Marseilles waterfront, France. An alien leaves a bar as Kim enters. It is the real Chez Sandrine, the bar which Paris, in Kim's original reality on Voyager, has re-created as a holodeck program.

As Kim looks round, a familiar voice tells him sharply: "Hey, watch it, will you? I'm trying to set up a shot here."

Kim looks round. "Tom." Tom Paris is playing pool. Paris: "Who the hell are you?"

Kim: "You don't know me, do you?" Paris: "Sure. We were at the Academy together, right?" Kim: "No." Paris: "Oh, well, it must've been the Exeter. We served on the Exeter together?" Kim: "Try Voyager." Paris: "Ah, Voyager. Well, sorry to disappoint you but I never set foot on that ship. Can't say that I'm sorry considering what happened to it." Kim: "You know about the mission to the Badlands?" Paris: "Oh yeah. Captain Janeway asked if I'd help her track down that Maquis ship in exchange for an early release from the penal colony." Kim: "But you said no?" Paris laughs. "Are you kidding? I said yes! Sounded better than Starfleet rehab. Anyway I got as far as Deep Space 9 when I get into a bar fight with a Ferengi, and I was thrown into the Brig by a very unpleasant shape-shifter. Janeway tried to get me released but my parole was revoked by Starfleet Command. Voyager left without me." Kim: "That Ferengi, was he trying to sell you Lobi crystals?" Paris: "Yeah. How do you know about that?" Kim: "Because I was there! In my reality, anyway. Tom, I know this is going to sound crazy, but I was on Voyager and so were you. You never got into a bar fight with that Ferengi. You stopped him from selling me Lobi crystals. And you did lead us into the Badlands." Paris snorts. "You're right. It does sound crazy." Kim: "Something's happened. Somehow reality has been changed - a temporal anomaly, an alien influence. I can't explain how. All I know is that it's true. I was in a shuttlecraft, heading back to Voyager and then I woke up here, on Earth." Paris: "What is it you want?" Kim: "Come with me to Starfleet Headquarters. Help me run a computer simulation of what happened on that shuttle. You're the best pilot I've ever seen, and if anyone can figure it out it's you."

Paris laughs heartily. "You had me there for a minute, you really did. But then you blew it." Kim: "What are you talking about?"

Paris slams down his glass. "You're not getting me to step foot inside Starfleet Headquarters. So you tell whatever admiral or captain who sent you that I'm not interested in being another pawn in one of their games." Kim: "It's not a game!" Paris: "Oh, it isn't? Well, that's a shame. I like games." Kim: "You once told me that you used to treat life like one big game - rules, players, winners, losers. You never took any of it seriously...until you lost." Paris: "You know, you're starting to annoy me." Kim: "You also told me you were afraid of what would happen to you if you didn't take Captain Janeway up on her offer. Now I see why." Paris: "What do you see, Ensign?" Kim: "A loser and a drunk."

Paris goes to hit him but Kim is quicker. Kim deflects his blow, pulls Paris' arm behind his back and pushes him face down onto the pool table. Kim comments: "I guess in this reality, that's all you'll ever be." He leaves, hugely disappointed.

	Paris gets up. For a moment he is thoughtful.
	Then he walks casually over to the bar for another drink. Sitting at the bar.....is Cosimo!

Kim returns to San Francisco.

Kim returns from Marseilles to San Francisco. (pop-up window)

When Kim enters his apartment, it is to find a Starfleet security team waiting for him. Lasca and Libby look on. Kim: "What's going on?" Lasca: "Harry, just relax." Kim: "Why does everyone say 'relax' when they're about to do something terrible?" Lasca: "Starfleet knows what you've been doing." Kim: "Which is what, exactly?" Lasca: "Breaking into classified files, using forged security access codes." Kim: "I haven't forged anything. And I can explain." Lasca: "That's why we're here. We're going to take you back to Starfleet Headquarters. They want to ask you a few questions." Libby: "Harry, please, just go with them. Tell them what you told me and everything will be alright." Kim to Libby: "I don't think I have a choice at the moment. See you later." He leaves with Lasca and the security team.

At Starfleet Headquarters, Kim is being interrogated by Admiral Strickler. Lasca is present, sitting next to the Admiral. Behind Kim, on the wall monitor is displayed the logo of Starfleet Academy.

Strickler: "You claim to have Voyager's security protocols because you were an officer on Voyager?" Kim: "Yes, sir." Strickler: "Lost in the Delta Quadrant?" Kim: "Yes, sir." Strickler: "And Ensign Daniel Byrd, you say that he's taken your place on that ship?" Kim: "Yes, sir." Strickler: "And this is all because reality has been changed somehow?" Kim: "Yes, sir." Strickler: "But you don't have a single shred of evidence to back up your claims." A member of Starfleet enters and hands a PADD to the Admiral. The Admiral looks at it. Lasca: "Harry, I don't doubt for a minute that you believe you're telling the truth. But we have to consider all the possibilities." Kim: "Like what?" Lasca: "Like you could be delusional or you could have had your memory centres altered so that what you think you're saying is the truth, or you could be an alien masquerading as Harry Kim." Kim: "That's crazy. I am Harry Kim. Check my DNA if you don't believe me. Run a microcellular scan of my cerebral cortex to see if my memory's been altered. Everything I'm saying is true." Strickler: "Mr Kim, why did you travel to Marseilles, France, this morning?" Kim: "I went to look up an old friend." Strickler: "You have a poor taste in friends. Thomas Paris is a convicted traitor and a Maquis sympathiser. Now what did you talk about with him?" Kim: "I tried to tell him what's happened. I wanted his help." Strickler: "His help - to run a shuttle simulation. Why?" Kim: "To figure out how I got here and how I can get back. There must be a temporal anomaly somewhere or- You think I'm a spy, don't you. You think I'm working for the Maquis." Strickler: "We're here to find the truth, Ensign, whatever that might be." Kim: "That's it. I'm not answering any more questions until I have legal counsel." Strickler: "You have that right." Lasca: "Harry, we want to help you but try to understand: what you're telling us doesn't make much sense. All we know so far is that you've been seen talking with a Maquis criminal, and that you've broken into classified Starfleet records. Until there is something else, something concrete, those are the facts in this case. And you have to admit, the facts look pretty bad." The Admiral presses a button on the desk. Instantly the door opens and a Starfleet security officer enters with a security anklet which he puts onto Kim. Strickler: "We will be monitoring your movements until further notice. I believe you know the restrictions: no offworld travel, and if you tamper with the anklet Security will be immediately alerted and you will be formally charged. Do you understand?" Kim: "Yes, Admiral." Strickler: "We'll be spending a lot of time together, Ensign, and I assure you we will get to the bottom of this. You're dismissed."

Thanks to Animation Factory for the animated spinning Earth.

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