The Three of Us

Part 21 - Permissions

"Might I ask you a question?" Malcolm asked Hoshi at lunch, almost a week later.

"Uh, sure," she looked up from her salad.

"Is, uh, is Ensign O'Day, is her PADD off, or something? For she doesn't seem to be answering messages, and that doesn't seem to be like her, not at all."

Hoshi smiled. "I checked. Her PADD has been off for days."

"Oh, uh, well, thank you." He paused for a moment, and then asked, "Someone else asked?"

"Yes," she confirmed, "you're not the only one, evidently, who sent a message that wasn't answered."

"I, I see. Thank you again." He brought his tray to the galley and left.

=/\=

Lili wasn't answering because, for the most part, she was spending her days sleeping. Captivity had taken a lot out of her, so she had locked herself in her quarters and only answered when Brian came around with food. He took to bringing her both breakfast and lunch together, so that he could save a trip, and then would collect the dishes at dinnertime. She thanked him profusely and asked him how Jay was whenever she saw him, but otherwise those were the only conversations she had during that time period.

She had had internal conversations, though, as she struggled with her feelings. She felt for both of them. They both held a claim on her, she could tell. And, to her mind, they were both lost causes. "You're a dope, Charlotte," she would say to herself every single morning as she hauled herself out of bed and looked in the bathroom mirror.

=/\=

The Ikaarans didn't really know what to do with themselves, so they hung around the cafeteria for the most part, or the Observation Lounge. They made no pretense of hiding their interest in all of the women on board, and were particularly taken by Diana and Ingrid – blondes – and Jennifer, a redhead, explaining that the only hair colors that Ikaarans had were either varieties of the darker shades of brown, or grey, or white. So those women were of particular fascination, but the truth was, they were interested in all of the ladies.

When Sandra and Sophie and a few of the others complained, they apologized profusely, and began to be a bit more subtle. Captain Archer gave them an escort – Eddie Hamboyan – in order to keep them out of the worst kinds of mischief.

They enjoyed any food that was put in front of them and asked, frequently, about how Lili and Jay were, and showed what certainly appeared to be genuine concern about their welfare. Most of the crew liked them, particularly after it got around that little Amanda Tiburón had skinned her knee and Jobiram – with Oscar and Tracey's permission – had painlessly healed her in less than a minute.

=/\=

Back on the Bridge, Jonathan said, "Get me Sick Bay, please."

"Go ahead."

"Doctor, how's your patient?"

"I'm about to discharge him."

"Ah, good. I'd like to have him participate in a debriefing," said the captain, "would it be okay to do that today?"

"I don't see any reason why not," said the Denobulan.

"All right, thanks. Archer out." He turned to Hoshi, "We'll have a meeting of the extended senior staff. Bring in Ensign O'Day and Corporal Todd as well."

"Very well, sir," Hoshi then added, "Sir, Lili's PADD has been off for days. Can I just go and get her, maybe a half an hour before we're supposed to start?"