A few days later, Vorik found himself in Sickbay, repairing delicate medical equipment. The hologram appeared relieved to see him. "I was beginning to think there wasn't anybody aboard with the expertise to repair any of my equipment and that I'd have to do it myself. I'm a doctor, not a technician!"

"Fortunately, Doctor, I am." Vorik said politely, holding his hand out for the Doctor's list. The hologram tossed him a PADD.

"Start at the top and move down. I've got a procedure in half an hour that can't wait any longer, and I just discovered half the tools I need are malfunctioning."

"I will do my best, Doctor. This is the order of priority, or is it the order of use?" he asked, getting to work. The Doctor bustled around, adjusting this and that.

"Good question. Some of both. The two top items I can't possibly do a thing for my patient without."

"It is unlikely I will have time for anything beyond the first three." He informed the Doctor, popping open a panel on the large scale tissue debrider. The Doctor huffed, clearly programmed for irritation.

"I don't suppose you have any suggestions for what I might possibly substitute for a size four cauterization wand or an endometrial regenerator?"

"Yes Doctor. A size 3 three wand should be adequate, although it may lengthen the procedure significantly. I believe a standard epithelium regenerator can be reprogrammed and calibrated to the appropriate specifications. Shall I move that to the third priority repair?" The hologram blinked at him. "Yes. You really are a technician."

"Yes Doctor." He said patiently.

"We don't have a size three wand." The hologram said petulantly.

"Size two?" Vorik suggested.

The hologram grimaced. "The sizes are on an exponential scale you know." Vorik nodded his acknowledgement, finishing the micro-weld that had snapped on the debrider, presumably during Voyager's encounter with the Caretaker. He activated the device to run a diagnostic.

"Shoo, I can do that. Get to work on my vaporizing scalpel." The hologram paused. "Please. If it's still broken, I'll tell you."

"Understood." That was more efficient.


If Vorik had been asked why he was hurrying so intently, he would have said that he simply wished to optimize the Doctor's preparations for the upcoming procedure in the time allotted. If he had spared a moment to evaluate his emotional state however, he might have had to admit, at least to himself, that he had no desire to find out which woman on Voyager was about to kill a baby, good reason or no, and wanted to get well out of Sickbay before she arrived. It didn't occur to him that there were a number of other reasons why a woman might need a procedure involving those instruments.

So, when Trumari walked into Sickbay at 0900 before he managed to get away, it only further cemented his low opinion of her.


"Is this level of preparation sufficient, Doctor?" Vorik asked the hologram.

"Yes, it'll do. Come back at noon. You can get started on finishing up my list."

"Doctor, your full list will likely be the work of several duty shifts."

"I know." The hologram said blissfully. "I'll let whoever ends up in charge of Engineering know I've co-opted you for the time being." Vorik raised an eyebrow at the hologram's presumption, but nodded and excused himself, carefully avoiding eye contact with Trumari.


Trumari was quite embarrassed to find Vorik in Sickbay as she eased herself painfully up onto a biobed. Did he have any idea why she was here? As much as she still wanted to get to know the twerp, dumping this particular bit of her personal history on him was a little much. He didn't need to know she'd had a miscarriage a year ago without proper medical care afterward, and she doubted he wanted to know, considering how he practically ran out of the room. She pressed a hand against her painful abdomen.

"Ready?" The hologram asked her.

"I suppose."

"Good. Let's get this done. The sooner you're fully functional the better. Not that I'm really advising you to start a family any time soon."

Trumari chuckled weakly. "You don't need to worry about that."


A/N: Vorik and his assumptions. *sigh*. Can you find the TOS reference in this chapter?