Trials 04 Shadow's Trial

by Terri Zavaleta

  "What did you say this is?" Malista asked curiously. Her first

  impulse had been to pop the hood and take a look at the strange

  vehicle's inner workings. She'd restrained her engineer's curiosity as

  Harry seated her inside on the cushioned seat.

  "It's a 1957 Chevy. It was a land vehicle. Predating flitters and

  skimmers," the ensign replied. He turned on the radio and adjusted the

  volume control so the music would be suitable for background as they

  talked. "The music is supposed to set the mood for a little romance.

  It's from the same time period as the vehicle, more or less. It's

  something called Doo Wop according to Tom."

  "Doo Wop?" she echoed. "That sounds like the noise the drive belts of

  the cargo loaders make when they aren't aligned properly. The music is

  pretty, but the lyrics don't make sense. 'Are the stars out tonight?'

  The stars are always----"

  "Malista," Harry interrupted. She quieted immediately and looked at

  him with an expectant smile. "Lean back. Yeah, right here. That's it.

  Perfect. Comfortable?"

  She nodded, snuggling into the curve of his arm along the back of the

  seat. The music was soothing. Even if the lyrics didn't make much

  sense. The twinkling starscape above them was beautiful. Even if it

  wasn't moving.

  After a few moments of absorbing the atmosphere, Kim began to use his

  free hand to stroke the silken curliness of her shoulder-length hair.

  Casually, he lifted her hair, angling the tilt of her head so he could

  gain access to her throat. He nuzzled his way up and down, finally

  tucking his nose into the nape of her neck. She giggled at the feel of

  his warm breath tickling the sensitive skin. "What are you doing?"

  "Sniffing your shampoo. Or is it a body lotion?" The murmured reply

  came as lips nuzzled and nipped, tasting and teasing. "Mmm. What is

  that scent? It's so familiar. I love it. It makes me crazy. Sweet. So

  sweet."

  "Vanilla," she gasped breathlessly. One hand came up to squeeze his

  shoulder as if she couldn't keep her hands to herself any longer. She

  let her hand travel up the curve of his neck and entangled her fingers

  in his thick hair, massaging his scalp gently. She enjoyed touching

  him.

  "Oh," Harry replied, inhaling deeply. "No wonder I like it. It reminds

  me of the cookies my mom used to make. Sugar cookies. Lots of

  vanilla." His lips trailed kisses up the column of her neck, stopping

  to nibble at her earlobe, flicking it with his tongue. "You taste like

  cookies too. My sweet sugar cookie. Positively edible." She could feel

  his mouth smiling against her neck. He nipped at her skin playfully.

  Her uniform would hide the marks. If she wanted them hidden.

  "Cookie?" she gasped. "Well, as nicknames go, it's better than---" Her

  breath disappeared completely, lost, along with her train of thought,

  in the sensations he was creating with his lips and tongue as he found

  and caressed the throbbing pulse in her throat.

  "*My* Cookie," he affirmed, drawing back to study her expression with

  solemn brown eyes. "Don't let me scare you, Malista, but being with

  you, kissing you, makes me feel---territorial. Possessive. That's it.

  I feel possessive." Well, I never claimed to be subtle or tactful,

  Harry thought. And the more direct, the less the chance for

  misunderstanding.

  Her green eyes widened, but she didn't look alarmed. "You do?" She

  blinked. "What exactly does that mean?"

  Harry smiled slowly, sensually. "Well, I won't throw you over my

  shoulders or drag you to my quarters by your hair," he drawled. Though

  the idea did have a certain appeal to him on some levels. "But I do

  feel a need to tell you that you are *my* Cookie---and I don't share."

  "Harry---" She tensed apprehensively. He wasn't feeling jealous again,

  was he?

  "I just want you to know that you are mine," he said, stroking her

  cheek, then cupping it in one hand. "And, vice-versa."

  "Vice-versa?" Her voice was barely a whisper. A smile was tugging

  gently at her lips as she melted bonelessly into his arms once more.

  "I am yours," Harry clarified. He took her right hand and placed it

  gently against his cheekbone, nuzzling his face into her palm. "And I

  hope you don't plan on sharing either."

  "Oh, Harry, you are an angel," she sighed as he swooped towards her

  for an impassioned kiss. It felt like he was setting his seal upon

  her. Marking her as his. It felt wonderful. Her hands cupped his

  cheeks then slid up and around his neck, drawing his body closer.

  Those were the last words spoken in the holodeck for some time.

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

  On the star chart, the planet was identified as Four One Seven Three

  Eleven Red. Of course, Megan Delaney immediately dubbed it FOSTER.

  She hated numeric names for planets, an odd quirk in one who

  specialized in Stellar Cartography, but one of her pet peeves.

  Food gathering missions were now a common duty for all the crew.

  Almost everyone volunteered to take a shift, if only for the

  opportunity to set foot on real soil and breathe real, unrecycled air.

  It was a refreshing chance to forget about the trials and limitations

  of life aboard a starship. And to forget about personal problems for a

  while.

  The climate of Foster was mild and sunny. The food gathering crews

  were scattered around an area of approximately one hundred kilometers,

  collecting various berries, tubers, and plant samples. All samples

  collected had been subjected to rigorous tests for nutritional value

  and biochemical compatibility with the digestive systems of the

  various races aboard Voyager before the harvesting began.

  The fruit trees on this planet were extremely large. The smallest was

  over thirty meters high with branches that spread like a canopy over

  the lake next to it. The trees surrounded the lake. They evidently

  required copious amounts of water. The leaves were a bluish green, the

  branches sturdy and thick with rough bark. The purplish fruits were

  similar to a pear in shape, a peach in texture, but an apple in taste.

  Harry Kim studied the grove of trees as he approached from the

  transporter site. He and Mikel Hudson were carrying four sets of

  anti-grav boots that would allow them to reach the tops of the trees

  and pick the fruit which didn't grow lower than ten meters above the

  ground.

  "These are going to be very popular with the crew---the human

  crewmembers, at least. Unless, of course, Neelix finds a way to cook

  them with leola root," commented the Security Officer. "Yuck!"

  Kim shot a rueful smile at Mikel. "Don't even mention leola root or

  pepper sauce," he pleaded. "We just have to tell Neelix we prefer our

  fruit raw." He stopped at the base of the tree and looked around for

  the other members of his team. "Where are Malista and Tom? I swear

  this is where we told them to wait."

  Mikel shrugged. He pushed a forelock of dark brown hair back away from

  his eyes. He squinted in the sunlight that seemed so much brighter

  than the artificial ship's
lighting and hoped he wouldn't burn---or,

  even worse, freckle. He felt the light dusting of golden freckles

  across his nose and cheeks made him look far too young and unsuitably

  boyish for a Security Officer. In an effort to counter the effect of

  the freckles and the upturned nose, Mikel attempted to maintain a

  serious demeanor while on duty in an effort to look professional, if

  not intimidating. Intimidating was usually beyond his ability.

  A leaf drifted down and fluttered past Harry's line of sight. He

  tilted his head back and gaped up---and up---and up---at Malista

  Shadow!

  She'd climbed the tree! She was at least twenty-eight meters above

  the ground! Harry suddenly had trouble drawing breath.

  A cloth food sack was hanging from one shoulder, her long legs were

  wrapped around a branch about two feet in diameter, and she was using

  both hands to pick the fruit and place it in her sack. Harry cringed

  as she stretched out full length over empty air in order to reach a

  particularly succulent piece on another branch.

  "Malista!" he shouted. "What are you *doing* up there? I told you to

  wait for the anti-gravs! You're going to fall!"

  She was so startled by his yell, she lost her balance and almost made

  his words a prophecy come true. She grabbed for the branch with one

  hand and clenched her knees more tightly. When she'd regained her

  composure, she gazed down at the ensign with a disarming smile.

  "Harry, I was doing fine until you scared me! The Greek people have a

  saying, 'He that will have the fruit, must climb the tree.' Besides, I

  like to climb trees. And I was careful," she tried to reassure him,

  touched by his distress on her behalf, but not convinced it was

  justified. One thing she was absolutely NOT afraid of was heights.

  "How could Tom *let* you do something so dangerous!?" Harry exclaimed

  with an annoyed grimace. He had trusted his friend to take care of her

  while he was gone---and Tom let her put herself in danger! He frowned

  fiercely. "Where *is* Tom?" he called up to Shadow.

  She bit her lip to stifle a grin. Silently, she raised one hand and

  pointed to her right---and up. And up.

  There was Tom. Even higher in the tree than she was---maybe forty

  meters above the ground. Unlike Malista, he wasn't picking fruit or

  even pretending to be doing so. He was stretched out, face down on a

  wide branch, his arms and legs carelessly dangling limply over either

  side. His food sack was folded up under his cheek and he appeared to

  be napping.

  Harry heard a snorting gasp, and turned to find Hudson unsuccessfully

  smothering a laugh. At Kim's glare, Hudson dropped to the ground and

  gave fervent attention to strapping on his anti-grav boots.

  "Harry?"

  Kim looked up again. It was so high it made his neck hurt to tilt his

  head back so far.

  "This sack is getting full. When you get your boots on, could you

  bring up a couple of others? I think---"

  "I think you should come down from there. Slowly," Harry said,

  straining *not* to make it sound like an order. He knew if it did, she

  would obey him, and he didn't want to take that heavy-handed an

  approach. That just wasn't him and it wasn't the role he wanted to

  fulfill in her life.

  "But, Harry, I can still reach a couple of dozen---" Malista began.

  "Malista, please? You're making me very nervous," the ensign announced

  edgily.

  She hesitated for a moment as if torn, then argued tentatively.

  "Harry, this isn't even as high as the trapeze or high wire! And I'm

  holding on. I'm not being careless," she insisted apologetically.

  Unfortunately, she was trying to use logic and rational argument on a

  man who was beyond it at the moment.

  His jaw tightened. "When we work out on the holodeck, the safeties

  would catch you if you fell. What if you fall from up there?"

  "You mean you wouldn't catch me?" Shadow teased mischievously,

  studying his reaction carefully.

  "Malista!"

  "Aw, Harry, don't get your knickers in a knot!" Tom called down

  drowsily. "She's perfectly safe. As long as she holds on. We didn't

  feel like waiting for you to get back with the antigravs. Besides,

  tree climbing is a human tradition. Especially if there's something in

  the tree to eat that makes it worthwhile. Didn't you ever climb trees

  as a kid?" He yawned mightily as he blinked sleepily down at his best

  friend.

  Kim grudgingly let it go for the moment and sat down to don his own

  boots. He would have a few choice words to say to Tom Paris later---in

  private! It was all very well for Tom to say Malista needed to be

  encouraged to be more daring and open, but some things were just

  reckless. Paris should have more sense. And if anything happened to

  Malista Shadow---

  Hudson, anti-grav boots in place, got to his feet, grabbed a couple of

  extra sacks and hit the controls. He floated to eye level with

  Malista, carefully dodging tree branches on his way up. He hovered

  there for a moment, surveying his surroundings. He noticed that Shadow

  looked increasingly uncomfortable as he drew closer. She tensed,

  almost as if she expected him to say or do something hostile.

  The ensign wouldn't have claimed to be a friend of Shadow's, but he

  had become a friendly acquaintance when she'd been working third shift

  in the Security Office. More friendly on his part than hers, but

  still.... Her reaction was a little out of line. He made a mental note

  to ask Ethan Simms what was up. His partner usually knew what was

  going on. People tended to talk to him easily.

  Hudson's dark brown eyes met Malista's with a hint of gentle concern.

  "He's just worried about you. Don't get mad at him if he doesn't

  express it well." His was the voice of experience objectively offering

  amicable advice.

  She smiled at him tentatively and exchanged her full sack for one of

  his empty ones. "Thanks. I know."

  Hudson floated down and gently deposited the fruit on the ground

  beneath the tree, then levitated up among the branches and began to

  fill his own sack. He discreetly kept his back turned toward Malista

  as Kim drifted up to join her, anticipating a showdown of some kind

  between the two.

  As soon as their eyes were on a level, Kim opened his mouth to

  reprimand her for carelessness. Malista didn't want to argue with

  Harry. With unaccustomed boldness born of a buoyant mood, she grabbed

  his collar to pull him close and captured his mouth in a lingering

  kiss, nibbling on his full lower lip as the ensign cooperated fully

  and with enthusiasm. He was enjoying the fact that she was the one

  initiating the display of affection. It was the first time in a long

  time that she'd done so.

  She let go of his collar and ran her fingers up his neck to card them

  through his thick black hair. She kissed him just behind the ear

  before returning her attention to his mouth. "Hmmmm. This is nice. Oh,

  Harry, you have the most wonderful lips---"

  "What have I told you about PDA's, Sis?" Tom complained dra
matically.

  He snapped up to a sitting position with a careless grace that made

  Kim cringe for his friend's safety.

  The pilot wasn't even using his hands to hold on! Kim hoped that Paris

  was aware of the precariousness of his perch. He almost wished Torres

  was here. Tom might listen to her if she urged him to be more careful.

  Maybe. More likely he'd have the Chief Engineer climbing trees as

  well.

  "It wouldn't *be* a Public Display of Affection if *you* had the sense

  and good manners to keep your eyes closed," Malista remarked

  scornfully as she drew back and studied Harry's face fondly, searching

  for any hint that he was truly upset with her. "No one else can see

  us up here." She ran the tip of her index finger along Harry's lower

  lip playfully.

  Tom yawned robustly once more, this time stretching his arms high over

  his head then rolling his shoulders. "Details, details. What about

  Mikel? He's a Security Officer. At any given moment, he could snap on

  the restraints and take you both into custody!"

  "Mikel is *not* looking, sir!" Hudson called over his shoulder, not

  bothering to hide his grin since no one could see his face. "I see

  nothing! Absolutely nothing!"

  "Good judgment, Ensign! Keep up the good work!" Paris retorted

  pompously. He stretched up a lazy hand, snagged a piece of fruit, and

  dropped it into his bag. "That's one," he announced smugly.

  "Thank you so much, Lieutenant," Mikel replied with mock gratitude.

  "It's always my goal to perform any and every assignment to the best

  of my ability and satisfy my superior officers---and even the not so