Flashback - Diane Carey [6]
"I ... I don't know ... he came in the door and fell," she stammered. "I had a ... he's having a ... seizure of some kind. Doctor, we have to help him!"
"Of course," the Doctor said bluntly, taking Tuvok's weight as the Vulcan went suddenly limp and slumped into their arms. "Kes, what's wrong? You look deeply stressed."
She gazed at the helpless officer, who at any other
time was so strong and intimidating, and said, "I felt... I saw ... no, nothing, nothing's wrong with me. It's just so awful for Mr. Tuvok."
"Kes," the Doctor said, flattening his lips, "you really must take more care to develop a medical composure if you intend to advance in the field. Professional distance is critical, especially in an onboard situation, where all of our patients will be people we know and work with on a daily basis."
"Yes, I know," she told him softly. "I'm sorry. I'll help you put him on the bio-bed. There's something terribly wrong, and it's hurting him."
"Obviously. I'll begin an examination. You notify the captain."
"Yes, I will. I'll do it right away, Doctor."
Tuvok! Don't let me fall!. . .
CHAPTER 4
"CAPTAIN!"
As the ship bumped to port, shuddered, then recovered, Kathryn Janeway plunged for the comm unit on her command chair as soon as she heard the medical trainee's voice burst through the link. That didn't sound good, and she knew just whom it didn't sound good about.
She suddenly felt as if she'd dumped her responsibility on someone else, and on such a gentle, delicate girl-shameful. She should've seen to Tuvok personally. Studying a gas cloud just didn't demand her personal custody.
Not even a cloud with an attitude, like this one seemed to have. As her hand hit the comm, she glanced forward at Tom Paris, who was dipping and
ducking with the surges of the ship as he piloted through the unhappy gases.
"What is it, Kes?" Janeway asked.
"Captain, it's Mr. Tuvok! He staggered into sickbay and barely made it in the doorway! He's having some kind of physical reaction, and it's very intense. I just happened to be standing there and I managed to break his fall, but I couldn't hold him. I activated the Doctor's program, and he helped me lift Tuvok onto a diagnostic bed, but now he refuses to tell us what happened. He insists on speaking to you. I'm sorry-"
"Not at all. Tell him I'll be right there. And, Kes, don't pressure him for answers until I get there. Have you administered any medication? Sedatives?"
"No, not yet. The Doctor prefers to, but only after you arrive. Mr. Tuvok is very agitated, Captain . .. I'm frightened for him."
Janeway felt as if there were two hundred decks between the bridge and sickbay and she'd have to hike every one of them. "I understand, Kes. Try to stabilize him, and don't do anything else."
"Yes, Captain."
Janeway clenched her jaw. That sweet, small-boned, big-hearted girl down there, faced with a shook-up Vulcan-how patently unfair. Since the ship's entire medical staff had fallen victims to the accident that threw Voyager into the Delta Quadrant, the ship had been depending on a holographic medical program and the goodwill and decent intentions of one Ocampa girl with a painfully short life
span. Kes's short life span allowed her to learn very quickly-what choice did an Ocampa have?-but sometimes even a whiz had to handle things beyond her scope. An agitated Vulcan was way beyond almost anybody's scope, including another Vulcan's.
Certainly beyond mine, Janeway thought as she pushed away from the command center and caught herself on the helm. "Chakotay, I'm going to sickbay. You can take care of this sirillium collection, can't you?"
The tall first officer gave her his reserved, half-devil grin, as if there were something hiding under the surface. "I imagine I can handle it, Captain. I don't envy you your choice of duties at the moment."
A vicious bauble sent the ship slamming to starboard as if it had struck a solid object. Janeway was still holding on to the