
Disclaimer: Paramount owns Star Trek Voyager and all characters pertaining to the show. I am merely borrowing them for this story and will not be using them for profit. This is a purely fun and entertaining endeavor. However, I do lay claim to Aria, Xara, Takma, Kail, Danag, Satira, Sargon, and the rest of the characters that I have created.
Alys Landale
The Fates Series
A Gambit Set
Events were beginning to turn, plans were beginning to take shape, and Voyager was the axis on which all of this revolved.
Only two days had passed, yet it seemed that decades worth of work had been achieved in that short amount of time. As Tom Paris walked to his quarters, he reflected upon what had taken place.
The Federation had agreed to prepare for battle. It seemed the Admiral carried an extremely large amount of influence. If it hadn't been for him, the Resistance might still be alone in this war.
B'Elanna had spent almost the entire amount of time coordinating engineers on installing new warp cores into their vessels. Sargon had participated in the effort as well, but he seemed to be less than up to his usual standards. Tom had promised to talk to him, but the Parvanian seemed to be ignoring him for some reason.
Now, little was left to do. Tomorrow three groups of Federation vessels would enter the rift and travel to the Empire. Janeway and the crew of Voyager would lead the second team through, and then the Enterprise would lead the third. Tom was prepared to lead the first group. Consul Maris had put him in charge of the Trelin, the Resistance vessel. Of course, Paris had refused at first and said that the consul was the highest-ranking officer, but Maris had persisted. Despite his earlier protests, Tom couldn't help but be glad to be back in the captain's seat. After spending over a month as an ensign on Voyager, it was good to be in charge again.
He keyed in the access code to his cabin. As he walked inside, a small rustle came to his right. He smiled as he turned to face his guest.
"It's about time you got back." came a small voice.
He smiled and shook his head. "Well, Squeaker, I have been kind of busy you know."
She smiled as well and ran over to him. He quickly picked her up in his arms as she jumped into an embrace. "Are you going to be ready soon?" she asked.
"Yep. We'll be back in the Delta Quadrant by this time tomorrow." He sat down on a nearby couch. Xara snuggled closer to him as he sat her on his lap.
It didn't take long before he noticed that she seemed strangely preoccupied today, as if there was something troubling her. "Is something wrong, Squeaker?"
She looked up into his eyes. Her bottom lip trembled for a second as she struggled to control her emotions. She didn't know what to tell Rune, so as usual, she decided to just tell him what she was thinking. It was almost a whisper as she said. "I...I'm scared."
His brow furrowed as he took in her words. "Why?"
She looked to the floor for support. "I don't know. I just have this funny feeling. Like something bad is going to happen.
Maybe it's just my imagination or something, but... it just won't go away."
Her green eyes reflected the fear she was feeling inside. Tom paused for a moment as he tried to formulate a response.
Shifting slightly, he took one of the little girl's hands in his own. "I know what you mean. I'm worried too, but believe me, we're all going to be extra careful. We know what we're up against, and hopefully, we'll be able to solve this problem in a pretty short time. Don't worry. Whatever happens, it'll all work out."
He gave her his best Paris smile as he said this, but he could tell that the child still held her doubts. He had the same doubts as well. The only thing that prevented them from surfacing was his preoccupation with the mission at hand. But Xara didn't have a distraction that she could retreat to. So fear and worry had soon sought her out and gnawed at her soul as she sat alone in their quarters. He cursed himself for not finding some way to spend more time with her, but there was so much to do.
Xara was quiet as she kept her gaze focused on the floor. She knew that what Rune had told her made perfect sense. As
Tuvok would say, it was the logical conclusion. But neither Tuvok nor Rune had any idea as to what she was feeling. She was alone now, not for the first time in her life. Alone to face the demons that plagued her every night and the voices of strangers who told her unknown stories about not so far away lands.
B'Elanna finished inspecting the last of the subspacial warp cores. It seemed as if time had revolved solely around engineering for the past two days. She hadn't seen or felt a bed for that duration. All her time had been summoned to her work. She stretched out a tired muscle in her back as she waited outside Paris's door. The only thing that occupied her thoughts more than sleep was Tom.
She leaned up against the doorframe and chimed the door. Her head soon rested on her shoulder as she waited for Tom to get the door. I a deep yawn interrupted her thoughts. I'll just close my eyes for a second.
As it does with many people, that second ended up lasting much longer than its designated amount of time. No sooner had she closed her eyes than had the stealthy arm of sleep wrapped its cloak around her and sealed her eyes with a strong hand.
Tom opened the door to his quarters to find a sleeping half-Klingon leaning against his doorframe. He stood there and smiled. After taking in every detail of her, he carefully lifted B'Elanna up from her position. She gave a muffled groan as he moved her but made no protest at all. With B'Elanna filling up both his arms, he gently carried her to his sleeping quarters. Placing her in his bed, he removed her shoes and jacket as he had done many times for Xara when she had stayed up past her bedtime. B'Elanna let out another sigh, but did not stir.
After pulling the sheet over her, he stepped back and stood watching her from the side of the bed. He shook his head and laughed silently to himself. "Even the mighty Klingon needs her rest." he whispered.
He walked out of the room after that. B'Elanna needed her rest and he wasn't about to disturb her. He could sleep on the couch tonight. After all, it was better to face a stiff neck than the wrath of a half-Klingon who hadn't received enough sleep.
One shot. That's all it would take. Just one shot and his pain would be erased. Sargon held the phaser in his hand. It seemed calmly refreshing to hold such power. He aimed his weapon at the wall. One shot and someone died. That was all it took.
As he sat alone in his quarters, he smiled to himself. It seemed that the most powerful elements in life were also the simplest. Just aim and fire. Anyone could harness this skill; it took very little training. And so Sargon turned the gun over in his hand once more. He would bide his time for now; then he would make his move. Soon others would pay.
His entire life had been one of unending pain. At an age younger than Xara, he had been placed in an Imperial concentration camp due to his parents' beliefs. They spoke up against the Empire's actions, and they paid the price. As his mind fell back on that day years ago, he recalled seeing their faces covered with the mask of pain, their bodies dyed with the dark stain of death, and their eyes forever reposed with the eternal sleep that would soon claim him.
Sargon had seen hundreds, perhaps even thousands die during his time. He was still fairly young for his species, not even middle age had yet to claim him, but he had seen more than even the Fates could hope to witness.
Meylin had been the only one who had ever been able to help him. She treated him with compassion even though he was a Parvanian. She had never pitied or mocked him. Even though they had kept their relationship secret up to the past year, he knew that she loved him, and there was no question as to his feelings for her.
But now that she was gone, there was little left for him. The only thing he had left was the phaser in his hand and the resolution in his soul. He would carry his plan out, but not now. Placing the gun in a secure place, he saved it for later. Soon it would come in very, very useful.
\*
Aria watched and waited. She could sense the battle growing nearer. She felt thrill and anxiety at the same time. The time had come, but there was still other things left to do. She stared off at the dark horizon. It seemed to punctuate her overall mood. Flowing with fear and trepidation, yet coursing with excitement and adventure at the same time.
She laughed at herself for these thoughts. The warrior really was coming out in her. She had spent her entire life preparing for these duties, now it would all soon be over. She sighed.
\*I'll miss it here.\* she thought.
At that moment, the person she had been waiting on finally entered. She turned to face the one she had been waiting on.
Hello, she said.
Her visitor approached her. They had met here many times, although no one had ever been told of it. They had come to an understanding that perhaps it was better if no one knew that they were meeting together. After all, what would the Federation or
Resistance members think if they found out about these meetings. No one would ever believe it anyway.
Hey replied the visitor.
Aria smiled. She took her companion's hand. Are you ready?
Aria's companion seemed a little reluctant. The older woman knelt down. Don't worry, Xara she told her visitor. Nothing bad is going to happen. There are just a few people that I would like you to meet.
The little girl nodded. Aria then took Xara's hand once again and led her away. There was much they needed to discuss.
\*
Tom awoke the next morning covered in sweat. His eyes were glazed over as he stared off into space and tried to take control of his breathing once more. After a few moments, he was finally able to take his bearings.
Running a hand over his face, he leaned farther back onto the couch he had fallen asleep on. He couldn't take much more of this.
The voices still lingered in his mind. They were so loud....
For the past two days, he had put up with them. But once he had gone to sleep, they had grown even stronger.
He ran a hand over his eyes in an attempt to clear them. He tried to sort through what he had just heard, but the voices were so distant. He had no idea what they were.
His thoughts ran back to Aria for a moment. Hadn't she told him that soon all would be revealed to him about the Final Battle. He shook his head. He still had no idea what this 'Final Battle' was, and if these voices were supposed to explain it to him, well, they weren't doing a very good job about it.
His attention was diverted as B'Elanna walked out of his sleeping quarters.
"Good morning," she said.
He smiled as he got out of his seat. "Good morning."
The half-Klingon walked over to Paris and pulled him close to her. Her lips quickly sought out his. Tom's eyes widened for a brief second but then closed again as he deepened the kiss.
\*I don't know what this is for, but as far as I'm concerned I don't need to.\* he thought.
He ran a hand through her hair as they locked into a firmer embrace. Finally, the need for oxygen tore the two apart. B'Elanna stepped back slightly and took in Paris's surprised expression.
She knew what he was wondering so she told him before he could ask. "I was planning on giving you that last night, but it seems I fell asleep before I had the chance," she said.
Putting an arm around her waist, he said. "Well, it seems it was worth the wait."
The two smiled. Neither had seen one another for more than a few moments in the past few days. B'Elanna had gotten extremely restless without having Paris around her. The same could be said for Tom as well.
"You know, Xara's still asleep and we still have over an hour before we have to report in for duty." Tom said.
B'Elanna let a soft growl escape her throat. "Then what are we waiting for."
The two then returned to Tom's sleeping quarters. With all that was happening around them, they vowed they would make the most of their time together now. As the door slid shut behind them, that's just what they did.
Janeway finally found her target. She eyed it as a predator would and in one quick move snatched it up in her hands.
Chakotay watched bemusedly as Kathryn did this. "Try not to drown in that coffee."
Janeway gave him a sharp look but continued to down the contents of her mug. After a second, she put the cup down.
"There's no telling when I'll see another good cup of coffee. I intend to make the most of it now."
He laughed slightly. He then noticed her serious expression and said, "I can see you're thinking the same thing I am."
The captain raised an eyebrow. "And just what are you thinking, Commander?"
He paused for a moment to collect his thoughts. "Just how we finally made it back to the Alpha Quadrant and are now about to make another journey back to the Delta Quadrant."
She sat down in a seat next to him. "I know what you mean Chakotay. I've spent the past six years trying to get this crew home, and now that I have, I'm forced to tell them that we have to go back." She looked down into her half empty cup as if she might find the words to describe her feelings down there. She gave a low sigh. "But if we don't then this and possibly every other Quadrant will be at extreme risk from the Borg. We can't let that happen."
He nodded slowly. Everyone knew what was at stake. But that didn't make the feelings go away. Chakotay had to admit that he was slightly ashamed of the way he was feeling. He felt that it was so unfair that this had to happen now. Now, of all times.
He pushed these thoughts away though. These were the thoughts a child would be thinking. The Maquis had certainly shown him that very little in life was ever fair, but still, that couldn't erase the feelings he was experiencing now.
Janeway laid a hand on his arm. As if reading his thoughts, she said. "I know how you feel Commander."
He said nothing. Sometimes, words are not needed. The two had been there for one another for the past six years, nothing could ever change that. And they would still be there for one another through all that was yet to come. The bond that held them together was deeper than anything they had ever experienced before. Not quite friendship and not quite lust. It was somewhere in between.
In this room, sat a strong Maquis, ground in his ways. In this room, sat a loyal Starfleet officer, equally ground in her ways as well. And in this room, sat a half-empty coffee cup, long since forgotten.
There was one last meeting later that morning. Picard, Paris, Janeway, Maris, and the Admiral met together just before they prepared to embark on their journey.
"I believe everyone knows the drill," Tom said. "I'll take in the first group of ships. After five minutes, Janeway will follow and the Picard will take the last through."
They all nodded. For the past two days, they had done nothing but prepare for this. They had to work quickly, otherwise
Takma would end up in the Empire before they did.
After a few more last minutes plans, the group left the room and went to their designated ships. Paris took one last look around the station. This was his first trip to Deep Space Nine, and for some reason, he had this strange feeling that it would be his last.
The Federation vessels were beginning to take position in their groups. Paris sat on the bridge of the Trelin. Consul Maris sat in the seat next to him. There was only one crewmember that had still not made it to his post.
Paris turned to Danag. "Do you have any idea where Sargon is?"
Danag shook his head. "I've tried to raise him on the communicator, but he's not responding."
Tom cursed under his breath. Sargon was one of the best Engineers the Resistance had to offer but he lacked quite a bit in the dependability department.
"Try getting him again." Paris said.
Danag entered the commands onto his console. He really wished Sargon would get his priorities together. He knew that the
Parvanian had just lost Meylin, but still, he had responsibilities.
Danag then realized what he was thinking. He laughed at himself. Since when did I become Satira?
He had to admit that the Dezorisian woman was really beginning to rub off on him. A few more months and he'd probably be lecturing her on honor. No, he thought, that would never happen.
Finally, Danag received word from Sargon. The Ops officer spoke up. "Captain, I've found Sargon. He's at his post."
Tom nodded. They were already behind schedule. He didn't have time to reprimand Sargon on his tardiness. Tom turned to his helmsman, "Prepare to open the corridor."
Janeway sat on the bridge of Voyager. She hoped that this trip through the corridor would be easier than the last. This time she didn't have Tom to rely on.
She watched as the Trelin prepared to enter the rift. Paris had told her that it would only take eight and a half minutes to reach the Empire. By normal standards, that was an extremely short amount of time, but to the crew of Voyager, that was eight minutes too long and too far away. They had just gotten back to the Alpha Quadrant. Now the past six years of their journey would be for nothing.
Janeway pushed these thoughts from her mind. She didn't need to think of such things. Everything would be fine. But still, she wondered just how many times she had told herself that before.
B'Elanna was ordering her crew around much faster than usual. She hated not being on the same ship as Tom, but her duties lay on Voyager. She walked over to the Warp Core and began checking over everything one last time. They only had a few minutes before they would enter the rift as well. She needed to make sure everything was fine.
Tom tapped his fingers on the side of his console. Maris turned and looked at the younger man.
"Captain," said Maris.
Tom immediately looked a bit foolish. "I'm sorry," he said in a low voice. "I just have this strange feeling..."
The Consul nodded. "I understand. Hopefully we can take out Takma and then put an end to all of this."
Paris gave a small nod, but somehow he knew that there was more to it than that. He entered a few last minute commands into his console. For the first time, he wondered if he should have left Xara back on DS9. She seemed to have this deep belief that something was going to go wrong, and now that belief had extended to him as well.
He keyed in the commands to make sure that she was still safe in her quarters. After being satisfied that she fine, he leaned back in his seat and prepared for the journey through the rift.
The helmsman then caught his attention. "We are ready to enter the rift, sir."
Danag then made the next confirmation. "All Federation vessels are in position."
Tom nodded. They hadn't had enough time to install the new cores into all of the other ships so they would have to extend their warp fields around the other vessels as well.
"Open the rift." Tom ordered.
The helmsman gave a stiff nod and entered the commands onto his console. In no time at all, the space around them shifted into the deep blues and violets of subspace.
"Take us in," Paris ordered.
Janeway watched as Tom led the first group of vessels into the rift. She turned to her helmsman.
"Mr. Baytart, have us ready to enter the rift in exactly five minutes," she said.
He nodded and began making last minute preparations.
Picard waited until the final ships in Paris's group had entered the rift. Janeway's group was next and then his. He turned to his other companion on the bridge.
"Well Admiral, it seems that we are about to witness the Delta Quadrant first hand."
Admiral Paris turned his eyes from the viewscreen and then responded. "Yes, it looks like we shall." As he said this, he wondered just exactly what they were getting themselves into.
Tom watched the viewscreen as the teal and sapphire colors washed over his ship. This would be his fourth trip through a subspacial current, but the first one in which he wasn't at the Helm.
His mind drifted back for a moment as he remembered his time on the Jihaid. They had been caught in a subspacial rift like this one. He could still see himself taking over the helm controls and guiding them back to normal space. The only thing was, that they didn't end up in the Empire, but in Borg space instead.
Paris cleared his mind of these thoughts. He needed to stay alert. Anything could go wrong; he needed to be prepared for it.
He sat up straighter in his seat and concentrated on the mission at hand.
Danag let his eyes leave his sensors for a moment. All the Federation vessels had entered the rift and were on course behind them. He let his gaze travel to his captain. It was a miracle that Landis had been here when they had needed him, but he couldn't help but wonder how much the man had changed in only a month's time.
He had to agree with Sargon that Rune had no business seeing another woman when Aria hadn't even been dead for a month. But no, Danag scolded himself, Landis wouldn't do that unless he had good reason. Those on DS9 referred to him as Paris and Rune made no effort to stop them. Perhaps he had remembered his past. If he had, what would that mean for the Resistance. The man would put his roots in his homeland, not in the Empire.
Danag then realized that he needed to check his console again. Timing was everything in this type of procedure. He needed to see how much longer they needed to stay in the rift.
"We have three minutes left in the rift," he said.
Paris only nodded. His thoughts seemed to be light years away. As he stared at the viewscreen, visions of Borg Cubes passed through his mind. He saw drones, Takma, the Empire, and the Dykinae. Wait, what? The Dykinae? When did he ever see them?
"We have ten seconds left in the rift." Danag said.
Paris snapped out of his reverie. Had he let himself slip away for almost half of their time in subspace? He straightened himself up in his seat again. "Prepare to leave subspace on my mark," he said.
Danag began to count down the seconds. "Five, four, three, two, one."
"Now," Paris ordered...
The helmsman shut down the warp core and brought the ship out of the current and back into normal space.
Tom looked at the viewscreen. "Status." he asked.
"All Federation vessels have made it through the rift. We are now in Imperial space."
Tom gave a firm nod. Now all they had to do was wait on Voyager and the Enterprise to bring their crews through as well.
Voyager was halfway through the rift when B'Elanna felt it. She put a hand to her head as vertigo took over.
Carrey came over to her immediately. "Is something wrong lieutenant?"
She waved a dismissive hand. "No, I'm fine."
He cast her a concerned look but walked away none the less. B'Elanna shook her head to clear away the nausea that was beginning to take over. What's wrong? she wondered. She was about ready to ask Carrey to take over engineering when it went away.
She looked up surprised. The captain's voice then sounded over her comm badge. "Lieutenant, we're out of the rift. I need a status report."
B'Elanna quickly went over to her console and began entering commands. After a few moments she replied, "Everything is in working order."
The captain said something else after that but Torres didn't catch it. Her mind was more preoccupied on what had just happened. A few seconds ago, she felt as if she would pass out, now she felt fine. She dismissed the feeling and decided to get back to work. It was probably nothing, anyway. She didn't need to run to the doctor every time she felt a little queasy. But still, something in the back of her mind kept telling her there was more to it than that.
The Enterprise joined Voyager and the Trelin. A fleet of Federation vessels now filled up a small corner in the Empire. Tom couldn't help but smile as he looked around at the site before him. Things were falling into place. Soon they would be ready to take on Takma.
He turned to his Helmsman. "Take us to the nearest Resistance base in the Area. I don't want the Empire to know we're here just yet."
One man looked up as he saw a fleet of vessels approaching from the distance. A smile covered his lips as he watched them begin to land in the docking bay underneath the planets surface.
Everything was falling into place. The man turned his attention from the front viewscreen of his ship, back to the controls at his console. So far, he was manning the bridge by himself. He had dismissed almost all of the others of his crew. Now there was only him and three more employees: an engineer, a helmsman, and another man to take care of security.
Now the ship's captain watched as the last ship of the fleet landed in the docking bay. He turned his vessel's course towards the same docking bay.
I believe now's the time to pay Landis another visit, and maybe Voyager's little Engineer as well.
Tom stepped off of the Trelin. As he planted his feet onto the floor of the docking bay, he couldn't help but think how good it felt to be back in a Resistance facility.
A door opened to his left and a group of security officers emerged. The consul stepped up beside Tom and the two made their way to the group.
One of the Resistance officers stepped forward from the group. "Consul," he said. "We had thought that your vessel had been destroyed."
Maris smiled. "No Raken, but we came extremely close." Maris noticed how Raken seemed to be looking over Paris. Tom wasn't immune to his glances either. "Is there something wrong?" asked the consul.
Raken averted his gaze back to his superior. "No, sir. I was just unaware that Landis was still alive."
Tom remained unfazed by the man's attitude. He simply said. "We have to prepare for a battle. We've brought allies from the Alpha Quadrant. Have all of the Resistance officers in the facility gather for a meeting. There's a lot you need to know."
Raken paused there for awhile but then left as the consul nodded for him to do so. Maris then turned to Tom. "I don't suppose he will ever give you any respect."
Paris waved it off. "It doesn't matter. Right now we need to begin preparing for...." His words were cut off as another ship's entrance took away his attention. He recognized the vessel immediately. He could never forget it. Not after what happened last time. "By the Spirit." he muttered.
Janeway's senior staff departed from Voyager just as the other ship began to land. The crew walked over to Paris and paid the ship little attention. After a few minutes, Admiral Paris and Captain Picard joined them as well.
Janeway noticed the look Paris was giving the ship. "What is it?" she asked.
He said nothing as one figure began to leave the vessel. Due to the poor lighting around them, it took awhile for anyone to recognize the visitor.
B'Elanna walked over to Tom and tried to focus her gaze on the man who had just left his ship. As the stranger walked towards him, recognition finally kicked in. Her eyes widened as a few words escaped her lips. "Oh God."
The man noticed that all eyes were focused on him. He loved attention and now was no different. His gaze fell on Paris then on the woman beside him. It stayed on her for awhile, quite awhile.
"One thing I can say for you Landis, you know how to keep company."
Tom shook his head and walked towards the man. "Well, Gerek, it's not too hard when you don't try to con them out of the clothes on their back."
Gerek laughed. "I'll have you know I only did that once." His eyes then drifted over to where the ex-Borg stood. He backed away a little.
Tom noticed this. He raised an eyebrow at Gerek's behavior.
The trader just smiled. "I don't think I can take anymore 'foreplay' from that one. I'm still recovering from our last bout."
It was Tom's turn to laugh now. Neither the Admiral nor Picard had any idea what he was talking about. Maris didn't either, but he had a good guess given they were talking about Gerek.
Janeway walked forward. "The last time we saw you, I believe you were ten years away from here. How did you..."
Gerek cut her off. "It's not too hard when you know what moves to make. And believe me, I do." He looked Janeway over for a few more minutes. "I could show you if you wanted." He gave her a slight wink as if to punctuate his meaning.
The captain averted her eyes. "I don't think that will be necessary."
Gerek's smile broadened. The Admiral was caught off guard by this man's rudeness. How dare he act in such a manner to a Starfleet officer? And a captain, no less!
Tom took Gerek's words in stride. He could tell that the Admiral's anger was rising however, so he decided to change the subject.
"You still haven't told us what you're doing here." he said.
The trader ran a hand through his hair casually and then shrugged. "Business was getting light so I decided to take my trade elsewhere. The Resistance was always in need of some 'merchandise' so I thought I should extend my gracious services to them once more. Besides, I couldn't just let that information you gave me go to waste, now could I?"
Paris waited a few moments before responding. He had a pretty good guess what the man was doing here. "You pissed somebody off."
Gerek averted his eyes and gave a half smile. "This time it wasn't my fault. How was I supposed to know that was the guy's daughter, I mean she looked old enough to be his wife."
"And that would have made it better?"
At Gerek's discomfort, Paris began to laugh again. "I told you those hormones were going to get you in trouble."
Raken then came back to the group. He cast a slightly disgusted look at Gerek. And with Landis comes the slime of the galaxy, he thought.
"I have informed the other officers here of your arrival. They will meet you in fifteen minutes." Raken said. His gaze then fell on Gerek once more. "I suppose you'll be wanting accommodations as well?"
Gerek smiled to Paris and then turned back to Raken. "You read my mind Captain. You still have my old room, right?"
Raken nodded. "It's remained unused since you left."
Gerek beamed. He cast Rune a proud smile. "I see I'm at least appreciated here."
"Actually, no one else would take it after they heard you had occupied it. We've tried every method of cleaning it, but we still can't get rid of the stench."
Raken then began to walk away. Gerek's gaze wasn't quite as proud as he cast Paris a glance. "I suppose I need to go get settled in. We can talk later." He then focused his attention on B'Elanna. In a low voice, he said. "And we definitely have some 'talking' to do."
Torres had no idea what to say. Usually, she would just punch a man for saying something like that, but the seriousness in
Gerek's eyes stopped her from doing that. Despite the flippant manner in his voice, his eyes conveyed an urgency she had never seen him display.
As the trader followed Raken away, a few last words could be heard. "So, is officer Katarinay still here? She was extremely...'courteous' last time I was here..."
Paris waited as everyone settled down. A group of the Resistance's higher personnel had gathered for this meeting. They sat on one side of the large table while Janeway, Picard, and Admiral Paris took their seats beside Tom. The Consul took his place at the head of the table and brought the meeting to a beginning.
"Let's get down to business," said the Consul. "We have four days to put together a strike force to take down the Pretor." At the startled glances around the table, he continued. "We have recently found out what Takma was trying to obtain by going through subspace. She wishes to take over the Borg." He then outlined all that had happened through the past four days. He then came to his conclusion. "We have no choice but to stop Takma. If the Borg gain access to the information she has stolen, there is no telling what they will be able to do."
Raken's face was covered with a startled expression. Where the Hell did they get this information?! "She might be presumptuous, but she would never be stupid enough to do something like this." He turned to Paris. "You must have interpreted their data wrong. There's no way she could ever hope to pull this off."
Tom had learned to keep his temper with the man, but Raken was beginning to get on his last nerve. "Believe me; I know what I'm talking about. And there is a slight chance that Takma can accomplish this. It's very small, but it's there none the less."
Raken still seemed unconvinced, but he was silent as Paris continued. "We have no chance but to launch an armada against the Empire. Our target will be Takma. Her ship will end up in the Empire in four days, however we have at least a five hour margin for error and we cannot be certain on the exact location that the ship will land in."
Raken gave a snort. "So we just have an armada of ships scouring an entire sector for a ship that we don't even know will be there. That will bring quite a bit of attention don't you think."
"That's why we won't be attacking Takma's vessel when it first emerges from the rift. She'll need to repower her ship. We've calculated that the nearest station she can dock at will be Deknoks. We'll wait until she docks and then make our move. Once we enlist the aid of the Dezorisians and add that to our own and the Federation vessels, we should increase our odds." Tom said.
Raken's mouth would have fallen to the floor had his jaw not kept it up. "That's suicide! Attacking concentration camps is one thing, but this is totally different! No one has ever been able to take Deknoks. That's the central power of the Empire. It's better fortified than a Borg cube. Just how do you expect to pull this off?!"
The Admiral was beginning to get tired of this man's insolence. Owen was used to the strict protocols of Starfleet, but these men seemed to throw protocol out the nearest airlock. Owen finally spoke up. "Captain Raken, you will not be going into battle alone. You will have an entire fleet of Starfleet vessels to back you up."
Raken still didn't seem to put any confidence in what they were saying. "You don't know what you're up against," he told the Admiral. "Landis here, might think that he can just go in and fire a few torpedoes and that'll be it. But as for me, I know there's a little more to it than that." He then turned to Tom. "So Rune, you never answered me. How are you going to bring down the Empire?"
Tom smiled slightly. "I'm not going to bring it down. The late Doctor Rosin is."
Later that night, Tom was finally able to retire to his quarters. He entered the door to find Xara sitting alone on the couch. She was extremely quiet and seemed to be lost in thought. His brow furrowed as he wondered what she was doing.
"Hey, Squeaker." he said casually.
Her eyes turned to him. A smile passed over her face, but it wasn't the usual spark of life that usually defined her character so well.
"Hey," she said.
He smiled a bit sadly as he walked over to her. "What's wrong?"
She remained silent as he sat down beside her. He had never seen her so drawn in and it was beginning to make him worry. He would never use his telepathy to invade her privacy so he hoped she would want to talk about whatever was bothering her.
Xara looked up at Rune for a moment. She remembered last night, and most of all she remembered what Aria had told her.
It was hard to forget. She wanted to tell Rune, but she knew she couldn't. Aria had warned her about that.
Finally, she decided to just ask a simple question. "Rune, do you ever have dreams about other people?"
Tom's brow furrowed. "What do you mean?"
She pressed her lips together as she began to think of a way to ask this without letting Rune know her secret. It wasn't time for him to know. Not just yet. "Do you ever have dreams about what will happen to people you know and people you've never seen before?"
He brought the little girl onto his lap. Her usual spark had dimmed considerably. At one time, it could light an entire room, but today it seemed so weak that it couldn't even fill a thimble.
"Sometimes," he said. "I've had dreams about what had happened to those I was close to. I'd sometimes dream that I had lost someone or that they had been caught by the Empire."
"Do you think it could ever come true?" she asked.
"Some believe that dreams are prophecies, but I think that a person makes his own destiny. A dream can't foretell a person's fate. There's always a chance to change the outcome." He paused for a moment as he watched her take in the information he had just given her. "Why do you ask?"
She hesitated for a moment. "Nothing," she said. "I was just curious."
He wished she would tell him what was wrong, but he didn't try to push. She would tell him when she was ready. He just hoped that time wouldn't be too far away.
Gerek stretched his arms out behind him. His ship was being taken care of in the shuttle bay; now all he had to do was take care of a few more things and he would be on his way.
The trader paused as he walked out of his room. He would miss this place. True, the Resistance wasn't paradise, but it was better than some of the places he had visited before.
A young female officer walked past him. He kept a sharp eye on her as she went down the corridor behind him. Yes, he would miss that, too.
But right now, he had to find that fiery half Klingon he had met earlier. When he had first met Voyager's crew, he had immediately been drawn to her. But the time wasn't right then. He had Seven of Nine to keep his attention occupied. She proved to be extremely.... logical. He gave a deep smile. Logic was what usually got him in trouble, as it had been in that case. But Voyager's chief Engineer was on his mind now. He smiled. She would provide much better company than an ex-Borg.
Sargon paced back and forth in his room. He needed to get some air. As he left his quarters, his mind began to replay the plan in his mind. Just one gun that was all he needed. Then he could....
He had been so wrapped up in his thoughts that he had failed to notice Gerek walking up to him. The Parvanian had practically run into the trader before he caught himself.
"Whoa, there," Gerek said. "Don't tell me you've turned blind on me, Sargon."
The Engineer didn't even hear Gerek's words. "Sorry," he muttered and walked away.
A puzzled look passed over Gerek's face. Sargon had never been one to say he was sorry very easily. Gerek tried to catch up with him as he walked away. "If you don't mind me saying, you aren't exactly your usual self today Sargon. Is something wrong?"
The Parvanian paused. He stopped in his tracks and looked over to where Gerek stood. "Look, I don't want to talk about it."
Gerek shrugged. "In that case, I don't want to hear it. Now, on a lighter tone, do you know where Rune is, or for that matter, Lieutenant Torres. They're usually together, so it shouldn't be too hard to find them."
A shadow passed over Sargon's face for a moment. He pushed down his anger as he said. "Don't ask me. I'm not the one sleeping with her."
Gerek was stunned for a second by Sargon's words. He watched as the Parvanian made his way down the corridor. That man was definitely not all there today.
I suppose I'll just have to find them myself. Gerek said. With that he made his way to the base's one gathering spot. He had heard that most of the Federation crews had made their way over there. With any luck, the crew of Voyager had as well.
Tom gave Voyager's senior staff a tour of the facility. This base was one of the largest the Resistance had to offer. It was more than a mile in diameter and consisted of eight stories worth of buildings buried deep beneath the planet's soil. The entire first level was devoted solely to a shuttle bay. The levels below that were offices and storehouses. The Resistance had run across this complex almost fifteen years ago and it had been theirs ever since.
Now Tom finally led his group to the last stop on their tour. "And this," he motioned to the area around him, "is the mess hall."
The room that they were in was only a small amount larger than Voyager's mess hall. Tables filled the room and lined the walls. A small bar was present to one side and seemed to be delivering a small amount of drinks to those who could afford it. On the other side, a line was being formed around a long counter. All in the Resistance were forced to eat the same thing. If
Voyager's crew thought that Neelix's food was bad; they would have quickly changed their mind. The officers at this base were given enough food to keep them going. As far as the variety of what they were eating, there wasn't any. Sometimes they would go for as long as a month eating the same thing everyday.
B'Elanna took in the sites around her. It reminded her of her days in the Maquis, but they had had nothing like this. With a base this large, and this kind of organization, they would have easily been able to overthrow the Cardassians.
Her attention was averted for a moment as she saw another enter through the door. Sargon found a table in the back of the room and sat down by himself.
Paris watched the Parvanian's actions. Sargon looked to be in a no shit mode right now. May the Spirit help the soul who crosses him today.
"I had no idea that the Resistance had anything like this," Janeway commented.
Tom smiled. "We have a lot few people know about."
The fact that he said 'we' and not 'they' struck Janeway. She still regarded Tom as a Starfleet officer, not a Resistance one.
Just as these thoughts were passing through the captain's mind, a voice interrupted her reverie. She gave a slightly exasperated sigh as she immediately placed it.
"Ah, Captain Janeway. I see the Fates have brought us together once again."
Kathryn felt like rolling her eyes at Gerek but she merely said. "It's nice to see you again Gerek."
Harry frowned, as the trader seemed to leer at the women around him. At least there was one good thing about it. He knew better than to mess with Seven. Harry was still proud of how the ex-Borg had handled herself the last time the two had met.
Served him right, thought the Ensign. Maybe next time he'll realize you don't mess with a Borg. Even if she is the hottest thing in the galaxy.
Gerek was immune to the gaze Harry was giving him. Instead, he made his way over to where B'Elanna stood next to Paris.
"So, have you considered my offer?" Gerek asked.
B'Elanna shot him a death glare. "Get any ideas and I'll break your neck."
Gerek took her words in stride. Tom only chuckled slightly. One thing was for sure, he never had to worry about B'Elanna taking care of herself. Tom's eyes were then caught by a Starfleet officer walking over to Sargon's table.
This isn't going to be good. he thought to himself.
Sargon dabbled in the drink he had ordered. Just staring at the crimson liquid seemed to put him at ease almost as much as drinking it did. Just about, everyone in the Resistance knew better than to mess with him while he was like this. So far, no one had been stupid enough to approach him, but it looked like one fool was on his way.
The Enterprise's Chief Engineer, Geordi La Forge approached the man at the table. He had been told that this was the best engineer in the Resistance. With any luck, maybe he would agree to work with La Forge on a few of the engineering problems he was currently experiencing.
"Mind if I sit down?"
Sargon looked up at the human. His eyes seemed to take in the man's features. After a few seconds, he turned his gaze back down to the glass in his hands.
Geordi paused for a moment and then spoke again. "I'm the Chief Engineer aboard the Enterprise. I heard that you were the best engineer here, so I thought maybe we could work together. I'm always open to another..."
"I don't give a damn what you want. Now get out of my face before I lose my temper." Sargon turned his attention back to his drink. His eyes seemed focused on the swirls the red liquid was making in his glass.
Geordi remained there for another moment. He then stepped away. He had actually thought this man would be open to increasing their odds in battle. He took it he was wrong.
"I suppose you're too drunk to care about anything," he said. As he turned his back on the Parvanian, he then muttered.
"What would you care about anyway? It's not your people that are in danger."
Sargon's eyes widened for a second. The anger that he had been trying to push down suddenly stormed to the surface. With one move, he was out of his seat. The glass he had been so preoccupied with clattered to the ground. Its contents staining the floor a deep crimson.
Geordi was only able to turn his head around enough to see a glimpse of his attacker. In one swift move, the Parvanian grabbed the human by the neck and slammed him down onto the table.
Silence moved like a predator throughout the room and quickly enveloped all of the occupants in its tendrils. Sargon's words sliced through the mess hall as easily as a Batleth would through a man's throat.
"Don't ever presume to think you know me." The Parvanian whispered harshly. He tightened his grip on the human's neck causing La Forge to gasp harder for breath. "You don't know anything. You think you can come in here and know everything that's going on in just a matter of minutes. Well, listen to me you pampered little shit. I've lived through it all. So don't tell me it's not my people."
Geordi looked up into the man's eyes. There was a faint sign of madness intermingled with sheer rage inside those black orbs. This man was about to kill him. Sargon didn't care. He was crazy and now he was ready to kill someone. Geordi just happened to be the first person made available.
As La Forge's world began to grow dark, he wondered just what could drive a man to this point.
Paris snatched Sargon off of the smaller human. Tom knew that Sargon had a short fuse, but not even he was prone to exploding like this.
The Parvanian felt a pair of hands pulling him away from his prey. Instinctively, he lashed out at the man behind him. Paris caught the man's arm and twisted it behind him. Sargon continued to struggle as Tom pulled him away from La Forge.
Janeway ran over to make sure that Geordi was alright. She was relieved when the man began to gasp for breath. At least he was still breathing.
"Are you alright?" she asked.
Geordi felt the captain place a reassuring hand on his shoulder and help him up to his feet. He staggered for a moment but then said, "Yeah, I'm fine."
Chakotay was now at Paris's side. The two men tried to take control of the Parvanian. Sargon no longer seemed to be satisfied with only attacking La Forge. He now tried to lash out at Paris as well.
"Sargon, get a hold of yourself!" Paris yelled.
The other man ignored his superior. "Don't tell me what to do you bas...."
Paris was sick of this. Friend or no friend, he was ready to stop this now. Removing his hand from Sargon's wrist, he pushed the Parvanian hard onto the floor.
Sargon seemed momentarily stunned by this turn of events. He remained there for a few seconds as Paris stood looking down at him.
He looked up at the faces that were staring down at him. One face separated itself from the rest as he stared up into the cold blue eyes of his old captain. Sargon's anger had been extinguished for now. He remained on the floor while his breathing began to return to normal.
Tom watched for the Parvanian to make a move. B'Elanna moved over to his side. She placed a hand on his shoulder as if for support. Tom never let his eyes leave the man on the floor. He remained silent as Sargon pulled himself up off the floor.
The Parvanian slowly lifted himself back to his feet. Tom's eyes kept him silent as he waited for Paris to say something. Sargon looked around the room for a few moments. Everyone's attention seemed to rest on him. He then turned back to Rune. The man's eyes were cold as the icy blue they resembled. Sargon opened his mouth to say something, but he was quickly cut off.
"In my ready room now, officer."
Tom's voice was barely above a whisper as he said this, but his meaning was conveyed all too clearly. Sargon lowered his head and left the room. Tom followed close behind. This was one Parvanian that was about to feel the wrath of Tom Paris.
"Alright, I'm waiting for an explanation."
Sargon looked over his shoulder at Rune. No, correction, that was Tom Paris. After all, he was a member of Starfleet now.
That's why he came back. To protect his precious Alpha Quadrant from Takma and the rest of the Empire.
Tom waited for Sargon to say something. After several minutes of silence, Paris tried again. "I'm getting tired of this Sargon. I want to know just what the Hell is going on and I want to know now."
The Parvanian stared at his superior in mock stupefaction. "What do you mean?"
Tom brought a hand to his head. His patience was running extremely thin. "What I mean, is your behavior over the past few days. You're temper has flared up at the least provocation. You've attacked officers on several different occasions over the last three days and I want to know why."
Sargon stared Paris in the eye. "It's none of your business."
"In case you've forgotten, I'm your superior. That makes it my business."
Sargon's mouth dropped open. "Some superior. You disappear for over a month and when we find you, you're back in the Alpha Quadrant with a position in Starfleet. If Takma hadn't attacked Deep Space Nine, you would have never come back to the Delta Quadrant."
Paris forced his anger down. He had never heard Sargon speak this way to a superior before. Sure, he had been known to lose his temper often enough, but this just wasn't like him.
Tom looked Sargon over for a few seconds. The man had deep circles under his eyes. That along with the emotions that were rolling off of him was enough to make Paris realize that he was suffering from a deep problem.
In a softer voice, he said. "I had always planned on returning to the Delta Quadrant. I just didn't have the chance until your vessel returned."
Sargon turned his gaze away from Paris. "By the way you act around that woman, you wouldn't know it."
Tom's eyes narrowed. Perhaps he was getting somewhere. "What does B'Elanna have to do with it?"
The Parvanian turned around sharply. He gave a small chuckle. "What does she have to do with it?! Aria isn't dead for more than a month and already you find another woman to replace her. I see you really mourned her passing."
Tom just stared at Sargon as he walked onto the other side of the room. "You actually think that's what I did." At Sargon's silence, he continued. "I still mourn her passing, but B'Elanna and I had been together long before I knew Aria. It wasn't until last month that I was able to remember her. What am I supposed to do, just throw away everything that B'Elanna and I had?"
Sargon was still facing the wall. He had become extremely quiet as he let the information sink in. He had no idea why he had been so angry with Rune. The man had a right to his past and that included the people along with it. But still, Sargon couldn't believe that Paris could just toss Aria aside like that.
"But... but how could you just throw everything you and Aria had away like it never existed?"
It was Tom's turn to be silent. He waited a few moments and then responded. "I loved Aria. I still do, in a way. But what
B'Elanna and I have is...indescribable. I'll always hold Aria close to me, but what we shared just wasn't the same as what B'Elanna and I have." At the Parvanian's lack of reply, Tom continued. "I know this isn't about me. I realize that you've just lost someone close to you, someone extremely close, but you can't let your grief take over."
The Parvanian suddenly came to life. He spun around and grabbed Paris by the collar. "Just what do you know about...?"
He stopped midsentence when he realized that Paris had gone through the same thing. He had lost Aria. But the difference between the two of them was that Paris had moved on, Sargon never would.
The Engineer relaxed his group on Tom's collar and backed away. "I just... I can't go on without her," he said.
Tom lowered his head. He closed his eyes to block away the pain as well. Sargon's emotions were buffeting against him with fury.
"I know how you feel." Tom said. "When I lost Aria, I didn't think I could go on either. But I found a way. I found my peace with what happened. You just have to do the same."
Sargon put a hand over his eyes to try and block away the tears. He had never cried since he heard the news of Meylin's death. Hell, he had never cried since his parent's death. He hadn't cried; he hadn't eaten; he hadn't slept. Now all of this was taking its toll on his weak body.
Paris noticed the Parvanian begin to sway. "Why don't you go to your quarters and get some rest."
All Sargon could do was nod. All the fight had left him for now. He let Landis lead him to his quarters. Rune said a few more words once they reached his door but Sargon didn't pay any attention to them. Instead, he just walked into the dimly lit room and fell onto his bed.
Find your peace. The words echoed in his mind. How was he supposed to find his peace? Not even the Spirit felt necessary to keep Meylin alive. If the Fates wouldn't protect her, then it was up to Sargon to take his destiny into his own hands.
He looked over to the box at the side of his room. The phaser was still hidden safely within it. Sargon smiled to himself. If the Fates wouldn't help him, then he would help himself. His last vision was of the box as he fell asleep. It only took a few moments before sleep claimed his tired body. As darkness engulfed him, dreams of the battle to come, filled his sleep.
Paris shook his head as he walked back to his quarters. He needed to go check on Xara, and he really wasn't feeling up to going back to check on Janeway and her crew. They could take care of themselves for a few minutes. After all, they knew the basic layout of the base now. If they needed any directions, Gerek was there to give them.
The corridor was empty as Tom made his way back to his quarters. His head pounded. It felt massively heavy. He stopped and leaned against a wall for support.
This can't be happening again. he told himself. Memories of a month ago washed over him. He remembered all the pain he had gone through when he had first begun to regain some of his memories. He couldn't handle that now.
As he began to slide down to one knee, he silently cursed his luck once more.
B'Elanna was wondering just what Sargon was going through right now. She had gone through something all too similar when she had learned of the Maquis. She knew Tom was angry, that was apparent. But she didn't know how far he would go with this.
Her eyes focused on the door where he had left a few minutes ago. She felt the need to go check on him. Janeway and the others could return to Voyager or where ever they wished. At this point, she didn't really care about them.
She was just about to excuse herself when Gerek interrupted her. "Well, Lieutenant, perhaps we can 'talk' now."
B'Elanna turned her nose up in disgust. "No thanks," she said flatly and left.
The trader wasn't dissuaded so easily. He quickly fell into step behind her. "Mind if I ask where you're going?"
Torres rolled her eyes. "I'm going to find Tom. I'm sure you wouldn't be interested in coming along."
Gerek smiled. "Oh, I believe I'll tag along. You're going my way and I'd enjoy the company."
B'Elanna cursed under her breath. She quickened her pace in an attempt to get away from the troll following her. However, her short legs were no match for his long ones.
"If I didn't know any better, I would think that you were trying to lose me."
Torres didn't even turn around as she said. "Now what would give you that idea?"
Gerek brought himself up to her side. They walked in silence for five minutes before B'Elanna began to pay attention to where she was going. Immediately, she realized she had no idea where she was.
Gerek noticed a wave of indecisiveness pass over her face. He smiled. "You're lost."
Torres stopped in her tracks and turned to face him. That was it. She couldn't take him anymore. "I don't have the patience to put up with you today so just leave me the Hell alone."
The trader remained unfazed by her words. He stood there for a few seconds just staring at her. Her anger ignited the fire in her eyes. This definitely was the one he had been looking for. He stared into her fiery orbs and finally said. "Paris's room is three corridors down to your left."
She gave a low growl but followed his directions. His footsteps began to tred on her last nerves as he continued to follow her. "I can make it there myself," she said.
"Oh, I don't doubt that, but like I said, I was looking for some company. Tell me, what do you hope to find after this?"
Her patience was really beginning to wear thin. "What?" she asked.
"I heard you were off to attack the Empire," he explained. "Many have tried to do the same before, what makes you think this time will be any different?"
"Well, for one thing, we have Tom. He knows more about the Empire than anyone else could hope to. And the fact that the
Federation is backing us up doesn't hurt to much either."
He took in her words. After a few more steps, he said. "So you think one simple battle and you can take Takma out and be done with it?"
She rolled her eyes. "I'm not that stupid. But I believe we can get rid of Takma."
He laughed. That was it. He had stepped on her nerves for the last time. She stopped to face him. What was his problem anyway? The man stood there shaking his head as if she was a two-year-old telling about how she would one day rule the world.
"What?" she asked. "You don't share my optimism?"
He finally stopped his laughter. "You're not ready yet," he told her. "Paris is close, but he's not ready either."
She narrowed her eyes. "It's not just us fighting this battle you know."
He seemed to look her over for a moment. "No, I don't suppose you are. But you are a key figure in it," he paused. "You know you won't win if you attack the Empire now. You're not ready."
She began to walk off. "Thankfully not everyone shares your pessimism."
Torres continued on her trip to Tom's quarters. Gerek had finally stopped following her, but his words continued to beseech her ears as she went down the corridor.
"Be careful, B'Elanna. You're too valuable to be lost now."
\*
\*The final results have come in. We're ready to further the assimilations.\*
As the man said this, there was no trepidation in his manner of speaking. The others around him seemed to feel only excitement as he said his words.
Paris looked around at his surroundings. He was in some kind of research facility. The man that had been speaking was of a species Paris had never seen before. His hair was a light blue, which paralleled the cerulean of his eyes.
Tom watched as a crew of other workers began to busy themselves at their work. Excitement pulsed through their bodies as they hurried about testing and retesting their research.
Paris walked around the room. He studied a few consoles. The information illustrated plans for assimilation; however, as Paris looked at it more carefully, he realized that this wasn't the same as what the Borg did. This assimilation process merely modified a being's anatomy to incorporate both biological and cybernetic components into their systems. It lacked any planning for incorporating a mind into the collective consciousness. Tom then let his attention return to the people around him.
As the first speaker walked around the room, his eyes seemed to lift up for a moment. Both Paris and the other man's eyes met for that brief period. Tom squinted in concentration. None of the others even seemed to notice him, but this man regarded him with confusion.
Before Paris could say anything, his surroundings melted away. He looked around in confusion and realized that he was back on the same plane that Aria usually visited him on.
As if on cue, she approached him. I see you've made it back.
He looked bewildered. What was that?
She smiled sadly. That was the beginning. At his confusion, she chose to explain. Don't worry. You will know more very soon, but for now, that's all I can show you.
Tom was getting impatient. Aria, I don't have time for this now. We are preparing to attack the Empire. I can't allow this to happen when I'm in the middle of battle.
She walked closer to him. I'm sorry, but the only way you can win is if you know what you are up against. You will only have to endure this for a little while longer. I promise.
\*
"Aria, I can't...." Tom's protests were heard by no one. He looked around to take in his surroundings. He was back in the corridor he had begun. The pounding in his head was beginning to lessen. After a few seconds, he finally realized he was still knelt on the floor.
Shaking his head, he brought himself back to a standing position. "I can't take this Aria," he muttered to himself.
Just as he began to walk back to his quarters, B'Elanna came up behind him. "Tom, wait up."
He turned around at the sound of her voice.
"Hey," she said. "I thought I'd never find you. Were you able to talk to Sargon?"
"Yeah," he said. "Sargon... he has a lot of things to work out. I just hope he'll be able to sort through it all soon."
She took his hand. There was something in his voice that made her wonder if something was wrong. He didn't seem to be able to concentrate like he normally could. His mind seemed to be thousands of light years away.
"Is something wrong?" she asked.
He smiled somewhat and shook his head. "I'm fine."
She shot him an unbelieving look. "Don't give me that Paris. The last time you said you were fine, you ended up in sickbay for almost a week."
Tom laughed slightly. "I suppose you have a point."
"I always do, Paris. Now tell me what's wrong."
Tom's eyes fell on something down the hall. A man was making his way towards them. He was the same man that Tom had seen only a few seconds ago in the lab.
Just as he was about to call out to the man, he was gone. Tom shook his head; he could have sworn he saw someone down there.
B'Elanna watched all of this pass over Tom's face. She looked behind her to see what he was staring at. Nothing was there.
"Tom?" she asked.
Paris snapped out of it. \*Aria, I can't put up with this.\* he thought again.
At B'Elanna's worried gaze, he said. "Nothing's wrong. I just really need to get some sleep."
She decided to accept his excuse. He rarely slept, so this would be a good way to get him to do so.
"Alright," she said. "Let's get you to your quarters."
He nodded and allowed her to lead him away. A smile then filled his face. "Umm, B'Elanna."
"What?" she asked.
"We're going the wrong way."
She stopped and let out a low growl. She was really getting tired of this. "Okay, why don't you take the lead then?"
He took her hand in his and bowed slightly. "It would be my pleasure."
She smiled as he led her away. "You know what Paris."
"What?"
"You're full of it."
He laughed. "I suppose I am."
Satira straightened out her medical supplies. Voyager's EMH had come to help her update her medicine array for the upcoming battle. After a few seconds, he began to hear whispering behind him.
"Honestly, what shall I say to them? I have not spoken to them for over an entire year." She muttered to herself.
Doc listened to her prattle on. She didn't seem to acknowledge his presence anymore. As if anyone ever does. he thought to himself.
"Might I ask, to whom you are talking?" he asked.
Satira looked up suddenly. The woman's mask had fallen and now her youth showed more than ever. Embarrassment caused a swift red to brush over her bronze skin. "I apologize. It is just that..." she paused for a few moments. In that amount of time, she was able to replace her mask. "I have not been in contact with my people in over a year. I am... hesitant about meeting them again."
Doc walked over to her. He wasn't used to such youth being in these kinds of positions. She wasn't even as old as Ensign
Kim, yet she had seen no telling how much more. And throughout all of her missions, she had never thought about returning to the world she had left behind.
The EMH placed a hand on her shoulder. "I'm sure you will be fine. I haven't known you very long, but I can already tell that you are an honorable person. Anyone could see that. I'm sure your people will understand your reasons."
She looked up at him and smiled. "I suppose you are correct. Now the only problem I face is discovering a way to keep
Danag sober during his stay there."
Doc smiled back to her. As she walked away, he shook his head. What did intoxication have to do with anything?
Paris boarded Voyager early the next morning. The countdown to their attack was now set at three days. He had helped to devise a solid plan of action; however, most of his planning rested on the aid of the Dezorisians.
That was where Voyager was heading. Paris was the only one who held any authority over the other race and he had requested that Voyager be the ship to take them. There were relatively few Imperial ships in the sector, so he had little to worry about from the Empire. He also knew that he needed to be able to get there fast. By using a few short wormholes, he could cut his travel time down from two days to less than an hour. And out of all the ships at his disposal, Voyager would be placed in the least amount of danger by this course of action. One of the other Resistance vessels might be torn apart if it entered this type of irregularity, but the worst-case scenario with Voyager would be a few damage hull platings.
"Well, it's about time we left." Paris told Satira.
She nodded. Danag put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. Tom knew that she was having trouble facing her clan, but he needed her. She was the only one he had that he could truly rely on during these proceedings.
Danag was tagging along as a companion to Satira, for the most, but Tom also needed someone to help him out with the technical details of everything. As long as the shape shifter didn't get near a drink, he should be fine.
The three boarded Voyager's bridge. Both Danag and Satira kept to the background as Tom took the Helm. Admiral
Paris and Captain Janeway stood watch over the bridge.
The captain looked around at her crew. Everything seemed to be in order. The only thing that seemed different now was the attitudes of most of the crewmen on the bridge. Usually so enthusiastic, they seemed somewhat reserved today.
They don't want to be here anymore than I do. she realized. After finally getting home, her entire crew was forced to return to the very place they had been trying to get away from.
She took her seat. They needed to get underway. "Take us out Mr. Paris."
An hour later, and two wormholes away, Voyager was finally approaching the Dezorisian home base. The knot in Satira's stomach began to twist as she watched the ship grow closer to her old home.
"May the Spirit be kind," she muttered.
Harry looked back at her from his console, but she didn't seem to register his gaze. She merely walked to the front of the bridge and laid a hand on Tom's shoulder.
He took her meaning. "Captain, I believe I should hail them." he told Janeway.
Janeway nodded. "Harry, put a signal through to the Dezorisians."
The ensign nodded and after a few seconds a large Dezorisian male appeared on the screen.
"State your reasons for entering our territory." he commanded.
Tom stepped forward. A slight smile played on his face as he said. "Really, Karnus, I had thought your manners had improved some since our last meeting."
The Dezorisian stared at Paris for quite a few moments before replying. "I apologize, sir. I shall have a docking port prepared for your vessel immediately."
Tom nodded and ended the transmission.
Chakotay looked at the viewscreen. "Somehow I thought they would be a little less receptive of our entry."
Satira looked up. "Karnus may not possess the same honor of Rune, but he will respect his leader."
The Admiral looked up. "Leader?"
Satira shot him a look. "Rune is our clan leader. Did you not know that?"
The Admiral turned to his son. Would surprises never cease?
Tom just gave Owen a small smile. "After last time, I wasn't quite sure what our reception would be like." He then changed the subject. "We had better get ready to leave. One thing Dezorisians lack is patience."
Satira gave a slight growl but said nothing. She had enough honor not to object to the truth.
Owen Paris walked around the station in the presence of giants. He considered himself a relatively tall man, but not even his height was comparable to the seven-foot-tall Dezorisians.
Janeway seemed to be thinking the same thing. She felt like a dwarf around these people. What story was it that a man suddenly finds himself in a land of giants? It finally dawned on her.
"Gulliver's Travels," she muttered to herself.
Satira turned to the captain. She raised a questioning eyebrow.
Janeway blushed slightly. "Excuse me. I was just talking to myself."
The Dezorisian nodded. Then a question popped up in her mind. "Do you also know Rune as 'Gulliver?'"
Janeway shook her head and laughed slightly. "Remind me to introduce you to some of earth's literature. I'm sure you would find some of it interesting."
The Dezorisian woman was still confused but said nothing. It was best not to make a fool of oneself. Later she could ask Rune about it.
B'Elanna stood at Tom's side. The two walked ahead of Janeway and Owen, despite their status of rank. Danag and Satira followed further behind. The group made its way to meet Karnus in one of the station's briefing rooms.
A few Dezorisians stopped to stare in Owen's direction. The Admiral stiffened his back as he walked along. "I had no idea these people were this massive." he whispered. "I believe the Klingon's have finally found a formidable opponent."
"Yes, I'd say they could teach the Klingon's quite a few new moves." Tom replied. "Just make sure to be polite and whatever you do don't be bullied into a drinking match with them." Tom turned his eyes toward Danag as he said this.
The man cast his gaze to the floor. "No, I wouldn't suggest you do that either."
Owen was about to ask what they were referring to when Paris stopped walking. A tall, male Dezorisian approached Paris.
Owen immediately recognized him as the man on the comm signal.
"I see you have finally returned," stated the man.
"Yes, I've come to talk business with you." Tom said.
Karnus cast him a strange look. "You are the leader of this clan. I do not see why you would want to confer with me."
"You've led this clan long before I came around, and in truth, you're still leading it now. I need your support in a matter, but right now, I had rather we speak in private."
Karnus nodded and took the group to a private room. Janeway noticed how sparsely decorated the room was. There was one viewscreen as well as a few chairs and a table. Everything in the room was a deep brown and appeared to be made out of the same material.
First on the list were introductions. Tom turned to his group. "As you already know, this is Karnus. He is in charge of this clan while I'm away." Paris then turned to Karnus and introduced the members of his team. "This is Captain Janeway, Admiral Paris, Lieutenant Torres, and as you know, Danag and Satira."
Karnus looked over the group for a few seconds. He stopped in front of the Admiral and seemed to inhale the air around him. The scent paralleled Rune's. "I can see you have found one of your clan members, Rune." He then walked over to Satira. "It is good to see you again, sister."
Satira nodded. "The feeling is mutual."
Karnus looked down at Danag for a moment, but then turned away. The smaller man gave him an exasperated look but said nothing.
"Now, what is it that you wish to discuss?" Karnus asked.
Tom took a seat at the table. Best thing to do was go straight to the point. "The Resistance is preparing to launch an attack against the Empire. We need the Dezorisians to aid in the fight as well."
Karnus looked at him surprised. "Are you serious?"
"I am extremely serious. We need to attack Takma now, before she is able to enter subspace again." He then outlined her plans and the effects they would have whether or not she succeeded. "We already have the Federation to back us up, but that's not enough. We need the Dezorisians as well."
Karnus thought for a moment. He then turned to the Admiral. "You will be participating in this as well?"
The Admiral didn't know what the Dezorisian was referring to, but he answered none the less. "Yes, the Federation is prepared to enter this war as well."
Karnus paused for a few minutes. He knew few races that would give aid to other cultures so far away. He had seen it done a few times between societies in different sectors, but different quadrants?
B'Elanna was getting impatient. She was ready to hear an answer. "So what's your decision?"
Karnus smiled. His teeth were bared in such a way that B'Elanna could barely tell whether he was aiming for intimidation or humor. "This is battle. You need not ask a Dezorisian his decision in such matters."
Janeway thought that was a yes, but she turned to Satira just in case.
The female noticed the captain's questioning expression. "He will participate." she confirmed.
Paris stood up. "I knew I could depend on you. Now all we need to do is prepare."
"When will you implement your attack?"
"Three days." Paris said.
Karnus's eyes widened slightly. "That gives us little time to prepare."
Danag smiled as he saw a hint of worry flicker across the Dezorisian's face. "Well, that's what makes it interesting, isn't it."
Karnus turned his eyes towards the younger man and cast him a hostile glance. He then walked out of the room.
Paris looked back to Danag. The younger man just shrugged his shoulders. Tom shook his head and followed Karnus out of the room.
Satira and Danag were the last to leave. She grabbed his sleeve and whispered to him. "Don't pull any stunts, understand."
His expression shifted to one of mock hurt. "What, me? How could you think such a thing?"
Her eyes flickered brightly as she clenched his sleeve in her hand. "I know you Danag, and I do not want anything to happen like it did the last time we were here. Karnus has an extremely short temper. I shall not have you provoke him."
She let go of his shirt and followed the rest of the group away. He looked down at his sleeve. The material was still knotted together in the impression of her hand.
I definitely don't want to piss her off, he told himself yet again. He then smiled, but she's so hot when she gets angry.
By that evening, an entire fleet of Dezorisian ships was ready for departure. Satira found herself staring out of one of the portholes overlooking the fleet outside.
Danag leaned up against the wall next to her. He noticed her distracted look. "Reminiscing," he asked.
She turned her gaze to him. "Yes. I was reared here. It seems that all of my life was spent dreaming of how I would one day leave, and now that I return...."
"You find out it meant more to you then you ever knew."
Her eyes focused on him. He seldom ever talked to her like that. She never knew that he was as perceptive as this. "Yes, I was unable to appreciate my home before now." She shook her head. "I was never truly a beneficial member of my clan. I was always the 'runt.' It was for that reason I chose to be a healer. At least in that, I could perform a job for my people. I never would be a great warrior such as Karnus, so I chose to take another role in society. The Spirit dealt me that hand, yet I was still unsatisfied. For that reason, I wished to leave. I was spoilt and ran away when given the chance."
Danag examined Satira for a few moments. She rarely, if ever, opened her soul up to him. He put a hand up to her face.
Tracing the her cheek line and on up to her temple he looked into her deep brown eyes. "You were never 'spoilt.' You're one of the most unselfish people I have ever seen. You've risked your life to save others a countless number of times. As for leaving this place, I'm glad you did. If you hadn't come with us, then I wouldn't have you now."
Satira's eyes softened for one of the few times in her life. She gave him a genuine smile which continued to soften her usually warrior like features. "You are more compassionate then you let others believe."
He looked to the floor. "Don't tell anyone. It might ruin my image."
She laughed. "What image?"
For whatever reasons, he gave her a soft growl. This sent all of Satira's self-control over the wall and she grabbed him by the collar and pulled him into a deep kiss.
They stayed that way for quite sometime before pulling away for air.
Danag stared at her for a few moments as he tried to catch his breath. "Whatever I said, remind me to say it again."
She shook her head. "You come across as such a compassionate being one moment and then you have to ruin that image by speaking."
Karnus walked into the corridor where Satira and Danag were talking. A slight growl rippled through his throat. Why was that insolent coward talking with his sister? She might not be the pride of her clan, but she was blood and Karnus wouldn't allow this outsider to corrupt her.
He was about to go inform Danag of just that when he saw Satira grab the man by the collar. He smiled. She has taken care of the matter. He then saw her pull him forward into a kiss.
His eyes expanded as he watched the two deepen their kiss and finally pull apart. What was she thinking?
Janeway noticed Karnus's expression as she entered the corridor as well. It was clear that the man was extremely upset over something, and by the look on his face, someone was about to pay.
Her eyes followed to where he was staring. Danag and Satira were talking with one another by the window. Why would he be so upset over this?
She didn't have time to ask, before he began to advance towards the couple. Janeway realized something was about to happen. She hit her comm badge. "Janeway to Paris. We've got trouble."
Karnus stalked over to the couple. Satira saw him out of the corner of her eye but didn't have time to react.
The male Dezorisian grabbed Danag by the shoulder and slammed him into the wall. "You have no right to touch her."
Karnus growled out.
All Danag felt was a sudden, sharp pain strike his chest. He struggled to get his breath. All the wind had been knocked out of his lungs as the larger man had flung him into the wall. Now the stars were beginning to go away and he was finally able to concentrate on what Karnus was saying.
The Dezorisian had him lifted almost five inches off the ground so Danag had an extremely good look at the man's eyes.
They were full of fire, the same fire that usually ignited Satira's orbs. The only problem was that this wasn't his lover; this was his lover's brother.
"Karnus, put him down!" Satira ground out. She tugged at the older man's arms, but he refused to release his grip.
"Stay out of this female. You have embarrassed our clan enough by associating with this dishonorable coward."
"You do not know him Karnus, and I am not just 'female' anymore. Rune gave me a name. It is Satira and I shall be called as such. Now put him down; this is none of your affair!" Satira began to pull at him even more. She was beginning to curse her size. If she was just a little stronger...
Karnus was getting tired of this. "You have dishonored this clan for the last time 'female.' First you abandon your family; now you form a relationship with this... half-breed!" He said in reference to Danag. "I will not allow you to do this anymore." With that, he took his free hand and pushed her harshly away.
Satira landed hard on the floor. Her tail had helped to break her impact, but that didn't stop the pain that was rising through her back. Janeway knelt down beside her.
"Are you alright?" she asked the younger woman. The captain was just about to help the healer pry Karnus from Danag but she hadn't gotten there fast enough to prevent Satira from being thrown to the floor.
The Dezorisian said nothing, but let out a low growl. Her eyes lit up for a second as anger flooded through her. How dare he. How Dare He! She was no longer some child to be told who she could or couldn't converse with. She was a grown woman. If her clan wouldn't accept her, then so be it.
Danag felt his air supply running out. Karnus had him in a death grip and showed no signs of letting up. That was when he heard it. The sound seemed to come from miles away, but through his fading vision, he could see Satira slowly getting to her feet. She remained low to the ground. Her teeth were bared and a fierce mask of anger covered her features. The next roar she let out seemed to catch Karnus's attention. He turned to her just in time to see her make her attack.
Satira launched herself at the larger Dezorisian. His eyes widened in surprise as the full force of her body knocked him away from Danag. The smaller man fell to the floor where he began to gasp for air. Janeway was at his side in a matter of seconds. He looked up for a brief second to see the fight that was now ensuing.
Karnus was caught completely off guard as Satira attacked him. As he fell to the floor, he still couldn't believe what was happening. It was equally unbelievable when he realized that Satira was making no move to get off of him.
Rage was all she felt. Satira lashed out at her older brother with her claws. They weren't exactly claws, but they served the purpose. Karnus raised a hand to shield his face. He had never seen someone go so berserk. Somehow, he managed to get her off of him. But as he was getting up to his feet she attacked him again and wrestled him to the ground.
"My name is SATIRA and you will call me this and treat me with the respect I deserve." She yelled at him. He tried to push her off of him once more, but this time he misjudged his timing. She used this opening and quickly pinned him to the ground. He struggled under her grasp but was unable to free himself.
"You will not lecture me on my life." She told him. "I shall do what I wish, when I wish, and how I wish."
Karnus remained silent. He merely stared up into her eyes. He had never seen her so angry. No, furious was a better word.
Angry just didn't describe the mood she had taken. By the look in her eyes, he was beginning to think that she might kill him over this. Or at least add a few deep scars.
Just as the woman was preparing to lash out at him again, a pair of strong arms wrapped around her and dragged her off her victim. She struggled under the grasp for a second but then relaxed. Most of her energy had been spent. Now her anger was released and she was beginning to calm down.
"Remind me to never get you mad."
Satira turned around at the sound of the voice. She immediately felt embarrassment sneaking up on her. "I apologize Rune."
He looked down at the floor. Karnus was beginning to get back to his feet. Shock was the only evident emotion on his face.
"That makes the second one of my crewmen that I've had to pull off of another person in just the past week." Paris said.
Satira cast her eyes downward. "I am sorry."
Danag was now getting up. He walked over to where the two were standing. "Look, Captain, it wasn't her fault. Karnus was about to...."
"Janeway explained it to me." he interrupted. He then noticed that Satira wasn't looking as well as could be expected. The aftereffects of such an outburst were about to take their toll on her. "Danag, take Satira back to Voyager. We've just about finished up here. I'll be back shortly."
Danag nodded and began to lead Satira away. He leaned over and whispered in her ear. "Thanks, I owe you one."
She smiled somewhat but said nothing. Soon they were out of eyesight. Tom turned his attention to the Dezorisian at his feet. Karnus was on his knees now. He wiped away a streak of blood that was running down his cheek from where Satira had clawed him.
Paris let out an exasperated sigh. "How many fights do you have to provoke?"
The Dezorisian looked up at Rune. "She has no right associating with that... vermin. A Dezorisian never has consorts of such low standards. She has ruined this clans name by associating with him."
"She's a free woman. She has the right to be in the presence of whomever she wants. Danag might not have the greatest people skills, but he is an extremely valuable member of my crew. I won't have you attacking any of my crew, no matter what you think of them. Am I understood?"
Karnus got to his feet. "Satira's place is here, not with the Resistance. Its influence has corrupted her! I will not allow her to continue on this course of action."
Tom's eyes narrowed. "I've proven myself to you once, don't make me do it again. Satira has the right to make her own choices. You can't decide for her."
Karnus stared at Paris. Their eyes reflected the hostility that each were feeling at the time. Finally, the Dezorisian walked away. He wouldn't have a chance to choose for Satira, but perhaps he could convince her of the error in her ways.
Voyager's stay was drawing to a close. B'Elanna walked beside Paris as they made their way back to Voyager.
"That was sure interesting," she said.
"Not half as 'interesting' as what happened last time. I ended up in a brawl with Karnus before because Danag got drunk and said something he shouldn't have."
Torres did have to admit that outweighed these events. But still, Karnus and Satira were the topic of everyone on both Voyager and the station. The Dezorisians were all arguing over how Satira had managed to be the victor over Karnus. They had all deemed her a worthless runt years ago.
For a brief second, B'Elanna wondered where Karnus had disappeared. She hadn't seen the Dezorisian since the fight. She shrugged. He was probably too disgraced to allow himself to be seen in public.
Satira was alone in Voyager's sickbay. The doctor had deactivated himself and Danag had left for the bridge, so now it was only her. She sorted through some of Doc's instruments. It seemed to calm her. Usually she hated violence, but today had been different. She had never allowed herself to lose control like that before, but now she had, and it scared her.
The swish of the sickbay doors alerted herself to someone's entrance. Jumping around quickly, she turned to face the intruder.
Karnus regarded her impassively from where he stood in the door. Her eyes widened.
"How did you get in here?" she asked. Surely, Rune wouldn't have allowed him on Voyager after what had happened.
"I have my ways." Karnus replied. "I came to speak with you. I do not have much time, so I shall tell you what I have to say. You have dishonored our clan. For that, you have no choice but to stay here and relinquish all ties you hold to that... vermin I saw you with earlier."
She straightened her back and raised herself to her full height. "And if I don't."
"You will be banished from our clan."
She felt her lungs threaten to collapse. He wouldn't banish her. She had witnessed only one other person be banished. That was a traitor years ago. She had been young at the time, but she knew what it meant. All ties to her clan would be severed and if she ever came back, she would face severe punishment. Perhaps even death. She had seen how her people punished others.
Coming back wouldn't be an option.
"You can decide now." Karnus told her. He knew what her answer would be. She would return with him. She wouldn't allow herself to be an outcast banished from her people. A confident smile threatened to surface on his lips but he remained stern.
Satira couldn't believe that he was doing this to her. She might have left this clan for a year, but that was nothing compared to life. She had grown up here; she couldn't just abandon all of that.
With a heavy sigh, she told him. "I don't see that I have a choice."
He waited in preparation. The next words from her mouth would mean a victory for him.
Janeway was waiting for Tom just as he entered the bridge. "Was everything taken care of?" she asked.
He gave a nod. "Despite the 'altercation' earlier, everything will still be going on as scheduled. The Dezorisian fleet will meet us at the battle coordinates on our signal."
"I don't suppose we have anything left to do," she said. "Mr. Paris, prepare to take us out."
Danag stood alone at the back of the bridge. He looked towards the door for Satira, but she never came. Finally, Tom noticed this as well. "Danag, do you know where Satira is?"
The man shook his head. "I'm sorry sir. I think she's in sickbay, but she was supposed to come down to the bridge for departure."
Tom's brow furrowed. It wasn't like her to be late. Danag was getting worried as well. She had been fairly upset when she returned to the ship. He didn't know what she might do.
Paris was about to ask the computer the location of Satira when she walked through the door. Her head was slightly downcast as she made her way towards Danag.
"I apologize for my tardiness," she said in a low voice.
Paris noticed that she was acting extremely strange; however, he said nothing. Danag on the other hand, wasn't about to let this go without being noticed.
"What's wrong?" he whispered.
Satira's eyes seemed to be focused on something far away. In a low voice she said, "I can not come back."
"If you're still upset about that fight, don't be. Karnus deserved what came to him. Besides, it'll all be forgotten in a week."
She looked up into his eyes. He could see the pain reflected in her orbs, and she could see the worry in his. "I can not come back. Karnus has banished me. I can never come back."
Danag was silent for a moment as he took in her words. He had no idea what to say. Instead, he merely took her hand in his and held it. She looked down at their two hands joined together. As she raised her head back up to look at him, a small smile was on her lips. This time he didn't ruin the moment by speaking.
Paris was flying through the wormhole when he felt it.
\*
\*With this new technology, we'll be able to take our race to perfection.\* said a woman.
The man next to her shook his head and laughed. I wouldn't go that far, but I will say that this should help to advance us far beyond any other race we know of. Imagine it, with these cybernetic implants; we can prolong a person's life by decades. Why, there would be no more diseases, no more hunger. Once we incorporate this into society, our people will finally be able to live with or without food. Why you can just go into regeneration to heal your wounds, supply your food, and go to sleep.
Paris recognized the man who had just spoken. He was the same one that had seen him earlier. The man ran a hand through his short blue hair. He looked to be in his late twenties, if he were human, but Tom had no idea who this race was.
Vestin Landis, you're crazy. said the woman.
Tom's eyes widened. Landis? Aria had once told him about a man like this. In fact, that was where part of his name had come from. Tom began to grow even more agitated. Just where in the Hell was he?
The man referred to as Vestin Landis laughed as well. You can call me crazy now, Evae, but we'll just see who is chosen as Chief Researcher for the Dykinae Triverate. Why I'll be leading our people into a new era while you, you'll still be stuck down here working on engineering designs.
I'll have you know, I like engineering, replied Evae as she laughed as well. \*And just what makes you think that you're
'Collective' as you call it, will revolutionize our civilization?\*
Vestin's smile grew. Oh it'll revolutionize more than our society, it'll revolutionize the whole galaxy.
\*
Tom was pulled back into reality just before Voyager hit a series of irregularities in the wormhole. He quickly began to maneuver the ship around the turbulence as fast as possible.
Janeway held onto the side of her chair as they flew through the last piece of turbulence. Tom could have easily avoided that.
Why didn't he do so before they entered the irregularity?
She let it go. He was under a lot of pressure at the present time. It would be best not to distract him by bringing it up.
Instead, she turned to Ensign Kim.
"How long before we're out of the wormhole?"
"We only have a few more minutes, Captain." Harry replied.
She nodded. Whatever was distracting Tom, she hoped he could manage to maintain his concentration until they were out of the wormhole.
Tom was still in a daze as he docked Voyager to the Resistance station, so there was little patience for him to spend on those around him. Raken approached him.
"I take it you were able to secure the assistance of the Dezorisians?"
Tom nodded. "Yes, they'll provide backup once we attack. Now if you'll excuse me, I'll be in my quarters." Paris then walked away, but Raken followed.
"Is that it?" he asked. "If we're still going to follow through with this little 'plan' of yours, we need to finish preparing for it. You can't just go to your quarters now. We've still got preparations to make!"
Tom let out a sigh. "Listen Raken, I'm extremely tired right now. I haven't seen a bed for over two days. I'm going to get a few hours of sleep, then we can continue planning. Is that clear enough for you?"
The other captain said nothing after that. It was no secret that Raken held no friendship towards Rune, but even he knew when to give the human room. Raken let Paris go. He hated the man, but he was smart enough to know that without Rune Landis, their mission would never succeed.
Gerek then approached Raken. The captain let out an audible sigh but acknowledged the man's presence nonetheless. "What do you want?"
Gerek said nothing for a few minutes. He then came to his point, "I'll be leaving shortly. I was wondering if you could direct me to where Lieutenant Torres is. We still have some unfinished business."
"She should still be on Voyager. You can find her there."
Gerek gave a slight nod and then left. He needed to talk to B'Elanna just a little more before he left.
Paris walked into his cabin. As usual, his head felt as if it was about to explode. He sat down on the couch and put his head in his hands.
\*Of all times Aria\* he thought. Of all times, this had to happen now.
He wished that the Nalyan would just come out and tell him what it was she wanted him to know. He had no idea what all of these memories meant. They made no sense. And now they were beginning to effect his duties as well. He had come close to losing Voyager in that wormhole earlier; he couldn't risk the chance that the same thing would happen again.
He picked himself up off the couch and walked over to Xara's room. She was sleeping. Not wanting to wake her, he made his way back to his own bed and lay down in it.
He didn't even have time to take his shoes off, before he had fallen asleep.
\*
\*Vestin, I'm telling you, we've gone too far.\*
Vestin turned to his colleague. What do you mean, 'gone too far.' We've barely touched the aspects this technology could bring.
Paris watched as the two began arguing. Vestin looked to have aged at least five years since Tom had last seen him. The woman beside him was the same that Tom had seen as well. The two were carrying on similarly to when Paris had last 'visited' them.
The small lab they had been working in before had grown into a huge research facility. Borg alcoves and maturation chambers lined the walls. Now even the two researchers seemed to have been 'assimilated.' They each had Borg implants attached to them; however, they were nowhere near as cybernetically covered as the actual Borg were. They still possessed the normal vestiges of individuals; clothes, opinions, ideas. They weren't yet assimilated in terms of the Borg.
Vestin's colleague looked around her. It has been five years, Vestin. We've managed to incorporate this technology into our society. We've taken it as far as it can go. We need to stop now.
Vestin gave her a sour look. Listen to me, Evae. In five years, we have changed the way our society acts. Our species is now the most advanced one in this sector; I'd even venture to say, in this quadrant. Sure, we've prolonged our people's lives, we've gotten rid of hunger and disease, but there's still so much more we can do. We still have those out there who are being killed off. Not because of famine or pestilence, but because of their own hatred. The only way our society can evolve is if we rid ourselves of the wars that are breaking us apart.
Evae gave a sigh. She pushed back some of her long, rose-colored hair and stared out at her surroundings. They were moving too fast. Almost all of their people had been 'assimilated' as Vestin called it. Now she could barely recognize the traits that had grown once so prominent in her own people. It was scaring her. They needed to slow down, but according to Vestin, that would never happen.
And just how is this technology going to get rid us of wars. Explain that to me Vestin. she demanded.
He ushered her over to one of the nearby computer consoles. Tom watched as Vestin ordered a computer file brought onto the screen. This, he said. Is going to make that happen.
Evae looked at the screen. What is it?
It's a 'neural transceiver.' By using this, we can link all of our minds together. There would be no more secrets, no more hatred. Our race could work as one to advance our species into the future. Can you imagine what we could accomplish if we all worked together as one instead of allowing jealousy and greed to guide us.?
Evae could tell that he was proud of his accomplishment, but she on the other hand... Something in the back of her mind kept telling her that this wasn't going to work out the way Vestin had in mind.
You can't just act like a god, Vestin. By doing this, you would be saying that you're just as great as the Spirit, Himself. What about a person's individuality? Did you ever think about that?
But this won't erase a person's individualism. It will just allow us all to be closer than we've ever been. He took Evae's hand in his. You know me Evae, we've been mates for almost five years now. Trust me.
She looked down at their hands. After a few seconds, a slight smile touched her lips. I know, Vestin. I trust you.
\*
Paris woke up a few minutes later. He blinked his eyes a few times, as he tried to determine his surroundings. This was beginning to take its toll on him. He didn't even know who the people were that he kept seeing. Of course, he knew their names by now: Vestin and Evae. He knew they were Dykinae, too, but what did that help. Wait, Dykinae? Wasn't that the same species that created the station he was assimilated in.
All of it was beginning to get jumbled in his mind. He didn't have time for this. He still had work to do on the plans for the battle.
Getting out of bed, he looked to see how long he had been asleep. Only ten minutes. He rubbed his temples. If that was the kind of rest he would be getting, he might as well go back to work. Not having taken off his clothes, he simply left his sleeping quarters and went in to check on Xara. She was still asleep as well.
He then left his quarters. \*Might as well go find Raken,\* he thought.
B'Elanna was just leaving Voyager when Gerek popped up at her side once more.
"What now?" she asked.
The man put a hand to his heart. "I'm hurt B'Elanna. You act as if you don't want to see me."
"It's not an act." she replied coldly. The man was beginning to get on her last nerve and she wasn't afraid to tell him either.
"Look, I'm not in the mood to put up with you. If you have anything worthwhile to say, tell me now or leave."
"Oh, I have 'something' to tell you alright, but it'll have to wait. What I wanted to know was if you were really going along on this little 'attack' with Rune."
She turned a pair of cold eyes to him. "If you think I'm a coward, I can promise you I can change your opinion." There was a slight growl in her voice as she issued this challenge.
He remained unfazed; however and merely said. "No, I know you're no coward. I was just wondering whether you were going to play a part in this little charade or not. There's no way it will ever work. Me, I'm leaving now." He paused for a while. "As you know I'm a man of business. I was wanting to know whether or not you'd come with me. I could use a good engineer and I know there's plenty I have to teach you."
Her eyes narrowed in vehemence. "You're a bigger pig than Paris ever hoped to be. I'm going on this mission and it 'will' succeed. As for your offer, there's nothing you could ever teach me. If you want an apt pupil, go find Seven of Nine. I'm sure you could teach her a few things, and she could teach you a 'lot' more."
His body shuddered at the thought of that. "No thanks," he said. "I still have use for some of my 'appendages.' But you're wrong about one thing. There's plenty left for me to teach you. And I promise you, you'll be around to learn it." He gave her a quick wink. "So long, for now, Torres. I'll see you soon."
B'Elanna watched him leave. She had never been so happy to see anyone walk away than she had him. With any luck, his last statement wouldn't come true. She put no faith in him 'teaching' her anything, but what she feared was him following her. The last thing she needed was a stalker.
Her thoughts then turned to how Seven had 'dissuaded' him a month ago. She laughed despite herself. Perhaps there were a few things one could learn from a Borg.
Seven of Nine finished the last of the weapon's modifications. All of the Resistance vessels and phasers now had the capability of Borg weaponry at their disposal. She realized that the Empire had the same advantage, so she added a few extra sequences into the modifications as well as a few shield modifications that would enable cloaking mechanisms as well. That should give the Resistance a greater advantage now.
She shut down her workstation and walked over to her alcove. She hadn't regenerated in days, it was about time she did so. Just as she was about to step inside, Ensign Kim walked into the cargo bay.
He smiled. "Hello, Seven."
She looked over to the ensign. "It is good to see you Harry."
His smile grew as he thought back to over a year ago. Seven had somewhere within that time begun to call him 'Harry' instead of the usual 'Ensign' or 'Ensign Kim.'
"Is there a matter you wish to discuss?" she asked.
He took a few minutes to make a reply. "Oh, um yeah. The captain wanted to know if you had finished making the weapon modifications yet. And did you manage to modify the rest of the phasers as well?"
"They have been completed. All photon rifles and phasers have been modified according to the specifications Ensign Paris requested. Is there anything else?"
He stood there for a few extra minutes, "Well, I just wanted to know what you thought about all of this."
She raised an ocular implant. "Explain."
He walked over to her side. "It's just that, we finally reach home, and then we're sent back into the Delta Quadrant again.
You never even had a chance to see your homeworld."
She contemplated his words for a moment. "I regret that our stay in the Alpha Quadrant could not be prolonged; however, if we had not returned to the Empire, the Borg would have the technology to assimilate earth as well as other Alpha Quadrant species."
"You have a point Seven, but I still wish none of this had happened. For the past six years all I've dreamed of is finally getting home. And then we got so close..."
Seven had been around humans long enough to realize that she needed to say something. She could tell that Harry was in need of comfort. She had faced similar 'feelings' when she had first been separated from the Collective.
Not really knowing whether or not she was doing the right thing, she took his hand in hers and squeezed it slightly. He had done similar for her on occasions such as this; therefore, it seemed the appropriate thing to do.
"This crew has faced many difficulties and beaten infinite odds on many occasions. Voyager successfully made it home once, we shall do so again." She told him.
He looked into her eyes. "Thanks." he said. "There's nothing like Borg reassurance to help boost your confidence."
She attempted to give her best 'smile.' He laughed for a few minutes. Seven's brow furrowed and her expression turned into a frown of concentration.
"Did I perform something humorable?"
He stopped laughing. "No, Seven, you did just fine. I guess I'm just not used to seeing you smile before."
"Then I shall not do so."
"No, no," he said. "There was nothing bad about it. You should smile more often. You look even prettier when you do."
Her brow furrowed again. "I am 'pretty?'"
Suddenly realizing his slip of the tongue, he looked down at his feet. "Well, in the sense that... Sometimes you just... I really like the way you..." He had no idea what to say, so he finally just came to the point. "Oh, come on, you have to have noticed how the other men look at you."
"I have observed this in various men aboard Voyager; however, I was not aware that it was because I was 'pretty.' I was under the influence that males of your species would procreate with any female."
Harry blushed slightly. "Well, I wouldn't put it that way, but there are tons of people on Voyager that find you attractive."
"And you are one of these people," Seven asked.
Harry cleared his throat a few times, as he tried to pause. "Well, yeah, I mean... yeah."
She was silent for a few more seconds and then spoke again. "I am appreciative that you have brought this to my attention. I shall try to smile for you more often."
This elicited even more laughter from Harry. Seven's brow furrowed yet again, but this time she asked no more questions.
Xara woke up in the middle of the night. She sat up in bed and stared at the wall ahead of her. That dream had been so strange, so scary. She quickly got out of bed and made her way into the living area. She needed to find Rune. She knew that she couldn't tell him about it, but right now she just needed someone to talk to.
"Rune," she called out in a small voice. "Rune are you here?"
She really didn't want to be alone right now. Not after that dream. After checking all of the rooms, she gathered that Rune hadn't come back yet.
The thought of going back to her bedroom wasn't at all what she had in mind. There was no way she would go back into that room alone right now.
I'll just go find Rune, she thought. This base isn't that big. I won't get lost this time.
Her memories turned back to her last stay here. She and Rune had somehow gotten separated and she had ended up lost and alone down one of the empty corridors. She had stayed that way for almost an hour before Rune had realized she was lost and then found her.
Now, as she left her cabin, she prayed to the Spirit. Okay, if it's not too much to ask, please don't let me get lost this time.
Admiral Paris was walking down one of the base's hallways toward the briefing room. He had become sidetracked earlier when one of Picard's crewmen had asked him to help them with a few problems. Now he was late for the meeting and trying to hurry up.
Both Federation and Resistance leader were meeting to make the final preparations for the battle in a few days. Being the highest-ranking Starfleet officer here, he needed to get down there.
As he turned the corner, a faint sound of footsteps behind him, caught his ear. He chose to ignore it though. There were plenty of people on this base. He need not pay any attention to just one.
Xara looked around at the vast maze of corridors. Despite her best efforts, she had managed to get lost... again. She felt her breathing increase as she saw that no one was around. She didn't want to be alone. Not now. Not after that...that nightmare she had earlier.
No, I'm not going to panic, she told herself. I just need to find someone and they can get me to Rune. There's no problem.
But even as she kept telling herself this over and over again, she felt fear sneaking up behind her. She needed to find someone now.
Footsteps caught her attention. She heard a low hustle coming from ahead of her. Her eyes lit up as her would be savior walked just beyond her range of vision. Quickening her pace, she tried to find the direction the footsteps were coming from.
After turning a corner, she saw the back of someone. It was the man from the Alpha Quadrant; the one they said was Rune's father. She stood there waiting for him to notice her, but he just kept on walking. Her eyes began to brim with tears as she thought of being alone again. Breaking out into a run, she struggled to catch up.
Owen noticed that the footsteps behind him had become more rapid. Someone was running after him. He had no idea who would be coming after him at this hour, so instead of calling out to them, he stopped dead in his tracks and turned around.
He didn't see who was trying to catch up with him, instead, he felt them. Looking down, he saw the small figure who had just run into his lower legs. The little girl slowly raised her head up to look at him.
Owen's face was much sterner than anyone Xara had ever seen. He looked down at her with a slight bit of anger tracing his features. She just stared up at him in hopes that someday her voice would come back to her.
Why can't children be more responsible? was Owen's first thought. He had a meeting to get to. He didn't have time for this. But after a few seconds his anger began to dissolve as he saw the look of fear on Xara's face. He could take a few seconds off of his busy schedule to see what was wrong.
"Is something wrong?" he asked. His voice seemed impassive even to himself.
Xara sniffled for a second, and then responded. "I... I had a bad dream." she said. "I need to find Rune."
The admiral felt his mask begin to break slightly. "'Rune' can't come right now. He is presently involved in a meeting. Let me take you back to your quarters and I'll tell him to come check on you later."
Xara felt her eyes threaten to water over again. She usually prided herself on her ability to control her emotions, but she just didn't want to be alone right now.
She wrapped an arm around the Admiral's leg. "Please, I don't want to be alone."
The Admiral looked down at the child. He had no idea what to do. After a few seconds of silence, he finally said. "Come now, I'll take you to your quarters."
He could feel the little girl's tears soaking through his uniform's pant leg. "Please," she whispered again.
All of his barriers broke down after this. Reluctantly, he agreed. "Alright, I suppose I can stay with you for a few moments."
She let go of his leg backed away. Wiping her eyes, she looked up at him. "Thank you."
He didn't know how to respond so he said nothing. He was about to lead her away when she raised her arms up to him. It was then that he realized that she wanted him to carry her.
He sighed but conceded. This was practically a first for him. He had only held Tom a few times when his son was a baby, but after he hit a year old, he refused to do so. His belief was that Thomas needed to grow up strong and the way to do that was by learning to do things for himself.
As Owen took the little girl in his arms, he felt her wrap her arms around his neck. It was strangely reassuring to have someone place so much trust in him. He paused for a few minutes as Xara made herself comfortable and then he began walking towards her quarters. It only took a few minutes before he was there.
Walking inside, he carried Xara back to her sleeping quarters. The little girl seemed to panic briefly. She gripped his hand tightly as he laid her down in bed.
"Please, don't leave." She begged him. After taking a look into her tear filled eyes, he couldn't say no.
"I won't leave," he told her.
She seemed to relax some after that and finally calmed down. Owen found a chair next to the bed and sat down in it while the little girl fell asleep once again. A few loud sobs, aftereffects of her crying, punctuated her otherwise silent repose.
He shifted uncomfortably. It soon became apparent that she was deep asleep again. His thoughts shifted to a similar situation years ago.
It was just he and his son. Tom had had a nightmare and was seeking comfort. He could still hear the fear in his son's voice back then. He could see the tears welling up in his cerulean eyes and the faint marks of those that had already fallen down his six-year-old's face.
Can I stay with you tonight, Tom had asked. Please, I don't want to be alone.
Owen closed his eyes. Xara had been just like Tom, searching for anyone or anything to offer comfort and reassurance. But what had Owen said. He shook his head as the memories came back.
\*You're a Paris, son. You can't let childish dreams make you run away crying. Face your fears and go back to bed.\*
Tom had just stood there. Indecision wavered over his face. He took one last chance and asked in the same small voice Xara had used, Please.
Owen had merely lifted a finger and pointed towards the door. Forlornly, Tom had conceded and walked away back to his room. After that, Tom had never come to his father to seek comfort again.
Owen ran a hand over his face as he realized all that he had done. But it didn't matter now. Tom remembered nothing of any of it. But that seemed to hurt him even more that all the rest.
He looked down at the child. Her breathing had returned to the regular deep breaths of slumber.
I could just leave now. he thought to himself. If he was lucky, he could still make the meeting. He then looked down at the child on the bed. She had been so trusting in him, yet she didn't know him at all.
He gave a deep sigh. I can stay here a little while longer. he told himself. Just a few more minutes won't hurt anything
Owen leaned back in his seat. As the minutes, then later, hours passed, he remained there at Xara's side. Before long, the morning began to peak around the doorway and stare at the silent pair in that room. Xara still slept peacefully now that she had someone to watch over her, and Owen sat beside her with his eyes half open, keeping guard over the sleeping child.
Two Days Later...
B'Elanna attached the Maquis pen to her collar. Today was the day. Today, all of their planning would be realized. Today they would attack the Empire.
She pulled her uniform jacket on and slipped out of her cabin. She would of course, be serving on Voyager, but Tom on the other hand...
He's a good captain. She told herself again. No, he's a great captain and we need him to take his own ship instead of simply being Voyager's helmsman.
Even as she repeated this in her mind over and over again, she still felt a nagging little voice telling her that she was wrong.
The two of them needed to stay together throughout this.
Oh stop it B'Elanna, she thought. You're letting your fear influence you.
The hallway was empty as she made her way towards Tom's quarters. Almost all of those in the Resistance had taken their stations in their respective ships. Paris's ship would be ready to leave soon, and both Voyager and the Enterprise were prepared to leave as well as all of the other Federation vessels
She finally made it down to his door. B'Elanna entered Tom's quarters quietly. What she heard was a standard argument
Xara and Paris had been having for the past few days.
"I'm coming with you," the little girl demanded. From where B'Elanna stood in the doorway, she could see the resolution masking the little girl's features.
Tom sighed. "Xara, it's too dangerous. You'll stay on the station until we return."
Xara stood up straighter as if to challenge his order. "I will 'not' stay here. I'm going with you Rune, and that's all there is to it."
Tom raised a hand to his head. Despite all of his arguments, the child had been dissuaded by none of them. He now wondered if the only way to get her to stay here was to give her a sedative. Of course, he would never do that, but he had to make her understand the dangers that they were all facing.
"Xara, listen, you 'can't come.' There will be no more arguing. You have to stay here."
B'Elanna chose this moment to make her presence known. "You know we'll be back really soon," she told the little girl. "You need to stay here."
Xara looked to the floor. There was no way she could tell them her reasons for wanting to go, but she did know one thing; she HAD to go.
She looked to the ground. There was no way either of them would let her tag along. With a long sigh, she conceded. "Okay. I'll stay." she said in a small voice.
Tom knelt down beside her. "Now don't worry. We'll be fine and you'll be safe here. I'll have people come and check on you all the time. We'll be back before you even realize we're gone.
Xara nodded reluctantly. She wrapped her arms around Rune and whispered into his ear, "Be careful."
He nodded. "I will." He then added with a smile, "And you keep out of trouble while I'm gone, alright."
A small smile threatened to surface on her lips. Tom took that as a good sign. He then got up and turned to B'Elanna. "I take it everything's ready."
"Yes, all ships are in position. We've contacted the Dezorisians and they're waiting for our signal."
"Good," he said and then turned to Xara. "I'm going to leave now. If you have any problems, just call one of the crewmen still here. They'll be able to get you whatever you want."
She nodded once again and silently watched as Tom exited the room. He seemed a bit hesitant to leave her as well, but he did. Xara stared at the door long after he had left. Once she had gathered that he was at least halfway to his ship, she finally moved from where she was standing.
If they won't take me with them, I'll just have to take myself. she thought.
She walked over to a nearby computer terminal and entered a long series of commands. "I hope this works," she muttered. She had been told what to do last night; she just hoped Aria knew what she was talking about.
After a few seconds, the computer's voice filled the room. "Internal base sensors are off line. Internal Resistance vessels' sensors are off-line. This will remain for 1.3 minutes. Transporters are enabled. Designate transport area."
She smiled. It worked. Taking a Padd that she had kept from Deep Space Nine, she said, "Transport to Rune's vessel, the Hedar."
A few seconds later, her surroundings began to vanish as the transporters whisked her away. Her last coherent thoughts were. I told you I was coming, Rune.
Tom stepped onto the bridge of his new ship, the Hedar. Usually he hated having to go into battle with an unproven vessel.
For almost his entire time in the Resistance, he had commanded the Jihaid, but now that it was gone, he had no choice but to take a new ship.
Today's date loomed in his mind. Perhaps it isn't gone just yet, he thought. His beliefs that this mission would succeed were bordering on failing. Memories of a past mission made him believe that for whatever reason, they wouldn't be able to capture Takma today.
But they had to try. He turned to his helmsman. "Take us out."
"Aye, Sir," came the reply.
Tom sat down in his chair. This would probably be the last time he would be able to relax for quite a while.
"Mr. Baytart, take Voyager out." Janeway ordered.
She felt Chakotay put a reassuring hand on hers. This would all depend on timing as well as Tom's ability to do what he had claimed. A small miracle was also required as well.
"All of the vessels have engaged their cloaks," Harry said.
Janeway nodded. Tom would take the lead in this mission. After a signal from him, they would all go in. Then all Hell would break loose.
"Keep our course as plotted," she told Baytart. She then squeezed Chakotay's hand. "Let's just pray that this works."
\*
Takma's vessel slowly dropped out of subspace. She could feel the drops of blood trickling through her fingers from where she had been clenching her fists. Her eyes saw nothing except the anger she was feeling inside.
Slowly unclenching her fingers, she let her nails slip out of the wounds on her palms. She turned to one of her drones. "This is the 'second' time we have been knocked off course. If there are no more delays, I want us back in subspace now!"
Her voice was nothing short of threatening as her words hung in the air. The drone paid no attention to her frustration and replied, stoically, "This vessel does not meet the power requirements to enter subspace at this moment. We must dock and refuel, then we shall be able to proceed."
The Parvanian's jaw clenched at this news. "Another setback," she muttered. "Where is the closest Imperial station?"
"Base Deknoks in the Tetari Sector."
"Fine, take us there." She ordered. She leaned back in her seat. Kail knew better than to say anything when she was in a mood like this. Despite the deviousness they had been partners in; he fully realized that she would chop his head off in a minutes notice and adorn her quarters with it.
She waited until her breathing had returned to normal before she returned to the General. "I'm beginning to think that I should have let Rune remain dead. He would not have caused such 'problems' if I had just ridden myself of him."
Kail said nothing. His eyes remained on her however. He waited until she had cooled down some more before he attempted a conversation. "It doesn't matter. Soon we will be on our way again. Landis is in the Alpha Quadrant. What more can he do?"
Takma stared at the General for a while. "I suppose you have a point," she said. However, she wondered. If Rune had gotten back to the Alpha Quadrant sooner than she had, how fast could he return to the Empire?
\*
"How are we doing?" Paris asked.
Danag looked up from his controls. "We're approaching Base Deknoks." he said. "We should be there in five minutes."
Tom nodded. Through their main viewscreen, they watched as an Imperial vessel flew by them. "Have we been picked up on any sensors?" Tom asked.
Danag shook his head. "No, we still haven't been seen."
That was good news. The cloaking devise they were using was similar to what had been on the Jihaid; however, Seven of Nine had added a few Borg algorithms into its system. Not even a Borg cube would be able to pick them up now.
Tom got out of his chair. Soon they would begin with their plans. All they needed to do was get within transporter range of the station and the rest would fall into place.
"Danag, I want you and Sargon ready to leave in five minutes. Make sure you bring all of the necessary equipment."
Danag nodded. He took a deep breath. Soon the action would begin.
Xara kept close to the wall as she traveled through the ship. She listened closely for any movement and then peeked around the corner. No one was there. So far so good. She hadn't been noticed yet, and she hoped that she wouldn't be until it was time for her to make her move.
Be brave, she told herself. Aria was brave. Rune is brave. B'Elanna is brave. You can be brave, too.
Despite all the times she told herself this, she was still scared to death. Aria had instructed her of what she had to do, but that still didn't add to her courage.
She slipped around another corridor and made her way into the shuttlebay. Footsteps behind her told her that someone was coming. She had to act fast.
Running over to one of the shuttles, she quickly keyed in an access code and entered it. After relocking the door, she went to the back and lifted up on of the cargo bins. It was about four feet in diameter so she had plenty of room to fit inside.
Closing the lid securely over her, she prayed that this was going to work. Aria, I know you told me that the Spirit would be with me through this, but can't you just come along as well?
Paris walked into the shuttlebay. He was outfitted with a rifle on one arm and a phaser at his side. Tom checked to see that the weapons were set on the right modulation. The weapon was the same one that he had obtained from Gerek over a month ago. It could destroy a station in itself, but currently Paris had it set at only medium level. The genetic specifications he had installed ere directed towards Drones and Parvanians alone.
Danag and Sargon entered the room soon after. Each of them were similarly outfitted.
Danag took a gun. "I still don't see why we just don't kill Takma once we're inside. We know she'll dock here. We could just take her out and then pull ourselves out as well. No problem."
Sargon let out an agitated sigh, "How many times do I have to explain to you that will never work. Whenever the Pretor is on a floor, a Genetic Detector Security system is set up. Anyone who isn't Parvanian would be killed instantly. I for one would be fine, but the phasers might add a few new features to you Danag."
The younger man threw an equally agitated look at Sargon. "Look I was just saying that it might be easier if we went after the Pretor while she was on the base that's all."
"That's never going to happen," Paris cut in. "With all of the drones, we won't be able to get within a hundred yards of her.
Our mission is to take out the main weapons systems on the base. If they bring those online during the battle, they could destroy half of our fleet in a matter of minutes." He then turned to a different subject. Picking up a gun, he said, "I've already told you about the weapons, but let's go over it one last time. They're modified to only inflict damage on drones and Parvanians. If you need to shoot anything else, you'll have to reset the variance."
"Yeah, yeah." Danag said. He then turned to Sargon. "Just remember to duck when I start shooting, alright."
Sargon shot the man a cold look. "With your marksmanship, I'll probably need to."
Danag laughed. "Probably so."
Paris moved to the shuttle hatch. "Alright, that's enough. We need to be professional on this mission. No slip-ups. I don't have to tell you what will happen if you do."
The two men's moods turned somber. They both realized just what was at stake and the odd at which they were about to perform this mission.
Paris entered the shuttle and sat down at the Helm. This was about to get extremely dangerous. He thanked the Fates that
Xara had remained back at the base. She didn't need to be present during any of this. But still, he had deep feeling that she was a lot closer than he imagined.
"The shuttle has just departed." Seven said.
Janeway got up from her seat. "Keep an eye on them. Prepare to activate weapons the second they're detected." She then turned to Tuvok. "Hopefully we won't have to use that option."
Tom guided the shuttle towards the Imperial station. There was complete silence as they approached the huge station. This is where all the power lies. Paris thought.
The base they were attacking was perhaps the largest the Empire possessed. It was the site of most of the Empire's weaponry, not to mention government officials. In short, this was the equivalent of Starfleet headquarters back on earth. If they took out this one base, it would be the same as taking out the Empire itself.
For that very reason, this base was also virtually impossible to penetrate. There had been thousands of attempts, but all had failed. Tom swore that this wouldn't be the case now.
Danag kept his eyes on his controls. "We'll be passing through sensors in three seconds... two...one."
Everyone held their breath as the sensors passed over them.
"They didn't notice us," Danag confirmed. He silently thanked Seven for those Borg cloaking units.
"Prepare for docking." Paris told them.
Both Sargon and Danag nodded. Soon they felt the shuttle tremble slightly as it latched onto the side of the station. After a few seconds, the shuttle had drilled a hole through one of the walls. They had a way in.
Paris opened a box next to him and pulled out three armbands. "Put these on," he told them. "This should prevent sensors from picking us up." The three of them strapped an armband on. Seven had offered these to Paris earlier as well as the new phaser modulations. She had commented that this technology had prevented the Borg from seeing Voyager crewmen before. It should do the same for them.
Tom stood up. "Okay, you both know the drill. We go in and take out the station's main weapon's array. Stay in position the entire time. I don't have to tell you that we only have one chance at this."
Xara waited until all of the voices were gone. She paused for a minute and then slowly opened the lid of her hiding place.
She hated having to be so secretive with Rune, but so much depended on this. She needed to be here to help him.
Making sure that no one was around, she silently walked through the shuttle hatch. They had docked onto a somewhat deserted corridor of the station on deck four, so there was no one to see either her or the new door that had just been created there.
She squeezed her eyes shut for a moment as she summoned her courage. I have to do this, she told herself. Holding on tightly to her new found courage she made her way into the station.
Takma saw the station as she approached it. Deknoks. It was calming to see one of the greatest achievements of her people.
The base offered reassurance that no one would ever be able to bring down the Parvanian Empire. Thousands had tried to destroy this base, but all had failed. Just as all would fail in stopping her from her mission into Borg Space.
"Dock our ship for refueling," she ordered.
The drone complied and soon the ship was attached to the huge station.
Takma got out of her seat and stretched her legs. Her mood was beginning to improve. Soon she would be in Borg Space and her prize would be close at hand. She smiled. The entire Borg Collective at her fingertips. Takma, Pretor of the Parvanian Empire and Borg Queen. That had a nice sound to it.
Ah, Portus, you never had such ambition. she thought wryly. One of the things that she had to thank Landis for was the death of her husband. If that had not happened, none of this would be possible.
Kail stood up next to her. "Are you about to leave?"
She turned to him. "I've had enough of this ship for a while. It will take a while to repower this vessel. I'll be on the station for the duration of that time."
Kail nodded.
Takma then looked over the General for a moment. "You don't seem to be too comfortable here either. Why don't you join me, General." Her last words were less of a question and more of an order.
He smiled slightly. "I would be honored."
Takma's black eyes lit up for a second. "Good, we have so much to talk about. Just think, General, soon the Borg will be at our very disposal. We'll have power over the mightiest force in the Delta Quadrant."
Kail said nothing, but nodded. He didn't know what to say. How could he tell her that she was making a mistake? This woman glorified in the death of her own husband. She would think little of having his own balls chopped off.
He watched her prattle on. Yes, she was a bloodthirsty woman, probably one of the most devious ones he had ever met. Yet that was what he found most attractive about her.
Raken watched as Takma's ship docked to the station. They could take her out now. Her shields were down. But at one look at his surroundings, he knew that course of action would be futile. An entire fleet of Imperial vessels surrounded the Pretor's ship and the station. They hovered near the station as an ominous cloud to discourage onlookers from approaching. The ring that they formed around it wouldn't allow any ship to enter.
If they tried firing at Takma's ship, the torpedo would be intercepted long before it came into contact with the vessel. And then the hundred battleships that surrounded the station would quickly kill of the ship that had fired. He didn't even want to think about what would happen in the station was able to charge its weapons.
It had literally been a miracle that Rune's party had made it inside. Those cloaking mechanisms really were a life saver.
Raken leaned back in his seat. They knew that the Pretor's ship would be coming soon, but they were lucky that it had come at this exact time. Despite all of his dislike for Landis, Raken had to admit that Rune's plan might just work. They would have a two minute span of surprise. That would be enough time to catch the other ships off guard.
He watched Takma's ship on his viewscreen. His loathing increased with each second that he stared at her vessel. A small smile touched his lips. Soon, Takma, you'll find out you aren't the ruler of the universe as you think you are.
Footsteps came from ahead of them. Paris pulled his team back. With a signal of his hands, they were silent.
Tom leaned against one side of the wall. Extending his mind around him, he tried to count how many were down the hall. Seven. All armed with projectile rifles.
They needed to go about this silently. A large fray and the rest of the station would be on their heels in no time. Now what they needed was a diversion. His mind then focused on the minds of those in the Resistance ships surrounding the station. Takma's vessel had arrived. That meant they had to go to work now.
He turned to Danag. This was where the younger man would come in useful.
Danag, I believe this is your cue. he told the younger man.
Danag understood Paris's meaning and soon shifted his shape to the officer Paris had instructed earlier. Within moments, an exact duplicate of Dr. Rosin was in Danag's place.
Tom signaled him to go. Danag tucked a phaser under his uniform and handed the other rifle to Sargon. He then stepped around the corner.
The shape-shifter gulped. Here goes nothing, he thought.
One of the guards looked up as they saw Danag approaching. "Halt!" he ordered.
Danag's heart was pounding but he gave his best look of annoyance. "What is it now?" he asked in a exasperated manner.
"I don't recognize you from our logs. State your name and designation." The guard ordered. Danag noticed that this was the only one who wasn't assimilated. The other drones seemed to hover in defensive positions around the chief officer.
"My name is Doctor Rosin, and my designation is the Chief Medical Scientist under the Pretor. Is that good enough for you?!" Danag kept his most infuriated expression on his face. Hopefully this would work.
The guard paused for a moment. He then turned to one of the Drones. "Identify this man."
The Drone stepped forward. Danag held his breath as it ran its ocular implant over the man. After a few seconds it stepped back. "Identification complete. Subject identified as Dr. Rosin, chief medical scientist under the Pretor. Authorization, accepted."
Danag didn't allow himself to give a sigh of relief. Instead, he turned his nose up in the air and pushed a hand through his dark black hair. "Now, isn't that what I just said?"
The guard suddenly looked uncomfortable. "I...I'm sorry sir. Is there anything that I can do for you?"
Danag looked down at the guard. "Actually, there is. The Pretor is preparing to return to subspace. I was sent here to collect a number of drones to take with us on the mission. I am also prepared to do a full examination on each. Have all of the drones sent to the medical bay so that I may begin with the procedures."
The guard nodded. "Yes sir." He then turned to the other drones. "Go to Medical Bay." After they had left, he focused his attention back on Rosin. "I'll have the rest report there immediately, although our security will be decreased by doing this."
"That's not my problem," replied Danag. "Have the Drones report there and I shall begin momentarily." After the guard didn't move, he said. "Well, what are you waiting on?"
The security officer stepped back. "I'm sorry, sir. I'll commence your orders right away. Would you like me to escort you to medical bay as well?"
"I know my way to my own office you fool. Take care of your duties and I will journey to medical bay on my own."
The guard stepped back once more and gave a slight bow. He then turned on his heels and left.
Danag watched as the man left. He then motioned to Rune and Sargon. "Coast's clear."
The two other men stepped around the corridor. Sargon looked up and down Danag's appearance. "You know, you don't look too bad as a Parvanian."
Danag rolled his eyes and changed back into his original form. "Shut-up."
Xara slipped through the hallways in search of Paris. She wanted to stay near to him, but not close enough to be seen.
I hope I know what I'm doing, she thought once again.
Forcing indecision away, she went about with her journey. She needed to get going.
Takma stepped onto the station. It felt so good to be off of that damn battleship. It might be one of the most powerful ships in the galaxy, but when it came to comfort, it had a lot to be desired.
Kail joined her as well. He looked around at his surroundings. Something seemed odd, but he couldn't place it. He decided to let it go. Deknoks was the one station that any Imperial official was assuredly safe in.
The Pretor stretched her arms out behind her. Tension ran down her neck but she paid it little attention. Soon she would be back on her journey into Borg space. Then her prize would be even closer.
But for now, she needed to check the station. She would be gone for a while, and she would like to know that things were well taken care of in the Empire.
"Come, General," she said. "I would like to make sure this station is working 'at peak efficiency.'"
She laughed at her own words. She was already beginning to sound like a Borg.
Sargon lagged behind as Rune and Danag made their way towards Engineering. He had a bad feeling about all of this. A sound echoed behind him. He turned around in expectation of an Imperial guard but saw no one.
He sighed. My imagination is really getting to me.
He fingered his rifle. He had been waiting for this moment for so long. For days, he had imagined getting back at the Empire for all that they had done to him. Now was his chance. He would kill any Imperial officer he saw and when the Pretor, the one who was responsible for Meylin's death, came near enough, he would kill her to. He had hatched a plan into his mind. He knew exactly how Takma would die. He knew exactly what he would say.
He smiled. Soon he would have his revenge. If he had to die to do it, so be it.
Paris kept his attention focused on the doorway they were about to enter. This needed to be fast. So far they had gone unnoticed, but soon that would change. They would have to take out all of the engineers as well as the security officers in less than three seconds before one of them would be able to activate an alarm. The odds of that ever happening were insurmountable.
Then we'll just have to go in shooting, he thought.
Turning to Sargon and Danag, he gave them the cue to be ready. Taking in a deep breath, he keyed open the door.
Kail finally noticed what was wrong with his surroundings.
"Where are the Drones?" he asked.
Takma stopped in her tracks. She hadn't noticed that until now. Her mind had been so preoccupied with her future accomplishments that she had failed to pay any attention to the noticeable.
She looked down the hallways: no drones. "There should be drones posted down every corridor. What is going on here?!"
She felt her temper rising. Didn't these imbeciles know how to follow orders. She turned on her heels and stormed down one of the corridors. She would go to the main control room and see just what was going on.
As she continued towards the bridge, her eyes fell on one officer. He was one of the few guards that were present in the facility. All of the rest had been replaced with drones. He held a Padd in front of him and seemed to be preoccupied with his work.
"Where are all of the drones?" Takma asked him.
The officer failed to notice the malice in her voice, otherwise he wouldn't have replied in the manner that he had. "Pretor, all of the drones have reported to sickbay and been deactivated as you ordered."
"I made no such order," she told him. Her anger was steadily rising.
The guard looked from her to the general and back to her. It was apparent that he was at a loss for an explanation. "Dr. Rosin. He ordered us to gather all drones in sickbay. He said that you ordered him to perform a standard diagnostic over their systems and that some of them would be transported to you ship."
Kail felt his jaw clench. "Dr. Rosin is dead." He told him.
The guard's eyes widened. "But, I swear Pretor; he was here just a few moments ago. I spoke with him. A drone even scanned him to make sure he was who he claimed."
"Rosin died while we were in the Alpha Quadrant. Whoever you saw was an impostor." Her mind raced. Who could have posed as Rosin? An idea then struck her. "Let me see those scans."
The officer handed her his Padd. "The scans are still stored here."
She scrolled down the text. Finally, something caught her eye. She handed it to Kail. "There is a slight cellular variance in the subject's DNA. It seems we have a shape-shifter on board."
Kail looked at the readouts. "I thought the Empire destroyed that species years ago."
She nodded. "I've heard of one in the Resistance, though I never placed any value in it. He must be here now." She turned back to the security officer. "Have all of the drones reactivated immediately. I want this intruder found and exterminated, now. And get me Engineering. We need to issue a warning to that area first of all."
The Engineers didn't even look up as they heard the door open. However, a few did look up when gunfire erupted from the outside.
In one move, Paris had pushed himself into the open doorway. He began discharging his weapon, hitting as many people as he could. Danag and Sargon raced in and found cover as Tom distracted the security officers.
A huge smile covered Sargon's features as he fired at those of his own species. "I really needed this."
Tom tried to push the man's words out of his mind. Sargon might be bloodthirsty at times, but currently their weapons were only set on stun. These engineers might not feel too good for a week or two but they would live.
On the other hand, the Empire's guards weren't half the humanitarians. The weapons they were firing with were rapid-fire projectiles. A few shots hit the wall frame next to Paris's head. It might be best if I get down now, he thought.
He found cover under a nearby console as more weapon fire discharged above his head. Tom shot three more of the men down before he decided to tally the amount of officers left.
There were only six left.
"We've got a sec...." One of the guards began to call security for help, but Sargon managed to shoot him down before he was able to finish his sentence.
Danag got two more guards. His heart was racing. The odds were even now, but the danger was more evident. Before they had been working under controlled circumstances. No one knew that they were here. Now an entire security force could be here in a matter of minutes.
Adrenaline was flowing through every corner of his body. Excitement was surging. Sargon loved it all. Throughout all of his life, he had found this type of situation the most comforting to him. His mind was so occupied, he couldn't think of the tortures he had endured. All of the hardships. All of those that he had lost.
If one thought, one died. He had learned that early on. Now he let his instincts prevail as he found another target. From his position, he couldn't get a good lock though. A small partition prevented the man from being hit, but it didn't prevent him from unleashing a large spray of bullets on Landis.
Rune was unable to move and Danag could barely shoot straight. That meant it was up to him. Well, Meylin, I might be seeing you sooner than expected.
Standing up from his position, he got a good lock on the man. "Bye," he said and pulled the trigger. The man was only able to catch a glimpse of Sargon as the shot hit him straight in the chest. The officer fell to the ground.
Sargon failed to notice the Parvanian standing ahead of him. The sound of the gunshot caught his attention and he was just able to turn around slightly before a stream of fire seemed to rip through his chest.
I suppose I was right, he thought. He could hear nothing after that. He was barely aware of himself falling to the floor. The last thing he remembered was a sharp thud as his back hit the floor and then the darkness consumed him.
Danag was at his friend's side the instant he hit the ground. He pulled the wounded Parvanian out of the line of fire.
Paris had heard the shot. He had finally been able to get free enough to begin firing again when Sargon had shot the guard. But he hadn't been fast enough. Out of the corner of his eye, he watched as one of the security officers raised his rifle to fire. There had been one shot. Then Sargon had fallen.
Paris quickly took out the two remaining guards. He then made his way over to Sargon. The Parvanian was deathly still. A thick black liquid had soaked his clothes from where he had been hit.
Tom walked over to Danag. The look on the man's face wasn't good.
B'Elanna had this feeling that something had happened. She couldn't explain it. It was just a thought that had erupted a few seconds ago. She looked up from her engineering console. So far, she had done little work. There had been little to do.
Joe walked over to her. He had a worried expression on his face, but he said nothing.
She shook her head to clear it, but the thoughts wouldn't go away. Somehow, she couldn't shake the morbid feelings that were running down her spine.
Paris silently approached his junior officers. That entire shooting fray had lasted no longer than thirty seconds, yet one of his men lay crumpled on the floor already. He knelt down and put a finger to Sargon's neck to see if there might still be a pulse.
Danag knew that Sargon was dead. He had to be. All of the blood. There was no way he could withstand a wound such as that.
Both men's thoughts were similar so they were each surprised as the Parvanian let out a muffled groan when Paris touched him.
Tom's eyes focused on the wounded man. "Sargon." he said.
Sargon gave a slight cough and barely opened his eyes. "Looks like...my luck finally left me."
Paris smiled slightly. "We're going to have to get you back to the ship. Danag, keep an eye on him. I'm going to bring down the station's shielding. If they don't know we're here, they soon will."
Danag nodded. He then turned to Sargon. "I told you to stay down." He said in mock scolding.
The Parvanian laughed slightly, "You think I'd... listen to you... half-breed?"
Danag smiled. He put a hand on Sargon's chest to stop the bleeding. It was by the Spirit's intervention that his stomach didn't turn as he felt his hand sink into the blood covered clothes on Sargon's chest. The wounded man let out a sharp groan and cursed a few times but said nothing else.
Tom linked himself to the stations main engineering console. The main systems would all be routed through this one console. Or at least they should. Paris gave a slight curse as he discovered a new variable in their planning. It seemed they would need a lot more help if they hoped to take this station.
He finally made his way into the main shielding grid. He couldn't access all of the controls from here, but he would be able to make a small hole in the stations shielding for about a minute or so. It wouldn't be large enough to cause any damage, but it could allow someone to transport in or out.
After a few seconds he had created a small tear in the shielding. It could go unnoticed for up to three minutes. After that, he would have to close it again. That meant he had to work fast.
Patching an encrypted signal through to the armada, he prepared to inform his colleagues of the recent turn of events.
"We're receiving an incoming message. Audio only." Harry said.
"Put it through." Janeway ordered. Paris hadn't said anything about patching a signal through at this time. She sighed.
Things never went as planned.
"I've created a hole in the station's shielding." Paris said over the comm. "However we are unable to bring the weapons off-line at the moment. Sargon has been wounded and we need at least three more people to take control of the station."
Janeway was the first to respond to the message. "We'll beam Sargon to sickbay. I'll have...."
"I'll transport over to the station." a voice interrupted.
Janeway looked up. "Lieutenant Torres, you..."
"Are needed more over there." B'Elanna finished. "Captain, Joe can take over down here and I'd be more useful over there."
Janeway had to admit the woman had a point. "Alright. B'Elanna and Chakotay will beam over to join you."
"As will I," said another male voice.
The officer was not listed aboard Voyager. His response sounded over the comm line to all of the ships present. There were muffled protests from his ship's comm line, but he continued. "The three of us will beam aboard the station in one minute. Be ready." He then cut his signal.
Janeway placed the voice, but she couldn't believe he would be going. "Was that the consul?" she asked.
Maris took a rifle from one of the security officers on his ship.
Raken then walked over to the older man. "Consul, you don't have to go over there. We can find someone else."
Maris ignored the captain. "Everyone else is needed here. I'm not doing anything. Over there I will be of use."
Raken was about to protest again, but Maris stopped him. "I know what I'm doing, Captain. Beam me over to the station.
The captain finally gave in. "Aye sir," he said.
Maris stood motionless as the transporter beam took him away. He had been almost completely useless for the past week.
At least now, he could make a contribution to the battle.
"Try and get them again." Takma ordered.
The officer did as he was told. So far, they had been trying to contact Engineering for the past couple of minutes with no luck. Sweat was beginning to gather on his features as he realized what would happen if there actually was a problem. He would be blamed. Anything after that, he didn't want to think of.
He tried to get through to engineering once more. Praying to the Fates, he entered in the commands and waited for a reply.
Paris watched as Sargon was beamed away. Danag stood there staring at the puddle of blood where his friend had been lying.
"Danag, we need to get to work." Tom said in a low voice.
The other man nodded and joined Paris at the terminal. At that moment, a voice cut through the silence in the room.
"Engineering, respond." came a voice from the comm line.
Danag turned to Paris. Tom motioned for the man to answer it.
Danag tried to remember as best he could, the way one of the guards had sounded before. He tapped in a few commands and said in his best Imperial voice. "Yes, this is Engineering."
The two heard the man on the other line let out a sigh of relief. "I have been trying to raise you. Why haven't you responded?"
Danag stumbled for an answer. "The... We were facing technical difficulties and were unable to register a comm signal."
Another voice then cut through the transmission. It was a deep feminine voice that said. "Officer, report you name and security access code at once."
Danag recognized the voice as Takma's immediately. "My access code?"
Tom watched as Danag fumbled for an answer. They just needed a few more minutes. All that was keeping them there was the other members of their team who hadn't yet arrived.
Paris's attention was then turned to the side of the room as three other crewmen materialized near him. They could finally leave now.
"I said your access code," repeated Takma. "Who are you? You're not one of my officers."
Paris motioned to Danag that it was time to leave. The Ops officer quickly wrapped up the conversation. "Sorry, I think the warp core just exploded. I'll have to get back to you later."
Takma expected this to be an intruder, but she had not expected to be talked to in such a manner. She turned to the guard next to her. "Have all the drones reactivated and send half of them to Engineering. Have the others sent out to search for the on all levels. I want these intruders found and killed now!"
The officer nodded and quickly ran to do her bidding. Kail then turned to her. "There's no telling where they are now. They have obviously found a way to fool our sensors," his thoughts then turned inward. "If they were able to fool internal sensors...."
"Then they could external as well," Takma finished. She quickly hit her communicator. "Scan this entire sector down to the molecule. If anything looks the slightest bit strange, fire at it."
"Aye sir." Came the reply and then the communication was broken.
Takma turned back to Kail. "It seems that things have suddenly fallen apart," she muttered. "We'll just have to take charge of the situation as usual." She turned to leave but stopped in her tracks. "Oh and one more thing General. Remind me to make sure to have that man assimilated before we leave."
The five members of the away team slipped out of engineering as quickly as possible. B'Elanna, Chakotay, and Maris were each outfitted with the same armband as Danag and Paris. They had little threat of sensors picking them up; however, that wouldn't matter much if an army of drones came marching around the corner.
"If we want to get this station's shielding down, we'll have to do it manually. There's only one terminal that will accept the commands to shut down weapons and shielding, and it's heavily guarded by drones. That means we'll have to find each power coupling and disconnect them systematically."
The others nodded. They knew what they were about to encounter. But as their minds created every virtual scenario possible, they failed to imagine that they would be found out so quickly.
Two groups of drones were approaching them from either side. Paris led the group farther into the station, and as he did so, the drones closed in even more. Within minutes, Takma's orders would be followed through.
Janeway was getting impatient. She hated waiting. Especially when it was her people who were in danger. And now she had three crewmen facing unimaginable odds and even greater danger.
"Any word?" she asked.
Harry shook his head. "Sensors aren't picking up any comm signals and everything seems alright."
She nodded. After a few seconds, she began tapping the arm of her chair. Something was going to happen soon. She could feel it.
Harry as well as everyone else on the bridge felt the same way as Janeway. The ensign hoped that everything was alright. So far, only Sargon had been injured, and Doc had given them no word on how the Parvanian was doing.
Tuvok's voice then caught his attention.
"Captain, the Imperial vessels are charging weapons," he said stoically.
Janeway felt her throat constrict. If they already knew that there were ships out here, then that would mean the away team had been....
No, she didn't need to think about that now. She was not going to allow herself to jump to conclusions when there was no evidence to prove anything. Instead, she turned to her helmsman.
"Mr. Baytart, prepare evasive maneuvers. Keep us cloaked though. I won't let them scare me into raising shields when we don't even know if they can see us or not."
The helmsman nodded. Janeway then turned to Harry, "Notify all the other ships in the Fleet. Tell them to get ready. We might be in for some trouble."
They were getting nearer to their target. B'Elanna hung to towards the back of the group. She and Danag kept an eye on the group's back while Paris led them through the station's corridors.
"Did you hear that?" she asked Danag. She could have sworn she heard someone behind them.
Danag shrugged. "What?"
She turned her eyes towards where the sound had come from. Someone was following them. "We need to pick up our pace." She said. "We're going to have company soon."
Danag said nothing but nodded.
Tom's attention was fully focused on finding the power couplings and pattern buffers to the station. Unlike most bases, these weren't in Engineering, they would be deep within the station's Main Power Room. That meant more time spent trying to find them, and more time for security to find the intruders.
What time had they left Engineering? It had to be three maybe four minutes by now. Paris looked around him. He hadn't realized how long they had been gone. Security should have a lock on them by now.
Or maybe they already did. Tom stopped the group. "Security should have found us by now." he whispered.
Chakotay realized this as well. "How much farther do we have before we reach...?"
His voice was cut off by Danag. "Get down!"
Paris barely had time to push Chakotay to the floor before a spray of gunfire had sailed through the area he had just occupied. Why didn't I notice this before? Tom asked himself.
His entire group was on the floor now. Gunfire ricocheted off the walls around them so loudly that they had to yell to hear one another.
"Where is it coming from?" the consul asked.
All of the group were firing at anywhere they could. Shots seemed to be raining down on them from all directions.
B'Elanna held her phaser and fired wildly. Where are they? she wondered.
It was then that she got her answer. A wall of drones seemed to appear from nowhere. Her eyes widened as she saw the numbers coming toward them.
"We've got to pull back!" she yelled.
The answer that returned to her was not at all what she expected. "We have nowhere to pull back to!"
Xara could see what was going on from her vantage point above the group. Drones had surrounded the team and were now beginning to close in. None of them had any cover. She knew they wouldn't last much longer.
I've got to do something, she told herself.
Taking the Padd she had taken with her, she went in search of a computer console. The corridor that they were in had to floors to it. She was currently on the platform above where all the shooting was going on. A computer terminal was next to her.
Okay, Aria told me how to do this. Rune told me how to do this. I can do it.
Taking the Padd she had brought with her, she began to download its contents into the terminal. After a few seconds it was done. She stepped back. Now came the tricky part.
"Computer, play audio transmission," she said.
There was a sharp beep and then the computer replied. "Invalid message command. State file name and command."
She could hear the shots continuing down below. Time was running out, she had to hurry. "Umm, Computer, play the audio transmission that I just downloaded on the loud speakers."
Another sharp beep sounded, "Invalid message command. State file name and command."
Her breathing was beginning to speed up. What was she supposed to say?
Computer play audio file gamma delta five three one on all comm systems, came a voice within her.
Xara thanked the Spirit for that little message. She also silently thanked Aria as well.
"Computer play audio file gamma delta five three one on all comm systems." she said.
There was a softer beep this time and the computer responded. "Playing file, now."
Xara smiled. Everything would be fine for now. Her thoughts then turned to another peril she was about to encounter.
What was she going to tell Rune?
Paris tried to count the number of drones that were attacking them. So far their weapons were taking their toll on their numbers, but there were still too many.
We have to find another way to take care of these things. he thought. He was still berating himself on how he had allowed his group to be ambushed. He should have paid more attention, and then none of this would be happening.
These thoughts were playing havoc on his mind as something else caught his attention. A shrill hum resonated through the air around him. It cut through all of the shooting and caused everyone to stop what they were doing.
It took him a few seconds to finally realize what had just happened. All of the shooting had ceased. Drones began to fall from where they had previously stood. After less than twenty-second, not one drone was left standing.
The consul turned to Paris. "What...?"
Tom got to his feet and walked over to one of the bodies. The drone had been deactivated. Tom knew what had caused it, but who had done it was another matter.
B'Elanna walked over to where he stood. "That was just like what happened back on DS9."
He nodded. "Now all we need to know is who issued the deactivation program." He was silent as he reached out with his mind in search of the culprit.
His eyes widened as his mind brushed up against an all too familiar presence. B'Elanna put a hand on his shoulder as she saw his reaction.
"Tom, what is it?" she asked. The mixture of surprise and anger that had washed over Paris's features alarmed her. Whatever he had just found out, had shocked the hell out of him.
He turned around and walked over towards one of the walls. He stopped and looked up towards the walkway above them.
Chakotay saw the icy features on Tom's face. He had no idea what had caused this immediate change in the younger man's mood. When he heard Paris's words, he was even more bewildered.
"Xara get down here now."
Danag's brow furrowed as he walked over to Rune. "Captain, what are you..."
Tom paid no attention to the junior officer; he merely aimed his voice at the platform above. "Xara, now."
B'Elanna was just as confused as the others around her; however when a small form appeared on the platform above, everyone was silent.
Xara looked down at the group below her. Everyone was silent as they stared at her. She lowered her head and began climbing the ladder down to the lower level.
Once she was on the ground, she let her eyes finally rest on Rune. His features were unimaginably cold. She'd never seen him look like that before. Shame rose in her as she regretted having to betray Rune's trust.
Tom's voice was as cold as his eyes as he asked. "Xara what are you doing here?"
The little girl turned her eyes back to the ground. "I...Rune, I had to come. I knew something was going to happen, so I snuck aboard your shuttle so that I could help too."
Tom stared down at her. It was clear that she was sorry for what she had done, but that carried no weight in the matter. Xara had disobeyed him and now her life was in danger as a result. There was no way to beam her back to Voyager, so they had to take her with them, no matter what the danger.
"Xara, we don't have time for a lecture now, but believe me, you'll have one coming. But now, we have to continue with the mission. It looks like you'll be coming with us."
She nodded solemnly. "I'm sorry," she said again.
He knelt down next to the child. "Come on," he said as he picked her up in his arms. "We have a mission to complete."
His last words were directed at the entire group as he took the lead once again. Xara saw the stern look that remained on his face. There were a few whispers behind them, but no one spoke to either her or Paris.
The corridors were empty as they made their way down them. Tom finally spoke to her. "About what you did back there," he said in a low voice.
"Yes," she replied. She had no idea what he was about to say. Probably that he was disappointed in her or something similar to that.
"You went against what I told you and came along anyway," he paused as he saw her face look even more downcast. "But if it wasn't for you, I doubt we'd be alive right now. We all owe you our lives."
A small smile touched Xara's lips. She wrapped her arms more tightly around Rune's neck.
Despite himself, he smiled. One thing Xara had was courage, no matter how flawed her reasoning might be. He looked down at the little girl in his arms. She had come through for them when he had been unable to. Now he owed her even more for that.
He noticed the slight smile on her lips as well. In a slightly louder voice, he said. "But don't think you're not going to be punished."
Janeway gripped the arms of her chair as Voyager rocked under another blast. The shots were beginning to get closer. Pretty soon, Voyager would be looking at some heavy damage.
"Ensign, report," the captain ordered.
"Captain the Imperial ships are beginning to launch a heavier array of torpedoes. They're using them like mines. If we don't put our shields up, we could be destroyed." Harry told her.
"And if we do they'll be able to get a lock on us." Janeway finished. Either way we're in trouble, she thought. She turned to Baytart. "Can you keep Voyager in one piece a little while longer?"
He was so busy entering commands on his console, that he didn't have time to look up at Janeway "I think so Captain."
She nodded. "That's what I wanted to hear. Just keep us together for five more minutes. We just need to wait until the away team can bring down the station. Then we'll show the Empire just what we're made of."
The away team finally managed to make it to the main power array of the station. The room was anything but organized.
One small eight-foot wide area remained clear of all the other equipment. The room was twice as large as one of Voyager's cargo bays and held a multitude of wires and cable that stretched like a giant cobweb around the room. The power couplings which they sought were hidden somewhere in this vast forest of wires.
The atmosphere was so congested that B'Elanna began to miss the organization of Engineering. Tom seemed to feel the same way as well. By just looking at the closely-knit wires, he could feel the claustrophobia slowly pulling its tendrils around him, but he pushed it away. They had work to do.
"There are seven major power couplings we need to disable five of them first, and then the final two will have to be deactivated at the same time, otherwise there will be an automatic security lockout." Paris explained. He then looked at the area of wires once more. "It looks like we'll have to crawl through to find them. Danag, you and Chakotay keep watch. There are at least three doors entering this room. Keep an eye on all of them."
The others nodded. Each went in search of one of the many couplings. Danag and Chakotay remained back, however, and kept watch over the door. Paris then took Xara and walked into the mass of wires and Borg-like equipment. He sat her down just outside of the jungle.
"Stay here," he told her.
She nodded and watched as he began to pick his way inside the wire web. He pulled back wire after wire as he began to half walk, half crawl through the midst of cables. There were occasional patches inside where the space would open up and a console or coupling would be hidden.
These were like an oasis to him. He disabled the first coupling and then went back into the wires to find the next.
Raken felt his vessel rock violently as one of the Imperial torpedoes hit the lower aft side of his hull.
"Damage!" he ordered.
"Sir we've lost cloaking ability. Decks three, four, and five have been ruptured. They're being sealed off immediately."
Raken wasn't at all worried about the ruptured decks at the moment. What worried him was the fact that they had lost their cloak. Now they were an open target for the Empire.
He looked out the viewscreen. The Imperial battleships were all powering their weapon arrays and locking onto his vessel.
"It looks like our cover is lost," he said. "Power weapons. If we're going down, we're taking some with us."
Takma and Kail had just entered the control room of the station. The Pretor immediately walked over to the officer in charge. "What's going on?" She demanded. "Have the intruders been taken care of yet?"
The man was silent. "No Pretor. The drones were unable to destroy them."
"Well, have them try again." Kail told him.
The younger man looked even more scared. "None of the drones are responding. They have all been deactivated."
"Well reactivate them!" Takma yelled. "What floor were the intruders on when the drones began their attack?"
"Level five."
Takma searched her mind. There wasn't much anything of any importance there. Nothing except...
"They've gone to the main power room. Bring those drones back online and solve this problem immediately."
B'Elanna finished deactivating the fifth power coupling. It hadn't been as hard as she had anticipated to find them. Now all they had to do was take the final two off-line simultaneously. But first she had to find Tom.
Paris emerged from a jungle of wires at her right. "I've found the last two. One is through here. The other is at the other side of the room."
"I'll get the other one," B'Elanna volunteered. "I know my way around over there."
Tom nodded and she left. He looked back at the closely-knit wires. I suppose that means I'll be going back in there. he thought.
Taking a deep breath, he reentered the area he had just emerged from.
"Raken's vessel has decloaked." Harry said. "Imperial vessels are charging weapons."
So much for our cover. thought Janeway. She had two options. One, stay cloaked and allow Raken's vessel to fend for itself. Or two, decloak and try to aid her ally in battle.
It looks like we'll be going with number two. she thought to herself.\* "Tuvok, power the weapons. Ensign Kim decloak and hail the Dezorisians. We need them here now. Hopefully Tom will have control of that station soon. I don't want to have to deal with it as well as these battle cruisers."
"Alright, on the count of three." Tom said.
B'Elanna gripped the coupling switch in her hand. They had to time this just right in order to bring down the station. She felt her muscles tense as Paris began to count down. For the first time, she realized just how far away she was from the rest of the group.
"Okay, one, two, three." she threw the switch as 'three' crackled over her comm badge. That should have done it. She waited for confirmation. Pretty soon, they should be able to leave.
"That did it." Paris told her. "Disassemble the coupling and destroy it. Then all we have to do is get the hell out of here."
"I'll be working on this end." B'Elanna told him. "Tell me when you're done."
She ended the comm line. So far, no more drones had come, but B'Elanna didn't let her guard down. She had this feeling building inside her that something was about to happen. She tried to tell herself that she was just being paranoid, but it wouldn't go away.
You're turning into a coward Torres. she told herself yet again. But even as she scolded herself, it only proved to feed the nervousness growing inside her.
"Fire five photon torpedoes," Picard commanded. So far, all of the ships had been forced to decloak in a matter of minutes.
Now seeing the number of vessels present in the Resistance Armada, the Imperial battleships had quickly assumed attack formation. They formed a protective barrier around the station and their Pretor inside.
One of the Imperial battleships was finally destroyed. That's one, thought Picard. Only a few hundred more to go.
But he thanked the heavens that the station hadn't entered the battle yet. That must have meant that Paris's team was successful. Now, if only they could get rid of these damn battleships.
Picard fell to the floor as one of the blasts cut through the Enterprise's shields. These battleships meant business.
He got back to his feet. "Where are those Dezorisians?" he asked. "We need them here now."
"Sir, we haven't been able to locate the Dezorisians."
"What?!" Picard asked. They were supposed to back us up.
"They aren't at the designated area they agreed to wait at. We've tried hailing them, but there hasn't been any reply."
"So much for our cover." thought Picard. Another shot rocked his ship. "It looks like it's just us. Ready all weapons and fire."
Takma paced up and down the station's control room. "What do you mean you can't access weapons?!"
"I'm sorry Pretor, but weapons aren't responding."
Kail was fuming as well. "Officer, you had best find a way to remedy the situation now. There is an entire Resistance Armada outside. We need weapons now."
The young officer gulped. The information on his console was not at all what he had expected. "Sir, I can't bring weapons back online. The power couplings have all been destroyed."
Takma practically flew to where the younger man sat. "I thought the intruder problem had been solved."
The man brought up all information on the drones in the building. Even worse news. "I'm sending the drones down to the power room now."
"Well hurry up!" Takma yelled. "I want these intruders caught now!"
The young man nodded and went about his work. He prayed to the Spirit for guidance, but somehow he doubted that his prayers would be heard.
Janeway felt Voyager shake under another of the many hits it had taken. Shields were down to sixty percent already. They needed help now.
"Mr. Baytart, put us between the Imperial ships and the Resistance ones. They're shields won't be able to hold up against this type of fire-power."
The ensign nodded though he wondered how Voyager could hope to hold up either. Janeway sighed. The viewscreen was a myriad of blasts. Five Resistance ships had already been destroyed. And that was only the five that she knew of. So far, only two Imperial Battle cruisers had been taken out. At this rate there was no way that they hoped to stand a chance in this battle.
She regretted not having Paris at the Helm. He and Tuvok shared a chemistry that few held. It was as if the two knew what one another were going to do. Paris could perform the most unbelievable maneuvers to give Tuvok the best position to fire. She wished Tom was back.
Another shot rocked Voyager. Janeway grabbed onto her chair to keep from falling to the floor. "Damage." she asked.
Harry looked down at his console and frowned. "We've lost most of our weapons and our shields have been cut down to forty percent. Decks five through eight have all been ruptured. So far we haven't had any casualties."
Janeway leaned back in her chair. This battle was quickly becoming a disaster. She brought her eyes up to the front viewscreen. One of the Imperial ships had just unleashed an array of torpedoes. There was no way to out maneuver them.
She just stared at the viewscreen. There was no need in asking time to impact. That would be like asking how much longer they had left to live.
Her breath caught in her throat. This battle was going to be over very soon.
B'Elanna finished disassembling the coupling. She then took her phaser and destroyed the remaining pieces. So far that was one of the few ships that was still in relatively good shape.
She hit her comm badge. "I'm done here," she said.
"I'm finishing up here as well. Report back as soon as you can. We're out of here in five minutes." Paris told her.
That was the best news she had heard in a long time. Pushing her way through a pile of coiled wires, she began making her way back to the rest of the group.
After only a few steps, a click behind her caught her attention. Her eyes widened as she recognized the sound. "We've got company!" she yelled just as a shot exploded next to her.
She was knocked to the ground as a power surge erupted next to her. Her breath was knocked out of her for a few seconds but she quickly regained herself. From her vantage point on the floor, she found herself looking up into the ocular implants of two drones.
She didn't even register the surprise that they were back online. Instead, she instinctively went for her phaser. There was no telling how many others were beyond those two; she just prayed not all of them had come back online again.
Shots rang out over her head. They missed her by mere inches as even more were fired at her. Smoke clouded her eyes, as she began to fire wildly.
Some time to be separated from the rest of the group, she thought bitterly.
A single ship maneuvered it way through the battle outside the station. Its sole occupant looked out at his surroundings.
"And no one invited me to this party. I guess I'll just have to crash," he said to himself. He then activated the comm line. "I believe its time to move in now," he told his compatriots. He smiled to himself. The Resistance was in for a big surprise.
Paris's coat got caught on one of the wires, as he tried to make his way towards B'Elanna. He disregarded it and pushed even farther through the wall of wires and cables until he had finally gotten out. The rest of his group was already trying to hold back a group of drones as well.
Chakotay, Maris, and Danag were doing their best to take out as many as possible, but that just wasn't good enough. Tom took his rifle and began firing as well. His anger was growing every time another drone surfaced. A wall of Borg separated him from B'Elanna.
It looks like Takma was able to bring them back online faster than I thought. Tom thought.
He hit his comm badge as he continued to fire against the drones. "B'Elanna are you alright?!"
There was silence for a while but then the greatest word he had ever heard filled his ears. "I'm fine, but these bastards won't let me get out."
Janeway waited as the torpedoes grew closer and closer. She was about to close her eyes when a bright flash illuminated the space around her.
"What the Hell." She said.
All of the torpedoes had just been intercepted by another ship. She turned to Harry. "Who just...."
A voice crackled over the comm line. It was not at all one that she had expected or ever thought she wished to hear again. "Why hello Captain. I ran into a few friends and thought I'd join in on the fun."
A team of Dezorisian fighter ships sailed past Voyager and began to attack one of the nearby Imperial vessels. Despite all that was going on around her she smiled. "I never thought I'd say this, but it's damn good to see you again, Gerek."
Gerek watched as the Dezorisian fleet moved in to attack the Imperial vessels. Despite the image he conveyed to his 'clients,' he had to admit that he loved the game. He chuckled. Few people would call a battle a game, but in his mind, it was. The ultimate test of his abilities.
Of course, he did have to say that hand-to-hand combat wasn't exactly his style. Arial battles best suited him. He had enough enemies around the galaxy; he found it best to face them with a ship and a few torpedoes than a mere phaser.
He was now the only one manning his ship. He had spent years designing this vessel so that he could do just that. Maneuvering through a pair of battle cruisers, he began firing on the two vessels. Balls of fire erupted from where he had hit his mark. A shrill buzz emanated from his console. Another ship had gotten a lock on him.
He flipped the vessel onto its side and watched as the torpedo flew past, missing his ship by not more than a few feet.
He smiled. He still had it. His piloting skills were just as good as the last time he had been in battle. He was just as good as ever.
A few other Dezorisian fighters were picking away at a large battle cruiser. He couldn't resist this one last fight, so he decided to join in.
The cruisers could easily hit the large starships but when it came to the small fighters, none could seem to find a mark. The
Dezorisians flew around them like flies, picking away at them slowly.
Gerek watched as the cruiser prepared to launch another torpedo. Taking his own weapon arsenal, he took aim at the unlaunched torpedo. Just as it was about to be unleashed, he fired.
His shot made contact with the warhead and lit the cruiser up in a spray of light. Another series of explosions followed that one. His smile broadened as he watched the ship explode upon itself. That was another ship down.
His smile vanished as he caught a glimpse of the station. He had business to do now; the fun was over. Guiding his ship through the enemy lines, he made his way to the Imperial base.
B'Elanna crawled under a nearby console to evade the drones' shots. The vast network of wires were beginning to be hacked through by the drones' constant fire.
How did they get in? she wondered. As another bright flash of light sparked next to her, she turned her face away. That was when she found her answer. A six-foot hole stood in the wall to her side. It looked as if something had melted the metal away to form it. She cursed herself. Why hadn't she paid better attention?
There was no time to think about that now though. She had to try and get back to the group. As she crawled through the cables, she headed in the opposite direction from where she had come. The drones had cut off her route back that way, that meant she had to find another path.
She hit her comm badge. "Tom, I can't get back to you right now. There's a door farther down. I'll take it and meet you at the shuttle."
"Okay," Tom said. "Be careful."
She smiled for a moment, "Aren't I always."
Paris fired another shot at the drones. He thanked the Spirit yet again that they weren't able to adapt to his weapons.
He turned to where Chakotay, Maris, and Danag were crouched behind a set of paneling. "B'Elanna's taking another way out," he told them, "Come on. We'll meet her once we get out."
The others nodded. Now the only problem would be getting out. The door was at least ten feet away. If someone created a diversion....
"Xara, when I tell you, run."
Xara looked up at Rune. She had no idea what he was about to do, but she nodded anyway.
Tom motioned for the others to get ready as well. He then counted down from three slowly. Three...Two...One...Now or never.
He jumped from behind the console and began firing his weapon full charge at the drones. Each one of them took aim on him instead of the other hidden targets.
"Now!" he told Xara.
The little girl gulped but did as she was told. She ducked her head down and ran to the door. Chakotay had no idea that Paris would do what he had done, but the Commander forced himself to the door anyway. He took Xara in his arms when she made it over to him as well.
Paris could feel one of the bullets sinking into his shoulder as he began to make his way towards the doorway. He gritted his teeth and pushed the pain behind him. Another shot of fire erupted down his left arm before he finally pushed himself through the open doorway.
Xara leapt down from Chakotay's arms and ran over to Rune. "Rune," she asked. "Are you alright?!"
Blood was beginning to collect around Tom's shoulder and drip down his arm. He gave her a weak smile. "Just a flesh wound. I'm fine."
She seemed a bit relieved, but she knew he had never been known to tell the entire truth about his injuries. She decided to let Doc lecture him on his 'carelessness' later.
"Come on," he told them. "I'm ready to get the hell out of here."
Takma was fuming by now. "What do you mean they haven't killed them yet?!"
The young officer began entering more commands into his console. Beads of sweat now lined his features. "I'm sorry, Pretor, but the drones were unable to apprehend any of them."
"Idiots," she said to herself. "Can't anyone do their job around here?!"
Her anger was still raging as she grabbed the young man by his collar. "This base has never been penetrated before. I want these intruders taken care of NOW!"
The man nodded. Takma slowly let go of his uniform and allowed him to get back to work. She watched for a few seconds as he quickly began inputting orders into his console. She then turned to Kail.
"General, come with me."
Kail could see in her eyes that she was about to explode. He followed her silently as they left the room. Once they were in the corridor, she began her conversation.
"It is clear that this attack has been placed in order to stop us from reaching Borg Space. This station might have been impenetrable in the past, but with the imbeciles working here now, I don't know. Whatever happens, we're continuing our mission.
Have the ship ready to leave in five minutes. If this base gets taken, then we can reclaim it later once we have secured the Borg. But
I'm going ahead with plans to take Borg space."
He nodded. "The ship should have enough power to make the jump into subspace now. I'll have the crew prepare for departure. Since these idiots don't seem to be able to do their jobs, I'll go down to the decks below and disconnect the power converters myself. I'll meet you back at the ship."
"Good," said Takma. She suddenly felt a sickening feeling crawling over her. "Somehow, I don't think that we're facing any ordinary Resistance party. I have a feeling that it will be a lot harder to depart than we had first anticipated."
Gerek made his way down one of the base's corridors. He had docked his ship onto one side of the station and was now making his way towards the away team inside. Or more importantly, one specific member of the away team.
He took out his tricorder and set it to the specific DNA pattern he was looking for. Let's see, she should be just one level down and to the right.
He took out his rifle and made his way farther down the station. He knew that Rune could take care of himself. He hadn't been sent to look after Rune anyway, that's what Aria was for. His job was to find Torres.
There were warning sirens sounding throughout the corridors. The entire hallway was lit up in a bright red as he made his way towards Voyager's half Klingon, but he paid it no attention. The majority of the drones would be more concerned about capturing Paris's group than they would about searching for another intruder.
He crossed over and entered a turbolift. He needed to make his way down two floors, and then he could find his query.
B'Elanna ran through the halls as fast as she could. The entire place was lit up in crimson as she tried to outrun the drones.
Shots rang out around her head as they kept a continuous fire on her.
She took one look behind her. They didn't even appear to be struggling to keep up. Their long efficient strides paralleled her quick movement down the hall. She cursed herself yet again for not having longer legs.
She looked around at her surroundings. She knew where the general area of the shuttle was located, but she hadn't yet been down the exact location. She just hoped she could find it on her own, otherwise she might be spending a prolonged vacation on the station.
In spite of her Klingon heritage, her side was beginning to throb from the constant running. She was in extremely good shape, but even these efforts were taking their toll on her body.
A month ago, I could have done this no problem. I'm really getting out of shape, she told herself.
Turning the corner, she felt a slight singe as one of the bullets whizzed past her ear. Pushing herself harder, she forced herself to go on.
Gerek could hear the shots up ahead. Gripping his rifle tighter, he made his way towards the weapons fire.
He felt his heartbeat quicken. He knew that there wasn't much time left. Hell, he had known that for a while now, but still the dark cloud loomed over him. He pushed his thoughts away.
This is your job. Just shut up and do it. he told himself, but that didn't push away the fear gnawing at his gut.
It would all be over soon. That was all he kept thinking. It would all be over soon. For him at least...
Paris used his good arm to hold Xara as they ran down the passageways. The security alarm had been turned on after their last fight. Now red lights and warning sirens sounded around them. The amber light cast strange shadows over all of their faces. They resembled crimson specters as they tried to outrun the constant entourage of drones that besought them.
He turned to make sure that everyone in his group was still with them. Chakotay and Danag were only a couple of feet behind
Tom. Maris was pulling up the end.
Tom turned his attention ahead of him. They needed to find B'Elanna and get back to the shuttle. The shuttle. He hoped that it would still be there; otherwise this trip would be for nothing.
He felt the familiar tingle of vertigo begin to wash over him. Not now, he pleaded. He kept running even as his surroundings began to shift.
B'Elanna's breath was beginning to come in harsh gasps now. She forced herself on.
What's wrong with me? she wondered as her body protested to each movement she made.
She turned her gaze behind her as she rounded the corner. The drones were getting closer. She had to go faster.
Facing ahead once more, she was caught off guard as she found herself staring down the barrel of a rifle aimed directly at her head.
Gerek could hear the footsteps approaching him. He stood there waiting for the figures to come running around the corner.
He waited....
In a flash of dark hair, B'Elanna sprinted towards him. Her face was turned behind her, so she was unable to see him until he
finally turned around. He brought the rifle up to eye level and aimed down the corridor to where the drones would come.
Torres finally caught a glimpse of him. She didn't exactly take Gerek into the picture though. All she saw was the rifle aimed directly at her. Her eyes widened in shock as she stared down its barrel.
Gerek's face remained stern as he took in her look of surprise. Other thoughts began to run through his mind, but he pushed them away. An army of drones were at the woman's heels; he didn't have time to let his mind wander.
The first of the drones emerged. Gerek shot it down and then the next one that came and the next. Finally after the fourth one was lying on the ground, he aimed his conversation at Torres.
"You know, I might be good, but I think it would be best if we leave now."
B'Elanna finally shook off her startled expression and returned to the plane of consciousness. "Yeah... yeah, the shuttle should be nearby. We just need to go...."
"Up a level and to the left," he finished for her. "I parked my shuttle on the level right above yours."
She finally turned her eyes back to where Gerek was firing. Drones were coming faster now. They had to leave.
Gerek sensed her thoughts. "You lead the way," he said. "I'll try and hold them off a little longer."
She nodded. Firing a few last shots at the drones with her phaser, she sprinted down the corridor. She looked back to see Gerek slowly backpedaling as well.
Each corridor had a door in the middle of it. She concentrated on one of the doors next to her. She needed to get it closed. Entering a large string of commands into the wall panel next to her, she soon had the key configuration solved.
"Come on," she said. "I think I can hold them back for a few seconds."
Gerek needed no more persuading. Firing as many shots as he could, he turned and ran to where B'Elanna was working.
Once he was on the other side with her, the door slammed shut behind him.
She smiled. "After living in an Imperial base for a year, you learn a few tricks." Her thoughts then turned to him. "What are you doing here anyway?"
A devilish smile spread across his face. "I told you I'd see you again."
\*
Vestin paced up and down the length of his lab. Now was the moment he had been waiting for. All of his dreams would soon be realized as he finally concluded his last calculations.
Evae walked into the room. Her face was a counterpoint to Vestin's. She was scared to death about what he was about to do, but she said nothing. He was her husband and she loved him. Despite all of his good intentions though, she had this feeling that things wouldn't turn out exactly as he had planned.
She walked over to where he was pacing. A small bundle was wrapped up in her arms. She carried it gently over to him.
"Vestin," she whispered. "Isn't it time you came home?"
He turned to her. His hair was beginning to turn gray at the temples but he still had a youthful face. He looked down at the bundle in his wife's arms. Pulling back the blanket, he stared at the tiny face of his daughter.
Her eyes were closed, as she remained asleep. He smiled at the tiny little fists she had balled up at her sides. She was the most perfect thing he had ever seen in his life.
Evae watched as he took one of the tiny hands in his own. The baby was no more than a few months old, but she was already beginning to act just like her father. Her curiosity always seemed to get the better of her, and despite her good intentions, she always had to face the consequences.
"Well, Vestin, are you coming home with us?" Evae asked again.
Vestin gently rested the tiny hand down again. "I'm sorry Evae but I have so much work to do. I just..." His words melted away as he looked up at his wife. Her face was covered in a worried expression. He hated to have to do this to her, but he had work to do after all. He couldn't just abandon it, could he?
"Vestin you have spent the last four nights here. Can't you just come home with me tonight?"
He looked away. "I'm sorry Evae, but soon I'll be finished. I've finally found a way to link all of the neural transceivers together. All we'll have to do is route the signals through this machine. I haven't quite figured out a name for it yet, but it will be able to allow everyone to work together in harmony. No more disagreements, no more wars. Evae, soon the world will be a better place because of this."
Her eyes narrowed. "You're telling me that a machine that thinks for you is going to revolutionize society? Because that's exactly what you're making. If we all weave our minds together, there will be no more individual thought, no more creativity. Vestin, this...this 'think-you-lum' you're trying to build is going to be the end of us."
He had never heard her speak of his work in such a way. It hurt him deeply to hear her accuse him of such... atrocities. "I'm just trying to make a better world for our people, for us, for our baby. If you can't see that then I don't even know why you married me in the first place."
Evae's breath caught in her throat. "How dare you." she ground out. "You know I love you, but you don't even know what love is. All you ever do is slave over your work. Well let me tell you something, there are more important things to do than work."
Vestin didn't even have time to respond as Evae stormed out of the room. He watched after her as she left. Perhaps he should have tried to stop her. Perhaps he should have run after her. But he did neither of these things.
Instead he just placed his head in his hands and went back to work.
\*
The flashing red lights greeted Tom as he was pulled from the lab back to the present time. He felt Xara in his arms and the pain in his shoulder. Yes, he was back.
He tried to shake his head as he continued running. His feet didn't even register ever slowing down. At least that was one good thing. If he would have fallen unconscious during their escape, then that would have been an immediate death sentence to them all.
But still, his mind was clouded as thoughts of the Dykinae scientist and their current situation overlapped. He looked around him a few times. The drones were still chasing them. They were still running down the same corridor that they had been before Tom's consciousness was pulled away. At least he had only lost a few seconds this time.
Kail had finally finished securing the ship for departure. They just needed to get to the vessel and then all would be taken care of. He hit his comm badge.
"Takma, the vessel has been secured. You can board it at any time."
"Good work General." she told him. "I'll wait for you on the ship. Report here on level five as soon as possible. I'm ready to leave now."
"Yes, Pretor," he said and ended the transmission.
The flashing red lights were raining down on his eyes like thousands of needles. He cursed under his breath. Couldn't they shut that damn thing off?
He made his way towards Takma's ship. The last thing he wanted was for him to be left behind during this battle. Usually he held the utmost confidence in the Empire's ability in battle, but now...
Soon his eyes weren't his only senses that were seized by the atmosphere around him. His ears soon picked up the faint sound of gunshots coming from down the corridor.
He was torn between seeking out the unknown intruders and returning to his ship. Finally, his pride got the best of him.
Taking his phaser, he made his way towards the battle-zone. He could catch up with Takma later.
They only had one more deck to go up, and then they would be on the same level as the shuttle. He prayed to the Spirit once more that B'Elanna would be there to greet them.
Finally, something struck him as odd. The firing had dwindled down to only a few well-placed shots. For whatever reason, Tom looked behind him. Maris was still keeping the drones back as well as he could, but he had lagged behind the rest of the group. The drones however had lagged behind as well. One central figure seemed to emerge from the rest of them. It didn't take anytime for Tom to realize who that figure was.
Paris was about to yell out for the consul to catch up, when he watched Kail pull out his gun...
The General couldn't believe his luck. The drones hadn't been that far away from him and now that he caught up with the intruders, the Consul of the Resistance just happened to be one of them.
The Empire had already extinguished all of the Resistance leaders except for the consul, now it seemed that this would be their final target.
Kail drew his gun and took aim. He was so preoccupied with hitting the consul that he didn't pay any attention to the rest of the group ahead. If he had, he would have seen Rune quickly handing Xara over to Chakotay and then taking his good arm to draw his own gun.
Paris watched as the General took aim on Maris. He handed Xara to Chakotay in one quick move.
The Commander had no idea what had just happened, but he took the little girl into his arms. As he looked behind him, he watched Paris bring his rifle up level with the man down the corridor. The consul held a startled look for a moment, but that moment didn't last long. Tom watched as Kail fired. The shot streamed through the air and hit Maris directly in the back. As the older man fell to the ground, Tom pulled the trigger on his own gun. The shot ripped through the air, directly towards its target.
Kail felt the shot grind its way through his chest. Rune had taken the stun feature off of the gun and now a hole had been driven through the General's shoulder. He fell to the ground instantly.
His mind was clouded but he managed to see Rune making his way towards the Consul. With one harsh breath, he yelled. "Kill them now!"
Crawling away, he got out of the line of fire. He wanted Rune dead, but there was no way he could do that if he was killed as well.
As he finally made his way out of the corridor, he managed to get to his feet. Curses flowed over his lips, but he forced himself to head the other way. He needed to get back to the ship. His pride hurt him more than his wound, but he was no fool. If he didn't get back to Takma's ship now, she would leave without him. And even though he didn't relish the thought of venturing into Borg space, he knew that he had best be at her side, less she deem him worthless as she had many of her other officers.
B'Elanna and Gerek made their way towards the shuttle. Soon they would be able to get off of this death trap and return to the ships waiting for them outside.
"You know, I never told you why you're so important." Gerek told her.
Her eyes flickered over to him. Savior or not, if the man was making a move on her now....
"Not now," she told him. "We're in the middle of a battle."
"All the more reason for me to tell you now." He paused as he tried to figure out the best way to tell her this. He remembered when an old man had come up to him years ago and told him just what he was about to tell B'Elanna. Of course, he had thought the man was crazy for a while, but then his opinion changed....
He looked over to Torres. He needed to tell her now. There was little time left as it was. She had to know. "Torres you are one of the most important people in the galaxy right now." B'Elanna rolled her eyes as he continued. "This battle is going to fail. Once it does, it will be up to you to make sure that the next is a success."
Torres turned to face him. "What are you talking about? We're not going to fail."
He stared at her for a while. He really was going to miss this place. Most of all he was going to miss some of the pleasures it had to offer.
"Didn't you ever wonder why I always live life from one day to the next? Why I never have a steady home or family?"
"As horny as you are, I thought they had run off."
He narrowed his eyes. "Funny. The point is I can't have any of that. I have a responsibility to a far greater power than you could ever imagine, and that responsibility is about to be passed down to you. You're the next in line."
She turned to him. She hated riddles and she really wasn't in the mood for them now. "Look, I have no idea what you're talking about, but just drop it. The only thing I'm next in line for is a sonic shower when we get back to Voyager."
He let the topic drop at that. She wasn't willing to accept this right now. That meant that she would just have to find out for herself.
He chuckled to himself as he thought how alike the two of them really were. When he had first been told, he had just laughed at what he thought at the time was just joke. But now here he was, years later with a tremendous responsibility resting on his shoulder. Needless to say, he wasn't laughing now.
Janeway thanked the Spirit that the Dezorisians had finally made it. She let a smile touch her lips for a brief moment. I'm beginning to sound like Tom, she thought.
She watched as a series of torpedoes struck the Imperial cruisers to her starboard side. They lit up in a spray of red and orange fire. So far, the Dezorisian's aid had been the decisive factor in their turn of events.
Janeway then saw an opening. It was perfect. She turned to her helmsman.
"Mr. Baytart take us into position with the Enterprise. We're about to show the Empire a few tricks of our own."
Paris fired a few more shots, but it was no use. There were just too many drones. Another idea then popped into his mind. He set his rifle on overload and threw it in the general direction the drones were coming. As quickly as possible, he bent down to where the consul was lying. Pulling the wounded man to his feet, he draped one of the consuls' arms over his wounded shoulder and began to make his way out of the corridor.
Shots continued to fly around him, but luckily, none found a mark. There would only be a few more seconds before that rifle would become unstable. When that happened, the entire corridor would be lit up in a spray of photons.
"Take cover!" he yelled to the group ahead.
Chakotay could see the power surges slowly beginning to destabilize the rifle. Taking Xara closer to him, he pushed Danag farther around the corner. He hoped that Paris would be able to clear the blast area before the explosion destroyed everything in that corridor.
Tom gritted his teeth as he felt the blood trickling down his back. It wasn't because his shoulder was throbbing from every movement. He didn't care about that at all. What was cutting through him was that the blood wasn't his. It was the consuls.
"Leave me," Maris gasped. "You'll... you'll get...."
"Don't talk," Paris told him. "And don't think I'll leave you behind. I'm not going to let you miss the victory party when we win."
In spite of all the pain, Maris had to laugh. Rune did have a way of putting humor in any situation. He just hoped that the younger man would be alive to see that happen. He didn't hold very much faith in making it out alive himself.
Tom tried to quicken their pace. They had to make it out before the blast. They just had a few more feet to go.
Just as Paris was thinking this, the rifle finally destabilized. One last power surge tore through the metal plating and then the air around it ignited as an explosion ripped through the corridor. A billowing fire of energy erupted around the drones. The gunfire immediately stopped as the Borg facsimiles were melted away by the force of the blast.
Tom closed his eyes as the energy wave made its way towards him. They weren't going to clear it.
The Parvanian officer looked up from his console as all of the signals from the drones on deck five suddenly left the screen.
What the Hell, he thought. He bent over his console. Every single drone had been destroyed.
He cursed the air around him. At least he had been able to solve the problem with the weapons array. By using the Borg
Parasites the weapons would soon be back online. But he still needed to solve this problem with the intruders.
\*If I let them get away, Takma will kill me for sure. Or have me assimilated...." He tried not to let these thoughts have much weight on his conscious. He just needed to do his job.
The intruders had boarded the station on some shuttlecraft that much was for sure. He just needed to find out where they had docked. He ran a search program through the station. If there was an unknown shuttle present anywhere, he would find it.
After a few seconds, a beep sounded on his console. He had found the shuttle. It was on deck four.
\*Finally, I get a break,\* he thought to himself. He quickly entered a series of commands onto his console. The intruders wouldn't be able to leave if a forcefield was in their way. And with the Borg technology embedded in its matrix, not even a drone could get through it.
He's crazy, B'Elanna told herself. Whatever Gerek had told her had to be the most bull shit she had ever heard. She didn't even know what he meant by, 'you are chosen.'
He's probably just trying to get me to sleep with him. she told herself.
She kept on her route towards the shuttle. They had decreased from their sprinting down to a normal jog. She just hoped that they would be able to make it there without running into any more drones than possible.
They then went down another corridor. Her thoughts were disrupted as Gerek stopped in his tracks next to her. "What is it?" she asked.
"Do you feel that?" he asked.
Perplexion covered her face. "Feel what?"
He walked over to the wall and put his hand up to it. Small vibrations emanated through it. "Weapons have been brought back online."
"What?! That's impossible," she asked.
"It doesn't look like that now. Somehow they must have been able to reestablish the power couplings." His mind then wandered. He had been expecting this to happen for some time. Now that the time was here, he felt fear flicker over him like the bright red lights that kept blinking around them. He had no choice though. "If those weapons are brought back online, the ships have no chance. We only have one thing to do. We have to destroy the station."
B'Elanna's mouth dropped open. "There's no way we can do that."
"You're right. There's no way 'we' can do that. You can get back to the shuttle from here. I'm going back."
"The Hell I'm letting you go alone! You won't stand a chance."
Gerek put his gun to her chest. "I've already told you. You're too important. Find your way back to the shuttle. I can do this myself."
B'Elanna was about to protest, but she could see the resolution in his eyes. She knew she had no choice but to give in.
"Good luck," she said.
He smiled. "You know me. I'm always lucky."
Xara pushed against Chakotay's arms but the older man wouldn't let her go. From her position in his arms, she had seen the explosion even though he had tried to conceal her eyes as much as possible. She had seen it, felt it, she had even smelled it. The smoky odor still lingered as she struggled against her captor's arms.
"Let me go," she begged, but Chakotay refused to do so.
The Commander was staring into the same direction as Xara. The blast had been so large, there was little hope that either
Paris or the Consul could have survived.
Six years ago, he couldn't have cared less. But through his time on Voyager, he and Paris had formed a friendship of sorts.
Now it looked as if their friendship had been destroyed just like those down that corridor.
Just as Chakotay was about to turn away from the scene, a harsh cough caught his attention. He turned around and ran over to the site of the explosion.
Danag was the first one to make it to the corner. He stopped in his tracks and let a relieved grin spread over his features.
"Captain," he managed to choke out.
A second later, Paris and the consul appeared around the corner. Each of them were coughing severely from the smoke, but aside from their previous wounds, neither looked any worse.
Chakotay stared at the pair in amazement. Xara took the opportunity to wiggle her way through his arms. Once she was on the ground, she ran over to Rune.
"Rune," she said. "How'd you..."
She had no idea how to ask her question, so he answered it for her. "The guns were set on a drone or Parvanian DNA frequency alone. Even though it exploded, the energy wave wouldn't do anything to us."
Her brow furrowed. "Then why did you tell us to get to cover?"
He smiled slightly. "That was just in theory. I didn't know if it would really work or not." He then turned to Chakotay. "The rest of the drones have been taken care of. Let's find B'Elanna and go."
B'Elanna sprinted down the hall toward the shuttle. She was almost there. She wondered where Tom was and if the rest of his group was alright. She hated not being able to know what was going on. It was eating at her insides.
She finally reached the shuttle entrance. Finally, she thought. Just as she was about to enter the shuttle and get it ready for departure a force field at the entrance stopped her. She was momentarily stunned as she came in contact with it, but then her emotions turned to anger. No she thought, not when we're this close.
Looking around, she found a computer terminal nearby. As she began to hack into the computer database, she found a few other bits of information that caused her even more worry.
A brief tremor shook the station as the weapons began to power up. Her thoughts then turned to Gerek. She wondered if he was alright.
Gerek made his way back down to the interior of the station. One carefully set explosion and the entire station would be destroyed.
Due to the security being sent after Rune and his group, Gerek had little to worry about in that line of thought. He finally made his way into the station's powerhouse. It was the same room that Tom and B'Elanna had disabled the power couplings in earlier. Only now, those same couplings were working again.
He looked around. There had to be some way to explain it. He knew for a fact that the couplings couldn't just reattach themselves, or could they.
He crawled through the wires and made his way over to one of them. Small Borg like devices covered the equipment around them. They looked like parasites that were forming protective barriers around the couplings.
Their drones might not be able to adapt, but their engineering equipment can. Go figure. he thought.
Pulling away as many of the small parasites, he then remembered Rune telling him about something like this earlier. The Jihaid had been destroyed by a parasite like this, but it had been bigger. A low hum then entered Gerek's ears. His eyes widened. Perhaps that parasite was here right now.
He turned around and was barely able to distinguish a small ray of light through the web of cables around him. It was then that he realized that ray of light was a phaser inside one of the parasites preparing to fire at him.
Tom could feel the Consul's footing become more erratic. The older man wasn't doing well at all. The shot had gone through his back and out the side of his chest. It was a miracle that he was still alive. But by all the blood that he was losing, there was no telling how much longer he had.
"You...remember the conversation... we had a few days ago." Maris said. His voice came in ragged gasps as he tried to convey his message.
Tom knew exactly what the older man was talking about. "Yeah, I remember," he said. "But don't get any ideas about dying. You're still the Consul, and I'm going to make sure things stay that way."
Maris's voice was becoming weaker. "You... are... in charge now..."
Tom felt the man's body begin to grow limp. "We have to stop." he said.
He stopped in his tracks and rested the older man on the ground. Both Danag and Chakotay took up defensive positions around the pair on the ground. Xara looked down at Maris. She was silent as Tom tried to take a better look at the man's wounds.
It didn't look good.
"Just hold on a few minutes longer. We'll get you to sickbay and..."
Maris gave a weak smile. "You... know that's not... going to happen..." he coughed for a few moments then grabbed Rune's arm. "Remember... what I..."
His words weren't even finished as his last breath died out. Tom lowered his head for a moment. The older man had been like a father to him when he had no family. Now he had let him down.
"I'll remember," he whispered as he ran a hand over the man's eyes to close them.
He then stood up. Everyone was silent. "Come on," he said in a lower voice. "We still have to get back to the shuttle."
"Prepare another strike on that battleship," Raken ordered.
So far the battle had taken a turn in the Resistance's favor. The Imperial vessels were slowly beginning to lose their footing.
They now were retreating back into a tight circle around the Imperial base.
The Dezorisians had come to their rescue practically. If it hadn't been for them, the Empire would have eliminated the armada a long time ago.
Raken smiled for the first time that day. Things were going well now. He watched as an opening among the battleships had begun to emerge. So far, the ships were woven around the station so tightly that not even a glimpse of the base could be seen. But now a large portion began to emerge. That portion however, consisted of a large cylindrical segment emanating a bright light around it.
That was when Raken's smile fell. "Pull back!" he ordered.
His words tore through the air at the exact moment that the weapons systems on the base charged. From the station came a large ionic pulse beam, which ripped apart every ship it came in contact with. After a few seconds, the beam dissipated and began to recharge again.
"Losses," Raken asked. His ship had been lucky, he knew. If they hadn't pulled back when they had the beam would have ripped through their hull as it had the other surrounding ships.
"Five ships have been destroyed."
Raken fell back in his chair. Five ships in three seconds. So much for Paris's plan. His eyes flickered back to the viewscreen. The weapon was powering again. "Evasive maneuvers," he yelled.
Paris caught B'Elanna in his sight as he made his way towards the shuttle. A relieved smile spread over her face as she ran over to him. He was covered in blood, but by his appearance, it didn't look to be very serious.
"You're alright," she said in a relieved manner. She then looked around the group for Maris.
Tom sensed her thoughts. "We lost him," he said in a low voice.
She turned her eyes to the floor. "I'm sorry." She paused a few seconds and then breached a new topic. "There has been a force field placed around the shuttle. We can't get to it."
Tom walked over to the force field. He placed a hand up to it. For the first time since he could remember, he was unable to walk through it. "They've encrypted some kind of Borg algorithms into it. Every time I adapt, it adapts with me."
"I know," said B'Elanna. "I managed to get into their computers, but none of them on this level can access these controls.
The only choice we have is taking Gerek's ship out of here. It's one level above us."
"Gerek?" Tom asked.
B'Elanna then explained to him how the trader had come to her aid moments ago. She then finished up her brief summary of events. "Somehow the weapons were brought back online. Gerek's gone down to take them out again. He plans on destroying the station."
"Are you sure we can trust Gerek to take care of that?" Chakotay asked.
Tom turned to the older man. "Gerek might not be the easiest person to get along with, but he can be dependable. We just need to get off this station before he finishes his work." Tom fully realized just what it would take for Gerek to go through with his plan. He only hoped the trader knew what he was doing.
Paris then walked over to the console B'Elanna had been working at. He linked himself to the main computer. Sure enough there was no way he could dismantle the force field by using this terminal. But then another piece of information caught his attention. "Level three has had a security upgrade. They have Genetic detectors placed everywhere. To get to the shuttle we'll have to dismantle them as well."
B'Elanna hadn't seen that. She looked over his shoulder at the information displayed there. She then saw a way to do that. "If we disconnect the sensors, that should cut off all of the weapons on that level. All we'll have to do is have someone go through this vent. The sensor wiring runs through that vent. Someone can go through it and disconnect it there."
Tom looked at the vent size. None of them would be able to fit through that small of a space. None of them except one. He didn't want to even think about that option.
"We can think of another way," he said. "I could go to the control room and disable everything from there. Then you..."
"Rune I can do it," Xara said. She knew that she was the only one who could fit through those vents. If she did this, everything else would be safer.
Tom turned to her. "Xara this could be dangerous. If you got separated from us..."
"I can do this Rune. Besides, it would be even more dangerous if you tried to go to do all of this other stuff. Rune, I'll be alright."
Tom lowered his eyes. He knew the girl had a point, but still, he didn't want to risk the chance of losing her. He then brought his eyes up to hers. "Just promise me you'll be careful."
She smiled. "Aren't I always?"
Kail staggered towards the ship. He had to hurry; Takma would be leaving soon no matter whether he was or wasn't aboard her vessel.
He was on the correct deck. Level three. Now all he had to do was get down a few more corridors. He leaned against the wall as he walked. The blood was slowly oozing through his fingers from where he held his wounded shoulder.
I'll have that taken care of later, he told himself. But for now, I need to get back to the ship.
His thoughts then turned to the bastard who had shot him. Rune Landis would pay. He would pay for all of the indignities that he had pushed upon him. Not for the first time, he wished that Rune had died when they were back on Deep Space Nine. If only Takma hadn't gotten Rosin to revive him...
He turned his mind back to the most urgent thoughts. I need to get moving, he told himself yet again.
Takma stood just outside the ship. She hadn't yet boarded her vessel. The station had been able to reestablish its hold over the weapons so that would buy her some more time. She had also established a security program on the level she was on. Whoever these intruders were, they wouldn't be able to get anywhere near her. So now, all she had to worry about was the General's tardiness.
Idiots, all of them, she told herself. She had never had a decent officer working for her in her life. Well, that is except for Kail. He had been very loyal to her and he was one of the few competent people she knew.
She didn't want to lose someone so valuable to her. If something happened, she knew that he was the only person she could rely on.
Tapping her foot on the floor, she waited for him to hurry up.
Paris and his group made their way up to the level above them. The security on this level had been upgraded to the highest standard now. Only a Parvanian could hope to make it through these corridors without setting off an alarm. And when that alarm was set, a spray of gunfire would beseech the intruder.
Danag walked over to the wall and pulled away one of the grates that covered a vent. He then turned to Xara. "Your door is open, Madam."
She smiled at him. "Thanks Danag." she said.
Tom helped her in and then said. "Okay, you know what to do. Just go down this vent and disconnect the coupling located at the junction inside."
"I know what to do," she gave him one last hug. "Don't worry, I'll be fine."
He nodded and watched her crawl into the vents. His fear began to grow larger with each move she made farther away.
Gerek fell to the ground. He felt the shot burn its way through his side. He tried to fire at the parasites with his phaser, but it didn't help. They merely proved to adapt to his weapons.
Looks like the offensive option is out the door. I'll just have to take defensive I suppose.
Crawling through the network of wires, he made his way farther into the station. The only way he could hope to destroy this place would be to take out the main power converter.
He felt every move send ripples of pain through his side. He blinked the pain away. He just hoped he would be able to do this before he passed out.
Xara hoped that this would be over soon. She crawled through the vents until she finally found the cable junction Rune had told her about. All she had to do was take these things off line and she would be done.
Kail was about to make his way towards Takma's ship when the sound of muffled conversation met his ears. He turned to where it was coming from. Taking his phaser, he made his way towards the sound. With any luck, he might be able to get his revenge sooner than anticipated.
Paris waited on Xara. Time was slowly ticking away. He needed to get them out of the station now. His worries were beginning to grow stronger with every passing second. He had already lost the Consul and he had no idea how Sargon was doing.
He wasn't going to lose Xara as well.
His thoughts were blown away as the sound of a phaser charging attacked his ears. He turned around just in time to see the
Parvanian General down the corridor fire his weapon.
Kail kept close to the corridor walls as he snuck around the corner. He couldn't believe his luck when he caught Rune Landis in his vision. Landis was about three hundred feet away from him so he didn't notice the General. The captain's attention seemed to be fixed on one of the vents next to him, but Kail paid that no attention. Now was his chance. He raised his weapon and charged it. Just as Landis turned around to see where the noise had come from, Kail let a smile touch his lips as he fired. That smile grew even larger as he watched Rune fall to the ground at the feet of his compatriots.
Xara had just finished disconnecting the cables when she heard it. A gunshot echoed through the vents from outside. She felt her breath leave her as she imagined just who had been shot.
Crawling as fast as she could, she began to make her way back the way she had come. Then a voice told her to take a different direction.
She turned to her left instead of right and crawled through the tunnels until she had finally come to another grate. Looking through, she could see General Kail just below her, and farther beyond, Rune lying on the floor.
Tom felt his body hit the ground as he fell. He struggled to get back to his feet, but his entire body protested in a scream of agony.
B'Elanna was immediately at his side. She felt the fear rising in her as she watched Tom's coat begin to soak with blood.
Her fear was quickly replaced by anger, though, as she brought her phaser up to take aim at the general.
"Anyone make a move and I'll shoot you where you stand." the general told them. B'Elanna looked up to see Danag and Chakotay in defensive positions around them. Neither of them wanted to risk anything. If they tried to go for their guns, who knew what the Parvanian would do. From her position, B'Elanna couldn't get a good shot.
Tom rose slightly and took in the situation. His eyes narrowed as they fell on Kail.
The general took in one last sight of Captain Rune Landis. This would definitely be good. He took aim at the fallen man. This time, there would be no chance that he would be 'resurrected' again.
He fingered his gun. "I cannot say that it's been a pleasure, Rune." he said and pulled the trigger.
Xara had no idea what she could do, but as she heard the general's last word, she knew she had to act fast. Summing up her strength and courage, she kicked open the grate and jumped down onto the general.
Kail had no time to react as the young girl landed on top of him. She knocked his arm away just as he fired, sending the shot into a nearby wall.
"You little brat!" he yelled.
Xara held onto the man's neck as she tried to punch him with her free hand. Since she was on his back, he was struggling to knock her off, but she held on tightly. She realized all too well what would happen if he caught her.
Both Chakotay and Danag had their guns out now, but neither wanted to risk a shot unless they hit Xara by chance. Both had been so caught up in the moment that they had failed to remember that their rifles were set to a Parvanian DNA sequence alone. Even if they did shoot her, nothing would happen.
But of course, as in most situations, logic had abandoned them. Now they watched helplessly as Kail finally grabbed the girl in his arms.
He put the gun to her head. "Anyone moves, she dies," he said.
Tom pushed himself a little farther off the floor. "You hurt her, Kail... and I'll make ...you wish you were dead."
The general was about to inform Landis that he was in no position for such threats when his communicator sounded. "Kail get down here now, we're leaving," Takma ordered.
The general was caught between conflicting emotions. He didn't want to risk being left behind, but here he was with the chance to finally kill Landis.
His thoughts then turned to logic. If he removed his gun from Xara's head to take a shot at the captain, then either Chakotay or Danag would kill him in an instant. His pride would have to be wounded, he told himself.
Holding Xara tightly he began to back away. "Stay where you are." he yelled.
Once he had finally made it back to door, he found a console and closed the door behind him. Once it was locked, he took his hostage and made his way back to Takma's ship.
Xara felt the fear rising in her. Rune wasn't there and now she had been captured by the Empire. She forced herself not to cry. She wasn't going to let this man see her fear. Rune wouldn't do that. Neither would Aria or B'Elanna.
Her throat began to constrict as she was carried away to the enemy ship. She just hoped she would be able to see Rune again, if not just once.
Tom felt his anger begin to storm out of him as the door closed behind Kail and Xara. He struggled to get up, but his body wouldn't cooperate.
"We... we have to go back for... for her.." he struggled to get out.
Danag was already at the door trying to get it to open. "I can't break the lock. By the time we get it open, they'll be long gone."
"We're not going to leave her," Tom ground out. "She..."
His words were cut off as B'Elanna's comm badge chirped to life. Gerek's voice sounded over the line. "I hope... you people are ready to leave... cause this place is fixing to blow...."
B'Elanna looked down at Tom. She could see the anger playing over his face. She knew that it was mirrored in hers as well. The last thing she wanted to do was leave Xara behind, but they had no choice.
"We're leaving now," she said. Putting one of Tom's arms over her shoulder, she tried to help the pilot to his feet. Chakotay came over and did the same.
Tom wanted to protest, but he realized that they had no choice as well. He felt his breathing turn to harsh breaths as the bullet began to graze his lung with every move he made.
The remaining four then entered Gerek's shuttle. Chakotay helped to ease Tom into one of the back chairs and then he moved to take his seat at the Helm.
Danag sat down at the Ops. He looked back for a brief moment at where B'Elanna and Tom were behind him. He had to give Rune credit. He knew how to hide his pain. Paris was now sitting as straight in his chair as possible. The only sign of an injury was the growing stain of red soaking through his coat and the brief shadow of pain that flickered over his face every now and then.
"Takma's ship is about to leave." Tom said. "Contact all the vessels in the area and... tell them to stop her at whatever cost... but don't destroy the ship..."
"Aye sir," Danag said as he began to broadcast the message. As his fingers played over the controls effortlessly, his mind played over what had just happened. "May the Spirit protect you Xara," he whispered.
Takma looked up when she saw Kail enter. Her eyes widened as she saw the blood flowing from his shoulder and the child squirming in his arms.
She didn't even ask. Instead, she said, "Get to sickbay and drop that 'child' off in the brig. We'll do something with her later."
He nodded and left. She watched him leave for a few seconds and then turned her attention back to the matter at hand.
She then turned to a nearby drone. "Get us out of here now," she ordered.
The station fired another round at the ships when Janeway received the transmission. "Mr. Baytart," she said. "Plot a course for Takma's vessel."
"Aye, sir," he responded.
She had no idea why they didn't want to destroy the ship, but she agreed to the terms. She watched as they neared the
Imperial vessel they sought. It was already beginning to power its engines. She just hoped they wouldn't be too late.
"Have the other ships clear a path for us," Takma told the drone at the Helm. "Then open the corridor. I want out of here as soon as possible."
She looked up when Voyager appeared on the front viewscreen. It was charging its weapons. "Evasive maneuvers. I don't care if you destroy them or not, just get us out of here."
The helmsman responded. He entered the proper commands into the console and flew them away from the battle.
Chakotay flew the ship out between a pair of battle cruisers. Torpedoes sailed past as he barely avoided taking a hit from the much larger ships. That was too close, he thought.
Bringing the ship into the battle, he went in search of Voyager. This shuttle was no match against the other ships around him, and besides that, he needed to get Paris to sickbay.
The commander turned the vessel around and caught sight of the ship. Voyager was in direct pursuit of Takma's vessel.
Paris's full attention was riveted on the sight ahead of him as he watched Takma's vessel begin to open the corridor.
Gerek's surroundings were growing darker as he finally made his way to the central power generator of the base. He had finally made it. So far, none of the parasites had latched onto the generator yet. That meant he was free to fulfill his purpose.
Taking his phaser, he brought it up level with the large generator. This was it. Of course, he had known that he wouldn't be getting out of this alive. He knew that he wouldn't live through this battle the first moment he had heard it was about to be arranged. But that didn't erase the regret he was feeling at having to leave this life so soon.
I always knew this day would come, he said. At least I lived my life to the fullest up until now.
His mind then played over all of the things he had achieved in his life. He remembered the battle he had been 'chosen' to fight in and the man who had told him of his destiny. He then remembered how that same man had died the day he had told him of this.
He smiled. Life really is full circle, he thought.
"Well... my time's up..." he said. "And now... another's shall begin...."
As his last words left his lips, he pulled the trigger to his gun.
Tuvok had a good lock on Takma's vessel. Now all he had to do was fire. "Firing," he said as he entered the commands.
The torpedo had just left Voyager. Janeway waited in preparation for it to hit its target. That was when it hit.
A large explosion rocked the Imperial station and then surges of fire began to engulf its hull. Janeway's attention was turned to the station as she watched it glow an ember color and then explode in an array of fire and energy.
"Shields..." she was unable to finish her order before the blast wave hit. Officers were knocked from their stations, consoles exploded, and curses ran rampant as Voyager was tousled by the energy wave.
The Resistance vessels were lucky. Almost all of them were far enough away to only be tousled a bit by the wave. The line of Imperial battle cruisers prevented them from ever being hit by the explosion. Those very cruisers were crushed by the explosion so brutally that in the aftermath of it all only a field of debris existed where once there had been an entire fleet of Imperial battle cruisers.
Janeway then turned her attention back to Takma's ship. She had been far enough away not to be affected by the blast. The torpedo that had been fired; however, had been knocked off course. Janeway watched as it sailed by the Pretor's ship harmlessly.
"No," Janeway whispered. All the crew was silent as they watched Takma's vessel begin to enter subspace.
Chakotay struggled to keep the ship under control. They had been lucky to clear the blast area fast enough. He was now able to plot a course back to Voyager.
Just as the Federation ship appeared on the screen, so did the Pretor's farther beyond it. Paris's surroundings were beginning to fade, but he blinked away the vertigo long enough to see the familiar picture of the rift being opened. He held his breath as he watched the Imperial vessel slowly slip into subspace and then dissolve away as the corridor closed.
His mouth was dry as he stared out at the area of space the ship had just occupied. He tried to will it to come back, but there was no use.
I'm so sorry. I failed you again, was his last thought. Then a familiar darkness began to settle over his eyes as his surroundings vanished with Takma's ship.
Every single officer on every ship was completely silent as thoughts of their failure attacked them. Janeway looked to the ground as the horrors of their downfall pounded upon her.
Harry was the first to speak. "Captain, we're being hailed," he said.
"On screen." Her voice lacked its usual confidence. It sounded more like a frightened animal than the proud captain that owned it.
Chakotay's face appeared on screen. "Captain, we need you to beam us to sickbay. Paris has been shot." He chose not to elaborate anymore. Janeway could see the haunted expression that his face possessed. She wondered just what had happened back there.
She turned to Harry. Without words, he activated the transporter beams and pulled the shuttle in with the tractor beam.
She stared off into the space beyond her viewscreen for some minutes before she replied. "Tuvok you have the bridge. I'll be in sickbay."
Doc finally finished up with Sargon. The man had lost a great deal of blood, but it looked like he would pull through.
One crisis under control, he thought. He had felt the blast wave a few minutes ago, but he had no idea what had happened. Sometimes being stuck in sickbay had its drawbacks.
As he put his instruments away, he saw four forms materialize before him. B'Elanna and Chakotay were trying to hold up an unconscious Tom Paris as blood dripped from his shoulder and chest down to the floor.
"Put him on the table," Doc ordered.
The two walked over and laid Paris on the biobed as easily as they could. Danag stood back and watched in silence as Doc began to run a tricorder over his wounds.
"The bullet has grazed his lung. It will take me a while, but I should be able to fix him up." He then turned to Chakotay. "I thought the Consul was with you as well."
"He was." replied the Commander.
Doc was silent as he took in the full meaning of the man's words. By the expressions on each of their faces, the EMH could tell that they had just been through something that no person should ever have to face.
He then turned back to his patient. Whatever had happened over there, he was sure that it would haunt these people for the rest of their lives.
\*
Xara sat alone in her cell on the Pretor's ship. She felt the familiar sensation as the ship jumped into subspace. That was it.
She was alone and Rune wasn't there to save her.
Backing up into the corner of her cell, she brought her knees up to her chin as if for protection from all the demons that were plaguing her mind. She was alone.
A sob was the first thing to erupt from her throat. Then the tears began to fall. Fear seemed to wrap her in its blanket.
Memories of her past experiences in the concentration camps played havoc on her mind. She couldn't go through that again.
She wrapped her arms tightly around her knees and let the tears run free. She remembered the dream that she had had a few nights ago. She remembered how Tom's father had been there to stay with her that night. It had been just like this, only there was one difference. There was no one to watch over her now.
Tears ran down her face and dampened the knees of her pants. She was alone and there was no one to save her.
\*
Janeway greeted Chakotay and Danag just as they were walking out of sickbay. "What happened?" she asked in a timid voice. She was almost afraid of the answer.
Chakotay lowered his head. "Gerek and Maris are dead. Tom should be fine; B'Elanna's in there with him." He paused for a moment. "But we lost Xara as well."
"Xara?!" she asked. "What was she..."
Chakotay brought a finger up to her lips. "It's a long story."
Paris awoke hours later to the familiar surroundings of Voyager's sickbay. The bright lights attacked his senses unmercifully as he tried to adapt to his surroundings.
His body protested at every move he made, but he finally got to his feet. It was by the grace of the Spirit that no one was present in sickbay otherwise; they would have forced him back to bed.
His mind then fell on the events at the station. Leaning against the biobed, he relived every moment spent there. He remembered Sargon being shot, Maris dying in the corridor, and most of all, the look of terror on Xara's face as Kail carried her away. He had failed them all.
He had set a gambit in hopes that by risking a few, he would gain a victory over a more powerful adversary. But now that gambit had failed. He had lost those that he had risked and now it was up to him to him to prove that their sacrifices hadn't been in vain.
His chest began to constrict as he felt the sorrow and pain welling up inside of him. Somehow, he managed to get over to the viewport at the side of sickbay.
He stared out at the stars flying by them. It was clear that they had entered warp. The stars began to blur even more as he felt tears welling up in his eyes.
Kail would pay for this. Takma would pay for this. He would make sure of that. Anger pulsed through his veins. He would get Xara back and then make both Takma and Kail pay for all that they had done.
He clenched his hand into a fist as the anger began to grow inside of him. He could feel his nails grinding into his palms; at least that was a small distraction.
He stared out at the stars flying past. "I swear to you Xara, I'll find you. And when I do, Takma and Kail will wish they had never laid eyes upon me."
A few drops of blood slipped through his clenched fingers and fell to the floor below as if to add verification to his promise.
He was alone in sickbay, so no one was present to hear this oath. His voice turned to a whisper as a final drop of blood fell to the ground before he finally unclenched his fist.
"I swear by the Spirit. They'll pay."
The End
Well, here's the good news. This isn't the end. Here's the bad news. You'll have to wait a week or two for the final installment of the Fates Series. And yes, I know that I said that this would be the last part. Well, it was supposed to be. I had planned to extend this part to include the final battle as well, but it turned out longer than anticipated. I decided to split the part up because of (1) its length, and (2) it would take at least two more weeks to put the full part up. I thought that perhaps you would prefer to read this part now and then tune in for the final installment in a couple of weeks. Sound good?
Anyway, I would like to thank everyone who has emailed me. They really give me a reason to head back to the computer and begin writing again. That's one reason I was able to get done with this part this weekend. I read some of the emails and was so thrilled that all of these people were reading that I wrote almost twenty pages within two days alone.
The next part will be up before May 16. I'll be going on vacation then, so I plan to finish the series before that time.
Thanks for reading. And if you have any fanfiction, please email it to me and I'll archive you're work. My archive is really growing. I'd like to thank everyone who has sent in their submissions to me. Thanks a lot.
Well, that's it for me. Thanks for reading!
Alys Landale

