Arrival: Part 2

Seven of Nine and B’Elanna entered the briefing room, where the rest of the senior staff was already assembled.

"What have you two come up with?" Janeway asked as B’Elanna took a seat next to Tom. Seven headed to the display and began explaining their findings.

Seven of Nine stopped mid-sentence and looked at the pair, raising an eyebrow. "As I was saying, Lt. Torres and myself are not completely positive that a slip stream cause the disruption- but it definitely played some part."

"There is slip stream radiation, as well as radiation of an unknown type scattered across the ship. Additionally, a slip stream alone could not have cause both engines to malfunction in the manner they did."

"Good work." Janeway said, smiling slightly at Seven, then turning to Neelix.

"You’re our morale officer, aren’t you? She could use a bit of cheering up. Seven, Torres, test your theory in the holodeck. Ensign Kim, go with them. Paris, report to sick bay, Chakotay, you have the bridge. You are dismissed."

Kamii opened her eyes, and winced at a sharp pain in her shoulder. "Oww…"

"You’re on the Federation Starship Voyager." He paused. "And therefore in the Delta Quadrant."

"Delta. Quadrant." He repeated. "Your captain over there asked the same question

"Myself, the captain, the rest of the senior officers… everyone, really."

Janeway walked through the doors, and over to Lieutenant Davidson. "Captain Kathryn Janeway. You’re Kamii Davidson, correct?"

"If you’re gonna ask, I’m not the one who ran into the spacedock. That was Talon."

"Right. Helm officer for the USS Eclipse." She paused. "So who all from my crew is here?"

"You, Eve, me, of course, Arik, and Talon." Zeke answered. "That’s aboard Voyager. Everyone else is dead, at least, we think so. But there’s a possibility some of them are trapped on a sealed off deck."

"Speaking of your captain, how is she doing?" Janeway asked Paris as the two cadets started talking about their friends.

"She should come to soon. What sort of mood she’ll be in, is a different matter."

"Eve’s a good captain, but she’s too hard on her self- she’s always been like that. Everything from grades to relationships. She and Arik are super close, and he’s the only one who can get her to loosen up. That’s probably one of the reasons she went ballistic when she found out he was hurt." Kamii shook her head and looked over at her sleeping friend.

"Almost her entire crew is gone. And she is going to blame herself so much, this has gotten to her so much... More than anything else ever could." Zeke continued for Kamii, following her gaze.

"I’m not sure, but it goes way back to when she was a kid. Her mom died when she was 7, and she doesn’t get along real well with her step-mom."

"Gee, Kam, you don’t think it has to do with the fact that her dad’s a Starfleet general, and a perfectionist, do you?" Zeke rolled his eyes.

"Not a good combination." Neelix put in. "Why, just yesterday Ensign Medar was tell me-"

"But, anyway, Eve’s been like that as long as I’ve known her." Commander Truan finished.

"Maybe we could go check out the Eclipse again, see if we find any more information." B’Elanna said after a moment.

Eve looked at Arik, who was still out. She had woken up a few minutes ago, and was trying to keep her emotions under control this time. Talon had woken shortly after her, greeted by a few friendly pats on the back and a nonchalant hug from Kamii, making them both blush.

She watched as the others talked and ate- she wasn’t really interested in doing either, but Neelix had insisted on her eating, and she did so to prevent being pestered. What ever it was they had ate, the drink reminded her of grape juice and the sandwich of chicken and cheese.

The doors swished open, drawing her out of her thoughts. It was Captain Janeway, and Eve resisted the urge to salute the woman, as she had been instructed that it wasn’t required or expected.

"Being the acting captain of a ship I was assigned to for a school project- which from the current standpoint I seem to have failed- doesn’t make me a real captain. I’m a cadet." Her lips were making a thin line on her face.

"You’re a leader, you have a starship, you put the others before you. I’d say you qualify as a captain." Janeway finished, raising her eyebrows at the girl’s last remark.

"I’m not." A male voice from two beds away corrected her, breaking the silence after Bryce’s last comment.

"Arik?" she whispered. "Arik!" Jumping off the biobed where she sat, Bryce ran to

Ensign Kim swung the flashlight around the destroyed Engineering room. "I hope we never have to find out how this happened first hand."

"I hope no one does." B’Elanna agreed, stepping around a body. "I’m guessing all the engineers were killed upon the explosion of that." She indicted a generator.

"As there was on every deck." Seven added. She was at a console, trying to bring what was left of the systems on line.

"None so far. The systems are completely damaged." She replied, momentarily looking at him over her shoulder.

"I’ll go check out the wiring." Harry yelled to them, as he headed to a side room.

"Ensign Kim, are you alright?" Seven called over her comm in response to a scream.

"Yes- I uh- found a body." He muttered, turning slightly green as he passed by the pale young man’s body.

"Speaking of bodies, how many casualties do we know of?" B’Elanna asked.