3 days later
The Delta Flyer touched down in Voyager's shuttle bay with a smooth, practiced ease. As the engines powered down, Ayala found himself shifting forward in his seat, eager to step outside. He had been away for only a few days, but his thoughts had often drifted to Naomi, wondering if she had missed him, if she had even noticed he was gone.
The shuttle ramp lowered with a soft hiss, revealing the familiar glow of the bay's lighting. And there she was - Naomi. She stood just beyond the forcefield, arms loosely crossed, a padd in hand, waiting as she had promised.
Despite the lingering weight in his chest, Tarik smiled as he approached her. "Hey, Naomi," he said warmly, his voice touched with relief. "You actually waited for me."
Naomi returned his smile but was already glancing at her padd. "Of course, I did. I said I would." She gave him a quick once-over. "You don't look too bad for wear. How was it?"
"Productive," Tarik replied. "Plenty of supplies, no disasters… for once."
Tom Paris smirked as he passed, carrying a crate. "That's what he thinks. I was five minutes away from starting a mutiny over the ration packs. Don't jinx it - we still have to store the rations away."
Naomi laughed before looking back at Tarik. "I'm glad you're back, but I gotta run. I promised B'Elanna I'd help with a calibration test before dinner. Still, I wanted to see you first."
Tarik's smile faltered, just a fraction. She had waited, but only briefly. Had she really missed him? Or was she just checking a box before moving on to more important things?
Before he could dwell on it, Naomi hesitated. "Actually… there is something else. I wanted to talk to you about something, but… later, when you have time."
Tarik studied her, something flickering behind his eyes. "Everything okay?"
"I hope so," she said quickly. "Just something I've been thinking about I would like to talk to you in private about."
A lump of ice seemed to form in his stomach. Was she perhaps about to tell him that she'd rather have her own quarters now? That she wanted to move out? Or had something happened with Icheb? A feeling so uneasy, combined with a sudden fear, overcame him that he felt sick for a brief moment. He managed to give a slow nod, his voice slightly trembling. "Alright. We'll talk later, then."
"Okay. See you soon!" With that, Naomi flashed him one last smile before turning and hurrying off.
Tarik watched her go, every warmth feeling of her greeting had faded into something heavier by her request to talk about something private. Nevertheless she had been here, she had smiled. And she was busy now. Growing. Moving on. And she wanted to talk in private with him.
And no matter how much he wanted to tell himself otherwise, he couldn't shake the feeling that his life became lonely again. Like the life he had before Naomi had stepped into his.
Chakotay, who was standing just behind him, noticed his friend's expression.
"You alright, Tarik?" he asked quietly and placed a hand onto his shoulder.
Ayala exhaled, forcing himself to focus. "Yah. Just..." He hesitated. "Nothing. Let's just get these supplies sorted."
Chakotay didn't push him, but he was starting to get really worried about Tarik.
As they walked toward the exit, the first shadow of weakness flickered through Tarik's limbs, but he dismissed it, because the three days of gathering supplies were quite exhausting and Tarik was actually looking forward to a shower and then his bed. Unfortunately Tom had been right about warning him not to jinx the mission…

As the away team moved through the ship, the first sign of trouble came quickly.
"Hold on a sec," Ensign Lang muttered, slowing her steps as they neared the turbolift. She pressed a hand to her temple. "I feel… weird."
Chakotay frowned. "Define 'weird'."
Lang swayed slightly. "Dizzy. Kinda… disconnected."
Tom exhaled, shaking his head. "Natasha, if you're just trying to get out of writing the mission report…" Then he stumbled. Tarik turned sharply toward him. "Tom?"
Tom caught himself against the bulkhead, his face suddenly pale. "Okay… maybe I feel a little off too."
A low pulse of dread crept into Tarik's gut. He was about to call for medical assistance when his own vision blurred. His limbs felt heavier. His breathing, just a little harder. Something was wrong.
"Commander…" Tarik forced his voice steady, but Chakotay was already moving, his own expression grim. Then he felt it too. A weakness that suddenly overcame him. He saw Ensign Sharr stumbling too and knew immediately that something was very wrong.
"Forget the post-mission report," Chakotay ordered. He tapped his combadge. "Chakotay to Sickbay. Doctor, I'm afraid you'll get some patients in a minute."
The EMH answered only a second later. "Understood. Can you make it to Sickbay on your own?"
Before Chakotay could answer, Ensign Lang suddenly collapsed.
"I think not, Ensign Lang just collapsed. We use the transporter."
"Understood."
"Chakotay to transporter room 2, beam the entire away team to Sickbay."
"Yes, Commander," said the transporter chief and all five crew members appeared a moment later in Sickbay.

The blue shimmer of the transporter beam faded, and the away team found themselves in Sickbay. Ensign Lang laid on the floor, unconscious, her body slumped unnaturally. Although Chakotay, Ayala, Paris, and Ensign Sharr were barely managing to stay upright, Tom and Ayala managed to put Natasha on a biobed so the doctor could examine her.
Beads of sweat glistened on their foreheads, their skin pale, their breathing ragged.
The Doctor didn't waste a second. Medical tricorder in hand, he quickly scanned Lang first. His expression darkened as he saw her erratic readings.
"Her neural activity is deteriorating rapidly," he muttered to himself. He turned his scanner toward Chakotay and the others. The results made him pause.
"Curious…"
Chakotay, gripping the biobed for support, forced out a question between labored breaths. "Doc… what's happening to us?"
The Doctor adjusted his scanner. "I wish I knew! Did you encounter anything unusual before coming back?"
Paris groaned, trying to shake off the crushing weakness spreading through his limbs. "Nothing. We were all okay until just 5 minutes ago."
Ayala, his jaw clenched, pushed himself to sit upright. "We were about to go to our quarters after we finished sorting the cargo… and it hit us. Simultaneously."
The Doctor shifted his scanner to Chakotay, Tarik, and the others, frowning as similar readings appeared. Their heart rates were erratic, their body temperatures dropping.
"This doesn't make sense," the Doctor murmured.
Chakotay gritted his teeth, using every ounce of strength to speak. "Doc… what's wrong with us?"
The Doctor adjusted the medical display. "That's what I'm trying to determine. You're all experiencing systemic organ failure. Your bodies are shutting down."
The Doctor's eyes narrowed as he quickly compared their bio-readings before and after leaving the planet. And that's when he saw it.
"There's… something attached to your DNA," the Doctor muttered, isolating the anomaly.
Chakotay tensed. "Attached?"
The Doctor zoomed in on the cellular scan, his face growing darker. A microscopic presence was embedded within each of their genetic structures.
"It's a biological agent," he realized aloud, his voice taut with urgency. "Something from the planet is binding to your DNA, as if it's become an essential part of your physiology."
Paris's breathing hitched. "You're saying the planet… altered us?"
The Doctor met his gaze grimly. "Precisely. Whatever this foreign agent is, it's now a required part of your bodily functions." He tapped his combadge sharply.
"Sickbay to the bridge, Captain, we have a problem. The whole away team is affected by some biological agent. I hereby order that no one is allowed to enter the planet anymore."
"Understood, Doctor. I'm on my way," Janeway said.
"Computer, activate a forcefield around the patient area." The EMH said and the computer reacted immediately. The Doctor turned to a console, his expression grave, while he worked quickly.
"What… are you doing?" Chakotay gasped.
"I'm simulating the planetary environment," the Doctor explained briskly. "If I can recreate the same atmospheric and chemical composition that you were exposed to…"
He monitored the readings as the atmosphere behind the forcefield adjusted. The oxygen levels shifted, the temperature fluctuated, and minor chemical traces were released to match the planet's atmosphere. He waited, but nothing happened. In fact, Chakotay groaned, his pulse weakening further. Paris collapsed against the biobed, his breaths coming in shallow gasps.
The Doctor's expression tightened. He recalibrated the atmosphere again, adding in trace elements they had picked up from their scans. Still, no effect. Then, Lang convulsed.
Alarms shrieked through Sickbay as her body seized violently, her limbs jerking and Ayala, heavily breathing, managed to hold her onto the biobed before she could fall off.
"Damn it!" The Doctor moved quickly through the force field, grabbed a hypospray, and went to Natasha, pressing it against her neck to stabilize her.
Chakotay's vision blurred as he turned toward the EMH. "Doc…?"
The Doctor straightened abruptly, his decision made. "The planetary environment isn't just affecting your respiratory or circulatory systems, it's become fundamentally necessary for your bodies to function. You aren't just reacting to the planet, your physiology has adapted to it."
Ayala's breath hitched as he absorbed the words. "Are you saying… we're dying because we left?"
"If I don't get you back to that planet immediately, you'll be dead within the next few minutes."
Chakotay, his strength fading, exchanged a weighted glance with Tarik.
"Guess we don't have a choice," Ayala murmured hoarsely.
The Doctor didn't hesitate.
"Sickbay to transporter room 2, lock on to the combadges of the away team and beam them down to the planet's surface.
"Doctor?" The transporter Chief sounded confused. Such actions were usually authorized by the captain or first officer. Therefore, he hesitated at first.
"Don't question me, beam them down immediately. That's an order!"
"Yes, Doctor."
Moments later the away team dematerialized, their weak forms dissolving into a shimmer of blue.
"Doctor to the away team…" he opened a comlink but he didn't get an immediate answer.

Chakotay, Ayala, Paris, Lang and Sharr rematerialized on the lush terrain, collapsing onto the grass-like vegetation. The air was thick and humid, the familiar scent of alien flora filling their lungs. For a long moment, nothing happened, but then, the change began. Lang's breathing evened out. Sharr let out a shaky breath. Paris groaned, rolling onto his side, his fingers clenching the dirt. "That… that actually worked?"
Tarik sat up slowly, his strength returning. His chest rose and fell steadily, the suffocating pressure that had gripped him was gone.
Chakotay flexed his fingers. His limbs no longer felt like they were filled with lead. "I think… we're stabilizing."
"Doctor to away team, report!"
Chakotay responded, his voice stronger than before. "You were right, doctor. We're all doing much better. But that means… we're stuck here."
The Doctor leaned forward, his expression grim. "For now. But I intend to find a way to get you back. You have my word."

The doors to Sickbay slid open with a soft hiss as Captain Janeway stepped inside. She had been in the middle of reviewing crew reports when the Doctor had suspended all further away missions to the planet surface and gave Janeway a scare.
Now, standing amidst the sterile biobeds, all eerily empty, she felt a weight settle in her chest.
"Doctor," she said, her voice steady but edged with concern. "Report."
The EMH, arms folded behind his back, turned to her, his expression unusually tense.
"I had to beam the away team back to the planet's surface, Captain," he stated bluntly.
Janeway's gaze sharpened. "Beam down? But you just banned any more visits to the planet!"
"I had no choice but to beam them back down to the planet," he elaborated, stepping toward the medical console and pulling up biometric scans. "Shortly after their return, all five team members began experiencing rapid systemic deterioration. At first, I believed it to be some kind of viral infection or exposure to a foreign contaminant."
He motioned to the screen, enlarging a microscopic visualization of humanoid DNA, now entwined with an unknown biological structure.
"This," he continued, "is the cause. Some kind of microbial agent from the planet bonded with their DNA, integrating itself so completely that their bodies can no longer function without it. The moment they left the planet, their biological systems began shutting down."
Janeway's breath caught. "Are you telling me they're… dependent on the planet?"
The Doctor gave a sharp nod. "Precisely. Their bodies have been altered at the genetic level. As long as they remain on that planet, their vitals stabilize. But up here?" He shook his head. "They won't survive long."

Janeway exhaled slowly, crossing her arms. "Do you have any leads on reversing this?"
The Doctor hesitated before answering. "I'm still analyzing the microbial structure. If I can isolate what makes it integrate so deeply, I may be able to disrupt the bond and restore their normal physiology. But, Captain…" He hesitated.
Janeway narrowed her gaze. "What is it, Doctor?"
"I won't sugarcoat this. This is not a simple infection. We're dealing with a phenomenon I've never seen before. This isn't just an illness or disease like you and Chakotay were affected with some years ago, it's a fundamental rewriting of their biology." He exhaled. "I need time."
Janeway took a slow step forward. "Then you'll have it," she said.
The doctor hated to say what he had to say next. "But we need to prepare for the possibility that they might be trapped down there for longer than we hoped. I suggest putting them in stasis for the time being, like I did with you and Chakotay." The Doctor inclined his head grimly while Janeway nodded absentmindedly. Events were repeating itself as it seemed when she thought back to New Earth where she and Chakotay had been bitten by those insects and couldn't leave the planet either.
"There's something else, Captain."
Janeway focused on the doctor again, shoving her memories aside. "Go on."
"Their families."
The Doctor locked eyes with her. "Tom Paris is down there. B'Elanna will need to be informed." Janeway sighed, already anticipating the Klingon engineer's reaction.
"And," the Doctor added carefully, "Naomi Wildman must be told as well." Janeway's expression softened, then hardened again. "Tarik."
The Doctor nodded. "She's strong, Captain, but she's still young. This won't be easy for her."
Janeway rubbed her temple, exhaling deeply. "No, it won't." She straightened, her resolve firming. "I'll handle it."
The Doctor gave a solemn nod as Janeway turned on her heel and strode toward the exit, her pace measured but brisk. She had two people to face.

The soft hum of Voyager's warp core pulsed rhythmically through Engineering as B'Elanna, Naomi and Icheb worked at a console, heads bowed over a diagnostic display. Naomi, absorbed in her task, was making precise adjustments under B'Elanna's watchful eye while Icheb was working at a console.
When the doors swished open, neither of them looked up immediately.
"Captain?" B'Elanna greeted without turning, still focused. "We're just finishing recalibrations. We should have the power relays…"
Something in Janeway's silence made her stop.
She turned, her Klingon instincts immediately on alert, and Naomi followed her movement, frowning slightly. Icheb felt there was something going on too and stopped working.
Janeway's expression was calm, but there was something beneath it, a weight.
"What's wrong?" B'Elanna demanded, her voice tight.
Janeway took a slow breath and addressed the ex-borg first. "Icheb, I need to talk to B'Elanna and Naomi for a minute. Would you please excuse us?"
Icheb looked quite worried, but said, "of course, Captain," before he retreated to give them some privacy. Naomi and B'Elanna were now alert.
Once Icheb was out of hearing range, the Captain focused on Torres and Naomi again. "It's the away team."
Naomi's fingers tightened around the edge of the console.
"They returned safely," Janeway continued, "but something was… wrong." She paused, locking eyes with B'Elanna first. "Their bodies were failing. The Doctor traced it to a biological agent from the planet, something that has integrated itself into their DNA."
B'Elanna's eyes darkened. "Integrated?"
Naomi's breathing had slowed, her gaze flicking between them.
Janeway softened slightly as she turned to the girl. "Naomi, Tarik is stable… but they had to return to the planet. Their bodies can't survive up here."
Naomi's lips parted slightly, and for a moment, she said nothing.
Then, in a voice quieter than usual, she asked, "The Doctor… he'll fix it, right?"
Janeway nodded firmly. "He's already working on it. But I wanted to tell you both personally."
B'Elanna's jaw clenched, her hands gripping the console. "You're saying my husband can't come home."
Janeway met her gaze. "Not yet. But we'll find a way."
B'Elanna exhaled sharply, forcing herself to stay composed.
Naomi, beside her, stood still, the weight of the words pressing down on her. But she tried to keep her composure as well and just nodded slowly.
"Okay," Naomi whispered.
Janeway offered her a small but steadying look, then stepped back. "I'll update you both the moment we know more."
As she turned and strode away, she felt their gazes linger on her. She just hoped she'd given them enough hope to hold onto.