Equinox - Diane Carey [59]
As Paris and The Doctor both backed off a step, noticing the gravity of this conversation, Janeway hardened inwardly and leered at Chakotay's healing face. "Don't push me," she warned sternly.
"Let me help Harry," he compromised. "You and I can concentrate on different work for a while."
She hated that he was being wiser than she was. Still, sense was sense. "All right. I'll go that far. Report to the bridge as soon as you're finished cooking. Then we'll see what we each have to do to quiet our demons."
Miles of sand, rocks ... waves gently rolled and broke on a crystal white shoreline. The water was not
exactly blue, the clouds not exactly silver, and still the similarity to Earth was enough to set a heart stirring.
A seabird, something like a pelican without the bucket, flew across the vista, crying its airy song, proving that a high sound could summon wind, sun, and spray and not only the whine of demolition.
As the breeze rose from the sea's arms and rushed across the ivory sand, causing pebbles to whistle and reeds to sing, a faint metallic chime invaded the pax botanica.
"Who is it?"
"Max. I've brought you a visitor."
"Hold on."
The wide-winged bird swept low into a wave trough, skimming the surface with easy precision even as the wave rolled along. Crash-it stabbed its beak into the water. Without even a flap of its huge wings, it speared an eel and soared on with its prize.
Survival. What a beau tiful thing.
BBBzzzap.
The vista disappeared. Once again Rudy Ransom was sitting in his quarters, a destroyed place but somehow comforting after the episode on board Voyager. He took the virtual reality device from behind his ear and reluctantly turned it over and over in his hand. He would go back later and watch the bird swallow the eel.
"Come in," he invited.
Max Burke came in first, leading a somewhat mussed-up guest with a laceration on her forehead.
"Glad you're okay," Ransom offered.
Devoid of any need to be sociable or even civil, Seven of Nine looked at the device in his hand.
"Synaptic stimulator," Ransom explained. "I was just taking a stroll along the Tenkaran Coast. You're welcome to try it."
"State your intentions," the girl told him bluntly.
"Once we get our enhanced warp drive back online, we'll be on our way home. But it'll still take us a few months. You can spend that time in the brig or you can become part of this crew. I'd prefer the latter."
"I'd prefer the brig."
Ransom shrugged a little. "You know, Janeway's not the only captain who can help you explore your humanity."
She raised her chin. "You would be an inferior role model."
So Janeway had convinced this breathing machine that all situations were cast in stone. Too bad.
"One day," he told her, "you'll realize that not every situation is black or white. Janeway clung to her morality at the expense of her crew. Maybe you should try to learn from her mistake."
"Her only mistake was trusting you."
With disappointment, Ransom forced down another shrug. He'd come to peace with himself and wasn't about to let a Borg, of all life forms, stir up any regrets about moral absolutes. How many people had she killed during her time plugged into a cube?
To Burke he simply said, 'Take care of her wound."
If only things could be different. But nothing was.
"First-degree phaser burns ... minor lacerations ... looks like we'll have to amputate."
In the sickbay, Max Burke ran the med-scanner over Seven's scalp wound. She didn't respond to his attempt to at least humanize the situation a little.
"That was a joke," he encouraged. "You're supposed to smile, make a witty retort-"
"I'm familiar with human banter. Yours is crude and predictable."
"An insult! Better than nothing. You know, Seven- can I call you Seven? There aren't a lot of luxuries around here. All we've really got is each other. You might try letting your shields down or else it's going to be a lonely trip ... well, I'll be damned! We've got a stowaway!"
As Seven