Galatea Part 1 Rated PG by Frogjuice frog.juice@virgin.net Disclaimer:- Paramount owns all of the characters and things, I'm only playing. Harry looked confusedly at the results, crinkled up his brow and re-ran the diagnostic for the third time. 'Seven' he called 'Please would you look at this for me?' She turned from her position next to the console with a calm look upon her face and her optic implant raised in query. 'What is it that is causing you concern, Ensign Kim?' 'Well I'm sure these were not the parameters I had yesterday, and I know I haven't touched it, so I'm either going mad or this doesn't work' She took the tricorder from his hand and simply said, 'Neither hypothesis is correct. I re-designed the- ' 'Aren't we supposed to be working on this together?' He said , a little more harshly than he'd intended. 'We are here and we were working, I fail to-' She looked at him blankly. 'Well if you're going to do something then surely its more efficient' and he emphasised that word in particular, 'to tell me rather than have me waste time running pointless diagnostics?' 'If you had asked then I would have told you.' 'How would I know to ask? I can't read your mind, Seven!' She tensed 'I presume that was a derogatory inference to the manner of working in the collective- I am attempting to be human, and your detrimental remarks are hindering my-' 'No, Seven, it was just an expression' He was exasperated. He looked at her blank face and countless instances of her refusal to accept that not everything he said had to have a purpose, a defined reason. Little niggling thoughts that she hadn't spoken to him because she didn't think it important, him important. He finally settled after several increasingly angry moments, on, 'If you spoke to me instead of at me, and didn't analyse me, it would help a lot, Seven' He spoke as emotionlessly as he could, and she responded by flicking her eyes to the chronometer display. Harry thrust the Padd he held in his hand at her and shook his head at her confused expression. 'I'd better go and help B'Elanna, if you don't need me here' It wasn't exactly a question. 'No, I do not need you.' She looked away and continued working. He snorted, 'No.' and left for engineering. He was not in the most pleasant of moods when he arrived. He hadn't been for some time, but he was finding increasingly harder to hide it. No matter how much he got through to her, no matter how much he was convinced that she was his friend, she immediately retreated back into her shell at the first sign of anything she did not have experience of. The fact that she had recently started dating the doctor hadn't helped his self esteem at all. The chief engineer looked up at his unusual scowl; it was odd to see harry with that expression on his face. 'Well, well, the beautiful Borg in one of her better moods today?' It was not entirely teasing. He looked quickly at her. 'She's being particularly uncommunicative today. I've got that data you needed.' Torres pondered for a moment. That was a warning. As sharp as Harry would get with her- in public. She resolved to find him later, off duty and wheedle to see what exactly was the matter. Normally in response to her teasing he would blush, or try and give back as good as he got, so she let it drop. The talk and work drifted to other things and the rest of the shift passed peaceably enough. Harry even lightened up a little. 'Coming to the mess hall? It doesn't involve Leola root, as rumour has it.' 'Do you think we can avoid the rush?' They left to eat. 'Not waiting for Seven?' She asked archly as he sat down with her and Tom. He had the forkful of Neelix's concoction in his mouth and had swallowed it before he replied. 'I doubt that it would be an efficient disposal of my schedule.' Tom, at B'Elanna's glare, nodded and queried his lover about her apparent enjoyment of the food. "I like it" She said defensively "It's got an unusual flavour" "That's what you normally complain about, sweetheart" She growled a little at him for the term of endearment, waving her fork in his face. Harry ignored their quiet sparring, returning to his solitary contemplation. She saw things only in black and white. He was honest enough to admit that he was sexually attracted to her. There wasn't a man on Voyager- and some of the woman, who weren't, but he never felt repelled by her past. He had admired her guts when she found herself totally alone and tried to adapt, didn't give in. Knowing well how she felt he had tried to be her friend too. He told himself that he only wanted to be friends. He didn't need the hassle that yet another doomed relationship would cause him. Seven of Nine let her shadow fall across the group. "May I sit here?" She asked in her exceedingly precise voice, remembering of course to use appropriate language in order to convey her request in a manner which might be deemed acceptable to the others. Harry Kim nodded, threw his things on the tray and stood up. "Sure. I was just leaving." He walked away leaving Seven standing there and B'Elanna and Tom looking confused. Seven went a slight shade of pink and, bowing her head she slid into the seat and not looking at anyone she started to eat. She was acutely aware of the amused glances in her direction. Especially from the Delaney girl, whom she often observed watching Ensign Kim in much a similar manner as he regarded her. "So, Seven," said Tom, ever jovial, and feeling a light twinge of pity, recognizing her outcaste status, not ever being too far from it himself, and this time braving B'Elanna's displeasure. Perhaps Seven would reveal why Harry was behaving oddly. It seemed to have something to do with her, and if there was one thing Tom Paris liked, it was to know what was going on. 'What's up?' She looked back at him, left eyebrow raised in query, but sufficiently acclimatised to his manner of speaking that she merely said "Nothing is up, Ensign Paris" "It's just that you and Harry seem to be a little, umm. well, he doesn't normally avoid you." "That is correct" She said Tom sighed and tried to dig again."What I meant was, would you tell me if anything has happened to upset him? I know you two work together a lot of the time and..." He let his voice trail off as Seven reluctantly replied. "I do not know. We had a brief discussion approximately one hundred and twenty three minutes ago regarding working practices, at that time it appeared that he was already agitated. I have not altered my behaviours nor do I recall any situation in which my actions may have led to his current state. I have behaved as I normally do. I am unable to assist you ensign." Tom gave up before B'Elanna decided what vengeance to wreak upon him for speaking to her arch nemesis. B'Elanna however fed her face with gusto and enjoyed the perplexedness of the blonde sat opposite her. "What are you doing tonight, then?" "The ship we are in is not affected by the rotation of a solar body in a diurnal phase, however as I believe I have correctly interpreted your question, I will be regenerating from 11:00 ships time until 07:00 ships time. "And before that?" He said amused. "I will visit the Doctor, analyse readings from the system we will be passing in three days, and then I will read a book. "Read a book?" "The captain recommended it. Are you conversant with pre- warp literature, Mr Paris?" "Not as such no. I prefer the movies. What is it?" "How to win friends and influence people, by..." B'Elannah started choking. "No, no. M'fine" she gasped as Tom patted her on the back. Occasionally people had recommended the same book to her. Of course she wasn't going to mention that. Later that day after going off duty, Seven called in at the sickbay, with an item on her agenda that she had not mentioned to Ensign Paris. "Doctor, could I have your assistance please?" she said, more than a year of training forcing her to speak the unnecessary word. She discovered that she got more of a response if she used them than not. "Why certainly" he said, his self assured face, looking as smug as it ever did. "What seems to be the problem then, sweetheart?" "I am due to go on an away mission in week. The captain has expressed a wish for me to begin sleeping, this being the perfect opportunity in her opinion, but I am uncertain as to whether sleeping will provide an appropriate amount of power for my implants. I do not wish to become half crippled and blind in one eye whilst I am away." She, as B'Elanna did, ignored the term of endearment. "Hmm a knotty problem, perhaps Lieutenant Torres could..." "Lieutenant Torres informed everyone in the mess hall of her intention to have at least one undisturbed evening with Mr Paris. I believe that it would be inadvisable to interrupt her" Said Seven in an understated way. "Oh well. If someone else must intervene. EMH to Mr Kim." Sevens eyes went wide and troubled but the Doctor was not looking at her, rather at the display on a screen he had pulled up. "Kim here, what is it Doc?" "I need your help with a little query in sickbay. Are you on duty?" "No, but I'll be there in a minute." When Harry bounced through the doors he was greeted by the doctor and to his woe, Seven of Nine. He held back a groan and turned politely to the Doctor. "What can I do for you?" The Doc explained the problem. "How much power do your implants draw, Seven?" He asked, telling himself not to be so impolite as to ignore her. he was genuinely ashamed of having walked out of the Mess hall, but hadn't been able to face her at that precise moment, lest he said something he would have regretted. "I am uncertain. Regeneration has always answered all of my power needs." She said crisply. "Okay. Doc?" The Doctor was pulling up data that Harry recognised as being Sevens internal circuitry. "I could have course have worked this out on my own, but it being an engineering matter, the captain has requested that a qualified officer be made aware of any modifications to power" Harry grinned internally, knowing how much the doctor prided himself on his ability to do anything and everything. And how much he hated anyone else have anything to do with Seven. He fiddled with a padd, concentration plain on his face. "How exactly do you connect to your regeneration alcove Seven?" He said slowly as his calculations blossomed on the small screen. "I have two connections on my spine that serve" she responded, no unnecessary commentary made. "Could I take some measurements, please?" He turned round to pick up his tricorder and turned back to see Seven stripped to the waist. He went bright red, looked at the floor and said in a moderately strangled voice, "Could you please umm, turn round so that I can see your back, Seven?" "Does my appearance concern you? What seems to be the trouble?" "It is somewhat distracting, Seven. turn around, please?" "Are you afflicted by primitive mating urges merely at the sight of my mammary glands?" "Will you please turn round?" He almost snapped, but still very polite. She complied. The doctor had looked up at his raised voice and was just as startled to see Seven of Nine's bare chest in front of him, now. In a superior voice he asked the ensign to treat this on a professional level, although quietly enjoying the view of his beloved himself. "Looking at semi-naked women might be your job but it isn't mine" muttered Harry, cursing himself for a blushing idiot. He looked in interest at the implants. Just the implants, he told himself, noting the similarity to other more visible devices elsewhere on her person. He drew a deep breath. "Umm that's fine, Seven." He drew his eyes away from the enticing view of her delicately curved and lush posterior. "Can I see that schematic again please?" He asked the Doctor, leaving Seven to adjust herself, out of his sight. An idea had trickled through his head, but to clear up the unpleasant silence, he asked, "Do you have any ideas, Seven?" "It had not occurred to me that I would need to use any other methods. I was hoping that the captain would concur." "Hmm. No, I doubt it." "My regeneration alcove is a massive drain on power. I offered to utilise my rations to compensate but..." "It does tie you down a little though doesn't it. I think that we can use an ordinary power coupling, modified to your internal wavelengths, that should be sufficient to keep your implants ticking over, if you sleep to regenerate your human functions." "Then I could simply attach such a transformer device to my existing input output couplings." She said briskly, "I see." "It isn't going to be comfortable having those in your back when you're lying down, Seven" "Comfort is irrelevant" She stated. "It's hard to get to sleep when you're uncomfortable." "I will adapt." Her hands folded behind her back she stared straight at the sickbay wall, waiting for the production of the appropriate device. He sighed and asked "Could I see your hand for a moment?" She thrust both at him. He carefully examined the borg enhanced one. "What's this for?" He indicated a small part of the implant near to the base of her thumb. "It's an auxiliary input for data and-" "Then a low power trickle shouldn't bother you?" He finally got the medical replicator to produce a set of leads and a small transformer, not much bigger than a tricorder the whole set. It was a matter of minutes to tune it to suit Seven's needs. The Doctor examined it and sniffed "Well of course I'd thought of this but The Captain has placed certain restrictions on me." "Here, if you connect this to any output device then you should be okay, it won't bother you so much when you're asleep." "Thank you" she said stiffly. He said before he reached the door, because he was Harry Kim, and there was no hope for him, he chided himself, "If you have any trouble with that, just tell me and I'll adjust it, okay?" "Affirmative" she said. Seven was scared. Apprehensive. Sleeping was a totally human thing to do. Her few phases of REM sleep had been unintentional and she was not so certain that she wished to expose herself to it again. The captain was adamant. She could see the efficiency of it. It would be less of a power drain with this device, and eight hours of regeneration was equivalent to eight hours of sleep the Doctor said, but she would have to shower and eliminate and all of those other inconvenient things. She made absolutely certain that she had completed all of her other tasks that she had self assigned before she gave further contemplation to the night ahead of her. It was with complete regret that she looked at the comforting green glow of her alcove, and informed herself briskly that it would be inefficient to put it off any longer. With a more unsteady hand than anyone had ever seen her, she connected herself to the small device and prepared to sleep. Which was why a somewhat grumpy Harry Kim was awakened at 1:30 in the morning by an irate looking borg at his door.