summary:

TITLE: The Queen of The Lost Worlds
AUTHOR: halfofone
RATING: R
CODE: T/7
FEEDBACK: Constructive feedback welcome.
SUMMARY: Same characters, different universe. Very different. And perhaps the characters are not all that similar either ...
NOTES: I don't really have an explanation for the genesis of this story, and only a basic idea of where it is going. The plot thickens a little.
ARCHIVING: If you want ... I would quite like to know where.
DISCLAIMER: TPTB are Paramount/Viacom. In a perfect world I would own Star Trek but it's not and I don't.

disclaimer:

TPTB are many. In a perfect world I would be one of them but it's not and I'm not. No infringement of copyright/trade marks or other intellectual property is intended. This story was written for fun and not profit.

warnings:

Warning: This story includes same sex relationships between women. If you are offended by this or it is illegal where you live or you are underage then please read no further.

Full warnings, credits and disclaimers can be found in the contents page and chapter 1.

text:

Part 3a

Tom eased himself unsteadily into his chair and gazed blearily at the chronometer on the console. Almost time. Near enough anyway. He plugged in the scrambler and booted the sub-space comms. At the prompt, he transmitted the initiating sub-space signal. After what seemed like a long time but was in fact only twenty seconds, the viewscreen came to life. Tom wriggled about while he waited for the transmission to begin, trying to get his six foot frame settled in the small chair.

A woman's face formed. The woman smiled confidently at him.

"Are you sitting comfortably now Mr Paris?" she asked, slightly impatient as he continued to shift. Tom took the hint.

"Yep. Of course. Sorry about that."

"Good. Then let's get on with this. I need you to deliver the text of the message I am now transmitting, to our representative on Risa. He should give you an immediate reply and a report. Please see that both are delivered back to me as soon as possible."

Tom nodded as he transferred the incoming message to a padd.

"Seems simple enough," he said.

"Without your help Mr Paris, I doubt this would even be possible let alone simple. We need to disclose what is happening on Risa but without proof soon it'll be too late."

"I'm happy to be able to help Senator."

The woman looked at him for a long moment. Her expression was pleasant. But Tom suddenly got the feeling that she was assessing him, her intelligent blue-gray eyes fixed on his face, watching for something.

"It's amazing good fortune that you managed to find a civilian ship that's permitted to travel..."

"My sister-in-law is the captain... and she agreed to let me go with her."

"Your sister-in-law," the woman repeated slowly. "I seem to remember that your wife's family are Klingon."

"Half-Klingon," Tom corrected.

"Does she know about this?" The woman gestured vaguely with her hands.

"My wife or Captain Torres?" Tom asked, slightly bewildered. His interrogator smiled encouragingly. He shrugged. "I didn't think either of them needed to know. They're not very political," he added hesitantly.

"How do you think they would feel if they did know?"

He laughed. "They'd probably think it was a load of nonsense."

The senator's smile became fixed and her eyes turned a wintry shade of gray. Tom shivered as she agreed coldly.

"Unfortunately that does seem to be the majority view. That's what we have to change Mr Paris, and this is a first step in doing so."

The coldness eased slightly. "I think you've been wise to keep this on the down-low. It should probably stay that way, at least until you have completed your mission."

She warmed up a little more as she took her leave.

"It's been nice speaking to you again but unfortunately I have to go now. Three votes and a trade mission today. Good-bye Mr Paris and safe journey."

"Senator Janeway," Tom acknowledged as the screen went blank.

"Eeek," said Tom aloud. "Not a funny woman."

He checked the chronometer again and smiled to himself. A few key presses later and his wife's face filled the screen but only for a few seconds before she was pushed aside by an over-anxious three year old yelling, "Where Dadda? Where Dadda?"

"Daddy's here sweetheart."

He could hear his wife muttering in the background, "And I wish she were there with you. She's driving me insane."

His step-daughter grinned at him. "Mummy very bad," she asserted. "She don't love Mirry. Not like Dadda. Look. My hand hurt." She held up her small fist so he could see a small cut on one knuckle.

"I'm sorry baby," said Tom concerned.

"Save your sympathy for the other child" said his wife as she finally forced her way back into the picture, holding her squirming daughter on her knee. "The one who lost a tooth. Great-grandmother is beside herself with joy."

Tom's very beautiful wife stopped scowling at her daughter and gazed at him. "I miss you," she said quietly.

"I miss you too baby."

"Bleah! Soppy!" exclaimed Miral in disgust and pushed off her mother's lap while sticking her tongue out and pretending to be sick.

Tom laughed. His wife looked resigned.

"She's impossible; like a tiny blonde version of Lanna. Speaking of blondes, I hope you're not getting into any trouble with that bimbo my sister has been moaning about."

Jeri was trying to look unconcerned but Tom understood his wife's insecurities. He faked a look of fear and looked about nervously.

"Yes I'll say I'm in trouble. It's getting damned dangerous here and I am trying not to get caught in the cross-fire. I made the huge mistake of inviting Ms Hansen to eat with us last night."

"Yeah I heard," said Jeri smirking. "I think the kindest thing Lanna said about you was that she couldn't blame you entirely because of the obvious lobotomy at birth. Is this woman really that bad?"

"Well that's the funny thing. She's not. I can see she's a little spoilt and tends to think that everyone is here for her convenience, but she's actually quite funny and smart. It's true they got off on the wrong foot and I can't tell you how much that understates their mutual hatred. However Annika was trying to make amends last night. B'Elanna would have none of it. The meal was a disaster, short-lived but a disaster. I had to check myself for frostbite and shrapnel wounds afterwards. And then this morning... let's just say Ms Hansen experienced the full early morning crew wake-up call."

"With the siren?"

"With the siren. War has been declared" Tom intoned sonorously.

"Hmm. Interesting" said his wife looking thoughtful.

"What in Kahless' name do you mean? Jeri, there is nothing interesting about this. It's just a week of misery and avoidance and putting my foot in it."

"It's a long time since Lanna reacted this strongly to anyone..."

"Yes and he's still hiding out in dark space!"

"Not a man you idiot, a woman. It's a long time since Lanna has shown such strong feelings for a woman."

Tom snorted. "Nope! Wrong call. There's a boyfriend. Wealthy. Successful. Name of Chakotay."

"The sport's promoter?"

"That's the one. More money than a Ferengi pauper. In the gossip columns every week. This girl is part of the human aristocracy. The sort of girl my father would have liked me to like."

"Your father likes me."

"Correction baby. My father adores you," Tom asserted firmly, "but before you there was always the image of the little social climber that lived inside his head. Anyway the point is, she's straight as a laser beam."

"That's a shame, cause Big Sis always falls for the ones she hates."

"No she doesn't." Tom protested, looking confused. "Most of her girlfriends are really nice and are real friends. She goes to their weddings and everything..."

"Because she doesn't care about them."

"Is that why we keep introducing her to all these horror stories, like the lovely, though psychotic, Tasha? So she'll hate them and fall in love." Tom asked not-so-innocently.

Jeri looked slightly embarrassed, being reminded of Tasha and Tom pressed his point.

"It's a barmy idea. And it hasn't worked before and it certainly won't work this time."

Jeri was stubborn.

"Simply because we haven't found the right one yet. I have only seen B'Elanna fall in love once and she started out loathing the girl."

"I don't remember this," said Tom, feeling hurt. His best friend had been in love and he hadn't known.

"You didn't know her then. Lanna was fourteen. The girl was the daughter of one of Dad's regular crew. It was kind of sad as she moved to another part of the Empire after a few months when her mother died. Lanna was devastated"

"Yeah that was tragic but she was fourteen and I don't think that's evidence for a lifetime's pattern of emotional development."

"You have to get them to spend time together," said Jeri, not listening to her husband's arguments.

"No! Even if your crazy ideas about Lanna are true, we still have to come back to the boyfriend and the straightness. B'Elanna isn't really in the competition."

"You think Lanna isn't good enough for her?"

"I didn't say that." Tom knew he had to back up fast.

"Yes you did. You think that my sister isn't good enough for this stuck up little blonde; that she's no competition for some overweight, over-hyped, stupid human-game organiser."

"Ooh! Mummy angry!" piped up an excited little voice. "Dadda in trouble."

"Miral! Shut-up and go to bed," yelled both parents together.

"Lanna is too good for her," Tom improvised. "This woman isn't right. Not right for her at all. Too light-weight. Stupid I'd say. Not pretty enough either."

"For Kahless' sake, stop interfering Tom! My sister has to make up her own mind. And you have to get them together so she can do that. You have no right to get in the way of this relationship Tom. I'm really surprised at you; I thought you were Lanna's friend."

His wife glared at him until something off-screen caught her attention.

"Miral! Get back inside! Hideous child!" Jeri complained, though she was unable to hide a smirk of pride. "She's out on the balcony again. She's discovered that she can ambush passers-by, which is okay if they're Klingon... at least they think it's funny when they get out of the hospital. Tom, I have to go. Remember what I said. I expect you to make some progress in the next few days: a drink, dancing, word-games, anything! Love you."

The view-screen blanked and Tom sagged back in his chair, shaken to the core. This was serious. Jeri rarely told him what to do but when she did, she meant it. Failure would mean the cold shoulder and possibly a visit to her mother. Not that he disliked his mother-in-law but if she agreed with Jeri then they would both ignore him. And that was a very chilly experience. He shivered.

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

Annika Hansen was lying on the bed in her cabin, plotting her revenge on the obnoxious freighter captain. Well not so much plotting as imagining endless scenarios where Captain Torres needed her help, begged for her help and she refused and let the bitch meet her well-deserved fate. So far the awful woman had drowned twice, perished in a freezer, been murdered by pirates and had to walk naked down a busy street while hundreds of people laughed at her.

Every time the blonde managed to calm down, she would remember another of the sarcastic comments from the night before.

"I am not a fucking trophy wife," she snarled aloud at the picture of the Torres family on the wall opposite where a fresh-faced and laughing B'Elanna Torres appeared to be half-strangling a huge young Klingon male.

Finally, angry with herself for wasting so much foolish energy, Annika decided to go for a walk. Tom had said there was a small gym on the ship, which she could use whenever she liked. At this moment she needed to work off some of the adrenaline. She knew there was a risk of meeting the half-Klingon but she was not going to be scared by her either.

The narrow corridors of the yuQmey chIl SoS'a were oppressive to the young human; she hated this cold, dark ship and the thought of spending another five days trapped inside, in silent solitude was almost unbearable. Even her cabin with its flowers and pinkness had been no escape. As she had lain on the bed, she could almost feel, behind the facade of chintz, the dark grey metal structure of the ship pushing against the small room, compressing it, shrinking it.

Annika walked faster, keeping to the middle of the corridor, trying not to touch the cold metal walls. The ceiling was low and she kept expecting to bump her head on the thin bulwarks that jutted from the walls every four or five metres. Her heart pounded unpleasantly and she was sweating. She felt clammy in the chill air. She started to run. One featureless corridor gave way to another and then another that seemed even narrower. Then there was a dead end. A locked hatch. Annika stood and stared at it. Above the sound of her own rough breathing, she could hear thunder, mechanical thunder. She could feel it vibrating in the walls, through the floor, climbing up her spine and jumping along her bones. She tried to slow her breathing but there didn't seem to be enough air. She slowly turned to face the way she had come. All she could see was a string of dim corridor lights stretching away in the darkness, apparently to infinity. Even those lights began to dim and wobble as she slowly sank to her knees. The darkness took her.

Part 3b

Stepping sturdily through the familiar gloom of her ship's inner workings, B'Elanna whistled cheerfully. She stopped for a moment to listen to the dull roar of the warp engines, she could feel the rhythmic pulse, not a murmur out of place, steady and comforting. The old girl sounded good. B'Elanna had fine-tuned the engines in Khi'Tok and rebuilt the warp core. She had also replaced two of the shield generators and overhauled the deflector in readiness for crossing the dense gravity fields of the Hovtay' HoH'egh, a dangerous star formation zone, alive with enormous spinning ion storms and shifting gravity wells. The old girl was as ready as B'Elanna could make her. It was possible to go around the formation zone, but it would add another four days and B'Elanna wasn't sure the permit for Risa would be valid in another week. Anyway it was worth the risk to get rid of her nuisance passenger sooner. The Captain grimaced as she thought back to the previous night.

'I guess I went too far,, she admitted to herself at last.

Her guest's self-assuredness, almost arrogance, had grated on the young captain. She made B'Elanna feel rough and uncouth. It was a common complaint amongst Klingons that some classes of human often behaved with a degree of superiority that was unwarranted by their accomplishments as a species. B'Elanna had only really had limited contact with that group of humans when she was a lieutenant on a passenger liner where the uniform and her job acted as a natural barrier to fraternisation.

'I suppose I should apologise to her though that's usually a bad idea.' B'Elanna flashed back to her last encounter with Jeri's latest protege, Tasha, and the glistening Daqtagh that had narrowly missed her skull. The half-Klingon flinched at the memory. 'That apology nearly cost me an ear. Anyway I doubt I'll see Ms Hansen much now. Not after last night and of course this morning." The evil child inside B'Elanna giggled at the memory of the deafening siren.

She decided to check on the forward engines. As she approached the hatch she could see something on the ground. It looked like a sack or a body. Blonde hair gleamed in the murky light and B'Elanna swore and ran the last few steps. She bent down and shook Annika's shoulders. The woman groaned. B'Elanna took her wrist and felt for a pulse. It seemed strong enough.

"Come on. Get up," she ordered. Clear, blue eyes opened for a few seconds and looked up at her before rolling back. The blonde slumped a little more. "Great!" B'Elanna exclaimed grumpily. "Well I suppose I can't leave her here."

She took the woman's arm and pulled the lifeless body up until she could get her shoulder underneath the body and hoist the dead-weight off the ground. The human was light, despite her height. Though carrying her was awkward, it wasn't especially difficult until Annika recovered consciousness and began to struggle. B'Elanna promptly dropped her.

"Ouch!"

"Sorry about that," B'Elanna said, "but you shouldn't have struggled, you knocked me off balance."

"What are you doing?" Annika complained.

"I found you unconscious in corridor 8a."

"Oh right. I remember sort of... I think I fainted." The human sat up on the deck, rubbing her elbow.

"What were you doing there anyway?" B'Elanna asked in turn.

"Looking for the gym."

"In forward engineering!" The captain cocked her eyebrow in disbelief.

Annika's exasperation flooded over.

"Everywhere looks the same! So when you say 'forward engineering', it means nothing to me. Okay? Aft, port, back, front, up, down. It's all the same. Long, dark creepy corridors and then more long dark creepy corridors. Why can't you get some decent lighting and a few signs?" Annika felt close to tears again.

The Captain was trying unsuccessfully hide her amusement from the frazzled blonde.

"Don't laugh," said Annika. "I know I'm being stupid and pathetic okay but just don't laugh."

"I'm sorry," B'Elanna replied much more gently, "and I won't laugh. Would you like a coffee? To help you recover..."

Annika looked worried.

"Don't worry," B'Elanna reassured her. "I'll be your Indian guide and help you find it."

"There's no need to patronise me," Annika snapped back. "I may be lost but I'm not five years old."

"Didn't say you were."

Dark eyes smiled down at her and Annika felt the deck shift. Her heart seemed to stop and then restart, erratically pounding. For the second time that day she felt faint. Dimly she realised that the Captain was holding out her hand.

"Can you stand?" asked Captain Torres.

Annika nodded and took the offered hand. She felt herself being smoothly pulled upright. It seemed easy just to hang onto that strong hand.

"Okay? Not going to faint again?"

"I don't think so. Maybe..."

Annika staggered slightly and felt the Captain's arm go around her waist to steady her.

"Let's walk. Take it slow."

They had only progressed a few metres when an alarm began to sound.

"Damn," said the Captain. "We have to take a detour. Can you manage?"

"Yeah. I guess. What's wrong?"

"Nothing much. We are here now and I need you to stand right there. Do not move."

Annika watched as B'Elanna braced herself in front of a glowing metal extrusion which she kicked sharply. The captain promptly dropped to the floor and Annika jumped, thinking that she was hurt. She was going to help when a sharp scream emanated from the wall and a brilliant, white-hot jet of plasma ejected from the valve. It narrowly missed the frightened human's head.

Annika screamed.

"I told you not to move" said B'Elanna Torres turning over and gazing up. The plasma floated safely in its containment field.

"You could have warned me!"

"You could have done as you were told!"

"I thought you were hurt."

"Well you nearly lost your head and please don't start crying again. Your make-up will rust."

"Very funny. Just get me back to my cabin and away from this ship of horrors."

"Nope. Come on. I promised you coffee and I don't break promises. Follow me." B'Elanna took a couple of paces until she realised that Annika hadn't moved. She looked back irritated. The blonde appeared nervous.

"I umm... still feel a little unsteady. Could you hold my hand?"

B'Elanna blinked. "Whatever. Yeah. Sure."

A short while after, they were walking down the main corridor hand-in-hand when Tom popped out of the galley. His double-take nearly broke his neck.

"Lanna," he squeaked. She looked at him strangely.

"Is there something wrong with you as well?"

He shook his head dumbly.

"Well then, can you get us some coffee in the family room? Ms Hansen got lost, panicked and fainted."

"Do you have to say it like that?" Annika complained. "You make me sound feeble."

B'Elanna said nothing. She did grin however and waggle her dark eyebrows. She dropped Annika's hand and gestured for her to enter the large room that Annika had seen the previous day.

"Take a seat," B'Elanna said, still grinning.

"You're not going to let me live this down. Are you?" Annika said slowly, a small grin beginning to form on her perfect lips as she sank into a large comfortable chair.

"I seriously doubt it," her persecutor responded. And then they were both laughing.

Tom smiled too as he came in carrying three mugs of coffee.

'Well I'll be... ' he said to himself, 'maybe Jeri is on to something.'

Aloud he said "I hope you are feeling better. What happened."

"I get claustrophobic sometimes," Annika explained sheepishly. "This was one of those times. I just don't like being alone in small dark spaces."

"You like being with someone in small dark spaces." B'Elanna interrupted sounding puzzled. "Wouldn't that make it worse?"

"That depends on the person." As she said this, Annika was looking into the captain's eyes and her heart skipped again. 'What is wrong with me?' she wondered.

"Does the boyfriend like small dark spaces?" Tom asked cheekily.

She felt awkward speaking about Chakotay. She wasn't usually shy or reserved about their relationship. Annika may not have felt that he was her great love - she didn't even believe in great love - but he met all her needs as currently defined and she was fond of him. She had supposed that they might marry one day though neither had been in any hurry. Today for some reason, Chakotay was the last person Annika wanted to consider or discuss.

"Probably not. Chakotay doesn't believe anything should be small" she said stiffly. She changed the subject.

"I am going crazy here with nothing to do. Isn't there anything..."

"As I have told you several times, this isn't a passenger ship; there's no entertainment."

"I didn't mean that. I meant couldn't I help out in some way?"

B'Elanna shook her head. "There's hardly enough work for one of us. We are over-staffed on this trip as it is." She glared at Tom before returning her attention to Annika Hansen. "Do you know about crewing a starship?"

"Not much I guess," Annika admitted "but I could learn something... I could learn to pilot the ship. Then I could help."

"To pilot the ship?" B'Elanna started laughing. Annika became indignant.

"I'm not completely useless Captain Torres. When it comes to computers I am actually pretty good, possibly brilliant. And isn't that what most piloting is about these days? Operating a computer. And anyway if you're so underemployed, you could afford to spend time teaching me."

B'Elanna stopped laughing but she was still obviously very doubtful.

"Piloting a ship is about more than operating a computer. Tell her Tom."

Tom had been thinking fast. He could see his opportunity to meet Jeri's demands and avoid the doghouse.

"I think it's a great idea. I mean you know how bored you get when there's not enough to do."

B'Elanna rolled her eyes at him and shook her head. She didn't say anything for a while. Then she shrugged.

"Alright, I suppose you could teach her, afterall you're the hot-shot pilot. I'll crew the ship and it'll keep you both out of my hair."

"No! No, no, no, no!" he panicked, seeing his cunning plan about to hit the first hurdle. "You should do it. You're the captain. And think about it Lanna... Jeri wouldn't like it."

"What has she got to do with it?"

"Me. Teaching. Her." He whispered the last word and tried to nod his head inconspicuously in Annika's direction. B'Elanna didn't take the hint.

"Oh for crying out loud!" exclaimed Annika. "For someone who was warning me to stay away from him just 24 hours ago, you're being extremely stupid. He is trying to tell you in a not so subtle way that his wife wouldn't like him spending time with the dumb blonde trophy."

B'Elanna was immediately ashamed.

"Look I'm really sorry about that. I treated you really badly yesterday. I don't really think you have any designs on Tom. I honestly don't think there's a problem with him teaching you."

"No!" said Annika and Tom in unison. They looked at each other.

"I find him far too attractive," Annika mumbled, glancing away from Tom's astonished face.

"Me too!" said Tom. "I mean I find her too attractive. Lanna, you do it. It would be much better. No temptation or possible misunderstandings. Much safer."

B'Elanna examined them both suspiciously. "Has anything happened between you two?"

"NO!" Tom yelped nervously. "Nothing! And nothing will. Just trust me on this Lanna."

Annika broke in to back Tom up. "Yes honestly Captain, it would be best if you did it..."

Both blondes were pleading with their eyes. B'Elanna couldn't help feeling as though there was a conspiracy here although she was damned if she could see what they hoped to gain. She caved in.

"Okay, okay. I'll do it but not today; I have some work to do. Your first lesson begins tomorrow. 07:00. Be on time. I should warn you Ms Hansen that I am quite a demanding teacher."

"That's great!" said Annika. "I'll be there. 07 hundred. Prompt. With a pencil." She tried not to break out in a stupid, giddy, shit-eating grin. Even so she noticed that the Captain and Tom were staring at her curiously. Not wanting to appear a complete fool she said the first thing that came into her head to distract them.

"Captain. One other thing. Can we wake-up without the siren tomorrow?"

"That depends on how annoying you are," said B'Elanna casually. Then she winked and smiled mischieviously which nearly undid Annika completely. Her muscles weakened involuntarily and she thanked Kahless she was already sitting down else she knew she would have fallen down.

Tom sat down as the captain left the room. He was still staring at Annika who could no longer contain herself. She sat there, grinning inanely.

"What just happened?" he asked. "And why are we suddenly on the same side? You aren't attracted to me!"

"I just want... to get to know her better," said the blonde candidly. "Seemed like a good way to do it. I would like to do something and it might help us get along. I hate it when people don't like me. I guess I'm not used to it."

"What about Chakotay?"

"Who?" she said absently, staring at a fairly recent picture of B'Elanna with her father.

"Who indeed," agreed Tom happily. It seemed that the impossible was about to happen.

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

"You have done what!" yelled Jeri. "Are you insane? Are you trying to make me mad? Are you trying to kill me?"

"You asked me to get them to spend time together. Now they'll spend time."

"Before they kill each other," she screamed. For a few moments, Jeri sat speechless. "Tom. Do I ever cry?" she asked, despair etched in every word.

"No. I mean you can't. Klingons don't have tear ducts."

"Yeah! That's what I thought until I had my first and last piloting lesson with B'Elanna when I was fourteen. She made me howl like a human baby. I love my sister but as a teacher, she is a fucking monster. As a pilot instructor..." Jeri stopped. She had run out of words. She gazed at the image of her hapless husband on the screen.

"Ooooh! Mummy say a naughty word. Mummy very very angry!" chirruped Miral. "Dadda in big trouble."

"Miral! Shut-up and go to bed," yelled both parents together.

"Tom I have to go." Jeri said stiffly. "I'm too angry to speak with you right now. And don't think I'll have gotten over this before you come home either. Love you."

The screen blanked and Tom put his head in his hands. 06.55 said the chronometer. Five minutes to Armageddon.

TBC