Comparisons
By T’PamDisclaimer:Voyager and all her crew belong to Paramount/Viacom. No copyright infringement is intended. No profit will be made, as this story is just for fun.
Part Two
Kathryn opened the front door of her house and cautiously stepped inside, only to be practically bowled over by an enthusiastic red setter. "Hello baby," she said softly kneeling down and patting the dog’s head. Placing her cheek against the dog’s soft hair she asked. "How’s my girl?"
"Your girls fine," a voice called from the kitchen. "I’m not sure about these potatoes though."
Kathryn stood up and hurried over to the doorway. "Mark," she smiled. "What are you doing here?"
"I thought I’d cook us some dinner, or should I make that supper?"
"Whatever you want to call it is fine by me. I’m starving. You should have called me. I would have come home earlier."
"No, you had things to do. I didn’t want to disturb you. And don’t worry, everything’s taken care of here. I’ll keep an eye on the house and the dog while you’re gone."
"Thanks honey. I don’t know what I’d do without you." A wet nose nudged her hand and she knelt back down on the floor again. "Oh sweetie," she said patting the dog gently. "You really haven’t been yourself lately, have you?" She looked up at Mark. "Actually, I’m a little worried about her. I was thinking about taking her to the clinic."
Mark knelt down on the floor as well and studied the dog closely. "What do you think is wrong?"
"I’m not sure, but I hope she’s going to have some puppies."
"Hey, that would be great," Mark said with a smile.
Kathryn nodded. "I can’t wait."
"I’ll take her to the clinic for you, if she doesn’t pick up."
Kathryn hugged him tightly. "I’m going to miss you," she said softly.
"Me too," he answered before standing up and going back into the kitchen. "Now sit down and I’ll serve up."
Despite claiming she was starving, Kathryn toyed with the food in front of her.
"You’re worried about Tuvok aren’t you?" Mark finally said.
Kathryn looked up with a start. "Yes, I am."
"Try not to worry. I’m sure he’s fine. Vulcans are terribly resilient you know."
Kathryn nodded. "It’s not just that. I just found out tonight that I’ve got a new chief helmsman. It’s only temporary - thank God - just this mission, but it rather unsettled me."
"Oh?" Mark waited for her to continue.
"It’s Owen’s son - Tom," she finally said.
"The brat packer?" Kathryn smiled and nodded. "I see. How did that happen?" He could still remember how angry and disappointed she had been after finally meeting her mentor’s son.
Kathryn sighed. "It seems he’s not doing anything at the moment and wanted to fly the new intrepid class ship. Owen set it up for him. Admiral Radissan said it was my call, whether he came along or not, but how could I say no? He’s one of the best pilots in Starfleet and the badlands are going to be tricky."
"Well it might be a good thing he’ll be on board then."
"Well, I intend to make it quite clear to him right from the start that it’s no joy ride. He’s going to regret very quickly pulling all the strings he must have pulled."
Mark laughed at her fierce expression. "I think I feel sorry for him."
"Save your pity for someone that deserves it."
"Is he really that bad? After all, you only met him once, and Kathleen Paris did say that he wasn’t normally so rude. He’d had a bad night. You told me that yourself."
"Admiral Radissan seems to think that he’s a fine young man."
"Well there you go then. He’s a pretty good judge of character."
"Yes, well so am I."
Mark snorted and shook his head. "What about poor Tuvok? You detested him when you first met him."
Kathryn had the grace to blush. "What I thought about him was all true. It’s just that I’ve learned to appreciate it. I look at him in a different context now."
"Well, then what about me. You never liked me much when we were kids."
Kathryn opened her mouth to deny the accusation, but then closed it again. "That’s different. You’ve changed."
"Maybe Tom Paris has too. After all, he’s been on the Enterprise for the past few years. Anything’s possible." He sighed as she frowned. "All I’m saying is, give him a chance, Kat. You just never know."
"Welcome aboard, Lieutenant Paris." Kathryn inwardly winced. Her voice sounded cold and flat, even to her own ears. Tom’s smile seemed to freeze as he regarded her.
"Thank you Captain," he finally answered. An awkward silence followed.
Kathryn cleared her throat. "Well, have you had your tour of the ship?" She tried to put a little more warmth in her voice.
"Yes, Captain. It’s very, um, nice."
Nice? It was a beautiful ship. You’d think he could be a little more enthusiastic than that! "I’m sure it’s not on the same grand scale as the new Enterprise E will be, but she’ll do me," she bit out crisply.
"I’m sure she will, Captain."
Kathryn looked at him sharply. There had been no inflection in his voice whatsoever, but it still sounded like an insult. "Let’s get something straight, right from the start, shall we Lieutenant? This is my ship. And as long as you are aboard it, you are my crewman. Your father has no jurisdiction here at all. Is that understood?"
Tom turned bright red, whether it was with anger or embarrassment, she wasn’t sure. "Yes Captain," was all he said however.
"The attitude stays off this ship," she continued. "Is that also understood?"
Tom’s face showed his confusion. He truly looked like he didn’t know what she was talking about. "Understood," he answered mechanically.
"Good. Now since you wanted to fly this ship so badly you’d better get out there and do it. We’ll be leaving shortly."
She walked around her desk and headed for the doors leading onto the bridge. She turned around when she realized that Tom was not following her. He was still standing in the middle of the room. "Lieutenant?"
Tom turned around to face her. "Permission to speak freely, Captain?"
Kathryn steeled herself. "Go ahead."
"I get the impression you’re not too happy to have me here. Well, I can assure you the feeling’s mutual."
"Really? Perhaps you should have thought about that before going to so much trouble. After all, you must have known you’d have me as your Captain."
Tom looked at her in astonishment. "You think I got my Dad to pull a few strings so that I could go on some sort of joyride in a new ship," he guessed.
Kathryn nodded. "Your skills will certainly come in handy---"
"You’re wrong," Tom interrupted. "My father decided that this was a good career move for me. I knew nothing about it until I got home last night."
"I see," Kathryn said slowly. She regarded him steadily for a few moments, wondering if he were telling the truth. He might have decided that he didn’t want this assignment after all, now that he realized she wouldn’t put up with any nonsense. "So now what? You want me to release you from the assignment?"
Tom looked shocked at the suggestion. "No, Captain. Of course not. Unless, of course, you don’t think you can work with me. I’m sorry that you seem to dislike me so much."
Kathryn shook her head. "I’m professional enough to put personal feelings aside, Lieutenant. Well, I suppose we’re stuck with each other for the next few weeks. As long as you follow my orders we shouldn’t have a problem." She turned around once more to make her way to the bridge.
"Yes Ma’am," Tom answered following her. The tone was the same as he’d used before. And once again Kathryn felt he had just insulted her. She felt herself bristling as she led him onto the bridge. She tried to analyze just what it was about his tone of voice that upset her so much and then it hit her. There was no respect or admiration in the tone. She was used to her crew speaking to her with both.
She introduced him to her first officer Lieutenant Commander Cavit and let him take over. As she sat in her chair and watched Cavit practically fawn all over Tom she had to grit her teeth. She didn’t give a fig whether Lieutenant Thomas Eugene Paris liked her or not but the disrespect did bother her, especially since she had done nothing to deserve it.
Tom poked his head around the infirmary door as a pretty Bajoran nurse looked up and smiled. "Yes Lieutenant? Can I help you?"
Tom flashed her his most charming smile. "Actually, I’m looking for Dr. Bashir. Is he around anywhere?"
"He’s just seeing a patient. If you’d like to wait, he shouldn’t be too long."
Tom sat on the chair she indicated and preceded to flirt with the nurse while he waited. By the time Julian had come out of the small examining room and entered the main room, she was giggling like a schoolgirl. He frowned at her before looking over at his next patient.
A huge smile lit his face. "Tom! What are you doing here?" He raced over and engulfed him in a brotherly hug. "Don’t tell me you’ve been assigned here?"
Tom shook his head. "I wish. I just thought that while I’m here I’d look you up. Long time - no see and all that."
"It has been a while hasn’t it?" Julian said with a smile. "Over three years?"
Tom nodded. "My graduation party to be exact." The two had met eight years before while still at the academy. Even though Julian had been a senior at the time and on his way to medical school and Tom had been a first year freshman they had hit it off immediately. They had remained firm friends and kept in touch ever since.
"So what are you doing here? The last I heard from you, I thought you were twiddling your thumbs waiting for the Enterprise E to be built. Why didn’t you tell me you were coming? I’d have baked a cake or something."
Tom laughed. "Actually I didn’t know I was coming. I’m on a temporary assignment." He moved Julian over towards the examining room, out of earshot of the nurse. "We’re going to the badlands to round up some Maquis."
Julian whistled. "Always gotta get in on the action, don’t you Tommy?"
"Hey, this wasn’t my idea. Dear old Dad volunteered me." His voice rose a little in his indignation. "Will Riker had it all lined up for me to go to Australia to test the new shuttle craft. Instead I’m stuck on this stupid assignment; doing something I don’t even think we should be doing, to in Dad’s words ‘help my career’. What a load of garbage."
"I’m sorry Tom. Did you tell your father how much the Australia thing meant to you?"
"Since when does he ever listen to me anyway? And that’s not even the worst of it. My new Captain hates my guts. Not that that really bothers me, considering who it is. One of Dad’s little protégés, crawling along behind him, molded in his image. But it will make the next few weeks kind of difficult."
"Surely not. No one could hate you once they get to know you, that is when you’re not whining and complaining."
Tom laughed good-naturedly at the dig, and punched Julian lightly on the arm. "Okay, I get the message. No more complaints from me. I’ve got three hours before I have to report back to the iron maidens torture chamber. Let’s make the most of it."
Julian laughed. "That sounds like a good idea. Iron maidens torture chamber? This new ship sounds like a lot of fun."
"Actually, the ships beautiful. You should see it. New intrepid-class. Sleek, classic lines. Even the names exciting. Voyager. Pity about the Captain. She spoils the whole image."
"Voyager?" Julian paled a little and suddenly looked back at the examination room.
"Yeah. You heard of it?"
"I think so." Julian suddenly grabbed Tom’s arm. "Let’s go. There’s this really great bar on the promenade I want to show you. It’s called Quarks." He was practically dragging Tom from the infirmary. "You’ll love it."
Tom pulled his arm free laughing. "Since when have I ever needed to be dragged into a bar? Dragged out maybe."
"I trust you’ll ensure you’re not inebriated when you report back for duty Lieutenant."
Tom’s stomach lurched at the familiar voice. "C-C-Captain," he stuttered turning around. Captain Janeway stood in the examining room’s doorway. He swallowed at the look on her face.
"I assume I can now leave Doctor," she asked Julian icily.
"O-Of course," Julian stuttered as well. "M-My nurse will contact you if there are any problems."
"Thank you," she said frostily. She then turned to Tom. "I’ll see you back on the torture chamber." It sounded like a threat. With that she marched off and Tom sank into one of the chairs.
"Phew!!!!" Julian gasped, leaning against the doorway for support. "I don’t envy you Tommy. I don’t envy you at all."
"Why didn’t you warn me?" Tom moaned. "Why didn’t you stop me?"
"I forgot she was in there. Besides, I didn’t know it was her you were talking about until you mentioned Voyager. By then it was too late."
Tom moaned again. "Julian, do me a favor. Cut my tongue out now. That way I can give it to her when I return to the ship."
Julian shook his head and started to laugh. Soon he was holding his sides. "I’m sorry Tom," he managed to gasp out as Tom scowled darkly at him. "But the look of horror on your face. It was priceless." As soon as he had himself under control he reached out and pulled Tom to his feet. "Come on. We really do need to go to Quarks now. You need a drink."
Tom snorted. "I need more than one."
Kathryn marched around her ready room, too angry to concentrate. She was still as angry as she had been two hours ago. Picking up a data padd from her desk, she scanned it quickly. There was so much to do before they set off, and she felt that everything was in chaos. Her terminal beeped at that moment. Incoming communication from Earth, she was told.
Soon, Mark’s smiling face was beaming at her. "I won’t hold you up. I know you’re busy. I just wanted to wish you luck."
"Oh Mark! Am I glad to see you," she said enthusiastically.
"You sound a little upset. How’s everything going?"
"We’ve picked up the rest of the crew and they seem to be settling in. We’ll be leaving in a couple of hours."
"So, what’s wrong?"
Kathryn sighed. "Its Tom Paris. He’s insufferable. I don’t think I’ll be able to work with him after all."
"Oh? What’s happened?"
"I overheard a rather awful conversation while I was in the Deep Space Nine infirmary. I’d just had my yearly checkup and was getting dressed in the examining room and he was standing right outside it talking to the Doctor. Apparently they’re old friends."
"Why did you go to the infirmary on Deep Space Nine? You’ve got a brand new, state-of-the-art, sickbay on the ship."
"I know. I’d just rather use it only when I have to. I don’t feel comfortable with the Doctor. It’s hard to explain. Only now, I wish I had."
"You’d better tell me what he said."
Tom watched out of the corner of his eye as the Ferengi barkeeper made short work of the naive young Ensign sitting at the bar. He had enough troubles of his own at the moment. He wasn’t going to involve himself in some one else’s.
"Maybe we better rescue him," Julian said suddenly. "Quark will take him for everything he’s got otherwise."
Tom sighed. "I suppose so."
"They’re not for sale," the Ferengi shouted jerking the tray of supposed ‘Lobi crystals’ from the young man’s hands. "Now," he sniffed. "Inform your commanding officer that the Federation Council can expect an official query from---"
"Quark!" Julian said quickly heading over.
"Keep out of this Doctor," the barkeeper hissed giving him a belligerent stare.
The young Ensign was desperate. "How much for the entire tray?"
"Cash or credit?"
This was too much for Tom who strolled casually over to comment in a loud voice, "Dazzling, aren’t they? As bright as Koladan diamonds."
Quark gave him a dirty look.
Kathryn kissed her fingers and then touched the screen in front of her, smiling in a goodbye gesture to Mark. As soon as the connection was broken she picked up another padd to read. She felt much better now.
Mark had made her see the funny side of the situation. The look of absolute terror on Tom’s face had been a sight. She was sure she could use that to her advantage. She doubted he would step out of line again. He’d probably be on his best behavior from now on.
The chime to her outside door sounded. "Come in," she called.
She recognized the young man when he entered, from the crew manifest she’d gone over earlier. Ensign Harry Kim. Her new ops officer. "Welcome aboard Voyager, Mr. Kim," she said with a smile.
"Thank you sir," he said breathlessly, standing stiffly at attention.
"Mr. Kim," she said with a twinkle in her eye. The poor kid looked terrified. "At ease before you sprain something."
He attempted to relax a little, but he didn’t really look much different. "Mr. Kim," she continued. "Despite Starfleet protocol, I don’t like being addressed as ‘sir’."
Harry flushed with embarrassment. "I’m sorry - ma’am?"
"Ma’am is acceptable in a crunch, but I prefer ‘Captain’."
He nodded his head and she gestured to the door on the other side of the ready room. "We’re getting ready to leave. I’ll show you to the bridge."
As they entered she noticed her first officer standing down by Tom at the helm. They looked up at their entrance. She noticed Tom was grinning at the Ensign standing beside her. She frowned a little. 'Don’t tell me they know each other as well.' Introducing Harry to Lieutenant Commander Cavit she then directed him to the operations console.
"This is your station. Would you like to take over?"
"Yes ma’am," he answered eagerly, a huge smile on his face.
"It’s not crunch time yet, Mr. Kim," she said waving him into his seat. "I’ll let you know when."
Kathryn watched sourly as one after another of the crew gravitated toward the table that Tom Paris and Harry Kim were eating their lunch. She had her own private dining room of course, but liked to eat in the mess hall to get to know the crew better.
Everybody seemed to want to ask Tom about the Enterprise. She turned away with disgust as whatever story Tom was regaling caused everyone to erupt into loud laughter. Cavit, who was sitting with her, turned around at the noise. "Lieutenant Paris certainly seems popular," he remarked.
"I think that has more to do with where he last served than anything to do with his personality."
"Yes, that’s probably true," Cavit answered quickly. "That’s very astute of you Captain."
"Oh? I thought you liked him Commander?"
"Well, I suppose so. He seems agreeable enough."
"Not to me he isn’t."
"Well no, I can see why you’d have problems with him. There’s something not quite right there. I’ve noticed it myself."
"Have you," Janeway said flatly. She found it difficult to keep the dislike from her features. Her first officer was a crawler. A yes man. He would agree with whatever she said and it became more than a little irritating after a while.
She had already seen him with Tom on several occasions and it was obvious to her that he was trying to get Tom to put in a good word for him with Owen. If only he knew. From the little bit she’d gathered over the past few days, Tom had no influence whatsoever with his father.
She snorted. Let the little worm make a fool of himself. Cavit’s eyebrows rose. "Is something wrong Captain?"
"No. I was just thinking about something," she answered. She stood up quickly. "I’ve still got some reports to read before we reach the badlands. I’ll be in my ready room."
Cavit stood up as well. "Of course, Captain."
As Kathryn left the mess hall she turned around to see the first officer already making his way over to the group around Paris and Kim. She snorted again.
"Brace for impact!" Janeway ordered, as the ship was picked up and hurled away.
Tom fought for control, knowing it was useless, but trying anyway. He was surrounded in darkness and then all of a sudden the ship seemed to burst into light. A light so bright that he could feel it burning into his chest and face. Putting up his hands for protection, he saw a flash of red at his side and felt something covering him.
The momentum sent him hurtling from his seat and onto the floor; whatever it was still covering him. It felt heavy and Tom found it hard to breathe. His chest and face still burned, the pain becoming agonizing. He would have screamed if he’d had the breath to do it.
The noise of tearing metal surrounded him and it flashed through his mind that the ship was being torn apart. The weight covering him was so heavy; he couldn’t make a sound. A horrible stench filled his nostrils and he realized it was the smell of burning flesh. As the darkness came up to greet him, he sank into it gratefully.
"Report!"
"Hull breach, Deck Fourteen." Harry Kim checked his console as quickly as he could. He still felt a little woozy. He must have hit his head on something. "Comm lines to engineering are down. Trying to reestablish." He hoped he sounded calm and businesslike.
"Repair crews, seal off hull breach on deck fourteen," Janeway rapped out before kneeling beside the two bodies lying next to the burnt out helm console. Gently rolling Cavit away from Tom, she checked him for a pulse.
Harry could see that the man was dead, from where he stood. One whole side of Cavit’s face was scorched and his eyes were dull and lifeless. Harry’s heart thudded in his chest as the Captain bent over Tom. He couldn’t see how bad his new friend was. Her body blocked his view.
"Casualty reports coming in," a voice called from somewhere. "Sickbay is not responding."
Janeway looked up. "There’s a faint pulse," she said to no one in particular. "Bridge to sickbay," she called out. "Doctor, can you hear me?" She gestured to two crewmen. "Take him down to sickbay. See what’s going on."
As the two men carried Tom away, Harry ventured to ask. "Captain? How bad is he?"
"Bad," she answered crisply.
Harry busied himself at his console once again. "Captain?" he called out suddenly. "Something’s out there."
"I need a better description than that, Mr. Kim."
"I don’t know," Harry blurted out, embarrassed to be unable to tell her. "I’m reading - I’m not sure what I’m reading."
"Can you get the viewscreen operational?"
"I’m trying."
Finally managing to clear up the static the structure that his sensors had picked up came into view. He gazed in wonder, still not sure what it was he was looking at. The giant array on the viewscreen looked menacing. Seeming as if it was tethered to one of the pylons of the array was the Maquis ship that they’d set out to find.
Harry concentrated on his readouts once again and what he read made his stomach lurch and drop to his toes. He shook his head in wonder. "Captain, if these sensors are working, we’re over seventy thousand light-years from where we were." He looked at her numbly. "We’re on the other side of the galaxy!"
Kathryn sighed with relief as she realized that the very real possibility of a warp core breach had been averted. She looked around engineering dejectedly. The chief engineer was dead, along with six other crewmembers from engineering. Her first officer and transporter chief were also dead, along with many other crewmembers from all over the ship.
She rubbed her hands over her face and sighed in frustration. Ensign Michaels, whom she’d sent to sickbay, had reported that both the doctor and nurse were dead as well. Straightening her shoulders, she contacted sickbay. "Janeway to sickbay. Please report."
"Ensign Michaels here Captain. Most of the crew has now been treated. There are only a few minor injuries left. The Emergency Medical Hologram has handled everything."
"Well that’s good news." She steeled herself to ask the next question. She didn’t know how she’d explain to Owen his son’s death. The thought that they may not be able to return to explain anything to anyone never crossed her mind. "How’s Lieutenant Paris?"
Ensign Michaels hesitated. "I’m not sure Captain. The hologram put him in a stasis chamber. He doesn’t look good."
"I see," Kathryn answered, her heart sinking. "Thank you. I’ll be down there in a minute."
Lieutenant Carey seemed to have everything under control in engineering now, so she decided to go down and see if she could find out a little more about Tom.
Her commbadge beeped before she could make it out the door. "Bridge to Janeway." It was Rollins and his voice sounded panicked. "We’re being scanned by the array Captain. It’s penetrated our shields."
"What kind of scan?" she asked as a strange noise came from her commbadge. "Bridge? Janeway to bridge. Respond!"
All around her people started disappearing as they were caught in some sort of transporter beam. "Initiate emergency lock off," she started to order, just as the transporter beam engulfed her as well.
Sickbay was a hive of activity as the EMH program diagnosed, treated and quickly dispersed the incoming patients. "You’re not seriously hurt," he said to the ensign lying on the biobed. "You can return to your station."
The young woman nodded and attempted to sit up. Suddenly a transporter beam surrounded her and she was beamed out of sickbay. All around the EMH the sound of the transporter could be heard. He looked around in surprise.
"This is the emergency holographic doctor speaking. I gave no permission for anyone to be transported out of sickbay." He waited expectantly. "Hello? Sickbay to bridge." When there was still no answer he sighed in frustration. "I believe someone has failed to terminate my program. Please respond." He sighed once more.
Sudden concern had him hurrying over to the stasis chamber. It too was empty. "Well really!" he spluttered. "This patient was in no condition to be moved. This is most inconsiderate. I would like to make an official notation that this course of action is against my express recommendations."
The EMH slowly paced up and down the sickbay. "Please respond! Somebody! Anybody!" Silence followed. "Computer, are there any life signs aboard this vessel?"
‘Negative.’
"I see." Irritation flashed across his face. "Couldn’t somebody have shut off my program before they left?"
‘Unable to respond. Please restate the query.’
"Unable to comply," the EMH returned sharply. Looking around, he sighed once more. Not knowing how long it would be until some one did come along to turn him off, he decided to clean up.
Kathryn moaned as she rolled over. Standing up slowly she looked around. She was in engineering again. Everyone seemed to be lying around in roughly the same places they were, before they were snatched away. Within a few moments they were all getting to their feet.
Slapping at her commbadge she tried to smile reassuringly at everyone. "Janeway to bridge. Anybody there?"
"Yes Captain," Rollins answered.
"How long were we over there?"
"Three days," came the reply.
"Three days?" she repeated.
"Captain, the Maquis ship is powering up its engines," Rollins reported.
"Tractor them," she ordered as she headed for the turbolift. "All senior officers report to the bridge immediately."
Kathryn was halfway to the bridge when Rollins voice came through her commbadge once again. "Captain, we have a problem. Ensign Kim is missing."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes Captain. Every one else on the bridge was returned to their station except Mr. Kim. The computer says he’s not on board."
Damn it!!! "Acknowledged." She sighed deeply. "Computer, how many crewmen are unaccounted for?"
‘Two. Lieutenant Thomas Paris and Ensign Harry Kim.’
End Part Two