"Scared?" Tom asked with a sly grin as he and Harry 
paced towards the nearest turbolift.

Harry's response came out more defensively than 
intended. "No."

"Of Seven, after all this time, probably not," Tom 
hypothesized out loud, "But, this would be your first 
*official* date."

"Your point?"

"Just looking out for my best friend," he replied 
eagerly. After entering an empty turbolift, he asked, "Got 
any special plans?"

"Nothing like 'Tom's specials,'" Harry remarked. 
"No, we're just going to share a nice, romantic dinner in 
Ktarian moonlight."

Tom blinked and shook his head.

"What?" Harry asked.

"B-o-r-i-n-g!"

"Well, it was her suggestion."

"All the more reason to not do it." Tom noted 
Harry's bewildered look. "Man, you're really out of 
practice, aren't you?"

"What do ya mean?"

"I mean, you've got to give her a night that exceeds 
her expectations."

"It's only a first date..."

"All the more reason to do it, Harry! First 
impressions, remember?"

Harry turned towards the turbolift doors and 
chuckled.  "I don't think I have to concern myself with that 
anymore."

"Oh but you do," Tom subtly suggested. "Right now, 
she sees you as a fellow crewman, maybe even a friend. But 
on this date, you're the guinea pig."

"I don't think so," Harry tried to reassure.

"Well, let me see, who asked who out?"

"She asked me; after we finished our shifts."

"See?"

"See nothing. You weren't there. She was much more 
uncertain when she asked," Harry explained. He smiled as he 
reflected. "It was kinda cute."

"A cute moment is one thing, a whole evening with a 
Borg is quite another. You don't want another 'aggressive 
physical confrontation,' do you?" Tom asked with a passion 
that Harry found a bit odd.

The turbolift doors opened to the bridge. As they 
stepped out, Harry said, 

"Thanks for looking out for me, but I'm sure I'll be fine."

Tom smirked in disbelief before passing Janeway's 
command chair as he headed to the Conn.

Logging on to his station, Harry thought, "He's up 
to something." He sighed and shook off his suspicions, 
focusing on the tasks at hand.

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

"So, what do you think?" Harry asked.

"There's a bunch of stars," Tom replied bluntly.

"I know, but what do you think?"

"There's a bunch of stars!" Tom reiterated.

"Too boring?"

Tom smiled an affirmative.

"Well, I happen to like them," Harry defended. "They 
express the infinite range of... possibilities."

Tom sighed. "Harry, this is a date, not a 
philosophical symposium. You want to entertain her, help her 
enjoy your company, not *bore* her back to her alcove."

"Well, I wanted to teach her something about
humanity. She's always showed an interest in my thoughts 
about it."

"Ah, and therein lies the problem. You're her 
teacher, but now, on this date, you're the guinea pig."

"Will you stop calling me that!"

"Well, it's true!" Tom said. "She wants to put to 
use what you've *talked* with her about. She wants to 
experience all those things you've mentioned to her."

Harry paused in realization. "I never thought of it 
that way."

"No, you didn't. You always think about everyone 
else before yourself. I'm sure it's a charming quality, but 
as your friend, I suggest a tiny bit of... selfishness 
tonight."

"Selfishness?"

"Maybe that's putting it a bit much," Tom said. 
"More like, reciprocity."

"I get something out of it all. I get her 
friendship."

"Friendship is all fine and good, but that's not the 
point of a date. The two of you are already friends. The 
date is to test whether the two of you are suited to be 
something more."

"And the stars don't cut it."

"They're good...after the two of you are married. 
You can bore her all you want after that," Tom joked. "Now, 
you've got to impress her."

"How do I do that?"

Tom gave a cunning smile. "Look, Harry my friend. I 
have a great idea for a program that will sweep her off her 
feet and give you both a chance for some... action."

Harry didn't like the sound of this. "And what would 
that idea be Tom?"

Tom laughed a little and put his arm around Harry. 
"Harry, Harry, Harry. If I told you that, you would know 
what to expect. No, I'm going to surprise you both with this 
one. I'll need a little time to design it. What time is your 
date with Seven."

Harry definitely felt uneasy about this.  "1900 
hours."

Tom smiled reassuringly to his best friend. "Great. 
 I'll have it done by then. Just go down to the computer and 
access program Paris 11-7-omega. It'll be there." And with a 
wink and smile, Tom was gone.

Harry stood there and stared after his best friend. 
For some reason, he could tell Tom was up to no good. No 
good at all. And the worst part was he couldn't figure out 
why.

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

1900 hours came all too slowly for Harry. He had 
spent most of the time in his quarters, worrying over what 
Tom was going to do, whether Seven would enjoy herself, and 
just why Harry wished this was all just a bad dream. At 
1855, he headed down to Holodeck 2, arriving there at 1859. 
No sign of Seven. But then, Seven was never early. She was 
never late either. Always precisely on time. And today was 
no exception. She appeared around the corner just as Harry's 
chronometer hit 1900. "Hi Seven," Harry said with a 
cheerfulness that he hadn't felt all day.

"Hello Ensign. I am here at the designated hour. 
Shall we begin?"

Harry hesitated slightly. "Uh, sure. But one thing 
before we go in. We're not doing the Ktarian moonrise 
program after all. Tom... offered to design a new program 
that should be more, uh, exciting."

Seven's eyebrow raised. "You did not feel that a 
quiet evening on the holodeck was sufficient for its purpose 
of sustenance and discussion?"

Harry felt himself pale. "NO!" He answered a little 
quicker than he'd meant to. He blushed and explained. "What 
I mean is, Tom offered to help and I didn't want to turn him 
down, so I agreed to it. I don't, however, know what kind of 
program it is. Only that it has excitement."

Seven cocked her head slightly. "Proceed."

Harry turned around. Gulping, he said a quick 
prayer, and accessed the file. Even from looking at the 
file, Harry could tell there was something odd about it. No 
description, no file length, and a few lines of code that 
baffled Harry the computer expert. Nonetheless, Harry accessed the 
file and readied it. 

The holodeck doors slid open and Seven entered, with Harry following apprehensively. The 
doors slid shut behind them. Harry couldn't help but feel 
that the sound was final. Almost as though they wouldn't be 
leaving the holodeck for quite awhile. 

He focused his attention on Seven, who was calling 
on the computer to begin the program. The computer complied 
and all around him the holodeck grid became a little fuzzy, 
and then the images sharpened. The lighting was dark, and he 
and Seven were standing in front of a large house. 
Immediately, Harry recognized the house as a stereotypical 
haunted mansion. Spooky was the best word he could use to 
describe it. 

He noticed Seven. She was wearing a long, 
form-fitting dress. It was an icy blue and was covered in 
glittering objects, which Harry surmised were sequins or 

diamonds. The dress dipped in the front, almost revealing 
too much of Seven's anatomy. Harry silently cursed Tom for 
the dress, considering that he could barely concentrate when 
he looked at her when she wore her catsuit. With that dress 
on, Harry didn't know how he was going to stand being in 
close quarters with Seven without a major problem. Around 
her neck, she wore a blue diamond necklace. On her arm was a 
small purse, and draped over her shoulders was a soft 
sweater. Both matched her dress. Her hair was down and 
spilled over her shoulders. She looked absolutely stunning. 
He looked down at himself and saw he was wearing a tuxedo 
with a black overcoat.

Forcing his concentration off of Seven, he looked 
hard at the door. He could feel Seven's eyes on him, but he 
couldn't look at her without losing his concentration. Her 
appearance would take some getting used to, as it had when 
he first saw her transformation from all Borg to mostly 
human. "Seven?"

"Yes Ensign."

Harry sighed. "First of all, call me Harry. It's 
going to seem odd if you keep referring to me as Ensign Kim. 
From what I can tell, we're supposed to be more... familiar 
with each other than that."

"I will endeavor to remember that... Harry."

He stiffened slightly, then spoke again. "Thank you. 
Now, I'm going to ring the doorbell. Just... follow my 
lead."

"Follow your lead?"

"Just, uh, go with what I say and do. Don't... 
contest anything, ok?"

"I believe I understand."

"Good." Then, under his breath, "Here goes nothing." 
With that, he rang the doorbell. Minutes later, the door 
swung open to reveal... Vorik, in a tuxedo.

"Good evening sir, madam. Mr. and Mrs. Harold Kim I 
presume."

Momentarily, Harry was at a loss for words, but he 
eventually found his voice. Vorik with a British accent? 
"Uh, yes." Harry studied the image of Vorik closer. No tell 
tale signs that he was Vulcan. In fact, he looked completely 
human. Strange... Harry didn't get to finish the thought as 
Vorik escorted them into the large house. He led them to a 
library of sorts. 'Must be the butler or something 
similar....'

"May I take your coats?"

Still in awe, Harry took his own coat off, then 
reached over and took Seven's sweater off, handing them both 
to Vorik. Harry then noticed that Seven's dress was held up 
by two small straps. Inhaling swiftly, Harry glanced around 
him to look anywhere but at the lovely lady by his side. The 
library was opulently decorated. The shelves were made of a 
deep, rich wood and the books on them looked hand bound. 
There were artistic treasures hanging on the walls, along 
with textured wallpaper that complemented the room. A solid 
gold lamp stood to one side, illuminating the entire room. 

Expensive looking furniture was in the room as well. And 
that was when Harry noticed the people. A human-looking 
Neelix was passing hors d'oeuvres around; a representation 
of Tom was sitting on a couch, wearing a tuxedo, talking 
with a totally human B'Elanna Torres. The Doctor was pouring 
two drinks and kept glancing over in the direction of an 
elegant looking Kes. She was sitting in a chair, talking 
with Chakotay, who didn't have a tattoo. By his side was 
Captain Janeway, who was talking quietly with Sam Wildman. 
She had her hand in Tuvok's. But Tuvok looked totally human. 
And that was all Harry was able to observe before Vorik 
announced them.  "Presenting Mr. and Mrs. Harold 
Kim."

The crowd stopped what they were doing a glanced in 
Harry and Seven's direction. Unsure of what to do, Harry 
smiled furtively at the assembled people. Vorik then 
introduced the other guests in his customarily impassive 
voice. "Lord and Lady Tuvok; Captain and Mrs. Paris; Dr. and 
Mrs. Zimmerman, and Mr. and Mrs. Chakotay." Harry smiled to 
each of them in turn. After they had all been introduced, 
the others went back to talking amongst themselves, and 
Vorik disappeared.

Harry scanned the room, then turned his attention to 
Seven, who was staring at B'Elanna. B'Elanna seemed to 
notice, and looked towards them. Trying to avoid a 
confrontation, Harry gently, but firmly, grabbed Seven by 
the elbow and escorted her over to a relatively unoccupied 
area of the room.

When they reached their destination, Harry turned to 
face Seven and looked her in the eyes. "Seven," he 
whispered, "let's try and avoid a confrontation tonight. 
Knowing Tom, these representations are just like the real 
thing, especially B'Elanna and himself."

Seven nodded and whispered. "Understood." She 
continued to look at him, and she appeared to want to say 
more.

"What is it?"

"I am... confused as to why we are referred to as a 
unit instead of individuals."

Harry blushed. "You mean the 'Mr. and Mrs. Harold 
Kim' thing?"

Seven merely nodded. 

"Well, let me backstep before I explain it. 
Obviously, we're on Earth. Otherwise, not everyone would be 
human. And, from the looks of things, Tom's love of the 20th 
century has struck again. I would be willing to guess we're 
in the first half of the 20th century. The fashion and 
design give that away. In light of that, the social 
structure of the era dictates that a husband and wife are 
referred to as a unit by the man's name." Harry was waiting 
for her to comment on the rather chauvinistic attitude, but 
what she said surprised him.

"So, we are married?"

Harry gulped. "In this simulation we are."

She appeared to consider this. "Then perhaps it 
would be... prudent... to act as a married couple should."

Harry stared at her with wide eyes. He couldn't 
believe she had said that. Regardless, his heart began to 
beat harder as he looked at her. "You're right.  Do you mind 
if I put my arm around you? It might give us an air of 
believability." He couldn't believe he had said that, but he 
went with it, trying to make it sound as though there were a 
good reason that he suggested it.

She studied him a minute. "I do not understand what 
the oxygen/nitrogen content surrounding us has to do with 
it, but I will 'follow your lead.'"

Harry grinned at her and cautiously slid his arm 
around her waist. Harry felt like she had always belonged 
there. He was comfortable, happy. And his face showed it. 
Her face suggested to him that she was contemplating the 
position they were in. Eventually, she commented on it. "I 
am not averse to the sensations I am feeling at the moment." 
Her voice was quiet, and seemed a little ragged and awed.

Harry turned her to face her. "Neither am I, Seven," 
he whispered to her. Their faces were centimeters apart. 
Harry wanted to kiss her, badly. The world fell away, and 
all that mattered was the mesmerizing woman in front of him. 
Slowly, their lips came closer together, almost touching---

"Harold ole dog! Since when did you get married? And 
to such a gem!?"

Harry and Seven practically jumped apart, and as the 
universe came together like so many jigsaw puzzle pieces, 
Harry realized that the voice came from Thomas Paris. He 
turned swiftly to face the older man, desperately trying to 
contain his heavy breathing. It took him barely a second to 
recover and, with an attempt at nonchalance, Harry smiled 
conspiratorially. "Oh, now, telling you would take all the 
fun out of finding out."

Thomas didn't look deterred one bit. "Come now, you 
can tell your ole buddy Thomas. Spill the beans Harold."

"Now, now, you'll find out in good time. Tell me, 
how have you been lately?"

Thomas smiled at him. "Fine, I see how it is. Tell 
me eventually. You know how the wife likes to keep up on the 
gossip." He laughed, and Harry joined in uncomfortably. 
Thomas began to tell of what he and "Belle," his wife, had 
been up to for the last 5 years. Apparently, it had been 
that long since Harold and Thomas had seen each other. Harry 
listened intently, trying to gather what he could about this 
existence. He figured that he and Seven would have to make 
something up as far as how they met and got married.

Thomas talked animatedly, but Harry was barely aware 
of his existence. Sure, he could hear what was being said, 
and he was paying attention, but his entire being was fully 
aware of Seven, who was standing at his side. He had his arm 
around her, as they'd agreed upon, but Harry wanted nothing 
more than to end the simulation, go someplace private and 
pick up where they left off. But, Harry realized, they 
couldn't do that. Tom had obviously gone to great lengths to 
design this program. They really should see it to the end.

Their conversation dragged on for nearly 15 minutes, 
during which time Harry learned quite a bit of information. 
The year was 1936 and they were in Great Britain. All of 
them, with the exception of Thomas, Chakotay, Harold and 
possibly Seven, were from England or some part of that 
empire. The exceptions were from the United States, but most 
had lived in England for some time. Lord and Lady Tuvok had 
been married for nearly 20 years. One of the last betrothed 
marriages in England. They appeared happy enough, however. 
Chakotay and Kathryn - Harry was having a hard time thinking 
of his Captain and First Officer married - had been married 
for 17 years and had three children. Two girls, one boy. 
Apparently, they had met when they literally bumped into 
each other at a "social." Thomas appeared to say more when 
dinner was called for. That's when Harry noticed a little 
console at the back of the room.

He pulled Seven over and accessed the console. 
Immediately, a little message popped up on the screen. It 
was Tom, and he his grin rivaled that of the Cheshire Cat's.

"Hey Harry, Seven. Look, I figured that I would let 
you know a little something at this stage in the program, as 
to avoid confusion later on. Harry, no doubt you discovered 
some coding in the program that looked a bit strange. Well, 
I took it upon myself to make sure that nothing short of a 
red alert could get you two out of there." His grin turned 
in to a full-fledged laugh. "Enjoy yourselves you two. Oh, 
and Harry, consider this payback for that turbolift incident 
a couple of months ago." And with a wink and a smile, Tom's 
image and the entire console disappeared. Harry ended up 
hitting a wall with his fist. Tom was definitely a dead man.

"What was the 'turbolift incident?'" Seven's voice 
caught Harry's attention and he swiftly turned to face her.

He sighed. "Well, a couple of months ago I 
programmed the turbolift he and B'Elanna were in to halt 
between the Bridge and Deck 2 for a few hours. Suffice to 
say he was not pleased at all when he found out that I was 
behind it. He thanked me later, but at the time he vowed 
revenge. Looks like he didn't forget." Harry's face waxed 
innocent. "I was just trying to help him and B'Elanna work 
out some of their differences." He laughed slightly, and 
Seven's face brightened ever so faintly. "Well," Harry said, 
taking Seven by the arm, "let's go for dinner."

They walked into the dining room. It was a large 
room with oak-paneled walls, and in the middle of it there 
was a huge table set for 10, with exquisite china and 
gleaming silverware. Harry gulped when he saw the forks and 
knives laid out at each setting, he just hoped *he* managed 
to use the right ones, let alone Seven, with her limited 
experience in eating. 

Their seatings were found quickly thanks to the 
small artistic cards with their names on. His place was 
between Kes and the Captain on the left side of the table, 
while Seven sat on the opposite side, between Tom and the 
Doctor. Damn etiquette that demanded that husband and wife 
not sit next to each other! If he had been able to sit next 
to Seven he could have made sure that she wouldn't commit 
any social faux pas. Oh well, she could just consider it 
training in human relation, he mused.

"So, Mr. Kim, Thomas tells me that you are a 
scientist. What are you researching these days?" Harry was 
shaken out of his musings by the Captain, no, Mrs. Chakotay. 
Before he had a chance to say anything, Tom broke in with a 
tut-tut.

"He's working for the government, you know they can 
never tell anyone about their work. It's one of those tom 
secret things no one is supposed to know anything about."

"Oh, how exciting," Kes said. "What is your area of 
specialty?"

While he tried to figure out an answer, the first 
course was served. Seven looked at him a bit uncertainly, 
but before he could respond she started eating, with the 
right cutlery. Soon she was engaged in a conversation with 
the Doctor, or rather, listening to one of his monologues. 
Harry smiled inwardly, lucky Seven.

"I work with systems technology," he answered, 
trying to be as vague as possible. That seemed most safe, 
under the circumstances. "There's always use for new systems 
technology." This was the start of a conversation between 
the Captain, Kes and Tom where fortunately no one was really 
interested in Harry's opinion. Mrs. Chakotay had the same 
keen, analytic mind as the Captain, and Kes was still able 
to grasp intricate facts at lightning speed. It almost felt 
as if he were back to the days before Kes 'evolved' and left 
Voyager, when they would gather in the messhall or the 
Resort, and the talk would inescapably drift over into shop 
talk.

The only thing that jarred with his memories was the 
fact that there were several references to Germany as being 
a threat. Tom was severely opposed when he claimed that he 
saw a new Great War on the horizon, and the discussion 
continued spiritedly. Even Tuvok threw himself into the 
conversation, as logical as always. Harry could see that 
Seven was paying attention to what was being said, even 
though she could probably only understand half of it.

As the meal proceeded, he discovered to his surprise 
that Seven never faltered in her table manners, whereas he 
himself had several times been on the verge of doing 
something silly. When they finished eating, and they all 
rose to withdraw to the drawing room, he managed to snatch a 
few private words with her.

"How are you doing?"

"I think I am performing adequately, thanks to the 
Doctor's lessons in table manners. I am, however, uncertain 
as to what we are supposed to do now."

"Most likely we are going to play bridge, Seven. 
From what I remember, that was a popular card game in those 
days."

"I am unfamiliar with the game, but if it is part of 
the program I will endeavor to learn it."

Harry looked at her. It seemed as if she really 
wanted to play along with this holoprogram. And she'd only 
want that if she cared about their date tonight. Harry 
smiled as they walked through the door into a cozy room. The 
fireplace was lit, and Neelix was there ready to serve 
coffee as they sat down into big comfortable chairs. 

"Harold, it's about time you answered my question." 
Tom had seen Harry's smile and the way his gaze lingered on
Seven. "Where did you meet her, and how on Earth did you get 
her to agree to marry you? I must say, I'm amazed. From what 
I remember, you never used to leave your laboratory long 
enough to have a night on the town, let alone to meet and 
woo such a beauty."

"As I said, just telling you would take all the fun 
out of it. Suffice it to say, I had to travel quite a long 
way to find her."

"And now that you have her, you're not letting her 
go? That's the spirit, Mr. Kim." Chakotay had joined their 
repartee while his wife was trying to draw Seven into some 
small talk. She was not succeeding. 

"What do you say to a game of bridge, Captain 
Paris?" Tuvok called to him.

"I'm afraid that us Yankees are more used to gin 
rummy than bridge, Lord Tuvok," Tom answered. "However, we 
are always open for new experiences. Besides, this will be 
interesting, the Yankees against the redcoats, so to speak."

"May the ones from the right side of the ocean win," 
the Captain teased. "Starting yet another war of 
independence?"

"I'd say this time Britain needs to fight for her 
independence, seeing that we are dependent on American 
scientists to invent our weapons for us," the Doctor said. 

In the meanwhile, Harry had walked over to Seven and 
sat down beside her. He took her hand in his, something he 
had wanted to do for a long time, and which he could do now, 
thanks to the marriage guise. She looked at him with her 
head cocked to the side and her face solemn. However, she 
didn't withdraw her hand, and Harry began to think that this 
date wasn't going so bad. Not bad at all.
 

***********

RiF Round Robin Continued HERE