It had been months since anything exciting had happened on Voyager. Most of the crew were keeping themselves occupied with the holodecks, personal hobbies, or each other. Relationships grew and had been at their peak levels. It was nearly impossible for anyone to walk through the corridors and not see two people holding hands or kissing. Meanwhile, Seven had been working nearly non-stop, even after Captain Janeway had told her that everything was running efficiently and she should take a break and have some fun. But Janeway would always get the same response from her. "Fun is irrelevant." She could order her to stop working, but that was unnecessary. She thought up a cunning plan and it would greatly benefit two members of the crew, rather than just Seven.
She exited the turbolift and entered sickbay. She walked in finding the doctor sitting at his desk staring at his terminal screen. "I think you and the screen are evenly matched at a staring contest." remarked the Captain. "Oh," said the Doctor, "I was just going over some medical files I received from the last data stream." Janeway added, "You don't look like you're having too much fun doing it. Why aren't you having some fun? You know, singing or playing golf or something?" The Doctor replied, "I guess I'm just not in the mood..." Janeway took a seat next to him. "Is there anything you'd like to talk about?" The Doctor took a while to look back at her. He turned to her and tried to hide his emotions. "No, I am fine Captain. How are you?"
Janeway stood. "You are not fine, Doctor, and I know exactly what's wrong." Janeway said completely dismissing his question about how she was. The Doctor looked nervously up at her, hoping she had not figured out his secret. "Oh, and what is that, Captain?" She replied, "You are simply lonely." The Doctor looked down and thought deep and hard in his programming. "You're right. No one ever comes to visit just to see how I'm doing. They always just come for a scraped knee or a headache. And if I invite anyone to join me in the holodeck, they come up with a reason to not be able to do it." He looked away from the Captain thinking he had said too much. "Doctor, it's okay. We all feel lonely sometimes. You do have many friends that care about you, but they also have their own interests they'd rather pursue." The thought of Seven of Nine popped into the Doctor's head. She always worked herself to exhaustion. "I want you and Seven to spend some time. She needs to have some fun, and you need company to have fun with," Janeway said with confidence. The Doctor's holographic eyes opened wide and a smile had assimilated his face.
"That is a great idea Captain!" said the Doctor. Janeway, looking smug, gave him a smile and left the room. The Doctor took a deep breath, grabbed his holoemitter, and walked happily out of sickbay.
Seven of Nine was standing at her console in the Cargobay unaware of the nervous, love-struck Doctor outside the door. He paced back and forth trying to think of something he could say that she wouldn't respond with any sentence that involved the words "Irrelevant" or "No." He stood straight, lifted his chin, and walked to the opening doors. He walked up to Seven with a nervous smile. "Hello Doctor," Seven said without moving her attention from the console. "Hi Seven," The Doctor paused then continued. "You've been working for an awfully long time. It is unhealthy. Everyone, even liberated Borgs need to take a break and have some fun once in a while." Seven stopped pressing buttons and then looked at the Doctor. "Are you ordering me to end my work?" She said with her usual tone of voice. "Not at all. I just wanted to see if you'd like some company if you chose to have some fun. I see you do not. I'll let you continue. Sorry for bothering you." The Doctor said. His face grew a frown and he turned and walked to the door. "Wait," Seven said. He turned. "I will comply. Meet me in holodeck 2 at 1900 hours." The Doctor smiled. "Will do. See you then." He left and made his way to sickbay. On the way, the couples in the corridors weren't so depressing.
To be continued...