Disclaimer Alert: I don't own Andromeda or Star Trek Voyager or their
characters. I also am making no money from this story.
Chapter 13
After Janeway and the two Andromeda crewmembers had a light meal in the mess hall the Voyager captain arranged for Seven of Nine to give Valentine and Harper a guided tour of Voyager. Janeway excused herself from the tour before heading off to Lieutenant Torres' quarters.
Janeway entered to find Torres sitting against the far wall amid a pile of clothes and bedding strewn across the floor. It didn't take a genius to realize how the quarters came to resemble a tornado zone. Janeway sat down next to the Klingon woman. "I see you've been redecorating. I can't say as I'm familiar with the style."
Torres remained silent. She was too angry to speak. Janeway sighed and looked up at the ceiling. "This silence isn't going to help Lieutenant. You need to talk. I know you've been through a traumatic experience but you've been through them before and came through."
Torres leaned her head back against the wall behind her. "I'm aware of that Captain. I'm just mad that Tom would take me hostage and threaten to harm me."
"The Flash caused Tom to lose control of reality and that made him paranoid," Janeway explained softly.
Torres wiped tears of anger from her eyes as she fought to keep control of her emotions. "I understand Captain but I can't help feeling that the drug just brought out Tom's true feelings he kept buried. I don't know if I can trust him again."
"Sooner or later you are going to have to start trusting Tom Paris," Janeway reasoned.
"I don't know how I'm going to do that," Torres admitted.
Janeway helped the Klingon to her feet. "You're already taking the first step Lieutenant. You're talking about it."
The Klingon woman allowed herself to smile ever so briefly. "Thank you Captain, I guess it did help to talk things out." Torres straightened her Starfleet uniform and took a deep breath. "I better get to engineering. My shift starts soon."
Janeway put a hand on the Klingon's arm to stop her. "Consider yourself on leave Lieutenant. You've been through a rough time and you deserve a time to sort things out"
"Is that an order Captain?" Torres questioned, feeling like she was being pitied.
"I can make it an order but I hope it won't be necessary," Janeway answered.
"It won't be necessary Captain," Torres announced before heading for the door.
Janeway walked with the lieutenant towards the turbolift. "I am still recommending that you find someone to talk to about your feelings towards Tom and I'm available any time you want to talk."
"Thank you Captain. It has helped talking just now," Torres admitted.
Harper and Valentine declined the Doctor's offer of a meal but Harper couldn't resist asking for a tour of Voyager's engineering room. The EMH had assured the guests that Paris would remain asleep for some time so he saw no reason to not to look around Voyager. Janeway agreed to send Seven of Nine to Medical bring Valentine and Harper to Engineering. Harper couldn't contain himself, practically bouncing the whole way to Engineering. Beka had to elbow the young man in the ribs several times when he became too enthusiastic at seeing something new.
Seven of Nine did not seem to mind Harper's eagerness. While the task was not the most enjoyable, it wasn't intolerable either she reasoned. "I'm sure you find the warp drive most interesting Mr. Harper."
"That is what I had in mind," Harper replied with a grin and a flirtatious wink.
Harper studied the woman's face. If she had any emotions her face wasn't betraying them. That reminded Harper of Rommie. He had trouble reading the avatar's face as well.
"Shall we begin at the warp core?" Seven of Nine questioned as they entered Engineering.
"Sure, why not?" Harper replied, flashing the woman a big smile while Valentine merely shrugged her shoulders.
Harper's eyes opened wide as he approached the warp drive. "Ooh, shiny. I got a rough idea of how it works from my tour of the Delta Flyer. Give me a little time and I could replace this baby with a slipstream drive," Harper offered, even though he knew Janeway would still decline the offer.
"We have experimented with a quantum slipstream drive and the experiment was declared a failure," Seven of Nine informed as she stepped up next to the engineer.
Harper frowned at the blonde woman and stepped away from the warp drive "Oh you tried a quantum slipstream drive huh?" Harper mused out loud. "We use a slipstream drive based on the string theory. It really does work. Right Boss?"
Beka nodded her head in agreement. "I was practically born in slipstream so I can attest that it is just as safe as this warp drive you use."
"That is something to consider then," Seven of Nine agreed. "However, we would need a slipstream drive which I don't believe we would be able to procure from your universe."
"You're probably right, but it would be fun to try," Harper acknowledged with a smirk. The engineer glanced at one of the screens and began to punch some buttons.
Seven of Nine was about to warn Harper not to touch the consoles when Valentine shot her a look that said it's okay. Harper immediately forgot about the two blondes standing behind him.
Seven of Nine cleared her throat and waited for the Earther to respond. Valentine just smiled at her friend's enthusiasm. She knew the engineer couldn't resist playing around in Engineering.
Harper continued pushing buttons and reading the data as he acknowledged his impetuousness. "I just noticed that your defense shields are only at 97% efficiency. I was just taking the liberty of improving the efficiency."
Seven of Nine eyed the shorter human suspiciously. "Voyager's engineers have been working all week to get the defense shields to 97.8% efficiency so I fail to see how you could do that on your own."
Valentine exchanged knowing looks with Harper and giggled. "You obviously have never seen Seamus Harper at work."
"She's right Seven of Nine. Trust in the Harper. The Harper is good!" the engineer boasted.
Seven of Nine merely rolled her eyes and allowed Harper to proceed with his modifications.
After a few minutes of tinkering Harper had finished with the shields and stepped back from the console. "There we go. Defense shields are at 98% efficiency. You can thank me later."
Seven of Nine moved over to the console vacated by Harper and checked to make sure the defense shields were in the proper order. "My compliments Mr. Harper, It appears that you did a commendable job with the defense shields."
"You were expecting anything less from a genius?" Harper asked rhetorically. "Gimme a little more time and I'd do some more brilliant work on Voyager's sensors too."
Valentine had become bored with Engineering by now so she decided to get the tour moving along. "I think you've done enough for one day Harper. I heard you have holodecks on board. I don't suppose we could see one of them?"
Seven of Nine nodded her agreement. "Of course."
The trio came upon Lieutenant Torres as they neared on of the holosuites. The Klingon was engaged in conversation with a short, squat officer when she noticed the visitors. "So how are you two getting along? I take it Seven of Nine is giving you both the grand tour?"
"We're doing fine Lieutenant. We were just going to check out one of the holoprograms," Valentine enthused.
"Oh I think you'll enjoy our holoprograms," Torres announced trying to sound cheerful. "We have quite a wide variety."
Harper couldn't help but smile at the thought of spending time with a holoprogram involving a wet t-shirt contest. "I'm sure we will." Then his expression turned serious. "I'm surprised you're working. I'm sorry if I seem forward but I thought you would be in Medical sitting with your husband."
"Um look Mr. Harper. I don't wish to be rude but it's really none of your business," Torres retorted.
Harper knew he and Valentine didn't have much time to help Torres and Paris so decided to get straight to the point. "Lieutenant it's obvious that you're avoiding your husband. And the reason is because of how he's behaved on Flash. Look I know it's not easy but if you love Tom Paris, and I know you do, you will have to learn to trust him. He needs you."
Torres was within an inch of losing control and tossing the short engineer against the wall. "You have no idea what I went through so don't presume to tell me what to do!"
Harper stood his ground, unafraid of the Klingon's temper. "I have an idea what you went through Lieutenant. I've dealt with people on Flash; people I trust who showed their dark side to me. It scared me and I felt my trust was betrayed just as you do with Tom."
Valentine knew she was one of the people to whom Harper was referring. She was grateful for the Eather's tact in not naming names.
The information from Harper piqued Torres' interest, calming her down. "So you were able to trust those people again?"
"Yeah, well one of them anyway. A good friend of mine went all crazy on Flash and threatened me; oh nothing physical like Tom did with you. It hurt alot because I really respect this person and value our friendship. Growing up on Earth I learned not to trust people but this person was one exception. So I decided I wasn't going to let Flash destroy something I cared about that much."
"But aren't you concerned that your friend will take Flash and do the same thing again, or worse?" Torres asked earnestly.
Harper had expected that question; it had occurred to him more than once. "No because I know my friend would do anything to avoid taking Flash again and has proved it by not having taken Flash for a couple years now."
"Well it's something for me to consider Mr. Harper. Thank you for your advice," Torres said before leaving the trio.
As she walked down Voyager's corridors Torres still wasn't totally convinced she could completely trust Tom Paris again, but she did have a glimmer of hope that things would get better.
Chapter 13
After Janeway and the two Andromeda crewmembers had a light meal in the mess hall the Voyager captain arranged for Seven of Nine to give Valentine and Harper a guided tour of Voyager. Janeway excused herself from the tour before heading off to Lieutenant Torres' quarters.
Janeway entered to find Torres sitting against the far wall amid a pile of clothes and bedding strewn across the floor. It didn't take a genius to realize how the quarters came to resemble a tornado zone. Janeway sat down next to the Klingon woman. "I see you've been redecorating. I can't say as I'm familiar with the style."
Torres remained silent. She was too angry to speak. Janeway sighed and looked up at the ceiling. "This silence isn't going to help Lieutenant. You need to talk. I know you've been through a traumatic experience but you've been through them before and came through."
Torres leaned her head back against the wall behind her. "I'm aware of that Captain. I'm just mad that Tom would take me hostage and threaten to harm me."
"The Flash caused Tom to lose control of reality and that made him paranoid," Janeway explained softly.
Torres wiped tears of anger from her eyes as she fought to keep control of her emotions. "I understand Captain but I can't help feeling that the drug just brought out Tom's true feelings he kept buried. I don't know if I can trust him again."
"Sooner or later you are going to have to start trusting Tom Paris," Janeway reasoned.
"I don't know how I'm going to do that," Torres admitted.
Janeway helped the Klingon to her feet. "You're already taking the first step Lieutenant. You're talking about it."
The Klingon woman allowed herself to smile ever so briefly. "Thank you Captain, I guess it did help to talk things out." Torres straightened her Starfleet uniform and took a deep breath. "I better get to engineering. My shift starts soon."
Janeway put a hand on the Klingon's arm to stop her. "Consider yourself on leave Lieutenant. You've been through a rough time and you deserve a time to sort things out"
"Is that an order Captain?" Torres questioned, feeling like she was being pitied.
"I can make it an order but I hope it won't be necessary," Janeway answered.
"It won't be necessary Captain," Torres announced before heading for the door.
Janeway walked with the lieutenant towards the turbolift. "I am still recommending that you find someone to talk to about your feelings towards Tom and I'm available any time you want to talk."
"Thank you Captain. It has helped talking just now," Torres admitted.
Harper and Valentine declined the Doctor's offer of a meal but Harper couldn't resist asking for a tour of Voyager's engineering room. The EMH had assured the guests that Paris would remain asleep for some time so he saw no reason to not to look around Voyager. Janeway agreed to send Seven of Nine to Medical bring Valentine and Harper to Engineering. Harper couldn't contain himself, practically bouncing the whole way to Engineering. Beka had to elbow the young man in the ribs several times when he became too enthusiastic at seeing something new.
Seven of Nine did not seem to mind Harper's eagerness. While the task was not the most enjoyable, it wasn't intolerable either she reasoned. "I'm sure you find the warp drive most interesting Mr. Harper."
"That is what I had in mind," Harper replied with a grin and a flirtatious wink.
Harper studied the woman's face. If she had any emotions her face wasn't betraying them. That reminded Harper of Rommie. He had trouble reading the avatar's face as well.
"Shall we begin at the warp core?" Seven of Nine questioned as they entered Engineering.
"Sure, why not?" Harper replied, flashing the woman a big smile while Valentine merely shrugged her shoulders.
Harper's eyes opened wide as he approached the warp drive. "Ooh, shiny. I got a rough idea of how it works from my tour of the Delta Flyer. Give me a little time and I could replace this baby with a slipstream drive," Harper offered, even though he knew Janeway would still decline the offer.
"We have experimented with a quantum slipstream drive and the experiment was declared a failure," Seven of Nine informed as she stepped up next to the engineer.
Harper frowned at the blonde woman and stepped away from the warp drive "Oh you tried a quantum slipstream drive huh?" Harper mused out loud. "We use a slipstream drive based on the string theory. It really does work. Right Boss?"
Beka nodded her head in agreement. "I was practically born in slipstream so I can attest that it is just as safe as this warp drive you use."
"That is something to consider then," Seven of Nine agreed. "However, we would need a slipstream drive which I don't believe we would be able to procure from your universe."
"You're probably right, but it would be fun to try," Harper acknowledged with a smirk. The engineer glanced at one of the screens and began to punch some buttons.
Seven of Nine was about to warn Harper not to touch the consoles when Valentine shot her a look that said it's okay. Harper immediately forgot about the two blondes standing behind him.
Seven of Nine cleared her throat and waited for the Earther to respond. Valentine just smiled at her friend's enthusiasm. She knew the engineer couldn't resist playing around in Engineering.
Harper continued pushing buttons and reading the data as he acknowledged his impetuousness. "I just noticed that your defense shields are only at 97% efficiency. I was just taking the liberty of improving the efficiency."
Seven of Nine eyed the shorter human suspiciously. "Voyager's engineers have been working all week to get the defense shields to 97.8% efficiency so I fail to see how you could do that on your own."
Valentine exchanged knowing looks with Harper and giggled. "You obviously have never seen Seamus Harper at work."
"She's right Seven of Nine. Trust in the Harper. The Harper is good!" the engineer boasted.
Seven of Nine merely rolled her eyes and allowed Harper to proceed with his modifications.
After a few minutes of tinkering Harper had finished with the shields and stepped back from the console. "There we go. Defense shields are at 98% efficiency. You can thank me later."
Seven of Nine moved over to the console vacated by Harper and checked to make sure the defense shields were in the proper order. "My compliments Mr. Harper, It appears that you did a commendable job with the defense shields."
"You were expecting anything less from a genius?" Harper asked rhetorically. "Gimme a little more time and I'd do some more brilliant work on Voyager's sensors too."
Valentine had become bored with Engineering by now so she decided to get the tour moving along. "I think you've done enough for one day Harper. I heard you have holodecks on board. I don't suppose we could see one of them?"
Seven of Nine nodded her agreement. "Of course."
The trio came upon Lieutenant Torres as they neared on of the holosuites. The Klingon was engaged in conversation with a short, squat officer when she noticed the visitors. "So how are you two getting along? I take it Seven of Nine is giving you both the grand tour?"
"We're doing fine Lieutenant. We were just going to check out one of the holoprograms," Valentine enthused.
"Oh I think you'll enjoy our holoprograms," Torres announced trying to sound cheerful. "We have quite a wide variety."
Harper couldn't help but smile at the thought of spending time with a holoprogram involving a wet t-shirt contest. "I'm sure we will." Then his expression turned serious. "I'm surprised you're working. I'm sorry if I seem forward but I thought you would be in Medical sitting with your husband."
"Um look Mr. Harper. I don't wish to be rude but it's really none of your business," Torres retorted.
Harper knew he and Valentine didn't have much time to help Torres and Paris so decided to get straight to the point. "Lieutenant it's obvious that you're avoiding your husband. And the reason is because of how he's behaved on Flash. Look I know it's not easy but if you love Tom Paris, and I know you do, you will have to learn to trust him. He needs you."
Torres was within an inch of losing control and tossing the short engineer against the wall. "You have no idea what I went through so don't presume to tell me what to do!"
Harper stood his ground, unafraid of the Klingon's temper. "I have an idea what you went through Lieutenant. I've dealt with people on Flash; people I trust who showed their dark side to me. It scared me and I felt my trust was betrayed just as you do with Tom."
Valentine knew she was one of the people to whom Harper was referring. She was grateful for the Eather's tact in not naming names.
The information from Harper piqued Torres' interest, calming her down. "So you were able to trust those people again?"
"Yeah, well one of them anyway. A good friend of mine went all crazy on Flash and threatened me; oh nothing physical like Tom did with you. It hurt alot because I really respect this person and value our friendship. Growing up on Earth I learned not to trust people but this person was one exception. So I decided I wasn't going to let Flash destroy something I cared about that much."
"But aren't you concerned that your friend will take Flash and do the same thing again, or worse?" Torres asked earnestly.
Harper had expected that question; it had occurred to him more than once. "No because I know my friend would do anything to avoid taking Flash again and has proved it by not having taken Flash for a couple years now."
"Well it's something for me to consider Mr. Harper. Thank you for your advice," Torres said before leaving the trio.
As she walked down Voyager's corridors Torres still wasn't totally convinced she could completely trust Tom Paris again, but she did have a glimmer of hope that things would get better.