Chapter 7 –
Author's Note:
Pallet - a slab or framework of wood used for carrying things. The most common type of pallet is the kind used to move cargo.
Pallet jack - a tool to move heavy packages (stacked on a pallet) from one area to another with relative ease. They are typically used in warehouses or other areas used to store cargo.
She lumbered out of Samantha Wildman's quarters and leaned up against the bulkhead, her shoulders shaking up and down as tears streamed from her eyes.
His anxiety level shot to Red Alert just after he rounded the corner. He did not particularly like what he thought he saw at the end of the hallway.
The sound of running footsteps coming toward her made her realize she needed to compose herself. Don't do this here.
Ensign Murphy skidded to a halt in front of her. "Captain, what's wrong? Do you need to go to Sickbay?" Why is she out here alone?
She firmly clamped her lips together and ducked her head toward the floor as she continued to shake. She appeared to be making squeaking noises.
What the hell is going on? Is she crying?
She was trying to conjure up some semblance of her command presence before she answered and was failing miserably.
Without waiting to hear a response he tapped his comm badge. "Sickbay site to site…"
"Belay that order! I don't need…" She realized that it was hopeless and she had no choice but to surrender to her feelings. She finally chortled, "I'm not in any distress, Mr. Murphy." She wiped the tears from her eyes and gave him an apologetic grin. She felt guilty, realizing that she'd inadvertently alarmed him. One of the babies picked that moment to kick her rather hard and she flinched.
"Are you okay?" he bit out.
"I'm fine, Ensign." She took a shaky breath. "I didn't mean to alarm you. It was just something silly Naomi said. And well, I couldn't laugh in her face. And then your reaction and… I'm sorry; this probably isn't very funny to you. But I think I needed that. Please carry on."
"Actually, I was looking for you, Captain."
"Oh?" She raised her eyebrows.
"Well, Tuvok mentioned that the Doctor wanted you to eventually go on bed rest but that you were… characteristically noncompliant. So… I brought you this." He pointed down the passageway.
She wanted to acknowledge his gesture and show some gratitude but frankly she was a trifle bit annoyed. "Modified bed rest, Ensign. And I've essentially been off my feet all day until this evening." If we had the power, Chakotay would insist they kept a transporter lock on me around the clock.
He jogged back to retrieve it, explaining as he brought it to her, "I thought you'd find this useful. That it might be a bit of a compromise of sorts."
"It's a glorified wheelchair." But it would keep me off my feet and still grant me a modicum of freedom. She sighed, resigned to its use. I haven't seen one of these in years.
"It started as one of the floating pallet jacks from Cargo Bay One. We modified them a few years ago for the races."
"Really?" she smirked.
He looked at her puzzled. What's so funny?
"I don't think you realize that these modifications…" She waved her hand over the pallet jack. "…are supposed to be a secret." Her eyes positively danced at him while she waited for him to respond.
"I didn't think…"
"Plausible deniability." She patted the embarrassed science officer on the arm. "The captain and senior officers would be bound by Starfleet regulations to prevent and report the use of ship's equipment for non-official business. Don't worry; I'm well aware that there are no pallet jack races on Voyager. Correct?"
She was rewarded by a brief head bob and crisp, "Yes, Ma'am, ah, I mean no Ma'am!"
She took a seat upon her steed and grinned. "But if there were, I'm sure I could see how racing those around the ship might be ship's business under the heading of morale?" She activated the controls and let him walk her back to her quarters. She absent-mindedly rubbed her nose. I wonder what he would say if he knew I'd broken my nose as an ensign, racing one of these? Would my credibility go up or down?
She returned to her quarters to find Tom and her husband in an animated discussion.
Chakotay kissed her hello and stepped out to chat with Ensign Murphy.
Tom bowed low before her. "I see Queen Arachnia has found an improvement over her usual litter carried by minions," he quipped as he helped her get settled on the sofa.
"Flattery or whatever you meant will get you nowhere. I've seen the last of your Captain Proton holonovel."
"Are you sure, Captain? I bet Chakotay likes seeing you in that outfit. I'm positive Chaotica would welcome you and your pheromones back into his realm. Name the day. I still have the specs for the costume."
"Not unless any more beings from the fifth dimension turn back up. I'm no actress. Besides," she glanced down at herself, "it will be a while before I can fit back into that costume. I think my current appearance might alarm him."
"Whatever you say, Captain." Tom recognized the dismissal in her eyes and left.
Chakotay settled in next to her, "So, what did Naomi say that was so funny?"
"Well, Naomi was watching an old television program with baby animals, courtesy of Mr. Paris. Sam and I were chatting. When I walked back into the room, there was a mother cat and her kittens on the screen. Naomi turned, looked me up and down, and said, "You know, they come outta her butt. Just saying. In case you didn't know."
=/\=
A few weeks later…
She woke up uncomfortable and disoriented. This is not my bedroom. It's Gamma shift. It took her a full minute to realize she'd fallen asleep just a few hours before in the ready room while waiting for her husband. That explains my aching back. Chakotay got stranded on the Skolron home world after the last round of discussions: too much interference from the periodic ion storms to beam through. Dammit. I wonder if they delayed the negotiations on purpose? She shook her head. Just because I can't be there personally, I imagine the worst. She sighed. I need to get used to the idea of stepping back from the role of captain for a bit. How dangerous can it be when almost half the crew is on shore leave? Disaster is not going to hit just because I'm not there. As she ruminated on the situation she slowly realized what had awakened her. A brief wave of nausea made her stomach flip. The Doctor told me that early labor might be like this. I'd rather not alert the bridge crew that I'm awake by the sound of my retching.
Voyager's EMH materialize a short while later, for which she was grateful. She'd forgotten how vexing the nausea had been early in the pregnancy.
He hurried over to her side holding a medkit. "Ensign Lang thought I should check on you." He examined her briefly.
When was she here? "My contractions are only about ten minutes apart." she stated queasily. She sat up, suddenly alarmed. "I should have summoned you sooner. Is it too soon for them?" She covered her mouth firmly hoping she didn't heave.
"No," he reassured her. "My last scan indicated that they were doing very well. Vulcans are a hearty species and won't suffer any ill-effects from being a little bit premature. The Klingon is overdue and with extra time in the womb only gets larger. Now is the optimal time, no harm done to the others. But thanks to some help from Mr. Paris, our sickbay is equipped with everything we might need for them." The Doctor pulled some medicine out of the kit and leaned over her.
She welcomed the cold hiss of the hypospray against her neck as the nausea started to melt away slowly.
"I agree they won't be making their appearance for hours yet. The anti-nausea medicine should help you; you need to rest. This is a critical time for you to charge your batteries for what is to come."
"I thought we were planning a fetal transport, that you'd transport them en masse. You don't expect me to push them out separately, do you?" she said incredulously. "That was not part of the bargain."
"Captain, unless there is a grave emergency your labor needs to progress as much as possible so all those cocktails of hormones prepare them to breathe outside the womb and also encourage the placenta to release. Performing a fetal transport of the babies too early would be almost like ripping your arm off with a transporter."
The sound of phaser fire coming from the bridge startled them both. Her eyes opened wide as she started to contemplate the reasons for those sounds, none of them good. She struggled to get up and rush to the bridge but the Doctor tried to stop her.
"Captain! You can't possibly…"
She swatted her comm badge. "Captain to the Bridge, report!"
The silence brought a cold chill down her back.
Before they could exit through the door leading to the passageway, the main doors opened and phaser fire streamed through.
To her dismay, she was greeted by two Skolron pointing phasers. She managed to gasp out, "Computer, deactivate EMH," before they surrounded her. The sound of the holo-emitter hitting the deck made her feel sick all over again. How did they get on board?
Author's Note #2: The name of the aliens came from the scifiideas dot com / alien-name-generator /
