Title: A Native American Love Story
Author: Frida o MalinGenre: Romancehumor
Pairing: JCRating: T (just in case for later chapters)
Disclaimer: We don't own it, Paramount do.
Disclaimer two: English is not our native (lol) language, just so you know… we are more used to writing in Swedish… pls. R&R. (even if you think it sucks… which you wont!) Have fun!
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"Did I just hear that you two locked the Captain and Commander Chakotay up in the holodeck?"
Tom and Harry slowly turned around in their chairs and looked up at Lieutenant Tuvok with guilt written all over their faces.
"Eh… no?" tried Tom, with a grin that totally gave them away.
"I assume you have not read the sign?" Tuvok said and nodded towards a giant yellow billboard behind their seats.
"Eh…yes?" Tom tried again. And looked at Harry with a puzzled look on his face. He hadn't seen any sign? It seemed to have appeared out of nowhere?
"That is excellent, Lieutenant Paris. Then you know everything about the time distortion on the holodecks?" Tuvok looked at Tom in disbelief.
"Eh…yes?" said Tom, now in a slightly more worried tone. Harry looked at Tom and understood that he would have to get this straightened out.
"Ok, what's going on? Is there a time distortion on the holodecks, you say?"
"Yes, ensign Kim, I thought that you of all people would read signs." Tuvok answered, "Now, have you read the sign ensign?"
"No… I'm afraid I have not sir. I've never seen it before? And neither has Tom. It wasn't here when we got here."
"Maybe someone…" Muttered Tom with a suspicious tone in his voice, but Harry cut him off,
"Pipe down, what are we going to do? What kind of time distortion is it? I mean, they have been in there for a while now."
"In our calculations, one hour out here is a day in the holodecks".
Harry looked scared
"Oh, then they have been in there for a while. We have to get them out!"
Tom who has been sitting like in a daze decided to join the conversation.
"We locked them up in there" he smiled to himself "maybe things have happened?"
Harry jumped to his feet.
"This is not funny Tom! Now I'll never make lieutenant. We have to get them out"
"Calm down, Ensign. There is not much to be done at the moment. We can not open the doors until we have cleared this region of space, or else the time distortion is going to spread all over the ship. If no complications occurs we will be out of here in about four or five hours." Tuvok tried to calm Harry down, who was now trying to figure out how to blame all this on Tom. After all, he had already made lieutenant.
Tom rose to his feet and looked at the other two.
"So, that means that they will have to be in there at least four days, maybe five?"
"Yes" answered Tuvok, and Tom could swear that he could see the shadow of a smile appear on the Vulcan's face. Tom tapped Harry brotherly on the shoulder,
"I guess our plan turned out better then we could ever have imagined, Harry" And both he and Harry began laughing hysterically.
After a while they calmed down, and Harry said,
"What are we going to tell them, and how?"
"We'll see, my young friend, we'll see…" Tom grinned at Harry.
Chakotay and Kathryn started to make their way back through the forest. Chakotay felt a bit embarrassed by the fact that he had shown his feelings so openly. Had she noticed? He was absolutely sure that she had. What was he going to do? Act like nothing ever happened, or… just act on it? Well. He would see how things turned out when they got back at the party. Maybe he could get that long lost dance after all? The dance that got ruined by…
"Damned that Tom Paris…" he mumbled to himself.
"What has he ever done to you, Chakotay?" Kathryn smirked.
"Oh, if you only knew, Captain. If you only knew."
They had now reached the airlock that stood between them and the rest of the ship. Or, as Chakotay would say: between him, Kathryn and the dance floor. He pressed the open button and…
"Biiiip" said the door. And it sure didn't open, as it should have.
"OK, something is up with the door?" Kathryn looked like she was going to laugh and cry at the same time. "Because if it is, I'm not going to be happy. Because somewhere on the other side of that door, there's coffee."
Chakotay couldn't help but laugh about this pathetic, but, oh so cute, statement. He tapped his com-badge.
"Chakotay to Paris"
"Paris here, how's your stay?"
"It's been perfect, I'm so impressed by your work. But there is a lady here who's craving the gross black stuff that comes in cups" Chakotay answered with a smile, and tapped Kathryn on the shoulder.
"Well" Tom hesitated "there has been some…complications"
"Complications, Lieutenant?"
"Talk to Harry" Tom picked off his com-badge and handed it to his best friend. Harry looked at Tom with something that was a bit similar to hatred, and then he said:
"Hello Sir. Eh… Ma'am… Eh, Captain." This freaked him out.
"Hello Harry. This is actually Commander Chakotay. What's going on? We would really like to get out of here now? It's getting a bit dark and cold." Chakotay couldn't understand how it could take that long time for Harry to answer him? It was as if it took him several minutes to get his answer? Finally he heard the young ensign's voice, but it sounded very distant.
"Well, Commander. I'm very sorry to inform you that I'm afraid it will take us a while to get you out of there. It's a time distortion. I suggest you prepare to stay in there for a while."
His voice sounded strange and very, very VERY slow.
Kathryn tapped her com-badge.
"Janeway to Tuvok, What's going on? What time distortion? What did Harry mean with a while? And why haven't I been informed?"
"Good evening, Captain. Tuvok here. I'm afraid you have not been informed about the distortion, because it appeared right after you entered the holodeck. But do not worry. This will not affect the ship in any way. Only the holodecks. I guess you and the first commander will have to make the best of your situation, Captain? I could arrange so you could get out of there in approximately five hours."
"You are talking more slow than usual, are the communicators malfunctioning? And five hours? Can't you just shut down the holodecks? Or, wait a minute, five hours for you or five hours for us?"
She started to sound a bit distressed, and glanced at Commander Chakotay, who had now stopped talking to Harry and was listening in on their conversation instead. They heard Tuvok's voice again, very slow.
"They are not malfunctioning, Captain. It sounds like this because of the time distortion." They could hear Tom Paris' voice in the background saying something about them sounding like squirrels on acid. "And we can't shut down the holodecks. Then we would have the time problem on the entire ship. I don't think that the com-badges will work for much longer. I'm also afraid that I meant five hours for us. And about… five days for you."
"Well, I guess we will see you in five days then, Lieutenant Tuvok, don't forget us in here, Janeway out". She turned and looked at Chakotay with horror in her eyes. "Five days, and no coffee! What am I to do? I guess we have to settle here for a while then"
Chakotay sank down into the soft green grass, that was now a bit wet from the cold evening air. His face was pale.
"You are talking about your coffee. What about all those birthday mushrooms then?"
Janeway sat down next to him in the grass and put her hand on his back.
"Right. It's your birthday too. Then we'll have to make the best out of the situation!" She dragged him up. "Come on, Chakotay. Let's build a tipi!"
