=/\=
"Watch out, Icheb!"
A body flew across the corridor, mere centimeters away from slamming into Icheb as he dodged a step backward.
The body belonged to Ensign Harry Kim. The warning had come from Neelix. And Mr. Kim's growling attacker was Ch'Rega, the Klingon warrior woman who had been actively pursuing Harry Kim for the past few days. She favored Icheb with an intense glare as he moved backwards another step. Raising both hands, palms outward, to show he bore nothing remotely like a weapon, Icheb nodded formally to her and then walked to the other side of the corridor to proceed away from the mess hall, passing Neelix, who was gazing raptly at the tall Klingon woman.
Before he'd moved far down the hallway, Neelix caught up to Icheb. "Isn't she magnificent?" Neelix chortled.
"She is an impressive female," Icheb acknowledged. "However, I don't believe Ensign Kim is as drawn to her as she seems to be towards him."
Neelix shook his head. "I don't understand him. He often talks about wanting a relationship, but here he is, presented with a wonderful opportunity to experience the full flower of Klingon womanhood, passionate, eager . . . and he doesn't seem to care about her at all!"
"Tom and B'Elanna told me he only seems to want women who are unattainable. Ch'Rega has made it very clear she is interested in Ensign Kim. She's attainable. Perhaps that's the problem."
"You might be right, Icheb." They had arrived at the turbolift, and Neelix pushed the call signal. "Are you getting on the lift, too, Icheb?" he asked.
"No, I'm going to Cargo Bay Two. Perhaps I should call it 'Klingon Central' for the duration of the trip, until we arrive at their new planet." Icheb's smile was brief and, perhaps, a little forced.
"Ah. How are things going there? Only three families, right?"
"That's all we could accommodate. They offered to dismantle more of our regeneration cubicles to make room for another family, but the captain agreed that ten extra cots was enough for the space."
"It's a bit crowded, I know. I gave up my own quarters to a family, you know. I'm bunking in with Mr. Vulcan."
"Yes, I am aware," Icheb said, forcing himself not to grin while Neelix was standing in front of him. Fortunately, he didn't have to maintain a serious façade for long. The turbolift arrived, and Neelix was off, doing whatever he was doing today. The Talaxian was a very busy man. Icheb's grin appeared when the thought struck him that he might be going to those quarters he was sharing with "Mr. Vulcan." An odder couple, Icheb could not imagine.
=/\=
Icheb actually was pleased to have a chance to observe the Klingons who were traveling on Voyager at present. The only Klingon he'd ever met before was Korok, the former Borg who had helped Voyager's crew rescue Captain Janeway, Commander Tuvok, and Lieutenant Torres during the Unimatrix Zero incident. And, of course, he was quite friendly now with B'Elanna.
Ever since he'd been the first to discover B'Elanna's pregnancy, and its aftermath, when he'd evaluated the fetal DNA pattern and helped Tom prevent his wife from changing their baby's genome, he'd become closer to the couple. B'Elanna appreciated that Icheb "knew how to keep his own counsel." In other words, he'd never gossiped about what had happened. Icheb had long understood she hated being the subject of rumors. He'd wondered if this was a Klingon trait, or a part of her human personality, since she was only half Klingon. Now that he'd had the chance to observe the full-blooded variety, who seemed to "let it all hang out," as Tom put it, almost all the time, Icheb realized just how unique B'Elanna was. He could also see how very good Tom Paris was for his wife. Tom accepted her completely and loved her for her Klingon side as well as her human one. Icheb was pleased he was also valued by Tom as a close friend. Tom had always been easy for Icheb to speak with, and he answered questions about humanity - and human frailties - honestly. As much as Icheb loved Seven (even though they still didn't say the love word much), he also liked having someone like Tom to consult with. Becoming an individual was an ongoing process, he'd found, and Tom was as good a mentor as Seven was in some ways, just in different areas of Icheb's life.
One of these areas was, of course, single-cell reproduction. Icheb had diligently studied the database, as he'd been advised to do by many crew members, but he didn't have any true memories of the process. Seven had once indicated she did, from the memories of the assimilated, but Icheb doubted she really understood, from a conversation he'd had with Tom some time ago. Icheb told him that while he understood the process from his studies, he'd never had the benefit of a full complement of Borg drone memories, and he wondered what it felt like. Tom told him, simply, "I really can't explain that part to you, Icheb. When you get into a relationship with someone, then you'll find out."
"It's not something you can describe?"
"Icheb, there's an abundance of literature about the subject, and I can honestly say that while it's fun to read about it, the only way to really know is to experience it. Besides, if you're not in love with the person you're with, you still won't get the whole picture. Be patient, Icheb. You're young. You'll find someone someday, and I promise you, it will be glorious! But do me a favor. Don't start hanging outside our quarters and taking notes about how often or how long we enjoy ourselves. That won't tell you anything."
"Did Seven actually DO that?"
"Oh, yes, she did. I had to hold B'Elanna back or she'd have been in the brig for assault!" Tom was shaking his head when he said this to Icheb, but he was laughing about it, too. Icheb remembered when Seven once told him Tom and B'Elanna were "sensitive" about talking about their relationship and single-cell reproduction when he'd first came on board Voyager. Tom's comment had put it all into context for Icheb.
Icheb guessed that Ensign Kim's reluctance to become involved with Ch'Rega might have something to do with his desire for an ongoing relationship. She was pretty, but she was also very aggressive. Harry wasn't the aggressive type, and he didn't seem to appreciate it in others that much, either. Ch'Rega and the Klingon sect were only going to be on board a short while. They'd been traveling from the Alpha Quadrant for over a hundred years, searching for a new home where they could uphold their traditional Klingon values, something they felt other Klingons had failed to uphold. Their scrolls foretold they would find a savior on their travels, a "kuvah-magh," who was "younger than old age, and stronger than sickness." Apparently the Klingons hadn't found their "kuvah-magh" yet, and they were almost at the planet. Icheb wondered if that part of their prophecy would ever occur.
=/\=
Stardate 54521.9 Personal Log Entry, Cadet Icheb
Voyager is in orbit over the new home of the Klingons. A lot of us have already sampled a shore leave of sorts on this planet. The Klingons tried to take over Voyager and had planned to steal our ship and leave the crew here. They transported most of the crew down to the planet, including me. It's a planet much more suited to Klingons than to humans, or Brunali, for that matter. Fortunately, the bridge crew was able to hold onto the ship and prevent the takeover.
What finally made the Klingons accept settling here was the curing of the nehret, a disease all of the Klingons carried in their DNA. They failed to tell the captain about it when they sabotaged their ship to came on board Voyager. I guess I was wrong about Klingons being honest and "letting it all hang out," as Tom called it. When it comes to strategic matters, they are very capable of keeping a secret. Thanks to T'Greth, I learned they could be duplicitous as well. He was the one who planned the takeover of the ship. Kohlar, the leader of the Klingons, did not cooperate with him.
The nehret was cured because of Tom and B'Elanna's baby. She really is their savior, the "kuvah-magh" they were looking for all along. Some of the Klingons had rejected her. T'Greth, called her a "mongrel child" because she is three quarters human. However, I spoke with the Doctor, right after B'Elanna and the baby had become carriers of the disease because of their exposure to the condition. I mentioned to the EMH that the baby's human genome might be utilized to formulate a cure. The Doctor, as he usually does, has taken all the credit for it, even though I did prompt his "hunch" for a way to proceed, and even though I worked with him in the lab to develop the successful treatment. I will allow him the credit, however, since he did finish the antivirus formulation when I was snatched away from the lab and transported to the planet's surface during the Klingon's attempt at taking over the ship.
Kohlar did come up to me to compliment me on my "assistance" with the cure, so I guess the EMH was honest with him about our working together. I have read about how important honor is to Klingons, and in Kohlar, I see how it works. T'Greth, the Klingon who rejected B'Elanna and the baby's aid until he himself was cured by them, is not a sterling example of the Klingon honor principle, although he did apologize to Tom and B'Elanna before he was transported to his new home on the surface. I hope he doesn't cause problems for Kohlar and the rest of the group as they build their new colony. After all the trouble he caused, I would not trust him.
Ensign Kim was not sorry to see Ch'Rega go. Neelix was. It's very amusing to think of Neelix, who is very small and un-Klingon-like in personality, sweeping the very tall, imposing Ch'Rega off her feet, but that's what he did. I never realized before how well Neelix can absorb a culture's attitudes and traditions and use them for his own purposes - in this case, a very romantic, if vigorous, interlude. I understand why he's become so important to everyone on Voyager. He sees a need and then finds a way to transform himself to fill it. When he said he was going to miss Ch'Rega, I realized how lonely he must be. He's the only Talaxian on board, and as we travel towards the Alpha Quadrant, his home planet is falling further behind all the time. Everyone on Voyager likes him, but he wants his own people. Perhaps he will find someone in the future who will be willing to stay with him all the way to the Alpha Quadrant. I'd like to see that. He deserves to find happiness, but in the meantime, I'm glad he had fun with Ch'Rega - even though "Mr. Vulcan" was very glad when Neelix went back to his own quarters. I heard Chell say that the commander had to "fumigate" his quarters after Neelix left. I'm not sure why, exactly. All Seven and I had to do was take out all the cots once our families left us.
Seven and I are glad that we are back to having Cargo Bay Two to ourselves again, as our personal "Borg Central." Seven characterized our Klingon experience as "illuminating." She said she never appreciated how "human" B'Elanna was before meeting with the Klingons. I said it was "interesting." But I'm glad it's over.
=/\=
Stardate 54553.2 Personal Log Entry, Cadet Icheb
I have been unable to spare the power for a log entry since we entered the Void. I needed to give my entire allotment to Seven so she could regenerate while Voyager was in gray mode. Now that we are out of the Void, I find I don't have that much to say about it. The captain found a way for us to cooperate with the crews of other ships which were also stuck inside, and we managed to get out of the Void and into normal space by working together. That's as much as I really want to remember about this experience.
When we were lost inside it, and it looked like we would never get out, I was glad Mezoti wasn't with us. Considering how she reacted to some of the events when she was on board, I think she would have been very upset by being stuck in the Void. She also wouldn't have liked being transported down to the surface of a planet when the Klingons tried to take over Voyager. I'm glad she's safe on Wysanti with Azan and Rebi, even though I still miss her very much.
I guess I always will.
=/\=