Part 30
A small island rises from the Pacific, the sun behind it, well on its way up the sky for its daily run. A flock of birds sits on a rocky outcropping, and the scene is one of tranquility that is deserving of a postcard.
A shrill voice rings out, and the birds take flight, and the air seems decidedly less calm than it had been.
“It’s gonna take a lot to drag me awaaaaay from you," Starbuck sang. "There's nothing that a hundred men or more could ever doooooo." She and Lara lay on blankets on the roof of Crossroads Facility, dressed in bikinis with sunglasses, soaking up the sun. "I bless the rains down in Caprica... gonna take some time to do the things we never haaaaad."
"Kara," Lara said without opening her eyes. "I love you. Do shut the fuck up."
Starbuck scoffed. "That song is a classic where I come from."
"I think it should have stayed there," Lara said.
"Hmph," Starbuck said indignantly. "You just have no taste, that's the problem."
Lara raised her sunglasses. "What?" She sat up. "What did you say?"
"I just- yah!" she cried as Lara pounced on her, pinning her arms down with her legs.
"I have impeccable taste," Lara said.
"Yes, you do," Starbuck said. "You go out with me, after all." She shrieked as Lara dug her fingers into Kara's ribs. "You have good taste you have good taste you have good taste get off get off get off!"
"Oh no," Lara said, "You're not getting out of this that easily."
"No Lara!" Starbuck begged. “Not like this!" Her body was covered in tanning oils, which only made all the tickling even more intense.
"You should have thought of that before you impugned my sense of taste," Lara rebuked, digging her nails into Starbuck's ribcage. With the oil she was able to easily slide them up and down over the humps of each rib, all the way up to her armpits and back down again.
"OH GODS! HAHAHAHA!! NO LARA PLEASE! HAHAHAHA! MERCY MERCY MERCY! WA-HAHAHA!!!"
“No mercy," Lara said with a sinister grin. "Not this time." She ran her nails slowly up and down Starbucks ribs until Kara was kicking her legs with laughter.
Lara drew her nails back up the trembling ribs again, but this time she didn't stop. She ran her nails right into Starbuck's underarms and began scratching away. Kara's laughter intensified as the nails danced over the smooth skin moving rapidly and randomly over her armpits. It wasn't long and Starbuck looked like she'd forgotten to wear anything for the sun, because she was very red. "Oh stop..." she said breathlessly. "No more Lara. Ha ha ha ha no more!"
"Oh please, you can take far more than this," Lara teased, moving her fingers in little circles around Kara's armpits. Starbuck immediately got her breath back, because she wailed and fought to escape. But Lara had her too well pinned to let that happen.
"Oh gods! Please, Lara, hahaha I'm begging you!"
Lara sighed and stopped for a moment while Starbuck got her breath back. "You're getting soft," she teased.
"With everything that's happened to me here," Starbuck said, "it's a wonder I haven't already gone frakin' nuts. What are you doing?"
"Oh, nothing," Lara said, even as she took hold of Starbuck's bikini top and peeled it up, letting her breasts bounce free.
"Lara!" Starbuck chastised, "People can see me out here!"
"Oh, who's going to see?" Lara asked. "And besides, I've got plans here." She leaned down and pinched Kara's nipples a few times, causing her to giggle. She began lightly scratching and teasing, and Kara began to chuckle, and then laugh."
"Get off!" Kara said, laughing, but Lara continued to tickle her nipples while she squirmed around.
"You love this," Lara said.
"No I don't!"
"Liar." Lara kept it up. "You do love this."
"Get off!!!"
Lara kept up her delicate stroking. "Well?"
"Hahahah! Yes!" Kara finally admitted.
"Now that's my good girl," Lara said, and she stopped and climbed of the gasping Starbuck. She came around and laid alongside her and began kissing. "Now, who knows best?"
"You do," Kara said, and began kissing her right back.
--------------------------------------------------------------
Mara was lying back on the bed when Seven dropped in between her legs facing away from her. "Do you need something?" Mara asked. Without a word, Seven took up Mara's left foot and began tickling it, causing Mara to immediately begin laughing and struggling to escape. "Stop it!" she cried, trying to squirm away.
"I cannot," Seven said, scratching delicately over the helpless sole. "I should get the chance to make up for our lost time."
Mara squealed. "Danoob didn't play with me!" she protested. "It was punishment!"
"Irrelevant. You are mine to tickle. Mine." She began working over the instep -one of Mara's worse spots- causing her to lurch up and try to pull herself away. "No one else may have my Mara."
Mara laughed, ground her teeth, and grabbed Seven's ribs. Seven immediately burst out laughing. "Let go!" Mara said, tickling Seven's ribs as much as she could. Seven shook and sputtered, but her grip didn't wane even a little.
"You cannot hope to win, Mara Jade," Seven tried to say in her stern voice, but it was impossible for her to stop laughing. "Surrender now, and I promise to be merciful."
Mara could hardly see through the tears, but she worked her way down to Seven's flanks, kneading her sensitive pale flesh. "Stuff your mercy! Hahahaha!!!"
Seven could hardly contain herself, but she attacked the foot with renewed determination, holding the toes back to stretch it out, and running her hands up and down like she was strumming a guitar. "You will fall, Mara Jade," she managed to get out before a laughing fit overwhelmed her.
Mara was roaring, and her hands slipped off and she flopped back for a moment. Finally, pulling herself up, she grabbed Seven between the shoulder and scratched at her collarbones. Seven immediately tried to withdraw her head like a turtle, but she couldn't escape, and was soon bellowing with laughter. "Give it up, Seven! Hahahaha! You're never going to outlast me!"
"He-he, he-he, he-he, never!" Seven said, overcome by a snickering fit that turned into full-blown laughing again.
Seven went to the toes, worming her fingers in between despite how much Mara clenched them. Mara was fighting like mad now, but Seven wriggled her fingers in there, feeling her quake with each movement of her hand. Mara, not to be outdone, switched from the collarbones and began going up and down Seven's back. That was something completely new and unexpected, and so Seven jumped. During the brief surprise Mara's foot came free and she pulled it back, then in triumph shoved and knocked Seven face down. Mara laid on her back and began tickling mercilessly up and down her sides, flanks and ribs both, while Seven laughed feverishly. "You're beaten!" Mara crowed. "Surrender, and your punishment will be light."
Seven was laughing wildly, but nevertheless defiant. "I am Borg, we do not surrender!" She turned crimson by now, however, and soon Mara relented and pulled her up. Seven wiped the tears from her face and beamed as she looked into her eyes.
"You're so much fun," Mara said, and hugged her close.
"As are you," Seven said, and laid Mara back on the bed. She gently rubbed Mara's body, and her touch felt so nice, so relaxing. Mara moaned a little and stroked Seven's arm and shoulder before the Borg girl slid further down and opened Mara's legs. She felt the familiar and wonderful sensations of her lips at work, and Mara sighed with happiness. The experience never lost any of its luster; she always managed to make it even more wonderful than the last time. And when Mara climaxed, she whispered Seven's name over and over, if only to remind herself that all the happiness in the universe begins with her.
--------------------------------------------------------------
Mara, Seven, Lara, and Starbuck all sat around the table in the briefing room where Seven and Lara had had their unpleasant confrontation. Fortunately there was no sign of trouble. They didn't speak to each other, but there was no sign of hostility, so that was good enough.
Ms. Danoob came in and took a seat, looking over a clipboard. "Pardon me," she said, "things are very hectic with the new reactor handling things." She put the clipboard down. "I see Mara has trained you all on the use of the new blasters," she said, "so it seems we're ready for our first genuine field assignment."
"And haven't we been looking forward to that," Starbuck said under her breath.
"Seven," Ms. Danoob said, turning to her, "I see that there were many things you were able to do on Voyager thanks to the presence of a Borg alcove. Everything from complex analyses to the rapid assimilation of knowledge."
"Yes," Seven said. "Though the latter resulted in information overload."
"Yes, but I think for the relatively small amounts of data we have it would be an ideal way to quickly fill you in on detailed operations."
Seven considered. "Yes," she said, "but the lack of an alcove makes the point moot. Borg technology is far beyond anything I have to work with here. You would be asking me to build a working rocket with nothing but wood and stone."
"I concede that the Borg far exceed our technology," Ms. Danoob said. "You are proof enough of that. Therefore, there's only one course of action left: we must take an alcove ourselves."
Seven's eyes widened in horror. "That would be impossible."
"I don't think so," Ms. Danoob said. "The Borg will ignore you, yes? They ignore anything that isn't a threat."
"And removing Borg technology would be perceived as a threat," Seven said firmly. "We would all be immediately targeted for elimination or assimilation."
"What if we found a broken vessel?" Ms. Danoob asked. "Accidents happen sometimes; we could take one from there."
"It's too great a risk for so small a gain," Seven said. "The Borg are extremely dangerous, and should not be trifled with."
"We just have to be careful, Seven," Ms. Danoob said.
"My parents said the same thing," Seven said sharply. "And because of that I was assimilated."
"The Borg will have no way to find us once we've left," Ms. Danoob said.
"You don't know that," Seven said sharply. "The Borg are highly-adaptive; if they found out how you reached them, they may be able to come back and assimilate this entire facility. The Borg with this power is too terrible to even think about."
"I'm willing to take that risk," Ms. Danoob said. "Mara, I'd like you to have your group prepped and ready by tomorrow; I'll have my people look for a suitable target."
"This is a mistake," Seven said firmly. "You risk all of us, everything."
Ms. Danoob stared at her for a time. "Seven, Thomas Wolfe was wrong."
"What?"
"You can go home again," she replied. "I understand your fear of the Borg-"
"I fear them because I understand them," Seven said."
"Nevertheless, you're going home to the old collective. And when we're done, we'll have a better understanding of how Borg technology works."
"Yes," Seven said bitterly. "I only hope it is not that we have all become drones."
A small island rises from the Pacific, the sun behind it, well on its way up the sky for its daily run. A flock of birds sits on a rocky outcropping, and the scene is one of tranquility that is deserving of a postcard.
A shrill voice rings out, and the birds take flight, and the air seems decidedly less calm than it had been.
“It’s gonna take a lot to drag me awaaaaay from you," Starbuck sang. "There's nothing that a hundred men or more could ever doooooo." She and Lara lay on blankets on the roof of Crossroads Facility, dressed in bikinis with sunglasses, soaking up the sun. "I bless the rains down in Caprica... gonna take some time to do the things we never haaaaad."
"Kara," Lara said without opening her eyes. "I love you. Do shut the fuck up."
Starbuck scoffed. "That song is a classic where I come from."
"I think it should have stayed there," Lara said.
"Hmph," Starbuck said indignantly. "You just have no taste, that's the problem."
Lara raised her sunglasses. "What?" She sat up. "What did you say?"
"I just- yah!" she cried as Lara pounced on her, pinning her arms down with her legs.
"I have impeccable taste," Lara said.
"Yes, you do," Starbuck said. "You go out with me, after all." She shrieked as Lara dug her fingers into Kara's ribs. "You have good taste you have good taste you have good taste get off get off get off!"
"Oh no," Lara said, "You're not getting out of this that easily."
"No Lara!" Starbuck begged. “Not like this!" Her body was covered in tanning oils, which only made all the tickling even more intense.
"You should have thought of that before you impugned my sense of taste," Lara rebuked, digging her nails into Starbuck's ribcage. With the oil she was able to easily slide them up and down over the humps of each rib, all the way up to her armpits and back down again.
"OH GODS! HAHAHAHA!! NO LARA PLEASE! HAHAHAHA! MERCY MERCY MERCY! WA-HAHAHA!!!"
“No mercy," Lara said with a sinister grin. "Not this time." She ran her nails slowly up and down Starbucks ribs until Kara was kicking her legs with laughter.
Lara drew her nails back up the trembling ribs again, but this time she didn't stop. She ran her nails right into Starbuck's underarms and began scratching away. Kara's laughter intensified as the nails danced over the smooth skin moving rapidly and randomly over her armpits. It wasn't long and Starbuck looked like she'd forgotten to wear anything for the sun, because she was very red. "Oh stop..." she said breathlessly. "No more Lara. Ha ha ha ha no more!"
"Oh please, you can take far more than this," Lara teased, moving her fingers in little circles around Kara's armpits. Starbuck immediately got her breath back, because she wailed and fought to escape. But Lara had her too well pinned to let that happen.
"Oh gods! Please, Lara, hahaha I'm begging you!"
Lara sighed and stopped for a moment while Starbuck got her breath back. "You're getting soft," she teased.
"With everything that's happened to me here," Starbuck said, "it's a wonder I haven't already gone frakin' nuts. What are you doing?"
"Oh, nothing," Lara said, even as she took hold of Starbuck's bikini top and peeled it up, letting her breasts bounce free.
"Lara!" Starbuck chastised, "People can see me out here!"
"Oh, who's going to see?" Lara asked. "And besides, I've got plans here." She leaned down and pinched Kara's nipples a few times, causing her to giggle. She began lightly scratching and teasing, and Kara began to chuckle, and then laugh."
"Get off!" Kara said, laughing, but Lara continued to tickle her nipples while she squirmed around.
"You love this," Lara said.
"No I don't!"
"Liar." Lara kept it up. "You do love this."
"Get off!!!"
Lara kept up her delicate stroking. "Well?"
"Hahahah! Yes!" Kara finally admitted.
"Now that's my good girl," Lara said, and she stopped and climbed of the gasping Starbuck. She came around and laid alongside her and began kissing. "Now, who knows best?"
"You do," Kara said, and began kissing her right back.
--------------------------------------------------------------
Mara was lying back on the bed when Seven dropped in between her legs facing away from her. "Do you need something?" Mara asked. Without a word, Seven took up Mara's left foot and began tickling it, causing Mara to immediately begin laughing and struggling to escape. "Stop it!" she cried, trying to squirm away.
"I cannot," Seven said, scratching delicately over the helpless sole. "I should get the chance to make up for our lost time."
Mara squealed. "Danoob didn't play with me!" she protested. "It was punishment!"
"Irrelevant. You are mine to tickle. Mine." She began working over the instep -one of Mara's worse spots- causing her to lurch up and try to pull herself away. "No one else may have my Mara."
Mara laughed, ground her teeth, and grabbed Seven's ribs. Seven immediately burst out laughing. "Let go!" Mara said, tickling Seven's ribs as much as she could. Seven shook and sputtered, but her grip didn't wane even a little.
"You cannot hope to win, Mara Jade," Seven tried to say in her stern voice, but it was impossible for her to stop laughing. "Surrender now, and I promise to be merciful."
Mara could hardly see through the tears, but she worked her way down to Seven's flanks, kneading her sensitive pale flesh. "Stuff your mercy! Hahahaha!!!"
Seven could hardly contain herself, but she attacked the foot with renewed determination, holding the toes back to stretch it out, and running her hands up and down like she was strumming a guitar. "You will fall, Mara Jade," she managed to get out before a laughing fit overwhelmed her.
Mara was roaring, and her hands slipped off and she flopped back for a moment. Finally, pulling herself up, she grabbed Seven between the shoulder and scratched at her collarbones. Seven immediately tried to withdraw her head like a turtle, but she couldn't escape, and was soon bellowing with laughter. "Give it up, Seven! Hahahaha! You're never going to outlast me!"
"He-he, he-he, he-he, never!" Seven said, overcome by a snickering fit that turned into full-blown laughing again.
Seven went to the toes, worming her fingers in between despite how much Mara clenched them. Mara was fighting like mad now, but Seven wriggled her fingers in there, feeling her quake with each movement of her hand. Mara, not to be outdone, switched from the collarbones and began going up and down Seven's back. That was something completely new and unexpected, and so Seven jumped. During the brief surprise Mara's foot came free and she pulled it back, then in triumph shoved and knocked Seven face down. Mara laid on her back and began tickling mercilessly up and down her sides, flanks and ribs both, while Seven laughed feverishly. "You're beaten!" Mara crowed. "Surrender, and your punishment will be light."
Seven was laughing wildly, but nevertheless defiant. "I am Borg, we do not surrender!" She turned crimson by now, however, and soon Mara relented and pulled her up. Seven wiped the tears from her face and beamed as she looked into her eyes.
"You're so much fun," Mara said, and hugged her close.
"As are you," Seven said, and laid Mara back on the bed. She gently rubbed Mara's body, and her touch felt so nice, so relaxing. Mara moaned a little and stroked Seven's arm and shoulder before the Borg girl slid further down and opened Mara's legs. She felt the familiar and wonderful sensations of her lips at work, and Mara sighed with happiness. The experience never lost any of its luster; she always managed to make it even more wonderful than the last time. And when Mara climaxed, she whispered Seven's name over and over, if only to remind herself that all the happiness in the universe begins with her.
--------------------------------------------------------------
Mara, Seven, Lara, and Starbuck all sat around the table in the briefing room where Seven and Lara had had their unpleasant confrontation. Fortunately there was no sign of trouble. They didn't speak to each other, but there was no sign of hostility, so that was good enough.
Ms. Danoob came in and took a seat, looking over a clipboard. "Pardon me," she said, "things are very hectic with the new reactor handling things." She put the clipboard down. "I see Mara has trained you all on the use of the new blasters," she said, "so it seems we're ready for our first genuine field assignment."
"And haven't we been looking forward to that," Starbuck said under her breath.
"Seven," Ms. Danoob said, turning to her, "I see that there were many things you were able to do on Voyager thanks to the presence of a Borg alcove. Everything from complex analyses to the rapid assimilation of knowledge."
"Yes," Seven said. "Though the latter resulted in information overload."
"Yes, but I think for the relatively small amounts of data we have it would be an ideal way to quickly fill you in on detailed operations."
Seven considered. "Yes," she said, "but the lack of an alcove makes the point moot. Borg technology is far beyond anything I have to work with here. You would be asking me to build a working rocket with nothing but wood and stone."
"I concede that the Borg far exceed our technology," Ms. Danoob said. "You are proof enough of that. Therefore, there's only one course of action left: we must take an alcove ourselves."
Seven's eyes widened in horror. "That would be impossible."
"I don't think so," Ms. Danoob said. "The Borg will ignore you, yes? They ignore anything that isn't a threat."
"And removing Borg technology would be perceived as a threat," Seven said firmly. "We would all be immediately targeted for elimination or assimilation."
"What if we found a broken vessel?" Ms. Danoob asked. "Accidents happen sometimes; we could take one from there."
"It's too great a risk for so small a gain," Seven said. "The Borg are extremely dangerous, and should not be trifled with."
"We just have to be careful, Seven," Ms. Danoob said.
"My parents said the same thing," Seven said sharply. "And because of that I was assimilated."
"The Borg will have no way to find us once we've left," Ms. Danoob said.
"You don't know that," Seven said sharply. "The Borg are highly-adaptive; if they found out how you reached them, they may be able to come back and assimilate this entire facility. The Borg with this power is too terrible to even think about."
"I'm willing to take that risk," Ms. Danoob said. "Mara, I'd like you to have your group prepped and ready by tomorrow; I'll have my people look for a suitable target."
"This is a mistake," Seven said firmly. "You risk all of us, everything."
Ms. Danoob stared at her for a time. "Seven, Thomas Wolfe was wrong."
"What?"
"You can go home again," she replied. "I understand your fear of the Borg-"
"I fear them because I understand them," Seven said."
"Nevertheless, you're going home to the old collective. And when we're done, we'll have a better understanding of how Borg technology works."
"Yes," Seven said bitterly. "I only hope it is not that we have all become drones."
