章 18: The Eye of the Needle: Part One
Chapter 18: Eye of the Needle: Part One.
Two weeks after "The Cloud."
Lieutenant Bini Filters's POV
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((Captain's log, stardate 48579.4.: The crew has been scanning constantly for anomalies that might help us shorten our journey home. Ensign Kim has reported an exciting discovery. A subspace disturbance which may be a wormhole.))
I groaned as a piercing headache throbbed in my temple as Tom kept me upright and Harry was blabbing about something stupid beside me as B'Elanna kept cursing loudly at the engineering info on the padd in her hands as we slowly walked through corridor two.
"What makes this entire thing sad is that my mother called the Captain to bring my clarinet and she refused! The Captain refused!? WHY!?"
Harry seemed to have woken up on the wrong side of the bed this morning. He seemed to have suddenly gotten pretty triggered about the clarinet he left at home for no reason. I was suffering from a "hangover" as Tom put it. Why? Simple. I took one sip of wine last night, hated it, but it wrecked my mind.
"Harry, please shut up. Nobody cares about some stupid piece of belongings, seventy-five years away from here. So let it go and allow my broken brain and body to have a little bit of peace as I live in my own personal hell." I ranted. Harry looked down at the ground, whatever confidence he had before was shattered at my words as Tom cringed and B'Elanna looked back at me with a confused look.
"What the hell happened to you, Bini?" She demanded.
"She drank wine..." Tom muttered.
B'Elanna spun around and slammed her foot on the corridor. Grabbed whatever depression Harry was going through to snap him back to reality, me to stop thinking about my broken body and confused and jumbled thoughts, and finally Tom. Tom who couldn't help but smirk as he at us.
"You gave her wine!? TOM! SHE IS FOURTEEN!!" She yelled. The Crewmembers walked in the distance looked at each other, then took a smart step back.
"This wasn't my felt! It was Harry! ALL HIM!" Tom accused. Harry gave him a flabbergasted look.
"ME? I warned her it wasn't pop!" He insisted, attempting to make him look like the hero.
"Whatthehekjckb-" I slurred out. My vision became unfocused as I moved unsteadily and Tom put his hand on my shoulders to steady me.
"What did she say?" B'Elanna asked.
"I don't know. How is she supposed to do her job now?" Harry demanded.
"Her tolerance is shot to hell." Tom commented out of nowhere. B'Elanna raised an eyebrow towards him.
"Her alcohol tolerance. Well, I should expect so. She had never had wine before. I think she is still drunk."
"B'Elanna. One small sip did this."
"Sip as in-"
"Yes, sip. Geez."
"Should we inform the Captain?"
My legs suddenly felt like jelly and I gracefully collapsed to the floor. Mumbling crazy sayings as I looked at the ceiling with crazy, darting eyes.
"I think so."
-----
(One hour later.)
Kes's POV
I watched as the Doctor lectured Lieutenant Bini Filters about drinking wine and Tom and the Captain stood a few meters away with worried expressions as Bini kept rolling out sarcastic comments about it looking like pop and it might have been beer but who really knows to be honest. I wanted to help, I really did. But, I have never been near someone having a hangover. Something the Doctor thinks, and I quote "Is the most stupid and retarded way of getting sick and sent to sickbay and only the smallest of intelligence would indulge in such crime."
I think his thoughts on the matter may have softened a little as Bini looked down to the ground in shame as the Doctor delivered the final blow.
I don't know what they were saying. I have been in the Doctor's office replacing the hypospray used on Bini earlier. I clutched it close to me and crossed sickbay to engage with the rest of them. I handed the hypospray to the doctor and he gently pressed it against Bini's neck.
"Now, explain to me how this...event...happened again." Janeway requested with a sigh of irritation as Tom nervously shifted and looked at Bini.
"We were at the holodeck. Sardines to be precise. And Bini saw a glass of wine and thought it was pop, so Harry and I warned her not to do it but she did because she is Bini and...here we are." Tom explained with a shrug. Bini's eyes flickered and then she fell asleep on the biobed.
The Captain pinched the bridge of her nose and looked towards Tom.
"Just...Get to the bridge. Your duty started ten minutes ago." She snapped with irritation. Tom nodded and ran off to the bridge. The Captain straightened her uniform and took a deep breath.
"Thank you, Doctor." She said and stormed off. She swiftly exited into the corridor. I turned back towards some medical supplies and started to organize them into two emergency medkits. One I had completed that, I snapped them shut and picked up a padd that was filled with my medical lessons as the Doctor took some final readings in sickbay.
I heard the sickbay doors open again, I expected to see another patient but instead, I watched as Janeway's children and Mollie bolted into the room and ran past the protesting Doctor to stand beside Bini on her biobed.
"What happened to, Bini?" Micheal asked. The Doctor rolled his eyes as he snapped shut his medical tricorder that was running some final readings on Bini just moments before.
"Not even a Hello? Typical." He muttered. Micheal and Sarah gave him a scrunched up face of annoyance.
"Hello, Doctor. What happened to Bini?" Micheal corrected with some bitterness as Mollie moved away from them and sat in front of me with a whine. I have never been near a dog before. The crew don't really pay attention to her...I have seen some of them pet her...
I nervously knelt down and patted her on the head. Her tail started to wag and she got up to move closer. I couldn't help but giggle as she licked my cheek. I think I like Mollie!
-----
The Doctor's POV
"Hello, Doctor. What happened to Bini?" Micheal Janeway asked with a hint of bitterness as I placed my tricorder down.
We heard a soft giggle run through the room, we all looked towards Kes near my office as Mollie licked her on the cheek. I ignored this useless distraction as I looked back at the Captain's children.
"Lieutenant Filters had an accident last night, that continued this mourning. That is all." I snapped back.
"What type of accident?" Sarah asked.
"You two know I can't tell you that." I snapped at them.
Micheal and Sarah rolled their eyes at each other and stood with their arms crossed with raised eyebrows at me.
"We want to know."
"Please go away. I am a Doctor. Not a babysitter."
"We want to know!"
"LIeutenant Filter is suffering from a hangover if you please just get out."
"Thanks, Doc!" Sarah chirped and they both left, with Mollie running after them.
"Doc?" I muttered.
Kes came up to me and shrugged.
"Doctor. I think you need a name." She suggested. I nodded in agreement.
-----
Captain Kathryn Janeway's POV
I swiftly entered to the bridge. Trying to hold down my irritation from this mourning's events. Bini getting a hangover, for goodness sake. I would think that she would be mature enough to not even try it in the first place. I looked over to Harry's station that Tuvok and Chakotay stood at as Harry's fingers danced across the console.
"Let's see what you have, Mister Kim." I said. Grabbed their attention as I also moved to stand beside Harry.
"There," Harry said and pointed towards a white dot on the map on his console that was pulsating. "It's registering only on subspace bands. We don't even have it on long-range sensors yet."
"Verteron emanations. Tunnelling secondary particles. It certainly looks like a wormhole." I concluded in surprise.
"But is it stable enough for us to enter, and if it is, where does it lead?" Chakotay asked.
"There is, of course, a seventy five percent chance the wormhole will not lead to the Alpha Quadrant." Tuvok pointed out.
"Very true. But you can also say there's a one in four chance it will. Those aren't bad odds. Any analysis yet, Ensign?" We looked towards Harry again.
"Too far away. We'd have to be within a thousand kilometres to get a detailed analysis. That would mean a significant course change." Harry replied as the scans appeared.
"Well, Mister Kim, if there's even the possibility of finding a wormhole, I think we can afford a detour. Lieutenant, input the coordinates and change course." I called Tom at the helm.
"Aye, Captain. And may I suggest, if this works, we petition the Federation Astronomical Committee to officially designate this the Harry Kim Wormhole." Tom joked. Harry rolled his eyes and chuckled as Tuvok raised an unamused eyebrow.
(3 hours later.)
I impatiently tapped my fingers on my armrest as Chakotay kept giving me suspicious glances as he attempted to focus on the padd in front of him. We should be near the wormhole by now.
"Captain, we're approaching the coordinates of the wormhole." Tom reported. I shot up and stared at the dark view screen as the streaking stars returned to normal as we dropped out of warp.
"On screen. Are we in visual range?" I barked.
"Affirmative," Harry replied as the viewscreen flickered to change but it showed no wormhole. "Captain, and the anomaly is still registering on subspace bands."
"Sensors also indicate it's there." Tom insisted.
"Magnify. Increase to the highest magnification." I ordered. The viewscreen changed again and this time we could see the wormhole. A very small wormhole but a wormhole none the less.
"If that's a wormhole, it must be the smallest one on record." Chakotay muttered as he got up and stood beside me.
"Mister Kim, are you able to analyze it?" I asked Harry.
"Aye Captain. It's virtually microscopic. The aperture is only about thirty centimetres in diameter." He replied.
"I guess it's a little too small for us to fly through." Tom pointed out.
"However, it might be large enough to act as a conduit for a message." Tuvok commented.
"That's right. It could carry a compressed data transmission to Federation space in minutes." Harry confirmed.
"We still have to find out if it goes anywhere near the Alpha Quadrant. Can you trace its subspace bearing?" I asked.
"I can't get any directional readings at all. The aperture is too small."
"I recommend we launch a microprobe into the wormhole." Tuvok called out.
"Agreed. Do it, Lieutenant." I ordered.
"Aye, Captain." Tuvok confirmed.
After a silent moment, there was a wooshing and we watched the probe zoom away from the ship and enter the small wormhole.
"We're receiving telemetry." Harry confirmed from Ops.
The screen changed from the small wormhole to the inside of it, a swirling green tunnel that shifted and swirled with many different shades of green.
"It doesn't look like any wormhole I've ever studied." Tom said.
"Microscopic gravitational eddies, extremely constricted spatial dimensions. The pathway's barely wider than the probe itself." Harry reported in astonishment. I sat back down and opened up the small console between their command chairs.
"Does that mean we can't send a message through it?" Tom asked with a puppy dog face as he looked back at me as Chakotay sat back down beside me with a smirk.
"No, I can do it. Maybe it'll take longer to get through, but the wormhole's still stable enough to carry a transmission." Harry assured us.
"Any idea yet where that message would end up, Ensign?"
"I'll try extrapolating the verteron exit vector. No, I can't get it. There's a strange phase variance in the radiation stream. We'll have to wait until the probe exits."
"That shouldn't take long."
"Captain, I'm getting a distorted energy reading." Tom called out.
"The probe's telemetry has changed."
"It's stuck."
"Stuck?" I repeated.
"It's mired in a gravitational eddy, and because the wormhole's in a state of collapse, those eddies are incredibly dense. That probe will never break free, Captain, and we'll have no way of finding out where the wormhole ends." Harry explained, never taking his eyes off his readings.
"Let's give it some time. Maybe it will work itself loose." I suggested.
"Captain?" Harry yelled.
"What is it, Ensign." I asked.
"Our probe was just scanned. There's somebody on the other side of the wormhole." His fingers danced across the console as readings appeared from the probe on the console behind him. "We've analyzed the data. So far our sensors have detected four separate scans of the microprobe, each one on a progressively narrower band. Someone on the other end of that wormhole is definitely interested in that probe."
"We cannot preclude the possibility that there is a microscopic entity within the wormhole curious about an intruder." Tuvok reminded everyone with his usual rationality.
"That's possible, but you'd think our probe would have detected something like that." Harry counted with mild annoyance.
"What's the condition of the probe now?" I asked.
"I've been monitoring it from Engineering. It's still embedded in a gravitational eddy, but within seventy-two hours it will be crushed." B'Elanna finally reported from the engineering station.
"But until then it should continue to transmit telemetry."
"If we're reading scans from the other side, it's possible the probe is acting as a relay. If that's true, we should be able to use it to transmit a message to whoever is executing the scan."
"Yes. I can modify our subspace communications band to accept the probe as a booster."
"Let's try it, Mister Kim."
"I'll give you a hand." Torres jumped up. Harry and Torres got up and headed towards the turbo lift. Tom abruptly stood up also. Grabbing everyone's attention to him.
"Captain, permission to go eat lunch with Harry and B'Elanna. It is that time of day after all!" He chirped with a goofy smile. I raised my eyebrow in confusion and looked at Chakotay for help. He simply shrugged with a smirk.
"Lunch? Now? Um...Of course. Mr. Paris. I suppose this could wait." I growled. Tom nodded in agreement. Blissfully unaware how...confusioned and irritated I was. How could they be thinking about food at a time like this?
-----
Lieutenant Bini Filters's POV
I groaned as my throbbing headache came back for the third time in the half of an hour since I woke up. Yeah, never drinking alcohol or wine or whatever. Does it matter? No. It doesn't. Because my head hurts.
"Doc, my head is killing me." I complained in a whiny voice. The Doctor rolled his eyes and loaded up a hypospray. He walked over to me and pressed it against my neck with a hiss. My headache started to dull and I relaxed back down on the biobed.
"If you want to get better, I suggest you listen to my advice FOR ONCE-"
"Yeah, not happening." I replied with the roll of my eyes, the Doctor, of course, ignored me as he entered "Daydream land." (hypothetically.)
"For example, don't get drunk-"
"It was more of a hangover." I argued.
"Don't set off bombs in the holodeck-"
"Seriously? That was Micheal. Quite a few months ago!"
"Don't go flying across the corridor-"
"Now, you are just grasping." I finished.
Tom and Harry came walking through the front doors of sickbay, chatting while Harry held a tray of food from the messhall. Neelix's doing obviously because of the damn smell that came across the room. Even Kes, who was in the backroom of sickbay, started visibly gagging. KES WAS GAGGING. Somehow that really makes me feel better.
"Hello, Bini! Good News. Lunch." Tom explained as Harry set the tray on my lap as I relaxed on the pillows and fluffed them up so that I sat up straight.
"This is good news?" I demanded. Harry and Tom shrugged.
"You ran out of rations." Harry simply said.
"I. Ran. Out. Of. WHAT!?" I yelled.
"Oh boy." Tom said.
"Harry, my boy. How are we friends!?" I yelled. Harry looked over to Tom for answers.
"What-P-Pardon?" He stammered out.
"She is being dramatic again. Just...move on." Tom insisted.
"Anyway. What is happening today?" I asked.
"We found a microscopic wormhole that leads...somewhere and the prob that we sent in and is now stuck is getting used as a relay for someone scanning it on the other side. B'Elanna and I were just going down to figure out where it goes until Tom over here decided that lunch was more appropriate at the time so out of pure kindness, the Captain let us go to lunch first." Harry explained in a way too long speech.
"Did you just say "out of pure kindness'?" Tom demanded. Harry started to blush and walk backwards, towards the entrance as the Doctor dogged out of his way just in time as he just kept going backwards.
"I-um-need to get this stuff...working so-see you on the bridge, Tom. Bye, Bini!" Then he ran out as he tapped his combadge to inform the Captain.
"Yeah, that is my clue to leave. Bye Bini." Tom said and ran out after Harry also.
-----
Kes's POV
Bini gave a suspious glance to the door after Tom and Harry left. Then settled back down and started to fall asleep again as the sickbay doors opened to reveal another crewmember. I think his name was Lieutenant Baxter...I think. It was definitely Baxter in it.
The Doctor silently guided Baxter to the nearest biobed and gestured me to follow. I quickly pulled the medical tray over to Baxter as the Doctor scanned his held up wrist.
"It started acting up a couple of days ago. I'd been working out in the gym, maybe I overdid it." Baxter explained to me, not giving the Doctor even a second glance.
"Is it sore here?" The Doctor asked, Baxter flinched as he applied pressure.
"Yes."
"Localised tenderness to the ulna bone, no epidermal damage, moderate oedema. What are the possible diagnoses?" The Doctor asked me. I took a moment to think about it, based on the notes and lessons the Doctor had given me.
"Epicondylitis, strained ligament, torn muscle and hairline fracture." I replied. He gave me a small smile, then handed me a dermal regenrator.
"That's exactly right." He beamed.
"I've studied all the material you gave me. I'm ready for more."
"Good. There's a great deal more for you to learn. The tricorder indicates this is a small stress fracture-"
"Can this guy do everything a real doctor does?" Baxter demanded towards me. Again, ignoring the Doctor. I started to use the device on Baxter's wrist. Ignoring his question in the process.
"Yes, he can." The Doctor shot back. "That's it. Not quite so fast."
"If I had to get treatment for something serious, if I needed surgery for instance, would he be performing it?" Baxter asked me again.
"Of course, and quite expertly too." The Doctor insisted.
"I don't know. I'd have to think twice about that."
"Fine. And if you were lucky you wouldn't die on the table while you were making up your mind. That should do it. How does it feel?"
"Not bad. Thanks." Baxter chirped and hopped off the biobed and quickly left sickbay. The Doctor snapped shut the medical tricorder and left to his office again. How did it not bother him? That man was so rude to him.
"Doctor, did you notice how rudely that officer treated you?" I asked as I followed him into his office.
"Not more so than most." He mumbled as he sat down at his desk and turned on his computer, with a set of padds next to him that he downloaded info into.
"You mean others act that way too." I clarified.
"Let's just say I've become accustomed to being treated like a hypospray. Now, here's some material on first aid for burns." He replied and held a padd towards me. I gently pushed it back.
'Doctor, I think I'd like to do more than study first aid. I'd be interested in knowing more about anatomy and physiology."
"You're intellectually curious. I like that. These deal with human anatomy and physiology, but they weren't written for the layman. They're quite technical." He insisted, then picked up three pads and handed it to me.
"I understand. I'll do my best. And I really appreciate your help." I replied with a small smile and reentered the main area of sickbay.
"DOC!" Bini suddenly called out as she jolted from her biobed.
The Doctor slowly walked towards her as she fiddled with the sickbay clothes that she complained once made her itch.
"Can I go now? I feel fine!"
"No, Lieutenant. How many times must I inform you that you-"
"Thanks Doc!" She beamed and ran out anyway.
"Hey! Lieutenant!" But it was already too late. Bini was long gone.
-----
Ensign Harry Kim's POV
"Okay, I've boosted power to the communications bandwidth. Now all we have to do reconfigure the signal generator so it's compatible with the probe's long range sensors." I reported as B'Elanna and I worked on one of the concoles in engineering.
"I'm on it. Just a few minutes more." B'Elanna insisted.
"This has to work. It'll mean so much to people back home to know we're alive and headed for Federation space." I beamed. Bini suddenly push us aside and stood in the middle of us as she grinned wildly.
"Hey guys!" She chirped.
"Bini, what are you doing here?" B'Elanna asked in surprise.
"I am helping. By reporting. Don't ask questions." Bini demanded. She put her hands on her hips and glared at me. "Also, Harry. You are wrong."
"When am I not? Care to explain this time." I sarcastically replied. She grinned and cracked her knuckles than cleared her throat. Real dramatic. B'Elanna gave me the "Here we go again. Now you got her started" look.
"I can think of a few people who wouldn't be happy that the Maquis, despite being on a Starfleet ship, wearing Starfleet uniforms, following Starfleet protocols and etc. For examples Cardassian emperor, the entire Federation, anyone else who hates Maquis. Really...About 75% of the Alpha quadrant." She ranted.
"Well, you could think about it like debby downer over here or you could think of it like the fact that we haven't been gone that long. People won't give up on us so soon. They probably just think we're lost." B'Elanna counted.
"It's still going to be hard on my folks. I always called them once a week, even when I was on my training missions. I've never been out of contact for so long." I said.
"Well, it is going to work, Starfleet, so pretty soon they're going to know you're all right."
"How about you? Any family?" I asked. B'Elanna's face fell as Bini muttered "Bad Mistake."
"I haven't seen my father since I was five. He and my mother separated. He went back to Earth and that was the last I saw of him." She replied with an irritated sigh
"And your mom?"
"I think she's on the Klingon Homeworld."
"You think?"
"We didn't get along very well. OK?" She snapped. Bini signalled me to shut it.
"Harry! Too personal. She is snippy about her past-" B'Elanna yanked Bini to face her.
"Hey, pipsqueak! Don't finish that sentence!" She snapped.
"Okay, the signal generator should be tuned to the probe's long-range sensors." I interrupted, trying to distract myself from Bini and B'Elanna as they looked like they were about to beat each other up.
"Isn't there anyone back home who'll be worried about you?" I added. Bini slowly looked towards me again and mouthed: "Stop asking questions."
"The Maquis are as to a close family as I've ever had, even midget over here. Most of my friends are here, on the ship, so no, there's no one back home who's going to care one way or the other whether I'm alive. We're ready to transmit." She replied. I nodded. Getting the message that this conversation was over. I tapped my combadge.
"Engineering to Bridge."
"Janeway here." Captain Janeway replied from the bridge.
"We have a communications link with the microprobe. We're going to try sending a preliminary test signal, a series of sub-harmonic pulses. They stand the best chance of transmission through the wormhole." I reported as Bini and B'Elanna worked on making sure this was successful.
"Acknowledged. Proceed."
"Aye, Captain."
"I'm reading transmission of the test signal. The probe has received it and relayed it." B'Elanna reported over the channel.
"How will we know if the signal reaches somebody?" Bini asked.
"The only way is if that somebody answers. I would think this would be obvious at this point." B'Elanna replied with her usual charm of course. Bini rolled her eyes and watched the data.
"*Sigh* No response yet."
"It's too soon. Remember, we have no idea how long it takes to reach the other side." I said.
"Engineering, continue transmitting." The Captain ordered over the channel.
"Aye Captain. How long shall we keep it up? " I replied.
"Until I tell you otherwise. Janeway out." Captain Janeway snapped on the channel then abruptly closed the channel.
(AN: At this point in the actual episode it showed scenes of the crew waiting for something to happen. Won't even lie, I heard the Jeopardy theme song while that was happening. It is just running laps in my brain. STILL. It has been hours since I saw this scene!)
-----
Captain Kathryn Janeway's POV
I ended the channel between the bridge and Engineering and sat back down in my chair. After a few minutes of waiting, I finally stood up again. My irritation must have been obvious as Chakotay kept giving me side-eye and the young crewmembers tried (Yet failed) to keep their eyes on their work instead of giving me confused looks.
(AN: I would like to inform my wonderful readers that at this point I am barely awake so if I end up making the rest of this boring, we can blame exhaustion.)
"You have the bridge, Commander." I snapped and started towards my ready room.
"Captain." Tuvok said from the security station just before I entered the room.
"Mister Tuvok?"
"I'm getting something, Captain."
"I'm getting it too. A subspace signal relayed through the probe." Tom reported from the helm.
"That signal is being transmitted at exactly the same frequency and amplitude as our signal. It's a response. Someone received our transmission and sent one back, and their signal originated in the Alpha Quadrant." Tuvok reported.
"Thank you, Tuvok. Keep me informed everyone." I ordered and nodded towards Chakotay again to take over.
-----
((Captain's log, supplemental. Encouraged by his success in transmitting a signal to the Alpha Quadrant, Mister Kim is investigating the possibility of establishing a voice link with whoever is at the other end of the wormhole.))
(15 minutes later.)
Micheal Janeway's POV
Sarah, Mollie and I walked onto the bridge. Hesitantly. Mommy told us not to be nervous to go to the bridge if we needed her for something but...there is something about the bridge that is scary.
Some of the bridge crew looked at us and either smiled or scowled than continued on with their work. Tuvok raised an eyebrow towards us like he used to whenever he didn't agree with our actions when he visited us on Earth.
"Hi, Tuvok." I said.
"Hello, Micheal and Sarah Janeway. May I ask why you are on the bridge?" He replied in his usual stone-like expression.
(AN: I got no damn clue on how to write Tuvok right now.)
"Can we see Mommy?" Sarah asked with her big puppy dog eyes.
"That would be illogical. Your Mother is working right now."
"Ppppllleeeaaassseeee?!!" We begged. Causing some giggles on the bridge. Tom turned in his chair from the helm with a smirk.
"You can't deny them now, Tuvok. Come on. Be a man." Tom joked.
"Mr. Paris. I am a Vulcan."
"Still a guy. A Vulcan guy." Tom countered.
"Very well. I will take you to your mother." Tuvok replied and left his station, allowing us to follow him to the ready room entrance. Then he chimed the door. We heard a small "Come in." from my Mommy and the door swiftly opened to reveal Mommy at her desk, hard at work.
"Captain, your children are here."
Mommy looked up from her computer and padds with a bright smile.
"Hello, kids!"
"Mommy!" Sarah squealed and ran over and gave her a big hug.
"Hey there, little one. What can I do for you two?" Mommy asked as she got up from her desk and picked Sarah up. Tuvok swiftly left the room as we went to the second level and Mommy put Sarah down on the sofa and went to the replicator as I moved to sit beside her as Mollie layed down on the ground.
"We have a complaint." I stated. Mommy ordered Mollie some food and water, then placed it on the ground. Mollie leaped up and ran over for her meal near the replicator.
"You have a complaint? Would you like something to drink while you file this...complaint?"
"No thank you, Mommy-"
"Orange juice!" Sarah interrupted. Mommy got some orange juice and black coffee. She handed the juice to Sarah then sat between us. We both curled up against her.
"So, what is this complaint?" She asked.
"The Doctor is mean. He has a bad attitude and snaps at us a lot." I explained.
"Ah, I see. Well, I have had a lot of complaints like that over the past few months."
The door suddenly chimed.
"Come in." Mommy called out. Kes almost ran in. "Kes, this is a surprise."
"Am I interrupting?" She nervously asked as she noticed that we were in the room.
"Not at all. I was just listening to a complaint my children had. Would you like anything?" She asked.
"Ah, spinach juice with a touch of pear, please. Tom Paris introduced me to it, it's very nutritious." She replied with a smile.
"I'm sure. Computer, one spinach juice with a touch of pear. What can I do for you?" Mommy asked as the drink appeared on the replicator and she handed it to Kes. Kes sat down on the sofa with us as Mommy returned to her spot.
"If there were a member of the crew whose needs weren't being met, would you want to know about it?" Kes asked.
"Of course. Kes, do you and Neelix feel that your needs are being ignored?"
"Of course not, we're very happy here. I'm referring to the Doctor."
"The Doctor?" All three of us repeated in surprise.
"I don't understand why people treat him the way they do." She added. Sarah and I rolled our eyes.
"We can think of a couple of reasons." I muttered. Mommy shot me a look of warning.
"How do people treat him?" Mommy asked.
"As though he doesn't exist. They talk about him while he's standing right there. They ignore him. They insult him."
"Well, as a matter of fact, I've been hearing the other side of the coin. Many of the crew have complained that the Doctor is brusque, even rude, that he lacks any bedside manner. We've been talking about reprogramming him." My Mommy replied.
"You can do that? It doesn't seem right."
"Kes, he's only a hologram."
"He's your Medical Officer. He's alive." She demanded.
"No he's not." Mommy argued.
"He's self-aware, he's communicative, he has the ability to learn."
"Because he's been programmed to do that."
"So because he's a hologram he doesn't have to be treated with respect or any consideration at all?"
"Very well, I'll look into it."
"Thank you, Captain." She said with a smile and Mommy nodded as a dismissed. Kes quickly hurried out.
---End of Chapter 18. Next chapter: Eye of the Needle. Part Two.---
AN: My writer's block is back with revenge.
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