Raffi's Prison Break
At around 0500, Raffi jolted awake, her heart pounding. Her hands shaking, she reached for the glass of water on her bedside table, breathing away the panic. The events of the last few days came rushing back. How could someone as guarded and distant let someone close enough to betray her like this? She'd spent months trying to climb the Great Walls of Seven, but they were so high the Mongolian hordes couldn’t scale them.
Bjayzl. So this is what Seven had been carrying around. Women their age always came with their stories, but this one had more curves and underground tunnels than a Ferengi space station. But it explained a lot.
With renewed vigor, Raffi pulled on some clothes and returned to the Captain's ready room.
She eyed the holo-terminal critically when she saw itwas still logged into Picard’s secure account. ‘Secure’ account, she thought, rolling her eyes. Whatever. She quickly navigated to the Betazed criminal database, throwing screen after screen aside as she searched for any hint of where Seven might be held.
And what are you gonna do when you find her, asked a tiny, annoying voice in the back of her mind. You gonna plan a prison break? Destroy a treaty? Raffi ignored the small voice and kept tapping through all the screens. There. Something odd in a prison log from Megara North. “Solitary confinement - Prisoner X,” read the message. All the other prisoners were named. That had to be her.
“Computer, find a surveillance camera that’s fixed on the Megara North prison entrance.” A tourist planet like Betazed had to have security cameras practically everywhere. Chirp chirp. Success. “Run search algorithm 12758, and match a photo of Seven of Nine with footage going back 48 hours,” she said. Raffi frantically tapped her fingers as the computer whirred. Raffi closed her eyes, silently praying for a miracle. Chirp chirp. "Bingo!" Raffi exclaimed, blinking back tears of relief.
Seven was handcuffed but unharmed. Raffi advanced the footage and watched Seven enter the prison, her normally proud shoulders sagging.
“Don’t worry, Seven,” Raffi whispered. “I’m gonna get you out.”
She had an idea. She wouldn’t consider it a good idea, or even an okay idea, but as ideas go, she’d had worse. Maybe. She instructed the computer to download blueprints of the prison to her tricorder while she rushed to the replicator and programmed in civilian clothes.
As she ran to the transporter room, she analyzed the map. Deep in the heart of the prison, there was a cell block devoted to prisoners of 'special interest'. Raffi figured Seven fit the bill. Nerves tickled at the back of her neck as she activated the transporter and felt the familiar sensation of her molecules re-arranging into Expansion Block 20.
Raffi arrived to a symphony of heat and noise. The air was so thick with humidity that she struggled to breath. The floor vibrated under her feet and a low whine filled the air. This was hell. She took a deep breath and clutched the transporter pin tightly in her hand as she moved toward the cell door that held her target.
No guards yet, but Raffi knew that time was running out. Taking a deep breath, she steeled her nerves and pressed forward, concentrating on the tritanium door in front of her.
Like we need more heat in this dump, she thought. She set her phaser to the highest level and cut a hole big enough to crawl through.
There she was.
"Seven," she said. No response. She kneeled down and shook her again. "Seven!"
Seven’s eyes blinked open, and after a moment of confusion, she sprang to her feet. “You shouldn’t be here,” she said, sounding scared and frustrated.
Raffi bit her lip, holding back something harsh. "I know," she said finally. "Neither should you." She stepped forward and wrapped an arm around Seven's shoulders before pressing the transporter button. Everything went silent for a second before the familiar hum of the transporter filled the room, and within seconds, they were back on Voyager. Raffi turned to Seven and hugged her tightly, but Seven pulled away much too soon for Raffi's liking.
“What’s the matter?"
“Raffi,” Seven said, resigned. She strode over to the transporter controls and asked the computer to recall the last destination.
“What are you doing?”
“Going back.”
“What? Why?” Raffi tried to wedge herself between Seven and the control center.
Seven calmly took Raffi by the shoulders and shifted her aside. “We’ve got 2.5 minutes before the security drone comes to check on me. I have to be there.”
Raffi didn’t understand why Seven was so calm when she was acting fucking crazy.
Seven sensed Raffi’s fury and paused her work on the controls. “I don’t expect you to understand,” she said softly.
“Try me.”
“This is justice, Raffi. I did it. I killed her.”
“But you had good reason.”
“No. There’s no good reason, trust me.” Seven angrily wiped away the first hot tear that spilled down her face. “I had no right to play judge, jury, executioner. Not with Jay, not with Narissa, not with the tens of thousands of beings I assimilated as part of the collective.”
Raffi froze. How long had Seven been sitting on that one? This was the first time Seven had talked about her time in the collective. The first time she’d shared the horror of it. “We’ve all made mistakes, Sev.”
“These aren’t mistakes. They’re murders, plain and simple. And I’ve been given a free pass, over and over again. That’s the real injustice. It’s time I face up to all the things I’ve done.”
Raffi didn’t know what to say, except stop, stop, don’t do this, stop. “Please,” she said. “So you’ve done some fucked up things in your life, and honestly, who hasn’t? Think of all the people you’ve saved!”
“It would be highly illogical, not to mention self-serving, if I were the one deciding whether my good and bad acts are in balance.”
“And it’s logical to let some Betazoid kangaroo court weigh the scales for you? They don’t even know you!” But even as she said it, Raffi knew she’d already lost. She tried to put on a brave face. “What are you going to do?”
“I’m not gonna help them put me away, if that’s what you’re worried about.” Off Raffi’s wry smile, “I will keep to myself until the trial. I’ll give them the least amount of information possible, and no hint of disobedience. I’ll be a model prisoner.”
“Ok,” Raffi said. Perfection, even in this, she thought. She tried not to let her voice break. “At least let us help defend you.”
Seven laid a hand on Raffi’s cheek, stroking it gently. “I didn’t imagine for even a second that I could stop you.” She scanned Raffi’s face with her eyes as if she was trying to memorize it. “I was looking forward to shore leave, you know.”
“I know,” Raffi said, pressing her lips gently to Seven's hand. “I…um…listen. Before you go, I just wanted you to know that…that I…”.
Before Raffi could finish her thought, the transporter room doors opened and in stormed a furious Captain Wildman. "Who the hell has been hacking my transporter systems?" She spun around and froze, mouth open, at the sight of Seven crouching behind a cargo crate. Seven grinned widely and stood up.
Raffi stepped forward, “Captain Wildman, this is–”
“Seven,” the Captain said, loud and surprised and full of awe. “Seven of Nine!”
“Naomi Wildman,” Seven said, embracing her tightly.
"I'm a Captain now."
“I always knew you would be.”
“Transporter ready,” the computer declared.
Seven’s face fell and she looked at Raffi sadly. “I wish we had more time,” she said, stepping onto the transporter bay. “Computer, initiate transport