Comparisons - Part Three
By T'Pam


For disclaimer, codes and rating, please see part 1.


~^~

Harry Kim slowly became aware of voices around him. #He's
regaining consciousness.# The voice seemed to be inside of
him. He quickly opened his eyes only to moan and shut them
again. It was too bright. It hurt. He opened his eyes a
little slower this time and a face came into focus bending
over him. It was a man smiling gently down at him. #How do
you feel?#

Harry started. The man hadn't opened his mouth. "What am I
doing here? Where am I?" he panicked.

"Please, don't try to move yet," a pleasant faced woman told
him. "You are very ill."

"Ill?" Harry said confused. He tried to sit up. "There's
some mistake. I'm not..." and then he saw them. Big knotty
masses of flesh on the back of his hand and arm. Oh God!!
Oh God!! What was wrong with him? His neck felt strange
too. Pulling open his gown he found another one. He blinked
and gasped in shock.

"No!" The voice filled the room. Looking across, Harry
could see a woman, dressed in the same white gown as he was,
jumping from her bed and pushing the attendant away. Their
eyes met and locked, before she forced her way to the door.

She put up a good fight before they managed to sedate her and
carry her back to her bed. Harry watched quietly, trying to
work out what was going on. He recognized the woman as one
of the Maquis he'd seen hanging so weirdly in the back of the
holographic barn.

Gazing around the room he noticed a figure swathed in
bandages on the other side of the room. Golden hair
protruded from the mass of bandages covering the person's
face. Could it be?

"Tom," he called out hesitantly. The more he looked the more
sure he was. He swung his legs to the side of the bed and
attempted to stand.

The attendant was at his side in a moment. "Please, don't
try to stand. You're too weak."

"That's my friend over there. Is he all right?"

The man came up to stand in front of him. "He arrived here
some time before you. We've done all we can. He was badly
hurt."

"Does he have these *things*" Harry gestured to his neck,
"growing on him too?" He'd noticed that the woman seemed to
have even more of the hideous growths than he had.

The alien shook his head. "No. His injuries were caused
from some sort of explosion. We have him in a healing
trance. I am hopeful that he will recover."

Harry nodded. Indicating his hand he asked, "What *are*
these things?"

A sad expression crossed the man's face. "I'm sorry. We
really don't know." At Harry's horrified look, he continued.
"You need to get some rest. We will answer all your
questions later." They quickly left the room and Harry,
feeling sick to his stomach, laid back down.

These things growing on him were terrifying. Tears slowly
slid down his cheeks as he wondered where Voyager was. Were
the rest of the crew here somewhere as well? Were they even
still alive? Curling up into a little ball he wiped the
tears away with his sleeve and longed for home. He'd never
felt so miserable in all his life.

******

Kathryn stood looking out at the stars from her ready room
viewport. Soon they would be in orbit of the fifth planet
and they could start the search for Paris and Kim. And the
missing Maquis woman, B'Elanna Torres, she reminded herself.
The strange little alien they had brought on board, called
Neelix, was quite confident that the missing crewmembers
would be with the Ocampa peoples. She hoped he was right.

Working with the Maquis seemed a little strange, but she was
sure she could trust their Captain, Chakotay. He was a man
of honor, and until they rescued Paris and the others she was
confident that he would help them. After that was anybody's
guess, of course, as she didn't think he'd let them all be
taken prisoner and carted back to the Alpha Quadrant.

That brought up another problem. How were they to get back?
The being that had brought them here, the Ocampa Caretaker,
didn't seem very helpful. As soon as they got the others
back she was going to investigate that array. Hopefully the
technology would be there to send them all home.

One thing at a time, she told herself sternly. First she had
to find Tom Paris and Harry Kim. There was no way she could
go back without them. As much as Tom Paris annoyed her,
there was no way that she could explain leaving him here to
his father. As for young Ensign Kim, well he certainly
didn't deserve that fate, she told herself; after all it was
only his first mission... even if he did have lousy taste in
picking friends.

******

Harry woke up the next morning feeling slightly nauseous and,
with panicked remembrance, quickly gazed down at his arm. It
was still there. The horrible growth thing hadn't gone away
during the night. Groaning he sat up slowly and looked
around. The Maquis woman, who from the ridges on her
forehead looked like she had some Klingon blood in her, was
still asleep in the bed next to him. Tom was still
unconscious on the far side of the room.

Testing his legs, Harry stood up off the bed and slowly made
his way over to Tom. "Hey, buddy," he said softly. "How you
feeling? Pretty stupid question, I guess, huh?" There was
no answer from beneath the bandages. A sudden gasp from
behind him made him swing around. The Maquis woman was
sitting up.

"Hi," he called out and she swung around on the bed to face
him.

She frowned at him fiercely. "Who are you?" she asked
angrily. "What is this place?"

"My name is Kim... Harry Kim. I'm an Ensign on the starship
Voyager. I'm sorry; I don't know where we are. I woke up
here the same as you."

"Starfleet," the woman almost spat. "You were trying to
capture us, weren't you?" She jumped off the bed and
advanced towards him.

"Yeah," Harry answered. "Consider yourself captured." He
patted his gown and gave her a wry smile. "I know I have a
phaser here somewhere."

"I don't find this at all amusing, Starfleet," she hissed at
him, glaring.

"Um, no. Neither do I actually," Harry answered grimly. He
looked back at Tom. Gods, he wished he'd wake up. He felt
sure his friend would know how to handle this firebrand.

"What did they do to him?" She was standing right next to
him, peering down at Tom too.

"He was hurt when we were brought here. The helm exploded.
I'm not sure why he's here with us. They said he should
recover."

"Do you know why *we're* here then?"

"No." Harry shook his head.

"Do you know who these people are that are holding us
prisoner?"

Harry shook his head again.

"Do you know why they did this to us?" She indicated the
growth on her neck.

Harry could only shake his head again. "I'm sorry. They did
say that they would answer our questions later."

"You don't know much, do you, Starfleet?"

"Well, I know more than you, Maquis," Harry shot back
angrily. "I don't think these people that are holding us did
*this* to us. They don't even know what these growths are."

"They don't? Well that's just great." She stormed over to
the door and started pounding and kicking on it.

"Hey," Harry raced over to her. "What's that going to
accomplish?"

She shrugged him away. "I want out of here, and I want out
of here *now*," she yelled.

Harry sighed. "Do you want them to sedate you again?"

She turned back to glare at him. "You're right, Starfleet,"
she admitted. "It's the Klingon half of me. It's just hard
to control sometimes." She seemed a little embarrassed.

"What's your name, Maquis?"

"B'Elanna. B'Elanna Torres," she answered.

"Nice to meet you," Harry said with a grin. "Well you
already know my name. That's Lieutenant Tom Paris over
there," he said pointing to Tom. "I hope he wakes up soon."

B'Elanna followed him over to stand by Tom's bed again.
"Paris? Any relation to Admiral Owen Paris?"

"Yeah, he's his son. Do you know the Admiral?"

"We've met," she answered briefly. "The son's a pilot, isn't
he?"

Harry nodded. "One of the best in Starfleet. He shouldn't
have even been with us. He was just on loan for this
mission. He's actually assigned to the Enterprise."

B'Elanna whistled. "How old is he?"

"A few years older than me. Why?"

She shrugged. "It just seems a waste. How badly hurt *was*
he?"

"Pretty bad," Harry answered. "These people said they hoped
he'd recover, but I'm not sure what they meant by that. I
don't know whether they mean he'll be fully recovered or if
they just mean he'll live. He had some pretty horrific
burns. I'd feel so much better if he were back on Voyager in
our sickbay. I don't think these people are very advanced
medically."

"Well, why are they holding us? Why don't they let us go?"
B'Elanna marched over to the door again and banged on it
harder. "Hey!! Is any one out there?" she shouted.

Harry sighing raced over to her. "You've got to try and keep
calm."

"Calm?" Her voice rose even higher. "They're keeping us
here against our will. We're sick, in case you hadn't
noticed, and they're stopping us from getting proper medical
treatment. Damn you all anyway!" she yelled. "Can't any one
hear me?"

A groan from the bed at the end of the room caught their
attention. "All right! All right!" a voice said crossly.
"Can't you keep it down? I'm trying to sleep here."

"Tom!" Harry cried, rushing over to him. "You're awake."

"Bit hard to sleep around here, Harry."

"How do you feel?"

"Fine. Why wouldn't I?" He attempted to sit up and Harry
helped him the rest of the way. "Where are we?" he asked
curiously. Before Harry could answer, he continued. "My
face feels funny. Kind of numb." He brought his hands up to
his face and noticed the bandages over them. "Wha... what's
wrong with my hands?" He gasped as he realized that his face
was also bandaged. "Oh, my god! What happened?"

"The helm exploded. Don't you remember?"

"N-No," Tom stuttered. "I remember that we were caught in
some sort of displacement wave. I couldn't get us out.
Everything went black. Then there was a bright light and
a... I'm not sure. A crushing sensation, and I couldn't
breathe properly. My chest hurt. Something was on top of me
and there was a horrible smell."

"Cavit," Harry said quietly. "He saved you. He threw
himself at you and took the full brunt of the explosion
himself. He died saving your life. It was the most heroic
thing I've ever seen."

Tom shook his head. "He barely knew me. Why would he do
that?" Suddenly he snorted. "Of course. My father. If
Cavit saved my life then the Admiral would owe him. He
probably thought he'd be made full Commander."

"But he died, Tom. He probably would rather have been a live
Lieutenant Commander."

"Yeah, well, of course. He didn't mean to get killed, Harry.
That was just bad luck."

Harry shook his head in disbelief, while B'Elanna snorted as
she approached the bed. "You're a little young to be so
cynical, aren't you?"

"No, I'm just the right age," Tom answered flippantly.

"Tom, a man died saving your life," Harry scolded. "You
should at least be grateful."

"I am, Harry. Its just... well... I feel awful that he died.
I didn't even like him, but I still feel awful. Okay?"

Harry nodded. "I understand."

"Where are we anyway? I know this isn't sickbay. And aren't
you going to introduce me?"

"Oh yeah, sorry. This is B'Elanna Torres. She's one of the
Maquis."

"Really? Seems I've missed a lot. How do you do, Ms.
Torres? I'd shake hands but, as you can see, my hands are a
little tied up at the moment. I'm Lieutenant Thomas Eugene
Paris, but you can call me Tom. And by the way, you're under
arrest."

"Very funny, Lieutenant. Your partner here has already done
that joke."

"Oh? Well, I must be rubbing off on him. Way to go, Harry."

Harry grimaced slightly and sat down on the end of the bed.
He explained everything that had happened to them since
hitting the displacement wave, while B'Elanna paced around
the room like a caged animal. By the time he was finished,
Tom was swaying.

"I think I need to lie down again. I feel kind of sick." As
Harry leapt up to help him, he sank gratefully down into the
pillows. "Harry?" he asked quietly. "Am I going to be all
right? I mean, my face and hands..."

"I don't know," Harry admitted. "We'll find out more when
the Doctor comes back. Try not to worry and get some sleep."

Tom nodded and closed his eyes. Just as Harry thought he was
asleep he opened them again. "I nearly forgot. I didn't
want to say anything before," he mumbled. "But you and the
Maquis girl... you've got *things* growing on you. Have I?"

"No, Tom. It's just B'Elanna and me, as far as I know."

"What are they? Are you going to be all right?"

"I don't know," Harry said again.

"But do you feel sick or anything?"

"Don't worry about me. You just get better." He stayed with
Tom, patting his arm, until he finally dozed off, and then
straightening up went over to B'Elanna. She was sitting on
her bed, her head in her hands.

"Are you all right? Do you feel sick or anything?" he asked
her.

She looked up at him and snarled. "I'm fine."

"Oh. That's good. I feel kind of sick, myself. Have ever
since I woke up. It's getting worse though." He climbed up
onto his bed and curled up into a little ball.

B'Elanna climbed off her bed and went over to him. Feeling
his forehead, she announced. "You've got a temperature too."

"Great. That's just great," Harry sighed.

"Don't give in to it, Starfleet," she urged. "Fight it."

The doors opened suddenly and B'Elanna whirled around to see
the Doctor standing there. She growled softly, but remained
where she was. "I hope you're felling better," he said.

"I'm all right," B'Elanna said, "But Harry feels sick and he
has a temperature."

"Oh dear," the man said hurrying over. He quickly filled a
hypospray and injected it into Harry's neck. "That should
bring his temperature down and help with the nauseousness."

"Thank you," Harry said sitting up. He felt better already.

The Doctor went over to Tom. "Has he woken?"

"Yes," Harry said, going over to them. "He was awake for a
little while. He was fully coherent. He started to feel
sick though, so I helped him go back to sleep."

The Doctor nodded. "That is good. He will be weak and dizzy
for quite some time, but should eventually recover."

"Will his face and hands be all right? He wants to know."

The Doctor seemed to hesitate. "We will not know for several
more hours," he finally answered. He turned away from Tom.
"Now, I know that you both must have many questions to ask of
me."

"That's for sure," B'Elanna said angrily. "Why are we
prisoners?"

The Doctor looked genuinely shocked. "You're not prisoners,"
he answered. "You're honored guests. Please, I've taken the
liberty of bringing you some clothes. If you'd like to get
dressed and come with me, I'd be pleased to show you our
world. We'll get something to eat as you must be hungry."

"I don't like to leave Tom," Harry said.

"The nurse will stay here, in case he wakens. Please. You
have a lot of questions that I will try my best to answer."

Harry looked towards B'Elanna, who nodded. "All right," he
agreed. "But I don't want to be gone too long."

******

Tom woke to the sound of soft voices. Rolling over he
groaned quietly as pain shot through his face and down one
hand. Everything came flooding back to him as he remembered
the helm explosion and Harry telling him they were being held
prisoner in the Delta Quadrant.

"We have to get to the surface and get help," a voice
whispered urgently.

"How? Do you know the way out of here? 'Cause I don't. And
even if you did, I don't know how we could take Tom. I'm so
weak, I can hardly support myself anymore." Tom recognized
Harry's voice.

"You might be willing to just lie down and give up, but I'm
not," the other voice hissed. "In the Maquis we don't give
in, we fight."

"Till the last breath?" Harry asked with a small laugh.

"If need be," B'Elanna Torres replied fiercely. "Now, are
you with me or not?"

"I'm with you." Harry's voice had grown stronger. "When we
get out of here and contact Voyager, they'll send help back
here for Tom."

"That's if Voyager's still there," B'Elanna said grimly.

"What are you talking about? Of course they're there.
They'd never go off and leave us here."

"Maybe they're all dead," she said flatly.

"No," Harry answered vehemently. "That can't be true.
They're there. They just don't know how to get us out.
They're waiting above this planet. I just know it." His
voice indicated that the alternative was unthinkable.

B'Elanna shrugged. "If you say so. All I know is that I
intend to keep going. This won't beat me."

The pain in Tom's hand was getting worse and he couldn't help
moaning. Harry was at his side immediately. "Tom. What's
wrong?"

Tom struggled to sit up. "It's okay. My hand hurts a bit,
but I can cope." He took a deep breath. "I heard what you
were saying. What did you mean about getting to the
surface?"

"We're underground." Harry relayed to Tom all that the
Ocampa had told them. Tom was silent for a few moments
trying to digest what Harry had said. He was also trying
not to scream. The pain was unbearable. It felt like there
was acid in the bandages trying to eat its way through his
hand.

Then the other hand started to throb as well. Moaning, he
placed his hands up to his chest and started to rock back and
forth. Now his chest was hurting as well.

"Tom?" he heard Harry say, through a haze of pain.
"B'Elanna, get the Doctor. Hang on, Tom. The Doctor's
coming."

Soon the Doctor's concerned face was peering down at him and
a voice was inside his head telling him that he would be all
right. The Doctor placed a hypospray against his neck and
the pain started to recede. Soon it was the dull ache that
he was used to.

He smiled gratefully at the Doctor. "Thanks," he managed to
say. "I needed that."

The Doctor smiled at him reassuringly. "You'll be all right
now. I'll send the nurse in to check on you later."

He turned to Harry and B'Elanna, who were hovering behind
him. "We'll keep him medicated for the next few days, just
to make sure that doesn't happen again. Now, how are you
both? Do you need anything?"

"We're both feeling a little weak and dizzy," B'Elanna said
quickly and the Doctor prepared another hypospray and
injected it first into Harry's neck and then hers. "Let me
know if there's anything else you need," he said. "You
really should rest now."

"Thank you, Doctor," B'Elanna said as he left. "Right," she
turned to Harry as soon as the doors closed. "Now's our
chance, while we're feeling a little better. They've got a
library here. Let's go and see if they have any plans to the
city there."

Harry shook his head. "I don't think I should leave Tom."

"He's fine now," she said in exasperation. "The nurse will
keep an eye on him. Come on. I don't know how long we've
got till the hypospray's effects wear off."

"She's right, Harry," Tom called out. "I'll be all right.
Go, while you can."

"I don't feel right about it. What if the hypospray the
Doctor gave you wears off?"

"Then I guess I'll start screaming. Don't make me make it
an order, Ensign. Go... now!"

Harry sighed and headed for the door. "Yes, sir," he said
with a small grin. "We'll be back soon."

"Take your time, Harry. I'm not going anywhere. Hey, and by
the way," he added with a grin. "Watch out for Torres. I
don't think she's as tough as she makes out."

Harry's eyes glittered in amusement, but B'Elanna, who was
just about to step out the door, turned back with a glare.
"You're not funny, Lieutenant. Humor is an immature way of
dealing with your emotions."

"Really?"

"Yes, *really*." Glaring at Tom once more, she stomped out
of the room.

"Ouch! I was just trying to lighten the mood."

Harry shook his head. "See you soon."

As soon as he had gone, Tom sank back down on the bed. He
felt really awful. And what was with Torres anyway? What
was she trying to prove? I give up, he said to himself.
What with the Captain hating my guts and now this spitfire
giving me a hard time, it's all too hard. I'm giving up on
women, he decided. No more Tom the flirt, he solemnly
promised himself, before shutting his eyes.

"How do you feel?" a soft voice asked him a few minutes
later. He opened his eyes again, to see the pretty Ocampa
nurse smiling down at him. "I see your friends have gone for
a walk. Would you like some company?" Tom promptly forgot
his promise.

******

"He's asleep," the nurse said softly as Harry and B'Elanna
entered the room a few hours later. "Did you have a good
time?"

"A good time?" Harry asked confused.

"Tom said you were going to see some of the sights."

"Oh! Yes, thank you."

The nurse smiled. "You really should take it easy. Try to
rest more. You both look exhausted."

B'Elanna hissed at a sudden pain in her neck, and the nurse
grabbed her arm. "Come and lie down," she said. She helped
B'Elanna to her bed and couldn't help noticing the papers
that B'Elanna had clutched to her. "What have you got there?
It looks like a map." B'Elanna tried to hide it, but was too
weak to move quickly enough. "It's a map of the tunnels. Why
would you have that? Surely you're not thinking of trying to
find the tunnels? You're in no state to be doing that."

"Please," Harry pleaded. "We have to get to the surface.
It's the only thing that will save us. You've done your
best, but my ship can help us. We'll die otherwise."

"I'm sorry, there's nothing I can do."

"Can you show us the tunnels?" B'Elanna asked.

"It's too dangerous," the nurse answered. "You'll be
killed."

"We're dying anyway," Harry reminded her.

"At least this way we'll die trying to beat this thing,"
B'Elanna added.

"I don't know." The nurse seemed to be wavering. "I know of
only one person who made it to the surface. And she's never
been seen since."

"Please," Harry begged. "Show us the tunnel she used.
That's all you have to do. It's our only chance."

"I could get into a lot of trouble." She smiled suddenly.
"Very well. But you need to rest first. Gather your
strength. I'll show you in the morning."

"Thank you." Harry said in delight. "You've given us a
chance."

"Don't get your hopes up," the nurse warned. "The tunnels
are a very dangerous place."

******

The next morning Harry woke up with a start to find B'Elanna
already up and preparing to leave. "About time you woke up.
I was about to wake you. The nurse brought us some tools to
dig with. She'll be back in a minute."

Harry got up and inspected the tools. "What's this?" he
asked picking up a long instrument with what looked like a
bulb on the end of it.

"It's a light," B'Elanna informed him. "It has a switch on
it somewhere, to turn it on. We're going to need it. The
tunnels are very dark."

"Oh, right." Harry looked across to Tom, who was just
beginning to stir. Some time during the night the Doctor had
taken off the bandages from around his face. "Hey," Harry
smiled. 'You're looking better."

Tom sat up and touched his face with his bandaged hands.
"Yeah, the Doctor said that there was hardly any scarring.
Tell me the truth. How bad is it?"

Harry went over and studied his friend's face. His forehead
was a mass of crisscross scars, all a livid red in color.
There was a deep scar down one side of his face, from just
below the ear, but it was a lot better than Harry had
imagined.

"Nothing that a dermal regenerator wouldn't fix," he told the
pilot.

Tom sighed in frustration. "I wish they had a mirror around
here. I'd like to see for myself." He noticed B'Elanna
studying his face also. "Okay, Torres. Let me have it. I
know *you* won't spare my feelings."

She shrugged in response. "Harry's right. A dermal
regenerator will fix you up. Hopefully, you'll have one
waving over you soon. Harry and I will be leaving soon."

Tom nodded. Harry had told him their plans the night before.
Holding out his arm to Harry, he said. "Help me up."

Harry looked worried. "I don't think you should be getting
up yet."

Tom snorted. "I'm feeling a lot better today. Besides, I
intend to come with you."

Harry opened his mouth in surprise, while B'Elanna shook her
head. "You'll slow us down," she said crisply.

"I'll keep up," Tom said quietly. "I'm not staying here
while you have all the fun."

"I wouldn't call it fun, Lieutenant," B'Elanna snapped.
"You'll fall behind and we won't be able to help you.
Neither Harry or I are up to carrying you."

"She's right, Tom. You should stay here. We'll send help as
soon as we can. I promise. We won't leave you here."

"I know that, Harry. Look, correct me if I'm wrong, but from
what I remember you telling me, those things on you are
killing you. You're slowly getting weaker. I'm slowly
getting stronger. What if you can't make it to the surface?
I might be able to help *you*"

"With your hands bandaged like that you won't be much help,"
B'Elanna said flatly.

"Okay, so maybe I won't be able to dig, but I'll bet I'm in
better shape than either of you two are at the moment. I
won't compromise the mission, I promise you. You can leave
me behind if I slow you down. Who knows? I might end up
carrying *you*."

B'Elanna snorted. "I don't think so, Lieutenant."

"You can carry *me* if you like," Harry said with a grin, but
sobered immediately. "Do you really feel up to this?"

"Do you? None of us are in the best of health here. I won't
lie to you. My hands hurt like hell, but I don't need them
to walk. If I didn't think I could help, I wouldn't insist
on coming."

"All right then," B'Elanna suddenly decided. "But if you
slow us down, we *will* leave you behind. Is that clear?"

"Yes, Ma'am," Tom grunted as Harry helped him up. "Um, I
think I need some clothes. I don't really want to go
crawling through tunnels in this." He indicated the white
gown he was wearing.

B'Elanna rolled her eyes. "Hurry up then. Harry, I'll go
and find the nurse while you help him get dressed. The
sooner we get going, the better." She marched from the room.

"Hey, Harry?" Tom said as soon as he was sure she was out of
earshot. "Who put her in charge?"


End Part Three