Title: Vampire's Kiss
Author: Amiroq. the KiTfox
Email: fitchett@netaccess.co.nz
Size: 24K
Rating: PG
Codes: A, slight V; K/T
Summary: A vampire is aboard Voyager. Appropriate chaos ensues.

Disclaimer: The Great Bird of the Galaxy is kewl. Paramount is... *partially* kewl. I'm not.

Authors Note: In research for this story, I did surveys, read 'horror' novels, found out what blood tasted like (I won't go into details...) and blew my brain cells on a whacked out book from the Uni library. Any feedback would be great after that: write to fitchett@netaccess.co.nz

	Vampire's Kiss
		c. Amiroq. 1999

B'Elanna scrolled down the page, silently murmuring the words of the PADD: 

'...The vampire may prefer darkened atmospheres, or flinch in bright light.

'Most have some kind of medallion to ward off the powers of good, and a cross to symbolise Jesus Christ may be used against them'--

The door chimed then, and she jumped. Closing down the program, she called out hurriedly, "Come in!"

"Are you alright?" Harry asked uncertainly.

"Great." She brushed past him toward the door, and he turned to follow. "What's this surprise in the holodeck about, anyway?"

"You'll see when we get there." His lips brushed the back of her neck, and she shivered.

***

"Please turn to your medical channel."

Kathryn did so, sensing the tone of the EMH's voice. "What is it, Doctor?"

"I'm afraid to report that Ensign Murphy did not survive the coma. He passed away a few minutes ago."

Harry looked up briefly from his console, a worried expression crossing his features.

***

The first thing B'Elanna saw on entering Sickbay was Harry sitting on a biobed. Her first thought was that whoever had attacked Murphy had got to him, too, but that he'd escaped. But the grim looks on everyone's faces didn't match that theory. Neither did Tuvok's brief, though concise, explanation. She'd been called away from Engineering because they needed to check some information with her. Harry's DNA had been found on Murphy's body. Where had he been at 1547 two days ago?

Her lover's eyes revealed nothing when she looked at him, noting the security guard behind him. Where *had* he been? For a moment she couldn't remember, then it suddenly came to her as though it had surfaced from the muddy pools of his eyes. "He was.. asleep in my quarters. He'd just gotten off shift, and he was tired, so I let him stay while I did some work. He didn't wake up until I had to leave at 1830."

Tuvok nodded. "You are sure about this?"

"Absolutely. I remember watching him sleep."

He exchanged a look with the Doctor, writing what she had just said on a PADD, then nodded once more. "That will be all. I may need to ask you some more questions later. For now, I suggest you return to your quarters to get some rest."

She nodded as well, suddenly very tired. This couldn't happen. Not only was it impossible - he couldn't be in two places at once - but it just wasn't the sort of thing that happened to people. The prospect of the oblivion of sleep was very appealing right now.

***

B'Elanna rolled over again, pulling the covers with her. She lay like that for a moment before Harry pulled them back in his sleep, and she had to move closer to him to get back under them properly. Finally she sighed, got out, and wrapped a robe around herself. "Computer, activate file 'Torres-Omega4' and display on console 47C."

The computer beeped in reply, and she sat on the couch to study the text in front of her. '...Most have some kind of medallion to ward off the powers of good, and a cross to symbolise Jesus Christ may be used against them if encountered and discovered. There are also many stories in which a vampire is weakened upon tasting or smelling garlic, although this is held as more of a belief than a real weapon.

'Most texts around the Federation also state that a vampire can never enter a building without permission, or-'

"B'Elanna, what are you reading?" Harry's voice was tense behind her, and she spun, surprised.

"Harry! I didn't realise you were awake!"

"I can see that." He walked around the sofa and sat next to her. "Why are you reading about *vampires*?"

She blushed, and looked away to avoid his steady gaze. "It's.. nothing. I- I just wanted to do some research."

"You're a terrible liar, Lanna. What's the matter?"

Maybe I was wrong after all, she thought. Maybe.... She shook her head. "I told you, Starfleet, it's *nothing*."

"You think there's a vampire on Voyager." His tone was lighter, and when she glanced up she realised he was smiling.

"Harry, it's not like that!" she protested. "It's just nothing, okay? Get over it."

"Nothing? According to the computer, file 'Torres-Omega4' has been activated 29 times. It doesn't sound like nothing to me."

"Harry! You *know* I hate it when you tease me."

He grinned at her. "But it's fun," he told her. "And you're so easy to bait."

"So, I'm a fish hook now. I thought I'd be the catch."

He leaned over and nibbled her ear gently. "You even taste like a fish."

She laughed, glad the subject had been dropped, and more than a little embarrassed to have been caught redhanded.

***

The next day at lunch B'Elanna sat alone, one table over from where the Captain did the same, so she easily heard the conversation that ensued when two crewmen from the lower-decks approached the captain nervously. "Captain, we think we know who killed Ensign Murphy," the younger one said.

Kathryn looked up. "You do?"

"Well, not exactly," the second clarified. "We do know that it was a vampire."

The expression on the captain's face changed very quickly at that. "A.. *vampire*," she repeated.

"Oh, we aren't crazy or anything. We had them back home. I know a lot of people think they're just stories, but they aren't. They live a real long time and you can't catch em out real easy, so that's why they haven't been found in a real long time. 'Xcept, back home, there were plenty of em, and one of them told us how to find them all. They don't *try* to harm folk, not all of them."

"You're trying to tell me that a *vampire* is on this ship?" They nodded emphatically. "And it's been killing my crew."

"Well, yeeaah." 

B'Elanna wondered how the woman could get so many syllabols into the word.

"They're reasonably easy to get rid of once you find them," the younger one said. "The most dangerous thing about them, is that if he kisses you, you belong to him."

"If he *kisses* you?"

"Yessir. Or her. They can be hers."

"I... see." She pushed her plate aside. "Do you have any idea *who* this vampire might be?"

"No, sir."

"Alright. I'll take that into account," she said, in a tone that B'Elanna knew meant that she wouldn't, but anything to get rid of these crazy crazy people was fine by her.

B'Elanna stood up, thinking, and left the messhall.

***

The PADD hit the wall with a loud bang and dropped to the floor. B'Elanna growled, not bothering to retrieve it. Instead, she glanced at her console, and spun it round a bit so she could see it properly. She had spent some time going over crew records finding out who the two crewmembers had been, and now was as good a time as any to see what they could tell her.

She typed out her message quickly, keeping it brief and to the point. 'I heard what you told the Captain. I want to know more. What else did he tell you?' Then she sent it, covering her tracks so quickly that no one would be able to uncover them again - perhaps not even her. The message had been sent to the older of the two, Diosa McCormick; the younger was Cassie Williams. B'Elanna had heard of them both, and figured Diosa would be the better one to ask.

She had her answer by the end of her shift - Diosa had sent a reply to the nonexistent console B'Elanna was at, not knowing who she was. 'It's good to know we aren't alone in this, whoever you are. I attached a file me'n'Cassie put together containing everything we know about the subject. If you find out who it is, tell us straight away, and be careful. Some of em can be dangerous - you never know.'

She opened the attachment and skimmed it quickly. Most of the facts she'd already read seemed to be there, and a few others she hadn't ever heard of, as well as a list of commonly held misbeliefs - vampires *could* eat garlic, they weren't scared of crosses or sunlight, and they did have reflections. However, it was true that they couldn't enter a building without invitation, and they generally didn't like ginger. She nodded. Some of the things here... they were extremely familiar somehow. She hit 'reply', on an impulse, and started typing, not wanting to use the voice controls lest someone hear her.

'Thank you for the information,' she wrote. 'I was hoping that I was wrong, but now I'm sure that I *do* know who it is. I don't want to believe it, as I don't think he ever meant any harm, but the fact is that it's'

"Ensign Kim!" Carey's voice rang out throught Main Engineering, and she jumped, turned, and saw him turn away from her office and head for Carey, giving her enough time to delete the message and close files before he answered the Second's question and arrived.

"Harry." She folded her arms carefully studiying him intently. He frowned, walking in further - enough that the door shwished shut. The sound in the quiet room made her jump slightly.

"B'Elanna? What's wrong?"

She stood up, feeling the comforting weight of her phaser against her hip. There was no way she was going to use it - not on *Harry*! - but just the thought that she wasn't defenseless made her more confidant. "I think you know. About Ensign Murphy. And Lieutenant Iosefa."

He shook his head slowly. "What are you talking about?"

"Stop it, Harry. I know your secret."

"I don't *have* a secret! What's this about?"

"The superstitious might call it vampires. Others cannabilism. Both are as bad as the other."

He stepped back as if he'd taken a good hard box around the ears. "That's crazy-"

"Don't. I'm not the only one. There's at least four others that know about this." There probably wasn't - in fact, as far as she knew she was the only one that suspected him. But it stopped him from making any more protests.

"Who told you?"

"I didn't need anyone to tell me. I worked it out myself."

He took a step toward her, and she took one back to balance it. "B'Elanna, don't do this to me. I can't help it anymore than you can help being half-Klingon." He hesitated, then whispered, "I'm sorry."

"You *killed* them, Harry!"

"I never meant it to get that far-- I didn't realise. I was desperate. I didn't mean for them to *die*." He tried to move toward her again, and she backed off, knowing she'd be getting close to the wall soon. "There isn't a single *second* I don't regret that. I don't like hurting people. I never did."

"Get out."

"B'Elanna--! How would you feel if I left you because you were half-Klingon?"

"That's different. I never killed people in cold blood."

"But you did kill people. And you would have done the same as me, in my position."

"I would *never*--"

"You would. You don't know how it feels, after a few months. Like you're being eaten alive. You can hardly move without pain. You never want to hurt anyone, but after a while it isn't even you thinking. You don't even know what you're doing until it's too late. And all you can do is pray that it will be okay, that they'll pull through, that no one will listen to their ravings, if they remember anything. You don't *know*!"

"How long?" The question tore itself from her throat, almost ripping the soft tissue on some subliminal level.

He hesitated slightly before answering. "I was born in about 1000BC."

"Three and a half *millenia* ago?"

"It sounds crazy, doesn't it?"

"Not so crazy as everything else I've been hearing."

"B'Elanna-- I'd.. understand, I think... if you wanted to.. break up. But, um, some of the colonists...." He stepped toward her again almost hopefully, and this time she didn't step back. "Don't tell anyone? Please? You don't know what some of them would do."

"It seems there's a lot I don't know."

"I'm sorry," he whispered, turning. When he reached the door, he glanced back at her, and said, "Just for the record.... I still love you. I always will."

"Harry.... Are you really going to give up this easily?"

"But you said--"

"Tell me something. Vampires - or whatever they're called - how did they come to be? Was it some twisted experiment, or what?"

He shook his head slowly. "We're as natural as any other life-form."

She hesitated, folding her arms, staring at the floor. "So I guess you really can't help who you are."

"No."

"Promise me you won't ever hurt anyone."

"That would be like you promising not to ever replicate food. Or pick fruit or vegetables. Or kill an animal to eat. I can't do that."

"Can't you replicate blood?"

He shook his head. "I tried. It doesn't work. And anyway, it would look suspicious if I kept doing that."

"What if--"

"I've been through this, B'Elanna. Over and over. There's no what ifs." Then, quieter, "There's no other way."

"There *has* to be!"

"I could try to stop. I might even manage for a few months, like the other times. But it would be like you not eating. I'd die, eventually."

She was silent a moment, thinking. "We come across planets often enough. No one would notice, I think, if you disappeared on shoreleave for an hour or so."

"That's what I've been doing. But sometimes Tom drags me to some bar, or I have to stay behind and work, or *something* comes up."

"I can cover for you. I don't know."

"Does this mean you aren't leaving?"

She had to smile at the hopeful note in his voice. "C'mere." He obeyed. "What actually happens if we kiss?"

"Ah, The Kiss." His tone was now highly sarcastic. "Half the reason we've stuck around for so long. Most don't care how they use it. I do."

"What happens?"

"It forms some kind of emotional bond, one that doesn't have a human equivalent. It's really strong, and humans can't break it. Because you aren't as strong - mentally - as us, our will overpowers yours."

"You keep saying 'us'. Who *are* you, anyway?"

"As a race, we lost our real name over time, just like we lost our identities. I think we evolved on Earth around the same time as humans, and we looked the same enough that we could pretend to be the same race. No one ever proved we weren't, or found evidence to suggest we ever existed, but you know the stories. Personally, I was born in China around 1000BC, like I said, and moved around a lot, mainly living where I looked enough like the natives not to arouse supicion, until the 19th and 20th centuries, at least. Name anywhere on Earth, and I bet you I've been there."

"Were you in Germany during World Wars 1 and 2?"

"Hell, no! I went to South America for that. About the only place I could manage to get to that wasn't involved. But I went to Germany in, um, the 16th century."

"Ok, how about New Zealand? Been there?"

"Yeah, in the Chinese Revolution. I kept going back to China, I don't know why, but I left every so often when there was trouble or just when I got the urge to travel." He grinned. "I stayed in New Zealand right through the millenium change. There was so much hype, just because it was going to be the first place to see the sun. But you know, if I'd gone to America in 1996 I could have met myself."

"What about Antarctica?"

He nodded. "And the North Pole. Didn't like either of them."

"Is there *anywhere* you haven't been?"

He laughed. "Told you so."

"Harry..." She hesitated, then leaned toward him. He stopped her with a hand on her shoulder, but she got the feeling he could do too much with just his little finger.

"Didn't you hear me before?"

"I heard. Your will overpowers mine, can't break the bond, I *know*."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

He paused, then took his hand away and kissed her gently, for perhaps a little longer than the circumstances necesitated. When he started to pull away, B'Elanna stopped him. "Don't move," she whispered hoarsely.

"We shouldn't be doing this here," he reminded her, although the tone in his tone tried to disagree. "Someone could walk in...."

She hesitated, then nodded. "You're right. Fine. Um, I'm off-duty in a couple of hours, I guess... your quarters?"

"Yeah. I'll see you then."

***

"England."

"Huh?" B'Elanna turned away from the stars peeking in through the glass saucer of a porthole and gave Harry a questioning look.

"You asked if there was anywhere I hadn't been. England."

"Oh." She wandered back to his bed and draped herself over him, or over the blankets, kissing him softly. "What now?"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"What happens now? I.. didn't entirely mean what I said about other people suspecting you, but there are people who are pretty sure there's a vampire on board. It could be dangerous ground from here on."

"It has been all along. I can handle it."

"That's the problem. It isn't just you, Harry. If these colonists find out, it won't just be you they burn at the stake, hopefully metaphorically. It's going to be *very* obvious that I knew all along and was covering for you. I'm not three millenia old, either. I could easily slip up."

He rolled her over onto her back, then got off to untangle the blankets. "Yeah, I suppose. I'm just used to doing things myself, that's all."

"I can imagine."

"I'll think of something. Trust me."

She let him finish with the bedclothes before curling up next to him, her head in the crook of his shoulder. "I do, Harry. But they're so *close*..."

"Ssh," he whispered. "It'll be fine. I promise."

***

B'Elanna groaned quietly and let her head sink to the cold, hard surface. It wasn't fair. All this shit going on in her life, and she still had to make sense of the damned reports that her completely inept staff were giving her.

A timid voice startled her from her wallowing pool of self-pity. "Chief?" It was Ensign Williams. "I- I shouldn't be here. But I have to warn you... Mack told them."

"What?"

The slight brunette came into the office enough to let the door close, but looked as if she thought B'Elanna would bite her head off if she came too close. Embellished stories from friends who worked in Engineering did have that effect sometimes, she thought tiredly. "I don't know how, but Diosa found out that Ensign Kim was the vampire. She told Mack, and he told Commander Chakotay. They're doing some big meeting thing right now."

"Do you think they're taking it seriously?"

"Mack said some stuff.. I don't know. He can be pur-retty convincing sometimes. I'd worry, if I was you."

"Thanks for the warning." She stood up, dropping the PADD onto the console as she left the claustrophobic space, Cassie following.

***

Ten minutes later Harry gave her a quick kiss before ducking into a pre-made holodeck program, dating back to the start of their voyage. Obviously he always had a way out. This one was merely designed to get some time. He'd left his commbadge in his quarters, as had she, and now, as the meeting was adjourned and a security team close, he was escaping into a holographic shifting maze. The idea was that the securists would get lost, while he would leave by the exit and continue to the transporter room while they figured out how to break the many locks on the program. Sometimes it paid to be a brillant computer programmer.

He was gone just in time, as the security team rounded the corner, Janeway at its head. She seemed mildly surprised to see B'Elanna standing defiantly in front of the holodeck doors, but recovered enough to manage her Death Glare with Command Voice. "Move," she ordered.

"No," B'Elanna answered.

"You're only making this worse, Lieutenant. Step away from the door before I have you shifted forcibly."

She didn't understand, B'Elanna mused while staring her in the eye as one might a rebellious dog, that she had no say in the matter. B'Elanna could no more move than Janeway could defy gravity. After a few moments she felt a mental weight being lifted, however, and stepped aside reluctantly. Janeway didn't give her even another look as she led the team in.


One minute forty seven seconds later Harry came out and they started running. Ten metres away from the transporter room they realised that Janeway had dispatched a second team after being trapped in the holodeck, and that this team was now surrounding them, with every gun in their posession pointed straight at them.

Damn.

END PART ONE
2B CONTINUED IN PART TWO