Naomi Keeps Watch
By ralst
Lieutenant Torres was sick again this morning. She didn't think anyone noticed, but I see a lot more than her silly engineers. It's the fifth day in a row. I've been counting.
I told Seven.
Seven's new smile is very pretty, but I don't think she should use it when she hears about someone being sick. I'll tell her so tomorrow, but today, I'm going to watch Lieutenant Torres. She needs someone to look out for her.
Lieutenant Torres sure can be mean to her engineers, but they don't seem to mind. Engineers are weird. I almost caught Vorik smiling, I think, when the lieutenant shouted at him. I don't think it's right for Vulcans to smile; it makes their faces look funny.
The captain didn't smile when Lieutenant Torres called her a bad name. She turned a funny colour and ordered the lieutenant into her office. They were in there a long time, but the captain was laughing when she came out. I think that scared the engineers more than the lieutenant's growls.
I told Seven about the captain's visit. She raised her ocular implant, which was good, but then she smiled that smile again. I think Seven might have caught Lieutenant Torres' bug.
I had to go to the messhall to have lunch with mom and Neelix, and when I got back the lieutenant's office door was closed and everybody was acting funny. Mr. Carey said something about 'love's young dream' and all the others laughed. Well, Vorik didn't laugh, but he did raise an eyebrow and that's sort of the same.
I tried to listen at the door, but I think they made the walls extra thick because Lieutenant Torres shouts so much. It makes my job a lot harder.
The captain came back in the afternoon, but when she tried to go into the lieutenant's office, the door wouldn't open. I thought she'd turn red again and start ordering people about, but she just spoke to Mr. Carey and left. She was smiling a funny smile. It was weird.
I was just getting ready to go home for dinner when the door to Lieutenant Torres' office finally opened. I couldn't see anyone at first, but then Seven was in the doorway, and she was smiling her new smile again. I thought she was smiling at me at first, but then I saw that she was looking at Lieutenant Torres. I waited and waited for the lieutenant to tell Seven to stop smirking, but as she came out into main engineering, I noticed that she was smiling, too.
I think nasty aliens might have taken over their brains, again. Mr. Carey said something to the lieutenant, and she snapped at him to get back to work. So, I don't think the nasty aliens have total control. I'll have to tell my mom and Neelix before they take over the entire ship.
I ran to the turbolift but I couldn't get the doors to shut fast enough. Seven, Lieutenant Torres and their invisible aliens, stood on either side of me in the lift. They were both smiling. It was very creepy.
Lieutenant Torres ruffled my hair. Seven arched her ocular implant. Then, the lieutenant was laughing and calling Seven 'cute'. I think the nasty aliens must have taken full control.
Then something even weirder happened. Seven and the lieutenant looked at each other and, although I don't know how, they seemed to have this silent conversation. It was like sharing a turbolift with a couple of Betazoids. I guess the nasty aliens are telepaths.
Next thing I know, Seven is on one knee and doing that stupid eye-level thing adults do when they think you're too little to understand. "Naomi Wildman," she said, as if I was going to fall for the aliens' tricks just because they knew my name. "I wish to inform you that Lieutenant Torres and I are going to have a child."
Nasty alien babies? I think I might have stared at her with my mouth hanging open, because Seven gently chucked me under the chin and I felt my teeth snap shut.
"That's why I've been sick," said the lieutenant, a very pretty smile on her face. "Seven told me you'd been worried." Her smile seemed to grow, and then suddenly she was kneeling next to Seven and leaning over to hug me.
I don't think the aliens can be all that nasty, because it was a real nice hug.
When Lieutenant Torres let me go, I saw that Seven was smiling a brand new smile. I'd like to think that smile was especially for me, but I'm sure part of it was for the lieutenant and another part for the alien baby growing in her tummy. But that's okay; the smile was big enough to share.
Walking home from the turbolift, I could feel the aliens taking over my brain, as a big smile tugged at my lips and I skipped down the corridor. I was going to be an auntie, Seven told me so, and I don't care if it is a nasty alien. It's going to be family, and that means it's going to love me, and me it. Even if it does have three heads and a tail.
The End