and let the child sip as much as she would take. She lost interest
after a few gulps. He took a long drink himself, then poured a
trickle of the cool water down each side of his neck to cool his
throat and chest then brushed a moistened hand across his brow.
Unused to this kind of heat, he was sweating profusely and could feel
the tingle of a sunburn beginning. Taking off his jacket meant his
arms and shoulders would also be exposed, but there was sunscreen in
his medkit and better to get a sunburn than risk dropping from heat
stroke.
His small companion reached toward a nearby bush heavy with purple
berries growing on it in clusters. "Ju Ju!" the child chanted, hands
outstretched, fingers wiggling.
"You're hungry?" Tom said. "I should have expected that." He got to
his feet, using his tricorder to scan the prospective snack. "These
berries don't seem to be poisonous. For my blood chemistry anyway. I
don't know about yours."
He eyed her dubiously. "Would a little kid know what she could eat?
Maybe. A Human child would. Maybe. I vaguely remember trying to eat
crayons once." He tried running a scan on her. "I think it would be
safe for you." He plucked a berry and tasted it. "Not too bad."
The child bounced up and down, repeating, "Ju Ju!"
"Okay. Try one." Paris offered her a single berry. She was
obviously familiar with them. He watched as she popped it into her
mouth and then grinned at him triumphantly, holding up her fat little
paw for another. "Ju Ju! Jubry!"
"Hey! You even know what they're called, I guess," Paris said,
handing her another berry. It didn't last long either. She finished
another eight before refusing any more. Tom ate several himself,
relishing the sweet tartness.
He dug the sunscreen out of the medkit and sprayed his face, arms,
shoulders, chest, and neck. The little Kastini crinkled her nose,
made a face, and sneezed. "Oh, you don't like the smell? Too bad.
It only comes in coconut. I wonder why sunscreens always smell like
coconut? Tradition? Never mind." He stowed everything in the pack
and shouldered it. "Come on, sweetheart. We need to get you home."
His last tricorder readings indicated the Kastini settlement was no
more than a kilometer away. Hopefully all downhill.
Paris heard a noise in the trees to the right of the path. Something
was coming. Something big. He whipped the tricorder out again,
scanning quickly. Some kind of massive animal. And getting closer.
He only had moments. Spotting a tree limb dangling over the path, Tom
put the child on the limb and tied her in place using the sleeves of
his jacket then he grabbed his phaser, putting himself squarely
between the animal and the child.
The creature broke through the bushes. It was huge, resembling a
cross between a bear and a small elephant, and it had a nasty
attitude. The beast reared back, waving its large claws and flashing
sharp, pointed teeth as it roared a challenge in Paris' direction and
walked forward on its back legs.
For a split second, Tom froze. Then fired his phaser.
Nothing happened. He should have expected that. "Argh!" he growled
in exasperation. Throwing the useless phaser aside, he grabbed the
biggest stick within easy reach, clenched his teeth, and braced
himself for the attack.
The animal hesitated for a moment, studying its unfamiliar prey. It
roared again and wavered forward a few more steps.
Maybe he could scare it away? Paris shouted, waving the stick
menacingly.
The animal slowly dropped to all fours and paused in its movement. It
sniffed the air and Tom could have sworn it wrinkled its nose with
distaste before taking off through the bushes and disappearing back
the way it had come.
He couldn't believe it. Incredible. He picked up the tricorder. No,
it really was moving away. Tom shook his head and turned to look at
the child who was watching him curiously and apparently unafraid. "I
guess you were right. He didn't like the smell of sunscreen either."
Taking a deep breath of relief and ignoring the way his hands were
shaking, Tom untied the child and set her on the ground while he
gathered up his equipment and backpack and prepared to move on once
more.
As he picked her up, he asked, "Now what?"
He didn't expect an answer, but he got one. Looking into his face
delightedly, she patted his cheeks. "Da-da! Da-da!"
Tom felt his jaw drop and his eyes widen. "Please, tell me that
doesn't mean the same thing in your language as it does in mine!"
"Da-da!" she crowed.
"No, no, no!" Tom said hastily. "Not Da-da! Uncle! Uncle Tommy!
Can you say Uncle?"
"Da-da!"
"No! Uncle!" He tried to sound stern.
"Da-da!"
"Can you say Tommy?" he asked hopefully.
"Da-da!"
"Tom?" he sighed.
"Da-da!"
Paris surrendered. If this was a battle of wills, he didn't have
enough will to win. He just hoped no one else heard about this. His
exaggerated reputation as a playboy was bad enough. If it got around
that he'd become the father of an alien child, in less than six hours
at that, he'd be in hot water. He probably was already in it up to
his neck. When he'd asked permission to leave the path, he hadn't
expected to be out of contact for so long. With that thought, Paris
decided to try again. He slapped his commbadge. "Paris to Chakotay."
Nothing.
"Paris to *Voyager*."
Nothing again.
He smiled at the little cherub who was carefully and delicately
exploring the lines of his face with her soft chubby paws. She beamed
back at him.
"I guess we better get you home." He made a face at her. She
chortled with laughter. To the child's delight, he went through his
entire repertoire of funny faces as he walked toward the city. He'd
never had a more appreciative audience.
# # #
At exactly 1600, Ygaral returned to the Council Chamber. The four
away team members eagerly turned to face him. Three of them had been
working hard to keep their imaginations in check, to keep from
inventing horrors that Tom might be enduring. Tuvok was attempting to
analyze the problem with the tricorders and the manner in which they'd
been caused to malfunction so that he could devise a solution to
prevent a reoccurrence.
Ygaral's whole manner had changed since they'd last seen him. He
seemed genuinely cordial. "I wish to congratulate you, Commander
Chakotay."
"Where's Tom?" Torres demanded. "Did he pass your test?"
Ygaral nodded and smiled in a friendly manner, though the sharp teeth
that showed as a result was less than a comforting image and did
little to put the humans at ease. "As a matter of fact, we've never
tested anyone with a higher score than your Lieutenant Paris."
"Where is he?" Harry Kim asked. "Can we see him?"
"He should be here momentarily," Ygaral said.
As if on cue, the doors to the Council Cham
ber swung open and Nguri
ushered in a tired, dirty, disheveled Tom Paris. He was carrying a
Kastini toddler and looked perfectly healthy except for the tinge of
sunburn on his cheeks and neck and upper shoulders. His
sweat-dampened hair was a rumpled, red-gold halo curling above his
pink face, but to the away team, he'd never looked better.
"Tom, are you all right?" Harry asked, moving forward to relieve his
friend of his pack.
Paris was taken aback by the fervency of the question. "Sure, Harry.
Sorry I took so long, Commander. It was a one-way street so I took
the long way around." In the background, he could hear Tuvok
notifying the Captain of his safe return. It was beginning to sink in
with Paris that the others had been worried about him.
Torres was so angry he'd worried them, yet so relieved he wasn't hurt,
she didn't know whether she wanted to hit him or kiss him. Maybe
neither. Maybe both. "Where have you been?" she snarled. "Why did
you wander off alone?"
"I didn't wander off," Tom protested. "I told Chakotay I heard
something. He waved me off to go investigate. You must have heard
me."
Chakotay shook his head and gazed at Ygaral. The Councilor smiled.
"A deception on our part, Lieutenant. You thought you had permission
to leave the group because we deceived you. An illusion. Due to a
similar illusion, your shipmates believed that you were following
them, but in reality you were separated from the others within minutes
of your arrival."
"What? Sorry, Commander. I thought--"
"That's okay, Paris. I'm glad you're all right. Who's your friend?"
Chakotay asked as he drew nearer and flashed a smile at the child.
"I don't know her name," Tom began.
With perfect timing, the child patted Tom's cheek softly, possessively
saying, "Da-da!"
"She thinks that's your name?" Harry rolled his eyes.
Torres snorted. "Even you don't work that fast, hotshot!"
Paris fervently hoped his blush would be lost in his sunburn.
"I don't know," Chakotay teased. "Did you notice her eyes?"
Harry and B'Elanna stepped forward to take a look, but the child had a
fit of shyness and buried her face in Tom's neck. He patted her back
gently. "That's okay, sweetheart. They're just being funny.
Councilor Ygaral, could you help me locate her family? I think her
mother--"
"Of course, Lieutenant," the Councilor said, snapping his fingers at
his assistant who scurried to open another door.
A female Kastini approached, her own brilliant blue eyes sparkling.
The child immediately tried to dive into her arms. As she caught the
child to her body she smiled at Paris. "Thank you for caring for
Tukara. She is my child."
"Da-da!" Tukara said, pointing to Tom emphatically and beaming a smile
in his direction.
"What's that she's saying?" Torres asked with false solicitude. "Does
that mean father?"
The woman laughed. "No, of course not. In our language, in her baby
talk, the word *da-da* means pretty."
Chakotay, Harry, and B'Elanna burst out laughing.
Tom hadn't thought he had another blush in him, but felt the heat
rushing up his neck. Pretty? She thinks I'm pretty? he thought.
That's all I need! That's worse for my reputation than being called
daddy!
Ygaral made a dismissive gesture to Tukara's mother and Tom, a wistful
expression crossing his face, watched mother and child disappear
through a nearby doorway. She was a cute kid. "Lieutenant Paris, it
was a pleasure testing you. I was telling your commander that your
score is the highest received since the testing was incorporated into
our protocols for dealing with other cultures."
"Testing? I was being tested?" Paris said, exhausted and puzzled. He
fought off a yawn.
"Yes. I'm sure you're tired and would like refreshments before we go
over the test results. Please be seated."
Moments later the *Voyager* team was seated around the conference
table with plentiful refreshments for their enjoyment. Ygaral punched
a button and a viewscreen appeared on the wall. "Perhaps it would be
simpler to let you watch the Lieutenant's test and explain our scoring
system as we go." At the touch of another button, the screen lit up
and a two-dimensional recording began to play.
Though Paris had never detected any sign of surveillance equipment,
his every action and word since he had left the away team had been
recorded. The away team watched as Paris trudged through the jungle
to reach the ravine and rescue the child.
When he started up the tree, Harry caught on to his plan immediately.
"Tom, you didn't!"
Paris shrugged nonchalantly. It felt strange to be watching himself.
It was embarrassing. Now they'd all be second-guessing him.
"Bun in a twist?" Chakotay mouthed, raising an eyebrow.
Paris smiled weakly.
Torres caught her breath. To the observers, it was clear just how
close Tom had come to NOT making it across that ravine. They watched
as he bonded immediately with the child. B'Elanna hadn't expected
Paris to be good with children. It seemed out of character.
As the film played out, Ygaral kept up a running commentary. "Mr.
Paris' compassion for the child earned fifty points. Disregard the
female body. It is merely another illusion. No one was hurt but his
compassion for her earned another fifty points. Risking his life to
save the child: fifty points. Now, you'll notice that he not only
tests the food source but tries it himself before letting Tukara eat
it. Another fifty points."
"You ate crayons?" Harry Kim whispered.
"Shut up, Harry!"
They watched as the hulking beast burst out of the bushes and
threatened Tom. "What's that?" Kim exclaimed.
"You think it's big onscreen? You should see its teeth four meters in
front of you," Tom muttered.
"Shoot it!" Torres growled impatiently.
Tom stared at her, then reached over to tap her on the arm. She
glared at him then turned her attention back to the screen where the
video Tom was attempting just that. When the phaser didn't work,
B'Elanna whispered a curse.
Tom patted her hand. "It's okay, B'Elanna. I'm here. You know this
has a happy ending. Right?"
"This is worse than a holonovel!" She snatched her hand away.
"Remind me to take you to a drive-in movie sometime," Paris commented.
"Night of the Zombies, maybe?"
When the image of Tom wielding a stick a little over one meter long
and two centimeters in diameter, appeared, Harry slid an awed glance
at his friend but didn't comment. It wasn't much of a weapon against
a person, much less an animal that size.
Ygaral continued. "When the ragtal attacked, he defended the child at
risk to himself. Fifty points. When he discovered his weapon was
nonfunctional, yet still protected the child, he received a bonus of
one hundred points."
"It was all a test?" Paris asked. "You mean there was really no
danger?"
"The danger had to be real for a true test," Ygaral disagreed.
"You left a defenseless child in the middle of nowhere--at risk of
falling off that cliff and a target for that animal--for a test?!"
Paris surged to his feet.
Torres on one side and Kim on the other restrained him. They shared
his anger, but throttling the government representative wasn't
strictly in accord with Starfleet policy on first contacts.
"Not at all, Mr. Paris," Ygaral replied calmly. "The *child* was
never in danger. She was constantly monitored and under our
protection. If you had attempted to harm her, you would have been
stopped, possibly killed. If you had run from the ragtal without
protecting the child, the animal would have killed you. We would not
have interfered."
Paris shrugged out of his friends' hands and reseated himself. "I'm
glad you protected her. But I still say that's a stupid way to test
people. Who wouldn't take care of a little kid?"
Ygaral shook his head fondly, as if Paris had said something
particularly naive or endearing. "The true test of a species' level
of civilization is how it deals with the most helpless and innocent of
beings. You Humans seem to have a great deal of compassion. You
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