#that they were alive at the same time on the same ship and have Tuvok begrudgingly tell her I don't know...we didn't talk much and I was

[bumblingbabooshka]

I don’t typically like when star trek characters reference legacy characters just to talk about how great and perfect they are but I do like this route where even though Tuvok calls him a great visionary in the end he brings Spock up to say he argued with him. I think this is the way of the future. Lean in. Star Trek characters should say things like ‘An old man cut me off in space traffic the other day. I think it was McCoy?’ and another should nod and shake their head like he’s always doing that shit

#'I met Jonathan Archer and he smelled like wet dog?? Seemed nice though.' <- more stories like this #Also since Janeway idolizes ppl like Sulu I want her to occasionally bug Tuvok for more stories about working with him after she finds out #that they were alive at the same time on the same ship and have Tuvok begrudgingly tell her I don't know...we didn't talk much and I was #busy at the time...one time Kirk sneezed on the bridge. It was quite loud. #<- what he doesn't say is that Tuvok had a handkerchief but did NOT give it to Kirk bc he was concerned about being called a suckup again #Tuvok what do you MEAN you 'spoke out against [it]'??? You aren't a politician??? HEHEHE did you write an open letter??? #Tuvok old man moments...Tuvok's children cringing: dad please DON'T bring up your initial opposition to the Klingon-Federation alliance #Tuvok's low estimation of Klingons...B'Elanna..you sit back. I'LL get him!!!!! #I mean everyone in star trek ever like every non klingon character has a low estimation of Klingons for Some Reason* #*You Know. #but I'm a Tuvok girlie so it's my job to rake him across the coals for it from time to time v_v #-sniffs and salutes- gotta kill that old man for my babygirl -fires a cartoon canon at him and he flies into the sky and becomes a star- #love you Tuvok <3 #Tom I smashed with a mallet #cartoonishly large for whimsy but just overall more gruesome

[isagrimorie]

I'm rewatching Endgame right now and I've completely forgotten the way Admiral Janeway couldn't even talk about Seven when someone from Starfleet Academy brought it up:

And it's not that Admiral Janeway hasn't had a life, her crew is home and is her family and they've stayed in contact.

Almost everyone's lives have flourished. B'Elanna is the Federation liaison to the Klingon Empire, and so it seemed is Miral.

Except for Tuvok and Chakotay.

Tuvok's mental illness has progressed to the point he could barely function and Chakotay died the same year this happened... And it feels like Chakotay's death was Admiral Janeway's impetus in going for this plan.

A world without Seven of Nine is a world neither Chakotay nor Admiral Janeway accepts.

I first shipped Janeway with Chakotay and was so frustrated when Voyager ended and Janeway/Chakotay never happened when it was so obvious on both their sides.

And then I shipped Janeway and Seven but I could never accept Chakotay/Seven not only because it felt shoehorned but because they barely spent time together but to Jeri Ryan and Robert Beltran's credit they did what they could selling it.

For a first real-life relationship, Seven could do worse than Chakotay. He was respectful and did seem fond of Seven by the time they started dating and was ready to follow Seven at the pace she set.

But I've also come to believe the reason why they were together is because they couldn't be with Kathryn Janeway. In this alternate timeline, I believe Seven and Chakotay did come to love each other enough to marry but also there's an element of guilt involved with Chakotay after alt!Seven died because the person he also and still loved was Janeway. But guilt on Chakotay and Janeway's side prevented them from ever becoming something more.

I also believe Admiral Janeway loved both Chakotay and Seven and didn't want to choose, and their getting married is the safer choice even if it broke her heart because that meant she didn't have to choose and commit.

She'd rather have them both near and alive and untouchable, and in the end, she lost them both.

Honestly, Janeway didn't need to choose.

Anyway, Janeway's time travel adventures might be why my favorite time travel stories are the ones where future versions meet the past versions.

But also the first time Admiral Janeway sees Seven of Nine again, after two decades of not seeing her.

"Hello, Seven."

Admiral Janeway looks like a sailor who hasn't seen the sea for years, or a traveler crossing the desert who has stumbled into an Oasis.

Also, Seven looks so awkward she didn't know how to deal with two Janeways in close proximity to each other.

Please, she's just a poor confused ex-Borg drone taking the smallest steps toward romance.

I do love that amidst this we have scenes between Tom and B'Elanna and how they both called Voyager home. They're the most low-key OTP and I kind of love that for them.

But also, I do love that Admiral Janeway gets to spend a few moments with both Tuvok and Chakotay.

This moment when Captain Janeway muses on the strangeness of witnessing her future self talking to both Tuvok and Chakotay

And not knowing how precious this moment is to Admiral Janeway that she can be beside Tuvok, working and still in possession of his mental faculties, and Chakotay laughing and full of life.

Part 1, 2, 3

#kathryn janeway #endgame!admiral janeway #star trek voyager #ship: chakotay x janeway #ship: janeway x seven #seven of nine #chakotay #tuvok (star trek) #liveblogging voyager

[angsty-violet]

Agony - Chapter 25

Agony Masterpost

@whumptober2020

Tuvok woke from his short nap with his ears ringing. He wasn’t sure what was causing it, but he was concerned. He had taken several blows to the head in his time here. He was at risk for there being permanent damage if he slept with a concussion. He pried his eyes open and looked around. There wasn’t anything noticeably different about his cell.

No chemicals were coming under the door. He had no recollection of a head wound in the past few hours that could cause the ringing. Although Tuvok had field medic training, he wasn’t qualified to diagnose what was causing it. Until he could get some real medical attention, he would just have to put up with it.

Tuvok stood to try and get a little exercise. He could tell his body was wasting away without the physical activity to keep it fit. It wasn’t a pleasant experience. He was trying to get as much movement in as possible between days. His resurgence in the will to live was demanding that he not be a complete invalid when he got out.

However, when he stood up, he immediately became incredibly dizzy. Black spots appeared in his eyes, and the world spun around him. He used the wall to steady himself and waited for it to abate. It did, but not before the ringing in his ears increased in volume. He swayed dangerously and finally slumped against the wall. He leaned against it until he was sitting on the ground. His ears still ringing, but the spots had been replaced. Instead of black, they appeared as colored arcs and circles.

He blinked his eyes to try and clear them, but they stayed where they were. Tuvok knew that he was in the beginning stage of a migraine—the aura phase. Tuvok’s migraines completely debilitated him. He would be incapable of taking any steps towards escape during it.

  Janeway watched as the planet came into view. She raised an eyebrow at the sight of it. They still didn’t have very much information on what was happening there. They knew that a madman was holding Tuvok and torturing him. They even knew roughly where the building was. However, they had no idea if this was happening with the government’s knowledge.

“Hail the planet. Let’s see if they are in on this.”

“We have a response.”

“Onscreen.

An alien appeared on the screen. He was reptilian with green scales.

“We are the Groanl. How may we help you, travelers?”

“We’re searching for our crewmember that we think might have been brought here. He’s been missing for several weeks.”

The alien looked surprised. “What makes you think he was here? We don’t get many alien ships through here.”

“We believe that one of your kind abducted him. He sent a message buoy from your planet a few weeks ago. That’s what set us on your course. We also encountered another who said that they were also abducted by the same man.”

The alien took on an alarmed look. “You must wait for one moment. If it is who we believe it to be, we will help you retrieve your crewmember with the knowledge that his captor will be sent to us for punishing.”

Captain Janeway inclined her head. “We have no intention to get between him and your justice system. We are only after our crewmember. As soon as he, or his body, are recovered, we will leave the rest up to you.”

The alien nodded quickly. “I will be back momentarily. We must move quickly. Every moment your crewmember remains, there is another moment that his life is in danger.”

  Once they had spoken to the supervisor, they had beamed down and made their way to the equivalent of a police station on the Groanl’s planet. They were led into a room that held numerous maps, charts, technology, and a lot of people. They were brought to the desk of an alien who looked up sharply when he saw them.

“My name is Selvent. Please, step into our conference room. I want to have this conversation in private.”

They followed him into a small room where he shut the door behind them. Then he scrubbed a hand over his face and looked at Janeway and the crew she had brought with her.

“You said that your crewmember was taken a few weeks ago. He looks like you?”

Captain Janeway felt a bolt of worry shoot through her. Had they found a body, and they needed an identification? She slowly nodded.

“Yes, the only external difference is his pointed ears. He’s got dark skin and brown eyes.”

Selvent looked relieved. “We haven’t found his body yet, which means there is a good chance he’s still alive. We’ve been pursuing Dr. Kell’an for almost a year. He has continued to elude us and take victims. It would go faster if we had a location to search for him and his partner, but we haven’t gotten anything yet.”

“We might be able to help you with that. We ran into another one of his victims a few days ago; they were on their way back to their home planet. They passed along the approximate location of the building Tuvok is being kept in. As long as he hasn’t been moved since then, we should be able to find them.”

Selvent looked hopeful. “If we could take this sadist down, we could keep him from hurting anyone else. If your crewmember has been there for as long as you say and survived, he must be absolutely incredible. I hate to tell you this, but the bodies we discovered have all shown signs of severe torture. It looks like they were tortured to a certain point and then murdered. You need to prepare yourself for what happens if you get him back. It’s not going to be pretty.”

“We are well aware of the possibilities. The crew has already taken the initiative to come up with ways to help him once we have him back.”

Selvent nodded in approval. “If he could survive that monster, then I gave no doubt that he can recover with your help. It might take some time, but anyone that strong is a true survivor.”

Janeway felt a tendril of hope within her, and for the first time since Tuvok disappeared, she didn’t squash it. Maybe she could afford a little hope, especially since they were so close to having him back. Although she didn’t know how awful it would be if they didn’t manage to rescue him. She didn’t even want to contemplate that thought.

#whumptober #no.25 #ringing ears #star trek voyager #fic #hurt tuvok #torture #protective crew #pain #evil captors #evil original characters

[annakie]

Am I once again posting about the Voyager Relaunch Novels?  Yes.  Yes I am.

I am re-reading the Post-Endgame Voyager Relaunch novels and marathoned reading The Eternal Tide over the last two nights and all I have to say is Janeway and Chakotay love each other so much, I was literally sobbing through about six sections of the second half of that book.  

The Kirsten Beyer books are SO GOOD.  And as I’m re-reading them I love how she handles every single one of the Voyager characters but especially Chakotay.  I feel like she understands Chakotay and gives him everything the writers of Voyager never quite grasped about his character in seven seasons.  Full Circle is such a powerful story of his love and his grief, and the rest of the crew’s love for him (especially Tom, B’lanna, Harry and Sev-- wow his friendship with Seven is so awesome throughout the Beyer books, everything it should have been in the show and not what we got in Endgame.  The support they have for each other without forcing a cringey relationship back onto them adds so much to BOTH of their characters.  Hey this paragraph went way off the rails but I don’t care.)

Anyway I really love the plots of each of these books, I love how they handle EVERY character (well, I miss Tuvok -- at some point I’m gonna get to the Titan novels) and the new characters are pretty great (oh man Cambridge is a fave, and so much better than the new consular that was introduced in the Spirit Walk books.  Loved Eden, love Farkas.)

I made a post a few days ago about how Chakotay is the whole “upstanding, solid, good guy” archetype that some people dare to call “boring” I’ve previously talked at length in a post about Mass Effect about how that’s just... my favorite kind of character.  And Chakotay is just... so that.  It also made me realize that the Janeway / Chakotay dynamic is also very similar to a Shepard / Kaidan dynamic (powerful commanding officer of her own ship woman character, solid, good, honorable mature right-hand man first officer (or close to it) male character and maybe that’s why they’re both two of my favorite ships.

Anwyay here’s some spoilery thoughts about The Eternal Tide.

Chakotay telling Seven about his relationship with Janeway evolving before she died, and how he doesn’t think he’ll ever love any other woman!

Confirmation that Chakotay was thinking about proposing when they were supposed to met in Venice!??!  What!?

Janeway thinking about Chakotay right after her resurrection and how deeply she feels for him and wondering about how her death affected him!  Also I kind of love that Chakotay DIDN’T come to her mind when deciding whether to return to life or not?  This was her decision and making it about A Man I think would have made it feel less about her and how she knew she would be taking responsibility for The Multiverse, which is what it absolutely should have been about.  Realizing what her death would have done to him basically the second she was alive again... that part was so well written.  I loved it.  Her relationship shouldn’t become the basis of who she is -- but it adds to her.

Their... reunion... scene... almost being ruined by Q... Chakotay’s utter shock and disbelief and the description of him slowly beginning to have his heart open up to the possibility, him inching closer to her as she’s thinking that maybe she’s made a mistake and understands just how deeply her death hurt him... that.... entire... SCENE.  (Actually about once a year I dig that book and Full Circle out just to read their getting together / reunion scenes.)

Getting Seven’s reaction to Janeway was also very, very good.  I wish they hadn’t cut past the scene where the rest of the Voyager staff sees her for the first time but we did get a little taste of it.

Um okay and then Janeway tells Chakotay she loves him for the first time and he says it back, naturally but like, this is as Chakotay was preparing to go on a suicide mission?  SOBBING.  They didn’t even get a day together, but at least they got to say goodbye this time.

Janeway forcing herself not to think about Chakotay’s death because things just got so much more dire.

Yes they won, but Janeway all alone on the battle bridge and she can’t even bring herself to contact Voyager yet because she just needs time to mourn Chakotay for a few seconds and takes a few seconds, a few breaths, a few moments... and then... OMG.... Chakotay is returned by Godson Q just before his death and they’re so happy... I CANNOT.

THE EPILOGUE where they’re in bed and had spent every possible moment together and so casual and free and happy together... it’s everything we ever wanted for seven seasons and seven more books.

--

Oh I started this post now almost a week ago and now I’m a few books forward and hey am I now going to talk about Protectors?  Yes, yes I am.

J/C don’t get to spend a lot of time together in this book.  Janeway gets sent back to the Alpha Quadrant to undergo counseling and evaluation which, tbh, is totally valid considering she DIED A VIOLENT HORRIBLE DEATH and then WAS DEAD FOR FOURTEEN MONTHS and then you know RESURRECTED AND IMMEDIATELY HAD TO SAVE THE MULTIVERSE oh yeah not to mention WAS REUNITED WITH THEN HAD TO TELL CHAKOTAY GOODBYE FOREVER A FEW HOURS LATER then oh wait THE MAN SHE LOVES WAS ALSO BROUGHT BACK FROM THE DEAD (or the brink of death, whatever.)

There’s a short and sweet goodbye scene then for the bulk of the book Janeway is back on Earth going to counseling (which, that second counseling scene was so great, and seeing her slow down and enjoy life with her mother was so great, and um also that scene with her and Picard?  Wow.  Just Wow.  Also I can’t wait to go back and read some TNG books because I need to see JL/B actually get together.)  And the entire time she’s just like... not even doubting her relationship with Chakotay even a little.  She thinks of him and is excited to be reunited but every time it’s like “the man I love” “The person I plan on spending the rest of my life with” and even “the love of my life.”  WOW.  Just Wow.  Chakotay worries a bit but never doubts.

Oh and then she basically tells her commanding officer “yeah um, thanks but I absolutely have no plans on curbing my relationship with Chakotay to make you feel more comfortable.  Also JL/B and Riker/Troi are all married so fuck you?”  She does agree to keep separate quarters on another ship which is like.. fine... whatever.  But also her going “Yes he’s my subordinate but we’re not going to let that affect our working relationship, we’re adults.” Fuck. Yeah.  Montgomery asks if they’re gonna get married and Janeway is all “IDK, probably? We’ll let you know.”

And B’Elanna asks Chakotay the same thing and his answer is also basically “Yeah at some point, we haven’t talked about it yet but yeah we’re spending the rest of our lives together now stop prodding me.”

Their reunion when she returns doesn’t go as planned and it’s a teensy bit worrisome at the end but with notes of positivity.

--

OK I’m only about 1/3rd into Acts of Contrition but I got to a part last night that made me put the book down for a minute and thank Kirsten Beyer out loud.

J/C finally get to spend some time alone several days after she makes it back to the fleet in the Delta Quadrant.  They have a brief discussion about The Plot, then Chakotay is like “Know what?  We’ll talk about The Plot Stuff tomorrow in the briefing.  Let’s instead talk about us.”  And then he stands up for what he wants!  And Janeway listens, and they talk, and agree!  And then Chakotay is like “Okay, now I really want to hear about what happened to you back on Earth for all those weeks!”  So... literally they just... sit and talk for several hours like, I don’t know, real people would?  There’s no drama!  And they both affirm their commitment to each other and their relationship!

It’s just... it’s... so good?  Their relationship is so solid!  They LOVE EACH OTHER and it’s based on their solid friendship (something else they actually say out loud!) and they talk to each other and there’s no like drama for drama’s sake about their relationship so far and it’s like, better than even any fanfic I’ve ever read (and there’s some great fic out there for these two) because nearly every other character is also getting their screentime and character development (minus Tuvok -- who’s off with Riker and Troi on the Titan and Neelix isn’t around much -- though he’s spoken of and we see him a bit when they visit New Talax).  Also it’s... beta canon.  No matter what, this is real and accepted beta canon.

I have been going back and listening to all the episodes of the Literary Trek podcast episodes about these books, and for Eternal Tide and Protectors Beyer herself was on the podcast and listening to her talk about Chakotay and Janeway both individually and as a couple her love for them both is clear, she loves the show and knows what she’s doing and is allowed to do it, and her writing is so damn good.  One of the hosts of the podcast has said in several episodes that he used to really dislike Chakotay as he was in the show and now book Chakotay is one of his favorite characters.  And honestly? I do love show Chakotay but book Chakotay is... everything show Chakotay should have been.  But he’s also been through hell and back and I love how Beyer used that experience -- and now Janeway’s resurrection experience -- to advance them BOTH individually and how that’s affected them as a couple now that they actually get to be that.

There’s so much other good in these books.  Tom and B’Elanna’s storyline and the way she writes them and their marriage... I could write so much about it.  Harry gets better characterization!  A plotline!  A promotion!  A love interest that may actually work out?!!? We’ll see.  And SEVEN. Wow. So much happens with Seven and it’s so great, I love her so much and Book Seven is again, even better.

Two more books have come out since the last time I read the series and the final book comes out next month, I can’t wait to see all the great moments Beyer has coming up for them.  It also makes me twice as happy that Beyer is so involved with Picard. It’s so clear the love she has for these two and I can’t imagine J/C not still being Alpha canon with her involved.

#star trek #voyager #janeway x chakotay #kathryn janeway #chakotay #Kirsten beyer #annakie's misc stuff

[summahsunlight]

This Way Became My Journey, Ch. 23

While the computer was running its diagnostic on the alien device, B'Elanna Torres had snuck away to the mess hall to grab a ration pack for lunch. Well maybe she hadn't really snuck away; Captain Janeway had after all given her permission to take a small break. But it sure felt like sneaking away, with Michael breathing down her neck wanting to know every little thing that came up about the device. Snatching a ration pack up she went to join a Bajoran, by the name of Seska, who was sitting at a table in the middle of the room.

"I didn't think Janeway was ever going to let you leave the bridge," Seska drawled with that sly grin of hers as B'Elanna took a seat.

B'Elanna shrugged her shoulders. "I think she felt bad that her kid was watching over everything I did. Anyways I don't have a lot of time. I need to get back up there to finish working on that device that Chakotay brought back from the planetoid."

"If you ask me this is a waste of time," Seska replied, pushing her empty ration pack to the side. "We shouldn't be chasing after any aliens that like to harvest organs. It could end up getting us all killed."

"Neelix could die if we don't track them down," B'Elanna said, slightly shocked by her friend's cold tone.

It was Seska's turn to shrug her tiny shoulders. "The Doctor has kept him alive this long; that's better than most people can say if they had just had their lungs stolen."

"And what if it was Chakotay that had been attacked? Or Harry? Would you feel the same way?"

"Of course. Neelix should be counting his blessings while the rest of us get to the real work of finding dilithium to help the power shortage," Seska answered, her dark eyes studying B'Elanna's face. "You don't actually agree with Janeway's decision to go chasing after these aliens do you?"

B'Elanna averted her eyes. "To tell you the truth, I think it's rather noble."

Seska scoffed. "One noble deed doesn't make up for her selfish decision to strand us here."

The hatred for Janeway that was laced in Seska's voice was not lost on B'Elanna and the young Klingon woman suddenly found that she was not hungry anymore. Pushing the tray away from her, she looked her friend, or someone she had once regarded as a friend, in the eye. "Seska, I know it hasn't been easy the past month, adjusting to life on a Starfleet ship, but believe me when I say that Captain Janeway has the best intentions of this entire crew at heart."

"You didn't think that way a month ago," Seska pointed out.

B'Elanna shook her head. "No, I didn't. But the past few weeks I've worked closely with her and my opinion has changed. If we had used the array to get home, there would have been people back in the Alpha Quadrant who thought her decision to sacrifice the Ocampa selfish. Either way, she couldn't win."

Seska got up from the table angrily. "You're starting to sound like all those delusional Starfleet idiots."

The Chief Engineer watched as the Bajoran left the table and stalked out of the mess hall. B'Elanna wasn't sure why Seska was having the hardest adjustment out of them all. Perhaps she felt like she had been slighted by Janeway when she wasn't given a higher rank, after all, she was Chakotay's former lover. And then there was B'Elanna's promotion to chief engineer. It was never spoken between the two, but B'Elanna knew that Seska was jealous of her friend's promotion and the trust that Janeway put in her. She also knew that Seska wasn't too keen on all time the B'Elanna had taken to hanging out with Harry Kim in the mess hall or for a stroll on the holodeck. But Harry had been the only one nice to her, on the Starfleet side that is, for their first few days, and she was grateful for that.

It wasn't her fault that she was sliding into fit with the crew and Seska was struggling. She just needs to make friends outside of the Maquis, that's all. 

B'Elanna decided that the next time Harry joined her for dinner she was going to ask Seska to join them. She was sure that Harry would be friendly and make an attempt to befriend Seska no matter how unreceptive Seska seemed.

Speaking of Harry, B'Elanna was sure that Janeway had given him a fifteen minute break to eat something as well. Maybe she had missed him when she had first come in the room. Glancing around she soon found that it had been easy to miss him. He was seated at a corner table with Sarah Barrett. B'Elanna instantly felt…jealousy.

She was shocked by this, at first. There was nothing romantically going on between her and Harry so she shouldn't be bothered if there was something between him and the counselor. But then she remembered Elle Platt, back from her Academy days. Elle had the same dark, coffee brown hair as Sarah, same enticing sapphire eyes. B'Elanna had thought Elle had been her friend and had told her about her crush on one of their classmates. They never spoke of it again, until B'Elanna had seen Elle with her crush, cuddling on the lawn one warm afternoon. Elle later told her some story about wanting to keep B'Elanna safe because she only would have been hurt, that her crush never would have dated a half Klingon.

B'Elanna, who had always resented human girls, with their silky locks of hair, and smooth foreheads, had shortly left the Academy after that. So was it this fact that Sarah looked so much like Elle that she was jealous of the time she spent with Harry? And if she ever did want to be more than Harry's friend, how could she compete with the perfection that Sarah was?

She was shocked at this realization. Being more than Harry's friend? He was Starfleet, a nice guy, but still Starfleet. Well what's so wrong with that? They had been through so much together on the Ocampa home world, she had connected with him in a way that she had yet to connect to anyone else on the ship, with maybe the exception of Chakotay. And that's when her emotions switched to jealousy to downright anger.

Sarah could have any man she wanted on this ship, with the bat of her pretty little eyelashes, why was she with Harry? Good, even Tom Paris was eating out of the palm of her hand and she had taken the one guy that B'Elanna actually felt…feelings towards. It figures the one nice guy on this ship— 

"Seat taken?"

B'Elanna glanced up to see Tom Paris. She shook her head. "No."

He sat down and dropped his ration pack tray in front of him. His grayish eyes looked up to see what she was looking at and he frowned.

This peaked her curiosity even more. Was Tom's feelings about Sarah more than just wanting a date? B'Elanna suddenly didn't feel so bad that she was not the only one who was jealous on this ship. "Something wrong with the view?" she teased.

Tom only frowned more as Harry and Sarah got up and left the mess hall together, laughing about something. "No, nothing's wrong with the view."

"If I didn't know you any better Paris, I'd say you were jealous," she continued teasing getting up from the table and going to recycle her tray. It was time to get back to working on the alien device and the diagnostic. She would have to push thoughts of Harry aside until further notice.

However, the thoughts of Harry and Sarah eating lunch together, sharing a laugh, just would not escape her no matter how hard she tried to get her work done. Michael Janeway was still standing over her shoulder, soaking in every last bit of information that the computer was coming up with. If that kept up he could his mother the report and B'Elanna could return to engineering where her real work was.

Mindlessly drumming her fingers on the console she noticed Tuvok raise an eyebrow. "Does that form of activity make the computer scan faster?" the Vulcan questioned her.

"No, but it keeps me occupied while we wait." The doors of the bridge swishing open brought her attention about and Paris strode back onto the bridge, no trace of the frown he had worn in the mess hall. How can he let it go so easily? Oh, that's right, he's a pig. He probably has another love interest lined up behind Sarah and the Delaney sisters.

The computer beeping brought her attention about. "Captain," she called out, getting Janeway's attention. "We've completed our diagnostic on the alien device."

Janeway strode over to join the group, which was an odd mix when you really thought about it; a Vulcan, a five year old human boy, and a half Klingon. "What have you got?"

"It appears to be more than a weapon," B'Elanna reported. "It's also a very sophisticated medical scanner and surgical instrument."

"From what we can tell," Tuvok said, handing the device to Janeway, "it uses a neural resonator to stun the victim while a quantum imaging scanner begins a microcellular analysis of the entire body.

"The amount of information this thing can gather puts a tricorder to shame," B'Elanna continued. "You fire this at someone you learn everything about their anatomy, right down to their DNA sequencing."

Janeway turned the device over in her hands. "So we're dealing with aliens who've developed a technology specifically designed for extracting organs from other beings. The question is…why?" Chakotay demanded her attention and she mindlessly put the device down onto the science console.

"The alien ship has dropped out of warp," the first officer reported. "It's approaching a large asteroid."

The captain went to stand on the command station next to Lieutenant Barrett while Tuvok took his own station. "On screen."

"It's entered the asteroid captain," Paris reported.

"Hold position."

There were very little options that Janeway had at this moment. She could either take the ship into the asteroid if it was wide enough or she could try to flush the aliens out some how. But that could take hours, and Neelix didn't have hours. Even though the Doctor had come up with a solution for the time being, no one really knew how long he could survive using holographic lungs, not to mention that if ship's system ever went down and the emitters went off line, Neelix would die.

"MICHAEL!"

The shear volume of Lieutenant Barrett's voice startled everyone on that bridge and all eyes snapped about looking for the child.

The boy was standing at the door to the ready room and immediately Janeway could see that he had the alien device clutched in his little hands. The captain had moved the baby into the ready room so she could comfortably nap and she had no doubt that her son was about to test the device out on his baby sister. How could I be so careless with something that dangerous around? She hadn't even seen Michael move from his spot near the science station, for that matter, neither had B'Elanna. Michael was terribly clever, a trait that Janeway knew had been inherited from her; he could easily slip away from baby sitters, his mother, etc.

So how had Sarah seen it?

Michael looked sheepishly up at his mother. "I just wanted to see Ava's DNA."

His mother gestured that he give her the device back and he complied.

"Sit there," Janeway instructed, pointing to her chair.

Chakotay cleared his throat while the boy did as he was told. "Uh, Captain, we've determined the asteroid is man made."

Fascinating. What's even more fascinating that Sarah knew Michael had that device; another question for another time, perhaps. 

"I think I've located where the alien ship entered the asteroid, Captain," Paris was saying bringing their attention about to the situation at hand. "There's an open crater on the limb of the asteroid."

"Let's see it," Chakotay ordered and the viewscreen changed from the image of the asteroid to the opening that Paris had found.

Janeway crossed her arms over her chest. "How large is that crater, Mister Paris?"

"Two hundred meters in diameter."

"Captain," Tuvok cautioned. "May I suggest that you consider carefully what you're about to do?"

"How do you know what I'm about to do?" Janeway asked, raising an eyebrow and glancing at Tuvok.

"I could describe you in detail the psychological observations I have made of you over the past four years," Tuvok answered, calmly. "Which lead me to conclude that you are about to take this ship into the asteroid, but suffice it to say, I know you quite well."

"One of these days, I'm going to surprise you Tuvok," she replied, with a wry grin. "But not today."

Janeway moved back into the command station and briefly looked at her counselor. "I've already consider other options. If Neelix has any chance of surviving, we have to act fast. Red Alert. Mister Paris lay in a course. Mister Tuvok maximum shields, phasers at the ready."

The Captain turned about in the command station and looked hotly at Michael, "And you stay right there and don't touch anything."

"Yes ma'am."

Voyager glided into the asteroid while Janeway made her way down the command steps to stand next to Chakotay and behind Paris. Her eyes watched the screen intently as the cavern's walls began to narrow.

"Captain," Paris said. "I'm reducing power to the aft-thrusters only. This passageway is getting a little too narrow for my taste."

"Use your discretion Mister Paris," Janeway replied, turning towards Tuvok. "Any sign of the alien ship, Commander?"

"We're still following the ion trail," Tuvok answered, "but electromagnetic interference is limiting our sensor range. I'm only able to scan five hundred meters a head of us."

Chakotay asked the next question. "Are there any indications we're being scanned or probed Mister Kim."

"Not yet."

"Sick bay to Bridge. May I enlist the services of Counselor Barrett please?"

Janeway glanced up at the lieutenant. Was it her imagination or did the Doctor sound anxious? "Certainly Doctor, she's on her way, Janeway out." For a moment the women made eye contact. "You heard the Doctor, he needs your help, we're just going to have to handle first contact without you."

#star trek voyager fanfiction #kathryn janeway #chakotay #janeway x chakotay #tom paris #sarah barrett (oc) #tom paris x ofc #harry kim #b'elanna torres #kes #neelix #tuvok #the doctor (emh) #this way became my journey

[juniortjenkins]

Bridge Log: Analysis

-Lang, Campbell and Jenkins are gathered around the large panel at the rear of the bridge-

Lang: Okay, Let’s recap what we’ve learned so far. We were traveling on a clear route through normal space when we… hit something. And now we seem to be in an invisible bubble. Well, the three of us anyway. She glances back at Tuvok’s unmoving form. Tuvok appears to be on the outside of it.  The bubble is in red; and Tuvok is the green dot. I opened the turbolift doors, but found the bottom of the bubble was only about 2 meters below us.

Campbell: Internal sensors, external sensors, environmentals, helm control, communications well all the ships systems are malfunctioning in some unexplained way. They seem like they’re fine, but they can’t give us any new data and new commands are accepted by the system, but they don’t seem to do anything.

Jenkins: They must be working on autonomously because we’re still getting oxygen, the artificial gravity is working and we can see Tuvok outside the bubble.  Even if we can’t get through it, and his side of things looks okay too. All right. Let’s think this through. We know that this happened suddenly. Lyssa did anything unusual appear on the sensors?

Campbell: No, both short and long range scans didn’t show any signs of spatial or temporal anomalies, but we can only scan for the ones we know about so we can’t rule out that there was something in this part of space that we’ve never seen before.

Jenkins: Good point.

Lang: I don’t think this is some kind of attack. I can’t rule it out, but the Laetheans gave us really good information about these sectors and they didn’t mention anyone with a weapon capable of this kind of thing. Plus if someone was trying to disable and then attack us, they probably would have done so by now. Groups that use disabling weapons attack the bridge of the ship quickly. Something like 80% of the time.  They don’t want their quarry to have time to find a way out of the trap.

Jenkins: Lyssa, what do you think?

Campbell: I think Audrey’s right. We’ve seen so many things that were previously unknown to science in this quadrant.

Jenkins: That’s my feeling too. So the question becomes what kind of phenoma are we dealing with here?

Lang: Do you hear that?

Jenkins: Is that the tricorder?  

Campbell: It is the tricorder. I didn’t even realize I’d left it open.  You remember the medical scan of Tuvok I tried to do right after the impact? Well it just finished. 

Jenkins: What do you mean “just finished”?

Campbell: Here, have a look.  It shows Tuvok is alive, no sign of life threatening injuries.

Jenkins: Well that’s good news at least, but it the scan took 4 hours and 56 minutes. It usually takes 1/10th of a second right?

Campbell: Or less.

Lang: There’s another tricorder under my station.  Let’s make sure that one is working correctly… Diagnostic scans and the self diagnostic both show that the tricorder is working correctly.

Campbell: I believe it.  The replicator in the Captain’s ready room is working and at its normal speed. Thank goodness for that.  I was starving.

Jenkins: Speed… Normal speed…

Lang: TJ, you think this is a temporal phenomena?

Jenkins: I’m starting to.  It would explain why things seem fine on both sides of the bubble.

Lang: So are we in a bubble dimension? If we were in a different timeline, we shouldn’t be able to see Tuvok.

Campbell: When I was a kid, my physics tutor pointed out to me that even though air molecules vibrate back and forth at a few hundred miles per hour, if you could run fast enough there would be a point where the air molecules were no longer moving fast enough to get out of your way and you would literally bump into the air in front of you. I think maybe we’re in the same time line, but time is moving at different speeds. I think time is moving orders of magnitude faster in here then it is for Tuvok over there.

Lang: That would explain why the bubble is so rigid.

Jenkins: And a good number of the issues we’re seeing with the ships systems. They aren’t actually damaged, they just haven’t had enough time to reply to our commands.

Lang: Well they could be damaged, right?  They just haven’t gotten the readings to us? Or.. do we know that things are OK because we’ve got power and environmentals?

Campbell: I have the hardest time getting my head around temporal problems. I always get a headache.

Jenkins: Let’s focus on getting some information we can use to get us out of this. Lyssa, take the tricorder up to your station and put it as close to Tuvok as you can.  Then ask it to ping Tuvok’s comm badge. That usually takes what 1/10000th of a second?  That should tell us how big the time differential is.  Once that’s set up, see what you can do with the communications systems. Look for anyway we could send messages faster, or use smaller packets to send messages.

Campbell: Got it.

Jenkins: Audrey, let’s see if we can make any headway with the external sensors. If there is an anomaly out there, I want to find it.

#Voyager RP #Speedbump crisis #Lang Lyssa & TJ #on the bridge

[firstofficerchakotay-flute]

A letter to Kathryn

Dear Kathryn,

a few years ago today, I met the bravest person I’d ever seen in my life. She was the captain of a Starfleet starship and looked imperious in her red and black uniform. She was more than that; decisive, heroic, fair, persistent, compassionate and fearless. No, I didn’t fall in love with her the moment we met. It would be really romantic though, right? On the contrary, I felt threatened by her and I was almost frightened. She gained my respect though when she chose the difficult way. The captain decided to sacrifice her crew’s safety (and her own as well) in order to save a large community of good and innocent people but she gave everyone a promise: she would lead us back to home at any cost. She needed more people though. So, she asked for my help and I followed her without second thought. I convinced my people to do the same. Some of them were hesitant at first but soon everyone realized how capable she was of....literally everything, how strong and smart. Soon they respected her and even cared for her. As time passed, I had the chance to get to know her better. We became good friends. I found out that she was even more than I thought; insecure, lonely, sensitive and very guilty. She loved coffee and dogs. She adored science and challenges. She was a stable person and didn’t like change. Once, I got stranded with her in a planet. We were all alone - alone in the world. I’ve already known her for years but everything was suddenly new. I saw her laughing and crying. I saw her trying to get closer to me and making jokes. I heard her talking to me about her life, her family, her dreams, hopes and fears. I saw her finally relaxing after a really long time. This was when I noticed how beautiful she was and like that, I fell in love with her. I wasn’t direct and she wasn’t ready. She wouldn’t be for years. But from then on, she let me call her by her name: Kathryn.

Obviously you know how this story goes on, right?

Every year on this day, you’re sad and you hide in your ready room or your quarters. But this year is different, Kathryn because we’re together and I can finally tell you eveything that I’ve wanted to tell you for years.

I know how difficult this day is for you and I’m not trying to cheer you up. I’m trying to make you to understand that you’re not alone, to understand that nobody blames you and you’re not really guilty. Kathryn...have you ever wondered what would have happened to Tuvok if you hadn’t came after us? What would have happened to my crew (think of Torres and Dalby and so many others) and me if Voyager hadn’t followed us? Val Jean would probably be destroyed by now and we would be dead. It was a good ship but it wouldn’t survive in the Delta Quadrant. What about Kes? She would be dead and Ocampans wouldn’t exist anymore. Neelix? Would he be the individual he’s today? He had the chance to find true friends and a safe home. Dalby? This man was depressed after Mia’s death. Aboard Voayger he found peace and most important, he met Kes. He has the chance to build a new life here, to create even a family. Tom? Do you think he would develop like this if he wasn’t aboard Voyager? He really became a great person, a loyal friend, a very good pilot and officer. He found friends and he’s always ready to give his life for them. He found B’Elanna. I’m glad they found each other. Both of them found their missing piece. What about Harry? He grows up here with us and he becomes an extraordinary person. What about the Doctor? If you weren’t his captain, he would be just another medical emergency hologram.  And Kathryn...really...what about Seven? You saved her from the Borg and she has became a remarkable young woman. This crew needs you, respects you and loves you. You’ve done so much for them and you don’t really seem to realize it.

What about me or even us? I wouldn’t be the man I am today if I didn’t met you. You’re my peace and my happiness. But you know that, right?

Yes, we lost crewmen but they were on duty. They were aware of the possibilities and ready to die - as I am, as you are.

You feel guilty but what other choices did we have at the time? How could we sacrifice Ocampans to return to Earth? What about our conscience? Many of us couldn’t live with this, Kathryn. Also, are you able to guarantee that everyone would be alive, safe and happy if we were on Earth? You know, everyone would probably be dead because of the war.

Please, Kathryn. Don’t close yourself off again from your crew, friends and me. We made a promise. Remember? We said we’d share everything and your burdens would be mine as mine would be yours. Let me in, let me comfort you, let me be here with you now that I finally can.

I know you need some time all alone. Take your time but don’t hide yourself from me for long. I’ll be in my quarters if you wanna talk.

I love you,

Chakotay

@voyagerscaptain

#i let it to her ready room #i'm wondering if it'll make her feel better

[aion-rsa]

Star Trek: Enterprise’s Recycled Episodes

https://ift.tt/3Bi6jp1

One of the things Star Trek became somewhat infamous for in the late 1990s and early 2000s was recycling old plots in new episodes. Voyager and Enterprise both featured several episodes throughout their runs that seemed to be re-runs of earlier stories from The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine or even the Original Series, with a slight tweaking to the setting.

Originality in fiction is often over-rated – Shakespeare didn’t make up his own plots, and simply noting the use of an existing plot or theme is not, in itself, a criticism. However, it is important for a new version of an old story to put its own stamp on that story. Each new version should bring something slightly different to the table and put its own twist on the material.

Read more

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Star Trek: Picard — Could Season 3 See Jean-Luc’s Starfleet Return?

By Kayti Burt

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Do Star Trek Characters Watch Star Trek?

By Ryan Britt

Here, then, we’re looking at ten episodes of Enterprise that were “recycled” from earlier Star Trek series and asking whether Enterprise improved on the old formula, or whether the earlier episode was the better outing. We’re focusing on episodes recycled from other branches of the Star Trek franchise for this list, so we won’t mention other examples, like “Shuttlepod One”’s strong resemblance to Red Dwarf’s “Marooned.” Though that one is worth a mention. They’re both really good.

“Terra Nova” (Season 1, Episode 6)

Recycled from: “Friendship One,” Season 7, Episode 21 of Voyager

“Friendship One” was an odd episode of Voyager, as it featured the crew going on a mission set for them by Starfleet, something they didn’t do in earlier seasons because they had no contact with Starfleet for most of the show’s run. As such, it has a very “typical 90s Trek” feel to it, like this could easily have been an episode of The Next Generation or even Deep Space Nine. Or, of course, Enterprise. The fact both episodes take place mostly in the same “caves” standing set on Paramount’s Stage 16 doesn’t help. Both stories feature hostile groups who are suffering radiation poisoning, though in the case of “Friendship One,” it’s the result of aliens using human technology incorrectly (hello, justification for the Prime Suggestion) whereas in “Terra Nova,” the human settlers have been hit by an random asteroid strike.

Who did it better? The Voyager episode has the more philosophically interesting set-up and is notable for bringing back Lt Carey after five years only to kill him off, but “Terra Nova” fits in much better with the “scary space dangers” themes of Enterprise’s first season than Voyager’s random guilt trip thrown in right at the end of the show’s run. “Friendship One” is also, let’s face it, really rather dull. “Terra Nova” isn’t the best Enterprise has to offer, but it just about has the edge here.

“Oasis” (Season 1, Episode 20)

Recycled from: “Shadowplay,” Season 2 Episode 16 of Deep Space Nine

This one is probably the most egregious example on this list, because both episodes star René Auberjonois. Auberjonois guest stars as the chief engineer of a “haunted” ship in the Enterprise episode, but the story repeats elements, including the final twist, of a Deep Space Nine episode that heavily featured his own character, Odo. In both cases, an entire group of people turn out to be holograms of the dead, created by a middle aged white man wanting to recreate his lost loved ones. We love to see the late and much-missed Auberjonois in anything, but this was a strange episode to have him guest star in.

Who did it better? Although it’s tempting to complain about the Enterprise episode, given that it’s the second of the two and the stories are so close as to be almost identical, we’re actually going to give Enterprise the preference here. The “haunted ship” idea is cool, and the relationship between Auberjonois’ Ezral and his daughter, for whom he has re-created the crew including her dead mother, not only brings extra depth to the story, it also recalls Shakespeare’s The Tempest and the classic 1950s film “Forbidden Planet,” which partly inspired Star Trek in the first place. So we’ll say Enterprise actually improved on this story and it was worth recycling – though a different guest star might have been a good idea.

“Vanishing Point” (Season 2, Episode 10)

Recycled from: “The Next Phase,” Season 5 Episode 24 of The Next Generation

Star Trek isn’t the only franchise to deep its toe in the “out of phase” well, but The Next Generation’s “The Next Phase” is a classic of the sub-genre, in which Geordi and Ro think they’ve died and attend their own funeral before realising they are, in fact “out of phase” with everyone else and still very much alive. Enterprise’s Vanishing Point is a twist on this idea, with Hoshi’s fears surrounding transporter technology playing out as a terrifying experience in which she slowly disappears from view as a result of a transporter malfunction, only to discover none of it really happened and it was all just a paranoid delusion.

Who did it better? It almost could have gone to Enterprise, as “Vanishing Point” is genuinely creepy, not to mention being a rare opportunity to explore Hoshi’s character. But that final “it was all a dream” twist, the one that every writing teacher tells you never to use in your first writing class, lets it down, so we’ll give the win to The Next Generation for a more thoughtful reflection on life and death.

“Precious Cargo” (Season 2, Episode 11)

Recycled from: “Elaan of Troyius,” Season 3 Episode 13 of the Original Series, and “The Perfect Mate,” Season 5 Episode 21 of The Next Generation

Oh dear. Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear. How is it possible that a franchise as forward-looking as Star Trek has made this episode not once, but three times?! Basically, the story is that there is alien princess (or upper class woman) who is on her way to a political arranged marriage that borders on forced, or in Enterprise’s case, who has been kidnapped. She ends up falling for Kirk/Picard/Trip, but in the end goes back to her duty – marriage in the first two cases, ruling as First Monarch in the third. All three are epically sexist in various different ways, depending on whether they were produced in the 1960s, 1990s, or 2000s.

Who did it better? Here’s the thing – all of these episodes are bad. There are those who give “The Perfect Mate” a bit of a pass because it’s always fun to watch Patrick Stewart and Famke Janssen together, but if you want to do that, just go watch the X-Men movies. “Precious Cargo” is not a good episode of Enterprise, but it is actually not quite as bad as the other two – the “stranded on a deserted island” aspect is kind of fun, and of the three horribly sexist episodes, it may be the least sexist – at least Kaitaama is able to suggest Trip comes to visit her at the end, instead of leaving forever pretending to be bonded to someone else (Kamala) or leaving in tears while her paramour cheerfully goes back to his ship (Elaan). So, perhaps surprisingly, we’re going to give this one to Enterprise.

“Dawn” (Season 2, Episode 13)

Recycled from: “Darmok,” Season 5 Episode 2 of The Next Generation

Dawn does not have the best reputation online, but it’s an episode that deserves reconsideration. It’s a classic story of two mutual enemies stranded in a hostile environment, forced to work together to survive. It’s tense, it’s a nice character piece for Trip, and it works its way to an obvious but satisfying conclusion. What brings it particularly close to “Darmok” is the complication that Trip is stranded without a functioning universal translator, creating an added communication barrier (this also happened in “Voyager’s Gravity,” but there the alien fell in love with Tuvok instead of trying to kill him). However, unlike “Darmok,” there is nothing particularly unusual about the alien language – the translator simply isn’t working, and once they’re back on the Enterprise, they can understand each other perfectly. This is at the root of the episode’s poor reputation. Because “Darmok” approached the idea of an alien language in a really interesting and unusual way, this similar episode with a simple malfunctioning translator comes off poorly in comparison.

Who did it better? “Dawn” is seriously under-rated, but “Darmok” is a classic, so this one is going to have to go to The Next Generation. Shaka, when the walls fell.

“Judgment” (Season 2, Episode 19)

Recycled from: Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country and “Tribunal,” Season 2 Episode 25 of Deep Space Nine

This episode isn’t so much recycling one of the best Star Trek movies as deliberately paying homage to it, building sets that recreate the Klingon court and the prison of Rura Penthe from the film as closely as possible on a TV budget and telling a similar story. Archer’s experience of an alien trial where the outcome has been decided before it begins also echoes Chief O’Brien’s experience with the Cardassians in Deep Space Nine. “Judgement” is a very good episode that calls back to the movie very effectively while also expanding the franchise’s mythology around the Klingons and Klingon culture – while it may not be entirely original, this is a good example of a creative re-use of old tropes.

Who did it better? The Undiscovered Country has a completely unfair advantage here, as it has a feature film’s budget and a runtime of nearly two hours. But life isn’t fair, and while all three are pretty good, it’s the best of the bunch.

“Similitude” (Season 3, Episode 10)

Recycled from: “Tuvix,” Season 2 Episode 24 and “Drone,” Season 5 Episode 2 of Voyager

If you know nothing else about Captain Janeway, you probably know that Janeway killed Tuvix in the infamous episode of the same name, in order to restore Tuvok and Neelix after they were blended together in a transporter accident. Later, she was spared having to make another difficult choice when newborn drone One – also the result of a transporter accident – commits suicide in order to protect Voyager from the Borg. But for all the flack Janeway gets, somehow no one blames Archer and Phlox when they deliberately create a clone of Trip with a shortened lifespan to save Trip’s life, and pretty much bully the poor guy into giving up his life for Trip rather than trying to have as much life of his own as he can, which he doesn’t have much choice about anyway as he’ll die before he gets anywhere interesting. It is horrifying. Justice for Sim!

Who did it better? “Similtude” blends two rather good episodes of Voyager and the ethics of it are dodgy in the extreme. Voyager gets the win here, though whether the ultimate prize goes to “Tuvix” or “Drone” is a matter of personal opinion.

“Doctor’s Orders” (Season 3, Episode 16)

Recycled from: “One,” Season 4 Episode 25 of Voyager

The premise for this one is simple: the entire crew have to go into stasis for a while, except for one or two members who are impervious to the biological threat. Originally, this was a way to explore Seven of Nine coming to terms with her life as an individual, by isolating her almost completely. Enterprise puts Phlox in that position – while he has never been a Borg drone, Phlox is a very sociable, chatty character with three wives and a huge, complicated family, so isolation is hard on him too. Both are pretty good episodes, with a “haunted spaceship” vibe and a sense that not everything is as it seems.

Who did it better? This is a really hard one to call, because they’re both very similar and they’re both pretty good. One has Seven’s Borg background to add extra weight to the story, but on the other hand “Doctor’s Orders” has Porthos in the traditional “cute dog in a haunted house story” role. Give it to Enterprise if you like dogs, and to Voyager if you don’t.

E² (Season 3, Episode 21)

Recycled from: “Children Of Time,” Season 5 Episode 22 of Deep Space Nine

In both of these episodes, some timey-wimey weirdness results in our heroes meeting their own descendants, plus one or two long-lived members of their own group. In both cases, these descendants end up dead, wiped from existence, or possibly both. Both stories focus a fair bit of attention on possible future romantic relationships among the crew, a theme Star Trek has touched on numerous times over the years, though in Enterprise there is the added confirmation for the characters that humans and Vulcans can reproduce together (though of course, the audience already knows that). Both episodes are pretty decent without being stunningly brilliant, and both are a bit of a downer.

Who did it better? Enterprise puts in a good effort, but the dark conclusion to “Children Of Time,” in which Old Odo willingly sacrifices his friends’ children and grandchildren just to save Kira, means we have to give it to Deep Space Nine.

“Daedalus” (Season 4, Episode 10)

Recycled from: “Jetrel,” Season 1, Episode 15 of Voyager

These episodes have different themes, with Jetrel being inspired by the idea of a survivor from Hiroshima meeting Oppenheimer, while Daedalus, like the Greek myth, is about the relationship between a father and son. What both have in common is a guest character who wants to use the transporter system to rescue someone. The title character in “Jetrel” wants to bring back an entire planet’s worth of people – Emory Erikson in Daedalus just wants to rescue his son, and is marginally more successful, since although his son still ends up dead, he is at least rescued from a half-life in a transporter buffer.

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Who did it better? Jetrel is a good episode and an especially good hour for the usually comedic character of Neelix, but the titular scientist’s plan is so audacious, it seems a bit ridiculous that he thought it could work. Erikson’s desire to save just one person and the emotional pull of the father-son relationship slightly give Enterprise the edge here, in an episode that’s a bit obvious, but nonetheless emotionally affecting. It’s also, like much of Enterprise, rather under-rated. Enterprise was an old-fashioned sort of show, and it wasn’t always the most original of offerings, but it was good, classic Star Trek, and deserves to be recognised as such.

The post Star Trek: Enterprise’s Recycled Episodes appeared first on Den of Geek.

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#aion-rsa #Den of Geek

[clockscountingbackwards]

Idiosyncrasies, Part 3

Away on an away mission Chakotay and Seven decide to fake date to capture the Captain’s attention. They, however, get more than they bargained for and not so unexpected emotions crop up. Takes place after Human Error. 

Part one

Part two

           “I clearly would have asked you out first,” Seven argued.

           “No one is going to believe that,” Chakotay commented.

           “And why not?” she shot back.

           “Your social skills aren’t really compatible with initiating romantic relationships. You avoid every social gathering that we have on board. You missed Tom and B’Elanna’s baby shower for god’s sake.” He punctuated his response with course corrections.

           “I can socialize just fine. I just choose not to,” she responded loftily.

           Chakotay sighed, “Why don’t we make a compromise.”

           “Proceed.”

           “You had asked for me so that you could initiate the relationship but I seized the opportunity and asked you out.”

           “Deal.”

            Chakotay smiled. They weren’t even really dating and already they had their first argument.

           “What first date did you take me on?” she asked.

           “Dinner in my quarters, chicken, broccoli, and rice. Did we kiss?”

           The thought of kissing the real commander Chakotay thrilled her but she kept it to herself.

           “You wanted to but were too nervous to actually do it.” She couldn’t let him have all the control. “Why haven’t we said anything until now?”

           “Gossip travels fast and we wanted to make sure it stuck. Also, you never saw that reasoning enough but didn’t want to create tension so you let it go.”

           “Have we had more than one date?”

           “Not yet. This is kind of half of one and we have one scheduled for when we get back.”

           “A picnic,” she told him.

           “What?”

           “A picnic is our next date. I asked you this time.”

           “Of course.” Chakotay wouldn’t have it any other way.

XxXxX

For the few days they had left they talked over the little details they would need to know to look like they were actually dating. Seven couldn’t believe that this was happening. She had wanted to date Chakotay for a while now and by some accounts now she was. It wasn’t the way she wanted it though. This farce was only a mask and she wanted so much more. She would do it however because within these past few days she had learned more about the commander than she had ever hoped to. She would be close to him and right now it didn’t matter what the reason for that was. She just hoped it would last a while and she hoped that along the way she would get even closer to the commander. She wanted him too much to say no to this farce because in a way she would get him. She knew though, in the far reaches of her logical mind that this would not end well and would probably ruin her chances with him forever. She didn’t care. Her reasoning was that this might be the only time she comes even close to getting what she wants and she was going to take the chance with it. She looked at the back of Chakotay over her console and a rush of emotion ran through her.

           She knew the story they told would raise eyebrows. She didn’t think people on this ship knew she was capable of romantic attraction and the presence of mind to actually act on it. There would be a lot of questions and she needed to be prepared for that. She hoped that her conversations with Chakotay had prepared for most of that. She knew it wouldn’t cover everything but it had to be enough. They only had so much time. At least the continuation of it shouldn’t be that hard. They would have to fake their dates in order keep up appearances and so basically go on those dates to begin with. Eventually they would probably fake a break up in order to get out of it. All would be well.

           Chakotay knew all wouldn’t be well when this was over. He didn’t know what came over him when he suggested that they should fake date. He knew enough about human life to know that this would not end well. Yet he persisted anyways. He knew it was partially because he wanted to be close to Seven. His heart ached for her. He knew that was cliché but he didn’t know how else to describe it. When he looked at her it was like he could barely contain himself in his skin. His chest pounded and he lost his breath time and time again. He did want Kathryn or else he wouldn’t have suggested this but right now he was cursing how stupid he had become. Things would never be the same now with Seven, when this ended badly they would probably barely even been friends. He didn’t know if he could stand that. He hoped that maybe, just maybe, this would all work out. He doubted it but he hoped so badly that this would work out.

He had been slowly falling for Seven before but now he was falling fast and hard. He had gotten more than he bargained for out of this close contact with Seven than he had anticipated and to think this almost turned out to be a boring week. If Seven hadn’t broken the silence he was sure this wouldn’t have happened at all. He wasn’t sure if he was grateful or not. This masquerade would allow him to be close to Seven for a while. It might be worth it just for that. It would have to be or else he wouldn’t be able to live with the after effects. It was a small ship and he knew he would still be working closely with Seven afterwards and he had to deal with the consequences he now created. There would be no other choice. He just hoped that before all of this was over he would have the chance to kiss her at least once.

He was basking in that thought when warning alarms started blaring in his ears. He shook himself out of his reverie.

“What’s going on?” he asked Seven.

“We’ve hit a subspace eddy,” she said as she quickly read her sensor readings. “It’s damaged our port nacelle.”

“I thought you had accounted for all the eddies.” Chakotay maneuvered them away.

“I thought I had. This wasn’t there before.” Seven was frazzled. “There are two more forming in front of us.”

“We need to get out of here. Send all the locations of the eddies to the helm and we’ll see if we can get out of here without any more damage.”

“Understood.” Seven hurriedly tapped her fingers on her console and sent the data needed to Commander Chakotay. She took a breath. They would get through this, Chakotay was an excellent and experienced. pilot.

“Taking us out of here.” He maneuvered the ship upward, the shortest direction out of the nebula.

“Commander! There is an eddy forming right in front of us.”

He wasn’t able to move them away in time and they hit the eddy full on. Something exploded behind the helm and sent Chakotay backwards on to the floor. He hit the floor unconscious.

“Computer transfer the helm controls to ops,” Seven ordered. She looked worryingly at Chakotay but she had to get them out of here before she could do anything. Another direct hit from an eddy could leave them drifting in space. They already couldn’t make more than warp two. She kept a close eye on the sensors and she steered them out of the nebula. She breathed a sigh of relief once they returned to normal space. She sent a distress signal to Voyager and sank to the floor to help the commander.

She first checked for a pulse and finding one she grabbed a tricorder to see if there was anything she could do for him. The burns on his face and hands she could treat simply with a med kit but there were internal issues that the doctor would have to deal with when they got back.

Once she treated his burns she pulled him up into her lap and held him.

“I cannot lose you. It would bring me too much pain,” she whispered to him. His eyes fluttered as if he heard her.

XxXxX

When Kathryn heard that they had received a distress call from the Flyer she was distraught. She couldn’t bare it if anything had happened to them.

           “Take us to them Tom maximum warp,” she commanded. “Bridge to Sick Bay.”

           “Sick Bay here, Captain.”

           “The Flyer has sent out a distress call they may be injured. We rendezvous with them in an hour.”

           “I’ll make sure I’m ready, Doctor out.”

           The hour couldn’t go fast enough. She couldn’t take the anticipation of what had happened to them. She hoped they were alright.

           “Tom,” she started at one point, “if they are injured be prepared to help out the Doctor.”

           “Yes, ma’am. What do you think happened to them?”

           “The Commander said something about subspace eddies before he left. I’m sure it had something to do with that.”

           “Subspace eddies,” Tom commented, “there probably won’t be much of them left.”

           “Lieutenant, your pessimism is not needed.”

           “Sorry, Captain.”

           In truth her own pessimism was ringing in her ears. Hearing Tom say it out loud just seemed to make it worse. She could feel Tuvok’s eyes on her back. She knew he could see her distress. She just hoped that no one else could. If some concern passed on her face she wished it would just be passed off as the general concern she had for her entire crew. She knew everyone on the bridge knew she had a close attachment to the two in danger but she couldn’t let them see that her concern was overwhelming her. She gripped the arm of her chair tightly. She had to keep in control of herself. This is exactly why she couldn’t have romantic relationships on the ship. She could care too much about what was going on with them that she would make mistakes. She couldn’t let her relationships impair her ability to command, her ability to make the hard choices.

           A small part of her mind knew that some of this anxiety came from the fact she thought she as losing them in more than one way. She had a feeling that these two would come back in a relationship and even though she would never enter into a relationship with them she knew that this would ruin any chance she had with them. She liked to imagine herself in a different situation when times were hard and now she wouldn’t even be able to that. She couldn’t lose them in both ways. She needed them at least alive so her friendships with them stayed as much. She could deal with the heartbreak as she had dealt with it many times before but she couldn’t deal with their deaths. XxXxX

           “Voyager to the Delta Flyer,” Kathryn called once they were in range, “if you can please respond.”

           “Delta Flyer here, Captain,” Seven voice came through. Kathryn was glad she was standing her knees had gone weak.

           “What’s your status?”

           “Commander Chakotay is injured. I’m not sure to what extent but he is unconscious. I’m fine but the Delta Flyer is in need of repairs.”

           “Alright I’m preparing to beam the Commander to Sick Bay, Seven, get the Flyer into the shuttle bay when we arrive,” Kathryn ordered.

           “Captain, with all due respect, I would prefer to go to Sick Bay with the Commander. I want to make sure he is alright,” Seven responded.

           “Understood. I will beam both of you to Sick Bay. Voyager out.” Kathryn took a breath. She was glad at least one of them was okay. She hoped that Chakotay would be fine once the Doctor had a chance to look at him. There was a lot the Doctor was able to handle. She has faith that he would be able to fix whatever was wrong with the Commander. “Tom, get to Sick Bay. I want you ready for their arrival.”

           “Yes, Captain.” Tom could tell she was anxious. It was unusual for him to be able to notice it. He guessed that the Captain’s feelings were strong for the Commander whatever type of feelings those may be. He got up from his chair and left the bridge.

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#star trek #star trek voyager #kathryn janeway #seven of nine #fanfiction

[delwin47]

Fanfic (ST:Voy), Blind Draw

In honor of the anniversary of its original air date, I thought I’d re-post a couple of my old “Caretaker” fics over here today. Anyone else have early Voyager fics and want to join the fun?

Summary: Janeway and Paris. Beginning at the beginning and filling in some blanks during "Caretaker".

Originally posted on FFN and AO3

Blind Draw

It is the sheer contrast of expression that demands her attention, despite her better intentions.

The cynicism, the guardedness, the affected arrogance have fallen away leaving... leaving the look of a man who was dying of thirst and has been offered a drink.

Kathryn knows better than to be drawn in. She has her ship waiting for her, with a crew that will no doubt have its share of lost sheep needing attention and care, and a trusted officer who is already in danger and in need of her aid. The man sitting at that table, staring out one of the viewports of McKinley Station that faces not Earth, but open space and endless stars, is an after-thought, his presence an (unasked for) favor to a long-time friend and mentor. She has neither the time nor the inclination to hand-hold him.

Nonetheless, she finds herself approaching his table, curious as to when he will notice her presence, or anything other than those stars in front of him. When he does, the effect is instantaneous – his features falling into practiced lines of politeness. He moves to rise from his chair and she waves him back to sitting with the hand unencumbered by her habitual cup of coffee.

"Captain," he nods his greeting.

"Mr. Paris," Kathryn returns. "Enjoying the stars?"

And whether he doesn't choose to or is unable to mask it in time, there is a flash of emotion in his eyes and a catch in his otherwise casual and off-hand, "I never got used to seeing them from the Southern Hemisphere. And even a right-side up Orion and the Big Dipper can't compare to this," and he gestures generously at the view before them.

She can't help noting the difference in his manner from their encounter planetside. Guarded he might still be, but the particular peevishness? adolescent-pique? that he displayed in New Zealand has been replaced by an almost urbane politeness. And sitting there in his command red Starfleet uniform, she has little doubt that most would assume him to be an officer – until they came close enough to notice that pip-less collar.

Kathryn begins to wonder how many other personas this man can pull on at will.

She is still standing, despite the fact that his last gesture was also an invitation and there is an empty chair in front of her. He waits patiently, undisturbed by her silence and hesitance, acknowledging her age-old right as a superior officer (as an officer – apparently it's not just those at a distance who might be prone to seeing non-existent pips where Tom Paris is concerned) to choose whether or not to join him at the table.

At one of the docking ports in view, a starship begins to power up, pulling her attention away from Paris. The coffee in her hands is beginning to cool, its presence a reminder of the tasks she still has to accomplish in the next few hours. "I'll be leaving for DS9 in the morning; has the rehabilitation board arranged transportation for you once your final paperwork comes through?"

A shadow of a smile crosses his lips and his nod is not only an acknowledgment of her question but also of her decision to keep her distance. And – Kathryn is fairly sure – an expression of approval for that decision. He answers, "I'll be heading out a day behind you; Voyager won't have to wait long for her 'observer'." And then he does stand, knowing that she will take her leave.

She gives a perfunctory smile and a nod of her own. "I'll see you on Voyager then, Mr. Paris. Safe travels," and she turns to leave, the mention of her ship pulling a myriad of pre-mission details to the front of her mind.

"Captain?" Paris calls after her, interrupting her thoughts. She turns back. "Thank you," he says simply and then turns back to his stars, releasing her from any burden of response.

.

"Mr. Paris, take the conn."

The words require a moment – and a double-take in the Captain's direction – to process, and it is still more ingrained habit than conscious decision when he responds, "Yes, ma'am," and moves to relieve Rollins at Voyager's helm. Rollins, in turn, heads up to take over for Tuvok, but Tom's focus is on the controls that his fingers have found of their own accord and on the feel of the ship – alive and responsive – beneath them.

"Maintain transporter locks, Ensign. Emergency beam-out status." Behind him, he hears Janeway's final order to Kim and then the swish of the turbolift doors, almost immediately followed by another blast from the Kazon vessel.

He half turns towards Rollins at tactical, awaiting any order, but the man is focused on his station, apparently unaware that the bridge has once again been left in his hands. Turning the other way, Tom sees Harry at ops, who evidently has made the same observation and looks slightly panicked in response.

Taking a single deep breath, Tom turns back to the helm, entering a series of commands. "Initiating evasive sequence alpha-beta-alpha," he announces to the bridge at large. "Rollins, you should have a clear shot as we come across their starboard bow. Harry," and he can hear in his own voice a confidence that he learned to mimic long before he ever reached Starfleet Academy, "how is that transporter lock?"

The relief in his friend's voice is unmistakeable. "Holding for now. They've arrived on the array."

Tom nods, his hands now steadily dancing across his panel. "Good. Keep an eye on them and let me know if anything changes," and he rolls Voyager away from the Kazon's renewed fire.

.

"You asked to see me, Captain?"

She had, though she almost regrets it as she surveys his expression, which has tightened considerably from when he and Ensign Kim checked in a few hours earlier. Given that and the less than warm welcome that he received from Cavit on the bridge, Kathryn suspects that Tom Paris's sojourn aboard Voyager is not off to the best of starts.

She nods though and indicates the chair on the other side of her desk. As Paris moves to sit, she asks neutrally, "You were able to find your quarters?"

He gives that small smile of acknowledgment. "I was. By the way, your replicators could use some work. I had a heck of a time getting mine to produce a bowl of tomato soup."

She lifts an eyebrow at that, but, having already had her own arguments with the device about the meaning of "coffee: black", lets it pass. She moves to the business on which she has called him to her ready room. "I know you've already given what information you have on the Badlands to my conn officer, but I wanted to have the chance to speak with you about the region myself." Which is partially true, but more, as Voyager approaches danger, she has found herself wanting to get a better read on this unknown variable who has temporarily taken up residence with her crew.

And what is it about the slight twist to that smile that tells her that Paris knows that as well? "What would you like to know, Captain?" he offers, evenly enough.

She picks up a PADD sitting before her. "I've read what little official information Starfleet has on the region, which is less than helpful; and my security officer who is embedded on Chakotay's ship has sent back snippets of information, though his reports are focused on the movements of the Maquis themselves." She glances up at Paris here, but, if he has any reaction to the mention of his erstwhile shipmates, it escapes her notice. "What I'm looking for is firsthand knowledge before I take my ship in." She quirks an eyebrow at him. "You flew through those storms, Mr. Paris: what was it like?"

He gives her an assessing look, as if considering where to begin. "Have you had experience with plasma storms generally, Captain?" he asks.

"Not really," Kathryn answers; few Starfleet officers have. General directives are clear about giving such phenomena a wide berth. Then, she admits, "I've always been curious about them, from a scientific perspective."

A spark of appreciation glints in Paris's eyes. "Your average plasma storm defies prediction, far more than something like an ion storm. While ion storms will typically travel along a straight path, plasma storms can shift direction at any time." He glances over at the viewport of the ready room. "In the Badlands, you have not one, but dozens of active plasma storms in close proximity. Not only are they individually unpredictable, but they can merge and increase force exponentially without warning."

She nods. Some of this has been in Tuvok's reports. "So how do you navigate the unpredictable?"

Likely unconsciously, he gives the barest hint of a shrug. "You avoid them where you can, and ride the waves at the edges where you can't – or when you need to get close." Kathryn gives another nod: Tuvok has also described how the Maquis have been able to use the plasma storms as a weapon against Cardassian pursuers. Paris continues, now somewhat hesitant, "Frankly, Captain, when it comes down to it, a lot of it is just..."

"...instinct?" she finishes.

The corner of his mouth twists again. "Not exactly the explanation a former science officer wants to hear, I'm sure – not to mention a Starfleet captain."

Kathryn chuckles and wags a finger at him. "You might be surprised, Mr. Paris, how much instinct and intuition factor into the work of a science officer – as well as into the decisions of certain Starfleet captains."

And the twist turns into what Kathryn could swear is an honest grin. "You know, I just might at that, Captain."

At which point she makes her own gut decision about the easiest way to get a better grasp on both the Badlands and Tom Paris before Voyager crosses into the storms. It's an idea that Cavit will no doubt be less than happy with, but, then again, every new first officer needs a bit of breaking in.

"When we arrive, Mr. Paris, I'd like to take a shuttle into the Badlands before Voyager enters. Would you be willing to pilot?"

For just a moment, she sees the excitement she's expecting. Paris sits suddenly forward and his fingers visibly twitch. Then, however, altogether unexpectedly, a frown creases his features and he shakes his head. "Captain, I can't recommend that. Voyager may be able to handle the plasma storms, but there is no way that a Starfleet shuttle could without significant modifications. I wouldn't be able to ensure your safety."

As willing as she was a moment before to throw her first officer's expected objections out the airlock, Kathryn finds herself listening to Paris's measured assessment and nodding.

Damn, he would have made – must have made – a fine officer. And she begins to understand both the sheer pride that once sparked in his father's eyes when he talked about 'his Tom' and, for the last two years, the depths of his pain and disappointment.

"All right, then, we'll skip the scouting mission." She lets just a touch of honest regret color her tone as she continues, "Though I would have liked a chance to really study those storms, if only for a short time." And seen Paris handle a shuttle under those conditions. This quiet confidence makes her reconsider whether his whine in Auckland about being "the best pilot you could have" might, in fact, have been the truth and not just the empty boast she had assumed. His hands are now clenched together in his lap, and she wonders how much denying himself the chance to sit at a helm once again has cost him. "We'll be approaching the Badlands in a little under four hours. I'll call you to the bridge when we arrive."

"Yes, ma'am," he acknowledges and then rises and turns to leave. After the door closes behind him, she finds herself staring at it distractedly before pulling her attention back to final reports sent by her security officer before his disappearance.

.

And just when everything was going so well...

"Rollins, are our weapons penetrating that ship's shielding at all?" Tom shouts in exasperation as he banks Voyager hard starboard. The viewscreen shows the lumbering mass of the Kazon's idea of reinforcements – a vessel that could visually define 'mother ship'.

"I'm not reading any appreciable damage to their hull or major systems."

Tom swallows a profanity and calls back to Harry: "Any word from the Captain?"

"She says they need more time." Kim's tone is borderline apologetic, and Tom allows himself a brief moment of self-congratulation as another curse goes unuttered.

Catching the edge of a weapon's blast, Voyager shudders, and Tom ducks her under the belly of the larger ship. The Captain needs more time and he damn well would like to buy her some but, right now, he's running out of options.

Chakotay's voice, coming over the open comm line between the ships, breaks into his thoughts. :Paris, my crew's coming over. Tell one of your crackerjack Starfleet transporter chiefs to keep a lock on me. I'm going to try and take some heat off your tail:

Caught between profound relief at Chakotay's offered aid and amusement at his assumption that Tom has any status on this ship, the pilot shoots back a sardonic reply to the Maquis captain before glancing towards Rollins. "Make sure you keep that lock, okay?"

"I'm holding the lock on him, sir, but he's getting too close."

'Sir'? Tom has a flash of empathy for the emperor in that old children's tale who must have known on some level that he was naked despite the insistence of all around him that he was fully clothed.

But he can see the Val Jean ahead of them, its tail now aflame, and he turns his attention back to the comm line. "I'm getting you out of there, Chakotay."

.

She literally runs into him as she turns in the corridor toward the mess hall. It's deep into the ship's night and she had little expectation of encountering anyone; those crewmen who are awake are on duty making slow repairs as Voyager limps from the array to the neighboring system and the planet towards which the energy pulses appear to be directed. A frazzled and clearly pacing Tom Paris takes Kathryn by surprise.

A frazzled Tom Paris?  Kathryn had been under the impression that the man was unflappable.

"Captain!" he stutters in apology, backing away and rubbing at the nape of his neck. "I wasn't expecting..."

She waves off the apology. "Quite all right. There aren't many people wandering the corridors at this time of night."

Her intonation turns the statement into a question and Paris answers somewhat sheepishly, "Well, I had some energy to burn." And although he avoids her eyes, Kathryn has little difficulty reading the worry in the lines of his face and she remembers his earlier statement on the bridge: "I'd hate to see anything happen to Harry."

She reaches out to touch his arm. "We'll get him back, Mr. Paris," she reassures, with all the confidence which she so recently admitted to Tuvok that she does not feel. Then, on impulse, she gestures toward the mess hall doors. "I was just about to find some late night coffee. Care to join me?"

Paris's surprise is evident and she is struck again by how easily she can now read him. Perhaps he's always this transparent if one catches him during the graveyard shift, but Kathryn suspects it's anxiety for a friend that has caused the shift: it may well have been more than just the stars for which the grounded Tom Paris was starved.

He nods his assent. "Of course, Captain."

Entering the mess hall, she heads for the replicator, explaining breezily as she does so, "The replicator in my quarters and I have been having some disagreements. I thought I might have better luck here. Coffee?" Paris politely declines and she rolls her own dice with Starfleet's most stubborn piece of technology before joining him at the table.

His posture is much the same as it had been that evening at McKinley Station and she can't stop herself from reflecting that it is a very different starscape into which he is staring. "As disorientating as the stars of the Southern Hemisphere?" she asks, indicating the view as she takes a seat.

Paris chuckles in response. "I'll admit that I never expected to be getting to know the constellations of the Delta Quadrant."

"Not exactly the trip you signed up for."

Kathryn means for her tone to be light, but she knows there is some underlying guilt there. Paris hears it, she is sure, and cocks his head towards her. "I think you'll find that I'll be the last to complain about that, Captain."

She sips at her coffee – mercifully unadulterated this time though the temperature still needs some work – and considers asking him how he's faring with the crew. But that would be to admit that it matters, that this little detour of theirs might well last more than a few days, and that is a concession that Kathryn Janeway is not yet ready to make.

Instead she throws over the easier, "So I take it you don't have many friends on Chakotay's ship," curious how he will respond.

Paris snorts. "Not likely. I didn't do much to endear myself to my fellow freedom-fighters while I was among them." As she watches, his jaw tightens. "There are one or two that might have still tolerated me, but seeing me in a Starfleet uniform will no doubt cure them of that." Paris looks back over at her then, his expression once again etched with cynicism. "I seem to have perfected the art of burning bridges, Captain."

Kathryn meets that gaze evenly, brows raised. "And yet you seem to have found a friend in Mr. Kim."

And, as she can now predict, his jaded look falls away to be replaced by that obvious worry. "Harry seems to be the exception to the rule there." He holds her eyes for a moment. "He's one of the good ones, Captain."

Again, she musters confidence and reassurance into her tone. "We'll get him back, Mr. Paris," she repeats. "I don't give up on my people."

.

Tom doesn't bother to hide his relief when the Captain strides back onto the bridge. Particularly with Torres and Chakotay already hovering somewhere just behind his left shoulder, he is more than happy to have this particular situation back under someone else's command.

As a result, his "Yes, ma'am" in response to Janeway's order to move Voyager into position to destroy the array is reflexive, and only after entering the commands – and hearing Torres's virulent objection – does he process what they are about to do.

Destroy the array. Destroy their means to return the Alpha Quadrant. Destroy their one path home.

Except Tom Paris hasn't had a home in years, and the Alpha Quadrant means only a return to a penal colony in New Zealand.

And right now, either by some odd stroke of fate or by some whim of Kathryn Janeway, he is sitting behind the helm of a starship.

Which is why, as the Captain gives the order to fire, Tom is fairly sure his reaction is dynamically different than that of the rest of those occupying Voyager's bridge. In fact, as he watches the impressive destructive effect of the tricobalt devices upon the array, the flippant thought passes through his mind that perhaps he yet has something to learn from this captain about how to burn bridges with a vengeance.

After the array disintegrates and the Kazon move off with their less than veiled threat, the Captain moves up behind him and rests a hand on the back of his chair. "Mr. Paris, consult with Mr. Kim on what's ahead and plot a course for us away from here. I'd like to put some distance between Voyager and this system."

And there again is that confidence, that trust, as if she were speaking to any member of her crew. Wondering if she fully understands the gift she has just handed to him, Tom responds, "Aye, Captain," and prepares to take Voyager into the vast, unknown space before them.

#fanfic #star trek voyager #delwin47 fanfic #voyager anniversary fic

[angsty-violet]

Agony - Chapter 16

Agony Masterpost

@whumptober2020

Tuvok immediately knew that the day was different. Kell’an had been acting different since he had been branded. He talked to him more, chatted about various parts of his life. He had become more open and began to show affection towards him in odd ways. It seemed that his claim on Tuvok had made him more protective. That and the fact that Tuvok had made it further than any of the others.

Kell’an had been visiting regularly, although it had almost begun to feel perfunctory when he tortured Tuvok. The time that seemed to most satisfy him was when they were talking. Therefore, most of the time, he was almost robotic with his tortures. Using the same ones over and over again in different ways. There was none of the same glee and excitement behind his actions.  

However, this time when he entered, the grin on his face was pure joy. He was dragging someone else behind him. Tuvok knew right off the bat that it was one of Kell’an’s own people. He shared the exact same physical features as Kell’an and even bore a resemblance in the way their scales shown in the light. Tuvok hadn’t met any others yet, but he was confident that Kell’an’s people had no idea what he was doing.

If they did, they either couldn’t find where he was keeping his victims, or he was someplace they couldn’t get to. Being denied by the Science Academy was enough to know that they didn’t approve of his methods or of his research. That was likely why both Tuvok and Reinchaln had been other species than his own. There wouldn’t be Kell’an’s own people looking for them.

Kell’an tossed the being to the ground and smiled at them both. “I have to say that this was an amazing idea. Tuvok, you reacted most strongly when there was another involved. You place the lives of others before your own. So, as part of our own going experiment, the two of you are going to decide. One of you will be tortured. One of you will be blindfolded and let go. You have an hour, get talking.”

Tuvok helped the alien sit up against the wall. “My name is Tuvok.”

“I’m Verant. We need to talk about how and why you are here. First, however, I will be the one that remains. You are the one that needs to leave and go get help.”

Tuvok could immediately see why Kell’an had thrown the two of them together. “I can not in good conscience nor in logical thought, allow you to remain here. You are from this planet, you are aware of the terrain, and you are more likely to remember where we have been taken. More than that, should you seek help, they are more likely to believe one of their own kind rather than a strange alien. Logically, the person who has the best chance of actually retrieving help should be the one to leave. I have been here for a while now. I can assure you that I will survive a while longer. He doesn’t plan to kill me; I cannot say the same for you.”

“No, will not allow you to remain here a moment longer if possible. I am responsible for the safety of people, and I can’t let you remain in an unsafe situation.”

“Please, Verant, you must listen to me. He will not spare you. Kell’an has a plan for me that involves keeping me alive. While I am still around, he will not focus on anyone else. His entire focus is on me. That means that this is all just a head trip against me; you don't even matter to him. He wants to either force me to choose my own freedom over your life or to choose to remain with him. Neither of them are good ideas, but he isn’t going to let me go either way. Please, you need to do this. If you really want to save me, you must.”

Verant looked at him uncertainly. The alien turned his head away and sighed. Tuvok was near to the point of getting on his knees. He figured that if his begging hadn’t already sent him over to where he needed to be, nothing would. Verant turned to him and sighed lightly.

  “Crew, this is the Captain. I am once again speaking to you about a matter of great importance. All of you know about our search for Tuvok. We have discovered the origins of the buoy. It is precisely the place that Reinchaln had said it would be. We are only a week away. We have seven days to get the ship in shape. Once again, I am informing you that you may speak out against this. However, I am very confident that if we continue, we will find our missing comrade. You may speak now or privately later. So far, not a soul has spoken out against it.

“I find this very heartening from my crew. As many of you are aware, Tuvok has, in the past, done the same for several of us. Continued even when logic itself dictated that he shouldn’t turn back. However, it is not just his life on the line. It is all of ours. Please, think, but if you feel this is worthwhile, we must finish our repairs.”

There was no dissension from anyone, so Janeway turned off the communicator. For a few moments, it was quiet on the bridge. There was only the sound of people going about their jobs. Then Chakotay spoke up from where he had been sitting quietly.

“I don’t know if I speak for everyone Captain, but I can assure you that I and many others would be more than willing to risk our lives for the chance of retrieving Tuvok. He is more than just a tactical officer or a Lieutenant. He is our friend and our comrade. He had stood with us through some of the worst challenges imaginable, and he has held firm the entire time. I don’t believe we would’ve gotten nearly as far as we did without him. We would go to the ends of the universe for him.”

There was a chorus of agreeing noises from several of the other people on the bridge, and Janeway felt a proud smile touch her lips. She didn’t believe there was another crew anywhere in the universe as loyal and good as hers.

#whumptober2020 #no.16 #forced to beg #star trek voyager #fic #torture #hostage #mind tricks #protective crew #hurt tuvok

[voyagerafod]

Star Trek Voyager: A Fire of Devotion: Part 4 of 4: Hotter Than Hell: Chapter Nine

“Good morning, Mister Carey,” Chakotay said as he passed the engineer in the corridor.     “You seem happier than usual today, sir,” Carey said, stopping and turning around to catch up and match Chakotay’s pace.

“Is it that obvious?” Chakotay asked. “Well, I hear you have reasons of your own to be in a good mood.”     “Word travels fast,” Carey said. “But yeah, my oldest son has qualified for early entry into Starfleet Academy.”     “Congratulations,” Chakotay said.

“All the credit goes to his mother, sir,” Carey said. “I haven’t exactly been able to be there for my boys lately.”

“True enough,” Chakotay said. “But I can’t imagine that finding out their father was not only alive but the assistant chief engineer on the ‘miracle ship’ was anything less than inspiring.”     “Maybe” Carey said. “May I ask what your good news is today sir?”     “I spoke to my sister this morning,” Chakotay said.     “I didn’t even know you had a sister, sir.”     “I don’t talk about her much,” Chakotay admitted. “Or my family in general. There was a lot of tension there for a long time. My Dad’s death, and my joining the Maquis only compounded that. I hadn’t spoken to Sekaya in almost ten years, until today. I really think we might finally get to have the kind of relationship our father wanted us to have.”     “That’s fantastic news, Commander,” Carey said.     “This seems to be the day for it,” Chakotay said. He smiled as he clapped his hand on Carey’s shoulder. “I have to get to the bridge now. Congrats again, Joe. I’m sure your kid will do great.”

“Thank you, sir. Best of luck with your sister.”

---

    Captain Janeway was happy to be speaking with one of her former Academy professors, the now Admiral Hendricks, but even with all the small talk, she got the feeling that there was more to this call than just catching up. Not that she doubted the Admiral was happy to hear her stories about the Delta Quadrant, but he could’ve contacted the ship at any time during the 11 hour window to request a meeting later. This was a request with rank attached to it.     “I have my Admiral hat on today, Kathryn. And I didn’t call just to catch up,” Hendricks said.     “I had a feeling that might be the case,” Janeway said.     “Sharp as ever. Starfleet has a mission for you.”     Janeway smiled. “My first official mission in seven years. I’d actually forgotten how much I missed it.”     “I’m certain not having to answer to anyone above you had it’s perks,” Hendricks said, smiling.     Janeway frowned somewhat. “There have been times,” she admitted, “where it would’ve been nice to have the guidance of those with more experience.”     “Well,” Hendricks said, “there are a handful of members of the Admiralty Board who don’t approve of some of the choices you made out there. They however are in the minority. The rest of us, regardless of our personal feelings, understand full well the extenuating circumstances. If anything, one could argue there were times when perhaps violating Starfleet protocol would’ve been the better choice.

    “But, on with the mission details.”

---

    Chakotay listened to the centuries-old recording from Earth’s history with a warm feeling. He glanced at Lieutenant Paris and could tell Tom felt the same way. Tom looked back at him and simply smiled as if to say “No way the captain's not letting a couple of history buffs like us lead the recovery.”

    “Friendship I,” Harry said. “I remember having to memorize that greeting in grade school.”     “Same here,” Tom said. “I even built a model of the probe when I was a kid. If I were one to believe in fate…”     “I’m tempted too,” Janeway said, “but fate or not, we have our work cut out for us. This probe was launched in 2067. There’s very little chance it has a power signature we can track. Starfleet has given us a search grid. It’s a little off course, so we’re going to lose several days off our trip home, but if we’re lucky enough to find it, we’ll be recovering a piece of history.”

    Chakotay smiled, and looked at the rest of the senior staff. Most of them looked excited. Except of course for Tuvok, but that was to be expected. B’Elanna’s facial expression seemed fairly neutral on the subject, but she was already tapping on a PADD, presumably coming up with ideas for how to narrow the search area down. Seven of Nine, to his surprise, seemed genuinely curious, leaning in to get a better view of the specs for the one-hundred thirty plus-year-old probe on the briefing room monitor.

    “We should get started immediately,” Janeway said. “If anyone has any ideas on how to improve our chances, I’m open to suggestions.”     “On it,” B’Elanna said.     “I as well,” Seven said.     “Alright,” Janeway said. “Dismissed.”     Everyone got up to leave, Chakotay and Janeway exiting last.     “So, how does it feel?” Janeway asked.     “What do you mean?”     “Well, technically, this is the first real order you’ve gotten from Starfleet since you joined the Maquis.”     “I’ve taken your orders,” Chakotay said. “More often than not willingly.”     Janeway chuckled at that.     “In all seriousness though,” Chakotay said, “there are times when I felt like asking you to let the former Maquis crew members have real rank pips instead of the provisional ones.”     Janeway frowned. “Oh my. All this time… You should’ve said something to me sooner. To be honest, after awhile I stopped noticing the difference.”     “I thought that might be the case,” Chakotay said.     “Well, tell you what. Once we find this probe, let’s have a ceremony where we make all the ex-Maquis crew members official.”     “Shouldn’t you clear that with Starfleet command first?”     “What are they gonna do, court martial me?” Janeway said. “Don’t worry about it though. I’ve got friends in high places. And even if I didn’t, something tells me the Federation Council wouldn’t like the bad PR if they mistreated members of the ‘miracle ship’ crew for past infractions. Especially after the Dominion War.”

    Chakotay nodded. “I look forward to it. I’d be lying if I said there weren’t moments where I missed my old uniform. Considering the colony I left it behind on was wiped out by the Jem'hadar several years ago, it’s probably burned to a crisp.”

---

    “Nothing in grid 295,” Harry said, sighing.

    “Mister Paris...” Tuvok said, sitting in the command chair for this shift.

    “Moving on,” Tom said, already entering coordinates to the next grid.     Well, at least one of us still thinks we can find that thing, Harry thought. The past five days have been nothing but blank sensor scans and false positives.

    “Harry,” Tom said, “didn’t you tell me you stayed up all night re-extrapolating the probe’s trajectory?”     “I did, but-”

    “Lieutenant Kim,” Tuvok said, “Do you believe you have a better idea of where the probe may be?”     “Maybe, sir,” Harry said.     “Where?”     “Grid 310.”     “That is not much further from our present location,” Tuvok said. “A detour would add time to the search, but not a considerable amount. Mister Paris, take us to Grid 310.”     “Are you sure you don’t want to run that by the Captain first?”     “She placed me in command for this shift, Lieutenant,” Tuvok said. “She left no instructions beyond standard shift change duties. I do not believe she would take issue with this decision. And if she does, I will take full responsibility for it.     “Can’t argue with that,” Tom said. “Course plotted.”     “Mister Kim,” Tuvok said, “if you were concerned that your suggestion would not be taken into consideration, perhaps you should take additional courses when we return to the Alpha Quadrant on the subject of command. A good commanding officer does not dismiss their subordinates out of hand. It is why, despite our advancements in technology that would make it possible, Starfleet does not allow individuals to command starships alone.”     “I’ll take that under advisement,” Harry said, feeling somewhat embarrassed that he didn’t make the case sooner.

    Several minutes later, an alert noise from his console made Harry smile.     “I’m detecting a titanium signature that matches the probe’s parameters,” he said.     “Location,” Tuvok said.     “A planet, two light years away,” Harry said. “Not exactly where my recalculation put it, but closer than I’d honestly expected.”     “Good job, Harry,” Tom said. ---

    In astrometrics, Seven pulled up the data the long-range sensors had gathered on the planet that was, in all probability, the location of the Friendship I probe.     “The readings Mister Kim found,” she said, manipulating the controls and causing the image of the planet to zoom in, losing some detail, but not so much as to completely obscure the land mass she was focusing on, “are coming from the northern subcontinent.”     “Can you localize them? Janeway said, she and Commander Chakotay staring intently at the screen despite the relative lack of details.     “Unfortunately, no,” Seven admitted. “There is a large amount of antimatter radiation in the atmosphere, scattering the titanium signature. It took some work to narrow down the area of the probe’s landing, or more likely crashing, this much.”

    “Good work, Seven,” Chakotay said. “Any lifesigns on the planet?”     “None,” Seven said. “It is doubtful that life could be sustained on this planet given the amount and nature of the radiation.”     “In that case,” Janeway said, “I really hope there wasn’t a civilization here when the probe crashed. It was powered by antimatter. Commander, put together an away team and take the Delta Flyer down for a closer look. Once we have a more accurate location for the probe, or what's left of it, then we can plan a recovery operation.”     “Aye, Captain,” Chakotay said.     “Have the Doctor prep an inoculation, but take environmental suits anyway. Can never be too careful,” Janeway said. “Looks like Mabor Jetrel’s research is going to aid us once again.”

    “Shame he’s not alive to see how much use we’ve gotten out of his work,” Chakotay said.

---

    Chakotay, Neelix, Harry Kim, and Joe Carey all sat in sickbay, patiently waiting for The Doctor and Tom Paris to give them their inoculations.

    “I took a look at those atmospheric readings,” Tom said, as he pressed a hypospray to Neelix’s neck, then adjusted it to give a dose to Chakotay. “Thermal eddies, gravimetric shear…”     “Let me guess,” Chakotay said, “you want to pilot the Flyer for this mission?”     “Am I being that obvious?” Tom said.     “About as subtle as the first draft of Photons Be Free,” Chakotay said.     “Ha ha,” The Doctor said dryly, rolling his eyes as he gave Carey his inoculation.     “I don’t see why not,” Chakotay said. “Get yourself inoculated and report to the shuttle bay.”

    “I have to ask, Commander,” Neelix said, “why you’re bringing me along.”     “You have experience in salvage operations,” Chakotay said.     “True,” Neelix said, “but then shouldn’t you wait until after you find it?”     “I figure if you’re there,” Chakotay said, “you’ll be able to tell me if what we find is even worth salvaging.”

    “Okay,” Neelix said, “I can see that.”     “I’m just lucky B’Elanna didn’t try to break my nose again when I told her Chakotay picked me for the engineer spot on the mission roster,” Carey said.     “She’s certainly jealous,” Tom said, “but even with the inoculation and the suits, she’d rather not risk the baby on just a scouting run. I imagine it’ll be a hell of an argument if it leads to a full-fledged retrieval though.”     “I bet between the two of us we can talk her down,” Chakotay said. “I’m honestly surprised she’s so interested. History was never her favorite subject as I understand it.”     “I guess my history buff ways have rubbed off on her,” Tom said as he readied his own inoculation. “It’s been months since she’s been on an away mission though, and I can tell she’s getting antsy.”

    “I guess she doesn’t count the time on Quarra,” Carey said. “I would. I mean, apart from the kidnapping, and the brainwashing, it wasn’t the worst time I’ve spent planetside.”

    Tom laughed.

---

    Chakotay looked out through the front viewport of the Delta Flyer as Tom brought it under the clouds, and sighed.

    “Looks like our worst fears may have come true,” he said. “There’s definitely sign of a civilization having been here at some point.”

    “With this level of radiation there’s nothing alive down there now,” Harry said, his own tone echoing Chakotay’s disappointment. “This level of radiation…”     “They always could’ve gone underground,” Neelix said. “There is precedence for that kind of thing. The Vaadwaur for instance.”

    “Or the people we found that time I almost got killed by a simulated evil clown,” Harry muttered.     “Face it, Harry,” Tom said, “that’s not the weirdest thing that’s ever happened to you.”

    “Save the gallows humor for later,” Chakotay said.     “I’ve localized the signature to a three-kilometer radius,” Carey said.     “Transfer the coordinates to the helm,” Chakotay said. “Tom, bring us in for a landing.”     “Yes, sir,” Tom said.

    “If we find a large enough section of the probe,” Chakotay said. “we can use transporter enhancers. Put them around the debris and beam it to the Flyer’s cargo bay.”     “If we’re lucky,” Neelix said, “we may find enough of the probe we can use the enhancers to send the whole thing to Voyager. We might not even need a full recovery mission.”     “That would be fine with me,” Tom said. “Even with the hull protecting us I don’t like being surrounded by this much radiation.”     “We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it,” Chakotay said. “Tom, go ahead and stay with the Flyer. The rest of us will split into two teams of two and use our tricorders to try and find the probe. Carey, you’re with Neelix. Harry, you’re with me.”     “Aye, sir,” Harry said, while Joe Carey and Neelix simply nodded.     The ship shuddered slightly as it landed.     “Suit up,” Chakotay said.

---

    Harry Kim had to constantly wipe snow off the environmental suit’s faceplate in order to see the readings on his tricorder.     Most of the time, he found snow beautiful to look at, but knowing this was the result of a ‘nuclear winter,’ it instead looked ominous to him rather than pretty.     “I’m getting something,” Chakotay said. “Ninety meters, in that direction.”

    “I’m surprised we picked it up first,” Harry said. “Aren’t Neelix and Joe in that direction too?”

    “Maybe they found the same readings but wanted to confirm before hailing us,” Chakotay said. “Let’s head over there anyway. We can always split up again.”

    Harry followed Chakotay, the two eventually reaching a small hill. When they climb up it, Harry gasped at what he saw.     “Are those-?”     “Missile silos?” Chakotay said. “That’s what it looks like. Strong antimatter signatures coming from them.”

    “You got the same readings too?” Joe Carey’s voice said over the comm. Harry turned and looked back to see two Starfleet environmental suits coming up behind them; obviously Carey and Neelix.     “It’s definitely the strongest signal in the area,” Harry said. “We saw some missile silos over the hill. Guessing they have antimatter warheads in them. The signature they give off is strong enough, I think it just lessened our chances of finding the probe.”     “Maybe there’s nothing left to find,” Chakotay said. “What if whatever civilization had been here used the antimatter from Friendship I to develop weapons, and they ended up annihilating themselves in some kind of global war?”     “Makes a tragic amount of sense,” Carey said.     “I wonder if there were any survivors,” Neelix said. “We passed some caves with magnesite making up most of the rock. If people got deep enough there it would’ve at least partially shielded them from the radiation.”

“Which is what I was about to say,” Carey said jokingly.     “Didn’t mean to steal your thunder there, Joe,” Neelix said.     “Nah, don’t worry about… Hey, did you see that?”     “See what?” Chakotay said.     Joe Carey aimed his wrist light back in the direction he and Neelix had come from.     “I thought I saw movement,” he said. “Must be a trick of the light or something.”     “Or maybe the survivors of this war went underground after all,” Chakotay said.     Harry looked at his tricorder. “I’m not detecting any lifesigns.”

    “Maybe we should go back to those caves,” Chakotay said. “Look deeper.”     Before anyone could either agree or offer a counterpoint, several humanoid shapes, all clad in pitch black clothing with only a thin shiny metal plate where eye level would be on a human rushed at them, all brandishing weapons of some sort.     “Get back to the Flyer!” Chakotay called out. Harry bolted, cursing himself for not thinking to suggest the away team bring phasers. Harry turned when he heard thuds, and saw that the bulk of the attackers had already pinned Neelix and Carey, and two more were on Chakotay’s tail.     “Commander!” Harry called out.     “Go! That’s an order, Lieutenant!” Chakotay yelled out as he himself was tackled, leaving only one armed assailant to try and grab Harry. Harry ran as fast as he could manage with the suit, but he heard the humanoid trailing him start to slow down. He didn’t turn to see why, and just made as direct a line he as he could manage to the Delta Flyer, grateful that he was the only team member without a transport enhancer on his back to weigh him down.     “Kim to Paris!” he yelled into his comm.     “What’s wrong, Harry?” Tom said.     “The away team was attacked,” Harry said. “I’m on my way to you now. Suit up and grab a phaser rifle.”     “On it,” Tom said, cutting off the link.     Harry’s chest hurt, his breathing became more labored, but he forced himself to keep going. Soon he could see the Flyer through the snow and made for the entrance that Tom had thoughtfully opened up for him.

    He made his way up several steps before he felt something grip his ankle. He turned and saw his pursuer had managed to catch up without him noticing. He went to kick the humanoid in the face, when a burst of energy struck them in the chest, causing them to let go of Harry as whoever it was slumped to the ground. Harry looked up and saw Tom, wearing an environmental suit and aiming his phaser rifle at the fallen humanoid.     “Bring him aboard,” Tom said. “He might know where the others were taken.”     Harry climbed back down to grab the individual. He was about to tell Tom that they should secure the prisoner, then go back for the others, when the unmistakable sound of weapons fire came from the other side of the Flyer. Tom ducked back inside for a moment. He contacted Harry over the comm.     “Shit, we got incoming. Antimatter based weapons. If I don’t have shields up when they hit we’re dead. Get inside, now. I’m taking off while you secure the prisoner.”

    “But Tom-”

    “Two people are not enough for a rescue mission,” Tom said. “We need to get back to Voyager.”     “Dammit,” Harry said, knowing full well that Tom was right.

---

    The humanoids took Chakotay and the others to the caves that Neelix and Carey had passed earlier. They stripped the away team of their helmets once inside, though the rocks and the inoculation would only protect them from the radiation omnipresent in the air for so long.     Several of the humanoids began beating on them, Carey trying to fight back only to be struck in the head with the butt of a rifle-like weapon. Chakotay tried to swing at Carey’s attacker only to be struck the back himself by two weapons, nearly knocking him to the ground.     “Leave them alone,” a voice called out. A man wearing the same gear stepped in between the Voyager away team and their attackers, removing his mask. Whatever his species looked like before, it was hard to tell, as Chakotay recognized visible signs of antimatter radiation poisoning on his face. He was amazed the man was able to stand upright, let alone talk clearly if it were as advanced a case as it appeared.

    “Who are you? The man said.     “I’m Commander Chakotay. We’re from the Federation starship Voyager. And you are?”     “Verin. What are these?” the man said, picking up Chakotay’s transport enhancer that had fallen to the ground during the struggle. He explained what they were for.     “We planned to use them to retrieve our probe,” he said.     “Probe?”

    Chakotay recounted in as much detail as he could remember the history of Friendship I. He felt like there were details he was forgetting, but chalked that up to a blow to the head he’d taken in the initial attack, before ordering Harry to run.

    “Too bad you didn’t come for it sooner,” Verin said. “It would’ve saved my people so much suffering.”

    Chakotay didn’t say anything. He just looked at the ground.     “You used the technology from the probe to create weapons?” Carey said. “Why would you do that? Friendship I was on a mission of peace!”     “So you say,” Verin said, sounding skeptical at best, believing that Carey was lying at worst. “Secure the prisoners. Find me a way to contact their ship. What is the name of your commanding officer?”     “Captain Kathryn Janeway,” Chakotay said. “I’m sure working together the two of you can find a peaceful solution to this.”     “We’ll see,” Verin said.     The other men, and all the attackers turned out to be men as they removed their masks, took the other transporter enhancers, as well as their tricorders, and moved them over to a nearby table that looked like it had been set up as a makeshift research lab. Two men with rifles stood between the table and Chakotay, though he doubted he’d be able to avoid getting shot if he went for the table anyway.

    And even if I did, he thought, nothing they took from us can be used as a weapon.

    “Verin,” someone Chakotay couldn’t see shouted. “I’ve found their ship in orbit. I can establish communication with them.”   

    “Do it,” Verin said.     “This is Captain Kathryn Janeway,” the captain's voice came over a crackling speaker. “Who am I speaking with?”     “My name is Verin. Your crewmen are my prisoners.”     “Why? We haven’t done anything to harm you,” Janeway said.     “You committed genocide,” Verin said, getting noticeably angrier as he spoke.     “I think there’s been a misunderstanding. We arrived-”     “You’re from Earth?” Verin said.

    “Yes,” Janeway said.     “Then you’re going to pay for what your people did to us,” Verin said.     “I’m sorry, I honestly do not know what you’re talking about. We came here looking for a probe we lost contact with over a hundred-”     “We’re not as naive as you seem to think we are, Captain. Not anymore.”     They blame us for what they did to themselves with the antimatter from the probe, Chakotay thought. That kind of poor logic, that much anger, this is going to end badly, I just know it.

“What is it you want?” Janeway said.     “I want you to get us off this planet,” Verin said, now facing Chakotay and the others. “Find us a new home.”     “Release my crew and we can talk about it,” Janeway said.     “No talking. Your people won’t be safe until mine are,” Verin said.     “We’ve only met so you wouldn’t know this about me,” Janeway said, “but I don’t respond well to threats.”

“And I don’t want to kill anyone, but I will if you don’t cooperate! You have three hours to begin evacuating us.”

---

“Tuvok, begin scanning for any M-class planets within sensor range,” Janeway said. “If we can’t find a way to get our people out of there, we may have to capitulate.”     “Sickbay to the Bridge,” The Doctor’s voice said over the comm. “The Delta Flyer brought back a prisoner. One of the attackers who grabbed the away team, and almost got Mister Kim. He’s awake if you wish to speak with him.”     “I’m on my way,” Janeway said. “Have Harry and Tom wait there.” She quickly headed for the turbolift and made her way to sickbay at a steady clip. She wanted to run, but knew that shaving mere seconds off her interrogation time wouldn’t likely mean anything.     When she arrived, The Doctor was scanning some sort of protective suit.     “It’s the alien’s garment,” he said upon noticing her enter. “It’s lined with magnesite.”

“A makeshift environmental suit?” Tom said. “Pretty clever to throw something like that together out of cloth and rocks.”

“Unfortunately,” The Doctor said, “the protection it offers is limited. His tissues are saturated with antimatter radiation. It explains why we couldn’t detect any lifesigns. His people are virtually indistinguishable from the environment.”

“Now that we know that,” Janeway said, “maybe we can adjust our sensors to detect them. Harry, go work with Seven.” She walked over to the alien, strapped into a bio-bed. He appeared angry, but his body language suggested to Janeway resignation, as if he expected to never get up again.

Don’t assume, Janeway reminded herself. For his people, that could be a gesture of arrogance, or sadness, or anything.

“Why did you attack my people?” Janeway said.     “I did what I had to,” the alien said. “Whatever it takes to undo the damage you caused.”

“If you’re referring to what’s happened to your planet,” Janeway said, “we had nothing to do with it.”

“Your species sent the probe, didn’t it?”     “300 years ago, to make contact with other species.”     “You did more than that,” the alien said. He looked around. “Surprisingly few walls for a prison.”

“This isn’t a prison,” The Doctor said. “The restraints are only because you attacked a member of our crew. This is sickbay. I am treating you for prolonged radiation exposure.”     “You can treat me?”     “I believe I can, once I know more about your people's biology.”     “In exchange for what?”     “Nothing,” The Doctor said. Janeway had wished he hadn’t said that, but she supposed it was too late to take the ‘bad cop’ route now.     “We might be able to help all your people,” Janeway said, “Mister?”     “Otrin,” the man said. “You may not believe this, but I am a scientist.”     “If your specialty is biology,” The Doctor said, “you are in a better position to help me with your treatment.”     “We’ll help you now, Otrin,” Janeway said, “and I want to share anything we develop here with the rest of your people, but I can’t just give it away while my people are held hostage. What guarantee do I have they won’t be harmed the minute we send you back with medical aid?”

Otrin sighed.     “I can’t give you one,” he said. “That decision lies with Verin, and he is quick to anger.”     “When you said ‘the damage we caused,” Tom Paris chimed in, having been so quiet up to now that Janeway had almost forgotten he was there, “what did you mean by that? Harry said he and the others found missile silos. We certainly didn’t build those.”

“Those silos are still full,” Otrin said. ‘The missiles were only built for defense, they never launched.”

    “Then what caused the devastation my people saw?” Janeway said.     “A containment failure in our power grid,” Otrin said.     “You blame us for a failure at one of your power plants?” Janeway said, crossing her arms.     “Before the probe,” Otrin said, sounding defensive, “my people had never conceived of anything like antimatter. Once it was released in the failure, it destroyed everything. We wouldn’t have had it if it weren’t for you. ‘We offer this information freely, with the hope that one day we will stand on your soil and extend our hands in friendship.’”     Janeway recognized the words from the recording that had been sent out on Friendship I. Only Otrin spoke them with bitter sarcasm.

    “The recording from the probe,” Tom said.     “Your people sent us technology you knew would destroy us,” Otrin said.     “That doesn’t make any sense,” Janeway said.     “Of course it does,” Otrin said. “We’ve had decades to ponder it, and now it seems so obvious. You send us new technology, encourage us to use it, and then wait for us to obliterate ourselves.”     “Oh, come on,” Tom said. “That’s absurd. You kidnapped our friends based on a conspiracy theory?!”     “Tom, calm down,” Janeway said. She knelt down to look Otrin directly in the eyes. “My helmsman’s outburst aside Otrin, he is right about one thing. You say you’re a scientist. Presumably you value reason and logic. Where’s the logic in contaminating a world we’d seek to conquer if your theory were true?”

    “It’s easier than invading us,” Otrin said with such certainty Janeway doubted she’d ever be able to convince him otherwise.     “Today,” Otrin said, “I saw your people standing on our soil, just as the recording promised. And they were wearing protective suits. Suits that blocked the radiation in the atmosphere.”

    “We couldn’t even see that there had been civilization on your world when we entered orbit,” Janeway said. “My people wore the suits because all we could see with our sensors was radiation.”     “If you were in my position, Captain, what would you believe?”     Janeway glowered at Otrin, but wasn’t sure what to say. Otrin was wrong of course, but based on his perspective, from where he was standing his conclusion was perfectly logical. She wondered if maybe she would’ve reached the same conclusion in his place.

---

    A visibly pregnant Uxali woman, Uxali being the name of this planet’s people as Chakotay had learned, handed him a crudely made ice pack that he proceeded to place on Joe Carey’s head.

“Thank you,” Chakotay said, appreciating that the woman, Brin, had had to argue with Verin to allow this much interaction with the hostages.     “I think he might have a concussion, Commander,” Neelix said, helping keep Carey upright and awake.     “Sounds about right,” Carey said, groaning as the ice pack was applied.     “I don’t suppose you could convince Verin to let us have the medpack from my suit,” Chakotay said.     Brin shook her head.     “I figured as much,” Chakotay said. “So, when’s your baby due?”     Brin didn’t answer and started to walk away. Chakotay decided to keep trying, Hopefully building a rapport with some of the Uxali, any of them, could help ease the tension of this situation and possibly save their lives.     “A couple of my friends are expecting a little girl in a few months,” Chakotay continued. “She’s got her mother’s forehead ridges and her father’s eyes. If they’ve chosen a name for her though they haven’t told me yet.”     “How do they know it’s a girl?” Brin said.     “We have technology that lets us see the fetus,” Chakotay said. “Tom and B’Elanna, those are my friends, were kind enough to share images with the rest of the crew.”     “Hmm,” Brin said.     “Is this your first?”     “No. Two boys and a girl. They were all stillborn.”     “I’m sorry,” Chakotay said.     “Are you a doctor?” Brin asked.     “No,” Chakotay said. “Just using some basic first aid to help my friend here. To get him proper treatment we’d need to get him to my ship’s doctor. He’s probably the best in the quadrant, maybe he could-”     “I shouldn’t be talking with you now,” Brin said, walking away. It seemed that despite her willingness to help with Carey’s immediate problem, she still held as much bitterness towards them as the others.     “I wish we had more details about what happened,” Neelix said. “If Verin would tell us more about the disaster I bet we could prove that none of this was Earth’s fault.”     “I doubt he’d believe us even if we had anything short of whatever deity or deities he believes in, if any, vouching for us,” Chakotay said. “Some of the worst atrocities committed by humanity before First Contact were caused by people who believed things that were provably false. As late as the Eugenics Wars there were people who were convinced beyond reasoning that the moon landings of the 20th century were fake.”

---

    Tuvok pulled up a star map, and even before he started talking about what the images represented, Captain Janeway knew she wasn’t going to like what she heard.     “This is Voyager’s current location,” Tuvok said, a small yellow triangle on the map appearing in one grid. A line extended from the triangle representing Voyager to another point on the map. When it stopped, a long-range sensor image of a planet appeared. “This is the nearest M-class planet; approximately 132 light years away.”

    “At maximum warp,” B’Elanna, standing between Janeway and Tuvok, said, “that’s two months, round trip.”

    “How many people are we talking about?” Janeway said.     “If the sensor modifications developed by the Doctor and Mister Kim are accurate,” Tuvok said, “approximately 5500. That would take seventeen trips adding up to at least three years to complete the relocation.”

    “We can’t do this,” B’Elanna said. “Logistics aside, there’s no way he’d let our people go until the relocation was done, and I’d rather not have both my oldest friend and my right hand man rotting down there for three years.”     “The use of force may be required,” Tuvok said.     “Not until we’ve exhausted every other option,” Janeway said. “These people believe that we’re violent. I don’t want to do anything to reinforce that idea unless absolutely necessary.”

---

    Seven of Nine entered sickbay, but waited for the Doctor to finish his current task rather than risk interrupting him. She’d heard about the man, Otrin, and his condition, and she was certain she could help.     “Seven,” The Doctor said. “What brings you here today?”     Seven handed the Doctor a small container. “I have extracted a small number of nanoprobes. I believe you can reprogram them to aid in the treatment of this individual.”     “What? Otrin said.     “Is that wise?” The Doctor said. “I mean…”

    “It has worked before,” Seven said.     The Doctor stepped closer and leaned in to whisper to Seven.     “Need I remind you that the last time we tried something like this our morale officer ended up almost committing suicide?”     “Nanoprobes?” Otrin said, sounding concerned.     “Microscopic machines,” Seven said, walking past The Doctor to speak with the alien scientist directly. “Hopefully, they will help us repair your damaged tissue.”     “You said you extracted them,” Otrin said. “Are they yours?”     “Yes. They maintain my cybernetic implants. If you are concerned for my health, they self-replicate, so I can extract a number of them safely. Too much would be dangerous, however, I believe the number needed to treat you is small enough that removing them was no inconvenience.”

    “Are others on your crew like you?” Otrin said.

    “Only myself and my son,” Seven said.     “Isn’t it risky carrying a child with cybernetic implants?”     “He’s adopted, actually. He-”     “Okay, okay, the patient doesn’t need your life story, Seven,” The Doctor said. “I’ll start reprogramming the nanoprobes. I’ll test them on a sample of Otrin’s tissue before I even think about injecting him though.”     “I’m surprised you’re so concerned with my well-being Doctor, given how my people have several of yours hostage.”     “Mister Otrin,” The Doctor said before entering sick-bay’s side lab, “once this is over I’ll be more than happy to teach your people’s physicians about a little thing called the Hippocratic Oath.”     The door to sickbay opened and Captain Janeway walked in. If she was surprised to see Seven there she hid it well.     “I need to speak with Otrin,” she said. Seven nodded.     “The Doctor is in the lab,” she said. “We’ve found a way to accelerate the patient's treatment.”

    “Good,” Janeway said, not even looking at her. To Otrin she said, “Earlier, you told me you’ve been looking for ways to neutralize the radiation in your atmosphere.”     “All my life,” Otrin said.     “Tell me about your work,” Janeway said. Seven raised an eyebrow, thinking she should hear this as well.

---

    Joe Carey groaned, and Neelix knelt by his side to check the bandage on his head.     “It’s not that,” Carey said. “I’m feeling queasy all of a sudden.”     Chakotay sighed. “Our inoculations must be wearing off. Even with the natural shielding these caves provide, they’re no substitute for an environmental suit.”

    Neelix couldn’t argue with that.     “Maybe I can try to connect with Verin,” he said after a few moment’s thought.     “What do you mean?” Chakotay said.     “I’m Talaxian,” Neelix said. “I know all too well what it’s like to belong to a species that blames someone else for their failings. I can tell him about the war with the Haakonians, how they never would’ve used the metreon cascade if we hadn’t made them so desperate-”     “It’s an admirable thought, Neelix,” Chakotay said, shaking his head. “But if Verin’s as much as a zealot as I think he is, he either won’t believe you, or he’ll think you’re a traitor for not fighting in your people's war.”

    Neelix wasn’t so sure about that, but he decided he’d defer to the commander. For now at least.     “You,” Verin said. Neelix turned and saw that he, and two armed guards, were pointing at him, directly. “I wish to speak with you.”     “Me?” Neelix said. “Why?”     “You are not human, like them.”     “I’m not human, true,” Neelix said, “but I’m far from the only non-human aboard Voyager. If you bothered to learn anything about us before making threats, you’d realize the Federation is made up of hundred of species. None of them conquered by the way.     “Now, unless you are ordering me to go with you,” he added, putting a hand on Joe Carey’s shoulder. “This man may have an injury to his brain. It’s my responsibility to keep him awake until we can get proper medical care for him.”

    “Did they send a probe full of antimatter to your world too?”     “No,” Neelix said. “But this man,” he motioned towards Chakotay, “knows much more about his homeworld’s history than I do.”     “Chakotay, your name is, correct? Brin told me about you. Second-in-command. A very high-value hostage. I imagine your being here is providing great incentive to your captain to help us. If not...”

    “Verin, Voyager is attempting to contact us,” another man said.     “Put her through,” Verin replied.     “I assume you are calling us to arrange for the start of relocation, Captain,” Verin said.

    “No,” Janeway said. “The nearest suitable planet is simply too far away.”     “I don’t care!” Verin shouted.     “Listen,” Janeway said in a level tone of voice. “We can’t have a successful negotiation if you won’t let me finish a sentence. If you want your people to get the help they need, we both need to keep calm.”     Verin took in a deep breath. Neelix couldn’t see his face though, which worried him. The communication was sound only, which put the Captain at a disadvantage; she couldn’t look for any ‘tells’ that Verin might have.     “Continue,” he said.     “I have a possible alternative. We have one of your people aboard, a Mister Otrin. He has some interesting ideas about counteracting the radiation.”     “Otrin has many ideas,” Verin said. “I only listen to about a third of them.”

    “I believe his theories have merit,” Janeway said. “What he’s lacked until now is the means to carry them out. I’ve already granted him access to my ship’s labs. If you release the hostages and come aboard yourself, Ostrin and I can show you. We both are convinced we can undo at least some of the damage done to your environment by the power plant safety failure.”

    “This is just a stalling tactic,” Verin said.     “No it isn’t,” another voice said.     “Otrin?” Verin asked.     “Yes. I am alive. And insulted, I might add. A third?”     “The point is,” Janeway said, “it would take three years to get all of your people moved to another planet. My ship is the only Federation vessel within 30,000 light years.”

    “So once again, you offer us the ‘benefits’ of your technology,” Verin said, starting to wave his arms around. Neelix got a good look at his face as he moved around and saw that he was agitated, and angry. Nothing Janeway was saying was unreasonable. If Verin had been asking for evidence that would be one thing, but he was beyond skepticism and into full-fledged paranoia.

    “I’m offering a realistic alternative,” Janeway said. “I doubt you want my people down there for three years any more than I do.”     “If I release the hostages,” Verin said, “what’s to prevent you from leaving? Or attacking us?”

    “I don’t blame you for not trusting us,” Janeway said. “If I were in your place I might reach a similar conclusion, but-”     “You talk about trust,” Verin said, “but you’ve yet to do anything to make me believe I should even consider trusting you.”     “Then how about a small step,” Janeway said. “You return one of the hostages, and I’ll send a supply of food and medicine.”     Verin looked down. Neelix saw that he was looking at the transporter enhancers he’d taken off the away team.     “Which one of you can show me how to use these?” he said.     “I can,” Chakotay said.     “Commander,” Carey said, trying to sit up.     “I appreciate the effort, Joe,” Chakotay said. “But with your head injury you’d probably put them together backwards.” He added a smile. “Don’t worry. I’ll make sure you’re the one sent back so the Doctor can take care of your head.

    Neelix had a feeling, a voice in the back of his mind telling him to stand up and go in the commander’s place, but before he could protest, Chakotay had already walked over to stand next to Verin.

---

    “Impressive, Commander,” Verin said as Chakotay locked the last transporter enhancer in place. “Now, get inside the triangle you’ve created.”     Chakotay frowned.     “I have a wounded man,” he said. “He needs-”     “This will give your Captain more incentive to remain true to her word,” Verin said. “And by sending you back, the most valuable member of her crew, she’ll know I am serious about what I say.”     Chakotay didn’t like the tone of Verin’s voice, but with armed men all over the cave there wasn’t much he could do. Only a few of them had their guns out, but that fact wasn’t enough to justify the risk.     He looked back at Neelix and Joe Carey.     “I’m sorry,” he said, “I’ll make sure this is resolved as quick as possible.”     “Commander?” Neelix said.     “He’s sending me back. Not my idea. Make sure Lieutenant Carey doesn’t pass out.”     “I promise,” Neelix said, looking worried. Chakotay stood in the center between the three transporter enhancers.     “Your man is ready to transport, Captain,” Verin said.     “Very good,” Janeway said. “Beam him to sickbay,” she added to someone on the bridge.     “Is there anything you’d like me to tell the Captain?” Chakotay asked. He felt the tingle of a transporter lock, temporarily immobilizing him as it prepared to break down his component atoms for transport.     “You won’t need to say anything,” Verin said, picking up a rifle off a nearby table and pointing it at Chakotay.     “No!” he heard Neelix yell as Verin took aim and-

---     “Bridge to sickbay, what happened?” Janeway yelled, having heard Neelix shout and the sound of gunfire.     “I- I’m sorry,” The Doctor said, sounding as though he were about to cry; a change he had not yet added to his subroutines though he had considered it in the past. “Commander Chakotay is dead.”

    The bridge went silent. Janeway gripped the railing by the auxiliary tactical console where she’d been standing when she gave the order to Harry to activate the transporter. She felt like she was about to fall over. She stole a glance at the console, and saw the button that would launch a barrage of torpedoes and for what felt like years, she seriously contemplated it.

    “Why?” Otrin yelled. “Verin, you idiot! Do you honestly believe they will help us after what you’ve just done?”

    “Don’t force me to kill anyone else,” Verin said. “We’ve suffered for decades. Three years won’t make that much difference. I will come along with the first wave. Once I see my people settled, we will return here, and you can send a medic to treat your Mister Carey. You have one hour to begin modifying your transporters for large groups.”

    “I can’t-” Janeway started to say, but the sound of a comm channel closing cut her off.

    “Harry, Tom, Tuvok, my ready room. Now.” Janeway said.

---

    Neelix focused on helping Joe Carey stay awake. He had to, it was the only thing keeping him from either crying or attacking the nearest Uxali in a fit of what he knew would be ultimately impotent rage. Several Voyager crew members had died in the seven years he’d been with the ship. He hadn’t been close to all of them, but that didn’t make the loss he felt any lesser. This though was something different. Of all the deaths, Chakotay was the one he’d been the closest to. The two of them had faced death together. That was the kind of bond between sentients that few ever understood and even fewer had actually experienced.

    “Is the Commander alright?” Carey asked weakly, struggling to keep his eyes open.     “I don’t know,” Neelix lied, seeing the image of the top of the Commander’s head exploding in his mind’s eye over and over again. Not even The Doctor, amazing as he was, could bring a crewmember back from that.     “You’re suffering radiation sickness now,” a soft voice said. Neelix only then realized that Brin was in front of him and Carey, handing them each a bowl of some kind of herb or vegetable. “This should help with the symptoms.”     “Why are you helping us?” Neelix said.     Brin didn’t respond. She simply made sure they had their respective bowls, then walked away.     “Probably figures we aren’t good hostages if we’re dead,” Carey said, closing his eyes. “I’m just gonna take a nap now.”     “No, you’re not,” Neelix said, lightly slapping the side of Carey’s face. I’ve lost one friend today already, he thought.

---

    When Janeway walked in to sickbay, the Doctor stood between her and the bio-bed where Chakotay's body was, his arms crossed. She saw the body was completely covered in a large sheet, so much so that she couldn’t even make out the frame of her friend and first officer.

    “I know why you’re here, Captain.”     “Can I see him?”     “I don’t think you should,” The Doctor said.     Janeway glowered at The Doctor. “This is not the time to pull medical rank with me.”

    “I’m not telling you this as a doctor,” The Doctor said. “I’m telling you this as your friend. I don’t want you, or anyone for that matter, to see him as he is now. If I could, I’d forget too, but we already know what happens when we try to alter my memories like that.”     Janeway sighed.     “Tell me,” she said, closing her eyes.     “It was a crude weapon. A sort of ugly hybrid between an energy weapon and a solid projectile. The top third of his head, it was just, gone when he beamed in. There was nothing I could’ve done. I just wish there was a nicer way I could’ve put that, but at the same time I think you understand now why I don’t want to let you see the body.”     Janeway flinched somewhat when The Doctor used the word ‘body,’ as if somehow that made this more real than it already was. She heard the door to sickbay open and turned in time to see a very concerned looking Jaffen walk in.     “Kathy, I heard what happened,” he said, He took her in his arms. She made no effort to resist him, but she couldn't bring herself to hold him back. “Are you holding up okay?”

    She considered lying, but the only other people who could hear were the man she loved, and a man bound by confidentiality.     “I’m holding it together for the sake of the crew,” she said. “But I really, really want to hurt someone right now. Federation principle be damned, I want to dig my thumbs into Verin’s throat. He’s lucky he’s not here. And I’m lucky my crew is. They need me to be their rock right now.” She closed her eyes and leaned into Jaffen. “And I need you to be mine.”     “I hate to do this, Captain,” The Doctor said, “but I would prefer if you remained outside while I performed the autopsy.”     The word ‘autopsy’ was when Janeway finally started to cry.     I need to get this out of my system before I go back to the bridge, she thought. The rescue mission-     “Damn,” she said.     “What is it?” Jaffen asked.     “Doctor, in my… grief, I forgot to tell you why I came to see you. We need you, and Mister Otrin’s former clothes, for the rescue mission Mister Tuvok and I devised.”     “What do you need me to do, Captain?”

---

    Neelix looked up when he heard a loud groan. He saw Brin, clutching her stomach as two Uxali women came to help her walk. It didn’t take much more for Neelix to realize that the woman had gone into labor.     “Help them,” Joe Carey said.     “I don’t have a lot of experience with-” Neelix said.

    “I can talk you through it,” Joe said. “What I can remember anyway. I was there when my kids were born.”

    Neelix shook his head. “I’d be happy to help any way I could, but there’s no way Verin would let me.”     “Can you help?” Neelix heard Verin say, unaware that the man had heard them. He looked at Verin with undisguised anger.     “After what you just did?”     “The baby is too soon,” Verin said, sounding for the first time like something other than full of rage. “She thinks you can help. I still don’t trust you, but there are so few of us left.”     Neelix took in a deep breath.     “Okay,” he said. “Bring her over here. Mister Carey will help me as best he can. I’ll also need one of the medkits you confiscated from us.”     Neelix got to work, trying to remember the few things he picked up about the process from when Samantha Wildman had gone into labor years ago when Naomi was born.     I just hope Uxali births are similar enough to humans, he thought.     Neelix caught an armed Uxali man run up to Verin and whisper something to him. Verin went over to a nearby console and pushed several buttons. “Send a patrol. Double the guards at the entrance,” he said.     Neelix wondered if it was a rescue mission from Voyager.     If so, he thought, I appreciate the effort, but they picked a really bad time.

---

    The Doctor, wearing Otrin’s now discarded makeshift radiation suit, pointed an Uxali rifle at Tuvok.     “I got one of them,” he yelled in a distorted voice, and hoped that none of the several armed Uxali who approached realized he wasn’t one of the other patrol members that the rest of the away team had scattered with a barrage of phaser rifle fire.     “I’ll take him to Verin,” The Doctor said, grabbing Tuvok by the arm of his environmental suit. “Find the others.”     The other Uxali did exactly that, and The Doctor was grateful the deceit was working so far. Once he was sure they were out of sight and earshot, he slid the handphaser he’d been hiding in his disguise out and handed it to Tuvok, who proceeded to hide it again, this time in the place where the suit’s medkit would normally be.     “Lieutenants Kim and Ayala should have the rest of the patrol immobilized shortly,” Tuvok said. “We should make haste to the caves nonetheless.”     “Agreed” The Doctor said.     “You should also keep the rifle in your hands pointed at my back for the sake of appearances, in case we are seen before reaching the entrance.”     The two made their way through the snow. The Doctor had never personally witnessed a nuclear winter before. He found it paradoxically both beautiful and macabre. Once they were inside the entrance of the cave, and past the guards, he walked Tuvok right up to Verin, honestly surprised that no one had questioned his identity thus far.     “Put him with the others,” Verin said, motioning for Tuvok to be moved near Neelix and Carey. The Doctor looked and noticed that the two men were surrounded not by armed Uxali, but by unarmed ones, including a woman cradling an infant. “You should thank whatever Gods you believe in that Janeway sent you down at this moment. Because your friends there saved the life of that newborn boy, I’ll forgo executing any of you for this. But if it happens again, I swear to you-”     “Now,” Tuvok said.     The Doctor had a phaser set on stun in his hand in seconds, dropping Verin quickly while Tuvok took out his own weapon. Within seconds every armed Uxali was unconscious, The rest appeared scared as The Doctor removed the suit’s helmet while Tuvok contacted Voyager to let them know the mission was a success.     “Doctor?” Neelix said.     “When you need to infiltrate a toxic environment,” The Doctor said, “it helps if you’re a hologram. I just wish we’d thought of this sooner.”

    “Doctor,” Neelix said, “this baby needs your help. I don’t think he’ll survive without treatment.”     The Doctor walked over to the newborn, and scanned him.     “You’re right, he’s already suffering from radiation exposure, even with all the magnesite. Ma’am? You should come with us.”

    “But-” the woman said,     “Brin,” Neelix said, “this is the best Doctor within a hundred light years. He can help you, and your son. Let him.”     “I’ll need to treat Mister Carey immediately, too,” The Doctor said, running his medical tricorder over the assistant chief engineer while Neelix talked to the woman he’d called Brin. “Luckily there shouldn’t be any permanent brain damage.”     “I’d feel better if you just said no brain damage without the qualifier, Doc,” Carey said.     “The fact that you can crack a joke right now is a sign that you’ll recover quickly,” The Doctor said.     “Okay,” Brin said. “But you have to promise me you’ll send us back.”     “We promise,” Neelix said, offering her a hand to help her up.

---

    “He’s already responding to treatment,” The Doctor said as Janeway looked down on the Uxali infant. Janeway looked at the boy’s mother, sleeping peacefully in a biobed, receiving treatments of her own like those Otrin had been receiving. After only a day the latter Uxali had lost almost all visible signs of radiation poisoning, giving the Voyager crew their first look at what the species had looked like before the disaster.

    “How’s Joe doing?” Janeway asked.     “Bed rest, for now,” The Doctor said. “I think because of a combination of his concussion and shock his mind couldn’t process what happened to Commander Chakotay. It’s a bit early to tell, but I’m recommending he speak with a specialist on Earth at the first opportunity. He’s almost certainly going to be dealing with survivor’s guilt once he’s fully recovered.”

    “Once the baby and the mother are well enough,” Janeway said, “transport them and Otrin to the surface, along with some food and medical supplies. I can’t condemn the entire race because of what Verin did, as tempting as it is. Chakotay would never forgive me.”     “We’re leaving?” Neelix said. Janeway hadn’t realized the Talaxian was awake. He hadn’t appeared to be when she came to sickbay. The Doctor had said he’d been fortunate not to be as affected by the radiation as Mister Carey, but that The Doctor used triage to determine that Carey and the newborn needed treatment first.     “Once we’ve returned our guests, and as soon as I report to Starfleet,” Janeway said.     “Captain, once we send them back they’re just going to get sick again. Didn’t you say there might be a way to neutralize the radiation?”     “Yes,” Janeway said. “But they made it clear they didn’t want our help.”     “Verin didn’t want our help,” Neelix said.

    “And he killed Commander Chakotay,” Janeway said. “I won’t waste time and resources helping murderers.”

    “I’m not saying we should forget what happened,” Neelix said, “but if you saw how they were living, how desperate they are-”     “That’s enough, Mister Neelix,” Janeway said.     “What would Chakotay say if here were here right now?” Neelix said. Sickbay seemed to get quiet, the tension between the Captain and Neelix growing palpable. She looked around and saw The Doctor trying very hard to avoid looking at them, scanning the infant again even though he had just done that a moment ago.     Janeway just glared at Neelix, keeping her mouth shut. She considered Neelix a friend and she just knew that if she said what was on her mind in that moment that could ruin that forever.     “It wasn’t intentional,” Neelix said, “but that probe had a terrible impact on these people. Yes, the fault lies mostly with them for not securing the core of their power plant properly. But not entirely. Humanity bears a portion of the blame too. Isn’t that what Chakotay would be telling you right now?”     Janeway thought about it. She wanted to say, “No,” but she knew deep down that that would be a lie.

    “He’d want us to at least try to help these people,” she said quietly. She sighed and looked at The Doctor. “I’ll be in engineering.”

---

    Seven resented having to be in engineering right now. She wanted to be with her family. She felt they needed her this day more than ever. Each of them had suffered loss before. They’d all felt sad before, but the Commander’s death had affected all of them deeply. Icheb even expressed a desire for revenge, something he’d never done before.

    But the Captain had insisted she aide Otrin in engineering, so here she was, waiting for Captain Janeway to arrive so that Otrin, herself, and Ensign Vorik, filling in for an injured Joe Carey and a grieving B’Elanna Torres, could demonstrate what they’d developed to help the Uxali.     The entire crew felt the sting of the Commander’s loss of course, but it was unsurprising that B’Elanna, who had known him longer than anyone aboard Voyager, had taken it the hardest.     When Janeway came in, Otrin wasted no time.     “I’ve changed the radiation levels in this canister here to match conditions on the surface,” he said. “I’ve also added an agent to the air in it that will allow you to see the radioactive particles.”

    “That explains why it looks like a rain cloud in there,” Janeway said.     “Exactly,” Otrin said. “Now, watch.” He added a device to the side of the canister and activated it.     “If this works as we believe it will,” Seven said, “An isolitic chain reaction will occur.”     “Meaning?”     “It recombines the nucleonic particles in the atmosphere,” Vorik said. “The results will not be instantaneous. How-”     Vorik’s sentence was cut off by a glow coming from the canister. Janeway took a step back, but Seven raised her hands in a calming gesture.     “This reaction from the air inside the canister was expected, Captain,” she said.     The glow got brighter for a half a second, then appeared to vanish, leaving the canister empty.     “Good work,” Janeway said. “How do we apply your methods on a planetary scale?”     “Atmospheric processors are one possibility,” Seven said.     “Too bad we don’t have a corp of engineers on hand to build them,” Janeway said.     “True,” Seven said.     “What if we infused some photon torpedoes with the catalytic agent and used the concussive force to start the reaction?” Janeway said     “That would be the fastest way to do it,” Otrin said. “But it would look like an orbital attack from the caves. Verin could easily use it to rally the other survivors around him.”     “What could they do to us from down there?” Janeway said, her tone suggesting a legitimate question rather than arrogant dismissal.     “The unused antimatter missiles,” Otrin said. “They’re still in their silos, and I know for a fact that most if not all of them still work.”     “Captain,” Vorik said, “we have enough raw resources aboard to create at least one, perhaps two, atmospheric processors. Providing them as well as the schematics to build more, to the Uxali would improve their conditions.”     “Seeing as they’ve been aware of Earth for over a hundred years, I can’t exactly argue that on Prime Directive grounds,” Janeway said, “but in terms of practicality, what would it take to get two working processors assembled?”     “In total,” Seven said, “including replicating necessary parts, assembly, determining where on the planet to place them, several days.”     “Get started,” Janeway said. “In the meantime, Otrin, are you well enough to travel?”

    “I’ve been healthy enough to return home since yesterday, Captain. I stayed largely so I could help.”     “I appreciate it. But for now, you and I are going to have a talk with Verin.”     “Captain,” Seven said, honestly stunned by what she was hearing. “Going to meet him in person is far too dangerous. He was perfectly willing to murder Commander Chakotay. He would likely execute you on site.”     “He’d have to go through me to do it,” Otrin said. “I’m more than healthy enough to take on Verin if I have to.”     “Hopefully it won’t come to that,” Janeway said. “Brin and the baby are coming with us too. I’m returning all three of you home personally.”     “At least take a phaser with you for defense,” Vorik said, “if you insist on this unwise course of action.”     “No,” Janeway said. Seven got the impression from the way she said it that she wasn’t doing it as a sign of good faith to Verin, but more like she was afraid she would lose control and attempt to get revenge for Chakotay. While she did not approve of this plan any more than Vorik did, she wasn’t going to argue the point.

---

    When Janeway entered the transport room, she was surprised, but not exactly shocked, to see Jaffen there.     “If you’re planning to try and talk me out of this-”     “Come on, Kathy. I may not have known you that long, but I know you well enough. I can’t talk you out of anything once you’ve really set your mind to it. So, instead of trying to convince you not to do the bad idea…” He stepped up onto the transporter pad, standing between Otrin and Brin. “I’m going to go and do the bad idea with you.”     “Jaffen,” Janeway said, frowning. “I can’t lose you too.”     “You won’t,” Jaffen said. “I”m going to be there when you win this thing. Once this Verin character sees what you’re willing to do to help his planet, he’ll back down. And if he doesn’t, I bet some of his people will and will try to stop him is he does anything rash.”     “You’re that sure that’s what's going to happen?” Janeway said.     “Absolutely,” Jaffen said.     Janeway groaned and pinched the bridge of her nose.     “Fine. I don’t have time to argue anyway.” She stepped onto the transporter pad, made sure the helmet on her environmental suit was secure, and gave Lieutenant Kitrick the order to beam them down.

    When they materialized in the cave, the party had weapons pointed at them immediately, but Verin himself gave the order to hold fire. He walked up to Brin, shoving aside the others as he did so and looked at the baby in awe.     “You’re both alive. And healthy,” he said. “May I?”     Brin took a small step back. “Yes, but only after you listen to what Captain Janeway has to say.”     “Janeway?” Verin said, turning quickly to look in her direction. “You!”     He reached for a gun, but Otrin grabbed his arm as Jaffen moved in front of her. She gently moved Jaffen aside as Otrin and Verin continued to struggle, glad that Verin’s judgement seemed too clouded by anger to make the obvious call to order one of his subordinates to shoot them.     “I want you to understand one thing before we continue the conversation that you rudely interrupted by murdering a member of my crew,” she said. “The only reason I am helping you now, instead of just leaving once these people were treated,” she motioned at Otrin and Brin, “is because it’s what Chakotay would’ve wanted. He would’ve insisted we least try to help.”

    “You’re not just going to kill me?” Verin said, finally giving up the fight once Otrin had what had been his own weapon trained on him. “Why should I believe that?”     “You really are blinded by hate,” Janeway said. “Use your brain, Verin. I came down here, unarmed, with only my friend and two of your people to protect me. I needed you to be able to look me in the eye and see that I am telling the truth when I tell you that working with Otrin, we have found a way to start clearing the antimatter radiation from your atmosphere.”     “Why should I believe you? Any of you?” Verin looked back and forth between Otrin and Brin. “How do I do she didn’t poison your minds somehow?”     Janeway started to unclasp her helmet.     “Uh, Kathy?” Jaffen said. “Is that really the best-”     She had the helmet off before he could finish the question.

    “Look me in the eye,” she said forcefully. Otrin nudged him with the point of the rifle.     “Do it,” he said. Verin walked up to Janeway, fist clenched.     Janeway repeated what she’d said before about the atmosphere, adding the details about how it worked that Otrin had given her.     “I saw it work with my own eyes,” Otrin said. “It will be a slow process, but it can be done.”     Verin stepped back. “Can this technology rebuild our cities? Bring back the people who died?”     “They’re offering us their help,” Otrin said, “despite being in a position to just leave. The Captain chose to come down here of her own free will. After you murdered her second-in-command in cold blood. Do you really care about our people Verin, or do you just want revenge for what you think happened?”     “You thought it too,” Verin said.     “Yes, I did. But I was wrong. This was never about conquest. Over a hundred years ago, Captain Janeway’s species made a poor decision. Putting design specs for how to harness antimatter in their probe when they had no idea how or even if any race that encountered it had either the intelligence or temperament to use it safely. And you know what? We did. So many other races would’ve used that power to make war, but we didn’t. What happened to us was an accident, Verin.”     “Why do you trust them?” Verin said, but to Janeway’s ear it sounded like he was losing confidence in his argument.     He’s trying to convince himself, not everyone else.     “They sent armed men to attack us!” Verin said.     “To rescue hostages,” Otrin said. “We would’ve done the same in their place and you know it. And keep in mind they did not kill anyone. That was you. They used non-lethal weaponry. Did any of the guards they shot die?”

    Verin frowned, refusing to answer the question.     “That’s a ‘No,’ I take it,” Jaffen said.     “Jaffen,” Janeway said, calmly.     “Sorry,” Jaffen said.     “Friend? I know that tone. You brought your lover down with you, Captain?” Verin said. “That is either very brave or very stupid.”     “I don’t see the two as mutually exclusive,” Janeway said.     Verin let out a short laugh.     “I will not a be party to this,” Verin said. “I can see that none of you,” he looked at the gathered crowd of Uxali, including the guards whose weapons were all lowered, “will listen to reason. Trust her, then. I will go to the ruins of my old city. I will not watch my people sign their own death warrant.”     “Verin-” Brin started to say.     “Let him go,” Otrin said. “Assuming he doesn’t kill himself, we can find him once we’ve started the atmospheric processors. Once he sees for himself that it works…”     “One can only hope,” Janeway said, knowing all too well that some people can never be convinced of the truth, even when they see it with their own eyes.

---

    Samantha watched the streaks of lights pass by through the viewport in the mess hall. Things had taken longer than expected to get the first few atmospheric processors up and running, but once active they exceeded expectations. Large swaths of the Uxali homeworld were still too radioactive to resettle, but according to Seven of Nine, it wouldn’t take much longer than two to three years for Otrin’s people to start building processors of their own.     “Enjoying the view?”     Sam turned to see Joe Carey standing a few feet behind her.     “Hey, Joe,” she said. “Glad to see you up and around.”     “Well,” Carey said, “I’ve been recovered from the concussion for almost two weeks now. I just haven’t been leaving my quarters much.”

    “So that’s why I didn’t see you at the memorial,” Sam said.     “Yeah,” Carey said, sighing. “Sorry about that.”     “It’s okay. No one held it against you. A lot of us were worried you were blaming yourself for what happened.”     “As Vorik would put it, ‘an accurate assessment,’” Carey said, taking a seat next to Sam at the table, looking out the viewport himself. “If I hadn’t fought back I wouldn’t have been smacked in the head, and I would’ve been the one to assemble the transporter enhancers.”     “And you’d be the one who’d be dead,” Sam said bluntly.     “And?”     “What about your sons, Joe?” Sam said. “Speaking parent to parent, do you really think that your boys wouldn’t be traumatized by the knowledge that their father was murdered by a madman? You dying would be hard on them no matter what the circumstance obviously, but like that? No way. Maybe if you dying had saved an entire civilization from genocide, or ended the threat of the Borg once and for all, they could at least take comfort in you going out like a hero. But what Verin did…”     The two Voyager crew members fell silent, the background chatter of the other officers as they talked over their own meals the only noise in the room.     “If you want to honor Chakotay,” Sam said, “then do what you know he’d want you to do. Live, and do good.”     “Live and do good,” Carey repeated quietly. “Yeah, I can do that.”

---

    Seven saw B’Elanna standing outside Chakotay’s quarters leaning against the wall.     “Are you alright, B’Elanna? Seven said.     “Hmm? Oh, hi, Seven,” B'Elanna shook her head. “Just, apparently during the whole construction project the Captain pulled up Chakotay’s… His will, basically, although Starfleet uses a somewhat less loaded word for it these days, but that’s what it’s called. Chakotay left me some of his family’s tribal artifacts.”     Seven leaned against the wall next to B’Elanna and just listened. Had this happened several years ago she likely would’ve tactlessly told B’Elanna to just get on with it, or worse made some snide comment about “foolish organic sentimentality.”

    “I’ve come here three times in the past two days, but I can’t make myself go in there,” B’Elanna continued.     “Would it help if I went in with you?” Seven asked.     “You know, maybe it would. Lucky for me he included pictures,” B’Elanna said, holding up a PADD. “In addition to items belonging to his tribe, he also had a number of items from other Native American tribes, The ones from his were obviously family heirlooms, or items important to his faith. The others he kept for historical value, or for artistic reasons. Thing is, without a handy guide, there’s no way in hell I’d be able to the difference just by looking.”     Seven sighed.     “What is it?” B’Elanna asked.     “I just realized something. In the four years I knew the Commander, all the times I listened to him talk about his people's rituals and beliefs, I somehow managed to never actually learn which tribe he belonged to.”     B’Elanna snorted. “I’m sorry, but, in a weird way that is kinda funny.”     “Seems like something I should know,” Seven said. “I wasn’t as close to him as many people aboard were. I wouldn’t call him a friend. But I respected him. Both Naomi and Icheb looked up to him. He took time out of his day to help Sam when Naomi was still a baby.”

    “Yeah,” B’Elanna said. “Nothing’s going to be the same around here, is it?”

---

    The crew had retrieved the remains of Friendship I, but none could bring themselves to come by and look at it, so Janeway had it placed into containers in cargo bay 1. The general mood of the ship had grown darker since they’ve left Uxali space. Working to build the atmospheric processors and recover the probe had served as a distraction for the members of the crew involved in the process, but that just meant that unlike everyone else, the reaction to their loss had been delayed.     She went through the motions of command, grateful that no other crisis had presented itself in the intervening weeks. There were still things that needed to be done. Appointing a new first officer for starters. But that she felt she could put off a little while longer. B’Elanna had, without being asked, volunteered to take on the task of informing Chakotay’s sister. Jaffen had been a source of comfort, talking when she needed him to, and shutting up when she didn’t.

    Ever present at the back of her mind though, even as she casually gave orders on the bridge as she had so many times in the past seven years, was the thought that this was it for her. The burdens of command could be trying for anyone. Even the best Captains in Starfleet history had had breaking points. Some drove them to take time away, others to the Admiralty, and even some into retirement and civilian life.

    She felt she was at hers now. She’d felt this way once before, after the incident with Arturis and the Dauntless, but she’s come back from that. Now though, if she could just snap her fingers like a Q and go home right this moment she would, and the first thing she would do afterwards is turn in her resignation.

    She’d kept this thought to herself. Not even Jaffen knew it, not yet anyway. No point in telling anyone now, not when her crew was still 30 years from home, coming up on 29.

    As the chronometer ticked over to 1200 hours, she decided there was one task she couldn’t put off any longer.     Tuvok, she thought, looking at the empty first officer’s chair. That’s obvious. As for new chief of security, I’ll ask him, but if I were the gambling type I’d go all in on him suggesting Lieutenant Ayala.     Within twelve hours, she was proven right.

#a fire of devotion #chapter nine #Part 4 #fan fiction #sam7 #star trek voyager

[summahsunlight]

This Way Became My Journey, CH. 17

 Harry Kim entered a subdued mess hall for lunch. The news that Commander Chakotay and Counselor Barrett's shuttle was missing had spread like wildfire throughout the ship. With a solemn glance around the room, Harry went to the replicators to replicate himself a sandwich for lunch. After the food had materialized he grabbed the tray and made his way through the sully crowd to a table in the corner that Tom Paris was occupying.

The young pilot, who had become Harry's friend in the last three weeks, was eating what looked like soup, and staring out the windows at the stars moving by. Harry set his tray down across from Tom and took his seat. "So much for the Karvaians being a morale booster," the young ensign mumbled. "The way people are acting around here, it's like we've already had a funeral for Commander Chakotay and Counselor Barrett."

Tom ran his tongue over his lips. "I didn't care for Chakotay too much; guess it was because he was right about me on a lot of things. However, I'm going to miss Sarah, she knew how to make me feel better and was easy to talk too. I feel bad for the Captain, having to replace her first officer, again, in a matter of weeks."

"You're one these people who make it sound like they're dead," Harry replied. "We don't know if they are."

"We don't know if their alive, either," Tom retorted, solemnly. He leaned forward. "Listen Harry, we have to be prepared for the worst here. It's not like we're home and replacements can be sent. We lose our first officer, we lose our first officer. And… no one else on this ship has the credentials to be counselor."

Harry took a bite of his sandwich. He thought back to the last time he had gone to speak to Barrett. It had been two days before her and Commander Chakotay were due to depart for Karva. He had been homesick; she had made him laugh with some ridiculous story about when she was a kid. Tom was right, she was easy to talk too and he was going to miss her. Her presence alone had been comforting, not too mention she was quite pretty; her smile alone could make anyone feel better. Realizing what he had just thought, he snapped back to attention. "Let's not think about replacements unless we have too, okay?"

"Sounds good to me," Tom said, pushing his tray away from him. "So, are we still on for Venice?"

Harry had completely forgotten, in all the excitement, that Tom had arranged for them to go on a double date with the Delaney sisters, yet again. Of course Harry had been against it from the start, seeing how he had a girlfriend back home, but Tom had forced him into that first date with them by guilt tripping him and now was setting up another. "I don't know, Tom. The last time didn't go over so well."

"The last time you were too preoccupied with your girlfriend back home. It wouldn't have hurt to have said a few words to Jenny," Tom said, with a smile. "Let your girlfriend go Harry. She deserves to have a life, be allowed to fall in love again. Besides, you really think she's going to wait seventy-five years for you?"

"We've had this discussion," Harry pointed out. "But… you're right, I do need to let go. She probably doesn't even know I'm alive."

"If it makes you feel any better, Harry, none of our families know if we're alive," Tom said. "We're all in the same boat."

Harry smiled sadly. "Counselor Barrett said the same thing to me."

"You've been seeing a lot of our resident psychologist," Tom said, smirking, meaning his gears were turning. "Perhaps it's her you want to take to Venice and not Jenny Delaney."

His friend frowned. "Knock it off Tom. Counselor Barrett is a nice person to talk too, I'd even consider her a friend, but that's it."

"For now anyways," Tom said, noticing Harry roll his eyes. "Oh come on, Harry. It's okay to admit you have a crush on her! She's pretty easy on the eyes."

"So why don't you ask her on a date?"

"I did," he said. "She turned me down, gave me some mumble jumble about us being too much alike that it would never work out. Not too mention she said I was a walking hormone."

Harry suppressed a chuckle, and grinned, "Is this why the sudden attention on Megan Delaney? You were rejected by one pretty brunette so now you're going after another?"

"Oh, so you do admit Sarah's pretty," Tom tried changing the subject. "You know, if she's still alive, and we end up finding them, you better make your move before some else does. I heard several crewmen have made a pass at her."

Harry didn't know why but that bothered him, a lot. Could Tom be right, that he did have a crush on Sarah Barrett? Harry finished his sandwich and pushed the tray away from him, glaring at Tom. "This is crazy, Tom. I shouldn't be jumping into a new relationship on the chance we're going to live the rest of our lives out here. Maybe, Chakotay and Sarah found a wormhole and are in the Alpha Quadrant right now, trying to find a way to get in contact with Voyager. If that's the case I could be sitting down to eat dinner with Libby tomorrow."

"Or, you could be stuck out here for seventy-five years, a lonely old hermit if you keep that attitude," Tom argued. "I think she'd understand if you went on with your life, especially if she goes on with hers."

"Senior officers report to the bridge."

The conversation about girlfriends, the Delaney sisters and Sarah Barrett ended, as the two officers got up from their table and went to recycle their trays. However, Harry couldn't shake the emotions that Tom had stirred up inside of him. I only have a crush on her because she's helping me cope with being away from home, that's it; nothing more. But uncertainty kept creeping into his brain as they stepped out of the turbo lift onto the bridge.

Captain Janeway was standing in the middle of the command station, hands on her hips, an alien ship on the view screen.

"They're hailing us Captain," Tuvok reported from tactical.

An image of a humanoid alien appeared on the screen, with skin in various shades of green with navy blue spots blotted down the temple all the way to the collarbone. He, or she, had yellow eyes, a slopping forehead, and did not look particular happy to be speaking to Voyager. "My name's Captain Kathryn Janeway of the Federation starship Voyager, what can we do for you?"

"You can turn your ship around and leave Rupor space," the alien responded, dryly.

"We mean you no harm," Janeway tried to assure the alien, "but maybe you could help us. I'm looking for two of my crewmen, who may have crossed through your space a day or so ago. Have your people reported any unidentified crafts passing through the vicinity?"

"No," the alien snapped. "Except you."

"Perhaps then, you'd be kind enough to allow us to search your space for them. We'd only be here about a day-."

The alien glowered. "No! You are to turn your ship around, there will be no compromise!" He disappeared from the screen and the bridge crew all looked around perplexed at one another. Tuvok reported that the tiny scout ship was in retreat.

Janeway glared at the blank screen, straightening her uniform. "Tom, hold our position here," she ordered the young man. Tapping at her combadge she requested that Neelix join her in her ready room. And before anyone could ask her what she had in mind, the woman disappeared back into her private sanctuary and was gone.

"The woman is insane!" Neelix sputtered as he entered Kes' quarters after meeting for an hour with Kathryn Janeway in her ready room about the Rupor. "No one attempts to travel through Rupor space! No one!"

"But if Commander Chakotay and Counselor Barrett are in trouble, it maybe her only choice," Kes replied, softly, trying to use her tone of voice to sooth him and calm him down. She had to admit she knew very little about other species outside of her own and the Kazon, so she had to take what Neelix said seriously. "Wouldn't you want her to do the same for you?"

Neelix looked speechless for a moment, but then stuttered, "Well yes. But that's not the point, Kes. The Rupor are fanatical when it comes to outsiders entering their space. If the Commander and Counselor crossed into their space even for the slightest second, they would have pursued them, and quite possibly shot them down."

"But they didn't attack Voyager," Kes pointed out. "Maybe Commander Chakotay and Counselor Barrett's shuttle didn't pass through their space at all."

"They didn't fire on us because Voyager packs a bigger punch than a shuttle. A Rupor scout ship would never have fired on Voyager," Neelix replied. " Smaller crafts, that a different story. They offer for you to surrender and if you don't, they shoot you down. They gave Captain Janeway their warning and are no doubt sending a warship to deal with us."

Kes got off her bed and went to place a hand on his shoulder. "Neelix we just have to trust the Captain's judgment."

"I know," he grumbled. "But sometimes that woman is more trouble than she's worth."

Kes rubbed his shoulder and smiled. "Would you rather be stuck trying to make a living in a debris field?"

"No," he answered. "I guess the fact that she has allowed us to journey with them is a redeeming quality. But if we survive traveling through Rupor space, we'll be lucky." The ship lurched suddenly with weapon's fire and red alert was immediately activated. "It seems that the Rupor have already showed their displeasure in our presence here," Neelix told her. "I wouldn't be surprised if this ship is destroyed within the hour."

"Return fire!" Kathryn Janeway bellowed from her command chair, as conduits and consoles sparked around her. "Mister Paris, evasive maneuvers."

She had expected to be confronted by the Rupor, since she was after all ignoring their request not to travel in their space, and from what Neelix had told her, they were not friendly to outsiders. But they had traced Chakotay and Sarah's ion trail this far and she was not about to give up searching for them. What she had not expected was the ferocity and quickness of the Rupor attack.

"Shields are down to seventy-three percent," Tuvok reported.

"I'm detecting hull breaches on decks four and five, repair teams are on them," Kim said through the shaking of the ship under constant bombardment.

Janeway ran a hand over her face and then with a determined stare, stood up. "Tuvok, target their weapon's array, and fire two photon torpedoes."

"Aye, Captain."

She watched on the view screen as the torpedoes made their way through space and hit the alien vessel square on. She held her breath for a moment, praying that they had disabled their ship. And then, let it out as Tuvok reported that they had indeed taken the alien's weapons off line. "Mister Paris, get us out of here, warp seven, following the shuttle's ion trail. I have a feeling that the Rupor are going to be back and they're going to come with reinforcements."

"Yes ma'am, setting course zero one five mark nine, warp seven," Paris echoed, fingers running over the conn.

"Engage."

"Captain," Neelix's voice said, not to Janeway's surprise. "Can I have a word with you?"

Janeway kicked a piece of debris away from the command station. "I'm a little busy right now, Neelix." With an audible sigh, she turned to face her Talaxian guide. "I have repairs to make, officers to find, and aliens to keep from tearing my ship apart. But…I suppose I could squeeze you in."

"It's just that, the Rupor, they'll come back," Neelix said.

"I figured as much."

"No you don't understand," Neelix rasped. "They were just testing your capabilities. Now that they see you can disable one of their ships, they'll come back with even more and won't stop pursuing you until you're either out of their space or destroyed."

"I'm not leaving my people behind, Mister Neelix," Janeway snapped, eyes narrowing on him.

"Your people are most likely dead," Neelix retorted. "They wouldn't have given that tiny shuttle the chances they are giving your starship. Chances are a scout ship has blasted them out of the sky."

"Captain," Kim's voice said, strained, from ops. "I've traced the ion trail to a Class L planetoid, three light years from here. I'm also picking up traces of ignited plasma in the planet's atmosphere and some debris." He put the image on screen and immediately the bridge crew could see that it was part of a nacelle.

Janeway felt bile rising in her throat. "What about weapon's residue?"

"I'm picking up two signatures, one is Federation, the other Rupor," Tuvok answered, stoically.

Bastards, Janeway thought, angrily. "Any sign of the shuttle?"

"Negative, Captain."

The news wasn't about to stop her though. "Maintain course, Mister Paris. I'm not about to give them up for dead, not yet. The Rupor can go to hell for all I care."

"Captain, I'm picking up an automated distress call," Kim said. "It's on a Starfleet emergency signal. It's badly damaged, it's going to take a couple of minutes to clean it up."

"Do it, Mister Kim."

A few moments later he had cleaned it up as best he could. The message was distorted and faint, but Sarah Barrett's voice came through loud and clear to everyone on that bridge. "Voyager, we're under attack, repeat we're under attack. We had to land on an L Class planetoid. We need assistance. Our systems are heavily damaged, again we are in need of assistance." The message ended and Janeway felt her heart sink lower into her chest.

"Mister Paris how long until we reach the planetoid?"

"At our current speed, I would estimate forty minutes ma'am," Paris reported.

"Captain," Tuvok said, "long range sensors have picked up a Rupor fleet moving in to intercept us. I estimate that they will do so in forty-five minutes."

"Well that doesn't leave us much time then," Janeway said.

"Time to do what?" Neelix asked.

"Get to the planet, get our people, and get the hell out of Rupor space."

"Rise and shine, Lieutenant," Chakotay's voice stirred her from a light slumber. "We've survived our first night."

Sarah Barrett opened her eyes to see Chakotay standing over her, holding a medical tricorder in his hand and running the hand scanner over her body. "Anything from Voyager yet?" she asked, noticing a burning sensation in her lungs. That can't be good, she thought, arching her back slightly, trying to find a comfortable position. The movement only made her lungs burn more.

"Not yet, but I'm sure they're on their way," Chakotay answered her with a shake of his head. He put the tricorder away and looked at her grimly. "I'm afraid your injured lung is filing with fluid, you've contracted an infection. I've given you something to stall its progress, but until we can get you the proper medical treatment, I'm afraid that your lung will continue to fill and the infection will spread."

"It's okay," she said, trying to sound positive. "Voyager will find us soon. Captain Janeway won't rest until she does."

That much he knew, he had seen her loyalty to members of her crew while spending five days with the woman trying to locate Harry Kim and B'Elanna Torres after they had been abducted by the Caretaker. The thought of Janeway's loyalty comforted him. "Are you hungry?" he asked the counselor. "We've got fresh ration bars for breakfast this morning."

"Sounds delicious," she replied, sarcastically as he handed her a ration bar. "But I guess it's better than nothing." She munched on the ration bar for a few seconds, watching as he carefully lowered his body back down onto the floor of the shuttle and gazed out of the open hatch. "At least the view is nice."

Chakotay nodded his head, resting his hands on his knees. He had watched the sunrise over the mountains that morning, half hoping to see Voyager in the distance, swooping into a low orbit to search for them. However, he couldn't be sure that Captain Janeway knew that they were in trouble or missing from the diplomatic mission on Karva. Letting out a frustrated breath of air, he nudged the stones he had warmed the night before with phaser fire, long ago burnt out.

"Something on your mind, Commander?"

He looked at her, dark eyes studying her face. "Yesterday, when we talked, you told me about your father, the pressure to live up to his Starfleet standards, what about your mother? You only spoke of her that one time, in the shuttle before it crashed, that she was killed at Wolf 359."

Sarah fidgeted nervously. "Well, my mother and I weren't particularly close. I mean, yes I grieved for her after her death, but it didn't devastate me like losing my father did. What about yours?"

"Still alive, but always trying to talk me out the Federation and then the Maquis," he replied, with a small smile.

"My parents couldn't push into the Academy fast enough," Sarah said. "Especially when my brother decided against a career in Starfleet, the pressure to be their little Starfleet darling was even greater."

"You're brother must be worried about you now, with Voyager missing," Chakotay ventured.

She scoffed. "Luke? No way, after my father died he ripped me apart for not being there for the funeral, that Starfleet was the reason our parents were both dead at young ages and that I was only going to end up like them if I didn't leave. Of course I couldn't just up and leave, I had my work on the Borg to complete and Starfleet had already asked me to infiltrate a growing group of terrorists who were calling themselves the Maquis."

He chuckled, "We could have known each other sooner."

"Well, no, I never went on that mission," she replied softly. "After Luke basically told me that everything in Starfleet disgusted him, including me, I ran into some narcotics dealer on some deep space station, and thus began my battle with drugs. He pushed away further from me when he learned I had been arrested and was being court martial. I haven't talked to him, well, it's been almost two years now."

"He never came to visit you in rehab?"

"I never told him I was in rehab. As far as he's concerned I'm serving my time at Auckland."

"He must know by now you aren't at Auckland. I'm sure Starfleet would have informed friends and family that Voyager had disappeared," Chakotay mused.

Sarah shrugged her shoulders. "I'm not sure it would change a thing. He always told me that Starfleet was going to kill me one day." She laughed then, looking down at her blanket covered legs. "I guess he was right, look at me now; hanging on to dear life on some barren planet in uncharted space."

He gave her hand a reassuring pat. "You said yourself that Captain Janeway won't rest until she finds us."

"Yeah, you're right I did," she said. "What about you Commander, if the situation were reversed and you were in command, looking for the captain, would you not rest until you'd found her?"

It was an odd question, but one he knew she had to ask, to see where his loyalty lay. "Three weeks ago if you had asked me that question, I would have said, no, because the thought of joining Starfleet again was the furtherest thought from my mind, let alone being forced to serve on a Federation vessel. But, today, after all that has happened in the past three weeks, the Kazon, the Caretaker, quantum singularities; yes, I wouldn't rest until I was certain of her demise or otherwise found her."

"Even though she's Starfleet, through and through?"

"She maybe Starfleet, but she's my captain now," Chakotay answered her, tensely. "Have I given you any reason to doubt that?"

Sarah shook her head, the lose pieces of coffee hair falling in her eyes. "No," she whispered. "I'm sorry, Commander. I shouldn't be questioning you like this."

Chakotay felt immediate remorse. "No, I should be the one apologizing. I suppose my loyalty being questioned is still a sore spot, probably will be for a while." He saw her wince in pain, as she tried shifting about to get in a more comfortable position. He reached for a hypospray. "Speaking of sore spots, here's something for the pain again." Pressing the hypospray to the fleshy part of her neck, he asked, "How are you holding up?"

Sarah fell back on the makeshift pillow he had created for her using his uniform tunic and an extra blanket. "I've felt better, that's for sure."

Chakotay stood, getting her a glass of water and noticing that their supply was going down. "Here, take this. I'm going to go get some more snow so we can melt it down again."

"Keep an open comline like usual?" she guessed, drinking the water.

He grinned at her. "Of course, there's still so much that I want to learn about Sarah Barrett."

"Oh, but we were just getting to the fun part; learning all of your dark secrets," she snapped back playfully.

He laughed, gathered up the storage containers and once again trudged out into the rocky terrain to find their only source of water, snow in the higher elevations.

Usually she spent lunchtime with the children, but duty called that mid afternoon. Instead, Kathryn Janeway replicated a pot of coffee and some finger sandwiches to nibble on while Voyager cruised closer to the planet they believed Chakotay and Sarah's shuttle had landed on. Since they first traced the shuttle to the planetoid and found debris and weapon's residue on long range sensors, Kathryn had felt a feeling of dread in the pit of her stomach. Neelix had mentioned the Rupor were relentless when it came to outsiders in their space.

Voyager had already had one brush with them and she was sure that the ship would not be able to withstand another attack. They might have been able to disable the warship that had come to greet them, but Voyager had sustained heavy damage as well, seeing how many of her systems had been under going repairs in the first place. Voyager would not survive another attack by the Rupor. She was faced with a frightening choice; if the Rupor attacked again before they reached the planet, for there were no guarantees that the fleet Tuvok had picked up would be the first to intercept them, she would have to either turn the ship around and retreat into friendly space, leaving behind Chakotay and Sarah to die; or she would have to press onward to save her people, thus writing all of their death sentences.

There was no easy answer and she wished that her counselor was there to help her sort through the fog.

Kathryn leaned forward to pick up a finger sandwich off the plate, which was resting on her round coffee table. As she did so she felt something cold brush against her neck and she instinctively reached underneath her undershirt and pulled out a gold chain. On the end was her engagement ring, a simple gold band with a sparkling aquamarine gem in the middle. Welded to the engagement ring was her wedding band. She had taken the rings off her finger when she had gone back to active duty, after Ava's birth. Even though her marriage had ended, by the tragic death of her husband, she was not ready to part with the rings yet, so she had purchased a gold chain at some starbase, and thus started wearing them around her neck, hidden underneath her uniform. Running her fingers over the cool metal she felt tears press her eyes. I'm in over my head, Bryan. I wish you were here to give me the answers that I'm seeking.

She could almost hear his soft voice telling her that she would figure it out, his gray eyes smiling at her, how his arms had felt so sheltering when she felt out of control. She hated being out of control, hated having control taking away from her, like it was now with the Rupor breathing down her neck. Bryan I can't do this, I just can't.

But you can, Kathryn, you can, she could hear him speaking in her head, or at least what she imagined he would say to her. Bryan had often told her that he had never met a stronger woman than her; it was one of the things he loved about her, her resolve. It was the first thing he had said to her when he proposed to her.

Suddenly she was overtaken with emotion and shoved the necklace back underneath her tunic, trying desperately to fight her tears. I will not cry, I cannot cry, not now, not when I have crewmen to rescue.

Voyager shook with weapons fire and red alert came on. Tuvok's voice could be heard over the comlink, "Captain Janeway report to the bridge."

Burying all the emotions deep down inside of her, Kathryn stepped out onto the bridge, asking Tuvok for a report. The Vulcan brought his dark eyes up to hers and she could see them flicker to the view screen. Following his gaze, as he rattled off his report that Rupor warships had come in undetected by their sensors and proceeded to open fire on them, she could see three large warships, sleek in design and packing a deadly punch.

"We barely had enough time to raise our shields, Captain," Tuvok said, finishing his report.

"Hail them," Janeway ordered, still hoping for a diplomatic solution. Tuvok told her the channel was open. "This is Captain Janeway, we mean you no harm, we're simply trying to find our people."

"They are not responding, Captain," Tuvok reported.

"Return fire!"

"Firing phasers," Tuvok said. "They had no effect Captain."

Voyager groaned with another hit, and Janeway had to grip the railing near tactical to stay on her feet. Someone was yelling that their hull was losing integrity and then Paris was yelling that they were losing warp drive.

Janeway felt like the walls of the bridge were closing in around her as the Rupor continued to fire. Consoles were exploding, their shields were failing, and causalities were being reported all over the ship. If she stayed in Rupor space she risked losing more than just Chakotay and Sarah, she risked losing her entire crew, her children. Swallowing the bile that had risen in her throat, she turned to Paris. "Do we have enough power to the warp drive to get us out of here, Mister Paris?"

"Yes ma'am," Paris answered, blue eyes studying her face.

"Set a course out of Rupor space, maximum warp," Janeway instructed a tone of dread in her voice.

"Aye, captain."

Janeway felt the ship lurch with the new course, the walls seemingly getting smaller and smaller the further they moved away from the space that Chakotay and Sarah were trapped in. I've abandoned them, she thought miserably. No captain should abandon her crew, should not leave them behind. I'll be damned if these aliens bully me into leaving my people to die.

"The Rupor are not pursuing, Captain," Kim said, and then in a soft voice asked, "Does this mean we're giving up the rescue attempt?"

The Captain spun on her heel, tears threatening to escape her eyes, and Kim could see the fire smoldering in them. "No Ensign, they may have us back on our heels, but I refuse to give up trying to rescue Commander Chakotay and Lieutenant Barrett. Contact the Karvaian Prime Minister, maybe they can help us."

#star trek voyager #star trek voyager fanfiction #kathryn janeway #chakotay #tom paris #sarah barrett (oc) #harry kim #tuvok #neelix #kes #the doctor (emh) #janeway x chakotay #tom paris x ofc #this way became my journey

[impalaanddemons]

Ad Astra - Chapter 2

A/N: Keva has a very bad day Story: Keva Scofield is a young member of the relatively fresh Department of Temporal Investigations and prides herself in being a temporal agent. She is sent with Junior Agent Lorilee, temporal agent in training, to investigate the destruction of the freighter Mercury and the vanishing of its Captain and First Officer. It is there at a time rift she makes first contact with an entity that calls itself Q. around 3500 words This Chapter is on Ao3

Chapter 1

Chapter 2: Unless acted upon by another Force

Uneasiness became fright at the look of his wicked smile. Fright became fear at the whisper of his voice. Fear became terror at the inevitable.

Gravity gripped down at her body. A force that clenched down on her flesh, crushing and squeezing until she howled with pain - tears streamed down her contorted face, teeth bared in pain and hate and utter terror. Something poured liquid lead into her mouth. The rift burned as it swallowed her whole. It bit down on her, chew, ground her body with forces that were never meant for a human to be endured in just a suit. The gravity well of the temporal rift crushed her bones. The rift and darkness swallowed her, eradicating what it meant to feel warmth and light and human touch. She screamed and whimpered and begged, defenselessly tossed around by an uncaring universe. And then, mercifully, thankfully, graciously - she lost her consciousness, surrounded by nothing at all.

Her temporal tricorder blinked red.

Stardate: Unknown

Gravity was a curious thing. It was the great actor of the universe. That what was and moved and caught and let go. In sufficiently empty space anything could be enough mass to attract another object. Be it an asteroid on it’s lonely journey through the universe, or a lost human in it’s space suit. Kevas Life support systems were glowing orange with the soft hum of an early oxygen alert. Were the inhabitant of the suit awake, she would have been able to read instructions on getting back to the nearest shuttle immediately to replenish her oxygen reserves. But Keva Scofield was unconscious, mind and body exhausted and twisted from a trip no human should have survived. Yet, here she was - one object among million floating in endless space. Lost and forgotten to humanity. Only attracted by the next source of mass, like any other object. Driftwood in an ocean designed to kill her. Sooner or later.

She would have died - forgotten and frozen for future explorers to find her, nothing more then a footnote in the books of history - if she hadn’t been dropped in this particular part of space, at this particular moment. She would’ve died if the rift had transported her there two weeks earlier - or two weeks later. She would’ve died in any other part of the delta quadrant.

But here at this time and place she showed up as a blip on the sensors of an Intrepid Class starship. The ship was nearly as lost as she was, thrown into this part of the galaxy by chance and bad luck. Ensign Harry Kim at first thought the blip was just a fidget of his mind, an imagination brought upon by lack of sleep or something he ate at Neelix’ canteen. „Captain, short range scanners have registered an organic object.“ „Really?“ Janeways voice perked curiously at the notion. „Ensign, run a deep scan on the object.“ Turning her head to her number one she smiled an agitated smile. „A mystery. How Lovely.“ „Second scan …“ Kim did not finish his sentence. Instead he stopped himself, did a double take at the results and only then spoke again: „Permission to run a third scan for confirmation, Captain.“ „Ensign Kim, please report and rerun second scan for confirmation.“ she commanded raising her eyebrows ever so slightly. „It’s… I’m sorry Captain, but sensors confirm the presence of a humanoid floating in space approximately one hundred clicks ahead of us.“ A murmur rose on the bridge, ebbed from Ensign Kim away much like the tide and came to a sudden end when the Voyagers Captain rose her voice again. „Ensign send coordinates to the transporter room.“, she touched a button on her commanding chair. „Transport room, are the coordinates I just send you within range?“ A moment of silent followed. Swift fingers scurried over control panels and recalculated energy output, distance, guessed the approximate weight of the object before answering.

„We can beam aboard, Captain.“ - that was B’elanna Torres voice. Sharp and all business. „Prepare for transport in one minute.“, Captain Janeway touched another button on the display of her chair. „Bridge to Sickbay, prepare for emergency transport of unknown humanoid and medical assistance.“ „Aye, Captain“ - it was Kes, gentle and soft immediately mediating the Captains message to the Doctor. Expectant eyes lay on Janeways back. She felt the tense atmosphere on the bridge. Every day another adventure, she thought. Whatever they encountered here, whatever they found - they could never be sure if it would prove a simple distraction or a direct threat to the ships and crews safety. „Transporter room to bridge, we are ready for transport. Class two containment field is in place.“ „Beam abord, Lieutenant Torres.“

Silence fell in the transporter room when the object was beamed aboard. Janeways voice had to pierce through the confused haze that had befallen the crew in engineering twice before B’elanna managed to answer her. „I’m initiating an emergency transport to sickbay, Captain. It’s … you better have a look for yourself.“ „Quite a mystery“, Janeway said as she got up. „Number One, you come with me. Tuvok you have the bridge.“

The Doctor and Kes were already at work when Janeway and Chakotay arrived in sickbay. The captain immediately felt her brows furrow in confusion - much like the expression of her Number One. „Now, what do we say to that?“ „You know what I have to say about chance, Captain“, muttered the dark haired man, his eyes practically glued to the form in front of them. „Doctor?“ Janeway lifted her voice and the medical hologram didn’t even bother looking up from his patient. „All our scans confirm her as a female human.“ he simply stated. „I assume that you will want to keep her equipment for scan and research?“ „You assume correctly, Doctor.“ Janeway answered. She would’ve sounded bemused were it not for the figure on the biobed before her - the spacesuit she wore was not old-fashioned, it was antiquated. She had seen a thing like that in starfleet academy archives. And the women within. She sure wore a uniform of the United Federation, but the overall impression was that of a person that had stepped right out of a holo novel. The Doctor transported the body of the human out of her suit onto another biobed. His assistance began immediately to carefully remove the clothes from her body.

„She looks bad“, sad Chakotay close to Janeways right side and she nodded along in confirmation of his assessment. The body in front of them was covered in bruises - dark blue and red splotches on her skin, almost giving the impression of someone only related to modern humans. Where she was not bruised, petechia covered her, giving the distinct impression of her skin glowing. Her right ankle was twisted in an unnatural angle and dried blood covered her face and had her short hair in dirty tangles. The list of visible injuries didn’t end there - in short, she was in a miserable condition. „Can you say what has happened to her, Doctor?“ „Massive trauma“, he answered - which was more then a bit vague. „I must confess I am not quite sure what would cause such a massive trauma. Her body must have endured extreme pressure.“ he continued calmly while directing Kes at the same time. „It will take a few days, but I expect her to make full recovery.“ was his last addition after which he focused back on his patient. "Looks like we’ll have to quell our curiosity for just a few days more. Mr. Paris will collect the suit and her equipment later, he has a knack for antiques. Maybe he can tell us more.“

It was loud outside her mind. She didn’t want to wake, not yet. As soon as she had passed out what was left of her awareness had fled from terror and pain into the relative comfort of her memories. She was sitting on a large boulder, overlooking a red skyline with Junior Agent Lorilee at her side. Silver trees littered the horizon. Were they on a training trip? She couldn’t say with certainty. But the lights and the voices outside her mind were so loud, so intrusive, diluting the peace of her deep sleep. Maybe she was dead. Maybe she was hallucinating her last seconds, her scared consciousness stretching moments into eternity to avoid the inevitable.

„Elevated alpha waves indicate she’ll awake within the next few minutes.“ „We’ll learn more about our mysterious Jane Doe.“ Two male voices, discussing. One of them very matter-of-factly, the other almost … cheerful. And a female voice, one that demanded respect, a dark timbre in contrast to everyone else. Keva shifted slightly. A faint trace of pain shot through her leg and she groaned. Could she be alive? There was no way she could have survived that and yet … here she seemed to be. Surrounded by voices and light and life. „Gentleman, give her room to wake up. Everyone that is not my Number One, Tom Paris and the sickbay crew is dismissed.“ So a ship had picked her up. Her mind started to pick up speed. Slowly. Very slowly in fact, but better then never again. „Her breathing indicates that she is awake.“ „Thank you, Doctor.“ the female voice said, maybe a notch too pointedly. Feet shuffled in the background. God, it was so bright. Carefully, slowly she pried her eyes open, lifted her right hand in an attempt to block out the light. Another moan escaped her mouth involuntarily. Every muscles hurt and ached as if she’d run a marathon that had ended with her in a junk press. How was she alive. That was impossible. A gross violation of the laws of physic. Her eyes took their sweet time to adapt to their surroundings and she blinked for a long moment until the shapes and colors in front of her fell into a sensible form. There was a woman in a red uniform - a sleek design, fitted tightly around her slender body. Next to her a man with short black hair, a tattoo covered part of his face and his inquiring eyes followed every moment closely. He stood close to the woman. Kevas gaze hovered further - another man, clad in a blue uniform of the same design, almost bald and checking the readings on what was perhaps a PADD. Her doctor, she thought. Next to her bed was another woman - a small delicate creature maybe a head shorter then Keva herself was. Something about her was odd and she made a mental note to enquire about her species later. Maybe some Vulcan hybrid. Lastly there was another man - taller then the other two with light blond hair and a confident, no, cocky expression to himself. She blinked a few more times, looking back to the woman who had her arms crossed in front of her chest, head cocked lightly in an expression of restrained curiosity.

„Welcome back to the living and aboard the USS Voyager.“ her voice was pleasant to listen to, if a bit unusual at first. It was a voice that was used to the burden of command and it made her feel at safety almost immediately. Starfleet, the young agent concluded and suppressed a groan. „USS Voyager…“ Kevas voice croaked hoarsely. She coughed a few times and almost at once the petite young woman handed her a glass of water, which she eagerly drank.„I am Captain Janeway. My Number One - Chakotay and Mr. Paris. The Doctor and Kes have been attending to your health over the last week.“ Keva nodded to each of them, only pondered a second over the  strange introduction as ‚The Doctor‘ and then looked around some more. Everything was off. Uncertainty settled in her gut. Everything here was polished. The uniforms strange. Had she been picked up by an experimental vessel? „Is this …“ the young woman stopped herself to remind herself of manners. „I am sorry, Captain. I am Keva Scofield.“ she said then and offered a weak smile as an excuse for her near Faux Pas. Should she disclose her affiliation just yet? She couldn’t remember protocol. Everything she knew and held dear was still in that heavy fog surrounding her. „It is our pleasure to have made your acquaintance.“ the Captain smiled kindly in return. It was almost motherly. „I am sorry to intrude upon your ship and have taken up a place in your sickbay.“ Keva continued, now very careful, her eyes once more wandering through the unsettling room. Everything was off just enough to make her wonder. „Are you…“ taking a deep breath, she collected herself once more. It was difficult to decide which question to forward first. „Can you provide me with a secure channel to federation headquarters?“ she then asked and provided her most convincing smile. „I’ll gladly explain everything afterwards.“

There was little more as unsettling as a group of people exchanging knowing glances without being part of said group. The woman actually sat down on the edge of her bed now, her grey eyes searching Kevas face with caution. „I am afraid that won’t be possible, Mrs. Scofield.“ „Agent.“, the young woman snapped and almost immediately regretted it. There was no reason to be irritated at the Captain, she told herself. „It’s .. Agent Scofield, Captain.“ Great. Another starfleet captain with whom she was off to a very good start. Before the captain, or anyone else really, could open their mouth she spoke up once more: „Captain, are you on a five year mission? Where is the next communication relay?“ „Relays?“ the tall young man muttered under his breath, just loud enough for Keva to hear. „There is no contact to the Federation or Starfleet command. It must sound strange to you, but we are stranded in the Delta Quadrant.“ Keva blinked once. Keva blinked twice. Stupefied silence was all that left her lips. The delta quadrant? Impossible. „Delta“, she muttered then and eyed them all once more, with more suspicion then before. The hair, the uniforms, the room that was somehow off. Her breath quickened enough for the Doctor to look over to her. „This must be very difficult for you to process.“ the Captain continued with a soft voice. „Delta Quadrant.“, the agent muttered once more, pressing her lips together until all that remained was a thin white line. She drew a couple of heavy breaths through her nose. „Doctor, her heart rate is elevated, oxygen levels are dropping.“ Kes whispered to the Doctor, her face concerned now. Keva took another deep breath, her nostrils flaring. „Captain… starfleet has not advanced to the Delta quadrant.“ And then she looked around again and slowly the pieces of this puzzle fell into place. It struck her, right into the chest, like a phaser hitting her in full force. „Keva… what stardate is right now?“ the woman with the grey eyes didn’t even mind the use of her first name right now. The young agent knew what was coming next. She dreaded it. „Doctor…“ the blonde alien began again, but the Doctor lifted his hand to cut her off, shaking his head. He knew and monitored the castaway closely. Keva drew on her training. Deep breaths. Counting. Her hands shook and before she could do something about it the older woman put a hand on her shoulder. The weight of it was comforting. Anchoring her in reality. „It’s August the 15th.“ Another deep breath. „2271. A tuesday.“ Another exchange of looks between the group. How far uptime was she? Ten years? Twenty? The Doctor walked over to them. God, they knew. They knew. She looked up into the Captains eyes, into those warm eyes, barely hiding the pity she felt for her. She counted to four while breathing in. Held for a second. Waiting for the final blow. And then slowly counted to eight while breathing out again. „I am so sorry … Agent.“ the Captain paused for a second. Sorry. She wanted to spew the word back to the captain, but what had that woman done to her? No. It was a job hazard. Came with the description of her position. Thirty years? The thought crossed her anxious mind completely uninvited. „But the current year is 2372.“ A hundred years.

„Oh.“ she could feel her heart skip a beat. „Do you remember what happened?“ A hundred years uptime. Scofield burst into a humorless barking laughter that nobody joined into. The contraction of her muscles was painful to endure and tears welled up in her eyes, real but involuntarily. She was temporally displaced. No. Not only that. She stopped laughing as suddenly as she had started and looked into all those concerned faces around her. The pain that lingered in her bones and muscles despite the medication she had undoubtedly received felt strangely real and comforting. She was also displaced in the most traditional sense of the word - completely cut off from her friends and family, from her home, her planet - her quadrant even. A hundred fucking years uptime. Still owing the Captain an answer, she began to explain. „I am from the Federation Department of Temporal Investigation.“ A few eyebrows were raised, which was oddly reassuring as it probably meant that the DTI was still kicking about. „Me and my partner were sent out to investigate a time rift a few parsec from vulcan space. The freighter mercury was destroyed and it’s Captain and First Officer were missing.“ She carefully watched the expression of her listeners, but nobody seemed to recognize the name mercury. Which probably meant that they were displaced somewhere else. An unstable rift? She filed the information back for later, threw that bit onto the ever growing pile of thoughts demanding a closer inspection. „I collected the telemetry logs from mercury and then went out to … deploy the monitoring drones to get chronitonic readings on the rift.“ „You got too close to the gravity well of the rift?“ the tall blonde asked, a little bit too eager for her taste. Keva gasped, as if she just remembered herself, feeling the shock once again. „I was pushed.“ The Doctor cleared his throat pointedly. „Pushed?“ Chakotay raised his voice now in surprise. „Pushed“ confirmed the agent once again and rubbed her temples. „By a man. There was a man on the ship.“ The Doctor cleared his throat once more. "I think it is time for my patient to rest.“ he put a heavy emphasis on the ‚I think‘. The captain rose from Kevas bed unwillingly. „Yes, I think that should be enough for today. Tomorrow…“ she exchanged a look with the Doctor. „I’ll be back tomorrow. Rest well, Agent Scofield. If you have any questions … we’ll answer all your questions tomorrow.“ The Doctor scooted them all out of her room now, looking thoroughly disapproving of the whole situation and the additional stress everyone had put his patient under. But Keva Scofield had already fallen back into a deep, dreamless sleep. A hundred years.

„Mr. Paris.“ prompted Janeway once they were outside. „I understand you had no luck in extracting any information from her equipment?“ „It was pretty beat up, Captain.“ he shrugged apologetically. „Which does not surprise me any more, to be honest with you.“ „Hm.“ Janeway nodded and glanced over to Chakotay who seemed to be waiting for her to make a decision. „Go over her equipment again with Lieutenant Torres. See what you can salvage. I have a feeling we’re not through yet.“ „I will get right to work.“ With Mr. Paris gone, Chakotay seized his captain up once more. „You think someones intervening here?“ She nodded grimly. „She’s from a hundred years in the past. And conveniently drops in the delta quadrant right in scanner range? A little too convenient for my taste.“ „You’re right“ he conceded. They both walked down to the bridge in silence for a moment. „This is going to be tough for her. Keva. She looks like she's barely out of her twenties.“ The dark haired man sounded thoughtful. „We'll have to be gentle.“ Janeway bowed her head in agreement, sounding equally thoughtful. „How should we tell the crew?“ She turned her head to look at him. „We had Tom in the room and nothing was declared confidential yet.“ Chakotay mused. „If you don’t intervene, Neelix will want to interview her for his news program come tomorrow morning.“ The captain chuckled at the thought. „We should prevent that.“ „Yes. Yes we should.“ Both laughed for a moment and then entered the bridge.

„Tuvok, to my ready room please. Chakotay, take the bridge.“

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[angsty-violet]

Agony - Chapter 2

Agony Masterpost

@whumptober2020

It had quickly become apparent to Kell’an that Tuvok was much too dangerous to have around without some insurance. At least, that’s what Tuvok assumed. After 3 escape attempts that nearly succeeded and 4 that didn’t even get close, he returned to Tuvok’s cell.

Tuvok was in the corner, the most defensible position in this tiny gray room. He watched as Kell’an approached him, holding a ring of metal in his hands. It took Tuvok a moment to realize what he was looking at.

A collar. A motherfucking collar.

He reared back and tried to get away from him, but there was nowhere to go. His position was the most defensible, but it left no room to escape. The current torture sessions left him too weak to fight, and he was trapped.

“Now, now, lovely thing. No reason to be scared of this. It’s a shock collar to make sure you don’t get away before I have time to finish my experiments on you.”

Tuvok felt no fear or shame. Yet there was something about this business that had him desperate to getaway. It puzzled him, but he didn’t allow it to show. Men like this were only spurred on by demonstrations of confusion and fear. He needed to get through this alive.

His dignity might no be intact by the end, but he would live to see the Voyager again.

Kell’an gripped the chain that bound Tuvok’s hands to the wall and yanked him forward with it. Tuvok fell on his knees. He tried to get as much distance as the firm grip allowed. This only seemed to amused Kell’an. He wrapped one arm around Tuvok’s shoulders, pinning his arms into place, and lifted the collar with the other.

Tuvok’s breaths began to shorten, his desperation apparent.

Kell’an clamped the metal collar around Tuvok’s neck and locked it tightly. “There we go, handsome thing.”

Tuvok’s tried to breathe, but the collar was very tight. It constricted against his windpipe, and he was forced to take shallow breaths just to get oxygen. Kell’an stepped back to admire the picture.

“Oh, you are just darling, aren’t you? Well, let’s give it a try. Want to make sure it does what it’s supposed to.” He removed a remote and pressed a button. Tuvok gasped at the feeling of electricity pouring into him. He began to hyperventilate, the collar making it impossible to breathe.

Then it finally let up, he slumped to the ground in a heap. Kell’an gave a happy little clap of excitement.

“Oh, that was amazing. You, little thing, are amazing. You just deal with the pain so much better than my previous specimens. I swear money can’t buy you good objects anymore. I had to get you myself, but no matter, you’re here with me now.”

Tuvok refused to give in to the urge to curl into a ball in front of Kell’an. He didn’t want to give him the satisfaction.

“Well, my pet, I must be going. I do have other experiments besides you. Nothing as interesting as you, of course, but still things that need attending to. I’ll see you later, darling.”

Tuvok watched him leave and crawled back to the corner, where he tried to remain as much as possible. He worked on getting as much air into his body as the collar would allow. Once he had his breath mostly back, he began to feel at the collar. Tuvok knew that often the electrical component left weaknesses in the structural integrity of shock collars.

He wasn’t surprised when he found there was none. Obviously, this psycho had victims before him to perfect his technique. Kell’an would never allow for something as pedestrian as a crack to enable one of them to get free.

Tuvok bowed his head and allowed a deep sigh. His emotions were becoming harder and harder to control. His mental faculties were degrading with every moment he spent in this place. Now, this collar seemed to push him even closer to the edge.

His long dark fingers traced along it, checking just one more time that he hadn’t missed a flaw or weakness he could exploit. He tugged lightly against it and felt sparks behind his eyes.

He gasped and bent over, shocked at the way it felt.

 “I want to scour every planet we come across for settlements and life signs. Tuvok’s the only Vulcan in this quadrant, it shouldn’t be that hard to tell him from others,” Janeway ordered her crew.

Chakotay looked on in worry. Since their Technical Officer had been plucked from their away team, she had become more and more desperate to find him. She was determined to find him.

They had already discovered that he was no longer on the plane he had been initially taken. A scan of life signs had revealed that there were no Vulcans anywhere in that system. Which meant he had been taken someplace else.

Although Tuvok wasn’t Chakotay’s favorite person, he felt a deep respect for the man. Calm and collected, he was an asset when it came to any situation. He had also begun to develop a tentative friendship with him, something a number of others had as well.

He knew that he wasn’t the only one worried that they would be finding a body rather than the man himself. Despite that, if Janeway wasn’t giving up, neither was he. He would help persevere until they had closure on this, even if they had to search every ship, station, and planet they came across.

All he could hope was that wherever Tuvok was, he wasn’t being hurt. That his captors weren’t planning on killing him. He hoped that the Tuvok that returned would be more or less the same man he was when he left.

However, Chakotay’s instincts, as well as the information of how he had been taken, said otherwise. A job that professional, that fast, and efficient spoke of expertise and experience. That didn’t bode well for whatever they wanted him for.

Chakotay tried to ignore the thought that Tuvok would make a good torture victim. His instincts weren’t always right.

#whumptober2020 #no.2 #collar #fic #star trek voyager #torture #violence #electrocution #hurt tuvok #protective crew

[summahsunlight]

This Way Became My Journey, Ch. 22

"What the hell happened?" Kathryn Janeway demanded when she entered sickbay. After hastily leaving the children in the care of a reluctant B'Elanna Torres on the bridge, Janeway, Sarah Barrett, and Tom Paris had rushed down to sickbay.

The Doctor was buzzing around the surgical biobed and Harry Kim was off to the side looking over a tricorder. Neelix was unconscious on the biobed and Kathryn felt her throat constrict. She knew it had been too soon to allow him on an away mission. She should have insisted that he be more thoroughly trained, but his enthusiasm to help the crew had won out and now he was injured.

Chakotay intercepted the Captain and Barrett as they entered the room, Paris on their heels. The two women stayed with the first officer, while Paris went to help the Doctor.

"He was attacked on the planetoid. Some how someone removed his lungs," Chakotay replied, noticing the looks of shock that came over both women's faces. But it was different forms of shock, he realized. While Janeway looked bewildered, Barrett looked absolutely mortified. "By the time we got to him, he was unconscious."

"Someone removed his lungs?" Janeway asked, trying to get a grasp on the situation.

Chakotay nodded his head. "We were exploring the caves and broke off into three teams. I told Neelix to hold position but you know how he is, eager, he went ahead, reported lifesigns and the next thing I knew he was screaming and gasping for air."

Barrett blinked. "You were in caves?"

The Commander nodded his head. "Yes, we were looking for the dilithium."

"And you said someone removed his lungs?"

"Yes," he replied. Haven't you been listening to anything I've been saying? "We're not sure how, but the Doctor speculates that whoever did this used some type of transporter to beam his lungs directly out of his body."

Barrett's sapphire eyes were studying the floor intensely, nervously moving back and forth. "It wasn't post traumatic stress," she muttered.

"Pardon?" Janeway and Chakotay said at the same time.

The young woman's eyes snapped up to look at her commanding officers, realizing that she had spoken her thoughts out loud. "I….it's nothing really." Across the room she could see the Doctor giving her a seething glare as Tom moved some equipment about. "Really, just thinking out loud." She saw the hologram frown at her, but the arrival of Kes seemed to take the officers minds off of her slip of the tongue.

"What happened?" the young Ocampa asked no one in particular.

Sarah gently placed her hands on Kes' shoulders. "Someone attacked Neelix on the away mission. We're not sure how it happened, but they managed to surgically remove his lungs. The Doctor is doing everything he can, Kes, to help him." The Captain and First Officer could not help but notice the strain in the young woman's voice. However, Kes didn't seem to notice, or if she did, she didn't care.

Kes brushed past Sarah, Chakotay and Kathryn, going straight for the biobed. Sarah glanced at the Captain once who gave her a nod of approval and the young woman went after Kes. Kathryn turned back towards Chakotay.

"Did you find any evidence of the lifesign that Neelix reported?"

"No."

Harry stepped up to join them. "Captain, I've analyzed the sensor logs from Neelix's tricorder. The bio scanner picked up a single class-3 humanoid organism."

Chakotay could see Janeway's eyes flicking about, while she was thinking intensely. In their short time together he had seen that look before. She was devising a plan and he had a sinking feeling he was not going to like it.

"I'm taking an away team back to the surface."

Damn. I knew I wasn't going to like it. "Captain," he said. "Starfleet protocol states that a commanding officer is not to transport to the surface of a planet unless it is secure. That planetoid is nowhere near being secure, we don't know how many of these aliens are done there removing organs, we don't even know what to look for."

"I am aware of Starfleet protocol, Commander," she seethed. "Starfleet protocol also states that if the situation demands it, the commanding officer can beam down to an unsecured site."

"I'm not sure the situation demands for you to be down there, Captain," Chakotay said, his dark eyes pleading with her. He wasn't sure when the intense desire to protect her had started, but it was there and he was going to fight with her as long as it took to get her to stay safely on Voyager. "I don't want to be beaming you back with your lungs removed."

"That is not going to happen…"

"And what do we tell your children when it does?"

The words had the desired effect that Chakotay had prayed for. That had been a slap in her face; she visibly winced at the words. And both of them knew that Chakotay had her right where he wanted her. While she was every bit a Starfleet captain, down to the protocol adherence, she was first, and foremost a mother. He knew as much as she did that the thought of her death thus leaving her children alone on Voyager, so far away from home, terrified her.

This was the payback she had been expecting since the moment he had glared at her when Neelix had been allowed on the mission. She knew it had been coming, she just didn't know how sneaky he could be.

"Very well," Janeway finally relented. "Commander, you lead the away team back down to the surface. Inform Mister Tuvok that I want three armed security details to accompany you. Issue type three phasers and keep me updated."

Chakotay knew that he wouldn't always win this battle, because he was sure that there were going to be many more like this, but today, he was satisfied that he had won out. Nodding his head he looked at Kim and the two men left sickbay.

Janeway moved towards the surgical biobed hoping that the Doctor had some news. Kes was standing next to the bed, her small hands resting on the soft material. Her jaw was clenched and Kathryn was sure that the young Ocampa had never experienced this kind of trauma before in her young life. Sarah Barrett had her work cut out for her and on her first day back on the duty roaster no less.

"The blood gas infuser will keep him alive for another forty-seven minutes," the Doctor informed the Captain. "The only chance I see for survival at this moment is if we get his own lungs back."

"Can't we fit him with a pair of artificial lungs?" Janeway asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

The Doctor shook his head. "I'm afraid not. His respiratory system is directly linked to multiple points along his spinal column. It's too complex to replicate. I may be able to surgically re-attach the organs if we get them back, but in the meantime we'll have to search for other options"

Janeway felt a pit forming in her stomach. Pursuing aliens that harvested organs was not exactly what she had in mind what they would be doing today, and she was having horrible visions of these said aliens harvesting her own organs, along with her crew and children. It was an image that sent shivers repeatedly up and down her spine. She gently laid a hand on Kes' arm briefly. "I'll be on the bridge. We're going to find who did this Kes and get his lungs back."

Turning about on her heel, Janeway walked purposefully out of the room.

"Mister Paris," the Doctor said once she was gone. "Did they teach how to run a respiratory series in your biochemistry class at the Academy?"

"Ah, no I'm afraid they didn't."

The Doctor looked annoyed. "Fine, I'll just do it myself," he grumbled, grabbing a hypospray from a nearby equipment tray. He moved to stand behind Kes. "I'm going to have to ask you to leave."

"I'm not leaving," Kes said heatedly.

The hologram looked to Barrett for help, but she shook her head. "Very well," he said, more annoyed now. "Just…try to stay out of the way." He pressed the hypospray to Neelix's neck and moved about the surgical biobed.

Sarah didn't seem to notice him. She was staring intently at the Talaxian, trying to piece together a logical explanation as to why her dream had resembled the attack on Neelix so much. But she couldn't come up with one and it was scaring her. When she had been on the Explorer she had been able to on a few occasions figure out where the Borg were going by dreams she had or just by what she called a hunch. However, she thought that was because the Borg were easy to predict. Was there something more to her dreams?

"Counselor Barrett?" Her eyes snapped up to see Tom looking at her with a worried expression. "Is everything alright, ma'am?"

"Yes, just…thinking," she responded.

Tom looked at her skeptically but went about his work. "Doc, I think his cellular toxicity level is rising."

The hologram went to stand next to the pilot and looked at the biocomputer. "It's up to thirty two percent. Let's see if we can stabilize those levels. Get me a cytoplasmic stimulator."

Sarah watched from her position opposite from Kes as Tom gave the hologram a little nod of his head, then proceed to toy around in the equipment tray, finally giving up and looking around the room.

"Ah, we don't have one."

"Then replicate one."

"Right," Tom said, still looking lost.

"The design schematics are in the ship's medical data base," the Doctor replied sharply. Tom nodded his head and went to the replicators in the office. "The man drives a 700,000-ton starship so somebody thinks he'd make a good medic."

"He was the only one of us that had any biochemistry at the Academy," Sarah said, garnering for the second time that day, a sharp look from the hologram. "Well, it seemed like a good idea at the time."

"One has to wonder what other good ideas you people have thought up."

Kes ignored the banter; she wasn't in the mood for it. "I can survive with one lung can't I? What if I donated a lung to Neelix?"

"A transplant is not an option," the Doctor said. "No one aboard is a compatible match for a Talaxian."

With those words the Doctor left the vicinity and went to the office, mumbling to himself as he went. Sarah and Kes lost what he was saying as he strode away. "I'm sure the Doctor will think of something Kes. He was after all programmed by some of Starfleet's best." The words were not comforting and Sarah could see it by the look of despair on Kes' face. Damn it, I've been out of the loop too long when it comes to stuff like this. I'm a psychologist not a therapist. 

She soon realized how ridiculous that sounded. Psychologists could be therapists, she was just better at the studying and analyzing of cultures and mental states than she was comforting. It was partially the reason why she had leaped through the ranks so quickly when she graduated from the Academy, because of the growing threat of the Borg and Bajoran terrorist cells Starfleet had needed good psychologists to study the mind set of said groups; that and her father's name had helped a little too.

If all had gone according to plan she would have been promoted to Lieutenant Commander, and be infiltrating the Maquis, however, she had learned that things seldom went according to plan and she was on Voyager instead. Everything happens for a reason, my girl, her father had always told her that, since the day she could walk she was sure of it. There were times that she found herself questioning that belief. After all, what reason could possibly be giving for her turning to drugs and ending up on this ship? She wasn't the best counselor out there suited for the job.

Of course they had no way of knowing that a three week mission was going to turn into a life time. Perhaps if Janeway had she would have opted for someone with a bit more emotional stability.

"What are you doing?" she heard Tom ask the Doctor as the two came back into the room.

"I'm using the transporter matrix to get exact specifications for Neelix's lungs," the Doctor replied.

"I thought you just said we can't replicate his lungs," Tom said.

"We can't," the Doctor said, "but if I can reconfigure my emitter array, I might be able to create a pair of holographic lungs."

"Holographic lungs?" Sarah and Tom questioned at the same time.

The Doctor came to join the group at the biobed. "If it's successful, we can precisely control his pulmonary functions to allow normal breathing."

"But a hologram is just a projection of light held together in a magnetic containment field. There's no real matter involved," Tom said.

The Doctor suddenly slapped him. Kes looked stunned, Sarah jumped in surprise, and Tom's mouth hung open. "Now," the hologram said turning about to adjust something on the computer, then turning back to Tom, "you hit me."

Tom wound up and proceeded to do so, as Kes flinched, but his hand passed right through the Doctor. Tom looked at his hand, stunned.

"The magnetic containment field that creates the illusion of my body can be modulated to allow matter to pass through it," the Doctor answered, turning about to tap at the controls again, "or be stopped. I might be able to modulate the holographic lungs in the same way, allowing oxygen and carbon dioxide to pass from the lungs to the blood stream."

Kes grabbed his arm. "I want to know what this means."

"There's no to time explain the exact procedure to you right now."

"Oh, well, make the time, because I'm not going to let you perform any experimental surgery on Neelix until I know exactly what you're doing and what the risks are."

Sarah moved towards her, gently taking her arm in her hand. "Kes, maybe we should go to my office and wait until the Doctor is done."

"No, Lieutenant," Kes snapped. "I'm not going anywhere."

"Very well, the risk is that he'll die," the Doctor said, answering her question. "If he does survive he will have to remain in an isotropic restraint. The lungs need to be perfectly aligned to his internal physiology. The computer won't be able to compensate for any body movement whatsoever."

Kes' voice dropped. "How long will he have to stay like that?"

"The rest of us life, unless we recover his original organs. He will never be able to leave the holographic environment of this room. The holo lungs would disappear the moment he went out the door."

The Doctor turned away and went back to his work leaving Kes standing there, looking horrified. Sarah gave her arm a reassuring squeeze. "Kes, I know it sounds bad right now, but at least he'd still be alive. Maybe the Doctor will find something else later down the raod. What do you think Neelix would want?"

"That's the problem, Counselor, I don't know what Neelix would want," she took a deep breath. "But I do know that I want him to live." And with a simple nod of her head, the Doctor was given the permission to proceed.

"Captain we've discovered a laboratory of some sorts," Chakotay's voice echoed over the comlink. "There are several organs here, from different species that we can't identify. However, there's no sign of Neelix's lungs."

Kathryn felt her throat constrict at hearing this. A whole laboratory filled with organs from other beings? "Any sign of the lifeform that did this?"

"Negative, Captain," Tuvok's voice came next. "This room is, however, the source of the dilithium signatures were detecting earlier. The power system's here are running on an unusual dilithium matrix."

It was just like they had feared since the away team had returned to Voyager. There wasn't any dilithium down there and they were still going to have power struggles until they found a better solution. Raising her hand to her chin, she tried to get a grasp on how this day had gone from hopeful to hopeless. "Is there anything down there that might give us a clue as to where the lifeform has gone?"

"Captain, my readings are telling me that there was lifeform in here less then ten minutes ago," Chakotay said.

"Captain we're picking up one life sign, we're in pursuit," Tuvok's voice said, calmly.

Kathryn spun about to look at tactical. "Prepare a security detail."

"Yes ma'am," Rollins said, moving off of the bridge.

Kathryn turned about nervously pacing the command station. If they didn't catch the aliens what did that mean for Neelix? Well the answer to that was obvious, he would die. She couldn't help but feel guilty. A captain's job was to keep her people safe. Neelix had tried so hard to make a difference for this crew and here she had allowed him on an away mission without fully prepping him in the right protocol. That was foolish Kathryn, simply foolish. She bit her lip for a second, but whose to say that if Neelix didn't go on the away mission that someone else would have suffered his fate. 

That line of thinking didn't get her far, because she realized that if it had been Chakotay or Harry that had been attacked the Doctor would have been able to replicate a new set of lungs for them or one of the crew members could have donated a lung. It wasn't her fault that Talaxian physiology was like no one else's on file.

"Mama, why would someone steal Neelix's lungs?"

Damn it, I should have had them move into the ready room. "I'm not sure, honey," Kathryn replied, snaking her hand into her son's dark locks. "But I'm going to find out why."

"Don't they have their own lungs?" Michael inquired, peering up at her with only what could be described as the curiosity of a child. "I mean they would need lungs to breathe wouldn't they?"

One would think so, Kathryn thought. "Honey why don't you back to your lesson?"

"I finished it. Besides this is more exiting."

Kathryn frowned at him as Parsons reported that there was a ship leaving the planetoid. Spinning about on her heel she ordered that the away team be beamed back on board. "Tractor them!"

"It's too late Captain, they've already gone to warp."

Luck just isn't on my side today. "Set a pursuit course once the away team is back on board, maximum warp."

"Aye Captain."

Kathryn rubbed her temples, trying to rub the headache that was forming away. She knew it was going to be no use, she had been plagued with stress headaches ever since she was a teenager.

"Did I lose my job while on that away mission?"

Chakotay's voice cut through the dense fog and she glanced up at him with confused eyes. What the hell is he talking about? Noticing where his grin was pointed at, she turned about to see Michael occupying the Commander's chair. She half expected to see Ava with him, but realized she hadn't heard so much as a peep out of the baby for nearly twenty minutes. Not good. 

Her eyes must have widened and panic must have been settling in on her face for Chakotay smiled even more. "Over there," he pointed towards the Engineering station where Michael had been working. Ava was curled up in the chair taking a nap. "I brought you something," Chakotay suddenly said, and Kathryn's head snapped about. "Consider it an early birthday gift."

Lieutenant Torres is right; he does have a twisted sense of humor. He was handing her a tricorder device of some sort, or at least that's what it appeared to be. "Any idea what this thing does?"

"We think it's a weapon of some sort," Chakotay said. "The being pointed it at us and fired when we confronted him."

"Everyone still has their lungs right?" Kathryn drawled; she could have a twisted sense of humor too.

"As far as I know, yes."

With a look, Kathryn went to hand the device to B'Elanna Torres, seated at the science station. "Lieutenant, see if you can figure out what this does, oh and some one get Mister Paris up here, we're going to need his flying abilities."

#star trek voyager #star trek voyager fanfiction #kathryn janeway #chakotay #tom paris #sarah barrett (oc) #harry kim #b'elanna torres #neelix #kes #the doctor (emh) #janeway x chakotay #tom paris x ofc