Just Between by Gina L. Dartt

Just Between by Gina L Dartt is a serialised love story which takes place in the future on board the United Federation starship Voyager in the world of Star Trek as based on the television show. The arc is following the seasonal format of the series containing over fifty full length episodes and is set sometime in the television shows fourth season.

Captain Kathryn Janeway, a solemn leader of the starship, who is guilt ridden with the fact that she stranded her own crew in the Delta Quadrant some seventy thousand light years away from home with little or no hope of return. Building the walls to protect herself and her crew, at least that is her excuse, she thinks she is unavailable for more intimate relationships and love with her crew.

Enter Borg drone Seven Of Nine. Angry at first for being liberated from the Borg collective, she and the Captain clash from the very first moment. Soon enough, her journey towards humanity begins and she and the Captain form a sort of mentor/pupil relationship which turns to friendship quickly.

Still something more is definitely brewing beneath the surface for both women and when Seven does a suitability test regarding finding a mate. She then finds out that Captain Janeway is her best match. And those odd feelings she seems to be getting while near the Captain, well, it should be that simple, right?

Despite the statistics presented to the Captain, it takes some effort for Seven to pursue her love interest. The Captain tries to deny not only her own feelings, which she has had for a long while for the former Borg, but also those of the younger woman. A light battle of wills ensue until Seven makes her decision and the rest, well, can be read in the fifty odd stories 😉

The Characters

Both Captain Janeway and Seven of Nine are stubborn and capable women in their own accord having flaws and making mistakes, sometimes even on the larger scale. Emotions run high and low leading to misunderstanding, quarrels and fights between the two ladies. Still, finding consensus and understanding in the end. Love comes naturally for the two of them after they find themselves in a relationship. There are quite descriptive romps in the old sack but all are written with great taste even with the odd exploratory toy in the mix.

Trying to navigate the uneasy relationship on a tight knit starship where gossip travels faster than light-speed is difficult.

The Writing Style

The character development of the Captain and the Borg is much deeper and more thought out in these episodes than on the original show.

Dartt paints a vivid image of the Captain being in charge over someone and then making decisions of sending a loved one to a situation they might end up hurt or even worse. Learning to put aside the façade of command while sharing a loving life and treating those moments together with care.

Seven of Nine spent most of her life as an emotionless, unfeeling Borg drone is learning what it means to be human again. The part of loving another woman is not the main focus here, as after all, it is the twenty-fourth century. Rather it is the question of the character development itself and the discovery of new experiences.

The Plot

The couple and the crew of the starship Voyager also take on a whole new set of missions and set out on adventures which weren’t part of the original canon of the show. These are all well written story lines with great imagination, knowledge of science fiction and even new species and planets.

Dartt also borrows a few stories from the original TV series but adds her own twist to them because of the new dynamic between the two leading women. These divergences might sometimes read as “corrected version of the TV show” but they all work out great.

Pros And My Favourite Parts

Being one of the fangirls watching the show way back in the nineteen-nineties meant that I  was well known for cheering for the Captain and the Borg to kiss already! Well, we finally get our wish in this series!

Cons And Heads Up

No cons for me. This is a well written and a coherent science fiction saga with lots of love and great sex.

Angst note:

Due to the nature of this being a lost starship in space, the matter of life and death situation is a constant through the series.

The Borg situation, as they assimilate humanoids while invading a persons’ body with technology and basically wiping their minds to service the hive.

There is also one episode dealing with post traumatic stress after the storyline involving imprisonment for the main character.

Conclusion

This is an independent canon divergence tale in the science fiction universe, where there is no shortage of away missions, adventures, angsty situations and love and sex between women finding love with each other.

This fan fiction takes a completely new direction from the TV-series when the two leading ladies get involved romantically. Something fans saw in the show sub-textually, but which was never realised on television.

Even the supporting cast get their own story lines in the overall arc, falling in love with each other (women loving women naturally).

Excerpt from Just Between Us by Gina L Dartt part 1

“You do have feelings for me?” Seven seized on it quickly.

Janeway took a deep breath, and then finally surrendered, closing her eyes. “Yes, Seven, I do,” she admitted. “For some time now.”

Seven was silent for long moments. “I admit, I do not understand all I am feeling,” she finally ventured. “I only know that when I am in my alcove, it is your face I visualise prior to regeneration, and it is the first thought that comes to me when the cycle is complete. I am … satisfied when I please you … I am uncomfortable when I do not. When I am not in your presence, my mind is increasingly occupied with the most insignificant details about you. When I am in your presence, I find I … function better.”

Janeway opened her eyes, regarding the young woman with perplexed yearning. “Seven, I’ll be honest. I’m not entirely sure how I feel about you,” she said slowly, astonished to find that she was actually considering the idea despite her internal qualms. “I know I’m tired of being alone. I’m tired of having no one to hold, no one to hold me. When I look at you, it’s not as a captain looks at a crew member, it’s as a person who wants to be with another in every way possible. I realise my needs are purely selfish, and I can’t see any advantage for you in this … yet, I’m finding it harder and harder to fight this.”

“Then, perhaps it is best that you do not fight it at all,” Seven advised her seriously.

Carefully, the young woman reached out and cupped the captain’s face in the palms of her hands. Janeway could feel the cool metal of the mesh on her right cheek, the warm flesh of Seven’s palm on her left. Slowly, Seven leaned forward and pressed her mouth gently against the captain’s. For a long, dazed, exquisite eternity, there was nothing else but Seven’s soft lips, the velvet taste of her, the sweetness of need no longer denied. Despite all her trepidations, Janeway found she was unable to resist the rising onslaught of desire, sliding her arms around Seven and pulling her close, taking command of the young woman with all the passion four years of intense loneliness had suppressed.

“Captain,” Seven said huskily when Janeway finally ended the kiss. “I wish to indulge in non-reproductive copulation with you.”

Find the full story here

Note, this fanfic is only available via Dartt’s website

Bits And Bobs

Fandom: Star Trek Voyager Janeway/Seven

Length: Ebook length around 20000 pages for the total JB series

Author: Gina L. Dartt

Rating: M/E

 

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