Equinox - Diane Carey [80]
Why, then, was The Doctor hesitating over her? He was no longer working, but only standing and looking at her in that curious searching way humans sometimes had... and he was not even human.
"Regarding the ..." he paused, selecting words carefully, "unpleasantness aboard the Equinox... I hope you don't think less of me."
"Your program was altered," she told him.
Yet he still seemed troubled. Why? Nothing was his fault. His program-
"It's quite disconcerting," he went on, "to know that all somebody has to do is flick a switch to turn me into Mr. Hyde."
His face showed a burden that Seven found deeply troubling. She resisted the reaction and took instant refuge in hardware. "Perhaps you should enhance your program with security protocols," she suggested. "It will prevent such tampering in the future."
"Good thinking."
"When I'm done regenerating, I'll assist you."
"Thanks."
She went to the door, then surprised herself by pausing, much as he had a moment ago. "You were off-key."
The Doctor tilted his head. "I beg your pardon?"
'Third verse," she reminded, "second measure."
His pride flashed. "That's impossible!"
"Your vocal modulations deviated by point three zero decihertz," Seven confirmed inarguably. "I can help you with that, as well."
Was it working? Her attempt at... was it teasing?
"Really," The Doctor roughly said, with a tinge of challenge. "Holodeck two, tomorrow, sixteen hundred hours. Just you, and me, and a tuning fork."
Seven felt the sides of her mouth draw outward without her meaning them to.
"I look forward to it," she said.
Thirty-five minutes later, Kathryn Janeway paced uneasily before all her officers, and all the Equinox's officers in the briefing room aboard the steadily improving Voyager. Already damages were being repaired. There was more light in the room now. Debris had been cleared away, though the carpet was still filthy and the table scratched. They were stood down from Red Alert.
A few paces away, Chakotay stood silent, though he no longer averted his eyes from her. She hoped he had seen the recording of what had happened to Ransom, that it was the other captain who made the ultimate
choice to die. She didn't want him thinking any worse of her than he already did.
As the two crews settled and stopped fidgeting, Janeway surveyed the Equinox officers with a controlled expression. She didn't want them to think she approved of their behavior, but she also didn't want them to think she hated them or that they would be vilified here. Another thin line.
"You're all welcome aboard," she began. "I want you to know that Captain Ransom's death was at his own hand. We gave him every opportunity to beam aboard. We all wanted to save him. Whatever you may think, I respect him very much for his strength and conviction. In the end, he commended you to this ship and asked me to get you home. I have my own way of doing that. You'll have to live with it."
She paused a moment, clasped her hands behind her back, and gazed briefly at the carpet before looking up again.
"The last time we welcomed you aboard, you took advantage of our trust. You betrayed this crew. I won't make that mistake again."
As the words hung, the other crew looked nervous. Would they indeed spend thirty years in her brig?
She just wanted them to think about it for a moment.
"Noah Lessing," she began then, "Maria Gilmore, James Morrow, Angela Tassoni, Brian Sofin ... you're hereby stripped of rank. You'll be expected to serve as crewmen on this vessel. Your privileges will be limited and you'll work under close supervision for as long as
I deem fit. This time, you'll have to earn our trust. Dismissed."
She nodded to Tuvok, who motioned the complement out of the room. As they all filed out, Janeway moved to Chakotay. The two of them stood looking at each other for as many seconds as it took to empty the room. A long silence.
The door swept closed.