Title: DISPLACED (3/20)

Writers: ALLEN McDONNELL (Tuvok, Cavit, Stadi, Rollins & Fitzgerald), FARI MOHAMMED (Janeway & Carey), NICK LEWIS (Paris), PATTI KEIPER (Kim), SONYA BRINKMAN (Tigan, EMH)

Edited by NICK LEWIS

Disclaimer: Star Trek Voyager and it's associated characters are trademarks of Paramount/Viacom. This is a fan-run venture, making no money. Please leave our lawyers alone ;-)

V-Trek: The Alternate Adventures @ http://www.virtual-trek.fsnet.co.uk

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There is no pain! The mantra mentally repeating over and over is the only consciousness Tuvok has right at this moment. His mission to infiltrate the Maquis ship commanded by the former Starfleet Lt Commander, Chakotay, had been going like clockwork. Then the displacement wave had appeared and swept over the little ship, flinging it into unidentifiable space near some large station. Once B'Elanna had the warp core stabalized and the ship was no longer in danger, some kind of transporter effect had snatched all of them, taking them to... to where? All he can remember is being restrained in position, a large needle looming towards him. There is no pain, Tuvok thinks again, trying to break his consciousness free so that he can assess the situation. There is no painnnnnnnn...

********************

Next morning.

USS Voyager. Intrepid class, NCC 74656. An engineering work of art. Kathryn Janeway marvels at the ship. And mine to command. Truth be known it was her dream come true. It was anyone's dream come true to be Captain of a ship like this. Her first command - she wonders if she's up to the task. Her gaze finds its way to the stars. To this day they still intrigue her. Seated on the sofa in her quarters, she thinks about her ship. She's now met most of the crew - all eager, enthusiastic Starfleet officers. It will be a pleasure to be their captain... once they become accustomed to her that is. Her eyes drift to the photo sitting on her desk. Ah Molly, it's too bad they don't allow pets on starships anymore. She misses the lovable mutt.

"Bridge to the Captain" pipes a voice from her commbadge.

"Janeway here."

"Captain, Tom Paris is aboard."

Kathryn pulls her thoughts together. And so we begin! "Acknowledged!" As she rises from the sofa and makes her way to the bridge, she feels a heightened sense of anticipation in her soul. I wonder what's in store for us. As the doors swish open, she nods to her first officer.

Lt Commander Cavit returns the gesture and turns his attention to the helm. "Lt Stadi, clear our departure with operations and take us away" he orders.

"Aye sir. Ops has cleared us, thrusters engaged." Silently and smoothly, the USS Voyager glides away from Deep Space Nine, leaping into warp after attaining the required distance. The ship then starts speeding towards the Badlands.

********************

Tom walks into the mess-hall for a light snack and immediately sees Cavit talking quietly with Harry. Telling him all the gory details about me no doubt, he thinks, now resigned to the prospect of social isolation. He reaches the replicator. "Tomato soup" he says wearily, putting his hand on the computer. Cavit looks up and sees him. Tom smiles briefly for appearances sake, then Cavit turns his attention back to the Ensign.

"There are fourteen varieties of tomato soup available from this replicator" drones the computer voice. "With rice, with vegetables, Bolian style, with pasta, with-"

"Plain" Tom interrupts before the computer can go through the entire list.

It beeps once. "Specify hot or chilled."

Oh for Christ's sake, he thinks to himself. "Hot" he says a little louder. "Hot, plain tomato soup."

The replicator materialises his order and he collects the plate. The first officer gets up and leaves as he sees Tom wandering over to Harry's table. Tom give him an innocent 'got a problem?' look as they pass each other. As he sits down, Tom can see Harry's accusing stare. "I thought it wouldn't take long" he drawls.

"Is it true?" Harry asks.

"Was the accident my fault? Yeah, pilot error. Took me a while to admit it though." Tom takes a sip of the soup and immediately makes a face, dropping his spoon. "Fourteen varieties and they can't even get plain tomato soup right" he says in disgust.

"He said you falsified reports" Harry says, ignoring his last comment. Tom nods. "Why?" Harry asks.

Tom shrugs. "What's the difference? I lied."

"But then you came forward and admitted it was your fault?" Harry now looks confused.

Tom sits back in his seat. "I'll tell you the truth, Harry. All I had to do was keep my mouth shut and I was home free... but I couldn't. The ghosts of those three dead officers came to me in the middle of the night and taught me the true meaning of Christmas." Harry sighs impatiently at the sarcasm. Tom looks bored, as if he's told this story a hundred times. "So I confessed. Worst mistake I ever made, but not my last. After they threw me out of Starfleet, I went out looking for a fight and found the Maquis." He snorts in derision of himself. "That didn't last long. I was captured barely a month later and given a one-way ticket back to Earth... straight to jail, do not pass go, do not collect two-hundred credits."

Harry looks thoughtful. "It must have been tough, especially being the son of an Admiral."

Tom looks grim. "Frankly I think it was tougher on my father than it was on me." He gets up suddenly, picking up his barely touched plate of soup. "I know the Commander told you to stay away from me and you know what? You should listen to him. I'm not exactly a good luck charm." He starts to walk away.

Harry thinks about what's been said and turns to face the departing man. "I don't need anyone to choose my friends for me."

Tom turns to look at him, a little surprised at his announcement. But before he can reply his commbadge chirps into life. "Janeway to Paris, we're nearing the Badlands. Report to the bridge immediately."

"On my way, Captain" he replies. Harry gets up from his seat and follows him out.

********************

"Captain, we're on the course supplied by the Cardassians" Stadi reports as Tom and Harry step onto the bridge from the turbolift.

"Very well Lieutenant." Kathryn walks over to the tactical station and glances over at the two. "Mr Paris, any idea where Chakotay could have taken his ship?"

Tom studies the area of space displayed. "If the plasma storms didn't destroy them, I'd guess they'd try to get to one of the class M planetoids in the Teracov belt."

"Assessment Lieutenant Rollins?" Kathryn asks her acting tactical officer and security chief

"We're not detecting any resonant transients from a warp core breach. Judging by the storm activity at the time they would have been pushed in... this direction."

Kathryn nods. "Number one?"

"Helm, set a new course to match the heading being relayed from tactical" Cavit orders.

"Aye sir, under way at one quarter impulse." Stadi presses all the right buttons and the ship starts to turn onto it's new course. As she begins to dodge plasma streamers, Tom winces thinking how much better he could pilot the ship if he had the chance. Kathryn has barely time to get comfortable in the centre seat when a beeping is heard from ops station.

"Captain, we're being scanned by a coherent tetryon beam!" Harry reports.

Kathryn twists round in her seat. "A tetryon beam?" she says, puzzled. "Source?"

"Unknown, but it's very powerful!" The ship shudders from a stray plasma ribbon. "A displacement wave has now appeared" Harry continues, checking his readings. "It's closing rapidly on us from bearing 306.7!"

"On screen!" Cavit orders loudly. Rollins makes the appropriate adjustment in his controls and suddenly the wave fills the viewscreen.

"Captain, we may be able to disperse it with a graviton particle field" Rollins reports.

Kathryn looks back at the viewscreen. "Do it!" she says, then looks to Stadi. "Start moving us away from it, Lieutenant. We can't be too careful."

"Aye Captain, new heading 41.180!" Stadi replies.

"Initiating graviton field!" Rollins states.

Seconds later, Cavit looks at the console on the arm of his chair. He turns to the Captain. "No effect on the wave."

"It's still closing. Impact in thirty seconds" Harry reports, an edge to his voice.

"Captain, I've taken the ship up to full impulse. I can't shake it off." Stadi now looks worried.

"Red alert" Kathryn orders. The ships light immediately dim and the alert siren starts. She taps her commbadge. "Engineering, I need warp!"

"We have to clear the plasma storms first, Captain" Chief Edison reports. "Warp would be suicide in here."

"Time to impact, fifteen seconds" Harry says.

"How long till we clear the Badlands?" Kathryn asks quickly, leaning forward in her chair. Cavit's is now empty, the Commander back up at tactical.

"Forty-five seconds" Stadi says desperately. "We're not going to make it, Captain."

"Eight seconds to impact!" Harry shouts.

Kathryn presses the intercom button on her chair arm. "All hands, brace for impact!" she says loudly as Harry counts down...

It's as if the hand of God has caught the ship, carelessly flinging it aside. Voyager lurches, then rocks and spins out of control. The tactical console Cavit is clinging to suddenly explodes. Then just as Stadi cancels the ship's spin, the helm console feeds back and goes up in sparks too. In main engineering, Chief Edison loses her grip on the upper core railing and plunges headfirst onto the deck below.

********************

In sickbay the cellular scanning interface blows, spraying Dr Fitzgerald with hot, sharp fragments and throwing him heavily into T'Prena who was standing beside him assisting with a diagnostic. Fitzgerald clenches his teeth in agony and opens his eyes to see his nurse bleeding profusely from a panel fragment which has pierced her throat. Clawing his way over to her, he clamps his hand over the gushing throat wound. "Computer...... initiate emergency... medical... hologram" he gasps.

"Please state the nature of the medical emergency" a bald-headed man asks as he phases into existance.

"Throat" Fitzgerald says with his last breath, trying to save T'Prena's fading life.

********************

Kathryn looks around as fires burn everywhere, Her head throbs and her throat is gagging on the smoke from the explosions. There are electrical shorts everywhere. She sees Stadi's prone form and hurries over, feeling for a pulse. It's faint. "Captain to sickbay" Kathryn coughs thumping her commbadge. "Dr Fitzgerald, respond!" There's no answer. Apprehension takes hold.

"Sickbay here."

Kathryn sighs with relief, but she doesn't recognise the voice. "Who is this?" she asks.

"This is the Emergency Medical Hologram, Dr Fitzgerald is dead."

Damn, this can't be happening.

"Engineering to bridge."

What now? "This is Janeway, report."

"The warp core is destabilising, Captain. And the Chief is dead!"

This is happening. Even a nightmare couldn't be this bad. "Commander" Kathryn shouts, calling for her first officer. Then she sees him lying, almost hidden behind the ruins of the tactical console. No! "Computer, beam Commander Cavit and Lieutenant Stadi directly to sickbay." She hopes the EMH knows what it's doing as the two figures disappear. As she stands up, she notices other figures stirring behind her. "Lieutenant Rollins, you have the bridge." she coughs again.

Rollins shakes the cobwebs from his head. "Yes Captain."

"Engineering, I'm on my way" she says, realising her comm channel is still open. As she jogs to the turbolift, she sees Harry Kim shaking his head groggily. "Ensign, get to sickbay and see what you can do." Harry looks up, barely having time to nod before she enters the turbolift and the doors slide shut.

As Harry strides to the second turbolift, Tom trots up to him. He can't just stand around the bridge looking lost, not at a time like this. "Wait up Harry, I'll come with you. If it's as bad down there as it is up here, you're gonna need all the help you can get." Harry nods and they both head off.

********************

Everything is chaos in main engineering as the Captain steps off the lift. A haze drifts throughout the room and teams of engineers hurry around putting out electrical fires.

"If we can't repair the damage, we'll have to eject it."

Kathryn is unsure who shouted as Lieutenant Carey and Ensign Lefler are both close by. As it is she's more concerned by the state of the warp core. At impulse they'd hardly reach Tuvok in time to do any good. "That's not an option" she says in a loud voice above the noise of desperate activity.

"We haven't many options left, Captain!" Carey says, now seeing her.

"Then we'll just have to do this the old-fashioned way. Ensign Lefler, lock down the magnetic constrictors. We're going to hand-seal those micro-fractures one by one." Lefler immediately understands and carries out her orders. Kathryn gestures Carey over as a laser-welder is slapped into both of their hands.

********************

Ezri slowly pulls herself up into a sitting position on the floor. She raises her hand to her forehead which stings to the touch. Her fingers come back sticky with blood. Rising somewhat unsteadily to her feet she places her other hand on the wall to steady herself and tries to recall what happened to her. She can remember a red alert being called. She'd started to rush to her post in sickbay, the ship had lurched, then... darkness. Must have got thrown into the wall a little too hard, she guesses. Upon getting her bearings, she resumes her journey to sickbay, aware of the red lights still flashing.

As she gets there, she sees the EMH frantically trying to assist T'Prena, Cavit and Stadi. The hologram looks up briefly from his work. "Ensign Tigan" he states, correlating the face with the file in his memory, "where have you been? We have casualties."

"I..." Ezri starts, but the hologram then sees the gash on her forehead.

"Never mind" he interrupts. "More wounded will be arriving momentarily. Take your position."

As Ezri goes to collect her instruments, her eyes widen at the sight of her friend, T'Prena, lying on the biobed. "What happened?" she cries out.

"Severed cartroid artery and massive blood loss" the EMH responds as if he's merely discussing the weather. "Even with artificial blood plasma, she will be in a healing trance for a few hours." He walks over to a tray for a hypo.

"And Dr Fitzgerald?" she asks, now coherent enough to notice his slumped and disfigured form on the floor.

"Third degree burns and terminal cranial damage. It's a miracle he managed to activate me before he expired."

Ezri struggles to take all this in. "Expired?" she yells angrily. "He was a human being, not some piece of worn out equipment, you... you..."

"Calm yourself Ensign" the holographic doctor says as the first of what will be many casualties start to stream in. Ezri summons up her training and quickly falls into the role of assisting this strange doctor by tending to two of the new arrivals. Minutes later, two officers stride into sickbay.

"Tom Paris and Ensign Kim reporting to assist" Tom declares.

The Doctor looks up at him. "Mr Paris, I'll need you to triage patients as they come in. Ensign Tigan and myself will tend to the critically injured, you and Ensign Kim take care of the rest."

"Aye sir" Tom replies, not knowing who this man is, but recognizing his authority in this emergency on an instinctive level.

Harry watches as Tom expertly grabs a medical tricorder and gets to work. He feels out of his element. His place is on the bridge, not wrist deep in gore. He drags Tom over to one side while the fair-haired 'Observer' scans the room in a mental triage assessment. "Tom" he whispers, "I'm not so good at stuff like this. I have a tendency to empathise a little too much with someone else's pain... if you know what I mean." He points to the floor, pantomiming a faint.

Tom doesn't even blink as he smacks a hypo into Harry's palm. "Harry, you're going to be stopping that pain, okay? Feel good about that. Now just inject the dosages at the base of the throat when I tell you. We're going to be visiting everyone in the room the Doc hasn't seen."

Harry feels himself being pulled over to the nearest biobed. He can barely contain his stomach. It's a young woman wearing an Ensign's pip, her face shredded from shrapnel. Instinctively his fingers find her weakened grip and he hears himself murmuring encouragement to her while Tom assesses her condition. Tom stops the active haemorrhaging with a dermal cauterizer. "Twenty cc's Harry."

Harry injects the medication and immediately the woman relaxes and actually smiles up in gratitude at him. Harry feels an unexpected surge of warmth as she drifts off into a sedated sleep. He is making a difference here in spite of his bewilderment. He sets the biobed to send her vitals to the EMH's database and covers her with a thermal sheet.

Harry makes it a point to stay close to Tom and do whatever is asked of him in the triage efforts unfolding in sickbay. The thought of fainting never even occurs to him the whole time. Then it becomes time for the EMH to get into more thorough treatment of the patients Tom has prioritized for him. The two officers wait for him to tell them what to do next.