B'Elanna left the restaurant deep in thought. The sidewalk to the transport station ran along the periphery of the Power Facility and given that it wasn't yet time for a shift change, there weren't a lot of people crowding the pavement. Clouds of white steam billowed out from conduits, and the cling clang of the facility's operations echoed in the night. A musty smell hung in the air
As B'Elanna entered the spot where the corridor narrowed to just a meter wide, she jammed her hands into her pockets as she walked towards the transport station. It surprised her how much she enjoyed meeting Joelly and Marchin, and combined with her growing friendship with Tom, she felt optimistic she could build a life for herself and her child on Quarra.
She stepped to the side, her shoulder grazing the concrete wall, as a Quarran couple, hand-in-hand, passed her, their heads bent close together, but their voices and laughter were lost in the whir of a turbine coming to life. Shadows played in and out of the amber lights that punctuated the walkway every four meters or so. B'Elanna kept her gaze resolutely ahead. In about eight minutes, she would be at the transport station, and then it would be a six-minute ride along the river to the Employees Housing Complex.
Mentally she started making a list of all the things she needed to do to prepare for the baby. First priority would be finding a doctor and selecting a hospital, followed by putting in an application for a new apartment. Then would come the task of buying all the things she would need for the baby, like a crib and a stroller
She was still lost in thought when a man stepped out of the shadows and blocked her passage. In the dim light, B'Elanna could barely make out his features, and his eyes were heavily hooded beneath heavy brown ridges while a lock of dark hair curled on his right temple. She recognized him as one of the two strange men she'd seen talking to Tom in the restaurant
"Excuse me," the man said genially.
B'Elanna dismissed his pleasantry quickly with a wave of her hand. "It was my fault. I should watch where I'm going." She attempted to move around him, but the man matched her movement, thwarting her from going forward. B'Elanna bristled at the rudeness. Couldn't he see he was in her way? She cleared her throat, mumbled an "Excuse me", but once again, the man refused to get out of her way. What the hell? B'Elanna lifted her eyes to meet his. And while he was clearly invading her personal space, it was impossible to read his expression in the amber light that illuminated this section of walkway. Her eyes darted back and forth as she evaluated her options. He was at least 15 centimeters taller than her, and of a muscular build. She clenched her hands into fists, her leg muscles tensing to take action.
"B'Elanna?"
"How do you know my name?" she asked warily, glancing furtively at her surroundings. Just minutes earlier, she'd appreciated the fact the path hadn't been crowded, but now she wished someone – anyone – would walk by.
The man paused and then said in a low voice, "What if I told you we were old friends?"
B'Elanna stared at him. There wasn't much she was sure of these days, but she knew without a doubt she'd never seen this man before in her life.
"That's a ridiculous story," B'Elanna said firmly.
"I know it sounds strange, but I can prove it to you. Just give me a chance," the man's voice took on a pleading tone.
B'Elanna took a step backward, keeping her gaze firmly on the stranger. The main entrance to the Power Facility was just a few dozen meters away. If she could get there, she could have the security officers escort her to the transport station.
"Look, I'm sorry but I'm late for work," B'Elanna said, hoping the man would leave her alone if he thought someone was expecting her. She brushed by him, but the man grabbed her arm, his fingers digging deep into her skin. B'Elanna tried to pull away but his grip was tight. He dragged her into a side alley. The smells emitting from the overflowing trash bins overwhelmed B'Elanna and she gagged as she struggled against the hold the man had placed on her.
"Let go of me!" she screamed as she banged her elbow painfully into the arm. The headache that had plagued her earlier in the evening threatened to reinstate itself as she swallowed down her nausea. The alley seemed to spin around her.
"I'm not going to hurt you!" the stranger insisted, his voice rising.
B'Elanna scoffed at this last comment. She managed to free her arm, swung at him and hit him in the jaw. The man released her arm as he staggered backwards against the wall. B'Elanna took the opportunity to run in the opposite direction, but then the spotted man with the tufted yellow hair, who had also been at the restaurant, obstructed her way. He grabbed her, wrapping his arms securely around her chest and clamping her arms against her body, making it impossible for B'Elanna to lash out at him.
"Security! Help!" B'Elanna screamed, the back of her throat hoarse with exertion of trying to be heard over all of noise emitting from the Power Facility. In the background, B'Elanna heard the dark-haired man say, "Chakotay to Voyager. We've got B'Elanna! Lock onto Neelix and transport them to Sickbay."
The hairs stood up on the back of B'Elanna's neck as adrenaline coursed through her body. Her hearts beat at a rapid rate as she fought against the man called Neelix. Where were they transporting her to and why? She pushed against her captor, trying to break free, but his grasp was too strong.
"Help me!" she shouted as she tried to kick at Neelix's feet.
At that moment, two security officers appeared, the beams of their powerful flashlights cutting through the dank darkness. One of the officers yelled, "Let her go!" while the other yelled "Stop!"
The temporary relief B'Elanna felt at the arrival of the security officers evaporated when she experienced the slight tingle of the transporter beam take hold. In that moment before she dematerialized, she regretted not accepting Tom's offer to escort her to the station.
They materialized in a large room, and as her eyes adjusted to the scene, B'Elanna recognized she was in a medical facility. There were three biobeds spread equidistance against the wall to her left, and to her right, she saw a glass-enclosed office. Beneath the bright glare of the overhead lights, trays of hyposprays and other equipment sat neatly on trays. A faint antiseptic odor permeated the air. The moment of shock passed as B'Elanna realized the strange yellow-haired alien was still holding on to her. She elbowed him in the stomach, and he yelped in pain, releasing her. B'Elanna darted towards the doors at the far end of the room.
"Computer, secure doors! Authorization Neelix alpha six theta!" Neelix yelled. In frustration, B'Elanna banged her fists on the door.
"B'Elanna," Neelix said in a calming voice.
"How do you know my name? Where am I?" she asked, pressing her back against the door.
"You're on Voyager. I'm Neelix." Neelix covered the distance between them in several steps. His voice was kind, and she didn't see a threat in his eyes but… you took me from my home. "Don't you recognize me, B'Elanna?" He sounded sad, maybe even a little desperate.
B'Elanna shook her head. "I've never seen you before." She tried to punch Neelix, but he anticipated her reaction and caught her fists. "Doctor!"
"Leave me alone!" she screamed.
"We're friends! We're trying to help you," Neelix said but she found this hard to believe as he grabbed her from the back and wrestled her towards a biobed. Out of the corner of her eye, B'Elanna could see someone dressed in a red-shouldered uniform advancing towards her. She made out the glint of silver in his hand, recognized it as a hypospray. Not again…
"No! Don't touch me!" B'Elanna yelled. She thrashed as the hypospray discharged into her neck. She felt her limbs grow heavy as drowsiness overtook her. "Please," she whispered. "I'm pregnant... don't... my..."
"Good morning, sunshine."
Chaffing against the restraints holding her onto the biobed, B'Elanna turned her head away from the cheery bald gentleman who had so recently attacked her with the hypospray. He was dressed in a red and black uniform and none of his markings indicated an association with the Power Facility.
"I want to go home," she said, pulling and testing the restraint at her ankles.
"You are home." The man walked around the biobed so that he was once again in B'Elanna's view. She turned her head to the other side and the man sighed. "If that's the way you're going to be... B'Elanna, it's me. The Doctor."
"I don't have a doctor."
"Is that what they told you?"
"Who?"
"The people who altered your engrammatic patterns. Your memory centers have been radically changed. Don't you remember anything?" the Doctor spoke calmly, but B'Elanna could detect just a hint of shock underlying his tone. "Anything at all?"
"Can you remove these restraints?" B'Elanna asked abruptly. "They hurt."
"Do you promise not to run away." The Doctor held a scanner near her head, his brow furrowing as he evaluated the readings on a separate hand-held device.
B'Elanna bit her lip. She'd be a fool to make such a promise; the moment opportunity presented itself, she knew she'd attempt to escape. "Am I a prisoner?" B'Elanna asked.
"No," the Doctor said. His eyes narrowed as he stared at the device in his hand. "But we went through a lot of trouble to bring you back to Voyager." His lips pressed into a thin line. "Your brain is registering some very interesting neural patterns… this could make a fascinating paper one day." He cocked his head to the side. "Perhaps a study on the effect of neural engrammatic sequencing on memory and reversion therapy?"
"So, I'm just some kind of medical lab rat for your amusement?" B'Elanna spit out the words. The restraints were digging into her skin and it was getting increasingly uncomfortable on the biobed.
The Doctor let out a sigh of exasperation. "I'm your friend, B'Elanna. We've known each other for a long time and I'm trying to help you. But, the alterations to your brain are extensive. I have completed the first round of neural resequencing and regeneration therapy, but I'm going to need you to cooperate if you're going to be well again."
"Then prove you're my friend. Release me."
The Doctor seemed to consider her request, and then with a quick look at the door, he nodded. "All right," he said. "I suppose there's nowhere for you to go."
B'Elanna bit back a smile of triumph. "You said I was on Voyager? That man who said we were old friends, he mentioned Voyager."
"The person you're referring to is indeed an old friend of yours, Chakotay," the Doctor said as he released the restraints. He held out his hand to steady her as she slid off the biobed. "And yes, you are on Voyager. You're currently in Sickbay."
"You're not... real," she said, marveling at the way his hand pulsed under her grip. Curiously, B'Elanna examined his hand, turning it this way and that. The man standing in front of her was nothing more than forcefields matrixed together to contain particles of light and artificial matter. She'd encountered these patterns of changing density and firmness combined with a strange tingling sensation in the past. But when?
"Excuse me?" the Doctor sounded insulted. "I'll have you know that I'm just as real as you are and—" his tone softened just a bit "—I have you to thank for it."
"You're a hologram," B'Elanna said dismissively. She released his arm, not bothering to wait for confirmation of her diagnosis. "You haven't told me why you've brought me here."
"This is your home, Lieutenant, and I'm your doctor."
Lieutenant?
"Why should I believe you?" she asked. "I've never been here before."
"Your recovery is certainly going to be more difficult than I anticipated."
She shrugged off his touch and walked around, running her fingers over the smooth metallic surfaces of the biobed, noted the consoles and the brightly-lit buttons. Her gaze fell upon the instrument carts located to the right of the bed, and more specifically on a particular device.
... if I remember my Klingon customs, biting someone on the face means-
... I know what it means! All right, so maybe I do feel something, some kind of instinct. What am I supposed to do about it?
B'Elanna jerked back to attention, picked up the device, examined it carefully. "This tool, I- I've used it before."
"It's a dermal regenerator," the Doctor said quietly. He approached B'Elanna slowly. "You've used it many times. You and Lieutenant Paris."
"Lieutenant Paris?"
"Oh right," the Doctor sighed. "You don't remember him either, do you?"
"No, and I definitely don't remember you, or any of the others who claim we are 'old friends'." B'Elanna glared in his direction. "I insist you return me to Quarra."
"That's not your home!"
B'Elanna felt the familiar signs of tension gripping her temples. Would she never be rid of this infernal headache? She leaned on the biobed, supporting all her weight on her palms as she inhaled deeply. She spoke carefully and slowly, "I don't know who you are or why you brought me here, but if you return me to Quarra, I won't press charges for kidnapping."
"Hmmm, avoid charges of kidnapping or try to get home without our chief engineer?" The Doctor tipped his head, his fingers stroking his chin thoughtfully. His very attitude infuriated B'Elanna, but something else he said caught her attention.
"Chief engineer?"
"Your position aboard this ship." The Doctor gently took the dermal regenerator from her and placed it back on the instrument tray. "You are a valued and trusted member of this crew, and while you believe Quarra is your home, you have to trust me when I tell you that that is a lie, that you belong on Voyager."
B'Elanna knew when someone asked her to trust them, she probably shouldn't. But she'd taken a chance on Tom, and it had worked out. She narrowed her eyes as she looked at the Doctor. She'd generally had judgment when it came to character and the hologram standing front of her seemed as sincere as his programming could possibly allow. After a moment, she said, "Let's get this straight. You kidnapped me, drugged me, and then restrained me. Why should I trust you on anything?"
"These all make excellent points," the Doctor said with maddening smugness. "Let me summon Mr. Neelix. He has offered to take you on a tour of the ship to aid in your recovery." The Doctor tapped a small gold badge on the breast of his uniform. "Doctor to Neelix. Please report to Sickbay immediately."
"Neelix is the one who attacked me on Quarra," B'Elanna said. She balled her hands into fists. "I'm not going anywhere with him."
The Doctor regarded her with a contemplative gaze and then he said, "I want to show you something." He stood in front of the console, his fingers dancing across the yellow, blue and white buttons. A few seconds later, a hologram of a baby with gentle ridges rippling across her forehead appeared. The baby was in fetal position, feet crossed at the ankles, and tiny arms and hands folded in front of her stomach. B'Elanna pressed the tips of her fingers to her lips.
"Who- who is this?" she asked in a very soft voice.
"That's your baby," the Doctor said. "You asked me to be her godfather."
"It's a girl?"
"Yes. Without a name, of course, but you and Mr. Paris, you'll find one you like soon enough. Everyone on Voyager has a suggestion for you, though you and Mr. Paris haven't seemed that enthusiastic about some of the ideas."
"Mr. Paris?" B'Elanna asked.
"Your husband."
B'Elanna looked at the Doctor curiously.
"I'm not married," she said flatly. That same hurt, the one that ached every time she thought about the man who'd fathered her child, flared up again.
"You are, B'Elanna."
"Then why can't I remember him?" B'Elanna pounded her left fist into the palm of her right hand in frustration. "Don't you think if I was married, I would remember my husband?"
"In time, but as I've told you, you've had some severe neurological damage and your memory engrams have been affected," the Doctor said gently. "Your recovery won't be easy, but I am confident the protocol I have devised will cause you to remember it all in due time."
"How I know you're not the one who is altering my memories?" B'Elanna asked. She held up her hand, forestalling the protest she knew was coming. "And don't ask me to just trust you on this."
"Because you know something is wrong," the Doctor said. He indicated the holoimage of the baby. "And how would I have this if I wasn't telling you the truth?"
B'Elanna considered. It seemed ridiculous that these aliens on Voyager would go through the exercise of creating a holoimage just to convince her this was her home. Slowly, she nodded.
"I- I have snatches of memories, but some ideas of who I was, what I did, where I came from." B'Elanna's expression changed to one of alarm. "The only clear recollections I have are from the last three weeks. Everything else is lost in the fog."
"It is a disconcerting feeling, I'm sure," the Doctor said kindly. "You must have been very frightened."
"Frightened?" B'Elanna asked contemplatively. "No, I wasn't frightened. Confused, I think, and overwhelmed. Have you ever had that feeling before? When you don't have a sense of where you've been?"
"I'm sure - Mr. Neelix, hello!" the Doctor exclaimed. B'Elanna turned to face the man with the mottled skin and yellow hair who had brought her here. Instead of the gray outfit she remembered him wearing, this time he was wearing a gold jacket over a striped green shirt. He held a tan bag in his hands. He looked kind and harmless enough, but appearances could be deceiving.
B'Elanna backed away, nearly turning over the cart nearest to her.
"Careful, B'Elanna!" the Doctor exclaimed.
"I'm not going to hurt you," Neelix said soothingly as he closed the distance between them, stopping just shy of a meter from her. "Look, I brought you some clothes. I thought you might want to wear some of your own things." Neelix held out the bag and B'Elanna took it, her hands shaking. Inside, among other neatly packed items, she found a burgundy colored dress in a soft material. She looked at Neelix questioningly.
"Go on," Neelix said gently. "It's yours. I hope you don't mind, but I saw it in your closet, and I thought it would be more comfortable than that uniform you're wearing." He laughed awkwardly. "You were wearing it the night before you disappeared. You and Mr. Paris had dinner in the mess hall. We had just escaped the void, you were working long hours to repair the ship, but you took a break at Mr. Paris' urging."
Mr. Paris.
B'Elanna fingered the velvety material; it certainly felt better than the synthetic material of the uniform provided by the Power Distribution Facility. She nodded.
"Okay," she said finally. "I'll change."
Neelix and Doctor disappeared out into the corridor while B'Elanna changed her clothes. She rubbed her hands over the material, loving the way the dress fell smoothly over her belly. The dress certainly provided a more elegant look than the dismal green uniform she'd been wearing for the past few weeks. She looked up as Neelix and the Doctor re-entered.
"Mr. Neelix is going to take you on a tour of your life on Voyager," the Doctor said. "I'm confident everything will come back to you once you see the things and people you care so much about."
Both the Doctor and Neelix were observing her with such concern and care that B'Elanna felt her resolve melt. She took a deep breath.
"All right," she said. "I'll go with you." Then she pointed at the holoimage of the baby one more time. "Can I come back and... see her again?" she asked.
"Of course. Any time," the Doctor said. "And don't forget about the vocalization treatment! Once you're completely yourself again, we'll begin anew."