Disclaimer and summary: See part 1
Dedicated to my wonderful beta reader
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Part Nineteen
Tom and Chakotay were sitting at the dinner table, having
breakfast when Tom brought up the subject of their
imprisonment. "We need to come up with a plan to get out of
here and possibly take back Voyager," he said.
Chakotay glanced up from his meal with a slight frown. "How do
we do that without SicA knowing?" he asked quietly. "We are
being watched, remember?"
Tom smiled. "Not anymore," he answered. "She stopped
monitoring us after I spoke to her yesterday."
Chakotay blinked in surprise. "Does she really trust you that
much?"
Tom's flinch was almost imperceptive. "Yes," he answered
simply.
Remembering what Tom had told him about his ordeal the
evening before, Chakotay just nodded in silent understanding.
"So, do you have any ideas on how to get out of here?" he asked.
"Yes, but I don't know if it'll work," Tom replied. When
Chakotay nodded for him to continue, Tom outlined his plan to
regain control of Voyager and head back to the planet where the
rest of the crew was.
Chakotay listened in silence. When Tom finished speaking, he
considered the plan carefully, examining every aspect to see if it
was possible. After a few moments, he refocused on Tom. "It
seems sound. I don't see why it shouldn't work," he said. "There
is only one problem."
"What's that?" Tom asked.
*****
When he heard the door to sickbay swish open, the doctor turned
away from the biobed and the alien he was examining. He hid his
surprise at seeing Tom Paris enter, eyes half-closed and leaning
heavily on one of the alien guards. "What's wrong?" he asked as
he moved towards the obviously unwell pilot.
Tom flinched at the sound of the doctor's voice. "Not so loud,"
he said in a near-whisper, pain clearly evident in his voice. "And
could you lower the lights a bit. I have a terrible head ache."
The doctor gestured for Tom to sit on an empty biobed, then
called down the lights. "Computer, decrease lighting to fifty
percent," he ordered quietly. As soon as the computer had
complied with his order, he addressed Tom. "Are you
nauseous?"
"Why?" Tom asked.
"Because if you're sensitive to light and sound, you could suffer
from migraines. And if you do, I need to know whether it makes
you nauseous as well. Migraines usually causes nausea, but if
they don't, I'll need to give you a different drug," the doctor
explained.
"I see. Well, I *am* nauseous, but it's not that bad," Tom said.
"The stomach cramps are worse."
The doctor frowned. "You have stomach cramps?" he asked.
When Tom nodded in confirmation, he asked, "Anything else?"
"My back hurts."
"Hmm." The doctor picked up a medical tricorder, flipped it
open and scanned the pilot. After a few moments, he shut the
medical device again and looked at Tom. "Aside from a
migraine, you have a bad case of indigestion," he said. He put the
tricorder down and picked up a hypo spray. "Lay down," he
ordered. When Tom obeyed, he pressed the hypo against the
young man's neck. "This should take care of the indigestion," he
said.
"What about my migraine?" Tom asked.
"I can't give you anything for that now," the doctor replied. "The
two drugs don't mix, so you'll have to stay here over night. If
you're still suffering from migraine later, I'll give you something
for it."
Tom grimaced. "Do I *have* to stay here? Can't I stay in the
ambassadorial quarters?"
"Yes, you have to stay here. I want to keep an eye on you," the
doctor answered firmly. "Now, try and get some sleep, it might
help your migraine." When Tom closed his eyes and relaxed as
best he could, the doctor turned to the alien. "Tell SicA that Tom
will stay here until tomorrow morning and not to disturb him or
me. If anyone needs my help, comm me and I'll make a house
call."
The alien gave the doctor a puzzled and slightly suspicious look.
"Why don't you want to be disturbed?"
"Because," the doctor answered with barely hidden annoyance,
"When a patient suffers from a migraine, he is extremely
sensitive to light and sounds. Any loud sounds or bright light
makes it worse. Now, if that's all, I'll have to ask you to leave so
I can get back to my work." He looked pointedly at the door.
The doctor watched as the alien left sickbay. He waited a few
minutes after the door had closed, then turned back to Tom.
"Well, Mr. Paris. Care to tell me what is so important to talk to
me about that you faked a migraine and indigestion?" he asked.
Tom opened his eyes, then sat up with a mischievous smile and
met the doctor's eyes. "Well, Doc, I have a plan to regain control
of the ship. Chakotay and I need your help to carry it out."
"What's your plan and how can I help?" the doctor asked, not the
least bit surprised that Tom had come up with an idea to retake
Voyager. The pilot was very imaginative and resourceful. If
anyone could come up with a foolproof method, it would be him.
*****
The first thing Kathryn Janeway noticed when she regained
consciousness were the voices. They were too low for her to hear
what was being said. She couldn't even recognize them. When
she shifted slightly, she discovered that she was tied up. This
made her frown slightly and decide to open her eyes. She wanted
to see her capturers. She also wanted to know what they had
done to Ken.
Looking around, Janeway noticed that she was in the edge of the
forest on the far side of the lake. No one in the settlement would
be able to see what was going on. Turning her head towards her
right where the voices came from, she saw Henley, Ashmore,
Gerron and the Delaney twins a few feet away. The five of them
seemed to ignore her, as they didn't appear to have noticed that
she was awake. Ken Dalby wasn't present, which worried her.
What if they had hurt him?
Before Janeway had a chance to further speculate about Ken's
fate, the man in question emerged, accompanied by Susan
Nicoletti. Janeway frowned when she detected how close to each
other the two of them were walking. {What's going on?} she
wondered silently. She kept quiet, hoping that if no one noticed
that she was awake, she'd find out what they had planned.
Unfortunately, her hopes were in vain. As the two newcomers
reached the group already there, Ken glanced over to Janeway.
Seeing that she was conscious, he turned and spoke to his
companions. Everyone turned to look at her in silence for a
moment, then they approached her.
"So, you're finally awake, bitch," Henley greeted Janeway.
When the other woman's only response was an icy glare, Henley
addressed Dalby. "Ken, why don't you tell the bitch what's
going on? I'm sure she would like to know."
Ken caught Janeway's eyes and gave her an unpleasant smile.
"You see, *Kathryn*, the seven of us decided that you need
some kind of punishment for your actions against Paris and the
Commander." He paused for a moment, then continued. "After
we agreed on all the details, we drew straws to determine who
would get the privilege of getting you here." His smile turned
nasty. "I was the lucky winner. Although, having to make nice
until Megan drugged you was an appalling experience. One that I
wouldn't care to repeat."
During Dalby's narrative, Janeway's face betrayed shock, then
anger. When he finished speaking, she threw him a
contemptuous glance. "So what are you going to do to me?"
"That's for us to know and you to find out," Jenny answered,
making Janeway's captors laugh in cruel amusement.
*****
MoZdee closed the link to Voyager. G'REtchK had just notified
her that Tom Paris was in sickbay with a migraine and would
probably remain there overnight. G'REtchK had also said that
the holographic doctor would make house calls if his services
were needed.
MoZdee sighed in disappointment. She had planned to talk to
Tom today, to inform him that he was to be her mate. Since that
would have to wait, she decided to stay on her own ship until the
next morning. Suddenly she smiled as she had an idea. Reaching
for an empty padd, she started planning the ceremony.
However, before the wedding, Tom would have to go through a
procedure that would legally make him part of the OmsCa. The
ritual would last for three days and was somewhat painful, but
MoZdee knew that Tom wouldn't object. He was completely
obedient to her, and even though he and Chakotay were
apparently lovers, there was no doubt in her mind that Tom
would agree to anything she asked of him.
Even if the order she gave was to break up with his lover and
marry her. His lack of protest when he was ordered to drug his
lover was proof of that.
TBC