Standard disclaimer applies here people. I don't' own Andromeda or Star Trek Voyager etc.
Chapter 16
Seamus Harper hadn't forgotten all that Q2 had put Tom Paris and him through. However, Q2 was just a kid even in human terms which made it difficult to be too hard on young Continuum member.
Harper sneaked a look over at Q and his son. Both looked uncharacteristically nervous. When an entity as powerful as a member of the Q Continuum was nervous it definitely wasn't a good sign, Harper thought. Nobody had to tell Harper that Q2's sentencing was going to be serious. The kid wasn't going to get off with just a slap on the wrist.
The Q prosecuting attorney took a different tactic with Harper than he did with Paris. Harper was asked about life on Earth with the Nietzscheans in control. Harper began to despise the prosecutor when the engineer had recounted nearly his whole life story. There were things brought up that Harper wanted kept buried.
The Prosecutor leaned over the railing that separated him from Harper. "So Mr. Harper would say that the Earth in which you grew up was a very dangerous place for somebody such as yourself and Mr. Paris?"
"Tell the jury Mr. Harper what you had to do to get even the most meager of food rations," The prosecutor requested.
Harper continued to keep his answers short. The Earther felt the less said the better. "I did just about anything."
"And what was your first reaction upon being returned to Earth by Q?" The prosecutor questioned.
Harper turned towards the jury and directed his answer to them. "My first reaction was to survive and help Tom Paris do the same. But as you just pointed out Q2 never sent me to Earth. It was his father and that was only because I asked to be sent to Earth."
"Why did you ask to be sent to Earth? Did it have anything to do with Q2 sending Lieutenant Paris to Earth in your universe?" the prosecutor asked sternly.
Harper hesitated answering knowing a truthful answer would make Q2 look worse in the eyes of the jury. The engineer was prodded by the judge to answer soon. "Yes I asked to be returned to Earth to help Lieutenant Paris."
The prosecutor had the answer and the information he wanted and dismissed Harper. "Thank you Mr. Harper. I have no further questions."
Since the defense attorney had questions for Harper, the Earther was returned to Andromeda. Everybody was glad that Harper made it through his testimony. All but Tyr Anasazi were curious as to the outcome of the penalty phase of the trial. The Nietzschean leaned against a console on the Command Deck.
Valentine grew impatient as they waited for Harper to volunteer any information. "So what happened at the trial?"
"Nothing really," Harper said nonchalantly. "I just answered some questions and then they sent me on my merry way."
"So what is Q2's punishment?" Hunt asked, trying to make it sound casual.
The engineer shrugged his shoulders again without answering. After being on the witness stand Harper wasn't in the mood to answer any more questions. "Look Dylan I've had a long day so I'm just gonna go and finish some of the work that didn't finish itself while was away."
Hunt arched an eyebrow as he watched Harper walk away. "I would say he doesn't want to discuss the matter."
The crew of the Andromeda tried to give Harper some space. They avoided going to Machine Shop 5 where the Earther was hiding out, working on his latest project.
Tom Paris and B'Elanna Torres sat in their quarters talking. Paris was still working on gaining back his wife's trust.
Paris put a hand on Torres's thigh, only to have it knocked away by her hand." I don't blame you for being angry with me B'Elanna."
"I'm not angry with you Tom. It was just a reflex reaction," Torres explained.
"I want you to know I'm going to do whatever I can to get you to trust me again," Paris promised. "I don't want you to ever feel I'm going to hurt you again.'
Torres looked down at the deck. 'You know what? I believe you Tom. I just don't know if you'll be able to beat your demons. I know you have a good heart and don't want to return to Mr. Hyde but I just don't know if you'll win the fight."
Paris's heart sank. He thought he was making progress with the Klingon. "I will win B'Elanna. I promise you."
"I know honey. Look, I'm scheduled for duty soon so can we finish this conversation tomorrow?" Torres asked as she noticed the time.
Paris frowned but resigned himself to not patching this up as quickly as he had hoped. "Sure thing. I'm glad we're talking; that's a good sign at least."
"Yes, I hope we can get through this Tom, I really do," Torres said hopefully as she left Paris alone in the room.
Paris kept himself occupied that evening reading a holo novel. After her shift ended Torres gathered a few of her belongs and spent the night in an empty cabin. Paris practically begged his wife to stay but Torres was adamant that she wasn't ready to sleep in the same room, let alone the same bed as Paris.
The next morning Paris and Torres were enjoying a light breakfast together when Senior Q made an appearance. The human couple to jump. "I apologize if I startled you two. The sentencing of Q2 is about to begin. Lieutenant Paris you presence is requested by the court of the Q Continuum."
"Alright, May I ask a guest to come along?" Paris asked, figuring it wouldn't hurt to have people he trusted with him.
Senior Q looked more than a little annoyed at his time being taken up with such a request. "No, they are not allowed. It's time to leave so say your good byes quickly."
Harper and Paris sat in the waiting room, idly chatting for a few minutes before a Q bailiff called them into the courtroom
Everybody filed back into the courtroom and waited for the Q judge to enter. Paris and Harper looked around the room at the all of the Q's waiting patiently for the judge. None of the Continuum members, with the exception of Q and his son, seemed to show the slightest emotion.
The Q judge entered and stood in front of his chair and held up a scroll of paper. "Q2 you have been found guilty by a Q Continuum jury of interfering in the affairs of humans for personal pleasure. Your sentence is as follows: you are stripped of your Q powers for a period of one year and will serve out your sentence on Earth."
Q2 looked over at his father and breathed a sigh of relief. "That's not as bad as I thought," he whispered.
"Wait. There's more," Q warned.
"You will be assigned to the Earth which is a slave planet,' the judge announced.
"Uh oh," Harper muttered to Paris.
The judge continued reading the scroll. "You will be allowed no assistance from the Continuum. Any disobedience of this directive will cause the sentence to be lengthened. The sentence will begin tomorrow."
Q knew was uncharacteristically solemn. His mind was already plotting a way to get his son out of the sentence
The Judge surprisingly provided a key ingredient with the next pronouncement. "This court understands the potential danger that Q2 would be put in on Earth. Seamus Harper, stand up."
Harper hesitated momentarily and then slowly rose to his feet. Paris was about to stand up to voice his objection when Harper stepped on his left foot. Paris glanced over at the engineer in time to see the warning look on Harper's face. Paris leaned back in his seat.
"Seamus Harper," the judge continued. "Since the presence of a member of the Q Continuum on Earth would raise questions and most likely create problems the court requests that you accompany Q2 to your Earth and act as his warden."
Harper could have kicked himself for being caught off guard. A genius like him should have seen this coming. "What if I don't want to be Q2's warden? Will you force me to do it anyway?"
"No, the Continuum is punishing Q2 for interfering in human affairs. We will not accused of doing the same," the judge assured. "The court can only ask for your cooperation in seeing that Q2 has the best chance of surviving your Earth without his Q powers."
Harper's mind raced as he mulled over his options. "How soon do I have to give you an answer?"
"You have one of your hours to decide. Until then you will be returned to the Andromeda Ascendant while you decide," the judge instructed.
Harper was excused and made his way over to Paris. The two men only had time enough to shake hands before Paris was sent back to Voyager.
Chapter 16
Seamus Harper hadn't forgotten all that Q2 had put Tom Paris and him through. However, Q2 was just a kid even in human terms which made it difficult to be too hard on young Continuum member.
Harper sneaked a look over at Q and his son. Both looked uncharacteristically nervous. When an entity as powerful as a member of the Q Continuum was nervous it definitely wasn't a good sign, Harper thought. Nobody had to tell Harper that Q2's sentencing was going to be serious. The kid wasn't going to get off with just a slap on the wrist.
The Q prosecuting attorney took a different tactic with Harper than he did with Paris. Harper was asked about life on Earth with the Nietzscheans in control. Harper began to despise the prosecutor when the engineer had recounted nearly his whole life story. There were things brought up that Harper wanted kept buried.
The Prosecutor leaned over the railing that separated him from Harper. "So Mr. Harper would say that the Earth in which you grew up was a very dangerous place for somebody such as yourself and Mr. Paris?"
"Tell the jury Mr. Harper what you had to do to get even the most meager of food rations," The prosecutor requested.
Harper continued to keep his answers short. The Earther felt the less said the better. "I did just about anything."
"And what was your first reaction upon being returned to Earth by Q?" The prosecutor questioned.
Harper turned towards the jury and directed his answer to them. "My first reaction was to survive and help Tom Paris do the same. But as you just pointed out Q2 never sent me to Earth. It was his father and that was only because I asked to be sent to Earth."
"Why did you ask to be sent to Earth? Did it have anything to do with Q2 sending Lieutenant Paris to Earth in your universe?" the prosecutor asked sternly.
Harper hesitated answering knowing a truthful answer would make Q2 look worse in the eyes of the jury. The engineer was prodded by the judge to answer soon. "Yes I asked to be returned to Earth to help Lieutenant Paris."
The prosecutor had the answer and the information he wanted and dismissed Harper. "Thank you Mr. Harper. I have no further questions."
Since the defense attorney had questions for Harper, the Earther was returned to Andromeda. Everybody was glad that Harper made it through his testimony. All but Tyr Anasazi were curious as to the outcome of the penalty phase of the trial. The Nietzschean leaned against a console on the Command Deck.
Valentine grew impatient as they waited for Harper to volunteer any information. "So what happened at the trial?"
"Nothing really," Harper said nonchalantly. "I just answered some questions and then they sent me on my merry way."
"So what is Q2's punishment?" Hunt asked, trying to make it sound casual.
The engineer shrugged his shoulders again without answering. After being on the witness stand Harper wasn't in the mood to answer any more questions. "Look Dylan I've had a long day so I'm just gonna go and finish some of the work that didn't finish itself while was away."
Hunt arched an eyebrow as he watched Harper walk away. "I would say he doesn't want to discuss the matter."
The crew of the Andromeda tried to give Harper some space. They avoided going to Machine Shop 5 where the Earther was hiding out, working on his latest project.
Tom Paris and B'Elanna Torres sat in their quarters talking. Paris was still working on gaining back his wife's trust.
Paris put a hand on Torres's thigh, only to have it knocked away by her hand." I don't blame you for being angry with me B'Elanna."
"I'm not angry with you Tom. It was just a reflex reaction," Torres explained.
"I want you to know I'm going to do whatever I can to get you to trust me again," Paris promised. "I don't want you to ever feel I'm going to hurt you again.'
Torres looked down at the deck. 'You know what? I believe you Tom. I just don't know if you'll be able to beat your demons. I know you have a good heart and don't want to return to Mr. Hyde but I just don't know if you'll win the fight."
Paris's heart sank. He thought he was making progress with the Klingon. "I will win B'Elanna. I promise you."
"I know honey. Look, I'm scheduled for duty soon so can we finish this conversation tomorrow?" Torres asked as she noticed the time.
Paris frowned but resigned himself to not patching this up as quickly as he had hoped. "Sure thing. I'm glad we're talking; that's a good sign at least."
"Yes, I hope we can get through this Tom, I really do," Torres said hopefully as she left Paris alone in the room.
Paris kept himself occupied that evening reading a holo novel. After her shift ended Torres gathered a few of her belongs and spent the night in an empty cabin. Paris practically begged his wife to stay but Torres was adamant that she wasn't ready to sleep in the same room, let alone the same bed as Paris.
The next morning Paris and Torres were enjoying a light breakfast together when Senior Q made an appearance. The human couple to jump. "I apologize if I startled you two. The sentencing of Q2 is about to begin. Lieutenant Paris you presence is requested by the court of the Q Continuum."
"Alright, May I ask a guest to come along?" Paris asked, figuring it wouldn't hurt to have people he trusted with him.
Senior Q looked more than a little annoyed at his time being taken up with such a request. "No, they are not allowed. It's time to leave so say your good byes quickly."
Harper and Paris sat in the waiting room, idly chatting for a few minutes before a Q bailiff called them into the courtroom
Everybody filed back into the courtroom and waited for the Q judge to enter. Paris and Harper looked around the room at the all of the Q's waiting patiently for the judge. None of the Continuum members, with the exception of Q and his son, seemed to show the slightest emotion.
The Q judge entered and stood in front of his chair and held up a scroll of paper. "Q2 you have been found guilty by a Q Continuum jury of interfering in the affairs of humans for personal pleasure. Your sentence is as follows: you are stripped of your Q powers for a period of one year and will serve out your sentence on Earth."
Q2 looked over at his father and breathed a sigh of relief. "That's not as bad as I thought," he whispered.
"Wait. There's more," Q warned.
"You will be assigned to the Earth which is a slave planet,' the judge announced.
"Uh oh," Harper muttered to Paris.
The judge continued reading the scroll. "You will be allowed no assistance from the Continuum. Any disobedience of this directive will cause the sentence to be lengthened. The sentence will begin tomorrow."
Q knew was uncharacteristically solemn. His mind was already plotting a way to get his son out of the sentence
The Judge surprisingly provided a key ingredient with the next pronouncement. "This court understands the potential danger that Q2 would be put in on Earth. Seamus Harper, stand up."
Harper hesitated momentarily and then slowly rose to his feet. Paris was about to stand up to voice his objection when Harper stepped on his left foot. Paris glanced over at the engineer in time to see the warning look on Harper's face. Paris leaned back in his seat.
"Seamus Harper," the judge continued. "Since the presence of a member of the Q Continuum on Earth would raise questions and most likely create problems the court requests that you accompany Q2 to your Earth and act as his warden."
Harper could have kicked himself for being caught off guard. A genius like him should have seen this coming. "What if I don't want to be Q2's warden? Will you force me to do it anyway?"
"No, the Continuum is punishing Q2 for interfering in human affairs. We will not accused of doing the same," the judge assured. "The court can only ask for your cooperation in seeing that Q2 has the best chance of surviving your Earth without his Q powers."
Harper's mind raced as he mulled over his options. "How soon do I have to give you an answer?"
"You have one of your hours to decide. Until then you will be returned to the Andromeda Ascendant while you decide," the judge instructed.
Harper was excused and made his way over to Paris. The two men only had time enough to shake hands before Paris was sent back to Voyager.