The Crawl, Tom discovered, was nothing more than a hole in the wall. It was located in the back of a rundown, burnt out, building. Upon entering, his first reaction was to gag at the smell. The air was thick with sweat and something akin to alcohol. Taking several deep breaths, he moved deeper into the establishment, keeping a look out for Ka, the woman that had agreed to help him. He had to stop several times to give his eyes time to adjust to the quickly fading light. Just when he thought he was going to have to turn around, the passageway that he had been following opened up into a large, very noisy, very crowded, room. There was some kind of noise being broadcasted over the room in which he figured to be the native music. It was still dark but the room seemed to be bathed in a green glow. Squinting, he searched the crowd for Ka and finally spotted her in the very middle of the room surrounded by seven or eight men of different species. They seemed to be crowed around a table of sorts. "Ka?" He called out once he was within hearing distance of her.

Kathryn looked up from the table when she heard her name. "Ah, Tom Paris of Voyager, I hope you didn't have any trouble finding the place?" She said in greeting then looked back to the table just in time to slam her hand down on a spinning spike. For a brief moment she felt pain as the spike embedded itself in her palm but the pain soon faded and she pulled her hand up and left it drop to her side. "Ka'row!" She said with a grin which widened as the men crowded around her began to pay her the dular they had bet.

Tom winced as he stopped at the table and saw the idea of the game being played. "Some game." He mumbled and absentmindedly rubbed his own hand. "I didn't have any trouble finding the place." Which was a lie. It took him over three hours to locate the place but he wasn't about to tell her that.

"Some game, indeed." Kathryn laughed as she counted out four dular and laid them down on the table. "I bet four that my new friend here will be Ka'row. Anyone else?" She watched as those gathered around her and the table eyed the newcomer than began to place their bets either in agreement with her or against her. She motioned for Tom to step up to her side.

Thinking that she must be crazy, Tom joined her and looked down at the very sharp looking spike attached to a wheel that spun. Swallowing, he looked at her, questioningly. "What exactly is Ka'row and why do you think I will be it?" He asked, suspiciously.

Kathryn took hold of the spike and started it spinning. "It's a game." She cryptically explained. "You will find it...interesting." She watched it make several complete cycles before explaining what he had to do. "You place your hand over it like this." She demonstrated by placing her hand over the spinning spike with her palm down. "When you think the spike is directly under your palm, you slam your hand down as hard as you can. If you hit the spike then you win. As you pull your hand away you say 'Ka'row!' got it?"

Tom blinked. "And why would I do that?" He asked.

"Because you wish my help to find your Captain, yes?" Kathryn asked with an arrogant smirk. "You will not be harmed...much."

Sighing, Tom knew that if he wanted her help he had to do what she wanted. So he gathered his courage and placed his hand over the spinning spike. He focused his attention on the rotations then, just as he saw her do, he slammed his hand down as hard as he could. The pain was horrible and just when he thought he was going to pass out, he yanked his hand free of the spike. Trying to calm his racing heart, he noticed that everyone around the table was laughing and paying Ka. "Ka'row!" He mumbled as he swallowed back bile that had risen from his stomach.

Kathryn bowed her head to each of the other players, placed her winnings into a small bag hanging from her belt, then steered Tom over to a high table with equally high chairs. "I had to know that you could be trusted." She explained. "And I needed the dular." Picking up his hand, she examined the nickle sized hole burned into his palm. "You will be alright."

Tom glared at Ka and pulled his hand away. "I was expecting to be jabbed not burned." He grumbled.

"Because I was stabbed, correct?" Kathryn lifted her small frame onto one of the chairs and motioned for a drink. "It's part of the game. It's never what you expect."

"What does Ka'row mean anyways?" Tom asked as a man appeared beside them with two brown, smoking, drinks.

Kathryn lifted her drink to her lips and took a pull, emptying half her glass. "It originally meant warrior but it now means courage. If you are Ka'row, it means you are courageous enough to try the game enough though you know you'll be harmed."

Tom picked up his drink and eyed the smoke pouring over the top of the glass. "What is this?" He sniffed it then quickly sat it back down when his stomach threatened to rebel against the smell.

"Cru." Kathryn finished her drink and then pushed the cup again. "It's not for the faint of heart." She took a moment to search the crowd before looking back to her companion. "The boy will be extra."

Looking away from the drink, Tom frowned. "Boy? What boy?"

Kathryn tapped her fingers on the dirty table top. "You said you would pay me for my services. The boy that came here with your Captain is extra."

Tom had no idea who she was talking about. "I'm still not sure who you are talking about. Our Captain was beamed here, alone."

"I think you are wrong." Kathryn informed him as she motioned for the man behind the makeshift bar to approach her. "Ca tho zee Haree." She told the man in his native tongue then watched as he scurried off into the darkness that surrounded the room. "I can assure you that your Captain did not come to Artius alone."

Racking his brain, Tom tried to figure out who else Chakotay had beamed to the surface. As far as anyone knew, Captain Janeway was the only person forced from the ship. "So you have located the Captain?"

Kathryn inclined her head as the man appeared again this time with a younger man in tow. "You could say that." Pulling the bag hanging from her belt free, she reached inside and withdrew a handful of gold dular. "Ista loas rema, Haree." She pointed to the younger man, who had his eyes downcast, then thrust the handful of dular at the man she had sent on the errand. Clearing her throat, she waited until the three of them were alone before speaking. "Teka, Harry." She adjusted her accent back to English.

The young man looked up and large smile lit up his dirty, drawn, face. " Teka, Ka." His voice was gruff, almost like he didn't use it much. "It is good to see you again." He couldn't keep the emotion out of his voice.

"What did I tell you?" Kathryn asked, a smile lighting her own face.

Harry pulled himself up onto one of the empty chairs at the table. "I never doubted you." His gaze left Kathryn and focused at the other occupant of the table. "Teka, Tom!"

Tom blinked and looked closer. A sharp intake of breath signaled that he recognized the young man. "My God, Harry?" He knew his mouth was hanging open but he couldn't seem to close it. "We thought you were dead!" He exclaimed as he stood and went to embrace his lost friend. He stopped when he saw the younger man shrink away.

Kathryn placed a hand on Harry's arm to calm him down. "Coron's are...taught...that physical touch is not allowed. Young Harry here had that lesson beaten into him for two months straight."

"Coron?" Tom asked as he retook his seat across from Harry.

"Servant." Harry answered for himself. "I was too young to be Norov." He explained. "I was told that I wouldn't last a day in the mills and no more than a few hours in the mines. I was taken as Coron instead."

"I saw him at a sale a few cycles ago and purchased him for a reasonable price. His previous Voron was displeased with his lack of skills." Kathryn further explained. "I could afford to buy him but not keep him so I came to an...agreement...with the owner of this fine Voron establishment. He'd take the boy on as an Aloron, apprentice, and I'd pay him one dular each half cycle until I could afford to have a Coron. He treated you well, yes?"

Harry nodded. "He was going to get me my Norov papers. Said I had the spirit to become a Voron."

Kathryn gave Harry an affectionate look. "I always knew you'd make a good Commander, Ensign." She then turned serious eyes towards Tom. "He is one of yours, yes?"

Tom nodded, mutely. It was clear that Harry and this Ka woman had some sort of bond but what sort he couldn't figure out. "You'll be paid whatever you ask for." He assured her.

"Paid?" Harry looked at Kathryn, questioning. But instead of voicing his confusion, a barely noticeable shake of her head caused him to stay quiet. "It is good to see you, Tom."

"It's good to you too, Harry." Tom couldn't wait to get back to the ship and tell everyone that Harry was still alive. "I should really be..." He slid off the stool and instead of standing sunk to the floor, his legs unable to hold him. "What's wrong with me?"

Kathryn chuckled as she motioned for Harry to help her with Tom. "You are Ka'row." She lead them through the crowd and out of the building. "People do not play Ka'row for fun, Tom Paris of Voyager. Most can't help themselves." She lead them through the streets to the housing unit in which she was assigned.

Harry blinked as he stumbled slightly under Tom's weight. "Ka'row?" He eyed his pale friend. "Why would you play that?"

Tom moaned as a shutter ran up and down his spine. "Your friend made me." Even to his own ears that sounded childish. "What did you do to me?"

"I had to know I could trust him." Kathryn said with a shrug of her shoulder. She then lead the two men into her unit and up the stairs to her small, sparse, room. "Lay him on the bed. It's going to bet worse before it gets better." Carefully, she maneuvered Tom towards her small bed and left him fall onto it. Searching his pockets, she removed his communicator and laid it on the broken down bedside table beside her almost empty flask. "I did nothing to you, Mister Paris." She mumbled as she moved him around until he was laying, comfortably, on the bed. "Ka'row is highly addictive to newbees. When your hand makes contact with the Ru, the spike, it releases a highly addictive mood altering substance into your body. I suggest you close your eyes and enjoy the feeling of elation because as the effects wear off...it isn't going to be pretty."

Moaning again, Tom barely had enough strength to nod his head before he was swept away in a torrent of sensations and emotions.

"I thought Voyager was long gone." Harry whispered once he was sure Tom was to far gone to hear anything being said.

Kathryn pulled two chairs out from the small table that sat in the corner. She sat down in one and motioned for Harry to take the other. "Apparently Chakotay is dead. That's the only reason they turned around and came back. From what Tom told me yesterday, Chakotay was taken over by an alien life form. Six months ago he ordered Voyager to attack a convoy and he, along with the alien, was killed in the battle that ensued." She looked over at her helmsman. "I never thought I'd see any of them again."

Harry nodded in agreement and jumped when small, big eared, furry, creature jumped up onto his lap.

"Rio, it isn't polite to jump on people you don't know." Kathryn chided her Teyx. "Harry this is Rio, Rio this is a good friend of mine, Harry. Rio is a Teyx." She then motioned to Tom. "That's Tom and he's also a friend." She reached over and plucked Rio off Harry's lap and sat him on her own.

"A Teyx? I thought they were only myth." Harry leaned over to get a closer look at the creature. "I've read about these. Their guardians right?"

Kathryn smiled as she stroked her pet. "He is a guardian but don't expect him to admit that. He likes to think I'm clueless about him." She whispered in amusement. Truth be told, she knew exactly what Rio was about two days after she had saved him. A local merchant had filled her in on her newest companion and she didn't have the heart to refuse the comfort that he was subtly offering her over their newly formed bond.

Harry looked over to the bed as another moan caught his attention. "He's going to feel like brax tomorrow."

"Yes, he is." Kathryn agreed. "I remember the first few times I played Ka'row. I didn't understand why I had the urge, the need, to play the game again and again. Andar took pity on me and explained the workings of the game. He then took me to a friend of his that had an...antidote...for the narcotic used. It took four injections, two weeks of being as sick as a Runee, and twenty dular but I finally got over my addiction and became immune; not that I'd tell anyone that."

Shaking his head, Harry laughed. It felt good to be back amongst friends. He had to admit that he had missed the Captains dry wit. He yawned and rubbed his eyes, it had been a long day.

Kathryn continued to stroke Rio's stiff, bristly, fur. "You should get some sleep, Harry. Tomorrow is going to be a long day. There's an extra blanket in the closet and I hear the floor is nice and hard this time of year."

Harry blinked, stood, got the blanket out of the closet, and laid down on the floor beside the bed. "I've slept on worse." He assured her and within seconds he was asleep.

Sleep was a little less forthcoming for Kathryn. So for the entire night, she sat, thinking until she dropped off into an exhausted slumber near dawn.