Chapter 4

Earth, Mariana Two Science Outpost, 2378 – Quarantine Day Five

"I'm going to win this time," Harry said, rubbing his palms together. He took up the next rectangular piece. "It's been five years, but I'm going to beat you."

Tuvok said nothing but simply waited for Harry to place the piece, certain that he would not win. It was precisely because it had been five years that he knew this. While Harry had improved over the years, he still lacked a certain logical precision and sangfroid necessary to outwit a master.

Harry placed the piece and waited. Nothing happened. He groaned.

Tuvok calmly picked up another piece and added it to the opposite side of the structure. The matrix realigned immediately with a rewarding beep. "Kal-toh."

Harry groaned again. "Tuvok, we are not leaving this island until I beat you."

"Mr. Kim," Tuvok intoned, "we have been on this island for five days. During that time we have played fifteen games of kal-toh, and you are no closer to winning now than you were the first time we played together."

"We have nine days left." Harry narrowed his eyes. "Of course, we could stay longer if necessary."

"There is not enough time in your lifespan."

"Tuvok, was that a joke? Or an insult?"

"It was a mere statement of fact, Ensign. Shall we play again?"


The Voyager crew had had a campfire every night without Tom and B'Elanna. On the fifth day, Harry decided it was time to change that. After the sun set that night, he crossed the camp to their cabin with purpose.

He could see B'Elanna inside, sitting on the bed with Miral in her arms. When he first met her, Harry would never have imagined B'Elanna to be the maternal type, but he had to admit she looked great holding a baby. Apparently, Tom thought so, too; Harry could see him in the far corner of the cabin, watching B'Elanna just as he was.

USS Voyager, Delta Quadrant, 2377

"You're happy about this, right?"

As soon as she asked the question, Tom knew he had precisely two seconds to respond before she wouldn't believe his answer, no matter what he said. The trouble was that he wasn't sure. He wanted to be a father, of course – wanted to be the father of B'Elanna's child, more specifically – but there was a big difference between talking about it (or, better, trying for it) and being summoned unexpectedly to Sick Bay to hear the news.

Time was up. B'Elanna was searching his eyes, hoping to uncover her own feelings. Tom opted for the truth. "Of course I'm happy. Just a little overwhelmed, that's all."

B'Elanna's face relaxed as she admitted, a little nervously, "Me, too. Can we keep this to ourselves for a while?"

"Absolutely," he agreed. They hugged as much in relief that they were both having the same mixed emotions as in happiness at the news.

When they pulled apart, B'Elanna laughed in disbelief, delight, and embarrassment all at once. "I need to get work. See you later, Dad."

The name still hadn't quite sunk in before the mess hall doors opened, and the crew burst into applause. In that instant Tom knew it didn't matter if the baby was a surprise or if he'd have to study child-rearing on the holodeck – none of that mattered. B'Elanna was pregnant. They were going to have a baby. He was going to be a daddy. And he was really, really excited.

"I can't get over how much she looks like you," Tom whispered as he slid onto the bed beside B'Elanna and put an arm around her shoulder.

"Thank you," she said seriously, turning to look at him. Tom frowned slightly, not comprehending. "For not saying anything about…what I tried to do to her."

Tom smiled at her best efforts toward an apology. B'Elanna always fumbled a little when she had to admit she was wrong, but she always tried anyway – a fact Tom found sweet. "I just meant she's beautiful like you," he said easily, letting the subject drop.

B'Elanna's eyes flickered away from the baby to Tom for a brief second, and Tom could see she understood all of the things going unsaid between them. He smiled again, squeezing her tightly with the hand on her shoulder. With a finger of the other hand he stroked Miral's cheek.

Harry decided it was time to make his presence known. He knocked on the frame of the cabin. "Can I come in?"

"Come in, Starfleet," B'Elanna called in a voice like honey. She gave him a warm smile.

Harry sat down on the bed, facing them. He leaned down to kiss Miral gently on the cheek before returning B'Elanna's smile. "Have you two decided what you want to do after this?"

"Not yet," Tom answered. "We're still talking about it."

"I know a lot has changed for you over the years," Harry began. He looked at Miral and added, "Over the last few days. But I'd like you to consider staying in Starfleet."

"Harry –" B'Elanna began.

He held up his hand. "I know, I know. At least promise me you'll spend a few days in San Francisco with me before you disappear and I never see you again."

"Harry," Tom said, clapping his friend's shoulder, "what's it going to be like without seeing you every day?"

"You'll miss me, admit it," Harry teased, forcing a smile.

"I thought we'd be able to count on you to baby-sit when we wanted to be alone," Tom said in the phony voice he used when he couldn't really express his emotions. The trouble was that B'Elanna and Harry both knew it. In truth it pained Tom to think they wouldn't be raising Miral around their friends, especially Harry.

It pained Harry to think that, too. When Tom and B'Elanna had first become involved, it had been a huge adjustment. His friendship with B'Elanna had completely changed. And then Tom had decided he wanted to marry her.

USS Voyager, Delta Quadrant, 2376

"You know," Tom said as Harry placed his saxophone back on its stand, "it's a lot more uplifting to listen to you play the saxophone than the clarinet." He propped his feet up on Harry's coffee table, folding his hands in his lap. "It's less broody somehow."

"I'll be sure to tell Sue," Harry said, settling onto the sofa beside his friend. "So, are you going to tell me what you and B'Elanna are fighting about this time?"

Tom's head dropped against the back of the sofa. "Our beloved drone," he confessed with a deep sigh. "I invited Seven to Fair Haven."

Harry cringed, nearly snorting. "What were you thinking?"

"I was just trying to be friendly," Tom insisted. "Doc was whining about how Seven's never heard him say Sunday mass." He raised his head. "Why does B'Elanna always have to hate something just because everyone else likes it?"

"There's not much for her to like about Fair Haven," Harry pointed out. "B'Elanna doesn't like 'quaint.' She likes athletics and technology. And in Fair Haven all the women wear long skirts and do domestic work. Can you really see her fitting in?"

"She could try," Tom grumbled. "And what about Seven? Why can't I be friends with her? Is B'Elanna really that insecure about our relationship?"

"They've never been the best of friends, Tom."

Tom glared slightly. Harry wasn't supposed to be making reasonable arguments; he was supposed to be siding with him. "She's not friends with a lot of people, Harry. That never stopped me from being friends with them."

"Seven's different."

"Why?"

"Do I have to spell it out for you? Seven's beautiful, for one thing, and she's intelligent. She's a good engineer – maybe even better than B'Elanna. B'Elanna feels threatened by her. And you being nice to her doesn't help."

Tom threw his head back on the sofa again. "I'm not interested in Seven of Nine," he insisted. "I'm not interested in anyone but B'Elanna. Why can't she see that?"

At his friend's testament of fidelity, Harry became more sympathetic. "What did she say?"

"She told me that if I wanted to spend so much time with Seven, I ought to just marry her." Harry tried not to laugh, imagining exactly how B'Elanna must have sounded when she said that and agreeing with Tom that she was being a little insecure. "And the thing is," Tom continued, "that's exactly what I want to do."

"Marry Seven?" Harry asked with confusion. Tom lifted his head again to make eye contact, and Harry realized what he really meant. "Whoa."

"Ever since the two of you were lost when the Delta Flyer crashed, I just can't stop thinking about it."

"How are you going to ask her?"

"I don't know," Tom admitted. "I don't even know if it's something B'Elanna would consider. I was hoping you'd have some advice."

Harry bit his lip. In truth, he'd always known this day would come. Tom and B'Elanna, in spite of their constant fighting, belonged together. He was happy they'd both found something – someone – they obviously needed, but he couldn't help feeling a little left out. His friendship with Tom hadn't changed much in the last three years, but he and B'Elanna weren't really friends anymore, not as they'd once been. And if his two best friends got married, well, he could only hope Ayala was ready to start spending a lot of time with him.

"If you want me to baby-sit," Harry said lightly, "you'll have to stay in San Francisco. And the biggest source of employment in San Francisco –"

"Is Starfleet," B'Elanna finished. She passed Miral to him. "You just don't give up, do you?"

"Nope," Harry said happily.

"Why are you so sure you'll be working at Starfleet Command?" Tom asked him. "Don't you want to get an assignment on a ship or a starbase somewhere?"

Harry sighed. "I think I've had enough space travel for awhile."

"Well, it doesn't take long to get from New Zealand to San Francisco," Tom said cynically.

B'Elanna and Harry both looked at him. "Will you stop it with that? No one is going to send you back to the penal colony," B'Elanna chastised. She smiled wryly. "Worst case scenario, you end up on a work detail in your father's office, cleaning the carpets."

"At least then I'd be able to visit Harry a lot," he quipped.

"What about you, B'Elanna?" Harry asked.

She smiled more sincerely. "You're cute when you're worried about losing your friends."

Ledos, Delta Quadrant, 2377

"This is better than I expected," Harry confessed as he and Neelix climbed a series of stones toward the waterfall. Without thinking, Harry reached back and offered a hand to B'Elanna. She took it, also without thinking, and let him help her up the treacherous path. Only once they were safe on a ledge overlooking the waterfall did it occur to Harry what he'd done, what B'Elanna had allowed him to do. She was definitely, he decided, much more docile now that she was pregnant. Eight months ago, she'd have ripped his arm out of its socket for even offering it to her.

"I think I'm going to walk around a little," Neelix said. He meandered away, leaving Harry and B'Elanna alone. They turned to each other.

"Right about now," B'Elanna said with a wan smile, "I'll bet Tom is demonstrating to the flight instructor that he knows to fire a thruster."

"You're being a good sport about his flying lessons," Harry said. "I know you were looking forward to shore leave together."

B'Elanna shrugged. "Comes with the territory. With Tom you never know what's going to happen." She shook off any semblance of woe and forced herself to smile at Harry, her face reflecting the sunlight. "Besides, now I get to spend time with you."

Harry smiled back, at once marveling at how beautiful she was and acknowledging that he was sloppy seconds. Still, he was glad to have a little time with her before the baby was born. It was rare that he and B'Elanna were together without Tom, and sometimes he missed her friendship. Before he could think of how to express that to her, though, she grunted and put her hands to her belly. "Is she kicking?"

"More like performing the mok'bara." She pulled his hand to feel. To him it seemed like a painful kick, and Harry looked at her in surprise, but she was beaming. "Harry," she said softly as he withdrew his hand, "it's nice to see you like this." He nodded, turning to look out over the waterfall so as not to embarrass her with this potentially emotional conversation. B'Elanna followed his gaze but continued, "Sometimes I feel like Tom stole you from me."

"What?"

"You were my friend first," she explained, "but pretty soon you were his best friend. And we stopped spending time together."

"B'Elanna, I never stopped being your friend," he pledged, turning back to her.

"I know," she said, still avoiding eye contact. "Harry, are you sure you're okay with the Doctor being the baby's godfather? There's no reason she can't have two."

Harry smiled. "I told you already, my feelings aren't hurt. I'm sure all of us uncles will get plenty of time with little Miss Paris once she arrives and you go back to work in engineering."

"Yeah." B'Elanna fell silent, and Harry, sensing their conversation was over, turned once again to the waterfall. But a moment later he felt B'Elanna's warm hand wrapping around his own.

"I'm sorry," Harry said, "I didn't come here to give you a hard time about staying in Starfleet."

"Why did you come here?"

"Do I need a reason to visit my niece?" he asked, bestowing a few kisses on her nearly bald head.

"Harry's almost as possessive of her as you are," B'Elanna commented to Tom.

"Har, did you just come here to check up on our parenting skills?"

"Actually, I came to tell you that a bunch of people are gathering around the campfire. It's becoming a nightly ritual. You should join them. I'll watch her."

Tom looked at B'Elanna. "How about it?"

She frowned and rubbed her stomach, still a little inflated. "I don't have anything to wear that fits me correctly right now."

"It's dark," he reminded her. "No one cares what you wear. They just care about seeing you."

"And you," Harry added to Tom.

B'Elanna stroked the back of Miral's head lovingly. "She should be put down in about an hour – not that she'll stay asleep."

"I'll take good care of her," Harry promised.

B'Elanna scooted to the edge of the bed, where Tom was already waiting for her. Then she looked worriedly back at Harry and Miral.

"We'll be ten meters away," Tom reminded her. B'Elanna nodded and rose from the bed. "Thanks, Har. We'll be back soon."

B'Elanna whirled around once more, abruptly, and planted a kiss on Harry's cheek in surprise. He felt himself beginning to blush as he looked at Tom, but Tom was smiling with approval. Then his friends exited the cabin, leaving Harry alone with his charge.


Earth, San Francisco, The Presidio, 2403

"That was one of the few times your parents joined the group around the campfire," Harry continued. "They spent most of their time taking long walks on the beach, figuring out their plans. Ayala and I used to watch them in the distance, trying to guess what they were talking about."

"My dad was worried he'd be sent back to the penal colony?" Miral asked.

Harry nodded. "And your mother could have been tried for treason. Tom said he saw three possible outcomes. One, that the Maquis would be put on trial. He was supposed to have been paroled for helping Captain Janeway, but even so, what would he do if your mother was sent away? He couldn't live without her. The second possibility was that they would be pardoned for their crimes in the Maquis but not allowed to stay in Starfleet, in which case they'd have to figure out where they wanted to live and what kind of jobs they wanted. The best possibility was that they would get to stay in Starfleet, in which case they'd have to decide what kind of assignment they wanted – on a ship, at a starbase, or somewhere on Earth for awhile. Regardless of where they went, being a Starfleet officer on Voyager was going to be different than being one back in the Alpha Quadrant – that was something we were all about to discover."

"What about you, Dad?" Andrew asked. "Did you think about leaving Starfleet?"

"Not for a second. I just wanted another pip on my collar."

"And now you have four," Libby said lovingly.

"How's the captaincy treating you?" Miral asked.

"Believe it or not," Harry said with a smile, "it's exactly what I expected it would be."

"And Libby? Life on the Rhode Island?"

"The junior officers are still calling me 'ma'am,'" she reported with a smile. "No matter how many times I invite them to dinner and insist they call me by name."

Andrew saw the profound annoyance in his father's eyes. "Mom, you shouldn't be making dinner for the junior officers."

"Why not?" Libby challenged. "Don't they need to eat?"

Miral grinned and put an arm around her. "So, Harry, you were saying that paradise turned into prison?"


Mariana Two – Quarantine Day Four

A sadness had taken over the twinkle in Tom's eyes, B'Elanna noticed. And the edges of his mouth, usually just slightly turned up, had begun to pull downward with a more distinctive crease. He was aging before her eyes. She gently touched the corner of his lip with her thumb, smiling at him.

Tom grabbed her hand and kissed it. "What are you doing?"

A few months ago, that question would have been asked with a wicked smile and a sparkle in those blue eyes; it would have led to a little flirting, then a little kissing, and then a very athletic romp in bed. Now, though, B'Elanna just saw an empty expression behind his empty question.

"I'm trying to memorize your face," she told him honestly. "In case."

Tom shook his head. "Don't say stuff like that. We're supposed to be on vacation."

"Some vacation. It's always raining, we haven't slept in days because Miral never sleeps, and I have no idea if we're going be sent off to prison when it's over."

"Leave it to you to look on the bright side."

It was a feeble joke, not at all up to his usual standards, but B'Elanna indulged him with a smile. She let her hand rest on his thigh while she thought for a moment. "In some ways," she admitted quietly, "I wish we hadn't gotten back." She looked up at him, searching his eyes, but she already knew he agreed. And, anyway, it wasn't worth talking about; they were back, and they had to accept whatever that meant. "I guess I should take a shower and get dressed."

They had fallen into a routine during their four days in quarantine, taking turns being the strong one. Today it was Tom's turn. So he said with false bravado, "Maybe we'll all be assigned somewhere together. If not, there's always subspace messages."

"Whatever you say," B'Elanna called as she headed into the bathroom.

Miral stirred in her crib across the room, and Tom hurried over to her. As he rocked her gently in his arms, Harry appeared at their doorway. "Hey, you want to go sailing?"

"I don't think so, buddy."

"Come on, the sun is shining, it's a beautiful day, and the wind is perfect."

"It's almost time for her to eat," Tom said.

Harry decided not to press the issue any further. He didn't know what it was like to be a father, but he knew Tom's priorities had shifted. "Okay. Maybe later we have dinner together? All of us?"

"We'll see," Tom said.

"Whatever you say," Harry called over his shoulder as he walked away in defeat.


"I wonder how this would be different if Neelix were here," Mariah Henley mused. She fastened her end of the volleyball net as tautly as possible, shaking the last drops of rain off it. "I'll be he could have gotten Captain Janeway to join us."

Chell frowned as he hooked the other end of the net. He was certain others had noticed the captain's absence, too. He hadn't really expected Janeway to let herself descend to their ranks during this sojourn, but neither was he too thrilled at the way she was very clearly choosing isolation. If only to stop the rampant speculation, if not for her own well-being, he wished she would join them at least once. As Neelix's self-appointed successor, he decided to take some action. After the game.

"I'm not playing on Gerron's team," Henley declared firmly.

Gerron frowned as he carried the ball toward them. "Why not?"

"You are the worst volleyball player ever," she told him, crossing her arms over her chest. "You're really terrible."

Gerron looked at his fellow Bajorans Tabor and Celes for support. "Fine," Tabor said, "Gerron, Celes, and I will play against you and Chell. You think Gerron's bad? You've obviously never played with Chell."

"Hey!" Golwat interjected. "Leave Chell alone." She crossed the field to stand protectively at Chell's side.

"What is this?" Henley wondered. "The Bolians versus the Bajorans in the Alpha Quadrant showdown?"

"You know who we need on our team?" Chell said. "Seven of Nine. Her aim and her stamina are, well –"

"Perfection?" Henley finished dryly. "Just serve the ball."

"Speaking of," Golwat said with a nod toward the far end of the compound. Henley turned and saw Seven of Nine walking out of a cabin.

"Isn't that her cabin over there?" Chell asked, pointing in the opposite direction.

"It sure is," Henley said. Chell opened his mouth, but Henley patted him on the back and said, "Don't ask."


"I wish I'd known Seven of Nine," Andrew said. When Miral raised her eyebrows at him speculatively, he added, "Just to understand how she won Chakotay over."

She gave him one long look before turning back to Harry. "It must have been awkward for everyone to realize what had happened between them."

"Making people feel awkward was Seven's forte," Harry explained.


Mariana Two – Quarantine Day Seven

"Ensign Kim, I would like to thank you." Seven's voice might have been as monotone as ever, but her eyes held an emotional depth Harry had never seen before.

"For what?"

Seven took a small breath, as if collecting her thoughts. "Shortly after I boarded Voyager, I asked you to copulate with me in the mess hall."

Those immortal words. Harry could hear them echoing through his mind from time to time; he still wondered why he had turned her down. Because it was the right thing to do. Because she didn't really understand the implications. It would have been taking advantage of her. Because I'm a good guy. Still, some part of him wondered what it would have been like...

"I was unaware of the complexities of my proposition. Now that I have become involved with Chakotay, I understand the sense of intimacy a sexual encounter can produce between two people, and I appreciate your sensitivity four years ago."

Harry caught his breath but managed a small, awkward smile. Had Seven of Nine just admitted she'd lost her virginity to Chakotay? He didn't really want to imagine that particular "sexual encounter."

"Have I embarrassed you?"

"I…"

Seven frowned, and Harry could tell his reaction had disappointed her. "I merely meant to thank you for behaving honorably," she said. Pause. "And for your friendship."

Harry's smile became genuine. "You're welcome, Seven. Thank you for being my friend, too."

She gave a slight nod before moving to the other side of the campfire, where Chakotay was sitting. Harry saw him put his arm around her without thinking about it – naturally, as if they belonged together.

"What was that all about?" Ayala asked, dropping into the seat Seven had vacated. He handed Harry a stick with a roasted marshmallow.

Harry slid the marshmallow off and popped into his mouth. "Mike," he managed to stay through the gooeyness, "you don't even want to know."