yelling 'Yes!' She might misinterpret either of those responses.
Talk about putting temptation in a guy's path! 'Doesn't she realize
what she's inviting? No, she doesn't,' he reminded himself.
"Of course, I don't mind. Kissing me---it won't be like kissing
your brother?"
She shook her head. "No. I don't think so." Though she didn't
say it aloud, her eyes revealed that she found him attractive. She
wanted this. With him. Not Tom Paris. Not because he was the man who
happened to be marooned here with her. She wanted Harry Kim. Whether
she understood that herself or not.
'Though she won't know what to do with me once she has me,' he
told himself. 'Go slow, Harry. She doesn't need another trauma to
deal with.'
With his left arm he pulled her toward him, lifting and turning
her so she was sitting on his lap, leaning against his chest and
shoulder. He cupped her jaw with his right hand. She was blushing
like mad. He could feel the heat, even though it was too dark to see
her color change. He tipped her face toward his and brought
their lips together.
She wasn't lying about her inexperience. She pursed her lips
like a child. He brushed her lips with his, gently coaxing them
apart. He nibbled at her lower lip.
She sighed her contentment and pleasure into his mouth,
and relaxed her body into his. She smiled, a genuine full smile that
warmed Harry to the soles of his feet. He leaned toward her again.
He brushed tiny kisses up the column of her neck, stopping for a
few lingering kisses against the pulse in her throat. She leaned
her head back to ease his access. She was almost purring.
He moved back toward her mouth. This time her lips parted. She
was a quick study. She mimicked his every move. She nipped at the
tiny mole just above his upper lip, sucking lightly on it. Her arms
crept up around his neck, pulling him closer. Her fingers threaded
into the thick hair at his nape. Her breasts were crushed to his
chest. She enjoyed the sensation and moved, instinctively rubbing
against him as he deepened the kiss. Her response took Harry's breath
away. He kissed her again. And again.
This was moving too fast! Breathing hard, he drew back and
studied her expression. "Malista?"
She opened her eyes and smiled at him dreamily. "Yes, Harry?"
"Nothing." He smiled back at her. She pulled his head towards
hers again. Just before their lips met, he heard the clatter of rock
hitting rock. Like a flash, he set her on the ground beside him and
was on his feet moving toward the approaching sound, putting himself
between her and the advancing intruder.
Malista sat there for an instant, stunned by the sudden change,
then scrambled to her feet, wrapping the blanket around her. She
watched bewilderedly as Harry Kim moved away from her.
"Harry?" It was Tom Paris. He was coming out of the darkness,
his path lit by the beacon he wore on his wrist. "Are you and Malista
okay?"
"Sure. How did you find us?" Kim asked. "We lost our commbadges
in the scuffle."
"I know. We beamed them back to the ship. Along with one of the
local bums. The captain is a little bit irked about that." He didn't
mention how anxious he'd been since losing sight of his friends.
"How did you find us?" Malista asked, coming to stand behind
Ensign Kim.
"Your campfire. The sensor array is online again. Tuvok knew it
would be cold, so he started scanning for human life signs near
outdoor fires. We didn't figure you'd take shelter with the locals."
Tom was staring at Malista in the dim light of the fire and the
torches. There was something different about her. He thought Harry
seemed a little nervous. Both of them seemed nervous.
Tom suddenly had a flash of insight. Malista was standing very
close behind Harry. He wondered if something had been going on, but
dismissed the thought as quickly as it occurred. Not with these two.
Boy Scout Harry and Touch Me Not Shadow. There couldn't be a more
unlikely couple---of course, that's what people had said about Tom
and B'Elanna.
"Well, let me put out this fire and we can beam up," the ensign
said, uneasily aware of Tom's scrutiny. He moved away from Malista
"Where did you get the blanket?" Paris asked curiously.
"Uh, I stole it off a clothesline on the way out of town," Harry
confessed, stirring the ashes of the fire to be sure every spark was
out.
Paris grinned at him. "Harry, Harry, Harry! I can't take you
anywhere. Better leave the evidence here." He took off his jacket.
"Malista, take this!" Paris took the blanket and dropped it to the
ground then wrapped his jacket around Malista. He enfolded her in
his arms to warm her against the chill of the early morning air. She
was watching Kim, but he didn't look at her. Tom waited till Kim had
thoroughly put out his campfire, then slapped his commbadge. "Paris
to Voyager. Three to beam up."
***********************
When they materialized in the brightly lit transporter room,
Paris got a better look at his friends. Harry was unusually quiet,
but had no visible injuries, Tom noted. "Are you okay, Harry?" Harry
nodded. Paris turned toward Shadow. "Malista! Is that blood?" He
reached out to touch the trickle of dried red on her forehead and
matting her hair.
"It's not that bad," she snapped. She evaded his hand and
stepped out of reach. She glanced at Harry once more. He was standing
as far from her as possible. When he said nothing and refused to meet
her eyes, she looked back at Paris. "I'm going to my quarters. Thanks
for the rescue." She slipped off his jacket and handed it back to
him.
"Go to Sickbay and have your head examined, anyway," he told
Malista.
"I'm not the one who *needs* my head examined!" She pushed past
him to get to the exit, giving him an exasperated glare.
Paris spun on his heel and followed her. "Harry," he called back
over his shoulder. "The captain wants to see you in her ready room
before you report for duty in the morning. Malista! Wait up!"
Harry sighed and exchanged a tired glance with the transporter
operator. He trudged to the turbolift. The captain was not going to
be happy with him. He wasn't very happy with himself right now.
That look in Malista's eyes---what had she expected him to do? To say?
He didn't want to embarrass her in front of Tom. How could he have taken
advantage of an innocent? He felt like a depraved sex maniac.
***********************
Malista was making for her quarters on a straight, unwavering
path. Her normally deferential manner was totally absent as she blew
by the others in the corridor without noticing their reactions to her
stormy countenance. Tom had to sprint to catch up with her and match
her long stride, which was almost, but not quite a run. He studied
her expression. She was muttering one word repeatedly under her
breath. "*Pallikaras*!"
"What?" Tom asked. "Malista, could we slow down? I'm running out
of breath. And you need to go to Sickbay."
She didn't slow down. She screeched to a halt and whirled to
confront him. "I don't want to go to Sickbay!" For the first time
since he'd known her, a Greek accent colored her words. She sounded
like a two year old throwing a tantrum.
Tom squinted his eyes at her with a stern frown. "You will
report to Sickbay, Crewman Shadow. Now! That is an order." She'd
never seen him in command mode. His performance was impressive.
He was serious. But that didn't lessen her anger---at Harry, at Tom---
at the whole male gender.
She drew a deep breath with a hiss. Clenching her teeth, she
responded, "Yes, Lieutenant." She spun on her heel and launched
herself in the direction of the turbolift. He trailed along behind
her.
Maybe if he gave her a few minutes, she'd calm down and forgive
him for pulling rank. Maybe. But he wouldn't count on it.
By the time he caught another turbolift and reached Sickbay, she
was sitting on a biobed. The doctor was running a dermal regenerator
over the slight cut on her head "Have you experienced any blurred
vision? Any other symptoms?"
"I have a headache," she snarled, her eyes on Tom Paris.
The doctor's eyebrows went up as he followed her gaze. He turned
a hypo and injected her. "Please report any additional symptoms at
once."
"Is that all?"
The doctor didn't seem intimidated by her hostile tone. He
didn't take it personally since it seemed to be directed, not at
himself, but at Lt. Paris. He wasn't surprised. Mr. Paris seemed to
have that effect on many people. "Yes, Crewman. You're dismissed."
She jumped off the biobed and, for the second time that night,
pushed Tom's shoulder to remove him from her path.
"Malista?" Tom called. "Sis?" He looked at the doctor and
shrugged. Paris followed her once more. He didn't know what the hell
had happened between Harry and Malista, but he couldn't wait to find
out.
Malista knew he was following her, but refused to acknowledge
his presence even when he once again caught up with her. She decided
she wasn't ready to go to her quarters. It would just give Tom a
chance to corner and interrogate her. She marched into Sandrine's
like an invader establishing a beachhead. She went directly
to the bar and seated herself on the only available stool, the one at
the end of the bar. Next to her, Jenny Delaney was looking
almost as angry as Malista.
Malista signaled for a drink. Jenny eyed her. "Are you ticked
off, too?" the younger Delaney sister asked, correctly interpreting
Shadow's body language and expression.
Malista had never talked to the Delaneys, but everyone knew who
they were. Identical red-headed twins were hard to miss-especially
when they were so---socially active. She nodded, holding onto her
anger as she received her beer and took a sip.
"I bet I know why," Jenny said. She seemed to have had a few
drinks, but it hadn't taken the edge off her anger. "*Men*!" she
spat.
Malista agreed with that sentiment one hundred percent. "Yeah.
Men!"
'One minute I'm being held and kissed like I'm a precious
treasure, the next he dumps me on the ground and pretends it never
happened!' she thought to herself furiously. She touched her glass to
Jenny's in a toast. "Men! Those *pallikarathes*!"
"Yeah!" Jenny agreed enthusiastically, then looked at Malista
through unfocused eyes. "What? Is that a Klingon word?"
"No, it's Greek," Malista explained. "What are you drinking?"
Synthehol shouldn't have such an affect, no matter how much Delaney
drank.
"The blue stuff from the planet. Want some? Whazzit mean? That
word?"
"Bad-tempered thugs!" Malista replied, finding satisfaction in
recognizing a kindred spirit. So she wasn't the only woman having
trouble understanding men!
"Know any more good ephi---epith---names for those stinkers?"
She poured a glass of the blue stuff for Malista.
"If I switch to Klingon," Malista said, companionably.
"*Patahk!* *Ha'Dlbah*!" She'd learned those words from listening to
the chief engineer.
"Yeah," Jenny said. "Men!"
"You can say that again! The liars!"
Tom Paris was standing just out of sight, but close enough to
eavesdrop on this conversation. He could tell where this was going
and he didn't want to be anywhere in the vicinity. That would be
asking to become a target. Malista was safe on board. He couldn't
believe she was bonding over drinks with Jenny Delaney.
What an unlikely duo! And drinking that blue syrup from the planet
below? He made a face as he recalled the taste. He wouldn't want to
have their hangover tomorrow morning.
Tom decided to leave them to it. It was dangerous to be a man
around those two right now. The other women on the holodeck were
drifting over to the bar as well, attracted by the topic under
discussion. Whatever Harry had done, it seemed to have brought out
Malista's aggressive instincts. She wasn't acting scared or self-
conscious right now.
'Wait till Chakotay hears about this!' he thought as he left
Sandrine's to look for B'Elanna. She could keep an eye on Malista and
Jenny and maybe find out what
happened.
***********************
"Come on, Harry. Give. What happened?" Paris had trapped Kim at
a corner table in the mess hall during breakfast.
The ensign met his eyes directly, trying to convince his friend
to back off. "Nothing happened." It didn't work. Harry dropped his
eyes. He couldn't look at Tom without thinking about Malista. He'd
let them both down---Tom and Malista.
Paris leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms as he
inspected Kim's face, looking for clues. "Your mouth says no, but
your eyes say yes. Come on! What happened? You two were down there
alone. For about four hours. Alone. In the dark. Alone. With a nice romantic
campfire. Alone. And you're telling me nothing happened?"
Harry directed his attention back to his plate. His rigid
posture betrayed his tension. "I told you nothing happened."
"Harry, Harry, Harry," Paris said. Kim refused to look at him or
comment. The persistent pilot gave up---on that tactic. "Well, at
least Malista seemed to be all right. I was afraid being alone with
you might traumatize her."
"Why?" Kim's eyes shot up. "Did she say something?"
Paris widened his eyes. "But Harry, if nothing happened, what
could she possibly say?"
Harry's anger was simmering under the surface. Tom was being a
major pain. "Excuse me," he said, rising with his tray in hand.
"*Some* of us have work to do today."
Paris halted him with the simple expedient of grabbing his
forearm. "Harry, she didn't---that big bully didn't hurt you, did
she?" Paris' smirk
pushed Harry right over the edge.
"Leave me alone, Paris!" He stormed out of the mess hall, so
upset he didn't notice he still had his tray until he reached the
turbolift. He passed it to Ensign Meldron and asked him to take it
back to the mess hall. Meldron gave him a funny look, but agreed.
Paris went looking for B'Elanna who was late meeting him for
breakfast. She'd joined the party at Sandrine's last night. Surely
she knew what was going on.
***********************
Ensign Harry Kim had a lousy day. In fact, it was probably the
worst day he'd had since Voyager had been hurled across the galaxy to
the Delta Quadrant. In his short lifetime, he couldn't remember ever
having so many people angry with him at the same time. He thought he
understood now to some small degree how Tom had felt on his first day
aboard Voyager.
Captain Janeway had politely chewed him out for not taking
better care of his commbadge and Malista. Tom was aggravating him to
death for information--- even though he didn't really think anything
had happened---and if he did find out the truth, Tom would be mad at
him too. He'd found out during his lunch break that Susan Nicoletti,
both the Delaneys, and, of course, Malista were not speaking to
him at all. The silent treatment would have been bad enough---but the
four of them also stared at him as if he were a lower form of life---when they
looked at him at all. He wondered how much Malista had told them.
B'Elanna was avoiding him. If that wasn't bad enough, even
Diane Russell, the ship's librarian, usually a quietly friendly
mouse, had snapped at him when he'd made a simple request for information.
He had come to the conclusion that every woman on the ship knew the
depths to which he'd sunk in taking advantage of Malista's innocence.
The men, as usual, seemed to be clueless as to the cause. They were only
aware of the effect. Except possibly for Tom and the first officer. Chakotay
had been watching him all through the shift.
Ensign Kim tried to rationalize his sense of guilt away by
arguing with himself as he worked.
**It was kissing. It was just kissing. I didn't do anything ---
irrevocable.**
* Yeah, right. Because Tom showed up.*
**What do I do now? Apologize?**
* How are you going to do that? Tell her you enjoyed necking with