Lt. Marjorie Shin was laughing as she motioned the waiter for a refill of her drink, some sort of brightly colored juice mixed with Earth rum. "He didn't really say that, did he?"
"He did," Lt. Nenyaht insisted. "But you have to remember, he was talking to a six-year-old—"
"The six-year-old son of the quantum mechanics professor," she finished, still laughing, a bit more flirtatiously than necessary. "You would think a Vulcan would know better." He only shrugged and grinned as he took a drink from his bottle of Ktarian beer. "Come on, tell another."
"I've told several already," he replied. "I believe it's your turn."
"My stories aren't nearly as interesting," she insisted, pouting slightly. That did it; he was convinced she was flirting. "You've traveled around the quadrant, your parents are Academy professors, you've stayed at the captain's house—is there anything I've forgotten?"
"My godmother is Starfleet's Fleet Admiral," he offered.
Her eyes widened in surprise. "Admiral Janeway is your godmother?" she repeated.
He nodded. "But I call her Kathryn."
"You're on a first-name basis with the highest ranking and most decorated Starfleet officer alive today."
As if on cue, the doors slid open, revealing none other than Captain Harry Kim and Admiral Kathryn Janeway, looking casual in their off-duty clothing, laughing about some shared joke. Seeing Nenyaht seated against the viewport, Janeway smiled broadly, directing Kim to their table.
"Nenyaht," she said, holding her arms out for an embrace. Never one to deny the Fleet Admiral of anything, he rose and gave her a hug. "It's been too long," she scolded.
"I know," he said. "I've been—"
"Busy," she finished with a smile. "I'm a Starfleet officer, too. I know how it is." The smile faltered. "We missed you at the memorial."
"The Enterprise was too far away to make it on time," he explained softly. "I'm sorry, Kathryn. I would have liked to be there."
"He would have understood. Icheb never would have wanted you to neglect your duties on his behalf."
He winced at the words, knowing that that was exactly what his godfather would have said. "How are Naomi and Sabrina?"
"They're doing well," Janeway said with a nod. "Icheb had been gone for so long on that mission that I don't think they've registered that anything is different. I don't know if Sabrina even remembers him." She glanced behind her godson to the young woman sitting at his table. "I'm sorry, we're interrupting."
"I should have made introductions," Nenyaht apologized. "This is Lt. Marjorie Shin, the biomedical engineering section chief. We had just come from the engineering briefing. Marjorie, Admiral Kathryn Janeway and Captain Harry Kim."
"Sir!" Shin exclaimed, quickly shooting to attention, her cheeks reddening slightly. Janeway gave her an amused glance.
"At ease, Lieutenant, before you sprain something," she said, watching Kim out of the corner of her eye.
"That's still not funny," he said dryly. Turning to Shin, he explained, "She said those same words to me the first time I reported for duty."
"Actually, Harry, I believe I said, 'at ease, Ensign, before you sprain something,'" Janeway joked. Nenyaht laughed, but Shin smiled like she didn't quite get the joke.
"You two can sit down and join us," Nenyaht offered, gesturing toward the table.
"I wouldn't want to intrude," Janeway protested.
"No, please," Shin insisted, her eyes brightening. The stiffness of a few seconds ago aside, she seemed to be lacking any hesitation that a junior officer would normally have in such a situation. "Join us. Nenyaht has been telling me stories, I would love to hear some more. I could only imagine what stories you would have to tell."
Janeway still looked amused, but shrugged and conceded. "I'm afraid Nenyaht's a better story teller than I am. He gets that from his father." She turned to her godson. "How is Chakotay? I haven't had the chance to see him in awhile. I understand you had lunch with him today."
"Both him and Mom. It was a bit awkward; I don't think I've seen them together in the same room in seven years, since the twenty-fifth reunion."
Janeway's eyebrows rose. "Seven was there? I thought she was guest lecturer on Vulcan this semester."
Nenyaht shook his head. "That was last semester. She's back at the Academy for awhile."
"Well, we should get together for coffee soon," the admiral declared.
"One problem with that, Kathryn," Nenyaht pointed out with a slight frown. "She's there, and you're here. Speaking of which, why are you here?"
"I have business on Klaestron IV, which is on the way to Bajor, so Harry offered me a lift."
"She read about the services aboard the Kirk in Harry Kim's Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy," Kim joked.
"Oh, I've ready that book," Shin said, trying to contribute to a conversation that was obviously beyond her. Her cheeks reddened slightly when the other three officers chuckled.
"If anyone was writing a guide to the galaxy, it would probably be Tom Paris," Janeway remarked dryly.
Kim laughed. "Only if you wanted a guide to the galaxy's bars and jails," he commented. "He once told me about his system for classifying the prisons of the Milky Way. The Akritirian maximum security detention facility is a one, the Federation penal colony in Auckland a ten. He even came up with a pros/cons list of every jail cell he has ever been in."
"The Akritirian prison had pros?" Janeway asked in wonder.
Kim ticked them off on his fingers. "Don't have to worry about the weather, never have to decide what to eat for dinner, plenty of warning before more prisoners arrive. The list goes on and on."
Janeway smiled and shook her head slowly. "Speaking of Tom, how's Abbey? Where is Abbey?"
"Probably still in sickbay performing flight physicals," Kim commented. "They have quite a few to get through in the next few days. You heard about these two and their quarters, right?" he asked, gesturing toward Nenyaht.
"That they're right across the corridor from each other?" Janeway asked with a smile. "Sounds like a security risk if you ask me."
"You're not the first to say that," Nenyaht said with a roll of his eyes. "Besides, it's not as if Joe will be there. He was the brains behind the operation."
"Joe may have come up with the mission specifics, but I happen to know it was Abbey who usually came up with the ideas," Janeway replied. "I've known since she was just learning how to walk that she was going to be trouble. She had that 'I didn't do it, I'm just a cute little girl' routine down pat." She shook her head and smiled at the memory. "I'm just hurt that I was never the target of one of these famous pranks."
Nenyaht laughed. "Joe wanted to do something, but Abbey put her foot down and said no. That was the semester she was in your First Contact course, and she needed an A to make Dean's List. I'll tell her you were disappointed, though."
Shin, who had been sitting quietly during the exchange, laughed slightly. "This Abbey sounds like someone I need to meet."
"If you keep hanging around Nenyaht, you're bound to before too long," Janeway said, her eyebrows raised. "Those two have been inseparable since they were kids."
"I wouldn't say that," Nenyaht protested. Janeway only smiled knowingly in response before standing from her chair.
"It's getting late," she said, "and I'm not as young as I used to be. I think it's about time for me to return to my quarters." She waved the others back to their chairs when they rose. "It was good to meet you, Lieutenant," she said, nodding toward to Shin. To Nenyaht, she asked, "Would you join me tomorrow morning for breakfast in my quarters? We have some catching up to do."
"Sure," he replied. "I'm on alpha shift, though, so we'll have to make it early."
"Oh-seven-hundred?" she asked. He nodded, and she bid them goodnight. A minute later, Kim also got up to leave.
"It is getting late," Shin said, now again alone at the table with Nenyaht. "Alpha shift is going to be starting before we know it. We should probably be going, too."
"Right," Nenyaht replied, nodding. He paused, then asked, "Will I see you again?"
"Of course," she replied with a grin as they passed through the doors. "After all, we work in the same department." Her grin widened and she gave him a wink before turning to head down the opposite direction.