Day of Honor by Michael Jan Friedman

Author:Michael Jan Friedman
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: POCKET BOOKS
Published: 1997-08-29T04:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER

10

IT WASN’T SUSAN NICOLETTI’S IDEA TO SPEND HER DAY IN sickbay. But when she woke up shivering and saw the green blotches under her jawline, she hadn’t had much choice but to see the Doctor.

Then she saw that Lt. Chafin had come down with the same virus. Something new to Federation science—and the biofilter as well, apparently.

The Doctor didn’t have a name for it. He referred to it by a medical designation—delta nine-nine. His guess was that Nicoletti and Chafin had picked it up a week or so earlier, on one of the seedier space stations Voyager had run into.

A less versatile physician might have been thrown by the virus. Fortunately, the Doctor was as versatile as they came. In a matter of minutes, he had identified it, classified it, and come up with something to kill it.

The only problem was that the treatment was going to take four or five hours. But as the Doctor reminded Nicoletti and Chafin more than once, they were lucky to have a cure at all.

With no other option except to remain on her biobed, Nicoletti had eventually dozed off. When she woke up, the Doctor was standing beside her, a bemused expression on his face. Chafin, she noticed, was already gone.

“Is everything all right?” she asked, a little alarmed.

He nodded. “Everything is fine.”

Nicoletti relaxed. “That’s good.”

The Doctor looked at her. “Lieutenant Nicoletti… are you a virgin?”

She felt her cheeks flushing. “I beg your pardon?”

“A virgin,” he repeated. “Someone who has yet to—”

“I know what it means,” she told him. “I just don’t know what it has to do with my virus.”

“Oh,” the Doctor said, “it has nothing to do with it. In fact, there’s no longer any trace of the virus in your system.”

“In that case, it’s none of your business, Doctor” said Nicoletti, swinging her legs out of bed, “and I think I’ll report to engineering.”

“You don’t understand,” the Doctor protested. “This is not a matter of simple curiosity.”

“It’s still none of your business,” she muttered. Then she made her way out of sickbay by the quickest route possible.

* * *

The Doctor approached the holodeck, still a little embarassed by his exchange with Lieutenant Nicoletti. His function on Voyager was to heal people, not send them flying out of sickbay.

Still, his intentions had been honorable. In the course of his survey of various holidays, one on the planet Tiraccus III had caught his eye. In ancient times, it had involved the ritual sacrifice of a virgin on a slab of newly cut obsidian.

In modern times, a virgin was still required, but his or her sacrifice was only conducted on a symbolic level. One might say many things about the Tiraccans, but at least they hadn’t let the march of progress pass them by.

In any case, the Doctor’s experience with the lieu-tenant had led him to consider another holiday.

“Computer,” said the Doctor. “Initiate Wedding of Rixx program, complete with recent modifications.”

A moment later, the interlocking doors slid away and revealed the fruits of the Doctor’s labors.

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