Lieutenant Commander Flummox Vael and Kyrennei leader Kaelara were working together in the ship’s machine shop area, fabricating new plasma inducers for several new plasma relays. After the fifth new one that Kaelara made, Kaelara handed it to Flummox for inspection. As he examined it visually and scanned it with his engineering tricorder, he whistled in amazement.

“Kaelara, I have to admit, these new inducers look perfect. Not any defects at all. These five should be good.”

Kaelara smiled at him.

“Thank you Flummox. I guess one good thing I can take away from my past with the Borg is the drive to for perfection. We will need to redo the power system for the transwarp coil as well. I noticed slight misalignments and micro fractures.”

“That is a good idea Kaelara. That is a rare item for us to have. Can you do that while I start to install these new inducers?”

“Of course Flummox,” Kaelara said with a friendly tone in her voice.

Flummox nodded and grabbed the new inducers and left the machine shop, heading for the main access hatch to the Jefferies tubes.

Kaelara watched him walk away. When he exited the shop area, her thoughts still stayed on him even as she turned to start entering the specifications for the new power relays for the transwarp coil. She found her distracted by her thoughts of Flummox that she has to restart her work three times.

“This is becoming distracting,” she said to herself. These new found feelings I am starting to have. I don’t understand them. What is love?”

The computer in the shop chimed, then spoke.

“Please restate inquiry,” the mechanical voice of the computer said from invisible speakers.

Kaelara was startled for a second, not expecting anyone, let alone the computer, to respond to her rhetorical question.

“Oh…um…computer, what is love,” Kaelara asked.

The computer started to explain in a combination of a Vulcan way of explaining things with the mechanical tone of a computer. The computer went on for several minutes, explaining in extreme depth of detail the definition of love, the history of the word, the psychology of the feeling, etc. Kaelara just stood there, listening to every word. The few remaining Borg implants, that had to remain for her survival, were processing the computer’s information as fast as the computer gave it. Kaelara would ask additional questions to clarify certain things. Then the computer informed Kaelara of a holographic program on file that pertains to this.

“Oh….save that file for later, computer,” she told the computer.

The computer beeped in response as it saved the file. Kaelara started working on the new power relays. She entered the correct information for the automated machining computers to create the new parts. As she was doing this, her thoughts still wandered to her feelings. Feelings she has started to experience for a long time. In fact, the last time she felt anything was before she got assimilated. She spent most of the remaining day struggling to do her work and process her newly found emotions. After several hours of struggle, she finally managed to finish making the new parts. She picked up her engineering PADD to see what else was on her to do list. Everything was checked off. She put the PADD down in a box, then grabbed the new parts she just made, put them in the box.

She lifted the heavy box that a regular human would have needed help carrying, and walked the box to an empty antigravity sled. She started to walk to the doors. The doors parted open with a soft whoosh sound. She navigated the corridor, passing by crew members who smiled at her as she passed them. There was one crew member who scowled at her. She was taken back by how that person acted to her. A new emotion popped up…fear and anxiety. It was bubbling up to the surface in her.

She managed to continue to move down the corridor to the main turbolift. She almost ran into the lift. She was starting to feel overwhelmed by her new feelings. She told the computer her destination was Engineering. The computer beeped and started moving. A minute later, the lift stopped and the doors whooshed open. She calmed herself down and slowly pushed the sled out. She nearly ran Flummox over. Flummox was more alert to his surroundings than Kaelara. He jumped out of the way. Kaelara recognized what happened and immediately stopped the sled and gasped loudly, shocked that she almost ran Flummox over. More new emotions hit her…sadness and joy.

She felt sad for a few seconds as she registered that she almost hurt Flummox, but there was something else underneath that feeling. She could not understand what she was feeling. Then the feeling of joy washed over her, as she recognized that Flummox was there.

“Flummox, I’m so sorry,” Kaelara said apologetically, as she walked around the antigravity sled to check on her friend. “I was not paying attention and nearly hit you. Are you alright?”

Flummox gathered his senses together. He looked himself over, realizing that he was all good and that Kaelara was holding his arm. He looked at her, seeing panic and sadness in her face. He smiled at her, letting her hand with his.

“I’m fine, Kaelara. I’m sure it was just an accident.”

Kaelara stood there. The feelings of being shocked and sad slowly changed to warmth and friendship as she processed what he said to her. She gave him a small smile.

“I’m glad that you are undamaged,” she said to him.

“Me too.” Flummox looked at the sled. “You finished with those new relays for the transwarp coil?”

Kaelara stood there, looking at Flummox like a school girl having her first crush. Flummox looked at her, puzzled at her facial expression and her delay in response to his question. She snapped out of her reverie and realized he asked her something.

“I’m sorry Flummox, what did you say,” she asked softly.

He smiled slightly at her, repeating himself, “I asked if you finished with those new relays?”

Kaelara looked at the sled, then nodded, “yes I did Flummox.”

“Good, let’s go get them replaced, then we can go have lunch together,” he suggested.

So they both pushed the antigravity sled down a side corridor and into a side room next to Engineering, where the transwarp coil was housed.

***

He sneered at the female former Borg drone as she pushed that antigrav sled past him.

“Filthy Borg on the ship now. Disgusting,” he said to himself.

He ducked into a cargo bag and hid behind a pallet of containers full of raw material. Lieutenant John Williams, formerly the Assistant Chief Engineer before Captain Skyrunner took command and put Lieutenant Commander Catersha as the Chief Engineer. He felt slighted by her being what he thought was his rightful place as Chief Engineer.

“It’s not fair. I should be the Chief Engineer here, not Catersha. Why does she deserve to be the Chief Engineer,” John said to himself.

John opened an access panel in the back corner of the cargo bay. He retrieved a small container that was hidden behind a conduit, putting it in his equipment case and walked out of the cargo bay.