Alternate Consequences
By H.W.
Chapter 2
More than one set of eyes did a double take when the turbolift doors opened. It was not that surprising to see the Intendant on the bridge, but to see her in the company of her Body Slave was something else entirely. Where Seven's standing as the Intendant's Body Slave had been firm before, now it was well and truly cemented down. As soon as the Alpha shift was released from duty with shift change, they would go to the mess hall and the talk would be about how the Intendant had brought her Body Slave with her to the bridge.
"Anything of interest, Captain?" Torres asked, pretending not to notice how the eyes of the Alpha shift stayed on her longer than normal. Normally they were quick to look away again as soon as they had seen who had entered the bridge. One didn't want to awaken the interest of the Intendant. But now they were looking at her... her and Seven... with their mouths almost hanging open.
Torres smirked inwardly. 'Good, let them understand what this means, let them understand how powerful my Pet is.'
"Nothing of importance to report, Intendant. We noticed the captured ship leaving the starbase yesterday, but we received a message from the Security Department a few minutes later that we didn't see that."
"Really now?" Torres asked, very much pleased with how fast Martok had worked. "Then tell me, if you got a message that you didn't see it; why are you telling me about something you didn't see?"
The Captain dipped his head slightly. He understood that the Intendant was giving him a warning, and he was smart enough to know that the Intendant was not too generous with those. In fact, it was publically known that the Intendant was very sparse with warnings. That's why people normally listened extremely well when she said 'I give you one warning'. For they knew that normally it was also the last.
"I personally didn't see anything, Intendant. And I also know that the Alpha shift didn't see this happening, but I thought that I should bring your attention to these baseless rumors."
"Well then," Torres said while studying some information on the screen that was built into the Intendant's chair, a chair that was reserved only for her. Not that she happened to sit in it much. She preferred that the Captain and the crew were good at their work. If ever the day would come where she would have to be on the bridge longer, it would mean that the entire shift would be replaced with a better crew; and the crew knew it. They didn't want to be replaced, one could only guess what would happen with the replaced crew. One thing was sure, it wouldn't be pretty. "Next time you have a meal in the mess hall, if you hear some more gossiping, remind those people that gossiping is not good for their health. I even heard that gossiping can kill people. Get the drift?"
"Very much so, Intendant."
When Torres shut the screen down, she saw her slave looking at the Captain with a certain air of superiority.
Seven remembered only too well how the Klingons had treated the Voyager crew when they were boarded. Now the roles were reversed, now it was the Human who had the power, and the Klingon who had to fear what the other would do.
"Am I missing something here?" Torres asked with slightly narrowed eyes.
"No, Mistress," Seven said after letting the Captain sweat for a moment. "I am sure that the Captain is thinking, just as I, that we both have been standing on the bridge of a different starship not so long ago."
Torres understood what the slave meant and grinned at the Captain. "Isn't irony a bitch?"
The Captain nodded his head in agreement. "A bitch that hits you over the head with a pain stick at times."
"Well, don't worry, Captain. I, and my Pet, understand that you were capturing a ship full of slaves that had just destroyed two Klingon ships. But, situations are different now. If someone doesn't give my Pet the respect she deserves, I will rip their fucking head off. You can spread that news as well once you go for dinner in the mess hall."
"Yes, Intendant," the Captain quickly said, knowing that he had gotten off easy.
"Alright, Captain, set a course for Qo'noS. But you don't have to hurry too much, let's take a little time to get there."
Since Torres was the Intendant of all of the Klingon part of the Coalition, she had chosen the planet on which her uncle had built the house he had left to her as her home base. A planet that was pretty much in the center of the Klingon territory. But Worf, as the Klingon Chancellor, lived on Qo'noS, where the High Counsel was seated. Because of this there was a fourteen day trip between the two places. But Torres had been known to not travel at full speed if there was no important reason for it. After all, if she got to a place sooner, it only meant that she would leave again sooner for her next trip.
"Yes Intendant," the Captain said, moving to give the order to the helm, even though the pilot must have heard it as well.
Torres moved to the turbolift and was just about to get on when she heard the ops officer say that he had an incoming message for the Intendant.
"What is it?" Torres asked, moving to his station.
"Intendant, it's a message from Betazed, from Intendant Troi."
"Is it a secure message?"
"No Intendant."
"Well, in that case let's have it, and get it over with."
"Yes, Intendant. Intendant Troi politely informs you that she and Intendant Dax are planning on going to Bajor to better the relationship with the Bajorans. She asks if it suits you if they meet up with you before that time."
Torres did a quick calculation of where she was, where Betazed was, where Qo'noS was, and where Bajor was. "Send a message back. I'm on my way to Qo'noS, but I will cross their path in ten days or so if they leave today and travel at their ship's normal cruise speed. If they’re at that point at that time, I’ll grant them two days of my time."
She looked over to the Captain. "As soon as you get their ships on our sensors, correct the speed needed to meet up with them where our paths cross. Let them do the course correction if any are needed. Once we met up, we’ll stay there for two days."
"Yes Intendant."
"Come, my Pet. Let's get out of here before more messages appear."
"Yes, Mistress," Seven said while getting into the turbolift with Torres. Once the doors were closed, and the people on the bridge could no longer hear them, Seven turned to Torres. "Mistress, I am curious."
"About?" Torres asked.
"About the interaction between Intendants. I do understand that you as Klingon Intendant are the most powerful of the Intendants. But what I am wondering is, how great is the difference between Intendants? When Intendant Dukat contacted you, I heard you ask the Captain if Intendant Dukat was wishing, or demanding, to speak to you. From that I deduct that the Cardassian Intendant has enough power to confront you on certain things if needed."
They stepped off the turbolift and started to walk down the corridor before Seven continued. "Yet the tone of the message from Intendant Troi was very polite, almost painfully so. Why?"
"The interaction between Intendants is very complicated, my Pet. Tell you what, I'll answer that in a moment, when we’re in our quarters and have something to drink."
"Yes, Mistress," Seven said with a small smile.
"What are you smiling about?" Torres asked.
"Your choice of words, Mistress."
Torres frowned. "Why, what did I say?"
"When we are back in 'our' quarters," Seven repeated.
"You know, my Pet, you shouldn't weigh my words that much, it will only cause me to watch what I say."
"I do not want that," Seven said before adding softly, "Mistress, if I may point out."
"What?"
"You asked me what I was smiling about. I would not have said it otherwise."
"Are you telling me that I shouldn't ask you what's going on with you?" Torres asked as they walked into... their quarters.
"I," Seven stopped, despite the fact that Seven knew Torres loved her, she also knew that there still were some very fine lines with the Klingon. Lines she could not cross until Torres was ready. Apparently pointing out what Torres did for Seven was one of those lines. "Please forgive me, Mistress. I like it very much that you want to know what is bothering me, or amusing me. Thank you for asking, thank you for showing your interest in me."
Torres sighed, she knew that she was being an ass. "No, you forgive me. I'm sorry, my Pet. I can certainly understand why you would like hearing me address these quarters as our quarters. It was just a knee-jerk reaction. I'm the Intendant; I don't do or say nice things."
"I understand Mistress," Seven assured.
She had the feeling that the conversation about Torres doing things for her could better be left for another day. She knew that there was a difference for the Intendant between doing obvious things for Seven, like letting Voyager escape, and doing small things, like saying 'our'. For some reason, Torres didn't mind doing the big things, but also didn't like to be reminded of the small things.
"Would you like your drink now?" Seven asked, deciding to change the subject.
"Yeah. Join me on the couch when you’re finished."
A moment later they were sitting on the couch and sipping their drinks.
"Now," Torres said after taking a final sip, "as to your question about Intendants. It really all comes down to power. First there's me, the Klingon Intendant, then the Cardassian, then the Bajoran, then the Romulan, then the Betazed, and finally the Trill Intendant. All of coalition space is divided between those factions. Even though there are only six slave species, other species still live in that territory. For instance, the Bolians live in Klingon space, while the Ferengi live in Cardassian space. Both species are free, but have to bow to the rule of the Coalition partner that rules over that part of space. With me so far?"
"Yes Mistress."
Torres grinned. "Good, because here’s where it becomes complicated. The Intendants can pretty much do whatever they want in their part of the Coalition. But for certain things they need the help and support of the other Intendants. And the less powerful the Intendant is, the more they have to beg for help instead of asking it."
"Beg?" Seven repeated. "I assume you mean proverbially."
"I mean in whatever way necessary," Torres corrected. "Believe me, I’ve heard more than once one of the other Intendants say to me, 'please help me'. It's just that I'm a Klingon and don't get my enjoyment out of seeing people beg. So a 'please help me' or a 'I really need your help on this, what do I need to do to get it', is normally pretty much as far as I let it go."
"I see, thank you for explaining that," Seven said before adding with a smile, "But I distinctly remember you enjoying it very much, hearing begging and pleading."
Torres grinned. "Well, I have to make exceptions for blonde vixens that are naked, wet, and needing."
Seven smiled again before prompting, since she really did want to know, "Power, Mistress?"
"Ah, right, power. As you could see from the fact that we had a fleet of Birds of Prey close to Bajor, we, the Klingons, are so powerful that we can move our ships wherever we want. Hell, I could raid a colony of the Bajorans and the biggest thing they could really do about it, is file an official complaint with Worf. But the... say, Trill, wouldn't dare to have their fleet in Klingon space longer than it would take to get to a certain point. And if they were to raid a Klingon colony... they... well, let's just say that from then on there would be seven slave species, not six. The more power you have, the more weight you can throw around. Dukat can demand to see me because he can get away with it, as long as he has a valid reason. He could throw up an embargo against us, and we Klingons would actually hurt from it. But, if the Trill or the Betazoid were to threaten me with an embargo, I would probably... double over laughing. And they know it."
"The different levels of power, or command, depending on the situation, always intrigued me," Seven admitted. "In the Borg there was only one level of command; the Queen. The rest, all those billions of voices in the Hive, did give orders since drones need to have orders, but I still only consider it one level of command, since all those orders were needed to make that one order of the Queen work. And there was no command structure in those other voices. A drone would get an order today, and tomorrow they would give an order to that same drone that they got an order from the day before, all depending on what task needed doing at that time."
Torres frowned. "I thought you told me that as third whatever of whatever, you were considered more important than the average drone."
"Tertiary adjunct to Unimatrix 01," Seven corrected. "And true, as such I could be considered more important than most. However, it was more a case of proximity than status. There is a tertiary adjunct on each Borg vessel that has more than ten thousand drones. So the title itself is not that impressive. However, as I said, proximity was important. I was stationed on Unimatrix 01; the home base of the Queen. As such I, as overseer, to simplify the position, was often responsible for carrying out orders from the Queen. Which resulted in me giving more orders than receiving them."
She smiled and quickly treated Torres to a kiss. "I believe that this also goes a long way into explaining why I want you as my Mistress. Even in the Borg I was more used to my orders coming from one single person instead of from different drones all depending on what task needed doing. I got used to getting orders from this one very powerful woman and wanting to do the order to the best of my abilities."
Torres grinned. "So you mean that I have the Borg to thank for the fact that you would much rather be here and follow my orders, than be out there and have nobody tell you what to do?"
Seven nodded. "As we both agree, you never broke me. But I think it is correct to say that the Borg did. They broke me and I am so used to it now, that now I do not want any other way of living. Of course, now we do have the added benefit that I also love the person who tells me what to do. So now I do not just want to follow orders; now I want to follow orders and please you. Besides, out there, as you call it, is overrated anyway. There are only a few people that do truly not have to follow orders. Even you have to follow orders. Just that you have to follow orders from just one person. But when the Chancellor told you to go to Bajor, you had to go."
"True enough," Torres agreed.
"So even if I was not with you, even if I was free, I would still need a job to make a living as it is called," Seven continued. "Then I would have to follow orders as well. My only true freedom would be to be able to decide that I do not want to work for that person anymore and where to go work for someone else, follow orders from someone else. I would much rather be with you and follow the orders given to me by the person that loves me more than her own life."
Torres replied to that statement by taking the blonde in an embrace and kissing her passionately. Once they broke apart, Seven started to move away again but Torres held her close. "No, you stay here, I want to feel you in my arms."
"Yes Mistress," Seven happily agreed as she snuggled a bit more into the gentle embrace.
After a moment of comfortable silence, Torres asked, "So, you want to finish the conversation we were having, or you want to snuggle?"
"Can we not snuggle and have the conversation at the same time?" Seven asked amused. "Because I am truly curious."
"Sure we can," Torres agreed. "Let's see, you were talking about how you were used to there being only one level of command in the Borg."
"Correct," Seven agreed. "And the reason why I find the conversation so interesting is because there are so many different levels here. From what you say, it seems like the Trill or Betazoid Intendants are hardly considered real players on a Coalition level. Basically ignorable if you want. Yet on their own planets they are considered just as powerful as you, since there their word is still law. And an order from them can be just as deadly as an order from you."
"True," Torres agreed. "But to be fair, the Trill and Betazoids aren’t 'that' ignorable. It just comes across that way right now, because if you look at it in cold facts like I’m doing now they don't mean much, but in 'real life' they sometimes are actually very important. They have their own blend, their own flavor, you might say. And they would be severely missed in the whole that is the Coalition if they weren’t there."
"But still, they are the smallest players and they know it," Seven guessed.
Torres nodded. "Right, and since Jadzia, the Trill Intendant, and Deanna, the Betazoid Intendant, are on a good footing with me right now, they’ll do pretty much anything to keep me happy. After all, I'm more inclined to help them if I like them. If I don't like them, I could very easily do things just to spite them. They could survive the embargo Kira had placed on them, but if I were to establish such an embargo, they would really hurt. So much so that they might get killed just so that new Intendants could be appointed, Intendants that would clear the air with me."
"Is it normal for Intendants to travel together?" Seven asked. "The message said that it would be the Trill and the Betazed Intendant."
"Yes and no, my Pet," Torres said thoughtfully. "I, Dukat, the Bajoran Intendant, and Shinze, the Romulan Intendant, we work on our own, only calling in the help from the others from time to time when needed. But Deanna and Jadzia know that individually they don’t have much influence with the other Intendants. But together, together they can even stand up to me. Not that they would, they have other ways of gaining my favor."
"What other ways?" Seven asked, having a pretty good idea what Torres meant.
"Um, never mind," Torres said, trying to change the subject. She remembered how jealous the blonde had become on Bajor. "So anyway, they pretty much always travel together, save for the rare occasion where they both have to be in different places at the same time. As a matter of fact, they don't just travel together, they’re almost always together."
"B'Elanna, what other ways?" Seven asked coldly as she moved out of Torres' arms and looked at her.
"I really only had sex with them once," Torres said halfway defensively.
"Once with them both together, or once with both of them separately?" Seven asked even colder.
"Um, separately," Torres said weakly.
"Tell me, B'Elanna. In this universe, are all influential women uninterested in men?"
"What?" Torres asked totally confused. Finally she saw the small smile tugging at the blonde's lips. "Why, you... I thought you were going to go jealous on me again."
Seven leaned closer and kissed Torres softly. "I know. That is why I could not resist and had to tease you, despite the fact that we are on a Master/slave level."
"Hmm, do you want to take this above that level?" Torres asked.
"No need. Mistress, you told me about your past. Getting jealous of two of many women from your past is a truly futile exercise."
"But you got jealous damn quick on Bajor," Torres pointed out.
"That was because Jetur Adami formed a threat in present time, women from your past do not form a threat. The fact that you no longer have sexual intercourse with them, means by default that you are no longer interested in them in the way that you are interested in me."
"I see," Torres said relieved, before adding, "Seven, I never have been interested in someone the way I’m interested in you."
As an answer, Seven leaned in once more, this time to share a long series of kisses. Eventually Seven asked, "Why did you sleep with them only once? Not that I prefer you slept with them more, mind you. But if sleeping with you helps them in dealing with you, why not sleep with you more to gain more favors?"
Torres thought about that for a long moment. "To be honest, I'm not sure. It's not like we never had the opportunity; we met in person more than once. Maybe it's once again because I'm not Kira. Once we slept with each other our relationship changed, became less formal. Just as they wanted and as I didn't mind. Once that barrier of formality was broken down, I guess there never was a reason to sleep with each other again, because our dealings were already on a level where I was willing to give them what they wanted if it really didn't matter to me."
Torres frowned as she thought about it some more. "Yeah, that must be it. Because from then on we never met again just to meet; there was always something to talk about. And I guess that this prevented us from sleeping together, because they knew only too well that if I say 'no' then I won't go changing my mind just because of a romp in bed. That in fact, if I say no, and then they basically say, can I persuade you with sex, that it would only piss me off. They know that they then have to try and persuade me with arguments. I mean, I’ve slept with a lot of people in my life that wanted to gain my favors, and none of them ever managed to persuade me just because they've been between my legs."
"You slept with people in the 'give some ass' way that we talked about a few weeks ago?" Seven asked.
"Promise you won't get jealous?" Torres asked with a grin, but at the same time also being serious.
"I promise," Seven assured. "Those times are after all also in your past. You are an extremely talented lover, B'Elanna Torres, and since I enjoy that talent often, I do not see why I should get jealous at people that you slept with and with whom you learned that expertise."
"Well, in that case, yes, I slept with people in that concept. It was normally in business deals. People almost always offer to have a talk be a bit more private. Of course, I was always smart enough to only sleep with the person who represented the side I would have chosen anyway. If I wouldn't have done the deal, I didn't sleep with them. Free sex benefit really. One of the reasons why I never needed a sex slave before. A sex slave would either just do the job, or even clearly not like being there. But a free person that thinks that they can gain my favor? Believe me, they work hard to be good."
"But are not even these days the majority of business people still men?" Seven asked.
"Yes, I would say about sixty percent," Torres agreed. "You wonder how I got sex out of those deals?"
"Yes," Seven admitted.
Torres grinned. "Well, there it helps that it’s common knowledge that I prefer women. Some people, like that Delik moron, still think that they can persuade me to try men, but the real smart people don't even bother. What they normally do,"
"Did," Seven interrupted.
"Well, they’ll still do it," Torres reminded. "Just that now I won't act on it. Anyway, what they normally do is to introduce their girlfriend or wife during an informal conversation after the initial dealings. And then she would try and convince me."
"You slept with married women?" Seven asked surprised.
Torres shrugged. "Why not? It's not illegal, except for certain contracts. But even then. It's them that are fooling around. I'm the single... was the single person that could sleep with everyone. If they want to sleep with me to secure a deal, why would I object? I just treated it all like a meat market. If she was good looking, and had a pleasant enough personality. Sure she could try to convince me. How she and her husband handled that is not my concern."
"Interesting," Seven said, having to admit that she saw Torres' point. If they wanted to use sex to use Torres, why should blame fall on Torres for accepting the offer? And she knew Torres well enough to know that she had only taken offers, and never demanded sex to agree to a deal.
She settled back into Torres' arms before asking, "How many women have you slept with?"
"I honestly can't tell you," Torres admitted. "I lost count. Or more to the point, I never counted. But it's not like there were millions of them. But if I had to guess, since I started my business, so even before I became Intendant, I would say a couple of hundred in total. Closer to the two hundred than the three hundred line. Mind you, that number is a bit deceiving because you asked with how many people I slept in total. But there have also been people with who I slept with more often than once. A lot of deals need renegotiating once every year. And those people aren’t Intendants, so a lot of them don't mind making it somewhat of a tradition to sleep with me again when the deal needs renegotiating."
"A power trip," Seven said in understanding. "I slept with the Intendant yesterday."
"Something like that," Torres agreed. "So while I slept with about two hundred people because of negotiation favors since I started my business, I guess that you can say that in total, I had sex about a thousand times because of people that were willing to sleep with me to gain my favors. Which if you break it down again, means that I had sex about once or twice every week because of business deals favors."
Seven hummed. "I assume that since you did not take business people with you on this ship, that this means that you traveled to a location where you stayed a few days. During those days you had several business deals and because of that you slept with a different person every night. So it was more a case of you not sleeping with someone related to a business deal for two weeks for instance, and then sleep with someone because of business deals one ever night for five nights in a row."
"Something like that," Torres said again.
"Well, considering how much you like sex, and that you were single, I would consider that an acceptable number."
Torres chuckled. "So you won't go calling me a slut any time soon?"
"You are my Mistress; I would never call you a slut," Seven reminded. "Besides, I would not call a person that anyway, unless I wanted to deliberately insult her maybe. I do not see the difference. A man that sleeps with a lot of people is called a stud, so why would I call a woman that sleeps with a lot of people a slut? However, I have to admit, I am curious as to what it would be like to have touched and tasted so many different bodies."
Torres shrugged. "Well, considering that nature decided that the Humanoid form is one of the best designs for sentient life, almost all species have sexual organs in the same place. Some may look different, but it's still pretty much the same. And eventually it was just all the same, just a different color or form, but still really the same. That, my dear, is also why you’ll never have to worry about me being interested in someone else. I may appreciate looks, like I did with Jetur Adami, but I know only too well that if I was with that person, she would be just another body. But if I'm with you, then I'm with my lover. Then I'm with the person that can make me wet just by nibbling at my wrist."
Seven kissed her lover. "You say the sweetest things sometimes."
"I'm just saying the truth," Torres assured.
Seven frowned. "However, since we are on the subject, what did you do during those trips? The times between having sex because of business deals, if you wish. You did tell me once that you never had sex with anyone stationed on the ship."
"I didn't," Torres agreed. I didn't want to bother with people thinking that we might have some kind of... relationship. Or even worse, someone thinking that they have some kind of special stats because I just happen to fuck them."
"Yet I know from very personal experience that you have a healthy libido," Seven reminded. "So how did you stay active on that two week trip to the next... sex rewarding deal?"
Torres laughed. Then she reminded, "Ever heard of a holodeck? I really didn't only have battles on the holodeck. Plus the best thing about that was that I could just pick the program with the kind of sex I wanted instead of having to live up to the 'get to the point and just fuck' Klingon crap."
"That seems like a waste a your very talented skills as a lover," Seven noted.
Torres frowned. "Why?"
"Because those holograms are not sentient," Seven reminded. While they may have programmed reactions, they cannot appreciate like a real person your skills of holding someone on the edge for minutes on end for instance."
Torres placed a tender kiss in Seven's neck. "My Pet, before you those talents never shined. Even with real people I gave enough back to be considered a decent lover. With holograms I didn't even bother. I just had them fuck me until I had enough. It's only once you entered my life that I discovered just how incredibly good it can feel to concentrate on the lover. It's only since I got you into bed that I found out that giving pleasure can actually feel better than being the one that is pleasured."
"Are you telling me that I am the first person you ever made love 'to' instead of merely... keeping up your part of a deal?"
"You, you could call it that," Torres hesitantly agreed.
"You are such a wonderful person," Seven said, and thereby closed the subject since, really, nothing more needed to be said after that little revelation.
So instead there was yet again a moment of comfortable snuggling, until a few minutes later when Torres suddenly asked, "By the way, what kind of question was that?"
"What question?" Seven asked confused.
"That question about powerful women not being interested in men."
Seven went over the conversation for a moment and when she had reached the point Torres was talking about, she merely summed up, "You, Kira Nerys, Ro Laren, Jetur Adami, Deanna Troi, Jadzia Dax."
"Ah, you got a point," Torres agreed. "But that point isn't fully correct. It would be more correct to say that all of those are also, or mainly, interested in women. As far as I know, I'm the only one out of all of those that never slept with a man. I know for a fact that Jadzia and Deanna have a male sex slave. From Kira's files we know that Kira went both ways, and both Ro and Jetur have slept with men as well."
"True," Seven agreed.
Torres thought about it for a moment before explaining, "It's more about power than gender. The simple fact is that at this point in time we have many women in power, and what do you do if you want to gain more power? You sleep with another powerful person. Deanna won't gain much power by sleeping with some man. But by sleeping with Jadzia, another female Intendant, she gains power. Sleeping with me, that gives her even more power."
"The 'give some ass' concept taken to the level of Intendants," Seven said.
"Right," Torres agreed.
"But would Deanna and Jadzia not gain even more power by sleeping with the Cardassian or Romulan Intendant than merely with each other? Those are men."
"Wellll, yes," Torres agreed in a drawn out way. "But remember how I told you that Dukat always held his promises, the promises that he made to me at least? In the past both he and the Romulan Intendant double crossed one of the women on a big deal they were all involved in back then. Dukat double crossed Jadzia, and Shinze double crossed Deanna. It was while dealing with the aftermath of that mess that Deanna and Jadzia noticed that they worked well together, and could get back at the Cardassians and Romulans if they teamed up. So they did, and continued to team up on everything from then on."
"Do they still not work with the Cardassians or Romulans at this point?" Seven wondered.
Torres shook her head."That was almost six years ago. Unless you’re Kira, six years is a long time to hold a grudge... towards another Intendant at least. They really needed the everyday deals with them, and the other way around as well. Dealing with that mess was my first real high level task as Klingon Intendant."
She grinned for a moment. "I was Intendant for a year by that time, but had really only resolved Klingon based problems. I established my 'tough bitch' name that day. I very bluntly told them that if the four of them couldn't reach an agreement that all could live with in twelve hours, then I would take all that they were fighting for and make it mine. That business deal they made that day to keep me from simply taking it all, stands 'til this day."
"If Deanna Troi and Jadzia Dax are together that much, and since you said that they participated in the 'give ass' concept, meaning that they also had sex with each other, and since they travel together all the time, it is probably safe to say that this 'giving ass' is probably still continuing," Seven deduced before asking, "Are they lovers?"
"Eh," Torres said while wiggling her hand from side to side a little. "It really depends on your definition of that word. I think that they don't just have sex, I do think that they make l... love. You have to remember that one of them is a Betazoid. I really doubt that they would continue to share the bed if Deanna could feel every time that Jadzia is only interested in getting her pussy serviced by a woman. If that was the case Deanna would simply buy her friend a female sex slave and only do normal business with her."
"But that would be the end of the 'give ass'," Seven reminded.
"Yeah," Torres agreed. "But, they’re friends, they’re actually not just friends but very good friends, so they don't need sex to be close. So... I do think that they love each other. But I don't really think that they are 'in' love. Or else, why still have that male sex slave? I mean, as you know I sometimes crave for you to use our very nice toy, so let's pretend for a moment that I would also be able to sleep with men. Still, I wouldn't be able to do it since I have you, I would not be able to do that to you. If I want something long and hard... why bother with a man if I can have you do the same with a toy and last as long as I need you to last?"
Seven had to smile at the comparison. "True. Do you have an idea as to why they want to see you?"
"Well, if I were to put some credits on it, I would bet that it’s for the very same reason I would come to see me if I were them," Torres said after thinking about it for a moment. "Kira caused a lot of trouble with both Deanna and Jadzia, and they’re now going to Bajor to make a fresh start with Ro and Jetur. By coming to me first, it will seem as if we Klingons support them in normalizing relations with the Bajorans."
"So they use you," Seven pointed out, knowing how touchy the Intendant was on being used.
"True," Torres agreed, "but as I told you before, I don't mind being used if it’s only to a certain extent and by people I know. I can understand why they’re doing it, and I can't argue with their reasoning. So, I'm going to meet them, see them a couple of times during those two days and talk about nothing... Actually, you know what? You’re going to be more than likely the subject of most of the talks."
"Me?" Seven asked surprised.
"Yeah. They know more than anybody just what it means if I have a Body Slave. Everyone else knows that you’re damn powerful because I'm your Mistress. But they as Intendants, they will know just what you can do. They’ll know that because I'm your Mistress, you’re pretty much equal to them."
"That is still a concept I am trying to comprehend," Seven said thoughtfully. "I know that because of my status I am above most individuals in the Coalition, but I do not know what precise position I have in regards to the other Intendants."
"Well, it’s a kinda complicated thing," Torres agreed. "And truthfully, I'm not sure how to answer that. The simple explanation is the one I gave you once before; that only I and Worf can truly command you to do something. So, given the fact that the other Intendants can't command you, one could say that you’re even above them. But where everyone who isn't an Intendant or Chancellor would have to follow an order coming from you, the Intendants certainly don't have to follow such orders."
"So," Seven said thoughtfully, since this was also along the line of levels of command she and the Intendant had talked about moments before. "Let me see if I understand this. From one side, the other Intendants are more powerful than me since they can give orders in their own name to everyone who falls into the jurisdiction of their part of the Coalition. However, I, who can only give orders in your name, can because of that, give orders to anyone in the entire Coalition."
"Right," Torres said encouragingly. It was so rare to see the process of Seven working something out. Normally the blonde simply knew things. Torres realized that she liked this, was fascinated by seeing the blonde so deep in thought.
"So," Seven said again. "Where Intendant Dukat can give an order in his own name to a Ferengi, but not to a Bolian, I can only give orders in your name, but because I am giving an order in your name, I can give orders to both a Ferengi and a Bolian."
"Right," Torres agreed again. "Of course, that’s the simplified version. Dukat can order Bolians around if they’re in the Cardassian territory. It would undermine the authority of the Intendant if they didn't have total control over their territory. Does this clear things up for you?"
"Yes, Mistress. Since the Klingons are on top of the command chain you, and therefore by extension I, can do whatever you want in the entire Coalition, but the other Intendants can only do whatever they want in their specific part of the Coalition."
"That's pretty much it," Torres agreed. "But as I said, it's complicated. Even I have to deal with the other Intendants if I want to do something in their space. It’s just that they’re more likely to agree with whatever I want to do. For instance, that Bajoran space station that your friends will need to be at if they can go home."
Seven dipped her head to indicate that she knew what the Intendant was referring to.
"Well, I could go to the Bajorans with some lame ass excuse about how we Klingons need it as a station for our trade routes and there really isn't that much they could do about it, save trying to get the best deal for them out of it. Something like them still being allowed to use the station, and maybe getting the rights to some other station in Klingon space. This would mean nothing of course, since we would then give them some station we pretty much aren't using anymore anyway. But that's the deal they would have to swallow, the deal they would have to agree with."
Torres was silent for a moment before asking, "So, aren't you going to ask me now to help your friends get home sooner?"
Seven shook her head a little. "No Mistress, I am not. You gave your reasons as to why you could not help them home sooner, and I fully understand them. I also understand that you are talking about what you can do power wise, but that this does not translate to you being able to do it without the consequences being too big. You could take command of the station, but that would cause friction with the Bajorans. You would lose all the gratitude they now owe you and future dealings with them would become difficult at best. Getting the Voyager crew home earlier is not worth that trouble."
"I'm glad that you understand that," Torres said with a smile. "Most people from this universe are selfish enough to not see the bigger picture. They would simply demand that I do it if I can."
"Which would mean that you would have to kill them for demanding something like that from you," Seven countered with a smile of her own.
Torres laughed when hearing the reply. "Well, yeah, there is that."
"Mistress, talking about Voyager raises a question."
"Let's have it," Torres said while draining the last of her drink.
"Mistress, when you first brought up the possibility of returning the Voyager crew home, you talked about it as if it was just that; a possibility. However, recently you are talking about it as if it is a given fact. That as long as they are able to survive those two years, you will make sure that they will get home. Why? What has changed this from a possibility to a certainty?"
Torres pursed her lips in thought for a moment. "Well, it's not beyond a doubt certain. But yeah, it’s a lot more certain now. The answer is simply that the game of chess is further along now. At the beginning I was talking from the facts I knew then. But things have changed again, even today."
"Mistress?" Seven merely asked.
"We got the message that Deanna and Jadzia want to see me, and we talked about how this would be perceived as me supporting them in normalizing the relationships with Bajor. Well, the Bajorans, especially Ro and Jetur, will see it like that as well. Which means that there’s even more that they have to be thankful to me for. Because, as you know from Kira's reports, the Bajorans as a people are in dire need of normalizing those relationships, just that Kira never did it because that would mean less credits for her. So, it’s now even more likely that we can use that station two years from now. But, things might change again. It might be that something happens that will make it be even less than two years, or it might be that something happens that will make sure that your friends can never go home by using that station."
"Mistress?" Seven merely asked again.
Torres waved a hand. "I'm just keeping potential outcomes in mind, my Pet. And the fact that the station might be impossible to use is something to keep in mind, no matter how likely or unlikely that is. I mean, let's take something simple. Say the station explodes in some accident. No more station means no more using it in getting home."
"I see," Seven said, not liking that thought at all.
Torres sighed. "If something like that were to happen, I would find another solution for them, my Pet."
"Would you like another drink, Mistress?" Seven asked before asking the question that was on her mind. "What kind of solution?"
"Sure, but get me some blood wine," Torres waited until the blonde was at the replicator before answering the second question. "Well, there is of course the obvious solution of just killing them."
Seven merely looked at her over her shoulder and raised her eyebrow.
"Okay, bad joke," Torres admitted with a small grin. "I don't know yet, my Pet. Maybe get them a bigger ship so that they have room on the ship to live the rest of their life. Or find some uninhabited planet or moon, which would then come under my direct protection. Something like that. But I’ll have to see when the moment comes, if the moment ever comes. Right now, the most likely thing is still that they will go home in two years."
Seven handed one of the two glasses she had replicated to the Intendant, before kneeling down between the Klingon's legs instead of sitting back down on the couch. "Mistress?"
"Yes?" Torres asked.
"I am curious."
"Should I get scared?" Torres asked amused.
Seven merely smiled at her before asking, "You told me that you were the first ever female Intendant. You came to power seven years ago. Now you have told me that this deal between the other Intendants was six years ago, so that means that Deanna Troy and Jadzia Dax both must have become Intendant within one year after you became Intendant. In the files from Kira Nerys that I read on Bajor, I saw that her first entry was five years ago. I was wondering, if there never was a female Intendant before you, then why suddenly appoint four female Intendants in two years?"
Torres grinned. "Um, because Worf really likes a cat fight and hoped to see some on Intendant level? Kidding, just kidding."
Torres thought back for a moment to how the situations were whenever one of the female Intendants was appointed. "Different reasons really. As I said, I was the first female Intendant. The only reason why I was appointed, was because people who thought that they could push Worf around did too much pushing. Mind you, I'm glad that I became Intendant, but I know only too well that the only reason why I'm sitting here now, is simply because I was a pawn in a power struggle. The Klingon Intendant before me died in an unlucky fall; broke his neck on a hunting trip and it took too long before help arrived. He was dead beyond the point of medical return."
Seven merely lifted an eyebrow.
"I know, I know," Torres agreed. "It sounds convenient, and truth be known, nobody ever found out just what happened to him, which is why Worf appointed Martok head of the Security Department once the whole mess with who the next Klingon Intendant was going to be was over. He wanted someone he could trust in that position. Anyway. There was one very obvious choice for the new Intendant, and it sure wasn't me."
She snorted. "Hell, since I was a woman, my bid to become the next Intendant was at first totally ignored. I actually had to go to Worf and complain about the fact that they didn't want to add my name to the list before I was added to that list. Sometimes being related to Worf is convenient, even if that relation is around ten corners. At least I did, and do, see Worf in person from time to time, and I could speak to him uninterrupted. I knew that I wasn't going to be the next Klingon Intendant, but I was pissed about the fact that women didn't stand a chance simply because they weren’t even put on the list. So at least I wanted one woman's name on that damn list."
Seven rose up until she could kiss the Intendant. "And we all know, what you want is what you get."
Torres winked, and then kissed the blonde again simply because she could. "You bet your pretty ass I do. After all, I wanted you."
"And do you ever have me," Seven assured.
"And I also got my wish and got on that list," Torres continued the history lesson that was to be found in no book or PADD. "But as I said, people thought that they could push Worf around, that he would simply do what they said because they were influential. Apparently they didn't know Worf as well as I know him. Half the high council, and even more influential houses, all were working him to get this one candidate into the chair. One day, I happened to be with Worf when a delegation of the high council came in and demanded of Worf that he make his choice for the new Intendant. 'You want me to make a choice right now?' Worf said to them. 'Very well, you can have your choice, the new Klingon Intendant is going to be the only person who didn't try to persuade me to choose for them, Torres come here'."
Seven looked surprised. "You mean to tell me that the only reason why there never had been a female Intendant before you was because no Chancellor approved the appointment? There was no law that prevented it?"
"There was not," Torres affirmed. "Just tradition. And the fact that normally Intendants are picked on affiliation and on how little problems they will probably cause a Chancellor. And as you know; to Klingon men, women are by definition trouble. So they were not very likely to become Intendant, at least not back then. But as little as Worf likes people causing him problems, he likes to be pushed even less. He appointed me right then and there, and told everyone that he had enough of them trying to play him. It was time that they remembered just who held the power on Qo'noS. He gave them a choice, either they would fully and loyally support me, or they would be killed and the names of their houses would be scratched from the Klingon archives. So, here I am, Intendant Torres, the first female Intendant ever."
"Do you not have to worry about some of the high council members plotting against you?" Seven asked, she had always thought that Torres had the full support of all Klingons.
"No I don't... or better said, no I don't anymore," Torres assured. "You have to understand that the Klingons on the High Council aren't stupid, if they were, they wouldn't survive there for long. They knew that they had pushed Worf too far. Even if they got rid of me, there was no chance in hell that Worf would ever appoint one of their cronies. So they did the only smart thing that they could do, what Klingons have done for centuries if it suits them; rewrite history."
She grinned. "Suddenly they started to turn the events in such a way that they helped me to power. Which they did, they just left out the little detail about why I came to power. They, and I, of course know that this is a load of bull, but it suits us all well. So we live that bull. Like it or not, I'm 'only' the Intendant, I can't afford to ignore the High Council members like Worf can. So, I am thankful to them for their 'support' in getting me the job, since I do need their support now. And they are loyal to me since it pays to have a thankful Intendant. So nowadays, yes, I do have the full support of the High Council and we're on good terms with each other since to their surprise, I turned out to be a pretty decent Intendant."
"And the other female Intendants?" Seven asked. "How did they come to power?"
"Well, Dax was the next female Intendant. I don't know if you know this, but with the Trill it's the symbiont that is the actual Intendant, not the host. Before Jadzia Dax, Curzon Dax was the Trill Intendant. In fact, Dax was also the first Trill Intendant ever. Dax has been around so long that he...she... it, I guess it's it, lived all through the Sol slavery. It had just been implanted into its first host three hundred years ago when the Sol Empire conquered the Trill home world."
"If Dax was the first Trill Intendant, that must mean that Dax has been the only Trill Intendant," Seven pointed out. "You did tell me once that one can only stop being Intendant if the Chancellor removes you from that position, if you die, or if you step down. I sincerely doubt that an Intendant Dax would step down, only to become Intendant again in a new body. Though I guess that a new host could become the Intendant as soon as the old host dies. But the Dax I know from my universe has had several female hosts. If this was the same here, then how could Dax be Intendant. Even if the symbiont is the Intendant, the host would still have been a woman."
Torres shrugged. "Well, to be honest with you, I must admit that I don't really know how this works. But for some reason, even someone as high as the Intendant doesn't have any power over which host they're going to be implanted into next. So yes, Dax has been a woman several times already. Until Jadzia, this meant the symbiont couldn't be an Intendant during the time the woman was its host. During those times, since the Intendant wasn't dead, just... unavailable... Dax's second or third would rule, depending on who the male was, and Dax would live a normal life."
"I did not know that the power could go to someone that is not an Intendant," Seven said confused.
"With any of the other factions it can't," Torres agreed. "But you see, the thing is that the first Intendant of a faction makes the rules that the later Intendants of that faction have to follow. Once those rules are set, they can only be changed by the Klingon Chancellor. Now, normally, even in the beginning with the first Intendants, people who want that job don't want to share it. So with all but one faction the first Intendants created the rules in such a way that they had absolute power. But Dax is smart now, and was smart then. It knew that there would be times that it wouldn't be able to rule as Intendant. So it made the rules in such a way that someone else could rule for it, temporarily, as long as the symbiont is alive, and as long as it is not implanted in a man."
"Which prevents the person that is ruling for it from killing it, since this would mean that a new Intendant would have to be chosen," Seven said, indicating that she understood why Dax had made this rule.
"Right," Torres agreed. "And as an extra precaution, a person who has ruled in the Trill Intendant's name can never become a real Trill Intendant themselves, even if they only ruled for a few minutes. And so the strange rule of Intendant Dax had gone on. But then I came onto the scene. Suddenly the precedent of a female Intendant was created. So Curzon Dax appealed to Worf to have the Trill rules changed. Worf could certainly understand why Dax wanted the rules changed to where the Trill Intendant was simply the Trill Intendant, no matter whether male or female. Since it also simplified the rules a damn lot, Worf agreed."
Torres took some of Seven's hairs and made quick work of braiding them. She let the little braid drop down in front of Seven's eyes and had to chuckle when she saw the blonde almost cross her eyes to look at it.
The braid was crude with hairs sticking out of it and it was far from straight. After a moment, Torres undid the braid, but it had given her an idea. "Turn around, my Pet. Let's see if I can put that old skill to some real use."
"Mistress?"
Torres grinned. "Don't worry, it will pretty be straight if I remember how to do it right. When I was a kid I used to braid Drik'La vines into cords and use them to climb things."
"Yes Mistress." Seven stood and turned. She was about to kneel again but Torres disagreed.
"No, you'll be too low that way. I don't want to get a sore back while doing this." The Klingon closed her legs. "Here, sit on that and lean forward a bit."
"Yes Mistress," Seven said again as she sat down. She felt how the Intendant started to play with the hair again and she decided that she already liked it. No matter what it would eventually look like, Seven simply liked it because it felt nice. Though she wasn't sure what felt nicer. The fact that someone was playing with her hair, or the fact that the second most powerful person of the entire Coalition, was sitting here and braiding her hair.
"Now," Torres continued as she braided. "At that time it was still Curzon Dax, and he thought that he would still have many years to live. He had just changed the rules to have them in place the next time Dax would be joined to a woman. But then Curzon died."
Torres snickered, a sound that Seven had heard only very rarely before, and then normally only in bed. "Actually, he died on Risa while performing a fertility ritual. Old hound that he was. Anyway, the Dax symbiont was joined to another host. The host chosen was a young woman who had achieved perfect scores on all the tests; Jadzia. So there you have your second female Intendant. Jadzia could become Intendant because I had become Intendant before her, and when it was time for a new Trill host for the Trill Intendant, they picked the person with the best scores from the tests; Jadzia."
Torres finished one braid and started on a new one. "The third female Intendant was Deanna. And once again there was the precedent of me, and by then, also Jadzia, which made it possible for a woman to take her chances. Deanna had taken over from her mother as head of the Troi enterprises. Her mother would pull back to perform the role of the family matriarch, while Deanna took care of the non-family related things, which is the custom on Betazed. The Trois have been the politically most influential family for a long time. Even the Betazoid Intendants didn't dare to cross them."
"Impressive, considering how powerful Intendants are," Seven noted.
"Oh yeah," Torres agreed. "You can understand that once there were female Intendants, the Trois took their chance. They made a deal with the Intendant. He would step back and promote Deanna as his successor, and his family would be taken under the protective wing of the Troi family. Had he refused to step down, then a political battle would have erupted between the Trois and him. Now, granted, this might have destroyed the Troi family, but it would also certainly have destroyed him. So either way, his time as an Intendant was numbered. He made the smart choice and took the Trois' offer. Last thing I know, he and his entire family have been very well taken care of and Deanna does push the lucrative business deals his way from time to time."
Torres hesitated as she made sure that the two braids were just the right length, and to decide just what to do next. "Hmm."
"Hmm?" Seven repeated.
"I'm thinking, my Pet. I think that a lot of small braids would look nice on you. But I also think that one thick one would be nice... which means that I have to undo the ones I already did."
"Why do you not compromise, if that is still possible?" Seven asked. "Since you used to make cords out of those vines, I have seen ropes that were braided together by braiding thinner ropes together."
"Oh," Torres said brightly. "Yeah, that would work. Oh, and by the way,"
"If I ever tell anyone that you braided my hair you will cut my head off?" Seven asked amused.
"Yeah, something like that," Torres agreed. "You know, that whole image thing."
"Do not worry; I sincerely doubt that anyone in the Coalition would even believe me if I told them that you know how to braid."
Torres had to laugh. "That's probably true. Anyway, just to finish the story, after Deanna becoming Intendant we only have the last one; Kira. By the time she came to power there were already three other female Intendants, so gender really wasn't an issue anymore. Her selection was a simple standard process with nothing special going on. And last we now have Ro and Jetur, and you saw how that came about."
Torres finished a third braid and started to braid the three smaller braids into a bigger one that followed the line of the blonde's spine. "Does that answer your question?"
"Yes Mistress, it does. Thank you." Seven waited until the braiding was done and Torres had placed her hands on the blonde's hips as she admired her handy work. Then she stood up, turned around and sat down facing her lover. "But now I have a different question for you."
"Really, what?" Torres asked. She had to admit that she liked how the blonde looked with her hair pulled back into a braided ponytail and had a feeling that it wouldn't be the last time the blonde would have her hair braided.
Seven put an arm on either side of Torres' head and leaned close. "When will we start the celebrating?"
"Celebrating?" Torres repeated, slightly confused by the sudden change of subject. Then she smiled, now knowing only too well what the blonde was talking about.
"Yes. You said that once we were back in the quarters, we would celebrate the fact that I stayed," Seven reminded.
"Ah, that celebration," Torres said with a grin. "How about as soon as I finish my drink?"
"Acceptable," Seven stated while reaching for the drink that had found its way onto the coffee table once the braiding had started. She handed the drink to the Klingon and asked, "Mistress?"
"Yes?" Torres asked while taking a very small and deliberately slow sip from her glass.
"Would I be out of line if I asked you to drink faster?"
"Yes you would," Torres said, but still suddenly finishing the drink in a few big swallows. "As a matter of fact, I think I have to punish you for such impudence. Get up and strip, I think I'll start with spanking that pretty ass of yours."
"Yes, Mistress," Seven said as she got up. She stripped as slow and as sexy as one could possibly strip out of a bio-suit. Then she turned and put her hands on the coffee table, sticking her behind out in Torres' direction.
"My 'ass' is ready and willing to receive your punishment," Seven said. Then she parted her legs slightly to give her lover an even better view of her most private parts.
Torres growled as she looked at what was being offered to her so willingly. Truth be known, she had been planning to give the blonde a few slaps on her behind, just to start off and move on to real fun... ehm... punishment after that. But that was now the last thing on her mind.
She reached out a hand and softly traced Seven's already moist center with her fingertips. "That's what I like about you; always ready. Alright, you win. You outmaneuvered me so you decide what's next."
Seven looked back at her and then wiggled her behind. "Why do you not show me what you can do with you sitting there and me standing like this? We have not done that before; should be interesting."
Torres grinned. She definitely was up for that challenge.
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