=/\=
When Seven began to set up the Kadis-kot board for her daily game with Neelix, Icheb checked the Astrometrics chronometer. It was much later than he expected. He hadn't had his dinner yet, and he had a paper he needed to finish by tomorrow afternoon. Commander Tuvok had asked him to compare the development of three pre-spaceflight planetary cultures with each other, and describe how their particular belief systems subsequently affected their attitudes towards alien societies after they'd become aware of other races. He'd finished most of his research and had outlined or written the sections on Earth and Vulcan. At first, the third society was to be the Klingons, but then he decided it might be more interesting to include the Bajorans instead, since he'd already written one paper about the history of the Klingon Empire. Icheb didn't want the commander to think he was leaning on past research and "sliding by" instead of taking his studies very seriously.
"Seven, would you mind if I left for the mess hall now? I would like to finish my paper for Commander Tuvok. If something comes up and you need me, you can always call me back."
Seven looked up at Icheb and smiled. "Acceptable. All of the work we were assigned today by the captain has been completed. I would not be preparing for a game with Neelix if it were not. He will open the channel in approximately 56.5 seconds. Perhaps you'd like to say hello to him before you leave?"
"Of course," Icheb said. He closed out his terminal and walked over to where Seven was standing, reaching his position just as Neelix's face appeared upon the screen.
"Hello there, my two favorite former Borgs. How are things going for you, Icheb? Seven tells me you're doing very well in your Academy classes with Tuvok."
"Well enough. In fact, I can't stay to chat today. I have a paper to finish."
"Don't let me keep you. More time for my game with Seven, then!"
"Say hello to Brax and Dexa for me," Icheb said, waving to the Talaxian as he took his leave from Astrometrics.
He'd barely entered the mess hall and was just about to choose his entrée - Chell, as he'd threatened, had prepared Plasma Leak Soup and Chicken Warp Core Done Blew, among other punny additions to the night's menu - when Seven hailed Icheb. :::I'm sorry to disturb your meal, Icheb, but the neutrino emissions detector alert has sounded.:::
"Affirmative. I'll be right there."
Shrugging his shoulders to Chell and stepping out of the dinner line, Icheb hurried off, back to Astrometrics. He didn't know if he was more excited by the possibility his device had alerted them to a wormhole heading into the Alpha Quadrant, or if it was because the gravimetric sensor array he'd first constructed over a year ago had actually worked as it was designed to do. If it had, his paper might end up being turned into an instructor at Starfleet Academy on Earth, instead of Commander Tuvok!
=/\=
When he rushed through the Astrometrics doorway, Icheb almost skidded to a stop at what he saw on the sensor array screen. "Seven, is this right? Are there really that many wormholes in this sector of space?"
Her smile was dazzling. "I've checked and rechecked the results, Icheb. There's no doubt. There are hundreds of them. Because they're embedded within a nebula, they're not visible visually. Thanks to your invention, we were able to detect them easily."
"Have you notified the captain yet?"
"I have. She's scheduled an emergency meeting. I need to leave to share our findings with the entire senior staff. Under the circumstances, we should make sure Astrometrics in manned at all times for the immediate future. I need you to cover for me here until I return. This will, I fear, delay your evening meal somewhat."
"Don't worry about that! I want to investigate this phenomenon in detail. I can try to count how many wormholes there are, at the very least."
"One other thing you can do is work on mapping where the wormholes are leading. I've already identified several that appear to end in the Alpha Quadrant, but the quadrant itself is very large. We would want to utilize one that ends as close to Earth as possible, if we can. And some may be too small for Voyager to travel through. Recording the dimensions of any possible routes would also be desirable."
"Affirmative. You'd better get to your meeting now."
Seven laughed softly. "I will, Icheb. The sooner I do, the sooner the meeting will be over. And then you'll be able to have that dinner you're so hungry for."
Icheb laughed then, too. The last thing he had on his mind at the moment was his stomach! But then, he had no doubt he'd feel differently if the meeting lasted more than an hour or so.
=/\=