Cracks 02 Clear as Mud

by PT Collective

  This is a Star Trek: Voyager story centering on the characters of Tom Paris and B'Elanna Torres and was composed in a round robin forum. We (the authors) would welcome any feedback, whether it be in the form of praise or criticism, as long as it's constructive. Please bear in mind that while there may be some rough transitions between some scenes, this is a round robin story and that is bound to happen. Any comments may be directed to: KClaar0925@aol.com and I will be certain to pass them on to the rest of The Collective. Standard Disclaimer: Paramount owns Star Trek and its universe. We have merely borrowed their wonderful characters to send them on yet another journey. However, the story and those parts not used by Paramount are Copyright 1996 by The P/T Collective. Please do not separate the author's name or this message from this story. Feel free to pass the story on, but do not reprint this story without the authors' permission. Note: Our third story in the series is currently a work in progress and will most likely be available sometime in August. Meantime, happy reading!

  Clear As Mud

  By the P/T Collective

  Copyright 1996

  Part 1

  Harry walked into Sandrine's. At first he thought the place was empty, but upon closer inspection he spotted Tom Paris sitting at the bar, studying a datapadd intently. Realizing that Tom was unaware of his entrance, Harry quietly walked up behind him and peered over his shoulder at the datapadd. "Working on a new holoprogram?" asked Harry, as he got a look at the screen. Tom nearly jumped out of his skin. He had been so intent on his "project," he hadn't heard the other man enter. He quickly shut down the datapadd, laid it on the bar, and turned to face Kim. "So, Harry, you ready for that game of pool you promised me?" Harry picked up the datapadd. "What kind of program are you creating?" he asked. He was startled when Tom snatched the padd from his hands. "It's nothing," said Paris, trying to sound casual. He hoped Harry hadn't seen enough to figure out what he was up to. "Come on, let's rack 'em up for a game." Harry's curiosity was piqued. "Wait a minute. What's the big mystery?" He crossed his arms, waiting expectantly. Sighing, Tom realized Harry wasn't going to let this go. "I'm working on a surprise for someone," he told Kim. "It's no big deal." "No big deal?" Harry's voice relayed his disbelief. "If it's 'no big deal', why are you so reluctant to talk about it?" "All right, all right," said Paris, caving in. "It's a surprise for B'Elanna. He stood, leaning in close to Harry. "And if you breathe a word of this to anyone, I'll tell Ensign Lamont that you're the secret admirer who's been sending her those love notes." "But I'm not." "Ensign Lamont doesn't know that," said Tom as he walked past Harry toward the pool table. "And by the time I'm done, she'll be convinced it's you." Harry followed him and as they took down their respective pool cues. "Who IS sending those notes to Ensign Lamont?" Paris, shaking his head, just grinned. As Tom racked the balls, the door to Sandrine's opened. An assortment of crew members started trickling in, putting an end to Harry's plans to quiz Tom further on the subject of B'Elanna Torres. But he resolved that he would corner Paris later and get a straight answer out of him. It had been three weeks since the incident with the Borg ship, and something had happened on that ship between Tom and B'Elanna. The problem was, neither of them had anything to say on the subject. When Harry had jokingly quizzed B'Elanna on it shortly after the Borg and Voyager had gone their separate ways, she had clammed up, and refused to comment on the what had occurred on the ship, which just increased Harry's curiosity all the more. Just two nights ago Harry had chanced to overhear a conversation between Hudson and Simms in the mess hall. They had been discussing "the lieutenants", and although they had never mentioned them by name, Harry was fairly certain they had been discussing Tom and B'Elanna. As he lined up his shot, Harry thought to himself, *I am going to get to the bottom of this. I consider it a challenge.* Neither B'Elanna nor Tom was very forthcoming where their personal lives were concerned, preferring not to talk about themselves, but Harry was becoming aware that perhaps those personal lives were more intermingled than he had previously thought. "Are you going to grin at that ball all night, Harry, or are you going to make your shot?" Tom's voice interrupted Harry's musings. Grinning, Harry took his shot. B'Elanna bit her lower lip and bent over her console. *Damn ship is falling apart,* she thought to herself, grimacing. "Carey, where are those transmitters I needed last week?" Carey ran a hand through his short hair. "Umm, I gave them to Hogan. He should have had them here by--" Torres cut him off with an annoyed sigh. She had been working non- stop for the past week trying to think of anything but Tom Paris and the Borg ship. *Damn him.* She growled at the console. "Hogan, I need those transmitters now," she spat out. Hogan and Carey shared a glance; it was not too often their CO didn't keep her anger in check. "Right here, Lieutenant," Hogan said, and handed her the devices. Torres stormed over to the anti-matter containment field. *And he never even gave me a birthday present.* On the bridge, Janeway glared at the screen. "Are you sure, Mr. Tuvok? Are you positive that's what it is?" Tuvok raised one eyebrow. "Yes, Captain. I have already confirmed it twice." Janeway resisted the urge to roll her eyes. *Again?* she thought, tiredly. "Can we go around it?" Tom Paris stifled back a yawn. *Wake up, Tom old boy,* he thought to himself. *You don't see Chakotay looking like he just rolled out of bed eleven minutes ago. Jeez, Janeway. These 0600 senior staff meetings have GOT to go. Oh, gosh. Tuvok's got a report. Might as well just go back to sleep now and face the consequences.* "Captain, of course it is possible to go around this magnetic field; there are an infinite number of routes. The shortest journey will take approximately 46 days, 17 hours, 23 minutes and 39 seconds. And it will bring us dangerously close to not one, but two heavily populated Vidiian colonies." Tom's eyes popped open. "Mr. Tuvok, I'm not about to let what happened to Voyager the last time we entered a subspace field happen again. We need options." Tom sat up a little straighter. No matter what Kes said, he still felt responsible for the duplication of the Voyager. Hadn't it been his idea to go into the plasma field? "I can offer none at the present time. May I remind the captain that our previous difficulties occurred as we left the plasma system? Precautions could be taken. Our shields could be modified." "What effects can we expect from this disturbance?" "It's characteristics are unlike any I have ever known. I believe weapons systems would be unaffected. However, it is likely the sensors' abilities will be greatly decreased. Navigational systems may experience some difficulties, as will communications, and perhaps the transporter. Also, the effect of this system on the warp nacelles is unknown." "Captain," ventured Chakotay, "I've seen a disturbance vaguely similar to this once. I had to hide in it to elude a Cardassian warship. I think the worst Engineering can expect is a few bugs." "I hate bugs," muttered B'Elanna. Tom thought for a moment that Janeway might actually laugh at B'Elanna's sullen attitude, but the captain did not. Instead, she turned to Paris. "You know what to do, Mr. Paris." She smiled slightly at Tom's affirmative nod. "Dismissed." The senior officers immediately filed out of the room. As Tom followed B'Elanna through the doors, he wondered if he was the only one who had missed out on valuable sleep the night before. She looked tired and out-of-sorts. Before Tom could speak to B'Elanna, Chakotay tapped him on the shoulder. "Lieutenant, if you are having trouble staying awake during the morning meeting, might I suggest an early jog around all decks to wake you?" The censure was obvious, despite the commander's pleasant tone. "A morning run? Sounds like a good idea, Commander. I appreciate your concern for my health." Tom's manner was equally pleasant, but he could not stop the cynical smile that materialized on his handsome features. Just as Chakotay seemed about to reply, the captain spoke. "Commander, I'd like to speak with you for a moment." Giving Paris a warning look, Chakotay turned back to Janeway. Tom made his way to the navigational controls, wondering why he let
Chakotay rile him. Tom had tremendous respect for Chakotay as a commander, but often the officer stepped all over Tom's nerves with his superior attitude. Of course, B'Elanna's adoration of the former Maquis leader certainly had not helped his feelings toward Chakotay. *Chakotay, B'Elanna's hero and confidante,* Tom thought with disgust. *Every time B'Elanna needs someone to rely on, she always turns to her precious Chakotay.* Tom wondered if he was the only one who got sick of hearing B'Elanna praise the Native American Wonder. Sure, Torres had served for two years under Chakotay when she joined the Maquis. Yes, Chakotay had been a good friend to her, helping her come to terms with her Klingon half. And of course, Chakotay had gone to bat for B'Elanna with Janeway when he had suggested B'Elanna for the position of Chief Engineer, but the man certainly was not perfect. Chakotay was stuffy, rigid, and pompous in Tom's opinion, yet Torres tended to put him on a pedestal. Glancing to where his best friend, Ensign Harry Kim, worked in Operations, Tom could almost hear Harry's rebuke. *You shouldn't talk about Commander Chakotay like that, Tom. If you want my opinion, you sound jealous.* Leave it to Harry, to always see the good in people. Of course, Harry had been lucky enough not to have seen some of the things Tom had seen in his life. *Wait a minute. Jealous? Tom Paris, jealous over a woman? Not likely. Particularly not over a stubborn and difficult woman like Torres, even if I do see fireworks like the Fourth of July every time I kiss her. That does not mean I am jealous of B'Elanna's adoration of Chakotay. I just get tired of hearing and seeing it. Where does Harry get his dumb ideas?* "Stuff it, Harry," Tom said, turning back to his controls, unaware that he had voiced his thoughts. Ensign Kim looked up in surprise as he heard Tom's words. "What did I do this time?" Harry asked his friend, frowning in confusion. "I haven't said a word in the past ten minutes." "Never mind. I was thinking about something else," Paris said, ignoring Harry's speculation. *Get your mind on the job, Paris,* Tom admonished himself and turned back to his controls.

  Part 2

  Kim and Paris entered the mess hall for their lunch break a little late. Just when they had been about to take their scheduled break, Voyager had reached the magnetic field. Both had elected to stay at their positions until Voyager had entered the field and, when it had appeared that nothing out of the ordinary was going to happen, the captain had ordered them to take their break. She wanted them back at their posts when Voyager reached the other side of the field. Harry had estimated that it would take most of the rest of their shift for Voyager to complete its passage through the field. They were just sitting down at a table to eat their lunch when a cheerful voice asked, "Mind if I join you?" Tom grinned at the expression on Harry's face as Jenny Delaney seated herself at the table. He couldn't resist teasing the younger man. "Hi, Jenny. Where's Liz? Harry was just saying that maybe we should try for another double date." Tom nearly burst out laughing at the panicked expression that swiftly passed over Kim's face before he covered it. Harry shot Paris a dirty look. He couldn't very well deny Paris' statement without sounding like he was insulting the Delaney sisters, but the last thing he wanted was a repeat performance of that disastrous night in the gondola. Jenny looked at Harry. "Really? That would be great." Harry shot another significant look at Paris. Tom, taking pity on his friend, said, "Actually, we'll have to get back to you on that, Jenny. Things are a little busy right now." Privately Paris thought that he really didn't find the idea of a date with the Delaney sisters all that appealing, surprisingly. *I'd much rather spend time with....* He nearly dropped his fork as B'Elanna's name popped into his head. *Now where did that come from?* he wondered. *Sure, I'm fond of B'Elanna, but not in the romantic sense. Or am I?* His emotions where Voyager's chief engineer were concerned were a bit muddled. *I've been purposefully avoiding delving into those particular feelings. Why?* He knew he enjoyed her company. Even when they were fighting, he enjoyed it. *So what am I afraid of?* Shrugging away the disturbing thoughts, Tom turned his attention back to Harry and Jenny Delaney. "I was just going to tell Harry about some ideas I have for shuttle improvements," Tom said. "Oh?" said Jenny, trying to look interested. Secretly she was disappointed that neither Kim nor Paris seemed interested in pursuing the matter of another double date. It didn't surprise her that Harry was unwilling, but Paris' reluctance did surprise her. She wondered if the rumors she had heard about him and B'Elanna Torres were true. Trying to appear interested, she listened as Paris and Kim droned on about the shuttle improvements. Kim and Paris stepped back onto the bridge and resumed their stations. Just as Tom sat, he felt a faint vibration run through the ship, then Voyager began to shake in earnest. "Mr. Kim?" the captain questioned. Harry quickly scanned the readouts at his station. "We're starting through a dense layer of the magnetic field, Captain. I'm getting some strong ionic readings. The shields are protecting the ship for the most part, but some of the ionization is seeping through. There's no way to determine at this point the potential damage." Chakotay smiled grimly. "I'm sure we'll be hearing from Lieutenant Torres fairly soon." At that precise moment, B'Elanna's agitated voice came over the bridge comm link. "Torres to bridge." Janeway was careful to keep her expression bland, but Chakotay could still see the humor dancing just below the surface in her eyes as she said, "Yes, Lieutenant?" "Captain, we need to get out of this field as soon as possible. It's wreaking havoc with my systems down here." "Noted, Lieutenant. We should be clear of the field in approximately..." she gave Chakotay a questioning look. He consulted his readouts and flashed a full five fingers to her twice. "...in approximately ten hours." "I guess that'll have to do," replied Torres shortly and terminated the comm link before Janeway could comment. Chakotay raised a humorous brow. "I don't envy Carey and the others in Engineering right now," he commented to Janeway under his breath. "Me either," muttered Paris, his attention focused on his own readouts. "You have something to say, Lieutenant?" said Janeway sternly. Paris had a habit of speaking his mind on the bridge, and while his comments weren't always appropriate, Janeway had to admit that he was usually right on the mark with them. Even so, as captain, she had to ensure that the proper discipline was maintained on the bridge. Paris, without turning, said, "No, Captain. Actually," he quickly amended, "I estimate we will be out of the field in eight hours, rather than ten." "I'm sure Lieutenant Torres will thank you," Janeway said dryly. Wisely, Paris remained silent this time, keeping his thoughts to himself. *There are days when I wish that I had never set foot in an engine room.* As she entered her personal quarters and dropped tiredly into her favorite chair, B'Elanna Torres decided that this was definitely one of those days. Her entire shift had been spent repeating instructions to her clueless engineering team. On any given day, she would stake her life on her team and had done so in the past, but today, nearly everyone had seemed baffled by the most minute tasks. Carey was slow. Browning was constantly under her feet. Hogan asked dozens of pointless questions, and even Harry, often an integral participant in engineering projects, had spent most of his time daydreaming instead of working on the calculations she had asked for. When she had asked Harry why he was so distracted, he had mentioned his interest in some shuttle improvements that Paris had discussed during lunch. Then, when Harry had also mentioned that Jenny Delaney had been lunching with them, B'Elanna's day had gotten even worse. *What do I care if Jenny Delaney thinks that the proposed shuttle improvements are a good idea? What does someone in Stellar Cartography know about shuttle design anyway? Most of all, why should I care if Jenny Delaney was having lunch with Tom? It is none of my business if Tom dates her. Still, did Tom have to pick one of the Delaney sisters?* The sisters were known throughout the ship for their "maneuvers" with the male crew members. Poor Harry had even ended up soaking wet with his evasion of the "Delaney Assault". As if on cue, Harry's voice came over the comm. "Kim to Torres." "Torres here," B'Elanna said immediately, ready for the next engineering crisis. Major problems in Engineering usually occurred at the end of her shifts, or if she was really lucky, while she was sleeping. "B'Elanna, I need you to come to Holodeck 2. We ha
ve something we'd like to show you." Harry's voice was nonchalant, but B'Elanna's suspicions were immediately aroused. "We? Who is 'we', Harry, and would you mind telling me what you are up to?" B'Elanna asked. Harry hesitated for a moment, then said, "We, as in Tom Paris and I, need you to come to Holodeck 2." "Forget it, Harry. My shift just ended, and I need to go over my report for the morning briefing before I turn in for the night." "Trust me. That can wait, B'Elanna. You need to see this." "Some other time, Harry. See you at breakfast. Torres out." Leaning her head back, B'Elanna closed her eyes and wondered why she had been so reluctant to meet with Tom and Harry. They were her friends, after all, even if things were a little awkward between Tom and herself since the whole assimilation incident. B'Elanna jumped as Paris' voice came over the comm. "Paris to Torres." "Yes, Lieutenant?" B'Elanna answered, her hesitation evident. "Chicken, Lieutenant?" B'Elanna could hear the laughter in Paris' voice. Slowly counting to ten, first in English, then Klingon, she answered calmly, "Me? Afraid? You know better than that, Lieutenant Paris. I'm on my way to Holodeck 2." As she entered the turbolift, B'Elanna silently scolded herself. *You let Tom Paris goad you into doing exactly what he wants.* Moments later, as she entered the holodeck, B'Elanna's mouth dropped open. She was standing on a mountain cliff. Two feet in front of her, the cliff ended in a sheer precipice; the rugged, dark slope went almost straight down, a frozen waterfall of rock. And beyond the precipice -- B'Elanna let out a long, slow breath, forgetting her weariness for a moment. Below her -- so far that she couldn't begin to guess the cliff's height -- spread the land, a wide, sprawling tapestry of green, richly verdant; and the sharper contrasting brown and black of rock and soil; graced occasionally with twists of deep blue and splashes of other, brighter colors. And above her, around her, there was nothing at all but clear, bright blue sky -- a dizzying, empty infinity. It was beautiful; it was terrifying. And, somehow, it tugged at her memory-- "Pretty impressive, isn't it?" It was Paris' voice, coming from beside her. "It is that," she admitted honestly, and turned her head to look at him, too dazzled at that moment to remember her wariness. Then her eyes locked with his, and she froze, as that elusive image suddenly came clear. Part of last night's dreams, half-forgotten on waking, now returned in full, vivid force: Wind on her face, and open sky all about her -- soaring through it, as sure and as strong as if she'd had engines, or wings. Circling, diving, racing wildly through the air, feeling confident and safe and oh gods, free -- And a companion, as reckless and passionate as she, flying beside her, matching her perfectly, move for joyous move. A man with blue, blue eyes. *Just a dream,* B'Elanna told herself, and held his gaze a moment more to prove it to herself. But still, it was a relief to turn away from that intent sapphire stare. She managed to smile at Harry, who didn't seem to have noticed anything. "Nice program," she said in a perfectly ordinary voice, and continued deliberately, "Since there aren't any half-naked women running around in it, I assume it's yours and not Paris'. Where is it set?" "This is one of my favorite places. My mom and dad used to bring me here every now and then when I was a kid. Later I came on my own," said Kim. "Come with us, Maquis. I want to share this with both of you." "All right," B'Elanna reluctantly agreed, not having the heart to turn him down. Looking around, she had to admit that the forested scenery was gorgeous and the view spectacular. "Lead the way, Starfleet."