Voyager- Filling in the Blanks

[Garm Bel Iblis]

Kathryn Janeway, captain of the Starship Voyager stood up from behind her desk and ascended the short steps of her ready room and peered out the large windows. She sipped at her coffee as Voyager sped through this uncharted region at warp.

It’d been a tumultuous few weeks in the Delta Quadrant.

Voyager’s new chief engineer, B'Elanna Torres, had been working overtime, whipping her crew into shape. She’d reported warp power would be restored to maximum in a few days. The replicator array had been partially restored; enough so that they had been able to begin issuing rations to allow the crew to replicate limited amounts of food and supplies. She was glad for this one luxury, looking down at the whtle embroidered china teacup, filled with the steaming black liquid. But just this morning, the power transfer to the replicators shorted out a dozen relays including the transporter systems had failed.


Chakotay to Janeway: Please report to the bridge.”

Kathryn drained the remains of her coffee, set the cup on her desk and headed onto the bridge responding to her first officer’s summons. “Report,” she said, moving up the two small steps and making her way to her command chair, directly behind the helm.

Commander Chakotay, former Maquis-turned Voyager first officer stood near the helm behind Lieutenant Tom Paris. “We’ve have picked up a space station bearing oh nine five mark twelve. From these readings, it looks massive. At least four kilometers around.”

Janeway tensed, falling into her seat. “Full scan, Mr. Tuvok,” she ordered angling her head back to Voyager’s chief of security.

The Vulcan’s hands flew across his board and he reported. “Sensors are detecting several dozen life-signs: Humanoid. No weapons that I can detect. I am also picking up large amounts of deuterium in large storage tanks on the lower section of the station.”

Perhaps they’ll be willing to trade,” Janeway said. Deuterium powered most of the major systems on Federation starships. Their current supply was at sixty percent. “Alter course, Mr. Paris.”



/ / / / / /




Voyager slowed to impulse and fell into orbit around the space station they’d detected. It was massive. Three times the size of Deep Space Nine. Huge spiral arms extended hundreds of meters connecting to circular storage tanks which sensors had revealed huge quantities of deuterium.

Kathryn Janeway stood on the bridge, hands firmly planted on her hips, watching the massive facility spin on the main screen. “Hail them, Mr. Tuvok.”

A moment later the viewscreen switched to reveal a lanky humanoid with ruby-red skin, mottled with dark spots and a tuft of whiskers from the lower parts of his jaw. “Greetings, I am Manager Kilaro, supply station Kelden 515. We represent the Sentrali Hegemony.”

Captain Kathryn Janeway, of the Starship Voyager. We represent the United Federation of Planets.”

I’m not familiar with that organization or your vessel classification,” the cheery alien replied.

Janeway grinned lopsidedly. She’d have to get used to saying this. “We’re from the other side of the galaxy. We were brought 75,000 light-years by an alien entity and we’re trying to make our way home.”

Kilaro’s smile faded. “A long journey, indeed, Captain. How can we help you?”

Our sensors have detected large supplies of deuterium. We were wondering if you were willing to trade.”

Kilaro looked to an unseen person out of the screens visual range and nodded. “Of course, of course. That is our primary function here. We trade with all species in the sector. I’m transmitting docking instructions now. I will await you in my office.”

We’ll be there,” Janeway said. The screen blinked back to the view of the station. “Well, it’s nice to meet a friendly face. Commander Chakotay, begin docking procedures. Mr. Tuvok, Mr. Kim, you’re with me. Have Lieutenant Torres and Mr. Neelix meet me outside airlock one.”


/ / / /

Yes, Captain, I have heard of them. However, it’s been several months since I’ve been in this system. I wasn’t aware a trading station had been placed here.”

Janeway stood across from Neelix, their Talaxian guide, outside the airlock doors on the starboard side of the primary hull. “Well, they certainly seem friendly enough. Have you had any direct interaction with them?”

Several times,” Neelix said. “They supplied my ship with deuterium about five years ago, with a converter that allowed the ramscoops to pick deuterium from the most barren areas of space.”

Suddenly there was a loud clank. “Bridge to Captain,” came Chakotay’s voice. “Docking complete.”

B’Elanna Torres, the Klingon\Human chief engineer keyed the panel next to the airlock. “Seal pressurization normal.” Janeway gave her a quick nod. Torres tapped the final button and the doors slid open with a hiss of escaping air.

Kilaro, the tall Sentrali, stood with his hands outstretched. “Welcome, weary travelers, to our humble outpost. If you’ll come with me please, we can begin our negations.”

Janeway smiled, introducing Harry Kim, B’Elanna and Neelix. After the formalities were completed, they headed into the station. They ascended in a large turbolift through the center of the station. The facility was an astounding place. Dozens of tiered levels with storage pods lined the inner hull. Janeway marveled at the engineering skills required to construct such a place.

The lift finally came to a halt in the uppermost levels of the station. The away team departed and entered a lavish office, fixated with a dozen chairs surrounding a large conference table. Taking their seats, Torres slid a data padd across the table to Kilaro. “Here’s a list of things we have on hand and the items were in need of.”

Kilaro lifted the padd and skimmed it. “Pergium, Deuterium, plasma conduits. All readily available.” He keyed another button. “You don’t have much to offer. Dillithium, gravity plating, transparent aluminum.”

We suffered heavy damage when we were brought here,” Janeway offered. “A third of my crew was killed in the incident. After arriving we were attacked by the Kazon, then we suffered heavy damage and power loss in a collapsed singularity just a few days ago.”

Kilaro smiled softly. “I have something that may interest you.” He pulled a small vile of yellow compound from a compartment along the wall. “This is Sirinium. It’s a highly useful power source. It can power warp engines, life-supports, all of your primary systems. At a fraction of the consumption rate of deuterium.”

Torres pulled the tricorder from the holster on his uniform. Flipping it open, she ran the scanning device over the vile. Her eyes widened in shock. “Captain, this compound has less than a .004 deviation from deuterium. We could get Voyager home and back again on a few kilos of this stuff.”

Mr. Kilaro,” Janeway said. “I’d be very interested in obtaining a quantity of this. What are you asking for it?”

Kilaro set the vile on the table and leaned forward, placing his palms on the table’s surface. “Only a small favor. A few days ago a meteor struck the outer section of habitat level nine. Our scans reveal you have forcefield technology. We have not yet perfected this. If you could install a few emitters to seal the we’d be more than happy to supply you with a large quantity of Sirinium.”

Janeway turned to Kim. “Harry? Do you think we can manage it?”

Kim looked to Torres and nodded. “I believe so, Captain. It shouldn’t take more than a few hours to place some portable generators along the outer hull and link them to the stations power grid. It would provide them with an inexhaustible power source.”

Janeway turned back to Kilaro. “All right. I’ll have a team start working on it.” She stood.

Very good,” Kilaro replied, “I will also make the necessary arrangements for the transfer of the Sirinium.”

Janeway nodded to her officers, who all rose. “I’ll contact you when we’re ready,” Janeway said.

/ / / /


Harry Kim hated environmental suits. He hated zero-g even more.

As he bobbed in space outside the habitat section of the Sentrali space station, five thousand meters away from Voyager, he fought his stomach not to become queasy. He pulled the hydrospanner from the magnetic strip on his belt and touched it to the underside of the hull plating. “Kim to Torres,” he said into the suits communications system. “I’ve placed the final emitter. I think we can bring the grid on line.”

Acknowledged,” came the clipped voice of B’Elanna Torres. She was hovering four hundred meters away from Kim in her own environmental suit. “I think we should head back to the shuttle before we activate it. Just in case.”

Kim shuddered at the thought of the forcefields tearing this section of the station to shreds. Hopefully, the reinforcement of the hull plating would be sufficient to hold until the Sentrali could make their own repairs. He touched the glowing panel on his wrist and activated the suits chemical thruster. Angling away from the base, he and Torres sped through space to the hovering shuttlecraft Drake. The class-2 shuttle was holding station one kilometer away, her aft hatch opened.

Reaching the craft, Kim and Torres sealed the aft hatch and removed their helmets.

Torres moved towards the center console, keying several commands to the main computer. “Torres to Voyager. Forcefield emitters are installed. I’m bringing the grid online.”

Proceeded, Lieutenant,” Janeway’s voice came back over the small speaker.
/ / / /


Manager Kilaro stood on the main bridge with Captain Janeway. The viewscreen was magnified on the ruptured hull sections of the station. Janeway had just given the order to activate the forcefield grid. A moment later, a bright flash of electrostatic energy flared to life. The blue glow of the forcefields appeared.

The breaches have been sealed,” Tuvok reported from his station.

Kilaro smiled widely. “Captain Janeway, I cannot thank you enough for your help. We’ll be able to begin repairs and the people who lived down there can return home.”

Janeway turned, hands clasped behind her back. “It’s our pleasure, Manager. If there’s anything else we can help with, don’t hesitate to ask.”

Kilaro waved her off. “You’ve done more than we could ever have hoped for. I’ve spoken with my chief engineer, she informs me the Sirinium is ready for transport to your ship. I’ll have my technicians bring it aboard. They can assist your chief engineer with the installation.”

Thank you, Manager.” She touched her communicator pinned to her tunic. “Janeway to Torres. B’Elanna, return to the ship. Manager Kilaro is brining aboard the Sirinium. I’ll want it installed as soon as possible. Janeway out.”

She turned back to Kilaro. “Manager, if you’d like, we can discuss final negotiations in the conference lounge…” she gestured towards the doors leading to the main briefing room.

/ / /

Commander Chakotay pulled the large supply crate of Sirinium off of the hover sled and set it on the deck of the engine room with a loud clunk. B’Elanna moved towards it, tricorder sweeping the containers. “This stuff is really amazing. I’ve run three different simulations. Once we inject this compound into our systems, the entire power grid will be fully resorted.”

Chakotay smiled. “Well it’s heavy enough.” He looked to the two Sentrali technicians, standing at the entrance to engineering. “If you could help us, we can get this fuel installed.”

Before the two techs could respond, Janeway’s voice filtered through the ship. “Red Alert, battle stations. Commander Chakotay to the bridge.”

Chakotay eyed Torres and quickly departed engineering. As he stepped into the corridor, he heard the clangs of the docking clamps being released. Voyager was undocking from the Sentrali station. Running to the nearest turbolift, he snapped “bridge,” and waited impatiently the car began its ascent. Bolting onto the darkened bridge, he moved around the rail and dropped into his seat next to the captain. “What’s going on?” he asked.

Janeway was busy tapping at the auxiliary console situated between the two command chairs. “Mr. Tuvok, can you confirm the warp signatures?”

Aye, Captain, I have confirmed two Kazon warships closing at warp six. They will be within weapons range in thirty five seconds.”

Where’d they come from?” Chakotay asked.

We’re not sure,” Janeway replied. “They appeared from the galactic plane to a nebula about two light-years away. Mr. Paris, status of the warp engines.”

When we docked, engineering took them off-line to begin repairs. It’ll be twenty minutes before warp power is back up.”

Janeway sighed. “Tuvok, ready phasers and raise shields. Mr. Kim, hail Manager Kilaro.”

The main screen shimmered and the Sentrali once again appeared. His face showed a look of terror. “Captain Janeway! What have you done? The Kazon have always left us alone. They are looking for you!”

Janeway’s heart sank at Kilaro’s accusation. “Manager, I’m very sorry for this. But I promise you; I will not let the Kazon destroy your station. I suggest you take whatever emergency stations you have. Voyager will engage the Kazon and attempt to drive them off.”

Kilaro sneered. “This is intolerable. We have no weapons, no shields. We’re utterly defenseless!”

We’ll drive them off, Manager, Janeway out.”

The screen shifted to the station, which was decreasing in size as Voyager pulled away. “Hail the lead Kazon ship,” snapped the captain.

Moments passed before a familiar face appeared.

Jabin,” Janeway said in recognition.

I told you that you had made an enemy, Captain,” the First Maje of the Kazon-Ogla sect said. “Stand down and prepare to be boarded. This space station and all its components are now the property of the Kazon Ogla.”

Jabin, I have no intention of surrendering anything to you.”

You will regret your actions, Captain.” He slapped a panel and the screen shifted to the two closing warships.

Voyager was bracketed with explosions along the shields. “Return fire,” Janeway ordered. “Mr. Paris, attack posture.”

The Intrepid-Class vessel accelerated to full impulse, angled along the upper dorsal section of the lead Kazon vessel and let loose with her entire phaser array. Dozens of orange beams of nadion energy lashed into the shields and ruptured the hull. The Kazon ship broke to port and began listing. The second vessel released a volley of plasma torpedoes, which ruptured the aft shielding of Voyager.

From the aft section of the Kazon ship, a small shuttle emerged and sped towards Voyager.

The ship rocked again.

They have boarded us through the shuttlebay,” Tuvok shouted over the alarms and explosions. “Tuvok to security, report to the deck eleven!” He nodded to Ensign Kim, who transferred tactical control to his station. The Vulcan grabbed a phaser from the compartment under his console and entered the turbolift.

Janeway grabbed the arms of her chair for support. “Bridge to Torres. We’ve lost aft shields. Get them back.”

Doing my best,” came an urgent reply over the comm. “We’ve lost the secondary transfer relays. Powers down on nine decks.”

Mr. Kim, reroute warp power to the phaser banks.”

Harry’s hands were a blur across his board, targeting the main phasers. They lashed out into the Kazon ship. Their shields began to buckle. Another torpedo emerged form their launcher and impacted on the lower section of Voyager’s port nacelle.

Direct hit, we’re venting drive plasma!” shouted Kim.

Tom Paris grabbed his console. “We’ve lost attitude stabilizers! We’re out of control!”

/ / /

B’Elanna Torres slapped the ODN relay and growled in anger. “Carey!” she snapped to her assistant. “Transfer plasma from relays eight through twelve. I’m bringing the main grid back on line.”

Before the lieutenant could reply, the doors to engineering hissed opened. Four Kazon entered, phaser rifles in hand.

The two Sentrali engineers were the first to fall. Vaporized in a halo of phased energy pulses. The Kazon made their way to the large containers holding the Sirinium. Placing them back on the hovers led, the lead Kazon solider held the engineering crew at bay, randomly firing his weapon at the upper section of the room. Sparks flew from the duranium bulkheads, showering the crewmen.

B’Elanna inched towards the weapons locker. Her eyes connected with the mad-firing Kazon. He lifted his rifle and aimed it squarely and Torres’ head. When the Sirinium containers were loaded on the hover sled, the Kazon headed out of the engine room.

/ / /

Tuvok raced down the corridor, phaser in hand. Internal sensors placed the intruders just outside of engineering.

Two of his security guards raced directly behind him, weapons ready. They reached the entrance to the main shuttle bay. Tuvok pointed for them to hold position on either side of the door and slapped the panel.

The doors parted.

Tuvok and his team jumped in, phaser ready. The Kazon shuttle was hovering above the deck, coming about. A moment later her main engines fired and the craft burst out of the bay and into the void of space.

Tuvok to bridge, the Kazon shuttle has escaped. Lock a tractor beam.”

/ / /

Chakotay, now manning tactical pounded the console. “No good, Captain, tractor emitters are down. Shields have failed. Phasers are off-line.”

The ship was rumbling from the damaged warp engines. Voyager was listing several kilometers away from the Sentrali station. On the screen, the Kazon shuttle entered the bay of her mother ship.

The Kazon warship powered her engines and sped towards the station…

Janeway watched in horror as the Kazon ship released a spread of torpedoes. The deadly weapons impacted on the main reactor core of the station…

It erupted in a fireball that battered the heavily damaged Voyager. The shockwaves erupted in 360 degrees, the bodies, materials, and everything else that made up the lives of the Sentrali was incinerated.

Janeway picked herself up off of the deck, holding her sore wrist. “Report.”

Heavy damage on all decks,” Chakotay reported. “I’m not picking up any survivors from the Sentrali station. The Kazon ship has gone to warp.”

Track them,” Janeway nearly shouted.

Chakotay looked at her, his soft eyes full of regret. “Long-range sensors are off-line. We can’t locate them.”

Janeway turned back to the helm. “Tom, set a course out of the area, maximum impulse. Bridge to Engineering. B’Elanna, start repairs. We’re going to have to finish them on the run.”


Captain’s log supplemental, it’s been twelve hours since our encounter with the Kazon. I’m deeply concerned as to what has transpired. Thanks to our actions, Voyager’s mere presence sparked a conflict that cost the lives of hundreds of innocent people. I can’t help but wonder if Voyager’s travels through this quadrant of the galaxy will cause more harm than good.

 

[Mistral]

That better not be it. Geez, what a downbeat story. Hope there's some redemption coming.

 

[Garm Bel Iblis]

I've got a pretty big saga that spans season 1-7, will be posting more as interest is built.

 

[Garm Bel Iblis]

Chapter 2: New Breath:

Neelix’s legs swung over the edge of the biobed and he planted his feet firmly on the deck. Feeling the shortness of breath, his hands went to his chest and he began wheezing.

Struggling for breath, he felt relieved when the hypospray touched his neck and injected him with a compound of cooling medication.

You’ll have to take it easy for a few days, Mr. Neelix,” said Voyager’s Emergency Medical Holographic Doctor. The stern, balding hologram set the hypospray aside and flipped open his tricorder. “Your alveoli is regenerating but your body is not yet acclimated to the decreased amounts of oxygen processing through your lung.”

The Talaxian steadied himself, the tri-ox easing the pressure on his lung.

It’d only been a day since the Vidiian scientists had been aboard. After stealing Neelix’s lungs and implanting them in themselves. They had devised a way for Kes to donate one of her lungs and implant it in Neelix.

I have got work to do,” Neelix said. “The captain’s given me a galley. I’m going to show this crew what I’m capable of.”

I have no doubt you’re quite capable of many things, Mr. Neelix, but if you don’t take it easy, you’re going to overwhelm your system and you’re going to collapse.”

From the back of sickbay, Kes emerged from the doctor’s office, holding a data padd. The young Ocampan had recovered from the lung donation in a matter of hours and her body had adapted. She was currently in training to assist the doctor. She handed the padd to the doctor. “I’ve completed the cellular decay analysis. I think the nucleotides in gene ninety-four need to be reassembled.”

The Doctor took the padd and reviewed it with a quick glance. “Very nice work, Kes. Now if you were only so capable of handling Mr. Neelix here.”

Are you being a problem?” she asked Neelix with a smirk.

Sweeting,” Neelix said, exasperated. “I need to get out of sickbay and get to work. I’ve been cooped up here far too long. I need to be making my contribution to the captain and the ship.”

Kes took his hand and looked up to the Doctor. “I’ll take care of him, Doctor. Make sure he doesn’t overexert himself.”

Scowling, the EMH blew his holographic breath through closed lips. “Fine.” He grabbed a tricorder and handed it to Kes. “At the first sign of fatigue I want him brought back here.”

Kes smiled and led Neelix out of sickbay.

As the doors closed behind them, Neelix embraced his lover. “Thank you for rescuing me, Kes. I don’t think I could’ve last much longer under the Doctors bedside manner.”

Well, you need to take it slow, Neelix. I know you want to get to work, but you’re dealing with half the oxygen intake as you were before. You need to let your body readjust the way it operates.”

Neelix released his embrace and lead Kes down the corridor to the lift. “I know, Kes. I know. I’ve got to get up to Deck 2 and start retrofitting on the new galley. Will you help me?”

Of course,” Kes said. “Let’s go.”

/ / /

Harry Kim entered the new mess hall on Deck 2 and smiled. The room had once been the captain’s private dining room until Neelix had taken over the room and constructed a galley. He’d rerouted conduits from power sources Kim didn’t’ even think ran near this section and had assembled an array of stoves, heating elements, not to mention a collection of very alien culinary tools the Talaxian had kept aboard his own ship.

Behind him, Tom Paris whistled softly. A couple of dozen tables were spread throughout the room, along with a few chairs, and oversized sofas. No doubt recovered from ships stores.

Gentlemen,” Neelix said loudly, stepping out from behind the counter. He was adorned in a bright yellow apron and matching cook’s hat. “Welcome to the mess hall.”

Hi Neelix,” Harry said, making his way further in towards the counter. A steaming pot rested on the heating element. “What’s for breakfast?”

Neelix smiled and pulled the lid off the pot. “Rotarian stew with kavala eggs.”

The overwhelming smell assaulted Kim’s senses. His eyes watered and nostrils curled. “Potent stuff,” he said with a backwards glance at Paris.

Beats replicator rations,” Paris offered. “Besides, we are explorers.”

Neelix spooned a helping of the brown liquid and dropped it into a bowl, accompanied by two green masses, apparently the kavala eggs.

Kim took the bowl and moved to a vacant table.

Neelix watched the young ensign sit down and begin sipping carefully at the spoon. He smiled when Kim’s expression brightened and he began to consume the food at a faster rate. Before he could say anything, his combadge chirped.

Janeway’s voice filled the room. “All senior officers and Mr. Neelix to the bridge.”

/ / /


Sensors have picked up a Talaxian vessel being pursued by a Vidiian warship. The warship is beginning to overtake them. The Talaxian has sent out a distress call. We’re moving to intercept.”

Listening to Captain Janeway’s report, Neelix watched the small sensor panel behind the command chairs. The Suvala-Class Talaxian freighter was speeding away from the mammoth warship at warp five, her aft shields buckling under the pressure of weapons fire.

Neelix’s heart sank and his chest ached. The Vidiians were some of the nastiest creatures he’d ever encountered. And considering the first time he’d encountered them they’d stole his lungs, that was saying something.

Captain,” Tuvok reported. “We are within weapons range of the Vidiian vessel. They are not responding to hails.”

Hail the Talaxian,” Janeway ordered.

Tuvok turned back to his board. “Their communications array is off-line. Captain, they have suffered heavy damage to their power core. A breach is possible if their shields are compromised further.”

Fire a warning shot off their starboard bow.”

Tuvok complied by sending a stream of phaser energy from the forward emitters out into the void between the Talaxian freighter and the pursuing warship. “The Vidiian vessel has altered course. They are targeting Voyager.”

A volley of torpedoes emerged from the forward ports of the Vidiian cruiser and sped towards Voyager.

Captain!” shouted Harry Kim. “Those warheads are poloron based! Our shields won’t hold against them!”

Tuvok, target the torpedoes and fire!” the captained commanded. “Mr. Paris, evasive pattern Omega, full impulse.”

Voyager managed to dive from the path of the closing projectiles, Tuvok easily detonating them with controlled phaser bursts.

Lock photons,” Janeway said reluctantly. Their supply of photon torpedoes was extremely limited and were unable to be replaced. “Fire phasers at full.”

The beams of Voyager’s weapons array lashed out again, this time finding their mark on the Vidiian ship, vaporizing a large section of its hull. “Follow up with the torpedoes,” Janeway said.

The photon torpedoes found their marks in the heavily damaged section of the enemy vessel and exploded. The vessel exploded in a fantastic display of antimatter and plasma.

Tuvok!” shouted Janeway. “I didn’t want you to destroy them.”

The lieutenant turned to the aft section of his station. “I am at a loss to explain, Captain. It appears their warp core was in that section and was unshielded. Sensors revealed I was targeting their primary weapons array.”

Janeway closed her eyes. “We’re certainly not doing a very good job of making friends out here.” Opening her eyes again, she turned to her first Kim. “Harry, scan for survivors on the Talaxian ship.”

I’m only picking one Talaxaian aboard. He appears to be unconscious.”

Captain,” said Neelix, studying the main viewscreen. “That’s the Sovax. It’s the same class of ship as mine. My friend Vix is the captain. He always flies alone. If he’s in trouble we’ve got to help them.”

Don’t worry, Neelix,” Janeway assured him, “that’s exactly what we’re going to do. Janeway to transporter room one.”

Seska here.”

Ensign, lock onto the Talaxian on the ship off our starboard bow and transport him to sickbay.” She looked up at Neelix and nodded. He entered the lift and began the descent to deck 5.

/ / /

How is he, Doctor?” Neelix blurted, almost running through the doors to sickbay.

The Doctor moved away from the immobile Talaxian lying on the surgical table. “Just a mild concussion. He’ll be fine. Yet another outstanding moment in the existence of an underappreciated EMH.”

Neelix moved to the bedside of his hold friend and put a hand on the others shoulder. “Vixiton,” he said firmly.

Vix’s eyes opened, and he burst into a sitting position. “Neelix?! What are you doing aboard an alien ship?”

It’s a long story, old friend, one I’ll be more than happy to share over a cup of Troka ale. Why were the Vidiians chasing you?”

Vix’s eyes fell to the deck. “They kidnapped my family, Neelix. Six days ago, we were in bed in our house on Talvor. The colony was attacked. There were hundreds of them. Ghouls. Body parts mixed together and mutated- splattered all over their hideous bodies. They rounded people by the hundreds and loaded them into shuttles. I managed to get my old disruptor pistol from the safe just in time and killed three of the monsters. They chased me through the marshes and I managed to lose them.

After the shuttles returned to their ships, I prepped my freighter and went after them. I tracked them to a colony about five light-years from here. I found Talaxian life-signs on an asteroid. I even managed to sneak in.” His eyes closed, tears streaming from them. “They had been butchered. I saw a Vidiian walking down a corridor. She had my wife’s face. A child was with her. My daughter’s face had been grafted over hers. I snapped. I jumped out of the shadows and shot them. I made it back to my ship and escaped just in time. You know the rest.”

Neelix stood in the surgical bay, stunned and speechless. “Vix, I don’t know what to say,” Neelix said quietly. “I am so sorry. If there’s anything I can do…”

No,” Vix said, shakily. “Just avoid those things, Neelix. They don’t care. All they want to do is harvest body parts. And they don’t care where they get them from.”
/ / /

Captain Vixiton, you have the condolences of my entire crew. My chief engineer has assessed the damage to your ship. She says its stable enough to return to the nearest Talaxian colony.”

Vix stood across the desk from Janeway in the captain’s ready room. It’d been nine hours since Voyager had rescued him from the Vidiians. “Thank you, Captain. You saved my life. I just caution you. The Vidiians will be back. You destroyed one of their warships. They wont forget that.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out an isoleniar chip. “I downloaded the map of the sector from my sensor logs. There’s a huge Vidiian colony five light-years away. You need to avoid it at all costs.”

Janeway took the offered chip and slid it into her desktop monitor. The screen came to life with a grid of space ahead. She said, placing her chin in her hand. “Thank you for this, Captain. But a course around this colony will take nearly nine months.”

Better a detour than to be harvested for organs,” Vix said.

Janeway stood and smiled. “I’m sure we’ll be able to manage our way through, Captain.” She led him into the bridge. “If there’s anything you need, you have Voyager’s com frequency. We’ll do what ever we can.”

Vix nodded and headed for the lift accompanied my security officer Chapin.

Minutes later the Talaxian freighter departed Voyager’s shuttle bay. Janeway watched on the viewscreen as the small vessel sped away and went to warp.

We’ve got a problem, people,” Janeway said to the bridge at large. “Senior staff briefing in twenty minutes.”

/ / /

Our probes have finished their assessment of the system ahead,” reported Tuvok. He was seated in his customary seat along the side of the briefing room table. “Three inhabited planets, with populations greater than four million. Fourteen moons that have colonies on them, as well as fifty-three asteroid facilities.”

What about ships and defenses?” Chakotay asked.

Unknown. Sensors have not revealed any vessels larger than small shuttles. But with the pursuit of Captain Vixiton’s vessel, we have to assume they are there.”

Given their ability to hide from us last time we ran into them, I’d bet they’re using the planets to mask themselves,” Tom Paris interjected. “I say we set up a high orbital posture and burn through there at maximum warp. We could be beyond their sensor range before they knew we were coming.”

B’Elanna Torres laughed. “That’s feasible if we had the power to sustain maximum warp, but we don’t. Our little encounter with that space-born life-form not to mention that Kazon attack at the Sentrali station has severely hampered our power systems and warp capability. We’re in no shape for high warp.”

Janeway leaned forward in her seat, fingers interlaced. “What would be needed to maintain warp nine point nine for long enough to make it through?”

Torres looked away from the captain, mind racing. “I suppose if we shut down power on two decks, we could route it to propulsion. We’d have to take a good deal of systems off-line in the meantime.”

Captain,” Chakotay spoke up. “I’m not sure this is worth the risk. Is a detour unacceptable in the face of risking the lives of everyone on board?”

Practically speaking,” Janeway said, “Federation policy is not to encroach on the borders on a sovereign nation. But we’re a long way from home, and I’m not going to waste nine months bypassing a bunch of organ snatchers.”

Captain,” Neelix said, eyes fixated on the stars through the viewports. “I am not sure I agree with Commander Chakotay. I’ve had my problems with these people, but they did save my life.”

After endangering it in the first place,” Chakotay shot back. “We can’t assume these Vidiians will have sympathy for anyone. Not what after they did to your friends colony.”

All right,” Janeway said firmly, raising her hands in a gesture demanding peace. “Mr. Tuvok, you’ve studied the Vidiian weapon we recovered. Is there an way to create a defense against it?”

The Vulcan hesitated a moment. “No, Captain. The Doctor and I have meticulously gone over the device and can find no way to shield against it. When the beam hits a humanoid body, it sends trillions of micro bursts into the cells searching out for the key organs. They are removed almost instantaneously. Even personal forcefileds are unable to repel the beams.”

Which also points out their weapons on their ships,” Harry Kim said. The young ensign on his first deep space mission was relatively quiet during staff meetings. But lately he’d begun to speak his mind more freely. “Those torpedoes of theirs could’ve ripped right through our shields. Poloron weaponry is extremely difficult to defend against.”

But not impossible,” Torres said. “The Cardassians used poloron cannons on their orbital weapon platforms. We managed to shield against them by littering the shield grid with a series of tachyons, which dissipated the poloron explosion on impact. It won’t hold forever, but will it will render them no more destructive than a photon torpedo. It’ll cause damage, but not was quickly.”

Chakotay, apparently losing the backing of the only other former Maquis in the room acquiesced. “I still think it’s a bad idea. But if we’re sufficiently shielded and can channel enough power to the warp engines to make it through, I say let’s give it a try.”

Janeway stood, and looked to each crewmember in the room. “I fear that this may be a challenge we’re going to have to face a lot in the years to come as our journey takes us closer to home and through more densely populated sectors of this quadrant. We’re going to run across a lot of bullies who don’t want us running across their back yard. And like I said, Starfleet policy is very clear on the violation of alien territory. But ours is a unique situation. We’ve got a lot of rules that are going to have to be adjusted to life in the Delta Quadrant. I’d say now is as good as time as any to tweak them. Let’s do it.”

 

[Garm Bel Iblis]

It took twelve hours to make the necessary modifications to Voyager. Power was routed from two decks to the main propulsions systems. Stellar Cartography and all other non-essential systems were taken off-line and power rerouted.

The tachyon grid into the shield generators took another three hours to be reconfigured.

Janeway sat in her command chair, approving the final systems analyses before their departure. The ship was ready, power transferred and the crew, Starfleet and Maquis alike were finally starting to function together smoothly.

Mr. Paris,” she said. “Plot our course for the minimum distance required to get in and out as soon as possible.”

Paris nodded, adjusting the controls on his helm. “Aye, Captain. I’ve plotted two one seven mark twelve. It’ll get us in and out in fourteen minutes. We’ll leave their sensor range forty minutes later.”

Janeway nodded. “Good. Prepare to engage.” She turned to Chakotay who frowned.

Ready to go?” he asked.

Red alert,” Janeway said as confirmation. “Shields at maximum, full power to the weapons array. Bridge to engineering, are you ready Miss Torres?”

As we’ll ever be,” came the reply. “You’ll have nine point eight for one hour. No more.”

All right,” the captain said at last, giving the bridge one last glance. “Let’s get this over with. Engage, Tom.”

Voyager sped through space at full impulse until her parametric warp nacelles folded into position and flashed. An instant later the matter\antimatter reaction exploded in the core and Voyager was…

On course,” Paris confirmed. “Hang on.”

The ship began to rumble as she was brought to full warp speed. “Warp nine point eight seven three.”

The main viewscreen showed the stars racing by at incredible speeds, nearly 3,000 times the speed of light. The Vidiian colony was coming into view along the lower right corner of the screen.

Captain,” Tuvok spoke from the tactical station. “I am detecting fourteen ships. They are coming from the far side of the asteroid colonies and are taking up a defensive screen directly in our flight path.”

Janeway resisted pounding her fist on the arm of her chair. “Hold your course, Tom, use your own discretion to get us through.”

Chakotay hauled himself out of his chair and joined Tuvok. “Can we fire a spread of torpedoes in their path?”

The Vulcan shook his head. “Our current velocity hampers us from utilizing the forward launch tubes. We would no doubt collide with our own torpedoes.”

What about phasers?” asked Kim.

Dispersal at this speed would reduce effectiveness to below eleven percent.”

You know,” Paris said, hands dancing across his controls, “I’m getting really tired of Vulcan precision. Hang on, I’m going to adjust to oh eight seven.”

The ship angled to port, the bulkheads rumbled violently.

Hull fractures are forming on the nacelle pylons,” Kim reported from Ops. “Another course change like that and the engines will fly right off the ship.”

Weapons range with the Vidiian’s in twenty three seconds,” Chakotay said, reading Tuovk’s scanners. “We’ve got to do something.”

All stop,” ordered the captain.

Paris only hesitated a moment before he punched the appropriate commands. “Aye, sir, all stop.”

The vibrations ended as Voyager slowed to a relative stop, her breaking thrusters firing from the forward saucer to slow their momentum.

Vidiian ships have altered course again,” Tuvok reported. “They are eight minutes away.”

I want to count on them trying to encircle us,” Janeway said, rising to her feet and moving towards Paris at the helm. “Tom, I’ll need your finesse. Let them get within weapons range, then slip under them and resume maximum warp. Mr. Kim, hail the lead vessel.”

As Tom went to work programming his new course, Harry activating the communications array. Several minutes passed before he looked up and shook his head. “No response.”

They’ll be in phaser range in ninety seconds,” Tuvok said.

Tom, prepare to go warp. Tuvok, fire a phaser spread from the aft array the moment we’re through their screen. That should provide us with a distraction to escape.”

The Vidiian ships slowed to impulse on the main screen and closed on Voyager. Large tubes were extending from the undersides of their hulls.

Janeway threw an inquisitive look to Kim.

Airlock modules,” the Ops officer reported. “Their tips are covered with plasma torches. They’ll be able to cut right through the hull.”

I have a course,” said Paris. Before the order could be given he engaged the warp engines.

Fire phasers!” snapped Janeway.

As Voyager once again sped ahead, warp nacelles powering up, several beams of phased energy formed along the aft arrays and lashed out at the lead Vidiian cruiser. The beams tore through the hull, severing the secondary section of the ship. It broke apart and erupted in a fire ball.

Nice shot, Tuvok,” Tom said, working feverishly at the helm. “Engaging.”

Voyager leapt into warp.

Paris blew a sigh of relief and looked back to the captain. “We’re through, ma’am. We’ll clear the system in eight minutes.”

Any other signs of pursuit?” Chakotay asked moving back through the aft section of the bridge towards his seat.

One of the Vidiian cruisers has emerged from the debris,” said Tuvok. “They are in pursuit at warp seven.”

Janeway smiled. “Then unless they have a warp core comparable to Voyager’s they shouldn’t be able to catch us. Hold your course, Mr. Paris.”

Captain,” Kim reported, “I’m picking up a transmission from the Vidiian ship. Audio only.”

Janeway gave a nod and Kim patched the message through.

The haunting, deep voice filled Voyager’s bridge.

Our survival is paramount. You can run from us, but we will have you.”

Janeway felt sick. These people had suffered for generations with the Phage virus that deteriorated them from the inside out. The only way they could survive was by stealing the organs of others and grafting it to themselves. This wouldn’t be the last Voyager saw of the Vidiians.

 

[Mistral]

Still dark and depressing. Always hated the Vidiians.

 

[Garm Bel Iblis]

Chapter 3: “This story takes place immediately after ‘Prime Factors.’

You can use logic to justify almost anything. That's its power ... and its flaw."

Lieutenant Tuvok rose from his kneeling position on the floor and blew out the flame on his mediation candle. Placing the small lamp on the table he removed his ceremonial robes and got into his uniform.

Giving himself a quick glance in the mirror, he exited his quarters and headed down the corridor. Four days had passed since the incident at Sikaria. Tuvok had disobeyed orders and obtained the trajector technology. In theory the device was capable of transporting matter over tens of thousands of light-years. Tuvok had gone against the captain and traded the entire Federation library of literature in exchange for the apparatus.

It had nearly destroyed the ship. The technology could not be made compatible with Federation software. Janeway had been more distraught than angry. She had dressed down both Lieutenant Torres and Tuvok. She’d demoted him from Lieutenant Commander to Lieutenant.

She’d removed the third pip on his collar herself.

He was still a senior officer and chief of security aboard Voyager, but he was unusually distracted by the action. He’d joined Starfleet the first time more than eighty years ago. He’d served aboard the Excelsior with Captain Hikaru Sulu, where he’d learned a great deal about duty and honor. He’d later resigned his commission and retuned to Vulcan. Human emotions had been overwhelming and he’d felt he’d never assimilate into Starfleet life.

Years later he’d rejoined and accepted a position on the USS Wyoming under his Excelsior comrade, Leonard James Akaar. His career had tracked at a satisfactory pace over the next several decades. He’d spent many years at Starfleet Academy as an instructor.

All of his accomplishments had been blemished by a single act of defiance in an attempt to bring Voyager home.

Vanity?

Regret?

These emotions were unacceptable to a Vulcan of his age. He’d spent many hours in mediation attempting to purge these feelings.

So far he’d been unsuccessful.

Since he was not scheduled to on duty for four point nine hours, he strode through the decks of Voyager, he attempted to center himself. This was totally illogical. To worry about a decision he knew was wrong and had already suffered the consequences for.

Exiting a turbolift on Deck 2, he entered the double doors of the new Mess Hall. Eleven crewmen were scattered about the room, eating, drinking, reading and carrying on conversations. Tuvok stepped up the counter, where Neelix was busy stirring an elaborate bowl of fragrant concoctions.

Mr. Vulcan!” Neelix beamed, his chef’s had falling over his ears and forehead. “Good morning, what can I get for you?”

Nothing, this morning, Mr. Neelix. I require your assistance. Engineering reports that the deuterium injectors are showing signs of strain. We are in need of replacements and the replicator grid is still heavily damaged.”

Well,” Neelix sputtered. “There’s a colony on Edevora Prime. It’s about four light years from here. I think they would have some injectors. I was there about a year ago and they had a very vibrant trading center.”

Thank you, please have the coordinates sent to the bridge. I will inform the captain.” He hesitated, remembering Janeway’s request. “Captain Janeway has requested you accompany the away team sent to the planet. Voyager must continue to its rendezvous with the Novon Protectorate.”

Neelix nodded, remembering he had urged Captain Janeway to contact the Novon’s. They would be able to provide the ship with a supply of anti-matter and a new complement of duranium sheeting that would repair a good deal of hull damage the ship had taken over the past few months. His grin grew ear to ear at the thought of accompanying Tuvok on a supply mission.

I’m honored,” the Talaixian said. “I’ll be ready to go as soon as you are, Lieutenant.”

Tuvok gave the over exuberant chef a sideways glance and turned towards the door. “Be prepared to depart at 1300 hours.” At Neelix’s nod of understanding Tuvok left and headed for Sickbay.


/ / /




Voyager’s holographic doctor scowled at Tuvok and sighed heavily. “I think you are overestimating this sickbay’s resources. We are extremely limited on what we can provide.”

Nevertheless,” Tuvok said, suppressing feelings of irritation that rose at the doctor’s accusations, “the captain has ordered forty three emergency medical kits released for trade with the outpost at Edevora Prime. We require the deuterium they have available.”

The doctor sighed again, lifted a padd and punched in a series of commands. “Very well, the kits will be ready within the hour and brought the shuttle bay.”

Thank you, Doctor,” said Tuvok, stepping out of the doctor’s office and into sickbay proper. Kes was seated near the main computer terminal, reading a vast array of medical texts.

Kes,” called the Doctor, emerging. He handed the padd to the Ocampan nurse and threw an irritated look at Tuvok. “Please prepare forty-three emergency med kits and have them brought to the shuttlebay. The captain has decided to trade Band-Aids for a gallon of gas.”

Kes smiled at the Doctor’s irritation and told him she’d take care of it. Her smile faded when her mine began to race. Her thoughts focused on Tuvok, standing less than a meter away. “Tuvok? Are you all right?”

I am not feeling any discomfort,” the Vulcan replied. “Why do you ask?”

Its just…” Kes began. “I’m sensing very strong surges of emotion from you. You seem upset.”

Tuvok glanced at the doctor. Catching the hint, the hologram retreated to his office. Lowering his voice, Tuvok said, “I have been having difficulty suppressing my emotions ever since the incident at Sakaria.”

I heard about what happened,” Kes said politely. “The captain came down pretty hard on you.”

It was within her right,” Tuvok replied, “per Starfleet regulations. I should have been court-martialed. And I feel if we were in Federation space I would have been.”

But why are you having a problem suppressing your emotions?” Kes asked.

I do not know,” he conceded. “Only once have I felt these urges. Many years ago when I was a boy. After weeks of mediation and reflection in a Vulcan monastery was I able to suppress the urges I had been feeling. I am attempting to do so again. With moderate success.”

Well if there’s anything I can do to help, pleas ask.”

Thank you. I will continue my exercises. If I need anything further I will avail myself of you.” He gave her a short nod and departed sickbay.


/ / /

The Class-2 Shuttle, Cochrane, sped into the busy hub of the Edevora system. At the helm, Tom Paris whistled in amazement. “Busy place,” he remarked, gesturing towards the dozens of vessels gliding through the other, dozens more docked along the outer ring of the massive space station.

That’s the main trading outpost,” Neelix said, leaning over Tom’s shoulder.

At the co-pilot’s station, Tuvok keyed the communications array and requested approach clearance.

Alien shuttle,” came a voice back over the speaker, “you are cleared for docking on Level H-2, Section Nine Nine One.”

Data coming through now,” Tuvok announced.

You’ll be very impressed with this outpost,” Neelix said proudly. “I once traded a case of Talaxian spices for an entire antimatter injector assembly. This was one of the main trading posts I used in my life as a trader.”

You sound like a commercial, Neelix,” Tom remarked, flying the shuttle in the cavernous bay. “I just want to get the deuterium and anything else we can get a good deal on.”

Like the power converters Ensign Kim wants for his hotplate in his quarters?” Neelix asked slyly. Tom’s expression said it all.” It’s all right. I know Mr. Kim doesn’t care for what I've been preparing lately. I’ve been studying human cuisine. When we get back I’m going to try something new. Macaroni and Cheese.”

Tom smiled broadly turning back to the helm. “I’m sure Harry will appreciate that. Hang on folks, we’re docking.”

/ / /
They spent several hours in the outpost. The shuttle was completely loaded with supplies. Tuvok found there visit her had been highly successful. It appeared Mr. Neelix was indeed every bit the guide he had claimed to be. The deuterium supplies they’d obtained would power Voyager’s systems for another five thousand hours.

While Mr. Paris and Mr. Neelix were competing the final transactions, Tuvok wandered the stations Promenade, hands clasped behind his back, allowing his mind to wander. This away mission had proved to be refreshing to the Vulcan.

His emotions were becoming much easier to suppress. He was no longer fighting the urges he had been aboard Voyager. Perhaps as the humans would claim, he just needed to get away for a period of time.

Paris to Tuvok,” came the helmsman’s voice over his combadge. “We’re ready to go whenever you are.”

Tapping the badge, Tuvok responded, “Acknowledged. I will be returning to the shuttle momentarily. Tuvok out.” Disengaging the comm. link he changed direction and began his return to the docking ring.

/ / /



Before he could reach the bank of turbolifts, a squat alien, perhaps a meter tall with brown skin and long white hair, braided at the tips, stepped out from a kiosk. “Traveler from afar, I am Trakor. I deal in ceremonial mediation goods. You seem a man of a regal bearing and high intelligence. Would you like to sample my wares?”

Thank you, no,” Tuvok responded evenly. “I am needed in the docking bay.” He attempted to move around the small alien.

Trakor wasn’t going to be deterred. “But kind sir, I think you would very much like to see what I have in my inventor.”

Tuvok placed a hand on the aliens shoulder and pushed him out of the way. “I must be going.”

Trakor shouted. “You are Federation! From Voyager!”

The lieutenant spun around on his heel and arched an eyebrow. “Yes, indeed, I am a Federation officer, and a member of the starship Voyager.”

They’re looking for you, you know,” Trakor whispered. “They were here. They said you would be coming. They told me I had to hold you here.” Tears lined his red eyes. “They said they would kill my family if I didn’t comply.”

Who?” Tuvok asked.

”Vidiians,” Trakor said hoarsely. “They said they’re going to capture your vessel and that I was supposed to capture you and your team. I couldn’t do it. I’m not a violent man! I just don’t want them to kill my family!”

Before Tuvok could respond, he communicator chirped again. “Tuvok.” It was Paris. “We’ve got trouble. A Vidiian warship just entered the system. The stations gone to full alert. Everyone’s getting out of here.”

I am on my way,” Tuvok replied. “Mr. Trakor, you are free to come with me. I will attempt to offer you protection from the Vidiians. We will see if it is possible to save your family.”

Trakor sobbed. “Thank you, sir. I wont forget this.”

Come,” Tuvok said. He and Trakor headed for the turbolifts.

/ / /

The lift doors parted in the shuttle bay. Tuvok emerged, Trakor trailing him. The shuttle was situated on a docking pad thirty meters away. Paris was standing near the open hatch. “Cargo’s loaded, and I’ve plotted a course out of here. Who’s that?”

This is Trakor,” Tuvok said, eyeing the alien. “He needs protection from the…”

An explosion filled the bay. The wall connecting to the station imploded, debris flying in all directions. Tuvok and Trakor were thrown to the deck. They came out of the cloud, weapons at the ready. Fifteen Vidiians. Blue energy emerged from the tips of their weapons and impacted Trakor squarely in the back.

The alien screamed and collapsed to the deck, his vital organs transported directly out of his body.

Tom pulled the phaser from his holster and fired a suppression beam, wide angle. It held the Vidiians at bay. Neelix emerged from the craft and pulled Tuvok aboard.

You’re certainly not as light as you look, Mr. Vulcan,” he remarked pulling the tactical officer into the shuttle.

The Vidiians fired several more times, their beams impacting along the hull of the Cochrane. Tom fired again and again. Two Vidiians were hit. Stunned, the collapsed to the deck. The others began their marched forward. Tom slapped a panel with his free hand. The hatch closed with a clank and a hiss of air pressurization. Jumping into the pilots seat, he keyed the helm, and took the shuttle to full impulse.

It dove out of the bay, and looped up along the far side of the station.

Vidiian ship bearing oh nine five,” Neelix and, falling into the seat next to Tom. “Forty thousand kilometers and closing.”

Tuvok had remained his composure. His uniform was filled with soot. Pulling himself to a sitting position he looked out the viewport as Paris initiated a complicated string of evasive maneuvers. “Trakor indicated the Vidiians have laid a trap for Voyager. They may already be under attack.”

Tom, finally getting the shuttle clear, engaged the warp engines. Tapping a panel he said, “Paris to Voyager.”

Several moments passed.

Nothing.

Looking back to Tuvok, Tom reported. “The Vidiian ship is not pursuing. And no response from Voyager.”

Keep the hail transmitting at regular intervals,” Tuvok said. “Proceed to the rendezvous: maximum warp.”

 

[Garm Bel Iblis]

/ / /

It took nine hours for the shuttle to reach the rendezvous.

When they dropped out of warp they found a planetary graveyard.

The arrangement had been made to meet up with Voyager in this star system at the completion of the away mission.

Tuvok was manning the operations console. “The system’s star has exploded. There were nine planets in this system. They have all been destroyed.”

Paris felt uneasy. “Any sign of Voyager?” He fired the thrusters brining the Cochrane through the field, while remembering to keep a careful on the shield status. The radiation levels were off the scale.

No,” Tuvok said. “But interference is extensive. I will begin a directional array sweep.” Several minutes of searching and Tuvok found it. “There is a large mass bearing one seven zero mark twelve. At the far edge of the system. It’s mass is roughly 700,000 metric tons.”

Paris sighed. “Sounds about right for Voyager. Altering course.”

The Cochrane sped through the radiation belt and they found here. Scorch marks littered the outer hull, half of her running lights were out. The warp engines also appeared to be off-line.

Paris to Voyager,” Tom said in to the comm.

I am detecting heavy damage to all systems,” Tuvok said. “The subspace array may be offline.”

Neelix had been standing quietly in the aft section. “Who could’ve destroyed a star?”

Unknown,” Tuvok said. “Perhaps the captain can explain. Proceed with docking, Mr. Paris.”

Paris keyed in the remote sensors. “Shuttlebay doors aren’t responding to my codes. They must be offline. I’m going to dock at the port airlock.”


When the away team stepped through the docking port, they entered a menagerie of bustling activity. The ship was on red alert. Several crewmembers ran by, carrying repair kits.

The lights were dim, and the shouts of other crewmen were filling the corridor. Several engineers were working on a panel attempting to repair a plasma conduit that had been heavily disfigured.

Ensign,” snapped Tuvok to Solis, a young Bajoran. “Report.”

The young man frowned. “Sir. Welcome back. The star exploded! We were caught in the leading edge of the shockwave. We’ve gotta get this conduit repaired before it bursts open with boiling plasma.”

Calm yourself,” Tuvok said softly. He looked to Tom and Neelix. “Mr. Paris, we should report to the bridge. Mr. Neelix, I suggest you return to the mess hall and secure your post.”

///

They found the turbolifts were offline. It took them several minutes to ascend through the Jefferies tube and reach the bridge.

Pulling himself out of the tube, Tuvok reached down and pulled Paris up.

Kathryn Janeway was kneeling by the helm console, her sleeves rolled up. Several of the bridge crew were attempting to repair their damaged stations.

Janeway glanced up and noticed them. “Tuvok, Tom, good to have you back.”

What happened?” Paris asked urgently, moving to assess his console.

It’s a long story,” the captain replied. She pulled herself to her feet and keyed several buttons. The board lit up. “Chakotay, I’ve got the helm back up.”

Commander Chakotay was manning the tactical station in Tuvok’s absence. “Good work. Propulsion's coming online.” He held up a data padd. “I just received a report from engineering. B’Elanna says warp power’ll be back up in two hours. The damage appears to be more visual than actually operational.”

Janeway sighed. “Good. Inform the crew to continue repairs. I need the comm. system and turbolifts back online. It’ll make repairs that much easier.” She gestured to her ready room doors. “Mr. Paris, Mr. Tuvok, I need to bring you up to speed.”




We’d completed our mission with the Novon Protectorate. Their ships had departed and we headed for the rendezvous. When we reached this system, we found a dozen Vidiann ships. They were attacking the fourth planet. Outnumbered and outgunned I ordered retreat. We reversed course and headed out of the system. Before we jump to warp we detected it. A large alien ship headed away from the planet and entered the star’s corona. It exploded a few seconds after entering.

The nuclear detonation triggered a supernova. The blast vaporized all the planets, the Vidiians, everything within range. Voyager was far enough away we only caught the edge of the shockwave. We were thrown forty billion kilometers away. We’ve been trying to repair the damage since.”

Listening to Janeway oration, Tuvok felt strangely uneasy. He quickly reiterated what had happened aboard the Edevoron outpost. About the Vidiians, and about the alien that had warned them about the attack. “Is it possible the Vidiians were waiting her for Voyager when the aliens attacked?”

It’s possible,” Janeway conceded. “Our sensors are still off-line. We can’t pull up anything on the fourth planet. We didn’t have time to review the readings before the star exploded.”

I will work with Lieutenant Torres to repair the sensor array,” Tuvok said. “I fear we may not yet be out of danger.”

Good idea, Tuvok,” the captain said. “I’ve got your helm repaired, Mr. Paris. Please plot a course through the system. I want search for anything that may have survived the nova. It may be a clues as to what the Vidiians were doing here.”

Aye, Captain,” Paris said, heading back for the bridge.

Tuvok remained a moment. “Captain, I must point out that Voyager is in no condition to offer a defense against a Vidiian assault. If they are lying in wait and we are engaged in a conflict…”

Don’t worry, “ Janeway said. “I have no intention of turning this ship into an organ bank. I’ll destroy Voyager before I let that happen.”

Nothing further needed to be said. Tuvok nodded and headed for engineering.


Captain’s log supplemental: It’s been twenty hours since the supernova. Essential systems have been brought online and repairs are proceeding nicely. Mr. Kim has called me back to the bridge. He says they may have found something.

It’s solid neutronium,” Kim reported from Ops.

A neutronium base?” Chakotay asked incredulously. Federation science had never mastered the construction of neutronium.

“It looks like it,” Kim confirmed. “It’s huge too. Almost two kilometers in diameter.”

Are you reading any life signs on board?” Janeway asked. The forward viewscreen was showing the massive station, orbiting the far side of the debris field.

Sensors can’t penetrate the hull,” Harry said.

Can we transport through it?” Paris inquired from the helm.

No,” Tuvok reported. “Even if we could, it would be inadvisable as we cannot scan the interior. Neutronium is the only substance known that can sustain the direct impact of a supernova. I suggest we send an away team by shuttle and study this technology.”

Agreed,” Janeway confirmed. It looked as though the Vidiians were giving this system a wide berth. The fully repaired sensors showed no sign of ships in the area. “Commander Chakotay, take a small, heavily armed team aboard and see what you can find.”

Chakotay rose from his seat and ascended to the lift. “Mr. Tuvok, Mr. Kim. Lieutenant Torres, report to transporter room two.”

Janeway watched her officers depart and turned her attention back to the viewscreen. Somehow, the aliens who had lived here had destroyed their star. But they had also left a massive neutronium space station behind that survived the explosion.

She could only imagine what the away team would find aboard.

Two hours later the away team reported in.

Janeway stood on the upper level of the bridge near the Mission Ops station.

Commander Chakotay’s voice filled the comm. speakers. “It’s a library, Captain. The entire station is a memorial to this civilization. They were called the Porona. I’ll begin updating the database to Voyager. The away team will be returning shortly. There are a lot of sad things over here.”




/ / /


The viewsreen in the briefing room glowed with the image of a tall, slender individual who had identified himself as Karz. Leader of the Porona Imperium.

If you are receiving this message, we have lost our war against them. The Vidiians have engaged us in war for nine years. Six days ago they breached our defenses and began their march across are space. Billions have been lost. But we on the homeworld refuse to submit to these organ snatchers. As you know no doubt are aware, our sun has gone nova. We refused to submit. We would rather die. And we have. The station where you have found this message has been constructed to preserve our legacy. Please. Do not forget us. We will live as along as this station exists.”

The message terminated.

The room was silent.

They committed mass suicide to prevent from being mutilated,” Neelix said. “How horrible.”

Janeway rose to her feet. “I want this data stored in our library files. I don’t want record of this race to be lost. No doubt the Vidiians will continue to pursue us as well as engage the races throughout the sectors we’re crossing.”

What I find curious,” remarked Tuvok, “is that when we encountered the Viddians for the first time several months ago, they claimed they always attempted to extract organs from the dead. Engaging in open warfare is drastically different than harvesting corpses.”

They’re desperate people, Tuvok,” Janeway said. “I want the ship secured, repairs to continue and a course away from here as fast as possible. I don’t want to stop until we have to. I want to put as much distance between us and the Vidiians as possible. Dismissed.”

The crew departed the room and returned to their stations.

Janeway turned her attention to the viewport and watched as the ship accelerated to warp. The streaming stars, their rainbow colors streaked by. Sighing heavily, Kathryn Janeway knew if this first several months in the Delta Quadrant were a preview of years to come, they were in for a long road home. She resolved herself. Standing up straighter, she returned to the bridge.

She would get this ship home.

/ / /

 

[Mistral]

That was a unique twist. More?

 

[Garm Bel Iblis]

Chapter 4

This takes place two weeks after Alliances.

The shields flashed blue under the assault. The green particle streams licked at the starships deflector grid again and again. Weakening them each time.

Mr. Paris, come to one four seven and go to warp,” Chakotay said, kneeling on the deck in front of the command chairs. He pressed his fingers to the neck of an unconscious Kathryn Janeway. He felt a pulse through the collar of her tunic. “Bridge to sickbay, the captain’s hurt.”

We have our hands full,” came the Doctor’s reply, “but I’ll do what I can.”

Harry,” Chakotay said, “set up a site-to-site transport and send the captain to Sickbay.”

Harry Kim nodded without saying anything and manipulated his controls.

Janeway was enveloped in a stream of energy and vanished. Chakotay hauled himself to his feet and dropped down the steps to the helm. “Tom?”

Working on it, sir, they’ve got us boxed in.”

Chakotay turned back to tactical. “Report,” he said to Tuvok.

Two Kazon vessels have been disabled, the third is pressing the attack. Shields at twenty-three percent.”

Engaging warp,” Paris said, relieved.

As the vessel sped away at maximum warp, the deck plates rattled as the heavily damaged ship attempted to stabilize her wounded systems.

The Kazon vessel is not pursuing,” Tuvok said.

Have a full damage report ready as soon as possible,” the first officer ordered. “Bridge to Engineering. B’Elanna, how bad is it?”

It’s not good; the warp coils have lost the molecular bonds and could fly apart at any second. I recommend dropping out of warp.”

We’re not in an ideal position to do that at a moment. If I can find us a nice Class-M planet, would it make it repairs easier if we set down?”

Undoubtedly,” she replied. “I recommend not exceeding warp four though until repairs are complete.”

Understood, Chakotay out. Mr. Kim, are there any Class-M planets out there?”

Kim hands were flying across the aft section of his station. “I’m reading one on a heading of two four nine mark twelve, point oh four light-years away.”

You heard him, Tom, let’s go.”

Paris nodded once and turned back to his helm. “On our way.”

Full damage reports have been compiled,” Tuvok said. “Suffice it to say, the ship has been heavily compromised. Fractures are lining the dorsal and ventral hulls as well as the saucer section. Primary weapons are off-line and the shield generators have failed. The main computer is operating at forty percent of nominal and life-support has switched to emergency backups. Sickbay has reported eleven injuries, two of them serious. I also must report that the captain’s condition has worsened.”

The burning smell of smoke from damaged circuitry assaulted Chakotay’s nostrils. He thought back only minutes ago to the support beam in ceiling of the bridge collapsing. It had struck Janeway and she went down in a heap.

Will she recover?” Chakotay asked urgently.

The Doctor has not responded. He is too inundated with patients for normal reports. Kes is responding to emergency calls.”

Chakotay touched Paris’ shoulder and said, “Tom, get down there and help the Doctor. I’ll take over here.”

Paris rose, headed out of the bridge and Chakotay dropped into his chair at the helm and held the Voyager’s course.

/ / / / / / / / /

She took a severe blow to the base of her skull,” the Doctor said as he passed the medical tricorder over the captain.

Across sickbay, Kes was applying a dermal bandage to a burn on Lieutenant Carey. “Will she be all right?”

The Doctor didn’t turn back. Instead he reached for the medical tray and pulled filled a hypo. He pressed it to the captain’s neck. “I’m not sure. I’m going to have to prevent her from slipping into a coma. I’m injecting her with an adrenaline compound.”

The captain’s eyes rolled backwards then forward, her eyelids parting slightly. “Captain?” the Doctor asked.

She groaned once then again. She opened to mouth to form a word then lost consciousness again.

Prepare a stasis chamber,” the Doctor said urgently. “We’ve got to get in here there before she dies.”


/ / /


It’s pretty bad isnt’ it?”

Harry Kim nodded at Tom Paris’ question. “We’ve been in worse scrapes than that before, but it’s the cumulative damage we’ve taken. You know next Thursday is our one year anniversary in the Delta Quadrant?”

Paris smirked. “Been a wild trip so far,” he said. “Although, I could do with less Kazon.”

I’m telling you, Tom, they gunning for us more than ever. Ever since that stupid alliance Chakotay came up with.”

Paris crossed his arms. “Give him some credit, Harry, it’s not all his fault. The Trabe were the ones who tried to assassinate the Kazon leadership. No telling what would’ve happened if Voyager hadn’t stopped them.”

They’re still throwing everything they have at us. Now the ship’s taken so much damage, we’ll be lucky to get it moving again, the captain’s in stasis, almost dead. Something’s gotta give.”

It will,” Tom said, “The Doc is working around the clock on a treatment for the captain and B’Elanna won’t let the core explode.”

The turbolift slowed to a halt and the doors parted on the bridge. Escaping coolant still spilled from the breach in the ceiling. Crewmen were scattered about the crippled command center, repairing what they could as the vessel cruised at warp four towards a Class-M world they planned to set down on to make repairs.

How long does she think it will take?” Paris asked.

They moved to Kim’s station at Ops. Harry danced his fingers across the panel bringing up an assessment from engineering. “Three or four weeks,” he said glumly.

Paris dropped his head. “That’s a long time sitting still.” He pushed away from the console and headed for his post at the helm.

/ / /

Chakotay was standing near the engineering station conferring with Ensign Nicoletti. It’d been nine hours since the Kazon attack and in that time, the commander had seen to all essential repairs himself. He was determined to keep himself busy and take his mind of the captain lying in medical stasis, her ultimate fate unknown. The Doctor had told Tom that there had been severe damage to the base of Janeway’s brain and only time and a bit of medical manipulation would tell in her hopeful recovery. He wouldn’t give an estimate, but he did state it would be several weeks before any news would be known.

Tom adjusted himself as he descended into his chair and moved his hands across the helm. Ensign Baytart vacated the console and moved to the science station. “Coming up on the coordinates,” Paris said to Chakotay. “Going to impulse. We’ll be in orbit in forty minutes.”

Chakotay nodded, quietly reviewing a data padd. The graphical representation of repair and refit estimates flowed on the small devices screen. B’Elanna would be working overtime for the next few weeks making repairs. He’d need to schedule shuttle supply runs, outer hull inspections, not to mention survey teams to scour the planet that was coming into range. They’d need to secure a position for Voyager to land and make sure there weren’t any biotoxins or alien predators out there. He had life sciences preparing probes to be sent throughout the planet for study.

They were still Starfleet officers after all. “Once, we’ve achieved orbit, prepare the landing sequence,” Chakotay said.

Commander,” came Tuvok’s voice from tactical, “Long-range sensors have been restored to normal operation. I am detecting no vessels within range.”

First bit of good news we’ve had in a while,” Chakotay said. He headed for the rear of the bridge. “I’m going to engineering. The bridge is yours, Tuvok.”


/ / /



The Class-Two Shuttle Cochrance hovered wit the power of her antigrav thrusters and glided twenty meters above Voyager. The ship had set down on the Class-M planet earlier in the day and repairs had begun.

B'Elanna Torres watched the incoming sensor data with an air of disgust. “Look at all of those breaches,” she said to Tom Paris at the helm “We’re going to need a hell of a lot of duranium to patch those. I don’t think we have enough onboard to do the job.”

Paris, not taking his eyes off the wounded Starfleet vessel, touched a series of commands and brought the shuttle around. “Harry and I will be leaving in a few hours to search for supplies. We detected an asteroid field with a metals. We should be able to manufacture hull plating. There was a also a large deposit of dillitihium.”

Good. Our reserves are at forty percent. If we don’t get an ample supply we’ll never make it out of Kazon space.”

Paris smiled. “Ever the optimist, huh B'Elanna? We’ll always find fuel along the way. The captain is who I’m worried about.”

Yeah,” Torres said. “You’d think our vaunted medical genius of a doctor would have a few more tricks up his sleave.”

Well, sometimes the human body just needs to repair itself,” Paris said. “He’s watching her twenty-four hours a day.”

Chakotay to Paris.”

Tom keyed the com switch. “Paris here.”

Mr. Kim is ready to depart. If you and Lieutenant Torres are finished with your inspection, I’d like for you to get underway.”

Aye, sir,” Tom replied. “I’m ready to leave now. If Harry’s ready, I’ll be him onboard and send B'Elanna back to the ship.”

Do it,” Chakotay said. “I don’t want to linger here any longer than we absolutely have to.”

/ / /

Chaktoay didn’t like, but he needed to be someplace where he could work in quite and still be accessible to the bridge. Since the briefing room had been damaged in the Kazon attack he’d had to recourse.

He sat behind Kathryn’s desk in the ready room reviewing the repair reports and system updates. Keying a switch, the Doctor’s medical analyses over the past two days appeared. Everyone who’d been injured had been returned to duty with the exception of Captain Janeway. The Doctor still woudn’t commit to a prognosis. Chakotay sent a silent prayer to the gods of his people for her safe recovery.

At the sound of the door chime, he blanked the screen and reached for his coffee. “Yes?”

The doors parted and Tuvok entered. The early morning dawn on the planet was just coming over the rise. The sun was spreading across the small room and casting shadows of the Vulcan on the wall. He handed Chakotay a padd. “Damage to the weapons array has been repaired. However, there is an issue with the photon torpedoes.”


Chakotay took the padd and skimmed over it. Over the past year the ship had nearly exhausted it’s supply of photon torpedoes. An original complement of 38 when the ship had been stranded had been reduced to four weapons. “I can see that,” the commadner said. “Do you have any ideas?”

The ability to replicate explosive componets is not available,” Tuvok said. “Starfleet technology does not allow us to replicate energy weapons. The only option I can suggest to obtain new ordnance from a third party.”

Chakotay smiled. “You must’ve really exhausted every avenue if you’re already submitting to seeking out a weapons dealer.”

As Chief of Security it is my duty to point out all available methods to protect Voyager. The only way to replace our spent torpedoes in my opinion to obtain new ones from an outside source.”

I agree with you, Tuvok,” Chakotay said. “I’ll speak with Neelix, he may know someone in the area who can help us.”

Tuvok was relieved. The idea of having to discuss deatield security matters with the Talaxian was not something he looked forward to. It was part of the reason he’d brought the information to Commander Chakotay. “Aye, sir,” Tuvok said. He turned to leave. “Has there been any word about the captain?” “I’ll speak with Neelix, he may know someone in the area who can help us.”

Tuvok was relieved. The idea of having to discuss deatield security matters with the Talaxian was not something he looked forward to. It was part of the reason he’d brought the information to Commander Chakotay. “Aye, sir,” Tuvok said. He turned to leave. “Has there been any word about the captain?”

Chakotay shook his head. “The Doctor’s not making any promises.”

With nothing more to say, Tuvok left.

Chakoty to Neelix. Please come up to the captain’s ready room.”

/ / /




Kim’s stomach twisted as the shuttle veeered to port and then abruptly back to starboard.

Sorry about that,” Tom said from the helm. “Just a minor course correction.”

The asteroids flying through their flightpath erupted in a brilliant display. “I’m reading a clearing ahead,” said Harry, reaching desperately for the sensors. The inertial dampers were working overtime, compenstating for Paris’ piloting. “Slow us down.”

Paris smiled. “Coming to one third impulse.”

The roar of the engines died away and the Class-2 shuttle slowed and drifted through the opening in the massive field. “I’ve got the transporter ready. We can start beaming aboard the dillithium any time.”

Wait, Tom, look at this,” Harry said. “The dilltium lattice structure of those crystals is thicker than anything I’ve ever seen.”

Paris brought the shuttle in and focursed the main sensor array. “Switch to spectral imaging.”

A graphical representation of the dillitihium appeared on the small monitor. “Let’s get a sample of this back to B’Elanna,” Kim said. “This stuff is amazing.”

Locking transporters,” said Paris. “We’ve got eighty kilos in the hold.” He turned back to the helm. “Duranium deposits are only a few clicks away. We can tear them away with phasers and bring them back.”

/ / /


Repairs progressed for nearly a week. The ship had not had a major overhaul in the past year, since being lost. Now, settled on this lush warm world, the crew breathed fresh air and made repairs to the hull under a planet’s gravity.

B’Elanna had spent days in the geology lab with the Lieutenant Baxter, combing over the dillithium Harry and Tom had found. It was incredible. A few isograms would power Voyager’s primary systems for weeks. But the frequency that it reacted to antimatter was ten times more efficient than traditional dillithium discovered by science since warp drive had been invented.

Chaktoay to Torres,” came the first officer’s voice over the comm. system.

Go head,” she replied, switching off the micro-analyzer.

Engineering’s signaled that impulse power is ready to be brought online.”

Torres’ cheeks flushed. “Sorry, I’m still down in the geology lab. I’ll be at my station in five minutes.”

/ /

We’ll skip the reprimand this time,” Chakotay said with a smile. He stood next to the helm, going over the astromical surveys they’d taken of the sectors ahead. He’d been working with Tom trying to plot a course once they left this planet. “You and Harry really piqued her interest with that dillitium,” he said to Paris.

It’s pretty amazing stuff,” Paris said. He was on the deck replacing a new power relay in the helm console. He lowered his voice. “I’ve been doing some research into the application to our warp drive. It can create an antimatter annihilation that would send us to warp nine point nine in eleven seconds. It remains stable at 99% warp efficiency. Hell, it might even push a vessel past the transwarp threshold.”

Chakotay laughed. The transwarp threshold was a theoretical impossibility to cross. Nothing in the universe could go warp ten. The theory was that warp ten was infinite velocity. He clapped a hand on Paris’ shoulder. “I think you’re in need of much needed sleep, Mr. Paris.”

Don’t count it out yet,” Tom replied. “I’m still working on it. Give me a few months.”

Chakotay shook his head, still smiling and ascened the steps to the central level. “Commander!” Neelix called as the turbolift opened. The short Talaxian emerged from the lift and walked to the rail on the upper level of the bridge. “I’ve searched everything I have and I’m afraid to tell you, I haven’t been able to find any traders within these sectors.”

”Thanks, Neelix,” Chakotay said. “We’ll just have to make do until somewhere down the road.”

Sir,” Harry said from ops. “I heard about the torpedoes. I’ve been working on something.” He walked from his station to the sciences station on the port side of the bridge. Chakotay, Tuvok and a curious Neelix joined him there.

Harry reached out and activated the monitor and punched in a series of commands. The schematic of a rectangular device appeared, rotating slowly, a number of symbols and data streamed past either side. “This is a modified replicator matrix I’ve been designing. We all know energy can’t be replicated, neither can explosives. But, the raw materials can be. Replicators can fashion torpedo casings, the warhead structures, even the detonation circuits themselves. But we can’t create the antimatter and explosive chemicals. Unless…” he tapped several more commands. A standard transporter buffer appeared. “With a few tweaks to the transporter, we can bridge it through this replicator grid and use engine stores to put in the weapons. We could fashion a couple of dozen of torpedoes a month at our current energy levels.”

Tuvok’s eyebrows rose. “Impressive. I would like to review your transporter modifications. Antimatter is traditionally too unstable for such precise transporter functions.”

I’ll have it all sent to you for your review, sir,” Kim replied.

Good work, Harry,” Chakotay said. “Get on it once repairs are complete. I doubt we’ll be out of Kazon space for a while. We’re going to need our weapons.”

Kim beamed and moved back to his station. Chakotay turned to Neelix. “We’re getting closer to departure. Have you had a chance to review the course we’ve been plotting?”


Yes, sir,” Neelix said. “It’s a sparse road ahead. I spent a few months here once, scrounging. There are a few nebulas, a couple of planetoids rich in magnesite, but nothing substantial. There are also a few Kazon colonies in the Mapara sector.”

All right,” the commander said. “Go over what you have with Lieutenant Paris.” At his nodded, Neelix stepped towards the helm. Turning his attention to Tuvok, Chakotay put his hands on his hips. “Well, Tuvok, when we get underway again, you’re going to be XO until the captain’s up and about.”

I understand,” Tuvok responded. “I, however, request to retain my post as tactical officer.”

Of course,” said Chakotay. “But I’ll need your input along the way.”

Aye, sir,” Tuvok said. “Assessments show we will be fully prepared by oh nine hundred tomorrow.”

Good. Once we depart, I want to pass through that field Tom and Harry found. That new dillitium’s intriguing. We’ll want to take on a fair supply.”

Of course. I have cleared several storage bays for the addition of raw materials. Also, I will prepare one of the science labs for Mr. Kim’s experiments into creating new photon torpedoes.”

Sounds good,” Chakotay remarked. “I’ll make a shipwide announcement at the beginning of Alpha Shift tomorrow morning. Schedule a senior staff meeting at oh seven thirty. Dismissed.”

 

[Garm Bel Iblis]

/ / /
Kes held the medical diagnostic scanner at arms length from the surgical table and pressed the activation stud. The blue light appeared on the tip of the device and started a standard diagnostic. The Doctor stood over her shoulder and smiled in satisfaction.

Excellent work, Kes,” he said, moving to the main console. Tapping in the commands, the sensor array arc opened, retracting into the table. “Standard operations are online. Microdyne relays are within point seven one microns.”

Kes set the diagnostic tool on the tray and returned to the smile. “Thank you, Doctor.”

The hologram moved away from the table and headed for his office. “Now that you’ve got a fair hand at the medical equipment in Sickbay, I think you’re ready for more detailed tasks.” He handed her a datapadd. “These contain the methods of gene therapy and genetic modifications used to repair internal injuries.”

Taking the offered device, the Ocampan looked past the office into the rear storage area, towards the stasis chamber. “Any thing new with the captain?”

The Doctor frowned, his emotional subroutines reacting to the thoughts of Captain Janeway. “I’m afraid not. Her brain functions are still confusing.” He spun the computer terminal around and activated it.

Kes peered at the information displayed: a detailed image of the captain’s brain. “What’s causing the cerebral swelling?”

That’s a good question,” the EMH said. “This is not a typical blow to the head. I believe there is something else at work here. The only problem is, it could be thousands of things. Undetectable radiation, alien parasites, it’s impossible to diagnose without a frame of reference.”

What about retracing where the captain’s been in the past months?” Kes asked. She settled into the chair across from the Doctor’s desk. “Computer, access the shuttle and transporter logs for Captain Janeway. Display her departures from Voyager over the past… twelve months.”

The screen shifted from the medical scan to a departure ID scan. Departure scans were sent to the computer automatically by the users combage whenever they left the ship. “Computer,” Kes said. “now show me where the captain has been only by herself.”

The screen shifted to NO ENTRIES FOUND.

It’s Starfleet procedure for the captain to always be accompanied by a security officer or a another member of the crew during away teams,” the Doctor said. “But I can see where you are going.

Kes returned her focus: “Computer, now show me a list of anomalies encountered during the time specified that have affected the brain functions of Captain Janeway.”

The screen shifted again to three different stardates: 48734.2, 49044.5 and 49074.7.

Nicely done, Kes,” The Doctor said. He folded his arms and rested his chin on his fist. His mind raced as he accessed the necessary memory files. “48734.2: Commander Chakotay and Lieutenant Tuvok encountered a non-corporeal race known as the Komar. They took control of Tuvok’s mind and attempted to lure the crew into a dark matter nebula to harvest their neural energy. The disembodied consciousness of Commander Chakotay was able to take control of the crew and fight back against the Komar.”

Kes dutifully input the data on the padd, cross-refereeing the scans of the entire crew.

49044.5,” the Doctor continued. “The ship encountered an anomaly that broke down the physical characteristics of the ship. It turned the entire ship into a labyrinth.”

Kes sat up. “The captain came into direct contact with that field. She was the only member of the crew to be affected.”

But the field dissipated after it passed through the ship,” The Doctor said. He waited until Kes finished inputing the data. “49074.7: Voyager entered Bothan space and the entire crew succumbed to telepathic assaults. The captain was the first to be affected. You, along with my brilliant help of course, managed to disrupt the biogenic field with the modified warp field.”

Kes stood up. “Let’s cross-reference all of the scans taken on these dates with the current brain scans.”

The Doctor followed her back into sickbay proper to the master computer display. “Look at this,” he said, pointing to the monitor. “The waves in all three instances are identical to each other. The odds of this are astronomical. I doubt even Mr. Tuvok would try to take a crack at them. The three disruptions have resulted in the deficiency in the captain’s brains ability to repair itself.” He touched his comabge. “Sickbay to Commander Chakotay. Commander, we have found the reason for the captain’s condition. Kes and I will be working on a cure. However, I recommend remaining on the planet’s surface until we’re done.” He quickly explained how the spatial anomalies were the cause, and it would be inadvisable to take the chance of encountering any more while they were trying to cure the captain.

Understood, Doctor,” Chakotay said. “We’ll delay departure until you say so.”

Cutting the comlink, the Doctor picked up his tricorder. He looked at Kes. “Let’s get to work.”

/ / /

The senior staff had assembled as scheduled with a new sense of hope. Thanks to Kes and The Doctor, Captain Janeway’s condition had improved remarkably overnight.

The Doctor’s image was displayed on the small viewscreen. “I’ll be ready to wake her within three hours,” he said. “At that time, we’ll know if there has been any lasting damage. However, I believe the induced coma protected her from the anomalies. I’ve created a sub-routine to the transporter buffers and the medical scanners to detect such combinations of brain wave disruptions in the future.”

Excellent work, Doctor,” Chakotay said from the head of the table. “Please contact me when the captain’s awake.”

The EMH nodded and cut the transmission.

The First Officer turned back to the people assembled: Paris, Torres, Tuvok, Kim, Neelix and Kes. “Okay, well there’s a bit of good news. Add to that the fully repaired ship, the solution to the supply of the photon torpedoes, as well as the booming crop of the aeroponics bay. All in all we appear to be in good shape.” He shifted, turned towards the viewscreen and tapped several keys on the companel within the table. A starchart appeared. “Thanks to Mr. Neelix in conjunction with our long-range probes, we’ve plotted a course away that should take us through a fairly unpopulated section of the galaxy. We’ll be taking on additional dillithium at the asteroid field Tom and Harry found, then resuming this course. It’ll take about two months to clear these sectors. We should have a quiet ride in store for us.”

Sounds good to me,” Paris said. “I can get to work on those dillithium experiments.”

Me too,” Harry Kim said. “I can work on the torpedoes.”

You’ve all got things to keep you busy,” the commander said. “But I still want you all at your best. We don’t now for certain things will be quiet. We still have to on our toes. No doubt our hopes will be up as soon as the captain’s back in command.” He stood from the chair and walked around the table. “Does anyone have anything else?”

No one spoke.

Then report to your posts and prepare for departure.”

The crew emerged from the conference lounge and took their stations. Chakotay stood in the center of the bridge. “All right, fire antigrav thrusters. Harry, reconfigure inertial dampers. Tuvok, initation blue alert.”

The ship rumbled as she rose from the planet’s surface.

Tom Paris smiled broadly. “Nice work, B’Elanna. Helm’s never been this smooth. We should clear the outer thermosphere in twenty five seconds.”

Chakotay watched as the crew maniupated their controls. Most Federatoin starships couldn’t land. He understood it was a relatively new feature, implemented on Intrepid-Class ships. They only landed once before, and Paris seemed to be getting a feel for it. After a short few moments, the atmosphere of the planet dissipated into the pinpoints of stars. “All right, let’s go,” Chakotay said. “Warp eight.”

 

[Garm Bel Iblis]

/ / /

Kathryn Janeway eased herself from her chair and straightened, stretching her back. The darkened confines of her quarters were calming to her eyes. She’d spent three weeks in medically-induced coma and protected in a stasis field. In that time, Chakotay had taken command and had proven himself as he’d direct the damage control efforts of the engineering teams and several breakthroughs had been made.

Voyager was now fully repaired from the Kazon attack and proceeding through a somewhat desolate sector of the Delta Quadrant. Forward scans and the probes they’d sent had shown a quiet ride ahead.

Janeway was restless. She’d been locked away in her quarters recouperating for the past three days. She’d spent the morning catching up on paper work and something had piqued her interest. A proposal from Lieutenant Paris.

A couple of weeks ago, he and Harry and located a new form of dillitium crystals in an asteroid belt. Voyager had picked up another load of it when they’d departed and experimients had been implemented over the past several days. Tom was convinced the crystals enhanced lattice structure could burn at such a high warp frequency that a ship could cross the warp ten threshold. The idea was more than ludicrous. But she’d authorized a research project.

Only time would tell what would happen.

She keyed off the computer terminal and pulled on her uniform. Finally, The Doctor had approved her for duty. She was due on the bridge in ten minutes.

She looked forward to resuming her duties and getting back to work.

Before she could exit, the door chime sounded. The doors parted and Tuvok entered.

Tuvok,” Janeway said. “Good to see you.”

I am gratified you are well,” Tuvok said. “The Doctor informs me you have made a full recovery.”

Yes, it’s good to be awake again,” the captain affirmed. She noticed the data padd in the Vulcan’s hand. “What is it I can do for you?”

Captain,” he said lifting the device. “I believe there has been a security breach aboard Voyager.”


Chapter: This portion takes place a week after Threshold

Captain’s Log, Stardate 49378.2. It’s been a week since Mr. Paris and I were restored to our old selves. The transwarp flight’s unintended consequences have resulted in a somewhat melancholy mood about the ship. Yet another hope for a shortcut home has been squashed. We’re on course through the Dolana Sector, which Mr. Neelix informs me is sparsely populated. Hopefully, the next few weeks will remain calm.


Come on, Tom,” said Harry Kim. “I just spent nine hours down in the armory replicating torpedo components. What do you say to a trip to Angara VII? The holodeck’s available. Or shoot some pool at Sandrines?”

Tom Paris sat in the mess hall, his feet propped up on the table, and he lie back on the sofa, hands clasped behind his head. “I’m fine, Harry, stop being a mother hen.”

Tom,” Harry said. “It’s only been a week since you were transformed into a new life form and turned back. That can’t be an easy thing to cope with.”

You’d be surprised,” Paris retorted. “Seriously,” he said, sitting up. “I’m fine. I’ve got my name in the history books. I’ve done something meaningful. Who cares if I was rapidly evolved into a salamander? I’m me again.” Before he could say anything further, his combadge chirped.

Mr. Paris,” came Janeway’s voice. “Please report to my ready room.”

On my way, Captain,” he said. Cutting the link, he clapped Kim’s shoulder. “Sorry, Harry. Maybe later.”

/ / /

Mr. Paris, what I’m about to tell you doesn’t leave this room.”

Janeway’s stern expression told Tom to keep quiet and not make any sarcastic remarks. He stood and relative attention in front of the captain’s desk. Tuvok stood off to the side, watching him carefully.

Last week, after your transwarp flight, Lieutenant Tuvok detected an illicit transmission sent from Voyager to the Kazon-Nistrim.”

Paris actually wasn’t all that surprised. The Kazon had been attacking Voyager since they arrived in the Delta Quadrant. In pursuit of Voyager’s technology, such as replicators and transporters, they had been relentless in their efforts to capture Voyager.

When Seska had been revealed to be a Cardassian spy who’d attempted to provide the Kazon with a food replicator, she’d defected to the Kazon and had been a thorn in their side ever since. She’d even gone so far as to impregnate herself with Chakotay’s DNA.

Do you have any idea who it was?” Paris asked.

No,” Tuvok said. “The communications were not sent along normal means. They were disguised as waste energy along the ships’ power grid.”

We have to find this individual,” Janeway said. “There’s no telling what else he’s sent to the Kazon. Mr. Tuvok has come up with an idea to root out the defector. And we’re going to need your help.”

What is you want me to do?”

Tom, its no mystery to the entire crew that you’ve had a rough life up until now. Washed out of Starfleet, a former Maquis, time in the New Zealnad Penal Colony. We want to slowly but steadily begin pointing the finger at you. We want to you to start showing your dissatisfaction with the way the ship is being run. Report late for duty, start letting your work slip, that sort of thing.”

It is our hope if the traitor feels you are being implicated as the guilty party, he will relax his guard and we will be able to localize the transmissions and make an arrest. Unfortunately, we are unable to determine where the transmissions were sent from.”

So…” Paris started. “You want me to be insubordinate, and a pain in the neck of Chak…” he paused. “Wait a minute. Chakotay. Why isn’t he in here? You don’t think he’s the one sending these messages?”

Janeway looked uncomfortable and shifted her gaze to Tuvok.

Until we have concluded the investigation,” Tuvok said, “everyone aboard this ship is a suspect.”

Besides,” Janeway said. “Chakotay is the first officer. His primary function is personnel. If he’s unaware of our plan, it’ll make that much more of a show for the crew.”

How do you know I’m not the traitor? I thought you said everyone’s a suspect.”

That is true,” Tuvok stated. “However, at the time the messages were sent, you were lying unconscious in sickbay.”

Well that makes sense,” Paris responded. “How long do you think this is going to take?”

We have no idea,” the captain said with a sigh. “It could be days, weeks, we simply don’t know. We want your attitude to diminish gradually. Are you up to this, Mr. Paris?”

Tom looked around the room, focusing on the stars out the window. “I spent the majority of my adult life before joining Voyager as something of a pariah in the ranks. Shouldn’t be too difficult to be one again. As long as I get a bit of redemption when this is all over.”

Absolutely,” Janeway said. “You’ll be fully exonerated of any behavior from this moment on.”

Paris grinned.

Janeway jabbed a finger at him. “Just play the part, Tom.”

/ / /

The sprawling metropolis of Osirias Prime were unlike anything B’Elanna Torres had ever seen. As an engineer, she’d studied the construction of hundreds of cities. But nothing compared the vast network of connected structures that dotted across the warm planet she now stood upon.

Quite a sight,” came a voice from nearby. Ensign Frank Darwin rounded his way through the market place and smiled broadly at the collection of items he’d assembled in a large satchel draped over his shoulder.

It certainly is,” Torres admitted. Voyager had arrived four days ago and the crew had been enjoying the Osiran hospitality ever since. Torres, Darwin, Harry Kim and Michael Jonas had been spending much of the afternoon looking for a new set of plasma injectors. Kim and Jonas were off again, speaking with another vendor. “Have you seen Lieutenant Paris?”

Darwin shook his head. “No, ma’am. I don’t think he beamed down. Said something about catching up on his conn reports.”

Torres shook her head. Over the past two weeks, Tom Paris had been elusive, subdued and generally moody around the rest of the crew. He’d sat quietly in daily briefings not offering any sort of witty remark or sarcastic comments that B’Elanna had become accustomed to. She just hoped he was all right.
B’Elanna!” came a familiar voice. It was Harry Kim, pushing through the throng of humanoids. He wore a wide grin and carried a moderately-sized crate. “We got the injectors.”

Michael Jonas followed in his wake. “They were a little more receptive when we threw in a bottle of Talaxian brandy. It was tough to get Neelix to part with it, though.”

Good work,” the engineer said. Touching her badge, she said, “Torres to Voyager, we’ve obtained the new injectors. Beam me and the materials up. Have an engineering team get the old injectors pulled out.”

She, along with the crate of injects de-materialized moments later. Harry looked to Jonas and Darwin. “Come on, I found a bistro about a kilometer from here. I’m buying.”

Darwin smiled, following into stride. “Thanks, Harry. It’s been a long time since I’ve been off the ship.”

Jonas, looking a bit tired around the eyes, stopped. “If it’s all the same to you sir, I’d like to return to Voyager. I’m not feeling well.”

Of course,” Harry said. “See you later.”

Jonas nodded and requested transport back to the ship.

Harry and Darwin resumed their pace and came to the Nalara Sopor restaurant. “Neelix says they’ve got a sort of pasta here that’s really great.”

Darwin dropped into the seat across the table. “I’m a little dubious about taking culinary advice from Mr. Neelix.” He lifted the menu. The words were of course in alien script. “Probably need a tricorder to decipher this.”

Kim smiled. “Have you talked to Tom lately?”

A couple of days ago, I ran a few helm modifications past him,” Darwin confirmed. “He seemed pretty short with me. We’ve worked together a lot. I minored in conn operations at the academy. I’ve helped design a few upgrades to the helm since I signed on. Mr. Paris has always seemed excited about it. But the other day… he just seemed like he didn’t care.”

He’s been the same way around me,” Harry explained. “I’d thought it was a result of the transwarp incident, but that was weeks ago. I can’t see why it’d still be bothering him.”

Maybe you should call him and invite him down here,” Darwin offered.

Kim nodded. “Not a bad idea. Kim to Paris.”

Several seconds passed. “Ensign Kim to Lieutenat Paris.”

Nothing.

Kim to Voyager.”

Go ahead, Ensign,” came Chakotay’s voice.

Commander, I’m looking for Lieutenant Paris.”

Computer says he’s on the planet’s surface. Looks like a bar in the southern district of Tan Kilor, the capitol city.”

He’s not responding to my hails,” Kim explained. “But thanks. I’ll check in on him. Makes sure everything’s all right. Can you send the coordinates to my padd?”

On their way. Chakotay out.”

Harry removed the data padd from the pocket of his civilian tunic and switched it on. “I’m gonna cut dinner short and find Tom.”

Darwin set the menu on the table. “I think I’m going to call it a night. Maybe drop by the Mess Hall and see what Neelix has concocted for dinner.”

Good night,” Harry said.

Sir,” Darwin nodded.

/ / /


Lieuteant Sam Rollins had no family back home. His parents had died when he was a kid. He’d spent a number of years floating around the Federation, doing odd jobs. When he was old enough, he entered Starfleet Academy and focused his life on his duty.

So when Voyager was flung across the galaxy and he’d not felt the same pang of loss as the rest of the crew. To him, being stranded out here had presented one of the greatest adventures of his life. But right now all he wanted to do was attack the person on the other side of his desk.

He was a weapons officer, assigned to the ships armory and weapons arrays. It was his responsibility to maintain the armaments working order and keep the hand phasers ready at all times. He and Harry Kim had been working the past few weeks on creating new photon torpedoes, something he’d considered impossible before the young ensign had proved him otherwise. He’d also been elected to help out with records duty, sorting through duty logs and properly filing department heads’ reports.

He slammed the padd on the desk. “Lieutenant, this report looks like it was written by a first year cadet.” He spun the device around and slid it towards Tom Paris.

The former-Starfleet-turned-Maquis-turned-Starfleet officer blew air between his teeth. “Come on, Sam. We’re 70,000 light-years from Starfleet. Who cares if a few paragraphs aren’t punctuated correctly?”

Lieutenant, you’re a senior officer. The captain’s shown a lot of faith in you and made you part of her command crew…”

Ahead of you,” Tom retorted.

Rollins jumped to his feet. “I’m not jealous of your position, Lieutenant. I love my work. I was never in line for conn officer. When Stadi died, I thought the job would go to Baytart. But the captain thought otherwise.” He held up the padd. “Re-write this conn report. I refuse to enter this into the computer. If you don’t fix it, I’ll send it up to Commander Chakotay.”

Oh, I’m sure he’s got time to correct a few commas,” Paris said. He snatched the padd away. “Fine. Here.” He punched in several commands and threw the padd in the air.

Rollins caught it with ease. He looked at the screen. The data had been erased.

Write it yourself,” Paris said, stepping back into the corridor. He nearly collided with Crewman Chell and Lieuteant Culhain.

Get back here, Mr. Paris!” Rollins shouted.

Go to hell,” Paris responded, pushing past Chell and Culhain, who both wore dumfounded expressions.

Paris stomped down the corridor, forcing every bit of effort he had to resist smiling. He stopped outside the turbolift and slapped the call button. “Kim to Paris,” came Harry’s voice for the third time in the past forty minutes.

Go ahead,” he said, stepping into the lift.

Tom, is everything all right? I’ve been trying to contact you.”

Harry, meet me on Holodeck Two in ten minutes. I’m going to Sandrines.”
/ / /




Game!” Harry Kim said defiantly, gripping his pool cue.

Paris rounded the pool table of the French establishment, clutching his own cue and smiled. “Why don’t we make it interesting this time? Let’s add some table stakes.”

What kind of stakes?” Harry asked.

I don’t know,” Paris said mockingly. “Couple of replicator rations, maybe?”

Ricky, the ever-present female character in all of Tom Paris’s holoprograms cast a warning look towards Kim. “Don’t do it, Harry, he’s hustling you.”

Wait a minute,” Harry said. “Are you saying he deliberately let me win?”

Paris put his hands up. “That would be dishonest, Harry.”

Kim was indignant. He looked around, catching the eyes of several other Voyager crewmen, scattered about the holodeck. “I won that game and I’ll beat you again.”

Paris smirked. “How many rations are you willing to bet on that?”

A weeks worth,” Kim said at last.

Paris shook his head and put his arm around Kim’s shoulder. “Harry, Harry, Harry. Never, ever play with anyone, not even your best friend, if he says 'let's make it interesting.' You want a little action; I'll give you a little action. How about an honest game of chance?”

Ricky smiled again and pointed to Paris. “Never play with anyone, not even your best friend, if he offers you an honest game of chance, Harry.”

Paris put his cue on the table and ignored her. “One replicator ration is all it takes to play, and the only thing you have to do to win is pick a number. Just predict what the radiogenic particle count will be at twelve hundred hours tomorrow, and if you hit the pot is yours. Minus a small handling fee for the bank, of course.”

Several crewmen stood and offered to take a piece of what Paris was offering. While not strictly against regulations, shipboard gambling was frowned upon. And with him skimming the profits for his own benefit, would no doubt bring Chakotay down on him like a ton of bricks. This was getting better all the time.

Harry, get a PADD, take down these names and numbers!”


/ / /

Frank Darwin returned to Voyager just in time for gamma shift. Engineering was usually lightly-staffed at this hour, which was why he liked it so much. He was able to concentrate on his work without interruption.

He was sitting at the impulse system control panel, running a series of command interface diagnostics. Primary engines were operating as Voyager had broken orbit of Osirias Prime three hours ago. Once his diagnostics were done, he could grab a quick break, and get to work installing the new plasma injectors they’d obtained.

He was so engrossed in his work he never even saw movement behind him as the coil spanner was swung and brought down on the base of his skull, killing him instantly.

 

[Garm Bel Iblis]

/ / /

So, when should I report back for duty?” Paris asked with a snort.

Commander Chakotay contained his anger, and reached to put a hand on Paris’ arm. “When you decide to start taking your job seriously, we'll discuss it. But right now, you're dismissed.”

Get your hands off of me!” shouted Paris, twisting. With his other arm, he shoved Chakotay to the deck.

The first officer rolled and was on his feet just as quickly as he had fallen.

Captain Janeway turned to Tuvok. “Mister Tuvok, please escort Mister Paris to the brig.”

/ / /


Tom Paris reflected back on the past few months. He’d done his duty and the traitor had been found. Michael Jonas, killed in a plasma fire, had been funneling information to the Kazon-Nistrim.

Tom had infiltrated their ship and had obtained the proof. He’d barely returned to Voyager in one piece when the Kazon gave chase to the shuttle he had commandeered. The following months had been a blur of activity as Voyager had raced across the sectors towards home.

Then they’d received that message from Seska. A garbled, heavily distorted transmission pleading for Chakotay’s help. Culluh had found out she’d given birth to Chakotay’s child and not his.

Voyager had given chase and had been ambushed by a Kazon armada near the Prima System. When Voyager’s defensive array had been crippled, the captain had ordered him to take a shuttle and attempt to make contact with the Talaxian colony on Prima II and bring reinforcements.

He’d blasted his way out and jumped to warp. His damaged shuttle now cruised through warp. Commander Paxim had brought two of his ships and was preparing their assault.

Voyager had been captured by the Kazon-Nistrim, Paxim had said, and had been flooding subspace with tales of their victory. Tom had no idea what they’d done with the crew. He only hoped he’d find out once his mission was complete.

His plan had been mapped, his trap set. It relied on one crucial piece. He activated the subspace transceiver and recorded his message.

Doc, I hope you're receiving this because if you're not, I'm a dead duck. I'm piggybacking this message on a fake Kazon signal I'm sending to the Bridge. I'm betting they won't be monitoring your Emergency Medical channel. I'm bringing help, but you have to do something for us. When the attack begins, I need you to get the computer to block the discharge from the backup phaser power couplings. You got that? The backup couplings. I'm taking out the primary couplings myself, but I need those backups to overload when they switch to them. Don't do anything until the attack begins or they might notice. That's it for now. I'll be seeing you soon, I hope.”

He ended the message and transmitted it. He set the countdown for six hours. “Paris to Commander Paxim. Message sent. We launch in one hour. You’ll need to engage Voyager right outside the nebula.”

We’ll do our best,” the Talaxian on the viewscreen said. “But our ships are no match for Voyager. If your plan doesn’t work we won’t have a chance.”

Don’t worry,” Tom reassured him. “It’ll work. We’ve got a man inside.” He touched several panels. “I’ll contact you when I’m in position. Paris out.”

/ / /

The Talaxians opened fire on Voyager the instant they dropped from warp. Using the nebula to mask their approach, they evaded the Federation ship, preventing the Kazon from establishing a weapons lock.

Tom’s hands were moving across the helm faster than they ever had before.

Commander Paxim to Paris, they are following us as planned, we’re brining them to you.”



Acknowledged,” Tom said. “Ready and waiting.” He cut the com. “I just hope you are too, Doc.” He cleared the course he was on, spiraling through the nebula and came about. Taking his engines to full impulse, Voyager came into view directly ahead. “Here we go,” he muttered.

The shuttle dove to port, her phasers flaring with full power. They impacted along the ventral section of Voyager, the home of the primary phaser couplings. The computer reported after a few more discharges that they’d been disabled.

Paris tensed as the emitters came to life and a phaser beam began to form along the saucer section. Before the beam could fully form, it exploded, spewing cascading energy across the entire hull of the ship.

Voyager tilted, her systems overloaded and tumbled dead in space.

Yes, Doc, yes! Paris to Commander Paxim. Stand by. I'm going to start transporting your people to Voyager.”

He spun his chair around and slapped at the transporter controls. Once done, he grabbed a phaser and reset the controls.

He materialized in the center of the Bridge. Half a dozen Kazon lie either dead or unconscious on the deck. Smoke floated from several consoles, a result of the phaser overload.

The Talaxians had arrived, weapons in hand and assumed posts across the bridge. Paxim had taken tactical. Paris moved towards the helm and he sighed. “I'm sealing off the Bridge manually. I've got to get the computer back on-line. All Starfleet voice access has been disabled.” No doubt the Kazon had erased access so the Doctor couldn’t use the computer from sickbay. But then how had he sabotaged the phasers?

Paxim spoke up from behind him. “I'm reading a Kazon shuttle leaving the ship. There are also escape pods being launched.”

Forget them. We have more important things to do.” The flickering helm controls finally stabilized. “Helm’s back online, I’ve got partial access to the main computer. I’m checking the navigation logs.” He spun his chair around. “Looks like the crew was stranded on a planet in the Hanon system.”

I’ve heard of it,” Paxim said. “It’s about forty light-years away.”

Come on,” Paris said, standing. “We need to get this ship functioning again. The phaser overload caused a lot more damage than I thought it would. Your crew’s going to get a crash course in Starfleet engineering.”

/ / /

Please state the nature of the medical emergency.” The Doctor materialized and found himself alone in his office. The last thing he remembered was being deactivated by Seska. “Hello?” he called.

Doc!” came a voice from sickbay.

The Doctor turned and grinned widely. “Mr. Paris! Am I glad to see you!” He rushed out of the office and clapped the young man on the shoulders. “I wasn’t sure you’d be able to accomplish your mission.”

Paris shook his head. “Thanks for the vote of confidence, Doc, I just spent an hour getting your program back online.”

Then the Kazon are gone?” the Doctor asked.

Yeah, I brought the Talaxians back with me. They abandoned Voyager once we boarded the ship. Seska’s dead. We found her in the captain’s ready room, slumped over the sofa. The baby’s gone too.”

No doubt taken by his father,” Doc said. “I ran a gene sequencing analysis. The baby was not Chakotay’s son. He was in fact half Kazon. He was Culluh’s son.”

Paris actually laughed out loud. “Too bad we didn’t’ know that before. This whole adventure could’ve been avoided. We also found Suder in engineering. He’d been killed- shot by the Kazon.”

But he did manage to disable the phaser couplings,” Doc said. “A fitting end to such a troubled life.”

Yeah, he really came through for us. I’ve got the warp engines back online and we’re en route to a planet about forty light-years away. The crew’s been marooned there.”

Excellent,” Doc said. “Good work, Lieutenant. You’ve come through for all of us.”

Don’t thank me yet,” Tom said. “From what long-range sensors are showing about this planet, you’d better be prepared for causalities. Volcanoes, primitive humanoids and some very large carnivores were the waiting hosts for the crew.”

Doc’s expression turned sour. “I’ll prepare sickbay. How long until we arrive?”

As if on cue, Paris’ combage chirped. “Bridge to Lieutenant Paris. We’re entering the Hanon system.”

On my way,” Paris said. Without another word, he was out of sickbay and on his way to the bridge.



/ / /


The crew returned. There had only been two deaths on the planet beneath them. Hogan and Bixon. Both had been killed by a large land-eel that stalked the crew through a network of tunnels.

The Talaxians had departed and the crew had resumed the stations immediately. Not even bothering to shower. Janeway stepped out of her ready room and strode across the bridge towards her command chair. Her hair hung in a ponytail and her face was smudged with dirty and grime. “Mr. Kim, is this ship capable of sustained flight?”

Harry had returned to ops and nodded. “All propulsion and navigational systems are functioning within normal parameters, Captain.”

Good. Take us away from our new home,” Janeway said towards Tom’s direction, “and set a course for the old one, Mr. Paris. Warp eight.”

Tom smiled and turned back to his controls. He activated the nav grid and retraced Voyager’s route through the Delta Quadrant. They’d come a long way in the past two years. According to Commander Paxim they were on the thin outskirts of space occupied by the Kazon. Hopefully this was the last they’d seem of them. He input the course. “Heaving 41 mark 77. Destination: Alpha Quadrant.”

 

[Garm Bel Iblis]

Chapter: Takes place after Unity and the Darkling.

Chakotay tried to quiet his mind, but the racing voices of so many people, even after nine days, were still overwhelming him. He could still hear all of them. Riley, Orum, dozens of others. Their linked minds still felt attached to him somehow.

The Doctor had given a clean bill of health and he’d returned to duty. But in the quiet moments of the night, when he fought for sleep, the voices of the Borg Cooperative still echoed throughout his mind. He rubbed at the bridge of his nose and looked up from the crew evaluation reports scattered about his desk in his office.

Voyager had left the colony of former Borg behind after the destruction of the cube in orbit had firmly established their link and created a new type of Borg. He’d spent hours with Tuvok going over all of the information he’d been assaulted with regarding Borg technology. It was only a matter of time before they reached something resembling Borg space. They had to be prepared. The outer borders of the Nekrit Expanse were approaching and soon they’d be entering more populated sectors of the quadrant. A Corian freighter captain they’d met two days said the sector ahead was called the Vyntadi Corridor.

Neelix had explained he’d never been beyond this area of space, so they had no idea to what they’d soon be facing. Shaking his head, he rose and moved to the replicator. “Bolian sesta tea, hot.” Taking the warm glass of amber liquid, he sipped at it and returned to his work. He was just starting to relax when the door chime sounded. “Come in,” he said.

The doors parted to reveal Lieuteant B’Elanna Torres standing impatiently in the corridor. “Chakotay I need to talk to you.”

Smiling, he set the cup on the desk and gestured for Torres to have a seat. “What’s on your mind?”

B’Elanna stepped in and sat down in the chair, then was immediately up again, pacing and staring out the port at the passing stars. “I’m having a problem with one of my engineers. Ensign Ballard.”

Chakotay ruffled through the stacks of data padds and finally found the one he was looking for. “She’s been a good officer since we got out here. Graduated top ten percent of her class, proficient in impulse system control and inertial couplings. I’ve never seen any reports about here before.”

That’s just it,” Torres said. “There’s never been anything directly wrong with her performance. She’s just… flighty I guess. She reports for duty just in the nick of time, does her job with an air of detached interest, and goes about her business like she’s not part of a team.”

I’ll have a talk with her, B’Elanna, but she’s not really done anything wrong.”

Torres shook her head. “She’s not part of the team…” she stopped, smiled and sat down. “Captain Janeway gave me a lecture before she made me chief engineer, about how Starfleet officers had to work cohesively together. That was the day after I nearly killed Joe Carey.” She stood up. “Forget it. I’ll handle it. However, I think an away team would be good for her. Get her off the ship and let her do something on her own. Might make her appreciate the rest of the engineers a bit more.”





She’s scheduled to be rotated to the top of the mission list,” Chakotay said, indicating the padd. “Next mission that requires an engineer, I’ll send her.”

“Thank you, Chakotay.”

“Any time.”

As Torres left, his combadge chirped. “Janeway to Chakotay. Please report to the bridge.”


/ / /


“According to the readings, the dilithium deposits only extend a few meters below the surface. Mining it should be as simple as burning away the soil with phasers.” Standing at the ops station, Harry Kim reported his findings to Janeway and Chakotay. “But the upper ionosphere is filled with omicron radiation. We won’t be able to beam through it.”

Sounds like a shuttle mission’s in order,” Janeway said. “I’m sure B’Elanna will welcome the news of a fresh dillitithium supply.”

Absolutely,” Chakotay confirmed. “Mr. Kim, it’s your discovery. Prepare a shuttle for launch. Ensign Ballard will be joining you.”

Harry beamed. He and Lindsay had gone through the academy together. They’d been inseparable. And the past three years on Voyager had been advantageous to their friendship. “Of course, sir,” he said. This was his first away mission he’d be leading. “We can perform a sub-orbital scan of the surface before we find the best place to set down. I can probably get the transporter enhancers set up to break through the interference in the atmosphere.”

Good,” Chakotay said. “Report to the shuttlebay.”



/ / /

The cavernous shuttle bay located at the rear of Voyager, despite atmospheric forcefields and a heavily insulated doors, still contained a cold chill that made Harry’s bones ache. He’d been in the shuttlebay for twenty minutes, going over the pre-launch protocols and waiting for Lindsay.

Finally after nearly half an hour after his com call, the young engineer jogged through the airlock into the bay.

Get lost?” Harry asked.

Oh, Harry,” Lindsay said, looking around. “The rest of the team isn’t even assembled yet.”

We are the team,” Kim emphasized. “Commander Chakotay requested you to accompany me on the mission.”

Me? I’m an engineer not an officer.”

We’ve picked up a large dilithium deposit on the planet below. We can’t beam through the atmosphere.” He indicated the shuttle. “Climb aboard, Ensign, you’re under my command now.”

Ballard grinned widely and threw a mock-salute at Kim. “Aye, aye, Captain Kim.”

Harry shook his head and climbed aboard the Cochrane.

They both settled into their positions in the fore section and Kim fired up the impulse engines. “Kim to Bridge. Launch procedure cleared. Requesting permission to depart.”

Janeway’s voice came over. “Opening bay doors now.”

Ahead of them, the massive shuttlebay door slid open, revealing the black void of space and the spinning planet below. The Cochrane rose on her engines and sped out of the bay and began the descent.

Atmospheric entry at point seven one,” Kim said. “Impulse reactor stable. Holding at .75. Coming to course 171 mark 219. Entering the planet’s gravity well.”

Ballard laughed and touched a few panels. “Confirmed. Estimated landing in six minutes. You’re really enjoying yourself, aren’t you, Harry?”

Not everyday I get to command an away team, and I don’t think I’ve ever had a chance to order you around.”

Ballard reached above her head and touché several commands. The shuttle rocked gently. “Anti-grav thrusters enabled. Approach vector at two four eight. Sure, Harry, you just like bossing me around.” She peered into the scanners. “Looks like the dilitihium deposits are smaller than we thought. They’re located at the bottom of that ravine.”

Kim reviewed his own scanners. “We won’t be able to set down any closer than five kilometers. Up for a hike, Ensign?”

Aye, sir,” Ballard smirked. “I’ll get our gear ready. Set us down gently, please.”

/ / /


They set down on the rocky surface of the planet and made their way over the harsh terrain. After repelling down the fifty meter ravine, they came to a stop when Kim’s tricorder found it.

According to these readings, the dilitihium should be right beneath us.” He swept the area. “Lindsay, stand back.” He unholstered his phaser and configured the beam. He pressed the firing stud and the orange beam emerged, tearing thorugh the soil. After a few moments, Harry dropped to his knees. A small device, about the size of a com unit blinked and flashed. “It’s a power cell,” he said. “It’s been configured to emit fake dilithium signatures!”

Sounds like the perfect lure for some sort of ambush,” Ballard said, unholstering her own weapon. She caught something the distance. “Look!” she snapped in a hushed tone.

Fifty meters away, two large humanoids were visible. They were clad in a strange blue armor, concealing their orange skin. They were taller than any humanoid Lindsay had ever seen. Well over two meters. They both carried huge rifles, and they appeared to be closing.

Come on,” Harry said. He reached into his pack and stuck the transporter enhancers into the soil. Keying them on he slapped his combadge. “Kim to Voyager. We’re in trouble. Bring us up.”

Negative, sir,” came the voice of Henely, the transporter chief. “Targeting scanners can’t lock on.”

Harry,” said Janeway. “We’re reading two life-forms closing on your position. What’s going on?”

Someone set up a power cell to emit dilithium signatures. We think we’re being…” he was cut off as an energy bolt tore over head. “We’re under attack!” he shouted. “We’re on our back to the shuttle. Come on, Lindsay!”

They ran through the underbrush, making their way past the face of the cliff they had descended. “There’s gotta be a faster way up,” Ballard said.

I’m reading an inclination about a hundred meters away,” Harry said.

They ran.

On their hands and knees the clambered up the side rocky hills and finally reached the top. Kim’s tricorder beep a warning. He flipped it open. “Double-time!” he snapped. “They’re right behind us!”

The shuttle was just coming into sight. Kim grabbed Ballard’s arm and pulled her along. “Easy, Harry, I’m running I’m running.”

Kim pushed on. He keyed the tricorder commands and the hatch on the shuttle opened. They were ten meters from the shuttle when the sound of another energy bolt tore through the air.

Lindsay screamed and fell face down in the dirt.

Lindsay!” Harry shouted. Without thinking he scooped her up in his arms and continued to run. He entered the shuttle, slapping the hatch controls. He fell into the seat. “Computer, fire impulse engines at full. Reciprocal course for Voyager!” Kim touched the com. “Kim to Voyager. Ensign Ballard’s been wounded. We’re on our way back. Tell the Doc to prepare for an emergency transport as soon as we clear the atmosphere.”

Standing by,” Janeway’s voice responding, sounding soft.

Kim dropped to the deck and grabbed a medkit. Lindsay lie on the deck, eyes unblinking.

Harry…” she started.

Easy,” Harry said, fighting back tears. “You were hit by a neural disruptor.” He passed the medical tricorder over her. The readings were flattening. She was dying. “You’re gonna be just fine,” he said hoarsely.

Terrible…liar…” Ballard muttered, a spattering of blood escaping from her mouth. She lift her hand and reached for him… then her eyes rolled back in her head and she let our her last breath.

 

[Garm Bel Iblis]

/ / /


Lindsay Ballard was my friend,” said Harry Kim. He stood in the mess hall on deck 2, clad in his dress uniform, his right hand placed on the photon casing containing Ensign Ballard’s body. “We spent four years at the Academy together and she taught me a lot. She had a saying. A Klingon battle cry: Own the day. Lindsay owned every day, in the end finding herself aboard Voyager, doing what she loved.” He stopped, caught his breath and fought back tears. The rest of the crew had assembled and sat quietly, listening to his oration. “And when we were on that planet, Lindsay owned that day too. She died doing what she loved.” His voice shattered and he lowered his head. “Goodbye, Lindsay,” he said hoarsely and moved away.

Tom Paris was on his feet instantly and clapped his hand on Kim’s back, leading him back to his seat.

Captain Janeway stood and walked towards the center of the room. “We will never forget the contributions of Ensign Lindsay Ballard to our journey. The way she made us laugh. We commit her body to space, may she find her way home.”

/ / /


Sensors did not detect any life-signs on the planet and no vessel within range.” Tuvok placed the padd on the table and looked towards the captain. “I believe it would be best to leave the matter unsettled and resume course.”

I’m afraid I have to agree, Captain,” Chakotay said. “If they can hide this well, there’s no telling what kind of weapons they might have.”

All right,” Janeway said from the head of the table. She was watching Harry very carefully. “I know it’s not easy to leave a matter like this unsettled. But Lindsay is gone. Bringing her killers to justice could put the entire crew at risk. B’Elanna,” she added looking towards the chief engineer. “What’s our engine status?”

Our antimatter reserves are at sixty-four percent. If Harry quits his torpedo program for a few weeks, we should have maximum engine performance for the foreseeable future. However, we’re very low on vorillium. It’s too complicated to replicate and we haven’t caught any sign of it on long-range scanners.”

Understanding, Janeway remembered Mr. Nakahn at the Mikhal outpost they’d visited a few weeks ago. He’d given her the cooridinates of asteroid field several light-years away from their current course. He claimed there’d been an abundance of the material within it. Vorillium was a highly reactive material that regulated the power levels between replicators and the rest of the secondary systems. With Voyager’s bio-neural circuitry, the need for vorillium had been lessened when the Intrepid-Class ship had left the drawing board. However, the gelpacks were not in huge supply and there was no way to replace them. To offset this, engineering had switched to a secondary standard isolinear configuration for all systems. Which increased the need for vorillium. “Then I don’t see we have any choice than to head for the asteroid field Mr. Nakahn told us about. Tom, how long?”

Paris reviewed the navigation charts on his padd. “About eleven days at maximum warp.”

All right, then let’s set in a course,” the captain decided.

Captain, request permission to join the teams,” Kim said quickly. “I need to get back to work.”

Janeway watched the young ensign and smiled inwardly at his determination to put the death of his friend behind him and move on with his job. “Commander Chakotay will over crew assignments after we survey the asteroid field, Ensign. I appreciate your dedication though. All right people, we’ve suffered detours before. I don’t see we have much of a choice this time. Dismissed.” As the officers rose and exited the room, Janeway stood up. “Harry, can you stay a moment?”

Kim paused, stopped and turned to face Janeway. “Yes, ma’am.”

Harry, I know you’re having a rough time dealing with Lyndsay’s death,” she said, standing. “You’ve been friends for nearly a decade.”

Kim remained impassive. “I know what you’re thinking, Captain, believe me. Lindsay and I were close I won’t deny that. I will grieve for her, and I will remember her in my own way in my own time. I need to immerse myself in my work.”

I understand,” Janeway said. “Consider yourself apart of the away team to retrieve the vorillium.”

Thank you, Captain,” Harry said with a faint smile. “I won’t let you down.”

/ / /

It took them nearly two weeks to reach the asteroid field. When they had finally dropped out of warp, they’d found a fascinating maze of planetary debris ahead. Several of the planetoids was Class-M and contained huge amounts of vorillium.

An away team led by Chakotay, along with Torres, Neelix and Kim beamed to the surface and began their surveys.

Harry Kim passed his tricorder over the native plant-like lifeforms taking root and settled down on the outcropping. He’d been in charge of collecting mineral samples and antying edible vegetation. So far he’d only found a few mossy vines that contained a little bit of nutrients as far as he could tell. He picked one of the vines loose and took a bite. His eyes watered at the sweetness and he spit it out in disgust. Getting back to his feet, he tapped his combadge. “Kim to Chakotay. I’ve completed my survey. Nothing to report.”

All right,” the first officer’s voice responded. “B’Elanna and I have excavated the vorillium. We’ve got three hundred kilos. Should be enough to regulate power systems for a few years.”

I’m on my way back to your positon,” Kim said. “Kim out.” He tapped his badge again and headed up the ridge. Suddenly his stomach wrenched and he felt light-headed. Then it passed.

Shaking off his momentary nausea, he continued on his way. Reaching the top of the ridge, he spotted the rest of the away team and approached them. Three large storage containers were just beginning to de-materialize, being transported back to Voyager.

If there’s nothing else,” Chakotay said, “I think we’re ready to go.”

There’ s nothing to eat on this rock,” Kim said. He looked towards their Talaxian guide. “How about you, Neelix? Find anything?”

“I’m afraid not,” Neelix said. “A few beetles, but I don’t even want to imagine the crew’s reaction to beetle soufflé.”

Excellent thinking,” B’Elanna said, shutting her tricoer and reattaching it to its holster. “Torres to engineering, get this vorillium installed and take the surplus to Cargo Bay Two.”

Acknowledged,” came the reply from Ensign Vorik.

Chakotay to bridge, we’ve retrieved the vorillium. Ready for transport.”

Moments later, the transporter beam claimed the away team. Chief Lyssa Campbell operated the controls with practiced ease.

However, unknown to her, or any of the rest of the crew, the biofilters of the transporter neglected to isolate and decontaminate the virus contracted by Ensign Kim.

 

[Garm Bel Iblis]

Chapter: Takes place immediately before Killing Game.

“Neelix?”

Recognizing the familiar voice, Neelix smiled and emerged from the back of his kitchen and into the mess hall proper. Captain Janeway stood near the counter, clutching a steaming cup of coffee.

“Captain! What can I do for you?”

“I just wanted to see how you were doing,” Janeway said. “We’ve been so busy with repairs and charting our new course home, you and I haven’t had much of a chance to talk for a while.”

Neelix smiled and unfastened his apron, hanging it on its customary hook. The mess hall was empty at this hour and he had been cleaning up for the night. “Of course, Captain, please, have a seat.”
They both made their way to the sofas near the starboard side of the room. Janeway settled in, crossing her legs. She sipped cautiously at the coffee keeping her attention fixated on Neelix. “How are you?”

“I’m fine,” he said, clapping his palms to his knees. “Keeping busy helps.”

Janeway set the coffee down on the small table in front of her. “I know it’s not been easy these past few weeks. Coming to terms with life and death and what lies beyond. It’s more the stuff of philosphers and not starship crewmen.”

“Commander Chakotay has helped me a great deal. He’s even let me use his Akuna and I’ve met a spirit guide. Quite a rambunctious little fellow.”

Picking up the cup of coffee again, Janeway gave a small salute. “To spirit guides.” She downed the rest of it and stood. “Tuvok says the region ahead contains numerous signs of life. Considering what happened last time you were in a shuttle, if you don’t want to go on the scouting missions, I’d completely understand.”

“Of course, Captain,” Neelix said, his chest swelling with pride. “I won’t let you down. We’ll just steer clear of the protomatter this time.”

As the captain stood, Voyager was slammed to the portside. The sound of pots and pans clattering back in the kitchen stung Neelix’s ears. He grabbed a table for support, but it was torn lose of the deckplate and he along with Janeway were both thrown against the far bulkhead.

“Janeway to Bridge!” the captain shouted into her combage. “Report!”

Silence answered her startled cry.

“Neelix to Bridge,” tried the Talaxian.

“The com’s down,” Janeway said. Every light and companel in the mess hall had gone dark. “Seems we’ve lost main power. I wonder what the hell hit us.” She headed for the exit. “Come on; let’s get up to the bridge.”

Luckily with the Mess Hall being located on Deck 2, it was a short ascent through the Jefferies tubes to the bridge. Beacons, firmly attached to their wrists, Janeway and Neelix emerged through the access hatch near the science station. Their light-beams cast shadows at the darkened command center. The bridge crew was valiantly trying to restore power. The turbolift doors had been shimmied open to reveal the empty dark tube.

“Captain,” Chakotay said. He was with Tuvok near the dead tactical station. “Even the emergency backups are off line. From what we can tell, just before we lost power we may have hit a subspace mine.”

“A mine that could cripple every power system on the ship at the same time,” Janeway said. “What about emergency power cells?”

Chaktaoy pointed towards the turbo tube. “I sent Tom and Harry down to engineering to get one as well as a report from B’Elanna.”

“Good, first things first,” the captain said. “Power, sensors, com system. We need our eyes to figure out what hit us. Then we’ll concentrate on figuring out what happened.”

“What about a shuttle?” Neelix asked. “We could send one out to assess the damage or even to run a few scans.”
”With power down,” Tuvok said, “we would have to manually open the shuttlebay doors. It would be a diffuclt launch.”

There was a clambering from the turbo tube. Two officers, in godl and red emerged, carrying bulky emergency power cell.

Tom Paris hauled himself off the ladder and got to his feet, hoisting Harry up as well. ”Tricky launch? Fancy flying? My ears were burning.”

Janeway rolled her eyes. “Get that power cell into the auxillary generating station. Mister Kim,what’s the status in engineering?”

“We crawled down eleven decks,” Kim said. “Everything’s been blacked out. Even the Doctor’s offline. He wasn’t using his mobile emitter when we lost power, he’s trapped in the data buffer at the moment.”

A spray of sparks erupted from the engineering console. Tom ducked, hit a key and the bridge was bathed in emergency lighting.

“Emergency power online,” Tuvok confirmed. “Scanners are recalibrating.” Harry and Tom both took their stations and assessed what their monitors were showing them.

“Torres to Bridge.”

“Good to hear your voice, Lieutenant,” Janeway said. “Report.”

“The power failure seems to have been caused by a massive burst of anti-lepton radiation, Captain. It knocked every power relay on the ship out of alignment by exactly point three two one microns. Just enough to sever the main power feeds. The entire power grids going to have to be repaired. I’ve got the backups rerouted through the holodeck power grid using the adapters we built a few years ago. I’ve had to switch the entire bioneural network over to the isoleniar backups too.”

“How long until you can have us fully functional?”

“About an hour for primary power, Captain but it’s going to be a jury-rigged mess of circuits until we can manually go in and re-align every single power line. We’re looking at a week of round the clock shifts to get that done.”

Janeway felt a headache coming on. “All right, B’Elanna, do what you can. We’ll have a briefing in six hours. Janeway out.” She turned back towards tactical. “Are the sensor logs available?”

“No,” Tuvok said. “The radiation surge erased all sensor data for the past thirty point eight minutes.”

“Captain,” Kim said quickly. “Perimeter sensors are picking up three vessels closing fast. They’re Hirogen.”

“Somehow I don’t think that’s a coincidence,” Chakotay said, moving towards Tuvok’s station. Assessing the phaser banks they were dead cold and the magnetic constrictors in the torpedo bays had been knocked off life as well. Hell, the shields weren’t even up. “This isn’t going to be pretty.”

Janeway took a deep breath and closed her eyes. “Captain to all hands. Defense Procedure Omega. Arm yourselves. Computer, lockout all primary command functions, authorization, Janeway-Pi-Alpha-Red.”

* * *

"Captain's Log, Stardate 51715.2. The damage to Voyager has been extreme. Both sides have taken heavy casualties and it's clear that no one is going to win this conflict. The fighting has reached a standstill and the remaining Hirogen have agreed to negotiate a truce."


“Hirogen vessels have gone to warp,” Harry Kim said with a heavy sigh of relief.

“I think it’s time we got underway ourselves,” Janeway said.

“B’Elanna’s got repairs started,” Chakotay said. “They’re dismantling the hologrids on decks eight through fifteen, but it’s slow going. The power demands Mister Kim routed have put quite a strain on the main grid.”

Tom Paris dropped down the short steps and took his seat at the helm. “At least this time most of the damage is internal. We won’t have to set down on a planet or find a space station.”

“Thank goodness for small favors,” the captain said. “What’s our best speed?”

Paris adjusted himself at the controls and ran a quick scan. “Warp three’s the best I can give you, Captain. Even powered down, those hologrids are sucking a lot of power.”

“They should all be gone in twelve hours,” Harry Kim offered. “Believe me; I’ll take great pleasure in tearing them down.”

Janeway smiled at felt horrible at the same time for Harry. He’d been held out of the holodeck escapades by the Hirogen and forced to expand Voyager’s holodecks into the rest of the ship. “Get some rest first, Harry,” she said. “You’ll find I’m not as demanding as a Hirogen Alpha.”

 

[Garm Bel Iblis]

Chapter: Set immediately after Hope and Fear

Seven of Nine’s eyes burst open.

“Regeneration cycle complete,” the computer stated flatly.

The former drone stepped out of her alcove and touched her combadge. “Daily log, Seven of Nine, Stardate 51995.4. It has been fifty seven hours since Voyager’s foray back into Borg space to rescue Captain Janeway and myself from the Dauntless. In that time I have finally come to the realization that while Borg, I have no place there. Voyager is my collective now. Today’s activities include my standard shift in Astrometrics, assisting Lieutenant Torres with the slipstream diagnostics and a social lesson with the Doctor. End log.”

As she terminated the connection she heard the voice in her mind.

You are Borg. You will be assimilated. Resistance is futile.

Seven staggered, grabbing a cargo crate to keep from falling to the deck. “Seven of Nine to the Bridge,” she snapped, slapping her combadge.

“Go ahead, Seven,” Chakotay’s voice reverberated off the cold walls of the bay.

“Commander, the Borg are near. I recommend holding this position until we can find them.”

- - -

Chakotay looked to Tuvok at tactical. The Vulcan consulted his board then looked back to the first officer, shaking his head.

“We’re not picking up anything on sensors,” Chakotay said. “What makes you think they’re close by?”

“I can hear them,” Seven said.

Chakotay glanced back to the tactical officer. “Head down to Astrometrics. Run some scans and get back to me. We’ll hold her for the time being. CHakotay out.” When the com line terminated, he turned to Ensign Knowels at the conn. “All stop, Ensign. Chakotay to the captain. Please report to Astrometrics.” As he headed for the lift, he gave the bridge to Tuvok.

- - -

Seven operated the master display of the Astrometic imaging array with a grace and skill that Kathryn Janeway envied. The former drone had, with the help of Harry Kim, designed this lab from scratch several months ago. Using the center of the galaxy as a focal point, the deep space imaging system scanned all visible stars in range, creating a more accurate representation of the space ahead.

Seven zoomed into quadrant 01465. “Here,” she said. A virtual representation of a Sato-Class Nebula took shape. “The Astrometic array has detected a series of triquantum waves converging on this nebula.”

“Triquantum waves?” asked Chakotay.

“The residual charge of energy expelled by a transwarp conduit,” Seven sad. “Given the number of waves that I am detecting, there could be as many as eleven hundred Borg vessels in that nebula.”

Janeway stood up straight. “I think a serious detour is in order. How far away is the nebula?”

“Forty seven light-years,” Seven stated. “I would recommend proceeding along this course.” A red line extended from Voyager’s current position to a galactic south direction. “It is a significant detour and there are a large number of obstacles in our path. Ion storms, asteroid belts, particle fountains.”

“Sounds a lot better than assimilation,” Chakotay muttered.

Janeway looked over the course correction. “Transfer the coordinates to the helm,” she said. “Chakotay, let B’Elanna know to cut our outgoing power emissions as much as possible. I don’t want to show up on that Borg armada’s long-range scanners.”

Chakotay acknowledged and headed for the engine room. The captain turned back to Seven. “Any idea why they’d be massing such a large fleet out here and hiding in a nebula?”

“No,” Seven said calmly. “The Borg usually never have reason to hide their presence in matter.”

“Maybe the war with Species 8472 has them spooked.”

“Perhaps.” It’d been barely ten months since the year-long invasion of transdimensional alines had ravaged the Collective had ended. That conflict had led to Seven’s lbiberation by the crew of Voyager. “However, the Borg only mass in such numbers when they are encroaching on a civilaition that spands thousands of light-years.”

“Have we picked up anything like that?”

Seven consulted the astrometric charts of the region ahead. “No. The largest concentration is twenty five light years distant. Species 558, the Xentari. Their homeworld was assimilated two hundred thirty seven years ago. They no longer pose a threat to the Collective.”

“Well they’re gearing up for something, but it looks like we’re going to miss the party this time. Keep an eye on them as long as they’re within range.”

“Aye, Captain,” Seven replied. The captain left and Seven was once again alone. The voice of the Collective still echoed in her mind. They were so close… She staggered again, overwhelmed. “Seven of Nine to the Doctor. Please report to Astrometrics immediately.”

- - - -


Passing the tricorder over Seven, the Doctor grimaced. “How long have you been experiencing this disorientation?”

Seven was now seated on the short steps leading up the main astrometric viewscreen looked visibly shaken. “Since this morning when the Borg armada was first detected.”

“It’s to be expected,” the Doctor said. “You’re still as much Borg as you are human. Your cranial transceiver is still capable of detecting the Collective at short distances. I can give you a neural inhibitor that will block out the strongest of their transmissions.” He extracted a small circular device from his medkit and attached it to Seven’s priordial bone behind her left ear. He tapped the device and then touched a few commands on his tricorder

Seven’s face immediately returned to her normal stoic self. “Better,” she said. “Thank you, Doctor.”

Smiling, the Doctor stood. “It’s my job. Which reminds me, our next social lesson, Witty Barbs and Cocktail Repartee is still scheduled for eighteen hundred hours this evening. I hope you’re feeling up to it.”

“Yes,” Seven said. “When I fisnish my astrometric scans, I am scheduled to assist Lieutenatn Torres then I will meet you in Sickbay.”

“I can’t wait,” the Doctor said sincerely and left the lab.

Watching him go, Seven closed her eyes for a moment and centered herself. The voice of the Collective was gone for now. But with such a massive fleet gathering so close, she knew it was only a matter of time before a confrontation occurred.

- - -

Tom Paris kept a firm grip on the helm as he led Voyager through yet another spiral maneuver thorugh the tachyon field they were moving through. He’d been at it for more than an hour. According to Seven’s scans, the eddy’s would hide them from that Borg armada out there as well as shave a few days off their course out of this sector.

Tom was a good pilot, hell he was a great pilot, but this was getting to be a little much. Course corrections were being sent up to him by Seven every twenty or thirty seconds. Dropping the impulse drive down to one quarter, he entered in a new course and came hard to port, rolling the ship ninety degrees then burning through at maximum impulse.

The inertial dampers, which up until this point had been strained but holding, suddenly kicked into a lapse of about a quarter of second, sending everyone on the bridge, lurching backwards in their seats.

“Sorry,” he said over his shoulder with a sheepish grin. “Seven’s course is a little tricky, even for a pilot of my skill.”

Janeway grabbed their arms of her chair. “Another little maneuver like that and you’ll be scrubbing plasma filters,” she said with a teasing grin. “Time to the outer boundary?”

“Another minute or two,” he said. “The eddy’s are thinning out and I’m picking up clear space ahead.”

“Janeway to Astrometrics. Seven, once we’re clear, do you have a course for Mister Paris?”

“Yes, Captain, the next leg is a five hour journey at high warp. It will take us to the Maurisko Expanse. It will provide us cover for the remainder of our time within range of the Borg sesnors.”

“Coming into normal space,” Paris said. His panel beeped. “New course 215 mark 48. Ready for warp.”

“Engage,” Janeway said. She stood up, stretched her legs and was suddenly thrown to the deck by a massive impact.

The bridge darkened to red alert and all hands went to battle stations.

“REPORT,” she shouted.

“A vessel dropped out of warp fifty kilometers off port,” Tuvok reported from tactical. “Sensors did not detect their approach. They opened fire as soon as they emerged from subspace.”

“Identify,” Chakotay snapped.

Kim was the first to report. “It’s Borg, sir.”

“On screen,” Janeway ordered, her stomaching tying itslf into a knot.

The forward screen hissed with static and cleared with an image of small oblong-shaped vessel.

“It’s a scout probe,” Seven said from her post.

“They’re powering weapons again,” Tuvok said.

The ship rumbled again. “Shields are holding at eighty percent,” Harry reported.

“See if we can shake them up a bit,” the captain ordered. “Phasers to random nutation, fire.”

“We’ve collapsed their shields,” Tuvok said. “They have a hull breach and their engines are online.”

“Tom,” Janeway ordered. “Let’s get moving. I don’t want to hang around when this little guys big brothers show up.”

“Warp nine point seven,” Paris confirmed as Voyager raced away from the battle site. “We’ll hit the Marusko Expanse in four hours fifty six minutes.”

“Any sign the other Borg ships detected us?” Chakotay asked.

“Nothing on sensors,” Kim said. “Seven?”

“Negative,” she replied. “It is possible that the scouts link to the Collective was hampered by the tachyon field. I recommend launching a class-five probe to act as a relay for the sensors.”

“Do it, Harry,” Janeway said. “Tom, hold this speed as long as we can. You have the Bridge, Chakotay, I’ll be in Astrometrics.”

- - -

B’Elanna Torres didn’t like pushing the engines this hard. The antimatter injectors were running at one hundred forty percent over capacity. Ensign Vorik and Crewman Chell were constantly applying new fieled equations and reducing the strain manually by purging the antimatter waste at a faster clip through the secondary filters.

Torres would’ve ordered full stop an hour ago if they hadn’t been running for cover from the Borg.

She pushed away from her station and rubbed her eyes. She’d not slept well the night before. Hell, she hadn’t slept well in about four months. Ever since Chakotay had come down to engineering with that damned letter from Sveta.

“Vorik,” she called out. “You’re in charge. I’m going to check the structural integiry field generator on deck six.”

Without waiting for the Vulcan’s response, Torres was out of the engine room and into the nearest turbolift. “Holodeck Two,” she ordered.


- - -

Seven stood at the master display console in Astrometrics.

“The tachyon field did in fact block communication between the scout ship and the rest of the Borg armada. However, a second vessel was dispatched forty nine minutes ago, they will most likely discover the debris from the probe whtin the hour. We are still eighty-six minutes from the Marusko Expanse.”

“Odds are they’ll send more than a scout this time,” Janeway said.

Seven said. She input several commands. The image changed to show the cluster of Borg ships within the nebula. A small sphere was on a direct course for Voyager’s previous coordinates where they’d engaged the scoutship. “A Class-II long range tactical vessel. Their weapons are far superior to the probe. They pose a signifigant threat.”

Glancing at a display, Janeway read the engineering status reports. “We’re hodling at nine point six-five. Provided they find the debris, analyze it and detect our warp trail, how long will it take them to intercept us?”

“Les than one hour.”

- - -

She’d assembled the troops.

The senior staff had been called to the briefing room immediately upon Seven’s announcement. All but one…

The doors hissed open and B’Elanna entered and took her seat. She was haggard looking, her hair a tangled mess, her face flushed with sweat. A dark bruise had formed on her right cheek. “Sorry,” she said. “I was on Deck 15 fixing a faulty regulator. Took a tumble.”

Janeway smiled faintly and pressed on. “We have a problem. There’s a Borg ship out there, sent to investigate the probe that attacked us. Based on Seven’s assesmet we have less than fifty minutes before the sphere figures out what happens and intercepts us. Suggestions?”

“We could poloarize the nacelle couplings,” Harry said. “Put out a field of ionizing radiation that’d fool their sensors.”

“The Borg have already detected us,” Seven said. “The radatoin field wouldn’t work. They’d merely follow us.”

“Can we boost engine power?” Chakotay asked. “Punch us up to warp nine point nine, get into the Expanse as fast as possible.”

“We’d never be able to hold that speed long enough,” Torres said. Her voice was rough, her throat dry. “We’d blow out the warp coils and kill ourselves before the Borg had the chance to.”

“The Borg do not kill,” Seven said harshly, “they assimilate.”

“Some would say that’s worth than death,” Torres said, her voice like ice.

“All right,” Janeway said. “We’re not here to debate that. What else? B’Elanna?”

“What about the slipstream drive?” Torres ventured.

“Are you crazy?” Harry said. “The last time we used that, we almost melted the hull.”

“Yeah,” the engineer snapped back, “but we flew all the way to Borg space and back. If we’re going to escape this particular group of Borg, we only need to jump a couple of hundred light-years.”

“How long will it take the bring the drive online?” the captain asked.

“The specs are still in the database. The deflector’s the tricky part, modulating all those phase variances.”

“Get on it,” the captain ordered. “Use whatever resources and crewmen you need. Dismissed people.”
///

“Deflector output at maximum,” reported Kim from ops. “Field output at ninety seven percent.”

The ship rumbled as the main deflector’s charged particles were continuing to manipulate normal matter at the quantum level in preparation for the creation of a slipstream conduit.

“Red Alert,” Chakotay said, taking his seat. He looked over his shoulder at the auxillary control board. “How’s it look?”

Seven activated the main sequence. “Quantum drive is ready, conduit forming directly ahead.”

“What about the Borg ship?” Janeway asked from the starboard side of the bridge. She was watching the readouts on the engineering station over Vorik’s shoulder.

“One minute to weapons range,” Tuvok reported.

“It’s gonna be tight,” Paris said. “I’ve go the first set of phase corrections; waiting for Seven.’



“Triggering the manifold now,” Seven said.

“Confirmed,” came B’Elanna’s voice over the com. “See you in a few hundred light-years.”

“Engage,” the captain ordered returning to her own seat.

The forward screen shifted from the streaks of warp to the swirling blue-green mass of a slipstream vortex.

The ship was pounded port to starboard and back again. “Phase variances are coming up faster than the computer can decipher them!” Paris shouted. “I’m having trouble holding us steady.”

“How far have we travled?” the first officer demanded.

“Approximately fifty light-years,” Seven responded.

“Hold us together Tom,” Janeway said. “I want to put as much distance as we can.” She tapped her combadge. “B’Elanna cut the deflector on my mark.”

“Hull integirity at fifty percent,” Kim reorted. “Forty five. Thirty nine.”

Janeway counted to five then said, “All stop!”

Voyager snapped like a rubber band and tumbled into a relative stop.

“Damage reports are coming in,” Chakotay said, consulting his console. “Micro fractures on deck 15, the port nacelle’s been de-polarized and the shields are down.”

“Any sign of Borg?” Janeway asked.

“Negative,” Tuvok responded. “However, sensors are detecting no spatial bodies within range.”

“None?” Harry asked, checking his own board. “Confirmed. There are no stars out there. In fact…he’s right. Nothing.”

Janeway felt a headache coming on. “On screen.”

Nothing but totatl blacknees filled the forward screen. “Seven?” the captain asked.

“The Borg have not encountered this region as I far I know. Astrometic scans do show stars and normal space behind us at a range of two hundred light-years, but nothing ahead.”

“How far did we travel, Tom?” Janeway said.

“Three hundred two point five light-years ma’am.”

“If there’s space behind us,” Chakotay said, “there’s gotta be something ahead.”

“You’re right,” conceded the captain. “You heard him, Tom, resume course towards the Alpha quadrant, all ahead full.”


- - -

Torres, manning the auxillary console direct behind the command chairs looked up sharply and spoke to Chakotay, Voyager’s temporary captain. “I’m picking up transwarp signatures. There’s a conduit approaching thrity thousand kilometers off our port bow.”

“Battle station,” ordered the commander.

He stood in front of the command chairs and watched the forward screen shift to reveal the swirling mass of a Borg conduit, expelling a small vessel: The Delta Flyer.

“They’re through,” Torres confirmed.

“Voyager to Delta Flyer,” Chakotay said. “Report.”

“We’ve got Seven,” came Janeway’s voice, “but there’s a Borg vessel right behind us.”

Chakotay tensed at the though of fighint off a Borg shio. “B’Elanna, target the threshold perimiter, photon torpedoes full spread.”

“Commander?” she asked, obviously confused.

“It should destablize the matter stream and implode the conduit for at least a light-year.” I hope.

“Torpedoes locked.”

“FIRE.”

A half a dozen photons tore through the darkness and exploded within the threshold.

“Voyager, report,” came Janeway’s voice.

“We collapsed the conduit,” Chakotay said, looking at the sensor relay on the helm console. “No sign of Borg activity.”

“Clear us for docking, we’re coming home.”

Chakotay nodded to Ensign Kim.

“Commander,” B’Elanna said. “I’m picking up Borg signatures. Lots of them!”

“Source?”

“The conduit!”

“I thought you collasped it.”

“So did I.”

“Stand by weapons. Captain, raise shields, we’ve got company.”

“Here they come,” Torres said.

He turned his attention back to the screen and watched as the conduit erupted again. And emerging this time, thousands of fragments of debris along with hundreds of Borg drone corpses, torn apart by the imploded conduit.

Sighing deeply, Chakotay turned back to Kim. “Stand down Red Alert. Begin salvage operations of the Borg ship.”


"Captain's Log, Stardate 52619.2. We got another 20,000 light years out of the transwarp coil before it gave out. I figure we're a good fifteen years closer to home."


- - -

 

[Garm Bel Iblis]

Kathryn Janeway felt reborn. In the span of a few months, Voyager had moved more than twenty-five years closer to home. Their harrowing slipstream flight along with their captured Borg transwarp coil, they’d shaved nearly thirty thousand light-years. The seventy-five year long journey had been reduced to less than thirty provided they didn’t find anymore jumps towards the Alpha Quadrant.

Given that bit of news the crew had a new sense of purpose. Truthfully it had seemed like a hopeless journey four years ago, and now they were going to reach the Alpha Quadrant within the crew’s lifetime.

The ready rooms doors hissed open and Chakotay entered, carrying a data padd. “Good morning, Captain,” he said politely.

“Hello Chakotay,” Janeway said. “You seem in good spirits today.”

The First Officer smiled. “We’re more than halfway home. The moods become contagious on the ship these past few days.” He handed her the padd. “Ship’s status report. All systems are at peak efficiency. Seven and Harry should be finished plotting our new course home in a day or so. I’ve got teams ready to go to seek out supplies and scout ahead. Tom’s itching to get back at the controls of the Flyer.”

Janeway hesitated a moment. It’d been six months since she’d been forced to reprimand Paris and demote him after the incident at Monea. “He’s been behaving himself and really came through at the Borg unicomplex.”

“Thinking about reinstating his rank?”

“Not yet,” she said. “I have no doubt he’s learned his lesson. But I want him to work for it. Besides, I think B’elanna enjoys outranking him. Let her have her moment.”

Chakotay smiled. “Harry’s been bucking for a promotion. I think he’d make a fine lieutenant.”

“No doubt,” Janeway agreed. “The chain of command on this ship’s so full though. If I promote Harry, I have to promote the people below him. We’re still going to be out here for decades; I can’t have a crew full of commanders.”

“Understood, I just think you should give it serious thought. If we were home now, he’d definitely be a lieutenant or even a lieutenant commander.”

“Noted,” Janeway said, ending the discussion. But secretly, it was something she was tempted to do. “What else?”

“Long-range scanners show no sign of Borg activity. The multispatial probe’s returned and has a few hundred gigaquads of data to go through. Looks to be smooth sailing for a while.”

“Glad to hear it.” She set her coffee cup back into the replicator and hit the recycle button. As the cup dematerialized in a blue mist she turned back towards her XO. “Neelix came to me this morning with a proposal.”

Chakotay smiled. “He mentioned it to me too. Told him I’d add to the morning briefing this morning.”

“Then I take it you approve?”

Mulling over Neelix’s plan, Chakotay finally nodded. Neelix had come to him with a new plan. He’d wanted to set up a weekly holodeck events. Let each crewmen come up with a program and set up an open door policy for everyone to participate. “Frankly, given recent events I’d say crewmorale is so high, nothing can really hurt it. I say we give it a try.”

“Good. We’ll do it. But I have no intention of being Arachnia again.”

Laughing and heading towards the exit Chakotay turned back. “We’ll just make sure Mister Paris is busy when his turn comes around.”












- - -

Ensign Harry Kim clutched the phaser rifile to his chest with a grip that could bend duranium. He’d crouched down beneath an overturned hover vehicle that’d been shot out of the sky by allied artillery fire during the initial invasion. The blackened hulk was still warm to the touch even five hours later.

Harry slapped a fresh power cell in his phaser and set the node for a wide beam dispersal. He crept along the edge of the troop carrier and activated the scope. The image zoomed in on a large building a block away. The imaging sensor picked up humanoid movement within and Kim squeezed the firing stud.

The orage beam swept out a dozen meters in both directions and found its mark…against an energy shield protecting enemy headquarters.

He slapped his combadge. “Kim to Alpha Team. They have a forcefield in place.” As he crept back towards cover, out of the corner of his eye he saw him. The sniper peering over the buildings edge, his modified compression rifle steadied on the concrete railing. With a quick tap the orange phaser beam found Ensign Harry Kim and killed him instantly.

- - -

Paris dropped the macro binoculars and pounded his fist on the status stable. “Damn it, I told Harry not to be a hero. Simple recon.”

“We can’t let it stop us,” Kathryn Janeway said. She went over the map again. The satellite that was providing up to date imaging of the enemy compound was beginning to falter. Enemy jamming frequencies were getting smarter and starting to override the Borg signals Seven had been transmitting.

“Mister Kim’s sacrifice is not in vain,” Tuvok stated. The Vulcan security officer pointed to a grid on the map shaded in red. “He transmitted a number of scans showing the enemy weapon emplacements. These phaser cannons are not showing on the satellite scans. They are most likely shielded from scanners. It should not be difficult to plant explosives on them and destroy them before our offensive to take the base begins.”

Paris finished snapping a bandolier to his belt. “I have the fighter squadron on hot standby. Soon as those cannons our outta commission we’ll be good to go.”

The doors to the command bunker grinded open. Neelix ran in, quickly shutting the doors behind him. “Our friends don’t seem to have taken kindly to Mr. Kim’s assassination attempt. Our forward scouts have picked up movement near the west end of the enemy camp.”

“Okay,” Janeway said defiantly. “Tuvok, Neelix take a squad of ten and knock out those phaser cannons. Tom, get your fighter squadron in the air. Hang back out of sensor range until you hear from us. Set your photonic warheads at maximum. If all else fails, we’re going in scorched earth. Seven and I will hold here and see if we can break the enemy encryptions. Get moving people!”


- - -


Chakotay slapped the data keys with the fury of a man in dire straights. “Torres, you’re team better be in positoin,” he muttered. They were experiencing a complete com blackout, using nothing but mirrors to reflect sunlight back towards each squad that was forming out around the compound.

“Commander,” said the Doctor. “Enemy squadron has taken off. Four fighters.”

“What’s their course?”

“Due east,” the Doctor said with a hint of trepdiation. “Directly away from us.”

“Janeway’s pulling them back out of the melee. They’re her ace in the hole in case what ever she’s got planned blows up in her face.” He looked to the young Bolian across the bunker. “Chell! Get Baytart, Knowels and Culhain. Get our fighters airborn and out of range.”

The Bolian nodded and left to relay the messages. As he left, Ayala entered.
“B’Elanna and her team’s in position.” He grinned widely.

Chakotay returned the smile. “Set the spatial charge to blow in a twenty meter radius. Set a delayed detonation, I want them know what hit them.”


- - -


Lieutenant Commander Tuvok lifted his hand to halt the squad following in single file behind him. Neelix, Chell and seven other Voyager crewmen each stopped, all clutching their weapons tightly.

They’d climbed the ridge separating their own command post from that of Chakotay’s and came to a split in the road. The two large phaser cannons, each with their barrels facing skyward at a forty-five degree angle stood on opposite sides of the small abandoned building directly ahead. Tuvok lowered himself to his haunches. “Mister Neelix, take Mister Munro, Ensign Wildman, Lieutenant Riigs and Crewman Dalby to the cannon on the right. Set your detonation packs for a thirty second delay. The rest of you come with me. Once the cannons are destroyed, our offensive will begin.”

- - -

B’Elanna Torres smiled into the sensor display of the macro binoculars she pressed to her eyes. Tuvok’s team was falling right into their web. She couldn’t believe that he’d been trapped so easily. Shuffling over behind the debris she whispered to Joe Carey. “Charges ready?”

“All set,” he said ruefully. He pulled a data padd out of his pocket and activated it.

Torres took it and watched as the two teams split and made bee lines for the phaser cannons. When they were within range, Torres slapped the activation key.

- - -

Tuvok unslung the backpack and pulled the charges. Keeping his grip on his hand phaser, he rushed to the phaser cannon and stopped…

A small circular object was blinking on the side of the cannon. A subspatial charge. Building to detonation. “Run!” he shouted at his squad, turning on his heel. “It’s a trap…”

- - -

The white flash of energy lit up the morning sky.

“They blew up their own damn cannons!” Janeway snapped. Looking to Seven of Nine, she said. “Seven, how about that satellite? Can we break their com frequencies.”

“I have broken them. However, they are not using coms of any kind.”

“Damn,” she said, “he is good.”

“He was a Maquis, this is what they were good at,” Seven said.

“Okay,” Janeway said, picking up a phaser rifle. “How many people do we have left?”

“Twenty-three,” the former Borg said.

Janeway slung the weapon over her shoulder. “Get Tom on the line. If he doesn’t hear from us in twenty minutes, he’s cleared to engage.”

- - -

Chakotay laughed out loud. “They’re WHAT?”

Torres, recently returned from her swift victory against Tuvok and Neelix, joined him at the master display console. “The captain and Seven are headed this way on foot with what looks like every last member of their team.”

“Bold,” Chakotay said. “How are the perimeter defenses?”

“Well, the phaser cannons are gone. I’ve got mines set up around the outer fence, but don’t count on them. Seven’s been pretty good at dismantling our technology so far.”

“What about the forcefield?” the Doctor asked.

“Reactor power’s down to about twenty percent. They’ll hold about another five or ten minutest.”

“All right,” Chakotay said. “Here’s the plan…”


- - -


“The mines have been neutralized,” Seven of Nine said, skidding back down the rubble strewn walkway.

“Nicely done,” the captain said. She peered up over the ridge and flipped open her tricorder. “Their forcefields losing integrity. Mulkahey,” she said to one of her security officers. “Once it’s down, put a few photon grenades through that upper story. The rest of you I want a continuous phaser barrage as we close in.”

“They still outnumber us,” Seven said. “And they have the high ground.”

“You have a better idea?” the captain demanded.

Seven consulted her own tricorder and pointed it in Janeway’s direction. “There’s a gap in their sensor network at the north end of the building.”

Janeway smirked. “That’s not a gap. That’s a Maquis jamming frequency used to make it look like one. I’ll bet he’s got a sniper trained on that spot waiting for us.”
“Then other than a full scale assault, what are our options?”

“Tom’ll have to take out the base. I just didn’t want to win like this. I wanted to do it ourselves.” She pulled the comlink from her belt. With a simple duotronic pulse, the message was sent to Paris’ squadron.

- - -


Tom hit his thusters and brought the Federation fighter around in a corkscrew maneuver. “All right, people, turn and burn. We blow the command center as soon as we’re within range.”

His nimble fighter swung around home in on the target. Tom reached for a panel over his head. Disengaging the safety’s on his photonic warheads, he hit the scattering field generator that would mask the squadron’s approach. The other three fighters roared in.

“Copy, Flight Leader,” came in the replies from the other pilots.

“Tom,” came the static-lined voice of Jerot, “my scanners are picking up a strange variance…”

Tom checked his own scope. Four enemy fighters were coming in. “Damn, we’ve got incoming, attack posture, let’s take these guys out!”

- - -


The overhead weapons fire and explosions pounded and made Janeway’s ears ring.

Minutes later it was all over. Chakotay’s squadron had been victorious without a single fatality.

“Unbelievable,” Janeway spat. “Remind to demote Tom to crewman.” Before she could utter another word, Chakotay’s ships reared around and homeed in on Janeway’s command post two hundred meters away. Dropping their payload of photon bombs, the center went up in a white flash of anitmatter shockwaves.

“The forcefield is down,” Seven said quickly.

“Move!” Janeway said, jumping to her feet and thumping of the safety on her phaser. “Let’s give ‘em hell.”

- - -


- - -

“Open fire!” shouted Chakotay.

From thirty different vantage points, phasers opened up on the approaching platoon. Chakotay’s planned firing solution took out everyone appraoching troop except Janeway.

Chakotay leapt over the ledge o the command center, the Doctor and B’Elanna directly behind him, following by a dozen other people. Chakotay unholstered his hand phaser and aimed it directly at a smiling Janeway.

“Surrender,” he demanded.

The captain shook her head in amazement. “You’re good, Commander. Computer, I surrender.”

The holodeck images refocused and returned to the grid. Janeway’s entire team, while ‘killed’ in the program had been confined in the far corner, left only to watch events unfolding during the rest of the scenario.

“Program complete,” the computer stated. “Final score: Chakotay 31, Janeway zero.”

Chakotay smiled back at his captain and turned back to his team. “Well done everyone. Team Chakotay’s on leave until oh eight hundred tomorrow.” He turned back. “Team Janeway might want to get a bite to eat and a shower. You’re double shifts start soon.”

Everyone filed out of the holodeck, leaving Janeway and Chakotay alone in their wake. “That was quite an impressive display,” Janeway said. “I can only imagine the kind of fight you use to give the Cardassians.”

“Are you kidding?” Chakotay said, leading her towards the exit and stepping intot he corridor. “Fighting the Cardassians was child’s play to what you gave me today.”

“Says the man who took out everyone of my troops without losing a single one of your own.”

“Well, you made one very critical mistake.”

“And what would that be?”

“You underestimated how ruthless I could be,” he said with a large grin.

“Indeed. Enjoy your time off, Commander, I’ll see you on the bridge tomorrow.”

“Aye, Captain.”


- - -



.

 

[Garm Bel Iblis]

Takes Place right after Voyager Conspiracy.


“Chief Medical Officer’s log, stardate 52051.5. It has beens seven weeks since Voyager’s encounter with the Hierarchy. IN that time Lieutenant Torres and Commander Tuvok along with Commander Chakotay have been working with me on the design protocols for the ECH Program. I must admit I was humbled when Captain Janeway said she’d include her proposal to Starfleet Command with my request; and I was even more surprised when she decided to make the attempt of altering my program to include command functions. And the work had been going swimmingly until I nearly destroyed the ship.”

“P’tak!” shouted B’Elanna Torres. She threw the hypersapnner across the holo lab and it cracked three OHD relays, showering everyone in a cascasdig array of sparks.

“LIEUTENNAT!” snapped Chakotay.

“I’m not in the mood for it, Chakotay, this entire project is a giant mess and we all know it!”

“Captain’s orders,” the first officer replied, calmly retrieving the damaged spanner. “Get those panels fixed, get some dinner, CALM DOWN, and we’ll get a fresh start at it later.”

Torres stormed out of the lab, leaving Chakotay and Tuvok in her wake.

“It would appear the lieutenatn is in need of mediation.”

“Good luck with that,” Chakotay said. “I’ve tried to get B’Elanna Torres to cool her temper for the better part of a decade.”

“Nevertheless, her increasingly volitile state is beginning to interfer with her duties as chief engiener. She may not like the project that is currenlty assigned to her, but that is irrelevant. I would be willing to guide her in the process of learning to control her emotions.”

“Thanks, Tuvok, I’ll pass it along. In the meantime, work with Harry about the transfer of the new security protocols into the program and have a report for me in the morning.”

Without saying another word, Chakotay headed out of the lab and after B’Elanna.

He founder her in engineering berating Vorik. “When I left, this place was running smoothly and now look at this mess.”

The Vulcan eyed her carefully. “The antimatter regulators are functioning at ninety-four point eight person. That is less than one one hundredth of a percent deviation since you left engineering six hours ago.”

“I don’t care how little the difference is, I want those engines running the way I left them, Vorik. Now get moving before I find a new assistant.”

“Very well,” he said, stoically, and went back to his station.

“I thought I ordered you to get some rest,” Chakotay said firmly.

B’Elanna tensed, spinning around. “Look, Chakotay, I know I lost my temper in the lab. It’s just the idea of creating a program to make the Doctor the captain. I can’t be responsible for such an inflation of his ego!”

“This goes beyond the ECH program,” Chakotay said. “You’re tired. You’re irritable, and quite frankly you’ve become a liability. You’re off duty until further notice.”

“What?!”

“That wasn’t a suggestion, Lieutenant. Don’t make me confine you to quarters. Tuvok’s offered to help you get your emotions under control. Maybe you should let him.”

“Is that an order?” she asked.

“Only if it has to be.”

* * *

“Please state the nature of the command emergency.”

The Doctor had materialized into existence, clad in command red, and eager to take over.

“Doesn’t quite have the same ring to it,” Harry Kim said, working the controls. The Doctor fizzled again.

“ECH ready to serve!” the Doc shouted.

“Definitely not,” Kim remarked, tapping another few buttons.

Fizzling again, “ECH reporting for duty! Ensign how about we skip the usuaul greeting. This is getting tiresome.”

“Right,” Harry agreed. “Okay,” he said picking up a padd and handing it to Tuvok. “We’re ready to load the first set of security protocols into your matrix.”

“By all means,” Doc said, standing up straight and proud.

Harry hit the transfer button and all hell broke loose.

- - -

“All hands to emergency escape pods.”

The alert from the computer shocked Kathryn Janeway and she bolted out of the command chair and turned to McKinzey at Tactical. “Report.”

The young security officer shook his head. “No idea, ma’am. All systems are reporting nominal.”

“Computer,” the captain said. “Clarify evacuation order.”

“Warp core overload in two minutes forty eight seconds,” the computer said.

“Bridge to engineering, report!”

“The com just went down,” Campbell said from Ops.

“Sir, several escape pods have been manned,” McKinzey said. “Computer’s holding them docked because we’re still at warp.”

“Warning, warp core overload in two minutes.”

“Tom, take us out of warp,” the captain ordered.

She felt the deck vibrations cease as Voyager reverted to normal space.

“Quarter impulse,” Tom confirmed.

“Escape pods are launching, eighty-three crewmen have evacuated,” McKenzie reported. His panel lit up, “Sixty more, sir. There are only ten crewmen left aboard.”

“That sets a new record for evacuation,” Tom said. “Captain, what if the computer’s right?”

“Warning, warp core overload in fifty-five seconds.”

“We’d better be prepared. Lyssa,” she said to Campbell at Ops, “lock transporters onto the remainder of the crew. Beam us to the Delta Flyer!”
- - -


It was crowded but they’d manage.

McKenzie, Paris, Janeway, Kim, Neelix, Tuvok, Chakotay, Seven, Torres and Campbell all materialized within the Delta Flyer. Tom took the helm and got them launched. Dozens of escape pods were fleeing what they all feared would be a massive antimatter explosion.

“We’re at the minimum safe distance,” Tom reported. “All pods are clear.”

“Full stop,” Janeway ordered. “B’Elanna, report.”

“I was off-duty,” she said with a glare to Chakotay. “I made it half the distance to engineering from my quarters when I was beamed here.”

“Ten seconds,” Tom said calmly, clutching the helm. “Three, two, one.”

Nothing happened. Voyager hung in space directly ahead.

“Scan the ship,” Chakotay said, standing behind Tuvok who was seated at Tactical.

“Sensors are being blocked,” Tuvok said. “Voyager’s deflector is emitting a broadband tachyon beam.”

“Captain,” said Harry, “I think I might know what’s going on.”

Everyone aboard the Flyer turned their attention to Kim.

“Tuvok and I were working on the Doctor’s new ECH system. The instant we transferred the first set of security protocols into his matrix his program crashed and the evac alert sounded.”

“Captain,” Tom said, “Voyager’s powering up and moving away at full impulse.”

“Follow them!”

As the Delta Flyer powered up and headed after Voyager, the starship’s parametric warp nacelles folded into position and the ship disappeared into warp.

Tuvok didn’t’ look up from his scanners. “The tachyon wave has scattered the warp field, I’ve lost them.”

- - -

“Computer, adjust new heading twenty three degrees, new coordinates 014 mark 250, increase speed to warp nine point eight.”

The acknowledging tones of the computer confirmed the orders and Voyager’s course for her target was adjusted and the ship went to maximum warp.

The Doctor, rather the Emergency Command Hologram, stood at Voyager’s tactical station on the bridge and completed the diagnostic of the phaser arrays. All weapons were primed and ready. The shield grid had been reconfigured and the ship was ready to destroy her target:

The Borg unicomplex fourteen light-years away.

When the ECH system had activated, he had taken it upon himself to simulate a warp core breach, forcing the crew to evacuate. He couldn’t risk their lives in his programmed mission to destroy the complex. He knew Captain Janeway would be furious, but the Borg represented an unprecedented threat to the ship and his tactical database had found a weakness in the regenerative field of the Borg station. A correctly tuned phase modulation to the photon torpedoes would breach the shields and destroy the power core.

He moved away from the console and dropped into the captain’s chair awaiting the ship’s arrival.


- - -

“I’ve got something,” said Tom, flipping a series of dials around on the helm on the Flyer. “Looks like phaser fire on a heading of 014 mark 257.”

“Confirmed,” Tuvok reported. “The phasers have a Starfleet signature.”

“Let’s go, Tom,” Janeway said. “Best speed.”

She turned to survey the crowded cockpit. Harry was manning ops, Tuvok tactical and Chakotay was at the science station. She’d ordered the rest of the crew to the aft compartment and the auxiliary stations there. So far the escape pods had tethered together and were holding station until the Flyer could get back aboard Voyager and regain control.

It took them two hours to reach the site of the battle and what they found their made Janeway’s heart sink. Voyager hung in space, parallel to a massive debris field, crippled and scorched by particle weapons. A massive hull breach had exposed four decks in engineering. The port nacelle had been severed at the pylon and drifted lazily a few kilometers away, leaking massive amounts of drive plasma. The main deflector dish had sustained an impact and had been completely blown away from the hull.

“My God,” Chakotay said, coming up to peer through the forward port. “What the hell happened?”

As if in response to his question, three small ships emerged from far side of the ship and approached the Flyer.

“Captain, the debris field,” said Tuvok.

“Yes?”

“It was a Borg facility. The lead ship approaching is hailing.”

Janeway reached over Tom’s shoulder and hit the subspace array, firing up an image of a gray-skinned humanoid who was smiling broadly. “Captain Janeway!”

“Hello again, Tash,” Janeway said. “We didn’t think we’d see you again so soon.” It’d been less than a month since they’d encountered this alien, and used his graviton catapult to jump several hundred light-years closer to home.

“Captain, I can’t tell you how thankful my people are for your assistance.”

“I’m sorry, Mister Tash, but Voyager’s been suffering a malfunction. What exactly happened?”

Tash looked stricken. “Apparently while I was away, the Borg came for my people. They constructed a space station and were using it as a staging area to assimilate my planet. We have formidable defenses and my people had been resisting for quite some time. But as the Collective says…”

“Resistance is futile,” Chakotay said.

“Quite right,” Tash said. “So, just yesterday the Borg station became active. It was constructing a Borg ship that would’ve assimilated Quorana. My people prepared for the worst and evacuated our women and children. Minutes before the ship was active, Voyager appeared and destroyed the station and the cube. I don’t know how to thank you, Captain. My world will provide whatever assistance to the reconstruction of your vessel that is required.”

“That’s very generous of you,” Janeway said, her head spinning.

“Good, I’ll have Voyager towed to our shipyards near the Luna IV base and we’ll get started. We can send a ship to recover your crew.”

- - -

Reconstruction proceeded for twelve days, in that time, the full technological brilliance of the Quorana came to light. Their massive industrial replicators were able to tune themselves to Federation standard and create exact duplicates of the materials needed to repair Voyager.

B’Elanna oversaw the Quorana engineers coming and going out of the shipyard and was amazed at their efficiency.

“These people are amazing,” she muttered to Seven, who was assisting her in recalibrating the dilithium matrix frame.

“They are highly resourceful and very peaceful,” Seven said. “Their assimilation would have been a great tragedy.”

Torres was struck by Seven’s admittance of Borg atrocities. “I never thought I’d hear you say that.”

Seven didn’t look away from the panel she was replacing. “My time away from the collective has taught me that individuality is often the greatest weapon against the Borg.”

“Speaking of the individual, I think Harry and I have worked out the kinks in the Doctor’s program. What do you say we go and reactivate him?”

- - -

“Please state the nature of the medical…What happened to SICKBAY!?”

Harry shook his head at the Doc’s outburst. Repair crews hadn’t made their way down to Deck 5 yet and sickbay was still a burnt husk of its former self. “That’s gonna take some explaining, Doc.”

“Ensign, what happened?” The Doctor demanded. “The last thing I remember was working with you and Tuvok in the holo lab.”

“Been an interesting couple of weeks Doc….”


- - -

The Doctor looked back at the recording unit on his desk and concluded his log entry. “However, even though the damage to Voyager was extreme and my entire matrix was risked in the endeavor, it was I who single-handedly saved the population of Quorana and destroyed another branch of the Borg Collective that had insidiously extended into this region of the galaxy. Maybe next time they’ll think twice about dealing with the Emergency Command Hologram.”


- - -

“Captain, this is Lieutenant Reginald Barclay at Starfleet command.”

“It’s good to hear your voice, Lieutenant, we’ve been waiting a long time for this moment.”

“They feeling is mutual, unfortunately the micro wormhole is collapsing, we have only a few moments.”

“Understood. We’re transmitting our ships logs, crew reports and navigational records to you now.”

“Acknowledged, and we’re sending you data on some new hyper subspace technology. We’re hoping eventually to use it to keep in regular contact, and we’re including some recommended modifications for your com system.”

“We’ll implement them as soon as possible.”

“There’s someone else here who would also like to say something.”

“This is Admiral Paris.”

“Hello, sir.”

“How are you people holding up?”

“Very well, they’re an exemplary crew, your son included.”

“Tell him…tell him I miss him, and I’m proud of him.”

“He heard you, Admiral.”

“I want you all to know we’re doing everything we can to bring you home.”

“We appreciate it, sir, keep a docking bay open for us.”

 

[Garm Bel Iblis]

- - -

Chief Medical Officer's Log, Stardate 54014.4. It's been 48 hours since the away team returned to Voyager. Thanks to the neural suppressant I've been able to extract most of their Borg technology. The Captain and B'Elanna are on the mend but Tuvok will need a little more time to recover.


B’Elanna Torres had lived a tough life, but nothing compared with the pain that she experienced during assimilation. She’d read Starfleet reports and had studied the process in great detail over the years. But she had not been prepared for her veins to burn like a broken plasma conduit when those nanoprobes coursed through her. Tom had called her crazy for volunteering, but the mission she, Tuvok and the captain had undertaken may have well been the turning point in the galaxy’s fight against the Borg.

They’d unleashed a virus that had liberated millions of drones who’d reverted to their individual selves and had started a revolution within the Collective.

“You’re supposed to be in bed.”

B’Elanna spun her chair around and smile at Tom as he entered her quarters. “Just getting some work done. Vorik’s in charge of engineering and I’m just reviewing his system status reports.”

Tom hit the side of the terminal, powering it off. “You’re off duty until the Doc says otherwise,” he said, taking her by the shoulders. He helped her out of her chair and he slowly guided her to bed. She went down with a creak in her back where the spinal shunts had connected to more Borg technology than she’d care to remember.

“Thanks,” she said through gritted teeth.

“Don’t mention it,” he said. “Being acting first officer’s not so bad after all.”

“Have we resumed course yet?” Torres asked.

“No, we’re saying with Kirok’s sphere for a few days, getting tactical updates and trying to decipher the Collective’s next move.”

“How about the breach in the primary hull?”

“Rest,” he said. “Vorik’s on it.”

“Fine. So what’s our next move?”

“Captain should be back on duty in a couple of days. I’d imagine we’re going to resume course for the Alpha quadrant, but keep in touch with our new Borg friends.” He squeezed her hand. “And by the way, if you ever volunteer for a mission like this again, you’ll have hell to pay.”

- - -

“Safe journey, Voyager,” said the assimilated general on the main viewer. Karok, late of the Klingon Defense Force, now one of the influential leaders of the Borg Resistance.

“Good luck to all of you,” Captain Janeway said, settling into her command chair. “Where will you go now?”

“There are many vessels that have been liberated,” Karok said. “We will be assembling for a coordinated assault on the Collective across the quadrant.”

“I hope you’re successful General,” Janeway replied. “You have Voyager’s com frequency. Please keep us informed.”

“It will be my pleasure, Captain. Qa’Pla!” he snapped, thumping his fist to his chest. The screen blinked off to show the Borg sphere powering up and tearing open a transwarp conduit, disappearing into the dark void.

“All right, Tom,” Janeway said, “resume course, warp eight.”

At her left, Chakotay picked up a data padd. “Latest datastream from Starfleet Command. Thought you’d want to take a look.”

Janeway took the padd with glee and thumbed it on. It’d been two months since they’d established regular contact with home, via the Pathfinder Project. The latest updates from Starfleet included news and tactical updates. The Federation was continuing it’s rebuilding efforts in the wake of the Dominion War. Many relief convoys were being sent to the tattered remains of the Cardassian Union, along with dozens of worlds that had been razed in the two year long conflict. Bajor, it seemed, given it’s role in the war, had been ushered to the front of the line, it’s membership as a Federation planet was all but finalized. She reached another line that made her stop.

“You’ve confirmed this?” she asked.

“It’s been a little hectic with the Borg the past couple of days, but I’ve got responses out in the next stream requesting confirmation.”

Janeway stood, the pain in her back throbbing in protest. “Come with me,” she said. She turned towards the helm. “Tom, you have the bridge.” As she led Chakotay towards her ready room she gave a quick nod to Tuvok who followed in their wake. The stoic Vulcan had just returned to duty this morning and was moving much slower given recent events.

“If this is true, I want to know now,” Janeway said. She handed the padd to Tuvok and the security officer read the highlighted section quickly.

“Captain, it is not illogical for Command to reach this decision.”

“Like hell,” Janeway said. “Six and a half years of good behavior is worth something on this ship under my command.” She turned to Chakotay. “Does the rest of the crew know?”

“Not yet,” the first officer said. “Given the battle with the Borg and the damage we took and the strain we were under, I haven’t released any of the datastream yet.”

“And I’m not about to start censoring the datastreams,” Janeway said. “I’m not going to peak inside everyone’s mail to see if contains any information validating this.”

“Then I suggest we upload it,” Chakotay said, “and worry about it when we get home.”

Janeway threw the padd angrily on the desk and led the two men back to the bridge. The padd remained on the desk’s surface, blinking with the highlighted characters still glowing:

“Federation Council and Starfleet Command Decide Fate of Maquis”
Stardate 53998.4.
Federation News Service
Earth, Sol III
By Jacob Sisko


Yesterday in an unprecedented joint statement from the office of Federation President Min Zife, in conjunction with Starfleet Commander in Chief Admiral William J. Ross, issued the findings of the Special Inquiry in to the status of the Maquis.
“The rebel that opposed the original treaty between the Federation and the Cardassian Union, instigated a chain of events that eventually led the leaders of the Cardassian Empire into their disastrous alliance with the Dominion. These rogue elements of former Federation citizens were the cause of brutal acts of terrorism and sabotage against both Cardassian and Federation facilities, vessels and personnel. In the months leading up to the Dominion War, the Cardassians with their new Jem’Hadar allies eradicated every Maquis colony in the demilitarized zone and wiped out the Maquis threat once and for all.

“Although several dozen Maquis survived, they sought refuge in the Federation, and were subsequently imprisoned for their actions. Other elements who survived continue the fight and provided tactical data and troop movement intelligence to Starfleet and the Klingon Defense Force that allowed the attacks on such worlds as Trelka IV, Gamilon III and New Beijing. These individuals who have willingly stepped forward have had their charges reduced and will be dealt with on a case by case basis.”

The press conference became heated when a reporter from the Federation News Surface asked President Zife about the Maquis who were serving aboard the Starship Voyager, lost in the Delta Quadrant and still trying to make their way home.

Zife seemed to dismiss the question and again reiterated that each case was going to be looked at differently. “You can’t have criminals and malcontents get away with atrocity,” the president said. “We’ll be taking a long hard look at the Maquis crewmembers of Voyager when they return home. I can assure you, although their journey has been long and arduous, there are still murderers, thieves and assassins making up a quarter of the ship’s crew and they will be dealt with under our law.”

No further comment was made regarding the crew of Voyager, who at last report were nearly thirty two thousand light-years away from Federation space continuing their journey. Best estimates would get them home in a little more than two decades, no doubt the political winds will have shifted, it remains unseen what will be the ultimate fate of the Maquis onboard the USS Voyager.

<><><>

Ending the Endgame:

“Aft armor is down to six percent,” Tuvok shouted over the cascading explosions of Borg weapons fire.

“Hull breaches on decks six through twelve,” added Kim.

On the forward screen, the pursing Borg sphere was closing, their forward assimilation bay opening and tractor emitters glowing green.

“I can’t stay ahead of them, Captain,” Tom Paris said from the helm.

The ship was hit again.

“The armor is failing,” Tuvok announced.

“Where’s the nearest aperture?”: Chakotay demanded, moving next to Seven at mission ops.

“Approximately thirty seconds ahead,” the former drone indicated. “But it leads back to the Delta quadrant.”

Kathryn Janeway said rigid in her chair. They’d come too far, over too many years to turn back now. They’d been given a chance to cheat fate and have their cake and it eat too. She was going to make damned sure they made the most of it. “Mister Paris, prepare to adjust your heading.”

<><><>>

The Bridge of the USS Saratoga was abuzz with activity. Brice Kellin gripped the arms of his command chair and stared at the main screen. A transwarp aperture opening up less than a light-year from Earth. It seem almost impossible. He knew the Borg possessed a vast transwarp network, but if they had such a gateway into the Terran system, why would they be using it now for the first time. It had been fortuitous that Saratoga had been at McKinley station orbiting Earth for some minor repairs, otherwise they could not have responded in time.

“Confirmation from Starfleet,” Lieutenant Gleason said from tactical. “ ‘ Use what ever means necessary.’ “

At least they are predictable, Kellin thought. “Acknowledge the signal,” Kellin said. The hastily formed task force of eighteen ships were moving towards the threshold of the conduit, all weapons ready.

“Vessel emerging,” Sovar said from ops.

As the words left the Vulcan’s mouth, a Borg ship came into view. Kellin felt his breathing ease. Only a sphere. They could handle such a vessel much easier than a cube. “Open fire,” he said without hesitation.

The nearest ships unleashed a barrage of pulse-phased energy into the invading vessel.

“Sir, I’m reading massive internal explosion within the sphere,” Vale said.

Kellin and First Officer Vanick were on their feet, watching the sensor returns as the Borg ship exploded outward… and a small ship, covered in a strange form of armor raced away at high impulse.

“Definitely Intrepid-Class design,” Sovar said, “the outer armor is making scans difficult.”

“Sovar,” Kellin said in a hushed tone, “could this possibly be…?”

“Confirmed,” Sovar said in wonder. “NCC 74656, USS Voyager.”

Kellin felt himself smiling as the cheers erupted from the bridge crew.

<><><>

“It will all be in my report, sir,” Janeway said the image of Admiral Owen Paris on the main screen.

“I look forward to it,” Paris said, glancing at his son before terminating the link.

Janeway felt her body release a sense of relief that she’d not felt since Voyager had left DS9 seven years ago. She closed her eyes and looked towards the deck. “Thanks for you help Admiral Janeway…”

“Sickbay to the bridge.” The doctor’s call was followed by the healthy cries of their newest crewmember. “Doctor to Lieutenant Paris, there’s someone here whou would like to say hello.”

Tom Paris felt his hands go numb and his face break out in a cold sweat. He looked up at the smiling captain. “You better get down there, Tom.”

“Yes ma’am,” he snapped, headed for the lift.

Janeway watched him go, and turned back to Chakotay, who was standing at the rear of the bridge, smiling. “Mister Chakotay,” she said in mock formality, gesturing with her right hand. “The helm.”

“Aye, Captain,” he returned the formality and took his seat in Tom’s chair. Entering the coordinates, he felt himself laugh. For seven years the helm had been constantly sent for the set of coordinates he was entering now, but this time the trip was forty minutes away at full impulse, not decades at warp nine.

“Set a course,” Kathryn Janeway said, giving the order she had given day in an day out for seven years, “for home.”


Now the real fun begins
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