Hello again! The Young Upstart is starting yet ANOTHER story before I finish anything else. Why? I wish I could say. I've got a bunch of beginnings, but nothing to finish. Although I do have some Finnish friends. ::dodges incoming tomatoes:: Anyways, when I was watching Equinox, I thought that Chakotay and Marla Gilmore made a dang cute couple! It just brought out the "aww..." in me, especially when she brought up her family. So, here's my bit of fanfic, hope y'all like it.
Legal Disclaimers: Star Trek: Voyager and all its characters, ships, species, dialogue aired, and a bunch of other stuff. I am not telling TPTB how to do their job... I'm just saying that it'd be cool if they worked off the chemistry we've seen between Robert Beltran and Olivia Birkelund (thanks to Jim Wright for providing guest actor names). In short: The Viacom/CBS/Paramount conglomerate owns what has been seen on TV, and--by extension--what has been published in Pocket Books. However, they do not own my writings. I will make clear what has been seen on the episode, and make certain it is not confused with my own writing. Happy, Lawyers?
Again, thanks to Jim Wright, this time for providing highly-descriptive breakdowns so I don't have to try to remember what Janeway said in "Equinox: Part II".
FROM THE EPISODE:Janeway paced in the briefing room, giving each of the crew members from the USS Equinox the look of disappointment that was already familiar to most of her crew. A few meters away, Tuvok stood at attention.
"The last time we welcomed you aboard you took advantage of our trust. You betrayed this crew. I won't make that mistake again." The blond engineer, Marla Gilmore, set her gaze on her boots. She knew what she did was wrong, and felt that Janeway was being too gentle on them. Janeway glared at Lessing for a moment, then continued as she walked down the line. "Noah Lessing, Marla Gilmore, James Morrow, Brian Sofin, Angelo Tassoni: you are hereby stripped of rank. You'll be expected to serve as crewmen on this vessel. Your privileges will be limited. And you'll serve under close supervision for as long as I deem fit." Gilmore accepted her sentence, grateful to still be in Starfleet in some way, limited as it was. "This time, you'll have to earn our trust. Dismissed." Gilmore followed Lessing out of the conference room (NOTE: THIS IS WHERE THE EPISODE CUTS OUT), where one of Voyager's crew waited to hand PADDs to everyone from the Equinox. As Gilmore looked over her PADD, she saw where her quarters would be, how much replicator use and holodeck time she would be permitted, and what her assignments would be. Resigned to her assignment, she headed for the nearest Jeffries Tube and began the descent to the crew quarters deck.
"Quicker, maybe, but I'm still nervous about the turbolift. Every time I hear a high-pitched whine...." She shuddered as she remembered her extra-dimensional enemies. Feeling Torres' stare, Gilmore smiled sheepishly. "I'm sorry. You said you wanted me to do some maintenance on the Holodeck?"
"...on the Holodeck SYSTEMS, yes," emphasized Torres. "You'll be working on the power relays with Ensign Vorik. Any questions, he'll be able to tell you what to do. Understood?" Gilmore nodded. "Good. Let me know when you're done; I'm going to need your help in restoring some files that Commander Burke took." Giving Torres her assurance that she would do so, Gilmore followed the young Vulcan to the power relay control area.
They worked for several hours, rerouting power transfers all over the ship. It wasn't until shortly before 1600 hours before they were able to find a pathway that would provide stability to the holodeck without compromising more important systems. As they packed their tools, Gilmore turned to Vorik.
"What do you think of Lieutenant Torres?" Vorik raised an eyebrow, inviting her to elaborate. "How is she at her work? Does she always get along with Captain Janeway?"
"It is true that Lieutenant Torres has had more than one occasion to dispute certain decisions with the captain. These disputes often appear because Torres is often able to find solutions that are risky, but have a more-desired effect. She is a competent engineer," he finished, snapping the tool case closed. "Is that all?"
"Yeah, I guess. I just want to get to know who I'm going to be working under."
"It takes a great deal of time to get to know Lieutenant Torres. Even those who worked with her in the Maquis are still learning about her."
"I understand," Gilmore replied, forcing a smile. "I guess we'd better head back to Engineering," she added. As she followed Vorik, she thought she could have seen surprise on his face when she asked about Torres. It could have been the lighting.
At the end of the day Marla was on her way to the mess hall when she heard footsteps and a soft baritone behind her.
"Crewman Gilmore. How was your first day on Voyager?" Gilmore turned around and smiled at the Executive Officer. He was probably the only normal person in red on this ship.
"Hi, Chakotay. It went pretty well. I did some things that I'm sure your engineers consider mundane, but it's still nice to be working on a ship that isn't falling apart." Chakotay smiled, and placed his hand on Gilmore's back.
"Well, we aren't falling apart now, but we did have a few rough times our first couple of years here," he admitted, guiding her into the mess hall. "The hardest part was over when Neelix finally got a decent idea of what most humans like to eat. In fact, I remember one time, in our first year here, our bio-neural gel-packs got a cold from some cheese he made!" he related, chuckling. Gilmore smiled, and allowed Chaokatay to lead her to the galley window, where Neelix popped up from behind the stove.
"Ah, Crewman Gilmore! Nice to see you've decided to try some of my cooking. Your crewmates weren't quite so open-minded." Gilmore smiled, in spite of herself.
"Maybe Tom told them a few exaggerated horror stories," suggested Chakotay with a smile as he took a plate of vegetables. Gilmore took some vegetables also, as well as what looked like some kind of water fowl. Following Chakotay to a table, she sat down and picked up a fork.
"Chakotay, can I ask you something personal?" Chakotay finished his forkful of vegetables, inviting her to continue. "I was wondering if you had any... connections to anyone on board. Chakotay put his fork down.
"Are you asking what I think you are, Crewman?" he asked with a smile. Gilmore looked down, blushing slightly.
"Maybe. But I'm not trying to curry favor with anyone," she added quickly. Chakotay's smile boardened.
"Don't worry," he said, fixing his eyes on hers. "We may not have everyone on a first-name basis, but we are more casual on Voyager than on most Federation ships. Nobody's going to think it strange if the first officer starts seeing an engineering crew member. Isn't that what you had in mind?" Gilmore smiled shyly.
"As a matter of fact, it is," she admitted. "I was just worried that you wouldn't like me, after what happened aboard the Equinox." Chakotay reached across the table to take her hand.
"Some of the nicest people I know have a spotted history. The best thing to do is to try to look past them. Just look at Voyager: half the crew is Maquis, you've met our resident Borg, and our best pilot has done some time in a penal colony. I'm sure it won't be long before Janeway treats you like anyone else aboard Voyager." Gilmore's smile broadened as she looked deep into Chakotay's deep brown eyes.
"It would be nice if Janeway would come around, but what about you?" she asked. Chakotay leaned forward.
"I think it would be nice if we could talk over dinner tomorrow night. How does 1900 sound?"
"That sounds lovely, Chakotay. Hopefully, Torres will let me off early, like she did today."
"If not, I can always order her to let you go," he quipped. Marla stood and walked over.
"That probably won't be necessary," she teased, "but thanks for the offer. Good-night, Chakotay. I have a busy day tomorrow," she said, patting him on the shoulder. Chakotay's eyes followed her. "All right. Good-night, Marla." Gilmore, surprised that Chaoktay used her first name, beamed as she walked out of the mess hall.
Gilmore woke at 0700 the following morning. Normally not a morning person, she made sure she made herself presentable in as short a time as possible so Torres would be more inclined to let her off early. With a smile on her face, she took the turbolift, not minding the high-pitched whine. Entering Engineering, she calmly waited a respectable distance from Torres until the problem she was dealing with no longer needed her attention.
"Crewman Gilmore! You certainly seem cheerful this morning," Torres remarked with amusement. "Let's see if you're cheerful at the end of your shift today. Vorik!" she called, and the young Vulcan popped out of a Jeffries tube, asking Torres for what she needed him. "You'll be working with Gilmore again. She'll be following you on your rounds. Use her help whenever you can. You two will be working together for the rest of the week. Understood?" Vorik and Gilmore replied "Yes, Lieutenant" almost simultaneously. "Good. Dismissed." With that, Vorik and Gilmore made their way to Vorik's station. Gilmore was ready for anything Vorik might need from her.
The day passed quickly, and before either of them knew it, their shift was past over. Neither of them looked up from their console until Torres, who had been hovering over them for more than a minute, cleared her throat.
"It's past 1645," she remarked calmly. "Your shift's been over for more than fourty-five minutes. Why don't you let Nicoletti take over?" Almost embarassed, Vorik checked the chronometer, then nodded.
"Very well, Lieutenant. Good day." They packed up their tool kits, Gilmore humming slightly as she did so. She was about to follow Vorik out into the corridor when Torres stopped her.
"Any reason you're so happy today, Crewman?" asked Torres. Gilmore feigned puzzlement, but Torres wasn't fooled. "You had a cheese-eating grin on your face when you came in--early, I might add, and now you're humming. I want to know why."
"Will it be an act of insubordination if I don't tell you, Lieutenant?" Torres replied in the negative, and Gilmore's smile broadened. "In that case, I'll keep some secrets to myself," she declared as she continued on to the corridor.
"What's his name?" asked Torres. Gilmore merely tossed a coy smile over her shoulder and disappeared through the doors.
When the doors to Crewman Gilmore's quarters opened, Chakotay was met by a blond-haired angel in a light-blue dress with navy-blue shoes, belt, and hair clip.
"Good evening, Marla," he said, handing her a small floral arrangement--nothing too showy, just enough to say he was interested in her. "You're looking rather lovely tonight."
"You're rather handsome, yourself," she replied, gazing at his brown short-sleeved tunic, which showed the muscles in his arms and chest rather well, and black trousers. "The flowers are lovely," she added, taking them inside to find a vase to put them in. When she returned to the doorway, she found Chakotay with his hand on his waist, elbow extended. Smiling, she took his arm. "Where are we going tonight?"
"I thought we'd go to a bistro on the Academy grounds in the holodeck. Is that all right with you?" he asked. Marla nodded.
"It sounds lovely," she replied as they stepped into the turbolift.
To be continued...
