Chapter 3
She fingered one of her necklaces, shaped like an angel or a fairy, one might say. Very few people, at this day and age, would remember the old Lord of the Rings' movies, so they wouldn't exactly recognize it as a replica of the Evening Star. All of them had been concealed by charms and Voyager ached to activate just one, but dared not do it, not with the cortical monitor on her still.
So she read, and waited.
Never had she felt so challenged; humans had accomplished so much since the twentieth century, in all areas. Oh, she was certain people would still be people, but perhaps this time she wouldn't feel like she was watching from the other side of the glass, perhaps now she could, if not magically speaking, at least intellectually, reach her full potential. She would never give up her magic, but she was here for a reason.
All those years at Hogwarts had not been pointless; they had shaped her into who she was. Only two days later, a weakling would be crying still over spilt milk. But not Hermione; there would be plenty of time to later think about the past, and to mourn all who had been taken from her, all who had been left behind.
So she read, and waited.
More days came and went, and Vorik didn't come to see her. Neelix delivered her meals and she promised to go visit him to the mess once her cortical monitor was removed and she'd be able to come and go with more freedom of movement. That man needed, desperately, her old grandmother's waffle recipe. Not that she had said anything on the matter, as Hermione knew he'd never shut up about it. He might actually bribe her into divulging the recipe, and then he would turn a simple thing into something hazardous to the stomachs of the crew. Poor Doctor Grumpy.
There came the day when she finally went back to sickbay to remove the monitor.
"Oh, Miss Voyager. You just missed Ensign Vorik." Voyager cocked her head to the side and frowned. "Engineering has been very busy these last days. Quite a few were sick and there were a lot of shifts to make up for. They had a leak, so medical exams were necessary." She mouthed the Vulcan's name. "Ensign Vorik is now fine. Vulcans are quite strong, fortunately. He was anxious to get out of sickbay, he muttered something about sleeping and not seeing you for some time." Voyager wrote in her PADD.
It's fine. I presumed he was busy, being an engineer. Besides, I was hoping, if everything is fine, I'd be able to go to the mess hall. I promised Neelix I would, if you remove the monitor.
"And I will. I'd recommend taking it easy, but you recovered quite well, astonishingly fast. For a human, that is, and I'm quite certain you are one. DNA does not lie. I can't seem to explain your overly fast recovery, considering a week ago you were nearly dead." She shrugged and, with a few more recommendations, not ten minutes later, she was waiting in a line. It appeared Neelix was having a bad day, and the kitchen was a little slow as far as serving was concerned.
Some of the crewmembers in front and behind her were complaining about the slow service, so, after observing Neelix for a while, confident she could help him, she punched her offer for help into her PADD, stepped out of the line and approached the Talaxian.
"Oh, Miss Voyager! I'm sorry I haven't been to your quarters yet, but well… And should you be up and about, already? My! You look miraculously recovered, and so soon! I thought humans who took a beating like you did took longer to recover…", she grimaced at the attention she was getting from the crewmembers in front of the line and smiled at the Neelix. After some direction, Hermione adjusted herself to him and sooner than you might expect, there was no more line.
As she went to retrieve some of the dirty dishes for processing, she nearly bumped into a dark skinned Vulcan, older than Vorik. She gasped, surprised, and blushed a little.
"Miss Voyager", he began, "I am Tuvok. The Doctor informed me of your quick recovery. You are well?" She nodded. "Still, you should rest some more." She shook her head vehemently. "Very good. I would like to speak with you about career opportunities in this ship." She shook her head again, reaching for her PADD, and the Vulcan frowned.
I am still studying. I've been dedicating myself to engineering these last few days, among other subjects, and I took the Academy tests, as I requested them to the Doctor, via Neelix, and I passed them.
"You… passed them?" the Vulcan officer took her PADD and his eyebrows rose. "Well, these results are quite good... Follow me." She waved a goodbye to Neelix and went after the Vulcan, down a corridor and into an elevator. Soon they were off it, and after a sliding door marked as "Engineering". Tuvok asked her to wait by the entrance, just inside Engineering and he went off to talk to an imposing female with some sort of ridges in her forehead. She did not seem too pleased, stress lined around her mouth. She looked overworked and a bit like herself before taking her OWLs, she chuckled. Then, Tuvok spoke to her and handed her Hermione's PADD, and her face expression changed, nodding. Another crewmember approached them and she spoke something to him. Hermione looked around and saw everybody was looking a little tired. No wonder, perhaps half of them were either spending time in their beds, recuperating, or visiting sickbay.
So this is where Vorik, Ensign Vorik, works., she thought.
"Miss Voyager, this is Lieutenant B'Elanna Torres.", Hermione gave her a little smile and a little bow, suddenly feeling smaller before this strange woman.
"Mr. Tuvok has shown me your impressive test results. You will follow Lieutenant Junior Ayala around Engineering and try to learn what he teaches you. We could use extra help, it hasn't been easy lately on the engineers."
Hermione's jaw dropped. Was this real? She had been given such a chance, so suddenly. She squared her shoulders and followed the man, trying to assimilate and learn as much as possible, all thoughts of Vorik slipping her mind. As Mr. Ayala finished his shift, and debriefed B'Elanna, Voyager waited and as he left, she went to speak to Lieutenant Torres.
"As Mr. Ayala's shift is over, you may go." Her stomach decided, then and there, to growl. "As a matter of fact, I'm done here, so how about some early dinner?", both smiled at each other and left. They met a human crewmember. "Oh, Ensign Laktaw. This is Miss Voyager."
"Lieutenant Torres. Miss Voyager."
"I will see you later. All preparations are complete.", said Torres. Faced with the Ensign's surprised already? she added, "Miss Voyager helped us in Engineering today, believe it or not. She appears to have a knack for it."
"Really? That is a relief, Lieutenant, especially if it helps with the workload. Thank you!", she chuckled at Laktaw's response.
And off they went to dinner. Voyager noticed B'Elanna was respected by the others and had a quick wit, although she seemed a bit impatient in the elevator, when they left the ship's mess, which made Voyager look a little curious and amused.
"Well, it's my Klingon temper, sometimes I can't help it.", the Lieutenant said. "Vorik has spoken highly of you." Voyager cocked her head to her left and then to the right. "Believe me, that is quite a compliment, considering it comes from a Vulcan. I have known Ensign Vorik for nearly two years and he is a good judge of character." Voyager's lips trembled and she froze. "What is it?"
I just… it's nice to feel appreciated. She paused her writing. I never expected to start working anywhere in this ship so soon, even with such tight supervision, which I completely understand. You all honor me with such trust. I hardly understand why. I just popped out of nowhere.
"Yes, but you are the first human we encountered in the Delta Quadrant, and you couldn't injure yourself by your own volition, you were a victim, that is clear. You've been holding up very well, indeed. And with such a brain, you couldn't fake being dumb. Miss Voyager, you've done very well today, you will be an asset to this ship and crew. Just keep at it, and if you have any problems, know we are here for you." Voyager nodded and gave the half-Klingon a little bow. "Now that's new. I've never been bowed to!" the officer laughed. "Well, do you want to go to your quarters?" Voyager shook her head and paused, frowning.
I would like to see the place where you found me, please.
"If you're sure."
I am.
Minutes later, they were at the Holodeck.
"There was a program running but nobody has managed to understand how that came to be. It's like it never existed. Does the room joggle your memory?"
No. How does the Holodeck work?
"Computer, run Tropical Resort Simulation 3." Voyager stared at a luxurious retreat. "There, Neelix created this holodeck program, and I, along with Lieutenant Tom Paris and Harry Kim, introduced some elements from Earth's resorts."
It's very nicely done! I would love to create something like this, although different. She frowned.
"What is it? Have you remembered something?"
A dark forest. B'Elanna frowned. The forest wasn't always dark. There was a lake, too.
"You are already remembering some things. Maybe in time you will remember all of it, and your voice will come back."
Yes. Your temper, for instance, reminded me someone.
"Really?"
A ginger haired young man. He had a sister and twin brothers.
"See? You're doing very well." She looked at the back of Voyager's hand. "What is this?" The young human stood and shook her head. "I didn't mean to pry." The young witch nodded.
I'm remembering things that are unpleasant. The Doctor said it might be therapeutic to write about it.
"Then you should. Why don't you write a holodeck novel for yourself? Or just create a place that's yours. You can place or remove characters at your will, even keep people from making modifications to your characters. Just make sure you have security protocols enabled. Even a holobullet can kill."
Thank you, Lieutenant. I will. If you don't mind, I think I will find a quiet place around here and start at it.
"You should rest, Miss Voyager. Or, at least, don't strain yourself. I expect to see you back in Engineering in twelve hours." The human smiled and went to find a place to sit by the artificial sun. The whole place was clean and cheery, and looked very much like a Hawaiian resort. One young lady, a holographic one, approached Hermione with some drinks, which she denied, setting herself to start writing a holoprogram.
An hour passed quickly and Voyager was still playing with her PADD. She had no problem remembering details from her past. She no longer had problems with the Statute of Secrecy, so it was rather pointless to hide such a story from the world. She didn't divulge the exact locations of the places she once knew, which was as easy as changing the scenery, but much was the same. Last names were altered, until only Harry's, Ron's and hers were the only real matches. In the end, she had thought to change Bellatrix Lestrange's countenance, but refrained; she was dead, and running from the dead wouldn't help her. She sighed as she saw Tom Paris sitting in front of her.
"So, new girl, how's it hanging?" she stared at him. "I heard you surprised everybody in Engineering. The guys from the night shift are going to worship you,", she looked questioningly at him, "oh, they've been working like crazy ever since the last attack. They appreciate every helping hand right now. What are you working on?" she pointed at the room in general. "Holoprogram?" she nodded. "I can help you with that." They rose and he deactivated the current program, since they were now the only ones in the deck. Voyager gave him her PADD, and after a minute the blonde man spoke. "Not bad for your first time ever. But I don't see any characters and you've been at it for quite some time." She shrugged.
"Maybe she's keeping them for herself, while she works at it."
"Hey, Harry. Voyager, this is Harry Kim." Hermione paused at the name, which Tom noticed, without comment, and they shook hands.
"So, what is it about?", asked Kim. Tom reached the controls, and transferred the program into the system. A dark forest surrounded them.
"I can't see a damn thing!", said Paris. "Computer," he began, only to stop.
A small light grew until it illuminated all three; the men keeping their fleet uniforms on, while Hermione had those old fashioned clothes on, similar to what she had been wearing when she appeared at the holodeck. Straight leg drawstring trousers, a tunic, and boots, along with a hooded cloak, all in black. The light was emanating from a single stick she held in her hand.
"This is giving me the creeps.", whispered Kim.
"Come on, it's a holoprogram. It's just a little different from what you are used to."
"Yeah, but still."
"You'll have to name it, Voyager.", she smirked, took her PADD and named it "Voyager's Forbidden Forest."
"It's got a ominous ring to it. Congratulations on your first holoprogram.", said Paris. "Now, Computer, …"
"Oh, my GOD!", yelled Kim. Voyager had just become trapped with some kind of plant.
"What the?", said Tom, watching Voyager relaxing against the plant's grip, and then sliding gently to the ground. "Computer, what the hell was that?!"
"Devil Snare, plant existing only in the current program. It has the ability or strangle anything in its surrounding environment or something that happens to touch it. Relaxing against it, will release its prisoner, and the application of sun or fire will have the same effect.", replied the cool voice.
"O-kay.", Harry turned at the young woman. "You could have killed yourself.", she snorted.
"Not in a million light-years, Harry. Security protocols were activated, and… what was that."
"I don't like the way she's smiling at us, Tom. Tom, I think I heard something too." Kim looked around him, and saw a tall dark body approaching.
"Humm… is that a giant spider?", asked Paris. "Who cares, I'm out of HERE!"
"Me too!"
Hermione chuckled at the two rapidly retreating men, yelling like girls, and faced the Acromantula, vanishing it.
"That was different, Miss Voyager." She turned to face Mr. Tuvok. "Is this place all like this?" At her more-or-less signal, he spoke. "I suppose no-one asked you, but we could use another able person working in Engineering, if you wouldn't mind, at least for a few more days." At Voyager's smile and nod, he continued. "I have heard you got along with Ensign Vorik, but I'm afraid you will not be able to socialize with him for a few more days until the situation is under control again, since your schedules will be too different. However, since you are human, I have no doubt you will have no difficulties socializing, in spite of your problem." She nodded. "Report back to me in 2 days. Leave the program running. You are dismissed."
As the human left, Tuvok turned on the spot.
"Computer, lights, medium." The flora was diversified, based on Earth standards, but there were many curious species. "Fascinating." The older Vulcan asked the computer for several information on the plants he could not identify, and they all began with "plant existing only in the current program". Miss Voyager had a fertile imagination. He deducted the stick she held might have been some remote control to make up for her lack of voice; carrying a PADD all the time might prove troublesome after a while.
He thought nothing more of it and left.