"A Separate Peace"
by Andra Marie Mueller

PART ONE : 'Abduction'

SUMMARY : Under orders from their captain, the Maquis kidnap Kathryn Janeway

AUTHOR’S NOTE:This is very much an "alternative universe" story. While I have attempted to follow canon wherever possible, the nature of the story dictated that I take certain creative liberties with character and plot histories that have been established on Voyager, and to a lesser extent, Deep Space Nine.

DISCLAIMER:Paramount Pictures and Viacom, Inc. are the legal owners of all things Trek.

 

"Destiny is not a matter of chance; it is a matter of choice." - Anonymous

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"Report!"

"Shields are down to sixty-five percent, and we have a hull breach on deck six. Warp engines are down, and main power is at fifty percent. Numerous damage reports are coming in from all over the ship, but so far no casualties."

"Status of the Maquis ships?"

"Weapons are still on-line and locked on Voyager, but for the moment they appear to be holding position."

Seated in her chair in the center of the Bridge, Kathryn Janeway stifled a frustrated sigh and absently ran a hand along the aching muscles cramping in her neck and shoulders. The captain and her crew were in the Badlands, engaged in a losing battle with three Maquis warships. Starfleet Command had commissioned Voyager to patrol the Badlands in search of the Maquis, and Janeway had been ordered to apprehend any ship she encountered, then relinquish its crew to Federation authorities.

Shortly after departing Deep Space Nine, Voyager’s sensors had picked up a faint ion trail resembling the energy signature produced by the engines used in most Maquis ships. The trail of proverbial breadcrumbs had brought them to the far side of the Badlands, dangerously close to Cardassian space. It was there that the three Maquis ships had materialized out of thin air, obviously having been cloaked courtesy of their Romulan allies, and immediately engaged Voyager. The ships had positioned themselves in a semi-circle around the starship, taking turns firing phaser shots that rocked the ship like a giant ping-pong ball.

I should have stayed an ensign, Janeway thought tiredly and tapped her combadge. "Bridge to Engineering. How long before we have full power?"

"Not any time soon, Captain," responded the voice of her chief engineer, Ronald Carey, sounding very much like a man who was annoyed at having to waste time answering questions when there was work to be done. "We’ve had to reroute emergency power to compensate for the hull breach and are using the rest to try and jump start the warp drive."

"Shut down all non-essential systems and send the power to the warp drive, Lieutenant," Janeway instructed. "If we don’t get those engines back on-line, we’ll have to walk back to DS9."

"Acknowledged. Carey out."

Janeway glanced at her XO. "Thoughts, Mister Cavit?"

Cavit shrugged. "Without main power our weapons are basically useless; but if we can get the warp engines back, we may be able to out run them."

"I’ve never been one to turn tail and run, Commander," Janeway replied, obviously irked at the mere idea. "If we can get main power back, we may be able to give the Maquis a taste of their own medicine."

"Maybe," Cavit allowed. "But Voyager has already sustained heavy damage, Captain. A few more hits from those Maquis phasers, and we’ll be completely disabled."

"So our options are to either return to DS9 with our tails between our legs or stay here and let the Maquis turn this ship into scrap metal," Janeway surmised. "I don’t like those options, Commander."

Getting to her feet, Janeway strode to the center of the Bridge as she addressed her Ops officer, a young ensign named Harry Kim so fresh out of the Academy he was still green around the edges.

"Mister Kim, open a hailing frequency to the Maquis ships," she instructed. "Let’s see if we can’t reach some kind of compromise."

"Aye, Captain."

Kim ran a hand along his panel, then glanced at Janeway. "Hailing frequencies open, Captain."

"This is Captain Kathryn Janeway of the Federation Starship Voyager. I’d like to speak with whoever is in charge of your mini-armada."

On board the lead Maquis ship, the man seated in the center chair froze at the sound of Janeway’s voice and waited until she had finished speaking before slowly rising to his feet.

The Spirits work in mysterious ways, he mused, then addressed his helmsman. "Mister

Brev, contact the Cloud Dancer and the Crazy Horse and instruct them to stand down their weapons."

Brev Korran was Bajoran, and his loyalty to his captain was matched only by his hatred for all things Starfleet. But nonetheless he responded to the order by shifting in his seat to flash his CO a curious look. "Captain?" he prompted questioningly.

"Don’t make me repeat myself, Korran," Chakotay snapped. "Do it."

"Aye, Captain," Brev acknowledged, and a moment later announced, "Cloud Dancer and Crazy Horse have powered down, sir.

"Excellent. What’s the status of Voyager’s shields?"

Brev ran a quick scan. "Their shields are at less than two-thirds capacity," he reported.

The Maquis captain glanced to his left, directing his attention to his half-Klingon chief engineer. "B’Elanna, can you bypass their security system and tap into their computer long enough to disable the shields?"

"Give me five minutes, and I can make it whistle Dixie," B’Elanna responded.

"You’ve got two minutes." Chakotay returned his attention to Brev. "Open a channel to the Cloud Dancer."

"Channel open, sir," Brev said after a beat.

"Give me visual."

The small viewscreen flickered on, and the Bridge of the Cloud Dancer came into focus. Seated in the center chair was Terven Darjenko, an Alpha Centaurian who served as Chakotay’s chief strategist.

"What’s the plan, Captain?" he prompted.

"Terven, we’re about to disable Voyager’s shields. Once they’re down I want a team to transport directly to the Bridge and get Captain Janeway. Once you’ve got her, disable the ship’s long-range sensors and scramble their navigation records, then return to the Cloud Dancer and head for home. We’ll join you there as soon as we finish with Voyager."

"What do you want us to do with Janeway?" Darjenko asked.

"Nothing; I’ll deal with her when I get back to Cornellia. Until then, I want someone with her at all times, but her treatment is strictly hands-off. Is that clear?"

"As crystal, Captain. Darjenko out."

Chakotay glanced at Brev. "Contact Red Hawk on the Crazy Horse. Tell him to send a team to Voyager’s Sickbay and confiscate as much medical equipment as possible while Terven’s group gets Janeway."

"Aye, sir."

 

Meanwhile on Voyager, Janeway was still waiting for a response to her request when her Vulcan tactical officer and chief of security broke the silence.

"Captain, we have just lost our shields," Tuvok announced.

Janeway quickly crossed over to his station. "What happened?" she demanded. "The Maquis haven’t fired at us. Was there some type of energy fluctuation?"

"Negative. It would seem that the Maquis somehow accessed our computer system and initiated the shutdown themselves."

"How the hell did they bypass our security codes?"

Before Tuvok could voice a response, a group of five Maquis suddenly materialized in the center of the Bridge and immediately leveled their weapons at the Starfleet officers. Cavit reacted instinctively and attempted to land a punch in the face of the closest one. Some sixth sense warned the other man of the impending attack, and he dodged the XO’s punch before knocking Cavit out cold with a blow to the head from the butt of his phaser rifle.

"The next person who so much as twitches is going down," Terven Darjenko cautioned, then glanced at the young Bajoran next to him. "Take out their sensors and erase their navigation records."

Ean crossed over to the helm and motioned with his rifle for the officer to relinquish her seat. The lieutenant glanced questioningly at Janeway, who gave a curt nod, and the lieutenant reluctantly surrendered her post. Placing his rifle in his lap, Ean quickly ran his hands along the computer console, and a moment later glanced back at Darjenko. "Sensors are off-line," he announced.

"Good." Darjenko turned to Janeway. "Captain, you’re coming with us."

"I don’t think so."

Darjenko suddenly shifted his rifle to send a phaser blast directly into the computer panel behind Harry Kim, missing the ensign’s head by less than an inch and completely destroying his console.

"The next target will be one of your people, Captain. Now spare me the heroics and let’s go."

Anger etched in her refined features, Janeway wordlessly crossed over to stand in front of Darjenko and met his gaze unflinchingly. "Consider yourself warned that I won’t allow the assault on my ship go unanswered," she cautioned.

"The only person I answer to is my captain," Darjenko responded. He pressed a small device attached to his wrist, and Janeway and the Maquis disappeared in a shimmer of light. No sooner had they vanished than the voice of the ship’s CMO filtered out of the speakers.

"Fitzgerald to the Bridge. We just had some Maquis visitors in Sickbay, and they’ve stolen some of our medical equipment."

"That’s not the only thing they’ve stolen," Kim mumbled.

 

On the Bridge of the Maquis ship Freedom, the captain was working at the computer console next to his chair when Terven Darjenko’s voice filtered out of the speaker system.

"Darjenko to Chakotay."

"Go ahead."

"Captain, we’ve got Janeway. R’Vek has taken her to the brig, and we’re ready to head for Cornellia."

"Acknowledged. I’ll join you there as soon as I can. Chakotay out."

Severing the transmission, Chakotay glanced over at B’Elanna. "B’Elanna, I need access to Voyager’s computer."

"That’s going to be tricky," B’Elanna replied. "They initiated a computer lock-out as soon as Darjenko and his group disappeared with Janeway. I don’t know if I can override their security system again."

"If you’re not up to the task, maybe I should have Seska do it," Chakotay suggested, earning him an expected growl from his engineer.

"Give me a minute and I’ll have you in," she snapped.

Smiling to himself, Chakotay returned his attention to his console and put the finishing touches on his message. A moment later, B’Elanna glanced over at him.

"I’ve managed to access their communications system via one of the energy relays in their Engineering section," she told him. "You’ve got about thirty seconds to do whatever it is you want to do."

"That’s all I’ll need," Chakotay responded.

Running his hand along his panel, Chakotay secured his message with an encrypted security code then initiated its transfer to Voyager’s communications system. Once his computer had confirmed delivery, Chakotay severed the transmission and returned his attention to B’Elanna.

"Download as much of their tactical information as you can before the link is severed," he instructed. "I want to know what Starfleet is up to by sending ships into the Badlands."

"Isn’t it obvious?" B’Elanna returned rhetorically.

Chakotay smiled in response then shifted his attention to Brev. "Korran, once B’Elanna is done with the download, set a course for Cornellia, warp three. I imagine our little tete-a-tete with Voyager has alerted our leather-faced friends to our presence here."

Brev snorted. "Bring them on," he said. "I wouldn’t mind taking out a few of them as well."

"We can play war games with the Cardys another day. Right now I want to get back to Cornellia."

"Anxious to ‘interrogate’ your prisoner?" Brev prompted snidely.

Chakotay flashed him a smile devoid of warmth. "Unless you want me to cut your tongue from your throat, Korran, I suggest you refrain from that kind of comment in the future," he cautioned icily. "The hands-off order I gave to Darjenko regarding Janeway applies to everyone and includes unwarranted and unwelcome commentary about her imprisonment. Understood?"

"Yes, sir."

"I’ve lost the link, Captain," B’Elanna interjected. "We’ve gotten all the information we can."

"Korran, I believe that’s your cue," Chakotay said. "Take us home."

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Part 2