Unworthy - Kirsten Beyer [67]
“B’Elanna speaks very highly of her,” Chakotay offered.
“Yes, apparently Commander Torres is quite generous with her expertise.”
“That sounds like her,” Chakotay agreed.
“Lieutenant Conlon has discovered a series of unauthorized protocols that has been added to the deflector controls.”
Chakotay nodded for her to continue, suddenly realizing that he probably wasn’t here to offer his expertise, but quite possibly to defend himself.
“Conlon tells me that the protocols in question have quite specific functions, including one that is capable of opening a rift to fluidic space.”
“A system error, perhaps,” Chakotay suggested.
“That was my first thought as well,” Eden conceded, “but closer examination has determined that it was installed shortly before the fleet entered the Delta quadrant. In fact, just after you and Seven came aboard.”
Chakotay considered his next words carefully. “Is there an accusation coming at some point here, Captain?” Chakotay heard more defensiveness in his tone than he had intended.
“Not yet,” Eden replied, uncrossing her arms. “But I do think it’s curious.”
“It’s Seven you’re concerned about,” Chakotay realized.
“Seven has been under emotional stress since the Caeliar transformation. She’s desperately searching for answers. Maybe she thinks Species 8472 has them.”
Chakotay stood and moved to stand opposite Eden. “The peace accord we reached with Species 8472 was contingent upon never again corrupting their realm. Seven was there. She knows what’s at stake. And she would never risk the safety of those aboard Voyager, even for the sake of her own curiosity.”
“I know you believe that,” Eden replied. “And I want to. But the fact is that Seven is one of only a few people who could have written and installed that program.”
“Apparently not.”
“I beg your pardon,” Eden said, clearly taken aback.
“Someone else clearly did, and you need to find out who and why. I could save you some time, if you were willing to trust my judgment. If not, I really can’t help you,” Chakotay said with a shrug.
“Thank you for your time, Chakotay,” Eden replied evenly.
“I’m assuming you’ve purged the program, just to be safe?” he asked.
Eden paused before replying, “We can’t.”
“Why not?”
“It seems the only way to get rid of it would be to completely reinstall the deflector control program. We’ve already made hundreds of adjustments to the program to facilitate our slipstream travel and to purge it now would leave us vulnerable.”
“Is Lieutenant Conlon your best programmer?” Chakotay asked.
“Yes.”
“I’d have B’Elanna take a look at it again. She might be able to find a way around that problem. Creative solutions have always been a specialty of hers.”
“I will bear that in mind.”
Chakotay nodded and moved quickly to the exit, wondering how long it was going to take for him to dig himself out of the piles of suspicion that he had heaped upon himself in the past three years.
Paris entered his cabin more than two hours after his shift ended. As Voyager’s first officer, Tom found off-duty to be a much more malleable term than it had been when he’d served as a helmsman. Today it had been Ensign Lasren who’d required a little extra time and attention. Tom had been tempted to suggest that he take his concerns about Ensign B’kar—the gamma shift ops officer’s tendency to leave his station configured to accommodate his three-fingered hands rather than Lasren’s five—up with Counselor Cambridge. Unfortunately Lasren, like many aboard Voyager, had a hard time relating to Cambridge. Tom suggested a few strategies to the young Betazoid over a couple of drinks in the mess. Then he remembered that B’Elanna and Miral were waiting for him.
He fully expected to face B’Elanna’s wrath. Instead, he entered their quarters to find the small dinner table set with everything he would have required for a romantic evening, including two tapered candles, and low jazz playing in the background.
The only thing that puzzled