Super-Gravity

Summary: Set during Star Trek: Voyager Season 5 episode Gravity. When trapped down the gravitational sinkhole Tuvok and Paris meet Noss...and her companion.

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To put it mildly Ensign Tom Paris and Lt Tuvok of the Starship Voyager were not having a good day. They had been pulled through some sort of gravitational sinkhole and crashed landed on a planet that is part of an entire solar system that is trapped in a pocket of subspace.

Then to top it off Tom gets mugged...by the same alien woman Tuvok somehow befriends. Yeah, Tom is still trying to work that one out.

However, Noss, that is her name, she led them to the wrecked ship she has clearly been using as home.

Oh also did Tom mention that one wrecked shuttle equalled no universal translator. That makes things difficult.

Anyway right now he is trying to restore the Doctor, whose mobile emitter was damaged. He bypasses the damaged areas...and bingo!

On the plus side it turns out the Doctor has a universal translator written into his program and is able to talk to their new companion.

The news is not good. Apparently for all the time she has been trapped here(14 seasons) she's not seen one ship ever manage to escape. It seems they are completely reliant on Voyager finding them...and not suffering the same fate.

"Noss!" a new voice shouts and entering the ship comes a tall humanoid male with curly black hair and blue eyes, carrying a sack. "Oh we have company," he says in Noss' language.

Then Noss relays back to him what transpired and then adds something which makes his eyebrows rise.

"What did she say?" Tom asks the Doctor in a whisper, who fails to hide his irritation at the human man.

"She said that you speak English."

"How does she know what English is?" Tom asks confused and even Tuvok looks...intrigued.

"Because I taught her it," the man says in perfect English...with a hint of a mid-Western accent.

The surprise can't be hidden off Tom's face. "How do you know English?"

The man looks at the new arrivals, his brow furrowing. "I'm Kal-El," he introduces himself. "May I ask who you are?"

"I am Lt Tuvok of the Starship Voyager. This is Ensign Paris and the Doctor," the Vulcan does the introductions.

"The Doctor, huh? Does he have 2 hearts?" Kal-El jokes.

"I'm a hologram. I don't have any hearts," the EMH replies, clearly not getting the joke.

"I'm getting the feeling this is gonna be a long story. How about we share over dinner?" Kal-El proposes.

"A prudent suggestion," Tuvok agrees.

"The sinkhole sits atop a quantum fissure, straddling several quantum realities but not completely in any. That is why it is so hard to detect," Kal-El is explaining the nature of the anomaly that has trapped them all here. To illustrate his point he had placed an exotic crystal on the table which was displaying a holographic representation of the sinkhole.

"And how did you come to this conclusion?" Tuvok asks.

"I've been here for 5 years. I've had a lot of time to study it. You're free to analyse my data Lt if you wish."

"And in these 5 years did you find a way out?" Tom wonders.

Kal-El gives a small sad smile. "Fraid not. The gravitational pull is only one way. Down."

"Such inspiring confidence," the Doctor drawls.

Kal-El or Superman or Clark Kent acknowledges the hologram with a shrug of his shoulders. Five years ago he decided to leave Earth to try and find if anything remained of his lost homeworld of Krypton. Sadly on his way through the Milky Way he was sucked down into this sinkhole and he's been stuck here ever since. Didn't help that the system had a red sun, effectively neutralising the superhuman abilities given to him by a yellow sun.

Apart from Noss these 3 new arrivals were the friendliest he had met...but what was intriguing him was the fact they spoke English and one of them seemed to be human. Of course that led to many, many questions.

Several days later Clark had an answer. He and the Voyager pair(the Doctor had been shut off to save his power) were clearly from different universes after having had the chance to talk and share stories. Though Clark was at a loss to explain the time difference between the two. When he left Earth it was 2001. According to Tom it's the year 2375.

"Why Earth?"

"Hmm?" Clark queries as he and Tom hunt for the only real food on this planet. Big spider-like creatures.

"Why did your parents send you to Earth?" Tom is asking Kal-El as he still knows him.

"Because outwardly we're physically identical, Tom. They hoped I could blend in," Clark gives the answer.

"Seems a long shot though," Tom thinks.

"If I had stayed on Krypton it was no shot. My death would have been certain. If you had been in their position and the choice for your son was certain death or perhaps a 1% chance of survival if you shot him into space, what would have done?"

"I see your point," Tom concedes. He would have done exactly the same. A small chance is better than no chance. "Although I don't understand why your people couldn't save themselves."

"Arrogance. They thought themselves indestructible. And I guess just disbelief. If someone told you the world would end tomorrow would you believe them? Or perhaps think they must have made a mistake, a miscalculation?"

Tom quietly considers that.

"Also my people had just been through a devastating civil war when the head of the military attempted a coup. They were tired and exhausted. Planning how to evacuate an entire planet was probably the last thing on anyone's mind. I guess in the end there is no single reason for their misjudgement. It was a combination of things."

"And you decided to just go look for them despite this?"

Clark shrugs. "I had just reached a point in my life that I needed to know for certain, one way or the other, whether I was alone or not."

"And ended up here."

"Yeah, I'm sure someone somewhere is having a good laugh at me."

Tom grins. Kal-El had a good sense of humour. It was a nice contrast to Tuvok's continual cold demeanour.

Couple of months later and nothing much has changed. Hunting spiders, fighting off scavengers. Voyager must think them dead and be long gone by now.

Then there is Noss and Tuvok. The alien woman had clearly taken a liking to the Vulcan.

"Of all people she develops an attraction to Tuvok," Tom is saying to Kal-El as they search the desert for anything salvageable. Saying in disbelief because seriously, it's Tuvok. You know, the emotionless Vulcan.

"The heart wants what the heart wants," Clark says simply in reply.

"Yeah," Tom concedes. "But I'm curious you've been here with her her entire time here did you two…?"

"No," Clark responds. "She sees me more like a big brother." Pause. "Story of my love-life," he jokily laments.

Tom snorts with laughter.

"Yeah, yeah make fun of the poor schmuck."

Tom pats him on the shoulder. "Oh, it's nothing personal. I'm sure the perfect woman is out there somewhere for you."

"Small problem. We're stuck in here," Clark reminds Tom.

That sobers Tom up. True enough. He'll probably never see B'Elanna again.

Six months. After six months a message from Voyager finally comes. Only it turns out that for them it hasn't been 6 months. There is a temporal differential ratio of point four seven four four seconds per minute between this sinkhole and real space.

But in 2 days, their time, Voyager will activate a transporter beam and they'll be out of here.

"You're welcome to come along," Tom is telling Kal-El.

"Since the alternative is remaining stuck here I think I'll accept. Your universe may not be my universe, Tom but..."

"It's better than remaining here," the Doctor, who had been reactivated to treat an injured Tuvok, finishes.

Of course they have to survive the next 2 days under attack. The aggressive aliens on this planet must have heard the message as well and are coming for them. It's gonna be a long 2 days.

This is weird. Clark looks around the quarters on the starship that was now his home. There had been a heartfelt goodbye to Noss who they returned to her homeworld and her family...which was only right.

Clark would miss her, like the little sister she had become.

And now he was stuck in a universe that was not his own. In the 24th century when the humans he loved so much had reached out and travelled across the stars.

Well at least he's properly clean for the 1st time in half a decade.

There is a chime. It takes him a second to respond. "Come in!"

In enters a woman with auburn hair and an air of authority around her. "I'm Captain Kathryn Janeway. I just came to welcome you aboard Voyager."

Clark takes the offered hand and shakes it. "Thank you...for the rescue...and allowing me to stay," he says genuinely.

Kathryn notes that the man has a hell of a grip...not to mention tall...and really, really mesmerising blue eyes. "You're welcome. I had to say Lt Tuvok's and Ensign Paris' reports were an interesting read," she remarks.

"I bet."

"How are you doing?"

"It's all a little...strange. Then again anything that's not a desert planet is a nice change of pace."

Kathryn nods. "There is no need to rush. You take your time to acclimatise," she says. "However, I would like to invite you to join me for dinner," she offers. From the reports she read...she's burning with curiosity and figures dinner is a way to start getting acquainted with the newest member of her crew.

"I would like that," Clark accepts with a smile.

"Great," Kathryn says, finding herself smiling back at his contagious grin. "Is there anything in particular you want?"

"Apple pie," he says instantly. "God what I would not give for one of my mom's apple pies."

"I understand. I think we can manage that," she says.

"Ok then. What time?"

"Nineteen hundred. I'll send a crewman to escort you."

"Thank you again."

Kathryn gives him an acknowledging nod before turning and departing.

Clark stands there for a moment before moving over to his window and staring out as the stars streak by. He really hasn't come to terms yet with what he has lost. There is probably no way home for him now and even if there was centuries have past. Everyone he loves is long, long dead.

The gravity(pun not intended) of all this will hit him eventually.

He's not so much the Last Son of Krypton. Now he's more like the Lost Son of Krypton.

Lost in another universe.

Yep. What a day.

The End.

Author's Note: Don't know where this came from really. I guess I was just re-watching the episode. I suppose I could have outright just replaced Noss with Supes but I really liked her so no. Thanks to everyone who has previously written reviews.