Beth6787
August 2018
Delta Pioneers - Episode 5 - A Glimpse of Home...
A rescue mission brings new challenges and opens old wounds...
At first Joe thought it was merely a glitch in the sensor net. After all, the new colony shield grid had only been fully operational for four days now. Probably just another of many teething problems. He was on the night shift with Hogan and they handed over to B'Elanna again at 0600. That was less than two hours away. Probably not worth even investigating but, then again, Hogan could do with the training and it would make the time pass more quickly to keep busy.
"Hey Hogan, come look at this. What do you think?"
Johnny Hogan jerked his head up at the sound of Carey's voice. Another few seconds and he would have been sound asleep. Shaking himself awake by standing and stretching, he glanced at the chronometer. 0432 hours. That was over an hour too long until he could hit his bunk for real. He fervently hoped that whatever Carey wanted to show him would not be worth getting excited about. The last thing he needed this morning was to wind up pulling a double shift. Carey was usually pretty laid back but once Torres got her teeth into something...well, suffice to say you could forget about having a life outside Engineering until the issue was resolved to her satisfaction. And she was never satisfied!
Standing behind Carey's chair as he replayed the energy spike, Hogan was confused. "That looks as if it originated for above the shield grid. Something burning up in the atmosphere, a large meteorite perhaps?"
"That's what I initially thought but the trajectory and angle of descent alters markedly just here. Which would imply the object could control and alter its course. Which implies.."
"Some sort of powered craft? But there's no ion trail or magnetic flux to indicate either an impulse drive nor neutrino residue from a collapsed warp field. Do you think we should call Torres down here?" Hogan asked very half heartedly. "Or perhaps we could just call in Harry Kim. If it's easily explained away I don't want to have been the person to disturb Torres beauty sleep."
Johnny had a point, but he was in charge of the night shift, so the two of them had better at least make an attempt to resolve the issue first. "No, let's run an EM band analysis of the projected landing zone. That won't take a lot of power and should tell us whether there's any activity at the impact site."
Hogan shrugged "As long as you take the wrap for this one Joe. You know how obsessive Torres gets about minimising energy outputs for non essentials...".
Carey just grimaced and crossed his fingers before initiating the sensor sweep.
Thirty seconds later they were putting out a full alert to the council. Coming back loud and clear was an emergency beacon repeating signal : with a Starfleet signature.
—
It was hastily decided that a rescue mission would be mounted using the last of the shuttle's remaining power reserves. It was not ideal, the engineering team still being focussed on rectifying the myriad small glitches in the new shield grid, so the shuttle maintenance and upgrade was still awaiting manpower and resources. However, the beacon signal was originating from a distance of 42.3 miles NW of Hope Town and at an elevation of 845 metres. Though hardly a mountain, they had obviously landed fairly high up in the surrounding hills, and without transporters they were looking at several days on foot to reach any survivors.
The 'away team' was to comprise of Tom Paris at helm, Kes and Tal Celes as field medics and Kathryn Janeway to keep the shuttle flying should any systems start to fail. Also as the former Captain of Voyager, to make first contact with whomever currently held possession of that Starfleet distress beacon. As Tom completed the pre-flight checks Kathryn and the medical team stowed as many supplies as they could, allowing for the possibility that the shuttle would need to accommodate up to four casualties for the return trip. If there were more, then at least one of the rescue party would stay behind and somehow they would have to eek enough power out of the impulse engines for a second trip. Though that would realistically be at least two days later. They would just have to hope that they encountered less than four people at the crash site.
Whilst Tom and Kathryn were in the cockpit, Celes and Kes sat in the back assembling those medical items that were portable into their backpacks. Celes spoke first, in a whisper so as not to be heard by the other two "So who do you think we will find Kes? I keep hoping it will be another Starfleet crew but my money is on Seska and the Kazon Nistrim. It's highly likely she still has some stolen technology from Voyager."
Kes thought for a moment "But if it had been Voyager's then Joe and Johnny Hogan would have recognised their own ship's unique signal modulation, surely? So it must be Starfleet but originating from another ship."
"Or Seska has just made a bad replica. B'Elanna could have made an exact copy I bet, but Seska used to make almost as many engineering mistakes as I did. Believe me, that's bad!"
Kes smiled at her reassuringly. "Well in that case she'll be no match for Kathryn and Tom, so we'll be okay. Besides, whatever had come down, it wasn't a controlled landing so any survivors are unlikely to pose a risk to us just now. Let's just think of them as patients and do our best to help shall we."
Feeling a little guilty for starting the whole conversation, Celes quickly nodded briefly at Kes, before spending the rest of the journey engrossed in her work.
—-
Two hours later and Tom Paris was busy cutting though the hull of a Mark III short range supply shuttle. A much smaller and more basic design than they carried on Voyager with a maximum crew complement of three. Which would certainly help matters. Their tricorders only registered two life signs, both human, which was simultaneously a surprise and a relief. Although this looked to be a genuine shuttle from a Nova class science vessel, his gut had still told him to expect either Cardassian and /or several Kazon life form signatures.
Regardless, neither had responded to hails or the rescue team banging on the hull then listening for responding sounds from inside. Either they were unconscious, trapped, or dead. Maybe a combination of the above. Kes and Celes stood ready with hyposprays loaded with analgesics suitable for human physiology and a defibrillator and triage kit each. Kathryn had the fire extinguisher and oxygen bottles and masks should either of the humans inside have inhaled copious amounts of toxic gases.
Finally the hull gave way and between the four of them they managed to force the metal panelling apart enough to get through. Kathryn took Kes with her, instructing Tom and Celes to remain outside until she had ascertained the full situation. Tom started to object, then thought better if it. They may all be 'civilians' now, due to their enforced settlement on New Earth, but Kathryn was still a fully trained Starfleet Captain. Why not utilise her expertise to the full when the situation called for it? Less than a minute later, Kathryn re-emerged through the gap.
"It's safe to go in. Celes please help Kes to stabilise the man." As soon as Celes was through the gap she put her hand up stalling Tom. She then gave him a brief report of what she had found. Two humans, both alive, one man and one woman wearing Starfleet uniforms. The man was unconscious and they were both trapped under mangled consoles. She had put the oxygen mask on the man and checked his pulse before handing over to Kes. The woman was conscious, though disorientated from a head wound. Tom would need to cut the panelling away to free both the woman's legs and the man who was pinned down across his thorax and abdomen. She was going to quickly contact Hope Town to give the Doctor and Samantha an update and tell them what to expect when they returned with the casualties.
—
Just over an hour later, both casualties were on stretchers in the back of Voyager's shuttle along with the black box flight recorder from the pulverised Mark III shuttle remains which Kathryn had managed to free from what was left of the helm console : whilst the others were freeing and stabilising the patients for the return flight.
Once airborne, Kathryn left Tom at the helm and went to check on the patients. The man was still unconscious and Kes was monitoring him, whilst Celes sat watching the woman who was awake and looking about. Kathryn indicated for Celes to go help Kes then sat next to their visitor and introduced herself. "Hello, can you hear and understand me?'
The woman squinted as if trying to clear her vision but turned her head in the direction of the sound of Kathryn's voice. "y...ye..ss. I ...hear...yo..u."
"My name is Kathryn. Kathryn Janeway and I was a Starfleet Captain of the U.S.S. Voyager..."
The woman looked confused. "Was..?"
"It's a long story that I will happily tell you once you and your companion are recovered and back at base. For now could you tell me who you are?"
"Yes, C..Captain? My name is Marla. Marla G...Gil...Gilmore, Ensign in Engineering of the U.S.S. Equinox." She then tried to sit up and turn to look behind her but as soon as she tried to lift her shoulders she groaned, feeling a wave of nausea and sank back down onto the stretcher. "M...Max. How i..is he?"
"The other officer with you? He's still unconscious but our medical team have him stabilised. His name is Max?" Kathryn prompted, hoping she would recall more. He was obviously the ranking officer, the remnants of his jacket being of command red.
Ensign Gilmore winced then spoke in not much more than a whisper. "He is Commander Maxwell Burke, First Officer of the Equinox."
Now they were making progress. As soon as this First Officer was awake she could liaise with him about locating his ship. Perhaps gaining passage for her crew as well as the two rescued Equinox personnel. She smiled at the young woman, putting on her best reassuring tone she spoke softly "Thank you Ensign. You have been very helpful. Rest now, we'll speak more once you have been attended to in our sickbay." Then indicating for Celes to return and stay with Gilmore she retraced her steps to the cockpit. Having relayed what she knew to Tom she contacted Hope Town.
It was B'Elanna who answered and Kathryn gave her as detailed a report as she could, finishing with the identities of the two Officers they had rescued. It was only when she mentioned the man's name that she saw B'Elanna visibly tense for a moment, then do her best to mask it. Had she not been a trained scientist with a keen observer's eye she may well have missed it. Making a mental note to ask B'Elanna about it later she cut the transmission.
—
B'Elanna knew she had to go inform Chakotay and the others then get out to the shuttle landing site to help with unloading the patients and all the medical equipment : but for a moment she was frozen to the spot, in shock. Maxwell Burke ? Here in the Delta Quadrant ? NOW ? ! ..
Surely this had to be some sort of trick? What were the odds? Tom Paris could no doubt tell her but it had to be a trillion-to-one... But, just for a moment, supposing it actually was him (maybe it was just a bizarre co-incidence with the name...please let that be it) then life was about to get a whole lot more uncomfortable for her. Just when she was beginning to feel as if she finally fitted in, as if she was part of something. It would be just her luck to have Max appear and smash that fledgling dream to smithereens...
Grabbing her jacket and portable tool kit she stride out confidently towards the landing site. It was just a coincidence or a sick joke on the part of Pool Shark. If it was the latter, she'd make him pay dearly!
As she reached the landing site she saw Chakotay and Ayala carrying the first stretcher containing a slightly built blonde, human woman. The woman was obviously conscious but took no notice of B'Elanna or Hogan as they strode by. Samantha Wildman had joined her colleagues, Kes and Celes, clustered around the second stretcher which Kathryn and Tom were carrying between them. There was a lot of medical paraphenalia and a mask over the patient's face but she had to know. Striding over she enquired whether they needed another stretcher bearer, as a pretext for not heading straight into the shuttle behind Hogan. Kathryn told her they were fine and just at that moment the oxygen alarm went off. Kathryn had to remove the face mask whilst she changed the canister and sure enough it was Max. Her ex-Max !
Needing time to recover from the shock and get her head around the implications, she excused herself and headed for the shuttle. "Hogan, can you manage without me for a few minutes? I've left my plasma flow calibrator back at base. I'll be back in twenty minutes or so."
Hogan just grunted at her as he got to work on cleaning the injector regulators. As soon as she was out of sight B'Elanna sank down against the trunk of a tree and sobbed.
—
Nineteen hours later...
The Doctor was finally letting them speak to his patients. Almost as soon as they were safely installed in sickbay and the Doctor had carried out his initial appraisal, confirming that both patients would live, Kathryn had convened another extraordinary emergency council meeting. She wanted to interrogate Commander Burke as soon as he was conscious. Reasoning that there may well be other casualties and, of course, the Equinox must be searching for them. Although Kes and B'Elanna were not in attendance as they had more pressing matters to deal with, the other seven voted unanimously to interview Burke and Gilmore together in front of the entire council as soon as possible. The Doctor had had other ideas. Insisting his patients both got a good night's sleep first he had only reluctantly released them for one hour into the care of Kes. Should either wish to terminate the interview early then she was to bring them both back to sickbay immediately. Council or not, he was still the CMO around here and - in medical matters - he would not be overruled by anyone!
—
NE calendar - Day 84. Mess Hall : Full Council meeting to discuss situation of Equinox crew...
Samantha and Celes brought both their patients into the Mess Hall in wheelchairs. They were all around the circular table to make the meeting feel as informal as possible.
This was hardly the time and place for a full Starfleet debriefing, even if that was Kathryn's first instinct. Neelix, Chalotay and Ayala had insisted that they just keep it friendly. After all, they were now civilians on a civilian colony. This called for diplomacy rather than military protocol. Kathryn, Tuvok and Tom had disagreed, saying that as fellow Starfleet officers, Burke and Gilmore would expect a Starfleet Captain to debrief them properly. In the end Neelix had brokered the peace and they had agreed to keep it light - unless something 'untoward' came to light , a caveat Tuvok had insisted on for 'security reasons'.
Chakotay spoke first. "Commander Burke, Ensign Gilmore welcome to Hope Township - the first Federation colony in the Delta Quadrant to our knowledge. My name is Chakotay and my fellow councillors are Kathryn, Mike, Tuvok, Tom, Neelix, Kes, Joe & B'Elanna. May we address you as Max and Marla?"
Both Equinox officers nodded their assent and Marla smiled nervously, looking to Kes for reassurance. Maxwell Burke looked around the table and then settled on Kathryn. "Am I addressing Kathryn Janeway, Captain of the Intrepid Class U.S.S. Voyager?"
Kathryn corrected him "Former Captain of the now permanently decommissioned starship Voyager, yes. Though I am now just one of a ruling council of nine members you see before you."
He raised an eyebrow "Really? Then I fail to see by what authority you intend to debrief me at all ! I do not recognise the authority of this non-official 'council' of yours."
Marla interrupted "Max, please! These people saved our lives, remember." Turning back to Kathryn she said "I will be happy to answer any questions I can."
Burke cut in "Belay that. I am still your commanding officer and you will divulge nothing without my direct authority. Do I make myself clear Ensign."
Marla flushed pink and looked away from her former commanding officer. She was not used to disobeying orders but they no more had a ship to return to than these people therefore... "I'm sorry sir, but as there is no one left alive on the wreckage of the Equinox we no more have a ship - and therefore a rank - than these people now do."
Max Burke tried to stand up and stalk away but his legs failed him and he landed back in his wheelchair with a thump.
Suddenly B'Elanna spoke "Still the same pompous bully as ever Max?" There was a stunned silence from the other councillors. B'Elanna knew this man?!
Things took a turn for the worse when he retorted "Still sleeping with the enemy these days I see BLT." Staring pointedly at Chakotay and Ayala. "Ensign Gilmore, I'll have you know that half the people sitting around this council table are Maquis traitors! Do you still feel like confiding in them?"
The Doctor had seen enough. Ordering Samantha and Celes to retrieve his patients he went into his temporary office and addressed the councillors. "I think that is more than enough for now. I will keep both of my patients confined to sickbay for the next forty eight hours, for their own protection, whilst they recover fully from their injuries. I suggest you use that time to come up with a productive strategy to resolve this situation. Doctor out."
—
As soon as Samantha and Celes had taken Burke and Gilmore out of the room the attention focussed on B'Elanna. Not unkindly, Chakotay addressed her "I can see there is history between you and Burke, and from the look of things it's not pretty. I know this will be difficult for you 'Lanna but I would really appreciate you telling us everything you know about the man."
This was the moment she had been dreading! Bracing herself mentally she began " It was a long time ago. I haven't seen him on over eight years. I first encountered him at the Academy..."
By the time B'Elanna had finished her story, Chakotay knew they had a major problem on their hands. If the Ensign was wrong and Equinox was nearby and looking for her missing crew then her Captain would feel honour bound to take all the former Maquis into custody, and probably Kathryn and all the former senior officers of Voyager for treason. Conspiring with the enemy etc etc... Somehow one of them needed to speak to the Ensign, Marla Gilmore, and ascertain the full situation before the forty eight hour reprieve the Doctor had created for them was up. It had to be someone neutral...turning towards Kathryn he could see she had the same thought but Kes beat them to it. "I'll go. Samantha can help me when we deliver dinner tonight. I'll get the Doctor to place Max and Marla in separate quarters, after all they are, fortunately, different genders. It will not arouse Commander Burke's suspicions if it is just the two of us. I'll even get Samantha to bring the baby."
Chakotay and Kathryn looked relieved and everyone nodded their assent. Once they had the full story from Kes and Sam later tonight they could formulate a plan of action.
—
Kes handed baby Naomi to Marla whilst Samantha prepared her bottle. They had all shared tea and sandwiches together and, sure enough, the gentle approach of both Kes and Samantha seemed to be putting Marla at ease. It was now or never. Speaking as casually as she could Kes asked "So Marla, you seem to think that your ship the - Equinox wasn't it? - won't be coming to find you? Are you sure?"
Marla's eyes immediately welled up. "Yes, that's right. The Equinox is...was a Nova class science vessel. Really a planet hopper. Short range, used primarily for orbital surveys and the odd away team mission to new planets that the Federation became aware of. Sometimes we took teams of anthropologists and zoologists if the planet was inhabited, other times just botanists and geologists if it was a potential source for vital mineral extraction. It was on returning from one such mission that we found ourselves hitting that displacement wave in the Badlands and ending up here in the Delta Quadrant."
Samantha smiled at her encouragingly and held her hands out for the baby "Voyager was in the Badlands too, chasing down a Maquis cell. We got brought here by the Caretaker's Array just over two years ago. Stardate 2041.9. What about you?"
Marla thought for a moment, calculating. "We must have arrived 22 days before you then. There were a few small ships that looked like cargo freighters in the area and a couple of what we later understood to be Kazon supply ships but they left us alone. They all seemed to be focussed on a planet with a large alien space station in orbit."
"My homeworld and the Caretaker's Array." replied Kes. "Odd that no one was removed from your ship for analysis by the Caretaker but perhaps he was busy repelling the Kazon at the time."
Marla shrugged "I don't know but we were just glad to still be fairly intact. We ascertained our galactic location and as soon as Captain Ransom realised that we on the far side of the Delta Quadrant he ordered Lieutenant Hargreaves at helm to plot us the most direct route home and engage at warp 2. Our maximum speed is theoretically warp 8 but, in practice, a Nova class vessel very seldom maintains a speed above warp 5 in practice. Assuming we managed to maintain that for approximately nine months a year - allowing for shut down for essential maintenance and a local supply of dilithium - we calculated that we would reach the outskirts of Federation space in approximately one hundred and thirty five years time, give or take a year or two! Really it was madness to set out for home and none of us expected to see the Alpha Quadrant again in our lifetimes : but what else were we to do? Just give up and land on the nearest inhabited M class planet and hope we would be allowed to stay? Captain Ransom was adamant that the Prime Directive applied more now than ever. We could not share Starfleet technology with Delta Quadrant races and , besides, Nova class ships cannot land in the same way as the Intrepid class can. We would have had to evacuate in our two shuttlecraft and self destructed the Equinox. Burning all our bridges. So there was no choice but to head for home and improvise along the way."
Offering her another cup of tea, it was Samantha who gently nudged "So what happened? How come we found just you and your First Officer in that crashed shuttle?"
"We heard news, through some Talaxian traders who had supplied us with some essentials over the last few months. They said that another ship from our 'Starfleet' had passed through their space some months ago. There was even a rumour that the scrap merchant, an unscrupulous fellow called Neelix, had wangled passage with them to get his Ocampan girlfriend out of Kazon territory. They told our Captain that the ship was called Voyager. Of course, Captain Ransom and Commander Burke immediately gleaned as much information as they could and set course to follow your last known trajectory. That is when we started to run into serious trouble." she paused, gathering her thoughts.
Summoning up the courage to relive her worst nightmares, she continued. "A couple of months ago we encountered a ship, several times larger than ours with an impressive armament. It was obviously designed for offensive engagements rather than scientific survey missions such as ours. We hailed them to say that we we were just passing through their space and were of no threat. Initially they refused to open a visual channel and insisted on audio only. They seemed inquisitive but friendly. Foolishly we explained that we were from the Alpha Quadrant and seeking another of our craft that had also been stranded here. They offered to help so Captain Ransom told them we were looking for the Starfleet vessel U.S.S. Voyager. Communications were cut for a few minutes whilst they conferred and then they offered to help us find our comrades."
She glanced sadly at Kes. "Our First Officer, Max, was suspicious and counselled Captain Ransom not to disclose Starfleet warp signatures and the transceiver frequency for Voyager until we had at least met them. The Captain agreed and two delegates were beamed aboard. They were grotesque. Their skin was ravaged by some terrible disease and they both had significant health problems. The man had a pronounced limp and one leg was obviously much shorter and more muscular than the other. The woman was having problems breathing and only had one eye. We felt so sorry for them. We offered our limited sickbay facilities but they told us their whole society was affected and there was no cure. That they were not here for themselves but to help us find our friends. They even supplied us with consumables to top up our sick bay stores. So we were grateful and let our guard down. We believed them and they travelled in convoy with us until about ten days ago. Max and I had taken one of the shuttles to gather additional dilithium on a satellite moon of a class L world on the edge of their territory. Meanwhile the..."
Samantha spoke "They're called Vidians Marla."
"...the Vidian ship and Equinox said they would remain stationary at current coordinates whilst overhauling both ships engines. We had no reason to suppose otherwise and we were only scheduled to be away for four days. Our mission was a success. We returned with the dilithium only to find no sign of the Vidian ship or Equinox though there was residual warp plasma from our engines. We followed the trail for about twelve hours at full impulse and then we saw her. Equinox had obviously been in battle and her starboard nacelle was completely blown away. She was drifting in space and rotating axially. It was impossible to attempt to dock the shuttle so we stood off at a safe distance and hailed them. No reply. Scanning for lifesigns proved negative but all the escape pods were still in situ. So Commander Burke decided to transport aboard..."
Marla stopped and stood shakily. "I'm sorry, I feel sick...please excuse me." with that she rushed to the bathroom and both Samantha and Kes heard her wretching. They looked at each other and knew what came next. Obviously the Vidians had harvested what they wanted and left the 'remains' discarded throughout the ship. There was no need to subject Marla to the trauma of describing what both Max and - evidently - she had witnessed first hand.
"One of us had better go in there and look after Marla, I think the other should go and talk to Kathryn and Chakotay." said Samantha. Immediately Kes arose "Could you stay with Marla? I'd better report back as I'm a member of the council these days."
"Rather you than me. Do you want me to try and find out anything more?"
Kes shook her head. "Only if she volunteers the information. They've both been through quite an ordeal. I think the Doctor is right, they should rest for the next day or so and in the meantime we can discuss what happens next with the full council."
With that Kes left and headed straight for Kathryn's quarters.
—
Later that night...
They had all been sitting around the table for the last three hours and they still had more questions than answers. And they couldn't agree. Mike Ayala sighed to himself. Hardly suprising really. The 'Maquis councillors' were all highly sceptical. Suspicious of Ransom's apparent extreme naivety in trusting the Vidians. After all being gullible and obtaining the rank of a Starfleet Captain were mutually exclusive personality traits. Maybe he had double crossed his crew and sacrificed one contingent to save another. Or perhaps it was a ploy and Burke & Gilmore were setting us all up for a Vidian attack on Hope Town. The 'Starfleet' three immediately assumed that the fact these people wore that uniform meant that they were above succumbing to such behaviour. However extreme the circumstances. Marla's story could be taken - if not at face value - as essentially true. The three neutral councillors were split. Kes just felt sorry for them both and wanted to offer them citizenship of our colony. Neelix tended to agree with Chakotay, Torres and myself, smelling the proverbial 'rat' and Paris seemed to think that Marla was an innocent victim but that Max Burke probably knew all along what they would return from their shuttle trip and find. This was strangest of all, bearing in mind that no one had heard Burke's version of events yet. Then again, Torres seemed to despise him and there was obviously a juicy, though doubtless unpleasant, story there too.
It was Tuvok who spoke next " Fellow councillors, it is apparent that both Commander Burke and Ensign Gilmore pose an ongoing security risk. We simply have insufficient information to determine whether the Vidian battleship is still in the vicinity. Although our organs are now unsuitable for harvesting, thanks to Dr. Pel's ingenious serum, it would be prudent to keep the location of our colony concealed. There are many marauding Vidian vessels in this region of space and it is highly likely that most would be unaware of our 'immunity' until considerable harm had come to Hope Town settlement."
The others all exchanged worried glances but none contradicted him. Raising an eyebrow and addressing Kathryn and Chakotay, an ingrained habit from his second officer days no doubt, he clasped his hands together. "I suggest that I debrief Commander Burke. As current Head of Security for the colony and a fellow senior ranking officer I am confident that he will answer my questions."
"And if he doesn't?" This from Tom Paris.
Tuvok looked at each of them in turn "Then I suggest a Vulcan mind meld...if you concur."
Immediately there was a hubbub of conflicting viewpoints and Kes raised her hand. "Please, everyone. This is highly contentious and my instinct is to say no but we must vote on this. All in favour, raise your hands." She looked around: four. "And all against?" Again : four.
"It would appear that you have the deciding vote Kes" mumbled Joe Carey.
What should she do? They all needed to know the vital information that the Equinox's Executive Officer carried in his head, surely he would realise that and cooperate? But what if he point blank refused? Could she force the issue in order to protect everyone else...or would that be going too far? She was just about to vote 'No' when she looked up and caught B'Elanna's eye. There was an expression on the half Klingon woman's face that she could not put an easy name to : but it spoke a thousand words. She knew nothing of the man Burke, recovering in her sickbay but she did know that B'Elanna Torres would fight to the last breathe to protect those she held dear. Now that meant her colleagues and friends here in the settlement. Her mind was made up. Looking directly at Tuvok she just said "I vote yes."
—-
Three hours later...Kathryn Janeway's quarters...
She saw no need to beat around the bush. Having forced herself to be patient for ten minutes whilst he drank his much needed Vulcan spice tea, she voiced the question that had brought him straight to her door rather than reporting back to full council.
"So Tuvok, what was a Nova Class planetary survey ship with minimal armaments doing in the Badlands at all?"
Tuvok decided to be equally as direct "Searching for the Val Jean, Captain." The fact that he had used her formal rank did not go unnoticed. She sat back and sipped her coffee, indicating to him to continue his report.
"Officially, they were re-directed on approach to Deep Space 9 where they were due for re-fuelling before the return leg to Earth. Apparently the station's science officer, Lieutenant Dax, hailed them eight hours before they were due to dock and asked for their assistance in retrieving one of the station's runabouts which had experienced engine trouble and was adrift on the outskirts of the Badlands. They had lost contact five hours before so did not have a location fix. Naturally Captain Ransom diverted for the mercy mission."
"So what's the real story?"
Tuvok hesistated for a moment, which drew her attention. "That bad, old friend?". Now Kathryn was starting to get that feeling in the pit of her stomach that Tuvok was about to tell her something profound. Something that would require her to keep her Captain's hat on for a while yet whether she wanted to or not...
"Commander Maxwell Burke works for Starfleet Intelligence under the command of Admiral Hayes. His orders were to go into the Badlands and retrieve Chakotay's Maquis cell before Voyager had a chance to intercept them. The order was countersigned by Admiral Owen Paris. From my deep probe of Maxwell's mind it seems he was aware that Admiral Paris did not want to put his son's life at risk by engaging the Maquis directly."
So, she had been duped too. Voyager's shakedown mission was a sham. It was always intended that the Equinox would have already apprehended Chakotay's crew so presumably she was to rendezvous and simply make a brig-to-brig transfer soon after entering the Badlands. If the Caretaker had not intervened then...
Tuvok could see that she was beginning to grasp the implications. "To answer your next question Captain, no. I knew no more than yourself before today. Unfortunately there are further...complications...".
She had instinctively known it. "Let me guess, Maxwell knew that Seska was a Cardassian spy, an operative of the Obsidian Order?..."
Tuvok confirmed her worst fears by nodding his assent. "There is also the complicating factor of B'Elanna Torres former ...romantic...association with Commander Burke."
"WHAT !" Kathryn almost dropped her coffee, it was only Tuvok's lightening reflexes that stopped her getting scorched.
"No Captain, B'Elanna is a Starfleet cadet drop out : as she claims. The relationship was a brief one whilst she was a student at the academy. Burke was a temporary tutor for a single semester teaching unarmed combat. As you can imagine, Miss Torres excelled at that module and the two began an illicit affair that would have had Burke summarily dismissed the service had it become public knowledge. It was B'Elanna who eventually called time on it. Apparently she discovered that he was involved with a Lieutenant Commander for some time before they met and had been using her as an 'entertaining' aside. She was so angry that she reported his behaviour...to Admiral Paris. He apparently spoke to B'Elanna, asking her to let the matter slide in return for a guaranteed fast track through to the second year. She subsequently resigned from the Academy and joined the Maquis. Burke owed Admiral Paris a favour which he then called in..."
"So now Maxwell Burke is here, along with almost the entire Maquis cell he was sent to capture and .. .B'Elanna..." Kathryn could feel not just a headache but the mother of all migraine's coming on. "And Ensign Gilmore?"
No Captain, as far as I could determine from my meld - it was difficult to say the least - Burke has been well trained to resist...it would appear that only Burke, the Equinox's chief navigator and the security head were from the Intelligence Division. The other two are dead, Burke ensured that he located both bodies on his brief return to the Equinox after the Vidian onslaught. He then activated the self destruct with a one hour delay before returning to the shuttlecraft and Ensign Gilmore. Any evidence is now vaporised and dispersed across several light years of the Delta Quadrant. The question is, how much do I disclose to the full council meeting tomorrow morning?"
There it was. The true source of her mounting headache. Just how much damage would full disclosure bring to their disparate colony that was still in it's infancy? The tragic events surrounding the death of Dalby were only a few weeks past. What about B'Elanna, just how much did she know about Burke and his subsequent career? Was he now a danger to her? And Tom? He was finally starting to fit in and make friends, most noticeably he was developing a tentative friendship...and maybe the early indications of more...with the very same B'Elanna Torres. How would he feel if he knew that his own father had sent Burke after her to save his son's skin? The worst of it was the Equinox was lost with all hands except Burke and Gilmore. So they had no choice but to give them sanctuary here in Hope Town. And Chakotay? Yet more manipulation that he was oblivious to. Would he start to suspect B'Elanna of working undercover with Starfleet Intelligence as Seska had done for the Cardassians? They had always been close and Tuvok believed B'Elanna was as much a victim as the rest if them...but would Chakotay? and would he believe she and Tuvok knew of Admiral Paris's agenda all along? She needed time to think...
"Tuvok. You can't disclose all this. Just reveal that Deep Space 9 diverted the Equinox on a last minute mercy mission. That is what Ensign Gilmore believes. The antipathy towards B'Elanna can simply be explained as an old love affair turned sour." She could read the look on his face like a book after all these years. "I know Tuvok. It's far from ideal and the implications for the trust between us all when the whole sorry saga eventually comes to light..."
"If it were ever to come to light Captain..."
She knew what Tuvok was offering to do. For the sake of the whole community, but could she live with her conscience if she agreed...
"Like I said Tuvok. I need time to think. We both do."
Tuvok stood and bowed slightly in her direction before taking his leave. Rising to look up at the night sky, she resigned herself to the inevitable. Whatever decision she came to she would always be Captain Janeway : to the end if her days.
TO BE CONTINUED...
26
