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Seven tapped her badge and she disappeared off of Cloud City in a swirl. When she reappeared, she was on a small shuttle, but it didn’t look like it was a shuttle belonging to the Rangers. In fact, there was no one to greet her, which had her even more curious. She cautiously stepped off the pad and brandished her rifles. Her back stiffened when she heard a soft laugh.
“Put the phasers down, Seven.”
“Doctor Picard?” Beverly narrowed her eyes at the woman.
“Oh, are we back on formal terms, Annika?” Seven grimaced.
“Sorry, Beverly. What are you doing here? You’re just as bad as your husband.” Beverly snorted.
“Let’s just say I was contacted by a friend and asked if I could pick up some cargo for them.” Seven quirked her eyebow.
“Cargo?”
“Mm. You, apparently.” Beverly ushered Seven away from the small transporter and into the main area of her personal shuttle. She made her way to the front of her ship and quickly set her auto-nav to get them away from Freecloud. She wondered if Jean-Luc was alright. One of her old friends now working at the fertility clinic on Freecloud had contacted her to ask her why her husband was in a bar wearing an eyepatch and speaking with a horrible French accent. Beverly would have paid good money to see that! She eyed Seven.
“Are you alright?” Seven glanced at her, tight-lipped.
“Fine.” Beverly let out a snort.
“You know, if it wasn’t for Jean-Luc saying ‘fine’ before he was assimilated, I would think it was a Borg trait. No, really. How are you?”
“I have been better.” Beverly suddenly noticed the rip in Seven’s sleeve and the blood dripping down her arm.
“You’re bleeding! Why didn’t you say? I know I’m not your doctor, but I do have qualifications. In fact, my own knowledge was used to create his program initially. Come on, get that jacket off and let me look at your arm.” Seven concealed her eyeroll and peeled off her jacket and sweater, tossing them both onto the co-pilot’s chair. Beverly tssked when she saw the mess. “Sit.” Seven sat.
“You know, I wasn’t supposed to be here at all. I told Jean-Luc I needed to get back to my ship, and I do, but when I was asked to do this favour I figured why not. So tell me, what happened down there and is Jean-Luc alright?”
“He’s fine. I had a....score to settle with someone. The Admiral was not involved.” Beverly gestured to Seven’s injuries.
“I assume they made out worse?”
“Dead.” Beverly’s eyes widened, but she kept herself from commenting. Seven likely had a reason for killing someone and Beverly was fairly certain it wasn’t her position to ask. She finished patching up Seven’s arm.
“Did you find Maddox?” Seven nodded.
“We did. I do not know where they were going next. Should I have asked?” Beverly shook her head.
“No. I’m sure I’ll find out. Besides, I’m not sure if knowing would do me any good.”
“Quite.” Seven glanced at her bloodied clothing and frowned.
“Put them in the refresher. You can try to coax some clothing out of the replicator, otherwise just raid my bag. It’s back on one of the bunks.”
“Thank you.”
Seven returned, clad in a jumper she found in Beverly’s bag and took the co-pilot’s seat. She ran her fingers over the familiar buttons, and glanced at the flight path.
“Hope that’s alright,” Beverly said, looking up from the article she was reading.
“It will have to do.” Seven’s fingers drummed against the console. She wasn’t used to having nothing to do. What did people do when they had nothing to do? Suddenly, Beverly let out a peal of laughter.
“Oh, he didn’t.” Seven looked at Beverly with confusion. What was she talking about?
“I’m sorry?”
“I have pictures from the security cameras. Jean-Luc looks utterly ridiculous. Oh, I see he has Elnor with him. That’s nice.”
“You are familiar with the Romulan child?” Beverly nodded. “He is innocent...for a Romulan.”
“He was raised by the nuns, but he adored Jean-Luc. I’m glad they’re together right now.”
“Why didn’t you join the Admiral?” Beverly shrugged.
“When Jean-Luc gets an idea in his head...a project...he gets singularly focussed until he completes it....and he said he didn’t want me involved.”
“I see,” Seven returned her eyes to the front plates, looking out at the inky sky. “Thank you for picking me up.”
“You’re quite welcome, Seven.”