by Alys Landale
“Hello B’Elanna,” said Sam.
B’Elanna nodded. She looked over to Xara and Tom as if reluctant to go. She needed to get to Engineering but she couldn’t leave them.
Sam understood the other woman’s conflict. “B’Elanna I’ll watch after Xara and Tom for you. Naomi can come by to keep her company if you like.”
Torres nodded reluctantly. She slipped out of sickbay and made her way to Engineering. Her mood was clouded by anger and frustration at what was going on around her. Something in the back of her mind told her that her Engineering crew was going to be hiding a lot more than usual today.
Three days passed and the Doctor was no closer to an answer. He and Seven had attacked this virus from all angles but every time they tried something new, it would adapt almost immediately. As each hour ticked by Paris’s body grew weaker. It was like this virus was trying to strangle every ounce of energy out of him.
Work on the new Warp Core had come to a halt for the time being. Xara was still staying with B’Elanna and the two seemed to spend more and more time in sickbay. Tom was rarely awake when they were there but they stayed by his side anyway.
Now the two were in her quarters again. B’Elanna was still sleeping on the couch but it didn’t really matter. She wasn’t sleeping much anyway.
She tossed under her sheets. Her temper was growing shorter with each passing day.
*Why’s this happening? Why did it have to be Tom? Why can’t the Doc find a cure?* The questions plagued her constantly. Her emotions waged war on one another. So many questions...
She grabbed the nearest object and threw it against a nearby wall. Xara was in Torres’s room so she didn’t hear the older woman’s tantrum. B’Elanna walked over to the shattered remnants of what was once a Padd. She just stared down at the pieces in silence. A tear ran down her face.
Doc paced around sickbay. Paris had fallen unconscious yet again and his vitals weren’t looking good. He checked the man’s monitor and frowned. At this rate, they would lose him within the week.
The EMH sighed. He and Seven had been working non-stop on this but they still were no better than when they had first started. He hadn’t informed the Captain yet as to how badly his patient was doing.
The monitor above Tom sounded an alarm. Paris’s vital signs were falling, fast. Doc ran to get a hypospray and administered it quickly. There was no effect. He cursed under his breath. Tom’s body must have already adapted to the medication. He picked up a cortical stimulator and applied it to the man’s neck.
“Computer set stimulator on a power enhancement of 100.” He ordered. The stimulator went to work. Nothing happened.
“Computer increase output by 50%.” he said again. He wasn’t going to lose this patient. Not now.
Tom’s vitals slowly began to rise. After a few more minutes, they were within safety parameters again. But Doc did note that they were still borderline.
*I suppose I’ll have to inform the Captain about this.* he thought. She had been asking about Tom for the past three days but somehow he had alluded to the severity of Paris’s virus.
He looked down at his patient. Tom’s face had grown paler than usual and it now looked like he was losing weight. His
Borg-like energy conductor had fallen first. Now Doc was forced to inject him with any nutrients he needed, but that was proving to be a bit harder than inspected. Tom’s body just didn’t seem to be able to convert the nutrients Doc was giving him into energy.
Doc shook his head. Tomorrow he would call a senior staff meeting. The others had a right to know what was going on.
Waves of images flooded his senses. The same thing had been happening for the past few days so it had long since lost its peculiarity. Now it was merely a burden he was forced to deal with. But the way things were going now, he wouldn’t have to deal with this burden for long.
The images were starting to slow down now. He could finally make sense of what was happening.
His surroundings seemed to change to that of the inside of a space station. Everything seemed so natural. He was there with
B’Elanna on one side of him and Janeway on the other. Then all of a sudden a beam of light shot out from behind them and B’Elanna fell to the ground. His eyes widened in disbelief as he knelt down to pick her up in his arms.
Then it was gone. The memory hung in Paris’s mind. It was just one of the many pieces that were bound to surface. But there was something that struck him deeply about what he had just experienced. He now remembered the way he had felt when that had occurred. How his heart had almost broken in two when he saw his love lying on the floor. Feelings for B’Elanna overwhelmed him. But what was he supposed to do with those feelings?
He didn’t have long to think. He was pulled away from this plane almost as quickly as he had come.
From far away, Aria watched as Tom was pulled away from her. She smiled sadly, as she watched the man she love disappear.
*It won’t be long Tom.* she said to herself. *You’re almost ready.*
B’Elanna woke up suddenly. Her breath was ragged and her pulse quickened. She felt like something had just torn her insides out.
Getting up from her sofa, she walked over to the bathroom. After getting dressed, she still wasn’t able to shake these feelings. When she entered her living quarters again, she saw that Xara was awake as well.
“Oh, I didn’t know you were up.” B’Elanna said. The two no longer felt awkward around one another.
Xara nodded. “I didn’t sleep too well.” she said.
B’Elanna smiled somewhat sadly. “I know. Neither did I.” She then changed the subject. “How about we go down to check on Tom. I have an early shift, so I’d better go before it starts.”
The little girl let a smile spread across her face. “Good,” she said. “I didn’t think you’d ever bring it up.”
Tom was awake by the time B’Elanna walked in. His heart jumped to his throat as he saw her. But after seeing Xara trail in behind her, he reminded himself to take control. He couldn’t let Aria’s memory slip away so easily.
The two women walked over to him. B’Elanna gave a genuine smile as she saw he was awake. His face was still pale, but he held more life in it today than she had seen in quite a while.
“I see you’re awake,” she said.
Tom nodded. “Couldn’t sleep the week away now could I?”
Xara approached his bedside. He lifted a weak hand and ran it through her hair. “Hey Squeaker.”
She smiled. The happiness of seeing him awake blinded her to the weakness of his voice. “It’s about time you got up,” she told him.
He laughed a bit. “Yeah, I guess it is.”
Xara hugged him and then her face lit up in realization. “I almost forgot!” she said and then ran off to get something at the other side of the room.
This gave Tom and B’Elanna some time alone. She reached a hand down to him.
“How’s Xara been doing?” he asked.
“Oh, she’s fine.” Torres said. “She missed you like crazy but that’s expected.”
He nodded. “How about you?”
She looked somewhat surprised by his query. “Well, I don’t know. I’ve been glad to have her with me but...” She didn’t know how to say this. “But I hate the reason you two have to be separated.”
He looked up into her eyes. He put a hand on hers. “Don’t worry. Things’ll sort themselves out.” He paused for a moment.
“Last night.... I remembered seeing you before.”
B’Elanna’s eyes widened. “What did you remember?”
He explained to her the memories that had come back to him in his dreams. Her eyes continued to widen as she listened.
Just as he finished Xara came running back. She handed Tom a Padd. He broke his gaze from B’Elanna to the item he was given.
“What’s this?” he asked.
Xara smiled. “Me and Naomi made it a yesterday. She says it’s a get well note and it will make you f
eel better. Tom smiled.
“I think I’m already feeling better.” He told her.
Doc then came in. “I see we already have guests.” he said. He then walked over to B’Elanna. “Lieutenant, there will be a
senior staff meeting in a few minutes. I think it would be best if you attended.”
She was about to protest but Tom stopped her. “Go,” he said. “You’ve been couped up in here almost as much as I have.”
B’Elanna reluctantly conceded. She bent down to talk to Paris. “We’ll continue our discussion later.”
She then walked out of sickbay. Sam came in just as she left.
“Right on time.” said the Doctor. “Notify me the minute anything happens.” he told her and then began to outline a list of things to watch for in the patient.
Tom interrupted him. “Doc, I think she can manage.”
The EMH shot Paris a look but realized the man was right. “I’ll be back in ten or fifteen minutes.” Doc told them and exited to follow Torres. She wasn’t the only one on the way to the Captain’s Ready Room.
B’Elanna was so lost in her thoughts, that she didn’t notice Joe Carrey come up beside her.
“Lieutenant Torres.” he said. She looked up from her thoughts but said nothing.
He handed her a Padd. “These are the final diagnostics of how the New Core would run if we used this new element instead of dilithium. You might not want to look over them now but...”
She took the Padd. “Thanks.” she told him and then walked away.
He looked after her as she left. As he shook his head, he wondered if she would ever be the same. She had changed when
Tom had first been predicted as dead, but he had thought part of her usual attitude had been restored over the past week. But if
Tom didn’t recover...
He shook his head again. How could she possibly go through all that again?
Janeway listened attentively as Doc outlined his recent information. Seven jumped in at times, but it was always the same thing. She was ready for him to get to the point.
“So Doctor, could you just sum it up.” She said.
Doc hesitated for a few moments. He didn’t know how to say this. “To put it bluntly, if I don’t find something to cure this, his systems will continue to shut down.” He paused for a moment. “He’s facing a total shutdown of all his systems in less than two days if he keeps going along at this rate.”
B’Elanna felt her heart stop. “You’ve got to be mistaken,” she told him.
He shook his head. “I wish I was but by these readouts, he doesn’t have long. Just last night he had a serious attack. I was barely able to keep his systems running.”
Everyone in the Ready Room was silent. B’Elanna was the first to break the silence as she whispered something under her breath. “And this had to happen just when he was beginning to remember...”
Janeway looked up. She had just barely heard Torres’s whispered words. “What do you mean, Lieutenant?”
B’Elanna looked a bit surprised that she had been heard. “A while ago, Tom told me some of his memories were starting to come back last night. He remembered back when we were in that station. At least part of it.”
Doc, along with everyone else, looked up. The EMH jumped at what B’Elanna had just said. “I’m glad someone decided to tell me about this.” He said with his usual sarcasm. “That could have explained why his neural energy peaked last night.” He thought for a moment as his mind raced. “We know that as his memories return they are upsetting the new balance that was set when memories were first erased. Perhaps we’re going about this the wrong way. Maybe it’s not a virus that’s attacking his system. Maybe the virus is just an after-product of his returning memories.”
“Your logic proves sustainable.” Seven said. “But we are still no closer to an answer.”
Doc nodded. Seven had a way of bringing down one’s mood at times. He was about to reply when his comm badge bleeped to life.
“Wildman to Doctor.”
“Yes, ensign, what’s wrong?” he asked.
“Doc you need to get down here now. Tom’s not doing well.” She told him. Her voice was stricken with concern.
“I’ll be there immediately,” he said. He didn’t even waste a glance at the others in the room as he transported to sickbay.
B’Elanna felt her stomach lurch. She didn’t want to face the truth but there was no way around it. She was barely aware of the others around her. Or of the Padd she held in her hand.
“Ensign, report,” Doc ordered as he materialized in sickbay.
Sam was next to Paris’s biobed. “Doc he’s going into cardiac arrest.”
The EMH ran over to the console next to Tom’s biobed. He tried to adjust the equipment but it did no good. If he couldn’t get this to work, he’s have to go to more drastic measures. “Sam I need a neural inhibitor.”
The ensign’s eyes widened. “Doc we don’t know what will happen if this interacts with his new anatomy.”
Doc brushed her off. “We don’t have a choice.”
Reluctantly Sam fetched the instrument to which he was referring. This had been known to have extreme side effects on those with a telepathic ability. And with Paris’s anatomy, there was no telling what would happen.
Doc operated the inhibitor. It didn’t work.
Paris’s body was deathly pale. By all appearances, it looked as if Doc had already lost him. But the EMH refused to give in.
He upped the dosage of the inhibitor by fifteen percent.
Slowly Tom’s vitals began to increase. The doctor gave a sigh of relief.
“His body just doesn’t have enough energy to compensate for the high levels of neural activity as well as the side effects of this virus.” Doc said to himself as he shook his head. If he didn’t find a way to stop this Paris would die in less than a day.
Xara stood behind the two medical technicians working on Tom. Once Tom’s vitals had begun to fall, she had been forgotten as Sam called the doctor back to sickbay. Now it appeared that she was just as overlooked.
She silently left sickbay. She needed to go talk with someone. Naomi was in the mess hall right now, but she didn’t think that another person her own age would be the best to talk to.
There was only one other adult other than Rune who she trusted. Now she set out to find her.
Torres left the Captain’s ready room in a trance. The doctor’s words hung in her ears. He had to be wrong. There had to be something they could do.
She was so lost in her thoughts that she didn’t notice the little girl approaching her.
“B’Elanna,” came a voice.
Torres looked down to see Xara beside her. The little girl looked scared as her eyes sought a refuge from what she had just experienced.
The older woman bent down to the girl’s level. “Yes.” She knew that Xara had probably been in sickbay when all this had happened, but for all her life, B’Elanna couldn’t think of another thing to say.
Xara wrapped her arms around B’Elanna’s neck. “He’s not going to be okay, is he?”
Torres felt the child’s tears on her shoulder. She felt the need to soothe the little girl, but she couldn’t just lie to her. “We’re not going to give up yet.” She told her. “There’s still time.”
Xara lingered in Torres’s embrace a little longer and then pulled away and wiped her eyes. “I heard Doc say that Rune’s body doesn’t have enough energy to keep up with his mind. How is he going to be able to help him if he can’t even make Rune stronger?”
B’Elanna felt an idea pulling at the back of her mind. If they just needed to make him stronger.... She looked down at the Padd in her hands. Something Tom had told her before seemed to come raging back in her mind.
*This could be the answer.* she thought.
She got up from where she was knelt and took Xara’s hand. “Come on,” she told the little girl. “I think I have an idea.”
*
The
darkness was growing lighter. Aria looked around as she felt Tom return. She knew that she couldn’t interfere now.
This was his battle now. He had to do this.
The other entity came up beside her. *You are worried* the feminine voice said.
Aria sighed. *Yes. I just wish he had more time to prepare for this. But he has to do this now.*
*He’s ready.* said the voice. *Even if he doesn’t remember just yet, he was able to help me defeat Neryem. He will be able to do this as well.*
Aria had to admit that Sorores had a point. Tom had helped her back then. And by doing that, both Sorores and Neryem had been imprisoned here with him. She just hoped that Tom could defeat Neryem this time just as he did before.
Both of them felt the atmosphere around them growing colder. They had kept Neryem at bay as best they could, but now it was time for Tom to do the same.
Aria felt her heart go out to him. Tom was the only man she had ever loved, but she knew that he didn’t belong to her, he never had. His heart was always in the possession of another. He never was meant for her anyway. She had been sent to prepare him for what was to come, not to create any romantic entanglements.
But that still couldn’t dissuade her heart. *Be careful Tom...* she whispered into the darkness.
Tom could tell he was back on the dark plane once more. He searched for Aria but she seemed to be nowhere present.
He did however run across another entity. It was the same one that had tried to attack him the first time he had come here.
*What do you want?* Paris asked.
Neryem responded. *I want you dead.* he stated. At Paris’s puzzlement he continued. *You imprisoned me here. Don’t worry if you don’t remember me now. You will soon.*
At that, Neryem attacked him. As he felt the other’s presence encompass him, memories of past began to overwhelm him. He was pulled through his past. He began experiencing his time with Takma. All the pain that he had felt then was returned to him in the fullest as he lived those memories over again.
