"Good morning, Doctor!" Tom said as he materialized back into Sick Bay. All was right with the world. The Doctor had allowed him the liberty of spending another night with B'Elanna in their holographic quarters. He was surprised to see Seven in the office standing by the Doctor's desk.
"Good morning, Mr. Paris. I trust you had an enjoyable excursion to the holodeck," the Doctor said.
"I did. Thank you for the time off."
"You will be happy to know that I have been able to study the device and learn a great deal about how it works," Seven said. "These lights are part of a code. Apparently the treatment for this particular weapon was extremely detrimental to the neural functions of the Kevites, so they developed a way to download their brain functions to this device as a form of protection. The neural information would be stored here. I was able to upgrade it to accept human brain patterns, so that should make your integration back to your body much easier. I have also duplicated the files," Seven said.
"I can't wait to send my reports to Starfleet Medical," the Doctor said. If it was possible for a hologram to glow, the Doctor would now be shining.
Seven smiled at the Doctor's display of enthusiasm.
At that moment something hit the ship. It rocked. Tom watched sparks fly from his fingers. He could see through them for a few seconds. He looked up to see the Doctor suddenly flash on and off and then on again.
"What is happening?" Tom asked. Terror filled him. This was different from any other fear he had ever known. Seven reached over and hit the Doctor's mobile emitter. The EMH disappeared.
"Computer, deactivate Tom Paris One." Seven's voice sounded like she was speaking from the end of a long tunnel.
He fell into a void. It was dark, but he was still aware that he existed. It took a few minutes for him to adjust to his state of being. It was the same as the sensation when first waking from a deep sleep. His eyes closed, his sense dulled but knowing he was conscious. He didn't like it. He vaguely remembered the Doctor describing it as existential horror. Part of him wanted to cry out but he couldn't speak. Fear held onto him. He wondered if he would be trapped in this place... forever. He cursed the darkness because normally he would be on the bridge knowing exactly what was going on, and here he had no idea of their situation. Thoughts jumbled together in his mind in no particular order. Damn it, he still had things to do. Suddenly the certification the Doctor was pushing on him seemed very important, as did every other small and aggravating thing that he had ever complained about. He felt a need to bargain with someone, even though he had no idea who. He wanted to be with B'Elanna; he wanted kids. He had a vague sensation of moving about which was ridiculous. Changing locations. There was no place to move in here. There was just existence. A long, drawn-out, empty….
Then, just as suddenly, he came back online. He was in the holodeck in front of a table covered with long thin instruments. Two aliens with long snake-like heads and multiple arms were bending over a computer with their backs toward him. They were the larger versions of the rodent the Doctor had killed and captured. Had it been a scout? A probe of some sort? He saw communicators on the table but no sign of the Doctor's mobile emitter, nor the large white disc he had last seen in Seven's hand. That was a good sign. The aliens were mumbling to themselves but Tom could hear them.
"Right when I get a lock on it, it moves," one of them said.
"That's ridiculous. A hologram cannot move about in the system. Not even a sentient one. It is just a computer program, the same as any other," said the other.
Perhaps it would not need to wait for programming. It might react the same as you or me."
They are looking for me, Tom thought. They had activated him but were unaware of it. The aliens would look up any moment and see him. He couldn't let them know who he was. He did the only thing that he could do under the circumstances.
"Please state the nature of the medical emergency," he said. The aliens jumped and turned around. He made an effort to appear as passive as possible.
"You fool!" One of them said. "You activated their medical officer!" It had worked. Their reaction also revealed that they had not seen his body in sick bay. If they had, they would know he was not the Doctor.
"I don't know. This one sound different," the first alien said. This one was the taller of the two.
"Different? How?" asked the shorter one.
"I can't explain it. I never saw any of them. Only heard their voices. No matter. This one may prove useful." The two stepped as one toward him, each taking up a different position around him.
"Where is the other one?" the short one asked. There was antagonism in that voice.
"What other one?" Tom asked.
"The one like you."
"There are no others like me." Tom said. He tried to sound dismissive.
"The one who was with you in the medical bay. Where is he?" asked the tall one. His tone was more restrained.
"You mean Mr. Paris?" Tom tried to affect his best imitation of the Doctor's most disdainful attitude. "He wishes he could be like me. He's a pale imitation at best."
"You were treating him for breathing the gases of the Boratian moon."
"Yes, I was," Tom replied.
"You downloaded his brain functions into a being like you." The tall one was apparently the more reasonable of the two.
"There is no point in denying it, since you seem to have everything worked out." Tom felt like a yawn would have worked here, but decided against it.
"Tell us where he is, or we will deactivate you!" The shorter alien said. His voice was starting to sound like a bark.
"As soon as the ship came under attack we were both deactivated. I have no more idea of where he is than you do at the moment." Tom decided to take a chance. They had obviously been to sick bay. He needed to know what they saw there. "The last time I saw his body it was in sick bay in stasis. That can't be of much use to you."
"He is not in sick bay!" Short Alien said with a snarl. It was all Tom could do to not breathe a sigh of relief. He was right. His friends had obviously moved him to a safer location.
"Then I am afraid I can't help you. Obviously some of my crewmates moved him but as to where I do not know. What do you want with him?" he asked.
"We want to study him… and we want your research on your treatment for our weapon," the tall one said. He was obviously irritated by his partner's interrogation methods.
"Why?"
"So we can make our weapon stronger, of course." Any feelings of goodwill Tom had begun to feel toward the tall one vanished.
"You realize as a medical officer I cannot help you. I am sworn to do no harm, even to aliens who have apparently invaded my ship. I cannot give you the information you have requested for the purpose of harming others," Tom said. He hoped the Doctor was listening.
"These Federations are fools," Short Alien said. Another snarl. "We cannot harm you, but what if we... do some experiments on some of your crewmates? Will you talk then?" he asked. "Bring it in!"
B'Elanna? There was no way in hell he could just stand there while they did who-knows-what to her. Harry? Same thing. That went for any of his crewmates. His mind went through several scenarios of possible actions he could take, but his planning was stopped by the arrival of another alien and Captain Janeway. He pushed her in front of him. A very faint hint of confusion crossed her face but she immediately went passive.
"Captain," he said. "I have told these people that as the medical officer on this ship that I cannot help them. They want me to…"
"Doctor," she said firmly. "I know what they want. Give it to them."
"But I can't…"
"You are also programmed to follow orders. Meet us in sick bay and you can give the information they request. Do you understand?"
"Yes, but I must protest…"
"Of course you must. Duly noted. Computer. Transfer the hologram in Holodeck Two to sick bay."
Tom noted her creative way of not using his name. Once again he was stretched apart and in seconds was back in sick bay. He had questions. How long had he been deactivated? Where was the Doctor?
A sudden shimmer of light and photons and the Doctor was there.
"Mr. Paris? What are you doing here? You are supposed to be hiding in the data base for the waste reclamation protocols." He immediately picked up a tricorder and began waving the scanner around him. "It seems you have come through the ordeal with everything intact."
"The aliens activated me, in the holodeck. I think it was accidental. They are on their way here with the Captain. I am supposed to give them the information you have on the gas weapons."
"You are, are you? Why did the Captain agree to that? That's not what we planned. And why you? Why did they let you go? We thought they were looking for you."
"I don't know the answers to your other questions but… they… think I'm you." Tom winced as he said the words.
"And why would they think that?" the Doctor asked. The scowl on his face was truly frightening.
"I told them. I listened in on their conversation. They were looking for me." He glanced over to the far end of the sick bay. "Where's the rest of me?" He asked.
"Ensign Kim managed to hide the stasis tube in the Cargo Bay, behind a holographic wall before he was captured. It has an independent power source. You are safe for now. We had planned to activate you and send you to the bridge. The crew members who were on the bridge at the time were gassed and the aliens managed to lock it down. We had a plan. Seven was going to send you there to revive the crew and then you were to take the helm, but since they are going to be here any minute and they think that you're me…"
"Why can't you go ahead with it? You can take my place," Tom said.
"Take your place!"
"You go the bridge. You can pilot a shuttle, can't you?"
"I have rudimentary piloting skills. They were programmed into my matrix for emergencies, but I don't think I was meant to pilot a starship…"
"I would say this is an emergency!" Tom said. "You need to go...do whatever it is you have to do. I'll stay here and be you."
"Very well. The details of the gas are here." He pushed a button on the closest computer. "Wish me well, Mr. Paris." With those words he disappeared, and not a moment too soon. The door opened. The aliens entered, one holding a phaser like weapon against Captain Janeway.
"I believe this is what you are looking for," Tom said, indicating the nearby monitor. Calculations and chemical symbols were sprawled across the screen. The two aliens Tom had met earlier rushed to the monitor and began to study it intensely.
"Well, what do you think?" the short one asked.
'I don't know. I have never seen these combinations before. I will need to run tests."
The sound of phaser fire erupted outside in the corridor. The two aliens by the monitor turned around as the alien who had been holding the Captain rushed outside. She stood there calmly. Apparently there was a plan, and everything was happening accordingly. She tapped her com badge.
"Commander Tuvok? Are you with us?"
"I am here Captain, outside of sick bay." The deep resonance of the Security Officer's voice calmed Tom's fraying photonic nerves.
"Level 5 force field around the aliens in sick bay," she snapped. "Beam the rest of the aliens to Cargo Bay 2."
"Yes, Captain."
The light streamed around the aliens and they turned around in full fury.
"Release us or we will…"
"You will what? Knock us out again? Won't work, gentlemen." She glanced at Tom. "Welcome back, Mr. Paris. I trust you're no worse for the wear. We were afraid that moving your matrix around so much might cause some degradation, but it appears you have held together pretty well. You do know you can step out of there?"
Tom had never walked through a force field before. It was like walking through a waterfall of light opening before him, shimmering around him and then closing behind him.
The ship gave a small lurch.
"Captain to the Bridge. Who is at the helm?"
"I am, Captain." The Doctor's voice came back a bit too quickly. "I was able to take out the aliens and revive the crew members who are up here but they will need some time to fully recover from the effects of the gas. I would appreciate it if I could be relieved as soon as possible."
A slight smile crossed her face. She turned back to Tom. "Quick thinking on your part to pretend to be the Doctor," she said.
The ship lurched again.
"Captain!" The EMH sounded desperate.
"I'll be right there, Doctor! Tuvok, beam the aliens in sick bay to the Cargo Bay with the rest. I am going to the Bridge to take the helm. We'll have everyone back where they are supposed to be as soon as possible."
The aliens disappeared along with the Captain. It took a few moments but the motions of the ship evened out. The Doctor shimmered back into sick bay.
"Well, that was MOST unsettling!" he said. "There is a great deal of difference between flying a starship and a shuttle craft!"
"You did fine. We're still here, aren't we?" Tom said.
"I most certainly did NOT do fine. I thought it was simply a matter of programming. I see now that practical experience has a great deal to do with it," he said. "I obviously need more information downloaded into my matrix!"
"Anytime you want more practical experience to help your program I will be more than glad to help," Tom said.
"I feel that I might have to take you up on that offer," the Doctor said. He was scowling, no doubt at the thought of Tom having to help him with anything.
"Tell me all about what happened," Tom said. "I don't like not knowing what is going on around me."
"A situation I know all too well. Many is the time I've been here while chaos was breaking out all over the ship and no one would take the time to explain the situation. You can listen in as I make my report. At least you got the initial deactivation out of the way. I trust that since you now know what it feels like that you will be more inclined to deactivate yourself. The first time is the worst time. From now on, simply relax."
"If you say so, Doc. Now what happened…?"
For the next twenty minutes he sat in front of the Doctor's desk and listened as he reported to his log a story of hostile alien takeover. It started with the aliens having some kind of psychic connection with the 'rodent' which had apparently come on board via Serian's shuttle, being fired on, alien intrusion, a gas weapon being unleashed on the bridge, the Captain being taken hostage, the rounding up the rest of the crew, the list of the demands which included not only the Doctor's treatment but Tom himself, both holographic and organic versions. The Doctor and Seven played a game of cat and mouse with the aliens, going from one Jeffries tube to another, with Seven taking every opportunity to stay one step ahead of the aliens by hiding Tom's matrix here and there throughout the ship's systems. Then there was Harry, who managed to elude their grasp long enough to hide Tom. There were covert communications with the Captain when she had been left alone for a few brief moments in the brig right up to the point where the aliens finally found Tom, more by accident than design.
The details started to fuse together in Tom's mind. He would have to read the full report later.
"I'm normally in the thick of things," he said. "Sitting on the sidelines is a new experience."
"Might I remind you that had you not stumbled on that weapon, none of us would be having this 'experience'," the Doctor grumbled.
"True, but there were some good things that came out of it. You were able to help the Ketvians and add to your medical portfolio. We were able to knock a few months off our journey. I got to find out what it's like to be you." He said the last statement quietly.
The Doctor gave him a cold hard stare.
'Mr. Paris. Are you trying to instigate some kind of bonding moment?"
Tom bit his lower lip in an attempt to hide a smile. It was futile. "I tried."
"Need I remind you that I am NOT Ensign Kim. Save your bonding moments for him."
"Anything you say, Doc," Tom said.
The EMH sat back in his chair and stared at his computer screen. An odd smile crossed his face and gradually grew larger finally reaching the point where he was laughing to himself.
"Care to share?" Tom asked.
"I was just thinking about my final report to Star Fleet medical. I find it highly amusing that hotshot Pilot Lieutenant Tom Paris who was dragged kicking and screaming into Voyager's Sick Bay and who tried at every turn to get out of his duty will, despite his efforts, be remembered in Starfleet MEDICAL history. When future students study this, your name will be right there in their required texts. There will be no escaping it."
"You find this amusing, do you?" Tom asked.
"Yes. I do. Your contribution to the future with the footnote of 'By the way, he was also a fairly good pilot.'"
Something broke within Tom. The old him would have pushed back at the Doctor's glee at his expense, but now all he could do was acknowledge the irony of it all. It was funny. He laughed along with him. There was also more than one way of bonding. The Doctor sat back in his chair, put his feet up on the desk and began to hum the Anvil Chorus.
Tom was experiencing a new appreciation for Opera.