Thanks again to all the beta babes and to those who are leaving feedback. I
appreciate your thoughts on the story. Brigid
Chapter 6
Neelix was surprised to see Tom up and about so early. He usually balanced the books and went to bed several hours later than the rest of the employees. As a result he rarely made an appearance downstairs before noon. But this morning was different. Tom looked a little worse for wear, so Neelix silently handed him a cup of hot coffee and waited patiently for the explanation.
"Neelix, how would you like to own a gambling casino?" Tom asked.
"Well, I hadn't really thought about it, Tom. I kind of like what I'm doing here. Bartending is a very noble profession," Neelix answered.
"I need to sell this place, and I'd like to sell it to you." Tom sounded tired and a little discouraged. "You'll be fairly safe here unless the Federation loses the war, and then no one will be safe."
Neelix looked at his friend closely and could see the stress in the lines etched around Tom's mouth, and the furrows in his forehead. "Why don't you tell me what's going on, Tom?"
"I need to get away for a while, and I don't want to take any chances with your safety or Seven and Doc's." The normalcy of the words contradicted the effort Tom was putting into saying them.
"You don't think that Starfleet can insure our safety?" Neelix asked.
"From an invasion, maybe, probably, but not from a Ferengi who decides he wants his bar back. They can be pretty ruthless." Tom smiled at his friend.
"I don't know anything about the bookkeeping." A small frown crossed Neelix's face as he pondered the information Tom was sharing.
"Doc can take care of that, and he also gets a small percentage of the profits."
Neelix smiled, "I know. And I also know it's larger than mine, but he deserves it. He certainly has a way of dealing with Seven."
"You know, I offered her a percentage too. She wasn't interested," Tom returned Neelix's smile.
"I know, she has no need for any more latinum. According to her, all of her basic needs are met with the salary that you pay her."
"Well, I've put her percentage away in a safe place. I'll give you the codes so you can take care of that. You also need to make sure that Harry wins occasionally at the Dabo tables. Nik can get real stingy in his pay- outs if he's not watched."
Neelix nodded sagely. "When will you be leaving?" he asked.
"Tonight."
"It's been an honor to work with you, Tom. I-I hope we'll be able to work together again."
Tom smiled at his friend, "Thanks, Neelix. If there's anything left after this war is over, I'll come looking for you. Deal?"
"Deal!" Neelix answered with a grin.
***
Harry was surprised to see Tom in his office that afternoon. His old friend usually avoided anything to do with Starfleet. "Tom, what brings you to my little corner of the world?" he asked.
"How would you like to be a hero, Harry?" he asked jovially.
"A hero? Does this involve a holodeck?" Harry replied cautiously.
Tom's smile was genuine. "No, no holodecks... We did have a good time though, didn't we?" 'Captain Proton' still held a special place in Tom's memories.
"Yeah, there were a lot of good things on Voyager. And B'Elanna was one of the best." Harry wasn't afraid to venture into forbidden territory. Tom had something on his mind and Harry hoped that with some none-too-subtle prodding he would share it.
Tom lost his smile for a minute but managed to answer, "Yes, I guess she was. And maybe that's what this is about." Harry didn't need to answer, he knew Tom would get around to the reason for his visit.
"Harry, I've got those codes Chakotay is looking for. Chiff gave them to me before you arrested him. I'm going to give them to Chakotay tonight and let you arrest him. If he's in a Federation prison, he can't lead B'Elanna into any more danger." Tom paused to assess how Harry was handling this information. Hard-won maturity allowed Harry to keep his face neutral as Tom spoke. "I told him to meet me at 0300 in the bar. We'll be closed by then. I'll give him the codes and follow him to the airfield. You can arrest him there. But we need to keep it to ourselves. I don't want Janeway brought in on this or any of the other fleeters. We can handle this ourselves."
Harry was starting to look a little less sure of himself. "Tom, I'm a 'fleeter'! I can't just go against orders," he answered sternly.
"What orders? You haven't been given any orders. I'm just asking you to help me with a little problem I'm having with a customer." Tom spoke in a patient tone of voice, like he was reasoning with a small child. Harry wasn't about to be fooled.
"If you've got the codes, good buddy, you need to just give them to me."
"Not a chance. Think of it this way, Harry, you'll have the codes when it's all over, and you'll have at least two Maquis prisoners too." Tom seemed to be gloating, something that should have made Harry very suspicious.
"Why do you want to see Chakotay and B'Elanna in prison, Tom?" he asked.
"I'd rather see her-- them in a Federation prison than in a Cardassian one."
Harry nodded sagely as he studied his friend's face. "The Maquis will come looking for you."
"I've already made arrangements to sell the bar to Neelix. I'm leaving Nik's, and Beloti and hopefully, this war. I just want it all behind me." Tom's answer held anger and frustration.
"If the Dominion wins there won't be any place to put it behind you." Harry reminded him.
"Then you damn well better make good use of those codes."
Harry rose and stretched out his hand to Tom. "I'm going to miss you."
"Me too," Tom said as they sealed the plan with a handshake.
***
The bar closed at 0200 as usual and Chakotay met Tom at the appointed time. B'Elanna was with him, but the look on her face told Tom she'd rather be anywhere else. Well, maybe he could take care of that for her. "Punctual as always, Chakotay."
"Do you have the codes?"
Taking the data chip out of his pocket, he handed it to his former commander. As soon as the transfer was complete, Harry came through one of the side doors, phaser drawn and ready. "I'll take that, Commander, and your weapon. You're under arrest for possession of classified information."
"Paris," Chakotay's angry growl caused B'Elanna to flinch even as she gaped at both Harry and Tom. This couldn't be happening, betrayed by both of her dearest friends-- or those she'd thought were her dearest friends.
"Surprised? Our friend Tom decided the Federation had a better chance in this war than the Maquis. I guess..." His words dropped off as he saw Tom point a phaser at him now, a phaser that was obviously set higher than stun. "What the hell are you doing?"
"Not so fast, Harry. I'm taking a stand. Now we're all going over to the airfield. Sorry, old buddy, but you are going to let them go, and you're going to make sure that no one stops them along the way." Tom gestured toward the heavy doors that led out into the deserted street.
It was a short walk to the flat plain where ships of all registrations were parked. The small Federation force kept the piracy down to a minimum but the base was open to traffic from many worlds. At the hangar Tom warned Harry again and told him to call the officer in the control tower. The message was clear, "A Maquis ship will be taking off in 15 minutes. No one is to stop it, and no one is to track it."
Harry delivered his message but his face wore a look of betrayal.
Tom looked at Chakotay, "You'd better tell your ship to get ready to go. They'll probably need an engineer to do a final systems check." Wordlessly B'Elanna looked at Tom, trying to find a motive; trying to find the man behind that mask of indifference. Neither the motive nor the man she'd known was evident and, with a glance at Chakotay who silently nodded, she moved off in the direction of their ship.
"Well, you've managed to surprise me, Paris. I thought you had designs on B'Elanna and would turn me in to get to her." Chakotay smirked.
"No, she has to make her own decisions and maybe, someday, she'll decide that what we had was special. I'd like her to know that - " his voice trailed off. "Just be damn sure she survives this war, Chakotay. She needs to be needed, but she takes risks and puts herself in harm's way just to prove she's tougher than everyone else. She's the best engineer you could ask for, just find some place where she can be the best engineer and not get her head blown off. Take care of her - "
His plea was interrupted by the appearance of Admiral Janeway at the door of the hangar. Standing with hands on hips and displaying her infamous glare she asked, "What is going on here?"
Tom quickly turned to include her in the range of his phaser and she stopped in surprise. More cautiously she asked, "Why did you order the base to let a Maquis ship go, Lieutenant? And Tom, why do you seem to be holding these people against their will?"
"Why, Admiral, I'm glad you could join the party. Too bad, but Chakotay is just leaving. Get out of here Chakotay, and remember what I said." Tom nodded to the Maquis captain without taking his eyes off Janeway.
"Thanks, Tom. I know we've got a chance of winning this war, and you've just doubled those chances." His voice sounded sincere and held a hint of admiration that took Tom by surprise.
"I don't know whose side you're on, and I don't care. Your war isn't my war. Now get out," was his churlish answer as Chakotay hurried off, his silhouette fading into the darkness of the night.
Admiral Janeway folded her arms across her chest. "You'll be court- martialed, you know."
Tom watched Chakotay disappear, then returned his full attention to the admiral. "You can't court-martial me, I'm not a member of Starfleet."
"You won't shoot me, Tom. I'm going to call the guards and stop that ship," Janeway began as she moved further into the area.
To her surprise Harry caught her hand with one of his and removed her combadge with the other. "I guess you'll have to court-martial me since you can't have Tom, Admiral."
"Well, you've both just thrown your lives away here. What are you going to do now?" she asked angrily.
Tom was still looking at Harry in amazement, and took a minute to formulate an answer. "I guess I'll have to find another neutral planet and buy another bar."
Casually Janeway asked, "How long will it take you to set up your network again?"
Tom looked at quizzically, "How did you know?"
"Tuvok felt it was time I knew his source. Your information has certainly helped. What caused you to shut down?" Her question seemed almost friendly.
"The Bolian. Once the first doubt was raised about my neutrality I knew I had to get out." Tom answered.
Harry's look went back and forth from commanding officer to friend in this strange conversation, and he finally said, "Would someone please tell me what's going on?"
With a small laugh, Tom placed his hand on his friend's shoulder and squeezed, "I'm a spy, Harry. I've been feeding information about the Dominion activity in and around Cardassia to Tuvok, and sometimes to the Maquis."
"And Chakotay didn't know?" Harry was incredulous.
"He knew," Tom's voice was bitter again, "He just figured his mission was more important than my safety or that of the network."
Harry was starting to get a clearer picture, "Doesn't it bother you that you just sent two old friends to their death?" he asked angrily.
"Hopefully not to their deaths, Harry, just to reinforce the invasion fleet. They can use all the help they can get," Tom replied.
"How do you know that?" the admiral asked sharply. She thought that information had been carefully guarded.
"It came through the network last night. The Cardassian underground has control of over half the fleet and more are turning every hour," Tom answered her.
Janeway was incredulous, even she didn't have that much information. Her practicality took over though. "You'd better go, Tom. Starfleet ships will be arriving soon and you've just made an enemy of Starfleet. And-- it would look better for me if you locked me in a closet or something."
Tom grinned, the old familiar grin she'd known on Voyager. "Okay, this office opens at 0700 so you shouldn't be here too long. Do you need to-- um- -?" Tom nodded toward the door at the end of the hallway.
He took her glare as a 'no'. "Should I hit you over the head to make it look more authentic?"
"I'd rather you didn't," she answered dryly.
Harry again had to ask, "What the hell is going on now?"
Tom patiently explained, "I'm escaping, Harry, and the admiral is going to be tied up in the closet until the staff comes in at 0700 so I can get a head start. I'll need to tie you up too unless you've decided to come with me."
Looking back and forth from one to the other, Harry finally decided stay to with what he knew and held his hands out for Tom's rope.
As he left the two Starfleet officers in the small closet Tom said, "I don't know who's going to win this war, the Dominion or the Federation. I just hope there's a little piece of the quadrant left undestroyed when it's all over."
"I hope so too, Tom. Good luck," Janeway offered sincerely as Tom shut the door. She glanced at Harry in the dim light of the closet. He looked like he'd just lost his best friend. "We're all in this together now, Harry. We each have a job to do, you and I and Tom, Chakotay and B'Elanna. There's a much larger picture here and what happens to any of us doesn't amount to a hill of beans in this war- as long as we each do our job."
"And our job is to sit in this closet?" Harry asked with a smirk.
"Our job is to see that those codes get used by someone, anyone," the admiral answered.
"And after?"
"After? After this war? We can hope that there's a little piece of the quadrant left for us too."
"And if there's not?" Harry asked.
"There's always the Delta quadrant, Lieutenant," she whispered softly as she lay her head against the wall and shut her eyes.
Harry watched her for a long minute before following her lead. "This could be the start of a beautiful friendship," he thought as his eyes began to close, "I just hope we have time to enjoy it."
Chapter 6
Neelix was surprised to see Tom up and about so early. He usually balanced the books and went to bed several hours later than the rest of the employees. As a result he rarely made an appearance downstairs before noon. But this morning was different. Tom looked a little worse for wear, so Neelix silently handed him a cup of hot coffee and waited patiently for the explanation.
"Neelix, how would you like to own a gambling casino?" Tom asked.
"Well, I hadn't really thought about it, Tom. I kind of like what I'm doing here. Bartending is a very noble profession," Neelix answered.
"I need to sell this place, and I'd like to sell it to you." Tom sounded tired and a little discouraged. "You'll be fairly safe here unless the Federation loses the war, and then no one will be safe."
Neelix looked at his friend closely and could see the stress in the lines etched around Tom's mouth, and the furrows in his forehead. "Why don't you tell me what's going on, Tom?"
"I need to get away for a while, and I don't want to take any chances with your safety or Seven and Doc's." The normalcy of the words contradicted the effort Tom was putting into saying them.
"You don't think that Starfleet can insure our safety?" Neelix asked.
"From an invasion, maybe, probably, but not from a Ferengi who decides he wants his bar back. They can be pretty ruthless." Tom smiled at his friend.
"I don't know anything about the bookkeeping." A small frown crossed Neelix's face as he pondered the information Tom was sharing.
"Doc can take care of that, and he also gets a small percentage of the profits."
Neelix smiled, "I know. And I also know it's larger than mine, but he deserves it. He certainly has a way of dealing with Seven."
"You know, I offered her a percentage too. She wasn't interested," Tom returned Neelix's smile.
"I know, she has no need for any more latinum. According to her, all of her basic needs are met with the salary that you pay her."
"Well, I've put her percentage away in a safe place. I'll give you the codes so you can take care of that. You also need to make sure that Harry wins occasionally at the Dabo tables. Nik can get real stingy in his pay- outs if he's not watched."
Neelix nodded sagely. "When will you be leaving?" he asked.
"Tonight."
"It's been an honor to work with you, Tom. I-I hope we'll be able to work together again."
Tom smiled at his friend, "Thanks, Neelix. If there's anything left after this war is over, I'll come looking for you. Deal?"
"Deal!" Neelix answered with a grin.
***
Harry was surprised to see Tom in his office that afternoon. His old friend usually avoided anything to do with Starfleet. "Tom, what brings you to my little corner of the world?" he asked.
"How would you like to be a hero, Harry?" he asked jovially.
"A hero? Does this involve a holodeck?" Harry replied cautiously.
Tom's smile was genuine. "No, no holodecks... We did have a good time though, didn't we?" 'Captain Proton' still held a special place in Tom's memories.
"Yeah, there were a lot of good things on Voyager. And B'Elanna was one of the best." Harry wasn't afraid to venture into forbidden territory. Tom had something on his mind and Harry hoped that with some none-too-subtle prodding he would share it.
Tom lost his smile for a minute but managed to answer, "Yes, I guess she was. And maybe that's what this is about." Harry didn't need to answer, he knew Tom would get around to the reason for his visit.
"Harry, I've got those codes Chakotay is looking for. Chiff gave them to me before you arrested him. I'm going to give them to Chakotay tonight and let you arrest him. If he's in a Federation prison, he can't lead B'Elanna into any more danger." Tom paused to assess how Harry was handling this information. Hard-won maturity allowed Harry to keep his face neutral as Tom spoke. "I told him to meet me at 0300 in the bar. We'll be closed by then. I'll give him the codes and follow him to the airfield. You can arrest him there. But we need to keep it to ourselves. I don't want Janeway brought in on this or any of the other fleeters. We can handle this ourselves."
Harry was starting to look a little less sure of himself. "Tom, I'm a 'fleeter'! I can't just go against orders," he answered sternly.
"What orders? You haven't been given any orders. I'm just asking you to help me with a little problem I'm having with a customer." Tom spoke in a patient tone of voice, like he was reasoning with a small child. Harry wasn't about to be fooled.
"If you've got the codes, good buddy, you need to just give them to me."
"Not a chance. Think of it this way, Harry, you'll have the codes when it's all over, and you'll have at least two Maquis prisoners too." Tom seemed to be gloating, something that should have made Harry very suspicious.
"Why do you want to see Chakotay and B'Elanna in prison, Tom?" he asked.
"I'd rather see her-- them in a Federation prison than in a Cardassian one."
Harry nodded sagely as he studied his friend's face. "The Maquis will come looking for you."
"I've already made arrangements to sell the bar to Neelix. I'm leaving Nik's, and Beloti and hopefully, this war. I just want it all behind me." Tom's answer held anger and frustration.
"If the Dominion wins there won't be any place to put it behind you." Harry reminded him.
"Then you damn well better make good use of those codes."
Harry rose and stretched out his hand to Tom. "I'm going to miss you."
"Me too," Tom said as they sealed the plan with a handshake.
***
The bar closed at 0200 as usual and Chakotay met Tom at the appointed time. B'Elanna was with him, but the look on her face told Tom she'd rather be anywhere else. Well, maybe he could take care of that for her. "Punctual as always, Chakotay."
"Do you have the codes?"
Taking the data chip out of his pocket, he handed it to his former commander. As soon as the transfer was complete, Harry came through one of the side doors, phaser drawn and ready. "I'll take that, Commander, and your weapon. You're under arrest for possession of classified information."
"Paris," Chakotay's angry growl caused B'Elanna to flinch even as she gaped at both Harry and Tom. This couldn't be happening, betrayed by both of her dearest friends-- or those she'd thought were her dearest friends.
"Surprised? Our friend Tom decided the Federation had a better chance in this war than the Maquis. I guess..." His words dropped off as he saw Tom point a phaser at him now, a phaser that was obviously set higher than stun. "What the hell are you doing?"
"Not so fast, Harry. I'm taking a stand. Now we're all going over to the airfield. Sorry, old buddy, but you are going to let them go, and you're going to make sure that no one stops them along the way." Tom gestured toward the heavy doors that led out into the deserted street.
It was a short walk to the flat plain where ships of all registrations were parked. The small Federation force kept the piracy down to a minimum but the base was open to traffic from many worlds. At the hangar Tom warned Harry again and told him to call the officer in the control tower. The message was clear, "A Maquis ship will be taking off in 15 minutes. No one is to stop it, and no one is to track it."
Harry delivered his message but his face wore a look of betrayal.
Tom looked at Chakotay, "You'd better tell your ship to get ready to go. They'll probably need an engineer to do a final systems check." Wordlessly B'Elanna looked at Tom, trying to find a motive; trying to find the man behind that mask of indifference. Neither the motive nor the man she'd known was evident and, with a glance at Chakotay who silently nodded, she moved off in the direction of their ship.
"Well, you've managed to surprise me, Paris. I thought you had designs on B'Elanna and would turn me in to get to her." Chakotay smirked.
"No, she has to make her own decisions and maybe, someday, she'll decide that what we had was special. I'd like her to know that - " his voice trailed off. "Just be damn sure she survives this war, Chakotay. She needs to be needed, but she takes risks and puts herself in harm's way just to prove she's tougher than everyone else. She's the best engineer you could ask for, just find some place where she can be the best engineer and not get her head blown off. Take care of her - "
His plea was interrupted by the appearance of Admiral Janeway at the door of the hangar. Standing with hands on hips and displaying her infamous glare she asked, "What is going on here?"
Tom quickly turned to include her in the range of his phaser and she stopped in surprise. More cautiously she asked, "Why did you order the base to let a Maquis ship go, Lieutenant? And Tom, why do you seem to be holding these people against their will?"
"Why, Admiral, I'm glad you could join the party. Too bad, but Chakotay is just leaving. Get out of here Chakotay, and remember what I said." Tom nodded to the Maquis captain without taking his eyes off Janeway.
"Thanks, Tom. I know we've got a chance of winning this war, and you've just doubled those chances." His voice sounded sincere and held a hint of admiration that took Tom by surprise.
"I don't know whose side you're on, and I don't care. Your war isn't my war. Now get out," was his churlish answer as Chakotay hurried off, his silhouette fading into the darkness of the night.
Admiral Janeway folded her arms across her chest. "You'll be court- martialed, you know."
Tom watched Chakotay disappear, then returned his full attention to the admiral. "You can't court-martial me, I'm not a member of Starfleet."
"You won't shoot me, Tom. I'm going to call the guards and stop that ship," Janeway began as she moved further into the area.
To her surprise Harry caught her hand with one of his and removed her combadge with the other. "I guess you'll have to court-martial me since you can't have Tom, Admiral."
"Well, you've both just thrown your lives away here. What are you going to do now?" she asked angrily.
Tom was still looking at Harry in amazement, and took a minute to formulate an answer. "I guess I'll have to find another neutral planet and buy another bar."
Casually Janeway asked, "How long will it take you to set up your network again?"
Tom looked at quizzically, "How did you know?"
"Tuvok felt it was time I knew his source. Your information has certainly helped. What caused you to shut down?" Her question seemed almost friendly.
"The Bolian. Once the first doubt was raised about my neutrality I knew I had to get out." Tom answered.
Harry's look went back and forth from commanding officer to friend in this strange conversation, and he finally said, "Would someone please tell me what's going on?"
With a small laugh, Tom placed his hand on his friend's shoulder and squeezed, "I'm a spy, Harry. I've been feeding information about the Dominion activity in and around Cardassia to Tuvok, and sometimes to the Maquis."
"And Chakotay didn't know?" Harry was incredulous.
"He knew," Tom's voice was bitter again, "He just figured his mission was more important than my safety or that of the network."
Harry was starting to get a clearer picture, "Doesn't it bother you that you just sent two old friends to their death?" he asked angrily.
"Hopefully not to their deaths, Harry, just to reinforce the invasion fleet. They can use all the help they can get," Tom replied.
"How do you know that?" the admiral asked sharply. She thought that information had been carefully guarded.
"It came through the network last night. The Cardassian underground has control of over half the fleet and more are turning every hour," Tom answered her.
Janeway was incredulous, even she didn't have that much information. Her practicality took over though. "You'd better go, Tom. Starfleet ships will be arriving soon and you've just made an enemy of Starfleet. And-- it would look better for me if you locked me in a closet or something."
Tom grinned, the old familiar grin she'd known on Voyager. "Okay, this office opens at 0700 so you shouldn't be here too long. Do you need to-- um- -?" Tom nodded toward the door at the end of the hallway.
He took her glare as a 'no'. "Should I hit you over the head to make it look more authentic?"
"I'd rather you didn't," she answered dryly.
Harry again had to ask, "What the hell is going on now?"
Tom patiently explained, "I'm escaping, Harry, and the admiral is going to be tied up in the closet until the staff comes in at 0700 so I can get a head start. I'll need to tie you up too unless you've decided to come with me."
Looking back and forth from one to the other, Harry finally decided stay to with what he knew and held his hands out for Tom's rope.
As he left the two Starfleet officers in the small closet Tom said, "I don't know who's going to win this war, the Dominion or the Federation. I just hope there's a little piece of the quadrant left undestroyed when it's all over."
"I hope so too, Tom. Good luck," Janeway offered sincerely as Tom shut the door. She glanced at Harry in the dim light of the closet. He looked like he'd just lost his best friend. "We're all in this together now, Harry. We each have a job to do, you and I and Tom, Chakotay and B'Elanna. There's a much larger picture here and what happens to any of us doesn't amount to a hill of beans in this war- as long as we each do our job."
"And our job is to sit in this closet?" Harry asked with a smirk.
"Our job is to see that those codes get used by someone, anyone," the admiral answered.
"And after?"
"After? After this war? We can hope that there's a little piece of the quadrant left for us too."
"And if there's not?" Harry asked.
"There's always the Delta quadrant, Lieutenant," she whispered softly as she lay her head against the wall and shut her eyes.
Harry watched her for a long minute before following her lead. "This could be the start of a beautiful friendship," he thought as his eyes began to close, "I just hope we have time to enjoy it."