SAVIOR

by Tiggy

Disclaimer:Paramount owns everything. I'm just having a little fun with their badly treated toys.

Rating: The first chapter is PG13. However, I'm pretty sure it'll become NC17 at some point.

Summary:  A/U story- Maquis to the rescue!

(This is my very first fanfic, so please don't be too harsh with your crtiticism. Thanks!)

Enjoy!!!

I

"Chakotay to the bridge!"

Just as Chakotay entered the small turbolift which would get him to his destination, the Liberty rocked under the impact of several phaser blasts. Chakotay cursed. He'd been down in engineering with B'Elanna who still tried to repair all the damage from their last encounter with the Cardassians. The last thing they needed now was another confrontation. Too late for wishful thinking, he thought as he entered the Maquis ship's command center. He quickly surveyed the room. Ayala, Seska and Kylen were at their stations attempting to defend their vessel and to destroy the Cardassians' weapons array.

"What's their status?" Chakotay asked. It took a moment before anyone had time to respond. Finally, Kylen, a young Bajoran, replied: "We've managed to cause some damage to their shields. They're not as heavily armed as the last vessel we've encountered. To me it looks more like a cruiser than a war ship. I wonder what they're doing in this region or why they attacked us."

"I think they just saw that we're a Maquis ship in bad shape so they decided to collect a little souvenir.", Ayala shoutet as another volley of phaser blasts rocked the ship. "That still doesn't tell us what they're doing in the middle of the DMZ.", Chakotay answered.

The fight lasted for several more minutes, the Maquis attempting to disable the attackers' weapons and, at the same time, flying numerous evasive maneuvers in order to avoid further damage to their own vessel. Just as the Liberty's shields were failing, the Cardassian ship suddenly began to lurch, its engine section glowing dangerously.

"What's going on over there?" Seska asked. Kylen quickly scanned the other ship and frowned. "Looks like they're having some trouble with their live support and environmental controls. Ninety percent of the ship's interior has just lost life support, they're running out of oxygen and... their structural integrity is weakening. Weapons and shields are offline." "Ayala turned in his seat to look at Chakotay. "This wasn't our doing, I think there must have been some sort of rupture in one of their energy relays even before the ship left Cardassia."

"What about the crew, are there any survivors?" Chakotay eyed the enemy vessel on the screen suspiciously. He had never heard of such a severe constructional failure occurring in any Cardassian system, let alone a starship. And he knew that this could very well be some kind of trap. This unexpected catastrophe, together with this mysterious civilian ship in the heart of an area which was not to be entered by any ship, Cardassian or Starfleet, made him especially careful.

Kylen finished his scans. "Not all areas of the ship were affected. I am reading a few lifesigns, most of them are very weak. Maybe we should go over there and..."

"Not so fast", Chakotay said. "This just doesn't seem right. Scan the area for other vessels."

"There aren't any."

Chakotay hesitated for a moment."Very well." He opened a comm chanel. "B'Elanna, meet me in the transporter room, we're boarding the Cardassian ship. Ayala, Kylen, you're with me. I want you to be extremely careful while we're over there. Seska, keep scanning the sector and the ship. Keep a lock on us, if there's the slightest change in your readings, beam us back immediately!" "Alright."

They materialized in the center of the Cardassian bridge wearing environmental suits which Seska had acquired during her last stay on the Bajoran homeworld. A quick scan showed them that the entire bridge crew was dead. B'Elanna went immediately to the engineering console. "This may take a few minutes, but I think I'll be able to reactivate most of the failed systems."

"You better hurry", Kylen whispered. " A few more minutes in that suit and I'm going to suffocate."

"Why are you whispering?" Ayala asked. "Afraid you'll be attacked by some gory Cardassian corpse?"

"Funny, Ayala!", Kylen answered. "This place just gives me the creeps. Who knows what really happened here. Maybe whoever caused all this is still around and is waiting for an opportunity to finish his work."

"Shut up, both of you, or I'll never get this done!" B'Elanna shot them an annoyed look before returning to her task.

Chakotay couldn't suppress a small smile at B'Elanna's aggressive words. Sometimes, he regretted having accepted Kylen as a member of his crew. He was awfully young, almost a child. When he had joined the Maquis, he hadn't had any idea of what awaited him. However, Chakotay had seen the pain in the young man's eyes whenever he talked about his family who had been tortured to death by the Cardassians while he'd been forced to watch it all. Kylen may still be naive and easy to scare, but Chakotay understood his need for revenge only too well. With making him a member of his crew, he had become Kylen's captain and mentor and he had vowed to himself that he'd take care of the young Bajoran so that he wouldn't meet the same fate as his beloved family.

Besides, even though Ayala might have been right with his ironic remark, Chakotay had to admit that he didn't feel very secure either. The uneasy feeling from earlier hadn't left him. If anything, it had become stronger ever since the moment he had materialized in this room and by now it had almost transformed into something like foreboding.

"Done!" B'Elanna announced and dragged Chakotay back to reality. "I think it's safe to get out of those damn suits now." When they were all finished and the suits had been transported back to the Liberty, Chakotay devided them into two teams. B'Elanna and Ayala went down to the ship's engine room, while he and Kylen made their way to crew quarters as Seska had contacted them and said that most lifesigns were located in that section. She had also told them that the number of survivors was diminishing by the minute. Chakotay decided they'd have to hurry if they wanted to get some information about what had happened and what the ship's mission had been.

The corridors were dark and the team had to walk cautiously because of the dead bodies which lay sprawled across the floor. Chakotay and Kylen made their way from one room to the next, careful not to miss any hidden attackers. So far, all they had discovered were Cardassian corpses. After they'd covered half of the quarters on the first deck, Chakotay decided they split up and continue seperately in order to save precious time.

He contacted B'Elanna to see if she'd had any more success. The Klingon engineer told him what he'd already suspected. Someone had obviously sabotaged the ship's systems in order to cause the catastrophe. However, that had happened several days ago, and whoever had done it had not been able to finish what he wanted to do, which was to destroy the ship. According to B'Elanna, several things indicated that the person in question had been in a hurry and finally had had to abandon their work prematurely.

Somehow, Chakotay felt relief wash over him as he listened to B'Elanna's words. The saboteur might have been arrested or had had to leave the ship. Maybe all this had nothing to do with the vessel's presence here or the attack.

Just as he broke the link with B'Elanna, Chakotay was hailed by Kylen who told him that he had found a survivor. The Cardassian was unconscious so Chakotay told Kylen to beam him to the Liberty for treatment. He hoped that the man would be able to provide some answers. Chakotay entered the next room to his right and recognized instantly that these must be the quarters of the ship's captain or owner. They were more spacious and comfortable than all the other quarters he?d seen so far and the walls were decorated with what looked like military decorations. So we are dealing with their government. Strange for a military person to travel on a civilian ship. Maybe some kind of undercover mission.

Chakotay proceeded further into the room, gripping his phaser in one hand and his flashlight in the other. He was about to enter the bedroom when he stopped dead in his tracks. For a moment, he thought he?d heard something move in the room behind him. Just as he was about to turn around, he was hit by something solid. He stumbled forward and fell to the floor, his attacker above him. He felt someone trying to twist both his arms behind his back in order to tie him up. Chakotay lay totally still for a few seconds in an attempt to regain some of his strength. Then, with a sudden movement, he turned around so fast that his attacker was thrown off his back and landed on the floor next to him. Chakotay seized the opportunity and threw himself over the other person who tried to struggle from his grasp. Only now did it occur to him that the assailant possessed surprisingy little physical strength. He had no problem holding the person down while he took his handcuffs and tied both wrists together.

When he was sure that his attacker wouldn't be able to escape or fight at the moment, Chakotay grabbed the flashlight which he had lost during the struggle so that he could have a look at his new captive. What he discovered made him gasp. Beneath him lay a human woman with long auburn hair, dressed only in a flimsy dark blue satin nightgown which barely covered her beautiful body. However, what startled him most was her intense gaze. He moved the flashlight in his hand so that the bright light didn?t shine directly into her eyes. When the woman turned her head so he could see her face, she stared at him with the most incredible set of blue eyes he'd ever seen. In her gaze he saw anger, determination and only the slightest bit of fear. Chakotay felt as though those eyes could see right through him and into his soul.

"Who are you and what the hell are you doing on a Cardassian ship?" Chakotay asked after he'd recovered from his shock. She didn't answer, instead she turned her head to the side and stared over his right shoulder. What she saw made her eyes go wide and she called:"Watch out, he's right behind you!"

Go to part II

Back to my archive

I love feedback, please tell me what you think so far!!!