"Mister Paris!" I jerked up at the sound of my name, praying inwardly that I wasn't about to plunge us into the heart of a sun in my exhaustion. Glancing quickly at the helm, I noticed with relief that we weren't, and answered, "Yes Captain?" "For the third time, how far along our course are we to the next M- class planet?" Looking back down at the board in front of me I saw that we were only 46 hours away from the planet and said as much, vastly relieved that Neelix would hopefully have an influx of new foods - preferably non-cookable ones. I was chagrined to note at the same time that we had drifted many light- years off course because of my little nap. With as much boredom as I could infuse into my voice I announced the fact out loud and corrected our course simultaneously. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Kim trying to keep himself from grinning. Chakotay seemed about to make a snide remark, but was forestalled by Captain Janeway's hand, which had raised in a silent command for quiet as she said, "If this happens again Lieutenant, I am going to be forced to put you and B'Elana on opposing shifts." Knowing she was right. this WAS only about the third time I've fallen asleep at the helm, and I HAD been warned several times already, I decided not to try and wheedle my way out of it this time, and merely answered, "Yes Ma'am!" Several minutes later, my board lit up indicating a distress signal originating nearby. Seeing a possible redemption for my honor, I jumped on it, "Captain?" "Yes Mr. Paris?" My excitement grew as I read the code of the signal, "I'm picking up a distress signal. and it's in Starfleet code!" I smirked as everyone perked up at this surprising piece of information. I was ordered to play it out loud for everyone to hear. As I complied we heard the oddly fluted voice of a Morian. I know I wasn't the only one wondering what a Morian was doing in an escape shuttle that was marked for oxygen-breathers only. Tuvok, typically, began prating about the need for caution, "Need I remind everyone that we are in the Delta Quadrant? The likelihood of this being a real Starfleet shuttle is practically nil. We must take all precautions before we trust who or what is in there." Having heard the real distress in the voice begging for help, I refused to listen to Tuvok's reasoning. "Captain, I volunteer to beam over to the shuttle and do a recon before we beam the inhabitant over here." Tuvok glared at me, if that's possible, as Janeway considered my proposal. As a volunteer, I'd be the only one taking any risk, and more importantly, we wouldn't have to wait to respond to the distress call, perhaps waiting until it was too late to help. Nodding, the Captain told me to hurry, get my Away gear, as well as a spare medkit, and get to the transporter room on the double. In the transporter room, B'Elana quickly checked my gear for 100% efficiency, and quietly murmured to me to be careful. Raising my eyebrows at this out-of-character concern, I gave her a cocky half salute, half wave as I was beamed over to the shuttle. Phaser at the ready, and set on stun, I peered cautiously about me as I arrived in the rear of the distressed shuttle. Walking towards the forward compartment, I spotted the shuttle's only inhabitant almost immediately, and felt a little silly to be pointing my phaser at her. Definitely a Morian physically, she appeared to have no difficulty breathing the oxygen that my tricorder indicated was present in the compartment. I smiled quizzically, and reassuringly at her through my helmet as I hurried over to her with my medical tricorder and began taking readings. Oddly, the readings showed a partial human anatomy, and before I could ask her about it, she fainted straight into my arms. Alarmed, I signaled B'Elana to beam me out, with one possibly injured guest, straight to sickbay. As I laid the ensign out on one of the diagnostic tables, careful of her tail, the Doctor appeared. "Please describe the nature of the medical emergency!" Rolling my eyes, I pointed at the ensign and replied, "When are you going to change your programming Doctor? Your opening line is getting way too cliché!" While he was looking over his patient, Captain Janeway and Commander Chakotay strode in and asked me to report. Not having much to say, I finished quickly, just as the Doctor administered a stimulant to the ensign, waking her. Captain Janeway smiled reassuringly and approached her, asking kindly, "What happened to you Ensign? Where is the ship your shuttle originates from?"