Chapter Text
Prologue
In every life story, there are certain key moments that determine the rest of the narrative. Turning points, into which the different threads of past experiences converge and where the threads of the future are spawned.
In hindsight, you can usually identify these pivotal moments. Yet when you’re smack in the middle of one, it’s not always that clear. Sometimes you have a feeling that you can’t quite place, a latent knowledge at the periphery of your awareness. Something’s going on, something is going to change, but you never know what exactly. Until it clicks into place.
One of those turning points for me occurred shortly after I took command of Voyager. When we left drydock, I felt something big was coming, something that would have a large impact on my life. And then we got thrown in the Delta Quadrant a couple of days later, and I was literally being hurtled towards my destiny.
Another pivotal point in my life happened later, in the middle of my journey back home to the Alpha Quadrant, and it changed the course of my life drastically as well.
Several events in my life brought me to that point, some in quite obvious ways, while others attributed much more subtly.
But in hindsight, it’s safe to say that my fondness of rock climbing set everything in motion.
~~~
Chapter I
“You like rock climbing, don’t you Captain?”
The question, simple enough, was fired at me by Tom Paris almost immediately after I exited my Ready Room and entered the Bridge.
At the time, I had no idea yet that my answer would have such an impact on the rest of my life. So I sat down in my chair and replied with a smile.
“I sure do, Mister Paris. Why do you ask?”
Tom leaned forward in his seat, eager to explain. “I’ve programmed a new mountain face in my rock climbing holoprogram. A couple of us will be trying it out after work tomorrow. Would you like to join?”
My smile broadened. I had tried Tom’s program before and enjoyed it very much. The idea that he’d made additions delighted me and I found myself eager to discover which challenges he had fabricated.
Mentally, I reviewed my agenda. Did I have anything planned for tomorrow evening?
I turned to my First Officer next to me as I remembered. “We have dinner plans tomorrow, don’t we?” I was unable to completely hide my disappointment.
Chakotay nodded in acknowledgement. “We do.”
Briefly, I considered cancelling our plans, but the hopeful look in Chakotay’s eyes quickly dissuaded me. He was looking forward to our weekly evening together and if I was completely honest, so was I.
With an apologetic smile, I turned back to my pilot. “Another time, Tom.”
Picking up on my regret, Tom quickly adjusted his proposal. “You’re both welcome to join before you have dinner. Rock climbing is known to work up quite an appetite.”
Raising my eyebrows in question, I turned back to Chakotay, trying to assess what he thought of the possibility of doing both: first rock climbing and then an abbreviated version of dinner afterwards.
The Commander opened his mouth, seeming hesitant to speak.
“I don’t feel very comfortable dangling on a piece of rope without solid ground under my feet.” He admitted with an embarrassed smile. “I’m not really fond of heights to tell you the truth.”
In a flash I remembered a moment when we had been stranded on New Earth together. We’d been hiking for the better part of a day when we’d unexpectedly stepped dangerously close to the steep abyss of a ravine. Chakotay’s fear of heights had presented itself quite clearly at that moment. I wondered how I could have forgotten.
With a shrug I turned once again to Tom.
“Thanks for the offer, Mister Paris, but I don’t think that’s an option.” Then I smiled. “I am definitely looking forward to trying out the modifications to your program in the future. It’s been too long since I’ve done any climbing.”
“Sorry to ruin your fun.” Chakotay spoke apologetically next to me.
I gave him a genuine smile. “That’s all right Commander. I’ll just make some time for climbing next week.” I tilted my head, reconfirming our dinner plans. “So, tomorrow, 18h00, my quarters? I believe it’s my turn to cook.”
Chakotay’s eyes widened ever so slightly. “Your turn to cook?” He asked, pretending to be horrified. “Maybe I should take my chances on the Holodeck after all.”
As I gave him a mock glare and opened my mouth to say something in return, the turbolift doors opened and B’Elanna entered the Bridge, excitedly waving a PADD around.
“The fourth planet of this system is a gold mine.” She grinned and then tilted her head. “Well, a gallicite mine anyway.”
Forgetting my feigned annoyance with Chakotay, I turned to B’Elanna.
“A mine?” I echoed, suddenly intrigued. So the planetary system we were passing seemed to be interesting after all. A first sensor sweep has shown nothing out of the ordinary.
I joined B’Elanna at the Engineering station as she brought up a scan of the planet’s surface.
“Our scans show tunnels, clearly artificial.” B’Elanna clarified. “Vorik thinks it’s an abandoned gallicite mine.”
I studied the screen before turning to my Chief Engineer. Her eyes mirrored my anticipation.
“Captain, if these readings are right, we’re looking at a remaining yield of nearly a kiloton.” She grinned. “That would be enough gallicite to completely refit the warp coils.”
A broad smile appeared on Tom’s face at the helm as well.
“They sure could use it after all the damage they’ve taken in the past two years.”
“Is there anyone in the area who might consider this their property?” Chakotay inquired.
B’Elanna shook her head. “The mine appears to be long abandoned.”
I nodded slowly, pleased that the odds clearly seemed to be in our favor. “All right. Let’s stake a claim.” I turned to my Chief Engineer. “I’ll leave this in your hands, B’Elanna. Use whatever resources or personnel you need.”
“Yes Ma’am.” She nodded and turned to Tom. “Are you up for some real climbing, Flyboy? Or do you prefer the safety of the Holodeck?”
There was a slightly taunting note in her voice that was typical of her friendship with Tom. They obviously cared about each other and I wondered, not for the first time, if there was more to their teasing than just friendship.
“Oh I’m game.” Tom replied. “But are you sure you can keep up?”
I chuckled at their verbal antics and rolled my eyes good-naturedly. My gaze held Chakotay’s for a moment and it was clear he was having the same thoughts about Tom and B’Elanna that had just crossed my mind.
As Chakotay smiled at me, it dawned on me that he and I teased each other in much the same way as Tom and B’Elanna did. Did that mean that eventually there could be more than friendship between us too?
Ever since we’d gotten back from New Earth, where we’d only had each other for company, I’d continued to gradually, almost imperceptibly, let my guard down with him. I had tentatively allowed our connection to deepen here on Voyager. Chakotay was happy with this development and it was obvious he would like us to be even closer. But still he seemed careful in his approach, cautious not to cross the line, although it was never really clear where the line was drawn in the first place. For me it seemed to shift continuously and I had yet to decide where would be the final boundary that I could not let him cross. I had to admit I was enjoying the exploration, and a little curious to see where we’d end up eventually.
In front of me, Tom spoke again, interrupting my train of thought.
And as it would turn out, his words were the confirmation that a life-changing event had been set in motion.
“Captain, you should join this expedition too.”
~
The next day, I found myself in Transporter Room Two with Tom when B’Elanna walked in with a spring in her step.
“Ah, you two are awfully prompt.” She spoke, giving both me and Tom a quick onceover to inspect our climbing outfit and gear.
“Impressed?” Tom countered teasingly.
B’Elanna narrowed her eyes and huffed.
“It’ll take a little more work than that to impress me, Lieutenant.”
I resisted the urge to roll my eyes, wondering how long it would be before their back-and-forth taunting started to annoy me. In any case, it seemed B’Elanna was in excellent spirits and obviously looking forward to our expedition.
She briskly moved to the console. “All right, let me show you our target area.”
“Wasn’t Ensign Vorik supposed to be here too?” I asked, remembering how he and B’Elanna had been preparing this mission together the day before.
Vorik had been the one to map out the path that would get us to what we assumed to be the largest deposits of gallicite.
“Vorik’s not coming.” B’Elanna snapped brusquely, already starting to point at her screen.
“Why not?” I queried, thinking that she ought to give me a little more of an explanation than that.
B’Elanna unsuccessfully tried to suppress a sigh of annoyance at my questioning.
“He’s not feeling well. He went to Sickbay.”
She gave me a look as to say ‘now can we move on?’ and it was clear that she wanted to continue with the mission. So I refrained from further questioning her on the topic and stepped closer to the screen.
In hindsight, the reason for Vorik’s illness might have been information that could have come in handy, but of course, at the time, I wasn’t aware of that.
“This seems to be the most accessible vein of gallicite.” B’Elanna pointed at the screen. She already seemed to have forgotten her annoyance and was animatedly showing our route of entry. “We’ll beam to the surface, and go down through this passageway until it dead ends in this chamber. Then we’ll descend almost fifty meters, almost straight down.”
She turned around, looking directly to Tom. “Do you see any problem with that?”
Tom grinned at her. “Walk in the park.”
B’Elanna simply rolled her eyes at his bravado. “Do we have all the equipment?”
Pointing at the cases, Tom listed them. “Let’s see: laser drill, sample cases, geo-spectral analysis kit…”
“In other words, we’re ready.” B’Elanna interrupted him, picking up the cases and pushing them into Tom’s hands. Then she turned to me and bared her teeth in an excited grin.
“Let’s go.”
As soon as we beamed to the surface, B’Elanna started scanning the environment with her tricorder.
“This way.”
I took a moment to look around and couldn’t help but notice remnants of a building. “Look over here. This structure must have been part of the mining operation.”
Tom scanned it. “It’s damaged pretty badly. More than I expected based on the scans from orbit.”
“Maybe there was a natural disaster, like an earthquake.” I offered, remembering that our scans had also shown evidence of seismic activity in the past.
“If you’re both done sightseeing, maybe we can get to the real reason we’re here.” B’Elanna grumped impatiently, cutting our conversation short.
Her enthusiasm of before seemed to have turned into annoyance again.
Was it only my impression or did she seem a little more volatile than usual? When I looked at Tom to see if he noticed it too, he only chuckled.
“Are we in a rush?”
“I just don’t see any point in wasting time.” B’Elanna huffed, obviously still irritated by our interest in anything other than the mission.
She started to move again. Then she looked over her shoulder to Tom and just as quickly her bad mood seemed to vanish again, making way for a gleam in her eyes.
“Unless, of course, you want to stall to put off having to demonstrate your climbing expertise.” She taunted.
Tom’s ego responded the way I expected. He puffed up his chest a bit, readjusted his gear and moved past B’Elanna down the narrow passageway.
“Grab your gear and try to keep up.”
I shook my head with a sigh and followed them, listening to their bickering and vaguely wondering if I was only imagining B’Elanna’s rapid mood-swings.
As planned, we reached the end of the passageway entering a clearing with no other way to go but down a cliff.
I swallowed as I looked down. “It didn’t look quite so steep on the sensor map, did it?”
“We’re prepared for this. We can handle it.” B’Elanna spoke confidently and then grinned. “At least, I can.” She took off her gear and motioned to Tom’s. “Give me your case, it’s the heaviest one.”
“That’s all right, I’ll take it.” Tom spoke, not making any attempt to switch.
B’Elanna seemed like she wanted to argue for a moment, but then shrugged and proceeded to secure her own pack again. “Suit yourself.”
If she had been a little on the energetic side before, she positively seemed ecstatic now, like she was ready to bounce off the walls, or even jump off the cliff instead of just climbing down. It was with some sense of relief that I watched her adjust her safety gear and drive the piton solidly into the rock.
She checked her lines and threw us a look, first at Tom then at me.
“Last one down is a nuch.”
Before either of us could say anything, B’Elanna swiftly jumped over the edge, as if she would not be dangling over fifty meters above solid ground.
“B’Elanna!” I leapt to the edge to look down, fearing she might have seriously injured herself. But instead I found her grinning from ear to ear as she abseiled in wild moves.
“Nuchpu’!” She yelled up at the both of us, which I assumed meant something along the line of ‘cowards’.
I looked at Tom and saw he was finally thinking the same thing I was: what on earth was wrong with her?
“Let’s go.” I ordered as I readied my gear and secured my own piton.
Tom was still securing the heavy case to his harness as I already moved to the edge.
“Need a hand?” I asked him, at the same time looking down to see how B’Elanna was doing.
“Go. I’ll be right behind you.” He spoke, a hint of concern audible in his voice. It seemed as if he finally realized as well that B’Elanna’s behavior was not normal.
Tentatively I started my descent, thinking it was a small miracle B’Elanna hadn’t broken her neck with her overconfident moves.
Below me I heard a soft thud followed by an excited ‘whoop’ as B’Elanna reached the ground.
I descended further, carefully pushing myself off the edge in controlled moves. Above me to my right, Tom had also started coming down. He moved even slower than I did, the heavy case hindering his movements.
“Are you all right Tom?” I yelled up, wondering if I should climb back up to help him.
“I’m fine.” He replied. “Guess I’m the nuch though.”
Rolling my eyes, I covered the last few meters and jumped down on the ground.
“What took you so long?” B’Elanna approached me with a smile as I started to pull the rope free of my safety harness. “The gallicite is that way.”
Her face was right in front of me as I looked up and I noticed her eyes were shining almost feverishly. Her hands were warm on mine as she helped me with my rope and my case and I grabbed them to stop her movements.
“It’s not a race, B’Elanna.” I looked at her with worry, my eyes darting all over her face for a sign that would explain her unusual behavior.
A taunting expression appeared on her face and my eyes widened as she leaned in even closer, her head lingering next to mine for a second.
“I still won.” She breathed in my ear.
“You were careless.” I chided, a little thrown by her sudden proximity. “You could have broken your neck.”
With a growl, B’Elanna pushed away from me. “I don’t need you mothering over me.”
My reply was cut short by a flurry of falling pebbles and small rocks to my right. I immediately looked up. “Tom, are you all right?”
Still more than fifteen meters above the ground, Tom’s left foot was looking for support. “My pack got stuck behind a small ridge, but I managed to yank it free. I’ll have to secure it again before I can continue.”
“Tom, I’m climbing back up to help you.” I yelled at him as I started to secure my rope again.
Next to me, B’Elanna huffed. “I should have just taken the heavy case myself.” She mumbled under her breath as she swung her own pack over her shoulder. With her tricorder in hand, she took off in the opposite direction.
Baffled, I looked from her to Tom to her again. “Where are you going?”
“I’m not waiting for that petaQ!” She growled. “In fact, I should have just come down here alone.”
“Wait! B’Elanna!” I yelled as she disappeared inside a tunnel. I looked back up to Tom, torn between staying to help him and going after B’Elanna who was obviously not in her right mind.
“My pack is secure again, Captain. Go after her.” Tom’s voice resolved my inner conflict. I looked up at him, verifying that indeed he was all right before I grabbed my gear and ran after B’Elanna.
The tunnel she disappeared into was dark, and my wrist light only illuminated the space around me for a couple of meters. Luckily I could pick up her signal on my tricorder. She was about a hundred meters ahead of me. In the dark, I ran as fast as I could but the distance between us remained roughly the same.
After a moment it seemed like her signal remained stationary and I redoubled my efforts to catch up with her, wondering if she had reached the gallicite or if something else had happened to her.
Ahead of me I could see the glow of her wrist light and I entered a small cavernous space. I breathed a sigh of relief as I saw B’Elanna scanning the walls with her tricorder.
“Captain, look.” She smiled broadly at me and threw her arm around my shoulder amicably as if she had not ran off in a fit of fury two minutes ago. “There are pockets of gallicite behind this wall.” She grinned. “This is-”
The shrill warning sound of her tricorder coincided with a low rumbling all around us and I felt the ground move beneath my feet.
“Get down!”
A barrage of pebbles and small rocks rained down on us for long seconds before it stopped, leaving us huddled in a cloud of dust.
We both sat up coughing and I reached out for B’Elanna in the dark.
“Are you all right?”
“I’m okay.” She wheezed, as she grabbed my hand. I fumbled with my wrist light for a second before I managed to turn it on and shone it around, trying to get my bearings.
“Oh no.” I got up and moved toward the entrance of the cavern which was now blocked. “I think the tunnel caved in.”
B’Elanna didn’t react but instead shone her light on me.
“You’re bleeding.”
I reached for my cheek and felt the slick wetness of blood. Yet it seemed to be only a minor cut.
“I’m fine.” I answered, not bothered by it.
But B’Elanna reached out and angled my head to take a closer look, studying my cheek in great detail.
“It doesn’t hu-” I started impatiently, not seeing the point in wasting time over a small cut when suddenly she came closer, growling deep in her throat, and licked the blood off my face with her tongue.
“What-” I started just as my combadge chirped.
“Paris to Janeway. Captain? Do you read?”
In front of me, B’Elanna blinked rapidly for a few times and then rubbed her face and moaned.
I frowned as I tapped my combadge.
“We’re here Tom. We’re okay.” I spoke, reaching out to place a hand on B’Elanna’s arm. She was obviously not all right.
“What about you?”
Relief was evident in Tom’s voice. “I’m okay Captain. The tunnel collapsed in front of me. I was afraid you were buried underneath the rubble.”
B’Elanna sank down on the floor and started rocking slightly back and forth. I crouched next to her, putting my hand on her shoulder again and rubbed it softly as I spoke to Tom. She didn’t seem to notice.
“We’re in a cavern at the end of the tunnel. I don’t think there’s another way out.”
Only when I reached up to touch B’Elanna’s face, did she look up at me in confusion, as if she didn’t know where we were or what had happened. I looked at her, worried.
“Tom, contact Voyager and see if they can somehow transport us out of here.” I urged. “And hurry, because whatever was wrong with B’Elanna before, I think it’s getting worse.”
The comm line closed and I focused again on B’Elanna.
“Are you all right?”
“Where are we?”
Her question and her fragile tone of voice alarmed me.
“Still stuck in the cave, I’m afraid.” I purposely kept my voice neutral as I answered, mindful of her mood-swings before.
There was a pause as she tried to make sense of my words. “The caves, the gallicite.” She uttered and started to get up. “Where’s my tricorder?”
I placed my hands on her shoulders to urge her to stay down. “No, we’re not looking for the gallicite anymore. There was a cave-in, remember?”
Her eyes darted around as she tried to connect the dots. Then she focused on me and licked her lips. “You were bleeding…”
“I… Yes.” I stammered, thinking back to way she had licked the blood off my face in what could only be described as a very ‘Klingon’ way.
“We have to wait for Voyager to get us out.” I added, purposely trying to steer the conversation in another direction.
B’Elanna nodded faintly, as if she wasn’t really hearing my words, and her eyes became unfocused.
“It’s so hot.” She murmured, tugging at her jacket to take it off.
Then she looked back at me. “Can we get out of here?”
I frowned. Didn’t she know she asked that question a minute ago? Her obvious disorientation worried me. What was going on with her?
All of a sudden, she got up and moved to the blocked entrance, reaching out to touch the rocks.
“We have to wait for Voyager.” I repeated, watching her as she tried to dislodge some smaller rocks. “There’s no way we can dig through this with our bare hands.”
B’Elanna simply ignored me and continued to pry rocks from the rubble. When she removed a larger piece, a small part the nearby ceiling collapsed and I jumped to grab her arm.
“Leave it!” I pulled her back. “This tunnel is unstable. You want bring the rest of it down on our heads?”
Suddenly angry, B’Elanna yanked her arm free. “Let go of me.”
It surprised me again how quickly her mood shifted. She started pacing the small cavern, obviously agitated.
“All right, let’s just take it easy.” I shushed, trying to figure out what I could do to pacify her.
I grabbed my tricorder, holding it out to her. “While we’re here, we might as well map the exact locations of the gallicite deposits.”
But she didn’t pay attention to me.
“I need to get out of here, before I-” Suddenly she groaned and started rubbing her own arms up and down in frustration. “God, I feel like I’m crawling out of my skin. I need to do something, I can’t take this.”
With two leaps she was back at the pile of rocks, reaching out to attempt to remove a large boulder that blocked the passageway. It was clear that it if she somehow managed to move it, the whole structure might collapse around us.
Not bothering to say anything, I simply launched myself at her and pulled her back so she couldn’t cause another cave-in. We stumbled over each other, and I ended up on my back on the floor with her lying on top of me.
For a couple of seconds, she didn’t move and I reached out to touch her face.
“B’Elanna?” My concern was evident in my voice. “Are you all right?”
I wondered if I’d hurt her with my brazen move.
Then I heard her growl. It was low, coming from deep inside her, and it sounded much like when she had licked the blood off my cheek. Her body suddenly felt heavy on me and my eyes widened as she moved her head and I felt her teeth graze along the line of my jaw, in a soft but at the same time firm way.
“B’Elanna.” I repeated, but this time my voice hitched as I felt a trace of apprehension. From what little I knew about it, this was starting to look a lot like Klingon foreplay.
“Tuvok to Janeway.”
Just in time, I thought.
B’Elanna made no move to get off me as I replied.
“Janeway here.”
“Captain, we have set up a portable transporter unit just on the other side of the cave-in to beam you out.” Tuvok informed us. “However, due to interference from the gallicite we can only operate it with a narrow angular confinement beam. You and Lieutenant Torres will have to stay close to each other for transport.”
My eyes darted to B’Elanna who was now nuzzling my neck. A part of me could see the humor in this.
“That shouldn’t be a problem.” I replied dryly. “Energize.”
When we materialized on the other side, I noticed Tom’s eyebrows rising as he saw exactly how we were positioned. Tuvok, however, seemed unfazed and immediately started scanning B’Elanna with a medical tricorder.
I moved to sit up and B’Elanna remained slumped against me, appearing very weak and devoid of energy again. Whatever was going on, her condition seemed to be getting worse.
The frown on Tuvok’s face deepened as he interpreted the data.
“What’s wrong with her?” Tom asked the question that I had been asking myself for a while already.
“As I suspected, Lieutenant Torres is displaying symptoms that are similar to Pon Farr.” He spoke. “We must get her back to the ship before her condition becomes life-threatening.”
My eyebrows rose in surprise at his words, but Tuvok focused on helping B’Elanna up.
“Voyager can’t beam us up from here.” Tom informed me and grabbed the portable transporter. “We’re too far underground. We’ll have to get out of the caves.”
I nodded, helping Tuvok with supporting B’Elanna as we started making our way back.
“Pon Farr?” I asked as we walked. “How can that be? She’s not Vulcan.”
But I knew it made sense, somehow, given her strange behavior. It wasn’t every day that she licked blood off my cheek.
B’Elanna’s body was heavy. She wasn’t really cooperating and seemed to keep gravitating towards me, despite Tuvok’s best efforts to carry the bulk of her frame.
“Ensign Vorik is currently going through Pon Farr.” Tuvok started to explain. “I believe that he inadvertently initiated a similar process in Lieutenant Torres’ brain as he expressed his interest in mating with her.”
I blinked a couple of times to process that information, shifting B’Elanna’s weight a little. “I’m only guessing, but I assume B’Elanna didn’t care much for his proposal.”
Tuvok nodded once. “She indeed rejected him.” He confirmed.
“How’s Vorik doing?” I grunted, straining under B’Elanna’s weight.
“In the absence of a mate, the Doctor devised an alternative treatment.” Tuvok explained. “Most likely it can also be applied to Lieutenant Torres.”
Just then, we reached the base of the cliff and I realized we’d have to climb up for Voyager to be able to beam us out.
“Wait here.” Tom spoke as Tuvok and I put B’Elanna down.
She had her eyes closed and was moaning softly. I reached out and touched her cheek.
“We’re getting you out of here.” I whispered to her, unsure whether or not she could hear me.
I turned to Tom and Tuvok who were securing their gear, throwing a questioning look at them, wondering how they intended to go about this.
“Tuvok and I will climb to the top and pull her up together.” Tom spoke as he double-checked the safeties. “Can you guide her ascent?”
I nodded, taking the lines B’Elanna and I would need and proceeded to secure first her and then myself, making sure everything was attached as it was supposed to be.
When I looked up I saw that Tuvok and Tom had already completed their ascent and had reached the top.
“We’re ready up here, Captain.” Tom yelled down.
I proceeded to guide B’Elanna up the first two meters before I started climbing up next to her.
It was a slow process, finding a stable hold myself first so I could prevent her almost limp body from bumping into the rock face. Eventually we reached the edge and I helped push B’Elanna over it before I crawled up as well.
I unfastened my rope, watching Tom doing the same with B’Elanna’s. She seemed unresponsive. Frowning, I crouched next to her, touching her cheek as Tuvok scanned her again.
Suddenly she leaned into my touch and opened her eyes, focusing on me.
“You’re here.” She breathed.
“I’m here.” I repeated, looking up to Tuvok who shook his head.
“We have to hurry.” He spoke tightly and I swallowed, catching the note of worry in his voice. What would happen if we didn’t get to Sickbay in time?
Tom crouched next to me to help pick up B’Elanna, but she pushed him away, instead reaching for me. With the help of Tom I managed to get us both on our feet, but again she leaned heavily on me as we started the trek to get out of the caves.
When we arrived at the transport site, I was panting hard from exertion. I put B’Elanna down so I could catch my breath.
“Let’s get her to Sickbay.”
We all crouched around B’Elanna to check up on her. She moaned softly and her eyes had a feverish gleam in them.
Beside me, Tuvok slapped his combadge, but before he could say anything, I felt a hand on my shoulder and I was flung aside. I impacted the ground hard. Confused I looked up to find another Vulcan standing over me. This one appeared quite irate.
“She is my mate, not yours!” Ensign Vorik yelled at me.
I don’t know what surprised me more: his unexpected appearance, his words or B’Elanna’s sudden energy boost as she scrambled to her feet and yelled back at him.
“I am NOT your mate!”
She moved swiftly to stand between me and him. The contrast with her catatonic-like state only minutes before was striking. Anger radiated off her and she seemed ready to punch him into the next millennium.
“Get away from her!”
But Vorik seemed equally aggressive, and very un-Vulcan like. He tried to push B’Elanna aside to get to me.
“I’ve come to claim you, to fulfill our bond. And if necessary, to face my rival.” He bellowed and when B’Elanna wouldn’t budge he searched for Tuvok. “I declare Koon-ut-kal-if-fee!”
“The ritual challenge.” Tuvok explained as he looked at me. “He intends to fight you to win his mate.”
B’Elanna growled. “If anyone is going to smash your arrogant little face in, it’s going to be me. I will take your challenge up myself!”
“B’Elanna!” I gasped as Vorik turned again to Tuvok, uncertain.
The older Vulcan tilted his head. “She has the right to choose her own defender, even herself.”
I looked incredulously at Tuvok. “You’re not suggesting we let them fight?”
“Given Ensign Vorik’s state, it’s reasonable to assume that the Doctor’s treatment did not have the desired effect. Letting nature take its course seems like the most logical option.” He countered. “Both must resolve their Pon Farr before it kills them.”
“They’ll tear each other to pieces.” Tom chimed in.
“The risk of injury seems preferable to the certainty of dying from a chemical imbalance.” Tuvok argued and turned to me. “Captain, I see no alternative but to follow Vulcan tradition.”
I blinked a couple of times, watching B’Elanna who, despite swaying a little on her feet, seemed more combative than ever. It seemed this was better than the near-catatonic state she’d been in before.
“All right.” I nodded, stepping back to give them some room. I watched Tom and Tuvok do the same.
“Begin.”
Upon Tuvok’s signal, Vorik and B’Elanna started circling each other. B’Elanna successfully dodged a neck pinch and in turn threw a mean punch which Vorik managed to avoid. Both seemed to be out for blood, fighting in a very uncivilized and brutal way as Vorik clawed at her face and B’Elanna shamelessly kneed him in the groin.
It was ugly to watch and I had to resist the urge to stop the fight more than once as they maimed each another. Yet I could think of no other solution than to let their primal interaction come to its natural conclusion.
Eventually Vorik went down and stayed down. B’Elanna swayed on her feet and sank to the ground only moments later.
I rushed to her side while Tuvok scanned both of them.
“It seems like the blood fever has been purged.” He spoke as B’Elanna groaned in my arms.
“We should still get them to Sickbay.” Tom added and helped Vorik to get up, as I did the same with B’Elanna.
Tuvok contacted the ship and we were transported directly to Sickbay where the Doctor and Kes were waiting for us.
“From what I can tell, their vital signs seem to be returning to normal.” The EMH spoke after scanning both patients. “Ensign Vorik has almost completely recovered. Lieutenant Torres’s cans still show slightly elevated levels of norepinephrine and dopamine, but I’m confident they will stabilize in the coming hours.”
I nodded once, relieved that it all seemed to be over. As Kes used the dermal regenerator to heal the cut on my cheek, I wondered how much B’Elanna would remember of this little adventure.
~
“It was pretty gruesome to watch B’Elanna and Vorik trying to tear each other to pieces.”
Chakotay poured me some more wine as I recounted my experience in the caves of earlier that day.
“Vorik ended up with a dislocated shoulder and the Doctor found out that B’Elanna fractured three ribs.” I shook my head. “It’s a small miracle neither of them were killed.”
“But they’re both okay now?” Chakotay took a sip of wine. “I mean, the fight stopped their Pon Farr?”
I shrugged as I helped myself to a second portion of his vegetable ratatouille.
“The Doctor seems to think so. When we got to Sickbay, their brain chemistry was almost back to normal.”
“Good.” Chakotay nodded.
After a pause he chuckled, and I looked up with a frown.
“What?”
“Tom was right.” He grinned pointing at my plate. “Rock climbing does seem to work up an appetite.”
I smiled. “You make an excellent ratatouille.” I tilted my head. “And thank you for volunteering to cook, even though it was actually my turn.” After the whole experience on the planet, struggling with my replicator had not been something I’d been looking forward to.
“My pleasure.” Chakotay grinned, watching me eat.
It was little things like this that I enjoyed so much in our friendship. Chakotay was always attentive of my needs, trying to make my life just that tidbit less difficult. As my XO he’d quickly taken some of the more tedious paperwork out of my hands. He invited me to Sandrine’s from time to time and gave me the gossip so I could feel like a part of the crew and not always the Captain. On New Earth, he had made me a bath tub.
And all he wanted in return was for me to accept his offerings.
“You mentioned you actually found pockets of gallicite when you were down there with B’Elanna.” Chakotay continued after a moment. “Do you think we can get to it?”
I shrugged. “Tom said we might. I asked him to take a look at the scans with B’Elanna and Vorik, as soon as they’re back on their feet.”
Chakotay narrowed his eyes. “Are you sure it’s wise to put those three together again so soon?” He tilted his head. “There’s bound to be some residual tension there.”
I eyed him for a moment to consider his words and then nodded slowly. “You’re right. There will probably be some frustrations with everything that happened –or didn’t happen– today.”
It was not hard to imagine that Vorik, as a Vulcan, would prefer not to be reminded of his loss of control. B’Elanna would most likely be angry and embarrassed. And Tom would probably be sorry that he hadn’t been a part of any mating in the first place.
The three of them together could make for an explosive cocktail.
“Each of them will have valuable input for the mission though.” I made a face, not happy with the choice in front of me.
“Maybe you could put Neelix with them.” Chakotay proposed. “I believe he spent some time working in a mining colony. His experience might be relevant too.” He grinned. “And if anyone can neutralize this kind of tension, it’s Neelix.”
I smiled and leaned back in my seat. “Good idea. I’m sure together they can come up with a way to get the gallicite.”
“You won’t be joining them?” Chakotay asked, picking up the bottle of wine to refill my glass.
I shook my head. “I’ve had enough for now, thank you, both of wine and rock climbing.”
His eyebrows rose and he smiled. “So you won’t be trying Tom’s new holoprogram either then?”
I leaned forward again. “I was thinking you and I could go sailing on lake George together instead.”
The smile on Chakotay’s face broadened, causing the dimples in his cheeks to appear. “I’d like that very much.”
I held his gaze for a moment, tentatively letting myself be engulfed by his smile. My heart quickened just a notch as I thought about the last time we’d gone sailing together. We’d had a great time. The waves, the sunlight, the wind in my hair… At one point I’d lost my balance on the boat and he had caught me. I could clearly remember his strong arms around me. He’d stayed close to me after I’d gotten back up, prepared to catch me again if needed. And I had to admit to myself that I hadn’t minded that at all.
“Sickbay to Captain Janeway.”
The Doctor’s voice intruded on my train of thought and I felt caught somehow, although I’d done nothing wrong.
I looked down and tapped my combadge.
“Janeway here.”
“Captain, please report to Sickbay. It’s about Lieutenant Torres.”
I saw my own frown mirrored in Chakotay’s face, and we both rose from our chairs as one.
“I’ll be right there.”
~
When Chakotay and I entered Sickbay, I noticed B’Elanna lying on a biobed. The Doctor, Kes and Tuvok were standing next to her. Vorik was nowhere to be seen.
“What’s wrong?” I asked, as the Doctor and Tuvok moved towards us. Kes remained with B’Elanna’s sedated body, monitoring her brain functions.
The Doctor sighed. “I’m afraid that Lieutenant Torres’ neurochemical levels are off the charts again.”
I frowned and looked from the Doctor to Tuvok. “I thought her Pon Farr was resolved by fighting Vorik?”
“For Ensign Vorik, the ritual fight proved sufficient to restore his chemical balance.” Tuvok attempted to explain. “However, for Lieutenant Torres it did not.” He moved to the monitor to bring up another scan and continued. “I theorize that the fight did provide a partial resolution, as her previous scans indicate, but that her undisciplined mind was unable to sufficiently support the process.”
“In any case,” the Doctor continued dryly, “her Pon Farr was not resolved and it’s severely affecting her neurochemical functions.”
“Is there anything you can do?” Chakotay asked.
“Medically speaking, no.” The EMH sighed. “As soon as I manage to stabilize one neurotransmitter, another one spikes.” He rolled his eyes in the general direction of Tuvok. “There is little documentation about this condition in the general database, and even less in the medical one. Given that everything I tried on Ensign Vorik was not successful, I’m even less optimistic about my chances of finding a solution for this condition in another species.” The Doctor paused to let his words sink in.
“However, we believe there may be another possibility.” Tuvok added after a moment and I turned to him in hope. “In essence, Pon Farr is a biological function that drives Vulcans to mate. Based on Lieutenant Torres’ behavior in the caves, it would seem that this is also the case for her.”
“So she has to take a mate?” Chakotay queried, following his line of reasoning. He put his hands on his hips and sighed as he considered the options. “Can’t she mate with Vorik? I know he’s all right now, but maybe it will make this easier for him too?”
“Once the Pon Farr is resolved, the need to mate is no longer present in a Vulcan.” Tuvok replied. “Besides, I do believe that Lieutenant Torres already rejected his proposal.”
“What about Tom Paris?” Chakotay continued. “Everybody on this ship –except Tom and B’Elanna themselves maybe– knows that they’re crazy about each other.”
The Doctor shook his head. “Even if mister Paris were to consent to this, it would be no use. From what I’ve been able to gather, I believe Lieutenant Torres has already initiated a bond with someone.”
Chakotay frowned. “With whom?”
“With me…” I whispered in realization, holding my fingers against my cheek, where she had licked the blood off my face. “She tasted my blood.”
I looked up at the Doctor for confirmation and swallowed as he nodded briefly.
Chakotay looked shocked, but I barely registered it.
“So… she can only mate with the Captain?”
“There may be little known about Vulcan mating practices, but there are copious amounts of information available on Klingon mating rituals.” The Doctor was unable to keep a smug grin off his face. “So far, from what I can tell, Lieutenant Torres has pretty much displayed standard behavior.” He sobered his expression somewhat as he turned to me.
“I do believe that her best chance of resolving her Pon Farr is with the Captain.”
“And if the Captain chooses not to do this?” Chakotay asked, obviously not keen on the idea.
The Doctor bowed his head. “Then I’m afraid that the chemical imbalance in Lieutenant Torres’ brain will become fatal over time.”
All eyes turned to me, but I remained silent, unable to answer their unspoken question.
A million questions of my own occupied my mind.
What would happen if I did this? Would it even work? And if I didn’t at least try, could I live with the consequences? Did B’Elanna even want to mate with me? Or had she bonded with me only because I happened to be the one trapped in the cave with her? What would it be like to mate with her? Would our bond be permanent? Would it affect our working relationship? Would it affect my friendship with Chakotay? Or hers with Tom? Would I do this for any member of my crew?
I closed my eyes briefly as I weighed the options and all their consequences. But I quickly converged to one single thought: I couldn’t just let her die. If there was a chance I could save her, I had to try.
Looking at B’Elanna’s immobile form on the biobed, I made my decision.
“I’ll do it.”