Emotions Series 02 Basic Emotions Read online

  the room, two very tall, large figures approached them.

  "We found you again, Voyager," one of the two spoke.

  As they neared the center of the room where the light was

  somewhat better. Tom knew why the smell seemed so familiar to

  him. Before them stood two heavily armed Hirogen. The smell

  was the same odor he noticed when he had boarded their ship

  over a year ago. It was the smell of the fluid that had filled

  that cylinder on their bridge. The fluid that they had been

  unable to determine the purpose of. Whether it served to prepare

  the relics for display or if it was some type of soup meant for

  consumption. The memory accompanied by the smell caused the pilot

  to feel slightly nauseous.

  "Prey, are you ready for the hunt?"

  "Go to hell!" Tom snarled.

  "The Captain made a deal," B'Elanna argued. "How dare you

  hold us against our will. Let us out of here!"

  The two Hirogen pointed their weapons at the couple as an even

  larger Hirogen entered from behind the first two. Dressed

  slightly different and proudly displaying what looked like medals

  on his chest.

  "I'm Commander Lodar and whether or not you leave here alive is

  totally up to you. What? You don't remember me?"

  "No, we don't," Tom answered for the two of them.

  "A shame, a real shame. The holodeck hunts on Voyager were

  very enjoyable despite the fact that my superior officer wouldn't

  allow us to finish the game. But I don't have him looking over

  my shoulder any more. What you see before you is part of a small

  but growing group of Hirogen that refuse to relinquish our old

  ways. Hirogen who believe our traditions are not to be ignored.

  Who still seek to be challenged by the hunt for prey. And you

  two are our prey."

  Tom and B'Elanna looked at each other trying to digest this

  information. B'Elanna was the first to speak. "What did you

  mean about leaving here alive is up to us?"

  "It's quite simple really. If the two of you provide us with

  hunts that stimulate and challenge us . I may be convinced to

  release you. As I said it is totally up to you."

  Tom pulled B'Elanna to him with his right arm. "I'll do it.

  I'll be your prey. Just let my wife and the mother of my

  children go. I beg you! You can keep me, but release her."

  Lodar laughed approaching the pair with his weapon raised

  threateningly before him. "You don't understand. We hunt for

  the pair of you. Both of you start the hunt at sunrise and both

  of you must finish by sunset. If you do that, I'll return you to

  this ship for you to recover before the next hunt begins."

  "You're sick," Tom snarled. "Don't you have any honor? You'd

  make my wife endure this hunt? She has two babies at home that

  need a mother?"

  Reaching down towards the pair, Lodar patted B'Elanna on the

  stomach.

  "Don't you dare touch my wife!" Tom threatened placing himself

  between B'Elanna and Lodar.

  "Come now Voyagers, the last time we met she was ripe with child

  and still proved to be an impressive adversary, as did you.

  This time you're both in prime health. It will be a splendid

  hunt," Lodar retreated to the door. "Htar, Wotrel see to our

  prey. See that they are fed and are properly clothed for

  tomorrow's hunt."

  With the creaking and slamming of the metal door Lodar left.

  Htar and Wotrel threw the bags they had been carrying on their

  backs at the pair. Then they turned and followed their leader

  from the cell.

  "Voyager will come looking for us, Tom," B'Elanna said trying to

  sound reassuring.

  "Of course they will B'Elanna.

  Chapter 7

  "Alera!" Harry Kim shouted from the bedroom. He was standing over

  the bed with a replicated diaper in his hands. Staring at the

  infant, who stared back with piercing blue eyes.

  "What is it, Harry?" The half-Betazoid asked from the doorway.

  She sensed his frustration as well as saw it in the way he was

  standing.

  Harry looked over at her then turned for her to see his problem.

  "Lucas ruined my uniform!" he shouted, gesturing toward the wet

  spot just above the crotch. He looked like he was the one who had

  wet his pants, not Lucas.

  Alera tried to hide her laughter to no avail. She laughed out

  loud, causing Harry to blush. He looked at Lucas, who was now

  playing with his toes. He turned back to Alera, who was still

  laughing.

  "Are you done, yet?" He asked.

  Alera snickered as she went to him. Taking the diaper from him,

  she put it on the infant. Harry watched as the boy cooed and

  giggled. Alera then picked up Lucas and smiled at Kim.

  "I guess you'll just have to change Lucas from now on," he said,

  shrugging.

  Lerise shook her head, "It was an accident, Harry. I doubt he

  will do it again."

  Harry smiled and nodded, "All right, Alera." He sighed and

  looked at his uniform, "I need to change before I go to the

  Bridge."

  Alera nodded, "All right. I'll call you when I have to report for

  work. See you later."

  She then left the bedroom. Entering the main room, Alera placed

  Lucas in his crib next to Kyle. She kissed each of them on the

  forehead before sitting on the couch to work on her report.

  Several minutes later, Harry entered the living room wearing a

  clean uniform. He went over to Alera, kissed her on the cheek

  then left for the Bridge.

  ~~

  Five hours later, Harry's commbadge chirped.

  "Lerise to Kim."

  "Kim here," he answered, knowing what was coming.

  "It's your turn, Harry. Don't worry, they're asleep."

  Harry could hear the smile in her voice. He shook his head as he

  remembered that morning's event.

  "I'll be there, Alera. Kim out."

  Ten minutes later, Harry stood outside the Torres-Paris' door. He

  drew a deep breath then tapped the announcer.

  "Come in," Alera's voice floated to his ears.

  The door opened and the ensign stepped inside. Alera was exiting

  the bathroom, brushing her dark blonde hair. She smiled at him

  and he smiled back.

  "The babies are asleep," she said kissing him, "They'll wake up

  in about an hour to eat. I'll be back in six hours to help you

  put them to bed. Have fun." She kissed him again then left their

  friends' quarters.

  Harry entered the bedroom and saw the large crib at the foot of

  the bed. He looked in it and saw Kyle's blond hair. The baby

  looked just like Tom did when the pilot was asleep or

  unconscious. He smiled as he envisioned his friend's peaceful

  face when he was visiting Tom in Sickbay. He was looking at that

  expression now on Kyle.

  *And how many times will you end up in Sickbay, Kyle?* Harry

  asked silently.

  He looked over to Kyle's right to see piercing blue eyes staring

  at him. They were so intense that he had to look away. Lucas had

  not only inherited Tom's blue eyes, but his intense stare as

&nbs
p; well.

  *How many people will you affect with that gaze of yours, Lucas?*

  Harry thought, looking back at the baby.

  The blue eyes were calmer and Harry relaxed. It must have been

  his imagination. He shook his head as the baby fell back to

  sleep. He then went back into the living room to read over his

  report.

  An hour later, Harry jumped when he heard a wail coming from the

  bedroom. Running into the room and over to the crib. He looked

  inside to find Kyle crying.

  "Shhh, Kyle," Harry whispered as he picked up the infant, "You'll

  wake your brother."

  Kyle bawled louder and kicked his little feet. Harry raced into

  the other room, going right to the replicator.

  "A bottle of warm milk, formula Paris Kyle." he shouted over the

  cries of the baby. The bottle appeared and Harry grabbed it. He

  then went over to the couch and sat down. Placing Kyle in the

  crook of his left arm, he eased the nipple on the bottle into the

  baby's mouth. Kyle began feeding almost at once.

  "Hungry, aren't you?" Harry asked as deep brown eyes stared back

  at him. They reminded him of B'Elanna's warm eyes. He smiled at

  the baby as Kyle drank.

  A few moments later, Kyle stopped drinking. He stared at Harry,

  his dark eyes bright.

  "Done?" The ensign asked as he took the bottle away and then

  looked toward the bathroom. *B'Elanna and Tom said to burp the

  babies after they ate,* he thought, *Guess I'll burp him.*

  Gathering Kyle in his arms and heading toward the bathroom.

  Before he got there, a warm sensation ran down his right

  shoulder. He stopped and groaned. *Oh no,* he thought and

  hurried into the bathroom. Moving Kyle to his other shoulder as

  he looked into the mirror, he turned so that he could see the

  back of his shoulder. Running down his uniform shoulder was

  undigested milk. Kyle had thrown up on him. "Damn. Now, I'm

  going to have to change again." At that moment, the sound of

  crying came from the bedroom. Lucas was hungry now and wanted to

  tell the entire ship. Harry looked back in the mirror at his

  reflection and spoke, "You can do this, Harry. They're just

  babies." He then heard crying from beside his ear. Kyle had

  joined his brother in crying. *This is going to be a long day,*

  he thought as he went into the bedroom to feed Lucas.

  Chapter 8

  The next morning, Tom and B'Elanna clothed in loose fitting tan

  jumpsuits waited in the cell for the Hirogen to return. Earlier,

  they had explored the walls, the floor, every nook and cranny

  but unfortunately they had found no way to escape.

  "Here, B'Elanna," Tom said as he passed her a circular disk that

  resembled a doughnut but looked as it were made out of sawdust.

  B'Elanna grumbled, but took the offered disk from her husband and

  breaking it in two began to chew it. She swallowed it along with

  a mouthful of what tasted like sour water from one of the bottles

  of liquid they had been given.

  "I never thought I'd find something to eat that was worse tasting

  than the leola root that Neelix fixes, but I believe this is it."

  B'Elanna grumbled.

  "But we have to eat something to maintain our strength," Tom

  replied as he brought a similar one up to his lips and chewed off

  a chunk. "In fact, we should bring some of these and some of

  this . . . ah . . . water with us, you never know."

  "Tom we have to find a way to get out of here," she roared for

  the umpteenth time that morning alone, this time she emphasized

  her frustration by kicking at one of the walls with her foot.

  "It's too bad that our commbadges don't work over long

  distances."

  Tom nodded his head in understanding. They had been surprised

  that their captors hadn't taken the badges, and had counted

  themselves lucky. During the night, they tried the commbadges

  but were not successful, Voyager of course wasn't close enough to

  pick up the signal.

  "We'll find a way out, B'Elanna. I'm not going to let them keep

  us away from our boys." His voice trailed off as the door to the

  cell noisily slammed opened. Lodar and another Hirogen that

  they hadn't seen the night before entered.

  "I see that the clothing fits you and that you've eaten. That's

  good. We wouldn't want the hunt to end too soon would we?" Lodar

  said as the other Hirogen warily watched the prisoners. "The

  first hunt will begin very soon. As to the type of terrain and

  conditions you'll encounter, you'll find out when you arrive.

  But I thought that I'd introduce you to Qret," Lodar said as he

  nodded to his companion. "He has been afforded the honor of the

  first hunt.

  "It'll be the last hunt, Commander. I'll not disappoint you!"

  the younger, enthusiastic Hirogen stated adamantly.

  "Yes, well we shall see if relics hang on your wall. I've told

  you before, Qret, this species may be small but they are very

  resourceful," Lodar warned as he took the weapon from Qret and

  held it up for Tom and B'Elanna to briefly look at before tossing

  it back to the smaller man.

  "This device will be the weapon of choice for the day. It emits

  an energy beam. When it hits the prey. it causes the prey to

  hallucinate, but if the beam's contact is prolonged, a painful

  death will occur. You two will be beamed to the site of the hunt

  very soon. Qret will follow within fifteen of your minutes. You

  two have until sunset, which is approximately twelve of your

  hours. At that time, if you *both* have survived and are

  *together*, we will beam you back to the ship. If only one of

  you survives or if you are separated when the time comes to beam

  you back to our ship, forget ever seeing Voyager or your

  *precious* children again. The only way you have of even

  remotely hoping that you'll return to your ship is if you provide

  us with a challenging hunt."

  Qret withdrew a small jar from his pocket and removed the lid.

  He dipped his finger inside the jar. His finger was coated with

  an orange substance. Bring his finger up to one of his forehead

  ridges the ran the thick paint-like substance along the ridge.

  Qret then walked over to Tom and B'Elanna. Dipping his finger

  inside the jar again, he marked each of them on their foreheads

  with the same orange paint. "This will signify that you are my

  prey today," he explained simply before joining his leader.

  Lodar turned his back to the prey and walked toward the door.

  "Let the hunt begin," he ordered and with a wave of his large

  hand and he and Qret left the room.

  * * * * * * *

  Tom and B'Elanna quickly found themselves engulfed in the

  transporter beam. In an instant they were back down on the

  planet, but the scenery was nothing like the idyllic area on the

  planet where they had landed their shuttle. All around them

  stood blocks of rocks and boulders. The height of the blocks

  reached well over their heads. Too high and sheer for them to

  climb up, but the thing that surprised them even more were the

 
; rocks themselves.

  "Tom, it looks like we are surrounded by mirrors," B'Elanna

  observed as they held hands and quickly scurried away from the

  landing site down what appeared to be a corridor. All around

  them, reflections of the pair were visible, it made it look as if

  there were hundreds of Toms and B'Elannas running together

  towards an unknown destination.

  "We've got to keep moving, B'Elanna. It's our only chance. We

  have to put as much distance as possible between us and Qret."

  Tom pulled his wife along with him as he took a right turn and

  then a left down another mirrored corridor.

  At the agreed upon time, Qret brandishing his weapon was beamed

  down to the same coordinates that his prey had been beamed to

  earlier. Looking around him, he saw not only his image reflected

  in the 'mirrors,' but that of his prey as well. As an

  announcement of his arrival he bellowed out a welcome.

  "THE HUNT BEGINS, PREY--I'M COMING FOR YOU!!!"

  The echo of his voice resounded through the network of corridors

  until it reached the ears of his prey. Tom and B'Elanna looked

  around at the 'mirrors' and could see Qret's image appear as it

  overlapped their own. "We have to keep moving Tom," B'Elanna

  said as she pulled her husband down the next corridor with her.

  "We're no match for his weapon, our only hope is to out distance

  him."