tp28


	Part 28 At 0845, Tom walked into sickbay for his daily physical. He looked around and smiled when he saw Harry sitting by a still- asleep B'Elanna. Their baby was sleeping in the crib beside B'Elanna, and Harry was looking from his wife to his son and back again. {Either Harry's been here all night, or else he came back early,} Tom thought as he went over to the little family. Stopping be- side his best friend, he spoke quietly, not wanting to wake B'Elanna. "Good morning, Harry." Harry turned and looked up at Tom. "Good morning, Tom," he returned, just as quietly. "Have you been here all night?" Tom asked with a slight smile. "Or did the good doctor throw you out, and you just decided to come back before anyone else was up?" Harry chuckled. "I've been here all night," he answered. "Doc let me sleep on the other biobed." He nodded to the next bed, indicating where he'd slept. Tom smiled again. He wasn't really surprised. For a hologram, the doctor could show a surprising amount of compassion when he chose to. He remembered when Chakotay had been injured, and Dr. Kéla'an had let him stay in sickbay over-night. Of course, it had been to make sure that he got some rest, but still.... Not wanting to think about that time, Tom turned his thoughts to another subject. Focusing on Harry again, he asked, "Have you seen Tuvok?" Harry frowned in surprise for a moment. "That's right, he was revived yesterday," he remembered. "No, I haven't seen him." Before Harry could say anything else, Dr. Kéla'an came over to them. "Good morning, Captain," he said. "How are you feeling today?" Tom turned around to face the doctor. "I'm fine, Doc. How's Tuvok? Did you have any problems reviving him?" Dr. Kéla'an smiled slightly and took Tom's arm, leading him over to another biobed. "Lieutenant Tuvok is fine," he said, as Tom sat on the bed. He grabbed a tricorder and began scanning the Captain. "I didn't experience any problems. The Lieutenant is in perfect health, and fit for duty." He looked up from the tricorder for a moment, made eye contact with Tom, then he returned his concentration to the readings. "Once Lt. Tuvok was fully alert, I gave him a brief explanation of our situation, and told him that you'd give him a more detailed version of the events this morning." Dr. Kéla'an turned off the tricorder and gave Tom his full attention. "Well, Captain, you're fine. Have you had breakfast yet?" Tom slid off of the biobed. "Yes, I had breakfast." Dr. Kéla'an nodded in approval. "Good. Then you can go talk to Lt. Tuvok. He's waiting for you in his quarters," he said. Glancing briefly over at B'Elanna, he saw that she was now awake and looked back at Tom. "I'll examine Lt. Torres and her baby, then I'll revive Commander Chakotay." Tom flashed the doctor a grateful smile. He really missed his husband and could hardly wait to have him back. "All right, Doc. If Tuvok's expecting me, I guess I'd better go see him." With that, he left sickbay and headed for Tuvok's quarters, leaving Dr. Kéla'an to his work. ***** Five minutes later, Tom entered Tuvok's quarters and greeted the Vulcan. "Good morning, Tuvok." "Good morning... Captain." Tuvok hesitated briefly before the title, not accustomed to using that rank when addressing Voyager's Chief Pilot. He gestured to the couch. "Please have a seat. Can I get you anything?" Tom smiled slightly before he went over and sat down in the couch. "No, thank you, Tuvok. I'm fine." He waited until the other man was seated, then came right to the point, knowing that human politeness was unnecessary. "The doctor told me that he'd given you a brief account of our current situation," he stated. When Tuvok nodded, he asked, "What did he tell you, exactly?" "The doctor has informed me that more than half the crew are in stasis, suffering from an unknown virus for which he has only just found a cure. He also stated that you landed Voyager several weeks ago, but did not give a reason why," Tuvok answered. Tom ran a hand through his hair, gathering his thoughts. "All right. I take it that you remember that we had problems before you went into stasis?" he started and waited for Tuvok's nod, before he continued. "Well, you weren't the last. After you, the majority of the crew fell ill, one by one. Their symptoms were so similar that the doctor ordered physical exams for everyone. He discovered everyone who was sick had caught a virus on the planet we'd just left. Captain Janeway immediately ordered me to turn around and head back to the planet." Tom stopped speaking for a moment and sighed deeply. "Unfortunately, she became ill shortly after that, and the doctor told her that she was to go into stasis. Since I was the only remaining member of the senior staff with any command training, she handed Voyager over to me." Tom suddenly looked directly at Tuvok. "She put it in the ship's log, and worded it so that I'm in command until Captain Janeway is cured." Tuvok lifted an eyebrow, more at the slightly annoyed tone of Tom's voice than anything else. "You are not pleased with this," he surmised. Tom snorted. "That's an understatement," he said. "I mean, I know that she didn't have any choice when she gave me the captaincy, but I don't see why she had to make sure I'm in command until she gets well. As it is, I can't hand Voyager over to you, or even Chakotay. At least not for longer periods of time. What if something happens to me?" Tom held up a hand to forestall Tuvok's comment. "Okay, so it isn't a problem now, but what if something had happened to me before the doctor found the serum? It has been fourteen weeks since the crew started to fall ill." Tuvok considered this for a brief moment. "I see your point. However, if something had happened to you during the past fourteen weeks, Lt. Torres would have been in command," he observed, having read through some of the logs earlier. Tom nodded. "Technically, she would've been, but since she was pregnant, the doctor had ordered her to take it easy. Which is why I made her the First Officer and then stuck her with the paperwork. Harry is the one who's been the de facto First Officer all this time, and if something had happened to me, he would've been the one to actually run the ship." Tom looked questioningly at Tuvok. "Can I use the replicator?" he asked. When the Vulcan nodded, Tom rose from the couch and went over and placed an order for a glass of water. When his order materialized, he picked up the glass, walked back to the couch and sat down again before taking a sip of the water. Then he put the glass on the table and turned his attention back to Tuvok. "Well, enough of that. Nothing happened to me, and the doctor has finally found a cure for the virus." Tuvok watched as Tom relaxed back on the couch. "What happened after Captain Janeway was put in stasis?" "We were headed back to the planet, and adjusting to being undermanned. Before we could reach it, the Kazon attacked." Tom sighed and closed his eyes for a moment. When he opened them again, he looked tired. "And it wasn't only one ship. There were five Kazon ship's attacking us at once. We suffered some damage and didn't have any choice but to turn and run." Tom ran a hand through his hair with another sigh. "They chased us for a couple of days, but we finally found a nebula where we could hide while repairs were being made." ***** //When Lt. Baytart brought Voyager to a stop inside the nebula, Tom turned to Ops and gave Harry a questioning look. "Did the Kazon follow us?" Harry glanced up from his console. "Sensors aren't working properly here, but I don't think so. They didn't seem to notice that we went in here," he informed the Captain. Tom nodded in understanding. He'd known that there would be a sensor problem once they went in, but if Harry said that he didn't think the Kazon had followed the ship into the nebula, they probably hadn't. "All right, then we can stand down from red alert," he said. "But we'll stay on yellow alert, just in case. I don't want us caught unawares." Tom gave the order to the computer, and the flashing of light turned from red to yellow. "Computer, ship wide." He waited for the mechanical voice's acknowledgement, then addressed the crew. "All hands, this is the Captain. We seem to have escaped the Kazon by coming into this nebula, but since we can't be certain, we'll stay on yellow alert. We'll stay here until all major damage has been repaired, and we're battle ready again. Paris out." In the First Officer's chair, B'Elanna groaned quietly. She turned to Tom. "You do know, don't you, that this means more reports," she complained. Tom turned to look at her. "Yes, I know." Seeing something in her eyes, he narrowed his own and lowered his voice, making sure no one else heard him. "Forget it, B'Elanna!" B'Elanna frowned in confusion. "Forget what?" Tom's eyes narrowed even more. "You are not going down to help in Engineering," he stated. "In fact, you are going to stay out of Engineering. And that's an order!" B'Elanna looked guilty, then indignant. "But..." Tom interrupted her. "If I catch you anywhere near Engineering, I'll throw you in the brig so fast your head will spin! Is that clear?" B'Elanna growled quietly, "Yes, Sir!" Tom held her eyes for a moment longer, making sure that she knew he meant it. When he was certain that she would obey his order, he relaxed and rose from his chair. "Come on, B'Elanna. Let's go over the reports in the Captain's Ready Room." He held out a hand to her. B'Elanna hesitated a moment before she sighed in defeat. Then she took the offered hand and let Tom help her out of her chair. Tom turned the bridge over to Harry, and he and B'Elanna headed for the Ready Room to take care of the reports. *** A little over a week later, all repairs were finished and Voyager cautiously left their hiding place, keeping a sharp lookout for the Kazon. To their great relief, they didn't see any sign of them.// *** Tom stopped speaking and finished his water before he focused on Tuvok again. "Unfortunately, we were so far away from the planet that it would be a waste of time to try and get back there. Besides, the Kazon had informed us that they had put a claim on it and would defend it at all costs, so we decided not to risk returning. Instead, we set course in the general of the Alpha Quadrant and hoped that the doctor would find a cure for the virus." Tuvok studied the Acting Captain in silence for a few moments before speaking. "I read some of the ship's logs last night," he began. "I did not get far, but I from what I understand, there was another attack by the Kazon?" The last was clearly a question. Tom smiled without humor. "The next attack came two days after we got out of the nebula. Although, luckily for us, this time it was only one ship, so we managed to defeat them without sustaining too much damage," he said. He ran a hand through his hair while he gathered his thoughts. "For the next six weeks, the Kazon attacked us on a regular basis, causing some minor damage every time." Tom looked at Tuvok earnestly. "Fortunately, no one was injured. It was hard, though. We had to work around the clock, and we never had time to finish repairs before we were attacked again." Tuvok nodded silently in understanding, then rose and walked over to the replicator. Speaking quietly, he placed an order. When his order appeared, he picked it up, carried it over to Tom and handed him the glass. Tom took the glass and looked at it. Seeing what looked like fruit juice, he took a sip, then smiled gratefully at Tuvok, who'd returned to his chair. "Thank you." Tuvok lifted an eyebrow in response. "You're welcome, Captain," he replied. He waited until Tom had put the glass down on the table, then asked, "How long did you travel under those conditions?" Tom sighed. "About seven weeks. The last attack from the Kazon came shortly before we found this planet. During this time, the doctor was unable to find a serum that worked. He thought he did a few times, but they always turned out to be ineffective. In light of that, and considering the crew's exhaustion, I had Harry Kim scan for a uninhabited planet where we could land." Tom paused and reached for his juice. Tuvok sat quietly, and after going over everything Tom had just told him, he found himself admiring the younger man. Tom had done remarkably well under less than ideal circumstances. "How long ago did you land Voyager?" Tom looked up. "Seven weeks ago," he answered. "The crew has been on shore leave since we finished repairs. They needed it and I decided to stay here until the doctor found a cure for the virus, and everyone's out of stasis." Tuvok nodded. With the ship so seriously undermanned and the threat of the Kazon, it was the logical thing to do. "The doctor told me that he discovered the cure yesterday," he said. When Tom nodded, he continued. "He also informed me that it was your decision to have me revive first." Tuvok waited for Tom's nod of confirmation before asking, "May I ask why?" Tom sat straight up in the couch and looked directly into Tuvok's eyes. "A couple of reasons. With B'Elanna on maternity leave, I need a First Officer, and you're the perfect choice. You already knew that something was wrong before you went into stasis, so you wouldn't be confused when you were informed of our situation. Then there's the fact that you're Vulcan, so your actions are dictated by logic and not emotions." Tom paused and took another sip of his juice before finishing. "Finally, however much I wanted to, I couldn't have Chakotay revived first. He's been in stasis so long that when he's cured, we're likely to have other things than Voyager and her crew on our minds." Tuvok cocked his head slightly as he considered Tom's words. "Logical," he finally said. "Flawlessly logical." Tom smiled. Coming from Tuvok, that was probably the highest praise he could get. "Thank you, Tuvok," he said sincerely. "If you're up to it, I'll inform the crew that you are the new Acting First Officer for now. The doctor said that he would cure Chakotay today." Tuvok inclined his head slightly. "I am in perfect health," he informed the other man. "You, however, look like you could use some rest." Tom smiled tiredly. "You're right, Tuvok. I am tired." "Then you should go get some sleep, Captain. I will take care of everything." Tuvok's voice was almost gentle. "In fact, I think you should take some time off until Commander Chakotay is released for duty." Tom blinked in surprise. "Tuvok, are you suggesting that I neglect duty in favor of a reunion with my husband?" he asked in amazement. "Yes, Captain, I am," Tuvok admitted. He almost smiled at the look of blank astonishment on Tom's face. "That way both you and Commander Chakotay will be able to concentrate on the ship and crew when you return to duty." Tom considered this for a moment. Deciding that it made sense, he smiled. "You're right. All right, Tuvok, I'll take the rest of the day off and get some rest, then Chakotay and I will return to duty sometime tomorrow." He rose from the couch and walked over to the door, then turned around to face Tuvok again. "I'll just inform the crew and the doctor before I leave Voyager in your hands and head to bed." When Tuvok nodded, Tom turned again and left the Vulcan's quarters, heading back to sickbay to tell Dr. Kéla'an that he was off duty for the rest of the day. The doctor would be pleased with this, he knew. Next