Chapter 34
The reign of One of Many, née Annika Hansen; Queen of Borg.
Year 00, Month 08, Day 18, Hour 15, Minute 05.
"Somebody is bored," B'Elanna said with a singsong voice.
"Somebody is correct," Seven agreed as she moved to yet another table.
They were on a planet whose government was delusional enough to think that just because the Borg had stopped assimilating, killing, and forcing their will on others, that now suddenly they were people that could be taken gross advantage of in negotiations.
But Seven suffered through it for now. She had by now learned that for some strange reason people liked it better if you first listened to what they had to say before saying no, instead of saying outright that the things they were trying to bargain were of no use to the Borg. So she resigned herself to a day of boredom. The next day it was her turn to set terms.
At the moment they were visiting a science fair that happened to be going on on the planet when contact was made. It was the finishing event in a worldwide contest of inventions, which meant that the newest of the newest inventions, on that planet, were to be found there. The Government thought that it was a perfect opportunity to show the Borg just how advanced they were. For the Borg it only showed that there was nothing of interest technology wise to be found on the planet.
"There is no need for both of us to be bored," Seven said as she set down a device that looked like an ancestor to the Borg's short wave sonic welder. At least they had reached the stage where the device was finally small enough to be held in one hand. "Why do you not spend some time with Anidan? You are both engineers, you will even appreciate this... material."
B'Elanna lowered her voice so that the Government representative that was following them couldn't hear. "I think that this is the closest I have ever heard you come to saying the word 'crap'."
"I was tempted," Seven admitted amused. "Go on, spend some time with her, I'm sure that Pagsha can keep me company."
Seven and B'Elanna glanced to the side when they saw movement relatively close by. Only to see that Katzi had already politely but clearly blocked the way to prevent some curious people of coming closer.
"She is good," Seven approved.
"Alright, I'll go bug Anidan a little," B'Elanna said. "For me it will actually be fun to look at old technology."
"New technology," Pagsha corrected as she stepped closer. "It's not their fault that they are only one species that had to invent things for themselves."
B'Elanna frowned before understanding where the Ghdibrian was coming from. "What, are you applying for the position of our public relations officer now?"
Before Pagsha could reply, B'Elanna relented. "You're very right of course. I shouldn't mock their achievements merely because the Borg, and the Federation for that matter, already know what these people only now invented. Leave them their pride in how advanced they think they are."
"Something like that," Pagsha agreed.
"And on that note," Seven spoke up. "Pagsha please help me in keeping the Government representative entertained."
Having heard the conversation, Katzi indicated to the man that he could come closer even before Seven could ask her to do so. Meanwhile, B'Elanna joined Anidan.
"So what do you think?" B'Elanna asked as she looked at the same device that Anidan was studying.
"Besides that all of this is total and utterly useless crap you mean?"
"Yes, besides that," B'Elanna said amused. "The crap part I already figured out. Tell me something good."
"Something good," Anidan said thoughtfully. "Alright, if these inventions are anything to go by, then I think that the Engineers on this planet would make excellent Individualist Engineering drones."
"Really?" B'Elanna asked surprised.
"Yes. Most of these inventions are old stuff to us, but I did notice that all of them had at least one, and most of the time even at least two, failsafe systems installed. They take safety very serious. I like that. It's not like that on most worlds. Inventors do have a tendency to fixate on getting something to work, and not on how safe it is working. That's normally only for the second or third version... if they are still alive then."
"Hmm, good to know. It'll give us something to work with."
"So, care to tell me why I'm here?" Anidan suddenly asked. "You don't need me for this, I could be spending time creating things that would put all of this stuff to shame. So why am I wasting time here? Are you trying to prove to me that I'm not a prisoner on Unimatrix 01 and that I can leave the ship if there's an opportunity?"
"What?" B'Elanna asked confused. "No, why... well, I guess it's not that far fetched a thought for you. But no. Sorry to disappoint you but it's more basic than that. It's an approach that's used in the Federation, and Seven found on Voyager that it works, and I agree. You see, it's normal to send at least one technologically inclined person along on away missions to new places. This is so that this person can see if there is something of interest there. And more often than not, if there's a problem you need a scientist to fix it. On Voyager normally either Seven or I were sent along."
B'Elanna chuckled before continuing. "Don't let it go to your head, but you do happen to be the best scientist in Unimatrix 01, in your field that is. In fact, the best in all of Borg space. So, unfortunately for you that means that if Seven and I go to a new place, you'll be more than likely tagging along. Look at it from the plus side; at least you get some fresh air."
"Wonderful," Anidan sighed. "I am doomed to having to waste time because I'm good. Come on, B'Elanna. I can get your reasoning, but even if I'm the best, surely there's a second best that you can take along instead. I would li..."
Anidan's words trailed off when she saw a little trinket on the table. She looked at the man behind the table to see if she could pick it up. After a nod of agreement from the man, Anidan did so as he started to explain.
"It's a prototype of a miniature cold-fusion reactor. It's not working yet, I'm afraid to admit. But I'm close and I wanted to see if I could spark some interest here today."
Anidan looked at it for a moment as the man droned on.
"Can you imagine it? A device of that size in every home. There would be a surplus of power for everyone."
"It will never work," Anidan said bluntly. "And even if it did, your government wouldn't allow the use as you want it, because a cold-fusion reactor of this size would blow up a city block if it went critical. This metal you used, the inner orange part, what is it?"
"Bramium," the man said, hurt by the fact that this stranger was telling him that his life's work was of no use. Not that he believed it of course.
"You must have paid a lot of money for such an amount of the metal."
Now the man snorted. "What? Pay for that? That's just a waste product in my family's mine. A metal that is always mixed in with the gold. Or more to the point, the gold is mixed in with the Bramium. We have to refine it to get the gold out. I just used it because it absorbs all radiation."
"Oh yes," Anidan agreed. "That it does. Do you have more of it?"
The man looked down at the feet of the table confused.
Anidan did the same and was amazed to see blocks of the metal being used to hold the tables in place. Seeing a smaller block that she could easily lift, she did so and started to run her scanner over it to see if she was correct.
"Anidan, what's going on here?" B'Elanna asked confused.
"Talk to Seven, we need a trade alliance with this planet."
"What? Why, what for?" B'Elanna asked still confused.
Anidan looked at the scanner when it beeped and hummed. "I was right. On our planet this metal is called Lianciam, and it's so rare that you would pay about two billion for a block this size. So it never made it into any products with the exception of some jewelry. But here it's so abundant that it's a waste product, used to weight down tables. Oh the stuff I can do with this."
"What are you talking about?" B'Elanna asked as she gestured to Seven that she should come closer.
Seven excused herself from the Government representative and joined them in time to hear Anidan answer.
"As he there so rightfully pointed out. One of the traits of Lianciam is that it absorbs radiation, of any kind. But even more than that; it doesn't get saturated. It just keeps absorbing the radiation until finally the metal breaks down and disintegrates. Which means that you can physically see how good your protection is by measuring how thick the wall is. If it becomes too thin, replace the wall and you have protection again. And to make it even better, this breakdown depends on the level of radiation, but the equation doesn't change. Meaning that X amount of radiation is Y amount of breakdown. After measuring how much radiation you have to deal with, you know exactly that in two days, or two hundred years, you have to replace the shield."
"Sounds impressive and useful," B'Elanna had to admit.
"I once bought a little of it to experiment; cost me two million, but it was worth it. I was looking to see if I could use it in my, then, new transwarp coil design. Eventually I didn't use it because it wasn't feasible since the stuff was too expensive. Not, mind you, because it didn't work. But with it being so common here, and if we can trade them for it, I can use it in the transwarp coils."
"Meaning?" B'Elanna merely asked.
"Meaning that the transwarp coils would no longer wear out. My rough estimate is that you would have to replace an amount three times as much as this block here for every four hundred hours of transwarp flight. But the coil itself would still be usable. Just replace the shielding and you're done. It would be nothing more than five minutes of work per coil, while the coil is still tied into the transwarp system, and you're good to go for another four hundred hours. Well, the amount of hours is a guess of course."
"Even if it was at every hundred hours," Seven said, "A transwarp coil is depleted and unusable after twenty hours of use at the moment. To be able to keep using the same coils, just merely replace a shielding, it would vastly expand how far we can travel and how much we can use transwarp. I will make it the a focus point in the negotiations."
B'Elanna pointed over her shoulder at the man behind the stall. "You might want to throw something in for that guy there. Anidan just dashed all his inventor hopes. But his family does own a mine where this metal is already taken out anyway to get to the gold in it. A good place to start mining I would say."
"I will see to it," Seven assured.
B'Elanna grinned at Anidan. "Now tell me, aren't you happy that we dragged you along?"
Anidan sighed before asking Seven, "Does she always enjoy saying 'I told you so' this much?"
~~~~~~~~~~{}~~~~~~~~~~
The reign of One of Many, née Annika Hansen; Queen of Borg.
Year 00, Month 09, Day 04, Hour 17, Minute 08.
Seven, B'Elanna, Katzi and Pagsha had just spent a nice picnic close by the lake of the replication of the Zamonan village where Katzi had once lived, and now they were taking a slow stroll through the woods. Nothing too strenuous, keeping in mind that Seven was almost six months pregnant. Though, Seven was not showing any real signs of the pregnancy... other then her slowly swelling stomach and the occasional mood swings. Having long since come to terms with the fact that it was the Borg that had demanded that Seven have a child, now B'Elanna and Seven had reached a stage where they were actually glad that they were having the child while living with the Borg.
Now they had the excellent expertise of their friend Doctor Lonika, plus the Borg more than willing to do all that was needed to let the pregnancy continue smoothly. Seven and B'Elanna knew that it would not have been so smooth on Voyager. By now the nanoprobes had needed reprogramming twice already. Easily done with Seven's new ability to actually reprogram her nanoprobes, and the Borg giving the information of what the new program should be. But Lonika had told them that if they had tried a pregnancy with Seven's old nanoprobes still intact, and not being able to reprogram them, that there would be a 60% chance that they would already have lost the baby. While now it was actually 300% less likely that there would be complications in comparison to a normal Human pregnancy.
"I shamelessly admit that I'm really glad that you decided to take the Borg up on making this into a holodeck," Katzi noted happily after she took a deep breath of fresh air. "I never thought that I would be breathing fresh air like this on a starship."
"That's the advantage of mixing the replicator technology of you Zamonan with the holographic knowledge of species 11,712; real trees that produce real air, real grass under those trees brings the sent of real grass, and real... well, you get the idea," B'Elanna said as she reached down and picked a strand of long grass.
"So, not that I'm complaining mind you, but why have I been the focus of attention for the last two hours?" Katzi asked. The attention had been fun, but now she was really getting curious.
"What? You don't know what day it is today?" Pagsha asked as she hopped in front of her lover and started to walk backwards.
Amused, Katzi put her hands on her Mate's shoulders to guide her while the Ghdibrian kept walking backwards in total trust in her lover to not let her walk into things.
"I could give you the Borg date..." Katzi started, but suddenly she looked at Seven. "Are you going to change that to the Federation's Stardates as well?"
"Oh Hell no!" B'Elanna exclaimed before Seven could answer. "I always get a headache when trying to calculate back just what calendar date a Stardate is. I know that it's needed in the Federation to compensate for the time shifts of different ships traveling at different faster than light speeds. But here we are in the Borg where all relevant data is sent out right away over Borg link. On top of that, every damn ship gets a 'time ping' every damn hour over that link so that they know how much time has passed at point zero so that they can adjust their own chronometer to that of point zero, or the Main Data Storage Facility to use the Borg name. I like that system a lot better. Simply have 30 hours in a day and 300 days in a year. And best of all that means that the time comes pretty close to that of Earth, or Zamona for that matter. Only 240 hours more than an Earth year, and 12 hours less than a Zamonan year."
"I believe that B'Elanna just made an arbitrary decision," Seven said amused. "Lucky for her, the Borg Queen agrees with her enough to let it pass."
"Hey," B'Elanna objected, "We're in this together, my Princess. The Borg may have made you their Queen, but you're still my Princess. So you don't outrank me and therefore I can make the occasional choice that I feel strongly about, so there."
"Oh, you sound so mature," Seven countered. "Someone I can easily trust with the command of the Borg, I am sure." Then she smiled and kissed her lover. "But for real, I think it is an excellent choice. That only leaves one question; which year is it?"
"The year 10,335," Pagsha spoke up as she stopped walking backwards and moved to Seven's side.
Katzi connected with the computer for a moment. Seconds later the path became a little wider so that there was enough room for four people to walk beside each other and she took position beside her lover, who more than willingly moved into the arm that Katzi had extended in invitation.
"Is it the year 10,335?" Seven countered. "The Borg have existed a lot longer than ten millennia, so why is it now the year 10,335?"
Having no idea, Pagsha connected to the Hive for a moment to find out. "That's when the Borg started to use the new time and date system, and they simply started from zero at that point."
"Well, if you don't want to go on with the year 10,335, then you could introduce the Zamonan system," Katzi suggested. "Whenever we get a new Queen the year count started anew. At the moment it's the year 21 in the reign of Queen Erda on Zamona. You could go for something like that. Now that you are switching to the Borg having a Queen that passes their title on from generation to generation, that might work."
"I like that," B'Elanna agreed. "In fact, back on Earth they used a similar system several times in history. The Chinese had something like that... something with dynasties... the Ming dynasty is the first thing that springs to mind. Alright, so their system was with families that were in power instead of just starting anew when a new Queen gets to power, but it's basically the same thing. And the best part is, since we are talking about the Borg, where every freaking drone has a nano computer in their brain, keeping track of longer periods of time won't be a problem because they will simply add reigns together and be able to tell you right away that 'this' happened in the third year of the reign of 'that' person, which is 763 years and 5 days ago."
Then she spoke to Seven. "With a little backdating we could start it of from the minute the Borg made you their Queen. The rule of One of Many, year one, day whatever."
"First of all, one does not start counting at one if one wants to count years properly," Seven countered. "I have not been the Borg Queen for a year yet so it is not year one; we are still in year zero. Furthermore, One of Many is not a good title to use since the next Queen will also be One of Many then. There would be no difference in name between eras."
"Alright, that's the negatives, but you're not dismissing the idea," B'Elanna grinned.
"True," Seven agreed with a small smile. "We could add a née to it. Something like 'the reign of One of Many, née Seven of Nine; Queen of Borg."
"How about Annika Hansen instead of Seven of Nine?" B'Elanna suggested. Before Seven could ask, B'Elanna explained, "As far as I know, née basically means 'formerly known as.' And while it is true that you are now One of Many to the Borg, you still introduce yourself to friend and enemy as Seven. So you are not formerly knows as Seven; you are 'still' known as Seven. But, you most certainly were formally known as Annika Hansen at some point."
After a moment of hesitation, Seven nodded her agreement. "So, keeping the backdating in mind that would make this moment in Borg history marked as such: The reign of One of Many, née Annika Hansen; Queen of Borg. Year 00, Month 09, Day 04, Hour 17, Minute 47."
"I kinda like the sound of that," B'Elanna agreed.
"So be it," Seven said before connecting with the Hive. After a moment, Seven asked, "Pagsha, please check what time and date it is?"
Pagsha did so and said after a moment, "The computer has the time and date as: Year 00, Month 09, Day 04, Hour 17, Minute 48, in the reign of One of Many, née Annika Hansen; Queen of Borg."
"Am I the only one that gets a kick out of how we can change things so easily?" B'Elanna asked. "That with one decision we change how trillions of people keep track of time."
"Do not let it go to your head," Seven warned. "I have a feeling that it started out like that for the old Queen as well. And we know where that led."
"Oh, don't worry, I don't suffer from delusions of grandeur just yet," B'Elanna assured. "I remember only too well some of the other things our decisions have resulted in. People died because of us. But still, it's kinda cool that we don't have to negotiate the smallest thing with them anymore."
"True, but they still evaluate every decision made."
"Um, excuse me," Pagsha interrupted. "We had a deal; no business this afternoon."
"Pagsha is correct," Seven agreed.
"More than just correct," B'Elanna added. "We really do have to be more strict about the fact that when we say that we're having private time, that we stay away from business unless it's truly something that can't wait."
B'Elanna placed a hand on Seven's stomach before continuing. "I mean, us, we can understand it if an idea strikes and we discuss it for a moment in private time. But what about when this little Sprite is born? Are we going to promise her to spend time with her only to tell her that something came up?"
"And you are correct as well," Seven agreed. "Very well, since B'Elanna just made an arbitrary decision, so do I now. As of now once something is dedicated private time, it stays so unless it is something that truly cannot wait."
"Um, is it still an arbitrary decision when it is a Queen that makes it, or is it then simply law?" Katzi asked.
"Funny," B'Elanna said, "And actually a good enough question that I'm very deliberately going to ignore it for something more fun. Katzi, you asked why you were the center of attention."
"I did, and I was asked if I knew what date it was."
"Well, do you?" B'Elanna prompted.
"Besides the very obviously actual date that you just changed... I have no idea."
"Let me give you a hint," Pagsha spoke up, "I really enjoyed my birthday party last week."
Katzi nodded her head a little. "Ah, now I get it. But I think you must have a few facts wrong. First of all, my birthday is only in five months, and second of all, we Zamonan don't celebrate our birthdays."
"No, you do not," Seven agreed. "However, you do celebrate profession day. That is the day that it was decided that a person was good enough at what they were training to become a craftsperson, or in your case a warrior. Not that your training was done yet, but you were considered good enough to be called a warrior on this day exactly eight years ago. Which, if I understand it correctly, is considered quite a feat. Not many warriors become warriors at the age of fourteen."
"Almost fifteen," Katzi corrected. "And normal is in the sixteenth year, so I'm not that early." She shrugged. "I was just driven. I knew I had to be good to become a Royal Guard so I pushed myself."
"I think that you are being unnecessarily modest," Seven pointed out. "Yes, you went on training, but you were nevertheless good enough to be handed a purple warrior's token. And there are only three of those handed out every year; not even Queen Erda achieved one on the day of her becoming a warrior."
"When did you lose that anyway?" Pagsha asked. "I mean, when I asked you one day why you don't carry your warrior's token attached to your sword, I know you told me that you lost it. But I read somewhere that it's normal for warrior's tokens to be attached to the handle of the sword. But since the Hive doesn't consider that relevant information I don't know all the detail about it. Back then I forgot to ask because you were distracting me so nicely. But how did you lose it, why don't you have a new one?"
"Because they are normally not replaced unless you pretty much lose it right away and still need it to prove that you are a warrior. And yeah, I really was pissed when I noticed that I lost it," Katzi sadly admitted.
Then she recalled, "One day during training it was just gone at the end of the day. I had run twenty miles through the woods and I assume that it got stuck in the bushes somewhere; I never found it. And since I was already established as a warrior at that point I didn't get a new one. Besides, that's kinda normal. It's rare for the warrior's tokens to survive. The whole point is that you put them on your sword so that people can see that you are no longer a kid that they can boss around; you are now a warrior that only takes orders from commanders. But since you actually use your sword during training and such, eventually the tokens just... get lost. But by then people know you are no longer a kid."
"Well," B'Elanna said brightly, "not to change the subject, though I actually am, since Pagsha, Seven, and me all celebrate our birthday while you don't, we decided that we would pick a different day to throw you a little party. Oh, only us this time so that you can get used to the idea, but next time..." B'Elanna didn't finish, but her grin said enough. Next time the Zamonan was considered fair game for party material.
It was not much later when they reached the lake once more, but this time on the other side from where they had their original picnic. A blanket was lying on the grass and to one side of it stood a rather large wooden box.
"And now it's present time," Pagsha said happily. "I know, you don't give presents on profession day, but I guess you just have to suffer through it so that it equals a birthday. And just in case you're wondering, these things are real."
"Alright," Katzi said slowly as she sat down on the blanket.
Pagsha sat down beside her, closer to the box, while B'Elanna and Seven sat down opposite of them.
"Who's first?" Pagsha asked.
"Considering that you are her Mate, I would say you," Seven noted.
Pagsha nodded and opened the lid of the box just enough to put her hand inside. She narrowed her eyes at Katzi playfully to make it clear that there was no peeking into the box allowed.
Having found what she was looking for, she closed her hand around it and explained to her lover. "When we had that talk in which it was decided that you could carry your sword if you wanted to, unless clearly instructed not to, I personally felt that your sword was not up to the job. As you said yourself, it's basically a step up from a training sword. It's certainly not something for a Royal Guard to carry around."
"True," Katzi had to admit.
"So I sent a message to Zamona to let them know that we were in need of a sword that's worthy to be carried by a Royal Guard that's tasked with protecting the Borg Queen."
Katzi chuckled. "That must have put some people in a state of, well, almost a heart attack actually."
Pagsha pulled her gift from the box and handed the new sword in its sheath to Katzi.
Katzi took it and looked at the decorations on the sheath and the handle. All of it was black, with the decorations being a mix of carvings and fabric that was wound around the hilt in just the right way to give a crisscross pattern that would most definitely aid in having a secure grip. While there were decorations on it, they were actually quite modest to some decorations she had seen on some swords. But it only impressed her more. She knew that this meant that it had to be a sword of high quality because the better the quality, the more toned down the decorations were; the craftsmanship of the sword itself had to be the real decoration then.
"This is high quality; someone put a lot of work into this."
"That someone would be Hijal of Platrio village; you heard of her?" Pagsha asked.
Katzi's eyes went wide when hearing the name. Her hands actually started to shake slightly when she pulled the sword out of its sheath to be able to look at the blade, and at the master's stem that was hammered into the blade close to the hilt.
"Hijal is the best sword maker alive, and one of the best from recorded history," Katzi whispered in awe. "82 years old, she now lives in semi retirement and only makes blades like that of the Queen and some of the highest Regents."
"And the Royal Guard," Pagsha added. "So it's fitting I would say."
Katzi looked at her lover. "This must have cost a fortune. I have heard that she doesn't even start working on a sword unless there's a down payment made of 20,000 Koli."
Pagsha smiled. "Hijal assured me that this is one of the best blades she's made in a long time; something she would also have handed to her Queen if the Queen had been in need of a new sword. Of all the blades she ever made, this is one of only six blades that she is not willing to put a price on because no amount would do it justice. She thinks that this will be the last great sword she ever makes. And she is honored that it will be carried by a Queen's protector."
"You mean she actually just gave it away?" Katzi asked in disbelief.
"I have a feeling that at her age she is no longer in need of a large amount of money," Seven noted. "So she took her reward out of knowing that for one final time in her life, she performed her craft so excellently that it resulted in a sword that is worthy to be used to give protection to a Queen."
Katzi put the sword back in its sheath before putting it down reluctantly. "This is amazing. I don't know what to say." Then Katzi suddenly leaned to her lover and showed her thanks by a hungry kiss.
"You are welcome," Pagsha said after they finally broke apart. "Though it seems that I can only take credit for the idea. As said, Hijal didn't want any money for it, so I didn't actually pay for it. And even if she would have wanted money, I wouldn't have been the one to pay. As you of course know; we Borg don't do money so I would have no means to pay for what that sword might cost if a price is asked. So I went and asked Seven if she would be able to... loan, I guess... the money to me."
"I declined," Seven spoke up. "As soon as Pagsha explained what she was thinking of, I assured her that the Borg collective itself would match any price asked. After all, you will be using the sword in the service of the Borg, will you not?"
"Absolutely," Katzi assured right away. "Or more to the point, I'll be carrying it in service of the Borg, and hope that I never have to use it other than in training. Since me not using it would mean that you are not in danger."
Seven nodded. "Very well, then in that case since you are putting your services with the sword to the use of the Borg collective, I now hereby state that the sword is your property."
"Oh, um, that's kinda like Borg drones that leave being allowed to keep or ask for certain implants," B'Elanna explained. "Got to have the technicalities covered, you know? We couldn't just go handing you an outrageously expensive sword for nothing more than the fact that you happen to be a friend of ours. As you know, Seven and I don't want to go down that road. That Hijal didn't want any money for it is beside the point; we found that out only after placing the order."
"If I didn't know that you mean that for real I would say that you just invented an excuse," Katzi said as she picked up the sword and stood up. "Don't mind me, I'll be right back."
When she had moved ten meters away she took the sword out of the sheath and started to swirl it around her body in well trained patterns. "So, now that it's so clearly stated for the record that you are not abusing the Borg by giving me this, I'm curious; just whose gift is it?"
"I guess you could call it a combined gift," B'Elanna said thoughtfully. "With Pagsha being the main giver. She came up with the idea, and she actually did all the work like contacting people. Then there is Hijal of course, who made a gift to the Collective of the sword instead of selling it. Then you have Seven who handed this tool that was given to the Borg to you, so that you can use it in your job. And then there is me, of course."
Katzi made an attack to some invisible enemies before asking, "And what part do you play in this?"
"Me? Isn't that obvious? I'm going to be your training partner on occasion when you use that thing to train."
Katzi stopped mid motion. "Um, do you remember how many scrapes I'm putting on you when we train with the machete? Those are only scrapes because they are holographic and we are using safeties. I don't know how you would fare against a real sword."
Katzi started to move again before adding, "And just for the record, Hijal did a perfect job; this is perfectly balanced."
B'Elanna stood up and suddenly stepped well into the space that Katzi was using for her sword movements. The sword stopped only a few centimeters from B'Elanna's head and Katzi shouted in outrage, "What the hell do you think you're doing?!"
"Showing you why I don't worry about training with you while you use that sword. I know how good you are with a sword. Now, granted, I wouldn't do this in the machete training because we're both still learning. Or better said, I'm learning from you while you're still adapting the moves that you have learned for your sword. But I know what kind of control you have over a sword, and I know that you won't hurt me."
B'Elanna grinned before admitting, "But as my wonderful Mate pointed out to me; accidents do happen. So she created a level 6 in the safety settings. It's really cool. You don't activate it; it activates itself as soon as the sensors register that sword on the holodeck. Sensors keep track of it at all times. And as soon as it ever touches real skin a dampening field will be activated to keep the sword in place. So, at worst you can cut someone about one centimeter deep before the dampening field prevents you from doing more damage. Still deep enough to bleed from pretty badly, but not fatal and leaving more than enough time for a beaming to sickbay."
"I appreciate the offer," Katzi said as she put the sword back in its sheath. "But I really don't want to hurt you. The machete training is as far as I want to go; cuts that only just break the skin enough to bleed."
"And I appreciate that you don't want to hurt me but... come on, let's sit down again."
Once they were sitting, B'Elanna continued. "But, um, you would actually be doing me a favor." Seeing the disbelief, B'Elanna quickly added, "Honest."
Seven decided that Katzi would be more inclined to believe her if she explained it instead of B'Elanna. "Katzi, when you became Royal Guard, you told us that you had studied Klingons. Surely you must know that Klingons thrive on the exhilarating feeling of danger. Sometimes, B'Elanna also needs that thrill. This is also why me being part Borg makes her so hot at times. She knows what I could do, that she is feeling fingers inside and on her that can crush bones. Not merely break, but literally crush them. B'Elanna needs danger at times. Sometimes we indulge in that in our love life, though I admit that there it is more the idea of what I 'could' do if I wanted to, and not what I actually do. However, B'Elanna needs more exposure to danger than merely the mental image of danger. She needs to know for sure that if she does something wrong, it 'will' hurt. That she might truly need to see a doctor."
"Not something I can really indulge in," B'Elanna spoke up. "Outside of Unimatrix 01 I can't go doing dangerous things because the Guards would step in to protect me and it might literally end in a war. So I need to find my thrills here inside Unimatrix 01. And I for one would really like it if I could get that thrill, and in the same time learn something. And on top of that have some fun with a friend. Practice fights are fine, but sometimes I need that thrill to know that if I don't look out, I might actually have to suffer real consequences. So, let us train on that level from time to time. You get an opponent that actually thinks like a sentient being, and I can get my kicks at the same time."
"Very well," Katzi finally relented. "But on two conditions. First of all, if you do get hurt I don't want to keep hearing about it; it's your own fault then."
"More than fair," B'Elanna could only agree.
"And the second condition is that this is on the record, so to speak."
"Don't you mean off the record," B'Elanna interrupted.
"No, I do mean on the record, as in known. I want it to be made very clear to the Hive that this is what you want, and I'm merely humoring you. The last thing I want is that I'm replaced as Royal Guard because I actually hurt you instead of protecting you."
"I will take care of that," Seven assured. "I promise you that whatever happens in training on the Royal holodeck will never be held against you."
Now Katzi finally grinned. "I guess that you just found yourself a sparing partner, Klingon. Believe me; you'll be sorry."
B'Elanna also grinned. "I don't think so; I like a good challenge, even if I have to suffer a bit to enjoy the challenge."
"So, are you thinking of training with the sword after all then? If you want to fight against me while I use my sword?"
"Actually, no," B'Elanna said before explaining, "Just how realistic is that anyway? Just how big are the chances that you come up against an enemy that uses exactly the same weapon as you? Well, on Zamona the chance of both people having a sword is a lot higher. But I mean now, with places we visit. I think that the fun challenge in this will actually be in the mismatch of weapons. Your sword against my bat'leth, or against my machete. Or you with machetes against my bat'leth for that matter."
"And talking about other weapons," Seven said as she opened the box once more. She took out something that was wrapped in some blue colored cloth and handed it to B'Elanna.
"Thank you." B'Elanna folded away the cloth to reveal two machetes in their sheaths. "When Pagsha came with the idea for the sword, I figured that Zamona was just the place to order some machetes for you that are a little bit more personalized than those that you have from the replicator. While Hijal was making the sword, her Master Apprentice was busy making these to match. I myself have ordered a set as well, but they weren't ready yet."
"Quality over quantity," Katzi said right away. "That is a motto every Zamonan weapons smith lives by. All delivery dates should only be seen as estimates."
"I know," B'Elanna assured. "I don't mind that they aren't ready yet, especially since it's probably my own fault. You see, your weapons look good, but they impress mostly by their quality. I deliberately stated that I want mine to give a misimpression. I want to wear them on certain occasions, like going to meet a warrior species. But I want people to see them and dismiss them because they look showy and therefore can't be any good, which means that I probably don't know how to use them."
"Good approach," Katzi agreed. She knew that if a Zamonan weapons smith deliberately set out to make a good sword, or in this case machete, look like cheap and showy material that is bound to break in real use, then it would indeed look that way, but it would still surpass the bladed weapons of the enemy by far. She agreed with B'Elanna. Most that knew how to use blades themselves, and then saw the clear show pieces would vastly underestimate the Klingon's ability to defend herself.
B'Elanna pulled one of the machetes from its sheath and showed it to Katzi. "Obviously, because they are so flat they don't have a core of softer steel like the sword does, but for the rest they also exist out of folded steel. Though since a lot of the machete fighting exists out of using one of them more as a shield to block, I think that for our trainings we better make replicator copies of yours and mine and use those so that we don't damage the real ones in training."
"Deal," Katzi agreed. "I really like that both the machete and the sword are black and relatively sober looking. That way they really fit with the black uniform."
"Ah, but there will be a little bit of color to your sword," Seven disagreed. She reached into the box once more, and this time took out a small box that fitted just on her outstretched hand. "My turn for a present."
Katzi took the box and opened it. She was surprised to see a five centimeter long purple braid lying on blue velvet.
"A warrior's token?" Katzi asked confused.
"On Zamona, yes," Seven agreed. "But on Zamona and the rest of the Borg collective that is now the sign of the Private Royal Guard. As you know, the Royal Guard will not wear insignia or colors to indicate what they are. In fact, one could say that their distinct lack of such symbol of position 'is' a symbol of position because for the rest every Individualist in the Collective will wear an insignia of position; even the civilians. However, B'Elanna and I talked it through, and asked the Hive if they agreed, we feel that one of the guards should stand out a little; a focus of attention if you will so that less focus is on the other three guards. Since you are already selected to be the guard that will be the closest to B'Elanna and me, we figured that you would do nicely as that point of attention in the Guards."
"Besides," B'Elanna added with a chuckle, "You stand out as it is; might as well make use of that. So, you'll be the one that stands more to the front, that takes that imposing step closer to someone that comes too close to us, and so on. If you want, of course."
"I would be honored," Katzi assured right away. "But why me, why not the Guard that plans your visits?"
"That is actually part of the reason," Seven explained. "We want him to be able to focus on that, besides protecting us of course. So we want to give people a different point to focus on than him. The second reason why we would like this to be you is because you are also the guard that is always in the room with us no matter what, once we are off Unimatrix 01. The two facts enhance each other in the eyes of others. Surely such a special guard must be the most important, more so because she is also the one that speaks for the Guard. It is so obvious that they ignore the unobtrusive guard that is standing to the back and that is at the same moment coordinating a data scan of the entire planet through his Borg link."
Katzi nodded in understanding. "Ah, I see. Well, as I said, it would be my honor." Then she turned to B'Elanna. "But, um, won't you have a problem with a different warrior taking such an important visual position towards your Mate. You are part Klingon after all."
B'Elanna waved her off. "Neh, I have learned to outsource."
B'Elanna grinned at Katzi's confused look. "Just kidding. I think that here the part comes in where I'm actually only half Klingon. Once I have soothed my bruised ego, I have no problem with admitting that others are better at stuff and let them do it. You don't see me turning down Anidan's help do you? I know that she's a better Engineer than I'll ever be, so I listen to her. Same goes for ZAn, the same goes for Lonika, the same goes for you. From our training I know that you are a way better fighter then me, so I'm more than happy to let you get the attention as being the Queen's warrior in situations where such attention is needed... like if we ever were to meet with Klingons. Besides, as much as people like to think so, Klingons aren't morons. Not every person in a position of importance is a good warrior. It's perfectly normal and accepted to have these people guarded by better warriors. Just that it's also expected that if the fight does reach this important person, that this person then still puts up a fight. And believe me, if ever needed I'll put up a damn good fight."
"One could even say that we are all here now as Individuals because B'Elanna put up a fight," Seven noted. "She took on the entire Borg collective; and won. She persuaded them that I had to be an Individual to be able to do my job. So, Katzi, as of today you are my personal warrior. I believe that you call such people a Champion on Zamona?"
"We do," Katzi said softly. "I thank you for such a great honor. And I give you my word that you'll never regret making that choice. Thank you, my Queen. Thank you, my friend."
"I thank you," Seven countered. "And I am sure that you will excel at the job."
"Um, is that now an official position?" Pagsha asked. "Is she now your Champion or your guard?"
Before Seven could answer, Katzi did. "On Zamona it's never written down who someone's champion is. Knowing it is all the honor one needs. And also, if it's written down, then an opponent could prepare by first taking out the Champion in an ambush before challenging the person that was protected."
"That sounds a bit un-honorable, and un-Zamonan," B'Elanna noted.
Katzi shrugged. "You have to keep in mind that our society isn't perfect. As a whole we are honorable people, but that doesn't mean that there are not some conniving and backstabbing cowards to be found on our planet. On the same note, most Zamonan would not steal, would not take what isn't theirs. Most. But we nevertheless have robbers roaming through the territories between villages. Personally I like it. Perfection makes for a very boring day. But flaws keep you on your toes. It is flaws like that, that we do have robbers, that actually make it worth looking into a forest for ten hours on a guard shift. If there were no robbers, we might as well go and sit around a table playing cards."
Suddenly B'Elanna straightened a little. "She's right. We have to keep that in mind when we make our changes to the Borg. Um, not that I'm suggesting that we have robbers running around the ship. What I mean is that we have to make sure that there are enough things to keep people busy while they aren't on duty."
"We have the restaurants and the holodecks, and other areas of interest, like gyms," Seven noted.
"Yeah, but still. That's not really differences. That's merely having the option to do different things at different times." B'Elanna snapped her fingers when an idea came to her. "Oh, I know, how about instead of mingling the Individualist drones all around, we... steer... certain ways of living to certain decks. That way we create certain areas on the ship that have a certain sphere and people can go there to experience something else than what they are used to."
"That is something worth exploring," Seven agreed. "Why do we not ask ZAn for his opinion? He is a designer, he should be able to tell us if giving certain areas a certain 'feel' does influence people to live in a certain way."
"And you are doing Borg stuff again," Pagsha noted. "There is one more gift for Katzi, and then it's time to have some fun... at least I hope it's fun because it's Katzi's choice what we're going to do."
"You are correct," Seven had to agree. She pointed to the wooden box that the gifts had been in. "Your last gift."
Katzi looked at the box. It was made of reddish brown wood, and decorated with beautiful, but still pretty basic carvings. Certainly not something that would stand out by its ornate design. It was nice to look at, but that was pretty much it.
"Thank you, but, um I don't really get it."
"Go on, open it," Pagsha urged.
Katzi did so and was greeted with a view of the inside of the box. Once again it was the color of the wood, but the only real difference was that now the carvings were a grid of crossing lines on all sides of the box.
Seeing the confused look, Pagsha relented. "It's not as basic as it looks. There's technology worked into it. Go on, put something in the box, but once inside, just let it drop."
Katzi picked up the sword and looked at her Mate to see if it would be alright. Considering that the sword came from the box to begin with she assumed so, but she wanted to be sure.
Once inside the box, Katzi opened her hand and was surprised to see that the sword didn't drop. Instead it just kept floating where it had been when Katzi let go.
"There is a mix of a low level gravity neutralizer, and a low level dampening field worked into the box," Seven explained. "On a technological level basic technologies. But the gravity neutralizer negates the gravity in the box, and a little bit above it if the lid is opened. While the dampening is just high enough to stop items from moving unless moved by a force, like a human hand placing it in a certain position."
"The Zamonan are a lot like Klingons in a lot of ways," B'Elanna spoke up, "And totally the opposite in other ways. Both have a love for bladed weapons. But where the Klingons love to display them to impress others, the Zamonan normally put their weapons in a secure place if they're not carrying them with them. So we thought that you would like this. This means that you can put anything in this box wherever you like it without having to worry about stacking things on top of each other or whatnot."
"Oh, I really like this," Katzi said happily as she put the other gifts back and played around a little by rearranging them in different ways. Finally she stopped and favored her friends and her lover with a smile.
"Thank you all very much. I, I know I'm not showing it, but I'm really thrilled about all of this. It's just..."
"That warriors are trained to not show emotions," B'Elanna said in understanding when Katzi's words trailed off. "We understand, and you're welcome. But just to let you know. Some of these are some pretty hefty gifts. We have no wish to start a race of sorts here. Don't expect anything like it the next time, or that we're expecting something as valuable in return the next time. It's just that it all happened to come together now."
I won't," Katzi assured. "We Zamonan don't do gifts a lot, and because of that we have long since learned that it's not the gift that is important, but who gives it, and why."
Katzi took the sword out again, as well as the box that held the warrior's token. "These two are a perfect example. This sword is great, and I love it. It's also so expensive that I would never be able to buy it. I'm really happy with this gift. But," Katzi spent a moment to attach the braid to the little loop at the end of the sword's hilt.
All Zamonan swords had that little loop for exactly the reason of attaching braids. On Zamona braids were used a lot, and different braids meant different things. A warriors token was one of the most used ones. But there was also the one to indicate mourning, or the one to indicate that an oath was placed that someone's death would be avenged with that sword. The last was not often done on Zamona in the last century or so, but it did still happen. Besides the braid that Seven had now given her, and which she would wear in public, Katzi also had four other braids that she kept in the privacy of her quarters. These were reminders of things she had once vowed, or achieved.
Once the braid was securely attached, Katzi added, "As awesome as the sword is, if I had to choose between the two, I would pick the braid because of how it proves the trust you place in me. This is important. The sword is just a tool."
Now she grinned. "A tool I love to own, but a tool never the less."
"Alright, I'm getting tired of sitting around," B'Elanna noted. "So, tall one; what's next?"
"Tall one?" Katzi repeated. "You really do stink at coming up with nicknames, don't you?"
"As far as I know I only heard you come up with one, which you use for Pagsha, and which isn't that original either," B'Elanna shot back.
"I'm Zamonan," Katzi defended. "We don't do nicknames, with the exception of for our Mates. And there we keep them respectful as can be."
"I heard you call her honey," B'Elanna said in turn. "That's a nickname."
"That's not a nickname; that's an endearment. But if you really are that set on having a nickname for me, then be assured that I'll do my best to return the favor with flair."
B'Elanna chuckled. "Why does that sound like a threat I don't want to face? Alright, enough goofing around. So... Katzi, what's next? Your choice on what program we're going to run."
"Hmm, give me a moment to think of something our Mates will also enjoy doing."
"Great, no famous battle or hunt then," Pagsha said sweetly.
"Oh, just for that you do get a battle." Seeing her Mate's fake pout, Katzi assured, "Don't worry; you'll love it. How about it. You and Seven are the commanders of the defenders of a technologically advanced city, while B'Elanna and I are the commanders of a vast army that hugely outnumbers you, but that is decades behind you in technology. Brains verses brawn."
"That might actually be interesting," Seven agreed. "Very well, lead the way."
"And when we're done we can come back here to get Katzi's box, and relax some," Pagsha suggested.
"Good idea," B'Elanna agreed as she stood up. "Then Seven and I can continue telling you our life's story, since now that we reached the point where we joined Voyager we can both tell it. Should be fun to find out what Seven thought of me in those first months."
"The same as I do now," Seven assured. "That you can be irritating and frustrating like no other person I ever met. I merely still have to figure out why I actually like that."
B'Elanna merely grinned.
Continued...