Part 3 - see disclaimers in Part 1

Busy fussing about sickbay, the Doctor didn't
notice them when they entered. Chakotay led Tom
toward a diagnostic bed, as Kathryn approached the
Doctor and tapped him on the shoulder. He jumped
and Kathryn smiled to herself. The Doctor was
getting more and more realistic. She didn't
want to think about what would occur when they
got home.

The Doctor turned and saw Tom. "Ah, Mr. Paris,
how are we feeling today? Have you noticed any
lapse in your memory? I'm sure we've learned our
lesson about testing alien devices, haven't we?"

"I really wouldn't know, Doc, because I don't
remember what I did. Apparently I don't remember
quite a lot of things. Now can the sarcasm and
take a look at me, o.k.?" Tom shot right back
in voice reminiscent of a snarl.

Kathryn cringed inwardly, but said nothing. She
just shot a quick look at Chakotay, whose eyes had
narrowed at Tom's outburst. Tom sounded just like
he had in the old days, all his defenses up,
sarcastic and bitter to keep anyone from getting
close. She hadn't heard that voice in months,
at least, and hearing it now gave her further
pause.

The Doctor had quickly started scanning Tom and
making "hmmm" noises. Tom was lying impatiently
on the table, his foot twitching and betraying
his nervousness.

"Just how far back does your memory loss go, Mr.
Paris?" the Doctor asked, crossing the room to
get a neurologically-calibrated tricorder.

"Seeing as how I can't remember, Doc, how am I
supposed to know?" Tom shot back in the same
snarly voice.

Chakotay laid a hand on his shoulder. "Tom,
he is just trying help," he said in a reasonable
voice. "Try to think of the last clear thing
you can remember, and maybe we can figure out
how long
ago that was."

"I don't know, doing something with B'Elanna,
I guess. That's a lot of help, isn't it?"
Tom responded sarcastically.

"Actually, Tom, that does help a bit," Chakotay
said, trying to keep his voice calm and not lash
out at Tom. That sarcastic tone had always put
him on edge. He was having enough trouble not
showing his fear without having to deal with
Tom acting this way. But he knew if he snapped
back at Tom, the situation would just deteriorate
even more. One thing was sure he wanted his
sunny Helmboy back, not this snarling, withdrawn
stranger.

"Why does that help?"

Chakotay was jerked out of his reverie. "Because
you and B'Elanna don't talk much now, Tom. You
haven't been together for quite awhile. I think
maybe you've lost a year or more of memories."

"A year? Or more? You have GOT to be kidding!"
Tom practically shouted, sitting up on the
diagnostic bed. "Just what in the hell happened
to me?"

"Calm down, Mr. Paris, or I am not going to
be able to figure out what happened to you,"
the Doctor said, pushing Tom back down.

"Tom, we are in orbit of a planet called Cattani.
The Cattanians are very friendly people. We have
been trading for supplies and starcharts with
them, and taking shore leave," Kathryn began
while the Doctor kept making "hmm" noises, which
was apparently driving Tom nuts. His foot began
to twitch double-time.

"So?" Tom asked at his sarcastic best.

"So you beamed down on shore leave yesterday
with Harry, and had, shall we say, a misadventure."
Kathryn smiled, trying to set Tom at ease, but
it was apparent that it was not working.

"Hmm . . . can we save story time for later,
Captain?" the Doctor interjected. "I believe
I have a diagnosis."

"I can tell you the diagnosis, Doc -- I've got
amnesia. What I'm interested in is WHY!" Tom
practically shouted.

"That's enough, Tom!" Chakotay snapped,
tightening his hand on Tom's shoulder.

"Well, Doctor?" Kathryn said in her most
professional voice, trying not to give in to
the desire to deck someone in this room.

"Apparently the synaptic pathways were more
affected than I thought. It at first appeared,"
the Doctor said, clearly settling into lecture
mode, "that the pathways were simply scrambled
from the shockwave that ran through the neurons.
However, now that the effect of the shockwave
has settled, it is apparent to me that the
pathways were not just scrambled. A significant
section was simply wiped clean. Mr. Paris does
not remember because he cannot -- the memories
simply no longer exist."

"Are you sure, Doctor?" Chakotay said, the
shock evident in his voice.

"Quite sure, Commander," the Doctor responded,
clearly quite pleased with himself for solving
this latest medical mystery of the Delta Quadrant.
"There may be a few random memory engrams that
actually were shuffled to another area of memory
that might surface, but that will be problematic.
Anything might trigger them -- a sound, a smell,
an image, a taste. Or they might never surface.
But essentially, Mr. Paris has lost his memories
for approximately the last 18 months. I'm sure
it will not effect his flying, however," the
Doctor continued, completely oblivious to the
stunned looks he was receiving. "His motor
pathways were completely unaffected. The neural
shockwave only affected the memory portion of
his brain."

"So what am I supposed to do?!" Tom cried out.
His anger and confusion was apparent to all
present.

"We told you, Tom, we will help you sort this
all out," Kathryn said, attempting to soothe
him, by stepping forward to cup his face with
her hand. Her heart fell when he jerked away,
and pulled away from the hand Chakotay had
left on his shoulder as well.

"Oh, great -- you are going to fill me in on
every moment of the last year and a half?
Like the two of you could!" Tom shouted. He
jumped off of the diagnostic bed, and ran out
of sickbay, leaving two very stunned and heart
torn people behind.

TO BE CONTINUED