Disclaimer - None from Voyager is mine. Any original characters are mine though (mentioned or otherwise).
Summary - Sequel to Oh Starry Night. After rescuing an alien from an attack, they aide him in returning to his planet. Once there, the crew quickly realize that the locals have a problem that simply cannot be avoided.
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Different Views
Lieutenant Tom Paris could sense the uncertain eyes glancing around the bridge behind him. Without even turning around, he knew that Harry was still adjusting to being back on the bridge again despite the progress he had made in the last few months. Captain Janeway sat in her chair, watching the screen beside her, appearing to be totally oblivious to the situation standing behind her. Tom also knew that it was near the end of the shift and that Harry was usually eager to head back to his quarters in order to relax. Today, he noticed it was a bit more than usual.
"Is there anything on the sensors, Ensign?" the captain piped up.
It took Harry a moment to realize what the Janeway was asking of him and checked the console standing before him.
"No Captain. It's, um, pretty quiet out there. Everything seems to be holding steady and there's no sign of anything - yet," Harry replied.
Janeway gave a small smile, even though she knew Harry couldn't see it. The time slowly passed by as nothing else seemed out of the ordinary until Janeway finally climbed to her feet. She turned enough to face Harry Kim with a grave look. Harry gulped, feeling the studying eyes cover every inch of his body.
"Ensign, may I see you in my ready room?" she told him.
Harry gave a deep breath before carefully nodding his head in response. He glanced to see that all eyes were now on him. Tom grew worried as he returned his attention back to his console. He had an idea of what was coming and whether or not Harry would hate him afterwards remained to be seen. The ensign followed the captain into the room, where she turned around and faced him. She looked him over, as if still scrutinizing him.
"Is there anything you'd like to discuss, Ensign?" she finally asked him.
"Captain?" he questioned.
"Ensign, I heard you've been a bit anti-social in the last few months. I was hoping that I could understand why. You're a fine officer and I'd hate to see you lose yourself simply because you're afraid. Tuvok tells me you're improving in your sessions with him and the Doctor has said that there appears to be no ill-effects from the transformation," Janeway told him.
Harry gave a small smile as he listened to the captain. A tiny laugh escaped his lips as he slowly realized what was happening.
"Captain, I'll be fine. I-I just need some more time to myself," he stammered.
"Not according to Lieutenant Paris. He's told me that you haven't done a lot outside of your duties with him let alone anybody else since we left Rysaria. Despite what you think, there are people who are worried about you," the captain explained.
Harry turned his attention down to the floor, a few wisps of hair falling in front of his eyes. He clasped his hands together, uncertain how he should approach the information set before him. The captain moved to his side and placed a calming hand on his shoulder.
"Ensign, I only ask Tuvok, the Doctor and Lieutenant Paris to report their observations to me alone and it does not go further than the four of us. You're a valued member of my crew and I can see you are obviously still hurting from the experience," Janeway gently explained.
It took a moment before Harry lifted his head and faced the captain with a deep breath. Janeway lifted a hand towards the nearby chair, which he quickly accepted. They sat down and Harry lifted his hands up to his face, wondering where to start. It took him a few minutes before he could summon the courage to speak.
"I-It's been a long few months Captain," he finally admitted." I have been managing to keep the transformations in check with Tuvok's help but I'm still terrified. Terrified that there's going to be that one time where he finally comes out again and I unintentionally hurt someone."
Janeway placed a comforting hand on his knee as she carefully watched his every move. Harry ran a hand through his hair, uncertain what else to say as he locked eyes with her.
"Listen to me, everyone was scared when you were first attacked. We were uncertain if you would even make it and you almost didn't at first. Little did we know that it was the beginnings of a process that Advisor Matol had planned for you," Janeway replied.
A small laugh couldn't help but escape Harry's lips for he was wondering when he would hear that name again. Advisor Ekaterina Matol had only been mentioned to his face a couple of times since they had left the planet. He closed his eyes as his mind wandered back to the times he had with her. In his mind's eyes, he could still see and feel the curves of her Rysarian form and how it felt being one with her. Even thinking about it still felt so natural even though they were separated by several light years now. He almost forgot where he was when a sudden movement of the ship jolted him back to reality. He stole a quick glance with the captain before they ran back out onto the bridge.
"What's going on?" demanded Janeway.
"We had come across two vessels and one was firing upon the other. When we tried to intervene to find out what was happening, the ship began to see us as a threat as well and fired upon us next," Chakotay explained.
The ship rocked as Harry attempted to get back to his station. After few moments of checking the numbers, he glanced back to the screen.
"Shields are down to 90% and they're dropping," Harry called out.
"Open hailing frequencies," Janeway called out.
Within a few moments, they were receiving a reply and a very angry face appeared on the view screen. The alien was unlike anything they had ever seen since it appeared to have webbed ears and instead of a nose, it almost had a slight snout, almost as if they were looking at a fish. Its mouth was a thin slit underneath this 'snout' and it's eyes were slightly bulging from their sockets yet it didn't appear to have any gills of any sort. His clothes were an aqua blue colour and it appeared to cover everything besides his head and hands, which appeared to also have some webbing between the fingers.
"What do you want? You were intruding upon a transaction," the figure told them.
"Not the way we saw it. You were clearly attacking them, we were only hoping to settle whatever the problem is peacefully," Janeway explained.
The figure snorted as he glanced over the crewmembers sitting upon the bridge. With a quick glance to his one side, another jolt rattled Voyager and the image disappeared from the screen.
"Tuvok, scan his ship. See if there's a possibility of a weakness so we can disable him," ordered Janeway.
After a few moments of silence, Tuvok glanced back to the captain and she knew he had an answer.
"A small section of his starboard bow appears to show signs of a recent hit and it looks like the hull has been slightly weakened. If we focus on this section, we could render his ship inoperative," the Vulcan suggested.
"Do it," Janeway told him with a nod of the head.
After a few shots at the hull, the ship started to smoke a bit and began to veer away, slowly disappearing from the scene. Tom Paris looked at the console and gave a small smile, his fingers dancing around.
"The other ship is hailing us Captain," he called up to her.
"Answer them," she replied.
A figure drastically different from the other one appeared on the screen. He had two ridges which met in the middle of his hairline and curved around his eyes. They trailed down his face and onto the neck. His skin colour was a pale orange in contrast to his shoulder-length brown hair. He glanced over the crew before resting his eyes on Janeway.
"My name is Catar, from the planet Tanasch. I have to thank you for your sudden appearance. The one you chased off is of the Panari, a race who's been an enemy of my people for centuries. He was hassling me since he thought I had something he wanted," he told them.
"Captain Kathryn Janeway of the Star ship Voyager. Believe when I say I was hoping to resolve the conflict peacefully. Are you injured?" replied the captain.
Catar quickly took a moment to glance down at his console and gave a frustrated sigh.
"I'm not hurt but I'm afraid my ship is dead in space. He completely destroyed my engines. If it isn't too much trouble to take me to my home planet, I would be very appreciative. It's not very far from here," requested Catar.
Janeway nodded to her crew and they began to prepare for their visitor. Tom glanced up at Harry to find him leaning over his station.
"Tom, Harry, I'd like the two of you to head down to Cargo Bay 1 and greet our guest," Janeway's voice filled Tom's ears.
The pilot quickly turned his attention to the captain before climbing to his feet. He returned his stare back over to Harry and gave him a quick smile, who clearly had an uncertain look on his face. It took him a moment before he followed his friend through the door.
TBC…
