Day of Honor - Michael Jan Friedman [23]
"Thanks," she said.
"It's okay," Tom assured her. "I've had bad days, too."
With that, he left her. But as he walked out of engineering, Commander Chakotay walked in.
"Morning, Commander," said Tom.
Chakotay nodded to him. "Lieutenant."
Then, in a voice just loud enough for B'Elanna to hear, the flight controller said, "Be careful."
The first officer glanced at him as he passed.
Crossing engineering, Chakotay approached B'Elanna.
Abruptly, the first officer's nose scrunched up. He looked around-and his gaze fell on the damaged conduit. Then he turned back to B'Elanna.
"Something happen in here?"
"It's under control," she told him.
Chakotay's eyes went hard for a moment. When he asked a question, he liked it answered-accurately and completely. B'Elanna knew that. After all, she was serving under him before either of them had heard of Voyager.
But over the years, the first officer had gotten used to B'Elanna's flares of temper. He had come to understand her. And at that moment, he obviously realized all was not well with her.
Instead of taking umbrage at her response, he smiled. "That's good," he said. "I'm glad."
B'Elanna sighed. "You came here for a reason, I imagine."
Chakotay shrugged. "What makes you think I haven't stopped by just to say hello?"
The engineer was in no mood for games. She was about to say so, but thought better of it. Instead, she bent over a workstation and checked to see if it was functional again.
Another executive officer might have interpreted
that as insubordination. Chakotay knew her better than that.
"Actually," he conceded, "you're right. I came to tell you that something interesting just happened."
"And what's that?" the engineer asked absently.
"Seven of Nine requested a duty assignment."
"Fascinating," B'Elanna responded.
"You don't know the half of it," the commander told her. "She wants to work in engineering."
B'Elanna whirled to face the first officer. In her fury, "What?" was all she could get out.
"As you know," he said reasonably, "the Borg use transwarp- conduits to travel through space faster than warp speed. If we could create one of these conduits for our own use-"
"We don't know anything about transwarp technology," B'Elanna snapped. "Playing around with it could be dangerous."
"That's where Seven of Nine comes in," Chakotay countered. "She's offered to work with you. To make sure nothing goes wrong."
"And you believe her?" the engineer asked. "She's a Borg. Who knows what her real motives might be?"
"As a matter of fact," the commander said, "I do believe her. She's having a tough time making the transition from the collective. She wants something to occupy her mind. Something to make her feel useful."
B'Elanna flashed him a scornful look. "I never thought of you as naive, Chakotay. The Delta Quadrant has turned you soft." She bit her lip. "The bottom line is I don't want her working here in engineering."
The commander's expression hardened again. His
eyes became chips of obsidian. "The bottom line," he told her, "is I'm giving you an order and you're going to follow it ... Lieutenant."
They glared at each other for a moment, neither of them eager to give ground. B'Elanna wanted to rage at Chakotay, but she held her emotions in checkbecause, patient as he was, even he had his limits.
Finally, she replied, "Whatever you say, sir."
The commander didn't seem altogether satisfied with that response-but he accepted it. Turning, he left engineering.
B'Elanna looked after him, angry and resentful. She had been in a bad mood before Chakotay arrived. Now, it was positively foul.
Returning her attention to her workstation, she assessed the damage to operating protocols caused by the coolant leak. Then, her jaw clenched, she set about repairing it.
JANEWAY WAS SITTING BEHIND THE DESK IN HER READY room, going over supply reports, when she heard a chime.
"Come in," she said.
As the doors slid aside, they revealed her first officer. Chakotay wasn't smiling as he entered.
Not a good sign, the captain thought. But then, she hadn't