This did not look good.

Ensign Stacey Woods felt the frame of the ship shudder.

"Not again," she groaned as she stood up hastily from her seat in the mess hall, accompanied by four other ensigns: Ensign Alexander, Ensign Carpenter, Ensign Peterson, and Ensign Barron. They raced down the hall somewhat unsteadily to report to their superior officers on Voyager.

Having mastered quantum physics and hyper-quadratic calculus at Starfleet Academy, one of the superior officers had requested that Ensigns Woods and Peterson work in Engineering for the time being, trying to steer Voyager back onto its charted course. The same superior officer, realizing that Engineering may be a dangerous place during distress, sent Ensign Alexander to Sickbay to help Doctor administer to injured and ill crew members.

When the ship shuddered again, causing the crew to grab the consoles and plant their feet firmly on the floor, Lieutenant B’Elanna Torres cursed under her breath. "P’taQ!"

Ensign Peterson’s fingers moved over the console quickly as the computer spat out long strings of codes. "Lietenant! The warp core is destabilizing!"

B’Elanna raced down to the console closest to the core. She hurriedly typed in some commands in the hope that the warp core would stabilize.

"It’s still destabilizing. Ensign Vorik, try it again at 3.793!"

The Vulcan nodded.

"It’s stable for now," he said after a moment. "I don’t know how long it will be before the warp core destabilizes again."

"Might I suggest something, Lieutenant Torres?"

B’Elanna nodded curtly at Ensign Peterson as she walked to the ensign’s console.

"I’ve noticed since Voyager has gone into orbit near the demon-class planet, the ship’s stability has been subject to erratic fluctuations."

"That could be so. I’ll talk to Captain Janeway right away. Galway, you have command until I come back."

B’Elanna called the chief officers to the conference room for an impromptu meeting. She related Petra’s theory to the captain.

**********************************

Janeway looked thoughtful. "We can’t leave orbit. The away team is scheduled to leave at 1200 hours tomorrow morning. There are strong traces of dilithium, which we need."

Paris looked at B’Elanna. "Would Jeannette be able to come up with a solution for us? Other than leaving orbit, I mean."

B’Elanna looked startled. "Maybe."

Captain Janeway nodded. "Then we will meet again tomorrow at 0800 hours. B’Elanna, talk to Ensign Peterson and if she can come up with an idea, let us know. She can come tomorrow morning if that is required."

"Yes, Captain." Then, waiting for Tom to join her side, she lowered her voice to a whisper. "Tom, I didn’t realize you were that familiar with the ensign."

"Well…" he said as they walked out of the conference room. "I am friends with her. She’s a nice girl."

"Hmm. Friends?"

Tom laughed. "Tonight? My quarters? 2100 hours?"

"It’s a date."

**********************************

Ensign Woods was eating a bowl of leola root and spinach soup, listening to Ensign Peterson. The two had become friends at Starfleet Academy and were extremely pleased to be assigned to the same ship. Once on the ship, the two had befriended Ensign Alexander and Ensign Nichols, who was now living in the continuum.

Jeannette took a bite of the bagel she had replicated. "I don’t see how you can eat that soup. I mean, I like spinach, but…"

"It’s good."

"Maybe because Neelix made it?"

Pretending she didn’t hear that comment, Stacey handed Jeannette a holo-novel.
"It’s a classic. I think you will enjoy it. It’s by some man named Isaac Asimov. I think Tom Paris has read this one, too. Yeah, he told me to read this. It’s good."

Jill made her way to their table, but not without mishap. She tripped on the toes of her shoes, catching herself by reaching her hand out to the nearest support, which happened to be Chakotay. "Sorry. The Doctor finally relieved me. I’m glad that the EMH finally realizes that sometimes people have to have breaks…I just wish Seven of Nine were the same way. I am assigned to work in Astrometrics tomorrow morning."

"Oh, joy," said Stacey. Then seeing a friend, added, "Oh, here comes Jerry."

She waved Ensign Barron over to their table. He grinned and seeing Stacey’s dinner, grimaced.

Now that Tom Paris had endeared himself to B’Elanna, Ensign Barron was the biggest flirt on the ship, and he truly believed that when he smiled, women fell into swoons at his feet. Except for the three dinner companions he had for the evening.

"Where’d we leave off? I know we were talking about Starfleet Academy."

"Oh…yeah," Stacey said, looking intently into her soup, stirring it with her spoon.

"Yeah?" said Jill. "Spill it…"

"The soup?" responded Stacey innocently.

"Don’t. You. Dare…" said the young woman, while Jerry laughed hysterically.

"No. Do you realize…that you’ve never told us why you went to Starfleet? You always seem to change the topic."

"Stacey…" said Jerry, in what he thought was a coaxing voice.

"Well, you know that exploration has always been something I love…" said Jeannette.

"Me too," Jerry chimed in.

"And Starfleet offered me the biggest scholarship, and it was the one school that allowed freshmen to have portable transporters."

Laughing, Stacey said, "You haven’t seen the show, Felicity, from the 20th century, have you?"

Jeannette nodded. "That is a classic. My great-grandmother has the authentic heirloom tape set of the first six episodes, which were made in 2000."

"Yeah, Y2K," said Jill sarcastically.

"Shut up. I want to hear this," said Jerry impatiently.

Jeannette and Stacey took turns summarizing the show.

"Okay, the show’s about this girl from California…"

"Who goes to New York City to attend NYU."

"Cause this guy, Ben, is going to school there…"

"Yeah, and she has this big crush on him, so that’s why she followed him."

"All the way across the country."

Jill raised her eyebrow. "Aaaannnd?"

Jerry hooted with laughter. "Don’t you get it, Jill? Think about it…"

Perplexed, Jill said, "What?"

"Never mind," he said. Turning to Stacey, he queried, "What was his name?"

"Take a guess."

"Umm. Jerry?" he replied with a grin.

"Nope."

"Travis?"

"Negative."

"Eric?"

"No."

"Bob?"

"Ugh!"

"Billy-Joe-Bob?"

"This is getting ridiculous!"

The door chimed. Meanwhile, Jerry and Stacey were exchanging names with negative responses. Neelix was listening, curiosity, and a little jealousy, tempting him to hear what Stacey had to say.

B’Elanna walked to the table, stopping all the bantering.

"Ensign Peterson, may I please talk to you?"

"Yes. Please excuse me," she said to her friends.

B’Elanna quickly relayed the captain’s message.

"I’ll see if I can come up with any ideas."

"Work with Harry if you have to." Glancing at the table where the other ensigns were seated, not quietly, but hitting each other playfully and giggling. Indicating Jeannette’s friends, B’Elanna said, "And if you think those three can get serious for a while, they can help you as well. You may also want to run simulations in the Holodeck."

"Yes, Lieutenant."

Oh, and I also asked Vorik to help you. He’s good at engineering, too. I told him to meet you tomorrow morning. You may want to meet tonight, too."

Inwardly, though, Jeannette was groaning. Work with Harry, sure. With her friends? If she could keep them serious enough, they knew what they were doing. But Vorik? She couldn’t stand the man. He was so dull and boring. He gave her the uncomfortable feeling that she was always doing something wrong.

"I have to call Vorik," said Jeannette morosely.

"Vorik? As in Vorik and the Pon Farr?"

"The same…"

"Why?"

"B’Elanna teamed us up to work on stabilizing the warp core. She also said you and Harry could work with us. In the holodeck." She administered this sentence hopefully.

"Well," said Jill. "Harry and I are…indisposed…for a while tonight. We have plans, but I am sure we can be in engineering at 2100 hours."

"I can be there at 2000 hours. I have to work in Astrometrics at 1800 hours. I’ll be done by then," said Stacey.

"Looks like you and Vorik will be alone till 2000. I’m on duty until 2000, too. Stacey, you should go to Astrometrics now. You have three minutes. Or Seven will throw something that looks like a hissy fit, Borg style."

Jerry and Stacey left together to attend to their duties.

Jill went to her quarters to get ready for her date with Ensign Kim, leaving Jeannette alone with her bagel and the copy of "I, Robot." Jeannette sighed. She pressed her com badge and called Vorik. She told him where she was, and he arrived within a matter of minutes.

"I hope I didn’t take you away from your duties."

"I’ve been off duty for an hour, Ensign Peterson. Shall we begin work?"

"Sure." Jeannette took out the file that B’Elanna gave her. "These are some of the specs. If we could work the command for this one…"

The two worked over the cups of tea Neelix poured for them. At 2030 hours, the two ensigns went to the holodeck to run some simulations. The first one didn’t work. It was Vorik’s error; he had put in the wrong number in the code. In a way, Jeannette was pleased to catch the mistake, though she had to wonder whether Vorik’s other calculations had been correct.

"It’s almost 2100," said Vorik. "Who else will be coming?"

"Ensigns Woods and Barron will be here in a few minutes. Sta - Ensign Woods hates being late for anything. I can’t account for Ensign Barron."

Vorik nodded. "Their help will be invaluable."

"Yes."

Vorik continued to type in command strings at the console. "Maybe if you check the EPS relays, Ensign, we may be able to stabilize the plasma conduits a little bit better."

Jeannette went to the EPS relays and opened the covering.

She heard a noise. "Jeannette? Vorik?" A knocking sound, hand on metal, echoed through the holographic engineering room.

A second knock came, louder. "Let us in," said Barron’s voice, slightly muffled.

"What’s wrong?" said Jeannette. She leapt up and found a box on the wall, and she tried to override the door.

"Access denied."

"Damn." She tried again, pressing harder, hoping that it would work this time.

"Access denied. Authorization required."

"What’s wrong with the computer?"

No one answered. Vorik was looking at his console, trying more command strings.

Pressing her com badge, Jeannette spoke to Ensigns Woods and Barron, giving them a quick overview of what was happening.

"One minute…I’m going to get something from my quarters," said Stacey. "Jerry, wait here. I’ll be back."

A moment later, Stacey was back. "The doors to my quarters wouldn’t open. I couldn’t override them either."

"Some engineer," Jerry said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "Should I get B’Elanna?"

"I think she may be indisposed. I don’t think she’s answering any calls tonight. Doesn’t she have a dinner with Tom?"

"What about Harry?"

"Umm. He’s in his quarters. I think."

"Find out who’s not locked in a room. Anyone. Wait. Make that anyone who can figure out something from these data streams."

"What about the Doctor? He may be able to help a little."

"It’s worth a try."

Jeannette’s com badge squawked. It was Jill. "I can’t make it."

"Neither can I," said a second voice, this one male. "It seems we’re stuck in my quarters. I can’t seem to manually override the doors. They’re stuck."

A thud came through the com badge.

Then, "Jill, are you okay?"

"Yeah. I’m fine. Fine, fine."

"We’ll keep working on it from here. I’ll let you know how things go."

"Likewise."

**********************************

Harry turned to Jill.

"Doesn’t this look odd to you?" He pointed at a data stream on the computer he had accessed after a difficult time getting the computer to authorize him.

"About 2342 hours," answered Jill as she leaned in to examine what Harry had found.

"What is that?"

"I’m not sure. But I can’t seem to access it to find out what it is."

"What’s the date on that?"

"This is from two days ago. And this is from the day we started orbit here."

"Wait, what about the time on that last one - the one for today?"

"2058 hours."

"Just before Stacey and Jerry were supposed to meet Jeannette and Vorik."

"Just before?"

"Wait. I see what you're getting at. What were the other times and dates?"

Harry looked at the records. Jill frowned as he pointed them out to her.

"Where was Jeannette at those times?"

"In Engineering."

"Vorik works in Engineering. Do you think that maybe he has been manipulating the ship controls?"

"What about the demon class planet?"

"It could be a ruse."

"True..."

Jill pressed her com badge. "Stacey, Jerry, please respond."

"Yeah?" said Jerry.

"Where are you?"

"We're outside of the holodeck. We can't get in. The data has been encrypted. Stacey's working on that. She's going to see if she can override the system."

"Harry and I think we know why. We think that Vorik has encrypted the data. It seems like every time the ship has malfunctioned, it happens whenever Jeannette and Vorik are together."

"Tell the captain. And Seven of Nine, while you're at it."

"Will do. And keep working on it. Remember what Professor L’Erale told us in his class? Use those theorems. See if they work."

Seven of Nine was in Astrometrics when she got the message from Jill.

"I shall try," she said as she entered her access code into her console.

"How long will it take?"

"Two hours, fourteen minutes and fifty-six seconds. Or longer."

Jill signed off. Turning to Harry, she said, "About two more hours. We'll be locked in for that long, at least. And Jeannette and Vorik. I hope he doesn't try anything."

"I hope not either."

"Seven's working on the decoding the encryption codes."

"She's good at that. Meanwhile, we have two hours..."

**********************************

Jeannette was still at the console, trying to find what went wrong. She had tried to contact her friends, the captain, and any other crew members. But communications had been cut off. She had no idea what was going on, and the computer refused to tell her anything.

"Vorik, have you tried the Hunzly equation?"

"Yes, I have. Nothing."

The Vulcan looked up. "Ensign Peterson, we're stuck."

'Duh,' thought Jeannette.

She stopped working, looking at Vorik. "Yeah. we are. Keep working."

"I wouldn't worry too much about that. I'm sure others are working on this, too. Lieutenant Torres and Seven are probably working on that."

"But we don't know that for sure. I can't contact anyone."

By this time, Jeannette was looking at the console, which showed something she hadn't seen before. "This is encrypted."

Vorik was at her side. "So it is."

His hand was on her shoulder. Jeannette shrugged it off, moving a little.

"Why is that? I can't access the files."

"Really?"

Something in his voice made her look at him. His eyes were hungry. A Vulcan doesn't display emotion, but he did. And Jeannette didn't like it one bit.

"Vorik."

"Yes, Jeannette?"

"Stop looking at me like that!"

'I can't help it...you're so beautiful...all of this was for you...Ever since B'Elanna...there wasn't anyone else I loved....but you...and I tried...I even read 'I, Robot' and 'Tales from Moomineyvalley'. But you never noticed..."

"Noticed what?"

"See?" He walked to her side. "Jeannette, Jeannette, Jeannette..."

He was babbling now.

And it didn't seem like he would stop saying her name anytime soon.

"Such a pretty name, Jeannette. Such pretty hair. Such a pretty girl...Jeannette."

'He's bonkers' thought Jeannette to herself.

"Why would you do this?" she asked, hoping that he'd stop saying her name over and over again.

"So we could be together...I did a research dissertation on demon-class planets in Starfleet...I studied the patterns they have, and used that to manipulate the ship."

"But at what cost?"

"No one would have been hurt."

He stopped. "Except maybe Ensign Alexander."

He laughed hysterically.

"Shut up!" yelled Jeannette.

"Okay." He stopped sounding like a broken record and he was humming tunelessly under his breath. It started to become a song, sounding like a medley of "Light My Candle" and "I'm a Little Teapot."

He began to twirl around the room, his arms spread out, like a child would do, dizzyingly. His humming got louder, and there was a new tune mixed in with all the others. He began to sing.

"Let’s go out tonight. I have to go out tonight. You wanna play? Let’s run away. We won’t be back. Before it’s…"

"Computer, what time is it?"

"2217 hours."

Jeannette massaged her temples.

"When I get a wink from the doorman. Do you know how lucky you’ll be?"

**********************************

Stacey kept on, though she felt a headache coming on. "I wonder how Neelix is doing in the Mess Hall? There's a fooseball tournament there, and I think he said twenty-eight people were competing, and he is the referee and cook...I can’t seem to get through to anyone anymore. Communications is down now."

Jerry said, "I don't know."

In a worried tone, he added, "I hope Vorik doesn't hurt her. I mean, we saw what happened during Pon Farr. If he does...."

The words were not said, but the implication was there.

"You like her, don't you?"

Silence. Jerry was intent, looking at the data stream Stacey was working on.

"Here," he said, pointing at the screen. "Try using Jerlon's referent here. Set it at 4.0098."

Sitting in the semi-dark room, Jill and Harry were sharing some private moments together.

Untangling herself from Harry’s embrace, Jill said softly, "I have an idea."

"Mmm…what is it?"

"No. Not that!" She laughed. "About Vorik and Jeannette!"

"I’m all ears."

"How about the Jeffries tube? I don’t think anyone’s thought of it-Captain Janeway is probably in bed, and others are probably not thinking of the Jeffries tube."

"Good idea. We can go now, through Jeffries tube twelve. That should take us to the Holodeck."

"Don’t I get a reward?"

"Of course," said Harry, grinning, as he gave her a kiss.

**********************************

Vorik was sitting in the middle of the floor. He had calmed down; no longer singing or acting as if he had too much synthenol. He motioned Jeannette to come closer.

Warily, the young woman walked over to him and kneeled.

"What?"

"I’m sorry for acting that way."

"But why?"

"I believe I told you."

"That you loved me? Are you sure you weren’t drinking synthenol?"

Vorik’s mouth curved in what might be taken for a small smile. "No, I didn’t. But the thought of you had the same effect."

"Oh." Jeannette had no idea what to say to that.

**********************************

Harry and Jill were in the Jeffries tube, and Jill held the lamp that illuminated the passageway.

"I think they’re in there," Harry said as he unscrewed the covering of the entrance.

A shriek emitted from the opening, followed by a glass vase and a rose. Hurriedly, a pale Harry put the cover back on.

"What was that?"

"You don’t want to know. But I can tell you that was the wrong room."

Jerry sat down, rubbing his neck. "I have the worst crick in my neck."

"I’m sorry."

"Was his name Chris?"

"Hmm?"

"The guy at Starfleet."

"Oh! No. It wasn’t."

"Kelvin?"

"Isn’t that a measurement of temperature or something?"

"You’re right. That’s a terrible name."

"Jorg?"

"No."

"Lewis?"

"Nope."

"Why are we starting this again?" said Stacey as she exhausted more ideas about what to do. Changing the topic, she said, "So, why don’t you tell Jeannette?"

"Do you really think she’d believe me? She’s called me the biggest gigolo on the ship. And the biggest gigolo she’s ever known," he said wryly.

"Point taken. You’ll have to prove it to her. In the meantime, though, you have to help me here!"

**********************************

Vorik leaned toward Jeannette. Then he did the unthinkable. He kissed her.

Startled, Jeannette pulled back and slapped him on the cheek.

"I’m sorry," said Vorik. "I don’t know what came over me."

He stood up suddenly and walked away from Jeannette, who was sitting on the floor.

"Are you sure this is the right entrance?"

"Yes, it is."

Harry opened his toolbox and took out a screwdriver. After the forth screw was taken out, he took a deep breath, hoping that there wouldn’t be anything he didn’t need to see.

"Well, what are you waiting for, Harry? Go in. I’d go, but you’re blocking me."

"All right."

He took a peek. At first he thought he was looking in the engineering room, but then he heard a voice singing.

"Tonight, tonight, I’m going to see my love tonight…"

"It sounds like Vorik."

"He’s not a bad singer," Harry replied. "Doctor would be proud."

"Do you see Jeannette?"

"Yeah. She looks okay, but she looks a little worn out."

"Get her, then!"

"Okay, I’m going."

Harry went into the holodeck and quietly walked over to Jeannette. Vorik didn’t notice.

"Harry! Thank God someone else is here!" she said in a low whisper. "Vorik is driving me crazy! He keeps singing that song over and over again. He kissed me!"

Harry, who had been walking back to the Jeffries tube, accompanied by Jeannette, stopped. "He kissed you?"

"Yes, he did."

"Well, let’s go. We can talk about this later."

A moment later, they were in the Jeffries tube and had sealed of the entrance, leaving Vorik singing to himself.

Concerned, Jill asked, "Are you okay?"

"I will be. Eventually. But I am not so sure about Vorik. He probably needs to see the Doctor and Tuvok."

"I agree," said Harry. "He seems a little…unbalanced."

**********************************

The trio materialized outside of the Holodeck, startling Stacey and Jerry.

Jerry embraced Jeannette, "Thank God you’re okay. Vorik didn’t hurt you, did he?"

Stacey stood back quietly. Jill raised one eyebrow at Stacey. Stacey, who had caught the expression, grinned and nodded. She made a small movement and her friends, sans Jerry and Jeannette, followed her.

**********************************

Seven had decoded the encryption sequences that night, and by the next morning, the ship was back to normal. Doors opened, com badges worked, and to Doctor’s delight, Tom Paris was able to come to Sick Bay to work.

Jeannette was in the conference room, assuring Captain Janeway that it was most likely that the malfunctions were caused by Ensign Vorik’s programming sequences, and that it was probably safe to remain in orbit.

The captain smiled at her, thanking her.

**********************************

"Captain?" asked Jeannette, "What will happen to Vorik?"

"Right now, he’s confined to quarters. The Doctor has come across some psychotherapy ideas that he can use, so Vorik may be able to control his impulses."

"And," added Tuvok with a hint of amusement, "I have done a mind meld with Vorik to help alleviate his frustration. I do believe that it has helped, and his impulses have lessened somewhat. He has, however, requested to speak with you. And to explain himself. I can see what was driving him to distraction."

Jeannette had no response.

"But not today," said the Doctor, who was listening to the conference via the telescreen. "He’s not quite ready for it."

"Dismissed," said Janeway, ending the meeting. "Thank you, ensign."

**********************************

On the way out, Tom accosted Harry and said, "Err…you didn’t tell anyone about what you saw last night, did you?"

"Of course not," he responded. "I’m trying to erase the image. Don’t worry. You and B’Elanna don’t have to worry about me talking about what you were doing in your quarters last night."

"You are talking!"

**********************************

Jeannette laughed. Jerry was stuttering and stammering.

"I don’t believe I’ve heard you be this smooth when asking someone for a dinner date!"

"I - ah - forget it."

"Don’t! I mean. I’d love to."

"It’s a deal!" He kissed Jeannette.

"You’re a better kisser than Vorik."

"Thanks."

Then, doing a mental double take, he said, "What did you just say about Vorik?"

**********************************

A few days later, Jill, Jeannette, Harry, Stacey, and Jerry were in the Mess Hall.

"So…was his name Levin?" asked Jerry.

"No." Stacey took a bite of her bagel sandwich. She was also drinking a concoction called Mountain Dew. Holding her cup out to Jerry, she said, "Try this. I finally got the replicator to do this right. It’s a twentieth century drink. Tom and I are trying to find good stuff from the twentieth century. This is what I came upwith."

"Don’t change the topic." He reached out for the mug and took a sip. "Not bad. But I still want to know the guy’s name. Was it…Orel?"

"No. Way."

"Rumplestiltskin?"

"I think the ground should swallow you whole!" laughed Jill.
Neelix, who was a little green with envy, was eavesdropping again. "He’s not on the ship, is he?"

"No. I don’t think so. I could be wrong, though," teased Stacey.

Jeannette sighed. "I think I figured it out…who was the guy that Felicity followed?"

"Bingo," said Stacey emphatically. "You hit it on the nail."