Title: Nameless Part III

Author: Zappy Zaps 

Summary: This is goes through the events before and after the episode investigations and describes a similar mission of Phoenix’s

Author’s Note: This story, like the last one, probably raises more questions than it answers but don’t worry I’ll explain things in the later parts.

Rating: Uh…PG-13 (because of some (very little) bad language, I guess)

July 01

Disclaimer: Paramount, A Viacom Company, owns the Star Trek Universe. I’m not getting any thing from this. I’m just borrowing the characters for a little adventure.

Tom Paris sat in the holodeck watching as the waves crashed at the base of the cliff and the sun setting across the ocean. Tom had created this program only a few days before. It wasn’t completely finished but he wanted to go somewhere else in the holodeck other than Sandrines or his old home. It was late in the night but he couldn’t sleep so he had come to the holodeck hoping to find some sense of peace.

"Janeway to Paris." That’s odd. 

"Paris here Captain,"

"Mr. Paris please report to my ready room immediately."

"Aye Captain." He said, standing. 

"Janeway out." And the link was closed. Tom left the holodeck with one thing on his mind, What did I do now?

In her ready room Kathryn Janeway sat with her long-time friend Tuvok. Tuvok had come to her earlier that week with some disturbing information…

Janeway was sitting in the ready room in front of a stack of pads and sipping the customary cup of coffee that accompanied it when the announcer rang. After receiving permission to enter Tuvok walked in with a padd in hand. 

"Tuvok." Janeway greeted.

"Captain." Tuvok replied. "I have information of a somewhat sensitive nature." She gestured for him to take a seat. "I have uncovered information and data that suggests a member of the crew has been leaking information to the Kazon." That really got Janeway’s attention.

"Are you sure?"

"The evidence that I have uncovered supports my deduction." He handed her a padd, which Janeway studied for a few moments.

"Do you have any idea who?"

"It would most likely be one of the former Maquis crewmembers that was a close associate of Seska’s." Janeway studied more of the information on the padd while Tuvok continued. "An immediate course of action should be devised."

"Agreed. The longer this person is on the loose the more information the Kazon are getting."

For the rest of the week Janeway and Tuvok had tried search after search but no conventional methods were able to locate the source of any of the communications or detect when they were happening. They were however able to clear the names of all of the members of the senior staff. That only left about one hundred forty people or so to clear. 

By the end of the week it was clear to Janeway and Tuvok that they need to turn to more unorthodox methods of finding the spy. That’s when they created the plan to implement Tom Paris’ unique situation on board and his unique training. 

"Janeway to Paris."

"Paris here, Captain."

"Mr. Paris please report to my ready room immeadiately."

"Aye Captain." 

"Janeway out." Janeway looked over to Tuvok who seemed sure that this was the logical course of action. She wasn’t so sure. Tom had been trying to fit in with the crew despite the setbacks and she didn’t want to make things more difficult for him but the safety of the rest of her crew was at stake. A few moments later Lt. Paris stepped into ready room. He was wearing some off duty clothes, which wasn’t a surprise to Tuvok or Janeway given the late hour.

"Captain, Tuvok."

"Mr. Paris please sit down." Janeway said. Tom studied them for a moment but then sat down in the offered chair. Janeway sat on the other side of the desk while Tuvok stood at her side. "I hope I didn’t wake you," she doubted it. He looked very much a wake.

"Not at all Captain." He replied without emotion.

"I’ll cut right to the chase. We have a spy on board and we need your help in finding out who it is." Tom sat in the chair content to listen. Janeway seeing that he was not going to say anything continued. "We understand that you are making a good effort in becoming a part of this crew but what we’re asking you to do may jeopardize what you’ve started here." The Captain and Tuvok alternated in outlining the plan to him and watching him for some sort of reaction; a reaction that they never got. Tom sat in the chair seemingly calm except for his usual fidgeting. They outlined the risks and re-iterated several times that it was his decision whether or not to accept the mission.

"I’ll do it."

After that meeting Tom went back to his quarters releasing the rest of his holodeck time. He went straight to his console and opened up his file. He wanted to know exactly how much they knew about him. Entering the special command that opened the file to the same level of access as a captain would have he went through his file. Special training starting in the second year at the academy; advanced tactical courses; advanced language courses; advanced piloting and navigation courses; advanced computer and systems courses; fourth-year assignment to special services division; Enough to draw conclusions from but not the right conclusion. Tom closed his file and erased any evidence of ever being there from the computer. Tuvok and the Captain didn’t know much; his secret was safe.

And so began months of tardiness, bad behaviour questioning orders, annoying everybody, especially the commanders, starting betting pools and in general, how did Tuvok put it, ah yes, ‘behaving as a malcontent’. It wasn’t difficult, just like playing a character in some sort of movie. Leading people to believe what you want them to and letting them see only what you want them to see. The hardest part was misleading the one’s who had come to trust him and consider him their friend. Harry, Kes, Neelix and Gerron; a short list but close friends were never something that he felt very comfortable with. The closer they got the more they wanted to know and the more lies he would have to tell. 

They each came up to him at one time or another wanting to talk to him but Tom always brushed them off telling them that he was fine. But he wasn’t fine. As he got into more trouble, especially with Chakotay, more of the Maquis crewmembers figured that they could go after him now. The first time it occurred he was called from his quarters late one night to one of the Cargo bays.

"Hello!" Tom yelled as walked around the mostly deserted Cargo Bay he could see a few people lurking in the corners waiting to strike. He walked around as if he didn’t know they were there. This is gonna hurt. Tom was turning to walk out when the lights went out and two forms tackled him.

In an instant they had him pinned on the hard floor. Tom had to resist the instinct to attack back and defend himself as they landed blows to his face and chest. Moments later that attackers exited the cargo bay leaving Tom lying on the floor trying to catch his breath. Slowly he moved into a sitting posiotion and winced at the pain it caused in his chest.

"Computer lights." He called softly. Nothing happened. He stood up slowly and walked in the dim lighting to the exit. He peeked out checking that there was no one around he carefully made his way to his quarters. 

Breathing a sigh of relief when the doors hissed closed behind him. He had managed to avoid everyone he saw. Taking out the med-kit from the closet, he tended to the most noticeable and most serious injuries. He was supposed to meet Tuvok and Janeway in a few minutes. He didn’t want them worrying about his welfare. He understood the risks of this sort of mission more than they did.

"I’m in." was whispered aver the connection. On the other end Veta, Arrow and Jade were monitoring his progress. 

"Your entering the hot zone. Comm silence from here on. Good Luck." Jade said and then terminated the comm signal. Phoenix had successfully infiltrated a group that controlled most of the weapons smuggling to the Cardasians from the backwater planets outside the federation. This particular smugglers den was more like a fortess. The entire city was surrounded by a forcefiled that you could only get through at certain check points at the perimeter of the city. This area he was entering was on constant security alert so any communications channels would be easily located and he would be caught instantly. They had run a background check on him but found nothing. Cardassians weren’t known to be very forthcoming with personal information anyway so no one thought it was at all suspicious. He was on his own now.

Phoenix made his way through the dark alleys of Hitallu, a small city on the planet Demorisa II. A gruff looking Kitarian walked past Phoenix shouldering him as he made his way. That was rude. Phoenix thought better of actually confronting the large Kitariian, instead he continued on his way. Definitely not a tourist spot. He spotted the man he was supposed to follow and inconspicuously made his way closer to him. Brushing up next to him ‘accidentally’ he slipped a tracer on his jacket. 

Two hours later Phoenix was laying low in a local motel. In his room, which he had bolted looked using one of Veta’s devices so that it could only be opened from the e inside. He had set up the monitoring system and was now waiting for his target to move towards Central Control. He had watched for a while but had quickly lost interest. This was the most boring part of these jobs, waiting. 

Phoenix was laying on the bed. It was the only piece of furniture in the otherwise bare room. He glanced up at the monitor that displayed the location of his target. He had taken another detour into some bar. Groaning, Phoenix lay back down and stared at the ceiling thinking of all the better things he could be doing. Of all the missions he could be doing he had to be assigned this one. He went to the washroom and looked at himself in the mirror. Cardassian, they had to give him Cardassian features for this mission didn’t they. Cardassians were the only one’s that were seen the most coming and going from this planet so one more unrecognized Cardassian face would not draw unwanted attention. He trace the ridges around his eyes. And ran a hand through the long, dark hair. The first thing he was going to do when he got back to the Phantom was cut his hair, it kept getting in the way. They had stimulated his hair growth and dyed it dark brown. ‘Cardassians don’t have sandy blonde hair’ he could here Veta’s voice telling him when he was complaining about getting his hair dyed. They had also given him contact lenses to change his eye colour. He walked back into the main room and saw that his target was now in a merchants shop. Waiting, they knew he hated waiting. 

An hour and a half later the waiting ended. A low beep had pulled him from his thoughts. His target was finally entering Central Control. Time to follow. Phoenix closed up his gear and left it in the designated alley where someone from the team would pick it up and take it back to the ship. Phoenix made his way to Central Control and using his training managed to slip in unnoticed. Central control was a maze. Dark passages leading every which way was what greeted him when he enter the ominous building. Checking his tricorder he found the tracers signal and followed it through one of the tunnels. Several meters in front of him was Ekeg. A short little Ferengi that had weaseled more people than the Grand Nagus. He was flanked by two security personnel. Phoenix followed silently behind them staying in the shadows. What do these people have against light. The lighting was so dim he almost didn’t see the two unconscious forms lying on the floor before him. Quickly he checked that the two guards were still alive and checked the location of Ekeg. He had gone into one of the adjacent rooms. Ekeg, you little bastard. Phoenix quickly got through the lock and followed Ekeg’s trail. He found the little Ferengi at a computer terminal trying to get into the computer core. Phoenix shook his head at the little man but didn’t stop him. 

He watched as Ekeg hacked through the systems lockouts picking up a few new tricks along the way. Phoenix lurked in the dark corners on the room until he saw that Ekeg had reached a, seemingly, dead end.

"Ekkie. Ekkie. Ekkie." Phoenix said shaking his head. Ekeg quickly turned around to see the dark figure in the corner. With the low lighting he could only vaguely determine that the being was tall and male. 

Phoenix walked over to Ekeg who immediately drew his weapon. "Uh, uh, uh, I wouldn’t do that. Any unauthorized weapons fire and this place will be crawling with security personnel." He said stepping closer. Ekeg did not lower the weapon but he didn’t shoot either. As soon as he was within arms reach Phoenix had swiftly disarmed Ekeg before he could react. "Now how about we talk?"

"No!" Ekeg made a dash for the door but fell flat on his face before he could take a third step. Phoenix had tripped him and now had him pinned to the ground with one hand restrained behind his back.

"How about we talk now?" Ekeg struggled but it was no use, he was firmly pinned to the floor and he gave up. "I am going to go to that terminal and get the information that I want. You, my friend are going to stand were I can see you and not make a move. If you so much as breathe I will set off an alarm and this place will be swarmed with security officers. Understood."

"If you set off an alarm you’ll be caught too."

"You’d think that wouldn’t you? But you see I have a way to get out of here no matter what happens. If you co-operate I might just share that with you."

"I don’t want your help!" Ekeg yelled and began struggling again.

"You’ll need all the help you can get after I’ve gotten all the information from this computer." Ekeg didn’t stop struggling so Phoenix decided to be more direct. Un-holstering a disrupter from under his jacket he pressed it into the back of Ekeg’s head. Ekeg immediately recognized the disrupter and stopped moving. "If you don’t do exactly as I say there will be a smoking crater between your shoulders." He whispered dangerously. No sound came from Ekeg. "I see we have an agreement then." The pressure on Ekeg’s back was released but before he could move and inch a strong hand grabbed him from behind and hauled him to his feet. Ekeg was shoved to the right of the computer terminal and the stranger went to work on the computer terminal. 

Ekeg could now see the feature on the man from the light emanating from the console. Cardassian? "What are you doing? I help your people!" Ekeg exclaimed and was about to take a step closer but one look from the stranger kept him were he was. He obviously didn’t want to here what he had to say. Ekeg watched him work. The Cardassian didn’t have any trouble getting through the system. Ekeg took a step forward to get a closer look. In a single lightening fast move, Pheonix had his disrupte un-holstered and aimed at Ekeg who quickly took a step back.

Two minutes later Pheonix was downloading the information from the main computer to the CMU (Computer Memory Unit). He let out a low whistle. "Ekkie," he said turning his head to look at Ekeg "You’re a busy man.". The current file he was looking at held a schedule for smuggling goods to the Cardassians. The initials ‘EF’ were everywhere. ‘EF’ meaning ‘Ekeg Ferengi’. It allowed the customer to know who was going to be delivering their goods.

He placed the CMU in a pocket inside his jacket and turned to Ekeg. "Time to go."

"I haven’t gotten the information that I wanted yet." Ekeg said making a dash for the computer terminal. With one arm Phoenix intercepted him and threw him to the ground.

"You mean when they’re planning on terminating you?" he cocked he head to the side. Ekeg just stared at him. "Today." He said nonchalantly and began walking to the exit.

"Today?" 

"Your two ‘escorts’ were under orders to kill you when they reached their destination." He explained flatly as he readied his plan to get out. Ekeg was lost in thought as Phoenix placed a device on a wall console and pressed a few buttons to activate it. A moment later a siren was heard over the comm system and the complex was bathed in red lighting. 

"Time to go Ekkie." Phoenix let Ekeg walk out of the room first. Before Phoenix was completely out he turned and fired his disruptor at the computer terminal which exploded in a flash of sparks.

In the corridors personnel were hurrying from one location to the next.

"What now?" Ekeg asked.

"Come on." Phoenix said walking away from him. Ekeg had to hurry to keep up with the taller man but they soon found themselves at the front entrance and Ekeg finally caught on. He looked up at the Cardassian in disbelief.

"You can’t be serious." Ekeg said as he turned around. Phoenix quickly stepped in front of him and hand the disrupter mere centimetres from his mid-section.

"Deadly serious." Ekeg needed no more convincing. He turned and they headed back to the front entrance. Phoenix slipped two flash grenades from a pocket in his jacket. "Close your eyes." Ekeg didn’t do as told but instead stared at the Cardassian next to him, perplexed. Phoenix put on his protective glasses. "All right, It’s your vision." He shrugged and activated the grenades. 

The guards at the entrance were caught totally by surprise. The building was in total chaos. Communication links were malfunctioning; they were on alert but had received no orders and the people running in all directions didn’t help. When two metallic spheres rolled to them it only heightened their confusion. Before they could even investigate the spheres emitted a bright white light. The guards dropped their weapons as the light assaulted there eyes causing debilitating pain behind their eyes. 

"Keep your eyes closed." Phoenix ordered to the little Ferengi as he guided him through the entrance, past the guards and out of the complex. The out side of the complex was as chaotic as the inside. They quickly made their way to the dark alleys closest to the building. 

Ekeg was panting trying to catch his breath while trying to keep an eye on the Cardie which was taking out another gadget. Phoenix looked at the winded Ferengi "A little out of shape aren’t we?" he said walking away. 

"You’re just going to leave me here?" 

"Your ship isn’t too far from here and if I know Ferengi, and I do know Ferengi, you creepy little bastards always have another trick up your sleeve." Phoenix continued walking.

"Wait." Ekeg ran to catch up to the Cardie "I have a proposition for you." 

"A business proposition, no doubt." He said with disinterest, not slowing his quick pace. 

"Indeed. You have skill that I could really make use of. We could be quite a team." Ekeg said with a persuasive smile. Phoenix stopped dead in his tracks and Ekeg took this as a good sign. He turned to face the Ferengi and grabbed him by the collar. He looked into both eye’s of the terrified man and then removed the tracer from Ekeg’s collar. Phoenix let go pushing Ekeg away from him and continued walking to the force-field barrier. 

Taking the gadget he had out before he placed it at the base of the force field. The device hummed and emitted several little beam that interfered with the force-field causing a section of the force-field to disappear.

"Twelve seconds." Phoenix said to Ekeg stepping through the rift in the force-field. Ekeg didn’t follow right away. "Eight seconds." Phoenix said to Ekeg from the other side of the force-field. Ekeg stared at the Cardie wondering whether to trust him or not. "Five, four, three, two," Ekeg quickly slipped through the opening to the other side. "One." The force-field sealed itself and the device on the other side fizzled and burned until only ash was left. 

Outside the force-field the strong winds howled and sprayed dust and sand in their faces. The climate was that of a desert but the temperature was much cooler. 

"Contact your ship and get out of here. I think that they’ve realized you’ve escaped and they’ll be looking for you." Phoenix abruptly turned and headed deeper into the desert. Ekeg stood there and glared at the back of the Cardassian’s retreating form. A moment later he was picked up by his small ship where his partner was waiting for him.

Phoenix walked against the strong winds to his beam-out point. Only a few hundred meters from it he head a noise. It was hard to identify because of the harsh winds but when it was closer there was no mistaking that sound. He took off in a run for the beam-out point. Phaser fire kicked up more dust, further obscuring his vision. Shards of rock sliced through his clothes. A shot that was much closer to hitting the target, knocked Phoenix of his feet. Instantly climbing to his feet he ran the last few meteres to the beam-out point. Tapping his commbadge in his pocket once he shimmered out of existence just as one shot finally hit it’s mark.

On the ship Phoenix re-materialized on the transporter pad. Jade tapped her commbadge "We got him." She said with a smile. Barely, she added internally. 

At 1900 on Voyager Lt. Tom Paris, Lt. Tuvok and Captain Kathryn Janeway met in the Captain’s Ready Room. It was time to put the next phase of their plan in motion.

"We should let the Commander know what’s going on. He may be able to help with the investigation." Paris suggested and the Captain agreed, Tuvok however…

"I don’t believe that would be the wisest course of action." Janeway and Paris looked at the Vulcan. "It would place the Commander in a difficult situation if he were forced to set a trap for one of his former crew. We also need his reaction to be natural and believable." Tuvok justified.

"You don’t trust him," Paris stated. The old guy may have been a Maquis and they weren’t the best of friends but Chakotay hated the Maquis as much as anyone on the ship. 

Before this discussion got out of hand Janeway interrupted. "I agree with Tuvok. For now Commander Chakotay will not know any of this information." Janeway’s decision was final. An hour later the meeting had ended and the plan was set in motion. Lt. J.G. Thomas Eugene Paris resigned his commission and was leaving Voyager.

Investigations

Home sweet Home, thought Tom Paris as he entered his old quarters on Voyager. He had just returned from ‘A Briefing with Neelix’. His quarters were mostly bare. He was still unpacking the things he had left in storage on Voyager. He knew that the items he took with him would most likely not survive the mission so he left all his items of sentimental value or importance on Voyager. He continued to place his items back on the appropriate shelves his thoughts, however was not on the task at hand. He was thinking about Commander Chakotay, of all people. The Commander was at his debriefing along with Tuvok and Janeway but he didn’t say a word. He didn’t have a chance to talk with the Commander before or after the debriefing. Now he hoped that any steps towards the two of them getting along had not been destroyed by the recent events. He had heard how the Commander had come to find out about the mission. 

Tom sighed and sat down on his couch. He had already talked to Kes, Gerron, Harry and Neelix. Harry who said that he didn’t believe that Tom was the spy when Neelix had accused him on the show and that he knew Tom would come back. Neelix had apologized profusely for accusing Tom of being the spy. He didn’t harbour and hard feeling towards the Talaxian. It was a mistake, one that actually helped find the real spy in the end. Gerron and Kes both said that they understood that he was under orders from the Captain to act the way he did. He wondered what Chakotay would say. He had apologized publicly for the way he acted towards Chakotay but he wanted to apologize privately to him since he kind of made a joke out of it on Neelix’s show. 

The computer told him that the Commander was in his quarters. As he was heading to the door the chime rang. Walking to the door it opened to reveal one B’elanna Torres. Tom was surprised to see her but he smiled graciously. 

"Hey B’elanna." He said with a smile. B’elanna wasn’t sure what to say so she opted for her usual greeting.

"Paris." She said simply. She fell silent for a moment before continuing. She held out her hand. "It’s good to have you back," Tom shook the offered hand. "Baytart at the helm was causing too much damage." she said with a slight smile and then walked away.

In his quarters, Commander Chakotay was retrieving his medicine bundle to go on a vision quest, when his chime rang. 

"Come in." And in walked Tom Paris, one of the subjects he needed to discuss with his spirit guide. 

Tom could see Chakotay’s features harden as he saw who was at the door. He walked in just far enough so that the door closed behind him. "Commander, I hope I’m not interrupting you but I had to talk to you." Tom said calmly. Chakotay only nodded so Tom continued. "I wanted to apologize for my behaviour towards you for the last little while. I didn’t mean what I said that day in the Mess Hall and I hope I didn’t undermine your authority with the rest of the crew." Chakotay only looked at him with an unwavering gaze. Tom did not let any emotion show as Chakotay studied his countenance. Stepping towards him Chakotay held out his hand.

"Apology accepted." Tom shook his hand and gave a small smile before leaving the Commander’s quarter.

Watching the doors of his quarters close, Chakotay didn’t know what to think of the man that just left. For now…he reserved judgement.

End Part III

Yeah it was really short, I know, but send your comments to zappyzaps@hotmail.com