Disclaimer: I do not own Star Trek: Voyager or any of the characters therein; I just really really really wish I had been on board...
Author's notes: This is the third story in my series. The first story is 'The Legend' and the second 'Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta.' If this is the first time you read my stories, please start there.
Chapter 1
"Say, is this a ship of the Valkyries, or have you human women finally done away with your men altogether?"
Something was wrong, definitely wrong. The Doctor was just not exactly sure what it was yet. For more than a week now he had been cooped up in the sick bay, trying to cure Reg Barclay.
Two weeks ago the ships had traded with the Vortighans; a small planet with a number of edible plants they were hoping to grow in the hydroponics-bay. When Voyager had been recomissioned two years back, many of the crew had requested that the cargo bay turned back into a hydroponics-bay once more. Of course it had been Reg that had finally gotten the approval from Starfleet Command. Counsellor Troy – who has had the difficult task of helping Reg for about a decade now – had thought it would be a good idea if Reg took a shift or two in the hydroponics-bay every day.
And that's where things had gone wrong. Mixed in between the samples from Vortighan planet, had been a single insect that the filters had not picked up. They should have, but somehow the bug had gotten through, only to sting Reg Barclay four days later.
The man had come down with severe symptoms and it was on a cure for the sting that the Doctor had been working. And the Vortighans had been of little help. Though they knew about the insect, they had no cure for the infection. People stung by this bug always died, they had informed the crew.
That had been ten days ago, and Reg was now safely recovering from his ordeal. Last week the Doctor had to cancel on his weekly game of Sin-tah with Harry Kim, but now he had been waiting on Harry for more than an hour on the holo-deck.
"The Doctor to Harry Kim," he tried on his com badge once more. But again he was met with silence. He frowned. It was not like Harry to be late and, even more so, the Lieutenant was not one to ignore a hail on the com. So where was he?
"The Doctor to Captain Chakotay, please respond," he hailed. The same silence as before was his only answer. Now he was worried. He was sure there was no crisis on board that would require the Captain's attention, so why wasn't he answering?
"Okay, Doctor to Tuvok," he tried once more. Still no answer. What was going on?
Perhaps communications were down. That would explain why nobody was answering him and why Harry was late. So instead of panicking – something learned through years of experience, he proudly thought – he transferred himself back to sick-bay. Sutor was not yet in, but did not seem to be something new these days. Now that the doctor thought about it, it had been quite a few days since he had seen the Betazoid.
Suddenly he was worried. He quickly checked on Reg. The paranoid human would probably be able to return to duty by the end of the day. Then he got his mobile emitter from the carved-wooden box he kept it in. As a hologram there was very little he needed in life: a good computer and a holo-deck served most of his needs. But the emitter was the key to freedom and he zealously guarded it. This box was his one concession to vanity.
He hung the badge on his arm and activated it. Within moments his program was transferred from Voyager to the emitter.
He picked up Sutor's med-kit and strolled out the door. The emitter meant freedom, but it also meant that he had to walk everywhere he had to go. Program-transfer was so much faster.
On his way to the bridge he noticed that the corridors were oddly empty. Not that Voyager was ever a ship with hundreds of people running about, but usually he encountered a number of people just passing by on their way.
He picked up his pace. Could it be that he was the only person on board Voyager?
"Hello?" he called, hoping to hear a voice answering. But still the only sound was that of his own voice. "Anyone here?"
Finally he reached the turbo-lift, but without ever encountering another person. He stepped in and gave the command that would take him to the bridge. Perhaps there he would find some answers. Besides, if there was a problem, the best place for him to be was the bridge. He was a hologram who had saved the day this way more than once.
It seemed like an eternity, but in the end it took only a few seconds to get to the bridge. The doors silently slid open and he stepped onto the bridge.
"Doctor?" Janeway asked as she saw him standing in the doorway. "Can we help you?"
"Eh, no," he answered. "But I thought the ship was..." he looked around. At Harry's station stood Ensign Ungih. Lieutenant O'Haran was at the con and at tactical stood Crewman Lara. He frowned. These were all good people, but that was not the part that was strange. The strange part was that they were all women.
"Where's Chakotay? And Tuvok and Tom?" he asked. He looked at Janeway, but she looked at him with a slight, worried smile.
"Who?" she asked. She stepped closer, a look of concern on her face. "Doctor, are you all right?"
"I don't know," he replied. And it was true: he was not really sure anymore.
"How's Reg doing?" she continued.
"He should be back on duty later today," the Doctor said. "You know," he suddenly decided, "I have to go check on him, anyway. I had thought there might be something wrong with the com-system," he added.
"I'll have somebody look into it," the Admiral said. "But we are so under-staffed it might take a while."
"Under-staffed?" Strange, the crew was up to standard, as well as having a number of guests who had been stranded as well.
"Yes, and I have to get to work," she said. Janeway turned and went to sit on the captain's seat.
Yes, something was definitely wrong here.