TOM AND B'ELANNA'S COURTSHIP page 3

#71 DAY OF HONOR

A subtitle for this episode could be Torres' Bad Day: a series of disasters befall Torres, to the extent of almost dying, but she does not die and has spent her believed final moments admitting to Tom Paris that she loves him - this marks a turning point in their relationship.

The Day of Honor is a Klingon ritual ceremony which Torres, a half-Klingon, at first decides to ignore. She tells Neelix: "...but I've decided to ignore this particular tradition. No blood pie. No examining my behaviour over the past year to see if I measure up to Klingon standards."

Paris: "Are we still on for dinner tonight?" Torres: "I may have to work late. I'll let you know." Paris: "Ah ha, ok. Have you decided if you're going to go through with it?" Torres: "I have. I'm not. Today hasn't started out very well and the last thing I need is to get involved with some obscure Klingon ritual." Paris: "You were the one who suggested it." Torres: "I know, and for one sentimental minute I thought I might actually go through with it but not any more." Paris: "'Course not. You wouldn't want to get too sentimental." Torres: "I overslept this morning because I forgot to tell the computer to wake me and then the acoustic inverter in my sonic shower blew out..." Paris: "That'll make your hair stand on end." Torres: "...so I didn't have time for breakfast, and when I got here two people were out sick so I had to cancel the fuel cell overhaul, and then an injector burst for no apparent reason and started spewing plasma coolant... so I am in a bad mood, and I know that I'm being a little testy..."

Torres begins the ceremony in the Caves of Kahless but when painstiks are applied she abandaons it and actually has to fight the Klingons in the holosimulation in order to be able to leave.

Paris: "I tried to find you before but you were on the holodeck." Torres: "That's right." Paris: "You know, you left it running. There was a Klingon there who didn't look too happy." Torres: "Really." Paris: "Yeah, and he was nursing a whale of a black eye. Look like he had a run-in with someone who's having a really bad day." Torres: "Very funny." Paris: "So, how'd it go?" Torres: "It didn't. Do you mind if we talk about something else?" Paris: "As a matter of fact I do. You have been like a spitting cobra all day and it's getting boring. You know, we designed that program together and I think you owe me the courtesy of telling me what happened." Torres: "It was ridiculous meaningless posturing. Honour, dishonour, what does it matter?" Paris: "It matters because it's part of who you are! You've been running away from that your whole life." Torres: "Who are you to tell me that?" Paris: "I care about you, but if you're going to keep pushing me away then there's no point me staying around, is there?" Torres: "Fine, just leave me alone!" Paris: "Oh don't worry. If this is the way you treat people who try to be your friend, you'll be alone alright."

Having had to eject the warp-core, Torres has said: "Welcome to the worst day of my life." She and Paris are sent in a shuttlecraft to retrieve it. Torres: "I wonder what else can go wrong? If we get this core back I'm going right to bed and sleeping straight through until tomorrow - get this day over with." Paris: "Look at this way. How much worse can it get?"

When the alien race the Cataati fire on their shuttlecraft and steal the warp-core, the shuttlecraft's structural integrity collapses. Paris and Torres beam into space wearing environmental suits. Seconds later the shuttlecraft explodes. They cannot contact Voyager because the comm systems in the suits will not carry that far.

Rather than wait for Voyager to repair its impulse engines and eventually come looking for them, Paris and Torres decide to interplex the comm systems in their environmental suits to create a phased carrier wave that will reach Voyager who will interpret the signal and realise it is them. Torres: "Good idea. Let me access your controls." Paris: "I thought you'd never ask." They hit ion turbulence which causes damage to their environmental suits leaving them with just half an hour of oxygen left. Torres realises they are going to die.

Paris: "I can't imagine a time I wouldn't have found you fascinating. ... I'm glad the last thing I'll see is you."

As their oxygen is running out Torres admits that she has been pushing Paris away but in reality: Torres: "I love you. Say something." Paris: "You picked a great time to tell me."

Torres and Paris resign themselves to death and hold each other. At that moment Voyager arrives, visible as a reflection on Torres' suit.

#73 REVULSION

As the dinner in honour of Tuvok's promotion breaks up, Paris goes after Torres to talk about the events of [#71 Day Of Honor] which occurred three days ago. He wants to know if she meant what she said. He knows they were about to die and she was suffering from oxygen deprivation...but Torres says she meant it. He then kisses her. This is their first kiss, discounting [#58 Blood Fever] when Torres suffered a neurochemical imbalance and experienced the irrationality and violent tendencies of the pon farr. After she recovered she told Paris that it was not really her.)

Paris and Torres arrange a date. Doctor: "I'm detecting elevated hormonal levels. If you two don't take it easy, I'll have to declare a medical emergency."

#75 SCIENTIFIC METHOD

Paris arrives with flowers. Torres: "Are those supposed to make up for cancelling on me last night?" Paris: "I got stuck with an extra shift on the bridge. What could I say? 'Sorry, captain, I've got a date with B'Elanna'?"

As they kiss Torres has the feeling they are being watched. Pictured right is an alien scan. Torres: "I must be completely paranoid about being caught in a compromising position!" Paris: "Kind of exciting, isn't it?"

Torres gets Paris into engineering on the excuse that she wanted to make sure increasing the efficiency of the impulse drive was not compromising helm control. Tuvok arrives mid-grapple. Paris: "It's not like there was a security violation or anything." Tuvok: "None that I am aware of." So, I guess there's nothing that would have to go on any kind of report." Tuvok: "You want me to conceal what I've observed of your relationship with Lieutenant Torres." Paris: "Well, I'd certainly never ask you to be dishonest." Tuvok: "Certainly not."

In the turbolift on the way to the staff meeting.
Torres: "Do you think he'll say anything to the captain?"
Paris: "I don't know."
Torres: "Well, how did he sound, annoyed, amused?" He sounded Vulcan. What more can I tell you? [To the computer] Deck 1."
Torres: "We've got to be more careful with appearances. We shouldn't go into the briefing at the same time." Good idea. Ok, You go in first and I'll come in a moment later."
Torres: "No, that'll look even more suspicious."
Paris: "Listen to us! We're acting like criminals when haven't done anything wrong."
Torres: "I'm not saying that we have. I just thought we wanted to keep this relationship to ourselves. We do, right?"
Paris: "Do you?"
Torres: "If you do."
Paris: "Computer, halt turbolift. Let's figure out how we're to handle this."
Torres: "Well, I don't see that it's anybody else's business how we feel about each other."
Paris: "Neither do I."
Torres: "Right then, we're agreed. Just a little bit more careful in public and we don't say anything to anybody."
Paris: "At least for now."
Torres: "Now? Sounds like you see a future in this."
Paris: "I would never be so presumptuous."
Torres: "Smooth recovery, Lieutenant."
Paris: "I thought so. Computer, resume."
Torres: "So, I'll go first and you follow."
Paris: "Right."

As the staff meeting breaks up Janeway orders Torres and Paris to control their "adolescent" behaviour. She has heard nothing from Tuvok. As senior officers she expects them to set a standard for the rest of the crew. She orders them to use better judgement.

After the unseen aliens attack Torres in the science lab as she is on the verge of uncovering them, Paris later reports in sickbay that something caused the alveoli in her lungs to stop processing and they nearly lost her. We can also imply that he also means he nearly lost her: he must be well aware that he would feel such loss most deeply as he is in love with her.

After the threat of the hostile aliens has been removed. Scene: Paris' quarters. Paris says that he switched shifts with Ensign Wildman to get the night off to spend with Torres. As a result he will have to do double duty on the bridge and in sickbay. He replicated the salad himself; "you're too good for me," Torres replies. Paris tells Torres that the wine they are drinking is a Ktarian Merlot 2282.

Engineering calls Torres with a problem but she says to lock it down and look at it in the morning. Then they are interrupted by Kim who calls by to return something to Paris; Paris manages to get rid of him fairly quickly. They then de-activate and remove their combadges, and Paris turns off the door signal, to ensure they will not be disturbed.