Unworthy - Kirsten Beyer [14]
“There are a lot of interesting things to see in the Delta quadrant and this is the best seat in the house, but you could easily miss all of them. Have you ever scrubbed a plasma conduit with a microfilament?”
“No, sir,” Gwyn replied, paling visibly.
“Take my word for it, you don’t want to.”
“No, sir.”
“As you were.”
As Paris returned to his seat to contact Admiral Batiste, Harry leaned over his shoulder and whispered, “What was that all about?”
“I’ll tell you later,” Tom replied.
“She’s something else, isn’t she?”
Tom shook his head and staring grimly at Harry said softly, “You should ask Mirren.”
Harry paused, first confused, then enlightened, and finally disappointed.
“Damn,” he said under his breath. “Hang on, I thought having intimate relations with a Deltan was fatal.”
“Dangerous, but definitely not deadly,” Tom replied with a knowing smirk. “Personally, I think the Deltans started that rumor just to make themselves more interesting.”
Harry heaved a resigned sigh before returning to his post.
One of these days Harry’s going to fall for the right girl, Tom assured himself. It was just a pity he wasn’t going to be aboard Voyager long enough to see it.
CHAPTER THREE
Apair of mismatched shuttles outfitted with imposing phaser cannons towed B’Elanna’s ship through the security grid established around the asteroid Neelix and some five hundred of his fellow Talaxians now called home. When she reached Neelix, she had been forced to pull a fussy Miral onto her lap to confirm her identity. To say Neelix had been shocked by her presence in the Delta quadrant would have been gross understatement. However, once he’d confirmed their identities, he had quickly dispatched the shuttles to her location. Three days later, they reached New Talax.
When B’Elanna disembarked in the asteroid’s small shuttle hangar, Miral clutching to her tightly, Neelix’s roguish grin at the sight of them melted away all the years of distance between them as surely as if they had never existed.
“If you aren’t the most beautiful sight.” He smiled through glistening eyes as he folded mother and child into his arms. Miral squealed in protest, but Neelix would have none of it, deftly prying her from B’Elanna’s grasp and lifting her high overhead to get a good look at her. By the time she had been returned to the deck, she was staring at Neelix in wonder.
“I never did have the chance to meet you in person, little Miral, but you have always had a special place in my heart. My goodness, look how big you’ve gotten.”
A petite Talaxian female with fine, blonde hair stood just behind Neelix throughout their preliminary greetings. A reticent-looking boy standing beside her kept his eyes glued to the deck resolutely.
“Hello, Dexa,” B’Elanna greeted Neelix’s wife, extending her hand, which was immediately rebuffed in favor of a hug.
“Welcome to New Talax,” Dexa said warmly. “It’s wonderful to see you again. You remember our son, Brax?”
“I remember the thousand questions he had for me and my engineering staff the day you both toured Voyager,” B’Elanna said, smiling. “Hello again, Brax.”
“Ma’am,” he said politely.
“Dexa has prepared a succulent feast for both of you,” Neelix added. “Well, maybe feast isn’t the right word. Our supplies are quite limited, but still …”
“I’m sure it will be wonderful. Miral and I are starved,” B’Elanna assured him.
Dexa gently coaxed Miral into taking her hand and began to lead the way through the cavernous halls toward their private residence. Neelix bounced along beside B’Elanna, his arm draped over her shoulder as if he feared that releasing her would make her vanish.
“I don’t mean to pry,” Neelix said softly as they walked, “but where’s Tom?”
“He’s Voyager’s first officer now,” B’Elanna replied, suddenly realizing how much ground there was to cover between the two of them.
“Oh, I knew that,