Star Trek: New Frontier

Chapter 11

USS Voyager-Alpha.

5 days later.

Stardate 69451.4.

Tom Paris got in touch with Engineering during the Beta shift—while holding a mug of warm lemon tea—with a bit of honey mixed in.

"Ian? Good news—I hope?

A new voice replied instead.

"Commander Snow is off duty, sir. This is Lieutenant Kelly Stetson. Beta shift relief officer on call."

"Ah. Yes. Kelly..." Tom murmured apologetically—before straightening up in his chair.

"What's the word down below decks?"

"Almost finished with the rebuild of the starboard drive coils, Captain. Slipstream systems are now back up to normal parameters, but without the nacelle in working order...? We can't risk a slipstream jump at this time. It's much too risky."

"Risk is part of the job, Lieutenant. Says so right in the Starfleet Officer's Manual."

"That may be true, sir. But what happened to the USS Delacroix six months ago...? Is still very much fresh on everyone's minds these days. That could have been us—if we even dared to make the attempt."

Tom nodded slowly—knowing what happened to Captain Ira Danvers on board the Nova-class starship. It wasn't a pretty outcome—either way. And the incident was classified at the higher levels by Starfleet Command soon after.

"Very well. Do what you can. We'll remain in orbit for another 48 hours until then." He compromised evenly—before terminating the connection.

Then he took a small sip from his cup and sighed.

Definitely a long week indeed...he thought mostly to himself.

***

USS Juneau.

Engineering sub-level four.

Lieutenant Janice Scott sighed for the hundredth time—while staring at a PADD full of maintenance requests, parts requisitions, and of course...? Damage reports.

"Shit..." she breathed in mild frustration. "And it's only Tuesday...?"

A quiet knock on her door got her attention—before she realized that the comm relays were also one of the things on this ship which needed to be fixed before someone took things the wrong way.

Putting down the PADD, Janice looked up and said: "Yes? What can I do for you?"

A familiar voice came back with: "It's me: Seth. Can I come in?"

Janice's heart skipped a beat briefly—before she nodded.

"Yeah. The door's open—or at least...it should be."

There was a brief chiming sound heard clearly across her private office—then her door opened partway; before grinding to a complete halt.

"Blessed Mother..." the woman groaned. "I thought I told Ensign Davis to fix the bloody thing...?"

"She's busy with other things at the moment: Cleaning out the dilithium regulator systems. Apparently, we have a Cardassian weevil infestation clogging up some of the relays."

"I thought weevils were pests back on Earth?"

"Yeah, well...since the Federation began trade and diplomatic ties with them roughly eleven, twelve years ago—after the onset of the Dominion War—some exotics were bound to be transported along with them."

"Why not voles instead? Those things always proliferated like the Tribbles of old; nesting where it was the most warmest?"

Seth shrugged somewhat in return. "I could go scare up a few nests—just say the word, Lieutenant."

Janice smiled briefly—before shaking her head. "I don't need another headache on top of the ones I'm already dealing with already. And considering the workload I'm facing down right now—in conjunction with a limited crew and available staff on hand...?"

Seth crossed over the threshold of her office and took a seat next to hers.

"I don't envy your job, Jan. Not one bit." He said softly—while staring at the floor for a few brief seconds. When he looked up, he found her looking at him rather intently.

"What?" He ventured in confusion. "What is it?"

"No kiss?" She said in a half-serious tone of voice.

Seth blinked for a moment. Then he relaxed.

"I didn't think we were at that point yet—since dinner together last night...?"

Janice laughed lightly—before she leaned forward in her chair a bit.

"I'm willing to skip ahead—if you are, Seth. I won't stand on ceremony in this instance."

Her love interest glanced towards the door for a moment.

"What if someone walks in unannounced? Or barges in...?"

Two seconds after he said that, he felt some surprisingly soft hands on both sides of his face—spinning him around gently in turn: His whole world doing a complete one-eighty in retrospect.

Janice's eyes were full of mischief and love—while gazing at him for a second or two longer.

"I seriously doubt that will happen." Then she leaned forward even more—closing the distance between them in a split-second and kissed him quietly on the lips.