Chapter Five Rain
MIDAS technician Ensign René Harper helped Lieutenant B'Elanna Torres with her microphone, failing more than once to connect the device properly due to the fidgeting and overexcited officer refusing to stand still. But eventually she got the thing hooked up and managed to get the half-Klingon to stand on the marked spot to face the viewer.
"We have tested voice and video. You are good to go, Ma'am. Five seconds, four, three…."
Still fidgeting when the screen activated, Torres looked up to see her husband Max Burke, his brown eyes peering right at her. Brown eyes, not blue. That Doctor lied to me. I knew it. Tom Paris. How could I even think I could trust you?
"Max!" Torres ran to the command console and put her hand on the screen, her husband now grinning at her like the Cheshire Cat. The Starfleet commander held out his arms as if to embrace her and blew a kiss. Then he touched the screen on the opposite end, covering her hand. She called out to him. "Max! Oh my God! I love you so much!" He waved and smiled at her, a tear running down his cheek. She was so happy!
"Are you okay, Honey? First you were supposedly in the Delta Quadrant and then Headquarters said you were found in the Beta Quadrant. This is so Starfleet. What happened? I never heard from you for so long. I was so worried."
Max rubbed his face, wiping away the tears from the corner of his eyes. "Starfleet always believes the first reports. A passing freighter in the Delta Quadrant evidently picked up a warp core breach that mimicked a Nova-class ship explosion. But all the Equinox experienced was a power failure to comms and propulsion and we were never near that Quadrant. We were working on it when the Klingons found us in the Beta Quadrant. It really was no big deal but we all knew our families were worried. No casualties, thankfully. I'm just glad to have come home and to finally meet Miral. So, when are you coming home?"
Torres was so excited! And so relieved. "I'm leaving today! Today Max! This mission has been the worst one of my life, Honey. Do you know about it?"
Max shook his head. "I was briefed but not much. But enough to know Tom Paris is a maniac. He always was. We almost came to blows a couple of times over you when we were cadets. I guess he thought I never treated you properly. It was none of his business but I knew he had it bad for you. The lovesick jerk. He wasn't good enough to find a woman on his own except for a one nighter. He wanted to take you from me. He was so obsessed with you."
B'Elanna looked at Max. "I…never knew he felt that way!"
With that Burke winced. "B'Elanna, he is very dangerous when it comes to you. You told me how he kept hounding you with messages even after we were married. And it was so damned obvious to me at least. He would stare at you when you walked by in the Buchanan Quadrangle and in a lustful way. And when you had pizza he always bought your favorite without asking. And he knew you liked light beer so he bought that too just to gain your trust. Then I caught him taking holopictures of you when you were sunbathing on your dorm roof. Ours was three floors higher. I kicked his ass, the damned pervert."
"I can't believe this! I never knew him! I...you never told me! I mean, Tom is sick, Max. He's actually a nice person when you get to know him. I hope they find a cure." Torres was stunned. She did not recall any of it.
Max shrugged his shoulders. "I never told you because what good would it have done? He was Admiral Paris' kid and they would have covered for him since he never touched you. And he's sick alright. He's psychotic. All Nexus did was amplify his already squirming brain. I would not doubt it if he wants to kill you for marrying me. He is that vindictive."
"Max! Now that kind of talk IS crazy! But then again we know so little about the human mind and it is true that he just will not let go of me. But he's never tried to harm me. Never. I can't imagine he would…." Her mind turned over what her husband had said and rejected it as absurd. "Enough about him. Where's Miral?"
Her husband smiled again. "She's here. Had to go potty." Megan Delaney then came on camera with Miral in tow and pointed downward at her. There she was, wearing a very cute pink dress with white socks and black shoes. "Here she is!" He picked up his daughter. "Wave at Mommy, Kitten! Say hello!" B'Elanna burst into tears as Miral smiled after seeing her mother once more. But then she began to squirm. And now she was crying.
Max was trying to comfort her without success. B'Elanna could understand that. Miral had never seen her father before other than in holopictures. So she tried to console her instead. "Its okay, Miral! This is your Daddy. He's been away a long time but he's come home now."
Miral was pushing hard on her father's chest and leaning back. "No! This isn't Daddy! Where is Daddy, Mommy? I miss you. I miss Daddy."
Max was trying hard to control Miral, maybe a little too hard because she was fighting him so much. "She's just excited, B'Elanna. She'll be okay. And you are coming home soon? I love you and miss you. Hey!" Miral had bit him on the hand. She never did that to anyone. So Max swatted her on the bottom. "You do not bite people young lady and especially your father." Miral was crying even harder now, absolutely scared. And so was B'Elanna. Some doubt crept into her mind now. Out of the blue she asked Max about who had been taking care of Miral.
"Megan Delaney, of course. I picked Miral up from her quarters about forty minutes ago. And she is right here. You can ask her yourself. Why?"
"No, Mommy. I'm staying with Aunt Emory and Uncle Julian. I don't know this man."
B'Elanna was more than worried now. "Max, just what the hell is going on here? Who are Emory and Julian? I don't know them." Miral's mom was agitated, smoothing her tunic and shifting her feet. Her daughter needed reassurance, not discipline. Tom always knew that automatically. He always did. Tom? What am I thinking?
"No idea. Never heard of them, either. Umm…she's just a bit confused like I said, Beetle. It has been one hell of a day and we just met after so many months apart. She will calm down and get used to me, don't worry."
Torres stared at her husband. "Max, what did you just call me?"
Now it was Max's turn to gawk, as he tried to control his very unhappy daughter. "Nothing, why?"
"You said Beetle."
Now Max started snickering. Miral appeared to calm a tiny bit but was still blubbering. "Oh, that! Come on, B'Elanna! I've always called you that because of your initials. You know. BTL. A scrambled version of 'B'Elanna Torres.' Bacon, tomato, lettuce, the way you like to assemble that sandwich. On toast with a dab of mayo, then cut at an angle. It has always been our little joke. Beetle. Right?"
She nodded. "Yeah, I guess I just haven't heard you say it in a while. Listen, Miral will calm down eventually but you do not need to swat her. Don't do that again. Just talk to her about how nice it is to be home and take her over to the Station food court for an ice cream. She likes strawberry although she tolerates vanilla. And do not give her too much because she can get hives. No cone, although she will beg you for one. Only a dish with a teaspoon. And then make sure…."
Max started laughing so hard! "B'Elanna! I know I need to get used to this fatherhood thing but I think I can handle our three-year-old. And Megan is here and Miral obeys her no sweat, if things get out of control. I see MIDAS is about to expire. I love you, Honey! I can't wait for you to come home. Please come home soon. We'll be waiting for you!"
The screen countdown started as the technician moved towards B'Elanna. But her brain was already turning, trying to analyze what she had seen and heard. She waived and blew a kiss at her daughter who had calmed but only when put on the floor and with Megan taking her hand.
The screen went blank and Ensign Harper disconnected the microphone cord. "That was so nice, Lieutenant. I am sorry you did not have more time with your family but I hope your visit was a pleasant one. Miral was a bit overwhelmed, I think. Imagine, your daughter not thinking Commander Burke is her father! But it happens all the time in Starfleet with absentee parents and births happening during deployments. Nothing unusual, from what I have experienced."
Torres nodded in seeming agreement, as she handed over the microphone's shock cord. "No, nothing unusual. It was good to see them. If you will excuse me, I have a shuttle to catch. Thanks, Ensign." The Starfleet officer walked outside to find her hovercar standing by. She entered and the vehicle moved off, heading for Crissy Field.
For a while she just sat there as the hovercar moved on, staring out the side window as she bit her lower lip. Then B'Elanna reached over the seat and tapped Petty Officer Peterson on the shoulder. "Sandra, can you turn around? I just remembered I left something at the hospital. Do we have time?"
Peterson looked at her chronometer. "Umm…yes, Ma'am. We do. Traffic isn't bad right now and we have more than enough. I'll take you there right away. What did you leave there?"
Torres leaned back in her seat and looked up at the ceiling. "Something very important." Maybe my husband.
/
"Lieutenant Torres! I thought you left. Is something wrong?" Nurse and Starfleet Ensign Mary Ann White had looked up from the nursing station to see B'Elanna patiently standing in front of her with her arms crossed.
"No. No, nothing. I wanted to make sure Tom Paris was okay. One more time. I mean, he is prepping for surgery and…."
White flopped her hand at the engineer. "Oh that! Admiral Wildman called earlier and said the procedure has been delayed. They are bringing in a hotshot surgeon from Bethesda, a specialist in brain separation." She looked at her PADD. "A Doctor…Marla Gilmore. But she can't get here for ten days at least. So I guess he has a temporary reprieve and more time in his personal lah lah land. You know, Ma'am, I've seen my share of cases around this place but Tom Paris…."
She stopped and gulped. From her glaring stare Torres apparently was not amused. "Where is Tom?"
The flustered nurse looked at her charts. "I really don't know. It is not my day to watch him. But usually at this time he is in the courtyard. I'll contact Commander Tuvok. If you are going there he needs to observe. Rear Admiral Wildman's orders."
"Fine. I know my way. Thanks."
Torres headed down the corridor in a huff, turning left and then left once more and then right. There was the doorway. Opening it, she soon located Tom Paris who was standing near a column conversing with the bald man who then exited the area through the door as she walked up to Paris. "Tom, we need to talk."
Paris smiled but was not overly excited to see her. "Well, well. Lieutenant B'Elanna Torres! How nice to see you. When did you arrive? Everyone told me that you were coming to visit me but I didn't believe them. I mean, I really did not know where you were and now 'poof' here you are! Just like magic. Such a surprise! Did Dad arrange this? He really loves me, you know? He does. And have we been introduced before? You are B'Elanna Torres, aren't you? So nice to meet you once again. Where is Miral? I think I know her."
B'Elanna stared. If he was acting, he was doing a very good job of it. But maybe not this time. He was babbling just like her therapy sessions with him. And those eyes of his were typically crazed as they darted back and forth without focusing on anything really. Regressed? No doubt of it. That hunch of hers at the MIDAS facility now seemed so wrong. But it had been so strong. The same feeling she had when she just knew she had fallen in love with…somebody. No, he was performing. He had to be, didn't he?
"Let's move over there, Lieutenant Torres. By that very pretty oak tree. Nice bench. I like it when the acorns hit the ground. They make a plopping sound as they hit the concrete. Careful, don't step on one. They are like little marbles and you can take a nasty fall. A nasty fall. You might hit your head and end up nuts like me. Nuts. Get it? Acorn nuts." He laughed.
The two walked over and sat down, B'Elanna knowing this had been a very bad idea. Then Tom whispered to her, as he looked around. "This is the only place in the hospital other than Sickbay where they can't hear us. There is a voice scrambler in the tree branch above our head. Simulates conversation but not what we are actually saying. Tuvok over there thinks he is listening in but all he is hearing is us discussing small talk like the weather. You designed it long ago and I put it there just after I was 'admitted.' They did not find it on me even with a full body cavity search. I'm very good at hiding things in plain sight." He palmed an acorn and then closed his hand. Opening it revealed two acorns between his fingers. Now there were three. Then none. "See?"
All that did was cause Torres to look at him in amazement and confusion. Tom scanned the area and gestured a bit. "So why are you here? Maybe we can have sex at your private work station? Or maybe in a Jeffries tube? Man, we were really out of control back then. Janeway chewed our asses royally and we got written reprimands. But it was worth it. You are worth it."
Paris looked hard for any recognition of past performances. None. Other than showing embarrassment and anger, Torres had no idea what he was talking about. If she did she was playing it close to the chest. Tom did not know that her feelings were telling her one thing but creeping doubt was telling her something else. Then he caught her gathering his scent.
Torres breathed deeply, shook her head, and smiled. Her blood stirred. Maybe this was her husband. But her head hurt so much. "Oh God, Tom. I am so confused now. Just what the hell is going on?"
Tom grunted, his face reflecting a pained look but he did not have a lot of time to worry about that now. "I guess I should start at the beginning. Always good to start there. You can start elsewhere but you always have to go back to the beginning, don't you? Once upon a time, about nine ago actually, a man and a woman met once again after many years. Later, they fell in love. Then they got married on the USS Voyager and wanted to live happily ever after. Their lives together have been interrupted by all of this nonsense but she is still the most important woman in the universe to him."
Torres was flattered but also hesitant. "Very funny, Paris. You are wasting time." Then she giggled but did not know why, now only half believing that he was acting out. Max never made her giggle.
Tom turned serious fast. "What do you know or think you know?"
Placing a finger on the side of her nose, Torres related what the Doctor told her and then her MIDAS conversation. "My head is pounding like it is being hit with a hammer. I don't know what to believe anymore, Tom."
"That's the Benzedrine. It's extra thick in here. All of our heads hurt. But we only have a few days left and then it's over anyway. Starfleet might destroy this ship rather than let it enter Nexus. But if it successfully goes in, it isn't coming out. Ever. I refuse to fly it so they want you to convince me to get into a shuttle once more. To let go of my lifeline. That shuttle will be Voyager, not what it appears to be. I won't do it. I won't."
He stopped and whispered. "Tuvok is looking closer now, trying to read our lips. I am going to say something nasty. Act pissed."
He stood up and walked around in a circle, pausing to stare at Tuvok. Then he turned. "You said you would listen to me! B'Elanna, just shut the fuck up!" Tom was now leaning over her, one hand on the tree. He winked. "Don't hit me. If you do they will beat the shit out of me."
Torres was taken aback, as she looked up at him. "What did you say? Since we began therapy weeks ago, you've never told me to shut up! Never!" She winked.
The engineer was playing along. That's my B'Ella! "You are so right. But I did tell you that just once. But not in therapy." Tom started to walk about again. Her mind turned that one over. She had no recollection of that event but perhaps the gas was affecting her, if Tom was truthful.
"Look Torres, are you going to let me talk or what? Let's talk…shuttles."
"Shuttles?" B'Elanna scrunched her knees up into her chest and wrapped her arms around them.
"Yeah. I tend to have bad experiences in shuttles. One flight, however, was the best one of my life. You know that one. You were there when we toasted the victors. B'Elanna Paris. Tom Torres."
Torres knew exactly what Paris was talking about, although she had not experienced that event herself. Tom had told her more than once how he had asked her to marry him in the Delta Flyer. He was so convincing that she almost believed him. But now he was talking about their wedding night aboard that ship and how they had playfully argued over last names. They drank champagne and she offered up 'Tom Torres,' since it was the twenty-fourth century.
"I have kept my own name, Tom. Max and I did not like the sound of 'B'Elanna Burke' and there was no way he was going to become 'Max Torres.' But I thought it was kind of cute. So Hispanic-sounding, like an old movie character. You know, Max Torres, private eye."
The pilot smirked. "Remind me to watch that one next time we have popcorn together in our apartment or Voyager's movie theater." His eyes were staring at the door as a staff psychiatrist walked in. "The winds around here tend to swirl and really are not suitable for the type of shuttles that are parked out there. The ride can get bumpy so that is why you need to be fully restrained. I imagine you experienced a bit of turbulence when you flew in here a few months ago."
B'Elanna recalled that flight. "I did. I think I nearly puked my guts. But I slept through most of the descent. No dampeners on those things."
"You were drugged. But it's worse if it is raining. Or if there is fog." He looked at her. "Rain. Friend or foe, depending on how you look at it. One of the most powerful forces on a planet. Washes away everything." She stared at him but he just shrugged it off. "And I think, I hope, that it is about to do that now. Rain. And one of them does. The shuttles, I mean. Has great dampeners. We built one that way. You and me. And Harry. And Annika. The one parked by itself. You must have seen it."
Sure. That one was unique. "I did. It looked amazing. I was drawn to it out of engineering curiosity but didn't have time to examine it."
He turned to face her and leaned over. "It is. Amazing. Just like you. And you should have a quick look at it before you lift off for 'Los Angeles.' When you do, just go to the back ramp access door. There is a small speaker there. Push the black button then say, "Torres Alpha Three, Miral One, Paris Six." Then he grinned. "Bingo! Oops, we have company."
Starfleet commander and physician David Livingston came over accompanied by Attendants Ensign Bob McMinn and Ensign David Gibson. The two aides were holding Klingon pain sticks and they were armed. "Is he bothering you, Lieutenant?"
B'Elanna shook her head. "No, we were just talking. He seems to be in good health."
Paris cut in. "Actually, we were talking about our shuttle. It is custom-built. Called the Delta Flyer II. A very skilled bunch of Starfleet officers designed and built that ship. People who happen to be my friends and one of them I am married to right now. It also made for one hell of a honeymoon, despite Harry Kim putting confetti in the sonic shower when B'Elanna and I were just about to have a nice little rub down."
Now Doctor Livingston laughed. "Oh come on, Paris! Here I thought you were making progress even with your rescheduled procedure. And now you are talking about your honeymoon aboard that thing. More of your craziness about being married to Lieutenant Torres."
Tom waggled a finger. "Actually, she is Lieutenant Commander B'Elanna Torres. She was promoted just like most of us once we returned from the Delta Quadrant and after all of those freaking Boards of Inquiry. And you are no doctor, just a quack. You are really Commander David Livingston, Chief of Exobionics aboard Voyager. You spend your days watching these two lap dogs run analyses and other useless experiments on the crew to make sure they are not suffering from any number of nonexistent space-related diseases. Then you render a boring PADD report to the EMH who files it somewhere never to be seen again by human eyes. Of course, not every one of us in this place has human eyes. One of us is El-Aurian, specifically one Admiral Owen Paris. Two of us are female Klingons, Commander Deanna Troi and Doctor Beverly Crusher. Commander Kathryn Janeway is a hologram; she is really a Rear Admiral now and at Starfleet Headquarters. The real Starfleet Headquarters in San Francisco. None of this is real. This place is total bullshit. But what do I know? I'm crazy. You said so."
Livingston shook his head and motioned for his two goons to accompany him. They walked over to Tuvok and the four left together.
"Good riddance. But I'll pay for that shit later. For now we need to make sure you know what to do. So now you have the code for the Delta Flyer. Do you remember it?"
Torres nodded. "Yes, Tom."
"Okay. Now comes the hard part. You have to remember the critical code. The one that drops the force field. You must make it rain."
"Look, Tom. You keep talking about that code. And there is a song in my head about rain. Even if this was true I…."
She suddenly stopped. "Wait, okay!" Now she got up and walked around, gesturing in Torres fashion and nearly like Tom. "Let's just pretend it is true. Everything you said. I am your wife. Miral is our daughter. But I can't make it rain! And I know Chakotay is of Mayan descent but rain dancing is just a ceremony with no scientific basis in fact. What the hell is this song about? Let the rain wash away all the pain. What pain?"
Tom could see she was not remembering. He had to convince her to go to the Delta Flyer sooner rather than later if this nightmare was going to end.
"Okay. We agreed to this, to use this song to jog our memories even if nothing else worked. It comes from a very painful time in our lives that only we would know about. And the code is somewhere inside it. Inside that song. You put it there."
"Tom, I.…"
Paris reached out to Torres but did not touch her. "Just stay with me here. I can feel myself starting to let go once more. Not much time." He then walked around, fighting his dazed mind to remember any of this. "We were on Voyager in the Delta Quadrant before we were married. I had been asking and asking for you to go out with me after the Vidiian prison experience. You kept saying no. We were just friends as far as you were concerned and you wanted to keep it that way. At least that was what I thought. I even said you were living like a Tabran monk." Torres laughed. She was anything but that with Max.
Tom laughed with her. But then he got serious once more. "I was feeling a lot of pain then. Emotional pain because I wanted to get closer to you but you kept pushing me away. I wanted to see if we could be…more. You told me later that you were thinking the same thing and were really hurting because you were scared. You were afraid to get involved with someone like me who would break your heart and leave you like your father, John Torres, did. I told you in Sickbay after we were married that I would never leave you. But you did not know me very well several years before that. I was just a pig to you when we came aboard. But then you changed your mind. Something happened that altered all of that."
Torres thought a bit. "Right. Now I get it. You told me this. After the Vidiian prison. So this part of the Paris universe is where we are on Sakari IV. I'm going nuts due to Klingon blood fever. We confess we are attracted to each other after I bit you and claimed you as my mate. And I told you I had wanted this for so long. And we almost had sex. Yes?"
"No."
"No?" That took her aback. "But…."
"No."
"What then?"
He paused to rub his arm. "All of that happened, true enough. You did say you wanted this for so long. And to just let it happen. But I could not take advantage of you. Damnit, B'Elanna, I was in love with you! But you need to think. What made you say those things, blood fever or not? We never dated before that. We had a few drinks in Sandrine's and had fun in the holodeck but Harry was always there or someone else was. Fever or not, what caused you to suddenly say that you wanted to be with me? And for so long?"
She shook her head, trying to recall something that never happened. None of this was true but she could easily imagine turning Tom Paris down for a date. Why she would go out with him was beyond her. And to want to have sex with him! "I really don't know what would make me say or do something like that."
Now Tom turned to face her. "Because you had been jealous, Bea. You were green with it." He paced a bit.
Torres scoffed. "Jealous? Green? Are you serious! Of what or whom would I be jealous, Tom? You had already broken up with Sue Nicoletti and Megan Delaney, according to you. You had no one else on Voyager before me, also according to you."
Tom smiled back at her. "You are so right. No one else on Voyager, not even that hologram named Ricky. You don't remember the woman I am talking about, do you?"
"No, Tom. I don't." She was struggling but nothing was coming back to her. There wasn't anyone or anything to remember regarding his dream world.
Tom Paris rubbed his stubbly face. His head throbbed but he had to get this out. "About three years into our little Delta Quadrant sojourn, Voyager was attacked by a Federation time ship, the Aeon. We were flung back to the twentieth-century, to the year 1996. When we were there we made contact with a member of a top secret program called the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence or SETI. I was one of three Voyager crew; me, Tuvok, and the EMH; who met with a young woman scientist from Los Angeles and the Griffin Observatory to try and figure out how to get back to our time. Her name…was Rain Robinson."
Torres blinked. Her mouth moved and she sat upright once more. "I'm listening. Go on."
"Well, I was hurting badly, you know. I mean, you know all of this because we talked through it before. Rain, well, she did not buy that we were Cold War spies. That was our cover story so people did not know we were from the future. But she said that era was over. And after a while we started to talk a lot. And the more we yakked the more we sort of connected. We shared a love of science fiction movies and other stuff. Anyway, we became…a bit involved. Nothing sexual. But we kissed. I...really liked her."
"Typical womanizing pig, Paris. Just like your file and what Harry Kim told me about you."
He shrugged. That was what B'Elanna thought about him years ago. "I won't lie to you. I have never lied to you, ever. Rain, well, she was warm and smart and loving and beautiful, B'Elanna. A stunning brunette with brown eyes, just like you. You know that is my weakness in women. She had longer hair than you and no forehead ridges, of course. But for a while there she…umm…took my pain away. Just getting to know Rain Robinson convinced me that maybe there was a woman out there who could love me forever. I almost decided to stay behind with her. But I knew that was so wrong. In our century, she was long dead. And in hers, she had a life to live. I did not belong there or with her. I belonged on Voyager. That was my home."
Torres was moved but said nothing. All of a sudden her fingers were playing with her wedding ring, the one she had replaced on her finger.
"When I got back, you and I were going over the mission log one afternoon. You noticed entries about Rain Robinson and asked me about her. I turned to you and saw this strange look on your face. You were hurt. Really hurt. I knew right then that you cared about me, as more than a friend. I mean, I sort of knew that for a while but now more than ever. I explained who she was and you sensed that something had been going on with her and me. Later on, after we were together, you told me that Rain Robinson had cleared things up with you just a bit, even though you never met her. That you came to know that I was special to you and it was time to take a chance. Do you know what you did?"
Torres shook her head, listening very carefully. "No, I wish I could. This is so confusing."
"It is but hang in there. You asked me if my invitation to dinner was still open. I was so happy! So I took you into a holodeck program called Lake Como. Well, we started talking about things and we held hands that night. And I walked you back to your quarters. And we shared a little kiss. Then afterwards we started moving forward together very slowly, taking it easy but getting closer all the time. Then a few months later, Sakari IV happened. A year later we were dying in space and admitted our true feelings for each other. Three years later we got married. And ten months later you gave birth to Miral. It was Rain who did all of that. She…"
"…washed away, all the pain of yesterday."
Tom nodded. "She did, B'Elanna, for both of us. And so we decided in Engineering that you would devise a code, something to do with Rain and that 2010 song I dug up, something we both shared and could remember. But it had to be you to execute it because they want me and would never let me go anywhere alone. I made them focus on me so you could maybe figure it out without a lot of distractors."
Paris looked directly into Torres' eyes. "They are using you, B'Ella. To fix Voyager's engines although you think you were repairing the Orion. There is no Orion and never has been. You have been overhauling our ship, the EMH told you that. Once they have warp, all they need is me. That is why they want to break me from you and I lose my will to resist. I will then just do what Soran wants and Voyager and you and all of us just be damned. But you are my lifeline, Honey, just as you always have been. My reason to live, you and Miral that is. And I love you, B'Elanna, no matter what. But I will eventually break my promise and have to leave you. They will drug me so much that I will fly us into The Ribbon and then into Nexus then that is it. This time no one can save anyone who is in Nexus."
"Why not? Tom, what is different this time?" She knew but wanted to hear it from him.
"Doc may not have told you everything. He didn't know all the details. When Soran destroyed one star, he did not complete his plan. He had to destroy two of them to move Nexus closer to the Veridian system. By destroying only one star he moved them but it was more like a slow, sliding nudge. The Ribbon and Nexus sort of…stretched like warm taffy. But they are destabilized now. Starfleet scientists said that Nexus now fluctuates. Nexus is so massive that without constant power it will collapse like a black hole. A few years at most and it's gone! Poof! I like that word. Poof! Then it will crush everything within it; hulk vessels, Voyager, everything. Everything. And that means us."
"Tom, I'm so sorry. But I simply can't remember. If all of this is true, what am I supposed to do?"
Tom bent over, stretching his sore back. They he stood up and stretched some more. "Remember the door code. Go to the Delta Flyer, the only place on Voyager with a working secure computer link. When you input the code, the door will open for five seconds and then close and lock. I…screwed with the controls. The ship will go through an auto sequence and power up. Computer, comms, life support, engines, shields, everything will work. You will just have to sit there and take it all in. As before, air will flow but it won't take care of the gas. The scrubbers went…umm…."
"Poof?" She giggled.
Paris smiled. "Yeah, poof. No time to change them out. So you must clear your mind. There are two hyposprays in there, in the maintenance box. One for each of us, if we were both able to get away. Use one. It is the antidote. That will open your mind and you will remember the code since you can't remember it now. Once you put the code into the computer the shuttle field holodeck will inactivate, as will the force field. You will be in the shuttle bay. The doors are wide open; the force field has been keeping the airlock safe. All you need to do is to fly the Delta Flyer out of there to call for Starfleet's flotilla or our shuttle that escaped. They may already be outside and waiting to get in. Once that happens, it's all over for Soran, Lursa, and B'Etor. But we are moving to Nexus now. Voyager has pilots and you fixed the impulse drive. So you must use the hypospray and fast. Do it, B'Elanna. For God and Kahless and everyone aboard. Do it."
Torres was torn. "Tom, you could be lying to me. About all of this. Just so Soran gets the code. And the Duras sisters can escape."
"You are right, I could be lying." He turned to look around a bit and saw the sprinklers come on. "Those things can make you very wet. They are not very good at discussing helm control issues like you are."
He smiled and leaned down towards her so they almost touched noses. "In all the years we have known each other I have never lied to you, my B'Ella. I have never hurt you intentionally and I never will. We trust each other with our lives but I know that in this case you don't trust me. There is another that you trust more than me right now. Believe it when I tell you that."
He sighed, thinking about that necessary rival. "But you have your wedding ring, the one I gave to you years ago on Voyager. That is so important to me. To us. It is the symbol of my commitment to you for life and beyond and you will give me mine once again someday. Hopefully that is enough for you to believe me. But you must decide. Not me. B'Elanna, let the Rain wash away all the pain of yesterday. Tell the world I'm coming home. You better go now."
Torres went to hug Tom but he cringed and backed away. She started to walk towards the exit but then turned back to him, reaching out with her right hand but stopping short of touching him. Tears flowed down her cheeks. "I want you to know…that I…really wish we were married. You are something else, Tom Paris. Something else."
He grinned. "So are you, Honey. Just come home, Bea. Let all of us come home. Safe trip."
Feeling as if a ton of weight was taken off her shoulders, a smiling B'Elanna wiped her face as she strode across the courtyard to see Admiral Paris standing there with Beverly Crusher and Deanna Troi. They noticed her reddened eyes.
Crusher was tapping her right foot, arms crossed. "Well, you two had quite the conversation. I suppose he convinced you that you are his wife?" Troi just glared. Admiral Paris was rubbing his balding head, searching her eyes.
B'Elanna simpered just a bit. "He made me wish I was. But no, I am married to Max Burke. Of that there is no doubt now. We talked about Tom and shuttles and flying. And of all those delusions about us. The usual fare." She shook the Admiral's hand. "I'm sorry for him, Sir. And for all of you. We all tried so hard." Well, well. So much for your trip to Mars, huh, 'Admiral'?
The Admiral nodded. "Well, my son will at least live out his life in a better place. One where his illusion will remain with him all his natural days. He will be content in his personal little bit of Heaven. We all will. Goodbye, Lieutenant. Have a safe trip home."
Torres saluted and walked through the doorway. Then she paused. Turning to look at the three Starfleet officers, she said in a clear voice, "We did talk about one other thing, Admiral. The weather. I think it is going to rain. Very soon." She laughed and continued on.