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The Ice
Queen
A J/7 Advent
Calendar Story 2008 by Gun Brooke
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16
Janeway stared at the unexpected—no, incredible—sight before
her. Seven of Nine was moving like an electric blue flame to
the pulsating music. A large bear of a man moved right along
with her, his body amazingly agile despite his size.
“What the hell…?” Tom Paris’ incredulous tone summed it all
up.
“Hey, Annika! Those are some moves you’ve got!” An excited
female voice to Janeway’s left made her do a double take. “I
knew they were just being idiots when they called you the
Ice Queen.”
Seven, formerly known as Annika Hansen, turned her head and
looked at the girl, and now it was her turn to do a double
take as her eyes immediately darted back to Janeway.
Not taking her eyes of her astrometrics officer, Janeway saw
Seven stop in mid stride, say something to her dance
partner, and then stride toward her. She all but ran to
Janeway and stopped when she was about five steps away.
Seven’s ice blue eyes raked over Janeway’s body, over and
over, as if she was trying to determine if she was a mirage,
or something.
“Kath—Captain.” Seven’s voice was barely audible through the
pounding music, but it wasn’t hard to read the full lips.
She was dressed in a trouser suit, certainly vintage
looking, and her hair hung in deliciously tousled tresses.
“Sev—Annika.” It felt oddly reassuring to use Seven’s human
name, and Janeway crossed the last of the distance between
them. Without any misgiving regarding who was witnessing
their reunion, Janeway gently cupped Seven’s shoulders. “Are
you all right?”
“I have been functioning within acceptable parameters.”
Seven’s eyes shone brightly in the glittering lights from
the ice walls. “As of now, I am quite ‘all right’.”
“I’m quite all right too, Seven,” Janeway said huskily. She
was about to ask her about how she sustained her Borg
implants when Seven suddenly wrapped her arms around
Janeway’s neck in a fierce embrace.
“I thought you were forever lost to me,” Seven murmured in
Janeway’s ear. “I thought I would never lay eyes on you
again.”
‘You’ as in
me, Seven, or ‘you’ as in the crew’? “I know
what you mean. I—eh…we—were all going a little stir crazy
for losing you. We had no way of knowing if you were dead.”
“And still you came after me?” Seven blinked rapidly. “It
was not entirely a safe maneuver, Captain. The singularity
damaged the Delta Flyer quite extensively on the route to
the Alpha Quadrant.”
“We know. Voyager is in high orbit, but we have some major
repairs to conduct.”
“I will assist.” Seven was swaying now, and it dawned on
Janeway that she must be exhausted from forgoing proper
regeneration cycles.
“It can wait until tomorrow. Right now we need to whisk you
away to the shuttle and go back to Voyager. Naomi Wildman’s
been housekeeping your regeneration alcove for you.”
“Thank you, Captain—“
“Friends of yours? Hi, I’m Tilde.” A cute girl in her late
teens, or early twenties, walked up to them, making Janeway
suddenly aware that she was hugging Seven in public, and in
front of her crewmembers. “Isn’t this a
surprise?” She held on to Seven’s arm and squeezed it as she
smiled warmly at the Voyager away team. “And in matching ski
suits! You belong to a band?”
“A band?” Janeway blinked.
“Like a rock band…or pop…or maybe folk?”
Janeway had no idea what the young woman meant and looked
pointedly at Seven.
“Tina, these are my—friends. They decided to surprise me,”
Seven said quickly.
“Oh, great!" Tina clapped her hands. “Isn’t it the coolest
that Tilde saved three suites just in case any of our guests
decided to stay last minute? I’ll tell her that you will
need the rooms.”
“No, that’s not necessary—“ Seven tried to intervene, but to
no avail.
“Aw, anything for your friends, Annika. You’ve done so much
for us, and I know that Tilde and Lars are just dying to do
something for you. At least you and your friends will have
the Ice Hotel experience to remember.” She danced away
through the crowd, apparently on her way to find this Tilde
and Lars.
“Actually we must go,” Janeway said.
“I cannot.”
“What?” Janeway frowned.
“I want nothing more than to return with you to Voyager, but
I have given my word to help Tilde and Lars with the ‘tech
stuff’.”
“So you mean we need to stay here tonight? In this
freezing—“ Janeway stopped before she called the Ice Hotel—a
hotel, no less—a hell hole again.
“Actually, I think you will find the experience
exhilarating.” Seven’s eyes challenged Janeway. “Sleeping on
reindeer skins in a room of ice is not something I would
have thought remarkable—but it is.”
Suddenly mesmerized with the opportunity to experience
something Seven considered remarkable, Janeway relented.
“All right. Since Voyager is undergoing repairs anyway…why
not. We won’t risk meeting too many natives while cooped up
in an icy room, so that’s a plus.”
“A plus,” Seven said matter-of-fact and nodded. “A most
definite plus.”
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