Chapter Four
Allucia trudged into her quarters about nine o'clock that evening and collapsed on the couch. She could be too nice sometimes. She had volunteered to clean the warp plasma manifolds in order to impress Lieutenant Torres. And now she was sore. Boy, I really gotta get back into shape.
Just as her eyes were beginning to close, her combadge chirped. Talk about timing.
"Paris to Banks."
Allucia tapped her combadge. "Banks here," she mumbled.
Tom raised an eyebrow on the other end. Was that English? "You're late for your piloting lesson," he said, punching commands into the wall console outside Holodeck Two to modify the program. He was late as well, so he wasn't one to criticize; he had made a little detour to Engineering on his way from the Bridge.
There was some muttering on the ensign's end, then something comprehensible. "I'll be right there. Banks out." Then the channel closed as Allucia closed her end.
A few minutes later, a disheveled teenager came jogging down the hall, her hand scratching something on her neck. "I'm sorry," she said, partly out of breath. "I was working in Engineering and had just gotten back."
Tom sniffed the air and made a face. "Cleaning plasma manifolds?" he asked, and got a dirty look in return.
"Yes," Allucia replied. "I volunteered."
"You volunteered?" Tom asked in disbelief as he and his student entered the Holodeck and boarded the holographic shuttle craft from the holographic shuttlebay. They took their seats; Allucia in pilot and Tom in co-pilot.
The former nodded. "I dunno why. Just too nice, I guess."
"Yeah, but that's a good thing."
Allucia shrugged, then yawned. "I suppose. What's up for today?" Her hand went back to her neck and scratching the area around the monitor.
"Flying through moving debris. Any kind: asteroids, space junk, that type of thing." Tom replied. Allucia nodded and went through the pre-flight checklist, then pressed the necessary controls for take-off. The shuttlecraft lifted off, and smoothly exited the shuttlebay. "Lush, I do believe that is your best takeoff yet." Tom remarked when they were clear.
"Thank you," the ensign replied, talking through her yawn. "It's amazing what people can do when they're sore, tired, and not seeing straight." She threw Tom a lopsided smile, as it was all she could muster through her fatigue, then yawned again.
Tom looked at his student for a moment. "You sure you're up to this?"
"Mm-hmm." Allucia said with a nod. "I've gotten through school on no sleep..." She paused to yawn again. "...this is nothing..."
"If you say so, Ensign." Tom replied, still not believing her. He looked out the shuttlecraft window and saw the asteroid field he'd programmed in. "Okay, give me shuttle control," he said, leaning in front of the console in front of him and beginning to press controls. This is how their lessons usually went, Allucia taking off, Tom demonstrating the day's lesson, then Allucia repeating what Tom had taught.
Tom explained everything and anything Allucia would need to know in order to pilot through debris. He made it as boring as he possibly could as they flew through the asteroid field; and for a good reason.
The older pilot finished his monologue as the shuttlecraft exited the debris field, and looked to his left. As he expected, Allucia had fallen asleep. He shook his head and smiled, then reached over and tapped the sleeping teenager on the shoulder. "Hey shortie."
Allucia jumped, her eyes popping open. Her eyes clouded over for a moment with anger-or was it sadness? Tom couldn't tell, for she had slipped on a mask he himself often wears. The teenager composed herself, then spoke. "I'm sorry—" she began to stammer.
"It's okay. I purposely bored you to sleep." Tom replied. "Now I'm ordering you to your quarters to rest."
She opened her mouth to say something, then thought the better of it, the expression on her face changing to gratitude. "Thank you," she said, standing up. Tom stood as well.
"End program." he said. The holo-grid shimmered into vision. "No problem. You've had a bad day."
"So I've been told," Allucia muttered. "Anyway, thanks again," she said as they exited the holodeck.
"No thanks needed. You obviously need the sleep and rest more than the Captain needs her coffee."
Allucia giggled. "G'night Tom, and please tell B'Elanna the same."
"Will do. 'Night." he said. Allucia waved and began walking down the hall. Tom turned and went into the adjacent holodeck where Sandrine's was running. It was still early, so there were hardly any people there yet. The pilot settled into his usual booth to wait for his girlfriend. She wasn't due until 2215, so Tom was a half an hour early since he'd let Allucia off the hook.
As his luck would turn out, the pilot didn't have long to wait. Much to Tom's surprise, B'Elanna walked in a few minutes later. The half-Klingon was equally surprised to see Tom there.
"Tom—" B'Elanna began, a bit startled.
"'Lanna—" Tom started simultaneously. Then they broke off at the same time, chuckling. "You first," he said, as he scooted over in the booth to make room for the half-Klingon.
B'Elanna slid in. "Everything went well today, some things quicker than expected. Lusha cleaned those conduits quicker than anyone I've ever seen. She even volunteered."
"Yeah, she told me." Tom said. "But not in as so many words."
The petite engineer snickered. "Anyway, did the lesson go well? You're here early too."
"There was no lesson. She was so tired when she got there, I just put her to sleep purposely with the lesson and ordered her back to her quarters for rest."
B'Elanna nodded in understanding. "She's a hard worker."
Sandrine came over. "I am sorry, mon ami, what would you like to eat?"
"We'll wait, Sandrine," Tom replied, "we're waiting for friends." The holographic Frenchwoman nodded and walked off. Tom and B'Elanna chatted for a few more minutes until two certain high-ranking officers walked in.
"Hello, Tom, B'Elanna," Kathryn said, sliding into the booth across from the two. B'Elanna cast a quick glance at the trailing Chakotay; her engineer's eye detected that he hesitated ever-so-slightly before sitting next to Kathryn. B'Elanna suppressed a smile.
Sandrine came back over and took their orders. While chatting over dinner, the topic turned back to the day's events, and in particular, the intruders.
"Lusha was the hostage?!" B'Elanna asked, shocked. She'd heard there had been a hostage, but she had never heard who. "No wonder she volunteered..." she said quietly, then thought for a moment. "You know what I think we should do? Do something nice for Lusha, like a party or something."
Tom nodded. "I agree. She's still adjusting to being in this time and I think she feels a little lonely and homesick. I mean, there's nobody remotely her age on the ship." Tom and B'Elanna turned to Kathryn and Chakotay, who in turn looked at each other.
"He makes a good point. What do you think, Kathryn?" Chakotay ask.
Kathryn nodded her head, then huddled everyone together to begin their planning.
Personal Log, Ensign Allucia Banks.
What a crappy day. To summarize: beaned in head by softball (well that could be good too), taken hostage by intruders, and smelly—and I mean smelly—from my duty shift in Engineering. I volunteered to clean the warp plasma conduits.
I didn't even see the aliens the whole time. Just got this impression... well more than that, he was practically strangling me! Anyway they were big and bulky people. Lunatics too. Tomorrow I'll probably be briefed on it... lovely... well that's all, good night.
"End log." Allucia said. She had given the whole dialog laying on her stomach on the couch, one arm over the side. She didn't even want to get up to shower, but she couldn't stand her obscene odor. After rolling over onto her back and stretching, she dragged herself to her feet and staggered over to her closet bathroom, totally grossed out by the smell of warp plasma.
When Allucia emerged from the now-steamy bathroom, she noticed a blinking light on her console; she had a message. She quickly skimmed it: debriefing at 0800. The ensign groaned, slapped her console shut, and climbed into bed.
Allucia sat straight up in bed with a shriek, doused in a cold sweat. She calmed somewhat when she realized she was no longer dreaming. She had been having nightmares, about her experiences earlier. The nightmare was beginning to fade, but Allucia did remember flashes of the leader's face.
The dimming memory reminded her of a hybrid between a Cardassian, a Hirogen, and a Tellarite, her mind filling in images to fit the context. She knew about them from her xenobiology texts; she had been studying before she'd made her trip to the holodeck. Xenobiology was one of the few subjects that kept her attention.
After unsuccessfully trying to fall back to sleep, the teenager gave up altogether. The cortical monitor on her neck wasn't helping things either. She checked the chronometer and saw that only forty-five minutes had passed. Allucia redressed in some civvies, pulled her hair into a high ponytail, and left the room.
"And then, when she comes in—" Kathryn broke off as she heard the jingle of the door open and saw a tired raven-haired ensign carrying a PADD walking in. She sat herself at the bar and ordered a drink. She had her back turned to those who were her commanding officers and, whether she liked it or not, her new family. "Allucia is here—not a word."
"What?!" Tom said, incredulous.
"I'll go talk to her," offered Chakotay, who immediately saw the problem. "I think I know what is wrong." He got up and took a seat next to the girl hunched over at the bar like she was some barfly.
As the first officer sat down, Sandrine was handing Allucia an ice cream float loaded with chocolate syrup. "That looks good, what flavor is it?"
Allucia jumped a little, startled, and spoke quietly. "Oh. Hello. Black cherry soda with chocolate ice cream and syrup." She had noticed her senior officers were also in the restaurant, and had decided not to push her luck by trying to get alcohol; it would have been easy to hack the holo-progam to get around her age.
"Sounds like you're trying to stay awake," Chakotay said, noting her bloodshot eyes, and the ever-present, but darker circles under them. Allucia nodded. "Bad dreams?"
She nodded again, scratching her neck as she did so. "This thing on my neck isn't helping either," Allucia said, craning her neck to the side slightly so Chakotay could see the monitor.
"Yeah, I hate those too. You would think, with the level of technology, they would have found a solution to the never-ending itching." Allucia laughed softly, took a sip of her float, and sighed. "Do you want to talk about your dream?" he asked at last.
Allucia nodded for a third time after a moment; she trusted Chakotay, so she proceeded to tell him about her dream. The first officer listened intently; and when the young girl had finished, he leaned back in his chair and thought for a moment. Then he spoke.
"I think since you never saw the intruders, your subconscious can't stand the fact that it doesn't know what it's afraid of; the unknown, and that's what's scary, if not a bit redundant. I think once you face them again, the issue will be resolved." he explained.
"Hmph. Well, I'll do my best, I guess," was all she said with a sigh, digging her spoon into a cup and drawing up some ice cream.
"Would you like to join the rest of us?" Chakotay asked, motioning to where Tom, B'Elanna, and Kathryn were sitting, still talking.
"Sure," Allucia replied. She picked up her glass and followed Chakotay to the others.