"Are you ready?"
She nodded without speaking. He looped her arm through his and
they headed for Sandrine's.
***********************
Harry and Malista were twenty minutes late. The moment they
arrived they could tell: There was trouble in Paradise. The tension
in the air was a tangible, living thing that wrapped its coils around
Kim and Shadow as they approached the table in Sandrine's.
Tom was smiling---his cool, 'who, me?' smile. Smile Number
Three.
B'Elanna was staring into the depths of the drink on the table before
her. She was not smiling---at all.
"B'Elanna? Come on, it was a joke," Tom said coaxingly. She
didn't answer or look up. Giving up momentarily, he turned to greet
the newcomers. "Hi, Harry. Malista."
"Tom, B'Elanna," Kim said cautiously. "Sorry we're late."
Torres lifted her gaze, keeping her eyes on Kim and Shadow,
ignoring Paris' presence. "Some kind of emergency?" the chief
engineer asked. She'd assigned Shadow to repair a cargo lifter and
hadn't seen her since the end of the shift.
Malista squirmed self-consciously as she seated herself. She
avoided everyone's eyes, by looking around for the holographic
Sandrine to order a drink. "Not really. I got the lifter fixed. It
was another power coupling problem."
Paris looked at Harry Kim. Malista looked upset. Harry shook his
head slightly. Tom decided to let it drop. If it was something he
needed to know, Harry would tell him later.
Torres let out a hiss under her breath, distracted by the words
'power couplings'. "Another one? What is going on with those
things?! We've checked the parts, we've checked the replicator,
we've checked and rechecked the coupling connectors in the consoles
and the power sources---what is going on?"
Harry shrugged.
Malista frowned thoughtfully. "I wonder---"
"What?" B'Elanna pounced, ready for any new idea for dealing
with the ongoing crisis that haunted even her dreams.
Malista shook her head with a rueful smile. "No, never mind.
It's too simple---I'm sure someone thought of it already." Harry and
B'Elanna were engineering wizards---surely her own idea was a waste
of their time.
"Sometimes the simplest solutions get overlooked," Harry said.
"What's your idea?"
"B'Elanna, like you said we checked the couplings in place in
the system, right?" she verified shyly.
Torres nodded encouragingly.
"We checked the replicator to see if it was working
efficiently?"
"Of course."
"Well," Malista offered tentatively, "did anyone---check the
replicator matrix?"
"What?" Paris asked for clarification. He didn't know much
about how replicators actually worked---he'd never been interested
enough to learn since it didn't have anything to do with propulsion
or navigation.
B'Elanna and Harry quickly jumped on Malista's suggestion. "You
mean the power coupling model might have a flaw?" Torres said. She
slammed her fist down on the table. She couldn't believe she'd
overlooked the possibility. It was so simple---she'd been looking for
a complex problem---not a basic, amateurish mistake!
"A microfracture wouldn't show up in the finished product unless
you used a high power of magnitude---" Harry began.
"Which we didn't bother to use until after the power couplings
fused!" Torres added.
"And at that point, the microfracture would be lost amid the
other damage done when the coupling fused," Shadow finished.
The three engineering types were going over the possibilities in
their heads. Paris looked at each thoughtful face bemusedly. "Why do
I suddenly feel superfluous?"
"What?" Harry asked, absent-mindedly.
"Let's go find out!" Torres bounced to her feet and charged out
of the holodeck, followed in quick succession by Shadow and Kim.
Paris was left sitting all alone at the table for four. "Was it
something I said?" he called after them, only half-kidding.
***********************
B'Elanna Torres couldn't bear to look the captain in the eyes as
she gave her report at the senior staff meeting. "Malista was right.
When Engineering noticed the depleted supply of power couplings
available, we began using the replicator to create replacements.
Unfortunately," she squirmed in her chair as she continued, "no one
thought to check the coupling that was used as the model for the
replication process. We just assumed it was unflawed. Microfractures
are almost unheard of when dealing with birullian alloys. So the
matrix for the replication was flawed and that meant---"
"That every time a new power coupling was replicated, the flaw
was duplicated as well," Harry Kim completed her thought.
"And now?" Janeway prompted.
"Now," Torres said grimly, " we have to find a source of
birullian so we can manufacture our own replacements. Which isn't
likely. Or we have to find one unflawed power coupling and use it for
the replicator matrix. And, we have to replace every power coupling
we've changed out in the past six months---which is when the original
stock was depleted."
Tom whistled at the size of the job before them. The power
couplings were
incorporated into every major system in the ship and were essential
in delivering power safely to the consoles.
Janeway raised an eyebrow at her helm officer. "Exactly, Mr.
Paris. Lieutenant Torres, I would like you to work with Commander
Chakotay on a revised duty roster to handle the increased workload."
"We may want to shift all Maintenance and Repair crew to two
shifts, rather than three," Chakotay suggested. "That would minimize
down time and increase the number of personnel available. We could
also arrange to recruit personnel from other departments to assist on
a temporary basis."
Janeway nodded her approval of that suggestion. "Just be sure
they're trained in safety protocols. We need to get this work done as
quickly as possible, but we don't want any accidents. And by the way,
B'Elanna, tell Malista that was good detective work."
***********************
Malista finally got off duty after twelve straight of hours of
climbing in, out, around, and through the consoles and Jefferiestubes
in Engineering which had been the first priority. She wanted nothing
more than to relax so she went by her quarters and changed out of her
uniform into a long white skirt and green peasant blouse. She picked
up her datapadd. Harry Kim was still on the bridge, so she went to
Sandrine's alone. She was so proud of herself that she could do that
now. She didn't need an escort to protect her. It might sound like a
strange thing to be proud of, but only to someone who didn't know how
withdrawn and socially inept she'd been just a few months before.
Tom Paris was there alone. The holocharacters were his only
companions. His expression suddenly changed from melancholy to polite
friendliness as he he
ard her approach. "Hi, Malista. Want to learn to
play pool?"
She looked him over carefully, without speaking, trying to
decide what to say.
His smile dropped away. "No?"
She gazed at him, wide-eyed. "What did you do?" she finally
asked.
He flinched guiltily, but caught himself and donned his mask of
casual unconcern as he returned his attention to his next shot. He
drew back the cue---and immediately scratched. "Nothing. Exactly."
"Uh-huh," she muttered skeptically.
His blue eyes met her green ones. "What did she say?" He tried
to sound indifferent, but couldn't quite bring it off. He reached
into the pocket and fished the cue ball out of the pocket.
"Nothing. But I could tell when Harry and I joined you last
night that something was wrong. And she wasn't in a very good mood
today," Malista retorted, seating herself on a bar stool. She waited
patiently for him to finish racking the balls once more.
Paris shrugged. "She's just upset about the power coupling
situation. It's a lot more work. And it makes her madder because it's
work that should be unnecessary. And she's furious she didn't think
of it sooner."
"Funny. I'd think she'd feel better now that she's identified
the problem."
He turned, planted his cue stick on the floor, and leaned on it.
"You mean since you identified the problem?"
Malista frowned. "You think she's upset because I figured it
out---before she did? Come on, Tom! B'Elanna isn't like that!"
"Yeah?" He gave her a cynical smirk, the provoking one that made
people want to smack it off his face. Torres would have called it
Smile Number One.
She got to her feet impatiently. "If you don't want to talk
about it---fine! Just don't make things up! I'm not in the mood! I
don't need this!" Malista Shadow spun on her heel and started out of
Sandrine's.
"Malista! Wait!" Tom leaned back against the pool table.
She paused at the door without turning.
"Come back here," Tom said. "Please?"
She revolved slowly to face him. "What's going on, Tom?" she
asked calmly.
"You want to sit down? And have a drink?"
"Not particularly. Why was B'Elanna so mad when Harry and I got
here last night?" Malista insisted, coming to stand in front of him
so she could study his face.
Tom sighed heavily. "Ah, I just made a stupid joke---it wasn't a
big deal. She didn't think it was funny, I guess."
"What kind of joke?" Her eyes narrowed suspiciously.
Paris pondered the odds of evading the question. He darted a
glance at his 'little sister'. No way. It was one of the reasons he
liked her. She didn't let him get away with anything. He took a quick
look around the room. "Computer, delete all the holodeck characters."
The other occupants of the bar disappeared giving them privacy.
Malista raised her eyebrows, crossed her arms, and waited.
Paris sighed again. He laid his pool cue down and hoisted
himself up to sit on the edge of the pool table. He patted the space
next to him. Malista followed his lead. "B'Elanna asked me about
Rickie."
"Your holographic---friend?"
"Yeah," he said, staring at the floor. "She asked me why I
deleted her."
"And you said---" Shadow prompted.
"I said," Tom replied with a reminiscent wince, "that I got tired of
her."
Malista frowned and moaned. "Tom! Do you know how that sounded--
-"
"Not at the time," he said defensively. "I wasn't thinking of
how she would interpret it. I just wanted a quick excuse. Besides,
I'm not going to get tired of B'Elanna! I'm not fickle! I don't care
what people say about me!" His blue eyes searched her face for a sign
that she believed him. "Whether I knew it or not, I've been looking
for B'Elanna Torres my whole life! Do you really think I want to mess
it up? Now? When things are finally starting to go my way?"
She smiled at him tenderly. "No, of course not," she replied
gently. She took his hand and held it. "Was that the only thing? I
wouldn't think B'Elanna would get that mad about---just that."
"No," Tom replied reluctantly. "She says I won't talk to her."
"You talk to her all the time."
"That's exactly what I said!" He threw her an exasperated look.
"Don't play dumb, Malista. You know what I mean. She says I won't
talk to her about---stuff like feelings." It didn't seem to occur to
him that he'd just admitted that he had been playing dumb with
Torres.
"And do you?"
"Yes---no! I don't know!" He threw up his hands and jumped off
the table to amble towards the bar, as if he were too restless to
stay still.
"That's a pretty comprehensive answer." She slid down and
followed him.
He rummaged behind the bar until he found the bottle he was
looking for. "You want some brandy?"
"Synthehol?" She asked cautiously. Her first and only hangover
had taught her the hazards of ingesting real alcoholic beverages. She
wouldn't repeat that mistake.
He snickered as he recalled the effect of the native beverage
from their shore leave on Dynos Six, 'the Blue' as the Voyager crew
had dubbed it. Malista, Jenny Delaney, and B'Elanna among others had
drunk deeply and suffered greatly as a result. "Of course, it's
synthehol. I don't do the real stuff any more either."
"Why not?"
starting to sound like B'Ella. There doesn't have to be a reason for
everything!"
"Oops. Sorry. I was just making conversation," she said lightly.
"Did I step on a sore spot?"
"She keeps---pushing," he said, filling his glass. "I don't
know---what she wants me to say."
"Welcome to the club," Malista said tiredly. She rested her
elbow on the bar and cradled her chin in her palm.
Paris looked into her eyes and noticed the sadness. "What's the
matter? Is it Harry?"
She shook her head. "Not exactly. Sometimes. Yes---no, maybe
it's me." She broke off in confusion.
Paris smiled wryly, but there was no sparkle in his eyes. "I see
I'm not the only one who's mastered the art of the comprehensive
answer. Maybe it's a family trait. Would you like to settle on one
choice? Is it Harry?"
"Relationships are hard. Especially when you've never had one
before. And he keeps pushing---in a nice way. It's that I don't know
how much I should tell him. Or what," Malista stated. "I don't want
to talk about me right now. And Tom?" She made sure she had his full
attention before she continued. "Don't use me---or Harry---or our
relationship---as an excuse to avoid B'Elanna. Spend some time alone
with her. Talk to her. The two of you care about each other. You can
find a way to get past your differences."
Shifting uncomfortably, Tom resorted to a stab at humor. "Hey,
I'm supposed to be giving you advice, Sis! Not the other way around.
Why don't you take your own advic
e?"
She refused to smile. "Tom?" Her green eyes were very wide, her
expression easy to read.
He studied his brandy solemnly. "Yes?"
"If I can help?" She left it there, not knowing what to say---
or if she'd said too much already.
He took her hand and squeezed it. His eyes never left his glass.
"I know. You too. If I can help---Let me know."
They stayed there for a few minutes, just holding hands, each
lost in thought.
"Tom?"
"Yes?"
"You want to help me with a holoprogram I've been working on?"
"Sure, what is it?"
Malista smiled at him shyly. "Harry keeps asking about my
family. I thought I could show him---and get a new exercise program
for my workouts."
Tom took the datapadd and studied the program. "Hmm," he
murmured. "This looks interesting. A surprise for Harry?" He flashed
a wicked grin her way.
She nodded.
"Then lets make this as near perfect as possible. Just a few
finishing touches," Paris suggested. He began to tap on the padd
controls. "The small details make it real."
***********************
After an exhaustive search and examination, Torres had located
an intact, unflawed power coupling in a secondary backup system She
immediately assigned a crew to work full-time on replicating new
parts for the repair teams to install. With additional personnel,
some of them inexperienced, she had to reassign teams so that each
had one repair tech and one less experienced assistant from another
department.
She called Malista Shadow aside for a quick conference.
"Malista, Sue Nicoletti is going to partner with Gerron. I'm thinking
of letting you work with Chell. Is that okay with you?" Torres was
studying her intently, watching for a reaction.
Shadow smiled faintly, appreciating her chief's concern and
thoughtfulness in consulting her before making the assignment. "It's
okay, Lieutenant. I'm not---I like Chell. He doesn't make me---
nervous." She'd gotten to know him better in her self-defense class.
He was a very non-threatening person.
B'Elanna smiled her relief. Chakotay had asked her to team
Malista with women until she overcame her fear of men. But with
Engineering so short-handed ---she was glad Malista was making
progress in becoming socialized. "Chell follows directions fairly