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."
Continued...