Voyager Fic

Chapter One

They'd been walking for a painfully long time. Tom, Chakotay, and Harry had been on a simple away mission to collect some supplies when they had to make an emergency beam out on a nearby planet. Thankfully they had studied the planet in some detail on voyager, but from a distance as these humanoids had not yet achieved space travel. But the men knew that the differences between these aliens and themselves were not in a place you could see while fully clothed in their starfleet uniform. So they knew they'd be safe if they ran into any of them.

They'd been walking for over a day, through mostly woods, and had encountered nobody. Finally as they were approaching their 36th hour on this planet they spotted a house in the distance. As they neared the home they noticed how big and beautiful it was. With two stories, a balcony, and a wrap around porch. Also visible behind the house was a large barn and they could see fenced in fields with animals in them.

"I guess we better chance it and stop here. I was hoping Voyager would have found us before we had to come into contact with these aliens." Chakotay said.

"At least they won't be able to tell we are from another planet." Replied Tom.

Chakotay raised an eyebrow, "You planning on getting naked in front of any of them?"

As Tom laughed he replied, "No, of course not."

Harry chuckled but said nothing. The three men continued up to the front door of the house and Tom knocked.

A woman answered the door. She was dressed in plain brown pants and a brown shirt. Her hair was pulled back in a bun but was semi-messy on top. On her feet she wore simple shoes. She had light brown hair and fair skin. She was very pretty. But the first thing the trio noticed was that she was blind.

Her eyes were unfocused and she said, "What can I do for you?"

It was Chakotay who replied. "We have been traveling a long way and we are very tired. We were hoping that at the very least we might could freshen up and replenish supplies. Though we don't have much to offer."

She smiled. "Of course. Please won't you come in? My master is out but he is always so pleased to have guests. You may stay as long as you'd like. We have plenty of space."

A little taken aback by the strong hospitality, the three men entered the house cautiously. The door they came through entered into a sort of foyer though it was unlike any the men had ever seen. The floor was made of a stone material that was completely foreign to them. It was a beautiful shade of purple with blue swirls. But even through their shoes they could feel that it was flexible. The walls were a strange dark blue color with small divots that glowed slightly. There were no lights in this room, but the small glowing spots were enough to illuminate the room enough that you wouldn't bump into anything. Harry's first thought was that he hoped the entire house wasn't this dim.

"Would you like me to show you to the kitchens first so that you can eat or to the rooms where you'll be staying so you can freshen up?" The woman said.

Chakotay answered her, "To the rooms please." He gently placed his hand on her shoulder to stop her walking and was surprised when she flinched under his hand. "Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you. I just wanted to ask your name before we proceeded further."

She uttered an "Oh" of surprise before she could suppress it. "My name is Anara"

"Well it's very nice to meet you. My name is Chakotay. This is Tom and Harry with me."

She tilted her head down towards the floor and offered a small curtsey.

The men exchanged a glance. The movement was a little strange.

As they walked up a long hallway Harry was Surprised to find that the floor was made of the same strange stone, but here it was a reddish color. He was also happy to find that the lighting in the hallway as well as another room they passed, that he didn't get a good look at, was much brighter.

Anara stopped at the second door they came to and motioned towards it. "This is where the guest rooms are. When you enter this door you will be in another hallway. All of the doors leading off of this hallway lead into a guest room. They are all the same with their own private bath. There are also several articles of clothing in the closets of varying sizes. There is only one bed in each so you will each have your own room. There are also several lounge areas located behind the red doors if you wish to sit and chat. I will go to the kitchen to prepare food and beverage for you while you freshen up." She gestured down the hall they had just walked down and said, "If you come back down this hallway and go beyond the entry room you will see a black door to your right. That is the kitchen. Please come there as soon as you are ready, but of course there is no hurry." She smiled slightly, bowed her head with a curtsey again, and then left them alone.

The three men entered the guest area and closed the door behind them.

"Do you want to take these first three rooms right here?" Harry said as he pointed towards the doors.

"No let's choose rooms a little farther down." Chakotay said as he continued down the hall. After passing 4 doors they came to a red one. "Well this one is a lounge area so let's take the next three rooms after that. So that we aren't too close to the entrance." Chakotay started to open a door and looked back at Tom and Harry, "Go ahead in one of those and put your packs down and get a shower. I'm tired of smelling you and I'm starving." Then he went in and closed the door behind him.

"It's not like he smells like a rose." Tom chuckled.

After showering, putting on fresh clothes and putting their packs in their rooms the three men made their way to the kitchen. Harry was thinking about his clothing, he had assumed that the clothes they found would be similar to Anara's and be dull colored and plain. He couldn't have been more wrong. All of the clothes he found in his closet were brightly colored and made of a fabric that felt very pleasing on his skin. The fabric was light and comfortable. The shirt showed a little more chest than he was used to but wasn't too revealing.

The smell in the kitchen was wonderful. Chakotay had his tricorder in his pocket and when Anara set the food on the table with a "I hope you enjoy your food please tell me if there's anything more I can offer you." He scanned the food and the strange green drinks to make sure there was nothing in them that was harmful. He nodded to his men and they all dug in. The green drink was sweet and delicious. All of the food was satisfactory as well.

Harry looked over at Anara and said, "This food is wonderful. Thank you."

She immediately looked both shocked and scared by what Harry said. He looked at the other two in confusion but said nothing. They knew nothing of society here and they didn't want to say anything else that might be taken the wrong way.

After they finished eating Chakotay asked Anara if they had any books because he enjoyed reading. What he was really hoping to find was anything on their society. Anara smiled and said, "Oh yes sir, we have a small library upstairs. I will take you to it." Harry and Tom headed back towards their rooms but went to the common area to talk.

When Chakotay returned he had a dozen books or so in his hands. "I grabbed several that are about their society. I thought we better do a little reading tonight in case we need the information."

With a nod Harry replied, "Good thinking"

And Chakotay set all but one of the books down on the low table between them and started to read.

Before he was even a sentence in Harry interrupted his thought. "Um Commander? On the first page of this book it says "Why Slavery is important to a well rounded society'."

Chakotay sighed, "I was really hoping that wasn't the case when Anara used the word 'Master' earlier. I was hoping she was more like a paid housekeeper. Looks like that's not what she meant. Well as unpleasant as it is we must read what we can."

The seats they were sitting in were very comfortable. Soft and smooth but also firm in the right places. They had no frame of reference on this planet but it seemed that the 'Master' of this house had a lot of money.

After reading for about twenty minutes Harry slammed his hand down causing the other two men to look up. "There are some really disgusting laws and practices outlined in this book. Their treatment of women is abhorrent and their treatment of slaves, whom are almost all women, is even worse. It appears they can do pretty much anything they want to them except kill them and have sex with them." He looked nauseous. "I should also point out that there is a very strictly enforced law mentioned in here about slave sympathizers. The punishment is death."

Tom and Chakotay both looked equally disgusted. Tom replied, "The book I'm reading is about farming. And while I do find their advances in farming to be interesting I don't think this book holds anything useful for us." With that he picked up another book.

Chakotay looked at Harry with a knowing look. "I know it's hard to read about something we are so passionately against. But it's best that we know how this world works. We aren't even supposed to rendezvous with Voyager till tomorrow and it could easily take them several days to find us." Then he continued to read the book in his hands.

They read for many hours before they heard a low tinkling noise like a bell. Curious they set down their books and walked out into the hall. There the tinkling noise was slightly louder but still soft. When they reached the end of the Hall harry opened the door to the main hall and found himself face to face with a woman he had not seen before. She was slightly taller than Anara. Gold hair and blue eyes. She was dressed exactly as Anara had been with her hair done up the same way as well. She looked up at his face and smiled. When she said "Hello" she bowed her head and curtseyed. Then she continued, "Dinner's almost ready in the main kitchen. If you wish to eat feel free to arrive there at any time." Then she curtseyed again and left.

They were hungry so to the kitchen they went.

Anara was not in there and Harry asked the other woman where she was.

Looking very worried the woman replied, "Sir she is cleaning do I need to fetch her?"

"No of course not, I just didn't realize anyone else was here besides her so I was wondering where she was."

The woman replied, "Oh yes Master Denles currently has 3 slaves. I am sorry if I startled you before." Again she looked worried, or perhaps frightened.

"What is your name" Harry spoke without thinking. He had read enough to know that men did not engage slaves in conversation. He received a warning look from Chakotay.

"My name is Tenly and the other slave's name is Meeya."

The men only spoke to each other during their dinner then retired to the lounge they had been in before they ate.

As the men returned to their books a thought occurred to Harry. "I'm sure glad none of the women came with us on this away mission. I'm not sure what might have happened if we showed up here with any females that weren't dressed in those slaves clothes."

"I agree Harry. I don't even want to think about what might have happened." Chakotay replied. Then he looked at Tom and said, "Have you found a useful book yet?"

"I thought this one was going to be useful based on it's title. 'The Rise and Fall of the Seratins' But it turns out it's fiction." Tom answered him then chose another book from the pile.

"Commander, It's getting late. I'm tired and I can not bring myself to read another word of this tonight. Can we please call it a night and I will read more tomorrow?" Harry asked.

Chakotay replied, "Yes. It is late and I know we are all tired. We will meet in here in the morning then. Goodnight" He nodded to both men and left the room.

The three men found the beds to be very comfortable and were able to fall asleep quickly.