Lieutenant Commander Garek Loran entered Engineering. It was bright and early at 0500 hours. Engineering Team Gamma was on duty, busy as over. These guys had the night shift from 0000 to 0600 hours. Not the most glamorous of shifts, however, as soon as they got off duty, they were always first in line for breakfast at the Mess Hall which started at 0615. Leader of Gamma Team was Eric Wiley. He was in his late teens, early twenties, fresh from the Academy, and the Virgo was his first cruise. Eric was 5'11" with blond hair short and spiked. He had blue eyes and an eagerness to learn. That, and he always called Garek "Boss" which Garek couldn't stand, however, he didn't want hurt Eric's feelings.
As Garek entered, Eric was hovering over the craps table, finishing up some reports. "Good morning, Boss." Eric said. "How are you today?"
"Eric, don't you ever leave?" Garek grinned, as he past behind Eric on the way to his office.
"Come on, Boss, you know I sleep on your desk." Eric smiled and downloaded the information to his PADD. He then followed Garek into his office. "I was looking at the power distribution network throughout the ship. It's functioning fine, however, the redundancy system still leaves something to be desired."
Garek sat down behind his small desk. "I thought Kalmar and the Borial gods had repaired those types of things."
"Well, they did. However, I still don't' think it's as good as it could be." Eric handed over the PADD he had to Garek for inspection.
Garek looked it over with an engineer's eye, then handed it back. "All right, if you think you can do better."
"Thank you, Boss. I'll show you." Eric smiled and left the room.
There's no stopping him. Garek thought to himself. He reclined in his seat, going over a mental checklist of things he had yet to cover. "Checked the Lambda Flier yesterday, the shuttlecraft were checked the day before that. The rest of the Virgo checks out. I guess I really have some free time."
Free time didn't come often to Garek. If he's not working on the warp drive, the fusion reactors, or an EPS manifold and such, he's repairing and maintaning shuttles, or the Lambda Flier. Seeing as though he had some time, he figured he might as well go to the DEL and get himself a drink. Garek exited his office and passed by Eric on his way out. "Keep up the good work. I'll be back in a little while."
"Can do, Boss," Eric said, calling back over his shoulder.
As Garek entered the Day's End Lounge, he noticed only one occupant. Lieutenant Jenara Tomme. She was sitting quietly, looking out the forward viewport as the stars streaked by. The star lines of warp speed were mesmerizing to watch. Garek attempted to watch them whenever he could. His quarters were on the rear facing part of the saucer section, so he didn't exactly get the best of views. However, the view he did appreciate when the ship went to warp was the powering up of the warp nacelles, watching them glow bluish-green and finally sort of "explode" giving off their energy to drive the ship at faster-than-light speeds. It was a beautiful site.
However, seeing the ship's Chief Science Officer hunched over a table, slowly sipping a drink wasn't a good sight at all. Garek walked over quietly behind her, and placed his hands on her shoulders. "They're very pretty, aren't they?" Garek smiled as he walked around the table to take a seat across from her.
"Yes, very," Jenara replied coolly and quietly. She stared past Garek at the space that they were heading through.
"So," Garek began. Suddenly, a wave of consciousness hit him. It wasn't Jenara's. It was something else. Someone... very young. Very inexperienced. But who? Garek looked around, but there was no one else in the DEL.
"Garek?" Jenara asked. She looked at Garek, staring off at the back wall of the DEL and sensed him feeling something. "Garek!"
"Oh, sorry," Garek replied, shaking off whatever had happened to him. He had only experienced this feeling once before, that he could remember. It was when K'Lara was pregnant. He saw where this was going before he could even complete his thought. "When is your due date?"
"Excuse me?" Jenara asked, slightly startled. "What are you talking about?"
"You know, your due date. When is the little one due to arrive?" Jenara's child was starting to experience it's own consciousness, and, being a Betazoid, he'd been able to pick up the child's consciousness and emotions.
"But how did you..." Jenara started. Then she realized it. "You're a Betazoid. How could I forget? For a moment I thought you could tell, since my abdomen is getting bigger... but sitting down..." She shook her head and smiled. She had been discovered. "The baby is due November 24."
Garek nodded. "November. I'm sorry for intruding, it's just, I felt his or her presence, and had to ask." One thing about being an empath was being able to detect the slightest of human suffering. During his second year at the Academy, Garek was thinking about double majoring in Counseling and such because of his abilities. However, since he was already majoring in Engineering and Warp Theory, he dropped the class. It was becoming too much for him. However, he applied what he had learned to his Engineering Teams, and used those skills and knowledge to better the workplace, and make his engineers happier. It was apparent that he had succeeded by the high spirits that always floated around Engineering. "I also have a request."
"You might as well ask," she said, still lost in her own emotions and memories.
"Please, don't do this by yourself. My aunt was a single parent, and she had a very tough time. I'm always available, as is the rest of the crew. Don't hesitate to ask. Never hesitate. Just press the com badge." Garek looked into her eyes, as if to see the response in the back of her head. "Please?"
"I wish it were that simple. Garek, I don't know who the father is. For awhile... I didn't even know HOW I became pregnant," she explained, "but now I know. The memories came back, and I'm starting to wonder if maybe I shouldn't have tried to pry them to the surface."
"What do you mean?"
"I'm assuming you heard about the transporter mishap that Commander Lataro, Lt. Benton and I were in?"
He nodded.
"Well, we had been abducted by some alien race. I haven't exactly reported this yet. But they can even manipulate time. They ran experiments on us. One included getting me pregnant." Tears sprang to her eyes, but didn't fall. "So you see, I have a hard time when the crew asks me questions... at least until I can resolve this within myself."
"Then come to me, but please don't try to do this alone."
Jenara smiled softly. "All right," she said calmly. She looked into Garek's eyes. "All right. I'll do that. In fact, if you don't mind, you might end up with a frequent visitor in Engineering then."
"Superb. That's all I ask." He patted her hand and smiled. "Excuse me one moment. I have to get myself a cup of coffee." He rose slowly, and made his way to the nearest replicator. Garek returned to his seat, sipping the coffee. "Replicator coffee is never the best, but it'll have to do." He sat down across from Jenara. The two talked on into the morning about her newfound pregnancy, and what Garek could do to help.