Note: This is my take on the first season, very AU but there are no rewritten scenes. It begins a couple weeks after "Caretaker". For fans of Seven, Kes, Neelix, and Tom Paris, these characters should show up soon. This chapter is mainly setup, but the action will start soon. Bear with me (and review!)
Chapter One: Good Intentions
Day 1
Janeway
"It looks like you've come across something interesting after all, Commander." I survey my surroundings; more desert, predictably, stretching out as far as the eye can see... And something else. The ground is strewn with twisted scraps of metal and stray sandy-colored bricks. At the sheltered area near the base of the mountains, a small cluster of buildings are still standing.
"My team was assigned to explore the northern plateaus," Commander Cavit says. "While we were unable to find any sources of food or water, we did come across this."
"The remains of an Ocampa settlement?" I ask.
"That's what we thought at first. But it seems that the original inhabitants took most of their possessions with them when they left, which has made it difficult to gather any useful information about them. And it doesn't help that most of the buildings were leveled by tremors when the Caretaker sealed the entrance to the underground settlement. We have managed to find some evidence of the people who lived here, though, that seems to point to a different conclusion. Ensign Stadi recovered this old energy weapon, as well as several other artifacts."
Cavit indicates a rusting phaser that the Ensign holds in her hand. I pick it up carefully, turning it over and examining its design.
"The power signature is consistent with Kazon technology," Cavit continues. "We'll have to run some more scans in engineering to make sure, but it seems the most likely explanation at the moment. We're guessing they built a settlement here to mine the planet's rich cormaline ore deposits, and eventually abandoned it when the ore supply was depleted."
"Is there any way of telling how long ago the Kazon left here? Or, more importantly, whether there's any chance they'll come back?"
"I'd say it's been at least four months since anyone set foot here, but that's a fairly rough estimate."
"Well, Carey tells me that he's almost finished repairs," I reply, still gazing intently at the weapon in my hand. The silver metal glitters in the sunlight. "We should be out of here in a few days."
"That's a small mercy, at least. After three weeks here, I'd be content never to see another desert in my life."
"Agreed. I just hope we're not too late."
Cavit grimaces, choosing not to respond.
Chakotay
"How long does she plan on keeping us here!?" B'Elanna drives a fist into one of the room's metallic walls, and winces in pain as the wall fights back.
"I don't like it either, but attacking the bulkheads won't get us anywhere," I say hurriedly, in case she's preparing for another round. "I've spoken with Captain Janeway. She assured me that we'll be on our way to meet with the Val Jean in a matter of days."
"That's not what I meant, Chakotay." B'Elanna grimaces and rubs her knuckles, then continues. "Judging by what you've told me about the damage to Voyager, we could have been out of here in half the time with a competent engineer supervising repairs. Carey just isn't qualified for this sort of thing!"
"I asked the Captain if you could be allowed to help out in engineering, she said she'd consider it."
"It's that first officer," Seska says, rising from her seat on one of the bunks in the room to face us. "You've said it yourself, he hates the Maquis."
"We're all going to have to learn to work together eventually," I say pointedly.
"We don't have to stay with Starfleet, we have a ship of our own!" B'Elanna protests. "We can separate from them, make our own rules..."
"That's assuming that Dalby's even waiting for us," Seska says. "I doubt he'd mind terribly if he was 'forced'to take command due to the tragic disappearance of the ship's two highest-ranking officers. Did you ever tell him you planned on cooperating with Starfleet, before we came back for her?" She jerks her head towards B'Elanna, whose face takes on a half-guilty, half-angry expression.
She must blame herself for our being stranded here. I suppose it makes sense... we were only down on the planet's surface to look for her.
"I don't think I ever mentioned my plans, no," I say out loud.
"At least that's something," Seska says. "I doubt he would've liked the idea much."
"The adjustment will take a while for all of us, but I'm confident that it will work out in the end. We're stronger together than apart."
"I wish the Captain shared your confidence, Chakotay," B'Elanna says.
I sigh. "I'll talk to her again for all of us. I promise. Deal?"
"And do it quickly, please. I'll go stir-crazy if I have to spend any longer locked up in here!" A pause. "Thanks, Chakotay."
Day 15
Cavit
"Let's keep this quick, there's no time to spare," the Captain says. "Carey, how are repairs coming?"
"That was the third attack this week," the Lieutenant replies. "We've lost over half the engineering staff, and frankly, the ones I've got left are nowhere near enough to keep up with this sort of work."
"How long until we have primary systems back?" I ask.
"At least another day, no sooner."
"It's not good enough," Janeway says quietly, lifting her head from her hands to look straight at the engineer. Her hair is disheveled and there are dark circles under her eyes. I know she hasn't slept for at least 24 hours; the Kazon have seen to that.
"They could be back to finish us off any minute," she continues. "We need to get out of here as soon as possible. I'm authorizing you to use any personnel from other departments with basic engineering training if your own people aren't enough."
From across the table, Doctor Fitzgerald watches her intently. He looks grim and tired. Carey nods, still apprehensive.
"Are there any other urgent matters that need to be addressed?" Janeway asks.
"I've plotted a course that keeps us at least five light-years from all known Kazon outposts, like you asked," Stadi says, "but we could lose the Val Jean's warp trail if we take it."
"We can't risk another confrontation with the Kazon," says the Captain. "Do it." She glances over at Chakotay, trying to discern some hint of his feelings regarding this decision. The Maquis leader keeps his face carefully blank.
"That's all," she says. "Dismissed."
I don't move. Neither does Chakotay.
Janeway
I look up to see Cavit and Chakotay still seated as the rest of the senior staff file out the door. "If we could have a word, Captain..." Chakotay says.
Those two, working together? That seems out of character; they've done nothing but disagree since Chakotay's arrival on Voyager. Up until recently, Cavit has been openly critical of my plan to cooperate with the Maquis, and he was furious when I told him that I intended to make Chakotay Voyager's first officer once we reunite with the Val Jean.
"We're both concerned about Voyager's well-being," Cavit says, as if he's read my mind. "I don't know how much longer we can survive like this, constantly on the run from the Kazon. So far we've only encountered one sect, the Ogla. But who knows how many more hostile ones there are out there? They could be spread out across sectors. Truth is, at the moment, we're surrounded."
"What are you suggesting?" I ask, reasonably sure that whatever it is, I'm not going to like it.
"We've talked about this at length, and we've both agreed, we'll need allies if we're going to survive."
"If you're proposing a treaty with the Ogla, we've already discussed this, I'm not about to––"
"No, not the Ogla," Chakotay interrupts. He offers me the PADD in his hand; I take it.
"A map of this sector?" I ask.
"Yes. Look at this..." He traces the line marking the suspected boundary of Ogla territory with a finger. "Some of the locals have told us that the Ogla from the abandoned settlement on Ocampa were previously under siege by a rival sect, the Nistrim, who also had designs on the Caretaker's Array. But their warships were able to rebuff the Nistrim fleet back into their area of space, reportedly several parsecs from the Ocampa system."
Nodding, I look up at Chakotay and Cavit from the display in my hand.
"Our sensors have also picked up several recent warp trails from Ogla ships." He presses a button on the PADD to add a series of lines indicating the recent paths taken by the Kazon vessels. "Note that none of them pass this boundary, except for one." He points.
"It took several tries to pick up this signature––it's been masked very well," Cavit adds. "It also seems that it was generated by a ship with a slightly different engine configuration than the one used by the Ogla. We think that this was a small Nistrim scout ship, sent to gather intel on the location Maje Jabin's fleet then return without being detected."
"Your point?"
"We're now reasonably sure that we know the exact location of the Nistrim, and as the saying goes... the enemy of my enemy is my friend. If we can get there, we may be able to negotiate an alliance."
Both fall silent. "We'd be heading away from the rendezvous coordinates," I finally say.
"Then we can locate the Val Jean later, when we have backup," Chakotay says. "It shouldn't be too hard, with an entire fleet on our side. I trust Dalby to keep her in one piece while I'm gone."
"And if this falls through?"
"I guess that's a risk we'll have to take," says Cavit.
"You know we can't let them have any sort of weapons technology."
"I'm sure they'd settle for shielding, propulsion... anything we can give them."
"I can't believe I'm actually considering this," I say, after a long pause. "It goes against everything Starfleet and the Prime Directive stand for."
"We're a long way from Starfleet," the Commander replies grimly.
"That doesn't change the fact that it's a proverbial deal with the devil."
"I don't like it either, but while we're on the subject of Earth platitudes, desperate times call for desperate measures. We have our people's safety in mind. Right now, that's all that matters."
"The road to hell is paved with good intentions," I shoot back. "I want to make it perfectly clear, if the Nistrim are anything like the Ogla, I have no intention of giving them technology that could help them dominate this region. Our safety isn't worth that much."
"I wouldn't have it any other way," Cavit says.
"I need time to consider, and speak with the rest of the senior staff. I'll have an answer for you by the time we reach the border."
Both men nod in agreement.
"All right, I'll call a meeting of the senior staff as soon as we're out of this nebula and moving again. Until then, I want you to do anything you can to help with repairs."
"Actually, I meant to ask you about that," says Chakotay. "B'Elanna Torres and Seska would like to be allowed to help Lieutenant Carey's people in Engineering––as a gesture of good faith."
"Permission granted. I'm sure they'll make a valuable addition to the staff."
"Captain, I––" Cavit begins.
I cut him off. "We'll discuss this later, Commander." He stops mid-sentence, his face taking on a surly expression. He and Chakotay lock eyes. So much for their newfound friendship.
What have I done? I ask myself as both start to move towards the door. A good percentage of my crew is dead. I'm working with a outlaw who, a month ago, I was intent on capturing and bringing in for trial by the Federation. And now I'm seriously considering forming an alliance with a group of people who are probably no more than an interplanetary coalition of thugs bent on conquering this quadrant, all in blatant violation of the Prime Directive.
I should have just told them no in the first place... But where would that leave us? In the middle of hostile territory with no help in sight, and I'm not quite ready to face that reality yet. It will still be about a week until we reach the border. I have that long to think.
I can't help thinking that maybe, if I'd had a little more experience, if I'd made better decisions under pressure, we would still be safe in the Alpha Quadrant. I know it's... illogical, as Tuvok might say. There's no point in second-guessing. The Caretaker was responsible for this, and nothing you might or might not have done can change that.
I still remember it in perfect detail; our narrow escape from the Ocampa settlement, Cavit's rushed explanation that the Maquis had been forced to flee to avoid further damage to the Val Jean, effectively stranding Chakotay, Seska, and the newly rescued B'Elanna Torres on Voyager. And the Caretaker's final words... "Self-destruct has been disabled. This installation must be destroyed!"
But before we could fire a tricobalt device, a lucky shot from the lead Ogla vessel crippled Voyager's weapons systems. I was faced with the hardest decision of my life: run, or ram the Array, destroying Voyager and everyone on it, with no guarantee that the plan would even work. And that was one sacrifice I was not willing to make.
I just hope I made the right decision. Then and now.