Get your own Free Home Page Disclaimer: Star Trek Voyager and its characters are the property of Paramount. This story is not meant to infringe upon the trademarks or copyrights of Paramount.
EOME is a series of Voyager stories which are based on the premise that the Maquis ship was not destroyed in "Caretaker." Given that there is no name in canon for the Maquis ship, this series calls it "Fides," which is Latin for "Faith."
The order of the EOME series:
Confederation
Follow the Leader
Casualty and Confession
Food for Thought
Change of Command
Cracks in Time's Mirror
Please do not distribute without Vicki or Kath's permission. Thanks.
*****
When consciousness finally got a firm grasp on Tom again, he blinked his eyes open amidst the smoking, ruined hull of what was once the shuttlecraft. He could feel a searing pain in both his legs, but was somewhat grateful for the sensation as it meant that the limbs were still attached to his body. After the plunging descent to the planet, he had expected to wake up to see the pearly gates, or more likely a more fiery domain, but the smoke he saw simply came from the shuttlecraft. The agony he felt was a definite indication that he was still among the living.
"Paris?" he heard Chakotay croak out, his voice raspy. "You okay?" "Yeah."
"Too bad."
Tom tried to roll over, and managed to come to rest on his back. By craning his head he could just see Chakotay lying crumpled between the seats at the front of the shuttle. Tom himself had been thrown further aft in the crash.
"If I had been flying, Chakotay," he hissed, "I'd still be able to get up and kick your sorry ass."
Chakotay made a laughing noise, which degenerated into a fit of coughing. Then he shocked the hell out of Tom by grasping the seat beside him and hauling himself to a sitting position.
"I still can get up, Paris," he said ominously. "If I didn't respect your captain so much, I'd be putting you out of your misery right now. But she seems to think that you're somehow redeemable, and she wouldn't be too pleased if I killed you."
Tom swallowed, not having been put completely at easy by that reassuring statement.
"Gee, I always thought my guardian angel would be young and blonde and delicate looking. Not some big native guy," he quipped.
Chakotay glared at him.
"Don't push it. If it wasn't for me telling my crew to leave you alone, you probably would have met the angels by now. Or more likely the demons."
A quick retort was on the tip of Tom's tongue, but he stopped himself from expressing it. Instead, and for whatever reason possessed him he did not know, he said,
"I didn't do it y'know. Turn my cell in, I mean. They knew all about the cell before they caught up with me."
"Yeah right," Chakotay spat. "I'll believe that coming from a guy who was quick enough to take Starfleet's offer for a fast walk out of prison to come after us."
"You're a traitor, Paris," he continued. "You turn your back on your people for anyone else offering something better for you."
"And are you any different?" Tom asked quietly, without malice.
Chakotay's eyes narrowed.
"What are you implying?"
Tom shifted slightly in order to meet Chakotay's gaze, causing an intense burst of pain to shoot up his left leg.
"I'm not implying. I'm stating a fact. You turned your back on Starfleet, the people who gave you your training and your career, the people who were your colleagues, and I'd imagine even a friend or two, to oppose the Federation. Why is that so different from what I did?"
"I left Starfleet for a reason. For a cause. I left it for my people!"
"The same people you deserted, left behind on that backwater colony without a parting glance, when you took off for the brighter lights of Starfleet. Yeah, you're right, Chakotay. You had a reason. You're a hero and I'm just a lowlife traitor. Why would anyone think Tom Paris had any principles at all?"
While he was talking Paris had rolled eyes to the ceiling. Movement from Chakotay's direction caught his attention once again.
The Maquis leader was on his feet now, unsteadily maybe, but that hardly seem to matter as he had a phaser in his hand. A phaser pointed at Tom. Tom blinked nervously.
"What about your respect for my captain?" he asked, resisting the tremendous urge to close his eyes.
"You will disappoint her just like you've disappointed everyone else all your life. She deserves better than you!" Chakotay spat.
Then he fired.
Tom bolted upright in his bed, clutching at the sheet and breathing heavily.
"Computer, lights!" he called with a hoarse voice. The illumination of the room did little to dispell the images of the nightmare. His mind raced over the details of the dream trying to separate reality from his subconscious.
He and Chakotay had crashed in a shuttle two days ago. Paris could still feel the horrible pain in his legs from the injury he'd suffered. Perhaps it was the pain that had made him bold enough to challenge Chakotay with a battle of morals. That, or the Maquis leader's statement about his respect for Janeway. Either way they had shot barbed accusations at each other with venom until being rescued by the comforting transporter beam.
Now his mind was playing tricks on him, determined to play out what he had expected Chakotay to do a long time ago.
*****
**Captain's Log - Our steady course has come to a complete halt due to the presence of a large anomaly blocking our path. It is unlike anything we have seen before, stretching out seemingly endlessly across one plane of space. Our sensor readings are erratic, but they seem to indicate the anomaly is at least partially solid. Flying directly into it would not be wise. I've called a staff meeting to discuss our options.**
Chakotay had brought over B'Elanna Torres for the meeting. She had been examining their data on the anomaly but was as much at a loss for an explanation as were the Starfleet engineers. He noticed Janeway's frustrated scowl as B'Elanna struggled to express her observations.
"It could be some kind of disruption in the space time continuum. Some kind of ... of catastrophic event which set up this barrier ..."
The table fell silent.
"I would not recommend we attempt to go through it, Captain," put in Carey. "We haven't been able to get any clear reading on how deep it is, or how solid."
"Then we'll have to go around," stated Chakotay, calmly. "The only question remains, in which direction?"
Janeway watched her officers carefully. Ever since returning from their crash, Paris and Chakotay had been staring daggers at one another. The ever-present tension around them had somehow increased, although she had not previously thought that possible. Part of her wondered what had transpired while they awaited their rescue, another part of her just wished they'd let it go once and for all.
"What if we took a smaller vessel closer to the anomaly?" suggested Paris. "Maybe if we could get a little closer, we could get a clearer picture on the size and shape of this thing."
Chakotay turned to Torres with a questioning look.
"Fides?" he asked. She shook her head emphatically.
"Not a chance. If we tried to get any nearer to it we'd risk being pulled in by gravimetric distortion. We'd slam right into it."
"But what about a smaller ship, like a shuttlecraft?" persisted Paris. "It wouldn't be as affected by the distortion because of its smaller mass."
"It's risky," was Carey's opinion.
"It's risky, but it may be our only option to view this thing," Janeway said. "Ok, Tom, prepare a shuttle."
"Why Paris?" asked Chakotay, his voice a bit brittle. Paris stiffened a little but didn't get a chance to respond before Janeway did.
"Because he's the best pilot." It was her best no-arguments tone.
Chakotay nodded acknowledgment of this fact and then tabled another suggestion.
"We should send someone on board who can adjust the sensors properly while Paris is busy flying. Torres, go with him."
B'Elanna gaped at Chakotay with astonishment. Carey cleared his throat. Janeway and Chakotay locked eyes with some unspoken communication.
'Ok, Commander, if that's the way you want to play it,' thought Janeway.
"Excellent idea, Commander," she agreed. "Let's get to it."
The others stood from their chairs and prepared to leave the room. Paris was shaking his head wondering how he could be so lucky to pull shuttle detail with another Maquis so shortly after his last experience! And he'd been doing so well at avoiding them up to now.
Before she left her seat Chakotay tugged on Torres's arm.
"If he doesn't come back in one piece I'm going to be very upset," he said in a low voice. She growled slightly and yanked her arm from his grasp.
Janeway resisted the urge to shake her head with amusement. Was Chakotay just waiting to extract some revenge on Paris himself? Or did he take some kind of sick pleasure in keeping Paris in fear of the Maquis? Certainly, Chakotay had been given opportunities to reveal his hatred of the conn officer and yet he had done nothing. Theirs was a relationship she would never understand.
The room now empty of officers, Janeway stood to head to the bridge with Chakotay behind her.
"If I can admit that Paris is the best pilot we have, the least you could do is admit that Torres is our best engineer."
Janeway turned back, a little surprised at his comment.
"I never said she wasn't," she said. "And I've treated her with a lot more respect than you treat Tom."
He said nothing as she walked away from him and out the door.
*****
Tom was checking and rechecking the prelaunch sequence of the shuttle when B'Elanna arrived. He was feeling a bit nervous about having her on board. Considering the disaster of his last shuttle ride he felt he was tempting fate by attempting another mission with a Maquis co-pilot.
"Aren't you ready yet, Paris?" she sneered, stowing her gear and taking her seat.
"Just waiting for you," he replied coolly, not allowing her tone to get to him.
"Let's go, hotshot," she said, her voice like ice.
Tom sighed. It was going to be a very long day.
*****
The conversation was short as they made their approach. Tom decided it was a waste of effort to try to get anything more than ship's status out of his hostile partner and he gave up.
The anomaly loomed ahead of them like a giant sheet of glass. But as they got closer Tom could see that it wasn't as solid as they had first thought. It was as though something had shattered the glass, causing fragments to hang and twist around. The cracks in-between these fragments were giving off streams of energy, not unlike the plasma storms seen in the Badlands of the DMZ. As light from the stars in their sector of space hit the fragments they reflected it back again, giving the effect of thousands of crystals floating in space.
"It's beautiful!" breathed B'Elanna, distracted from the sensors for a moment by the sight of the anomaly. Tom had to agree, his eyes filled with the wondrous collection of light and energy.
"It sure is," he said, with feeling. "Are you getting any idea of how big it is?"
Torres returned her attention reluctantly to the sensors. She bit her lip with frustration.
"No, all the data keeps getting distorted by the reflection of energy off of those ... those fragments."
"Do you know what they are?" Tom asked, moving the shuttle in a parallel line along the edge of the anomaly.
"I've never seen anything like it," Torres confessed. "But it's like something has splintered the space time continuum."
"Definitely not a good idea to enter," Tom put forth.
"No, definitely not," Torres agreed dryly. "If we were to hit one of those energy bursts who knows where, or when, we might end up. Assuming that it didn't destroy the ship in the process."
Almost at the same instant the words were coming out of her mouth the shuttle was hit by the pulse of an energy tendril jolting out of one of the shards. The two were thrown against their instruments by the shock wave.
"Hang on!" called Tom anxiously as he tried to wrestle control back to the helm. But the anomaly had other ideas it seemed. Once its fingers reached out to the small ship it wasn't letting go and Tom found the shuttle being pulled into the plane without any control to stop it.
*****
On the bridge of Voyager Janeway watched as her shuttle made its way up to the anomaly and along its edge. They were monitoring the communication and sensor readings. She heard the awe in both the voices of the shuttle crew as they got their first close up look.
Beautiful. But dangerous.
Janeway paced.
Suddenly, without warning the shuttle simply vanished as though into thin air.
*****
On Fides, Chakotay, who had been monitoring the shuttle from the bridge, leapt to his feet with alarm.
"What happened?" he barked to poor Suder, who only shook his head with bewilderment.
"I don't know. It's just gone."
"Destroyed?" asked Chakotay bleakly. "Any debris?"
"No, sir," confirmed Suder. "No debris, no indication of an explosion. Just - no shuttle."
Chakotay slumped back into his seat staring out the viewscreen with an expression of blankness, willing the shuttle to reappear as mysteriously as it had vanished.
It didn't.
*****
On the shuttle, Tom and B'Elanna were having a rough ride while trying to avoid being hit by any other energy tendrils, as well as the very solid light-reflecting masses that were twisting and turning all around them. Paris had discovered just how solid they were when the port nacelle had skimmed across one causing a flurry of sparks to erupt and a partial loss of power. It was taking all of his concentration just to keep them on a steady course.
Of course, the fact that he had no idea where he was going didn't help matters much.
Torres was yelling out sensor data at him so fast that he barely had time to assimilate her information before reacting to next threat. It was like flying through an obstacle course.
Suddenly, as abruptly as they were yanked into the storm, they were tossed out again. The unexpected change in both velocity and direction caused them both to pause a moment to collect their breaths.
"Oh thank god," Tom said, with great relief, not caring about his companion's opinion of his obvious fear.
"That might be premature, flyboy," Torres said, her acid tone returning as she scanned their immediate region. "I don't think we are where we are supposed to be."
Tom looked at the sensors now too, and out the viewscreen and he immediately understood her. There was no Voyager or Fides waiting for them. There was only blank space.
They looked at each other. It was a look of mutual understanding, one that said I don't like you and you don't like me but we are all we have right now.
"We have to go back in," Tom finally said.
"Whoa," muttered Torres, just thinking about the last roller coaster ride.
"Have you got a better idea?" snapped Paris, equally as disturbed by the thought as she was.
"No," she admitted. "I don't. Once in there, we'll have to try to trace our own ion trail and backtrack to our original position."
"What are the chances of that?" Tom wondered aloud, thinking of the erratic course that he'd just flown.
"I could get a precise calculation from the computer for you, if you really want to know," Torres shot at him.
"I'd rather not, actually," he said, with a lopsided grin. "Well, here goes..."
Their second entry into the anomaly was no less nerve wracking even with their expectations. In fact, in Tom's view, it was worse. It felt like he was deliberately stepping off a high cliff, with the hopes that something would catch his fall before he hit the rocks below. Light and energy beams shot all around the tiny craft, forming a tunnel of sorts that they slid along, with Tom doing his best not to touch the sides and Torres trying desperately to find their original trail.
Just when Tom was sure the shuttle was going to protest this abuse by coming apart at the seams on them he found himself back in normal space, looking at the nose of Voyager.
"Oh thank god!" he said again, this time with even more feeling. He began to move the shuttle closer to the Starfleet vessel.
"Wait a second Paris," Torres said, her face a frown. "Something about this isn't right."
"Voyager to Tom Paris!" came the voice of Captain Janeway. Tom ignored B'Elanna as he answered the hail.
"Paris here. You are a sight for sore eyes Captain!"
"Paris, this is all wrong. The stars are all wrong. This isn't our space," Torres was saying but Tom barely heard her.
"As are you Lieutenant. You've had us all a bit worried for the past four days."
"Four days!" repeated Tom. "Damn temporal anomalies," he murmured.
"Paris!" snapped Torres, realizing he hadn't heard her. "This isn't right. Where's Fides? There's no Maquis ship here. And the stars .... we're not .... I don't know where we are."
Tom was listening but not registering her meaning as he guided the shuttle towards the big ship. He was looking forward to the relative safety of Voyager. This was the last mission he was pulling with a Maquis, that was for sure. He was cursed! He must be!
Torres was still disturbed by her readings but she stopped talking seeing as how Paris was choosing to disregard her completely. The arrogant self-absorbed pig!
Paris stepped off their shuttle feeling absurdly like he wanted to kiss the ground of the shuttle bay. He had barely had a chance to take a look around when he was greeted by a flash of black and gold uniform as a dark haired woman launched herself at him. Her strong arms around the back of his neck, her warm lips locked onto his, Tom could do nothing but return the passionate embrace in which he found himself. Before he really registered what was happening the woman pulled abruptly away from him and pounded him in the jaw with a solid right hook that knocked him to his knees. He felt her grip on the front of his uniform as she hauled him to his feet.
"Don't you EVER scare me like that again Thomas Paris!"
"Torres?" he gasped with amazement.
"As I was saying, this is not our Voyager," came the cool voice of his Torres from behind him where she stood in the doorway to the shuttle, her arms crossed and her face a scowl. The woman standing before him, with an expression of anger and relief, looked just like Torres. Except while he didn't doubt B'Elanna Torres would love to haul back and punch him, orders from Chakotay or no, he was swept away by the idea she would greet him with as passionate a kiss as he'd just received.
"Oh boy," Tom muttered as the two B'Elannas regarded each other with cautious curiosity.
*****
Captain Janeway had arrived and the four of them were now making their way up to the conference room.
"We can examine your data from there and determine our next course of action," Janeway had said. Tom hadn't missed the obvious flash of disappointment in the captain's eyes when it was revealed that he was not the missing Tom Paris from this ship. As for this ship's Torres, she'd pulled away, into herself, refusing to even meet his eyes.
"I'll get the Doctor to meet us there," Janeway commented, looking at Tom's face. He could feel swelling along his jaw and rubbed it thoughtfully.
"The Doctor can leave sickbay?" asked Torres, his Torres, with amazement. Janeway's face broke out in a smile.
"You may find things a little different from your own universe here," was her cryptic comment.
"Hey," Torres pulled on the arm of her counterpart. The other woman turned to her, still trying to cover up how upset she was over this impostor Paris. "You're in a uniform! You have a rank?"
"I'm the Chief Engineer here," the other B'Elanna said, a bit shortly, noting the wide-eyed look of shock on the face so much like her own.
"Where's Fides?" asked Torres, after absorbing that bit of information. Her alter-ego looked amazed.
"Fides? Fides was destroyed at the Caretaker's array when Chakotay used it to ram a Kazon ship."
"Oh," whispered B'Elanna, shocked even more by this bit of news. How was it possible? She was a Chief Engineer and Chakotay was dead? She wondered what had happened to the other Maquis but was a little afraid to ask.
They made the rest of the way to the conference room in silence.
Once there, a few more surprises were revealed. Harry Kim entered with a blond woman who had remnants of armor on her skin. Paris looked puzzled.
"Who is that?" he asked, his voice low, but loud enough to carry to the striking woman.
"My designation is Seven of Nine, but for the sake of convenience you may call me Seven."
"My god, she's Borg!" blurted out Tom without thinking. The woman looked faintly disdainful and a little amused.
"Correct."
"How did you end up with a Borg as a crewmember?" he asked Captain Janeway, who looked a little pained at the question.
"You called?" came a cheery voice as the Doctor walked through the door. "Ah, Mr. Paris. Now why is this not a surprise?"
"How can you leave sickbay?" demanded Torres approaching the Doctor with such speed that he took a step backward.
"Lieutenant?" he questioned. "Why are you out of uniform?"
"Ah, Doctor," Lieutenant Torres gave a little wave, "I'm over here. She's from another universe."
"Naturally," commented the Doctor, rolling his eyes.
"Well, it's comforting to know you are a universal constant, Doc," Paris said, trying not to laugh. The Doctor pulled out a healing wand and began an examination of the pilot's jawline.
"No bones broken this time, Lieutenant," the Doctor informed him.
'This time?' wondered Tom. Just how often did this Torres use her fists on poor Paris?
B'Elanna circled around the Holodoctor with fascination, her mind bubbling with questions. The lack of a mobile doctor on Voyager was a big concern to both Captain Janeway and to Chakotay.
"I am able to function outside sickbay thanks to a mobile holo-emitter we acquired from ..." The Doctor's explanation was interrupted by a cough from the captain. Torres barely noticed this as she fingered the holo-emitter on the Doctor's upper arm.
"Amazing!" she breathed. "How does it work? Does it have its own power source?"
Without really meaning to she pulled on it slightly to get a better look. The Doctor vanished from view, his med wand clashing to the floor.
"Hey!" burst out Lieutenant Torres, stepping forward angrily. "Be careful with that! It's delicate."
"Sorry," said B'Elanna, not sounding too sorry. "I was just trying to figure out how it worked."
Tom, sensing a lot of frustration from both the B'Elannas, and deciding that a confrontation between them would be detrimental to all, bent down to collect the med wand.
"Could we just get him back here to finish this before we dissect him, please?" His words had the effect of causing them both to back down, one from embarrassment at her assault, the other for disconnecting the Holodoctor inadvertently. Torres handed the holo-emitter over to the Chief Engineer who reactivated the Doctor quickly and stepped back again.
"Thank you," he said, sarcastically, casting a sour glance in B'Elanna's direction.
Tom was desperately trying to think of something to say to lighten the tension building in the room when the door opened again and Chakotay entered with a padd in hand. He walked over to the captain, handing it to her.
"Here's the data from Tom's shuttle," he said quietly. She nodded without responding.
"Chakotay!" whispered B'Elanna, taking a hesitant step towards him and holding out her hand. He looked at her kindly but with some perplexity as she reached out to touch his arm, as if to reassure herself that he was real. B'Elanna felt almost like crying; the whole situation was suddenly becoming overwhelming.
"I thought you were dead," she said, by way of explanation. "She told me that you rammed Fides into a Kazon ... well, I thought you were ..."
"I did destroy Fides," he said gently, "but I made sure I wasn't on her at the time."
"Well, that's a relief," B'Elanna said, now thoroughly embarrassed. "That uniform ... are all the Maquis in Starfleet here?"
"We all work as one crew," Janeway said patiently. "Commander Chakotay is my first officer."
"Of course he is!" burst out Torres then, with a little giggle that erupted into hysterical laughter. "Of course he is! He's the first officer and I'm the Chief Engineer and we're all one big happy family!"
Tom was becoming alarmed at her behaviour. He and Torres were not close, at least not in the universe to which he was accustomed, but he felt that she was nearly at the point of breakdown. He reached out to grip her shoulder.
"Take it easy, ok? Ok?" he said softly. She made a half-hearted attempt to wiggle out from under his gentle hand and just looked at the floor.
There was an awkward silence while no one was making eye contact with Tom as he scanned the room. Only the Borg woman gazed upon him with frank curiosity.
"So we're all one crew here then?" Tom asked, trying for some levity. "I'm surprised that your Tom Paris has lasted this long."
He received twin glares from the two B'Elannas and a short laugh from Chakotay as a response.
"I looked after Tom," Chakotay told him. "He saved my life on the Ocampan homeworld and I take life debts very seriously."
Tom was struck speechless by this information.
*****
It was later. Tom and B'Elanna were alone in the conference room while she scanned and rescanned the data from their shuttle and the other Tom Paris's shuttle. Tom sat with his feet up on the table staring at the ceiling in contemplation of entering that anomaly again. Given a choice, he'd rather not. But he couldn't see any way of getting back to their own ship without the anomaly being somehow involved.
Torres was quiet when she was focused and a lot less hostile than he was used to seeing her be. She seemed to be adjusting to their surroundings a bit better than she had been earlier. It was a lot to get used to, he supposed. Particularly that part about him saving Chakotay's life.
"Hey are you hungry?" he asked suddenly. "Why don't we take a break and get something to eat?"
Torres glanced briefly up at him from the computer console with an expression that spoke volumes about how much work she considered him to be doing.
"Go ahead," she mumbled.
"Tell you what," he said, coming to his feet. "I'll go down to the mess hall and find us something and bring it back here for you."
"Thanks Paris," she said, guardedly. Being nice to him didn't come easy.
"Sure. Don't go anywhere," he joked as he left the room. She shook her head.
The mess hall was fairly packed with the end of the dinner crowd when Paris arrived. He tried not to notice the attention he was getting, feeling uncomfortable under their scrutiny.
"Ah Mr. Paris," Neelix spoke up. "Or should I say, the other Mr. Paris!" He chuckled at his own joke. Tom smiled wanly.
"Hey Neelix, have you got something I could take back to Torres? She doesn't want to stop working."
Neelix immediately began bustling around his kitchen. From Tom's point of view it was as chaotic as ever.
"Certainly, certainly. Just give me a few moments and I'll have a feast for the two of you."
"Thanks Neelix," Tom murmured, turning to face the crowd once again. He frowned when he saw Lieutenant Torres sitting by herself at a table, picking at her food with such an open expression of unhappiness it made his heart twist.
'How could her friends desert her when she is so in need?' he wondered. Tom wandered over in her direction, unsure of the reception he would get.
"Mind if I take a seat?" he asked, settling down opposite her before she had a chance to respond. She gave him an unfriendly look but said nothing. "I, uh, I gather that you and Tom are, um, I mean, just based on the kiss you gave me that, er, ...."
"What's the matter Paris? Can't see yourself with someone like me?" she spat out with venom. He recoiled with surprise.
"Not at all! You fascinate me. I think you're very beautiful." She looked surprised and then embarrassed, turning her head to look at the far wall. Tom was also surprised at his comment, he hadn't expected to say that. But it was true, he did think Torres to be a very attractive woman. And he'd seen a vulnerable side of her today that he'd never thought possible. From both of them.
"It's just that," Tom continued, causing her to look back at him, "my B'Elanna Torres would rather take a bat'leth to me than spend any time in my company."
"She's with you now," she said.
"Only because she was ordered by Chakotay," Tom clarified.
"I wish I was with him," she confessed. "I should have gone with him."
Tom had nothing to say to that.
"I admit, it took some time before I warmed to Tom's charm," she said softly, looking off in the distance as though remembering some time they'd spent together. She smiled slightly.
Tom reached out to cover her hand with his own. She was startled by his touch but she didn't pull away. He gave her hand a little squeeze.
"He's a very lucky man, your Tom Paris. I hope I'm half as lucky some day."
"Thank you," she said, touched by his gentleness. He was so like her Tom, and yet ... he wasn't her Tom. "You will be."
"Here we are!" said Neelix, stepping up with a tray laden with food. Tom broke his grip on Torres's hand and stood.
"Thanks again Neelix. I appreciate it."
"Anytime," the cook assured him with a pat on the arm.
"You ok?" Tom asked B'Elanna as he made to leave the mess hall. She straightened up slightly.
"No. No, I'm not ok. But I'll be fine. Thanks, thanks for talking to me. I'm sorry I hit you earlier."
"Not a problem," he said with a smile.
*****
Despite her initial indifference to the idea of dinner, B'Elanna wolfed down the meal Tom brought her. They sat opposite each other in the quiet conference room. The computer console was off.
"What are we going to do now?" she asked him.
"I don't see any option but to head back in," he reluctantly admitted. "Chakotay said he'd get someone to look at our nacelle, so that should improve our maneuverability somewhat."
"It's weird, don't you think?" she mused.
"What? This ship?" Tom gave a snort of laughter. "It is a little disconcerting to see everyone and yet, it's not the everyone you think you know."
"And did you catch the captain with Chakotay earlier? He was standing so close to her and she had her hand on his chest when she spoke to him." Torres shook her head. "Our leaders have only just begun having conversations about things other than ship's status and these two are right in each other's personal space."
"I don't think we're in Kansas anymore," Tom said, grinning.
"Huh?" Torres looked annoyed. He waved it aside.
"Sorry, never mind. Stupid reference." There was a pause. "Then there's the obvious affection between Lieutenant Torres and the missing in action Mr. Paris."
"Don't let it give you any ideas, hotshot!" snapped Torres.
"Now there's the hostile half-Klingon temper I've been missing," teased Tom.
"If it weren't for Chakotay's orders I'd be tempted to ...."
"Punch me on the jaw?"
"Don't push it Paris! Those orders were given by a man who's light years away in another dimension of time!"
Tom decided to let the matter drop. He gazed out the viewport for a few moments.
"You know what would be interesting? Getting into the logs of this ship. I'd like to know how they got a Borg on the crew. Not to mention, how Paris managed to save Chakotay's life," Tom wondered.
"Doesn't that go against Starfleet rules?" asked Torres, a bit mockingly. "I mean, wouldn't it contaminate the timeline?"
Tom's forehead creased as he considered this.
"Well," he admitted, "technically yes, I guess it does. But I don't really consider this ship to be a part of our timeline, do you?"
She didn't answer. Tom went back to studying the stars.
"You're probably right," he mumbled.
*****
Janeway assembled her senior staff, minus her missing Tom Paris, for another meeting. The alternate Tom and B'Elanna had been over the sensors from their shuttle thoroughly, as had Harry and Seven. Lieutenant Torres had overseen the repairs of the shuttle's nacelle and reported it fit for action once again.
"There is another option," Janeway said. B'Elanna would not make eye contact with her, so she looked at Tom. "You could remain on Voyager and continue with us."
B'Elanna drew a sharp breath but didn't speak. She glanced over at Lieutenant Torres. Tom appeared momentarily thrown by the suggestion.
"Uh, well." Tom cleared his throat. "Thank you for the offer Captain, but I think we'd really like to make a stab at finding our way home." He looked to B'Elanna for confirmation and she nodded. It was comforting to have her agreeing with him for a change.
"We wish you success," Janeway told him sincerely. "When would you like to leave?"
"No time like the present," B'Elanna said, standing.
*****
Tom hesitated just outside the shuttle before entering. Lieutenant Torres was hovering, trying to be inconspicuous but failing.
"We, uh, boosted the power to the forward shields, and uh, reconfigured your sensors based on the data you had," she told him.
"Thanks," he said, "I'm sure it'll be a big help." He was feeling hopelessly awkward and unsure of himself. He had an absurd desire to kiss her goodbye.
"Look, Tom, I know, I know this may sound foolish to you but . . . it's just that I'm beginning to feel I may never see my Tom again and I . . . I just . . ." She stopped abruptly, closing her mouth with an angry snap.
"Your Tom will come back to you," Paris told her, hoping with all his heart that it was the truth.
"I want to believe that so much," she confessed.
"Believe it."
She was standing very close to him, and now raised up on her toes to kiss him gently on the mouth.
"Goodbye," she whispered. She turned and walked away without looking back.
"Some time today would be nice Paris," snapped B'Elanna, from the shuttle doorway. She had just overcome a flash of irrational jealousy at the sight of Tom Paris kissing that lieutenant.
*****
From the viewscreen in her ready room Janeway watched the shuttle depart and make its way towards the anomaly. It disappeared from her view. She turned to face her first officer.
"Two ships. Two captains. Life must be very different for them," she commented.
"Perhaps. Perhaps not so different," was his response. "I bet that Janeway has bewitched that Chakotay as much as you have captivated me."
He moved to stand before her; she placed a hand on his chest.
"I can't imagine making this journey without you," she told him. "I hope that they are as close in that other universe."
He flashed her a smile of agreement. Theirs was a relationship of mutual understanding.
*****
Tom felt the simultaneous flash of fear and exhilaration as they entered the anomaly once again. He frantically tried to keep some semblance of control over their course while B'Elanna attempted to retrace their path from their initial entry.
Suddenly a fragment appeared before them. Tom made a quick move to duck around it and found he'd inadvertantly flown them out of the anomaly.
B'Elanna cursed.
Tom took a quick look at their new space and, not seeing any Fides, he concluded that they'd either returned to the alternate Voyager, or they were in yet another universe.
B'Elanna got up to go to the sensor array towards the back of the shuttle. Angrily she yanked the access cover open and threw it to the ground.
"Now let's see who's the better engineer," she muttered.
Tom prepared to come about and reenter the anomaly.
"Paris!" came a voice over the communications channel. Not a friendly voice either.
"Don't bother making contact," B'Elanna told him. "We're not staying for another visit this time."
"Right," Tom agreed, ignoring the hail.
"What's the matter Paris?" came the voice again. "Don't you want to talk to me?"
Tom glanced uneasily at the communications console. He thought he knew who was speaking to him. Unexpectedly, his hand snapped out and opened the channel.
Chakotay's scowling face filled the screen. He smiled harshly.
"Chakotay," began Tom, "this isn't what you think. I'm not who you think I am."
Chakotay's eyes narrowed suspiciously.
"I know exactly who you are," he said coldly. "And I always have."
He turned to face someone at the tactical station. Tom realized suddenly that none of the bridge officers were wearing Starfleet uniforms. Something else seemed wrong too. It hit him with a shock. Chakotay was sitting in Janeway's seat. The captain's seat. This was definitely a universe Tom didn't want to visit.
"Prepare to fire," Chakotay was saying to the tactical officer. Tom felt sick to his stomach when he recognized that it was Torres.
"Wait," he called out nervously, "don't fire. We aren't from here. I'm not the Tom you hate." But Chakotay was not paying him any attention.
Voyager fired phasers on the tiny shuttle rocking it off its course and causing Tom to grip the sides of his console. It was all too familiar a feeling, the only difference being that he wasn't going to wake up from this nightmare.
"Torres!" he yelled. "Get up here to talk to your friend and explain that we're not his enemy!"
There was no response from the back of the shuttle. As another shot hit them, Tom twisted around in his seat to catch a fleeting glimpse of Torres on the floor. There was blood pooling near her head.
"Nice chatting with you again Paris," sneered Chakotay as he gave the order for the shuttle's annihilation.
Tom didn't need any further encouragement to hit the forward thrusters and propel them back into the shattered space-time continuum.
*****
Tom was making his way down the corridor towards sickbay when he heard the captain's voice behind him.
"Lieutenant Paris!"
He stopped then turned around to face her. He'd already filed a verbal and written report on their experience. He couldn't imagine what other questions she might have for him. His unease melted when he saw the smile that beamed on her face.
"Captain?"
"I just wanted to say ..." she hesitated as though she wasn't sure exactly how she wanted to say it. "Good job Tom." She laid a hand on his shoulder.
"Thank you," he responded. "I was just on my way ..." He gestured down the hallway and the captain fell in step beside him.
"While you were on that other Voyager," she started, "did you consider staying with them?"
"It was a consideration," he admitted, "But I got the impression that Torres wouldn't be very happy living in the shadow of her double. And if their Tom Paris ever returned to them, I probably would have felt the same way. Redundant."
"It was only due to your exceptional piloting and the modifications Ms. Torres made to the sensors that you two came back to us. Their Tom might never make it back," Janeway commented.
"That would have been worse," Tom stated. "Because they would have all expected me to fill his role and from what I saw he was a hero. Frankly, Captain, I don't think my feet are big enough for his boots."
Janeway regarded her pilot for a moment. His voice was not bitter or resigned, merely frank. He was straightforward enough. Except for flying he was quick to put down his own abilities.
"I don't know about that Mr. Paris." She stopped and looked down at his feet. She peered up at him again, with a small grin. "You saved B'Elanna Torres's life. I think you might find those boots to be a pretty good fit."
Janeway walked away before Tom could protest, leaving him blushing just outside of the sickbay doors. Taking a deep breath he entered, determined to speak with B'Elanna, even if she hurled abuse at him.
His determination faded rapidly when he saw Chakotay standing next to B'Elanna's bed. The engineer was asleep. Chakotay laid a hand on the top of her head, nodded to the Doctor and swung around to exit. He looked as startled to see Paris as the pilot was to see him.
Chakotay had been present during the debriefing, but had remained surprisingly silent throughout. Paris had expected to get some kind of a reaction from him based on the behaviour of the other Commander Chakotays, but the Maquis leader had not commented. Now he looked uncomfortable.
"I just came to see how she was doing," Tom explained, when the silence between them stretched awkwardly.
"The Doc says she'll be back on her feet in no time," Chakotay told him.
"Good, good," Tom said, with forced cheerfulness. He pivoted, hoping to make a clean getaway.
"Paris!"
Damn! Not quick enough.
Tom looked down then spun around to face Chakotay again. His posture was part wary, part defiant as he wished he didn't feel so intimidated by the other man.
"You did a good job, Paris," Chakotay told him. But Tom could see that the words stuck in the Maquis leader's throat. Just as they had after the Omega cluster incident.
"Thanks," he muttered.
"No, really Paris," Chakotay tried again. "You ... you saved her life. I won't forget that."
"You know something Chakotay," Tom said, gaining some courage from the discomfort of his nemesis. "I've seen a place where you and I are almost friends. And I've seen a place where we are mortal enemies. Given the choice - I'll take friendship."
Tom made his exit before Chakotay could respond. He grinned to himself as he strolled down the corridor.
Go to the seventh EOME story Fides Violare
| Back to Three Insomniacs | Send Feedback to Vicki James & Kath |
Copyright 1997 |
|
This page hosted by Get your own Free Home Page