145Thirty-Six: Threshold.
AN: Please let me know if you're out there and still enjoying this story. A review or two would make the authors day. ;-)
"Are you trying to kill me, Kate," Tom complained.
"That's the first time I've ever heard you protest about getting too much sex," his wife allowed one eyebrow to rise while her grey eyes speared him. Just as well Kathryn Paris was in the bath tub, her hands couldn't go to her hips in a stance that meant she was all business. "Get that uniform off, Mr. Paris and get in here."
Sighing, Tom sat on the edge of the tub, crossed his arms and glared. He'd finished his bridge shift, sitting in the big chair once again, so his wife and Chakotay could attend to other matters. Then he'd been on the holodeck for three hours, taking the Bayliss cadets through first year academy astrophysics. Finally, Harry and B'Elanna cornered Tom as he searched for his wife in the mess hall, to talk about some new ideas on the warp ten project. Kate hadn't answered his private comm to join them for a late working meal. It was now after eight in the evening, ships time, and Commander Paris still had a few more hours work before he could end his duty shift.
"What the hell's gotten into to you?" he demanded, although the humour in his blue eyes belayed the Commander's tone. "For the last week I think my wife's been replaced with some sex fiend. Every time I enter my quarters, she attacks me. Maybe I'd better take you to sick bay, so you can be examined by the Doc. I'm sure an alien's taken over your body."
Moving so she pulled the still dressed man into the bath, Tom spluttered as he surfaced. Bubble coated, he attempted to wipe the suds from his face. Shaking his head, Thomas Paris truly observed his wife and wasn't quite sure what he noticed lurking in her expression.
"Now," Kathryn asked sardonically, "will you get out of that uniform?"
"Do I have any choice?" Tom stated mockingly. Yet, there was a hint of shock in his voice. This behaviour from his spouse wasn't normal. Worried, he removed the sodden clothing before capturing Kate in an encompassing embrace. Pressing her body to his so she couldn't escape, Tom wanted some answers. "Before you get what you obviously want, you're going to tell me what's going on in that mind of yours. And don't tell me nothing. I've known you too long to fall for that one."
"I want a child," she stated, fingers lacing with Tom's.
Shocked, Commander Paris became completely still while his mind repeated the words over and over. "Why?" he managed, "Why now? Why here?"
"I'm forty-one, Tom," Kathryn sighed, her thumb stroking the palm of her husband's hand. "We've been travelling almost a year and barely covered a thousand light years. The Bayliss recruits are the youngest people on this ship. Even they're going to be old when we return to the Federation."
"Not buying it," Tom whispered in her ear. "We discussed the whole generation ship thing with Kes's elogium. There are too many issues that need to be addressed before Voyager'sready for kids. If I were to guess," he pulled her tighter, "I'd say this has to do with Seska and the fact my time on board is running out."
"Dam it Tom," Kathryn struggled out of his hold and stood. Her naked body covered with bubbles didn't stop the Captain's expression. Hands on hips in that stance Tom knew so well, she was magnificent in her anger. "I want something of you, if you don't come back. Waiting until we reach Earth isn't an option. Our son will be a grown man, believing your sister and brother-in-law are his parents."
Then, for some inexplicable reason, Kathryn Paris burst into tears. Feeling responsible, Tom let out the water and stood. Wrapping his wife in a towel, he carried her to their bed. Laying side by side, skin on skin, he pulled Kate in as close as possible. Only after her emotional explosion was complete did he initiate the intimacy she wanted.
"I only came home to tell you," he confessed in the darkness that surrounded them, "that Neelix fixed the torque issue with the warp ten shuttle."
"Neelix," Kathryn asked, astonished.
"Well, to be fair, something he said got Harry and B'Elanna arguing, which ended in a simulation to prove one of them correct," Tom said. "The simulation worked. We ran it twenty times with the same result. I came to ask permission to go to the next phase. We want to install the engine in Cochrane."
"Which one of them was correct?" Kathryn asked.
"Harry," Tom smirked.
"So, I'll have issues with Engineering for the next week?" she retorted.
"I think they have other ways of working out their differences since Tin Man," Tom responded. "So, can we make the alterations to Cochrane?"
"What are you still doing," she teased, "laying around, Commander, when our journey home might be several years shorter."
"Some women are impossible," he muttered, opening a channel to Torres. It seemed she'd moved to her quarters when the Commander didn't return to the holodeck immediatly.
"What took you so long," B'Elanna demanded. She had her own ideas after hearing the Captain in the background.
"I took a little convincing," Kathryn smirked. "Just make sure you get my husband back in one piece, B'Elanna. I wouldn't want him lost in another part of the galaxy."
"Perhaps I'll send Harry on the initial test," the engineer responded with the same level of humour. Harry could be heard spluttering in the background.
"We'll meet you in Sandrine's," Tom proposed, "in half an hour to discuss the details. Oh, and dinners on you, Torres. Paris out."
A week later they were ready for the first flight. The entire senior team gathered around Cochrane. The small shuttle didn't look any different, even if the warp drive had been completely re-engineered and the warp nacelles reinforced.
"Well, Mr. Paris, make us proud," Captain Paris teased.
"And come back in one piece," Torres added. "We can't afford to lose another shuttle," she gave Chakotay an evil glare. "Besides, I want that data."
"Women," Tom shook his head, sharing a look with Harry. The ensign just smirked. "All she's worried about is her equipment."
"Wouldn't be B'Elanna," Kim retorted, "if she were worried about you!"
"May I suggest," ever the logical one, Tuvok indicated the shuttle bay doors, "we proceed to the bridge and allow the Commander to start is pre-flight checks."
"Damage my shuttle…." Lt. Torres left the threat open.
"Heard it all before, Torres," Tom waved the party away before capturing Kate's hand. Pulling his wife into his arms, Tom added, "wish me luck."
Kate Paris knew what that sentence meant. Each time Commander Paris left on one of his Intelligence missions, they'd developed a personal farewell. Lips meeting, Tom forced his wife to open to him. Tongues duelling, he pulled back suddenly. The intense gaze in Commander Paris's blue eyes was met with grey confusion. He knew his wife had something she wanted to say, but wasn't sure this was the right time.
"Tom," Kathryn sighed.
"Your pregnant Kate," he whispered, fingers lightly brushing her breast. His wife flinched slightly. "I know the signs. Go see the Doc and get it confirmed. This time, be careful."
With that, Commander Thomas Paris turned into a consummate Starfleet Officer. Pivoting, he entered the Cochrane to begin his checks. Shocked, the Captain stood and watched for several seconds. Shaking her head, she bolted for the turbolift. There would be time to find the medical tricorder in her quarters and check her and her husband's suspicions.
Arriving on the bridge, Chakotay smirked as Kathryn marched to her station. Standing by her chair, hands on hips, she started issuing orders. He assumed the Captain and Commander used the intervening moments for a private goodbye. Voyagerhad never attempted anything like this before. Everyone knew the risks involved. The Captain had more to lose than anyone else but wouldn't allow her feelings to dictate her actions or commands.
"Torres to Bridge," B'Elanna sounded focused. "The pre-launch sequence is complete."
"Acknowledged," Kathryn stated, turning to her operations officer. "Ensign Kim, depressurise the shuttle bay and open the space doors. Bridge to Shuttlecraft Cochrane. You're cleared for launch."
As simple as that, the Captain sighed and sat, listening to her crew monitoring Tom's progress, he's gone. Commander Thomas Paris might be the first man to break the transwarp barrier. I couldn't care less. I want my husband back at my side, even if it takes us seventy year to get home.
"Yes!" Harry's quiet elation echoed across the bridge. Tom's voice could be heard, reading off each achievement until he reached warp 10. Then it happened. The young ensign sounded shocked. "Captain, he just disappeared off sensors."
Five minutes and thirty-two of the longest seconds of Kathryn Paris's life ticked by. Chakotay issued orders, the crew obeyed without question. The Captain sat, transfixed at her station, as if hearing it all from a distance. All the time, a mantra echoed in her head. He can't be gone! Please don't let him be gone!
Just as quickly, the Cochrane reappeared, Tom's life sign's weak. Harry transported him directly to sick bay. Without a thought, the Captain shot from her chair for the turbolift. If she'd bothered to take notice, Chakotay's grin said it all. The bridge crew weren't far behind their First Officer.
"Well," the doctor stated as the Captain marched into his domain. "It looks like Mr. Paris's hard head saved him again. One of these days, your luck is going to run out Commander."
The wonderment in her husband's eyes as he recounted his adventure made the moments of worry worth the effort. Lt. Torres burst in, demanding to know everything. Within a very short space of time, Voyagerwas abuzz. Every person who could be spared worked either on the next phase of the project, or analysed the data collected from this one. The journey home never seemed so real, or so close.
Once released from sick bay, Tom joined Harry and B'Elanna, who were directing every aspect of the project. The three spent hours together, relegating their duty shifts to other's in their departments. Few felt the loss as much as the Captain.
Kate Paris heard her husband as he entered their quarters, only to crash into the bed beside her, physically and mentally exhausted but ecstatic late that first night. A quick peck on the cheek and Tom was snoring, still in his uniform and boots. By the morning he was gone.
The pattern continued the next day as Captain Paris stared at Ensign Baytart's dark head below her at the con. Just about to break for lunch in the hope Tom, Harry and B'Elanna were in the mess, Lt. Torres called a medical emergency. Without saying a word, the Captain glanced at Chakotay, who indicated she should go to sick bay. They both knew something had happened to Tom.
"Hmm," the EMH waved his probe over the prostrate pilot. "Well, Mr. Paris, it looks like you're having an allergic reaction." Snapping the tricorder closed, the Doctor sighed. "You were released less than thirty hours ago. I told your wife to report any issues with me. And here she is. Captain!"
Giving the hologram one of her looks, Kathryn demanded, "report!"
Turning to the Chief Engineer, the EMH requested sardonically, "what did he ingest?"
"Just a cup of Neelix's coffee," B'Elanna stated, crossing her arms over her chest. "Well, maybe more than one. We've had work to do."
"It's a miracle he's still alive," the Doctor responded dryly, before the panel on the biobed started to beep. Returning his attention, and the medical tricorder towards his patient, the EHM's expression changed to one of concern. "I'm not sure what's occurring here, Captain. However, it would help to know what happened on that shuttle. Any kind of abnormality might be relivant."
"Lt. Torres," Kathryn ordered.
Nodding, B'Elanna backed out of the room. Before the door closed, the Engineer was barking her own commands over the comm. Sighing, the Captain approached the surgical bay and took her husband's hand.
"We'll get through this, Tom," she promised, worried at the expression on his face.
"Please," the man looked up, his blue eyes perplexed, as if he didn't know who stood beside him. Pulling his fingers from the woman's grasp, he pleaded, "I can't stay here. I have to get off this ship."
Attempting to console her husband, he refused to settle. His breathing becoming more erratic, faster and, finally gasping, Tom started to choke. The EMH forced the Captain out of the surgical bay, before erecting a force field and removing the oxygen from the atmosphere. He replaced it with acetal-chlorine.
"I understand. It's all so clear now," Tom stated, his gaze wild and breathing starting to return to normal in the new atmosphere. However, his complexion was transmuting, becoming duskier.
"Doctor," the Captain demanded an explanation. Watching on in horror, for the first time, the possibility of losing her husband became real.
"I don't know," the EMH frowned, still waving the probe over his patient. His comment had been directed at the Captain and Kes, waiting impatiently on the other side of the barrier. Remaining beside Mr. Paris, he demanded, "what do you understand, Mr. Paris? At this point in time I'll take any help you have to offer."
"The present, the past, they're both in the future," he mumbled. "The future is in the past."
"His DNA is mutating," the EMH growled, more to himself than his audience. "At an alarming rate. There's nothing I can do to stop it. I can't establish a reasonable diagnosis, let alone treat…whatever it is. Kes, his cellular membranes are deteriorating."
Ordering several treatments, the Ocampan woman's fingers flew over the medical stations surgical console. Nothing seemed to work. Standing beside Kes, Kathryn Paris watched on, helpless to do anything. The man she loved was dying. His skin had turned mottled, then blue. Even in the new atmosphere, it was obvious Tom Paris was struggling to breath.
"Listen to me!" Tom suddenly sat up and pulled the Doctor towards him. Hands on the EMH's uniform, he started to shake the hologram. "I am more!" he declared in a tone so unlike the Commanders. Kes and Kathryn stood shocked at his behaviour. "I'm everything. Let me go."
"Go where, Tom?" the Captain finally shook off her personal feelings and used that gravelly tone which demanded respect and attention.
Releasing the EHM, he attempted to stand. Somewhere, he recalled the Captain, that she commanded this ship, that the woman was important to him. "I'll show you."
Just how he moved from the biobed to Kathryn's side, through the energy barrier with such speed, neither Kes nor the Doctor would ever be able to recount. By the time they managed to call in the Captain's abduction, Commander Paris, or at least what was left of him, fired up Cochrane's engines. The shuttle went to transwarp from a standing start within the vehicle bay.
"Sir, the Cochrane has disappeared," Harry informed Chakotay. "One minute it was in the shuttle bay, the next it was, well, gone."
"Sick Bay to the Bridge," the EMH tone indicated they had more than one issue to solve.
It didn't take Chakotay long to realize Mr. Paris had abducted the Captain and taken her on a joy flight at transwap speeds. "Mr. Grimes," he ordered the con, "do the best you can and follow that warp trail. Mr. Kim, extrapolate their direction before they disappear off our long-range sensors and relay it to the con. Tuvok…"
"Torres to the Bridge," B'Elanna interrupted. After being given the go ahead, she offered, "I've analysed the data from the last transwarp jump. You're not going to like the results. Meet me in sick bay. Torres out."
"Your telling me," Chakotay glanced between the Engineer and Doctor, "this new dilithum matrix resonates at a frequency able to alter human DNA."
"Closer," Harry interrupted, watching the screen before him as he analysed the data scrolling across the monitor, "to producing ionising radiation. We used traditional shielding for the warp core casing."
"It wasn't enough," Torres sounded aggrieved. "If we…"
"What's your prognosis," Chakotay cut the engineer off before addressing the EMH, "for the Captain and Commander Paris."
"We need to find them within thirty-six days," the Doctor sighed, "if there's going to be enough human DNA to return them to their previous form."
The surprised but curious expression Chakotay levelled at the Doctor allowed the hologram to continue in his superior tone.
"I have analysed Mr. Paris's condition and believe," the EMH turned on a monitor in his office showing two salamanders like creatures, "this is the end product of the transmutation caused by the radiation. The Commander's DNA conversion commenced thirty hours after the first transwarp trials. Initially the speed of substitution was astounding, but slowed significantly in an aerobic environment."
"Oxygen," Kes responded, feeling the confusion from the non-medical personnel. "At first Tom couldn't breathe the air so we secluded him behind a forcefield. When the doctor substituted oxygen for another inert gas, the DNA changes started. Then he took the Captain, walking right through the forcefield."
"That might explain how he got to the shuttle bay without detection," Harry spoke slowly.
"I hate to agree," the EMH huffed. "Mr. Paris stated he had to get off this ship, that he was 'everything' and mumbled about the past being the future."
"When you initially examined Tom," B'Elanna recalled the Commander's explanation, "he said he was everywhere at the same time when at transwarp. Could it be possible that the experience caused these changes, rather than the radiation?"
"I want everyone to re-examine whatever data you have, share your ideas and come up with a working theory," Chakotay ordered. "Senior Officer's meeting at fifteen hundred. Dismissed."
"We have the how," Acting Captain Chakotay shook his head. They'd followed the Cochranes warp trail for ten days before it became faint. Another fifteen days searching any M class planet within several light years of the Cochrane's last known co-ordinates. "Tuvok, any suggestions?"
Steepling his hands, the Vulcan considered his answer carefully, knowing full well none of the other officers around this table would like his conclusions. "We have nine point six days in which to locate and capture the Captain and Commander Paris. This will allow the Doctor one opportunity to use his experimental method of reverting their DNA to human form. However," Tuvok continued, even though both Harry Kim and B'Elanna Torres levelled hostile glares his way, "we must consider that the Cochrane could be anywhere within the universe, if Mr. Paris's initial report is accurate."
"In other words," Chakotay sighed, "we're looking for a needle in a universe sized haystack."
"Not precisely," the EMH interrupted from the monitor. "These creatures the Captain and Commander are mutating into require an oxygen atmosphere and sunlight. I've sent the exact specifications for the radiant energy band in my report which should decrease the search area significantly. However, I now feel I can break patient confidentiality." That statement brought all eyes to the Doctor. "Before leaving the ship, Captain Paris was five weeks pregnant, possibly with twins, which is to be expected at her age. If my extrapolation is correct and the pregnancy has continued, there is a further requirement which will narrow our search further."
Five days later, several light years from their estimated location, the away team located two creatures resembling the Doctor's holoimages on a hot, humid, swampy planet. They weren't found alone. Three smaller copies, terrified by the smell of the unusual creatures, slipped into the murky waters and disappeared. On the bank, one individual lifted its massive bulk onto four stumpy legs and stepped forward, as if to defend its family.
"May I suggest," Tuvok allowed his eyebrow to rise in a completely Vulcan mannerism, "that creature is Commander Paris."
Smirking, Chakotay caught the Tactical Officer's meaning. Tom Paris would defend his wife with his life, especially if those three little ones were their offspring. "I'm not sure how I'm going to write up this report," the acting Captain muttered under his breath, before turning to the away team and ordering several crewmen to capture the babies. It didn't look like a particularly enticing prospect.
"Slippery little suckers," the Doctor felt proud of himself, using one of Mr. Paris's idioms from the twentieth century while handing the male child to the Captain. Turning the pair back into Mr. and Mrs. Paris took less time than converting their children's DNA.
"Often are, Doc," Tom beamed, a girl in either arm. "My sister has four."
"What," Kes asked softly, "are you going to call them?"
A glint in her eye, Mrs. Kate Paris stated, "this is Edward, after my father. Edward Thomas."
Chuckling, Tom managed to get off his biobed without disturbing either precious bundle in his arms. Leaning in, he kissed his wife softly on the cheek. They had a lot to talk about, but that would come later, when this feeling of euphoria wore off.
"I guess," he teased, "as I finally get what I want, you can name them. Of course, you're going to be looking for a new Chief Conn Officer. My resignation will be on your desk by the morning."
"When we knew they would survive the transformation," the EMH commented, heading off the argument he knew was coming, "Kes started asking for volunteers to help you with caring for three children. Until you are released from sick bay, I want to keep visitors to a minimum. Kes and I will help with Edward and his sister's care."
"So," Tom hoisted himself onto the bed beside his overwhelmed wife, "what are we going to call Ed's twin?"
Looking into the eyes of the girl, they were the same colour as Tom's. At approximately eight months of age, they wouldn't change, or so the doctor informed the first-time mother. Nor would her blond curls. Edward's colouring was similar to his mothers, although his orbs held more blue than grey.
"Jane," Kathryn decided, glancing at the baby in Tom's other arm. "Now, for you, young lady."
The youngest of the children, according to the doctor, had been born from mating on the planet, unlike her twin sibling who were conceived weeks before the transwarp flight. When return to her human form, Grace, as Tom would finally name her a week later, had been the equivalent of a six-week-old.
Starting to make small mewing sounds, Tom recalled his nephews at the same age. "Looks like this one needs her mother," he stated, handing off Jane to Kes, before demanding Edward.
Kathryn Paris looked at her husband with wide eyes, not sure what he was doing. The doctor only just allowed the parents to touch their children for the first time, and now Tom attempted to take her son.
Before he could say anything, the baby's cries started to get stronger and louder. "I know little one," Tom soothed, "Mama's coming with your milk. Sorry, but daddy doesn't have the equipment you need."
Embarrassed, the Captain felt like a first-year cadet. "This," she looked up at her husband, eyes wide in wonderment, "is going to take some getting used to."
"By the way," the EMH stated, leaning over the Captain shoulder to ensure the baby was correctly attached, "I've readministered your contraceptives."
