Chapter Four – Loves Restriction
Hogan stood, backed against the wall, facing the nine remaining gel packs. His lips were freezing cold, an after effect from the kiss of another being.
A man just kissed me. He thought, still frozen to the wall out of pure surprise of the scene that just happened. Finally, he crouched down and picked up his badge, only to throw it back down again because it was so cold it burnt his hand. He slid into a sitting position against the wall, and directed his voice to the comm system overhead.
"Hogan to Torres." He spoke slowly.
"Torres here, what's taking so long?"
"Can you come up here, I think we might have a problem…"
--
"Commander, simply put: we have a problem." Janeway said, as she sat down at her desk. Commander Cavit frowned.
"Would this happen to do with that symbol that came up on all of the computer displays earlier?" He questioned.
"Well, that and the fact that I can't contact of Starfleet. Something is seriously wrong here, sensors aren't even picking up the subspace relay stations. We are out here by ourselves." She finished, as she turned her chair toward the stars.
"Sounds familiar." Cavit muttered, as he sat down in one of the chairs facing Janeways desk.
"Pardon?" She raised her eyebrows.
"B'Elannas story. Their Voyager has been lost in the Delta Quadrant for years."
"Lost with no hope of rescue." Janeway trailed off. "I cannot imagine, one ship being bound together by the ideals of the Federation. With no backup whatsoever just setting a course for earth and not looking back." They sat in silence, looking out the window at the stars.
--
"He kissed you?" B'Elanna said as she crouched next to Hogan.
"And then disappeared with a gel pack. Oh, and he said 'Don't tell Adrianna.'
"Who is Adrianna?"
"Damned if I know…" He trailed off.
"Well, we need to look at the sensor logs- find out how he got on and off the ship. He must have more advanced technology than us to be able to not trip the intruder alert." Torres said, as she reached down and grabbed five gel packs. "Lets get these downstairs and finish that computer diagnostic, then we'll alert the captain."
--
Torres and Hogan walked into the computer processor room, tricorders in hand. There was already a team of three in the room when they entered.
"My name is Emerson." A young man approached them, in an Ensign uniform.
"We have been scanning all the isoliner chips attached to the core, and have found no problems."
"That's good, you and your team go assist the team in the backup subprocessor room. We have got it here." She finished, as Hogan opened his tricorder and started walking to the core.
"Yes Ma'am. Lets go people!" He said quickly, and followed his team out of the room. Torres turned to Hogan, right as he started speaking.
"Everything in here seems to check out… at least as far as the tricorder can tell." He said, after passing the small beeping device up and down the core a few times.
"I wonder if a diagnostic will do anything. Computer, run a level one diagnostic on all computer functions, with emphasis on data storage and processing." Torres said, looking at the large computer processor.
-Acknowledged, standby. The computer responded.
"That should take a few minutes. In the mean time lets…" She was cut off.
-Diagnostic halted. An anomalous data block has been detected. The data block is approximately 7 teraquads in size.
"Damn." Hogan said as he snapped his tricorder shut. "That's big." Torress mouth dropped open.
"No wonder it froze, it couldn't handle that information that quickly. I'm surprised it didn't shut down all together."
"Computer, where did it the data block come from?" Hogan said.
-Data block 44c was downloaded into the database by an unknown source.
"How was it downloaded?" Torres said.
-Unknown.
"Display the data block." Torres said, as she turned to the holographic viewer in the room. Hogan walked up beside her to watch.
-All data block contents are encrypted with the exception of one file. The computer responded.
"Display that file, then." B'Elanna said impatiently, as she glanced at Hogan. The holographic viewer flickered, and then displayed a planet with words hovering around it. The text around it read:
Planet Designation: Aona. Life count: 21 million. Inhabitants of planet believe in two supreme gods- being brother and sister: Acritin and Adrianna, although research into the matter revealed it to be nothing more than folklore.
Hogan turned white.
"Acritin! That must have been the guy that I saw on in engineering!" He said, as he stared at the planet.
Acritin, according to ledged, would descend from the heavens and pick a commoner to mate with, giving the commoner eternal life for as long as they desired. His sister, Adrianna, preferred never to be in the company of anyone else but her brother- and she would get jealous when Acritin spent time with anyone else. It is said that they are best friends and worst of enemies at the same time, explaining the irregular weather patterns on Aona.
Despite their dire situation, B'Elanna started to grin. Hogan glanced at her and noticed it.
"What?" He said, eying her suspiciously.
"Well… it looks like some has a boyfriend!" She said slyly.
"Not funny." He muttered, as he glanced back at the viewer.
Aona, being the planet of many mystical things, has remained hidden from the outside universe for centuries- in order to protect the inhabitants of their world, as well as the outside.
Torres tapped her finger on her tricorder in thought.
"This seems to be a computer log. Someone wrote this file as an observer of this planet." She said, staring at the holographic image of the planet floating in the room. Hogan yawned.
"Sorry." He said, as she shot her head over at him. "I've been up a long time."
"Yeah, you were in engineering hours before I got there this morning, you should go get some rest. Catch a few hours of sleep then meet me back in engineering, ok?" She said, concerned for her friends mental well-being.
"I won't argue with that… but where shall I sleep?"
"Oh, sorry I didn't tell you- I talked to the Captain while you were on the upper level. She assigned you room 21 on the fourth deck."
"Deck four, room 21. On my way. See you in a few hours, Lieutenant." It wasn't but a minute before he had found his new room, shed his clothes, and stepped into the shower. He was mildly excited, for the shower in these quarters were water showers, instead of sonic showers. Pressing the percentage of hot to cold into the computer terminal, water immediately started beating at him from all sides. Suddenly, he heard a voice.
"You know, you are the most beautiful being I have seen in millennia?" It spoke. Hogan, surprised, nearly slipped and fell. He smashed the off button, stopping the water flow from the shower. "I'm sorry, my intentions were not to startle you." Hogan grabbed a towel, and ran it across his face to clear his vision. When he did, he immediately recognized the shimmering young man from engineering, who was leaning against the sink in his bathroom.
"Are you Acritin?" Hogan asked, then realized he was completely nude. He quickly wrapped the towel around his waste. The man shimmered when he heard his name.
"Yes!" He said excitedly, and stepped closer to Hogan. "So you found my data file I implanted into your computer?"
"The data file that caused the computer to freeze… yeah we found it." Hogan said, eying the man.
"That was regretful… I was not expecting your ships computer to take so long to process it. I apologize. But now, you are here." He said, as he changed to a light blue color. "You know, I have never been attracted to… the same sex as myself before." Hogan tightened the towel around his waste, making sure it was secure.
"I… I don't know what to say." He stuttered.
"Then don't say anything, let me show you just how much I want you." Acritin said, stepping closer to Hogan.
"I'm not like that…" Hogan mumbled, speechless as to what was about to happen. Acritin softened his voice as he stepped into the shower.
"Don't restrict love by physical boundaries. By being with me, you can step out of the boundaries of your current body. Please, give me a chance." He said as he stopped, an inch away from Hogan. They stood in the shower staring at each other for a moment, then Acritin moved foreword and embraced Hogan, holding him next to his body.
"Your freezing cold!" Hogan said, then he started to relax. Suddenly, he felt his body start to change. He looked down, and noticed he was sparkling. The sensation was amazing, not like anything he had experienced before.
"Its wonderful, isn't it?" Acritin said, still holding him. Hogan suddenly realized that he was starting to feel the same way for this man, or god, whichever he was. Acritin pulled away from him, and looked into his eyes. "So what do you say?" Acritin asked, hope in his eyes. Hogan grinned, backed Acritin against the shower wall, and started to kiss him. Both men turned bright blue, and started to shimmer.