Chameleon

By Sirap

Part Four: Promised Wish

Neither of them moved for a moment, then Tom swore and jumped up leaving the useless phaser on the cold ground. He could feel the thing's piercing eyes burning into him as he ran. Retreating to the trees he picked up a huge branch and held it like a baseball bat. He knew it would cause little damage but wasn't about to die without a fight. Charging back into the clearing he swung the branch at one of the creature's furry legs. It was like hitting a stone wall. The Whyley beast never flinched. Tom threw the stick to the ground and avoided another swing of the creatures tail, grimacing at the pain in his shoulder. Picking up a fairly large rock, he launched it at the overgrown rat. The rock slammed straight into its left eye. Before Tom could even congratulate himself at his aim the beast let out a growl fiercer than all the others. It was a blood-curdling scream. A mix of pain and madness. A chill ran down Tom's spine as he watched the creature charge at him.

Tom's mind scrambled for an out. He had no more weapons and running would be a useless endeavor, the thing's legs alone were twice his height. Bending down to pick up another rock, he felt electricity shriek above him. A green phaser blast flew over his, mere inches away, and hit the creature square in the chest. Tom twirled around to see Alex. She was pale and trembling, the phaser was clutched in her hand, hanging limply at her side. She fell to her knees and Tom started towards her stumbling briefly when the ground beneath him shook. He turned slightly towards the beast. It was on its back, its eyes staring unseeing at Tom. He felt a pang of guilt at the death of the creature, he had only been fighting on instincts, Malesint was the true villain. However he turned his attention away from the three tons of monster behind him in favor of a more pressing matter. Alex.

"Are you alright?" Tom asked soothingly.

She nodded, almost imperceptibly. "Your shoulder," she croaked. Her eyes widening upon seeing the huge claw marks.

"I'm fine," he assured.

"Yes, you are," a now familiar voice purred. "Congratulations."

Tom and Alex both looked up as Malesint entered the clearing, the jungle's green slowly began to fade, disappearing completely as Malesint reached them. Another barren white room left in its place. Another simulation.

"Now, for your wish? What is it you'd like?"

"To.go.home." Alex said between coughing fits.

"Ah, but to which home?" Malesint asked slyly. "Do you want me to send you to the Alpha Quadrant or do you wish to return to Voyager?"

Tom and Alex shared a long look, communicating without words.

"Voyager." They said simultaneously.

In an instant they were back in Alex's quarters on Voyager. Brought by the mysterious green light. Alex collapsed unconscious into Tom's arms. Tom grabbed her jacket off the floor, where Alex had left it days ago and hit the combadge.

"Emergency Medical Transport."

* * * *

Kes's round blue eyes widened as the two missing crewman materialized at her feet.

"Doctor!" she cried. Quickly getting into action, she helped Tom lift Alex onto one of the biobeds.

The Doctor rushed over to them. "What's happened?" he questioned, scanning Alex with a tricorder.

"Alex's implant is malfunctioning, you need to remove it." Tom cried urgently.

The Doctor nodded, remembering discovering the mysterious device during one of the Ensign's physicals. The Doctor got to work and Kes pried Tom away from Alex's bedside so she could heal his shoulder.

* * * *

"Doctor to Janeway."

"Janeway here."

"Our missing crewman have returned, Captain," he announced. "They are with me in sickbay."

"Their status?" Janeway asked, nervously.

"Both will recover."

Janeway smiled, "I'll be right down. Janeway out."

A flash of light hit Janeways ready room and she was knocked to the floor. Raising her head she saw an unfamiliar alien woman blocking her way out.

"You aren't going anywhere yet, Captain. I have much I want to tell you. All the secrets that have been haunting your ship."

"Who are you?" Janeway demanded.

"My name's Malesint."

"You took my crew," Janeway growled.

"They were intriguing, I wished to test them. You should be grateful."

Pulling herself to her feet, Janeway glowered at the woman before her. "Why would I be grateful?" she snapped.

"As I said, I was testing them, Captain. I thought you might want to see the results."

"I want nothing to do with you."

"Are you sure? Don't you want to know all there is to know about your crew? All their secrets? Tom and Alex have many secrets." Janeway just glared at her. "They scored higher on my tests than anyone else ever has. And they actually lived to be able to tell about it."

"Humans are resilient," Janeway said angrily.

The woman laughed, "Oh, it wasn't because they were human that they did so well. None of the rest of your crew could have passed all my tests, Captain, yourself included." Setting down a small data chip, Malesint smiled and disappeared.

Janeway sighed with relief before turning her attention to the small, orange chip. After staring at it for a long moment, Janeway decided to have a look. Picking it up, she placed it in her console and braced herself.





to be continued.

All of your questions should be answered in the next part. I'm pretty sure it will be the conclusion but it might end up having another part. I'll get to work on it as soon as I can!

Sorry about leaving you on another cliff.