Chapter Six--Recreation as Usual

Tom and B'Elanna's Quarters-1850

"Honestly Tom, you're worse than the Doctor."

Tom stood in front of B'Elanna. "There's no need to insult me. I just love you more than the Doctor does." Tom put his hand on her shoulder, and looked at her with his puppy dog eyes.

"Harry's expecting us," she sighed avoiding the penetrating glance of his gray eyes.

"I canceled," he said bluntly.

"And I said, 'No matter what Tom says, we'll be there.' Who do you think he'll believe?" she rose her eyebrow in mock speculation.

"You're staying right here." Tom stood as tall and as firm as he could.

"I can still break your nose, Old Man." B'Elanna stood her ground confidently.

Tom lowered his brow and looked at B'Elanna moment. She cracked her knuckles and her neck. Tom jumped aside. "After you, Dear."

B'Elanna smiled at her small triumph and walked out the door.

--------

Holo-Deck One-1850

Carrie lie on her back under a false Caribbean sun. Jessica was nearly at the helm of the sail-boat. "This is how you relax?" Carrie ask unbelieving.

"Great, isn't it?" Jessica replied.

"It's so boring, we need some exhilaration."

"Basketball?" Cass hopefully offered, she being an athletic person, jumped up from her book reading.

"Orbital diving!" Jared added as he drove into the sea off the main mast.

"Movie theatre?" James hoped.

"Walking on the pier?" Ben suggested.

Eric shook his head. "The highway," he corrected with a smile.

"Ding, ding, ding," Carrie said imitating a 'game show buzzer' as her grandfather claimed it. "We have a winner. Computer program Carrie2."

The large sail boat vanished and was replaced by a long paved road in the middle of a desert plain. On the road were two 1967 Corvette convertibles.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, relaxation," she said with a sweep of her arm.

Carrie hopped into one, followed by Jessica and Cass. Eric, Jared and the twins boarded the second.

"Somebody say 'Go'!" Carrie yelled as she threw the car into gear.

"Three, two, one, GO!" Jessica counted down and in an instant the two cars were off speeding down the long stretch of land.

"Isn't this great?" she yelled as the wind blew by.

After a few miles, Carrie slowed to a slower speed and drove a bit more leisurely.

"This is fantastic," Jessica said sarcastically as she picked her hair out of her mouth.

--------

Harry and Seven's Quarters-1858

"Harry, can you get that?" Seven called as she pulled the roasted chicken from the replicator.

Harry walked to the door. "B'Elanna! Oh, I see you brought Tom." Harry laughed as he ushered them in.

"B'Elanna, how do you feel?" Seven asked, standing next to Harry in a much more modest outfit than she wore in her younger years.

"Hungry," she replied with a shrug.

Tom's eyes lit up, "Let's eat."

--------

Holo-Deck One-1900

Carrie sat up on the deck. "Remind me; Why did we vote for this?" she asked as they were in the same sailing simulation as before.

"Because, your idea sucked," Jessica answered bluntly.

Carrie smiled to herself and laid back on the deck as Cass and Jared took turns jumping from the main mast. Eric was relaxing next to Carrie and James and Ben lie on one of the sail supports.

"At least with my idea, we were going somewhere."

--------

Harry and Seven's Quarters-1932

"Delicious, Seven," Tom complemented, wiping his mouth for the final time of the meal.

"Thank you, the replicator did well," Seven joked, as she had gotten better at her jokes over the years.

"How is Carrie fairing?" Harry asked. "She had quite an ordeal today."

"She's overwhelmed," B'Elanna replied, dropping her napkin on her plate.

"She must get that from you, 'Ensign' Kim," Tom joked.

"Hey, I haven't been an ensign in . . . almost forty years." Harry was taken back by his own response. "Is that right?"

"Thirty-eight years," Seven corrected with her same Borg-like accuracy.

"Does anyone else feel very old right now?" Tom asked quietly.

The other three nodded and the First Generation sat in silence realizing just how long it had been, and just how far they had come.

"When our time is over, will we be remembered for being 'old'?" Seven asked with a hint of fear in her tone.

"I hope not, my friend. I hope to Kahlass, not."

--------