Captain Kathryn Janeway stood in front of her Command chair debating with a Race called the Ery. It seemed that it had been all she had been doing since the day after Chakotay, Tuvok, B'Elanna and Harry had come back from the away mission to their planet. When they had arrived, scans revealed that no life was on the planet, they had been fooled into thinking that by an advanced shield that covered the cities. Ever since the away mission had gone haywire, Janeway had been trying to figure out what had gone wrong, but had not gotten many answers.
"Captain, if you do not hand your crewman over to us. The Charyne will be released." Kathryn stared at the screen.
"You keep mentioning the Charyne, but avoiding the questions of just what that is. What is it?" The ambassador looked her straight in the eye.
"I cannot tell you. It is a part of our religion, which as I have explained before cannot be told to outsiders." Janeway closed her eyes briefly.
"With all due respect, ambassador, if this Charyne is what is making my officer ill then I need to know about it." She said it crisply, but firmly. The ambassador looked up sharply.
"Your crewman is sick? I was not told. I will get back to you soon." The alien signed off abruptly. Janeway set her jaw in annoyance and turned to the Ops station where Ensign Campbell had taken over for Harry. "Try to hail them again." The Ensign looked up briefly. "No response." She glanced at her first officer, who gave a little shake of his head. She tapped her commbadge. "Captain Janeway to Neelix."
"Neelix here" came the immediate reply.
"Meet me in my ready room please." The Captain turned to Chakotay.
"You have the bridge" She then turned and walked to her ready room.
Lieutenant Tom Paris walked down the hallway on his way to his shift in sickbay, concern etched in his face. He was worried about Harry of course. The doctor had no idea what was wrong with him although he would never acknowledge that.
"Hey, flyboy, going my way." The playful voice of B'Elanna Torres jostled him out of his concerned thought. He turned and smiled. "If you're heading to sickbay I am." Her smile melted away for an instant.
"I thought I'd go see how Harry's doing." Tom nodded, and continued walking, feeling more upbeat. B'Elanna did that to him. The sickbay doors slid open. The doctor looked up from over his patient and smiled slightly.
"Lieutenant Torres." He caught Tom's eye. "Mr. Paris, May I have a word with you."
Neelix walked into the Captain's ready room. He was pretty sure what she wanted to see him about. She looked up as he stood at her desk and smiled at him.
"I need your expert advice here, Neelix. I know you don't know much about this part of space, but I need to know if you've ever heard of The Charyne." Neelix suddenly shifted uncomfortably and looked just slightly pale. He forced himself to look less upset than he felt. Unfortunately Janeway had already noticed.
"It has been rumored about a legend revolving around this planet, although no one ever really knew where this planet was until now. The legend says that a great warrior with awesome power conquered many planets before getting to this one. He decided to rule his kingdom from here, but he was so evil that his General's plotted against him to overthrow him. He was killed in battle; well at least his body was killed. Somehow he transferred his consciousness to one of his General's bodies. He did that for sometime until a group of strong telepaths killed the body and caught him before he could move on. They trapped his consciousness in some sort of device." Neelix looked up at Janeway and shrugged. "The details were a little sketchy when I heard it." The Captain stared ahead for a moment. That would explain why there so afraid of Harry.
"This has something to do with Ensign Kim doesn't it." The captain nodded, "Yes it does." Neelix looked thoughtful. "Well I'd say maybe we should start retracing his steps." Janeway smiled at him. "I would say that's a very good idea."
Tom only half listened to the EMH. His eyes and thoughts kept going back to the woman he loved and his closest friend. An alarm sounded jolting both him and the doctor. They both rushed over to the patient.
The doctor hated this with a passion; of course, he tried to put passion in everything he did. Ensign Harry Kim, someone he thought of as a friend had just gone into Cardiac Arrest. He jumped into action, giving orders to his "nurse" Mr. Paris, who, despite the fear evident on his face, was doing an excellent job. Lieutenant Torres watched the action a few feet away.
"Two more cc's of Bentozone." He barked, injecting it when it was given to him. Nothing. He paused, sighing. Mr. Paris looked at him expectantly.
"I'm sorry."
"As Harry Kim fell into the blackness, he heard one, just one voice: "You put up a good fight, but you lost and I got what I needed……." Back in sickbay his red eyes open.
Okay I tried to keep everyone character, I'm sorry if I didn't. And I apologize if the doctor's point of view was a little cheesy; I'll try and do better. Well, I'd like to thank those who reviewed!!! More reviews please!!!