“What are you doing here so late?”
“The same as you—I’m helping.” Kes smiled as she implanted the microinjector into the tip of her finger. All she had to do was touch Tom, and the release mechanism would send the beacon into his skin.
“Keep up the good work,” Zimmerman told her absently.
“I will.” Kes waved goodbye, but the doctor didn’t notice.
When she tried to open the docking port, the monitor requested a security access code. She used the one that Tuvok had given Neelix.
After all, Neelix always said that everything that belonged to him, belonged to her.
As she left the ship, she was careful to make sure the lock shut behind her. Tuvok probably didn’t want anyone to get on board without him knowing about it.
From the moment Kes saw Lobby 58 with its high, pointed ceiling, she thought the Hub was a marvelous place. Everywhere, there were more things than she could possibly see, while endless streams of exotic people crisscrossed around her, hurrying to get someplace else. So many frightened, lonely people. She smiled at them, nodding as she moved among them, letting them know that things weren’t as bad as they thought. She let them know that she wished she could do more to help them.
What with talking to everyone and looking at all the new things, it took longer than she had intended to get to the Security Block. But the experience was well worth the time.
“You’re early,” the Enforcer told her when she requested to see Tom Paris. “The interrogation is scheduled for tomorrow morning.”
“I’m not here for the interrogation. I’m here to see Tom.”
The Enforcer turned away, accessing another monitor. He talked for a few moments, and Kes heard something about “refusing to cooperate” and “maybe we could use this.”
When the Enforcer returned, there was a new look in his eyes.
“You can go through that door,” he told her. “Someone will escort you to a room where you can see Prisoner 07ll9.”
“Thank you,” she said politely, wondering why the rest of the crew had been worried. Nothing could have been easier to arrange.
Another Enforcer was waiting behind the door. “Would you like to participate in the interrogation?”
“I’m sorry, but I’d need permission to do that.”
The Enforcer shrugged, opening another door. “I haven’t been able to find your species on file, anyway. You can wait in here.”
There was another door in the opposite wall, and the shimmer of a forcefield separated the two halves of the room.
“Can’t you turn off the forcefield?” Kes asked. “I’m a friend of Tom’s.”
“That’s not possible. Direct contact is only allowed during interrogation.”
“Oh.” Disappointed, Kes didn’t say anything more as the Enforcer left.
There was no place to sit, so she leaned against one wall, wondering where Tom was.
Humming to herself, Kes waited as only she knew how—going over the physiology of the Bajoran respiratory system, her latest anatomical study.
After a long time, the door opened in front of her, and two white-garbed Tutopans dragged Paris into the room. They dropped him facedown and quickly retreated.
Kes went right up to the forcefield. His jacket was gone, and his gray shirt was torn and stained with sweat. “Tom, wake up.
It’s me, Kes.”
Paris groaned, reminding her of Neelix when he had returned from the Hub. His hand scrubbed through his hair, as he finally focused on her.
“Kes…?”
“It’s me,” she said simply. “Are you all right?”
“Kes!” he exclaimed, staring at her, his mouth falling open. He didn’t even try to get up from the floor. “What are you doing here?”
“I came to see you.”
“How?” Paris demanded. “You didn’t come alone, did you?”
“I wasn’t alone, there were people all around me. I had to ask for directions on the expressway, but everyone was very nice.”
Paris pushed himself up, shaking his head as if he couldn’t believe it.
“Do you know how dangerous that is?”
“No.” She tilted her head as he managed to get to his feet. To her practiced eye, he was trying to shake off the effects of sedation. It also looked as if his hand had been injured.
“Why?”
“Because someone could kidnap you and take you on a long voyage to nowhere, that’s why! Or they could kill you, or try to hurt you, just because you happened to cross their path. You’re lucky nothing happened.”
“You and Neelix came into the Hub.”
He let out a short laugh. “Yeah, and look what happened to me.”
Kes drew her brows together. “Neelix was hurt, too, but he said that was because of you.”
“Neelix got hurt?” Paris came closer. “Is he all right?”
“The cut has been healed. He said you left him behind so those two men could attack him.”
Paris avoided her eyes. “I thought he’d be okay. I didn’t know…”
He looked down at his cut hand. “I don’t even know what’s real anymore. I thought I was on that moon, and then Tracer, she sank in the sand… but maybe I wasn’t really there..”
Suddenly, Paris raised his head. He stared right at her, his eyes widening with suspicion. “No…”
“What is it, Tom?”
“No, it can’t be!” he cried out, turning away.
“Tom… tell me,” she urged. “What’s wrong?”
He jerked his head around, almost spitting the words out—”You aren’t real!”
Kes drew back at his bitter anger, sensing it like a physical force tingling through the air.
“I should have known!” His fists clenched. “You’re just another one of their mind-twists, aren’t you? They’re trying to get more information out of me.”
“Paris, that’s not true—” “Don’t! Don’t even try,” he warned, as if holding himself back.
“I should have known when I first laid eyes on you. They’d never let Kes come into the Hub alone.”
Kes gazed at him silently, her alarm sinking into sadness. She knew the sympathy in her face must be achingly transparent.
“Don’t!” Paris shouted, leaping for the forcefield. His blows sent static racing through the transparent wall. “That’s just what she would do!”
His fists hit the forcefield as if he was trying to break through, trying to break the spell. Kes couldn’t do anything to stop him, even though she could see the burns he was getting from the field.
Finally, panting and holding his limp hands away from himself, Paris stumbled back in pain. He retreated to one corner, his eyes closed as if he was trying to hang onto his sanity.
Kes went as close as she could to the forcefield, letting the tips of her fingers graze the static charge.
“It’s me, Tom,” she whispered. An overwhelming empathy rose up inside of her, seeming to swell until it burst from the bounds of her body, arrowing straight for Paris as if to enfold him in her protection.
“You know me.”
Paris shuddered as if a wave snapped through him.
He met her eyes.
She said, “You can trust me.”
Paris nodded, dazed.
“We’ll get you out of here,” Kes told him. “I promise.”
“You what?” Neelix shrieked. “Kes, you didn’t!”
“I did.” Kes was sitting calmly on the couch in the ready room, her hands folded in her lap.
From the way Neelix paced back and forth, tightening the belt of his garish robe, Chakotay could tell he’d known nothing about this wild scheme. It was a relief to know Neelix wasn’t that irresponsible. Yet when Tuvok first woke him up with the news that Kes had just returned from the Hub, he had to admit it reminded him of an old Indian saying—the gods protect fools and little girls. He didn’t think he’d mention that to Neelix.
“You were lucky,” Chakotay told Kes.
“I was never in any danger,” she insisted.
“Danger!” Neelix flung one hand in the air. “You could have been killed! Or thrown in prison too!”
“Indeed,” Tuvok agreed. He seemed to have difficulty looking at Neelix, but maybe it was the way the purple and yellow swirls of his robe clashed with the spots on his skin. “From what Kes has told us, I am sure they used her visit to their advantage.”
Neelix suddenly swooped down on Kes, clasping his arms around her and hugging her close. “I could have lost you forever!”
Chakotay sat down on the edge of the desk. “Would you please calm down, Neelix? She’s back now, and she’s all right.”
Tuvok crossed his arms, remaining near the door. “Kes has also agreed that she will not venture into the Hub again without permission.”
“You listen to him, honey,” Neelix told her. “Going to the security block alone! What got into you?”
“I knew the beacon needed to be administered to Paris.” She turned to Chakotay. “But they wouldn’t lower the forcefield between us. They said they only allowed direct contact during the interrogation.”
“Interrogation is scheduled for tomorrow morning,” Tuvok pointed out.
“I suppose we could send someone in to plant the transponder on Paris,” Chakotay said. “Then transport both out before the interrogation actually begins.”
Tuvok raised one brow. “The Cartel indicated that it would need to test the individual before interrogation could begin. Testing would take time.”
Kes immediately protested, “You can’t allow anyone else to undergo those tests. I’ve seen what they did to Paris—he’s been tortured, physically as well as mentally.”
“I won’t let another member of my crew be tested,” Chakotay promised.
Kes drew in her breath, nodding “I have my doubts about this interrogation procedure, as well.” “What are the risks?” Kes asked him.
“From the little I’ve been able to learn,” Chakotay said grimly, “interrogation consists of a series of chemical inducers which allows the subject to be questioned without conscious interference.”
“You mean they can’t lie,” Kes said.
“Well then, we might as well give them what they want,” Neelix said.
“Paris will tell them everything anyway.”
“But he’s the only human they’ve tested,” Chakotay added.
“Apparently, they can’t perfect the analysis without a comparison subject. That’s why they’ve requested another human to be used as the reactor during the interrogation.”
“Sending a human is an unacceptable security risk,” Tuvok said flatly.
“There is a thirty-two-percent possibility that we will be unable to transport Paris from the security block. If we fail, we will have provided the Cartel with the means of obtaining any technical information they wish from Paris.”
Chakotay sighed. “I have to say, I agree.”
Kes seemed to sense he was at an impasse. “We could send someone who isn’t human, as long as they don’t need to be tested. They offered to let me participate in the interrogation if they could find a matrix of my species on file.”
“What!” Neelix looked at her with dawning comprehension. “No, absolutely not! I forbid it!” He appealed directly to Chakotay.
“You can’t send Kes in there again—” “He’s not sending me in,” Kes said patiently. “I’m volunteering.”
Chakotay didn’t like the idea one bit. Neelix was right—it was too much like letting a teenage Joan of Arc fight his battles.
“The Ocampa have been isolated for centuries,” Tuvok reminded them calmly. “It is unlikely that the Cartel has a matrix for your species.”
“Good!” Neelix patted her knee. “That settles it. I want no more talk of sending my Kes in there to be tortured.”
Kes smiled up at him tenderly. “I’m sure they wouldn’t hurt me.
They were very considerate.”
“There is another possibility,” Chakotay said slowly. He almost hated to suggest it. “Neelix, your species is widely traveled.
They must have a matrix for you.”
“Me?” He drew back. “No, sir, no way.”
“That would be acceptable,” Tuvok said calmly.
“Oh, yeah? Not to me.” Neelix was shaking his head back and forth.
“You know what these people can do once they get inside of you? I could be turned into a drone just like the rest of them… that’s not going to happen to me.”
All three turned their eyes on Neelix. He shifted uneasily on the couch. “What are you looking at me for?” he asked. “You can’t order me to do this.”
“I don’t intend to,” Chakotay said.
Silence followed.
“You could ask them if they have an Ocampa matrix,” Kes suggested.
“No!” Neelix blurted.
“We can’t let Paris stay down there,” she insisted.
“Why not?” Neelix asked. “What has he ever done for me? He left me behind, abandoning me to fight those insane maniacs.” He leaped up and started to take off his robe. “I’ve got the scars to prove it!”
Kes joined him, putting a steady hand on his arm. “This is the only family we have. We need each other.”
“Paris didn’t remember that when he left me behind.”
“Maybe not,” Kes agreed quietly. “But that doesn’t make it any less true.”
Neelix looked at Chakotay, who was determined not to point out the obvious—that it was either him or Kes.
Neelix threw up his hands. “All right, I’ll do it!”
Kes’s face lit up, and she slipped her arms around him. “I knew you would ” “I’m crazy, I know it.” Neelix hugged her, his eyes softening.
“But I’d do anything for you.”
“For us,” she corrected.
“For all of us,” Chakotay added. “Thank you—” The door to the ready room opened, and Ensign Kim rushed in. His jacket was closed slightly askew, as if he’d dressed hurriedly.
“Commander,” Kim blurted out, focused on Kes. “I heard Kes got to see Paris.”
Tuvok raised one brow. “How, may I ask, did you hear this information?”
“It’s a small ship….” Kim seemed uneasy, as if realizing for the first time he’d burst into a sensitive meeting. “I had to find out if it was true.”
“Yes,” Chakotay told him, recognizing the concern prompting Kim’s behavior. “And Neelix has agreed to pose as the `reactor’ during the interrogation, so he can administer the transponder.”
“Let me go instead,” Kim immediately offered.
“Good idea!” Neelix exclaimed.
“Impossible,” Tuvok replied. “Sending a human would be an unacceptable security risk.”
Kim turned on him. “There’s nothing about our plan that’s acceptable!
We’re crazy to be trying any of this.”
“Neelix is the logical choice,” Tuvok told them both calmly, apparently unaffected by the frustration in their faces. “Ensign Kim would be able to provide them with technical information.”