Redemption
Chapter 5
Disclaimer - Paramount and Viacom own the characters from Voyager, although they didn't often treat them right. The story line belongs to me.
A special thanks to: My friend and editor of all my stories, Mill3rs.
Tom worked at restoring communications, but the console was damaged by the crash and subsequent fire. He was having a hard time getting anything to run. The heat continued to build inside the shuttle and Tom soon pulled off his t-shirt. He managed to get a sub space buoy launched with a message to Voyager about their crash landing.
Chakotay awoke to the stifling heat and a pounding headache. He remembered the crash and looked around for the other members of the away team. Pushing up into a sitting position, he winced as he felt a sharp pain in the back of his neck. He heard muttering and soft cursing coming from the front of the shuttle. Slowly standing, he remembered that he had sent Ayala and Harry off to find the Dilithium Crystals. That meant that Paris was the one trying to repair communications. Making his way to the front of the shuttle, Chakotay grabbed onto the co-pilot's seat as he stared at the younger man bent over the console. As he noticed the large bruise blackening across Tom's back just below his shoulder blades, he realized that it could not have been a fair fight back on Voyager after all. "Who hit you, Paris?" He asked in a soft voice.
Tom spun around, startled by the voice behind him. Chakotay could see the bruise on Tom's lower abdomen before he could grab for his t-shirt and try futilely to hold it in front of himself. "You shouldn't be up. You have a pretty severe concussion, Commander." Tom reached for Chakotay's arm as the commander swayed slightly in front of him.
Chakotay brushed Tom's hand away as he leaned heavily on the seat back. "I asked you a question, Paris. Who did this to you?"
Tom looked away. "I don't know; they came from behind me." He answered, e Has he pulled his shirt over his head. Reaching out again, he took Chakotay by the arm and turned him towards the back of the shuttle. "You really need to lie back down, Chakotay. Are you in a lot of pain?"
Chakotay let himself be led to the bunk. "My head feels like it's in a vice and I'm sort of dizzy." He replied as Tom helped him to lie back down on the bunk. Tom pulled the medkit out from under the bunk and brought out the tricorder. Scanning Chakotay, he frowned. "What's wrong?" Chakotay asked.
"The swelling in your neck hasn't gone down. You shouldn't get up again it could make the injuries worse." Tom answered as he pulled a hypospray out of the medkit and pressed it to Chakotay's neck. "This should ease the pain." He said as he grabbed another and checked the dosage. "That will help with the swelling, but you must not get up and wander around again." Tom put the medkit back under the bunk. "Do you want something to drink?"
"Some juice would be good." Chakotay smiled slightly as the pain subsided. He couldn't understand Paris. Here Paris was taking care of him although he'd never shown the younger man anything but contempt. Tom brought over a glass of juice and raised the back of the bunk to a sitting position. Handing the glass to Chakotay, he stood and watched him drink. "This is nice and cold. It tastes good in this heat." Chakotay handed the glass back to Tom. "You seem pretty good at this doctoring stuff."
"Yeah, I took some medical courses at the Academy." Tom sat down on the floor, against the bulkhead facing the bunk and wiped the sweat from his forehead. "I wanted to join the Federation Naval Patrol but my father told me in no uncertain terms that I would be going to Starfleet Academy and become an Admiral in the great Paris tradition." Tom sounded bitter as he looked up into Chakotay's eyes. "When I entered the Academy, I thought of going into the medical track but my father struck again and I was automatically assigned to the command track. Whenever I could I took some medical courses on the sly. They really fascinated me, I guess." Tom stood slowly and looked out the front window. "It's starting to get dark and I'll bet this planet is like the American southwest deserts; hotter than hell during the day and freezing cold at night. I think I'll bag communications and try to get Environmentals up higher than 25%." Tom turned back to Chakotay and lowered the bunk back down. "Try to get some rest, Commander."
"Okay, Lieutenant." Chakotay replied and closed his eyes as sleep once again overtook him.
* * * * *
Voyager moved slowly towards the rendezvous coordinates. In keeping with B'Elanna's recommendations, they were only able to move at a speed of Warp 2. Captain Janeway paced inside of her ready room. They had not heard from the away team since early yesterday morning. She did not know if they had even received the message about the Kazon attack. "Janeway to Ensign Lang. Please report to my ready room." Janeway sat at her desk as the doors slid open and the young woman entered the room.
"Yes, Captain. Can I help you?" The Ensign moved slowly towards the desk. She had never been in the captain's ready room before and she was nervous. She was a replacement for Harry Kim who was on the away mission.
The Captain smiled and indicated that the Ensign should take a seat by the desk. "Relax, Ensign. I just want to know if you've picked up anything at all from the away team." The concern was evident in the Captain's voice.
Ensign Lang looked down at the desk. She hated delivering bad news especially to the captain. She had only been at OPs on the Gamma shift and knew Harry Kim by sight. He was close to her age and she thought he was cute. Now he was out of touch with the ship. "I'm sorry, Captain. We haven't heard from the away team and the ion storms in that segment are bouncing our messages right back to us."
"Please keep trying." Janeway said, indicating that their meeting was over. She reached for a PADD as she gave the Ensign a friendly smile.
"Aye, Captain. I'll let you know immediately if I hear anything." She rose and went back to the bridge.
Janeway looked out the viewport at the vast expanse of stars. I can't lose anymore crewmembers; it's too painful. It's only been three weeks since we were stranded here and lost so many others. We have to reach them before the Kazon.
* * * * *
Tom pulled his turtleneck over his head, shivering slightly. He had been correct about the planet's temperature. As the sun went down, the temperature plunged. He reached inside the panel again to try to reconnect two of the wires that had burned when the shuttle crashed. A bright blue flash illuminated the forward section of the shuttle and Tom was thrown back from the console. "Damn!!!" He yelped in pain, as the shock went up his right arm to his chest. He sat up and rubbed his arm but it was numb from shoulder to hand.
Chakotay heard the crackle from the power surge followed by Tom's yell. He pushed himself into sitting and looked towards the front of the shuttle. "Paris, are you okay?"
"Yeah, just numb. Guess Environmentals are going to remain at 25%." He stood slowly and made his way back to the bunk. "Sorry to wake you. How are you feeling?"
Chakotay looked at Tom's pale face and the lines of pain and exhaustion around his eyes. "I'm feeling much better but you look like hell. Take a rest. That's an order, Lieutenant."
Tom gave him a small smile and sunk down to the floor with his back to the bunk. He cradled his right arm in his lap and tried to rub some feeling back into it. "I'll be fine in a few minutes. But I don't think we'll get much heat in here tonight."
"We'll make do with blankets, then." Chakotay had heard the resignation in Tom's voice. "Anything from Ayala and Kim?"
"I haven't heard a word since they left. I've tried their commbadges but there's too much interference from the ion levels."
They sat in silence for several minutes until Chakotay quietly asked. "Why did you do it, Paris?"
Tom's head came up but he didn't turn around. "Do what, Commander, blow out Environmentals?"
"No, Paris. Why did you betray us to the Federation? I thought you were content flying the Liberty."
Tom stiffened at the questioned but snapped back. "I never betrayed you! They knew just where I'd come out of the nebula. It's almost like they were waiting for me. I tried to lead them away from the base. I even sent a message, warning you about them. I sent it through several relays so they couldn't trace it back to my shuttle."
"We did receive a message but had no idea where it came from. We were able to clear the base out before the Federation ships found us." Chakotay replied looking down at the younger man slumped against the bunk. "So you sent the message. I'll admit I was shocked when I heard about your sentence at Aukland. Ten years seemed rather stiff for someone who was working with Starfleet."
"Yeah, ten years in maximum security as well." Tom replied.
"It must have been rough in there, coming from your background." Chakotay stated, still thinking of Tom as a spoiled kid from a prominent family.
"Well, I wasn't quite popular with either the Maquis or Starfleet prisoners. I just didn't fit in anywhere. Kind of like on Voyager." The bitterness in Tom's voice came through.
"I guess you were beaten up a few times. The prison infirmaries aren't known for their tender care." Chakotay remembered some time spent in less then stellar medical facilities.
Tom was silent before he replied in a low voice. "The beatings I could handle. It's a lot worse when you're young and the son of the Admiral who helped carve out the treaty between the Federation and the Cardassians. The Maquis were very clear about their resentment.
Chakotay drew in a breath as he thought of the implications of Tom's words. Prison could be very brutal on the young especially when targeted by a group of angry men. He asked in a very quiet voice. "Paris, were you…?"
"Yes." Tom answered quickly, in a low and shaky voice, interrupting Chakotay's question. "Twice…. before I was placed in Protective Custody." He laughed a short, bitter sound. "Protective Custody…that's an Aukland euphemism for solitary confinement. They lock you in a six by nine foot cell for twelve to fourteen hours a day. They only let you out to work and for meals."
"I didn't know. That must have been terrible for you." Chakotay thought back to an incident on the Liberty when he'd had to confine Tom in the small brig and how the younger man was severely claustrophobic.
"Terrible, hell. I'd been in there for forty two days straight by the time Captain Janeway showed up. I would've promised to search for my own mother by then." Tom turned to look up at Chakotay. "But, I'm telling you the truth, I didn't betray you then or on Voyager. I didn't know where you were hiding in the badlands. I thought we'd just fly through the area and return to DS9 when we couldn't locate you. Then the Caretaker threw us here into the Delta Quadrant and you showed up on the view screen. I owed you for the chance to fly again after being cashiered out of Starfleet. I would never have betrayed you." Tom's voice shook with emotion and fatigue as he stared steadily into Chakotay's eyes.
Chakotay looked back at Tom and realized that he was telling the truth. "I believe you, Paris. I had no idea what you went through." He glanced out the front port and noted how dark it was. "Look, you need to rest. Grab one of the extra blankets and get onto the other bunk. We'll worry about Environmentals and communication in the morning."
"Yes, Sir." Tom answered in a soft voice as he rose slowly and reached into the locker next to the bunks pulling out two blankets. Throwing a second one over Chakotay, he moved to the other bunk. He called for lights at ten percent and drew the other two blankets over himself and closed his eyes.
to be continued……