Star Trek Voyager: VX

Here's To Us

Stardate 49010.3

"Lieutenant Sindile, can I ask you a question?" Samantha stood hesitantly behind Zariel's chair.

Zariel turned partway around and smiled at her. "Of course, Ensign."

"What is that song you were humming earlier?"

Zariel turned a bit pink. "Oh, I'm sorry, was it bothering you?"

Sam turned a bit pink also. "No, not at all! I was just trying to figure out what song it was, because I think I know it too."

Zariel turned her chair completely around to face Sam. "Really? It's called 'Here's To Us.' I used to sing it to my sons when they were little."

Sam grinned. "That's exactly what I thought I was hearing. I annoyed my piano teacher for three weeks by working on that instead of what she'd assigned."

Zariel couldn't help but smile now. "You play keyboards?"

Samantha nodded, but said, "It's been a while though. Do you like early 21st century music too?"

"Yeah, I played a lot of late 20th and 21st century music on the guitar, but it's been a while for me too."

Samantha nodded and made to turn away, but then spun back toward her CO as an idea hit her. "Lieutenant, do you have plans after your shift?"

Zariel shook her head, and Sam stepped across to T'Lin's console next to Zariel and began tapping panels. After a moment she stood back and pointed to a screen. "Holodeck two is free for an hour at 1900. Do you want to maybe go and play 'Here's To Us' together?"

Zariel considered for a moment begging off, but what was she going to do with herself all evening otherwise? Her alternatives for the evening were rattling around her quarters, headachy and mildly nauseated, unable to settle to any activity, or leaning hard into a bulkhead in her secret cubbyhole. Neither one being a cheerful alternative, she took a deep breath, and said, "I'm already there."

By the time 1900 hours rolled around, Zariel had gotten herself more than a little worried about the social interaction, and was rethinking the potential appeal of a spell in her cubbyhole. She stood outside the door of Holodeck 2, getting closer and closer to convincing herself to flee, when Samantha walked up with a couple of PADDs in her hands. Pretending not to notice Zariel's apprehension, Samantha sent a smile her way and walked up to the control panel for the holodeck, tapped a few panels and the door whooshed open. Sam walked partway in, then turned and beckoned Zariel to follow her. They stopped at the control console just inside, and Sam addressed the computer. "Please give me Wildman keyboard group number one."

Zariel shot her a look of surprise. "You've come in here to play before?"

"Just once," Samantha answered. "It really wasn't much fun by myself."

Zariel smiled her agreement, and then began to scroll though the sets of guitar gear the computer had on file. She tapped the panel to select one, and looked up to see an acoustic guitar, a stool and a music stand materialize beside Samantha's keyboard.

Sam was already sitting at her keyboard, twiddling with the settings. She held one of the PADDs out to Zariel and said. "Shall we give it a shot?"

Zariel sat down on the stool and set the PADD on the music stand. She strummed the guitar a bit to get a feel for its action, then smiled up at Sam. "Why don't you do the lead, and I'll play rhythm underneath it?"

Sam nodded. "Do you like this key for the vocals?"

"Sure, it's fine for me for the lead." She shot Samantha an apprehensive glance. "Unless you'd rather me do the harmony."

Samantha raised both hands off the keyboard, palms out. "Oh no. No, no, no. That's all you; I don't sing. At all. Computer, a stand microphone for Lieutenant Sindile, please."

Before Zariel could argue this, Samantha started into the intro. Zariel blinked, then pulled the newly materialized mike toward her and jumped in. She didn't see Samantha's face light up in delight at the quality of her smooth mezzo voice.

It only took them three times through the song to sound, they thought, not too bad at all, and Zariel was able to concentrate not on the cacophony of people's emotions but on the more ordered sound of their music, for a while at least.