Disclaimer and summary: See part 1

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Part Twenty-Nine

"Commander, are you certain that it is a good idea to leave
Lieutenant Paris in the hands of those aliens?"

Chakotay met Tuvok's eyes. "Yes, Tuvok," he replied. "There's
no need for concern. GenA won't let anything happen to Tom,
and he'll make sure we get our pilot back."

Tuvok lifted an eyebrow. "You cannot be certain of that," he
stated.

Chakotay sighed, slightly exasperated. "Yes, I can. Tuvok, GenA
made sure that SicA was distracted so Tom, the doctor and I
could regain control of Voyager," he explained. "Without his
help, we wouldn't have been able to pull it off as easily as we
did."

"GenA must have an ulterior motive."

"He does," Chakotay admitted. "He helped us because he wanted
to keep his mate safe."

"Explain," Tuvok requested.

Chakotay ran a hand through his hair while he gathered his
thoughts. "SicA informed GenA that she had chosen him as her
mate--" he started, only to be interrupted by Harry.

"Commander, we're being hailed."

Chakotay turned to Harry. "By whom?"

"Someone called SuelLo," Harry replied with a puzzled frown.

Chakotay nodded and walked over to the nearest computer
console. "That's GenA's mate," he commented. "Put him
through, Harry." A moment later, the alien appeared on the
screen. "SuelLo," he greeted. "What can I do for you?"

"If you don't mind, I would like to have the rest of my crew
back, Commander."

Chakotay smiled slightly. "Of course. Just send the coordinates
to my Ops officer and they'll be beamed over."

SuelLo turned his head and spoke to someone off screen, then
turned back to Chakotay. "I have a suggestion," he said
cautiously.

Chakotay's curiosity was piqued. "Yes?"

"I know that without your entire crew onboard, Voyager is
greatly undermanned." SuelLo hesitated for a moment, but
continued at Chakotay's encouraging nod. "So I was thinking, if
you want, you can borrow some of the crew from my ship, the
"CariiBky". They are all PreeVo and can be trusted completely.
Unlike the OmsCa."

Chakotay smiled slightly. "I'm sure they are," he agreed, then
became silent as he appeared to consider the offer. After a few
moments, he refocused on the view screen. "Thank you for the
offer, SuelLo, but it's not necessary. The planet isn't that far
away. We'll manage running the ship understaffed for a couple
of days."

SuelLo nodded in understanding. He wasn't surprised. He
wouldn't have accepted his offer if he had been in Commander
Chakotay's place. "Of course," was all he said, then closed the
comm line.

Chakotay deactivated the console and turned to Tuvok. While he
was considering SuelLo's offer, he'd noticed the Vulcan's slight
tension. He had a good idea what had caused it. "Were you
worried that I would accept SuelLo's offer?"

"Vulcans do not worry," Tuvok stated calmly. "However, I was
not certain that you would refuse it."

Chakotay met Tuvok's eyes. "Tuvok, I had no intention of
accepting SuelLo's offer, for three reasons," he said seriously.
"First off, despite all the help we've gotten from GenA, I'm not
about to let those aliens roam about Voyager freely. I may trust
GenA, and to a certain extent SuelLo, but that doesn't mean that
I trust any of the other aliens." He paused for a moment and ran a
hand through his hair, then continued. "Secondly, as I said to
SuelLo, it'll only take us a few days to reach the planet where the
rest of the crew are stranded. As few as we are right now, it
should be too difficult for us to run the ship until we reach that
planet and get the rest of our people back."

Tuvok nodded in agreement. The Commander's reasoning was
sound. However, being curious, he asked, "What was your third
reason for declining SuelLo's offer?"

"It's simple, Tuvok. Even if I had agreed to let some of the
PreeVo come on board, it wouldn't have done any good." Seeing
the Vulcan's lifted eyebrow, Chakotay elaborated. "With Tom's
security locks in place, I couldn't grant them access to the
computer and without computer access, they wouldn't be able to
help."

"What about us?" B'Elanna asked. When Chakotay looked at her
quizzically, she elaborated. "You didn't have any problems
restoring our access." Before he could answer, comprehension
dawned. "Oh, of course!" she exclaimed. "You didn't have any
problems because you were just *restoring* access, not granting
it to someone new."

"Exactly."

"Commander, will you be able to restore computer access to all
the crew?" Tuvok asked.

Chakotay turned to the Vulcan. "Of course I will. Tom made sure
of that, just in case something happened to prevent him from
disabling the security locks," he lied. He was not going to tell
anyone that his lover had made certain that Janeway's computer
access couldn't be restored. And he sure as hell wasn't going to
admit that not only did he know about it, he approved
wholeheartedly.

*****

GenA was pacing. He had been do so ever since Dr. JanRy had
finished examining the device implanted in Tom Paris. The
scientist had informed him that it should be able to repair the
implant, but it would take a couple of hours. *Should* be able to
repair the device. GenA didn't like that phrase. It made him
nervous, and when he was nervous, he paced.

He really hoped that Dr. JanRy could repair the thing. Otherwise,
he was afraid that they'd be in trouble with Voyager, no matter
how undermanned the starship was. GenA was aware that Tom
Paris was the lover of Commander Chakotay, and he had seen
the way the dark-haired man looked at his lover. The expression
on his face was one GenA had seen before. It was how SuelLo
looked at him.

Tom Paris and Commander Chakotay may not have been mated
formally, but there was no doubt in GenA's mind that the
Commander had chosen the blonde pilot as his mate. It was
equally obvious that Tom had agreed. GenA didn't want to
consider how the Commander would react if he lost his mate-to-
be. He just had to imagine his own reaction if he lost SuelLo, to
know that it would be bad. *Very* bad.

GenA was pulled out of his musing when Dr. JanRy sighed and
turned off its repairing tool. The scientist put the tool down and
turned to look at GenA. Seeing the impatient and questioning
expression on his face, it hastened to reassure him. "I was
successful. The device implanted in Tom Paris has been
completely repaired."

GenA sighed in relief and felt a lot of the tension flow out of
him. "Good," he said. "What do we do now?"

Dr. JanRy moved over to the nearest table and picked up the
controller, then turned back to GenA. "Now I turn off the
implant," it replied. "When that is done, I will remove it."

GenA relaxed further. "How long will that take?"

"Fifteen to twenty minutes, at most," Dr. JanRy answered as it
pressed the 'off' button on the controller. It put the device down,
then walked back to the bed where Tom was lying. It checked the
Human's vital signs and nodded in satisfaction when the readings
showed that the pain had indeed stopped. Then it reached to the
bedside table and picked up another tool, this one designed to
retract Tom's implant.

The scientist turned Tom's head so the back was facing it, then
moved the instrument to where the device was located. A soft
humming sound filled the room as the gadget was activated and
started working.

*****

Voyager's doctor closed his official log. He had just recorded
everything that had happened in sickbay since the first officer
had disabled his ethical subroutines. He hadn't risked doing that
while the aliens had been on board and this was the first time he
had time since he, Chakotay and Tom had regained control of the
ship.

So, after Tom was beamed over to the "Yuzla", the doctor had
decided to take advantage of the peace in sickbay and add to his
log while he waited for the pilot to be returned. He had recorded
*everything*, including the fact that he had possibly found the
cure SicA had wanted. He was confident that the cure would
work, but since he couldn't test it, he couldn't be certain.

Nevertheless, he went over and replicated a vial containing the
serum. He was going to offer it to GenA. Even if this serum
didn't work, the doctor was sure that one of the alien doctors
could use it as a base and eventually find a cure that would work.

The chirping of his comm badge interrupted the doctor's
thoughts. He activated it. "Yes?"

"Doctor, GenA wants to talk to you," come the commander's
voice. "I'll transfer the hail to you."

"Very well, Commander."

"Let me know what he says."

"Of course, Commander." With that, the doctor tapped his comm
badge closed. He reached out a hand and turned on his view
screen. For a brief moment, it was blank, then the image of GenA
appeared. The alien was smiling. "Was Dr. JanRy able to remove
Mr. Paris' implant?" the doctor asked, too impatient to offer a
greeting first.

GenA's smile widened. "Yes, Doctor," he replied. "Dr. JanRy
was able to repair and remove the device implanted in Tom
Paris. The procedures went without any problems and we're
ready to transport your pilot to you."

The doctor repressed the urge to sigh in relief. "Thank you,
GenA. Commander Chakotay will be relieved to hear this," he
said. "And in return, may I give you this as a thank you?" he held
up the vial containing the serum.

"What is it?" GenA asked.

"As you know, SicA ordered me to find a cure for your sick
crew," the doctor began. "And although I did a lot of other
things, I *did* have time to look for it."

GenA went very still, his eyes riveted on the vial. "That is the
cure?" he asked, barely daring to hope.

"Possibly," the doctor answered. When GenA's eyes flew to him,
he elaborated. "I didn't discover this until after all your sick crew
had been returned to your ships, so I haven't had a chance to test
it," he explained. "But even if this serum doesn't work, it will not
do your people any harm, and your doctors might be able to find
a cure by using this as a base."

GenA nodded in understanding. He knew enough about medicine
to know that without testing, you couldn't be sure a drug worked.
Then he frowned slightly in puzzlement. "Why did you search
for a cure for my sick crew?" he asked. "You didn't have to do
that. We took over your ship and had you assisting in the mental
and physical torture of your Commander."

"I'm a doctor. A holographic one, but a doctor nonetheless," the
EMH answered as he put the vial down. "My primary function is
to heal. It doesn't matter who it is. If a patient is in my sickbay, I
will do my best to heal him or her." He thought for a brief
moment, then added, "And the only reason I could help SicA
torturing Commander Chakotay is that he disabled my ethical
subroutines."

"Your ethical subroutines?"

"Yes. They prevent me from doing harm," the doctor explained.

"I see," GenA said thoughtfully. Then he shook off his thoughts.
"But enough of this. I'm sure that you're anxious to get Tom
Paris back." Before the doctor could answer, he turned slightly
and addressed someone off screen in his own language.

The doctor turned to the main part of sickbay when he heard the
shimmering of a transporter. He watched in silence as Tom Paris
materialized on one of the biobeds. Despite the fact that he
wanted to go over and check Tom out himself, he turned back to
his console. From what he had been able to see, the pilot was
sleeping, or unconscious.

Before the EMH could say anything, GenA spoke again, and a
moment later, the vial disappeared from his desk. Then GenA
turned back to the screen. "Thank you, Doctor," he said. "I'm
grateful for the serum, even if it doesn't work."

"You're welcome," the doctor answered. "What happens now?"

GenA smiled slightly. "Now we leave," he replied. "I'd offer to
escort you to your destination, but this is a peaceful part of space
and you shouldn't run into any trouble. Besides," he added, "I
don't think your Commander would agree to an escort."

"You're probably right," the doctor admitted. "Well, it was nice
meeting you, GenA, and thank you for all your help."

"It was the least I could do," GenA said. "It was a pleasure
working with you, and thank you again for the serum. Goodbye."
With that, the view screen went blank.

The doctor turned off his console, then rose and left his office,
heading for the main part of sickbay. Picking up a tricorder, he
walked over to Tom's biobed and scanned the young man
thoroughly. A moment later, he shut off the device and put it
down, then commed the first officer. "Doctor to Commander
Chakotay."

"Chakotay here."

"Commander, I'm pleased to inform you that Lieutenant Paris is
fine," the doctor said. "The implant has been removed and there
are no signs of damage."

Chakotay sighed in relief. "That's good to hear," he said. "When
can he leave sickbay?"

"Mr. Paris is unconscious, but he can leave sickbay and return to
duty when he comes to," the doctor replied.

"All right. Let me know when he's awake."

"Of course, Commander. Doctor out."
 

TBC