Part 32
Five fingernails touched the bottom of each buttock, where each cheek met the leg. Slowly they were drawn forward, running over the curves, gently stroking the flesh as they went. Muffled snickering was heard. A second gesture, and the snickering became laughter. A third pass, and it wasn't so muffled. "No! Find another spot, please! Hahahahaha!!!"
"Now now," Mara said, running her nails over Seven's butt once again, "you have to take your medicine." A fifth time, and Seven had dropped her face back into the pillow again, laughing away as Mara teased her rear end. "You scared me to death in there."
"Hahahaha It wasn't hahaha my idea hahaha to go!" Seven protested.
"Details, mere details," Mara said, never breaking in her rhythm. "You should know better than to argue when you're being punished. Right?" Seven didn't answer, she was too busy laughing. "Right?" Mara stopped halfway over her trip, so that her nails rested at the crest of Seven's behind. She held them there a moment, and then dug in, and Seven shrieked and began pulling at the bonds, laughing wildly while Mara kept it up. Her nails prodded all over her cheeks while Seven could only wail with laughter.
"HEHEHEHAHAHA!!! NO MARA! STOP! WA-HAHAHAHA!!!"
Mara didn't relent even a little. "Just so you know," Mara said, "I won't take any back talk. Now, I think you owe me an apology."
Seven twisted her head sideway and laid against the pillow, eyes screwed shut and face crimson from the tickling and being in this position. "I'M SORRY! HAHAHAHA!!!"
"Better," Mara said, still tickling all over Seven's butt. "What are you sorry about?"
"HAHAHA WHATEVER I DID!"
"Tsk," Mara said, "that's a bit vague. I don't think you've learned your lesson." She began tickling harder, and Seven's laughter rose in pitch and took on a desperate note. Mara grinned sinisterly, relishing each little jerk her touch caused, drinking up Seven's endless laughter. "Have you learned your lesson?"
"BWA-HAHAHA! YES! PLEASE HAHAHA STOP!!!"
Mara eased up and worked back down Seven's cheeks until she reached the back of each thigh. Then she slid one hand between them, the other massaging Seven's cheek. Seven's laughter quickly turned to groans of enjoyment as Mara rubbed all over her most sensitive spots, having learned each in exquisite detail. Mara began delicately pinching her behind, just enough for Seven to giggle while she worked, but she could hear the tone in her voice that said how much she was enjoying this. Hell, even her weak Force abilities she could sense how aroused Seven was, and she closed her eyes and enjoyed the mental impression of Seven's pleasure as it began building towards the inevitable outcome. Mara couldn't help herself, she began teasing herself as well; the feel of Seven's flesh and emotions made it impossible not too. And when Seven finally climaxed, for Mara to hold back would have been like asking water to run uphill.
Mara undid the restraints around Seven's wrists and ankles. "I confess," Seven remarked, "in the wake of this operation, this was a necessary release."
"I'm of the opinion that every release is necessary," Mara said, lying beside Seven. The Borg gave her a kiss, and Mara soon found herself wrapping herself around her. It had been that close... that close to losing Seven forever, and Mara couldn't believe that anything could be worse. Seven had so insinuated herself into her that the mere thought of what could have been only further compelled her to revel in Seven's presence. And when she felt Seven reaching behind and begin tickling Mara's own behind, all Mara did was giggle and offer a better position.
--------------------------------------------------------------
There is, as they say, no rest for the wicked, and since Ms. Danoob was often regarded as a witch to those who worked for her, it was no surprise that she was still working even this late in the evening. She'd already looked over the alcove very carefully. It was truly alien technology. The speeder, the blasters... sure they were advanced and all, but really they were human things. A blaster was a gun taken to its logical technological conclusion, and a speeder was just a car with repulsors instead of wheels. But this... Borg technology was something crafted by a mind that had no use for either of those. A car was too inefficient a means of transport, and a gun could potentially kill targets better assimilated. No, a mind that could dream up this was a mind far removed from humanity, and Ms. Danoob planned to learn it down to the last circuit.
But the alcove, however, would have to wait. Alone in her office at this late hour, she watched the remote recordings of the operation. She saw the Borg adapt, a factor she had considered. Then she saw Mara reach out, one she hadn't considered. The drone perished, but Ms. Danoob ignored it; all there was in the universe was Mara's face, and what it said.
Ms. Danoob never meddled with things she didn't understand. She always rolled up her sleeves and dove into it until she did understand it, so she knew about what the Force was, and how it worked. She knew about Mara's history with it. And she had thought she knew Mara's limits... danger sense, reflexes, but nothing more than that, nothing empathic or telekinetic or anything like the other abilities.
Ms. Danoob tapped her lips as she stared at Mara's face and wondered exactly what this meant. After all this planning and training and manipulation, here was this unpredictable element. Did it represent a boon, or the beginning of Crossroad Facility's end?
--------------------------------------------------------------
Mara laid beside Seven’s sleeping form, still savoring her. She never wanted to leave her side again... and yet, there was a strange pulling she couldn’t explain, but resisting it was like trying not to scratch an itch. Finally, unable to ignore it any longer, Mara got up and walked over to the mirror, staring at her reflection for a time. It stared back, of course... but something about it was wrong... the stare seemed full of malice.
Mara leapt back as her reflection tried to grab her, but the hands bounced off the glass. She stared in horror as fists pounded on it futilely, but it didn't give. Mara stood up and came closer; the reflection fumed at her from behind the glass. "Who are you?" Mara asked quietly, unable to disguise the fear in her voice.
"You already know," the Emperor's Hand said back.
Mara swallowed. "That's over now."
"No!" the Emperor's Hand said. "I clawed my way up too far to stand by and let it come to nothing!"
"It's over," Mara repeated, much louder. "The Emperor's dead."
"But I'm not," the Emperor's Hand said darkly. "I still have everything he gave us tucked away in here."
"No," Mara said with a shake of her head. "When he died, I lost it all."
"Yes," the Emperor's Hand said bitterly, "you did. Not me. You wanted him to die... you wanted the thread between you and him to unravel. You lost your powers because you never really wanted them."
Mara looked down for a moment, then met her gaze. "Maybe you're right... I seem to be doing just fine without you."
The Emperor's Hand laughed; it was an echo of her master's. "That doesn't sound like the woman who killed that drone."
Mara ground her teeth. "Heat of the moment," she said. "I should have thought things through and found a better way to do it."
"So you regret what you did?" the Emperor's Hand scoffed.
"I regret I resorted to that," Mara answered, "and I intend to resist even harder from now on."
"Is that a fact?" the Emperor's Hand asked in a dark and quiet tone. She turned from the glass and walked back across her reflection of the room, to the reflection of the bed where Seven slept. She grabbed the sheet and yanked it off-
A drone lay there. Her skin was gray, her body covered with machinery, her hair gone, her left eye replaced with some kind of optical instrument. She was hideous... and Mara recognized underneath it all who it was. The Emperor's Hand was a reflection of her darkness, and this was the reflection of Seven's.
Seven Of Nine got to her feet, little machine sounds being heard as she did so. "Resistance is futile," she said coldly, and marched towards the glass. She passed through it with ease, and Mara cowered back from the horrific thing. But then Seven Of Nine turned to look at her sleeping counterpart, and moved towards her.
"No!" Mara said, grabbing onto her. "Leave her alone!"
"She will be assimilated," Seven Of Nine said. "She will adapt to service us." And with the slightest gesture she pushed Mara off her and continued. Mara got up, grabbed the chair, and swung, striking her in the back so hard the chair broke to pieces, but still she went on.
"What will you do now?" the Emperor's Hand asked. "How do you plan to save her this time?"
Mara leapt onto the bed and tried rousing Seven before the drone arrived; it was still moving at its snail's pace, but there wasn't much time. "Wake up!" she cried, shaking her furiously. "Seven, get up, now!" She began sobbing a little, still shaking her. "Please Seven... wake up..."
"What are you going to do?" the Emperor's Hand asked again. "Stand there and do nothing."
Mara let out a scream and jumped onto Seven Of Nine, but the drone just tossed her aside. Mara looked up at her, then at the Emperor's Hand. "Stop her," she said. "Now."
The Emperor's Hand gave a half-shrug and knocked on the glass with the back of one knuckle. "You don't want me in there," she said. "Otherwise you wouldn't be working so hard to keep me out."
Mara turned at the sound of Seven's scream; the drone had stuck her with the assimilation tubules, and Mara could already see her changing. She wept quietly where she sat curled up on the floor, until the two women were identical.
"Isn't that sad..." the Emperor's Hand said with a shake of her head. "You hate me more than you love her... what kind of life can you ever have without me?"
Mara eyed her with pure hatred. "Go away," she rumbled.
"Oh, you know I can't go far," the Emperor's Hand said. "And I don't plan on giving up." She offered a horrible smile. "You've finally shown a light on my face for the first time since our master died, and now I know that your fall is inevitable. Sooner or later, you're going to turn to me again, and believe me, you won't be putting me back again." She looked at the frames around the glass and nodded to herself. "Yes... it's all a matter of time, Mara... all a matter of time..."
Five fingernails touched the bottom of each buttock, where each cheek met the leg. Slowly they were drawn forward, running over the curves, gently stroking the flesh as they went. Muffled snickering was heard. A second gesture, and the snickering became laughter. A third pass, and it wasn't so muffled. "No! Find another spot, please! Hahahahaha!!!"
"Now now," Mara said, running her nails over Seven's butt once again, "you have to take your medicine." A fifth time, and Seven had dropped her face back into the pillow again, laughing away as Mara teased her rear end. "You scared me to death in there."
"Hahahaha It wasn't hahaha my idea hahaha to go!" Seven protested.
"Details, mere details," Mara said, never breaking in her rhythm. "You should know better than to argue when you're being punished. Right?" Seven didn't answer, she was too busy laughing. "Right?" Mara stopped halfway over her trip, so that her nails rested at the crest of Seven's behind. She held them there a moment, and then dug in, and Seven shrieked and began pulling at the bonds, laughing wildly while Mara kept it up. Her nails prodded all over her cheeks while Seven could only wail with laughter.
"HEHEHEHAHAHA!!! NO MARA! STOP! WA-HAHAHAHA!!!"
Mara didn't relent even a little. "Just so you know," Mara said, "I won't take any back talk. Now, I think you owe me an apology."
Seven twisted her head sideway and laid against the pillow, eyes screwed shut and face crimson from the tickling and being in this position. "I'M SORRY! HAHAHAHA!!!"
"Better," Mara said, still tickling all over Seven's butt. "What are you sorry about?"
"HAHAHA WHATEVER I DID!"
"Tsk," Mara said, "that's a bit vague. I don't think you've learned your lesson." She began tickling harder, and Seven's laughter rose in pitch and took on a desperate note. Mara grinned sinisterly, relishing each little jerk her touch caused, drinking up Seven's endless laughter. "Have you learned your lesson?"
"BWA-HAHAHA! YES! PLEASE HAHAHA STOP!!!"
Mara eased up and worked back down Seven's cheeks until she reached the back of each thigh. Then she slid one hand between them, the other massaging Seven's cheek. Seven's laughter quickly turned to groans of enjoyment as Mara rubbed all over her most sensitive spots, having learned each in exquisite detail. Mara began delicately pinching her behind, just enough for Seven to giggle while she worked, but she could hear the tone in her voice that said how much she was enjoying this. Hell, even her weak Force abilities she could sense how aroused Seven was, and she closed her eyes and enjoyed the mental impression of Seven's pleasure as it began building towards the inevitable outcome. Mara couldn't help herself, she began teasing herself as well; the feel of Seven's flesh and emotions made it impossible not too. And when Seven finally climaxed, for Mara to hold back would have been like asking water to run uphill.
Mara undid the restraints around Seven's wrists and ankles. "I confess," Seven remarked, "in the wake of this operation, this was a necessary release."
"I'm of the opinion that every release is necessary," Mara said, lying beside Seven. The Borg gave her a kiss, and Mara soon found herself wrapping herself around her. It had been that close... that close to losing Seven forever, and Mara couldn't believe that anything could be worse. Seven had so insinuated herself into her that the mere thought of what could have been only further compelled her to revel in Seven's presence. And when she felt Seven reaching behind and begin tickling Mara's own behind, all Mara did was giggle and offer a better position.
--------------------------------------------------------------
There is, as they say, no rest for the wicked, and since Ms. Danoob was often regarded as a witch to those who worked for her, it was no surprise that she was still working even this late in the evening. She'd already looked over the alcove very carefully. It was truly alien technology. The speeder, the blasters... sure they were advanced and all, but really they were human things. A blaster was a gun taken to its logical technological conclusion, and a speeder was just a car with repulsors instead of wheels. But this... Borg technology was something crafted by a mind that had no use for either of those. A car was too inefficient a means of transport, and a gun could potentially kill targets better assimilated. No, a mind that could dream up this was a mind far removed from humanity, and Ms. Danoob planned to learn it down to the last circuit.
But the alcove, however, would have to wait. Alone in her office at this late hour, she watched the remote recordings of the operation. She saw the Borg adapt, a factor she had considered. Then she saw Mara reach out, one she hadn't considered. The drone perished, but Ms. Danoob ignored it; all there was in the universe was Mara's face, and what it said.
Ms. Danoob never meddled with things she didn't understand. She always rolled up her sleeves and dove into it until she did understand it, so she knew about what the Force was, and how it worked. She knew about Mara's history with it. And she had thought she knew Mara's limits... danger sense, reflexes, but nothing more than that, nothing empathic or telekinetic or anything like the other abilities.
Ms. Danoob tapped her lips as she stared at Mara's face and wondered exactly what this meant. After all this planning and training and manipulation, here was this unpredictable element. Did it represent a boon, or the beginning of Crossroad Facility's end?
--------------------------------------------------------------
Mara laid beside Seven’s sleeping form, still savoring her. She never wanted to leave her side again... and yet, there was a strange pulling she couldn’t explain, but resisting it was like trying not to scratch an itch. Finally, unable to ignore it any longer, Mara got up and walked over to the mirror, staring at her reflection for a time. It stared back, of course... but something about it was wrong... the stare seemed full of malice.
Mara leapt back as her reflection tried to grab her, but the hands bounced off the glass. She stared in horror as fists pounded on it futilely, but it didn't give. Mara stood up and came closer; the reflection fumed at her from behind the glass. "Who are you?" Mara asked quietly, unable to disguise the fear in her voice.
"You already know," the Emperor's Hand said back.
Mara swallowed. "That's over now."
"No!" the Emperor's Hand said. "I clawed my way up too far to stand by and let it come to nothing!"
"It's over," Mara repeated, much louder. "The Emperor's dead."
"But I'm not," the Emperor's Hand said darkly. "I still have everything he gave us tucked away in here."
"No," Mara said with a shake of her head. "When he died, I lost it all."
"Yes," the Emperor's Hand said bitterly, "you did. Not me. You wanted him to die... you wanted the thread between you and him to unravel. You lost your powers because you never really wanted them."
Mara looked down for a moment, then met her gaze. "Maybe you're right... I seem to be doing just fine without you."
The Emperor's Hand laughed; it was an echo of her master's. "That doesn't sound like the woman who killed that drone."
Mara ground her teeth. "Heat of the moment," she said. "I should have thought things through and found a better way to do it."
"So you regret what you did?" the Emperor's Hand scoffed.
"I regret I resorted to that," Mara answered, "and I intend to resist even harder from now on."
"Is that a fact?" the Emperor's Hand asked in a dark and quiet tone. She turned from the glass and walked back across her reflection of the room, to the reflection of the bed where Seven slept. She grabbed the sheet and yanked it off-
A drone lay there. Her skin was gray, her body covered with machinery, her hair gone, her left eye replaced with some kind of optical instrument. She was hideous... and Mara recognized underneath it all who it was. The Emperor's Hand was a reflection of her darkness, and this was the reflection of Seven's.
Seven Of Nine got to her feet, little machine sounds being heard as she did so. "Resistance is futile," she said coldly, and marched towards the glass. She passed through it with ease, and Mara cowered back from the horrific thing. But then Seven Of Nine turned to look at her sleeping counterpart, and moved towards her.
"No!" Mara said, grabbing onto her. "Leave her alone!"
"She will be assimilated," Seven Of Nine said. "She will adapt to service us." And with the slightest gesture she pushed Mara off her and continued. Mara got up, grabbed the chair, and swung, striking her in the back so hard the chair broke to pieces, but still she went on.
"What will you do now?" the Emperor's Hand asked. "How do you plan to save her this time?"
Mara leapt onto the bed and tried rousing Seven before the drone arrived; it was still moving at its snail's pace, but there wasn't much time. "Wake up!" she cried, shaking her furiously. "Seven, get up, now!" She began sobbing a little, still shaking her. "Please Seven... wake up..."
"What are you going to do?" the Emperor's Hand asked again. "Stand there and do nothing."
Mara let out a scream and jumped onto Seven Of Nine, but the drone just tossed her aside. Mara looked up at her, then at the Emperor's Hand. "Stop her," she said. "Now."
The Emperor's Hand gave a half-shrug and knocked on the glass with the back of one knuckle. "You don't want me in there," she said. "Otherwise you wouldn't be working so hard to keep me out."
Mara turned at the sound of Seven's scream; the drone had stuck her with the assimilation tubules, and Mara could already see her changing. She wept quietly where she sat curled up on the floor, until the two women were identical.
"Isn't that sad..." the Emperor's Hand said with a shake of her head. "You hate me more than you love her... what kind of life can you ever have without me?"
Mara eyed her with pure hatred. "Go away," she rumbled.
"Oh, you know I can't go far," the Emperor's Hand said. "And I don't plan on giving up." She offered a horrible smile. "You've finally shown a light on my face for the first time since our master died, and now I know that your fall is inevitable. Sooner or later, you're going to turn to me again, and believe me, you won't be putting me back again." She looked at the frames around the glass and nodded to herself. "Yes... it's all a matter of time, Mara... all a matter of time..."
