FRIENDS
by ardavenport
- - - Part 4
Still observing, Tuvok went over to where Janeway lay. She had shifted position slightly, but the monitors showed that she remained very deeply asleep. Tuvok wondered if it was an effect of the intoxication or perhaps the doctor had sedated her.
The captain's behavior in this incident also puzzled him. Tuvok knew Janeway to be quite social in interacting with others, but he had never known her to do anything like this, certainly not while on duty, and not while they were on this mission, trapped out in the Delta Quadrant. Had she known everything about Seepa's nature and longevity? Probably. Seepa seemed to be concealing nothing about that, and it would establish Janeway's scientific curiosity about the woman.
Seepa's giggle caught the contemplative Vulcan's attention. Kes laughed with her. Seepa seemed to display none of the accumulated wisdom that might be expected from a being who had been alive when Tuvok's own people were violent, emotional savages. At least, she didn't most of the time.
More noise and Tuvok turned to see Seepa getting up and preparing to leave. Kes picked up a bracelet that came off as she climbed down off the biobed. She admired it, platinum and silver twined together.
"Oh, take it," Seepa invited, smiling. Kes shook her head and offered it back.
"Oh no, I couldn't."
"Take it. I have more." She showed off the dozen others on her arms. "It would look fabulous on you, dear. You're like Janeway. You don't have anything on at all except for that comm link pin you've got on."
"Starfleet regulations don't allow for jewelry."
Seepa waved a hand, jingling her bracelets. "You're not in uniform." Kes modestly bowed her pale head, looking down at her short, blue dress. "You and Neelix are the only ones I've seen here who aren't wearing one of those black things." She waved at the pastel plaid pantsuit on Neelix's stocky body. "Try it on."
Encouraged by Neelix's supportive smile, Kes slid it onto her slender wrist.
"Thank-you."
"Of course, you can't wear that on duty in Sickbay," the doctor reminded. He had come out of his office and stood near, though still keeping two meters between himself and Seepa.
"Ugh." Seepa put her hands on her hips, as if there were no hope for these people. "Well, I'd better go see what they were calling me about. Where's Ensign Kim?" Tuvok escorted her out.
"Finally," the doctor muttered, exasperated. Kes slid the bracelet off and gave it to Neelix to keep for her. "Now maybe things can get back to normal." He went over to the captain. "I'll need a hypospray, Kes." She hurried to get one and handed it to him.
"Is there anything I can do?" Neelix asked.
"Yes." The doctor looked back at him. "You can get a glass of water."
"One glass of water, coming up." Neelix hurried to his errand, delighted to be put to service.
The doctor pressed the hypospray to his patient's neck. A few seconds later Janeway's eyes fluttered open.
Bright lights loomed over her. And then a bald head. Janeway blinked and stared, disoriented.
"Aah, feeling better now?" the ship's holographic doctor greeted her.
What was she doing in Sickbay? For a moment, she thought there had been some kind of accident. Her mouth was dry and tasted horrible and she felt queasy and light-headed. She lifted her head and it throbbed. She put it down again.
"Captain?" Janeway felt a light touch at her shoulder and she looked up at Kes. "How do you feel?" The captain remembered coming in, with Tuvok and Chakotay...no, Paris and Chakotay, and she remembered that she hadn't intended to stay.
"Not very well," she answered. "A little dizzy."
"Really?" the doctor commented from above. "Now, I wonder why that would be?"
Janeway closed her eyes. Oh no, he's going to make a show of it. Her unwellness and his cheerfulness had as much to do with retribution as with what she'd had to drink.
"I'm not the doctor," she informed him, hoping that if she lay quietly, she could get this over with. She felt a hypospray at her neck. A moment later a cool flush washed over her and her head cleared remarkably.
"Well, you're more or less whole. Considering," he pronounced. So, who had programmed him for self-righteousness?
"Thank you, Doctor." She lifted her head and managed to sit up this time, a sheet falling down from her. She took a deep breath, continuing to feel better, and pushed her long, reddish-brown hair back; it was everywhere, clinging to her face and neck. Then she put a hand to her throat.
"Ah, Mister Neelix," the doctor said beside her.
"Captain." Neelix was suddenly there, close enough to smell what he'd been making in his kitchen and holding a glass up to her chin.
"Thank-you."
She drank, while Neelix supervised. Then she sniffed, touching her nose to her sleeve and the scent of stale flowers still clinging to it. Oh, why had she tried that? She let Neelix take back the glass. She pushed the sheet away and slid her legs off the examination table. This time Kes was at her side to help. After a moment of dizziness, she felt much better standing.
"There, I think you'll live," The doctor said behind her, still cheerful on the other side of the examination table.
"Thank-you. But next time, Doctor, I'd recommend that you use a more expedient remedy."
"Ah yes. Next time," the doctor speculated. "Will you arrange to be carried into Sickbay? Next time?"
Janeway didn't turn around. There was no point in arguing with a sanctimonious hologram. She tapped her communicator.
"Janeway to Bridge."
"Chakotay here." Thankfully, he didn't ask her how she was feeling.
"Status."
"All ship's systems are fine. And Seepa's up here." A list of things that she'd intended to do with Seepa flashed across Janeway's mind and she wondered how long she'd been out in Sickbay.
"I trust you're showing her around, Commander."
"Yes, Captain." There was a pause long enough for Janeway to wonder what Chakotay was looking at, or what Seepa was doing. "She did ask about you, when you'd be able to rejoin us."
"Thank-you, Commander. I'll be right up." She pushed her hair back again. "In about twenty minutes. Janeway out." She looked back at the doctor. "I take it, I can leave." He gestured back generously.
"As long as I won't see you back here too soon."
"Fine. I'm going to my quarters to freshen up."
"Would you like me to go with you?" Kes offered. Neelix, on her other side, offered his support as well.
"No, thank-you. I'll be fine." They edged away from her, Neelix, it seemed, a little reluctantly.
"We got some very interesting scans from Seepa when she was here." Kes held a folded tricorder in her hands.
"Really?" Janeway started to ask about it, but then curbed her curiosity, pushing her hair back, again, away from her face. The scans could wait, though she did wonder if Seepa enjoyed medical scans as well as artificial gravity. It had seemed like every little energy field tickled her.
She left by herself. In the corridor, she gathered a few quick stares from the crew members she passed. Feeling a bit out of uniform—which she was with her hair down over her shoulders and hanging down her back—the captain kept her face sternly neutral. She resisted the urge to push her hair back again and drawing attention to it. At the turbolift, the door opened and a Maquis crew member exited, not paying much attention, he almost ran into her. His expression changed from annoyance to wide eyed shock. She glowered up at him and he swiftly slid out of her way and she took the lift and made it to her cabin without encountering anyone else.
Once there, she went to the lavatory, undressed and showered. The steamy water washed away the sticky film of old sweat on her skin and the bad taste in her mouth. She limited herself to two minutes and shut the water off. She toweled herself off and dried the dampness from her hair. There wasn't enough time for washing it, so she settled for brushing it out.
In her bedroom, she got out clean clothes, partially dressed and then rolled her hair up and fixed it in place in her usual bun. Then she put on a uniform and a fresh pair of boots. Finished, she checked her appearance in the mirror once more before leaving.
More quick stares passed her in the corridor. She ignored them since no one seemed inclined to look for more than a second before looking away. There wasn't anything else she could do about the obvious quick spread of gossip, because she knew she had only herself to blame.
"Bridge," she ordered in the turbolift.
She straightened her uniform, and herself. If she'd had a mirror with her, she would have checked her appearance one more time. The doors opened and she stepped out into the metallic grays of her bridge.
Tuvok, at his station on her right nodded, as he always did, toward her as she entered. She gratefully returned it and Tuvok went back to his work. Paris sat at the helm and peered back in her direction.
Janeway spotted the top of Seepa's pink hair amidst a knot of people over at the Ops station on her left. It was much pinker in normal light than she remembered it being on the planet. She bit her lip as she realized the extent of her poor judgement. She'd had a wonderful afternoon with Seepa. Meeting a humanoid of her age and experience was rare enough, but it just astonished Janeway that they'd gotten along so well, like old friends. After lunch, it had seemed natural that this camaraderie would translate to her officers when they got back to the ship. But in the cool, sober, lights of the bridge, this obviously wasn't true.
Poor Ensign Kim looked a little frazzled and was eying Seepa like a dreaded aunt. Parsons and Ialo didn't look much better. And Torres...the short-tempered Klingon's mouth was set in a harsh line and Commander Chakotay seemed to be conspicuously standing between her and Seepa. His eyes found her and smiled back. For a moment she felt a bit guilty, as if she'd arrived late and he'd been covering for her. She had to admit that he'd been doing just that, here and on the planet, and especially in the shuttle bay. She would have to thank him and Tuvok for keeping her in line.
"Oh, Janeway!" Seepa emerged from the people who clustered around the ops station. "Disaster has struck!"
Hands up, palms out in distress, Seepa's flashy, chrome silver came at her as she crossed the upper deck of the bridge. Janeway had to admit that Seepa looked quite ghastly in normal light, her skin unnaturally pale and smooth. Her small teeth, flashed pink as she chattered and her hair was such a strong shade of pink, without a trace of blond or gray in it at all, that it practically glowed.
"What happened?" Janeway went over to them.
"Yorgal got my ship ready early and those Ee'Roos are on me about taking their groostofs to their mother-home." Seepa flung the words out like a chore. "And really, really, I don't think I can put them off. Competition's a bit stiff around here." Chakotay came away from the group behind Seepa's piled, pink hair.
"This Yorgal is bringing the ship and cargo to dock with Voyager, Captain. Seepa can take her ship on and we can beam Yorgal back down to Zabos."
"Oh, he's just dying to try it." Seepa leaned close. "But you'd better check his pockets before he leaves. He's a little too likely to liberate some things while he's here."
"Indeed?" Tuvok, who had silently come over from his station, raised a cool eyebrow as he took up a stance behind the captain.
Janeway glanced back at him before turning back to Seepa. "How long before Seepa's ship arrives, Commander?"
Chakotay shrugged. "About twenty minutes. Yorgal was having the cargo loaded when we spoke to him."
"Ugh, not much time for anything, really." Seepa spread her hands out. "But I did see that warp thing of yours. Lieutenant Torres showed it to me." Still standing next to Ensign Kin, Torres put a hand on her hip, a 'yeah, sure' expression on her face and in her body language. "That person with Neelix..."
"Kes," Janeway supplied the name.
"Did those scan things you wanted," Seepa patted Janeway's arm, the slight heat and tingle of her force field connecting only briefly through the sleeve of her uniform. "It was divine." She grinned the same way she did when the waiter on the planet had brought them the first six courses of their lunch. "And Chakotay showed me everything here." She waved her hands, her bracelets jingling. The Commander smiled pleasantly down at her. "Oh." One hand flew to her face. "I didn't see any of those replicator things."
"Well, there's one in my office." She gestured toward her ready room door, on the other side of the bridge. "There's still time to look at it. Commander, if you don't need me for anything, we'll be in my ready room. You have the bridge."
Chakotay watched them cross the bridge and disappear into the captain's ready room, leaving him holding the bag—figuratively at least—again. Tom Paris, at the con, turned his head from the closed door back to the view screen, an amused smirk on his face. The eyes of the other personnel on the bridge traveled to that door before returning to duty stations as well. Next to him, Tuvok looked toward the ready room as well, his dark brows slightly furrowed in either surprise or speculation. It was hard to tell with Tuvok. It seemed odd for the commander to think so, but the bridge was suddenly rendered so ordinary without Seepa's flashy pink and silver influence.
"Commander." Chakotay turned around to B'Elanna Torres. "You're not going to just let them go like that?"
"You want to suggest stopping them?"
Torres had had enough. Why were they letting this woman all over the ship? She left Kim and stalked over to the two senior officers.
"How do we know she isn't going to do something? She's a walking force field. There's no telling what she could do."
Chakotay shrugged. "Tuvok's been with her ever since she came on board. What's your opinion?"
The security chief's dark face frowned. Following her around all this time must have really gotten to him if he were showing that much expression, Chakotay thought.
"Seepa's actions may best be described as...illogical, even irrational, but I have observed no hostile intent from her. If she had intended to do us harm, she would have had ample opportunity when she was aligning the dilithium chamber in engineering. And her assistance, while disruptive to standard Starfleet procedures, has been, for the most part, beneficial."
Tuvok was right, and Torres didn't like it. "Well, don't you think that maybe, she's not interested in the ship. What about the captain? Look at the way she's acting? Don't you think maybe Seepa's exerting some kind of alien influence on her." Torres gestured toward the ready room, her brow ridges accenting her angry dissatisfaction up at them.
Chakotay pursed his lips and looked to Tuvok again. Tuvok had been Janeway's security officer for over four years, knowing her much longer than the two Maquis. The Vulcan almost sighed.
"While I have never known Captain Janeway to violate protocol this severely before, while on duty, her recent actions have not been sufficiently atypical to warrant such an assumption."
Chakotay's brows rose, the 'while on duty' qualifier piquing his interest. Torres paused as well at this comment. Had Janeway ever done this before? Tuvok's cool return expression told them that if she had, the story would not be told by him. And, in truth, Chakotay didn't feel like he needed to hear it. But Torres still looked unsatisfied that there wasn't some immediate threat that would justify tossing Seepa off the ship.
"I think the captain and Seepa just get along well together." Chakotay concluded. "It happens sometimes. My people call it kas-jah. Two people meet, and they're immediately friends," he glanced toward Tuvok, "family," and then back to Torres, "brothers. Or in this case, sisters."
"The captain...and Seepa?" Torres' disgust suggested that she was thinking that he meant a physical type of sisterhood that he was not implying.
"They're not attracted to each other that way, B'Elanna," he corrected.
Tuvok gave this serious consideration. "Given the limited amount of time that they were together on the planet, I believe that you are over-stating the situation, Commander—"
"I hope so," Torres interrupted.
"But I have seen nothing to refute it, either. And I have seen evidence that Seepa is an individual of considerably more depth than she initially projects."
"They like to talk and they have a lot of things to say to each other. And there aren't a lot people for the captain to talk to."
His nod toward Tuvok—who was the closest that Janeway had to a confidant on the ship—might have been taken as an insult, but the practically minded Vulcan considered this statement along with all the others.
"I suppose she got a little carried away," Chakotay admitted. "But maybe this was the right time for it. Sometimes a person just needs to let off a little steam." Torres looked like she was about to say something, but held it back. "I think this is just the way Captain Janeway does it. She just doesn't need to break any furniture to do it."
The half-Klingon, half-Human engineer's mouth tightened at his reminder of her temper.
"How's the manifest for the supplies we're taking on?" Chakotay returned to ship's business.
'We're still working on it. We're still not sure what we're getting, and Yorgal's bringing some things with him with Seepa's ship. I'll let you know when we're finished."
Grumbling, Torres went back to Harry Kim's station. Tuvok went back to his station and Chakotay stepped down to his command chair to record a log entry. The little knot of senior officers dispersed, the other crew members immediately seemed more attentive to their work.
Five minutes went by.
Ten minutes went by.
Thirteen point 7 minutes went by. Torres and Kim finished all they could on the manifest and, tired of waiting, Torres left ops and stepped down to the command level.
"What the hell are they doing in there?"
Thumb pointed toward Janeway's ready room, she stood over Chakotay. An overtly curious Kim stood behind her.
Chakotay raised an eyebrow. "Nothing hazardous, I assume." Torres put a hand on her hip, not sharing the first officer's native patience.
"Well, Yorgal is almost here. Shouldn't one of us get them?"
Chakotay sat back in his command chair and rubbed his chin. Then he glanced at Janeway's empty chair on his right. Torres obviously could have called Janeway herself with the news. He got up. Tuvok silently joined them at the gray metal door to the captain's ready room.
- - - End Part 4
