#and of course THE moment...Tuvok looking down and placing his hand CLOSER to Janeway...but still not QUITE touching her | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

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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

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summahsunlight · 5 years

Text

This Way Became My Journey, CH. 6

Word Count: 3901

Pairings: Janeway/Chakotay, Paris/OFC

Characters: Kathryn Janeway, Chakotay, Tom Paris, Sarah Barrett (OC), Harry Kim, B’Elanna Torres, Kes, Neelix, the Doctor

Captain's log, stardate 48315.6. We've traced the energy pulses from the array to the fifth planet of the neighboring system and believe they may have been used in some fashion to transport Kim and Torres to the planet's surface.

Kathryn Janeway looked out the windows in her quarters at the massive space array that Voyager was orbiting. Ava was playing near by, refusing to go to sleep. Kathryn had spent the past three hours trying to get Ava down for the night but to no avail. The child just plain out refused. Pinching the bridge of her nose with her thumb and pointer finger, Kathryn closed her eyes trying to concentrate.

She was finding it difficult. She had a headache and the endless questions were only making it worse. The door chimed and she let out a soft sigh before calling, "Come in."

Kathryn turned about to see Tuvok enter. The Vulcan was carrying a PADD in his hands and reading it over. "Captain," he said, "I've observed something peculiar about the pulses; they're getting faster."

She took the PADD in her hand, letting the one she was holding in her other to drop to her side. "Faster," she said, disgusted, looking away from her trusted friend. She knew that her tone was probably hostile and he did not deserve it, but she was exhausted. They were no closer to finding Kim and Torres and a way home, and Ava's refusal to go to sleep was not helping matters any. What was it her mother had said, mixing a Starfleet career and motherhood was like mixing oil and water; it just couldn't be done. Kathryn, in her stubbornness, had been determined that she could. Now, that stubbornness was paying its toll.

"I can offer no explanation as to why they are increasing," Tuvok said. She had not even realized he was still talking.

With a sigh, she turned towards her desk. "That's only one of the mysteries we're dealing with, Mister Tuvok. Take a look." She turned the personal computer around so he could see the display. It was a graphic of the fifth planet that Voyager had been scanning. "It's virtually a desert. Not one ocean, not one river. It has all the characteristics of an M class planet, with one exception, there are no nucelogenic particles in the atmosphere."

"That would indicate that the planet cannot produce rain," Tuvok stated.

Kathryn nodded her head and moved away from him. "I've studied hundreds of M Class planets; I've never seen one without nucelogenics. There must have been some extraordinary environmental disaster," she sighed, stopping to look out the window. She sat down on the sofa, "As soon as repairs are complete, we'll set a course for the fifth planet."

Kathryn leaned back and placing her chin in the palm of her hand, looked out the window at the unmapped stars. Ava whimpered suddenly and she turned her attention to the baby. She was lying on her back, looking up at the ceiling, but was starting to lose the battle with sleep. Tuvok also looked at the child and saw the strain not only in the baby's tired little face, but in the Captain's as well.

"Captain," he said, stepping towards the sofa. "You require sleep; as does young Ava."

She didn't seem to hear him. "Kim's mother called me before we left; delightful woman, her only son. He'd left his clarinet behind; she wanted to know if she had enough time to send it. I had to tell her no," Kathryn said sadly, looking up at Tuvok. "Did you know he played the clarinet in the Julliard Youth Symphony?"

"I did not get the chance to meet Mister Kim," Tuvok replied.

"I barely knew him," Kathryn said, softly. "I never seem to get the chance to know any of them." She leaned forward thoughtfully. "I have to take more time to do that." The baby whimpered again and caught her mother's attention. "It's a fine crew and I've gotta get them home."

Tuvok placed his hands behind his back. "The crew, and your children, will not benefit from the leadership of an exhausted captain and mother."

Kathryn looked up at him, a soft smile formed on her worn face. "Your right as usual," she leaned back, letting the cushions massage her aching back. "I've missed your council."

"I am gratified that you would come after me so I could offer it to you once again," Tuvok replied.

She smiled. "I spoke to your family before I left."

He took a deep breath. "Are they well?"

Kathryn titled her head, slightly. "They're worried about you."

"That would not be an accurate perception, Captain. Vulcans do not worry."

"They… miss you."

"As I do them."

Kathryn stood, moving towards him. "I'll get you back to them. That's a promise, Tuvok."

For a moment the two friends looked each other in the eye before Tuvok nodded his had in gratitude and turned to leave the room. Kathryn watched him go before she went to pick Ava up and hold her close, looking out the window at the stars. "You hear that my little bird," she whispered in her baby's ear. "I'm going to get you home."

"You look like you could use some of this," a voice said above her.

Sarah Barrett glanced up from the latest repair report to see Tom Paris standing by her table in the mess hall, with a pot of coffee in his hands. The room was practically empty and the lights had been dimmed for the nighttime hours. Blinking the sleep out of her eyes, she looked about the now abandoned room. She had been here so long she realized that she had no idea what time it was. Offering him a small, tired smile, she gestured for him to sit down.

Tom took a seat opposite her and poured her a cup. "I heard you had a few extra duties shoved on your shoulders. But I didn't think you'd be up this late however pouring over…what exactly are you pouring over anyways?"

"Repair reports," she replied, taking the mug from him. "Captain Janeway has me coordinating the repair teams. Our senior staff, shall we say is a little depleted right now."

"It might stay that way if we don't find a way home," Tom quipped, taking a sip of his own coffee.

"I'm trying not to think about that," Sarah said in response. "I don't think I can take many more late nights like this. Speaking of late nights by the way, why are you up so late?"

He shrugged. "Couldn't sleep."

"Thinking about Harry?" she asked, setting the PADD aside.

"Yeah, I suppose I am," Tom replied, casting his eyes downward.

It was hard for him to open up to anybody, let alone a girl that he had just met a few days before. But he had to get it off his chest if he ever hoped of getting a wink of sleep that night. Truth be told, he had purposely tracked her down, she seemed like the most logical choice of someone to talk to, she was after all the ship's counselor, but she had also been the only one, besides Janeway and Harry, to give him the time of day since he had boarded this ship. "He's pretty much the only one on this ship that's been civil to me, friendly even, with the exception of you and Captain Janeway of course. I guess I've been thinking about how lonely this whole mission could be if we don't find a way home and rescue Harry."

Her sapphire eyes softened. "Tom, if Captain Janeway's service record is any indication of how she really is, then she will do everything in her power to find Harry and bring him back to Voyager. Besides, you're not alone, a lot of people on this ship I'm sure will be willing to give you a second chance. You just have to give them reason to do so."

He mulled over her words, and then grinned. "You're good. However, you're being a bit pessimistic. Don't you believe we're going to get home? Why would people on this ship even have the time to give me a second chance, especially since I'll be back in New Zealand when we return to Starfleet?"

Sarah frowned. "It's not pessimism, it's realism."

"Oh is that what they call it these days?"

"Well what do you want me to say?" she snapped, hotly. "We'll find Harry and then we'll all sail home triumphantly? The truth is, Paris, we're seventy thousand light years from home, with an entity that seems quite content to let us rot out here before sending us back where we came from and we're relying for help on people that can't be trusted entirely because of their views on the Federation."

"Chakotay," he huffed.

Sarah quirked an eyebrow. "He had an...interesting reaction to you today. What's your history with him?"

"There isn't any."

"Don't lie to me, no one would have reacted like that if you didn't have history."

Tom shrugged his shoulders. "I was itching for fight after being ushered out of Starfleet. I was angry at them, angry at myself for what had happened. I found Chakotay and the Maquis. They were desperate for fighters so they took me. Chakotay could see right through me, he knew what I was in for and he knew why. He never trusted me and he considered me more trouble than I was worth. He knew that I wasn't in it for their mighty cause and he figured that someday I'd turn them in, in exchange for something so I could please my parents. The truth is he was right about me. I am more trouble than I'm worth and I'm sorry that Captain Janeway could be stuck with me out here."

"You shouldn't say stuff like that, you don't know what's going to happen," she said, tensely.

Tom studied the tired expression on her face. "You're worried about being stuck out here aren't you?"

"Aren't you?"

"Me, nah," he replied. "I don't have a life back home worth returning too. It doesn't matter to me either way."

In reality, neither did she. Both her parents were dead and she had had a falling out with her older brother when he had found out she was using drugs. She had not spoken to him for at least two years. What scared her was being stuck out here with people who did have a life back home to return to. She wasn't sure if she was the right person to get them through it all.

Tom was standing now. "If it's any consolation, Counselor, if we do get stuck out here, I think we've got the best counselor on board to get us through it."

Their eyes met briefly before he turned and left the room. Sarah was once again left alone in the dim light with her PADDs, but now with a little bit more confidence and a steaming pot of coffee.

Captain's log, supplemental. The Maquis ship and Voyager have encountered a debris field where sensors have detected a small vessel. One humanoid life-form is on board.

"Hail them," Janeway told Tuvok as she stepped onto the bridge from her ready room. After finally getting her baby down for the night she had gotten a good night's sleep and felt refreshed and ready for whatever the day had to bring her. Stopping to stand behind helm, she turned to the view screen to see a net of some kind covering the alien's own view screen.

Someone was moving about in the background trying to find it.

The net was tossed out of the way and a male humanoid appeared, with spotted skin and orange hair. "Who ever you are, I found this waste heap first!" he yelled at her in a hostile tone. Janeway looked back at Sarah Barrett, seated in her chair, the two made eye contact for a moment before the Captain looked back at their new 'friend.'

"We're not interested in your debris," she told him, waving her hand about to emphasize what she was saying. "Mister?"

He's face immediately softened. "Neelix. And since you're not interested in my debris, well then, I'm delighted to know you."

Sarah got up from her chair and went to whisper in Kathryn's ear. "He's probably harmless Captain, makes his living by salvaging parts in debris heaps like this one. My guess is that this is how most beings get by in this region of space, that would account for his hostile reaction at seeing us at first."

Confident in her counselor's assessment of their new friend, she smiled. "Captain Kathryn Janeway, of the Federation Starship Voyager," she introduced her self to Neelix.

"That's a very impressive title. I have no idea what it all means," Neelix said. "But it sounds very impressive."

"Tell me Mister Neelix, do you know this part of space well?" Janeway asked him.

"I am famous for knowing it well," Neelix answered, proudly. "How may I be of service?"

"Do you know anything about the array that is sending energy pulses to the fifth planet?" Janeway inquired, pacing the command station back and forth, not breaking her eye contact with Neelix.

"I know enough to stay as far away from it as possible," Neelix replied. A look of understanding suddenly dawned on his face. "Let me guess, you were whisked away from somewhere else in the galaxy and brought here against your will?"

"Sounds like you've heard this story before."

"Sadly yes, thousands of times, well hundreds of times, maybe fifty times," Neelix said, which caused a small smile to form on Janeway's face. "The Caretaker has been bringing ships here for months now."

Janeway's eyes lit up with curiosity. "The Caretaker?"

"That's what the Ocampa call him. They live on the fifth planet," Neelix answered. "Did he kidnap some of your crew?"

Janeway leaned against the rail at conn. "As a matter of fact, he did."

"It's not the first time."

"Do you know where he might have taken them?" Janeway asked hopefully.

"Just that they are brought to the Ocampa, nothing more," Neelix said.

"We'd appreciate any help that you could give us in finding these…Ocampa," Janeway told him.

Neelix looked about his pile of junk for a moment before answering her. "I really wish I could help, I really do, but as you can see there is so much debris for me to go through. You'd be surprised the things of value some people throw out."

"Of course we'd want to compensate you for your trouble," Janeway offered him.

"There's really very little that you could offer me," Neelix replied, diverting his eyes, "unless of course you had…water."

Janeway looked down at the floor for a moment. If this was only going to cost them water, something they could easily replicate, then she was the one coming up smelling like roses in this deal. She glanced back at Neelix. "If you help us find our missing crew members you can have all the water you want."

"That sounds like a very reasonable arrangement."

She smiled. "Good. We'll beam you over and tow your ship into our shuttle bay." As she looked over her shoulder at Tuvok she was unaware of the distressed look that came over Neelix's face. "Mister Tuvok, Miss Barrett, go to Transporter Room Two and meet our guest." Janeway turned back towards Neelix as her officers left the Bridge.

"Beam?" Neelix questioned.

It had never occurred to her that these people had no idea what a transporter was. "We have technology that allows us to take you instantly from your ship to ours. It's quite harmless. May we?"

Neelix put his arms up in the air and a few seconds later the he materialized in Transporter Room Two, where Tuvok and Barrett were waiting to greet him. He looked positively relieved to be alive and in one piece. "Astonishing!" he exclaimed, running his hands over his furry coat. "You Federation are obviously an advanced culture."

"The Federation is made up of many cultures, I am Vulcan," Tuvok said, then gesturing towards Sarah, "Miss Barrett is human."

"Neelix!" The alien said, as he bounded off the transporter pad and threw his arms around Tuvok. "Good to meet you!"

Barrett had to repress a giggle at seeing the obvious discomfort this put Tuvok in. But as Neelix gathered her up into his arms, she soon found the reason for the discomfort. Mister Neelix apparently did not know what a bath was.

He let go of her and looked around the room. "Interesting. What…what does this all do?"

Tuvok stepped closer to him, not comfortable with the alien freely roaming around the room, brushing his fingers over various bulkheads and consoles. "I assure you everything in this room has a specific function. It would take several hours to explain it all."

"Perhaps another time," Barrett said, watching in mild amusement. "Shall we take you to your quarters?" She gestured for Neelix to follow her, Tuvok behind him.

"Perhaps you would care for a bath," the Vulcan stated.

Neelix looked at him perplexed. "A what?"

As the trio made their way through the corridors, Neelix stopping to look at everything, touching things that made Tuvok visibly flinch on occasion, Sarah knew that her personnel log was going to be interesting tonight.

Harry felt like he had been sitting on his biobed in the sterile alien room for hours. The Klingon woman was still sedated and unconscious on her own biobed and the only company Harry really had was the sound of the energy pulses. He was beginning to wonder if their alien 'hosts' were ever going to come back.

The Klingon woman suddenly jerked up and turned to face him. He put a hand up. "It's okay," he told her. " It's okay."

She looked nervous. "Who are you?"

"Name is Kim, Harry Kim. I'm an ensign on the Starship Voyager," he replied. "I was kidnapped from the array just like you were. I don't know where we are."

"What was Starfleet doing at that array?" she asked, angrily.

"Looking for you actually; one minute we were in the Badlands, the next—,"

"You mean you were trying to capture us!" the Klingon interrupted.

"Yeah, consider yourself captured," Harry answered sarcastically. He ran his hands over his white medical robe. "I know I have a phaser in here somewhere."

She moved closer to him. "I don't find this at all amusing, Starfleet." She moved towards the door, trying to look for a way to open it. She heard the Starfleet officer tell her that it was no use that it was locked. She didn't care, she had to get out, so she tried hitting it.

Harry jumped off the biobed and went to pull her away from the door. "Hey, what is that going to accomplish!"

"What are they doing to us!" she screamed holding up her wrists to show him the sores on her body. "What are these things growing on us?"

"Do you want them to sedate you again?"

"You're right Starfleet," she said, conceding to him. "It's the Klingon half of me, it's just that it's hard to control it sometimes."

"What's your name Maquis?"

"B'Elanna," she answered, "B'Elanna Torres."

The door to their room opened and one of the alien doctors was standing there holding some clothing. Harry held onto B'Elanna's arm firmly so she wouldn't try to go and attack the doctor. "I hope you're feeling better," the alien said. "I know this must be frightening for both of you. I've brought some clothes if you care to change." He held the arm with the clothing draped over it up so they could see them better.

"Why are you holding us here?" B'Elanna asked.

"You are not prisoners. In fact we consider you honored guests." He walked into the room closer to the two. "The Caretaker has sent you to us. As long as you're not violent you're free to leave your quarters."

"What's wrong with us?" Harry asked, holding up his hand. "What are these things?"

The doctor looked at him sadly. "We really don't know," he paused briefly, and then said, "You must be hungry, would you care to join me on the courtyard for a meal?"

B'Elanna and Harry looked at each other before making the decision that it was time to get out of this sterile room.

The doctor brought them up to the courtyard, directing them to the food dispensers. It was bright and airy, with many of the aliens out and about. Harry went to lean on a rail and looked out at the city. He was amazed to find that they were underground, with all the light around, that he assumed was sunlight, it was hard to believe.

"We're underground," he stated, looking about.

"Our society is subterranean, we've lived here for over five hundred generations," the doctor informed them as a group started to form around them.

B'Elanna looked upward. "But before that, you lived on the surface?"

"Yes, until the warming began."

"The warming?"

"When our surface turned into a desert and the Caretaker came to protect us," the doctor told him, as the group of curious aliens began to close in around them. Harry and B'Elanna were suddenly aware that they were being watched. "Our ancient journals tell us that he opened a deep chasm in the ground and led our ancestors to this place. Since then he has provided for all our needs." He suddenly noticed the group around them as well and the troubled looks on Harry and B'Elanna's faces. "Please forgive them; they know you have come from the Caretaker. None of us have ever seen him." He gestured for them to follow.

Harry and B'Elanna pushed their way through the group of on lookers and followed the doctor. They stopped at something that was similar to a replicator. The doctor proceeded to provide them with a bowl of food that neither B'Elanna nor Harry was sure about eating, but they took the bowls just to be polite.

They moved through the seating area which was facing three large view screens, each displaying a different scene of nature. "Is this how the Caretaker communicates with you?" Harry asked, eyeing the view screens.

"He never communicates with us directly," the doctor answered. "We try to interpret his wishes as best we can."

"I'm curious to know how you've interpreted the Caretaker's reasons for sending us here," Harry replied.

"We believe he separated you from your species for their protection."

"Their protection?" B'Elanna snapped.

"From your illness," he replied. The doctor gestured for the two to sit down with him. B'Elanna and Harry slowly took a seat. "Perhaps he's trying to prevent a plague."

"We weren't sick until we met your Caretaker," B'Elanna said.

"From time to time he asks us to care for people with this disease. It's the least we can do."

"There have been others?" B'Elanna questioned. "Like us?"

"Yes," was the only thing the doctor said in reply to her.

B'Elanna felt her nerves on edge as she asked, "Where are they?"

The doctor sighed, heavily. "You're condition is serious. We don't know exactly how to treat it. I'm afraid that the others did not recover."

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

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voyagerafod · 7 years

Text

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

As beautiful as the sunrises on Quarra were, Kathy Janeway had little time to enjoy today’s as she tried to find a supervisor. She needed this job, and being late on her first day was not a good way to make a first impression. She knew this planet had a bit of a labor shortage which might save her, but she would still rather not risk it. Factory work was a bit beneath her skill-set, but better to get her hands dirty here than to keep them clean behind a desk on the shithole planet she was born on.

“Excuse me,” she asked a pink-skinned alien who was about to pass her, “can you tell me where I can find the supervisor?” “Over there,” the alien said, pointing to his right.

“Thank you,” Kathy said, jogging off in that direction. She made her way to a small office with a window that overlooked this part of the factory floor. The supervisor seemed to realize what she was there for just by looking as he stepped out to meet her and immediately, but politely, asked for her authorization and licenses.

He looked at them, smiling. “Level 6 in thermodynamics and quantum fusion? I’m impressed, Ms. Janeway.” “Thank you, sir,” Kathy said. “And I apologize for being late. I boarded the wrong transport and-” “Ended up at the Atmosphere Filtration Facility? Don’t feel bad, I did that my first day too. Happens to nearly two-thirds of the new hires in the first week. But around here we have a saying. ‘First is forgiven.’ Don’t let it happen again, but as this is your first infraction, and a minor one at that, it won’t go in your file.”

“Thank you, sir,” Kathy said. “With your skills I’m surprised Atmo didn’t offer you a job when you got there,” the supervisor said. “But since you’re here, your job is to monitor the primary reactor coils. They process more than eight thousand metric-” “Eight thousand metric tons of tylium per second at 94% thermal efficiency.”

The supervisor chuckled. “Well, hopefully we can help you keep that level of enthusiasm for the job. We like to keep our workforce happy. If you have any problems, let me know.”

The supervisor turned to walk away, then stopped. “Oh, just a head’s up, we have a new efficiency monitor who also just started and she can be a bit… abrasive. She is good at her job though so listen to what she says, and try not to let her demeanor get to you. I guess being overly blunt comes with the territory when you’re a cyborg.”

“I’ll keep that in mind, sir,” Kathy said. As soon as the supervisor walked away, she immediately got to work. It didn’t take her long to get into a rhythm. So much of one that she almost didn’t notice when a co-worker attempted to hand her a datapad with new specifications.

“Ah, thank you.” she said to the alien, who simply nodded and walked away. She began entering the specifications when suddenly an error alarm went off. “Of for the love of-” “Input Error 145,” the automated alarm said between beeps. Kathy tried to correct, but was met with a “Command Code Violation 2308” for her efforts. “Come on,” she said, leaning in closer to the machine in front of her, hoping against all logic that being nice to the damn thing would work where her inputted instructions had somehow failed. “If you stop with that alarm, I promise I will never violate you again.” A hand reached into her peripheral vision and touched a button on the console, stopping the alarm immediately. She turned to see another alien, a male by all appearances, who was entering code of his own.

“You almost started a core overload,” he said, though lacking the kind of judgement she would’ve expected from someone telling her she’d almost gotten everyone in the building killed.

If this is normal around here, she thought, maybe I should get a new job. “I would’ve corrected it,” she said defensively. She wasn’t entirely sure of that in actuality, though she doubted it was entirely her fault and made a mental note to double check the specs she’d been handed earlier. “Well,” the alien man said, “I’m sorry for interrupting then. And for eavesdropping. I overheard you talking to your console.” “Well, it was either that or some percussive maintenance,” Janeway said, feeling a little embarrassed. “Percussive main- Oh, you mean hitting it,” the alien man said, chuckling. “I like that. Percussive maintenance. I’ll have to remember that one. I’m Jaffen, by the way.” He extended his hand, and Kathy shook it. “Kathryn,” she said. “I only let my friends call me Kathy and we’re not there yet so don’t even think about it.” “Understood,” Jaffen said. “I work just down there,” he said, motioning his head down towards the end of the workfloor. “This station doesn’t require two operators,” a voice said. Kathy turned and saw a blonde-haired human woman with obvious cybernetic implants where one of her eyebrows should’ve been, and another just under her right ear. This must be the efficiency monitor I was warned about, Kathy thought. “I don’t think we’ve met,” Jaffen said, offering the cyborg a handshake as well. Kathy wondered if he’d picked that up from one of the other humans on this planet, or if his species had somehow developed that form of greeting on their own by sheer coincidence. “I’m-” “Employee 1326,” the cyborg said. “And you,” she added, glancing at Kathy before returning her focus to a device in her hands, “are Employee 8584. Since you’re new here, you may not be fully familiar with labor protocols.” She looked at Jaffen again. “But you should be aware that fraternizing is not permitted during work hours.” “And what’s your number if you don’t mind my asking? Or do you get a name?” The cyborg sighed. “Annika Hansen. I am the new efficiency monitor.”

“Ah,” Jaffen said, “I didn’t know they’d hired a new one so soon.” He shook his head. “I’m happy for Masala of course, but I’m gonna miss him around here.” “Now that you know,” Hansen said, “you can return to your work station.” “For the record,” Kathy said, “we weren’t fraternizing. Jaffen just helped me correct an input code error. Speaking of-”

“Finish quickly,” Hansen said, nodding politely, and briskly turning and walking away. “Yes ma’am,” Kathy said quietly. “She’s a charmed one isn’t she?” Jaffen said. “I think you mean ‘charming,’” Kathy said, “but yeah.” “Anyway, from where I was standing I thought we were fraternizing,” Jaffen said with a friendly smile. Kathy chuckled, shook her head, and went back to work. “Maybe we could get acquainted after work.”

Kathy almost reflexively said “No,” but hesitated for a moment.

Should I? She thought. “I can’t,” she said out loud. “I appreciate the offer but with this new job, I don’t really have time to socialize.” She casually pointed in the direction Annika Hansen had gone. Jaffen shrugged. “Well, I suppose I could ask out the new efficiency monitor,” he said, though the tone of his voice suggested he didn’t really intend to. Kathy snorted a laugh. “I take it they don’t have wedding rings on your homeworld.”

“I know what those two words mean individually,” Jaffen said, “but I’m afraid I don’t know the context. Is this a… your race is called Human right? Is it a human thing?” “Yeah,” Kathy said. “Did you notice that ring on Hansen’s hand there? That means that she’s already spoken for. Some lucky guy, or girl, gets to wake up next to the bipedal calculator every morning.” “Huh,” Jaffen said. “Oh well. See you around, Kathryn.” Kathy was surprised at how easy Jaffen was to let down. Not that he didn’t seem disappointed, just that, unlike some males of her own species, he wasn’t going to push the issue and that one “No” was enough for him. She found herself watching him as he walked away. She wondered if maybe she should’ve taken him up on his offer. She then wondered if she’d been too harsh in her initial assessment of Annika Hansen. Or maybe the first impression was right on, she thought, and the only reason someone married her was for that rack of hers. I mean hell, I’m not even into women and I thought about it for a second.

---

Jaffen waited by the bar, figuring the human women he had his eye on would show up sooner or later, but he didn’t spend too much time watching the door. He was already starting to feel like a stalker for having gone this far. Usually a “No” was all he needed, but there was something in the way that Kathy had said it, hesitating before doing so. Or maybe he was just trying to rationalize his actions to himself, he was willing to admit that.

To pass the time, he shared some stories about his jobs on his homeworld and on various freighters in the sector over the years. Some of the workers listening had heard the stories before but seemed to enjoy hearing them again, while others were clearly new to the place.

He finished telling a story about a poor young worker who, having never heard of Jaffen’s species, had attempted to insult Jaffen’s father to no avail. “Eventually, I finally explained it to him. I’m Norvalian. I don’t have a father,” he said, everyone in the crowd laughing, except for one of the newer people, a dark-skinned humanoid with pointed ears. “I’m afraid I do not understand,” the newcomer said. “It’s… complicated, Mister, um ,” “Tuvok,” the pointy-eared man said. “Mister Tuvok. It involves a centuries-long war, a sterility plague, and some creative genetic research that-” Jaffen stopped when he noticed Kathy Janeway entering the bar, somehow managing to avoid walking into anyone even though her attention seemed glued to her data pads rather than her surroundings. “I’m sorry, Mister Tuvok, perhaps some other time.” “I look forward to hearing it,” Tuvok said. “I am interested in learning as much as I can about the histories of the races who are now my co-workers.” “Just remember to always ask nicely,” Jaffen said as he moved past his friends towards the table where Kathy was now sitting.

“I thought you didn’t have time to socialize,” Jaffen said, sitting down across from her. Kathy looked up with a small smile, but the rest of her face conveying annoyance. “I’m not socializing,” she said, “I’m reviewing these manuals then getting something to eat.”

“Well, I recommend the latara broth, and the section on coefficients,” Jaffen said. “I can help you with the manuals if you like. We won’t be fraternizing.” Kathy looked at him contemplatively for a few seconds then laughed. “You are not that great at this,” she said. “Either you’re a lot younger than you look and I’m your first attempt at flirting, or you don’t usually try this hard.” “Well, you’ve got me there,” Jaffen said. “Normally once a woman says ‘no thanks,’ I move on. But there’s something about you. Not just your looks, though you are quite lovely, but something in your demeanor. I have to wonder why you’re just a low-level worker like me. You have an aura around you. I’ve seen it before. Some of the better freighter captains I’ve served under had it. The kind of men and women who you followed orders from not because you had to, but because you wanted to.”

Kathy tilted her head, as if not sure how to take the compliment. “So, you have a thing for authority figures?” she eventually said with a smirk. “Maybe you should be pursuing Efficiency Monitor Hansen.”

“I doubt her wife would appreciate that,” Jaffen said. “Her wife?” “I asked around,” Jaffen said. “Apparently her and her spouse adopted an alien orphan and live in the higher level apartments. The wife, Samantha I think her name is, works at one of the local biotech companies in the R&D division. Explains why they can afford a place like that so soon after getting here.”

“Well, good for her,” Kathy said. “Everyone deserves a shot at happiness. Even the officious, nitpicky, micromanaging types.”

---

Annika Hansen wrapped her arms around her wife’s waist while the later worked on cooking whatever it was she was cooking. The smell filled the apartment, but it wasn’t unpleasant. Still, she didn’t think it needed to be quite that strong. She didn’t say so out loud though. “We can afford a chef, Sammy,” Annika said, following up her statement with a kiss to the back of Samantha’s neck. “I know,” Sam said, “but like I said the three other times you’ve brought up this week, I like cooking. I have more control over this stove than the equipment at work.” Annika sighed. “They still treat you like a plebe over there? Jerks. You know more about xenobiology than any of those guys.” “I know, Annika, I know. But, humans are still the newbies on Quarra.” Annika had to admit to herself that Sam was right. It could’ve been worse though, she supposed. It wasn’t as though they were discriminated against, or victims of any sort of bias-motivated violence. They just hadn’t been around long enough to settle in like so many of the other species had. The Quarrens didn’t seem to mind one bit that there were whole neighborhoods in the major cities where they could walk around without seeing another one of their own, yet they never showed any sign of being uncomfortable doing it. She just wished Earth had been more like that. She and Sam wouldn’t have had to leave. Being a cyborg got you enough dirty looks alone. Being a cyborg and gay…

“But enough about me,” Sam said as she began chopping up some purple vegetable Annika didn’t recognize. “How was your day, Efficiency Monitor?” “Only you could make that title sound sexy,” Annika said. Sam opened her mouth to reply when the sound of the door to the smaller of the apartment’s two bedrooms opened and Naomi, their adopted daughter, came out, rubbing her eyes as she sat at the dinner table.

“You fell asleep while doing your homework, didn’t you?” Sam said.

Naomi looked embarrassed. “Yes, Momma Sam,” she said. Sam sighed and walked over to the little girl, handing off the knife she was using to cut the vegetables to Annika. “Hey, it’s okay,” Sam said, bending down so she and Naomi were face to face. “I told them they were giving you too much study to do for your age, but they didn’t listen. I’m not mad. You just need to let me know next time if you get tired early, okay?” “Okay,” Naomi said. The little girl looked up at Annika. “Momma Ann, did you hear? Some more humans started working in the factories today. Do any of them have kids? I’d like to make some friends.”

“I did know we got some humans in today sweetie, but I didn’t ask any of them if they had kids. It was too busy. If I can find a few minutes tomorrow I can ask around, though.” Annika liked being around Naomi. As useful as her cybernetic implants were, there were times when she almost felt like they controlled her more than the other way around. Being home however, she truly felt human. That made the sideways glances she’d get from the workers whose errors she’d have to correct worth putting up with.

“I better finish dinner,” Sam said. “Why don’t you two talk about your days while I finish up?”

“At the very least let me help clean your utensils as you go,” Annika said. “No, no, you don’t need to do that. Besides, your job is more physically demanding than mine. Now sit, relax.”

Annika sighed, but smiled as she did so. “You’re too good for me, Sammy.”

---

“I can’t believe I let you keep me out this late,” Kathy said, chuckling as she and Jaffen walked down a flight of stairs. “Well, I thought it was my responsibility to help you study those manuals,” Jaffen said.

“Of course you did,” Kathy said, laughing. “And now that I have,” Jaffen continued, “you should be less likely to overload the core.” Kathy chuckled at that as the two of them came around the corner. Even this close to the plant, the air still was surprisingly clean smelling, if a bit cold for her tastes.

“You know,” Jaffen said, “with all this fascinating discussion about thermal coefficients you never told me where you’re from.” “A planet called Earth,” Kathy said. “Well, I meant where on Earth,” Jaffen said. “Judging from the humans I’ve seen so far it seems like a pretty diverse planet. Different skin tones, body types, even eye shapes. I’ve met a few species with that kind of diversity, but not that many. Usually in this sector the only real differences between people are gender, height, weight, age, maybe hair and eye color, but that’s pretty much it.”

“Doesn’t matter,” Kathy said. “The place is overpopulated, polluted, and not a lot of work.” “Sounds a little like my homeworld,” Jaffen said. “Guess we’re both lucky to be here.”

“It’s nice to be in a place where different species get along so well,” Kathy said. “Oh, so you admit we’re getting along,” Jaffen said. Kathy laughed. “I was speaking in a broader cultural context,” she said.

“I’m rather impressed you were able to say that while laughing,” Jaffen said. Kathy sighed, and shook her head. “It’s just… I mean there’s a lot of violence back home.” “I’m sorry to hear that,” Jaffen said.

Kathy pulled her coat tighter around here. “The nights get so cold around here,” she said. “Reminds me of Bloomington during the winter time.” “Bloomington?”

“The city where I grew up, on Earth.” “I like the name. Every major city on my homeworld is named after either some boring scientist or some pompous politician.” “We have cities like that too,” Kathy said. “My favorite city name though, and I do kinda regret never visiting it to see what it was like before I left, was a place called Truth or Consequences.” Jaffen laughed. “Really?” “I shit you not,” Kathy said. “I assume that’s human slang for ‘I really mean it,’” Jaffen said. “It’s almost curfew,” one of a pair of Quarren policemen said. Kathy had to turn around to see them, glad she’d noticed them out the corner of her eye earlier or they might’ve spooked her. They were armed of course, but the way their coats covered their holsters it was clear they didn’t expect, or maybe even didn’t want to be able to reach them. The one who had spoken was smiling at them. He probably figured they were heading home. “We just live over there,” Jaffen said, pointing towards the tallest of the housing complexes off in the distance. “Okay,” the officer said. “Have a great night.” He and his partner turned around and headed back up the street.

“That’s another thing Quarra has over Earth,” Kathy said. “The police around here don’t walk around like they expect every single one of us to attack them at a moment’s notice.”

“You know, I do have a spectacular view of the river from my living quarters,” Jaffen said. “Well, seeing as I live in the same building, I can see the river too,” Kathy said, which was mostly true. She could see the river nearby. But really only during the day, when she had to be leaving for work shortly, and thus could never really take the time to appreciate it. At night, it was damn near impossible except for the occasions when a police hovercar would happen to pass over it.

“I really have to get to sleep,” Kathy said, rubbing her hands together to warm them up. “Maybe another time?” she said. Jaffen smiled. “For a moment I was afraid I was making you uncomfortable,” he said. “Trust me,” Kathy said, lightly touching Jaffen on the arm. “That’s a good thing.”

---

“Son of a-” Kathy said as an alarm noise went off while she worked on her station. It took her a moment to realize the alarm sound was different, and no one seemed bothered by it. A few people didn’t even look up from their work, while others headed towards one end of the work floor. “It’s not an alarm,” Jaffen said, coming up to Kathy from the side, making sure she saw him coming. She appreciated not being snuck up on. “It’s time for our inoculations.” “What inoculations?” Kathy said. “You didn’t know? It’s routine, they give ‘em out free of charge to employees here. It’s to protect against any ambient radiation. Seems a bit overkill to me. I’ve never seen any sign of radioactivity around here. The safety equipment may look old, but it’s solid. Trust me, I checked. First thing I did when I started here. I’ve worked a few freighters with lax standards before, so I know shoddy safety procedures when I see them.” “I feel like I should’ve been told this earlier,” Kathy said. “Why isn’t everyone-” “Some of the species who found their way here for work have natural immunities. No point in giving them an inoculant against something that can’t hurt them anyway.” “Good point.”

Kathy walked with Jaffen to get in line for the inoculations. Up ahead she saw Annika Hansen, and ahead of her, the dark-skinned, pointy-eared man Jaffen had been talking to at the bar a few days ago. He seemed jittery, and when the employee with the injectors went to give him his inoculation, he flinched. “That’s odd,” Jaffen said. “Tuvok never struck me as the nervous type.”

“Friend of yours?” Kathy said. “Not really,” Jaffen said. “I met him the day before I met you. He’s also new here. His people are called Vulcans, if I remember right.” Tuvok got out of line and headed back towards his work station, but even from this distance Kathy could tell he looked shaken. “Could he be having a reaction to the inoculation? He doesn’t look too good.” “Maybe,” Jaffen said. “It hasn’t happened before. Can you keep my place in line? I’m gonna check on him.” “Okay,” Kathy said.

---

After a five-day trading mission with a race called the Nar Shaddan, Chakotay, Neelix, and Harry Kim, all aboard the Delta Flyer were en route back to Voyager. However, only Chakotay was in the cockpit. Neelix and Harry were in the rear compartment, the former looking over the latter, who clutched his stomach as he lay on the extending biobed, grateful that Tom had included one in the ship’s design. “In six years,” Harry said, “I’ve never been on an away mission worse than this one.” “That’s just the stomach pain talking,” Neelix said. “These parasites are certainly causing you trouble, but off the top of my head I can think of several instances where you went through far worse than some mild food poisoning.” “Mild?” Harry said, curled in a fetal position. “You call this mild? My ankle didn’t hurt this much after getting a bulkhead dropped on it.” “Case in point,” Neelix said. “The Year of Hell was really more pleasant than this?” “That wasn’t an away mission,” Harry said. “Okay, you got me there.”

“Why did you let me drink that Falah nectar?” Harry said.

“I did try to warn you it wasn’t safe,” Neelix said. “With hand signals, that I couldn’t see,” Harry groaned. “I didn’t want to risk offending our hosts,” Neelix added, sheepishly.

“I should’ve just said I was a strict vegetarian like Chakotay,” Harry said. “In my defense,” Neelix said, “I had no idea the meat they used to make that drink was raw. If I had, I’d have risked the insult. Clearly Nar Shaddan stomachs are far sturdier than human ones.”

The comm chirped, and Chakotay’s voice summoned both of them to the cockpit, apologizing to Harry as he did so. “Let me help you up, Lieutenant,” Neelix said. “Thanks,” Harry said, taking Neelix’s arm. The two slowly walked their way up to the cockpit, a mercifully short journey, but the steps made Harry felt like he going to vomit each time his foot landed. He eased into the chair by the tactical console while Neelix took sensors. “What is it, Commander?” Harry said. “We’re at the rendezvous coordinates,” Chakotay said, “but there’s no sign of Voyager, and they’re not responding to hails. Start scanning on all frequencies.” “Got it,” Neelix said.

“They’ve got to be out there somewhere,” Chakotay said. Harry thought for a moment about suggesting that maybe they weren’t; that the worst had happened and they’d been destroyed, or at least been forced to flee. He decided that pessimism was the result of the alien parasites doing metaphorical backflips in his stomach, and kept the opinion to himself.

“I think I have their warp trail,” Neelix said. “I’m also picking up residual energy signatures. Weapons fire, maybe?” Harry looked at his own console. “Good catch, Neelix,” he said. “I’m plotting a course to follow the trail,” Chakotay said.

“Long range sensors are picking up a nebula a few light years ahead. I can’t pick up anything inside it, which means it’d be a good place to hide,” Harry said. “That also means we’re going to have to be really careful following them in,” Chakotay said. “I’d hate to find them by running into them.”

“What about who they were fighting?” Neelix said. “The weapons fire signature was degraded,” Harry said. “Another few hours we wouldn’t have picked it up at all. Whatever happened, happened days ago.”

The Delta Flyer entered the nebula, visibility severely reduced, but the ship’s Borg tech-enhanced sensors cut through the interference fairly easily. “Guess whoever the attackers were,” Harry said, “they didn’t have sensors as good as ours.” “Then how did they get the upper hand?” Neelix asked. “Numbers, most likely,” Chakotay said. “A technologically inferior foe can still hurt us if there are too many of them to fight.” “I found Voyager,” Harry said. “Hull’s mostly intact, no serious hull breaches, but she took one hell of a beating.” “Lifesigns?” Chakotay said. Harry winced, as much from the pain as from the results of his scan. “None,” he said. “But, all the escape pods are gone, so maybe…” “Maybe the crew is okay? We can certainly hope,” Chakotay said. “Can we beam over?” “Affirmative,” Harry said. “We’ll have to do it that way since I can’t get the shuttle bay doors open from here.” “Stay here and wait for the doors to open,” Chakotay said. “Neelix, you’re with me.”

“Yes, Commander,” Neelix said.

“We’ll beam to the bridge,” Chakotay said, “we can, or at least should be able to, access all systems from there, plus maybe the ship’s logs can tell us what happened.”

---

After putting on environmental suits, in case life support was one of the systems off-line, and readying phasers just to be safe, Chakotay and Neelix transported from the Flyer over to Voyager. The bridge was empty, and the only illumination came from the glow of exposed EPS conduits.

“Looks like someone was trying to do repairs,” Neelix said. “Agreed,” Chakotay said. He looked around and wondered if the work had been done before they abandoned ship, or if some one had stayed behind. If the latter was the case though, why hadn’t the Flyer’s sensors picked them up? Unless they’d died while trying to fix the ship, he thought.

Chakotay motioned for Neelix to follow him to the auxiliary engineering console on the bridge. “I’m going to see if I can get the main power back on line from here,” Chakotay said. “It’s possible they powered everything down to help them hide. Otherwise we’ll need to replace some power conduits by hand.” Chakotay began manipulating the controls, grateful that there was some power going to the console, while Neelix knelt down to put a panel back in place, since the conduit behind it was clearly in working condition. “Stop what you’re doing and turn around!” Chakotay heard someone yell from behind him. He thought it might the Doctor’s voice but the helmet muffled the sound somewhat. He did as he was told and motioned for Neelix to do the same. It was the Doctor, a wristlight pointed at them, and a phaser in his other hand. He also had a red uniform on, meaning that for the first time, the real Emergency Command Hologram protocols had been activated. “Doctor,” Neelix said, “It’s us. Neelix and Commander Chakotay.” The Doctor smiled and lowered the phaser. “It’s good to see some friendly faces. Heck, it’s good to see any faces at all.”

“Have you been doing repairs all by yourself?” Chakotay asked. “I’m afraid so. Sorry I haven’t gotten life support back up yet, but since I was the only one here it wasn’t a priority.“ “Makes sense,” Neelix said.

“Can you tell us what happened?” Chakotay asked. “I’ll take the short version for now. I can do a full debrief once we get the air circulating again.”

“Roughly twelve hours after you left,” the Doctor said, “we hit some sort of subspace mine. It wasn’t long before I was inundated with casualties, all suffering from tetryon radiation.” “Did you try using the Jetrel inoculation?” Neelix said. “That only works if you inject before exposure,” The Doctor said. “I treated the patients as best I could but the ship was still flooding with radiation. Captain Janeway gave the order to abandon ship, since the warp drive was off-line. She ordered me to stay behind and activated the ECH program. The plan was to get the crew out of the radiated area and find the nearest habitable planet. I was to stay with the ship and try to get all the radiation vented while the distress signal was active. Either I could get it done and pick them up myself, or someone would come to help and I’m the only crewmember who could survive that kind of prolonged exposure, seeing as I’m a hologram.” “What happened next?” Chakotay said. “Why is Voyager in the nebula?” “I never even got the chance to start the repairs before things went sideways,” The Doctor said. “Shortly after all the escape pods were launched, an alien vessel showed up and immediately locked onto the ship with a tractor beam. I hailed them immediately of course. The captain of the alien vessel tried to claim Voyager as salvage and that it belonged to him, even though I was clearly in command.” “Probably figured since you don’t have lifesigns,” Neelix said, “that you don’t count. I’d chalk it up to a salvage rights dispute, but he was there way too quickly. I bet he planted that mine.” “My thoughts exactly,” Chakotay said. “I assume you tried to fight back?” “I did,” The Doctor said, showing a hint of pride in his expression. “I was able to take out the enemy vessel’s tractor emitter and engines with phasers.” He frowned. “That’s about when the other two ships showed up.” “What happened to the escape pods?” Neelix asked. “I don’t know. I can only assume they were taken. Or at least I hope they were. I was able to evade the other two ships and hid in this nebula. I eventually got the warp drive back on-line and the radiation vented, but every time I tried to leave the nebula I detected more ships searching for me.”

“Any idea who they are?” Chakotay said. “Not any race we’ve encountered yet,” The Doctor said.

“So either someone wanted to capture us based on our reputation,” Chakotay said, “Or we just had the bad luck to stumble on a pirate operation. I could believe either, frankly.” “What’s our next move, Commander?” Neelix said. “Get life support back on-line, get Harry’s stomach taken care of, then we go find our people,” Chakotay said.

---

Tuvok was nervous. He didn’t like feeling nervous. He was starting to realize he didn’t like feeling anything. He felt as though if he didn’t merely control but suppress his emotions he might lose his mind. He watched the woman, Kathy Janeway, at her station. He was sure he knew her. Not just from the bar after work, where he had said hello to her once, or from what Jaffen had said about her. He knew her before coming to Quarra, somehow. That shouldn’t have been possible. The only other planet he’d known before this place was Vulcan, and there were no humans there.

He winced and closed his eyes, and had another vision like the one he’d had before getting his inoculation yesterday. He was wearing a different uniform than his work one. He saw Janeway on a hospital bed, wearing a similar uniform, but with a different color on the shoulders.

“We’re going to treat your injuries,” a Quarren doctor said to Janeway.

This is too vivid, it can’t be just a dream or a hallucination. Can it? Tuvok thought.

He was sure he’d seen the doctor in his vision around before. Kadan, his name was. He was sure of that.

The vision persisted, and Tuvok saw himself struggling to get out of his own hospital bed as a device of some kind was placed over Janeway’s head. He heard himself demand that the doctor stop. Why, he had no idea.

“Release her immediately,” he heard himself say. “Restrain him,” Doctor Kadan said. Tuvok felt the strong arms of two Quarren guards grabbing his own, when the vision went away and he, abruptly, was snapped back to reality. Or the present if that was something that really happened, he thought. He felt sweaty, and anxious. He looked around, wondering why no supervisor had come to talk with him about standing around yet. Perhaps he hadn’t been staring at Janeway as long as he’d thought. He saw Efficiency Monitor Hansen in his peripheral vision, but she wasn’t looking at him. Yet.

Best not to annoy Seven of Nine, he thought. He moved to get back to work, but then stopped. Why did I think of her as Seven of Nine? What does that mean? “You all right, Tuvok?” Tuvok turned and saw Jaffen behind him. “What? Yes, sorry. I… I am not feeling well,” Tuvok said, which was mostly true. He liked Jaffen, but didn’t want to tell him he thought he was hallucinating. He doubted they’d let him keep working here if the higher-ups knew.

“Oh,” Jaffen said. “Do you want me to help you get to the infirmary?” “No,” Tuvok said, a bit more forcefully than he’d wanted to, surprising even himself. “I mean, not yet. I can still work at my station. If it gets any worse I’ll go right away. I promise.” Jaffen looked like he didn’t entirely believe him, but merely shrugged. “If you say so,” he said, and walked away.

---

"First officer's log, Stardate 54597.9,” Chakotay said, working while he talked. Neelix had poked fun at him earlier for keeping up with his logs, but it wasn’t mean-spirited. In fact, Chakotay wondered himself why he did it too. He thought maybe it was to keep himself from letting his mind wander to thoughts of what could be happening to the rest of the crew. He knew deep down that once he started to think that, he would inevitably start thinking the worst. “After restoring primary systems,” he continued, “we have left the nebula to try and find the crew. Although there’s still a lot of damage, we’ve been able to reconfigure our sensors to detect subspace mines based on the data collected by the ship’s sensors once we got full power restored. Lieutenant Kim has been running continuous scans, but there’s still no sign of our people. On the bright side, the ships that were searching for us seem to have given up.” Chakotay stopped as the computer voice announced that power to the secondary propulsion systems had been restored. Good work, Doctor, he thought. He wondered briefly how Harry was doing in astrometrics, but figured if he’d found anything he would contact the bridge immediately. Chakotay finished his log entry as the manual work he was doing finally paid off and full lighting was restored to the bridge. “And the Commander said, ‘let there be light,” he said to himself. He was not normally one to joke on the bridge, but he figured with no one around to judge… The turbolift door opened and the Doctor, still in command reds, walked out. “I’ve repaired the deuterium injectors,” he said, not waiting for Chakotay to ask for a report. “Anything else you need?” “Could you get to work on the ruptured plasma conduits on deck 10?” “Of course, Commander. Hopefully, once this is over I can get back to my regular uniform.” “Why not do it now?” Chakotay said. “I don’t see why the ECH program would stop you.” “It doesn’t stop me from switching back to EMH if that’s what you mean,” the Doctor said. “But I only have access to the Captain’s codes while in ECH mode, and ECH mode comes with the red uniform and the 4 pips.” “So technically you outrank me,” Chakotay said. “Surprised you haven’t started giving me orders.” “Yes, well,” the Doctor said, “if I had more people to work with I might do that. I feel like my place should be on the bridge, but I also know there are only four of us.” “If your program is telling you to take charge,” Chakotay said, “maybe you should. Isn’t that what we designed it for?”

The Doctor shrugged. “Maybe if I didn’t have the ship’s first officer aboard I would. I’d better get to work on those conduits.”

“Kim to Chakotay,” Harry Kim’s voice said over the comm. “Go ahead,” Chakotay and the Doctor said in unison. The Doctor looked sheepish, but Chakotay just smiled. He’ll get the hang of it, he thought.

“I’ve found them,” Harry said, “An M-class planet, about three days away at maximum warp.”

“Transfer the coordinates to the helm,” Chakotay said. He stood up. “Doctor, you have the bridge.” “Oh. Okay,” the Doctor said, reluctantly taking the center seat.

---

Three days later, Chakotay found himself in a position he knew that many of ancestors had faced in the past. That of desperately wishing he could punch a government official in the face.

“I have personally interviewed several of the individuals named on your crew manifest. None of them know who you are,” the Quarren bureaucrat on the screen said, sounding like a parent who’d just caught a child in a fib. It had taken hours to get even the man to listen to him in the first place, and now this. He looked at the Doctor, sitting at the helm, and Harry at tactical. If it weren’t for the half dozen well-armed battle stations in orbit, he’d consider just giving the order to launch an all-out rescue mission. “Nor have they heard of a starship Voyager.” “I’d like to speak to them myself,” Chakotay said, not explicitly saying he didn’t believe the Quarren, but hoping it came across in his tone.

“That’s not possible,” the Quarren official said. “If you’re telling the truth,” Chakotay said, allowing some of his anger through more to keep it from exploding than to intimidate the official, “you have nothing to lose by letting us talk to them.” “Unlike other planets in this system, we grant our guest workers full protection under our laws.” “What exactly are you protecting them from?” The Doctor asked. “Unscrupulous individuals attempting to acquire skilled laborers,” the Quarren said. “We’re not trying to acquire laborers,” The Doctor said, shouting. “We’re trying to find our friends!” Chakotay started to think of a way to ask the Doctor to calm down without giving the Quarren the impression that he was facing a divided crew, small as it was, but the Quarren responded quickly, with a statement that to Chakotay’s mind sounded at least partially practiced. “Most of your friends have excellent positions in the Central Power Facility in the capitol. Why would any of them want to travel thousands of light years to a planet on the other side of the galaxy when they have safe, comfortable lives right here?” “Because it isn’t their home,” Chakotay said, knowing full well that it wouldn’t mean anything to the official. “I suggest you look elsewhere to increase your labor supply,” the Quarren said. “If you attempt to disturb any of our citizens, we will respond with force.” With that, the communication line cut out. “What an asshole,” Harry said. “Any luck with the scans?” Chakotay said. “There’s no way to beam through their shield grid. This is one of the most well-protected planets I’ve seen in my life.” Chakotay sighed. “Take us out of orbit.” “We’re not leaving them behind,” the Doctor said, sounding hurt. “No,” Chakotay said. “But I want these people to think we are.” “Do you already have a plan, Commander?” Harry asked. “I think so,” Chakotay said. “Chakotay to Neelix.” “Yes, Commander?” Neelix replied over comms. Chakotay was glad that the Talaxian wasn’t on the bridge during the conversation. That gave him an advantage he could use to help get the crew back. “I know it’s been awhile, but is your old ship still flyable?” “A few containers fell on it during the fight with whoever planted the mines,” Neelix said, “but all the damage is cosmetic. Why do you ask?”

---

The kiss felt like it had gone on for hours, but when Kathy looked at the clock she saw it hadn’t even been two minutes. “Wow,” she said. “Well put,” Jaffen said. “So, was that better or worse than the coffee?” Kathy said, jokingly,

“Ooh, tough call,” Jaffen said with a wink. “You know. If your homeworld makes drinks like that I’m amazed you ever left.”

Kathy laughed. “Caffeine is responsible for the industrial revolution,” she said. “Is that a literal or metaphorical revolution?” Jaffen said. “‘Cause I’ve seen both in my travels.”

Kathy laughed. “I can explain later.” She leaned in to Jaffen, and sighed as he hugged her close. I can’t remember ever feeling this comfortable before, she thought.

---

Samantha Wildman sighed as she heard Naomi get up, leave her room, and start moving around the kitchen.

“Honey, stop,” she said. “What’s wrong?” Annika said. “The kid’s awake.” “So?” Seven said, smirking as she wiped her lips on the bedsheet. “I don’t want her to hear us,” Samantha said. “You don’t want her to know her parents have a healthy and active sex life?” “Well, yes, but, I mean, shit, look, can you at least see what she’s doing in the kitchen?” Samantha shifted her body on the bed so she could kiss Annika on the mouth. “I promise I’ll still be wearing my birthday suit when you get back.” Annika sighed. “You better be,” she said in a mock threatening tone, never losing her smile as she did so.

She opened the door, loosely closing her robe even though she didn’t really care that much what if anything her kid saw. The “talk” was going to have to come sooner or later, and Naomi seemed mature enough to be able to handle it. “Hey kiddo,” she said to Naomi, who was taking a mug with some steam coming from it off the cooking console. “Oh, I’m sorry if I woke you up, Momma Annie. I just had trouble sleeping, and one of the other kids at school said his mom uses this drink called tea. I thought I’d give it a try.” “Well, okay,” Annika said, stepping forward and looking down into the mug. “It’s hot though so be very, very careful. And don’t drink it in bed. Here,” she added, pulling out two of the chairs at the dinner table. She sat in one and motioned for Naomi to take the other, which she did, smiling, obviously glad that she wasn’t in trouble. “So, why did you have trouble sleeping? Bad dream?” “Sort of,” Naomi said. “It was really weird. I dreamt I was on a spaceship, with you and Momma Sam, and you were wearing these neat looking uniforms. And I had a big brother, who was a cyborg too.”

“Oh really?” Annika said, amused at her adopted child’s vivid imagination. “What was your big brother’s name?” Naomi frowned. “I can’t remember.” “That’s okay sweetie, most people can’t remember their dreams. And those that do tend to really only remember the really weird parts.” “It felt really real though,” Naomi said. “Like we really lived on a spaceship. And Momma Sam was my real Mom, and I was only half-alien.” Annika patted Naomi on the shoulder. “You should write all this stuff down, kid. You’ve got quite the imagination there, I bet you could be a writer someday.” “Do they have writers on Quarra?” Naomi said. “All the books at school are textbooks.”

“I don’t know actually,” Annika said. “I’ll look into it. But for now, you go ahead and try your tea and go back to bed, okay?” “Okay.”

Naomi took a sip of her tea, said it was gross, put the cup back on the cooking console to be recycled, and went back to her room. Annika watched her as she did all this, but couldn’t help but ponder what Naomi had said. You know, she thought, I actually do see some of Sam in her. I hadn’t thought of it before. She shook her head, not wanting to think about it anymore. It was probably just her seeing things based on Naomi’s dream. She went back to her room, Samantha waiting exactly as she’d promised. “Now, where were we?” Annika said.

---

“Any progress?” Chakotay said as he entered astrometrics, The Doctor close behind him. Neelix turned from the console to face Chakotay. “I’ve spoken to the captains of eight vessels that have left Quarra in the past two weeks,” Neelix said. “None of them knew anything about our crew, but every single one of them offered me a job. Apparently, there’s a severe labor shortage in this system and a lot of competition for workers.”

“That explains a lot about what the Quarren official was telling us,” Chakotay said. “And that’s also our in. Neelix, get your ship ready. Doctor, I’m going to need some cosmetic surgery.” “Why?” The Doctor said, sounding concerned. “I’ve already spoke to several government officials on that planet. They know what all of us look like, except for Neelix since he wasn’t on the bridge. I need to look like another alien if I’m going to get down there.”

“I can only alter you cosmetically,” The Doctor said. “If they do a full DNA scan-” “I doubt they’d risk turning away a potential employee if the labor shortage is as severe as I’m led to believe,” Neelix said. “So, Neelix and I are going to be a couple of Talaxians looking for work,” Chakotay said. “I bet we’ll make a striking pair,” Neelix said, smiling. “I’m not sure your skin is equipped to deal with Talaxian facial hair,” The Doctor said, “but we can give it a try. Worst case scenario, I can go for something easier to reverse later, like Icheb’s species, or a Bajoran perhaps.” “Let’s get on that then,” Chakotay said, leaving astrometrics, not bothering to tell the others to follow him as they were already falling in behind him. “”I’ll also give you both subdermal transponders so we can transport you through the shield grid if there’s trouble,” The Doctor said. “How would that work?” Chakotay said.

“Their shields aren’t exactly like ours. Mister Kim explained it to me in detail, but suffice it to say, unlike our shields which can only be beamed through with superior technology, theirs can’t block a concentrated enough signal.” “Good thinking,” Chakotay said. “I think the Lieutenant deserves a share of the credit,” The Doctor said, “but thank you.” “You’ll be in charge until we get back,” Chakotay added. “Are you sure, Commander?” The Doctor said. “If you’re worried about Harry, he’ll know better than to put his ego above the ship. Besides, he helped design the ECH program, so he knows what you’re capable of. He’ll follow your orders same as if you were me or Captain Janeway.” “Well, all the same, I’m certainly going to keep an open mind to any suggestions he may have.”

---

Annika Hansen didn’t think this was anything for her to worry about. Despite the employe she was told to go talk to having skipped his last few inoculations, her records showed his work had not suffered, at least not yet. Slower than it had been, yes, but that was from a starting point of him easily eclipsing most of his peers. Tuvok, a.k.a. Employee #8583, could probably run this place as well as if not better than current management with some more time and experience.

But orders were orders, so go to speak with him she did. She’d been in line behind him once before, so she was sure she knew exactly what the issue was; his fear of needles. Maybe some subtle threats about unemployment would spur this Tuvok character to get over it and go to the infirmary.

She walked up to him, noticed that he seemed to be gripping the side of his console far too hard, and became somewhat worried. She let none of that into her voice though, keeping her usual calm, even robotic demeanor as she spoke the employee’s number, and then name when he didn’t respond. “According to records,” she continued, “you have neglected to report for your last two inoculations.” Tuvok did not respond, but slowly turned his head to look at her. He appeared to be sweaty. “The inoculations are for your protection,” Annika said. “A sick worker is not an efficient worker. Report to the infirmary immediately.” Tuvok looked at her as if he was seeing her for the first time. He must be getting sick, she thought. I may need to call for help to get him to the infirmary if it isn’t too late. “Seven. Of nine,” Tuvok said. “What?” Annika said.

“Seven of nine. It’s your designation,” Tuvok said, starting to shake somewhat, the sweat on his brow becoming more noticeable. “My employee number is 8586,” Annika said. Tuvok grabbed her so quick she hadn’t realized his hand was on her face and that one of the other workers was calling for security until she was pushed up against Tuvok’s console, his other arm gripping hers. “What are you-”

She stopped talking when she saw something, like a vivid memory. Herself, in what looked liked a large room, shelves with massive containers on one side, and technology not unlike that of her cybernetic implants lining the wall behind her. A young man, possibly a teenage boy, with visible cybernetics of his own was sitting on the ground, playing a game with Naomi.

She snapped back to reality in time to hear Tuvok say to her as guards pulled him off her, “I don’t believe you are who you think you are!” Annika slumped down, feeling drained despite the fact that all Tuvok had done as far as she could tell was grab her arm and touch the side of her face.

As the guards dragged Tuvok towards the infirmary, the other employees staring, the employees she recognized as Jaffen and Kathy Janeway came over to ask her if she was okay. “What the hell was that all about?” Kathy said as Annika waved off her support. “WE DON'T BELONG HERE! WE DON'T BELONG HERE! THIS ISN'T RIGHT! WE DON'T BELONG HERE!” Tuvok’s voice carried through the room even with the door closed. “I should’ve said something,” Jaffen said. “I noticed he was acting weird the other day, but I thought maybe he’d just had a rough day.” “He missed some inoculations,” Annika said, calming herself down, and wondering if she should tell her wife about this, not wanting her to worry but not wanting to hide things from her either. “Likely this is a result of radiation sickness.”

Was that vision a result of his sickness too? she thought. What did he do to you? And why did you see the boy from Naomi’s dream, her imaginary big brother? Tuvok may be sick, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t something going on. Annika wondered why her own inner voice was so willing to accept what was obviously the ramblings of a disturbed and likely radiation poisoned individual, but despite that, she didn’t hesitate to withhold the vision when speaking to her superiors about the incident later. Kathy and Jaffen offered to walk her home, but she declined. Walking towards her apartment after end of shift, she decided she would tell Samantha about what had happened, but not mention the vision to her either. At least not yet.

---

“Qualification Level 3 in microkinetics,” the supervisor said to Chakotay as he followed him down a flight of stairs in the main power facility, the place where he was led to believe most of Voyager’s crew had ended up. “You could use some improvement in that area, Mister Kotay.” “I appreciate the honesty,” Chakotay said, responding to the alias that Neelix had provided him; Amal Kotay. “I imagine some people in your position would overlook something like that during a labor shortage.” “Level 3 is still better than average,” the supervisor said. “I see you are Level 5 in thermionic conversion though. That’s the main reason you’re here and not at a less crucial facility. We lost a thermionic specialist yesterday.” “Did he find a better job?” Chakotay asked. “Health problems,” the supervisor said. “Developed some minor radiation poisoning and attacked our Efficiency Monitor.” “Oh no,” Chakotay said. “She’s fine, but we gave her the day off. She seemed a bit shaken up by the experience. My own superiors didn’t like it, but I figured a day with the wife and kid would do her some good. She may act like a robot when she’s on the clock, but she’s as fragile as any other sentient.” The Efficiency Monitor must be Seven of Nine, Chakotay thought, as he happened to glance to his right and see one of the Delaney twins walk right past him without recognizing him. She wasn’t the only Voyager crewmember he’d seen today who didn’t seem to know who either he or Neelix were since they’d arrived last night. He doubted his Talaxian disguise was that good, and none of them seemed to recognize Neelix either. Whatever the Quarrens had done to them was brutally effective. He just hoped it was reversible. “Someone you know?” the supervisor said. “No, just, never seen her species before,” he said. “We have a diverse workforce here. Megan over there is from a species called Human. We got an influx of them a few weeks ago. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a species with so much variety in skin pigmentation. But enough about alien biology. Your workstation is over here.” “Thank you,” Chakotay said. “You’ll be required to report your readings to the Controller at regular intervals,” the supervisor said. “Small variations are common, so unless the reading is off by more than one-third of a percent, you can ignore it. Helps save space on the data readers.” Chakotay was about to respond when he saw Captain Janeway, wearing one of the standard work uniforms, happily going about her own job at a workstation not too far from the one he’d been assigned to. “Are you listening to me?” the supervisor said, and Chakotay realized that he’d been staring. Damn, I can’t believe I did that, he thought. I hope I didn’t compromise the mission. “I’m sorry sir,” he said, “I’m just excited to be here.” The supervisor looked at Janeway, and back at Chakotay. “Right. Well, just so you know, we don’t allow fraternizing on work hours. Also, she’s already spoken for, but you didn’t hear that from me.”

“Oh?” Chakotay said, reflexively, and immediately wished he hadn’t. “Yeah. Jaffen. Good guy. You’ll like him too. One of the best people we’ve got around here.”

Chakotay decided to play along, and laugh as though the supervisor had read his reaction to seeing the Captain alive correctly. “Well, thanks for saving me from embarrassing myself,” he said. “No problem,” the supervisor said. “This station has been vacant for a few hours now so you’re going to have to work harder than we usually let new hires do, so I’ll get out of your way.” “I’ll get right on it,” Chakotay said, wondering what his next move was going to be.

---

Neelix hoped that how weird the situation felt wasn’t showing as his face as talked to Tom Paris at the bar. It was Tom, he’d introduced himself as such, but apart from that and his basic personality, everything about the man was different. Neelix noticed that as they spoke he kept glancing over at B’Elanna Torres, sitting with a couple who apparently were expecting a child of their own at the other side of the establishment.

“At the end of the day, losing my job at the power plant was the best thing that ever happened to me,” Paris said as he handed drinks to a pair of patrons. “So many rules and regulations. It was like a military operation.” “I know what you mean,” Neelix said. “Report here, reroute power there; almost like serving aboard a starship.” He put a slight emphasis on the word starship, wondering if that would trigger any memories in Tom, hoping that whatever the Quarrens had done to them wasn’t permanent. In my experience, the more thorough the brainwashing, the less effective the brainwashed, Neelix had thought to himself earlier, and this was as good a time as any to test that.

“Have you ever done that?” Tom asked. “You’re looking at the former captain of his own cargo vessel,” Neelix said. “Mmm. Must be quite a life,” Tom said. “You ever work on a ship, Tom?” Neelix said. Tom scoffed. “Hell no. Space travel makes me sick. I was practically asleep the whole way here.” “So, do you know most of the people who come in here?” Neelix asked. “A lot of them,” Tom said, after being briefly distracted by the sound of B’Elanna laughing. “This is a great place to work.” “Seems like it,” Neelix said.

“If you’d like I could put in a good for you to my employer,” Tom said. “I’m not sure what it is about you, but you seem like someone comfortable around food or drink.” “Well, I know a few people that might beg to differ on that,” Neelix said. “Ah, Neelix,” he heard Chakotay’s voice say, and he turned to see that Chakotay had entered the bar while he and Tom were talking.

“I was wondering when you’d get here,” Neelix said, “Amal Kotay, this is my new friend, Tom Paris.” Having to act like they didn’t know any of their crewmates had been easier on him than he’d thought, and so far it looked like Chakotay had been handling it well too, but he doubted they could keep it up forever before one of them slipped up. They needed to find out what had happened and get their people back quickly. He hoped Chakotay had more to go on than he did. “What can I get ya?” Tom said. Chakotay pointed at Neelix’s drink. “That looks good.” “I’ll get you one, Tom said, heading a few feet off and turning around. Neelix leaned in and whispered. “I was assigned to the primary fusion chamber. Mulcahey and Tal were there too. Neither of them recognized me.”

“I think at this point we should just assume everyone on the crew has had their memories tampered with,” Chakotay whispered back. “And they all seem to really love their jobs,” Neelix said. “It’s like they’ve all been programmed to be happy here,” Chakotay said. “Here you go,” Tom said, handing a drink to Chakotay. “Thank you,” Chakotay said. “Hey there,” a voice Neelix didn’t recognize said. He turned to see Captain Janeway and a man he didn’t know standing behind them. “I’m Jaffen, this is Kathy. You two look like you’re new here.” “We are,” Chakotay said. I’m Amal Kotay, and this my friend Neelix.” “Friend?” Tom said. “Figured you two for brothers.” “Hmm, nah,” Jaffen said, smiling, “I don’t see it.” “Would you two care to join us?” Kathy said. “Uh, actually I was hoping we could eat alone tonight,” Jaffen said, gently placing his hands on Janeway’s shoulders. I wonder if he’s been tampered with like the others, Neelix thought. If he and the Captain became this close after the memory alterations, then maybe we should consider bringing him with us. “Some other time perhaps,” Chakotay said. As Jaffen and the Captain walked away, Neelix saw Tom quickly move from behind the bar. He watched as he offered to walk B’Elanna home. “Apparently,” Neelix whispered to Chakotay, “whatever was done to their memories, they aren’t together. He thinks she’s carrying another man’s baby, someone who walked out on her. In a way, it’s almost like watching their courtship happen all over again. With a lot less arguing this time. Tom doesn’t even realize he’s trying to become a stepdad to his own offspring.”

“If she’s walking home alone,” Chakotay said, “this could be our chance to get someone back to Voyager. Maybe find some clue as to what happened and develop a treatment for the others.” “Not going to lie, Commander. I know we’re doing it for the right reasons, but essentially kidnapping a pregnant woman…” “It feels gross to me too, for what it’s worth,” Chakotay said. “I’ll try to get ahead of her. See if you can be seen following her without looking like you’re trying to be seen.” Without another word, Chakotay headed out, and Neelix followed close behind.

---

Chakotay had meant what he said to Neelix. Though if pressed, he would admit that calling how he felt about this “gross” was actually an understatement. Taking short cuts through several alleys, walking at a steady clip when he was sure someone was watching, but running when he was sure they weren’t, he got ahead of B’Elanna quickly enough. He saw her look nervously behind her at a following Neelix. While looking back, she walked right into Chakotay. “Oh, excuse me,” B’Elanna said nervously. Not the reaction Chakotay normally expected from her when they got in her way. “I’m sorry,” Chakotay said. “It’s.. it’s okay, I should really watch where I’m going.” She watched Neelix walk past her, looking forward, and sighed. “B’Elanna,” Chakotay said. She turned around. “How do you know my name?” “It’s a long story,” Chakotay said. “I just want you to know, that we’re really sorry we have to do this.” Neelix had come back around while Chakotay had B’Elanna distracted, and wrapped his arms around her. Instead of fighting back like she normally would, which meant Neelix had little trouble holding on despite the fact that were she her regular self he’d be on the ground in severe pain by now, she started screaming for security. “Voyager, we’ve got B’Elanna,” Chakotay said. “Lock on to Neelix’s signal and beam them to sickbay.”

“Acknowledged,” Harry’s voice replied. “Help me!” B’Elanna cried out, her face going pale with terror. Chakotay felt as though his guilt were literally punching him in the stomach. Hopefully, once the Doctor fixed whatever had been done to her memories she would focus her anger on the Quarrens, and not on him and Neelix for grabbing her like this. “Let her go!” A Quarren security guard yelled out, his weapon pointed at the three of them as the transporter beam locked onto Neelix and B’Elanna. The second guard aimed the beam of his flashlight at Chakotay’s face, clearly trying to blind him, but Chakotay was able to avoid it, and he bolted around a corner, not wanting to get shot before they could beam him out too. “Stop!” the first guard yelled. “Harry, I need an emergency transport, now!” When the channel opened, Chakotay heard the sound of the red alert klaxons in the background. “Sorry, Commander,” Harry said. “We’re under attack. I had to raise shields.” “Dammit,” Chakotay muttered. “All right, get Voyager to safety. I’ll figure something out. Go!” He closed the channel without waiting to hear Harry’s response, and kept running. He ran for several minutes, his breath becoming winded, but the security guards were clearly in better shape than their uniforms had led him to believe. He found himself at an open platform, and swore. Only a railing, and a view of the city ahead of him. The only way down from here without going back the way he came would be a fast but lethal one. He looked around, and saw a panel that he hoped he could use to sabotage the lights and get past the pursuing guards in the confusion. He found a loose pipe, and used it to smash the panel. Lights went out, and so did a force field around the railing that he hadn’t even realized was there. He wondered if it was always in place as additional accident prevention, or had to put up by security to prevent his escape. He supposed it didn’t matter, and he got into position, waiting for his chance to get past the guards. Maybe he could knock one out and take his weapon. Here’s hoping their guns have stun settings, he thought.

A lone guard came up to the platform, flashlight in one hand, weapon in the other. He went up to the railing and put a hand out as if to test to see if the force field was still there. He put down the light, and touched his communicator. “Alert Emergency Medical, the suspect may have tried to ju-”

Chakotay grabbed the man and slammed him hard against the wall, causing him to drop his gun. Chakotay took it, and fired at a portion of the wall next to the guard, who reflexively ducked. Chakotay started to head back to the stairwell leading to the platform when a beam of light came out of the cloud of steam that had formed after he destroyed the panel. It struck him the left shoulder and he fell back into, and nearly over, the railing. It hurt, but he pushed past it, and rushed the second guard, who hit his head on the floor grating when Chakotay slammed into him. He groaned, alive, but didn’t get up. Favoring his injured shoulder, Chakotay started running again. Eventually, he made it back to the bar where Tom had been working. Everyone seemed too involved with whatever they were doing to notice the man with the bleeding shoulder walk in. The wound was small, and the blood hadn’t spread beyond the shoulder pad so far, but he made sure to take a seat in a booth that allowed him to keep that shoulder as out of view of the other patrons as possible. “Ah, I was hoping I’d see you again,” he heard Captain Janeway’s voice say. He turned to see that, while he was looking at his left hand to make sure he could still move the fingers without difficulty, she had walked up to him. “Are you okay?” “I’m fine,” Chakotay lied. “Just, tired. First day at a new job.” “I know how that can be,” Janeway said, smiling. “I just wanted to apologize for earlier. My friend, Jaffen, he was a little rude to you earlier when we asked you and your friend Neelix to join us.” “That’s okay,” Chakotay said. “Well, you’re more than welcome to sit with us tonight if you’d like. We’re celebrating.” “What’s the occasion?” Chakotay said. “Jaffen and I are moving in together,” Janeway said smiling. Chakotay felt a pang of regret. Not for himself; while there had been something there once, it had pretty much been lost forever after he’d disobeyed orders and broke the deal with the Borg against Species 8472 almost four years ago. What he was worried about was what would happen with her and Jaffen once, or even if, the Doctor restored all her memories. Despite the Captain’s apologies, he didn’t feel Jaffen had been too rude at all. He seemed nice enough. And even with her memories altered, he could tell this was still his Captain he was talking to. If she trusted Jaffen, he felt he could too. Or at least he hoped he could.

“Congratulations, but I think I’m going to go home,” Chakotay said. “Okay,” Janeway said. “Have a good night, Amal.”

---

The bridge shook violently as the Quarren ships attacked. The shields surprisingly held, but Harry Kim doubted that would last. “I can’t penetrate their shields,” Harry said, now back at tactical once the Doctor returned from sickbay where had Neelix looking over a sedated B’Elanna. The Doctor, at the helm flying the ship, looked up at the viewscreen. “Maybe we don’t have to,” he said. “The Battle of Vorkado. It’s in my tactical database. A Romulan captain disabled two attacking vessels by creating a photonic shockwave between the ships.”

“How’d he do that?” Harry said.

“Fire a photon torpedo to go between the two Quarren vessels, then fire phasers at the torpedo.” Harry nodded, smiling. “Good thinking.” Harry did as he was ordered, and the resulting shockwave knocked the pursuing vessels off their course, their shields glowing under the onslaught of energy. “The ships are largely undamaged, but the shockwave seems to have affected their sensors. They’re breaking off.”

“I don’t think they’ll be bothering us again,” The Doctor said, smugly.

A proximity alert beeped at Harry, and he looked down at the tactical readout. “Five more ships on an intercept course,” he said. “What’s your tactical database got for this one Doc?”

“Transporters are damaged, shields are failing, We have to retreat and come up with a new plan.” “I was afraid you’d say that,” Harry said. “Once we’re out of range of Quarren sensors,” The Doctor said, “switch me back to EMH mode. I’ll have access to more treatment options to try and help B’Elanna in the meantime.” “Is that a good idea?” Harry said. “Your tactical database-” “Won’t mean anything if we rescue the rest of the crew without a way to change them back. We’ll be outnumbered by approximately 31 to 1 by people who think we’ve kidnapped them, in an enclosed space. I like those odds even less than then the ones against the Quarren ships.” “Fair point,” Harry said.

---

A pair of Quarrens, one wearing garb similar to the official Chakotay had spoken to during his initial attempts to contact the crew, and another security guard, entered the bar, Chakotay kept his face turned away from them, trying not to be noticed, and planning for a way to slip out.

The first man went up to the bar and started speaking to Paris. Chakotay didn’t hear what the first man said, but Tom's response was loud enough that he was able to pick it up, as well as apparently getting the attention of several other patrons. “We run an honest business,” Tom said. With some of the other patrons conversations halted, Chakotay was able to hear the rest of the conversation. “We’re investigating the disappearance of two people who were seen leaving this establishment earlier this evening. One was a young pregnant woman-” “B’Elanna? What happened to her?” Tom asked, dropping his cleaning rag and sounding concerned. “You knew her?” “I’ve been helping her. Her baby’s father’s a deadbeat who bailed, so I was helping her settle in, meet other parents around the city.” Tom sighed, and looked at the floor. “I offered to walk her to her transport, but she insisted she was fine. I should’ve gone with her.” “Did you think someone was going to try and hurt her?” “The city is supposed to be safe!” Tom said, sounding angry. The detective, or at least Chakotay assumed he was a detective, actually flinched, but didn’t respond other than to look at his data pad. “The person with her when she vanished was described as short, with mottled skin and facial hair.” “That sounds like someone who was in here earlier,” Tom said. “Neelix, I think his name was. Said he was Talaxian.” “Never heard of them,” the detective said. “Did this Neelix talk to anyone else while he was here?” Chakotay took that as his cue to slip out. Thankfully, the security guard managed to walk right past him, not seeing his face or his wounded shoulder. I guess the guards I knocked out never got a good look at me, he thought, grateful that no one seemed to notice him leaving.

---

Shortly after managing to land Voyager in the crater of a moon with a paramagnetic core to hide the ship’s energy signature from the sensors of any Quarren ship that might come looking for them, the Doctor got up to head to sickbay to begin working on fixing B’Elanna. “Good hiding place, Doc,” Harry said, “but if any of their ships get close enough to the crater all someone would have to do is look out a viewport.” “As far as the Quarrens know, Mister Kim,” The Doctor said, “we haven’t returned to this system after warping away from our original pursuers. If they can find us here, they’ve earned that. Now, if you would be so kind as to switch me back to EMH mode. When I’m an ECH the only medical procedures I can do are one’s I’ve performed before and are in my memory database.”

“Got it,” Harry said, touching a few buttons on the tactical console. The Doctor's uniform changed from red back to blue, and he nodded. “Thank you,” he said. “I’ll be in sickbay.”

The Doctor quickly made his way there, where Neelix still stood by the side of B’Elanna’s bio-bed, as if worried someone might try to take her away again. The Doctor did his scans, and figuring it would be simpler to just tell Neelix what was happening rather than asking him to leave, which rarely worked anytime in the past,. “The scan on the left,” he said, pointing to a monitor showing two brain scans, “was performed during B’Elanna’s last physical. The one on the right is from the one you saw me perform. The memory centers of her brain have been dramatically altered.” “That fits with what the Commander and I saw when we down there,” Neelix said. “But some of the crew members I talked to down there seemed to remember parts of their real lives. Things like what planet they were born on, their names. Why not just change everything?” “I don’t know,” The Doctor admitted, using the most disliked phrase in his entire vocabulary apart from ‘I did all I could.’ “Whoever did this was very sophisticated though. Selectively manipulating memory engrams takes much more work than just doing a complete mind wipe. Perhaps the Quarrens felt that erasing everything would make them less efficient as workers.”

“Can you undo the damage?” Neelix asked. “I believe so, but it will take some time.” “I wish there was something I could do to help,” Neelix said. The Doctor thought about it for a moment. “Maybe you can.” “Doctor?” “She’ll require several treatments,” The Doctor said. “In between, you could expose her to familiar sites, surroundings. Take her to her quarters, show her engineering, pictures of those on the crew she was closest to. Just don’t rush it. This is going to be very traumatic for her.” “Understood,” Neelix said.

---

Doctor Ravoc read off the list of symptoms the patient named Tuvok had to his superior, Doctor Kadan. “Anxiety, acute depression, and when I interviewed him he insisted that he’s not who he’s supposed to be. Says that we’ve stolen his...” Ravoc looked at his note. “His katra, whatever that is.”

“Conclusions?” Kadan said. His cold demeanor concerned Ravoc somewhat. Of course, some detachment was required as a physician, lest the empathy for the sick become overwhelming, rendering you unable to function. But Tuvok wasn’t dying, that was clear. Yet Kadan spoke of him as he were a cadaver and this was medical school. “Tri-lobe regression complex? Polar-affective disorder maybe?”

“Neuropsychiatry isn’t a guessing game, Doctor Ravoc,” Kadan said. Ravoc knew what Kadan wanted to hear. “Dysphoria syndrome.” “You have been studying my research,” Kadan said, smiling. That smile unnerved Ravoc no end but he had no idea why. “According to your work, the condition is very rare,” Ravoc said. “It is. I’ve treated this man before,” Kadan said. “Apparently he’s suffered a relapse. Recommended treatment.” The last statement was spoken like a demand. Ravoc hated being talked to like he was still at a teaching infirmary, but he didn’t want to lose his position here. “Engramatic resequencing is typically indicated,” he said. “You seem skeptical,” Kadan said. Ravoc sighed, annoyed with himself for not hiding it better. “Resequencing is a radical procedure, Doctor Kadan.” Kadan stepped forward, as if trying to intimidate Ravoc. “If he had a malignant tumor would you be afraid to cut it out. “No, of course not.” “This syndrome is just as insidious,” Kadan continued. “It requires aggressive treatment. Get started.” Without another word, Kadan turned around and left. Once he was sure Kadan was out of earshot, Ravoc groaned. “This is a hospital, not an authoritarian dictatorship,” he muttered. Tuvok, who Ravoc had thought had been asleep this whole time tried to get up, straining against the straps that held him to the bed. “Please, help me.” Ravoc sighed as he filled an injector. “That’s what we’re here to do,” he said, beginning the treatment despite the nagging voice in the back of his mind telling him that he shouldn’t trust Kadan.

---

Annika Hansen shook her head to clear the latest vision, this one tinted green as if looking through some kind of liquor bottle, and seeing a massive structure, filled with cyborgs like her, but all with much more technology embedded in their bodies, and their skin pale as if dead. The phrase ‘cyborg zombies’ entered her mind briefly and she almost laughed at how silly the term sounded.

She couldn’t shake the concerns though. This had all started when Tuvok had touched her. She went to see the supervisor, but decided to keep it vague. She couldn’t risk being fired, not when her family had really settled into their new apartment. “I want to know the status of Employee #8583,” she said.

“Good morning to you as well. Efficiency Monitor Hansen,” the supervisor said.

“I apologize for my directness,” Annika said. “There is simply some concern amongst the other workers that his condition is contagious.” The supervisor worked his console. “Ah, the man removed by security the other day. He has been hospitalized, yes. But you can tell anyone concerned that-” The supervisor was interrupted by the sound of the door opening, and another man stepping into the office. “Pardon me, am I intruding?” “Not at all, Investigator,” the supervisor said. “My name is Yerid,” the investigator said, “and I’m looking into the disappearance of two your employees. Names of Neelix and Torres.”

“Both of them failed to report for work today,” Annika said. “What about this man?” Yerid said, tapping a few button on his data pad and handing it to Annika, who held it so the supervisor could look at the image on it as well. “Employee #9363. Amal Kotay. He didn’t report for work either,” Annika said. “I’d like to see his personnel file,” Yerid said, “and I’ll need to interview anyone who may know where he is.” “Of course,” the supervisor said. “Though for the sake of my other employees I’ll need a court order first. I don’t want my people concerned for their privacy while they’re keeping this place running, I hope you understand.” “As a formality?” Yerid said, though Annika detected a bit of annoyance in his voice. “Of course. I’ll have the file ready for you well before the order arrives,” the supervisor said.

---

Janeway went back to her apartment one last time. It was exciting, but also mildly amusing to her that she hadn’t even gotten used to this place yet before moving to another one. She had never felt the way she felt about Jaffen with anyone before. Not even Mark, the man she’d left when she decided that Earth wasn’t for her. She didn’t hold it against him that he’d wanted to stay where he was born, but it had still hurt her to see the look in his eyes when she’d returned his ring. “What the hell?” she said when she opened the door and found it dark. It was daytime, but the window covers were closed. “Lights,” she said. They didn’t come on. “Well, glad I already have a new place,” she said out loud. “Saves me the trouble of having to call maintenance.” She looked for her last pair of boxes, when she saw the rag on the floor. She knelt down to look at it and saw blood. Red, like hers. “Kathryn,” a voice said, and she gasped, nearly falling over. Leaning against the wall behind her, out of sight from the front door, was Amal Kotay, the man everyone had been looking for ever since two of her co-workers had vanished last night. He was holding a weapon, but looked like he was about to pass out. “What do you want?” she said. “You told me you were moving out,” Amal said. “I needed a place to hide.” He winced as he struggled to his feet. “Jaffen knows where I am. He’ll come looking for me,” she said. “I don’t doubt that,” Amal said. “He seems like a good man.” “He is,” Kathy said, surprised at how little fear she felt despite a wanted man pointing a gun at her. “They say you had something to do with the disappearance of a pregnant woman.” “I did,” Amal said. “Her name’s B’Elanna. She was brought to this planet against her will, and her memories were tampered with.”

“Why should I believe that?” Kathy said, though inwardly she found that she actually did. Why are you taking his word for it? she thought.

“Honestly, you shouldn’t,” Amal said. “I wouldn’t, if I were in your position. But she’s not the only one in this city I’m trying to help get home. I need you to trust me, so…” Amal, breathing heavily as he did so, leaned down and put the gun on the floor. He tried to kick it over to her but was too weak so it was too far away for either of them to grab. Kathy could’ve called for security right then and there, but she didn’t, surprising even herself. “You can report me if you want,” Amal said, “but all I’m asking for is a place to stay until my friends come back for me.”

After a long silence, Kathy stepped forward. “We’re going to have to do something about that arm.” She opened one of the boxes, grateful that she had not already taken her towels to Jaffen’s place.

---

“The waiter?” B’Elanna said, holding the picture that Neelix had given her. “From the tavern?” Neelix nodded, having found a picture of the two of them at their wedding, each holding a champagne glass, smiling as they looked in each other’s eyes. It wasn’t the best photo of the couple ever taken, but Neelix figured that a better looking one might be easier to dismiss as doctored. “Lieutenant Tom Paris, our pilot, and B'Elanna Torres, our chief engineer. On their wedding day,” Neelix said.

“Wedding? He’s my husband? Does that mean…” she looked down at her stomach. “You’re having a girl,” Neelix said. B’Elanna lowered the picture, but still held it, as she walked around her and Tom’s quarters, slowly touching all the replicated 20th-century era items that Tom kept as decoration and the bat’leth on the wall that had been gifted to her by Kohlar.

Neelix hoped the fact that she had not outright rejected any of this as real was a sign that the first treatment had gone well. An object up against one of the walls seemed to have caught her focus, and Neelix looked where she was looking. “A replica of a device called a television,” Neelix said. “You gave it to Tom as a gift.”

“He watches cartoons,” B’Elanna said. Neelix smiled. “Yes,” he said. “How do I know that?” B’Elanna said. “Because you’re starting to remember,” Neelix said. B’Elanna kept looking around, stopping when she saw what was going to be her baby’s crib. She gently touched the mobile above it, first the tiny Klingon Bird of Prey, and the tiny Voyager. “I’d wondered why he was so protective of me,” she said. “I’ll be outside if you need me,” Neelix said, heading out into the hall.

---

Kathy snuck into the plant, and opened a panel on a side wall, looking for a ‘dermal regenerator’ as Amal Kotay, or Chakotay as he’d started insisting he be called, had called it. She’d heard it referred to as a ‘wound sealer’ during training, but didn’t want to argue semantics. When she closed the panel she almost jumped when she saw Annika Hansen standing there. “Your shift ended three hours ago,” she said. “I know,” Kathy said. “My friend, Jaffen employee 1326, he cut himself, and he’s too stubborn to go to the infirmary.” “Removing property from these premises is not permitted, Cap-” Hansen looked confused briefly. “Miss Janeway,” she corrected. Was she about to call me Captain? Kathy thought. “I promise I’ll have it back first thing in the morning,” she said. Hansen looked like she was about to tell Kathy to put it back, but then she seemed to get distracted by something she saw at the other end of the work floor. “Be sure that you do,” she said, before unceremoniously heading in that direction.

---

Annika noticed that the supervisor had left his office while she was speaking to the employee Kathy Janeway. Figuring this was her chance to find out what was going on, she ignored her instinct and allowed Janeway to take the wound sealer, much to the other woman’s visible confusion, and headed towards the stairs to the supervisor’s office. She began manipulating controls on the supervisor's console. “Display the personnel file for Employee #8583,” she said. “Access restricted,” the computer’s electronic voice replied. She finished the work she’d started before even making the request, and only a second later the same voice said, “Security clearance verified.” The data filled the screen in the blank space next to Tuvok’s picture, first left to right then right to left, but Annika was used to reading Quarren by now. “Display all medical and historical data for the employee's species,” she said. “Data unavailable.” “List all files accessed by this employee since he’s been here,” she said. “Personnel files. Employee 8582, Nozawa, Kashimuro. Employee #8584, Janeway, Kathryn. Employee #8585, McKenzie, William.”

She looked at the pictures on the screen. Most of them were human, including herself, but she also saw the missing pregnant woman, Torres, as well as blue-skinned alien with a bifurcated face, among others. The only common thread was that all had arrived on Quarra at roughly the same time. She almost gasped when she saw the face of a teenage boy who was listed not as an employee, but as attending a special school in another city for talented youths. The teenager was the one from her first vision, the one from Naomi’s dream. “Icheb,” the computer said his name was.

“What the hell is going on here?” she said to herself.

---

“You need a doctor,” Kathy said to Chakotay as she sealed the wound on his arm. She wondered if there was something wrong with the device as his skin seemed to get darker as it healed, but she realized that it could be something to do with his physiology. “That’ll have to wait ‘til I’m back on Voyager,” Chakotay said. “That’s the name of your ship?” she said. “For almost seven years,” Chakotay said. “You’re its captain?” Kathy said.

“First officer,” Chakotay said, looking Kathy in the eyes in a way that made her uncomfortable, but not as uncomfortable as she felt she should be. “My captain is one of the people in this city whose memories have been altered.” “Hmm,” Kathy said. “Well good luck finding him.” “Her,” Chakotay said. “Sorry,” she said. “Quite alright,” Chakotay said. “So, you monitor power coils at the planet?”

“That’s right,” Kathy said. “You already know that though so what’s your point?” “You’re obviously very capable,” he said. “You could probably run that plant.” “Why would I want all that responsibility?” she said. Before Chakotay could respond, there was a broken chirping sound coming from his hand. “What’s that?” she said. “My people are trying to contact me,” he said to Kathy. “Chakotay here,” he said into his hand. “Are you okay, Commander?” a voice responded. “For the time being. Can you get me out of here?” “No, sir. We’re eight light years away.”

“How were you able to transmit that far without the signal being detected?” “A triaxilating frequency on a covariant subspace band. B’Elanna’s idea,” the voice on the other end said. The pregannt woman they kidnapped? Kathy thought. Maybe he was telling the truth all along. Though if I doubted it, why was I still willing to help? “I take it she’s feeling better then,” Chakotay said.

“The Doctor says she’s been responding very well to the treatment.” “Good to hear, Harry.” “Have you located anyone else from the crew?” the man named Harry said. “As a matter of fact,” Chakotay said, looking Kathy in the eyes. “I’m sitting with Captain Janeway right now. “What?!” Kathy said, bolting upright and nearly tripping over herself as she stepped back. “Judging from what I just heard,” Harry’s voice said, “she doesn’t remember who she is.”

“She’s understandably skeptical,” Chakotay said. “How soon can you get back into transporter range?” “We’ll need another day or so to finish repairs,” Harry said. “Quarren orbital defense gave us a bit of a beating after we got B’Elanna back. Nothing major, but neither the Doctor nor I think we should risk going back until we’re at 100%.”

“Good call,” Chakotay said, smiling. “I can see both of you making Captain once we get back to the Alpha Quadrant.”

“I won’t tell the Doctor you said that,” Harry replied. “His ego’s big enough as it is.” Chakotay laughed. “Okay. Let’s maintain radio silence until I contact you. I’ve got an idea about shutting down the shield grid, but I want to make sure it’s plausible. Chakotay out.” Kathy didn’t know why she let the conversation play out before she started yelling at Chakotay, but she was more ready to start ranting. “What you’re saying is absurd,” she said. “Why did you call me Captain? Are you trying to tell me my memories have been messed with too? How can we possibly have served together, we’re not even the same species.” “More than a hundred races make up the Federation,” Chakotay said. “Your oldest friend, Tuvok, is Vulcan.” “Tuvok? The man who went nuts at the plant the other day?” “You were there when his youngest child was born,” Chakotay said. “When he went missing seven years ago, before we met, you promised his wife you’d bring him home.”

“Helping you was a mistake,” Kathy said, angry at this man coming into her life, angry at herself for letting him in. She had a good job, a good partner; she didn’t need any of this confusion. “Listen to me,” Chakotay said, standing up. “There are more than a hundred of Voyager’s crew working around the power plant. Your crew. When our ship gets here I’ll be able to prove it to you.”

“Go to hell,” Kathy said. “Hand me that dermal regenerator,” Chakotay said. “Let me show you. I’m not Talaxian. I’m human like you. Our Doctor-” “Gimme a break,” Kathy said, rolling her eyes. “I can’t remove every change he made with just that,” Chakotay said. “But I can expose enough of my real face that you’ll see I’m telling truth.” She didn’t believe him, but figured she could at least take out some of her frustration. “Will it hurt?” “A little,” Chakotay said. “Then let me do it,” Kathy said, holding the wound sealer, or dermal regenerator as he kept calling it, like a weapon. Chakotay pointed at his forehead.

“Start here,” he said. She did so, taking some pleasure in his wincing, not sure what she expected to happen, but she almost dropped the device when she saw his facial spots vanish, like a racial characteristic shouldn’t from just a healing device. More and more human-like features appeared on his face as she moved it over him. She hated to admit it, but the evidence was staring her in the face. Literally,

“We’re the same species,” she said. “We’re more than that,” Chakotay said. “We’re friends.” “I… I need some air,” Kathy said. Chakotay made no effort to stop her. A huge risk, seeing as she was tempted to call security as soon as she was in the hallway. Why she didn’t then she had no idea. She just walked to Jaffen’s apartment. “I was starting to worry,” he said. Kathy immediately, barely pausing to take a breath, told him everything that had happened after she left here the last time, in as much detail as she could remember, even an aside to Annika Hansen’s odd behavior at the plant. “Am I hearing this correctly?” Jaffen said. “You’re actually helping this man?”

Kathy nodded. “He abducted one of the workers,” he said. “She’s a member of his crew,” Kathy said, not sure why she was so quick to defend him now when mere minutes ago she was ready to turn him in. Am I starting to believe his story? she thought. “Right, and you’re the Captain,” Jaffen said. “No need to be so condescending,” Kathy replied. “I don’t mean it like that. I bet you’d make a hell of a starship captain if you wanted to be one,” Jaffen said. “I mean that he’s trying to convince you that you’ll have a better life if you go with him. You’ve got a good job here. You have me. Why are you willing to risk-” “Why would it be a risk?” Kathy said. “Are you saying that if he’s right and I am captain of a starship I can’t take you with me?” That made Jaffen pause. He sat down. “I’ve lived on ships before,” he said, much calmer now. “They’re cramped. Even the decent ones hardly have any good viewports to see the stars out of. The food was bland most of the time. I don’t want to go through that again. This Voyager would have to be one hell of a ship for me to even think about it.”

Kathy nodded. Jaffen was right. She had a good life here, and she was putting it on the line for a man who had already clearly lied to her, regardless of his reasons. Why should she risk her relationship and her freedom? “What’s the name of the lead investigator in B’Elanna’s disappearance?” she said. “Yerid,” Jaffen said.

---

Chakotay paced Janeway’s now former apartment, wondering if she’d decided to call security. As much like herself as she seemed to be, she also seemed completely different; afraid of the burdens of command. He heard the door open and he turned around, to see the detective from the bar, and two armed guards. “Stay where you are,” the detective said. Chakotay went for his weapon, but he was too slow and was shot in the stomach. He doubled over in pain, a pain worse than the one from the shoulder wound. He passed out.

---

“I don’t know them,” Amal Kotay, or whatever his name was, said when Yerid showed him pictures of B’Elanna and the man identified as Neelix. After being treated for his injuries, and having most of his admittedly impressive alien prosthetics removed, Yerid began interrogating him as soon as was possible.

“I think you do,” Yerid said. “And I think you were involved in their disappearance.”

The female doctor scanning Amal Kotay’s body touched Yerid’s shoulder. “I found some kind of communications device embedded in his hand,” she said. “Remove it,” Yerid said. “Listen to me,” Amal Kotay said. “You and I have one thing in common.” “What’s that?” Yerid said, in a mocking tone of voice, wondering what story this suspect was going to spin. “We’re both investigating disappearances,” Amal said. “If you answer my questions, I’ll answer yours.” Yerod thought about it for a second, and decided it couldn’t hurt. Even if this man was lying to him entirely, he could still learn useful information from that. “Okay,” he said, but before Amal could say anything another doctor walked in, flanked by two armed guards. “I have an order to transfer this patient to Division 6,” he said. “Division 6?” Yerid said. The second doctor handed the first one a data pad. “Neuropathology,” she said, sounding as confused as Yerid felt. He didn’t like anyone interfering with an investigation, and this was blatant interference.

“We have reason to believe he’s mentally ill,” the second doctor said. “”How could they know that?” Amal said, looking at Yerid. “They’ve never examined me.” “My suspect raises a very good point,” Yerid said, standing up and crossing his arms. “I’m going with him.” “I’m sorry sir,” the second doctor said. “but my orders are to bring him for immediate treatment.”

“This man is a suspect in a serious crime,” Yerid said, though his instinct was telling him that Amal Kotay might actually be one of the more trustworthy people in this room at the moment. “I’m not letting him out of my sight.” “If you check the order you’ll see it’s been approved by the Director of Investigations,” the other doctor said. My own boss is going along with this? Yerid thought. That can’t be right.

“Let me see that, Doctor…” “Ravoc, sir.”

Yerid took the data pad and looked over it very carefully, and sighed. “My real name is Chakotay,” the suspect started saying, talking fast as the guards started wheeling his bed out the door. “I’m an officer aboard the Federation starship Voyager. Members of my crew were abducted and their memories were altered and they were put to work here. I can give you names, descriptions-” The door closed, cutting off the rest of what he was going to say. “That poor man,” the doctor said. Yerid looked at her. “Yes, but I don’t think he’s lying. Something’s not right here, and I’m going to get to the bottom of this.”

---

Back in ECH mode, the Doctor sat at Captain Janeway’s desk in her ready room, while Harry stood across from him. “I’ve been analyzing the sensor data we recorded about the Quarren ships that attacked us,” he said handing Harry a PADD, “and I think I’ve devised a way to evade their sensors.”

“I’ll implement this plan right away, Sir,” Harry said. “Sir,” The Doctor repeated. “I think that’s the first time you’ve called me ‘Sir’ since the ECH program was activated. Not sure how I feel about it.” “You’ve earned it,” Harry said. “Well, all the same, once we have the crew back it’ll be nice to go back to just being the EMH for awhile. Not that I dislike being in command, mind you…” “That chair does have a certain appeal to it,” Harry said, smiling. The Doctor opened his mouth to agree, but the sound of a comm channel opening interrupted him. He and Harry went over to the console on Janeway’s desk. It was Chakotay hailing them, but the signal was weak. “We’re receiving you sir, go ahead,” Harry said. “I’m having trouble with my transceiver,” Chakotay said. “This may be the last chance we have to talk.” Something seemed off in the Commander’s voice. The Doctor looked at Harry, wondering if he picked up on it too, but he didn’t seem to. “What’s your status?” Harry said. “I’m almost ready to shut down the shield grid. I’m sending you encrypted instructions. They’ll tell you when and where to enter orbit.” “We have it, Commander,” Harry said. “Chakotay, out.” ---

Once the communication line was broken, Kadan had Chakotay put back under sedation. “Well,” Doctor Kadan said, “now you know where to find Voyager.” “I’ll have three ships with me,” another alien in the room said. “They won’t get away this time.” “They’d better not. You should’ve been able to capture their ship last time.”

“If you’d done your job right the first time,” the power plant’s supervisor said, standing on the other side of Chakotay, “we wouldn’t have a problem now.” “How was I supposed to know their hologram could handle a firefight? Or that they had people off-ship?” the alien captain said, storming off. As he left, Doctor Ravoc came in, and Kadan inwardly swore. This young man was asking too many questions. He’d hate to have to rewrite his memories too. “Aren’t there patients you should be taking care of, Ravoc?” Kadan said. “Uh, yes, sir,” Ravoc said. “But I’ve been thinking, this is the second person we’ve admitted with Dysphoria Syndrome this week, and both worked at the power plant. Witnesses say that this man had no contact with Tuvok, our other patient. Maybe we should issue a health alert-” “Do you think I’m incompetent?” Kadan said. “Sir?” Ravoc said, clearly thrown off by Kadan’s sudden anger, which was the goal all along. “This man,” Kadan said, motioning towards the supervisor. “is in charge of personnel at the power facility. I’ve informed him of the situation.” “I’ve already taken steps to ensure the safety of the rest of my employees,” the supervisor said. “I’m sorry to have bothered you,” Ravoc said, looking down. “No need to apologize,” Kadan said. “You concern for your patients is admirable, but don’t worry. This man is already responding to treatment.” Ravoc nodded. Kadan could tell though that he still had doubts, but as long as he didn’t ask any questions, he could put off anything more drastic to keep him quiet.

---

Annika looked around, feeling nervous. At least she’d had the foresight to tell Samantha where she was going, if not why. She didn’t want to worry Sam if she didn’t have to.

Investigator Yerid sat across from her at the table in the bar. “Why would this Tuvok be collecting information about his co-workers?” he asked.

“I don’t know,” Annika said. “But one of the names on that list is B’Elanna Torres; the woman who went missing. They both began working at the plant on the same day, along with over fifty others, also on that list. Over 120 names in total, all arriving on the planet the same day, and being hired within the same week. Myself included.” Yerid’s facial expression gave it away; he had as many questions about this as she had, if not more. Her initial instinct to trust him with this seemed to be the correct one. “More than a hundred skilled employees, most of them of the same species, arriving all at once? Could be a coincidence, but…” “But it happening during a labor shortage?” Annika said. “Exactly what I was thinking.” “You’ll also note that every single name on the list passed through the central hospital. Now, it is routine for new arrivals to be examined by quarantine control, but as you can see here, they were processed through-” “Division 6,” Yerid said. “Every single one of them.” “Something is going on,” Yerid said. “And Division 6 is at the center of it.”

“What do you mean?” “Had a run in with one of their people yesterday. Took my suspect away from me before I had a chance to do a real interrogation.”

“What’s more,” Annika said, “even though the records show I came through neuropathology, I have no memory of being there. Neither do my wife, or my daughter.” Yerid looked around, as though he were as afraid he was being watched as she had been. “What do you expect me to do?” “You can start by interviewing Mister Tuvok.”

“I want to,” Yerid said, sighing. “But I can’t.” “Why not?”

“I’ve been taken off the case. Happened at the same time Division 6 took Chakotay out of my custody. ‘Relieved of duty’ were my superior’s exact words.”

“Yerid, there you are,” the bartender, Tom Paris, said, coming up to their table, looking worried. “Have you found anything about B’Elanna?” “He’s been relieved of duty,” Annika said. “Oh,” Tom said, looking defeated. “This man is also in Tuvok’s file,” Annika said, looking at Yerid again. “What file?” Tom said “Why don’t you tell him?” Annika said. “Tell me what?” Tom said, sounding more and more agitated. “I can’t go back to the hospital and start asking questions,” Yerid said. “I’d be reported. But maybe you could.”

“Me?” Annika said. “You’re the detective.” “And that’s what I’m known as around here,” Yerid said. “And that puts me at a disadvantage in a situation like this.” “Could someone tell me what the hell is going on?” Tom said. Annika had Tom sit down, and she explained to him everything she knew. Tom seemed to take it all in stride. “The first time I saw her,” Tom said, “B’Elanna I mean, I felt like I already knew her. If what you’re saying is true, is it possible that I did? What do they do in neuropathology anyway?” “Treat mental illnesses,” Yerid said. “Or at least that’s the official story.”

---

Later that day, after further conversation and planning with Tom and Yerid, Annika went to the hospital. She presented herself as having concerns about her health, and a secretary directed her to the office of a Doctor Ravoc. “What seems to be the problem, Miss Hansen?” he said, sitting down behind his desk. “Recently, I’ve been…” she said, her practiced concern sounding to her ears as good as she’d hoped. “I’m a doctor, you can trust me,” Ravoc said. “What seems to be the problem?”

“I’ve been experiencing some disturbing thoughts,” Annika said. “I don’t believe it’s anything serious, but I would like to speak with someone.”

“Well, you’ve come to the right place,” Ravoc said. “Let me look up your file.” She gave him her employee number from the power plant, and her file appeared on the screen behind Ravoc, who turned around to look at it. “Ah, you have been a patient here before,” he said. “Yes, when I first arrived.” Ravoc turned back to look at her, seeming equal parts confused and concerned. “You were treated for Dysphoria Syndrome?” “I have no recollection of that,” Annika said, which was completely true. She’d never even heard of such an illness. “These disturbing thoughts you mentioned,” Ravoc said, “would you characterize them as hallucinations?”

Annika almost flinched. This was getting uncomfortable. But she had to see this through. “What’s the cause of this syndrome?” she said. “We’re conducting studies to determine that,” Ravoc said. “Fortunately, we have one of the foremost experts on the condition working here.” “I’d like to speak with this expert,” Annika said. “Well, Dr. Kadan’s very busy-”

“As am I,” Annika said. “Perhaps I should return when he is free.”

She got up to leave, but Ravoc put up a hand to stop her. “Wait here,” he said. “I’ll find him.” He got up to leave himself, leaving Annika alone in his office while he went to look for this Kadan he’d mentioned. As soon as the door closed, Annika went to the console he’d been using, and started looking up more information.

---

Kathy stared out the window towards the river, while Jaffen cooked dinner. The door chime alerting them that someone was outside distracted her from her thoughts. Despite herself, she couldn't help thinking about what Chakotay had said about her being a starship Captain. She went to open the door. “I’m Yerid, with Criminal Investigations,” the man outside said. “Yes,” Kathy said. “I remember you from when that Torres girl went missing.” She felt Jaffen’s hand on her waist. “Inspector, come in. Is there anything we can help you with?”

Yerid kept looking at her, and back at the data pad in his hand. “You’re Kathryn Janeway, correct?” “Yes,” Kathy said. “Do you know this man?” he tapped a few buttons on the pad then showed it to her. An image of an unconscious Chakotay was on it now, more of his disguise removed. He looked more human than ever now. “No,” Kathy said, not sure why she lied, but knowing she was in too deep to start now. “I thought maybe you’d met him.” “Why?” she said. “He was found in your former living quarters in possession of a wound sealer that you removed from the power plant.”

“I was the one who helped him,” Jaffen said. Kathy appreciated him trying to cover for her, but she stepped up. She’d been caught in the lie, she had to own it. “He said he was from a starship,” she said, as she took Jaffen’s arm in her own. “And that members of his crew had been abducted.” “He was obviously lying,” Jaffen said. “Maybe not,” Yerid said. “I want to know everything he told you.” “Hold on,” Jaffen said, “why would you believe-” “I have my reasons,” Yerid said. Kathy had a bad feeling about all of this. If the very man who’d arrested Chakotay was leaning toward believing him, what did that say about her refusal to believe it?

---

“How could she just walk out?” Kadan yelled, slamming a fist on Ravoc’s desk. “She was a voluntary patient,” Ravoc said, understanding where this anger was coming from. “There was no reason for Security to stop her.” Ravoc went over to the console that Annika Hansen had hacked into. “She accessed 64 restricted files. All of them for people diagnosed with Dysphoria Syndrome.”

Ravoc looked deeper into the files. “According to the records all these patients arrived on the same day,” he said. He suddenly realized that Kadan was slowly moving towards him, as if getting ready to ambush him. “You’re listed as attending physician in every case,“ Ravoc said. “If there was an outbreak, how didn’t I hear about it?” “Does it matter? I treated them all, and they were all discharged.” “It says they were all discharged to the main power facility,” Ravoc said, continuing to face the monitor and hoping Kadan couldn’t see his nervousness. Something was going on that he didn’t know about, and his superior was involved. That scared him. “That supervisor you were talking to yesterday, that’s where he worked.” “I explained that to you,” Kadan said. “I was informing him of a potential health threat.” “That man you had me transfer out of Criminal Investigation,” Ravoc said, pulling up another file, “he claimed that his friends had been abducted, had their memories altered, and were put to work.” “What are you implying?” Kadan said, defensively. Ravoc’s suspicions were being confirmed as he was forming them. Ravoc knew that Kadan didn’t have a weapon, so he took a deep breath and tried not to look worried. “You’re making false diagnoses,” he said, “selectively changing what people remember so they think they came here willingly to pick up work during our labor shortage.” Kadan’s face betrayed his mixed emotions. He looked almost as proud as he did angry.

“Very good, Doctor Ravoc,” he said. “But a more gifted physician would be able to see this in the larger context.” “What context could possibly make brainwashing people acceptable? Including,” Ravoc glanced back at his console. “Two children?” “The real public health threat on Quarra isn’t Dysphoria Syndrome. You’ve already figured out we made that up. The threat is the labor shortage. The only cure? More skilled workers.” “We’re doctors,” Ravoc said. “We help patients, not break them. What you’re doing, it’s wrong. I don’t care about your reasons.” “We’re helping them lead happy, productive lives,” Kadan said. “By altering their memories?” “The treatment I provide improves their lives,” Kadan said. Ravoc could tell he was being pitched to. Kadan wanted to bring him in on this conspiracy. He wondered if he should reject it outright, or pretend to go along to try and bring it down from the inside. “And makes them better workers. In turn, our economy improves.” “You’re profiting from this, aren’t you?” Ravoc asked. “Doesn’t a physician deserve to be compensated for his services?” “Obviously I don’t think doctors should live in poverty,” Ravoc said, thinking of his own above-average sized apartment in the outskirts of the city. “But getting rich off of messing with people’s heads? Lying about diseases? I’ll report you.” “To whom?” Kadan said. “My research is funded by the Ministry of Health.”

“Criminal Investigations then.” “The department whose director signed the order transferring Mister Chakotay, or Amal Kotay, or whatever name he uses, to our hospital,” Kadan said.

“Am I the only one who didn’t know about this?” Ravoc said. “No,” Kadan said. “But I think it best for everyone that I not tell you how many people are involved in total. In case you get any ideas about exposing us. You never know who you might be trying to expose this to.”

---

“She’s considered dangerous,” one of two Quarren guards said, showing an image of Annika Hansen to Tom Paris. “She’s never been in here,” Tom said as he went about the work of closing the bar for the night. “You’re sure?” The other guard said. “I think I’d remember meeting a cyborg,” Tom said. “If you do see her, report it immediately,” the first guard said. “She needs to be hospitalized.” “I’ll let you know if I do,” Tom said, closing and locking the door behind the guards as they left. “It’s safe now,” Tom said. Annika, Kathy Janeway, Jaffen, and Yerid all came out from the back room into the dimly lit bar. “Thank you,” Annika said.

“Well if you really wanna thank me,” Tom said as everyone started taking seats around a table, “you can tell me what’s going on.”

“It appears this Chakotay was telling the truth,” Annika said. “So, everyone at the plant has had their memories altered?” Jaffen said. “I do not believe so,” Annika said. “Not every arrival since the labor shortage began has been through Division 6.” “Well, that’s something at least,” Jaffen said. “I’d hate to think that I was secretly a father of three or something like that.” “You’re Norvalian, remember?” Kathy said, playfully poking Jaffen in the arm.

“Am I really?” Jaffen said with a smirk. “Can you do that some other time, please?” Yerid said, sounding annoyed. “Your name was not in Dr. Kadan’s files,” Anika said to Jaffen. “You are likely exactly who you believe you are. “Shouldn’t we report this to the authorities?” Tom said, surprised at himself for taking this new information in stride. You’d think this wasn’t my first time having my memories messed with, he thought. “I’d need more evidence before making any accusations,” Yerid said. “And seeing as the director of CI is likely in on it, that means I’d need to know who I can trust before making any accusations.”

“Chakotay said he had more proof of my real identity,” Kathy said. “Aboard a ship called Voyager.”

“How do we locate it?” Annika said. “When they contacted him,” Kathy said, “they were using... What was it? A triaxilating frequency on a covariant subspace band?” “Are those real words?” Tom said. “Ssh,” Yerid said. “There’s a subspace transponder at the power plant,” Annika said. “Kathy and I aren’t on the run,” Jaffen said. “We should go. Annika, what about your wife? Does she know what’s going on?” Annika sighed, and lowered her head. “I didn’t get the chance to tell her anything before I left for work this morning. She must be scared.” “Don’t try to contact her,” Yerid said. “The guards will be watching your place. And if there’s a big conspiracy going on I wouldn’t put it past whoever’s involved to try to use them as leverage against you.”

“Perhaps,” Annika said, “if I were to return to the hospital with you, in your custody, we can use that as an opportunity to help Chakotay and Tuvok.” “Could work,” Tom said. “No one’s been asking around about Yerid. Far as anyone involved knows he’s holed up in his apartment complaining about being taken off an important case.” Yerid nodded. “I’ll go with you two,” Tom said to Jaffen and Kathy. “I don’t know how much I can help, but it’s better than sitting around and waiting.” ---

Annika listened closely while pretending to be unconscious as Yerid spoke to Doctor Kadan.

“I had to sedate her,” Yerid said. “She wouldn’t come voluntarily.” “Her condition has obviously worsened,” Kadan said, scanning Annika. “I’ll treat her right away. “There are some other patients I’d like to interview, Yerid said. “These people can’t be disturbed,” Kadan said. Annika heard the sound of Yerid pulling his sidearm from his holster. Annika partially opened one eye, and saw Kadan going for something on the wall by him, presumably an alarm of some kind. She bolted up and grabbed his arm. “I suggest you comply,” she said.

---

Kathy wondered just how Jaffen had learned how to break into secure buildings so easily as the door to the power plant opened. “Be careful,” he said, staying just outside to stand watch. She gently touched his shoulder as she went in, Tom Paris close behind her. The two of them made their way to the supervisor’s office, Tom staying outside that door to provide additional cover, and began manipulating the controls, trying to contact Voyager.

The screen changed, and she saw what looked like a large room. She saw Neelix, and another human, fairly clearly despite some minor static. “Captain?” the human said, and she recognized his voice as the one Chakotay called Harry. “So I’m told,” Kathy said. “Just, call me Kathy for now.” There was a brief pause. “Yeah, I’m not doing that,” Harry said. “Where’s the Commander?” “Chakotay’s been hospitalized. He told me you had proof of who some of us really are.” “We do,” a woman’s voice said, and the missing pregnant woman, now wearing a uniform like Harry’s stepped into view.

“You’re the woman who was abducted,” Kathy muttered. “Chakotay was supposed to deactivate the shield grid,” B’Elanna Torres said. “So we can transport you and the others to safety. If you could find a way to shut down main power, the shield grid will go down too.” “Will you help us?” Harry said. Before she could answer the image on the screen shook, and the lights on Voyager's bridge dimmed. “We’re under attack,” a voice from off-screen said. “Three ships. Not Quarren ones this time. They’re the same ships that planted the subspace mines.” “Please,” Harry said to Kathy. “Shut down the shield g-” The signal cut out. Tom slid into the supervisor’s office. “We got company,” he said. Kathy looked and saw the supervisor, followed by two armed guards coming towards them from one direction, and a lone, but much larger guard coming down another. “Either your boyfriend sold us out,” Tom said, “or he’d triggered an alarm and didn't realize it.” “Stay where you are,” the large man said, not seeing Jaffen come up behind him and zap him in the neck with the same tool he’d used to open the door. “Stop!” the supervisor yelled as Jaffen grabbed the fallen guard’s weapon and fired towards them, hitting one guard, and sending the other guard and the supervisor scattering for cover.”

“I saw them coming,” Jaffen said, “so I let them slip past so I could get the drop on them. I’ve never been a combat guy, so they ought to be embarrassed with themselves for letting me get away with that.” Kathy gave Jaffen a big kiss, and took his hand and headed for the door. She didn’t need to tell Tom to follow.

---

“So much for evading their sensors,” Harry said. “We should’ve asked exactly when Chakotay was hospitalized,” The Doctor said from tactical. “This was probably a trap. If they knew exactly where we’d be…”

He didn’t need to finish the thought. Harry realized he was probably right. The ship shuddered after another volley from the ships attacking them. “Transporters are off-line,” B’Elanna said. “Of course they are,” Harry said.

---

Annika, Yerid, and Kadan, the latter with Yerid’s gun pressed into his back, entered the room where two nurses worked on Chakotay and Tuvok, one each. “Tell them to give us some privacy,” Yerid said quietly. “You’re dismissed,” Kadan said to the nurses. If they had any questions, they kept it to themselves as they walked out.

“Disconnect them,” Yerid said to Kadan. Annika saw a third occupied bed, and a man with the same technology over his head as Tuvok and Chakotay. “Doctor Ravoc? What is this man doing here?” “Dysphoria Syndrome,” Kadan said, casually, as he disconnected Chakotay.

---

“We’re losing shields,” Neelix said after another volley. So far firing back had done nothing, the enemy ships having learned from their first encounter with Voyager what her phasers were capable of. They weren’t getting in as many shots as they could’ve, but the trade off had worked for them, unfortunately. “Any ideas from your tactical database?” Harry said. “Nothing that would help us in this situation,” The Doctor said. The same ships that took the crew… Harry thought. “How many escape pods do we have left?” he said. “Five,” B’Elanna said. “Prepare to eject three,” Harry said. “I don’t think abandoning ship is a good idea,” The Doctor said.

“Neither do I. Can you create a dampening field around the briefing room to mask our life signs?” “I believe so. Why? Oh, wait. I see. Very clever, Lieutenant.” “Thanks, Doc. B’Elanna, Neelix, follow me to the briefing room. Doc, once the pods are launched, put up the dampening field.” “And then detonate the explosives that will be in the escape pods,” The Doctor said, smiling.

---

As the pods being launched were the ones closest to the bridge, it didn’t take long for Harry and the others to rig them. As they worked, The Doctor picked up signs that the Quarren shield grid had gone down. That was one less thing to worry about. Once the door to the briefing room closed, The Doctor jettisoned the pods and activated the dampening field. Within seconds the pursuing ships had grabbed them in their tractor beams, one pod per ship, just as hoped. The Doctor saw he was being hailed, and he sat in the Captain’s Chair before answering the hail, smiling.

“Well, hologram,” the captain of the hailing ship said. It was, in fact, the same man who The Doctor had beaten before and who had abducted his crewmates. “Your crew has abandoned you again. I suggest you surrender your vessel.” “You should realize by now that I’m not programmed to do that,” The Doctor said, tapping a button on the chair’s arm. The viewscreen switched back to a view of the attacking ships. The Doctor pushed another button, and the escape pods exploded, the shockwave knocking them back, and disabling the tractor beams in the process. He worried for a moment they might start attacking again, but instead, as the ship’s righted themselves, they turned and warped away. “Looks like the Quarrens are going to be in the market for new pirates,” The Doctor said, smiling, then realizing that no one was around to hear his one-liner. The door to the briefing room opened, and Harry, Neelix, and B’Elanna filed out. “B’Elanna, we’ll be needing those transporters,” The Doctor said. “On it,” B’Elanna said.

---

"ECH log, supplemental. All the crew have been transported back to Voyager, and thanks to my experience with Lieutenant Torres, their treatment is proceeding rapidly. While they're recovering, I still have a few command duties left to perform."

“If it weren’t for your efforts,” the Quarren Ambassador said to Yerid as the two of them sat across from The Doctor, Neelix, and Harry Kim, “this whole conspiracy might never have been uncovered.”

“I’m just glad it wasn’t as many people as I feared,” Yerid said. The Doctor suppressed the urge to point out that had the conspiracy been that large it would’ve been statistically impossible to keep it a secret for as long as it had been. “What’ll happen to the workers?” Harry asked.

“Well,” the Ambassador said, “we’ve identified several thousand of Kadan’s patients. Once treated, they’ll be repatriated. Thank you for sharing your notes with us, Doctor.”

“No thanks necessary,” The Doctor said. “It was the right thing to do.” “I apologize once more on behalf of my government,” the Ambassador said. “But if you’ll excuse us, there are some of Kadan’s co-conspirators currently in hiding, and I imagine Investigator Yerid here would very much like to get to work on catching them. “Gentlemen,” Neelix said, “I can escort you to the transporter room.”

---

“There is something I do not understand,” Icheb said, as he stepped into his alcove. “Just one?” Samantha said as she was helping put Naomi to bed. Seven chuckled. “Go ahead, Icheb,” she said. “Why was your marriage to Ensign Wildman left in place,” Icheb said, “but not that of Lieutenants Paris and Torres?” The cargo bay got quiet. Seven and Samantha looked at each other, the “I don’t know, do you?” unspoken between them. “Does it really matter?” Naomi said. “Well, no,” Seven said. “But now I really wanna know,” Sam said. “This is gonna drive me nuts, isn’t it?”

“We may never know the reasoning,” Seven said, “but perhaps you would settle for plausible possibility?” “Sure. You have one?” “I’ll let you know when I do,” Seven said.

---

Janeway felt both comfortable and uncomfortable at the same time in her uniform. Her old memories had been restored, but the new ones were still there too. At least this time she wasn’t getting PTSD out of the deal, but the mixed emotions were still unpleasant. She was walking around her quarters, re-familiarizing herself with all her belongings, when the door to her quarters opened. Jaffen walked in, a Starflet security guard behind him. “You can wait outside,” Janeway said to the guard. “Yes ma’am,” he said. “I can see why you’d rather live here,” Jaffen said. “I’d offer you a position,” Janeway said. “We could always use another skilled engineer. But as a Captain, it wouldn’t really be appropriate for me to fraternize with another member of the crew.”

“Well, that’s understandable. At least my memories weren’t tampered with. Annika, or I guess I should call her Seven, was right. I really did come to Quarra looking for a better life. And since I’ve been offered a promotion, I guess I found it.” “Promotion?” “They had to replace our shift supervisor,” Jaffen said. “Something about acquiring shift workers illegally.”

Janeway chuckled. “Well, you’ve earned it.” Jaffen nodded. “So, I guess I should take it. I mean, unless…”

“Well,” Janeway said, moving closer to Jaffen. “I did say it’s inappropriate for a Captain to fraternize with a member of her crew.” “But?” “But we’re 30,000 light years from home,” Janeway said “If Starfleet doesn’t like it they can’t exactly fire me.”

Jaffen smiled. “I was hoping you’d say something like that.”

Captain Janeway and Jaffen embraced, and didn’t stop for a good long while.

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

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voyagerafod · 7 years

Text

Star Trek Voyager: A Fire of Devotion: Part 4 of 4: Hotter Than Hell: Prologue and Chapter One

Apologies this posted this so late. A combination of dangerous heat wave and brutal code is responsible.

Prologue

A solitary Borg drone floats in space. The last surviving drone of a destroyed cube. The last cube destroyed in a war that the Collective forgot even happened, that everyone forgot happened. Through its still functioning visual receptor it sees the dead ship, the one that destroyed its cube before being crippled itself, possibly the only ship of the enemy left in this universe after all the others were destroyed.

The drone holds out hope for a rescue, for a return to the collective, to the many voices speaking as one. It holds out for as long as it can, but no cube, no sphere, no diamond comes. Soon its grip on sanity leaves it, and in the silent vacuum of deep space it mouths the word of the enemy, the word the Borg drones who were massacred and disassembled for spare parts heard over and over again at the height of battle. Delete.

Delete.

Chapter One

Captain Janeway went through the motions of being a Borg drone, every moment tense with the possibility that the Collective would realize that while she and her team could hear them, the Borg did not control them. Very carefully she took note of every detail of the level they were on, fortunate that she and the others had not been separated.

Tom was right, this was a horrible plan, she thought. Fortune favors the bold, but you've got to know the difference between 'bold' and 'moron.’

She pushed aside her doubts, and walked down the corridor, mimicking the movements of the drones around her. She passed Marla Gilmore, who worked on a console, her expression flat. Janeway nodded at her subtly. Gilmore nodded back in acknowledgment. Both women glanced around. There were other drones, closer than Janeway would’ve liked, but hopefully not close enough to hear her whisper. “Have you seen Vorik or Tuvok?”

“Vorik is at the other end of this corridor working on a subjunction,” Gilmore whispered back. “I haven’t seen Tuvok.”

“Hopefully he’s already en route to the central plexus,” Janeway whispered. Gilmore opened her mouth to reply but the sound of metal footsteps on a metal floor stopped her. A pair of drones walked past. Once they were gone, Janeway looked around to make sure no one could see her tap Gilmore on the shoulder. “We need to go,” she said. “Now.” “One moment, Captain,” Gilmore said. “I just need one more second to- ah, there we go.”

An alarm sounded in the distance. “What did you just do?” “They were going to find out we weren’t properly assimilated sooner rather than later, so I found a way to create false positives. I do feel bad for the random drones on the lower levels whose day I just ruined though.” “Good work,” Janeway said. “How long does that buy us?” “An hour at most,” Gilmore said, standing up and heading towards the central plexus right away. Janeway simply followed her, silently relieved that Gilmore felt guilt for what she had just done. It was all too easy to forget that Borg drones weren’t just victimizers but victims as well. She wouldn’t judge Marla though.

I’ve lost count of how many drones I’ve killed or ordered killed in combat, Janeway thought. If I stopped to think about it… Best that I don’t.

---

“Time?” Chakotay said, wondering if it was good or bad that he wasn’t worried about the away team. Or at least not yet. They’re on a Borg supercube for spirit’s sake, he thought. Shouldn’t I be at least a little nervous? “Seventeen minutes,” Tom said. “We should’ve heard something by now.” “Maybe not,” Chakotay said. “It’s a big ship and the away team is going to be on foot, and having to maintain cover. Let’s not panic just yet.” “Their higher brain functions are stable again,” The Doctor said. “The cube is changing course,” Harry said. “New heading, 121 mark 6.” “Tom?” Chakotay said. “Already matching course and speed,” Tom said.

“Let’s just hope they don’t go into transwarp,” Harry said. Chakotay did wonder why that hadn’t happened yet. In fact, he still found it a mystery as to why a Class-4 cube would be outside Borg space at all, let alone this far away. He realized he wanted to know that almost as much as he wanted to rescue the people in Unimatrix Zero.

“Do your best to keep up,” Chakotay said to Tom. “Seven’s still in Unimatrix Zero right now. If the virus is released, they’ll be the first to know, so once she comes out again we’ll know for sure.”

---

“Tell your hunters to patrol the northeastern perimeter,” Korok said to a Hirogen as they re-entered the main camp. “More drones were spotted there.”

Seven and Axum watched them pass by before returning to their own conversation. “Any theories as to why the gap between the most recent attack and the last was so long?” Axum said. “None,” Seven said. “Were we dealing with anyone other than the Borg I would assume it was an attempt to lull us into a false sense of security.” “Not very Borg-like at all,” Axum said, “I agree. I imagine if that were the case we’d still be waiting on the next incursion.” “The last incursion was worse than any of the others,” Seven said. “We may need to train more people how to conjure working mechs with their minds.” She shook her head. “No matter how many times I say it, no matter how many times I see it working…” “It’s weird, yeah,” Axum said. “Still no reports coming in from anyone remembering this place when they exit their regeneration cycle?”

“Afraid not. The away team should be on the cube by now,” Seven said. “Something must’ve gone wrong.” “Or maybe they just haven’t reached the central plexus yet, or the virus won’t spread as quickly as we thought.” “If the latter is the case,” Seven said, “that only means the Collective will have more time to adapt to and resist it.” “Give it a little more time, Annika,” Axum said, putting a hand on Seven’s shoulder. Seven reflexively flinched and took a step back. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to… I was just trying to be supportive.” Seven nodded. “I’ll take you at your word and apologize for my reaction. However, I do ask that you refrain from doing it again.”

“Understood,” Axum said sadly.

---

“The central plexus is through here,” Tuvok said to Janeway and Gilmore when they reached him. Janeway gave the signal to wait a moment before moving. She heard footsteps, hoping it would turn out to be Vorik. She allowed herself a very un-Borg like sigh of relief when she saw that it was. “I apologize for the delay, Captain,” Vorik said. “No need, Ensign,” Janeway said. “Once we’re inside, we release the virus, and make contact with Voyager. We’ll also need to sabotage as many of the cube’s systems as we can to give them a chance of getting us out of here.” “Already working on it,” Gilmore said. “Vorik, could you take that other console over there?” Vorik simply nodded and went to work. “Alright, Tuvok,” Janeway said. “Let’s do this. There are shield generators there and there, but as drones we should be able to just walk right through.” Janeway let out a small chuckle. “You know, over the years, we’ve had enemies board the ship who could just walk through our force fields. It’ll be nice to be on the giving end of that for a change.”

The two walked through the force field, Janeway feeling a slight tingling sensation as she did so. As she and Tuvok rounded a corner, they stopped suddenly. A lone drone was at the central plexus. Luckily, it hadn’t seen them, its back was turned as it operated a console. One drone guarding it, and not even watching the entrance? Janeway thought. Suppose the Borg just assumed nobody would ever get this far.

“I will attempt to deactivate him,” Tuvok said quietly, moving as silently as the metal on his feet would allow on the metal floor. The drone either didn’t hear or didn’t perceive Tuvok as a threat until the Vulcan yanked out wires leading into the drone’s skull. He shuddered violently but made very little noise as he fell over, Tuvok catching him before he could hit the ground.

Janeway made a move to the console and immediately began manipulating the controls. “Damn,” she said after a minute’s work. “I can’t access the plexus without shutting down the power grid in this section. That’s bound to draw some attention.”

“I will check in on Ensign Vorik and Crewman Gilmore’s progress,” Tuvok said. “Perhaps they can find another solution.”

“Do it,” Janeway said, feeling tense. This was already taking longer than she’d hoped. Of course, even succeeding in releasing the virus and giving Unimatrix Zero the chance to hide from the collective permanently was no guarantee that the four of them would make it out alive.

Why do I take on these suicidal missions all the time? She thought. I never thought of myself as someone with a death wish, but…

---

Something wasn’t right, the Borg Queen knew that much, and it was not simply the Unimatrix Zero problem. The fact was, she was aware that the focus on that issue had caused her to miss something. Such a distraction should not have been possible, not for the Collective.

Were embarrassment something the collective could feel, it would be feeling it right now. “Janeway and the others. I can’t hear them,” the Queen said. “We assimilated them but I can’t hear them. How is this possible?”

She reached her mind into the cube that Captain Janeway had attacked, trying to see the four Starfleet officers that had been taken for the Collective. She looked in the alcoves where the drones they were supposed to be had been assigned. They were not there.

She struggled to keep the expression on her organic face neutral, even though it was not necessary. The drones around here wouldn’t notice. And her concern over the situation was reaching them regardless. So many things had gone wrong. Too many. The existence of Unimatrix Zero, the second failure to assimilate Earth, several cubes and spheres lost over the past few years… and there was something else wasn’t there? Vague memories of the Borg suffering a devastating defeat at the hands of…

The thought exited her consciousness almost as quickly as it came. She redirected her efforts to find Janeway. The tactical cube was the same size as a standard cube, but with less open space due to the additional armor and weaponry. There would be few places to hide, and she had access to thousands of eyes. Each eye or pair of eyes belonged to the drones who would find the Starfleet officers and stop whatever it was they were planning, and learn how they’d managed to remain free of the voice of the Collective.

While she did that, she increased the number of drones to enter Unimatrix Zero once more. She did not know precisely how she was losing so many in there, but eventually, she would overwhelm them. The reality that she was fast approaching the point where the resources expended in finding and shutting down Unimatrix Zero would exceed the effects its existence would have on the Collective managed to elude her.

The virus of the Borg’s enemy was working faster than even its creators had believed it would by this point in time. The Borg Collective was running out of time, and it didn’t even know it.

---

Seven of Nine wondered if she should be worried. Though no one within Unimatrix Zero wanted to admit it, the reality was the Borg should’ve adapted to the techniques and weapons Axum and the others were using to fight back by now. Despite this, the Borg seemed to be using the same tactics as always, the only change being larger numbers of drones. It wasn’t an entirely foolish tactic, as more drones to push back against meant that everyone had to work harder and be more vigilant, but if the Collective kept up this pace, the amount of drones lost finding and disabling this Unimatrix would end up not being worth the cost. While she had no desire to return to the Collective, she had to admit a certain amount of pity. This was not the kind of efficiency that she had been used to; had even briefly wanted to go back to when the Voyager crew had separated her from the Collective.

She said as much to Axum who nodded. “Yeah,” she said in response. “This degradation you’ve been telling me about must be getting worse at a far faster rate than you thought. Perhaps some event triggered it, caused it to accelerate?” “A possibility,” Seven said. “Or whomever is responsible for it intended it to be this way and we have simply been the beneficiaries of fortunate timing.” “You’re that certain that there is an outside force at work here?” “Yes.” “I kind of hope you’re wrong, Seven,” Axum said, shaking her head. “I mean, who’s to say that any entity or entities powerful enough to destroy the Borg from within will stop with the Borg?”

Seven had not considered that possibility, and she very much wished that that had remained the case. She was unable to suppress a shiver at this thought.

“Hmm,” Korok said, the Klingon having been so quiet for the past hour that Seven had managed to forget he was there. “A force capable of destroying the Borg is itself not that terrifying. A force that can destroy the Borg, but is patient enough to let it play out over years, on the other hand, that is a thing could give Kahless himself nightmares.”

Seven had no response to that. She looked around at the camp. People were visibly tired, but full of determination. Everyone was helping each other. She really hoped the plan that the Captain had set in motion would come to fruition. These people deserved their freedom, even if it would be a more limited kind than that she had now. Her mind drifted to thoughts of Samantha, Naomi, and Icheb. It had been nearly a full ship’s day since she’d seen them, but she dare not leave now, not before there was a sign, any sign, that Janeway and the others had succeeded.

What is taking them so long? she thought.

---

“Bingo,” Marla Gilmore said. Janeway and Tuvok went to her to ask her what she meant, but Vorik spoke up before they could say it. “We have bypassed the access codes,” Vorik said. “We can access the central plexus directly.” A loud hissing noise, that of the way to the plexus opening, happened immediately after he said the words, as if to emphasize the point. “Good work,” Janeway said, heading towards the opening. “Let’s deploy the virus and then see about getting the hell out of here.” Without warning, the unmistakable sound of alarm klaxons filled the corridor. “It would appear the Collective has figured out we are not drones,” Tuvok said. “Everyone inside the plexus,” Janeway shouted. “Seal the entry way behind us.” “Yes ma’am,” Gilmore said.

All four people quickly made their way in, the heavy door making a painfully loud noise as it closed. Gilmore and Vorik immediately went to the nearest console. Janeway allowed herself a brief moment to be impressed with how well the two worked together before returning her focus to her mission. “I may not get to go home,” she muttered, “but at least I’ll give the Borg a black-eye on the way out.” “Captain,” she heard a voice say. It was definitely not one of her people. The Borg Queen, she thought. So that what she sounds like. She looked at the faces of her crewmates and could tell that they heard the Queen’s voice as well.

“You don’t really think you can win, do you? Whatever it is you think you can do, even if the cube you are on is destroyed, we will adapt. We are many. We are Borg. We cannot be-”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” Janeway said. “I’ve heard the spiel before. It would carry more weight if you hadn’t failed to assimilate my homeworld twice. Oh, and of course when you needed my help to beat back Species 8472.“

“Conservation of resources,” the Queen said. “Species 8472 would’ve fallen eventually, regardless. Accepting your assistance was merely the result of a cost-benefit analysis.” “Keep telling yourself that,” Janeway said, rolling her eyes. “Oh, and let’s not forget the whole ‘you planted Seven on Voyager’ line you tried to pull a few years ago. The mighty Borg collective, reduced to using the ‘I meant to do that’ excuse, like a cat falling off the back of a couch.” “Enough!” the Borg Queen’s voice shouted, but Janeway kept going as she if she hadn’t heard. “I mean, did you actually think that would work? Did you expect Seven of Nine to believe that the confluence of events that led to her being part of the crew was all part of a grand plan? I’m not surprised she didn’t go for it. Deception is clearly not something you’re well practiced at.” “You cannot hide in the central plexus forever, Janeway,” the Borg Queen said. “You will eventually need-” “And another thing,” Janeway said, noticing that Gilmore was trying very hard to stifle a laugh, “Back when Starfleet first encountered you all those years ago, your drones would disintegrate after being killed. I’ve noticed they don’t do that anymore. Just leaving your technology lying around for anyone to find? Sloppy.” The Borg Queen was silent. It took Janeway a moment to realize that she hadn’t been rendered speechless, she had simply given up and cut off contact. “A number of drones are attempting to burn their way through the doors to the plexus,” Vorik said, looking at another console. “Sounds like you pissed her off, Captain,” Gilmore said. “That I did,” Janeway said. “And the fact that it worked just goes to show how far the Borg have fallen.”

---

Tom Paris checked the chronometer again. Two and a half hours. That’s how overdue the away team was to report back in. He was nervous, afraid for his crewmates but he had to admit that he was glad B’Elanna had not gone with them.

“Vital signs are still good,” the Doctor said. “Stress levels are a bit elevated but that’s to be expected.”

“I wish there was some way we could pull them out now,” Tom said. “I don’t like how long this is taking.” “I don’t either,” Chakotay said, “but we stick to the mission, no matter what.” Tom wished he had Chakotay’s confidence. Or at least his appearance of confidence, he thought. Probably more worried about them than I am.

---

“And, done,” Gilmore said. “Virus deployed.” “It appears to already be moving rapidly through the Collective, Captain,” Vorik said.

“Good work people,” Janeway said. Now comes the fun part, she thought sardonically, wondering just how they were going to get out of the central plexus and back to Voyager. Or even if it were possible.

“Unfortunately,” Tuvok said, giving voice to Janeway’s concerns, “we are unable to contact Voyager given our current location, and leaving the central plexus would open us to attack by this cube’s drones.” “Yes,” Janeway said, “but we’re at the heart of this cube. That gives us an advantage. Marla, can you access the cube’s weapons systems from here? Or their shields?” “I was just about to try,” Gilmore said, “but they’ve already started blocking access to the cube’s systems from in here. They can’t hide it from us, every bit of data has to pass through here to get to the drones, but I can’t do anything with it.”

“Not entirely accurate,” Vorik said, pointing to a green dot on a screen that to Janeway looked indistinguishable to all the other green dots. “In order to maintain control of the drones, the Queen cannot close off this channel. We cannot block it, nor can we redirect it, but we can add to it.” “But what can- Oh,” Gilmore said. “Of course. We flood the stream with junk data. The drones will be distracted trying to separate the random bits from the Queen’s commands.” Marla manipulated a few controls on the console, then sighed. “The bad news is, we’d need a minimum of a hundred zetabytes worth of useless information to even have a chance for this to work. Where are we going to get that much garbage data?”

“Hang on,” Janeway said, finally recognizing something in the jumble of code she was seeing. “That data stream right there, it seems to be going someplace other than all the others.” Marla and Vorik quickly got to work on the console. Vorik spoke first. “That information is being directed towards a cluster of drones from this very cube that have been sent into Unimatrix Zero. Apparently one drone on this vessel has the mutation.”

Janeway exhaled sharply. “Okay, I have an idea,” she said.

---

I often hear my crewmates joke about writing their memoirs, Seven of Nine thought as she looked at the blinking light coming from the eyepiece of the drone in front of her. Mine would likely be dismissed as exaggeration. I’m seeing it and even I’m not sure I can believe it. There was no doubt in her mind though. The drone that was attacking her was unaware that its lights were sending her a message in an antiquated human form of communication called Morse Code. Captain Janeway had talked about it during a conversation years ago about how she had managed to contact an away team she’d been separated from on a mission during her time as a Lieutenant. If you had told me then that I would find that knowledge useful, I would’ve been very skeptical.

After dispatching the drone, she returned to the camp to tell Axum what she had learned, finding her talking to Korok at the camp’s center. The two were discussing what several people had told them, about coming out of regeneration cycles on whatever ship they were on and still remembering Unimatrix Zero. This confirmed the first part of the message Seven had received.

“The virus has been deployed,” Seven said to Axum and Korok, “but Captain Janeway and her team are still trapped on the cube. They weren’t able to give me all the details given the limitations of the method they communicated with me by, but there is a drone on that ship that has the mutation. We need to find out who it is so we can use them to contact the Captain directly.” “I assume,” Axum said, “that she has a plan?” “I think it’s safe to assume that, yes,” Seven said.

Axum took a deep breath and looked around at the hundreds of people, gearing up for the inevitable next drone incursion. “This could take awhile,” she said, sounding reluctant. “As my wife sometimes says,” Seven said, “nothing worth doing is easy.” “I hope I’m the drone on that cube,” Korok said, grinning. “A Class-4 cube would be a worthy prize for our resistance.” “I doubt we’ll be that lucky,” Axum said. “In the meantime, I need to report to my crew,” Seven said. “I will be back shortly.” Seven closed her eyes, and focused on waking up. She felt the shift from the virtual world back to reality, and stepped forward, only for her legs to feel stiff and not want to cooperate. “Ow,” she said, realizing that she had been inside Unimatrix Zero far longer than was healthy for her. She heard the sounds of metal scraping on metal and looked up to see Samantha, the chair she had gotten out of having made the sound when it had shoved back. “Annie,” she said, “You okay?” “Yeah,” Seven said. “Just need to walk it off. Let’s get to the bridge. I need to brief Commander Chakotay on the situation. Just, walk with me so I don’t get a leg cramp and fall over.” “Of course,” Sam said, putting an arm around Seven’s shoulder, the two of them walking as quickly as Seven dared towards the exit. “How long were you waiting there for me?” “I promise I only fell asleep once,” Samantha said. Seven chuckled. “I love you.”

---

“Seven?” Chakotay said when he saw her and Ensign Wildman enter the bridge together, Seven favoring one leg while Samantha held her up. “Are you alright?” Chakotay saw the Doctor make a move towards them, medical tricorder already in hand. “I am already better than I was when I came out of Unimatrix Zero,” Seven said. “I stayed in too long, and my legs paid the price for it I’m afraid. But that’s not our priority.” “I’m sorry I forgot to check in on you,” the Doctor said as he scanned Seven of Nine. “I was so focused on the away team-” “Apologize later,” Seven said, turning to Chakotay. “Several drones have reported that they retained their memories of Unimatrix Zero after their regeneration cycles ended. I also received a message from the Captain in a rather unorthodox fashion.” “Unorthodox?” The Doctor said. “Why didn’t she contact us?” Tom Paris said. Chakotay thought the answer was obvious, but decided not to give Tom any grief over it. They were all under stress right now. “The central plexus?” “Correct,” Seven said. “I do not know the exact circumstances, but the away team is trapped in the central plexus of that cube. Axum and the others are working on a way to reach them, but for now at least they are secure.” “That’s the downside to an impregnable position,” Harry said. “The enemy can’t get in, but you can’t get out.”

“At least they’re alive,” Chakotay said, “and got the virus deployed.” “So what do we do now?” Tom said. “Not much we can do,” Chakotay said. “The only reason we even have any hope of getting our people is that cube hasn’t gone into transwarp yet.” “I’m starting to wonder if it even can,” Harry said. “I’ve gone over its trajectory, using data from the astrometrics lab, and it doesn’t seem to be going anywhere. There’s nothing that I can see the Borg finding of value in that direction for years at even high warp.” “I imagine we have no intention of tracking them for that long,” Tom said, “even if we could.”

“Let’s hope it won’t come to that,” Chakotay said. “Seven, soon as you can stand comfortably again get back in. Once you have any new information, use your comm badge and stay by your alcove.” “Yes, sir,” Seven said. With help from Samantha, and with the Doctor following them, Seven headed for the turbolift. Chakotay walked over to Harry’s console.

“Since we probably can’t get answers, I’ll settle for theories,” he said. “Why do you think the cube can’t go to transwarp?” “Like I said, it doesn’t really seem to be going anywhere in particular.” Harry copied the data he was looking at to one of the screens behind him. “Admittedly I’m not an expert, but based on what Seven’s told us over the years, this doesn’t resemble any kind of Borg patrol pattern either. It’s like when I was a kid and sometimes my uncle would take me out for a drive in his hovercar. He’d tell me to pick a direction, and we’d keep going until we hit something interesting. Or until we reached a coastline, whichever came first.” “Something tells me the Borg don’t take their top of the line defense ships out for a spin,” Chakotay said. “Maybe the Degradation has something to do with it,” Harry said.

Chakotay actually laughed. It was the first time he’d done so since the mission had started. “Yeah,” he said. “That would explain a lot actually. Never thought I’d live to see the day when the Borg were downgraded from existential threat to a nuisance.” “I’d say they’re still a bit more than a nuisance,” Tom said. “But yeah, seeing a Borg ship these days just doesn’t fill me with dread the way merely thinking about one did just, what, four years ago?”

---

Seven of Nine reentered Unimatrix Zero to an incongruous site. Much of the forest that had represented the place was either smashed or burned, yet around her the people she was seeing looked not just determined but downright optimistic. In the short time she’d been away, the tide must’ve turned severely. She found Axum, Korok, Lauren, and some of the others standing around a bonfire, laughing. “Annika!” Axum yelled when she saw her, waving her over to join them. “Poor girl,” Korok said, “you missed the fun part. The last incursion of drones was an utter disaster. They didn’t get a single one of us, and on top of all that many vanished before we even got to fight them. The virus is clearly working, the Collective is no longer able to find us. We’ve won!” “Any word on who we have on the Class-4?” Seven asked. As much as she would’ve liked to savour this victory against the Borg, she did still have her crewmates to worry about.

“That would be I,” an alien Seven hadn’t seen in the camp before said. “Quorzom is the name by which I go.” Seven was actually surprised to see a member of crystalline species she only knew as Species 12 in Unimatrix Zero, but she managed to avoid allowing the surprise to overwhelm her. “Turns out our shiny friend here,” Korok said, “has been with us all along. He-” “It,” Quorzum said, sounding offended. “Sorry. It,” Korok continued. “was the first one here. The first drone with the mutation. Turns out it has just been hiding this whole time. I’d call it a coward, but after what I saw it to do a dozen invading drones with just its hands I’d rather not make it mad. To die in battle with a talking rock is not how I wish to enter Stovokor.”

“That is an expected reaction,” Quorzum said. “Since a return to isolation is what I wish, I will simply tell you that I contacted your fellow bipeds on the Class-4 cube. How matters little though I told your fellows there,” it added, pointing dismissively at Axum and Korok, who simply rolled their eyes. “If you insist on needless details they have them to share. I’m told it is indelicate to leave without saying a trite phrase, so farewell.” Quorzum turned around on legs Seven couldn’t see and strolled away faster than its size would imply it was capable of.

“That was… what just happened?” “Let it go,” Axum said. “I’ve met antisocial beings before but Species 12 has raised it to an art form.” “So,” Seven said, wanting to get back on point with the mission, “what does the Captain have in mind?”

“How fast can Voyager upload over a hundred zetabytes of non-valuable information to the cube?” Axum said. “Speed isn’t an issue for Starfleet computers,” Seven said. “Getting that information onto the cube would be the difficult part. But what would the purpose be for such a thing?” “To make it easier for your engineers on the ship to take control of key systems from inside the central plexus,” Axum said. “It’s really their only chance to get out of there alive. I know it would be easier and less dangerous to consider them acceptable losses, but the fight against the Borg already has enough martyrs in my opinion.” “No argument there,” Seven said, nodding. “I’ll speak to the senior staff aboard Voyager. Perhaps we can come with up with a plan to get our people off that cube. What else did Quorzom tell you? What else did Captain Janeway say?”

---

Chakotay sighed. The report Seven gave him and the rest of the remaining senior staff aboard did not seem promising. Gathering up the amount of data needed wouldn’t be easy, as there was not that much data in Voyager’s computer core that the Borg would probably consider useless. At least not as far as he could tell. And even if there was, delivering it to the cube would be next to impossible. With shields and weapons still fully operational, they couldn’t hope to last more than a few seconds against a Class-4 cube. “Oh, that’s easy,” B’Elanna Torres said, much to Chakotay’s surprise. “One of Starfleet’s abandoned plans to destroy the Borg after Wolf 359 involved a plan similar to this. It was deemed impossible after testing and, well they were right. The basic idea was the same. Overwhelm the Collective’ group mind with useless bits of junk data and all that.” “No way that could work with the whole Collective,” Harry said. “Not when the Borg use whole planets like computer cores.” “Well, yeah,” B’Elanna said. “But that’s my point. We’re not trying to destroy the Collective. We’re trying to inconvenience a single cube. That’ll be much easier.” “Depends on your definition of easy,” Tom said. “I’m not saying you’re wrong, but how would we get it on the cube in the first place? Our best piece of bait was used getting the away team there in the first place.”

Seven of Nine appeared to be staring out the viewport of the briefing room at the streaks of light going past as the ship continued its steady course at warp, waiting for the need to either adjust course or run away, depending on what if anything the cube they were following did next. “Seven?” Chakotay said, wondering why she seemed so distracted. “Fluidic space,” she said. “Come again?” Harry said. “I believe I can generate a signal from our deflector dish to fool the cube’s sensors into thinking a portal into fluidic space has opened,” Seven said. “Fear that Species 8472 may be attempting another invasion would have to get their attention.”

‘Is that even possible?” Tom said. Seven almost looked insulted. “Lieutenant, during my first day aboard this vessel I was able to modify the deflector dish to open a genuine rift. Faking one would require considerably less effort.”

“Okay,” Tom said, “you got me there.”

“Let’s say we do this,” Chakotay said. “How does that help our people on the cube? How do we get them the junk data?” “We don’t need to get it to them directly,” B’Elanna said. “Just get it on the cube. And I have an idea there too. We don’t have enough data stored on this ship to do the deed, I’m sure we were all thinking that.” “I wasn’t,” Tom said. Harry raised his hand, and Chakotay nodded. “The thought had occurred to me. What did you have in mind, B’Elanna?” “Load what junk data, or at least what the Borg would consider junk data, onto a device that, once linked up to a Borg data node, will start copying itself exponentially, like water spilling out of a glass if you pour too much into it. That replicated data will need to go somewhere, and the computers on that cube will have all the free space it could need and then some.” “Get on that,” Chakotay said. “Seven, B’Elanna, this is your project. Time is of the essence so I’ll trust you to do what needs to be done. Spare me the details, just let me know when we can implement the plan.” “Yes, sir,” Seven said. “On it,” B’Elanna said, her and Seven not waiting to be dismissed before leaving the briefing room. Chakotay simply nodded towards everyone else. They took the cue, and left the room to return to their stations on the bridge. Chakotay muttered a quiet prayer to his gods that this would work, and that Kathryn, Tuvok, and the others would make it home safe and sound.

---

Captain Janeway thought something she never imagined could be possible while sitting in the heart of a Borg cube, surrounded on all sides by drones trying to burn their way to either kill them or assimilate them fully this time. I am so bored. “I wish I had your Vulcan patience,” Janeway heard Marla Gilmore say to Vorik, suggesting that she was thinking the same thing the Captain was.

“Meditation would help,” Vorik said. “However, pausing to do so would be inadvisable given our current situation.” “We could go in shifts,” Tuvok said. “One at a time, so as to minimize the risk of being caught off guard.” “That’s not a bad idea,” Janeway said. “Though really a nice hot cup of tea would be enough for me right now.” “I’d settle for a good book,” Gilmore said. “Or even a bad one that I could poke fun-”

A beeping noise from the console nearest Gilmore caught her attention. She and Vorik both lept to their feet from their sitting positions to see what was going on. “Well I’ll be damned,” Gilmore said. “Fascinating,” Vorik said. “What is it?” Janeway asked, no longer bored. “Junk data is clogging up the metaphorical pipes,” Gilmore said. “And it’s replicating itself, making it harder for the Collective to purge it. I actually recognize some of this stuff. Earth music, 20th century mostly.”

Janeway snorted. “Must be Tom Paris’ music collection.” “How was the Voyager crew able to transmit that data to the cube?” Tuvok asked. Gilmore and Vorik manipulated the controls some more, stopped, looked at each other, and back at the monitor before looking at each other again. “The information appears to be accurate,” Vorik said. “I know,” Gilmore said, “but it doesn’t make any sense.” “Marla?” Janeway said. “According to this information,” Vorik said, “the data was retrieved from a damaged Starfleet issue probe that was found near the site of a suspected incursion by Species 8472.”

“Huh,” was all Janeway could say to that. She tried to think of something to say, but after almost a minute finally gave up. “Okay, this should make things a little easier,” Gilmore said. “And there go the shields. Still can’t communicate with Voyager from in here, but hopefully they’ll get the hint.” “We should take the weapons off-line first,” Vorik said. “Oh, right. Silly me,” Gilmore said. “Should’ve done that first.”

“It would appear that our timing is fortuitous,” Tuvok said, pointing to a spot on a nearby bulkhead that was glowing slightly. “Given the amount of time it has taken their efforts to penetrate the central plexus thus far, it is highly likely that by the time they make an opening large enough for a drone to get through, we will already-” “We’re going to need to get out of here,” Gilmore yelled. “Even with the shields down, Voyager won’t be able to get a lock on us in here.”

“Can you direct the drones somewhere else?” Janeway said. “I’m trying,” Gilmore said, hitting the console as she spoke and with audible frustration in her voice. “but whatever they cooked up on Voyager worked too well. I can’t do anything to the drones, just to the ship itself.” “Perhaps,” Vorik said, “if we cause overloads in key places, at least some of the drones will need to vacate the area in order to deal with them.” “It would have to be somewhere where there aren’t enough drones to deal with it already, so the overload would need to be somewhere close- Oh.” “Are you-” Vorik said. “Yes,” Gilmore said. “That would be incredibly risky given our proximity to-” “It’s our best option, Vorik.” “What is our best option?” Janeway said. “Create an overload in the transwarp drive,” Gilmore said. “The drones would make that top priority no matter what, and the Queen couldn’t stop them, not with the signals all clogged up. We get away no matter what, and if the drones fail, we get an added bonus of a blown up cube.” “Sounds like a win-win to me, Marla,” Janeway said. “Do it.”

---

“Sir,” Harry said, “the Borg’s engines are going critical!” “Transporter room one, can you get a lock on the away team?” Chakotay said, suddenly worried. “I’m trying, sir,” Todd Mulcahey said. “I can’t get through the additional shielding around the central… wait, two lifesigns, no, wait, got ‘em!” After a few almost unbearable seconds of silence, he heard Captain Janeway’s voice over the open comm. “We’re back, now get us the hell out of here.” “Initiating the ‘get the hell out of here’ maneuver,” Tom said. “Any sign of pursuit?” Chakotay said. “None,” Harry said. “The cube is at full stop. I imagine they're a little busy trying to keep from exploding.” “It’s what I would be doing,” B’Elanna said from the auxiliary engineering console on the bridge. “Good work, people,” Chakotay said, smiling.

---

Seven of Nine took a good long look around at Unimatrix Zero. Already things were wildly different. The people had started making full buildings rather than a camp. A decent size city was rapidly, or at least rapidly when compared to reality, taking shape. The clash of styles made it look less than aesthetically pleasing, but that was irrelevant.

She took in a deep breath, amazed at how real the air smelled here, even though the only actual air she was taking in was the recycled air on board Voyager. She wondered how different the place would look next time she was here, seeing as that was going to be a fair amount of time. “I hear you’re looking for me?” Axum said, smiling, now wearing a uniform of her own. Seven didn’t recognize it, but assumed it was that of Axum’s own people. “You like it? The military back home wore these. I was never in it myself, but I’ve become something of a soldier lately, that’s for sure. Korok’s busy planning a takeover of the ship he’s on. Might take awhile since he’s the only drone on it with the mutation, but it’s a sphere so his chances are only slightly impossible.” Seven chuckled at that. “Tell him I wish him luck,” she said. Axum frowned. “You’ll be able to tell him yourself the next time he… Oh. You’re not coming back?” Axum looked as though she had been physically wounded. “I’m not leaving forever,” Seven said, sounding considerably more defensive than she’d intended. “I simply have other matters to attend to. Duties aboard Voyager. Plus, these past few days, I’ve been neglecting my family. They’ve all been very understanding and supportive, but their understanding has unfortunately done little to assuage my guilt.” “I can understand that,” Axum said. “Guilt seems to be something most sentient races have in common. Do you have any idea on when you’ll be back?” “I do not know,” Seven admitted. Axum did not appear to like the answer, but she didn’t say anything in response, merely nodding. “I wish you well,” Seven continued. “The fight to save this place is over, but your resistance movement against the Borg has only started. Focus your energy on that, and not on missing me.” Axum stepped forward. “Maybe, before you go I could get one last-” “No,” Seven said, certain what the next word was going to be, and had that word been ‘hug’ she might’ve complied. “I do not wish for things to be awkward between us. I love Samantha. What you and I had ended when I was severed from the Collective. It is not your fault, there is nothing you could’ve done. Our lives simply went in different directions.” “Not unlike your wife and her former husband,” Axum said. “In a way I guess it is comforting to know that this was just happenstance, and had things gone just a little differently we’d still be together.” Seven didn’t believe Axum meant that, but she did believe that Axum was lying to herself, not to anyone else. “Your Captain,” Axum said, clearly desperate to change the subject. “How are she and the others doing?” “The majority of their implants were safe to remove,” Seven said. “Others will require more effort down the lines, and Tuvok will need time to adjust to his new eye and Marla Gilmore to her new hand, but otherwise the away team fared better than they had hoped. Captain Janeway and Ensign Vorik have already returned to duty, albeit reduced duty.”

“Good. Good,” Axum said. “Well, perhaps the next time I see you the others and I will have many great tales of victory against the Borg to regale you with. Who knows, perhaps either you or I will have answers regarding the Degradation.”

“That would be welcome news,” Seven said. “Farewell, Axum.”

“Goodbye, Annika,” Axum said. At that, Seven closed her eyes, focused her thoughts, and opened them again to see Icheb, the other Borg children, and Naomi gathered around a makeshift table where they were all playing a game of kadis-kot.

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

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voyagerafod · 7 years

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Star Trek Voyager: A Fire of Devotion: Part 2 of 4: Louder Than Bells: Chapter Nine

Chapter Nine

“Are you sure?” Samantha Wildman said to Seven of Nine, the latter sitting across from her in the mostly empty mess hall. The only other sentients there were Neelix preparing some snacks for the night shift, and Harry Kim sitting at the far end of the room drinking coffee while working on his reports. “Unfortunately, yes,” Seven said. “Even if the risk of damaging my regeneration alcove were lower, it would be simply too impractical to move it to your quarters.” “And the Captain shot down my idea of just moving mine and Naomi’s stuff to cargo bay two,” Sam said, her chin resting in her hand. “She actually thought I was joking when I suggested it, if you can believe it.”

“I am often surprised at what Captain Janeway finds funny,” Seven said.

“Well,” Sam said, “I stand by it. The walls in the cargo bays are modular. Moving one over to make your alcove area small enough to qualify as crew quarters shouldn’t be that hard, and there’d still be plenty of room for Naomi.” “Where would the sonic shower go though?” Seven said. “It would be more than just moving a wall. Inappropriate laughter aside, the Captain does have a fair point.” “Yeah, you’re right. I guess we’ll just have to keep doing things they way we have been,” Sam said. “Our living situation is certainly not traditional Sam,” Seven said, smiling as she put her hand on Sam’s knee under the table. “But it has not been a particular burden. Doing anything different is just too impractical for the time being.” Sam nodded, and looked around. “It’s late, we probably should-” “Lieutenant Kim,” Commander Chakotay’s voice said over the comm. “Please report to the bridge.” “On my way, sir,” Harry said. Sam looked at Harry as he got up to leave, and only then noticed that the view out the mess hall viewports had changed from the familiar streaks of light from warp travel, and that they were getting closer to a planet. “Odd,” she heard Seven say. “How so?” “We were not projected to come that close to a planetary body for another several days. We must have changed course.” “Must be important,” Sam said.

“I suppose I should stay awake in case I am needed,” Seven said. “I’m not due for another regeneration cycle for at least twelve hours.” “You do that,” Sam said, leaning over the table to kiss Seven on the cheek. “Me, I need sleep. I’ll see you before your next regen cycle?” “Almost certainly,” Seven said. ---

Harry Kim didn’t let his excitement show, which was easy because there was less of it than he’d expected. He’d been given a real opportunity here; his first time commanding an away team. Voyager had received an automated distress signal just under an hour before he’d been summoned from the mess hall. The signal originated from an M-class planet, but attempts to hail the originator of the signal were met with no response. The bridge crew failed to detect any life signs, but Commander Chakotay had pointed out there could be any number of reasons for that and they should send a team down anyway, a team that he would monitor from the bridge while Harry was in charge. So Harry quickly put a team together, a small one consisting of himself, the Doctor, and Timothy Lang from security division. “The distress call was automated?” the Doctor asked as he and Harry made their way to the transport room, where Lang would already be waiting for them.

“That’s right,” Harry said. “We’re hoping whoever sent it is still alive.” “Well,” the Doctor said, “thanks for bringing me along, Lieutenant. And congratulations.” “For what?” “This is your first away mission as lead, is it not?” “It is,” Harry said. “but it’s just a standard recon. If a full rescue is required, Commander Chakotay will take over from there. I don’t think I deserve a lot of praise for something so basic.” “Ah,” the Doctor said. Harry wondering what that ‘Ah’ meant exactly, but decided not to press it. The two entered the transport room, their other team member already on the pad, clearly ready to go, but not looking impatient at all. Though to Harry’s memory, Timothy Lang hardly ever had any expression beyond detached disinterest. Harry and the Doctor stepped onto the pad as well. “Energize,” Harry said. Within seconds, the away team was on the planet, surrounded by rocks, and reddish orange sky, no signs of any kind of life nearby, not even plant life.

“Are you sure these are the right coordinates?” the Doctor asked. “Positive,” Harry said, taking out his tricorder as he spoke.

“Apparently,” the Doctor continued, “whoever sent the distress call was already rescued.” “Maybe,” Harry said. “But if that’s the case why not turn off the beacon once they were gone? We should make a thorough search anyway, just to be sure. Spread out.”

Harry went off in one direction, the Doctor and Lang each taking another, both with tricorders out. It was barely a minute before Harry heard the Doctor call out for him. He jogged over to where the Doctor was standing. “This is the source of the distress call,” the Doctor said, looking at a device of some sort that was embedded in a nearby outcrop. The device emitted a very low hum, one that was barely any more audible once Harry was closer to it, scanning with his tricorder. “Para-trinic shielding” Harry said. “A dense energy matrix, bio-neural circuitry…”

“Bio-neural?” the Doctor said, “Like Voyager?” Before Harry could confirm that, a series of blue lights on the side of the device activated, and the low hum was replaced with a high pitched beeping. “Okay,” Harry said, “back off, this thing could be dangerous.” He wondered if a noise like that had been what Tuvok had heard from the Krenim torpedo that had cost him his sight during the Year of Hell. He then felt disappointed at having thought about the Year of Hell for the first time in months.

“Wait,” the Doctor said. “There are patterns in the beeps. It’s speaking to us, speaking in duotronic algorithms. I think it’s an A.I. My translation matrix is still interpreting, give me a moment.” The beeps continued. “It says it’s injured,” the Doctor said. “It needs our help. It’s asking why it can’t see, or why it can’t feel it’s arms and legs.”

“It doesn’t have any arms and legs,” Harry said. “I’m aware of that,” the Doctor said. “Regardless, it’s terrified.”

The Doctor moved over to the opposite side of the device. Harry kept his tricorder open. Lang simply stood just behind Harry occasionally looking around to see if anyone was trying to approach them, perhaps expecting some kind of ambush. “Can you identify yourself?” the Doctor said to the device. A short series of beeps followed. “It’s saying that its memory’s been damaged. It doesn’t remember its name. Excuse me one moment please while I speak to my colleague.” The Doctor went over to Harry.

“So,” Harry said, “we have an artificial intelligence on our hands.” “One who doesn’t seem to realize it is artificial, “ the Doctor said. “I don’t want to risk any psychological trauma, so we can’t tell it what it is just yet.” “Doc,” Harry said. “It’s a machine. I don’t think synthetic lifeforms are that fragile.” “Perhaps, but regardless it’s confused and it needs our help, Lieutenant,” the Doctor said. “We should beam it aboard.” “Not until we know what we’re dealing with,” Harry said. “You know away mission protocols, Doc.” “I do,” the Doctor said. “But I also know what morality dictates. It is clearly in distress, and we are in a position to help.”

Harry sighed. Something about this didn’t sit well with him, but his instincts had let him down in the past. He tapped his com badge. “Kim to Voyager,” he said.

“Go ahead, Harry,” Captain Janeway’s voice replied. “We found the source of the distress call,” Harry continued. “It’s a synthetic life form, badly damaged. The Doctor thinks we should beam it aboard.”

“You’re in charge of the away mission, Lieutenant,” Janeway said, “what do you think?” Harry looked at the Doctor, and at the device. “We’ve had bad experiences with A.I.’s before, Captain, but this one has no visible weapon ports that I can find. I’m going to suggest going along with the Doctor’s suggestion, but as a precaution I recommend sealing off an engineering bay with a level ten force field and beaming it directly there.” “Agreed,” Janeway said. “Give us a few minutes.”

The Doctor smiled, turning to the device.

“We’re going to transport you back to our ship,” he said. The device let out another series of beeps. “I’m Voyager’s Emergency Medical Hologram.” The device beeped again, and the Doctor began going into detail about the science behind how holograms worked, and Harry had to suppress a laugh. Well, Harry thought, if we can get this thing fixed up it looks like Naomi is going to have a real classmate for the first time.

---

B’Elanna Torres looked at the device that the Doctor had brought aboard, resting on a workbench near the back of engineering.

“Well, at least this one isn’t silver and humanoid shaped,” she said.

“I hope you aren’t implying that my new patient is also a leftover weapon from a centuries old war, are you?” the Doctor said.

“Nah,” B'Elanna said, shaking her head, more to try and clear the mental image of the robot called 3947 from her memory than to show disagreement. “Realistically, what are the odds that twice in less than five years we come across two synthetic life forms dedicated to fighting a war that its creators had ended?” The Doctor frowned. “Given some of the things this crew has been through the past six years?” “Touché,” B’Elanna said. ”Though I have to admit, if it does turn out to be a weapon we couldn’t have picked a worse place to start working on it. Could we maybe move it a bit further away from the warp core?” “There’s a level ten force field around it, B’Elanna,” the Doctor said. “If it goes kablooey it won’t take us with it.” “I wish I had your confidence,” B’Elanna said. She heard the door to engineering open, and turned to see Captain Janeway and Lieutenant Kim enter.

“How’s our patient?” the captain asked.

“Complicated,” B’Elanna said. “It uses bio-neural circuitry to mimic humanoid synaptic functions, but its memory core is damaged. Basically, it has the technological equivalent of amnesia.” “Any theories as to what it might be?” Janeway said. “It could be a probe,” B’Elanna said. “or a communications device.”

“Whoever our friend is,” the Doctor said, “he wasn’t alone. He claims to have been traveling with a companion.” “He?” “He insisted on male pronouns, Captain,” the Doctor said. “Ah, okay. Carry on. Was the companion an A.I. too?”

“I believe so,” the Doctor said.

“Okay, I’ll have Seven use astrometrics to start looking for him. Perhaps if we can find his companion we’ll get more answers.” With that, the Captain and Harry left. The Doctor moved closer to the device, and asked Tim Lang, who had been watching over the device since both had been beamed up, to lower the force field so he could go talk to it. “How are you?” the Doctor said. B’Elanna continued on her scanning of the device, but the Doctor was not being quiet, making it impossible not to hear his side of the conversation.

“Well, that’s an interesting question,” the Doctor continued, after a series of beeps and chirps. “Lieutenants Kim and Torres are attempting to repair your, um, damaged circuitry.” The series of noises the device emitted next didn’t need much translation in B’Elanna’s opinion. I guess now I know how to say ‘what the hell are you talking about?’ in binary, she thought.

“That’s what I wanted to talk to you about,” the Doctor said. “You’re not an organic being. You’re technological. You’re an artificial intelligence, embedded in a machine of some kind.” Another series of beeps.

“No, there’s no mistake,” the Doctor said. “We believe the damage you suffered in the crash is causing your confusion.” The next series of beeps to come out of the device sounded distressed to B’Elanna’s ears. She supposed she couldn’t blame him at all. “Well,” the Doctor continued, “look at it this way. You and I have something in common.”

---

Seven of Nine hoped the planetary scans would go by quicker now that the Captain was here to aid. In the past she might have been insulted that Janeway would jump in on a task that Seven could easily complete herself, but between her romantic relationship with Samantha, and her budding friendships with several other crew members, she had learned the value of free time.

“I’m detecting no further technology on the planet surface,” she said. “Maybe the second device was destroyed when it crashed,” Janeway said. “Scan for metallic particulates consistent with our friend in engineering.”

Seven made the proper adjustments to the sensors in seconds, and had results shortly after that. It was an oddly pleasant experience being able to scan a planet without any sort of unusual outside factors making it difficult. The lack of a metaphorical ticking clock putting pressure on her to find something within an unreasonable amount of time was also nice.

“There are minute traces scattered across the northern continent,” Seven said. “I’m isolating them now.” Both women turned from their consoles to look at the astrometrics lab viewscreen, the view shifting to zoom in and clarify the image of that area of the planet. When it was finished, Janeway stated what Seven had already deduced.

“An impact crater,” she said.

“It spans a radius of two hundred kilometers,” Seven said.

“And look at this,” Janeway said. “Heavy concentrations of radiogenic decay in the crater walls. The fracture gradients are consistent with a highly focused explosion. “Evidently we’ve discovered the device’s function,” Seven said. “The Doctor will likely be less than pleased to hear this.”

“True, though I’m also not looking forward to telling B’Elanna we’ve got a weapon of mass destruction sitting right next to our warp core.”

“To be fair, Captain,” Seven said, “I doubt anyone in her position would be pleased about such a discovery. I believe the term Mister Paris would use would be ‘sphincter tightening.’” “Yeah,” Janeway said, Seven noticing that the Captain was not taking her eyes off the crater on the viewscreen. “Sounds about right.”

---

“I understand your concerns,” the Doctor said to Captain Janeway in the briefing room. “but the device hasn’t shown itself to be hostile.” “Not yet,” B’Elanna said, standing next to Harry, who was the only one in the room sitting down at that moment, the latter looking worried. The Doctor figured that Harry was blaming himself for potentially endangering the ship, but the Doctor didn’t see it that way at all. He saw an opportunity and he wanted to pursue it.

“All the more reason to talk to it,” the Doctor said. “We explain our concerns, and then ask it for help in safely defusing its explosive components.”

“If it’s programmed to detonate,” Chakotay said, standing between Janeway and B’Elanna, “there’s no telling how it would react.” “Agreed,” Janeway said. “We have to neutralize the threat now. Suggestions?” “We could beam it off the ship,” Harry said. “Out into space, or back where we found it.” “Harry, this is a sentient being we’re talking about,” the Doctor said. “I refuse to believe our only options are to kill it or abandon it.”

“What if we could separate the bio-neural circuitry from the explosive?” B’Elanna said. “Take the weapon off-line, but salvage the intelligence?” “They’re fully integrated,” Harry said. “Where would we keep the A.I. if we can do that?”

The Doctor smiled, excited at the prospect of having another synthetic life form to talk to. “The answer’s obvious,” he said. “Download its synaptic patterns into a holographic matrix like mine.” “Then what?” Chakotay said, his tone flat enough that the Doctor couldn’t tell if the commander was on his side or not, the way B’Elanna appeared to be. “First off,” the Doctor said, “we try to find out where it came from, and return it to its people.” “What if it doesn’t want to go?” Harry asked. “I don’t know if I’m alone in thinking this, but it would seem to me that creating a synthetic life form as complex as this one, only to stick it in what is essentially a missile is just downright sadistic. That would be like having a child for the sole purpose of training it to commit suicide.”

Janeway sighed. “Well,” she said, leaning forward on her chair, “in that case I suppose we’d have to grant it asylum, if it asked. Very well then. Harry, B’Elanna, assist the Doctor.” “Thank you, Captain,” the Doctor said.

“At the first sign of danger though, we transport it off the ship. Understood?” Captain Janeway’s tone and stance made it clear that no amount of arguing would do any good on that front, but the Doctor wasn’t worried. He was sure that working with Harry and B’Elanna they’d be able to save the A.I.

“Yes, Captain,” he said. “Dismissed,” Janeway said.

---

“This begs the question,” Joe Carey said as he helped Harry carry the device, now known to be a weapon, out of engineering to take to sickbay. “why would you waste such a sophisticated artificial intelligence on a bomb?” “Harry said pretty much the same thing,” B’Elanna said as she started gathering tools they’d need to perform the procedure to attempt to disable the explosive. “He called the thing’s creators sadistic. Though I wouldn’t entirely rule out stupidity. Anyway, I’ll meet you there. There won’t be enough room for all three of us plus the synthetic in the turbolift.”

“Understood,” Carey said.

The device made a loud noise as the two men started moving towards the door with the device in their arms. “It’s okay,” the Doctor said, walking alongside them. “I wouldn’t like being carried around either.” More beeps came out of the device as the group entered the nearest turbolift, B’Elanna walking past them to get to the next nearest. “We’re taking you to sickbay,” the Doctor said. “we’re better equipped to help you there. Don’t worry.” We’re talking to a bomb the way I’d talk to my sons when I had to take them to the doctors when they were little, Carey thought, trying not to laugh at the absurdity of the situation.

There was another series of beeps, softer this time. Carey hoped that meant the explosive device wasn’t panicking. The yield of the explosive was irrelevant, the ship might survive, but he was holding the damn thing. He and Harry certainly wouldn’t. He doubted the Doctor’s mobile emitter would survive either.

“We’re going to transfer your intelligence to a holo-matrix,” the Doctor said. “In a little while, you’re going to be walking around, just like me.” “Which reminds me,” Harry said. “Have you picked a body for it yet? Him, I mean, sorry.” “I figured I’d let him choose an appearance,” the Doctor said. “I’ve removed any crew members, especially deceased ones, from the list in order to avoid any possible discomfort for the rest of the crew. Though since we have only the one mobile emitter I suppose we’ll have to work out some kind of sharing schedule so he won’t be confined to just sickbay and the holodeck.” “Just a thought,” Carey said, “you may want to remove any Cardassians from the list as well. Don’t want to risk anymore drama like we had that one time.” The Doctor sighed. “Why do I have to keep reminding people I had no idea the man was a war criminal when I created the consultant program?”

The conversation was cut off when the turbolift doors opened on deck five, and the group made their way to sickbay. They carried the device in, and set it down on one of the bio-beds. Seconds later, B’Elanna entered. “Alright,” she said, setting her tool kit next to the device and opening it up. “ready whenever you are, Doctor.”

“Are you ready?” the Doctor said to the device. There was a short, single beep. “Okay then,” the Doctor said. Harry opened a panel on top of the device, and B’Elanna went to work. Carey stepped back. He didn’t think he’d be needed since B’Elanna and Harry were perfectly qualified to handle this task, but the former had insisted he stay in case they needed an extra pair of hands.

A series of rapid, loud beeps and chirps began. Even before the Doctor started telling the device to remain calm, that they needed to access some of its system in order to perform the transfer, Carey figured the device was responding with panic. He wondered if the device felt pain. After all, if Harry’s theory about the designer’s sadism were accurate he couldn’t rule that out.

“He says he wants to know exactly what you’re doing as you do it,” the Doctor said to B’Elanna, who rolled her eyes. “If I’ve ever been that annoying while you were working on me,” she said, “I owe you an apology.” “Actually you owe me six, but who’s counting,” the Doctor said. “Regardless,” B'Elanna said, “this is a delicate procedure. I won’t be able to concentrate if I have to give constant updates.”

“I can help with that,” Carey said. “Okay, Joe,” B’Elanna said. “Get as close as you can without getting in my or Harry’s way.” “Alright,” Carey said, “Well, first we’re going to be setting up an active interlink between you and the holo-systems. To do that we’re going to have to take your program off-line while we resequence your bio-neural circuitry.” There was another series of beeps. Carey picked up on the tone of distress, impressed with himself for doing so. “I’m sorry,” he said, “there isn’t another way.” “Very perceptive Mister Carey,” the Doctor said. “He did in fact say he didn’t want to be turned off.”

“I figured it was something close,” Carey said.

B’Elanna continued to manipulate the tool she was using, but seconds later, the lights in the device began flashing red, and a loud alarm sound starting coming out of it. B’Elanna and Harry immediately took a step back, the latter opening his tricorder. “He’s arming,” Harry said. “The detonation sequence has started.”

“Sickbay to transporter room 1,” B’Elanna said. “the device is going to detonate. Beam it off the ship.” “Yes ma’am,” Todd Mulcahey’s voice responded. After a few moments passed and no sign of a transporter beam, Todd began speaking again. “For the love of- it’s protecting itself somehow, I can’t get a lock.” “Goddamit,” B’Elanna said, “I really wish that kind of thing would stop happening. When we get back to Earth I’m recommending a complete fleet wide overhaul of our transporter systems. Doctor, try to talk it down.” “Please, stop,” the Doctor said earnestly, “you’re going to destroy yourself, and us.” Not the order I would’ve put that in, Carey thought. “Detonation in twenty seconds,” Harry said. “I’m going to try sending an E.M. pulse through its power matrix. maybe I can short it out.” “Fifteen seconds,” B’Elanna said. “Please don’t detonate,” the Doctor said, still talking to the device. “We’re only trying to help you.” “Ten seconds!” B’Elanna said. Carey stepped back. He could help Harry, but since Harry was working on a smaller console than the ones they had in engineering, it was more likely he’d just get in the way if he tried. “Initiating the pulse,” Harry said.

“Six, five, fo-” The device shut down, cutting B’Elanna’s countdown, much to Carey’s relief, and apparently Harry’s as well give how loud his exhale was. “That was too close,” B’Elanna said. “You shouldn’t have done that,” the Doctor said. Carey looked at the Doctor, and felt a sense of dread. Something was off with the Doctor’s voice. “I know you got a little attached to the thing,” B’Elanna said, packing up her tool kit. “But we had-” “You lied,” the Doctor said. “Oh shit,” Carey muttered under his breath.

“You said you were trying to transfer my neural patterns, but you were really trying to shut me down.” “Oh no,” Harry said, having reached the same conclusion Carey had. “You’re the A.I.,” B’Elanna said. “You used the interlink to hijack the Doctor.”

“You tried to destroy me,” the A.I. said through the Doctor’s voice. “We were only trying to disarm the explosives in your body,” Harry said. “I’m a weapon. Why didn’t you tell me?” “It was a precaution,” Harry said. “We were afraid you might be dangerous.” “Looks like we were right,” B’Elanna said. “We were going to try and destroy you, but the Doctor, the hologram you just hijacked, convinced us to try and help you.”

“You must help me complete my mission,” the A.I. said. “I remember it now. I am a long-range tactical-armor unit. I’ve been deployed by my people. They’re facing a terrible threat. A hostile species. My companion unit was destroyed, but I will reach my target. Your ship will take me there.” “Look,” Harry said, cautiously walking towards the A.I. that had stolen the Doctor’s form, “we can contact your people, you just need to tell us who they are-” “I must resume my mission!” the A.I. screamed, pushing the buttons on the side of the device in pattern. The lights on the top, where the panel had been removed earlier, lit up again. The three officers looked at each other. No one needed to say it out loud; the device had been rearmed. “If you try to stop me, I’ll detonate. This ship, and everyone on it, will be destroyed.”

“Oh hell,” Harry said. “Kim to security, do not, I repeat do not attempt to enter sickbay.”

“Lieutenant Kim,” Tuvok’s voice said, “what is your status?”

Harry filled Tuvok in on what had happened. Carey risked getting closer to the A.I. in order to look it in the eyes, the Doctor’s eyes. “Listen to me,” he said, “we don’t even know how long you were on that planet. Your mission may be over already. Give us back our Doctor, and tell us who your people are so we can return you to them. Please.” The A.I. ignored Carey, and picked up a PADD, and began entering coordinates into it.

“Give this to your navigator,” he said. “Set this course, and proceed there at maximum velocity. The target system is approximately two light years from here” He shoved the PADD into Carey’s hands. Carey looked at B’Elanna, who nodded. “Go ahead. Fill the Captain in. We’ll go along,” she said, the ‘for now’ implied in her tone.

“On it,” Carey said, leaving sickbay.

“The course I have plotted bypasses enemy minefields,” the A.I. said. “Do not deviate from it.”

---

“If he has access to the Doctor’s program,” Captain Janeway said, “he probably knows how fast the ship can go, so going at warp 1 to buy time won’t help.” She looked again at the PADD that Joe Carey had given her before returning to engineering, as if just staring at it for a little longer would give her a solution to this problem. She wished she could contact Harry and B’Elanna, but the A.I. had locked down sickbay after Carey had left, and wouldn’t allow anyone to exit or enter. If she tried hailing them, the A.I. would overhear.

“We could offer to fix its own propulsion system and send it on its way,” Chakotay said. Janeway shook her head. “Helping it would be getting involved in a war we know nothing about,” she said. “I know there’s been debate about the Prime Directive among the crew lately, but I doubt anyone could argue this case isn’t a pretty cut and dried example.” “I hope you aren’t suggesting we just let it blow up the ship,” Tom said without turning from his console. “Only as a last resort,” Janeway said, not ready to give up just yet. “We’ve still got time for options, so if anybody has any, I’m all ears. We’ve survived so much since we got to the Delta Quadrant, I’m not willing to accept that of all things we end up losing Voyager to a damaged A.I.”

“Sensors are being accessed from sickbay, Captain,” Tuvok said.

“Let them be,” Janeway said. “We need to play along until we can find a way out of this. If the A.I. can’t see the sensors he might just assume we’re lying and blow us up anyway. Chakotay, get Seven of Nine up here. Don’t use communicators, not yet anyway, we don’t know how much if any of the systems the A.I. is able to access through the Doctor. Tuvok, Tom, report to the briefing room.” Both Tom and Tuvok acknowledged the request and immediately stepped away from their posts, junior officers moving in to cover for them.

Janeway waited until Chakotay returned to the bridge, Seven of Nine in tow, to the bridge before heading to the briefing room herself. “Brainstorm time people,” Janeway said. “If we could disable the force field around sickbay we could beam the device out into space,” Tom said. “Even if we could do that fast enough to get a lock before it detonated,” Seven said, “we could not beam it out far enough from the ship to escape the blast.”

“If we could tap into the holo-projectors we might be able to shut him down,” Chakotay said. Janeway shook her head. “Mister Carey told me that the Doctor’s mobile emitter is still on him,” she said. “He didn’t remove it when they got to sickbay before they started the procedure. It’s not a bad idea otherwise, just our bad luck.”

“Have we entirely ruled out attempting to reason with the bomb?” Tuvok said. “Is it a true A.I., or just a sophisticated weapons system?” “It certainly seems capable of anger and paranoia,” Janeway said. “It’s certainly sentient, but it has the determination of a zealot. Trying to change its mind might work if we had more time before reaching the target system.”

“If it can be talked down,” Seven said, “Lieutenant Kim is likely already attempting to do so. He and Lieutenant Torres are still trapped with the device, after all.”

Janeway sighed. “Good point,” she said, “but I’d like to have other options besides hoping Harry can build a rapport with it. We need to outsmart the smart bomb.”

---

“You don’t have to do this you know,” Harry Kim said to the A.I. “It’s what I was programmed for,” the A.I. replied, not looking up from the console where it monitored the ship’s sensors. “So?” Harry said. “You’re a sentient being, capable of making your own decisions. Look at the Doctor. He was designed to be just a doctor, but in the past five years he has become more than that. He’s taken up hobbies, made friends, he’s even dated.” “Your Doctor is a tool,” the A.I. said. “A tool that saved your life,” Harry said. “If it weren’t for him you’d still be damaged and alone on that planet. He’s the one who convinced me to beam you aboard.”

The A.I. looked at Harry for a moment, but didn’t respond before returning its gaze to the console. Harry continued speaking, not allowing the unusual situation of trying to reason with a bomb to get to him. “When we found out what you were, most of the senior staff wanted to destroy you. The Doctor defended you, said you weren’t just a bomb, you were a synthetic life form with the same rights as any synthetic in the Federation.” “Tell me,” the A.I. said, “despite all his achievements, did your, friend ever stop being a Doctor?”

“No,” Harry said, wondering where this was going.

“And I can’t stop being a weapon,” the A.I. said. “It doesn’t have to be like that,” Harry said. “We can give your own holo-matrix, and you can keep all of this. Eyes, the ability to move around, the ability to speak. You blow yourself up, that all goes away.”

“The only thing I want is the destruction of my target,” the A.I. said. “What is your target anyway?” Harry said.

“A military installation on Selinia Prime,” the A.I. said. “Grid 11, Vector 9341.” “Tell me about it,” Harry said. “Who is your enemy?” “A ruthless violent race that’s threatening to destroy my people,” the A.I. said, anger in his voice.

“What else do you know about them? Do you even know their name? What’s their planet like?”

“I’m not programmed with superfluous data.” “Or maybe your creators just didn’t want you to know,” Harry said, hoping he’d found a thread to pull on. “Maybe, they knew that if you knew more about them, you might change your mind and decide not to blow up at all. One of the risks of making a weapon with an artificial intelligence after all. Did I ever tell you my theory about your creators? That they are sadists for creating something with such remarkable intelligence, only to make it blow itself up?” “Enough!” the A.I. shouted.

“You’re aboard Voyager now, you have access to our scanners,” Harry said. “Why don’t we take a closer look at your target?” Harry went to a console behind the one the A.I. was using and started pulling out long-range sensor data. “If you must,” the A.I. said. “Just stop talking about it.” “Or what, you’ll blow up? When you are so close to your goal?”

Harry crossed his arms, and grinned, even though inwardly he worried he’d pushed the bomb just a bit too hard and his talking to it was going to literally blow up in his face.

“Get out,” the A.I. said, “before I use your friend’s body to harm you.” The A.I. stood up and turned off the monitor Harry was using. Harry found himself at a loss, not sure what he could say next that wouldn’t escalate the situation. He sighed and left the Doctor’s office, leaving the A.I. alone. B’Elanna saw him, walked over, and put a hand on his shoulder. “You tried,” she said. “no one can fault you for that.” “Can’t they? This all happened because of the first command decision I ever made as an away team leader.”

---

“The name of the species that made the bomb is the Druoda,” Neelix said, setting something down on the briefing room table. Seven of Nine looked at it, wondering what it was. “How’d you find that out?” Janeway said, which was the second question that Seven had thought of herself, the first being how Neelix had even known there was a meeting since he hadn’t been invited. “I saw the bomb while it was in engineering,” Neelix said, “and parts of it looked familiar. So I went through some of the items we collected during our last trading run, and that right there is a piece of kitchen equipment that uses the same technology.” “Good catch,” Chakotay said, “but I don’t know how that helps us right now.”

Neelix didn’t have a response, and Seven felt sorry for him. It was in Neelix’s nature to want to help, and under different circumstances, this information would be more valuable than it was currently.

“That’s alright, Neelix,” Janeway said. “But since you’re here, go ahead and take a seat. We’ve been at this for over an hour with no luck, we could use a fresh perspective.”

Neelix shrugged. “I suppose it can’t hurt,” he said. “just promise not to laugh too hard if I make a stupid suggestion.”

“Promised,” Chakotay said.

Seven of Nine took another look at the schematics of the weapon on the PADD in her hand, and had an idea. One with a low probability of success, but it was better than the nothing they had so far. “I have studied the weapon’s schematics,” she said, “and I believe my nanoprobes can be modified to disable its bio-neural circuitry. However, that would require me gaining access to its primary control port.” “Great idea,” Janeway said, “except for the force fields around sickbay. How would we get you in there without giving the bomb enough time to detonate itself?”

“We could just shut down the warp core,” Chakotay said. “and stop the auxiliaries from kicking in right away. We’d have more than enough time before air ran out for Seven to disable the bomb. How much time would you need?” “Approximately twenty seconds,” Seven said. “Does that include how long it would take you to get to the device?” Janeway said. “He might have forced Harry and B’Elanna to move him further away from the door, and he has his own power supply.” “But his intelligence is in the Doctor,” Chakotay said. “Who, as Mister Carey informed us, was still wearing his mobile emitter,” Tuvok said. Seven sighed. “I had failed to take that into consideration,” she said. “I apologize.”

“Don’t,” Janeway said. “Maybe there is another way to get you in there. Tuvok, run a scan on that subspace minefield the bomb warned us about. Specifically, I want to know their explosive yield and how much damage they could do to the ship.” “Captain?” Tuvok said. “I believe the Captain intends to stage an injury,” Seven said, “that would require taking me to sickbay, A bold strategy, however it supposes the bomb would allow me to be brought in.” “True,” Janeway said, “but it’s the best idea I’ve got so far. Any objections?” No one said anything. “Alright then,” Janeway said. “Seven, start looking into the best way to fake third-degree plasma burns. The injury is going to need to look severe if this is going to even have a chance at working.” “Understood,” Seven said.

“Wait a second,” Tom Paris said, “wouldn’t we have to change course to hit those mines? The bomb would be on to us immediately.” “That’s why I’m having Tuvok study them” Janeway said. “So we can find a way to mimic the side effects of encountering the mines. I know this is going to be anathema to your sensibilities as a pilot Tom, but we may be asking you to give us a bumpy ride on purpose.” “I can learn to live with it,” Tom said. “Good. Dismissed,” Janeway said. With that, the crew filed out of the briefing room, ready to do what they needed to to try and save the ship from an intelligent bomb. From Seven’s perspective, that was far from the most unusual thing she’d encountered, in or out of the collective.

---

The A.I. stood at the bio-bed where it’s original body still lay, scanning it, and visibly getting more and more frustrated. B’Elanna hoped it would get angry enough to make a mistake, but then admonished herself. How would I even know what to do if it did? she thought. “Assist me,” the A.I. suddenly said, going into the Doctor’s office where she and Harry were sitting. “Excuse me?” B’Elanna said.

“I am attempting to find the malfunction that caused me to crash,” he said, “but several of my memory files are still damaged. Restore them.” The A.I. turned around and left the office without giving her time to respond. B’Elanna looked at Harry, who was already standing up. “Might as well,” he said, “can’t risk pissing him off, he might blow us up right now.” “You’re still hoping the Captain can find a way out of this?” B’Elanna said. “She’ll have the rest of the senior staff helping her,” Harry said, “we just need to buy them time.” B’Elanna sighed. She would’ve preferred to just sit and let the damn bomb try to fix its own memory banks, but she saw no point in resisting if Harry was going to help.

“The Cardassian missile, the silver robots, now this. If I make it back to the Alpha Quadrant, I’m going to make sure I’m never alone in a room with Commander Data,” she muttered to herself. To the A.I. she said in a louder tone, “Where do we start?” “There are several disruptions in my memory index,” the A.I. said. “including a three minute, thirty-seven-second gap just prior to the crash.” “A recursive search algorithm might retrieve the missing data,” B’Elanna said. She touched a few buttons on the console, and quickly she found what the A.I. was looking for.

“Well, that was easy even by my standards,” she said, hoping the A.I. took offense at her pride at being able to accomplish in seconds what he hadn’t been able to at all. “Right there, you received a subspace transmission, a command. A command to alter course and head to the planet surface. Looks like your landing wasn’t an accident.” “So much for your target,” Harry said. “Seems to me like your creators managed to solve their problems without you.” “It must’ve been an attempt by the enemy to divert me from my target,” the A.I. said insistently. “No way,” B’Elanna said. “Your access codes are encrypted.” “They must have developed an infiltration code.” “Why do you say that?” Harry said. “Who else would try to divert me?” “Correct me if I’m wrong,” Harry said, “but these are the same duotronic algorithms you use to communicate with.” “My own people wouldn’t try to stop me!” The A.I. said. “Looks to me like they did,” B’Elanna said, starting to get a sinking feeling of deja vu for the silver robots she’d met several years ago who had wiped out their own creators to prevent them from ending their own war. “Whatever the reason, they didn’t need you to be a bomb anymore. Now, me, if I’d created something as sophisticated as you I’d want it back, but-” “The enemy is ruthless. The target is a threat. Why would my people call off the assault?” “Motherf- we just told you we don’t know,” B’Elanna said. “And don’t try suggesting we planted that order there, you were looking right at me when I found it in your memory banks.”

“Okay, everyone calm down,” Harry said. “Maybe if we clear up some more of these memory files, we’ll see why your orders were changed.” “Your assistance is no longer required,” the A.I. said. “Because you’re afraid of the truth?” Harry said. “Let us finish our job, then decide what to do next. But you have to accept that you may not like what we find.” The A.I. looked at Harry, then at B’Elanna, then back at Harry. “Proceed,” he said. “But I will be monitoring you, looking for any sign of subterfuge.”

B’Elanna went back to work, and began pulling up more damaged data. “Does the phrase ‘designated command matrix’ mean anything to you?” she said. “That’s my control center,” the A.I. said, sounding calmer. “It looks like they rescinded your orders some time after you originally launched,” Harry said, looking over B’Elanna’s shoulder at the monitor.. “See for yourself.”

The A.I. looked at the screen in shock as it read the order he had received out loud. “‘All long-range tactical armor units, terminate mission immediately.’ It says the war is over, that it ended nearly three years ago. My launch was a mistake. There was a malfunction in one of the command sensors that activated a series of launch sequencers. My people managed to shut most of them down, but thirty-four weapons were fired. Including me.” “I guess this means you can disarm yourself now,” Harry said. “We can return you to your people. You can go home.” “No,” the A.I. said, “there’s no confirmation code here. We evaded the enemy minefield so they are attempting to deceive us.” “The confirmation code could be in one of your damaged memory files,” B’Elanna said. “Or maybe it was you!” the A.I. shouted, getting agitated again. B’Elanna decided she had had enough of this. “How?” she said, yelling as loud as he had been. “Seriously asshole, how? You’ve been monitoring us this whole time! When would we have been able to alter your memory files like that?”

“You have lied to me before, why should I trust you now?” “We didn’t lie to you before, you paranoid synthetic,” B’Elanna said. “We were trying to get you your own holographic body when you decided to hijack our Doctor and take our ship hostage. But you don’t even have to trust us, just access the rest of your damn memory files!”

“No! I am programmed to destroy my target! I will complete my mission!”

“You don’t have a mission anymore,” Harry said, somehow staying calm amidst all the shouting. “The war is over, but you could end up starting another one. How many of your people would die then? At the very least, the very very least you owe it to them to determine the truth before you go blowing yourself up.”

The ship suddenly shuddered, and the red alert klaxons started going off.

“Sickbay to bridge,” the A.I. said, “what is happening?” “We’ve run into a subspace mine,” Janeway’s voice said, sounding upset. “You told us your course would bypass your enemy's minefields.” “There shouldn’t be any mines along this course,” the A.I. said. He glowered at B’Elanna and Harry, and B’Elanna glowered right back. “Your information is a little out of date in case you forgot,” she said. “We’re plotting a new course to avoid them,” Janeway’s voice continued. “But there are thousands of them scattered throughout the region.” “Transmit it to me,” the A.I. said. He looked at the new course on the monitor. “This trajectory will delay us for two days!” “That just gives you time to confirm the war is over,” Harry said, “since you won’t believe your own memory banks, we can contact your people. Unless you expect your own controllers to lie to you as well.” “Don’t give the paranoid any ideas, Harry,” B’Elanna whispered.

“No! Proceed as planned, Captain Janeway. I am programming a shield enhancement that will protect Voyager.” “I’m still going to have to reduce speed. That last hit dropped us out of warp,” Janeway said.

“Agreed,” the A.I. said, grudgingly. “But only until we’ve cleared the minefield.”

“Understood. Janeway out,” the Captain said before closing the channel.

---

“Do you think he bought it?” Janeway said. “He seemed to,” Chakotay said. “Mister Paris,” Janeway said, “give us another good shake or two, just to be sure.” “Yes ma’am,” Tom said.

“Bridge to Neelix, get started on Seven’s plasma burns.” “Already on it, Captain,” Neelix said over the com. “And I think they look pretty good if I do say so myself.”

“Good,” Janeway said. “Tom, once he’s done, hit another ‘mine,’ a big one. Chakotay, prepare to blow out the plasma relays on deck six.” The ship shook violently as Tom did his work. “Janeway to sickbay, we’re taking casualties,” she said, hoping she sounded concerned enough to fool the A.I. “Maintain course and speed,” the A.I. said. “That’s going to be difficult,” Janeway said. “Our astrometrics officer has been injured. She’s the one who has been guiding us through the minefield.”

“Replace her,” the A.I. shouted. “Seven of Nine’s abilities are unique,” Janeway said, adding a bit of anger to her reply even though she was grinning while she spoke. “We’re not going to get past these mines without her.”

“Then treat her injuries and send her back to her post!” “She has third-degree plasma burns. She needs to go to sickbay to be treated. if you want to reach your target you’re going to have to wait.” “Alright Captain, but I am warning you, no deceptions.” The channel to sickbay cut off. “I really hope this works. Bridge to Neelix, you’re good to go.” “Aye, Captain,” Neelix said.

---

Seven of Nine made a note to thank Samantha for the opportunity to learn about acting. While the two had not performed even once since they had done Coriolanus nearly a year ago, Seven still attempted to apply what she had learned to her performance as a burn victim, letting herself limp, and leaning on Neelix as though she really needed his support to remain upright as he escorted her to sickbay.

The door to sickbay opened, and the A.I. still in the Doctor’s holographic body, and still wearing the mobile emitter, let them in, closing the door behind them. “Treat her as quickly as possible,” he said to B’Elanna before walking away to do, something, in the doctor’s office. She groaned in mock pain as B’Elanna helped her into the bio-bed right next to the one the device was in.

“Is he looking the other way?” Seven whispered as B’Elanna looked at her ‘injuries.’ “Um, yes,” B’Elanna whispered back. “What’s going on?” Seven sat upright as quick as she could, and put her hand over the thankfully still open panel atop the device, and extended her assimilation tubules into it. “She's attempting to defuse the weapon,” she heard Neelix say. Now I just need twenty sec- Her thought was interrupted by intense pain, real this time, as the device started to electrocute her. She heard Neelix call her name in concern before she hit the floor, barely conscious. She could hear that Neelix was talking over her, but couldn’t make out what he was saying right away.

“-me move her,” she heard Neelix, feeling him and B’Elanna get their arms under her to try and lift up to the bio-bed. I failed, she thought sadly, How did I not see that coming? How did I not know it would have some kind of defense like that? She heard the pressing of buttons, and the A.I. began speaking. “Sickbay to bridge. Your attempt to disable me has failed.”

“We tried to reason with you,” Janeway said. “You left me no choice.” “And you leave me no choice. You and your crew will abandon Voyager immediately.” “No deal,” Janeway said. “You will comply or I will detonate!” The A.I.’s scream shocked Seven into full alertness. She could see from their wincing that B’Elanna, Neelix, and even Harry who had joined the rest at her side, though she was unaware of when, also did not appreciate someone being that loud that close to them.

“Go ahead,” Janeway said. “Do it.” The A.I. paused, clearly not expecting that. “Everyone aboard will be killed!” “But no one else will,” Janeway said. “The only reason I didn’t tell you to do it sooner is because I thought there was a chance we could stop you. Through reason, or force, it didn’t matter. I had hope. But now I know that I can’t stop you from destroying us. I can however stop you from continuing your war. Every Starfleet officer knows there’s a chance they’ll have to lay down their lives to uphold the Prime Directive, and that’s what I’m doing now. I know nothing about your people, or your enemy, or your war, and I don’t care. My people are not a part of it, and we would rather die than be dragged into it.”

“I really hope she’s bluffing,” Seven heard Harry whisper.

The A.I. looked stunned, unsure of how to respond, but he didn’t immediately detonate his explosives, so Seven allowed herself to be optimistic and hope that was a good sign.

“Captain,” Tom Paris said, his voice heard over the still open channel. “Thirty-two vessels just dropped out of warp, right off our port bow.”

“On screen,” Janeway said.

“Shit,” Harry said. “Thirty-two.” “It’s our bomb’s friends,” B’Elanna said to Seven and Neelix.

“They detected my presence aboard your vessel,” the A.I. said. “They say my target is essential. and that they altered course to ensure that I reach it. They demand that I be transported off your vessel so I can be tractored to my target.” “Mister Kim,” Janeway said. “reintegrate his neural matrix and prepare to beam it off-” “We can’t do that Captain,” Harry said. “Explain.”

“These weapons were fired by accident, we can’t let them reach their target.”

“ENOUGH!” the A.I. screamed so loud that had it real vocal chords it would’ve been in danger of blowing them out. Everyone flinched, and Harry even put his hand over the ear closest to the A.I. “Captain, order him to proceed!” “Harry, what are you talking about?” Janeway said. “Give me a minute,” Harry said. He got right in front of the A.I. and jabbed him with his pointer finger. “Bomb, can I call you bomb? Forget it, I don’t care. You’re making a mistake. Your own people tried to disarm you.” “I cannot be certain of that,” the A.I. said. Seven found herself grateful that he wasn't shouting for once.

“Yes you can,” Harry said. “Check your memory files. Look for the confirmation code.”

“No more delays,” the A.I., looking pained, and confused. “Reintegrate my matrix.” “Check the files,” Harry said, not as loud as the A.I. had been but still shouting,. “Do what Harry says,” Janeway said, “or you’re not leaving this ship. And if you detonate now, your companions are close enough the explosion would destroy most if not all of them too. The power in this situation is out of your hands.”

The A.I. began working on the console. Seven couldn’t see what he was seeing, and in fact was very tempted to just lie down and go to sleep, the pain of the shock she’d suffered still affecting her, but that was overpowered by the desire to see this through. If the worst came to pass, she did not want to die unconscious. “Coding intersequence 443,” the A.I. said. “Vector 39121. Cessation of hostilities… Confirmed. Unauthorized launch, confirmed. Order to terminate mission, confirmed.”

“You must disarm and order your companions to do the same,” Harry said, speaking softly now, Seven having to strain to hear him. She tried to get up, but Neelix and B’Elanna held her down. She was weak enough that they didn’t need to exert themselves to do so. “It’s a deception,” the A.I. said, but it sounded more like it was trying to convince itself than Harry. “This code of your uses a modulating algorithm,” Harry said. “It would be almost impossible to duplicate.”

“Almost impossible,” the A.I. said. “Almost. I- we, should return to our home system, seek additional confirmation. Too many variables.”

“Yes,” B’Elanna said. “You should. War is too big a thing to leave to maybes.”

“No,” the A.I. said, “the enemy is ruthless. Violent.” “Now you’re just spouting propaganda,” Harry said. “You are a sentient being. Your designers gave you intelligence so you could make decisions in the field. The evidence is pointing to this attack being a mistake. You owe it to yourself as much as to the people you’d potentially kill to find out for sure, and the best to do that is, in your own words, to return to your home system.”

“Bridge to sickbay,” Janeway said. “You’re receiving a transmission from the other bombs. What are they saying?” The A.I. looked down. “They are asking why I haven’t left your ship,” he said.

“Tell them,” Harry said. “I will,” the A.I. said. “I’m transmitting our orders to terminate the mission.” Harry breathed a sigh of relief. B’Elanna smiled and nodded. “Good job, Harry,” she muttered under her breath. “Definitely,” Neelix said, concurring with B’Elanna. Seven herself admitted internally she hadn’t thought this was possible.

“Oh no,” the A.I. said. “They already received those orders, but were past the targeting threshold.”

“The what?” B’Elanna said. “Once within two light years of a target we cannot, in theory anyway, be diverted. I’ve resent the orders, but they are not standing down.” The A.I. looked sad. “This is my fault,“ he said. “Had I listened to you sooner I could’ve prevented this.” “We can worry about blame later,” Harry said. “How can we stop them?” “We can’t,” the A.I. said, “not without destroying them I mean. I don’t want to do that, but I think we may have no choice.”

“That seems like a bad design flaw,” B’Elanna said. “Why give you that level of intelligence, only to yank it away at an arbitrary distance?” Seven, now able to sit up on her own, saw the A.I., looking ashamed, but still pressing buttons on the console. “I’m trying to convince them to stand down, but they don’t believe me about the order. We will have to destroy them. Thirty-three sentient lives is a small price to pay to save thousands, isn’t it?” “Wait, thirty-three?” Harry said.

“Reintegrate me into my matrix, and let me join them. Get Voyager to a safe distance, and I will detonate, taking them with me.” “We can’t let you do that,” Harry said. “You wanted me to see beyond my programming, Lieutenant Kim,” the A.I. said. “That’s what I’m doing now. Noble self-sacrifice is not part of my original code. I have entered contact information for my people. Tell them everything, including the part about the targeting threshold. Your engineer is right, that is a terrible design flaw.” Another synthetic life form allowing itself to die, Seven said, thinking sadly of Edwin. One more time and this officially ceases to be mere coincidence.

“Captain, are you still listening?” Harry said. “Lock on to the weapon and prepare to beam it out. B’Elanna let’s get started on the reintegration.” “Harry, are you sure about this?” the Captain said, though she easily could’ve refused if she’d felt that Lieutenant Kim was making a mistake. “Trust me on this one, Captain,” Harry said. “Got it,” Janeway said. “Let transporter room one know when you’re ready. I’ll patch you through.” The A.I. put a hand on Harry’s shoulder.

“Thank you,” he said. “For what?” “I am still getting to complete my mission, only my target has changed. When I destroy the other weapons, a new war will be averted. Countless lives on both sides will be spared.” “It’s ready,” B’Elanna said, closing the top panel on the device. Harry pressed a button, and the hologram flickered at the same time the lights on the device powered up. “Please state the nature of the medic- wait, what happened?” The hologram was still there, but clearly the Doctor was back. “How long was I off-line?” “I’ll explain later,” B’Elanna said. “Seven’s hurt.” “It is not life-threatening,” Seven insisted, though she made no effort to get out of the bio-bed. She had a feeling that the after effects of the bomb’s defense measures would last a while though.

“Transporter room one, are you there?” Harry said.

“Ready and waiting,” Ensign Mulcahey said.

Another coincidence, Seven thought. Of course Todd Mulcahey is involved in this too.

“Energize,” Harry said.

Seven leaned back, hearing rather than seeing the device being beamed away.

---

“I’m detecting a series of antimatter explosions,” Tuvok said. “In proximity to what?” Chakotay said. Janeway knew however. Her instinct told her that she’d been right to trust Harry’s judgement. “No ships, no planets, nothing. The weapons have been destroyed,” Tuvok said. “Bridge to Lieutenant Kim,” Janeway said. “Good work. The A.I. kept its promise and destroyed the other weapons.” “Good to hear,” Harry’s voice replied, though his tone suggested he was less than thrilled. Janeway couldn’t entirely blame him, it had been barely a few minutes between Harry successfully convincing the smart bomb to disarm itself before it had to go and die. Her ancestors had a term for that; bittersweet.

“Harry,” Janeway said, “go ahead and take the rest of your shift off. That goes for B’Elanna and Seven too. I think you’ve earned it.” “Thank you, Captain, but if you don’t mind there’s something we need to take care of first.” “The weapon’s people?” Janeway said. “Apparently they’re called the Druoda. We’ll make sure they get the information. Get some rest. That’s an order.” “Yes, Captain,” Harry said.

#a fire of devotion #part 2 #Chapter Nine #star trek voyager #fan fiction #sam7

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voyagerafod · 8 years

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Star Trek Voyager: A Fire of Devotion: Part 2 of 4: Louder Than Bells: Chapter Four

Chapter Four:

After a month of not being allowed to take the Delta Flyer out for a spin, the now Ensign Tom Paris had been happy when he finally got the chance again, going on a mission with Tuvok and Samantha Wildman. A few days in however, he suddenly found himself missing the safety of his cell in the brig.

“We’ve got another ion storm coming in,” he said, checking his sensors. “Great. We still haven’t gotten ourselves patched up from the last one. No way we’re making it back to Voyager today.”

“I am never leaving the ship again,” Samantha said. “I get stranded by the Kazon, Naomi gets sick, dipshit weapons dealer nearly blows Seven’s hand off; every time I step off Voyager something bad happens.”

“That is not wholly accurate,” Tuvok said. “I can recall with little effort at least two occasions where you were off Voyager, and nothing that could be described as negative occurred.” “Yeah, two,” Samantha said. “That doesn’t disprove my point. Leaving that ship is just bad luck.” “To be fair Sam,” Paris said, “it’s not like every day on Voyager herself is sunshine and bunnies.” He checked his console one more time to make sure the Flyer was stationary as trying to move during an ion storm only made it more dangerous. “We’ve got several minutes before it hits, better contact Naomi, let her know you’ll be delayed so she won’t worry.”

---

Naomi Wildman beamed with pride as she left the holodeck, having quickly and triumphantly solved the problem presented her in the current Flotter chapter on the holodeck she was on, and she was looking forward to sharing her accomplishments with her mom. She wasn’t going to have to wait too long though, because the reason she’d left the holodeck when she did was because Neelix had called to let her know that her mother was contacting from the Delta Flyer, and that Neelix had set up a visual communications link in her quarters.

Once she got there, Neelix simply stood back while Naomi sat at the table and looked at the screen. She’d asked where Seven of Nine was, but Neelix said that Seven was being kept busy on the bridge. Naomi thought it was kind of weird that her mom’s girlfriend wouldn’t be here, but figured maybe they’d talk later, and talk about the kind of grown up stuff she didn’t like being in the room for. “Hi Mom,” she said. “Hey sweetie,” Samantha replied. Naomi wasted no time in detailing how she’d helped the Flotter character make peace with a character named Trevis, even though deep down she knew that her mom probably knew these characters already since she’d also played in those holonovels as a kid. “I can show you how I did it tomorrow when you get back,” Naomi said, finally finished. Her mother sighed as the static on the channel got worse. “I’m sorry, Naomi, the away mission is taking longer than planned. It may be a few more days.” “Days?” Naomi said, frowning.

“‘Fraid so. But don’t worry, I’ll be bringing back some beautiful sillenite crystals for you and for Seven. Now I know what time it is there, so I want you to get ready for bed while I talk to Neelix, okay?” “All right,” Naomi said, sadly, getting up to do as her mother told her. ---

Neelix could tell even through the static that Samantha Wildman was putting on a brave face. As soon as Naomi went to her room to change, Neelix sat down. “Samantha?” he said. “What’s wrong?” “We got hit by an ion storm,” she said. “We took a beating, but I imagine it would be worse if we were in a regular shuttle.” “How bad?” “We’re trying to make repairs, but there’s another storm on the way.” The static got worse. Neelix saw Samantha look down. It was probably just as bad on her end too. “I need to go. Say goodnight to Naomi for me.” “Of course,” Neelix said. “Do you want me to say anything to Seven of Nine as well, or-” “I’m sure the Captain’s already briefed her on the situation. But thanks. The signal’s getting worse, I have to go.” The screen went black. Neelix sighed. For a moment he considered telling Naomi the truth about why her mother was delayed, but decided against it. Samantha hadn’t said anything, probably not wanting Naomi to worry unnecessarily. I won’t tell her yet, he thought. I just need to figure out when. Or maybe I’ll get lucky and Samantha, Tom, and Tuvok will all be home before it even becomes an issue.

-o-

Neelix, along with the rest of the senior staff still on-board listened quietly in the briefing room as the static-marred mayday message from Tuvok played for them, the sound cutting out just after his voice told them that they were looking for an emergency landing site for the Delta Flyer. “That was the last transmission we got from them,” Chakotay said. “We haven’t heard anything since. We’ve tried hailing them but they aren’t responding.” “If they’re looking for a place to land,” the Doctor said, “it must be pretty bad.” “Exactly what I was thinking,” B’Elanna said. “Can we pick them up on long range sensors?”

“We lost their energy signature when the second ion storm hit,” Harry Kim said. “But we’ve triangulated the coordinates of the distress call. They’ve entered a planetary system about 0.6 light years from here. That’s the good news. The bad is that another ion storm blocking our path. It’s a level five.” “Hmm,” Janeway said. “We’ve been through worse than a Level 5. And since Edwin’s shield reinforcements are still in place, we should be able to ride it out just fine. We’re not going to let a little bad weather get in the way of our rescue mission. Dismissed.” “What should I tell Naomi?” Neelix said, speaking up for the first time since the briefing started. “Or should I tell her anything for that matter?” Chakotay shrugged. “If you don’t feel comfortable handling that Neelix, perhaps I could help.” “That won’t be necessary Commander,” Neelix said. “I know she needs to be told, and it probably should come from me. Except for her mother and maybe Seven of Nine, I’m closer to her than anyone. I’m just worried about how she’ll handle it.” “Understandable,” Janeway said. “Look, just keep her occupied for awhile while we handle the rescue mission. If things go sideways, it’ll be my job to deliver the bad news.” “This reminds me,” B’Elanna said. “Has anyone told Seven yet?” “She’s aware of the Flyer’s damage from the first ion storm,” Harry said. “But us in this room are the only ones with the latest information. I’m sure she’ll handle it fine though. This is the woman who was able to save us all from a killer nebula, while in the middle of a nervous breakdown no less,” he added, referring to last year’s month-long period where all but Seven and the Doctor had to sleep in stasis tubes. “This is different though,” Janeway said. “How so?” Neelix said, wondering where the captain was going with this. “It’s a matter of scale,” she said. “The larger the number of people in danger, the easier it is to detach and focus on the task at hand. There’s a huge difference between a hundred and twenty plus, and three. And when one of those three is someone you’re emotionally attached to…” “I would remind you that my boyfriend is one of the people in danger,” B’Elanna said. “And I don’t see anyone worrying about me not being able to focus.” “I’ve known you longer, I know I don’t need to,” Janeway said. “We’ve all gone through something like this before. But for Seven this is still new, she’s never had to perform with these kinds of stakes before.”

“With all due respect Captain,” Harry said, “I think you’re selling her short. I’m confident Seven of Nine won’t let her connection to Sam cloud her judgement, and we’ll probably need her skills on this mission.” “I agree,” Neelix said. “Same here,” the Doctor said. Janeway shrugged. “You’re probably right,” she said. “Harry, let her know the situation. Neelix, keep Naomi occupied, like I said. Everyone else, let’s start putting a rescue plan together.”

---

Seven of Nine was slightly confused. When Janeway summoned her to the bridge and updated her on the Delta Flyer’s situation, Seven began to feel a sense of panic, not unlike the one she’d had weeks before when Edwin was allowing himself to die in sickbay. She couldn’t quite understand why though. The concern for Samantha, of course was natural, and she imagined that B’Elanna Torres felt much the same way about Tom Paris, whose life was also in danger aboard the Flyer. During her time on the ship however, the entire ship had been in danger more times than should have been statistically probable. By extension, Sam was in danger then too. Seven just could not discern what made this different.

Maybe it’s because I helped design the shuttle, she found herself thinking as she went over schematics on a PADD that Harry had handed her. If I’d been more involved perhaps it wouldn’t be so badly damaged. “Has Naomi been informed?” she asked Lieutenant Kim. “Neelix is going to handle that,” Harry said. “but not just yet. I can’t blame him for being reluctant, no one wants to be the bearer of bad news.” “Perhaps that is for the best,” Seven said. “I would offer to tell her myself, but as Sam as pointed out to me more than once I still require improvement in the, to use her words, ‘tact department.’”

Harry chuckled at that. Seven had not intended the statement to be amusing, but she decided to keep that to herself.

“I should probably steer clear of Naomi for the remainder of the operation,” she said. “If I see her she will likely ask me about the status of her mother, and much like Sam I do not like deceiving her.” “You’ve had to lie to her before?” Harry said. “Yes,” she said. Harry looked for a moment like he might ask for further details on that, but he didn’t, for which Seven was grateful as she would not have given him any. None of the falsehoods were large ones, it was simply a matter of there being things that Sam felt it was in Naomi’s best interest that she not know about until she was an adult. Seven was skeptical, but chose to defer to Samantha on the matter.

What will I do if she doesn’t come back? she thought. She tried to push the intrusive thought aside, but it kept nagging at her quietly in the back of her mind, so she instead tried to focus harder on the information on her PADD, working to put together a rescue mission.

---

As Tom Paris pushed the thrusters on the Delta Flyer to their limits, Samantha kept her focus on the console screen, trying to find somewhere, anywhere, to land the ship. With warp drive and even impulse engines off-line though, she knew they were only delaying the inevitable and that the ion storm was going to hit them.

“And to think that being demoted and having to spend a month in the brig would end up not being the worst thing to happen to me this year,” she heard Paris mutter. “The storm is throwing off my readings,” she said, “but there is definitely a big rock nearby, I just can’t find it.” The ship shuddered. “The wave front is accelerating,” Tuvok said. “Less than two minutes to impact.” “Great, so I’ve only got about thirty seconds to land this thing,” Tom said. “Samantha, I hate to rush you-” “Got it,” she said, “Finally. I read a class-M atmosphere, and a benamite mantle.” She quickly transferred the distance and coordinates to Tom’s console. “Benamite? I want to land this shuttle, not bury it,” he said as he turned the shuttle towards the planet which would hopefully protect them from more ion storms. “Well, we could always just try to surf the ion storm,” Samantha snarked, her patience starting to waver as the shuddering got worse. “We’ve entered the upper atmosphere,” Tuvok said a few seconds later. Samantha continued her scans. “Nothing but impact craters and volcanoes,” she said, “this is not a good landing place.” “The storm is closing,” Tuvok said. “Shields are already at maximum.” “It’s gonna have to do,” Tom said. “So long as we don’t land in a volcano we should be fine.” “Starboard thrusters are down,” Tuvok said. “Damn,” Tom said. “This is just not my day.” “We’re going in too fast,” Samantha said, finally starting to panic. “Hang on!” Tom yelled.

The ship shook violently, there were loud clanging noises, Samantha felt her head hit something, and her vision became fuzzy. She didn’t remember being unconscious, but when she opened her eyes, she saw that she’d been moved from where she’d been sitting, and she was very, very sore.

“Wha-what happened?” she said, touching a sore spot on her head, and seeing blood on the tips of her fingers. Tom was scanning her with a medical tricorder. Samantha found herself glad that he had agreed to be trained as a field medic. “We made it. -ish,” Tom said. “The Delta Flyer’s first real planetary landing wasn’t exactly an auspicious one. We’re three kilometers under the surface. At least our primary hull is still in one piece.” “Wish I felt the same way,” Samantha said. “You’ll be okay,” Tom said. “Minor fractures, a concussion, nothing I can’t handle.” “You’re a better nurse than you are a liar, Ensign,” Samantha grunted and clutched her side, which was hurting worse now. Tom closed the medical tricorder and sighed. “You have a punctured kidney,” he said. “You need surgery.” Samantha nodded. “I have transmitted another distress call,” Tuvok said. “So far, no response.” “I’ve got to talk to Naomi,” Samantha said, feeling scared. “And Annie. My girls, they’ll be so worried about me.”

“Conserve your strength, Ensign,” Tuvok said. “Mr. Paris and I have the situation under control.”

“Sam, I’m going to give you a mild sedative and something for the pain, okay?” Tom said, holding up a hypospray. Samantha nodded. She felt a little woozy after Tom applied the hypospray, but she could still hear him and Tuvok as they discussed their situation. Were she not drugged, it might’ve made her panic more. “Any chance we could abandon ship and walk out of here?” Tom said. “Unlikely,” Tuvok said. “We’re far too deep underground, and the cavern behind us has filled up with fluorine gas.” “Seriously?” Tom said, sounding incredulous. “Fluorine? How did it not all ignite when we crashed?” “Unknown,” Tuvok admitted. Samantha, not wanting to fall asleep, tried to remember everything she could about fluorine gas and had to agree with Tom. That type of gas was so reactive water would ignite it, and now there was a huge cave full of it right behind them. Three ion storms in one day, a crash landing, and surrounded by a gas that can explode if you look at it wrong. Welcome to the worst day of my life, she thought.

“Our best option,” she heard Tuvok say, “is to wait for Voyager.”

-o-

Naomi kept thinking about how her mom hadn’t contacted her in awhile, how Seven of Nine seemed to be avoiding her, and how nervous Neelix seemed to be. Something was going on, and no one was telling her and it was making her mad enough that nothing the Doctor was telling her about botany was registering.

The Doctor was saying something about organelles when Naomi finally just said what was on her mind. “My Mom was supposed to call me today. Why hasn’t she?” The Doctor paused for a moment. “Well,” he said, “she’s probably just busy.” The Doctor was still smiling like he was when he was giving his lessons, but Naomi felt something was a little off with the smile, like it was there just to make her feel better. “Now let’s have a little look at the cell wall,” the Doctor said, tapping a button on the console screen in front of her.

“Can we try to call her?” she said. The Doctor didn’t answer right away. “Well,” he started to say but was interrupted when the door to sickbay opened. “Neelix, so happy to see you,” the Doctor said. Neelix seemed surprised at that. “Um, okay,” Neelix said. “I was just coming by to pick up Naomi. We’re going to do another Flotter story on the holodeck today. I’m not too early am I?” “I was just asking the Doctor if we could call Mom on the Delta Flyer,” Naomi said. Neelix sighed. He looked at the Doctor, who nodded and stepped into his office, leaving her and Neelix alone. “I should have said something sooner,” Neelix said. Naomi suddenly felt very nervous. “The Delta Flyer got hit pretty bad by some ion storms and had to land on a planetoid to make repairs. We can’t talk to them right now because of the damage. I’m sure you’re scared right now, and it’s okay to be scared, but I want you to know that everyone is doing everything they can to make sure the Flyer and everyone on it comes home safe. Okay?” Naomi didn’t say anything. She just sat there. She did feel a little scared, like Neelix said she would, but she was also mad. Mad at him for not telling her right away that her mom was in trouble, mad at her mother for not saying she was in trouble the last time she called, mad at ion storms…

She got out of her chair and just left sickbay. Neelix followed her, asking her if she was okay but she just ignored him. She wanted to go somewhere where she could feel safe, so she went to holodeck one and activated the Flotter program. When Neelix tried to follow her in she just yelled “No!” at him and asked the computer to seal the door. She walked as far as the nearest tree, which wasn’t very far since the simulation was of a forest, leaned against it, and cried.

---

Seven of Nine worked at her console in the astrometrics lab. She was concerned for Sam, but she wasn’t allowing her fear to cloud her judgement. If pressed, she would have to admit that she just didn’t know if she could emotionally handle losing her, but that was all the more reason not to be reckless. She imagined that being allowed to work on the rescue mission played a large part, if not the largest, in helping maintain her calm.

“Computer, switch to polythermal imaging and enhance resolution,” she said. As she said so she heard the door open behind her. She glanced over her shoulder and saw Neelix enter. “Do you require assistance, Neelix?” she said. “Maybe. I’m worried about Naomi,” Neelix said. He sighed, then added, “I messed up. I should’ve told her sooner, but I didn’t and I think waiting only made it worse.” “How much did you tell her?” Seven said. “Not much, just that the Flyer was in trouble and had to land. I didn’t tell her it crashed though.” “I’ve found that Naomi is more clever and resilient than many on board Voyager give her credit for. She may well be angry that she wasn’t informed sooner about her mother’s situation, but I doubt that will hold for long. She will understand that you were only trying to protect her.” “I could’ve done a better job of it, but thanks anyway Seven. Since she knows now, maybe you should talk to her before going down there to join the rescue team. She noticed how you weren’t saying much to her the past few days.” “I will do that. Currently I am mapping the caverns around the crash site.” Seven stopped, and looked up from her console. “Do you have any experience mapping caverns, Neelix?” “Not using technology like this, but I see where you’re going with that. Just tell me which buttons to push and I’ll keep the program going while you talk to Naomi.” “Thank you,” Seven said. She gave Neelix a pat on the shoulder, a reassuring gesture that Samantha had done for her on numerous occasions. “If it is any consolation, the fact that you are willing to admit you were in error means you are unlikely to make a similar mistake in the future.”

“It doesn’t make me feel much better, Seven,” Neelix said. “but thanks for trying anyway. I suppose it’s a good thing I’m only a godparent and not a real parent.” “That is not for me to say,” Seven said. As she started to leave, her comm badge chirped. “Commander Chakotay to Seven of Nine.” “Yes, Commander,” Seven said. “Rescue Team Alpha needs that data,” Chakotay said, his voice suggesting urgency. Seven sighed. “I will meet you at the transporter site.” She closed the communication and turned to Neelix. “I don’t think I’m going to have time to talk to Naomi after all. Keep looking after her Neelix. She’ll need someone to talk to once the initial shock has worn off, if it hasn’t already.”

“Okay. And Seven? Bring them home.” “I intend to.”

---

“Ready, Tuvok?” Tom said. “Ready,” Tuvok said. Samantha heard much of what was going on since the crash, but wasn’t sure what they were ready for. She had been drifting in and out of consciousness the whole time since they’d crashed, and the painkillers Tom was giving her were still working but they were also making it hard to focus.

“Cross your fingers,” she heard Tom say. He reached into an open panel, touched something, and something on the panel up at the front where Tuvok was seated sparked. “Damn,” Tom grunted. “The magnetic relays have overloaded,” Tuvok said. “We’d better find another way to polarize this hull, or Voyager’s sensors won’t be able to pick us up,” Tom said. “Do not give up hope,” Tuvok said. “Probability of rescue is admittedly low, but it is not statistically impossible.” “Comforting,” Tom said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. “If we don’t make it,” Samantha said softly, “who’s going to look after Naomi?” “The most likely outcome would be that Neelix and Seven of Nine would share that responsibility,” Tuvok said. “That is, of course, assuming we do not get rescued, which you should not rule out.” Samantha scoffed, followed by a wince as the pain in her side flared up again. “Our ship has Borg enhanced sensors and they still haven’t found us yet. If my honey’s tech can’t find us-” “I’d hate to be the one who gives Seven the order to abandon the search,” Tom said under his breath, not realizing that Samantha could hear him. “Shut up, Tom,” she said. “Sorry,” he replied, looking embarrassed. “You are concerned for your daughter, this is understandable,” Tuvok said. “I would remind you however that I am also a parent. My youngest child has been without her father for four years. Yet I am certain of her well-being. Your child will likewise survive and prosper, no matter what becomes of us.” “He’s right,” Tom said, the first time she’d heard him say anything to or about Tuvok that wasn’t dripping with sarcasm since the crash. “There’s not a sentient on Voyager that wouldn’t take a phaser blast for that kid and you know it.” Samantha felt tears well up, but not from the pain.

“Thank you,” she said.

---

Seven of Nine walked around the cavern with her tricorder out, trying to learn everything she could about the cavern they were in. She, along with Chakotay, Joe Carey, and the rest of Rescue Team Alpha had found a piece of one of the Delta Flyer’s nacelles. While Chakotay informed the captain, Seven put together the data she collected. The cavern ahead of them had collapsed, but there was a hull signature behind the debris. She almost smiled, certain that not only had Sam and the others been found but they were likely alive, albeit trapped. Trapped however was preferable to dead under the majority of circumstances.

Soon the other rescue teams were there, as were the phaser drills. She continued scanning as the drills operated, making sure that the activity didn’t cause another cave-in that would kill them as well. As progress was made, Seven was able to get more information in her tricorder about the cavern ahead of them, including the composition of the gas… “Oh no,” she uttered before yelling at the team to stop the drills. “What is it?” Carey asked. She handed him her tricorder. “Fluorine gas,” she said. “If we pierce the final layer with a phaser it will ignite, destroying the cave, the Delta Flyer, and us with it.” “Son of a bitch,” Carey said. “How did that even happen?” “We could name this whole solar system after Murphy’s Law,” Chakotay said in exasperation. “We can’t just give up and leave them there, but long range sensors show yet another ion storm coming which would likely cause another cave in cutting off all hope.” “Another ion storm?” Seven said, not even hiding the shock in her voice. Ion storms were not a rare thing in the galaxy, but for a single star system to have four of them, four of massive size, in less than an Earth standard week was so ridiculous that she felt like punching something, regardless of the fact that doing so would accomplish approximately nothing. “Beaming through rock isn’t impossible,” Carey said. “It’s the amount that’s keeping us from getting our people out of there. Maybe if we keep drilling, but stop just before we reach where the gas is-” “Except the transporter beam would likely ignite the gas as well,” Seven said. “Possible,” Carey admitted. “But I don’t have any other ideas.”

“Nor do I,” Seven admitted. “Alright,” Chakotay said. “you two try to come up with a way to bleed that gas out of the cave without igniting it. But work fast. We’ve got a few hours at best before the Captain gives the order to abort the mission.”

-o-

Inside the Delta Flyer, Tom Paris was recording a goodbye message for B’Elanna. Samantha didn’t want to eavesdrop, but it was difficult giving how she couldn’t move, and the ship, while larger on the inside that a standard shuttlecraft, just didn’t have enough room for there to be much in the way of private space. Tuvok was writing out his message to his family on a PADD. Sam wasn’t sure which way she was going to go with that just yet, or even if she should bother. Would anyone ever see or hear my last words anyway? she thought.

“Warning. Life support has fallen to critical levels,” the computer said, cutting off Tom mid-sentence. “Don’t mind the computer, she’s just jealous that I’m spending my last few moments talking to you. So long,” Tom said. As he hit the button to end recording, Samantha let out a bitter laugh. “There are men who can’t say ‘I love you.’ And Tom Paris is their God-king,” she said. “Do you really want to spend your final moments on the mortal coil being a smart ass, Sam?” Tom said, though there was no real anger to speak of in his voice, just resignation. She believed he didn’t really care how she spoke to him at the end, just that he was used to being the one to come back with a quip, so why stop now.

“I’m sorry,” she said, and she meant it. She chalked up this uncharacteristic pettiness to the slowly fading sedatives and painkillers in her system. Tom had offered her more as there was still several doses worth in the Flyer’s medkit, but she refused. She did not want to be doped up when she made her own goodbye message, which she finally decided would be a visual one, like Tom’s. With Tom’s helping her up since she still couldn’t walk, she got into the chair and started the recording. “Computer, encode message for delivery to Naomi Wildman, and Seven of Nine.” “Acknowledged,” the computer said. “Hi,” she said. “I know you’re both feeling very sad right now but I want you to listen to me very carefully, okay? First of all, I love you. Both of you. Naomi, I am so proud of you. How smart you are, how funny, how kind, how determined to learn new things. You are going to grow up to do extraordinary things. And you listen to Seven of Nine and to Neelix, they’ll be taking care of you now.

“Seven, Annika, I know that this will be harder on you than anyone. But don’t let it stop you from continuing to explore your humanity. Don’t be afraid to keep learning new things, about other organics and about yourself. Don’t use me as anchor. Mourn for however long you feel is right, but if another girl comes along who makes your heart beat faster the way I did, don’t pass on that chance.” Samantha stopped talking for a moment, wiping tears out of her eyes. “Goodbye, Naomi. Goodbye, Annika Hansen. I love you both, so much.” “Warning. Oxygen depletion in ten minutes,” the computer said just before Sam ended the recording.

Sam heard a sniff, and turned to see Tom Paris wiping his eyes. “Okay, I want a do-over,” he said.

---

Neelix walked onto the holodeck, the forest from the Flotter stories still smoldering from when the trees had been burned in the last chapter. From what he knew of the story there was at least one way, if not more, to restore it, but it appeared that Naomi had not done so yet. He considered for a moment that maybe she just hadn’t figured out how, but realized that far more likely was she wasn’t even trying. She was probably too upset about everything that was going on with her mother and the Delta Flyer.

“Naomi?” he called out. “Go away!” Trevis, a character from the holonovel yelled at him. The anthropomorphized tree looked as angry as his voice suggested he was, though if it was at him or at the fact that he was still partially smoldering he wasn’t sure. “She doesn’t want to talk to you,” Trevis continued. So he’s mad at me then, Neelix thought. Can’t say I blame him.

“You lied,” another voice said. Neelix saw Flotter, a water elemental type character, standing just behind and the to the right of Trevis. “I thought you were vaporized,” Neelix said. “Naomi re-liquified me. Now leave!”

Neelix sighed. He didn’t have time for this, so he told the computer to delete the characters. “Unable to comply,” the computer’s voice said. “Holodeck controls have been encoded.” “Great, probably something Seven taught her,” Neelix said. “Look, Flotter, Trevis, I know I made a mistake. I should’ve told her sooner. That’s why I’m here to apologize, to try and make things right.”

“I wonder if the liar can swim,” Flotter said. “We could always hang him from one of my branches,” Trevis said. Good gods who wrote this thing? Neelix thought. This is supposed to be for children. “Naomi,” Neelix called out. “Please let me talk to you.” “It’s okay,” he heard Naomi’s voice say. She stood from behind the fallen tree she’d been hiding behind. “You be nice,” Trevis said. “No more lying,” Flotter said, pointing a finger in Neelix’s face. Neelix walked around the two characters and went and sat next to Naomi. “Is my mother dead?” she asked, not looking him the eye. “We don’t know,” Neelix said. “The rescue operation is still going on.” “What happened?” “The Flyer was hit by an ion storm. They tried to land on the planet below us to do repairs, but crashed.” “I saw debris. Fires. A crater.” Neelix noticed that Naomi still wasn’t looking at him when she talked, like she couldn’t bear to look at him after he’d kept her mother’s situation from her. “But not the hull. Until we know for sure, I am not giving up on them being alive. Seven of Nine hasn’t, she’s down there helping with the rescue effort right now.” “Do you really think they might find her?” “Yes, I do. Your mother has Tom Paris and Tuvok with her, and they’ve survived worse than a shuttle crash before.” “How do I know you’re telling me the truth this time?” Neelix thought about it for moment. “I never told you this before, but when I was younger, I lost my mother. My whole family. There was a war, and they died.” “Who started it?” Naomi said, looking at him now.

“It doesn’t really matter,” Neelix said, not wanting to admit that his people had been the aggressors. “Not anymore. Either way, it was still the worst thing that ever happened to me. I wanted to tell you the truth, but every time I came close, I just couldn’t bring myself to do it. I don’t know if I was protecting you, or myself. I let you down Naomi, and I am so sorry.” “Why didn’t Seven tell me? She loves my mom, why didn’t she tell me?” “Seven is still learning about what it’s like to be human,” Neelix said. “I don’t think she was ready for that kind of responsibility, having to be the one to tell a child that their parent was in danger. So she just stayed focus on the rescue effort. I think it helped her stay sane. Though I imagine she’s as scared as you are.”

Naomi reached out and touched Neelix’s hand. Neelix was sure she was about to say she forgave him, but the ship suddenly shuddered. “All hands to emergency stations,” Janeway's voice said over the comm. “The approaching ion storm has just upgraded to level eight.” “Ion storm? What’s that?” Flotter said.

---

“Level eight? What the hell is wrong with this star system?” Joe Carey shouted when the rescue team in the cavern received the call from the captain. “No, no, no,” Seven muttered. Progress on the rescue had been slow, but they were so close, she just knew it, even though the data on her tricorder told her it was even odds at this point. For the first time since she’d heard about the Delta Flyer’s troubles several days ago, Seven of Nine crossed the line from fear for her girlfriend’s safety into full blown anxiety. Her hand shook, unwanted visions of Samantha being crushed by kilotons of rock filled her mind, and she was pretty sure she was about to cry.

“Just a few more meters,” Chakotay told the captain over his comm badge. “When that storm hits, your cavern is going to destabilize,” Janeway said. “You’ve got six minutes, make the most of it.” “All right,” Chakotay said. “Keep going, we’ve almost cleared enough rock to be able to beam the whole shuttle out through the rock.” “But we haven’t been able to clear the fluorine gas yet,” B’Elanna said. “We’ll have to risk it,” Chakotay said. “It’s that or we lose them for good to another cave-in.” “I swear, it’s like this system is cursed,” B’Elanna said. “I was thinking the exact same thing,” Carey said. “Focus,” Seven snapped at them. Rather than getting mad at her as they usually did when she was so curt, they did as she asked. She actually felt bad for having yelled at them, but this task was just too important. She made a mental note to apologize later, once Samantha was safe and sound.

---

“Warning. Oxygen depletion in two minutes,” the computer said. “You know, I think I’m just gonna turn that damn thing off. I don’t need a stopwatch running on my impending death,” Tom said.

“In accepting the inevitable,” Tuvok said, “one finds peace.” “Yeah, I suppose you’re right. I guess this isn’t how I figured it would all end.” “Did you envision perhaps a more heroic death?” “Yeah, why not? Why not go out like Captain Kirk, saving the Enterprise-B and a bunch of refugees from an anomaly? Or Captain Garrett, paving the way for peace with the Klingon Empire by going down fighting against the Romulans? I can think of worse ways to go.” “Like bleeding out from your kidneys?” Samantha coughed out. Tom was debating whether to not to reply to that, considering that he didn’t want to risk the last words Samantha Wildman ever heard would be sarcastic ones, when he heard a sound that it took him a second to recognize. When he did, he laughed. “They did it,” he said after laughing. “They found us. Those are phaser noises, I’d recognize them anywhere!”

---

Seven of Nine and the rest of the team was beamed aboard just seconds after the Delta Flyer had been beamed to the shuttle bay with the aid of pattern enhancers. Seven did not wait to be dismissed before just dropping her gear on the pad and running, heading for the shuttle bay. When she got there, she saw Ensign Brooks helping Tom Paris step down. He looked a little dizzy and clearly needed the ensign’s help staying upright, but appeared otherwise unharmed, Tuvok climbing out of the shuttle right behind him. “Sam?” she said. Tom looked at her. “We had to have her beamed directly to sickbay,” he said. “She needed surgery for internal bleeding. I’m sure the Doc-” Seven didn’t wait for Tom to finish. She slapped her comm badge so hard it nearly fell off. “Seven of Nine to Naomi Wildman, meet me outside sickbay,” she said, running again, and nearly knocking over several crewmen as she made her way to sickbay. When she got there, Naomi was already outside, and Neelix was with her. The latter leaning against the bulkhead while the former was pacing until she spotted Seven. Without saying a word, Naomi ran to her, wrapping her arms around her. “Is she…” Seven said, but couldn’t bring herself to finish the question. “The Doctor told us to wait outside,” Naomi said, trying not to sob as she spoke. Seven couldn’t blame her. “Seven, it’s okay that you didn’t tell me Mom was in trouble. I know you were scared. I’m scared too.” “I’m sorry,” Seven said. “I was so focused on bringing Sam home I didn’t think about what was happening to you.” “I’m sure she’ll be fine,” Neelix said. “She was still conscious when they beamed her on board. That has to be a good sign, right?” “I believe it is,” Seven said, though she had to admit she wasn’t one hundred percent sure of that. The three of them waited outside in the hall, moving to let people past them when they had to but mainly waiting quietly. When the quiet got to be too much for Seven, she started to ask Naomi about how her holonovels were going, when the door to sickbay opened. The Doctor stood there, smiling. “Naomi, Seven, you can come in. Mr. Neelix should wait out here so as not to crowd her.” “No problem,” Neelix said, smiling himself. Seven followed behind Naomi, who quickly ran into her mother’s arms. Seven moved more slowly, not wanting to interrupt the reunion. When Sam saw her, she reached out an arm and motioned for Seven to join them in a group hug, which she did gladly. “Good to see you again, Annie,” Sam whispered in her easy. “Likewise,” Seven said. “I think it goes without saying,” Sam said, “that I am never getting in a shuttle ever again.” Seven of Nine, for the first time in what had felt like an eternity, laughed.

#a fire of devotion #part 2 #chapter four #star trek voyager #fan fiction #sam7

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