Chapter Text
Title: Kill or Cure
Part: 1/?
Author: Chuckles
Feedback: [EMAIL REMOVED]
Pairing: C/P
Rating: NC-17
Disclaimer: Paramount's, not mine.
Summary: A routine research mission + Tom Paris = Trouble.
A sequel to 'Lost and Found'.
http://www.geocities.com/chucklescpfic/lostandfoundindex.html
Note: To Chibi and Cassatt - Thank you! I really appreciate the help
you’ve
given me.
********************
Kill or Cure
Part One
It was growing darker and colder. Storm clouds were gathering
menacingly
overhead, blocking the few rays of weak winter sunshine that had
previously
provided a small amount of light and heat. As a low rumble of thunder
echoed
across the valley, the first spots of icy rain began to fall.
Tom shivered, rubbing at his arms in an attempt to warm himself before
picking up the last of the research equipment. Packing it carefully
away
into its storage case, he tucked it under his arm and hurried to the
shuttle, closing the door just as a huge flash of lightning streaked
across
the sky, and a deafening crash of thunder assaulted his ears. Warmer
inside
the tiny craft, he left the equipment in the capable hands of his
crewmate
and settled down to begin the pre-flight checks.
********************
Kathryn Janeway looked steadily around at the people gathered in the
briefing room. With the exception of Tuvok and Vorik, neither of whom
ever
gave any indication of emotion, their faces all reflected the same deep
concern that she, herself, was feeling. It wasn’t surprising really,
she
thought. After all, Tom Paris was a very popular man and an excellent
officer; the fact that he was missing was bound to affect all of them
greatly. Although, she wondered why Chakotay seemed to be taking the
news of
Tom’s disappearance harder than anyone else.
She hadn’t missed the fact that her First Officer and Senior Pilot had
been
spending quite a lot of time together since they’d returned from their
mission to Nahldar, two months earlier, but, she thought, they had
obviously
grown a lot closer than she’d realised. The Commander’s unnaturally
pale
face, and his almost total silence since Harry Kim’s announcement that
Tom’s
life signs were not registering on Voyager’s scans, were testament to
that.
Although she knew his personal feelings wouldn’t interfere with his
ability
to perform his job to the best of his capabilities, for her own peace
of
mind she vowed to keep a close eye on Chakotay’s condition.
Bringing her thoughts back to more pressing matters, she turned to
address
the person who had accompanied Tom on the ill-fated mission. “Ensign
Vorik.
Is there anything else that you can tell us before the teams depart?
Anything at all that might give us some kind of clue as to what could
have
happened to Lieutenant Paris.”
The Vulcan stood at attention and shook his head. “No, Captain. My
report
was complete. There is nothing further that I can add.”
“So, as far as you’re concerned the Lieutenant just vanished?”
“It is not logical for anyone to ‘just vanish’, Captain. There must be
a
rational explanation for the Lieutenant’s disappearance. However,
insufficient data at present prevents me from supplying that
explanation.”
“As it does all of us,” Janeway commented with a sigh. She pressed on.
“But,
Ensign, you heard nothing and you saw nothing, is that correct?”
“Yes, Captain,” Vorik confirmed. “As I stated previously, I was
returning
the research equipment to its place in the storage locker while
Lieutenant
Paris was at the helm, performing pre-flight checks. When I had
finished my
task, I went to take my seat alongside the Lieutenant, but he was no
longer
there. I had not heard the shuttle door open, and, upon inspection, I
found
it to be closed. As my efforts to locate the Lieutenant, both inside
and
outside the shuttle, failed, I contacted Voyager, to request help.”
“Quite so. And, fortunately, during a lull in the storm, we were able
to
transport you back.” She sighed again, straightening herself in her
chair as
she then addressed the room in general. “The shuttle is still on the
surface; I want every single part of it scanned. And I want the area
around
it scanned thoroughly, too; you already know which areas you have been
assigned to. You are to remain with your respective partners at all
times
and to keep in regular contact with each other and with me.” She nodded
towards the Vulcan Ensign. “As Ensign Vorik has already said, there has
got
to be a rational explanation for Mr. Paris’ disappearance; I want you
to
find it. *And* Lieutenant Paris.” She gazed around again, noting with
satisfaction the determined looks that had appeared on her officers’
faces.
“You will report to the transporter room in ten minutes.” She rose from
her
chair. “Dismissed. And good luck to you all,” she added as the room
began to
empty.
********************
The storm that had engulfed the area earlier had cleared. The sky was
still
somewhat overcast but the clouds were broken, allowing some sunshine to
bring a little welcome light and warmth to the group of people now
standing
on the sodden ground in front of the shuttle.
“Let’s get underway,” Chakotay ordered, quickly gaining their
attention.
“Move outwards from the shuttle and scan every inch of ground until you
reach the distance we agreed upon. Report in as you go. I want to hear
from
each group every fifteen minutes, and then I will contact Voyager once
I‘ve
heard from each team. Lieutenant Torres and I will scan the shuttle
before
we head off, and we will meet you all back here once the entire area
has
been covered. Understood?”
Affirmative answers were given, and the teams consisting of Tuvok and
Vorik,
Greg Ayala and Harry Kim, and Gerron and Tabor each set off in
different
directions, following the search pattern previously outlined in the
briefing
room. Chakotay watched them for a moment, then turned and gently tapped
B’Elanna on the arm. “Let’s see what we can find inside,” he said,
gesturing
towards the shuttle’s entrance. B’Elanna nodded, and they walked
together to
the door.
Vorik had been careful to disturb as little as possible during his
search
for Tom, so the shuttle was almost exactly as it had been at the moment
of
the Lieutenant’s disappearance. The instrument panel at the helm showed
that
Tom had performed just over half of the necessary pre-flight checks. “I
really don’t understand this, Chakotay,” B’Elanna commented, looking at
the
readouts. “Tom just wouldn’t leave the rest of the checks unfinished,
not
without a very good reason. And even then, it’s not likely. What the
hell
could’ve happened?”
Chakotay sighed heavily as he sat down in the pilot’s seat, his gaze
resting
on the same readouts. “I don’t know, B’Elanna," he said quietly. He
tried to
keep his voice steady, but it was difficult. Ever since it became
obvious
that something had happened to Tom, it had been a struggle to suppress
the
fear that had gripped his heart. "No matter how long it takes, though,
we’re
going to find out,” he continued. “We‘ll get him back." He closed his
eyes
briefly. "We have to,” he said, his words now almost a whisper.
B’Elanna looked at her former Captain, noting the strain apparent on
his
face and in his voice; he was taking this situation very badly, she
realised. “You and Tom have become very good friends, haven’t you,
Chakotay.” It was more a statement than a question.
Chakotay nodded slowly and turned to face her, sighing again. “Yes, we
have,” he confirmed, his mind wandering back eight weeks to the outcome
of
his and Tom's mission to retrieve Voyager's stolen equipment. “We went
through a lot together on Nahldar; it put everything into perspective
for us
and we‘re a lot closer as a result of it.”
“I’d noticed that you’ve been spending more time together lately.”
“We’ve been enjoying each other’s company,” Chakotay said softly.
Although
Tom didn’t want their relationship to become public yet - he’d said he
wanted to enjoy the newness of it without outside interference for a
while
longer - Chakotay didn’t think he was revealing too much information by
saying what he had.
B‘Elanna nodded. “That’s been pretty obvious,” she remarked. “Both you
and
Tom have seemed much happier since that away mission; I’m glad about
that.”
“So am I,” Chakotay agreed. “Tom has made a real difference to my life,
and
I don’t want that to end. We’ve got to find him.”
“You’re right, we do. And we will, I know it.”
Chakotay gave her a small smile. “Thanks, B’Elanna. I appreciate your
optimism.” He took a deep breath and stood up then, activating his
tricorder. “Come on. Let’s get started on the scans. There has to be
something here that will explain what happened. We‘ll work our way
towards
the rear of the craft, comparing notes as we go.”
"Let‘s do it,” B’Elanna said decisively.
********************
“Two hours of trudging through mud and slime, and we haven’t found so
much
as a footprint. Where could Tom have gone?”
Greg Ayala looked up from studying the readout on his tricorder and
shook
his head. “Beats me, Harry. Someone should’ve found *something* by now.
It‘s
like he just vanished into thin air.”
“Yeah,” Harry agreed, stepping to his left to avoid walking through
what
looked to be a particularly deep puddle. “In fact, the more I think
about it
the more I’m inclined to believe that Tom was transported out of the
shuttle. Except, the only problem with that theory is that Voyager’s
sensors
haven’t picked up any alien vessels or unusual activity. So, if he
*was*
transported, how was it done, and *who* transported him?”
“Again, not a clue,” Ayala replied, stopping. He checked his tricorder
again, noting that they’d reached the pre-agreed limit of their search
area.
“Time to make a ninety degree turn, then we need to walk straight on
for
about a half hour before we head back towards the shuttle,” he stated.
He
caught sight of the unhappy look on Harry’s face and reached out to pat
his
arm. “He’ll turn up, Harry. He always does. He’s probably just wandered
off
somewhere and something on this planet’s masking his signature. It’s
happened before. Remember Chell during one shore leave last year? He
went
off with a tour guide into the desert. They got lost and covered in
dust and
we couldn’t locate them - not until they overheated and decided to jump
into
that lake they found. After the dust had been washed off, they suddenly
turned up on our scans.”
“Yeah, I remember that. But they didn’t disappear in the middle of
running
pre-flight checks,” Harry observed, still troubled despite Greg’s
attempts
to ease his fears.
Ayala sighed. “Yeah. I know. But let’s try and stay positive.” He
gestured
towards the expanse of rain-drenched ground to their right. “Come on,
Harry.
Maybe we’ll find something in this direction.”
Harry nodded. “I hope so, Greg,” he responded quietly. And sharing one
last
encouraging look, they set off to cover the next part of their
designated
search area.
********************
“Anything to report, Gerron?” Chakotay asked hopefully after stopping
to
answer the Bajoran’s hail.
“Nothing positive, Sir,” came the disheartening reply. “Tabor had some
unusual readings a few moments ago, but it turned out to be a tiny
fragment
of what was probably a meteorite. We’ll bring the rock back with us; it
might be of interest to someone on Voyager.”
“How long until you make it back to the shuttle?”
“We’re just on the other side of the hill, Sir. I estimate it will take
us
about another half an hour at the most.”
“Okay. Commander Tuvok and Ensign Vorik should arrive shortly after you
two
get there. Give the Commander a full report on the area you covered,
and
then, if conditions allow, you and Tabor can transport back to
Voyager.”
“Yes, Sir.”
Chakotay closed the link and looked at B’Elanna. They were standing on
a
tree-covered hilltop on the opposite side of the valley to where Gerron
and
Tabor were, and she was peering skywards, obviously concerned about the
fact
that the light was fading fast. After four hours of searching and
scanning,
no-one had found any trace of the missing pilot, and if they didn’t
complete
their search of the immediate area soon, the creeping darkness would
curtail
their scans until morning. “After I’ve contacted the Captain, we’ll get
going again,” he said, tapping his comm badge.
The hail was answered immediately. “Janeway here. Have you found
anything,
Commander?”
Chakotay sighed, then relayed the depressing results of the search so
far.
“B’Elanna and I....”
“One moment, Chakotay,” Janeway said, cutting him off. He could hear a
muffled conversation being carried out on the ship before the Captain’s
voice once more addressed him. “Commander. I need you to confirm
something
for me. Could you check the location of Mr. Kim and Mr. Ayala?”
“Certainly, Captain. But, may I ask why?” He activated his tricorder as
he
spoke, then worriedly gestured to B’Elanna to do the same when Harry
and
Greg’s whereabouts failed to register on his.
“As you know, we’ve been keeping a permanent location check on all of
you,
but a moment ago Lieutenant Ayala’s and Ensign Kim’s signatures
vanished.
I’m hoping you can allay my fears and tell me our sensors are wrong,
and
that it’s just the electrical storms prevalent on this planet that’s
interfering with them.”
“Hell!” Chakotay shook his head in disbelief as B’Elanna showed him the
readout on her tricorder.
“Commander?” Janeway queried.
“There’s no trace of them on either of our tricorders, Captain. But I
suggest you contact Tuvok and ask him to check as well. I’ll contact
Gerron.
Maybe it’s just mine and B’Elanna’s location that’s causing problems.”
“Let’s hope so. I’ll contact you again shortly. Janeway out.”
“What the hell do we do now?” B’Elanna asked as the link closed. “It’s
nearly dark. We haven’t even found any hint of Tom, and now Harry and
Greg
are missing, too. How are we going to search for them tonight?”
Chakotay rested a soothing hand on her shoulder, trying, despite his
own
ever-growing fears, to calm her. “We don’t know for sure that they
*are*
missing yet. I admit that the results *we* got don’t look promising,
but
let’s wait until we hear back from the Captain before we jump to any
conclusions. In the meantime, we’ll head back towards the shuttle. We
still
need to complete the scans of this area. Come on.” His words, and the
fact
that they would have something else to concentrate on for the moment,
helped
to ease his own worries just a little, and they set out again through
the
gathering gloom, intent on finding an answer to the mystery of recent
events.
TBC