Chapter 2 – Inoculations
Stardate 12372-71/ 0400 hours/ The holodeck
"Captain Proton to the rescue!" Tom burst through the hatch with a heroic gesture. He stopped, and glanced around at the interior of his rocket ship. "Well, he would be if there was anyone here to rescue!" he muttered, putting his laser pistol back into it's holder. "Buster? Buster?" He sighed. "Harry, where are you?"
Harry casually strolled in. "Oh, hey Tom."
"Where on Planet X have you been?"
"Um, Megan had to finish a report from her last away mission, so I walked her back to her quarters." He looked up to see the expression on Tom's face. "I wasn't gone that long!" Harry protested.
"Harry, Harry, Harry," Tom placed a hand lightly on his shoulder. "How many times do I have to tell you? You'd be better off with Tegan!"
"I've told you already, Megan's the one. She's smart, funny, and she has that cute little dimple on her cheek. And anyway, we've been getting to know each other a bit more. I've asked her on a date when we reach the station."
Before Tom could open his mouth to reply, the beep of the comm interrupted their conversation. The Captain's voice echoed around the rocket ship. "Senior staff report to the bridge. We will reach the Cobalian Space station in twenty minutes."
Tom shrugged at Harry. "OK, but don't tell me I didn't warn you."
Harry smirked. "You know, that's exactly what I said to you when you started dating B'Elanna, and now look, you're married with a baby on the way."
"Well, I guess anything is possible," Tom grinned as they headed off to change into their uniforms.
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Stardate 12372-71/ 0420/ The Bridge
"Mr Lextrim, once again I would like to extend to you our sincere gratitude for your gracious hospitality."
"Oh not at all Captain, I am deeply honoured that you have accepted my offer and hope you enjoy your time here immensely. Feel free to stay as long as you like, I offer my services to all your crew."
Janeway saw that he was genuinely pleased. "Thank you. We will enjoy putting our feet up, that's for sure!"
"Quite so," Mr Lextrim agreed, laughing.
"Janeway out." She turned to Tom. "Dock us at the airlock Mr Lextrim indicated please Mr Paris."
"Aye Captain."
"So tell me Chakotay," Kathryn inquired sitting in her chair, "how's Seven?"
"She's coming on in leaps and bounds. She recovers a little bit more humanity every day, and her friendships with the senior staff are flourishing, especially B'Elanna. Every time I see her she is a little bit more beautiful and I treasure every moment we are together."
Kathryn gazed at her friend smiling. She'd never seen him this happy, and it had done Seven a world of good too. 'I have to go and catch up with her sometime' she thought to herself.
She was jolted out of her thoughts by a slight tremor as the docking clamps locked into place. "B'Elanna, let me know the moment you finish repairs."
"Aye Captain."
"Chakotay, as soon as repairs are complete, give the first shift permission to board the station."
Chakotay nodded. Standing, Janeway turned to Tuvok.
"Tuvok, are the added security measures in place?"
"Yes captain."
"Good." She turned on her heel. "Harry..."
"B'Elanna to the Captain"
Janeway stopped, midway across the bridge and primly tapped her comm badge."Go ahead."
"We've finished repairs Captain."
The corners of Kathryn's mouth curled up. "Thank you for being so prompt, Janeway out." She looked around. "Well, what are you all standing around for? You've got shore leave to take!"
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Stardate 12372-71/ 0440/ Sickbay
The Doctor's head snapped up as Seven and Chakotay burst into sickbay panting heavily and doubled over. He rushed over to them immediately concerned. "Commander, Seven, what's wrong?" He quickly grabbed a medical tricorder and began to scan them frantically.
"I won" Chakotay gasped.
"I'm sorry Commander?" the Doctor asked, a frown knitted on his brow.
"We were having a race." Seven explained.
"A race?" The Doctor stared at them as if they had both grown two heads and a tail.
"It was fun!" Seven protested.
The Doctor's eyes grew wider and wider and Chakotay thought he was going to blow out a holographic projector. The thought made him want to laugh out loud, and trying not to smile, he addressed the hologram."It's OK Doctor. We need some inoculations for beta and gamma radiation. We are going to take a trip into the Cobalian nebula."
As the doctor turned to prepare the inoculations in silence, Seven and Chakotay shared a secret smile.
A few minutes later, fully inoculated for the nebula, Seven and Chakotay left sickbay laughing. "Did you see his face?" Chakotay guffawed.
Seven nodded, laughing so hard she could barely breathe. A young ensign walked past them, clutching a pad to his chest and Chakotay managed to contain his laughter enough to nod at him. The ensign gawped at them and quickly realising he was staring, hurried past and round the corner. As soon as the ensign disappeared, they burst into uncontrollable laughter again, doubling up and leaning on each other for support.
When they had regained composure enough to walk, they headed off to prepare for their trip the next day. Just as they were passing Tom and B'Elanna's quarters, the door slid open with a hiss, and the pair walked out with a picnic hamper.
Tom took one look at their faces. "What's up with you two?"
As they related their story, Tom and B'Elanna were sent into peals of laughter. "Oh dear," breathed Tom, "he'll be the death of me, he will."
"Ahh!" B'Elanna gasped, clutching her heavily bulging stomach.
All laughter ceased immediately and three concerned faces turned towards B'Elanna. "What's wrong?" Tom asked, holding B'Elanna up.
"Nothing, it's just the baby."
"What? The baby's coming? Now? But it's not due yet. But the doctor said it might be early." Tom spluttered, dropping the picnic. "We've got to get you to sickbay. Come on!"
Tom all but picked her up before she stopped him. "No, the baby's not coming, it's kicking! Oh, there it goes again."
Seven smiled. "May I?"
"Sure!" B'Elanna gently took her hand and positioned it under her own on top of her swelled belly.
They giggled while Tom looked at Chakotay sheepishly. Chakotay raised his eyebrows. "If that's how fatherhood changes a man, I don't think I'll ever get around to it."
"Don't worry," B'Elanna whispered in Seven's ear, "he'll change his mind."
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Stardate 12372-71/ 0900/ The Cobalian Space Station
A man sat in the corner of the dimly lit bar, unnoticed by the last few late-night drinkers. He was enveloped in a long, heavy garment that obscured odd borg implants that were scattered across his body. His brow was furrowed as his device bleeped quietly. He cursed under his breath. Why had he been picked for this job? He tried again to remotely access the database of the newly docked ship 'voyager.' They had almost fail-proof safety protocols. Yes! He'd got through. That's why he'd been picked for this job. Accessing the crew manifest, he grinned.
A picture of Seven of Nine filled the small screen of his hand-held device. "Bingo!" He whispered.
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Yeah! That's the end of the second chapter then. What did you think? Please review! Please! I need you to review, otherwise I'll get sad. :(
I've only got two reviews at the moment. TWO! And I sincerely thank 'Rono777' and 'EMcKinney' for their most gracious reviews. Thank you :D *hugs*
So please review and tell me if it's a load of Codswallop. Please :)
