Chapter 29.
Threshold.
(Scott POV)
I was on up and headed up to the Conference room, Since we had a meeting on Whether Tom, Harry and B'Elanna managed to break the threshold yet.
Once in there.
Tom, Harry and B'Elanna put on a recording.
"Warp 9.92, the pylons are secure, Everything looks good, 9.97, 8, 9, Warp 10," Recording Tom said.
"You've crossed the Threshold, You've done it and there's been no damage to the Nacelles," Recording B'Elanna said.
Then I ended the Recording.
"When you came to me a month ago and you said you had a way to cross the Transwarp threshold, I thought it was more of a fantasy than a theory, Congratulations to all of you," I said.
"So we can try a manned test flight?" B'Elanna said.
"What's your flight plan?" I said.
"I'll bring the shuttle up to speed, the second I cross the threshold, I'll cut the engines, Drop out of warp and come about," Tom said.
"After that, We'll analyse the shuttle's sensor logs, Once we know it's safe to travel at transwarp, We'll try a more extended flight," Harry said.
"To be honest, It's almost frightening, Up till now, it's all been theory, I never thought it would actually happen, Are we ready for it?" Chakotay said.
"In the last couple of centuries, We've always managed to use new technologies wisely, I'm confident, this time won't be any different, Besides, there's no way to put the genie back in the bottle, All we can do now is keep moving forward, Carefully, Well, good luck, Tom, If this works, you'll be joining an elite group of pilots, Orville Wright, Neil Armstrong, Zefram Cochrane, and Tom Paris," I said.
"I kind of like the way that sounds," Tom said.
"I thought you might, But I want to keep up with you as fast as we can, just in case of any trouble which wasn't on the Simulations, B'Elanna," I said.
"I can Get Voyager, up to Warp 9.99, But that's all we will be able to go, But long enough to know, if Tom crossed the threshold or not," B'Elanna said.
"Then let's get ready, Dismissed," I said.
XXX
I was down outside, Tom Quarters, and Rang the bell.
"Come in," Tom said and I walked in. "oh Captain, I,"
"Stand down, Tom, I know it's late," I said.
"Can I get you anything?" Tom said.
"No thank you," I said.
"Now why do I get the feeling this isn't just a social call?" Tom said.
"I've just spoken to the Doctor, And it's his opinion, That we let Harry make the test flight," I said.
"May I ask why?" Tom said.
"He checked over you Biometric readings from the shuttle simulations, he says you have a slight enzymatic imbalance in your cerebellum," I said.
"So," Tom said.
"I know it doesn't sound like much, But he can't predict what'll happen when you cross the Threshold. he believes there's a small chance that you could suffer a brain haemorrhage, under the subspace stress," I said.
"How big a chance?" Tom said.
"2%," I said.
"2%, I'll take that chance," Tom said.
"I know you would, But something, I can't lose even one of my helmsmen, There's no reason to, Harry is capable of piloting the Shuttle for this mission," I said.
"Yeah, he's capable, That's not the point," Tom said.
"Then what is the point," I said.
"Well, it's hard to explain but, This is my flight," Tom said.
"Your flight," I said.
"When I was a boy, My Father used to tell me that I was special, that one day I'll do something significant, My teachers at school, all the kids, everyone used to say, Tom Paris is gonna do something important when he grows up, Obviously, that didn't happen," Tom said.
"This isn't about personnel redemption, We're talking about medical risk, Your life could be in danger, and we need you," I said.
"Captain, this is the first time in 10 years I feel I have a life to risk," Tom said.
"You're sure about this," I said.
"Captain, I've never been so sure about anything, Please, Let me make the flight," Tom said.
"Good luck Tom," I said.
Then Head to my quarters where I went for bed.
XXX
Next day I was on the Bridge.
"Torres to bridge, The prelaunch sequence is complete, captain," B'Elanna said.
"Acknowledged," I said. "Harry, Depressurize the Shuttle bay and open the doors,"
"Aye Captain," Harry said.
"Bridge to Shuttlecraft Cochrane, You're cleared for launch," I said.
"Aye Captain, See you at Warp 10," Tom said.
Then Tom took the shuttle out and went to Warp.
"Tom Shuttle's clear," Harry said.
"Helm, Keep up with him Maximum Warp, Engage," I said.
Then We went into Warp.
"Cochrane to Voyager, All systems are nominal, I'm increasing speed," Tom said.
"We'll keep up with you as long as we can," I said.
"Warp 7, Warp 8, Warp 9," Tom said. "Engaging transwarp drive in 4, 3, 2, 1, Warp 9.7, 9.8, 9.9,"
"He is exceeding our Maximum Velocity, I am switching to long range sensors," Tuvok said.
"Warp 9.95," Tom said.
"He is approaching the Threshold," Tuvok said.
"Engine output at Maximum, Velocity, Warp 10," Tom said.
"Yes," Harry said.
"Transwarp engines are stable, So are the Nacelle Pylons, I'm going to," Tom said. Then it cut out.
"Tom Can you hear me?" I said.
"Captain, he just disappeared off sensors," Harry said.
"Increase sensor gain to Maximum," Chakotay said.
"Nothing, I can't find him," Harry said. "He's gone,"
"Keeping scanning for him, he has to be somewhere," I said.
"I've done 3 sensor sweeps, No sign of the shuttle within 5 parsecs," Harry said.
"Tuvok, Could the shuttle have been destroyed," I said.
"I don't think so," Tuvok said. "Sensors indicate that he did cross the Warp threshold,"
"If that's true then he could be anywhere in the universe," Harry said.
"We'll just have to keep searching our small corner, run a Multispectral sweep, I want to see if," I said.
"Captain, There's a quantum surge off the port bow, Something is coming out of subspace," Tuvok said.
"It's Tom," Harry said.
"McCall to Paris," I said.
"He's alive, but his lifesigns are weak," Harry said.
"Bridge to Transporter room 2, Beam Mr. Paris directly to Sickbay, Commander, Bring the shuttle aboard, I'll be in Sickbay," I said.
Then Headed down there.
"His lifesigns are normal, a few elevated serotonin readings in the hypothalamus, From what I can tell, he just asleep," Doc said.
"Can you wake him," I said.
"I don't see why not," Doc said. "Wake up Lt," As Tom jumped.
"Are you all right, Tom," I said.
"I'm back," Tom said.
"We tracked you until you crossed the Threshold, Then you disappeared from our sensors, Do you remember what happened?" I said.
"Oh, Yeah, I was staring at the velocity indicator, It said Warp 10, And then as I watched it, I suddenly realized that I was watching myself as well, I could see the outside of the shuttle, I could see Voyager, I could see inside Voyager, I could see inside this room, For a moment, I was everywhere, I mean, everywhere, Captain, With the Kazon, Back home, With the Klingons, other galaxies, it was all there, I don't know how else to explain it, It was like well, no it wasn't like anything," Tom said.
"Well, I'm glad you had a good time," Doc said.
"How did you get back to Voyager," I said.
"I saw that you were looking for me, so I took the new engines offline, and ended up back where I started, but Oh, It's starting to slip away, It all was so vivid, and now," Tom said.
"Tom," B'Elanna said.
"Oh, I'm fine, How's the shuttle?" Tom said.
"You brought it back without a scratch, the onboard sensors confirm that you did it, You made it to Warp 10," B'Elanna said.
"Congratulations Tom, You just made the history books," I said.
"We should download the shuttle's sensor logs, Analyse the telemetry they picked up during the flight before we make another attempt," Tom said.
"You're not going anywhere, As least not for a few hours," Doc said. "I have some tests I'd like to run on your majesty before I release you back into the realm of ordinary humans,"
"You may Proceed," Tom said Laying back down.
"We'll download the logs, I'll let you know what we find," I said.
Then B'Elanna and I was in Engineering.
"McCall to Kim, We're ready," I said.
"Acknowledged, I'm downloading the logs into the Engineering computer core," Harry said.
As it was coming through.
"This data describes, literally, every cubic centimeter in this sector, It's over 5 billion gigiquads of Information," B'Elanna said.
"It would appear that the theory of infinite velocity is correct, It may be possible to occupy every point in the universe simultaneously," I said.
"Then it's just a matter of Navigation, If we could figure out how to come out of transwarp at a specific point, this could get us home," B'Elanna said.
"Oh, it could do more than that," I said. "It could change the very nature of our existence, think of it, There would be nothing beyond our reach, this telemetry is giving us an invaluable record of the sector, We can use it to make a star chart, Transfer the shuttle logs to stellar cartography for analysis,"
"Right," B'Elanna said.
After that I was heading for my Room as Chakotay was in charge of the bridge. When I was in and Clara was there.
We spend the rest of the Day, Playing on some games, I had.
XXX
The Next Day, the doc called me down the Sickbay.
"His body is going through some sort of mutation, his DNA is rewriting itself, To what end I don't know," Doc said.
"Does this have anything to do with the enzymatic imbalance you found?" I said.
"No," Doc said.
"Can you stop it?" I said.
"So far, nothing has worked, The mutation are unlike anything In Starfleet Medical records, his internal organ are being rearranged, Some have Atrophied and been absorbed into his body, and there are at least 3 others that have appeared and have no identifiable function at all," Doc said.
"What about his brain," I said.
"There are neuro electrical transmutations at work, His synaptic patterns are changing almost every second, But he does still recognize me, the ship, He know who he is," Doc said.
"Can I talk with him?" I said.
"Of course, But I feel I should caution you that while he still is Tom Paris, He's becoming something else as well, His personality is erratic, unpredictable, there are moment of lucidity, interspersed with almost deranged behaviour," Doc said.
"I'll keep it in mind," I said.
Then Went in.
"Pretty disgusting huh?" Tom said.
"You've looked better, Plus Seen worse," I said. "How do you feel?"
"Like a lab experiment gone wrong," Tom said.
"Well, we're trying to put that experiment right, The Doctor's working on a way to restore your DNA to its," I said.
"Why?" Tom said.
"Excuse me?" I said.
"Why?" Tom said. "What I'm becoming will probably be better than who I was,"
"Lt, You know that's not true," I said.
"Oh, yes it is," Tom said. "Admit it, part of you will be glad to see me gone, I'm the Maquis traitor who sits on your bridge and insults your uniform remember?"
"We're all concerned about you Tom," I said. "We're here to help you,"
"No you're not, You're trying to take this away from me," Tom said.
"Take what away from you?" I said.
"What I'm becoming, How do you know this isn't good for me?" Tom said. "How do you know this isn't the best thing that's ever happened to me?"
"That's a possibility, and then again it could kill you," I said. "We need to find out what's going on,"
"You're lying," Tom said. "Just like him, Just like everyone around here, Always lying, Always telling me that I'm doing a good job, that you're glad, I'm on the ship, But none of that's true, Why can't you just say it? You're jealous that I broke the Transwarp barrier, and now you're hoping I'll die,"
"You're right, Doc, I don't think there's anything I can do here," I said.
"Wait, Captain, I'm sorry, please come back, I know you're doing what you can, It's just, I'm scared," Tom said. "I didn't mean to lash out at you,"
"What you're going through would scare any of us, But you have to hang on, Tom," I said. "We're doing everything we can to help you,"
"I know you are, and I know you'll fail," Tom said as he bounced off the Forcefield. "You know, I used to look up to you, But now you seem so small, so insignificant, you don't even know what," As Tom started choking then pulled out his tongue.
Then I headed for the Bridge.
XXX
Then we were in the Conference room where the Doctor was updating us.
"I believe the answer lies in forcing his DNA to revert to it's original coding, Once that occurs, his body should return to its former state," Doc said.
"How do we do that?" Chakotay said.
"We destroy all of the new DNA in his body, His cells will have to use the original coding as a blueprint, But the only way to destroy the mutant DNA is with highly focused antiproton Radiation," Doc said.
"Antiprotons? The only place on this ship which generates antiproton's is the warp core," B'Elanna said.
"Exactly, I'd like to Place, Mr. Paris, in an isotropic restraint and then infuse it with controlled antiproton bursts, A Tricky Venture, But I see not other alternative," Doc said.
"We'll have to take the Warp core offline, Then I'll need about 3 hours to set up an interface," B'Elanna said.
"In 3 hours there won't be anything left of M. Paris to save, we have to make the attempt within an hour, at the most," Doc said.
"Get moving then, Dismissed," I said.
XXX
I was back at my room getting some things set up. I managed to get a few weapons form Voyager's new armoury and started to set them up.
Then the ship went to Red Alert.
Which was when I was heading up to the bridge to see what was going on.
"McCall to Bridge, Report," I said.
"Paris broke out of Confinement in Engineering He used a phaser on the Port plasma conduit, We have power failures all over the ship," Chakotay said.
"Where is he now?" I said.
"We're trouble tracking him, we can't get power to the internal sensors, Tuvok has Security teams searching Deck by deck, Clara's on Tactical," Chakotay said.
"I'm on my way to the Bridge, McCall out," I said Hitting the Turbolift to get to me when I heard something behind me. As well as heavy breathing. I grabbed my phaser, Then Turned only to be hit back, Then everything was black.
When I came around, I was on the shuttle with Tom, and from the looks of it we were travelling at Warp 10.
Then I blackout again.
XXX
When I woke up again, I was on Voyager in Sickbay.
"Doctor," I said.
"Captain," Doc said.
"What happened?" I said.
"Mr. Paris managed to knock you out on Deck 6 and took a joyride with you in the shuttle," Doc said.
"I Remember being on the shuttle, It travelling at Warp 10, Then I blacked out. Next thing I remember was waking up here," I said.
"Well, there are a few things that happened, But One of them were that when you were going through a evolution process as did Mr. Paris, But it had a strangle affect on you," Doc said.
"What do you mean?" I said.
"Captain, I'm not sure how to put this to you but," Doc said.
"Doc, Get to the point," I said.
"It changed you into another gender," Doc said.
"What," I said. Looking at myself but I was still looking like myself.
"Yes, I was quite curious myself, but I couldn't tell you how," Doc said.
"Anything else, Doc," I said.
"You kind of had a kid too," Doctor said.
"What," I said.
"Like I said before I have no idea how it was possible but, you did, She is responding to the same treatment too," Doc said.
"She," I said.
"Yes, It's a girl, She is roughly about 6 Years old," Doc said.
"But how long were we gone for?" I said.
"3 days, To be honest it was quite strangle to me as well," Doc said.
"But she is fine, Right," I said.
"Yes, Perfectly healthy too, Mr. Paris, Doesn't know what to do, So he said that he will leave the decision up to you what to do," Doc said.
"Anything else," I said.
"I've completely eradicated all traces of the mutant DNA from your system, And restored your original genome," Doc said.
"Thanks, doc," I said.
"Captain, it'll take some time for your genetic codes to stabilize, I'd like either you remain in sickbay or in your quarters for the next 3 days, just to be safe," Doc said.
"Excuse me," I said.
"Captain," Tom said.
"I would definite call that one a wildride," I said. "I thought about having kids, with my old Girlfriend,"
"Captain, I'm sorry, I don't know what to say, except, I don't remember very much about," Tom said.
"Me, Neither, last thing I remember was being the the shuttle at Warp 10, Then here," I said. "What makes you think it was your idea? Sometimes it's the females of a species that starts mating, But Apology accepted nonetheless,"
"What about?" Tom said.
"What do you want to do," I said.
"I don't know, I was never a kid person before. My Aunt brought my Young Nephews over but never could get on well with them," Tom said. "Maybe you should look after her, You already doing a good job with Clara, Even if she wasn't human,"
"You know she would want to know what happened?" I said.
"I come maybe pop by and see her from time to time," Tom said.
"No Problem, there," I said. "You may be interested to know I'm putting you in for a commendation, Regardless of the outcome, you did make the first Transwarp flight,"
"Thank you Captain," Tom said.
"Is there something wrong Tom," I said.
"I don't know, I guess this whole experience has left me feeling a little overwhelmed, Flying at warp 10, Evolving into a new lifeform, mating, having alien offspring," Tom said.
"You've broken more than one record, that's for sure," I said.
"Breaking the threshold, It was incredible, But somehow It doesn't mean as much as I thought it would," Tom said.
"Oh," I said.
"I guess I want into this looking for a quick fix, I thought making history would change things, not just my service record, My reputation," Tom said.
"If I'm not mistaken, you've changed quite a few minds on this ship, You've earned a lot of people's respect and admiration," I said.
"Yeah," Tom said. "But I'm starting to realize that it's not other people's opinions I should be worried about, It's mine, Heh, It seems, Captain, that I still have a few barriers to break, I just hope they're not theoretical impossibilities,"
"Somehow, I don't think they will be," I said.
Then I went to see the Doc.
"Doc, What about her?" I said.
"She would have to remain here for that time, I can get you to and from your quarters, to see her, if you want," Doc said.
"Sure, See you tomorrow," I said.
Then I went to my quarters and went to bed.
That's all for this chapter.
More to follow.
Stay tuned and safe.
Love Y'all
PEACE!