Peeping Tom, Shroy Tuvok ~ part v
 
 
 
Part VI ~ Harry

"No, absolutely not!"

"Come on, Harry."

"I don't care what you say, I'm not helping you hack into surveillance," I lean forward, lowering my voice.  "You want to get us both thrown into the brig?"

"Of course not," my best friend replies.  "But after their latest brush with death, they'd be fools not to finally precipitate the relationship."

"In the ready room?" I shake my head.  "Paris, you are sick."

"That's not what I meant and you know it."  Tom points his fork at me:  "Besides, they've got..." he pauses, searching for a word... "feelings," he finally manages, "just like the rest of us."

"Of course they do," I tell him.  "But that doesn't mean that it's any of our business!"

I push my empty plate away from myself, suddenly wishing that I hadn't eaten those eggs.  Truth be told, thinking about the Captain and Commander that way is just a little bit too much like thinking about my parents sleeping together.  "Speaking of which, where are the Captain and Commander?" I ask, hoping to change the subject to something a little less disconcerting.

"I don't know," Tom scans the room, his gaze passing by their empty table to the doors.  He glances at the bar, and then back to me:  "Maybe they're having breakfast in bed."  I groan.  "Sure you don't want to help me, Harry?" he asks, back on the original subject.  "Tell you what, I'll split the winnings with you, fifty-fifty."  I shake my head:

"Unlike some people," I reply, "I don't have any extra pips, and I'm not about to let Tuvok throw me in the brig."  Tom shakes his head, smiling:

"Your loss," he shrugs.
 
 
 

"Deck one," I state our destination.  Moments later, we're stepping onto the bridge.  I almost run into Tom as he stops short, and then he steps out of the way, and I see the Commander sitting in the Captain's chair.  That's never a good sign:  he always sits in his own chair, even when she isn't on the bridge.  Tom turns to me, lifts his eyebrows, and then turns to go to the conn.

"Good morning, Commander," Tom cheerfully greets Voyager's first officer as he passes him to take his post.  "And how are we this fine morning?" Tom seats himself.

"Alive," the Commander states without too much enthusiasm.  "Mr. Kim, has the wreckage been beamed aboard?"

"Yes, sir," I reply from my own post.  "B'Elanna's rebuilding the shuttle as we speak."

"Excellent," he replies.  "Lieutenant, set a course for the Drith system, warp six."

"Yes, sir," Tom enters the commands.  "Speaking of shuttles, Chakotay, how's the Captain,?"  Paris turns to see the reaction on the Commander's face.

"I wouldn't know," Chakotay replied, his eyes not lifting from the console at his side.  "You're the one who works in Sickbay, aren't you?  Engage."  Paris got the hint and turned back to his console.  Apparently, the Captain and Commander still hadn't resolved their differences.  It looked like it was going to be a long shift.
 
 
 

He hasn't moved in the past hour.  He's just sitting there, staring at the viewscreen, a scowl plastered on his face.  There's actually steam rising off of him, I swear.  The bridge has become very, very silent.

Tom is working on his project.  He's delusional if he thinks that he isn't going to be caught.  And spying on the Captain isn't the best way to get on her good side.  I wonder what the Captain did to put the Commander in such a bad mood.  It must have been pretty bad, whatever it was.  Chakotay's usually a pretty easy-going kind of guy.

Suddenly, Voyager's first officer is out of the big chair and on his feet:

"I'm going down to get a report on the shuttle's progress," he states.  I look up from my diagnostic, fully aware that there's absolutely no reason that the Commander would need to go to the shuttle bay.  He can just as easily use the comm line for a report, and if we need a shuttle we can always use the Flyer or one of the other older models.   Of course, I'm not about to say this, not while he's in his present mood.  "You have the bridge, Tuvok," Chakotay says as he passes Tactical.  The Commander is in the turbolift before the Vulcan can reply.

Whatever his problem is, I hope that B'Elanna can help him.  I'd hate to see what kind of mood the Captain's in right now.
 
 
 
Peeping Tom, Shroy Tuvok ~ part vii
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