Presents
An Unexpected
Christmas
by Scott McClenny
Neelix watched Crewman Gilmore as she finished her cup of coffee. For some reason she seemed a bit more depressed than usual. He was thinking of stopping to ask her what the matter was when she walked out the door.
"You appear to be distracted today."
He looked up to see Seven standing by the galley window.
"Can I help you?" he asked.
"I came for my scheduled nutritional supplement," she said, "but it looks like you might need my help. Now tell me what is it?"
"It's Crewman Gilmore," Neelix explained.
"She has proven, despite her many flaws to be an excellent engineer and quite efficent at her work." Seven said, "I wonder what the trouble could be."
Neelix explained how depressed she looked.
"I have seen other members of the crew look the same way, even the Captain." Seven replied, "It appears that for some reason that they are even more aware of their distance from Earth than usual."
Neelix nodded.
"That's the thing," he said, "whatever it is appears to be affecting only the human crewmembers the others seem just to be as normal as usual."
"Let me do some research." Seven said and left without eating.
Neelix was cleaning up for the night when Seven finally returned.
"Well what did you find out?" he asked.
"The Doctor explained to me that the reason why all the human crewmembers look so depressed is that it is Christmas time, or would be back on Earth." Seven said, "which is odd since this crew has celebrated the last seven Christmases in the Delta Quadrant, eight for the ones who used to serve under Captain Ransom on the Equinox."
Neelix thought for a few minutes.
"You know what it is," he said at last, "I bet that the reason why everyone is so depressed about Christmas this year is because they're so much closer to home and it reminds them just how far apart they still are from their families and loved ones still."
Seven looked at Neelix.
"I suppose," she sighed, "as Morale Officer, you have a plan."
"Which you and the Doctor will be a very important part of." Neelix said, and then explained his idea to her.
Seven nodded her approval.
"I will talk to the Doctor about it," she said and left.
The Doctor was surprised when Seven returned so quickly to Sick Bay.
"Are you feeling alright, you're implants aren't acting up or anything are they?" he inquired.
"No, I am quite well," Seven said and then told him about Neelix's Christmas plan.
At first the Doctor frowned not knowing what to make of it and then he smiled.
"For once Mr. Neelix has come up with a good idea," he said.
"I will need your help to program the necessary program in the holodeck," Seven said.
The Doctor transferred his matrix to the mobile emitter and followed her.
Captain Janeway was surprised when she got the request from Seven to come down to holodeck 2. When she got there she found that a line had formed in front of the holodeck doors.
"Does anyone know what is going on?" she asked loud enough to be hears.
Several crewmen turned and then let the Captain through until she was at last at the top of the line.
"Do you know what is going on?" she asked Chakotay who was next to her in line.
"All I know is that Neelix came to my office and told me that there was an emergency" was all he could tell her.
"Seven asked me to meet her here," Janeway said.
"The Doc mentioned something about some extra medical training," Ensign Paris said.
The stories were similar up and down the line.
Either Neelix, Seven, or the Doctor had contacted each one and asked them to report to Holodeck 2 for one reason or another.
"So why is everyone still standing out here?" Janeway asked.
"Seven said that it wasn't ready yet, whatever that means," Harry said.
At that moment the holodeck doors opened and Seven stepped out. Janeway noticed that there was snow on her shoulders.
"You may enter," she said leading the way.
The Captain's mouth gaped open.
They were inside a ski lodge with snow falling outside. In the middle of the room was a large Christmas tree. Holiday decorations covered the entire room.
"Merry Christmas," Seven said.
Captain Janeway didn't know what to say. And then she saw the look of utter joy and happiness on some of the younger crewmembers.
"How?" she asked.
"It was Neelix's idea mainly," Seven said as the Talaxian stopped by with a tray of hot drinks.
"Huh, Captain, have some hot cider?" he asked.
Janeway took the proffered cup.
"Neelix," she said, "this is one of the best morale boosters ever!"
Neelix smiled and made his way through the crowd with the tray.
"As you said Seven," Janeway said raising her cup in a toast.
"MERRY CHRISTMAS"
The End