Alternate Conclusions
By H.W.
Chapter 14
"So the average time of staying is four months?" Seven clarified.
"Yes Intendant," Their tour guide agreed. "The children from baby to about five year old are the easiest. Once they are registered and put on the Centralized Information Network there are normally people coming by to adopt them within days. The older ones take a little longer because not everyone is willing to bother with a child that is already set in its ways of doing things."
"I don't know," Torres said thoughtfully. "There is something to be said for not having to bother with children that crap all over themselves and need feeding, and whose only way of communication is wailing. Or if they are a little older, that don't do as you tell them to, simply because they are too young to know that they better damn well do as you tell them and that have too much faith in the fact that mommy and daddy will let them off with only a stern warning if they give their parents the sad eyes."
"And that, or similar reasoning is why even the older ones find a place to stay after only a couple of months," The woman, who actually was the director of the Orphanage, said. "You could say that most of our job exists out of letting people know there are children that need adopting and act as the place where to find them, and in the mean time keep the children out of trouble."
She indicated the room around them. "And this is the study room. The children are required to study at least four hours every day. Since most of them don't stay here long, and because we have such a diverse age group, we can't really bother with giving them much schooling. We have a small holosuite with a program that teaches basic reading and writing if a child doesn't already know that, or at least we start that schooling before they move on. But if they know how to read and write we expect them to study four hours out of the day here, reading any PADD of their choosing from these study PADDs."
"But that way you cannot keep track of whether they are advancing in their knowledge," Seven noted.
"Yes and no, Intendant," The woman said, wiggling her hand back and forth a little. "No, we cannot keep track of exactly which PADDs they read. But these aren't the normal PADDs; these are study PADDs. They have a more advanced processor unit, a secondary memory, and short range network linkage. As you of course know, a PADD needs a thumb print to be activated. The study PADDs automatically keep track of which PADD has been read, and how fast. Thanks to the short range network they then lock every PADD in this room for that child that are below that level to make sure that the children cannot start reading simple books just to pass time. When the child starts reading the higher level PADDs, then the speed at which they read, and the tests in the PADDs that are answered correctly, determine if the child is advanced enough to lock a new level. It will basically force the child to read an even higher level unless they want to get bored."
"And what if they want to check something they have read before to see if they remember it correctly?" Seven wondered. "Or if they want to read a more simpler... book as you call the PADDs... in their free time?"
"If they want to check something of the earlier levels then the children can access the units that are mounted in the walls over there and there. Those still have access to the lower levels, but sensors record how long a specific child stands in front of them. If the time is longer than a certain time limit, a signal is sent to let one of us know that a child is spending too much time at rereading lower level files, we can then go and ask the child what the problem is."
She lifted her hands in a slightly defensive gesture, as if expecting an argument to come that she had already heard one too many times. "I know, as far as true schooling goes this is not a perfect situation, I agree. But for the short time that most of the children are here it is more than enough. And if they want to read an easier or favorite book in their free time they have to use the regular PADDs. Those also have the recreational text whereas these PADDs have the story texts. Of course, to make sure that a child doesn't only read those, they also have short range network access and before they allow access to files they first check if the child had already studied four hours that day."
"Mistress?" Seven asked when she noticed that Torres kept looking at one specific child in the room.
"What's with her?" Torres asked when Seven and the Director were also looking at the child. "She seems pretty old. If you had told me that she is one of your employees I would have believed you. So why is she still here?"
"As you know," The director started slowly, not really sure how to say what she had to say. "We Klingons don't hold it against our children if their parents did stupid things."
The director lifted her hand a little and indicated the clearly half-Klingon/half-Human child. "Mara is the child of a human sex slave. The father was a Klingon who bought Mara's mother and wanted to sample the goods, so to speak, right away without first bothering to have his new slave sterilized. When some time later he finally decided to bring his slave to a doctor to sterilize, they found that she was two months pregnant. Since removing a growing embryo is considered murder throughout the Coalition, his choices were limited. He decided to sell his slave to a friend that trusted him enough to not bother with asking for a health report of a doctor, and when he new owner discovered that his new slave was pregnant the former owner was suddenly unreachable. The new owner decided to let the slave have the child and then get rid of it child. So, here she is."
"And the mother?" Seven asked.
"She was sold several times until she was sold to a Ferengi trader. One day he came back from a trade route and filed his sex slave as having run away. She was never found, and truthfully, I think it's more likely that he killed her or sold her on to someone else and then tried to get some credits out of the insurance. He indeed filed a claim, but eventually got nothing by the way."
"And how old is she?" Torres wondered.
"Mara is the oldest child here in the Orphanage; she will be twelve in a couple of weeks."
"So, she was brought here as a baby, and she now lives here, I assume that she spent all her time here?" Seven surmised.
"Close," The Director agreed. "There have been three occasions where a family decided to take her in but they always brought her back in the trial stage before adoption was completed because she was too difficult to control."
"Hmm," Was Torres' only answer.
"I thought that babies were easy to locate," Seven pointed out. "And yet a child that was brought here as a baby was not placed?"
"She wasn't," the Director agreed. "Even the three times I just talked about were when she was already a child that was set in her own ways. It was really just bad luck for her. As I just said, we don't hold it against children when their parents did stupid things. But,"
She sighed and shot a quick look at Torres, glad to see that the Intendant wasn't focusing on her. "The problem is... well... you see. The thing is that there always were other children as well. When a couple came in to adopt, and, well, there is a fully Klingon baby and a half Human one. Well, they decided to take the Klingon one. And after a few weeks of that the excuse turned to the fact that new babies brought in were younger and that was the reason they didn't pick Mara, or so they said."
"And then she was a few years old and no longer a baby," Seven said in understanding. "And why did some people eventually try to adapt the bigger child?"
"For reasons much like the Intendant just said," The director said with a shrug, more confident now that she didn't have to worry about saying something the Klingon Intendant might see as an insult. "They didn't want a baby, they wanted a young child that could talk and understand the concept of someone being in charge and having to do what that person says. And then Mara became attractive because she was then the youngest child we had that was old enough for that. But eventually that phase passed as well when several other older children came in. Older than the babies by far, but younger than Mara."
Seven wanted to ask another question but decided to look on for a moment when three children, also older, stopped at the table and addressed Mara.
"That's our table."
Mara looked up from the PADD she had been reading and rolled her eyes. "Yeah, yeah, yeah. How about the training room? I don't want to get yelled at, again, for breaking stuff in here."
"Walk, toad," One of the three other kids said.
"You walk," Mara countered. "You are a group; the Codes of Honor dictates that you walk first so that you can't stab me in the back like the cowards you are."
"I'll," One of the two boys started as he moved closer to Mara.
The Director brought her hand down on one of the tables with a loud smack, getting the attention of all four children. "Start something in here and all of you are on cleaning duty."
The boy who had spoken last nodded his head and started to walk to one of the doors, followed first by the others of his group and then by Mara, who rolled her eyes a final time.
"Are you not going to stop them?" Seven asked as Mara walked through the door.
"Why?" The Director asked confused.
Seven shook her head slightly. "I apologize, for a moment I forgot the fact that they are Klingons. Why stop a fight as long as it is an honorable fight?" Seeing the agreement in both the Director, and Torres' eyes, Seven added, "Somehow I do not think that a three on one fight is honorable."
Now the Director chuckled. "There is a reason why it's three on one; they know they would lose for sure otherwise. As stated, Mara has basically lived her life here, and she has quickly learned that the best perks, and the most peace, goes to the one that is at the top of the stairs. She has been on top of the stairs for the last three years now."
"Hmm," Torres said once again as she started to walk in the direction of the door that the children had passed through. "Where do we find the training room?"
This way," The director said as she hurried to the front to show the way. As Seven walked passed the table Mara had been sitting at she picked up the PADD the girl had been reading.
"So if those three gang up on her, where are her friends that Mara can use to counter the numbers?" Torres asked.
"Gone, placed with families. Mara doesn't make friends easily; definitely not as easy as those other kids."
But she does make them from time to time?" Torres persisted.
"Yes. Do you want to enter the training room or the observation room?" The Director asked.
"Observation, for now."
As the Director opened a door that led them into a small room that had a one-way window that gave a clear view of the training room, she continued, "In the beginning, growing up, she actually made a lot of friends. But over time she noticed that her new friends would only disappear again and now it's only rarely that she makes friends. But the few that did manage to get through to her are still in contact with her."
"Really?" Torres said interested. "So you could say that she makes the kinds of friends that last for life?"
"Well, they are still children, so who knows how long they will still stay in contact, but for now the logs show that she is still in contact with five of the children that once stayed here."
They stopped talking when in the training room the first hit was delivered. Hearing the clear sound, Seven could only assume that just like the window, the sound also was created by a one way system. Which made sense since you did not want the people in a training room to hear what the observers had to say to each other.
Though Mara did give as good as she got, it was clear that the others had the upper hand simply because of the majority of numbers. The end result of the fight seemed clear. Seemed, because after ten minutes the fight started to change. As much hits as Mara was collecting, she simply refused to stay down when knocked down.
"Tough little bitch," Torres noted.
"One of her strongest sides is her stubbornness," The Director explained. "She is just too damn stubborn to stay down. She just gets up again and lets them come at her as she waits her time while the others get tired out. Last fight, she had four broken ribs and a broken wrist and still got up again, and won."
As if wanting to proof the point, Mara suddenly started laughing and straightened up once more. The others did a confused step back; a laugh was the last thing they were expecting. Mara wiped away some of the blood that was flowing from her nose and a cut above her right eye and said with a feral grin, "I guess that now it's my turn."
On the last word she let loose with a left hook that floored one of the boys, who stayed down.
"What are you reading?" Torres said when she saw Seven reading a PADD instead of following the fight.
"The study PADD Mara was reading," Seven said as she handed the PADD to Torres.
"'Quantum physics and Quantum mechanics at the sub-structural level.' Damn, I tried reading that once a couple of years back in preparation of some meeting I had to attend; gave me a headache."
"How did you get through the meeting if trying to prepare for it already gave you a headache?" Seven asked, knowing that since it was Torres, the answer would be... interesting.
Torres grinned as she handed the PADD back to Seven. "Simple, I went there and said to them, 'I tried to read up for this meeting and it gave me so much of a headache that I destroyed the damn PADD. So, if you start talking such crap and give me a headache as well; I'll once again destroy the thing that gives me a headache, got it?' For some reason they used really small words for the rest of that meeting."
Then Torres addressed the director just as she saw Mara taking out the other girl which left her facing the last boy. "That's quite advanced reading for a twelve year old. In fact, it would still be advanced reading for a twenty-two year old that's following a scientific schooling."
"It is," The Director agreed. "Honestly, I think that this is one of the reasons why she didn't fit in with those families. She is damn smart; frightfully so. The problem is that with a child so smart, the grownup answer of 'because I say so' doesn't work."
"Hmm," Torres said once more, making Seven wonder just what was going on in that head of the woman she loved so much.
"Well, I think that I have seen enough," Torres said as Mara started to let loose on the last of the group. "I have places to be. Have a doctor check them out. I also want a full scan of all of them before any mending is done."
"Yes Intendant," The Director assured.
~~~~~~~{}~~~~~~~
"Mistress, what is the matter?" Seven asked as she kneeled in front of Torres.
"Why do you ask?" Torres asked as she started to play with Seven's hair.
"Because you have been quiet all morning. And more to the point, you did not realize why I asked you if you would like to join me while I take a shower."
Torres frowned. Thinking back she indeed did halfway remember Seven asking her if she wanted to join her. Torres had declined, wondering for a moment why Seven would want to take a shower while they would be taking their daily bath a couple of hours later anyway. "Please don't tell me that I missed a chance to ravish you."
"I had been hoping that I could be the one to ravish you," Seven pointed out. "But do not worry; I will let you make it up to me later."
Torres smiled. "You are too kind my Pet." Then Torres sight. "But you are right, I have been distracted. Alright, Seven, no Mistress for a moment."
"Very well. Do you want me to get up as well, B'Elanna?"
"No, you can stay there if you want."
"I want."
"Alright." Torres was quiet for a moment, wondering where to start. Then she decided to get straight to the point. "Tell me, how do you feel about kids?"
Seven lifted an eyebrow. "Considering that a 'kid' is a very good friend of mine, and that Naomi comes here at least once a week to spent time with us, I believe it is safe to say that I find their presence satisfying."
"No," Torres disagreed. "That's just a kid you happen to like, and most importantly, that you can throw out the door when you get tired of her."
Seeing the look in Seven's eyes, Torres added, "I'm speaking figuratively. As in liking to spent time with her, but also liking the fact that she leaves after a couple of hours. No, I mean, how do you feel about having children?"
"Are you thinking of having children?" Seven asked.
"Don't answer my question with a question," Torres growled.
"My, do we sound scary."
"Seven..."
"I am thinking," Seven explained her stalling before reaching up a little. Getting the hint, Torres leaned a little further down and they shared a long kiss.
"I like the idea, but not the path," Seven said once they broke apart.
"Meaning?"
"Meaning that I do like the idea of being able to form a young individual's mind, to teach a child things I know. But I do not like the path of first conception, then pregnancy and birth, then making sure that the baby survives the first stages of life, and then having to wait for years before one can start teaching the child something as basic as speaking."
"I'm kinda the same in that I don't like the start," Torres agreed. "I don't like the fact that you have to go through thirty weeks of pregnancy, only to pop out this little thing that can't take care of itself and has to be catered on every second of the day. And on top of that you have to live for years with this creature that drives you into wanting to commit suicide."
Seven frowned before reminding, "I do believe that I have to point out that neither of us has ever come close to experiencing the positive sides of having children; we are only looking at the clear negative sides we see."
"And what positive side would that be?" Torres countered. "That famous 'passing on of the genes'? Big deal. As you know, I have been at The Docks; I now know that there is an afterlife. I know that when I die, I don't really die but only move on. So, now I don't give a shit whether my genes die with me or continue on; who cares."
"You strongly believe that you have been at The Docks," Seven corrected. "I for one still firmly believe that when life ends, life ends. The only reason I participated in the rituals with you is because I cannot prove my beliefs any more than you can proof yours and therefore I want to make sure that I have both options covered. As the old saying goes; better safe than sorry."
"And we have agreed to disagree on that subject," Torres noted.
"Indeed we have," Seven had to agree. "However, the genes were not what I meant. I was talking about that 'something' that makes a woman that has just went through hours of painful labor look at her newborn child and make her forget all about the pain and say that it was all worth it. That 'something' where you have a bad day and your child smiles at you and suddenly all is alright. I was talking about the feelings you get that cannot be described, yet counter all logic argument that can be brought against having children."
"And you know this... how?" Torres asked.
"You seem to forget that I am Borg. I have the combined,"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah, I am Borg, I know it all and I am so damn superior to you," Torres interrupted gruffly.
Seven tilted her head and smiled at her lover. "I like my version better. Either way. Though the Borg did remove those actual feelings as irrelevant, and therefore I do not know what it feels like, the Borg did however not remove the memory of what some parents will go through just to protect their children. Pretend that you are going after the children and even the strongest defensive line will crumble."
"Which is why as long as history records, the smart tacticians always kept children and families far away from the battle field," Torres had to agree. "It's only with space travel that families stayed together again, within limits. The generational ships were a result of long space missions where people would simply be too long away from their families. But still, the warships have been to this very day a 'no families' area. Even on a ship like mine you would normally not find any children."
"Then why have them onboard?" Seven wondered.
Torres waved a dismissive hand. "Because my ship is an exception. You could say that this ship has been on one long mission ever since the first day that Worf handed me this ship. He figured that it would be more use for me since I actually travel all the time, then for him who hardly ever leaves Qo'noS. I have people on this ship that started out in the crew even before this ship was mine. Since I'm never long in one place I figured I'd change the status of the ship as a long mission ship and allowed people to take their partners and children with them. One big reason being that is because of this good crewmembers don't ask for a reassignment simply because they want to start a family. Anyway, we digressed. So we both aren't really into the young children that have to be of our blood thing, right?"
"Why do you have this sudden interest in children?" Seven wondered. "Did the visit to the Orphanage yesterday make you think about having children?"
"Close. It made me realize that just maybe I could skip the whole pregnant-and-taking-care-of-a-baby part."
"Mara," Seven said in understanding.
"Mara," Torres agreed. "She is still young enough to be formed, but old enough to no longer need to have everything done for her. The best thing is; she has a lot of traits that makes it possible for us to pretend that she is truly our child if we want to go that way. She is a Klingon/Human hybrid that would be the child of a Human, you, and a Klingon, me."
Seeing Seven open her mouth, Torres playfully growled, "Don't you dare say it. I'm a hundred percent Klingon, got it?"
"Of course you are; I was merely breathing," Seven said with the smallest of smiles.
"Uh hu. Anyway. On top of that she is damn smart; we could pretend that she has that from you. She is damn stubborn,"
"Which she would of course have from you," Seven interrupted.
"Suuure, not that she could ever be stubborn from your side, right? Anyway, she isn't afraid to fight, but does so only if needed. Truthfully, it's that neither of us put her into this world but you have to agree that she has traits that sound like we were naming traits that we would like a true child of ours to have."
"That is correct," Seven agreed. "However, just out of curiosity, why are you suddenly thinking of a child and what if I would prefer to not have our family expand more than it is now?"
"The last question is easy," Torres said immediately. "If you don't want to take her into this family, then we don't; as simple as that. You are my number one priority baby. But that would not necessarily mean that I would have no dealings with Mara. See, the thing is; I need an Heir, and I really, really don't want to go through that pregnancy and baby crap."
"Why do you need an Heir?" Seven asked confused. "Unlike the Chancellors title, the Intendant title is not transferable from parent to child. No Heir of yours can get the position of Intendant unless appointed as Intendant by the Chancellor."
"True enough. As Intendant Torres I don't need an Heir, but as owner of the Torres Holdings I do," Torres reminded. Then she asked teasingly, "You remember the Torres Holdings, don't you? You know, that little company I own that just happens to be the fifth largest privately owned company in the Coalition?"
"Now that you mention it, I believe I did hear that name before," Seven said before she treated Torres to another kiss. "I told you that there is a very good reason why, as Intendant, I need a Tactical Adviser. I may approach most conversations like it is a game of chess, but sometimes I do not even notice that those chess pieces are standing on a miniature Parrises Squares board."
Torres grinned. "Don't worry, I won't tell anyone that you can suffer from brain farts just like all of us."
"You are too generous. But on the risk of sounding like I'm suffering from another mental block,"
"Brain fart you mean?"
"Temporarily memory laps, I mean," Seven bantered back. "Why would you care about an Heir? You just stated that you think that you will live on in the after life, so why care what happens to the Torres Holdings once you are gone?"
"First of all, I'm glad that you seem to understand that I would not be leaving it to you."
"That would be a waste because if you die, I die."
"Seven," Torres said alarmed.
"Do not worry," Seven soothed. "I do not mean that I would terminate my existence. What I mean is that if you die, I would lose my reason for living. I know that I would have to go on because other people depend on me. But from then on I would be focusing more on shifting the responsibilities to others for the simple fact that a person that has lost her reason to live will not live a long and healthy life."
"Then I better make damn sure that I live for a long, long time, so that we both will live that long, huh?" Torres asked, understanding what Seven was trying to say, and having the feeling that she too would not live much longer if Seven were to die. "Well, you just kinda answered your own question. True, I don't care what will happen to the Torres Holdings as such for my doing. But there are literally millions that depend on the Torres Holdings. People that work for me, subsidiary companies that only supply to the Torres Holdings, you name it. For me, I don't care where my credits go after I die, but for them I have to make sure that the Torres Holdings continue. We are on Qo'noS here, and I'm willing to bet you anything you dare to put up to it that in a radius of one hour walking distance around Worf's palace here, there are at least two people that somehow depend on the Torres Holdings for a living. For them, I need an Heir."
"And Mara seems like a good candidate for you?"
"Well, I can't really be sure until I give her a chance and see how she plays out. But I do know that she is the first one, ever, that I take a look at and think, 'now that's someone that I can see as the head of the Torres Holdings'. I also liked the fact that she prefers a few good friends over a lot of superficial ones. That means that even if she had the power the position as my Heir would give her, she won't be influenced by those 'I'm your best friend, and could you do this for me' people."
"So regardless of whether we do officially adopt her, you would be offering her a long term contract to work for the Torres Holdings?"
"I would," Torres agreed. "Even if we do give taking her into our family a try. Just to have it covered."
"Then I see two problems. First of all her age. She is only twelve. And even though the former slaves were sold into labor at twelve, the free species, including the Klingon, were, and still are, only allowed to start working at age fourteen. So offering her a job now is against the law."
Torres chuckled. "Seven, baby, remember? I'm the Intendant. I 'am' the law. I could come up with some 'Intendant only' exclusivity law and nobody could do a damn thing against it. But even that won't be needed. See, your former slaves now go to school at age twelve instead of being sold into slavery at that age. With the other species in the Coalition that's basically the same. They have different kinds of pre-school age education that differs from planet to planet, but the real schooling starts at age twelve as well. Mara is now twelve, ignoring a few weeks, so I can offer her a schooling contract. Which will basically be true anyway. She first has to learn basic stuff before she is eased into any decision-making places. I'm going to mold her just the way I want, and that will take time."
"It might take a lot of time," Seven noted. "Because the second problem is that they did try to place Mara before, as you know, and it never worked."
"True," Torres agreed. "But see, here it comes in handy that besides the owner of the Torres Holdings, I am also that Intendant. Because unlike those others, I can say to her, 'if you ever do that again I'll kill you', and actually have it be a promise instead of an empty threat."
Seven knew that despite the grin, Torres was fully sincere. "Sometimes you make it really hard for me to love you."
"Really?" Torres asked.
Now Seven smiled. "No, but I am this good Intendant who wants to better the life of countless people. Of course I have to be appalled by some of the things you do."
"Says the woman that watched me torture my killer to death."
"That, only you and Intendant Shinze know, and he only knows it because I corrected you on the amount of pieces your killer ended up in, and he more than likely watched the camera files of the interrogation that you sent him."
"You picked up my knife and handed it back to me when I dropped it because it was slippery with his blood."
"I merely handed you back your property," Seven corrected. "And that part only we know."
"That's true," Torres agreed. "You very deliberately stayed on the edge of that line and didn't cross it. I'm glad."
"As am I, in hindsight," Seven agreed. "I wanted to kill him for what he did to you. But now I realize that it would not have made me feel any different then, but it would have started me on a path of cold-blooded killing. I do not want to start down that path. I will kill in self-defense and the defense of my family if needed, but I do not want to become a... a,"
"A cold-blooded, ruthless, and heartless, bitch like me?"
"Well, yes," Seven allowed. "Except for the heartless of course. I know for a fact that you are not heartless. You do have a heart; I am just keeping it for you in safe keeping."
"That you do," Torres fully agreed. "And let me tell you, my hearts have never felt so secure and safe before."
They shared a smile before Torres asked," So, is that the angle you want to go for with your Intendancy? The good, fair, and benevolent Intendant Phoenix?"
"I believe that Ro and Jetur do have a good point when they say that their popularity works in their favor. For as much as possible I want to use that approach as well. However, I do not want to do this at all cost. I will not start to find popularity more important than the things I believe need doing."
"I think that you have the advantage that the things that need doing, as you call it, are of the kind of things that bring you popularity," Torres pointed out. "Besides you have one big ass advantage in your corner that makes sure that you don't have to deal with people that want to push your buttons to see how far they can go; me."
"You do not have a big ass; you have a beautiful ass," Seven couldn't help but notice.
"And you can kiss my ass, how about that?"
"And I am supposed to object to that?" Seven asked amused.
"Hehe, true, you would be more than happy to do that. How about later?" Torres said with a sassy grin. "But what I meant was; use me. I already have this big reputation that I will order literally millions to death if I find that I have to; it is a well-known thing that I have done just that once before. You on the other hand have this big reputation of being the one that freed the slaves. I need my tough reputation to survive and you need your good reputation to unite the former slaves and the other species that live in the Phoenix Alliance. So, use me. If ever you need some dirty work done that is bound to smudge your good name, let me do it. If it's a really big thing, even form an official objection to what I do."
"But would people not start to perceive me as weak when I form objections and you just ignore them," Seven wondered. "How can they think I stand up for them when by objections are never heard?"
Torres grinned. "They will think that you stand up for them because you do. You are the one that publically says that she disagreed. People will admire you. You are saying 'no' to the Klingon Intendant, something no other dares. And the best thing is that it doesn't weaken you as Intendant because everyone knows that if the Klingon Intendant decides to do something, all that the smaller Factions can do is sign an official protest. They won't hold it against the smallest Faction of them all that you could not sway the Klingon Intendant."
Seven thought about that for a moment.
In the mean time, Torres added, "On a smaller scale as well, by the way. If someone is giving you trouble, don't hesitate to say 'yes' when I ask if I should have a little talk with him. You, he might try to oppose. Me, he will fear like death itself when I tell him, 'don't piss me off'."
"You do not like to be used," Seven reminded.
"I don't mind being used by people I know, if I know they are using me and I can agree with the reason," Torres reminded on her turn. "So do you really think I would have a problem with my fiancée asking me to do something that would strengthen my bad ass reputation anyway? It's really something that suits us both very well. We can both present ourselves like we want to be seen, and also just as important, if we are shown to disagree from time to time, if I am shown to override you and ignore your objections, we give voice to our public statement that no matter what we are in our private life; our individual Factions are our first priority."
"That is probably true," Seven agreed. "Very well, I will not hesitate to use you in the most gruesome of ways."
Torres grinned. "That was a very deliberately chosen double meaning."
"Indeed it was," Seven agreed. "As for Mara, you do realize that if we do try to make her a part of this family unit, that she will be come a huge intrusion into our lives."
"Well, yeah, I figured that if we try that that we will have to spent time with her more than just telling her to do this or that. She would be going with us when we do our Intendant trips, or even doing something as simple as going to the theater. It would not be fair to Mara to just leave her behind all the time where we even take our pet along. In fact, we will have to indulge some of her interests as well. The way I see it, as long as she is reasonable, we have to be as well."
"You are correct," Seven agreed. "However, I was talking more about more basic things like us having to watch what we say."
"What do you mean?" Torres wondered.
"For instance, I would not have been able to point out why I would have liked for you to join me in the shower, nor could you have asked me if you missed the chance to ravish me," Seven elaborated.
"Why the hell not? What would stop us?" Torres asked confused.
"There being a twelve year old child in the room?"
Torres chuckled when she finally started to understand. "Seven, baby, I know that you want to live by those Starfleet ideals when possible, but you really need to let some of that go. This isn't even about the fact that you are in a different universe now, but simply because you are living in, and around, a Klingon society most of the time. You know? Us Klingons with our sex drive and all that boasting about our sex life? Do you really think parents will suddenly stop that just because they have a child now? Hell no."
She sighed. "Frankly, I think over there in that Federation the people are way too prude sometimes. People act like they don't have sex, and then assume that children 'somehow' learn about it and at some point just assume that the children already do it."
"It is a result of the side use of holodecks," Seven guessed. "Certain programs are available at certain ages and people assume that curious children will check those programs out. From what I found out during my studies of mating behavior, parents seem to dread talking to children about sex. So instead certain instructional programs become accessible at ages where children might have questions. And after that time it is assumed that the children also experimented with the programs or real people and know what sex feels like."
"Yeah, well, we don't hide for our children that we have sex," Torres pointed out. "They know only too well that comfortable sleeping is not the only reason why parents like a big bed. They know only too well that more than likely their parents have sex every night, and they will also not be surprised if their parents go to the bedroom during the day either."
"That still leaves her age," Seven noted. "I do not know how comfortable I would feel with knowing that the child I talk with normally knows only too well why you and I are going to the bedroom."
"Don't let the age confuse you," Torres disagreed. "Remember, here on Qo'noS children are legal and independent adults at the age of eighteen. Did you take a look at Mara's body? She may be twelve years old, but she still is a young woman, Seven, and frankly I only give it a twenty-five percent chance that she is still a virgin herself. Trust me on this; she knows about sex. She would also find it very weird if we in fact did watch our words. Remember; Klingons don't do that."
"So it will be more a case of seeing how comfortable we are with her around and therefore how comfortable we are with her hearing some of the things we say to each other, than the fact of whether she is allowed to hear certain things because of her age?" Seven said slowly while giving the matter some more thought. "And more to the fact, if she were to mention her own sex life, I would have to treat that as perfectly normal?"
"I'm afraid so, if you do want to try to get along with her," Torres agreed. "We should also not forget that we would be taking her in now. That means that we have to also take in all that formed her until now. Frankly, if she wants to sleep with a different person every day because that's what she normally does, then,"
"Then," Seven interrupted, knowing what Torres meant. "We can object to which location she picks, and which time if we have other plans at that time. However we cannot object to the fact that she wants to have sex."
"It would also not be fair to her," Torres reminded. "Just imagine, we forbid her to have sex for whatever reason, and then we turn around and go to our room and have sex. Not fair. And let's not forget, she might legally still be four years away from the age of consent, but when did an age of consent rule ever stop two willing people from having sex? As you know, the age of consent laws are not there to punish a young person by totally not being allowed to make love no matter what; they are there for protection. To be used if there is doubt about the real willingness of one of the participants, or if it is clear that a child was misused. They are not there to literally stop all sex before the age of sixteen. Hell, I myself lost my virginity at thirteen, and proudly boasted about it the next day."
"You have a point," Seven agreed. "So we should approach the matter of sex, both ours and perhaps hers, as a normal thing that is just as open to discussion as, say a discussion over food."
Torres smirked at that. "Well, maybe not that open. I wouldn't mind telling her what my favorite food is, but if she were to ask me what my favorite position is I would beat the living crap out of her."
"You would hit her, even if we do adopt her?" Seven asked, not knowing how to react to that.
"Not just hit her; as I said, I will beat the living crap out of her if I have to," Torres assured.
"I... am not sure how I should think about that," Seven admitted.
Torres sighed. "Look, I'm not saying that you should do that. You are not a person that would do that. I fully expect, and hope, that you will be the soft part of the parenting thing. That you will be the one to have a sensitive chat with her if that is needed. However, I'm sorry to say this baby; frankly you stink at knowing about how Klingon children grow up. Trust me; I know. I have lived it, remember? It is normal that there is always at least one family member that won't hesitate to literally beat some sense into a too damn strong and too damn stubborn head of a Klingon child. Just think back to when we saw Mara fight. There were three people beating in on her and what did she do? She laughed it off. Trust me on this, Seven. Getting a beating from a parent is not a harsh punishment for a Klingon kid. In fact, it's very helpful to the kid."
Seven merely lifted her eyebrows.
"I'm serious. I mean, imagine this: A kid messes up to the point that punishment is needed. Alright, so the kid gets its punishment beating, and right there, with the final hit, the kid knows it's over. The child knows it did something wrong, it then got its punishment, and all is forgiven and put behind the parent and the child. Right after that final hit, the parent hugs the child and congratulates it on how well it took its punishment."
"And then the parent takes the child to the doctor," Seven added.
"Possibly," Torres agreed. "Look at it this way, Seven. When we got together, you gave yourself to me. Then you did things that would have gotten other people killed. Now, be honest for a moment, if I had punished you for that... like I ever could, but if... what would you have preferred? Would you have liked for me to hit you, maybe even break your arm or something, and then right away take you in my arms again telling you how much I love you? Or would you rather have that I didn't touch you at all, but instead kept looking at you like you had let me down totally and I kept doing that for a week? Choose, what would it have been? A broken arm and a blue eye, and immediately forgiveness in five minutes flat, or me telling you for a week that I don't want to see you, that I don't want you in my bed when I go to sleep, that I can't trust you, that I can't... well, fill in your own accusation."
"I see your point," Seven agreed. "I would have chosen the physical punishment because I would know immediately after it is over that you had now punished me for what I did and we could then move on. I would not have to worry about how long it would take before, and if ever, you would be able to forgive me. I would know even before the punishment started that in mere minutes all would be alright between us again."
"See?" Torres said with a smile. "The only important part is to punish with honor."
"Meaning?" Seven asked.
"Meaning, that you... well, not you but I, since I just can't see you hitting anyone as punishment anyway... that I don't just suddenly start hitting her. No. First I will tell her what she did wrong and that she will be punished for it. And only then, when she knows what's coming, should the punishment start."
"I know that I have always been a special case," Seven said thoughtfully, "But even with the other slaves you had, now your workers and servants, I never saw you punish one of them, not counting the one you killed when we went to see the Voyager crew back then. A verbal warning, even a look... that is what I see; nothing more. I know that this is because you believe that everyone should get a warning first, unless what they did is too severe. The slaves knew that as long as they did as you told them, they would not be hurt. So they did just that. I assume that you would give Mara the same treatment?"
"Of course," Torres assured. "Within limits I don't mind mistakes. Mistakes are there to learn from, they can show you what can go wrong. I will allow for mistakes, as long as Mara learns from them."
"So, if Mara is smart enough to indeed learn from her mistakes, there is a very big possibility that she will never have to get a physical punishment from you."
"It all depends on how smart she is," Torres agreed. "And I mean savvy smart and not intelligence smart." Then she sighed. "But, just so that you know, baby, be prepared for the fact that it will happen at least once."
"Why?"
"Because she will quickly realize that I'll be the one that sets the tolerance rules. Frankly honey, if it was just you, she would walk right over you with your 'let's try kindness first' idea. Remember, she has been placed with three different fully Klingon families before and they couldn't handle her. The only reason she won't push you is because she will know that if she tries to push you, she is also pushing me, and I will tolerate a lot les pushing than you would. So I will act long before you ever would. Which means that she will push me to know where my true limits are. She will want to find out just what exactly my 'to here and no further' line is."
"I believe it will be a rather interesting experience," Seven said after thinking about the matter for a moment. "Having said that. I do still believe that if you are going to make her the Heir to the Torres Holdings, then we should at least try to make her a part of the family unit as well. I am open to try to interact with her and see if she can become more to us than just an Heir to you business wise. I will give her a chance; it will be up to her if she takes that chance or ruins it. There is one last thing to keep in mind though; Toby."
"Nope, Mara will be the one that has to keep Toby in mind," Torres stated firmly. "We took Toby into our family knowing up front that he was a young animal and that mountain targs can live to be older than forty years. That is longer than most people even live with their parents, so Toby is here to stay. If Mara can't deal with him, then she will be staying somewhere else; end of discussion."
"Very well; end of discussion," Seven agreed, glad that Torres seemed to understand what Toby meant to her. "Now, seeing that this is the end of discussion, how about you making it up to me that you left me take that shower alone?"
"Want to take another shower?" Torres grinned.
"Actually," Seven said shyly, "I really liked how it sounded when you suggested that I use you. Would you be in the mood for me to do just that?"
"Ah, you feel like taking control, my Pet?"
"Yes, Mistress."
"I don't know, I'm kinda not up today to just meekly go along. So how about a compromise? How about taking control instead of me just giving it to you?"
"You want to get conquered?" Seven asked, knowing it to be the truth.
"I want to see you try," Torres said with a grin.
"Bedroom or holodeck?"
"I really don't feel like just giving it up. You will really have to work for it, Seven."
"Holodeck it is," Seven stated firmly.
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