Disclaimer: Star Trek Voyager is property of Paramount Pictures and all respective cast, crew, and employees. I am not making a profit off this. This is simply for fanfiction enjoyment.
Summary: An away mission goes terribly wrong for Harry Kim and Tom Paris. One is badly injured and the other's past comes back to haunt him. One will be forever changed and the other may not survive.
Rating: PG-13
Timeline: Takes place after the episode Nothing Human and before Thirty Days.
Poisoning
The light blue Apex worked quickly at its native console, scraping controls with its claws. It looked behind him, where three adult Apex stood guard armed with disabling weapons. A screech from one of the Apex standing guard warned that they were coming.
Over the course of the last few days, the light blue Apex had managed to convince a few of its people to accept the device the Voyager people called a "replicator." However, they were only a few out of hundreds. Even showing Voyager's last transmission, the one that showed the consequences of their poison, did little to convince the rest.
Now, one group rotated shifts, guarding the replicator while he and three adult Apex worked at the only unguarded communications console. They had figured out how to use the console to transmit messages outside their planet; normally, this console was not designed to do that. However, it would only be a matter of time before the rest noticed the missing Apex and narrowed their location.
Screeches could be heard in the distance from the direction. Another, more urgent screech, came from one of the Apex standing guard. The light blue Apex only had enough time to type a short message before it picked up a small container off the ground with its claws. With amazing gentleness, the Apex carefully put the container, filled with a strange liquid into the communications console, closed the door, tapped a series of buttons, and the transmission was sent.
And just in time. Within seconds, ten Apex converged on the communications console, surrounding the three Apex. It wasn't long before the firing began.
Tom continued to lean on the biobed his arms trembling. A part of him refused to accept the truth that was staring him in the face. It couldn't be. Harry couldn't be…
"This isn't happening," Tom thought as the tears started to well in his eyes. The other part of him thought of the days that were sure to come. His best friend's funeral, seeing Harry's lifeless body one last time as he recollected the times he shared with him… What if they finally did return home? What would he say to Harry's parents? It would be a twisted, sick irony that the crewman most eager to get home wouldn't make it.
"Time of de-" the Doctor started to say solemnly.
"NO!" Tom shouted, looking to the side and glaring at the Doctor.
"Mr. Paris…"
"Don't patronize me! There has to be some other way!"
Before the Doctor could respond, his combadge chirped.
"Janeway to Doctor."
"Yes, captain?" the Doctor replied softly, knowing what she was going to ask.
"Have you made any progress? Is Ensign Kim okay?"
"…. I'm afraid not," the Doctor said sadly, he glanced at Tom who continued to stare at Harry's body, "he didn't make it."
The Doctor half expected the lieutenant to shout that his friend wasn't dead, but he remained where he was.
The captain took a sharp breath and swallowed hard. Chakotay looked incredulously at nowhere in particular. He could not believe what the Doctor had just said. The rest of the Bridge crew found it difficult to focus on their stations. Some had already begun to cry.
Tuvok, the emotionless, stoic Vulcan, turned his head down. No one noticed his lips turn slightly downward. No one saw the Vulcan take in a small shaky breath.
Several minutes passed by as silence descended on the Bridge. The captain stared down at the floor as she began to recollect the times she shared with Ensign Kim. He was the young, eager officer whose ambitions and energy radiated to the people he worked with. Her mind raced to the pip stored neatly inside her Ready Room desk drawer. She took in another shaky breath as she thought of the last moments she spent with him.
It was an ordinary moment; him working on the Bridge, working diligently at his station. What she wouldn't give to have that ordinary moment back.
As a Starfleet captain, she had been trained to cope with loss, to understand the dangers that came with her job, but it still didn't ease the pain. Nothing could. What could you say to comfort the friends of someone whose life was cut so short?
Suddenly, her solemn stare turned upward and her eyes narrowed.
"Mr. Tuvok," she said sternly, glaring at the viewscreen, which showed the Apex planet, "launch the warning beacon!"
Chakotay was jolted from his thoughts as he heard the captain's words.
"Belay that order!" he shouted.
The captain immediately turned around and stared hard into her first officer's eyes.
"In my Ready Room, now."
She held her hand up to Tuvok who stepped back, understanding the gesture. This was between her and Chakotay. There was no need to get anyone else involved.
"Mr. Paris," the Doctor said gently.
Tom jumped at the voice, suddenly realizing that he was still leaning on the side of the biobed. How long had he been there? He didn't know. He didn't care.
"You can go back to your quarters," the Doctor said softly, "I can take care of things from here."
Tom looked around, staring intermittently at medical instruments and panels as if searching for any last-ditch effort to save his friend. But he knew it was too late. He stared back at Harry's body.
The Doctor put a hand on Tom's arm. Finally, Tom managed to take his hands off the biobed and slowly step away from his friend. He took as long as possible making his way out of Sickbay. The lieutenant took one last look at his friend's body before stepping through the Sickbay doors.
Tom first walked slowly down the hall, hundreds of thoughts running through his mind at once. As he passed a corridor, he saw B'Elanna standing with tear stains down her cheeks. She had tried to wipe them away, but the evidence was still there.
"Tom…," she said, already choking up.
"Don't," Tom stopped and put a hand in front of him, "I know you're going to try and comfort me right now, but nothing you can say or do will change the truth."
"But, Tom…"
"I told you!" Tom shouted, "I don't need anyone to comfort me right now…"
But the tone of the lieutenant's voice implied otherwise.
"Nor do I need a shoulder to cry on…
"J-Just," Tom said backing away from his girlfriend as reality started to weigh down on his emotions, "leave me alone."
Tom resumed returning to his quarters, beginning to walk faster. By the time he was near his quarters, he was at a run.
Once inside and the doors were closed, he leaned against them, taking one heaving breath after another. His mind kept racing back to the last moments he spent with his friend.
"I don't know about this," Harry's voice echoed in his head.
Before the tears could fill his eyes, he swallowed hard and stared at the glass table to his right.
"Why didn't I listen to him?' he thought.
He heaved the desk and upturned it.
"Why?" he said softly.
"Why the hell didn't I listen to him?" he started to shout. He threw a data padd across his quarters. The padd slammed into a far wall, where it hit a framed picture, fracturing the glass, before clattering to the floor.
Tom walked across the room and picked up the picture the data padd had hit. It was of him, B'Elanna, Neelix, and Harry, taken last year. The Doctor had taken a candid shot of the four of them playing ping-pong in the mess hall. He and Neelix had played against Harry and B'Elanna. The crack in the glass was over the left side of the glass, over the images of B'Elanna and Harry.
Tom ran his hand over the uneven glass, not caring that he was risking being cut.
He sighed heavily, not taking his eyes off the picture. It was only then when he realized how much he took those times for granted. Having a job on a starship, one needs to brace themselves for risk and loss, but nothing could prepare you for reality. Nothing could prepare you for seeing your best friend slowly dying, and you not being able to do a thing.
How many times had he and the Doctor treated people in Sickbay? How many lives had they saved? He had lost count. Yet, when his best friend needed treatment, he couldn't do a damn thing.
Suddenly, Lieutenant Tom Paris could take it no longer. The strong, stoic lieutenant began to cry. He leaned against a wall and sank to he floor, trying to fight the tears but they kept coming.
"I'm sorry, Harry," he said between sobs, "…I'm sorry."
"I know what you're going to say," the captain said to Chakotay as soon as the Ready Room doors fully closed behind them, "but I am not going to allow one more person die from those monsters down there."
"'Those monsters,'" Chakotay replied, "are sentient beings. They have as much a right to live as you or I. They don't deserve to die of starvation."
"And Harry didn't deserve to die from their poison!" Janeway shouted, unable to contain her anger.
She took a deep, controlled breath before continuing.
"We've tried talking to them, we've tried pleading with them. Everything we have said has gone completely ignored."
"We are asking them to completely change their lifestyle," Chakotay said, "It'll take time for them to even think about our proposal let alone respond to it."
"How long a time? A day? A week? A month? A year? I'm not going to keep our entire crew here while they make up their minds."
Chakotay watched as the captain made her way to the tall windows overlooking the planet.
Janeway stared down at the planet, thinking about what Harry's last moments must have been like. How it must have felt to have deadly poison injected into your body; to feel the stinging, burning pain throughout every nerve. She thought about the destruction Harry's body endured the past two weeks before it finally succumbed to the poison.
She turned around back to Chakotay, her voice thick with anger.
"Every time we've tried to make peace with these creatures, they respond with violence. They have nothing to say about what they've done to Ensign Kim, and now he's dead. I am not about to let another person be killed by these Apex. I am launching that warning buoy!"
Chakotay looked back at the captain. He was standing at the front of her desk while she stood at the far side of the room next to the windows. He couldn't help but notice the distance between them.
Chakotay swallowed hard. He had never done this before, but as first officer, it was his obligation. His duty. He stared back at Katherine Janeway, his eyes turning slightly downward. Janeway returned his stare, knowing what he was going to do.
"Captain, don't make me do this…" Chakotay said sadly.
The captain shook her head. She was not going to change her mind.
boop
"Tuvok to the captain."
"Yes, Mr. Tuvok," Janeway replied immediately.
"There is an incoming transmission from the Apex planet."
Chakotay and Janeway exchanged glances.
"It is a text-only message," Tuvok explained as Janeway and Chakotay returned to the Bridge.
"Run it through the Universal Translator and show the message on screen," the captain instructed.
The viewscreen switched from an image of a communications buoy to a foreign screen. The black symbols on the side were unfamiliar, but the text within the white screen was translated.
I will try and convince the others to use your device. Use the enclosed liquid on the injured.
This was all the message said.
"There is a container of foreign liquid inside the communications device," Tuvok explained, tapping at his console.
As soon as he said this, the communications buoy began to deviate from its coordinates. Tuvok's hands danced over his console and the viewscreen turned back to the communications console, which began a quick descent back to the surface of the planet.
The light blue Apex watched in horror as the ten Apex turned on those who guarded the communications device. They pushed him back while they turned on their own. The ten opposing Apex easily outnumbered three, tossing away their disabling weapons. All tried to fight. All failed.
One was knocked unconscious and the other was restrained. The third Apex that guarded the communications console as the young one worked at it, would not go without a fight. This one held its own against several opposing Apex, until finally, they had had enough.
A yellow Apex finally disabled it, sinking its massive fangs into the struggling being. The victim screeched in pain. Because of the fluctuating DNA of their poison, even the Apex themselves were not immune to one another's poison. But this was the first time one had turned against its own. Until now, the antigen was only needed in case of accidental poisoning. With all the forms the Apex assumed, mistaken identity was not an uncommon occurrence. But this time, the yellow Apex did not mistake what it attacked. It knew exactly who it injected its poison into.
The yellow Apex stood back up, wiping the poison dripping from its fangs. Its victim lay on the ground, reeling from the pain. The rest stared in utter shock. The offensive Apex looked around him, trying to explain it only intended to incapacitate him. There was plenty of time to inject the antigen. With its massive claws, it pointed to the communications device and instructed its followers to bring the communications buoy back. There was still time to reverse whatever damage the young one had done.
The yellow Apex shot a glance at the young blue Apex, who cringed. He knew he would not be harmed. Apex do not harm their young, no matter how disobedient, but that still didn't placate the yellow Apex's dominating presence. Nor did it wipe away what it had just did.
Two Apex worked at the communications console, instructing the communications buoy to return.
"Lock on the buoy," the captain instructed.
A tractor beam shot out from Voyager, latching on to the communications device that held precious material. But this was no ordinary communications device. Built by advanced beings, the device did not just yield. Instead, it responded with strong thrusters and tilted back towards the planet, intent on following through with its instructions from the surface.
"Can we beam the medicine from the buoy?" the captain asked.
"Negative," Tuvok responded, "As long as the buoy's thrusters are active, it is too unstable to safely beam the liquid on board."
"Target the thrusters with phasers!"
Voyager fired three carefully aimed phasers at the thrusters, quickly disabling them. But almost as soon as they were out, the thrusters glowed a dull orange. The propulsion system was regenerative. For a few seconds, the buoy was being pulled back towards Voyager, but not for long.
"Lock onto the antigen and beam it Sickbay!"
The container of liquid rematerialized safely in Sickbay's lab a split second before the communication device's thrusters were back online.
"Let it go."
Tuvok deactivated the tractor beam and the communications buoy shot towards the planet, no longer restrained. The captain sighed and sank into her chair. She only hoped their efforts weren't in vain.
The yellow Apex started to the north, where the antigen was. If he quickly cured his victim, perhaps he would be forgiven. After all, he was only trying to preserve their way of life. These few outcasts had accepted the strangers' proposal. Who knows what consequences that might bring?
But it had no sooner taken one step when the young blue Apex ran and stood in front of him. Screeches ensued. The yellow Apex could easily push the young one out of the way, but the young one stood his ground, digging his claws into the soil, determined to stay.
The young blue Apex pointed to the amber Apex, the one lying in pain from the poison it was dealt. He looked up at all the adults surrounding it. Soon, several more Apex, young and old, gathered around. The ruckus had certainly caught everyone's attention, including the young blue Apex's father.
The young blue Apex looked at the crowd that surrounded him, his claw still pointing at the victim on the ground. This is what they were doing to the strangers up above. This is what their poison was causing. What if they didn't have a counteragent against their own poison? The victim that lay before them would die a slow and painful death. Was it any wonder the strangers tried to stop them? These were sentient creatures they were preying on. What if another species had invaded their planet and preyed upon them? Would that be any different than what they were doing to their victims?
The crowd around the young one looked from him to the victim. Seeing one of their own suffer from the ravages of their own poison… it was as if reality had finally hit home. Most of the crowd was reluctant at first, their pigment flashing, the human equivalent of a scoff, but they couldn't take their eyes off the victim on the ground. As much as they wanted to dismiss what the young one was saying, they couldn't deny the fact that one of their own was suffering. As much as they wanted to feign that what the young one was arguing didn't affect them, they couldn't help but contract their eyes at the sight of the victim on the ground.
Tom stared intently at the blood sample while the Doctor injected a portion of the liquid onto it.
When the Doctor called him explaining there was still a possibility of saving Harry, he almost dropped the photo he was carrying. It seemed to take forever to get to Sickbay, though he was running at full speed, practically mowing down the people in his way.
Now, as the Doctor injected a portion of the Apex's antigen onto a sample of Harry's blood, Tom held on to hope and desperation. His friend had been clinically dead for more than an hour; if they waited much longer, there would be no hope of reviving him, regardless of whether the poison was extracted from his body or not.
He watched as the antigen worked its way into the poisoned blood, and in seconds… the poison regressed. The Doctor monitored the progress with a nearby display panel. Amazingly, the liquid matched the DNA of the poison and neutralized it, destroying its deadly effects.
But the Doctor and lieutenant knew it wasn't over. They had tried this before, only to fail once the poison changed DNA sequences. As they waited for the poison to change, Tom paced back and forth in front, unable to keep still.
Finally, it was time for the poison to change. In a split second, the poison's DNA changed, as indicated by the display panel… and the antigen changed DNA to match. The antigen then resumed eating away at the poison.
"YES!" Tom couldn't help but shout.
The Doctor returned Tom's smile.
Minutes later, the Doctor and lieutenant were working furiously. The Doctor worked to enhance the progressive speed of the antigen while Tom made sure they had enough of the reagent for Harry's body.
A nod from the Doctor was all that was needed after he loaded the enhanced antigen. With a sequence of commands, the medical hatch closed over Harry's body and the computer did the rest, distributing the antigen throughout Harry's body. A diagnostic panel on the wall revealed the antigen's progress. Within minutes, the poison that had progressed and invaded throughout Harry Kim's body for the past two weeks, was gone. The poison was no match for the antigen.
As soon as Harry's body was cleared of the invading poison, Tom charged the cortical stimulator, turning on the audio monitors. The long, flat-lined beep was hauntingly familiar. Tom hoped it would be the last time he heard that noise.
"50 millijoules," the Doctor said, a hint of hope in his voice.
Beeeeeep
"Again!"
Harry's head jumped up again.
Beeeeeeeeep
"Please, Harry" Tom begged, "please be there."
"75 milijoules."
Beeeeeeeeep
"No," Tom started to say. This could not be happening. Not again.
"Again."
Tom's sweaty, quivering hands fumbled over the controls, but he managed to charge the cortical stimulator again.
"Beep…. Beep… beep…"
Harry's eyes slowly opened.
"Harry?" Tom asked, making sure this wasn't too good to be true.
"… Tom?" Harry said weakly, his foggy thoughts slowly came into focus. He started to remember what had occurred. They were on a planet… Tom was attacked… and so was he.
"Where-are-we? Are-you-okay? We-have-to-get-out-of-here!"
Harry tried to get out of the biobed, but Tom gently guided him back down.
"Woah, easy. You're in Sickbay… and you're okay," Tom had to hold back tears as sheer relief filled his soul. His friend was alive. Harry was alive.
"… I'm okay, thanks to you. You got us out, Hare," Tom continued, calling his friend by his familiar nickname.
Both Tom and Harry took a collective breath, but each for different reasons.
"Welcome back, Mr. Kim."
Even the Doctor, normally calm in emotional situations, couldn't hold back a wide grin.
The light blue Apex returned to the replicator, his steps slow and steady. He didn't know what to think. The crowd had finally dispersed and the victim who was attacked had been treated. Some of the crowd left giving him disgusted looks, others gave no expression at all.
When he came to the vicinity of the foreign device, he was horrified. Those that were supposed to be guarding the device were nowhere to be seen and the precious device was shambles. Electronic pieces were strewn everywhere, broken, dented, and charred. Isolinar chips were scattered for several feet. The replicator was completely destroyed.
The light blue Apex thought back. The three Apex that were supposed to be guarding the device had joined the group surrounding him, after hearing he screeches from the victim. They had left the replicator unprotected. And now, the device was destroyed. No doubt, by someone from the opposing side. For the first time, he started to question himself. What was he thinking? He was only one young Apex amongst a planet of hundreds. What could he do? How much change could he invoke? Perhaps he had brought more harm than good. He had never seen his species so divided before.
Suddenly, he heard footsteps in the distance. Oh great, more angry adults. He turned around and saw a large group of Apex advancing on him. At least fifty of them were there. As they approached, the group parted and one Apex emerged. His father.
The light blue Apex lowered its hands, a sign of submission. It would accept whatever punishment its father had for him. What was the point anyway? He might as well just give up. However, his father didn't punish him. He didn't even screech at him. Instead, he stepped behind him and gently picked up an electronic piece with his massive claws.
The rest of the group followed suit, picking up broken pieces. They gathered the pieces and set them in a pile. Some left to find tools, not to destroy the device even further, but to reverse the damage that had been done. They were fixing the device. Some had already put isolinear chips in their correct slots. The slot console was one of the few pieces that had stayed relatively intact.
The light blue Apex looked in awe around him. His father enclosed his claws around his son's arm; a sign of affection and pride; it was a rare gesture reserved only for times when a father was extremely proud of his son, and the father couldn't think of a more appropriate moment to extend the sign.
The young Apex was still absorbing what was happening, when another group approached. The group his father had led formed a protective circle around the broken pieces. These were the ones who opposed the replicator and made it violently clear. A gray Apex in the group had scratches and burns on him. No device of the Apex caused burns. The burns on his body could only be caused by a foreign device; the one that he destroyed.
The light blue Apex's father stepped protectively in front of his son, but the gray Apex stepped no further. He extended his claws, which held an intact touch-button panel. It was patched up, but in working order. The replicator would not function without it.
The Doctor held a hand-scanner over Harry Kim and examined the length of his body. He stopped when he got to his legs. His eyebrows narrowed and he tapped at his medical tricorder, making sure the readings were correct. They were.
"What?" Harry asked as he laid on the biobed. He wanted to get right back to duty, but the Doctor wouldn't hear of it.
Tom Paris looked over the Doctor's shoulder and read the tricorder. No… God, no.
"WHAT?" Harry asked again, having now looked at the Doctor and Tom's faces.
Tom looked away, gritting his teeth. He was so excited Harry was alive that he forgot about one other thing. They hadn't treated him in time. He had suffered permanent injury. Even the antigen from the Apex couldn't repair the damage. Why did this have to happen to him? Why did Harry have to suffer? If anything, he should be the one…
The Doctor began slowly, having integrated into his program how to deliver bad news.
"When Mr. Paris and I tried to find a way to treat you, we knew time was limited… and that if we didn't treat you in time, you'd have permanent injury.
"Unfortunately, it appears were too late… my bioscans show the poison caused massive damage to the muscle tissue in your legs… they won't be able to support your weight."
"Are you saying I can't walk?" Harry asked incredulously.
The Doctor nodded sadly. Tom couldn't bring himself to meet Harry in his eyes.
"No…" Harry said. He struggled to sit up, using his arms to pull his upper body up.
"Easy Mr. Kim."
But for the first time, Harry didn't listen to the Doctor. He continued to try and sit up, waving Tom off as he offered to help. Finally, when he was sitting up, Harry tried to move his right leg. He concentrated all his strength, pushing it down to his legs, as if mentally channeling his energy.
His right leg moved, but the movement was weak and only enough to move his foot a few inches. Harry looked at his foot, clinging onto that bit of hope.
"B-But, I can recover right?" he asked, apprehension keeping his voice from being steady, 'I mean, I can gain my strength back, right?"
He looked up at the Doctor and Tom.
Both were eerily silent.
To be continued...
Once again, thank you so very much to all reviewers! I really appreciate the detailed and honest reviews. It is the reviewers that make writing so rewarding. I also apologize for the late update. I hope to get the next update up sooner.
