Disclaimer: All
characters, except Amy, and the basic situation (Federation, a lost starship,
etc) belong to Paramount. The lyrics
belong to Northern Songs. This story is a work of fiction and for entertainment
only; I received no compensation for writing this.
Let It Be (chapter
1)
"Captain! One of the
storms is closing on the away team's position!" The ensign, who was manning the sensors in place of Harry Kim,
instantly had Janeway's attention.
"How much time do they have before it hits?" Janeway's mind
leapt into action.
"About a minute, ma'am," the ensign replied.
Janeway cursed silently.
When they entered this system, they had detected a Federation ion trait
that went to this planet but didn't leave.
The storms on the planet made it impossible to do more than locate the
general area that the ship would be in.
Tuvok, Tom, and Harry had gone down to the surface to examine the
possible crash and search for survivors.
"Shields down! Put
the transporters on alert and open a channel to the away team." A flurry of activity met the Captain's
orders.
"Channel's open," called a crewmember.
"There's no time to talk right now, one of the storms is
closing on your position. Stand by to
be transported back to Voyager."
"We read you, Captain," came Tuvok's reply, "and are ready
for transport."
The Captain motioned for the channel to be terminated and
moved towards the turbolift. As the
doors closed, she taped her com badge and said, "Janeway to Transporter Room,
energize when ready." She had hardly
finished speaking when the turbolift doors opened. The Captain walked quickly through the corridors and reached the
transporter room just as the away team was being energized. What she saw when she entered the room made
her stomach clench. Two of the three figures
that stood on the platform were almost completely materialized, but the third
seemed to flicker in and out of existence, as if the transporter were playing
tug of war with some force somewhere.
"Bridge to the Captain," came Chakotay's voice over her com
badge.
"Go ahead," the Captain rushed over to the very distressed
lieutenant who was working to keep the third signal intact.
"Captain, the planets have just undergone a jump in their
rotation around the star. It appears
that the configuration of the planets and the large quantities of EM
interference concealed a black hole in the system."
Janeway glanced up to see Tuvok and Tom had fully
materialized. Tom was staring in horror
at his friend's image and close contact with Tuvok for so long told her that,
even though his face held no emotion, he was quite distressed as well. "Could that be what is causing the
transporter interference?" Janeway
inquired sharply. Before she got a
reply, the lieutenant's sharp intake of breath diverted her attention.
"C-Captain, I-I lost the signal," the crewman's eyes were
wide with terror.
"What do you mean, you lost the signal? Get him here now! I saw his image!" Tom practically screamed as he advanced on the
console.
"I-I can't, sir.
It's almost as if his signal was snatched from the buffers, I-I tried,
I'm sorry." The lieutenant backed away
from Tom.
"Mr. Paris, there is nothing we could do, I'm sorry but we
must accept the fact that Harry's gone." Janeway said as she stepped between
Tom and the crewman. Nothing about her
gave away that she was realling inside from the shock.
"Uh, ma'am, he might not be dead," said the nervous lieutenant.
"What do you mean?
His signal decompiled, right?" Janeway was truly puzzled.
"No, it didn't, ma'am," the lieutenant sounded very
confidant and yet nervous. "His signal
was pulled from the buffers, it didn't decompile. When I realized what was happening, I tried to direct where he
went."
"To where did you send him?" Tuvok inquired.
"Well, I entered the first coordinates that came to me."
"Where did you send him?!" Tom yelled.
The lieutenant mumbled something.
"What was that, speak up Lieutenant," Janeway ordered.
"I sent him to central Georgia, to Earth, ma'am. It's where I grew up and I memorized the
coordinates when I was seven."
"That's impossible," Tom cried. "You're lying!"
"No, I got a signal sent message. I think it may have been the black hole. It bends space, and it may have made it
easier to send a signal through."
Tuvok interrupted.
"While it is true that black holes bend space, they also bend time. So if Ensign Kim did indeed reach Earth,
there is no way to know when he is."
The Captain nodded in agreement.
"How the hell did that happen?" Tom roared. Why didn't you
send him somewhere on the ship!"
No, Janeway thought, the only question that matters is how
do we get him back?
~~~~~~~~
The next chapter should be here in a few days. Please R&R!!
Ashes
