A Guardian From the Past
Chapter 4
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.
Chakotay looked down at the back of the shuttle, just visible from the top of the cliff. 'The shuttle lay on its right side, about ten meters from where he stood. Spirits! I'm glad we got out of there before it went over the edge. We'd all be in much worse shape, he thought to himself, as be began a slow descent to the shuttle.
After several minutes, he reached the back hatch which was still open. He climbed in carefully and, using a wrist light, started searching for a homing beacon. Finding two beacons under the shattered pilot's console, Chakotay soon realized that they were too damaged to be of any use. "Well, maybe I can get the communications system up and running and get through to Voyager." He said out loud, just to hear something in the eerily quiet shuttle. The dense rocks and thick trees blocked out all sounds from the planet.
Chakotay attempted to get any system to operate but, after close to three hours, he realized that the shuttle was beyond the simple repairs he could accomplish. "This needs the engineering department to get anything going again."
He was suddenly startled when he heard someone calling out to him.
He looked up as Harry Kim climbed through the back hatch with a relieved look on his face. "Commander! Am I ever glad to see you. Our sensors didn't pick up any life signs on the planet's surface. Where are the Captain and Tom?"
"Ensign, it's good to see you too. We were beginning to wonder if Voyager would be able to scan through the interference in the planet's atmosphere. Captain Janeway and Lieutenant Paris are in a cave about 30 meters up from that clearing." Chakotay pointed up and to the left of the shuttle. "Lieutenant Paris has been badly injured and needs to be beamed up to sick bay immediately."
"There's a problem with the commbadges on the surface, Commander. I couldn't reach you, even from the top of the cliff, but spotted the shuttle and came down here to investigate. Lieutenant Ayala beamed down with me and is scanning the area around the clearing."
"We should go back up to the clearing and try to reach Voyager again." Chakotay stated.
They made their way up to the clearing and were able to contact the ship. "Commander Chakotay to Voyager. Come in please."
"Tuvok here, sir. Are you all well?"
"No, Tuvok. Lieutenant Paris requires immediate beam out to sick bay." Chakotay answered.
"Commander, we are not reading either Captain Janeway's or Lieutenant Paris's commbadges." Tuvok replied.
"They're in a cave, not far from these coordinates." Chakotay said. "There must be interference from the rocks surrounding the cave. Please have the doctor beam down to see to Lt. Paris."
The doctor materialized in front of them and the four men headed up to the cave.
* * * * *
The Captain noticed that Tom's breathing was very shallow, and when she checked his pulse it was weak and rapid. Even under two blankets, he continued to tremble and his eyes kept closing. She recognized the symptoms of hypovolemic shock, probably brought on by the internal bleeding.
"Captain, we have to get out of here before the shuttle goes over the cliff!" Tom suddenly said in a confused voice.
"Tom, we're out of the shuttle. You found a cave and we spent the night here." She replied gently. I have to keep him talking and focused until help arrives.
"Captain,I....I'm still....thirsty. Is.....is there anymore water?" He whispered.
"You can have some small sips, Tom, but too much will make you sick." She held the water flask to his mouth and let him take two small sips of water before taking it away. He focused on her face and calmed slightly.
"Tom, you need to keep talking, in order to stay awake, until Voyager finds us and we can beam you up to sick bay. Okay?" She smiled at him.
A tentative smile flickered across his face. "I ...never thought you'd be telling .....me to keep talking, Captain. I thought I..... did that too...too much."
Janeway smiled warmly back at Tom. "These are unusual circumstances, Lieutenant. So, how is B'Elanna doing with the pregnancy now?"
"She's still experiencing some morning... sickness but the Doc thinks ...that should fade out in the next two weeks." Tom answered quietly.
"Have you been preparing your quarters for the new arrival?" Janeway smiled down at her chief pilot.
"Y....yes. I replicated an old fashioned cradle and B'Elanna found a mobile with star ships and planets on it to hang over the cradle." As he spoke of the baby, Tom's voice grew steadier, although it was still barely over a whisper. "We've also come up with her name, Captain. Her first name will be Miral."
"For B'Elanna's mother, right?" Janeway questioned.
"Yes Captain, Miral Kathryn Paris."
"Kathryn, Lieutenant?" The Captain asked hesitantly.
"Yes. B'Elanna and I agree that our daughter should always remember the woman who rescued her parents."
"Rescued you? I'm the one who stranded you both over 70,000 light years from home. Why would you want her to remember me?" She asked, puzzled.
"You gave both B'Elanna and me a second chance for a better life, Captain. The Alpha Quadrant isn't home. Voyager is and the crew is our family." The captain felt tears sting her eyes, and gave Tom's shoulder a squeeze.
Suddenly, Chakotay and the doctor entered the cave. Glancing up, the captain saw Ensign Kim and Lieutenant Ayala standing at the entrance. "Apparently, the rocks in this cave have been masking our life signs and Voyager wasn't able to find us until this morning." Chakotay stated as the doctor moved to Tom's side.
Scanning Tom, the doctor looked at him with a slightly annoyed look that did not quite hide the concern he felt for his most frequent patient. "Well, Mr. Paris, I see that once again you'll be gracing my sick bay with your presence. I can get you fixed up as soon as we beam you back to the ship." The Doctor looked up at Chakotay and remarked "We'll need to move him out of the cave once I have him stabilized, so the transporters can get a lock on him and beam him to sick bay." The doctor removed a hypospray of Hydrocortilene from his medical case and held it to Tom's neck. "This will ease the pain for now, Mr. Paris." Tom took in a shaky breath and the doctor reached into his case again. "This Tri-ox compound will ease your breathing until we can get you back aboard Voyager." He said, as he administered the second hypo.
The Doctor turned his attention to the Captain. "And you, Captain. How are you feeling?"
"Mr. Paris performed admirably in your absence, Doctor." Janeway responded as he scanned her with his tricorder.
"I can see that he did an excellent job. I would still like you to check in with me when you return to the ship." She smiled in agreement with him. "Mr. Paris is ready to go up to sickbay." The Doctor nodded towards Chakotay.
Chakotay and Mike Ayala helped Harry lift Tom and carry him out of the cave with the Doctor following. "Commander Chakotay to Voyager. Lock onto Lieutenant Paris's commbadge and beam him and the Doctor directly to sick bay."
"Yes, Commander. Tuvok out." Seconds later, Tom and the doctor dematerialized.
Chakotay turned to Harry and told him. "The shuttle's systems are all totally off-line. We'll need a team from Engineering to come down and repair it enough to fly if back to the ship."
"Okay, Commander. I'll get on it as soon as we're back aboard. Now, we need to get you and the captain back on Voyager."
Captain Janeway had joined them outside the cave, and signaled to the ship that there were four to beam up. As they disappeared in the hazy blue light, silence again descended on the planet's surface.
* * * * *
B'Elanna was waiting in sick bay when Tom and the doctor appeared. Ensign Wildman was on duty as the medical assistant, and helped the Doctor get Tom settled on biobed one. B'Elanna took Tom's hand, and he opened his eyes at her touch.
"Hey." He said softly.
"Hey yourself." She responded tenderly.
"Sorry about breakfast." He whispered. B'Elanna just smiled down at him and squeezed his hand.
"Ensign, please prep Lieutenant Paris for surgery." The Doctor instructed Samantha Wildman. "Lieutenant Torres, you may wait in my office. He'll be just fine." The Doctor proclaimed with a warm look in his eyes.
He's definitely changed in the past few years. I think he really cares about Tom. B'Elanna thought as she walked into the Doc's office. Sam placed a hypospray against the side of Tom's neck, and he slowly faded into unconsciousness.
* * * * *
The next evening, Harry walked into sickbay, dressed in a pair of black slacks and a green shirt. He found B'Elanna standing next to biobed one, talking to the Doctor. Tom was sitting on the edge of the bed, wearing a blue T-shirt and jeans, with a slight smile on his face.
"Now, Mr. Paris, I've already informed the Captain, that you are cleared to return to full duty shifts in 48 hours. This, of course, includes your shift in sick bay."
"Right, right, Doc. I understand. Can I leave now?" Tom asked impatiently.
"Yes, Mr. Paris. You are fit to leave." The Doctor answered with an annoyed look on his face.
"Well, Harry, are you ready to lose those replicator rations?" Tom asked as he put his arm across Harry's shoulder and headed out of sick bay.
"And just what makes you so sure that I'll lose this time?" Harry answered with a slight grin on his face.
"Harry, Harry, Harry, when was the last time I lost to you?" Tom's voice was heard as the sickbay doors swished shut.
B'Elanna smiled at her husband and their friend as they headed for the turbolift.
* * * * *
When they got to Holodeck One, they found the Sandrine's program already running. The three entered the bar and sat down near the pool table. Captain Janeway and Chakotay were in the midst of a game of pool, and she appeared to be beating him soundly. Harry went up to the bar and returned with 3 Romulan Ales. As he set the glasses down on the table, the Captain and Chakotay joined them.
"I understand you were able to bring the Armstrong back on board." Chakotay said, looking at Harry and B'Elanna.
"Yes." B'Elanna answered. "We had to re-initialize all of the power conduits, but were able to fly it off the planet's surface. It's being repaired in the shuttle bay."
"Harry," the Captain questioned, "You never did tell us how you were able to locate the shuttle on the planet through all of the interference. What scans did you use?"
"I knew when we kept getting readings of massive amounts of Duranium and Titanium that we had to look for something not typically found in the shuttle construction. Seven asked me if there was anything that was peculiar to that shuttle. That's when I remembered this." Harry answered, pulling something out of his shirt pocket and handing it to Tom. "Here, I retrieved this from the shuttle this afternoon."
"Thanks, Har." Tom said as he gently cradled the silver-looking object in his hand.
"I remembered that Tom always carries this with him when he takes a shuttle out for its maiden flight." Harry looked towards his friend.
"May I see it, Lieutenant?" The Captain asked, and Tom handed her a belt buckle. The rectangular buckle was made of silver, with a smaller Turquoise rectangle in the middle. Set into the inner rectangle was a silver eagle with its wings stretched out in flight. "This is beautiful, Tom. Where did you get it?"
"My father bought if for me." Tom answered with a wistful look on his face. "It was just after my first shuttle flight. He let me fly an old impulse engine shuttle from the Aldren base on the moon to Earth. We landed in Aztec, New Mexico. He said he was very proud of me, and that since I had done so well, I could buy a souvenir. I found this at a little stand in the village near the shuttle port."
"How old were you, Tom?" Janeway asked.
"I was just eight years old. I was so scared when he told me to take over the controls. I couldn't level the shuttle off at first and thought we'd crash back onto the surface of the moon. He told me to relax and imagine it was one of the simulations at Starfleet Headquarters. He'd been letting me fly the simulations at the Academy from the time I was five."
"So, after telling you to relax, your father let you fly all the way home?" Chakotay asked.
"Yes, Commander. I finally leveled it off, flew a tight orbit around Earth, and brought if down for a fairly smooth landing. Then I found this belt buckle and asked him if I could get it. The Navajo man who was selling it said that it was over 300 years old, and very valuable. At first, my father said no because it was too expensive."
"Then, he changed his mind?" Chakotay asked.
"Yes. He gazed at me with a sad look in his eyes and said, if I wanted it that much, he'd have to buy it for me." Tom's voice grew lower.
"He must have loved you very much." The Captain said softly.
"Yeah ...I guess he did. That was before the Cardassians and the... two of you... being captured. It was never the same after he came home...." Tom's voice trailed off as he got a pained look in his eyes.
"Tom, do you know the significance of the different parts of the belt buckle?" Chakotay asked.
"No, I just wanted it because I liked the way it looked. My favorite color was blue and I thought the eagle looked good with its wings spread out like it was gliding through the sky."
Chakotay carefully turned the belt buckle over several times in his hands. "Native Americans, during the 20th century, prized the mineral kingdom as one of the oldest on the planet. Turquoise was one of the four sacred stones of the Navajo tribe, who regarded it as a valuable talisman. Silver was considered very precious, and the eagle in flight represents a soaring spirit - quite appropriate for a pilot. The three elements combine to form a talisman meant to keep the owner safe from harm."
"I do remember the man we brought if from saying that it would bring me good luck. My father scoffed at the idea, but I guess I wanted to believe it. I never told him, but I started to bring it whenever I flew a new shuttle. I guess the Admiral was right though. It certainly didn't bring us good luck with the Armstrong."
"But you're wrong, Tom." B'Elanna spoke up. "The three of you survived and returned to Voyager. It did keep you safe until we could rescue you." She leaned in towards her husband and gave him an affectionate hug.
A faint smile began on Tom's face, slowly spreading to his eyes as he returned the embrace. "I suppose that man was right after all."
The End