Out of the Box
Author: Rocky

spoiler: For over six years, despite the odds against them, Voyager has survived numerous hostile alien encounters and even shipwide takeovers. The Kazon, the Nyrians, the Hirogen, the Borg...But now, is their luck about to run out? They are about to face Commander Tuvok and his new security measures.

Prologue

A hot dry wind blew, stirring the red sands. Tuvok was aware of the fine stinging particles against his skin, but felt no discomfort. His nostrils flared, catching the scent of predator carried on the wind. In the hollow under some rocks, the glitter of eyes told him he was being observed.

He knelt down, carefully arranging the folds of his meditation robe about him. Slowly, methodically, his breathing and heart rate dropped to an almost imperceptible level as his mind reached out beyond the walls of the holodeck, through space and time to the plains of Vulcan. A sense of calm pervaded his being, calm that had evaded him in his own quarters. Never hurrying, he began the mental exercises that gradually took him through the various meditative levels. He could see the inner flame, shining like a beacon. He sought to grasp it-

And instantly the other images, the ones he'd been struggling to hold at bay, intervened.

A jumbled montage of scenes, each lingering for only an instant. The stark, dimly lit corridors of a Borg cube. His own hand covered with silvery Borg implants. The sound of his voice stating Voyager's shield frequencies, followed by the Queen's satisfied, "Thank you, Tuvok." Captain Janeway, in the grasp of Gul Datik, disappearing in a transporter beam. A desperate fire fight in the ship's corridors against advancing Hirogen hunters. An unknown assailant stalking Voyager's crew, striking only at the former Maquis. The realization that the culprit who'd stolen the Doctor's program was long gone. Ensign Kim's voice yelling, "They've accessed our primary systems!" Crewmembers being beamed off the ship by hostile forces. The image of an unconscious and tortured Captain Janeway on a bed in Sickbay, with the knowledge that he was the one responsible for putting her there.

Tuvok's eyes opened with a jerk. He was sweating profusely, his heart pounding wildly in his side. His voice hoarse, he croaked, "Computer, end program."

The red sands vanished instantly. For several moments, Tuvok lay upon the bare metal floor, staring with unseeing eyes at the dull yellow and gray grid that covered the walls. Only when he was sure his features were once more schooled into his habitual emotionless expression, did he rise and leave the holodeck.

Act I

"Lieutenant!" Tuvok barked.

Ayala lifted his head, exhaustion evident in every line of his body. "Yes, sir?"

"Your team took an excessive 6.2 seconds to gain entry to the transporter room. In that time, the marauders had more than sufficient time to bring an additional number of attackers on board, as well as begin beaming our crew to the planet below."

"I'm sorry, Commander, but we were unable to get past the lockout and had to access the door manually-"

"No excuses, Lieutenant," the security chief said coldly. "Had this been an actual occurrence instead of a drill, that delay would seriously jeopardize the welfare of the entire ship. Every second is precious under these circumstances." Tuvok turned abruptly to the next member of the team. "Mr. Rollins, your performance was inadequate as well. Not only did the attackers easily subdue the members of your unit, but you neglected to modify the consoles to prevent access to the primary systems, including life support."

Dalby, who had been slumped against the wall with some of the others, hastily straightened up as the Vulcan's gaze swept over him. The former Maquis bore his castigation stoically, but then muttered under his breath, "Geez, who died and made *him* captain?" Ayala's snort of laughter was cut short when Tuvok stiffened.

With his superior hearing, Tuvok had easily heard the remark and knew with certainty that had been Dalby's intention. Considering his poor performance in the drill, the man's attitude was bordering on insubordination. As the commander opened his mouth to respond, he thought back to when he had approached Captain Janeway for permission to implement this enhanced training program, along with other new security protocols.

To his surprise, a grin briefly tugged at the corners of the captain's mouth. Tuvok's own lips tightened. "I fail to see what is humorous about the topic of security breaches, Captain, particularly in light of the serious consequences of our most recent incidents. Threats to the welfare of this vessel, let alone its continued existence, are hardly laughing matters."

"I'm sorry, Tuvok," Janeway said contritely, getting up from behind her desk and walking over to where he stood stiffly at attention. "It's just this isn't the first time you've lectured me about inadequate attention to tactical and security matters."

"I have not brought this topic up previously-"

"I didn't mean on board Voyager. I was referring to when we first met, thirteen years ago. Remember?" Janeway shook her head in bemusement. "I was a brevet captain undergoing an official review of my first command mission. You were the tactical review officer who found no less than 43 violations of proper operating procedure on my part-all instances where I'd failed to hold the specified number of battle readiness drills or reviews of the weapons systems."

Tuvok nodded. "Indeed. I never understood why you were so remiss, particularly as our later acquaintance revealed your careful attention to detail in other areas relating to command directives and protocol."

"We were just a small research vessel, Tuvok, not a battle cruiser," the captain began. "There was scarcely a need for such-" She obviously decided it was fruitless to pursue that line of argument. "At any rate, the board of review found that your complaints had merit, and decided you would be a good choice to keep me on the straight and narrow." Janeway smiled. "And I've been saddled with you ever since."

"I apologize for any inconvenience."

"Don't be silly," she admonished, laying her hand gently on his arm. "I don't know what I would have done without you all these years." She glanced once more at the PADD he'd handed her, and a note of concern entered her voice. "In all seriousness, Tuvok, what's the real reason for revamping our security procedures? I'm not saying it's not a good idea, but why the sudden rush to implement this new set of protocols?"

"As head of security, as well as chief tactical officer, it is my job to deal with any threats to the vessel," he said. "There have been far too many of them, particularly in the past few months. In hindsight, a number of crises could have been prevented, or at least had their effects mitigated, if the proper measures had been taken. Obviously, the protocols currently in existence are inadequate."

She caught his unspoken implication at once. "You are not personally to blame for any breakdowns in our security."

"It was I who implemented the security protocols," Tuvok pointed out.

"At my order."

"Nonetheless, I am responsible for their execution." He met her gaze squarely. "As I was also responsible for.. ." For some reason, he couldn't bring himself to mention her abduction by the Cardassians. "The various times the ship was taken over by hostile aliens," he finished.

"Tuvok," she said firmly. "You were *not* to blame. In either of your official capacities." The captain sighed. "More remarkable than the fact that we were boarded or otherwise overpowered so many times is that it didn't occur more frequently. Or with more devastating results."

"The results were sufficiently devastating," he noted.

The captain gave him a look. "At no time did I indicate that I was unhappy with your efforts."

"Perhaps you should have. In addition, the number of times key systems have been compromised, or unauthorized personnel gained access to sensitive areas or equipment, could rightly be viewed as unacceptable."

"Well, I can't argue with you there." An edge crept into Janeway's voice. "However, I'm not blaming you for these lapses, Commander, and you shouldn't either."

Unbidden, the picture rose once more of what had happened when Janeway had agreed to meet with the leader of the crippled Cardassian vessel. Tuvok and another security officer had been present in the transporter room when Gul Datik beamed over. But despite his perceived readiness for trickery, the Cardassian had outsmarted him. Outsmarted them all. They had very nearly lost the captain permanently due to his carelessness, his failure to fully prepare for duplicitous behavior. Such an occurrence was unacceptable and could not be permitted to happen again. It would not happen again.

He didn't know how much the captain guessed, but at length, she nodded. "Very well, Tuvok. Go ahead with your security protocols, as well as scheduling some ship-wide battle drills. I'll go over these new tactical subroutines you've submitted. Dismissed."

With renewed determination, Tuvok surveyed the weary security officers standing in front of him and announced, "We will take a short break, and then reconvene on the holodeck at 1500. There is another series of drills with which I want you to familiarize yourselves."

Tom Paris threaded his way through the Mess Hall, balancing a tray and a cup of coffee, heading toward the table in the far corner. He snagged a chair with his foot and sat down. "Sorry I'm late."

Torres glanced over at him. "I was beginning to wonder, Tom. I thought you were just doing some routine maintenance on the Delta Flyer. What took so long?"

"Is the directional control still acting up?" Kim asked.

"No, no, nothing like that," Paris waved their concerns away. "Everything's fine. In fact, I finished the work on the Flyer early, and decided to get a head start on some of the other shuttle overhauls. But remember the announcement a few days ago that 'new security protocols' would be going into effect?"

"Yeah, what about them?" said Torres. She leaned over and helped herself to some of his dessert.

"I couldn't access any external systems from the console in the shuttlebay," Paris said, batting her hand away. "Couldn't even manually open the doors of the bay to test the sealant and force field grids. The computer kept telling me those functions could only be accessed from Engineering or the Bridge."

Kim nodded. "That sounds like what happened to me. I was in Astrometrics earlier, and had to call Engineering and ask B'Elanna to divert more power to the sensor relays."

"I was wondering why you did that," Torres said absently, her attention focused on her husband's tray. Paris sighed and relinquished the slice of afarsek pie. "Not that I minded, but I couldn't understand why you didn't simply do it yourself."

"The computer informed me that power diversions from one system to another was a high level function and could only be implemented from a secure console," said Kim.

Paris smiled humorlessly. "Welcome to the new regime, folks. Our chief of security has decided that multiple access to certain ship's functions should be restricted in the name of safety."

"Are you sure?" asked Torres.

"Got it straight from the horse's mouth."

Kim shook his head impatiently at yet another of Paris' twentieth century metaphors. "What horse? You mean you asked Tuvok about this?"

"Didn't need to. I got all I wanted to know, and then some, from listening to the Doctor grumble about being unable to practice implementing his 'Emergency Command Code' functions from Sickbay. Instead, he's got to settle for a simulation on the holodeck, which means giving up some of his precious tee time."

Torres smiled. "He could always ask permission to practice on the Bridge itself."

"Give you some competition for being in charge during the Gamma shift, Harry," Paris added meaningfully.

"Oh no-I'm not ready to give that up," Kim said with a mock frown. "And don't say it, Tom-that is *not* the closest I'll ever get to the command chair. I'm not going to stay an ensign forever."

"You just keep telling that to yourself, Harry," said Torres, patting his arm sympathetically.

They ate in silence for a few moments. Paris grimaced and pushed away his half-finished plate of leola root stew. "I agree that we could use some improvement in our basic security protocols-there have been too many close shaves recently-but I do think Tuvok is carrying this crusade of his a little too far."

Torres said, "You're not the only one, come to think of it-you should hear Ayala. Tuvok's been running him and the rest of the security teams ragged. And Dalby says it's even worse than the time Tuvok put him and Chell through 'remedial training.'"

"With all the increased security measures," Paris said, dropping his voice to a conspiratorial whisper, "I wonder what's next-keeping the leola root under lock and key?"

"Sure," said Kim, with a straight face. "I think it could be justifiably classified as either a controlled substance-or a weapon!"

"Hey, why not go one further and post a guard in the kitchen?," suggested Torres, her eyes dancing. "Neelix would probably welcome any measures which would put an end to unauthorized midnight snacking."

Their laughter was cut short when they became aware of Tuvok standing next to their table, his expression more severe than usual. "Lieutenants Paris and Torres, Ensign Kim. Such frivolity regarding the implementation of security measures is highly improper." His gaze fell on each of them in turn. Kim looked uncomfortable. "Access to the majority of the ship's systems must be restricted to one or two secure areas in order to minimize the possibility of tampering by unauthorized personnel. Any inconvenience you suffer is a small price to pay if it improves the safety of this ship and crew."

"It's not just a question of convenience, Tuvok," Paris began reasonably.

But Tuvok wasn't finished. "And may I remind you," he said, his voice sharp. "That whether you care for it or not, eternal vigilance is necessary to ensure our continued survival." He stalked away without waiting for any further response.

They watched him go. "Whew!" said Paris, "Who shoved a stick up his-"

"Tom!" protested Torres.

"Sorry." Paris subsided for a moment, but then added defensively, "Haven't you noticed that lately Tuvok has been acting more...Vulcan than usual?"

"Is that possible?" asked Torres, crumpling up her napkin.

"Search me," answered Paris. "If I didn't know any better, I'd almost think he was going through..." His voice trailed off lamely, as he wasn't about to betray Tuvok's confidence and mention his recent pon farr. Instead, Paris said, "Maybe it's the post-assimilation blues still affecting him."

B'Elanna nodded immediately, and her face clouded over. "Kahless knows, it took a long time for me to get over the experience and I had a much better support system." She squeezed Tom's hand. "It makes me wonder, who does Tuvok have to turn to?"

Her husband smiled at her. "I don't know, Be. Tuvok is a Vulcan, and Vulcans don't believe in support systems like humans do. He's probably better off working out whatever is bugging him on his own." Paris sighed. "I just wish he wasn't taking it out on the rest of the crew."

Kim shook his head. "It could also be Tuvok is just working too hard and needs to unwind." A thoughtful expression passed over his face. "Maybe he could use a little help."