Togetherness Chapter 2

On a bench a few metres away from the spot where Harry and B'Elanna had eaten their picnic, Ensign Nozawa sat in stunned silence next to an open mouthed Jenny Delaney. They were still in that position when Jenny's sister, Megan, walked up to them two minutes later with Gerron Tem in tow. Standing to one side of the bench, the newcomers followed the stunned pair's line of vision, saw nothing, then exchanged puzzled looks and shrugs. Megan placed a hand on her twin's shoulder and shook her slightly.

"Jenny?"

"B'Elanna Torres kissed Harry Kim," Jenny said in a dazed voice.

Gerron laughed, thinking it all some sort of a joke. Megan knew her sister better than that. The identical twins knew when each other was kidding around and this was not one of those times.

"On the cheek," Megan tried to clarify.

Her sister slowly moved her head from side to side.

"On the lips?"

The head went up and down just as slowly.

"Oh my God."

The head continued.

"Torres and Kim?" Gerron shook his head. "No way. The sun must have been in your eyes. They wouldn't be... Harry Kim is interested in Seven of Nine. Torres is nuts over Tom Paris."

"Oh, poor Tom." Megan and Tom had dated off and on for a few months during their first year on Voyager and she considered him a friend, in spite of B'Elanna's resentment of her continuing, albeit limited, presence in Tom's life. He truly loved Torres. It was obvious to anyone who saw them together or heard him talk about her. And Harry Kim was his best friend. If they were fooling around behind his back... Tom was going to be devastated.

"Tom's going to be devastated," Jenny unconsciously echoed.

"Which is why he's never going to know about this," Megan insisted. She rounded the bench and put a hand on each of the catatonic officers. She firmly shook each of them until their eyes met hers. "You are going to forget you ever saw any of this. You had a pleasant day and didn't see anyone from Voyager other than Tem and myself."

Her firm tone jump-started their brains once more.

"Didn't-" Jenny began uncertainly.

"Didn't see anyone from Voyager except us."

"But-"

"It never happened, Jenny! You never saw anything."

"But-"

"This is Tom Paris we are talking about here. Our friend. The first real one we had on Voyager. The man who has gotten us out of more entanglements than either one of us can remember. He loves B'Elanna. We know that. Everyone knows that. If he finds out about this it will kill him."

"Maybe he already knows about them," Nozawa whispered. "Maybe that is what's been going on with him and the Senior staff lately."

"No. No, I don't believe that. If she had been cheating on him or outright dumped him, Tom would not be acting like this. He would be a wreck, not trying to act like everything's normal. I know he usually puts on a poker face and hides things, but even he couldn't hide his reaction to that sort of betrayal. No, this is different. This is... I don't know what this is, but I don't think this is that. Now, both of you forget all of this."

The fierce protectiveness in Tom's former girlfriend's tone made Gerron shift uncomfortably. She seemed to sense it and turned on him.

"You neither heard nor saw anything either."

The indications of jealousy manifesting in her lover made her soften her tone slightly.

"I know you don't like the fact Tom and I are still friends, Tem, anymore than B'Elanna does, but we are and you'll have to live with that fact. He and I will remain friends no matter what anyone else says. He was very good to me when we were together and since. It never was the type of affair everyone has speculated it was. Neither one of us ever confused it with anything more than what it was. We were two people enjoying each other's company. That's all."

Eyes pleading for understanding, she laid a hand on his arm and stared up at him. "That's why we have to protect him now. He's a good man, Tem. A good man who's never had a lot of happiness in his life. He doesn't deserve to have all this blow up in his face."

"He ought to know, Megan. If he doesn't already."

"We don't know for certain what Jenny and Nozawa saw any more than we know for certain they haven't already broken up. I'll talk to him, sound him out about what is going on between the two of them. If it becomes absolutely necessary, I'll go to B'Elanna and talk to her about it."

"She won't talk to you. You know she resents you. I'd better do it."

"Only if it becomes necessary," she reminded him. "I'll tell you if it does."

He nodded as she stroked his jaw. 'Somehow I always found myself caving into Megan's point of view,' he sighed to himself.

"Good." She looked at the other two. "Jenny? Nozawa? Your words this will not go any farther?"

Both nodded.

'Hoping she was doing the right thing,' Megan sighed to herself.

B'Elanna and Harry found the Captain and Chakotay still outside Sickbay, quietly talking. The Commander barred their entry when the friends made a move to rush inside.

"The Doctor is operating on Tuvok right now," he told them. "No one's allowed in."

"What about Tom?" B'Elanna demanded.

"He's in stasis until they're done with Tuvok," the Captain answered. She held up a hand to forestall their objections. "Tom's bad, but Tuvok is worse. Tom can wait."

"What happened?" Harry asked.

"Tom went mountain climbing this morning. Tuvok went along to keep an eye on him, not that Tom knew that was the reason. Apparently they had reached a wide ledge that actually was the roof of a cavern. It gave way under their feet and they fell. Tom was still on the safety line. Tuvok wasn't and fell the entire distance to the cavern floor."

"Are they going to be okay?"

"We don't know yet."

Eyes turned inward, B'Elanna blanched. "Tom was nearly dying and we were..."

Kathryn moved to take the shaken B'Elanna in her arms.

Seemingly not seeing the other woman, the half-Klingon turned back and raced for the turbolift before anyone could stop her.

Chakotay lay a comforting hand on the Captain's shoulder as they turned to the Ops Officer.

Harry Kim was almost as pale and distraught as the Chief Engineer.

"Harry-" Kathryn began.

He shook his head and opened his mouth to interrupt. No sounds were heard. One had to know what one was going to say in order to form words. Harry Kim had no idea what to say. How did one explain that while his best friend was fighting for his life, he had been kissing said best friend's girl?

Harry felt sick to his stomach. Before he disgraced himself in front of his Captain and Commander, he ran for the turbolift.

Kathryn turned to Chakotay, confused. The big man mutely shrugged. He did not understand what was going on himself.

'Oh, Paris, what have you done to yourself this time?' Tom asked himself.

Every centimetre of his body hurt.

Equally.

He thought for a moment.

Not equally.

Yes, his head did indeed feel worse than the rest of him. Now why was that then?

His scrambled brains tried to unscramble themselves to work out the answer to the question. They were finding it a tough go when out of nowhere a voice supplied the answer for them.

'We were in a cave in, Mr. Paris.'

'I've finally gone insane,' Tom decided. 'And about damned time, too.'

'You are not insane,' the voice denied.

'Oh, sure, *you're* going to say that, now aren't you?'

'If you can wonder about whether you are sane or not, you are still, at least in part, sane.'

'Oh, that's deep.'

'Mr. Paris, we were in a cave in. I transferred my katra to you. Remember?'

Tom mentally frowned. 'Why did that sound familiar?'

'Because it is what happened.'

Slowly, everything started to come back to Tom.

The cave in.

Tuvok's injuries.

His unspoken request.

Tom's agreeing to that request.

Finally the little voice in Tom's head that had been stifled at the time spoke the reason why it was not such a good idea for Tuvok to be in Tom's head.

The Vulcan now knew everything.

'Lieutenant Paris, what is wrong? Why are you feeling panicked?'

'You know everything,' Tom mentally whispered in horror.

'Know everything? I see. You are concerned that my presence is an invasion of your privacy. There is no need for concern. I only know what you want me to know, Lieutenant. I shall not invade your privacy. Consider this to be the ultimate mindmeld. I have the mental discipline necessary to restrain from prying into your thoughts.'

'But you're in my head too. How can you not-'

'It is like we are sharing quarters, Lieutenant. You have your space and I have mine yet we are sharing the same room. I will refrain from... touching your things and you will refrain from touching mine.'

'For how long?'

'For how long can I keep from prying?'

'Yes.'

'For as long as it takes.'

'What if Voyager doesn't get to us in time? If your body dies, will you and I be "sharing quarters" until Voyager gets home?'

That gave Tuvok pause. 'If necessary.'

Tom retreated into silence. How was he going to handle this? His mind cast back to the McCoy biography, to what had happened to McCoy when he and Spock had done what he and Tuvok now had. Was he going to going to go through what McCoy did? Succumb to the same near madness that he almost had?

It was then that he knew Tuvok told the truth about not being able to know his thoughts until he wanted him to know. If Tuvok truly had been intruding, he would have commented on this new worry of Tom's.

The concern about his privacy out of the way, Tom permitted himself to think of his biggest concern. If Tuvok did end up his "roommate" for the rest of the voyage, what would happen when the AlphaOmegans arrived to reclaim their AWOL soldier? How could Tuvok be spared from sharing the same fate he was destined to endure when The Protectors had him in their clutches once more? He had no choice. If Voyager did not find them in time to save Tuvok's body, they would have to find a new home for Tuvok's katra. Maybe inside of Vorik? He was Vulcan after all. He had to be better equipped to handle this. If not Vorik, then there had to be another option.

One started to come to mind when there was a sudden nothingness.

For all his worries about *if* Voyager would find them in time, Tom had not realized they had been found and currently were in Sickbay. The abrupt return to mental awareness was the Doctor releasing him from stasis. The sudden nothingness was his being sedated so the operation to heal his injuries could begin.

While the majority of his programme desperately attempted to save his patients, a small part of the EMH reviewed all information on Vulcans and katras. A few of the forty-seven physicians whose knowledge comprised his programming had had experience with this. There were only two instances, however, of a human being the recipient and with both they had been within a few days' travel of Vulcan, not a few decades. He worried about Tom's future if Tuvok's body died. Two such diametrically opposed personalities sharing the same body. It was going to be difficult to say the least.

Once Tom's treatment was completed, the temporary assistants removed the surgical trays then left Sickbay for the Mess Hall. The minute the hologram thought he was alone, he frowned at the displays over each biobed. He had done everything modern medicine could do. It was up to Tom and Tuvok now.

"Doctor?" he heard the Captain call from the doorway to Sickbay.

"You may come in now, Captain."

She moved closer, staring down at each of her men in turn. "How are they?"

"Though he remains unconscious for the moment, Lieutenant Paris is assured of a complete recovery. He had a concussion, a broken left shoulder and leg, a badly sprained right ankle, severed tendons and muscles in his right hand, a hairline fracture in two ribs, and numerous wounds on his back from which I removed shards of rock. But thanks to my superior medical skills, Mr. Paris has been brought back from the brink of death yet again. In a few hours he should awaken. He'll need to spend at least another seventy-two hours here before I'll release him to light duty."

A very pale Kathryn stared at Tom. The moment she first had laid eyes on him hours ago, she had known Tom was badly injured yet nothing like this. "And Tuvok?" she asked, almost not wanting to know how badly off he had been.

"It was difficult to find a bone in his body that was not broken, cracked or dislocated. There was massive external and internal bleeding and a severe concussion. The good news is I've put him back together and if his body survives the next seventy-two hours I'd say his body's chances for a full recovery are fair."

Kathryn narrowed her eyes at the odd phrasing. "His body's chances?"

He led her over to a console. While showing her the scans of Tom and Tuvok's brainwave patterns, he explained their predicament. Quite understandably, she took a few moments to review and fully comprehend the implications of what he told her. While she was doing so, he called in the only other Vulcan on Voyager in the hopes he might be able to offer some information that was not on file in the computer.

Within minutes, Vorik entered Sickbay. "You wished to see me, Doctor?" the young Vulcan asked.

"What do you know about this?"

Vorik took a look at the information on the screen then at the unconscious Tuvok. "Will his body live?"

"As I just told the Captain, if he survives the next three days, the prospects are fair, not good, but fair."

"I do not know anymore than what every Vulcan is taught, Doctor, and this entry appears to coincide with my own knowledge. It is the final act a Vulcan undertakes when he or she realizes death is inevitable and he or she is far from Vulcan. The katra is transferred to one who can be entrusted to take it to Vulcan where it shall join those who have gone before."

Kathryn's sadness showed on her face. "Tuvok thought there was little hope of his survival so he did this?"

"Clearly that was the case, Captain. I take it, Doctor, that the rumours concerning he and Lieutenant Paris being in some sort of mountain climbing accident were true."

"Yes," the Doctor confirmed. "What I need to know, Ensign, how long will it be after he regains consciousness before he can... get back together and what will it do to Lieutenant Paris in the meantime."

"The time frame will depend on the recovery time. If his injuries were severe enough for him to undertake such a last resort action, then it would be logical that the recover would be long."

"His body will be confined to bed for two weeks at least," the EMH confirmed. "I don't know for certain when he will awaken. A few days certainly."

"Lieutenant Paris will have to keep the katra until then. Only when the Lieutenant Commander's body is physically strong enough to sustain itself will it be advisable for him to attempt to reunite. Keeping his body alive until then will be the problem."

The Doctor checked the information then the latest scans of Tuvok. "He'll just have to stay on life support until then."

The Captain finally interrupted. "Gentlemen, what about Tom?"

"There may be some problems for Lieutenant Paris," Vorik explained, "but he will survive."

"What kind of problems?"

"A space which is intended only for one now has two. There will be some adjustments for both of them to make. Until they do, there may be some mental trauma suffered by one or both of them. Probably it will be Lieutenant Paris. The Lieutenant Commander is a highly trained Vulcan. He will be able to endure this experience with little difficulty."

"Define 'mental trauma.'"

"Memories, emotions, thoughts, all normal brain functions will be in upheaval until a balance is achieved."

"And how long could it be until there is this balance?"

"That is difficult to calculate, Captain. The Lieutenant Commander has had the misfortune to be forced to share the body of the most emotional member of the crew after Lieutenant Torres. I predict it will be exceedingly difficult for Lieutenant Paris to adjust to these new circumstances. That in turn will prove difficult for Lieutenant Commander Tuvok."

The Captain shivered on Tuvok and Tom's behalf. For two men, one who subjugated his emotions as part of his culture, and another who did it to protect himself, suddenly to be placed in such a position, it was going to be Hell for them.

"Does the crew have anything to worry about? I have heard stories about Vulcans that have become ill and unconsciously telepathically communicated their emotions to others."

The Doctor shook his head. "There is little chance of that in this case, Captain."

As he went into a long-winded explanation of the reason why not, Kathryn stopped listening. Her main concerns had been addressed and that was all that mattered at the moment. She knew he would send her a voluminous report on the subject later as he always did.

'Why couldn't anything on this ship ever go smoothly,' Kathryn sighed to herself? 'Why did everything always end up such a big production? Some days she wondered if the philosophers were right. If life as they knew it was mere words on the screen of some higher being's computer and they were made to suffer for its amusement.'

Chakotay found B'Elanna in Holodeck Two. He recognized the programme she was running as the interior of the lodge in Tom's San Moritz skiing programme. He wondered at that. She disliked this programme as too cold for her Klingon-side even though she did occasionally come here because Tom liked it.

Maybe that explained why she was here instead of pacing the corridor outside of Sickbay as she typically did when Tom, all too often, was inside, fighting for his life. Perhaps she felt closer to Tom here inside of his creation and it was better than pacing the corridor.

Quietly, Chakotay lowered himself down beside her on the braided rug before the holographic fire. Huddled in what everyone referred to as "her" blanket since she always was wrapped in it while she was in the lodge, she remained in her own little world. He let her stay there for a while then gently coaxed her out of it.

"B'Elanna?"

She blinked a few times in rapid succession then focused on him. "Chakotay?"

"Tom's out of surgery. He's still sedated but you can go see him."

Her eyes found the fire again.

"If that's what you want."

She said nothing.

"I know your relationship's been a little... strained lately. I think, though, it would mean a lot to him if you were to set aside your anger at him and be there when he woke up."

A large tear ran down her cheek.

Never before had Chakotay seen her cry. It was a disconcerting sight. "B'Elanna?""In-" Her voice broke and she had to begin again. "In the parole test, he meant it when he said he loved me."

He nodded. "Yes, I think he did."

"And when he told you he wasn't coming...?"

"I think it was to protect us."

She squeezed her eyes shut. Tears fell in earnest. "I've done something horrible."

"What do you mean?"

"When Tom was fighting for his life-" She broke off.

He patiently waited for her to continue. At last he had to give her a little prompting. "When Tom was fighting for his life...?"

"I was down on the planet..."

Chakotay did something he rarely ever did - he jumped to a conclusion. He did so out of the supreme confidence that he knew B'Elanna Torres, maybe better than even Tom Paris. He figured that made it possible for him to predict her behaviour and thoughts in any given situation. He never considered he could be wrong.

"You were on the planet having fun with Harry when Tom needed you and now you feel guilty." He laid a hand on her shoulder. "There's nothing for you to feel guilty about. You-"

"You're wrong," she growled, tears dashed.

"B'Elanna, this was a freak accident. It could have happened to anyone. The locals have been climbing in that area for generations and never knew anything about the instability of that plateau. They were as surprised as we were by this. If you had been with Tom, you'd be in Sickbay right now, too."

Angrily surging to her feet, she stalked off to the bay windows. "You don't understand," she cried plaintively.

He followed, trying to offer what comfort he could. "B'Elanna-"

"I wasn't having fun with Harry!" she practically yelled. "I was kissing Harry."

Chakotay stopped dead. He felt the Universe abruptly flip over, give a good shake like it was an ancient snow globe, then right itself again. In his mind little bits of plastic "snow" fluttered down all around him, obscuring his understanding. "I'm sorry, you what?"

"I was kissing Harry," she whispered, all her energy seemingly spent in making the admission the first time.

"I see." He thought for a second. "No, I don't see. You were kissing Harry? Harry Kim?"

She nodded sadly.

"Can I ask why?"

She regained some energy. "I don't know 'why'! We were talking - well, Harry was doing most of the talking really - and he convinced me to watch the recording of the parole test. Then I said something like: 'Why couldn't I have fallen for someone like him? I would have fewer problems.' We talked about that a bit then I kissed him. But I didn't mean to!"

"You didn't mean to kiss him?"

"No! Well, I meant to, yes, but only a little one. Out of gratitude. You know, one friend saying 'thank you' to another."

"I've never seen you say thank you to anyone like that before," he dared point out.

"No. I know, but-" She clutched the blanket more tightly about her and stomped back to the rug to glare into the fire. "This is all his fault!"

"Harry's?"

"Tom's!"

"Your kissing Harry was Tom's fault?"

"If it weren't for Tom and this mess, he and I still would be together and -"

"So you're saying you're officially over as a couple."

Immediately, she tried to respond to that. He cut her off before she could.

"Think very carefully about that question, B'Elanna. This is Tom Paris we are talking about here. The man you have told me numerous times is the best thing that ever happened to you. The only man other than me who's ever willingly stood up to your temper time and again and not backed down. The only man who's ever made you grin like the proverbial schoolgirl at the mere sound of his voice over the Comm."

She was quiet for a moment then nodded. "We're over. I can't take him back after what he has done."

"Exactly what has he done?"

Openly showing shock, she turned to him. "What's he done? You were there. You know what he did." She shook her head. "You sound like the Captain and Harry."

"If the Captain, Harry, and I sound alike then maybe there's a reason for it. Maybe it's because we're raising the logical arguments to make and you should be listening to us. And, yes, I was there and just as I told you, I think he really was planning to stay away from you for your own sake and safety, B'Elanna."

Groaning heavily, B'Elanna flung off the blanket and began to pace.

"Yes, he did take the coward's way out and not tell you in person, but I saw the look on his face. I think, if he had tried to tell you face to face, not via letter, he would not have been able to say goodbye."

"You just don't understand!"

"No, I don't think you understand. I think you should do what you told Harry you were going to do. The Captain or I can authorize the release of the parole test records to you. You can watch them then make up your mind as to what you believe. Right now you don't have all the facts. Don't throw your relationship with him away before you do know them."

B'Elanna clearly was not listening to reason. "No. It won't change anything. He lied to me."

"You know what I think?" He did not wait for her to answer. "I think that damned Torres pride is getting in the way again."

She glared at him. "What?!"

"Yeah. Pride and guilt."

"Guilt?!"

"I think you want to tell him you understand why he did what he did and forgive him, but now you're feeling guilty because you got carried away and gave Harry some little peck on the cheek. You're latching back onto Tom's lie as an excuse to reject Tom instead of running the risk of him rejecting you when he finds out you kissed Harry."

"It wasn't some 'little peck.' It was the real thing. Right on the lips. And as for this bizarre idea of yours about me feeling guilty and all the rest of that garbage, you can forget it."

Her storming out of the Holodeck ended the discussion.

Harry prowled about his quarters, picking up one item after another then putting each down again. He was so confused. How had he gone from matchmaker to match-breaker in the space of a few seconds? And all the while his best friend was lying near death in Sickbay.

The door chimed. He practically flew to the door, eagerly grabbing at the interruption like a drowning man to a piece of driftwood. Anything to distract him from his guilt for even a moment.

"Commander, come in."

Chakotay blinked in surprise at the warm welcome. What a vast difference it was from the initially sombre tone of his encounter with B'Elanna. "Umm, thank you," he said, stepping inside.

"So, what can I do for you?"

"I wanted to talk to you about B'Elanna," Chakotay saw a brief blip in the Ensign's happy demeanour then it was gone.

"Oh?" he asked, nonchalantly going over to the replicator for a glass of water. "What about her?"

He did not fool Chakotay for an instant. "About what she just told me about the two of you on the planet."

A longer blip.

"About...?

"About you having convinced her to look at the record of the parole test."

Harry's reaction was visible relief.

It was short lived.

"And about the two of you kissing."

The young man's face fell, as nearly did the glass in his hand. Recovering, he returned the glass to the replicator for recycling.

"Want to talk about it, Harry?"

"What's to talk about? One minute we were talking, the next minute we were kissing."

Resolutely, Chakotay ventured onwards, a little worried about the answer he might receive. "And how did that make you feel?"

Harry's eye jerked to his. "How did- What?"

"Did you welcome it or not?"

"Did I...? Are you asking me if I liked kissing her?" His eyes fell from the Commander's as he began to prowl again. "I- No, of course not."

"Harry?"

"Okay! Yes, I think enjoyed it."

"You think?"

He turned pleading eyes to the older man. "What am I going to do? How could I have done this? Tom's my best friend. How can I tell him while he was nearly dying I was necking with B'Elanna?"

"I don't know, Harry. Let me ask you this- If Tom weren't in the picture, what would you do now?"

"What do you mean?"

"Would you and B'Elanna be thinking about trying a romantic relationship together?"

"Look, Commander, with all due respect, I know you don't like Tom all that much and like the idea of Tom and B'Elanna together even less, but I really don't think encouraging me to try to take her away from him is something you should be doing!"

"Really?"

"Really! She loves him and he loves her. They belong together whether you like it or not!"

"What about you? Do you like it?"

"Do I...? I've done everything I can to get the two of them back together again. And I am not going to stand for you coming in here and-"

"So if she decided she didn't want Tom anymore, you wouldn't be first in line, trying to win her affections?"

"She hasn't," Harry gasped.

"Just answer the question."

"She's my friend. I don't think of her like that."

"But you enjoyed kissing her."

"I guess," he conceded. "She's pretty. I'm a heterosexual male."

"And not adverse to kissing a pretty woman."

"Yeah. I mean, I like her, I love her even, but as my friend. Anything more than that between us never would work out."

"You sound like you have given this some thought."

"Somebody once said something about her and I being a good couple. I knew even then it wouldn't work. She's too temperamental, too stubborn. Tom is the only one who can handle her." He openly glared at the Commander. "So if you've come here trying to cause trouble-"

Chakotay held up his hands in surrender. "All right, Harry, I get the point."

"Fine."

"I'm not trying to cause trouble. I was trying to gauge your reaction to all this."

"My reaction?"

"Yes. I had to know if there was any hope on your part of a future between you and B'Elanna."

"Nothing other than friendship, but-"

"B'Elanna has got herself worked into such a state that she's decided it's over between her and Tom."

Harry paled. "Because of me?"

He sighed. "Partly because of you, or more correctly because of the guilt she feels over having kissed you while Tom was in Sickbay. She's subconsciously decided to sabotage their relationship before she has to confront that guilt. And then there's her feelings about the parole test."

"We're worse off than before I talked to her today," Harry sighed. "I have to talk to her and-"

"No. That is the last thing you're going to do."

"Commander?"

"She's confused right now and grabbing onto what happened as an excuse to avoid confronting her feelings. You can't talk to her about this, not right now anyway. Unfortunately, I don't think I am the one to talk sense to her either, not after the way she reacted when I told her a few home truths." He sighed. "I wish there was a female on board that she felt close enough to that could talk to her about this."

"Maybe the Captain could try?"

"Maybe. I'll ask her."

"Whoever it is, something has to be done soon. If there isn't a change in her attitude, her staff will mutiny or worse sick the Delaneys on her."

"May the spirits help us if that happens."

As the sounds around him decreased, he silently watched and waited.

For hours he had crawled the airshafts, visiting various areas of the prison and leaving little "surprises" behind. Once everything was where it was intended to be, he had settled into this airshaft to wait for his chance. That had been four hours and seventeen minutes ago.

Every few minutes, to keep boredom from settling in, he went through the litany of mentally repeating the steps of his plan. At the same time, he automatically tensed then relaxed each of his muscles in turn to prevent cramping. His senses of sight, smell, and hearing remained on alert. No one was going to be surprising him if he could prevent it.

His briefing had been very explicit about how anyone caught attempting to break out of Uucuu Prison was treated. There was no data on those caught attempting to break *in* to Uucuu Prison. No one ever had been stupid enough or suicidal enough to try it. AlphaOmegan 41783 was neither. What he "was" was on a Mission. One which had to be completed within two hours or he had to abort.

All he needed now was the opportunity to act.

It came ten minutes later. The last of the prisoners had fallen asleep or passed out from their injuries from their last "interview" with the warden. All was quiet.

Two by two, the four members of the patrol passed by his position on their rounds. Their somehow sensing his presence in the darkness was his only worry at this point. Certain circuits had been bypassed hours ago so the internal sensors overlooked him. Unlike those intruder alarms, the guards could not be coaxed into ignoring what they saw.

Luckily for him, the guards never slowed their progress down the corridor.

He waited another minute for them to be well into the next cellblock before easing back the bolts that secured the airshaft access panel. Hours ago he had sprayed the entire panel with penetrating oil so it did not make a sound as it was slid up then back into place.

Stealthily, he slipped across the corridor and down three doors to a certain cell. He withdrew a miniature tricorder and scanned for occupants, found the genetic patterns to match the ones he sought, then returned the device to his midnight blue jumpsuit's waist pocket. He applied the oil to the door hinge then set to work on picking the centuries old lock of the cell door. For someone with his talents it took only a few seconds before he was inside.

The figure on the pallet on the floor did not stir. With his night-vision contact lenses, AlphaOmegan 41783 easily could see the broken figure of the old Romulan uncomfortably lying there. He hurried over, slid a stiletto out from its sheath strapped to the inside of his right leg and bent over the prisoner.

Whether he had erred in some fashion or it was some sort of instinct on the prisoner's part, he never knew. When it was all over, in depth analysis of the recordings made by his Implant could not reveal the error either. All it did reveal was that the old Romulan awoke at the same second AlphaOmegan 41783 was preparing to dispatch him.

A fierce struggle ensued. While the Romulan was old and weak from maltreatment and malnourishment, the desire to survive was a strong one. For a brief moment, he fought valiantly. Then he weakened once more and the end was the same. The Romulan died from a quick jab with the stiletto. The entire interlude took less than a minute yet that was thirty-seven seconds longer than had been budgeted. And a lot noisier.

The patrol was coming back around. He could hear the steady thump of their heavy boots as they stormed in formation down the corridor. Obviously they had heard the commotion from the cell and were coming to investigate.

To the outside observer it would have seemed like he was trapped. The outside observer would have been wrong.

AlphaOmegan 41783 pulled a fist-sized bomb from his waist pocket, pressed a button and tossed it into a dark corner. He hurried to the still open cell door. Nudging a couple of small metal balls from his left breast pocket, he squeezed them in his hand as he stepped out into the corridor.

The four who approached let out shouts and reflexively fired their projectile weapons at the intruder swathed hood to boot in the darkest of blues. He dove and rolled across the corridor, sending the little balls rolling down the flagstone flooring towards the guards. At a shrill whistle from him, the silver balls activated and exploded, sending great clouds of pale chartreuse smoke.

He scrambled for the airshaft and was inside, but not before more of the projectiles found their mark. It was a miracle they did with the vision of the holders of the weapons so obscured by the smoke. The pain from the injuries was forced to the back of his mind to be experienced later, after he had escaped this place.

As fast as he could, he scurried up the shaft to the spot where he had left his pack. The moment he reached it, he could hear shouts and yells coming from every room and corridor into which the airshaft system opened. Clearly, his secret infiltration of the prison no longer was a secret.

Slipping on the pack, he paused, hearing the sounds of people entering the airshafts. They would have no trouble following the trail of blood that he knew he was leaving behind him. It could not be helped. Though they did not know it, their pursuit of him would be brief. Taking out the only explosive he had yet to place, he activated the fifteen-minute countdown and slammed the last of the charge into the stone wall where it fused to the rock. It was the last of the "presents" and the activation of its countdown triggered the others to do the same.

Naturally, he had factored the possibility of his sustaining injuries into the choice of fifteen minutes as the time limit for him to retreat. Still, he barely managed to make it to the exterior wall and the air intake grate he had removed to gain entry to the prison. As he began to scale down the wall of the prison, the first in a series of explosions rocked the massive structure.

Suddenly, he fell. The prison was only three storeys, but three storeys built on the edge of a seven storey cliff. He plummeted down and into the crashing sea beneath. He was dashed against the rocks repeatedly before the transporter beam caught him... at the exact moment a huge section of wall came plunging down towards him. He was beamed out of the surf and raining debris of Uucuu Prison and onto the waiting transport ship in orbit.

The EMH rushed out of his office at the sound of Tom's first screams. By the time he had made it to the pilot's biobed, the young man was scrunched back against the diagnostic display, trembling, eyes screwed shut, arms crossed over his head as if to shield himself from a blow. Alarmed by this, the hologram tried his "gentle approach" algorithm.

"Tom? Wake up, Tom. It's all right. You're safe now. You're in Sickbay."

When Tom Paris' eyes snapped open, they seemed to be everywhere at once. The Doctor had the impression that there was not a single millimetre of the room that had been overlooked.

"Tom. I know things seem to be a little strange right now, but I want to assure you that you are okay. However you need to lie down right now so you can rest. Okay?"

Slowly, Tom permitted him to assist him in returning to a reclining position. As the Doc was tucking the blanket back around him, Tom's lips parted ever so slightly. The Doctor bent close to the lips to hear the single word.

"I know about the katra," the EMH answered. "I've done all I can for Tuvok's body. We have no choice but wait to see how things turn out. Both of you need to recuperate for awhile."

The blue eyes fluttered shut once more.

'Mr. Paris,' Tuvok said as they heard the Doctor return to his office, 'I believe we should discuss what happened.'

'Tuvok, you know what happened,' Tom responded wearily. 'There was a cave in. We-'

'No, I mean the memory we just experienced.'

Tom tried to dismiss the subject. 'It was a meaningless nightmare, Tuvok, not a memory. Forget it.'

'I do not think that is the case, Lieutenant. You forget that you are talking to a Vulcan. I can tell the difference between a simple nightmare and a memory. We may be "roommates" for sometime, Mr. Paris. I believe that gives me the right to ask -'

'You said you wouldn't pry!'

'And I am not. What just happened cannot be permitted to continue. Your emotions are particularly strong, even for a human. I am Vulcan. Such violent emotions are difficult enough to control when they are your own. By adding yours to the mix it will become difficult to retain the serenity which is necessary for a Vulcan.'

'It was a nightmare, Tuvok. Leave it alone.'

'You cannot lie to me now, Mr. Paris. It was a memory and if we do not discuss it and deal with it immediately it will resurface and potentially cause problems. If it does so at an inopportune moment, the ship might be endangered.'

'I won't endanger the ship.'

Over the next few minutes, Tom began to remember what he had learned over the past months - there is nowhere one can go when one's interrogator is in one's own head. Tuvok continued to lecture him, laying out one solid argument after another for their discussing the memory. Finally Tom could not take it anymore. Tom had endured months of Camet and the others picking away at him, taunting him about his past as an AlphaOmegan and his misdeeds. He had survived mind-numbing torture the only time he had been captured while on a Mission yet still had held his tongue. But when it came to the unending arguments of this Vulcan, he surrendered.

'Fine, it was a memory.'

'And...?'

'And what?'

'And we will have to talk about it, Lieutenant.'

'There's nothing to tell. You saw it all apparently.'

'I saw you planting bombs in a prison. I saw you wait for hours on end to enter a prisoner's cell and assassinate him. I saw you be seriously injured, evade capture, detonate your explosives, and nearly fall to your death. What I did not see was an explanation as to why.'

'That is not relevant. The cave must have brought back the memory of the fall and all that was associated with it. I now know we're safe so there'll be no more nightmares.'

'That does sound like a plausible argument, however -'

'There's no "however" about it, Tuvok. It's over. That will be the last one you see. End of story.'

'Hardly, Lieutenant. There remains the not so small matter of the death of that prisoner. *And* of everyone else inside of that prison I would assume.'

'End of story, Tuvok,' Tom stressed as they felt the Doctor press a hypospray to "Tom's" neck.

As they grew sleepy, the Vulcan appeared to surrender the point. 'For now, Lieutenant.'

'Forever, Lieutenant Commander.'

"Kathryn, may I speak with you?"

The Captain smiled at her First Officer and ushered him into her quarters. "Always. Come in." She took a close look at his serious face. "I take it things did not go well with B'Elanna and Harry."

"No," he sighed, sitting down on the couch, "they didn't. That's what I need to talk to you about."

She settled down next to him. "Okay, shoot."

And so, metaphorically speaking, he did. At the end of his recitation of the events on the planet and the mindsets of the two involved, Kathryn closed her eyes. "Poor Harry."

"He does always seem to get caught in the middle of their battles one way or another, doesn't he."

"What are we going to do with Tom and B'Elanna?" she groaned. "They are so stubborn!"

"That is putting it mildly, yes," he agreed. "Some of the engineers have suggested locking them up together until they work everything out. It might not be such a bad idea, but not until after B'Elanna's recovered from this incident with Harry. Her blurting out what happened certainly won't help."

"No, it wouldn't."

"I wondered if maybe you could talk to her?"

"I don't know if my talking to her will do any good, but I'll try," she promised, blue-grey eyes sincere yet not hopeful.

"Thanks, Kathryn. Any word on Tom or Tuvok?"

"The Doctor called just before you came. Tom woke briefly. He was disoriented and agitated, but the Doctor calmed him down and sedated him." She inwardly sighed. Vorik's prediction of mental trauma for Tom was proving to be accurate, unfortunately. Tuvok's body could not heal fast enough for her liking. The sooner her Security Chief was back together, the better.

"And Tuvok?"

"Still on complete life support. The Doctor is going to try to take him off of it tomorrow and see what happens." She looked at Chakotay and stood. "Well, it seems in the meantime, I have a young woman to sort out," she said, going over to her desk.

Chakotay got to his feet also. "How are you going to do it?"

"Not really certain. Given her stubbornness, talking to her isn't going to work. I probably could speak reason to her until I am blue in the face and not have it sink in." She rubbed the back of her neck, thinking. "Maybe there's another way. Computer, is there any holodeck time free in the next few hours?"

"The current free times on the Holodecks are from 2010 to 0330 on Holodeck One, 1945 to 0230 on Holodeck Two, and -"

"Okay," she interrupted. "Reserve Holodeck One for Captain Janeway for the entire free time currently open."

"Holodeck One reserved from 2010 to 0330 for Captain Janeway."

"What are you planning? Running a programme of a glassware shop and letting her smash things to her heart's content?" he chuckled.

She merely shook her head. "No, I've got something else in mind." She touched her combadge. "Janeway to Torres."

There was a pause then the Chief Engineer answered. "Torres here."

"Would you please meet me in Holodeck One at 2015. I have a programme I need your imput on."

"Yes, Captain."

"Janeway out."

Chakotay sent her a sympathetic look. "Good luck."

"I may need it."