String Theory_ Cohesion (Book 1) - Jeffrey Lang [119]
“Oh, yeah?” B’Elanna asked, taking the tray from Tom’s hands. “Like who?”
“Like the chief engineer maybe?”
“After she’s finished eating,” B’Elanna replied, heading toward the table where they usually ate their shared meals. Halfway across the room, B’Elanna stopped short, suddenly overcome by déjà vu.
Tom ran into her back and said, “What’s wrong? Did I forget something?”
“No,” she said and set the tray down. “I just remembered…” She smiled gently and turned around to face her lover. “You made me think of something…” Looking down at her, Tom grinned, mildly confused, but untroubled. “I missed you.” Reaching up, she took his face between her hands and kissed him gently on the cheek. “You know,” she said, “we’re supposed to be together. Don’t you?”
Tom Paris enveloped her in his arms, pulled her close, and made B’Elanna Torres feel safe, warm, and wanted. She rubbed her nose against the side of his, and was infinitely gratified when he said, “Of course we are,” and returned her kiss on the cheek.
Down in her cargo bay, Seven of Nine awoke.
“Your regeneration cycle,” the computer warned, “is not complete.”
Seven reached up and touched her fingertips to her cheek. The sensation of a warm kiss lingered. She kept her eyes shut for several seconds as the feeling faded, something like a smile on her lips. Finally, she lowered her hand and said, “Continue regeneration.”
Epilogue
“I really hate this system,” Harry Kim said. He stared up at the giant display in astrometrics and struggled to make sense of the data flowing in from the main sensors. They had been at this for two days now and as each new theory for how the Monorhan system could exist in its current configuration was disproved, he found he had to reluctantly return to this flippant remark—namely, that some power created the system to its current specifications for some unknowable reason.
“Your feelings about the system have been noted and logged, Ensign,” Seven of Nine said. “Repeating this litany does not bring us any closer to finding a…” Seven abruptly stopped talking.
Harry looked up from the console where he was working to see what was wrong. “Seven?”
Seven of Nine pointed at the holographic display at the center of the room. Far to the left of the tank was the central star, depicted as a writhing ball of gas. Arrayed at irregular intervals from the sun were the planets, three in all, then a patch of deformed space that was the tiny singularity.
Now, on the right edge of the tank, the outer edge of the system, Harry saw a new deformity, a much larger one. He asked, “Did you change the display?”
“I did not.” Seven took half a step closer like she might be able to see more clearly. A very human gesture, Harry reflected absently, almost as if her mind did not want to have to try to process what she was seeing.
“And your instruments are registering correctly?” Seven took her eyes off the display just long enough to glare at Harry. “Sorry,” he said, then concluded, “That’s another singularity, isn’t it?”
Seven nodded slowly.
“Where did it come from?”
“There is no way to know for sure, Ensign. We must play back the sensor readings from that sector.”
“I think the captain would want to see this.”
“Agreed. I will call her.”
I really hate this system, Harry thought, then turned his attention to the sensor logs.
After the extreme activity of the past two days, every member of the crew acted like they were starved, which pleased Neelix tremendously. Unfortunately, this meant the Talaxian had to break his promise to return to sickbay immediately with the nourishment. This troubled Neelix greatly; he considered Mr. Vulcan his pet project. Fortunately, as busy as the dining hall was, sickbay seemed quiet and sedate when Neelix finally returned with his laden tray. Dark, even.
“Tuvok?” Neelix called, surprised by the low lighting. When no answer came, the Talaxian called out softly, “Doctor?”
“Please