Gateways 5 (VOY) by Christie Golden

Author:Christie Golden [Golden, Christie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: General, Fiction, Science Fiction, Adventure, High Tech
ISBN: 9780743418621
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Published: 2001-10-14T23:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 10

Torres was in heaven. Well, as close to heaven as she was going to get in this lifetime, anyway.

Neelix, bless him, had come up with a brilliant idea. They had been only three days into the territory called No Man's Land and things were already starting to get bad. They lost that first ship, the Ammunii, just a couple of hours in, and that had brought everything to a screeching halt. Another meeting was held, and the fleet finally began to move on. They were stopped again almost immediately by the unexpected violence of the first official obstacle, an asteroid belt composed of asteroids so comparatively tiny and crowded together so densely that some of the smaller vessels whose shields weren't as powerful as Voyager's would be at risk.

Torres was itching to move more quickly, to put this treacherous area of space and its tensions behind them, but Janeway had stated quite firmly that they could move no faster than the slowest vessels. And some of those vessels were damn slow. What was worse, more and more of them seemed to be experiencing the peculiar power drain. Torres was getting frustrated at having to continue working on a puzzle she got no closer to solving.

Torres knew in her gut that this couldn't continue. So when Neelix had made his brilliant suggestion, she wanted to throw her arms around his stocky frame and kiss him.

"Why don't we have an exchange program?" he had said his chipper voice. "We could have some individuals from these other ships visit Voyager and learn about our technology and cultures, and we could visit them. I'd love to have someone to swap recipes with. I can't wait to share my secrets for making the perfect leola-root stew!" He had actually rubbed his hands together in anticipation.

B'Elanna met Tom's eyes, and saw her own excitement reflected there. At the same time, they said, "Ask the captain."

He had asked, she had (according to Neelix) agreed before he had even finished articulating the idea, and things were being put in motion even as Torres lay beneath a console, tinkering with a faulty connection. Apparently, the crews of the other vessels were as screamingly bored as she was.

Yesterday was the first exchange. Since the plan had been Neelix's idea, his request had been the first granted. Six aliens, none of whom was familiar and all of whom were unfailingly polite, had congregated in the mess hall to learn the mysteries of leola-root stew, coffee substitutes, and yruss-and-broccoli. It seemed as though everyone on board the ship needed a snack at one point during the day. Torres herself, claiming a desire for some fresh fruit, had wandered in and had barely restrained herself from laughing with delight.

Neelix looked ecstatic, clad from head to toe in full chef's regalia. Staring at him solemnly, almost worshipfully, were the six aliens. Three were humanoid, two were bipedal but resembled birds and lizards more than humans, and one was a small sphere that hovered

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