Standard Questionably Useful Disclaimer:
Sailor Moon and all related characters were created by Naoko Takeuchi;
and are copyright to Naoko Takeuchi, Kodansha, Toei, DiC and whoever else.
Star Trek Voyager was created by Rick Berman, Michael Piller, and Jeri
Taylor; and is owned and copyrighted by Paramount Pictures. Based upon
Star Trek, created by Gene Roddenberry.
This story (such as it is) is MINE!!!
This fanfic is intended solely for entertainment purposes and no
violation of said copyrights is intended or implied. Permission granted
to copy this to other web pages as long as this disclaimer is attached,
and the text of the story is unmodified.
Timeline note: Occurs during Voyager's fourth season, between the
episodes "Concerning Flight" and "Mortal Coil"; and during the early
part of Sailor Moon S, approximately one month after the events depicted
in "Sailor Trek TNG".
Rating: PG
Somewhere in the Alpha Quadrant
The planet was barely habitable and nearly lifeless. But this was
understandable being that its physical characteristics were just within
the bounds for a Class M world. The only sign that any civilized life
had ever touch its surface was a small lithium cracking station; an
automated plant that had been used at one point to refine raw dilithium
into crystals suitable for use in warp engines. But this too was still
and lifeless, having long since been abandoned, the need for its output
supplanted by more modern, more efficient methods.
Not far from the refinery, there was an outcropping of rocks.
There was nothing to distinguish it from the dozens of others like it
surrounding the plant, save for the fact that this had once been a
battlefield. Not a battle between armies, but a mortal struggle between
two men.
Two men that had once been friends.
A distortion appeared in the air above it, something that seemed to
be a hole in the universe. Or perhaps a tunnel into another one.
Among the rocks, a glow of energy formed and coalesced into a
globe, seemingly attracted to the distortion. Not caring where it led
or what it was, the energy globe floated up towards it and finally
entered. Seconds later, a smaller and dimmer glow formed and, like the
first, floated up and entered the spatial tunnel. The distortion
hovered over the surface placidly for several minutes, then there was a
flare of light and it vanished as if it had never been. Only the low
moan of the wind remained.
Delta Vega was peaceful once more.
The Delta Quadrant
"Captain's Log, Stardate 51404.7: While en route to investigate a
possible spatial anomaly in a nearby star system, our sensors have
detected a small and seemingly derelict Borg vessel. We have stopped to
check it out, as anything that could so seriously damage a Borg ship --
even a small scout vessel -- is something we need to be aware of."
Captain Kathryn Janeway stared at the image of the pockmarked and
mangled Borg ship on the viewscreen with one question in her mind. It
was the same question that had been taking up her thoughts ever since
they had come across the derelict.
What could so badly damage a Borg ship and not leave a trace?
The known candidates were few. In fact, she could only think of
one offhand -- Species 8472. All the other races that they had thus far
encountered in the Delta Quadrant didn't possess the firepower necessary
to damage even a small cube such as this, at least not without massing a
large armada. And even then, she would expect that the resistance put
up by the Borg would leave some tangible evidence as to who was
responsible.
She turned to Seven of Nine. Being that she had once been part of
the Borg Collective, she would have a unique insight into the motives
and methods of the Borg. "What would a Borg ship be doing in this
system?"
"Examining the system and its inhabitants," she replied curtly, "If
their biological and technological distinctiveness was remarkable
enough, they would be marked as candidates for assimilation."
"If the locals did this to a Borg ship, that probably marks them as
unique enough to assimilate," Janeway observed.
"Correct," Seven replied, "A larger Borg ship is likely on the way
here. If that fails, then others will be dispatched."
Janeway grimaced at this thought. The last thing she needed right
now was another confrontation with the Borg. Behind her, the hiss of
the turbolift informed her that the away team had returned to the
bridge. Getting up, she saw Chakotay exit, followed shortly by Tuvok
and Ensign Kim. "Report."
"If anything, it's even more of a mess on the inside," Chakotay
responded, stepping down into the bridge center. "A good part of the
ship is exposed to vacuum, and virtually every subsystem has been
damaged. But the good news is we didn't find any trace that Species
8472 was responsible for this attack."
Janeway heaved a sigh of relief. The extradimensional aliens had
been hard enough for them to handle even with the assistance of the Borg
collective. "That's something, at least. Any sign of survivors?"
"None," Tuvok said. "In all, we discovered a total of twelve Borg
drones, all dead."
"We did find the body of an unknown species," Chakotay added. "It
could be a member of the race that attacked this ship."
"Have it beamed to Sickbay. I want the Doctor to perform an
autopsy on it," Janeway ordered.
"Already done."
Janeway nodded. "Any indications of what weapons were used?"
"That's the odd part," Chakotay admitted. "We found no residual
weapon signatures."
"None?" the Captain asked, obviously puzzled. She turned to Harry
and Tuvok for confirmation.
"Nothing we could identify, anyway," Harry said, "The only thing
the alien had on it was a large staff."
"An analysis of the ship and the drones indicate that they were
damaged by what appears to be a kinetic energy weapon of some sort,"
Tuvok added, "However, there were no indications that projectile weapons
were used."
Janeway turned and regarded the derelict Borg ship. "What kind of
beings could damage a Borg ship like that without conventional weapons?"
"Maybe they used large hammers," Paris suggested wryly.
Janeway smiled, but otherwise ignored the pilot's wisecrack.
"Could this have anything to do with the spatial anomaly we detected in
the system?"
"It's possible," Chakotay admitted, "But at the moment, we have no
way of knowing."
"We did manage to download the contents of a Borg distribution
node," Harry put in, "The data was badly garbled, but we should be able
to clean it up and get something out of it."
"Let me know the moment you have anything," Janeway said, "Seven,
give him a hand." She nodded and followed Harry over to the operations
station where they set to work. As they did so, the Captain turned to
her first officer. "Well? What do you think?" she asked him in a low
voice.
"The safest approach would be to give this system a wide berth," he
said, "At least until they have a chance to recover some of the data."
"It would be," she agreed. "But is it the best approach? For all
we know, that anomaly may be a shortcut to the Alpha Quadrant. I don't
think we can afford to ignore that possibility. Plus there's also the
chance that we may find whatever did this," she gestured to the derelict
ship on the screen, "following us at some point in the future.
Personally, I'd rather find out what it is now." She paused and
regarded the derelict thoughtfully. "Besides, Chakotay, the Borg know
something attacked this ship and they'll be sending another one here.
I'd like to be long gone by the time that happens." Resuming her seat
in the command chair, "Tom, lay in a course for that anomaly. Warp
two."
"Course and speed set," the helmsman responded.
"Captain, I agree we should check this out," Chakotay said as he
took his own seat, "But I recommend we maintain a defensive posture
until we know what's down there."
"Agreed," she concurred. "Tuvok, sound yellow alert." Around the
Bridge, the alert lights flashed on as the ship went to a higher state
of alert. "Mr. Paris... engage."
Earth
The sudden beeping sound startled Amy, so engrossed she had been in
her studies. Carefully, she marked her place in the textbook and pulled
out her computer. A quick glance at the clock told her that it was
nearly time for her to leave and meet the others for their daily study
sessions. Though she usually ended up doing more tutoring than
studying. Not that she minded, anyway.
But first, she had to check on what her computer was so insistently
trying to alert her about. More than likely, it was picking up another
Daimon sighting. There had been more than enough of those lately... and
they were still no closer to understanding their motives than the first
time one of them had appeared.
A quick examination of the data display soon put that notion to
rest, but her brow furrowed in puzzlement as she perused the readouts.
She tapped on the controls, refining the results, and her expression
deepened into a scowl.
How could there be any signs of activity *there*?
Sailor Trek: Voyager
Where No Sailor Scout Has Gone Before...
by Bill Harris
(soton@aol.com)
Chapter 1 -- Starship Down
"Where *is* she?!?"
Raye slammed her book closed, got up and began pacing back and
forth across her room impatiently. Still seated at the table, Lita and
Mina exchanged knowing looks, but wisely chose not to say anything to
the hot-tempered priestess. By now, they knew better than to get in
Raye's way when she was in one of these moods.
Her "I'm-tired-of-waiting,-Serena-is-late" moods.
However, another decided to speak up, "I'm sure she'll be her soon,
Raye," Luna's voice came from beneath the table where she and Artemis
were half dozing. "Besides, you should be used to Serena being late by
now... Especially to these study sessions."
"I wasn't talking about Serena!" Raye snapped.
This statement caused several confused looks, both at and below the
table. "Um... then who *are* you talking about, Raye?" Lita eventually
asked.
"Amy, of course."
There was another awkward moment of silence as the two girls and
two cats tried to figure out how to respond to this. "Maybe something
came up?" Mina finally ventured.
"Yeah, maybe she was reading a book and just lost track of time,"
Lita added.
"Come one, you two," Raye said, shaking her head, "Amy's never
late, unless there's something wrong."
Moving out from under the table, Luna spoke up, "Don't worry too
much, Raye. If something had happened, I'm sure that she would have
found a way to get in touch with us."
The door chose the moment to slide open suddenly, and Serena ran
breathlessly into the room. Raye turned to glare at her, arms crossed.
"Well, if it isn't Miss Punctuality."
To the delight of all present, Serena didn't quite catch the
sarcasm laden into Raye's comment. "Hi!" she said, still catching her
breath. "Sorry... I'm late... but..." her voice trailed off as she
suddenly realized that one of their number was still absent. "Hey,
where's Amy?"
"That's what we're trying to figure out," Lita answered.
Mina nodded in agreement. "You didn't happen to see her on your
way here, did you?"
Serena shook her head. "No. I figured she would have been long
ago."
"I don't like this," Raye muttered. "When Amy is later than
Serena, something is seriously wrong."
"Yeah, that's..." Serena paused, then glared at Raye. "Hey!"
Again, fate intervened as they all heard the door slide open again.
"It's about time you got here," Raye said, turning around. "What --"
She stopped suddenly upon seeing who was standing in the doorway.
"Darien? What are you doing here?" a puzzled Serena asked.
"Amy called me," he explained. "All she told me was to get here
ASAP. I assumed it was an emergency of some type, so I hurried here."
He looked around at the girls. "So what's the problem?"
"Good question," Raye said. "I wish we knew."
"Amy's not here yet, Darien," Luna tried to explain, "If there is a
problem of some type, she hasn't told us."
Mina looked out a window. "I don't see her... Wait a minute, there
she is!" The others joined her and sure enough, Amy was slowly
approaching the temple.
"Come on, let's find out what this is all about!" Lita said just
before racing out the door, the others close on her heels. Before Amy
could even acknowledge their presence, they started asking her a barrage
of questions, each of them wanting to know specifically what was going
on.
A loud whistle silenced them. "Come on, give her a chance to
answer," Darien said, adding, "What's going on, Amy?"
"I'm sorry for not telling you when I called, Darien, but I wanted
to recheck the scans and be sure there was no error." She hesitated
briefly and glanced at the computer screen before continuing, "Just
before I called Darien, my computer detected signs of extradimensional
activity."
"That's not all that unusual," Mina said, "For us, anyway."
"That's true," Amy conceded. "Most of the threats we have faced in
the past have been from other dimensions, or times. But what has me
worried is where the activity was detected."
"And where is that?" Darien asked.
Amy took a deep breath. "The northern Polar Regions.
Specifically, D point."
Silence gripped the group as what Amy had divulged sank in. "Are
you sure?" Serena finally asked. "I mean, it *is* a long way from
here."
"Yes, I'm sure, Serena," she replied. "The program is left over
from when Mr. Spock and I linked my computer to the Enterprise's main
computer to scan for dimensional anomalies. The program had been put in
the background after that, but it was still running even long after I
had forgotten it." She grimaced, "The distance factor is why I can only
say that there is some form of extradimensional activity there. I can't
provide any other specifics."
"Meaning if we want to know what's going on, we're going to have to
go up there ourselves," Raye said. Amy replied by way of a nod.
"Then it's no use putting it off. You're going to have to check it
out," Luna said. "Transform now!"
"MOON COSMIC POWER!"
"VENUS STAR POWER!"
"MERCURY STAR POWER!"
"MARS STAR POWER!"
"JUPITER STAR POWER!"
A flash of multicolored light illuminated the courtyard as they
triggered their transformations while Darien triggered his own silently.
Moments later, five Sailor Scouts and Tuxedo Mask stood in the place
where five girls and Darien had been moments before. "OK, get ready for
the Sailor Teleport," Artemis said.
They began to arrange themselves in position for the teleport. "Do
be careful, Serena," Luna told her charge.
"Hey, have I ever let you down before?"
The black cat snorted. "Do you want a list?" she asked.
"HEY!!" Sailor Moon protested loudly.
"Come on, let's get going," Mars said, sounding somewhat impatient.
They nodded in a group agreement, and began concentrating, building
up the power for the teleport. When it reached its peak, they cried
out, "Sailor... Teleport!" and the group vanished amid a blinding flare
of light.
"There they go again," said Luna. She turned a worried gaze to the
north. "I hope they have better luck there than the last time."
"Look at it this way. Could it be any worse than then?" Artemis
asked, then cried out a loud, "OW!" as Luna promptly smacked him with
her paw.
"Of course, it could be worse, you ninny!" she chided the white
cat. A somber and very worried expression formed on her face. "This
time they could not come back at all."
Not knowing what to say, Artemis settled for giving Luna a
reassuring nudge as they settled down to wait. "Don't worry, Luna.
They'll come back. They always do."
Sailor Moon shivered, gazing about her at the frozen icepack.
"Yeah, just like I remembered. Cold and snow!"
"What did you expect, Meatball Head?" Mars exclaimed sharply.
"Palm trees?!?"
In their earlier days, this would have prompted a wail from Sailor
Moon as well as a complaint that Mars was being mean to her. But now,
she turned to glare at the raven tressed Scout and growled warningly at
her, "Mars..."
Amazingly enough, Mars chose not to escalate matters. Instead, she
held up one hand. "Sorry. I'm... a little on edge," she said. She
looked around and added, "This place brings up some bad memories."
"For all of us, I expect," Venus agreed. "Except maybe Tuxedo
Mask."
"No," Darien replied, "I've got my share of bad memories from that
time."
Silence gripped the group as they gazed around the area,
remembering the last time they had been here during that final
confrontation with Queen Beryl. Remembering how they all had fought on
against overwhelming odds... and how each of them had died and were
reborn through the power of the Silver Crystal.
All except Mercury. She diverted herself by analyzing the readings
from her visor and computer. Finally, Sailor Moon looked to her.
"Anything, Mercury?"
"I'm afraid not," Mercury answered, grimacing. "There's some sort
of low level energy field that's interfering with my scans. From what I
can tell, it appears to be a Nega-energy field."
"Nega-energy?!?" Sailor Moon exclaimed. Around her, the others
looked similarly shocked.
"I wouldn't be too alarmed," Mercury reassured them. "As I said,
it's a low level field." She took a moment to consult her computer. "I
think it's a residual effect of the battle between Sailor Moon and the
Beryl/Negaforce combination."
"I thought that would have faded by now," a puzzled Venus said.
"Not necessarily," Mercury pointed out, "Both Beryl and Sailor Moon
were employing massive amounts of energy -- both physical and magical.
When powers of that level are unleashed, it could take years or decades
for the effects to fade completely."
"Maybe it was that energy field you picked up," Mars suggested
hopefully.
Mercury was already shaking her head. "I don't think so, Mars.
There were definitive signs of an interdimensional shift in this
vicinity. *Something* crossed over from another universe and into our
own. The only problem is that I can't seem to locate it now."
"Maybe we should split up and search the area," Tuxedo Mask
suggested.
"I'm not to keen in the idea, but I haven't got any better ideas,"
Jupiter said. The expressions on the faces of Mercury, Venus, and Mars
said that they agreed with the tall Scout.
"Uh, guys?" Sailor Moon said uncertainly.
As one, they turned and looked up. Sailor Moon was standing at the
top of a nearby ice ridge, staring at something in the distance. "What
is it, Sailor Moon?" Mars asked.
The leader of the Sailor Scouts pointed over the ridge at something
in the distance. "Could somebody tell me what *that* is?"
The others hurried to the top, and they gaped themselves. "Whoa,"
Jupiter said, then echoed Sailor Moon, "What is that?"
None of them needed to be told that it was a spacecraft of some
kind. That much was obvious. But it was a large ship, being over one
hundred meters in length. The upper section was an elongated oval
shape, attached to a lower section. And toward the rear were two large
nacelles, set at the same height as the lower section. The landing
struts extending outward from the bottom and the lack of ice debris
around it told them that it had landed on it's own volition and had not
crashed.
"There's some lettering on it, but I can't make any of it out,"
Venus observed, squinting at the spaceship.
"Neither can I," Tuxedo Mask added.
"Hold on," Mercury said, deploying her visor. After a moment, she
read, "NCC-74656. USS Voyager. United Federation of Planets."
The others goggled. "F-Federation?" Mars said in a strangled
voice. Mercury nodded.
"It's a Starfleet ship," Tuxedo Mask said, his voice awed.
"Well," Venus said, a slight smile on her face, "Here we go again."
The others nodded in agreement with Jupiter adding, "Yeah, but I'm
wondering if there's a highway between their universe and ours. First
Kirk's ship, then Picard's, and now *this*."
"Q was responsible for our being on the Enterprise D," Mercury
pointed out. She regarded the starship in the distance. "As for how
this ship got here, as yet I haven't got any idea."
"Probably through that quantum flux they mentioned," Mars
suggested.
"I don't think so," Mercury said. "From the design, it looks more
like it's from Captain Picard's era. The quantum flux Spock and Data
talked about would only get us to that universe in Kirk's timeframe."
She paused and glanced down at her computer. "However they got here, I
can tell you that there's something going on aboard it. I'm getting
some odd readings from it from inside the ship."
"What kind of odd readings?" Sailor Moon wanted to know.
The blue haired Scout frowned. "I'm not sure," she admitted
reluctantly. "My scans aren't entirely clear. There's an energy field
around the ship... and it looks like the same kind of energy field
that's interfering with my readings of this area." She shook her head
and sighed. "About all I can say for sure is that there are about two
hundred or two hundred fifty lifeforms on board it."
"Wait a minute... I thought you said the Nega-energy field was
leftover from when we beat Beryl?" Venus pointed out. "I did," Mercury
responded, looking somewhat grim faced. "But it seems that I was
mistaken. Something on board that ship could very well be the source."
"Sounds like we're going to have to go aboard and find out what's
up," Mars noted.
"Can you find us a landing point for the teleport, Mercury?" Tuxedo
Mask asked.
"I think so," she answered, and set to work on her palmtop.
Minutes late, a bright flash illuminating the darkened areas of
Cargo Bay Two announced the arrival of the Sailor Scouts inside Voyager.
"Gee, this is awfully dark for a Starfleet ship," Jupiter said after
they had a moment to take in their surroundings. "Did they forget to
pay their light bill or something?"
"They don't use money, remember?" Mars reminded her.
"Oh... right."
"At least it's warmer in here," a still shivering Sailor Moon
commented, which drew the obligatory sarcastic comment from Sailor Mars.
Ignoring the small but escalating argument going on behind her,
Mercury scanned the nearby walls and soon located the computer access
panel in the rear of the cargo bay. "I found something," she told the
others, which had the desired effect of silencing the combatants and the
others drew around her. Drawing upon her memories of their stay on the
Enterprise D, Mercury tried to work the controls, but instead of the
usual responding beeps should have sounded, the terminal was dark and
decidedly unresponsive. "Computer, activate terminal," she said,
frowning slightly.
The panel remained stubbornly blank.
"What's wrong?" Venus asked. "Why won't it work?"
"I'm not sure," Mercury responded. "The main computer may be down,
or it could be the crew disabled the terminal for some reason. But I
have no idea as to why."
"Maybe..." Mars began, but her speculation was cut off by a sharp
gasp of surprise from across the room, followed by a small cry of, "No!"
Tuxedo Mask was the first to realize that one of their number was
missing. "Serena!"
Sailor Moon had been watching while Mercury tried to access the
ship's computer, but the lack of success on her part rapidly became
boring to the blonde. Striving to find something interesting in the
darkened room, she looked idly about the room.
A slightly brighter patch of illumination from across the room
caught her eye. Leaving the others clustered around Mercury, she went
over to get a closer look. As she moved around several cargo containers
and drew nearer, something about it seemed oddly familiar to her...
She could tell that it was an alcove, designed as if for a single
individual to stand in. At the top was greenish, circular device, with
a varying electrical pattern radiating outward from its center.
She gulped as the realization struck her. It was a Borg alcove...
Immediately upon hearing her cry out, the others rushed to Sailor
Moon, Tuxedo Mask reaching her first. She didn't react to their
approach, but remained staring forward, her face pale and her expression
one of shock. "Sailor Moon, what's wr-" Mars began. A touch on her
shoulder interrupted her.
"Mars, look," Venus said, pointing ahead of them.
Mars looked that direction and saw the Borg alcove nearby. "Oh,
no..."
Sailor Moon was lost in a rush of memories -- of Rubeus gloating
over her shortly after she had been captured by the Borg; of the
nanoprobes being injected into her and assimilating her into the
Collective; of her individuality being crushed by the weight of the Borg
unimind.
And the worst memory of all was the helplessness she felt as the
Collective used her to try and strangle Darien.
Similar thoughts were going through Tuxedo Mask's mind, from a
different perspective of course. The central one being the horror he
felt upon racing into that central chamber finding...
***
"Yes, she's in here!" Heedless of the danger to himself, Tuxedo
Mask raced into an adjoining chamber but stopped short when he saw what
was in there. "No..." he whispered, horrified. The Scouts likewise
halted, aghast at the sight before them.
Only Mars was able to find her voice, "Serena, what have they done
to you?" she whispered.
The Starfleet officers stood silent behind the Scouts. Worf and
Data had seen this before.
Picard had been it before.
This was what he had feared they would find, but had hoped not to.
Sailor Moon stood before them, having been implanted with Borg
cybernetic devices much as Picard had been over a year before.
Serena had been assimilated.
***
Darien shook himself back to the present. "It's all right,
Serena," he whispered, placing a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "It's
not going to happen again."
Similar thoughts went through the minds of the other Scouts --
remembering the shock and horror they all felt upon seeing Sailor Moon
with those Borg implants. It was Jupiter who finally spoke, asking,
"Could this ship have been taken over by the Borg?
"I don't this so," Mercury said. She cast her gaze about, scanning
the alcove and the surrounding bay with her visor. "While this alcove
is undoubtedly Borg in origin, the technology in the surrounding area
still seems to be of Starfleet design. I doubt that would happen if
this ship had been assimilated." She looked once more to the alcove.
"In fact, it seems as if this was been placed in here. It's as if the
entire assembly was just teleported into this cargo bay."
"She's right." All eyes turned to Sailor Moon. She was still
pale, but seemed to have recovered from her initial shock. "If the Borg
were in control here, there would be more than just this one alcove.
And there'd be several... drones here as well." She looked around, as
if seeing through the bulkheads. "In fact, I'm sure there aren't any
Borg nearby."
"How can you be so sure?" Mars asked uncertainly.
"I was part of the Collective, remember Raye?" Sailor Moon
regarded her friend with a sad smile. "Believe me, if any of the
Collective were here, I'd know."
"Well, we not going to find out anything by staying here," Venus
said, looking uncomfortable at the turn the conversation was taking.
"Let's go." Cautiously, the six of them exited the cargo bay and moved
slowly out into the corridor. The design seemed somewhat similar to the
Enterprise D, if less luxurious, but it was much darker than that
starship.
"Geez, what is it with this ship?" Jupiter ventured. "Everything
so far is either dark or not working."
"The main systems must have been damaged," Tuxedo Mask said. "I
remember the Enterprise being this dark after... the Borg ship nearly
destroyed it."
"I think Voyager was in a fight, and a big one," Mars guessed. She
pointed down the corridor indicating what was unmistakably a motionless
body. "Look!"
They raced down the corridor, Mercury reaching the crewmember
first. As they approached, they could tell that it was a human female.
And though the uniform was slightly different, the overall design and
the comm. badge were definitely Starfleet. "How is she, Mercury?"
Sailor Moon asked.
"Alive, but unconscious," the blue haired Scout replied while still
conducting her examination. "I can't find any sign of injuries, but
there are indications of some form of anesthetic in her bloodstream."
"A knockout gas?" Jupiter said, "How come it's not affecting us?"
"It's not currently present in the air," Mercury stated after a
moment. "It must have been filtered out before we came on board."
"So what happened?" Sailor Moon asked.
"Yeah, did the bad guys use the gas to knock out the crew or did
the crew use it to fight off the bad guys?" Venus added.
"We could stand here and guess all day and not figure it out,"
Tuxedo Mask said. He looked up and down the corridor. "We need to get
to the Bridge. We should be able to find the answers there."
"If it's laid out similarly to the Enterprises, then it should be
on the top of the ship," Mars said.
"There's the turbolift," Sailor Moon pointed out and headed for the
door.
And promptly ran smack into it when it failed to open
automatically. "Owie!" She took a step back, glaring at the offending
lift while painfully holding her nose. "Why didn't it open?"
"Those must be offline too," Mercury said with a sigh.
"We could try the manual controls," Venus suggested, and quickly
went to work on the control panel, much to her friends' consternation.
"I saw Will Riker do this once."
"Mina, I'm not sure that's a good --" Jupiter began but was cut off
by the turbolift door opening.
Venus uttered a triumphant cry and flashed them the "V for Victory"
sign. She was in the process of taking a step into the turbolift when
the control panels both inside and outside the turbolift erupted into a
shower of sparks. Everyone jumped backwards out of range of the
pyrotechnics and watched helplessly as the fireworks display continued
for several seconds before the turbolift went dark.
"So much for the elevator," Mars observed, giving Venus a look.
The blonde Scout shrugged, unrepentant. "Nothing ventured, nothing
sprained," she said. A puzzled look came over her face, "...er, wait a
minute..."
Mercury spoke up, saving Venus the trouble of trying to correct
herself, "I think I've got the local layout mapped." She peered down at
her computer through her visor and quickly tapped the keyboard. "We're
only four decks down from the Bridge, and there is an access route we
can take through the Jeffries tubes."
"Well, what are we waiting for?" Jupiter said, impatient to do
something. "Let's go!" With that, the tall Scout opened the access
panel leading into the Jeffries tubes just as they heard a loud *thwack*
from down the corridor, followed by someone crying out in pain. With
barely a glance among themselves, they rushed down the corridor towards
the source.
Only a few seconds later, Venus, who had taken the lead, stopped
suddenly as she rounded a bend. The others halted their own flights
just as quickly, but not before it caused several minor collisions among
them. But none of them asked Venus why she had stopped, for the reasons
were abundantly clear. Lying prone a few meters away was another of
Voyager's crew, obviously injured though still semiconscious.
Instinctively, Mercury ran over to him. A brief glance told her that
the crewman was still alive, but determining the severity of his
injuries would require a detailed scan. Absently, she noted the gold
color of his uniform, indicating that he was either with the Security,
Engineering, or Operations departments. He looked young (she guessed
about twenty-five or so), which was in accord of his rank of ensign.
In the meantime, the others were watching a figure further down the
corridor, evidently what had attacked the ensign. It was roughly human
shaped -- bipedal with two arms -- but there the resemblance ended. Its
skin seemed to be a green, chitinous substance, while the eyes -- if
that's what they were -- were enormous in proportion to the head.
And it had seen them as well, for it hefted the staff it was
holding and flicked it in their direction, sending a bolt of dark energy
hurdling at them. Still intent on examining the crewman, Mercury was
caught unaware. There was a small flare of light that temporarily
illuminated the corridor as the bolt struck, slamming her against the
bulkhead.
"Mercury!" cried out Sailor Moon. From down the corridor, the
alien chittered something and started, seeming to recognize them now.
It turned and started to flee down the corridor.
"Oh, no you don't!" Venus shouted. "VENUS LOVE CHAIN ENCIRCLE!"
The golden band of energy lashed out, snaring the fleeing alien.
Desperate, it struggled against its bonds as best it could, trying to
sever the chain with its staff.
"You're going down!" Jupiter growled, invoking her own power.
"JUPITER THUNDERCLAP ZAP!" Her aim was true and the powerful electrical
blast struck the alien, rendering it unconscious. "Gotcha!" Jupiter
cried out triumphantly as the alien dropped to the floor.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
While Venus and Jupiter dealt with the alien, their compatriots
checked on Mercury. "Are you OK, Mercury?" Sailor Moon asked.
Mercury nodded somewhat shakily, but otherwise seemed none the
worse for wear. "Yes, I think so. I'll be all right in a minute."
"If that's the biggest threat around here, we should be able to
clean up this ship in no time," Jupiter observed as she and Venus
rejoined the others.
"We managed to surprise him. It may not be so easy next time,"
Mercury stated, eyeing the alien intently through her visor and
frowning. She was still a little unsteady from the blow she had taken,
but that didn't affect her analytical abilities any. "In fact, the
energy readings I'm getting from it are most troublesome, and may be
indicative of a much greater threat."
"Amy, when you start talking like that, I worry," Venus said
warily.
"I am worried," Mercury responded, "Very much so. Unless I'm very
much mistaken, the dark energy we saw this alien employ through its
staff are not native to his species but are a result of being empowered
by Nega-energy. Specifically, the same type of energy used by the
Negaforce."
"Well, I seem to find myself on the voyage of the damned."
- the Emergency Medical Hologram.
Chapter 2 -- "Please State the Nature..."
A low groan from the floor put a halt to any further conversation.
All eyes turned to the injured ensign, who was beginning to stir
slightly. He blinked several times, trying to clear his vision, then
looked them over puzzledly. "Who..?" he began, obviously not sure what
to make of them. After only a moment's confusion, "I'm... Ensign Harry
Kim..." Anything further he was going to add was cut off by a sharp gasp
of pain as he tried to sit up.
"Lie still," Mercury advised him while automatically directing her
visor to scan his injuries. The results were pretty much what she
expected them to be -- which is to say, not good. "The alien hit you
rather hard. You've got serious internal injuries." She looked to the
others, "The Bridge is going to have to wait. We have to get him to
Sickbay and quickly!"
"Unfortunately, we don't know where Sickbay is on this ship,"
Tuxedo Mask pointed out.
"It's on... Deck Five," Harry said softly. "But...you... have
to... Seven..." His voice faded as he lapsed back into unconsciousness.
"Seven?" Mars asked perplexedly, but she wasn't the only one.
"Seven what?"
"Maybe something on Deck Seven?" Jupiter suggested.
"We can find out after we get the ship's doctor to see to his
injuries," Mercury said. "I just wish there was another way down to
Deck Five. I'd rather not lug him through the Jeffries tubes in his
condition."
"And the turbolift is out, too," Mars said, giving a sidelong look
Venus' way.
As it turned out, the blonde wasn't listening, but was instead
looking at the deck. Before anyone could as, she pointed at what held
her attention, "How about going this way?" Moving closer, they saw what
appeared to be a hatch in the floor that was clearly intended to provide
access to the deck below. "This looks like a way down," she added
somewhat unnecessarily. Before anyone could stop her, she reached down
and opened the hatch. Everyone else instinctively took a half step
backwards to avoid the inevitable fireworks, but for some reason none
was forthcoming.
Mars moved forward and took another look at the opening. After
taking a brief moment to examine it, a wry smile appeared on her face.
"Nothing electrical about it. That's why it didn't blow up in your
face."
Venus shot her a somewhat indignant look. "Very funny."
Moments later, Sailor Moon was looking uneasily down the corridor
on Deck Five, Sailor Mercury beside her. A few meters behind them, Mars
and Venus were keeping a watchful eye out down the other way, each of
them alert for some sign of the aliens that had invaded the Federation
starship. In the middle, Jupiter and Tuxedo Mask were gently lowering
Harry down through the hatch. "Got him," Tuxedo Mask grunted, then
moved out of the way to allow Jupiter to jump down from the deck above.
"Now all we have to do is find Sickbay," Mars observed.
Jupiter looked up and down the corridor. "Anyone got any ideas?"
"Let's just pick a direction," Tuxedo Mask suggested.
"Sounds good to me," Venus agreed. "Let's go this way." She moved
forward, and Mars followed. Sailor Mercury moved in behind them,
scanning ahead with her visor and using her computer to map out the
corridor. Jupiter opted to be the rearguard and allowed Sailor Moon and
Tuxedo Mask, who was still carrying the unconscious Ensign Kim, to
precede her. Periodically, she turned back and peered down the darkened
corridor, alert to any threats.
The darkened state of the corridor served to hamper their progress,
as well as their need to check each door. This slowed their progress to
a frustratingly slow crawl, and began fraying their nerves.
The dark seemed to also magnify every sound in the corridor. "What
was that?!?" Sailor Moon exclaimed, jumping again at a sudden, and what
seemed to be very loud, noise.
Mars half turned and glared at her, irritation clearly written on
her face. "Maybe it was a rat," she snapped.
"A rat?" Venus asked, not catching the sarcasm in Mars' voice. "I
knew we should've brought Luna and Artemis along."
Mercury sighed and hoped they would find Sickbay soon. "It's
nothing," she reassured Sailor Moon.
"Well, we should find this place soon," Jupiter said. "It seems
like we've covered most of this deck."
"It had better be soon," Tuxedo Mask grumbled. "This guy isn't
exactly light."
Jupiter smiled. "If you think that's bad, just try carrying Sailor
Moon halfway through the Negaverse," she whispered to him.
Sailor Moon whirled about and exclaimed, "I *heard* that!" just
before a black energy bolt struck her midsection. The blow knocked the
blonde off her feet and into a nearby door. Surprisingly enough, it
opened automatically before she hit it and she flew through it, the door
closing just as automatically behind her.
"Sailor Moon!" Jupiter turned sharply, enraged at the aliens for
the sneak attack and at herself for having been taken by surprise.
There was a small bit of movement in the shadows, providing her with a
target for her ire. "You creeps are going to pay for that! JUPITER
THUNDERCLAP ZAP!"
The impact of the electrical discharge knocked the alien off its
feet and it uttered a high-pitched keening noise. But in the flare of
Jupiter's attack they could see that there were more of the invaders.
As if to confirm that, several chittering noises could be heard,
followed by answering noises from the other end.
"Here they come!" Venus exclaimed just as the aliens charged.
What followed could be best described as sheer chaos, as the Scouts
cut loose with their own attacks, while the aliens retaliated themselves
while charging at the Scouts' position. Tuxedo Mask hurriedly put Kim
down and his own floral attack to the fray. The Scout's powers were
cutting down the attackers, but the sheer number of them was insuring
that some would get through to them. In fact, one was close enough that
Jupiter was engaging it in hand to hand combat.
That's when the door swished open, the light from inside spilling
out into the corridor. "Hold it right there!" a voice cried out,
causing the combatants to pause and look. Even though they couldn't see
her clearly, the light from the room that silhouetted her figure made it
plain to all who it was. "I am the Champion of Love and Justice, Sailor
Moon! I right wrongs and triumph over evil! And that means you." The
aliens hesitated, uncertain as how to react to her sudden reappearance.
This gave Sailor Moon the time she needed. "MOON SPIRAL HEART ATTACK!"
With their leader and several others of their number cut down by Sailor
Moon's attack, the remaining aliens turned and fled down the corridor.
"Sailor Moon, are you --" Tuxedo Mask began, the others clustering
around her as well.
"I'm fine," she reassured him. "Oh, and by the way..." She
gestured into the room behind her and stood to one side, allowing them a
good look inside it. "...I think I found Sickbay."
Mercury moved up to her and nodded. "Yes, this is it. Darien, get
him in here." After taking another moment to be certain Sailor Moon was
OK, Tuxedo Mask lifted the unconscious ensign from the deck and carried
him inside.
Standing just behind Sailor Moon, Mars grinned. "Leave it to you
to find the place we're looking for by falling into the door."
"I was knocked into it, *if* you don't mind," Sailor Moon said,
sticking out her tongue for good measure before going back inside.
Determined not to let the aliens sneak up on her again, Jupiter
kept a watchful eye on the corridor, and was the last to enter Sickbay.
After the door closed, she touched a control on the panel next to it.
"That should lock it, if I remember correctly."
Now that the door was secured, the group relaxed a bit and took
their first good look around. Unlike the corridors and the cargo bay
before it, Sickbay was brightly lit and the various control panels
seemed to be active. However, it was also quite deserted. "Just our
luck," Jupiter muttered darkly, "no doctor."
"Or anyone else, for that matter," Venus added, peering into an
adjoining room.
Mercury frowned. Without any of the starship's medical personnel
here, it fell to her to do something about Ensign Kim's injuries. And
while the medical equipment was designed to be fairly easy to use, it
still required the user to have enough knowledge to apply it correctly.
She only hoped that her own abilities were sufficient to the task. "Get
him on that biobed," she told Darien, pointing to one in the rear. The
fact that it was isolated from the other biobeds indicated that it might
be the one used for surgical situations -- she hoped. While he was
doing that, she made her way to the computer console. Like the rest of
the systems in Sickbay, it seemed to be active as well; a fact she
confirmed when it responded instantly to her touch, bringing up the
current stardate. "Stardate 51405.0," she murmured. "So it's been
almost five years for them since we met Captain Picard."
Sailor Moon watched Mercury at the console for a while, then
finally asked, "What are you up to?"
"Since there isn't a doctor here, I'm hoping that there'll be a
medical database in the computer I could use so that I could stabilize
Ensign Kim..." She paused and glanced over to the biobed the ensign was
lying on. He seemed to be stable for the moment, but that couldn't
last. "At least enough for him to survive until we can find a real
doctor around here."
Sailor Moon eyed her friend carefully. While she might not be
anywhere near Mercury in the intelligence department, nor a psychic like
Mars, she was still sensitive to the moods of others around her. She
could tell that the blue haired Scout was having doubts about her
ability to help Ensign Kim. "Don't worry, Amy, I'm sure you'll figure
it out," she told her in an encouraging tone, and placing a reassuring
hand on her shoulder for good measure. "If anyone can figure this stuff
out, it's you."
Mercury smiled despite herself. "I'm glad you think so, but I..."
her voice trailed off as something on the screen caught her eye. She
touched another control on the panel, and accessed a particular file
listed. "Now this is interesting."
Something in her voice caught the attention of all present.
"What's interesting?" Venus asked.
"According to this, this ship is equipped with an emergency medical
program," Mercury replied, indicating the screen. "Basically put, a
holographic doctor."
"A hologram for a doctor?" Mars asked doubtfully. "Is that
possible?"
Mercury shrugged. "I don't see why not, given the level of their
technology. But it looks like the system is offline at the moment."
Mars snorted, "Big surprise there. It seems like everything isn't
working on this ship."
"Not quite everything. The other systems in here seem to be fine."
Mercury touched another control and brought up a diagnostic screen.
"And there's nothing really wrong with the holographic systems," she
said after studying for a moment, "they just need to be reset. Which I
think I can do." She moved to a panel behind her and, after studying
the controls a bit, entered in a series of commands. "There. That
should do it."
Jupiter looked around. "Nothing's happening."
"I've reset the system, but we still need to activate it," Mercury
explained. "I --"
"Oh, you mean we've got to tell the computer to turn it on, just
like on those holodecks," Sailor Moon said, recalling once again their
stay on the Enterprise D. "You know, by saying 'Computer, activate the
Doctor', or something like that."
Prompted by her words, the computer reacted instantly. A balding
man in a blue Starfleet uniform materialized next to Sailor Moon. His
sudden appearance startled her, prompting her to yelp and make a rather
prodigious leap into Tuxedo Mask's arms. Oblivious her reaction, the
man said in a calm voice, "Please state the nature of the medical
emergency," and then looked about Sickbay. "Well, it appears we have
guests," he commented wryly as he inspected them, his gaze finally
settling on Tuxedo Mask holding Sailor Moon. "Unless she's the one in
need of treatment, I think you can put her down now," he suggested.
"We brought an injured crewman here for treatment," Mercury
indicating the surgical biobed as she tried to explain. "We're..."
"The Sailor Scouts and Tuxedo Mask," the Doctor said, both
interrupting her and finishing her statement. Ignoring the looks of
surprise he was getting, the hologram walked over to the biobed and
inspected the readouts. After a moment, he held out a hand.
"Tricorder." Reacting first, Jupiter picked up the first tricorder she
saw, which happened to be the one on Harry's belt, and handed it to the
Doctor. He opened it and examined the readouts for a moment before
snapping it shut again and handing it back to her with an annoyed
expression on his face. "*Medical* tricorder!" he snapped.
"Hey, how am I supposed to know the difference?!?" she retorted
heatedly.
"Here, Doctor," Mercury calmly said, handing the correct instrument
to the Doctor.
"Thank you," the hologram acknowledged, and began scanning Harry.
"Hmmm... three cracked ribs, a concussion, and various other internal
injuries. Also some minor radiation exposure. Serious, especially if
left untreated, but nothing I can't handle. Though it's just as well
you didn't take any longer to get him here." He closed the tricorder,
and selected several nearby instruments. "You're very fortunate, Mr.
Kim."
"Hold on a minute. You know us?" Tuxedo Mask asked.
"It would be more accurate to say that I know *of* you," the
hologram responded as he gave Harry an injection of hironalyn. "My
program contains the cumulative medical knowledge of the entire
Federation, including the complete medical logs of several of
Starfleet's finest physicians. Knowledge of who and what you are is
figured quite prominently in two of them." He paused and glanced over
at Sailor Moon, giving her another look. "Though your attire seems to
have altered somewhat."
"OK, so you know us," Mars said. "Now maybe you can --"
"I'm afraid any explanations will have to wait," the Doctor broke
in much to her annoyance, "I need to concentrate fully on attending to
Ensign Kim, which I can't do if I'm being peppered with questions.
Afterwards, I'll be glad to answer all your questions to the best of my
ability. So if you would please wait outside the operating area, I'll
get to work." Seeing the logic in his request, they began to leave the
room as he asked, if somewhat reluctantly. "Not you," the Doctor said to
Mercury, "I'll need someone to assist me."
She seemed uncertain. "I'd be happy to help, but while I have some
medical knowledge, I haven't had any formal training."
"Not to worry," the Doctor noted as a slight touch of irony crept
into his voice, "I've dealt with having Lt. Paris for an assistant.
Anything after that would be a considerable relief."
"There," the Doctor said in a satisfied tone some time later. He
took one last look at the biobed readouts, and then nodded, smiling to
himself. "Another patient successfully snatched from the jaws of
death." Turning to Mercury, he added, "You assistance was most
valuable. You'll make an excellent physician one day."
Internally, Mercury was pleased at the Doctor's compliment, but
still felt slightly embarrassed. "Thank you, Doctor," she said softly.
The Doctor noted the slight reddening of her cheeks, but he didn't
make any comment other than to raise an eyebrow. "I think it's time we
rejoined your friends. I have a feeling that there's a lot of questions
they'll want answered." Mercury nodded and followed the hologram out of
the surgical area.
As it turned out, they found the others had gathered in the
Doctor's small office, talking among themselves to pass the time. And
while they appeared to be relaxed for the most part, there were varying
expressions of impatience among them, being the most obvious on the
faces of Sailors Jupiter and Mars. "How'd it go?" Venus asked.
The Doctor smiled. "It was touch and go for a moment, but thanks
to my usual degree of excellence and with the help of an excellent
assistant (Mercury's face reddened further), Mr. Kim will make a
complete recovery."
"Good," Jupiter commented, "Now maybe you can tell us what's going
on."
"In a moment. But first..." The Doctor opened up the medical
tricorder he was carrying and proceeded to scan them all.
"What are you doing?" Sailor Moon asked, voicing the question they
were all asking themselves.
"Scanning you for radiation exposure," the hologram answered. "And
it appears that two of you," he indicated Sailor Moon and Sailor
Mercury, "show signs of it."
"Radiation?!?" Sailor Moon exclaimed in a slightly frightened
voice.
"I wouldn't be too concerned," the Doctor reassured her. "Your
constitutions seem to be handling it with no problem. Nevertheless,
I'll give you both an injection of hironalyn as a precaution."
"It must the from those energy bolts," Mercury theorized while the
Doctor was preparing a hypospray. "Both Sailor Moon and myself were hit
with them."
"You mean the aliens are employing this as a weapon?" After
Mercury nodded in confirmation, the Doctor continued, "In that case, I
should give you all an injection. And I should see about dispersing a
quantity of hironalyn through the atmospheric systems for the crew."
Starting with Mercury, he went around the room and gave them an
injection from the hypo. "You understand, this won't render you immune
to the radiation, but it will mitigate the aftereffects."
"So what's the story?" Mars asked. "Who are these aliens, and why
are they running around your ship?"
"And why is almost everything on your ship busted?" Sailor Moon
added.
The Doctor hesitated, then reluctantly admitted, "Regrettably, my
knowledge of the current situation is limited. I do know that we were
approaching a planet to investigate a spatial anomaly detected by the
sensors. Shortly afterwards, the ship lurched rather violently. While
Mr. Paris may be only adequate in medical areas, he is an excellent
pilot. I can only conclude that the ship had come under an attack of
some sort. The last thing I remember before my program went offline is
hearing the intruder alert alarm sounding. That must have been when the
ship was boarded." The Doctor looked at each of them. "And that is the
extent of my knowledge of the current situation. I can only guess that
whatever knocked my program offline is the same phenomena that brought
you to Voyager."
"Guess again," Mars said.
"I beg your pardon?"
"We weren't brought to Voyager," Mercury explained. "Your program
must have been knocked offline by the phenomena that brought your ship
to Earth."
It took a lot to throw the hologram off stride, but evidently this
did. "Earth?!?" he exclaimed in a stunned voice.
"Yep," Jupiter put in, "Right now the ship is sitting at the North
Pole on *our* Earth."
"I don't believe it," the Doctor muttered after taking a moment to
mull this over. "Back on Earth again. First the wrong time frame, now
it's the wrong *universe*."
Something about what the Doctor said didn't sound right to Sailor
Moon. "Why are you so shocked about being on Earth? I mean, you must
have been there lots of times, right?"
Realization struck the Doctor. "That's right... You wouldn't be
aware of our overall situation. Due to some unique circumstances,
Voyager is some sixty thousand light years from Federation space."
"Sixty thousand light years?" Mercury exclaimed. "That would put
you on the other side of the galaxy."
The Doctor nodded. "That's correct. We are in the Delta Quadrant,
on a course to take us back to the Alpha Quadrant. It began something
like this..." Over the next few minutes, the hologram gave them a brief
overview of how Voyager, while on a search for a missing Maquis vessel,
had been forcibly transported to the Delta Quadrant, some seventy
thousand light years from home. He also gave a hurriedly abridged
account of some of the events that had happened to them over the last
four years. "...and barring any shortcuts we might find, we should
reach the Alpha Quadrant in sixty years, more or less," the Doctor
concluded. "But at the moment, my ship has been invaded by a hostile
force, and I have to assume that they control the entire ship and that
they hold the crew captive. I'm aware that I'm just a hologram, but I'm
still the Chief Medical Officer on this ship. I have a duty to try and
retake the ship. And to do so... I'm going to need your assistance."
"And assist you we will!" Sailor Moon affirmed loudly. "We'll help
you clean this ship up and dump out the Negatrash! In the name of the
Moon..."
"...Venus..."
"...Mercury..."
"...Mars..."
"...and Jupiter..."
"...we'll punish them!" they cried out in unison.
"Your enthusiasm is commendable," the Doctor noted dryly, "If that
could carry the day alone, we'd be victorious without firing a shot."
"Doctor, I do have one concern," Mercury said, "If I read the
datafiles regarding the EMH system correctly, the holographic emitters
that create your form are limited to Sickbay. If that is so and with
intership communications inoperative, then how are you going to help us
liberate the ship?"
"Once that would have been the case," the Doctor conceded.
"However, I now have a means of leaving the confines of Sickbay." He
went over to where he kept the portable holoemitter stored and picked up
the small device. "With the assistance of this piece of twenty-ninth
century technology, I now have access to the entire ship..." His smile
broadened, if that were possible. "Indeed, I can even leave the ship
for away missions."
"Twenty-ninth century?" Mercury asked, now even more puzzled. By
the looks of the others, she wasn't the only one who felt that way. "I
thought you were from the twenty-fourth?"
"We are." The Doctor hesitated, uncertain as to how to explain how
he had acquired the portable holoemitter. "It's rather long tale that
involves a rather complicated temporal loop, but it's not one I'd rather
get into at the moment as there are more pressing matters."
Mars nodded, for once agreeing with the hologram. "OK, you know
this ship better than we do. So what's out first step?"
"I have access to a number of sedatives that could be released into
Voyager's environmental systems. If you could help me reach the
atmospheric control systems..."
"That's not going to work," Tuxedo Mask said.
The Doctor frowned. "Why not?"
Mercury spoke up, "We found one of the crew unconscious on Deck
Four. She had traces of an anesthetic in her blood. It seems that the
crew tried a similar strategy."
"Hmmm..." The Doctor seemed uncertain now. "Their physiology must
render them immune to certain sedatives. I should have suspected as
much from my autopsy. It certainly does put a crimp into things."
"Wait a minute. Autopsy?"
"That's correct," the Doctor told Tuxedo Mask. "We found a
derelict ship that had suffered extreme damage, apparently from these
self same aliens. Among the wreckage, our away team discovered a
corpse. It was brought over, and I conducted an autopsy of it. But
penetrating it's chitinous skin proved to be a challenge. It was highly
resistent to my laser scalpels."
"Are you sure it's the same aliens?" Venus asked.
"Reasonably certain. However..." The Doctor made his way over to
the stasis tubes, and opened one. As the slab slid out from inside,
"You're the experts on the aliens running around the ship. You tell
me."
The Scouts gathered around for a closer look, but they didn't need
long to verify things. "It's the same kind, all right," Tuxedo Mask
said.
"Except this one has orange colored skin," Venus noted. "The ones
we saw outside were green."
"That may be indicative of ranks among them. Or it may simply be a
racial variation of the species," the Doctor said. "I had just finished
performing the autopsy when all hell broke loose." He paused, then
closed the stasis tube once more. "I must say that I'm somewhat
surprised that the ship is still in one piece."
"Why?" Mercury asked.
"It was a Borg ship they had attacked earlier."
That caught their attention. "Oh."
"Oh, indeed."
The mention of the Borg reminded Sailor Moon of a question she'd
been wanting to ask. "By the way, what's with the Borg equipment in
that cargo bay?"
The Doctor seemed puzzled by this for a moment. "Oh, you must mean
the Borg alcoves in Cargo Bay Two. It's serving as the quarters for the
newest addition to our crew, Seven of Nine."
"Seven of Nine? What kind of name is that?"
"That must be what he was trying to tell us," Jupiter said, jerking
her thumb in the direction of Harry. "He wanted us to find this 'Seven'
person."
"That seems likely," the Doctor concurred.
"But that still doesn't explain about those Borg alcoves," Mars
said.
"It's really quite simple," the Doctor started to explain just
before a clanging sound echoed from the access hatch to the Jeffries
tubes, effectively interrupting him. At once the Scouts each took a
defensive stance around it, while Tuxedo Mask readied a rose to throw.
Not to be outdone, the Doctor snatched up a hypo and got ready to use
it, after checking the contents. However, he soon sighed in relief as
soon as he saw who was emerging. "I'm certainly glad to see you,
Seven," he said to her, helping her up. "I see that I was wrong in my
assumption that all the crew are incapacitated." Seeing that the Doctor
knew her, the others relaxed.
"To my knowledge, the majority of the crew is unconscious.
However, we still control the Bridge and Engineering," she curtly
explained. "Lt. Paris sent Ensign Kim and myself to the armory by way
of Cargo Bay Two. We were to retrieve phaser rifles and modify them to
be more effective against the aliens. We were attacked us along the
way, and had to separate."
"Lt. Paris?" The Doctor seemed perplexed. "What happened to
Captain Janeway? Or Chakotay? Or Tuvok?"
"Captain Janeway was incapacitated during the transition to this
universe," Seven explained. "Commander Chakotay and Lt. Commander Tuvok
were on an away mission when the aliens boarded the ship. We did not
have time to retrieve them before the transition occurred." She paused,
aware now that the Doctor was not alone in Sickbay. "The Sailor
Scouts," she observed after giving them a quick once over. "Then the
dimensional anomaly we went through brought us to their universe."
"Ah, I should have realized that you would be acquainted with
them," the Doctor commented. "From what they've been telling me, they
are much more effective against the aliens than our weapons have been.
I was hoping that with their assistance, we could drive the intruders
off the ship."
"A logical strategy," the former Borg concurred. "Their abilities
in concert with the modified phasers should be adequate to the task."
Meanwhile, the Scouts were still taken back a bit by Seven's casual
recognition of them. "It seems like everyone on this ship knows about
us. We must be required reading at Starfleet Academy," Venus quipped.
"Nah, there's got to be at least a course on us by now," Jupiter
added. "I can just see it now, 'Sailor Scouts 101'."
"It's not that," Sailor Moon stated flatly. Though her face was
pale, she was staring at Seven evenly and her voice remained firm, "She
recognizes us because she's a Borg."
Several jaws dropped at this. "Borg!?!"
"I was once part of the Borg collective, yes," Seven stated in her
manner of fact way before the Doctor could act. "Once Sailor Moon was
assimilated into it, her knowledge and experience was added to it as
well. Therefore, I am aware of your existence."
The Doctor could feel the tension among the Scouts elevate
instantly as they confronted the former drone. "This is *not* a good
beginning."
"They own the most powerful ship.... and what do they do with it, 'uhh
let's see if we can find some space anomaly today that might RIP IT
APART!'" -- Neelix
Chapter 3 -- Intruder Alert!
"I can see that your interpersonal skills still need a lot of
work, Seven," the Doctor noted, trying to defuse the situation. "But
I'm afraid that will have to wait. We need to know what has happened
since the ship left the Borg derelict."
"Very well," Seven replied. "We came out of warp shortly after
entering the system. Sensors showed that the anomaly we were
investigating was very close to the fourth planet, inside the
atmosphere. We closed on impulse power, and entered a standard orbit.
An away team consisting of Commander Chakotay, Lt. Commander Tuvok, and
Neelix was dispatched..."
"That's not what I had in mind," the Doctor interrupted her.
"If we're to properly understand the situation, we need details."
Seven was not convinced. "The type of 'details' you are
referring to are irrelevant."
"Hardly," he retorted. "The smallest detail could prove to be
the critical bit of knowledge we require. Now please start again from
when Voyager was approaching the planet."
"Since you deem it important I will provide the 'details' you
wish. But I believe it to be a very unproductive use of our time."
Seven turned to the Scouts. "As I said, we approached the planet on
impulse power. When we reached the proper distance from it, Captain
Janeway..."
"Standard orbit, Mr. Paris," Janeway ordered.
"Entering standard orbit, Captain," the helmsman confirmed.
Janeway eyed the planet silently while Tom slid Voyager into
orbit. Other than the fact that the color of the world seemed paler
than other Class M planets she had seen over the years, there didn't
seem anything odd about the small planet. In fact, from all appearances
it seemed to be rather peaceful. But Janeway knew all too well that
appearances could be deceiving. "What can you tell me, Harry?"
There was a slight delay while the young ensign glanced over the
sensor readouts before replying. A glance over to the Ops station told
Janeway that whatever the results where, he wasn't happy with them.
"It's hard to be sure, Captain. I've got a fix on the anomaly about one
kilometer over the planet's surface, but there's an odd background
energy field that's interfering with the sensors."
Janeway frowned. "What kind of energy field?"
"I don't know," Harry confessed, "I'm still trying to identify
it, but the sensor interference isn't making it easy."
"I've never seen anything like it either," Chakotay put in,
concentrating on the panel situated between the Captain's and First
Officer's seats. "It seems to be some form of negative energy, but
considering the abundance of life down there, it doesn't appear to be
dangerous to organic life. We may be able to get clearer readings by
sending down an away team." After a moment, he looked at Janeway, who
had yet to answer him. "Captain?"
She hesitated for another moment before nodding. "Agreed," she
said, reluctance obvious in her voice. "Prepare an away team. But
don't take too long down there, Chakotay. There's something about this
planet that's giving me a bad feeling."
The tone of her voice caused Paris to half turn in his seat at
the helm, and he exchanged an uncertain look with Harry. At the
tactical station, the ever unflappable Tuvok raised an eyebrow, but had
no other reaction. Chakotay noted out of the corner of his eye that
even Seven of Nine seemed slightly perturbed by the Captain's unusual
attitude. Indeed, he was slightly disturbed by it as well, but all he
said was, "Aye, Captain." He pointed briefly to Tuvok and the Vulcan
accompanied him off the Bridge.
"Commander Chakotay!"
Chakotay halted at the entrance to the Transporter Room, turning
to face the caller. He had already figured it out from the voice alone
just who it was. "What can I do for you, Neelix?"
The Talaxian halted, breathing heavily. He had obviously rushed
to make it down here. "Commander, I take it you're leading an away
mission to the planet's surface?"
Chakotay nodded. "That's right." Neelix opened his mouth to
speak, but Chakotay preempted him. "I know what you're going to ask,
Neelix. But I want to keep the away team complement down to a minimum."
"That may be true, Commander," he agreed, "but the Borg are no
doubt sending a ship here, given the fate of that other ship. Which
tells me that we won't be able to linger here for very long. So, given
that our supply of edibles is starting to get on the low side, we should
make the best use of our time here." He paused for a moment. "And given
that I am the resident expert on edible plant life, I should accompany
you down to the surface."
"Commander, I am hesitant to agree, but there is a certain logic
to what Neelix says," Tuvok said.
Neelix literally beamed with pride. "Why, thank you, Mr.
Vulcan."
"Far be it for me to argue with Vulcan logic," Chakotay said.
"Come along, Neelix."
Neelix blinked, as he found himself slightly disoriented by the
sudden change in light levels when they materialized on the surface.
"That's odd," he commented, checking the local plant life with both his
tricorder and his own senses. "I thought we were beaming onto the day
side of the planet."
"We did," Chakotay answered him. He pointed upwards to where
the local sun was plainly visible. But instead of being a dazzling ball
of light, it appeared to be only a pale yellow disc, not much brighter
than the Earth's moon at full.
Tuvok raised an eyebrow. "This is most peculiar. The local sun
is a G5 main sequence star, and the planet is approximately 1.25 AUs
distant from it. Seeing as there is no particulate matter in the
atmosphere, these factors should combine to give a light level
approximately that of Earth."
Chakotay eyed his own tricorder and examined the data it was
collecting. Nothing seemed to stand out as out of the ordinary except
for... "There's that energy field Harry detected. But it's a lot more
extensive than we thought. It's permeating everything around us --
plants, animals... even the soil."
"Everything we can scan," Tuvok noted. "The interference from
it is limiting our tricorder ranges to less than thirty meters."
"There is an energy dampening quality to it," Chakotay agreed.
"That probably accounts for the low light level as well." He reached up
to tap his commbadge. It was time to fill in the Captain.
Janeway listened carefully to Chakotay's initial report. "Is
the energy field dangerous?"
"Only if we stick around for an extended period... say a week or
more," the First Officer answered through a haze of distortion. Janeway
cast a glance to Harry who nodded, indicating that he was working on
clearing up the signal. "And, Captain, we're having some difficulty
reading your signal clearly."
"We're having the same problem," Janeway responded. "It must be
another effect from that energy field. Harry's working on clearing it
up."
"Captain, with the data from the away team's tricorders, I've
got a line on identifying the field." Harry paused, not quite believing
what was displayed on the panel. When he did speak, he sounded almost
embarrassed. "It's a... Nega-energy field."
"Nega-what?" Janeway exclaimed.
"Harry, you just made that up, didn't you?" Tom asked in a voice
that was only half serious.
"It sounds ridiculous to me too, but that's what the computer's
saying it is," Harry said, sounding a bit defensive.
"Nega-energy is a bioelectric field that was radiated by an
entity known as the Negaforce," Seven spoke up from her position just
behind Harry. She stepped out from the Operations station and faced the
Captain, who was frowning. There was something familiar about that
name, but she just couldn't place it. "The Negaforce itself was an
extremely powerful extradimensional being that was presumably destroyed
by Sailor Moon."
If anything, Harry looked even more perplexed. "Sailor Moon?"
Janeway snapped her fingers. "Now I remember. Jean-Luc Picard
gave a brief talk about them at a Starfleet tactical conference shortly
before we left. Sailor Moon is part of a group known as the Sailor
Scouts. And while they may have the appearance of teenage girls, they
possess extraordinary powers. Five years ago, they helped the
Enterprise D in an encounter with a rogue Borg ship." Addressing Seven,
"As I recall, Sailor Moon was briefly assimilated."
"Correct," Seven replied.
Chakotay stopped his tricorder scan and look around their
position. He didn't hear or see anything amiss, but something was
causing the hairs on the back of his neck to stand on end. It was only
a feeling that something was amiss, but it was something he had learned
to trust from his earliest days with the Marquis. "Captain, I don't
think we're alone down here."
"I am not detecting anything dangerous in our vicinity," Tuvok
observed, be he drew out his phaser nevertheless. It was only logical
to be prepared for any eventuality.
Each of them felt a wave of pressure wash over them, and found
themselves suddenly surrounded by several humanoid shaped forms. But
their resemblance to other humanoids ended there, for they appeared to
be more insectoid; their green skin apparently composed of a chitinous
substance and their eyes large and bulging outward from their head.
Before Chakotay could do or say anything, the leader hefted the staff it
was carrying and brought the top downward sharply in their direction.
The resulting bolt of energy slammed into the Talaxian, knocking him to
the ground. "Neelix!"
"I've lost contact with the away team," Kim said urgently.
"Voyager to Chakotay, respond," Janeway said, hoping against
hope for some answer from her first officer. Unfortunately, the only
response she got was silence. She turned to the operations station.
"Harry, get them out of there. *Now.*"
Harry tried to comply but found his attempts frustrated. "I
can't get a lock on them," he said. "The background energy field has
intensified. It's scattering the targeting beam."
"Try intensifying the annular confinement --" Janeway's
suggestion was interrupted as the ship bucked suddenly, the intensity of
the motion temporarily overwhelming the inertial dampeners. "Report!"
Paris struggled with the helm, trying to stabilize the ship.
"Something's grabbed us, Captain. We're being dragged down."
"Full impulse," Janeway ordered instantly.
"Full impulse, aye." Paris made the necessary inputs to the
helm, then shook his head. "We've slowed, but we're still heading
down."
"We're entering the atmosphere," Seven reported.
As if fate decided to add to their litany of troubles, the
intruder alert chose that moment to sound. 'Now what?' Janeway thought,
then said somewhat tersely, "Report."
"Multiple intruder alerts on decks five through twelve," Harry
answered. "They're teleporting right through our shields."
"Get security teams to those areas at once," Janeway ordered
Ensign Graves, who had taken Tuvok's place at tactical. She nodded and
began relaying the orders. "Harry, erect forcefields on all decks."
"Yes, Ma'am," Harry said, complying with her orders.
"Security teams are reporting that phasers are mostly
ineffective against the intruders," Graves said. "They can slow down
the intruders, but not stop them."
"Damn," Janeway swore softly. "Reinforce the forcefields
protecting vital areas of the ship. Computer, disable command functions
in all areas controlled by the intruders. Authorization, Janeway Gamma
Echo Four Seven."
"Command functions disabled," the computer answered.
The deck pitched sharply again, reminding Janeway that they
still had other problems. "We're still going down," Tom said needlessly
for one look at the viewscreen told Janeway that. "Altitude fifty
kilometers."
"We have to get loose from this beam," Janeway muttered as she
looked to her own console and monitored the sensor readouts for herself.
An idea came to her, and a hopeful look came across her face. "Bridge
to Engineering. B'Elanna, I need you to rig the warp engines to
generate a warp field around the ship, set to a frequency that is
counter-variant to the beam on the ship."
"We're setting it up," the lieutenant answered. "How much warp
power do you think you'll need?"
"I'm not sure," Janeway admitted. "Maybe all of it. Or more."
She turned to Harry again. "Harry, I need you to set up a link between
the sensors and the warp engines. The warp field needs to be on the
correct frequency for this to work, and the aliens may alter it when
they realize what we're doing."
"Aye, Captain," he responded.
"OK, let's make this quick," B'Elanna told her people. "Carey,
set up the engines to generate the field around the ship."
"On it, Lieutenant," he said while moving over to the warp drive
control console.
B'Elanna had already turned her attention to someone else.
"Vorick, make sure the sensor linkup Harry is setting up is feeding into
the warp drive controllers." The Vulcan nodded. Meanwhile, B'Elanna
checked for herself the condition of the warp core. If the Captain was
right, they may need to push it to the limit and possibly beyond.
Tom looked up from the helm, concern evident. "We better make
it quick. Our altitude is nine point seven kilometers and falling."
"We're set down here," B'Elanna's voice said over the intercom.
"Sensor linkup to warp drive controls set," Harry added.
"Not a moment too soon," Janeway said. "Engage!"
Down in Engineering, B'Elanna tapped the control to energize the
warp coils, generating the warp field around the ship. Outside, the
nacelles elevated to flight configuration and glowed a bright blue. On
the Bridge, Janeway could almost hear the hum from the engines as the
power built up. The viewscreen display told everyone that the ship's
descent to the surface was visibly slowing. "Bring the engines up to
full, B'Elanna."
"Aye, Captain."
"I'm reading subspace fluctuations from the anomaly," Harry
said, his voice taking on a note of alarm. "We're almost on top of...."
The ship rocked again, but this time the motion was accompanied
by a sudden flash of light. "We're loose!" Paris noted with relief, but
it was tempered by another look at the status board. "Altitude is one
kilometer. But we lost the impulse engines in the process."
"The warp engines are offline as well," Harry added, then he
began reading off the litany of damage. "Main power is down, and so's
auxiliary... Captain!"
The alarm in Harry's voice tore Tom's attention from the helm
for a moment, and he could see that Harry was fully justified. Captain
Janeway lay sprawled on the deck, apparently unconscious. This,
combined with the absence of both Chakotay and Tuvok put him in the
unusual position of being in command. "Seven, see what you can do for
the Captain." She nodded, already getting out the emergency medical kit
stored on the Bridge. "Harry, I've got to set the ship down. Set us up
for an emergency landing. The thrusters are working, but they're too
sluggish for my tastes." He took a quick look at the navigational
sensors. "I just hope the ground is solid."
"Perhaps solid ice would suffice," Seven put in. Mystified, Tom
looked up and got a good look at the main viewscreen for the first time
since they had broken free. "We appear to have been translocated to
another planet, over its polar ice cap."
"It'll have to do," Tom said, returning his attention to the
helm. "Because we aren't getting back into orbit with only emergency
power."
"I've configured the inertial dampeners for landing," Harry
said. His voice seemed steady to Tom, but he had a feeling his friend
was half watching Seven attend to the Captain. Not that he blamed his
friend. If the Bridge had been designed differently, he'd probably be
doing the same. "And I've transferred available emergency reserve to
the thrusters."
"Thanks, Harry." And now we see just how good a pilot you
really are, he added silently to himself. "Altitude seven hundred
meters... six hundred..." The ship chose that moment to pitch sharply.
Tom grabbed the helm with one hand, while trying to steady the ship with
the other. "Sorry about that."
"It's our friends down below," Harry said. "They're causing
disruptions in the command pathways and the ODN lines. I'm rerouting
around the damage."
Within moments, Tom felt the helm grow more responsive. "That's
better. Good work, Harry. Altitude two hundred meters. Extending
landing struts." Four panels opened on the bottom the secondary hull
and the landing struts deployed and locked into position. Tom made some
final adjustments to the helm and settled the ship gracefully down.
With the ship now landed safely on the ice, Tom was free to
leave the helm. He knelt down beside Captain Janeway. "How is she?" he
asked Seven.
"Stable for now. However, I cannot find any physiological
reason for her being unconscious."
Tom knew his own medical knowledge was limited, but he still
found that hard to believe. But until she did wake up, he was in
command. And he knew that Captain Janeway would want him to be certain
of Voyager's safety before her own. "Harry, what's the status on the
intruders?"
"Still there, but at least their numbers have stopped
increasing. They may not be able to send anyone else through the
anomaly. The warp engines triggered it, sending us here. That's why
the beam broke." He looked up. "By the way, I just a line on what it
is. It's not a wormhole at all, but a quantum flux."
Tom shook his head. "Translation, please Harry."
It was Seven who elaborated. "It is a spatial phenomena that
can serve as a gateway between universes. Which evidently this one
does."
"Great," Tom muttered. "And we thought just being in the Delta
Quadrant was bad."
"We should be able to return via the flux in a more controlled
manner," Seven stated. "But I would suggest we deal with the intruders
first."
Tom nodded in assent. "Good point. Harry, flood all
compartments with the exception of the Bridge and main engineering with
anestazine. With luck, that should knock them out."
"If it does not, then the majority of the crew will be
incapacitated," Seven pointed out.
"Got a better idea?" Tom asked.
"Not at present," she admitted reluctantly.
"Releasing anestazine," Harry said. There were several moments
of silence on the Bridge as they waited for the results, if any. "I
don't think it's working, Tom. The aliens are still moving about,
and..." He paused, then swore in frustration. "I don't know how they
did it, but they just knocked out the internal sensors."
"What were they doing?"
Harry took another quick look at the sensor record. "It looks
like there are two large groups trying to force their way into
Engineering and the Bridge." Involuntarily, everyone's eyes turned to
the various Bridge entrances. There was no sign at present, but no one
doubted that the aliens were trying to burn their way through the
forcefields barring their way. "There's a few others scattered about
the ship. Some form of patrols, I guess."
"We need some form of weapon against them," Tom said.
"Obviously our phasers aren't enough, even on the highest settings." He
looked at Seven. "Got any ideas along those lines?"
She looked thoughtful. "Possibly. I may be able to modify a
few units to be more effective. But it would require access to Cargo
Bay Two."
Tom nodded. "Don't let me stop you, then. Harry, go with her."
Seven didn't appear too happy with this. "I can accomplish the
task myself."
"I'm sure you can," Tom responded smoothly. "But your still
going to need someone to watch your back. Besides, two people going
along can get more phasers back up here."
Seven still didn't look happy, but she made no further
objections as she followed Harry into the Jeffries tubes.
"We had reached Deck Three before the aliens intercepted us. I
told Ensign Kim to proceed ahead of me to Cargo Bay Two while I dealt
with the immediate threat. After I had done so, I followed. Seeing
that Ensign Kim had not arrived, I decided to go to Sickbay in the hopes
of procuring the Doctor's help," Seven said, concluding her tale.
"So how'd you handle the aliens back on Deck Two?" Jupiter
asked.
Seven fixed a steely stare at her before responding. "I am
Borg."
The tall Scout glared at Seven's back as she turned her
attention to the console. "Yeah, you certainly are," she muttered.
"Excuse me," the Doctor said to the Scouts before going up to
Seven. Pitching his voice for her ears, "Seven, I realize that they've
been less than friendly towards you, but that isn't an excuse for you to
be rude in return."
"As you noted, Doctor, it is they who have been hostile."
"That's because you're a Borg," he retorted, his voice rising.
"It's only natural that they would have hostile feelings towards you.
But treating them as if they were beneath contempt isn't going to help
matters any!" He glanced down at the console. "What are you doing,
anyway?"
"Attempting to access the internal sensors. We need to
determine the disposition of the alien forces before we can proceed."
She ceased her efforts, obviously frustrated. "Unfortunately, the
internal sensors are still offline."
"It looks like they're concentrated in three areas." All eyes
turned to Mercury. "One is just outside a large room on Deck Eleven..."
"Just outside Engineering," Seven said.
"...another is massed at what looks like an entrance to the
Bridge. The third is in a large room on Deck Two."
The Doctor had taken this opportunity move behind her. "Deck
Two, Section Thirteen," he noted. "The Mess Hall. They must be using
it for a command post until they can take the Bridge. I doubt they're
there for the cuisine."
"There are several other lifeforms present there. I think
they're members of your crew."
"Wait a minute, Mercury," Sailor Moon objected. "I thought you
said that you couldn't get accurate readings because of that interfering
whatever."
"That's true. But I've been working on filtering out the
interference. The readings still aren't as accurate as I would like,
but they'll have to do." She paused as another item appeared on her
display. "Hold on. There are some instabilities beginning to show up
in the quantum flux."
Curious, Seven moved behind the Scout to look at the readouts
for herself, the Doctor shifting himself to one side. "I recognize
these readings. They are preparing for an interdimensional transport."
In answer to the questioning looks she was getting, "The Borg have used
a similar process."
"The Borg can move between universes?" Mars asked. "What, not
enough for you to assimilate here?"
"We wished to improve ourselves," Seven stated.
"So they're getting ready to bring in reinforcements," Tuxedo
Mask mused.
"I do not believe so," Seven replied. "It appears they are
getting ready to send something through."
"You mean they're going to teleport the whole ship through?"
Sailor Moon asked.
Seven shook her head. "Unlikely. I do not believe that they
possess the power needed to teleport Voyager. And with the ship's
propulsion systems damaged, they cannot lift it off the surface to make
contact with the flux."
"Then what are they sending..." The answer hit Mercury like a
thunderbolt. "The crew! They're going to transport them over. Or at
least the ones they hold in the Mess Hall."
"Then we better get moving," the Doctor said. He slapped the
mobile emitter onto his arm, downloading his program into the small
device. "We need to devise a plan, get to the armory, then move quickly
once Seven has completed her task."
"The optimal chance for success is to strike at all three areas
simultaneously," Seven said. "That would give the aliens minimal time
to react."
"Sounds good to me," Venus said. "We'll split up into three
groups. I'll take Engineering..."
"I'll go with you," Jupiter said, adding to herself, 'If only to
make sure you don't touch the warp core.'
"I should go to the Bridge," Mercury said. "If your captain is
still unconscious, I may be able to help figure out what's wrong with
her."
"I'll back you up," Mars said.
"I guess that leaves the Mess Hall to me and Sailor Moon,"
Tuxedo Mask said.
She looked up at him, smiling. "Hey, we're a natural team."
The Doctor seemed satisfied. "That sounds like a reasonable
disposition of our forces. Seven, you guide Venus and Jupiter to
Engineering; I'll go with Mars and Mercury, and..." His voice trailed
off as he belatedly realized, "It seems we've run out of guides."
"No, you haven't," a weak voice came from the surgical bay. All
heads turned to look in that direction. Harry was sitting up on the
biobed, looking weak but alert. "I'll go with the third team."
"Just what do you think you're doing, Ensign?" the Doctor
snapped, storming up to the medtable.
"Like I said, I'm coming along," the ensign replied.
"Absolutely not! I just finished putting you back together, Mr.
Kim. You need time to recover."
"I'm fine," he responded, sliding off the medtable. His next
actions belied his words however, as when he attempted to stand on his
own, he swayed unsteadily then hurriedly gripped the table. "Whoa."
"Fine, are you?" The Doctor noted with some concern that
Harry's face had grown visibly paler and that he was sweating profusely.
The hologram quickly scanned him, but was relieved that there were no
new problems detected. "I think this should demonstrate to you that
you're not. You need rest, Ensign."
"Maybe you're right," he admitted. "But you still need my help.
You've already decided to split up into three teams. You and Seven can
guide two of them, but who's going to guide team number three?"
The hologram looked uneasy. "We'll find someone else."
"Like who? Like it or not, Doc, I'm it."
The Doctor grimaced, for it seemed that Harry did have a point.
"Very well, Ensign. You'll accompany Sailor Mars and Sailor Mercury to
the Bridge. That way, if something does happen to you, Mercury and Lt.
Paris can tend to your medical needs." He looked over to Sailor Moon
and Tuxedo Mask. "I guess I'll be your guide to the Mess Hall."
"Great," Sailor Moon said. "I'm getting a little hungry
anyway."
"What else is new?"
"Mars!"
The Doctor broke in before the conflict could escalate. "If Mr.
Neelix left any of his cooking available, you may want to pass on it."
"What, is his cooking that bad?" Sailor Moon asked.
"He hasn't caused any fatalities among the crew yet, but there's
always a first time."
Jupiter smiled. "Sounds like he learned to cook the same place
you did, Mina."
"Very funny," the blonde growled.
"We should be going then," Seven said, heading for the Jeffries
tube entrance.
"Do you really think you can make the phasers more effective
against them?" Mercury asked her.
"It should be possible by utilizing Borg technology." She
paused, considering. "However, the information contained in your
computer regarding the Negaforce will increase the chance of success."
Without further ado, she entered.
"Gee, thanks," Mars commented, following the Borg into the
crawlway. Mercury, Sailor Moon, and Tuxedo Mask followed her.
The hiss of a hypo was heard, as the Doctor gave Harry an
injection. "That should help you keep on you feet, Ensign. But don't
overdo it."
"Thanks, Doc." Harry slid of the biobed and slowly made his way
over. Pausing for a moment as if to gather his strength, he entered.
"Go ahead," the Doctor told the remaining Scouts. "I'll take up
the rear."
"OK by me." Jupiter bent down and entered.
Venus flashed the Doctor a smile before she went in. "Once more
onto the beach."
The Doctor stood stunned for a moment before he finally entered
himself, calling after her, "That's not how it goes!" The hatch closed
with a clang, leaving the now empty Sickbay behind them.
"Resistance is futile."
- Seven of Nine
Chapter 4 -- Voyager Strikes Back
Mars tapped her foot impatiently and again glanced around the
small (and somewhat crowded) room that served as Voyager's armory.
Their journey here from Sickbay had been pleasantly uneventful, but they
had been lingering here for almost two hours while they (or at least
she) watched Harry and Seven of Nine finish the modifications to nearly
a dozen phaser rifles. But it finally looked as if the end was in
sight, for Harry had begun remodulating the last phaser they needed.
Of course, it didn't help her temperament any that she was just
about the only one without anything to do at the moment. Harry was
still busy setting the last rifle to a frequency modulation that Mercury
said would be most effective against denizens of the Negaverse, or those
enhanced by the power of the Negaforce. For her part, Seven was still
working on adding Borg technology to the prefire chambers, intensifying
the beam output to make the weapon even deadlier. Or at least, that's
what she thought Seven had said. The former drone had given a rather
lengthy and highly technical explanation to what she was doing, but she
didn't understand half of it.
She wasn't sure that even Mercury understood it all.
Speaking of Mercury, she and Jupiter formed the end of the
assembly line. As each weapon was completed, Jupiter would test fire it
at a standard phaser target while Mercury would scan the beam to measure
it's estimated effectiveness.
As for the others, Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Mask were talking in
hushed tones at the far end of the room. From the glances they kept
casting Seven's way, Mars could guess what the topic of discussion was.
Venus was hovering nearby Harry, keeping a running conversation
going with him. He didn't seem to mind talking with her, but Mars
wasn't sure that he was aware that she was flirting with him.
As for the Doctor... He had gone out soon after they arrived
here, scouting out the nearby corridors for their opponents. That he
had yet to return...
A sudden, low knock on the door startled her, causing her and
almost everyone else to jump and stare at the door. Imperturbable as
ever, Seven calmly stood up and keyed the manual release, opening the
door slightly. The gap was only a few centimeters but it was enough for
the Doctor to squeeze his holographic form through. "Where have you
been?!?" Mars hissed as Seven closed and secured the door.
"Conducting reconnaissance, as I said I would do when I left."
The hologram regarded her curiously. "Is there a problem?"
"Yes! It shouldn't have taken you two hours to check out the
area!"
The Doctor raised an eyebrow. "Indeed? I wasn't aware my
performance was being timed." Mars glared at the hologram. "I suppose
I could have completed my mission sooner if I hadn't been concerned with
remaining undetected."
"What did you find, Doctor?" Seven asked, preempting another
outburst from Mars.
"I checked this deck extensively in all directions, both
corridors and Jeffries tubes. I found no sign of the intruders
anywhere. It seems that they are consolidating their efforts on
securing the Bridge and Engineering."
"And on removing your crew," Mercury put in, checking her
computer again. "I estimate that they'll be able to teleport some of
them off in about forty minutes."
"Then we have little time to waste," Seven stated. "Ensign Kim,
how are you progressing?"
Harry snapped the maintenance panel shut on the phaser rifle,
and placed it down on the deck. "Just finished," he told her in a
satisfied tone. "Eleven phaser rifles all remodulated."
"Great. That just leaves the three Seven has to finish work
on," Venus said.
"Doctor, Ensign Kim, as you have the farthest to go, I suggest
you take your teams and proceed to your destinations immediately," Seven
said. "In the interim, I will finish work on the phaser units here and
then proceed to Engineering."
"Who put you in charge?" Mars muttered.
"Won't you need us to test the others?" Jupiter asked.
"It would be prudent, but time is growing short." Seven looked
to Mercury. "If memory serves, you haven't found any problems with the
units modified so far."
"Not yet," Mercury admitted. "But --"
"Then any further objections would be irrelevant. I will simply
use the same procedure as with the other rifles."
There were several uncertain looks among Voyager's newfound
allies. "I hate to admit it, but she does have a point about time
getting short," Tuxedo Mask said.
Sailor Moon took another look to each of her friends, each of
them reluctantly nodding in agreement. "OK, let's go."
Being the nearest to the hatch, the Doctor opened the access to
the Jeffries tubes. While he did that, the others picked up the phaser
rifles they would transport to their assigned locations. "After you,"
he said to Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Mask.
After the first group had entered, Harry moved to follow. As he
entered, Mars heard him say something, but she couldn't make out the
words. "What's wrong? Don't tell me you're worried we can't take the
aliens?" she asked.
Harry looked back at her and shook his head. "It's not that.
I'm just wondering how Chakotay and the others are doing."
At that moment, a universe away, Voyager's first officer was
being lead through a series of tunnels. Trying to memorize his way
around the intricate network, Chakotay slowed his pace but it seemed his
guards were the impatient sort. One of them gave him a rough shove in
the small of his back with its staff, sending him sprawling into a large
cavern. Chakotay scrambled to his feet, glaring at the green skinned
guard but otherwise did nothing. The other guard gestured roughly,
indicating to Chakotay to keep moving. Turning about, he resumed
walking towards the center of the chamber.
Moments later, he approached a small circle of light. Seeing
that Tuvok and Neelix were already there ahead of him, he quickened his
pace towards them. Upon first glance, both seemed fine, though their
clothing was smeared with dirt and disheveled as was his uniform. "How
are you two doing?"
"As well as can be expected, Commander," the Talaxian replied.
Neelix was putting up a good front, but Chakotay could see in the
Talaxian's eyes that he was still in a good deal of pain from the blows
he had taken when they had been captured. Chakotay still felt the
impacts himself from the attack. Fortunately for them, it seemed that
their captors wanted them alive and relatively unharmed. At least for
now.
"My condition is quite adequate, Commander," Tuvok added. He
was of course maintaining the typical Vulcan stoicism, thus making
nearly impossible to read him. But considering that Vulcans were nearly
as tough as Klingons, Chakotay knew that he was most likely in the best
condition of any of them.
The loud noise of a door opening alerted Chakotay that someone
else was approaching, and he broke off questioning his comrades. There
would be time enough for that later. Instead, he watched silently as a
group of their captors moved into a formation around the dais, with one
of them standing on it. They appeared identical to those that had
captured them, save for the fact that their skins were colored a bright
orange. The one atop the dais had a blue coloring to it's skin. From
its position and the way in which it was regarding them, Chakotay
presumed that this was the leader. He took a step towards this alien
and addressed it. "I am Commander Chakotay, First Officer of the
Federation Starship Voyager. Our mission is one of peace. There's no
need to treat us as if we are your enemies."
The alien leader responded in its own language, but a voice soon
emanated from the crystal at the top of its staff. Evidently, it not
only served as a weapon, but a translator as well. "We know who you
are, human." Chakotay and Neelix both started, while Tuvok raised an
eyebrow. "And there is every need, for you are our enemies. All who
serve in *Starfleet* -" Her voice (Chakotay presumed it was a female
addressing him, since the voice from the translator sounded female)
dripped scorn as it said 'Starfleet'. "- are our enemies."
Chakotay stared at her, incredulous. This planet was sixty
thousand light years from the nearest Federation outpost, yet this
creature seemed intimately familiar with Starfleet. And extremely
hostile towards anyone associated with it as well.
Neelix leaned forward. "She doesn't seem like the friendly
type, Commander," he whispered.
"Silence!" a load voice roared from the translator.
"I repeat, we are *not* your enemies," Chakotay reiterated,
ignoring the command. "Starfleet's mission is one of peaceful
exploration. Our purpose in coming to your world was to determine if a
spatial anomaly we detected just inside your atmosphere could be used as
a means for us to get home."
The alien leader didn't reply except by staring coldly at him.
Then, responding to some unseen signal, one of the guards struck
Chakotay with the butt of its staff, causing him to double over. Tuvok
and Neelix both took an instinctive step towards the commander but their
paths were immediately blocked by other guards. "I said, 'Silence',
human."
Gasping for breath as he was, Chakotay was unable to respond.
But after a moment or two, he was able to force himself to stand up,
glaring defiantly at the alien.
"Spare me the pathetic lies, human. We of Negara are well
acquainted with Starfleet." She leaned closer to Chakotay, her very
pose dripping with menace. "And for your information, I am Metallah,
Queen of Negara. And *I* will ask the questions here." It was clear
now to Chakotay that any attempts at diplomacy were wasted here. "Now,
you will answer me. I sent over one hundred of my best to your wretched
ship, and then it had the gall to *vanish*. Where is your ship?" The
voice from the translator grew louder and shrill as she demanded,
"*Where is Voyager*?!?"
Hours later, a very tired and even more disheveled Chakotay was
picking himself off the cell floor after the guard slammed and locked
the door. He threw a dangerous glare at the door as he brushed himself
off brusquely. "I'm getting more than a little tired of being shoved
around like this," he remarked to his companions, his voice more than a
little terse. Indicating the Throne Room they had left earlier he said,
"Have either of you got any idea what the hell all that was about?"
Neelix shook his head. "I have no idea, Commander. I never
heard of the Federation until I met Voyager. I have no idea how she
did."
Tuvok frowned slightly, considering the problem. "It is
possible that another Federation ship was pulled into the Delta Quadrant
before Voyager," he postulated.
Neelix shrugged. "If so, I never heard of it."
"The Delta Quadrant is a rather large place, Mr. Neelix," Tuvok
observed. "It is quite likely that a Starfleet vessel other than
Voyager was stranded here and that news of its existence never reached
you."
"We could speculate all day and not figure it out," Chakotay
said. "All we really know is that there is some connection between this
Metallah. What worries me is she said that her people had boarded
Voyager."
"Almost a hundred," Neelix concurred. "But she also said it
vanished. Perhaps Captain Janeway found a way to elude them."
Tuvok shook his head, looking about as sullen as a Vulcan could
ever hope. "I wish I could share your optimism, Mr. Neelix. While I
have confidence in Captain Janeway's tactical abilities, given the
aliens demonstrated immunity to phasers they could very well capture
Voyager."
"If that's happened, then we could be the only chance Voyager
has." Chakotay looked about the cell. "We're going to have to find a
way to escape."
"That's not going to be easy, Commander," Neelix noted. "In
fact," he added looking at the solid door, "it may be impossible."
Chakotay smiled at the Talaxian. "Don't worry, Neelix. We'll
figure something out. Those of us in the Marquis had to do the
impossible everyday just to survive."
Tom cast another glance down the walkway to Deck Two. As
before, he could see the forcefield at the bottom shimmering as blow
after blow from the aliens hammered at it. It wouldn't be much longer
before it would fail, allowing the intruders to rush onto the Bridge.
Turning, he made one more check of the defensive arrangements. Ensign
Graves was situated behind the helm, armed with a phaser compression
rifle. Tom and Chell, a Bolian who had been among the Marquis that had
joined the crew, each had positions flanking her, both armed with hand
phasers. In theory, they had the entrance from deck two thoroughly
covered. Unfortunately, given the resistance to phasers the intruders
had shown to date, they might as well be throwing tribbles at the
intruders. "Everyone set?"
"Sure," Ensign Graves replied in a dry voice, Chell nodding
agreement. "All ready to do our General Custer imitation."
"Come on, it's not that bad," Tom said, putting a false tone of
joviality into his voice. "We may be outnumbered and badly outgunned,
but we were in the same situation against the Cardassians."
Graves didn't react to the lame attempt at bravado but Chell was
quick to point out, "If you shot a Cardassian, he went down. It's not
the case with these things."
Tom nodded grimly, unable to counter Chell's point. At the
moment, they needed a miracle if they were going to hold onto the
Bridge. 'Come on, Harry.'
As if in answer to his thought, the floor hatch to the Jeffries
tube opened up. Reflexively, they all shifted aim to cover the opening,
but soon relaxed when Harry climbed out. "It's about time," Tom said,
thoroughly relieved.
"Sorry it took so long," Harry began, but he as soon as he tried
to stand, he stumbled and nearly fell. The only reason he didn't was
because he managed to grab onto the nearby Bridge railing.
Seeing how pale Harry had become, Tom rushed over to his friend.
"Harry, you look like hell."
"I'll admit things were a bit rougher than I would've liked,"
Harry said with a wane smile. He nodded back to the floor hatch. "But
I did manage to find some help."
Tom followed Harry's gesture towards the tube access, and he
blinked upon seeing who was exiting. "Who...?"
What appeared to be two teenage girls were emerging from the
Jeffries tube. The first one, with long black hair and dressed in a
mostly white outfit with a red skirt, stood up glaring at Harry. "What
do you mean, 'you found us'?" she demanded. "We found *you* being
attacked and saved *your* life, remember?"
"Take it easy, Mars," the other one advised her. Tom noted that
her attire favored blue, as did the color of her hair.
"Harry..." he said uneasily.
"You remember the Sailor Scouts that Seven mentioned?" After
Tom nodded, Harry continued, "Well, these are two of them. This is
Sailor Mercury and the one with a worse temper than B'Elanna is Sailor
Mars."
Mercury smiled and nodded in greetings to Tom, but Mars was too
busy scowling at Harry. "I do *not* have a bad temper," she groused.
Tom was still puzzled. "How did they get here?"
"Remember what I said about the quantum flux? And how we
shifted to another universe?" After Tom nodded again, "Well, we ended
up on their homeworld. In other words... Welcome to Earth."
Tom firmly clamped his mouth shut, because he was sure that if
he didn't, it would end up hitting the floor. When he felt confident
enough to speak, "Earth?"
"That's right. But that's not all the news I have." Harry
tossed Tom the phaser rifle he was carrying, then unslinging the one
across his back. At the same time, Mars and Mercury tossed rifles to
Graves and Chell. "Courtesy of a little Starfleet ingenuity from me,
some Borg innovation by Seven and a lot of insight from Sailor Mercury
-" he tilted his head in her direction. Mercury smiled slightly in
response. "- we have a modified phaser that should make the aliens
think twice about taking Voyager."
Tom looked the phaser over carefully, feeling a sense of
optimism creep into him for the first time in a long while. If the
Sailor Scouts were as effective as Captain Janeway had said, and with
these new phasers, maybe they did have a chance after all.
"How much further?" Venus asked impatiently.
"We are nearly there," Seven responded with as much patience as
she ever showed. "There are only fifteen more meters until we reach the
Engineering exit."
"I still say we should have exited outside Engineering and
rushed the aliens," Jupiter growled. "We could take them out easily."
"We still have time," Seven stated. "Besides, our primary
mission is to get these modified phaser rifles to those inside."
"If we take care of the aliens, then we won't have to worry
about getting inside Engineering," Jupiter retorted. "And how do you
know there is enough time?"
"Based on my observations of the aliens' abilities, I was able
to estimate how long the forcefields protecting Engineering would last.
Using that as a base, I allotted the time needed to complete the
modifications." She paused and looked back at them. "Of course, I did
have to modify the schedule to allow for Sailor Venus' irrelevant
conversations."
"What the... what do you mean, 'irrelevant conversation'?" the
blonde challenged.
"Your flirtations with Ensign Kim were hardly conducive to our
mission."
"What's wrong?" Venus asked, then she smiled. "Jealous?"
"Hardly," Seven stated before resuming her progress.
Venus wasn't about to let is go. "Aha! I knew it! You really
do..." She paused, listening to sounds coming from the far end of the
Jeffries tube. Seven and Jupiter did likewise. "What's that?"
Seven grimaced. "The aliens have penetrated the forcefield and
broken into Engineering." Without further word, she moved forward at an
accelerated pace. Venus and Jupiter followed.
"So much for the best laid plans of mice, men and Borg," Jupiter
muttered.
The Doctor peered through the open door into the Mess Hall,
Sailor Moon, and Tuxedo Mask doing likewise. Inside, they could see the
tables had been shoved roughly to one side, clearing out a large space
in the middle. It was large enough for a cluster of the aliens, five in
all, to stand together in a circular formation. They didn't appear to
be doing anything, but the Doctor knew something was up, as the top of
each staff was glowing brightly. Standing around them and keeping a
watchful eye out were about a dozen more of the intruders. "Over a
dozen of them, that I could see," he whispered to his companions after
pulling back a few meters.
"There were even more of your crew in there," Tuxedo Mask
whispered back, Sailor Moon nodding in agreement.
"I know." Indeed, it would have been hard for the hologram to
miss that, as they were lying all around the room, in some cases piled
one atop another. As far as he could tell they were only unconscious,
but it was impossible for him to say for certain with doing a detailed
examination. Which the aliens were unlikely to permit. "There must be
one third of the crew in there."
"How long until they teleport?" asked Sailor Moon.
"You're the experts on beings like these," the Doctor replied.
"You tell me." However, the look he exchanged with the two of them told
them he was thinking the same thing they were. It would be soon. Very
soon.
The distinctive sound of a forcefield collapsing brought Tom
back to reality. "Everyone in position!" he yelled, jumping back to his
previous position behind the helm. Ensign Graves took the spot to his
immediate right while Chell posted himself on his left. Harry posted
himself at the Engineering station, using it as cover. Mercury and Mars
reacted quickly, posting themselves alongside the Starfleet defenders.
Looking at the defensive setup, Mars experienced a brief sense of deja
vu, remembering a time when she and the others minus Sailor Moon had
faced off against Malachite with a security squad from the Enterprise
providing cover. This quickly became relevant as the Starfleet
personnel present fired immediately when the intruders became visible on
the Bridge. True to Seven's predictions, the phasers were more
effective against the aliens, but not as immediately as she had hoped.
It still took two or three shots to render one of the intruders
immobile. But given the firepower they were able to mass against the
doorway, it didn't seem probable that the aliens would be able to get
through. Especially when she and Mercury added their support.
As the first alien appeared at the entrance Mars stiffened,
feeling rather than hearing a note of alarm in her head. There was
something dangerous and evil on the Bridge, something other than the
aliens rushing up from the deck below. As the Voyager defenders opened
fire, she quickly looked about, trying to spot it. Just in time for her
to see a door to her left slide open and one of the aliens move through
it. "Over there!" she warned the others while summoning her powers.
"MARS CELESTIAL FIRE SURROUND!" Keening sharply in pain, the lead alien
vanished in amid ringlets of flame.
Lacking time for anything subtler, Seven kicked open the
Engineering Jeffries tube access and crawled outside. But she ducked
back inside when a phaser beam lanced at her location. "I see you,
alien!" a near panic stricken voiced cried.
"I am not an alien, I am Seven of Nine," she retorted irritably.
She poked her head back outside the tube, and glared at the direction
the beam had come from. The crewman lowered the weapon he had pointed
at her, an apologetic expression forming on his face.
"Sorry, Seven," he said. "It's just that..." His eyes darted
about the room, focussing mainly on the lower level. "...they're
everywhere!"
Emerging fully from the Jeffries tube, Seven could see that he
hadn't exaggerated the situation. The intruders in Engineering vastly
outnumbered the defenders, and more could be seen rushing in. She
handed a rifle to the crewman. "Here," she said, unslinging another
one. "You will find this weapon more effective against them." He
nodded, but began pointing the weapon at the tube entrance when Jupiter
began crawling out. Seven grabbed him by the arm and spun him roughly
about. "Fire at the aliens, not them!" she snapped, then proceeded to
do so herself. It took three bursts but one of the intruders dropped to
the deck.
"Finally some action," Seven heard Jupiter say, felt a large
accumulation of static electricity build before Jupiter let fly her
attack with a loud cry. The electrical outburst struck among a group of
the intruders near the Engineering entrance, scattering them like
tenpins. Grinning in triumph, Jupiter leapt over the railing to the
deck below, with Venus following right behind her.
Upon landing, Venus raced over to her left, where she saw one of
Voyager's crew, a Vulcan, being menaced by one of the aliens. As calm
as any of his race, he showed no emotion at all as he dodged the various
blows while firing his own phaser at his attacker. Unfortunately, this
was having very little effect. But Venus knew she could change that.
"VENUS LOVE CHAIN ENCIRCLE!"
Responding to her summons, the golden band of energy lassoed the
alien, rendering it immobile. The Vulcan was slightly taken aback by
her intervention, but his hesitation lasted only half a moment. He
moved forward and placed a hand at the base of the alien's neck. It
jerked as if poked with a cattle prod, then fell to the floor.
"Fascinating," the Vulcan noted. "While its skin is of a
chitinous nature, it is still pliable enough for the Vulcan Nerve Pinch
to be effective."
"Whatever you say," she answered. She tossed him the phaser
rifle she had been carrying from the armory, glad to be rid of its
weight. "Seven said this should help you fight them."
"Indeed?" he noted.
"Yep."
"This should be of great assistance," he said before swiveling
the weapon in her direction.
"Hey!" Before she could react, he pressed the trigger, sending
a phaser pulse rushing just by her. From behind her, she heard what
sounded like one of the aliens in pain. Turning around, she saw one
that had been almost right behind her staggering. The Vulcan fired at
the alien twice more before it finally fell.
"It seems you are correct," he said. "Though multiple shots
seemed to be needed to neutralize them." He looked at her, one eyebrow
upraised, "I am Ensign Vorick."
"Sailor Venus."
"I'm afraid we don't have time for any elaborate plans," the
Doctor said. In the distance, he could hear the sounds of phaser fire,
no doubt, coming from the Bridge. The aliens had no doubt penetrated
the forcefield protecting the Bridge and it was very likely that they
had entered into Engineering as well. "I'll go in first and distract
them. When their attention is focused on me, make your move."
"Wait a minute. What about you?" Sailor Moon objected. "You'll
be killed!"
The Doctor smiled. "I appreciate your concern, but it's
unnecessary. I'm a hologram, remember? I'm immune to their attacks..."
He paused before adding, "...I hope."
The other aliens started when the Doctor strolled in, but his
nonchalant approach put them off, allowing him to get close to one of
those in the circle. "You look like you could use some rest," he told
it before pressing his hypo up against its neck. There was a loud
hissing noise as the hypo discharged, and the alien staggered before
finally collapsing. "As I thought," the Doctor noted with some
satisfaction, "They're immune to anesthetics in a gaseous form, but not
to a direct injection."
The aliens were not pleased, to put it mildly. Three of them
unleashed energy bolts at him, which passed right through his
holographic form. But seconds later, his form blurred with static
momentarily. "Oh, no," he said as the realization dawned on him that he
wasn't entirely immune to the alien energy. While it hadn't affected
him directly, it had introduced a slight instability in his holographic
matrix. At the moment it wasn't bad, but if he got hit again...
"Hold it!" All alien eyes turned to the entrance, where Sailor
Moon and Tuxedo Mask were standing. Taking advantage of the situation,
the Doctor decided to head for cover. "I am Sailor Moon, Champion of
Justice! This ship belongs to Starfleet, not you creeps! So consider
this an eviction notice, in the name of the Moon!"
The second Mars shouted out her warning, Tom swiveled about to
face the new threat. The Sailor Scout had already dealt with the first
one, but he could see others behind it inside the Ready Room. "Keep the
Deck Two entrance covered. We'll handle this," he told Ensign Graves.
She nodded curtly, not pausing her firing. "Yes, sir."
Mercury quickly ran over her options while Tom, and then Harry,
began firing at the Ready Room entrance. She could deal with the next
alien up the ramp easily, but with their firepower now split there was a
danger the next two or three would get past the phasers and put them in
danger of being overrun. Their best option was to get some cover from
the alien's attacks, and then she could go on the offensive. And since
there wasn't a lot available on the Bridge, that left... "MERCURY
BUBBLES BLAST!"
The next batch of aliens to the top of the ramp now found
themselves facing a nearly impenetrable fog bank. Unable to see their
targets or even the layout of the Bridge, they hesitated.
This proved to be their undoing, for the Scouts and their
Starfleet allies were not hampered by the fog. Ensign Graves and Chell
both fired rapidly, dropping this rank of the intruders. The next group
up found themselves facing Sailor Mercury going on the offensive. A
wave of cold swept down the ramp, freezing the intruders in their
tracks. The frozen forms served to slow the next wave of attackers.
It was going a little harder on the other Bridge front, but
Mercury's fogbank worked in their favor here as well, allowing the three
of them to stagger their fire effectively. Several of the intruders
were able to work their way onto the Bridge, but being nearly blinded by
the fog, their effectiveness was almost nil. But the number of them was
giving Tom cause to worry. Sooner or later, one of them would stumble
onto the defenders or the fog would fade and then...
Without warning, he heard what sounded like an electrical
discharge from inside the Ready Room. The sounds of several of the
aliens in pain soon followed. "What the hell..." Looking over at Mars,
he could tell that she was equally puzzled. There was another
electrical discharge sound and this time, beams of energy lanced out
from the Ready Room, striking down the aliens on the Bridge.
"What was that?" Mars asked in a whisper.
"Good question," Tom replied. "I wish I had an answer." He
glanced over at Harry, but he shook his head. He had no clue as to what
that was either.
"Whatever it was, it wasn't electricity." Tom and Mars both
turned. Mercury was standing behind them, scanning the area with her
computer. Tom noted that both Graves and Chell were standing by the
Deck Two walkway, having ceased firing and that the fog on the Bridge
was dissipating.
Seeing his eyes on her, Graves nodded to Tom. "Situation is
secure, sir. I think we stopped them."
"Good. Do what you can to secure that door." Tom turned back
to the open Ready Room door. "In the meantime, I'm going to find out
what happened to the captain."
B'Elanna grappled with one of the aliens, trying to summon up
another burst of strength. Her human side knew that it was quite likely
a hopeless fight to hold Engineering, but her Klingon half was past
caring. And that half was currently in control.
Unfortunately, it wasn't doing her much good. She had grabbed
the alien's staff and tried to wrest it away, but the intruder was much
stronger than even a Klingon and it was slowly pressing her backward
against the bulkhead. It was perilously close to forcing the staff
against her neck when she heard a loud voice cry out, "Leave her alone!"
The next thing B'Elanna knew, her attacker was pulled backwards by a
tall, auburn haired girl who proceeded to punch the alien square in the
face. For all the trouble it had given B'Elanna, it proved no much for
her strength and it dropped like a stone.
B'Elanna took a couple of deep breaths and regarded her
benefactor. "Thanks, whoever you are."
"No problem. And the name's Sailor Jupiter," she replied,
handing a phaser rifle to B'Elanna. "Here. If Seven's right, this
should help even the odds."
"I certainly hope so," B'Elanna said, checking the phaser
settings. "I'll take any advantage I can -- LOOK OUT!"
Jupiter whirled at Torres' warning only to see the top of an
alien staff inches from her face. But for some odd reason, it hadn't
struck her yet. After a moment, she realized why -- someone was holding
the staff back. Namely, Seven of Nine.
Both Jupiter and B'Elanna watched the contest of wills between
Seven and the alien. At first, it seemed too close to call, then slowly
and inexorably Seven began forcing it backwards. Then a loud snap was
heard as Seven broke the staff clean in half. The alien was too stunned
to react when Seven grabbed it forcibly and flung it back against the
bulkhead where it fell atop the one Jupiter had knocked out.
"Resistance is futile."
"Thanks," Jupiter said.
"You are welcome," Seven answered, retrieving her own weapon.
All things considered, the Doctor mused, things were going
rather well. After Sailor Moon had given her mandatory introductory
speech, the aliens not involved with the teleportation effort had rushed
her and Tuxedo Mask, only to be confronted with a rather powerful attack
from her and an array of lethal roses from him. Unfortunately, there
was little he could do to assist. He had dodged the next round of
energy bolts the intruders had sent his way, or almost dodged. One of
them had hit him in his hand, damaging the hypo beyond repair.
Fortunately, he knew that an emergency medical kit was stored in
here. Moving quickly, he retrieved the kit and then made his way to a
relatively safe spot inside Neelix's kitchen. The best thing he could
do at the moment, he decided, was to revive some of the security
personnel here and give them the phaser rifle they had brought.
Lacking the time for anything subtle, the hologram gave three
crewmen rather large doses of inimizine, a very potent stimulant. It
should counter the anestazine they had inhaled earlier.
He poked his head up above the countertop. So far, it appeared
that his two allies still hand the situation in hand, as there were
several aliens now on the floor. But their defense of those in the
circle had been intense. Except for the one the Doctor had sedated, the
others were still there and their staffs were now giving off a blinding
glare.
Bending down again, he thrust the phaser rifles into the hands
of the still groggy crew. "Use these against the alien. But only them.
We've secured some outside assistance, and it would be poor form for you
to --"
He didn't get any farther than that. There was a blinding flash
of light, then a loud scream of "NO!"
Standing up quickly, the Doctor made a quick evaluation of what
had happened. What he saw, or rather didn't see, proved to be most
unsettling. "Uh oh."
Tom was the first one into the Ready Room. It seemed just like
he had last seen it, with Captain Janeway sprawled upon the couch. But
upon going further into the room, he spotted how the aliens had entered.
There was a large hole in the floor that went clear through to the deck
below. "The Captain's not going to be too happy about that," he
muttered. "Neither's B'Elanna, for that matter." Aside from that,
there was nothing else amiss in here, no sign whatsoever of what had
attacked the aliens at the end of the struggle. Putting that aside for
the moment, he went over to Captain Janeway. Mercury was already
besides her, scanning with her computer. The other Scout, Mars, was
behind her, staring at the captain with her eyes narrowed. "Any luck?"
"Not really," Mercury said, shaking her head for emphasis.
"There's no sign of any cranial trauma or neurological damage."
"That's what I found," Tom sighed. He wasn't a doctor (nor did
he have any desire to become one), but he was still frustrated by his
inability to do anything for the Captain. "Nothing that could account
for her being unconscious."
"Oh, I found something," Mercury said. "I just don't know what
it means."
Curious, Tom peered over her shoulder to get a better look at
the computer display. A puzzled expression immediately formed on his
face. "What the hell...?"
"I was hoping you could tell me."
Mars waited impatiently for either of them to explain, but both
were too engrossed with examining the computer display. "Would one of
you tell me what you're talking about?" she finally snapped.
Startled, both of them jumped slightly. "Captain Janeway is
exhibiting a dual EEG pattern," Mercury explained.
Tom reopened the medical tricorder and started scanning the
captain again. "I'm picking it up too," he said, frowning. "But it
wasn't there the last time I checked."
Mercury frowned also. "That's odd."
"Maybe, but it fits with what I'm sensing from her," Mars added.
"There's a duality about her, as if there were two minds inside her
head." She turned to face Tom. "The good news is that I'm not sensing
anything evil or malicious about either one."
"That doesn't mean much. It still could be some form of neural
parasite or virus."
"No, it's nothing like that," Mars insisted. "There's another
intelligence here. Another mind."
B'Elanna looked around the engine after the roar of thunder from
Jupiter's last attack faded, searching for another target. Seeing that
the room was clear except for Voyager crew and the two Sailor Scouts,
she allowed herself to sag back against a nearby control panel. "We did
it. We won."
"Of course, we did!" Venus exclaimed. She and Jupiter were on
the far side of the room, exchanging high fives and congratulating each
other. But their exuberance faded when they realized that Seven was
staring at them, her expression clearly indicating that she was in doubt
as to their sanity. B'Elanna had limped over to panel and began working
on restoring the comm. system. Without looking back she said, "Seven,
why don't you get to work on restoring main power?"
"Very well, Lieutenant." Seven moved to the warp core
diagnostic panel and began a series of diagnostics.
Interested, Venus watched her work for a few minutes. "Anything
I can do to help?"
Seven fixed her with a firm stare. "*No.*"
Tom was still wondering just what to make of Mercury's findings
when a very unexpected beep sounded from the comm. system. "Kim to
Paris. I just got word from B'Elanna. Seven and her group's arrived in
Engineering and drove the intruders away from there. As you can tell,
she's got the comm. system back online, and she's beginning to work on
restoring main power."
"Thanks, Harry." Tom tapped his commbadge. "Paris to the
Doctor."
"Go ahead."
"What the situation down there?"
"It would seem our recent guests decided that discretion was the
better part of valor and left the ship. Or at least, those in the Mess
Hall did."
Mercury made a quick adjustment to her computer. "He's right.
I'm not detecting any more of the aliens on Voyager."
Tom sighed with relief. "That's the best news I've had today.
Nice work, Doc."
"Don't congratulate me yet, Mr. Paris." Tom heard the gloomy
tone in the Doctor's voice and felt a growing sense of apprehension.
Mars and Mercury each paused and listened intently themselves. "When
they departed, our friends took with them a number of our crew."
"How many?" 'And who?' he wondered to himself.
"I'm not sure exactly. Between twenty and thirty. From what I
could tell, they were mostly members of ship's security."
"Great," Tom grimaced. "Any more good news?"
"I'm afraid so," the hologram reported. "They also managed to
abduct one of our allies, Tuxedo Mask. Needless to say, Sailor Moon is
not taking that very well."
Mars and Mercury both stiffened as soon as the Doctor said this.
"Stay up here," Mars told her friend. "I'm going down there." Not
waiting to hear her response, she got up and hurriedly left the room.
Back in the Delta Quadrant, Metallah stepped hesitantly into a
large chamber in the lower levels of her citadel. If Chakotay had been
watching this, he would have found it odd that the being who had been so
arrogant and assured when interrogating himself and the away team would
be almost afraid to enter into a seemingly empty room. Empty that is
except for a large, transparent container. Inside it could be seen
several colors (mostly blues, reds and black) shifting and swirling
about. Still hesitant, she slowly approached and then spoke to it, her
head bowed. "We failed. Our incursion force was driven off Voyager
thanks to the interference from those Sailor Scouts." The colors swirled
about in a very agitated manner, taking on a deep red tone. "Somehow
that wretched ship was able to trigger the gateway back to their world.
Our force was able to teleport back across, but only at a substantial
loss of their energy reserves." Not willing to report only failure she
quickly added, "But we did capture a number of Voyager's crew, and
Tuxedo Mask as well."
As she had hoped, the colors slowed and took on a lighter,
friendlier hue. After several minutes, a deep resonating voice emerged.
"Very well, Metallah. Keep the prisoners secure and prepare for
Voyager's return."
"I could lead another force to take the ship," she volunteered.
"But to perform the teleport, we will need --"
"There's no need to go after the Federation ship," the voice
interrupted her. "As long as we have the Starfleet away team and those
you captured on Voyager in custody, we can be sure that the Federation
ship will return. They won't leave their crew behind. And the Sailor
Scouts will be with them, trying to rescue Tuxedo Mask. We can deal
with our enemies in one fell swoop."
It was fortunate that the Mess Hall was on Deck Two and not on
one of the lower decks, Mars reflected as she made her way there.
Leaving the Bridge as rapidly as she had, she neglected to ask anyone
directions. Of course, she could have called Mercury on her
communicator and asked, but her own sense of pride prevented her from
doing so. In any event, she found the room quickly enough and saw that
the Doctor was examining the remaining crew inside. "...I'm rapidly
becoming inundated, Mr. Paris," he was saying. "I've got at least a
dozen injured here, and who knows how many there are in Engineering. I
need help!"
"I'd like to oblige you, Doc, but right now I don't have the
time," Tom responded. "With Captain Janeway unconscious, I'm currently
in command. I've got about a dozen things to handle up here." There
was a brief pause on the other end of the comm. line. "Doc, Sailor
Mercury just volunteered to give you a hand. She'll meet you in
Sickbay. Paris out."
The hologram sighed, then his form frizzed out again. "This is
becoming irritating," he noted dryly, then noticed Mars entering the
room. Before she could say anything he said, "I had a feeling you'd
show up. She's over there," pointing to one of the windows. Looking
that way herself, she could see Sailor Moon standing there.
She wondered briefly on how the Doctor knew she would be here,
but there were more important things for her to worry about at the
moment. "Thanks, Doctor."
The Doctor watched her approach Sailor Moon before returning his
attention to the wounded. It came as no surprise to him that Mars would
be the first one here to reassure the leader of the Sailor Scouts. As
he had informed them earlier in Sickbay, the medical logs of several of
the finest physicians in the Federation had been incorporated into his
program. And that had included Dr. Crusher's observations of the
Scouts.
Mars stopped just behind Sailor Moon. She waited a bit for her
to notice but she remained still, staring out the window at the
snowscape. Finally, she touched her lightly on the shoulder, "Serena?"
She wasn't sure what kind of reaction she was expecting, but
Sailor Moon jumping as if she had been poked with a cattle prod hadn't
been foremost in her thoughts. Sailor Moon whirled about to face Mars.
Mars didn't bother asking the usual cliched "Are you OK?" for it
was blatantly obvious that she was not. While she wasn't bawling her
eyes out as she might have done in the past, her eyes were red from the
tears that she had shed and there was an almost terrified look in her
eyes. "They took him, Raye," she said in a voice choked with emotion.
"I know," Mars told her. Then, not caring if the Doctor or
anyone else saw, she wrapped her arms around her friend in a reassuring
hug. "We've been through this before, Serena. We got him back then,
and we'll do it this time, too."
The first thing Tuxedo Mask became aware of was the sound of
distant voices, growing more distinct as consciousness slowly returned.
Instinctively, he tried to sit up, then groaned as the throbbing in his
head intensified suddenly.
One of those nearby knelt down by him. "Easy there, friend.
Our hosts were a little rough in how they treated you."
"Yeah, I remember." He gingerly felt the bump on his head that
served as a reminder. Blinking a few more times to clear his sight, he
examined his surroundings. He was locked in a cell with these three for
companions. Two of them were in Starfleet uniforms, while the third was
dressed in what apparently passed for civilian garb. "You must be that
Voyager away team that beamed down."
The man kneeling next to him, who had a very distinctive tattoo
on the left side of his forehead, blinked in surprise. "That's right.
I'm Commander Chakotay, this is Lieutenant Commander Tuvok, and this
is..."
"Neelix, at your service," the Talaxian said. He bent over
slightly, handing Tuxedo Mask his hat. "I'm afraid they just threw this
in after you."
"I'm surprised they even bothered." Tuxedo Mask gingerly got
back to his feet, using the cell wall for support. "Thanks, though."
Chakotay stood up himself. "You seem to be acquainted with us
somehow. Mind telling us how?"
"Simple. I was just on your ship, Voyager, not long ago. And I
met a few of your shipmates there." In the next few minutes, he briefed
them on what he had seen and heard during his sojourn on Voyager.
The more he heard from Tuxedo Mask, the more concerned Chakotay
grew. "Do you know if either of the other teams were successful?"
Tuxedo Mask shook his head. "No idea. But Sailor Moon and I
were doing pretty good against them, so I would imagine the other Scouts
would make a dent in the aliens."
"They call themselves Negarans," the first officer told him.
"That fits," Tuxedo Mask snorted.
Chakotay nodded absently as he quickly pondered the situation.
With Captain Janeway unconscious, the left Tom in command. A few years
ago, he might have been gravely concerned with that prospect, but Tom
had proven himself time and again over the last four years. He felt
confident that Tom could manage things there, and that he would bring
Voyager back over to this universe somehow. "We're going to have to
move quickly," he said, addressing his crewmates. "If they were able to
drive the intruders off the ship, then Tom's going to bring the ship
back here as soon as possible. It's going to be up to us to find out
what the Negarans are up to, and how best to put a crimp in their
plans."
"Then we should put our plan into motion as soon as possible,"
Tuvok observed.
"Agreed." Chakotay turned to Tuxedo Mask again. "It's a good
thing they didn't put you in here any later, or you'd be spending your
stay in here alone."
"Plans?" Tuxedo Mask regarded Chakotay and the others
carefully. They seemed to be completely serious. "Why do you say that?
Planning an escape?"
Chakotay nodded. "That's right," he confirmed, lowering his
voice. "We've been working on a plan for some time now. We're just
about ready to put it into motion."
Tuxedo Mask looked about the cell. The walls seemed to be solid
stone, and the door looked to be a formidable barrier, one that even he
would have trouble breaking down. And there was no way these three had
had time to dig an escape tunnel. "What're you planning on? Get the
guards to open the door and let you walk out of here?"
Chakotay smiled slightly despite the sarcasm present in Tuxedo
Mask's voice. "As a matter of fact... that's exactly what we intend to
do."
"B'Elanna's the only person I know who tried to kill her animal guide."
- Chakotay
Chapter 5 -- The Great Escape
Mercury took a deep breath and let it out in one large rush,
willing herself to relax. It wasn't easy, given the intense activity
that had been going on in Sickbay. She and the Doctor had treated a
large number of cases over the last hour. (Or was it longer? She
couldn't be sure.) Once more, she sent a silent word of thanks to Dr.
Crusher, wherever in the universes she was. During her time on the
Enterprise D, she had taught Amy on how to operate some of the
instruments used in a Starfleet Sickbay. That experience had proven
invaluable here.
Fortunately, none of the injuries had proven to be serious or life
threatening. The worst of them had been a case of multiple fractures
from the fighting that had gone on in Engineering. The Doctor had
handled that one while she and Tom Paris worked on the easier ones.
Despite his earlier protestations of being too busy, he managed to find
time to stop by and lend a hand before going down to Engineering.
Now Sickbay was empty, save for herself, the Doctor, and the one
case they still had in there.
Namely, Captain Janeway.
The hologram had been standing by her biobed, studying the monitors
intensely while she wrapped up the last few cases. But his expression
was still the same -- one of a person who has no idea what to do next.
She went over next to him, but he took no notice of her. "Doctor?"
"Hmm?" The Doctor glanced over at her. "Oh... Thank you for your
assistance, Amy. There's no need for you to remain here, and I'm sure
you want to check on your friends. Feel free to leave."
"You're right, I do want to see how the others are, especially
Sailor Moon." She had a feeling that everything was all right, or at
least as all right as it could be, given the circumstances. If anything
were wrong, Raye would've called her and the others for help. "But
first, is there any change in Captain Janeway?"
The Doctor smiled grimly. "None whatsoever, I'm afraid. And I am
still at a loss as to how to treat her. This is like no other case I've
handled. Especially as there are no symptoms of anything wrong, other
than her being unconscious. Nothing else."
"Nothing? What about the dual EEG I detected when I examined her
earlier?" she asked.
"That's just it," the Doctor answered. "It's not there anymore."
"What?!?" Mercury exclaimed, not believing her ears. Moving
forward, she examined the medical readouts for herself but saw that the
Doctor was correct. Captain Janeway's EEG readings were now quite
normal. No sign remained of the mysterious second EEG pattern that had
been so evident only a short while ago. "I don't believe it."
"Neither do I." The hologram stared down at the biomonitors, his
expression glum. "I've treated all sort of cases -- everything from
plasma burns to the phage to macroviruses, and I have the entire medical
knowledge of the Federation incorporated into my program. But this case
has me absolutely baffled."
Chakotay looked up at Tuvok's approach. He was seated on the floor
of their cell, talking quietly with Tuxedo Mask, hoping to gain some
insight as to their captors from what he had observed on Voyager.
Neelix had stood nearby, listening in earnest. "What is it, Tuvok?"
The Vulcan squatted down, pitching his voice for his cellmates
alone. "A complication in our escape plans, Commander. While making
preparations, I established contact with other members of Voyager's
crew. It seems that Tuxedo Mask was not the only one they abducted from
the ship."
The First Officer frowned. "How many?"
"At least twenty-three."
Tuxedo Mask watched as Chakotay digested this bit of news. That
many other captives could put a large crimp in their escape plans. Any
captive left behind would be easy prey for Metallah and her bunch, to be
used as hostages or worse. He had a feeling he knew what Chakotay's
ultimate reaction would be. It would probably be the same one he,
Serena, or any of the others would have in the same situation.
Again, he fought down the urge to begin pacing at the thought of
Serena. Being teleported to an entirely different universe had
disrupted the bond between them. He was unable to get any sense of her
state of being, or even if she was alive. He didn't mind admitting that
it was driving him crazy. Talking to Chakotay about his experiences
with the Negaverse had helped distract him earlier, so he forced himself
to concentrate on the First Officer.
Presently Chakotay nodded. "OK, you're right... it does complicate
things a bit. But continue your preparations, Tuvok. We'll begin
whenever you're ready. And that's when we get out of here." He looked
at each of his companions intently. "*All* of us."
The Engineering door opened just before Tom got there, allowing Joe
Carey to exit. He nodded to Tom. "Lieutenant."
"Making a house call?" Tom asked, indicating the repair kit the
engineer had slung over his shoulder.
"Just heading up to Deck Four. We've got a turbolift that
malfunctioned somehow." Carey paused before continuing on his way, then
nodded back to Engineering. "You heading there?"
"Yeah, I wanted to check on how the repairs were coming. Why?"
Carey took a moment to glance back into Engineering before
replying. When he spoke next, it was in a much lower voice. "Be
careful. I don't know why, but something's got Lieutenant Torres upset.
In fact, the last time I saw her this angry was when she broke my nose."
Not sure how to respond, Tom just watched as Carey moved off, then
eyed the Engineering entrance uneasily. He knew that B'Elanna had a
temper, probably better than anyone else in the crew did. But he found
it hard to imagine what could set her off this badly. (Four years ago,
yes, but that was another matter entirely.)
Nothing seemed out of place when he finally entered Engineering.
The area was quiet at the moment, with several people scattered at the
various stations conducting repairs or performing required maintenance.
Even Seven of Nine was here, aiding in the repair efforts.
B'Elanna was over by the warp diagnostic panel. From what he could
tell, she was running through a series of checks on the warp core but
the way she was manipulating the controls clearly indicated to an
observer that she was frustrated. Instead of tapping at the controls,
she was almost banging at them, hard enough that he was surprised that
she hadn't shattered the panel.
"Hello," he said walking up to her.
"Lieutenant," she responded stiffly.
Tom found himself taken somewhat aback by the tension in her voice.
"Lieutenant? Why so formal?" he responded, putting a light tone in his
voice.
B'Elanna turned sharply and glared at him. "Don't start with me,
Tom. I'm not in the mood."
"Now why is that, I wonder?" Tom mused. Looking about the room,
"It looks to me like the repair efforts are going pretty well. For
example, you've just about got main power back online."
"Oh sure, things are going fine *now*," B'Elanna said, her voice
heavy with irony. "But that was only after I kicked Sailor Venus out of
here."
Tom waited for her to elaborate. "What did she do?"
"You mean, 'What *didn't* she do?' First, she nearly
decrystallized the dilithium matrix. Then, she nearly collapsed the
containment fields and finally, for good measure, she blew out the power
converter!" B'Elanna paused and took a ragged breath. Not sure in how
to respond, Tom watched as she tried to contain her temper. When
B'Elanna next spoke, her voice was low and controlled. "But what I
really don't understand is how she did all that by just pressing three
controls!"
"Come on, B'Elanna. This Earth we're sitting on is still in its
twentieth century. It would be hard for someone of that technological
level to do that deliberately."
B'Elanna snorted. "Deliberate or not, she managed it quite well.
I'm telling you, Tom, when it comes to Engineering, that... that..." She
paused, struggling to find the right way to describe Sailor Venus,
"...bubble headed blonde is a menace!"
"Lieutenant Torres," Seven said, choosing that moment to interrupt.
"Realignment of the injectors is complete."
"Finally," B'Elanna muttered, glad to have something to distract
her. "Now we can bring main power back online."
While B'Elanna was reactivating the warp core, Seven turned to
Paris. "Lieutenant Torres was not exaggerating Sailor Venus' penchant
for technological mishaps. Such behavior has been observed in her in
the past, and seems to be one of her more prominent characters traits."
B'Elanna paused long enough to throw Tom a look that had "I told
you so" written all over it. "You're kidding," Tom said, unable to come
up with a more suitable counterpoint.
"No, I'm not." Seven seemed mildly offended that Tom doubted her
veracity. "Sailor Venus has a rather extensive history of wreaking
havoc with electronics. Letting her handle any technology is akin to
mixing oxygen and hydrogen -- sooner or later, there will be an
explosion."
Tom tried to frame a response, but a hum indicating a surge of
power from the warp core interrupted his train of thought. "OK, main
power is back online," B'Elanna noted with a tone of satisfaction.
"Good. Let me know when you get the engines working." He started
to go, then stopped and turned back. "Don't you think you were being a
bit hard on her, B'Elanna?" He held up a hand to forestall the
inevitable outburst. "I know she set your repairs efforts back a bit.
But she and her friends did help us save the ship... not to mention our
lives."
B'Elanna didn't respond immediately, but Tom could tell she was
mulling over what he said. While the Engineer did have a volatile
temper, she wasn't one to hold a grudge very long, especially once she
calmed down. "You may be right about that, Tom," B'Elanna reluctantly
agreed after some time. "But I'm still adamant about one thing -- as
long as I'm Chief Engineer, she isn't setting one foot inside this
room."
The Negaran guard stood stock still at his post, as did his
counterpart at the other end of the cellblock. Most might have thought
having guards in here would be superfluous, but Metallah was taking no
chances with her prisoners.
All was quiet, which wasn't surprising as the cells were
soundproof. Even so, the Negaran began fidgeting, becoming more and
more nervous as time went on. The other guard eyed him curiously, but
otherwise did nothing else.
Finally, the guard couldn't take anymore and moved to the cell door
that Tuxedo Mask had been thrown in hours before. For almost an hour
now, he had been having an odd feeling that the prisoners inside had
escaped somehow. If that happened on his shift, Metallah would quite
literally have his head. He knew that it was impossible, but he just
had to open up the door and be sure.
He opened it up slowly, but something tore it out of his grasp and
flung it wide open. The next thing the Negaran knew, he was being
tackled by something.
Tuxedo Mask followed right behind Neelix, looking about for other
guards. The second guard was still at the far end of the hall, stock
still in surprise at the sudden turn of events but that wouldn't last
for long. Even as Tuxedo Mask was starting to move towards him, the
guard had overcome his surprise and was starting to move towards the
exit, no doubt to alert his fellows at the jailbreak. He threw a rose
down the hall to disarm the Negaran then, lowering his shoulder,
barreled into the alien and slammed him into the wall. The Negaran
keened sharply in obvious pain as it slid to the floor and lay there
unmoving.
This done, he turned to check on how his companions were doing.
And it didn't appear good.
The Negaran was just in the process of throwing Neelix off him.
The Talaxian had fought bravely, but this had simply turned out to be a
case where his ambition was greater than his ability. The Negaran reach
for his staff, but Chakotay got there in the same instance and contested
him for the weapon. Neelix threw himself back into the fray, but it was
evident that the guard was slowly gaining the upper hand.
Tuxedo Mask readied himself to lend a hand, but Tuvok intervened
before he could do anything. Then Vulcan, appearing slightly haggard
from his exertions, moved in behind the Negaran and placed a hand at the
base of its neck. Tuxedo Mask winced in some sympathy as the Negaran
dropped from the effects of the Vulcan Nerve Pinch.
Chakotay looked up and down the corridor, watching for other guards
to show up and listening for sounds of the same. But nothing was
visible and all he heard were the delightful sounds of silence. "It
looks like we got away with it. Tuvok, Neelix, get these two in our
cell. Tuxedo Mask and I will see to freeing the others."
Tuvok nodded and started dragging one into the cell, while Neelix
moved to the second guard. Less than a minute later, he had moved the
Negaran into the cell. "I hope you two enjoy your stay here," he
commented as he closed the door. "I think you'll find we left the
accommodations in good order." Turning, he saw that Tuvok had arched an
eyebrow but had yet to make any other comment. "Well... there's no
need to be impolite," he commented lamely.
"I see," Tuvok replied in a bland tone. With that, he turned and
headed for the other end of the cellblock. Their crewmates, now
liberated from their cells, were clustered down there around Chakotay.
The First Officer was giving them a quick briefing on what their current
situation was.
Neelix hustled to remain alongside the Vulcan. "I must say,
Commander, that was a rather clever strategy -- using your Vulcan mind
techniques to implant a feeling that we had escaped in the guard's mind
so that he would open the door for us. Very clever indeed."
"While your admiration is understandable, it is misdirected," Tuvok
informed him. "I was not the originator of this particular stratagem."
"Really?" Neelix asked. "Then who?"
"A Vulcan named Spock." Tuvok started down the corridor to rejoin
Chakotay. "I first learned of this technique while I was posted on the
Excelsior. Captain Sulu served many years with Spock and he frequently
regaled us with tales of the exploits of the Enterprise crew."
The Mess Hall didn't look as if it had been the site of a major
battle only a little while ago, Harry reflected as he entered the room.
Prodded by the Doctor, Tom had ordered him off-duty soon after the
battle for the ship had ended. But after returning to his quarters, he
had found that, although his body was exhausted, his mind was too
actively engaged with current events for him to fall asleep. So after
an hour or so of tossing and turning, he grabbed a PADD and headed for
the Mess Hall.
For the most part, the room was deserted, which was to be expected
as nearly everyone else was busy conducting repairs or being treated for
injuries sustained during the fighting. But three of the Sailor Scouts
(Venus, Mars, and Sailor Moon) where seated at a table. Venus smiled
and waved at him, which he politely returned. Making his way to the
counter for a cup of coffee (if any was available), he idly speculated
on where the other two were. No doubt, Mercury was giving the Doctor a
hand, he decided. But he couldn't think of where Jupiter might be at
the moment.
A quick check confirmed his worst fears: no coffee. If any had
been left over from that morning's breakfast, no doubt it had been
spilled during the alien's takeover of the Mess Hall and the subsequent
combat. Still, Neelix probably had some stored somewhere in the kitchen
that he could use to make a new batch. He leaned over the counter
looking for it...
...and promptly stood back sharply as someone popped up from behind
the counter. "Hi!" Jupiter said brightly.
Her appearance briefly confused him, but Harry was quick to
recover. "Sailor Jupiter? What are you doing back there?"
"Well, since your replicators are down, I'd thought I'd whip up
something for us to eat." She cast a quick glance over to the others.
"Hopefully, it'll help Sailor Moon cheer up a bit." She eyed him
speculatively. "If you want, I could make something for you."
"Um... no thanks, I was just looking for some coffee," he
stammered. "You don't have to go to any trouble."
Jupiter gave a wave of dismissal at his concerns. "It's no trouble
at all. I love cooking. Even if the ingredients are a bit..." She
picked up a vegetable that looked like a cross between a red pepper and
a tomato and eyed it critically. "...unusual."
Harry got the feeling that any further attempts to dissuade her
would be futile. In their own way, they could be as single minded as
Seven. "OK, I admit I'm hungry enough to have a bowl of Neelix's leola
root stew without complaining." He watched her go to work for a few
minutes, and he had to admit to himself that it certainly looked like
she knew what she was doing. Casting a quick glance back at the others,
he asked her, "By the way, did something happen in Engineering? Venus
just seems a little more subdued than the last time I saw her."
"Well, after we beat those aliens out of the Engine Room, she tried
to help out in the repairs. Seven and I both tried to stop her, but
once she gets an idea in her head..." Jupiter hesitated. "Let's just
say that things didn't go too well and then..." She shrugged
helplessly.
"I think I can fill in the rest," Harry said. "I know what
B'Elanna's temper can be like."
"Yeah. There's no one that can yell at you quite like a Klingon."
Harry could only nod in agreement to that. Leaving her to her
work, he went over to the table. "Hi, Harry," Venus said. "Feeling
better?"
"A little bit," he said. "I just came here for a cup of coffee and
try and get a little bit of work done."
"Oh?" Venus leaned over and glanced at the PADD. "What're you
working on?"
"A way to block the aliens from teleporting onto Voyager," he said.
Tapping a control on the PADD, he immediately launched into a highly
technical explanation as to the ideas he had along those lines. Venus
feigned attention, pretending to understand even though she was lost
almost from the first word.
While Harry was trying to explain his ideas, Mercury entered the
Mess Hall and sat wearily at the table. "Finally finished in Sickbay,
Mercury?" asked Sailor Moon.
"Yes. Fortunately, most of the cases we had weren't serious."
After a moment, she amended this, "Except for Captain Janeway."
"How is the Captain?" Harry asked.
"There's very little change, I'm afraid. She still remains
unconscious, and there's still no discernable cause." She gave a
helpless shrug. "I've got no idea on what to do to treat her, and
neither does the Doctor."
Sailor Moon noted the look of anxiety that crossed Harry's face.
Trying for a moment to put her own worries aside, she reassured him,
"Don't worry, Harry. I'm sure she'll be fine."
The Doctor eyed the latest readings he took of the Captain
intently, but not so much that he didn't see a burst of movement out of
the corner of his eye. Getting up from his desk, he shifted his gaze to
the biobeds and his jaw dropped in amazement. "Captain Janeway!" The
hologram moved rapidly out of his office and over to the biobed, where
Captain Janeway was now sitting upright. "I must say I'm delighted to
see you're up and about. I just wish it were the result of my medical
expertise."
"I'm sure you did your best, Doctor," Janeway remarked, sliding off
the table.
The Doctor started to perform a scan on her but when she started
for the doors, he interposed himself in her way. "And just where do you
think you're going?"
"To the Bridge." The Captain regarded him with a somewhat annoyed
expression. "Is there any reason why I shouldn't?"
"Yes," the hologram responded somewhat indignantly. "I haven't
released you yet."
Janeway placed her hands on her hips. "Is there something wrong
with me, Doctor? Do you have any indication that I may be unable to
perform my duties as Captain?"
"Well..." the Doctor's voice trailed off reluctantly. Ever since
the Captain had been brought to Sickbay from the Bridge, her readings
had been normal. So officially, he had no reason to hold her here, now
that she had recovered. But he still wanted to be sure what it was that
caused that double EEG reading that Mercury and Paris had detected.
"No," he finally admitted. "But I would still would like to run some
tests. You exhibited some very odd EEG readings earlier, and I would
like to make certain that there are no lasting repercussions."
"So what you're saying is that I appear to be perfectly healthy,"
Janeway said. She continued speaking as she headed for the exit.
"Doctor, after this is all over, I'll be glad to let you conduct all the
tests you want. But until then, I've got a ship to run. We've still
got to complete repairs, make preparations to return to our universe,
and find a way to rescue the away team and the crew the aliens
abducted."
Shaking his head after she left, the Doctor went over to his office
to update his medical files. He was able to do most of this by rote,
which enabled part of him to wonder just what it was that drove ship's
captains to extreme measures at the expense of their own health. Thus,
several minutes went by before it struck him. "Wait a minute... how did
she know that we had left our own universe? Or that the aliens had
captured some of the crew?"
He may be a hologram, but that didn't prevent him from getting a
bad feeling about this...
"...I must say that all this creeping around is giving me a bad
feeling," Neelix said. The assorted crew of Voyager had spent the last
half an hour proceeding as quietly as they could through a series of
tunnels inside the citadel. After they had emerged from the cellblock,
Tuvok had led them to a concealed entrance. "Are you sure we're going
in the right direction, Commander?"
"Not with absolute precision, but I believe I made a reasonable
estimate," Tuvok replied.
"In other words, you're guessing," Tuxedo Mask noted.
Tuvok arched an eyebrow. "Your supposition is illogical. Vulcans
do not guess."
"I don't care if you went on a vision quest first, Tuvok," Chakotay
noted. "Just so long as you're right."
"Regrettably, the information I obtained from the guard's mind
regarding these tunnels was imprecise," Tuvok said. "Apparently
knowledge of their existence is restricted to Metallah and her elite
guard. They are used to move the higher echelons of this society
quickly in and about the citadel. However, for me to obtain greater
knowledge of their layout would have required a more intimate meld. And
as even a low level meld proved," the Vulcan suppressed a shudder,
"unsettling, that is an experience I would rather avoid."
"Whatever. I just hope we find an exit soon." Tuxedo Mask cast a
glance backwards, but saw no sign of any pursuit. Which was fortunate,
as the escapees were crowded closely together in the tunnel. "We're
pushing our luck as it is."
Tuvok rounded a corner, then paused before looking back at Tuxedo
Mask. "Would now be soon enough?" he asked, gesturing to what could
only be a door a few meters further down the corridor.
Moving ahead, Chakotay cautiously opened the door and gazed outside
the citadel. The forest beyond seemed peaceful enough, but that had
been the case just before their capture by the Negarans. But if luck
were with them this time, the Negarans wouldn't be so quick to locate
them. He took a moment to determine which of the escapees other than
the away team was senior. He was gratified to see that it was Ensign
Lambert, who had been an expert at stealth tactics in the Marquis.
"Take the others outside and find a good spot to hide," he told. "The
four of us are going to scout inside, try and find out what the Negarans
are up to and how to put a monkey wrench in their plans. When we're
ready, we'll find you."
"Yes, sir," Lambert replied. Looking ruefully into the brush, he
commented, "I just hope the Negarans don't find us first."
Chakotay smiled. "Don't worry. It shouldn't be any worse than
that time on Celtris III."
"On Celtris III, we at least had phasers to use against the
Cardassians," Lambert countered.
"Unfortunately, we're not dealing with the Cardassians right now.
And considering how invulnerable these beings are to phasers, I doubt
it'd make much difference right now if you had any," the first officer
pointed out.
Lambert could only nod at this. Gesturing to the others, he
silently led them into the underbrush. Chakotay watched until he lost
sight of them which, given the density of the forest, wasn't long at
all.
"Let's go," he told the others while closing the entrance. "Tuvok,
take point."
The Vulcan nodded and started towards the inner sections of the
citadel, Tuxedo Mask beside him. Listening carefully for any signs of
pursuit, Chakotay and Neelix brought up the rear of the party.
Tom absently noted the turbolift opening, but paid it no mind.
Seated in the command chair, his attention was firmly on the Captain's
console as he read the latest repair updates. Thus, he was unaware that
he was being approached until... "Mr. Paris, I think you're in my seat,"
Janeway noted with an air of mild reproach.
Startled, he bolted to his feet. "Captain! I'm glad to see you."
He gestured sheepishly at the command chair. "Sorry about --"
Janeway waved off his apology. "Forget it, Tom. Given the
circumstances, it was appropriate that you'd use the big chair. What's
our status?"
"Not bad, all things considering," Tom replied. "Main power and
warp engines are back online, but B'Elanna is still working on the
impulse engines. We've still got some secondary system damage, such as
the replicators, but repair teams are working on those too."
"Good," Janeway said. "What about our guests?"
"We captured about forty of the intruders. That's too many to hold
in the Brig, so I had them locked up in Cargo Bay One behind a level
eight forcefield... and under guard by a security team." A rueful smile
came to his face. "Those we got left, that is. A good many of our
security teams were captured when the other intruders teleported off the
ship."
"Don't worry, Tom. We'll get them back," Janeway reassured him.
"Actually though, when I asked about our guests, I was referring to the
Sailor Scouts."
"Right." Tom took a moment to think about that. The last few
hours had been hectic, but he was reasonably sure he knew the answer.
"The last I knew, they were in the Mess Hall."
Janeway nodded. "Good. Let's both go down there, and you can
introduce me to them."
"...so one of the first things we need to do is find a way to block
their teleport ability," Janeway was saying as she entered the Mess
Hall.
"That could be tricky. We just don't know that much about how
they're doing it," Tom said, following the Captain inside.
"Hopefully the answer lies inside the sensor logs. We should get
Seven and Harry working on analyzing them. Speaking of Harry..."
Janeway moved over to the table Harry was seated. As they approached,
the Scouts became aware of them, Mercury blinking in surprise at seeing
Captain Janeway up and about. "Mr. Kim, I'm glad to see you're feeling
better."
"Likewise, Captain. The way Sailor Mercury was talking when she
came in, I wasn't sure you were ever going to recover." He gestured to
the adjacent table. "I don't know if Tom told you about them..."
"I've been brought up to date, Ensign."
"Then you know that these are the Sailor Scouts that Seven told us
about." Going around the table, Harry introduced each of the four
present to Janeway.
"Welcome to Voyager," Janeway said after he had finished. "First,
I'd like to thank you for your help in our recent crisis." She turned
her gaze to Sailor Moon, her expression taking on a sympathetic hue.
"Tom told me about the abduction of Tuxedo Mask by our adversaries. Let
me assure you that all the resources I have available to me are at your
disposal in getting him back."
"Thank you, Captain," Sailor Moon replied.
"By the way, Harry, I thought I told you to get some rest," Tom
admonished him. Then he sniffed appreciably at the tray of food in
front of the Ensign. "And since when did you become a cook?"
"I am resting," Harry countered. "As for the food..." He gestured
towards the kitchen. Janeway and Paris glanced over there. Jupiter was
busy preparing dishes for a couple of other crewmen that had entered.
"You have Sailor Jupiter to thank for that."
"I just hope she's a better cook than Neelix," Tom commented.
"Are you kidding?" Sailor Moon interjected. In stark contrast to
her earlier mood, her eyes lit up brightly as she gushed about Lita's
past creations.
"She's not exaggerating, Tom. Give it a try," Harry said.
Taking the proffered fork, Tom took a sample from Harry's plate.
Instantly his eyes lit up. "That's great!"
"Told ya," Sailor Moon said, grinning broadly.
"Don't get spoiled by it, gentlemen," Janeway cautioned them.
"Sooner or later, we're going to have to go our separate ways."
"Maybe we can make a trade," Paris suggested. "Jupiter can take
over here as ship's cook, while Neelix can fill in for her spot in the
Sailor Scouts."
The Scouts faces instantly showed varying degrees of shock at Tom's
suggestion. But before Janeway could respond, Harry spoke up. "I don't
think so, Tom," he said, continuing the joke, "The last thing any of us
need to see is Neelix in a skirt that short."
Tuvok paused at a tunnel intersection, his Vulcan ears straining
for sounds of anyone approaching while he looked down one passage.
Beside him, Tuxedo Mask was looking down the other direction. Even so,
it was Neelix who heard the sounds of someone approaching before Tuxedo
Mask saw the first indications of movement from that direction. Moving
quickly, the escapees moved back several paces to a place of
concealment. There they waited for whoever else was in the tunnel to
pass by. Tuvok raised an eyebrow in surprise when he saw that it was
none other than Metallah herself.
"Interesting," Neelix commented. "I wonder what she's up to?"
"I'd like to know that myself," Chakotay said. With that, he
started to stealthily follow the Negaran monarch, his companions doing
likewise.
After what seemed like an eternity, they came to the entrance to a
large chamber in what must have been the lowest levels of the Citadel.
Crouching at the entrance, the four of them watched as Metallah
approached a large container-like object. Inside it, they could see
pure energy swirling about in several different colors.
Tuxedo Mask frowned. There was something about this room that
seemed familiar to him. After a few moments, the hazy memory came to
him and he involuntarily shuddered.
Standing now in front of the large container, Metallah began
speaking in her native language, her head bowed in obvious deference to
whatever was inside. As she didn't have her translator with her, the
four of them couldn't understand her. So it came as some surprise when
a voice emerged from it, "I am deeply disappointed, Metallah.
Containing a group of unarmed prisoners should have been easy." Metallah
grew agitated, almost terrified. "No matter. Voyager will return for
them in any event." Then in a tone that was laced with unmistakable
menace, "Make sure you don't fail me when it *does* return." Nodding,
Metallah scurried from the room.
Seeing she was leaving, the four moved quickly themselves to a safe
distance and waited for Metallah to leave. Chakotay looked around the
small group. "Any thoughts about what we just saw?"
"I'm not sure it means anything," Tuxedo Mask responded, "but that
room was almost identical to the chamber the Negaforce resided in back
in the Negaverse."
"You're certain?" Chakotay asked.
"Yeah. Except for one thing: the voice was different."
"Was it really speaking?" Neelix asked. "I thought I 'heard' it in
my head."
"Mr. Neelix is correct," Tuvok said. "Though Metallah was speaking
in her native tongue, the presence was responding telepathically. Our
proximity allowed us to perceive what it was saying to her.
Undoubtedly, it is a high order telepath, even if the thought patterns I
sensed were of a human nature."
"Human?"
"Yes, Commander. I am quite certain."
"Human thought patterns inside something that acts like the
Negaforce? How could that happen?" Tuxedo Mask asked.
"I don't know," Chakotay said. "But I don't think we'll like the
answer."
"Do you think it sensed us?" Neelix asked.
Tuvok shook his head. "I do not believe so. Its attention at the
moment was firmly fixed on Metallah. But it would be prudent to leave
the vicinity."
"Agreed," Chakotay put in. "And it's time we started taking some
action of our own."
"Like what?" Tuxedo Mask asked.
"Locating our equipment, for one. Especially our communicators."
He cast a glance back towards the chamber. "Because like that voice
said, sooner or later, Voyager will be back for us. And I intend to be
ready to help them any way I can."
"Remember this guideline: the Captain is always right." - Tuvok
Chapter 6 -- Back to the Delta Quadrant!
Artemis slowly opened his eyes, and watched Luna pacing. His own
sense of annoyance grew with every turn she made. "Luna, will you stop
that? You're going to wear a rut in the ground a mile deep... And
that'll get Raye really miffed at you."
"I don't care," the black cat retorted hotly. She stopped, only to
turn and begin another round of pacing. "They've been gone for hours
without any word. What could've happened to them?!"
"Stop worrying, Luna. I'm sure they're fine," Artemis replied
without much conviction. "And no doubt that whatever they're up to,
they're probably not as bored as we are."
Sailor Moon yawned. "Jeez, don't those three ever get tired?"
"It doesn't look like it," Venus answered, stifling a yawn herself.
"But I can't imagine Seven ever getting tired. Borg can probably go on
like that for hours."
"Days," Mars corrected her. "And Harry is probably a lot like Amy
when he gets his nose into a problem -- just keeps digging at it until
he comes up with the solution."
The other two nodded as they watched Harry Kim, Seven of Nine, and
Mercury continue to work together in Voyager's Astrometrics lab. They
had come here shortly after meeting with Captain Janeway in the Mess
Hall, as the Captain had been most anxious to put together a means of
blocking the aliens' teleporting abilities. But they had very little to
do themselves, other than watch them work. Even the holodecks were out
of the question, as they had been shut down to conserve power until
repairs were complete to all systems. Jupiter was the lucky one, Mars
mused. She at least was being kept busy in the Mess Hall. Janeway had
felt that her working there would be good for the crew's morale.
Thinking of Voyager's captain sparked another thought in Raye's head and
she muttered, "I still can't figure it."
"Huh?" Sailor Moon gave her an odd look. "What'd you say, Mars?"
Mars shook herself. "I was just thinking about Captain Janeway,
and how odd it was she just woke up like that."
"Tell me about it," Venus put in. "I think that was the most
surprised I'd seen Amy get in quite a while."
"Yeah." Sailor Moon glanced over at Mars. "Are you sure..."
"I know what I sensed, Serena," Mars snapped. Anyone else
listening would have assumed Mars was being harsh to Sailor Moon. But
the Scouts, and Sailor Moon in particular, knew that Mars was simply
expressing her own frustration at the current situation "I know there
was another intelligence inside her head when I saw her in the Ready
Room. And it wasn't there when she showed up in the Mess Hall."
"Maybe it just left?" Venus suggested lamely.
Mars shook her head. "Doesn't fit with classic cases possessions.
Beings like that don't just leave, they have to be driven out. Or
somehow be convinced to leave." She frowned. "But that doesn't matter
right now. What does matter is getting over to their universe and
getting Tuxedo Mask out of whatever cell those Negacreeps have thrown
him in."
Neelix peered carefully around the corner. Just as Tuvok has said,
there was only one guard at this room. As to what was inside... well,
there was only one way to find out.
The small group had been making their way through Metallah's
fortress, carefully exploring the layout. Thus far, they had yet to
find any of their equipment or gain further information, but on the plus
side, they had eluded capture as well. Of course, every now and then
they had to confront a few Negarans but they had quickly developed a few
routines to handle them -- one of which Neelix now put into play.
Trying to appear nonchalant, he strolled around the corner. The
guard noticed him instantly and crouched into a defensive position.
"Excuse me, but would you happen to know the way to the kitchen?"
Not understanding Neelix and not really caring, the guard chose to
reply with actions and not words. Neelix moved quickly to one side to
avoid the incoming energy blast. "Well if you're going to be nasty
about it, I'll just find it on my own." With that, the Talaxian darted
back around the corner, avoiding another blast. Predictably, the
Negaran moved quickly to follow Neelix... and ran face first right into
Tuxedo Mask's cane. The guard went flying into the nearby wall and fell
unmoving to the ground.
Chakotay nodded. "Good work, you two."
"Anytime," the tuxedo clad warrior answered.
"Glad to be of service, Commander," Neelix added while Chakotay and
Tuvok grabbed the guard and dragged towards the door he had been
guarding. Tuxedo Mask got there ahead of them and took a moment to
listen, then slowly opened it and peered inside. Satisfied the room
beyond was unoccupied, he nodded to the two officers and they moved the
unconscious Negaran inside.
"This looks like a lab of some sort," he said.
Tuvok concurred with this after he had a moment to observe the room
for himself. "Agreed." He took a step over to a table that had several
very familiar looking pieces of equipment on it. Picking up one of the
phasers, he said, "I believe Mr. Paris would say 'we hit the jackpot' at
this point."
"So how are we doing?" Janeway asked, noting to herself
Astrometrics was more crowded than it had ever been with all of the
Sailor Scouts and the remainder of Voyager's senior staff present.
Being that it was bigger than the normal briefing room, it made sense to
her to hold their overall strategy session here.
"I think we've got it, Captain," Harry answered, looking rather
pleased with himself.
Seven looked at Harry askance before putting in, "We have made
sufficient progress."
"Well, I'm glad you're both in agreement," the Captain noted dryly.
"So what have you three come up with?"
Harry tapped on a control, bringing up a graphic on a nearby
screen. "From the sensor logs and Mercury's scans, we've determined
that the aliens transit through subspace when they teleport. So what
we've come up with is using the main deflector dish to generate a
modulated subspace pulse that will prevent them from materializing on
Voyager."
"Ensign Kim is exaggerating the effectiveness of the plan," Seven
said. "Our simulations show that will block eighty-five percent of the
teleports onto the ship. Some of the aliens will get through."
"Maybe they will, but you can rest assured that they won't be able
to do much," the Doctor told her. He turned to Janeway. "Based on the
autopsy I conducted, I determined that the aliens are capable of storing
several minutes of oxygen. Combined with their chitinous skin, this
makes them able to operate in a vacuum for extended periods. What I've
done is lace our standard anti-intruder gases with a compound that will
cause the anestazine to be absorbed through the skin, thus rendering our
unwanted guests unconscious."
"Sounds good. Excellent work, everyone. Now the only question to
answer is, how do we get back to the Delta Quadrant?" Janeway turned
and faced her chief engineer. "We triggered the transition
accidentally, but the Enterprises were able to traverse the flux under
their own power. Can we do the same?"
"We could," B'Elanna responded in a very uncertain tone, "but I
wouldn't recommend it. When we crossed over the last time, it crippled
the ship. Even doing so in a controlled way like the Enterprise would
drain a significant portion of main power. And considering that we'll
be materializing over hostile territory, that's not something I think
you want to do. It would render the countermeasures we've developed
ineffective."
"Then do you have any other suggestions?" the Captain asked.
B'Elanna hesitated momentarily, but before she could indicate a
negative answer, Mercury spoke up, "I think Sailor Moon could open it up
for you."
The blonde seemed stunned for a moment. "Me?"
Mercury nodded. "Yes. You can use the Silver Crystal to open the
rift through the quantum flux. Voyager should then be able to traverse
it without any degradation to their power systems."
"What about you and your friends?" Janeway asked, indicating the
other Scouts and by extension, Tuxedo Mask. "I don't want to leave you
stranded in the Delta Quadrant."
"I wouldn't worry," the blue haired Scout responded. "I think we
can use the Sailor Teleport to get back. As a worse case scenario,
Voyager could bring us back, then return to the Delta Quadrant."
"Good," Janeway said. "Then it looks like we're ready."
"Um, excuse me," Sailor Moon said hesitantly. "But ready for
what?"
"To go back to the Delta Quadrant," she replied. "And get our
people out of danger." Around the room, there were several nods of
approval, and more than one vocal ones from the Scouts.
"You realize, Captain, that the aliens will most likely attack the
ship the moment we return," Seven said.
Mars glowered at the Borg. "One in every crowd," she muttered.
"No doubt they will," Janeway agreed. "Which is why Voyager isn't
going to linger around. Instead, the ship will make for orbit and once
there, will go to warp. But before that happens, we'll launch a shuttle
bearing a rescue team. They'll land on the planet, infiltrate the
aliens' headquarters, and break our people out. After that, they'll
take care of the Negaforce."
"Launching a shuttle like that is going to be a tricky maneuver,
Captain," Paris pointed out.
"I know, Tom. And while I may be a fair pilot, that's why you'll
be accompanying me on this mission."
Paris frowned. "You? Then who...?"
"Ensign Kim will be in command of Voyager until our return,"
Janeway said, interrupting him.
"Me?!?" Harry exclaimed.
"Him?!?" Mars said equally forceful. Venus gave her a quick elbow
in the stomach, prompting her to glare at the blonde instead.
"With all due respect, Captain, why are you coming along with the
away team?" Tom asked, ignoring the minor glaring contest. "Shouldn't
you remain on the Bridge?"
Janeway shook her head. "Not this time, Tom. My place is with the
rescue team." She held up a hand to forestall further objection. "The
decision's made, Tom. I'm going on this mission, and since you're our
best pilot, that means you are as well. Prepare the Shepard for
launch." When Tom didn't move right away, she added, "That's an order,
Lieutenant."
"Aye, Captain," the helmsman said reluctantly and exited the room.
Janeway took a step towards Ensign Kim, an expression of sympathy
on her face. "I'm sorry to put you in this position, Harry, but you've
done all right in the big chair before. I think you can handle it
again."
Harry understood what Janeway was saying and that she was trying to
bolster his confidence; but he couldn't help but feel nervous at the
prospect. "I'll try not to let you down, Captain."
For their part, the Scouts could only exchange uncertain looks. It
was apparent to them that the crew thought it was a bad idea for Janeway
to leave the ship when so many of the senior officers were absent. But
it equally apparent that Janeway was adamant on going along for reasons
that only she knew. They could only hope the she knew what she was
doing.
Tom was just finishing up the preflight checklist of the Shepard
when he sensed someone seating themselves in the co-pilot's chair.
Looking up, he saw that it was B'Elanna. "Are the accommodations for
our passengers all set?"
"We've got the extra seats installed," she replied, then glance
briefly at the pilot's console. "Did the shuttle pass preflight?"
"Yep," he said, nodding. "Everything checks out A-OK."
"It had better," she said, a mock edge in her voice. "We just
finished working on it last week."
Tom couldn't help but grin. "Getting a bit sensitive about our
work, are we?"
"Sensitive, hell," she retorted. "I'm just getting sick of having
to rebuild the things after you pilots abuse them."
"Don't worry," Tom assured her, choosing not to press the issue.
"This one will hold together."
"If it doesn't, it won't be because of the engines. I just ran a
level three diagnostic on them." She turned upon hearing someone enter
the shuttle. Seeing it was Janeway, she got up. "I better go." She
placed a hand on his arm, prompting him to look at her. "Good luck,
Tom."
There wasn't much need for words between them, but still he said,
"Thanks. I'll see you when I get back."
B'Elanna started her way to the door, but froze in mid-stride when
she saw Venus standing there. But after only a half-second delay, she
continued on, stopping in front of the blonde Sailor Scout. "Look,
I..."
Venus interrupted her, "He means a lot to you," she said,
indicating Paris. "I saw the way you two were talking with each other."
B'Elanna took a backward glance, then faced her again. "Yes, he
does. It... took me a long time to admit it to myself, and even longer
to tell him. But yes, I love him."
Venus smiled. "I knew it!" she said, ecstatic. "But it was bound
to happen, given how long you've got to get home."
"Bound to happen?" B'Elanna asked.
"Well... not you two in general, just couples forming in general,"
she replied hastily. "You and Tom, Harry and Seven..." her voice
trailed off. "I'll have to make sure he knows how she feels before we
have to part company."
B'Elanna could almost feel her jaw dropping. "Make sure *Harry*
knows?!?" As far as she knew, the attraction was strictly one way...
Harry's. It fact, she was positive that Seven had no feelings toward
Harry in that or any other regard.
But it seemed that Venus thought otherwise. "Yep. But don't
worry, just leave it all to me," she replied happily, before starting to
make her way to her own seat.
B'Elanna grabbed her arm, halting her progress. "Look, about what
I said to you in Engineering..."
"Forget it," she replied, smiling broadly and continuing on to her
seat. "That's water over the Bridge."
As Jupiter stepped inside, it struck her that the interior of the
shuttle was not all that different from the Galileo. Of course, the
Shepard was much more modern looking than a shuttlecraft from Captain
Kirk's era.
It also seemed to be uncomfortably close to that of an airplane for
her taste.
Taking a deep breath, she tried to put aside her apprehensions.
Too much was riding on the success of this for her to be paralyzed by
old fears.
Mars settled in her seat behind Paris, wondering once again why
Starfleet crew didn't have seatbelts on their seats. She took a glance
at Janeway, who was talking to the others on her way to her own seat in
the copilot's position. On the surface, she couldn't sense anything
unusual about the Captain of Voyager, but her own instincts told her
that something was up.
Whatever it was, she just hoped that they didn't end up regretting
coming to this ship.
Mercury sat down in her own seat, toward the rear of the shuttle
cabin. A casual observer would simply have seen her focus her attention
on her palmtop, but in reality, she was thinking about something the
Doctor had told her just before boarding. "I hope you won't be needing
this information," the hologram had told her, "but given the double EEG
pattern you and Lt. Paris detected from the Captain earlier, it's
possible that some external entity has an influence over her. If you
think that she is not acting in the best interest of the ship or crew,
you should inform the ranking officer immediately."
"But I don't have any formal training in those areas," she
objected. "How will I know if she is not acting on her own volition?"
"Use your own judgement, and report that to the senior officer
around," the Doctor had advised her. "It will be up to them on whether
or not to relieve the Captain of command."
Sailor Moon tried to relax in her seat, just opposite of Mars and
right behind where Captain Janeway was to sit in the co-pilot's chair.
She found it hard to do, as anxious as she was to go an rescue Darien,
but a glance to her left at Mars helped settle her. A look at the
Sailor Scout of the red planet helped settle her nerves and reinforce
her resolve. They would get Darien back and destroy whatever remained
of the Negaforce, once and for all.
Janeway took a glance at the shuttle system readouts she took her
seat. "We've got the modified phasers stored aboard for our missing
crew," she noted as she sat down, satisfied at what she saw. Even so,
she still asked the pilot, "So how are we doing, Tom?"
"All systems go, Captain. We're ready when you give the word."
"Then consider the word given. Janeway to Bridge."
"Kim here."
"We're all set down here, Mr. Kim. Put Voyager in position to make
the crossover."
"Understood, Captain," Harry said. Glancing to his right,
"B'Elanna, stand by to engage ascent sequence."
"Acknowledged," the half-Klingon officer replied. "Rigging systems
for atmospheric maneuvering."
Harry turned to the tactical station. "Sound Code Blue."
Graves nodded and triggered the shipwide intercom. "All personnel,
go to Blue Alert and report to Code Blue stations." All around the
Bridge, the alert lights started flashing blue.
"Atmospheric thrusters on stand by," Seven reported from the
Operations station. "Inertial dampeners are at maximum."
"All decks report Code Blue, sir," Graves said.
"Helm, take us up," Harry ordered. On screen, they could see the
polar ice field begin to recede as the ship gained altitude.
"Retracting landing struts," the helm officer reported. "Our
altitude is holding steady at one kilometer. We're in position to
initiate dimensional transfer."
"Good," Harry replied. But before he could proceed any further, a
sensor alarm started to sound.
"Two aircraft are approaching," Seven said after checking the
readouts.
"Identification?"
It was a moment before the Borg could reply. "Computer identifies
them as US Navy F-14 fighters. Range is eighty-five kilometers and
closing."
"Great," Harry muttered. It was bad enough that Voyager had been
photographed during their brief visit to their own Earth's twentieth
century. Who knew what would happen if those planes got an up close and
personal look at the ship here. "We better get out of her before they
can get a good look at us. Shields up."
Janeway swiveled her seat around. "I hate to have to rush you,
Sailor Moon, but as you can see..." She gestured helplessly at the
sensor panel.
"Gotcha," Sailor Moon replied. "Don't worry, Captain, I'll have us
out of here in a jiffy!"
"We should be able to get a look at them," the weapons officer of
the lead F-14 said.
"About time," the pilot replied. Both he and his wingman had been
flying in a training mission over Alaska when they had been diverted to
this target, first reported by a reconnaissance satellite overflying the
Arctic. It had taken them many hours and two meeting with tanker
aircraft to refuel in midair.
But finally they were in position to get a look at the target,
which their radar showed to be airborne now. Activating the F-14's
inbuilt TV system, he trained it on the target. "What the hell is
that?" he said, getting a good look at Voyager.
"I don't know," his back seater replied, "but the radar signal from
it is getting all fuzzy. They must have some form of stealth system."
"Get on the horn back to base. Let them know we have visual
contact and -- whoa!" The pilot instinctively shielded his eyes as the
monitor flared brilliantly. A moment later, it cleared and he was able
to look at it again. "What the...?"
"You see anything?" the back-seater asked. "It's not showing up on
radar anymore."
"I could've sworn there was something there a second ago," the
pilot said, "but now..." He moved the nose about, trying to relocate
the mystery object, but the sky around them was clear. "Nothing
could've moved that fast."
"Hey, I don't track mirages," the weapons officer retorted,
sounding mildly offended.
The pilot shrugged. "Well, it's not there anymore. We'll just
mark it down as another UFO."
A universe away, a similar burst of light briefly illuminated the
skies over Negara and then faded to reveal an Intrepid class starship.
Voyager was once again above the Delta Quadrant planet.
"We have completed the transition successfully," Seven announced.
"So far we appear to be unnoticed..." The deck trembled slightly under
their feet. "Correction: we *have* been noticed," she noted.
"I think we all figured that out," B'Elanna replied rather testily.
"Have they got a hold of us?" Harry asked her.
The engineer took a moment to examine her readouts. "No. The warp
field the engines are generating is deflecting over ninety percent of
the beam. We're clear to maneuver."
"Then let's get the hell out of here. Helm, take us up. Best
speed."
Outside, the noise from Voyager's thrusters increased dramatically
as the ship began gaining altitude. In moments, it had entered the
upper reaches of the atmosphere, allowing the ship to engage it's
impulse engines. "We have reached launch altitude," Seven reported as
the ship now gained height dramatically. "Shuttle Bay doors are open
and the Shepard reports ready to lift off."
Harry nodded. "Shuttle Shepard: You're clear to launch." He
turned to Ensign Graves. "Let's give them some cover. Set main phasers
to wide field dispersal pattern and open fire."
"Yes, sir." Complying with the order, she triggered a burst from
nearly all of Voyager's phaser banks. The wide field energy discharge
severely ionized the atmosphere in their area, creating a large
distortion. Simultaneously, the shuttle leapt from the bay and started
to descend rapidly.
In the maze of tunnels beneath the citadel, Tuxedo Mask came to an
abrupt halt. Chakotay managed to stop himself just before colliding
with him. "What's wrong?" he asked, watching the other gaze at the
ceiling.
"She's here," he replied in a distant voice.
"Who?" Chakotay asked again. Then in a flash of insight, he
guessed, "Do you mean Sailor Moon?"
Tuxedo Mask blinked, seemingly coming back to reality. "Yes,
Commander. She's here, in this universe."
"If Sailor Moon has crossed over to our universe, the logical
assumption is that Voyager has returned with her," Tuvok opined.
If so, there was an easy way to confirm that, Chakotay reasoned to
himself.
"Chakotay to Voyager," the First Officer said, tapping his comm.
badge. However, no response was forthcoming. "The signal must be
blocked by the structure down here. Let's get to the surface."
"The Shepard has entered the troposphere. Our own altitude is four
hundred forty-seven point two kilometers," Seven reported. "We are
clear to go to warp."
"Good," Harry said, nodding. "It looks like everything's going
according to plan. Helm, plot a course to a point a half light year
outside the system and engage at warp eight. Seven, launch the relay
probe."
"Yes sir."
Outside, the warp nacelles elevated to their flight configuration
and Voyager accelerated to supralight speeds. But just before it
entered warp, Seven was able to deploy a small probe into a high orbit
to serve as a communications relay.
Sailor Moon gulped, looking out the window as the planet surface
below rushed up towards them. Despite the inertial dampeners, she could
almost feel the shuttle freefall downward. Tom had said they would get
down to just above the planet surface quickly so they could approach
unseen, but still... "Do you mind slowing down a little? I think I
left my stomach back in orbit."
Tom grinned. "Don't worry about it. Everything's under control.
Just sit back and enjoy the ride." Even as he said this, he eased their
rate of descent and brought the shuttle onto a more level flight path.
There were several sighs of relief from behind him.
Which promptly stopped when an alarm sounded from the sensors.
"Tom, we have three large energy bolts on an intercept course."
"That's not good, right?" Sailor Moon asked.
"Definitely not," Mercury stated. "It means we're under attack."
"I was afraid you were going to say that."
Janeway wasn't paying any attention to the banter behind her.
"Shields are up, and I'm arming weapons."
"Everyone hang on back there," Tom said, "Evasive maneuvers!"
Tuxedo Mask stiffened suddenly. They had emerged from the fortress
not long ago, and had been making their way through the dense and dark
forest surrounding it. "No!"
"What is it?" Chakotay asked. "What's wrong?"
"She's in danger," he replied, looking skyward. "Grave danger." He
continued looking skyward for a second or two before taking off on a
dead run.
Chakotay didn't hesitate, "Tuvok, Neelix: find the others and home
in on my comm. badge." Not waiting for a reply, he started off into the
forest after Tuxedo Mask.
"Well, Mr. Vulcan, I guess it's just the two of us," Neelix
observed as the other two moved off into the darkness. Deciding against
making any reply, Tuvok led the Talaxian off to locate the other Voyager
crewmen on Negara.
Paris worked the helm, twisting the shuttle about is a desperate
bid to elude the onrushing bolts. It seemed he was successful, as the
three energy bolts passed close by. "So far, so good."
"Not really," Mercury warned. Her attention was fixed on her
computer. "Those energy bolts are altering their course. They must be
homing in on the shuttle."
"Oh, great," Mars snapped. "I thought the idea was to land without
them detecting us."
Tom shrugged. "Nobody's perfect."
"Can you stay ahead of them, Tom?" Janeway asked.
"One way to find out. Hang on!" Tom said as he shifted the
shuttle's course sharply to port, putting a tremendous strain on the
inertial dampeners. The resulting g-forces tried to fling them all to
the right side of the shuttle, triggering several gasps of shock from
the passengers and one outright shriek of terror from Sailor Moon. From
the outside, they could all hear the groan from the engine nacelles as
the atmospheric pressures threatened to tear them free from their
housings. But this time, the evasive maneuver didn't work, for the
homing missiles turned with the Shepard and slammed into its shields.
"We're hit!" Janeway exclaimed somewhat unnecessarily as the
shuttle rocked violently. Several control panels exploded into a shower
of sparks and those inside felt the deck start to pitch downward at a
sharper angle. The Captain took a look at the main diagnostic panel to
her right, most of the indicators on it glowing a bright red. Not a
good sign. "We're on emergency reserve power. Just about all major
systems are offline, along with a good many emergency systems."
Tom desperately worked the controls, but as yet, there wasn't any
response from any of them. "I've got no thruster controls."
The ground was looming closer in the window as the shuttle careened
downward. "We're gonna crash!" yelled Sailor Moon.
Tuvok looked up from his tricorder. According to the readings, the
other Voyager crewmembers should be nearby but he was unable to see
them. "Mr. Lambert." There was a rustling in the undergrowth nearby,
and Lambert stepped out into the open. Tuvok nodded in approval.
"Excellent camouflage, Mr. Lambert."
"Thank you, Commander," the former Marquis answered, smiling
broadly. "What's up?"
"We have reason to believe that a rescue party has been dispatched
from Voyager," Tuvok answered. "We --" A flare above them interrupted
him, and they all cast their gaze in that direction. In the darkened
sky they could see what could only be a Starfleet shuttlecraft on a
rapid descent, trailing fire and debris as it did so. "It would appear
that the rescue party may need rescuing themselves," Tuvok noted dryly.
"It's going to come down not far from here," Neelix observed.
"Indeed," the Vulcan concurred. "Alert the others, Mr. Lambert.
We must make haste to that location."
Metallah watched as the shuttle continued to fall until it fell out
of view. "So much for their rescue team," she gloated. Dismissing the
image with a wave of her hand, she turned to her elite guard leader.
"Find the wreckage. If by chance there are any survivors... kill them."
Keeping up with someone as nimble as Tuxedo Mask was proving nearly
impossible for Chakotay. Only the density of the local plantlife was
keeping his speed down to the point where the First Officer could almost
keep pace. Fortunately though, Tuxedo Mask stopped before Chakotay
could become too winded to stay with him. Leaning heavily back against
a tree to catch his breath, "Why did... you stop?"
Tuxedo Mask didn't reply vocally, but instead pointed skyward.
Chakotay looked in that direction and saw the rapidly descending
shuttle. With nothing else to do, the two of them watched it descend
until it passed behind a ridgeline. Chakotay could guess what was going
through the other man's mind, for it was going through a part of his as
well. "I'm sure Tom Paris was at the helm of that shuttle. If anyone
can get them down in one piece, he can."
"I've got to get there," Tuxedo Mask replied tersely. He started
to move forward, but Chakotay put a restraining hand on his shoulder
first.
"We will," he assured him. "But let's take it a little slower, OK?
You might be capable of a ten thousand meter dash, but I'm not.
Besides, it's not as if they can't take care of themselves. And there
is such a thing as safety in numbers."
After taking a moment to think this over, Tuxedo Mask nodded and
the two of them set off at a much more reasonable pace.
Note: the shuttle 'Shepard' is named for US Astronaut Alan B. Shepard
Jr., who passed away on 7/21/98.
"We should have known Seska wouldn't let a little thing like death stop
her from getting even."
Tom Paris
Chapter 7 -- The Face of the Enemy
Tuxedo Mask grunted in surprise as he hit the ground hard. He
glared at Chakotay, who had pulled him roughly down. "What are you --"
he began, his voice harsh.
Chakotay quickly covered the younger man's mouth. "Quiet!" he said
in a low voice. Then he pointed over to their right. "We've got
company."
Tuxedo Mask glanced in that direction and was immediately grateful
that at least Chakotay had been paying attention, for one of the Negaran
soldiers could be seen moving in the distance. "I can't believe I
missed him," he muttered, chagrined.
"I wouldn't worry about it. You do have other things on your mind
at the moment." Tuxedo Mask couldn't help but agree. The foremost
thing on his mind had been to get to Sailor Moon as fast as possible.
"The important thing is that they haven't spotted us." Chakotay added a
mental 'I hope' while he tapped his comm. badge. "Chakotay to Tuvok,
respond *quietly*."
"Tuvok here," came the muted response. The Vulcan may have only
been masquerading as a Marquis, but he would have made a good one,
Chakotay mused.
"We've got hostiles approaching the shuttle. We could use some
helping hands here."
"Understood," Tuvok replied. "We're on our way and should be there
shortly. Tuvok out."
Chakotay got up and crouched down beside a nearby tree, eyes
constantly looking about for other Negarans. Tuxedo Mask took a
position next to him. "I hate to be a pessimist, but even with all the
other crew here, what can they do to help? You've only got three
phasers among you and they're not exactly much use against the
Negarans."
"If phasers don't work, then we'll use sticks and stones. Or even
our bare hands." Chakotay looked him right in the eye. "One rule that
both Starfleet and the Marquis both shared: we don't abandon someone
just because the odds are against us."
"I wasn't suggesting that you not help them," Tuxedo Mask replied.
"I know you weren't. But --" Chakotay never got to finish his
statement, for now Tuxedo Mask dove into him, sending him sprawling on
the ground. The reason was readily apparent as several energy bursts
slammed into the tree he had been next to. Tuxedo Mask leapt to his
feet, ready to do battle with the Negarans. Meanwhile, Chakotay readied
himself to help him in any way he could.
Even if it meant using his bare hands...
Not far from their position, the Shepard, or what was left of it,
lay on the planet's surface. The fuselage was still intact; which was
miraculous considering it had plowed a deep furrow in the ground upon
impact, completely shearing off the engine nacelles. The door opened
partway, then jammed. This was quickly rectified by a pair of gloved
hands that grabbed the door and forced it the rest of the way open with
a shriek of tortured metal. Jupiter leapt out of the wreck and looked
about. "Man, I'm glad to be out of there."
"You're not the only one," Sailor Moon observed as the others
followed her outside. Sailor Moon and Mars assisted Janeway while Venus
aided Paris outside. Mercury followed them, bringing with her the
shuttle's emergency medical kit. Thanks to their enhanced abilities,
none of the Scouts had been seriously hurt by the crash, but both
Starfleet officers were groggy at best. Janeway was sporting a large
bruise over her left eye, but Tom obviously had the worst of the crash,
as was evidenced by a rather nasty cut on his forehead.
Venus took one look at the shuttle and grimaced. "Any landing you
can stalk away from is a good landing, I guess."
"Any landing you can walk away from," Mercury corrected her while
she examined Tom's injuries. Fortunately, there didn't seem to be any
signs of a concussion. She fished into the medkit for a dermal
regenerator and began applying its healing beams to the head wound.
"We were lucky," Tom said. "If the Captain hadn't managed to bring
those thrusters back online..."
Janeway shook her head. "It wasn't me, Tom. My controls were
completely out."
The helmsman frowned. "Then who..?" Mercury clicked off the
regenerator. Satisfied that the instrument had done its work, she went
over to Captain Janeway.
"It must've been me," Venus said, beaming.
In the middle of conducting a scan of the Captain, Mercury almost
dropped her computer while the other Scouts stared at Venus in shock.
"You?" Mars eventually choked out.
"Yep. During the crash, I tried to help out by fiddling with the
panel next to me. Nothing was happening so I finally gave it a good
solid whack." She demonstrated by slapping the flat of her palm against
the shuttle hull. "That's when Tom said he got some thruster control
back."
Silence came over the group while they struggled to accept what she
had said. Finally Jupiter spoke, "I guess the shuttle's systems were so
badly damaged, the only thing she could do to them was get them to
work."
"Yeah. There wasn't any way she could make it any worse," Mars
agreed.
"Hey!"
"It doesn't matter how it happened, whether Venus shocked the
thrusters back online or it just boiling down to good old fashioned
luck," Janeway said. "All that matters is that it worked and we managed
to get down in one piece." Mercury silently agreed with her as she got
back to completing her scan. It seemed that the Captain had gotten away
with nothing more than a serious bruise which could easily be treated
by...
She blinked. For a brief -- a *very* brief -- moment, Captain
Janeway's EEG had fluctuated, showing once more the double pattern she
had seen on the Bridge. For the moment, she decided to say nothing, but
she knew she'd have to speak to Tom about it at the first opportunity.
Seemingly unaware of Mercury's concern, Janeway did notice that Tom
was gazing ruefully at the wreckage of the Shepard. "Something wrong,
Mr. Paris?"
"I was just getting to like that shuttle," Tom responded. "It was
almost broken in."
Janeway smiled slightly and patted the helmsman on the shoulder.
"Don't worry, Tom. We'll just build a replacement..." Then, sighing,
she added, "...again."
"Again?" Mars asked. She glanced back and forth at the two
Starfleet officers. "The way you two are talking, you'd think you go
through shuttles the way Serena goes through her lunch."
"I heard that, Mars," Sailor Moon growled at her.
"Not now, you two," Mercury said. "We don't have any time for
this."
Janeway nodded in agreement as she got to her feet. "Mercury's
right. We need to get all the phasers out of the shuttle that weren't
damaged in the crash, along with anything else we can use and then get
out of here. Someone was bound to have seen the shuttle go down, so
we're very likely to have visitors soon. And I don't think they'll be
the friendly type."
Her words proved prophetic, as several Negaran energy bolts shot
into the area. Through sheer happenstance most of them only struck
nearby trees or the shuttle's hull, but one struck Sailor Jupiter and
knocked the tall Scout roughly to the ground.
"Jupiter!" cried out Sailor Moon. Immediately she went to her
friend's side as did Paris. Janeway took up a defensive position while
Venus and Mercury followed Mars' lead and cut loose themselves at the
attacking aliens.
"Jupiter, are you OK?" Sailor Moon asked. Paris was already
scanning her with the medical tricorder and was relieved to note that
the blast hadn't caused any significant damage.
"Oh, I'm fine," Jupiter growled, gritting her teeth, her hand
rubbing the area the blast had struck her in the side. "But *they're*
not gonna be!" With that, she leapt to her feet, shoving her way past
the two of them. Paris could feel static electricity building up as
electrical arcs played around Jupiter. "JUPITER THUNDERCLAP ZAP!" she
cried, flinging her attack into a group of the aliens. There was a loud
explosion as the electrical discharge went off among them. When it
cleared, several of the attackers could be seen lying motionless on the
ground.
But more of the aliens came out into the open, more than enough to
replace those Jupiter had felled. Several of them moved rapidly at her,
hoping that she proved less deadly in hand to hand combat. Jupiter
quickly showed them just how empty that hope was as she quickly disarmed
one and then, using a mok'bara throw, Worf had taught her, used that
particular Negaran as a weapon against his fellows.
Taking cover by the Shepard, it was near impossible for Janeway to
tell how the others were doing, as the battle around the shuttle was
becoming extremely chaotic. She could hear the Scouts utilizing their
powers all around her, but as was the case in most battles, there was
little she could do at the moment other than try and deal with the
adversaries nearby. One appeared in front of her, ready to rush her
position and she took aim at it, but was taken aback when a fair sized
rock struck the Negaran square in the middle of it's forehead. "Hah!
Take that, you offspring of a Kazon!" a very familiar voice cried out.
Janeway turned towards the source. Sure enough, to her great joy
she saw... "Neelix!"
The Negaran did not seem impressed. In fact, it seemed downright
outraged at the Talaxian's attack, even if it didn't understand his
verbal gibe. It brought its staff down sharply, sending a bolt of
energy at the Talaxian. But Neelix was far more nimble than it had
supposed, and he ducked down behind a small rock pile. The energy bolt
passed over his head and exploded harmlessly against a nearby tree.
Neelix peered back over the rocks at the Negaran. "Missed me," he
taunted the alien.
Undaunted, the Negaran raised its staff to try again, but this time
a flash of red hit the crystal at its apex. The crystal fell from the
staff to the ground, cloven in two. The object that had sliced through
it continued unhindered, embedding itself in the ground.
"A rose?" Sailor Moon felt her heart leap for joy upon seeing it,
for it could only mean one thing. She looked up in the direction it had
been thrown from. Sure enough, high up in the trees was... "Tuxedo
Mask!"
The tuxedo-clad warrior leapt down among several Negarans and his
cane flashed about him, knocking several of the aliens to the ground.
In almost the same instance, two dozen Voyager crewman popped up from
seemingly nowhere and pelted the Negarans with a hail of rocks.
Thrown into a tumult of confusion by this sudden turn of events,
the alien assault faltered. Sensing the opportunity to drive the aliens
off altogether, Janeway cried out, "Now! Everyone attack at the same
time!"
"We're on it, Captain," Sailor Moon responded, already beginning
the process of launching her own attack. "MOON SPIRAL HEART ATTACK!" In
nearly the same instance, the attack cries of the other Scouts rang out
through the area.
Between the Scouts' earlier efforts and this sudden barrage, the
Negaran leader realized that her force had been cut nearly in half and
what was left had been thoroughly disheartened. She called out in a
loud, shrill voice for a general retreat.
"That's it, run!" Jupiter shouted after the withdrawing aliens.
"Unfortunately, I have a bad feeling they'll be back," Paris said.
"And probably with reinforcements."
"I wouldn't worry too much about that, Lieutenant," Neelix said.
The Talaxian was smiling, glad to be reunited with some of his shipmates
and with his own performance in the recent battle. "I'm sure we'll be
long gone by then."
The conversation may have continued, but it was interrupted by a
loud (and joyful) cry of, "Darien!" All eyes turned towards the source
to see Sailor Moon bounding towards Tuxedo Mask and seized him in a
tight hug.
"I'm... glad to... see you too, Serena," he managed to get out.
"But... I can't... breathe."
"Oops." She relaxed her grip slightly, but still kept her arms
around him. "Sorry about that."
Janeway turned from the happy reunion and regarded her first
officer with a broad smile. "The idea was for us to enter the citadel
and rescue *you*," she mildly admonished him.
He shrugged, unrepentant. "You know us old Marquis types... We
like to turn the tables on people. But if you want, I suppose we could
go back to our cell."
"That won't be necessary," she replied. "I guess I should have
known that you would be able to find a way to escape on your own."
"I just wish I had been able to get here sooner. But a group of
Negarans were insistent on treating us to their own brand of
hospitality."
"How did you get them to back off?" Janeway asked. "Your phasers
weren't modified to be effective against them."
"True," Chakotay admitted. "But as you saw, Tuxedo Mask can be
quite effective in hand to hand combat. And while the Negarans may be
immune to standard phaser fire, the same can't be said for the local
environment. They started to back off quick enough after I exploded a
rock in the middle of a group of them."
Janeway winced at the thought. "Ouch."
"...so we've been able to accomplish half our mission objectives,"
Janeway's voice echoed across the Bridge. Harry stood in the center of
the Bridge, listening intently to his captain's voice while B'Elanna sat
sulking at the engineering station, grumbling to herself over the loss
of another shuttle. "But in doing so we've lost any advantage of
surprise we may have had."
"Do you want us to close in and pick you up?" Harry asked.
"Negative. We still have to find a way to deal with this
Negaforce. If we leave it here unchecked it could prove a danger to the
entire quadrant... if not the Federation, or even the Scout's Earth."
There was a pause on the other end. "I was hoping to keep Voyager out
of danger, but we need every advantage we can get. We'll approach the
citadel on foot. A group will mount an attack on the main entrance
while a smaller team will work their way inside. At the same time, I
want you to bring Voyager into orbit and begin an attack on the citadel
from orbit. Use phasers only, no torpedoes. The two pronged attack
like that should keep the Negarans busy enough that we can get to the
central chamber without interference."
"Understood. When should we begin our attack?"
"I'll signal you when we're ready, Mr. Kim. Good luck. Janeway
out."
In other circumstances, this would be a rather pleasant walk
through the woods, Tom reflected. Even if it was a bit on the dark side
and they were the constant threat of being attacked by the locals.
It was because of that they were being extremely cautious in
approaching the citadel. Mercury and Tuvok were at point, scanning
constantly for any danger. Next came Neelix and Sailor Jupiter. Tom
half hoped that the Talaxian was getting cooking tips from the Sailor
Scout. From the way the two of them were talking, it was entirely
possible.
He and Venus were covering one half of their rear sections, while
Chakotay and Mars kept watch on the other flank. That left Tuxedo Mask,
Sailor Moon, and Captain Janeway in the center of their party. But he
noticed that Captain Janeway had isolated herself from them, walking
almost all alone in their small band. It went almost unnoticed by the
other two as they stuck close by one another.
Tom had to smile at that. He could imagine that he and B'Elanna
might react similarly under the same conditions.
"I'll take a wooden nickel for your thoughts," Venus spoke up.
Tom took a moment to think about that. "Isn't that supposed to be
'A penny for your thoughts'?"
"Whatever," the Sailor Scout answered. From her tone, Tom got the
impression that this wasn't the first time she had mangled a saying.
"Well to answer your sentiment, I was just thinking that this would
be a rather pleasant walk through the woods under other circumstances.
Especially if you ignore the fact that we're about to invade the
stronghold of some nigh-omnipotent being like this Negaforce."
"You know, that brings something else to mind that I've been
thinking of ever since I heard that the aliens were trying to capture
Voyager."
"What's that?"
Venus turned and looked him square in the eye. "What does the
Negaforce want with a starship?"
Mars watched Chakotay try another scan with his tricorder, but
before long, the commander was shaking his head in frustration. "If
it's not working, why do you keep trying?"
"Sheer stubbornness," he answered. "I know your friend Mercury can
keep a lookout with her computer, but I like having more than one
option. Of course, that's not always possible." He closed the
tricorder and returned it to his belt. "Like now. I was able to get
better range on a Borg ship."
Mars had started concentrating on the forest surrounding the party,
but this casual statement got Chakotay her full attention. "You've been
on one of those cubes?"
"What was left of one," the First Officer replied. "Several months
ago, I led a small away team to get information on what had destroyed it
and its companion cubes." Chakotay proceeded to give Mars a brief
account of that particular mission which resulted in the Voyager's first
encounter with Species 8472 after the interdimensional aliens had
annihilated a Borg armada consisting of fifteen of their cube ships.
Mars shook her head. "Sounds like they could help you guys against
the Borg."
"The enemy of my enemy isn't always my friend," Chakotay replied.
"Especially in this case. It turns out that Species 8472 has some
extremely xenophobic qualities. We think their goal at the time was the
annihilation of all life in this galaxy. In the end, we actually had to
work with the Borg against them."
Mars almost stopped dead in her tracks. "You're kidding."
"I'm afraid not. But if you don't mind, I'd like to change the
topic of discussion to the more recent past." He took a quick glance at
Captain Janeway, and then added in a lower voice, "Namely, what happened
on Voyager after I beamed down."
"What do you want to know?"
"Mercury already told me the details of what she saw, but I'd like
your point of view as well." He paused momentarily. "Namely, is that
my captain we're following and if so, is she doing this of her own free
will."
Mars took this opportunity to scrutinize Janeway once again. "As
far as I know, the answer to both is yes. I'm not sure why she chose to
come along, but I believe she thinks her reasons are valid. Whatever it
is that's inside her head, it's not unduly influencing her." After a
moment, "I think. I can't make any promises about how accurate I am
about this."
"Fair enough," Chakotay replied.
At the front of the group, Mercury kept her attention on her scans
of the area, while Tuvok walked beside her alert for anything nearby,
and keeping a firm grip on his phaser rifle. Since the scanning range
of Mercury's computer had proven to be far greater than the tricorders,
the Vulcan reasoned that the most logical course of action was to
maintain a careful watch on the area around them. They had seen that
the Negarans possessed a rudimentary teleportation ability, so it
behooved them to be wary of any Negarans appearing right on top of them.
"We're still clear," Mercury told him. "I haven't detected signs
of any other hostiles since we spotted that band earlier."
Tuvok nodded. Shortly after they had set out, Mercury had picked
up an approaching group, no doubt another assault force to capture them.
Thus warned, they were able to detour around them without being detected
themselves. "Very well. But I recommend you keep a watchful eye out.
We are still some distance from the entrance."
Mercury nodded. She had already deployed her visor and was using
it to keep a constant scan of the area, so that she could keep a visual
lookout herself. "I agree. I just hope you remember the layout of
those tunnels. I could scan them to find the correct route, but it
would be a lot easier if we knew it ahead of time."
"There is no need for you to concern yourself with that," the
Vulcan assured her. "When we recovered our equipment, I stored a map of
the tunnel system into my tricorder." He removed the instrument from
his belt and handed it to her. "If you wish, you can download it into
your computer. As you possess the greater scanning range, it would be
logical to do so."
"Thank you," she answered. With a flick of her wrist, she opened
the tricorder up. Within seconds, she had the Starfleet device
interfaced with her computer and was downloading the maps into it.
Form his place not far behind them, Neelix watched her work with
some awe showing on his face. Finally, moved up to the two of them and
quietly asked Tuvok, "Are you sure you're not related to her, Mr.
Vulcan?"
Mercury flushed a light red in embarrassment, while just behind
them Jupiter struggled to conceal her own amusement. For his part,
Tuvok allowed himself a small flash of irritation before he resumed his
emotional control. Even so, he still appeared to be somewhat
exasperated for a Vulcan. "No," he replied, "we're not."
Chakotay frowned. They had made their way back to the concealed
entrance into the citadel, and unlike before there were guards present
-- but only two. "I don't like this," he muttered to himself, shaking
his head.
"Something wrong?" Sailor Moon asked.
"Only two guards," he replied, indicating the Negarans. "I
would've expected there to be more by this point. Metallah knows we
escaped, and she has to know we were moving around inside there by now."
In fact, now that Chakotay took the time to think about it, their entire
sojourn through the citadel had been rather easy. Too easy by far.
He should have seen it long before now, the former Marquis leader
thought bitterly. But being first officer on Voyager for nearly four
years seemed to have dulled his reflexes, at least as far as these type
of operations went.
"It doesn't matter how many there are, Chakotay," Janeway said.
"It doesn't really change anything. We still have to get past them and
inside."
"Not to worry, Captain," he replied. "We've gotten plenty of
practice at this." He nodded to Tuvok and Tuxedo Mask.
"Be right back," the tuxedo-clad man whispered to Sailor Moon.
Before she could answer, he put an arm around Tuvok and jumped upwards,
carrying the Vulcan into the branches above, and they were swiftly lost
to sight. There being little else for them to do, the remainder of the
group waited patiently (or in some cases impatiently) while keeping a
watchful eye out for any other Negarans.
As it turned out, they didn't have to wait long. Seconds after
they gone above, a black blur emerged from the branches and landed
behind the two guards. Before either had a chance to react, Tuvok had
already placed a hand at the base of one's neck. The guard spasmed
slightly as Tuvok performed the nerve pinch and it slumped to the
ground. The second guard fared little better. It had managed to turn
to face them, only to see Tuxedo Mask's cane on a direct course for its
face. Janeway heard a muffled thud, followed by the Negaran flying into
the nearby treeline. It slammed into a large tree and slumped to the
ground.
"That should take care of the guards," Chakotay noted.
"I'm not picking up any other Negarans," Mercury confirmed.
"Then it's time to get moving," Janeway replied. "Tuvok, you and
Sailor Mercury will take point. Tom and Sailor Jupiter will handle the
rear." She tapped her comm. badge as she made her way to the entrance.
"Janeway to Voyager."
Back on Voyager, there was little else to do at the moment other
than wait for the Captain's signal. Seven chose to pass the time by
running a series of diagnostics as well as refining the deflector pulse
they would employ to block potential boarders.
Or that's she would have been working on had she not found herself
being continuously distracted. Finally, she had had enough. "Ensign
Kim, would you please stop that?"
Harry paused. He had been pacing back and forth in front of the
command chair, but he seemed genuinely puzzled. "Stop what?"
"Your constant pacing," Seven elaborated. "It is becoming
annoying."
At first, Harry didn't believe her, but he was forced to when a
glance over at B'Elanna drew a confirming nod. "Sorry. I guess I'm a
little nervous."
Seven didn't react physically other than to return her attention to
the Operations board. But she still said, "Then perhaps the Doctor
should give you a tranquilizer."
That got a sniff from the Doctor. Evidently, Seven's comment had
mildly offended the hologram. "I'll handle the medical diagnoses around
here, if you don't mind. Besides, I think it would be unwise to use a
sedative on the current commanding officer just before we go into
battle."
"Thanks, Doc," Harry said. "I just wish I knew why the Captain was
so insistent on going along with the rescue team."
"I wouldn't know," the hologram replied. "I'm a Doctor, not a
starship strategist."
"Don't worry about it, Harry," B'Elanna commented from the
engineering station. She paused in her current task and looked over at
the young ensign. "You'll do fine, Starfleet."
Harry couldn't help but smile at her use of the nickname she had
used for him during their first encounter, back on the Ocampa homeworld
four years previous. "Thanks for the vote of confidence, Marquis."
Although she didn't comment on it, Seven found this whole exchange
not only distracting, but highly inefficient as well. But a chirp from
the Operations panel proved a welcome distraction for her. "We are
receiving a signal from Captain Janeway," Seven said. "They are in
position."
The tension level on the Bridge rose dramatically, the bantering
atmosphere rapidly dissipating. B'Elanna made her way to the turbolift.
"I better get to Engineering."
"And me to Sickbay," the Doctor added, following her into the
turbolift.
Harry hesitated, then took a seat in the command chair. "Ensign,
lay in a reciprocal course back to the planet. Bring us out of warp as
close to it as you can."
The helmsman nodded and made the appropriate settings to the helm.
"Course set, sir."
Harry nodded. "Engage at warp six. Graves, sound battlestations."
The Bridge lighting shifted to a reddish hue while the alert klaxons
sounded. Within seconds the ship dropped out of warp, the mass of the
planet filling the screen. "Here we go..." he said, taking a deep
breath in a vain attempt to settle his nerves. Never in his wildest
dreams did he imagine that *he* would end up leading Voyager into a
battle.
"We are coming over the target area," Seven spoke, still infernally
calm. "Entering optimal firing range."
"Commence firing!"
Lambert almost jumped out of his skin when his borrowed tricorder
beeped. That was the signal he had been waiting for to commence his
attack.
Once they had broken off from the main party when leaving the
shuttle, he had lead his band over to what seemed to be the main
entrance into the Negaran citadel. To minimize the risk of detection,
he had broken up the group into small bands with orders to make their
way there as quietly as possible. Fortunately, most of those with this
group had been with Voyager's security department, so they had already
been versed in these types of tactics. As far as he knew, the Negarans
were unaware of their presence.
He gave a hand signal to those around him to spread the word to the
others. In less than five minutes, they would begin firing on the alien
stronghold with the phasers they had gotten from the Shepard.
Mars frowned. The tunnels they had entered proved to be deserted
and they had been able to make their way downward without opposition.
The ease of their advance made her uneasy. "Where is everyone?" she
hissed to Chakotay. "This is way too easy."
The First Officer nodded. "I had the same thought," he responded,
keeping his own voice low as well. "A few months before we arrived in
the Delta Quadrant, my Marquis cell tried a raid into a the headquarters
of a Cardassian Gul. We managed to sneak inside, but we were soon up to
our armpits in Cardassians. We had a devil of a time just getting out
in one piece. I can't see Metallah having security this bad, unless..."
his voice trailed off.
"You think it's a trap?" Mars asked after a moment.
"That's a good possibility," he answered.
"It doesn't mater, you two," Janeway said from behind them. "If it
is a trap, we'll just have to be ready to spot it before it closes up.
But for now, we are here and so is the enemy." The ground chose that
moment to shake beneath them and a shower of dust rained down from the
ceiling for emphasis.
"What was that?" Venus asked.
"I'd say Voyager's here," Mercury answered. Realizing that time
was growing short, the group hurried their way downwards into the heart
of the citadel.
"This time, you're not getting away," Metallah muttered, watching a
small holographic image of Voyager. It was apparent that the starship
was closing fast on her world and was clearly intent on settling into
orbit. As had been the case when it had reappeared, the attraction beam
was unable to get a firm grip on it. So, she would have to employ
alternative strategies to capture the ship. Once again, she called upon
her troops to form boarding parties. Unfortunately, she couldn't call
upon all of them, for some had to be sent to ward off the simultaneous
attack made by some of the Starfleet crew upon the main gate.
Meanwhile, another group of her elite guard combined their energies and
hurled massive energy discharges upwards, just as they had done against
the shuttlecraft. But this time the goal was simply to disable the
ship, not destroy it.
Indeed, great care would have to be taken to avoid damaging the
ship too badly. They still needed it to leave their world and use it to
spread their influence over the entire galaxy. Bringing all that lived
within it under her domain.
So far, all was going to the plan, Harry noted. Voyager had
settled into a synchronous orbit over the planet and was firing burst
after burst from its main phasers.
But it wasn't proving a free ride for the starship. Several energy
bolts, similar and yet larger to those that had attacked the shuttle,
hurtled upwards and impacted on the shields. The Bridge shook as yet
another bolt slammed into the shields. "Damage report."
"Shields are at eighty-seven percent, and holding," Seven
announced. "They have adjusted their firing pattern again. I am
altering the shields to compensate." The Bridge shook once again as
another energy bolt impacted into the shields, but it was noticeably
less than before. "Compensation complete. Shields are holding."
"Acknowledged," Harry said. "Maintain phaser fire, Ensign Graves."
"Aye, sir."
They had reached the entrance to the chamber in the lower levels,
where, according to Chakotay, the real power behind Metallah resided.
Mercury glanced quickly into the room, just long enough for her visor to
get a clean scan. It was more than enough for her to confirm that the
being residing within the container possessed the power and essence of
the Negaforce. However, there were also several odd readings from
inside the entity. She tapped rapidly on the small keyboard, prodding
her computer to provide a quick analysis.
Just down the hall, Mars was starting to fidget, finally prompting
Sailor Moon to ask, "Mars, what is it?"
"That's what," she replied, indicating the chamber. As they had
approached the room, her psychic senses had been warning her of danger.
This close, the sense was almost overpowering. "I'm not sure what's in
there, but I'm getting a really bad feeling about this."
"I think you're just nervous," Venus said.
Mars snorted. "You'd be nervous too, if you had this feeling.
Whatever that thing is in there, it knows we're out here."
That got Chakotay's attention, as well as everyone else's. "If
that's so, then why hasn't it done anything to stop us?"
"How should I know? All I know is that it knows we're out here."
Mars jerk suddenly as if she had been poked with a cattle prod. "And
now it's laughing at us!"
"I am also sensing something usual," Tuvok said. "And I can
confirm my observation on our last visit to this location -- the
entity's thought patterns are human."
"Of course!" Mercury exclaimed. "I should have seen it sooner.
These energy readings I detected inside it are almost identical to a
human brainwave pattern. Much more powerful, of course, but still a
brainwave pattern."
"So now what?" Jupiter asked. "I doubt we can surprise it now."
"We can't go back," Janeway pointed out. "So I suggest we just go
inside." Before anyone could object, she stood up and strode into the
chamber.
Mars couldn't believe it. "She's gotta be nuts!"
Chakotay shared her misgivings, especially after being given the
warnings from Mars and Mercury, but seeing as there wasn't any evidence
that she was being controlled he still gave Kathryn the benefit of the
doubt. "She's the Captain," he said, "It's out job to follow her
lead." Phaser at ready, the first officer led the rest of them into the
chamber. The Scouts shared a doubtful glance among themselves, but
followed him nonetheless.
As they approached, the colors within the container pulsed and they
all heard laughter echo within their minds. "Yes, I wanted you here,
Captain Janeway. I knew there would be survivors from that shuttle
crash. Starfleet crews have an annoying tendency to do that. So I
allowed you into here, just as I allowed the others to escape from here.
I had already scanned them, but I wanted to get a clear look into their
shipmate's minds as well. And it is much easier to do that face to
face."
"Well, I hope you find the contents of them interesting," Neelix
quipped.
The presence ignored him, continuing to talk to Janeway. "However
your mind seems to be resisting my probes, Captain. I find this most
interesting."
"You'll find I'm full of surprises," Janeway replied evenly. "Now
since we're all here like you wanted, why don't you show yourself?"
The voice chuckled. "Why not?" The colors pulsed again, and began
to glow, flowing out from the container like a liquid. It reshaped
itself outside, assuming a humanoid form dressed in what looked like a
Starfleet uniform from a hundred years ago -- black pants and boots with
a gold shirt. The shirt had a very familiar arrowhead insignia over the
left breast.
Mercury heard Janeway mutter, "At last."
The Bridge shook again, as an alarm sounded from the tactical
station. "We've got multiple intruder alerts on several decks," Graves
reported. "But they're scattered in ones and twos throughout the ship."
"Don't let them hook up with each other. Seal them all off with
forcefields and then flood those areas with the modified anestazine,"
Harry ordered. "Seven..."
The Borg had already anticipated him. "I am adjusting the
deflector pulse in an attempt to compensate, but I am not optimistic we
will be able to increase its blocking efficiency." Despite her vocal
pessimism, she kept working on the Ops panel.
"Just do what you can."
"It's working," Graves said. A smile came to her face as she read
the incoming reports. "The new gas is knocking them out cold."
Harry smiled as well. It looked like things were going their way
for a change. "Once they're unconscious, beam them in with their
friends in Cargo Bay One. Then clear all affected areas of anestazine."
The chaos in orbit contrasted sharply with what was happening in
the bowels of the citadel. There a standoff between the infiltration
team and the mysterious humanoid figure was in progress. "Allow me to
introduce myself," the figure said, it's voice resonating deeply. "I
was once known --"
"You were once known as Lieutenant Commander Gary Mitchell,"
Janeway said for him. "Formerly of the Federation Starship Enterprise,
under the command of Captain James T. Kirk."
Mitchell blinked, or at least he appeared to, in surprise. "I'm
impressed, Captain. You know who I am?"
Janeway nodded. "Oh, yes. I know all about you, Commander."
"Hey, do you mind filling us in?" Jupiter asked.
Mitchell smiled. "Go ahead, Captain," he said with a laugh. "If
you make any errors, I'll correct you."
"I'm sure you will," Janeway noted. Turning to her companions she
began, "Over a hundred years ago, the Enterprise was exploring along the
edge of our galaxy. There it encountered a powerful energy barrier that
nearly destroyed the ship when they tried to cross it. For the most
part the crew managed to escape unscathed, but it had a very profound
effect on Commander Mitchell and one other member of the crew. He, and
then later she, started to develop psionic powers at a frightening rate.
Soon he began to see his shipmates as toys for his amusement, and the
later as insects."
"A god does not have to answer to mortals, Captain," Mitchell
snarled, seemingly irritated.
"Absolute power corrupting absolutely," Janeway said, refusing to
back down. "Captain Kirk ordered the Enterprise to make for Delta Vega,
a small and rather insignificant planet near the galactic rim. It
harbored an automated lithium cracking station and it also had enough
supplies and parts to effect repairs on the Enterprise. As it was
uninhabited, it was also a perfect spot to leave Commander Mitchell."
"You mean they were just going to leave him there?" Sailor Moon
asked.
"Far better than the alternative," Janeway told her. "Mitchell was
growing dangerously reckless in using his power. Who knows what he
would have done had he reached a populated world. He demonstrated very
effectively just how dangerous he was when he escaped from confinement,
killing another crewmember in the process."
"I could have killed them all, Captain," Mitchell said.
"I often wondered why you didn't. Though you certainly tried hard
enough to kill Captain Kirk in that final confrontation." Janeway
paused and turned back to face Mitchell. "There's just one thing. I
was under the impression that you and Dr. Dehner had been killed."
"You have such limited thinking," Mitchell said, chuckling. "Our
physical bodies may have perished, but the essence of what we were
survived. Our powers were enough that we had grown beyond the need for
a physical form. But the conflict did weaken us to the extent that we
were mostly powerless for decades. But soon after I had regained some
of my power, a tunnel opened in space and time, leading to Earth in the
Arctic regions. But not my Earth, of course." He turned his gaze to
Sailor Moon. "Instead it lead me to your world, just as you were
beginning your final confrontation with Queen Beryl and the Negaforce."
"You were there?" Sailor Moon asked.
"Yes," Mitchell confirmed. "I watched with great interest as you
battled them. In the moment you defeated them, I absorbed the power of
the Negaforce and took it for my own. But before I could return to my
own universe, the final outburst of power from the Silver Crystal
shifted the far end of the quantum flux to this world. Sixty thousand
light years was too far for me to cross on my own, so I contented myself
with waiting and granting some of my powers to the local population.
For the last year and a half, I have been building up my power and
hoping for a ship to come within range that I could use to get back to
the Alpha Quadrant. The Borg scout ship was the first real hope I had
to escape here, but it proved too tough for capture. Voyager came
shortly thereafter, but it managed to elude me as well. But now I have
the information from your minds that gives me the means to go where and
when I will without the need for a ship."
"You mean you want the Silver Crystal," Sailor Moon said. "Well,
you're not getting it!"
Mitchell seemed genuinely puzzled. "Why would I want the Silver
Crystal?"
"Huh?"
"Ah," Mitchell said, with sudden realization. "You misunderstand
me. I meant the information in your minds, which gives me the means to
avenge myself on those who have wronged me. Besides, I bear no ill will
to you or your world... indeed I am grateful to you for providing me the
means of escaping endless exile on Delta Vega." His expression hardened
as he turned to the Starfleet personnel. "But the same does not hold
true of you."
"Why?" Chakotay challenged. "What happened to you was an accident.
If there had been any way that Captain Kirk could have helped you..."
"I don't want or need your help!" Mitchell roared. "But Kirk
abandoned me on that desolate world. And now he and his ilk will pay
the price." He waved his hand and a large holographic image filled the
air above their heads, displaying Voyager still maintaining the phaser
barrage on the planet below it. "And it begins here..."
Janeway realized with horror just what Mitchell was intending for
her ship. Hurriedly she slapped her comm. badge. "Janeway to Voyager.
Harry, get the ship out of there! *NOW*!!"
Even as she gave the order, Mitchell made a slight, almost
offhanded gesture. As a cold sense of dread gripped her heart, Janeway
knew that it was already too late.
He was already ordering the ship to warp speeds when a loud shrill
alarm sounded, and Harry felt his heart catch in his mouth. This type
of alarm was reserved for when the ship was in imminent threat of
destruction.
Seven appeared to be as placid as ever, but even she was growing
concerned at the readings in front of her. "Ensign Kim, we have a
problem."
"What the hell..." B'Elanna looked up at the warp core. The
steady hum of power from it had suddenly increased in both tone and
pitch. A glance down at the diagnostic panel showed that the power
output from the core was increasing rapidly as well.
Increasing *too* rapidly...
"Power levels in the warp core are increasing geometrically," Seven
warned, her voice starting to take on an urgent tone. "Core breach is
imminent."
"Eject the core!" Harry ordered. "Now!"
"Everybody out!" B'Elanna urged her engineers, hoping that the core
would hold long enough. But she wasn't optimistic that it would, as
coolant leaks were appearing all over the place as the core's energy
levels exceeded any reasonable level. "Computer, eject the core.
Authorization: Torres omega three seven two." Reaching the door
herself, she saw the core begin to slide downward as the ejection
process began... just as the dilithium chamber split open and released
in one large explosion the raging energies contained within it.
For a split-second, another star illuminated the Negaran homeworld.
"I don't like bullies. I don't like threats... and I don't like you."
- Captain Kathryn Janeway
Chapter 8 -- Rebirth
They stared with varying expressions of shock at the sight of
Voyager's destruction. Finally, Venus shook her head in denial.
"That... that can't be real. It's gotta be a fake."
"I'm afraid not." The Scouts turned as one to face Mercury. She
in turn had her attention focused completely on her computer. "He
overloaded the warp core, forcing it to generate more energy than it
could possibly handle." She looked up from the palmtop, glaring at
Mitchell. The expression on her face was a mixture of sadness at the
loss of life in orbit and outrage that any being could be capable of
such a wanton act. "The core exploded before they had a chance to eject
it."
Far above them in the Negaran Throne Room, Metallah was also in a
state of shock. The ship that she had labored so hard to capture and
use in spreading the power of her people through the stars, had been
wiped from existence. She was certain that nothing her forces had done
would have triggered its destruction. There was only one explanation
that she could think off. Leaving her second to handle the Voyager
crewmembers attacking the front gate, she strode determinedly towards
the lower chamber.
One was not supposed to question a god, but she had to find out
*why* Mitchell had destroyed the ship.
Metallah was not the only one who wanted the answer to that
particular question.
Janeway turned to face Mitchell, who had an insufferably
self-satisfied expression on his face. "Why?" she asked in a bitter
voice. "After trying so hard to capture my ship, why destroy it now?!?"
"I no longer have the need for a starship," Mitchell explained.
"Before, my plan was to use your ship as a means to return to the Alpha
Quadrant and avenge myself on the Federation. I can travel short
distances in space, but even I must rest at certain points. For the
long trip of thousands of light years back to Federation space, that
would mean a voyage of several hundred years at least. The Federation
may not even exist by the time I returned. Therefore to shorten the
voyage, I needed a ship. But thanks to my recently discovered
information, I know how to return quickly to Federation space and in my
own time frame as well."
"And just how do you intend to do that?" Tuvok asked.
Mitchell gazed thoughtfully at him. "I thought Vulcans were
supposed to be intelligent."
"Just answer the question, creep!" Venus snapped.
Mitchell chuckled lightly, as if Venus' display of ire only amused
him. "To answer it simply, by using the quantum fluxes. First, I will
journey to your world through the one from this world. Once there, I
can use the quantum flux that Kirk used to get to and from your
universe. That will place me in the Alpha Quadrant with little effort,
and in the right time to properly repay my 'old friend'."
Jupiter frowned. "But wouldn't that put you in deep space near the
Romulan Neutral Zone?"
Mitchell waved it off. "It is of no matter. I can make the short
voyage to a nearby world and easily obtain the services of a starship.
Then I can begin having my revenge on my dear friend James." He took a
moment to ponder the possibilities and smiled. "Maybe even the
Enterprise itself. It would be poetic justice."
"But if you do that, it will change history!" Mercury protested.
"Both for this universe, and to a lesser extent our own."
"So?" The one time Starfleet officer seemed unconcerned. "Why
should you care? The changes to your timeline will be minor. You won't
even notice the difference. As for altering the past of this universe,
I really don't care." He paused, considering. "Now that I think about
it, I think I did the Voyager crew a favor. This way they had a chance
to live and die, rather than simply ceasing to exist."
"And that's supposed to justify that?" Tuxedo Mask exclaimed,
gesturing at the image still displayed above them. "That's supposed to
justify mass murder?"
"A god doesn't have to justify his actions to anyone," Mitchell
said arrogantly. "Least of all to mere mortals."
"You son of a..." Tom began, taking a step towards Mitchell. From
the look on the helmsman's face, it appeared he was going to try and
tear Mitchell apart with his bare hands. Chakotay grabbed him by the
arm, restraining him from trying anything rash.
But there was no one to restrain the Scouts, who had quite plainly
heard enough. By unspoken accord, the group moved in unison, taking up
positions around Mitchell.
"Don't be fools," Mitchell told them. "You haven't got a chance
against me."
"We'll just have to see about that! JUPITER THUNDERCLAP ZAP!" the
tall Scout cried out and unleashed her power at Mitchell. When it
appeared he was unscathed, Venus immediately followed up on her friend's
efforts.
"VENUS LOVE-CHAIN ENCIRCLE!" The golden band of energy lashed out
and struck Mitchell, whose only reaction was to laugh.
"Is that the best you can do?" he asked, taunting the Scouts.
"Here's a sample of *my* power." Making a sweeping gesture with his
right hand, he sent a pressure wave outward that slammed into both Venus
and Jupiter, sending both of them flying. Venus hit the far wall hard
while Jupiter ended up colliding with Janeway. Thus cushioned, Jupiter
was almost immediately back on her feet but the Captain remained on the
ground, dazed from the impact. Venus was also getting back to her feet,
albeit rather shakily. "That was a warning, Sailor Scouts," Mitchell
snarled at them. "I have no quarrel with you but if you continue to
interfere, I'll crush you like the insects you are!"
If Mitchell had intended to cow the Sailor Scouts and their allies,
he failed utterly. In fact, it seemed that his remarks only served to
harden their resolve. "Well, you'll find these insects have a powerful
sting!" Mars retorted, launching into her attack. "MARS CELESTIAL FIRE
SURROUND!"
The fire rings struck Mitchell, but had the same effect as the
previous attempts. Which is to say, very little. "Pathetic," he said,
pointing a finger at her. An arc of energy, similar in appearance to
lightning, shot out at her. Mars able to dodge most of it, but the
outer edges of the bolt grazed her right leg. A sharp, searing pain
shot through her knee and she cried out involuntarily.
"Mars!" Sailor Moon cried out and raced to her friend's side.
Ignoring the injured Scout, Mitchell smiled arrogantly at Mercury.
"Go ahead, Mercury. I believe it's your turn."
Mercury quickly went over her options before committing herself.
Considering the lack of success the others were having against Mitchell,
she didn't see how her powers would be much more effective. But maybe
there was a way she could impair him and buy themselves time to regroup
and formulate an alternative strategy. So... "MERCURY BUBBLES BLAST!"
The temperature of the room dropped drastically as the fog formed
around them. But before it had fully settled in, the fog suddenly
dispersed as quickly as it had appeared. "Tsk, tsk, Mercury," he said,
wagging a finger at her. "I was expecting much better from you."
Sailor Moon looked up in time to see Mercury being struck by
Mitchell's latest attack, a large pressure wave, similar to what had
struck Jupiter and Venus. Mercury flew backwards several meters before
landing hard onto the floor.
"Mercury!" Sailor Moon gazed with deep concern for her friend.
"Are you OK?"
"I'll... be fine," she answered, although the shakiness in her
voice caused a large sense of doubt to rise up in Sailor Moon.
Chakotay and his fellow Voyager crewmate had not been idle. From
almost the first moment the combat started, they had been firing shot
after shot from their phaser rifles at Mitchell. But the
self-proclaimed deity ignored their efforts as if they were less than
nothing, preferring to focus his attention on the Sailor Scouts. Now he
was turning his attention to Venus and Jupiter, who had recovered enough
by this time to reenter the battle. Each of their own individual
attacks had proven ineffective against Mitchell, so they tried combining
their powers. About the only visible effect was that Mitchell seemed to
be becoming a bit irritated. "That's enough playtime," he snarled,
turning his gaze to Jupiter.
Jupiter braced herself to dodge whatever Mitchell sent her way, but
even so she was totally unprepared for what happened. The ground
beneath her feet split open slightly and a swirling mass of vines
erupted from it, quickly ensnaring her arms and legs.
"Hang on, Sailor Jupiter. I'll get you free," Venus said
confidently. She took a step towards her, intending on blasting the
vines holding her friend. Unfortunately, Mitchell had other ideas.
Before Venus could move so much as another millimeter, he looked in her
direction. The blonde froze in mid-step, unable to move.
Mitchell pointed a finger in her direction. "Good-bye, Sailor
Venus," he said just before sending a blast of psychokinetic energy
hurtling her direction.
Venus stared wide-eyed in horror as the white-hot beam shot at her,
unable to move or even to scream. Then, just before it impacted, she
felt something hit her in the side and sent her sprawling onto the
ground. Now able to move, she saw just who had knocked her out of the
way... and at a price. "Tom!"
The young lieutenant was lying still, smoke rising from the wound
in his chest. He evidently had attempted to block the blast with the
medkit, but it had gone right through it and struck him just to the
right of his sternum. Chakotay was already racing over to him and
reached Tom just before Venus did. Out of the corner of his eye, he
noted that Neelix was using his phaser to liberate Jupiter from the
vines holding her... And that Mitchell was taking aim at the two of
them. "Neelix! Behind you!"
Alerted by Chakotay's warning, Neelix dove for the ground, taking
Jupiter down with him. Even so, the lightning like arc still struck the
Talaxian in his left side.
Jupiter tore the remaining vines loose and started to help Neelix
up. "Are you OK?"
"I'll be fine," he said, his voice sounding a bit strained.
"Fortunately we Talaxians are quite resilient."
"Well, thanks for the help, but..." She took a close look at the
wound and gulped. The area around it was charred and cauterized, and it
looked fairly deep to her. "Doesn't it hurt to breathe?"
"Not as much as you might think," Neelix assured her. "I never
thought I'd be glad my lungs were stolen four years ago. And luckily,
the one Kes lent me is over here." He patted the right side of his
ribcage.
"You only bought her a few more seconds, Talaxian," Mitchell
sneered as he prepared to fire on her again. But instead, he suddenly
pulled his hand back, grimacing in some pain. The rose that had grazed
him was now embedded in the cavern floor. "Finally taking action, Cape
Boy?" he sneered.
"I strike when I'm needed, and when it will do the most good,"
Tuxedo Mask responded. "Besides, I was sure they'd beat you easily."
Smarting from the taunt, Mitchell snarled and hurled a small ball of
energy at him, but the tuxedo-clad warrior moved easily out of the way.
'So far, so good,' Darien reasoned to himself, 'Now if only I can keep
his attention on me long enough for the Scouts to really find a way to
beat him.'
"Is he...?" Venus began.
Chakotay felt for a pulse, and noted with a great sense of relief
that there was still one to be found. From the severity of the wound,
he had half expected that Tom had been killed instantly. "He's alive,
but it doesn't look good." He reached into the medkit for the medical
tricorder, but found that the small instrument had been partially melted
by the blast impact, rendering the device useless. He glanced up at
Mercury. When she had seen Tom go down, she had moved instantly to
render assistance, her own injuries put aside for the moment. "Would
you mind?" he asked, motioning to Tom.
"Of course," she answered, already activating her palmtop. In an
instant, the requested readouts started appearing on the display, and
she grimaced as she read them.
Chakotay noticed her expression. "It's that bad?"
"I'm afraid so. He's got severe trauma to his cardiopulmonary
system. I'm surprised he's even alive at all. We need a real doctor to
treat him and..." her voice trailed off as an odd readout appeared. An
odd datafile had appeared in her computer listing. She toggled the
inquiry to get more information on it, but for some reason it activated
the unknown program.
She readied herself for some other form of trouble, but even so she
still almost dropped her computer in shock when the holographic doctor
appeared in front of her... Or at least a version of him that was one
third his normal size. "Please state the nature of the medical
emergency," he said, then belatedly realized that his surroundings
weren't what he expected. "Wait a minute... I was in Sickbay. What am
I doing here? Where's my mobile emitter?" Then the full extent of his
circumstances struck him. "Why am I the size of a five year old?" he
demanded. "And why is my voice coming from that device?" He gestured
to Mercury's computer at the last.
"Was your computer hooked up to Voyager's main computer?" Chakotay
asked Mercury.
She nodded. "Yes. I saw the overload building up in the warp core
and I linked up my computer to try and help stop it. But the ship
exploded before I could do anything."
"Exploded?!?" the Doctor exclaimed.
Chakotay chose to ignore the Doctor for now. "Then somehow the
Doctor's program must have been downloaded into your computer before the
ship was destroyed."
"Destroyed?!?" the Doctor exclaimed again. He looked bewilderedly
between the three of them. "Will someone tell me what's going on?"
"Later," Chakotay told him. "Right now, Tom need's your help if
he's going to have a chance. Suffice it to say that your program is
running off of Mercury's computer. Since it wasn't designed for our
type of holographic programs, that's why your size is smaller and your
voice is coming from her computer."
"Well, I wish it had done a better job of it," the Doctor noted
sarcastically. "At this size, I won't be very good with standard
medical equipment." For emphasis, he stooped down to pick up the ruined
medical tricorder, but his hand just passed tight through the device.
"Correction: I'm not going to be any good in this condition."
"I'll help you, Doctor," Mercury volunteered. She felt a gentle
touch on her shoulder and turned to see Neelix beside her. He and
Jupiter must have moved to their position after the Talaxian had freed
her.
"You're going to be needed back in the fight," Neelix pointed out.
Mercury quickly glanced back to the battle. Sailor Moon was now
confronting Mitchell, who was still busy with Tuxedo Mask. The
tuxedo-clad warrior had managed to evade Mitchell's various attacks
until now but he couldn't keep that pace up forever. "On the other
hand, there's not much I can do to affect the outcome. I'll assist the
Doctor with Tom."
"You're right. Here..." She handed her computer to Neelix.
"You'll need this to keep the Doctor running." She turned to Venus and
Jupiter. "Let's go."
"Right," Venus responded, and the three of them charged back
towards the conflict.
In the meantime, Sailor Moon had rushed to aid Tuxedo Mask. "We
aren't going to let your attempt to rewrite history succeed, Mitchell!
Besides, I have a hard enough time studying history as it is without
people like you changing it! In the name of the Moon and Starfleet
Command, I'll punish you!" Barely pausing for a breath, she launched
right into her own attack. "MOON SPIRAL HEART ATTACK!"
Chakotay held his breath, hoping against hope that Sailor Moon
would have better luck than her fellow Scouts had been having. But that
hope turned out to be in vain. The First Officer swore softly in
frustration when he saw that Mitchell seemed unharmed. "I think I've
just about had enough of you," Mitchell told Sailor Moon.
"And just what do you think you're going to do about it?" she
retorted with more bravado than she felt. Mitchell didn't seem to react
at first, but several pebbles fell down around her. "Huh?" Puzzled,
Sailor Moon glanced to the ceiling above and then froze. A rather
sizable chunk of the ceiling had just broken off and was now plummeting
down at her.
Thankfully, a black blur moved her out of the way just before
impact. The rock slammed into the floor with a mighty crash, but
Mitchell wasn't paying it any mind. Instead, he was glaring at Tuxedo
Mask, who had one arm protectively around Sailor Moon. "Always with the
last minute rescues, Cape Boy?"
"As many as it takes to defeat you," he retorted, readying a rose.
"You don't have that much luck," Mitchell said. He was preparing
to attack the two again, but a disturbance at the cavern entrance
distracted him. An obviously angry Metallah stormed into the room.
Ignoring the scattered Sailor Scouts and Starfleet crewmembers, she
stormed right up to Mitchell, her voice loud and strident as she yelled
at him in her native tongue. "Ah, I see. If you'll excuse me, I seem
to be having a... labor relations problem. But don't worry, I'll get
right back to you." With that, Mitchell seemed to forget about the
battle while he turned his attention to Metallah.
The others moved over to where Tuxedo Mask and Sailor Moon were
standing. For the moment, it seemed that Mitchell was giving Metallah
his full attention, ignoring the Scouts completely. Chakotay hoped that
this lull would give them the chance they needed to regroup and turn the
situation around. But he didn't have much hope that they would as he
watched Tuvok aid a limping Sailor Mars towards the group.
"Now what do we do?" Venus asked. "Nothing we throw at him seems
to touch him."
"Do you have anything else in your arsenal?" Chakotay asked. "Some
other, more powerful attack."
"Yes, there's one more thing we could try," Mercury answered.
Actually, there were two things they could try, but the potential cost
of using the second was not something she cared to contemplate. And it
was for that reason that she dared not suggest it.
Not that she had to. Sailor Moon had already thought of using the
full power of the Silver Crystal here, but she was willing to give
Mercury's alternative a try first. "You're talking about the Planet
Power, right?"
"Yes." Mercury glimpsed over at Mars, who was still being
supported by Tuvok. "But I'm not sure Sailor Mars is up to it."
"I'll manage," Mars retorted. Tentatively she put her weight back
on the leg, but grimaced again. "Though it would be easier if this leg
would stop throbbing."
"Maybe you can get the Doctor to give you a painkiller," Jupiter
suggested.
Tuxedo Mask took a quick glance at the confrontation. "I'm not
sure you're going to have the time to get it."
"There is an alternative," Tuvok said. The Vulcan moved in front
of Mars. "There are a series of Vulcan disciplines I can use to help
you control the pain and enable you to function at optimum efficiency.
As we do not have the time for me to teach them to you, I must form a
low level mindlink between us using a mindmeld."
Mars seemed uncertain, but the urgency of the situation prompted
her to nod. "OK, let's do it."
Tuvok place his hand on the right side of Mars' head, placing his
fingers at the appropriate contact points. "My mind to your mind. Your
thoughts to my thoughts..."
"Why did you destroy that ship?!" Metallah raged. "You knew we
needed it!"
"So what if you did?" Mitchell told her. As always when he dealt
with his underlings, he replied in English, using his telepathic
abilities to translate it for her. He crossed his arms and glowered at
her. "*You* may have needed the ship to leave this world... but I no
longer do. Not that I ever really did."
If she had been human, Metallah would have blinked in surprise. As
it was, she did recoil in shock at Mitchell's announcement. "What do
you mean, you don't need that ship? You cannot leave this world without
a ship!"
"You severely underestimate my power, Metallah. I only needed the
ship to reach the Alpha Quadrant in a timely manner. And I only needed
you to acquire the ship for me." He paused and smiled.
"But.... But..."
"Metallah, Metallah," he chided her as one would a child. "There
are still some limits on my powers, and crossing vast distances in space
is one of them. I can easily cross short distances of a few light years
but even I must rest for an extended period after doing so.
Hopscotching like that across the galaxy would take me centuries to
reach my goal, which is why the ship was needed. But now I can take a
shortcut across time and space, thus eliminating the need for a
starship." He regarded her carefully. "But you have served me well.
Therefore, rather than force you to endure the pain of my imminent
departure, I will grant you a quick death."
Tuvok released his grip on Mars and moved back from her. Again,
she tried to put weight on her leg, but now it had been reduced to a
dull ache. The damage was still there, but at least now she could walk
on it. "I'm ready," she told the others, nodding her thanks to Tuvok.
"Let's do it."
The others nodded and formed up in a circle. Chakotay moved to one
side, his phaser rifle ready just in case Mitchell turned back to them,
while Tuvok and Tuxedo Mask did likewise on the other.
"OK, creep. This one's for Harry, B'Elanna, Seven, and everyone
else on Voyager," Venus muttered, risking a sidelong glance over at
Mitchell.
"VENUS STAR POWER!"
"MERCURY STAR POWER!"
"MARS STAR POWER!"
"JUPITER STAR POWER!"
Janeway blinked as she regained consciousness and took a quick look
around to evaluate the situation. Mitchell was confronting a Negaran,
which she had no doubt was Metallah. On the far side of the room, the
Scouts were grouped together, preparing an attack of their own.
Chakotay, Tuvok, and Tuxedo Mask were standing nearby them, evidently
providing cover. In another corner, she could see Neelix and what
looked like a smaller version of the Doctor (How had *that happened?)
tending to the fallen Tom Paris, who was either badly injured or maybe
even dying. "No more, Mitchell," she whispered, getting to her feet.
"You'll kill no more of my crew today. It ends *here*."
"MOON COSMIC POWER!"
"But you need us!" Metallah shouted, now grasping at straws.
"I need no one," Mitchell said flatly. He leveled a finger at her.
"But there is one more thing you can do for me. When I arrived, I
granted you and you people a share of my power, so that you could help
me acquire a starship. Since that is no longer necessary, I'll take
back that power. It will serve me far better that it will serve you
after I have gone." Before she could protest, a beam lanced out from
Mitchell, striking her in the abdomen. Feeling her powers being drained
from both her and her people, Metallah groaned and fell to her knees.
"You... you cannot do this," she protested feebly.
Mitchell regarded her as one would regard an insect. "Yes, I can.
Good-bye, Metallah." At a thought, a lightning like burst of energy
emerged from his hand and struck Metallah. The ruler of the Negaran
people didn't even have time to scream before she collapsed into a
lifeless heap.
"SAILOR PLANET POWER!" the Scouts chorused and the chamber was
instantly filled with a brilliant light.
Lambert wasn't sure what to do. The aliens had been putting up a
good fight at the citadel main gate. But moments ago, they had suddenly
ceased firing, and started dropping like flies to their weapons. He
didn't know just what to make of it.
A massive explosion rocked the ground beneath his feet, throwing
him and his fellow Voyager crewman off their feet. Looking upward, he
gaped in shock. The citadel was now a flaming ruin, the top of the
structure having literally evaporated. "What the hell was that?"
Chakotay stared upward at the open sky above him. The Scouts'
attack had completely blown the roof off the chamber and through the
citadel above it. He wasn't sure which amazed him more: the sheer power
of the attack, the fact that he and everyone else in the room were still
alive or that Mitchell seemed unaffected.
Then again, now that Chakotay took a closer look, maybe he had been
affected by the blast after all. Mitchell's form had rippled for a
second before solidifying, and his face bore a pained expression.
Regaining his composure after a moment, Mitchell glared at the
Scouts. "That almost hurt," he growled. A glow formed around his hand
as the Scouts started to take up defensive positions. "Had I not just
reabsorbed the power I had infused the Negarans with, it might have even
been enough to destroy me. But I suppose I should dispose of you,
before you pose too great a threat." Chakotay raised his phaser rifle
and took aim, despite knowing that his efforts would no doubt be
useless. Not far away, Tuvok did the same, while Tuxedo Mask readied
yet another rose. But before any of them could fire, a figure
approached Mitchell.
"Mitchell," Janeway said, taking another step closer to the former
Starfleet officer. She could hear Chakotay urging her to get clear but
she ignored him, keeping her attention firmly focused on Mitchell. The
time had long passed to drop the pretense. She and her ally had to take
a direct hand in this before more of her crew paid the price. "Dispose
of *this*!" She raised a hand, pointing in Mitchell's direction.
Immediately a white glow surrounded it and lashed out at Mitchell.
Taken completely by surprise, he fell to the ground with a loud cry.
"Captain?" Chakotay breathed, lowering his phaser. Since they had
arrived on this planet, he had seen many things that would ordinarily be
termed 'unbelievable'. But seeing his captain speaking in the same
tenor of voice as Mitchell, and manipulating energies similar to what he
had been wielding was going well beyond the bounds of believable and
into the realm of the fantastic.
Tuvok, having had known Janeway for far longer than Chakotay, also
seemed stunned by this turn of events. But in typical Vulcan fashion,
his only comment was, "Fascinating."
Mitchell shook his head in an attempt to clear it, more stunned
than anything else. He heard Janeway say something else, but the words
didn't register for him. On the other hand, the tone of her voice did.
It had altered, taking on a resonating quality. Turning to face her, he
received another, more profound shock. Janeway's eyes had a silver
backglow to them, similar to his own. But how was that possible? She
hadn't been exposed to the galactic barrier as he had been all those
years ago on the Enterprise, there was only...
It came to him in an instant. Of course! If he was able to
survive all those years, the so could... "Elizabeth!"
"Got it in one," the entity inside Janeway replied before letting
loose another blast of psychokinetic energy at Mitchell.
"Elizabeth?" Chakotay whispered, still confused.
"He is referring to the entity within the Captain that Mercury and
Mars detected earlier," Tuvok informed him. "Apparently it is Dr.
Elizabeth Dehner, who had been altered in the same manner as Mitchell
had been when the Enterprise attempted to traverse the energy barrier at
the edge of our galaxy."
"Logical," Mars agreed. She had already 'heard' Tuvok reason this
out moment ago through the mindlink between them. "When Voyager first
crossed over to our universe, Dehner's essence must have somehow infused
itself within Captain Janeway. That's what I sensed in the Ready Room."
Sailor Moon looked oddly at Mars. Her manner of speaking had taken
on a distinctly Vulcan tone. "Are you sure you're feeling OK, Mars?"
"She's fine, Meatball Head," Tuvok said suddenly. The Vulcan then
shifted somewhat uncomfortably under the stares he was getting. "As am
I."
Despite the seriousness of their situation, Chakotay couldn't help
but chuckle slightly. "I wish Tom had been able to hear you say that."
Trying to press the advantage surprise had gained them,
Janeway/Dehner bombarded Mitchell with all the power Dehner could
muster. At first it seemed to Chakotay that they had him on the ropes.
But all too soon a glow surrounded Mitchell, one that seemed to be
protecting him from the onslaught.
"He's forming a shield," Mercury confirmed.
"Great. Is there anything this creep can't do?" Jupiter muttered.
"Die, apparently," Chakotay observed.
'We'll have to see about that,' Sailor Moon thought, and began
edging over towards Mitchell. If Janeway and Dehner failed, she could
see only one course of action left, and she just knew her friends would
make major objections if she proposed it.
Janeway gritted her teeth, and mentally urged Dehner to intensify
the attack. They had to take him out quickly. If Mitchell got a chance
to recover, they might not get another chance like this. Accordingly,
Dehner summoned up more of her power and channeled it into the barrage
they were maintaining against Mitchell. The glow of energies
surrounding the former Starfleet officer grew to the point where
Mitchell could no longer be seen. It was now impossible to tell if the
bombardment was having affect on him.
The answer became readily apparent when a large pressure wave came
from Mitchell's location, emanating in all directions and scattering
Janeway, the Scouts, and the other Starfleet officers about as if they
were tenpins. Janeway shook her head to clear it and struggled to her
feet. Seeing that Mitchell was also standing, she and Dehner prepared
themselves to renew the battle.
"A good try, Elizabeth," Mitchell said. He may have looked as if
he had just run a marathon, but it was plain to see that his strength
was returning rapidly. Janeway could feel Dehner's own power starting
to renew itself, but she felt certain that it wouldn't be fast enough.
"Inhabiting the Captain and hiding yourself inside her mind until you
could get close enough to strike was a clever strategy. You almost had
me there... for a moment. But the moment has passed."
"You haven't won yet, Mitchell," Janeway replied.
"True, but it's only a matter of time now," he told her. "My power
was always greater than yours, Elizabeth. That was true on Delta Vega,
and it's even truer now that I have the energies I took from the
Negaforce to draw upon. You haven't got a chance."
Both Janeway and Dehner knew that this was most likely true, but
that didn't stop her from trying to strike at Mitchell again.
Unfortunately, he was prepared for her blow this time and parried it
before retaliating with a strike of his own. Janeway fell to the ground
with a loud cry of pain.
Mitchell took a couple of slow, measured steps towards her.
"Good-bye, Elizabeth."
"Hold it!" a voice cried out.
Turning to his right, Mitchell saw Sailor Moon facing him
defiantly. If her bravado impressed him any, he didn't show it. "If
you don't mind, I'm busy. Besides, I already took your best shot,
remember?"
"That was just for starters. If you were really at D Point, you
know for certain that I can do more than that," she countered.
Mitchell raised an eyebrow as a glow started forming around the
broach containing the Silver Crystal. "So you intend to use that little
jewel. Well, if you want to throw your life away in a futile attempt to
stop me, go right ahead."
"If that's what it takes to stop you, then so be it," she answered
without hesitating. "You're the kind of monster who would destroy
everything just for the sheer fun of it. Eventually you'd get around to
destroying my world. Even if you wouldn't, I'm not about to let you
destroy this universe. For this world and for these people, but most
especially my friends -- both the Sailor Scouts and those Starfleet
people we've met along the way. So for the sake of Kirk and Spock,
Picard and Riker, the crew of Voyager and even Worf... I'd gladly
sacrifice my life to stop you."
Another moved to stand beside Sailor Moon. "If the cost must be
paid in lives, then you should not be the one to pay it, Sailor Moon"
Janeway/Dehner said, placing a hand on her shoulder. "We should be the
ones to shoulder the burden."
Sailor Moon shook her head. She may be willing to make the supreme
sacrifice herself, but she was unwilling to allow someone else to do the
same. "Captain, I can't let you..."
"It was my ship. Those still alive, both here and on the surface,
are my crew," Janeway interrupted, the tone of her voice making it clear
that the Starfleet captain, not Dehner, was speaking at the moment.
"We've both made the choice willingly, Sailor Moon. One way or another,
it ends... *now*." Not giving the Sailor Scout a chance to make any
further argument, Dehner used her own powers to link with the Silver
Crystal, and began funneling her energies through it. Realizing that
any further argument would be pointless, Sailor Moon willed the Crystal
to life. A bright beam emerged from the Crystal, striking Mitchell and
actually staggering him.
"Come on," Tuxedo Mask urged the others. "We have to help Sailor
Moon." The others nodded, and followed his lead, taking up positions
just behind Sailor Moon and Captain Janeway.
Regaining his senses at long last, Chakotay took in the situation
with a glance while he help Tuvok to his feet. "Grab your phaser," he
instructed the Vulcan. "Set it for continuous fire at maximum
intensity."
Even as Tuvok made the adjustments to his weapon, he felt compelled
to point out the obvious. "Commander, given the amount of power
demonstrated by Mitchell, the Sailor Scouts and even Captain Janeway, I
am uncertain as to the difference two phaser rifles will make to the
battle."
"Maybe it won't make any difference," the First Officer conceded.
"But that's our captain out there, and I intend to give her whatever
help I can."
Chakotay half expected Tuvok to point out the illogic in making a
futile gesture, but the Vulcan surprised him by simply saying, "Agreed,"
before aiming and triggering the phaser.
Neelix watched the battle progress uneasily. "I wish there was
something we could do to help."
"I'm afraid there isn't, Mr. Neelix," the Doctor noted. "All
either of us can do now is watch... and hope."
As the battle intensified, the power of the Crystal forged a link
between the three minds utilizing it -- Sailor Moon, Captain Janeway,
and Dehner. Each of them felt the determination the others felt to
destroy Mitchell, but Dehner kept some of her own thoughts to herself.
She knew that Sailor Moon would object strenuously, and Janeway most
likely would as well, but she did not intend to survive this battle even
if they proved victorious. It had been hard enough for her to hold onto
her own humanity for only a century of this type of existence. She knew
that if she lived on, she could become as bad if not worse than
Mitchell, and she would rather die before that happened.
Sensing that Mitchell was close to breaking -- after all, he was
under attack by not only Dehner's full power, but Sailor Moon's
reinforced by the other Scouts and by two phaser rifles -- Dehner
concentrated on pouring her last reserves of power into it and she
mentally urged her two allies to do likewise. Both agreed instantly,
and she felt the output from the Silver Crystal increase to yet another
level.
At long last, Mitchell's shielding failed him and the full power of
the Crystal struck into the core of his being. Dehner took a moment to
redirect the Crystal's powers into another avenue before Sailor Moon
would cease-fire. If the legends of its power were true, then she could
use it to help Captain Janeway and repay her for her assistance. It
would take the last reserves of her own power, but she no longer cared.
There was only time to say... "Good-bye."
Had anyone been there to see it, the view from space would have
proven breathtaking. In the span of less than a second, a fountain of
light erupted from the heart of the citadel and soared upward into
space. The base of it spread outward in all directions, rapidly
spreading out to cover the entire planet. Wherever it touched, the
faded and drab look the surface had possessed was replaced with bright
and vivid colors that were normally typical of a Class M world. The top
of the fountain continued skyward, reaching outward into space until it
touched the debris field that had once been an Intrepid class starship.
Unaware of the events taking place above, all Chakotay could do was
shield his eyes, trying to keep his phaser firing at where he thought
Mitchell was and hope that what he was doing would make some small
difference. He hadn't thought it was possible, but the light from this
display of power was even more brilliant than when the Scouts had
launched their Planet Power attack. Eventually the light faded,
allowing him to lower his hand and look directly at the scene. The
Captain still stood there next to Sailor Moon. Tuxedo Mask and the
other Scouts were standing behind them. Of Mitchell, no sign remained.
Everyone present was frozen for a moment... until Captain Janeway and
Sailor Moon both collapsed.
"Kathryn!" "Serena!" Both Chakotay and Tuxedo Mask were first to
react. Tuxedo Mask rushed over to Sailor Moon's side, while Chakotay
likewise went to his captain. Chakotay immediately checked for a pulse,
and was relieved to find one, even if it was light and thready.
"Neelix, bring the Doctor over here!" he called over his shoulder.
"On our way, Commander," the Talaxian responded.
Nearby, Mercury was checking Sailor Moon's condition through her
visor and sighed with relief. "Her bioreadings are low, but seem to be
stable for the moment. I think she'll be OK, but we should get to some
a medical facility of some sort as soon as possible."
A wave of relief washed over the Scouts, but Mars felt a sense of
worry coming through the mindlink she still shared with Tuvok. Turning,
she saw the Vulcan was gazing at his captain and friend, the concern he
was feeling evident in his thoughts and even on his face. "Mercury,
what about Captain Janeway?"
She turned to the Captain and waited for a moment for her visor to
process the data it was receiving. When the readings were finally
displayed, the relief she had felt moments before ebbed from her like
the receding tide. "It's not good," she decidedly understated. "Her
bioreadings are even lower than Sailor Moon's. If we don't get her some
medical help soon..."
"Neelix, where's that Doctor?" Chakotay called out.
"Keep your shirt on, Chakotay. We had to pick up what was left of
the medkit."
The First Officer looked up suddenly, then almost shrugged in
resignation. What was one more shock after everything else that had
happened. "Tom? But how..?"
"I'm afraid the answer to that medical miracle will have to wait
until later," the Doctor noted dryly. "Mr. Neelix, if you'll put the
computer down on my level..."
"Of course, Doctor," he said, and put Mercury's palmtop on the
ground in front of the hologram.
The Doctor grimaced as the readings scrawled across the screen.
"There's no time to lose. Mr. Paris, administer two cc's of cordrazine
to the Captain, and zero point two cc's of it to Sailor Moon."
Paris started to make the appropriate settings to the hypo, then
paused. "Did you say two cc's?" Needless to say, that was a rather
large dosage of the powerful stimulant.
"I did, Mr. Paris. And hurry up about it. We're losing ground
rapidly."
Janeway's eyes snapped open almost instantly after Paris injected
her. She looked around wildly for a moment before she focused on...
"Chakotay..."
Tom moved over to Sailor Moon and, after resetting the hypo to
administer the smaller dosage, gave her an injection. As with the
Captain, the results where immediate. She stirred and opened her eyes.
Seeing Tuxedo Mask hovering over her, she gave a weak smile. "Hi."
"Hi yourself," he answered.
Behind him, Mars sighed in relief. "I swear, Serena, if you ever
do anything like this again, I'll... I'll kill you myself."
Darien saw a mischievous gleam come into Sailor Moon's eyes and
knew instantly that there was going to be trouble. "Why Raye," Sailor
Moon said, "I never knew you cared."
"WHAT?!?" Mars screeched. "Of *course* I care!"
"Try not to talk, Captain," the First Officer told her. How weak
her voice had sounded chilled him to the bone. "Save your strength."
"No time for that," she said. She could feel the effects of the
cordrazine injection wearing off already. "Just... those still alive,
Chakotay. Do whatever you have to do, but... Get them home."
"You'll be able to do that," he objected. "Just rest and let the
Doctor do his..." He froze momentarily as her head rolled to one side
and her body fell limp. "Captain!"
"Her vital signs are falling rapidly," the Doctor said with alarm.
"Mr. Paris, prepare another injection. And somebody get the cortical
stimulators ready."
Janeway heard Doctor's initial statements, but the conversation
after that had become a rather indistinct mumble that grew fainter as
time passed. That combined with the fact that the light was fading
around her into darkness, made her fairly certain that she was dying.
At least she had been able to keep Mitchell from making good on his
threat of annihilating the Federation in the past. Her crew's friends
and families would be safe, even if they didn't know the ultimate
sacrifice most of them had made to insure that. 'I only wish... That I
could have gotten them, *all* of them, home,' Janeway thought as she
felt the darkness close in on her.
"You will."
Who said that? Was it some aspect of Dehner that remained with
her, speaking to her in her mind? Was she still mindlinked with Sailor
Moon? She couldn't be sure. Maybe she had simply imagined it.
Indulging in a bit of wishful thinking just before the end.
Then, just before the darkness became total, she was certain she
heard a voice rising above the din from the outside world.
"Voyager to Captain Janeway."
Harry?
Blackness.
*******
"Well, that was certainly interesting. But I always knew that
Kathy had it in her."
If she could have, Janeway would have frowned inwardly. There was
something about that male voice that was familiar. But before she could
puzzle it out further, an unknown female voice spoke in a light, almost
teasing voice, "If I didn't know you better, I'd say you were carrying a
torch for her."
"Oh, please, my dear," the male replied, sounding offended. "One
ball and chain is enough. I only hold the utmost respect for Kathryn."
*******
"...she's coming around now."
Hearing that voice, Janeway forced open her eyelids and was
instantly positive that she was dreaming somehow. She blinked a couple
of times, but her vision remained steady. In fact, she could have sworn
she heard... "Doctor?" she said, her voice barely above a whisper.
The hologram came into view above her, not the midget version she
had seen during the battle below but instead back at his normal size.
"Take it easy, Captain. You're out of immediate danger, but your system
is still weak from your ordeal. I'd rather you keep off your feet for a
bit."
Janeway nodded. At the moment she felt like a wet dishrag, but she
still felt compelled to prop herself up on her elbows. She looked
around her and felt as if she might lapse into unconsciousness again.
Somehow, someway, she was lying on the surgical biobed in Voyager's
Sickbay. Unless she was hallucinating then by some improbable miracle,
Voyager had been reborn. "This is impossible. I saw the ship
destroyed."
"We all did," Amy said. For some reason Janeway was unaware of,
she had transformed back into her normal identity. Standing behind the
biomonitors, she glanced back and forth between them and her computer.
"All her bioreadings appear to be normal, Doctor, if a bit on the weak
side. And that includes her EEG. But since it appeared normal
before..." her voice trailed off and she glanced meaningfully at
Janeway.
"You needn't worry, Amy," Janeway reassured both her and the
Doctor, "The only one using my head right now is me. Dr. Dehner is
gone... forever." Feeling some of her strength returning, she swung her
legs off the biobed and sat up. Maybe a bit too quickly as the room
threatened to start spinning around her.
"Captain, I told you to take it easy!" the Doctor admonished her
sharply.
She held up a reassuring hand. "Don't worry, Doctor. I'm not
going to push it anymore."
"I've heard that one before," the hologram groused.
"Well... not today if that makes you feel any better," she added
with a smile. "How long was I out. And how did..?" She moved her hand
to indicate the room around her and the ship beyond the Sickbay walls.
"You've been unconscious for nearly a full day. And as for the
ship... I guess you could say that things like this tend to happen when
the Silver Crystal is used in that manner," Amy answered. "When Sailor
Moon first used its full power, during our final battle with Beryl, it
somehow brought all of us back from the dead." She paused, considering.
"Still, I wonder why Sailor Moon wasn't as affected as you were?"
"If I had to guess, I'd say that it was a result of Dr. Dehner's
influence," Janeway theorized. "I seem to recall her using her own
lifeforce to empower the Silver Crystal at that critical moment."
"Well, I for one am glad to be back on the ship and out of
Mercury's computer," the Doctor said. "Existing as the 'Chibi-Doctor'
had its drawbacks."
"What about the rest of the crew? And Tom?" Janeway asked.
"All personnel are accounted for, Captain," the hologram assured
her. "And in excellent health, I might add. Another side effect of the
Silver Crystal, I believe. You and Sailor Moon were the only ones I had
to treat in the aftermath. In fact, I was able to release Sailor Moon
from Sickbay some time ago. Now, if you'll excuse me..." Not waiting
for her reply, the hologram tapped onto his comm. badge. "Doctor to
Chakotay."
On the Bridge, Chakotay looked up expectedly. "Go ahead, Doctor."
"I'm pleased to report that Captain Janeway has regained
consciousness and is completely out of danger."
Chakotay could almost feel the tension that had been lingering over
the Bridge crew literally evaporate. For each member of the Bridge
crew, and those Sailor Scouts present, the tense expressions faded to be
replaced with smiles. Even Tuvok seemed somewhat relieved to hear the
Doctor's news. "I'm on my way down, Doctor. Chakotay out." Rising
from his seat, Chakotay gestured to the tactical station. "Tuvok, you
have the Bridge."
"Acknowledged, Commander," the Vulcan replied as the first officer
made his way to the turbolift.
Raye got there before he did. "Mind if I come along?"
"Not at all," Chakotay answered, motioning her towards the
turbolift.
"Looks like the good guys win again," Mina observed as the doors
closed behind them.
"Yep," Lita agreed with her friend. "This calls for a
celebration."
Tuvok frowned as he assumed his position in the center seat. "A
celebration?"
"Yeah, you know. A party."
"I fail to see any cause for celebration," Tuvok said. "This ship
and crew has endured numerous hardships over the last few hours, even
leading to its own, if temporary, destruction. It is only by sheer good
fortune that we have emerged unscathed."
"Yeah, and *that's* what we're celebrating!" Lita told him.
"Don't be such a stone in the swamp, Tuvok," Mina chided him.
The Vulcan frowned. "'Stone in the swamp'?" he questioned. "I do
not believe I am familiar with that human phrasing."
"I think she means 'stick in the mud'," Tom said.
Mina shrugged. "Whatever."
"Well, I think having a party is a brilliant idea," Neelix said,
heartily embracing the notion. "And as the ship's morale officer, I'm
going to insist on it to Captain Janeway... after the Doctor releases
her from Sickbay, of course."
"Do you think she'd mind if started getting things ready?" Lita
asked.
"Of course not," Neelix said. "And I should get started right
away, too." He started for the turbolift, then paused and turned back
to the two girls. "Would you two mind giving me a hand?"
"Sure!" they chorused.
Sitting at the engineering station, B'Elanna watched with some
apprehension as the trio made their way to the turbolift, on their way
to the mess hall. "I hope that Mina can cook better than she handles
electronics."
"She does not," Seven stated flatly.
B'Elanna groaned softly. "That's just great. We survive all this
only to killed by terminal food poisoning."
"Well, at least we know there's one good cook in the bunch," Harry
pointed out, trying to make the best of it.
Turning in his seat, Tom looked around at his shipmates. "So...
Any bets on which of them will poison someone first?"
Playing the role of a good host, Chakotay allowed Raye to precede
him into the room. When he did follow her inside, he felt a palpable
sense of relief when he actually saw his captain and friend sitting up
on the biobed. Of course he had known he would, having heard the
Doctor's announcement minutes before. And while he did trust the
hologram's abilities, there was nothing like seeing that fact for
oneself to dispel any lingering doubts.
Raye was also glad to see the Captain nearly recovered, but at the
moment she had something else on her mind. A quick glance to Amy
confirmed that all traces of Dehner seemed to be gone from Janeway's
mind, but she wanted to be sure for herself. Not saying anything
initially, she approached the biobed and stared intently at her.
"Why do I get the impression that you're probing the depths of my
soul?" Janeway asked lightheartedly.
"That's because I am," she replied. Ignoring Janeway's look of
incredulity, Raye continued her probe until she was satisfied. "There's
no sign of any other minds other than her own." She gave the Captain a
meaningful look. "Not that I can detect, I guess."
"I can see that I'm going to be apologizing for keeping that little
fact concealed for quite a while," Janeway observed.
Chakotay shook his head. "Not to me."
"Huh?" Raye looked mystified.
"I know from experience that there are times when a captain needs
to keep information to him or herself," he explained.
"But you wouldn't mind an explanation," Janeway said.
Chakotay nodded. "True."
"If this were just a matter of trust, Raye, I would have told you
and the others about it in a second. But you saw how powerful a
telepath Mitchell was. He would have taken that knowledge from your
minds in an instant, and then we would have lost the only advantage we
had -- surprise."
"Not that it made much of a difference," Raye said.
"I'm afraid so," Janeway said, sighing. "The original plan Dehner
and I had created was for me to confront him alone after we had freed
the away team. She could have concealed myself, Tom, and the Scouts
from him until that was done. After that, there would be too many minds
for her to hide. Once that was done, I would have sent the others back
to the ship in the Shepard, while Dehner and I confronted Mitchell."
"Given how powerful he was, that course of action would have been
suicidal," Amy pointed out.
"And somehow, I don't see Commander Chakotay agreeing to leave you
behind to face him," the Doctor added.
Chakotay nodded. "You got that right."
"Well, Mitchell was much more powerful than either of us had
anticipated, so it's probably just as well," Janeway conceded.
"Besides, the destruction of the shuttle took care of that idea."
"Speaking of the shuttle..." Chakotay began.
"That's right," Janeway said. "We should send down a team to
recover the wreckage. It'll at least give B'Elanna something to work
with for fashioning a replacement."
"That's not necessary," Chakotay told her. "We haven't been
sitting on our hands waiting for you to recover. I sent a team down
shortly after we returned to the ship. They found the Shepard in
pristine condition, with absolutely no signs of damage. It's currently
back in the Shuttlebay."
"Why am I not surprised at that?" Janeway asked wryly. "So how are
we otherwise set?"
"All personnel are safe and accounted for," the First Officer told
her. "As for the ship, there's no sign of damage to any of the ship's
systems. In fact, things seems to be running better than before we came
to this planet."
"Well, at least some good came out of this," the Captain observed.
"By the way, where are the other Scouts?"
"The last I saw, Lita and Mina were on the Bridge," Raye answered.
"And Serena and Darien?"
Chakotay decided to answer that one. "I gave them permission to
use holodeck one for an extended period. It seemed the least we could
do was to give them some time to themselves."
"I wonder what program they chose?" Janeway mused.
"I don't have any idea," Chakotay confessed, "But I think Tom may
have made a suggestion or two."
Serena looked dubiously about the cafe. Using the holodeck to
visit a French cafe had seemed like a good idea before, but some of the
characters the holodeck had created were downright strange. Especially
the one guy who was constantly playing pool. "Darien, are you *sure*
this is the program Tom was talking about?"
"Reasonably sure," he answered. "At least, I didn't see another
program labeled 'Sandrine's' in the listing."
Epilogue
"...and imagine yourself in the place where you've been the most at
peace with yourself."
Raye tried to relax and comply with Chakotay's urgings, but it
wasn't easy. Even discounting the recent events surrounding their visit
to Voyager, there had been many factors in her life that had discounted
her feeling relaxed in any manner. Especially since she had gotten that
vision of utter devastation. After a moment, she sighed. "I don't
think this is..." she began, but her voice trailed off when she opened
her eyes and got a good look at her surroundings.
Instead of being in Chakotay's quarters, she found herself
somewhere on the temple grounds. No matter how carefully she looked,
she couldn't tell the difference between this and reality. "Whoa. This
is weird."
"Don't worry about it," she heard Chakotay's disembodied voice tell
her. "You should see your animal guide somewhere nearby. Just remember
not to tell me or anyone else what it is, or you'll offend it."
"I heard you the first time," Raye grumbled while looking around
the grounds. At first, she thought the chuckling she heard in the
background was from Chakotay, but she soon realized that the voice was
much too deep to be that of Voyager's first officer. Turning towards
the source, she found herself confronted by a large gray wolf. The wolf
looked her over very carefully, and then seemed to grin. "Greetings,
cubling. I've been waiting for you."
Though she had been told the animal guide would be able to
communicate with her, the sight of a talking wolf proved very startling
for Raye. She gasped in surprise, and then blinked as she suddenly
found herself back in Chakotay's quarters.
"Something wrong?" Chakotay asked, still seated on the floor in
front of her.
"It spoke to me!"
Chakotay smiled. "I did tell you they would be able to
communicate."
"I know, I know," Raye conceded. "Still, it was really weird
hearing..." Chakotay opened his mouth to warn her again about speaking
of her animal guide, but his fear proved to be groundless. "...an
animal speak like that."
"I understand," Chakotay assured her. "The first contact is always
the hardest one, depending on the individual, of course. On one hand,
Captain Janeway's went relatively smoothly. On the other extreme,
there's B'Elanna."
"Oh?" Raye cocked an eyebrow in a very Tuvok-like manner. It was
all Chakotay could do to keep from grinning broadly. "What happened?"
"B'Elanna's the only person I know who tried to kill her animal
guide."
Raye's other eyebrow went upwards. "Fascinating." This time
Chakotay did grin, and Raye flushed red and tried to hide her face with
one hand. "I don't believe I said that."
"I wouldn't worry about that too much. It's only a side effect of
the mind link, and Tuvok did tell you it should fade soon enough.
Besides, I think Tuvok finds it a little more distressing sounding like
you."
Raye felt her temper flare, and she glared at Chakotay. "What's
that supposed to mean?!?"
"Only that a Vulcan is even more embarrassed acting like a human
than you should be for acting like a Vulcan," he reassured her. He
gestured to the akoonah on the floor between them, "If you want, you
could try to re-establish contact."
"I don't think there's time for that right now," she answered. She
stood up and Chakotay did likewise. "I think Neelix's party is about to
start. But I should be able to make contact with it on my own later,
right?"
"That's right," Chakotay confirmed. "And if what you tell me about
your fire readings, you won't need an akoonah either. The fire reading
ritual itself should be more than enough to induce the proper mental
state."
Raye nodded. "Okay, maybe I'll try it after I get back home.
Thanks, Chakotay."
"Anytime," he responded as she left the room. After she had gone,
Chakotay sat done on the floor once more, and rearranged the contents of
his medicine bundle in front of him. He had a few things to work out
for himself after recent events, and there was no time like the present.
He picked up the river rock and, cupping it in both hands, closed his
eyes; trying to clear his mind. When he felt ready, reached out with
his right hand and placed it atop the akoonah. "A-koo-chee-moya. I am
far from the sacred places of my grandfathers. I am far from the bones
of my people. I come here seeking guidance..."
When he opened his eyes, he found himself in a forest glade much
like what one would find in North America. All was still about him
except for the sounds of birds chirping in the distance.
Then there was a rustling in the bushes on the far side of the
glade, from which emerged large gray wolf. Though he did not know it,
Chakotay had the same animal guide as Raye, and it was here to greet him
as always.
Sensing his need for answers, the wolf turned and headed for one of
the many trails leading from the glade. Chakotay hurried to follow the
guide.
It seemed as if he wandered about the forest for hours, though it
may well have been minutes. Time was hard to tell on a vision quest.
But eventually trail led to the mouth of a cave. It was impossible to
see what was within, for the inside was as black as pitch. Still the
wolf unerringly went inside, not bothering to see if Chakotay followed.
Pausing at the entrance for only a fraction of a second, the First
Officer went into the cavern...
...and emerged into a sea of white.
Yet not entirely white, for the background swirled about him,
hinting at colors he could not perceive directly. And there was a large
structure nearby, one that resembled a large door or gateway if nothing
else. He looked around it carefully, but he could not tell where it led
to, only that there was a mass of pulsating energies within the frame of
the door. "What is it?"
"It is a gateway," a voice answered him. Chakotay whirled about to
face the source. It was a humanoid female, dressed in attire that was
similar in form to the Sailor Scouts. She also bore a staff, which had
a vague resemblance to a large key. "The Gateway of Time, to be exact.
But what are you doing here?"
"I was brought here, by my animal guide."
"I see," she replied, then paused in contemplation. "I wonder why
the old wolf brought you here?"
Chakotay was shocked that she knew what his animal guide was, but
he struggled to conceal it. "Who are you?"
"I am Sailor Pluto, the guardian of this realm," she answered,
staring sternly at him. "I trust you have a good reason for coming
here, Commander."
'Sailor Pluto?' Chakotay thought. So far this was turning out to
be one of the stranger vision quests he had ever been on...
B'Elanna took a moment to wipe off the sweat that was accumulating
on her brow. "I can't believe I let you talk me into this."
"I don't know what you're complaining about," Lita replied. "I
think this is fun."
"Some fun." B'Elanna took a moment to look at her surroundings
once again. She and Lita were in the middle of the standard Klingon
calisthenics holoprogram, and as before, she was having a miserable time
in it. "If I wanted to be hot and sweaty, I'd create a program for
somewhere on Cardassia Prime."
Lita's brow furrowed, showing the puzzlement she felt. "Cardassia
Prime? Where's --"
Before she could finish, a loud cry echoed around them and various
holo-monsters charged the two of them. Lita heard B'Elanna cry out
followed by a loud splash, but she was too occupied with the assorted
creatures to do anything about it. Handling the bat'leth as if she had
been born to it, she block the incoming attacks and disabled the
creatures one by one. When the last of the holo-creatures hit the floor
and dissolved, she turned and looked for the Voyager engineer.
Finding her wasn't hard. B'Elanna was a few meters behind her,
sitting waist deep in a pool of marsh water and looking as if she was
getting angrier by the second. Lita choked off a laugh, but enough
escaped to send B'Elanna flying into a rage. "That does it!" she
exclaimed, standing up and trying fruitlessly to wring the water out of
her clothes. "I have had *enough* of this ridiculous program!" She
bent down and picked up her own bat'leth before slogging her way out of
the water. "Computer: end program!"
The scenario dissolved around them, revealing the hologrid. Still
enraged and thoroughly soaked, B'Elanna started storming for the exit.
But Lita grabbed her before she got to the exit. "B'Elanna --"
"Let me go, Lita," she retorted flatly.
Lita complied but not before she said, "I'm sorry."
B'Elanna's anger started dissolving as quickly as it had formed.
"It's not your fault," she told the tall girl. "It's just that these
type of activities don't appeal to me."
"Yeah, I can tell," Lita said. "It just... I had so much fun going
through this program with Worf back on the Enterprise, I wanted to take
the opportunity to enjoy it here with someone." She smiled
apologetically. "I guess I assumed that since you were half Klingon..."
"Big mistake," B'Elanna told her gently. "But an understandable
one. I've never been too comfortable with my Klingon heritage."
"Done already?" They both turned to see Tom Paris approaching. "I
just got off watch from the Bridge, and I was hoping to catch a little
of the action."
"I'm afraid you're a little late, Tom. We just finished," B'Elanna
said.
From the state her clothing was in, Tom had a feeling just how it
had gone for B'Elanna. But he still couldn't resist getting a little
jab in. "So, is that a bat'leth I see in your hand, or are you just
happy to see me?" he quipped.
Lita couldn't help but giggle at the joke, but B'Elanna was not
amused. "Very funny, Tom." She raised the weapon up threateningly.
"In case no one's ever told you, you should never tease a woman holding
a sharp blade," she warned him. "Especially one who's soaking wet, and
very angry."
Tom carefully put his hand on the flat of the blade. "I see your
point," he said as he gently shoved the weapon away.
Lita wasn't sure if she should intervene or not, but she was saved
the effort of deciding by the timely arrival of Harry and Mina. "Hi!"
the blonde said brightly. "Is the holodeck free?"
"Yeah, we just finished," Lita replied. She glanced over the
attire both Harry and Mina were wearing. "What are you guys up to?"
"Parrises squares," Harry answered, hefting the ball that was used
for that particular game. "Care to join us?"
"No thanks," Lita answered, while both Tom and B'Elanna indicated
negative answers as well. "I thought you were going to help Neelix
finish things up?"
"He said he could handle things from there," Mina said. "And I
figured it was like you said when you decided to head here -- there's no
telling if we'll ever get a chance to try out one of these holodecks
again." With that, she and Harry entered into the holodeck.
"I better get going then," Lita observed. "Even if he said he can
handle things, I bet Neelix wouldn't mind having some help."
While Lita walked away, B'Elanna glanced through the open holodeck
doors and shrugged. "If nothing else, Harry keeping Mina occupied in
there reduces the odds of any of us getting food poisoning," she said
quietly as she and Tom walked away from the holodeck door.
Evidently not quiet enough, for Mina quickly appeared in the still
open doorway. "HEY! What's that supposed to mean?!" she challenged the
Klingon engineer. But before B'Elanna could reply, both she and Tom
heard Harry shouting "Look out!" just as the ball came soaring out of
the holodeck, scoring a direct hit on the back of Mina's head. The
dazed blonde staggered slightly before she crumpled onto the deck.
Pluto sighed. Chakotay had left the Gateway not long ago. She
hoped she had been able to help him find the answers he was looking for,
but she even more fervently hoped that the Gateway was not going to
become Grand Central Station to those on vision quests. The last thing
she needed was to become a cosmic counselor.
Almost in response to her thinking about unwanted guests, a flash
and ripple of sound to her right announced the arrival of Q. The entity
seemed somewhat amused, but it was soon apparent as to what. "Well, I
see you'll let just about anybody here nowadays."
"Now Q, I didn't just 'let' Commander Chakotay in here. He was
brought here by another."
"Another?" Q scowled at her. "What do you mean by that?"
"There are more things on Heaven and Earth than are dreamt of in
your philosophy, Q," she replied, paraphrasing a quote from Shakespeare.
Q snorted. "I ask a simple question, and I get a Vorlon-esque
answer. Fine, be that way." Turning from her, the entity seemed to
sulk.
Pluto sighed. For all his supposed age and omnipotence, the entity
still persisted in some very petulant behavior. "You did as I asked?"
she asked.
"Of course," Q replied. "Have I ever let you down?"
A small smile came to her face. Opportunities like this didn't
come very often. "Many times," she casually replied, causing Q's face
to fall suddenly. "But I'm mainly concerned about this instance."
"Well I don't know what you are worried about," Q said. He snapped
his fingers and a videocassette appeared in his hands. "Here's all the
evidence of Voyager's little sojourn to your world. Now all they have
is another UFO mystery on their hands."
Pluto nodded. "Good."
"Now what's all the fuss about? After all the odd events that have
occurred in Japan in the last couple or three years, I would've thought
a sighting of Voyager in the Arctic would cause nary a ripple."
"Just making sure, Q."
Darien stepped out onto the Bridge but after a quick glance it was
evident that Serena was not here, despite what the computer had told him
earlier. But before he could make a discrete exit, "If you're looking
for Serena, I believe you'll find her in the Mess Hall."
He turned towards the mid-Bridge station, where Seven of Nine stood
watching him intently. "How do you know..?"
"The celebration Neelix is planning is scheduled to commence
shortly," she replied. "Undoubtedly, Neelix is already setting out the
various food plates he has been preparing. Given Serena's eating
habits, the rest is simple deduction."
"I guess you would know," Darien said with more than a little venom
in his voice. "After all, the Borg did make her part of that collective
of theirs for a while."
Seven continued her work, but she still replied, "Her assimilation
was not an easy task for the Collective. Serena's... unique personality
destabilized several parts of the Collective. It was some time
afterwards before the irrational impulses were completely eradicated.
Were it not for her biological distinctiveness, the Collective would not
be interested in reassimilating her."
"The Borg still want to assimilate her?" Darien repeated, shocked.
"Yes," Seven replied matter-of-factly. "Along with yourself and
the other Sailor Scouts."
"Not that I think they'd succeed, but it's probably just as well
that the Borg are from another universe," Darien observed.
Now Seven stopped and looked evenly at Darien. "Do not take too
much comfort in that fact," she stated. "The Borg possess
transdimensional technologies, and are quite capable of crossing over to
your universe."
"They can do that?" Darien breathed.
"Yes, once they have the correct dimensional coordinates. You and
the others should remain vigilant at all times. The Collective has
placed a high priority on assimilating the six of you... along with the
future city of Crystal Tokyo."
As Seven had predicted, Serena was in the Mess Hall, eagerly eyeing
the assorted food trays that Neelix was setting up. Though the forms of
most of them were decidedly unfamiliar, the smells were thoroughly
enticing. Besides, she reasoned to herself, if Lita had a hand in the
creation of most of these, they were sure to be fantastic.
For his part, Neelix was taking great delight in explaining to
Serena just what each dish was and what went into creating it. He was
expecting a good many of the crew to attend at some point, so he had
prepared a wide variety of foods using assorted recipes from both the
Delta and Alpha Quadrants. "...and in honor of the Sailor Scouts being
on board, I even got your friends to help prepare a couple of selections
from your world. Such as this one," Neelix said as he placed the try
down on the counter.
"Do you mind if I try it?" Serena asked.
"Of course not. There's plenty for everyone," Neelix replied. As
Serena popped one into her mouth, he went on, "I tried it myself
earlier, and I must say I thought Mina did an excellent..." the
Talaxian's voice trailed off as he watched Serena's face turn a bright
shade of red. "Um... Is something wrong?"
"Water!" Serena managed to get out over the burning sensation in
her mouth. Someone thrust a glass into her hands and she eagerly downed
the contents. "Thank you!"
Immersed as she was in her task, Janeway didn't hear the door chime
at first. But the second chime broke through her concentration.
"Come." The door slid open, allowing Amy to enter the ready room.
"You wanted to see me, Captain?"
"Yes, Amy, I did," Janeway answered. "Sorry for keeping you
waiting, but I was..." She motioned to the datascreen on her desk.
Amy nodded and smiled. "I understand. I've gotten engrossed with
something like that before."
"I'll just be a moment." While Janeway returned her concentration
to the terminal, Amy took a moment to idly look about the room. Her
gaze briefly flit upon the floor where she had half expected to see the
hole the Negarans cut in it during the siege of the Bridge. But since
the ship had been completely restored by the Silver Crystal, the floor
looked as if it had never been damaged.
"There you go."
Amy jumped slightly. Captain Janeway had come from behind the desk
to stand next to her, and was offering her... "An isolinear optical
chip?" Puzzled, Amy took the chip and examined it. "Why are you giving
this to me?"
"Because I need a favor from you," the Captain answered. "I'm not
sure that I have the right to ask, not after deceiving you all like I
did. And especially after you and your friends helped restore Voyager."
"We'd gladly do it again, Captain. And as for your keeping silent
about Dr. Dehner, your reasons for doing so were correct. If Mitchell
had known about her, he might have been more aggressive in trying to
stop us. If that had happened, we might have lost everything." She
held up the data chip again. "But that doesn't tell me anything about
this."
"That chip contains an assortment of Voyager's log entries since we
came to the Delta Quadrant," Janeway began. "And it also contains
personal messages from my crew to their families and friends back home."
She placed both hands upon the desk and leaned back against it. "You've
already had three encounters with Starfleet that we know of -- Kirk's
Enterprise, Picard's, and now Voyager -- so it's entirely possible
you'll have others at some point in your future. If you do, and
provided they're from a point in time after our current stardate, then
give them this data chip. Even if Starfleet Command can't do anything
to help get us home, it will let our families know that we're alive...
and that we're coming home."
Amy didn't even take a moment to ponder this. Producing her
computer, she opened it up and placed the isolinear chip inside it. "No
problem, Captain."
Now it was Janeway's turn to smile. "Thank you. Now unless I'm
mistaken, Neelix's victory celebration should be getting underway right
about now. How about we head down to the Mess Hall?"
Neelix greeted them with his customary enthusiasm when they got to
the Mess Hall. "Captain, Amy, come in! I was wondering if you two were
going to be here."
"My fault, I'm afraid Neelix," Janeway told him. "I wanted to
discuss something with Amy before things got going." She took a moment
to survey the Mess Hall, which was already rather crowded. It seemed
that a good part of the ship's company was already here, including most,
if not all, of the senior staff. Over on the far side of the room, she
could see Tuvok engaged in a conversation with Raye, while nearby Mina
was discussing something with Harry. In the center, she could see
Serena and Darien listening to Tom expound on their adventures in the
Delta Quadrant. "I see you wasted no time in getting things started."
"There's no use in procrastinating when a celebration is in order,"
the Talaxian told her while urging her and Amy towards the buffet table
he had erected. "Now come on in and join the festivities."
Janeway looked in amazement at the assorted dishes. "You must have
worked all night on this, Neelix."
"The work load wasn't as bad as you might think, Captain. It helps
having a couple of very eager assistants. In fact, I haven't had this
much help since..." He paused, thinking. "Well, it must have been
since before Kes started working in Sickbay. Now help yourselves." With
that, Neelix hustled back into the kitchen area, where Janeway could see
Lita still working on something.
Glancing back, he saw that B'Elanna had come up to the table.
"Don't be afraid to try anything," he heard her say, "Most of is
actually edible." Neelix smiled to himself and continued on his way
into the kitchen.
Lita glanced up from the pot she was tending. "Doesn't that bother
you?"
"Doesn't what?" Neelix asked, puzzled.
"B'Elanna's comments about your cooking. At first I thought it was
just her Klingon side showing itself, but I'm beginning to think that
she's just being mean."
"You couldn't be further from the truth," Neelix told her. "It's
just B'Elanna's way of blowing off steam."
"But why does she always chose you to do that?"
"Because I told her to."
That comment threw Lita off her stride. "Huh? You told her to?"
"Yes," Neelix confirmed, nodding. "Being half Klingon, B'Elanna
has a very volatile temper, but she can't afford to lose control in
front of her staff. So I told her that she could come here and use me
as a target of her temper. I don't mind." Picking up a wooden spoon,
the chef gave the pot a couple of good stirs.
Not knowing what to say right off, Lita just watched him tend to
the leola root stew for a few moments. You can be a strange guy,
Neelix, but you've got a big heart," she observed, patting him on the
shoulder. "That must be why so much of this crew likes you."
Neelix turned to respond, but in doing so he noted the Mess Hall
doors opening again and Chakotay enter through them. "Ah, a late
arrival. That accounts for all of the senior staff."
Neelix wasn't the only one to note Chakotay's arrival. Janeway
threaded through the crowd and made her way over to her first officer.
"Finally decided to join the fun?"
"Sorry for being late, but I was on a vision quest," he said
apologetically. "A very unusual one, I might add."
"Oh?" Janeway was intrigued. "Anything you care to talk about?"
Chakotay hesitated before answering. "Maybe later, after I've had
some time to think about it."
Things were still in full swing two hours later when a beep sounded
from the comm. system. "Seven of Nine to Captain Janeway."
"I wonder what she wants?" Mina mused.
"One way to find out," Janeway said. However, she had a feeling
that whatever Seven was going to say, it would be of extreme importance.
The Borg was not of the habit of making casual interruptions to ship
activities. "Go ahead, Seven."
"Long range sensors have detected Borg transwarp signatures. They
should be able to scan the system within the next twenty minutes."
A collective groan went up through the room. "Talk about bad
timing," Lita grumbled.
"Leave it to the Borg to be gate crashers at a perfectly good
party," Serena added, equally disappointed.
"I couldn't agree with you more," Janeway said. "Unfortunately, it
means we better be on our way." Speaking loud for the benefit of the
assembled crew, "If you have any good-byes to make, I suggest you do so
now."
"Take care, Tuvok," Raye said. "I hope the personality traits you
got from me don't prove too embarrassing to you."
"I shall endure it," Tuvok assured you. "However, I think the
logic and emotional control you gained from the mind link could prove to
be of great help to you."
"Don't bet on it," she grumbled.
"Good-bye, Amy," the Doctor told her. "But I hope you don't take
any offense when I say I'm glad I don't have to exist inside your
computer anymore."
"None taken, Doctor," she assured him. "I can certainly see why
you would think so."
"Good," the hologram responded. "I wish I could be there to help
you on your way, but even without my assistance, I'm sure you'll make an
excellent physician."
She colored slightly before responding. "Thank you for thinking
so, Doctor."
"I'm not just saying so," he noted. "Besides, it's not just my
opinion. Remember, my program is based on the logs of some of
Starfleet's finest Doctors. And I can say without any doubt whatsoever
that both Doctors McCoy and Crusher share the same opinion that you will
be among the finest Doctors your Earth has ever seen."
Well, I guess this is good-bye," Harry said somewhat lamely, "Take
care of yourself, Mina."
Mina ignored tentative hand Harry offered, choosing instead to give
the young ensign a very affectionate hug. "Just doing my job as the
Scout of Love," she told him in answer to the unspoken question on his
face. "Hopefully Seven will hear about this and realize that if she
doesn't do anything, she might lose to someone else."
Harry blinked, too shocked to say anything as she walked away.
"Are we talking about the same Seven of Nine?" he finally managed.
"Take care of yourself, B'Elanna," Lita told her. "And try not to
be too hard on Neelix." Before the half Klingon could answer, Lita
moved off to say farewell to another member of Voyager's crew.
"What was that all about?" Tom asked.
"I'm not sure," B'Elanna replied as she watched the girl move away.
"I just wished she could have stayed longer," Tom said wistfully.
"I was hoping she could show Neelix how to make a good pizza."
"Thanks again for your help, Serena," Janeway told the girl. I
don't think I can ever thank you enough for what you've done for my ship
and crew."
"I didn't exactly do it all by myself, Captain. You and Dr. Dehner
helped."
Janeway turned to Neelix. "Neelix, why don't you escort our guests
to Transporter Room One," she suggested. "Everyone else, I'm afraid
it's back to work."
"Of course, Captain. Ladies and sir, if you'll follow me," Neelix
said, leading the way out of the Mess Hall. One by one, the five girls
and Darien followed him out, each pausing momentarily to make a last
wave to the crew.
"It's a pity they have to leave this abruptly," Chakotay commented,
as the door closed behind the last of them.
"Well, I'm just glad we met them when we did," Janeway said.
"Otherwise, I doubt we would have survived this little encounter."
Tuvok nodded, agreeing with his captain. "Indeed, they were
instrumental in helping us defeat the Negasleaze on Negara."
The others turned to stare at the Vulcan security officer.
"Negasleaze?" B'Elanna asked, smiling slightly.
Tuvok shifted uncomfortably. "It would seem that there is still
some personality overlap from my mindlink with Raye. It should fade
with time, and in fact be gone within two weeks."
Tom smiled. "I think I'm going to enjoy the next couple of weeks."
"Well, here we are," Neelix said as the group entered the
Transporter Room. "If you just take your positions on the pads, we can
get you started on your way home."
"Just a moment, Neelix," Mina said. "Negara may have been cleansed
by Sailor Moon, but we should transform before we beam down, just in
case."
"Good idea, Mina," Amy said as she took out her transformation
wand. Seconds later, the small room echoed with the assorted
transformation cries.
Neelix watched in awe at the display of light as the five girls
changed into the Sailor Scouts and Darien also transformed into Tuxedo
Mask. "Wow!" he exclaimed when the light show was over. "That was
just... just..." He struggled for a moment to find the right words, but
finally just reiterated once more, "Wow!"
"Thanks, Neelix," Mercury said as they took their positions on the
transporter platform. "I think I can safely say we all have felt the
same way about Voyager."
"Oh, before I forget," Jupiter spoke up, and tossed Neelix a PADD.
"From one chef to another."
The Talaxian caught the PADD and quickly examined its contents.
"Recipes!" he said, beaming with delight. "Thank you, Li- er, Sailor
Jupiter."
The tall Scout gave him a broad smile. "Anytime."
Not knowing what else to say, Neelix turned to the transporter
operator. But before he could give the command, Sailor Moon spoke up,
"Hold it, Neelix!"
"Yes?"
"Let us say it this time."
Neelix nodded. Whenever you're ready."
"Energize!" they cried out simultaneously.
On a bluff overlooking what had once been Metallah's citadel, six
columns of white energy shimmered into existence and then resolved
themselves into the forms of the Sailor Scouts and Tuxedo Mask.
Venus gazed at the sky above them in awe. "Wow, I can't get over
how different this planet seems than when we first landed here."
"Crash landed, you mean," Mars corrected her. "But you're right.
That sky is a much deeper blue than what we would see back home."
"Due to the differences in the atmospheric composition," Mercury
pointed out. "But there are other differences to our last visit to the
surface." She pointed to the ruins of the citadel not far from their
position. Among the toppled stones, they could see that the local
plantlife was already moving in.
"Talk about fast growing plants," Jupiter said. "It's only been
two days, but it looks like that stuff's been growing for a year."
"The plantlife here must be extremely aggressive," Mercury
observed. "A place like this could be a botanist's dream."
"Or a farmer's," Tuxedo Mask said. He pointed down into the
valley. Though it was still in its early stages, they could see the
beginnings of a village being constructed by the surviving Negarans,
along with the outlines of crop fields.
"It looks like they're trying to put their lives back together,"
Sailor Moon said.
"Yes," Mercury confirmed. "I'm detecting the remains of a previous
village in the same area. Undoubtedly the Negarans were an agrarian and
peaceful people before Mitchell came here."
"And they're getting back to that lifestyle now that he's gone,"
Sailor Moon said.
They stood watching for a bit before Mars shook herself. "We
better get going. Captain Janeway said they'd wait for us to leave
before they broke orbit, and that Borg ship is on the way."
There weren't any protests to Mars' urgings, as they all were
anxious to get home. They quickly formed up into a circle, and after a
moment's concentration, teleported from the surface.
Harry looked up from the sensor readouts. "We've lost sensor
contact with the Sailor Scouts. It looks like they've teleported."
"We are picking a slight distortion effect in the quantum flux,"
Chakotay confirmed, glancing at his own panel. "It looks like they made
passage through it." He settled back in his chair and looked at
Janeway. "Should we try to close it before the Borg get here?"
"You mean like the Enterprise did?" she asked. After the First
Officer nodded, "I don't think that's a good idea, Chakotay."
Chakotay frowned. "Why not?"
"Because the procedure they used didn't close the quantum flux as
they thought it would," she explained. "If you take a look at the
subspace signature of the flux, you'll see that it's identical to the
flux the Enterprise D traversed before they attempted closing it."
"So that means that this is the same flux," Chakotay said after he
had a moment to check the readings for himself.
"I'm afraid so. It's been redirected twice so far as we know --
first to Delta Vega, and then to here. If we try redirect it, who knows
where in time and space it'll end up. We could just end up making
things worse."
"We can't just leave it here for the Borg to find," Tom protested.
"We might as well just leave them a sign, 'This way to Sailor Moon'."
"I have no intention of doing that, Tom. Harry, set up an
anti-proton burst from the main deflector. That should scramble any
readings the Borg might take of it."
A universe away, a black cat perked her ears and looked about the
courtyard. Nothing was visible, but she was sure that something was
about to happen. She cast a baleful glare at the sleeping form of
Artemis before nudging him. "Wake up, Artemis." When the white cat
seemed reluctant to do so, she cuffed him roughly on one ear. "I said,
'Wake up!'"
"I'm awake, I'm awake," he muttered, rubbing the ear painfully.
"What's so important?"
"Can't you feel it?"
"The only thing I'm feeling right now is a headache," Artemis
retorted.
Luna opened her mouth to respond, but in that moment the Sailor
Scouts and Tuxedo Mask materialized. Seconds later, they had reversed
their transformations, returning to their normal identities. "Thank
heavens you're back," Luna said. "You've been gone for hours. What
happened? What did you find?"
"Hours?" Serena asked, focusing on Luna's first statement. "But I
thought we spent a couple of days on Voyager?" She turned to Amy for
confirmation.
Artemis gave a catlike frown of puzzlement. "Voyager?"
Amy was already checking her computer. "I supposed there could
have been a temporal variance when we teleported from their universe
through the quantum flux."
Now Luna was puzzled. "Quantum flux?"
"Cool. We don't have to try and cover for where we've been the
last couple of days," Mina noted.
Amy nodded. "Yes, and we didn't miss any school either."
"You would think of that, wouldn't you Amy?" Lita teased her.
Before Amy could respond, Luna spoke up, "Excuse me, but will
somebody please tell me what's been going on!"
"Sorry, Luna," Amy apologized, then launched into a quick account
over the events since they had teleported to the Arctic. Though they
remained silent, both Luna and Artemis were wide-eyed in amazement.
"Nuts!"
All eyes turned to Serena. "What's wrong, Serena?" Darien
inquired.
"I just remembered I've got a math test tomorrow!" she complained.
"I thought I'd gotten out of it, too."
Amy shook her head. "You'd just have to make it up later, so it's
just as well."
"You're not much help, Amy."
"If you'd just study ahead of time, you wouldn't have any problems
in math or any other subject," Raye commented calmly. "It's simply
logical." The others stared at her for a moment before she belatedly
realized just how she sounded. "Not again!" she muttered.
"Logical?" Mina asked. "Were you taking Vulcan lessons back on
Voyager?"
"Odd, I thought Chakotay was showing her how to contact her animal
guide," Darien remarked.
"Maybe she snuck in a couple of sessions when we weren't looking,"
Lita suggested.
"Amy, I think you better give Raye a quick scan. She's getting a
greenish complexion," Serena said, getting into the action. Amy nodded,
and produced the small device.
Raye glared at all of them, but chose to focus her ire on Serena.
"I am *not* turning green!" she snapped.
Serena's only reaction was to raise an eyebrow in a distinctly
Vulcan manner. "Really Raye, your attitude is... most illogical. What
would Tuvok say?"
"I don't *care* what he would say!!"
"Have you always been this emotional?"
"Can it, Meatball Head!"
"Don't call me Meatball Head!!"
The others watched as the argument quickly escalated into another
one of their infamous tongue wars. "Well, it didn't take them long to
fall into old habits," Darien remarked.
"If I were you, Darien, I'd be more worried if things *didn't* get
back to normal," Amy told him.
"True," he conceded. "Things are probably getting back to normal
back on Voyager too... At least as normal as it gets for a ship so far
from home."
"Do you think they'll make it back home?" Mina asked. "I mean...
they've got a long ways to go."
"Yeah, like sixty thousand light years," Lita chimed in.
Amy looked down at her open computer. Attached firmly to the
inside of the lid was the isolinear chip Captain Janeway had given her.
After making sure that it was secure, she closed the computer and put it
away. "It may not be any time soon, but I think they will eventually
get home." She smiled at the others before continuing. "Besides, we
all know that when all is said and done, Starfleet crews usually manage
to accomplish their mission."
"We've got the star between us and the Borg ship," Tom reported.
"That should be more than enough to obscure our warp signature,"
B'Elanna said. "They won't know we were ever in the system."
"Good," Chakotay said. He half turned to the operations station.
"Harry, are you sure that anti-proton pulse from the main deflector will
keep the Borg from spotting the flux?" The pulse had seemed to scramble
readings from the flux when they had released it over Negara, but it
didn't hurt to be certain. The last thing anyone on the ship wanted was
for the Borg to discover the passageway to the Scouts' world.
"Positive, Commander," the ensign replied. "I been scanning for
myself, and even I can't tell it's there. It should be at least a year
before it's discernable as a quantum flux."
"The Collective should lose interest in that world long before
then," Seven said. "There is no technology worth assimilating, and the
alien's biological distinctiveness is not remarkable enough to warrant
the effort."
"Since we seem to have covered our tracks as best we can, it's time
for us to be on our way," Janeway noted with a smile. "Tom, let's
resume our course for the Alpha Quadrant. Warp six."
Tom had already made the necessary course computations, but he made
a quick check of the helm nevertheless. "Course and speed ready,
Captain."
"Engage."
Outside, the warp nacelles elevated into their flight positions and
the ship accelerated into warp. Voyager was once more on course for the
Alpha Quadrant.
And home.
Then end of the Sailor Trek saga.
Notes:
Comments, critiques, and questions are welcome. Just Email me at
Soton@aol.com.
As before, thanks to Gene Roddenberry and Naoko Takeuchi, for
creating their respective genres. Additional thanks to Rick Berman,
Michael Piller, and Jeri Taylor for creating "Star Trek: Voyager."
(Personally, I think the series is a lot better than some people give it
credit for.)
I would also like to add a special thank you to "Tuxedo" Will
Wolfshohl, who has patiently provided a lot of critical commentary along
the way, and for pointing out a serious plot hole I had left open during
Chapters 5 & 6. That gave me enough warning to craft Chapter 7 in a way
to cover up my mistake. Credit to him as well for suggesting that
Chakotay should introduce Raye to her animal guide.
Additional thanks to Mike Stancel for his own remarks and
suggestions along the way, including Neelix's little quip in Chapter 7
that Tuvok and Mercury might be related.
I would also like to extend my thanks to each and every one of you
that have taken the time to send me comments regarding the stories.
This marks the end of the Sailor Trek saga, a series of stories I
began working on more than two and a half years ago. It's been a wild
ride getting them finished, but one that I've enjoyed.
One common question I get is "Are you going to write any other
Trek/SM crossovers?" At present, I don't have any plans for a story in
the same vein as four Sailor Trek stories, but as Spock has said, "There
are always possibilities." I do have other stories in development which
would involve elements of the Trek universe, such as on that centers on
Q and Sailor Pluto and another that brings the crew of the Enterprise E
to Crystal Tokyo, but those are still in the future. There are also
some possible stories about the Sailor Mercury who ended up going to
Deep Space Nine at the end of "Sailor Trek DS9".
Next up: the fanfic I actually started first but was set aside so I
could complete the Sailor Trek saga, "Highlander Moon"
He is Immortal, born in the highlands of Scotland in 1592.
For four hundred years, he has battled the forces of darkness,
with Holy Ground his only refuge.
He is Duncan MacLeod, the Highlander
Preview snippet:
His train of thought was broken by something landing on his
shoulder. As tensed up as he had become in the last few hours,
MacLeod's combat trained reflexes kicked in, sweeping whatever it was
off his shoulder towards the bench and settling himself into a defensive
stance. A loud "Ow!" came from the bench.
Realizing that the offending party was a white and very familiar
cat, Duncan relaxed. "Artemis," he sighed.
"Yeah, I'm glad to see you too," the feline grumbled as he got back
onto his paws. Rubbing his head painfully, the cat eyed him. "So what
brings you to Tokyo, Highlander?"
Edited by "Tuxedo" Will
(
geocities.com/tokyo/courtyard) (
geocities.com/tokyo)