CHAPTER 6 - RECOVERY
~~~~Brandy wears a braided chain
~~~~Made of finest silver from the north of Spain
~~~~A locket that bears the name
~~~~Of a man that Brandy loves.
Liberty.
It had been a wild ride, in enough time it would take to close a
door, they had been pulled from the Alpha Quadrant and into the
Delta Quadrant...70,000 light-years from home. It just didn't
seem possible, yet it was. The Liberty was in shambles, and the
people that had survived were busy trying to repair the ship or
they were in the infirmary seeking medical attention.
Surveying the ship's mess hall, Chakotay looked around to see
that cylinders now occupied the area, and some of the people that
used to constitute his crew lay inside. Silently, Chakotay
passed by the cylinders and laid a hand upon each of them.
Sarma, Rick, Nella...all had paid the ultimate price. And for
what? To be whisked across the galaxy with little hope of ever
returning home?
The Liberty's captain sadly shook his dark head. Since he had
assumed command of the ship, this was the worst crisis he had to
face. Offering up a quiet prayer to whatever deity or deities
watched over this corner of space he finished his private
ceremony of mourning and remembrance. Looking up he saw Gerron
who was preparing the cylindrical coffins for deployment into
space.
"You're doing a fine job, Gerron. Your fallen crewmembers would
be proud."
"Thank you, Captain," the usually cheerful Bajoran looked
extremely sullen and finished sealing the last cylinder. "They
wouldn't blame you sir. All of them," he motioned to the
cylinders, "respected you a great deal."
Chakotay nodded, not trusting himself to speak. He almost missed
the Cardassians. At least they were a known quantity.
* * * * * *
Voyager.
"So, Mr. Paris, where do you think we can find the Maquis?"
Janeway asked. Cavit, her first officer, reluctantly stepped
back from the console so Tom could look at the screen. There was
no doubt that the first officer didn't care for the Captain's
"Observer."
Stepping closer, Tom made note of various course trajectories and
the fluctuating eddies of the turbulent plasma storms that made
up this area of space that was called "The Badlands."
"Knowing Chakotay, I'd expect him to seek refuge in the "Tarikoff
Belt," he noted and pointed to an area on the display.
"Stadi," Janeway spoke up, addressing her chief pilot, a
beautiful female Betazoid. "I'm transferring this information to
the helm controls. Set in a course."
"Aye, Captain." With ease, Stadi entered the commands into the
navigational database, while Tom Paris looked upon her with envy.
He had already fallen in love with this sleek ship, and he itched
to take the controls. Tom hoped Stadi wasn't reading his mind,
but from the twitch of her lip, he knew she had *heard* every
word.
"Captain!" Harry Kim called out from his position at Ops
interrupting Tom's thoughts. "We're being scanned by a coherent
tetryon beam. There's also a large displacement wave rapidly
approaching our location.
"Rollins, try and ..."
Janeway's command was cut short, when the ship was rocked to her
core. Sparks flew, fires broke out, and people were thrown
around Voyager like they were rag dolls.
When Voyager finally stopped shaking, Harry alarmed everyone on
the bridge with his statement that they were no longer in the
Alpha Quadrant, but were now over 70,000 light-years away in the
Delta Quadrant. Everyone that is that was still alive to hear
his words...Stadi and Cavit lay dead. On the bridge's view
screen, the remaining crew could see a large floating space
station.
* * * * * *
Everyone on Voyager and the Liberty were busy taking care of the
wounded, and mending the ships. Tom was helping Harry Kim in
Sickbay with the wounded; and B'Elanna and Chakotay were
repairing the warp engine when suddenly both crews were
transported away from the ships and to the space station.
Just as suddenly, a few days later, after they had been prodded
with needles and examined, they were returned...that is all
except for two.
* * * * * *
Waking up in a stark white environment for a second time,
B'Elanna's hand insinctively reached up to her neck to touch her
locket, hoping it would bring her comfort, like it had in the
past, but she found to her surprise that it was gone.
"Morning," Harry Kim called out. He had been sitting on the edge
of his bed waiting for the Maquis woman, laying in an identical
bed beside him to wake up.
"Morning?" B'Elanna questioned.
"Actually it's just a guess. I have no way of telling in here,"
the young Asian male replied. "How are you feeling?" Harry
noted the look of confusion that passed over the woman's exotic
features. He couldn't figure out what alien race she belonged
to, but he knew from reconnaissance that she was the Maquis
engineer on the Liberty.
B'Elanna paused briefly to consider his question. "Um...
groggy... and a bit weak, I guess." Carefully, B'Elanna swung
her legs over the edge of the bed and faced Harry.
Harry nodded, he wasn't feeling his usual robust self either.
"Not surprising, the Ocampa, they are the people who live here,"
he explained, "injected you with something to quiet you. They
thought you were going to tear this place apart--not that I blame
them."
The half-Klingon rubbed her temples. It was coming back to her
now. She remembered waking up and wanting desperately to get
out. She also recalled the panic she felt just before they
injected her, when she noticed those ugly growths on her body.
{Oh Kahless, the baby! How did all this affect my baby?}
"I'm starting to remember," she said, her right hand rubbed her
abdomen in a circular motion. Lately she could get her baby to
move if she massaged her stomach just right. B'Elanna smiled
softly when the baby responded with a strong kick. It didn't
prove that the child wasn't affected, but she took it to be a
good sign.
"The Ocampa think that your baby is okay," Harry told her. He
had noted the look of concern on her face.
B'Elanna sighed. "That's a relief, I was worried."
"Yeah, I could tell."
"But what are these things?" B'Elanna pointed to a ugly growth
that was on her forearm. It was lumpy, red, and sore to the
touch.
"They aren't saying, I'm not even sure they know. When they come
back, we can ask them. They seem very friendly."
"Okay, so where are we?" B'Elanna asked turning his attention
away from herself.
"The Caretaker sent us here, according to the medical personnel.
Far as I can make out, he is some type of godlike being that
lives on that space station."
"Yeah, I remember that space station, Where are you from? You
didn't serve on the Liberty."
No, I was on the U.S.S. Voyager."
"Voyager?"
"Yeah, we were assigned to capture the Liberty, but got pulled
into the Delta Quadrant just like you did."
B'Elanna moved warily from her bed, away from Harry Kim.
"Relax, Maquis, I don't even have a phaser on me." Harry made a
show of padding his hospital attire. "Besides, it looks like we
are in this together. It only makes sense that we should
cooperate."
B'Elanna snorted derisively .
The next instant, the door to the room swished open and a fairly
tall man and two females came in, all were dressed in white. All
of them looked human with the exception of their ears that
reminded Harry Kim of a Vulcan's ears.
"Are you well rested?" the man politely asked. Harry and
B'Elanna nodded. "Good, we brought some clothes with us. We
thought you might like to stretch your legs and get something to
eat."
"Sounds good," Harry replied. "I am a little hungry."
"Speak for yourself, Starfleet," B'Elanna snapped. "I'm eating
for two...I'm starving! And if I don't get something to eat
pretty soon, I'm bound to be nauseous." {Oh the joys of being
pregnant!}
"Very well, we have some excellent nutritional foods that should
be not only good for you, but also your baby."
"That's good to know," B'Elanna admitted. "Look, I'm sorry I was
so...um...violent earlier. It's my Klingon temper, it can be
very hard to control."
Klingon? That explains a lot," Harry thought.
"It certainly must be disconcerting to wake up in a strange
environment. We can understand that," the Ocampan male admitted.
"Before we go anywhere, we'd like to know what these things are,"
B'Elanna asked pointing once again to the growth on her arm.
"I'm sorry, I'm afraid we just don't know. We wish we did, but
we'll try our best to make you as comfortable as possible."
"What do you mean, you don't know?" Kim demanded.
The man shrugged. "All the people that are sent to us by the
Caretaker have been afflicted to one degree of another with these
terrible growths," he explained. "We have been able to determine
that the child you are carrying," he turned to face B'Elanna,
"doesn't seem to be affected." He hoped this information would
be of comfort to the woman.
"If you can't tell us what they are, then can you at least tell
us when will these things go away?" Kim asked. "When will we get
better?"
The Ocampa male folded his hands in front of him and his eyes
expressed great sadness. "I'm afraid they won't go away, and we
have yet to find a cure for your infliction. You can be asssured
that if the child is born before...before--."
"Before we die?" B'Elanna interrupted. Harry swallowed down a
lump in his throat, but tried to present a brave front.
The alien nodded. "If your child is born before you die, you can
be assured that we'll raise her as if she was one of our own.
She'll be treasured."
B'Elanna placed her hand on her stomach again. She no longer felt
very brave.
"Voyager and the Liberty will find us, Maquis," Harry assured
her. "We have very sophisticated instruments on our ship, it's
the latest technology that Starfleet has. And when they do find
us, the doctor will make us well again." He hoped he sounded
convincing--he also hoped that was saying was true.
B'Elanna hoped he was right.
* * * * * *
Waking up on Voyager, Tom found that he was back in Sickbay once
again with that holographic doctor that Harry Kim had called up
when it was discovered that both Voyager's doctor and nurse
hadn't survived the trip to the Delta Quadrant.
What had Harry call him? Tom tried to remember. Oh yeah, an
Emergency Medical Hologram--or EMH for short. Far as Tom was
concerned from what he had already witnessed, EMH stood for
Extremely Moody Hardass.
Looking around, Tom noted that Harry was not to be found.
Tapping his comm badge, he asked the computer to locate his new
friend, but was informed Harry was not on Voyager. Immediately,
he contacted Captain Janeway to inform her of the news and then,
seeing that the EMH had things well under control, he left for
the bridge. Maybe he could be of use there.
Tom Paris arrived on the bridge just as Chakotay, Tuvok, and
Ayala were beaming aboard.
As soon as they materialized, Captain Janeway personally greeted
the Vulcan, taking Chakotay by surprise. Finding out that Tuvok
had been working undercover for the Federation for several weeks,
Chakotay was shocked. But what stunned the Maquis captain even
more was when he turned and saw Tom Paris standing on the bridge
of Voyager.
"The Vulcan was doing his duty as a Starfleet officer, but what
are you doing here?" Chakotay demanded of his former pilot. "You
betrayed us for what? Freedom from prison? Latinum? What was
your price this time, Paris?"
Chakotay took a step toward Paris, but Janeway put up a hand to
stop him. "Mr. Paris is a member of my crew, I expect you to
treat him with the same respect as I would treat a member of
yours." He appraised her silently, his dark eyes, looked into
her grey ones. Starfleet had trained her well, he concluded.
She wasn't about to relinquish any ground.
"Captain."
Both Janeway and Chakotay turned to look at the Vulcan.
"I've been analyzing our situation. It is my opinion that we are
dealing with a solitary individual on the array."
"Only one person on that whole space station?" Janeway asked. It
didn't seem possible during our time away from the ship, that
there had only been one person responsible.
Tuvok nodded. "It is also my opinion, that during our time on
the array, we were being biologically examined."
"Examined?" Chakotay questioned. His attention was now diverted
from Paris.
"Why else were we returned undamaged?" Tuvok replied.
"Not all of us returned," Paris noted.
Janeway turned to Chakotay. "That's true, Ensign Harry Kim, my
ops officer didn't return."
"Neither did my engineer." Chakotay wasn't about to tell Paris
specifically that B'Elanna Torres was the one missing. He'd do
anything he could to protect her from this mercenary.
"I think we need to go back to the array, and this time under our
own terms. I want to find these missing people," Janeway
remarked. "Captain, will you accompany me?"
Chakotay cooly appraised Voyager's captain.
The only chance we have of returning home is if we work
together," she told him.
"That is a logical course of action," Tuvok agreed.
Chakotay nodded.
"Good, Tuvok break out the compression rifles, this time we are
going back armed." Chakotay and Ayala followed Janeway toward the
turbolift.
"Captain," Paris called out, "I'd like to go with you."
Janeway looked perturbed at being interrupted, but paused. "If
this has anything to do with Chakotay--."
Tom shook his head. "It doesn't, I just want to do anything I
can to help Harry."
"Very well. Tuvok, see that Mr. Paris is armed."
Tom fought back a look of surprise at the apparent trust the
Captain was placing in him and followed her.
* * * * * *
Walking back through the farm yard, like they had when they were
first beamed to the array, the four went in search of the
Caretaker.
Janeway scanned the area with her tricorder.
"I"m not getting any conclusive readings," she informed the
others. "I suppose since we are here, we should search the
farrmhouse."
The others nodded and walked up the farmhouse's wooden steps and
went inside. They checked out every room, but found the usual
accouterments--worn country furniture, a basket for the farm dog
to sleep in, and even a bowl full of fruit had been placed on the
table, but not the old man.
Exiting out the backdoor, they turned their attention to the
barn--the last place they remembered seeing the farm folk.
Janeway and Ayala took to the loft, while Chakotay and Paris
searched the main floor.
"I'll look over here," Chakotay decided pointing to his left.
Paris nodded. "I'll take this area." The pilot pointed to the
other side of the barn, as far away from Chakotay as was
possible. Making a thorough search Tom looked behind the bales
of hay.
"There doesn't seem to be anything up here," Janeway called out.
Just a lot of hay, we're coming down."
"Seems to be the same down here, Captain," Chakotay remarked. "A
lot of hay and...ACHOOO!...dust."
Janeway chuckled despite the seriousness of the situation. "Mr.
Paris, did you find anything?"
Tom looked out from behind four bales of hay that had been
stacked vertically. A few pieces of hay stuck out from behind
his ear. "Nothing, Captain..." A glint of something shiny to
his left near another bale of hay caught his eye. "Wait," he
amended reaching out. His fingers closed upon the item, but even
before he could examine it with his eyes, he knew what it was.
It was something he'd never forget.
"What did you find?" Janeway earnestly asked, she had climbed
down the ladder that had led to the loft, and was now standing
beside Tom Paris.
"A locket." Blue eyes looked up at the Captain, he still
couldn't believe that it was that he had found. What would the
odds be that the Caretaker would create a locket that looked
exactly...and then he knew...the Caretaker hadn't created this.
"Where is she?" Tom demanded, striding past Janeway and toward
Chakotay.
"She?" The Maquis captain questioned.
"*Don't* play ignorant with me, Chakotay!" Tom spat. "This," he
held up the silver locket, "belongs to B'Elanna. I should know I
gave it to her...Where is she?" he repeated.
Janeway looked from Tom to Chakotay and then back again. "What
are you talking about, Mr. Paris?"
Tom opened the locket, and the hologram of himself played for all
to see. Chakotay who had known about Tom, but had never seen the
inner workings of the locket looked dumbfounded.
"Who's this B'Elanna?" Janeway demanded, this time addressing
Chakotay.
"She's my engineer," he replied, but his gaze remained fixed on
Paris.
The thought was enough to make Tom's world spin.
"Your *missing* engineer?" Janeway asked.
Chakotay nodded. "She's the one who's missing, along with your
Ensign Kim."
"You had no right to keep this information from me!" Tom bit out,
his face hard with fury.
"I'm her captain. It's my job to protect her from *all*
threats," Chakotay told him coldly, "including you."
"Don't you think this should be B'Elanna's choice? You had no
right to interfere!"
Janeway stepped between the two irate men, placing her hands
their chests to keep them apart. "Now is not the time,
gentlemen. We have more important matters at stake. First we
have to find B'Elanna and Harry. We have to remain composed and
work as a team if we expect to find our missing people," she
added. If you to can't put differences aside, I'll call for
Voyager to beam you back to the ship. Do I make myself clear?"
Tom and Chakotay hesitated at first, their anger still ripe, and
then both nodded, knowing that she was right.
Tom forced himself to relax, if there was one thing he had
learned in that New Zealand prison was patience. The important
thing right now was that B'Elanna was here with them in the Delta
Quadrant. So near but yet so far away. He had to find
them...find them both!
In the stunned silence that followed, the sound of a familiar
banjo drifted through the air.
They found the Caretaker outside, strumming nonchalantly on a
well-used banjo, just like they had first seen him.
Unfortunately, the meeting with him proved useless. He told them
that Harry and B'Elanna were no longer on the array but didn't
say where they were. He also spoke of not having enough time,
and honoring a debt could never be repaid. When Janeway pressed
for more answers, the Caretaker with a slight wave of his hand
had sent them all back to Voyager.
* * * * * *
Arriving back on the ship, Janeway debriefed the landing party,
making a computer record of everything that transpired back on
the Array. It had been decided that their best course of action
would be to follow the bursts of white energy that were being
sent from the Array to a small planet. Hopefully, the two
missing crewmen would be found there.
The Liberty followed Voyager. Being that the Maquis ship was
still having problems with its warp core, it would take some
time to reach the planet. Janeway put the crew to work, taking
advantage of the time they had before they reached their
destination.
Helping out repairing fallen struts and clearing away debris, Tom
Paris crawled into bed late that night. He was exhausted.
Normally it would have been easy to fall asleep, but ever since
he had returned earlier that day from the Array, he'd been
thinking about the locket...and of course B'Elanna... He slept
restlessly that night, and dreamed of being back on Palmat, of
when they first met, and of their short time together before he
had to leave.
The next day when Voyager arrived at the planet, Tom accompanied
the Captain, Chakotay, Tuvok, and a strange man that they had
come across en route to the planet. His name was Neelix, from a
race called Talaxians. He told them they might find their
missing friends with a people called the Ocampa.
At Neelix's suggestion they tried to barter water for information
from a race called the Kazon-Ogla. With good timing and a lot
of luck, they returned to Voyager, this time with a blonde pixy
woman called Kes. From her, they had learned that Kes' people
were Ocampa, and that they lived beneath the surface of the
planet. It was there, Kes told them, that they might locate
Harry and B'Elanna. Early tomorrow morning, they would transport
down through a crack in the crust, and Kes would help them
search.
* * * * * *
Later that evening...
"Captain?"
Janeway looked up to see Tom Paris standing in the doorway of the
Ready Room.
Taking a cautious sip from her coffee cup she motioned for him to
come in.
Seating himself across from the Captain, he ran his sweaty palms
of his hands over his pant legs. He couldn't believe how on edge
he was feeling.
Janeway blew across the surface of the coffee, before she placed
the cup on her desk. "When we put this behind us, I'll have to
get someone up here to adjust the replicator. Every time I order
coffee, it comes out as hot as a warp core." She raised her eyes
to observe her guest. Janeway noted that the cocky young man
she'd already grown accustomed to was looking very ill at ease.
"What can I do for you, Mr. Paris?"
Paris laughed nervously. "I know you are taking a landing party
down to...um...inside the planet in the morning."
"Yes, that's true."
"Captain, I'd like to request permission to join the away team."
"I've already selected the landing party. "Tuvok, Chakotay..."
"And Neelix and Kes are going to accompany you. I know," Tom
said interrupting her.
"Well then, you know that I've already assigned a significant
number of people for this mission."
Tom nodded. "That's not the point, Captain." His voice had
hardened. Janeway leaned forward in her seat. "I need to go. I
need to help find Harry and B'Elanna."
"I assure you that we'll have things under control," she assured
him.
"You don't understand, I have to go. It's for your benefit that
I'm made part of this away mission."
"I've already let you accompany me on the last two away missions,
Mr. Paris. Technically, according to regulations, an individual,
such as yourself..."
"A convict."
Janeway nodded.
Tom looked away, exasperated, before he returned to focus on
Janeway. "B'Elanna is my mate, Captain. I care about her more
than you can imagine--more than even I would ever had thought
possible. And Harry's my friend--my only friend. There is no
one else you could take with you who would go to such extremes to
find them, but me."
"But--"
"And," he continued, cutting her off, "I'm in the best physical
condition in my life. I've spent a lot of time while I was in
Auckland working out. You'd have to admit, even considering what
Kes has been able to tell you, you don't know what conditions
you'll encounter down there tomorrow." Tom leaned forward half-
way out of his seat. "I'm begging you, Captain--and I don't mind
telling you that I don't beg often. I'm begging you to let me
go, Captain."
Janeway picked up a spoon and lazily stirred her beverage,
dispersing the steam. It wasn't often one of the crew begged
her. And if someone had told her that Tom Paris would resort to
begging when she first met him in Auckland, she certainly
wouldn't have believed it. Gray eyes looked up through the
rising steam and focused on the earnest blue eyes of Tom Paris.
"Meet us in Transporter Room 2 at 0800."
* * * * * *
Entering the cabin that had been assigned to him, Tom dropped
into the nearest chair and tried to rub the tiredness out of his
face and eyes.
"Computer begin recording." He cleared his throat.
The computer beeped an acknowledgment.
"It's been a long day...seems like it must have lasted more than
twenty-four hours. Too many things have happened.
"Here we are 70,000 light-years from home, in the Delta Quadrant.
It seems so unreal. And then out of the blue, I find out that
B'Elanna is here somewhere. It's so bizarre! If I didn't have
her locket to prove it, I'd swear I was living some fantasy.
"I can't wait to see her, but I don't know what Chakotay has said
to her. What has he been telling B'Elanna about me? I can only
hope that she remembers what we had together, and what we shared
if but for a brief time. How I long to see her again, to touch
her. I even miss hearing her bitch. She has no idea how sexy
she is when she's mad. But I do. It's been so long since we've
been together, a lot longer than I had ever intended. She'll
never know how difficult it was for me to say goodbye on Palmat
that day. I wanted to hold her in my arms and never let her go.
If only I'd been able to leave her behind something more than
that locket--it seems so inconsequential. I hope we can find
her, and she's all right.
"We also have to find Harry. Damn, I'd only known him a short
while, but he seems like such a nice kid. Still green mind you,
but you can tell he's the type of person that's honest to a
fault. What the hell does he see in me? I gave him an out when
I first came on board. He'd been talking to the doctor and the
first officer. They'd been telling him about me, about my past,
about Caldik Prime. I told him that he should listen to them,
and what does he do? He tells me that he can pick his own
friends. I hope he's okay.
"B'Elanna and Harry, both missing--my mate and my only friend.
Could my luck get any better? Probably not. Oh, well I suppose
it could. If we can't get them back and Janeway can't find a
way to get us back to the Alpha Quadrant, I could be stuck being
an 'observer' for about seventy years! Or maybe she could put
me to work with that holographic doctor? That would be a barrel
of laughs! Mr. Personality to work with, a doctor who has no
idea what the words "bedside manner" mean!
"Tomorrow we'll be at the planet. I haven't prayed in a long
time, but that's all I've been doing since I found that necklace.
If someone's listening, and fate is on my side, maybe we'll find
both B'Elanna and Harry."
* * * * * *
Tom, Janeway, Chakotay, Tuvok, Neelix, and Kes beamed down
through a tiny crack in the protective barrier. Janeway,
Chakotay, and Tuvok consulted with the Ocampa leaders, about the
Caretaker and trying to find out about the pulses of energy he
was sending to the planet. Tom, Neelix, and Kes were given the
task of trying to locate Harry and B'Elanna. All the while, they
could hear and feel the pulses as they made contact with the
planet. They could also tell that they were hitting at a faster
tempo.
Kes led Tom and Neelix to an secluded area of the city where a
number of tunnels lined with staircases led to the surface. Only
a few people knew about this, and Kes being that this was how she
had reached the surface, was one of them.
Tom, tricorder in hand, scanned the area, carefully aiming the
device up each stairway. He'd almost given up when the tricorder
began to beep.
"They're up this one," he informed the others and tapped his comm
badge. "Captain, we've determined their locations."
::::Good work, Mr. Paris.::::
"I'm sending you the coordinates."
::::We'll meet you on the surface. Janeway out.::::
Tom took the stairs two at a time, and Neelix and Kes followed on
his heels trying to keep up with him.
"B'Elanna!!! Harry!!!" Tom's voice echoed through the chamber,
but it was greeted with silence.
* * * * * * *
"I imagine your husband is worried about both of you?" Harry
asked. They had paused in their climb to the surface to catch
their breath. Both were still feeling the effects from the
illness. Sitting on the steps to rest, Harry had grown tired of
the silence and tried to strike up a conversation.
B'Elanna pursed her lips before responding. The steam fairly
poured out her ears. "My *husband* doesn't know whether I'm dead
or alive," she snapped. "He doesn't even known Im' pregnant!"
"I--I'm sorry," Harry stammered. He immediately regretted his
choice of topic.
Steam having been vented, B'Elanna sighed. "Don't be. I'm the
one who should be sorry. Sorry I ever got messed up with one Tom
Paris."
"Tom P--P--Paris?" Harry questioned.
"Yeah. Why? do you know him?" She appraised him with a cold
eye.
Harry sputtered, unable to form a reply, so he opted for a shrug.
He wasn't going to be the one to tell her Paris was on Voyager.
She really might get angry.
"Oh, come on, I would have thought everyone in Starfleet had
heard of Tom Paris. The disgrace of the famous Paris family!
Harry could see she was beginning to get angry again. "Perhaps,
there was a good reason he didn't come back to you," he
suggested.
"Oh, *I* know what happened. They told me on the ship. Paris
went out on a mission and left the Maquis, who he had promised to
help, high and dry. He didn't even bother trying to look for me.
He found a bunch of space bimbos, changed his name, and headed
for parts unknown."
"And you know they're telling you the truth?"
B'Elanna nodded once. "They've been good to me--took me in when
I had nowhere to go. Why would they lie to me?"
Harry shrugged. "I don't known, but I do know things aren't
always as they seem."
The half-Klingon sighed and pulled herself up to a standing
position. "Enough talk, Starfleet. Let's get--"
"HARRY!!! B'ELANNA!!!"
B'Elanna stopped talking and breathing. It couldn't be. It
sounded just like--
"WE'RE HERE!!!" Harry called out. For safety, he retreated up
the stairs a few steps. He could see that the Maquis woman was
all but paralyzed, with one hand in a white-knuckle grip on the
handrail and with the other hand rubbing circles on her abdomen.
But he had also seen how irate she was earlier, so he wasn't
about to get in between her and his friend.
Hearing Harry's shout, Tom followed by Neelix and Kes, flew up
the last few flights of stairs to their position.
Turning on the landing below Harry and B'Elanna, Tom saw them.
Harry, looking unsteady on his feet, clung to the handrail a few
steps above B'Elanna. His mate stood still, only her hand
against her stomach moved. Her dark eyes seemed to bore a hole
through him. Tom didn't know exactly why, but something other
than the situation they were in, was terribly wrong. She looked
troubled.
Paris moved cautiously closer to her until only a few steps
separated the pair.
"B'Elanna," he whispered huskily, and held out a hand to her.
Unexpectedly, she took a step back, forcing Harry to move further
up the stairs.
"Don't you come near me," she warned him when she finally spoke.
Tom couldn't believe his ears. "B'Elanna, what are you saying?"
"I-I'm saying that I know about you. I know what you did--and
didn't do."
Neelix and Kes paused on the landing. When Kes tried to move
forward, Neelix pulled her back. The pixy looked up quizzically
at the Talaxian, who merely shook his head.
This wasn't the same B'Elanna he'd left behind on Palmat.
Something had changed, Tom thought. "B'Elanna, I told you all
about my past--even about Caldik Prime. Don't even think I'm not
glad to see you--I am. But why are you here? Why did you leave
Palmat?"
"I had no choice," she told him. "After the you left, the
Cardies targeted Palmat. They thought it was a major refuge for
the Maquis. They bombed us for weeks. So during one of the
lulls, I split. I went looking for you and found the
Liberty...only thing was, you weren't there!""
"I didn't know about Palmat, B'Elanna. If I'd known..." {Even if
I had known, what could I have done....nothing...not being in a
Federation Penal Settlement.}
"You'd have done what? Whisked into Palmat with your space girls
and rescued me?" she sneered.
::::Janeway to Paris::::
The fire still present in B'Elanna's eyes. This wasn't going to
be a subject she let drop...nor did he want her too. There was a
lot to be said and a lot to straighten out. First priority
though was to get out of here alive. When they were back on
Voyager, then there would be time to talk.
"Paris here, Captain."
::::The blasts from the array have irradiated the planet's crust,
making it impossible for Voyager to beam us out. We're heading
to the tunnels. You are going to have to find a breach or create
a breach in the security barrier when you get to the top. We
should only be a few minutes behind you.::::
"Understood, Captain, Paris out." Tom passed by B'Elanna and
pulled Harry's arm over his shoulder for support, letting Neelix
and Kes who had joined him help B'Elanna. "We'll have to talk
this over later, we have to..." A blast rocked the tunnel,
raining pieces of rock and debris down upon the four. "First we
have to get the hell out of here."
The quartet scrambled up the remaining flights of stairs, pausing
only when one of the blasts struck again. Reaching the top they
could see the sparkling evidence of a disintegrating type of
force field. Kes stepped forward.
"This is how I got out," she explained. There's a gap between
the energy field and the tunnel wall." Kes moved toward the gap,
and carefully slipped through, keeping her back to the tunnel
wall. The light created by the force field illuminated her
angelic face. "Come on," she urged. "It's the only way to the
surface, but be careful. We've been told that the light will
burn your skin off."
"And a whole lot more," Tom murmured as he stepped closer, he
could already feel the energy charge wash over his body. He
could feel goosebumps forming on his flesh.
Gingerly, the other three followed Kes, each easing through
between the force field and the tunnel wall.
On the other side of the barrier, they found that the tunnel
ended, signifying they had reached their destination.
Using their phasers, Tom and Neelix fired overhead. Rock and
dirt showered down upon them, and then the welcomed sunlight
poured through. Paris, being the tallest pulled himself up
through the tunnel opening first. Then reaching down, one by
one, he pulled up the rest. First Kes, Harry, and then B'Elanna
and lastly Neelix. B'Elanna glared at Tom when he chose to help
her by putting his arm around her waist, but she was too weak
from the illness and the climb to the surface to argue, so she
let him help her move away from the tunnel opening.
The energy blasts that were being fired from the array at the
planet to seal the energy conduits screamed over their heads
before they impacted with the surface of the planet. Twice, they
had to dive to the ground to avoid being hit. On the last hit,
Tom turned to see dust and smoke billowing out of the hole that
had recently crawled out of. He slapped his comm badge.
"Paris to Janeway, Chakotay, Tuvok! Can you hear me?"
No answer.
"I'm going back for them," he informed the rest. "Voyager, on my
mark transport everyone in my group but me."
B'Elanna gripped Neelix's shirt sleeve. "Go with him." she
whispered huskily so only the Talaxian could hear. Neelix nodded
and took a step toward the tall blue-eyed man. "You aren't going
alone. You'll need help, I'm going with you."
There was no time to argue. Paris removed the comm badge Tuvok
had given Neelix earlier and clipped it to Harry's uniform shirt.
"Voyager, make that three to beam up. Lock onto the other comm
badge and transport."
Neelix followed Tom to the opening and the pair crawled back
down. Coughing from the dust, they walked back toward the
flights of stairs. This time, they noticed that the protective
barrier was wider than before, making it much easier to pass
through.
"Captain!" he called out.
"We're here!" came the reply.
Reaching the top landing, Tom and Neelix saw the Captain and an
injured Tuvok on that same landing. Chakotay was about three
meters below them on a section of steps that had separated from
the rest of the flight of stairs and was in danger of crashing
into the void below.
"Neelix, please help me with Lt. Tuvok," Janeway asked. The
chubby little man nodded and did as bade.
"You'll have to help, Chakotay. Janeway told Paris.
Tom nodded. "I'll get him, Captain. You get to the surface and
help Neelix with Tuvok."
Janeway hesitated.
"I promise, I'll make sure he's all right."
"Very well."
Tom turned to his ex-captain. The anger and pain were reflected
in the man's dark eyes. "Hold on, I'll get you out of here," Tom
promised, stepping gingerly on one of the steps. It shifted
under his weight and almost brought his side of the flight of
stairs down.
"Get out of here, Paris!" the Maquis snarled.
"Not without you," Tom replied. He moved nearer Chakotay. With
one hand he gripped the stair rail while he outstretched the
other toward the older man.
"I don't need any help from *you*. I'll get across myself."
Tom could see he was badly hurt from the awkward position of his
left leg. "And how do you think you are going to do that with a
broken leg? Fly?"
"I told you to get the hell out of here, Paris!"
Tom reached toward Chakotay, thankful that he was tall enough to
span the gap. "Think of it this way, chief. If you don't let me
rescue you, who's going to be there to protect B'Elanna from a
lecherous person like me?"
"Have it your way, if I fall I can at least take you with me and
spare B'Elanna any more pain!" Chakotay gripped Paris' arm with
one hand and with the other he latched onto the tall man's
shoulder. Just before the next blast hit, Tom pulled his ex-
captain across the gap. Turning, he positioned Chakotay on his
back and crawled back up the stairs so they could be beamed up to
Voyager.
* * * * * *
The transporter beam deposited the two men in Sickbay. Paris
tried not to jar the older man's leg as he helped him up on one
of the biobeds.
Turning and facing the EMH, Tom noticed that Harry and B'Elanna
were already laying on two of the other beds. "Doc, I think
Chakotay has a broken leg."
The EMH turned from his task. "I'll be with him in a moment,
first I have to attend to these two."
"If you tell me where the osteo regenerator is I can take care of
it for you. I've had a little medical training on the side {Pay
attention to B'Elanna, Doc, I can handle this.}
The doctor nodded. "Second drawer down to your left."
"Easy there, Chakotay, I'll have you fixed up in a jiffy," Tom
promised. Chakotay glared. Paris retrieved the osteo regenerator
and turning it on, he expertly adjusted the frequency and began
to wave it in a steady motion over the broken limb. Looking up
from his task, he observed his mate. B'Elanna was laying quietly
on the biobed, letting the doctor examine her, but her eyes were
focused on him. From the clench of her jaw, Tom knew that she
was still very angry.
"I've given both you and Ensign Kim an antidote for the sickness
you were inflicted with. You should know it would have taken any
other doctor months to develop such a complex compound," the
Doctor bragged to B'Elanna.
"Well thank you. I am feeling much better."
The EMH beamed with pride over his accomplishment.
"You did good works, Doc," Tom offered, still maintaining a
steady wave of the regenerator.
"Thank you."
"So when can I get out of here?" the half-Klingon snapped pushing
herself up into a sitting position.
"Yeah," Harry chimed in. "I'm feeling much better, I'd like to
get out of here. I'm sure they can use me up on the bridge."
"You can go," the doctor said to the young Asian. Harry grinned
and jumped off the biobed, waving to Tom as he exited sickbay.
B'Elanna moved to join him.
"You," he pointed to the half-Klingon, "aren't going anywhere
yet. There are still a few more scans I need to run. Just to be
sure that everything is okay with you and your baby."
The osteo regenerator dropped to the floor with a clang.
"Baby?" Tom whispered, he moved closer to his mate.
B'Elanna rolled her eyes to the overhead before she focused on
the tall man. "Yeah, baby," B'Elanna concurred.
"I had no idea, B'Elanna." Tom grinned. "Why didn't you tell me
you were pregnant. It's...it's...wonderful!"
"What makes you think that it's *your* baby, flyboy?!"
Tom faced paled. He hadn't given it a thought that anyone else
could be the father but him.
"Someone else is the father?" he asked. "Who?"
B'Elanna smiled, her gaze focused on Chakotay.
"Are you saying that it's Chakotay?" he asked. Focused on
B'Elanna he failed to see the look of surprise that washed over
Chakotay's face.
"I'm not saying anything, Tom," B'Elanna replied. "Or maybe I
should call you Nick?"
"Nick?"
"Admit it, it's an alias you use," she accused.
Tom laughed. B'Elanna looked shocked by the sound. The doctor
not knowing what to say, was silent for a changel.
"Nick?" he asked. "As in Nick Locarno?"
B'Elanna nodded.
"Actually it's Nicholas Paris Locarno. He's a cousin on my
father's side... my Aunt Louise's son. Nick got one of Admiral
Picard's favorites, Wesley Crusher, into trouble once when they
were in the Academy together. No great loss though, with a name
like Wesley, that kid was bound to get into trouble. Let me
guess, Nick is running around the Alpha Quadrant with a woman on
each arm, and a scheme around every corner."
B'Elanna looked at her mate numbly.
Tom stepped forward again. Either they were going to get this
behind them, he thought, or she'd be in range to knock him into
the next dimension. One way or another, something was going to
happen before either one of them left this room.
"B'Elanna, where do you think I've been the last few months?
What have they told you?" He jerked his head in Chakotay's
direction.
"I just told her the truth, Paris."
Tom faced the older man, his eyes were cold and he spoke with
determination. "I wasn't talking to you. I was talking to my
mate. If you have something to say to me, we can *discuss* it
later."
Chakotay chose to follow the Doctor's lead and remained quiet.
Tom turned to look at B'Elanna again. "Tell me, B'Elanna. Where
did you think I was?"
"I--I don't know," she admitted. "I was told you had gone out
looking for some help for the Maquis, but that you didn't come
back. They looked for you but couldn't find you. The Maquis
told me you left them. That you took the opportunity and
abandoned them."
"Yeah, I abandoned them all right. Doctor, can you access the
ship's records and tell B'Elanna and the good captain, where I
was before I came on board Voyager a few days ago?"
"Certainly." The EMH nodded crisply and entered the required
information into the ship's computer. "According to ship's
records, it seems that Mr. Paris was serving time at the
Federation Penal Settlement in Auckland, New Zealand after having
been captured in the Selkan sector."
"And the date of that capture?" Tom asked the Doctor, his eyes
never leaving B'Elanna's face.
The doctor queried the computer, and the computer replied with a
date that coincided with the same date that Tom had left the
Maquis ship.
"You didn't leave them stranded?" B'Elanna asked.
"No. In fact I was one that let the Selkan's know that the ship
needed assistance." Tom turned back to Chakotay. "Didn't you
ever question how the Selkan's arrived to help you so quickly?
Did you really think that two Cardie ships would communicate
between each other without scrambling the signal?"
Chakotay shrugged.
"You made it look like it was a Cardie transmission?" B'Elanna
asked.
Tom looked back at his mate and nodded. "The Bradbury had
already contacted me. I didn't want them intercepting my message
and finding the Liberty. So I made it look like it was a Cardie
message that I sent to Selka. The Bradbury picked me up, I went
to trial, and was sentenced to serve time in Auckland. Not a bad
prison as prisons go, but I would have given anything to be with
you, B'Elanna." He reached up with one hand and caressed her
cheek. Instinctively, B'Elanna leaned into his touch.
"I know what you mean. I--I--I missed you too," she admitted.
His scent wafted toward her, it made her head spin. It was like
they'd never been apart.
"I'd like to go somewhere and talk when you're better, B'Elanna.
Maybe we can work this out. If Chakotay really is the father,
then it'll be hard, but I'll support..."
B'Elanna placed two fingers over his mouth. "You talk too much."
Blue eyes appraised her. "I--I'm not carrying Chakotay's child.
I'm carrying your baby. Your baby girl, in fact."
Blue eyes widened, and B'Elanna removed her fingers from his
lips. "A girl? I'm...I'm..."
"Going to be a father!" the EMH finished with a wide grin.
"Congratulations."
Tom's arms encircled his mate and drew her into a loving embrace
forgetting that he had an audience. "B'Elanna he whispered. I
think you've lost something."
"Lost?"
Reaching into pocket, he pulled out the silver locket. "I found
this on the Caretaker's array. I thought you might want it
back."
B'Elanna smiled and let her mate slip her beloved locket over her
head.
"Looks like you're missing something as well," she remarked.
Quizzically, Tom raised an eyebrow high enough to make a Vulcan
proud. B'Elanna gripped him by his neck and pulled her mate down
toward her. Quickly and decisively she bit him on the cheek.
The action surprised both the doctor and Chakotay. But they
were even more amazed when Tom returned the gesture.
"I'll get the dermal regenerator and heal both of those up in a
second," the EMH remarked.
"Don't you dare," they snarled in unison.
* * * * * *
Tom sat in the dining area of the cabin, the lights over his bed
were dim.
"Computer, begin log," he began in a soft voice. "I just can't
sleep, so much has changed in such a short period of time. Who'd
have thought I'd find all I was ever looking for here in the
Delta Quadrant? Certainly not me. I found my B'Elanna again and
a good friend. Captain Janeway has given me a field
commission...and to top all of that off, I'm going to be a dad.
"Lieutenant Tom Paris sounds pretty good--Dad would be surprised-
-but then again so am I. What's even better is that Janeway's
also made me Voyager's Chief Pilot. I'll be flying one of
Starfleet's most advanced starships. I've only sat at the helm
for a short while, but she's a quick and nimble lady. I'm told
that it is due to her bioneural circuitry. It's either that, or
maybe I've fallen in love with the ship. I'm really looking
forward to putting her through her paces.
"Then there's Harry. He's one of those true blue friends you
read about in stories. He's like Tonto is to the Lone Ranger.
Damn, I don't feel like a Lone Ranger--at least not any more. Not
since I have B'Elanna back. Maybe, Harry is more like Buster is
to Captain Proton. Yeah, that's more like it...today I feel like
some kinda hero.
"Crawling up those stairs to the surface on the planet, I wasn't
sure we'd make it. Every time one of those energy pulses hit the
planet the stairway structure shook...it shook hard. But we made
it, even if Chakotay fought me the entire way. I didn't know
that man could swear so much! It might take a while for him and
I to overcome our differences, but I hope he'll come to realize
that despite everything I respect him. Not only as a leader, but
for the fact that he took care of B'Elanna for me when I
couldn't. Seeing as how Janeway has decided to integrate both
crews on board Voyager, and since she made Chakotay her First
Officer, it should at least make life interesting.
"And last, but by no means least, there's B'Elanna."
Tom paused in his recording and looked over to the bed. B'Elanna
had fallen asleep in his arms hours ago. She now lay curled up
with the bedclothes wrapped around her. He chuckled thinking of
the hard time she'd give him when he came back to bed and tried
to untangle her.
"I still feel I should be pinching myself. I can hardly believe
we're together again. It seems like ages ago I told B'Elanna to
trust in fate--it looks like fate has played a part in my life
again. This time for the better. Tomorrow, we're going to go
see Captain Janeway and have her say our vows. Though we've
already said them privately to ourselves, but we want to make it
official. We decided on a small combination Klingon and Human
ceremony, with just senior staff in attendance. Still don't know
if Chakotay will attend, but if B'Elanna has anything to say he
will.
"B'Elanna and I won't be alone for long. In a few months--the
Doctor isn't exactly sure how long due to the fact of the
combination of Klingon and Human genes--our little girl will be
born. I talked to my little princess today. Actually I think
B'Elanna thought I was a little nuts holding a conversation with
her belly, she hasn't even begun to show that much. But I told
little Bella Anna--my pet name for her--that I would be the best
of fathers. I told her that I was bound and determined to do one
thing--spoil her rotten.
"So much has changed. Looking back on what's happened the last
twenty-four hours, I shudder to think what might have happened if
I hadn't found the locket. Would I have been so driven to find
B'Elanna and Harry? Would I have been so adamant about insisting
to Janeway that I accompany her on that away mission? I don't
know. But I do know this. This is where I belong. This is
where I'm meant to be..."
"Tom?"
"Coming, love."
"And right now I need to be with B'Elanna."
"Computer, end log."
* * * * * * *
End Chapter 6
Click here to transport to the Epilogue
~~~~Brandy wears a braided chain
~~~~Made of finest silver from the north of Spain
~~~~A locket that bears the name
~~~~Of a man that Brandy loves.
Liberty.
It had been a wild ride, in enough time it would take to close a
door, they had been pulled from the Alpha Quadrant and into the
Delta Quadrant...70,000 light-years from home. It just didn't
seem possible, yet it was. The Liberty was in shambles, and the
people that had survived were busy trying to repair the ship or
they were in the infirmary seeking medical attention.
Surveying the ship's mess hall, Chakotay looked around to see
that cylinders now occupied the area, and some of the people that
used to constitute his crew lay inside. Silently, Chakotay
passed by the cylinders and laid a hand upon each of them.
Sarma, Rick, Nella...all had paid the ultimate price. And for
what? To be whisked across the galaxy with little hope of ever
returning home?
The Liberty's captain sadly shook his dark head. Since he had
assumed command of the ship, this was the worst crisis he had to
face. Offering up a quiet prayer to whatever deity or deities
watched over this corner of space he finished his private
ceremony of mourning and remembrance. Looking up he saw Gerron
who was preparing the cylindrical coffins for deployment into
space.
"You're doing a fine job, Gerron. Your fallen crewmembers would
be proud."
"Thank you, Captain," the usually cheerful Bajoran looked
extremely sullen and finished sealing the last cylinder. "They
wouldn't blame you sir. All of them," he motioned to the
cylinders, "respected you a great deal."
Chakotay nodded, not trusting himself to speak. He almost missed
the Cardassians. At least they were a known quantity.
* * * * * *
Voyager.
"So, Mr. Paris, where do you think we can find the Maquis?"
Janeway asked. Cavit, her first officer, reluctantly stepped
back from the console so Tom could look at the screen. There was
no doubt that the first officer didn't care for the Captain's
"Observer."
Stepping closer, Tom made note of various course trajectories and
the fluctuating eddies of the turbulent plasma storms that made
up this area of space that was called "The Badlands."
"Knowing Chakotay, I'd expect him to seek refuge in the "Tarikoff
Belt," he noted and pointed to an area on the display.
"Stadi," Janeway spoke up, addressing her chief pilot, a
beautiful female Betazoid. "I'm transferring this information to
the helm controls. Set in a course."
"Aye, Captain." With ease, Stadi entered the commands into the
navigational database, while Tom Paris looked upon her with envy.
He had already fallen in love with this sleek ship, and he itched
to take the controls. Tom hoped Stadi wasn't reading his mind,
but from the twitch of her lip, he knew she had *heard* every
word.
"Captain!" Harry Kim called out from his position at Ops
interrupting Tom's thoughts. "We're being scanned by a coherent
tetryon beam. There's also a large displacement wave rapidly
approaching our location.
"Rollins, try and ..."
Janeway's command was cut short, when the ship was rocked to her
core. Sparks flew, fires broke out, and people were thrown
around Voyager like they were rag dolls.
When Voyager finally stopped shaking, Harry alarmed everyone on
the bridge with his statement that they were no longer in the
Alpha Quadrant, but were now over 70,000 light-years away in the
Delta Quadrant. Everyone that is that was still alive to hear
his words...Stadi and Cavit lay dead. On the bridge's view
screen, the remaining crew could see a large floating space
station.
* * * * * *
Everyone on Voyager and the Liberty were busy taking care of the
wounded, and mending the ships. Tom was helping Harry Kim in
Sickbay with the wounded; and B'Elanna and Chakotay were
repairing the warp engine when suddenly both crews were
transported away from the ships and to the space station.
Just as suddenly, a few days later, after they had been prodded
with needles and examined, they were returned...that is all
except for two.
* * * * * *
Waking up in a stark white environment for a second time,
B'Elanna's hand insinctively reached up to her neck to touch her
locket, hoping it would bring her comfort, like it had in the
past, but she found to her surprise that it was gone.
"Morning," Harry Kim called out. He had been sitting on the edge
of his bed waiting for the Maquis woman, laying in an identical
bed beside him to wake up.
"Morning?" B'Elanna questioned.
"Actually it's just a guess. I have no way of telling in here,"
the young Asian male replied. "How are you feeling?" Harry
noted the look of confusion that passed over the woman's exotic
features. He couldn't figure out what alien race she belonged
to, but he knew from reconnaissance that she was the Maquis
engineer on the Liberty.
B'Elanna paused briefly to consider his question. "Um...
groggy... and a bit weak, I guess." Carefully, B'Elanna swung
her legs over the edge of the bed and faced Harry.
Harry nodded, he wasn't feeling his usual robust self either.
"Not surprising, the Ocampa, they are the people who live here,"
he explained, "injected you with something to quiet you. They
thought you were going to tear this place apart--not that I blame
them."
The half-Klingon rubbed her temples. It was coming back to her
now. She remembered waking up and wanting desperately to get
out. She also recalled the panic she felt just before they
injected her, when she noticed those ugly growths on her body.
{Oh Kahless, the baby! How did all this affect my baby?}
"I'm starting to remember," she said, her right hand rubbed her
abdomen in a circular motion. Lately she could get her baby to
move if she massaged her stomach just right. B'Elanna smiled
softly when the baby responded with a strong kick. It didn't
prove that the child wasn't affected, but she took it to be a
good sign.
"The Ocampa think that your baby is okay," Harry told her. He
had noted the look of concern on her face.
B'Elanna sighed. "That's a relief, I was worried."
"Yeah, I could tell."
"But what are these things?" B'Elanna pointed to a ugly growth
that was on her forearm. It was lumpy, red, and sore to the
touch.
"They aren't saying, I'm not even sure they know. When they come
back, we can ask them. They seem very friendly."
"Okay, so where are we?" B'Elanna asked turning his attention
away from herself.
"The Caretaker sent us here, according to the medical personnel.
Far as I can make out, he is some type of godlike being that
lives on that space station."
"Yeah, I remember that space station, Where are you from? You
didn't serve on the Liberty."
No, I was on the U.S.S. Voyager."
"Voyager?"
"Yeah, we were assigned to capture the Liberty, but got pulled
into the Delta Quadrant just like you did."
B'Elanna moved warily from her bed, away from Harry Kim.
"Relax, Maquis, I don't even have a phaser on me." Harry made a
show of padding his hospital attire. "Besides, it looks like we
are in this together. It only makes sense that we should
cooperate."
B'Elanna snorted derisively .
The next instant, the door to the room swished open and a fairly
tall man and two females came in, all were dressed in white. All
of them looked human with the exception of their ears that
reminded Harry Kim of a Vulcan's ears.
"Are you well rested?" the man politely asked. Harry and
B'Elanna nodded. "Good, we brought some clothes with us. We
thought you might like to stretch your legs and get something to
eat."
"Sounds good," Harry replied. "I am a little hungry."
"Speak for yourself, Starfleet," B'Elanna snapped. "I'm eating
for two...I'm starving! And if I don't get something to eat
pretty soon, I'm bound to be nauseous." {Oh the joys of being
pregnant!}
"Very well, we have some excellent nutritional foods that should
be not only good for you, but also your baby."
"That's good to know," B'Elanna admitted. "Look, I'm sorry I was
so...um...violent earlier. It's my Klingon temper, it can be
very hard to control."
Klingon? That explains a lot," Harry thought.
"It certainly must be disconcerting to wake up in a strange
environment. We can understand that," the Ocampan male admitted.
"Before we go anywhere, we'd like to know what these things are,"
B'Elanna asked pointing once again to the growth on her arm.
"I'm sorry, I'm afraid we just don't know. We wish we did, but
we'll try our best to make you as comfortable as possible."
"What do you mean, you don't know?" Kim demanded.
The man shrugged. "All the people that are sent to us by the
Caretaker have been afflicted to one degree of another with these
terrible growths," he explained. "We have been able to determine
that the child you are carrying," he turned to face B'Elanna,
"doesn't seem to be affected." He hoped this information would
be of comfort to the woman.
"If you can't tell us what they are, then can you at least tell
us when will these things go away?" Kim asked. "When will we get
better?"
The Ocampa male folded his hands in front of him and his eyes
expressed great sadness. "I'm afraid they won't go away, and we
have yet to find a cure for your infliction. You can be asssured
that if the child is born before...before--."
"Before we die?" B'Elanna interrupted. Harry swallowed down a
lump in his throat, but tried to present a brave front.
The alien nodded. "If your child is born before you die, you can
be assured that we'll raise her as if she was one of our own.
She'll be treasured."
B'Elanna placed her hand on her stomach again. She no longer felt
very brave.
"Voyager and the Liberty will find us, Maquis," Harry assured
her. "We have very sophisticated instruments on our ship, it's
the latest technology that Starfleet has. And when they do find
us, the doctor will make us well again." He hoped he sounded
convincing--he also hoped that was saying was true.
B'Elanna hoped he was right.
* * * * * *
Waking up on Voyager, Tom found that he was back in Sickbay once
again with that holographic doctor that Harry Kim had called up
when it was discovered that both Voyager's doctor and nurse
hadn't survived the trip to the Delta Quadrant.
What had Harry call him? Tom tried to remember. Oh yeah, an
Emergency Medical Hologram--or EMH for short. Far as Tom was
concerned from what he had already witnessed, EMH stood for
Extremely Moody Hardass.
Looking around, Tom noted that Harry was not to be found.
Tapping his comm badge, he asked the computer to locate his new
friend, but was informed Harry was not on Voyager. Immediately,
he contacted Captain Janeway to inform her of the news and then,
seeing that the EMH had things well under control, he left for
the bridge. Maybe he could be of use there.
Tom Paris arrived on the bridge just as Chakotay, Tuvok, and
Ayala were beaming aboard.
As soon as they materialized, Captain Janeway personally greeted
the Vulcan, taking Chakotay by surprise. Finding out that Tuvok
had been working undercover for the Federation for several weeks,
Chakotay was shocked. But what stunned the Maquis captain even
more was when he turned and saw Tom Paris standing on the bridge
of Voyager.
"The Vulcan was doing his duty as a Starfleet officer, but what
are you doing here?" Chakotay demanded of his former pilot. "You
betrayed us for what? Freedom from prison? Latinum? What was
your price this time, Paris?"
Chakotay took a step toward Paris, but Janeway put up a hand to
stop him. "Mr. Paris is a member of my crew, I expect you to
treat him with the same respect as I would treat a member of
yours." He appraised her silently, his dark eyes, looked into
her grey ones. Starfleet had trained her well, he concluded.
She wasn't about to relinquish any ground.
"Captain."
Both Janeway and Chakotay turned to look at the Vulcan.
"I've been analyzing our situation. It is my opinion that we are
dealing with a solitary individual on the array."
"Only one person on that whole space station?" Janeway asked. It
didn't seem possible during our time away from the ship, that
there had only been one person responsible.
Tuvok nodded. "It is also my opinion, that during our time on
the array, we were being biologically examined."
"Examined?" Chakotay questioned. His attention was now diverted
from Paris.
"Why else were we returned undamaged?" Tuvok replied.
"Not all of us returned," Paris noted.
Janeway turned to Chakotay. "That's true, Ensign Harry Kim, my
ops officer didn't return."
"Neither did my engineer." Chakotay wasn't about to tell Paris
specifically that B'Elanna Torres was the one missing. He'd do
anything he could to protect her from this mercenary.
"I think we need to go back to the array, and this time under our
own terms. I want to find these missing people," Janeway
remarked. "Captain, will you accompany me?"
Chakotay cooly appraised Voyager's captain.
The only chance we have of returning home is if we work
together," she told him.
"That is a logical course of action," Tuvok agreed.
Chakotay nodded.
"Good, Tuvok break out the compression rifles, this time we are
going back armed." Chakotay and Ayala followed Janeway toward the
turbolift.
"Captain," Paris called out, "I'd like to go with you."
Janeway looked perturbed at being interrupted, but paused. "If
this has anything to do with Chakotay--."
Tom shook his head. "It doesn't, I just want to do anything I
can to help Harry."
"Very well. Tuvok, see that Mr. Paris is armed."
Tom fought back a look of surprise at the apparent trust the
Captain was placing in him and followed her.
* * * * * *
Walking back through the farm yard, like they had when they were
first beamed to the array, the four went in search of the
Caretaker.
Janeway scanned the area with her tricorder.
"I"m not getting any conclusive readings," she informed the
others. "I suppose since we are here, we should search the
farrmhouse."
The others nodded and walked up the farmhouse's wooden steps and
went inside. They checked out every room, but found the usual
accouterments--worn country furniture, a basket for the farm dog
to sleep in, and even a bowl full of fruit had been placed on the
table, but not the old man.
Exiting out the backdoor, they turned their attention to the
barn--the last place they remembered seeing the farm folk.
Janeway and Ayala took to the loft, while Chakotay and Paris
searched the main floor.
"I'll look over here," Chakotay decided pointing to his left.
Paris nodded. "I'll take this area." The pilot pointed to the
other side of the barn, as far away from Chakotay as was
possible. Making a thorough search Tom looked behind the bales
of hay.
"There doesn't seem to be anything up here," Janeway called out.
Just a lot of hay, we're coming down."
"Seems to be the same down here, Captain," Chakotay remarked. "A
lot of hay and...ACHOOO!...dust."
Janeway chuckled despite the seriousness of the situation. "Mr.
Paris, did you find anything?"
Tom looked out from behind four bales of hay that had been
stacked vertically. A few pieces of hay stuck out from behind
his ear. "Nothing, Captain..." A glint of something shiny to
his left near another bale of hay caught his eye. "Wait," he
amended reaching out. His fingers closed upon the item, but even
before he could examine it with his eyes, he knew what it was.
It was something he'd never forget.
"What did you find?" Janeway earnestly asked, she had climbed
down the ladder that had led to the loft, and was now standing
beside Tom Paris.
"A locket." Blue eyes looked up at the Captain, he still
couldn't believe that it was that he had found. What would the
odds be that the Caretaker would create a locket that looked
exactly...and then he knew...the Caretaker hadn't created this.
"Where is she?" Tom demanded, striding past Janeway and toward
Chakotay.
"She?" The Maquis captain questioned.
"*Don't* play ignorant with me, Chakotay!" Tom spat. "This," he
held up the silver locket, "belongs to B'Elanna. I should know I
gave it to her...Where is she?" he repeated.
Janeway looked from Tom to Chakotay and then back again. "What
are you talking about, Mr. Paris?"
Tom opened the locket, and the hologram of himself played for all
to see. Chakotay who had known about Tom, but had never seen the
inner workings of the locket looked dumbfounded.
"Who's this B'Elanna?" Janeway demanded, this time addressing
Chakotay.
"She's my engineer," he replied, but his gaze remained fixed on
Paris.
The thought was enough to make Tom's world spin.
"Your *missing* engineer?" Janeway asked.
Chakotay nodded. "She's the one who's missing, along with your
Ensign Kim."
"You had no right to keep this information from me!" Tom bit out,
his face hard with fury.
"I'm her captain. It's my job to protect her from *all*
threats," Chakotay told him coldly, "including you."
"Don't you think this should be B'Elanna's choice? You had no
right to interfere!"
Janeway stepped between the two irate men, placing her hands
their chests to keep them apart. "Now is not the time,
gentlemen. We have more important matters at stake. First we
have to find B'Elanna and Harry. We have to remain composed and
work as a team if we expect to find our missing people," she
added. If you to can't put differences aside, I'll call for
Voyager to beam you back to the ship. Do I make myself clear?"
Tom and Chakotay hesitated at first, their anger still ripe, and
then both nodded, knowing that she was right.
Tom forced himself to relax, if there was one thing he had
learned in that New Zealand prison was patience. The important
thing right now was that B'Elanna was here with them in the Delta
Quadrant. So near but yet so far away. He had to find
them...find them both!
In the stunned silence that followed, the sound of a familiar
banjo drifted through the air.
They found the Caretaker outside, strumming nonchalantly on a
well-used banjo, just like they had first seen him.
Unfortunately, the meeting with him proved useless. He told them
that Harry and B'Elanna were no longer on the array but didn't
say where they were. He also spoke of not having enough time,
and honoring a debt could never be repaid. When Janeway pressed
for more answers, the Caretaker with a slight wave of his hand
had sent them all back to Voyager.
* * * * * *
Arriving back on the ship, Janeway debriefed the landing party,
making a computer record of everything that transpired back on
the Array. It had been decided that their best course of action
would be to follow the bursts of white energy that were being
sent from the Array to a small planet. Hopefully, the two
missing crewmen would be found there.
The Liberty followed Voyager. Being that the Maquis ship was
still having problems with its warp core, it would take some
time to reach the planet. Janeway put the crew to work, taking
advantage of the time they had before they reached their
destination.
Helping out repairing fallen struts and clearing away debris, Tom
Paris crawled into bed late that night. He was exhausted.
Normally it would have been easy to fall asleep, but ever since
he had returned earlier that day from the Array, he'd been
thinking about the locket...and of course B'Elanna... He slept
restlessly that night, and dreamed of being back on Palmat, of
when they first met, and of their short time together before he
had to leave.
The next day when Voyager arrived at the planet, Tom accompanied
the Captain, Chakotay, Tuvok, and a strange man that they had
come across en route to the planet. His name was Neelix, from a
race called Talaxians. He told them they might find their
missing friends with a people called the Ocampa.
At Neelix's suggestion they tried to barter water for information
from a race called the Kazon-Ogla. With good timing and a lot
of luck, they returned to Voyager, this time with a blonde pixy
woman called Kes. From her, they had learned that Kes' people
were Ocampa, and that they lived beneath the surface of the
planet. It was there, Kes told them, that they might locate
Harry and B'Elanna. Early tomorrow morning, they would transport
down through a crack in the crust, and Kes would help them
search.
* * * * * *
Later that evening...
"Captain?"
Janeway looked up to see Tom Paris standing in the doorway of the
Ready Room.
Taking a cautious sip from her coffee cup she motioned for him to
come in.
Seating himself across from the Captain, he ran his sweaty palms
of his hands over his pant legs. He couldn't believe how on edge
he was feeling.
Janeway blew across the surface of the coffee, before she placed
the cup on her desk. "When we put this behind us, I'll have to
get someone up here to adjust the replicator. Every time I order
coffee, it comes out as hot as a warp core." She raised her eyes
to observe her guest. Janeway noted that the cocky young man
she'd already grown accustomed to was looking very ill at ease.
"What can I do for you, Mr. Paris?"
Paris laughed nervously. "I know you are taking a landing party
down to...um...inside the planet in the morning."
"Yes, that's true."
"Captain, I'd like to request permission to join the away team."
"I've already selected the landing party. "Tuvok, Chakotay..."
"And Neelix and Kes are going to accompany you. I know," Tom
said interrupting her.
"Well then, you know that I've already assigned a significant
number of people for this mission."
Tom nodded. "That's not the point, Captain." His voice had
hardened. Janeway leaned forward in her seat. "I need to go. I
need to help find Harry and B'Elanna."
"I assure you that we'll have things under control," she assured
him.
"You don't understand, I have to go. It's for your benefit that
I'm made part of this away mission."
"I've already let you accompany me on the last two away missions,
Mr. Paris. Technically, according to regulations, an individual,
such as yourself..."
"A convict."
Janeway nodded.
Tom looked away, exasperated, before he returned to focus on
Janeway. "B'Elanna is my mate, Captain. I care about her more
than you can imagine--more than even I would ever had thought
possible. And Harry's my friend--my only friend. There is no
one else you could take with you who would go to such extremes to
find them, but me."
"But--"
"And," he continued, cutting her off, "I'm in the best physical
condition in my life. I've spent a lot of time while I was in
Auckland working out. You'd have to admit, even considering what
Kes has been able to tell you, you don't know what conditions
you'll encounter down there tomorrow." Tom leaned forward half-
way out of his seat. "I'm begging you, Captain--and I don't mind
telling you that I don't beg often. I'm begging you to let me
go, Captain."
Janeway picked up a spoon and lazily stirred her beverage,
dispersing the steam. It wasn't often one of the crew begged
her. And if someone had told her that Tom Paris would resort to
begging when she first met him in Auckland, she certainly
wouldn't have believed it. Gray eyes looked up through the
rising steam and focused on the earnest blue eyes of Tom Paris.
"Meet us in Transporter Room 2 at 0800."
* * * * * *
Entering the cabin that had been assigned to him, Tom dropped
into the nearest chair and tried to rub the tiredness out of his
face and eyes.
"Computer begin recording." He cleared his throat.
The computer beeped an acknowledgment.
"It's been a long day...seems like it must have lasted more than
twenty-four hours. Too many things have happened.
"Here we are 70,000 light-years from home, in the Delta Quadrant.
It seems so unreal. And then out of the blue, I find out that
B'Elanna is here somewhere. It's so bizarre! If I didn't have
her locket to prove it, I'd swear I was living some fantasy.
"I can't wait to see her, but I don't know what Chakotay has said
to her. What has he been telling B'Elanna about me? I can only
hope that she remembers what we had together, and what we shared
if but for a brief time. How I long to see her again, to touch
her. I even miss hearing her bitch. She has no idea how sexy
she is when she's mad. But I do. It's been so long since we've
been together, a lot longer than I had ever intended. She'll
never know how difficult it was for me to say goodbye on Palmat
that day. I wanted to hold her in my arms and never let her go.
If only I'd been able to leave her behind something more than
that locket--it seems so inconsequential. I hope we can find
her, and she's all right.
"We also have to find Harry. Damn, I'd only known him a short
while, but he seems like such a nice kid. Still green mind you,
but you can tell he's the type of person that's honest to a
fault. What the hell does he see in me? I gave him an out when
I first came on board. He'd been talking to the doctor and the
first officer. They'd been telling him about me, about my past,
about Caldik Prime. I told him that he should listen to them,
and what does he do? He tells me that he can pick his own
friends. I hope he's okay.
"B'Elanna and Harry, both missing--my mate and my only friend.
Could my luck get any better? Probably not. Oh, well I suppose
it could. If we can't get them back and Janeway can't find a
way to get us back to the Alpha Quadrant, I could be stuck being
an 'observer' for about seventy years! Or maybe she could put
me to work with that holographic doctor? That would be a barrel
of laughs! Mr. Personality to work with, a doctor who has no
idea what the words "bedside manner" mean!
"Tomorrow we'll be at the planet. I haven't prayed in a long
time, but that's all I've been doing since I found that necklace.
If someone's listening, and fate is on my side, maybe we'll find
both B'Elanna and Harry."
* * * * * *
Tom, Janeway, Chakotay, Tuvok, Neelix, and Kes beamed down
through a tiny crack in the protective barrier. Janeway,
Chakotay, and Tuvok consulted with the Ocampa leaders, about the
Caretaker and trying to find out about the pulses of energy he
was sending to the planet. Tom, Neelix, and Kes were given the
task of trying to locate Harry and B'Elanna. All the while, they
could hear and feel the pulses as they made contact with the
planet. They could also tell that they were hitting at a faster
tempo.
Kes led Tom and Neelix to an secluded area of the city where a
number of tunnels lined with staircases led to the surface. Only
a few people knew about this, and Kes being that this was how she
had reached the surface, was one of them.
Tom, tricorder in hand, scanned the area, carefully aiming the
device up each stairway. He'd almost given up when the tricorder
began to beep.
"They're up this one," he informed the others and tapped his comm
badge. "Captain, we've determined their locations."
::::Good work, Mr. Paris.::::
"I'm sending you the coordinates."
::::We'll meet you on the surface. Janeway out.::::
Tom took the stairs two at a time, and Neelix and Kes followed on
his heels trying to keep up with him.
"B'Elanna!!! Harry!!!" Tom's voice echoed through the chamber,
but it was greeted with silence.
* * * * * * *
"I imagine your husband is worried about both of you?" Harry
asked. They had paused in their climb to the surface to catch
their breath. Both were still feeling the effects from the
illness. Sitting on the steps to rest, Harry had grown tired of
the silence and tried to strike up a conversation.
B'Elanna pursed her lips before responding. The steam fairly
poured out her ears. "My *husband* doesn't know whether I'm dead
or alive," she snapped. "He doesn't even known Im' pregnant!"
"I--I'm sorry," Harry stammered. He immediately regretted his
choice of topic.
Steam having been vented, B'Elanna sighed. "Don't be. I'm the
one who should be sorry. Sorry I ever got messed up with one Tom
Paris."
"Tom P--P--Paris?" Harry questioned.
"Yeah. Why? do you know him?" She appraised him with a cold
eye.
Harry sputtered, unable to form a reply, so he opted for a shrug.
He wasn't going to be the one to tell her Paris was on Voyager.
She really might get angry.
"Oh, come on, I would have thought everyone in Starfleet had
heard of Tom Paris. The disgrace of the famous Paris family!
Harry could see she was beginning to get angry again. "Perhaps,
there was a good reason he didn't come back to you," he
suggested.
"Oh, *I* know what happened. They told me on the ship. Paris
went out on a mission and left the Maquis, who he had promised to
help, high and dry. He didn't even bother trying to look for me.
He found a bunch of space bimbos, changed his name, and headed
for parts unknown."
"And you know they're telling you the truth?"
B'Elanna nodded once. "They've been good to me--took me in when
I had nowhere to go. Why would they lie to me?"
Harry shrugged. "I don't known, but I do know things aren't
always as they seem."
The half-Klingon sighed and pulled herself up to a standing
position. "Enough talk, Starfleet. Let's get--"
"HARRY!!! B'ELANNA!!!"
B'Elanna stopped talking and breathing. It couldn't be. It
sounded just like--
"WE'RE HERE!!!" Harry called out. For safety, he retreated up
the stairs a few steps. He could see that the Maquis woman was
all but paralyzed, with one hand in a white-knuckle grip on the
handrail and with the other hand rubbing circles on her abdomen.
But he had also seen how irate she was earlier, so he wasn't
about to get in between her and his friend.
Hearing Harry's shout, Tom followed by Neelix and Kes, flew up
the last few flights of stairs to their position.
Turning on the landing below Harry and B'Elanna, Tom saw them.
Harry, looking unsteady on his feet, clung to the handrail a few
steps above B'Elanna. His mate stood still, only her hand
against her stomach moved. Her dark eyes seemed to bore a hole
through him. Tom didn't know exactly why, but something other
than the situation they were in, was terribly wrong. She looked
troubled.
Paris moved cautiously closer to her until only a few steps
separated the pair.
"B'Elanna," he whispered huskily, and held out a hand to her.
Unexpectedly, she took a step back, forcing Harry to move further
up the stairs.
"Don't you come near me," she warned him when she finally spoke.
Tom couldn't believe his ears. "B'Elanna, what are you saying?"
"I-I'm saying that I know about you. I know what you did--and
didn't do."
Neelix and Kes paused on the landing. When Kes tried to move
forward, Neelix pulled her back. The pixy looked up quizzically
at the Talaxian, who merely shook his head.
This wasn't the same B'Elanna he'd left behind on Palmat.
Something had changed, Tom thought. "B'Elanna, I told you all
about my past--even about Caldik Prime. Don't even think I'm not
glad to see you--I am. But why are you here? Why did you leave
Palmat?"
"I had no choice," she told him. "After the you left, the
Cardies targeted Palmat. They thought it was a major refuge for
the Maquis. They bombed us for weeks. So during one of the
lulls, I split. I went looking for you and found the
Liberty...only thing was, you weren't there!""
"I didn't know about Palmat, B'Elanna. If I'd known..." {Even if
I had known, what could I have done....nothing...not being in a
Federation Penal Settlement.}
"You'd have done what? Whisked into Palmat with your space girls
and rescued me?" she sneered.
::::Janeway to Paris::::
The fire still present in B'Elanna's eyes. This wasn't going to
be a subject she let drop...nor did he want her too. There was a
lot to be said and a lot to straighten out. First priority
though was to get out of here alive. When they were back on
Voyager, then there would be time to talk.
"Paris here, Captain."
::::The blasts from the array have irradiated the planet's crust,
making it impossible for Voyager to beam us out. We're heading
to the tunnels. You are going to have to find a breach or create
a breach in the security barrier when you get to the top. We
should only be a few minutes behind you.::::
"Understood, Captain, Paris out." Tom passed by B'Elanna and
pulled Harry's arm over his shoulder for support, letting Neelix
and Kes who had joined him help B'Elanna. "We'll have to talk
this over later, we have to..." A blast rocked the tunnel,
raining pieces of rock and debris down upon the four. "First we
have to get the hell out of here."
The quartet scrambled up the remaining flights of stairs, pausing
only when one of the blasts struck again. Reaching the top they
could see the sparkling evidence of a disintegrating type of
force field. Kes stepped forward.
"This is how I got out," she explained. There's a gap between
the energy field and the tunnel wall." Kes moved toward the gap,
and carefully slipped through, keeping her back to the tunnel
wall. The light created by the force field illuminated her
angelic face. "Come on," she urged. "It's the only way to the
surface, but be careful. We've been told that the light will
burn your skin off."
"And a whole lot more," Tom murmured as he stepped closer, he
could already feel the energy charge wash over his body. He
could feel goosebumps forming on his flesh.
Gingerly, the other three followed Kes, each easing through
between the force field and the tunnel wall.
On the other side of the barrier, they found that the tunnel
ended, signifying they had reached their destination.
Using their phasers, Tom and Neelix fired overhead. Rock and
dirt showered down upon them, and then the welcomed sunlight
poured through. Paris, being the tallest pulled himself up
through the tunnel opening first. Then reaching down, one by
one, he pulled up the rest. First Kes, Harry, and then B'Elanna
and lastly Neelix. B'Elanna glared at Tom when he chose to help
her by putting his arm around her waist, but she was too weak
from the illness and the climb to the surface to argue, so she
let him help her move away from the tunnel opening.
The energy blasts that were being fired from the array at the
planet to seal the energy conduits screamed over their heads
before they impacted with the surface of the planet. Twice, they
had to dive to the ground to avoid being hit. On the last hit,
Tom turned to see dust and smoke billowing out of the hole that
had recently crawled out of. He slapped his comm badge.
"Paris to Janeway, Chakotay, Tuvok! Can you hear me?"
No answer.
"I'm going back for them," he informed the rest. "Voyager, on my
mark transport everyone in my group but me."
B'Elanna gripped Neelix's shirt sleeve. "Go with him." she
whispered huskily so only the Talaxian could hear. Neelix nodded
and took a step toward the tall blue-eyed man. "You aren't going
alone. You'll need help, I'm going with you."
There was no time to argue. Paris removed the comm badge Tuvok
had given Neelix earlier and clipped it to Harry's uniform shirt.
"Voyager, make that three to beam up. Lock onto the other comm
badge and transport."
Neelix followed Tom to the opening and the pair crawled back
down. Coughing from the dust, they walked back toward the
flights of stairs. This time, they noticed that the protective
barrier was wider than before, making it much easier to pass
through.
"Captain!" he called out.
"We're here!" came the reply.
Reaching the top landing, Tom and Neelix saw the Captain and an
injured Tuvok on that same landing. Chakotay was about three
meters below them on a section of steps that had separated from
the rest of the flight of stairs and was in danger of crashing
into the void below.
"Neelix, please help me with Lt. Tuvok," Janeway asked. The
chubby little man nodded and did as bade.
"You'll have to help, Chakotay. Janeway told Paris.
Tom nodded. "I'll get him, Captain. You get to the surface and
help Neelix with Tuvok."
Janeway hesitated.
"I promise, I'll make sure he's all right."
"Very well."
Tom turned to his ex-captain. The anger and pain were reflected
in the man's dark eyes. "Hold on, I'll get you out of here," Tom
promised, stepping gingerly on one of the steps. It shifted
under his weight and almost brought his side of the flight of
stairs down.
"Get out of here, Paris!" the Maquis snarled.
"Not without you," Tom replied. He moved nearer Chakotay. With
one hand he gripped the stair rail while he outstretched the
other toward the older man.
"I don't need any help from *you*. I'll get across myself."
Tom could see he was badly hurt from the awkward position of his
left leg. "And how do you think you are going to do that with a
broken leg? Fly?"
"I told you to get the hell out of here, Paris!"
Tom reached toward Chakotay, thankful that he was tall enough to
span the gap. "Think of it this way, chief. If you don't let me
rescue you, who's going to be there to protect B'Elanna from a
lecherous person like me?"
"Have it your way, if I fall I can at least take you with me and
spare B'Elanna any more pain!" Chakotay gripped Paris' arm with
one hand and with the other he latched onto the tall man's
shoulder. Just before the next blast hit, Tom pulled his ex-
captain across the gap. Turning, he positioned Chakotay on his
back and crawled back up the stairs so they could be beamed up to
Voyager.
* * * * * *
The transporter beam deposited the two men in Sickbay. Paris
tried not to jar the older man's leg as he helped him up on one
of the biobeds.
Turning and facing the EMH, Tom noticed that Harry and B'Elanna
were already laying on two of the other beds. "Doc, I think
Chakotay has a broken leg."
The EMH turned from his task. "I'll be with him in a moment,
first I have to attend to these two."
"If you tell me where the osteo regenerator is I can take care of
it for you. I've had a little medical training on the side {Pay
attention to B'Elanna, Doc, I can handle this.}
The doctor nodded. "Second drawer down to your left."
"Easy there, Chakotay, I'll have you fixed up in a jiffy," Tom
promised. Chakotay glared. Paris retrieved the osteo regenerator
and turning it on, he expertly adjusted the frequency and began
to wave it in a steady motion over the broken limb. Looking up
from his task, he observed his mate. B'Elanna was laying quietly
on the biobed, letting the doctor examine her, but her eyes were
focused on him. From the clench of her jaw, Tom knew that she
was still very angry.
"I've given both you and Ensign Kim an antidote for the sickness
you were inflicted with. You should know it would have taken any
other doctor months to develop such a complex compound," the
Doctor bragged to B'Elanna.
"Well thank you. I am feeling much better."
The EMH beamed with pride over his accomplishment.
"You did good works, Doc," Tom offered, still maintaining a
steady wave of the regenerator.
"Thank you."
"So when can I get out of here?" the half-Klingon snapped pushing
herself up into a sitting position.
"Yeah," Harry chimed in. "I'm feeling much better, I'd like to
get out of here. I'm sure they can use me up on the bridge."
"You can go," the doctor said to the young Asian. Harry grinned
and jumped off the biobed, waving to Tom as he exited sickbay.
B'Elanna moved to join him.
"You," he pointed to the half-Klingon, "aren't going anywhere
yet. There are still a few more scans I need to run. Just to be
sure that everything is okay with you and your baby."
The osteo regenerator dropped to the floor with a clang.
"Baby?" Tom whispered, he moved closer to his mate.
B'Elanna rolled her eyes to the overhead before she focused on
the tall man. "Yeah, baby," B'Elanna concurred.
"I had no idea, B'Elanna." Tom grinned. "Why didn't you tell me
you were pregnant. It's...it's...wonderful!"
"What makes you think that it's *your* baby, flyboy?!"
Tom faced paled. He hadn't given it a thought that anyone else
could be the father but him.
"Someone else is the father?" he asked. "Who?"
B'Elanna smiled, her gaze focused on Chakotay.
"Are you saying that it's Chakotay?" he asked. Focused on
B'Elanna he failed to see the look of surprise that washed over
Chakotay's face.
"I'm not saying anything, Tom," B'Elanna replied. "Or maybe I
should call you Nick?"
"Nick?"
"Admit it, it's an alias you use," she accused.
Tom laughed. B'Elanna looked shocked by the sound. The doctor
not knowing what to say, was silent for a changel.
"Nick?" he asked. "As in Nick Locarno?"
B'Elanna nodded.
"Actually it's Nicholas Paris Locarno. He's a cousin on my
father's side... my Aunt Louise's son. Nick got one of Admiral
Picard's favorites, Wesley Crusher, into trouble once when they
were in the Academy together. No great loss though, with a name
like Wesley, that kid was bound to get into trouble. Let me
guess, Nick is running around the Alpha Quadrant with a woman on
each arm, and a scheme around every corner."
B'Elanna looked at her mate numbly.
Tom stepped forward again. Either they were going to get this
behind them, he thought, or she'd be in range to knock him into
the next dimension. One way or another, something was going to
happen before either one of them left this room.
"B'Elanna, where do you think I've been the last few months?
What have they told you?" He jerked his head in Chakotay's
direction.
"I just told her the truth, Paris."
Tom faced the older man, his eyes were cold and he spoke with
determination. "I wasn't talking to you. I was talking to my
mate. If you have something to say to me, we can *discuss* it
later."
Chakotay chose to follow the Doctor's lead and remained quiet.
Tom turned to look at B'Elanna again. "Tell me, B'Elanna. Where
did you think I was?"
"I--I don't know," she admitted. "I was told you had gone out
looking for some help for the Maquis, but that you didn't come
back. They looked for you but couldn't find you. The Maquis
told me you left them. That you took the opportunity and
abandoned them."
"Yeah, I abandoned them all right. Doctor, can you access the
ship's records and tell B'Elanna and the good captain, where I
was before I came on board Voyager a few days ago?"
"Certainly." The EMH nodded crisply and entered the required
information into the ship's computer. "According to ship's
records, it seems that Mr. Paris was serving time at the
Federation Penal Settlement in Auckland, New Zealand after having
been captured in the Selkan sector."
"And the date of that capture?" Tom asked the Doctor, his eyes
never leaving B'Elanna's face.
The doctor queried the computer, and the computer replied with a
date that coincided with the same date that Tom had left the
Maquis ship.
"You didn't leave them stranded?" B'Elanna asked.
"No. In fact I was one that let the Selkan's know that the ship
needed assistance." Tom turned back to Chakotay. "Didn't you
ever question how the Selkan's arrived to help you so quickly?
Did you really think that two Cardie ships would communicate
between each other without scrambling the signal?"
Chakotay shrugged.
"You made it look like it was a Cardie transmission?" B'Elanna
asked.
Tom looked back at his mate and nodded. "The Bradbury had
already contacted me. I didn't want them intercepting my message
and finding the Liberty. So I made it look like it was a Cardie
message that I sent to Selka. The Bradbury picked me up, I went
to trial, and was sentenced to serve time in Auckland. Not a bad
prison as prisons go, but I would have given anything to be with
you, B'Elanna." He reached up with one hand and caressed her
cheek. Instinctively, B'Elanna leaned into his touch.
"I know what you mean. I--I--I missed you too," she admitted.
His scent wafted toward her, it made her head spin. It was like
they'd never been apart.
"I'd like to go somewhere and talk when you're better, B'Elanna.
Maybe we can work this out. If Chakotay really is the father,
then it'll be hard, but I'll support..."
B'Elanna placed two fingers over his mouth. "You talk too much."
Blue eyes appraised her. "I--I'm not carrying Chakotay's child.
I'm carrying your baby. Your baby girl, in fact."
Blue eyes widened, and B'Elanna removed her fingers from his
lips. "A girl? I'm...I'm..."
"Going to be a father!" the EMH finished with a wide grin.
"Congratulations."
Tom's arms encircled his mate and drew her into a loving embrace
forgetting that he had an audience. "B'Elanna he whispered. I
think you've lost something."
"Lost?"
Reaching into pocket, he pulled out the silver locket. "I found
this on the Caretaker's array. I thought you might want it
back."
B'Elanna smiled and let her mate slip her beloved locket over her
head.
"Looks like you're missing something as well," she remarked.
Quizzically, Tom raised an eyebrow high enough to make a Vulcan
proud. B'Elanna gripped him by his neck and pulled her mate down
toward her. Quickly and decisively she bit him on the cheek.
The action surprised both the doctor and Chakotay. But they
were even more amazed when Tom returned the gesture.
"I'll get the dermal regenerator and heal both of those up in a
second," the EMH remarked.
"Don't you dare," they snarled in unison.
* * * * * *
Tom sat in the dining area of the cabin, the lights over his bed
were dim.
"Computer, begin log," he began in a soft voice. "I just can't
sleep, so much has changed in such a short period of time. Who'd
have thought I'd find all I was ever looking for here in the
Delta Quadrant? Certainly not me. I found my B'Elanna again and
a good friend. Captain Janeway has given me a field
commission...and to top all of that off, I'm going to be a dad.
"Lieutenant Tom Paris sounds pretty good--Dad would be surprised-
-but then again so am I. What's even better is that Janeway's
also made me Voyager's Chief Pilot. I'll be flying one of
Starfleet's most advanced starships. I've only sat at the helm
for a short while, but she's a quick and nimble lady. I'm told
that it is due to her bioneural circuitry. It's either that, or
maybe I've fallen in love with the ship. I'm really looking
forward to putting her through her paces.
"Then there's Harry. He's one of those true blue friends you
read about in stories. He's like Tonto is to the Lone Ranger.
Damn, I don't feel like a Lone Ranger--at least not any more. Not
since I have B'Elanna back. Maybe, Harry is more like Buster is
to Captain Proton. Yeah, that's more like it...today I feel like
some kinda hero.
"Crawling up those stairs to the surface on the planet, I wasn't
sure we'd make it. Every time one of those energy pulses hit the
planet the stairway structure shook...it shook hard. But we made
it, even if Chakotay fought me the entire way. I didn't know
that man could swear so much! It might take a while for him and
I to overcome our differences, but I hope he'll come to realize
that despite everything I respect him. Not only as a leader, but
for the fact that he took care of B'Elanna for me when I
couldn't. Seeing as how Janeway has decided to integrate both
crews on board Voyager, and since she made Chakotay her First
Officer, it should at least make life interesting.
"And last, but by no means least, there's B'Elanna."
Tom paused in his recording and looked over to the bed. B'Elanna
had fallen asleep in his arms hours ago. She now lay curled up
with the bedclothes wrapped around her. He chuckled thinking of
the hard time she'd give him when he came back to bed and tried
to untangle her.
"I still feel I should be pinching myself. I can hardly believe
we're together again. It seems like ages ago I told B'Elanna to
trust in fate--it looks like fate has played a part in my life
again. This time for the better. Tomorrow, we're going to go
see Captain Janeway and have her say our vows. Though we've
already said them privately to ourselves, but we want to make it
official. We decided on a small combination Klingon and Human
ceremony, with just senior staff in attendance. Still don't know
if Chakotay will attend, but if B'Elanna has anything to say he
will.
"B'Elanna and I won't be alone for long. In a few months--the
Doctor isn't exactly sure how long due to the fact of the
combination of Klingon and Human genes--our little girl will be
born. I talked to my little princess today. Actually I think
B'Elanna thought I was a little nuts holding a conversation with
her belly, she hasn't even begun to show that much. But I told
little Bella Anna--my pet name for her--that I would be the best
of fathers. I told her that I was bound and determined to do one
thing--spoil her rotten.
"So much has changed. Looking back on what's happened the last
twenty-four hours, I shudder to think what might have happened if
I hadn't found the locket. Would I have been so driven to find
B'Elanna and Harry? Would I have been so adamant about insisting
to Janeway that I accompany her on that away mission? I don't
know. But I do know this. This is where I belong. This is
where I'm meant to be..."
"Tom?"
"Coming, love."
"And right now I need to be with B'Elanna."
"Computer, end log."
* * * * * * *
End Chapter 6
Click here to transport to the Epilogue