O.K. we are back from the final commercial break.
Disclaimer:Paramount owns them. I borrowed them and hope I did not break
them.
Nik listened in growing horror as Tri explained what had just occurred. She
could feel Tas rage mingling with her own as she grabbed Kathryn by the
arm and began sprinting towards the Mess Hall. Kathryn allowed herself to be
pulled along as she discussed the situation with Chakotay. It took Tri a
couple
of moments to gather up Naomi and Puma and head out into the corridor to
await Nik as she was asked to do.
The young girls had been completely frozen as were the rest of the occupants
of the Mess Hall their attention riveted to Eke pinning the Doctor to the
bulk
head enraged that this human had the gall to taint his daughter's honor by
inferring she would be unfaithful to her bond mate. Those members of the
United Front crew who had beamed over for the celebration slash diplomatic
function shifted uncomfortably realizing that they had been made unwittingly
aware of more about their Captain than she would have wished. They were
made all that more uncomfortable by Tas clear embarrassment and rage
which she seemed unable to adequately mask. The Doctor endeavored to
break free attempting to reach his mobile emitter in order to return to the
safe
confines of Sick Bay; until, the Commander ordered him to desist until the
arrival of Captain Janeway.
Kathryn looked over at Nik in astonishment as they waited for the turbo lift
to
reach its destination. The anger and frustration the young woman was
displaying was most disconcerting and troubling to the Captain coming from
the usually extremely self possessed young woman; even though, she could
only imagine how it would feel..... The thought trailed off as she realized
that she was unclear about what exactly the situation was in regards to the
child Captain Tas was carrying; yet, when it it came to paternity it was
assured the holographic Doctor was not the father. When would the Doctor
ever learn to keep his mouth shut she wondered for not the first time. It
was with some surprise she noted Tri, Naomi and Puma standing in the
corridor awaiting their arrival. As Nik spoke quietly to the young girls
keeping an obviously tight reign on her anger, Kathryn queried Tri on any
cultural mores that might be at play here and felt her concern only grow.
Nik looked intensely at both Tri and Kathryn and gave them a brief and
grimly
competent run down of what she felt was expected of her reverting to Borg
efficiency in an attempt to keep a tight reign on her emotions . The
intensity of her stare and the slight quiver in her voice the only
indication of her distress. But, it was enough to make it obvious to both
women listening to Nik that she was quite anxious she would not be able to
restore Tas honor in a way that her family primarily Tas father
would find
acceptable. The situation was
made more difficult since this was a first contact situation and absolutely
no
one wanted the spectacle to escalate into an interstellar incident. With
input
from all three woman they were finally able to arrive at a solution which
hopefully would be more than adequate to all involved and made hasty
preparations. Tri entered the Mess Hall to realize the only one who had
moved since her departure was Commander Chakotay who seemed to be
attempting to use diplomacy to defuse the situation. As unobtrusively as
possible Tri made her way over to Tas handing her the hastily prepared data
pad.
Captain Janeway strode into the room with her best command purpose and
look. It was extremely effective and with the slightest of nods dismissed
Chakotay and his feeble attempts to solve the situation. With the barest of
looks to Tas father, she stalked up to the Doctor and in a voice that only
he
could hear told him exactly what she expected of him before pinning him with
a force ten look that was far more effective then the grip Eke had around
the
Doctors throat.
Nik entered the Mess Hall almost matching Captain Janeway s distinctive
presence. It took several seconds for the members of the Voyager crew to
recognize the young woman and with the almost simultaneous recognition came
an audible gasp from many of those assembled. Although the arrogance still
seemed present it was tempered with maturity and some other indescribable
quality, everyone present after getting over their initial shock began to
internally speculate what had brought about these changes. Even the United
Front crewmembers who had served with her found themselves enthralled
watching her. And Tas, well she just felt herself absolutely melt
inside
as her bond mate gave her a penetrating gaze that was so obviously filled
with ill concealed passion and love that it could not go unnoticed by the
enthralled members of both crews even if they tried.
Naomi and Puma made their way into Cargo Bay 2 and began to search
through the containers. After a few abortive attempts Naomi finally got Puma
to open up to her about what was bothering her. It took very little time
before
both were once again giggling and cavorting during their search.
Nik put a restraining hand on Eke's arm and looked deeply into his eyes
hoping to fully communicate the love she felt for his daughter. It was with
both
trepidation and joy that Nik watched as Eke slowly released his prisoner and
stepped aside. Eke gave the Doctor one finally withering stare before
retreating back to the rest of his family.
The Doctor let out an over dramatic sigh of relief as he saw Seven come to
his
rescue and the moment he was released decided to thank his good friend.
"Sev.....", the Doctor found himself once again slammed against the bulkhead
this time with much more force.
"Doctor, you will address me as Captain Chief" was the sharp reply.
Kathryn Janeway wished she was the one strangling the Doctor at that moment
not that it had any physical adverse effects on the Doctor. Not only could
he not keep his mouth shut his starting to use Nik s designation had also
been in violation of her direct order. With a surprising lack of
self-awareness she found herself catching Tri s gaze in joint commiseration
and support.
Nik forced herself to hold the Doctor's gaze until he was finally unable to
hold her gaze and broke it and mumble his capitulation, a truly amazing
accomplishment.
"Doctor, You have made statement which has disparaged my bond mate. Isthis
true?"
"Your bond mate?"
"Yes or No, Doctor", Chief stated sharply, ignoring the murmurs of surprise
from both crews.
"I did not mean to disparage any...."
"Yes or No", Chief said not realizing she was lifting the Doctor from the
floor.
The Doctor found himself in quandary. He was sure the answer was no as he
replayed the conversation in his mind. Yet, the Captain had been quite clear
and after a moments hesitation he finally answered.
"Yes"
Initially the group had contemplated having the Doctor recant his statement.
There was a chance however a cloud would remain over Tas honor. That was a
chance that Nik had found quite unacceptable.
"Captain Chief, perhaps we should continue this conversation in private",
the
Doctor asked hopefully.
This raised Nik's ire even more, "You should have thought of that before
making such an announcement. How dare you insinuate that you are the father
of our child, Doctor"
This time the expression of surprise from both crews was not just a murmur.
Qel stared at his sister in surprise. His sister pregnant if it was not for
the
situation at hand he would have sworn an oath at this moment realizing
quickly how this must have occurred.
It was Tom Paris who s voice finally raised above the din quite clearly,
"But,
there is no way Doc is the father he is a hologram."
Nik felt like smiling for the first time since this mess had begun. She had
hypothesized it would be Tom who would raise this point and felt Tas relax
slightly. This had been the one part of the plan that was left to chance
believing having the objection being spontaneous was difficult; but, would
be much more effective. There had been a slim chance that someone from the
Voyager would question her own claim to paternity. She really did not wish
to explain how exactly this had occurred. As the import of this news carried
through the assembled group of United front members Nik loosened her grip on
her captive allowing him to fall back to the floor. She looked at him
expectantly flexing her hand in a display the Doctor found strangely
menacing.
At first the Doctor was confused unsure what Captain Chief expected from
him. This whole circumstance was highly disconcerting and it took a second
before finally it clicked into place. He quickly and sincerely gave his
apology hoping that would end the situation.
Tas slowly approached her love handing her the pad allowing an almost evil
grin to spread across her face.
Nik took the pad unaware of how her hand stroked the back Tri s hand asshe
did so. There was a familiarity and humanness in this action that was not
lost on many of those members of the Voyager crew assembled. Nik looked at
the selections with growing amusement; yet squashed them in order to
maintain the control necessary to deliver the Doctor s punishment. It seemed
an apt retribution for the Holographic Doctor considering his lack of
humility had caused this whole predicament. The old customs of the Speckles
culture would have required a ritualistic fight between her and the Doctor
this was definitely more fitting.
"Captain Janeway, under my rights as Captain Tas bond mate I would like to
dispense with the punishment I deem fit."
"Of course, Captain Chief", Captain Janeway replied quickly much to the
amazement of her crew. The lengths Captain Janeway would go to rescue and
protect her crew were the stuff legend was made of.
"Doctor, given the facts that you have saved my life in the past, the
sincerity of your apology, your lack of medical knowledge which led you to
such an
erroneous decision, and the fact you are a hologram makes my first choice
unfeasible Although I must admit defeating you in battle has a certain
appeal;
nevertheless,I have decided to mitigate your punishment to the
following......"
The punishment seemed almost perverse to the members of the Voyager crew
some of them actually feeling quite sympathetic as the Doctor matrix was
transferred to Holideck 2. He was forbidden from entering either Chief's or
Tas' presence without their permission. But, the perverse part was
forcing
him to sit through 8 hours of his own lessons of humanity, it had to violate
some law on the humane treatment of prisoners.
Nik looked over at Tas a wicked gleam in her eyes as she completed surveying
the changes Tas had made to the programs adding several additions of her
own. These modifications would be quite a shock to the Doctor having proper
behavior and etiquette being taught by the Borg Queen was just the
beginning. As an afterthought she accessed the proper medical texts that
would explain how Tas pregnancy came about and added those also. She
really
had no wish to answer that one in person. Tas smiled affectionately as she
felt Nik's anger be replaced by amusement. Kathryn looked at her former
crewmember questioningly and after taking a moment to review the pad she was
forced to admit that for the most part the changes enhanced the program.
"So Nik anymore surprises for us?", Kathryn asked realizing the room was
strangely quiet and attempting to break the ice..
"No, I believe that just about covers it, why were you expecting something
more?", Nik said chuckling her humor catching her former crewmates by
complete surprise.
The end for a while. I am sort of really stuck with the next part. I hope to
write a my dream conclusion to UZ
Hope you enjoyed.