B'Elanna woke suddenly to the sound of coughing. She spun around, and pounded on the wall.
"Tom! Are you all right!?"
The coughing continued for a moment, then a hoarse voice answered, "I think I have a cold."
Torres smiled, "You had me worried for a moment."
"Good. That's what I wanted," he then became serious, "It doesn't feel like they turned up the heat in here. I'm more than a little concerned that they are trying to freeze me to death."
"At least your humor is still intact," Torres mentioned, "I don't think they want to freeze you to death. I believe they are trying to see how much cold you can take."
"Not much longer, I can tell you," Paris said through chattering teeth.
Torres wished she could help him, but the wall and two locked doors kept her from doing so. All she could do was talk to him to keep his mind off of how cold he was.
"Tom," Torres began, "I have a couple ideas for a holodeck program. Want to hear it?"
There was no answer. She instinctively looked at the wall, "Tom?"
Still no answer. She didn't know if he fell asleep or... She pounded on the wall and shouted, "Paris! Wake up! Say something!"
The sound of the door opening stopped her cries. She spun around, and got to her feet, snarling. Two pair of glowing eyes hovered before her. She glared at them and growled.
"Turn up the heat in his room now! You're freezing him to death! I doubt that's what you want!"
The eyes did not move. She was about to force them to move when her ears caught the faint sound of coughing behind her. She felt relief, but she did not relax.
"Hear that?" She snarled, "You're killing him! Turn up the temperature in there now!"
The glowing eyes slowly moved away, and out of the room. She heard the door close as she sank to the floor.
I hope it worked, She thought, I hope it wasn't too late.
The next sound she heard was the familiar scraping sound. She had forgotten how hungry she was. She slowly moved over to the door, and went to pick up the food. Again it was different. This time, it was in something. She wrapped her fingers around it, and found the bowl to be warm. She raised it to her lips, and tasted it. It was spicy and warmed her insides. She took another sip and another until there was nothing left. She set the bowl down, and went over to the wall.
Torres could hear grumbling on the other side, and a wave of relief swept over her.
I just hope they turned up the heat, she thought as she listened to Paris complain about having hair balls again.

"We're coming upon the ship's signature," Tuvok announced.
"Continue to follow it," Janeway said, "We can't waste anymore time."
Chakotay looked at Janeway. He could see her forming a plan behind her eyes.
"First, I'm going to ask them to hand Tom and B'Elanna over," Janeway answered his unspoken question, "If they won't, we'll beam our crew members out of there."
"Sounds like a plan," Chakotay mentioned, "First, we have to catch up to the ship."
Janeway nodded. She was still upset that they wasted precious time at the Lyante planet.
"If anything good comes out of this it'll be that Paris and Torres will be a lot closer. Being alone in that darkness with only the other's voice to keep them sane, it would make them not want to be alone without the other."
"Provided they are being held together, and not at different ends of the ship," Janeway mentioned.
Chakotay shivered as he imagined the probability. It frightened him to think that Paris and Torres were sitting in a dark cell alone without the soothing voice or touch of the other.
"If that's the case, they'd hate being alone all together."
"And they definately wouldn't like the dark."

"They turned up the heat," Paris' voice came to her ears, "Or I'm used to the cold now."
Torres smiled, "Nice to know you're feeling better." The smiled faded as she continued, "I'm just wondering what else they're going to put us through."
"What ever it is I'll get the worse of it. I'm beginning to believe that this is a race of Amazons."
Torres laughed, "Just because they're torturing you more does not mean they are Amazons."
"Think about it, "B'Elanna," Paris said, still trying to fight off the remaining chill he felt, "I'm getting the same damn thing to eat everyday, while you're getting different and probably better tasting meals. I nearly freeze to death, and they probably just gave you a cold. I probably even got the worst of the lab experiments, but we might never know about that one. Add that all up, and they are either Amazons or..."
"They think you should be able to handle more," Torres finished, "I do know you're getting the worse of the tortures, but to think they are going that because they dispise males..."
"Makes since, though," Paris interupted, "I just wish I knew why."
"So do I," Torres whispered.
"I just hope they don't seperate us. I don't think I would be able to stand being alone in the dark. I'd go crazy not hearing your voice."
Torres smiled and touched the wall, "I would, too. Actually, for the first few days of being here, I thought I was alone. I was yelling a lot for them to tell me why I was here. Why didn't you say something then instead of yesterday?"
Paris was silent for a few minutes. During that time, she believed that he didn't remember or didn't know why.
"The first couple days I barely remember. I think they had me in that lab of theirs. When I heard your voice, I think that was the first time they put me in a room."
The two were silent for several minutes. The silence between them grew until it was almost unbarable.
"My nose is running," Paris mentioned, trying to break the silence.
"Thanks for the update, Tom," Torres said.
"No problem. The silence was getting loud in here."
"I'm sorry," Torres yawned, "I fell asleep."
Paris groaned, "Go back to sleep, B'Elanna. I think I'll go meditate. Give my mind something to do."
He didn't get answer, and he knew she had fallen asleep. He placed his back against the wall and closed his eyes.
He had just begun to invision a warm beach when he heard the heavy door to his room open. His eyes flew open, and he saw two pair of glowing eyes hovering over him.
Not again, he groaned.
He lept to his feet, and tried to defend himself. He only got one blow in before the aliens grabbed him. He felt something prick his skin, then the sensation of blood being drawn. He suddenly felt drowsy as well as sick to his stomach.
The creatures let him sink to the floor before they left the room.

Continue to Chapter Seven
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