well---if he doesn't talk your ears off," Torres commented, rolling
her eyes.
Malista almost giggled. "I don't mind. If he does all the
talking, people don't notice how quiet I am." She sobered for a
moment. "Lieutenant, can I ask you a question?"
"Sure."
"Were you upset---that I was the one---No, never mind," Shadow
said rapidly. "It's a silly question."
Torres frowned at her. "That you were the one? To what? Oh, you
mean that you figured out what the problem was?" She snorted. "No! I
was just glad someone did, before I lost it and broke somebody's
nose! For some reason, the captain frowns on nose-breaking as
motivational behavior." She grinned for a moment, then sobered. "I
simply can't believe no one thought of looking at the replicator
matrix sooner. It was just such a silly mistake! Of course, the state
that Engineering has been in since we got the ship back from the
Kazon---Why? Did you think I was upset?"
Shadow shook her head. "It doesn't matter. I'm glad you aren't."
Torres' eyes narrowed suspiciously. "Someone told you that I
was, right? Can I guess who?"
Malista fidgeted. "I asked him why you were upset at Sandrine's
the other night."
Torres inhaled with a hiss of annoyance. "That Paris! Don't
believe a word he says, Malista! No one should. He was throwing you
off his trail. He just didn't want to admit that he made a mistake.
It's not your problem."
"If there's anything I can do---" the taller woman offered
tentatively, not sure she wanted to find herself between B'Elanna
Torres and Tom Paris in a personal dispute. In addition to being her
immediate superior, Torres was her friend. Actually, her first female
friend. And Tom was her self-appointed older brother. She cared about
both of them.
"No. I'll handle this. Don't worry about it. You just keep
Chell's hands as busy as his mouth," Torres directed. She watched as
the repair teams dispersed throughout the ship. Her scowl was
motivation enough to get them moving quickly, if for no other reason
than to get away from the chief engineer's watchful eyes.
***********************
The Bolian was good company--- for those who didn't mind
listening to long and rambling stories about people they didn't know,
in places they'd never been, doing things they'd never heard of
before. Since he was panting with exertion, his monologue began to
wind down as they finally reached their goal in Jefferiestube seven,
deck five, section 23F. It was a power junction for several main
systems and, therefore, a high priority for replacement parts.
Chell noticed that Malista was half-humming, half-singing to
herself as she climbed. "You have a nice voice, Malista. Do you
sing?"
Malista ignored the question. She'd found that worked better
with Chell than trying to change the subject. She opened the panel
and assessed the situation with a tricorder. "Chell, get the
replacements ready. I can see two couplings that show signs of
cracking. There's a lot of power running through this junction and
the one above us. We need to take the power offline." She slapped
her commbadge. "Crewman Shadow to Operations."
"Kim here. Go ahead."
Shadow tried to suppress the smile that always appeared when she
heard that particular voice. She didn't want Chell to think she was
sappy about Ensign Kim. Though she was. "Ensign, we need to take
power offline at junction seven five in order to replace the power
couplings. Shouldn't take more than fifteen minutes."
"Negative," Kim replied sharply. "That would cause a temporary
power loss to the shields. We've just entered an asteroid field. We
need the shields to deflect debris. We should be clear of the
asteroid field in---" There was a momentary pause as he checked with
the helm officer. "We'll be clear in ten minutes. Stand by."
"Standing by," Shadow replied. She gazed at the Bolian and
sighed. "Hurry up and wait!"
"Standard problem," Chell said sympathetically. "Did I ever tell
you about the Maquis raid planned for the Darien Colony? We were
supposed to---"
"Wait!" Malista said, frowning as she studied the panel. "This
coupling isn't going to last ten minutes. Chell, give me a
replacement!"
"What?" he muttered, even as he handed the part to her. "You
can't replace a coupling with the power on. You'll fry yourself."
The tip of Malista's tongue made an appearance as she
concentrated on moving her fingers in and around the active circuits
to the vulnerable coupling. "You can if you're v---e---r---y careful-
--or very good! And I'm both."
Chell held his breath, speechless for once as he watched her
delicately reach past the circuitry that was audibly humming with the
power surging through it.
"Ta-da! Got it!" She flashed a grin at him. Her grin faded
quickly. "Do you smell something? What's that buzzing noise?" It was
coming from above their position, from the next section of the
Jefferies tube. "Chell, move! Get out of here!"
"What noise--- " Chell began, as he obediently started climbing
down the access crawlway ladder.
"Hurry!" she shouted. Malista lunged upward striving to reach
the controls that would seal the hatch to the next compartment of the
Jefferies tube. "There's another---" Her fingers brushed the hatch
controls, but it was a split second too late.
The shock wave from the explosion threw Chell backwards and down
the access tube, leaving him semiconscious in the corridor below.
Malista was thrown down the same path, but somehow her left arm and
leg caught on the ladder, leaving her dangling upside down six feet
above the deck, her uniform smoldering the length of her side. Sparks
and debris continued to rain down on them both.
Internal sensors broadcast the alarm to the Operations Console
immediately. "Captain," Kim snapped, "We have an emergency between
decks seven and eight. Explosion in the Jefferies tube. Shields are
holding."
Even as the ensign reported, another commbadge was heard.
"Crewman Gerron to the bridge. Two injured. Crewmen Shadow and Chell
have been beamed directly to Sickbay. We have a damage control party
in place. We'll report our findings as soon as possible."
"How severe are their injuries?" Kim rapped out. That shouldn't
have been his next question, but the captain chose to overlook his
slight lapse in Starfleet professionalism under the circumstances.
"It looked like Malista took the brunt of the explosion. Chell
didn't seem to be badly hurt," Gerron reported. "We've got the system
locked down and are now assessing the damage. I'll get back to you.
Gerron out." The young Bajoran sounded agitated. He was almost
shouting to be heard over the background noise of the repair teams
and the hissing of fire suppression systems.
Janeway met Kim's distraught brown eyes, but spoke to her
helmsman. "Mr. Paris, let me know the minute we're clear of the
asteroid field."
"Yes, ma'am." Paris' reply lacked its usual insouciant note.
"Clear in two minutes." His rigid posture telegraphed his tension.
They were the slowest two minutes Harry Kim had ever
experienced. He didn't think he even remembered to breathe as he
forced himself to focus on the console and controls before him,
carrying out his assigned duties. He caught himself fidgeting and
consciously forced himself to stand still. "Damage report is in,
Captain. Gerron says Mal---the repair team activated the hatch
sealing mechanism before the explosion. The hatchway was partially
closed so the damage was limited to deck five, tube seven, section
23G. Light damage to 23H. Some debris in 23A-F."
Chakotay checked his own readouts. "I'm glad they reacted
quickly, if we'd lost power in 23F---"
"We'd have lost the shields and Voyager would have been smashed
to a paste by these glorified rocks," Paris supplied grimly. His
fingers danced over the controls as he maneuvered the ship. "Clear of
the asteroid field, Captain. Resuming normal flight pattern," he
reported. He spun in his chair, his blue eyes making the plea he
couldn't bring himself to verbalize.
Janeway nodded. "Mr. Paris, why don't you go to Sickbay and
check on the injured? You can be my representative." Without
turning, she added, "And Mr. Kim can represent Commander Chakotay."
"Thank you, Captain," the two young men said in unison. They
beat a hasty retreat to the turbolift as relief personnel slid into
their positions.
Janeway seated herself and found Chakotay smiling at her. "Was
there something you wanted to say, Commander?" she asked casually,
picking up her data padd.
Chakotay's brown eyes twinkled, though his expression remained
deadpan.
"No, Captain. It's a good thing to delegate non-critical duties to
junior officers. I'm sure you learned that at Starfleet Academy."
Then he added, sotto voce, "You old softy."
Kathryn shot a quick glance around the bridge. No one was
watching. She darted her tongue out at her first officer, and resumed
her usual professional demeanor in less than a heartbeat.
Caught offguard, Chakotay burst out laughing. The other bridge
officers glanced at him curiously. He just shrugged and settled back
into his chair, shaking his head as he checked his console readings.
The captain, demurely studying the padd, ignored his strange behavior
as if she hadn't noticed. The bridge crew returned their attention
to their duties with slightly puzzled frowns.
***********************
Chell was awake and sitting up on the biobed. He was suffering
from bruises and cuts. His eyes were fixed on the surgical bay which
was temporarily out of sight behind a privacy screen. The doctor and
Kes were busily working on Malista there.
Kes stepped out and pushed the screen out of the way. Malista
was dressed in a Sickbay gown, lying unconscious on the biobed. Her
singed and burned uniform lay in a heap on the floor. The right side
of her body and face showed burn damage. Her left arm was lying at an
awkward angle. The doctor meticulously straightened her left leg and
ran an osteoregenerator over it.
Harry Kim stopped a few feet from the bed, staring at Malista
Shadow's injuries with distress.
Paris asked politely, "Doctor? Could we have a report?"
The Doctor frowned in concentration as he worked on his patient.
"The burns are superficial. The dermal regenerator will be able to
repair the damage within a few hours. The more serious injuries are
the concussion---she suffered a blow to the head---the dislocated
shoulder and the broken tibia. She should recover consciousness any
time. She will require several hours, possibly days of recovery time.
*If* she follows the proper treatment regimen! I have come to expect
a lack of cooperation from this crew," the Doctor complained.
He finished with Shadow's leg and turned his attention to the
burns that ran down the left side of her face and down her side,
almost to her waist. He handed the osteoregenerator to Kes, who began
working on Malista's arm and shoulder.
Tom Paris sighed with relief and turned to the Bolian. "Chell?
What happened?"
The Bolian shook his head. "Malista spotted a few bad power
couplings. We were waiting for the ship to clear the asteroid field
so we could shut down the power in that section. Then she heard a
noise from the next section of the Jefferies tube---I didn't hear
anything!---and she told me to get out! I started down the ladder,
but she didn't follow me! She went up! I don't know why!" He studied
his erstwhile teammate with concern, wondering if he could have done
anything to help her.
"She tried to close the hatch to contain the explosion," Harry
Kim explained glumly. He was watching every move made by Kes and the
Doctor as if his attention was necessary to Malista's recovery. "She
didn't quite make it. The hatch didn't seal completely. She should
have just gotten out of there!"
"It would have been worse if she hadn't tried," Paris insisted.
"They would have taken the full force of the explosion!"
"She almost got herself killed!" Kim muttered through gritted
teeth. "And it's my fault!"
"How could it be your fault?" Paris demanded.
"I had them standby. They were waiting because I wouldn't let
power. I could have done that. It wouldn't have taken very long. Then
they wouldn't have been---"
Paris grabbed his friend's shoulder and gave it a shake. "Harry,
you don't know that! It was an accident! You heard Chell. The
explosion occurred above them---not in their section!"
Harry shook his head. Kes finished her task and stepped away
from the biobed, studying Ensign Kim with concern in her eyes. Harry
darted toward the biobed as Malista moaned. Paris followed him,
prepared to pull him out of the doctor's way if necessary.
Her eyes opened slowly. The first image she saw was the doctor's
frowning visage about four inches from her face. "Oh, no!" she
groaned. "Not you again!" She tensed and tried to move away from his
hand.
The doctor shot an indignant glance in Tom's direction. "Mr.
Paris, have you been coaching her? That's exactly what you said when
you regained consciousness after your 'para-skiing' mishap on the
holodeck!" He put a hand to her right shoulder and gently tilted her
head into position so he could continue the dermal regeneration on
her face. "Lie still, Ms. Shadow."
She looked past him, saw Tom and Harry, and her body relaxed
visibly, reassured by their presence. "Chell? Is he okay?" she asked
anxiously.
The Bolian moved into her line of sight. "Hello!" He raised his
hand, wiggling his fingers. "Are you all right?"
"I'm fine," she muttered. She was uncomfortable with the
Doctor's nearness. She knew he was just a hologram, but still---
Harry stepped forward, dodged around the doctor and the
approaching Kes and took her right hand in his. "Malista, I'm sorry.
I should have rerouted the power so you could shut it down."
She frowned her puzzlement. "What? What does that have to do---"
"Nothing. This is not the time, Harry," Paris said, tugging
Harry's arm to pull him out of the way as the doctor moved around the
bed to get a better angle. "We came to check on you. Now that we know
you're going to be okay, we'd better get back to the bridge."
Harry was staring at Malista's injuries, feeling guilt-ridden
and anxious.
"The bridge, Harry!" Tom repeated. "We have to get back to the
bridge."
"Mr. Kim," the doctor said over his shoulder, "This will take
some time and it will take more time than necessary if you continue
to provide a distraction."
Harry gazed at Tom blankly. He turned back to her. "Malista---"
She hissed an indrawn breath with pain as the doctor
repositioned her burned face so he could reach the skin under her
jawline for treatment. She tried to smile at Harry, but tears were
filling her eyes. "Not now, Harry. Please. I'll talk to you later."
"Come on, Harry. Let the doctor do his job," Paris said, tugging
Kim's arm once more. This time the ensign allowed himself to be
dragged toward the exit.
"I'll be back as soon as I get offshift," Harry called. "Call me
if you need anything!"
The door slid shut behind the duo. The doctor shook his head. He
eyed Malista dubiously as she twitched nervously away from his hand
again. "Crewman Shadow, please stay still! Regenerating burn tissue
is a delicate business and while I am an excellent doctor, even I
cannot be expected to heal you without pain---if you insist on
squirming! I remind you that I am a hologram. I have no prurient
interest in touching you."
"Doctor!" Kes chided. She needed to review the meaning of the
word 'tact' with him once more. Surely one of the forty-seven doctors
who'd contributed to his programming was familiar with the concept,
although it wasn't evident in his bedside manner.
Malista met the doctor's eyes. Actually, his brusqueness
reassured her. He might not be human, but he had kind eyes. "Sorry.
I'll try to stay still."
"I know," Chell exclaimed. "I'll talk to her so she'll have