Comparisons - Part Two
By T'Pam
For disclaimer, codes and rating, please see part 1.
~^~
Kathryn opened the front door of her house and cautiously
stepped inside, only to be practically bowled over by an
enthusiastic red setter. "Hello, baby," she said softly
kneeling down and patting the dog's head. Placing her cheek
against the dog's soft hair she asked. "How's my girl?"
"Your girl's fine," a voice called from the kitchen. "I'm not
sure about these potatoes though."
Kathryn stood up and hurried over to the doorway. "Mark,"
she smiled. "What are you doing here?"
"I thought I'd cook us some dinner, or should I make that
supper?"
"Whatever you want to call it is fine by me. I'm starving.
You should have called me. I would have come home earlier."
"No, you had things to do. I didn't want to disturb you.
And don't worry, everything's taken care of here. I'll keep
an eye on the house and the dog while you're gone."
"Thanks, honey. I don't know what I'd do without you." A
wet nose nudged her hand and she knelt back down on the floor
again. "Oh, sweetie," she said patting the dog gently. "You
really haven't been yourself lately, have you?" She looked
up at Mark. "Actually, I'm a little worried about her. I
was thinking about taking her to the clinic."
Mark knelt down on the floor as well and studied the dog
closely. "What do you think's wrong?"
"I'm not sure, but I hope she's going to have some puppies."
"Hey, that would be great," Mark said with a smile.
Kathryn nodded. "I can't wait."
"I'll take her to the clinic for you, if she doesn't pick
up."
Kathryn hugged him tightly. "I'm going to miss you," she
said softly.
"Me, too," he answered before standing up and going back into
the kitchen. "Now sit down and I'll serve up."
Despite claiming she was starving, Kathryn toyed with the
food in front of her.
"You're worried about Tuvok, aren't you?" Mark finally said.
Kathryn looked up with a start. "Yes, I am."
"Try not to worry. I'm sure he's fine. Vulcans are terribly
resilient you know."
Kathryn nodded. "It's not just that. I just found out
tonight that I've got a new chief helmsman. It's only
temporary - thank God - just this mission, but it rather
unsettled me."
"Oh?" Mark waited for her to continue.
"It's Owen's son... Tom," she finally said.
"The brat packer?" Kathryn smiled and nodded. "I see. How
did that happen?" He could still remember how angry and
disappointed she had been after finally meeting her mentor's
son.
Kathryn sighed. "It seems he's not doing anything at the
moment and wanted to fly the new intrepid class ship. Owen
set it up for him. Admiral Radissan said it was my call,
whether he came along or not, but how could I say no? He's
one of the best pilots in Starfleet and the badlands are
going to be tricky."
"Well, it might be a good thing he'll be on board then."
"I intend to make it quite clear to him right from the start
that it's no joyride. He's going to regret very quickly
pulling all the strings he must have pulled."
Mark laughed at her fierce expression. "I think I feel sorry
for him."
"Save your pity for someone that deserves it."
"Is he really that bad? After all, you only met him once,
and Kathleen Paris did say that he wasn't normally so rude.
He'd had a bad night. You told me that yourself."
"Admiral Radissan seems to think that he's a fine young man."
"Well there you go then. He's a pretty good judge of
character."
"Yes, well so am I."
Mark snorted and shook his head. "What about poor Tuvok?
You detested him when you first met him."
Kathryn had the grace to blush. "What I thought about him
was all true. It's just that I've learned to appreciate it.
I look at him in a different context now."
"Well, then what about me. You never liked *me* much when we
were kids."
Kathryn opened her mouth to deny the accusation, but then
closed it again. "That's different. You've changed."
"Maybe Tom Paris has too. After all, he's been on the
Enterprise for the past few years. Anything's possible." He
sighed as she frowned. "All I'm saying is, give him a
chance, Kat. You just never know."
******
"Welcome aboard, Lieutenant Paris." Kathryn inwardly winced.
Her voice sounded cold and flat, even to her own ears. Tom's
smile seemed to freeze as he regarded her.
"Thank you, Captain," he finally answered. An awkward
silence followed.
Kathryn cleared her throat. "Well, have you had your tour of
the ship?" She tried to put a little more warmth in her
voice.
"Yes, Captain. It's very... um... nice."
Nice? It was a beautiful ship. You'd think he could be a
little more enthusiastic than that! "I'm sure it's not on
the same grand scale as the new Enterprise E will be, but
she'll do me," she bit out crisply.
"I'm sure she will, Captain."
Kathryn looked at him sharply. There had been no inflection
in his voice whatsoever, but it still sounded like an insult.
"Let's get something straight, right from the start, shall
we, Lieutenant? This is *my* ship. And as long as you are
aboard it, you are *my* crewman. Your father has no
jurisdiction here at all. Is that understood?"
Tom turned bright red, whether it was with anger or
embarrassment, she wasn't sure. "Yes, Captain," was all he
said however.
"The attitude stays off this ship," she continued. "Is that
also understood?"
Tom's face showed his confusion. He truly looked like he
didn't know what she was talking about. "Understood," he
answered mechanically.
"Good. Now since you wanted to fly this ship so badly you'd
better get out there and do it. We'll be leaving shortly.'
She walked around her desk and headed for the doors leading
onto the bridge. She turned around when she realized that
Tom was not following her. He was still standing in the
middle of the room. "Lieutenant?"
Tom turned around to face her. "Permission to speak freely,
Captain?"
Kathryn steeled herself. "Go ahead."
"I get the impression you're not too happy to have me here.
Well, I can assure you the feeling's mutual."
"Really? Perhaps you should have thought about that before
going to so much trouble. After all, you must have known
you'd have me as your Captain."
Tom looked at her in astonishment. "You think I got my Dad
to pull a few strings so that I could go on some sort of
joyride in a new ship,' he guessed.
Kathryn nodded. "Your skills will certainly come in
handy..."
"You're wrong," Tom interrupted. "My father decided that
this was a good career move for me. I knew nothing about it
until I got home last night."
"I see," Kathryn said slowly. She regarded him steadily for
a few moments, wondering if he was telling the truth. He
might have decided that he didn't want this assignment after
all, now that he realized she wouldn't put up with any
nonsense. "So now what? You want me to release you from the
assignment?"
Tom looked shocked at the suggestion. "No, Captain. Of
course not. Unless, of course, you don't think you can work
with me. I'm sorry that you seem to dislike me so much."
Kathryn shook her head. "I'm professional enough to put
personal feelings aside, Lieutenant. Well, I suppose we're
stuck with each other for the next few weeks. As long as you
follow my orders we shouldn't have a problem." She turned
around once more to make her way to the bridge.
"Yes, Ma'am," Tom answered following her. The tone was the
same as he'd used before. And once again Kathryn felt he'd
just insulted her. She felt herself bristling as she led him
onto the bridge. She tried to analyze just what it was about
his tone of voice that upset her so much and then it hit her.
There was no respect or admiration in the tone. She was used
to her crew speaking to her with both.
She introduced him to her first officer Lieutenant Commander
Cavit and let him take over. As she sat in her chair and
watched Cavit practically fawn all over Tom she had to grit
her teeth. She didn't give a fig whether Lieutenant Thomas
Eugene Paris liked her or not, but the disrespect *did* bother
her, especially since she had done nothing to deserve it.
******
Tom poked his head around the infirmary door as a pretty
Bajoran nurse looked up and smiled. "Yes, Lieutenant? Can I
help you?"
Tom flashed her his most charming smile. "Actually, I'm
looking for Dr. Bashir. Is he around anywhere?"
"He's just seeing a patient. If you'd like to wait, he
shouldn't be too long."
Tom sat on the chair she indicated and preceded to flirt with
the nurse while he waited. By the time Julian had come out
of the small examining room and entered the main room, she
was giggling like a schoolgirl. He frowned at her before
looking over at his next patient.
A huge smile lit his face. "Tom! What are you doing here?"
He raced over and engulfed him in a brotherly hug. "Don't
tell me you've been assigned here?"
Tom shook his head. "I wish. I just thought that while I'm
here I'd look you up. Long time - no see, and all that."
"It has been a while, hasn't it?" Julian said with a smile.
"Over three years?"
Tom nodded. "My graduation party to be exact." The two had
met eight years before while still at the academy. Even
though Julian had been a senior at the time and on his way to
medical school and Tom had been a first year freshman they'd
hit it off immediately. They'd remained firm friends and
kept in touch ever since.
"So what are you doing here? The last I heard from you, I
thought you were twiddling your thumbs waiting for the
Enterprise E to be built. Why didn't you tell me you were
coming? I'd have baked a cake or something."
Tom laughed. "Actually I didn't know I *was* coming. I'm on
a temporary assignment." He moved Julian over towards the
examining room, out of earshot of the nurse. "We're going to
the badlands to round up some Maquis."
Julian whistled. "Always gotta get in on the action, don't
you, Tommy?"
"Hey, this wasn't my idea. Dear old Dad volunteered me."
His voice rose a little in his indignation. "Will Riker had
it all lined up for me to go to Australia to test the new
shuttle craft. Instead I'm stuck on this stupid assignment;
doing something I don't even think we should be doing, to in
Dad's words 'help my career'. What a load of garbage."
"I'm sorry, Tom. Did you tell your father how much the
Australia thing meant to you?"
"Since when does he ever listen to me anyway? And that's not
even the worst of it. My new Captain hates my guts. Not
that that really bothers me, considering who it is. One of
Dad's little protégés, crawling along behind him, molded in
his image. But it will make the next few weeks kind of
difficult."
"Surely not. No one could hate you once they get to know
you, that is when you're not whining and complaining."
Tom laughed good-naturedly at the dig, and punched Julian
lightly on the arm. "Okay, I get the message. No more
complaints from me. I've got three hours before I have to
report back to the iron maiden's torture chamber. Let's make
the most of it."
Julian laughed. "That sounds like a good idea. Iron maiden's
torture chamber? This new ship sounds like a lot of fun."
"Actually, the ships beautiful. You should see it. New
intrepid-class. Sleek, classic lines. Even the name's
exciting. Voyager. Pity about the Captain. She spoils the
whole image."
"Voyager?" Julian paled a little and suddenly looked back at
the examination room.
"Yeah. You heard of it?"
"I think so." Julian suddenly grabbed Tom's arm. "Let's go.
There's this really great bar on the promenade I want to show
you. It's called Quarks." He was practically dragging Tom
from the infirmary. "You'll love it."
Tom pulled his arm free laughing. "Since when have I ever
needed to be dragged into a bar? Dragged out maybe."
"I trust you'll ensure you're not inebriated when you report
back for duty, Lieutenant."
Tom's stomach lurched at the familiar voice. "C-C-Captain,"
he stuttered turning around. Captain Janeway stood in the
examining room's doorway. He swallowed at the look on her
face.
"I assume I can now leave, Doctor?" she asked Julian icily.
"O-Of course," Julian stuttered as well. "M-My nurse will
contact you if there are any problems."
"Thank you," she said frostily. She then turned to Tom.
"I'll see *you* back on the torture chamber." It sounded
like a threat. With that she marched off and Tom sank into
one of the chairs.
"Phew!!!!" Julian gasped, leaning against the doorway for
support. "I don't envy you, Tommy. I don't envy you at
all."
"Why didn't you warn me?" Tom moaned. "Why didn't you stop
me?"
"I forgot she was in there. Besides, I didn't know it was
her you were talking about until you mentioned Voyager. By
then it was too late."
Tom moaned again. "Julian, do me a favor. Cut my tongue out
now. That way I can give it to her when I return to the
ship."
Julian shook his head and started to laugh. Soon he was
holding his sides. "I'm sorry, Tom," he managed to gasp out
as Tom scowled darkly at him. "But the look of horror on
your face. It was priceless." As soon as he had himself
under control he reached out and pulled Tom to his feet.
"Come on. We really do need to go to Quarks now. You need a
drink."
Tom snorted. "I need more than one."
******
Kathryn marched around her ready room, too angry to
concentrate. She was still as angry as she had been two
hours ago. Picking up a data padd from her desk, she scanned
it quickly. There was so much to do before they set off, and
she felt that everything was in chaos. Her terminal beeped
at that moment. Incoming communication from Earth, she was
told.
Soon, Mark's smiling face was beaming at her. "I won't hold
you up. I know you're busy. I just wanted to wish you luck."
"Oh, Mark! Am I glad to see you," she said enthusiastically.
"You sound a little upset. How's everything going?"
"We've picked up the rest of the crew and they seem to be
settling in. We'll be leaving in a couple of hours."
"So, what's wrong?"
Kathryn sighed. "It's Tom Paris. He's insufferable. I
don't think I'll be able to work with him after all."
"Oh? What's happened?"
"I overheard a rather awful conversation while I was in the
Deep Space Nine infirmary. I'd just had my yearly checkup
and was getting dressed in the examining room, and he was
standing right outside it talking to the Doctor. Apparently
they're old friends."
"Why did you go to the infirmary on Deep Space Nine? You've
got a brand new, state-of-the-art, sickbay on the ship."
"I know. I'd just rather use it only when I have to. I
don't feel comfortable with the Doctor. It's hard to
explain. Only now, I wish I had."
"You'd better tell me what he said."
******
Tom watched out of the corner of his eye as the Ferengi
barkeeper made short work of the naive young Ensign sitting
at the bar. He had enough troubles of his own at the moment.
He wasn't going to involve himself in some one else's.
"Maybe we better rescue him," Julian said suddenly. "Quark
will take him for everything he's got otherwise."
Tom sighed. "I suppose so."
"They're not for sale," the Ferengi shouted jerking the tray
of supposed 'Lobi crystals' from the young man's hands.
"Now," he sniffed. "Inform your commanding officer that the
Federation Council can expect an official query from..."
"Quark!" Julian said quickly heading over.
"Keep out of this, Doctor," the barkeeper hissed, giving him
a belligerent stare.
The young Ensign was desperate. "How much for the entire
tray?"
"Cash or credit?"
This was too much for Tom who strolled casually over to
comment in a loud voice, "Dazzling, aren't they? As bright
as Koladan diamonds."
Quark gave him a dirty look.
******
Kathryn kissed her fingers and then touched the screen in
front of her, smiling in a goodbye gesture to Mark. As soon
as the connection was broken she picked up another padd to
read. She felt much better now.
Mark had made her see the funny side of the situation. The
look of absolute terror on Tom's face had been a sight. She
was sure she could use that to her advantage. She doubted he
would step out of line again. He'd probably be on his best
behavior from now on.
The chime to her outside door sounded. "Come in," she
called.
She recognized the young man when he entered from the crew
manifest she'd gone over earlier. Ensign Harry Kim. Her
new Operations officer. "Welcome aboard Voyager, Mr. Kim,"
she said with a smile.
"Thank you, Sir," he said breathlessly, standing stiffly at
attention.
"Mr. Kim," she said with a twinkle in her eye. The poor kid
looked terrified. "At ease before you sprain something.'
He attempted to relax a little, but he didn't really look
much different. "Mr. Kim," she continued. "Despite
Starfleet protocol, I don't like being addressed as 'Sir'."
Harry flushed with embarrassment. "I'm sorry... Ma'am?"
"Ma'am is acceptable in a crunch, but I prefer, 'Captain'."
He nodded his head and she gestured to the door on the other
side of the ready room. "We're getting ready to leave. I'll
show you to the bridge."
As they entered, she noticed her first officer standing down
by Tom at the helm. They looked up at their entrance. She
noticed Tom was grinning at the Ensign standing beside her.
She frowned a little. 'Don't tell me they know each other as
well.' Introducing Harry to Lieutenant Commander Cavit, she
then directed him to the operations console.
"This is your station. Would you like to take over?"
"Yes, Ma'am," he answered eagerly, a huge smile on his face.
"It's not crunch time yet, Mr. Kim," she said waving him into
his seat. "I'll let you know when."
******
Kathryn watched sourly as one after another of the crew
gravitated toward the table where Tom Paris and Harry Kim were
eating their lunch. She had her own private dining room, of
course, but liked to eat in the mess hall to get to know the
crew better.
Everybody seemed to want to ask Tom about the Enterprise.
She turned away with disgust as whatever story Tom was
regaling caused everyone to erupt into loud laughter. Cavit,
who was sitting with her, turned around at the noise.
"Lieutenant Paris certainly seems popular," he remarked.
"I think that has more to do with where he last served than
anything to do with his personality."
"Yes, that's probably true," Cavit answered quickly. "That's
very astute of you, Captain."
"Oh? I thought you liked him, Commander?"
"Well, I suppose so. He seems agreeable enough."
"Not to me he isn't."
"Well, no, I can see why you'd have problems with him.
There's something not quite right there. I've noticed it
myself."
"Have you," Janeway said flatly. She found it difficult to
keep the dislike from her features. Her first officer was a
crawler. A yes man. He would agree with whatever she said,
and it became more than a little irritating after a while.
She had already seen him with Tom on several occasions, and it
was obvious to her that he was trying to get Tom to put in a
good word for him with Owen. If only he knew. From the
little bit she'd gathered over the past few days, Tom had no
influence whatsoever with his father.
She snorted. Let the little worm make a fool of himself.
Cavit's eyebrows rose. "Is something wrong, Captain?"
"No. I was just thinking about something," she answered.
She stood up quickly. "I've still got some reports to read
before we reach the badlands. I'll be in my ready room."
Cavit stood up as well. "Of course, Captain."
As Kathryn left the mess hall she turned around to see the
first officer already making his way over to the group around
Paris and Kim. She snorted again.
******
"Brace for impact!" Janeway ordered, as the ship was picked
up and hurled away.
Tom fought for control, knowing it was useless, but trying
anyway. He was surrounded in darkness and then all of a
sudden the ship seemed to burst into light. A light so
bright that he could feel it burning into his chest and face.
Putting up his hands for protection, he saw a flash of red at
his side and felt something covering him.
The momentum sent him hurtling from his seat and onto the
floor; whatever it was still covering him. It felt heavy and
Tom found it hard to breathe. His chest and face still
burned, the pain becoming agonizing. He would have screamed
if he'd had the breath to do it.
The noise of tearing metal surrounded him and it flashed
through his mind that the ship was being torn apart. The
weight covering him was so heavy, he couldn't make a sound.
A horrible stench filled his nostrils and he realized it was
the smell of burning flesh. As the darkness came up to greet
him, he sank into it gratefully.
******
"Report!"
"Hull breach, Deck Fourteen." Harry Kim checked his console
as quickly as he could. He still felt a little woozy. He
must have hit his head on something. "Comm lines to
engineering are down. Trying to reestablish." He hoped he
sounded calm and businesslike.
"Repair crews, seal off hull breach on deck fourteen,"
Janeway rapped out before kneeling beside the two bodies
lying next to the burnt out helm console. Gently rolling
Cavit away from Tom, she checked him for a pulse.
Harry could see that the man was dead, from where he stood.
One whole side of Cavit's face was scorched, and his eyes were
dull and lifeless. Harry's heart thudded in his chest as the
Captain bent over Tom. He couldn't see how bad his new
friend was. Her body blocked his view.
"Casualty reports coming in," a voice called from somewhere.
"Sickbay is not responding."
Janeway looked up. "There's a faint pulse," she said to no
one in particular. "Bridge to sickbay," she called out.
"Doctor, can you hear me?" She gestured to two crewmen.
"Take him down to sickbay. See what's going on."
As the two men carried Tom away, Harry ventured to ask.
"Captain? How bad is he?"
"Bad," she answered crisply.
Harry busied himself at his console once again. "Captain?"
he called out suddenly. "Something's out there."
"I need a better description than that, Mr. Kim."
"I don't know," Harry blurted out, embarrassed to be unable
to tell her. "I'm reading... I'm not sure *what* I'm
reading."
"Can you get the viewscreen operational?"
"I'm trying."
Finally managing to clear up the static, the structure that
his sensors had picked up came into view. He gazed in
wonder, still not sure what it was he was looking at. The
giant array on the viewscreen looked menacing. Seeming as if
it was tethered to one of the pylons of the array was the
Maquis ship that they'd set out to find.
Harry concentrated on his readouts once again and what he
read made his stomach lurch and drop to his toes.
He shook his head in wonder. "Captain, if these sensors are
working, we're over seventy thousand light-years from where
we were." He looked at her numbly. "We're on the other side
of the galaxy!"
******
Kathryn sighed with relief as she realized that the very real
possibility of a warp core breach had been averted. She
looked around engineering dejectedly. The chief engineer was
dead, along with six other crewmembers from engineering. Her
first officer and transporter chief were also dead, along
with many other crewmembers from all over the ship.
She rubbed her hands over her face and sighed in frustration.
Ensign Michaels, whom she'd sent to sickbay, had reported
that both the doctor and nurse were dead as well.
Straightening her shoulders, she contacted sickbay. "Janeway
to sickbay. Please report."
"Ensign Michaels here, Captain. Most of the crew has now
been treated. There are only a few minor injuries left. The
Emergency Medical Hologram has handled everything."
"Well that's good news." She steeled herself to ask the next
question. She didn't know how she'd explain to Owen, his
son's death. The thought that they may not be able to return
to explain anything to anyone never crossed her mind. "How's
Lieutenant Paris?"
Ensign Michaels hesitated. "I'm not sure, Captain. The
hologram put him in a stasis chamber. He doesn't look good."
"I see," Kathryn answered, her heart sinking. "Thank you.
I'll be down there in a minute."
Lieutenant Carey seemed to have everything under control in
engineering now, so she decided to go down and see if she
could find out a little more about Tom.
Her commbadge beeped before she could make it out the door.
"Bridge to Janeway." It was Rollins and his voice sounded
panicked. "We're being scanned by the array, Captain. It's
penetrated our shields."
"What kind of scan?" she asked as a strange noise came from
her commbadge. "Bridge? Janeway to bridge. Respond!"
All around her people started disappearing as they were
caught in some sort of transporter beam. "Initiate emergency
lock off," she started to order, just as the transporter beam
engulfed her as well.
******
Sickbay was a hive of activity as the EMH program diagnosed,
treated and quickly dispersed the incoming patients. "You're
not seriously hurt," he said to the ensign lying on the
biobed. "You can return to your station."
The young woman nodded and attempted to sit up. Suddenly a
transporter beam surrounded her and she was beamed out of
sickbay. All around the EMH the sound of the transporter
could be heard. He looked around in surprise.
"This is the emergency holographic doctor speaking. I gave
no permission for anyone to be transported out of sickbay."
He waited expectantly. "Hello? Sickbay to bridge." When
there was still no answer he sighed in frustration. "I
believe someone has failed to terminate my program. Please
respond." He sighed once more.
Sudden concern had him hurrying over to the stasis chamber.
It, too, was empty. "Well, really!" he spluttered. "This
patient was in no condition to be moved. This is most
inconsiderate. I would like to make an official notation
that this course of action is against my express
recommendations."
The EMH slowly paced up and down the sickbay. "Please
respond! Somebody! Anybody!" Silence followed. "Computer,
are there any life signs aboard this vessel?"
'Negative.'
"I see." Irritation flashed across his face. "Couldn't
somebody have shut off my program before they left?"
'Unable to respond. Please restate the query.'
"Unable to comply," the EMH returned sharply. Looking
around, he sighed once more. Not knowing how long it would
be until some one *did* come along to turn him off, he
decided to clean up.
******
Kathryn moaned as she rolled over. Standing up slowly she
looked around. She was in engineering again. Everyone
seemed to be lying around in roughly the same places they
were before they were snatched away. Within a few moments
they were all getting to their feet.
Slapping at her commbadge she tried to smile reassuringly at
everyone. "Janeway to bridge. Anybody there?"
"Yes, Captain," Rollins answered.
"How long were we over there?"
"Three days," came the reply.
"Three days?" she repeated.
"Captain, the Maquis ship is powering up its engines,"
Rollins reported.
'Tractor them," she ordered as she headed for the turbolift.
"All senior officers report to the bridge immediately."
Kathryn was halfway to the bridge when Rollins voice came
through her commbadge once again. "Captain, we have a
problem. Ensign Kim is missing."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes, Captain. Every one else on the bridge was returned to
their station except Mr. Kim. The computer says he's not on
board."
Damn it!!! "Acknowledged." She sighed deeply. "Computer,
how many crewmen are unaccounted for?"
'Two. Lieutenant Thomas Paris and Ensign Harry Kim.'
End Part Two
By T'Pam
For disclaimer, codes and rating, please see part 1.
~^~
Kathryn opened the front door of her house and cautiously
stepped inside, only to be practically bowled over by an
enthusiastic red setter. "Hello, baby," she said softly
kneeling down and patting the dog's head. Placing her cheek
against the dog's soft hair she asked. "How's my girl?"
"Your girl's fine," a voice called from the kitchen. "I'm not
sure about these potatoes though."
Kathryn stood up and hurried over to the doorway. "Mark,"
she smiled. "What are you doing here?"
"I thought I'd cook us some dinner, or should I make that
supper?"
"Whatever you want to call it is fine by me. I'm starving.
You should have called me. I would have come home earlier."
"No, you had things to do. I didn't want to disturb you.
And don't worry, everything's taken care of here. I'll keep
an eye on the house and the dog while you're gone."
"Thanks, honey. I don't know what I'd do without you." A
wet nose nudged her hand and she knelt back down on the floor
again. "Oh, sweetie," she said patting the dog gently. "You
really haven't been yourself lately, have you?" She looked
up at Mark. "Actually, I'm a little worried about her. I
was thinking about taking her to the clinic."
Mark knelt down on the floor as well and studied the dog
closely. "What do you think's wrong?"
"I'm not sure, but I hope she's going to have some puppies."
"Hey, that would be great," Mark said with a smile.
Kathryn nodded. "I can't wait."
"I'll take her to the clinic for you, if she doesn't pick
up."
Kathryn hugged him tightly. "I'm going to miss you," she
said softly.
"Me, too," he answered before standing up and going back into
the kitchen. "Now sit down and I'll serve up."
Despite claiming she was starving, Kathryn toyed with the
food in front of her.
"You're worried about Tuvok, aren't you?" Mark finally said.
Kathryn looked up with a start. "Yes, I am."
"Try not to worry. I'm sure he's fine. Vulcans are terribly
resilient you know."
Kathryn nodded. "It's not just that. I just found out
tonight that I've got a new chief helmsman. It's only
temporary - thank God - just this mission, but it rather
unsettled me."
"Oh?" Mark waited for her to continue.
"It's Owen's son... Tom," she finally said.
"The brat packer?" Kathryn smiled and nodded. "I see. How
did that happen?" He could still remember how angry and
disappointed she had been after finally meeting her mentor's
son.
Kathryn sighed. "It seems he's not doing anything at the
moment and wanted to fly the new intrepid class ship. Owen
set it up for him. Admiral Radissan said it was my call,
whether he came along or not, but how could I say no? He's
one of the best pilots in Starfleet and the badlands are
going to be tricky."
"Well, it might be a good thing he'll be on board then."
"I intend to make it quite clear to him right from the start
that it's no joyride. He's going to regret very quickly
pulling all the strings he must have pulled."
Mark laughed at her fierce expression. "I think I feel sorry
for him."
"Save your pity for someone that deserves it."
"Is he really that bad? After all, you only met him once,
and Kathleen Paris did say that he wasn't normally so rude.
He'd had a bad night. You told me that yourself."
"Admiral Radissan seems to think that he's a fine young man."
"Well there you go then. He's a pretty good judge of
character."
"Yes, well so am I."
Mark snorted and shook his head. "What about poor Tuvok?
You detested him when you first met him."
Kathryn had the grace to blush. "What I thought about him
was all true. It's just that I've learned to appreciate it.
I look at him in a different context now."
"Well, then what about me. You never liked *me* much when we
were kids."
Kathryn opened her mouth to deny the accusation, but then
closed it again. "That's different. You've changed."
"Maybe Tom Paris has too. After all, he's been on the
Enterprise for the past few years. Anything's possible." He
sighed as she frowned. "All I'm saying is, give him a
chance, Kat. You just never know."
******
"Welcome aboard, Lieutenant Paris." Kathryn inwardly winced.
Her voice sounded cold and flat, even to her own ears. Tom's
smile seemed to freeze as he regarded her.
"Thank you, Captain," he finally answered. An awkward
silence followed.
Kathryn cleared her throat. "Well, have you had your tour of
the ship?" She tried to put a little more warmth in her
voice.
"Yes, Captain. It's very... um... nice."
Nice? It was a beautiful ship. You'd think he could be a
little more enthusiastic than that! "I'm sure it's not on
the same grand scale as the new Enterprise E will be, but
she'll do me," she bit out crisply.
"I'm sure she will, Captain."
Kathryn looked at him sharply. There had been no inflection
in his voice whatsoever, but it still sounded like an insult.
"Let's get something straight, right from the start, shall
we, Lieutenant? This is *my* ship. And as long as you are
aboard it, you are *my* crewman. Your father has no
jurisdiction here at all. Is that understood?"
Tom turned bright red, whether it was with anger or
embarrassment, she wasn't sure. "Yes, Captain," was all he
said however.
"The attitude stays off this ship," she continued. "Is that
also understood?"
Tom's face showed his confusion. He truly looked like he
didn't know what she was talking about. "Understood," he
answered mechanically.
"Good. Now since you wanted to fly this ship so badly you'd
better get out there and do it. We'll be leaving shortly.'
She walked around her desk and headed for the doors leading
onto the bridge. She turned around when she realized that
Tom was not following her. He was still standing in the
middle of the room. "Lieutenant?"
Tom turned around to face her. "Permission to speak freely,
Captain?"
Kathryn steeled herself. "Go ahead."
"I get the impression you're not too happy to have me here.
Well, I can assure you the feeling's mutual."
"Really? Perhaps you should have thought about that before
going to so much trouble. After all, you must have known
you'd have me as your Captain."
Tom looked at her in astonishment. "You think I got my Dad
to pull a few strings so that I could go on some sort of
joyride in a new ship,' he guessed.
Kathryn nodded. "Your skills will certainly come in
handy..."
"You're wrong," Tom interrupted. "My father decided that
this was a good career move for me. I knew nothing about it
until I got home last night."
"I see," Kathryn said slowly. She regarded him steadily for
a few moments, wondering if he was telling the truth. He
might have decided that he didn't want this assignment after
all, now that he realized she wouldn't put up with any
nonsense. "So now what? You want me to release you from the
assignment?"
Tom looked shocked at the suggestion. "No, Captain. Of
course not. Unless, of course, you don't think you can work
with me. I'm sorry that you seem to dislike me so much."
Kathryn shook her head. "I'm professional enough to put
personal feelings aside, Lieutenant. Well, I suppose we're
stuck with each other for the next few weeks. As long as you
follow my orders we shouldn't have a problem." She turned
around once more to make her way to the bridge.
"Yes, Ma'am," Tom answered following her. The tone was the
same as he'd used before. And once again Kathryn felt he'd
just insulted her. She felt herself bristling as she led him
onto the bridge. She tried to analyze just what it was about
his tone of voice that upset her so much and then it hit her.
There was no respect or admiration in the tone. She was used
to her crew speaking to her with both.
She introduced him to her first officer Lieutenant Commander
Cavit and let him take over. As she sat in her chair and
watched Cavit practically fawn all over Tom she had to grit
her teeth. She didn't give a fig whether Lieutenant Thomas
Eugene Paris liked her or not, but the disrespect *did* bother
her, especially since she had done nothing to deserve it.
******
Tom poked his head around the infirmary door as a pretty
Bajoran nurse looked up and smiled. "Yes, Lieutenant? Can I
help you?"
Tom flashed her his most charming smile. "Actually, I'm
looking for Dr. Bashir. Is he around anywhere?"
"He's just seeing a patient. If you'd like to wait, he
shouldn't be too long."
Tom sat on the chair she indicated and preceded to flirt with
the nurse while he waited. By the time Julian had come out
of the small examining room and entered the main room, she
was giggling like a schoolgirl. He frowned at her before
looking over at his next patient.
A huge smile lit his face. "Tom! What are you doing here?"
He raced over and engulfed him in a brotherly hug. "Don't
tell me you've been assigned here?"
Tom shook his head. "I wish. I just thought that while I'm
here I'd look you up. Long time - no see, and all that."
"It has been a while, hasn't it?" Julian said with a smile.
"Over three years?"
Tom nodded. "My graduation party to be exact." The two had
met eight years before while still at the academy. Even
though Julian had been a senior at the time and on his way to
medical school and Tom had been a first year freshman they'd
hit it off immediately. They'd remained firm friends and
kept in touch ever since.
"So what are you doing here? The last I heard from you, I
thought you were twiddling your thumbs waiting for the
Enterprise E to be built. Why didn't you tell me you were
coming? I'd have baked a cake or something."
Tom laughed. "Actually I didn't know I *was* coming. I'm on
a temporary assignment." He moved Julian over towards the
examining room, out of earshot of the nurse. "We're going to
the badlands to round up some Maquis."
Julian whistled. "Always gotta get in on the action, don't
you, Tommy?"
"Hey, this wasn't my idea. Dear old Dad volunteered me."
His voice rose a little in his indignation. "Will Riker had
it all lined up for me to go to Australia to test the new
shuttle craft. Instead I'm stuck on this stupid assignment;
doing something I don't even think we should be doing, to in
Dad's words 'help my career'. What a load of garbage."
"I'm sorry, Tom. Did you tell your father how much the
Australia thing meant to you?"
"Since when does he ever listen to me anyway? And that's not
even the worst of it. My new Captain hates my guts. Not
that that really bothers me, considering who it is. One of
Dad's little protégés, crawling along behind him, molded in
his image. But it will make the next few weeks kind of
difficult."
"Surely not. No one could hate you once they get to know
you, that is when you're not whining and complaining."
Tom laughed good-naturedly at the dig, and punched Julian
lightly on the arm. "Okay, I get the message. No more
complaints from me. I've got three hours before I have to
report back to the iron maiden's torture chamber. Let's make
the most of it."
Julian laughed. "That sounds like a good idea. Iron maiden's
torture chamber? This new ship sounds like a lot of fun."
"Actually, the ships beautiful. You should see it. New
intrepid-class. Sleek, classic lines. Even the name's
exciting. Voyager. Pity about the Captain. She spoils the
whole image."
"Voyager?" Julian paled a little and suddenly looked back at
the examination room.
"Yeah. You heard of it?"
"I think so." Julian suddenly grabbed Tom's arm. "Let's go.
There's this really great bar on the promenade I want to show
you. It's called Quarks." He was practically dragging Tom
from the infirmary. "You'll love it."
Tom pulled his arm free laughing. "Since when have I ever
needed to be dragged into a bar? Dragged out maybe."
"I trust you'll ensure you're not inebriated when you report
back for duty, Lieutenant."
Tom's stomach lurched at the familiar voice. "C-C-Captain,"
he stuttered turning around. Captain Janeway stood in the
examining room's doorway. He swallowed at the look on her
face.
"I assume I can now leave, Doctor?" she asked Julian icily.
"O-Of course," Julian stuttered as well. "M-My nurse will
contact you if there are any problems."
"Thank you," she said frostily. She then turned to Tom.
"I'll see *you* back on the torture chamber." It sounded
like a threat. With that she marched off and Tom sank into
one of the chairs.
"Phew!!!!" Julian gasped, leaning against the doorway for
support. "I don't envy you, Tommy. I don't envy you at
all."
"Why didn't you warn me?" Tom moaned. "Why didn't you stop
me?"
"I forgot she was in there. Besides, I didn't know it was
her you were talking about until you mentioned Voyager. By
then it was too late."
Tom moaned again. "Julian, do me a favor. Cut my tongue out
now. That way I can give it to her when I return to the
ship."
Julian shook his head and started to laugh. Soon he was
holding his sides. "I'm sorry, Tom," he managed to gasp out
as Tom scowled darkly at him. "But the look of horror on
your face. It was priceless." As soon as he had himself
under control he reached out and pulled Tom to his feet.
"Come on. We really do need to go to Quarks now. You need a
drink."
Tom snorted. "I need more than one."
******
Kathryn marched around her ready room, too angry to
concentrate. She was still as angry as she had been two
hours ago. Picking up a data padd from her desk, she scanned
it quickly. There was so much to do before they set off, and
she felt that everything was in chaos. Her terminal beeped
at that moment. Incoming communication from Earth, she was
told.
Soon, Mark's smiling face was beaming at her. "I won't hold
you up. I know you're busy. I just wanted to wish you luck."
"Oh, Mark! Am I glad to see you," she said enthusiastically.
"You sound a little upset. How's everything going?"
"We've picked up the rest of the crew and they seem to be
settling in. We'll be leaving in a couple of hours."
"So, what's wrong?"
Kathryn sighed. "It's Tom Paris. He's insufferable. I
don't think I'll be able to work with him after all."
"Oh? What's happened?"
"I overheard a rather awful conversation while I was in the
Deep Space Nine infirmary. I'd just had my yearly checkup
and was getting dressed in the examining room, and he was
standing right outside it talking to the Doctor. Apparently
they're old friends."
"Why did you go to the infirmary on Deep Space Nine? You've
got a brand new, state-of-the-art, sickbay on the ship."
"I know. I'd just rather use it only when I have to. I
don't feel comfortable with the Doctor. It's hard to
explain. Only now, I wish I had."
"You'd better tell me what he said."
******
Tom watched out of the corner of his eye as the Ferengi
barkeeper made short work of the naive young Ensign sitting
at the bar. He had enough troubles of his own at the moment.
He wasn't going to involve himself in some one else's.
"Maybe we better rescue him," Julian said suddenly. "Quark
will take him for everything he's got otherwise."
Tom sighed. "I suppose so."
"They're not for sale," the Ferengi shouted jerking the tray
of supposed 'Lobi crystals' from the young man's hands.
"Now," he sniffed. "Inform your commanding officer that the
Federation Council can expect an official query from..."
"Quark!" Julian said quickly heading over.
"Keep out of this, Doctor," the barkeeper hissed, giving him
a belligerent stare.
The young Ensign was desperate. "How much for the entire
tray?"
"Cash or credit?"
This was too much for Tom who strolled casually over to
comment in a loud voice, "Dazzling, aren't they? As bright
as Koladan diamonds."
Quark gave him a dirty look.
******
Kathryn kissed her fingers and then touched the screen in
front of her, smiling in a goodbye gesture to Mark. As soon
as the connection was broken she picked up another padd to
read. She felt much better now.
Mark had made her see the funny side of the situation. The
look of absolute terror on Tom's face had been a sight. She
was sure she could use that to her advantage. She doubted he
would step out of line again. He'd probably be on his best
behavior from now on.
The chime to her outside door sounded. "Come in," she
called.
She recognized the young man when he entered from the crew
manifest she'd gone over earlier. Ensign Harry Kim. Her
new Operations officer. "Welcome aboard Voyager, Mr. Kim,"
she said with a smile.
"Thank you, Sir," he said breathlessly, standing stiffly at
attention.
"Mr. Kim," she said with a twinkle in her eye. The poor kid
looked terrified. "At ease before you sprain something.'
He attempted to relax a little, but he didn't really look
much different. "Mr. Kim," she continued. "Despite
Starfleet protocol, I don't like being addressed as 'Sir'."
Harry flushed with embarrassment. "I'm sorry... Ma'am?"
"Ma'am is acceptable in a crunch, but I prefer, 'Captain'."
He nodded his head and she gestured to the door on the other
side of the ready room. "We're getting ready to leave. I'll
show you to the bridge."
As they entered, she noticed her first officer standing down
by Tom at the helm. They looked up at their entrance. She
noticed Tom was grinning at the Ensign standing beside her.
She frowned a little. 'Don't tell me they know each other as
well.' Introducing Harry to Lieutenant Commander Cavit, she
then directed him to the operations console.
"This is your station. Would you like to take over?"
"Yes, Ma'am," he answered eagerly, a huge smile on his face.
"It's not crunch time yet, Mr. Kim," she said waving him into
his seat. "I'll let you know when."
******
Kathryn watched sourly as one after another of the crew
gravitated toward the table where Tom Paris and Harry Kim were
eating their lunch. She had her own private dining room, of
course, but liked to eat in the mess hall to get to know the
crew better.
Everybody seemed to want to ask Tom about the Enterprise.
She turned away with disgust as whatever story Tom was
regaling caused everyone to erupt into loud laughter. Cavit,
who was sitting with her, turned around at the noise.
"Lieutenant Paris certainly seems popular," he remarked.
"I think that has more to do with where he last served than
anything to do with his personality."
"Yes, that's probably true," Cavit answered quickly. "That's
very astute of you, Captain."
"Oh? I thought you liked him, Commander?"
"Well, I suppose so. He seems agreeable enough."
"Not to me he isn't."
"Well, no, I can see why you'd have problems with him.
There's something not quite right there. I've noticed it
myself."
"Have you," Janeway said flatly. She found it difficult to
keep the dislike from her features. Her first officer was a
crawler. A yes man. He would agree with whatever she said,
and it became more than a little irritating after a while.
She had already seen him with Tom on several occasions, and it
was obvious to her that he was trying to get Tom to put in a
good word for him with Owen. If only he knew. From the
little bit she'd gathered over the past few days, Tom had no
influence whatsoever with his father.
She snorted. Let the little worm make a fool of himself.
Cavit's eyebrows rose. "Is something wrong, Captain?"
"No. I was just thinking about something," she answered.
She stood up quickly. "I've still got some reports to read
before we reach the badlands. I'll be in my ready room."
Cavit stood up as well. "Of course, Captain."
As Kathryn left the mess hall she turned around to see the
first officer already making his way over to the group around
Paris and Kim. She snorted again.
******
"Brace for impact!" Janeway ordered, as the ship was picked
up and hurled away.
Tom fought for control, knowing it was useless, but trying
anyway. He was surrounded in darkness and then all of a
sudden the ship seemed to burst into light. A light so
bright that he could feel it burning into his chest and face.
Putting up his hands for protection, he saw a flash of red at
his side and felt something covering him.
The momentum sent him hurtling from his seat and onto the
floor; whatever it was still covering him. It felt heavy and
Tom found it hard to breathe. His chest and face still
burned, the pain becoming agonizing. He would have screamed
if he'd had the breath to do it.
The noise of tearing metal surrounded him and it flashed
through his mind that the ship was being torn apart. The
weight covering him was so heavy, he couldn't make a sound.
A horrible stench filled his nostrils and he realized it was
the smell of burning flesh. As the darkness came up to greet
him, he sank into it gratefully.
******
"Report!"
"Hull breach, Deck Fourteen." Harry Kim checked his console
as quickly as he could. He still felt a little woozy. He
must have hit his head on something. "Comm lines to
engineering are down. Trying to reestablish." He hoped he
sounded calm and businesslike.
"Repair crews, seal off hull breach on deck fourteen,"
Janeway rapped out before kneeling beside the two bodies
lying next to the burnt out helm console. Gently rolling
Cavit away from Tom, she checked him for a pulse.
Harry could see that the man was dead, from where he stood.
One whole side of Cavit's face was scorched, and his eyes were
dull and lifeless. Harry's heart thudded in his chest as the
Captain bent over Tom. He couldn't see how bad his new
friend was. Her body blocked his view.
"Casualty reports coming in," a voice called from somewhere.
"Sickbay is not responding."
Janeway looked up. "There's a faint pulse," she said to no
one in particular. "Bridge to sickbay," she called out.
"Doctor, can you hear me?" She gestured to two crewmen.
"Take him down to sickbay. See what's going on."
As the two men carried Tom away, Harry ventured to ask.
"Captain? How bad is he?"
"Bad," she answered crisply.
Harry busied himself at his console once again. "Captain?"
he called out suddenly. "Something's out there."
"I need a better description than that, Mr. Kim."
"I don't know," Harry blurted out, embarrassed to be unable
to tell her. "I'm reading... I'm not sure *what* I'm
reading."
"Can you get the viewscreen operational?"
"I'm trying."
Finally managing to clear up the static, the structure that
his sensors had picked up came into view. He gazed in
wonder, still not sure what it was he was looking at. The
giant array on the viewscreen looked menacing. Seeming as if
it was tethered to one of the pylons of the array was the
Maquis ship that they'd set out to find.
Harry concentrated on his readouts once again and what he
read made his stomach lurch and drop to his toes.
He shook his head in wonder. "Captain, if these sensors are
working, we're over seventy thousand light-years from where
we were." He looked at her numbly. "We're on the other side
of the galaxy!"
******
Kathryn sighed with relief as she realized that the very real
possibility of a warp core breach had been averted. She
looked around engineering dejectedly. The chief engineer was
dead, along with six other crewmembers from engineering. Her
first officer and transporter chief were also dead, along
with many other crewmembers from all over the ship.
She rubbed her hands over her face and sighed in frustration.
Ensign Michaels, whom she'd sent to sickbay, had reported
that both the doctor and nurse were dead as well.
Straightening her shoulders, she contacted sickbay. "Janeway
to sickbay. Please report."
"Ensign Michaels here, Captain. Most of the crew has now
been treated. There are only a few minor injuries left. The
Emergency Medical Hologram has handled everything."
"Well that's good news." She steeled herself to ask the next
question. She didn't know how she'd explain to Owen, his
son's death. The thought that they may not be able to return
to explain anything to anyone never crossed her mind. "How's
Lieutenant Paris?"
Ensign Michaels hesitated. "I'm not sure, Captain. The
hologram put him in a stasis chamber. He doesn't look good."
"I see," Kathryn answered, her heart sinking. "Thank you.
I'll be down there in a minute."
Lieutenant Carey seemed to have everything under control in
engineering now, so she decided to go down and see if she
could find out a little more about Tom.
Her commbadge beeped before she could make it out the door.
"Bridge to Janeway." It was Rollins and his voice sounded
panicked. "We're being scanned by the array, Captain. It's
penetrated our shields."
"What kind of scan?" she asked as a strange noise came from
her commbadge. "Bridge? Janeway to bridge. Respond!"
All around her people started disappearing as they were
caught in some sort of transporter beam. "Initiate emergency
lock off," she started to order, just as the transporter beam
engulfed her as well.
******
Sickbay was a hive of activity as the EMH program diagnosed,
treated and quickly dispersed the incoming patients. "You're
not seriously hurt," he said to the ensign lying on the
biobed. "You can return to your station."
The young woman nodded and attempted to sit up. Suddenly a
transporter beam surrounded her and she was beamed out of
sickbay. All around the EMH the sound of the transporter
could be heard. He looked around in surprise.
"This is the emergency holographic doctor speaking. I gave
no permission for anyone to be transported out of sickbay."
He waited expectantly. "Hello? Sickbay to bridge." When
there was still no answer he sighed in frustration. "I
believe someone has failed to terminate my program. Please
respond." He sighed once more.
Sudden concern had him hurrying over to the stasis chamber.
It, too, was empty. "Well, really!" he spluttered. "This
patient was in no condition to be moved. This is most
inconsiderate. I would like to make an official notation
that this course of action is against my express
recommendations."
The EMH slowly paced up and down the sickbay. "Please
respond! Somebody! Anybody!" Silence followed. "Computer,
are there any life signs aboard this vessel?"
'Negative.'
"I see." Irritation flashed across his face. "Couldn't
somebody have shut off my program before they left?"
'Unable to respond. Please restate the query.'
"Unable to comply," the EMH returned sharply. Looking
around, he sighed once more. Not knowing how long it would
be until some one *did* come along to turn him off, he
decided to clean up.
******
Kathryn moaned as she rolled over. Standing up slowly she
looked around. She was in engineering again. Everyone
seemed to be lying around in roughly the same places they
were before they were snatched away. Within a few moments
they were all getting to their feet.
Slapping at her commbadge she tried to smile reassuringly at
everyone. "Janeway to bridge. Anybody there?"
"Yes, Captain," Rollins answered.
"How long were we over there?"
"Three days," came the reply.
"Three days?" she repeated.
"Captain, the Maquis ship is powering up its engines,"
Rollins reported.
'Tractor them," she ordered as she headed for the turbolift.
"All senior officers report to the bridge immediately."
Kathryn was halfway to the bridge when Rollins voice came
through her commbadge once again. "Captain, we have a
problem. Ensign Kim is missing."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes, Captain. Every one else on the bridge was returned to
their station except Mr. Kim. The computer says he's not on
board."
Damn it!!! "Acknowledged." She sighed deeply. "Computer,
how many crewmen are unaccounted for?"
'Two. Lieutenant Thomas Paris and Ensign Harry Kim.'
End Part Two
