Beth6787
August 2018
Delta Pioneers - Episode 6. Reach for the Stars.
Maxwell Burke makes his bid for freedom ...
Samantha was running late for her shift in sickbay. Now the risk from the Vidians attacking them was effectively all but over, she had found herself helping Kes and Celes more with their clinical duties. Currently Kes was pretty tied up with Council business whilst they all focussed on settling Max Burke and Marla Gilmore into the community.
Marla was physically recovered, though obviously still traumatised by what she had seen of the aftermath of the attack on the Equinox. Apparently Kes and Tuvok had recently started counselling her on a regular basis. Maxwell Burke was still being held in sickbay because the Doctor had ongoing concerns about the progress of healing of his physical injuries from the shuttle crash. Odd really, because on Voyager he would have been as good as new by now. Obviously their limited resources here in Hope Town meant that the Doctor was no longer quite the technological miracle that he was designed to be...
Sighing she called out to Billy Telfer "Are you sure you'll be able to manage all by yourself? If Naomi becomes too much for you just contact Neelix. He's got the day off and assured me yesterday he'd be happy to help."
Billy had to admit to feeling relieved but didn't want Samantha to think he couldn't cope with a mere baby! After all, if he could impress her enough with his parenting skills then...she was really out of his league...back on Voyager he would never have dared hope : but here...now, stranded for the rest of their lives...then just...maybe...
"Billy, did you hear me?!" Samantha came through to the kitchen feeling annoyed. Perhaps this wasn't such a good idea after all.
Quickly grabbing the clean bottles from the steriliser he rapidly improvised. "Sorry, did you say something? I was miles away concentrating on preparing Naomi's breakfast." He turned giving her - what he hoped - was his most confident smile.
Samantha relaxed a little then glanced at her watch. Oh no! She should have relieved Celes twenty minutes ago. "Nothing important. Just call Neelix if you need a hand. I have to fly. See you at 1700 hours." Quickly brushing a light kiss on her sleeping daughter's forehead she rushed out of the door.
On her way across town from the residential block to sickbay she tried calling Celes to apologise. No reply. Never mind, perhaps she just had her hands full with last minute tasks from the Doctor. To be honest she was surprised that he had not been calling her for the last twenty minutes with chivvies and reprimands for her tardiness. Perhaps Kes's attempts to improve his bedside manner were starting to pay dividends for patients and staff alike. Hurrying, she tripped and almost fell on the old tree roots that had worked their way above the surface if the soil. Although it had doubtless been a pleasant spot for Chakotay and Kathryn to site their two person shelter all those months ago, it was a little too remote from the main Hope Town facilities for her liking. She would be glad when the Doctor's program was permanently moved to the much bigger meeting hall site.
At last she reached the door and was taken aback to see it had been propped open this early on a chilly autumn morning. Presumably their only patient,Max Burke, wanted some fresh air and didn't mind the cold. Stepping through she stopped dead in her tracks. There was Celes, out cold on the floor. Calling to the Doctor and getting no reply, she rushed over to her friend. Her pulse was steady but she couldn't rouse her. Grabbing a tricorder it became apparent she was suffering from a phaser stun. It was only then that it dawned on her : there was no sign of her patient, Maxwell Burke.
—
Meanwhile at the shuttle hangar...
Max crouched just behind the dilithium storage tank and checked his tricorder. Still two lifesigns on board. One was definitely BLT unless, Voyager had picked up another Klingon/Human hybrid along the way : highly unlikely! The other was a human male, he assumed one of her engineering subordinates. He would give it a couple more minutes and hope one of them left. If not he would jump the male and take B'Elanna with him. There was not much time left to spare. The human nurse, Wildman wasn't it, would be arriving to replace that Bajoran girl any minute now and would obviously raise the alarm seconds later. Mind you, she would have to see to her unexpected patient without the help of that modified EMH. It was well and truly 'off-line' for the foreseeable future. He doubted even BLT had the skills to unscramble the encryption configurations he had just added.
Checking his tricorder once more he saw his chance. BLT was in the cockpit but the male had headed to the aft section. He could take him out with a single shot before she knew anything was wrong. Moving stealthily along behind the tool racks he approached, phaser set on kill. Less than five seconds later the human male was dead. Shot in the base of the spine whilst the top half was inside the aft nacelle access tube. He never knew what hit him. Pulling the body out onto the hangar floor he glanced down. Ayala, one of the Maquis traitors and a member of Janeway's kangaroo court of a Council , no less. Keep your eyes on the prize Max, he mockingly reminded himself. Seska is going to be very pleased when she sees her unexpected present. Let's just hope there is sufficient fuel left to get this shuttle all the way back to that L - class moon. It was careless of him not to have harvested more from the ruin of the Equinox before he set the self destruct. Better come up with a plausible story before Seska called him out on it...
—
B'Elanna was dog tired. She'd deliberately pulled a double shift and she was feeling it now. Making stupid and careless mistakes. The last one had resulted in her having to send Mike to recalibrate the flow regulators by hand, no less. That was almost ten minutes ago. She knew he was tired but it was certainly taking longer than she expected. Perhaps there were more bugs in the drive system that she had missed. If she hailed him she would just disturb whatever he was in the middle of and they'd never be finished. Better just get back there and lend him a hand. Grabbing her tools she turned and headed for the door, only to register someone in the shadows. Instinct told her it was not Mike but before she could react she was shot in the legs. Falling to the ground she briefly saw Max Burke stride into the room before she lost consciousness.
—
B'Elanna slowly became aware of her surroundings. She was propped up against a bulkhead and her legs were hurting. Squinting, she glanced down to see that both legs were tied together at the ankles and twisted underneath her with her wrists tied together behind her back and somehow tied to the rope around her ankles. She wouldn't be going anywhere until she could get Max to untie her. As she tried to turn her head she felt her neck crick. Her mouth was dry and she was nauseous. She had been jammed between the tactical and engineering consoles in the mid section of the shuttle. She could just make out the back of Max's head of dark hair, sitting at the helm. It was then it dawned on her that the impulse engines were at full throttle and they were no longer in the hangar in Hope Town. Not only that but they had long since cleared the atmosphere of New Earth and were in outer space. Taking a deep breath to try and clear her head set of a fit of coughing.
Maxwell Burke engaged the autopilot then swung around in his seat "Ah, BLT, I'm glad you're back with us. I'd hate for you to miss our little get together. Seska will be thrilled to catch up with you and all the girly gossip no doubt." He couldn't resist a smirk at that. Seeing the mixture of fury and astonishment on her face he continued to brag. After all, what was the harm now? With the assistance of BLT, Seska and the Nistrim he would soon take over that pathetic little colony of theirs. There would still be some useful technology to barter with no doubt, then he and Seska would have to put their heads together and work out how exactly they were going to make contact with the Alpha Quadrant and get their prisoners home. That was after he'd had some fun with Torres of course. No one but no one dumped Maxwell Burke. Least of all a Starfleet cadet drop out, turned traitor!
"So BLT which of the traitors were you screwing to get the Chief Engineer gig on Voyager? My bet is your old captain himself, Chakotay : am I right?" She just snarled at him then spat. "So, you couldn't compete with Seska then? Not really surprising. The Obsidian Order train all their female operatives in the sexual preferences of their main target's species. Even in that rather unflattering - in my opinion - Bajoran disguise of hers, he fell for it. Hook, line and sinker by all accounts. Sure, your Vulcan security officer performed a lacklustre mind meld on me. Not such a good idea. A Starfleet Intelligence Officer can glean just as much from the mind of his interrogator as vice versa. So Tuvok now knows that the Equinox was sent ahead of Voyager to capture your little cell. Apparently Admiral Paris didn't want to risk his precious boy getting a bloody nose if it was left to the newly minted 'child captain' Janeway. So he assigned my team. Which includes our mutual friend, Agent Seska. After all, there is a treaty between our two peoples. We should both be up for a significant promotion when we take the lot of you back."
B'Elanna thought fast. Either Max had finally flipped or Seska really did have access to some technology or spatial phenomenon what would return them home. She had to buy herself time and play along. Find out as much as possible before they encountered Seska. Find a way to turn the situation around and get a warning back to New Earth before the Nistrim assault fleet descended on them.
"Well Max, I have to give it to you : you had us all fooled. Though giving your entire ship and crew to the Vidians to harvest in exchange for safe passage to your rendezvous site with Seska... I may have called time on my Starfleet career only one semester in, but I'm pretty sure that would count as far more treasonous than anything our little Maquis cell ever accomplished !" She had meant to butter him up, but when it came to it, her Klingon temper got the upper hand as usual.
"Tut Tut...It truly pains me to realise that you think so lowly of me. The Equinox tragedy was just that. An unfortunate incident over which I had no control...do you really imagine I would have allowed the Vidians carte blanche to help themselves to all that useful Federation technology? No. They double crossed the idiot Captain Ransom as soon as my back was turned. Had it been up to me, we would have commandeered the Vidian ship and all its technology as a little sweeter to up my reward once I got you all home."
There was so little time left. Every second that passed she was getting further away from New Earth and any chance of having sufficient power left in the shuttles reserves to get back. Which meant she either conned Max into untying her soon and regained control of their ship or she would have to attempt to escape in a Nistrim shuttle after the rendezvous. With no one to back her up nor any way for anyone from Hope Town to follow her, she had to act fast.
"Well done Max. I always knew you'd come through for us. Haven't you worked it out yet? Surely you didn't buy that our fun at the Academy was just a matter of chance? I knew all about Chakotay's little band of terrorists all along. I was the back up in case Seska's seduction techniques were ...below parr. A fully qualified Starfleet engineer defecting would have been too convenient. Even Chakotay is not that dumb! But a disgruntled, misfit cadet...who just happens to be a bit of an engineering whizzkid ...well...you join the dots!"
She was bluffing, she had to be. "If that's true BLT, then I would have picked up on it during that Vulcan's mind meld. He was the Starfleet plant on the Val Jean , not you."
"Well for an Intelligence Division Officer you're really not too sharp are you? Tuvok had no idea I was anything other than what I appeared to be. But then I wasn't there to seduce the Vulcan was I? Unless Chakotay is a closet gay, the only Starfleet Officer that he would take into his confidence was me. Oh, I know we officially collaborate on these operations with the Cardassian government but you and I both know that Starfleet was not about to leave the mission solely in the hands of a Cardassian agent. However seductive and - hopefully - convincing her disguise. Now untie me so we have time to work out together how we are going to outwit Seska and take control of the technology to get us all home. Surely you don't want the Obsidian Order claiming all the credit for this mission do you?"
Was it true? BLT was on their side all along? Then why had she dumped him just before she left the Academy? So that she would be 'single' and therefore available to to Maquis captain...of course! It made sense! Now to save face. "You think I didn't know that all along my dear? All this..." He smirked at her before sweeping his eyes around the shuttle "I was just making double sure you'd not switched sides once we hit that little snag of a displacement wave all those many months ago. I was pretty sure you hadn't. Otherwise you would be as dead as Ayala now."
Feeling sick at that revelation it took all of her remaining strength to continue the charade. Smiling at him seductively she asked, "Max...just how long do we have until we reach the rendezvous? Surely enough time to get ...reacquaintedon route?"
This was more like it! "At our current speed we have about fourteen hours. Plenty of time for a little R & R my dear."
"Great! Untie me and let me freshen up whilst you replicate us some drinks. After all, we have a lot to catch up on." Leering as seductively as she could she reminded him "You know that no human woman has come close to satisfying your needs in the way a Klingon woman can."
Why not Max, he told himself. After all, she's hardly going to have the strength to overpower me after being tied up like that for over six hours. Besides, where's she going to go? There's nowhere to beam out to. No back up forces and no way of disengaging the autopilot without setting of the self destruct. It hardly matters what the truth is anymore, but turn down the chance of one last truly great shag with BLT...no way.
—-
Whilst Max was fixing the drinks and food she had done her best to wash herself down and stripped to nothing more than her tank top and regulation shorts. Hardly that seductive but it sent a signal that she fully intended to have a little fun with him. Enough to get him off guard to go and prepare them some food. She had a couple of minutes. Tops. She just fervently hoped that Kathryn had had time to get her emergency back up plan operational. If not...she chances of getting out of this alive were next to none.
Rapidly keying in the request sequence for a twenty second sonic shower, the Doctor materialised. "Please state...don't bother." Assessing the situation in the split second it took his algorithms to recognise the scenario parameters that Kathryn had programmed in, he accessed the shuttles command sequencers and filled the cabin space with Alfusin anaesthetic gas. As expected Maxwell Burke collapsed into unconsciousness before he had a chance to attempt anything and B'Elanna was coughing and groggy. Klingons were entirely immune to the effects but she had enough Human DNA to knock her off kilter. Replicating a single dose of the antidote he pressed the hypospray to her neck. "It should take a couple of minutes until you are back to your usual acerbic self, whilst Mr. Burke here will be unconscious for at least twelve hours. I suggest you fill me in."
B'Elanna relayed everything that she had gleaned from Burke whilst trying to disengage the autopilot, without blowing them up. The doctor thought for a moment. "So, if we stay on course we will rendezvous with Seska's armada of Kazon thugs at that moon where Max and Marla were collecting the dilithium for the Equinox."
"Exactly. So we need to get control of the shuttle and turn about now! We are already cutting it really fine with the power reserves we have left.."
"...we stand virtually no chance of making it back to New Earth as it is." the Doctor concluded for her. "So perhaps we should stay on course for the moon? We could then collect more than enough dilithium to get us home AND resolve our severe power shortages at Hope Town."
"And how do you propose to get past Seska's ship unnoticed?" B'Elanna could do without the EMH imagining he was now a tactician too. "I hate to break it to you Doc but the only reason you are here now is that you are the only crew member that can be stored in the shuttle's ancillary systems."
He would be insulted if he was capable of such feelings "I may be no more than a glorified medical tricorder to you Miss Torres, but I'll have you know that the Captain did more than just arrange an emergency transport for my matrix should Mr. Burke here try to scramble my photons." Puffing his chest out and doing his best to mimic her Bridge stance he added "I have been programmed with copies of her command codes. Observe."
B'Elanna stood back and watched in awe as he deactivated the auto-pilot and cancelled the self destruct. Striding over to the replicator he recycled whatever Max had prepared and replaced them with a ploughman's salad and a large mug of Earl Grey tea. Not exactly haute cuisine but she was starving! "Thanks" she conceded as she sat down and tucked in. "So Agent EMH what next?"
The Doctor came and sat next to her. "We outmanoeuvre Seska..."
—
Meanwhile at Hope Township...
Chakotay could not believe what he was hearing. Had there been a single member of his crew that had not double crossed him...apart from poor Ayala?! And now...well, Tuvok and Kathryn had only seen fit to call this Council meeting and finally tell them all - at least what he had to assume was now - the whole truth once Samantha had raised the alarm in sickbay and they had all rushed over towards the shuttle bay when they heard her engines ignite. Of course, their attention had been immediately diverted from Burke's attempted escape by Chell's discovery of Mike Ayala's body. What was left of it, after the extreme scorching from the impulse engines igniting almost on top of him. It was Kes who confirmed that he had died at least half an hour beforehand.
He and Carlson had wrapped Mike's remains and taken them to the temporary mortuary facility. Needing the Doctor to confirm the cause of death he had then gone to the temporary sickbay, only to find that there was no trace of the Doctor's program to activate. It was only then that Kathryn had approached him and told him there was some information that had come to light during Tuvok's mind meld with the Equinox First Officer that she had unilaterally decided to keep from the rest of the Council members...
Now here he was, with what remained of the Council just over an hour later. Trying to get his head around the fact that yet another Starfleet ship had been sent to apprehend him and that Seska was not only working for the Cardassians but in collaboration with the Federation too - in the guise of Maxwell Burke! His fury at Tuvok and Kathryn aside, he had to focus on the bigger picture. Rescuing B'Elanna and getting their EMH back. After all, however good Kes and Celes were as field medics, they were hardly a substitute for the only fully qualified doctor on their entire planet! As for B'Elanna, his gut told him that she was genuine. She had felt ostracised at the Academy and then been used as a sexual plaything by one of her instructors. No wonder she had become disillusioned enough to disown the lot of them and lend her talents to a just cause. She was...no is...he hastily corrected himself, half Klingon and her sense of honour and fair play were written into her DNA. If she was with Burke now, it was not of her own volition.
So, apparently the plan was that if Burke escaped from sickbay it was to be assumed that he would head straight for the shuttle. Thus Kathryn, in her wisdom, had programmed an emergency transfer sequence to send the Doctor on ahead. As soon as his program uploaded to the shuttles database, a copy of her command codes would be integrated into his matrix. Thus whenever any of the shuttles ancillary systems were activated by Burke, such as the replicators or sonic shower, he would reactivate and render Burke unconscious by flooding the shuttle with anaesthetic gas. Then, he would override the navigation system and bring the shuttle home. Only it had not been as simple as that. Burke had not found an empty shuttle to steal but one occupied by B'Elanna and Mike. Poor Mike was accounted for but he'd decided to take B'Elanna with him. Which could only mean he had a plan : to rendezvous with someone, somewhere. It did seem likely that Tuvok's hypothesis was right. Burke was heading for that moon where he'd collected the dilithium to rendezvous with Seska and Maj Cullah. Only there was nothing they could do from here. No ship, no shuttles, no transporters. No anything!
Trying to contain his frustration he drawled sarcastically at Tuvok "SO...what exactly are we supposed to do now. Pray for divine intervention? or perhaps summon a Q ?"
Actually...if they could summon a member of the Q...His thoughts were interrupted by Kathryn.
"We hope that B'Elanna is well and can assist the Doctor with getting the shuttle home. The biggest risk was a total power failure before he reaches New Earth. With B'Elanna aboard, the chances of getting the Doctor and shuttle home have just increased by several orders if magnitude."
Could she be any more blind! Apparently he would have to spell it out "You are presuming that 1. B'Elanna is conscious or even still alive. 2. that Burke will use one of the auxiliary systems in order to activate the Doctor at all. 3. that his matrix is still fully functional after your meddling with it. Seska will not catch up with them first...need I go on?"
He now had the entire Council's undivided attention. Shame it was a few days too late!
"The fact of the matter is that we are absolutely powerless to pursue Burke. We are trapped on this planet's surface and can only hope in vain that we ever see our shuttle and friends again. In the meantime we have to devise a plan to defend ourselves from the almost certain inevitability that a fleet of Kazon Nistrim ships will descend on our location any day now. Fan- bloody -tastic."
Chakotay had had enough. Standing with such force he smashed his chair to pieces on the hard floor : he stormed out.
Kathryn drew a deep breath and addressed the others. "Let him go. He's upset : we all are. I'll speak to him myself once he's had a chance to cool off. Much as we all want to pay our respects to Mike Ayala, that will have to wait. We need to prepare for when the Kazon arrive. Hopefully accompanied by our shuttle but in either event, this is what we must do."
She then went on to describe the modifications needed to the shield grid in order to turn it into a weapon that could counter an attack from orbit rather than just deflect an energy weapon. She had hoped to have B'Elanna to work with but Joe Carey and Harry Kim would have to suffice. The key pieces of information that were vital to her plan's success were the phase discrepancies between the Kazon phasers and the rotational magnetic flux of their shield emitters. Both would be obtainable by the Doctor should the shuttle be intercepted by Seska as expected. As long as the Kazon were unaware of his presence on board, her plan should work. It was now up to B'Elanna to piece together the puzzle and put on the performance of her life.
Wrapping the meeting up, Kathryn and Joe went to brief Harry Kim and assemble what remained of their engineering team. It would be all hands on deck for however much time they had left.
Kes took Samantha and Celes to set up the Mess Hall in preparation for the many casualties they could expect if Kathryn and Tuvok's plan failed. The others all headed off to sound the general alarm and gather the colonists working dispersed across the agricultural land back into the centre of town.
All except Tom Paris. He was struggling to function at all. This was his fault! He knew Burke was a bastard and couldn't be trusted. So why had he not forced the council to mount proper security around the sickbay? Why had he left B'Elanna to work all night alone on that shuttle? Now Mike was dead and Chakotay...Oh God! Chakotay...what would he do next? They had to find a way to help B'Elanna and of all the people left on this rock, if anyone would know what to do : it would be her surrogate brother Chakotay.
Racing off in the direction of the riverbank Tom went to find Chakotay in the one spot he went to hide from the world. He may have the others fooled but not Thomas Eugene Paris.
—-
Seska's face loomed large in the shuttle viewscreen. "So B'Elanna, you expect me to believe that lover boy Max gave you that black eye before you knocked him out. Then you decided to switch sides and allie yourself with us. Do you think I was born yesterday?"
Knowing that the whole plan depended on Seska taking the shuttle aboard rather than just teleporting the unconscious body of Max then blowing them to kingdom come she used her most beguiling voice. When in Rome...and all that "Please Seska. Think about it. Why would I want to stay on that Federation colony with a bunch of Starfleet has-beens dictating to me all day when I have the opportunity to join forces with you? Maxxie here was just a convenient means to an end. Of course I persuaded him to take me along for the ride - do I need to spell it out. He was putty in my hands. Always was...Once he had divulged the rendezvous location I simply gassed him. If you scan my shuttle your sensors will detect a residue of Alfusin gas. Knocks Humans out instantly but Klingons are immune, as you well remember. I used that trick a time or two aboard the Val Jean to get us both out of trouble, didn't I. Why would I double cross Max if I was planning to fight you? Surely you can see the sense of us joining forces. I offer you this shuttle and the upgrades I have personally designed and installed. Max wouldn't have the first clue about them. But with me to teach your engineers how to make the most of all this advanced Starfleet technology..."
She let the carrot hang in the air. The prey bit.
"Very well." Seska turned and indicated to the Kazon behind her. "Tractor that shuttle into the port docking bay and get a security team down there to meet it. Meanwhile you and I are going to have a long overdue tete-a-tete."
B'Elanna felt the pull of the Kazon transporter beam before the shuttle cockpit blinked out of existence.
Ten minutes later the Kazon boarding party dragged the still unconscious body of Maxwell Burke to their brig. Maj Cullah would want to interrogate him once he woke up. Tezir didn't fancy his chances once the Maj discovered that he had been outwitted by a female. Probably feed him alive to his pet razor fang. Either that or let the youngest warriors pursue him for the kill, though he wouldn't prove much of a challenge from the looks of him. Who cared, as long as Seska dealt with that other scheming female, so they could get back and capture that colony of Federations and all their advanced technology as soon as possible.
—
Once the Kazon were satisfied that the shuttle was now empty they posted a couple of guards at the shuttle bay entrance and the rest left. The Doctor waited another five minutes before reactivating himself. First things first. He quickly locked onto the bio-signature of B'Elanna Torres so that he could beam her out as soon as the Kazon ship was in range of New Earth. They only had sufficient power left in the impulse drive to travel half a light year at most so the Kazon would have to enter the New Earth star system before they could make their run for it. Timing was everything.
In the meantime he had to find those frequencies for the Captain and transmit the data on a carrier wave through the plasma exhaust manifolds of the Kazon nacelles. It had to be readable by the remaining limited technology they had at the colony HQ but non detectable by the Kazon Bridge crew. He just hoped these command tactical modules that Kathryn had hastily added to his database were up to the job...
—
B'Elanna found herself in what she assumed was a Kazon interrogation chamber. It fitted all the cliches. Darkened room with one dim light source being shone in her face. A metal chair that she was apparently shackled to. A desk in front of her with Seska sitting opposite plus some burly shadows in the background. Kazon crew presumably there to intimidate the hapless victim. It was such a cliche that she would have laughed if the lives of the entire Hope Town colony were not riding on her shoulders. As it was she knew the Doctor was right : she had to give an Oscar worthy performance. She waited for Seska to begin.
"So where's Voyager? You don't seriously believe I bought into Max's absurd lie that your ship is dead and buried under the surface if that primitive planet do you?"
B'Elanna couldn't believe her luck. Seska already thought Burke had double crossed her, intending to keep Voyager and all her technology for himself. All she had to do was play along and feed the psychotic Cardassian P'tak exactly what she wanted to hear. Smiling slowly but keeping her eyes deadly cold she began. "Of course not. I told Maxxie that you'd never fall for such a blatantly stupid ploy. Voyager is fully functional and at an undisclosed location. At least to me. Janeway set up that whole colony sham using holo-emitters. It looks really authentic from orbit. She even added a few real buildings and left a skeleton crew to lure you in. The idea is obviously that you will sit in orbit, trying to break down the dummy defences only to find literally nothing once you blast your way through the holo-emitters. Meanwhile, Voyager will suddenly jump out of warp, right on top of you and blast you to smithereens unless you surrender and hand back all the Federaton technology you have already stolen."
"And you are now divulging all this to me because..."
She could see Seska's mind whirling. Trying to decide whether she would abandon all her principles, sacrificing all those she had lived and worked with for the last two and a half years : just to save her own scrawny neck. Exactly as the Cardassian P'tak would without a second thought.
"Isn't it obvious Seska? Voyager had already lost the moment that bitch Janeway destroyed the Array and our only route back. This is the Delta Quadrant. There is no Starfleet, no Federation, no Prime Directive... Hell, there's no law except that we create for ourselves. The only way to survive here is to join forces with the existing power players : right here. The most powerful of those is the Kazon Nistrim. So the only person worth forming an allegiance with is Maj Cullah. You saw that all along Seska. I only wish I had had the sense to jump ship with you back then. So do a lot of our former Maquis friends. We can take Voyager because they will obey my commands. I am not here by accident, I came along with Max to make a pact with you. Join forces with me and Voyager is the Maj's to impress all the other sect leaders with."
Had it worked? Would Seska bite? They sat, facing each other down for what seemed like minutes but in reality was probably around thirty seconds. That's all it took to get Seska to superimpose her own values on the young Klingon woman sitting opposite her.
"Congratulations for finally seeing the light, B'Elanna. Come, join Maj Cullah and me in our private chambers. You need refreshments and clean clothing, then we have much to discuss."
With that the burly shadows came into the light and removed her shackles. Rubbing her wrists and emphasising her limping gait she followed Seska into the bowels of hell.
—
The Doctor felt the change in vibration through the shuttles floor plating which meant the Kazon raider was dropping out of warp as it entered the New Earth system. They would be in orbit of Hope Town colony in about fifteen minutes. Time to send the sensor information and hope that Kathryn and her team were at their posts to receive it. They would have minutes at most to implement the modifications and get that shield weapon on line. He still had the lock on B'Elanna but worryingly she was still in close proximity to Maj Cullah in what appeared to be his bedchamber. Even Seska was back at her post on the Kazon Bridge. He checked their exact location one more time, still four minutes too far out for the shuttles energy reserves. They would have to maintain full impulse from the second they blasted out of the shuttle bay doors to the moment they passed through Hope Town's shield grid if they stood a chance of making it home in one piece.
—
Meanwhile back at Hope Town colony...
"That's them alright." Hogan called from the sensor net monitoring console. "A Kazon power signature just beyond the fourth planet out. They'll be in orbit in around three minutes."
Joe Carey swore under his breath, that was about five minutes too soon. He looked up at Kathryn "How much longer?"
She wiped the sweat from her sore and bloodshot eyes. "Five minutes at least. Once I had deciphered the Doctor's message I realised that the shield grid would have to oscillate the theta band wave at 3.5 TerraHertz per second. That meant uncoupling the power sources from the residential generators as well as those used here for the shield grid. There are still eight cables to align and then I need to recalibrate."
Suddenly Chakotay appeared "I'll see to the cables Kathryn. Johnny, show me where they are." Relieved she nodded briefly at him and returned to the monitor. They still needed to buy themselves another five minutes...
Tom had seen enough. Time to put his plan into action. He just hoped that it would fool Seska for those precious five minutes giving B'Elanna and the Doctor a chance to escape before that raider was in range of Kathryn's soon to be completed nasty surprise.
—
How much longer? B'Elanna was rapidly running out of stalling options. After their conspiratorial dinner she had been subjected to witnessing Cullah and Seska 'getting friendly' with one another before Seska had taken her leave and told B'Elanna to keep the Maj 'entertained' for the rest of the journey. It soon became apparent that his ardour was not fully assuaged. So she had been plying him with drink after drink, in the vain hope that he would fall asleep before...but no, he was still pawing at her. Putting on what she hoped was a breathless, seductive voice, she purred "Maj, let me change into that red silk negligee your servant woman brought in during dinner. I'm sorry about my earlier behaviour, being a Klingon woman I needed to warm up first. All this Kazon ale and seeing what I was missing when you and Seska...well, let's just say I can assure you I will be worth the wait. Just a few moments more anticipation..."
He leered at her and reluctantly allowed her to go change behind the screen. Taking as long as she could without him deciding to come change her attire for her, she gritted her teeth. The Doctor had better get her out of here right now or he would be holo-dust the next time she saw him. Being able to stall no longer she slowly sashayed out from behind the screen wearing nothing but the very clingy, very revealing red slip. Improvising like mad, she started to perform a 'mating dance' for the Maj.
—
For once the Doctor was speechless ! B'Elanna materialised virtually on top of him, entirely naked except for a very sheer bright red silk negligee that barely covered her assets top or bottom. It wasn't until she yelled at him to get to the phaser array and start firing that he came to his senses. She was already at the helm and the shuttle was heading full throttle towards the closed bay doors!
"Raising shields and firing" he called out. Blasting a hole through the Kazon hull with less than a second to spare. As the shuttle came about and headed straight for New Earth he heard B'Elanna exclaim. "In the name of Kahless, how is Voyager out there?!"
Sure enough Voyager was rapidly advancing on the Kazon raider from behind New Earth's inner moon. There was no time to take this in. "B'Elanna, head for the shield grid. Give it everything we've got!"
Coming to her senses she focussed all her attention on making it home. Sure enough just as the shuttle approached the shield perimeter the Kazon raider turned it's fire on Voyager.
—
They'd made it! His ploy had worked! With the help of Mortimer Harren and Doug Bronowski he had managed to make a life sized holographic decoy of Voyager. Anyone running a full sensor sweep would pick up that it was a holographic projection in seconds, but he was banking on the element of surprise and Seska being more than willing to believe her Starfleet treasure trove of technology was still there for the taking. Kathryn had said she needed another five minutes and he was going to do his best to give it to her.
In the background he heard Neelix shout out that the shuttle was safely through and they could power up the defence grid now. Kes, Celes and Samatha made their way out to the shuttle and reported that the Doctor and B'Elanna were unharmed.
At that moment Chakotay ran in to report that the last of the power cables was linked up and Kathryn nodded. "Stand back everyone, I'm not sure the couplings will hold." She powered up the deflector to maximum and held her breath. It flickered a little but it held. Now they just needed to lure Seska into firing at the shield grid itself.
With split second timing Tom turned the holographic Voyager and headed her straight for the colony. As soon as the Kazon raider was within firing range he swooped holo-Voyager into orbit and switched off the holo-emitters.
—
One minute she and Cullah were firing at Voyager, the next she vanished! Cullah roared at his weapons officer, thinking he had vaporised their prize, but she instantly knew. It was another Starfleet trick, one she had seen Chakotay pull off successfully once before!
Shouting above the general chaos rapidly spreading across the Kazon Bridge she ordered the weapons officer to keep firing. "They've tricked us you fool. The real Voyager must still be concealed. Fire at that shield grid down there. We are going to take Janeway's lackeys hostage and force her to reveal herself. Either that or watch her crewmen go up in smoke. Fire!"
Cullah hit her across the face before nodding to the weapons officer to do as she suggested. That's the last time he would follow the plans of a woman! Seska was about to grovel for his forgiveness when she saw it, their salvo of torpedoes and phaser fire rebounding off the shield and returning on the exact same trajectory. To obliterate them. She opened her mouth to shout for the helm to take evasive action but the volley hit before she could utter a sound. And that was the last she ever knew.
—
Three hours later. B'Elanna's quarters...
She stretched her legs out in front of her as she settled more comfortably on his lap. It was still hard to believe but Pool Shark had saved the day. Everyone's lives on the colony, but most importantly he had done it for her. Not that she considered her life more important than the others - far from it - but Tom had. His plan to create the holographic decoy had been inspired. Everyone had praised him but as soon as it was possible they had gotten away. She had escaped to her sanctuary and he had followed her. Needing to know she was alright. She had seen the concern when he had noticed her 'attire' . Not wanting him to know just how close a call it had been, she pretended that Cullah had had a hareem on board and all she had done was sit in a room with the other 'comfort girls' being fed and watered. It was close enough to the truth and if it would let Tom sleep with an easy conscience tonight, then it was worth it.
As if reading her mind he spoke. "B'Elanna, may I stay here with you tonight?" . He felt her start to tense in his lap "No, that's not what I meant. I...I just want to hold you...to know you are really here...safe...with me."
She felt the familiar sting of unshed tears behind her eyes. "Okay, we can snuggle up on the sofa. I'll get the duvet."
"No 'Lanna. Let me."
Two minutes later she was sound asleep in his arms. They had lost Mike but Seska and the Nistrim were history now too, along with that puppet of his father's - Maxwell Burke. She was safe now and as long as he drew breath he promised himself that he would never allow another man to harm a single hair on her head. Kissing the top of her head gently and tucking the duvet around them both he soon joined her in the land of nod.
TO BE CONTINUED...
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