>PART 2:  To Forgive is Divine
>
>
>       Lieutenant Torres hated this mission, that was evident in
>everything she did.  Lieutenant Paris just fidgeted and looked
>uncomfortable, glancing at Torres, then Vorik, then me.  I had tried to
>look my best- combed back my mousy brown hair and washed my tanned 
face. 
>But I wasn't that pretty- especially next to the exotic B'Elanna 
Torres. 
>What could tawny skin, muddy brown eyes, and wiry figure do next to 
her? 
>Other than look stupid and mediocre?
>  Nothing.  Positively nothing.  If it came to sex appeal, B'Elanna 
came
>in first.  How about charisma and knowledge?  Torres again.  She ran 
the
>entire engineering, for Pete's sake!  No wonder Vorik liked her
>better...no wonder.
>
>  NO.  I was not going to get myself into that again.  It would only 
make
>me feel awful.  This kind of thing always happened to me.  Every man I
>ever loved left me for an improved model.  I thought a Vulcan would be
>better, I thought this was really it, this time.
>  Then that whole Sikari incident had to come.  During his search for a
>mate, he picked Torres, and not me.  He had been perfectly nice about 
it
>afterwards, apologizing for misleading me and asking for my 
forgiveness. 
>I had, on the outside, forgiven him, but not on the inside.  To forgive
>was divine, but like hell, I was not divine.
>  During the last few months I had tried to forget him.  Even dated 
other
>men.  But I couldn't forget...Vorik was special.
>  *Don't be preposterous,* A voice inside me would say.  *What could 
some
>Vulcan have that any other man doesn't?*
>  *The ability to have an intelligent conversation?* I'd ask, and the
>voice would shut up.
>
>  I snapped back to reality when we beamed down to Pandora.  All of the
>formations around us were sandstone, or what appeared to be sandstone. 
>Torres glanced down at the map on her tricorder.
>  "The mine is several kilometers over that way," she said brusquely,
>indicating the way.  "Let's get this mission over with."
>
>  We came to a cliff.
>  "According to the map," said Tom.  "The mine shaft is right under 
us." 
>We hitched up in our climbing gear and scaled the steep cliff's side.  
We
>climbed into the entrance, which we had to duck into.  That was not
>surprising since the Pandora stand several heads shorter than us.  What
>did surprise us was the huge cavern, which was as big as one of 
Voyagers
>shuttle bays, with enough room for us to stand up in, and at least 
three
>stories to spare.  There was no hint of mining in this cavern.  The 
only
>thing that was visible were the cold stone walls, and a large wooden 
box,
>about three feet high.  We approached it.
>  "The contents of this box appear to be scanning us," said Vorik.
>  Neither of our commanding officers listened.  They were inspecting 
the
>box like it was a lost treasure.
>
>  It was indeed beautiful, a deep rich brown with alien letters written
>all over it.  On the very top of it there was a beautiful human face,
>which was odd since the Pandora looked nothing like us.  The face moved
>and the Lieutenants jumped back.
>  "Open me," it said in a pleasant voice.  "You know you want to, why 
try
>to stop yourself?"
>  This all seemed too familiar, too bitterly ironic to be true, every
>ounce of sense in my body warned me there was something wrong.  But
>then...it couldn't harm to open it, could it?  Maybe it was a gift from
>the Pandora.  If we didn't open it we would never know.  Like the 
others,
>I stepped towards the box, tempted to open it.  Tempted to open the
>Pandora's box.
>
>  Wait a minute.  Now I knew how it was familiar.  I knew the tale of
>Pandora's box, how the girl Pandora had been tempted to open the
>beautiful box, and when she did, all the worries of the world came
>rushing out, with only the little fairy, hope, to make up for it all.  
I
>stepped away from the box.
>  "Come on," I said, my voice sounding oddly loud and harsh.  "There's
>nothing to mine here, let's go."
>  "That is the logical thing to do," said Vorik.  "We must get out so 
we
>may contact Voyager with this news.  It is a fraud."  The many layers 
of
>stone made it impossible to contact Voyager in the shaft.
>  "Perhaps what we're looking for is in that box," B'Elanna murmured.
>  "It's just a box!  C'mon, let's go," I said, grabbing her arm.  But 
her
>Klingon strength overcame me, and I was flung across the room and hit 
my
>head on the wall.
>  "Oww," I said, rubbing the lump on the back of my head.
>  "You shouldn't mess with your commanding officers," said Tom smugly.
>  I persisted.  "We don't know what's in there.  It might be a trap.  I
>think we should go."
>  Lieutenant Paris laughed.  "Ensign, the Pandora are not hostile.  
What
>makes you think that they would want to harm us?"
>   "What makes you think that they wouldn't?"  I knew they must be 
under
>the influence of the box.  There was only one hope for them, and that 
was
>to keep them from the box long enough to contact Voyager.  The Captian
>would show them a thing or two.
>  "Vorik, you're a better climber than me and are stronger.  Go and
>contact Voyager.  I'll try to keep these two away from the box.  It's
>obviously impairing their judgment."
>  But for the split moment that my attention was diverted, Tom and
>B'Elanna opened the box.
>
>  A cold gust of wind rushed out, making me shiver so much my teeth
>chattered.  We were surrounded by a blue light, and a voice talked to 
us.
>  "Ah, so you dared to opened the Pandora's box."
>  Tom and B'Elanna snapped out of it, and remembered nothing.
>  "Who are you?" Lieutenant Torres yelled over the bluster.
>  "I am the worries of the world, mainly, *your* worries."
>  "What do you mean?" shouted Tom.
>  "Surely you've heard the tale of Pandora's box?"
>  "Oh, shit," muttered B'Elanna.
>  "Poor little Klingon freak.  You were worried that some one on this
>mission would bring up that nasty Sikari incident.  You thought that
>Vorik would bother you, but he's got his own problems.  You almost wish
>he would, so you could resist him and show your dear Tom that you were
>devoted to him, because you couldn't say so yourself."
>  "That...that's not true!" B'Elanna exclaimed.  But we all knew it 
was.
>  "And why haven't you admitted your love for Tom?  I know why..."
>  "Don't you dare say it!"
>  "I'm not afraid of you.  You think you're strong, B'Elanna, but 
you're
>really very weak..."
>  "Don't you dare-"
>  "You're weak.  You don't even have the courage to admit your love to
>some one who obviously loves you, too."
>  B'Elanna slinked back into a corner, covering her face.
>  "Is it true?" came the voice.
>  "Yes," came B'Elanna's muffled voice.  "Yes, it's true."  "Of course
>it is.  And you, Vorik..."
>  "Tom," I whispered.  "Get out, contact Voyager for help."  He nodded
>and started creeping to the entrance.
>  "...Haven't you messed things up for yourself?  Went and confessed 
your
>love to another.  You should have picked Michelle, but you thought
>B'Elanna would make a more suitable mate.  It would have given you 
higher
>marking on the ship, but now, you are despised by even your little
>Michelle.  Isn't that right?"
>  There is no way to describe Vorik's expression.  He appeared calm, 
but
>there was fire in his eyes.  He refused to admit the truth.
>  "Of course it's true...I'm always right."
>  Tears burned in my eyes, but I blinked them away.  There were more
>important things to pay attention to, not some love that never existed. 
>What I needed to do was buy time...before the voice did something truly
>horrible.
>  "You stupid thing!  You don't need to tell us how we feel!  We know 
who
>we are and what we are!  What use is telling us?  We don't care!  Go 
back
>to where you came from!"
>  I was mad at him for being so cruel.  I was enraged.
>  "So, Michelle, the little stepping stone, you dare to defy me.  
Perhaps
>you'd like everyone to know how you feel."
>  "How about we make a deal?  You tell me my worries and if I don't
>flinch, you go back to where you came from!"
>  The voice laughed.  It was a horrible noise.
>  "First, I will tell Tom what I-"
>  Tom was climbing up the cliff.  The only thing that was visible was a
>cord.
>  "Tom, come back here, my little traitor," the voice called, and Tom 
was
>yanked down with an invisible hand.  The rope snapped.
>  I knew that it could kill him.   Lieutenant Paris would fall to his
>death.
>  As Paris plummeted down, I grabbed the rope.  It slid from my hands,
>burning them, but I held on.  Paris had grabbed a thorny root and was
>holding on with all his might; his face winced in pain.
>  "Hold on," I cried down to him, ignoring the voice.
>  "There's nothing else I can do," said Paris.  Just then the root
>snapped, and he was falling again.  I planted my feet and tried to pull
>him up, but it was no use.  He was pulling me down with him.
>  *What a horrible way to die,* I thought.  *The others are in the
>voice's control, and we're both going to die.*
>  It was not a pleasant thought.
>
>
>
>  I don't remember, really, what happened next.  I only remember what
>I've been told.  B'Elanna pulled me up, and quickly, Vorik grabbed the
>rope and saved Tom.  We had forgotten about the voice.  Once we were 
all
>back in the entrance, the voice came again.
>  "Little Michelle," it said.  "We still have our deal."  I walked back
>in there, though the others tried to stop me.
>  "Bring it on."
>  "You are not good enough for even the Vulcan.  You thought because he
>was a Vulcan, he wouldn't treat you like the little stepping stone you
>are?  HA!  Fat chance for a nothing like you!  No wonder he moved on to
>some one else!  Face it, you're ugly, and stupid.  No body would like
>some one like you."
>  It was true.  Every single word of it was true.
>  "You could end the misery now, you know.  Come with me."
>  I was miserable.  It *would* be better to stop putting myself through
>torture....
>  "That's right, just close your eyes..."
>  I closed them, feeling a warm drowsiness wash over me.  I had the
>sensation I was drifting upwards.
>  "What you say is false," I heard Vorik say.  But it was from a
>distance.  "Michelle is...too good for me.  She is quite attractive, 
and
>I admire her intelligence.  I am the one who is wrong."
>  "Don't believe him.  He'll just treat you like he did before.  It's 
not
>worth it.  Come with me."
>
>  I opened my eyes.
>
>  I looked down, and saw I was hovering near the ceiling,several dozen
>feet up, and nearer to the box then I had remembered.  I let out a 
short
>scream.  The voice let me go, and I fell the many feet to the hard 
stone
>floor.
>
>  Everything in the world was dark and cold.  Dark and cold and filled
>with pain.  I tried to breath, but there was no air, not a breath of 
air
>in the world.  I would die.  At least...there was no voice to taunt me. 
>I hadn't flinched.
>
>  Suddenly, I could breathe again.  The pain was still there, but the
>darkness was gone.  Much later, I realised I was in sickbay.
>  "Ensign Miala?" a voice came soft and weak.  "Can you hear me?"
>.  The doctor stood over me.
>  "Yes," I whispered.  "Yes, I can hear you."
>  "How are you feeling?"
>  "Dreadful," I admitted, truthfully.
>  "I wouldn't doubt it," said the Doctor.  He inserted something into 
my
>neck with a hiss.  "That should ease the pain a bit."
>  "What- what happened?"
>  "When you fell you managed to get a very severe concussion, several
>broken ribs, and bad damage to your spinal cord.  If it weren't for
>Ensign Vorik performing CPR we may have lost you."
>  "Oh."
>  "Now, get some-"
>  I didn't hear the rest.  I was already asleep.
>
>
>  The doctor had made me take the week off to recover, but at least I 
was
>able to spend the time in my quarters.
>
>  The door chime rang.
>  "Come in," I said.  Vorik stepped in.
>  "Here," he said, handing me a purple flower.
>  "A flower!  That's so sweet.  Thank you!"
>  "Michelle, I am sorry about everything.  I came to ask for your
>forgiveness."
>  "My forgiveness?  Vorik, you saved my life!  Of course I forgive 
you!"
>  He blinked, and for a moment almost looked surprised.  "Well...thank
>you, Michelle.  I hope you feel better presently."  He left.
>
>  I found myself wondering.  Just like Sikari, Pandora had changed my
>life.  I knew it had changed the life of the others as well.  How would
>we manage to go on, knowing what we did?
>