by Melanie
"I was not daydreaming, Lieutenant. I was contemplating the possibility the inhabitants of the planet will not be able to furnish us with the raw materials or replacement parts we require."
Joe nodded, though not believing his fellow engineer for a second. 'Vulcans are too mentally disciplined to daydream,' he was sure Vorik would answer if pressed. "So you're wondering what the back-up plan would be if our scans are wrong about their resources?"
"Going elsewhere to find and/or mine the raw materials to create what we need would be the logical course of action. Like the yatelite expedition."
Sighing, the temporary Chief Engineer ran a hand through the hair at the back of his neck. "Too bad we couldn't just replicate it too."
"It would require too much time and too much energy to replicate even an inferior grade of yatelite," he reminded him then spouted off the lengths of time and required energy outputs for the replication of the various grades of yatelite and it's cousin dilithium.
"I should never have told you I got the figures wrong on my first exam at the Academy and I had to write them out by hand a hundred times." A glazed look came over his eyes. It was the universal sign of someone fondly remembering a past lust. "Of course it did give me an excuse to spend some time alone with Foxy Loxy while she checked my work. Did you ever have her when you were at the Academy?"
"I believe I told you the last time we spoke on this topic that Professor Loxworth was on sabbatical the semester I took her course therefore I had her substitute, Professor Mullet."
"Ah, yes. You don't know what you were missing, Vorik. When she started the unit on alternate fuel sources to dilithium, she got so... excited. I swear almost all the males in the class nearly had an or-"
"I have heard the Professor was very ardent about her field of expertise and also of the reaction of heterosexual males to her appearance. I wonder if it was her research into potential substitutes to dilithium that led the AlphaOmegans to think of using yatelite to fuel a ship going through a Gopher Hole?"
The mystery slowly brought Joe out of his happy memory. "Maybe. She was the first to suggest studying it for possible use in place of dilithium. Starfleet probably would have thought seriously about it if they hadn't just signed a major treaty with the Vashne for dilithium mining rights to one of their planets. It was too late to back out of the agreement and the Vashne would have gone on the warpath if they had. That was the last thing Starfleet wanted or the neighboring systems needed."
"They would have been a formidable foe."
"Still," Joe said, returning to the original subject, "it would have been simpler if we had been able to replicate what we needed."
"And Mr. Paris, Seven of Nine, and Mr. Neelix would not have needed to make their trip."
The second-in-command of Engineering sighed. "Frankly, I think some time without his presence is exactly what this crew needs."
"Yes, I have heard the crew expressing their increase enjoyment of mealtimes without Mr. Neelix's inclusion of leola-"
"I meant Paris."
"I see. Yes, many of the crew have commented on their relief at his absence also." Vorik cocked his head. "It is strange. Prior to her staying in Sickbay, Lieutenant Torres was most hostile regarding any mention of his name yet when I saw her and Ensign Kim in the corridor only a few minutes ago-"
"I thought she still was in Sickbay."
"As did I, however it seems she was released two hours ago with instructions to rest until tomorrow." He lowered his voice. "And I must say, Lieutenant, she did appear in need of that rest. Her eyes were rather bloodshot and somewhat swollen."
Carey frowned yet said nothing and Vorik continued with his thought prior to being interrupted.
"She and I spoke briefly about our progress while she was absent and during the discussion she made reference to Lieutenant Paris five times without a hint of anger."
"Obviously she's still under the influence of medication. It's putting her in an artificially mellow mood. Once it wears off, she'll be back to her usual self. You'll see."
"Other than the fact she had bloodshot and swollen eyes and that she was not as energetic as she has been the past few days, I saw no indicators of mental impairment. Her speech patterns were not garbled. Her balance and motor skills were one hundred percent. Her pupils were not abnormally dilated or contracted. There was no noticeable reduction in her cognitive functions-"
"Regardless, she has to be." His tone brooked no opposition. "There is no way she could feel anything other than contempt for him. He lied to us for weeks. Never warned us what might happen if they ever came after us or we made it home...."
"There is no evidence the AlphaOmegans would have resumed their plan to kill all the Starfleet personnel and since the Maquis is no more there would not have been anyone to hand Voyager over to if they had."
Carey could not argue with this logic therefore he unconsciously fell back on the typical response of someone feeling his, her or its side of an argument crumbling -- anger and accusations. "You sound like you're on his side. Are you, Ensign?"
"If you are asking if I approve of his past actions, I cannot answer as I do not possess all the relevant facts."
"He's never denied what he is. What more do you need?"
"Corroboration of his statements regarding his willingness or lack there of in performing the acts to which he is confessing. If he is telling the truth about the conditions under which he performed them, then I do not see the logic in blaming him for doing that which he was conditioned and ordered to do."
Emotion refusing to permit him to see the rational point of view, the human shook his head at the Vulcan's naiveté and walked away.
Shrugging, Vorik returned to his task.
-------
"Your companion is dead," his fowl-breathed captor hissed next to his ear.
There was a gesture then the limp corpse of Gaylorne was brought in and unceremoniously dropped on the deck. The head rolled towards the prisoner to show empty sockets where the lifeless eyes should have been.
"Perhaps now that you see I am serious when I say I mean to have the information. You might save my time and your suffering by speaking now?" After an unbroken pause, the captor shook his head and stepped away from the naked human shackled by his feet to the deck and his hand to the ceiling in the middle of the room.
Clearly at some motion from their superior, the two who had brought in Gaylorne exited, leaving her where she lay. Meanwhile, behind the prisoner, there was the now familiar sound of the whip being uncoiled.
Then came yet another in a long line of blows.
"Speak!" the captor yelled.
The prisoner's determined silence barely was maintained.
Another lash across an already torn and infected back.
"Speak!"
This time the prisoner had to clamp down on his teeth lest he comply.
Another lash.
"Speak!"
Reflexively, his mouth opened then was shut to contain the scream welling up inside him.
Another lash.
"Speak!"
Blood flooded his mouth as his teeth sliced into the flesh which accidentally had been between the teeth when the mouth had closed.
Another lash.
"Speak!"
He let the scream out and in doing so the now severed flesh fell to the floor at his feet.
Another lash.
This time the command to speak was not issued.
His captor saw and recognized what had fallen and because of it, the whip did not fall. Knowing they would get nothing from him now, the torturer angrily howled and threw the whip at the wall as he stomped out, leaving the prisoner to bleed to death as he whimpered softly.
-------
Seven stopped her regenerating and cocked her head. Yes, she *could* hear something, but it was muffled. What was it?
She walked out into the corridor to find a sleepy Neelix also in his doorway.
"What was it?" he yawned.
&n
bsp; "I do not know. It is coming from this direction."
They started down the corridor in the direction of Tom's quarters.
-------
"Sunbird, you'd better wake up and pull yourself together. Now!"
Tom awoke, still whimpering from his nightmare.
"Sunbird," Sunfire hissed again, "you are about to receive company."
Shaking, Tom rose from the tangle of covers on the floor and shoved his trembling hands through his hair. He went through to the bathroom just as the door chimed. After washing his face and swiping a brush through his hair, he felt calm enough to answer the door.
Seven paused in fifth her stab at the chime. "Mr. Paris, are you all right?"
"Of course."
"We heard a noise," Neelix yawned.
"A problem with the sonic shower," Tom lied. "I've fixed it. You two should go back to bed."
"But-" Seven began to object.
"Excuse me, I have things to do."
The pair watched as Tom slipped passed them and went off down the corridor. Neither one believed him about the shower. His demeanor was suspect as was the fact he was still dressed and it was exceedingly rare for one to shower in one's clothes.
-------
The next day, Neelix and Seven entered the large storage room off of the cargo bay to find Tom already had components for the refinement lab unpacked and partially assembled.
"If you had informed me this was what you planned to undertake last night, I could have assisted you," Seven said in her typical accusing manner.
"I wasn't doing this all night," he denied. "Just this past hour or so."
He did not go on to explain what he actually had been doing for the rest of the night therefore that mystery remained.
"Our ETA for the moon is 0635 tomorrow," he told them, returning to his work. "Neelix, if you'd like to double check the mining equipment? Seven, lend a hand here."
The Talaxian gratefully disappeared into the cargo bay next door, leaving Seven alone with Tom.
The two of them worked in near silence for sometime. Then the former Borg came to a decision. "Lieutenant, may I ask you a question?"
Tom nodded to Seven though did not stop checking the calibration of the portion of the lab he had just assembled.
"It is of a... personal nature."
That stopped him only briefly. "What do you want to know?"
"It is about Souris and her mission with regards to Ensign Kim."
Mentally breathing a sigh of relief that the question was not about him, he sat back on his heels and looked across the room to her. "What about her?"
"Was she like Raven?"
"What do you mean?"
"Was it her mission to seduce Ensign Kim into falling in love with her so she could obtain the greatest amount of information from him."
"No, Seven. Apparently that was not her Mission."
Seven swallowed and stiffened. "I see."
"You're... upset by what happened between them."
"I merely was concerned as to her mission."
He looked long and hard at her. "In part, that's a true statement. But you also are very jealous of the fact the two of them hit it off."
She opened her mouth to deny it or more probably change the subject instead of issuing an outright denial. Standing, he cut her off before she could attempt it.
"Seven, sit down." He reached over to a nearby console and tapped a command. Two chairs revealed themselves. Reluctantly, she perched on one as he relaxed into the other. "I know you have some sort of feelings for Harry, Seven, just as he does for you. What the nature of those feelings are, you'll have to figure that out for yourself. I can't help you there. What I can help you with is this: he's going to need time. Until she died, they never had had the chance to go through any truly bad times so their... relationship always will have this impression for him of being perfect. It's hard to forget perfection."
"I do not understand."
"He may have had a rude awakening about who she really was and her past, but to a part of him at least she always will be Souris, the mysterious woman who said she loved him and was without the tragic past Allegia had. In time, he might be able to put it all behind him, I don't know. Until then he's going to be in a lot of pain and very confused. Harry's very emotional. When he feels, it's intensely."
"I have heard the same about you."
Tom ignored this. "He needs time to process everything that's happened. Maybe place it in perspective."
"So your advice is to stay away."
"My advice is to be there as his friend, if he'll let you, but don't expect anything more than that, *if* you decide more is what you're wanting. You have to be patient with him and wait for him to be ready for more."
"I see. Thank you, Lieutenant."
She rose and returned to her task. A moment later, Tom did the same.
-------
The rest of the day passed uneventfully for all on board Sunfire. The refinement lab was completely erected and double-checked. The mining equipment was all in order. The containers for the growing holding of the raw ore and those for the refined version were checked for flaws. By the time of the evening meal everything was ready for their arrival at the moon the next day.
The three of them ate a near-silent, replicated meal together in Sunfire's small Mess Hall and all the while Neelix was agonizing over how he would get out of socializing afterwards. Tom saved him the trouble of coming up with an excuse to leave by offering one himself.
"If you'll excuse me? I have things to do. If you wish, Sunfire does have a holodeck you may use if you like. I'll see you when we reach the moon in the morning."
"Lieutenant?" Seven called as he headed for the door. "Was there something we overlooked in setting up-"
"No, Seven. This has nothing to do with the expedition. Excuse me."
The former Borg and the Talaxian exchanged looks.
"I have an extensive library of holoprograms," Sunfire chimed in, "though they are of a training nature. Combat simulations and such. But I did download Voyager's entire database so I-"
"What is the lieutenant engaged in? He left his quarters last night claiming he had things to do then too. However, everything is ready for the operation and the Captain was assured your systems were in perfect working order."
"They are."
"So what is he-"
"That is his concern." Sunfire knew she was being rude but justified it to herself by saying Seven was rude first.
The rudeness -- both her own and the ship's -- rolled right off Seven's cat suit enclosed back so that when they reached the moon the next morning she was back to wanting to know what Tom had been up to that night and the night before.
"Lieutenant Paris, Mr. Neelix," she nodded to them as she entered the Equipment Room off of the cargo bay. "Did you have a constructive evening after you left the Mess Hall, Lieutenant? You did not return to your quarters until 0317."
Her comment interrupted Tom's happy memories of the last time he had worn an EVA suit like the one he did now and of what B'Elanna had said to him while he had been so attired. Slightly annoyed, though hiding it, Tom shot her a look and passed her a suit in her size. "Keeping tabs on me for a reason, Seven? I can assure you I'm not about to sneak into either of your quarters while you're regenerating or Neelix is sleeping and murder you."
"I did not suspect that would be the case. I wished to resume our discussion of yesterday morning so I was listening for your return to your quarters. Just last week, I head the Captain chastising two ensigns when one interrupted the other's work to discuss a personal matter. Therefore, I chose not to interrupt whatever you were doing but instead wait for your return."
"You should have spent your time regenerating."
"And you should have spent more time sleeping, Lieutenant. I estimate you spent less than two hours in bed before Sunfire announced we had achieved orbit here."
He handed her suit's helmet to her. "You should spend less time worryi
ng about me and more concentrating on the task at hand." With that, he affixed his own helmet and left them for the cargo bay.
'He does look tired,' Neelix thought, concerned. 'The circles under his eyes are darkening each day. And his thinness is becoming more pronounced.' Of course, Tom always had been too thin by Neelix's standards and for a brief time he had succeeded in fattening the human up a little. Over the past couple of weeks all of his hard work had been undone and then some. And he only had picked at his meal the night before.
"Are you ready, Mr. Neelix?"
Blinking the errant concerns over a man of whom he was supposed to be afraid, he nodded to Seven then slipped on his own helmet and followed her into the cargo bay.
-------
Seven and Harry's projections for the mining operation and Tom and Neelix's refinements of the plan had been right on the mark. The work went quickly and without any surprises until they were five hours into the job.
Tom could not have told anyone what had made him look up at that exact moment. Since there was no atmosphere on the moon, it certainly had not been because he had heard any sound to alert him. And with the equipment they were using, it would have been exceedingly difficult to have isolated the relevant vibration and know what it signified. Regardless of how he did it, the fact remained that he did look up just in time to save Neelix's life.
"Neelix!" he yelled as he used his long legs to shove off of the surface and fly through the thin gravity towards the Talaxian. He hit him squarely in the midsection sending him flying a split second before the rock wall behind him gave way covering the space where he had stood.
With Seven's assistance, Neelix picked himself up off of the ground at the foot of their mining pit's opposite wall.
"Are you damaged?" she asked him.
"No, I don't think so. Tom- Tom!"
Lying on the ground, legs covered with rubble was Tom Paris, unconscious.
-------
When Tom awoke in Sunfire's Sickbay twenty minutes later it was to see Neelix removing a hypospray from Tom's neck and Seven standing behind him with a tricorder.
"I can't feel my legs," he groaned.
"They are broken," Seven supplied. "We had to temporarily anaesthetize them."