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In all her years of experience, training, tactical simulations and stories told by other officers, Captain Stratton never thought she would ever have to face an enemy under these circumstances; wearing only her husbands old academy t-shirt, sweat pant shorts and socks. ‘What an impressive authority figure I must present to them.’ She thought with dry humor, ‘I shall have to remember to tell the academy to add this to the tactical training syllabus.’ As she straighten her shoulders and strode forward she said in her most authoritative voice. “I am Captain Jessica Stratton of the USS Saint George and I DEMAND to know who you are and why you have kidnapped us!”
"You now belong to us," the first alien's thin voice rasped. "Cooperate or you will all be killed."
"What do you want with us?" Captain Stratton stood tall and unafraid despite her incongruous attire. She glared at both aliens, silently dubbing them One and Two to keep them straight.
"That is none of your concern," Alien Two said, his eyes narrowing. He hefted his weapon as if preparing file.
"I should think it is, considering that you abducted us from our beds," Stratton retorted. "The remaining crew on the Saint George" – she thought fondly of Mike - "won't stand for this. They will initiate a rescue attempt, and -- "
"The crew of the - Saint George - " Alien One spat the name like an obscenity - "thinks that you are dead. We replaced every one of you with an exact replica - a clone - all of whom mysteriously died of an obscure head injury. Your doctor will not be able to tell that the bodies are clones."
You don't know our doctor, Stratton thought. Aloud, she said, "I think we deserve to know the truth of why we were abducted."
Alien Two snapped, "Be silent!"
"You said to cooperate or we'd all be killed, yet you faked our death so our crew wouldn't attempt to recover us. Obviously, you have no intention of sparing our lives, no matter how we behave. So why should we cooperate?" Stratton fired back, her eyes blazing like phaser blasts.
Alien One alien glared at her for a long moment. "You're a clever one," he said finally. “All right. If you want to hear what you’ll be used for, I’ll tell you.” His rheumy blue eyes squarely met those of the captain’s. “We are the Vidiians. For two millennia we have been suffered from incurable virus called the Phage. The Phage destroys our bodies and our internal organs. We replenish our supply of organs, skin, and other body parts by scavenging and harvesting organs from other species. We have the medical technology to take organs and use them, regardless of the species of the... donors. We are in need of a fresh supply. Your crew will suffice.”
For the merest of an instant, Captain Stratton’s jaw dropped. She quickly regained her composure, aware of the gasps and exclamations of horror from the crewmen behind her.
Beside her, Chief Wahlund was muttering under her breath. “Vidiians -Vidiians - where have I heard that name before?” Suddenly, her eyes widened. “Vidiians! You’re from the Delta Quadrant!”
“How do you know that?” Alien Two barked, after exchanging a shocked glance with his companion.
“The Federation Starship Voyager encountered your people approximately five times during their seven-year sojourn in the Delta Quadrant,” Wahlund recited, causing her captain to silently bless both the Chief’s obsession with Voyager and penchant for memorizing details. “But... according to Captain Janeway, Voyager’s commanding officer... the Vidiian phage was cured. Almost three years ago.”
Both of the Vidiians were so surprised that they nearly dropped their weapons. “Cured? Impossible!” Alien Two bellowed.
“I assure you, gentlemen,” Captain Stratton said quickly, “Chief Wahlund does not lie. She has an amazing capacity for remembering details as well as more than a passing familiarity with the starship Voyager. If she says this – Phage - was cured, you can be sure that she is correct.”
“It IS true,” Chief Wahlund insisted. “On stardate 52504.7, a group of super-intelligent aliens calling themselves the ‘Think Tank’ claimed to have cured the Vidiian Phage.”
“Six months after we got here,” Alien Two muttered to Alien One.
“She’s lying,” Alien One said, eyeing Wahlund suspiciously. “She has to be.”
Wahlund shrugged. “You have access to the Saint George’s computer. Find the Starship Voyager’s log entries and check for yourself.”
Now both aliens were glaring at her suspiciously. “We’ll do that,” the first one finally said. “But if you are lying – and maybe if you’re not – you are going to be the first one who’s harvested.” The two backed out of the room.
Wahlund looked at her captain. “See, I TOLD you that my passion for Voyager would come in handy one day.” She smirked. “It’s not such a bad thing to have obsessions after all. Good thing I’ve memorized all of Captain Janeway’s log entries, eh?”
Stratton could feel the other crewmembers immediately relaxing, and she even heard a soft chuckle. “Good job, Chief,” she said. “You bought us some time. I’d bet all the latinum in the Alpha Quadrant that the Saint George has discovered the truth about our ‘deaths,’ and I’m also willing to bet that they’re preparing a rescue attempt even as we speak.” She squared her shoulders.
“So all we have to do is wait for it, right Captain?” asked Wahlund.
"More or less..." said Stratton, "However, I would like to see what else we can get from that panel besides food. I would feel much more comfortable if we had some way to contact the Saint George and something to defend ourselves with besides colorful language and morning breath."
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