Crossroads Facility, entire series (*/F)

[tarr2k]

Part 25


Ms. Danoob walked around the device; it was the size of a one-man submarine, and roughly the same shape. "It's so small," she commented. "This will produce the power we need?"

"It will exceed your current reactor output by one hundred sixty-four percent," Seven informed her. "Fusion is an efficient means of energy production."

Ms. Danoob shook her head. "Amazing, truly amazing. With this and the endless supply of the sea we can make unlimited jumps. Thank you, Seven."

"You can thank me by sending Mara and myself away from this place," Seven said.

"I'm sorry, but I do need you."

"Then save your thanks, as they are clearly hollow."

Ms. Danoob shook her head. "You should really try and be more personable, Seven."

"After what you did to Mara, it is all I can do not to choke you where you stand. Do not presume my behavior is my failing, it is due to your own."

"I'm not interested in a lecture from you,” Ms. Danoob said dismissively, eyes never leaving the new reactor. "Guards, return her, and have Mara cleaned up and brought to me." She must have somehow sensed Seven's reaction. "Not for that," she assured the Borg before she could react. "I just want to talk with her, that's all."

"About what?" Seven demanded.

"If she chooses to share it with you, that's her prerogative." Ms. Danoob laid a hand alongside the reactor, as if it were a newborn child. "But it's between her and I as far as I'm concerned."
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Kara and Lara were both assigned the same quarters; they didn't know it but they were identical to Seven and Mara's. It wouldn't have mattered even if they did know. As soon as the door closed they began kissing passionately heading towards the bed, and while neither had ever been with another woman before, they soon performed quite well for a pair of beginners in making love.

Of course, that wasn't enough for Lara. "You know,” she said, holding Starbuck in her arms, like a teddy bear, "I didn't get to actually tickle you before - really tickle you."

"That's true," Starbuck admitted. "Does that bother you?"

"Yes," Lara said. "Yes it does. It's a situation I think we need to rectify immediately.

Starbuck offered a smile that threatened to split her face in half. "Oh well, if you insist."

Lara took the manacles attached to the bed and stretched her out as she locked each limb in place. "Now," she said darkly, "where should I begin?"

"Well-"

"I wasn't talking to you," Lara said sharply. "You do not speak until spoken to. And if I hear one more word out of you, I'm going to tickle your armpits right now, is that clear?" She glared at Starbuck. "Is that clear?" she said emphatically.

"Yes, ma'am."

"That's it," Lara said, dropping her nails into Starbuck's armpits, "you were warned. Now take your medicine." Starbuck let out deep chuckling as Lara scratched all over her armpits. "Have you learned your lesson?" Lara asked. "Have you?!"

"YES!" Kara screamed.

"I said no talking!" Lara scolded, and began tickling even more furiously, causing Starbuck to shriek and bounce with laughter.

After a little while Lara stopped and walked down the side of the bed, drawing a finger over Starbuck's body. She giggled and squirmed the whole way. "Are your feet ticklish?" Lara asked. Starbuck nodded firmly. "Ah, you're learning," Lara said.

"Thank you," Starbuck said with a shit-eating grin. Immediately she exploded with laughter while Lara tickled her feet.

"And you were doing so well," Lara said pitiably. "I almost thought you'd actually learned. She held Starbuck’s toes back and tickled feverishly up and down her sole. Starbuck whooped and struggled but Lara had a firm grip, making escape impossible. She shrieked with laughter as Lara started going after the base of the toes. "How wonderfully sensitive," Lara commented.

"HAHAHA! OH GODS! STOP! PLEASE NOT THERE!!!"

"Did I give you permission to speak?" Lara asked, still tickling away.

"WA-HAHAHA! PLEASE LARA! NO MORE! I CAN'T TAKE ANY MORE! HE-HEHEHEHAHAHA!!!"

Lara sighed wearily but stopped for the moment, letting Starbuck catch her breath. "I thought you were made of sterner stuff, my dear."

Starbuck just panted for breath. "You're just too much for me," Starbuck said.

"Is that so?" Lara asked, lying atop her on the bunk. She put her hands on Starbuck's inner thigh and slowly drew her nails up, wriggling them a bit, Starbuck began tittering almost immediately. It turned into deep belly laughs when Lara dug in, kneading her thigh. "How's this?"

"HAHAHA! IT TICKLES!!!" Starbuck cried.

"Is that so?" Lara asked again, because she liked to tease. "Even here?" she asked, and worked further up the thigh. "And here?" She was at the point where the thigh met the body. "Or even here?" And she slipped her fingers in and began tickling along Starbuck's sex. Starbuck still laughed, but there was an undercurrent of enjoyment to it now. She moaned a little even as she snickered and giggled, and Mara continued her delicate stroking, teasing all throughout Starbuck's womanhood while drinking in the feel and sight and smell of her lover. With each laugh and moan Lara could feel her own passions starting to rise, and she slipped a hand into her own pussy to encourage it. Their voices mixed as they played on, until at long last both were satisfied.

"Oh gods," Starbuck said. "That was even better than I thought it'd be."

"Was it?" Lara asked, undoing the manacles.

"Oh yes," Starbuck said. "Lara, you've got to try it. You'll love it."

"Will I?" Lara asked. Starbuck nodded. "Hm, well, if you say so, I shall at least give it a go. After all, what's the worst that can happen?"
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Ms. Danoob was seated on a deck watching the ocean when Mara was brought to her. She'd been given a set of tailor-made clothes, almost as good as her old gear from her assassin days. She toyed with a moment of reliving the good old days just for her captor's case, but quickly decided against it. Ms. Danoob was too clever to try such blunt methods on. "Beautiful, isn't it?" Ms. Danoob asked without turning towards Mara. "I'd let Seven look as well, but I'm afraid it would be lost on her."

"I think you underestimate Seven's humanity," Mara said, walking closer. "And frankly, you overestimate your own. Seven may have been Borg once but she is capable of far more compassion than I've seen from you."

"That's a point of view," Ms. Danoob said. "We can debate it if I were so inclined... but I'm not. We have some things to discuss, now that we've ironed out most of the issues."

"Is this the part where you get my cooperation by threatening Seven?" Mara asked. "You used me against her, but now that you've got your damn reactor she's disposable, right? "

Ms. Danoob turned towards her. "What an awful thing to say. Seven is unique; I'd stomp on a dodo egg before I deprived the universe of something as precious as she is."

"And yet you torment her often," Mara said. "Either directly, or through me."

"I do what I must," Ms. Danoob said.

"You didn't have to do those things to us," Mara said. "You had to know that I couldn't make you blasters, and you must have known that Seven would be more resistant if you chose this means. Why?"

Ms. Danoob turned towards Mara, then slowly rose to her feet. She took her sunglasses off and looked into the eyes of the Emperor's Hand. "Hit me," she said.

Mara was momentarily caught off guard. "Don't tempt me," she said finally.

"I'm not tempting you," Ms. Danoob said. "I'm telling you. Hit me. Go on. Give it your best shot." Mara scoffed. "How disappointing. You're supposed to be the Emperor's Hand, not some child who's gone soft."

"That's enough," Mara warned.

"I should have taken Isard instead of you. She at least had some guts, stepped in to fill the void and grab opportunities while you tried to disappear like a coward."

"Shut up," Mara growled.

"Seven would've probably liked her better."

Mara swung, and in that punch she put all the rage and frustration of her time at Crossroads facility, and all the torment of her time in the wake of the Emperor's death. It was a blow that could fell a Wookiee, and would have lifted the small administrator right off her feet, if Mara hadn't missed. That was embarrassing. What was even more embarrassing was that Ms. Danoob never moved. "You call that a punch?" Ms. Danoob asked.

Mara growled and swung again, her fist passing over Ms. Danoob's left shoulder. Another, and it went over the right. She tried an uppercut, but it came up in front of her face instead.

"What the hell's going on?" Mara demanded.

"Just making a point," Ms. Danoob said, sitting back down while she pulled her sunglasses out. "I trust the lesson is obvious."

"You didn't answer my question," Mara said through her teeth.

"Well, it is a rather vague one, isn't it?"

Mara made a noise of annoyance. "I tried hitting you, but every time I missed. You didn't even move!"

"Quite right."

"Why?!"

Ms. Danoob looked up at her. "After Seven was crazed with rage over what happened to you, and seriously injured two of my guards, I still left alone with her, with no means of restraint. Didn't that strike you as being a little careless of me?"

Mara stopped seething for a moment. "You knew she wouldn't try anything with me in custody," she said.

"Yes," Ms. Danoob said. "But still, Seven can be unpredictable when she gets emotional. She isn't accustomed to having to control them, and she's never been in love before. It was dangerous... for anyone else but me."

"And what makes you so special?" Mara asked. "The same thing you did to me you did to her?"

"And Kara and Lara," Ms. Danoob said. "Your tickle sessions, while as fun as they were, were not just to torment you, or try to get you to accept my bidding. They lowered your defenses, made you open to suggestion."

Mara stared at her with malice. "You brainwashed me."

Ms. Danoob took up a cocktail of some kind. "That's a very blunt word," she said.

"That's because I don't play games with the truth," Mara said. "You brainwashed us, no matter how you color it."

"I suppose in a sense that's true," Ms. Danoob said. "Though it hardly qualifies. You see, Mara, I've just implanted a command to prevent you from performing any action that will result in my harm. Hardly diabolical, and given the number of threats the four of you have made, it was entirely appropriate."

“Perhaps if you hadn't treated us like slaves we wouldn't have felt inclined to smash your face in."

"True," Ms. Danoob said. "But that's neither here nor there. We can argue this, Mara, or we can get down to brass tacks. You can't hurt me, nor can Seven, so plotting against me is pointless. So at least listen to me, all right?"

"Why bother?" Mara asked. "If I don't you'll just make me."

"I don't know," Ms. Danoob said. "Perhaps you'll be inclined to see reason for once. With the new reactor we can make unlimited jumps. Countless realities are open before us. My investors see it as a means of turning a profit. Seven sees it as a tool of exploration. What do you see?"

Mara looked away, still upset at being used, but drawing this out would accomplish nothing. "Power," she said. "Anyone who could do that could have unlimited power."

"Exactly," Ms. Danoob said. "I knew your mind would be suited to it. You can, of course, guess who would possess that power."

"You," Mara said with contempt.

"Yes. And, of course, whoever stood at my side."

Mara laughed. "What?"

"You heard me. You're cunning, skilled, and very dangerous. You could have power to go with those abilities if you used them to help me." She put the drink down. "What am I saying, Mara? I'm saying that I want you as my hand."

 

[tarr2k]

Part 26


Mara stood and stared at Ms. Danoob for a time. She'd been an assassin for most of her life, and thus it was natural for people to make her all manner of offers to forget her duty and spare their lives. Mara had heard all kinds of whoppers in her travels, and yet, the idea that Ms. Danoob would give her power like this - and actually expect Mara to believe it - trumped them all. "I am not stupid," Mara said with contempt. "You cannot expect me to buy into this ridiculous idea that you would share power with me. I’d be a servant to you, don't pretend otherwise."

"Better to be king in hell than serve in heaven, is that it?" Ms. Danoob asked.

Mara glared at her. "I was a servant to the Emperor all my life, and I never chafed at that. But you obviously have no respect for me-"

"On the contrary," Ms. Danoob said, "I respect you very much. You are the one I'm talking to, after all. I could have picked Seven, or Mara, or Kara; they all have qualities that would make them suitable. But you, Mara, are the most qualified of the four."

"You say that as if it matters," Mara said. "I don't feel the need to measure myself against them. Seven is my lover, I've no need to top her, and I can only give two shits about the others. Appealing to my ego in this manner's rather pathetic, Ms. Danoob."

"Mara," she said with patience, "I had any four people to choose in all the multiverse; these are the four I did. Of those four, you are my choice as first among equals. I hold you in high regard."

"And if you hadn't tickled me out of my mind since arrival," Mara said, "maybe I'd be willing to buy into that. As it is, I don't trust you a wink."

"As I said, I had to do that. You're too dangerous not to take some effort in restraining, otherwise you could all too easily sweep me aside and take all the power for yourself. It's because I respect you that I had to do that, even though it may have seemed the other way around." She held up her hand as Mara tried to speak. "Let me ask you this: if I offer this to Lara or Kara, and they accept, how would you feel working under them?"

"And who says I will?" Mara asked.

"You'd rather be locked up and tickled dawn to dusk?" Ms. Danoob asked.

"Ah, so it comes down to threats," Mara said with a bitter smile.

"Yes, well, I'm afraid your stubbornness allows me little alternative. I'd much rather have you as an ally, Mara, than as an enemy."

"Well you sure started off on the wrong foot," Mara said.

"Mara," Ms. Danoob said, almost desperately, "I need you! I need someone like you to whip the other girls into shape for the kind of work we'll be doing. And the power, Mara, I promise will be yours! All you have to do is work with me!"

“I just don’t trust you,” Mara said.

Ms. Danoob was silent. "There is one threat I haven't made," she said. "And I won't, because I do want us to be, well, not friends, but at least partners in this. I could send Seven through the Gate and you'd never see her again. The multiverse is vast... but I won't do that, nor will I ever threaten to do that. I know that's not much to build a working relationship on, but I hope it shows that I am not completely heartless and unreasonable. You and Seven will always be together no matter what you choose. The question is whether it will be working for me, or laughing away in my interrogation chambers."

Mara mulled it over. She had to give Ms. Danoob credit for not making that a threat, or even implying it was one. If she ever took that off the table she knew her reputation with Mara would be shot, and whatever she wanted she'd never get. And even though she despised this woman, it would be good to get out and do something. Lying in bed tickling Seven was lots of fun, of course, but she itched for a bit of excitement to get her adrenaline pumping, and the chance to share some of that with Seven. She was strong and brilliant; she would make a hell of a partner. "All right," Mara said. "But I need to discuss things with Seven more. You deal with me, you're dealing with her."

"That is perfectly all right with me," Ms. Danoob said. "Go and discuss the matter with your better half, then get back to me."

Mara left, and Ms. Danoob took up her drink and sipped while watching the ocean. She set it back down again and sighed. "Almost too easy," she said quietly.
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Starbuck took a sadistic delight in securing the last manacle in place. "And how’s that?" she asked Lara, sitting beside her.

"This pillow smells awful," Lara commented. Starbuck had elected to lock Lara down spread-eagle, as expected, but with the twist of having her face down on the bed rather than face up. Lara had commented on this unusual choice, but Starbuck said it was what she wanted, so Lara dutifully complied. "And it's not as comfortable as I thought it'd be. I can't even sleep on my stomach."

"Me either; I can sleep on anyone's stomach but mine."

"Naughty girl," Lara commented. "So are you just going to talk dirty, or do we have plans for this silly predicament?"

"Oh yes," Starbuck said, "I have plans." She put her nails at the small of Lara's back and gently slid them up the curve of her behind and back down to the thigh. She did it again, and then again, by which time Lara was really laughing. "You gave my butt an awful treatment," Starbuck said, "so it's only fair that I return the favor." She pinched it several times, causing Lara to jump and squeal with laughter each time. "So much muscle, yet so much curve," Kara commented. "How do you do it?"

"Stop and I'll tell you! Hahahaha!!!"

"Hm, no. I think it'll be more fun to make you tell me, don't you?" She took part of each cheek between thumb and forefinger and began rapidly pinching until Lara was absolutely shaking with laughter.

After a while of this, Starbuck sat on Lara's behind, facing her feet. She reached down and, as before, placed her nails and slowly drew them towards her, although this time she started behind the knees and ran right up the back of the thighs. Lara shivered instantly, and soon she was laughing again. "You don't get enough lower body tickling," Starbuck commented. "You need to appreciate it more."

"I do! Hahahaha! I do!"

"No, I don't think so." She continued this for a time, then reached down and began delicately scratching behind the knees until Lara was sputtering. "Take some time to enjoy this," she teased as she began sliding further down until she was lying on the bunks between Lara's legs. She reached out and began scratching the bottoms of her feet, and Lara struggled to pull away. “Isn't this fun?" Kara asked. "And the best part is that I'm so coordinated, since I'm a pilot."

"Hehehehahaha What does that matter?" Lara demanded while Starbuck continued going after her feet. She exploded with the sudden new attack.

"That I'm used to having feet and hands work together," Starbuck said, and even as she tickled the soles of Lara's feet, her toes were wiggling inside Lara's armpits. Lara hadn't seen it coming and the sudden assault on a place where she was so sensitive overwhelmed her.

"YA-HAHAHA! STOP! NO MORE, KARA! HOHOHOHOHAHAHAHA!"

"Oh, don't give me that," Starbuck said. "I can see how much you're loving this." Then she suddenly hopped up, turned around, and laid on top of Lara's back. "Still, mustn't overdue it, right?" she asked the panting Lara. "Right?" She slid her finger in between Lara's legs and teased her, causing her to moan. "But not just yet," she said, digging both hands into Lara's flanks, causing her to explode with laughter. She kept at it, quick and deep, fingers digging in and wriggling until Lara was begging for her to stop, her whole body turning red under the effects.

"You know," Starbuck commented, "I think you're more ticklish than I am. What do you think?" Lara just laughed and trembled while Starbuck gradually worked up to her ribs. "You get overwhelmed so easily, right?" Starbuck began applying the nails to each rib in turn, until Lara was practically weeping. "Well?"

"BWA-HAHAHA!!!! I'M MORE TICKLISH! I'M MORE TICKLISH! NOW STOP, KARA! PLEASE!!!"

Starbuck relented, and Lara laid there, panting. "Now that wasn't so bad," she said, and kissed the side of Lara's face. She reached down and again began stroking Lara between her legs; she was definitely very aroused by now, and began groaning as Starbuck stroked and rubbed her until her sweat-covered body began quaking, and she came. "You liked that," Starbuck said lovingly. "Admit it."

Lara was still panting. "Yes," she said quietly. "You were wonderful, Kara.” Starbuck began undoing the restrains when the door opened and several guards came in. "Kara Thrace," one of them said. "Please put this on," and offered her a robe. "The administrator wants a word."

Starbuck got to her feet and looked them over. "And if I don't, you're going to take me down for more interrogations, right?"

"Just come with us, please," the guard said.

Lara finished freeing herself and laid back on the bed, arms folded behind her head. "Well, he did say please," she commented with a clearly sardonic tone. Still, Starbuck knew that there was a time for defiance, and this wasn't one of them. She put the robe on and followed them out, leaving Lara alone to meditate on all that had happened.
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Starbuck walked out onto the deck where Ms. Danoob was watching the ocean. "Someone said you wanted to see me," Starbuck said as if the summoner was of no importance. "And since I had nothing better to do, I thought I'd humor you."

Ms. Danoob watched the waves. "Very charming," she said. "Are you familiar with what is known as a hyperdrive."

"No, I can't say that I am," Starbuck said with a sigh.

"Mara could tell you all about it, I'm sure. It's ancient technology where she comes from, so old in fact that it disappears into the fog of history."

"That's very interesting," Starbuck said. "If I were actually a historian or something, that is. Otherwise, it's just a waste of my time."

"Oh, don't be like that, Kara," Ms. Danoob said. "I'm trying to help you here."

"Yeah, well, you'll pardon me if I don't think you've done much to prove that."

Ms. Danoob shook her head, then took up her drink. "The hyperdrive is a kind of starship engine, used to attain velocities even faster than the speed of light."

"And this is of interest to me, why?" Starbuck asked.

Ms. Danoob put the drink down and folded her hands. "It allows velocity up to a thousand light-years an hour." Starbuck laughed. "Sometimes more."

"That is... not possible," she said with clear skepticism. "Jumps, okay, there's logic to that, but you can't actually go faster than light, it's impossible."

"As is passing between dimensions," Ms. Danoob said. "And here you are."

"Here I am," Starbuck said. "Getting a snow job."

"It's real," Ms. Danoob said. She held up a device for Kara, and she took it. On there she saw ships, strange ships, traveling at speeds that were impossible. As it continued her smirk faded. "It's impossible," Starbuck repeated.

"It's real," Ms. Danoob said. "And as I said, common technology from Mara's home galaxy. I'm sure you can see how that would be of use to Commander Adama."

Starbuck stared at the screen, trying not to believe it because it was too wonderful a thought to believe in. "But with that speed, we could leave the Cylons in the dust. They'd never catch us! We'd-"

"You'd be home by the end of the week," Ms. Danoob said. "Earth, with an entire galaxy between you and the Cylons. You'd finally be safe from them, you and everyone in the fleet." She put down the empty glass. "Do I have your full attention?" Starbuck nodded, eyes never leaving the screen. "Good, because I have an offer for you that you simply cannot refuse."

 

[tarr2k]

Part 27


Mara looked about the street, but there was no one watching, so she made her move. She walked past the speeder, slipped the beacon onto the side, and continued up the street and around the corner. Hopefully no one would notice what was about to happen, but then, it really only took one, didn't it. There was the sound of astonishment, and Mara swore under her breath and moved away from the area quickly without looking like someone trying to get away quickly. That was a skill she'd acquired long ago, one of many that helped her stay alive.

Two stormtroopers appeared in front of her, and Mara cursed under her breath. "Halt," they said, and Mara froze in her tracks. "Show me your identification."

"Now would be a good time," she said under her breath. "I misplaced it," Mara said aloud, which was almost the truth. It had been lost when Isard took her into custody, and she hadn't had time to forge a new one. Standard procedure was to take her down to a detention area to be checked for possible warrants based on DNA, fingerprints, and such.

"We're having trouble getting the speeder out of the Gate," Seven said into the audio implant. "What's your situation?"

"Come with us," the trooper said, taking out the binders.

"Oh please," Mara said pitiably, knowing that everyone back at Crossroads Facility could hear, "is it really necessary to lock me up and bring me in, just because I didn't get my ID card replaced yet?"

"Quiet," the trooper said, locking the binders around her wrists.

There was a sudden hum, and the speeder appeared behind them, and it wasn't empty. Seven, Lara, and Starbuck jumped from it onto the two shocked stormtroopers and knocked them over. Seven quickly overpowered one while Lara and Kara took down the other. Mara, knowing what the plan must be, ran to the speeder still bound and climbed inside.

"Take the guns," Lara said, and between the three of them they managed to disarm the stormtroopers. Lara quickly aimed it at the prone trooper and pulled the trigger, but as she did Seven pushed the barrel aside, so that it blew a small hole in the street.

"No," Seven said sternly. Lara glared at her, then kicked the trooper again for good measure, then the trio hopped back onto the speeder. A second later, they all vanished, much to the surprise of the gathering crowd.
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The speeder and the four occupants sat in the Gate back in Crossroads Facility. "You're lucky I didn't blow your hand off," Lara said to Seven. "Don't do that again."

"Then do not force me to do it again," Seven said in the same tone. "There was no reason to murder that man."

Lara scoffed. "He's a soldier in the employ of a galactic evil; Mara briefed us on them, remember?"

"There was no need to kill him."

"He was too dangerous," Lara shot back. "Imagine if he'd gotten to the speeder before we jumped, what then?"

"He didn't."

"But he could have!"

"That's not reason enough to just kill someone."

"Mara," Lara said, turning to the still bound woman, "If we hadn't shown up, what would they have done to you?"

Mara swallowed, looked at Seven, then down. "They would have taken me to the detention area, taken various means of identification, and then begun interrogating me."

"You mean torture," Lara said. Mara nodded, eyes closed. "The man wanted to take her and torture her," Lara said to Seven, "and you want to use the kid gloves. I guess we see how much you really care for Mara."

Seven strode forward like an omen of impending disaster, but Starbuck quickly stepped in between and held her back. "Enough of this," she said. "It's over, deal with the here and now, all right? We've got the speeder and all our people out, mission accomplished. We can talk about how we handle operations later."

Seven took a deep breath through her nose. "Agreed," she said darkly, then turned to the speeder to begin disabling the security system.

Lara took the binders off Mara; even as she did, Starbuck came to her side. "Apologize to Seven," she said in a voice only they could hear. Lara turned to her, and her expression said everything. "That was a very hurtful thing you said, and we're supposed to be working together. You don't have to like her, but you do need to be a little civil to her if we're going to live through this."

Lara sniffed, attached the binders to her belt, and walked over to Seven. "That was a little harsh," she admitted. "I apologize for what I said."

"Apologies are irrelevant," Seven said, not looking up. "As it would imply what you say to me actually mattered. I care nothing for the opinions of a would-be murderer."

Starbuck and Mara looked at one another. "Get the feeling we just stepped off a cliff and are just waiting to hit the ground?" Starbuck asked her.

"Afraid so," Mara said, walking out of the Gate where Ms. Danoob waited. "This isn't going to work," she said finally."

"Everything seems to be working fine," Ms. Danoob said. “Once Seven disables the security system and changes the registration, you can sell the speeder for enough credits to buy a hundred years worth of blasters and packs."

"Yeah, except we'll be using them on each other," Mara said.

"Not at all," Ms. Danoob said. "The same thing that prevents you from harming me prevents you from harming each other."

"That's not what I mean," Mara said. "Seven and Lara just don't get along, now you can't have this in a strike team like this. We're going to get ourselves killed."

"Don't worry about it, Mara," Ms. Danoob said. "I have the situation well in hand."

"Do you now," Mara said with disbelief.

"Just give this a little bit of time," Ms. Danoob said. "Trust me."

"Oh sure," Mara said. "I have all the reason in the world to trust you."
--------------------------------------------------------------

Seven straightened up as Mara walked into the Gate. Rather than trying to get it out she'd opted to just work on it in there. It wasn't her native technology, but with her mechanical skills and Mara's coaching she'd quickly deduced how to handle it. This was, after all, just a small civilian land transport, nothing special. "The vehicle is ready," she informed Mara.

"Good," Mara said. "And thanks for saving me. Really, those Imperials would have done some pretty nasty things to me, and there was a chance the Gate couldn't pierce their shields. You saved me from a very tough ordeal."

"Thanks are unnecessary," Seven said. "You know I would never stand by and allow harm to come to you. I would die to protect you, Mara." And with Seven's literalism, Mara knew that she meant that exactly; if saving Mara meant losing her own life, Seven would do it. Mara reached out and pulled her close.

"You need to get along with Lara," Mara said finally. "For the good of the group."

"She was going to kill that helpless man-"

"I know," Mara said. "But he was dangerous, and Lara is used to dealing with very dangerous people and acting accordingly."

"So you are saying I should have just let her kill him?"

"I'm saying that we were all chosen because of our skills and judgment, and we need to be able to count on that judgment. You may not have liked what she did, but Lara didn't do that simply because she likes or is even casual about killing adversaries. She just has a different opinion as to what acceptable force is."

"It seems to me to be a rationalization for murder," Seven said.

"Maybe," Mara said. "You know my history, Seven; I've got old instincts in me too, ones that kept me alive. This isn't always going to be pretty, I- I'm more than just someone who bounces around the bed with you."

"I- I know," Seven said. "Yet you clearly are trying to change, but Lara-"

"You don't even know her," Mara said. "Not really. And you've got to remember that we're a team, and it depends on all of us working together. There is no you, and there is no her, and there is no me, there's only us, and if you're not careful you're going to get us killed."

Seven nodded. "I will try," she said. "But I must confess it is not going to be easy. I do not like her, though I cannot explain why."

"You don't have to like her," Mara said. "Just get along with her."

Seven nodded a little. "For your sake I will try."

Seven left and Mara took a seat. Now to get the money. It was pathetic that she'd been reduced to stealing speeders after once answering to the Emperor himself, but she had to make do. "All right,” she said, "let's jump." And she and the speeder vanished.
--------------------------------------------------------------

Lara was still stewing over Seven. She hadn't liked her to begin with, and that stunt with the blaster hadn't helped. It wasn't that she wanted to kill that trooper, she really only was going to do it because she thought it was too great a risk to let him pursue. But Seven jumping in was worrisome; next time they could die if she tried something like that. And the way she rebuffed her apology really annoyed her. Lara wasn't the kind of person to admit when she was wrong, but she recognized that Kara had been right, and swallowed her pride for the good of the team. Well, apparently Seven had no interest in the team, just in her own petty opinions, and how everyone else should live by them.

She was waiting with Starbuck in the debriefing chamber when Seven entered. Lara walked up to her. "I need your help with something," she said. "Turn around and put your hands behind your back."

"Why?" Seven asked suspiciously.

"I want to show Kara something," Lara said.

Seven looked at her a moment, but she remembered what Mara had said, and so complied. "What are you showing her?" she asked.

There was the click of the binders latching around her wrists. "That you're as gullible as I thought." Lara said with a smirk.

"Lara-" Starbuck began.

"No, there's something that needs to be sorted out," she said while Seven whirled around and glared at her. "Out there, you don't second guess me, got it?"

"No," Seven growled. "I do not answer to you."

Lara's eyes dropped, and Seven looked down at her own chest. A moment later she exploded with laughter as Lara grabbed her breasts and began tickling them.

"You won't second-guess me," Lara repeated, squeezing and tickling Seven's breasts. Even through her uniform top, it was effective, and Seven laughed and shook but refused to surrender. "Right? Right?!"

"HAHAHA! NO!!! YOU CAN'T HAHAHA MAKE ME!" She writhed and danced about as Lara continued kneading away around her breasts, each little squeeze tickling like mad.

"Lara," Starbuck said again, "this isn't helping."

Lara ignored her. "All I want," she said to Seven, "is for you to not try to second-guess me," she said to the laughing, tear-stained face inches from her own. "I don't think that's asking too much."

"HAHAHAHA! STOP!!!" Seven demanded.

"Or what?" Lara asked.

Seven screamed and there was a snapping sound as the binders broke; they were designed for humans, but Seven wasn't exactly human any more. Lara and Starbuck both stared at the panting, fuming and -most important of all- free Seven of Nine. "Oh frak," Kara said under her breath. "We're in trouble now."

Seven grabbed Lara and dropped her onto the table, quickly pinning her down. Lara began screaming as Seven grabbed her breasts and began tickling them even worse than she'd just done to her. "'Gullible?'" Seven demanded. "You expect us to be a team, then call me gullible for trusting you?" She began massaging the undersides, causing Lara to roar and struggle.

"GET HER OFF! HAHAHA!!!" Lara begged, and even though she probably deserved it, Kara couldn't bring herself to stand by and do nothing. She grabbed Seven and tried to pull her off, but she didn't budge. Seven reached out with one hand and gently pushed Kara right over as if she were a small, annoying child, her other hand never relenting in her attack.

"What's going on?" Ms. Danoob asked, and everything froze. The three looked up at her like the teacher just returned from the lavatory. "Well?"

"Just working something out," Kara said. "Nothing to worry about."

Ms. Danoob shook her head. "You two... I think you both need to end this feud once and for all."

"I tried," Lara said, panting for breath, still flush from the tickling. "She's too stubborn."

"That is a lie," Seven said. "You-"

"Enough," Ms. Danoob said. "I'll handle this, in my own way, as soon as Mara returns."

"How?" the three asked as one, then looked at each other.

"You'll see," Ms. Danoob said, and walked out.

 

[tarr2k]

Part 28

When Mara returned the four of them were escorted to one of the interrogation rooms, but fortunately it didn't seem like they were all getting punished. Lara and Seven were told to strip, and then both given bizarre bras to put on; there was a set of velcro on them, though their purpose wasn't immediately obvious. The two of them were then told to kneel opposite each other on some padded restraints, and their legs were locked down behind the knee and at the ankle.

Then the bizarre part happened. The guards pulled on the velcro even as they took Lara's right hand, and inserted it inside the left cup of Seven's bra. A restraint was attached around her wrist, so that it was firmly locked to it. The same was done with Lara's left hand, and then with both of Seven's on Lara's chest. No one commented, because nothing seemed appropriate for this bizarre situation. Mara and Starbuck just looked at the two, and then at each other, wondering if something similar was going to happen to them. And as Seven and Lara sat with their hands forcibly gripping the other's boobs, there was a moment of shared humiliation in all this.

The voice of Ms. Danoob spoke. "I'm not really sure why it is that you two take such an interest in the other's breasts," she said. "But you've targeted them at every opportunity. I'm not sure if you feel threatened or what - though I confess that I am a little humbled by you both." Ms. Danoob had a rather full chest herself, though not to the same degree as Lara and Seven. "Whatever it is, it seems it's a part of your little rivalry, so that's what this game will be about."

"You said we were done with these things," Mara said to the ceiling.

"I had hoped we would be, but it's clear that these two have some issues that have to be worked out. So, ladies, this domination game of yours is going to end once and for all. You can both attack, and neither can defend. It's simple strength versus strength; whoever gives first loses."

"And what happens to the loser?" Starbuck asked. "More punishment?"

"Of course not," Ms. Danoob said. "This is merely for you girls to work this out; I have no agenda here. Mara, Kara, since you two are both involved with one of the participants, you may assist her by tickling her opponent as well."

"Lovely," Mara said under her breath.

"Hopefully we won't have any more problems after today," Ms. Danoob said. "You two may begin whenever you're ready."

"And if we refuse?" Lara asked?"

"Nothing. But you won't be let out of those restraints until one of you admits she's been beaten. If one of you can swallow your pride and do so without prompting, it doesn't matter to me. But I really don't expect that to happen, do you?" The two women glared at one another. "Yes, I didn't think so."

Lara and Seven stared at one another; both were simply to full of pride to back down. The seconds wore on, and they considered their opponent. And that same pride that said that they wouldn't back down told them that if this started, they would win. They were the stronger,

In the end, Seven made the first move, and Lara sputtered with laughter. In their current situation, there really seemed only one way to go at it, so Seven had chosen to simply grab hold of her and tickle massage her breasts. Simple but very effective, but Lara almost instantly retaliated in kind, squeezing Seven's breasts quickly. Both were soon laughing , fighting not to but knowing it couldn't be helped.

Mara and Kara both watched, then looked at each other. They both were stuck here until they worked this out, so they might as well get started. Both decided to go for the feet, since they were easily reached under the circumstances. Mara began scratching furiously over Lara's soles, watching her scrunch and flinch under the assault. Kara, who had very ticklish feet, was more deft, working around the toes with inescapable strikes. Both were having an obvious effect, as the two were now squealing and laughing as their fight continued.

Seven was laughing hard now, but she knew she could win this. Lara was very buxom, so Seven decided to take advantage of that. She began changing the places where she was tickling, moving from one spot to the next, to help keep Lara off guard and unable to endure. It was having an effect; Lara's face was already lined with tears and she was shrieking with laughter. Seven kept her attacks small, with little pinches along the sides, then just grabbing and giving a deep tissue tickle. She varied it so that every time Lara thought she had the pattern down, Seven would throw her for a loop. She even found a way to offer some devilish scratching to the undersides, which cause Lara to bellow for a brief time when it first came. Mara backed her up. She began drawing her nails down Lara's feet, starting at the heel and working her way all the way down to the toes. Lara was still shaking and scrunching to escape, but Mara knew she was still having an effect, and any edge mattered. She thought this feud of theirs was stupid, of course, but at the end of the day, she would never allow Seven to lose if she could help it.

Kara was trying hard to help her partner as well, delivering a very effective foot tickling to Seven. Still, as she watched the two, she wondered if she shouldn't try the unexpected. If she threw Seven off, it would probably give Lara an advantage, and she knew just how to distract Seven. Still tickling with her left hand, Kara reached up in between Seven's legs and-

"If you have an ounce of self-preservation," Mara warned, “you won't finish that move." Kara stared hard at her, and Mara stared back. "No one touches Seven there but me."

Kara decided to back down; the last thing they needed was her and Mara getting into it, and she could understand Mara's reluctance. Boy, she thought, what does this place do to you that I'd even think that way, she wondered for a moment. There was a time that touching another woman's privates was the last thing I thought of, now it seems like a good strategy. She just shook her head and went back to Seven's toes. The way they kicked with what little freedom they had showed this was still having a very good effect.

Lara knew it was time to change tactics, so she gave up on the massages and took a chance she hoped would pay off. Instead of the full attack on the breasts themselves, Lara began stroking and scratching lightly over Seven's nipples. The results were immediate as Seven began wailing and trying to bounce her breasts away, even though it was impossible. Lara pushed the advantage, hoping it would keep Seven off balance, teasing and tickling them so much she felt Seven actually stop tickling altogether, she was so overwhelmed.

Seven, of course, was Borg, and thus adapted. The constant tickling had teased Lara's own nipples fully erect, and Seven placed the thumb on the tip of both of them and delicately stroked it while her fingers scratched all along the swollen flesh. Lara shrieked and swore, but was no more capable of bouncing her boobs away from the attacking hands than Seven had been.

Starbuck decided it was now time to change her own tactics, and left the feet for Seven's ample rear end. She ran her nails over the cheeks, and was rewarded with a sudden shriek from the Borg girl. She kept it up, then began digging her nails into the fleshy undersides, causing Seven to shake her ass like some bizarre dance. Starbuck kept at it, stroking and pinching and scratching while Seven kicked her feet within the restraints.

Lara could see Seven was getting it good, and so tried a new approach. She began tracing circles around Seven's breasts randomly, on the sides, around the nipple, on the undersides, occasionally mixing it up with some squeezing and scratching. Seven was completely red now, eyes screwed shut, jaw hung open in silent laughter. Lara grinned inwardly (since she was laughing madly outside) because she knew she had Seven on the ropes. A little longer, and she'd put this girl in her place. So she scratched under Seven's breasts, tweaked her nipples, then began massaging at the worst tickle spots.

Seven laughed and shook, trying to ignore it all but couldn't. The horrible tickling touches on her breasts, the grueling pinches on her behind, it just seemed to be everywhere, and unlike with Mara, this wasn't fun, it was just torture. And as she laughed and sputtered, her logical mind reminded her that the only reason this was even happening was because she insisted on this silly feud with Lara, that if she hadn't she'd be playing with Mara back in their room. She wondered if she shouldn't just give in. Let this end, and- No! She had to be strong! She was Borg!

She opened her eyes, ready to renew the assault, and she saw Mara behind Lara, but it was clear her attention was all on Seven. And their eyes met, and she could see it in Mara's expression. Just let it end, she seemed to say, and we can be together, because I'll always be yours no matter what you do.

Mara had taught Seven how to be soft, and willing to surrender control voluntarily. Seven had become a slave to her own pride, and now she was being tormented because of it. Win or lose, nothing would change... just let this rivalry die. "Enough!" she cried, I yield!"

"All right, that's enough," Ms. Danoob said, and the restraints on Seven and Lara automatically released. Starbuck and Mara helped the two to their feet and to get ready when the door slid open and Ms. Danoob walked in; it closed behind her. "Now," she said, "I trust this matter has been settled, and we can end this silly feuding? Seven? Lara?"

"Fine," Lara said dismissively.

"Very well,” Seven said in the same tone.

"Good, because we all have a great deal-" She paused as the lights went out. Almost immediately the emergency lights came on. She pulled out a communicator. "This is Ms. Danoob, what's going on?"

"Ma'am," came the voice of her assistant, "we had a problem switching systems over to the new reactor. A power surge has compromised many of the systems."

"How long until we're up and running?" she asked.

"Two hours, at least," came the reply. "Until then, everything is shut down even the doors won't work."

Ms. Danoob sighed. "Very well, keep me informed." She put the communicator away.

"What, that means we're stuck in here?" Starbuck asked.

"I'm afraid so," Ms. Danoob said. "The doors are electronic, you see. I'm no happier about it than you are."

"On the contrary," Seven said, "I am most happy about it." They all turned to her, but she was glaring at Ms. Danoob. "We cannot harm you, the same way we cannot harm each other. But..."

Lara seized on the idea. "But there's one thing we can do to each other, and thus... to you," she said, turning to Ms. Danoob. "Seven, I'm taking back some of the things I said about you."

Ms. Danoob took a step back from them. "Now listen," she said, trying to sound firm, but failing. "I run this facility. What happens to you is decided by me-"

"Yeah," Starbuck said. "You'd probably put us in one of those rooms for a while. But after all we've been through, it'll be worth it to see you get a taste of it."

Ms. Danoob swallowed. "Perhaps we can negotiate-"

"No," Seven said, like an iron door slamming home. "The time has come for you to take a little of your own treatment." The four closed in around her. "It's your turn to be tickled."

 

[tarr2k]

Part 29


Starbuck cracked her knuckles loudly, then wriggled them a little to shake them out. "Ladies, the moment has finally come." Her, Lara, Seven, and Mara looked down on the helpless bare form of Ms. Danoob. They'd strapped her down and stretched her out on a table, leaving most of the ticklish spots easily open. "A moment of thanks, for there is a small amount of justice in the universe."

"Release me," Ms. Danoob said, trying to sound firm, but with a clear undercurrent of fear.

"I claim the feet," Seven said, heading down the table.

"I'll join you," Mara said. "You should always share your toys, remember?"

"True," Seven said, getting a chair for each of them.

Starbuck, however, seemed to have no interest down there. Instead she hopped up and sat on Ms. Danoob's outstretched arms. She wriggled her fingers over the helpless woman's face. "Your armpits look freshly shaven," she said with a grin. “Let's see how sensitive they are.”

"No, no, NO!" Ms. Danoob said as they slowly moved away from her face. She began laughing as soon as they came in contact with her underarms. "NO! HAHAHA! STOP! PLEASE, DON'T TICKLE ME! HAHAHA!"

"Oh come," Lara said, "we've hardly started." She began kneading Ms. Danoob's tummy using her fingertips to go deep in to tease the entire area. Lara hummed to herself while she went about it, rewarded by an increase in the intensity of her victim's laughs. "Why don't you admit you're a ticklish girl?" Lara asked. "And how much you love it?"

Seven and Mara both joined in at this point, bending her toes back and going after the feet. It was now as loud as it probably could get as Ms. Danoob screamed with laughter under this four-fold assault. Clearly she was as ticklish as any of them, perhaps even moreso. If they had had any doubts before on this being a good idea, they seemed gone now. Each tickled with full enjoyment of the reversal, while Ms. Danoob begged for the mercy she'd always denied the four of them.

"Hm," Starbuck said, "who thinks she deserves a little break?" The only sound was Ms. Danoob's laughter. "Don't everyone talk at once," Starbuck said, wriggling her fingers all over those soft, luscious armpits. She was almost as fun to tickle as Lara was. Starbuck alternated her strokes, left and right, applying her nails and drawing them up quickly but gently, almost as if she were tunneling through dirt. She had a perfect view of Ms. Danoob's face, which was now crimson from laughter, and already covered with tears. "Don't fret now," she teased, "I'm sure they'll get you out of here in just a couple more hours. Until then, just enjoy yourself, right?" She started tickling a little harder now. "Oh, and you might as well tell us about the Cylons plans, since you know as much as I do, I'm sure."

Ms. Danoob laid there, body trembling as they tickled her. Clearly her techniques were all devised from personal experience, because she was obviously horribly ticklish. "HAHAHAHA! OH STOP! NOOOO-HOHOHOHOHAHAHAHA! NO MORE! STOP IT! PLEEEEAAAASSSEEEE-HEHEHEHE!!!"

Lara held her hands out like claws, then dropped them onto Ms. Danoob's stretched out ribcage. Each time they connected the little woman exploded with laughter, and Lara relished the revenge. All those times, she thought darkly, and you taunted me. Well, my dear, let's see how much you love it. She began doing it rapidly now, slowly going up the ribcage, then back down again, each time rewarded with a visible reaction from the struggling woman. At the end of the ribcage Lara dug her fingers in and wriggled them about, and Ms. Danoob shrieked and squirmed. Lara played over the whole area, digging her nails in and tickling wildly until Ms. Danoob's entire chest seemed to be shaking under the effects. Lara then began running the nails up and down the ribs, first together, then out of rhythm, so she would start arching one way, only to better expose herself on the other side to the coming fingernails. She couldn't laugh any more, her mouth just hung open while her eyes remained screwed shut, body shaking as she tried to breathe. Lara felt no pity for her; she'd do this all day if she were given the opportunity.

Seven and Mara continued playing with the squirming feet. Seven liked to work the sole over, stretching it out and then drawing her nails down it, feeling it shake feebly in her grip. Seven's hold on Ms. Danoob left her no room to escape, just to feel the continuous sensation of the nails starting at the toes, sliding over the ball, through the instep, and down the heel. Mara liked the area between the toes. She would hold the foot steady with her left hand, then pry her fingers in-between the tightly-squeezed toes and worm them about. While her fingers wriggled in there, Mara would dig her remaining thumb into the sole, just as a little bit of an extra tease. The two of them kept their attack up, and it was soon clear that Ms. Danoob had especially sensitive feet. Actually, the more Mara watched her, the more it seemed the woman was ticklish everywhere, probably on the same level as Seven was.

Lara seemed to have tired of the ribs now and began tickling Ms. Danoob's breasts. She started slowly, teasingly, drawing her nails around them to sensitize the skin, then lightly scratching here and there. A little on the undersides, a little on the sides. She drew a few light circles around the front. All the while Ms. Danoob laughed and shouted. This was what she'd been reduced to, from head of the facility to being unable to stop Lara from tickling her bare breasts. Lara smirked and began digging her fingers in more now, kneading the flesh in just the right places. The laughter took on a pitiful pleading tone as she did, but Ms. Danoob herself had long since lost the ability to use words. All she did was laugh and scream and shriek and gibber as they tickled her beyond all limits. It was fine with Lara, who had seen the far side of her limits many times, and only further relished the feel of her squirming as she tickle-massaged her breasts.

Starbuck, for her part, was content with the armpits, though mostly because it seemed to give her such an easy opportunity to torment Ms. Danoob. "Cootchie cootchie cootchie," she teased as she scratched over the bare pits. "Cootchie coo, tickle tickle. Tell us what you know, Ms. Danoob, and maybe we'll let you go, huh? Cootchie cootchie!" She began sticking a single digit in and wriggling it about, causing a new reaction that delighted Kara. "Oh, you love that," she teased. "You love it." She stopped wriggling and instead just began poking and prodding randomly, watching Ms. Danoob's reactions. "You loooove being tickled."

Mara decided to test just how sensitive Ms. Danoob was, so she left her spot by Seven and moved up to the knees, gently squeezing them. The response was as expected, and pretty much confirmed Mara's suspicions about how ticklish she was. Of course, it also raised some more questioned, which she mulled over distantly as she pinched her way up Ms. Danoob's inner thighs, each greeted with a little shriek of surprise. Soon she put her first two fingers together on each hand, placed them on her hipbones, and began making circles. This had been one of her favorite spots to push Seven's buttons, and it had a similar effect on the administrator. The hips bucked and tried to shake her off, but it was as effective as it was everywhere else. Mara teased around the hips some more, than around her womanhood. She finished by squeezing her flanks, worming her thumbs in and feeling her feebly struggling to resist the deep ticklish prods.

Before the fun could continue, the lights came on, and the doors opened, and a dozen guards rushed in. Immediately the quartet stopped their ministrations, knowing it was over, but satisfied with the small revenge they'd managed to achieve. Ms. Danoob's assistant followed them in, a clipboard in hand. "Order's ma'am?" she asked the still panting woman.

"Four hours each," Ms. Danoob said, coughing a little. "Z targeting protocol. It's in their files."

"Come with us" one of the guards said, gesturing towards the exit. All of them immediately complied except Mara, who turned to Ms. Danoob.

"I'd like a word with you, first," Mara said to her.

"There's nothing more to say," Ms. Danoob said flatly while she was removed from the restraints.

"I think there is," Mara said.

Ms. Danoob took a few second to look at her, but her face was unreadable. "Take the others; Mara will be coming along shortly." The other three were taken from the room by the majority of the guards, and at a nod from Ms. Danoob, her assistant departed as well, leaving just two guards. "What is it?" she asked Mara.

"I think this would be better just between us," Mara said.

"After what you just did to me?" Ms. Danoob asked incredulously.

"Yes," Mara said. She folded her arms and waited. Ms. Danoob finally sighed and nodded to the guards, who stepped outside and closed the door.

"Now," Ms. Danoob said, pulling her clothes back on, "what's this about? I'm very busy, and you've already cost me two hours."

"On the contrary," Mara said, "I think everything's right on schedule."

"What are you talking about?" Ms. Danoob asked, not even looking at her as she adjusted her skirt.

"You're smart," Mara said. "Too smart to be caught like this. You planned this. You wanted us to do this to you."

"You must be out of your mind," Ms. Danoob said.

"A power failure with no way to open the doors?" Mara asked. "No, sorry, you're not that careless. If there were a fire, you'd need a way out. Admit it; this was staged."

Ms. Danoob finished buttoning her blouse up and smoothed it out. "This is why I want you in charge," she said. "Very good, Mara. Yes, I let them do it. It was, well, a team-building activity. It's not going to magically make them all get along, but it's helped bring them a little closer, and gotten some of their hostility and frustration out."

"Mm-hm,” Mara said. "And I see the need to send them down to maintain the ruse, but all the same, let’s not."

"And risk them seeing through this?" Ms. Danoob asked. "Do you think I liked doing that?"

"Yes," Mara said. "No one can do what you do without being an expert on giving and receiving tickling. You liked it, right? In fact, I’m better you loved it."

Ms. Danoob offered just the tiniest amount of a smile. "What's your point?"

"No harm done," Mara said. "Tell the ladies I made you an offer to let you tickle me personally, in return for sending them back without further punishment."

Ms. Danoob put a finger to her lips. "And thus further establish your credibility as the head of their group. Very good, I like. But what of Seven? She's rather possessive."

"I'll handle Seven," Mara said. "Do we have a deal?"

Ms. Danoob considered and nodded. "Very well. I assume you are not actually volunteering."

"No," Mara said.

"Pity. Still, we'll have to do some if only to maintain the ruse; Seven's too observant. Just before you're returned, agreed?" Mara sighed but nodded. "Good. You'll remain here," Ms. Danoob said, and walked out.

"Ma'am?" her assistant asked, waiting nearby.

"Too easy," Ms. Danoob said.

"Fortunately for us," her assistant said. "As you said, they're potentially dangerous."

"Yes, but, I do like being surprised now and again. Carry it all out, have Mara prepped for a session in three hours; I do enjoy at least watching her laugh."

“Yes, ma’am.”

“And have Chamber 1 readied for me, please. I hate to be crass, but if I don’t climax soon I’ll never get any work done.”

 

[tarr2k]

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."

 

[tarr2k]

Part 31

Those days were covered by haze. They were in the distant land of memories allowed to grow dusty by the passage of time, and perceptions that had been constrained by the limited perspective of young children.

He had seemed a towering man to her then, his wrinkled visage grinning at her in a way that only made her grip the hand that led her here tighter. Her talent was raw and weak, but with someone like him, it was impossible for even her not to sense the power that existed in dimensions only the eye of the mind can see.

"So," he said in a voice that seemed to crawl from his mouth, "you are Mara." Mara just nodded; she didn't want to speak to the big man. "I'm glad you could come, Mara. I, and my servants, are going to teach you a great many things." He bent over to look into her green eyes; his own yellow ones seemed to flare slightly. "Yes... I can see how strong you can become, child. In time... you will be my hand."
--------------------------------------------------------------

Mara looked about the interior of what she assumed was a Borg ship of some kind. It was poorly lit, with all the conduits and tubes and such left exposed, because the Borg had no need for ambience. The place chilled her, and she understood immediately why Seven wouldn't want to return. "Take your positions," she said, and Lara and Starbuck quickly fanned out, blasters held at the ready. So far there were no signs of drones, but that could change in an instant.

Seven was doing the real work, cutting through the connections between the alcove - the technology they'd come to steal - and the ship itself. It was designed to be easily replaced, just like the drones, but it was supposed to involve several drones at once, not a single ex-drone working by herself.

Unfortunately, some drones appeared around the corner, and probably not coming to lend a hand.
--------------------------------------------------------------

She was nine, sitting in a chair opposite the Emperor's throne. He stared at her; it was the most uncomfortable stare she'd ever felt, but she couldn't turn away from it. His face bore that same grin that had never lost its sinister edge.

"You can hear me," he said. The frightening thing, however, was that his lips had never moved.

"Yes, master," she said, fear saturating her voice.

"Do not speak with your lips," the Emperor said. "Speak with your mind."

"How, master?"

The grin deepened. "Feel the thread between your thoughts and mine. Do you sense it?"

Mara gasped slightly. "Yes, master."

"Good," he said in a long, drawn out tone. "Now, think the words through the thread. Let your thoughts pass into them." Mara closed her eyes tightly. "It is not necessary to strain, child. Simply do it. Take the thread with your mind and tell me what it is you want to say."

And Mara did it, without thought. She reached through the link and spoke without words. But she still didn't have control, so she said one small thought. "I'm afraid."

And at that, the Emperor chuckled, low and rumbling. "Very good," he said quietly. "Yes... I sense your fear. You are very wise to be afraid of me."
--------------------------------------------------------------

"How much longer?" Mara yelled, firing at the lead drone.

"Two minutes," Seven called back, moving very quickly over the controls. Unfortunately, two minutes was an eternity in a combat situation.

"More on our six," Starbuck said, turning and firing up the corridor the opposite way. She was holding a blaster rifle, putting precise blasts into her target. Lara, on the other hand, had chosen the more familiar twin guns method, using her blaster pistols to lay down cover fire, at least in theory. The problem is that cover fire presumes the other side doesn't want to get hit; the drones didn't seem to mind. Two more shots to the chest of the lead one, and Lara inched further up towards them to buy some time.

And then it came. Seven had warned them about this, but there was no way to know for sure - now they knew. The Borg had the ability to analyze and adapt to weaponry, and after enough shots, they had understood how blasters worked. The green beams flew through the air and stopped inches short of their mark, dispersed by an invisible energy shield.

"Mara," Kara shouted, "we have a problem!"
--------------------------------------------------------------

The Emperor stood at the window of his sanctum, gazing across the nighttime bustle of Imperial Center. All was under his domain, every vehicle and occupant his to command, every building within his domain, even the stars twinkling above held worlds that answered ultimately to him. He was quite literally the master of all he surveyed, from the sky above to the world below. Mara stood a short distance away in silence.

"What is power?" he asked her without turning. "Define it."

"The rate at which energy is consumed," the girl said.

"I'm referring to the more practical definition," the Emperor said, still without turning. "What is power in a contemporary sense?"

Mara thought about it; it was one of those things she knew but couldn't express. "I'm not sure, my master."

He turned back to face her. He seemed smaller now to the girl now than he used to, although that was solely her eyes talking. Her other senses saw a giant hiding behind the face of an aged man. "Power," he said slowly, "is the ability to make your will manifest. That was the lie the Jedi told themselves, even as they claimed to serve they were nevertheless using power, adjusting the galaxy to fit their will, even if that will was themselves as servile agents." He crossed to his throne. "This is why all beings struggle for power in some form, because without it we have no control. If we lose our power we are helpless."
--------------------------------------------------------------

Mara fired again, but it was hopeless; the blast stopped against the adaptive shielding, and the drone just kept on coming. "Crossroads," she said, "they've adapted. We need evac."

"You're too spread out," came the voice of Mrs. Danoob back. "We're locking onto Lara and Kara; rendezvous with Seven and we'll get you two as soon as the Gate's been cleared."

There was a hum and Lara and Starbuck vanished, but it also meant there was no one to slow down the drones. Seven, always focused, was still stripping the alcove as Mara started heading back. She fired into some kind of conduit, and a stream of plasma emerged, blasting the drones. That counted for something, but for the most part she felt pretty helpless, looking up and down the hall at all the drones. They were the ones in control here.
--------------------------------------------------------------

"The power I wield as Emperor," he continued, gnarled hands folded before him as he stared at Mara, "is useful. Yet it is a power removed... layers of bureaucracy or military commanders must be used to implement it. It is a limited thing."

The Emperor unfolded his hands and pointed to her holster. "That blaster you carry - is it a form of power."

"Yes, master," Mara answered. "It's a tool to kill those I wish."

"Correct," he said. "Take it and point it at me, child."

Mara didn't hesitate. She'd been trained to obey the Emperor without question. And besides that, she feared him, and it was easy to point a weapon at something you were afraid of. Her hand blurred with speed as she reached down and pulled the blaster from her holster, pointing it center of mass without the slightest tremble - not bad for a twelve-year old girl.

The Emperor opened his hand, and the blaster leapt from her grip and into it. He offered that grin to her. "It is a form of power," he explained, "but in the end, it too is limited. Fortunately, child, you have another power that cannot be plucked from you so easily."
--------------------------------------------------------------

"It's fini-" Seven began, but it descended into a cry as a drone reached out for her, and she shoved it back. Seven was the strongest human Mara had ever met, but it was clear that a full drone could outmuscle even her. Mara raised her blaster and aimed for the drone's face. It was a perfect shot, the kind they hand out trophies for, but it was pointless since the adaptive shield covered even that.

Mara's arms dropped and she watched the drone continue, oblivious to the attack, intent on getting Seven. Seven had explained what would happen: it would grab her and use assimilation tubules in its hand to puncture her neck. This would allow thousands of nanoprobes to flood into her system and begin changing her, until her body would stop obeying her thoughts. Then they'd take her away, put things in her head, and replace parts of her with machinery. Then she would be one with the hive mind, and Seven as Mara knew her would cease to exist. She would be exactly like one of them... just like she was before her miraculous escape. Just one gesture, and she'd be lost to Mara forever... and Mara was powerless to stop it.
--------------------------------------------------------------

"The Force itself is not the epitome of power," the Emperor continued, still holding Mara's blaster. "The Jedi possessed the Force, yet they fell. They followed the path of the light, and that limited their power. There were things they could and could not do, say and could not say, think and could not think. I am as capable of cruelty as I am of kindness, yet the Jedi constrained their vision. If power is the ability to make one's will manifest, then an enslaved will will always have limited power. That is why the Jedi fell, and why the dark will always be stronger than the light.

"Your fear," he crowed quietly, "your anger, your hatred... these are reflections of your will. These are where the power of the dark side is forged. It is power at its purest, and the beauty, child, is that the more you use it, the stronger the dark side grows within you, until the barriers are gone, and you will find there is nothing you cannot do." He set the blaster down on the desk as if it were some unseemly thing. "Once you walk the dark path, child, you will see it is the only way to find what you desire. All other forms of power are subservient to that one... and all other things are subservient to power." Inside, Mara shivered. "All things."
--------------------------------------------------------------

Mara stared at the drone; as it reached out for Seven, time slowed to a crawl. She could sense that Seven's tight control on her emotions was gone, replaced by sheer terror. And Mara stood there, helpless, eyes locked on the drone that was going to destroy the one person who had shown true love for her.

Mara feared the drone.

Mara was angry with the drone.

Mara hated the drone.

There was only one thing in the universe she wanted, and that was to kill that thing! But all her weapons were useless... powerless. All that she had was sheer will, and the emotions that fueled it. It was there, rumbling around inside her mind, howling at her to open the cage doors and let it out. I can give you everything you want, it promised. All you have to do is ask. Mara trembled, afraid of what paced within. I can save her if you take that one last step... and in the end, isn't it such a little step?

Mara's face twisted into a mask of hate, and she stepped forward, hand held out towards the drone. She squeezed her hand into a tight fist, and as she did it began shaking and sparking, until there was a discharge in its neck and it collapsed to the ground. And Mara watched it fall, and grinned.

And if she had a mirror, she'd have recognized where she'd seen that grin before.

Seven grabbed her arm, and immediately, reality came rushing back. They grabbed onto the alcove while Seven contacted Crossroads Facility, and a few seconds later, they all vanished back to their own reality, none the worse for wear... at least, that's what it seemed.

 

[tarr2k]

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..."

 

[tarr2k]

Part 33

Mr. Barrister cleared his throat. It wasn't a pleasant kind of clearing either. It didn't say that there was an uncomfortable bit of blockage that needed to be taken care of, or rather, it did, but not in the normal sense. It said the throat was preparing to announce the removal of some blockage to the owner of the throat's larger goals. It was a very calculated noise. "You have something to say, Mr. Barrister?" Ms. Danoob asked.

"Yes," he said in his gravelly voice. "For eighteen months now you have given us progress reports and promises. And in all that time we have not received a penny in actual return on our investment. You have a team that is capable of doing incredible things -or so you say- and yet so far we've seen little more than their ability to tickle each other out of their skin. If I want erotica, Ms. Danoob, I don't need it from my portfolio; that's why God and Al Gore gave us the Internet, after all."

"The return on investment will be substantial, I assure you," Ms. Danoob replied.

"Yes, so you've said," Mr. Barrister commented. "When?"

"Soon," she said.

"'Soon?'" he replied. "Is that a scientific term? Because you told us that as a scientist, you were the only one capable of managing this project with any chance for success. 'Soon' does not fill me with confidence."

"We are skirting the boundaries here," Ms. Danoob said. "I don't want to offer you a time table I cannot precisely calculate."

Mr. Barrister looked down, nodding a little as he wrapped on the desk. "I wonder, Ms. Danoob, if we'd be better off allowing you to focus where your talents are strongest. The daily minutia of running Crossroads Facility isn't really something you need concern yourself about."

Ms. Danoob smiled, or at least, bared her teeth. "I assure you, that won't be necessary. I'm handling the facility just fine."

"It's nothing to take personally," Mr. Barrister said. "Just business."

Ms. Danoob's smile widened. "In less than three days we will come into possession of one million kilograms of refined platinum. Will that convince you?"

Mr. Barrister offered the same smile in return. "It would be a nice start."

The meeting closed and the screen vanished. Ms. Danoob's smile evaporated, and she fumed a moment, but only a moment. She walked out; her assistant was waiting. "We have to accelerate our plans," she said. "We go in less than three days; adjust the schedules accordingly."

"Yes, ma'am."

"I need to check on the alcove," Ms. Danoob continued. "While I'm there, have the kraken readied. I think it's about time for the real deal."

"As you wish, ma'am." Ms. Danoob stormed on up the corridor of Crossroads Facility, a place that existed only because of her, because of her genius and vision. It was hers, and she'd be damned if anyone was going to change that.
--------------------------------------------------------------

Starbuck secured the last of the restraints, then looked over Lara's helpless body. "This should do nicely," she commented.

"It's hopeless," Lara said. "You can't beat me, Kara, no matter what you try. Even Seven couldn't."

Starbuck kneeled astride Lara's torso. "Yes, but she didn't know you like I do," she said seductively. She leaned down and began lightly pinching the inner flesh of Lara's arms halfway between her shoulder and her elbow. Lara's eyes were screwed shut and teeth ground together, but there was an unmistakable grin across her face. Starbuck repeated the pinches, with each one moving just a little but farther along the biceps until Lara was snickering. "Cracks in your resolve, my love?" she asked, rolling the flesh a little in-between her fingers while Lara's snickering turned into chuckling. She continued her slow trek until she reached Lara's underarms, then set a finger in the center of each. Lara finally opened her eyes, body stiff in anticipation. She knew what was going to happen, of course, but couldn't help but look.

Starbuck began lightly scratching and the snickers were back. Soon she was using all her fingers, and there was light laughter. A little more pressure, and the laughter deepened, until Lara was shaking her head. "I think I've found a crack in your resolve," Starbuck said, scratching in circles around Lara's armpits while the helpless woman laughed and danced in her prone position. Starbuck scratched up her biceps a little, then down into the center of her hollows, never breaking stride for even a moment. When you had Lara caught, you had to push the advantage and keep her off balance. It was true in all things, and that meant tickling. So even as Lara's face turned strawberry with laughter, Starbuck didn't relent, she just kept things moving. Instead of scratching, she slipped into a one finger prod, pushing and twisting, causing Lara to offer pathetic laughs that seemed more like groans of ticklish despair. Starbuck repeated this all over her pits until Lara's body was trembling like a slow-motion violin string.

"Okay! Okay!!!" Lara finally yelled. "I give, I give! HAHAHAHA!!!" Starbuck finally relented to give Lara a chance to catch her breath. She cared a great deal for her, but at the same time, Lara was very much a dominating personality, and Starbuck wanted it to be clear that she wasn't going to be her sidekick here. This was going to be a partnership of equals.

Of course, that didn't mean they should make this torturous. Kara shifted her technique now, teasing Lara all over her torso now, lightly tickling until they couldn't wait any more and began making love. When that was finished the restraints were undone, and Lara went off to take in a shower.

"You know," she said eventually, “I've been thinking. I don't think we deserve to live in a dump like this."

"Well, you'll get no argument from me," Starbuck said. The room had brick walls and bare concrete floors. Their beds were singles with just a mattress on a spring-based metal cot. There was a table, two battered wooden chairs, a set of shelves for clothes, and the small bathroom with shower. Starbuck was a soldier, she'd been used to living with less than plush conditions, but she was also used to having alcohol and cigars and poker to take the edges off. This still felt like a prison.

"I think it's about time we paid a visit to our warden," Lara said. "If Ms. Danoob wants our service, it's only fair that we get something out of the bargain, and this would be a good start."

"A liquor cabinet would be nice," Starbuck offered. "Preferably a full one."

"Yes, I could do with a little cognac now and then as well." Starbuck had to give Lara credit, despite her upbringing and her extravagant background, Lara wasn't the kind of aristocracy Kara had expected. She could list off the top five wines to have with roasted sea bass, but when dropped into the wilderness she'd know exactly what kind of frogs, lizards, and bugs could be safely eaten, and do so without complaint. Lara liked the fine things, but she didn't require the fine things. That was probably what Starbuck liked about her - she was upper crust that didn't mind operating at the level of crumbs like her.

"Let's get dressed and talk to her," Lara said, coming out of the shower. "Quail's eggs... I haven't had those in a long time."

"Oh yes," Starbuck said. "Can't get enough of those, especially fried with bacon."

Lara smiled. "Quite. Let's go."
--------------------------------------------------------------

Ms. Danoob watched, arms crossed, while Seven worked on the alcove they'd stolen from the Borg ship. There was nothing said, or implied; the administrator seemed fascinated just watching Seven work, even though she asked no questions. Seven didn't speculate on her motives; she'd learned by now that her former captor worked in mysterious ways, looking at things with a perspective that Seven -who assimilated many species- found completely alien.

"It's finished," Seven finally said. "I've managed to interface it with your systems; whatever data you provide can be directly downloaded into my memory engrams."

"Good," Ms. Danoob said. "The ability to rapidly learn information will prove invaluable in our efforts. Tomorrow's operation will be a good test of that ability."

Seven turned back to examine the alcove once again. "You should be aware that my Borg technology has all manner of security systems in place. If you attempt to use this interface to provide a hostile program, or to in some way attempt to manipulate my behavior, it will fail." She turned back to Ms. Danoob. "And I will be very angry."

"And I've seen you angry," Ms. Danoob commented.

"No, you saw me upset. You would not wish to see anger."

The corners of Ms. Danoob's mouth twitched. "Is that a threat Seven? From you?"

"A statement," Seven said flatly. "An outlining of the causal relations. If you do nothing, then there will be no negative consequences."

"Fine with me," Ms. Danoob said. "I'll have my technicians ready the data for upload." She turned and walked out of the room; her assistant was waiting. Ms. Danoob quickly informed her of the instructions about the data. "I'll look them over

"Also," the assistant said, "Lara and Kara wish to speak with you. They made it clear they meant now."

Ms. Danoob never broke her stride. "No," she said evenly. "I'll see them in two hours. I'm busy now."

"They won't like it," he assistant observed.

"Yes," Ms. Danoob said, and offered nothing more. She entered the nearby chamber and closed the door behind her, rubbed her eyes a moment to fight off the exhaustion, then entered the startup codes into the wall panel. As she was finishing the door opened; Lara and Starbuck came in. "I suggest you leave," Ms. Danoob said, again without any feeling.

Lara ignored the remark. "We need to discuss compensation," she said.

"You want a salary?" Ms. Danoob asked. There was a low-pitched thrumming sound, but around Crossroads Facility there was always something making a strange noise or vibration; people tended to notice only when things were silent.

"We want something above squalor contemporary," Starbuck said. "We risk our lives and live in something worse than any barrack I've ever seen."

"Then this mission will be of benefit," Ms. Danoob said. "We'll be obtaining a large amount of mineral reserves; it will provide a nice payment to our stockholders and allow for some redecorating. Will that satisfy you?"

"No," Lara said.

"Good, glad that's settled," Ms. Danoob said, turning back to the panel. Lara grabbed her shoulder and turned her back to face her; not a jerk, but with a firm inevitability that said she'd better not show Lara her back again.

"There's more.”

"I'm afraid that-" She was cut off as the door locked itself, thick steel bars sliding out into the wall.

Lara looked back from it to Ms. Danoob, and her eyes narrowed. "Open it," she said in a voice lined with frost.

"Too late, I'm afraid," Ms. Danoob said. "I did suggest you leave, remember.”

The wall opposite began rumbling up, revealing an eerie darkness beyond. Starbuck backed away from it and Lara's grip on Ms. Danoob loosened. "What's going on?" she demanded, though there was a hint of fear in her voice.

"Have you ever fantasized that a giant octopus catches you and tickles you to your wits end?" Ms. Danoob asked.

Lara's eyes searched the darkness. "No," she said and then saw just the hint of metallic gleam.

"Well," Ms. Danoob said, "I have."

 

[tarr2k]

Part 34

The kraken, as Ms. Danoob had dubbed it, had been a war machine of an advanced aquatic race. It was equipped with all manner of weaponry to attack giant sharks and enemy ships. All that was gone now, stripped off when the weapon had been retired from service due to budget cuts. Even Atlanteans had to deal with politics.

It had been salvaged some time ago by the people of Crossroads facility, because Ms. Danoob saw its usefulness in keeping with their standard means of discipline and the sheer psychological factor. Its primitive computer brain had been reprogrammed, so that protocols on eliminating submarines were replaced with detailed human anatomy files. It had only one purpose now, and when it saw Lara, Starbuck, and Ms. Danoob, despite the fact that it was stuck on dry land, it knew its mission, and propelled itself forward.

The kraken had a hundred different tentacle arms, and in the room it was impossible to dodge them all. Mere seconds later all three were plucked up in its alloy limbs, and it went to work.

Starbuck was grabbed by her right wrist when she'd made a dash for it. She'd made the mistake of follow this up by trying to grab the tentacle and wrench it free. Instead the tentacle easily slipped around and pulled the other hand in as well, leaving her helpless. A second tentacle whipped out and wrapped around her legs, pulling them together as well. Starbuck was lifted off the floor and stretched out, unable to move even a little. Her top was ripped from her body, and a dozen tentacles descended on her exposed ribs. Immediately she was shrieking with laughter; the tentacles applying their tips with anatomical precision on every rib, wriggling their tips back and forth until she could hardly breath. She tried to curl up in a ball, but the strength of the tentacles was incredible, as if she were nailed into position. To her horror, another tentacle pushed at the small of her back, arching her back so that the ribs were outlined on her chest. She pleaded for it to stop, but instead more tentacles swooped onto her ribs, hitting every single one and even the little gaps in between. She could scarcely breathe at all, and yet with the tickling only intensifying her mouth was left hanging open in silent laughter.

Lara had tried her best to avoid capture, but even her acrobatics weren't up to it. A tentacle snagged her left ankle, and she was left dangling. In an instant three more reached out, each grabbing a limb and pulling in a different direction. Still upside down, she was stuck spread-eagle while her shirt and shorts were ripped off, and more tentacles came. Some of the tentacles’ tips split open, but instead of revealing laser cutters or hooks, the weaponry had been replaced with feathers. Some began trailing along her inner thighs while others danced across her nipples. More were teasingly drawn along the bottoms of her now bare feet, her soles exposed by a tentacle tip pinning her toes back and leaving the insteps oh so vulnerable. Lara laughed and laughed until tears run up her forehead, a most unusual sensation. As tentacles prodded lightly at her flanks she would yelp occasionally, but in that position and laughing as much as she was, Lara was sure she was going to black out if it didn’t' stop tickling her soon.

And then there was Ms. Danoob. She didn't try to run or struggle. She'd been looking forward to this for a while now, and the sounds of the other women laughing only enhanced the fantasy. Intellectually she knew the machine would automatically shut down in two hours, but she allowed herself to pretend that she was at its mercy, a helpless tickle victim. She took a deep sensual breath as her arms were pinned together by one tentacle and she was lifted off the ground. Her clothes, likewise, were ripped away, though she'd had the good sense to dress appropriately for that. Still, dangling with her feet off the floor, tentacles came in and prodded her armpits. She laughed as the tips wriggled about in her pits; there was nothing teasing or playful in its touches. The kraken went for the best tickle possible, and could obviously tell that with her build she wouldn't have the strength to lift herself and limit the effectiveness of the tentacles. She was allowed to hang, kicking her legs while more tentacles sought out her bare underarms.

"Turn it off!" Starbuck screamed when she'd finally found her voice. "WAHAHAHAHA TURN IT OFF!" The kraken had clearly discovered how ticklish poor Kara's ribcage was, and was even now devoting more tentacles to the writhing mass. They had now spread down to her sides, sticking their wiggling tips into her flesh and tickling her like mad. More had also been applied to her belly, stroking and prodding all over her abdomen when one applied its feather tip to her navel. She screamed and shook, her entire torso now engulfed by tentacles, still arched by the one behind her to make her all the more vulnerable. She was already beet red. "FOR FRAK'S SAKE TURN IT OFF!!! HAHAHAHA!!!"

Ms. Danoob didn't answer of course; she was too busy laughing, and anyway, it drew her out of her little fantasy. But there was no way she could shut it down; it was too great a temptation when she'd be in the throes of ticklish agony. The equipment used to have an override built in - part of her forward planning was to anticipate her own downfall and needing a way out. But in the end, she'd had to remove it, because she'd kept using the code and wind up denying herself the very experience she'd gone in to have. It was, she knew, a flaw, but she'd finally accepted that even she would have to be flawed. So no matter how much Starbuck yelled at her, Ms. Danoob was just as helpless. The tickling would continue until the two-hour time period was up, or until someone in control detected a biowarning light and shut it down remotely. But it was all beyond her now. She was only going to get tickled, without any control at all.

Which was exactly what she wanted.

Lara was offering her shrieking laughter also, but hadn’t reached the point yet where she’d start screaming for it to stop. Some tentacles were now working over her armpits as well, and more were running over her feet than before. Her face was nearly purple between her position and the intense tickling, and she began shaking her head so hard her long ponytail was whipping about like a tentacle of her own.

Ms. Danoob was soon given even more attention from the kraken. It began feathering the backs of her knees, an effective spot on her. She began kicking her legs frantically, but two tentacles snatched her ankles and yanked her legs straight, leaving her without room to avoid the strokes. Her butt got it next, with feathery tips and little wriggling tentacles massing around her cheeks until she started hiccupping with laughter. They also zeroed in on her full breasts, feathering all around them while they bounced with every energetic laugh. Lastly, her own feet were targeted, and targeted for the worst she could get. The entire sole was covered in wriggling tentacles, hitting all her worst spots, and even spots she didn’t know she had. She held her head back and the laughter poured out of her mouth like a fountain, literally tickled pink by the entire affair.

Minute after long minute passed, while the three of them were subjected to the worst tickling the kraken had to offer. But it didn’t push them to far to be dangerous, so there was no shutting it down, just more and more of the teasing all over their helpless bodies. Finally, after two hours, the kraken stopped, the time was up. The trio was set back down on the floor and it slithered back into its side of the room, the door closing after it. The three stood there, panting and wiping the sweat from their faces.

"I needed that," Ms. Danoob commented finally, and Lara and Starbuck looked over to her with the expected expressions. "Now, about your problems... I think I know just what is needed..."
--------------------------------------------------------------

Mr. Barrister awoke when he heard a strange tearing sound. Before he could figure out what was happening, a strip of duct tape covered his mouth. He offered a muffled protest, but even as he did two people dressed in black yanked him from the bed and likewise bound his wrists together. He was half dragged out of the room and up the hall; he noticed his bodyguards lying in the hall - breathing, he could see, though clearly knocked out. He was led down the stairs roughly and into the study. His eyes widened at the sight.

"Greetings," Ms. Danoob said, holding a half-emptied glass of wine as she sat in his chair. "I hope you don't mind, but I needed a little something to help settle the stomach.”

Lara pulled her mask off. "An ’82 Pomerol," she said. "But you were storing it standing up, you lout, so it would have spoiled anyway." Starbuck likewise pulled off her own mask.

Ms. Danoob swirled the wine in the cup a little. "Crossroads Facility will be making a raid in exactly fifty-two hours," she said quietly. "It will see a nice bit of profit, if it succeeds. Do you think it will succeed?" she asked the two women.

"Yes," Lara said. "It's a perfect plan, and an easy target."

Starbuck stuck her lips up to Mr. Barrister's ear. "And it was all planned by our boss. Without her, it'd never happen."

"She's indispensable," Lara said, then grabbed the duct tape and ripped it off his face; he offered a yelp of pain.

"No one," Ms. Danoob said, "is going to take Crossroads away from me," she said coldly. "Do you understand, Mr. Barrister. I will keep it by whatever means are necessary."

Lara pulled out a hunting knife, and Mr. Barrister gasped and trembled with fright. "Kill me," he stammered, "and the whole thing falls apart. I kn-know people-"

"I'm not going to kill you, Mr. Barrister," Ms. Danoob said, putting down the glass and getting up.

"Yet," Starbuck added.

"I just want you to understand. “ She stood face to face with him. "You know people? So do I. Oh, they may not be big and powerful as you understand the term, but... they are very good at what they do."

In one fluid motion Lara slashed the knife; Mr. Barrister's trembling hands fell to his sides, the duct tape severed; there wasn't a scratch on him.

Ms. Danoob offered him a smile. "Just sign the checks and collect your money, and leave the day to day operations to me, all right? I have matters well in hand." She nodded to Lara and Starbuck, who quickly re-donned their masks. "No one died tonight," she added. "Don't make me come back, or that may change." Kara opened the door for her, and Ms. Danoob stepped out. She and Lara followed, leaving only the shaking Mr. Barrister behind.

 

[tarr2k]

Part 35

Another time, another place, and another reality. Here, where humanity has spread from their home world out across the stars, they have emerged as the dominant species. Their forces have become so powerful that no one in the universe is foolish enough to risk their ire.

Four people arrived from outside the universe. The rules didn't apply to them... they rarely do.

Mara looked about, blaster rifle held at the ready as she tried to sense any threats. The station they landed on was not what she’d have expected; the floor was marble and the walls ivory. In the glow of the lights far overhead, it looked almost classical rather than mechanized. This was as far from the Borg ship of their last encounter as you could possibly get, she thought as she checked back over the rest of the group. It was just a routine look, though; Starbuck, Lara, and Seven were experienced enough to know what the situation called for - they stood at the ready.

"Weapons on stun," Mara reminded them, heading up the hall. "There's no need to kill anyone. It's not as if the witnesses will be able to set the police after us." The floor felt very solid; she'd almost swear that they were on the ground floor of a building the way it felt, as if it was on unmovable foundation. Still, she crept along carefully, and the others followed her lead. Even Lara, who wasn't inclined to listen to anyone, and Starbuck who had made a career out of insubordination, obeyed. They were a team here; mess with that and someone would get shot, and it was doubtful the enemy had set their weapons on stun.

They stopped at the first intersection, and Seven stepped up with a device she'd built the day before. There was a slight squeaking sound that grated the nerves, but unavoidable. The four of them ran around the corner and past the remote camera until they were well past it. Seven switched the device off; the frozen image of the empty hall she'd projected into its sensors had kept the security system from identifying anyone in the area. They continued on up the next hall and repeated the process, moving steadily closer.

The station was mostly empty at this late hour, but it was still patrolled. Two guards appeared around one of the corners, but Mara had managed to avoid detection thanks to her danger sense. She gestured to Lara, who walked with cat-like steps into position. Together the two of them slipped around the corner, Mara taking the one on the right, Lara the one on the left. Both were down before the other could respond. Seven took up their weapons and communicators, and the group continued. The storage room was just a few more meters away. There was no guard; there didn't need to be, the security computer monitored it without rest. Seven took the lead for the last leg, stepping into the room.

"Unscheduled presence," it intoned as she strode confidently towards the holographic interface of the security system. "Withdraw or you will be charged with violating Terran Imperial Security Code One Four-"

"I am here on Emergency Protocol 14.21.6a," Seven interrupted.

The Security system slipped smoothly from its recitation to respond. "You are not a recognized agent of the Division of Weights and Standards."

"I have undergone reconstructive surgery," Seven said. "My name is Wallace, Janet. Serial Number 14-217-81-HF-4-Sigma.

"Wallace, Janet, is listed as terminated," the computer stated.

"A necessary deception," Seven said. "You will note that my account is still active." It was, though that was something they had been lucky enough to stumble upon. Whether Janet Wallace was actually dead or in hiding, someone was still using her account. There was no reason Crossroads Facility couldn't borrow it for a time.

"That is confirmed," the security system stated. "I will require an access code for Sigma level security-" Seven rattled off a series of numbers and letters. "Code confirmed. How may I assist you, Ms. Wallace?"

"I require access to unit 04A," Seven said.

"For what purpose?"

"Inspection," Seven stated.

A door on the left hissed open. "Access granted. In accordance with Imperial policy I must inform you that any attempt to remove the cargo is a security violation, and you will be arrested and reprogrammed."

"Understood," Seven said, leading the way into the adjoining room, the other three taking up the rear. The computer didn't comment; it often required several people to perform inspections, so there was nothing unusual about this.

And there it was - a stack of platinum bars the size of a small car. At twice the value of gold, there was close to forty million dollars here... if they could get it back. Mara, Lara, and Seven took out the transmitters and began affixing them to the stacks while Starbuck covered the door just to be safe. Less than a minute later they were done and back in the Gate. Another fifteen seconds and they watched as the bars arrived as well.

Ms. Danoob was waiting on the floor. When she stepped forward, her smile seemed to be genuine for once. "Very good... very, very good. And it seems your alcove did its job quite well," she informed Seven.

"Yes," Seven said. "Though it was hardly a significant amount of information; I could have simply read that and memorized it."

"We did not want to overwhelm you the first time out," Ms. Danoob said, though her eyes were still fixed on the platinum. "Fantastic... take the rest of the day to relax; tomorrow we'll be doing it again. The day after that, the redecoration will begin."

The four of them checked their gear in, Seven adding the new equipment she'd taken off the guards, and they retired to their quarters. Mara hauled her boots off immediately; they were much heavier than the ones she'd used all those years as the Emperor's Hand. However, before she straightened up she was tackled from behind and sent sprawling onto the bed. "Seven?!" she exclaimed.

"We have the rest of the day," Seven informed her, pulling up the front of Mara's shirt. "I intend to use every moment."

"Can you at least let- AH! HAHAHAHA!!!" Seven was tickling all over her exposed tummy, and pinned like this Mara couldn't work to escape. Seven used all ten fingers on her tummy using the tips like she was performing a scalp massage, but it was hardly relaxing. "Seven-hahaha stop it! I want to shower!"

"Silence," Seven ordered, though it was impossible to think she'd meant it considered she was tickling Mara even more, moving around to her flanks. She wasn't subtle; Seven grabbed on each side and wormed her fingers around while Mara laughed madly. Fortunately in this new position Mara was able get an arm out, and Seven's breast was a close and vulnerable target. Seven yelped as Mara tickled it right through the uniform and soon she was laughing almost as much as her victim.

"Enough," Seven finally gasped, grabbing Mara's hand and catching the second that lunged up for a counter attack. Seven held her by the wrists a moment, then slid further up them. Mara couldn't stop her as Seven tightly gripped her arms until finally Seven was nearly up to her shoulders. Seven held Mara's arms out a little and -still with her iron grip- put one index finger into each pit. Mara laughed and swung her arms at the elbows, but couldn't actually get close enough to stop the worming in her armpits. Seven would stop every once in a while and give Mara a peck on the lips, but then it was right back to tickling her underarms.

Mara managed to twist her body around enough so that she could swing her hand around and prod Seven in the ribs. Seven shrieked at the unexpected tickle, and tumbled sideways off the bed and onto the floor, Mara coming after her. Having the momentary advantage, Mara kept it up, tickling Seven's ribs while the blond laughed hysterically. But it didn't last long; Seven rolled and Mara was on the bottom, pinned. Then Seven pivoted and rolled Mara again onto her stomach, then spun around and slid down her legs. Mara was fighting now, knowing what was coming but knowing she didn't have a chance. Seven pinned Mara's legs, reached down, and tickled the bottoms of Mara's exposed feet. Mara shook with laughter, pounding weakly on the floor with her fists as Seven ran her scratching nails all over the soles. "This is a better position," Seven commented. "Thank you for suggesting it."

"Hahahaha! Seven, get off! Hahahaha!"

"I expect I will," Seven remarked in a rare double-entendre, still not stopping in her tickling of Mara's feet. "But first things first. If you are not adequately prepared, I'm not sure you will enjoy it as much." Mara shook with laughter as Seven concentrated on a nasty spot on her instep. “Another couple of hours and I'm sure you'll be ready. We must do this right, after all. You must be tension free if we're to succeed again tomorrow."

"Heheehee I'm relaxed! I'm relaxed! Hahahaha!!!"

"No," Seven said. "I will inform you when you are relaxed... and I will make certain that there is no room for doubt." She began tickling harder, until tears ran down Mara's face. Half her mind was loving it, and the other half plotting revenge. None of it thought at all about the mission.
--------------------------------------------------------------

Ronald Tetz was the Senior Security Chief of the Imperial Weights and Standards Division, and he'd thought he'd seen it all. Attacking ships heading to and coming from the Imperial Distribution Centers was uncommon, but they did happen. And every once in a great while some ambitious and corrupt employee would conspire to try and make off with some of the chemicals, minerals, herbs and fuels that were required by law to submit to the detailed inspections of the Terran Empire, but they all ended the same.

But now, someone had done it. Somehow tons of material was removed from one of their distribution centers, and there were no leads. It was impossible, absolutely impossible... but that didn't change the inconvenient truth that it had still happened. And what was most shocking of all was that the perpetrators had ignored the five hundred kilo containers of purified sub-micronic fuel and crates of concentrated mulva herbs -either of which could have made a person rich beyond their dreams- and settled for platinum. Of course, platinum wasn't the most common element of the galaxy, but it wasn't that uncommon. Maybe with all that had been stolen you could afford to by a small cruiser, if you could even unload that much. It was an astonishing paradox: a raid that only a criminal idiot would want to perform, yet could only have been accomplished by a criminal genius.

Ronald, of course, wasn't stupid. Forget the preconceptions and look at the facts: someone had defeated their security, someone clearly brilliant. That meant whatever they did was worthy of the effort - if he couldn't see it, that didn't mean they were dumb, just that they had a motive he hadn’t pieced together yet. Therefore, it was reasonable to conclude that they might strike for similar targets again; it was thin, but so far the best lead they had, since at the moment there'd still been no records of any ships coming to or leaving the distribution center that could have done this. If he was going to catch them, he'd just have to hope they'd try again... because if they did, they'd step right into his trap.

 

[tarr2k]

Part 36

There was a hiss as the double doors of the Gate swung open, revealing the chamber beyond. Mara Jade, blaster rifle slung over her shoulder, stepped in first. Behind her came Seven, a utility belt tightened around her narrow waist, sporting a hand blaster, their jamming unit, and a few miscellaneous odds and ends to adapt to changing circumstances - after all, it was what Borg did best. Following her was Starbuck, doing one last inspection of her blaster rifle before resetting the system; she still had it at the ready, a soldier through and through. Last was Lara Croft, a pair of heavy blaster pistols at her hips and the typical swagger in her step. Of all of them, she seemed the most confident, though she had the least experience with advanced technology. Lara had dealt with the incredible in all its forms so often that not even massive space stations, unstoppable cyborgs, and crossing dimensions could phase her for long. The quartet stood together inside the Gate, and the door hissed shut.

Ms. Danoob stood in the center of the massive room housing the machinery, arms folded as she looked at the machine that she had forged. She wore a headset; she spoke into it now. "Command to all operations, I want a Go/No Go for jump. Operations?"

"Go, Command."

"Navigation?"

"Go, Command."

"Reactor?"

"Go, Command."

"Sensors?"

"Go, Command."

"Medical?"

"Go, Command."

"Damage Control?"

"Go, Command."

"Team Leader?"

"Go, Command," Mara said, glancing up at the other three women with her.

"We are Go for jump," Ms. Danoob said. "Operations, begin countdown."

A mid-range male voice was heard in every headset and echoed across the cavernous room. "Jump in ten... nine... eight..."

"Must they really do this every time?" Lara asked.

"Would you prefer your arms and legs arriving in separate dimensions?" Seven asked.

"Enough," Mara said quietly, her stomach tightening. She unslung her blaster rifle and held it at the ready.

"...one. Jump."

The only thing that ever came with the jump was a mild feeling in the pit of the stomach like you were on a rollercoaster, but it only lasted a fraction of a second. But otherwise, nothing. It seemed wrong in some ways, given the enormity of what they were doing. Seven said that transporter technology back where she came from usually was an energy cascade of one kind or another, sometimes with a sound attached to it. That was better, this was just... too eerie, as if it was all just in her head.

But still, they had arrived, no question. The smooth curving walls inside the Gate had given way to the expanse of a space station just like the one they'd been on the day before, though thousands of light-years away. "Weapons on stun," she reminded them, and they went through the halls with the same care as before - previous success didn't mean they could afford to be sloppy. They passed the cameras without incident, eliminated two guards as they had the day before, and soon found themselves in the storage area.

Seven stepped forward and dealt with the security computer, answering questions and quoting regulations. They used a different ID code this time, in case someone had put the pieces together. It worked like a charm, the door hissed open, and the four of them went in to collect the prize.
--------------------------------------------------------------

Ms. Danoob paced a little in the expanse before the gate, mulling things over. Her thoughts were interrupted. "Command, Sensors," came the voice. "I have indication the Terran Imperials are mobilizing."

"Double-check your readings," she said quickly. "Mara?"

"Ma'am?" Mara said, standing watch while the other three were attaching the beacons.

"There may be a security alert."

"Oh great," Mara said, and headed back out into the main room to watch for any approaching guards or robots. "No, sign of-" she stopped as a nasty squeal came from her communicator before it shut itself down. They were being jammed; it was a trap all right!
--------------------------------------------------------------

"Scrub the mission," Ms. Danoob said. "Operations, jump them back."

"Command, Navigations," came another voice. "There's heavy jamming in the area; we can't lock on for a jump."

"Stand by," Ms. Danoob said. "They'll find a way to deal with it; lock on and jump the moment they do."
--------------------------------------------------------------

It was Starbuck who first saw the door closing. "Out, now!" she shouted, running through. Lara, who'd run into countless situations like this in tombs over the years, dove through afterwards, narrowly making it past before it sealed.

On the other side, Mara turned back from the hallway at the door, and did the quick mental arithmetic. "Seven?" she said, but there was still too much jamming. Mara went over to examine the door, but there was no visible way to open it. She turned to the holographic interface. "Open it," she growled.

"I'm afraid I can't do that," the hologram replied. Mara pointed her blaster rifle at it. "You realize that I'm not physically present, and cannot be threatened. Mara offered another growl, then switched off the stun setting, turned, and shot at the door. It sparked, but it remained sealed. "The storage areas are quite durable; your weapon cannot penetrate."

"Shut up!" Mara shouted, firing again and again, but although the door deformed a little, it didn't look ready to give.

Meanwhile, Lara and Starbuck had already engaged a squad of guards and robots that were coming up the hall. Unlike the Borg, they didn't want to get shot and were being careful. "Mara!" Starbuck shouted. "Mara, we're compromised! We have to withdraw!"

"As soon as this door is open!" Mara shouted back, firing a few more shots.

"Mara, there's not enough energy in the packs to take that door down!" Starbuck shouted.

"Then we'll blow it!"

Starbuck slipped over and grabbed Mara's shoulder, whirling her around. "Use your head! Any bomb that can take that door down will kill anyone on the other side! We withdraw and eliminate the source of the jamming and jump her out; that's the protocol you wrote!"

"Shut up and help me!" Mara said, yanking herself from Starbuck's grip.

"I am, sir," Starbuck said, grabbing the end of Mara's rifle. "Let's move."

The Emperor's Hand appeared at Starbuck's shoulder. "Are you going to let her do this?" she asked Mara. "Let her run away and leave poor Seven behind?"

"We have to open this door!" Mara said, ignoring the Emperor's Hand.

"She's not listening," The Emperor's Hand said. "No one listens... except me. I can help you..." She leaned forward and whispered soothingly into Mara's ear. "I want to help you. Just let me out, Mara, and I'll save her."

Mara's breath trembled in frustration and grief. "How?" she squeaked.

"Oh, it's sooo easy," The Emperor's Hand cooed. "Just kill Kara. Then Seven will be safe."

"Mara," Starbuck said, "we have to go, now, or we'll be completely surrounded!"

"She'll never see it coming," The Emperor's Hand said. "Just one pull of the trigger, and you can have the power." Mara's jaw trembled as she stared into Starbuck's face.

"Mara, please!" Starbuck said with frustration.

"Someone has to die," The Emperor's Hand said. "Will it be Seven, or Kara? You decide, Mara. Pull the trigger, or do nothing... and lose her forever."

"I-" Mara began. "I can't-"

"Do it!" The Emperor's Hand shouted. "Now! Kill her, or kill Seven!" Tears ran down Mara’s cheeks as she stared into Starbuck’s eyes. “Pull the trigger!”

The sound of the blaster shot rang out; even amidst the firefight it was unmistakable, and Starbuck's eyes went wide in shock.

Mara dropped to the floor like a stone; Lara was still pointing the blaster pistol where she'd stood. She caught Starbuck's look. "She needed some extra persuasion," Lara explained. "You carry her, I'll cover us."

"Thanks for giving me the easy part," Starbuck grumbled, shouldering her rifle first, and then the unconscious Mara. With the help of some smoke and stun grenades and a little of Lara's specialized insanity, they overran one of the small forces and got into the corridors of the station. The facility wasn't made with bottlenecking in mind - few ever tried something so reckless because of the tight security here - so they were able to keep several steps ahead of their pursuers, until finally they reached a hangar. Starbuck had familiarized herself with their flight technology so she was able to blast their way out and beyond the jamming field. As soon as they were clear, they jumped back to Crossroads Facility, but without the prize. And while four had gone in, only three came out.
--------------------------------------------------------------

The marble floor of the station echoed under the boots of Ronald Tetz as he made his way to the security center. He'd been alerted the moment the trap had sprung and had been on a shuttle in minutes. It was unfortunate that most of the thieves had escaped, but the one held in the storage room would hopefully lead to the rest.

She hadn't been easy to deal with; they'd anesthetized her with gas, but even that had taken the better part of an hour before she'd passed out, and they'd had to use restraints normally reserved for the larger aliens they encountered despite her appearance. At the moment she'd regained consciousness and was seated in a chair, arms and legs secured firmly to it. She glowered at everyone she saw, including Ronald when he walked in. He took a seat opposite and regarded her for a brief time, giving her the chance to realize the enormity of this.

"If you're uncertain who I am, I'm the Senior Security Chief of the Division of Weights and Standards. I don't normally deal with every detainee." He steepled his fingers. "But this situation is hardly normal."

"Release me," Seven said with a voice like a vibrosaw.

"Oh, there's no chance of that," Ronald said. "Entering a restricted area without clearance, impersonating an Imperial officer, grand larceny... you're in deep, my dear. You were instructed as to the penalty: you'll be mentally reprogrammed and sold on the slave market as an asset of the Terran Empire."

"I am aware," Seven said. "Your people possess advanced technology, yet you are social barbarians."

"Big talk coming from a common thief."

"And your insults are hypocritical, considering this ore was seized from alien civilizations through a treaty signed at gunpoint."

"Ah, so you're a modern day Robin Hood?" Ronald asked. "But if so, why steal platinum? I don't understand that. Surely there are more valuable targets, yet you settled for one of the least valuable items in the vault."

"I will say nothing more."

"And these devices you strapped onto the ore," Ronald continued. "An anachronism. They use a very primitive construction, yet they do seem to operate on principles my people have never heard of. You also had one on your person, I noticed." Seven didn't reply. "Is this how you got in and out?"

"I said I will say nothing more," Seven said.

"Everyone says that," Ronald said with a sigh, "and everyone changes their mind. We took a scan of your mind when you were unconscious. It can't read much, but it can help identify weaknesses." He snapped his fingers and a readout was placed in his hand; a bemused look passed over his face. "Really? How interesting." He glanced up at Seven and noticed the look of undisguised malice. "It seems you're rather... ticklish."

 

[tarr2k]

Part 37

Ronald looked down from the observation platform into the room where Seven of Nine was. She floated in the air, immobile, alone. She was screaming with laughter.

It was a fairly standard means of interrogation, although it was slightly adapted given Seven's unique weakness. She'd been immersed in a complex silicone-polymer blend that coated every single part of her body except the region around the mouth and nose and where two goggles protected her eyes. It had quickly dried, leaving Seven wrapped skin-tight within its cocoon. It was capable of stimulating the nerve cells and was commonly used in these sessions - searing heat, frigid cold, intense pain, incredible pressures could all be simulated without actually doing anything to the body. In Seven's case, it had been set to tickle, and was proving very effective, at least in terms of reaction. Her laughter and shrieks had only intensified as the procedure continued, showing that it was definitely having an effect. The only problem was that Seven refused to talk, even after several days of such treatment, of spending every waking moment being tickled non-stop.

There was no way he could have understood why she did it. Seven knew Mara, and she knew that Mara would come back for her. She knew that anything she told them could compromise her and her rescue efforts. So even as she felt the horrible, unrelenting sensations as they tickled her, she resisted, but it was anything but easy. Her soles, from the heel to the ball, were fighting madly against the sensations, and her toes bunched up to try and escape their teasing. She would twist madly as they tickled along each ribs. She found herself clenching as they applied it all along the curves of her behind and breasts. She sucked her stomach in in a vain attempt to protect her tummy, yet still with nothing to save her flanks. Her arms twisted in her restraints, trying to spare her underarms the intense sensations they were experiencing. She tried grinding her thighs together to protect them as well. None of it did much to help; she was as immersed in tickling as she'd ever been, and alone it would be overwhelming. So she thought about Mara, and it helped. She kept her focus on her, and Seven could endure the non-stop tickling.

All that was beyond the vision of Ronald, of course, but he could read a few things with his instruments. He could see that there was a definite undercurrent of sexual fulfillment in this. That would no doubt be useful in her reprogramming even if the interrogation offered no results.

It was probably hard to understand, but humanity had undergone a substantial leap in the last few centuries, becoming the greatest known power there was. This had happened because of a fundamental change to how humans lived, a change encouraged by the then-Emperor whose vision surpassed many. Advanced robots that were superficially identical to humans had been around for a long time and a well-known if snubbed appetite for the wealthy. The thing was, the Emperor had observed, was that these robots were so well-designed that they were sexually indistinguishable from their human counterparts, and because they were manufactured they were free of undesirable features. The Emperor decreed that the Imperial Treasury would purchase one device for every citizen of their make and choosing, a move that shocked everyone across the Empire. They weren't mandatory, of course, but even among happily married couples they were useful for cleaning and errands and helping with the children, and over time they'd become the norm. People still dated and married humans, but they were now more the exception than the rule. The robots offered human men and women the counterpart of their dreams, thus setting standards few real humans could measure up to.

Of course, the sole issue of robots was that they couldn't procreate, so the Emperor's other act was to decree that every human must produce two children. This actually is part of what made marriages with humans more difficult, because it demanded a couple produce and raise four children, and children were expensive to care for. With a robot spouse you only needed to raise two, and the robot would be there day and night to care for the child. It may have sounded awful in those early days, but Ronald had fond memories of the time he spent with his mother, and he'd cried more when she’d been disassembled after his father's death than he did over the man himself.

But the combination of the two edicts -the robots and the order about children- was where the Emperor's genius lay. When it came time to procreate, artificial insemination was the only choice, and the technicians responsible were instructed to select the most genetically advanced samples from the parent, and for the remaining half of the reproductive equation, the eggs or sperm were genetically purified; not racially, of course, or anything so distasteful, but free of disease, near-sightedness, palsy, deafness, all of that. The Emperor's plan was this: every generation humanity would be stronger, smarter, heartier, and would double in number. Even against coalitions of alien species, none of them had stood a chance against the evolved creatures that humanity had become, and were continuing to be.

And slavery? This fate was reserved for criminals deemed unworthy of being part of the apex of galactic power that was humanity. They lost everything - their freedom, their will, and their opportunity to be part of the gene pool, except when an owner requested it. There were several cases of men and women who wanted to reproduce the old-fashioned way without having to raise four children. Ronald hadn't personally understood the appeal; it was much more logical for them to allow the Firish females the honor of carrying three or four infants to term rather than encumbering a human female with a burden that seemed rather demeaning to Ronald, not to mention all the bodily side-effects of it.

Still, despite himself, Ronald watched Seven there, screaming and laughing under the ticklish influence, and he started toying with the idea of perhaps acquiring her himself. She was almost as beautiful as his own wife, and the mechanics added an interesting departure... realizing there was no small irony in that thought considering underneath all those perfect curves his wife was a machine.

Seven, of course, was completely oblivious to anyone beyond herself. They had increased the intensity of the tickling again, and she could hardly breathe she was laughing so hard. It was simply everywhere now. She could feel it where her neck ran into her collarbone, and running up behind her ears. She actually felt it along the lobes themselves, a horrible teasing sensation that made her thrash her head from time to time. The soft flesh behind her knees felt an awful stroking sensation driving her wild. With her laughter silenced she could hear the repeated message coming through again, of how her only way to escape was to tell them what she knew. No, she thought, or as best she could think under this endless tickling, her only way to escape was to wait and trust in Mara. And before the tickling drove her momentarily into unconsciousness, she kept repeating her name, to remind herself why she had to keep fighting.
--------------------------------------------------------------

The door to Ms. Danoob's office slid open. She'd been insistent in the design of this place that they function this way, so that the facility could be quickly locked down, even though the shareholders had been opposed to the added expense. As usual, Ms. Danoob won out, so when Mara barged into her office, the door slid open and closed without in any way reflecting her dark mood. "We're getting her out," Mara said, in a voice that not only left no room for argument, it sent argument a restraining order.

Ms. Danoob put down her pen and pushed the form aside; she could no doubt see how serious Mara took this situation. "We are," Ms. Danoob assured her. "I didn't spend all this time and money on her just to abandon her."

Unfortunately, this only darkened Mara's move. Ms. Danoob had made Seven seem like nothing more than an asset rather than a person, and right now she didn't need that. Nevertheless, at least their goals were in agreement, if not their motivations. "When do we move?"

Ms. Danoob was silent. "I don't know. But not for some time."

Mara stormed up to the desk and leaned over it towards Ms. Danoob. "Tonight," she said.

"No," Ms. Danoob replied, despite the severity of Mara's tone. "It would be doomed to failure."

"I'll do it alone if I have to," Mara growled.

"That would be foolish, you'd only allow yourself to be captured as well."

"I'd rather have that then not bother trying!"

Ms. Danoob sighed, then shook her head a little. "Mara, I don't know what happened to you on that station, but it's clear that your emotions got the better of you. That is likely why Seven was captured - if you'd stuck with protocol the three of you would have had a chance of eliminating the jamming suite. Instead they not only lost you but you became an encumbrance; the three of you are lucky you got away at all-"

"Don't you think I know that?!" Mara shouted. "I made a mistake, and Seven paid the price! Now do you honestly think I can sit here and do nothing while she's at the tender mercies of the Terran Empire?!"

"If you want to actually right this wrong, yes."

"I can't stand by while she suffers!" Mara shouted. "I have to do something! Anything!"

"What, stupidity got you into this, stupidity will get you out?" Ms. Danoob folded her hands and stared over them at Mara. "You acted with emotion rather than thinking, and that caused this to happen. Haven't you learned anything from this? The only way out is to approach this rationally, and see that premature action will fail. You've lost twenty-five percent of your squad, and what's more she represented the physically strongest and the most intelligent, so your effectiveness is severely hampered. You must look at what you can do and what you're up against, objectively; only then can you hope to succeed."

Mara let out a trembling breath, then straightened up. "Do you have a plan?"

"I have a start," Ms. Danoob said. "But you can't succeed, not yet. You'll need help." She tapped a few keys, then turned the monitor for Mara to see. "Her help."

Mara swallowed. "You need to recruit someone else, like we were?"

"There's no other way, Mara," Ms. Danoob said. "You three are good, no question, but you're not invincible. With her, you can pull this off." Mara stared a while at the screen. "Or we can leave her be. I'll see if I can come up with another plan, one that requires only the three of you. Of course, that would take even longer, if it even happened at all. The choice is up to you, Mara."

Mara swallowed. She remembered her own processing here as vividly as if it were yesterday, and it wasn't something she'd wish on anyone. But -and she hated to admit this even to herself- she'd been so close to killing Kara it was terrifying. Taking some stranger, as awful as it was, was certainly an acceptable alternative. "What's her name?" Mara asked, her throat dry.

 

[tarr2k]

Part 38


Her breasts, Seven decided. That was the worst spot. There was so much skin and one of the most sensitive parts of her body, and so when the body-tight suit she was in stimulated those nerves, that tickled the worst. Despite lying back the suit essentially kept them the same shape they’d been when she’d been lowered straight down into the muck to form it, so rather than spreading out they remained their teardrop shape on her chest, so that the little tickles run down from her pits along the sides, came up the undersides and around the front of her curves, and down from her neck over her sloping surface. It hugged her nipples, like little electric sparks, driving her mad with the teasing sensations. Between all that, that made it the worst.

That was how Seven coped today, by using her mind and giving it something to do. Since the tickling forced all other concentrations from her head, the only thing left to do was think about that. So she’d decided to figure out which parts of her were the most ticklish, in order. It helped distance herself from the experience, allowed her to pretend that she was still a scientist, making observations in a dispassionate way, rather than the subject enduring the ordeal.

Her armpits, however, had been a close second, though in her position they had an unfair advantage. With no way to really move them, there was nothing Seven could really do to mitigate the effects of the suit. So while the tickling sensations ran down her bicep into her armpits, she couldn’t try to avoid it. As they seemed to worm a thousand fingers in the central hollows, she could barely squirm under the effect. While they tickled across the length and breadth of the area, down to her ribs and around to her scapula, Seven’s only relief was to try to laugh the sensations away. Yes, her poor exposed underarms were getting it nearly as bad... perhaps enough that she could reconsider her scoring-

Seven screwed her eyes shut behind her goggles and let out a new set of screams. It was because of the third place winner - her feet; there’d been a change to the attack, part of the reason it had earned a high spot on her roster. It had been doing a simulated “run” up the soles of each foot for some time now, something that was driving her mad. Now it was back to total assault, hitting every single spot on the bottom of her feet at once and overwhelming her, so that for a time she couldn’t even think about her categorization, she could only laugh and scrunch her toes and try to ignore how ticklish her poor feet were. There was no doubt that if her toes had been restrained and her feet stretched out that they’d probably have earned the number one spot. Seven was glad they’d taken the bronze instead.

After that it seemed a multi-tie for fourth place. Her ribs were still getting it all over, even the spaces in between them. If her breasts weren’t so much more ticklish it’d probably be even worse, but in a way that seemed to distract from them. Her tummy and flanks were bouncing and twisting a way of trying to resist the sensations. It helped a little, but not much - Seven had no doubt she’d still be laughing her head off even if everything else but them was spared. Same went for her poor knees, and the small movement she was allowed for them did little to stop the devastating effect of the tickling.

They were watching her still, asking their questions, waiting for her to break. She wouldn’t, she refused to. She was Borg, she was unstoppable if the situation demanded it, and they could not hope to overcome her will. No, she’d hold on as long as it took for Mara to do what was needed. She had every faith that at that moment she was working on something to get Seven back home to her... so Seven did her part, and held on.
--------------------------------------------------------------

Mara and Lara strolled up to the front desk of the hotel. "Remember," Ms. Danoob said in their earpieces, "the target is in Room 314." Mara said nothing, she just waited for the man to come over. "Hi," she said in the sweet voice she'd often employed when she needed to get something from a mark, "I need a replacement keycard for my room, 314?"

The man offered a smile. "I'd be happy to help, but that's not the right room number."

"Yes, it is," Mara said.

"No, I'm afraid not," he answered. "The woman in 314 looks nothing like you."

Mara had been practicing the Jedi mind trick ability. "You must be mistaken," she said with a wave of her hand."

The man's brow furrowed. "No, I'm not," he said, repeating the hand wave she'd just done. Lara was snickering, and Mara felt like an ass. "Now, really, what's this-"

Lara leaned forward. "I have a weapon in my pocket," she said softly, "pointed at you. Give me the keycard and I won't use it, but if you hit the security button a lot of people will die, starting with you."

The man swallowed, then pulled out a keycard and slid it across the desk. Lara thanked him, then hit him with a stun blast. "Sleep," she said, making a gesture like Mara had while she chuckled a little.

"Shut up," Mara said irritably as she took the card and headed up the stairs. "What's the situation?"

"Now's your best chance," Ms. Danoob said. "Move in as quickly as you can." Together Mara and Lara ran up the stairs towards the third floor.
--------------------------------------------------------------

All at once the tickling stopped, and Seven was left there panting. It wasn’t night yet; she may have lost track of time, but even in the eternity of this hellish experience she could tell that it hadn’t been the usual sixteen hour day. Still floating in her restraints, Seven looked up as the door opened and Ronald Tetz came in. “You’re extremely stubborn,” he said, although it was unnatural sounding. There was an earpiece inside the torture skin that relayed his words to her, so when he spoke it sounded like he was inside her head. “This is you last chance - tell us about your accomplices and about how you pulled off the robbery.”

Seven coughed a little. “You are wasting your time,” she finally said. “No matter how much you tickle me I will not cooperate with the Terran Empire.”

Ronald walked up to her. “Yes,” he said, and ran a finger along her side; even through the suit she squirmed at the tickling touch. “You won’t cooperate... not voluntarily.” He offered her a smile. “At least, not yet.”

“You don’t frighten me,” Seven said plainly. “You have tortured me, and I have endured it. I will continue to do so, because I am Borg, and thus greater than the limitations of flesh.”

“Oh, don’t worry, my dear,” Ronald said soothingly. “No more torture. You’ve proven it simply isn’t the way to get through to you. But there’s always a way. In time, you will not only tell me, but you will be happy doing so.” His smile seemed oddly friendly despite his words. “You will offer your secrets to me solely to earn my affections... even as you call me master.”

Seven’s expression didn’t change. “You are deluded.”

Ronald patted her belly and she stiffened, anticipating a tickle that never came. “You may have resisted our interrogation... but every will has its limits. You, and your secrets, will belong to me very, very soon.”
--------------------------------------------------------------

Samus was just finishing up in the shower, but despite the running water her always-alert ears heard the sound of the door opening. Without turning off the water she slipped out of the shower and headed towards her power suit, but the door opened before she could reach it, and a woman with red hair appeared. Samus swung at her, but surprisingly the woman managed to duck under it, so Samus spun and reversed, catching her in the gut with her elbow. The redhead had a gun of some kind; taking advantage of the position, she wrapped her hand around the other woman's gun hand to get control of it; with her enhanced strength it was easy. As she did, she saw there was another armed woman in the other room; Samus dropped, dragging the redhead down with her as the blasts traveled over her head into the shower. Samus squeezed the redheads trigger finger as she fell, managing to catch the other woman in the leg; she dropped like a stone. Must be stun bolts of some kind, Samus thought as she tried to wrestle the weapon away from the redhead's grip. She drove another elbow in and was rewarded with a pain-filled grunt. As she pulled it free, however, redhead hit a release of some kind, and part of the weapon slid out and onto the floor. Samus jumped to her feet, whirled, and fired at the redhead, or tried to, but nothing happened.

Mara was back on her feet in an instant, visibly annoyed with her quarry. Too bad, Samus thought, you'll have to earn your money if you want to bring me in for whoever hired you. She tried pistol-whipping Mara, but she easily ducked under it and tackled Samus out of the bathroom and into the main room. Samus flipped her off, but even as she got up Mara was back on her feet and coming again, so Samus put out a foot and knocked her back. She scooped up one of the stun weapons the other woman had dropped and pointed, this time rewarded with a blue circular ray. Amazingly, Mara managed to dodge it. Samus fired again, and again, yet Mara managed to somehow stay one step ahead of each shot, until she was close enough to kick the weapon from Samus' hands and grapple with her.

Samus struggled in her grip, but as she did so her mind was racing. There was an unpleasant truth here - even with her enhancements, without her power suit, Mara was better than her. The way she dodged those blasts, she might be better even with the power suit. Samus wasn't going to win this fight... at this point, escaping alive was the best she could hope for. She tossed Mara off and bolted for the door; even as it closed she fired several shots into the locking mechanism, then turned and faced the door. It didn't open, so hopefully that meant her assailant was momentarily trapped. Good, that just left Samus naked, dripping wet, with a stun weapon. She'd been in worse scrapes, she considered as she sprinted up the hall.
--------------------------------------------------------------

"She's on the run," Mara's voice came through the headset. "The armor is secured."

"Good," Ms. Danoob said. "We'll need it once we’ve acquired her. Sensors, we have her?"

"Target is on the stairs heading for the northeast exit."

Starbuck stood inside the Gate, a rifle in her hand. Not a blaster rifle, but something specially designed for operations like this. Alone in the echoing chamber, she sang to herself.

"The wild dogs cry out in the night, as they grow restless longing for some solitary commmmmm-pany..." She rechecked her weapon just for something to do. "I know that I must do what’s right, sure as-"

"Kara," Ms. Danoob said, "stand by for jump."

"Copy," Starbuck said. There was that now familiar sensation and the room was gone, leaving her in the open. A naked woman was rushing up the street. "I'm guessing you're my target," Starbuck said under her breath, sighting along the rifle. The target ran a zigzag pattern, and Kara carefully watched her, breath held, waiting... then pulled the trigger. The miniature transmitter hit, and immediately she vanished.
--------------------------------------------------------------

Samus had no idea what happened; she'd gone from the street to inside this room in the blink of an eye. How- The thought was cut off as the only door hissed open - beyond stood dozens of armed men and women, all pointing their weapons at her. Knowing when she was beaten, she raised her hands. A small woman stepped through the crowd and gave her a smile that did nothing to put her at ease.

"Hello, Samus," Ms. Danoob said. "Welcome to Crossroads Facility."

 

[tarr2k]

Part 39


Samus was left kneeling in position, waiting. The worst part was knowing what was coming; she'd been caught off guard yesterday, in her first session, but now she knew what they had planned, and that made the wait torture in and of itself.

There were many advantages to the treatment she'd been given, the things that had enhanced her strength and constitution. It had given her an advantage time after time. He could have imagined that it could also make her more ticklish? What's more, who could have imagined that would matter? But here, at Crossroads Facility, it was a weakness they were cruelly exploiting. The many hours of yesterday's session had passed so slowly it seemed as if she'd entered some kind of wormhole, trapped in a perpetual state of laughing and begging. But it had ended, and she'd slept, and now it was all happening again.

Waiting... that was down-right sadistic.

And there was nothing she could do to resist it. The restraints were simple, when you got down to it. She was kneeling on a padded surface with cuffs around her ankles. There were also cuffs around her wrists, holding them together and attached to a cable that had been straightened, pulling her straight up so she was in a taut kneeling position. And with this, most every part of her exposed skin was vulnerable. She tested the limits of the restraints, but like yesterday they were too strong even for her. Someone had explained they'd been made for someone even stronger than she was, which only raised even more questions for Samus. But they were for another time. For now she was stuck with nothing but the grim, waiting, the worst part of it all.

There was a hissing sound, and Samus' body turned into one huge goose pimple. Then again, she thought, the actual experience wasn't all that great either. She tensed, knowing what was about to happen, and despite everything completely powerless to stop it. When the touch came, she ground her teeth and heaved hard, but it accomplished nothing.

It was her feet; that's where they'd started. Little feathery touches all around her soles, and Samus unable to pull away. She scrunched her toes; they hadn't tied her toes in place like hey had the day before, so she had that small bit of room to resist, but it only took a bit of the edge off. The stroking tips played along the lines of her sole and hit whatever exposed areas on the toes there were, and even that was soon enough to cause her to start laughing. When they spread out and began going towards the helpless areas of her heels and instep, she screwed her eyes shut and knew it was going to be another very long day.

Samus shrieked when the next spot was hit. She was so focused on the foot attack she'd never seen it coming, and that made it so much worse. Her underarms, completely exposed in this position, had no way of escaping. She twisted her torso a little, but stroking tendrils explored her helpless hollows no matter what she did, and it wasn't long before she was red-faced from the laughter. She tried to yank her arms down again with a brief surge of strength, but it did nothing, and after that it was as if all the strength had been sucked from her body and she was left dangling there, like a ticklish marionette. She could feel the tears running down her cheeks and the heat radiating off her skin, but that was a barely noticeable background as they stroked horribly and mercilessly over her poor armpits. She tried a feeble twist every now and then, but it wound up making it worse, and as firmer wiggling tips entered, she knew that's what she was in for: worse. It would never be the worst, just a series of downward steps, each one pushing her just past her limit, and when she'd finally become able to bear it in some small way, pushing again. This was played out as more of the firmer tendrils moved into her armpits, prodding and wriggling her flesh. The feathers slowly slid down, dancing along her jiggling breasts. At the same time, the same thing was happening to her feet - firm tendrils were prodding all about her soles and worming their way in between her toes. The feathers, having done their job of warming her up, now slid up and began drawing along the backs of her thighs. Samus screamed with laughter and tried fighting again briefly, but she didn't have a prayer, and like before the brief push left her completely exhausted and barely able to laugh under the overwhelming tickling. Samus tried to fight it internally. She'd been in worst scrapes; as bad as the tickling was, people had done worse to her over the years. But what made this so hard was that it seemed to not only torment her, but sap her will at the same time. She felt embarrassed that this was happening to her, and that gave the experience an edge of discomfort that seemed to make it worse. She was so frustrated with her body for being so weak.

"NO!" Samus shouted when she felt the grip, all other thoughts suddenly emptied from her head. "GET AWAY FROM THERE!" She tried to clench, but something had her toes and were gently but unstoppably puling them back. The tickling grew worse as her sole stretched out and the tendrils were able to skitter across them unimpeded. "HAHAHA! GET AWAY FROM MY FEEE-HEHEHAHAHAHA!!!" Instead, a second set of pincers -or whatever they were- took the next toe and stretched it out too. Then a spinning brush of some kind was inserted in the gap between them, and she was left shrieking with laughter. After a few seconds, overcome by the intensity, Samus was begging for it to stop. Begging... as if she could ever be driven to that under lesser circumstances. But she was just too ticklish, too vulnerable... No matter how strong she was, she was helpless to resist even this basic attack, and unable to find a way to suck it up. Then back to her armpits. The tendrils, apparently, were no longer enough, because hand-like claws were gradually taking their place. They scratched and danced across her armpits while Samus' lolling head lay propped against one of her raised arms, silent laughter pouring from her mouth. They ran up onto her biceps and down to the shoulder blade. Samus actually felt like she was being shocked by the touches, the tickling was so intense. They were scratching in little circles around her hollows and offering little pinches that drove her to hysterics.

With less tendrils needed where they'd been, the reinforcements continued their advance across Samus' quivering body. Her breasts were trembling under the laughter and ticklish influence as they feathered about her sensitive spots, teasing her nipples and stroking her sides. The firmer tendrils were prodding her ribs now, occasionally scooting forward to tickle her breasts or up to catch her armpits. And the tracing feathers had gone north to her buttocks as the firm tendrils stroked her thighs. The feathers slid daintily over her cheeks and along her curves while Samus did a subconscious dance to try to avoid them. Of course, she was no more successful than she was anywhere else, and as a few feathers started running down her crack and circling her cheeks, she thought this time they'd gone too far, that no one could take this much. Not when you're this ticklish could someone subject your body to this much without just overwhelming them and destroying them. Samus laughed, but beneath the laugh was the certainty that she was going to literally be tickled to death.

The hours passed, and the tickling instruments continued their gradual advancement across her flesh until they met in the middle, and Samus was being tickled head to toe. It was grueling, it was torture, but despite it all, she'd been wrong. She hadn't died. The only casualty had been her pride, and her insistence on resisting. She wasn't aware of it, but Ms. Danoob was watching every moment, and noting her progress with approval.
--------------------------------------------------------------

Ms. Danoob was sitting in her office when Starbuck walked in. She didn't bother looking up from her screen. "Samus is doing quite well, don't you think?"

"I haven't been paying attention," Starbuck said. "It's not my job."

"I suppose it isn't," Ms. Danoob said. "I think this is going to be a very worthwhile investment."

Starbuck swallowed. "I hope it was worth the risk."

"I wouldn't have done it if she hadn't been," Ms. Danoob said. "Don't worry."

"'Don't worry?'" Starbuck said, aghast. "Have you seen Mara lately? She's like a caged tiger... a caged hungry tiger."

"But her anger is reserved for those that have Seven," Ms. Danoob said, still not looking up. "As it should be."

Starbuck swallowed. "And if she knew what we'd been planning-"

"But she doesn't," Ms. Danoob said, turning to her with a stern look. "And she had better not, Kara."

Starbuck shook her head nervously. "Sometimes I get the feeling she knows... she knows that you wanted Seven to get caught."

Ms. Danoob slowly rose to her feet. "What an awful thing to say, Kara. I would never want that to happen."

"You told me to stun Mara during the fight-"

"I did no such thing," Ms. Danoob said firmly. "I don't know where you get these ideas from, but they're very dangerous; you should really just keep them to yourself."

Starbuck glared at her, refusing to be cowed. "I'll do your dirty work, ma'am, but I won't play these games."

Ms. Danoob closed the distance to her, and even though Starbuck could probably kill her bare handed she still had an aura of menace about her. "You work for me," she said coldly. "You do what I say, when I say it, in the manner I dictate, or you get nothing, you understand? If not, then we'll see how well your people fare running from the Cylons."

Starbuck swallowed. "I suppose it was lucky Lara shot Mara before I had to... made the whole point moot."

"Yes, if I'd given you such an order, which I didn't." She returned to her desk. "You spent quite a lot of time just talking to Mara... you didn't get cold feet, did you Kara?"

"For what, ma'am?" Starbuck asked. "I thought you didn't give me any order."

Ms. Danoob glared at her. "Don't let me keep you," she rumbled, and Starbuck turned and strode out, leaving her to examine the readout of Samus' treatment. The new process was working even better than she'd expected. Yes... even if they did reprogram Seven, it would be worth it, and with this technology, Ms. Danoob could probably program her right back.

 

[tarr2k]

Part 40

Mara opened her eyes; there was a hole where a person should be.

Mara rolled over and looked at the bare spot. It was the first morning after sleeping in the newly-remodeled quarters, and they were quite splendid in Mara's opinion. Lara had taken the point on the interior design and both rooms were elegant, yet practical. Mara was lying on her new king-size poster bed. It wasn't surprising that she was curled up on one edge of it.

There was a hole where a person should be.

I'm coming, Seven, she promised. I swear not a day goes by I don't miss you more. You're going to come back. She touched the unused pillow softly and fought to keep control. I promise.
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Seven said nothing, but that was only because she was gagged. If not, more than the muffled echoing sounds would have filled the room, no doubt drowning out the words whispered in her ear, and that couldn't be allowed. She wasn't here to speak, she was here to listen.

Seven's senses had been enhanced, yet her head swam. Some kind of strange drug concoction, something even her Borg physiology couldn't counter. Had it been tailored specifically to her, or was it just so potent that nothing could resist? It didn't matter, and Seven couldn't think well enough to do more than momentarily speculate and then lose the thought like a leaf torn from a branch in an autumn storm.

It was a surprising juxtaposition that they had in mind for her. She'd been locked into a dynamic restraint so that while Seven had no movement they wouldn't allow, they had free access to any part of her body. "They" of course being her captors, but more directly it was those of the computer that examined her reactions and adjusted accordingly. It spoke the words, it flashed the messages, it was the one who touched her. Seven was entirely under the control of a machine once again, but instead of being mobile and part of the system, she was restrained yet completely independent. She had no strength to call on but her own, no hope to overcome except with what she could muster. If she fell, there was no one to catch her. It was the worst of both worlds.

Her breasts were being tickled again; no real surprise there, of course. But what was unexpected was that at the same time that the tickly touches ran across her fleshy curves, her nipples were being delicately, pleasurably, rubbed. Likewise while a feather lightly tickled her clitoris, at the same time she felt the wonderful sensation of intimacy. Her feet were both having the toes spread out, and each spot tickled with ruthless precision - and yet, the most wonderful foot massage was happening inches away. Hand-like manipulators sensually rubbed her back while equally effective ones tickled her front. Even while they tickled her rear end, there was a pleasant vibrating sensation inside.

The thing of it was that the tickling and the pleasure were so overlapping that they mixed together into the most wonderful alloy she could have imagined. With her senses enhanced by the drugs, it was like she was wrapped in pink fluffy pleasure clouds. And all the while she heard and saw the words. It told her in the sweetest, kindest voice Seven had ever heard how wonderful she was. It told her how beautiful and shapely her body was, how talented, how sharp of a mind, how angelic. Seven deserved to feel this good, it told her. She deserved to have bliss day after day. This was her reward for being the most astonishing woman in the galaxy.

Feel me touching you? it asked so quietly it was more like it was speaking directly into her head. "I make you feel so good, don't I Seven? Don't you love to be touched and tickled? Don't you love to be in my embrace like this, with me able to find new ways to make you feel good? There must have been another injection of the drug, because everything seemed even more intense. Don't you love it that you're mine? Mine to do whatever I want with? Seven was laughing and moaning into the gag, so it would have been impossible regardless for her to say anything. The tickling was overwhelming, and so was the pleasure, so that it was hard for her to even think about anything else. Hard? No, impossible. All that was left was simple direct response, without thought. There was only the moment, the unending moment. You love to be my toy, because I make you feel so good, Seven. And you never want me to stop. You want to be my toy forever.

And the only thought that passed briefly through Seven's mind, buffeted between the body-shaking pleasure and the strength-draining tickling was "Yes."
--------------------------------------------------------------

Samus had gotten to know things a little around here. For one thing, she knew what she was in for every day here. For another, she got to know the people who had apprehended her. Redhead -who turned out to be Mara- never said more than two words to her. The one Samus had hit with the stun weapon was Lara, and Lara seemed far more pleased to see her, though usually because she could make Samus' life a living hell. She was usually in the company of Starbuck, the one who'd brought her in once the trap had sprung.

The pair were here again, and Samus knew what was coming. She'd been laid down on a table and stretched out tight. She didn't say a word as they teased her verbally upon coming in. With one impressive hop Lara jumped onto the table and straddled Samus arms, looking down at her face with that same expression Samus wanted to just slap right off. Starbuck kneeled astride her stomach and looked down as well. "Who's the ticklish girl?" she teased. Still Samus said nothing, but a chill ran down her spine as the two women held up their hands and wriggled their fingers for Samus to see. As they slowly came down she fought to get herself free, knowing, of course, that she didn't have a chance. But she wasn't going to just lie here and take it - they'd have to work for it if they wanted to get to her.

Sadly, they wouldn't have to work long. Starbuck dove right in, digging her nails into the bare ribs with every sign of relish. Samus immediately screamed, the fingers wriggling and digging their nails in along the ticklish sides. There was nothing subtle about it; Starbuck was obviously planning to push her hard right out of the gate. "Cootchie cootchie," she teased, gradually moving further and further up Samus ribcage while she shrieked with laughter. "You're so tickly!" She began mixing up her strikes, alternating between the two sides scratching, prodding, or squeezing. None of it mattered, it was all equally terrible, and Samus had soon found it hard to breath under the onslaught on her torso. She trembled in weak laughter after just a few minutes, eyes screwed shut as she fought to endure even though it was clear she'd already lost. Starbuck went back down to the bottom of her ribs and started again, causing a new series of shrieks to rally and escape from Samus' mouth.

Lara, for her part, wasn't going to let Starbuck have all the fun. She lowered her wriggling fingers into Samus' exposed pits and let them slowly spiral outward from the center until she was hitting every spot one after the other . Samus was weakly knocking the back of her head against the table trying to ignore her, but Lara was insidious. Without any sign she stopped scratching and simply put her hands on the end of Samus' pits near the ribs and drew them like rakes all the way up to the bicep. After three such gestures she slowly began wriggling her fingers on the way, causing Samus to feel like she was turning to liquid. There was no strength left in her limbs and she barely had the energy to leave her jaw hanging open for the laughter that couldn't come.

Her eyes flashed open as Lara stopped in mid-rake and began poking her fingers deep into her underarms. Samus screamed and began thrashing again as Lara repeated the gesture, this time twisting a little as she went in. "GET OFF! WAHAHAHAHA! GET OFF!"

"I don't know about you, but I am," Starbuck commented, winking at Lara.
Always focused, Lara simply kept up her tickle-attack. Samus lost the ability to protest as Lara began massaging the inside of her pits with her thumbs. She never thought she'd think this, but she wished the machines had her instead of these two. It was like they spent all their time figuring how best to tickle people.

"You know," Starbuck mused, "I think our Samus here may be even more ticklish than our missing Borg friend." She began running her nails up and down Samus' ribcage like she was playing a washboard. It was somewhat fitting, considering it caused a change in pitch while Samus screamed and laughed.

"Yes," Lara said. "What is it with you blonds?"

"Hey now," Starbuck said, taking her frustration out on the helpless ribs despite Samus' pleas. "Don't lump me in with these two because of that. I mean, sure, I'm ticklish, but not this ticklish." She started digging her nails in again, and Samus wailed, begging for her to stop. "See? No way am I that ticklish."

"Well," Lara said, "I think we'll find out later.

"And who says you get to do the tickling?" Starbuck demanded.

"I do," Lara said, working a little harder on the armpits just to make sure Samus was still paying her the appropriate amount of attention.

"When you put it like that," Starbuck said, "you actually sound like a bitch."

"You'll definitely pay for that later." Lara commented. "And it will be awful. It'll be on the feet, that horrible one where- well, here, let me show you." She hopped off Samus.

"HAHAHA! NO!" Samus pleaded. "NOT THE FEET!!! HAHAHA!!!"

"Shh," Starbuck said. "i want to see this. I think she's been working on a better way to do this." Seconds later Samus began shrieking with laughter. "Yes, she's definitely getting better," Starbuck commented. "Practice well, Lara, if you plan to have that work on me tonight."

"Don't worry," Lara said as she continued tickling her feet, "I've got most of the kinks worked out. Another few hours, and I'll have it mastered."
--------------------------------------------------------------

Ms. Danoob sat in her office, watching the tickling with the expected degree of interest on her monitor. Starbuck and Lara worked quite well together; pairing them up was definitely the right choice.
--------------------------------------------------------------

Ronald sat in his office and watched the holographic display with great interest. The reprogrammers had clearly outdone themselves this time; while Seven was in some kind of a rather barbarous position, it nevertheless seemed to be doing the trick without harming her. That was important; she had to remained undamaged.
--------------------------------------------------------------

Damaged goods, thought Ms. Danoob, are no good. She watched Samus writhe on the table in ticklish despair. The lesson has to be learned without breaking at the same time.
--------------------------------------------------------------

Broken, Ronald thought, is counter to what they do here. Seven needed to be reshaped. She needed to fit into the mold cast for her.
--------------------------------------------------------------

Once Samus was finished she'd be a strong addition to the group, Ms. Danoob thought. You couldn't risk taking the edge off that blade by doing it too hard.
--------------------------------------------------------------

For Seven to take her place as an appropriate human slave, they couldn't simply beat her like some mere alien. She had to embrace the part she was given.
--------------------------------------------------------------

Ms. Danoob smiled at Samus laughter.
--------------------------------------------------------------

Ronald grinned at Seven's laughter.
--------------------------------------------------------------

"Just a little more time," Ms. Danoob said...
--------------------------------------------------------------

"...and you'll be mind" Ronald whispered.

 

[tarr2k]

Part 41


Starbuck was on the weapons range. She was alone, because it was two in the morning, and even Crossroads Facility was quiet as the tomb at this hour of the night. But she couldn't sleep, and Starbuck really knew only two things you could do alone to blow off steam: drink, or blow things up.

She'd stop drinking last week; she was afraid she would never stop otherwise, and if that happened, then she'd lose her edge. She knew, as unpleasant as the thought was, that she was at the bottom among this little group. Mara had a talent she'd never really understood that was simply part of her. Seven's cybernetics put her beyond any normal human. Samus had those special enhancements as well, lending her an incredible edge. And Lara had been given a lifetime of training to hone mind and body as far as any normal human being could be pushed.

And then there was her. Growing up in the slums of Caprica, the only training in how to endure pain from her abusive mother. She had a raw talent, and that was her only edge. On Galactica, that had made her stand out; here, she was just the mouthiest, and she knew it.

And yet, Ms. Danoob had approached her, of all of them. She was the one who'd agreed to do her dirty work, to work behind the backs of the others when the boss didn't want them knowing the entire picture. Why pick her, and not one of the others? Or was it Kara's desperation that had convinced her, the extra leverage that Ms. Danoob needed to overcome the loyalty to each other.

Starbuck put three shots at the center of the target. She rolled it out another twenty feet and repeated the gesture.

She didn't actually betray Seven. Lara had gotten the shot off, purely for her own interests. But if she hadn't... if she hadn't, Starbuck would have pulled the trigger, stunned Mara, and dragged her off leaving Seven behind. The only reason she hadn't actually done it was because she had been beaten to the punch, but that changed nothing. They were a team, and on orders, she left a teammate behind.

She put three more shots into the center of the target again, then rolled it out still further. In her earpiece the rhythmic music began to play. She'd found out that a similar tune to the old classic was known on Earth. She'd picked up an instrumental version immediately as a little reminder of home. As she usually did, she sang along, remembering the place that had been a hell throughout childhood, and still the place she wished she could be.
--------------------------------------------------------------

Seven had entered a timeless environment now; even her Borg nature couldn't tell one moment from the next, just the perpetual now. The truth was that weeks had passed, but there had been no possible way to measure their comings and goings. Even sleep had been removed as a primitive measure; the chemicals pumped into her body somehow made the entire process unnecessary, so that Seven was exposed to their brainwashing constantly, without a moment's respite, even to escape into unconsciousness.

The computer was tickling her armpits now, running its tendrils up and down her hollows, or drawing little circles within them. As always, she was positioned for maximum exposure, so that she felt every ticklish touch, further intensified by the chemicals that flooded her senses. They went through their circuit again, and the love-hate relationship she had with tickling continued. And below that, the constant sense of pleasure went through her, so that her emotions were a confused jumble. When the words were whispered to her, she couldn't help but listen.
--------------------------------------------------------------

" I hear the drums echoing tonight," Starbuck sang, "but she hears only whispers of some quiet conversation.

"She's coming in twelve-thirty flight. Her moonlit wings reflect the stars that guide me towards salvation..."
--------------------------------------------------------------

Seven's ribs were experiencing what was probably the worst tickling ever. She was prodded all over each individual rib, so much so that it seemed the whole area was covered with them. Of course, there was no worry; the computer had total control and was making sure there was adequate space so that the tickling tips didn't interfere with each other. Seven laughed madly, unable to avoid the attacks because of the way her back arched. That just made it even worse, as it left the helpless, ticklish ribs right up against her tight skin, and giving extra room for the tendrils to do their work.

All the while, the words were whispered, and Seven couldn't ignore them. They mentioned the undeniable truth, of how Seven really felt like this. Yes, it was maddening, overwhelming even. And yet, she was in paradise, with each horrible tickle like a kiss on her soft skin. She was laughing like crazy, but there was no denying part of that was from sheer enjoyment.

But, of course, there was no real thought there, only the sensations that passed through her mind as tickling filled her world.
--------------------------------------------------------------

Starbuck put three more shots into the center of the target. "I stopped an old man along the way, Hoping to find some old forgotten words, or ancient melodies.

"He turned to me as if to say - 'Hurry, girl, it's waiting there for you..."
--------------------------------------------------------------

Seven shuddered and shook as the computer gently ran its tickling tools over her breasts. She could feel them stroking even after the moment had gone, as if there was a tactile afterimage from each one, so that her poor flesh felt like two white hot orbs of ticklishness. They teased around her nipples and stroked the sides. They scratched lightly, horribly, underneath them. They lightly pinched and prodded all over. They ran feathery touches across her delicate skin.

She'd identified these as her worst spot during her awful interrogation. Now, it was definitely the most sensitive... but "worst" was a word hard to use. The more it tickled, the more she wanted them to continue. The tickling was driving her wild with enjoyment, and even if she were not restrained, at this point she knew she'd be positioning herself to give them the best position to tickle her boobs until she passed out from enjoyment and exhaustion.

In time, the computer assured her, you'll have this whenever you want.
--------------------------------------------------------------

"It's gonna take a lot to drag me away from you.

"There's nothing that a hundred men or more could ever do.

"I bless the rains down in Caprica.

"Gonna take some time to do the things we never had..."
--------------------------------------------------------------

Things buzzed all over the bottom of Seven's feet. There were little rotary brushes, running up and sown the sides of the soles. There were the spinning pads that were delicately but oh so effectively applied to spots along her instep. There were some whirring feathered items that were running up and down the lengths of her soles, teasing from ball to heel. That was just the buzzing, of curse. Then there was the other stuff, like the little feathery touches that slid between her outstretched toes, sliding along the little curves to find the most ticklish nooks and crannies of Seven's feet. There was also the bit of light scratching here and there on the sole, somehow always managing to stay out of the way of the other tickle tools that ran back and forth over her poor feet.

Seven was laughing wildly under the influence; her feet were still very ticklish, and the computer had done a good job of figuring out just how to tickle them as much as possible. Instinctively she fought to free them, but still she wished she'd fail, that the tickling wouldn't stop. She'd already come to miss the other recent tickle spots, which was a surprising turn. She wanted more... she wanted to be drowning in it, she wanted them to find new places on her body that she'd never known were ticklish and torment them non-stop!
--------------------------------------------------------------

Starbuck was practicing her snapshot now, dropping and rolling, as she aimed. "The wild dogs cry out in the night, as they grow restless longing for some solitary company..."
--------------------------------------------------------------

There was no longer any escape. Seven was in a laughing, twirling, endless realm of tickling. The various instruments and tools at the computer's disposal were everywhere, hitting every place as before with the same intensity - feet, breasts, ribs, and armpits. And to that symphony a new orchestra had been added. There were pinches and strokes all along her perfect bottom. There was light scratching across her taut belly. There was the surprising prods all along her flanks. There was the deep tickling massages along her inner thighs. There were the feathery wisps around her womanhood. If there was a ticklish spot on her body, the computer was going at it.

It was torture, so much so that she could hardly breathe. But there was no doubt that she didn't want this to stop, that she was as happy as she could possibly be.

“Seven?" the computer asked quietly, "do you love me?"

Somehow, amidst the laughter, she admitted that she did.

"Do you know who I am?" the computer asked. Seven shook her head, unable to summon another answer. "I am the Empire. Do you love the Empire?"

And Seven offered a resounding yes.
--------------------------------------------------------------

"I know that I must do what's right," Starbuck sang, squeezing off three shots as she dodged. “Sure as Kilimanjaro rises like Olympus above the Serengeti..."
--------------------------------------------------------------

It was all over, though she had no idea how long it had been over. She just stood in a room, looking at the back of her hands as if she'd never seen them before. She was nude, but that was inconsequential; if it was even pointed out, it was doubtful she'd have given it a second thought.

She was Seven. That would never change. But other than that, she was aware that she had been through a crucible of some kind, and now... now the way of thinking from before was gone. She knew that she had once been Borg, but it was a fleeting thing, like an adult may recall the shapes and images of a visit to a farm at the age of four. She didn't think in those terms any more. She thought like a human.

Seven touched the back of her hand. She felt like a human.

The door opened, and she looked up at people who some time before had been responsible for her capture and torture. There was no malice for them... they had been showing her love, she just hadn't really seen it.

"Are you ready to move to the next step, Seven?" Ronald Tetz asked. She nodded, and he smiled. "Then come with me." She took his hand and followed him out of the chamber.
--------------------------------------------------------------

"I seek to cure what's... deep inside..." Starbuck hesitated, as the gun dry-fired in her hand, the power pack empty. She stared down at it. The music played on, without words as she stared at it... at what she was supposed to fire at Mara, so they could leave Seven behind. She looked at it... at this tool she was planning to use for betrayal, because she had to answer to Ms. Danoob, no matter what... no matter what. And then she sang the final line, quietly, so quietly none could possibly have heard it. And as she did, she realized why that song had been on her mind since the moment she'd made that deal with the devil.

"Frightened of this thing that I've become."

 

[tarr2k]

Part 42


Seven stood where she'd been told to stand; to do otherwise was unthinkable. There were others present, though not many. Crime deserving of this was uncommon, at least with humans involved, but with the sheer number of beings even a fraction of a percentage was still enough for the aberration to be evident. They had just taken a man out before, large and built in a way that had caused Seven to feel... odd. Her mind tended to drift towards strange fictions she'd like to perform with him, and she found it hard not to indulge them. However, any further thoughts ended when a woman, flanked by two robots, came up to her. She looked Seven over with a critical eye, as if she were a piece of artwork that might have been damaged in a move. She adjusted the lay of Seven's top to reveal a bit more cleavage, then nodded in approval. And that was all, no words of encouragement or to sooth or anything. The truth was, they weren't needed. Seven wanted to be here; it was her duty as a citizen of the Empire.

There was a chime and Seven was sent out onto the stage. She turned, looked out over the crowd, and stood as she'd been instructed, smiling warmly. They weren't here, when you got down to it; Seven was alone in the room. But a holographic projection of each of them was, and they looked her over and checked the catalogue for information on her. It said everything that was needed, about her unique Borg physiology, about her vital statistics, about how much she adored being tickled. She was considered suitable for companionship or as an eye-candy alternative to a robot. She was deemed unsuitable for child-bearing due to her implants. The opening bid was for half a million.

There were only humans here. As low as this treatment might be judged, as much as the human race might want to disown such deviants. there were limits, and letting even one human be owned by an alien dragged the entire species down. There were limits to how far they could punish someone.

There were numerous bids; not as many as Seven would have liked -she thought she had to be worth a lot, being Borg and all- but the final bid was impressive, and Seven was pleased she could bring so much wealth to the Empire. She was led off into a second holding area to wait until she was claimed by her new owner. She didn't have to wait long.

"Seven," Ronald Tetz said warmly, "are you ready?"

Seven smiled and took the proffered hand in hers. "Of course, my master," she said." Hand-in-hand with him, she left the auction house for his private transport, which quickly whisked her away from all that dreariness and into the rest of her life. Seven felt nothing but satisfaction at that thought.
--------------------------------------------------------------

Mara sat cross-legged on the bed, a big pillow sitting on her lap. She had her arms wrapped tightly around it, and she laid her face against it. She'd been crying; she didn't bother trying to resist it any more, not in here. She couldn't help it any more. That empty spot beside her... there was a hole where a person should be. That bench installed for Seven to work on little projects in private - there was a hole where a person should be. The closet space waiting to be filled with stuff fitting her unique Borg tastes; it was still waiting, because there was a hole where a person should be.

Mara laid back on the bed, pressed the pillow into her face, and cried into it for all she was worth. She put her hand over her heart, but it did nothing to ease the pain that filled it... because there was a hole there where a person should be.
--------------------------------------------------------------

Samus laid back -though she had no choice- and sighed wearily. Another day, another session of the ridiculous torture she had found herself emerged in since her capture. What, in all honesty, did they hope to accomplish? They never asked her any questions, and what's more, there were surely better ways to make her talk than this. The tickling was torture, no question, but compared to anything she'd been up against before it was the tamest. It could push her to the brink, but there was nothing that threatened to actually push her across it. As much as it may hit her sometimes, she could endure it.

The door opened, and a rather petite woman walked in. "Good morning," she said politely enough, but without any genuine feeling to it, like a chilly tutor would address yet another pupil. "I'm Ms. Danoob; I'm the administrator of Crossroads Facility."

“I recall," Samus said.

"Good. Let's see what we have to work with, shall we?"

A great deal, Samus knew. As she laid on the padded table, her arms had been pulled up over her head and securely fastened to it. Her legs had been put in stirrups and firmly secured at the knee and ankle. There were a lot of vulnerable areas, and Ms. Danoob had the look of someone who lived for exploiting vulnerabilities.

"Let's start with the classics," Ms. Danoob said with a warm, quiet tone that did nothing to reassure Samus. Ms. Danoob held a small feather duster, which she deftly twirled in one hand. She slowly began stroking it up and down Samus' left foot. She bit her lip and tried not to think about it, but it was there, drawing its light wispy touches along her sole like some kind of fluffy advancing army. A snicker managed to find its way out, then another, and finally she was chuckling. Ms. Danoob's application was slow and deliberate, and Samus found herself surprised at just how much this really tickled.

"You're probably surprised that this works," Ms. Danoob said, still applying the feather duster along her feet. "You probably thought it wouldn't really tickle, but it can. Believe me, it can overwhelm you under the right circumstances." She switched to the other foot, and Samus was still laughing just as hard as it tackled the fresh sole. "It's technique, for one. That's a very important factor." She lightly twirled it as she went up and down the sole, and Samus closed her eyes and laughed. "But there's more too it than that," Ms. Danoob said.

Samus tried scrunching up her toes to escape; Ms. Danoob didn’t seem to notice. She just continued drawing the feather duster up and down the sole, first along the bottom, then around the instep, and then back along the outer edge. Samus giggled and twisted as much as the restraints allowed, but the tickling was inescapable. Ms. Danoob went back to the first sole, taking hold of her toe and holding it in place while she worked it over. Samus squealed and tried to yank it away, but even her strength wasn't enough to escape the grip. Ms. Danoob wriggled the feather all over the toe and ball while Samus sputtered. "I knew this was the right idea," Ms. Danoob mused aloud, never breaking in her tickling.

Ms. Danoob finally stopped to give Samus a breather. As she did, she stepped between her legs and watched the panting woman. "Having fun?" she asked. Unlike Starbuck and Lara, her remarks didn't seem like cruel teasing, but genuine. Still, Samus snapped at her with a few curses. "Still in denial, I see."

"What the hell are you talking about," Samus growled at her. She was answered by Ms. Danoob leaning forward and applying the feather duster to one breast, and then the other. She giggled and swore in response, but Ms. Danoob didn't do it for long. She started drawing it down Samus' belly, wriggling it back and forth all the way. It ran over her naval, causing her to snicker and her tummy to quiver in response. Finally it reached her legs, and Ms. Danoob began running it up Samus' right thigh.

"You know," she said, "it's quite curious to watch you." Samus was laughing much more now as Ms. Danoob varied her technique. "You've responded to all this with various kinds of laughter." Ms. Danoob began drawing her nails down the left inner thigh at the same time. "You've cursed at me, muttered unpleasant things." Samus was trembling under the effects of the tickling now. "But there's one thing you haven't done," Ms. Danoob said. And with such perfect synchronicity the tickling stopped that it almost seemed that time had momentarily frozen. Gasping a little, Samus looked up at Ms. Danoob. "You haven't asked me to stop."

Samus swallowed as she got her breath back. "It wouldn't stop you. I've learned that much."

"What you've learned," Ms. Danoob said, "is a truth the other ladies here have already figured out for themselves." She held the feather duster in front of Samus face. "Do you know what can make all the difference with this? Technique, the right duster, pacing, all of that. But equally important is that," and her voice dropped to a whisper, "you want it to tickle."

Samus looked into her eyes to offer the retort, but it died in her throat. Something about it somehow managed to hold up a mirror to Samus, and she saw the truth she hadn't wanted to see. This was torture, it really pushed her buttons... but that didn't change the fact that she also liked being tortured like this. There was something about it that flipped all the right switches in her head.

Without saying another word, Ms. Danoob took the feather duster and began slowly stroking it in between Samus legs. She giggled and squirmed as its touches teased across the seat of her femininity. It tickled more and more as the seconds passed, and she found herself laughing lightly. It was torture, and yet, as each moment passed she could feel a stirring in her belly of excitement at the predicament. Ms. Danoob's mastery of the feather duster was obvious as she seemed to hit every little spot just right until a few moans and sighs began to intersperse themselves with the laughter. .

And just as suddenly, Ms. Danoob stopped. She looked up at Samus, then put the feather duster down. "What are you doing?" Samus asked.

"I thought I'd let you reflect for a while," Ms. Danoob said. "Take all this in."

"You can't leave me here, locked down like this?!"

"Why not?"

Samus opened and closed her mouth a few times. She knew what Ms. Danoob was waiting for. She was a prideful woman, but Samus nevertheless knew that being trapped here now, without hope of any more, would be the worst torture of all. As much as it galled her to say the words, she needed this. "Please, don't stop yet."

Ms. Danoob stood there only a moment, and then began to move. She didn't make Samus say anything more; it was enough for this admission. She took up a paintbrush and began carefully using it on Samus sensitive folds and crevices. It was far more intense than the feather duster had been, and Samus laughed hard even as she felt the white hot ball growing deep inside until finally it washed through her and left her panting from laughter and pleasure.

Ms. Danoob set the paintbrush down. "Now," she said, "I think you're ready to meet the rest of the ladies. We all have a lot of work to do."

 

[tarr2k]

Part 43


"And this," Ronald said as he opened the door, "is home."

Seven walked in. It was a very large and impressive penthouse suite, complete with a large garden outside even though they were two hundred stories up. No one paid any real attention to the height; the city was populated with emergency tractor beams, so that even if you deliberately threw yourself over the edge, there was no risk of actually hitting anything.

Of course, the only reason Seven's thoughts dwelled on that was because she wondered if she was about to be thrown over the side. Because waiting inside in an outfit that screamed taste and sophistication was a beautiful dark-skinned woman with gorgeous hair and curves to match. "Afternoon, Ron," she said pleasantly. "I see you won."

"Yes," he said, "and well within budget, I assure you." He gestured to her. "This is Seven. Seven, this is my wife, Grace."

"A pleasure," Grace said, though Seven couldn't imagine how it possibly could be. It was obvious that Ronald was interested in Seven for one reason and one reason only. Still, Grace was probably robotic, so perhaps that helped eliminate any worry about replacement.

"I thought that we might take a little time to test the waters," Ronald said, "see how she does with the simple stuff before we go any further."

"I thought you might," Grace said, then turned to Seven. "Boys and their toys," she said, then took Seven's hand and led her into a side room. It was small and rather spartan, but she was just a servant, after all. "Strip," Grace commanded, and Seven quickly complied; given what she'd worn at the auction, there wasn't much to take off. She was given a pair of panties to wear, and Grace took her leave.

Seven paused to take in her reflection in the mirror. It was strange, but, she seemed to see herself differently than she had before. Things that had been... oh, say the word, irrelevant, now seemed to matter. She looked at herself and saw someone beautiful staring back.

Seven put on what little outfit there was and returned to the room. Ronald was already waiting, sitting in a padded, armless chair. "Have a seat," he said, patting his lap. "Facing me." Seven, catching the idea, sat astride him, face-to face. He kissed her, and instinctively, she kissed back. It was... it was a wonderful feeling, and she was drawn into it more and more, until she had no idea how long she'd been involved in the moment until it ended.

Grace was there. Surprisingly, she didn't seem the least bothered by this attention on Seven. Robot aside, this didn’t seem like the type of thing a wife could stomach no matter what she was made of. "Now, Ronald?" she asked.

Ronald nodded, grinning sadistically. "You're still ticklish, aren't you Seven?"

Seven smiled demurely. "Of course." Her hands were soon bound together at the wrist and attached to a line that pulled them straight up. She was still seated as before, but now... now she was free to be tickled all over her upper body.

Ronald started lightly kneading her ribs, and Seven was soon chuckling. It'd been a long time, or so it seemed, since she was tickled by human hands. She liked it; while it wasn’t the wonderfully omnipresent sensation of the computer that'd trained her, it was oddly sensual, as if she was being savored. He reached up and began delicately pinching and rolling her nipples, and she began laughing much harder now. He traced circles around them and she sputtered and squirmed, but even though her lower body was free she couldn't have imagined trying to get away. Even when he began massaging them with horrible ticklish efficiency, and she was turning pink from the effects of the laughter, she still stayed firmly clamped in place, silently egging him on.

Soon he reached up and began wriggling his fingers in her armpits, and she squealed and shook. They skittered up and down her pits, tickling like mad. And still, escape was the furthest thing from her mind. Through her thin bottoms she could feel herself rubbing against him, and it only made the whole thing more intense, her whole body trembling with laughter and excitement.

And suddenly, after exactly twenty minutes of intense tickling, her bottoms dissolved completed. With barely an effort she felt the wonderful sensation of him coming to her in the most intimate way possible, and never for a moment breaking in the tickling cycle. She laughed with joy and pleasure as she found old instincts kicking in, and she began moving subtly while he tickled all over her ribs, breasts, and armpits. She had never done anything like this, but somehow she knew exactly what to do to make each moment feel more wonderful than the last, until she felt the growing swell of pleasure in her body that soon radiated throughout her, and she was left hanging there, breathing heavily between it and the long tickle session she'd just completed.

"That was incredible," he whispered to her, and began kissing her again. Her lips felt electrified at the touch, and she kissed him back hungrily. And she knew that being the property of Ronald Tetz was the best thing that could have ever happened to her.
--------------------------------------------------------------

Mara, Lara, Starbuck, and Ms. Danoob waited on the indoor weapons range. Mara, naturally, said nothing; ever since Seven was left behind she'd been on a downward spiral; for the past week she hadn't spoken to anyone unless they sought her out, and even then it was brief before she found a way to extract herself from the conversation and vanish in the corridors of the facility. Ms. Danoob was starting to think the loss of Seven was going to cause more trouble than it was worth; they'd have to get her back soon if she was going to hold this group together.

At that moment, the newest member of the team arrived. She was fully decked out in her suit, and while everyone had seen it at one point, it was one thing to see it in a pile and quite another to see it animated.

Samus was completed contained in the armor; it could be Mr. T in there for all anyone could tell looking at her. And the color scheme was... garish, to put it mildly. Reds and yellows with a bit of green, it was like something you'd see in a comic on a gum wrapper.

Apparently, Ms. Danoob wasn't the only one with that opinion. "It's the shoulder pads that make the outfit," Lara mused. "Makes you look slimmer." Samus answered with the expressionless stare of her helmet. "Do you transform into a car or airplane or something? That's all the rage with the kids these days." Before anything more could be said, to everyone's surprise -except Ms. Danoob, of course- Samus turned into a large red ball and bounced into Lara, knocking her flat on her ass.

In an instant Samus was back to normal. "Any more comments?" she asked darkly.

"Front and center," Mara said, in a voice that said she found all this as funny as a funeral on a rainy day. Samus complied. "Try to hit the target with this blaster pistol."

Samus took the pistol up, examined it, and tried to site down it. It didn't even hit the target. She made a few more attempts, finally managing to snag the corner of it.

"Remind me to stand behind her during the fight," Starbuck finally said

The helmet turned to her, then back to the target. Samus' other arm came up; instead of a hand, it had a large cannon of some kind. It made a nasty noise and a bolt of energy flew out, passing through the center of the target - and making a hole the size of a volleyball in it. It also went through two I-beams and the back wall of the room.

Samus flipped the blaster pistol around and held it butt-first towards Mara. "That'll have to do," Samus commented.

“I don't suppose that thing has a stun setting," Starbuck said, slightly cowed. A confused person was peering through the hole at the other end of the range, still clutching the handle of his vaporized coffee mug.

As the row began between Mara and Samus, Lara slipped over to Ms. Danoob's side. "This isn't going to work," she said quietly.

"She'll adapt to us, and we'll adapt to her," Ms. Danoob said.

"If we live that long," Lara said. "This operation’s doomed, and we both know it."

Ms. Danoob turned her unreadable face to Lara; unlike Samus, her mask was flesh and blood. "I think you underestimate us."

"Take a good look," Lara said finally raising her voice and gesturing to the other three, who were too busy arguing to notice. "Seven's gone, so we lose our tech expert. Samus is a danger to herself and those around her. Mara's one bad hair day away from turning her blaster on herself. And Kara... much as I love her, she's fallen apart a bit herself of late.”

"And you?" Ms. Danoob asked.

"Me? I long for the day when you'll lie before me, quaking, naked and afraid, knowing that as you reach your righteous end that not a single soul will mourn the loss of your empty life."

Ms. Danoob was quiet for a moment. "So, no change for you then."

"Nope."

"Good, I wouldn't have you any other way." She looked back at the others, then to Lara. "But we cannot leave Seven behind. She's too valuable. Without her things will never improve, and everything here will fall apart."

"I thought you might say that," Lara commented. "So there doesn’t seem to be any choice... you're going to need first-hand intelligence on the place where Seven is."

"That's right," Ms. Danoob said.

"You're going to need someone accustomed to infiltration, of using stealth when the situation demands it, rather than blowing things up."

"Yes," Ms. Danoob said.

"Someone who's ready to use violence if the situation calls for it."

"Exactly," Ms. Danoob said.

Lara nodded. "So, it's going to be me then, right? You want me to risk it all for Seven."

"That's right" Ms.Danoob said. "I knew you'd see the light soon enough."

Lara's eyes narrowed. "See this... this is why I'm going to make you pay. Things like this."

"You're very adorable when you give empty threats,” Ms. Danoob said. "I assume you can see to the details yourself. Good day," and with that she walked out, leaving the three squabbling women and Lara.

"God," she said, looking upwards, "I've no illusions about where my final destination is, but please, when I'm in hell, at least let me have a good view of her... that's all I ask." In a fit of pique, Samus shot straight up, causing bits of the ceiling to dump around them. Lara wiped the dust from her face. "Assuming I'm not there already."

 

[tarr2k]

Part 44


Lara did not blend in well. She was a very unique combination of hard and soft - she could walk into a biker bar and arm wrestle any person in the place, yet she also had curves that, well, usually could only be properly described in pulp detective novels. Still, they had done their best, and at the moment Lara was dressed as an unassuming maintenance worker in a baggy uniform. Even in the high-tech realm of the Terran Empire there was need for actual human beings to run checks on all the machinery and robots, so it allowed Lara to poke about unobserved.

She'd found the building that Seven had been traced to; fortunately, it was a civilian dwelling, not a military or otherwise secure place. Still, there was quite a bit of security, and Lara was hard-pressed to get inside to scope out the interior. The place was practically a self-contained gated community, complete with their own security force to deal with trouble. And, of course, their target was in the most prestigious and secure part of the building. Lara just hoped that Seven would appreciate all the trouble she was going through for that stupid Borg cow.
--------------------------------------------------------------

Seven had spent the night in her room, alone. He may have been very open about what he and Seven had done, but when it was all done he shared his bed with Grace and left Seven in the servant quarters. Which, of course, was how it should be, she knew. Grace may be a robot, but she was Ronald's wife, his partner for life. Seven was there to add a little spice, do some other minor tasks, and in return she knew her master would provide all her physical and emotional needs. Still, she had to admit a twinge of jealousy as he and Grace kissed before his departure. It was ironic that Seven of all people would feel that way, and towards a machine!

After he had left, Grace turned to Seven. There was still no sign of hostility despite the fact that her husband had done several things with and to Seven most wives would call a divorce lawyer about. Instead she gave Seven a warm smile and took her hand, leading her back into her servant quarters. "Ronald gave me some instructions on what should be done with you,” Grace explained. "Take a seat.

Seven was surprised as the floor opened and a pair of stocks and a bench emerged. Knowing what was probably coming, Seven slipped off her shoes and took a seat, putting her feet into place. The stocks sealed themselves, and for added measure, grabbed hold of her toes and held them in a tight, immobile grip. "I'm supposed to test and see how well you react to certain stimuli," Grace explained, taking a seat in front of Seven's helpless feet. Seven nodded and waited, steeling herself for the experience. Grace reached out her delicate fingers and began lightly scratching with her nails across Seven's instep. Seven was almost immediately offering light laughter, but that soon deepened as the tickling intensified. Grace was scratching a bit more than she had been, and was going up and down the instep more. Grace stopped for a moment. "Interesting," she said. She went back to it, and Seven was quickly laughing very hard as Grace started working over even more of her stretched-out soles. "It's an interesting phenomenon; pleasure, pain, those I understand, but the way this prompts laughter, makes you struggle... it's very hard to understand. It's something no one has ever managed to program into an electronic brain."

"You can't be tickled?" Seven asked during the break in the session.

"No. It's quite surprising, but the other mysteries were far easier than this. For example, touch: I can feel the same way as you can; when Ronald makes love to me, everything I say, every moan and whispered word is genuine. But this is something I can't experience." It was odd the way she looked, as if this human weakness was the holy grail for her. Or maybe Seven was finally seeing the tiny bits of resentment Grace had. Seven was here because she could provide one thing that Grace couldn't that Ronald enjoyed. Maybe, just maybe, he would decide that it was enough that he'd elevate Seven to taking her place. It was a horrible thing to think, of course, but Seven couldn't help it. Logically, she was the better choice -- she could do everything Grace could do and more. And Grace, being a machine at heart, had to know this. And yet, there was nothing she could do about it, because if that was Ronald's choice then it fell to her to make him happy, even if it meant being replaced. Seven knew how it worked, knew that Grace loved him, even though her heart was as genuine as the Tin Woodsman's, but that it's first choice would always be whatever made him the happiest. It wasn't because of gender - her male counterparts were under the same position with their human wives, and were just as frequently replaced. But that did nothing to make it less worrisome.

"I would help you if I could," Seven said, and meant it. Grace was kind to her, all things considered, and it would be something that'd make Ronald happy too. Having two tickle-victims would certainly spice up things.

"I'm afraid this isn't something I could ever learn," Grace said diplomatically. "I'll just have to get used to you and your horribly ticklish body." And with that she began scratching furiously on Seven's soles, until she was shrieking with laughter. Her scurrying nails ran up and down, from heel through the instep to ball and back again. After a little while, to Seven's surprise, she began adding little teases to the tickle torture. "Cootchie cootchie coo," Grace sang. "Cootchie cootchie. My, what a ticklish servant. I couldn't have imagined Ronald could find someone so ticklish in all the universe. Cootchie cootchie." Seven laughed hard shaking her head while squeezing her hands into fists to try to endure. Grace was learning very quickly, and Seven was yanking hard on the stocks to try to get away from her wriggling fingers.

"How are the toes?" Grace asked, deftly running up the soles and scratching along the base of the toes while Seven squealed. "Are they ticklish as well?" Her fingers danced and Seven clenched and unclenched her hands, laughing hysterically. "Oh yes, they are. Is there any place the poor servant isn't ticklish?" Her nails ran along the toes again and again while Seven could only laugh helplessly.

Well, not helplessly. She could reach out at any time and yank Grace's hands away. But the idea of doing that was so completely alien that it never crossed her mind. Ironic in a way that an intellect as expansive as hers could no longer pick up on so simple of a thought, but after all that had happened there were boundaries in her mind now. It was her job, her duty, her very purpose, to do whatever she was told to do, and to be happy for the privilege. So, if Ronald's robot wife wanted to tickle her until she passed out from exhaustion, then that's what would happen. Seven could no more disobey than she could make water run uphill.

Eventually, Seven was released, and Grace helped her to her feet. "How do you feel?" Grace asked.

"Fine, ma'am," Seven said.

"Just fine?"

Seven looked into her beautiful, dark features. "I don't understand the question, ma'am." Before anything further could be said, Grace tenderly kissed her lips. Instinctively, Seven closed her eyes and returned it. It was very familiar. Grace took Seven to the latter's bed, and they made love for a time. It was different than it had been the day before, and there was a bit of melancholy to it for Seven for some reason she couldn't understand, but still, it was a wonderful experience overall.

"Ronald told me that tickling was often an aphrodisiac for some women," Grace explained. “I see it is in your case."

"So will the three of us be working together from now on?" Seven asked, uncertain how to phrase the question, for the entire concept was beyond her experience.

"Sometimes," Grace said with a smile. "Now, get dressed, we're heading downtown to tend to some errands; you will assist me."

"Yes, ma'am," Seven said, and dutifully got dressed. Her attire outside the home was far more tasteful, but she was still required to wear a collar to indicate her status, to avoid any confusion or - impossible though it was for Seven to imagine - any attempt to run off. The collar did nothing, it just had a tracker inside and couldn't be removed without the authorization code. It was quite harmless and relatively discrete, but Seven did resent it slightly, if only because it was a tactile symbol of mistrust.

As the two left the suite Seven fell in step just a small ways behind Grace, as was to be expected. She avoided making eye contact with others, as she'd been taught... but still, there were some things she couldn't help but notice, like the face of the woman inspecting the windows. Seven watched as they approached, her mind processing so quickly that it seemed that they were merely crawling up the hall. Seven knew that face... knew that person. Lara Croft... from Crossroads. The memories had not been locked away, she'd just refused to allow herself to dwell upon them. But at the sight of her the memories of who they were presented themselves. She was Seven's teammate. Was she here to help?

Seven remembered her... the fiendish look as she had tickled Seven's helpless body. The glare that had challenged Seven, saying that for all her Borg enhancements Lara was still superior to her. The way she locked Seven up in the binders by tricking her. The way she'd nearly shot an unarmed man. No, Lara was not a nice person... she wasn't here for Seven's well-being, she was here to destroy her only chance at happiness!

To everyone's shock, Seven went from demure servant to super-agent in the blink of an eye. She grabbed Lara before the latter could react, caught the blaster pistol as Lara tried to bring it up, and yanked it from her grip. Lara elbowed her in the face, so Seven tossed her hard into the opposite wall, grabbing her as she rebounded off, and pinned her to the floor. The entire affair had taken less than three seconds.

"What's going on?" Grace demanded.

"This woman is a spy," Seven said.

"Idiot!" Lara like a steam kettle. "I'm here to help you!"

Seven spun her back over and pinned her down on the floor, staring into her eyes. "When have you ever helped me?" Seven demanded.

Lara looked into her eyes, and she knew that Seven couldn't be reasoned with. She just waited as the security bots arrived to take her into custody, wondering what could have done that to Seven... and what she herself would be in store for here.

 

[tarr2k]

Part 45

Lara opened her eyes and immediately wished she hadn't. It wasn't just the predicament she was in, although that was bad enough. As was so often the case over the past year, she was bound and nude, and completely stretched out. Anyone who wanted to tickle her could do so without hope of her resisting, and she doubted they would be as kind of Kara, or even Ms. Danoob, had been.

But that wasn't the worst part. The worst part was the situation. She was in a room, weightless, the walls forming a cylinder around her and leaving her feeling a bit dizzy.

She looked around a little, trying to take in the situation better in the hopes of understanding it. Well, her hands were locked together at the wrist, not unsurprising. A cable was pulled straight out into the wall above -well, beyond may be the term, given how there seemed no clear idea of where down was here- and securely fastened. Similar bonds were around her ankles, stretching her entire body out with little room to squirm.

"Here she is," a voice said, and Lara turned as best she could to see the speaker, and again wished she hadn't. Not that there was anything awful about the speaker herself; she seemed pleasant enough and certainly attractive in a way. No, what was awful was the way she was standing on the wall at completely the wrong angle to Lara; it made her stomach flip a couple times.

"Seven was good enough to fill me in on you," the woman said. "I'm Ms. Walters, and I know just how ticklish you are." She walked around the wall without a care for the normal rules of gravity. She stopped when she was face-to face with Lara. "You like this? I designed it myself. See, like this I can get at practically any part of your body without anything getting in my way. I can just tickle and tickle and tickle and just keep looking for more spots, because I have all of you to choose from." She extended one finger and began scratching the air with it, then slowly moved it towards Lara's armpit. Lara stiffened but said nothing; the anticipating was horrible. And then it reached her skin, and she ground her teeth. She closed her eyes. But then a snicker came out, and then another. "Oh yes, Lara... you are going to love what I do to you." She continued scratching away with just the one finger until Lara was chuckling. "Unless you want the tickling to stop. That's so easy to do Lara." She added a second finger, and Lara began laughing a little despite herself. "All you have to do is answer my questions. That's really not so bad, is it?"

She began applying all her fingers to Lara's armpits now, and there was no more holding the laughter in. It forced its way out, and she squeezed her eyes tightly shut, trying to resist this. The nails ran back and forth, back and forth... boy, she wished she didn't have such ticklish pits! But giving in would be a serious mistake. Crossroads Facility had to be arranging for her rescue now -her ego insisted that she was worth any three Seven's, so if she was worthy of rescue, so was Lara- and she had to give them time. If she gave up any information, it could jeopardize that effort. Also, it could mean they'd move Lara to another location, and the more that happened, the harder it'd be to track her down.

Lara roared as Ms. Walters discovered how ticklish her breasts were, and began lightly scratching all over them. That reminded her of something else, too. That look on Seven's face before she'd given Lara up... she'd never looked so... broken. She was a stubborn woman, Lara knew that much, but hadn't proven to be up to Lara's own willpower. But still, there was that looming over her... if they could break Seven, then maybe, just maybe, they could break her too. The thought of being reduced to that was all the fuel her pride needed, and it was Lara's greatest asset in situations like this. They could tickle her until she passed out, but her pride was strong enough to bend iron bars around it. She could endure... would endure.

Ms. Walters now walked around the wall until she was behind Lara. She began running those wicked nails over her rump, and Lara cackled and shook with laughter. A few draws up and down and she was soon forced to wiggle it about in an attempt to escape, a demeaning thing in her opinion. "Cootchie cootchie coo," Ms. Walters teased, nails now lightly pinching all over her rear end.

Oh no, Mara though, not the "cootchie" stuff. That's so humiliating.

Out loud, of course, all she did was laugh and squeal as she continued wiggling her butt under the ticklish attentions.

After a while, Ms. Walters went further down Lara's body and began running her nails down the backs of her thighs, then scratching the backs of her knees. She even wormed her fingers in between Lara's thighs and began tickling in there as well. A little later, she walked back and up around the wall again and started nuzzling her face into Lara's tummy while tickling her hips and flanks. Lara wasn't used to this kind of tickle-attack, and she was fighting to keep it in as Ms. Walters tickled her all over. The only advantage Lara had over her was that Ms. Walters was -and Lara's was embarrassed that she even thought in such distinctions- an amateur. She managed to hit some good spots, no question, and Lara was laughing like crazy, but both of those were owed to the fact that Lara was just a really ticklish person. If Ms. Danoob had Lara in this position, well, she'd probably have passed out by now.

Lara howled as she felt her ribs grabbed from behind. Still, being this ticklish did indeed count for something, and she was screeching with laughter as the fingers worked their way up and down her ribcage. From this side her nails could really dig in to all the worst spots along there, and Lara soon turned red with laughter. After all that she'd been through so far -and she knew it couldn't have been all that long- she wasn't sure if she could hold out for rescue.

There was the distant sound of an explosion, and for a moment the tickling stopped. Ms. Walters glanced about for some reason, as if she could deduce what was happening just by looking at the walls. There were more explosions and shouts, and then the sound that Lara had come to know very well - blaster fire.

The door to the room blew in and twisted oddly in the room's warped gravity before settling against one of the walls. Starbuck was there, and she looked the perfect picture of the hero, framed in the doorway with her blaster rifle at the ready. Lara was admittedly impressed. It was unfortunate that she decided to step into the room, because she then flailed about a moment before tumbling into the wall and lying there like an idiot. A robot appeared in the door and aimed at her prone form, but a second later it was blown to pieces, and now Lara could see Samus in her suit, that nasty weapon of hers pointed at the smoking remains. Starbuck used the distraction to rally, getting up and pointing her weapon at Ms. Walters and getting off the round before anything more could happen. She dropped to the floor... or wall, whatever it was - stunned. "Much as I'm tempted to take advantage of this situations," she said, heading over to Lara, "I think we'd better get out of here." She undid the bonds around Lara's wrists and ankles, and gently lowered her to the... wall.

"I hadn't expected you this soon," Lara admitted. "If I'd known, I might have just let myself enjoy it more."

"Naughty," Starbuck said, putting binders on Ms. Walter's wrists. A few seconds later they appeared inside the Gate. After the three of them exited there was another flash, and Samus and Mara exited.

"I must say," Lara said as one of the Crossroads Facility personnel offered her a robe for modesty sake, "I thought it'd take days for you to mount a rescue."

Mara, Starbuck, and Samus looked at each other, then to Lara, and then to Ms. Danoob. Lara looked icily at the head of the facility. "Oh... my... you did, didn't you." She stormed up to Ms. Danoob, who didn't move a muscle despite the look in Lara's eyes. "You planned to have me get captured so you could get me on the inside, is that it?"

"Yes," Ms. Danoob admitted. "It seemed the most effective way to do it."

“Dear GOD I hate you so!"

"I imagine," Ms. Danoob said, and then offered nothing more on the subject. She turned to one of the lead security agents who was directing the handling of Ms. Walter's unconscious form. "Put her in Interrogation Room 1." She turned back to Lara. "Gave you a rough time, did she?" Lara answered only with a menacing silence. "Would you like to perform the interrogation?"

"You think that'll make up for this?" Lara demanded.

"No," Ms. Danoob said. "But I do think it would make you feel better."

Lara answered with a growl. "Yes," she admitted, and stormed out of the room.

Twenty minutes later, fully-dressed and still angry, Lara entered Interrogation Room 1. Ms. Walters was stripped and spread-eagle on a reclining table. Lara walked over and inspected the various tickle tools that were sitting in the tray. "We don't have all the sophisticated equipment you have," she said, not looking at Ms. Walters. "No fancy ways of bending gravity or such. She held up a backscratcher, examined it, then put it back. "We have no computer-assisted way of targeting your worst spots." She took up a long, bright feather. "But we do have one important thing - we've forgotten more about tickling than you will ever know." And Lara stood face to face with Ms. Walters and offered a horrible smile. “And there's two things to remember: no one is going to rescue you here... and in this place, well, we're so twisted we'll tickle you just to relieve our boredom. We're not nice people, Ms. Walters... so, you can answer my questions... or I can show you just how nasty a tickler I can be."

Ms. Walters was quiet for a few seconds. "What do you want to know?"

Lara lowered the feather. "Let's start with security codes." After a while, Ms. Walters told them everything, and the computer recorded it all. Lara spoke to Ms. Danoob, and confirmed it. "That looks to be everything," she said.

"Good," Ms. Walters said, and then yelped as Lara's fingers squeezed her ribs. "What are you doing?!"

"I told you," Lara said, "I'm bored."

"Hahaha! But I told you everything!"

"I know, I know," and Lara continued tickling her ribs, "but like I said, we're not nice people." And she paused just long enough for Ms. Walter's to take in her sinister grin, and then dove back into the tickling with all she had.

 

[tarr2k]

Part 46

The four available members of the team: Mara, Starbuck, Lara, and an unsuited Samus, were in the briefing room where Mara was laying out the details of the operation she'd put together. It was a solid plan, of course, given what the purpose of this operation was. There was no way she'd allow even the slightest thing to go wrong with a mission to rescue Seven. In fact, after what happened to Lara, she was more determined than ever to get her out. Obviously they had done something to her, but nothing that couldn't be reversed, she knew that. Seven was very strong willed, and she'd never gotten on well with Lara, so it was no surprise that had happened. Once they'd gotten her back, everything would return to normal, or the joke that passed for it around here.

Everything stopped as Ms. Danoob entered. She had that look about her that said they weren't going to like what she was about to say. It was probably because they were used to not liking what she had to say. "I've looked over your plans, Mara, and they're very good."

Mara nodded in acknowledgment. "Is that all?"

"No," Ms. Danoob said, taking a seat. "There's a small change I'd like to make."

"No changes," Mara said flatly. "We're too invested in this. Unless there's a fundamental error - which there isn't - we go ahead as planned and drilled."

Ms. Danoob offered that insincere smile of hers. "But this really can't be missed. Ronald Tetz will be with Seven. You are to bring him in as well - alive."

"Too risky," Mara said. "We can go back for him later, but trying to nab him and Seven-"

"We need him," Ms. Danoob said. "We need to bring in a sizable amount of money from this operation."

Mara glared at her. "This is a rescue operation," she said slowly, like the inevitable approach of a millstone that would grind up anything in its path. "We cannot jeopardize it for profit."

"Even I answer to someone, Mara," Ms. Danoob said "The shareholders need to see results, or they'll shut us down."

"That's not my problem," Mara said.

"You work for me. My problems are your problems."

"First we get Seven," Mara said, a little louder. "We can go back for Tetz later."

"No, he'll be even more careful after this. This is our opportunity; we can't afford to waste it."

"Rescuing Seven isn't a waste!" Mara shouted. "You can't expect us to think otherwise!"

Ms. Danoob was quiet for a moment, then turned to the other three. "What's your opinion, Lara? Should we just get Seven, or both."

"I'm all for leaving the bitch to his tender mercies," Lara said evenly. "But if we're getting her out, then we should grab Tetz as well."

"Samus?" Ms. Danoob asked.

"In my experience, if you have an opportunity to grab both targets with a single raid, you do it." She looked over to Mara. "Sorry, but that's the way I've learned to do it best. Nothing personal."

"Kara?" Ms. Danoob looked to Starbuck, who met her gaze but said nothing. "What do you think?" Starbuck was quiet. She looked over to Mara, then to the picture of Seven that was being projected...

"I agree with Ms. Danoob," Starbuck said, though it was spoken like she'd just announced her own death sentence.

"As you can see," Ms. Danoob said to Mara without the slightest bit of arrogance or condescension, "it's the smart move. Extract them both."

"Seven's not emotionally well," Mara said. "We know that much. Trying to take Ronald may introduce an unstable element into this. It's too risky."

"Your opinion is noted," Ms. Danoob said. "But your orders stand. Bring both back." She didn't make any threats; she didn't have to. It was understood that if Mara disregarded her orders that Ms. Danoob would make her life very difficult. Despite her demeanor, despite how she might seem like a small, harmless woman, she was capable of great -and imaginative - sadism if the situation called for it. Crossing her was like poking a grizzly bear with a short stick.

"We'll adjourn until 2100," Mara said, keeping her attention focused on her notes so she wouldn't have to look at the others. "I'll work up the changes to the operation and discuss it with you then. Dismissed." Lara and Samus left; Starbuck got up, hesitated, then came up to Mara.

"Listen, I uh, I'm sorry about... you know."

Mara looked into her eyes, and Starbuck felt the same clawing in the pit of her stomach she'd felt back on the station when all this had started.

"Dis - missed," Mara repeated. Starbuck quickly complied and Mara ground her teeth together, but only because it stopped her jaw from trembling. She looked down at the image of Ronald Tetz on the LCD screen of the data assistant Ms. Danoob had left with her. She felt her whole body tremble, and then the image shattered.

"She'll be all right," she whispered to herself. "She's going to be all right..."
--------------------------------------------------------------

Seven was secured spread-eagle to the bed, Ronald kneeling beside her. He had a grin on his face that made Seven shiver, because she knew it meant he was going to tickle her out of her skin. Slowly his fingers descended and she stiffened, watching helplessly as they reached towards her inner thighs. She began chuckling as he started lightly pinching along there, which soon turned to deeper laughter as he ran his fingers up onto her pelvis and gradually onto her tummy. He spent quite a bit of time on the tummy, probably because it made her breasts bounce so much, because when he finally did move on he went straight to her nipples. He pinched and rolled them until she was screwing her eyes shut, laughing like mad. After a week in his possession he'd found her most ticklish spots and always managed to hit them with gusto.

After a while he went to the breast itself, scratching the undersides and doing light massages. He slipped from this onto her ribs, teasing the sides of her breasts with his thumbs while his fingers dug into her ribcage. She was sputtering and thrashing, but the restraints were solid, and she wasn't able to pull free. She wouldn't be able to unless he wished it.

He finally worked his way up into her armpits, and after all she'd been through Seven could take no more. She was laughing hysterically, tugging at her bonds, trying to make it stop, yet unable to deny how hot she was becoming from all of this. She felt him slip in between her thighs, and still he kept on tickling. But she was excited now, waiting...

At a single vocal command, the restraints unlashed themselves, and Seven was free. He began making love to her as she wrapped her arms and legs around him, her squeals of laughter changing to squeals of enjoyment. Every time seemed more wonderful than the last, and now, still flush from the tickling -and alone, since Ronald had excused Grace from joining in- she was in paradise.

After it was over, Seven laid there, his arms wrapped around her. She couldn't imagine anything being better than this, that anyone could do the things for her he could. "I love you," she said without thinking, and instantly turned even more red with embarrassment.

Ronald chuckled a little. "It's all right," he said comfortingly. He squeezed her a little tighter. "I've watched you all this past week. You seem happy here. Are you happy?"

"Absolutely," Seven said. ""This was the best thing that ever happened to me."

Ronald kissed her neck, and Seven melted. "I'm glad to hear you say that. Seven... I wanted to give you some time to adjust, but... what would you say if I offered to make you my wife?"

Seven turned and looked into his face. Of course, she had always felt it was the logical thing to do, but when it came to matters like this, logic usually wasn't involved. "But what about Grace?"

"We can keep her," Ronald said. "It's not common, but it's not completely unprecedented. She'd just no longer be my wife. I'd have to cut through some red tape, remove your slave status, but it can be done... if that's what you want."

Seven's lip quivered and tears escaped from her eyes. "There’s nothing I want more in the universe than to spend the rest of my life with you." And she kissed him to show just how much she meant that.
--------------------------------------------------------------

Mara stared into the mirror. She said nothing, she did nothing, she just stared. After twenty minutes, she said just one sentence.

"Tomorrow... and then she's mine again."

 

[tarr2k]

Part 47

The organized chaos that was Crossroads Facility carried on as Ms. Danoob stood near the Gate, waiting. Status reports and such were being rattled off through her earpiece for this, perhaps the most important jump they were going to be making. Not only would it bring in the money needed to keep this place going, but it would bring back the missing member of their team. Seven was probably the most liked of the five of them by the various staff members; she always helped out and didn't have the same ego problems that plagued the others. They were just as anxious to get her back as any of them.

Well, any except for one, who'd sell her soul to bring Seven back.

The door opened, and they strode in - Mara, Starbuck, Lara, and Samus. Without a word they crossed through the chaos into the open doorway to the Gate itself. It wasn't going to be an easy run, and there was a noticeable tension in the air as the door closed.

"Give me a go-no go for launch," Ms. Danoob said. The reports came in, everything was at the ready. "We are go for launch," Ms. Danoob said. "Good luck, ladies."

"There's no such thing as luck," Mara said in a voice no one could hear. And then the four were whisked away.
--------------------------------------------------------------

Ronald opened the door, a smile across his face as he approached Seven and Grace. "I've gotten word back from the Imperial Division Of Human Services," he said. "It's rare, but not unprecedented to shift from servant to wife, but it's still legal. I filled out the forms this morning, and it's all arranged, and effective immediately."

Grace turned to Seven. Seven wasn't sure how Grace would react to the news that she was being pushed aside for Ronald's new toy, but her expression never changed. "I'm happy for you," Grace said. "And I know you'll make him happy."

"I will," Seven said, and it was hard not to get a little choked up at the news. She hadn't really thought it could happen, but now she realized just how much she'd been silently hoping, and it was hard not to give in to her emotions. She walked up and embraced him. "Thank you," she whispered. "I'll do all I can to make sure you never regret this decision."

I know," Ronald said. "Well, Grace," he said to her. "I think Seven needs a proper initiation into her new role, what do you think?"

"I can imagine only one way of doing that, Ronald," Grace said, and still there was no sign of any resentment or sadness. Perhaps, Seven wondered, it was because she was saving it for this moment, to really let Seven have it. Somehow, that didn't make her worry in the least.
--------------------------------------------------------------

"Operations," Ms. Danoob said, "it's time for all hell to break loose."

"Aye, ma'am," came the voice over the comm. Across the city, crimes were reported taking place everywhere. There were break-ins, bombings, shootings, accidents, everything. And none of them actually existed, but thanks to the security codes Lara had acquired, they all looked legitimate. So when the quartet arrived at the entrance to the building and began working their way through the security bots like a hot knife through butter, no one gave it any more concern than any other alarm going on at that moment.
--------------------------------------------------------------

Seven shivered just a little. She'd been stripped and she had a feeling Ronald had turned the thermostat down a little to perk her up. There was a tug as her arms were pulled straight up, and locked into place. Seven stood there on her tip-toes, stretched out. Ronald and Grace circled her like hungry sharks. "Ready?" Ronald asked darkly. Seven giggled in anticipation.

Ronald and Grace struck together, and Seven was instantly roaring with laughter. Both had dropped all ten fingers into each underarm, tickling furiously. Seven shook and sputtered while they just grinned and scratched away over the smooth hollows.

Seven was soon going out of her mind. Ronald was tickling all over the underarm with practically hunger, relishing the feel of her skin and the way she reacted. Seven knew that he'd come to love seeing her get tickled, and seemed to love doing the tickling even more than that. He tickled as if this was the only chance he'd ever have and he wanted to get the most out of it he could.

Grace, on the other hand -or pit, in this case- was calm and collected. And yet, she tickled just as intensely, as if she was punishing Seven for taking Ronald away. Oh sure, she'd still be around - she had to raise the children, after all- but she was never going to have the same status as before, and Seven thought that even an artificial woman would resent that in some way. But maybe it was just Seven's imagination. It was hard to decide, really, when she was laughing so hard. These two were really pushing her limits, and she wound up begging for them to stop, because she couldn't take it any more. Even though it was so erotic, she couldn't take as much as they were giving.

Ronald relented, and Grace stopped immediately as well. Seven was left there, gasping for breath while they circled her again. After exactly one minute they both struck again, and Seven was again roaring with laughter.
--------------------------------------------------------------

Lara crouched on the floor, firing both her blasters at the center of the lumbering security-bot approaching. It was one of the heavy-duty ones employed to stop rioters from gaining entrance. It started to spark under her attacks, but still it came. It pulled its own weapon, and Lara jumped aside as it blew out the floor where she'd been standing a moment before. Lara popped back up and fired four more quick bursts before rolling again and avoiding another near miss. She shot twice more, punching through the armor and hitting a vital component, and the giant tumbled over, shaking the floor.

Lara smirked at her handiwork, but it quickly faded as another climbed over the wreckage of the first. There was a powerful discharge, and a hole suddenly appeared in the middle of its chest; it toppled over. Samus gave Lara a brief look, then moved on. "No one likes a show off," she called after testily, then ducked as more fire began surrounding them.
--------------------------------------------------------------

Seven was gasping now, though not from the tickling. Her legs were wrapped around Ronald now, and he held her behind in place, allowing them to make love while she hung there. Grace, for her part, wasn't out of this yet; she was still having a good time with Seven. At the moment she was standing behind her, reaching around and lightly tickling on her nipples. Seven giggled under her ministrations, but it was just a nice side dish for the main course. She felt so incredible like this, with him holding her close like this and the sensation of her body locked to his. But the tickling was nevertheless a wonderful addition, and every touch kept her giggling. She wasn't sure who this was more for, her or Ronald, but she was enjoying it immensely. After the long ordeal she'd been through before this, it was a wonderful experience.

She finally felt the wonderful release, and she was let down from her position. Ronald kissed her all the while. It wasn't the kind of honeymoon she'd ever really imagined having, but it'd more than do for her. "Why don't you get dressed," Ronald said after the kiss ended. "We can go out and really see the city."

"I'd love that," Seven said, taking his hand and squeezing it. She turned to Grace and smiled at her. "You're absolutely evil," Seven said to her with a smile.

"I trust that's what you wanted," Grace said, offering a small smile of her own.

"Absolutely," Seven said, and gave her a light kiss too before heading to find something to wear.
--------------------------------------------------------------

Mara shot down another security bot, shouldering the wreckage out of the way even before it fell in her efforts to get to the stairway.

"Mara," Ms. Danoob said into her headset, "the countermeasures are eroding our program."

"I know," Mara said, kicking a bot aside as it came around the corner and putting two shots into its neck.

"If that's compromised, the alarm will sound and Ronald will escape through the roof exit.

"I'm going as fast as I can," Mara said with frustration. She reached the doorway, but a quick prod from her danger sense drove her back. The edge of the door blew out under the effect of the attack, but Starbuck was soon with her. Good, she was just what Mara needed - she was a soldier, used to working as part of a team. She may not have been the strongest, but she had the training. The two gave some quick signals, and with Starbuck providing cover Mara moved in and opened fire, annihilating them. Mara got to her feet as Starbuck came in, shouldering her blaster rifle. She pulled out a grappler gun, sighted up it and fired. The arrow shot up the entire dizzying height and hit the ceiling. On impact, it began drilling into the material until it was firmly embedded in hard crete and the signal on Starbuck's belt chimed. Starbuck attached it to her harness, and Mara attached hers to Starbuck's. The two wrapped their arms firmly around each other, and then the winch took off, sending them up the flights at a dizzying speed.

"Hey Mara," Starbuck asked, "what would happen if I started tickling you right now?"

"I am not in the mood for your games," Mara said irritably.

"Yeesh, sorry, thought you'd be in a better mood by now. We're nearly there."

Exactly, Mara thought. And that's usually when everything goes wrong. She had this gnawing fear that she was going to find the suite empty, that Seven would have been evacuated already and she'd never have a chance to stop her. The night before, when she should have been filled with anticipation of getting her back, she was tormented by nightmares of Seven turning to dust just as Mara reached out for her... that she’d get so close, but never be able to reach her. She didn’t know what she’d do if- No, she told herself, don't think like that. You do and you'll start screwing up.

Mara and Starbuck arrived at the entrance to the top floor. They quickly unhooked themselves and pushed on. Thankfully the lack of alarms meant no security here. Samus was already there with Lara. "Orders?" Samus asked.

"Open the door," Mara said flatly.

"Of course, ma'am," Samus said, and pointed at the door with her arm cannon. "Knock knock."
--------------------------------------------------------------

Seven put her clothes back on - real clothes, this time. She'd been given a choice of garments suited to her measurements, and thanks to replication technology she had it immediately. She looked in the mirror at herself; it was hard to imagine that she could ever have been anyone else, that there could have been a time when she wasn't here. All she could think about was how lucky she was to be here, like this, and have everything that'd come to her.

And then, it all came apart in one instant. There was an explosion, so strong it knocked Seven over. She quickly ran out of the room, and there was debris everywhere, and Ronald was holding Grace. She’d shielded him from the blast, but a hunk of metal had pierced her head. She wasn't dead, obviously, but she would need to be repaired. At the moment, however, that was the furthest thought from Seven's mind, because all she could think about was the quartet who had done it. Lara, who had escaped from custody. Kara, who'd always been more or less dismissive towards her. Some person in a kind of battle armor. And the last-

"Mara," she whispered. She was so shocked at the sight that her legs lost their strength and she collapsed onto her bottom. She stared at her and said her name again.

"It's me, Seven," Mara said, her jaw trembling. "I've come to take you home."

 

[tarr2k]

Part 48

Seven stood up, scarcely able to believe what she was seeing. Everything from before had seemed like a distant dream, and yet, here in the flesh was the all too real image of Mara. The memories she’d pushed aside flowed back at the sight of her.

Seven had been just about to fall asleep when Mara struck. The attack was so quick, furious, and unexpected that it was like being dropped into a pool of ice water, and Seven screamed half in surprise, half with laughter. "Stop it!" she protested.

"Never," Mara said evilly, still tickling Seven's ribs from behind. "Today is the day you will be tickled to death!" And she offered an evil laugh that was so cartoony Seven would have laughed at it even if she wasn't being tickled like crazy. Of course, that fact wasn't something that could be dismissed. Mara had a firm grip on her lower ribcage and was effectively using all her finger tips to dig in and worm around the bare flesh - one of the disadvantages the ticklish have if they sleep nude. Seven squirmed and tried to escape but Mara was all over her, teasing her with words while her fingers tickled away., until Seven rolled off the edge, taking Mara with her.

This, of course, was Mara's downfall, because her grip weakened enough for Seven to worm out of it and turn on her tormentor; she grabbed Mara's wrists and twisted, swinging her casually through the air over her body, yet still dropping her with relative softness on the floor on the other side. She went with the momentum and Mara was on her back, one wrist gripped in Seven's hand, the other underneath Seven's opposite knee. Seven grinned down at her and waved with her free hand, then slowly made little scratching gestures as it slowly came down. Mara squirmed and tugged, but there was no escaping as it slowly reached into her armpit, and she laughed and tossed her head, read hair flaying. "No! hahaha stop it!"

You should have known better than to awaken a sleeping giant," Seven said, still tickling rapidly all over her underarm.

"Yes! Hahahaha! I'm sorry! Won't happen again! Hehehehahaha!!!"

"I shall ensure you properly understand this lesson, and began drawing her nails down along Mara's ribs. She whooped and tried twisting away, but Seven was still able to get them. After a little while of this, she realized too late she'd only succeeded in stretching her armpit out more, but by then Seven had positioned her other knee to hold her in place and was really scratching away i her hollow. Mara pleaded for her to stop, but Seven just grinned sinisterly and kept at it, running her nails all over her pit until her face was red with laughter.

However, while Seven had Mara thoroughly beat when it came to strength, she always underestimated how Mara's flexibility and cunning could neutralize that. With a twisting of her legs she managed to get Seven off balance enough to throw her off. She lunged, but Seven rallied and they both struck together. Mara was again on her back, with Seven on top of her, hands on her ribs. This time, however Mara's hands were free, and she was tickling all over Seven's breasts.

"Hehehe Yield now," Seven chuckled, "and I will be merciful."

"Hahaha, Not a chance," Mara shot back. "I've got your Borg implants, which hehehe means you're mine!" The two laughed even more intensely as they kicked up the attack, fingers wildly pushing the ticklish limits of the other while their laughter filled the room. Finally, after they could take now more, the tickling stopped, and Seven dropped momentarily on Mara before rolling off, still half-draped on her.

"We should crawl back into bed," Mara sound drowsily.

"Can't.. move..." Seven said with complete exhaustion in her tone.

"Maybe we should just sleep... here..." Moments later, the two were out, lying on the floor together in each other's embrace, a surprising posture consider the intensity of the struggle just minutes before.

Mara grabbed onto her. "Oh Seven," she said, her voice so filled with relief it was all Seven could do not to cry at the sound. "You don't know how worried I've been! I'm so sorry!"

"It's all right," Seven assured her.

"No," Mara said, "it isn't. I made a big mistake and you paid the price, and I am going to do everything I can to make up for it, I swear it."

"That's not necessary," Seven said. "Things worked out for the best. I know you might find that hard to believe, but they have." Mara released her just enough to look into her face, and Seven could read her confusion. "Mara... I've never been so happy. For the first time, I... I don't feel like I am Borg... I feel human."

Mara was still just staring, but finally the words came. They were so quiet even Seven's augmented hearing could barely catch them. "You really mean that, don't you."

"Yes," Seven said. "I love him; really, I do."
--------------------------------------------------------------

Mara looked into Seven's face, and all her defenses crumbled. The long days and nights of waiting, tormenting herself because of her decision, crying in her loneliness and grief, had only been possible to survive because she kept waiting for this moment. Now it was here, and she was met with rejection... no, worse than rejection. The way Seven acted, it was as if Mara was nobody, that what they shared had never mattered at all to her. And the things she said, about him doing things for Seven that Mara never could, they struck deep into her soul and tried to rend it apart.

That's when the Emperor's Hand appeared. She'd been waiting for a moment like this for oh so long, and finally it had come. "Look at him," she whispered to Mara. "Stealing away the one thing that matters to you. What is he?"

"Nothing," Mara whispered.

"Exactly," the Emperor's Hand said. "Compared to you, an insect. At least when Seven had been taken from you it was under horribly long odds and no way to reach her, but here? There's no reason he should lose her except that he's a weak pitiful excuse for a human being. Seven just needs to see it, Mara. She needs to see that he can never give her what you can, can never protect her like you will. You need to prove once and for all that it's you, not him, that she belongs to."

"Yes," Mara said.

"I can help you," the Emperor's Hand said seductively. "I want to... please, Mara. Just let me help you and I promise you'll have her back in your arms again."

Mara's jaw trembled a little. "What do I have to do?"

The Emperor's Hand grinned. "Just follow my lead."
--------------------------------------------------------------

Mara's face suddenly seemed to radiate fury, and she stepped away from Seven and glared at Ronald. "What?" he asked, clearly irritated at the situation and not the least cowed by her expression. It was a mistake.

Mara raised her hand, and suddenly Ronald visibly swallowed. Soon he was grasping at his throat, and it was obvious he couldn't breathe. "How dare you," Mara said her voice like steel and ice. "How dare you even think it!" She squeezed her hand into a tight fist, and he shuddered and fought to breathe.

"Mara," Lara said. "We need him alive. Mara!" Mara was paying no attention to her, so she raised her blaster to stun her, but at a gesture it flew from her hand and into Mara's. Samus tried to move, but another gesture and she was tossed into Starbuck, the two sent sprawling across the floor. The effort had bought Ronald a moment's respite, but that was all, and soon she had her full attention on him

"How dare you!" she repeated, the air seeming to crackle with her rage. "How dare you take her away from me!!!" He dropped onto his knees as he grasped his throat, and she towered over him. "Just who the hell do you think you are?!! You think that the pitiful authority you wield is some kind of power? Is that it?!" She gestured and he was yanked up so that he was dangling by his neck, his toes barely touching the ground. "This is power," she said with fury. "All the so-called strength of your entire empire is insignificant next to the power of the dark side! And you will know that lesson well before I answer your pleas for death!"

"Mara!" Seven said, "Stop it!"

"Be silent!" Mara barked at her.

"Mara," Seven pleaded, "you can't do this!"

Ronald was dropped and he laid gasping on the floor as Mara marched up to Seven. "Can't? Can't?! I am Sith! 'Can't' is a word that applies to others, not me!"

"Please, Mara-"

"No!" Mara said. "He made the fatal mistake of taking away what was mine! Now he'll pay the price!"

"I want to be with him!" Seven said, weeping.

"With him?!" Mara demanded. "Look at him." She turned back and looked at his prone form with disgust. "He's nothing. He tried to control things beyond his reach, thinking in his hubris that the petty authority of his empire gave him power. This-" and lightning crackled around Mara's raised hand, "-is power."

Seven was weeping openly now. "Please, Mara... I love him."

Mara's teeth ground together. "That was exactly the wrong thing to say." Lightning flung from her fingertips and struck him where he lay. He screamed, and for the first time, Mara had an expression of satisfaction. "Ah, he's even weaker than I'd imagined... this should at least do something to make up for this insult."

"Stop it!" Seven shouted. She saw Ronald jump and cry out as Mara hit him again. "Please, Mara, don't do this!" Mara just chuckled darkly and struck him again. Seven ran her trembling hand over her face as she watched, and turned back to Mara. She swallowed, then when she heard Ronald's scream of agony again, she moved. She didn't think, she just reacted... because it was an action she could never, ever, consciously make. She grabbed Mara's throat in her Borg-enhanced grip and squeezed. Mara glared at her in shock, but it was only momentary until her eyes narrowed in pure hate and her full attention was now on the Borg. Seven screamed as the lightning poured into her body, but her grip held nonetheless. Of all of them, she was the only one with the physical strength not to buckle under the onslaught.

The others, from their various positions around the room, watched as these two stood amidst the white glow from the lightning, each screaming in pain and rage and hate as flesh and metal faced off against spiritual energy, and they all knew that none of them had the power to interfere in the battle between these two titans.

In the end, it was as close to mutual destruction as anyone could possibly have gotten. The lightning damaged Seven's Borg implants sufficiently so that her grip weakened before actually killing Mara, and Mara fell unconscious before she could shut Seven down altogether. So instead of dying, the two collapsed to the floor in unconsciousness, still gripping each other. Lara, the only one still standing, looked down on them, and just shook her head. "

"I thought we couldn't hurt each other," Starbuck said as she finally managed to get Samus off from on top of her.

Lara half-shrugged, eyes still on the fallen pair. "I guess, in the end, their love was stronger than even that."

"Call that love?" Samus said, taking her helmet off.

Lara nodded a little. "You have to love someone more than life itself to be able to hate them that passionately." And there for the first time in a long while, Seven and Mara slept side by side.

 

[tarr2k]

Part 49

Ms. Danoob, flanked by four of her guards, opened the cell, revealing Mr. Tetz. "Good morning," she said. "We haven't had the pleasure of speaking directly until now. I'm Ms. Danoob, I'm the administrator of this facility."

"Yes, I know," he replied evenly.

"Ah, Seven filled you in on us?"

"Yes, she told me all about your little piracy ring."

"Ah, moral judgment from a member of the Terran Empire - how deliciously ironic."

"Do spare me," he answered. "Whatever you might say, it rings hollow from the mouths of common thieves."

"Oh please," Ms. Danoob said. "A) We’re hardly common thieves, as most thieves cannot cross the rifts between dimensions. B) For someone who forces other species to carry future generations of your own just so you have the numbers to continue dominating them says so much about your skewed sense of ethics that it's clear we've no common footing save self-interest. That's what I'm here for."

"What, negotiation?"

"Obviously," Ms. Danoob said, "our two sides are at an impasse, so here's the proposal. We want a relatively small amount of platinum, gold, and osmium from you -the equivalent of perhaps two or three months of your salary, so hardly noticeable to your empire. In return, we'll return you, unharmed, to your own universe, and we'll never return."

"And we have what kind of guarantee of this?" he asked with obvious mistrust.

"We can sign a treaty, just like the ones you signed with all the species you've conquered over the centuries."

"Your attempt to create a parallel between you and the empire won't fly with me, Ms. Danoob," he said. "The fact is, all you're doing is offering to not try to take things if we simply give them to you. That's not the most convincing argument."

"We are taking things that are of limited worth to you," she said. "Much as I despise the necessity of this mess, the fact remains that I do need to have some money flowing into Crossroads if it is to continue. If you don't work with me, I'll have to find it by other means."

"You can try," he replied. "But we're ready for you now."

"Everywhere?" Ms. Danoob asked. "Your space is vast, and we just need to find small spots here and there where you've made mistakes. And really, the amount you pay us would be less than what it'd cost to hire on even one more guard. Why don't we just settle things now and be done with it?"

He seemed to mull this over for a time, though it was clear he wasn't at all happy about the thought. "Very well," he said. "But there's one thing I want to be clear on - Seven comes back with me."

Ms. Danoob was silent for a bit longer than she should have allowed herself to be. "If that's what she wants," she said, "then I won't stand in her way."
--------------------------------------------------------------

Mara stood leaning against the sink in the impressive bathroom of her renovated quarters at Crossroads Facility. There were red marks on her neck still that faded to purple where Seven had bruised her, but she hadn't caused any damage that the medics here weren't able to reverse. The real damage hadn't been physical, Mara knew that much.

Mara had no interest in the marks - or in what Seven had done. Mara had put her in an impossible position, and she shouldn't have been surprised that Seven had finally used the only language Mara had been willing to speak at the time, which was violence. No, Mara felt nothing towards Seven save guilt at what she'd done... well, that and the great loss. Her mistake all that time ago on the station had done more than just cost them time, it had cost their relationship. Sometimes when you make a choice, there's no way to unmake it, no matter how much you might want to. So Mara stood there and stared at her reflection as her reflection stared back.

This was not poetic license.

"Go away," Mara growled.

"It's too late now, Mara," the Emperor's Hand said. "You accepted me, and now I'm a part of you. You cannot shut me away any more, Mara - you embraced the darkness, and there is no escape."

Mara just scowled in response. "Watch me," she said, turning and walking towards the door. Beyond, she saw her own sleeping body - she was dreaming again. Whatever, it wasn't like it-

There was the sound of shattering glass, and Mara turned back to the mirror. It was gone, replaced by a hole, a hole into her darkest instinct... and something was coming out.

The Emperor's Hand pulled herself into the bathroom and sneered at her. "No more barriers, my dear," she said coldly. "You opened the door for me, only I get to close it." Mara understood, of course; this place represented her world now, and by being here the Emperor's Hand could control her actions in the real world. Mara swallowed but despite her nervousness there was resolve in her posture. She'd let the Hand out before, and she'd tried to kill Seven. There was no way Mara would ever let her keep control.

Mara rushed the Hand and tried grappling with her, but with casual effort the Hand pushed her away. "You're weak, Mara," she chided. "Weak and stupid. Just run along and let someone with some backbone handle things from now on." Mara growled and sprung at her again, and the Hand easily brushed her aside and into the wall. "What a disappointment... I'd hoped maybe you'd picked up at least some of my power, but this is just pathetic, Mara. You're so lucky I came along when I did, or you'd be nothing but a weeping little girl, curled up in here hoping the big bad universe stayed away."

"Shut up," Mara rumbled.

"Or what? You didn't have the strength to save Seven, and you couldn’t find a way to bring her to you without me, right? Face it, little girl, you're nothing more than a thin shadow." She smirked a little. "And that may be the funniest part of all... because if Seven did somehow come back, it would only be because of my power. Just think about that Mara - deep down, it was never you she loved, it was me."

Mara ran with all she had, burning with anger and tried tackling the Hand, but it was like hitting a stone pillar, and she just bounced off. She laid on the floor and looked up at the smirking face of the Hand, and she seemed stronger than ever. There was no way, as Mara looked at her, that she could hope to overpower her, she was just too strong! No matter how-

Mara blinked. Oh Mara, she thought, sometimes you are such an idiot.

"What now?" the Hand asked as Mara got back to her feet. "More of your pathetic attempts to try to resist. Please, go ahead, I can use the laugh." But Mara didn’t move, she just stared at her. She'd figured out what the Hand had been doing. The Hand represented the darkest sides of her nature, fueled by anger and hate... even anger and hate directed by Mara toward herself. The angrier Mara got, the more she tried to attack and crush and annihilate her, the stronger the Hand would get. In the end, she'd win.

But then Mara smirked... because the door swung both ways. Her eyes drifted around the room, and she saw her opportunities. She grabbed up a length of cable and pulled it free, running at the Hand again. She'd expected another attack, maybe even the attempt to trip her up or something. What she didn't expect was for Mara to dive before reaching her and wrapping the cable around her ankle. The Hand tried to stomp her, but Mara rolled away, backed up, and heaved, and strength or not, the limb came out from under her and she toppled over. Mara kept pulling, dragging her across the floor until the Hand grabbed onto the bed leg with her left hand, stopping the drag. "Oh, I'm going to make you regret this!" she said darkly.

Mara, for her part, said nothing. Instead she tossed the cable around the heavy door handle and walked back the other way, pulling all the while so that the Hand had to keep gripping tighter and tighter to the bed frame to keep from getting dragged across the room. "Stop wasting my time," the Hand hissed. "You can’t hope to defeat me. I'm the strong one, you're just-" She stopped as she heard the click, and saw the stormtrooper binder latched to her wrist. In an instant, Mara had attached the other to the bed leg.

Mara grinned down at her. “That so?" She wrapped the cable around the bed leg; the Hand resisted, but with only one hand she couldn't stop, and soon Mara was sitting on the limb, and her smile got even more sinister.

"Darkness," she said slowly to the Hand, "finds its strength in passion. You are affected by my anger, my hate, my jealousy, my fear..." She leaned down and whispered in her ear, "and my ticklishness."

The Hand's face bore no expression. "You cannot defeat me, Mara, and we both know it. You're weak, and that me-hehehe-ans I hahaha I'm going to hahaha stop this right now! Hahahaha!"

"You said you could use the laugh," Mara said evilly, tickling the Hand's ribs. "So I guess it's true that you really can tickle yourself, sometimes."

"Hahahaha! Oh, you'll pay dearly for this! HAHAHAHA!!!"

"Oh no," Mara said slowly, squeezing all over her helpless ribcage while the Hand squirmed and struggled and laughed like crazy, "your bravado is hollow. Out here, I can see you for what you really are. You may be able to tap into the power, but that doesn't make you strong. You have no idea what it's like to really have to struggle and endure, because you always, always found the easy way out. Your power was always just a crutch, and now, that's left you like this... unable to resist even the most simplest of minor tortures." The Hand was laughing so hard she was crying as Mara ran her fingers up into her armpits, then down around her flanks and belly. "Cootchie cootchie coo," she said. "Ask me to stop. I can see you're dying to."

"HAHAHA NEVER!"

"Then I'll just keep on tickling and tickling and tickling..." Mara said, letting her fingers add the emphasis to her remark. "Because there's nothing you can do to make me stop. The only way out is if I let you out." She went back to kneading the ribs, and the Hand roared. "Oh yes... please, don't ask me. I've been waiting for a chance to really pay you back for everything for a long time. Please, give me the excuse to tickle you until you go mad, because there's nothing else that can stop me. You can't even pass out here, because we're already unconscious." The Hand danced around on her back trying to find a moment's escape from the wriggling fingers. "In fact, even if you ask, I may not stop. I'm really starting to like this. Maybe I will give in to darkness and use my power to satisfy my desires." The Hand was beet red from laughter while Mara pressed the tickle attack even further. "'Cause all I want to do is tickle you and never stop," she whispered.

"OKAY! O-KAY!!! HAHAHAHA! I SURRENDER! SEND ME BACK!"

Mara snuck back up into her armpits, and the Hand began trembling with laughter. "Beg me," Mara whispered in her ear. "Beg, like you made Seven beg when you did those horrible things."

The Hand was struggling even to find air, she was laughing so hard. "Please," she pleaded. "Please stop Mara! HAHAHA Please stoooohahahaha-"

Mara smiled. "That's more like it."

She opened her eyes. She was in bed. The Emperor's Hand had lost, pushed off into the background of her mind. It'd always be there; it was a part of her, after all, but she hadn't let it win. No matter what Seven's choice was, the impression she'd left with Mara would never leave, and for what they'd once had, Mara wasn't going to let herself become that dark assassin again.

Mara turned and looked at the blank spot beside her, a hole where a person should be. That didn't mean this wasn’t going to be hard, she thought, fighting the tears and wishing it wasn't empty.
--------------------------------------------------------------

Because of the severity of Mara's attack, Seven had eventually gone to the modified alcove they had to regenerate. It would not only allow her to more efficiently rest, but allow her Borg technology to repair itself and accelerate her healing. Ms. Danoob and Ronald waited while she finished, and her eyes opened. "Better?" he asked, visibly concerned.

"Yes," Seven said. "I hadn't imagined I'd ever be happy to make use of these again, but it's definitely helped."

"I'm glad," Ms. Danoob said. "I'm returning Mr. Tetz here to his own place and time, and if you want, I can return you with him."

Seven looked surprised. "I thought-"

"It's whatever you want, Seven," Ms. Danoob said. "I certainly won't stand in the way of your happiness."

"All the details are arranged," Ronald said. "We can leave right now."

Seven's mouth opened and closed a few times. "I- I have to see Mara."

Ronald's face fell. "After what she did-"

"I know," Seven said. "Believe me, I know." She closed her eyes. "But after everything we shared, I'm not just going to walk out of her life without saying anything."

"Seven, she's a monster. I don't want you going anywhere near her again."

Seven looked up into his face, and wept just a little. "You don't understand. I... I have to say goodbye. After all she and I have been through together... I'm sorry, but this is something I have to do."