Icheb
Author's Note: So I felt like doing something a little different from what I usually post because my interest in Icheb has been rekindled since I heard that he will be appearing in Star Trek: Renegades (which is a project that will try to get a new Star Trek TV show started). I decided to start doing short little chapters that may or may not be in chronological order and focus on Icheb in Starfleet Academy. I hope you enjoy and reviews are appreciated.
Walking through Voyager was an entirely different experience for him now that the ship was a museum. It was totally empty at the moment, except for himself of course. But having been a member of Voyager's crew, he had access to the ship just about any time he pleased and that included when the ship was closed to the public like it was today.
Icheb was used to people walking through the corridors all the time, going from one place to another with some urgent task to do. Now he could not sense a single living being within the ship. It felt rather … depressing. There were times he missed being on Voyager as it had been his home after leaving the Collective, much more so than his own homeworld.
He headed to the astrometrics lab first, where he had done much of his work before the ship had made it back to the Alpha Quadrant. The main display was deactivated and Icheb knew from experience that it only ever showed one image anymore, which was a detailed map of Voyager's journey through the Delta Quadrant. He wasn't sure what bothered him more, that the image never changed or that the astrometrics lab no longer functioned.
Not wanting to dwell excessively on negative emotions, he turned and headed toward the cargo bay. The alcoves still hummed with life, one of the few parts of the ship that did, and there were times when he was tempted to spend a night regenerating in his old alcove. He never actually did. The other cadets at Starfleet Academy seemed uncomfortable enough around him and he did not want to increase their discomfort. Lieutenant Paris had informed him on several occasions that Seven had been seen returning to Voyager's cargo bay to regenerate, although Icheb was relatively certain the pilot had been joking.
"I hope you're not planning on spending the night."
He turned quickly to see his roommate, Benjamin Holt, "How did you get on this ship?"
Ben, who was half human and half Betazoid, shrugged easily as he came closer, "Its not too hard. They barely lock the doors and, this being Earth, hardly expect anyone to sneak on board. Knew I'd find you here, Icheb."
"How did you know I'd be here?"
Ben leaned against a console and crossed his arms over his chest as he shrugged a second time, "Whenever you're feeling a bit … melancholy you come back here. I'd be a poor security officer if I wasn't able to recognize patterns in a person's behavior, especially since we've been rooming together for months now. Something troubling you?"
Icheb did not dispute his roommate's words, but took a moment to consider his response as he still had not perfected his ability to converse with others, "I believe the best term is … homesick. Despite the short amount of time I spent upon Voyager, I became accustomed to it in a much greater sense than I had thought."
The other cadet nodded easily, "I think you're right. I've always equated what you're feeling to homesickness when I felt it in others. Is there anything I can do to help? Going through the academy is a long process, having friends to lean on can't hurt."
Icheb considered the offer. Having at least one friend would certainly be a good thing, especially if it helped him seem less intimidating to the other cadets. Additionally, he knew that the academy had tried to put several other roommates with him before Ben, but they had all refused to share a room with someone who had been a Borg drone and spent his night regenerating in a Borg alcove instead of sleeping in a bed.
"Perhaps a distraction. Do you play kalto?"
Ben chuckled, but not in a malicious way, "Somehow I'm not surprised you would suggest a Vulcan logic game. No, I don't, since I've never actually met a Vulcan before. I've been told I'm a decent chess player, though, and I have a board back in our room."
Despite having never played chess, Icheb had heard of it and knew the basics, "Very well."
