Day of Honor - Michael Jan Friedman [27]
"This may surprise you," said the captain, "but I thought of them that way, too, for a little while."
He turned to her. "You did?"
"Yes. You see, my crew and I are more than seventy thousand light-years from our home galaxy."
He looked at her, barely able to wrap his mind
around such a distance. "How did you come to stray so far?"
"It's a long story," she told him. "Suffice it to say we didn't come here of our own free will. And when we realized how long it would take us to get back, we were daunted-to say the least."
Rahmin grunted softly. "I'm not surprised."
"But in time," Janeway said, "we realized an opportunity had been set before us. We were in a part of the universe that had never been explored by our people. We had a chance to see phenomena, life-forms and civilizations that none of our people had ever seen before."
The Caatati smiled. "A chance to explore."
"That's right," she said. "And that's when the stars stopped looking like our enemies."
Rahmin glanced again at the points of light in the darkness. "Perhaps that will happen some day for the Caatati as well. It would be a pleasant change, I assure YOU."
"Captain?" came a voice over the intercom.
"Janeway here. What is it, B'Elanna?"
"A small problem," the engineer reported. "One of the impulse engines has developed a variance in its driver-coil assembly. I'm going to have to shut it down until I can make adjustments."
Janeway frowned. That was a two-man job, and only B'Elanna and It. Carey had the expertise to do it
quickly.
"So there'll be a delay in the thorium project," the
captain concluded.
"I'm afraid so. I'll put Vorik on it, but as you know, he's had no experience with isotope generation."
"Acknowledged," Janeway told her. "We'll sit tight."
Rahmin's face was a silent question. Obviously, he was concerned about the delay, perhaps even to the point of wondering if the isotopes would be generated at all.
"Don't worry," the captain told him. "We'll produce those isotopes for you. It's just a matter of time."
The Caatati seemed to accept that. But then, Janeway remarked inwardly, it wasn't as if he was likely to find a better offer.
B'Elanna headed back to engineering with a certain amount of impatience. Her companion seemed to notice it.
"Eager to get back?" Carey asked.
"Damned right," she told him.
After all, B'Elanna had promised the captain that thorium for the Caatati. Having to deal with the variance in the driver coil had been an annoyance she could have lived without.
Fortunately, the driver-coil problem had turned out to be less complicated than B'Elanna expected. She and Carey had finished the job in a little under an hour.
Now, she thought, she could devote her full attention to the thorium project-unless something else went wrong. And considering what day it was, she wasn't ruling anything out.
A moment later, B'Elanna walked into engineering. As she looked around, she noticed Seven of Nine standing off to the side. Though she might have been
standing there for a while, the Borg looked unperturbed.
Something stiffened in the lieutenant. After all, this was her place, and had been for the last few years. She didn't appreciate intruders in engineering-especially the kind that had murdered and assimilated their way through the galaxy.
Since Chakotay had pulled rank on her, B'Elanna had no choice but to let Seven of Nine work there. But she didn't have to like it.
If the Borg had any idea of how her superior felt about her, she didn't show it. Approaching the lieutenant, she said, "I am reporting for duty." Her face was a mask of equanimity.
How lovely for you, B'Elanna thought. But what she said was, "Commander Chakotay told me to expect you."
"Where may I work?" asked Seven of Nine.
Somewhere out of my sight, B'Elanna mused. But she didn't say that out loud either. Besides,