Retrospect: Like many viewers, I was confused at the end--maybe I've read to many mysteries...
Killing Game: Prologue and Interlude. These take place before the episode actually begins. Interlude is based upon a scene I wrote back in December as a scene TPTB would *never* use (and I was right, they didn't). Somewhere along the way, I decided to try to integrate it into the Web of Life Vignettes. It had to undergo a massive rewrite--including moving it from WWII to another famous war in France a few hundred years earlier (I deliberately decided not to do the language thing--Middle English and French, just aren't my thing!)
"Oh for a muse of fire!!!"
Kathryn continued to stare at the report, as she slowly chewed what Neelix had served for breakfast. The Entharans had been very enthusiastic about helping to resupply the ship--for a price of course. It was worth that price she thought as she glanced quickly at the items on her tray. Whatever she'd been served actually tasted good. She smiled slightly at that thought, took a sip of ersatz-coffee and started to read again.
"Good morning Captain," Chakotay said as he looked expectantly at her.
"Morning, have a seat." She smiled at him. "Just going over our various trade agreements. We've done pretty well."
Chakotay grinned. "It looks like it," he said indicating the food with his fork.
"Yes," she said as lowered her voice conspiratorially. "And they've never heard of leola root." She laughed quietly, then her smile broadened despite her attempt at a serious tone. "So far we've managed to keep within Star Fleet protocols on trading. But Kovan has been pushing with this cannon." She glanced quickly at her chronometer. "He'll be here soon too." She slid the PADD over. "What do you think."
Chakotay looked at it quickly and quirked an eyebrow in a bad imitation of their chief of security. "Isolinear chips..."
She shrugged, "It isn't like they don't have something similar. I'm hoping the star charts will be enough..."
"I doubt it, Kovan's pretty proud of this cannon. I think he's looking to make a killing today..."
She nodded. "He's shrewd."
"Make a Ferengi blush in shame." He placed the PADD down. "Can we really afford to give up 300 chips?"
She shrugged, "Yes, no...We'll have to replicate more..." Meaning more replicator cut-backs. "But that is the maximum number...I will start negotiations with a lot less..." She grinned. "I have no intention of being beaten by another smooth-talking trader. I've been studying the Ferengi Rules of Acquisition."
Chakotay smiled as he sipped his tea. "I'll be there, to make sure he doesn't try to trick you..." He pushed the PADD back to her. "How's Seven this morning?"
"Doctor says she has recovered completely from her injuries. She still seems withdrawn...Why?"
"Ayala mentioned she seemed jumpy today. Considering...I guess, it's to be expected. Any thoughts on what to do with her?"
Janeway shook her head. "I skimmed the book Sam recommended. I haven't sat down to read it yet. I'm just not the mothering type..." She took a long sip of the greenish-grey stuff Neelix tried to call coffee.
"I wouldn't know about that. You might some day want...well..." He stopped suddenly and looked around quickly.
Neither spoke as they finished their breakfasts. In fact Janeway smiled in relief when Harry informed her that Kovan was ready to beam-aboard.
Janeway sat there...Such an easy solution--to just wipe out the capability to grow, to not feel...Right now there was something seductive about that capability. But she still had denied the Doctor's request. Despite what had happened, it was better for everybody--the Doctor included--that those subroutines remain. She glanced at the door--he had become so much more than a set of algorithms, routines, and subroutines...She couldn't imagine him just being the EMH anymore.
She returned to the question that had plagued her these past several days...What could they have done differently? And was stuck with the same answers...Not much. As Captain she had a responsibility for her crew that included defending them, protecting them...Was it such a mistake to have insisted on the investigation? It was obvious that Seven had truly believed that Kovan had used her. And Kovan's behavior--so defensive...such guilty behavior. Then he ran...Maybe it was a cultural difference...Maybe...
Her thoughts rambled on as she smiled sadly. Looking back at the investigation, she decided it had been impartial-- at least up to the moment they had found the nanoprobes.
And what would they do with Seven?
Seven...An enigma if ever she'd met one. Complicated, yet sometimes incredibly simplistic...Intelligent, yet not...
Janeway shook her head to clear it as the doorchime rang. "Come in."
"Captain," Tuvok looked at her impassively. "The Magistrate wishes for you, Seven, and myself to transport to the planet in fifteen minutes."
She looked at him curiously, "They have completed the inquiry?"
"Apparently they have a few more questions to ask."
"Oh..." She was tired of the questions--always the same ones. And they wouldn't answer her questions. "Very well, please notify Seven to meet us in transporter room three in fifteen minutes."
The Magistrate looked at Janeway then Tuvok. "We have concluded our investigation." The door on the right opened and Seven entered. She stood sullenly at parade rest, her eyes closed as in thought. The Magistrate didn't acknowledge her, but continued his conversation with Janeway. "We would like you to remain here until we have finished with the report. We are almost done. Captain." He gave a curt nod and exited out the same door Seven had entered from.
Seven ignored him completely and waited until he left before she spoke. "Captain, my function here is complete. I would like to return to the ship."
The door to the outside opened, and an Entharan woman walked passed them quickly. She too exited into the inquiry room on the right. Seven watched her all the way across the small room, a puzzled look on her face.
Janeway watched the Borg's face, "Seven?" She asked.
"Captain, who's that woman?" Seven cocked her head slightly.
"Kovan's business partner. I met her when we first arrived. Why?"
"I remember her."
"You never..." Janeway looked at Tuvok quickly. "From...Spirits..." They both looked at Seven. The Borg had not met the Entharan female--as far as they knew.
Janeway angrily made her way to that door and pushed it open. She returned several minutes later, the Magistrate right behind her. The Captain looked at Seven, then the Magistrate. "Well?"
He sighed, the original plan was that the Voyager aliens were not to know. "Kovan was on medication for Rorastro, a mental disorder. He apparently stopped taking it the day of the...um...incident. His partner..." He stopped and looked at the threesome. "This can go no further--please don't even tell your crew members. We rely heavily on our reputation as being honest. If word of this gets out..." He paused and took a deep breath as he pulled nervously on his robes. "It's out of my hands. The finding is that Kovan did indeed try to take the Borg-technology. I am to apologize and offer you his technology at half price."
Janeway looked astounded and a bit horrified. "But this isn't what happened," she said as she spread her hands in puzzlement.
"No." The Magistrate stared at his feet. "It isn't. Getting Borg technology wasn't the reason for this elaborate ruse."
"Magistrate?" Janeway stared at Seven, then back at the embarrassed official. Both Seven and Tuvok were also staring at the Magistrate. The Vulcan quirked an eyebrow--the only indication of his interest in what was being said.
"Then I did remember correctly," Seven said calmly.
"No." The Magistrate paused a second. "The accident happened as Kovan related except that both of you were unconscious for almost an hour. His partner found you..." The Magistrate looked at the Captain. "Apparently she took advantage of the situation...And implanted memories--the technical stuff is beyond my expertise. Her license will be revoked. She will return to the main colony--despite the fact that I would like to prosecute her for murder..."
"Murder?" Tuvok and Janeway said simultaneously.
"It is my belief that she rigged Kovan's ship, and deliberately altered his medication...Unfortunately...I can't prove it, and the Guild wants this settled quietly," he said sadly. "Our inquiry is completed. You may return to your ship. We will send a technician to install the cannon this afternoon. I hope your journey will be a safe one." He nodded to the threesome and left in a quiet dignified manner.
"Fascinating," Tuvok said after several seconds.
"Yes." Janeway tapped her comm-badge. "Janeway to Voyager. Three to beam up."
Comfortably sitting there in her quarters, she had decided that she would tell the Doctor--she owed him that. She would eventually tell the crew too--after they had left the Entharan sphere of influence. Which, according to the charts the Magistrate had given them, would be in about three weeks. She glanced at her First Officer again, she hadn't been listening. "I'm sorry, you were saying?"
He laughed as he shifted his position to be closer to her. "I was just saying that the crew is happy to be leaving the Entharans behind."
"I can relate to that..." She smiled at him. "What else are they saying?"
"Maybe you need to relax more," he said.
"No, tell me--what are they saying?"
He laughed again. "That you need to relax more."
"Busybodies," she laughed, then stopped. "I was wondering what they thought about Seven and Kovan."
"That more happened than meets the eye. We were chasing after Kovan to tell him he was innocent--then the Entharan inquiry finds him guilty...Kathryn, it doesn't take a bloody idiot to realize that something more happened."
She swallowed quickly and took a deep breath. "Yes, more did. But we agreed not to tell..." She smiled slightly. "It's a complicated, horrendous mess...I will tell the crew eventually, after we've left Entharan space." She reached up a touched his cheek. "Bear with this--it's not fair to anybody, especially Kovan."
"The dead scapegoat." He took her hand in his. "I won't press you...On this issue..." He leaned forward and kissed her. He had planned to kiss her quickly, but her arms stole around his back pulling him closer.
When they separated, he started to stand. "I'd better go," he said huskily. "Unless?" He asked hesitantly.
She blushed...Time was running out...But not tonight. She smiled as she stood up. "Some day--but not tonight." She didn't want their first time to be the culmination of a bad day--a bad week.
He grinned back. "My lovely Kathryn. Here's to someday." He took her hand and kissed it gallantly, not daring to kiss her lips again before departing.
Janeway looked up, the silence was deadly. She fought back the urge to scream as she again paced around the small cell. She had no idea what was happening or how long she'd been here. She hit the wall in frustration, anger...It didn't matter. Not anymore...They were dead or soon would be...
"Damnation." The word echoed in the room. She closed her eyes savoring the sound...Possibly the last sounds...
There was a click and the door open. Two Hirogen guards entered. They stared at her warily; studying her.
She stood still, studying them in return. They seemed totally oblivious to her, except as prey
"Come," the taller guard said.
She sighed. "What is happening?" She wasn't surprised when they didn't answer. She was shaking slightly as she took a step forward.
"You will come." Both guards grabbed her arms and pulled her toward them. There was a sharp sting in her neck as the taller one injected the hypospray he'd been hiding and she slumped to the floor.
She turned and looked at the man she had rescued. Something about him intrigued her. She couldn't shake the feeling that she had known him longer than the past hour. She could see the caked blood from his wounded right arm on the grimy dark-brown-leather jerkin. She frowned--that wound needed to be tended to.
The first raindrops started to fall. The dark gray clouds hung low in the sky--promising more heavy rain. They wouldn't get far before it became a deluge. She looked around the fields again. A building in the distance would offer shelter. Not too many of the locals would be out after the sunset anyway. "This way." She pointed to the abandoned building.
The man nodded, as he motioned for her to wait. The roads were not safe these days, with outlaws and soldiers roaming unchecked.
"How's your arm?" She whispered, noticing that his grip around his long-bow had weakened.
"Fine," he grimaced slightly at the pain. If it hadn't been for this woman, he'd have been left on the plains of Agincourt.
"Come, I will tend your arm there." She pulled on his good hand. "We must hurry." She shivered slightly as the rain turned to a torrent. "I don't want to be seen..." Soldiers from both the winning and losing armies could be highly uncivilized...
He smiled. "My lady...I shall protect you." He raised his bow, causing the wound on his arm to bleed again.
She shook her head.
Her long greyish-brown dress was plastered to her when they finally entered the barn. The only occupant, a bored goat, was more concerned with his dinner than the intruders. The looters had been there already; killing everything but this old creature. The remnants of the slaughter were everywhere.
She looked out the door, on the outside chance someone had seen them as she removed the scarf covering her hair. It was soaked. He laughed at her attempts to dry.
"It's not funny," she tried to snarl, but something about the man made her join in with the laughter.
She had to smile when she stopped laughing. It had been good to laugh again. She hadn't laughed for years, not since Jean, her husband, had been killed and buried in some unmarked grave far from their village. She was supposed to hate the English--but she couldn't hate this man. Not when she feel so comfortable with him...
"I think we will safe here," he said with a resounding sneeze.
She looked around. "We're probably better off in the loft." She made her way to the ladder. A thought crossed her mind, that she quickly pushed aside. She should be worried about protocols and parameters--her position. The situation just seemed odd.
The sound of the falling rain could be heard on the roof, a few drops slipping through the cracks. She turned from the wall and watched as he clambered up the ladder. She realized she found him very attractive...
She turned away, hoping her nervousness at the situation didn't show.
"You never told me your name." His voice was low and soft.
She was glad the dim light hid the warmth that spread across her face. "Kathrina. Like our princess."
He laughed, "Even King Henry thinks it is a good name."
"Your king will marry our princess?"
"That is his wish. Then he will be King of France too."
"And no more war?"
"No more." He took some straw to make a mattress, anything to distract his attention from the woman he was with. He'd never met anyone like her. He felt like he had known her for years. Had loved her for years. She was so unlike the women he had known at home.
Kathrina stood there and watched him sit down. "Tell me about yourself."
"Me? There isn't much to tell. My father died several years ago, leaving me nothing but the family name. I had no choice but to become a soldier." He handed her his long-bow as she moved to sit beside him to treat his wound.
"Sounds so wonderful, so free." She spoke as she tore his sleeve open. The wound needed more than she could offer. All she could do was make a bandage from the material of her underskirt. She quickly ripped a piece and started to wrap his arm.
He shrugged. "Too many nights under the stars, no home..."
Kathrina smiled. It seemed so right to want to be with him, to be among the stars with him...
"You have seen so much. I once went to the markets with Jean."
"Jean?" He wondered why he felt jealous.
"My late husband. He died..." It seemed so long ago--and for the first time she was more than ready to move on.
"I'm sorry."
"It was over four years ago. And you? Is there someone waiting for you?"
"No." The barn was silent, except for the scratching of some animal. Kathrina turned her head to stare at the wall. What was with her. This was not appropriate behavior for a widow. But she couldn't stop the feeling that this man was her destiny. She had never felt such a connection to anyone like this before. Not even her late husband. It scared her. She shivered.
"Cold?" He asked, a slight waver in his voice.
"No, I'm fine." She frantically wished the rain would stop, but it sounded like it was coming down harder. Perhaps it was worth the risk to leave now. She turned to look at him. In the almost complete darkness she could just barely make out his shape. But she could feel his eyes on her.
He'd known her barely an hour, and yet...He knew he would spend the rest of his life with her. They would always be flying...Why was her presence so disconcerting?
She looked at him. Neither said a word as their thoughts were mirrored in their actions. She leaned against him, brushing his lips with hers, feeling the warmth of their connection spread through-out her. The second time she gently kissed him, his hand against her neck prevented her escape as he kissed her back. Soon both her arms were wrapped around him pulling him as close as the clothes they wore would let them. Then together they worked to remove that final barrier, removing those garments leaving them strewn on the wooden floor. Neither were thinking that a barn on a cold rainy night was a strange place to make love for the first time.
Kathrina woke with a start. Two thoughts ocurred simultaneously: she wasn't alone and something had moved below. She felt his hands tighten, then relax and release her. He was a big man, but he moved quietly. He had retrieved his bow and was looking cautiously to the ground below. She watched him as he listened to the noise, then took out an arrow.
"What is it?" She whispered.
"Shh...Somebody is here," he whispered.
There was the sound of someone climbing up the ladder, the English soldier moved to a better position. A gentle thwang, a grunt, then the thud of the intruder hitting the floor below.
"We need to go," the man said. "He probably has friends."
Minutes later they left. Leaving the body of a Hirogen soldier lying on the ground.
The Doctor looked at Harry and frowned as the beta-Hirogen entered the sick-bay and grunted at the Hirogen Doctor. "You will reprogram them. The Hunters find this *game* boring. Here is a new simulation, another conflict from the prey's history." He practically threw the PADD at the other Hirogen before leaving.
Both Voyager officers sadly shook their heads. It was becoming obvious there was growing dissension amongst their captors. The two Star Fleet officers had little opportunity for planning anything--let alone a rescue. Neither looked up when another guard entered.
"You," the new one pointed at Harry. "Come."
Harry nodded slightly and followed. Slowly, over the past couple of weeks he'd been able to glean information on what was happening. The only reason he wasn't *participating* in the hunt was he was needed to repair Voyager from the battering she'd taken during the initial hunt.
Like wolves, the Hirogen had driven them through several systems. Nipping at Voyager's heels--not giving them any chance to make repairs...Sneak in, cause more damage--then back off and wait before they finally breached the hull. Patient, cunning, driven.
Harry frowned as he looked away from the Hirogen--he'd quickly learned to avoid eye-contact. *Well,* he thought. *I'll just have to be more cunning and more patient. To wait for the perfect moment.* And that was hard. He'd already seen several of his friends brought to sick-bay to be patched up and sent back into the hunt.
The Hirogen grabbed his arm and growled, practically throwing the young ensign out the lift door onto the bridge.