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CHAPTER 3


"It was scary, Kathryn. I counted some 20 Klingon warriors, all dead."

"And it was Harry who did that? That is unbelievable."

"You should have seen his eyes, they were cold, empty, like marbles. I felt like I was staring at a corpse."

"Do you know what caused this, Chakotay?"

"No, but I intend to find out; whatever it is, it has to be something momentous that caused Kim's transformation and something like that won't stay secret here."

"Very well, let me know what you find out. Anything we can do to help him, we've got to do."

As Chakotay left the captain's ready room, she felt concern for Harry. Ever since he had come aboard, she had regarded him as family and she had taken on the role of surrogate mother. She wanted to help him but first she needed to know what the problem was. Sighing, she went back to reading reports.


For the next 3 months, live on Voyager didn't change much. There were no hostile encounters, no space anomalies and no Q. The only difference was the relationship between Kim, Paris and Torres. Ever since the events on Holodeck One, Harry had been avoiding the other two even though they had tried to speak to him repeatedly. The crew had noticed that Kim only spoke to them on ship related matters and then only with a minimum of words. Even when they were off duty, he would address them by rank if they met but never spend time with them. He performed his duties and that was that. All his free time was spent either in his quarters, or on one of the Holodecks, going through heavy excersises. Torres and Paris had been looking withdrawn ever since, while Torres had lapsed back into her slapshot angry face, nearly tearing off anybody's head for the smallest mistake.

Paris had even stopped chasing after the women. The crew knew it was serious but nobody knew what it was all about. Nobody dared talking to B'Elanna for fear of ending up in sickbay while talking to Kim could have the same consequences since his Holodeck excersises were the sort that broke Starfleet Marines and Tom Paris would not let anyone in. Kes had tried but he had muttered something about not being able to breach a trust and had left for his quarters. During the end of this 3 month period, they were about to enter a sector of space with no planets or other places where to get supplies. The only place in the sector they were about to exit where they could get supplies, was a planet with a late 20th century industry.

"Scans of the planet show that we could get both food supplies and other materials needed for our systems there. I have discovered large deposits of dilithium crystals in both polar caps while the mountains on the northern continent have large quantities of tritanium and duranium ore among other metals. We could reconfigure the transporters to extract the materials in their rawest form and set up a processing unit in Cargo bay 4. As for the food supplies,….."

"May I remind you captain, that the prime directive forbids any contact with any Pre-warp civilization at all cost. It would therefore be unwise to contact these people."

"Logged and noted, Tuvok, but that doesn't help us in our food situation. Had we obtained these starcharts earlier, we could have prepared for this. Now we seem to not have a choice."

"Captain, why don't we just send someone down there, disguised as a local to buy the needed supplies? It would solve a lot of problems."

"The Comdr. is right, captain. The doctor could surgically alter one of us to resemble a member of the local population. That way, we could blend in and get the supplies without any undue attention."

"Ensign, what do you propose we use as method of payment? It is not like they would accept the goods we have since they are alien, so bartering is out of the question."


Harry thought for a moment and answered, " Captain, part of their industry is mining. It was one of the first places I checked to see what is was they were mining and if we could use it. They are extracting gold and diamonds from the soil. Not in the greatest quantities, so it is valuable. I can check to see if there is a diamond and gold merchant district like there used to be in the city of Amsterdam on 20th century Earth. If that is the case, all we need to do is replicate diamonds or gold, sell it to one of these merchants and have enough of the local currency to buy supplies. We could rent a warehouse by the waterfront, put everything there and beam it up at night. Nobody would notice."


The captain pondered this suggestion a bit. She looked up at Chakotay who nodded imperceptibly and the to Tuvok who indicated his satisfaction over this plan.


"A most unorthodox but satisfactory plan, ensign. However, for it to succeed, we must study their business practices carefully, so as not to become entangled in legal problems."

"Very well, people, that settles it. Tuvok, you and Harry work on it. I want this over in less than a week. Now, something else."


As the captain said this, she picked up a lacquered wooden box, rounded the table and stood before Harry. She opened it and offered him ….. a cigar!

"Eh, Captain, what is this?"

"That, mr. Kim, is called a cigar. It is made up of tobacco leaves. They are hazardous to one's health, that is why no one on earth uses them anymore except some people for ceremonies. These are still made by a small company called Monte Christo."

"Ceremonies, captain?"


Janeway smiled as she handed everyone a cigar and said,

"Some people still hand these out when they have become fathers but in Starfleet there are a number of officers who still honor a centuries old tradition. This box was a gift from your father, Mr. Paris, when I got my first command."

With these words, she stood to attention and said,

"Congratulations, Lt. Kim."

Harry was thunderstruck. Whatever he had expected, it wasn't this. All of a sudden, all senior officers including Kes, Neelix and the doctor where around him, congratulating him. All except Torres and Paris who looked sadly towards him. How B'Elanna longed to go over and feel him wrap his arms around her, whispering in her ear. She knew however, that that would not happen again. She was happy for him and she rejoiced every time she saw him but it was not enough and she cursed herself for her stupidity every day. Tom stood there looking lost, seeing his once best friend laughing with the others but the moment their eyes met, Harry's eyes turned stonecold.


"Face it, Paris, you're a class A jerk. I can't blame him for this; had I been in his place, I would not have handled it this well."



5 Days later. They had been able to beam up large quantities of much needed raw materials in sufficient quantities as to last them for a long time. Harry had gone down to the planet in disguise and contacted one of the biggest diamond firms. He had managed to input their database with false information about the fictitious mining company he represented so that they would not get suspicious and managed to sell a large number of high grade diamonds made by the replicators for a good price. Afterwards, he had contacted several suppliers and had gotten good deals on several foodstuffs. As it turned out, he could give a Ferengi a run for his Latinum in negotiations. All the supplies were brought to a waterfront warehouse for storage and would be transported by Voyager at night. It was his last night on the planet and he decided he would explore the nightlife a little. After a few hours, he sat down in a Cafe. A band was playing a beautiful Jazz-like number and he tried to mentally note the tune so that he could write it down and play it later. Suddenly, he gaze was drawn to the entrance and he felt a chill run down his spine. Something was wrong, the man who had entered looked around furtively as if looking for something. All of a sudden, shots were fired. The man at the entrance had pulled out some type of gun and fired it in the air. Several others, jumped up, all carrying the same type of weapons and started to herd the panicking patrons together. A man who tried to make a grab for one of the men's gun, was shot and the one by the door shot 3 more people.

"That is just a warning to you people, anybody who tries to be a hero, pays for it with his life and the 3 people next to him. Now, all of you start moving outside into the waiting truck. MOVE IT!"

They all got into the vehicle, while the people on the street scurried out of the way and in the distance sirens could be heard. By the time the security forces arrived at the Cafe, the terrorists were gone.

Harry could not believe what had happened. What should have been a undercover supplyrun had turned into some kind of hostage situation. They had taken everything the hostages had, even his commbadge. Now Voyager would not be able to find him quickly. The apparent leader had told them that they were pawns to be used in getting the government to step down so that they could implement a strict religious regime. If the government refused, one of the hostages would die for each day the of refusal.