Trials 01 Tom's Trail Read online

  wouldn't notice the duplication. A better question is---why?"

  "Why what?" Kim asked for clarification.

  Paris gave him an impatient glance. "Why would she want to work a double shift? She wouldn't have a social life at all. All work and no play. You know."

  Janeway nodded slowly. "That is a good question, Tom. Her supervisors each recommended her for promotion, so she must be doing well. But why? Any theories, Commander?"

  Chakotay looked at Torres and raised his eyebrows, silently turning the question over to her. She stared at the captain. "Malista has always worked hard. Her work is her life. She has to stay busy. She probably knew she wouldn't be allowed to do double duty if she

  asked permission---so she didn't ask."

  A memory suddenly flitted to the forefront of Janeway's mind as she gazed at the picture of the crewmember under discussion. "I remember her now. Every time I've seen her, Crewman Dishon was with her. She doesn't talk much. He did most of the talking for the both

  of them."

  "There's a reason for that, Captain," Chakotay said. "The two of them served in the same Maquis resistance cell. They were part of a group that was captured by the Cardassians. Those two were the only survivors when the Maquis broke them out of the Cardassian base camp.

  They'd been---let's just say the Cardassians didn't treat them well."

  Chakotay's words left a lot of room for speculation. The Cardassian reputation for torture and mistreatment of prisoners was well known. It was better not to imagine what Shadow and Dishon had gone through before their rescue.

  "That's why she doesn't want to be around people. She works all the time. It was the same on the Maquis ship. The only person she talks to is Niko Dishon---if she even talks to him. I've never heard her say more than two words to anyone else unless it had something to

  do with the work they were doing," Torres added.

  Janeway frowned. "This can't go on. Commander, I suggest you get Crewman Shadow up here. You and I will find out which duty assignment she wishes to keep and try to address her lack of socialization. Her health may also be in question---physical and emotional."

  Chakotay nodded his agreement. "I would suggest we also ask Crewman Dishon to be present. It would put Malista at ease."

  "If she's that uncomfortable around others, how has she lasted on a ship this size for this long a period without incident?" Janeway asked. "Perhaps we need to look into getting her some counseling. You and I will discuss this, Commander. The rest of you are dismissed."

  ***********************

  The captain and the commander conferred for almost half an hour before summoning Crewman Shadow. She entered the bridge and disappeared into the captain's ready room with Crewman Dishon on her heels.

  Spinning his chair to face the Ops station, Paris exchanged looks with Kim. "Oh, to be a fly on the wall!"

  "Why? Do you think she'll actually make trouble because they relieve her of one job?" Kim understood dedication to one's work. He just had a hard time believing someone would work to the exclusion of all else---except when working on special projects. That was different.

  Paris smiled at his friend. "She's gotten away with it so long, it's a habit. Habits can be the devil to break."

  "You should know," Torres snorted. "How many have you broken? I thought your bad habits were still ongoing?"

  Paris ignored her as if she hadn't spoken, turning back to the helm and concentrating on the controls and readouts.

  Torres looked at Kim. It wasn't like Paris to let a remark like that go unchallenged. Kim shrugged. Torres turned back to the Engineering console. They were on course and routine monitoring of the instrumentation was all that was necessary. The bridge was uncommonly quiet.

  The doors to the briefing room slid open. Captain Janeway led the other three onto the bridge. Dishon and Shadow went straight to the turbolift, their faces wooden and unreadable. Janeway and Chakotay took their seats without comment.

  The bridge was uncommonly quiet all that shift.

  ***********************

  At the end of the Alpha Shift, the captain and the first officer adjourned to the ready room once more. Chakotay handed a copy of the promotion lists to Janeway. "These are the final recommendations. Of course, we still have to decide how---"

  "Sickbay to Captain Janeway. Please turn to your Emergency Medical Holographic channel."

  Janeway activated the viewscreen in the center of the table. "Yes, Doctor?"

  The doctor appeared to be miffed. "Captain, I have a report for you on Crewman Malista Shadow."

  The captain had ordered Shadow to Sickbay for a physical to make sure that working double shifts for an extended time hadn't adversely affected her health.

  "Yes, Doctor?" Kathryn repeated.

  "Like almost every other member of the crew of this ship, Crewman Shadow is reluctant, recalcitrant---" the doctor complained.

  "Did she refuse an examination?" Chakotay interrupted.

  "No. She did make it clear she does not like to be touched, but she didn't refuse to be examined She did, however, refuse to answer questions. She answered 'yes' or 'no' or in one word sentences!" The doctor seemed outraged.

  "I'm sorry you didn't find her conversation entertaining, Doctor, but how is her health? That is our primary concern," Janeway reminded.

  "Her physical health is fine. As to her mental health---" he hesitated.

  "Yes?"

  He bristled visibly. "It's difficult to assess mental state with such a lack of cooperation. She is obviously withdrawn, antisocial, and non-communicative. She lacks social skills and seems to be uneasy around other crewmembers."

  "Do you believe she should be relieved of duty?" asked the captain.

  "Is her mental state dangerous?"

  The doctor shook his head impatiently. "No, of course not. In fact, relieving her of duty would do more harm than good. The little I was able to glean from her responses tells me that she feels she has value only as long as she is useful. Counseling would be helpful in helping her to become adept socially. Successful counseling, however, requires that the patient wishes to be helped. This patient doesn't."

  "What makes you think so?" Chakotay asked.

  "She said so. Adamantly. She wishes to be left alone. She accused me of pestering ---pestering---her with excessive curiosity!" he proclaimed indignantly. "Excessive curiosity is not in my programming!"

  "I hope you told her so," Chakotay suggested with false sympathy.

  Janeway sent him a quelling glance then turned her attention to the EMH. "Thank you, Doctor. We appreciate your report and will take it under advisement." She snapped off the viewscreen without waiting for a reply. "Well, Commander?"

  Chakotay ran the fingers of his left hand through his cropped hair. "I knew she wouldn't be happy with a physical. She doesn't like doctors. And he's right. She doesn't like to be touched."

  "Commander, why do I get the feeling you know more than you've said?" Janeway asked thoughtfully.

  Chakotay's worried brown eyes met hers. "Because you're a smart woman? You're right, Captain." He clasped his hands and placed them on the table, regarding them thoughtfully as he continued. "I was with the team that rescued Shadow and Dishon from the Cardassians.

  They were two of the five members of a Maquis cell gathering information about Cardassian prison camps. They were caught by the Cardassian security team at a base camp on Huldon III and were being held 'for questioning'. The Maquis knew they'd been captured and we went after them as soon as we could." Chakotay stopped pacing to watch the stars spinning by outside the viewport.

  "They were tortured?" Janeway prompted, her throat tight. She'd been a prisoner of the Cardassians herself for a short time. She didn't think about it if she could avoid it.

  "When we broke into the station, three of the Maquis were dead---beaten to death." The First Officer paused as if choosing his words carefully. "Every Cardassian in the building was dead---five of them. They'd been---s
laughtered---almost dismembered. We found Shadow and

  Dishon together in an unlocked cell. Dishon was barely conscious and had six fractured ribs, a dislocated shoulder, and a broken arm. He was holding a Cardassian weapon. Shadow was in even worse shape. She had a concussion, bruises, and several deep stab wounds and cuts.

  She'd been---raped, probably more than once---judging by the physical trauma."

  Janeway could tell from his expression that he was seeing the whole brutal incident clearly in his mind. She went to stand beside him, resting her hand on his shoulder and squeezing gently. "How awful."

  Chakotay shook his head. "When we got them back to our medical facilities, Malista was dying, but Dishon wouldn't let her go. He stayed right next to her bed, talking to her the whole time she was in a coma. He didn't leave her till she was on her feet. It was worse than you can know, captain." Chakotay's eyes met hers. "Malista's

  people are from a Greek background." At the incomprehension in the captain's eyes, he elaborated, "The Greek people put a high premium on---purity---on virginity. She was only nineteen. Malista had never---"

  "Surely her family---" she protested.

  "When she contacted her family---no one knows what was said, but evidently they disowned her. Shadow is not her family name. It was her Maquis code name. She appropriated it so she'd have two names and Dishon became her family. He's still taking care of her. I guess their experience created a bond between them."

  Janeway shuddered and rubbed her hands up and down her arms. "It gives me chills to think about it! Did she ever get any counseling to help her deal with the trauma?"

  "Not that I know of. Dishon and she formed a solid unit and refused to talk to anyone else. We never found out what happened---who killed the Cardassians---how they escaped their cell---any of it. They each claimed they didn't remember. The Maquis didn't pursue it."

  "Do you think she can function as a normal member of our crew?"

  Chakotay considered his words before answering. "What's normal? If we can make her see the value of interacting socially with the others, she'll make friends and find a place for herself. She'll never be as outgoing as Tom Paris---thank God!"

  Janeway knew he was using humor to help him regain his emotional balance. "True. One Tom Paris is all any ship should have to deal with. We need to find something useful for him to do. The doctor was complaining about the new holodeck program he created. He calls it para-skiing. Something about jumping off the side of a mountain with

  a sail and a snowboard. And, of course, he turned off the safeties! The doctor treated fourteen injuries the first hour!"

  ***********************

  It had been going on for three days---the watching and waiting for the other shoe to drop. On a ship the size of Voyager, it was hard to keep anything a secret---or even private. There just wasn't anywhere to get away from other people. Torres and Paris were trying to act as professional as possible and give no indication that

  anything had changed. Paris was doing a better job of it than Torres. He was accustomed to hiding his feelings behind a mask of cool indifference. He'd learned that long before he'd ever wound up in the Rehabilitation Colony---

  prison, to call a spade a spade. Any remark made by Torres that wasn't strictly job-related, he pretended not to hear.

  Those who'd never been allowed to see beyond the mask didn't perceive much of a difference in his behavior. He was the same polite, friendly, smart-mouthed joker who had first come aboard Voyager. The few who knew him well---Harry Kim, Kes, Neelix, and ironically, Torres---couldn't help but notice that his smile never reached his eyes.

  While his conversation was a typical smooth patter, it had no substance. He had created a distance between himself and everyone else. No one was allowed to get close, physically or verbally. He wouldn't allow the conversation to wander from surface topics or professional exchanges. He continued to rule Sandrine's as a substitute host, making sure everyone was comfortable and had someone to talk to. It was as if he was the host of a large party, dedicated

  to making sure all the guests enjoyed themselves, but not taking the time to enjoy the party himself.

  Torres, on the other hand, was not as adept at pretending. The entire Engineering staff had been walking on tiptoe to avoid attracting her attention. Her short fuse was even shorter than usual, though to her credit, she was just as quick with an apology---if not with an explanation. For the most part, she had abandoned

  Sandrine's as a hangout---afraid of running into Paris. She seemed to be spending her spare time in her quarters going over technical manuals or in Engineering trying to tweak 98% efficiency to 100% through sheer willpower and the sweat of her entire crew.

  Captain Janeway and Commander Chakotay had become aware of the existing tension at the first staff meeting that followed the breakup. Never had two people been more obviously acting as if there were no problem. The two of them had always been friendly, but now they were pattern cards of correct Starfleet etiquette. They were so

  polite and attentive to each other in a professional way---it bordered on being insulting.

  Janeway had discouraged Chakotay from interfering, pointing out in a reasonable tone that it would be difficult to find a way to tell them they were behaving too politely.

  So the whole ship watched each of them---separately and together---and waited for something to happen. Paris and Torres might try to avoid each other, but there were places where they would inevitably meet. One of them was the mess hall.

  Torres was having dinner with Chakotay at a table in the corner, trying to pretend Paris was not sitting at a table twenty feet across the room. He had been sitting with Kes and Neelix and had just finished his meal and taken the dishes back to the bin. As he prepared to leave he passed by the table where Crewman Russell,

  the ship's librarian, was standing and gathering up several datapadds and books. Just as Paris walked past, Russell fumbled and some of her things tumbled to the floor right in his path.

  Russell looked mortified at becoming the center of attention in the mess hall and quickly knelt to pick up the materials. "I'm sorry, Lieutenant. I'll get this out of your way-"

  Paris knelt and helped her gather her belongings. "That's all right. Let me help you." As they both stood with hands full, Paris glanced at her table. "This is an armload. You don't have something to carry these in?"

  Still flustered at her clumsiness, Russell shook her head. "That's all right, sir. I can manage." She tried to take the materials from him, but started to lose her grip on the things she held and had to stop to rebalance them.

  "Where are you going with these, Diane?" Paris smiled at her kindly, trying to put her at ease. He knew she was one of the shyest people on Voyager. "I have some time to kill. I'll help you carry them."

  "Oh. I was taking them to the library," Russell replied. "Are you sure you don't mind, Lieutenant?" She was trying to recover from the shocking idea that Lt. Tom Paris actually knew her name and was smiling---at her. She was having trouble breathing steadily.

  "Of course not," Tom answered. "I've been meaning to check out the library." `She looked at him blankly as they started toward the door. "That was a joke." He added helpfully.

  She smiled up at him in a delayed reaction. "I got it. It's just that------"

  Tom sighed and finished the sentence. "It wasn't a good joke. Some days are like that." He made a clownish face of exaggerated disappointment that startled her into a laugh just as the door slid closed.

  Torres clenched her jaw and stabbed fiercely at her plate with her fork. "B'Elanna?" Chakotay said, raising his voice louder than his normal tones.

  Torres jumped. She had forgotten he was sitting there. "What?"

  Chakotay frowned at her. "I said your name three times."

  "Sorry," she mumbled. "My mind was wandering."

  Chakotay glanced toward the doorway. "Can I guess where it wandered?"

  Torres met his eyes angrily. "No. I don't want to talk abo
ut it."

  "About what?" Chakotay said mildly. He was using that damned quiet voice that provoked her so much. "About what happened three days ago, or about what just happened?" Janeway had said he shouldn't play peacemaker, and he had refrained from asking questions, but B'Elanna was his protégé and she seemed upset. He couldn't ignore that. She didn't talk to other people. He could refrain from giving

  unsolicited advice, but she might need to talk to him .

  "Either. Neither."

  Chakotay just studied her and out waited her.

  "Well, you can understand why I don't want to get

  involved with him, can't you? You even warned me!" she burst out defensively. "I mean---look what just happened!"

  "What just happened?" Chakotay was so composed. It made Torres crazy when he was so unruffled when she felt so---agitated! And now he was being obtuse!

  "You saw it," she snapped accusingly.

  "Our perceptions may differ. Tell me what you saw."

  B'Elanna was exasperated, but she could no more keep silent than she could fly. "I saw Tom Paris flirting with someone else---another conquest!"

  "Flirting?" Chakotay inquired. "Conquest?" He raised an eyebrow.

  Torres looked uncomfortable as he reflected her words back to her. "Maybe conquest is an exaggeration," she grumbled. "But he was flirting."

  "If you say so," said Chakotay in a neutral tone and picked up his fork.

  "What is that supposed to mean?" B'Elanna was just spoiling for a fight and there was no one safer for her to fight with than Chakotay.

  Chakotay didn't answer. He just chewed his food, swallowed, and took a sip of his drink. He watched her as she thought furiously, trying to work out what he was getting at.

  She finally gave in. "All right. I told you what I saw. What did you see?"

  "I saw a crewman have an accident. Lt. Paris helped her and tried to make her feel less embarrassed." Chakotay waited for her reaction. He didn't have to wait long.

  "You're joking!" Torres accused. "You can't really think that's all that happened!"