Star Trek Voyager
"Emotional
Logic"
Written by: Descent
(This takes place midway through Season 5)
It was like any other day on the USS Voyager as Chief of Security Tuvok walked down the corridor heading for the turbolift, a padd listing the weekly security reports in hand.
"Deck 1." Tuvok said in his usual unemotional Vulcan manner upon entering the turbolift.
The turbolift headed up towards the bridge, command center of Voyager. Passing by the other senior officers on the bridge, Tuvok throws a nod to Commander Chakotay and walks calmly into Captain Janeway's ready room.
"Captain, here are the weekly security reports." He said putting the padd on her desk.
Janeway with a somewhat curious expression looked up at him.
"This is one day late, that's not like you at all Tuvok." She replied to him.
Tuvok let out a sigh and put his hands behind his back as usual.
"I apologize Captain…there was a…disturbance." Tuvok responded raising his eyebrow on the last word.
"Go on, you have my attention."
"It is of little concern Captain. Rest assured that this delay won't happen again."
"Tuvok, you know I'm not going to let you go without telling me."
"If you insist. Mr. Neelix felt compelled that I finally allow him to undergo security training for him."
"Oh you can't blame him. Neelix has been trying to make himself more useful ever since we crossed the Necrid Expanse."
"If there's one thing Mr. Neelix has shown himself to be, it is persistent. Suffice to say the program went longer than expected and I was forced to forego sleep in order to finish the reports as quickly as possible."
"Ah, I see."
Tuvok began to make his way to the door.
"Oh and Tuvok…"
"Yes Captain?"
"Well…" she asked anxiously.
"Mr. Neelix's score was…unimpressive."
Janeway nodded understanding and Tuvok exited onto the bridge to his post at Tactical. Soon after, Tuvok heard young Ensign Kim report something to Commander Chakotay.
Harry: Commander…sensors are picking up strange fluxuations a couple light years behind the ship.
Chakotay: What kind of fluxuations?
Harry: Unknown sir, they appear to be jumping in and out of our space time continuum. Wait…what?
Chakotay: What, what is it?
Harry: The fluxuations…they just disappeared off the sensors. It's like they weren't even there to begin with.
Chakotay: I don't like this one bit, go to yellow alert and keep me notified if they appear again. Lieutenant Paris, stay at current velocity.
Tom: Aye sir, keeping her steady at Warp Five.
Chakotay: Harry, go notify Seven of these fluxuations and tell her to keep a constant scan for them using Astrometrics in case they appear again. Something about all this gives me a bad feeling.
Harry: Yes sir, on my way.
Harry made his way into the nearest turbolift when Chakotay made another order.
Chakotay: Tuvok you go with him as well.
"Aye Commander." Tuvok said as he followed Ensign Kim into the turbolift, "Deck Six."
The computer chimed with recognition and the turbolift began making its way down to Deck Six, where Astrometrics was.
"So Tuvok…how's life treating you?" Harry said awkwardly to him, trying his best to make small talk.
"I have been delayed from my duties numerous times the past week. It has been…difficult to say the least Ensign."
"Things like that tend to happen from time to time. Like there was this one time where I had this massive report due but Tom insisted I…" Harry reminisced until he was stopped by Tuvok in mid sentence.
"I insist Mr. Kim that you end this conversation." Tuvok said almost irritated.
"May I ask why?" Harry said also irritated a little.
"Forgive me Mr. Kim but I have reached my tolerance of human emotion for the day. I would prefer some peace and quiet until we reach Astrometrics."
"Suit yourself Tuvok…" Harry said disappointed.
All of a sudden a huge energy outburst encircled and shook the ship with intensity. Power and backup power began to fail, a system wide failure was happening all over the ship.
"Now what?" Harry groaned feeling the shake of the turbolift stopping abruptly.
"Keep calm Ensign." Tuvok said observing the Turbolift stop.
All the power on Voyager had shut down and strange electricity sporadically surged around the ship.
"Well this is an awfully familiar situation…" Harry groaned again remembering the Void incident.
"Your sarcasm not withstanding Mr. Kim it appears this is most likely related to those fluxuations we scanned earlier."
"I'd have to agree…well what do we do now?" Harry replied sitting down on the turbolift floor.
"We can do nothing but wait Mr. Kim. Sooner or later the crew will restore power to the ship." Tuvok responded to Harry as he sat down also.
Minutes passed as the two sat there saying nothing to each other. Then an hour passed…then two hours and so on. Harry was thinking this entire time about what Tuvok had recently said to him. Finally, Harry decided to break the silence between the two of them.
"Reached your tolerance?" Harry said to Tuvok rather loudly.
"Ensign?"
"Tuvok, have you ever thought that you might be happier acting less…well logical around everyone."
"You know as well as I do that that would go against my races teachings and everything I grew up upon. As I said to you before I would prefer peace and quiet, at least until the power has been restored."
"Oh come on Tuvok, not to sound like Tom or anything but lighten up."
"I will not, I've learned over the years that you humans like to do things your own way. You think you should enjoy life to the fullest at all times even during duty; it is a concept that I have yet to comprehend. The concept of fun and lightening up as led to most of your races mistakes over the course of your existence."
"Well you know what…" Harry was about to respond with a speech of his own when he stopped himself at the sight of a rift opening right in the turbolift. "What the hell?"
Tuvok quickly pulled out his tricorder to scan the rift but found that the tricorder itself was dead of power.
"It would appear that the tricorders are without power as well." Tuvok observed while looking at the rift.
The rift soon disappeared but left behind a badly burned man standing there looking at them. Tuvok stood up noticing this strange man who came out of the rift. The strange man seemed frightened for his life.
"I am Lieutenant Commander Tuvok of the starship Voyager, this is Ensign Kim. Who are you?" Tuvok asked the man as best as he could.
The man started to grin a little for some reason as he listened to Tuvok try to communicate with him. In an instant the man charged madly at Tuvok. It appeared that the man was trying to grab a hold of Tuvok's face in some manner.
"Tuvok, look out!" Harry yelled as he tried to help but when he reached his hand out to try and grab the man he was shocked back with great electricity.
Soon the man overpowered Tuvok in the struggle and grabbed hold of his face in a meditative manner.
"Remember this…Tuvok." the man said cryptically.
The man finally let go of Tuvok and disappeared. A great pain was now in Tuvok's mind, it felt like someone or something was trying to drill out of his head. Tuvok passed out from the pain just as the power returned back to Voyager. Tuvok's eyes awoke to the sight of Captain Janeway and the Doctor looking over him.
"Tuvok…Tuvok can you hear me?" she said concerned for her friend.
"What…happened…?" Tuvok struggled to speak the words.
"When the power was restored Seven found you and Harry knocked out in the turbolift." She answered his question.
"I see, what is Ensign Kim's condition?" Tuvok asked raising himself up to a sitting position on the biobed.
"He suffered mild degree burns around his chest and for reasons I can't understand he…has slipped into a coma." The Doc said while giving Harry a hypospray injection.
"And myself?" Tuvok said inquisitively.
"There was nothing wrong with you. Not a scratch or sign that you were hurt physically nor mentally. I was hoping you could enlighten me." The Doctor explained to him.
"I'm sorry Doctor, but the memories are fragmented and…distant. As hard as I try I can not remember the incident clearly enough."
"Well whatever this was it was able to render the ship dead in space within seconds. If this phenomenon can send one of our fellow crewmembers into a coma I want to be ready for it the next time. I'll be on the bridge Doctor, keep me updated on their conditions." Janeway said exiting Sickbay while looking sadly at the unconscious Harry.
"Aye Captain." The Doc nodded to Janeway, "Perhaps Ensign Kim could explain more about what happened to you two but every procedure I've tried on him has not been able to bring him out of the coma. If anything things are getting worse for him."
"Elaborate Doctor."
"Each time I perform a procedure to bring him out of it his internal organs begin to break down. It just doesn't make any sense! Well…I don't see any reason to keep you here Commander, your deemed fit for duty."
"Thank you Doctor, I will look into this matter. Hopefully we can find a way to bring Mr. Sleepy Head over there out of this mysterious coma." Tuvok said breaking character for a slight moment.
"What did you say?" The Doctor said noticing.
"Nothing Doctor, thank you for your help." Tuvok replied making a quick exit from Sickbay.
The Doctor raised an eyebrow but decided to shrug it off as nothing. It was more important that they find a way to save Ensign Kim at the moment. Tuvok walked into his quarters pondering why he broke logic for a second. Walking into the bathroom of his quarters he washed his face but looking back up at the mirror he noticed that it was no longer his reflection but that of the burnt Man who attacked him.
"S-Stay away from me." Tuvok stuttered backing against the wall.
"What's the matter Tuvok is the fear overwhelming you? You haven't experienced it in quite awhile have you? Emotions can be confusing for a…logical being." The Man cackled at Tuvok looking down upon him.
The reflection disappeared and Tuvok was alone again, what did he just experience? As best as he could Tuvok tried to pass the recent experience off as a hallucination and nothing more. He got into uniform and headed to the Mess Hall to help clear his mind of this nonsense. Tuvok walked into the Mess Hall welcomed by the sound of Neelix.
"Ah, Mr. Vulcan! It's good to see that you are well after the uh power outage." Neelix said trying to comfort Tuvok. "What can I get for you today Commander?"
"Coffee, please Mr. Neelix." Tuvok said to him trying to ignore his cheeriness.
"Coming right up, wait…on second thought I think you might enjoy a glass of this new Tropical Drink Mr. Paris gave me the recipe for. It is very sweet and it'll keep you going for the day better than Coffee ever could hope to!"
Tuvok winced a little in annoyance at Neelix but complied.
"Very well…"
Neelix smiled and poured Tuvok a glass of the drink. He then stood there patiently.
"You want me to taste it don't you? See how I like it Mr. Neelix?" Tuvok grinned, again breaking character.
A little concerned at that very different tone of voice Neelix responded trying to keep calm. Tuvok held his head a bit, staring at the drink now.
"I-I'm just a little curious how you like it that's all."
"I'm touched you respect my opinion so much for a little drink, I really am. On second thought…I'm not the least bit thirsty; maybe we could do this another time Mr. Neelix. Just remember…curiosity killed the cat." A now very emotional Tuvok said to him. He tugged on one of Neelix's whiskers on the last sentence.
"If you say so Commander…" A confused Neelix replied.
Tuvok strolled out of the Mess Hall smiling. Something wasn't right at all; Neelix tapped his combadge to Captain Janeway. Meanwhile in Astrometrics, Seven and the Captain were trying to figure out what the energy outbursts and fluxuations were in the hopes of finding a way to save Ensign Kim.
"Okay lets run this by one more time…a series of temporal fluxuations are found following closely behind Voyager." Janeway explained to Seven.
"Perhaps cloaked vessels." Seven though out loud.
"Maybe…but that doesn't explain the energy outburst."
"Ensign Kim and Commander Tuvok could have been assaulted by a cloaked boarding party."
"But why would they attack two lone officers on an isolated turbolift, no something doesn't add up here. This doesn't seem like an attempt to capture Voyager. If they were cloaked and planning to take over the ship they would have done so already during the power outage, so many unanswered questions…" Janeway contemplated.
Her combadge then chimed and she hit responding, "Janeway here."
Neelix: Captain, you may want to have the Doctor look at Commander Tuvok. He just came into the Mess Hall. Smiled at me, cracked a joke at my expense and then left. It wasn't the same person. I thought I was going to have to call security.
Janeway looked at Seven with a worried tone on her face.
"Thank you Neelix." She tapped her combadge, "Janeway to Chakotay."
Chakotay: Chakotay here Captain, what have you found?
"Lead a security team to intercept Tuvok; it seems something did happen to him in that turbolift. It may connect to Harry's Coma and the power outburst in someway."
Chakotay: Acknowledged.
Tuvok walks down a corridor only to soon find himself surrounded by Security Officers at both ends.
Security Officer: Commander, please come with us.
"What if I decide not to eh? Logic dictates that you are of weaker strength than me and in a few seconds I could easily break your arm crewman." Tuvok grinned at him, somewhat sadistically.
Security Officer: I will fire sir!
The officer fires his phaser but Tuvok dodges it and quickly breaks the officer's neck. But a phaser blast soon hits Tuvok in the back and he is knocked out. Tuvok or whatever he is now is beamed directly to Sickbay. Janeway walks into sickbay rather seriously. Her eyes stare at Tuvok or rather what Tuvok has become.
"Computer, erect a level seven force field around Biobed 1." Janeway yells.
A force field now surrounds Tuvok and the biobed, Janeway walks over to the Doctor who is studying some data.
"What have you discovered Doctor?"
"It's most interesting…it appears that someone has forcefully melded their brain ingrams into Tuvok's thus forming a sort of hybrid of the two minds. There appears to be violent outbursts in the new ingrams and they're conflicting with Tuvok's trained Vulcan logic. Almost like…Emotional Logic in a sense."
"It's like there's a battle going on inside him between human emotions that he buried long ago and the sense of logic that came with his Vulcan teachings. Why didn't you find this before?" she asks confused.
"I can't say Captain. But I think whatever's happening to Commander Tuvok is somehow related to Mr. Kim's coma. You see, I had a revelation shortly after I allowed Tuvok to return to duty and proceeded to try a new procedure on Mr. Kim. Of course the procedure failed but it turns out this happened around the same time Tuvok's outburst of emotions at Mr. Neelix."
"So you are saying that the more we try to bring Harry out of the coma the more its letting Tuvok lose control of his logic to the other ingrams." Janeway said trying to figure it all out.
"Strange I know and to make things worse that last procedure did it in for Mr. Kim. His internal organs are starting to break down at an accelerated rate, in a matter of hours he'll be dead. I can't fix what has been done to Commander Tuvok's mind either and the two ingrams are beginning to kill themselves from the confusion. The link has to be broken for one of them to survive. A decision has to be made of which one is going to live, either Tuvok or Ensign Kim."
Kathryn's eyes widened at what the Doctor said. He was right; somehow they were both connected now. Harry was like the son Janeway never had…and yet Tuvok was a good friend of many years.
"There has to be some other way than that Doctor…I am NOT going to kill one of them so the other can survive!" Janeway yelled at the Doctor, her eyes were almost filling with tears.
"I know how you feel Captain but like I said time is of the essence. Tuvok has the best chance of survival, you must kill Harry Kim. It is survival of the fittest!"
"Survival of the fittest Doctor, I don't think so! What you are talking about is homicide against fellow crewmembers; no…something's not right here. You're not the Doctor!" Janeway said stepping away from the imposter.
"Very observant Captain…we've seized control of your hologram in the hopes of getting…him back." The Imposter EMH said looking over at Tuvok.
"I don't understand, what do you want with my security officer?" Janeway asked him.
"I'm not entitled to say much Captain but I'll tell you that a mass murderer we've been tracking for years in our centaury escaped here into the 24th centaury and apparently disabled your ship and melded with your Vulcan Officer in the hopes of staying alive. We hit his vessel hard; I am not surprised he was hurt so badly. Now…give him to us so he can stand trial for his crimes." The Imposter demanded.
Chakotay: Chakotay to the Captain, three unknown warships have decloaked in front of us and are charging weapons.
"Go to red alert Chakotay. I don't take too kindly to threats on my ship, maybe we can work something out. Let me talk to him…help him win the battle inside of him. Perhaps then we will be able to separate the ingrams. I want to save both of my officers!" Janeway offered as best as she could.
The EMH destabilized a little bit.
"You have five of your minutes Captain." The EMH sneered.
Janeway nodded and walked over to the force field surrounded biobed. Tuvok awoke and glared at Captain Janeway.
"Tuvok can you hear me?" she asked him.
"The one you call Tuvok is melded with me now. We are called Shakel. Heh, if I knew this body's mind would be so logical I wouldn't have melded with it. I picked this man because he seemed to know how to control himself and I thought I could stay hidden within his body until my next move. But…something went wrong. You 24th centaury humans had to interfere with my escape plans!" Shakel growled.
"I'm so sorry…" Janeway said sarcastically, "But you are holding one of my crew member's hostage and I want him back…now."
"And what makes you think he wants to come back to the life he used to have! I have granted him emotions, emotions he could not show by himself! Think about it…at all those quant little ship gatherings, on the bridge with the others, on all those away missions…he was always the logical outcast who was criticized by the other crew! He feels like he does not belong on this ship with you that way." Shakel said to Janeway with some truth.
"Tuvok, what does logic tell you about caring about what others think of you. About being yourself! We are all the sums of our pasts and futures, we are who we are." Janeway said trying to reach out to Tuvok's logical nature.
"There is some logic in what you…say, Captain but…emotion is what makes us unique…" Shakel said holding his head a little, trying to resist.
"Fight him Tuvok!" Janeway cheered at him.
"No…Noooooooo!" Shakel screamed as he held his head in disbelief and fell to the ground.
"Quickly!" Janeway yelled to the fake EMH.
The Fake Doctor loaded up a hypospray and injected it into Shakel/Tuvok.
"That's it, the ingrams are returning to their normal state with Tuvok in full control." Janeway sighed relieved as she watched the data on a console.
Shakel/Tuvok coughed a little as a strange device was beamed into sickbay.
"What is that?" Janeway asked.
"It'll isolate and store Shakel's ingrams so we can bring him back to our time and put him on trial for the horrible deeds he's committed." He said using it on Tuvok's head.
Shakel whispered something to himself or rather Tuvok.
Shakel: Y-You…You need me Tuvok.
Tuvok: I do not need what I do not want Shakel.
The Imposter EMH then took it off and the device was beamed away. The EMH slowly looked at the Captain and nodded.
"Thank you…" And with that the program destabilized and returned to the Doctor.
"Please state the nature of the medical…don't bother." The Doctor said realizing a lot had happened without him knowing.
Chakotay's voice came over Janeway's combadge. Harry's eyes opened as he awoke from his coma, he stood up looking around rather confused.
Chakotay: Captain, the ship's recloaked and disappeared again from our sensors.
Janeway looked over and noticed Harry was alright.
"I think everything's going to be fine commander, thanks to some Vulcan logic." Janeway smiled.
The USS Voyager went into warp, towards home.