By Diane Klepper
(Author's Note: This is the fifth part of my "Voyager: The First Year" series. Tom finds out Tuvok knows more about what has been going on in his life then he should.)
Tom Paris stared at his plate and frowned. He knew that he should be eating his dinner but he hated anything with leola root in it. If he only had a few replicator rations left he would of made a pizza for himself but he used his last ration this morning for a cup of coffee. He was running late this morning and he didn't have time to go to the mess hall for breakfast and he couldn't make it through his morning shift without a least a cup of coffee. Tom was never a morning person and he often wondered why the morning shift always started at 0700 hours. They were in the middle of nowhere.
Dinner was less of a chore when he had Harry or B'Elanna to talk to. They were both working the night shift this week and Tom knew that for the next week he would be very lonely without he friends to spend time with. Tom was about to give up on his dinner and go to his quarters to work on this week's navigation reports. It wasn't due for another two days but he smirked at the thought of surprising Chakotay with his reports early instead of five minutes before they were due. Tom had to admit that Chakotay had been civil to him lately but he knew that if he stepped a inch out of line the former Maquis would be there to punish him.
Tom was about to stand up when he noticed Lieutenant Tuvok was standing by his table with a tray of food. Tuvok asked, "Is this seat taken?"
Tom smiled and said, "No…I was about to leave."
Tuvok put his tray on the table and sat across from Tom. He said matter of factly, "Mr. Paris I have something to discuss with you…it is a matter of ship's security."
Tom frowned, "Look Tuvok…I'm a pilot not an security officer…I don't know what I can do to help you."
"Mr. Paris…you can tell me why I have found traces of your blood outside the mess hall last week."
"Blood?"
"Yes…I scanned it on my tricorder…I also know that the doctor has reported a missing dermal regenerator."
Tom gave a small laugh, "Come on Tuvok…anyone on this ship could of taken the regenerator. When the doctor is offline sickbay is deserted."
"That is true Mr. Paris but everyone on this ship doesn't have the training to use it properly…Mr. Paris if you do not want to continue this conversation now we can continue it tomorrow morning in front of Captain Janeway and Commander Chakotay."
"Please Tuvok…I don't want them to know…I just borrowed the dermal regenerator because I had a couple of holo-deck injuries I didn't want the doctor to know about."
Tuvok frowned, "Mr. Paris I can have security team escort you to sickbay and have the doctor do a complete body scan to verify your injuries."
"Damn it Tuvok… Why do you care?"
"Mr. Paris I am head of security on this ship…The safety of every crewmember is my responsibility."
Tom smirked. "I'm sorry to tell you this Tuvok but you can't be everywhere. We both know that most of the people on this ship think of me as a traitor who doesn't care about anyone but myself…If I didn't steal a dermal regenerator I wouldn't be able to report for duty everyday."
"Mr. Paris I can not in good conscious allow a member of this crew to be continually battered without doing everything in my power to stop it…I demand you tell me who has been attacking you before it happens again."
Tom smirked, "What you afraid you look like you weren't doing your job if I got beaten up again…Well Tuvok you don't have to worry about that…the beating have stopped."
"How can you be so sure they will not be continued at a later date?"
Tom smiled. "Lets just say I have a friend watching my back."
"I doubt Mr. Kim will be able to intimidate many members of Starfleet or the Maquis."
Tom smirked, the thought of sweet, innocent Harry Kim intimidating anyone was funny. To Tom, Harry was the little brother that he always wanted. It was fun to have someone who looked up to him even with his all the mistakes he made so far in his life. He loved older his sisters Kathleen and Moira a lot but he often wished he had a little brother to hang out with. Harry would risk his life to save a friend but he definitely wasn't intimidating. "No it's not Harry."
Exasperated Tuvok said, "Mr. Paris…if you do not cooperate with my investigation I will report the incident to the Captain."
Tom frowned, "Okay… B'Elanna promised to talk to some people and tell them to leave me alone."
Tuvok said, "Ms. Torres is definitely intimidating…but I do not understand why you are trying to protect your attackers."
"Damn it Tuvok…there are a lot of people on this ship who would love to see me fail. They resent the fact that the Captain made me an officer. According to them I should either be thrown out the nearest airlock or spend the next seventy years in the brig."
Tuvok raised his eyebrows. "Either method would be illogical…Starfleet doesn't believe in the death penalty so throwing you out of the airlock would be against regulations. Also leaving you in the brig for seventy years would be impractical because you are our best pilot and we are traveling though unknown space and we need a capable pilot at the helm."
Tom smirked. "That is why B'Elanna is helping me…She thinks I will do the least damage to the engines flying this ship… Look I know I made a lot of mistakes in my life. When Captain Janeway gave me a second chance I promised her and myself that I wouldn't fail…and I refuse to let a few idiots have the satisfaction that I was being beaten up on a regular places."
Tuvok nodded. "Mr. Paris…I will do as you ask but you have to promise to tell me if you are being attacked again or I will report this incident to Captain Janeway and Commander Chakotay."
"Okay Tuvok I promise."
"And you have to return the dermal regenerator to the Doctor and explain to him why you took."
Tom gasped, "But Tuvok he will report the beatings to the Captain."
"Mr. Paris…you do not have to tell him the whole truth and you can always volunteer for extra sickbay duties to appease him."
Tom frowned, "There goes all my free time for the next month."
Tuvok stood up and picked up his tray. "Knowing the Doctor I am sure it will no free time for the next two months. Good night Mr. Paris."
Tom, watch Tuvok leave and frowned. Grandma Paris always warned him to watch out for Vulcan logic. She always said, "Thomas watch out for Vulcan's…they can make almost anything seem logical…even a lie."
Tom stood up and took his tray to the recycler. Grandma, he thought, you are right. You can't out logic a Vulcan. He then put his tray in the recycler and headed to his cabin to finish his comm. reports and have a quiet night in his cabin because he knew that the next few weeks he would be very busy doing extra sickbay shifts thanks to Vulcan logic.