Flashback - Diane Carey [56]
The guards didn't even stop moving. They engulfed Janeway and Tuvok, and if this was a dream or an illusion, it sure had a hell of a grip.
And bad breath.
"Tuvok!" Janeway called.
Tuvok shook off one of the two guards grappling with him, and closed his eyes, fighting on two fronts.
Plink-crew quarters. Again.
Tuvok and the scent of tea, Valtane and other juniors milling about.
Again. This was getting to look like a crazy quilt. The same patches, all in different patterns.
Could they still see her? Janeway moved to Tuvok's side, using his body as a shield from the other young officers, all of whom were involved in their own personal business, luckily.
She kept her voice way, way down.
"Everything is centered on the same sequence of events. The repressed memory must have some connection to one of these moments."
"The question is," Tuvok agreed, "which moment?" He picked up an herb and was about to drop
it into the tea, then changed his mind and picked up a different herb.
As if it mattered!
"The bridge seems to be the place," Janeway suggested. "It has to be the bridge. We keep returning to the battle with the Klingons."
"That is correct. And there does seem to be a special emphasis on the death of Lieutenant Val-tane." Tuvok said it, then glanced across the quarters at Valtane, as if worried he might've said that too loudly.
"Yes," Janeway agreed. "We do seem to be drawn to that event. Maybe something happened in that moment between the two of you. Maybe he said something or did something that you've repressed. Something you don't want to remember."
Tuvok frowned. "I do not know what that would be. He was dead by the time I reached him. At least... I believe he was."
"Maybe there's more to what happened in that moment," Janeway insisted. "The only way to be sure is to return and pay close attention this time. Except that now your memories are starting to react to my presence. It would be best if Captain Sulu didn't notice me on the bridge."
"Attention on deck!" somebody snapped.
Commander Rand had just entered the quarters. "How are you this fine morning, Ensign?" the woman asked, moving to Tuvok.
"I am well, Commander," Tuvok answered. "Thank you."
"I thought you might like to see some of this morning's comm traffic." Rand handed him a PADD. "There's a message from the Yorktown I thought you might be-who are you?"
She was looking at Janeway. Surprise, surprise.
Tuvok sighed in almost human frustration. "She is a friend of mine. Captain Janeway."
Janeway forced up a smile. "Nice to meet you, Commander."
"New uniform, Captain?" Rand asked.
"Something I'm trying out."
"Hmm . . ." Rand looked at her another second, then said, "Excuse me," and turned to her young officers. "All right, gamma shift! It's time to defend the Federation against gaseous anomalies!"
The other juniors started heading for the door in a squeamish replay of what Janeway had seen before.
"May I have a word with you, Commander?" Tuvok asked just as Rand was about to leave.
The woman turned back. "What is it, Ensign?"
"I thought you should know you have a spot of lubricant on your uniform jacket."
Rand looked down at her jacket. "Really- where?"
"Here." Tuvok lithely raised his hand and clawed Rand's neck in a Vulcan nerve pinch.
Her head snapped back, and she fell like a sandbag. What a talent.
Janeway knelt beside the woman. "You could've just asked her," she said, eyeing Tuvok.
He knelt there too, and together they started
pulling off Rand's jacket. "It's been my experience that asking female officers to remove their clothing could lead to a misunderstanding."
"Mr. Chakotay, there's been an explosion inside the nebula!"
Not five seconds later, Voyager was buffeted by a residual pressure wave from directly forward, and the whole ship physically wobbled and dipped slightly to starboard.
Chakotay rode out the wave, then hurried to the tactical monitor on the helm and t ried to decipher what had happened.
From the intensity