A/N April 14, 2012- It was brought up to me that there is no "Lieutenant First Class" rank in Starfleet (or anything else) and to be honest, I don't know where I got it from. This chapter and the references in Chapter 16 have been changed accordingly. Let me know if I missed any in other chapters.
Original Notes: Cj-Cold hit the nail on the head... at least on the first idea ;) It's still taking me some time to get the girls into the lab so I hope you bare with me. This writing thing is so much more difficult than I ever could have imagined. I keep wanting to simply write out as many ideas as I can and I'm starting to realize that sometimes less is more. I seem to have this compulsive need for description even when it probably isn't necessary. But I'm still having fun, so this story will continue.
Chapter 17- Date Night
Kathryn Janeway stared hopelessly at the remains of the charred pot roast in the centre of the table. Sometimes she really did believe the ship had it in for her. Especially the replicators.
'Definitely the replicators. Maybe I'm not asking for my coffee nicely enough. Lord knows I just don't have any enthusiasm until I get that first cup in me. Seven is being incredible about this.'
"The meat certainly has an... interesting texture." Seven knew she was reaching, but the look on her Captain's... friend's face was tugging at her heart strings. She continued to pick at the meat and vegetables on the plate in front of her. Janeway just groaned in response and buried her face in her hands.
The day had started out well enough for the most part. After lunch, the Staff meeting continued, B'Elanna got her new pips and a few jokes about B'Elanna now outranking Tom were had along with some well deserved congratulations. Harry had a question about Seven now being higher on the command hierarchy to which Seven calmly stated that due to Harry's experience at the con, she would most likely defer to him if it ever came to that as it would be more likely she would be needed elsewhere on the ship. Janeway had accepted that but reminded Seven that she would soon technically be the 4th in command on the ship- for purposes of paperwork and responsibility so she would need to run the occasional command shift every now and then to which she agreed with a nod.
Closing the meeting, the Doctor gave his report on his findings into B'Elanna's changes. Chakotay had brought up the question of B'Elanna's rights under the Federation Genetic Engineering laws. The Doctor explained that the particulars of B'Elanna's condition would put her case firmly under the provision of 'natural evolution' and therefore she should suffer no legal discrimination and can have children without fear that they'll be prevented from entering certain academic fields. Janeway was glad that the situation was unique enough that B'Elanna wouldn't suffer further exclusion in her life. The Doctor still needed to prepare a report for Starfleet that both he and Captain Janeway would sign off on. 'Technically', she mused, according to the doctor, B'Elanna was a new species.
When the meeting ended, B'Elanna requested a word in private with Janeway before heading to the Holodeck. B'Elanna really had changed. She wasn't different; she wasn't *not* B'Elanna but she was just now a B'Elanna that seemed to know and accept who she was. She spent five minutes carefully, respectfully and tactfully pointing out several of the basic 'human' rights that Seven of Nine had been denied in neglect or ignorance since the Captain had 'liberated' her from the Collective while taking her own share of the blame in the process. It took a large amount of will not to succumb to guilt over the situation. Seven did deserve her own quarters; she deserved to have some degree of privacy while she regenerated and she deserved the same rights as the rest of the crew to make her way for good or ill. B'Elanna wisely pointed out that the commission and her dinner with Seven were perfect opportunities to correct these problems. She also told Janeway not to let it eat her up, but to correct it and move on because she, in B'Elanna's words, was a great Captain- fallible or not.
It was then that things started to go wrong. The Doctor and B'Elanna had spent three hours on the Holodeck doing medical and physical testing when Chakotay thought he'd stop by and "put B'Elanna through the paces" and challenge her to a 'friendly' boxing match. Sometimes Janeway simply did not understand that man. He clearly had skills and intelligence, but at the same time he was often an absolute self-centered idiot. It was one of the reasons she couldn't ever make a personal connection to the man outside work.
Despite the Doctor's warnings, the burly First Officer went through with the idea and apparently B'Elanna had encouraged him. Half an hour later, Chakotay and the Doctor were in Sickbay dealing with his eight bruised ribs and a cracked left orbital bone. Apparently he had suggested dropping the Holodeck safeties to half and this was all still AFTER B'Elanna had already run 20 kilometres among other physical tests. According to the Doctor, B'Elanna didn't seem particularly apologetic. Janeway might have sought the young woman out if part of her really didn't think that Chakotay could stand being taken down a peg. Besides, it would be an issue for Tuvok if a complaint was filed- which there hadn't been.
Janeway had spent her afternoon finishing going over the PADDs that B'Elanna and Seven had given her at the staff meeting. She finalized and formalized as much of the days' changes as possible. Resource requisitions were approved; the promotion from Lieutenant Junior Grade to Lieutenant noted in B'Elanna's file as well as the paper work for Seven's commission was started. The conversion of the lab on Deck 7 would begin in two days after Seven finished restructuring the Science department.
"...I find it somewhat odd that carbon-based life forms are ill equipped physically to ingest carbon..." the awkwardness of the evening did not seem to abate no matter what Seven tried to say. She looked at the charred piece of meat on the end of her fork in forced fascination. She could not find the ease in conversation with the Captain that she had had with B'Elanna for the past few days. This was not like their previous times spent together engaged in 'philosophical' discussion.
"You don't have to eat it Seven, you've done more than I have just by trying it." Janeway lifted her head out of her hands and threw a lifeline to her ex-Borg 'date' who seemed as if she were watching her oxygen slowly deplete from a space suit.
Janeway had rushed back to her quarters from her ready room at 1700 to prepare the evening's dinner already cursing herself for being late. She'd begun programming the replicator before she realized that she hadn't washed or picked out anything to wear. The next several minutes were a blur of auburn hair and flailing limbs. She'd finally showered and settled on black pants and a silk green top with ten minutes until she expected Seven to be at her door. The exacting blonde was painstakingly punctual and on-duty or off-duty time didn't seem to make a difference to the ex-Borg. A quick final look around her quarters revealed a trail of clothing from the living room to the bedroom, assorted PADDs lying about on her coffee table and several empty coffee cups sitting un-recycled on her table.
With the clock ticking and her programmed dinner moments away from materializing in her kitchenette replicator, she looked for a moment into her bedroom. Deciding that regardless of how well the evening went she wouldn't be moving things in there, she quickly kicked her clothes into her bedroom and threw the work PADDs onto her bed and closed the door. Unfortunately, at the time, it seemed like a good idea to recycle her empty coffee cups quickly before the timed dinner program created her pot roast with potatoes, carrots and onions.
Evidently, the replicator did not appreciate having to recycle several cups only moments before preparing a complicated meal.
So it was that Seven of Nine rang the door chime at exactly 1800 hours while Kathryn Janeway was rushing her smoking pot roast dinner onto the table and fanning the smoke frantically in all directions with her light blue Starfleet-inscribed oven mitts.
Twenty awkward minutes later, she now sat looking at the beautiful young woman sitting across from her having finally removed her face from her hands. Seven was clad in her usual plum-coloured biosuit with her hair in its pristine modified bun. Part of Kathryn was mildly disappointed that she had not dressed up but she couldn't really blame her. She knew Seven was very careful about how far out of her comfort zone she would go at a time and a date with the Captain was probably far enough out that she wouldn't risk finding new clothes to wear if she didn't have to. To make things worse, despite the evening's setbacks, Janeway still found it difficult to make decent conversation like she normally could with Seven.
'Have I been out of the dating scene for so long? Things were always comfortable with Mark but never so easy as it was... with...' Shaking her head, she decided to start the conversation a bit closer to something easy for both women to talk about: work.
"So Seven, when did you and B'Elanna find the time to put this proposal together? I must say, I was impressed today." In the back of her mind, Janeway had really wanted to ask how B'Elanna and Seven seemed to have gotten so close in such a short time. Part of her was also debating the merits of uttering some kind words of apology to her replicator to try and get it to produce a nice apple pie and some ice cream. Fortunately, she knew that she'd never be able to command the ex-Borg's respect again if she were witnessed on her knees pleading to a replicator.
Seven's eyes brightened almost imperceptibly at the question. For her, she almost couldn't contain her enthusiasm over the past few days' changes. She'd spent most of the afternoon going over the roster and restructuring of the Science Department. She would have three acting department heads, one for each shift that she still had to determine. First though, she assigned the Delaney sisters to full-time Alpha shift duties in Astrometrics despite her reservations in keeping them on the same shift. She concluded that it was better to have the two of them where she could keep an enhanced eye on them at the same time.
Crewman Celes had been sent off-duty almost immediately by Seven as she was now going to be running Astrometrics through Beta shift. The squirrelly young Bajoran had gone speechless when Seven had told her. She also let her know that Crewman Telfer would now be her official assistant during Beta shift to help with the analyses. Their efficiency had improved dramatically in the months since they had gone on an away mission with the Captain and both seemed quite a bit more comfortable working in Astrometrics… and in their own skin. Telfer had been taking medication to help deal with his hypochondria and was doing very well with the support of Celes. Celes herself had improved in her confidence and skill with the aid of Telfer. It was therefore the most logical choice since both Celes and Telfer were good friends and worked well together already. Obviously, it had nothing to do with the rumours that they might be romantically involved. Only the slight smile Seven gave Celes when she thanked her might have indicated otherwise.
"It was B'Elanna's initiative and she did the bulk of the work last night when I was asleep. Apparently, Voyager's Chief Engineer no longer needs the amount of rest she did before. She proposed her ideas to me over breakfast and after I agreed, we collaborated on the final proposal." Seven had set her utensils down as she focused her gaze on her Captain.
"Well, I guess that even if nothing else positive came from that away mission I sent the two of you on, at least you came out as friends." Janeway was fishing and she knew it, but it kept her from directly asking about their 'breakfast' like a possessive girlfriend.
"Then it is fortunate that there were several positive factors resulting from the mission. However, I believe that a friendship between myself and B'Elanna had been… 'brewing' for some time. We had been getting along quite well and working respectably with each other," she stopped herself from saying "until" and paused briefly as the proverbial 'light bulb' went off in her head. It was after she had started dating Chakotay that they'd had a few heated fights. The realization was a bit shocking to Seven as she believed that it wasn't B'Elanna's behaviour that had changed, but her own. She had been looking to fight with the Engineer. But why? She knew that she was now attracted to the beautiful hybrid, but had there been something lying in wait previously? This was something that she would have to analyze at a later time however as her Captain and friend was waiting patiently for her to continue.
"-I believe that it was simply that the situation we found ourselves in served as a catalyst for the two of us to overcome the final barriers to a real friendship." She finished her sentence with a small nod to herself as if concluding that her analysis must be accurate.
"Then I can expect your weekly 'blow ups' in Engineering with B'Elanna to finally be at end?" She launched her best playful challenging eye only to end up almost keeling over when the beautiful blonde responded.
"I think nothing short of an intervention from a Q could change that Captain." Seven deadpanned briefly before giving her friend a slight smirk. It sent Janeway into a very un-Captain-like fit of giggles as she tried in vain to regain her composure for the next few seconds.
"Oh Seven, you've got quite the sense of humour when you let it out. You've come so far in such a short time, but I've got to say: if you call me Captain and not Kathryn again tonight, I'll be forced to try and replicate dessert." The threat was not lost on the young Borg who simply smiled slightly and nodded her head in accent.
B'Elanna was a happy camper- for the most part. Sandrines was running and it was as the kids say 'venting'. B'Elanna found that her senses were at first overwhelmed by all of the sights, sounds and smells. She learned earlier in the day that she could actually visually see a difference between the real people and the holographic creations of the holodeck- including the Doc. It was really strange at first as she thought her vision was getting blurry or something. There seemed to be this ever so mild, almost imperceptible glow to all things holographic now. Then it was sounds; voices, music, and everything in between were like a warbled and distracting background washing over her perception. She had to take a minute to try and reign in her hearing and concentrate on her local surroundings. A few deep breaths and setting her focus on her company seemed to work.
Finally, it was her sense of smell that was causing her some distraction. Rampant alcohol, sweat, passion and lust sent her mind into a spin. Her brief work with the Doc and her experiences so far had told her she was more aware of pheromones, but in Sandrines, it was almost cruel. When she finally sat down, she once more had to take a moment and try and focus just on herself and ignore everything else. Then, ever so slightly, and to the amusement of her companions, she allowed her sense-awareness to radiate out and encompass the table they were sitting at by taking several more deep breaths. Tom knew she was still adjusting to her newly amped up senses but the sight of her taking the calming breaths and relaxing her posture looked as if she'd found religion- although he wasn't foolish enough to make a joke… yet.
An hour later, B'Elanna, Tom, Harry and the Delaneys were still sitting at a table with easy access to both the dance floor and a pool table while chatting about everything and nothing. Harry had been grousing about dropping another notch in the command chain and B'Elanna had been threatening Tom playfully with using her new rank to drive him mad when the mood struck her. The Delaney sisters had also informed them of the sweeping changes that were hitting the Science division along with everyone getting new science blue uniforms. Seven was being Seven and things were happening rapidly- and for the better. Tom and Harry seemed happy both women were still going to be on Alpha shift so they could find it easier to spend time together.
For the past half hour, B'Elanna had been trying to goad someone into a drinking contest with little success. Gossip, as they say, travels at warp speed and that combined with the devious look that could not be stripped from the half-Klingon's face with a plasma torch got her no takers. A couple of her engineers, Crewman Boylan and Lieutenant Chapman himself purchased her a couple rounds of beer and told her they were glad she was ok but that they simply weren't stupid enough to try and out-drink her. They melodramatically made their escape from the table at the mock growl that followed.
"Harry, I wanna dance." One date and Megan Delaney had already figured out Harry and had him wrapped around her finger. She didn't even have to use her best pout. It was like a "Force 2 Pout" as Jen would say. The sisters had secretly adopted the Captain's famous glare-rating system for their own playful manipulative faces. There was the "Force 2 Pout", the "Force 5 Come-Hither" and of course, the "Force 10 Could You Finish This For Me 'Cause I've Got Better Stuff To Do"; the latter having last been used to convince one of the male Ensigns from Hydroponics to take over as Jen's conscripted assistant for one of the Doctor's latest operatic rehearsals. It was a hard lesson to learn that you just don't look the Doctor in the eye when he walks into your department with a smile on his face.
Tom and Jen exchanged a knowing glance and stood up themselves preparing to haul Harry out to the dance floor if need be. Harry just smiled, rolled his eyes and looked at B'Elanna as he got up. "You coming Maquis?" B'Elanna knew it was a token friendly invitation by the gleam in Harry's eye. She wanted her friends to have some fun together without being a fifth nacelle, so she shooed them playfully from the table with little resistance given in return.
They young half-Klingon watched the four of them make their way on to the crowded dance floor as she sipped her latest beer. She was dressed in casual clothes this evening. Hip-hugging dark blue jeans were tucked into her new favourite black leather boots she found in the replicator catalogue called "Steve Madden Banddit Boots", and she wore a deep purple t-shirt under her brown leather jacket. After her afternoon 'work out', she saw no reason to put on a uniform for the evening when Tom asked her to come out with them.
She snorted briefly and shook her head at no one in particular as she held her bottle up to her lips in preparation for another swig. Three hours of hard physical testing had shown that she was over twice as strong as she used to be, five times as fast and had five times the physical endurance. Yet, even in the testing, she couldn't find that moment… that center that she had the night before when she confronted Stanz and Zaaden. It was like she was trying, but her heart wasn't in it.
The Doctor, on the other hand, was like a kid with unlimited candy replicator patterns. He had her pulling on things, pushing, testing the tension in all her muscles and the strain on her joints. B'Elanna could probably toss around an enraged fully-Klingon male now without straining herself.
She finished her beer just as the movement beside her registered on her mildly buzzed brain. "Lieutenant, mind if I sit?" Lieutenant Sarah Myles placed another beer in front of B'Elanna as she sat, her teasing grin letting B'Elanna know the question was rhetorical.
"Make yourself at home, Lieutenant, I was just thinking about you." B'Elanna accepted the offered drink with a smile and nod.
"Bullshit, but thanks anyway." She grinned as she raised her glass to B'Elanna in a mock toast. They clinked bottle and glass and both took a drink. It was a quiet and mildly awkward moment as both women sized each other up and savoured their latest swig. Myles was dressed in black leather pants, black strap open-toe heels and a blood-red t-shirt matching her hair which was played out a bit from its usual spots tucked behind her ears. Her arms were impressively toned. She looked damn hot.
B'Elanna motioned to Sara's glass with her bottle. "What's that you're drinking?"
"Oh, this? It's called a "Dark and Stormy". Dark rum and ginger beer. Something 'old seadogs' used to drink back in the 20th and 21st centuries. I drink them 'cause I occasionally like to pretend that I have this interesting background where I spent my summers on a grandfather's boat learning to navigate by the stars or something. Makes for good conversation and you wouldn't believe how many people fall for a unique background story when you tell it convincingly." She gave B'Elanna a bit of a smug smile as she took another drink.
"And what happens when you're called out on your background?"
"Well, growing up in a costal city I actually did get on to a boat or two so I can at least usually bullshit my way through the conversation- it's better than pretending I've got like a background in marine biology and getting stuck trying to save a beached whale or something …"
B'Elanna snorted. "True enough… so Myles- do you mind if I call you Myles?" She raised her eyebrow in question. Calling her by her first name seemed a bit too personal for some reason as they barely knew each other. Still, B'Elanna could see them becoming fast friends. Myles had a sharp wit and a calm confidence that B'Elanna might have envied in previous years. She got a kick out of her teasing Tuvok in the staff meeting earlier and she was pleasant and professional during the away mission… until everything went to shit; but then everyone's social guards seemed to drop.
"Only if you mind me calling you Torres."
"Not at all. So what *is* your story? You having this made-up one makes me wonder if there isn't something more interesting hidden beneath."
"Nah, not really," both women relaxed a bit more as they sat back and watched their fellow crew members 'bump and grind' on the dance floor. For Harry and Tom, it would be more accurate to say Harry did the bumping and Tom did the grinding. Harry really couldn't dance. Megan must have found it endearing- or a challenge- as she kept grabbing various parts of his body in an attempt to guide his awkward movements into something more closely resembling the seemingly elusive concept of 'co-ordination'.
"I spent my childhood in the Earth east coast Mega-city of Halifax. My parents were well-off enough from wise investments and inheritance. I just didn't 'do ballet and play with dolls' like a lot of young girls- I loved to read and got into martial arts. I wasn't the typical bookworm introvert, I had friends and played outside a lot but I also spent a lot of time training or at one of the local libraries. There I found these great old vids of a TV show that revolved around the concept of deception detection. I found it fascinating and started trying to copy the behaviour of the main character. I actually got pretty good at sniffing out lies even at a young age. Dad used to call me his 'Little Lie Detector-"
B'Elanna perked up and nearly spit out her drink as realization hit her and she turned to the redhead beside her. "Wait- YOU'RE "Lie Detector"? The same "Lie Detector" who is one of only three people on this ship to score higher than me in the Klingon "Warrior's Way" program?"
Myles just shrugged with an innocent smile. "I started studying Bat'leth when I entered the Academy at 18. Trailed a couple of Klingons during second year to try and get some extra practice- waaaait, didn't you go the Academy? How come I never saw you? We're the same age, aren't we?" Sara fixed her analytical gaze on the woman beside her.
B'Elanna tried to play it off as she casually drank from her beer. "Well, I was 17 when I joined and only lasted for two years. We probably might have only crossed paths briefly in the one year we were both there. Besides… I never had much free time thanks to my temper- I spent most of my weekends scrubbing old replicator processors or taking apart shuttle engines."
Sara's eyes lit up in sudden amusement. "You're the 'Berserker'! Ha! Your brawl in Astrotheory 101 was LEGENDARY!" It was a very sudden change for the usually composed security officer to a giggling fan-girl. B'Elanna couldn't help but be amused despite her embarrassment.
"Kahless, don't remind me. "B'Elanna the Berserker" was actually one of the better nicknames I was given when I was younger- which doesn't say much." They both laughed at the whole situation. Both had nicknames that they both knew but didn't know who the actual person was and it was all coming out in ridiculous fits of laughter.
Myles was the first to recover and take a few calming breaths while wiping away a few tears of laughter. She played with her glass absently while B'Elanna collected herself hoping that the next few minutes of this conversation didn't wipe out the burgeoning friendship she was starting to build with B'Elanna.
"I have to admit Torres, I did have an ulterior motive in sitting down here." Her face was calm and serious as she looked from her drink to the woman beside her. B'Elanna seemed to begin a cocky grin and was about to say something before she stopped and just sort of stared unfocused at the redhead for a moment.
"I was gonna make a joke about being flattered by you wanting to hit on me and graciously decline but something tells me that's not it." She certainly did not detect any lust from the woman.
'You're an attractive woman B'Elanna Torres, but after what I've seen, I'd be a damn fool to step into what's brewing between you and Seven...'
"Yeah… no, it's not- sorry?" She gave B'Elanna a semi-weak teasing smile that was almost a laugh. B'Elanna waved her off with a shake of her head and gestured for her to continue. "Right, ok, anyway, I had initially come over here to see if you consider the matter of Commander Chakotay settled." She held up her hand at B'Elanna's look so she could continue. "Here's the thing: I'm going to be head of Security while Tuvok is on that away mission so I have to know things. Like, I know that this morning you wanted to kill Commander Chakotay and I also know that he ended up in Sickbay with several bruised ribs and a cracked orbital bone- Tuvok brought me down with him to talk to him, don't worry any injury that occurs on Voyager of a certain degree passes through security- no complaint was filed. Both the Doc and Commander explained the situation and said it was nothing to worry about and Tuvok seemed to buy it but I don't.
"Now thankfully, the Commander has 'volunteered' to go on this away mission so now I understand it will be Chakotay, Tuvok, Neelix and two other security officers, Ensign Lang and Crewman Jarvis who will be away for two weeks. That said, I'm not going to ask what it was about, I just want to know if it is over so I don't have to worry about you plotting something while I'm the head of Security AND am going to be volunteering my time with you guys in the R&D lab. I don't want us to have any issues because I'll be honest Torres, I kind of like you and Seven and I hope we can all be friends. However, if you do want to talk about it, I'm here and we can talk woman to woman and not Security officer to Lieutenant."
B'Elanna sized Myles up for a moment. 'Damn she is good, and she's being completely honest as far as I can tell. Maybe I can explain this in a way she'll understand without coming right out with it. I implied I wouldn't tell, but if someone were to figure it out…' She took a long satisfying drink before leaning in and speaking quietly.
"Myles, if you found out someone did something completely disrespectful, dishonourable and downright disgusting with regards to another crewmember, how would you handle it? Technically no one was physically hurt and the target of the act is not even aware that it occurred. Do you follow procedure and report it, bringing the situation to light and having the punishment handed to not one, but several crewmembers with many more being affected by the repercussions of the whole situation- none more so than the initial victim? OR, do you deal with it quietly, dolling out punishment in a more… subtle manner which makes it clear that such actions will not be tolerated while protecting the initial victim from being exposed to such scum?"
'So she IS talking about Seven. Chakotay did something that Seven doesn't know about but has other people involved and Torres wants to protect her from it… what would a group of… oh shit.'
"…It was a betting pool, wasn't it? The bastard was betting on her virginity wasn't he? It's bad enough he flexes his 'Commander' muscles to con women into his bed, but this?" Sara Myles suddenly wished she had been in that ring with Chakotay. Feeling her own anger rise she was surprised at the restraint that B'Elanna had shown in what she did.
B'Elanna merely nodded. "I've ended the pool. He didn't start it, but he didn't stop it and he even put a big wager down the day of our away mission if you can believe it. Thought he'd get some 'sympathy' action when Seven returned I guess. Heh. Honestly, I wasn't sure what I would do about him- I was considering paying a visit to his quarters and beating him within an inch of his life- but spending the rest of my days in the Brig didn't seem like much fun. So this afternoon when he came waltzing into the holodeck grinning like an idiot and poking fun at all the testing the Doc was doing, well who was I to say no when he offered to 'see what I got'?"
"I'd have at least broken *most* of his bones..." She huffed wanted it to sound a bit like a joke, but failed miserably. She was really mad. She didn't care about betting pools regarding people 'hooking up' because everyone understood it was all in harmless fun, but a Seven virginity pool was just wrong on so many levels. It was cruel. She wasn't someone who had made a life choice and could stand up for herself. Her life was taken from her and was only now being brought back. Didn't the woman have a hard enough time fitting in with the crew? It almost amazed Myles that Seven hadn't either tried to leave Voyage already or kill them all many times over.
"Damn safeties were on. I was trying to nudge him to turning them completely off but the Doc was being a nag. Look, I won't lie to her so if she ever asks, I will tell her the truth, but I'd rather she never know so I won't be volunteering information and hope we can keep this quiet."
"I agree... What else are we going to do? That couldn't be the end of it, right?" Not five minutes before Myles was asking B'Elanna if it was done and now she was asking what MORE could be done- yep, B'Elanna knew she was going to really like Lieutenant Sara Myles.
"Well… I was thinking and I have the pool rations. I told two of the crewmen involved that I figured that we'd do something nice for Seven, kind of a "Seven Appreciation Day" or something and that they should actually try and get to know her a bit, but she's quite resistant to being the centre of attention, so that will need some work. I did a bit of research and found her birthday, which is in about three months. Not sure if she's ever had a birthday party so that might be an idea. However, in the meantime, you're going to be running some drills with us over the next few weeks. It just so happens that I have a list of 23 lower decks crewmen who are in need of some early wake-up calls and many hours of intensive, yet incredibly boring drills physical drills to prepare them for any tactical drills we do. Now singling out 23 specific people will be a bit obvious so I think some of us will also have to suffer as collateral damage. It's been a while since I've done wind-sprints, yet as fate would have it my cardio is exponentially better than it used to be and I don't need nearly as much sleep as once did. I'll volunteer Tom and Harry simply for the fact that they could stand to shape up a bit. As for Chakotay, I'm simply thinking we be creative and think long-term punishment." B'Elanna's eyes began to sparkle as she spoke and her grin only widened when she finished.
Myles raised her glass once more to the Chief Engineer with a broad smile. "Torres, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship."
End Chapter 17
A/N: Couple of tidbits if you're interested. My dad was an old 'seadog' who drank Dark and Stormys and I did grow up around boats in Halifax so that bit was a nod to him. "Seinfeld" fans should catch the reference this time, I think it's pretty obvious. The "Steve Madden Banddit Boots" were something I found when I searched Google for "black leather boots" and started looking through the pictures for something to describe. I thought they looked futuristic enough and decided if anyone wants to know what they look like they can look them up easy enough.