#Tuvok: I agree with the captain and this makes her believe in her decisions more - though I would attempt to obey her commands even if they

[bumblingbabooshka]

Something about this interaction between Harry & Janeway - specifically Janeway but it's notable that Harry's the one listening because I think, say, Chakotay or B'Elanna might push back against the idolization of this 'it was different back in those days' way of thinking.

#Get the Tranq she's 'Good Old Boys'-ing! #never beating the Starfleet stooge accusations #which I think should have been brought up more between her and Chakotay #instead of just making Chakotay like Starfleet again so they can be together #the Tuvok/Chakotay/Janeway command trio should have been like #Janeway: I love Starfleet in an uncomplicated way and though it's painful sometimes I believe following code is the only way to proceed #Tuvok: I agree with the captain and this makes her believe in her decisions more - though I would attempt to obey her commands even if they #weren't regulation. #<- Janeway doesn't want to examine this #Chakotay: I hate Starfleet because of very valid reasons and I don't think following orders and codes from superiors is the best thing #in every situation. I want everyone here to examine their biases which cannot necessarily be done if biases are written into the #codes. We aren't in Starfleet space. We might have to adapt. #but it's nowhere near that nuanced bc you know. Starfleet Good. Starfleet Good. Starfleet Good. Maquis Bad. Maquis Bad. Maquis Bad. #Or you know: 'Maquis doing this the WROOONG way...violence isn't the answer :(' maybe violence is the answer sometimes. #when it's the only language the people in power understand. #maybe 'let's talk about this' is an insidious military tactic sometimes actually #Also Harry immediately going from 'They falsified logs?' to 'I always wondered it'd be like back then...~' #He and Janeway................Him and Janeway are!!! AGH #People think Harry's way too timid. They think this because he's asian and an ensign so they make him timid & obedient #But he's very willing to break or bend the rules - he's willing to fight he likes action and adventure and he's very similar to Janeway #where they'll both die and go to hell and come back just to save their crew - their friends - their family

[angsty-violet]

Agony - Chapter 24

Agony Masterpost

@whumptober2020

Tuvok expected Kell’an to be the one to continue his torture as soon as he was mostly healed. Verant had yet to make any overtures or try out his techniques. Tuvok believed that it was because Verant was mainly just along for the ride.

It was Verant who opened the door that day for the current session. He smiled softly when he saw Tuvok, and Tuvok couldn’t help but wonder at the apparent affection that these two had for him. They acted as though they actually cared about his wellbeing. However, Tuvok knew that that couldn’t be true because they wouldn’t be torturing him. Although it was possible that in their own twisted and cold way that they did care for Tuvok.

Tuvok watched as Verant approached him, holding a strip of cloth. He rigged him up in the familiar way and then took the fabric and wrapped it around Tuvok’s eyes. Tuvok knew that it was used as a tool to unsettle him. The fabric would keep him from seeing the tools and unable to know what was going to happen next.

However, with Tuvok, it had the opposite effect. By block out his sight, he was having a much easier time focusing on his meditation techniques. It was a sense that was removed from the equation and, therefore, didn’t need to be overcome.

“That’s better. Although it is a good psychological tool, I will admit that I don’t blindfold out experiments when I torture them. I blindfold them because I don’t like the way their eyes follow me around the room. Makes it easier to distance myself. Alright, let’s begin. I have a few things I want to get through today, and every minute is precious.”

Tuvok sunk deep into his meditation but didn’t allow himself to go completely under. After the cold torture had gone so terribly wrong, he had resigned himself to not using his particular trick too much. He couldn’t risk losing his life to a madman—either of the madmen that regularly tormented him.

He might be willing to lose his life to protect the crew of the Voyager, but it wasn’t going to happen out of negligence.

Tuvok was startled by the feeling of something sharp at his side, slicing him open. He gasped in pain but then quickly got it under control. Everything was dulled by his meditative state, and he barely felt. Tuvok heard Verant hum softly.

“I know that Kell’an tried this particular one with you earlier. He said it didn’t go well. You moved, and the knife slid deep into your body, right next to your heart. That’s quite dangerous for your species, I imagine. However, he isn’t used to using them. He prefers a more permanent approach than just slight cuts. I am much more experienced with knives. I use them in all of my sessions.”

Tuvok didn’t bother to respond because he knew that one wasn’t expected. Verant didn’t come here to talk. He came to test Tuvok the way that his partner did. Kell’an like a lot of interaction. However, Tuvok knew that a man that couldn’t look his victims in the eyes wouldn’t like a lot of talking.

Tuvok was attempting to adjust to the new parameters brought to the session. Kell’an liked to know that all of your focus was on him, but Verant didn’t seem to have the same need. A thought occurred to Tuvok, and before he knew it, he was acting.

“I think it means you aren’t the same level as him. You don’t have the same ability to coldly torture and murder innocent people.”

Tuvok was surprised at himself. Since when did he press boundaries? However, he knew that he had to be defiant. This experience was wearing him down. He had to do something to prove to himself and to them that he wasn’t broken. That even with some of the most horrible things happening to him, he wasn’t just a toy to be played with.

Tuvok knew that it was partially emotionally driven, but he didn’t care. If emotions were what he needed to survive this, then he would use them. His determination to get out, burned even brighter. Verant had managed to wake what Tuvok had forgotten.

  “This is your Captain. We are only a few hours away from the planet we believe Tuvok is on. Not only from our source who said he was there, but from the buoy Tuvok had sent. I want to express my pride in your decision and check that everyone is still fine with searching him out. This is your last chance to object.”

Silence emanated back. Janeway gave a half-smile. “I understand. We are going to do everything in our power to get our crewmember back. We are risking our lives in a confrontation, but several of you have told me why his dedication and service to this crew are worth saving. I agree. Tuvok has given us a lot and worked tirelessly towards our goal of getting home. Think of this as a pep talk. We will do our best to get back our crewmember. If we are lucky, he’ll still be alive when we get him back. If we aren’t well, at least we can give him a proper funeral.

“We are all hoping for his safe return. However, I must inform you that if he is returned, he will be injured. He will be in pain and might not be the same man that he left us. However, I know that a crew that can be compassionate enough to accept a former Borg can accept the new him. Those of you that were part of the group coming up with ideas to help him adjust are already ahead of me. Yes, I knew about the group.” Her eyes found Harry Kim’s eyes, and he blushed.

“I am stunned every day by your bravery and strength. I have no doubt that should Tuvok be returned to us, he will be in good hands. I also know that as resistant as he is to say it, he sees the great things that each of you is capable of. He knows the true compassion and kindness of this crew. I also believe he will appreciate it, even if he chooses not to say anything. So, to each of you, to me, to all of us, good luck.”

#whumptober2020 #no.24 #blindfolded #star trek voyager #fic #hurt tuvok #torture #blood #protective crew #evil captors #evil original characters

[summahsunlight]

This Way Became My Journey, Ch. 23

While the computer was running its diagnostic on the alien device, B'Elanna Torres had snuck away to the mess hall to grab a ration pack for lunch. Well maybe she hadn't really snuck away; Captain Janeway had after all given her permission to take a small break. But it sure felt like sneaking away, with Michael breathing down her neck wanting to know every little thing that came up about the device. Snatching a ration pack up she went to join a Bajoran, by the name of Seska, who was sitting at a table in the middle of the room.

"I didn't think Janeway was ever going to let you leave the bridge," Seska drawled with that sly grin of hers as B'Elanna took a seat.

B'Elanna shrugged her shoulders. "I think she felt bad that her kid was watching over everything I did. Anyways I don't have a lot of time. I need to get back up there to finish working on that device that Chakotay brought back from the planetoid."

"If you ask me this is a waste of time," Seska replied, pushing her empty ration pack to the side. "We shouldn't be chasing after any aliens that like to harvest organs. It could end up getting us all killed."

"Neelix could die if we don't track them down," B'Elanna said, slightly shocked by her friend's cold tone.

It was Seska's turn to shrug her tiny shoulders. "The Doctor has kept him alive this long; that's better than most people can say if they had just had their lungs stolen."

"And what if it was Chakotay that had been attacked? Or Harry? Would you feel the same way?"

"Of course. Neelix should be counting his blessings while the rest of us get to the real work of finding dilithium to help the power shortage," Seska answered, her dark eyes studying B'Elanna's face. "You don't actually agree with Janeway's decision to go chasing after these aliens do you?"

B'Elanna averted her eyes. "To tell you the truth, I think it's rather noble."

Seska scoffed. "One noble deed doesn't make up for her selfish decision to strand us here."

The hatred for Janeway that was laced in Seska's voice was not lost on B'Elanna and the young Klingon woman suddenly found that she was not hungry anymore. Pushing the tray away from her, she looked her friend, or someone she had once regarded as a friend, in the eye. "Seska, I know it hasn't been easy the past month, adjusting to life on a Starfleet ship, but believe me when I say that Captain Janeway has the best intentions of this entire crew at heart."

"You didn't think that way a month ago," Seska pointed out.

B'Elanna shook her head. "No, I didn't. But the past few weeks I've worked closely with her and my opinion has changed. If we had used the array to get home, there would have been people back in the Alpha Quadrant who thought her decision to sacrifice the Ocampa selfish. Either way, she couldn't win."

Seska got up from the table angrily. "You're starting to sound like all those delusional Starfleet idiots."

The Chief Engineer watched as the Bajoran left the table and stalked out of the mess hall. B'Elanna wasn't sure why Seska was having the hardest adjustment out of them all. Perhaps she felt like she had been slighted by Janeway when she wasn't given a higher rank, after all, she was Chakotay's former lover. And then there was B'Elanna's promotion to chief engineer. It was never spoken between the two, but B'Elanna knew that Seska was jealous of her friend's promotion and the trust that Janeway put in her. She also knew that Seska wasn't too keen on all time the B'Elanna had taken to hanging out with Harry Kim in the mess hall or for a stroll on the holodeck. But Harry had been the only one nice to her, on the Starfleet side that is, for their first few days, and she was grateful for that.

It wasn't her fault that she was sliding into fit with the crew and Seska was struggling. She just needs to make friends outside of the Maquis, that's all. 

B'Elanna decided that the next time Harry joined her for dinner she was going to ask Seska to join them. She was sure that Harry would be friendly and make an attempt to befriend Seska no matter how unreceptive Seska seemed.

Speaking of Harry, B'Elanna was sure that Janeway had given him a fifteen minute break to eat something as well. Maybe she had missed him when she had first come in the room. Glancing around she soon found that it had been easy to miss him. He was seated at a corner table with Sarah Barrett. B'Elanna instantly felt…jealousy.

She was shocked by this, at first. There was nothing romantically going on between her and Harry so she shouldn't be bothered if there was something between him and the counselor. But then she remembered Elle Platt, back from her Academy days. Elle had the same dark, coffee brown hair as Sarah, same enticing sapphire eyes. B'Elanna had thought Elle had been her friend and had told her about her crush on one of their classmates. They never spoke of it again, until B'Elanna had seen Elle with her crush, cuddling on the lawn one warm afternoon. Elle later told her some story about wanting to keep B'Elanna safe because she only would have been hurt, that her crush never would have dated a half Klingon.

B'Elanna, who had always resented human girls, with their silky locks of hair, and smooth foreheads, had shortly left the Academy after that. So was it this fact that Sarah looked so much like Elle that she was jealous of the time she spent with Harry? And if she ever did want to be more than Harry's friend, how could she compete with the perfection that Sarah was?

She was shocked at this realization. Being more than Harry's friend? He was Starfleet, a nice guy, but still Starfleet. Well what's so wrong with that? They had been through so much together on the Ocampa home world, she had connected with him in a way that she had yet to connect to anyone else on the ship, with maybe the exception of Chakotay. And that's when her emotions switched to jealousy to downright anger.

Sarah could have any man she wanted on this ship, with the bat of her pretty little eyelashes, why was she with Harry? Good, even Tom Paris was eating out of the palm of her hand and she had taken the one guy that B'Elanna actually felt…feelings towards. It figures the one nice guy on this ship— 

"Seat taken?"

B'Elanna glanced up to see Tom Paris. She shook her head. "No."

He sat down and dropped his ration pack tray in front of him. His grayish eyes looked up to see what she was looking at and he frowned.

This peaked her curiosity even more. Was Tom's feelings about Sarah more than just wanting a date? B'Elanna suddenly didn't feel so bad that she was not the only one who was jealous on this ship. "Something wrong with the view?" she teased.

Tom only frowned more as Harry and Sarah got up and left the mess hall together, laughing about something. "No, nothing's wrong with the view."

"If I didn't know you any better Paris, I'd say you were jealous," she continued teasing getting up from the table and going to recycle her tray. It was time to get back to working on the alien device and the diagnostic. She would have to push thoughts of Harry aside until further notice.

However, the thoughts of Harry and Sarah eating lunch together, sharing a laugh, just would not escape her no matter how hard she tried to get her work done. Michael Janeway was still standing over her shoulder, soaking in every last bit of information that the computer was coming up with. If that kept up he could his mother the report and B'Elanna could return to engineering where her real work was.

Mindlessly drumming her fingers on the console she noticed Tuvok raise an eyebrow. "Does that form of activity make the computer scan faster?" the Vulcan questioned her.

"No, but it keeps me occupied while we wait." The doors of the bridge swishing open brought her attention about and Paris strode back onto the bridge, no trace of the frown he had worn in the mess hall. How can he let it go so easily? Oh, that's right, he's a pig. He probably has another love interest lined up behind Sarah and the Delaney sisters.

The computer beeping brought her attention about. "Captain," she called out, getting Janeway's attention. "We've completed our diagnostic on the alien device."

Janeway strode over to join the group, which was an odd mix when you really thought about it; a Vulcan, a five year old human boy, and a half Klingon. "What have you got?"

"It appears to be more than a weapon," B'Elanna reported. "It's also a very sophisticated medical scanner and surgical instrument."

"From what we can tell," Tuvok said, handing the device to Janeway, "it uses a neural resonator to stun the victim while a quantum imaging scanner begins a microcellular analysis of the entire body.

"The amount of information this thing can gather puts a tricorder to shame," B'Elanna continued. "You fire this at someone you learn everything about their anatomy, right down to their DNA sequencing."

Janeway turned the device over in her hands. "So we're dealing with aliens who've developed a technology specifically designed for extracting organs from other beings. The question is…why?" Chakotay demanded her attention and she mindlessly put the device down onto the science console.

"The alien ship has dropped out of warp," the first officer reported. "It's approaching a large asteroid."

The captain went to stand on the command station next to Lieutenant Barrett while Tuvok took his own station. "On screen."

"It's entered the asteroid captain," Paris reported.

"Hold position."

There were very little options that Janeway had at this moment. She could either take the ship into the asteroid if it was wide enough or she could try to flush the aliens out some how. But that could take hours, and Neelix didn't have hours. Even though the Doctor had come up with a solution for the time being, no one really knew how long he could survive using holographic lungs, not to mention that if ship's system ever went down and the emitters went off line, Neelix would die.

"MICHAEL!"

The shear volume of Lieutenant Barrett's voice startled everyone on that bridge and all eyes snapped about looking for the child.

The boy was standing at the door to the ready room and immediately Janeway could see that he had the alien device clutched in his little hands. The captain had moved the baby into the ready room so she could comfortably nap and she had no doubt that her son was about to test the device out on his baby sister. How could I be so careless with something that dangerous around? She hadn't even seen Michael move from his spot near the science station, for that matter, neither had B'Elanna. Michael was terribly clever, a trait that Janeway knew had been inherited from her; he could easily slip away from baby sitters, his mother, etc.

So how had Sarah seen it?

Michael looked sheepishly up at his mother. "I just wanted to see Ava's DNA."

His mother gestured that he give her the device back and he complied.

"Sit there," Janeway instructed, pointing to her chair.

Chakotay cleared his throat while the boy did as he was told. "Uh, Captain, we've determined the asteroid is man made."

Fascinating. What's even more fascinating that Sarah knew Michael had that device; another question for another time, perhaps. 

"I think I've located where the alien ship entered the asteroid, Captain," Paris was saying bringing their attention about to the situation at hand. "There's an open crater on the limb of the asteroid."

"Let's see it," Chakotay ordered and the viewscreen changed from the image of the asteroid to the opening that Paris had found.

Janeway crossed her arms over her chest. "How large is that crater, Mister Paris?"

"Two hundred meters in diameter."

"Captain," Tuvok cautioned. "May I suggest that you consider carefully what you're about to do?"

"How do you know what I'm about to do?" Janeway asked, raising an eyebrow and glancing at Tuvok.

"I could describe you in detail the psychological observations I have made of you over the past four years," Tuvok answered, calmly. "Which lead me to conclude that you are about to take this ship into the asteroid, but suffice it to say, I know you quite well."

"One of these days, I'm going to surprise you Tuvok," she replied, with a wry grin. "But not today."

Janeway moved back into the command station and briefly looked at her counselor. "I've already consider other options. If Neelix has any chance of surviving, we have to act fast. Red Alert. Mister Paris lay in a course. Mister Tuvok maximum shields, phasers at the ready."

The Captain turned about in the command station and looked hotly at Michael, "And you stay right there and don't touch anything."

"Yes ma'am."

Voyager glided into the asteroid while Janeway made her way down the command steps to stand next to Chakotay and behind Paris. Her eyes watched the screen intently as the cavern's walls began to narrow.

"Captain," Paris said. "I'm reducing power to the aft-thrusters only. This passageway is getting a little too narrow for my taste."

"Use your discretion Mister Paris," Janeway replied, turning towards Tuvok. "Any sign of the alien ship, Commander?"

"We're still following the ion trail," Tuvok answered, "but electromagnetic interference is limiting our sensor range. I'm only able to scan five hundred meters a head of us."

Chakotay asked the next question. "Are there any indications we're being scanned or probed Mister Kim."

"Not yet."

"Sick bay to Bridge. May I enlist the services of Counselor Barrett please?"

Janeway glanced up at the lieutenant. Was it her imagination or did the Doctor sound anxious? "Certainly Doctor, she's on her way, Janeway out." For a moment the women made eye contact. "You heard the Doctor, he needs your help, we're just going to have to handle first contact without you."

#star trek voyager fanfiction #kathryn janeway #chakotay #janeway x chakotay #tom paris #sarah barrett (oc) #tom paris x ofc #harry kim #b'elanna torres #kes #neelix #tuvok #the doctor (emh) #this way became my journey

[chronotrek]

753. [VOY] Renaissance Man

SCORE:

(4/5 stars)

The Doctor and Janeway are returning to Voyager on the Delta Flyer from a conference. But Voyager receives a transmission from Janeway on the Flyer routed through the deflector array stating that their comm system is in disrepair and they had to use the deflector, and for Chakotay to meet her in her ready room as soon as she's aboard. She explains that they had a run-in with an alien species who controls a territory spanning all the way to the Beta Quadrant with technology decades ahead of their own, and they demand that Voyager hand over its warp core and settle on a planet in the territory. Chakotay is surprised at how easily Janeway is laying down for these demands and how she's leaving him so in the dark.

Janeway asks B'Elanna to modify the Delta Flyer's tractor beam to be able to tow the warp core safely. Torres is confused and asks Chakotay about what's going on. Chakotay asks the Doctor to run an exam on Janeway because he's concerned about her behavior, and then goes to Astrometrics to ask Seven to scan for any cloaked ships like the type Janeway described. Seven isn't finding any, but they do receive a transmission from the species demanding they remand the warp core within ten hours or they will be destroyed.

Janeway has been kidnapped by two rogue Hierarchy officers and they've tapped into the Doctor's program, allowing them to see and hear everything he does. They're forcing him to deliver Voyager's warp core to them or they'll kill Janeway. She is insisting that he not comply, but he doesn't want to risk her death and carries on with his mission. In addition to the warp core, they demand some gel packs. The Doctor lures B'Elanna out of Engineering so he can go in there posing as her to grab some spares, but he's surprised by Tom, who's been trying to get B'Elanna to have a picnic with him somewhere because the baby is due any day and they'll never be alone again. The Doctor gets him to agree to dinner that night to deflect, and has to sit there and take it when Tom kisses him.

Harry calls Chakotay (the Doctor has hidden his combadge under a sleeve) and he poses as Chakotay to visit Holodeck 2, where Harry is able to determine the transmission from the "aliens" was actually sent and generated from here. He's able to even reconstruct that it was the Doctor behind it, which leaves the Doctor with another unconscious body to hide in the morgue. He tries to unwind with some music in sickbay, but is confronted by Tuvok, who sees that Janeway's holographic pattern had been accessed immediately before the deflector array transmission. Tuvok is able to block the Doctor's hypospray and begins shooting out holoemitters in Sickbay. The Doctor turns intangible and runs for his holoemitter, escaping the room with it attached.

Tuvok chases him down to the Holodeck, where he has filled the room with copies of himself. While Tuvok attempts to ascertain which one is real, the real one is making his escape in the Jefferies tube heading for engineering, where he poses as Chakotay and orders everyone to evacuate because the warp core is about to breach. Torres says all readings are fine, but "Chakotay" says the Doctor is interfering with the computer displays. She gets everyone out but wants to stay with Chakotay to help save the core before he says she shouldn't risk the baby. She's about to leave when Paris warns her over the intercom that the Doctor's emitter is in Engineering. The Doctor seals her inside a force field, and activates the ECH protocols which allow him to eject the core.

Tuvok tracks the Doctor to a Jefferies tube heading for the shuttlebay. The Doctor poses as Torres but Tuvok doesn't buy it. Unfortunately for Tuvok, the Doctor is on fucking point today and pulls a wall-run to get behind him and phaser-stuns him. He gets away with the Delta Flyer and the warp core, and Voyager is left without main power to stop him. The Doctor rendezvous with the Hierarchy renegades and demands they beam Janeway to her, but they fire on him instead to get him to release the tractor beam and then beam him aboard their vessel. After his impressive performance on Voyager, they're going to use him to steal even more stuff.

Tom finds Chakotay and Harry in the morgue and revives them. With no sign of Janeway anywhere, Tuvok deduces she probably never made it back to the ship. When they're able to restore main power, a recording of the Doctor playing the Blue Danube waltz at a recital plays on all comm frequencies, with several errors in the recording. They remember that he played without error, and are able to analyze the flaws to determine he's hidden the warp frequency of the Hierarchy ship in the song. Tuvok and Tom can follow its signature in one of the shuttles.

On the Hierarchy ship, Janeway has managed to slowly ingratiate herself to the subordinate officer with flattery while his superior does nothing but insult him. They load the Doctor's matrix with data and holomatrix parameters for their next heist, but it's too much data and begins destabilizing his matrix. Tom and Tuvok catch up to the ship and Tom beams aboard. After a struggle, the underappreciated subordinate turns on his superior and the warp core, Janeway and the Doctor are returned to Voyager.

Because of his matrix destabilization, it's not certain the Doctor will survive, and while Seven and Torres work to save him on the holodeck, he begins acting as though this is his final moments, and begins confessing embarrassing secrets that have weighed on his conscience, such as keeping a file on Janeway's orders he disagreed with, mocking Harry's clarinet skills, telling Neelix about Tuvok's rash, and biggest of all confessing love for Seven (which she brushes off as his cognitive processes malfunctioning). He vanishes, but then returns. Torres just had to turn him off and back on again. He sulks in Sickbay for the next week after that embarrassing display, and Janeway shows up to dole out punishment for his insubordination in stealing the warp core: a week without his mobile emitter, which she calls time served since he's not left Sickbay in that long. She invites him to the holodeck for coffee.

NITPICKS

The Doctor's bluff about the species that believes warp travel is damaging to subspace would be a lot more convincing if A. they didn't control literally thousands of light years of territory (how are they patrolling it and not being hypocrites?) and B. Voyager's warp drive was specifically designed to eliminate damage to subspace.

This episode really exemplifies the missed opportunities with the Doctor that can really be blamed mostly on A. lack of creativity from the writing staff, and B. a special effects budget. When the Doctor ran through the table, it just raises the question of why did we never see him reach his hands inside someone to perform surgery?

If the Doctor doesn't need the mobile emitter to be on his shoulder, why would he continually place it there, where it's openly visible and vulnerable?

FAVORITE QUOTES

Doctor: I didn't wake you, did I? Janeway: That's all right, Doctor. Fifteen minutes of sleep is really all I need.

Doctor: Computer, access Lieutenant Torres' holographic template and download the physical parameters into my program. [He makes the changes then realizes he's missing the baby bump.] Doctor: Computer, access medical file Torres Three and update her holographic template.

Doctor: I've had something on my conscience for a long time. After I was first activated, I kept a record of what I considered to be your most questionable command decisions. It's in my personal database. I hope you'll delete the file without reading it. Mister Tuvok, I violated the most sacred trust between a physician and his patient. I told Mister Neelix about the cutaneous eruption you developed on your... that was indiscreet. I hope you can forgive me. Ensign, at your recital last month, I told Lieutenant Torres that your saxophone playing reminded me of a wounded targ. I should've put it more delicately. I'm sorry. Seven. Seven: You should remain still. Doctor: You have no idea how difficult it's been, hiding my true feelings all these years, averting my eyes during your regular maintenance exams. I know you could never have the same feelings for me but I want you to know the truth. I love you, Seven. Seven: Your cognitive algorithms are malfunctioning. Doctor: Goodbye, my friends. Speak well of me. [The EMH disappears.] Janeway: Is he...? Torres: No, I've got him. [The Doctor reappears.] Doctor: What happened? Torres: I deleted the extraneous subroutines. Doctor: I'm not going to decompile? Janeway: You'll probably outlive us all. Paris: Doc, anything else you'd like to confess?

Janeway: Now, when you're on the holodeck with the captain, there are two rules you have to follow. Doctor: I understand. Janeway: First, leave your rank at the door. Doctor: Not a problem. The second? Janeway: No opera.

#star trek #voyager #voy #chronotrek #chronological #review #renaissance man #the doctor #emh #holograms kick ass yo

[angsty-violet]

Agony - Chapter 31

Final chapter!

Here is all the others

@whumptober2020

Tuvok looked over the senior staff. They were gathered in the conference room, the first meeting Tuvok had attended since he had been taken. He glanced from face to face and could read the earnestness in most of them. He sighed lightly, knowing that it needed to be done, and then began to speak.

“I have noticed the efforts that you all have gone to make me comfortable, and they have not gone unnoticed. You have all worked incredibly hard to make sure that my transition back to Voyager would go smoothly, and I appreciate it a great deal. Therefore, I decided you should know at least a little about what went on during my time in captivity.”

Immediately there came a volley of voices all speaking at once. Janeway quieted them down with a wave of her hand. She turned attentively towards him.

“You know that you aren’t obligated to do this. We have made these preparations out of our concern for your well-being and care for you as a person.”

“I am aware. However, I still believe that speaking about a little of what happened could be beneficial. I will have some issues in the near future, adjusting back to living on Voyager. If you are serious about helping me, it could only assist in your efforts.”

He looked around at each of them, their faces not showing a single bit of disappointment, disgust, or not wanting to be there. He sighed again and pushed forward.

“I shall start with Kell’an and Verant’s reasoning for capturing me in the first place.”

“Wait, who’s Verant? We only knew about Dr. Kell’an. The local law enforcement had been tracking him for a long time. He was wanted for a lot of crimes.” Harry Kim accompanied his words with a series of gestures that seemed to convey confusion and anxiety.

“He is Kell’an’s partner. I didn’t realize until after I had met him that they were in on it together. Likely you didn’t find him because Kell’an sent him. I believe that if there is one thing in this world beyond Kell’an’s twisted research that he loves, it is Verant. Likely when you were attacking his facility, Kell’an used the opportunity of my appearance to distract you and allow him to slip away.”

“That sounds really bad. What if he tries again? Perhaps he would like to carry on his partner’s work. Maybe even pursue us and come after Mr. Vulcan again.” Neelix’s hands wrung together.

Tuvok tilted his head at him and pondered it for a second. Although Verant had been just as cruel as Kell’an, he didn’t seem to have the same drive.

“It is unlikely that he would pursue alone. Verant was very much the submissive personality, and he followed exclusively after Kell’an. He won’t want to attempt to take another victim or an old victim, such as myself, without his partner. He simply does not have the wherewithal.”

Captain Janeway sat back in her chair and watched Tuvok. “Continue. We don’t want to get too distracted, as distressing as it is to find out that there is another guilty party who hasn’t been caught yet. You were about to talk about why they took you and what they were doing.”

“Yes. Kell’an was doing research into how to effectively teach soldiers to endure torture. His prevailing theory was that if you could find a being able to withstand even the most horrible tortures and then extract or teach whatever it was that made them unique, it would be possible to make them immune. Theoretically, it could work. However, he had yet to find a specimen that stood up to his high standards.”

There was silence around the table. The one to break it was, surprisingly, Seven. She seemed a little tentative with her words about what had happened, which Tuvok understood. She was the one out of this entire group that had known him for the least amount of time. Still, she was intelligent and insightful, so he often sought her counsel.

“You are saying that you were nothing but an experiment? That you have spent weeks being tortured by people who simply wanted to see if you could stand up to it. I don’t know a lot about ethics, but even I know that that is horrible.”

There was a small murmur of agreement around the table—each of the senior staff nodding to each other and agreeing quietly. Tuvok glanced around, wondering how much they should know. The more pertinent details they had, the more comfortable they could make the move for him. However, it would also mean he needed to reveal something that felt incredibly personal. Logic and comfort won out in the end. Private or not, this was important information, and they likely would need it.

“His entire purpose was to break me down mentally. When he found that he couldn’t do it physically, he began to work on my mental state. Unfortunately, it partially worked. I spent much time agonizing over whether it was the right decision to send that message buoy. I worried that I might have led you into a trap or danger. It seemed incredibly selfish that I should call for your help. However, that isn’t logical. I have faith that if it was perilous that you, Captain, would never lead your people there. That much pain and psychological torment can warp your thought processes.”

There were another few beats of silence, and Tuvok took the time to evaluate his words on each of the staff members. Some were horrified, some were resigned, and some didn’t allow their emotions to play across their faces. It was Captain Janeway that finally spoke.

“We likely would’ve come for you, even if it was at great risk to ourselves. I spoke several times to the crew about our rescue mission. They knew that there was possible danger, but no one spoke out against it. If it had been guaranteed to be dangerous, I might’ve considered not going. However, even you defied logic and chose to help Chakotay and me, how could we do anything less? I know that you don’t understand humans completely, but you must know that we will always go after our crew members. Even if it means danger and even if that crew member doesn’t want to be rescued.”

#whumptober2020 #no.31 #experiment #star trek voyager #fic #hurt tuvok #recovering tuvok #protective crew #past torture #kathryn janeway #chakotay #harry kim #seven

[summahsunlight]

This Way Became My Journey, CH. 13

Chapters 1-10 / Chapter 11/ Chapter 12

A hot bath and a cup of tea was all Sarah Barrett really wanted when she stumbled into her quarters for her break. They had been traveling at warp speed for the past hour or so to get to Illidaria to ask for help in getting the trapped ship out of the event horizon and Sarah had spent just as long brushing up the rest of the crew on first contact protocols. It had taken a little longer than she was hoping, since the Maquis had no first contact policy and she had to start from scratch when it came to them. By now her feet were killing her and she had walked the equivalent of several miles on board the ship going from department to department.

Thankfully Chakotay's idea of routing power from deck seven had provided some power to the replicators in the mess hall so Sarah had been able to replicate a cup of red tea, with lemon, on her way back to her quarters. She sat in the living room, sipping it, while she waited for the bath to finish filling up. Pulling off the tunic of her uniform she decided to change into something more comfortable. She had one hour before she had to get back in uniform and man her office, there were several rookie space travelers that had requested to speak to her and she had somehow managed to cram them in; however she was going to make the most of this time off.

After slipping into a pair of navy blue cotton lounge pants and a spaghetti strap gray tank top she proceeded into the bathroom to check the water. The tub was almost full. Leaning over she turned the water off as the door chime rang out. Grunting, she pulled herself up. What now?

"Come in," she called, trying to keep the edge out of her voice. She wasn't surprised when Tom Paris sauntered into the room, carrying a bottle of champagne and what appeared to be a picnic basket. "What do you want, Tom?"

"I thought we'd celebrate."

"Celebrate what?" Sarah asked, bewildered.

"In case you didn't realize, it was one week ago that we were pulled from the Badlands into the Delta Quadrant, and there's no better way to celebrate than a lunch of champagne and emergency rations," Tom pointed out, pulling out two tumblers from the basket and placing them down onto the dining table. He popped the cork and the champagne fizzled a little before he poured each of them a generous portion.

"That's something to celebrate? Being stranded seventy five thousand light years from home?"

Tom laughed. "Come on Sarah, you know me better than that. We're celebrating surviving our first week out here." He handed her a glass of the bubbly alcohol and clanged his glass to hers. "Drink up; we've only got about three thousand eight hundred and ninety-nine more weeks to go."

She watched as he took a sip of the champagne. "You have a twisted sense of humor, you know that?" But, she reasoned, a glass of champagne would certainly help her unwind a little after the horrendous morning and afternoon that she had just had. She figured Tom's probably wasn't much better. Finally she took a sip out of her own glass and immediately felt her senses tingle. This was a clear violation of the terms that Starfleet insisted that she agree upon if she wanted to go back to work; hell it was a clear violation of Starfleet protocol period, no drinking on duty. But if they were discrete, no one would have any idea they had shared a drink together during lunch.

Tom plopped his tired body down onto her sofa and spread his arms out along the back, the glass resting between his fingers. "You know, I've always loved how the bubbles tingle my nose."

Sarah was shocked how he could toss aside all that was going on around them and just focus on the moment. How often had she wished in the past that she had that ability? She stood there in the middle of the room, her feet bare, hair curling over her shoulders, staring at him. Was this for real? Or was the champagne a facade so he could see her because there was a deeper problem at hand?

"What?" he asked, noticing her stare. "Do I have something up my nose?"

She blinked, snapping out of her trance. "Why are you here?"

"I already answered that question; to celebrate surviving our first week," Tom replied, restlessly.

"No, why are you really here?"

He let out a dejected breath. "I should have known you'd see right through me."

"The champagne may have been a little too much of a give away," Sarah tried to joke, but noticed that it was coming off all wrong. He frowned at her and she saw the anguish flash through his blue eyes. She didn't even think Tom Paris was capable of such an emotion and it immediately thrust her into counselor mode. "Tom, what's going on? You seem…upset."

Leaning forward, Tom's eyes met hers. "Do you ever feel that we've been set up to fail?"

"You mean Captain Janeway's decision to strand us here?" Sarah drawled, trying to understand where he was coming from. "She did what she thought was right. If we hadn't destroyed the array what would have happened to the Ocampa?"

Tom shrugged his shoulders. "Sometimes, Sarah, I feel like we did what was right, that their needs out weighed ours, however, other times I feel that being back in New Zealand would be better than facing uncharted space. If this was solely a Starfleet crew I wouldn't be worried, however, we're talking about integrating enemies of the Federation into this crew, our chances of survival aren't good. We just as well will kill each other before we work together. Janeway had to have known that when she pulled the trigger, right?"

"To be honest Tom, I'm not sure what she was thinking when she made the decision," Sarah answered, sitting with him on the couch. "It wasn't like we all had time to discuss it." She tucked her feet underneath her legs and drew them closer to her. "I guess, we just have to have a little faith, after all, it seems that Captain Janeway has some faith in all of us." She laid a comforting hand on his shoulder. "We'll get through it Tom, we'll make it home."

A sad smile stretched across his face. "You know something when I hear you say it, and hear Janeway say it, I believe it."

"Counselor Barrett, report to the Bridge."

Tom saw Sarah's eyes close and a dark look come over her face. The calm demeanor which she had regarded him in just mere seconds ago was gone, replaced with a worried and stressed look.

"We must be coming up on Illidaria," she murmured. Getting up she downed the rest of her champagne in a chug that impressed Tom, who was known for his chugging during his Academy days, and strode into the bathroom. He heard water draining from the tub and a few moments later she appeared from the room, clad now in her uniform, hair roughly tossed back and boots in her hands.

So much for the bath, Sarah thought as she put her boots on. She tapped her combadge. "Barrett to bridge, I'm on my way."

"The Captain would like to see you," Lieutenant Commander Tuvok instructed her when she stepped out of the turbolift. Sarah grimly nodded her head and proceeded to the ready room door, tapping the chime.

Janeway admitted her a few seconds later and she stepped into see an obvious flustered captain. "Is everything alright, ma'am?" The room was, putting it bluntly, a disaster. The product of having two children spend the whole day cooped up in there. Several toys littered the upper level, one of Ava's bottles had tipped over onto the coffee table and had leaked out, and Michael had made an elaborate block city that weaved around the entire area. Right now, both children were snuggled up, sleeping on the sofa taking what was probably a much needed nap.

"Oh, everything is just wonderful, Lieutenant," the older woman drawled, answering her question, her blue eyes staring intently at the younger woman. "I've got a trapped ship I cannot help without making first contact with a species we know nothing about, second, my children are running rampant all over this ship, third, I don't know who to put in charge down in Engineering. Do you know I tried to do as Chakotay suggested and get to know B'Elanna? She just stormed out of here, right before you came in. I was hoping that you would have made it here before she left. Tell me, Sarah, what am I doing wrong? I've tried to be accommodating, I've tried being welcoming to the Maquis, nothing is working."

"Captain, I don't think there is much more you can do…for the Maquis that is," Sarah responded quickly. "I've tried to get to know B'Elanna as well, all I meet is aversion. Of course to her, I'm nothing but a Starfleet brat."

Janeway had heard that term often enough as well growing up, since her father had been Starfleet. Perhaps that was the problem with many of the Maquis, they believed that she had not earned her way to this position, thus did not have the authority to dictate their lives. So what did that mean, that she get on the comline and tell her life story?

"Sickbay to Captain Janeway," the Doctor's voice interrupted her thoughts.

"Yes Doctor?"

"May I request that you activate your emergency medical holographic channel?"

Sarah watched as Janeway moved to sit behind her desk and activate her personal computer. Harry must have fixed it quickly, she thought with mild amusement, recalling how the Captain had burst forth from the ready room to get a status report that morning with the broken terminal in her hand, placed it in Harry's lap and told him to see if he could fix it. When he asked what had happened to it, her answer had been, a one year old.

Janeway was gazing at the newly fixed screen with a funny look and briefly Sarah wondered if Harry hadn't fixed it. "Doctor, I'm getting a distorted image. Mister Kim obviously didn't fix my computer thoroughly."

"No captain," the Doctor's voice came over the computer. "You're computer is working properly. This is how I currently appear. I'm…shrinking."

"Shrinking?" Janeway repeated, eyebrows arching in fascination. She propped her chin in her elbow to hide the smile that was no doubt making its way across her face.

The Doctor saw her amusement and scowled, telling how much he was shrinking by. "I've informed Mister Kim; apparently, he has more pressing matters to tend too, for example fixing your computer. However, my…personal problem, is not what I'm calling you about. Several crew members have reported severe headaches, muscles spasms, and sudden waves of dizziness. I've treated them of course."

Let's just add this to the list of things I have to deal with, Janeway thought bitterly. "This could be related to the quantum singularity we encountered a few hours ago," she told him, and immediately saw his face cloud over with disgust. Oh dear, no one informed him.

"Quantum singularity?" the Doctor repeated, in a harsh tone.

"It was sending out strong spatial distortions it might have affected the crew. And your systems as well," Janeway mused.

"You know Captain, if we were in the vicinity of a quantum singularity, I should have been informed."

She gave him an apologetic smile, realizing that since he was their only doctor at the moment, and seeing how he did not have the freedom to come to bridge, there had to be a way set up for him to get information on what was going on, other than by word of mouth. "You're absolutely right. I'll look at linking your program into the ship's database." Suddenly the ship jolted and Janeway was tossed about in her chair.

Stumbling to her feet both Janeway and Sarah left the ready room, neither of them realizing that the Captain had failed to terminate her link with the Doctor, who was calling after Janeway, "Hello? Captain?"

"Report," Janeway ordered, stepping up into the command station.

"It looks like we're running into more spatial distortions," Chakotay answered her, turning to face her.

"I'm reading a highly localized disturbance off the port bow," Harry Kim said.

"On screen," Janeway said, facing the view screen. An image of another event horizon appeared, very similar to the one they had left behind to go to Illidaria to get help. "Mister Tuvok?"

Tuvok ran his fingers over his console, gathering readings. "It is another type four quantum singularity. The physical and temporal dimensions are identical to the one we encountered earlier."

A beep came from Tom's instruments and the young pilot, who had taken his station after Sarah left her quarters, glanced over his shoulder at Janeway. "Captain, according to these coordinates, we've returned to our previous position. This isn't another singularity, it's the same one."

B'Elanna Torres didn't know why, but she was nervous sitting in the staff meeting that had been called to discuss why they were going around in circles and ending back at the same singularity. Joe Carey, who had been called to the meeting as well, looked smug and not the least bit fazed. There were rumors running rampant that this meeting was the one where Janeway was going to make her decision about chief engineer. B'Elanna figured she had ruined any chances of getting the position when she had stormed out of Janeway's office not even an hour ago. But she would be lying if she didn't want the job, for some reason she wanted to prove to Janeway that she was not going to fail, even if the woman was trying to set her up just to do that. However, at the same time, she knew that she wasn't officer material.

In fact, she was so lost in thought that she wasn't aware the holographic doctor had been speaking over the view screen in the briefing room until he was done. He glumly reported that he was still shrinking and cut the connection.

Janeway was leaning forward on her elbows. Chakotay was seated to her right, Sarah Barrett to her left, followed by Tuvok, Harry Kim, Joe Carey, herself, and Tom Paris. What a motley crew, B'Elanna mused, looking about the table as Janeway began to speak to them.

"I've finished my study of the spatial distortion coming from the singularity," the Captain began. "I can give you a long, boring analysis. All I can say is, I don't know what is going on. The readings are confused, the data contradictory, none of it is making any sense. Anyone have anything more constructive?" she asked the group hopefully.

"Ship wide diagnostics have revealed nothing out of the ordinary," Tuvok reported.

"I tried sending out a tachyon signal to scan the singularity, but all I got back was static," Carey said.

B'Elanna was still lost in thought and only brought out of it when Chakotay asked her if she could work with Carey to clean up the signal. "Yes," she replied, eyes flicking to Janeway. "But it won't work. I mean it was a good idea to try, but it won't work."

"You have another idea?" the Captain asked her.

"I was just thinking about the Doctor's problem with the holographic projectors," B'Elanna responded, leaning forward in her chair and resting her elbows on the table. "It seems like the spatial distortions might be interfering with the projector's phase alignment."

Janeway looked intrigued. "That was my guess too."

"If that's the case," B'Elanna continued, "I might be able to screen out those distortions by setting up a localized dampening field around the projectors."

"Is our priority here really the medical holographic system?" Carey questioned, feeling like he was being out matched.

"My point is," B'Elanna said, " that if the spatial distortions are also interfering with the transmission we received from the other ship -," she didn't get the chance to continue, the Captain finished for her, following her path, stating that they could set up a similar system around their external sensors and communicate with them. "Exactly," the Klingon replied, "And they may know more than we do about what's going on."

"Let's give it a try," Janeway said enthusiastically. "Dismissed."

The group of officers got up from the table, with the exception of Janeway and all filed out of the room back onto the bridge. Chakotay turned around at the door to look at her, asking her a silent question. A small smile spread on her face and she gave him a gentle nod of the head. He returned the soft smile, before following the others out onto the bridge. Janeway leaned back in her chair, let out a calming breath and stood up, slowly making her way after her officers. She found them all hard at work, just like she knew they would be.

"The emitters are online," B'Elanna reported, with Janeway now standing over her shoulder, arms over her chest. "I'm rerouting the dampening field through the deflector grid."

Janeway moved towards operations. "Open a channel to the other ship." Immediately the bridge was filled with a garbled message, just like the one they had heard about hours ago it felt like now. B'Elanna announced that she was ramping up the field intensity.

"It's working," Kim said. "We're cutting through the distortions." The message still sounded garbled however. Janeway ordered him to remodulate the EM band to try to clean it up. "Compensating for amplitude distortion," he told her as he typed away at his console. A few moments later a clear transmission filled the bridge and it shocked them all. It was the Captain's hail from hours before when they had first come across the singularity.

"That's your hail," Chakotay told her, even though she didn't need to be told.

"I'm applying our dampening field to our visual scanners to see if I can clear up the image," B'Elanna said. When she did it, it was another shock to the bridge crew, because the ship they were trying to rescue all along was Voyager. All this time they had been trying to save themselves. Suddenly it hit B'Elanna and Janeway as well, they were the ones trapped in the singularity all along, there had never been another ship.

"Red alert," Janeway ordered, the lights dimming and an alarm blaring a few warnings.

"Sensors confirm it's definitely U.S.S Voyager," Tom reported, peeking at his console between staring at the screen.

"I've been hailing the ship on all frequencies," Tuvok said, "But I've gotten no response."

Janeway narrowed her eyes. "I don't think you'll get a response, Commander," she told him, patiently. "That message we unscrambled is the same message I sent out hours ago."

"Could we have traveled back in time and met ourselves?" Kim asked.

"No," B'Elanna said firmly, "that's not it." She moved towards Janeway across the back of the bridge and went to stand face to face with her. "I think I have an explanation." For a moment their eyes met and then Janeway nodded towards the briefing room again, asking that the senior officers move in there.

B'Elanna moved with the others into the briefing room that they had occupied a mere five minutes before, but didn't bother taking a seat like the rest of them. She was too nervous that Janeway was going to think she was crazy. Instead, she nervously paced around the table giving her explanation as to what was going on. "Think of it like this," she started, "you're sitting at the bottom of a pond, which is frozen over, and you look up at the surface and see a reflection of yourself. Now, you might think you're looking at another person, sitting at the bottom of another pond, looking back at you."

To her surprise, Janeway was buying it. "And in this case, we'd be staring up at the surface of the event horizon and seeing a time delayed reflection of ourselves."

"Are you saying we're the ones trapped in the singularity?" Chakotay asked.

"Unfortunately, yes," B'Elanna replied.

"You're right," Janeway agreed, "it's the only theory that explains everything that's happened to us. We've probably been in this singularity since we felt the first jolt."

Paris was confused. "Wait a minute," he interjected. "Let me get this straight. We were cruising along at warp seven, and then picked up a distress call. So we moved into investigate, but now you're saying that the other ship is just a reflection of us, and that the distress call is just the captain's opening hail. But we picked up the distress call before she sent the hail. How could we have been seeing a reflection of something we hadn't even done yet?" He looked around the table to see that everyone was staring at him, and that Janeway had a smirk on her face. "Am I making any sense here?"

"No," Janeway replied, "but that's okay. One of the more difficult concepts to grasp in temporal mechanics is sometimes effect can precede cause. A reaction can be observed before an action that initiated it."

"So how do we get out?" Kim asked.

"I'm not sure," B'Elanna replied, intensely. "But, I do know one thing. That as we slide deeper into the singularity, the spatial distortions are increasing. If that's the case, then we might not have a lot of time before they crush the ship."

Janeway got up from the table and moved around it to stand next to her. "If your analogy is correct, how do we get through that sheet of ice?"

"Look for a crack!"

"Or make a crack," Janeway said in response to B'Elanna. "Take something and slam into the ice until it buckles."

"Wait a minute," B'Elanna said. "What if we already made a crack in the ice?"

"When we first entered the event horizon," Janeway mused along with her.

"If we can find our entry point we might be able to slip out the way we came in," B'Elanna replied.

"So we would be looking for a subspace instability in the event horizon," Janeway speculated. "What would make it show up on our sensors?"

Silence passed between them for a couple of seconds and then they both said at the same time, "Warp particles!"

"If we saturate the event horizon with warp particles we might be able to see them escaping through the rupture we made when we entered!" Janeway exclaimed turning about on her heel and leaving the room. The rest of the officers, most of them stunned by what had just taken place, followed suit.

B'Elanna heard Paris remark to Barrett, "What the hell just happened?" Out of the corner of her eye, B'Elanna could see a small smile creep across the counselor's pretty face as she turned to reply to the hotshot pilot, "I think B'Elanna Torres just got promoted to chief engineer."

She felt satisfaction in hearing that. But she didn't know how much truth was behind the words that Barrett had just said. After all, B'Elanna may have found a way out of the event horizon for them, but that didn't mean Janeway was seriously going to take her on as chief engineer. She still wasn't sure how she felt about the whole thing herself. Was she capable of leading? I guess there's only one way to find out, she thought to herself as she went to stand in the command station with Janeway and Chakotay, while Tuvok took the main deflector off line. Kim was rerouting the power of the plasma flow to the main deflector so they could use it to generate a warp field.

B'Elanna stood rigidly next to Chakotay, realizing that if this didn't work, she was fresh out of ideas on how to get them out of the event horizon and Voyager would be crushed. Well I gave us a week to survive out here, but I didn't think we'd be crushed to death by a quantum singularity.

"Release the warp particles," Janeway ordered. A steady stream of particles emitted from the deflector dish and into the even horizon, filling the bridge with a bright orange glow. Paris immediately began to scan the singularity for an changes. But B'Elanna was anxious.

"Anything?" she rasped out, harshly.

"Not yet," Kim reported, coolly. "Warp particles at full intensity."

"I'm picking up something," Paris announced, fingers running across the conn. "It could be a rupture in the event horizon."

B'Elanna exchanged a relieved glance with the Captain before she ordered to have it put on screen. Sure enough, there was rupture. Now if only its big enough for the ship to get through, B'Elanna thought hopefully. But Paris was already delivering the bad news that it was too small. She felt anger taking a hold of her. "It must have collapsed since we first past through it."

"We found the crack," Janeway said, trying to calm her. "That's the important thing. Let's focus on how we can make it bigger."

"Put a wedge in it and force it open," B'Elanna retorted still feeling angry. "We could try a dekyon beam."

Janeway nodded her head and ordered Paris to move them closer to the rupture, but he turned in his seat and looked at her pensively. "Captain, if we get too close to the rupture our warp engines might make it collapse even further."

Damn it, B'Elanna thought as the Captain asked if they could emit the beam from their current position. Kim told her that they didn't have enough power to emit one from this distance. Another damn.

"Alright, we'll take a shuttlecraft," Janeway said, placing her hands on her hips.

It didn't surprise B'Elanna that Tom Paris was standing up, offering himself up to pilot the shuttle. It did surprise her though that Janeway was putting him down. He had made a valuable point, that she needed her best pilot and that was him. But hers was maybe a little bit more valuable; she needed someone with her that understood temporal mechanics. Once that was out, B'Elanna suddenly realized, Kahless, she means me!

Sure enough Janeway told B'Elanna that she was going to accompany her, and with a final order of leaving Chakotay in charge, the two women left the bridge, en route to the shuttlebay.

#star trek voyager #star trek voyager fanfiction #kathryn janeway #chakotay #tom paris #sarah barrett (oc) #harry kim #b'elanna torres #tuvok #neelix #kes #the doctor (emh) #janeway x chakotay #tom paris x ofc #this way became my journey

[summahsunlight]

This Way Became My Journey, Ch. 8

Word Count: 4190

"I'm sure Captain Janeway is doing everything she can to find us," Harry Kim told B'Elanna Torres, hoping to raise the young Klingon woman's spirits. The two were moping about a dark corridor in the Ocampa city, listening to the energy pulses and wondering if they were ever going to get out of here. "What makes you think any of them are alive?" she asked him in return. She winced, suddenly, grabbing at her neck. "Should I call for some help?" "No," she grunted, angrily, moving away from him, and ducking into a small nook. Harry paced back and forth and then finally decided to lean against the wall in the nook as footsteps could be heard approaching.

He looked up to see the Ocampa nurse who had been there when he first had awoken. "Are you in pain?" she asked them, gently. "Are you watching us?" B'Elanna snapped stepping towards her. "I thought you said we weren't prisoners here?" "I wasn't watching you," the nurse assured them. "I was coming to give you something." She produced a vile of green powder to them. " I don't know if it will help," she told them, giving the vile to Harry. "It's a medicine. There are some people who have broken tradition that have left the city; their colony grows fruits and vegetables. They discovered quite be accident that the moss that grows on certain fruit trees have healing properties. I'm sorry for what has happened to you." "We appreciate this," Harry told her. "But they only way we're to survive is if we can get to the surface and find our own people." "The Elders would say that's against the Caretaker's wishes," the nurse replied. "What do you say?" B'Elanna challenged her. "The Caretaker's been behaving strangely for the past several months. Abducting people, increasing the power supply. He's tripled the energy he sends us. They say we have enough stored now to run the city for five years," the nurse said. "No body knows why?" Harry inquired. "When we ask we're told to trust the Caretaker's decisions. One person I knew did get to the surface, we never saw her again." "How?" Harry asked, hopefully. "The ancient tunnels that brought us here still exist," the nurse answered. "Over the years small breaches in security barriers have appeared just large enough for someone to get through. But it still requires digging through meters of rock to get out." B'Elanna moved towards her now. "Can you get us tools to dig with?" "It could take days, maybe even weeks to break through," she told them. "You have to rest, conserve your strength." "Please," Harry pleaded with her, "It's our only chance." The nurse looked around for a moment or two before nodded her head; she was going to get them the digging tools, they were half way to finding their people.

The underground dwelling of the Ocampa was nothing like the away team was expecting. There were buildings and rows of growing vegetables. Kes told them that this was just a colony that had broken away from the city, to start their own way of life. As the away team, consisting of Tom Paris, Sarah Barrett, Chakotay, Neelix, Kathryn Janeway, and Kes, made their way through the colony many of the Ocampa farmers stopped to glance at them. None of them appeared hostile though, just curious, and that put Janeway's mind at ease. Perhaps these people had not harmed Kim and Torres like she was beginning to dread, after seeing what the Kazon had done to Kes. This part of the galaxy seemed utterly ruthless and lawless and she feared being trapped here forever. If she had to choose a mission, being lost so far from home would never have been one of them. As it was searching for their missing crewmen was taking away precious time that could be used to convince the Caretaker to send them home. The energy pulses could be heard, drumming away in each of their brains. Tuvok, who had stayed behind in command of Voyager, had told Janeway that they were increasing, just before the away team had beamed down to the colony that Kes had called home. Janeway, or anyone else for the matter, couldn't understand why the array was quickening the energy pulses. The group had made it to the center of the small colony. A man and woman were looking over some type of plant; both looked up when the group with Kes approached. The male smiled, warmly as Kes went to embrace him. "Hello Daggin," Kes greeted taking the man's hands in her own. "We'd thought we'd never see you again," Daggin replied, with a warm smile. "How did you get back?" Kes gestured to the away team. "These people rescued me from the Kazon. I'm trying to help them find two of their crewmen." She looked around the group of gathered Ocampans and asked, "Does anyone know where the aliens are kept? The ones that the Caretaker sends here?" "I think that they're at the central clinic," Daggin answered. It was the first bit of good news that Janeway had heard in what felt like days and she exclaimed, "Can you take us there?" Two more Ocampa joined the group and Kes got an angry look on her face. "They cannot speak telepathically, Toscat, please talk a loud." Her harsh words made the away team all spin about and look at the newcomers. Up until that moment they had not been aware that these aliens possessed telepathic powers. One of the newcomers, Toscat, looked apologetic. "I'm sorry I didn't mean to be rude. But you should not be here." "We'll be glad to leave as soon as we have our people," Janeway told him. "That won't be possible, we cannot interfere with the Caretaker's wishes," Toscat said. "Maybe you can't, but we can," Chakotay snapped. Toscat shook his head. "You don't understand." "That's right," Kes piped up, "They don't understand. They have no way of knowing that the Ocampa have been dependent on the Caretaker for so long that we can't even think for ourselves anymore. They don't understand that we were once a people that had full command over our minds abilities." Toscat rolled his eyes. "The stories of our ancestor's cognitive abilities are apothecial. At the very least exaggerated." "We lost those abilities because we stopped using them." "You should not dwell on what's been lost," Toscat told Kes. "And look at all that has been gained." "We've gained a talent for dependency to simply take what we're given," Kes retorted. "I'm going to help them Toscat, whether you like it or not. And I think my friends will join me." Toscat took her by the arm and led her away from the group. "You've already defied the Caretaker by going to the surface. Learn from the experience. Follow the path he has set for us." "I've learned very well, Toscat! I saw the sunlight! I can't believe that our Caretaker would forbid us to open our eyes and see the sky!" Kes exclaimed, passionately. "Come with me," she said, turning about to face Janeway. "We'll find your people." Toscat could only watch as Kes and a group of her friends led Janeway and her away team towards the city. As they pulled away from the colony, Janeway reached out and grabbed a hold of Barrett's arm, gently, but with enough force that it pulled the young woman up to walk closely with the Captain. "Now is as good a time as ever to ask this," the Captain said, softly so only the counselor's could hear. "Once we get our people back, what do you think Chakotay's going to do?" Barrett glanced over her shoulder at the Maquis commander. He so far hadn't tried to hurt any of them. He seemed genuinely concerned for his missing crew and a fledging respect for Janeway. However, it didn't mean he wasn't going to turn on them the moment they had achieved their goal. "A number of things, but one being that he will do anything in his power to not be captured by us, we could be in for even more problems then just finding a way home. He's agreed to combine forces to find our missing people, because he knows that he needs our technology, however, once we've completed our mission, we're worthless to him and just another Federation Starship trying to capture him." "So much for letting bygones be bygones," Janeway muttered. "If he's smart, once we're back home in the Alpha Quadrant, he'll surrender. I don't know how that tiny ship would hold up if Voyager was chasing them constantly," Barrett replied. "But from my experiences, I've found that terrorist cells don't just give up so easily. I'm sure, while he's been spending time on his ship, he has been devising a plan for when we get home." "If we get back home," Janeway told her. "If we don't, we're going to need them." In the past few days, while working so closely with the Maquis, Kathryn's opinion had slowly been changing about them. "Ma'am?" her counselor asked her in a confused tone. "I'm not going to lie to you Sarah," Janeway said to her. "Our chances of the array sending us home are slim. My senior staff is all but gone, with only you and Tuvok remaining, and if we're lucky Harry Kim. I'm trying to keep a positive outlook that we will get back to Federation space and our staff will be replenished, but the another part of me is facing reality. We're going to need to continue to join forces if we're going to survive out here." The younger woman focused on the sounds of the energy pulses for a moment. Kathryn Janeway was right, if they did not get home like they were hoping, Voyager and the Maquis were going to have to depend on each other and their talents to get them through. No one knew what lay ahead from this point in the galaxy; it was a completely uncharted part of space for the Federation. They would be alone, with no one to come to their aide if they should need it. But would the Maquis ever go for an alliance with Janeway? Barrett was finding it difficult to picture it happening as they stepped onto an escalator; the Maquis were not exactly Starfleet's best friends. Kes had informed them that they were entering the main city. The group spilt up, with the Ocampa going to check out the central clinic for Harry Kim and B'Elanna Torres. Janeway and the rest decided to begin asking around on their own about their missing people. As they made their way through the crowds the sounds of the energy pulses vanished, they had stopped. Tapping her combadge, Janeway contacted Tuvok on Voyager. "Away team to Voyager, what's going on with the array?" "It's no longer sending out energy pulses Captain. It appears to be realigning its position." "Keep me informed, Janeway out." As the away team proceeded on, Kes and her friends approached them. "They haven't been seen at the clinic for hours," Kes informed the Captain. "We can search the city, ask around if anyone has seen them," Daggin suggested. "If they were trying to get to the surface how would they go?" "Probably the same way I did, up one of the ancient tunnels," Kes replied. "Mister Paris, you and Neelix go with her and start checking them out," Janeway ordered Tom. "The rest of us will stay here; see what we can find out." The group split up once again, this time Paris going with Neelix and Kes to the search the tunnels, with Barrett and Chakotay staying with Janeway. "We need to talk to every doctor and nurse at this hospital, see what they can tell us about Torres and Kim." The ground shook violently then and Janeway struggled to keep her balance. "Voyager to Janeway." "Go ahead." "Captain, the array is firing a weapon at the surface. It seems to be trying to seal the energy conduits." Janeway nodded her head. "Understood, keep a channel open," she said, walking along with Chakotay and Barrett. "The array is the Ocampa's sole source of energy, why would the Caretaker seal the conduits?" Chakotay asked. "He's sealing them because he no longer intends to provide for them, and to protect the Ocampa from the Kazon or other enemies," Barrett replied. "Captain, I think I've seen enough to piece together a reasonable hypothesis. The Caretaker is dying." "Explain." "Well, he's increased the energy supply so the Ocampa would have enough power to run on the city on their own for the next five years," Barrett replied, "and now it looks like he is trying to seal the conduits. Coupled with Tuvok's observations as well while on the array, the only conclusion I can come to at this point is that he does not intend to continue his role as Caretaker." "That doesn't mean he's dying," Chakotay replied. "He could be leaving." "I don't think so," Barrett replied. "While we were over there he kept talking about running out of time and a debt that could never be repaid. I believe that the debt he was speaking of was a debt he owed to the Ocampa. He also told us that we didn't have what he needed. I think he was trying to find someone to replace him, to continue providing for the Ocampa, so his debt continued to be repaid. He knew he was dying." Janeway shook her head slightly. "If he dies, how the hell are we supposed to get home?" "Paris to Janeway." "Go ahead." "They're in one of the tunnels, Captain... I can't see them, but they're up there. We're going after them." Janeway felt a small feeling of relief creep into her heart. "Call for transport when you have them, Paris. We'll meet you on the ship." She tapped her combadge with a sense of urgency, for the city was really shaking now under the constant weapon's fire. "Janeway to Voyager." "Voyager here." "Three to beam up." "Stand by," came Tuvok's steady voice. "Captain, I can't get a lock on you. The weapon's fire from the array has eradiated the planet's crust. The transport sensors can't find the breaches in the security barrier." "Come on," Janeway said, taking off in a jog, Chakotay and Barrett behind her. "There's only one other way out of here."

Paris lead the way up the winding metal stairs in the tunnel, his tricorder out so he could pick up Harry and B'Elanna's life signs. The two had made it up pretty far, but they hadn't made it out yet, that much he knew. Kes and Neelix were following closely behind him and he hoped that they reached Harry and B'Elanna before the weapons fire from the array caved the decaying tunnel in. "Janeway to Paris." "Go ahead," Paris responded to Janeway's call. "The transporters aren't working. You're going to have to find a breach in the security barrier when you get to the top," the Captain told him. "We're a few minutes behind you. Janeway out." As another volley rocked the unstable stairs Paris caught movement a few flights up. "I see them," he told Neelix and Kes, putting his tricorder away and sprinting up the steps. His heart was pounding, he wasn't sure what condition Harry and Torres were going to be in. His tricorder had told him that they were alive but he didn't know how ill they were. They had after all been in a hospital on this planet. "Took you long enough," Kim chided him when Paris finally caught up with him. Paris helped Kim to his feet. "How could I let down the only friend I've got?" "Friend?" Kim retorted as Kes moved past him to help B'Elanna. "What makes you think I'm your friend?" The convict smiled as he pressed his combadge. "Paris to Janeway, we found them Captain." "Don't wait for us," came Janeway's reply. "Get them to safety." "Don't worry," Kes assured them as they made their way deep into the tunnel, off of the rickety stairs. "I know where we can get through the barrier. They entered a dark cavern, the only light the flashlight that Harry Kim was carrying leading the way. As they rounded a corner a force field of some kind came into view, but there was an opening, just wide enough for them to pass through. Kes was the one to crawl passed it first, warning them not to touch it, that she had been told it could burn your skin off. That didn't make anyone in that group feel any better, but they all helped each other through the barrier. B'Elanna crawled through after Kes, followed by Paris, than Kim and finally Neelix bringing up the rear. Once they were all past the force field, the group journeyed deeper into the cavern, until they came to a spot where Paris didn't think they could climb up anymore. "I think we've reached the top," he announced, reaching for his phaser. "Neelix, get out your phaser." The Talaxian did so, pointing it towards where Paris instructed him to do so. They fired together and a few seconds later a pile of rocks came crashing down. The group retreated back into cavern so they wouldn't be hurt. When the rocks had stopped falling they were pleased to see the sun pouring in. They had managed to get to the top and create a hole to crawl out of; a transport to Voyager was only a few minutes away. Paris climbed the rubble first and reached his hand out of the hole, grasping onto the dry ground to pull his body out of the cavern. Reaching down he helped Kes out, then Harry, and finally B'Elanna. Neelix was able to crawl out on his own. Tapping his combadge, and with the help of Neelix, supported B'Elanna on his hip. "Voyager, can you get a lock on us now?" "Affirmative," Tuvok's voice said. "But I'm reading only five signals." Before Paris could tell the Vulcan that the others were a few minutes behind them, he heard the weapon coming before it hit. "Get down!" he screamed, forcing B'Elanna and Neelix into the dusty earth as a volley struck nearby, shaking the ground with a mighty force. There was a massive explosion, bigger than any of the others before. Paris looked up to see dust billowing out of the hole that they had just crawled out of. He nervously tapped his badge. "Paris to Janeway?" There was no response. "Chakotay! Barrett, do you read!" He scrambled to his feet. "Voyager, prepare to transport everyone in this group except for me." "Understood." Neelix jumped to his feet as well. "You're not thinking of going back there!" he gasped. He then looked at Kes and the others, huddling on the ground. "Well, the fool needs company. Take care of them dearest," he said to Kes. Paris took Neelix's combadge off and placed it in Kes' hand. "Voyager, make that three to beam up. Lock onto the other combadge and energize." As Paris and Neelix made their way back to the hole, Kim, Torres and Kes were transported off of the dry ground and back to Voyager. Paris climbed down the opening first, followed quickly by Neelix. They made their way back through the cavern and the barrier towards the stairs that they had found Harry and B'Elanna on. Hopefully Janeway and the others weren't too far from that spot, because there was a very real possibility that they all were not going to make it out of that ancient tunnel alive. Janeway struggled to help Barrett up. When the last volley had hit, it had shaken the tunnel they were in and the stairs had started to collapse, tossing the three about violently. Chakotay had been the one to get the worst of it. He screamed out in pain as the stairs swayed some more. "My leg is broken. I can't move," he told the Captain, who was looking more and more anxious with each volley that shook the stairs. They were hanging on by a precious thread and any moment now they were going to go tumbling down to the bottom of the cavern, taking all three of them with it. Janeway wasn't sure what to do. Barrett had bumped her head, and because of the previous injury, the Captain was certain it had made her groggy. She wouldn't be able to help Janeway get Chakotay up. "Hold on," Janeway told him, not certain if she sounded so confident. "Here they are," she heard Neelix's voice and thankfully looked over her shoulder. "Neelix, help me with Sarah," she ordered the Talaxian. Janeway wrapped one arm around Barrett while Neelix took the other and together they helped the young woman to her feet and began to get off the stairs, moving into the cavern. "I'll get Chakotay," Paris told a worried Janeway, who nodded her head and went with Neelix and Barrett. He precariously stepped out onto the stairs, which came even looser with another weapon's volley. Gently he eased his body towards the commander. Chakotay was struggling to hold on to the railing. "Get out of here Paris, before the whole thing comes down!" "I intend too," Paris replied. "As soon as I get you up." "You get on those stairs, they'll collapse. We'll both die," the Maquis commander said, wincing in pain. Paris continued to inch his way towards him. "Yeah, but on the other hand if I save your butt, your life belongs to me." There was another volley and this time Paris slipped, his own behind hitting the hard metal stairs. There was no time to think about the pain, he pulled himself back up and continued towards Chakotay. "Isn't that some kind of Indian custom," Paris continued. "Wrong tribe." "I don't believe you," Paris said, as he finally reached him,wrapping an arm around the commander's to brace himself to help Chakotay up. "You'd rather die than let me be the one to rescue you." Chakotay reached out and grabbed a hold of his arm, nearly pulling him down again. "Fine," he snapped. "Be a fool, if I have to die, at least I'll have the pleasure of watching you go with me." With Chakotay firmly holding onto his back, Paris started the climb back up the steps. "Isn't there some Indian trick we're you can turn yourself into a bird and fly us out of here?" "You're too heavy." Figures, Paris thought as they finally made it to the top and off the stairs, glancing back just once, he saw the stairs dislodge and tumble to the floor below, just mere seconds after they had been on them. That had been a close call, too close. It was slow going back through the barrier since Chakotay's leg was broken, but they soon made it and found Janeway, Barrett and Neelix waiting for them at the opening. Janeway quickly ordered that everyone go through the opening, starting with Neelix and Paris lifting Chakotay through it. Once back on the surface, Paris helped both Janeway and Barrett to crawl through, noticing the slightly glassy look in Barrett's eyes. "Janeway to Voyager, five to beam directly to Sickbay." The grey walls of sickbay materialized before them and Paris was never so happy to see a starship than he was at that moment. The Doctor had already treated Harry and B'Elanna, who were already in their own clothes. Kes was near by, staying with them. Paris and Neelix helped Chakotay up onto the surgical biobed so the Doctor could begin to treat his leg. Paris himself checked out Barrett, holding her eye lids open. "She's fine," he told Janeway. "Just a bad headache." "That's easy for you to say," the young woman mumbled, rubbing her sore temple. Paris pressed a hypospray to her neck and immediately she felt relief and let out a content sigh. Janeway let out a small sigh of relief herself that none of her people had been seriously hurt. "Bridge to Janeway. Two Kazon ships are approaching the array." "Set a course, I'm on my way," Janeway told Tuvok as she left sickbay, Paris and Barrett closely on her heels, followed by Kes and Neelix. Chakotay swung his legs over the surgical biobed and told B'Elanna that they had to get back to their ship. The two left sickbay together, and the Doctor didn't look too pleased. "I strongly suggest rest! I will not be held responsible for the consequences! Is the crew always this difficult?" The hologram turned about and asked Harry Kim. Kim jumped down from his biobed. "I don't know Doc, this is my first mission." With a little pat on the hologram's shoulder, Harry too left sickbay. The Doctor looked about the now empty room, disgruntled. "Doesn't anyone know how to turn off a program when they leave?"

#star trek voyager #star trek voyager fanfiction #kathryn janeway #chakotay #tom paris #sarah barrett (oc) #harry kim #b'elanna torres #tuvok #neelix #kes #the doctor (emh) #janeway x chakotay #tom paris x ofc