This was the first long story I wrote. I am re-posting it with some heavy re-editing. My greatest thanks to Helen8462 for doing a great beta on this re-write.
The story starts just before the end of "Distant Origin', then takes a darker turn.
Not a cross-over but there are some references to Jurassic Park. The first movie. Still the best.
Chapter 1 – We are the Voth
Having assigned Gegen to a detention colony, Odala dismissed him from her mind and presence. The Voth councillors departed, murmuring among themselves.
Odala terminated the trial recording and sank back in the dais chair, watching the mammalian male in front of her. He had remained thankfully silent after his dramatic rendering of the fictitious Voth trek from what he called the Alpha Quadrant.
"I am not quite sure what to do with you all, human —"
"My name is Chakotay, Elder Odala."
She snapped her mouth, showing her displeasure at being interrupted. "Indeed, it is. Commander Chakotay," she added, emphasising his title.
Chakotay berated himself. This was not the place and time to antagonise the powerful Elder. He had been hoping that Odala would release Voyager to continue their homeward journey. With the ship gone from their territory, the only living proof of Gegen's theory of Distant Origin would disappear from the Voth consciousness. What else did she want?
"You serve another, a female of your species," the Voth said.
Chakotay nodded. "That is correct, Elder. Her name is Captain Janeway. She is —"
Odala turned away and commanded the sentries lining the room. "Guards, return this human to his ship." The Voth soldiers surrounded Chakotay. With Voyager embedded within the City Ship like an insect in amber, there was nothing he could do but follow them.
Once out of Voyager's transporter room, Chakotay hurried towards the bridge. The Captain needed to know about the Voth's blind preoccupation with Doctrine before meeting with Odala. He tapped his combadge while manoeuvring around a pair of Voth soldiers pacing the corridor. They seemed to be everywhere, their tall bodies intimidating but not overly aggressive.
"Chakotay to Captain Janeway."
The combadge remained silent.
"Captain, respond."
He breathed in slowly. "Chakotay to Tuvok. I am back on Voyager. I can't contact the Captain. Where is she?"
"I have unsettling news."
Chakotay slowed down his pace. The last time the Vulcan had used similar words, the Viidians were about to carve up Voyager's hull. "What is it?"
"It seems that the Captain, Seven and Lieutenant Torres are no longer on board Voyager."
Chakotay's heart ploughed through his chest as he reached the bridge. "Tuvok, what's our status?" he barked when the door opened.
The Security Chief stood up from the Captain's chair, and faced him with his usual calm. There was nobody else present.
"Welcome aboard, Commander. It is good to see you back."
Chakotay waved away the greeting.
"Voyager is currently ensconced within the Voth City Ship. Soon after docking, we were boarded by soldiers. Lt Paris attempted to blast a hole through the ship's hull, but was unsuccessful. We are locked out of all primary systems, apart from the environmental controls. As far as we can ascertain, the crew can move freely anywhere on Voyager but we cannot leave the ship."
Sitting down in his chair, Chakotay let out a sigh. "And the Captain?"
"Captain Janeway was in her ready room. I went to enquire about a security matter but she was no longer there. A search of the ship also failed to locate Seven of Nine and Lt Torres. Residual readings near their last known locations indicate the use of alien transporter technology. It is reasonable to assume it was Voth in origin."
The Voth Elder had made her move and Chakotay did not think she had invited three crew members to share her evening dinner. Odala manifestly wanted something more from the warm-blooded species she despised so much.
Guiltily, he realised that it was Kathryn's fate that most concerned him. All he wanted to do was storm back to the Voth Council chamber and demand her release. Only the fact that he had no idea how to get back there stopped him.
This was why Kathryn was not letting their relationship evolve further. His fear for her was clouding his thinking.
"Call a meeting of the senior officers, Tuvok. We need to get the ship and the crew out of the mess I put them in," Chakotay said, staring at the blank screen in front of him.
Tuvok did not move, his eyes focusing on a point well above Chakotay's head. "Commander, permission to speak freely."
Chakotay scrutinised him, but the Vulcan's face was unreadable. While he had never warmed to the Security Chief's distant manners, he had learnt over the years to value his tactical counsel.
"Permission granted."
"You are blaming yourself for what has happened to Voyager," Tuvok said. "And to the Captain," he added with a slight emphasis.
Chakotay could only drop his head. He had been expecting advice not counselling. For an unemotional being, Tuvok could be particularly insightful.
"The Voth streamed Mr Gegen's trial to Voyager's screens and we know of your assistance in his search for his people's ancestry. You found yourself in demanding circumstances, with no surety that you would see Voyager again, yet you upheld the truth. This is one of the most important duties of a Starfleet Officer. That the Voth elders did not choose to correctly interpret the plain facts about their true origin is none of your doing. Logic dictates that you are in no way responsible for Voyager's or the Captain's fate."
"No, Tuvok. I am responsible," Chakotay said, tapping his chest. "I willingly supported Gegen's belief in the Distant Origin hypothesis, without asking myself for one second where his research would lead to. He told me himself what he would be charged with heresy. Ancestry myths are powerful stories. Societies have gone to war to defend them and the Voth Council is manifestly not willing to accept any dissension."
He slammed his fist on the console. "Don't you see? Voyager would be on its way back towards the Alpha Quadrant by now, with the Captain safely on the bridge, if I'd been more cautious before unleashing my own tirade at the trial. The lives of the crew were not mine to trade for the truth on the Voth's origin."
Tuvok remained impassive. "Nevertheless, your conduct during the trial was exemplary. It is my opinion that the Captain would have acted exactly as you did had she been in your position."
Chakotay was left speechless for a few seconds. Those last words were high praise indeed because he knew their inherent accuracy. He also knew self-pity would not help Kathryn.
He stood with a resolute look on his face. "Thank you, Tuvok. I appreciate your support. Now, let's see what we can do to free the ship and our crew members."
###
"Captain, I was very impressed by the information we downloaded from your ship's database. I understand that the reconstructions of what you call dinosaurs are mostly based on fossilised bones."
Janeway could not read the Voth's body language, the differences with that of humans too great and her experience of the species too brief. She waited in silence. The Voth transporter's beam had taken her by surprise, but she was sure that the Elder had not swept her off Voyager's ready room to discuss Evolutionary Science 101. Chakotay was nowhere in sight and she only had Odala's word that he was back on Voyager. She hoped he was not sharing a prison cell with Gegen instead.
The Elder pressed a button on the table console. Holographic animals swirled around them, some the same height as the two humanoids in the chamber, others so huge that their real size could only be appreciated with the help of a scaled figure beside them. Janeway recognised the genome projection algorithm she'd used to extract the physical evolution of the Voth species only a few hours before.
"The species look very similar to those recorded in the Voth Annals, although there seems to be many more than what the Ancients describe. Of course, there are many mistakes." The Elder pressed another button and bright colours replaced ubiquitous grey skins, formidable horns grew on previously bare heads and large claws materialised at the end of muscular limbs. The demeanour of many of the animals changed, making them appear faster, meaner, much more powerful. "What are these strange fluffy scales on some of the smaller species?"
"These are called feathers," Janeway answered. "They were preserved as impressions in the stone around the fossilised remains. We think that these feathered dinosaurs were endotherms and the ancestors of an entire group of flying animals we now call birds." She noticed the Elder's third eyelid twitch.
"I saw from your ship's logs that you are a scientist, Captain Janeway. It may surprise you that I am one too. Or was rather, before I became Prime Elder. Our paleontological research has proven long ago that the Voth could not have originated in this region of space after many millennia spent digging up dozens of planets. This is of course a closely guarded secret only known to the highest initiates of the Circles of Science and to Council members. However, an absence of data did not allow us to determine where we did come from. Only Doctrine remained as the source of our knowledge."
"And now that you have the name and location of your ancestral planet of origin ...?" Janeway said neutrally.
She assumed the reason for her impromptu meeting with the Elder was to discuss Voyager's fate. Odala had dismissed the guards earlier on and the two leaders were alone in the chamber. If the Elder Council had not made its decision yet, she needed to be cautious.
The Prime Elder continued. "Doctrine states the Voth originated from the Mother Planet, which is located in a small planetary system close to our present location. We then colonised neighbouring systems once we acquired space flight capabilities. Suggesting a different interpretation of our sacred texts undermines our ancient and rightful claim over the vast territory we now hold. You see, human, why we cannot agree with Gegen's interpretation." The Elder inclined her head and looked straight at the woman.
Janeway remembered Odala had mentioned that motive at her compatriot's trial. She was not sure which of the quasi-religious belief or the lebensraum mandate was the most important in supporting the Voth' deep-seated conviction in their Doctrine, but she needed to make the most of the opportunity to reason with the Elder.
"Many civilisations have moved well beyond the borders of their planet of origin. Your people have travelled much longer distances than most but you have been here for millions of years, long before any of the space faring species who surround you now existed, let alone thrived. I don't see why your claim would be lesser—"
"Enough." Odala's jaws shut with a sharp clash of teeth and her face turned a deep purple.
"Claiming a shared ancestry with your pitiful warm-blooded species is the first step towards agreeing mammalians are our equals, accept your lot as allies, maybe even sit side by side in a federation of inferior species like yours. But there are too many of you. You breed like insects," the Elder said with disgust in her voice. "We would soon be swamped by hordes of barbarian mammalians eager to see us weaken and fall."
Odala drew to her full height, a few inches taller than the human in front of her. "As the representative of your people, do you renounce the belief that the Voth originated on the planet you call Earth? Please answer truthfully for the benefit of Council."
Janeway's heart sunk. As a Starfleet Captain, the truth was paramount but so was her crew's survival.
"Elder, we have protocols which prevent us from influencing the beliefs of the societies we encounter. We were drawn into this situation through no fault of our own and we will gladly set course away from your territory and never come back. With due respect, the Council of Elders should find this a reasonable course of action and—"
"NO." Odala said with finality.
"Like your male second in command, you are stubborn in your support of the Distant Origin heresy. Obviously it does not matter who is in charge among the warm-blooded. You are all treacherous savages, with brains too small to fully understand the higher reasoning of superior species. Hardly evolved at all, in fact. Some among Council may want to believe you to be more akin to children, worth guiding to greater things. I know better. I am not the leader of the most ancient civilisation in this region to let it crumble under an unholy wave of mammalian upstarts."
"Elder—"
"Silence. You are hereby found guilty of upholding and supporting heretic views of Doctrine. On behalf of Council and in my role as Prime Elder, I sentence you and your crew to hard labour for the remaining of your natural lives. Your ship and all that it contains will be destroyed."
Stunned, Janeway thought quickly. The Elder had never intended to discuss Voyager's fate. She had made her decision before Chakotay had even left the chamber. Leaning forward, her hands on the table, she talked in a low but firm voice.
"The Voth hold rational thinking very dear to proper governance. You know we are not a threat to all that you have achieved. You can't condemn my entire crew to such a horrific fate. I respectfully demand that you let me talk to the Council, Elder Odala, so that together we can find a solution that will satisfy the Voth and spare my crew."
"You are in no position to demand anything, Captain," the Elder said through bared teeth. "You forfeited your rights as soon as your Commander supported an attack against Doctrine. I should have sent him to hard labour immediately instead of letting him go back to your ship."
Janeway brushed away the thought that Chakotay was safe for the time being. She spoke quickly, playing for broke. "Do not sacrifice one hundred and forty sentient beings to a lingering death so far away from their home systems. Make an example of me, their leader, not of them. Sentence me to hard labour if you do so wish, but show mercy to the rest of my crew."
The Elder was ready to call the guards and declare an immediate start to the sentence. Janeway's words stopped her.
"You are full of surprises, human. While it pains me to admit it, there is some wisdom in your words. There might be some bleeding hearts among Council who could be uncomfortable with the severity of the sentence, even though they would have to agree with the guilty verdict."
She paused. "Although sending only one lawbreaker to detention would clearly be unsatisfactory. Heresy against Doctrine mandates a strong penalty."
Janeway waited, unwilling to jinx what could be freedom for her crew. She felt detached from her emotions. They were playing a game of chess with Voyager's crew, and she had been losing from the word go. She had made a promise to her people to get them back home. All other considerations, her life included, were inconsequential.
Odala's skin turned a lighter colour. Janeway was unable to determine its meaning until the Elder spoke again. The Voth was smiling.
"Once upon a time, we used to challenge emissaries from troublesome neighbouring systems to a survival test. We haven't done so for tens of revolutions. We've become too soft, I fear. However, this could be the time to reinstate one of our proudest rituals. A public demonstration of the fate of unbelievers and of the inherent weaknesses of mammalians will make it clear to all that we are the Voth, strong and powerful."
Maybe these humans had been brought to her for a purpose after all. She, the Prime Elder, could be the one to bring the Voth wrath onto the warm-blooded hordes, like her predecessors had done too many eons ago.
Her skin glowed.
"If undertaking this test means that Voyager and my crew are freed, I am willing to do so, Elder Odala. I thank you for showing compassion," Janeway said, bowing her head in a sign of respect.
The Elder snorted. "Do not thank me yet, Captain. You do not know what the Challenge entails." She lifted her clawed hand. "We will send three of you, no more, no less, to face the great beasts that dwell on the Mother Planet. We will watch your feeble efforts at survival from afar. When the Challenge ends with your deaths, as it has always done from times immemorial, it will show to all that Doctrine is inviolable and that Council decisions are absolute."
Odala tapped on the table twice, bringing in the guards. "Take her away to a holding cell."
On a nod from the Elder, they moved to the Captain's side and held her arms behind her back. Janeway struggled, pleading with Odala to let her go alone, more concerned about who would be sent from Voyager to their likely deaths than what the Challenge was about. The guards forcibly removed her from the room.