"Seven's Secret"

When Neelix had initially proposed it, most of the crew thought that  it was a
great idea.  Voyager had been traveling through a particularly empty patch of
space; there were a  lot of planets, with a lot of natural resources, but
almost none of them were host to intelligent life. The  largest life form
found on any of the planets had been a cross between  a primate and a cat. 

Each person was to be assigned another, at random.  Neelix offered  to take
care of the details, and to  notify each crewmember of the identity of their
secret pal.  Once  notified, the 'Secret Friend,' as Neelix  called them, was
free to send notes, messages and gifts to their designated recipient
anonymously.  The idea  was to boost morale, and to keep the crew from
becoming too bored.  With a few exceptions, Neelix's suggestion was met with
enthusiasm. 

One of the exceptions was Seven of Nine.  "I do not understand the purpose of
this...what did you call it?  Secret Friend?  Would it not be more effective
to simply give the needed support openly?" 

Neelix shook his head, and smiled at Seven as he said, "Who gives the gift or
note isn't important.  What is  important is the gift itself and the
anonymity.  It gives the giver a chance to help a fellow crewmember, and it
gives the receiver a little pick-me up.  It forces the crew to get to know
more about someone else, and it helps to form new friendships.  Are you going
to participate?"

"Friendships are irrelevant.  I will not be participating."  Seven turned on
her heel, and exited the mess hall.

Neelix watched her leave, and then tapped his combadge, and spoke into it for
a few brief moments, before turning back into his kitchenette to finish
preparing lunch.

*****

"EMH to Seven of Nine."

Seven of Nine continued to work on modifying the lateral sensor array as she
answered, "Yes, Doctor.   What is it?"

"I wish to speak to you in Sickbay.  Please report to me in one hour.  EMH
out."

Seven was slightly puzzled.  For what purpose could the Doctor wish to speak
to her? Accessing her log,  she noted that she was not due for a checkup for
another 73.5 hours.  After several minutes of careful thought, Seven decided
that further speculation would be inefficient, and she turned back to her
work.

  *****

At the appointed time the doors of Sickbay opened, and Seven of Nine entered.

  "Ahhh, Seven.  I'm glad that you could join me.  I'll get right to the point
since you think that chitchat is irrelevant.  I've been told, by Mr. Neelix,
that you have decided to not participate in the Secret Friend  program.  Would
you care to explain why?"

Seven's nose wrinkled in distaste, and her mouth set in a tight line.  She
contemplated not answering.   Seeing the Doctor's expression, she decided that
the most expedient course of action would be to answer his  question, so that
she could return to her duties in Astrometrics.  "I feel that it would be a
waste of personal time.  I have no desire to make friends, as I have not found
many of this crew to be open to my overtures."

"So you feel that it would not be in your best interests to court a new
friendship with a member of this crew, even anonymously?"

"That is what I said.  I have friends enough already.  You and Ensign Kim and
Commander Tuvok and the  Captain are my friends."  Seven accessed what the
Doctor had been teaching her, and decided that the  conversation was finished.
"Since there is no further point in continuing this conversation, I will
return to my duties."

"Seven, wait.  Do you trust me?"  When she nodded yes, he continued with, "I
feel that this is an excellent  opportunity for you to grow, and to better
understand humanity.  I am encouraging you to participate."

A rapid overview of her options told Seven that the Doctor would lecture her
about this issue until she either said yes, or lost her temper.  Since losing
her temper was counterproductive, she chose to give way now rather than later.
"I will participate.  How will I know who my ‘Secret Friend' is?"

"Neelix sent the name to your personal terminal.  He said that you will be
able to access it by using the code Omega-Epsilon Seven."

Seven nodded her understanding and turned to leave the room.  The Doctor
called to her, and she stopped  to listen as he said, "Have fun."  Her right
eyebrow raised in reflection of her doubts, and she continued on.

*****

Seven forgot about her promise to the doctor until she returned to the cargo
bay to regenerate.  A light on  her console was blinking, indicating that she
had a message.  She activated the terminal and read her  messages; when she
came to the coded message from Neelix, she  remembered her earlier
conversation with  the EMH, and she entered the code.  Neelix's happy face
came onto the screen, and he prattled about how  happy he was that she had
decided to participate.  Just as Seven was ready to terminate the message so
that  she wouldn't have to listen to his annoying voice, Neelix revealed the
identity of her secret friend: Ensign Harry Kim. 

Seven stood there for a moment contemplating her predicament.  She did not
want participate in this unproductive activity in the first place.  Now she
had to find or create a gift to give Ensign Kim.  It was either this or a
message, maybe a note.  But Seven concluded that since she lacked the
knowledge of conversation that the other crewmembers had, her identity would
be given away too easily.  And, as Neelix pointed out, the giver's identity is
to remain anonymous. 

A moment of conflicting thoughts subsided as she came to the realization of
the further irrelevance of this activity.  As the Doctor had said, the purpose
of this was for her to make a new friend.  She was already friends with Ensign
Kim.  This defeated the purpose. 

She thought about this for a minute before she realized that as Ensign Kim's
friend, she already has some insight into what might boost his morale.  This
would make it slightly easier for her.  But what exactly could she give him?
She thought yet again.  When she could not reach any conclusion she became
perplexed.  However, this could wait until later.  She needed to regenerate in
her alcove.

*****

Seven entered the Astrometrics Lab only to find Ensign Kim crouched by a
panel.  It appeared that he did not hear her come in for it was his custom to
always acknowledge her presence and greet her.  He did not even turn to see
who it was. 

"Good morning, Ensign." Seven finally said, a little harshness in her voice. 

Harry jumped at her greeting as he turned around.  He swallowed hard.  "Good
morning, Seven.  What are you doing here?" 

Seven found this to be a rather stupid question.  "I am supposed to run a
maintenance check on the Astrometrics Lab." she said bluntly. 

"Oh.  Well, looks like I beat you to it." 

Seven was annoyed as her suspicions were revealed true. 

"I couldn't sleep last night and so I came down here." Harry confessed.  "I
guess I just lost track of the time, that's all." sighed a tired Harry as he
looked up at Seven and rubbed his brow.  Seeing her annoyance made him feel
even worse than he already felt.  "Don't worry, I didn't even get halfway
through.  There's still plenty for you to do." he comforted. 

After a brief pause Harry began to rub his shoulder a bit and said warily,
"Computer: time." 

"The time is zero five-hundred, twenty-six hours." chimed the computer. 

Harry sighed again as the hand on his shoulder dropped.  "I guess I should get
something to eat before my duty shift on the Bridge." 

"That would be wise." 

Harry slowly got up and when risen gave a short soft moan. 

He was tired, it was obvious, and Seven couldn't help but wonder why he said
he could not sleep when it seemed as though he would collapse any second.  But
he was already leaving and she did not wish to keep him from his breakfast. 

"I will see you later, then." 

"Yeah.  See you later." Harry mumbled as he handed Seven a padd then passed
her and exited. 

Seven stood there for a moment, wondering what kept him from sleeping.  But
she soon began her work, starting where the tired Harry left off.

***** 

Seven finished up early, as expected.  She was wondering what she could occupy
her time with now, when the question of Harry's gift came to mind. She did
not know what would be appropriate. 

Seven exited the Astrometrics Lab and headed for the Mess Hall.  She knew
she's find Neelix there preparing lunch. 

"Neelix." she said acknowledging the ever-happy cook when she entered. 

"Seven!  How are you today?" 

"I am fine." 

"Well, what brings you here?  Come for an early lunch?" 

"I did not." Seven answered. 

"Well, why did you come then?" 

"I am....having difficulty choosing a gift for Ensign Kim.  I am unaccustomed
with these activities and am not sure what would be appropriate." 

"Hm...." Neelix fathomed.  "Why a gift?  You could just send him a friendly
message or a note..." 

"That is not an option.  My identity would be given away too easily." 

"Oh."  Neelix thought some more.  "You and Ensign Kim are already friends, are
you not?" 

"Yes, we are." Seven said not seeing the relevancy. 

"Well, do you know of anything that he needs or wants?" 

Seven thought about this.  "I do not," was her conclusion.  "I will ask him
the next time I see him."  Seven turned and began to exit. 

"Oh, no!  Don't do that!" Neelix said coming out from behind the counter to
stop her. 

Seven stopped.  "Asking Ensign Kim would let me know what he would like as a
gift." 

"Yes, but then he'll know that you're his Secret Friend!" 

Seven thought again.  "How can I know what he wants if I do not ask." 

Now it was Neelix's turn to ponder.  "Why don't you give him something from
your heart," was his final suggestion. 

"An aorta, perhaps?" Seven joked.  It took Neelix a moment but he did
eventually laugh. 

"No, no, no." he said with a smile.  "Something that you think he would like.
Something that you want to give him." 

Seven paused as she pondered this new idea.  "But what if he does not like the
gift that I choose?" 

"Oh, I'm sure he will." Neelix quickly responded. 

"But if he does not..." Seven persisted. 

"Well, that's just part of the risk, I guess.  But I'm sure he'll be happy
with anything.  And besides, he won't know it was you.  You have nothing to
fear." 

"I do not fear this, I am just uncertain about what to give him." 

"Something from your heart.  Something from your heart." Neelix repeated.
Seven saw this as acceptable.  It did not answer her question but it did give
her a direction to follow. 

"Thank you, Neelix.  You've been a great help." 

"Glad to be of service, Seven!" he said as he took a step back towards his
kitchen.  "And if you ever need any more advice, you know where to look." he
said smiling. 

Seven slightly nodded, then left.  She headed back to Cargo Bay 2 to think
about what Harry might like. 
 
 
 

Seven stood by the replicator in Borg Bay, as her shipmates dubbed it, and
pondered her gift to Harry. From the information in the cultural database, a
gift should be an item the recipient would either not think to obtain for
themselves or were unable to. 

As Harry was frequently low on replicator rations, Seven thought, there were
many things he could not afford to replicate for himself. The difficulty was
choosing from  the many items he might desire, then covering her tracks.  As
for the first problem, she decided looking over the Federation history of
gift-giving, a box of chocolates would be both anonymous and welcome. In the
mess hall, Harry had frequently lamented the quality of Delta Quadrant
deserts, describing the Earth substance of primitive origins as the epitome of
sweets. He had replicated a small amount as an example. She found it overly
rich, and Harry had, after much hesitation, eaten her share. She could tell
from his physiological reaction that he found the experience pleasant.

As Neelix had stressed the importance of anonymity, she realized she would
need to be most careful in concealing the origin of the gift. Since Harry
shared her insatiable curiosity, undoubtedly he would attempt to ascertain the
gift's origin. First, she accessed the replicator menu, selecting a semi-fancy
box of chocolates. She didn't choose anything too ration-expensive, since it
was well-known that she was the only crew member with excess rations. 

"This would be an acceptable first gift," she decided.

She accessed the replicator controls, altering it to change the slight
signature replicators always left. When she replicated the gold foil-covered
box, it could have come from any of the ship's replicators. The next problem
would lie in the delivery system. If she left it in front of his door, he
would be able through ship's security sensors, to track who had been by his
door, and determine though that who the giver was. If she used a site-to-site
transport, that could also give her away. Only a few officers possessed the
clearance or technical expertise to get around the necessary clearance.
Captain Janeway, Chakotay, Commander Tuvok, Lieutenant Paris and Lieutenant
Torres qualified in the first category. She knew of perhaps a half-dozen
crewmen who could get around the controls.

Perhaps the trick lay in subterfuge. If she made the gift appear to be from
another crew member, attention would be diverted from her. Seven got to work. 

********

What Seven needed was a diversion.  It was a foregone conclusion that left
alone, Harry would eventually find out who sent him the gift, using all the
resources available to a senior officer.  So Seven got to work, thinking
about what would distract Harry? 

***********

Harry heard his door chime.  "Come in."  There was no response, except the
continued chiming of the door.  "I said, come in!" he said louder, assuming
the person at the door didn't hear him.  But, the door continued to chime. 

Fed up, he went to open the door manually, only to find a small basket of
chocolates waiting on the floor.  "Oh, you," Harry said aloud, thinking it
was his secret friend.  He was about to walk back in to his quarters when  he
noticed another basket of chocolate just appear a few feet away.  He had
sworn it wasn't there a moment before, but the computer told him, "No
transporter activity detected in your area."

He went over to the second basket and picked it up to examine it, but found
only some colored plastic straw and 2 pieces of chocolate.  As he was  about
to walk back to his quarters, he noticed again another basket of  chocolate
appear in front of him, even farther from his quarters.  His  curiosity
gaining the upper hand, he went over again to pick up the basket  of
chocolate, but instead of examining the basket, he looked around for  another
basket to appear.  Sure enough, another basket was just a few feet  farther,
this time in front of the turbolift doors.

Moving over to that basket, the turbolift doors opened, and Harry knew he  was
supposed to go in.  He just had a feeling he'd be meeting his secret  friend
at the end of this particular pursuit.

The turbolift automatically began moving as soon as Harry entered.  He  tried
to ask the computer where he was going, but the computer wouldn't  respond.
While in transit, Harry began to suspect that Seven was behind it  all, and
was quite impressed by her illusive tactics.  He made a point of
complimenting her when he arrived at the end of the 'treasure hunt.'

After the turbolift stopped and opened, Harry looked for another basket of
chocolate, and to no surprise he found one.  He went over to pick it up,  and
began to look for the next one.  By now his hands were getting a bit full of
baskets so he decided to pile all the chocolates in one basket and  stack the
rest of them.  This was easily done as the basket handles were  hinged to
allow them to be folded outwards.

Harry failed to look where he was heading as he looked for the baskets, but
as soon as he found the last one, he realized he was in front of the  holodeck
doors.  For some odd reason, Harry felt a wave of unease come over  him as he
stood in front of the holodeck.  He began to harbor doubts as to  whether
Seven was actually his secret friend since Seven never showed any  interest in
using the holodeck facilities, for anything except duty or  exercise related
activity.  After trying and failing to get an answer from  the computer about
what lay inside the holodeck, Harry decided to just take  a leap of faith and
walk in.

He found the holodeck empty, except for Seven of Nine working at a console. 

"Hey, Seven," he called out to get her attention. 

"Hello, Ensign."

He sighed a breath of relief at seeing everything appearing normal, as  Seven
appeared her normal self, no special outfits, no change in her  appearance, or
her tact.  "Well, I guess I should thank you for your gift  of chocolates." 

"To what gift are you referring?" 

"Oh, come on, Seven.  You were doing so well.  The whole planting of the
baskets to lure me here was a great diversionary tactic.  It got me away  from
using the ship's sensors to find out who my secret friend was.  It was  a heck
of a lot more fun this way." 

"I'm afraid you are mistaken," Seven said as she walked closer to Harry. 

"Seven, the game's up." 

"I'm afraid not," Seven replied, as she moved nose-to-nose to Harry.

A welt of fear bubbled up in Harry as he felt his personal space being
violated. 

"Seven, what are you doing?" he asked as he noticed Seven eyeing  his lips. 

************** 

She raised a hand and gently outlined his mouth with her finger.  Harry froze,
finally he managed to whisper, "Seven what are you doing to me?"

She drew her hand back, "I was attempting to remove a substance from your
lips.  By the scent and texture, I believe it to be chocolate."  She moved her
finger to her lips, her pink tongue lapping out, "Yes, I am correct."

Harry blushed, "I guess I did eat some of the chocolates as I picked them up.
They were delicious.  Seven, I want to thank you for being my Secret--"

Seven cut him off bluntly, "Ensign Kim you are not here to talk about your
Secret Friend."

"I'm not?" Harry asked puzzled.

"You are not," Seven stated firmly.  "You are here because you received the
message I sent to your quarters to meet me at the holodeck."

"I am?  No I'm not," Harry said shaking his head.  "I didn't receive any
messages, unless you count these baskets of chocolate."

"There is a message waiting for you in your quarters from me, asking you to
meet me in the holodeck.  Since you are here I assumed you received the
message."

"All I got was a trail of chocolate to follow.  That's why I'm here."

Seven examined Harry's face closely.  "Ensign Kim you seem to be having
difficulty understanding simple conversation.  Are you ill?  Do you require a
visit to Sickbay?"

Harry hung his head and sighed, "Okay Seven you wore me down.  I'm too tired
to argue with you.  Just tell me why I'm here?"

"Very well," Seven said reaching first to take his baskets.  "You will not
require these items."  She moved to set them down on a console in the control
room and then turned to him.  "As you are aware, the Doctor has been
instructing me in interpersonal skills."  Harry nodded and she continued, "He
believes that it is time for me to run a holoprogram without him.  He
suggested that I choose someone to accompany me.  I chose you, is that
acceptable?"

"Seven, I'm honored.  Thank you."

"You are welcome," she responded gravely.  "There are a great many
holoprograms to choose from."

Harry agreed, "Just recreational programs run into the thousands.  What did
you choose?"

Seven looked into his eyes as if studying him and then reached out to touch a
control button.  Instantly the gridlined holodeck changed into an outdoor
landscape.  Harry eyes moved over the setting.  It was dusk, they were on a
narrow beach that appeared to be composed of crystalline sand.  Behind them he
saw that the beach was lined by trees that resembled conifers, surrounding the
trees were bamboo-like plants that rustled melodically in the slight breeze.

"Where are we?" Harry asked softly.

"You do not recognize this place?  I am surprised by this, since you once
invited me here."

Suddenly realization hit, Harry felt the icy fingers of embarrassment travel
up his spine. "The Ktarian homeworld," he breathed.

"That is correct, and I believe we should move to a better vantage point to
observe the moonrise which should begin shortly."  Seven began to walk toward
an open area on the beach. 

Harry followed.  He distinctly remembered the events that had occurred when he
had invited Seven to watch the 'Ktarian Moonrise' simulation.  Had she
activated this program purposely to throw him off balance?  Had she simply
used this program because it was the first one she could think of?  Or had she
decided on this program because it was one 'he' had invited her to share with
him.  He wanted to think it was the latter, but Seven was still such an
enigma.  He had gotten the impression lately that she played with him and not
always in a good way. 

"Is this area acceptable?" Seven asked. 

"This should be fine.  We should go over to that hammock thing over there to
observe the moonrise," Harry explained, walking toward it.  He looked at the
hammock curiously.  The last time he had used a similar program there had been
several single hammocks scattered over the beach.  This was a larger version,
undoubtedly meant for two people.  He turned to his companion, "Seven which
moonrise program is this?  It's not familiar to me."

"There were five different moonrise simulations to choose from.  I consulted
Lieutenant Paris as to which program he favored, he gave me the authorization
to use his simulation."

Harry grimaced, "Your saying this is Tom's personal program?"

"It is, he also gave me this Padd with his selected musical choices to
accompany the simulation."

"I bet he did," Harry said shortly.  "Well, that explains the hammock built
for two, we can both sit in it, or I could have two singles replicated if
you'd like."

"I see no reason to replicate additional seating.  However, as I am unfamiliar
with this form of reclining perhaps you would enter it first?"

"Sure," Harry said moving to the other side and easing his way in. 

Seven awkwardly attempted to sit down, misjudging the swinging of the hammock
she would have fallen if Harry had not grabbed her arm and pulled her next to
him.  She lay stiffly, without speaking.

Trying not to laugh, Harry said, "Relax Seven, you look like your getting
ready for an interrogation."

"I am unaccustomed to reclining for purposes of relaxation," she responded
coldly.

"I know.  I'm sorry," Harry said.  "Lets just look at the sky for a while." 

They watched the shadows lengthen around them as the Ktarian sun quickly set.
Then the moon in its brilliance appeared to rise majestically out of the sea.

Seven asked, "I am curious as to why there were so many of the same moonrise
program?"

Harry answered, "The Ktarian moon is kind of special and I guess there are
lots of different ways to enjoy it."

"Explain."

"The Terran members of the crew like it because of the color."

"The moon is blue," Seven said slowly.

"Exactly," Harry grinned, "There is a saying on Earth, 'once in a blue moon.'
It means something that doesn't happen very often, if ever.  On Earth,
sometimes the moon looks blue, but its just a trick of light.  I guess it was
kind of special when we found out that the Ktarian moon really was blue.  Kind
of like fairytales coming to life."

"I see," Seven said, "This explains the songs on Lieutenant Paris' Padd."

"Let me see that," Harry said.  He looked it over smiling, and then recited
the names.  "Does That Blue Moon Ever Shine On You, When My Blue Moon Turns To
Gold Again, Blue Moon Of Kentucky, Once In A Blue Moon.  All these songs were
written hundreds of years before anyone ever heard of Ktaria.  I know this
one, I'll play them all for you, " he said, as he pressed a button on the
Padd.

They lay side by side, Harry feeling the old music fill and relax him, Seven
trying to absorb the music the way that Harry seemed to be able to.  Finally
they heard...

Blue moon,
You saw me standing alone,
Without a dream in my heart,
Without a love of my own.

Blue moon,
You knew just what I was there for.
You heard me saying a pray for
Someone I really could care for.

Blue moon,
You saw me standing alone,
Without a dream in my heart,
Without a love of my own.

Blue moon...

The song  had caused Seven to feel emotions she was not familiar with.  She
felt sadness and happiness at the same time.  It did not seem possible that
two such opposite emotions could be present together.  Harry would explain it
to her.  She turned to ask him the significance of this event, and then smiled
at the sight of him sleeping peacefully beside her.  She remembered something
she had seen Lieutenant Torres do to Lieutenant Paris, and softly brushed the
hair off his forehead.  She thought about how tired he had been and how he had
admitted that he hadn't been sleeping well lately.  She then thought of a
another gift she could give him.

***********

RiF Round Robin Continued HERE