With his upper half concealed underneath the pilot's console of the shuttlecraft, Vorik called out that he was about to bring the sensor logs up. He did his best to ignore the stench of charred and melted circuits.
Torres joined him at the front as Vorik slipped out of the confined space and reached up to tap a few controls. They beeped in response and the view screen flickered to life as the last recorded readings scrolled across the console. The pair studied the readings intently.
"Definitely not the Caretaker's array," Torres murmured sarcastically with a shake of her head. "It looks like it was some sort of spatial anomaly like a wormhole, but since it didn't leave any trace of itself there's no way to know if it will ever reappear here or when. It just opened up in front of them, swallowed them up, and split them out here."
Tuvok also joined Torres and Vorik with Chakotay to his left and looked over her shoulder to scrutinize the information with them.
"Given that this anomaly appeared in a region of space that the Federation is quite familiar with and we have never encountered it before, it is logical to assume that it is an unstable anomaly. Therefore there is no point in "getting one's hopes up" that we may have found a shortcut home," he said factually.
Torres rubbed her temples tiredly.
"Thanks, Tuvok. You really know how to cheer everyone up," she muttered.
"Might I remind you, Lieutenant, that logic and factual information is not required to "cheer everyone up," Tuvok replied.
Chakotay chuckled at the exchange and then began giving instructions again.
"Alright. Let's get these sensor logs back to the ship and get this thing up and running again. Fully operational it's a whole extra shuttle."
Vorik nodded and grabbed his Engineering kit, making a beeline outside to help his other engineering comrades restore the shuttle.
"I uh… noticed your reaction earlier when Tom told the doctor about the Vulcan female," Torres began quietly as she leaned against the outer bulkhead of the shuttle next to the panel of circuitry Vorik was repairing.
Vorik fought to keep the immediate chagrin he felt from coloring the tips of his pointed ears.
"I am understandably curious," he answered vaguely, wondering what his superior officer was hinting at.
He suspected he knew, but it was still awkward to be put on the spot about it. It was Torres' way though. Blunt and in your business. Though perhaps she did care about him enough as a friend to check in on him. She was obviously observant enough to note his excitement at the possibility of welcoming a Vulcan woman aboard.
"Curious, my foot," she smirked conspiratorially before turning more serious again. "I just want you to know I think of you as a friend and I hope you find that right, logical person. Who knows? Maybe it's your lucky day."
"Thank you, B'elanna. One can hope," he said with optimism.
For a split second, guilt coursed through Vorik. The poor woman was in sickbay, hopefully recovering and here they were speculating that she might become a suitable mate for him.
But he couldn't deny that her appearance gave him hope. Illogical, but undeniable, uplifting hope that he would no longer have to fear being alone and unwanted again at his next Time. As a Vulcan woman, she would understand and be more likely to yield to the logic of the situation.
Gently, Torres tagged him on the shoulder with a smile and headed back the way she came.
"You were prying into young Ensign Vorik's personal affairs," Tuvok noted curiously and with a hint of distaste.
Torres shrugged and proceeded past Tuvok back into the shuttle.
"He's my friend," she said plainly as if that explained it.
"I see… I will never understand the fascination non Vulcans have with the private affairs of others around them."
Torres shook her head with a tired smile. She tweaked a couple of controls on the shuttle's console and the next upload of the shuttle's logs began uploading to Voyager's computer.
"Look. Tuvok… just because I didn't want to marry the guy doesn't mean I want him to die a hideous death during his next Vulcan Neurochemical imbalance, okay? He's my friend and I want him to find somebody that also wants him and a Vulcan female is the most likely to be logical about it. Let the guy have some hope, will you?"
Focusing on the next project inside the shuttle, Torres didn't notice the look of confusion and contemplation cross Tuvok's face as he pondered her words.
It was a couple of days later that Lieutenant Torres received word from the holographic doctor that the Vulcan woman was ready to be discharged from sickbay and assigned quarters.
Fortunately, the Starfleet shuttle had the most recent access to Starfleet's database and so the personnel files of the seven occupants were easily accessible.
Torres was getting a new engineering officer and she bounded into sickbay with an energetic enthusiasm not seen in some time. It caught holodoc somewhat off guard.
"Well, you're awfully chipper this morning, Lieutenant…," he observed just as cheerfully, not looking up from his tricorder as he took a few final readings of his patient.
"And why wouldn't I be when I'm getting a much needed addition to my staff. Besides… it's nice to see a few new faces around here."
"Indeed. Especially when one of them is joining my staff. Such as it is…," he muttered in Paris' direction.
Paris glanced up from the medical tricorder he was recalibrating.
"You know I'm feeling a little unappreciated down here. Maybe I should go back to the bridge…?" He pondered, scratching the back of his head, pretending to think about it.
"Oh calm down, you big baby," holodoc grumbled. "I've never said you weren't better than nothing."
"Are they always like this?" The patient asked curiously from her spot on the biobed.
"Sometimes worse," Torres answered her, glancing from holodoc to Tom with amusement. "You'll get used to it and at some point it may become the highlight of your day listening to them skewer each other like roasted Targ carcasses on a spit."
"I shall take your word for it," the woman acknowledged with a raised, and very amused, Vulcan eyebrow. "Perhaps I will join in one day if they are unlucky enough.
"I'm sure they'd like that," Torres smirked.
"I am Tazlana Ibrixa," the patient introduced herself, returning to the business at hand.
"B'elanna Torres, Chief Engineer. You'll be working with me so I thought I might help you get settled in on Voyager. That is, if the doctor here sees fit to set you free."
Torres gave the doctor a sideways glance that she wasn't sure if he'd noticed or pretended not to notice.
"She is not a prisoner," he said, finally satisfied with the double-check of her readings. He closed up his tricorder. "She may go."
"My appreciation, doctor," Ibrixa said sincerely as she hopped off the biobed.
Torres led the way to the deck that houses the crew quarters. As an Ensign, Ibrixa unfortunately would have to share quarters with a roommate, but Captain Janeway has agreed it might be best to assign her quarters with one of the other women from her shuttle. At least it would be a familiar face.
"Your name…," Torres began curiously. "It doesn't sound Vulcan."
"It is not," Ibrixa admitted. "I am half Betazoid and my Betazoid name is easier for non Vulcans to pronounce than my Vulcan name."
Torres glanced at the other woman and noticed her onyx eyes for the first time. With most Vulcans having dark eyes as well, she simply hadn't considered that this woman might be a hybrid like herself.
"Well, I must say it will be nice to have another hybrid around here. No one else around her really understands the tug of war in having two halves," Torres said with feeling.
"Indeed. My particular combination is frequently at odds with one another. My Betazoid half craves openness and gregariousness while my Vulcan half seeks privacy and solitude. I try to make time for both, but sometimes it's like each half has a life of its own. What is your other half if you don't mind my asking?"
"Human. And honestly I wish it had more control over my Klingon temper," Torres said ruefully.
Ibrixa nodded. "Understandable. It is difficult to be authentically oneself when oftentimes we're not even sure what that is for us. Coming from two radically different backgrounds it can seem as if our halves have their own identities."
"Finally!" Torres exclaimed. "Someone who gets it!"
The duo continued on and along the way, Torres explained the basic, but major differences to life on Voyager. Replicator rations for instance. Of course, the crew had been asked to pitch in so their new crew members could replicate necessities and a few things for themselves since they'd lost most of their personal belongings back in the Alpha Quadrant.
"Well, here we are. Take a few days to get settled in and rest. We're all here for you if you have questions or need anything. Oh, and tomorrow there's a party on holodeck two starting at 1800 hours. It would be a great opportunity to meet some of the crew.," She said, keying open the door to Ibrixa's quarters.
Ibrixa managed a very slight, tired smile; so slight it barely qualified as a a smile.
"Hopefully my Betazoid half will win out at that time," she joked.