Tom stopped and crouched behind a large crate as he slung his bag off his
shoulder, pulled out four identical items and closed the bag again. He
paused and listened for anyone approaching before picking one of them off
the floor. He turned it over in his hands and switched the small device
on, feeling a very slight tremor run through it. Each one was the size of
his hand, two of them had straps attached to them, and the other two had
handles that easily fit the grip of his hand. The other side of the
objects was flat, smooth and made of a black spongy material. This was his
mountain gear, or to be more precise his 'ship gear.' The straps held
nicely to his knees and when climbing solid surfaces the black sponge acted
as a suction cup, attaching to surfaces that were imperfect and able to
carry three hundred pounds each.
He began strapping them to his knees, turning them all on. He needed to get inside the ship that was looming above him undetected; that meant he couldn't go through the front doors or ask for an invitation. Quickly he checked fishing line thin metal cords and their hooks coming out of his uniform on both sides of his trim waist. His uniform, designed by the best of SEP and remade during his time on Voyager, was strong and also had a built in harness, which he could attach to his climbing tools if he needed a rest or the use of his arms. When everything checked out he re-strapped his bag to his back.
He looked up at the underbelly of the ship. It was huge, a good size larger than Voyager, though Tom was sure the size was solely for the training gyms, barracks and stadium. A traveling circus he'd heard a man call it once. He thought the title fit perfectly.
Ten meters away was one of the ship's six landing supports located at the back and right hand side of the ship. Eighty meters higher was the ship's weapons room, and the torpedo bays. Tom intended to enter that way.
He picked up his hand held suction cups and waited a moment for the coast to be clear, then he ran across the open space and jumped up the landing leg, firmly pressing the cups to the surface. They held firmly and he hung there for a moment before climbing up to the top of the landing gear, using just his arms. A moment later he swung his knees up to the ships underbelly, fully attaching himself to its surface. Then, slowly, he began his completely horizontal climb under the ship towards the edges where he would eventually be climbing vertically towards the torpedo shafts.
He froze suddenly as two Kinkari appeared and decided to stop to have a chat ten meters beneath him. Tom remained absolutely still. His gray suit, matching the ship's hull as he had planned, kept him camouflaged from their easy view, but it didn't make him invisible. A moment later they moved on and he let out a breath of relief and continued. A song crept into his mind that his sister had taught him so long ago, a devious smile crossed his lips and he hummed it quietly to himself, singing the words in his head. *Spiderman, Spiderman, does whatever a spider can…*
**
Thirty minutes of solid climbing brought him half way to his destination. The pilot freed his left hand and attached his metal cord to the cup. He did the same thing with his other and then sat down in his suit in mid air. It would have looked like he was floating, except that he had found a crevice of metal to hide him from anyone who might feel the urge to look up. He had been lucky so far, and the higher he got the less likely he would be spotted. Luckily on this side of the ship there were no barracks, and therefore few view ports. Those that were there were easily avoided.
He carefully pulled off his pack, rested it in his lap, and pulled out his mini computer to check on Voyager's stats. So far they hadn't made much leeway, as he'd planned, but it was time to throw another monkey wrench into their lives. He accessed his computer and the words "Navigational Control" crossed the screen briefly before being replaced by several symbols. Quickly Tom punched in his code and packed it away once again. He now had two hours to finish his plan.
((/\))
B'Elanna tore a panel out of the wall in engineering and began to reroute several crossed wires. She still wasn't sure what it was that Tom had done to the transporters, and for the last hour she had been stumped trying to find a solution. The damn cocky pilot had decided to once again make her life difficult, only this time instead of being furious she was worried, and confused. Since when could Tom overtake a Starship single-handedly?
A slight rise in the constant hum of engineering drew her attention away from her task and she glared over at the warp core. A moment later she felt the floor begin to lightly vibrate beneath her feet, in tune with the warp core. What the hell?!
"Torres to bridge"
"Go ahead." Chakotay's patient voice filtered through her comm. link.
"Why are we moving? I wasn't aware that we were going to be departing any time soon!"
"Neither were we. Something has taken over the navigational systems, we're currently in flight away from the planet. Destination unknown. Tom's been a little busier than we hoped." His dry voice held no humor and she stared at the warp core a moment in disbelief. Now Tom had completely taken over the ship. They hadn't even thought of checking the ships navigation systems for signs of tampering. This was like a trip through the twilight zone.
"I'll come up and help Baytart with an analysis and we'll try to figure out what's going on from there."
"See you in a minute."
She didn't bother to respond as she grabbed a couple tools and headed towards the bridge. At least the lifts were working..
…Ten minutes later…
"He's connected everything somehow and is running it from wherever he is" Baytart exclaimed as he and B'Elanna stood at his station and glared at the controls as if it was their fault they weren't responding correctly. B'Elanna turned to look at the Captain. Everyone on the bridge was paying close attention to everything that was said, hoping to discover something that could help regain control of the ship.
"Searching for a direct problem or point of problem isn't an option because he's taken control from multi-ports. We have to find every chain of code and every single wire, circuit and whatever else he's gone through to dominate the systems. To top it off he's left a trail of breadcrumbs all over which no doubt lead to a dead end. He's completely wiped-out or hidden his trail. It'll take us weeks to pull everything back into full control." Janeway listened carefully to her chief engineer and watched her chief conn officer nodding slightly in agreement.
She liked to think she was always prepared to handle any type of situation, even possible betrayal from her crewmembers, which had occurred in the past. She had not, however, expected this. Where are you taking us Tom Paris?
"Okay. I don't care how long it takes I want these systems back. First work on stopping the ship, we'll go into more detail from there. Keep as many personnel working on the other problems as possible. Pull people in from security, astrometrics, hydroponics, science, anywhere they can be spared."
"Yes Captain."
"Lieutenant Kim, keep trying to fix communications. And all of you, if you can come up with any idea of what Tom is up to inform me immediately." There was a chorus of 'Yes Ma'am' and 'Aye Captain' as they dispersed to carry on with their work. Janeway headed back into her briefing room and sat down for a moment, deciding where she would help.
"Feeling the pressure are we Captain?" An unexpected voice interrupted her thoughts. She was no longer surprised at U making an appearance, as he had been jumping in and out of staff meetings for weeks now, sometimes not saying anything, other times talking about nothing.
"What can I help you with U?"
"Oh nothing, I'm just checking in. Seeing how things are running. As I can tell they are going quite well, of course I suppose that depends on whose point of view you're looking from."
"And why would Tom think this is going well?" She asked, hoping to trick him into giving away information. He'd been amazingly tight lipped with it over these few weeks.
"Oh, Tom hardly ever thinks things are going well Captain. Not for the last year at least. No, no. This is going well for you. Do you honestly think Tom would be going to all this effort to cause you trouble? I thought you were beginning to understand the situation."
"I understand that he has taken over my ship and left. Again. I don't find this very beneficial no matter what plans he has for the better. It obviously isn't going to be better for him."
"No, no. I suppose you're right. But that is the way he has chosen it. Now I know what you are planning to do, and that's to go back and get him. When you do figure out what's going on however, I'm not so certain you'll be as willing to do that." He looked at her carefully and then disappeared. She sighed in frustration and stood up to go help with the navigational problem, contemplating what U might have meant.
((/\))
Tom crouched over and ran quickly up the torpedo's long passage until he reached the loading doors. They were smooth and there was no way to open them, like Tom had suspected. Kneeling he wiped a bit of sweat from his brow and then went into the pocket on his arm, pulling out his laser cutter, previously a surgical scalpel altered to cut through metal. He also pulled out his tricorder. Quickly he scanned the smooth hatch in front of him until he found the locking mechanisms. He put the tricorder away and began to cut through the metal with his laser. Two minutes later the door swung open and he carefully jumped out, onto the deck of Imod's weapon room.
He pulled of his mask, ignoring the smell of grease, metal, and weapon chemical fumes as he put his cutter away and once again pulled out a tricorder. A phaser was gripped in his other hand. He headed to where he suspected the door to be, and then into the hall, silently making his way to the wormhole's operation room and engineering center. It didn't take long, as he had a fairly good lay out of the ship stored in his memory. He might have spent a year aboard this thing as a prisoner, but that didn't mean he'd remained dormant.
Half way to his destination however, he ran into a slight problem. He heard the sound of approaching boots and he was stuck halfway between corridors. With nowhere handy to hide he stood there and aimed his phaser. From the sound of it, it was just one person, and their footfalls were familiar.
A moment later an unguarded Kinkari trainer rounded the corner and froze in shock. Long seconds ticked by and he still didn't dare to move and his shocked face slowly turned to recognition and then fear.
"Elsar! You're back!"
"So it seems. Come here, now."
The Kinkari jumped at the order but moved quickly to him, not even bothering to try and run away. When they were standing side-by-side Tom pulled out a pair of small arm restraints and locked the Kinkari's hands in front. He could feel the man tremble slightly under his hand. Not so tough when you don't have me under lock and chain are you? Tom pulled the silent Kinkari along with him down the corridors and they finally reached his destination.
"The code" Tom demanded as they paused at the door. Every locked entrance on the entire ship had the same access code, the problem was that Imod changed it every three days so the ones Tom did know were useless. Normally he would have hacked into the locking mechanism but this was easier.
"What do you plan to do in there?"
Tom's grip tightened slightly on the Kinkari's arm. "The code."
"Alish, haz, mato'k, haz" The prisoner stammered and Tom gazed at the symbols in thought. He should have learned to read the language as well.
"Punch them in." He ordered the Kinkari, who lifted shaky fingers to the panel. The door slid smoothly open and they both went inside. Immediately Tom closed the door and had his prisoner sit down in the center of the room.
"Don't move" he ordered and the man nodded his head vigorously. Tom began to unpack some small instruments from his bag, picking up a metal square he walked quickly to the door and placed it over the key padd. It attached itself securely and he punched in four random codes. This door now needed the new code to enter. Of course once the problem was discovered Imod could have his men cut through the door itself, but that would take approximately two hours. The code would take even longer to determine.
Then Tom allowed himself a moment to take a good look at the room. He'd only seen it once before and that was from outside the door. It was built in a circle, the middle of the room, where his prisoner sat, was bare. However hanging above the area was a circular orb the size of a baseball, which could be lowered on command. Tom suspected that was the map and navigation aid. Lining the walls completely were computer view screens and input screens. Towards the far end of the room were the consoles, approximately eight meters in length and one meter in width. Tom headed there with his computer and tricorder.
Scanning quickly he found the bypass conduit that he needed in order to turn the systems on. He peeled off a metal panel with the aid of his laser and began to wire his computer into the system.
"Don't move Kinkari" He warned as he heard a shuffle coming from the middle of the room. The shuffling stopped. After a moment Tom leaned back from the panel and stared at it in thought. He checked his watch. One hour and ten minutes until Voyager reached its destination. He left his computer, picked up the symbol translator he'd brought with him and began reading all the symbols on the consoles, hoping to quickly figure out how to work the wormhole technology. His computer could gain him access to the systems and with aid of the virus he'd placed in this vessel's system a few months ago he could block any bridge interference. For now though, he needed to figure out how to work it. Where was that manual…
Fifteen minutes later he thought he had it figured out. Actually it wasn't too difficult once you understood the basics. He walked to the center of the room and pushed his Kinkari guest to the side. Then looking up at the sphere hanging temptingly above his head he wondered how to activate it. Something hit the door outside the room and Tom continued looking for a way to access the map. Imod had sent crew to begin breaking through the door five minutes before.
"Whatever it is you're doing, you won't succeed. Our ship is much too advanced for the likes of a fighter" Hashad mocked from his place among the wall. His confidence boosted from his shipmates attempts at rescue. Tom walked to a console and pushed a round gray button. The sphere lowered to waist height and a moment later a 3-D map of their surrounding area flooded the room.
"So you know how to push buttons. A child could do that." Tom glared at the seated Kinkari, the man held his gaze a moment and then turned away silent. Tom went back to work. He located the coordinates where he was sending Voyager and punched them in on the sphere. Then he went back to the consoles and quickly began accessing different monitors, initiating order after order. A dull green light flooded the room in two brief flashes and things went back to normal. It was done; he'd succeeded. He packed away his tools in the bag and then set his phaser to vaporize, aimed it at the pile, and eliminated it. He couldn't let the enemy have them, even if they were similar in technology advancement…in a matter of speaking.
Then he slowly made his way across the room from Hashad and slid to the ground, his back propped up by the wall. He'd done it. He'd finally send Voyager home like he had planned to when this whole disaster had begun. He hoped they'd be happy. Slowly he dropped his head to his knees and rested there, eyes closed.
"Stay where you are" He ordered Hashad as he once again heard the being shuffling. As much as he wanted to get Voyager home, he would miss them. It was better this way though, because now he wouldn't have to put up with their anger anymore, and they could all be happy. At this particular second he wasn't too worried about what happened to himself. After looking at and understanding Imod's technology he realized that the Kinkari's threats to bring Voyager back had been empty. It wasn't possible to do that unless Voyager had the technology built on their ship as well, which wasn't the case.
For now he knew that he'd eventually find a way to escape and try to begin another new life in the Delta Quadrant. Who knows, maybe he'd get his own ship. Maybe he'd take Imod's…
The slight whine and sizzle of the laser's cutting through the door were slowly getting louder. Tom gave them an hour at the least before they managed to break through.
((/\))
Harry Kim stood at his station still trying to fix the communications system. So far he wasn't making any progress. As much as he wanted to yell in frustration he remained silent. Now wasn't the time to let his emotions get the better of him; it was the time to work.
He shuffled on his feet and turned to check his scanners. Though they had no current control of their destination, they were keeping track of where they were going, hoping to figure out what Tom had planned. He turned away from the scanners and continued to puzzle over communications when he suddenly realized what the readouts had said. He twisted around so fast he almost fell down and he threw his arms out to grab the console and steady himself. He felt a few eyes avert their attention to his sudden movement but he ignored them as he rapidly performed a few more scans.
"Captain" He called, his eyes remaining glued to the screen. "I'm detecting the beginnings of a rapidly growing wormhole matching the anomaly's signature that we detected at the planet."
"Where is it?"
"It's 5 light-years from here, directly in our flight path. At current speed we will reach it in forty-three minutes."
"Send a probe and find out how long it will remain stable and where it leads to."
"Aye Captain. Probe sent. Awaiting information." The busy hum continued on the bridge as Harry impatiently waited for the probe to send back its readings. This was too much of a coincidence. A few minutes later the probe sent information back to Voyager and Harry read it as fast as he could, his eyes widening at what he was seeing.
"Captain, the wormhole leads to a destination approximately one year away from earth. It would send us home." He looked over at her and Chakotay, amazement in his eyes.
"Call a senior staff meeting, now."
Two minutes later they were once again piled in the briefing room staring at the screen that provided a picture of the anomaly.
"It's too much of a coincidence." Harry voiced his earlier opinion.
"I agree" Janeway said sharply, her eyes focused dangerously on the view screen. "The question is what are we going to do about it?"
"The proper course of action would be to proceed on course and take the wormhole back to the Alpha Quadrant." Tuvok stated calmly. "However we would then be abandoning one of our crew."
"The fact that we can't just turn the ship around not withstanding." B'Elanna growled and slumped in her chair. They ignored her comment.
"If we do regain control of the ship, we have to decide now whether to continue through the wormhole, or go back for Tom." Baytart spoke up, than ducked his head for making such a brash comment.
"In all honesty this situation wouldn't be an option without Tom's interference. I feel we owe it to him to go back." Janeway spoke up. This opportunity was probably the best chance they would have to get home, but she wouldn't be able to live down the guilt from Tom's sacrifice. It didn't mean that others would feel the same way though. She sighed and finally turned and acknowledged each crewmember with her eyes. "We'll equip as many shuttles as necessary (nobody said anything about their current state) with supplies for the crew members who wish to continue through the wormhole. Those of us left will remain in the Delta quadrant and get Tom back. Agreed?" The positive nods around the table gave her the confidence she needed. It meant they believed that they could still get the ship back under control. "Good. Now we need to stop this ship."
"Lieutenant Kim" Tuvok called, gaining everyone's attention. "You stated that Voyager would arrive in the Alpha quadrant approximately one year from Starfleet headquarters?"
"Yes."
"That is a long distance of travel without use of navigation and transporters."
"We can fix them." Torres pointed out.
"Yes, but not immediately. I doubt that Mr. Paris would send us into an unknown situation without the ability to regain control of the ship and protect ourselves."
"Which means he must have left instructions on how to reverse his programming on Voyager in a place where we would think of looking" Chakotay said, catching on to Tuvok's theory.
"Brilliant! Just Brilliant! Though I have to say it took you long enough to figure it out! Yes, yes, yes!" U startled them all with his outburst as he jumped around the room waving a fist in excitement. After a moment he looked at their alarmed faces and sobered up a little. It was just so exciting he couldn't help the outburst. Finally they were starting to understand every piece of the puzzle. It was driving him nuts only being able to drop slight hints these past few weeks.
"Well now that we've gotten this far, why don't you tell us where to look?" Chakotay suggested, glaring.
"Sorry, I made a promise to Tom I wouldn't interfere."
"You've been interfering all along U. Why stop now?"
"If and when you people finally get your self-righteous pilot back he isn't going to be to pleased at the fact that his plan failed again. I don't want to take a chance at being blamed." He looked at Harry. "Gambling isn't my thing." The lieutenant's eyes widened in excitement.
"The holodeck! He left it in Sandrine's program!" He jumped up, along with everyone else except Tuvok, who sat there amused…in a Vulcan sort of way.
"B'Elanna and Harry, get to the holodecks and find the programming." They ran out of the room before she'd finished her orders. Nobody noticed the use of informal address. "Everyone else to your stations. I'll be there as soon as I've completed the ship wide announcement." She looked over at U who was sitting in Tom's old sit, and nodded thanks. He smiled and disappeared. She gave a feral grin; finally they were doing something.
((/\))
Almost out of breath from their sprint to the holodeck Harry and B'Elanna burst into the gridded room.
"Computer. Initiate Sandrine's!" Harry puffed, his voice full of excitement. A moment later the adequately lit authentic looking bar surrounded them. For a moment they stood there in silence, looking around. Had it really been over a year since they'd been here? It still seemed so familiar.
"I can't believe we never came here after Tom left" B'Elanna muttered.
"Neither can I. In fact I was quite insulted" A women's voice, thick with an accent grabbed their attention.
"Hello Sandrine" Harry smiled warmly, not wanting to upset her. He'd seen her angry with Tom once and even though she was a hologram he didn't want any of that directed at him.
"Hello yourself monsieur Kim. What do you two want? I am quite busy." She turned her back on them and began cleaning glasses. Harry didn't notice they were already clean. He was actually a little taken aback by her angry greeting. He could tell B'Elanna was too as she watched the woman curiously.
"Is something wrong Sandrine?" he asked and stepped back startled when she turned and glared at him.
"Something wrong? Why do you ask monsieur? What could possibly be wrong except that I won't see my Thomas again and am stuck on a ship full of people who couldn't care less! No no, I'm fine, in fact I'm surprised you asked! I have the right mind not to give you what you came looking for too! I don't see any reason in making your lives better at his sacrifice, but he didn't agree. No Sandrine, he said to me, I have to finish what I started. I can't let them down again. And he didn't! As far as I'm concerned he never did and you two 'ave the nerve to come in here and ask if things are fine!" She slapped her dishtowel on the counter and placed both hands firmly on the surface, glaring. She didn't say anything else.
They stared at her in shock a full minute of silence went by before B'Elanna cocked her head in confusion.
"How do you know we're on a ship?"
"Thomas doesn't lie to me. I have known since he created me."
"You mean your aware that you're a -"
"A hologram? Yes I am aware of that. A sentient one too if it matters to you, but I don't think it does considering how little your real friend meant to you."
"Don't you dare accuse us of not caring for Tom!" B'Elanna yelled stepping forward.
"B'Elanna!" Harry called quietly. "This isn't going to help."
She took a deep breath, forcibly calming down.
"Sandrine." Harry said softly, wincing slightly as her harsh glare was directed at him again. "We need whatever it is Tom left us so we can go back and get him."
"A little difficult now that we are in the Alpha quadrant."
"We haven't gone through the wormhole yet, but we can't stop the ship from traveling through it in approximately half an hour. Please trust me. We are not losing him again." She watched him intently and then after a moment her hard façade crumbled. She turned and grabbled something off the counter behind her, passing it over to him. When he gratefully went to take it from her she held on to it and looked at him fiercely.
"You tell him that if he plans on leaving again I don't want to see him. I am not helping him ruin his life anymore." He nodded and she released the item. It was a holographic data padd.
Harry and B'Elanna immediately began to scour through its contents, their eyes shining with excitement.
"This is…oh he's teaching me everything he knows when he gets back" B'Elanna growled, staring at the screen greedily. Harry tapped his commbadge.
"Kim to Bridge."
"Go ahead." Janeway answered.
"We've got the information he left for us. Have lieutenant Baytart access the central coding of the ship's system. We'll be on the bridge in a few minutes to begin the override."
"Time's running out, lieutenant. Get here fast."
"Yes Ma'am." He ended the communication and looked at B'Elanna.
"We need the emitter" He said and she grinned.
"Torres to transporter room. Lock on to the Doctor's holo-emitter and transport it to holodeck two now." A blue light erupted and Harry grabbed the tool from the bar counter attaching it to the holographic data padd.
"Thank you Sandrine" He called over his shoulder as they ran out of the holodeck. She watched them go and for the first time since this entire mess started she began to relax.
((/\))
"Sickbay to the bridge." The Doctor's annoyed voice chimed through, breaking her line of thought.
"What is it Doctor?"
"Someone has just stolen my holo-emitter. I am stuck in sickbay!" She turned and saw Harry and B'Elanna rush into the room carrying a data pad. It had the Doc's emitter attached to it.
"We're just borrowing it Doctor. You'll have it back when we're through." She cut off his retort and marched to the navigation console where they had begun working.
"How long will this take?"
"Approximately 10 minutes. After that we can reprogram the shuttles for the crew who may wish to leave. Then the communications and transporters; they may take longer considering how many different people have been fiddling around trying to fix them" B'Elanna rattled, keeping her eyes on the padd in front of her as Baytart was looking back and forth plugging in codes.
"Very good, lieutenant Baytart? When you have regained control of the ship I want you to back us a safe distance from the wormhole and wait for further orders."
"Aye Captain" he acknowledged distractedly. She briefly wondered if he hadn't heard what she had said and was just agreeing for the hell of it, then she remembered her crew's ability at multitasking. They were well trained, that was certain.
"Tuvok, you have the bridge. Commander, if you would accompany me to the shuttle bay please." He stood up and followed her to the lift, no comments made. Now she would see who wanted to leave.
The five minute ride was silent and when they reached the shuttle doors she paused a moment. Chakotay's strong hand gripped her shoulder a moment in assurance and déjà vu struck. It didn't seem so long ago when she had last done this, and selfishly she wished for the same results. Squaring her shoulders they walked through the shuttle doors, and for a moment her heart leapt in pride. There was nobody in sight.
A moment later, lieutenant Carey, ensign Vorik and ensign Saunders emerged from behind the Delta Flyer, each equipped with a small bag and Carey holding a data padd. When they noticed Janeway and Chakotay standing there they placed the bags on the ground and approached them, grins on their faces (except Vorik).
"Captain, Commander! We didn't expect to see you here." Carey exclaimed as they stopped in front of them.
"And why wouldn't we be? We can't allow members of our crew to depart without giving them a proper send off." Chakotay answered for Janeway. She was still trying to find words over her disappointment.
"Send off Commander?" Carey's grin suddenly became a little cheeky. "Not until we have Tom Paris back on board."
"We thought we'd bring our tools down here and get the shuttles back in order ASAP." Saunders joined, a small grin covering her pale features.
"Lieutenant Torres sent us instructions on how to regain control of the shuttles. We felt it prudent to have them prepared for Mr. Paris's rescue" Vorik finished and they all held a little staring contest until Janeway's laugh broke the silence.
"Don't let us keep you waiting then! Ensigns, Lieutenant. Thank you." They all nodded at each other and headed back to their task, picking up their bags. Janeway and Chakotay stopped in the corridor, and she sighed in relief.
"I'm considering putting them on report for scaring me like that" She commented, and he chuckled softly.
"I'm sure you can come up with something better than that" he said as they headed back to the bridge. The rest of the way they just grinned evilly as they plotted little acts of revenge.
((/\))
As predicted it had taken an hour before the Kinkari had gained access to the high tech room. Tom had contemplated shooting one of them but considering the number of armed guards they had outside the room his fight would be useless. He couldn't block phaser fire with his arms. In the end it was better if he went silently and planned his way out of this place later. Unfortunately he meant that for who knew how long he was going to be greatly monitored and controlled. Fun.
After they had broken into the room they'd stunned him with a paralyzing weapon and stood around watching him lie helpless on the ground, an occasional boot to the stomach the only activity until Imod arrived. He didn't say much, just walking around Tom in excruciatingly slow circles, glaring down at him with glowing eyes. Tom glared back whenever he cam into his line of vision, but it was really a sad attempt at rebellion. Then when Tom felt his hand begin to tingle as sensation came back a guard stepped forward and roughly hauled his smaller body to an upright position. Imod personally placed the dreaded collar around his neck. Tom bit back a curse, ensuring his features remained emotionless.
When he'd first arrived on this ship they'd used the collar to keep him under their control. He figured it stimulated some nerves in his spine or something because whenever they activated the collar the pain usually drove him to his knees. After a while he'd only had it on during transport through the corridors, but wearing it again really drove home the fact that he was back.
After that Tom pretty much tuned out Imod's 'we have you again and you're not going to get away' speech, glaring at what he deemed were the correct moments. Then he was literally dragged across the ship, still unable to feel his lower body, and tossed into an empty metal cell and left there in the dark.
He was still there, he just had no idea how long. One thing he was certain of though, was that his family was home…almost. He felt the year away from Earth was sort of symbolic in his own twisted sense. Actually he felt kind of bad; he should have sent them directly to Earth. But what was done was done, he couldn't change things and he'd chosen this path so he would live up to his end of the bargain; he may be stuck here, but that didn't mean he had to play nice.
Slowly he began massaging his limbs back into feeling. When that was done he paced his cell as he waited for the next confrontation. He didn't think it would be too long, and about fifteen minutes later his suspicions were proven correct. Two guards came and ordered him to walk in front of them until they arrived at the ship's medical bay. As usual the lights were bright and it smelt even more sterile than the Doc's med bay on Voyager. He'd spent too much time in both places.
They had him strip to his shorts and lie down on the examination table. When he felt the force field lock him into place he sighed.
"You don't sound to happy to be here Elsar." An uninterested voice emerged from his right as the doctor approached him with a scanner programmed to work through the field. Tom ignored him and closed his eyes. Maybe he could get some sleep during the examination; he had a feeling he'd need the rest for later.
((/\))
"Captain, the communication probe has been launched into the wormhole."
"Good" She commented and silently watched the swirling masses of red and purple on the view screen. Home lay through that wormhole, and all these hardships could end for them if they simply flew through it…she sat taller in her chair and glared at the screen defiantly. She wasn't planning on leaving anyone behind. The communication probe had all the information about Voyager's journeys and crewmembers. Hastily scrawled letters to families had been included. The only thing that had been left out was the current situation with Tom Paris. Janeway wasn't sure, but taking Chakotay and Tuvok's advice they were going to keep their newfound knowledge to themselves. At least for now.
She took one last longing look at the wormhole before ordering Baytart to turn the ship around and head back to Tom's last known location at warp nine. She wanted to get him back on this ship now.
Reports started flooding the bridge from various stations. Carey had finished with the shuttles, the transporter was running smoothly, communications would be fixed in approximately ten minutes. Everything was back under their control and they would be arriving at their destination in approximately twenty minutes. She scanned the bridge without really looking at anything. Her thoughts focused on one fair-haired pilot who was currently not aboard their ship.
Why had Tom done this? For a second time, no less. She loved her crew and would do what she could to get them home, but this was far beyond what she expected from anyone but herself. Even that thought was farfetched because she knew she was incapable of doing whatever Tom was doing. The more she thought about the skills he'd kept hidden from the crew, the more sense it made of situations in the past. Odds that he'd beaten with apparent luck and determination could now be classified as skill, perhaps even something that he'd found easy to handle. It hurt her head to wonder about so many things. One thing she knew for certain was that it wasn't going to be easy working with him unless he was upfront about the situation with her. Somehow she knew that wouldn't be the case.
"Captain. We're approaching the Tubbles planet, scanning for the Kinkari vessel. Receiving hail from planetary officials."
"On screen."
"Captain." The alien's squishy looking face greeted with curiosity. "We had thought you'd continued on your journey. May I ask why you are scanning our docking station?"
"You may, Chancellor. I apologize for our abruptness. We left the planet in a rush and it appears that a visiting ship on your planet had taken one of our crewmembers. We are currently searching for the ship to negotiate his return." The Chancellor watched her intensely for a moment before sighing.
"Apology accepted Captain Janeway. It is a shame you didn't realize your crewmember was missing sooner. Tell me, do you know which ship he has disappeared to?"
"We believe the Kinkari have taken him." She supplied the answer with diplomatic grace and quietly thanked the planet for such kind inhabitants.
"The Kinkari?" He looked to someone off screen and nodded his head after a moment. "The Kinkari vessel departed approximately ten minutes ago. We can give you the direction they headed in but no more than that."
"That is more than enough. Thank you Chancellor." She bowed her head in appreciation and he did the same in return.
"Safe journey to your crew." And he cut off the communication. She turned to look at Harry who had his sight glued to his console.
"Captain, I've picked up their warp trail from the far side of the planet. We can reach their ship in fifteen minutes at warp seven."
"Make that warp 8 lieutenant Baytart" She ordered, feeling the excitement of the bridge crew as they rushed around their duties with new energy. She remained sitting stiffly in her chair, absorbing the energy proudly. She couldn't ask for a better crew.
"Captain we're approaching the Kinkari Vessel. They are currently at warp five."
"Drop speed to match and hail them." Two resounding 'Aye Captain's' met her order and she waited for a response. It didn't take long as the ship replied and she ordered their speaker on screen.
"I am Captain Janeway of the starship -"
"I know who you are captain." The man harshly cut her off, his eyes glowing a fierce red. She focused on glaring just above his eyes to avoid the eerie feeling they gave her. "What I want to know is why you are here?"
"We've come to get our crewman back. We understand he is onboard your ship."
"The only aliens aboard my ship are here voluntarily" He sneered.
"I'm aware of that, but we want him back regardless."
"Perhaps a negotiation is at hand here." He nodded, eyeing her up and down. She nodded at him to continue and he smirked. "You give me your ship, and you may have your crewman back. He is worth more to me than that but he has proven that he is difficult to handle and it may be easier without him."
"Your terms are unreasonable."
"I know that captain, which should drive home the fact that I am not giving him up." The being's eyes flared dangerously and she glared cold steel.
"Captain, they are charging weapons" Tuvok dispassionately informed her. Their communication was cut off.
"Raise shields, evasive maneuvers." Her crew was quick to respond, barely avoiding the missiles that had been launched towards them.
"Captain, they carry adequate fire power but I believe we can defeat them" Tuvok reported, intently focused on his screen.
"Disable their weapons and engines. Chakotay, prepare a boarding team just in case we can't beam him directly aboard." Their ship rocked under the enemy's fire.
"Captain" Harry called from his station. "Permission to go with the away team if they depart?" She looked at him in question a moment and he gave a simple explanation. "I want to begin making it up to him." The ship rocked again.
"Permission granted. Tuvok, report!"
"Shields are down, targeting weapons." They waited an intense moment, Janeway aware that she was holding her breath, her mind racing with alternative fighting strategies in case this didn't work. "Weapons disabled."
"Target their engines!" she snapped and twisted in her seat as she heard the turbolift doors slide open. Neelix walked quickly onto the deck and quickly looked around as he grabbed onto the railing.
"Engines are disabled Captain, their ship is currently dead in the sea." She nodded her approval and turned her attention to Neelix. He knew the bridge rules and barely ever came up anymore unless he had important information.
"Captain" He called and headed quickly over to her, his feet shuffling loudly across the deck. "Captain I was just made aware that this was a Kinkari fighting ship we're chasing." He looked quickly at the ship floating silently on the view screen and for a moment was awed by its size. It was easily three times larger than Voyager herself.
"Your point Neelix?"
"Of course, sorry. This ship is a gambling ship." She nodded to state that she was aware of that. "Gambling ships make a lot of currency, for themselves as well as others. If my memory serves this particular ship is run by a man called Imod. He has technology which creates wormholes, which you obviously know." He paused to take a breath and she looked at him impatiently, hoping he'd hurry up. "Well clearly he travels all over the Delta quadrant with this technology and business, and people who benefit from him wouldn't look to kindly on his being put out of business."
"Are you saying he has allies nearby?"
"Possibly! I mean anything is possible but I would definitely keep an eye out captain." He frowned with her as she contemplated this new information. It was a good thing Neelix came to inform her of this.
"Thank you Neelix. I'll keep that in mind." He nodded and bustled off the bridge, content with the aid he'd provided.
"Harry, any luck finding Tom?"
"Yes captain, he's on deck seven, but I can't get a transporter lock on him. He appears to be enclosed in an individual shield." He jabbed at his console for more information but none came. Janeway slapped her commbadge.
"Commander. You have the go ahead to board the ship. Harry will join you in a moment."
"Aye Captain" He acknowledged. She looked at Harry who was ready to fly down to the transporter room.
"Bring him back safely Lieutenant."
"Yes Ma'am!" He replied and was off the bridge like a shot. She said a small prayer for them and then returned her full attention to the bridge.
"Commander Tuvok, keep an eye out for hostile ships."
((/\))
Tom twisted his head, the only thing he could move, to watch the doctor's movements. The man seemed unconcerned about the ship's shaking, which had occurred moments before, and didn't seem to care that it had stopped. Tom knew it had been a battle, and he assumed that Imod had won considering that the ship was still in one piece…as far as could tell anyway. The slight vibration of the medical forcefield interfered with his ability to feel if the ship's engines were still running or not, not that it mattered all that much at the moment.
What did matter was what the doctor was doing. The scans and tests were completed and he was focused on replicating something out of Tom's line of sight. Whatever it was the Doctor was doing Tom was pretty sure he didn't want to know, and he was even more positive that he would find out very soon.
"Don't look so anxious Elsar" The doctor commented, turning sideways so Tom could clearly see what he was doing. "This is nothing you haven't experienced before." Tom's eyes widened as he watched the doctor examine something invisible at the end of a pair of tweezers, and then place it carefully in a familiar injection tool. Oh hell no! They were not going to put more of those nerve needle things into him! Not again! He began to strain against the forcefield with all his strength. He felt every muscle flex with the effort but he didn't even get a finger to move more then a millimeter. He was sure that his face had turned beet red from the effort.
The doctor turned and approached him, carrying three of the feared tools. Tom desperately tried to struggle again. He liked to think he could handle anything, but right now he did NOT want to be anywhere near those needles. They were by far the most intense pain he'd ever experienced, and he couldn't stop thinking about how much he'd cried when he'd first had them injected. The difference between then and now was that he knew what was coming. He tried one last tactic to turn the doctor away, speaking harshly in the Kinkari tongue.
"If you stick those things in me again then the next time I'm in here it won't matter who's protecting you, you will not walk out alive." He took extra care to make his voice menacing, and for a moment the doctor paused in mid step looking at him in wonder. Then he finished the two steps to the medical bed, taking one of the tools and pressing it to a forcefield free area of flesh on Tom's waist. Tom tightly shut his eyes and gritted his teeth, waiting for the pain he couldn't escape.
"I don't know what your 'Elsar' just finished saying, but if you don't step away from him this second you won't be walking out of here at all." Tom's eyes shot open as Chakotay's confident words rang around the medical bay. He didn't move a muscle as he felt the Doctor's tool press harder into his side, and then disappear all together. He let out a breath of pure relief. He watched as the doctor stepped away from him and raised his arms in surrender.
"Thank you." Chakotay said politely, and then shot him. Tom watched in amazement as the doctor fell to the floor unconscious, banging his head off a table as he fell. He'd wanted to see that happen for so long.
"Hang on Tom" Harry's urgent voice called out to him. "We'll have you free in a moment."
Tom lifted his head as far as he could to see Harry heading towards the medical console and frown at it as he tried to figure out how to disable the forcefield. Chakotay walked quickly past him and bent to make sure the Doctor was unconscious. He stood a moment later and turned to face Tom. It was at that moment that Tom realized what was happening.
"You…what the hell are you doing here?!" he yelled, immediately sorry as he noticed their dismayed faces, but damnit! They were here! It was honest to god Chakotay and Harry! Harry? What was he doing on a rescue mission?
"We managed to regain control of the ship just before entering the wormhole. We came back to get you" Harry said, his eyes sincerely boring into Tom's icy gray ones. He held the gaze a moment before turning his attention back to the console.
"You came back for me?" Tom couldn't help the questions, he was so shocked by the sudden turn of events and, though he tried not to admit it to himself, he was truly happy. They did care after all.
"Of course we did Tom." Harry's serious face once again focused on his. "You're family. I know we let you down, but we'll try to make it up to you." Tom smiled the first genuine grin in over a year.
"You've already made it up to me." Harry smiled and once again turned to the console. Chakotay remained where he was standing, nodding in silent agreement to Harry's argument when suddenly ensign Carr from security ran through the doors and fell down, a hole seeping crimson fluid from his back.
"Look out!" Tom yelled but it was too late. He watched as Harry twisted to face the Kinkari's guns and was shot in the chest. It happened in slow motion, the stunned look on the young man's face before his eyes glassed over. A thin stream of blood trickled from his mouth as his knees gave out and he fell to the floor, his last breath silently exhaled. A moment later an anguished scream pierced the air and Tom turned to watch Chakotay collapse in spasms to the floor, tears flooding down his face as he screamed again in pain. The doctor fell away from the agonized man, dropping the injection tool for the nerve needle. Chakotay cried out again and this time Tom yelled out with him.
"Noooooooooo!" He instantly became aware of everything going on, and his complete inability to do anything. Harry was dead. He was gone! "Noooooo!" he screamed again and struggled with all his might against his prison. He had to get free! He had to kill the Kinkari for this! Each and every one of them!
A comm. badge chirped from Chakotay's squirming form.
"Commander. Voyager is under attack. There are too many ships. The captain is dead and we can't hold out much…" The sound was cut off and an explosion rocked the large ship momentarily. Tom lay there helpless as tears threatened to fall, but he wouldn't let them. He'd killed them. He'd meant to save them and now they were all dead or dying and it was his fault. He glanced towards the medical bay's doors as another officer of Voyager fell through, gasping his last breaths. None of his so-called skills could help them now.
Anger started to boil deep from within him and he took deep gulps of breath as though he were drowning. He had to do something! Even if it was impossible there was always something that could be done, otherwise he wouldn't have survived this long!
"U!!" he screamed, his voice cracking from the strain. "U!"
"What?!" an angered voice yelled back, and was then followed by a more subdued "Oh." Tom twisted his head to look at the being's shocked face as the man snapped his fingers. Time stopped around them and for a moment all that could be heard was Tom's harsh breathing. "You step out to the other side of the universe for a minute and look what happens." The entity sighed, bringing his right hand up to tiredly rub his eyes.
"U. You have to do something!"
"Me?"
"Yes you, U." Tom paused a moment and glared at the alien. "If you'd never brought me back to Voyager they'd all still be alive!"
"If you'd never left Voyager they'd all still be alive!" U shot back, but regretted the words. Tom had just seen his friends die, and it was obvious that he was barely holding it together. U thought hard about all the possibilities, every option he could exercise to fix this horrible situation. He did feel somewhat responsible for the outcome of his attempt to make things right. Obviously they'd turned out wrong. He watched the pilot carefully as the man still struggled to get free of the forcefield. He looked at the bodies of the Voyager crewmen lying, frozen in time, on the floor. He sighed again and looked at Tom carefully.
"I've meddled enough with all your fates, I doubt one more time will make a difference. You make sure you don't abandon them again Thomas Eugene Paris."
"What are you going to do?" the pilot demanded, hope finally glistening in his eyes.
"I'm going to fix things, but I'm warning you, only one person will remember anything that has happened."
"That's fine! Please just bring them back! I can live with the memories," Tom pleaded. U paused a moment, he didn't think he'd ever heard the man sound so desperate.
"I didn't say you would be the one to remember." And he snapped his fingers.
He began strapping them to his knees, turning them all on. He needed to get inside the ship that was looming above him undetected; that meant he couldn't go through the front doors or ask for an invitation. Quickly he checked fishing line thin metal cords and their hooks coming out of his uniform on both sides of his trim waist. His uniform, designed by the best of SEP and remade during his time on Voyager, was strong and also had a built in harness, which he could attach to his climbing tools if he needed a rest or the use of his arms. When everything checked out he re-strapped his bag to his back.
He looked up at the underbelly of the ship. It was huge, a good size larger than Voyager, though Tom was sure the size was solely for the training gyms, barracks and stadium. A traveling circus he'd heard a man call it once. He thought the title fit perfectly.
Ten meters away was one of the ship's six landing supports located at the back and right hand side of the ship. Eighty meters higher was the ship's weapons room, and the torpedo bays. Tom intended to enter that way.
He picked up his hand held suction cups and waited a moment for the coast to be clear, then he ran across the open space and jumped up the landing leg, firmly pressing the cups to the surface. They held firmly and he hung there for a moment before climbing up to the top of the landing gear, using just his arms. A moment later he swung his knees up to the ships underbelly, fully attaching himself to its surface. Then, slowly, he began his completely horizontal climb under the ship towards the edges where he would eventually be climbing vertically towards the torpedo shafts.
He froze suddenly as two Kinkari appeared and decided to stop to have a chat ten meters beneath him. Tom remained absolutely still. His gray suit, matching the ship's hull as he had planned, kept him camouflaged from their easy view, but it didn't make him invisible. A moment later they moved on and he let out a breath of relief and continued. A song crept into his mind that his sister had taught him so long ago, a devious smile crossed his lips and he hummed it quietly to himself, singing the words in his head. *Spiderman, Spiderman, does whatever a spider can…*
**
Thirty minutes of solid climbing brought him half way to his destination. The pilot freed his left hand and attached his metal cord to the cup. He did the same thing with his other and then sat down in his suit in mid air. It would have looked like he was floating, except that he had found a crevice of metal to hide him from anyone who might feel the urge to look up. He had been lucky so far, and the higher he got the less likely he would be spotted. Luckily on this side of the ship there were no barracks, and therefore few view ports. Those that were there were easily avoided.
He carefully pulled off his pack, rested it in his lap, and pulled out his mini computer to check on Voyager's stats. So far they hadn't made much leeway, as he'd planned, but it was time to throw another monkey wrench into their lives. He accessed his computer and the words "Navigational Control" crossed the screen briefly before being replaced by several symbols. Quickly Tom punched in his code and packed it away once again. He now had two hours to finish his plan.
((/\))
B'Elanna tore a panel out of the wall in engineering and began to reroute several crossed wires. She still wasn't sure what it was that Tom had done to the transporters, and for the last hour she had been stumped trying to find a solution. The damn cocky pilot had decided to once again make her life difficult, only this time instead of being furious she was worried, and confused. Since when could Tom overtake a Starship single-handedly?
A slight rise in the constant hum of engineering drew her attention away from her task and she glared over at the warp core. A moment later she felt the floor begin to lightly vibrate beneath her feet, in tune with the warp core. What the hell?!
"Torres to bridge"
"Go ahead." Chakotay's patient voice filtered through her comm. link.
"Why are we moving? I wasn't aware that we were going to be departing any time soon!"
"Neither were we. Something has taken over the navigational systems, we're currently in flight away from the planet. Destination unknown. Tom's been a little busier than we hoped." His dry voice held no humor and she stared at the warp core a moment in disbelief. Now Tom had completely taken over the ship. They hadn't even thought of checking the ships navigation systems for signs of tampering. This was like a trip through the twilight zone.
"I'll come up and help Baytart with an analysis and we'll try to figure out what's going on from there."
"See you in a minute."
She didn't bother to respond as she grabbed a couple tools and headed towards the bridge. At least the lifts were working..
…Ten minutes later…
"He's connected everything somehow and is running it from wherever he is" Baytart exclaimed as he and B'Elanna stood at his station and glared at the controls as if it was their fault they weren't responding correctly. B'Elanna turned to look at the Captain. Everyone on the bridge was paying close attention to everything that was said, hoping to discover something that could help regain control of the ship.
"Searching for a direct problem or point of problem isn't an option because he's taken control from multi-ports. We have to find every chain of code and every single wire, circuit and whatever else he's gone through to dominate the systems. To top it off he's left a trail of breadcrumbs all over which no doubt lead to a dead end. He's completely wiped-out or hidden his trail. It'll take us weeks to pull everything back into full control." Janeway listened carefully to her chief engineer and watched her chief conn officer nodding slightly in agreement.
She liked to think she was always prepared to handle any type of situation, even possible betrayal from her crewmembers, which had occurred in the past. She had not, however, expected this. Where are you taking us Tom Paris?
"Okay. I don't care how long it takes I want these systems back. First work on stopping the ship, we'll go into more detail from there. Keep as many personnel working on the other problems as possible. Pull people in from security, astrometrics, hydroponics, science, anywhere they can be spared."
"Yes Captain."
"Lieutenant Kim, keep trying to fix communications. And all of you, if you can come up with any idea of what Tom is up to inform me immediately." There was a chorus of 'Yes Ma'am' and 'Aye Captain' as they dispersed to carry on with their work. Janeway headed back into her briefing room and sat down for a moment, deciding where she would help.
"Feeling the pressure are we Captain?" An unexpected voice interrupted her thoughts. She was no longer surprised at U making an appearance, as he had been jumping in and out of staff meetings for weeks now, sometimes not saying anything, other times talking about nothing.
"What can I help you with U?"
"Oh nothing, I'm just checking in. Seeing how things are running. As I can tell they are going quite well, of course I suppose that depends on whose point of view you're looking from."
"And why would Tom think this is going well?" She asked, hoping to trick him into giving away information. He'd been amazingly tight lipped with it over these few weeks.
"Oh, Tom hardly ever thinks things are going well Captain. Not for the last year at least. No, no. This is going well for you. Do you honestly think Tom would be going to all this effort to cause you trouble? I thought you were beginning to understand the situation."
"I understand that he has taken over my ship and left. Again. I don't find this very beneficial no matter what plans he has for the better. It obviously isn't going to be better for him."
"No, no. I suppose you're right. But that is the way he has chosen it. Now I know what you are planning to do, and that's to go back and get him. When you do figure out what's going on however, I'm not so certain you'll be as willing to do that." He looked at her carefully and then disappeared. She sighed in frustration and stood up to go help with the navigational problem, contemplating what U might have meant.
((/\))
Tom crouched over and ran quickly up the torpedo's long passage until he reached the loading doors. They were smooth and there was no way to open them, like Tom had suspected. Kneeling he wiped a bit of sweat from his brow and then went into the pocket on his arm, pulling out his laser cutter, previously a surgical scalpel altered to cut through metal. He also pulled out his tricorder. Quickly he scanned the smooth hatch in front of him until he found the locking mechanisms. He put the tricorder away and began to cut through the metal with his laser. Two minutes later the door swung open and he carefully jumped out, onto the deck of Imod's weapon room.
He pulled of his mask, ignoring the smell of grease, metal, and weapon chemical fumes as he put his cutter away and once again pulled out a tricorder. A phaser was gripped in his other hand. He headed to where he suspected the door to be, and then into the hall, silently making his way to the wormhole's operation room and engineering center. It didn't take long, as he had a fairly good lay out of the ship stored in his memory. He might have spent a year aboard this thing as a prisoner, but that didn't mean he'd remained dormant.
Half way to his destination however, he ran into a slight problem. He heard the sound of approaching boots and he was stuck halfway between corridors. With nowhere handy to hide he stood there and aimed his phaser. From the sound of it, it was just one person, and their footfalls were familiar.
A moment later an unguarded Kinkari trainer rounded the corner and froze in shock. Long seconds ticked by and he still didn't dare to move and his shocked face slowly turned to recognition and then fear.
"Elsar! You're back!"
"So it seems. Come here, now."
The Kinkari jumped at the order but moved quickly to him, not even bothering to try and run away. When they were standing side-by-side Tom pulled out a pair of small arm restraints and locked the Kinkari's hands in front. He could feel the man tremble slightly under his hand. Not so tough when you don't have me under lock and chain are you? Tom pulled the silent Kinkari along with him down the corridors and they finally reached his destination.
"The code" Tom demanded as they paused at the door. Every locked entrance on the entire ship had the same access code, the problem was that Imod changed it every three days so the ones Tom did know were useless. Normally he would have hacked into the locking mechanism but this was easier.
"What do you plan to do in there?"
Tom's grip tightened slightly on the Kinkari's arm. "The code."
"Alish, haz, mato'k, haz" The prisoner stammered and Tom gazed at the symbols in thought. He should have learned to read the language as well.
"Punch them in." He ordered the Kinkari, who lifted shaky fingers to the panel. The door slid smoothly open and they both went inside. Immediately Tom closed the door and had his prisoner sit down in the center of the room.
"Don't move" he ordered and the man nodded his head vigorously. Tom began to unpack some small instruments from his bag, picking up a metal square he walked quickly to the door and placed it over the key padd. It attached itself securely and he punched in four random codes. This door now needed the new code to enter. Of course once the problem was discovered Imod could have his men cut through the door itself, but that would take approximately two hours. The code would take even longer to determine.
Then Tom allowed himself a moment to take a good look at the room. He'd only seen it once before and that was from outside the door. It was built in a circle, the middle of the room, where his prisoner sat, was bare. However hanging above the area was a circular orb the size of a baseball, which could be lowered on command. Tom suspected that was the map and navigation aid. Lining the walls completely were computer view screens and input screens. Towards the far end of the room were the consoles, approximately eight meters in length and one meter in width. Tom headed there with his computer and tricorder.
Scanning quickly he found the bypass conduit that he needed in order to turn the systems on. He peeled off a metal panel with the aid of his laser and began to wire his computer into the system.
"Don't move Kinkari" He warned as he heard a shuffle coming from the middle of the room. The shuffling stopped. After a moment Tom leaned back from the panel and stared at it in thought. He checked his watch. One hour and ten minutes until Voyager reached its destination. He left his computer, picked up the symbol translator he'd brought with him and began reading all the symbols on the consoles, hoping to quickly figure out how to work the wormhole technology. His computer could gain him access to the systems and with aid of the virus he'd placed in this vessel's system a few months ago he could block any bridge interference. For now though, he needed to figure out how to work it. Where was that manual…
Fifteen minutes later he thought he had it figured out. Actually it wasn't too difficult once you understood the basics. He walked to the center of the room and pushed his Kinkari guest to the side. Then looking up at the sphere hanging temptingly above his head he wondered how to activate it. Something hit the door outside the room and Tom continued looking for a way to access the map. Imod had sent crew to begin breaking through the door five minutes before.
"Whatever it is you're doing, you won't succeed. Our ship is much too advanced for the likes of a fighter" Hashad mocked from his place among the wall. His confidence boosted from his shipmates attempts at rescue. Tom walked to a console and pushed a round gray button. The sphere lowered to waist height and a moment later a 3-D map of their surrounding area flooded the room.
"So you know how to push buttons. A child could do that." Tom glared at the seated Kinkari, the man held his gaze a moment and then turned away silent. Tom went back to work. He located the coordinates where he was sending Voyager and punched them in on the sphere. Then he went back to the consoles and quickly began accessing different monitors, initiating order after order. A dull green light flooded the room in two brief flashes and things went back to normal. It was done; he'd succeeded. He packed away his tools in the bag and then set his phaser to vaporize, aimed it at the pile, and eliminated it. He couldn't let the enemy have them, even if they were similar in technology advancement…in a matter of speaking.
Then he slowly made his way across the room from Hashad and slid to the ground, his back propped up by the wall. He'd done it. He'd finally send Voyager home like he had planned to when this whole disaster had begun. He hoped they'd be happy. Slowly he dropped his head to his knees and rested there, eyes closed.
"Stay where you are" He ordered Hashad as he once again heard the being shuffling. As much as he wanted to get Voyager home, he would miss them. It was better this way though, because now he wouldn't have to put up with their anger anymore, and they could all be happy. At this particular second he wasn't too worried about what happened to himself. After looking at and understanding Imod's technology he realized that the Kinkari's threats to bring Voyager back had been empty. It wasn't possible to do that unless Voyager had the technology built on their ship as well, which wasn't the case.
For now he knew that he'd eventually find a way to escape and try to begin another new life in the Delta Quadrant. Who knows, maybe he'd get his own ship. Maybe he'd take Imod's…
The slight whine and sizzle of the laser's cutting through the door were slowly getting louder. Tom gave them an hour at the least before they managed to break through.
((/\))
Harry Kim stood at his station still trying to fix the communications system. So far he wasn't making any progress. As much as he wanted to yell in frustration he remained silent. Now wasn't the time to let his emotions get the better of him; it was the time to work.
He shuffled on his feet and turned to check his scanners. Though they had no current control of their destination, they were keeping track of where they were going, hoping to figure out what Tom had planned. He turned away from the scanners and continued to puzzle over communications when he suddenly realized what the readouts had said. He twisted around so fast he almost fell down and he threw his arms out to grab the console and steady himself. He felt a few eyes avert their attention to his sudden movement but he ignored them as he rapidly performed a few more scans.
"Captain" He called, his eyes remaining glued to the screen. "I'm detecting the beginnings of a rapidly growing wormhole matching the anomaly's signature that we detected at the planet."
"Where is it?"
"It's 5 light-years from here, directly in our flight path. At current speed we will reach it in forty-three minutes."
"Send a probe and find out how long it will remain stable and where it leads to."
"Aye Captain. Probe sent. Awaiting information." The busy hum continued on the bridge as Harry impatiently waited for the probe to send back its readings. This was too much of a coincidence. A few minutes later the probe sent information back to Voyager and Harry read it as fast as he could, his eyes widening at what he was seeing.
"Captain, the wormhole leads to a destination approximately one year away from earth. It would send us home." He looked over at her and Chakotay, amazement in his eyes.
"Call a senior staff meeting, now."
Two minutes later they were once again piled in the briefing room staring at the screen that provided a picture of the anomaly.
"It's too much of a coincidence." Harry voiced his earlier opinion.
"I agree" Janeway said sharply, her eyes focused dangerously on the view screen. "The question is what are we going to do about it?"
"The proper course of action would be to proceed on course and take the wormhole back to the Alpha Quadrant." Tuvok stated calmly. "However we would then be abandoning one of our crew."
"The fact that we can't just turn the ship around not withstanding." B'Elanna growled and slumped in her chair. They ignored her comment.
"If we do regain control of the ship, we have to decide now whether to continue through the wormhole, or go back for Tom." Baytart spoke up, than ducked his head for making such a brash comment.
"In all honesty this situation wouldn't be an option without Tom's interference. I feel we owe it to him to go back." Janeway spoke up. This opportunity was probably the best chance they would have to get home, but she wouldn't be able to live down the guilt from Tom's sacrifice. It didn't mean that others would feel the same way though. She sighed and finally turned and acknowledged each crewmember with her eyes. "We'll equip as many shuttles as necessary (nobody said anything about their current state) with supplies for the crew members who wish to continue through the wormhole. Those of us left will remain in the Delta quadrant and get Tom back. Agreed?" The positive nods around the table gave her the confidence she needed. It meant they believed that they could still get the ship back under control. "Good. Now we need to stop this ship."
"Lieutenant Kim" Tuvok called, gaining everyone's attention. "You stated that Voyager would arrive in the Alpha quadrant approximately one year from Starfleet headquarters?"
"Yes."
"That is a long distance of travel without use of navigation and transporters."
"We can fix them." Torres pointed out.
"Yes, but not immediately. I doubt that Mr. Paris would send us into an unknown situation without the ability to regain control of the ship and protect ourselves."
"Which means he must have left instructions on how to reverse his programming on Voyager in a place where we would think of looking" Chakotay said, catching on to Tuvok's theory.
"Brilliant! Just Brilliant! Though I have to say it took you long enough to figure it out! Yes, yes, yes!" U startled them all with his outburst as he jumped around the room waving a fist in excitement. After a moment he looked at their alarmed faces and sobered up a little. It was just so exciting he couldn't help the outburst. Finally they were starting to understand every piece of the puzzle. It was driving him nuts only being able to drop slight hints these past few weeks.
"Well now that we've gotten this far, why don't you tell us where to look?" Chakotay suggested, glaring.
"Sorry, I made a promise to Tom I wouldn't interfere."
"You've been interfering all along U. Why stop now?"
"If and when you people finally get your self-righteous pilot back he isn't going to be to pleased at the fact that his plan failed again. I don't want to take a chance at being blamed." He looked at Harry. "Gambling isn't my thing." The lieutenant's eyes widened in excitement.
"The holodeck! He left it in Sandrine's program!" He jumped up, along with everyone else except Tuvok, who sat there amused…in a Vulcan sort of way.
"B'Elanna and Harry, get to the holodecks and find the programming." They ran out of the room before she'd finished her orders. Nobody noticed the use of informal address. "Everyone else to your stations. I'll be there as soon as I've completed the ship wide announcement." She looked over at U who was sitting in Tom's old sit, and nodded thanks. He smiled and disappeared. She gave a feral grin; finally they were doing something.
((/\))
Almost out of breath from their sprint to the holodeck Harry and B'Elanna burst into the gridded room.
"Computer. Initiate Sandrine's!" Harry puffed, his voice full of excitement. A moment later the adequately lit authentic looking bar surrounded them. For a moment they stood there in silence, looking around. Had it really been over a year since they'd been here? It still seemed so familiar.
"I can't believe we never came here after Tom left" B'Elanna muttered.
"Neither can I. In fact I was quite insulted" A women's voice, thick with an accent grabbed their attention.
"Hello Sandrine" Harry smiled warmly, not wanting to upset her. He'd seen her angry with Tom once and even though she was a hologram he didn't want any of that directed at him.
"Hello yourself monsieur Kim. What do you two want? I am quite busy." She turned her back on them and began cleaning glasses. Harry didn't notice they were already clean. He was actually a little taken aback by her angry greeting. He could tell B'Elanna was too as she watched the woman curiously.
"Is something wrong Sandrine?" he asked and stepped back startled when she turned and glared at him.
"Something wrong? Why do you ask monsieur? What could possibly be wrong except that I won't see my Thomas again and am stuck on a ship full of people who couldn't care less! No no, I'm fine, in fact I'm surprised you asked! I have the right mind not to give you what you came looking for too! I don't see any reason in making your lives better at his sacrifice, but he didn't agree. No Sandrine, he said to me, I have to finish what I started. I can't let them down again. And he didn't! As far as I'm concerned he never did and you two 'ave the nerve to come in here and ask if things are fine!" She slapped her dishtowel on the counter and placed both hands firmly on the surface, glaring. She didn't say anything else.
They stared at her in shock a full minute of silence went by before B'Elanna cocked her head in confusion.
"How do you know we're on a ship?"
"Thomas doesn't lie to me. I have known since he created me."
"You mean your aware that you're a -"
"A hologram? Yes I am aware of that. A sentient one too if it matters to you, but I don't think it does considering how little your real friend meant to you."
"Don't you dare accuse us of not caring for Tom!" B'Elanna yelled stepping forward.
"B'Elanna!" Harry called quietly. "This isn't going to help."
She took a deep breath, forcibly calming down.
"Sandrine." Harry said softly, wincing slightly as her harsh glare was directed at him again. "We need whatever it is Tom left us so we can go back and get him."
"A little difficult now that we are in the Alpha quadrant."
"We haven't gone through the wormhole yet, but we can't stop the ship from traveling through it in approximately half an hour. Please trust me. We are not losing him again." She watched him intently and then after a moment her hard façade crumbled. She turned and grabbled something off the counter behind her, passing it over to him. When he gratefully went to take it from her she held on to it and looked at him fiercely.
"You tell him that if he plans on leaving again I don't want to see him. I am not helping him ruin his life anymore." He nodded and she released the item. It was a holographic data padd.
Harry and B'Elanna immediately began to scour through its contents, their eyes shining with excitement.
"This is…oh he's teaching me everything he knows when he gets back" B'Elanna growled, staring at the screen greedily. Harry tapped his commbadge.
"Kim to Bridge."
"Go ahead." Janeway answered.
"We've got the information he left for us. Have lieutenant Baytart access the central coding of the ship's system. We'll be on the bridge in a few minutes to begin the override."
"Time's running out, lieutenant. Get here fast."
"Yes Ma'am." He ended the communication and looked at B'Elanna.
"We need the emitter" He said and she grinned.
"Torres to transporter room. Lock on to the Doctor's holo-emitter and transport it to holodeck two now." A blue light erupted and Harry grabbed the tool from the bar counter attaching it to the holographic data padd.
"Thank you Sandrine" He called over his shoulder as they ran out of the holodeck. She watched them go and for the first time since this entire mess started she began to relax.
((/\))
"Sickbay to the bridge." The Doctor's annoyed voice chimed through, breaking her line of thought.
"What is it Doctor?"
"Someone has just stolen my holo-emitter. I am stuck in sickbay!" She turned and saw Harry and B'Elanna rush into the room carrying a data pad. It had the Doc's emitter attached to it.
"We're just borrowing it Doctor. You'll have it back when we're through." She cut off his retort and marched to the navigation console where they had begun working.
"How long will this take?"
"Approximately 10 minutes. After that we can reprogram the shuttles for the crew who may wish to leave. Then the communications and transporters; they may take longer considering how many different people have been fiddling around trying to fix them" B'Elanna rattled, keeping her eyes on the padd in front of her as Baytart was looking back and forth plugging in codes.
"Very good, lieutenant Baytart? When you have regained control of the ship I want you to back us a safe distance from the wormhole and wait for further orders."
"Aye Captain" he acknowledged distractedly. She briefly wondered if he hadn't heard what she had said and was just agreeing for the hell of it, then she remembered her crew's ability at multitasking. They were well trained, that was certain.
"Tuvok, you have the bridge. Commander, if you would accompany me to the shuttle bay please." He stood up and followed her to the lift, no comments made. Now she would see who wanted to leave.
The five minute ride was silent and when they reached the shuttle doors she paused a moment. Chakotay's strong hand gripped her shoulder a moment in assurance and déjà vu struck. It didn't seem so long ago when she had last done this, and selfishly she wished for the same results. Squaring her shoulders they walked through the shuttle doors, and for a moment her heart leapt in pride. There was nobody in sight.
A moment later, lieutenant Carey, ensign Vorik and ensign Saunders emerged from behind the Delta Flyer, each equipped with a small bag and Carey holding a data padd. When they noticed Janeway and Chakotay standing there they placed the bags on the ground and approached them, grins on their faces (except Vorik).
"Captain, Commander! We didn't expect to see you here." Carey exclaimed as they stopped in front of them.
"And why wouldn't we be? We can't allow members of our crew to depart without giving them a proper send off." Chakotay answered for Janeway. She was still trying to find words over her disappointment.
"Send off Commander?" Carey's grin suddenly became a little cheeky. "Not until we have Tom Paris back on board."
"We thought we'd bring our tools down here and get the shuttles back in order ASAP." Saunders joined, a small grin covering her pale features.
"Lieutenant Torres sent us instructions on how to regain control of the shuttles. We felt it prudent to have them prepared for Mr. Paris's rescue" Vorik finished and they all held a little staring contest until Janeway's laugh broke the silence.
"Don't let us keep you waiting then! Ensigns, Lieutenant. Thank you." They all nodded at each other and headed back to their task, picking up their bags. Janeway and Chakotay stopped in the corridor, and she sighed in relief.
"I'm considering putting them on report for scaring me like that" She commented, and he chuckled softly.
"I'm sure you can come up with something better than that" he said as they headed back to the bridge. The rest of the way they just grinned evilly as they plotted little acts of revenge.
((/\))
As predicted it had taken an hour before the Kinkari had gained access to the high tech room. Tom had contemplated shooting one of them but considering the number of armed guards they had outside the room his fight would be useless. He couldn't block phaser fire with his arms. In the end it was better if he went silently and planned his way out of this place later. Unfortunately he meant that for who knew how long he was going to be greatly monitored and controlled. Fun.
After they had broken into the room they'd stunned him with a paralyzing weapon and stood around watching him lie helpless on the ground, an occasional boot to the stomach the only activity until Imod arrived. He didn't say much, just walking around Tom in excruciatingly slow circles, glaring down at him with glowing eyes. Tom glared back whenever he cam into his line of vision, but it was really a sad attempt at rebellion. Then when Tom felt his hand begin to tingle as sensation came back a guard stepped forward and roughly hauled his smaller body to an upright position. Imod personally placed the dreaded collar around his neck. Tom bit back a curse, ensuring his features remained emotionless.
When he'd first arrived on this ship they'd used the collar to keep him under their control. He figured it stimulated some nerves in his spine or something because whenever they activated the collar the pain usually drove him to his knees. After a while he'd only had it on during transport through the corridors, but wearing it again really drove home the fact that he was back.
After that Tom pretty much tuned out Imod's 'we have you again and you're not going to get away' speech, glaring at what he deemed were the correct moments. Then he was literally dragged across the ship, still unable to feel his lower body, and tossed into an empty metal cell and left there in the dark.
He was still there, he just had no idea how long. One thing he was certain of though, was that his family was home…almost. He felt the year away from Earth was sort of symbolic in his own twisted sense. Actually he felt kind of bad; he should have sent them directly to Earth. But what was done was done, he couldn't change things and he'd chosen this path so he would live up to his end of the bargain; he may be stuck here, but that didn't mean he had to play nice.
Slowly he began massaging his limbs back into feeling. When that was done he paced his cell as he waited for the next confrontation. He didn't think it would be too long, and about fifteen minutes later his suspicions were proven correct. Two guards came and ordered him to walk in front of them until they arrived at the ship's medical bay. As usual the lights were bright and it smelt even more sterile than the Doc's med bay on Voyager. He'd spent too much time in both places.
They had him strip to his shorts and lie down on the examination table. When he felt the force field lock him into place he sighed.
"You don't sound to happy to be here Elsar." An uninterested voice emerged from his right as the doctor approached him with a scanner programmed to work through the field. Tom ignored him and closed his eyes. Maybe he could get some sleep during the examination; he had a feeling he'd need the rest for later.
((/\))
"Captain, the communication probe has been launched into the wormhole."
"Good" She commented and silently watched the swirling masses of red and purple on the view screen. Home lay through that wormhole, and all these hardships could end for them if they simply flew through it…she sat taller in her chair and glared at the screen defiantly. She wasn't planning on leaving anyone behind. The communication probe had all the information about Voyager's journeys and crewmembers. Hastily scrawled letters to families had been included. The only thing that had been left out was the current situation with Tom Paris. Janeway wasn't sure, but taking Chakotay and Tuvok's advice they were going to keep their newfound knowledge to themselves. At least for now.
She took one last longing look at the wormhole before ordering Baytart to turn the ship around and head back to Tom's last known location at warp nine. She wanted to get him back on this ship now.
Reports started flooding the bridge from various stations. Carey had finished with the shuttles, the transporter was running smoothly, communications would be fixed in approximately ten minutes. Everything was back under their control and they would be arriving at their destination in approximately twenty minutes. She scanned the bridge without really looking at anything. Her thoughts focused on one fair-haired pilot who was currently not aboard their ship.
Why had Tom done this? For a second time, no less. She loved her crew and would do what she could to get them home, but this was far beyond what she expected from anyone but herself. Even that thought was farfetched because she knew she was incapable of doing whatever Tom was doing. The more she thought about the skills he'd kept hidden from the crew, the more sense it made of situations in the past. Odds that he'd beaten with apparent luck and determination could now be classified as skill, perhaps even something that he'd found easy to handle. It hurt her head to wonder about so many things. One thing she knew for certain was that it wasn't going to be easy working with him unless he was upfront about the situation with her. Somehow she knew that wouldn't be the case.
"Captain. We're approaching the Tubbles planet, scanning for the Kinkari vessel. Receiving hail from planetary officials."
"On screen."
"Captain." The alien's squishy looking face greeted with curiosity. "We had thought you'd continued on your journey. May I ask why you are scanning our docking station?"
"You may, Chancellor. I apologize for our abruptness. We left the planet in a rush and it appears that a visiting ship on your planet had taken one of our crewmembers. We are currently searching for the ship to negotiate his return." The Chancellor watched her intensely for a moment before sighing.
"Apology accepted Captain Janeway. It is a shame you didn't realize your crewmember was missing sooner. Tell me, do you know which ship he has disappeared to?"
"We believe the Kinkari have taken him." She supplied the answer with diplomatic grace and quietly thanked the planet for such kind inhabitants.
"The Kinkari?" He looked to someone off screen and nodded his head after a moment. "The Kinkari vessel departed approximately ten minutes ago. We can give you the direction they headed in but no more than that."
"That is more than enough. Thank you Chancellor." She bowed her head in appreciation and he did the same in return.
"Safe journey to your crew." And he cut off the communication. She turned to look at Harry who had his sight glued to his console.
"Captain, I've picked up their warp trail from the far side of the planet. We can reach their ship in fifteen minutes at warp seven."
"Make that warp 8 lieutenant Baytart" She ordered, feeling the excitement of the bridge crew as they rushed around their duties with new energy. She remained sitting stiffly in her chair, absorbing the energy proudly. She couldn't ask for a better crew.
"Captain we're approaching the Kinkari Vessel. They are currently at warp five."
"Drop speed to match and hail them." Two resounding 'Aye Captain's' met her order and she waited for a response. It didn't take long as the ship replied and she ordered their speaker on screen.
"I am Captain Janeway of the starship -"
"I know who you are captain." The man harshly cut her off, his eyes glowing a fierce red. She focused on glaring just above his eyes to avoid the eerie feeling they gave her. "What I want to know is why you are here?"
"We've come to get our crewman back. We understand he is onboard your ship."
"The only aliens aboard my ship are here voluntarily" He sneered.
"I'm aware of that, but we want him back regardless."
"Perhaps a negotiation is at hand here." He nodded, eyeing her up and down. She nodded at him to continue and he smirked. "You give me your ship, and you may have your crewman back. He is worth more to me than that but he has proven that he is difficult to handle and it may be easier without him."
"Your terms are unreasonable."
"I know that captain, which should drive home the fact that I am not giving him up." The being's eyes flared dangerously and she glared cold steel.
"Captain, they are charging weapons" Tuvok dispassionately informed her. Their communication was cut off.
"Raise shields, evasive maneuvers." Her crew was quick to respond, barely avoiding the missiles that had been launched towards them.
"Captain, they carry adequate fire power but I believe we can defeat them" Tuvok reported, intently focused on his screen.
"Disable their weapons and engines. Chakotay, prepare a boarding team just in case we can't beam him directly aboard." Their ship rocked under the enemy's fire.
"Captain" Harry called from his station. "Permission to go with the away team if they depart?" She looked at him in question a moment and he gave a simple explanation. "I want to begin making it up to him." The ship rocked again.
"Permission granted. Tuvok, report!"
"Shields are down, targeting weapons." They waited an intense moment, Janeway aware that she was holding her breath, her mind racing with alternative fighting strategies in case this didn't work. "Weapons disabled."
"Target their engines!" she snapped and twisted in her seat as she heard the turbolift doors slide open. Neelix walked quickly onto the deck and quickly looked around as he grabbed onto the railing.
"Engines are disabled Captain, their ship is currently dead in the sea." She nodded her approval and turned her attention to Neelix. He knew the bridge rules and barely ever came up anymore unless he had important information.
"Captain" He called and headed quickly over to her, his feet shuffling loudly across the deck. "Captain I was just made aware that this was a Kinkari fighting ship we're chasing." He looked quickly at the ship floating silently on the view screen and for a moment was awed by its size. It was easily three times larger than Voyager herself.
"Your point Neelix?"
"Of course, sorry. This ship is a gambling ship." She nodded to state that she was aware of that. "Gambling ships make a lot of currency, for themselves as well as others. If my memory serves this particular ship is run by a man called Imod. He has technology which creates wormholes, which you obviously know." He paused to take a breath and she looked at him impatiently, hoping he'd hurry up. "Well clearly he travels all over the Delta quadrant with this technology and business, and people who benefit from him wouldn't look to kindly on his being put out of business."
"Are you saying he has allies nearby?"
"Possibly! I mean anything is possible but I would definitely keep an eye out captain." He frowned with her as she contemplated this new information. It was a good thing Neelix came to inform her of this.
"Thank you Neelix. I'll keep that in mind." He nodded and bustled off the bridge, content with the aid he'd provided.
"Harry, any luck finding Tom?"
"Yes captain, he's on deck seven, but I can't get a transporter lock on him. He appears to be enclosed in an individual shield." He jabbed at his console for more information but none came. Janeway slapped her commbadge.
"Commander. You have the go ahead to board the ship. Harry will join you in a moment."
"Aye Captain" He acknowledged. She looked at Harry who was ready to fly down to the transporter room.
"Bring him back safely Lieutenant."
"Yes Ma'am!" He replied and was off the bridge like a shot. She said a small prayer for them and then returned her full attention to the bridge.
"Commander Tuvok, keep an eye out for hostile ships."
((/\))
Tom twisted his head, the only thing he could move, to watch the doctor's movements. The man seemed unconcerned about the ship's shaking, which had occurred moments before, and didn't seem to care that it had stopped. Tom knew it had been a battle, and he assumed that Imod had won considering that the ship was still in one piece…as far as could tell anyway. The slight vibration of the medical forcefield interfered with his ability to feel if the ship's engines were still running or not, not that it mattered all that much at the moment.
What did matter was what the doctor was doing. The scans and tests were completed and he was focused on replicating something out of Tom's line of sight. Whatever it was the Doctor was doing Tom was pretty sure he didn't want to know, and he was even more positive that he would find out very soon.
"Don't look so anxious Elsar" The doctor commented, turning sideways so Tom could clearly see what he was doing. "This is nothing you haven't experienced before." Tom's eyes widened as he watched the doctor examine something invisible at the end of a pair of tweezers, and then place it carefully in a familiar injection tool. Oh hell no! They were not going to put more of those nerve needle things into him! Not again! He began to strain against the forcefield with all his strength. He felt every muscle flex with the effort but he didn't even get a finger to move more then a millimeter. He was sure that his face had turned beet red from the effort.
The doctor turned and approached him, carrying three of the feared tools. Tom desperately tried to struggle again. He liked to think he could handle anything, but right now he did NOT want to be anywhere near those needles. They were by far the most intense pain he'd ever experienced, and he couldn't stop thinking about how much he'd cried when he'd first had them injected. The difference between then and now was that he knew what was coming. He tried one last tactic to turn the doctor away, speaking harshly in the Kinkari tongue.
"If you stick those things in me again then the next time I'm in here it won't matter who's protecting you, you will not walk out alive." He took extra care to make his voice menacing, and for a moment the doctor paused in mid step looking at him in wonder. Then he finished the two steps to the medical bed, taking one of the tools and pressing it to a forcefield free area of flesh on Tom's waist. Tom tightly shut his eyes and gritted his teeth, waiting for the pain he couldn't escape.
"I don't know what your 'Elsar' just finished saying, but if you don't step away from him this second you won't be walking out of here at all." Tom's eyes shot open as Chakotay's confident words rang around the medical bay. He didn't move a muscle as he felt the Doctor's tool press harder into his side, and then disappear all together. He let out a breath of pure relief. He watched as the doctor stepped away from him and raised his arms in surrender.
"Thank you." Chakotay said politely, and then shot him. Tom watched in amazement as the doctor fell to the floor unconscious, banging his head off a table as he fell. He'd wanted to see that happen for so long.
"Hang on Tom" Harry's urgent voice called out to him. "We'll have you free in a moment."
Tom lifted his head as far as he could to see Harry heading towards the medical console and frown at it as he tried to figure out how to disable the forcefield. Chakotay walked quickly past him and bent to make sure the Doctor was unconscious. He stood a moment later and turned to face Tom. It was at that moment that Tom realized what was happening.
"You…what the hell are you doing here?!" he yelled, immediately sorry as he noticed their dismayed faces, but damnit! They were here! It was honest to god Chakotay and Harry! Harry? What was he doing on a rescue mission?
"We managed to regain control of the ship just before entering the wormhole. We came back to get you" Harry said, his eyes sincerely boring into Tom's icy gray ones. He held the gaze a moment before turning his attention back to the console.
"You came back for me?" Tom couldn't help the questions, he was so shocked by the sudden turn of events and, though he tried not to admit it to himself, he was truly happy. They did care after all.
"Of course we did Tom." Harry's serious face once again focused on his. "You're family. I know we let you down, but we'll try to make it up to you." Tom smiled the first genuine grin in over a year.
"You've already made it up to me." Harry smiled and once again turned to the console. Chakotay remained where he was standing, nodding in silent agreement to Harry's argument when suddenly ensign Carr from security ran through the doors and fell down, a hole seeping crimson fluid from his back.
"Look out!" Tom yelled but it was too late. He watched as Harry twisted to face the Kinkari's guns and was shot in the chest. It happened in slow motion, the stunned look on the young man's face before his eyes glassed over. A thin stream of blood trickled from his mouth as his knees gave out and he fell to the floor, his last breath silently exhaled. A moment later an anguished scream pierced the air and Tom turned to watch Chakotay collapse in spasms to the floor, tears flooding down his face as he screamed again in pain. The doctor fell away from the agonized man, dropping the injection tool for the nerve needle. Chakotay cried out again and this time Tom yelled out with him.
"Noooooooooo!" He instantly became aware of everything going on, and his complete inability to do anything. Harry was dead. He was gone! "Noooooo!" he screamed again and struggled with all his might against his prison. He had to get free! He had to kill the Kinkari for this! Each and every one of them!
A comm. badge chirped from Chakotay's squirming form.
"Commander. Voyager is under attack. There are too many ships. The captain is dead and we can't hold out much…" The sound was cut off and an explosion rocked the large ship momentarily. Tom lay there helpless as tears threatened to fall, but he wouldn't let them. He'd killed them. He'd meant to save them and now they were all dead or dying and it was his fault. He glanced towards the medical bay's doors as another officer of Voyager fell through, gasping his last breaths. None of his so-called skills could help them now.
Anger started to boil deep from within him and he took deep gulps of breath as though he were drowning. He had to do something! Even if it was impossible there was always something that could be done, otherwise he wouldn't have survived this long!
"U!!" he screamed, his voice cracking from the strain. "U!"
"What?!" an angered voice yelled back, and was then followed by a more subdued "Oh." Tom twisted his head to look at the being's shocked face as the man snapped his fingers. Time stopped around them and for a moment all that could be heard was Tom's harsh breathing. "You step out to the other side of the universe for a minute and look what happens." The entity sighed, bringing his right hand up to tiredly rub his eyes.
"U. You have to do something!"
"Me?"
"Yes you, U." Tom paused a moment and glared at the alien. "If you'd never brought me back to Voyager they'd all still be alive!"
"If you'd never left Voyager they'd all still be alive!" U shot back, but regretted the words. Tom had just seen his friends die, and it was obvious that he was barely holding it together. U thought hard about all the possibilities, every option he could exercise to fix this horrible situation. He did feel somewhat responsible for the outcome of his attempt to make things right. Obviously they'd turned out wrong. He watched the pilot carefully as the man still struggled to get free of the forcefield. He looked at the bodies of the Voyager crewmen lying, frozen in time, on the floor. He sighed again and looked at Tom carefully.
"I've meddled enough with all your fates, I doubt one more time will make a difference. You make sure you don't abandon them again Thomas Eugene Paris."
"What are you going to do?" the pilot demanded, hope finally glistening in his eyes.
"I'm going to fix things, but I'm warning you, only one person will remember anything that has happened."
"That's fine! Please just bring them back! I can live with the memories," Tom pleaded. U paused a moment, he didn't think he'd ever heard the man sound so desperate.
"I didn't say you would be the one to remember." And he snapped his fingers.