Disclaimer: Star Trek Voyager is property of Paramount Pictures and all respective cast, crew, and employees. I am not making a profit off this. This is simply for fanfiction enjoyment.
Summary: An away mission goes terribly wrong for Harry Kim and Tom Paris. One is badly injured and the other's past comes back to haunt him. One will be forever changed and the other may not survive.
Rating: PG-13 ( T )
Timeline: Takes place after the episode Nothing Human and before Thirty Days.
Poisoning
Captain Kathryn Janeway sat in her Ready Room on the starship Voyager, slowly rolling a pip between her thumb and forefinger. She leaned back in her chair as she thought of the officer who would have one more pip on his uniform; a promotion.
This officer had performed above and beyond the call of duty on numerous occasions. He had risked his life and faced dire consequences to save the crew. It was about time he be promoted. She smiled ever so slightly as she imagined the expression on his face when he received the coveted pip. She received just as much enjoyment seeing her officers promoted as they did. But this officer, she had a feeling, would be slightly happier. Just slightly….
"What is this?" Lieutenant Tom Paris asked warily, peering at the strange substance in his bowl.
"Tarameeseum hair in Alterian chowder sprinkled with Nantanken sprigs!" Neelix, the Talaxian chef said proudly.
Ensign Harry Kim dipped his spoon into his bowl and looked closely at the black strings floating in the chowder.
"The Tarameesum hair is just a name, right?" he asked, still staring at his bowl, "it's not…"
"Real Taramesseum hair," Neelix finished for him beaming with pride, "I found them on the Kovur planet where we last gathered food. Taramesseum naturally shed their hair annually, and the planet was filled with them. Try it! There's plenty to go around once you like it."
Lieutenant Paris and Ensign Kim exchanged wary glances.
"I'm going to volunteer my fiend Harry, here," Tom said before Harry could open his mouth to speak, "to have the honor of taking the first bite. I owe him one."
Harry smiled wryly. Tom was finally paying him back for volunteering him to go down on an away mission to a Demon class planet. Demon class described planets most inhospitable for human life. To say the planet was a living nightmare would have been an understatement.
The two Starfleet officers were having lunch in the mess hall with Neelix trying yet another one of his interesting, yet barely digestible foods, on the crew. Harry and Tom had finished a game of one-on-one basketball in Holodeck Two and were starving, or so they thought.
"Well?" Neelix asked expectantly.
Harry dipped his spoon into the soup as slowly as possible.
beep
"All senior officers to the Bridge," Captain Kathryn Janeway's voice could be heard over the comm signal."
"Gotta go," Harry said, dropping his spoon.
"Bu-but… the chowder," Neelix said as the two rose from their seats.
"Sorry, duty calls."
"Saved by the combadge," Harry sighed as soon as the mess hall doors closed behind him.
"Not so fast," Tom replied, at his friend's heels, "I still owe you one. In fact, considering what we went through on that planet, you owe me twenty."
"Sensors have located a distress signal from a planet twenty light years from here," Lieutenant Commander Tuvok, the Vulcan security officer, reported as Tom and Harry arrived on the Bridge.
As soon as Harry reached his Ops station, he went to work, his fingers dancing over the console.
"It's an audio-only signal. I'm patching it through."
"Someone help me, please! My name is Yavira Jenners, of the Tarren species. My craft ran into trouble when the starboard plasma drives failed. I crash-landed here on the planet at coordinates five-seven-four mark seven-one-three. Luckily, I've been able to survive for several days off the vegetation here, but I'm stranded. There's no one else here. I'm all alone. To anyone who hears this, please, help me repair my ship or help me get back home."
Harry bowed his head ever so slightly. His heart went out to the stranded alien. He, and the rest of the crew on Voyager, knew exactly how she felt.
"Plot a course for the planet where this call came from," Janeway said immediately, her compassion showing through the forcefulness of her voice.
"Aye, captain," Paris replied, setting a course for the planet.
Once Voyager flew into orbit around the planet, Tuovk monitored the sensors.
"Sensors indicate a Class-M planet," he said, "filled with foliage and vegetation, but no life signs aside from the plants. It appears that the entire planet is completely uninhabited."
"An M-Class planet?" first officer Commander Chakotay asked, "that means it's capable of supporting life, yet there's no one there?"
"It could be that this planet has not yet been discovered by alien species," Janeway replied, "or, that it's neutral territory."
"I just looked into the computer's database," Harry said, turning back from the console behind him, "the data we've gathered from the alien species we've met so far don't indicate that this planet is claimed by anyone, or that it's neutral territory. In fact, none of them mention this planet at all."
"What about the life sign of the alien that crashed on the planet?" Janeway asked.
"There are several dense caves on this planet," Tuvok replied, "it could be that she is in one of them and it is blocking our signal. If we beam down to the planet, we would be able to detect signals we cannot from Voyager."
The captain sat for a moment deep in thought.
"Take a security team down with you to the planet and find her," she instructed, "Mr. Paris and Mr. Kim, I want both of you to see if you can repair her craft."
"Aye captain."
"Understood."
"Yes ma'am."
When the away team beamed down near the coordinates specified in the distress signal, they found themselves on planet thick with green, blue, and red vegetation. A deep green sky blanketed above them while a bluish haze provided light. Because it was an M-class planet, the away team beamed down without bulky environmental suits, much to their relief.
"It's beautiful!" Ensign Michaels of the security team said. She stared in awe at the scene around her.
"There one life sign one point two kilometers to the East," Tuvok said, waving a tricorder and wasting no time, "let's go." His security team followed, some shaking their heads, others trying to suppress a smile. They were used to the Vulcan's, well, Vulcan-like behavior.
"Oh come on, Tuvok," Paris said, "aren't you going to stop for a minute and say something about this planet? Lush vegetation all around you, a beautiful sky, the light shining down on us?"
"It is…" Tuvok paused looking around him, "a planet hospitable to life."
The Vulcan turned around, his team following.
Paris smiled, shaking his head.
"I swear Harry," he said as he and his friend proceeded forward to the damaged alien shuttle ahead of them, "one of these days, I'm going to stop Tuvok from making such… logical statements."
"That'll be the day."
When Kim and Paris reached the alien craft, they went to work, scanning every inch with their tricorders. The alien craft was in several pieces. The metallic-like structure of the craft resembled more like paper than the strong craft is must have been. Crumpled pieces of titanium alloy were everywhere. The biggest pieces were either dented, charred, or both. Amazingly, the internal controls and seats of the craft were intact, sitting completely exposed to the outside, as if they were on display. Two plasma containers sat among the wreckage. One still contained plasma, though it had a long crack running through the side, and plasma was leaking into the ground. The other was completely destroyed. The glass around it was gone, the plasma having long since depleted. It was just an empty shell.
"This is weird," Harry said studying the readouts on his tricorder.
"What?" Tom asked, turning away from the front controls of the craft to face Harry.
"Yavira said her craft crashed here when the plasma drives failed," Harry pointed to the empty plasma container, "On Voyager, if plasma conduits fail, backup systems reinforce the structural integrity of the container to prevent it from exploding like this."
Tom shrugged his shoulders, "Maybe the backup systems failed. Or maybe her shuttle doesn't have backup systems."
"But even then, why would the container be right here? If it did explode, wouldn't pieces of it be in space?"
Before Tom could answer, Harry moved on.
"And what about these burn marks?" he swept his tricorder over a large burnt panel and tapped a series of buttons, "What caused these?"
Suddenly, a soft thump could be heard from their left. Harry and Tom both looked up. Without any creatures or aliens, the planet had been completely still aside from an occasional light breeze.
"There's a life sign twenty meters from here. It's weak." Tom said, looking at his tricorder.
"Another life sign?"
Tom pressed his combadge.
"Paris to Tuvok."
"Tuovk, here."
"Harry and I have found another life sign about twenty meters from us. Have you found the source of the life sign you detected?"
"Not yet. The plant-life is very dense in the area we are traveling in and it is slowing our progress. Have you discovered anything from the alien's shuttle?"
"I'm not sure yet," Harry replied, "but I think there's something more going on around here. I'll need more time to investigate."
"Continue investigating the wreckage. I am going to send Ensign Lee and Ensign Michaels to investigate the other life sign. Tuvok ou-"
"Wait!" Tom said, "The life sign I detected is very weak. She's probably injured or sick. By the time your team gets here, it might be too late."
"Very well," Tuvok said after a moment's hesitation, "proceed with caution. I am still sending Ensigns Lee and Michaels to join you. They should meet up with you in a half-hour."
"I don't know about this," Harry said hesitantly as he and Tom made their way through thick brush towards the life sign, "There's something really wrong. A planet full of vegetation yet no life signs at first? And now we find two?"
"This is a large planet," Tom replied, "maybe the alien was mistaken. One being can't possibly search an entire planet. Even when we scanned the planet, we couldn't penetrate some regions. Maybe she's not so alone."
"That's what I'm afraid of."
"It's just one weak life sign," Tom said, "when we find her, maybe we can get some answers."
The tricorder Tom was holding beeped steadily then emitted a rapid series of beeps as Tom scanned the region.
"The life sign is reading from there," Tom said, pointing with his tricorder to the mouth of a large cave surrounded by brush. He took a deep breath before stepping hesitantly forward.
"Do you want to keep watch out here?" Harry asked, knowing his friend was claustrophobic.
"You mean let you have all the fun and me miss all the action?" Tom replied, hoping his voice would stay steady, "Not a chance."
When the two entered the cave, they found themselves in a large rocky structure with three tunnels; one leading to the left, one leading to the right, and one leading straight ahead.
"Well," Tom said, "which tunnel will it be? Tunnel number one? Tunnel number two? Or tunnel number three? And the winner is…."
He studied his tricorder.
"Oh no."
"What?"
"The life sign just stopped."
"You think she died?"
"Maybe, but if we can find her quickly, the Doctor may be able to revive her… We have to find her the old-fashioned way. Let's spread out, but keep an open comm link and let's map our steps on our tricorders so we don't get lost. I'll take tunnel number three, the one on the right." The two took flashlights off their belts and attached them to their wrists. Luckily, the cave had tiny pockets in the ceiling, enough to let at least a bit of light in so it wasn't completely dark, but the light still not light enough for either Harry to Tom to be completely comfortable.
"Guess I'll take tunnel number one." Harry replied.
The two Starfleet officers then proceeded their separate ways.
A few moments after proceeding down the tunnel, Harry felt his breathing quicken and he began to sweat. Though his tricorder registered nothing unusual, he couldn't seem to shake a feeling of dread.
Suddenly, a shadow flashed at the end of the tunnel, or so Harry thought. He whirled his head around, following it with his flashlight as far as he could see it, but it was gone as soon as it had appeared… if it even appeared in the first place. He scanned the area with his tricorder, but no life signs registered.
"Tom," Harry asked, over the comm. link, "You see anything yet?"
"No, why?"
"I thought I saw something or someone… but it must've been my imagination."
"Hey, I thought I was the one who was claustrophobic."
"I dunno, I just… I don't know about this. Maybe we should regroup and wait for Lee and Michaels."
"When we've come this far? Come on, Harry, since when are you so hesitant?"
"I dunno. I can't put my finger on why, but I really don't think we should go on."
"I don't read any life signs yet," Tom said, "the tunnel ends just a few meters from where I'm at. I'll go to the end and come back if I don't find anything."
Harry hesitated again. He wanted to tell his friend not to go on, but without a valid reason why, he kept his thoughts to himself.
"Okay. I'll keep going and see where this leads me."
Tuvok and his security team had finally reached the coordinates of the life sign. A lone alien lay in thick brush. She was small, about four feet with a flat plated forehead, three eyes, a hole for a nose, and small opening for a mouth. Three flat plates on the sides of her face served as ears. Her body had three arms and legs. Her torso had two large, deep purple wounds. A thick liquid covered the wounds and continued to ooze out and drip on the side of her body. She was dead.
"What happened to her?" one of the security officers asked.
Tuvok flipped open a tricorder and knelt to scan the alien's body. As soon as he did, a strange noise could be heard all around the security team; it sounded as if a thick liquid was being boiled. A bubbling noise could be heard. Tuvok looked up and saw that a tree to the front of him was changing in shape. The thick, sturdy tree contorted into a flowing substance and shrank in size until it formed and solidified into a creature. The creature, though not as tall as the ten-foot tree that it originally had taken form in, was still a dominating presence. It was seven feet tall with a large, oval head. Two massive circular eyes stared down at the Vulan. Its mouth was a small opening on the lower half of its face nearly hidden behind two long, thick, serrated fangs. It had a tall cylindrical body with two thick limbs, seven long claws on each hand, and two large feet with sharp claws on the ends of each of its eight toes.
Tuvok's tricorder suddenly beeped furiously, registering the new life sign.
"Oh, my…." Ensign Travers gasped. Instinctively, all officers raised their phasers at the creature.
Tuovk quickly put up a placating hand to silence and calm his team. He stepped carefully forward.
"I am Lieutenant Commander Tuvok of the starship Voyager," he said, in his usual Vulcan calmness, "we are here-"
Within seconds, three more creatures formed to surround the security team, originating from seemingly natural objects. One had assumed the form of a tree, the other, a plant, and the third, a fallen branch. It seemed these creatures could form into practically any object of any size.
All three screeched, letting out an ear-splitting noise. The Starfleet officers covered their ears, some dropping their weapons. One of the large creatures stepped forward toward a reeling human and scratched her fiercely on her side. She collapsed to the ground, screaming in pain.
Tuvok fired at the attacking alien with his phaser, but the massive alien simply glanced at firing point on its body, and continued to step forward, completely undaunted. The three slowly stepped towards the security team, enclosing them in a tiny circle. The Vulcan slapped his combadge.
"Tuvok to Voyager, emergency beam-out!"
As soon as Tuvok materialized in one of Voyager's transporter rooms, he looked around him. His entire security team, including Ensigns Micahels and Lee, who had been sent to help Lieutenant Paris and Ensign Kim, were on board, but Paris and Kim were not.
"Thank you Commander," Ensign Micahels breathed, "we were surrounded by those creatures. If you hadn't beamed us-"
Tuvok immediately spoke to the transporter officer, "Where are Lieutenant Paris and Ensign Kim?"
"I-I dunno," he said, looking at his console, "I couldn't lock onto their combadges. Something is blocking their signals."
Suddenly, the ship rocked, forcing the team to try and find their footing.
"What's going on?" Captain Janeway asked as Voyager was hit with another violent blast.
The Bridge was enveloped in darkness, a sign that the captain had called for a red alert.
"Phaser bursts are hitting the ship," Ensign Anders stationed at navigation said, tapping at her console, "they're coming from the planet."
"The planet?" Janeway asked to no one in particular.
"Transporter room," she called as another phaser burst hit the ship with full force, "do you have the away team?"
"I couldn't beam Lieutenant Paris and Ensign Kim back up," the transporter officer replied, "Commander Tuvok is on the way to the Bridge and Ensign Walters is being treated in Sickbay.
"The hull is beginning to weaken," Chaoktay shouted from the security station at the back of the Bridge, "another hit or two and we'll lose structural integrity!"
Janeway hesitated just a bit as she weighed the costs of what to do. They could raise shields, but with shields up, the Voyager crew would not be able to beam their missing crewmen back.
"Shields up! Ensign Anders, put some distance between us and the planet. But stay within communications range."
Voyager rocked again, though not as violently.
"Open a communications channel, all bands."
An officer complied and the computer beeped in response.
"This is Captain Kathryn Janeway of the Federation Starship Voyager. We don't mean you any harm. We came here on a rescue mission. We received a distress signal from this planet. Please, cease your fire."
"No response."
Voyager rocked again as another series of phasers blasted the shields.
"Arm phasers. Target whatever the hell is hitting us, but just enough to disable their weapons." Janeway shouted over the din of the blasts, "… Fire!"
Chaoktay tapped a series of buttons and Voyager returned fire.
"I don't know what's going on," Chaoktay said, studying the readouts on his console, "but our weapons didn't seem to have any effect. Who or whatever is down there seem to have a strong shield around their weapons array. No damage to their weapons."
Seconds later, another barrage hit the ship. This time, a continuous phaser blasted at the ship, relentlessly pounding it.
"Shields down to 80 percent," Chakotay shouted, "… seventy…"
"Captain," Ensign Anders called out, "if we don't get out of weapons range now, we won't last."
In the distance, Harry heard a tiny screech.
"What was that?" he thought to himself.
He tapped his combadge, "Tom, did you hear that?"
silence
"Tom?"
no response
Harry started to walk, then jog, out of the tunnel. By the time he reached the bay of the cave where he and Tom had gone their separate ways, he was at a run. Something was wrong. Something was very wrong.
Quickly, he ran into the tunnel Tom had chosen. He only had to go a few feet before he stopped dead in his tracks. A large creature leaned over Lieutenant Paris, who was lying, unconscious on the ground. He had a gash on his forehead and a blood stained rock sat near his head.
Harry stared wide-eyed, noticing the claws and fangs of the monstrous creature. The creature leaned over Tom, its fangs starting to cover with a purple substance.
"Hey!"
The creature looked up.
Harry held one quivering hand up while the other he held over the phaser holstered at his belt.
"We don't mean you any harm. We came down here, because we heard a distress signal. We didn't know anybody else was here. Please, don't hurt my friend."
The creature stood up, its full seven-foot length towering over the ensign. It stared at the human for a few seconds before returning to the human lying unconscious. It extended its claws even longer and pulled its hand back, about to strike at the being.
"Leave him alone, or I'll fire."
The creature quickly brought its claw down on the unconsious being.
Harry grabbed his phaser and fired. But the creature wasn't stunned. In fact, it simply looked annoyed as it was hit.
Quickly, Harry ratcheted the phaser up to a higher setting, careful to avoid any deadly levels of force.
He fired again.
This time, the creature, hit in the head, blinked, and shook its head, letting out a tiny screech. It turned its attention away from the human lying on the floor and towards the one holding the weapon.
Behind him, Harry suddenly heard what sounded like bubbling water. He glanced back and forth, not wanting to take his eyes off the creature, but wondering what the sound was. A boulder that sat behind Harry began to liquefy. In seconds, it formed itself into another alien, looking like the alien standing in front of Harry, but with a different pigment. It stood behind Harry, blocking his way out.
Without warning, the creature sank its large, serrated fangs into the human's back, injecting thick, purple liquid.
"AAUUUGGHHH!!!!"
Harry yelled in agony. He could actually feel the liquid, burning and stinging the inside of his body. The pain was so great, he fell to his knees. All the while, however, he remembered his friend and the phaser in his hand. Gripping his phaser from both fear of dropping it and from the pain, he struggled to set the phaser even higher, until it was just short of set to kill.
The creature next to Lieutenant Paris had already begun to lower its head, its fangs again starting to drip with the purple substance.
Harry had to take his left hand to steady his right, which was holding the phaser.
He pressed a button and fired. This time, the creature fell back, stunned. The towering creature fell to the ground, which shook from its massive weight.
The creature behind Harry screeched, assaulting Harry's ears. Harry couldn't help but cover his ears, though he still held his phaser. Despite the noise, he turned and twisted around so he was on his back. The creature eyed his feet and quickly lowered its head and thus, its fangs.
Harry tried to pull his feet out of the way, but he couldn't move his legs. This both surprised and terrified the human. Quickly, before the creature could attack him again, Harry fired, stunning his attacker.
As soon as the creature dropped to the ground, Harry laid back, breathing heavily. The lower half of his body augmented in stabbing, shooting pain. He took several moments to gather himself before turning back around. Tom was still unconscious.
He tapped his combadge.
"Kim to Voyager."
Then he remembered that the density of the cave prevented comm. signals from passing through. Despite that, he still held hope that they would somehow hear him.
But they didn't.
"Come on, Tom," Harry begged his friend, "wake up."
Harry used his hands to walk his body towards Tom. Every so often, he tried to move his legs, but they would not move. When he finally reached Tom, he assessed his friend's injuries.
The lieutenant didn't look terribly hurt. He had a gash to his head, but that could be treated.
"Wakie, wakie, Tom," Harry said, managing a smile despite his pain.
But Tom would not regain consciousness.
Harry grabbed his shoulders from underneath and pulled. He struggled to drag his friend as far as he could, using his elbows to walk Tom's body towards him. Harry had to bear the pain in his hips as he pulled himself and Tom so that he was back on his knees. He then grabbed his pant legs, using his pants to pick up his legs and set them gently down again so they stretched back out and he was back to lying on his stomach. Again, he grabbed Tom's shoulders and dragged his friend's body towards him.
It seemed like an eternity for Harry to reach the opening of the tunnel. Each time, he begged, shouted, even shook his friend, desperately trying to wake him. He didn't know how long the creatures would stay unconscious. The stun he hit the creatures with should have kept a human unconscious for an hour, but he doubted the creatures would stay unconscious for even half that time.
"Come on, Tom!" Harry shouted as the pain in his legs forced his entire body to shake, "Dammit! Wake up!"
He dragged his friend's body and the lower half of his own body closer and closer to the opening of the cave, until finally, he and Tom were out of the cave.
He let out a sigh of relief and just laid on the ground for several minutes, his energy completely drained. He could hear distant blasts, but all he was focused on, was getting back to the ship. He tapped his combadge.
"Kim to Voyager."
silence
"Kim to Voyager."
no response
"This is Ensign Kim to Voyager," he repeated his call, desperation finding its way to his voice, "Lieutenant Paris and I need help. Get us out of here!"
But again there was no response. Kim had no way of knowing this, but Voyager was out of communications range, fighting a battle of its own.
He tapped his combadge again.
"Kim to Tuvok, are you there?"
Suddenly, soft screeches could be heard from the cave. Then, louder, screeches. The creatures were regaining consciousness.
"Oh, no…" Harry gasped. He tried to get back up, at least to his knees, but he no longer had the strength. He laid helplessly as the sounds of the awakening creatures grew louder.
To be continued...
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