Part Five

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Part Five

Talon was finishing his tenth drink as Kamii entered the bar again.

"Well, hash anybody called for you?" he asked.

"Nope." She answered, sitting on the stool next to him. "Not a shingle message."

"Your drunk!" he said, as if it was a surprise.

"No, I’m not. You are." Kamii retorted, waving a finger at him.

"Hey, either of you see Zeke?" Arik interrupted, and Kamii and Talon stood up, hiding the empty glasses on the counter.

"Nope!" Kamii said, shaking her head, and then stopping, because it made her dizzy.

Talon nodded his agreement as Kamii attempted to sit, missing the stool. "Whoopsies!" She giggled.

"Uh-huh… Riiight." Arik raised an eyebrow. "Computer, located Cadet Truan."

Cadet Truan is in his quarters.

Arik frowned. "I just looked there… are you sure?"

Clarify. The computer demanded.

"Never mind." Arik shook his head in annoyance. "Hey, you guys aren’t drunk are you?" he paused. "Don’t answer that… I’m sure Eve will be very pleased with you." He muttered, and hit his Comm badge. "Eve, you may want to come to the bar… Kamii and Talon are… well, let’s just say your not going to like it."

Eve entered the bar, spotting her friends immediately.

"Hidy-ho, Commander!" Kamii greeted her, with a loose salute.

"Commander?" Eve asked Arik, who shrugged.

"You two, are very much intoxicated."

"Nuh-uh. I only had…." Talon stopped to think. "One, two, five, seventeen, ten, three. Three."

"Really." Eve said coolly. "Come with me, we have to talk." She hit her comm badge.

"Doctor, meet me in the Eclipse briefing room. And bring some de-tox."

"There." Announced the doctor. "Would you like me to fix the hangovers, also?"

"No. I want them to learn a lesson."

The Doctor smiled, amused. "Alright then."

"Now, as for you two…" Eve fixed them with a glare.

"Don’t talk so loud." Talon complained, wincing.

Bryce raised her voice. "I’ve very disappointed in both of you- extremely disappointed. Not only are you Starfleet- you were in uniform, and on duty. I expected you to know better. Unfortunately I was wrong." She stopped, allowing that to sink in. "Perhaps I should demote you. Take away bridge duty. First you mock me- now this?" she narrowed her eyes. "How would Crewman sound to you? Maybe I should let someone else run the helm. And someone else run Security. No more Senior Staff meetings. I might even put you in isolation for thirty days, for conduct unbecoming of an officer, or anyone, really. However, I won’t. You are, however, relieved and restricted until further notice. Dismissed."

They left the room, and Eve fell back into her chair. "Why me?"

"What a headache…" Kamii complained.

"It’s probably nothing compared to mine!"

"Well," Kamii smirked. "Our wonderful Captain didn’t exactly confine us to quarters…."

"Kamii…."

"What?"

"You know very well she meant it."

"It’s called a loophole. And I’m taking it." She retorted, then winced. "Damn Eve and her ‘I want them to learn a lesson’"

Eve and Arik walked in to the casino/bar, holding hands.

"Hello," Dax called. "What are you two up to?"

Eve shrugged. "Just walking around. Waiting for messages, looking for any more of my crew stumbling around completely smashed."

"You have to admit, Eve, it was kind of funny." Arik pointed out.

"I don’t know about that. But next time I catch them doing something like that, I’m not hesitating to demote them."

"Don’t you think that’s a little harsh?"

"Not really."

"If I acted like that- would you demote me?"

"If you continually defied me, yes."

"Hmm…" he paused. "Want to get a drink?"

She glared at him.

"Kidding!"

"Yeah, you better be!" she laughed.

"So, what would you like to do, my beautiful friend?"

She blushed slightly, and shrugged. "I don’t know… I guess we could go to the holodeck."

"Want to bring Harry and Tom?"

"I don’t see why not."

"Hello, Captain Bryce! What brings you to the mess hall?" Paris asked, after noticing her standing next to the table.

"Call me Eve- we’re off duty."

"Alright then, Eve, What are you two doing?"

"Not much." Arik answered. "But we’re headed to the holodeck. Would you two like to join us?"

"What program are you planning on running?" Harry asked.

"I was leaning toward Alex’s Camelot program. He would have wanted us to use it." Eve smiled at the two.

"Well," Harry grinned, with a glance at Arik. "If your Gwenivere…"

"Then I," Paris finished, "Shall be Sir Lancelot!"

"Hey!" Harry protested.

"I’ll, of course, be fair Gwenivere. Arik, you can be Arthur, Paris, you’ll Be Lancelot-"

He grinned triumphantly at Harry.

"And Harry, you can be what Alex use to play- another knight. Arik can fill you in. I’ll see you three on holodeck one in a hour." She flashed a flirty smile. "Bye, boys." She called, leaving the mess hall.

As soon as she was gone, Arik rolled his eyes and laughed. "Sometimes I think she only likes that game because she’s the only female- or that she gets to be Queen." He sighed. "She can be the galaxy’s biggest flirt."

Tom laughed.

"So, what do we do about the costumes?" Harry asked.

"Oh, we have a big closet full. I have a feeling they weren’t on the list of items to equip the ship with- more than likely Eve and her friends brought it all onboard- they packed for more like years than weeks. Kind of ironic. And I bet she’s having her dad bring the rest of her clothes that she can’t possibly live without."

"Women." Paris laughed, and the other two joined in.

Seven entered the bar. The Doctor had suggested that she practice socializing, and that the best place to do it was in the bar. She had reluctantly agreed to the plan.

"Hey Seven!" yelled a male voice from a corner of the room. She looked around and spotted several Voyager and Eclipse crewmembers. "Over here." Continued the voice.

"Hello." She greeted them.

"Hiya Seven. So what do you think of the Alpha Quadrant?" Zeke asked.

"It is mildly stimulating, but not entirely different from the Delta Quadrant."

"You’re Borg- aren’t you?" asked one of the crewmembers from DSN that she did not recognize.

"How observant." She said with a nod.

"Seven, meet Doctor Julian Bashier." Neelix introduced the man.

"Nice to meet you." She said simply. The Doctor had told her it was always polite to say that.

"And you." He returned, as Kamii and Talon approached them.

"Well, well, well." Said the Doctor. "If it isn’t Thelma and Louise." The humor was evidently lost on the others.

"Right." Kamii eyed him.

"Where have you been?" Zeke asked.

"Hiding from Eve." Talon answered, with a glance over his shoulder.

"Why are you hiding?" Seven asked.

"She’s a tad bit mad at us." Talon explained.

The Doctor snorted.

"She already threatened to put us in the brig. She however forgot to confine us." Kamii grinned.

Zeke frowned. "Are you sure she didn’t imply it?"

"Loophole!" Kamii retorted, and stuck out her tongue at him.

"A loophole?" Seven looked slightly confused.

"They mean that Captain Bryce did not specify that they were confined. And in doing- or rather, not doing that, she has left them the opportunity to do whatever they wish, as they no longer have duty shifts." The Doctor explained.

Seven frowned. "I believe she would be most disappointed with you." She told the two offending officers.

"I know." Kamii answered.

To the final part