Ends

Daniel Gallant had always heard the rumors that it was difficult to keep your eyes off of Orion women. There was something alluring about the green-skinned beauties, something attractive about them, something that made it impossible to keep your eyes in the right place. Or, at the very least, anywhere above neck level. He'd never been placed in a position where he'd put that little theory, that little rumor, to the rest.

Well, he was testing it, and living it now. And, God, was it ever difficult.

Lissa Cohl was a medical officer fresh out of Starfleet Academy. She'd been posted to the Rorschach at about the same time of one of her classmates, Merrith Karn, who was one of the Rorschach's brightest science officers, and one of the minds behind the advances on the Rorshach's sensor pod. She was Orion, and had joined Starfleet to become a biologist. She'd been cross-trained, though, as a field medic, and had ended up assigned to the Rorschach as an assistant for the Chief Medical Officer.

To Gallant, her history, her accomplishments, her story all seemed like background music right now. The things he knew about her, from what he'd heard from the rest of the crew, were like white noise. All that was running through his mind right now was just how perfect the curves of her body were, how the way that she moved drew him right in, and how he'd give up his left arm just for a chance to wrap his right one around her, draw her in close, and -

He glanced away, shamefully, at the thought. She was a medic, he was her patient. It was wrong of him to think of a shipmate the way he was thinking of her right now.

"It's normal," she smiled, spotting the way that he was trying not to ogle, "It's all pheromones. You're just like every other human male in the galaxy."

Gallant nodded, and picked a spot on the wall, staring at it intently, trying not to let her beauty distract him. He was lying on a biobed, his uniform shirt off, exposing his chest, as well as his right arm, which was a patchwork of circuitry, lights, wires, and metallic plates. It was a reasonably primitive prosthetic device, by the standards that Soong had set down in the field years ago...but it was effective. His new left arm, which was also mechanical, had placed it on a table on the other side of the room, as Cohl studied it, and tested it to ensure that it was running normally.

"The Hercules V models are all over ten years old," Cohl explained, "Are you sure you don't want to try something a little bit more...recent?"

Ensign Gallant shook his head, almost stubbornly. Gallant, the Rorschach's new Flight Control Officer, had been using these same prosthetic models, or variations of them, since he was thirteen, and had gotten extremely used to the way they felt. A new device would take hours, maybe even days to adjust to, and it would never be quite the same as the ones he was so used to in the first place.

Gallant had been, at a young age, the victim of a shuttlecraft accident. His left arm had been severed beneath the shoulder, his right arm had been amputated just above the elbow, and his legs had been replaced from right around the knee down.

On all four of his limbs, all that was left of his once fully human self were ends - broken, asymmetric ends. He was more machine than man, but was also one of the best pilots in the fleet as a result. He had reflexes and dexterity in his robotic parts beyond measure, which had time and time him again made him one of Maddox's most valued junior officers.

Cohl reattached his left arm, sighing as the port integrated into Gallant's left arm whirred, clicked, and locked with the new, steely limb. Gallant flexed his fingers, glancing over at the replacement parts, and smiled.

"It's perfect!" he grinned, giddily. "Thanks, Doc."

Cohl smiled, and walked over to her desk again, entering a few figures onto the PADD in front of her.

"Just keep it away from exploding consoles this time, Ensign," she sighed, "And don't forget to bring it to Mister Wright once a week for routine maintenance."

Gallant nodded, but still tried to avert his gaze from her. He didn't want to stare, or to make her uncomfortable.

"So...can I go?" he asked.

"Of course," Lissa responded, "Just try to keep it in one piece this time, okay?"

Gallant nodded, pulled his shirt back down over himself, and headed for the door. Before he reached it, the door whooshed open and a man with a bald head stood in front of him. The man was wearing the black and blue uniform of one in the science division, but for some reason...for some reason, looking at the man, Gallant felt as if he were looking at someone naked. There was something innately sexual, attractive, and appealing about the man's appearance, which immediately made Gallant feel even more uncomfortable than he already felt.

"Excuse me," he snapped, barrelling past the bald man into the hallway.

Ensign Merrith Karn was in fact a Deltan, and the Rorschach's Chief Science Officer. He entered the room, chuckling as the ensign in red dashed past him. Deltan physiology, after all, did tend to have certain...amusing effects, on members of sexually immature species. He glanced over at Lissa Cohl, his old Academy friend, and smiled.

"Ah, pheromones," he mused, sighing in mild annoyance at the same time, "Wonderful, aren't they?"