VOY - Harry's New Beginnings (Part I)

[Dave]

Title: Harry's New Beginnings

Author: David Fergusson.

Status: First part.

Classification: Angst, Romance, Action.

Spoilers: Voyager Season Seven.

Setting: After Voyager returns to Earth.

Rating: U

Summary: This began life as a short story, as a suggestion by Maria, because Neo wanted to know what really happened when they all got home. I started it, but left it with the unsatisfactory ending (Unsatisfactory, for those who like happy endings) So I added more and it has become a monster, taking over everything it touches, and I couldn't finish it in one go.

Disclaimer: Star Trek and its characters are the property of Paramount Pictures, Paramount Entertainment, Viacom, This story is for entertainment purposes only and no money exchanged hands. No copyright infringement is intended. The original characters, situations, and story are the property of the author. This story may not be posted elsewhere without the consent of the author.

****************

Harry Kim was standing outside the boutique on a busy pedestrian-only street. He was desperately trying to pretend that he wasn’t really there, hiding out among the colourful displays of women’s fashions and ladies underwear that were hung up on the pavement racks. It was very busy this afternoon, with both locals and tourists examining the goods for sale. He knew this area of San Francisco well; his parents lived only a few blocks away, yet many of these shops weren’t even here when he had last walked this way.

Was it really only two days since they had arrived back from the Delta Quadrant after seven years on the Starship Voyager? There had been a fabulous welcome home; Starfleet had allowed the ship to land on the parade grounds at the Academy. A huge party had followed with fireworks, and attended by Federation news reporters and celebrity guests, but he had managed to spend at least one evening alone with his parents. Now, he had just wanted a little time to unwind, away from all the attention. His parents and friends had asked too many questions for him to answer all at once. If they were too intense, he wondered what tomorrow’s Starfleet debriefing would be like.

Harry was getting impatient. He tried to peep into the shop window, but the bright sunlight reflecting off the glass prevented him. He was very bored with all this standing around. With all the sights of the city to see, they didn’t have enough time to spare to simply spend it shopping. He had been waiting here for much longer than he would have liked, and was just about to walk across the road to look in the multitronics shop window, when unexpectedly, a familiar face came out of the doorway. She looked just as beautiful and vivacious as the first time that he had met her, at the Ktarian music festival.

“Harry,” said the attractive dark-haired woman, “is it really you?”

“Libby!” said a startled Harry, “You remember me!”

Harry instantly regretted saying that, and he blushed.

“Silly!” she exclaimed, “Of course I remember you, Harry. I could hardly forget you that quickly, could I? Anyhow, you’ve all been in the News. Everyone in the world knows you’re back!”

“Sorry, I was just surprised to see you. So, how are you?” he asked her awkwardly. “Why can’t I find the right words to say?” he thought.

“I’m OK. You do look well; age has been kind to you at least. Is there anything I can do for you, to help you settle back in?”

“Oh, no. I’m fine, glad to be back, of course, and everybody is being very kind to us.”

“Well, just ask me if you think of anything. Anything at all.”

A pause followed, while they both looked increasingly uncomfortable in each other’s presence.

“Do you still play the clarinet? Please tell me that you still do,” asked Libby.

“A little, you know how it is to try to find time to practise,” Harry replied.

“I saw the Julliard Youth Symphony last month. They sometimes play your concerto ‘Echoes of the Void’.”

“Really? No one told me that,” exclaimed Harry.

Libby suddenly felt very guilty, and it was her turn to blush.

“Oh Harry! There is so much that I should have told you. I’m so sorry that I never recorded a message for you. I feel ashamed that I never sent a single word, when the others were busy making their recordings. I meant to, but I always put it off. Of course I wanted too, but…”

“Hey! Libby! Don’t worry about it!” interrupted Harry “It must have been difficult for you as well… Do I look upset about it?”

“Your parents were very strong. They were much stronger than I was. They were like rocks. Everyone told me that you were dead. I never thought that I’d see you again. I managed to get over you eventually. But your parents never gave up hope. When we heard that you were still alive… and then that you were home… Harry, I’m married now, with a four year old kid.”

“Libby, that’s great! I’m glad that you’re happy. I’m really pleased for you. Honestly, I’ve no hard feelings! I mean I doubted that I would be back again myself sometimes, although I never gave up hope either.”

“It’s not even as though our engagement would have lead to anything more serious is it?”

“Not unless it was in an alternative reality,” thought Harry, but he said nothing.

There was a loud scream from inside the boutique, and then laughing, and two more young women came dashing out of the shop, giggling like schoolgirls, and holding something out for Harry to see.

“Harry, Harry! What do you think of these shorts on me?” said the first girl, who stopped when she noticed Libby, “Oh! I’m Sorry!”

“Does her bum look big in it?” joked the second girl, who also came to an abrupt halt, and stood next to the first. Libby noticed that they were exactly alike in every way.

“You must be the Delaney sisters,” said Libby, and then added, “I told you that you had been in the News,” when she saw Harry’s surprise. “I know practically everything about Voyager and her crew, you’re all famous.”

“That’s us,” said Megan Delaney, “and I have to warn you that we’re also big trouble.”

“With a capital B,” added Jenny Delaney. “But I hope you don’t know everything?” she said giving Harry a wink at the same time.

Jenny and Megan looked at Harry, waiting for an introduction, and after another pause Harry announced, “Oh! Sorry! This is Libby! We used to be… erm… good friends.”

Libby suddenly felt like she should be somewhere else, and quickly made her apologies for leaving.

“Maybe we could have you over sometime, I’ll talk to my hubby.” she called back before hurrying off.

Harry desperately wanted to stop her, but he still didn’t have a clue what to say, and she had already disappeared around the street corner.

“First Contacts!” whispered Megan to Jenny.

“Always the most difficult of Starfleet assignments,” laughed Jenny.

“Do you know, it took me three weeks to work up the courage to ask her out?” said Harry.

“Never mind, Harry! New beginnings, right?” said Jenny.

“Yeah! New beginnings,” said Harry, “Hey. Let’s go, have a drink, and toast to that. There was a great little bar down at the Embarcadero on the waterfront, and I haven’t shown you there yet. Do you two like fresh seafood and sourdough bread?”

“Is B’Elanna a Klingon?” replied Megan and Jenny together, and they all laughed.

Harry thought that he might save something from this afternoon yet.

***************

LATER THAT DAY

Later, the three friends were sat at a table on Fisherman’s Wharf at the edge of the pier where they could hear the waves crashing on the harbour wall. They had just finished an excellent meal and evening was drawing in. The restaurant was getting busy and there were no more empty tables. A big noisy group spread over the nearby tables were celebrating a birthday. The last of the party to arrive couldn’t find seats, so a tall fair-haired man politely asked if he could take the spare seat from their table.

“Sure, take it,” said Megan.

“Hey!” he realised, “You’re the ‘Lost in Space’ people aren’t you?”

He called to his friends, “Look its the ‘Lost in Space’ people!”

“We are from the ‘USS Voyager’ if that’s what you mean,” said Megan indignantly, but secretly she loved the attention. She was soon chatting away to them like she had been invited and eventually pulled her own chair over to the other table.

Jenny and Harry had avoided the subject, but when they were left alone she said “You can talk about it if you want, Harry.”

“About Libby? Oh! I wouldn’t want to inflict that on you tonight.”

“You know that I’m a good listener. I don’t mind.”

“I really didn’t expect her to wait for me, that’s not it. It was just the shock of hearing it. It’s as if everybody else has moved forward and we are stuck in the past.”

“I agree. I don’t know the names of politicians or holo-actors anymore. I still don’t understand the Dominion War and which side the Klingons and Cardassians were on. We could have been in suspended animation for seven years.”

“Except that time has passed, and we have grown a little older, and water has passed under the bridge,” said Harry, and then he finished his drink off.

“He’d make a good, new Captain Proton,” said Jenny, indicating the chair-stealer, “What do you think?”

“I think I’ll miss those holo-programmes,” said Harry. “Did you really enjoy Captain Proton?”

“I did. I loved it! Though I preferred ‘Sandrine’s Bar’ and ‘Fair Haven’.”

“Yes, I think we are going to miss Tom, without his programmes to keep us occupied we would have had a much harder time out there.”

“I think that being home and relaxed has made it worse. We are now remembering, and we’re feeling things that we bottled up before.”

“You know, when we see the Counsellors tomorrow, they’re gonna tell us exactly the same thing, but they will give it a fancy name, like post-traumatic stress syndrome, and tell us it is alright to give in to our feelings.”

“There’s been something I’ve been meaning to ask you Harry.”

“What’s that?”

“Megan is keen to leave Starfleet. She wants us to move back to New Chicago together with our father. What do you think?”

“Is it because of his illness? What have the doctors said?”

“Yes, they say his condition is stable, but he will never improve and that the climate might be good for him.”

“Is moving there what you want?”

“I’m not sure, Harry. I’d stay here if you thought there was any reason why I shouldn’t go?”

Harry felt like someone was pulling him into a knot. He had unresolved feelings for Libby. He also had feelings for Jenny, but they had never discussed anything serious before. “That’s unfair to ask me that, it’s something you know that I can’t commit myself to right now. I would need time to think about it.”

“I realise that, but I have to decide, and I don’t have time. I have to make up my mind by the end of the week. Megan is putting pressure on me.”

“We should have talked about this long before now. We had some good times together on Voyager. It was like fate had thrown us together, but now we are home things have changed.”

“I’m still the same me, you’re still the same you.”

Loud singing from the Birthday table interrupted Jenny, who stopped. She cringed as she picked out Megan’s voice as one of the loudest, and the most off key.

“Megan will be back in a moment, can we talk about this in the morning alone,” said Harry.

“We need to. I’ll come and pick you up first thing. I’ll have to make up some excuse to Megan.”

“What does she want you to do?”

“She just expects me to follow her. It’s not like the planet is far away, only a two-day flight. Dad doesn’t need us to care for him. Megan has her own reasons for going, which do not apply to me.”

“Well don’t go then. Stay here a while and decide later.”

“It’s still home to me. I’ve decided to leave Starfleet, I want to settle in one place, and I’ve never liked Earth.”

“But Earth is my home, and I’m not leaving Starfleet either, so how can we resolve that?”

“But you are leaving Starfleet aren’t you, Jenny?” said Megan unexpectantly, from behind her. “You said you were, Jenny, don’t change your mind now.”

“If you had listened to it all, I said that I had decided to leave, Harry was just saying that he wasn’t,” replied Jenny.

“Jenny’s coming to New Chicago with me, Harry. Did she tell you that?” asked Megan.

“We discussed it,” said Harry, and to try and change the subject he asked, “Who’s Birthday was it?”

“Just some transporter technician. Cute looking though,” replied Megan.

“Can we go now?” asked Jenny, “I’m getting a little cold.”

Megan said goodbye to her new friends, while Harry collected their jackets. Jenny wiped her eyes and tried hard not to let the tears show.

***************

LATER STILL

When Harry got to his room a sudden stabbing pain hit him. He found it difficult to open his door because of it. It soon faded away though. The pain worried him, but he also found a written message on his PADD from Libby, and he soon forgot the pain.

When he read the note he felt as if his emotional roller coaster ride was leaving the rails. What he read was totally unexpected, but it didn’t really change the situation as it stood. His mind was racing and knew that he would be unable to sleep now. So, he went back out for a walk leaving the note and his communicator behind. He didn’t walk in any particular direction. Things seemed a little clearer out in the night air. He couldn’t let these women blackmail him like this. He wasn’t responsible for any of Libby’s problems, and although he might be being a little harsh, she had to sort them out herself. Jenny had to stand up to Megan. She couldn’t stand in her shadows forever. Harry wasn’t ready to throw away his promising career to become a farmer on some backward planet, at least not until he had thought long and hard about his feelings for Jenny. Did he love Jenny? He thought that he did. Had he told her that? No. He should have. He resolved that he would do that in the morning. Did she love him? Or did she just see him as an escape route from Megan, her father and her boring home planet? He decided that Jenny should also be told the truth about Libby, and made a mental note to do that too.

That night he slept badly, at first dreaming of the genetically engineered retrovirus he was once infected with, then of Borg implants replacing his own limbs, and later of his real encounter with Species 8472, which had left him with a superficial wound, but a resulting cancer of alien cells that invaded his body, and infected every life system, literally eating him alive from the inside out. He woke up alone, dripping with sweat, several times before dawn came. The dreams were vivid and seemed very real to him and telepathic message of Species 8472, “The weak will perish!” still shocked him.

***************

THE NEXT DAY

Jenny was early. Harry had only just awoken himself. They had to be at Starfleet Headquarters by ten o’clock, but he was still extremely tired having slept badly. At the very least, he needed a coffee before he could leave.

“I’m just getting changed, replicate me a coffee please. Do you want one?” said Harry from the next room.

“No thanks,” replied Jenny.

To the replicator, she said “Vulcan Mocha coffee, extra sweet.” Then a little louder so that Harry would hear her in the other room, “I told Megan I was going for a jog, but I think she didn’t believe me.”

“You live in each others pockets too much,” replied Harry.

Jenny wandered about the apartment room, which was almost identical to hers, and courtesy of Starfleet until Voyager’s crew were debriefed. On the table, she noticed the handwritten note on the PADD, lying next to Harry’s communicator. It was written in a woman’s handwriting. It read:

Dear Harry,
Things haven’t been working out okay at home. My husband and I have been separated for over a year now. Your parents don’t know about this. I couldn’t face telling them. That’s why I couldn’t let you know either. Please forgive me for everything,
Libby.

Harry returned, and knew at once that Jenny had read the note.

“I’m sorry, it was just there,” said Jenny.

“I was going to tell you about it anyway,” replied Harry. “It makes no difference to us. Jenny, I don’t love Libby anymore. I’m not sure now that I ever did. Anyhow our relationship was in the past. But I need to know how you and me stand now.”

“Harry, I think… I’m in love with you.”

“Are you sure?” said Harry, “Isn’t it just a convenient excuse for you not to go to New Chicago?”

“Now, it’s you being unfair.”

“Jenny, I should have told you this long ago, but I’m deeply in love with you too. I’ve wanted to tell you that, but I couldn’t.”

“So what is our problem?”

“You are asking me to give up my dream of being a Starfleet captain, I need to be sure we can make it work.”

“Harry, if being a captain in Starfleet is what you want, then I won’t make you leave Starfleet, but isn’t this more about you being afraid of commitment.”

“I just don’t want us to end up like Libby and her husband.”

“In real life we have to take some risks!”

The door chimed. It opened and Megan came in.

“I thought I’d find you two love birds here. A quick run, was it Jenny?”

Sometimes Megan is very annoying, thought Jenny.

“We need to leave,” said Harry, “We don’t want to be late.”

They walked the short distance to Starfleet Headquarters and were welcomed at the entrance by the teams of counsellors, military advisors and xeno-sociologists who would be debriefing them. They were the only crew to have returned from that part of our galaxy, and although Voyager’s bineural gel packs contain immense amounts of data collected at the time, it does not have the points of view gained in retrospect.

Harry looked around the room and thought that he could see almost everyone. Tuvok seemed to be missing, though. It was obvious where B’Elanna and Tom were. Everyone wanted to look at the new arrival. Sure enough, Jenny and Megan said could they look at the baby, and Harry was happy for a chance to speak to Tom. There were too many people after Tom’s attention. They exchanged a greeting, but he really wanted to ask his best friend some advice, and hoped that he could catch him again later.

The conference began and Captain Janeway made a short speech. She mentioned how this was to be very informal, and recalled the time she had met a young ensign and told him to stand at ease before he strained something. Most people looked over in Harry’s direction and smiled. Then she gave them the bad news about Tuvok, but she hoped that he could be persuaded to change his mind, and she was leaving for Vulcan with a Counsellor and a top physician as soon as possible, to try and change his mind.

Admiral Paris then gave a boring speech about how proud of them he was, and how good it was to get them home, and all about the work of ‘The Pathfinder’ project, as if that had been in some way responsible for getting them back. Everyone was thankful of the news from home and contact with family it had brought, but it hadn’t contributed to shortening their journey.

When someone else, someone that Harry had never heard of, took the stage, he began to long for the first coffee break. However, he found that she was only there to give the lists for the debriefing and counselling sessions. Harry was assigned to see Counsellor Deanna Troi, together with Seven and Chakotay. Later he was to see Admiral Paris himself to discuss the threats posed by the Borg and Species 8472, and what he had learnt as Operations Officer. It would also be a chance to impress the Admiral.

First, he was to report with Seven to the Astrometrics Labs to answer some questions about Delta Quadrant navigation, and to adapt Voyager’s improved stellar cartographic capability to retrofit all Starfleet vessels. He said goodbye to Jenny, who was to report to the Biological Labs to discuss some of the more unusual flora and fauna encountered. It was then that he very first noticed it. A blue-green shimmering with white flashes that lasted only seconds and then was gone. He knew that he was tired, and thought little of it at the time. However, later he realised that it had been accompanied by the return of the sharp pain.

Voyager’s crew were much more relaxed over lunch, although obviously worried about Tuvok. Harry sat with Tom at the other end of the table from Jenny.

“I never saw myself married and settled down, Harry, but I’m really enjoying it,” said Tom.

“Even the sleepless nights with the baby?” asked Harry.

“She’s quite a good sleeper actually, though she does have her mothers voice and temperament,” replied Tom. “How is your love-life Harry? Have you seen Libby yet?”

Harry told Tom about the unexpected meeting and the contents of the letter.

“You’ll have to go and see her, Harry.”

“My life is getting complicated, Tom, seeing her will just make it worse.”

“You mean you and Jenny?”

“Yes. She might be going off world next week.”

“Harry, you just have to do whatever you feel is right. I’ve never been good at long-term relationships. Look at the number of girlfriends that I’ve had. You really don’t want advice from me.”

Harry had to meet Counsellor Troi next and it was an informal question and answer session. She sensed that he was very tense, and worried about the future. She could sense his tiredness and his frequent pain, but his emotional responses on the various psychological tests came out well. He didn’t mention anything about his dreams of the previous night, or of his colourful vision earlier in the day. She advised him to see a doctor about the recurring pain, but thought that he was psychologically fit for duty. Just as he was leaving, she did sense something quite evil, if only for an instant.

His meeting with Admiral Paris went particularly well. It appeared that Voyagers crew were going to rewrite the Starfleet book on the Borg, since their knowledge far outweighed anything previously known. Harry wasn’t given any indication that he might get a promotion to Lieutenant soon, though.

He was quite mentally tired at the end of the day, and there was still another one of these days to go. He waited for Jenny and Megan in the conference hall, until they had finished with their respective Counsellors. By chance he met Philip Weir, a friend from the Academy; he had been assistant editor of the academy newspaper during Harry’s spell as editor. Philip was now a Lieutenant, working in the Science Labs. It only served to emphasise to Harry how Voyager had seemed to have held him back from promotion.

When Philip left, it was then that Harry saw the strange blue-green phosphorescence for the second time. Again it lasted only seconds, and again it was associated with a physical pain, but he had enough time to pick up a tricorder from a science lab and analyse the light. The readings were negative, and again no one else had seen it. The pain was much worse and seemed to centre on his old Species 8472 wound. He was about to report it to security, when Jenny finally came out. He called her over.

“Can the two of us go somewhere now, alone and talk,” he asked.

“Harry, I’m so tired.”

“Me too! But it’s important, and we need to discuss some things without interruptions.”

They didn’t go far, just out of the Starfleet Complex to the street where the officer’s club and the Vulcan nightclub are. Harry pointed out a café there that he knew.

“Harry, you know all the best restaurants in San Francisco. What did you do at the Academy? Eat out for three years!”

“I did live here most of my life you know.”

“So you have. What did you think of today?”

“It was a full day! I think that our observations will keep researchers busy for years.”

“It was a little odd, us now being the Federation’s experts.”

“Jenny, I need to tell you a few things.”

“Okay! Tell me!”

“Jenny, I do love you, and I don’t want you to leave, but I’m just not ready to promise anything more. You’ll have to accept that. I could get down on my knees and propose to you, but it would feel like I was being pressurised into it. Please don’t go just yet. Give me time and it may be what I want.”

“I’ve decided not to go anyway. It’s about time I lead my own life, away from Megan.”

“I think that’s a good idea.”

“Anything else you want to tell me? You seem troubled.”

“Well, I’d like some advice really. I’ve been seeing things. I‘ve seen glowing lights. No one else is around when it occurs. I think I might be seeing things, but with all these Counsellors around, they’ll lock me away if I report it.”

“When did you see them?”

“The last time was just before you came out into the conference hall.”

“And you were alone?”

“Yes.”

“I think that you have to tell someone, it could be some sort of threat. It certainly sounds dangerous to me.”

Harry realised that she was right, and agreed with her. So they walked back to Starfleet headquarters together. They went straight towards security, but before they reached the desk, the blue-green light appeared again in front of Harry for a third time. This time he could feel a telepathic connection to it, and he realised that the pain he felt was actually straight from the site of his old Species 8472 wound. This time the pain grew the strongest yet. The wound actually physically reopened. The bright white centre of the anomaly was also larger this time. Its hypnotic rhythmic flashes lighted up the room, and it grew in size so it arched over Harry.

Red Alert alarms were sounded and Federation Security guards began to arrive just as the phenomenon surrounded Harry completely, and he was sucked into it. He was pulled through the wormhole into another dimension, the dimension known as fluidic space. Jenny cried out his name, as Harry disappeared. The wormhole then closed up again as quickly as it had formed. Harry had vanished.

[ray gower]

So I added more and it has become a monster, taking over everything it touches, and I couldn't finish it in one go.

Gets me like that too, every turn gives another avenue to explore.

This is getting interesting, keep going

[Maria8475]

I agree - really interesting.

Now aren't you glad there are some of us who like happy endings!

[Dave]

Part II is now available