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"Alone"  
by JoAnna Walsvik 
Part 2
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        Lereb entered B'Elanna's cell the next morning 
carrying her breakfast in a covered tray, and tiptoeing as 
to not disturb her rest.  The internal sensors installed on 
the cell ceiling had indicated that she was still asleep, 
even though it had been early evening when she had gone to 
bed.  
        He quietly placed the tray on the floor across from 
her, where she would see it the moment she awakened.  It was 
nothing much, just some toasted bread and butter, but it 
would alleviate her hunger until it was time for the evening 
meal.  Xaladians only needed to eat twice a day, and he 
hoped that B'Elanna was receiving the amount of nutrition 
that she required.  No one knew what her species was like.  
        It had been his intent to leave as soon as he had 
dropped of her tray, but curiosity got the better of him.  
As a member of the Isolationist Faction, Lereb rarely had 
the chance to closely examine an offworlder, and when he was 
attending the queen he couldn't stare at guests without 
being reprimanded for rudeness.  Now was his opportunity.
        Taking care to be as quiet as possible, he knelt 
next to her and cautiously drew the covers away from her 
face.  He sat back on his heels and gazed at her still form 
with avid interest.
        He'd never seen a being like her.  Such dark hair 
and smooth skin!  Though the ridges on her forehead were not 
unlike his own, they were far more delicate and feminine.  
The forehead ridges of a Xaladian female were more prominent 
then those of a male, but hers were smaller then he'd ever 
seen before.  And her cheeks were so red...
        Frowning, Lereb leaned in closer.  B'Elanna's pale 
cheeks of yesterday were a hectically brilliant crimson this 
morning, and her breathing seemed a bit labored.  Could she 
be ill?  "B'Elanna," he said aloud, gently shaking her 
shoulder.  "B'Elanna, wake up."
        She mumbled something incoherently, but failed to 
open her eyes.
        "B'Elanna!"  he said again, louder this time.  He 
shook her shoulder with more force.  "Wake up, please!"
        "Tom..."  she murmured, opening and closing her 
eyes.  
        Lereb knew delirium when he saw it.  He reached into 
the folds of his tunic and drew out a small communicator.  
"This is Lereb Olber," he said into the device, fear 
gripping his heart as he called for help.  "I need a 
physician in cell five immediately."
        Only a few minutes passed until an elderly Xaladian, 
carrying a bag of medical supplies, entered the cell.  
"Lereb, what's wrong?"  
        "Doctor Penh, thank the gods you're here.  It's B'El 
-- I mean, this prisoner.  I believe she's seriously ill."
        "The offworlder?"  The doctor knelt next to the 
fevered woman and placed the back of his hand against her 
cheek, his eyes widening slightly once he felt the heat 
radiating from her skin.  Reaching into his medical bag, he 
drew out a tricorder-like device and passed it over 
B'Elanna's body.
     "Well?"  Lereb asked, twisting his hands together.  "Is 
it serious?"
        Doctor Penh frowned at the screen of his medical 
scanner.  "If I'm interpreting these results correctly, 
she's having a delayed allergic reaction to the sedative 
administered to her during her abduction."
        "The sedative?  But...but it was given to her 
several days ago!  Shouldn't it have passed from her system 
by now?"
        "Yes, it should have, but it hasn't.  As I said, 
she's having a delayed allergic reaction.  For some reason, 
the sedative has stayed within her body."
        "Can you cure her?"
        Dr. Penh shook his head and rose to his feet, 
putting his scanner back into his bag.  "Her physiology is 
very unfamiliar.  I don't want to give her anything for fear 
it might do further harm.  We had no idea the sedative would 
affect her this way, after all, and any other drugs might 
worsen her condition...possibly even kill her."
        Lereb followed the doctor as he started for the 
doorway.  "There isn't anything you can do?  Any way to help 
her?"
        The doctor glanced at him dispassionately.  "The 
only person who can help her is her own doctor."
        "Perhaps we can contact the Voyager and request 
their assistance.  Their doctor could examine her."
        Dr. Penh halted in his tracks and stared at the 
younger Xaladian, clearly appalled.  "Lereb, are you mad?  
She's our hostage.  If we let any of the Voyagers down here, 
you know they'll try to rescue her.  They've already 
attempted that once and it came dangerously close to 
succeeding." 
        "We can't just let her die!"  Lereb protested.
        The doctor's wrinkled face darkened with suspicion.  
His beady black eyes raked Lereb from head to foot.  "If I 
didn't know any better, I'd say that you care for this 
offworlder."
        Lereb's face turned a bright red.  "I don't like 
seeing innocent people harmed," he said defensively. 
        "Innocent?  Might I remind you that it was an 
offworlder that killed your Kerilynn?" 
        "I know it was,"  Lereb snapped, his gray eyes 
flashing.  "But it wasn't *this* offworlder.  She had 
nothing to do with it, or our conflict, and I don't see why 
she should be punished for it."
        "All offworlders are at fault -- "
        "No, they aren't!  Dr. Penh, I've talked with her.  
She wouldn't harm a kimian blossom, much less a Xaladian.  I 
think we should let her go."
        "Let her go!  You're not serious.  The Voyager would 
-- "
        "The Voyager would leave our planet and never 
return, and perhaps the Faction could negotiate with Queen 
Lemari and the Xaladian Council to end our hostilities."  
        "Negotiation is unacceptable.  The only sufficient 
outcome is full compliance with our demands.  Lereb, you 
*know* that.  What's gotten into you?"  Penh stood with his 
hands on his hips, and his gaze accusatory.  "You've never 
acted like this before."
        Lereb stood silently for a long while, gazing at 
B'Elanna's still form, before answering the doctor.  "I -- 
you're right, Dr. Penh.  I'm sorry.  I don't know what came 
over me."
        "It's all right,"  the doctor said kindly.  "You've 
been spending too much time in the prison, that's all.  I'll 
speak to Bakek about changing your duties.  Perhaps you'd do 
better in the maintenance division." 
"Yes, perhaps so.  Thank you, Doctor.  Good-bye."  Lereb 
watched as the physician exited the cell.
He slowly sank to the floor next to the unmoving form on the 
floor.  Suddenly, it occurred to him that Kerilynn's eyes 
had been the same soft brown that B'Elanna's were.  The 
beautiful eyes of his wife had been one of the things he 
loved best about her.  The day those eyes had closed forever 
was the day his world had slipped away.  He'd stopped caring 
about right and wrong and turned his mind to revenge.
        Somehow, though, revenge had ceased to be the 
driving factor in his life.  The offworlder who had so 
viciously destroyed his life would never be seen again.  The 
rate of altercations involving offworlders had plummeted 
dramatically with the increased Xaladian security force, 
even though the Faction chose to ignore the most current 
statistics.  Isolationism no longer seemed that important.
        Lereb didn't know when these feelings had started 
stirring inside of him.  They'd always been there in the 
deepest, most shadowy corners of his mind, but B'Elanna had 
forced him to bring those thoughts to the surface and face 
them.
        And how did he repay her?  She was lying on the hard 
floor of a prison cell, separated from her home and her 
loved ones, seriously ill and maybe dying. If she were to 
die, would Tom Paris feel the same way he had when Kerilynn 
had been killed?  Nauseated with grief, unable to perform 
the simplest tasks because of paralyzing sorrow?
        Judging from the expression of pure, unadulterated 
love that had gleamed in B'Elanna's eyes when she'd talked 
of her lover, Lereb was inclined to believe that he would.  
        He wouldn't wish that kind of grief on anyone, not 
even an offworlder.  Kerilynn had been so gentle, and kind 
to others; he was certain she'd disapprove of his lifestyle 
if she were still alive.  She had been so excited when Queen 
Lemari had announced that Xalad was going to emerge into the 
universe and begin interacting with other species.  
"Think of it, Lereb," she'd rapturously exclaimed the day 
after the proclamation.  "New experiences, new cultures, new 
kinds of food and clothing and *everything*!"  Kerilynn had 
been a teacher, and knowledge was something she had craved 
like a thirsty man craved water.  Neither of them had ever 
thought that an offworlder would ultimately be her demise.
        "We can't foretell the future, Lereb,"  he could 
almost hear her lecturing.  "You can't live in the past and 
expect to live in the present, too.  You have to let go of 
your hatred and begin living again."  Dear Kerilynn.  How 
much he missed her.
        Just as much as Tom Paris missed his B'Elanna, and 
she him.
        Resolve ignited in his mind like a candle flame, and 
grew into a roaring bonfire.  "I'm going to get you out of 
here, B'Elanna,"  he whispered fiercely, tightly clenching 
his fists together until thin crescents of blood appeared on 
his palm.  "I give you my word; I'm going to get you out of 
here."

*

        Voices roused her from a previously soundless, 
dreamless sleep -- soft, familiar voices that were soothing 
to her sensitive ears.  The hard floor beneath her had 
become gentle, and a blessed warmth surrounded her aching 
body.  She breathed a low, quiet sigh of contentment, and 
abruptly the voices came nearer.
        "I think she's coming to,"  one of the voices said.
A slight frown marred her features.  That voice was so like 
Captain Janeway's, but it just wasn't possible. The captain 
was on far-away Voyager, and she was in a Xaladian prison.  
"B'Elanna, sweetheart, can you hear me?"  another voice, 
well-known and beloved, said from above.  "Wake up, love."  
A tender hand brushed her cheek.
        She'd know that touch even if she was in the 
deepest, darkest dungeon at the very farthest corner of the 
galaxy.  There was only one touch like it in the entire 
universe.
        "Tom," she murmured, and winced at the cruel, 
unrelenting light that flooded her eyes when she attempted 
to open them.  Gradually, her vision cleared, and three 
blurry figures above her came into focus.  The doctor, the 
captain, and...Tom.  So he really *was* here.  
        All three were smiling at her, and Tom reached to 
her side and tightly clasped her hand.  His touch was 
wonderfully warm and solid; during the shadowy mists of her 
delirium she had reached out for him and found only empty 
space.  Now, she gripped his hand like it was a lifeline and 
she a drowning woman. 
        "Welcome home, Lieutenant,"  the doctor said gently.
        As her eyes moved over the room, over the biobeds 
and consoles surrounding her, she realized that it was true.  
She was in sickbay, on Voyager.  She was home.  But how...?
        A faint, hazy recollection stirred in the back of 
her mind.  Lereb -- carrying her.  Shouts, the sizzle of 
weapons fire, then the shimmer of a transporter beam.  
"What...what happened?"  
        The captain and Tom exchanged a lengthy glance.  "A 
Xaladian rescued you,"  Captain Janeway said at length.  "He 
brought you to a transport chamber, dropped the prison 
compound shields, and sent us your coordinates.  We were 
able to beam you out before their shields came back on-
line."
         B'Elanna, though a bit light-headed, managed to put 
together what had happened.  "It was Lereb, wasn't it."  
The captain nodded.  "Yes.  Queen Lemari says he used to one 
of her attendants."
"Where is he?"  B'Elanna asked, meaning to thank him 
personally.  "Can I see him?"
         There was a long, weighty pause before Tom finally 
answered her.  "Sweetheart, he -- he didn't make it."
        "Didn't make it?"  she repeated, looking from him to 
the captain and back again.  "I don't understand."
        "They killed him, B'Elanna,"  Janeway said, laying a 
comforting hand on her shoulder.  "Right before we 
transported the two of you to Voyager, Lereb was shot by one 
of the members of the Faction trying to stop your escape.  
By the time we got him to sickbay, it was too late.  I'm 
sorry."
        "So am I,"  B'Elanna said, her chin trembling ever 
so slightly.  "He was...very kind to me."  She closed her 
eyes, hiding the tears that were forming behind her eyelids.  
*He helped me escape,*  she thought in wonder.  *After all I 
said to him, after the way I acted towards him, Lereb died 
helping me get home.*   
        "After we got you out of there, Xaladian forces were 
able to storm to compound and rescue the rest of the 
hostages.  The Faction's members have been apprehended.  It 
appears that the isolationist movement on Xalad has been 
extinguished once and for all."  Captain Janeway paused 
slightly, then continued.  "Queen Lemari awarded Lereb a 
posthumous commendation.  There was a memorial service for 
him yesterday."
        "We wanted to postpone the service so you could 
attend, if you wanted to, but there was no telling when you 
were going to regain consciousness,"  Tom quickly explained.  
"You were in that prison for over five days, and you've been 
pretty sick since you got here."
        "Luckily,"  the doctor chimed in, "I was able to 
counteract and treat the allergic reaction you were 
suffering.  You'll need about a week of bed rest, but you're 
going to make a complete recovery.  If not for my medical 
expertise, however, you -- "
        "Captain,"  B'Elanna interrupted, ignoring the 
doctor's egotism, "did you go to the service?"
"Why, yes, I did.  Why do you ask?"
"Can you tell me -- where was Lereb buried?"
        Janeway gave her a puzzled look.  "In a Xaladian 
cemetery.  Next to his deceased wife, I believe."
        A slow, contented smile crossed her face.  "Then 
it's all right,"  she said quietly.  "He's at peace now."
        The three officers standing beside her bed didn't 
know what to say.  Finally, after a long pause, Tom leaned 
down and kissed her cheek.  "Why don't you get some sleep,"  
he suggested.  "I'll be back to see you in the morning."
        "Good idea.  I think we all could do with a little 
rest,"  the captain agreed.  
        After Tom and the captain had left, and the doctor 
had dimmed the sickbay lights and turned himself off, 
B'Elanna closed her eyes and breathed a long sigh. She 
couldn't help grieving a bit for Lereb, after all, he'd 
given his life for her, but she was glad that he was finally 
reunited with his wife. Somewhere in the Xaladian afterlife, 
she believed, he was happy.  And she was happy for him.
        Most importantly, Xalad's people could continue 
their quest to learn about new worlds and cultures.  The 
former members of the Faction might even discover that not 
all offworlders are dangerous and unsafe.  Maybe they'd even 
make a few alien friends.  And, in the event that the 
catastrophes she had foretold to Lereb did come true one 
day, Xalad would be ready.  They were no longer alone.
        And neither was Lereb.

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THE END
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Copyright 1998 by JoAnna Walsvik, all rights reserved.  
Please contact the author at pt4ever@yahoo.com with 
permission to copy, archive, etc.

Disclaimer:  Star Trek: Voyager and its characters, 
settings, etc. belong to Viacom, Paramount Television, UPN, 
etc.  No infringement is intended, and no profit has been or 
ever will be derived.