyager, and it was time to start their life in their new home.

"What kind of colors were you thinking of?" B'Elanna asked to be sure.

"How about some soft yellow, cream white, light blue... stuff like that, and of course just enough green to keep the scheme going."

"Sounds great," B'Elanna agreed, knowing that ZAn would get it right this time. He normally always did.

"So... now that the last of the original projects are almost finished, have you thought about our offer? I mean, I know that we would be keeping you away from your home planet and that they'd miss out on your wonderful designing skills..." B'Elanna had learned very early on that a few nice words would get you a long way with ZAn. "...But we could really use your touch here."

ZAn once again leaned closer and whispered. "There are other designers on ONvt Prime, let them work with those fussy customers that think they know more about design than I do." He sat back and waved his hand again. "I really like the way you let me do my thing. You just tell me what you want and I can do my thing. I love it, just love it."

"So you're staying?" B'Elanna asked to clarify.

"I'm staying," ZAn said with a short nod and a resolute crossing of his arms. It would have looked quite determined, if it hadn't been slightly ruined by ZAn's giggling.

"Great, I'm glad to hear that," B'Elanna said with a grin.

But then she frowned when she thought of something. They had indeed given ZAn free reign with the things he designed until now, but in the future that might be a problem.

"Um, I think it's only fair if I warn you though. There are things we would like you to work on that do have to operate in a certain way. Depending on what the project is, your say in the matter might be severely limited."

Yet another wave. "Don't worry about it hon. I do know how to step back when it's needed. I just don't see why I should take a step back when designing things like a house. But, well, I also helped designing the new flagship of my Homeworld. In engineering, where things had to be like the engineers needed them, my contribution was limited to the color scheme and where the snack replicator was placed. And even those I did keeping in mind that it was engineers that had to look at it day after day. Listen, as long as you let me do my thing where it's possible, I'm more than willing to step back where it isn't possible. I'll be more than happy to only give suggestions to the technical designers then, and if they can't use my suggestions for whatever reason... they can't. As simple as that."

"I'm glad to hear that."

"In fact," ZAn added. "I already kept technical situations in mind when I designed your new home."

"How so?" B'Elanna wondered.

"Why, I made the layout in such a way that you can walk straight on to the holodeck from your kitchen."

B'Elanna laughed. "Oh, that's right; Seven and I had similar plans when the Borg first suggested that that storage space could be used as a holodeck. I don't know if we'll actually do that though."

"Why not?" ZAn asked bewildered. "I think it's a wonderful idea. That huge place isn't used unless drones are stored there in case Unimatrix 01 ever needs to run, so normally the place is a total waste of space. The best thing is, if you use it as a holodeck, it can still be used for that storage because simply by switching off the holodeck the space is free again."

"Good point," B'Elanna had to agree. "But, for now we have other things to do. Since you decided to stay, let me inform you of a few projects Seven and I have been thinking about."

Seven looked at the Borg drone in front of her. She didn't have to come here, of course. She could have requested the presence of the drone and the drone would have come to her. But, it had been the perfect excuse to leave B'Elanna to tell ZAn that some changes needed to be made to his design.

Besides, Seven had come to like walking through the corridors of Unimatrix 01. It was one thing to throw ideas back and forth with B'Elanna, but sometimes she just needed to simply think about a problem. She had also discovered, strangely enough, that she thought better while walking through the corridors of Unimatrix 01, than when just sitting somewhere looking at a wall or at a PADD.

There was also another factor at play. If Seven wanted, she could have every single thing done for her by the Borg. Seven wanted to prevent that she would become someone that did nothing else than watch others doing things for her; she wanted some basic hands-on activity at times... like actually going to see a drone instead of ordering the drone come to her.

"Tactical drone 56,674 of 6,411,247, you have been selected for Individualist status."

The reaction to Seven's words was the opening of an eye that looked at her with great confusion.

"Do you understand the definition of Individualist status?"

"We are... We are an individual... we should address ourselves as I."

Seven was very pleased with the reaction of the drone. Thinking back to how rude her awakening had been, how she had felt when she realized that she was an individual, Seven decided that this drone was actually doing extremely well. But then, maybe that was because the drone knew that she wasn't forever disconnected from the Hive.

"Do you understand the definition of an Individualist drone?" Seven repeated.

"I do... my Queen."

That last was a surprise to Seven; she had expected 'One of Many.' Seven had to admit that she actually liked the way 'my Queen' sounded a lot more than 'One of Many.'

"Tactical drone 56,674 of 6,411,247, before you were added to the Collective your designation was Pagsha Yahif. Your new designation is Pagsha Yahif, Individualist drone one."

"What is my task, my Queen?" Pagsha asked confused. Normally she would get a task to perform; now all she got was a new designation.

"Your new task is to be the designated assistant to Two of Many and me."

"Assistant?" Pagsha merely repeated.

"Yes, Two of Many and I have discovered that while the Borg link can be convenient, sometimes you need a physical presence to oversee or judge something. We decided that we needed to have an assistant. More so because we are now starting the stage of bringing more drones into Individualist status."

Pagsha frowned while going over Seven's words. "If we... I, understand you correctly, I will be performing several different tasks without knowing up front what my new task will be."

"Correct. We do not know what we require of you until tasks arise which we can hand to you. Is this a problem for you?"

That was one disadvantage of bringing drones back into individuality, there was always a chance that they could not cope by themselves with the task you needed doing.

"No, my Queen. I believe I will like the uncertain aspect of my new task."

"Good," Seven slowly started to walk down the corridor, stopping when she noticed that Pagsha wasn't following. "Unless you do not have a task to perform, or are off duty, you are expected to be in the vicinity of me and Two of Many. You will get quarters assigned close to our new quarters."

"Quarters?" Pagsha asked surprised as she started to follow Seven at a couple of steps distance.

"You are welcome to walk beside me," Seven said, looking to her side where mere seconds later Pagsha did indeed appear. "You did say that you understood the definition of an Individualist drone."

"I do," Pagsha assured. "I just didn't know that I would get quarters. That is a detail that was not added to the general Hive memory."

"I apologize; a slight oversight on my part. I forgot that this is information that does not get added to the Collective Hive memory."

On request of the Borg themselves, a layer had been added to the Hive mind; a filter of sorts. While drones still joined the entire Collective whenever they regenerated, certain information would not be added to the Hive mind. When a drone started to regenerate, that drone's memory would be scanned for information and only information deemed indeed relevant would be added to the Hive memory.

"The fact that Individualist drones get quarters assigned, instead of merely an alcove, is information that is not added to the entire Collective because it is irrelevant information for the Collective as a whole," Seven explained.

"For a normal drone quarters are irrelevant," Pagsha said, mostly to indicate that she understood the logic of it. "So what's the use in adding the fact that Individualist drones have quarters to the Hive mind? It's not like a normal drone would suddenly want quarters as well. In fact, mere minutes ago I would have said that quarters are irrelevant."

"Indeed," Seven agreed. "And now?"

"Now? I think I like the fact that I will get private quarters. Are there more things I do not know about being an Individualist drone?" Pagsha asked, wondering if more things had been filtered out as irrelevant.

The fact that the Hive could so easily select what kind of information it could filter out had been a surprise for Seven, despite her having been a part of the Borg herself for so long. True, first information had to be evaluated to see if it was relevant information to be added to the full Hive mind. However, once something had been deemed irrelevant that information could be filtered out in the future before being uploaded to the Hive mind. B'Elanna had guessed that the Borg had come up with this so that they wouldn't waste time over and over again on filtering out what had already been filtered out before.

What also had been a surprise for Seven was that drones would actually still have all their memory fully intact if they had not been connected to the Hive for too long. True, the Borg scanned the memory of every single drone added to the Collective and then the Hive mind discarded all things deemed not relevant. But the point was that this information was still in the mind of the drone. Only if the drone had been connected to the Hive for many years was new information slowly stored over the old information. But even then all was not lost. After all, Seven herself had been able to remember things from her childhood.

Once Seven and B'Elanna had found out these two facts; that the Borg could filter out information at the individual drone level, and that memories were not removed from a drone's mind, merely marked as irrelevant and potential areas to store new information, they had been quick to come up with a way to use this for their 'Individualist drone' status. The drones would keep their own memory, yet important information, and only important information would also be added to the Collective.

The part that had helped convince the Hive mind of the fact that Individualist drones were a possibility, was the fact that the drone might have spent some time as an Individualist drone, but as soon as the drone hooked up to the Collective again, all things experienced and learned during that time would also be added to the Collective... if it was relevant information. As B'Elanna had rather forcefully pointed out; she would be damned before she would let the Collective peek in on just exactly what she and Seven had done in their bed.

And so they and the Borg Collective had come to their first big agreement that had been reached by a lengthy negotiation session. Individualist drones would be completely severed from the Collective... unless they themselves initiated the link to request information or communicate with other drones. Individualist drones would keep their memory fully intact, no matter how long they stayed in the Collective... but their memory was scanned every time they rejoined the Hive. However, in doing so, all personal information would be filtered out... unless it was actually relevant information.

That last had actually been something they had been 'arguing' about for over half an hour, if you could call disagreeing with a disembodied voice arguing. B'Elanna had been unwavering in her position that 'all' private information should be kept private. That was until the Borg had gotten her in her weak spot. The Borg had pointed out that a plan to kill the Borg Queen, Seven, would also be private information unless shared with others. It was after that, that B'Elanna agreed that yes, some private things should be reported to the Hive mind.

"There are a few more things, but they are not of importance right now," Seven said. She was actually curious about something else. "Pagsha, besides you being extremely well suited for the task assistant, there is another reason why you were selected as the first Individualist drone. From the day you were assimilated two years ago, you had a strong sense of wanting to stay in the Borg. Normally people do not want to be assimilated, but the last individual feeling recorded from you was a sense of freedom... why?"

"My Queen, don't you know where I was when I was assimilated?"

"Your location, as well as the reason why you did not mind being assimilated, were all removed as irrelevant information. You still know it because it is stored in your memory, but the Hive mind, nor I, know the reason," Seven merely said.

But the short conversation she had with Pagsha until now already made it clear to Seven that she was really going to like the 'relevant information' filter. While every single Borg drone would still have the entire knowledge of the Borg Collective, all the Individualist drones would also have a private side. Information about themselves that was interesting to hear, but what the Hive mind in general considered irrelevant.

"My Queen, I was in a prison cell, more a dungeon, where I was awaiting my sentence the next day; death by torture. When the Borg came and assimilated me, they freed me from my cell, but more than that, they took me into a Collective where my crime was considered irrelevant. Where I wasn't judged because of my tendencies, but where I simply had to do a job, just like trillions of other drones."

This was the last thing that Seven had expected to hear. When scanning for a suitable drone that could be used as an assistant, Pagsha had been one of the top five drones. Her character traits had been listed as 'pragmatic pacifistic but unyielding protector, docile but determined.' All in all the scan had given the impression of someone that would prefer to prevent any conflict, but would stick with you 'till the end. A trait Seven and B'Elanna had liked, and surprisingly, the Borg had liked as well. But then the Borg had pointed out that Pagsha enjoyed being part of the Borg, which meant that she would, even as an individual, stick with the Borg no matter what.

"Why were you sentenced to death?"

Pagsha bit her lower lip in a very un-Borg like manner and looked up into the eyes of the taller Seven. She didn't want to risk loosing her status as Individualist drone, but... but considering who the Queen's Mate was, maybe it wasn't as wrong as they had always said on her Homeworld. "My Queen, it was discovered that I have interests that were deemed evil."

Nothing but the lifting of an eyebrow.

"I like the company of women," Pagsha explained.

Seven frowned. "You were sentenced to death, a cruel death at that, because you prefer women as a sexual partner?" Seven asked to clarify. "This was considered an illegal act? Were you caught in said act?"

"My Queen, I never got to that stage. When it was discovered that I had 'evil interests' I was sentenced to death. I have never been with anyone in a sexual way."

Seven let her eyes drift down and back up Pagsha's body. Seven, having spent eighteen years of her life in Borg body armor, had no problem with taking in Pagsha's shapely form despite the body armor. "Now that, I consider a crime."

Seven smiled, wanting it to be very clear that she was only teasing. Considering the fact that this woman was going to spend a lot of time around her and B'Elanna, Seven wanted Pagsha to be comfortable with them. Seeing Pagsha smile back made it clear to Seven that she had been effective in using one of the small jokes B'Elanna had used not so long ago.

With a little bit more serious tone, she added, "That is something I can promise you, Pagsha, in the Borg Collective you will never be judged on your sexual preference."

"I am glad to hear that, my Queen. I am also glad that I will have the chance to work directly for you and my Princess. It will be interesting to see how a couple consisting of two women interacts with each other."

"Are you planning on studying us?" Seven asked amused. She knew that poor B'Elanna would have a fit is she found out that her 'mating rituals' were studied; again.

"Study... no. Observe... yes. I am wondering if there will be a great difference between your interaction and the interaction of a man and a woman."

"I can already answer that for you. Differences in relationships are not driven by gender, but by character traits. The fact that Two of Many is a half Klingon adds a lot more to her behavior than the fact that she is a woman. If you really want to learn about a relationship, I would suggest that you find yourself a partner so that you can experience a relationship first hand."

"Where would I find a partner?" Pagsha merely asked. "I'm in the middle of Unimatrix 01."

"A place that will slowly, but surely, change to a place where more and more drones will have the status of Individualist drone," Seven pointed out. "And also, since you are my assistant, you will accompany me and Two of Many when we go meet people that are not part of the Borg. I am certain that you will soon enough find someone that will interest you."

"Of course," Seven added, deciding that a dose or realism might be in order. "The fact that you will meet people does not mean that you will automatically find someone you might be interested in in a romantic way. I am merely pointing out that there are opportunities. Do not consider a relationship impossible simply because you happen to be on Unimatrix 01."

They stopped walking and Seven indicated a drone with a small nod of her head. Wanting to test her new assistant she asked, "Why would he be an interesting candidate for Individualist status?"

Pagsha frowned, having no idea; which was exactly one of the things Seven had wanted. She wanted to make it clear to Individualist drones that being brought back into a state of individual thinking still didn't mean that a link to the vast knowledge of the Hive mind was a bad thing. That in fact, it could be a very handy thing to have at times.

"You can use the access point beside his alcove," Seven pointed out.

Pagsha did so and quickly found the drone and the information about him. "1 of 2, medical drone 5,702,843. His addition to the Collective greatly increased the Borg's medical knowledge."

Removing her assimilation tubes from the access point, Pagsha added, "Impressive, considering what the Collective already knew about the medical field. As an Individualist drone he could be of great value because he could think about, and research, new medical knowledge instead of merely adding what he knew to the Collective. Since he already added his knowledge when he was assimilated, that particular value is now gone. Now he is merely one of many medical drones. But as an Individualist drone, with an independent thinking mind, he could still be of extreme value to the Collective."

"Indeed," Seven agreed. "He is someone that has found cures to plagues, eradicated hereditary diseases, found cures to painful illnesses... You can easily say that he is one of the greatest medical minds in the entire Delta Quadrant, if not 'the' greatest medical mind. Yet here he stands as nothing more than one of many medical drones because his knowledge has already been added to the Collective. He will be the second Individualist drone."

"My Queen, there must be many more drones like him. Drones that excelled at something, and that could once more excel at that thing if they were brought back into individual status."

Seven smiled at the comment. "And you just proved why you are very well suited to be the assistant to me and Two of Many. After being an Individualist drone for less than half an hour, you already noticed something that the Borg apparently thought irrelevant; someone can also think of something important after they have joined the Collective. But to do so they need to be able to think individually. Two of Many and I noticed the same thing shortly after joining the Borg. We believe that the Borg must have realized this themselves as well at some point, but that they must have decided not to have free thinking Individuals because they found the harmony of the Hive mind more important than single voices."

"But they never tried the middle way that you are now introducing," Pagsha said. "Have those Individuals that can think freely, and still have that united Borg Collective. After all, the information of that drone has already been added to the Collective; it won't be lost if the drone is an individual for seventy-two hours."

"Indeed," Seven agreed, glad that Pagsha saw the same potential she and B'Elanna had seen. "Or even less than seventy-two hours. It will be up the Individualist drones to decide what they do with their off-duty time. If they prefer they can join the Collective then as well."

A drone came walking towards them and unlike the many drones that had already passed them during their walk, this one stopped in front of Seven.

"He will be the third Individualist drone," Seven said before looking back to Pagsha. "He was an expert on armor. In fact, his armor configuration is now being applied to every new Borg ship built. Yet again, he now is nothing more than a tactical drone because his knowledge is already added to the Collective. What the Collective seems to forget is that he was able to create an armor that could delay the Borg, while he was stationed on a moon with barely any resources. I can only imagine what he will be able to come up with if he has access to all the Borg resources."

"If he was creating armor against the Borg, I don't think that he'll be a part of the Borg as happily as I am, or as he is..." The last was said with a finger pointed at the medical drone. "From the information I got about him, it was clear that even as an Individualist drone he would be more than happy to be part of the Borg Collective."

"He will be," Seven agreed. "As will this drone. He is one of those kinds of scientists who like to do their job, no matter for whom they are doing said job. The reason why he was fighting the Borg was because his job was to find a way to stop the Borg. And not to forget, the Collective simply assimilated his species, never giving anyone the chance to actually say that they would like to work for the Borg. That is something we want to offer; that people can work for the Borg if they want to, and be left alone if they want that."

"Which might result in the Collective not getting what it wants," Pagsha pointed out.

Seven gave a short nod of agreement. Yes, Pagsha would be very suited as an assistant. Seven and B'Elanna didn't merely want someone that would mindlessly do whatever they were told to do. No, they wanted someone that would actually think along with them; give views and opinions.

"It is something we took into consideration. However, as B'Elanna pointed out to me, true, a government might choose not to do business with us, but there will almost always be individuals from that species that will want to sell information to us and trade with us. Even if the government does not want to. The government will see this and also start to do business with us because they do not want to be overtaken by those that do deal with us. We will get what we want. It may not be a nice way of doing things. But it is politics, and I am more than willing to use politics to get what we want or need, rather than the way that the Borg have been using until now; the total assimilation of entire species."

Pagsha looked back to the drone that was still standing in front of them. "My Queen, may I ask why you need a drone with armor knowledge so early on in the Individualist stage?"

Seven started walking down the corridor again and Pagsha followed, this time in her turn followed by the two drones that were still fully linked to the Collective. "The first thing I want for him to do is to design new body armor."

"Why?" Came the simple question. Borg body armor had always fulfilled its requirements.

"Pagsha, you said that you like women. Would you at one point like to make love to a woman?"

"Well, yes. I sure hope that this will happen."

"And just how would you have sex? Or more to the point, how would she have sex with you?"

Looking down her body... a body that was covered with Borg armor... armor that was attached to the body, Pagsha understood what Seven meant. "That would be kinda hard."

"Body armor is a part of the Borg Collective, and B'Elanna and I agreed with the Borg that having drones without armor would be an unacceptable weakening of the Borg. Besides, it would be foolish to ignore all the knowledge the Borg have on the subject of body armor. So we came to an agreement; on duty Individualist drones would wear body armor, but off duty the choice would be up to the drone."

Seven indicated the drone behind them. "I want to give him three stipulations for body armor, and then have him come up with something. Give him free reign over all resources that the Borg have, with the limitation that there be enough resources to make the new body armor so that every Individualist drone can wear one. The three stipulations for the creation of the body armor will be that it actually has to be better than the existing body armor, that it is a body armor that can be removed and put on when the drone wants with no help being needed to put it on, and lastly that it looks like a uniform of some sort."

"A uniform?"

"Yes. While we do want drones to have an Individualist status, we also want to create an atmosphere where those drones are proud to be a part of the Borg Collective. Throughout history, uniforms have proven to be a very effective tool at creating a feeling of being part of a larger whole. While being linked to the Collective will of course give that to a drone, we also want to give that feeling to the Individualist drones. They are not 'just' Borg drones; they are Individualist drones. Drones that are changing the Borg Collective in ways that nobody would ever have imagined the Collective could change."

"I think that you have a good combination going there, my Queen. You offer people quarters; a physical home. You also offer people to be part of something bigger; you offer them an emotional home. They will no longer be alone, no longer weak, no longer have to fear."

"I do hope that people will see it that way and freely join the Borg," Seven agreed. "Because one of the things I want to do most, is to eradicate forced assimilation."

Pagsha was about to ask another question when she saw Seven looking down a side corridor. Mere seconds later she saw her Princess coming down that corridor. "My Princess," Pagsha greeted as soon as B'Elanna had joined them.

"My Princess?" B'Elanna repeated.

"She calls me 'my Queen' and apparently you 'my Princess," Seven explained. "I did not correct her and tell her to use One of Many and Two of Many because I actually prefer the way 'my Queen' sounds."

"Well, she, and all the others can call me 'my Princess' all they want, and you 'my Queen' all they want. But you'll still be my Princess to me, Princess."

"And I would not want to have it any other way," Seven assured. Looking to her side and seeing how Pagsha was looking at their interaction with clear interest, Seven could only smile.

"How did the meeting with ZAn go?" Seven asked before B'Elanna could ask her why she was smiling. She was going to fill B'Elanna in about Pagsha's interest later, when they were alone and she could needle the poor Klingon mercilessly with it.

"Great, you chicken. Running off to do 'Borg stuff'."

"I did do 'Borg Stuff,'" Seven reminded as she indicated the drones that were standing a little away and Pagsha.

"Hmm, guess you did," B'Elanna relented. "Come on; let's go collect the last drone that we need for the first stage."

As the group started to move down the corridor, B'Elanna continued, "You know, when I was coming here something occurred to me, this Borg environment really isn't that bad... if you don't have to fear it. If you can walk through these corridors without having to worry whether the next drone is going to grab you and assimilate you... it's alright. We just need to do something about the heat and the lights, especially the lights. This light makes me squint the entire time. And lights brings me nicely to ZAn. ZAn said that he is staying and it's that staying that pointed out a little problem that I think we should take care off."

"What problem?" Seven asked.

"The Borg designations. We have to come up with something that is clear, easy to understand, but also won't cause confusion for the Borg. I mean, ZAn is the first civilian to stay on Unimatrix 01 that won't be linked to the Collective. Yes, his mind was scanned to see if he had any 'harmful ideas,' but the thing is that he never actually joined the Collective. So when he sees a drone that is drone Whatever of Whatever, all ZAn knows is that it's a Borg drone. Also, we need something that places ZAn in a clear light for the rest of the Borg."

"I thought we had taken care of that problem by using the drone's original name, like Pagsha here," Seven said slightly confused.

"Oh we did... for the Borg," B'Elanna agreed. "But the thing is that this might work well for the Borg Collective that's used to stupendous designations that can reach into millions or billions. But how is an Individualist drone going to introduce itself if we reach that stage of having billions of individual drones? 'Hi, I'm B'Elanna, individual drone six-billion.' That doesn't mean much to the person the drone is being introduced to. It only tells someone that the drone is called B'Elanna. The six billion might just as well mean that there are six billion other B'Elanna's."

"There is only one B'Elanna," Seven said with a smile before adding, "Which is a good thing. I do not believe that the universe could handle six billion B'Elanna's."

"Funny, very funny, Princess," B'Elanna said with a grin.

"We could introduce ranks. That would take care of the problem," Seven suggested, coming back to the point they had been discussing. "True, the drone would still be drone six-billion, but the person the drone is introduced to would see right away that this drone is a Lieutenant, for instance. On Voyager people we encountered always knew right way that you were a Lieutenant."

"That might work but that doesn't take away the problem of the civilians like ZAn. If things go as planned we might get thousands or millions of those in the Collective. How do we tell them apart? And also, what if this civilian is from a civilization where they never had ranks like that? Then you once again get the whole 'what does it mean' concept. 'Lieutenant Torres you say? Hi, do you mind if I call you by your first name... Lieutenant'?"

"Why not simplify the system to the extreme?" Pagsha suddenly asked, and then bit her lower lip again when she realized that she had just interrupted a conversation between her Queen and her Princess.

B'Elanna looked at Pagsha and started to laugh. "Now that looks weird if I have ever seen weird. A Borg drone, full body armor, protruding eye piece, tubes coming out of the back of her head only to disappear again into her neck. The stuff Federation nightmares are made of... and she is biting her lip like a school girl that spoke up in class too quickly."

"Pagsha, do not be alarmed," Seven assured, while at the same time she realized that Pagsha looked quite cute, even while still looking like a Borg drone. Seven was certain that once Pagsha had shed the Borg body armor she had now, the combination of that cuteness, a very attractive body, and good looking facial features, would ensure that suitors would actually stand in line for the woman. She just hoped that Pagsha would find someone that would want her for her mind first, and besides that found the great body a very nice convenience.

"We do realize that you will have suggestions; that is also one of the reasons why we selected you as our assistant. We actually prefer to hear suggestions. Please go on."

Pagsha gave a hesitant nod. "Well, I was thinking... why don't you just make a few base classes to indicate what a drone does, and then have the rank be a number? Even if nobody has ever worked with ranks, it will be simple to explain to them that the higher, or lower, a number is... depending on which you want the highest rank to be... the more authority this person has."

"Meaning?" B'Elanna asked.

"Well, for instance, this ZAn you talk about. You create a class that is for civilians and make him 'First Civilian.' If you then have another civilian with the rank 'Second Civilian,' it is clear that the first civilian outranks the second one, or the other way around. All you need to make clear to people that don't know the Borg that well, is just which is higher. Is number one the highest number you can reach, like in a countdown, or is number one the lowest number because a two is more than a one. This would take care of the problem of people that aren't part of the Borg knowing who the drone is, and it would not interfere with the Borg designation system that much because a drone would also still have its full designation."

Pagsha nodded to B'Elanna. "To use the example my Princess used, the full designation would be 'First Civilian B'Elanna Torres, Individualist drone six billion.' The 'Individualist drone six billion' is the part that separates that one particular drone from all the others in the Collective, making sure that no designation exists twice. While the 'First Civilian' indicates to people how far up this person is in the ranks. Yes, there might be ten, or a thousand, or even a million 'First Civilians' but there is only one single 'First Civilian B'Elanna Torres, Individualist drone six billion' in the entire Collective. As my Princess pointed out, the long designation will not be a problem for the Borg, but it does give Individualist drones the opportunity to introduce themselves with a shortened designation; hi, I'm B'Elanna Torres, First Civilian."

"You know, that's actually a great idea," B'Elanna said enthusiastically. "Instead of ranks of Lieutenants and Captains, which will mean absolutely nothing to someone that doesn't have those ranks, we can simply have officers. Have one be the highest and simply go on. First Officer, followed by Second Officer... we could go down like that in ranks to even in the hundreds, which of course won't be needed. I mean, in the Federation the whole range from Crewman to Admiral is only eighteen ranks."

"We could do the same for politicians when we start bringing planets and sectors back to more localized control," Seven agreed. "We could have the class of Minister there, with First Minister being in control of an entire planet."

"Actually," Pagsha said thoughtfully. "I do know that I'm the one that just suggested having the classes and not change the names of the ranks, but... I think it might be a good thing to have something at the top that is called something different. It will give people a goal. I mean, I do realize that in the beginning when these ranks are introduced you'll simply appoint a certain rank to a suitable Individualist drone. But if you want to have individuals in the Borg that want to make a living out of being in the Borg, a career, it would give them something to aim for. I mean, if someone is Twelfth Officer, they are already an officer and the highest they can ever become is First Officer, which still sounds the same. But if there are, say, Captains, then this person can not just strive for being a better officer, no. If someone asks a child what they want to be when they grow up, they will say full of determination. 'I'm going to be a Captain.'"

"Goals to strive for do make people more determined to do their job well," Seven agreed.

"Well, yeah." B'Elanna stopped talking for a moment when they passed a bigger group of drones which resulted in both groups having to walk single file for a moment.

"Well, we could give the highest up some different names. After all, by the time a stranger reaches them that fact alone, that you have to go through layers of others, indicates that this other named rank is higher up than the people you have been in contact with... if that makes sense. We could have the officers thing, and then on top of that we could have Captains to indicate people in charge of a ship or actually a few ships. I mean, if you contact a ship and a Captain talks to you, you know that they're in charge even if you have no idea what a Captain is. And above the Captains we could have some Admirals, which would be the ones that set out the general policies. Same with the politicians. We have Ministers, and on top of that we have, say, Governors that are in command of planets, moons, or colonies, and Presidents that are in control of sectors of space which have several planets in it. Comparable to the Admirals, these Presidents then set out the general policies. With every class we think up we can have the two top positions indicated with different names, and the rest is all the same, just with different numbers."

"That could work," Seven agreed. "This system would not only give officers something to strive for; becoming a Captain. It would also give Captains something to strive for; becoming an Admiral."

Once again the group stopped at a drone. "Anidan Dubinak; an Engineer," Seven explained mostly for Pagsha. Of course, had Pagsha been connected to the Hive mind, she would have known who the person was, but at the moment the drone was just one of many drones to her.

"A great Engineer," B'Elanna corrected. She had no trouble at all with admitting that compared to this particular woman, her own Engineering skill could only be described as adequate, at best.

"She is the person that single handedly created the transwarp system the Borg now use. Before the Borg assimilated her species, and her, the Borg had to use transwarp corridors. But with the system she developed the Borg can now travel without those corridors. She was brilliant. Even though she is considered young for her species, thirty in a species with an average lifespan of two-hundred, she had over five hundred patents in her name when she was assimilated. Created three of the most commonly used technological systems on her planet... and then the Borg assimilated her... and now here she stands."

"She will be someone that will need convincing to stay," Seven added. "She did indeed resent the Borg for assimilating her, for destroying the good life she had. But we cannot afford to not at least try and get her to give her best, her Individualist best, to help us change the Borg. For instance, B'Elanna and I tried to develop a transmitter that would enable the individual drone to decide if they are linked to the Collective, and also enable the drone to end the connection if they no longer want to be connected. We did not succeed in coming up with a design that was fully to our satisfaction. We are almost certain that creating such a transmitter would be easily inside her engineering capabilities."

"I will try to persuade her to help us," Pagsha said.

"I did not tell you this to get you to offer," Seven pointed out.

"I know. But... my Queen, with all due respect, if you talk to her you will always be the Queen, if your Mate talks to her, she will still be the Borg Princess. But if I talk to her, I will only be another Borg drone trying to convince her that maybe being Borg isn't that bad, despite how she came to be Borg."

"You have a point," Seven agreed. "Maybe she will see the challenge in helping us change the Borg."

"Being able to change something like Unimatrix 01 around will water the mouth of any self respecting Engineer," B'Elanna added. "And that's 'just' one ship. Engineering solutions she creates might end up being used by every single Borg drone. Systems she makes might make it possible for us to speed up the changing of drones into Individualist drones. She could help us give trillions, not 'mere' billions, no, trillions, a real life again."

"I will be sure to mention it," Pagsha assured.

"Alright then," B'Elanna said. "Those are the drones needed for the first stage. Why don't we bring them to the rooms that are going to be their quarters? And first thing tomorrow we can work on bringing them into Individualist status. In the mean time our great assistant here can help us decorate our quarters so that we can move in tonight."

"Is that one of my new tasks?" Pagsha asked confused.

"No," B'Elanna said with a grin. "That's us letting you share in one of the greatest honors around; being allowed to help a friend move."

"I have helped several people move. I never considered it an honor; more like grunt work," Pagsha noted, but secretly she was thrilled about what her Princess had said. 'Helping a friend move.'

"You do of course realize, beloved," Seven pointed out, "That if Pagsha helps us move, we should help her with decorating her quarters as well. It is after all what friends do."

B'Elanna's only reaction was a fake growl of annoyance and a mumble about that at least with Pagsha everything would be new and directly beamed in from the maintenance replicator location.

Chapter 25

The reign of One of Many, née Annika Hansen; Queen of Borg.

Year 00, Month 03, Day 01, Hour 03, Minute 51.

"There," B'Elanna said as she stepped back to admire what she had called the finishing touch to the quarters.

Of course, the Bat'leth she'd just hung on the wall had no emotional meaning for her. In fact, it had simply been replicated after being chosen because it would look nice along with the other Klingon weapons that decorated that wall.

B'Elanna had called it a luxury problem. The new quarters were quite bigger than anything she had ever lived in. This meant that there was a lot more wall space than they had wall decorations. But that was alright. For now they had just replicated some nice looking stuff, like the Bat'leth, armor, other Klingon weapons, and some aesthetically pleasing images; both painted and holographic. Now the task was to, over time, acquire decorations that meant something emotionally to them, so that they could replace the ones that didn't have such emotional value.

"It looks nice," Pagsha said in a neutral voice. They had first spent several hours decorating Pagsha's quarters before moving to B'Elanna and Seven's quarters where they spent even longer decorating. It had been a long day, but still a day in which all three of them had fun. For an entire afternoon, and evening, they were nothing more than three people that were decorating their new homes.

Pagsha had liked how Seven and B'Elanna, as she was now allowed to call them, had treated her as not just a friend, but a good friend. When asked why they were treating her like that, Seven had honestly admitted that one of the search parameters that had spit out Pagsha as a candidate for assistant, had been on compatibility. With the exact specifications Seven and B'Elanna had set out, it would've actually been a surprise to them if they'd not liked each other. And Pagsha had to agree, she really did like the two women; a lot.

"Oh please," B'Elanna snorted. "It looks overbearing, crowded, and the unorganized placing of the weapons and armor is sure to drive my wonderful Mate wild every single day. Right baby?"

"You are correct," Seven agreed as she looked at the wall and actually cringed slightly as if the mere sight made her eyes hurt.

"But," She said with a sigh. "No halfway self respecting Klingon can go without a weapons display. A weapons display should take up at least one wall and look crowded to give the impression of just how good a warrior you are. It is merely unfortunate that there are rather large walls in our quarters."

"But the great thing is," B'Elanna said as she put her arms around Seven in a hug from behind. "That it's fully acceptable to put Klingon weapons on display in an exercise room. So I can just do that there, and have the Klingon angle covered, and in the other rooms I have the Klingon decorations that really mean something to me. Just that it's limited there to only one or two per wall."

B'Elanna grinned. "Still had that luxury problem though. I ran out of decorations long before I ran out of walls. Kahless, I think I'm going to love these quarters. It's great to finally have room like this."

"Room, but not too big," Seven agreed. Room was nice, but there shouldn't be an echo when you spoke. As they knew he would, ZAn had gotten the design exactly right. Seven stepped out of B'Elanna's embrace and gave her a quick kiss before walking to the wall opposite of the one that held the Klingon decorations.

That too, was something that Pagsha loved; how Seven and B'Elanna didn't hold back because she was there. How they did kiss if they wanted to, how they touched if they wanted to. It was interesting to see just how often B'Elanna and Seven touched. Just a hand on a shoulder, or one hand on top of another for a mere second, or a quick hug. It made Pagsha realize that she wanted the same thing.

Seven pointed to one of the other walls. "Considering that that wall is yours, I believe it would be only fair if this one is mine."

"Sure," B'Elanna agreed. "What were you thinking of putting on it?"

"Paint."

"Huh?" B'Elanna asked confused before seeing that little upturning of lips that showed her that Seven was teasing her. "What paint, smart ass?"

Now Seven smiled. She was about to comment, but then decided that the comment was just a little bit too free with Pagsha with them. Seven had a feeling that Pagsha would actually enjoy hearing the sexual banter she and B'Elanna liked to indulge in when the mood struck them. But as much as she did like Pagsha, she would like to get to know her a little better yet personally before letting her that close.

"Actually, I rather like the painting we have in the living room; the double sunset over a dark red ocean. I believe that a mural of that painting the size of this entire wall would look good."

"Why would you do that?" Pagsha asked. "The Borg themselves suggested changing that storage space to one of the biggest holodecks ever heard of. You could have the real view there."

"We know only too well why they suggested it," Seven said. "The Borg believe that by providing an artificial environment for us we will be more agreeable to spend our entire lives deeply inside the safety of Unimatrix 01."

Pagsha shrugged. "Who cares what they suggested it for? Should you not enjoy something you will probably like, merely because it fits into the plans of others? You'd be better off having the holodeck and keeping in mind what you already know; that the Borg are trying to manipulate you."

"That's actually a good point," B'Elanna had to agree. "Whether we use the holodeck or not will not change one single thing about whether the Borg will allow us to leave Unimatrix 01."

Seven thought about that for a moment before nodding. "Very well, in that case we shall use the holodeck. However, I still do not think that it should only be available to us."

"We'll talk it over with the Borg," B'Elanna suggested.

Seven looked back at Pagsha before saying, "As for the mural, the point is not for it to look, or actually be, real. It is merely supposed to look aesthetically pleasing; something to look at while B'Elanna and I train in this exercise room."

"Wait a minute," Pagsha said, lifting her hand in a slow down manner. "You mean, you don't plan to stay on Unimatrix 01? And what kind of training?"

"As I told you, you will accompany B'Elanna and me when we go meet people that are not part of the Borg. That, by definition, means leaving Unimatrix 01. If we enter negotiations with a species because we need something from them, I will not have the negotiations being held by just any drone, or have that species representative brought to me. The negotiations will be between that species leader and the Borg Queen and if it is us asking for something, we should also be the ones that go to the other people to do the asking. Anything less could be considered an insult to the other species. Yes, I will be more than happy to let initial meetings with lower representatives be held by representatives of the Borg. But when the level of leader is reached, the meeting will be between the two leaders, which includes me as one of those leaders. The Borg will be more than welcome to scan the others and decide on a threat level, but as long as the threat level is acceptable, I will be doing the negotiations."

"While being accompanied by a Borg security detail, I'm sure," B'Elanna added with a chuckle. "Which is fine too. One shouldn't ignore that security is a factor. There are still more than enough people that would give their own life to kill the Borg Queen, not knowing, or not believing, that we really are changing things."

Then she answered Pagsha's other question. "As for the training Seven and I will be doing, Seven and I came to the conclusion that we aren't doing enough; physically that is. On Voyager... you know about Voyager?"

"I do," Pagsha assured. After all, the encounters with the Federation space ship had been of such importance that they were added to the entire Hive mind.

"Well, on Voyager we would be actively busy, but here most of our work is thinking of things that need doing, not actually doing them. While Her Majesty here has some very convenient implants that take care of keeping her body in great shape, I don't have those. I seem to have gained a little, or my clothing suddenly shrunk. So Seven and I will be using this room to work out an hour or two every day. Not that Seven needs it, but she's nice enough to keep me company."

"What kind of workout?" Pagsha asked and Seven could hear a trace of interest that was more then just interest in the subject.

"Martial arts and non-projectile weapons like the bat'leth and the Halkii'e defense sticks," Seven said. "Considering that these exercises are meant to be a workout to keep B'Elanna's body in shape, we will focus more on movement than on the effectiveness of the training."

"Though I do hope to pick up a few interesting things," B'Elanna added. "Especially the Martial arts. I always liked the limited Martial Arts training we got at the Academy. I can't tell you how pissed I was when I found out that if I wanted to learn more than the standard course, I had to join Starfleet Security training instead of Engineering training."

"Pagsha, you seem interested in the subject, did you participate in similar training before you joined the Collective?" Seven asked.

"Oh no," Pagsha was quick to say. "Any kind of fighting was strictly prohibited for women. If I was caught training Martial Arts or weapons of any kind, I would have been sentenced to death."

"Again?" Seven asked. "It seems that they were quite easy with sentencing women to death. What about the men?"

"Men were allowed to train. After all, they needed to know how to fight in the wars. Personally, I think the laws came forth from the fact that on average only one in every ten people born was a man. Men could have twenty wives, men were the ones that were allowed to have property, men were allowed to drink alcohol, men were allowed to fight, men..."

Pagsha sighed. "See? Even if I hadn't been in jail for the reason I was, I would still have been glad when the Borg would have come to take me out of that hell."

"So if you could have trained, you would have?" Seven asked. At the same time she quickly looked at B'Elanna and then back at Pagsha.

B'Elanna understood the non-verbal question only too well and answered with an equally non-verbal slight shrug with her shoulders to indicate that it was fine with her. After all, it wasn't as if they had been planning to do anything other than really train during the training times.

"I sure would have," Pagsha said excited, totally oblivious to the 'conversation' that was going on between the two other women. "Just the idea of a woman that can,"

"What?" B'Elanna asked when Pagsha stopped talking and suddenly started to blush.

"Never mind."

"Never mind my ass, that blush is way too interesting to forget about it." B'Elanna grinned, wanting to make it clear that if Pagsha really wanted to, the subject would be dropped.

"Well, it's just that..." Pagsha was wondering, should she really admit it? After all, back home they had told her that it was wrong, so very wrong. But then she saw that small touch again. This time it was simply that B'Elanna stood so close to Seven that their arms were touching.

Deciding that she needed to know how her new friends would react, Pagsha braved, "It's... when it was discovered that I had evil intentions,"

B'Elanna nodded, having been told that information about Pagsha when they were just starting to do the decorating of their quarters.

"I was having sexual fantasies," Pagsha rushed out.

When she saw that the other women actually seemed amused by that she went on with more confidence. "A woman, a female warrior, was making love to me. What she did to me... and then how she looked, her muscles... Just the image alone of being held by a woman with strong muscles... muscles that are from real training of warrior stuff... It did more for me than any image of any man ever did. The idea of being with a man just felt so wrong to me, but the thought of a woman like that holding me, those muscles..."

"You know something?" B'Elanna interrupted amused while looking at Seven. "It seems that I'm not the only one with a fetish here. I have my Borg fetish, Pagsha here seems to have a female muscles fetish... So, my Princess, fess up, what's your fetish?"

"My fetish is to be made love to by a beautiful half Klingon."

"Oh, wow, you get to indulge in your fetish almost every night then," B'Elanna grinned.

"Every night?" Pagsha asked, with an open mouth.

"Yes, we slowed down some," Seven agreed, figuring that if B'Elanna felt comfortable enough to do sexual banter, then so did she. Despite thinking mere minutes before that maybe it was better to wait a little longer before letting Pagsha share in that. Amused she realized that when around B'Elanna, later didn't always mean later. When she and B'Elanna had made love for the first time, she had told B'Elanna mere minutes earlier that they would make love soon. Well, a few minutes were not what she had been thinking of when she said 'soon.' Now too, she had thought that 'soon' she would be sharing banter with Pagsha, and mere minutes later she was doing exactly that.

"Slowed down?" An even more amazed Pagsha asked.

"Yes, we never were able to break our record of ten times... each."

Finally Pagsha realized that they were just joking. "Very funny."

"It is," B'Elanna agreed. "But it also happens to be true. But to be fair, Seven and I were new lovers then, so we were getting to know each other, if you know what I mean. Now, we really have slowed down some, but just to about once every day."

"We make love about once every day," Seven corrected. "The ten we mentioned before was our record of orgasms we both enjoyed. Now the normal is two or three orgasms. The times where we have only one orgasm each are in fact quite rare and are occasions that we consider 'quickies,' as B'Elanna likes to call them."

Pagsha's mouth hung open once again. This time because she couldn't believe how openly her new friends were talking to her about such a private matter.

"I believe we shocked her," B'Elanna grinned.

"I believe we did," Seven agreed. "Pagsha, I apologize. B'Elanna and I will try to take care to not,"

"No! No, please don't finish that sentence," Pagsha interrupted. "I have a feeling that you were going to tell me that you would be more careful with what you say in front of me. Please don't."

"You like to hear B'Elanna and I talk about our love life?" Seven asked.

A vigorous nod was her answer.

"Good, because B'Elanna and I have found that we enjoy having someone close that we can talk so openly with, and who enjoys hearing us talk about it."

"But there are two rules," B'Elanna spoke up.

Seven shook her head slightly. "You and your rules."

"Hey baby, I just want fun to stay fun without it being ruined by misunderstood words."

Looking back to Pagsha she continued, "First rule is, we like to share with a close friend or two, but we expect those friends to make sure that whatever they hear doesn't get blabbered on. You'll talk to nobody about what you hear Seven and I talk about."

"Considering that I'm the only one that would actually care at the moment, that's easy," Pagsha stopped B'Elanna from speaking by lifting her hand. "I know; more Individualist drones soon. I promise, I won't tell anyone. That's actually an easy promise to make. I feel like... well, you share something very private when you are so open with me. I feel privileged because of that. If I would tell someone else I would not only hurt your trust in me, but I would also cheapen what I have. Now nobody but I have what you are giving me; a very private part of the Borg Queen and Princess. Even if I were to tell only one other person, the value would immediately be halved because now two people know."

"Glad to hear it," B'Elanna said as she put her hand on Pagsha's shoulder, not in the leased bit fazed by the fact that her fingertips were touching the tubes that went to the back of Pagsha's head. "The second thing is that, we don't want there to be any confusion, not the slightest bit. Seven and I will be free with you, and we might even tease you some with words. But there is absolutely no chance, no chance at all, that you will actually ever end up making love to either Seven or me. I know you like women, and that's why I'm telling you this. Please understand that if I were to say something to Seven like, 'yeah, well, maybe I'll just take Pagsha to bed then' that we're only joking."

"I understand." Pagsha made a show of looking up and down B'Elanna's body, relishing in the fact that for the first time in her life she could actually check out a woman without having to fear for her life.

"Besides, you aren't really my type anyway." Before B'Elanna could ask, Pagsha added, "Not enough muscles."

B'Elanna grinned and put her arm around Pagsha's back and they walked the few steps to Seven. "I think you'll be just the friend Seven and I need."

She put her other arm around Seven's back before continuing. "Alright, it's late. Let's go have ourselves a nightcap and then we head off to bed; lot's of stuff to do tomorrow."

As they walked out of the room, B'Elanna came back to the silent communication she had with Seven before and asked, "Say Pagsha, would you like to join Seven and me in our daily training sessions?"

"I would love to!" Pagsha said excited before frowning. "But, I really couldn't intrude on your life like that."

"You aren't intruding," B'Elanna assured. "In fact, you would be helping us. It's always good to have an extra person around. Someone you can train with, someone that can look from the sides to see what kind of mistakes you are making."

"Well, if you really don't mind. Yeah, I would love to train. But, um, who is going to train us anyway?"

"I'm pretty sure that there will be some people in the Borg that could teach us a thing or two. But for initial training I was actually thinking of running some holographic training programs. I had ZAn install a basic holographic system in that room for that very reason."

"But I must warn you," Seven said as she walked to the replicator. "There is a big chance that we will bid you goodnight directly after the training."

"That's Sevenish for we might kick you out as soon as training is over," B'Elanna said with a grin as she took the glass Seven gave her and passed it on to Pagsha. Once Pagsha had her drink, B'Elanna turned back to Seven and asked, "Are you also going to tell her why?"

"Certainly, because seeing B'Elanna all sweaty makes me want to indulge in my fetish of making love to a beautiful half Klingon."

Pagsha was spontaneously introduced to the sensation of snorting soda out her nose.

The reign of One of Many, née Annika Hansen; Queen of Borg.

Year 00, Month 03, Day 05, Hour 11, Minute 33.

"You must be mentally challenged," Anidan Dubinak said in disbelief. "If they really leave me the choice, I'll be gone with the first ship."

"And go where?" Pagsha asked. "The Borg destroyed all you ever knew, your world is populated by drones, the city you lived in has been adapted to serve Borg needs; and you know damn well what that means."

"I'll leave, find some species that hasn't been assimilated and go live there."

"And just how many species do you guess there are, that would first of all not be surprised by aliens existing, then also be prepared to take you in, and on top of that would not be bothered at all by the fact that you have Borg implants," Pagsha countered. "Let's face it, Anidan, the Borg destroyed your life."

"And yet here you are suggesting I actually stay here," Anidan snorted.

"Yes. Because your life has been destroyed; nothing can change that. Now you can either hate the Borg for it, maybe even try to get your revenge in some way. Or you can help Seven to change the Borg to where other people who's life have been destroyed by the Borg get a second chance."

"Actually, getting my revenge doesn't sound like too bad of a plan," Anidan noted, already wondering how she could hurt the Borg the most.

Pagsha nodded. "Get your revenge... how? Are you going to find some kind of weapon to kill Borg drones? Are you going to kill people that have been victimized just like you? Who are you going to kill? A person that was just as innocent as you? Are you going to kill me? Seven? B'Elanna? That's one of the ugliest things about the Borg. The Borg are evil, no doubt about it. But as soon as you turn from the Borg to single drones you suddenly find people that are just as much a victim like you are. The only thing you might possibly succeed in, is to get your revenge by hurting other people as innocent as you. Get your revenge by killing people that, just like you, were assimilated against their will. Ripped from their home against their will. A husband who just told his wife that he loves her, right before the drone beamed in and assimilated that woman in front of his eyes before he himself was assimilated."

Anidan merely looked at her.

Pagsha saw a drone walking by and stepped in his way to make him stop. Before he could walk around her, Pagsha had used her assimilation tubes to connect to the Hive and told the drone to merely stand there for the moment. Then, having also found the data on him, she addressed Anidan once more.

"Here is your chance for revenge. Go on, kill him. He is a Borg drone, he is evil, he would not hesitate to assimilate you if given the order."

Then she softened her voice. "He is also the father of a child that he hasn't seen in ten years. That was assimilated just like him."

Pagsha smiled as she went over his information some more. "You know what his profession was? He was a fireman: risking his life every day to protect his fellow people. Go on, kill this evil Borg drone. Get your revenge, start with him."

She stepped away after sending the command that the drone should continue with his assigned task. Then she looked at Anidan once more. "We all are victims. I, I admit that I was glad that the Borg assimilated me, I was in a position where assimilation was better than what I was facing. Still, look at me. Look at what they did to my body."

Pagsha gestured at the lower part of her body. "My reproductive system was entirely removed, my vagina was also removed; to make room for implants. I love being part of the Borg, but even I am a victim."

Pagsha stepped closer, well into Anidan's personal space. "Anidan, we need you. We need you to help us change the Borg. To help us prevent that more people become a victim. We need you to help us change this evil into something people willingly want to be a part of. The planet you lived on might still exist and be populated, but your world has been destroyed; gone for good. There are over 12,000 species in the Collective. Just like you there are trillions, not billions but trillions of people in the collective that can never go home again. Help us, Anidan. Help us to turn the Collective into their new home. A home that they want to live in. Help us give these victims a future. Please, help us."

Anidan looked at her for a moment before turning away. She hated the Borg. Hate; it was such a simple emotion. Then a thought came to her. She didn't have to give up her hate. In fact, these people could help her get her revenge.

She turned back to face Pagsha. "I hate the Borg, and I want to destroy the evil that took away my life."

She saw Pagsha open her mouth and stopped her by shaking her head. "But you're right. I won't destroy that evil by killing a drone. I won't destroy that evil by destroying a Cube either. Hell, I won't even destroy that evil by destroying Unimatrix 01, including the new Queen. But I will destroy that evil by helping to change it. If Seven truly succeeds to change the Borg to this Collective that is truly a free and willing Collective. When people are no longer forced to become a drone. When people stand willingly and free to protect the Borg. Not because they have received an order, but because they are willingly protecting their home to the death if needed. That will be the day that the evil that destroyed my life has died. Killing the evil lies not in killing the Borg; killing the evil lies in taking away its power. I want to destroy the Borg that destroyed my life. And I will."

Anidan smiled as she stepped away. She liked her plan more and more. No, cold revenge was the same as slapping the face of the person that just stuck a knife into your stomach; useless. No. True revenge was to take away the knife, make them heal you so that you continued to live, and then use the knife against them.

The Borg had brought her here, they had put her in a place where she could change them, make sure that not only 'would' they never do certain things again, but even make sure that they also 'could' never do those things again.

And the best part of it was; she could help free billions by getting her revenge and killing the old style of Borg. Kill them by freeing them. Kill them by giving them a life. Kill them by making it possible for them to say 'no'.'

She turned back to Pagsha. "I know that the Queen has ordered a stop to assimilation for now, I also know that the Borg will only accept that for so long. They'll need proof that stopping assimilation is a good thing. That will be the first step. We have to find a way to make sure that the Borg don't start assimilating again. Tell me more about Seven's plans. What do we have to work with?"

The reign of One of Many, née Annika Hansen; Queen of Borg.

Year 00, Month 03, Day 14, Hour 13, Minute 11.

{The biological distinctiveness of One of Many has to be ensured.}

B'Elanna growled in frustration as she looked up at the ceiling. Not that it made a difference; the united voice of the Borg was coming from every place that carried sound in the room. But somehow B'Elanna always found herself looking up when talking to the Borg.

"Biological distinctiveness be damned. We're talking about Seven and me having a child! We're not ready for that yet. We never even talked about that. Hell, we're still getting used to actually being a couple."

{Irrelevant.}

{Once the child is born it will be grown in a maturation chamber.}

{One of Many only needs to carry the child.}

{The child will not be the child of Two of Many as well.}

{A donor will be chosen that enhances the DNA of One of Many.}

"Over my dead body," B'Elanna growled.

{That can be arranged,} The Borg said, leaving B'Elanna perplexed for a moment. It had sound so like a joke that she would have laughed, if it hadn't been the Borg that had said it.

"Unacceptable," Seven stated resolutely. "If I will carry a child than it will only be a mix of B'Elanna and me."

"And on top of that, I'll be damned if a child of mine will be grown in a maturation chamber like some kind of vegetable," B'Elanna stated just as resolutely.

{The biological distinctiveness of One of Many has to be ensured,} The Borg repeated.

There was a hesitation before the Borg added, {An egg cell of One of Many can be implanted in a drone.}

{That way One and Two of Many would also not have an attachment to the child and it can be placed in a maturation chamber.}

B'Elanna frowned and looked at her lover. "Is there some ulterior motive here, or did the Borg just truly offer a compromise?"

"Both," Seven said after a moment of hesitation. "We can take the offer and never have to be bothered with this again. That is the compromise since the harvesting of some of my eggs cells is very easy and not something I might think of again after it has been done. The ulterior motive is the fact that if we do take their offer, it means that they can pretty much do whatever they want with the child without us having a say in the matter. Unless of course we decided to take an interest in the child at some point."

{We would prefer if One of Many would take an active role in the life of the child.}

{One of Many should teach the child about individuality and how to make individual choices.}

{We offer the alternative of One of Many not being part of the existence of the child, with the exception of donating genetic material, to increase the willingness of One of Many to be the willing Queen we need.}

"Give us a moment," B'Elanna said after a moment of hesitation.

{We will contact you again in one hour,} The Borg said.

"You know, it amazes me how they can be this disembodied voice that you don't see, yet still they can give you the feeling of entering and leaving the room," B'Elanna said thoughtfully. "Good, because I like knowing that when I think I'm alone with you I really am alone with you."

Then she sighed. "So, that's one hell of a bomb they dropped on us there."

"Indeed," Seven agreed. She started to play with one of the PADDs on the table, pushing it back and forth in a very un-Seven like manner.

B'Elanna sat down in the chair across from her lover so that she could look at her. She placed her hands over Seven's before asking, "Do you want to talk about this now, or should we tell them that they will get their answer when we are good and ready?"

"Procrastination is not the answer. We will still think about this until a decision is made. What, what is it that you want?"

B'Elanna thought about that for a moment. "Truthfully, I never thought about having a child. I mean, yeah, I did think about it; as in knowing that some day... But I never thought about it as something I should think about 'now,' not something that would ever be a demand. It was always 'later'."

"I can see their point about ensuring my biological distinctiveness," Seven said thoughtfully. "However, I am surprised by this totally different approach. Just because a child has my DNA does not mean that she is automatically suited to be a Queen. They would be better off if they refined the system that brought me here; have replacement drones that can take my place if needed. The refinement obviously being that these replacement drones are drones that want to be part of the collective. If the Borg did that they have a much bigger chance of finding a suitable replacement drone."

"Technically, yes," B'Elanna agreed. She stood up and started pacing through the room. "Technically the DNA is not as important as the training. If you pick the perfect drone on genetic features but that never was trained how to use those features right, or you simply take a mediocre child that has been trained her entire life on how to make decisions and to keep secondary results in mind. The mediocre child would be better suited to be the new Queen most of the time. I personally think that the Borg are looking too much at biological distinctiveness and too little at a training program."

"The Borg want to place the child in a maturation chamber; that is most certainly not training," Seven reminded.

B'Elanna thought about it for a moment. "Alright, let's for a moment ignore that we're actually talking about the hefty issue of us having a child. Let's look technically at what's best."

"The Borg want to use a maturation chamber, that is most definitely not the best option," Seven went along. "The best option is to have a child and train this child for their entire life. To have this child grow up with a sense of 'I', yet at the same time have guided the child to where she likes to be part of the Borg. This so that she will do what is best for the Borg."

"That's almost the best option," B'Elanna partially agreed. "The truly best option is to have that, and on top of that have the child be a biologically and maybe even technologically enhanced being; a being that welcomes that enhancement and uses it to do the job to its best ability."

"Then for different reasons," Seven said slowly, "like the teachers actually knowing about what it means to be an individual, or us being sure that she is taught the correct things, we are the best option for trainers of the child. No maturation chamber, and also teaching the child her entire life from the moment she can learn things. That means that the only real option is for us to raise the child."

B'Elanna smiled before saying, "Now comes the second angle of the deduction. Seven, it seems that we're the best option for teachers of this child, now the question is; are you against us raising a child?"

"I am not against it. However, if I am to raise a child than I want that child to be my child, my daughter, and not just some instrument that I am forming."

B'Elanna nodded in agreement. "Alright then, it seems that we're going to have a baby."

Then she admitted, "I'm kinda warming up to the idea. It should be interesting to have a little version of you running around in a couple of years."

"Not just me. If we are going to have a baby, then I also want it to be 'our' baby," Seven said resolutely. "I will not accept 'donor material' from someone else. You will be the second parent, emotionally and biologically."

"They'll object to that," B'Elanna noted. "I don't have the right genes."

"Irrelevant. It is nonnegotiable. I will only carry our child if she truly is 'our' child," Seven countered resolutely. "Besides you have some very suitable genes, it may just not be what the Borg are looking for."

"No, it's more than that," B'Elanna disagreed thoughtfully. "One of the things about Klingon DNA is that it's very dominant. On most things my DNA would be more dominant than yours. I mean, look at me and tell me honestly, do you think that my temper comes from my Human side or from my Klingon side?"

Seven stood up and stepped in the way of the still pacing Klingon. "As far as I know women of a Hispanic background do have the name of being passionate, hot... hotheaded I mean, and stubborn. It sounds a lot like you actually."

"Funny," B'Elanna said, grinning at the playful jab at her heritage. "You know what I think? If you were to take their other offer and just donate one of your egg cells, then the Borg would go and use nanoprobes to shift, adapt, change, the biological material of you and the other donor. So..."

B'Elanna hesitated for a moment as she started her pacing again. "What, what would you think of us offering the compromise of us raising the child, our child, from birth. The child will be of your and my DNA. But, but, as compromise for them not being able to use a better donor, they will be allowed to use nanoprobes to genetically enhance the embryo. Basically giving it the best that is possible from your and my DNA."

Seven thought about that for a moment. "There are certain benefits to the Klingon DNA. For instance, the massive multiple redundancy system would be a benefit; having a heart with eight chambers, twenty-three ribs, three lungs, two livers, and multiple stomachs would be very beneficial to the child. However, the Borg will only be allowed to work with what is there. If a trait is present in the DNA of one of us then they are allowed to make this a dominant feature in the child. But if it is not present they are not allowed to change the DNA to where it is."

"What? No wings for our baby?" B'Elanna asked with a grin before assuring sincerely, "You're right; what's there can be used, but that's it."

"I believe that there should nevertheless be a secondary program that keeps track of drones that could be potential replacements for a Queen," Seven reminded. "The idea of having a Royal family where the position of Borg ruler is passed on from generation to generation is interesting and there is the benefit of one ruler training the next one. However, as the saying goes; things happen. There should be a program in place that ensures that potential drones are ready to become Queen in case something happens to us."

"We'll put it on the list of things to think about," B'Elanna agreed. "The problem is that we need those drones ready to take over from you if needed, but we also don't want to create people that are looking forward to you dying, because it might result in them becoming the new Queen."

"Maybe the system of Individualist drones can help," Seven said thoughtfully. "That the highest levels are all considered potential replacements. All future Admirals and Presidents will be considered to be able to act individually to a higher degree. These people could be monitored for suitability to replace the Queen, with no choice being made between them until it ever might be needed."

"That might work," B'Elanna agreed. "But we need to work it out. As I said; let's put it on the list of problems to take care of."

"So, we will have a baby?" Seven asked, coming back to this life changing subject.

B'Elanna nodded. With the rational decision making over about whether or not they should have a part in the raising of this offspring, it was now time to talk about their personal feelings of the subject.

"I'm kinda looking forward to that, but at the same time I'm scared shitless. I can't wait to see what a child of ours would look like, be like, act like. But from the other side, I'm scared of having this little thing that depends on us for everything."

Seven went back to her seat and sat down before saying slowly, "I do not know if I should consider it a good thing or a bad thing that the Borg came with this so soon. We have not even truly become used to us living here with the Borg, and we are already talking about a child; changing our lives forever. Is it good or bad that we did not have the time to become truly used to living alone before a child will prevent us from being alone?"

"There will still be time for us to have some alone time," B'Elanna assured.

"Maybe we should consider some help when the time comes," Seven ventured. "Not only for us to have some help with taking care of our child for our own benefit. We should also keep in mind that because we are busy changing the Borg a lot of our time will be taken up by taking care of those changes. Maybe we could appoint a drone to our child, to take care of her in the times that we cannot."

"A babysitter?" B'Elanna asked, thinking about it. She moved over to Seven and sat down on her lover's lap. "Not a bad idea. But I think we should go for a drone that will have the right traits to be in the child's life for the rest of her life. First as a babysitter, then as a nanny, and eventually as a housekeeper."

Seven closed her arms around her lover. "Can you imagine, my Mate, holding our daughter in your arms? A thick head can be convenient, so she will probably have your head ridges."

"Probably," B'Elanna agreed before suddenly asking, "Hey, are you calling me thickheaded?"

Seven merely placed a kiss on B'Elanna's neck.

B'Elanna closed her eyes, trying to picture a scene. "I can imagine it. Looking down at a little bundle in my arms, seeing an innocent face which, I'm sure, we'll find the most cutest and most adorable thing in the universe. Seeing a little smile, seeing your smile in that smile, which of course is impossible to see at that age, but I'll still see it. Seeing her eyes... What color do you think?"

"It will depend on what the Borg find important. Different colors have different advantages. But I guess..."

Part 26

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