arrival . ota

[chaotica]

Hugh Cambridge is partway through an analysis of an artifact - an old one, part of an extended paper that he'd never finished - when the transition comes.

At first, he assumes the ship's entered some sort of anomaly, and he turns away from the viewport (the stars have shifted, how odd), his hand moving to his combadge. A quick touch, and he starts, "Cambridge to -"

This isn't Voyager. In fact, this is the Ten-Forward of a Galaxy Class starship, unless he misses his mark. Populated with a few handfuls of people, some out of uniform, some in uniform, but those in are wearing the style that was in use twenty years earlier. Cambridge's uniform has shoulders of a grey-purple, and the turtleneck inside is medical/science blue. His combadge is thinner and sleeker.

"- Oh, bugger," finishes Cambridge. It's an illusion or it's time travel - neither of those bodes well.

Comments

[chaotica]

He rolls his eyes at the remark about his uniform. And of course Tom would pick on the last one. And on the fact that he wasn't the pilot anymore.

"Actually," says Cambridge, "I still don't know why I was transferred to Voyager." Once he found out Eden was attached to the project, he was pretty sure why, but he never had actually asked her outright. At first, that was because he wasn't sure he wanted it at all. Later, it was because he didn't want to go. Finally, it was because he lost the chance. "At the time, I would have been quite happy remaining where I was. Hardly matters now."

[captainproton]

Tom wasn't sure how he felt about being first officer instead of Conn. He always thought of himself as a pilot at heart, but if it was Voyager, maybe it was different. He loved that ship, and everyone on it.

And now Paris was beginning to see why Cambridge pissed him off so much. That eye roll, right there. Wasn't he supposed to be the angry, misguided authority pushing one? And this guy, well, he was past his youth and turbulent teenage phase.

"That's some attitude you got. I'm beginning to see why we didn't get along--and why you're still wearing Lieutenant pips. I'll tell you this. I don't like your uniform, and I'm really starting not to like your attitude. But Captain Janeway gave me a second chance and I'll give you one. Captain Picard however, is not likely too. You're on the Enterprise now, and I don't see him letting you do much as you are right now. So if you want to do something besides look at the stars in Ten Forward, I would at least make sure your shoes aren't scuffed. Pressing your uniform wouldn't hurt either."

Tom and Picard weren't exactly on the best of terms, so this was something he understand personally. And if he was eventually going to be first officer of Voyager, well, maybe he needed to shape up too.

"And you still didn't answer my question. Why was I declared unfit for duty?"

[chaotica]

Well, that was quick. Cambridge's eyebrows rise, betraying surprise, but also a fair amount of intrigue, as well. He honestly hadn't expected that a Tom Paris a few years before his tenure as First Officer would have this in him. He didn't expect that Tom would want to have this in him. But, then, perhaps he should have; Paris and his father wouldn't have clashed so thoroughly if they didn't have much in common.

Spoken like someone who's having difficulties himself, he thinks, but he doesn't push it.

He breathes in. "What, exactly, do you expect me to say? You deserved to be taken off duty. It ended extremely well. The circumstances involved a lot of things I'm simply not willing to tell you." Period. His eyes are level, and his tone is serious, not flippant, for once. He leans a little forward, and lowers his voice. "And make no mistake: I have no intention whatsoever of spending time in Captain Picard's presence before Wolf 359."

[captainproton]

Cambridge wasn't wrong. If he had met Tom even a year or two earlier, he might not have had that in him, much less wanted it. But this Tom was starting to realize he wanted more in life, and what he was capable of. This Tom was expecting a daughter, had settled down with B'Elanna, and was putting his past behind him. What this Tom Paris was going to do was probably have a panic attack in a few hours when he realized how much he sounded like his father.

"Alright, fine. I'll take that. But, you might not have too much of a choice in the matter. What are you going to do? Ask to be transported to Earth? As far as I know they're keeping us all in the same place, easier to keep us organized. You might just have to ride it out with the rest of us."

[chaotica]

Cambridge's hand clenches into a fist. He presses his knuckles hard against the surface of the table, letting the slight pain bring him back to the present.

"Let me guess," he says, flatly. "You were in the Academy, at the time. You had a bit of a scare when Earth had a near-miss. Life went on. Something like that?"

[captainproton]

"Yeah, something like that. But you know what? My experiences don't matter. And you'res don't either. We cant change anything. Temporal Prime Directive. Temporal Investigations have already been here once, and I don't really want to see them again. We can't do anything to jeopardize the future."

Tom watched Cambridge, noting the clenched fist.

[chaotica]

"Hearing about it isn't the same as surviving it," says Cambridge, shortly. "Commander-" He stops himself. "Tom," he says, more quietly. "I didn't serve on a starship for twelve years. And that was Voyager."

He consciously relaxes his hand. "And believe me," he says, "you have no idea how much of the future is at stake."

[captainproton]

"That's true. I'm sorry. " That was an interesting slip though. Tom filed it away. "I can't even begin to imagine what it was like to have to live through it. And what it would be like to have to do it again. But you can't change things--especially something as massive as Wolf 359. You understand that, right?"

[chaotica]

A flat stare.

"Well, now you're making me want to roll my eyes again," says Cambridge. "Do you think the rest of us use our brains at all, or are you the only one?"

Though this really is somewhat disingenuous. Cambridge, unlike Temporal Investigations, doesn't believe that any timeline has inherent virtue over another. But, in all fairness, he also knows that the existence of the multiverse itself is at stake.

[captainproton]

Tom also wanted to roll his eyes at Cambridge and make a snarky remark. "Gee, I don't know. You don't sound like it right now. I get it, your life sucked. Wolf 359 was terrible and a lot of people died. So what are you planning to do about it? Captain Janeway taught me a lot and time travel was one of those things. It's bad. Stay away from it. And if you can't, try not to screw up the universe."

Tom sighed, still repressing the urge to just throttle and hit Cambridge. "Look there's every possibility that we can't change things. That Q will just sweep everything under the rug and everything will go along as planned. But I'd like to get on Voyager when it leaves. "

[chaotica]

Cambridge chokes.

"Captain Janeway," he says. "Captain Janeway taught you to stay away from time travel."

Well, then something must have changed in the meantime.

[captainproton]

Since Tom as no idea what you're talking about, he's just going to look at you funny. "Uh yeah. She hates time travel. Gives her a headache that probably rivals her coffee withdrawal. I take it you've never met her?"

[chaotica]

"Unbelievable. Oh, no, we've met."

He doesn't explain. He just gets to his feet.

"Before we speak again, I hope you make up your mind," says Cambridge, "on how much you would and would not like to know about your future on Voyager. In addition, you can decide or decide not to have any further interaction with me. I won't take it personally. Voyager is where I belong, but not your Voyager." A tight, and bitter smile. "You don't know me from Adam."

And, if there's nothing else, Cambridge will go.