Chapter Fifteen--Survivor's Guilt
Ready-Room-1230
"Enter," Tuvok said to the chime of his door.
"Captain, can I talk with you for a moment?" Carrie asked.
"Of course," he answered.
"Have you ever been afraid? . . . I mean, so afraid that you can't move?" Carrie asked.
He looked at her questionably but did not answer right away.
"Have you ever been so afraid that you wake in the night to nothing but the sound of your own fear; the sound of your lungs fighting for breath; and your heart beating to the sound of an off beat drum?"
"Yes, Carrie, I have."
"That's how I feel now," she said with a sick face.
"Me too," he said looking out of the view port and to the serene picture before him, feeling less comforted than usual.
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Tom and B'Elanna's quarters-1230
Tom sat in his favorite chair in his quarters. He looked out the view port to the scenery of Gheta. He had been outside; but between the repairs of the ship and the Ghetan's speaking volume, it was far too loud for his old ears.
He felt somewhat content in his quarters, but he could not relax. His thoughts were on his wife and his children. He could not stand the thought of them unconscious in Sickbay. He was glad Carrie and Eric were unaffected but he wondered how they were taking it. They saw half of their family, including one of their parents, in a coma for the same unknown reason. He wondered if they could ever recover from the shock.
Tom looked out the view port and missed the stars that he usually saw. He missed the stars whenever there was anew scenery. The starry view had become part of his home. He was almost glad that he would never see Earth again.
Tom couldn't bear the thought of looking out onto Earth and not a starry expanse. He was uncomfortable planets, he missed the artificial gravity. He always felt too hot under the real sun. Tom loved Voyager, he needed her to survive.
He loved B'Elanna too. He needed her even more.
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Derek and Miral's quarters-1300
"Orange to Grid Seven," Carrie her piece lazily.
"Are you even trying? Because I've got you in three moves," Jessica asked irritated.
"No, not really," Carrie sighed.
"Ugh!" Jessica groaned angrily. "I hate playing with you! Hey, Cass, come play with me!"
Cass pulled her head out of her book with a smile. She got up from her seat on the couch and sat down next to Carrie. Carrie stood and walked in a little circle before picking up a trinket from her mother's desk and fiddling with it.
"I just feel . . ." she drifted of in thought.
"Guilty?" Jessica prompted.
"Useless?" Cass offered.
"Both," Carrie dropped onto the couch, toying with the device she picked off Miral's desk. "What is this thing?" she asked herself, trying to focus on something other than her troubles. She looked puzzled as she investigated the object.
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Astrometrics
"Everyone is looking for you," Seven said walking in.
Eric sat on the raised platform looking at a large star map. "I left my COMM badge in my quarters."
"I know," she replied.
"How'd you find me?" he asked still looking at the screen.
Seven sat down next to him. "When you feel sad you look at the stars, but there are no stars outside, so you came here."
"What happened to them, Seven?" he asked her, looking up at her face.
"I don't know, but the Doctor will find out," she smiled comfortingly. "You don't need to be here, you need to be with your friends. If I learned one thing from humans, it is that companionship always makes them feel better," she looked up at the screen.
"Can you stay with me for a while?" he asked quietly.
She smiled and held his hand. "Of course, I will."
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Sickbay-1234
"Curious," Doctor Talen said in the Ghetan version of a whisper, or the human equivalent of a normal speaking voice. "It seems that what is causing this is coming from an outside source," he whispered.
"An air-borne virus, perhaps?" Seivom suggested quietly.
"Possibly," the Doctor answered. "Naomi, run a type-four environmental analysis specifying on atmosphere."
Naomi pressed a few buttons and watched the information come in on the screen. "Nitrogen, oxygen," she read off, unsurprised. She stopped there, "Doctor, look at this," she said pointing to the screen.
"Air-borne virus it is," the Doctor concluded from the compound Naomi pointed to.
Doctor Seivom was smiled at my his colleagues, obviously impressed with his deduction.
"Now we have to cure it," Naomi reminded them.
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