Leena frowned at the terminal in the security office, rereading
the shift report. What place did such petty theft have on a starship? Starfleet provided everything. One piece of data from the offender's
profile glared out at her: he used to be one of the Maquis. The fact
that Leena had noted his former allegiance irritated her. It bothered her more that two weeks ago she wouldn't even be questioning herself for noticing this information. She hated to think her mind was so clouded with prejudice.
The door's whistle distracted her obsessing. She forgot about him
altogether when she looked up to see Tuvok walk in. She rose, stepping
around the console to allow him access to the station, but Tuvok made no
move to take the place behind the desk. Leena stiffened, looking
inquisitively at the officer.
"Lieutenant, I wish to speak with you. You have a half hour
before your next duty shift, do you not?"
"Yes, sir. I wanted to double-check the duty roster and look over
some of the event reports from the previous shift, however there is
nothing here beyond the routine. What did you want to talk about, sir?"
"Please tell me your impressions of events during the past two
weeks you supervised Lieutenant Paris."
"The ship has been rather quiet recently, sir. Those weeks were
unremarkable except for the friction between Lieutenant Paris and
myself. We have since come to an understanding, so I don't anticipate
further difficulty should we be assigned to work together again."
"How would you characterize your relationship with the
lieutenant?"
Leena startled slightly. What relationship? she wanted to ask,
but then she reminded herself how precise Tuvok was. If he had
suspected them of any romantic indiscretions he would have phrased his
question more explicitly. She took a moment to gather her thoughts;
Tuvok valued composure and she valued his opinion. "It began
adversarially, as you are aware, sir. I believe Lieutenant Paris
resented the reassignment, found the work tedious and considered me to
be a petty martinet." Tuvok raised an eyebrow at this description,
prompting Leena to seek more neutral language. "For my part, I was
unduly prejudiced by the lieutenant’s previous involvement with the
Maquis and the rumours I had heard regarding the shuttlecraft accident
on Caldek Three. I allowed myself to become angry with his casual
insolence." I’ve done it again she thought to herself. "Excuse me,
sir, I believe 'insolence' is the wrong word, but that is how I saw it."
"I find that it is frequently an apt description of Mr. Paris'
manner," Tuvok replied. Leena stifled a nervous chuckle. "However, I
am more interested in the means by which you reached this
'understanding' with the lieutenant."
"Yes, sir. Tom explained the circumstances of the shuttlecraft
accident. I was surprised by his honesty, insight, and remorse, as well
as disturbed by Starfleet's cursory review of the incident. I realized
I had developed a habit of making reflexive judgements, based on
prejudice. Upon further introspection I decided that I had allowed my
frustration with being here in the Delta Quadrant to overwhelm me. I
resented my crewmates and had isolated myself to a degree that
interfered with my duty."
"It is indeed dangerous to allow emotions to cloud one's reason. I had intended that you might provide Mr. Paris with a beneficial
example of self-discipline, but instead he seems to have prompted you to
re-evaluate your own conduct." Tuvok arched an eyebrow at his own
comment as if disturbed by the irony. "Although inadvertent, there is a
useful lesson to learn from this incident with Mr. Paris. An attitude
of objective detachment is invaluable to a security officer."
Not quite the lesson Tom outlined, I'm sure Leena commented to
herself, amused.
"How has this affected you interactions with Mr. Paris and the
rest of the crew?"
"Tom and I are on amicable terms, sir, though I am still somewhat
wary of his motives. I am also coming to know my own security crew
better, in particular Julie McCormick."
"Mr. McCormick is a very promising individual. It would benefit
both of you to encourage her training," Tuvok said in approval. "What
about Ensigns O'Donnell and Kayla?"
Specifically, he was asking about the two former Maquis and her
incident with them last month. "I underestimated both of them, and, I
think, treated them badly, sir. They are still reserved with me, but
things seem to be improving now," Leena replied. When she thought of
it, the only one who seemed to hold a grudge was Kayla. The Bajoran
woman seemed actively suspicious of her motives, but Leena suspected it
was more of a case where their personalities conflicted too much. Some
people were simply destined not to like each other. She didn't think it
would be appropriate to single her out, so she said nothing. "If I may
ask, sir, why are you curious about my relations with my crewmates? Has
there been some complaint?"
"Not recently. Lieutenant, though I cultivate detachment I am by
no means ignorant of the effects of strong emotions. I consider it part
of my duty to make a study of crew morale. You earlier stated that you
had isolated yourself from the rest of the crew because you had allowed
your frustration to overwhelm you. This is precisely what I had
observed, which is why I granted your request for a transfer to duties
below your capabilities; a choice, as you will recall, I strongly
discouraged. Mr. Paris believes you are ready to resume your former
responsibilities. I am attempting to ascertain if he is correct."
"Tom asked you to switch my duty shift?" she demanded. To her
dismay, Tuvok cocked his head in that tiny bird-like gesture that meant
she had caught his attention.
"You suspect his motives?"
Not frequently enough she thought ferociously. Was Tom brown-
nosing, or was he just hoping to get her into bed without having to
sacrifice too much sleep? It might be neither, she scolded herself. She needed to calm down. It might be so simple as Tom trying to help
her career back on track now that he had taken her on as his pet
project. The prospect was insulting, but comfortingly innocent. "I
don't know, sir. Perhaps," she confirmed, "but the important point is
whether it's a good idea. I had intended to ask to return to my former
duties eventually. While I was still considering the question myself,
Tom seems to have concluded rather quickly that I'm ready now." Am I?
"Are you?" Tuvok prompted.
Of course he would ask that! "You've taken me a bit off guard,
sir, how soon do you need an answer?" She immediately winced at her
response. What a moronic thing to say she reproached herself. How
much time did she need skulking around checking equipment lockers before
she decided she was ready to function? "Actually, sir, I believe my resentment
itself did not make me incapable, but I allowed it to dictate my
withdrawal. I am determined not to choose that course again."
Tuvok was looking at her with a slight quizzical crease between
his brows. Leena wondered how much her face was broadcasting as she
waited for his response. "I believe you are determined, Lieutenant, and
I have never doubted your abilities, only your will," he said finally. Leena allowed herself a relieved smile. "Please report to the security
office tomorrow at 14:00 to go over your new duties."
B'Elanna waited patiently for the doors to the captain's quarters
to open. Never before had she thought to bother the captain during her
off-duty hours, but she felt this news was too important and sensitive
to use the ship's comm systems.
"Come in." Janeway was pleasantly startled when her chief
engineer entered the room, but immediately became concerned when she
saw B'Elanna's expression. She set down her book and got out her easy
chair to address the situation with the same serious manner. "What's
wrong, Lieutenant?"
"We're not going to make it to Alsauria in time, Captain. At
present the reaction rates are at 58% of normal. The reaction assembly
is under control, but the plain truth is that we're using up too much
power."
"Would it help if we cut speed again?"
B'Elanna shook her head. "The savings we'd get from generating
the warp field would be negligible compared to how much energy will be
used in the extra time it'll take to reach Alsauria. Our best solution
is to start shutting down all non-essential systems to minimize the
power drain."
Janeway held her chin in thought. "All right, do it. Cut power
and life support to all non-essential decks, and take the replicators
off-line for starters. I'll have Chakotay make up a list of other
areas we can divert power from as well. If that isn't enough to give
us enough leeway, let me know and we'll try to work something out."
"Aye, Captain." B'Elanna nodded, turned on her heel and left
quickly.
Leena watched the activity on the bridge from her standby
position. It felt like an eternity since she last stood here, ready to
assume Lt. Tuvok's place at the tactical station. Tuvok's new duty
assignments surprised her, as well as his new staff rankings. As if to
signal his confidence in her to the whole department, Leena found her
name slotted first among all chief assistants, putting her second behind
the Vulcan in terms of departmental authority. From the standpoint of
seniority and experience the choice made sense, but Leena still felt
flattered. Tuvok was going out on a limb by bestowing her such a huge
responsibility with little time for readjustment. A tingle of
anticipation tickled her extremities despite her best efforts to control
her emotions. This wasn't the first time she stood on this spot, but it
had been a long time. She just needed a little confidence in herself to
justify the Vulcan's faith. Leena drew upon her inner strength to quell
her nervous energy. She would prove herself to Lt. Tuvok and Captain
Janeway that a year spent hiding from the world hadn't affected her
abilities.
Voyager finally limped its way into the Alsaurian system. Tom,
like many of the officers, had been on edge for the last 36 hours. System after system went off-line around him as B'Elanna and Harry
desperately worked to save power. They couldn't get that tellerium fast
enough, in his opinion. "We're dropping out of warp now, Captain, and
switching to impulse drive."
"Thank you, Lieutenant. Janeway to Torres, you're clear."
B'Elanna's voice came in clear over the comm line. Aye, Captain,
taking the warp control system off-line now.
Tom watched his flight control panel as the appropriate controls
went dead. "There she goes."
"All right, Tom, lay in a course, one-quarter impulse. Neelix
says the Mokra Order has established an orbital sensor net around the
planet, so we'll take up a position behind their moon. If we're lucky
they won't notice our arrival, but if they do we shouldn't startle them
by going in too fast."
"Understood, Captain. I'm taking her in, nice and slow. We'll
achieve orbit around the far side of the moon in approximately one
hour."
"Fine, that should give us plenty enough time to prepare. Tuvok,
I want you, B'Elanna and Neelix to meet me in my office in five minutes
for one last debriefing. I want to make sure all our options are
covered. Commander, you have the bridge." Janeway retreated into her
ready room even as her orders were acknowledged.
Leena felt her confidence slip at the captain's orders. She
hadn't known that Captain Janeway would be part of the away team. No,
that wasn't entirely accurate; Leena knew the captain would want to lead
the negotiations for the tellerium. She just hoped the negotiations
wouldn't take place planetside. With the captain gone, that left
Commander Chakotay in charge. The Maquis.
Leena mentally kicked herself, angry for allowing her prejudice to
resurface. Commander Chakotay had the qualifications to be the
executive officer. He had graduated from the Academy, command level
experience, and understood Starfleet protocols as well as anyone. She
just had to get over that one detail, the one where he defected from
Starfleet to help lead a band of marauders bent on starting a war with
Cardassia.
"Lieutenant Calloway, I will turn control of the tactical station
over to you now."
Leena's head snapped up to face her superior. She could not avoid
blushing. "Aye, sir. Good luck with your mission."
The Vulcan nodded and retreated to the captain's ready room.
Leena again glanced at the first officer. She steeled herself for the
next few hours, reminding herself that this assignment was temporary. Certainly she could stand to receive his orders for a couple of hours.