Star Trek Voyager: Here I Stand

Here I Stand, Part 5

Part 5

                Harry wasn’t at all certain this was a good idea.

                He clenched his hands around the edges of his seat as the Admiral took another curve at high speed, throwing him against the groundcar’s door with a thud. He glanced over at her with concern, wondering if she could actually see over the dashboard or if she was driving entirely by instrument and feel. A straight stretch of highway appeared before them and she jammed her foot on the accelerator, slamming Harry backwards in his seat.

                No, he wasn’t certain this was a good idea at all. On many, many levels.

                When she’d contacted him and asked if he would join her for dinner with Chakotay in Big Sur, Harry had hesitated. Then she assured him Kayma would be there, too. Harry had stammered and blushed…and agreed to accompany her.

                He got his first inkling that it might be a bad idea when the Admiral had mentioned that she was looking forward to spending some time with the Commander away from Starfleet Headquarters. Like many of his shipmates, Harry had often wondered what might happen to Commander Chakotay and Captain – now Admiral – Janeway upon their return to the Alpha Quadrant. To everyone’s shock, their friendship had seemed to flounder for months. But maybe that really wasn’t so surprising. Even aside from Chakotay’s odd and very brief affair with Seven, they’d all experienced a difficult period of readjustment as they reestablished old relationships, while at the same time trying to maintain the new ones they’d formed in the Delta Quadrant.

                Now, all these months later, the Admiral had smiled when she mentioned Chakotay’s name, a wistful smile Harry hadn’t seen since… Well, he couldn’t even remember. Early in their journey, anyway. And he suddenly wasn’t so sure he would be welcome at this particular reunion between his former commanding officers. But if Kayma was going to be there…dark-eyed, funny, beautiful Kayma…he’d go along for the ride.

                He got his second inkling that he’d made the wrong choice when he realized that “going along for the ride” meant going along for the ride. The Admiral had shown up at his apartment  out of uniform but in a state-of-the-art Starfleet groundcar, low and sleek. Harry ached to drive it. But he should have known the Admiral would insist on doing it herself.

                He also should have known that she would be the fastest, most unpredictable driver with whom he’d ever had the misfortune of riding.

                She wasn’t a bad driver, of course. Just impulsive and a little reckless. She took another curve at speed, on a stretch of road a good hundred meters above the Pacific. Harry’s stomach lurched. He closed his eyes.

                “Chakotay told me this was a beautiful drive,” the Admiral said.

                Harry cleared his throat. “Oh, it is,” he agreed. “Maybe if we slowed down a little bit, we’d be able to see it better.”

                She patted the dashboard. “Not in this little fellow. He wants to run.”

                “Forgive me for saying this, Admiral, but you sound exactly like Tom.”

                She smiled. “Tom and I are a lot alike, Harry. Neither of us can resist a fine wine, a crowded pool hall or a fast car.”

                “The Commander will kill me if we die out here.”

                She turned and winked at him. Eyes on the road, Admiral! Harry’s mind screamed. Eyes on the road! “If we do, I’ll be sure to tell him it was my fault when I haunt him.”