Janeway led Micky to an empty set of guest quarters. She showed him how to trigger the sensor, and then followed him in.
"Wow! Captain, I appreciate it, but you don't need to give me VIP quarters!"
"These are standard guest quarters. Regular crew quarters are only slightly smaller."
Micky stood in the entryway staring around the room in awe. "These are standard guest quarters! Wow! I can't imagine what the VIP quarters are like."
"Much bigger, although, not here. We only have standard guest quarters because Voyager was never designed for ferrying diplomats but rather for deep space exploration."
"Wow. Just how deep?"
"Very deep. Actually, I'll let my first officer explain that. His duty shift is almost over, so I will be on the bridge, if you need me, but as soon as his duty shift ends, my first officer will come give you a tour of the ship -- and answer all of your questions."
Janeway quickly showed Micky how to work the replicator and sonic shower, and how to get information from the computer terminal, then headed for the bridge.
When Janeway reached the bridge, Chakotay was getting ready to turn over command.
"Chakotay, I'd like you to give our visitor, Micky Dolenz, a tour of the ship. He's in the guest quarters on Deck 7. He's from 1967 -- and he seems to have quite a few questions."
Chakotay beamed, "I bet. I'll do my best to answer them. I'll go right now, unless you need me for anything."
"No, go ahead. He's going to be staying with us a while, so I'd like to get him comfortable and acclimated as quickly as possible."
Chakotay rang the buzzer to the guest quarters. Having read a lot about his own ancestors gave him an appreciation for those who had lived in earlier times. The door opened to reveal a young man sitting at the desk eating some red-colored food that Chakotay couldn't identify.
"Hello. You must be the first officer. I'm Micky Dolenz." He stood up and approached Chakotay, hand outstretched. Chakotay took the offered hand.
"I'm Commander Chakotay. Captain Janeway asked me to show you around the ship."
"Groovy man! Oh, um, is there someplace in here I can store my chili so it doesn't spoil before I get a chance to finish it?"
"Chili?"
Micky gestured toward the food, "My favorite food."
"Well, we could stop by the Mess Hall first. I'm sure Neelix won't mind storing it in his refrigerator for you. And along the way I'll explain why we need a Mess Hall along with the replicators."
"Okay!" Micky picked up his chili and followed Chakotay out the door.
"Voyager was originally assigned to chase down a group of Maquis -- space pirates, in a sense. They were chasing my ship, as a matter of fact. We ducked into an area of space known as the Badlands, because of the instability in that area of space. In there, we were grabbed by a beam of some kind and pulled to a point in space 75,000 light years away."
"Wow! That's a long way. How long did it take?"
"It was instantaneous -- due to a technology we don't have access to or even understand. Voyager, looking for us, was drawn to the same place. Our ship was destroyed in battle, so my entire crew moved to Voyager and became part of her crew. We also took on two natives of this region of space who have been helping us as we head for home."
They entered the Mess Hall, which was very quiet, seeing as it was mid-shift. Neelix was puttering away behind the counter, working on one of his culinary concoctions for the crew's dinner.
Neelix then looked up to see the two men, and he left the kitchen area to greet them.
"Hello Commander Chakotay! And you must be our newest guest! I'm Neelix, Chef, Guide, and Chief Morale Officer."
Micky smiled, "Well, hello. News travels fast around here. I'm Micky Dolenz."
"I make it my job to know everything that goes on around here. Now, what's that you have there?"
"Chili! Commander Chakotay said I might be able to store it here while he shows me the ship, so it doesn't spoil."
"Why certainly! Maybe later you could show me how to make it -- like I say, everyone deserves a little taste of home!" Neelix took the dish, covered it, and stuck it in the refrigeration unit with a label marked "Micky -- chili."
"Sure thing! I'll come back later," Micky promised.
Commander Chakotay then said, "Well, as long as we're here, let's start your tour of the ship. This is the Mess Hall. Since Voyager's power reserves are very low, we cannot rely on replicators for our sole source of food. Thus, Neelix has offered to be our Chef and he serves meals here. Each crewmember gets a certain number of replicator rations a week, which they can use for replicated food once a week, or save to replicate larger items. For instance, Ensign Kim saved his rations and replicated a clarinet, since his was left back on Earth."
Micky folded his arms and nodded his understanding. Neelix scurried over to the counter, "Here, try a Talaxian fruit fluff -- tonight's dessert!"
Micky took the offered pastry and bit into it. "Mmmm . . . kind of like a Sweet Tart! Yummy!" Neelix beamed -- he loved getting compliments on his cooking.
Chakotay guided Micky out of the room, "I promise I'll bring him back at the end of the tour, Neelix. Next stop -- the bridge!" Chakotay lead Micky to a turbolift and once inside instructed it to take them to the bridge.
"Commander -- is all of Neelix's cooking that good?"
"Actually, no. His cooking is always interesting, but sometimes he uses exotic spices, including this one root that the crew doesn't like very much. But, we don't have the energy resources to replicate food for the entire crew, so we're stuck with him. He tries, though. He likes to try and make crewmen's favorite foods, such as Plomeek Soup for Tuvok or a cherry pie for Ensign Radner."
"And he offered to make chili for me."
"Yes." The turbolift stopped and they stepped out onto the bridge. "Well, here is the bridge, the command center of the ship. From here, most of the ship's functions are controlled. Over there," he pointed to a door over to the starboard side of the bridge, "is Captain Janeway's Ready Room. This is the Tactical Station, where our Chief Security Officer, Lieutenant Tuvok, sees over all of the security measures in place on the ship."
Tuvok turned toward the pair at the mention of his name. "Live long and prosper." He gave the split-fingered Vulcan salute. Micky returned it, "Same to you, Lieutenant." Tuvok raised an eyebrow with a quizzical look.
Chakotay stepped in to make introductions, "This is Micky Dolenz. And, over here is the OPS Station, and this is Ensign Kim. Ensign, Micky Dolenz." Micky and Kim shook hands. Chakotay repeated this at all the other bridge stations, introducing Micky to Lieutenant Paris, Lieutenant Carey, and a couple of science ensigns.
Chakotay took Micky through some of the science labs on Decks 2 and 3, showed him Sickbay briefly, made a brief stop in the botany section and the cargo bays, then headed for Main Engineering.
Lieutenant Torres was running around Main Engineering frantically trying to coordinate the repair of a dented plasma valve. Micky took a couple of steps inside Engineering, following Chakotay, then stopped. He stood still, staring up at the warp core in awe. "Wow!" he whispered. Chakotay noticed just then that his charge was no longer following. "Yeah, it's amazing, isn't it? Come on, let me introduce you to the lady in charge."
Chakotay managed to corral Lieutenant Torres. "B'Elanna, I'd like you to meet our new visitor, Micky Dolenz. Micky, this is our Chief Engineer, Lieutenant B'Elanna Torres."
"Pleased to meet you. Now, if you don't mind, I've got a plasma valve to fix."
B’Elanna ran off, leaving Chakotay and Micky behind. "She’s very sociable," Micky said, with a hint of sarcasm.
"She just gets that way when she’s busy or in a bad mood -- it’s her Klingon side. Let me warn you now -- don’t get on her bad side ever and steer clear whenever she’s in a bad mood. Since she’s busy, I’ll give you the dime tour. This is the warp core, which allows us to travel through space at faster than light speed."
"You’ve got to be kidding! Nothing can travel faster than light -- Einstein said so!" Micky cried, then folded his arms with a smug look on his face.
"Yes, he did, but in 2063, Zephram Cochrane proved him wrong when he developed the transwarp drive. Over here are the control panels where various systems on the ship are monitored and controlled, including Warp Drive, Impulse Drive, Shields, Plasma Vents, and so on. Let’s move on -- B’Elanna can give you a full tour when she’s in a better mood."
Micky gave the Warp Core one last glance and then followed Chakotay out of Engineering.
Last updated 12 JUL 98
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