The two seemed to have walked for hours when they heard rushing water off toward their right. They headed in that direction, and before long, they came upon a fast moving stream. They could see small fish swimming against the current, and their stomachs growled.
Torres had more than food on her mind. She helped Paris sit on the ground. She tore another piece of her sleeve, and dipped it in the water. She rung the piece out, and went over to Paris. She took the make-shift bandage off, and tried her best to clean the wound. She believed she was a little rough, because Paris gasped more than once.
"It needs to be cleaned, Tom," Torres said after he gasped a fourth time, "I just hope it's not infected."
Paris winced against the pain, "Not unless your sleeves were dirty. Ow! Damn. Take it easy. Your rubbing my skin off!"
Torres glared at him, "Be quiet or I will rub your skin off."
She looked at the wound, and it appeared worse than before. She looked at the torn sleeve, and saw spots of blood. Sherealized then she had rubbed the wound open again.
What did I do? Torres thought to herself, You made it worse, Torres. That's what you did.
"What is it?" Paris asked, noticing her concerned expression.
Torres said nothing. She went back to the stream, dipped the torn piece in the water, then went back to Paris. She looked at him, and his expression told her he wanted an answer.
"I'm going to find some healing plants," She said, placing the torn sleeve on the wound.
"I don't see how," Paris said, figuring he wasn't going to get an answer, "We don't have any tricorders."
Torres stood up, "I'll find them my own way."
She turned to go, but Paris grabbed her arm. She looked at him and saw the same I-want-to-know expression on his face. She knew he couldn't avoid telling him too much longer.
"It doesn't look good, Tom," she said, "The skin is gone, and it's bleeding again, but not as much as before."
Paris stared at her for a few minutes, letting the words sink in.
Torres put a hand on his shoulder, "I won't be gone long."
She then turned around, and headed deeper into the forest. Paris wated her go, hoping she'd find something to heal him.

The Lyante captian entered the scientist's quarters. She saw that he was in deep concentration as he read the information that was being sent to him from the wrist bands. He looked at her only once. She saw that he was quite excited about what he was reading.
"How are they doing?" She asked, smiling a litter herself.
His eyes glowed brighter as he told her what he learned, "The male has a fever. No doubt from being put in a cold room after being showered. His wound isn't helping either.
"The female is doing better," he continued, "but she also has a fever. She's concerned about the male, my Lady."
"Where are they?"
The scientist went over to a console, and pressed a few keys. An image of a map of a forest appeared on the screen. It showe two dots, on be a blue line, the other wandering around in the forest.
"It appears one of them is taking a walk," the scientist noticed.
The captain moved to the console to see for herself. Indeed ons of their subjects went into the forest alone.
"Who is it?" She asked, both upset and concerned.
The scientist tapped some more buttons on the console. The wandering dot grew bigger until an image appeared. It then came into focus.
"It's the female, my Lady," the scientist said, "Why would she leave the male alone to go wandering in such a dangerous area?"
The captain's eyes gleamed, "She obviously searching for something to help him."
The scientist tapped some more buttons and the image gave way to information. He grew even more excitied.
"In the area she's in there are some plants that are capable of healing. I have gathered some of those plants myself. They are quite effective."
The captain's eyes expressed how impressed she was with the female's brilliance.
"So she trusts he'll be safe alone, he trsuts she'll be back. She even trusts that she'll find healing plants on an unfamiliar planet. This is going to be an interesting four days."

Tom Paris stared at the small fish in the stream. For several minutes, he had been debating about whether he should try to catch them. He even wondered if they were fit to eat. He finally decided to take a risk, and catch one of them.
He watched them swim as he figured when to thrust his hand into the water. Without waiting another minute, he plundged his hand into the water, grabbed a fish, and brought his hand out of the water.
Paris stared at the strange creature. It had no eyes and it was a pale green color. It squirmed in his hand as he looked around for a rock to put it on. The fish finally quit moving when he found a medium sized pink rock.
Now to build a fire, Paris thought as he searched around the area.
He realized he would have to go into the forest. He slowly stood up, wincing against the pain he felt, and headed toward the forest. He hadn't gotten far when he saw Torres walking toward him. She looked to be carrying some sticks. She was quite surprised to see him.
"Tom?" Was all she could say.
"I was just going to get some wood to make a fire," he answered, "Guess you bet me to it."
Torres smiled, "Then get back to the stream."
She followed him back to their camp sight. She saw the fish on the rock, and her eyes brightened. She set the wood on the ground, and began to build a fire.
"Did you find any healing plants?" Paris asked as he prepared to catch another fish.
"I found some strange looking plants," Torres answered as she finally got the fire started, "They had bright blue leaves. I took some of the leaves."
Paris quickly grabbed another fish, and tossed it on the rock. He then looked at Torres.
"What makes you think they are healing plants?" He asked.
Torres brought the leaves out from her boot, "They are the only leaves that are this color. All the other are green. I thought they might have been poisonous, so I tasted one of them. It tasted sour, but nothing happened. I'm going to try to make a medicine with it."
Paris listened as he took one of the twigs and jabbed it through one fish. He then placed it over the fire as if he was roasting a marshmellow.
"So you want to eat first?" He asked, looking at the fire.
"Good idea," Torres answered.
Paris handed her the other fish, and a twig.
"I think the creatures are keeping Voyager from rescuing us," Paris said, "They would have beamed us back by now."
Torres thought on this. She didn't believe there was any interrferance on this planet. She decided to test that idea. She tapped her comm badge and said, "Torres to Voyager."
"B'Elanna," a stunned and relieve Janeway asked, "is that you?"
"Yes," Torres was equally relieved, "We're on the planet. Can you get us out of here?"
"Yes, but the Lyante fired upon when we tried to get closer to beam up back. We're trying to come up with a plan to get you back without them knowing."
Torres looked at Paris, who began eating his fish. She hoped they'd get back before he became worse.
"Tom's been injured," she mentioned, "they said we'd be on this planet for four days. I found what I hope are healing plants, but I don't know if he'll make it."
"I'll make it," Paris said, "Don't worry about it."
"We'll get you off that planet," Janeway reasured her, "Do what you can to help Paris. Janeway out."
"Communications work," Paris said as he finished off the fish.

"We're going to have to work on that plan faster," Janeway announced, "There's no way of knowing how bad Paris' been injured."
"Four days," Chakotay whispered, "They expect us to wait that long?"
"I don't intend to, Chakotay. We're going to cut this experiment short. It has gone on long enough."
Chakotay nodded, "Now about that plan."
Tuvok spoke up from his station, "What about the craft that put them on the planet?"
Janeway turned and looked at the Vulcan, "The craft?"
Chakotay smiled, "If it was programed to get them there, it was probably programed to take them back."
"Yes, after four days," Tuvok mentioned, "Torres should be able to correct that problem."
Janeway looked at Chakotay and they both smiled.

"You're serious?" Torres asked, surprised.
"Yes," Janeway's voice came over the comm badge, "if you can over ride the program, you can pilot it back to Voyager"
"I'll try," Torres said, "It might take awhile."
The remark reminded Janeway of thier situation, "How's Tom?"
Torres looked over at the pilot, who was poking at the fire. She was able to make the medicine, but she hadn't applied it to the wound, yet.
"I made the medicine from the plants. I haven't applied it, yet."
"Why not?"
"He's being difficult," Torres said, "He'd rather poke at the fire than lie on the ground."
"Apply the medicine then reprogram that craft. Janeway out."
Paris looked up, "Why didn't we think of using the craft to get out of here?"
Torres picked up a leaf that had a bluish goo on it. She spoke as she moved over to Paris, "We needed to find those plants to make the medicine. That was more on my mind. Now, lie down."
Paris stared at her, but she gave him a dark look that told him not to argue with her. He lied down, and she removed the make-shift bandage. She then scooped up some of the applesauce looking goo and applied it to the wound. She heard him gasp as she carefully rubbed the medicine on the wound. After a moment, she tore another piece from her left sleeve and placed it on the wound. She looked at him, but he was staring up at the darkening sky.
"I'm going to get to work on that craft," she said, standing up.
Paris stood as well. He was not going to let her wander off without him this time. He snuffed out the fire and followed Torres back to the craft.

On to the Conclusion
Back to Paris, Voyager