#and janeway just smiles - a little pained but mildly - and says 'Not for some time Seven' | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

shsy7573 · 11 months

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We’re in This Together - Ch. 4

For more info or overview post, see overview post

DISCLAIMER: I do not own own Voyager or any of the characters in this fic (except for the aliens. Those were my creation.)

*This story is not beta-read and has not been edited or proof-read in any way! This was just something I threw together over the past three days and decided to post as my first entry on this site!*

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CHAPTER FOUR

Kathryn’s heart pounded and she and B’Elanna sprinted down the narrow tunnel. There was only room for them to travel one at a time, and the aliens were right on their heels. The beasts had spotted them just as they were entering the narrow passageway, and started on a peruse course. Until there was a little more space to manoeuvre, the Captain and Chief engineer’s best chance was to keep running. Torres in front, Janeway in the back.

“Captain, I can see the tunnel opening up!” B’Elanna informed as she ran, noticing how the walls bend outwards just up ahead.

“Phasers ready!” Janeway ordered, squeezing the one she had in her hand tighter, and placing her finger on the trigger.

As soon as the girls broke through to the open, they spun around and fired at the aliens. They were close, so the starfleet duo aimed for their back pincers as discussed. They watched as the limbs broke free of the creatures, causing pain enough for them to falter in their attack. Not wasting any time, the two women sent more shots toward the monsters’ heads, disabling them. Luckily this time, there had only been two pursuers.

Heaving breathing filled the air as each of them slowly regained their breath. The Captain rolled her shoulder, mildly aware that her pain meds from last night were wearing off.

After leaving the den, Janeway and B’Elanna had travelled for five more hours before they found another place to set down and take shelter for the night. They’d only been on the move for about one hour when the two spider-aliens had come after them.

“That was close.” Torres huffed, looking towards the Captain as she spoke.

Janeway smiled, “nothing like a little predator-prey chase in the morning to get your blood pumping!”

The half-klingon rolled her eyes, “these aliens are really giving us a run for our money.”

“It’s about time! Voyager was getting boring.”

They shared a moment to laugh, keeping their senses sharp, and eyes trained down both sides of the tunnel as they regained their composure.

After a minute of catching their breath, the pair continued walking. The good news was this tunnel didn’t seem to be leading down. The bad news is, it didn’t seem to be leading up yet either.

Now that the tunnel had widened out, they were able to walk side-by-side again. B’Elanna gave a cautious glance to her Captain. A thought stirred in her mind, and she wondered if it would be… appropriate to say. Then again, she couldn’t think of any reason why it wouldn’t be. Besides, after the yesterday, she didn’t feel as awkward around the Captain. Still unnerved and eager to prove herself, but not as awkward anymore. So, she figured she may as well go for it.

With a deep breath to brace herself, she started talking. “I have to say Captain. Even though this whole situation kinda sucks… it’s been nice getting to spend time with you.”

Janeway smiled, looking over at the Lieutenant with a sparkle in her eyes, “you know, I was just thinking the same thing. I don’t give you nearly as much attention as I do some of the others…” she faltered for a moment, and turned her gaze back down the tunnel before them, “I’m sorry for that. I guess I just always assume that if you need anything, you can go to Chakotay.”

“Well, you’re right about that. Chakotay and I are close, and he’s always there if I need him.” B’Elanna offered, but there was a certain edge to her voice. Not hostile, just… suggesting.

Kathryn filled in the blanks pretty easily. “But it would be nice if your Captain would show the same amount of interest in you as she does the others.”

B’Elanna didn’t say anything to that, but her averted gaze and suddenly tense shoulders were proof enough.

Janeway raised a hand, “it’s alright, I don’t take offence. You’re right. I should be more considerate with how I treat each of my crew members. I can’t nurture one while neglecting another.”

Torres shrugged, suddenly feeling a bit uncomfortable. Time to start backpedalling! “Well, I mean, I understand! I- it’s just- you’re busy. You can’t possibly be expected to Captain a starship and cater to every crew member’s need for attention!”

Janeway inclined her head a bit, raising her eyebrow to this point. She’d give her that, but she’d also counter. “No, but I could at least give all my head officers the time of day.”

They fell into an uncomfortable silence. Neither one was certain on how to continue, B’Elanna especially. She wasn’t great with feelings, especially when they came from her Captain. But, she also wasn’t sure she just wanted to end the conversation there either. Somehow it felt… important to talk about. Or at the very least it was a distraction from all the spider people hunting them.

So, she tried again. “You know how you have that weekly dinner thing you do with Chakotay?”

The Captain nodded, looking back over at the engineer. “Yes.”

“Well… maybe you can do something like that with all the senior officers? It- it doesn't have to be dinner all the time. But like… have an allotted time each week that you spend with one of them. Or, maybe every other week if you’re that busy.”

Janeway considered this, allowing the idea to fully settle in her mind.

“I’d always considered doing something like that,” she admitted, “but I just wasn’t sure it’s something everyone would want.”

The Lieutenant raised an eyebrow, “why not?”

Katheyn shrugged, she knew the answer, but she wasn’t entirely certain she wanted to admit it. Then again, what else was she going to do down here? It’s not like she could pretend to have a lot of paperwork and retire to her ready room.

“Well, I just, I’m the boss. I’m the one in charge. And, in most work environments, the boss is the person you want to get away from at the end of the day. I mean, you’ve been there whenever I join you all on the holodeck. When I’m around, everyone seems to get just a little bit… stiffer. Less casual.”

“Yeah, but that’s the holodeck! That’s different.”

Janeway shrugged, “the principal's still the same. When I’m around, the crew feels like they're not allowed to have fun.”

“Or maybe they’re just not sure how to act because you don’t spend enough time socialising with us.”

The Captain’s steps faltered at this, and she turned her gaze completely on her Lieutenant, who kept walking forward. She hadn’t considered that. She’d always just assumed that her presence ruined everyone’s fun, so she should stay away. Never had she thought that spending more time with the crew could be the solution. It was an interesting thought.

With a new perspective forming in her brain, she kept walking again, quickening her pace to catch up with B’Elanna.

The next couple hours were spent travelling in relative silence. Partly because both women were processing the inclinations of their last conversation, and partly because the tunnel had begun to slope uncomfortably downwards. Every sound had B’Elanna reaching for her phaser, and Janeway turning her gaze to the tunnel behind them.

After three hours of this mindless paranoia, the Captain was slightly fed up.

“Oh this is ridiculous! Look at us, jumping at every sound like we’re in some sort of haunted house. We’re being paranoid!”

B’Elanna agreed, but she still couldn’t help but defend her actions. “I mean, can you blame us? We know we’re gonna meet more aliens as we go down. And if your shoulder is any indication…”

At the reminder of the wound, a slight electric pang shot down the Captain’s arm, causing her left fingers to twitch.

“If we’re both this on edge, we could always turn around.”

But even as she said it, both of them knew it wasn’t an option. They’d already come this far, and there was no way to tell if the spider’s were following their trail or not. Besides, this had been the most likely tunnel to lead up, and going all the way back to randomly pick another tunnel just seemed counterproductive.

They just had to keep moving.

Lieutenant Torres set her jaw, looking at the ground irritably. This whole thing was so stupid! They should be on Voyager! Safe, and happy, with the only fear in their minds being what Neelox was cooking for lunch. Not stuck underground running scared from every little scratch in the earth. It was pathetic! And now, with the tunnel heading downwards, who knew if they would ever reach the surface!

Janeway, seeming to sense B’Elanna’s inter turmoil, placed a steady, firm hand on the woman’s shoulder. “Lanna, listen to me. I know the last few days have been hard, and I know things don’t seem great right now, but we will make it out of this. We’re due back on Voyager in about four days. When we don’t show up, Chakotay will notice we’re missing and come find us. Voyager’s been through worse… we’ve been through worse. And we’ll get through this. Together.”

The Lieutenant let the words sink in. Part of her knew that Kathryn was probably reassuring herself just as much as she was the engineer, but it was enough. Looking her Captain in the eyes, B’Elanna gave a firm nod, placing her hand over top of the Captain’s. “Together.”

With their spirits rejuvenated, and courage reignited, the pair continued on their way down the tunnel.

As they did so, B’Elanna smirked, thinking back on the Captain’s words.

“Did you just call me, Lanna?”

Janeway smiled, “I suppose I did.”

Half an hour later they found a spot to break for lunch. Kathryn’s shoulder had really started to bother her again, but she refused to let B’Elanna administer any more pain killers. She wanted to save them for when she had to sleep. Pain while walking she could handle, but she couldn’t risk being kept awake by it.

After that, it didn’t take long for them to come across the next big spectacle of their underground adventure. All at once, the tunnel opened up again, and the ground fell away below their feet. The walls were steeper here than they had been in the layered tunnel, but that wasn’t really an issue. Several tunnel openings littered the side of this cavern, each of them connected by one large winding ledge that dipped and inclined across the edge of the cave.

But that wasn’t what drew their attention. At the bottom of the pit, sitting nearly thirty feet below them, was a hoard of spider people.

There couldn’t be less than fifty, all clustered at the bottom of the large cavern, making the entirety of the floor below look like it was moving. They all looked like one cohesive bluer of ashen grey skin and blackish-brown spider limbs. The only thing separating one individual from the other was the differing colours in their eyes and leg garments.

In the centre of the chaos, two creatures faught. One was larger, with crimson leggings and turquoise blue eyes. The other was smaller, with bright, rose coloured eyes and green leggings. The fight looked brutal, with each creature grappling each other, and rolling around the arena. Kicking out with their human legs, and using their pincers to slice at their opponent. The onlooking creatures shrieked with pleasure whenever one of the fighters took a hit.

The pair of humanoids quickly pressed themselves back against the cave wall, but it didn’t seem like any of the creatures had noticed them. They were too fixated on the battle.

“What do we do now? There’s so many of them. If they see us—“

“We’re just gonna have to go back the way we came.” Janeway responded. She and B’Elanna both began to retreat back into the tunnel, but they were stopped in their tracks as they heard the all too familiar clicking sound coming from the passageway.

“Shit!” B’Elanna breathed, “what now?”

“We’re just going to have to quickly, carefully, make our way to the next tunnel.”

It wasn’t ideal, and any wrong move would set the whole mob off to attack them, but it was their only option.

Quickly, the girls began to pick their way along the ledge. They tried to stay as quiet as they could, and they kept their shoulders pressed against the cavern wall. The fight, it seemed, provided a decent distraction for them. None of the creatures below had any idea they were there.

They had almost made it to the nest tunnel when shir hit the fan.

Janeway watched with unspeakable horror, as two aliens exited the tunnel they were heading for. Only a heartbeat later, three came out of the tunnel they were trying to get away from. They were trapped. But, more terrifyingly, they were spotted.

Acting quickly, Janeway levelled her phaser at the pair of aliens in front of them and fired. B’Elanna followed suit, shooting at the second alien. Each of their targets were knocked away from the tunnel entrance, shrieking in anger as they did so, and all hell broke loose,

Both women made a break for the tunnel, but the shrieking of the aliens had drawn the attention of the audience in the pit. In their clittery, broken up voice, Janeway heard several of them yell: “food!” As they clawed up the walls of the pit.

It was terrifying, the creatures piled on top of one another. Each of them wanting to get a piece of their new found meal, all the while tearing into each their own companions.

The unpredictable winding of the ledge made it hard for the humanoids to move fast, while their arachnoid companions had no problems manoeuvring through the familiar terrain. Naturally, the aliens behind them reached the pair first, and each did their best to fire their phasers without losing their focus and falling into the pit.

With their attention divided and pulled in so many directions, it didn’t come as much of a shock when B’Elanna lost her footing. Well, in hindsight it didn’t. In the moment however, it was quite the turn of events!

A sudden dip in the ground below her feet caused the engineer to lurch forward, landing awkwardly on her foot, and yelping out in pain as it rolled. In the same instant, several things happened. One of the aliens climbing the wall reached the ledge and reached out for B’Elanna. An alien behind them jumped forward, its hand outstretched to grapple the downed klingon. And Janeway brought her hand down to latch onto the back of the Lieutenant’s collar.

With a heave, not once breaking her stride, Janeway pulled B’Elanna back to her feet, keeping hold of the woman as she regained her step. The alien reaching up from the ledge was pulled down because another spider jumped on top of it, and the alien behind them only managed to get a loose grip around Torres’s knee. B’Elanna kicked back at it angrily, throwing the grip off before it could latch its fangs into her skin. The spider lashed out angrily with one of its pincers, slicing the back of her thigh before crashing onto the ground with a shriek.

Another alien had managed to clamber onto the behind them, and it promptly charged. Digging its pincers into the ground, it pushed off and sailed towards Janeway with outstretched hands. The beast grabbed a hold of her with its shoulders, and wrapped its humanoid legs tightly around her as if she were giving it a piggy back ride. The pinchers slicked quickly, flailing and desperately ripping through her flesh as she stumbled.

Seeing this, B’Elanna drove the butt of her phaser hard into the creature’s face. It shrieked, and in its moment of disorientation it didn’t see as she turned the phaser around and shot a beam right through its skull.

Janeway and her Chief Engineer veered right as they reached the entrance. They stumbled into the tunnel, knowing full well that the only reason they were still alive was adrenaline and pure luck. Thinking fast, the Captain turned around and fired her phaser at the ceiling again. That’s all it took for the entrance of the tunnel to collapse in on itself. The stone broke apart, clattered down and smothering the cave with debris. Three of the aliens were able to get to the other side of the entrance before it collapsed. They slipped under the falling stone and launched themselves at the Captain humanoids at full speed.

The first one grabbed the Captain. Her heart, impossibly, seemed to beat even faster as it grappled her for her phaser. Before it was able to do any real damage, though, B’Elanna shot its hand off.

This left her vulnerable from an attack by the second alien. The force of its attack sent both of them to the ground in a heap of arms and spider limbs. One of its pincers struck a blow across her stomach, while the other reached around and dug deep between her shoulder blades. B’Elanna fired her phaser right into the alien’s sternum. Angling the blow just above where the exoskeleton of the spider limbs ended.

Meanwhile the Captain had subdued her first peruser - after B’Elanna had shot its arm off, it wasn’t hard - and moved onto the third alien. Currently, no part of her was touching the ground. One of her hands was wrapped around a pincher arm, while her legs pressed harshly into its face, keeping the fangs away from any part of her. Pain shot down her arm, but she just used it as a means of keeping her grip on the alien tight. Her phaser had been knocked out of her hand, and was lying on the ground just underneath her.

The alien’s other pincer was doubling down its efforts though. It thrashed madly, slicing its way through her arm, side and back. As it brought the pincher back to deliver another blow, the Captain took her chance. She released her grip on the alien, and allowed herself to fall. Twisting in mid air, she just barely managed to wrap her fingers around the phaser before hitting the ground. A gravelly hand latched onto her leg, and pulled her back up towards the beast. Turning quickly, she fired a fell aimed shot at the top of its nose. It hit its mark expertly, making contact with the point between all four it’s its eyes.

The alien flew backwards, catching itself on the edge of the tunnel. It was just about to throw itself forward again when B’Elanna shot from behind the Captain, and caused it to fall limp on the ground.

Janeway laid her head back on the ground, panting wildly as scarlet blood painted the yellow-grey stone around her. B’Elanna fell to her knees beside the Captain, sporting her own fair share of wounds. They met each other's gaze, and came to the same understanding.

They couldn’t stay here.

After a moment, each woman forced themselves to their feet. They had to find a place with enough cover where they could set down and properly react to their wounds. Until then, the only thing keeping them going would be the constant support of another person’s body leaning on theirs.

#star trek #star trek voyager #kathryn janeway #b’elanna torres #maternal janeway #angst #fluff #hurt/comfort #no beta we die like admiral janeway #this fic is probably missing so many tags already but idc

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missizzy · 5 years

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New Fic: The Bust Stop, Part 1(Star Trek: Voyager)

Tom Paris had gotten to the point in his relationship with B’Elanna Torres where he could usually tell what she wanted without her saying it, at least on the everyday things, though sometimes he had a nagging feeling he was missing something in what she wanted from him overall. For instance, whenever it was she who planned a date, he knew from the kind of date what she wanted from it. If it was on the holodeck, she wanted to turn her brain off completely and forget about the week she’d been having. If it was just dinner in their quarters, but with her saying, “something special” she wanted romance. He wasn’t sure if she consciously realized that, but every time in the past year he’d formed that conclusion, and every time he’d been right.

If, however, it was again dinner with their quarters, but her saying “nothing special,” that meant she wanted to have a serious discussion with him, the kind that men on instinct preferred to avoid.

Which was why when he came home that evening, from an unremarkable shift which had left him plenty of time to dwell uneasily on the date to come, he was hard put to appear nonchalant. But this just might be painful enough without getting her nervous beforehand, or worse, angry, so he forced himself to smile when he saw the salad and steaks she’d replicated. “I got the dressing you wanted,” she said. “Though there’s no rations left over for dessert, unless we eat it tomorrow.”

“That could work,” he shrugged. If only she’d said “something special,” he thought. Then there could be seduction, which was followed obviously by sex, and then they could nap until 2400, and then have dessert. But no. By 2400 he didn’t know what state they’d be in.

It’ll probably be over by then, he reminded himself. We’ll say whatever we have to say, and it’ll be over with, and maybe it won’t be something that will leave us that upset when we’re done with it. But it was hard to think past a conversation when he didn’t even know what the subject of it was going to be. Especially when his having no idea was a little more unusual these days; usually he had a sneaking suspicion, but that night, nothing.

“Then let’s eat while it’s still hot,” she said, and she dug in. She didn’t look at him as she did, which made him aware she wasn’t looking forward to this conversation either. Which meant it had to be something really important. He was simultaneous more nervous than before, and vaguely relieved. Whatever it was, they just might be in it together. He hoped, because if it was a problem she had with him, he was in really deep trouble, especially since he’d missed it completely.

He ought to let her take the silence to prepare herself, and wait it out, and let his own inner procrastinator decide she could have all the time she needed. But as he watched the meat disappear from her plate, while most of his stayed where it was, because being nervous made her eat and him not eat, he quickly started to feel that the silence was far worse than enduring whatever it was she had to say.

So he tried to chew, and tried even harder to swallow, and listen to her anxious breathing in between bites, and looked up at the ceiling, and out at the streaking starfield, and half-hoped some sort of emergency would call them to their stations, even though in the long run that would leave him more time to dread what was coming up. Finally, when she put down her fork, paused, and then picked it up again, he snapped, “What do you want?”

“What do you want?” burst from her, and their eyes met. She didn’t look that frightened, more just confused.

Which ought to be his gig right now. “What do you mean what do I want?”

“From me. I mean, what...I’m going about this the wrong way.”

“Okay.” He didn’t understand the situation any more than he had when he’d sat down at the table.

“I...” She was having trouble, and he wanted very badly to help, but was at a loss for how. “I talked with Chakotay. After the whole thing with the Barge of the Dead.”

She had not talked much in the month that had passed since, about what she had dreamed about when she had nearly died in Sickbay. After nearly losing her, Tom at least had been too grateful she was alive to press her with questions. Only once had she even indirectly alluded to it, a few days later when they had held Marika Wilkarah’s funeral, following the normal Bajoran rituals as best they could, and after the ceremony had ended and they had made their way to the mess hall for a small reception, she had spoken quietly, half to him, half to herself.

“I want to be the one to seek out her family when we get home,” she’d said, because it was agreed someone would have to do that, so they would know her fate. “I was her immediate commanding officer for the last weeks of her life, after all. And I want to make sure they get her final words to them. No parents should lose their children like that, without a word or knowledge. How must she have felt, knowing they were on the other of the galaxy, and barring a miracle, she was never going to see or speak to them again while she was still alive...” That was all. When she had gone to Janeway at the reception the captain had agreed immediately.

Now it turned out she’d gone and talked to Chakotay about it, and Tom had to tell himself not to get angry she’d gone to him. And then, as if reading his mind, she said, “You have to understand Tom, when I gave it some thought, I found he was the only person in my life where I knew exactly where I stood with him.”

“What?!” Now Tom was getting angry. “And what do you think you are to me, chopped liver?”

“Lover, sure, right now,” she sighed. “But what about in a year? In two? In ten?”

Okay, now maybe this was making sense. “Is this your way of telling me you want me to propose?”

“No,” she shook her head impatiently. “Well, maybe. I wasn’t thinking along those lines. You could marry me and then divorce me five years later anyway. I just want to know what you want with me.”

“For life?” he finished, half to clarify, half to get his bearings.

She nodded. “For life.”

“Okay.” He breathed in. He’d never thought about the future like this. Maybe a little when he’d been a kid and he’d looked forward to success and being happy in Starfleet, or even anywhere. But in the penal colony there hadn’t been much of a future to look forward to, even if he could hope to be freed, because he’d known not much awaited him outside besides the life of a loser. The past five years he’d been too happy counting his blessings to worry about how many more of them he was going to get, especially when that dread had haunted the back of his head, because he didn’t know for sure that he actually was going to get that pardon when they got home.

But after only a moment more of thought, he was able to say, “I want you to stick around, that much I can say immediately. For life.”

“As your lover?” She was forcing herself to press on.

“If that’s what you want to stay. Or...” He gave himself one last moment to hesitate, but no, he would’ve had to be the worst idiot in the universe to not take this if she really was willing to give it to him. He got up from his seat and then down on his knee. “B’Elanna Torres, daughter of Miral, will you marry me?”

When she just sat there, looking mildly stunned, Tom heard himself babbling, “I can’t get a ring right now, but if you’re willing to settle for a simple one I can get you one at midnight, or buy one at the next planet we stop at if you don’t want a replicated one-in fact, if you want to wait to respond until then, that’s fine. I mean I’m really just throwing the question out here, I’m happy to leave the offer standing as long as you want...”

“That won’t be necessary.” She was smiling now, and she leaned down to take his hand and craned her head in as if she was telling him a secret as she whispered, “My answer’s yes.”

That was about when it hit Tom how much he’d just changed things for himself. Not that this was a bad thing, even if it was kind of terrifying too. But after that they were kissing anyway, and when his hand touched the right part of her back he could feel her heart practically jumping, and concentrating on that kept his mind steady, even as the universe was shaking, the ship shaking...

...why was the ship shaking?

B’Elanna pulled away as they both realized something was wrong. Her combadge had fallen off. She had to dive for it, and she clutched it as the ship rocked them further; it took her several moments to successfully comm engineering. “What’s going on?” Tom heard her demand of them as an attempt to contact someone himself failed, with his badge falling off too as the ship rocked again.

The response was a little static and a lot of technobabble that only an engineer could understand, but from how B’Elanna’s face paled, it didn’t sound like good news. “I’ll be there right away,” she said just as the klaxons sounded for yellow alert, and from the floor his own combadge turned on long enough to summon him to the bridge.

Since they needed to go in opposite directions, it had long become typical practice for the two of them to split up and head for different turbolifts outside their door. Tonight, however, even under their current circumstances, they had pause a moment, and flash each other a sort of grin, that unspoken exchange of, “Are we really now? Yes we are.” Even with the ship now rocking so hard Tom could see the floor positively quiver, he couldn’t lose his general feeling of elation.

It lasted all through the turbolift ride and even when he emerged to find a tense bridge and Ayala at the conn trying to pilot with one hand while with the other he clung to the console. When he turned and saw Tom he looked relieved, and was glad to pull himself up shakily and stumble off. Tom himself nearly fell into his seat, but once he was seated he felt fairly confident, especially when his hands were at the controls and the ship was responding to them. The viewscreen was filled with flashing orange light and he tried to maneuver to avoid as it lashed around them.

Even if he had no idea what was going on, at least for a few more minutes, until Captain Janeway commanded Harry to give her a prognosis on the “phenomenon,” and he, doubtfully, replied, “All I can tell you is it’s all over the electro-magnetic spectrum, it’s growing in size at a rate of about two miles per millisecond, we’re not actually in contact with it, but we’re starting to absorb serious radiation anyway-so far the shields have taken it...”

The orange lights on the viewscreen were getting larger. Tom was fairly certain that was bad. He was beginning to get a pilot’s feel for the phenomenon and how it was interacting with the ship, and if it got much stronger in intensity he would have a lot of trouble keeping the ship under control.

Then he heard an exclamation of surprise from Harry, followed by, “It looks like we’re being hailed. Audio only.”

“By who?” the Captain demanded, voicing everyone’s confusion.

“I don’t know.” Harry sounded as confused as the rest of them. “There’s nothing that should be able to hail us for light years around.”

“Well, put it on.” The bridge was filled with a burst of static, before a tinny, vaguely feminine voice followed:

“Hello, and welcome to our Portal. Please be advised the entry process will take between six clacks and ten loughs. Please do not attempt to move after we have taken you into lockhold.”

It was Tuvok, in his manner, who summed it up, “They do not seem to be considering whether or not we actually wish to enter their portal.”

“Well, do we?” Even as the ship shook, Captain Janeway seemed able to contemplate the question with perfect calm. “Would it get us closer to home? Or is there too much risk of us ending up further away?”

“Depends if there are multiple destinations maybe,” commented Commander Chakotay.

“Good point,” said the Captain as the shaking started to subside, and as Tom looked at his console he nearly did a double take.

“Captain,” he said. “The ship has started moving without me.”

“You mean the ship itself is moving on engine power, instead of being moved?”

“Exactly.” The console was even flashing as if commands were being entered into it, while Tom carefully held his hands above the screen, wondering what would happen if he tried to enter anything. If she gave the order, he told himself.

But instead she said, “Let it, for now. But I want to know where we’re going the moment anyone has any idea of it.”

Several minutes passed. The shaking mostly died down, but Tom was aware of the ship moving very fast; he’d always been able to feel it even through the inertial dampeners, and now he could do so even more than usual. That was good, because the screen didn’t really show much of what was in their immediate surroundings; there was too much interference. Harry was providing more information, listing off out loud what kinds of radiation were involved and what levels they were at, though he didn’t sound like he understood his readings much either.

But then the viewscreen was filled with white light, a moment before the ship went completely still, and Harry fell silent. “Is this the portal?” Captain Janeway wondered out loud.

“I think it might be,” said Harry. “We’re being hailed audio only again.”

It was the same voice, and this time it said, “Welcome to our Trans-Dimension Traveling System. Please remain in place and lower your shields to receive your personal negotiator to work out your itinerary and method of payment.”

“Multiple destinations,” said a very pleased Captain Janeway.

“How are we going to pay, though?” wondered Commander Chakotay.

“Shall we lower the shields, then?” asked Tuvok, in his usual neutral tone, though Tom had no doubt he was thinking about whether or not it was a trap.

The thought of it, too, might have been why it took the captain a moment or so to respond. But such an opportunity like this they really couldn’t pass up, so she just said, “Do it.”

Tom for a moment when he heard Tuvok’s affirming response instead worried about the threat of the more natural phenomena around with the shields lowered. But things around them had gotten pretty still. They were still surrounded by electrically charged particles, but those seemed to just be floating around and filling the viewscreen with some somewhat gorgeous blue-violet light.

“How long is it going to take?” was Captain Janeway’s response when at first nothing happened. But no one had a real answer for her, and about a minute later, Harry said, “I think someone’s trying to beam into the bridge-from light years away, it seems; they’re using some kind of...” He groped for the words, and failed to find them before their visitor arrived. Tom turned around at the sound, which sounded kind of like a transporter beam but more high-pitched than any beam Tom had ever heard, and he appeared in light that was such a rich shade of gold it dazzled on a whole different level from the normal sight of the transporter doing its work.

He was baseline humanoid, grey colored, covered with thin scales and sparse hair not on top of his head, but close to his neck and around his shoulders and ankles. His hands had five fingers, but his feet, which were bare, had only four toes. He wore a sleeveless black bodysuit, and two red bracelets on his left wrist.

“Good evening, sir.” Captain Janeway offered her hand, then when their visitor didn’t seem inclined to take it smoothly took a step forward. “I assume you’re here for negotiating with us?”

“And you are the director of this establishment?” he asked in turn. He had one of the deepest, smoothest voices any of them had ever heard.

“I tend to go by the title of Captain, actually,” said Janeway, who of course could be pretty smooth herself when called for. “But yes, I am the one in charge here.”

“Then, Captain-Director, if there is a place to negotiate in private?”

To the less knowledgeable observer, there was no real pause here. But those on the bridge who knew how Captain Janeway did things noticed she made a slight one, before then saying, “My ready room is this way.”

As she led him there, his complimenting their “headquarters” as he went, Tom found himself exchanging a look with the other men on the bridge. Commander Chakotay especially looked uneasy. The guy was simply too slick for them to trust him that easily. Captain Janeway would be on her guard at least, they were sure of that. But her desperation to get them home might get in the way of her caution for her own safety, so they were all in agreement. One real sign, my friend, Tom thought. One solid reason to believe we’re not just feeling paranoid...

The ship was still dead in space, and from the sound of the console hums, neither Harry nor Tuvok nor anyone else on the bridge was getting any readings that would indicate the situation was changing. There was nothing to do but wait.

Wait they did. Inevitably Tom's mind wandered back to the events of earlier that evening. It hadn’t quite sunk in yet that he and B’Elanna had just agreed to spend the rest of their lives together, that if all went well, he’d live and die by her side. Also, he found himself thinking there should probably be a plan about telling people, but under the circumstances it might have to wait until a less exciting day. He was a little worried about Commander Chakotay’s reaction.

Finally the captain and her guest emerged back onto the bridge, and from the way she was beaming, Tom could only conclude the negotiation had been a huge success. “Shipwide announcement to make, Mr. Kim,” she declared, and Harry happily tapped his console to turn on all the comms. “Attention, everyone on board. This is your captain speaking. I am happy to announce that I have just now made an agreement that will, if all goes well, see us back in Federation space within the next year.”

There was a pause while a few cheers escaped on the bridge, and made them all aware of how many were probably being let out all over the ship. Captain Janeway beamed further, before continuing, “We are currently in the portal of an interstellar transportation system that will over the next ten months take us through most of the rest of our journey. In return, we will bring them to the Federation, and they will hopefully extend their transportation services to Federation space.” That was kind of universe-changing for the Federation, Tom couldn’t help but think, though none of them would be dwelling on it too much at the moment.

When the ship started feeling shaky again, Tom initially didn’t worry. They were, after all, within a interstellar phenomenon, and one they knew practically nothing about besides that they had to get through it to get home, and if it wanted to be a bumpy ride, well, that was something surely everyone on the ship was willing to allow. He did take a look at the display on the conn that was showing their speed, current direction, and a rough estimate about how much the ship was being impeded, but the first two things he knew already and the high number on the third wasn’t exactly a surprise.

It wasn’t the display, anyway, that initially made him realize something was wrong. It was his own inner navigator and preceptor instead, the part of him that could subconsciously sense how the ship was moving even through the inertial dampeners, that made him realize the ship was slowing down involuntarily, and the slower it got, the worse the shaking got, and Tom would swear he could even feel something in the space around them starting to squeeze in.

The Captain had something of the same instincts. It was when Tom, looking at the display now also giving out the wrong numbers, was drawing breath in to speak that she leaned over him, her face placid to those who didn’t know her, took a look at the numbers, and immediately said, “Mr. Kim, give me the ship’s vitals.”

Harry had gotten really good, too, at sensing when things had gone very wrong, though he only said, “We’re getting some strange readings off the engines and the shields. The latter are down very slightly, no explanation.” One could hear growing tension in his voice.

Still none in hers, as she turned to their negotiator and asked, “Would you say that’s normal at this stage in going through your portal?”

He remained even more neutral as he replied, “It is difficult to determine the answer to such questions…”

Which was when she grabbed her phaser and pointed it at him. “That doesn’t match what you told me just now. You said that everything about your transportation process was long standardized and tested and nothing ever went wrong.”

“Well,” he looked embarrassed, which was a very strange look on him. “That is the official line, but it might not be…entirely accurate.”

Janeway might have actually been expecting something a bit more sinister, from the way she just sighed, and started, “Keep monitoring the…”

“Captain!” Harry sounded alarmed, and Tom felt the same when the ship was too strained under him, and he knew he’d lost helm control without even looking. “The engine’s suddenly powering itself like we’re at warp; it’s going too fast when we’re not warping; I’m not sure how the ship’s going to hold up.”

“Look,” Janeway said to their guest, “maybe if we could drop out of it for a moment-”

“Oh no,” he said, and maybe it was Tom’s head playing tricks on him, but he suddenly sounded ominous and dangerous. “You are now within the system. We will have you, Captain Janeway, until you’re out-if you all live that long….”

#star trek #star trek voyager #tom paris #b'elanna torres #kathryn janeway

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