A Star Trek Voyager and Metroid crossover
Michael Lapine: author.
Eric Duncanson: spell-checker, beta reader, consultant and lucky hairball.
Disclaimer: Hello! And welcome to my pride and joy, Serenade, which is a crossover of my two favorite Sci-fi series (which was outlined above). Of course, you should probably be aware that I am neither Gene Roddenberry nor Gunpei Yokoi, may they rest in peace (claps twice and bows in reverence). I am also not a copyright owner of Star Trek or Metroid, though wouldn't that be nice?
I shouldn't have to say this, but this is a purely fictional work down for entertainment purposes and no profit has been made off it. So you wouldn't get much of anything if you sued me except for a lot of abused books, my only treasured items. In any case, I hope you really enjoy.
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Prologue
Deep within the Delta quadrant, far away from Earth, Starfleet or any recognizable space the old song of humanity was being sung. On board the Voyager it could be heard the clearest and could almost be understood. Though it was a song that most are unaware of, it was subtler than the gentle song of the warp drive. But the warp drive was silent now as it approached what appeared to be a galactic way station or a security checkpoint of some sort.
Chacotay was sitting in the notorious 'hot seat' until captain Janeway came into the bridge, and he stood at a very loose 'at-ease' position. She strode right to the seat he just left, a position of greater responsibility than most could possibly know. To say that she made herself comfortable would be inaccurate, but she gave off the aura of being comfortable anyway. "What do we got here?"
"It looks like a military outpost, a heavily fortified one at that. There are life signs on it, probably humanoid." Seven reported, reading from her sensors. At that last bit, Janeway gave her a curious look. Seven noticed the look, and said, "The readings are a little odd, captain. I can tell you that they are heavily armed, however the weaponry is somewhat primitive. It would pose very little threat to us."
"Thank you, Seven. Just whom are we dealing with?"
"I am not certain, but I think we might be dealing with the Jihadre. They are a species that are nearly extinct, but somehow they manage to run a small star empire they call the Galactic Federation. However, Neelix would be able to tell more about them as the Borg database does not contain much information about them."
"Alright, would you mind opening communications, ensign Kim?"
Kim nodded and got to work. Very soon the view screen changed from the space station and put on the face of one of the most distrustful looking creatures he had ever seen. It had a small head, with a thin face dominated by narrow eyes that were a cold green and its nose was a beak like protrusion. The skin was a chalky white, like the creature had not seen sun light in a very long time.
The creature narrowed its eyes even further, "What do you what!"
Its demand physically took captain Janeway aback, but she quickly regained her composure. "I am Katharine Janeway, captain of the USS Voyager. We respectfully request permission to go through your territory." However, when she finished the creature did not reply immediately. Indeed he did not give any indication that he understand, Janeway was about to make the request again when he replied.
"Fine, you may pass I will notify my superiors as soon as possible about your presence," the creature said, then he cut the communication before Janeway could form a reply.
Janeway frowned and Tom Paris said, "I respectfully submit that perhaps this time we might want to take the long way around."
"So noted. Get Neelix up in my briefing room and set a course through on the quickest route, mister Paris."
"You're the boss."
The captain got up from her chair and made for the side exit of the bridge, where her briefing room was. It was not a very large room, nor were there a lot of comforts in it but it had great view of the expanse of space. She glanced out of the view port as set down behind her desk. What was this sense of dread? In a few minutes Neelix came into the briefing room, bearing a tray with a steaming pot of coffee and a cup.
"I don't remembering asking for coffee."
"I've been told that we've entered the territory of the Galactic Federation. Trust me, you'll be needing this before the day is done."
"Is it that bad?"
"It is worse than you think, captain." Neelix poured her a cup of coffee and sat down, "This area is controlled primarily by the Jihadre, not a race so much as they are a crime family. They were a member of a much larger race that went extinct when their planet was obliterated by a supernova, however they were spared that fate only by the virtue of not being there when it happened. As irony would have it they are slowly dieing out because of inbreeding."
"And yet they have control of this sector? How did that happen?"
"Through a lot of cut throat business and shady dealings and to be honest with you they run a monopoly on everything. Everything costs, including air, and all money goes into their hands."
"Let me guess, we'll be having them on us soon."
"Got it in one. If you want my advice, get through this sector as quickly as possible if not quicker and try to keep a low profile."
"All this time on board, have you ever known us to keep a low profile?"
"No, just thought it might be worth trying."
"Besides, I think that a low profile won't help us any."
The two just sat there for a moment and Janeway sipped her coffee. It was really good coffee, too, she just wished she could sit here and enjoy it. The communicator chirped, and Janeway replied. "Yes?"
"You should come out here to the bridge, we found something."
"Is it bad?"
"No, its dillithium."
"I'm coming." Janeway responded, getting up. She sighed it was such good coffee. "I'm going to need you on the bridge for now."
Neelix did not reply, knowing that it was unnecessary. As they got onto the bridge they saw a planet… if one was to stretch their imagination. With its size it could be more accurately described as a moon or maybe a large asteroid, especially with its ovoid shape. It was pockmarked with craters and had canyons where veins of the precious mineral could be seen with the naked eye.
"Seven?"
"It is an asteroid captain, approximately thirty hundred kilometers long. It might have been the part of a larger planetary mass at one time, though I can't ascertain that with out a more detailed study. A large portion of the mass is in fact dilithium, however the asteroid is generating a magnetic distortion that makes it difficult to scan accurately."
"Is it possible to beam aboard a sample?"
"No, to much disturbance. The transporter beam would likely distort and be lost, I recommend a manual insertion of a landing team in full environmental suits."
"Neelix, what repercussions would the Galactic Federation take?"
"None, captain. They're only interested in things they can exploit, and to the best of my knowledge they are completely uninterested in dilithium."
"What do you think Chacotay?"
"It is a interstellar object, and whoever finds it first gets to claim."
Janeway paced, thinking hard about every angle. What Chaqotay said made sense, but Starfleet procedures normally dictated that the people in charge of the local territory, which would in this case be the Galactic Federation. If she read them correctly then they would probably claim the asteroid anyway in order extort the Voyager for certain items that Janeway was notorious for not parting with, such as technological advances. But come to think of it Starfleet procedures were vague about when the authorities had to be notified. "Okay then, lets do this by the numbers. Tuvak, assemble a landing team and report down to the shuttle bay on the double," Janeway did not wait for a response and continued to Kim, "Prepare to send a message to the Galactic Federation, mister Kim."
"But ma'am…
"And be sure to send it as soon as we are away from here," Janeway finished, cutting off his protests with a smile. Kim looked confused for a moment before returning the smile and getting back to work. She sipped on her coffee nervously for a few minutes, not merely because it was a good brew, though it was, but because she could not shake the feeling of impending doom.
She did not know what she was so nervous of; this was just a typical landing operation, one like any other she had ordered in the past few years. The landing team had not even left the shuttle bay and they were not properly in danger yet, yet her she was chewing on nails already and breaking regulations by bringing a beverage onto the bridge. Janeway ordered herself to calm down and take a deep breath, and then she felt a little better.
But she was not getting rid of her coffee, regulations be damned.
Down in the shuttle bay, Tuvak was preparing his team of four which of two other security guards, a geologist and a pilot. All except for the pilot they were getting into EVA suits, which would hopefully provide sufficient protection against the elements on the asteroid's surface, including any stray, unaccountable radiation sources. Not that he was expecting the dilithium to radiate, because logically dilithium did not radiate until it was processed and had energy running through it. But there were many sources of radiation in the universe, some of which may be on that asteroid.
And it was like the humans would say, better safe than sorry. He took a moment to double check his seals and then permitted Lieutenant Romero, the geologist, to check them as well. It was what the humans affectionately termed the 'buddy system', a logical by the step process that they had in operation for centuries before ever meeting the vulcans.
After every step was taken to ensure the EVA suits were properly sealed, the three-man security team collected a phase riffle and a basic tricorder each while Romero grabbed a phaser and a geological tricorder. The pilot reported her own readiness over the COM, allowing everyone to board before dusting off and leaving the atmospherically sealed shuttled bay. "Tuvak to Voyager, we are in transit to the asteroid."
"We read you, commander. Please be advised that localized disturbance may interfere with communications, so the Captain advises you to make this as timely as possible.""Understood, Tuvak out."
And with that he cut off the COM, staring at the asteroid. It was large, possibly enough so to where they could land the Voyager on its surface. The surface itself was unremarkable and looked to be comprised of a mix of iron ferrate and other silicates, though the shuttle's scanners could not be certain because of the interference. They would be more certain once they made their landing…
…The only source of lighting on the asteroid was the shuttle's running lights, illuminating the ground and the canyon walls in a concentrated area but not far enough to be of any use. Otherwise it was pitch black except for the ethereal glow given off by the exposed dilitihum, which was not enough to navigate by. But the pilot did not pay attention to the view port, she was piloting solely by the sensors.
Why she did not let computer handle it Tuvak did not know, though the other humans did not seem to give it a second thought. The woman coasted the shuttle onto the ground, doing a circular approach like a bird lighting onto a perch. "We've touched down," she reported as she disengaged the engine. She engaged the atmospheric shield, isolating the cockpit, then vented passenger compartment. The team stood and filed out, each grabbing a specimen case as they did so.
Once they set foot outside the security began making a sweep of the immediate area with their scanners. It was clear of any detectible life-signs, so they all turned on their work lights and left the landing zone…
End Prologue
A/N: Thank you for reading this far, esteemed reader. I hope you have enjoyed it, but if you have not than please be sure to let me know. Now, some of you may wonder where I am going with this and where in the two storylines I am picking it up. Do not worry about it to much; it will make itself clear over the course of the story. One of my personal pet peeves is that some fan fiction writers sweat the canon to much… speaking of which, what exactly is a canon? Any way, I know some of you might be anxious to see Samus in action, unfortunately she won't be appearing right away; so I'll have her do the disclaimers and the after words from now on. Well, till next time…