Trials 04 Shadow's Trial
Page 53
who was studying the grids on the wall of the holodeck. She didn't
feel a fit of the giggles would be appropriate at this time. But the
look on Harry's face was nearly enough to upset her control
completely. The Delaneys were smiling smugly and hugging each other in
their glee. Hudson and Simms seemed amused. George Natwick was wearing
a stoic mask that hid any feelings he might have about the situation.
Tuvok seemed to be studying all the various reactions.
"All right, Harry! Finally a verbal commitment! See, Sis? I told you
he loved you!" Paris shouted. Wearing a big grin, he slapped a
friendly hand on Kim's shoulder and shook him.
Since he wasn't turning to face her, Malista stepped around Harry and
moved between him and Tom. She seemed to be suspended between
disbelief and hope. Tentatively, she whispered, "Harry?"
His hands shot forward and latched onto her shoulders as if he feared
she would run from him. "Malista, I'm sorry. That's not the way I
meant to do this."
Catching the eyes of those around the couple, Janeway jerked her head
toward the holodeck entrance. Everyone started moving in that
direction. Except Tom Paris. He wanted to see this. He was not allowed
to make that choice. Torres latched onto his arm and dragged him out
into the corridor.
"Harry, if you didn't mean it---"
"Of course I meant it!" Kim's sincerity was convincing.
"But you know I'm not a----"
"It doesn't matter, Malista. I know you're the woman I want by my side
for the rest of my life," he interrupted gently. "Damn! This isn't the
way this was supposed to happen. I had it all planned. There was going
to be music, candlelight, poetry---I'm sorry."
"Don't be. Are you really sure?" Her eyes pleaded for reassurance.
"Yes. For days now, I've been searching the database for just the
right love poem----"
"Harry, my angel?" It was a whisper.
"Yes, Cookie?"
"It doesn't matter about the poem. I love you, Harry Kim." Her green
eyes were dancing with joy.
"I love you, Malista Shadow." A smile began to dawn as he let go of
his plans for a 'proper' proposal. It didn't seem to matter anyway
since he'd gotten the right answer to the question. The question he
hadn't really asked yet. "Malista, we need to talk---"
"Harry, I never thought you'd ask---"
"I'm sorry. I should have---"
"No, it's my fault----"
"It isn't! I'm the one who expected you to read my mind," Kim
confessed. "I thought you knew that I loved you. I thought you knew
that I wouldn't have pursued the relationship if I didn't have a
permanent commitment in mind."
"I didn't expect any man to ever want to marry me," she mumbled. "My
father said--"
"Malista, your father was wrong. Any man would consider himself lucky
to marry you." His hands cupped her cheeks, his thumbs brushing over
the high cheekbones as a single teardrop spilled over from her damp
emerald eyes.
"Harry, I don't know if---I mean, I do love you, but I'm not sure I'm
really---ready to get married. I mean---oh, Zeus! I don't know
exactly what I mean."
He smiled gently and brushed away the tear. "It's okay, Malista. We've
settled the most important issues. I love you. You love me. We want to
get married. That doesn't mean we have to get married today. Or next
week. Or next month. We'll take all the time we need to be sure we're
both ready. You've had one crisis after another in your life lately. I
don't want our marriage to be the next one. Now do we have anything
else we need to discuss?"
"What will Tom say? He's probably planning the wedding as we speak."
There was amusement and affection in her tone.
"Tom Paris can mind his own business. If he wants to arrange a
wedding, he can get to work on arranging his own," Kim said
peremptorily.
With a slight wince, Malista decided to abandon that topic and avoid
controversy while she could. She could see herself now, caught between
the two friends. She would just have to count on B'Elanna Torres to
keep Tom in line. And if anyone could do it, it would be B'Elanna.
"Harry, can we discuss that later? Right now---would you please shut
up and kiss me?" Her smile blossomed into radiance though her lips
trembled.
"I can do that," he assured her. And demonstrated.
*********
Once the holodeck doors slid closed, Paris frowned down at Torres. "Do
you realize they're standing there in an empty holodeck?"
"So? They're together," Torres said.
Paris rolled his eyes. "They need a proper setting. Computer, run
Paris Program Lake Como seven and audio track Paris 214 in Holodeck
One. There, that should do it." He smiled smugly. "A cool moonlit
night and romantic music, in case they feel like dancing."
"It has definitely been an interesting evening," Kathryn Janeway
remarked.
"Oh, yes, I'd say so," Chakotay agreed. "I don't think I've ever
actually been present before at a proposal of marriage."
"Is that what that was?" Jenny Delaney asked mischievously. That did
it. Everyone began to laugh. Except Tuvok, of course. And George
Natwick.
Then Tom, with a gleam in his eye, said, "That's right! We have a
wedding to plan!"
Simms, Hudson, Natwick, and Tuvok perhaps feeling their services were
no longer required chose that moment to slip away.
The Delaney twins squealed with excitement in unison. "Let's go look
for dresses to wear as bridesmaids!" they chorused and took off for
their own quarters.
Torres shot a grumpy look in the direction of their departure before
grabbing Paris' arm again. "Tom, it's their wedding. They get to plan
it."
"I'm going to be very involved in this wedding!" Paris protested. "I'm
her brother. I'm giving the bride away!"
"It's customary to wait until you're asked, Mr. Paris," Chakotay
chided. "Besides she might want someone older to perform that
function. Someone who has provided a fatherly image---"
"You!?" Paris squawked. "Come on, Commander!"
"I think both of you are getting ahead of yourselves," Janeway
reproved. "If and when there is a wedding to plan, it is up to Mr. Kim
and Ms. Shadow to make the plans and inform any or all of us of the
roles they want us to play in it. And at this time, I would like to
suggest we stop lurking in the corridor outside the holodeck. Give
them some privacy."
"Aye, Captain!" Torres agreed snappily and began towing Paris away in
the direction of the turbolift. She had an idea that the two of them
could use some privacy of their own. She also could think of better
things to do than planning a wedding for their best friends.
As Paris and Torres vanished around the bend in the corridor, the
captain and commander heard Tom complaining. "B'Elanna, you know we
need to help those two or they'll mess it up. Wouldn't you like to be
the maid of honor?----Ow! All right, I get your point. They can plan
it themselves!
B'Ella, have you ever thought about taking dancing
lessons? Malista knows a few----Owwwwwwww!"
Chakotay's dimples deepened as he flashed a grin at his captain. "I
hope B'Elanna can keep Tom occupied for the next few hours while Harry
and Malista, uh, settle some things."
Looping her arm through his, she smiled back at him as they began to
stroll down the corridor. "I think our chief engineer is innovative
enough to come up with some activity to keep his mind off of what
Harry and Malista might be up to."
And Kathryn Janeway was right.
****************
The engagement announcement of Harry Kim and Malista Shadow settled a
great deal of the gossip about their relationship. Voyager's gossips
and gamblers had to look elsewhere for topics of discussion and issues
to place bets on.
Three items of interest concerned the same pair of crewmen. First, no
one had managed to discover why Lt. Laro Longoria and Crewman Paul
Castelle had suddenly been assigned to two weeks of cleaning deuterium
filters during Gamma shift. Some people believed it had something to
do with Castelle's behavior in the holodeck and his fight with Gerron.
Others argued that if that were the case, it would have been Gerron,
not Longoria, who shared the duty with Castelle. Second, each man also
was attending counseling sessions with the Holographic Doctor and
Commander Chakotay. No one was able to ascertain the topic of those
sessions either.
The third topic of discussion was the sudden incredible streak of bad
luck that seemed to be haunting Lt. Longoria and Crewman Castelle. It
seemed that during a two week period, the two men suffered every
possible malfunction or combinations of malfunctions in every possible
piece of equipment, furniture, or fixture in their quarters---and it
was never the same problem twice. Though several different maintenance
teams had repeatedly checked the equipment, no cause had been found
for the malfunctions.
No one understood why the problems only seemed to occur in those two
cabins.
It was a mystery.
Bets were being placed on what would next go wrong and on how long
their bad luck streak would last.
If, for some reason, he had been asked to speculate, Tom Paris would
have ventured a guess---or maybe a prediction?--- that it would
continue for at LEAST six weeks.
The End.