Chapter Two
The door chimes sounded not five minutes after Harry had settled into some black sweats and a dark blue muscle tee and sat down to read. With a heavy sigh he stood up.
"Tom, if you and B'Ellana have had another fight, I'm not being the messenger ag-" The door slid open to reveal Lisse and Harry cut off in mid-sentence. "Uh, hello." He said. "Can I help you?"
"I wanted to see what your room was like." Lisse said and bounced up and down on her toes. "Can I come in? Please?"
"Okay…" Harry stood back and watched Lisse fairly bounce into the room, clad in gray pants and a red top she had gotten from the replicator. "You're welcome to look around."
Lisse was already poking around the room, examining pictures and fingering little oddities Harry had strewn around his room.
"Is this your family?" She asked, peering at a picture of Kim and a group of dark-haired men and woman.
"Yeah, that was a family reunion back on Earth." Harry said, crossing the room to stand by her. Lisse gazed at it a moment more and then moved on.
"Your bedroom?" she called, as she turned the knob to a far door.
"Yes, please don't…" Harry trailed off as Lisse opened the door and strode inside. "Go in there." He sighed.
When he entered his bedroom, he found her staring at a little stuffed teddy bear lying on the chair beside his bed. Harry rubbed the back of his head nervously as Lisse looked at him.
"You're got a teddy bear? How sweet!" she cooed, scooping it up and cradling it to her chest. She leapt on the bed and bounced on it for few minutes, and then sat down. "I used to have a stuffed gorilla I named Moritz," she said almost dreamily, hugging the bear. "He's back on the Horizon."
"My parents gave me that when I was three." Harry said, looking more embarrassed by the second. "I brought it along to remind me of them…"
"I think it's adorable." Lisse announced, setting the bear down. "Sit with me."
Harry hesitantly perched on the edge of his bed. Lisse arched an eyebrow.
"Sit with me, you dork." She called, grabbing his arm and dragging him fully onto the bed. "I wanna talk."
"What about?" Harry asked, astonished.
"Anything! I'm so lonely! I was stranded in that ship for three months, or have you forgotten? I'm not about to be cooped up in another room with nothing to do after finally getting free!" Lisse said indignantly.
"Free?" Harry questioned. "From the ship?"
"From EVERYTHING! You have no idea how horrible it was to be stuck on that stupid colony ship. Boring, and of course everyone knows exactly what you're up to through that damn link." She made a face, and Harry suddenly straightened. "I'm eighteen, going on nineteen, and you'd think I could be allowed just a little bit of freed-"
"What do you mean, 'link'?" Harry interrupted, and she looked at him blankly.
"The link. Don't you have a link with the rest of your crew?" She asked him curiously. Harry shook his head. "You don't?" she yelped. "So that means you can do whatever you want and nobody can tell you not to?"
"Well, not exactly." Harry said. "We have rules and codes of conduct and all that. But tell me about your link." He leaned in closer. "Is it like the Borg link?"
"Borg?" Lisse wrinkled her brow and frowned. "Who are the Borg?"
"Not who, what." Harry corrected, standing up abruptly and pacing around his bedroom. "How could you have never heard of the Borg? How could you have a link?" He whirled on the bemused girl. "Is your link telepathic, or empathetic, or something else?" he pressed.
"It's just… there." She said, baffled. "I can tell what each person on board is doing. It's like I'm doing it, too." Harry frowned.
"This is crazy." He murmured. "Starfleet has never discovered a race of beings who can do something like that."
"We're not a race!" Lisse exclaimed indignantly. "We're human beings!"
"A link between people… red eyes… how exactly did you end up in the Delta quadrant again?" Harry pressed, dark eyes narrowed in thought.
"We were a colony ship! We look for suitable worlds to habituate." Lisse explained, rolling her eyes.
"Why didn't you ever colonize a world? Didn't you ever find one? There are plenty of suitable worlds out here." Harry said, pacing around his bed like a caged animal. "And why didn't anyone come looking for you? The worlds your people came from were destroyed in an inter-species war, but Starfleet still recovered documents and copies, and none of them ever mentioned the Horizon." Lisse shifted in her spot on the bed and bit her lip. "What are your people really doing out here, Lisse?" Harry turned and towered over her petite form as the young girl inched away from him.
"I don't know," she said, nearly in tears. "The Horizon staff is always silent. They never answer me when I ask why we abandon world after world where we could finally settle down. And I've checked the records, Harry! There's nothing wrong with those worlds. They just tell the colonists that the worlds are 'unsuitable' for colonization and move on." Lisse clutched the bear to her chest and tried to hold back tears. "They told me I was wrong, that I was stupid, and I shouldn't mess with adult affairs. Then they go back to their quarters and don't come back until we discover a new planet that promises to hold life."
"Something is definitely wrong with-" Harry was abruptly cut off as the entire ship trembled beneath his feet.
~
"I don't see why you're so upset, B'Ellana." Tom said reasonably as he followed his enraged girlfriend along the corridor. Voyager shuddered as another hit wracked the ship's shields, and the flashing red lights of BattleStations lit the hallway with an eerie red glow.
"You wouldn't see, would you, Tom?" B'Ellana snapped back. Inside, she wondered why she was so defensive. Why did it shock her so much that Tom had proposed? She loved him with all her heart, but something in her rebelled against linking herself to him in such a permanent – and human – way.
"No, I don't see, B'Ellana, and to be honest, I'm getting fed up. I thought I meant more to you than this." Tom stopped and gripped her shoulders tightly. "Do you love me, B'Ellana?" he asked, voice serious.
"Yes." B'Ellana murmured, eyes softening.
"Then why won't you marry me?" Paris asked, relief coursing through his veins.
"I-" B'Ellana opened her mouth to speak, but another great heave of Voyager sent her tumbling against Tom and the corridor wall. The Lieutenant caught her easily and gave her a short kiss after he had straightened up.
"We'll talk later," he promised, then slipped away and fairly ran down the hallway towards the bridge. B'Ellana shook her head and headed for the Warp Core.
~
"Dammit, I knew something like this would come along." Commander Chakotay pulled on his official Starfleet uniform's overcoat and looked mutinous.
"Cheer up, Chakotay." Captain Janeway said, fastening the back of her coat expeditiously and giving him a small wink and a grin. "It's not like we never enter the Bridge together. No one will suspect a thing."
"Murphy's Law likes to make an example out of those too confident, Catherine." He muttered. "We'd better watch our step."
"Oh, hush up, Commander." Janeway smiled and kissed him briefly. "You worry too much."
~
"Where the hell is the Captain and the Commander?" Tom prowled the Bridge restlessly, the bulkheads beneath his passing fingers trembling with the weight of the attack. "Why aren't they here yet?"
"Patience, Lieutenant." Tuvok nodded at him to sit down from his station's position. "They will be here in due time."
"Good afternoon, people, let's see what's bothering us, shall we?" Janeway strode into the bridge with an air of calm superiority, and Tom visibly relaxed.
"It's about time." He breathed. "Now where's Kim?"
"Right here." The ensign entered the Bridge almost directly after Janeway, trailed by the black-haired teenager they had rescued earlier. Behind them was Commander Chakotay. "I had to get dressed."
Tom eyed Lisse and Harry speculatively, and Harry's mouth dropped.
"I was in – I mean – I didn't have my uniform – My clothes – " Harry stuttered, and Tom laughed delightedly.
"Sure, Harry. Just get to your post." Tom said, grinning, and Harry spared him a fulminating glance as he crossed the bridge to his station. Lisse followed him. To Tom's surprise, she caught his eye and winked conspiratorially. Tom winked back, and returned to his view screen.
"Tom, give me a status report." Captain Janeway sat down in her chair, crossing her legs and radiating an air of authority. Tom nodded.
"On screen, please." He asked, and a large ship filled Voyager's screen. Janeway sucked in a small breath.
"That's impossible," she breathed. "That thing must mass over three times a Borg cube's size!"
"That's the Horizon!" Lisse yelled. "Contact the captain!"
Janeway gave her a look. "Not now," she said. "We'll respond if hailed."
"Um, we are being hailed, Captain." Ensign Kim said, and Janeway blinked.
"Well then. On screen." The massive ship blinked out of existence and was replaced by a less than pleasant and undeniably angry face.
"This is the colony ship New Horizon," the man grated. "You are sheltering an escaped prisoner. Return her, or suffer the consequences."
~
A/N g Thanks for the compliments, guys! Thank you especially to sandersonkristin, who helped me out with the German. As for Kat89, I'd love to do a fic for you, but my time is sort of pressed, (I have so many ongoing fics it's becoming hard to keep up with them) But if I have any extra time I'll type a short one up for you, 'kay? Ciao!