Disclaimer: I do not own nor claim to own 'Star Trek:Voyager' or the characters within the show.
Author's Note: This is my first Star Trek:Voyager fiction. Due to real life commitments and the length of the chapters, I cannot make any promises on when updates will arrive, but only that they will as I finish them. I have not beta so all mistakes are my own. I would greatly appreciate any comments.
This fiction is a slightly AU piece with a rating of T, this however may change with later chapters
My apologies for the lengthy note, on with the story and I hope you enjoy.
- Cathexis -
Captain's log, stardate 48734.2. Sometimes it's a good idea to get away from being a Captain for a while. To that end, I've started participating in a new holonovel. The setting is ancient England.
And that's exactly what Kathryn Janeway was fully engaged in when Ensign Harry Kim contacted her.
"Bridge to Captain Janeway."
"Go ahead, Mister Kim." She replied having taken a step back and turned her head away from the holonovel character towering in front of her.
"I've got Commander Chakotay and Mister Tuvok's shuttlecraft on long range sensors, but they're not responding to our hails. The shuttle's been badly damaged. I'm reading multiple hull fractures."
"Life signs?"
"Two, but they're very faint."
Kathryn's heart was beating heavy and fast against her ribcage, her breathing only just under control. "Beam them to Sickbay as soon as they're in range. I'm on my way." She was moving as quick as her dress would allow and didn't even hear the acknowledgment from Harry.
Kathryn arrived in Sickbay just moments after the two men materialised, her uniform impeccable and pips firmly in place. No one would have guessed she was just minutes before in Victorian England.
"Doctor." Kathryn moved from Tuvok's side to stand at the foot of Chakotay's biobed, where the Doctor and Kes were currently working on the attractive man.
"They've each taken a blast to the head by some kind of energy discharge. Cardiostimulator." To Kes. "Mister Tuvok has a serious concussion, but it's nothing I can't handle. As for Commander Chakotay, all of the bioneural energy has been extracted from his brain." Back at Kathryn.
Her eyes widened slightly and her face became a shade paler. "Extracted?"
"Yes. From the looks of it, someone drained the energy from every single axon and dendrite, right down to the synopses. I can keep his heart beating and I can keep him breathing, but other than that there's nothing I can do. He's brain dead."
Kathryn took a deep breath and nodded. She had heard and understood what the Doctor had told her but she wasn't about to let that be the end of it, not if she could help it. So, she took a seat at the terminal closest to Chakotay but with a clear view of Tuvok and began working. After all she was first and foremost, a scientist.
Within a few hours Tuvok was awake and recounting what he could remember to the Captain.
"The attack lasted no more than a few seconds, but it was highly effective. I feel Commander Chakotay and I are fortunate to be alive."
That simple sentence brought emotions into Kathryn's consciousness and it surprised her, but as quickly as they had surfaced she had managed to push them away. She was thankful that if Tuvok noticed, he didn't mention it. "What happened, Lieutenant?"
"We had completed our trade mission with the Kidarians and were on course to the rendezvous point when we encountered a dark matter nebula. As we began a routine analysis, an unidentified ship emerged and attacked our shuttle."
"Any idea why?"
"No. there was no time for a detailed analysis. However, the shuttles' sensors may have recorded information that could be helpful. I will download the sensor logs."
Kathryn nodded and shifted her attention to Chakotay, moving over to him ever so slightly. "Why would someone want to extract his bioneural energy?" It was almost a whispered question.
"I don't know, but if I'm to have any hope of reviving him, I must know precisely how his neurons were depleted. It would be a great help if I could examine the weapon."
Kathryn was now more determined than ever, the Doctor's answer was much better than the prognosis he had given her before and by the hard look in her eye no one would be able to stop her in her quest to revive Chakotay.
She turned back to Tuvok and the Doctor. "We're going back to that nebula to try to find the ship that attacked you." She tapped her comm badge. "Janeway to the Bridge." She waited for no answer before giving her orders. "Prepare to lay in a course. Mister Tuvok will provide you with the coordinates." Her voice had turned a tone deeper letting everyone that had heard know that she was serious. Only Chakotay would be able to read her determination in her eyes to know her seriousness, and that was something else that she consciously realised then, just how easily her first officer cold read her, and how she missed that already.
"Aye, Captain." Tom Paris replied.
Kathryn headed for the doors, Tuvok close on her heel. "We'll keep you posted, Doctor." She threw over her shoulder as she strolled into the corridor making quick work of the route to the Bridge.
Kathryn was standing next to Tuvok at his terminal watching him work.
"The energy discharge overloaded the shuttlecrafts' central computer core. All sensor data has been erased."
"Lieutenant Torres is in Sickbay now. When she reports, tell her to go over those damaged sensor logs with a fine tooth comb to see if she can reconstruct any of the data." Kathryn found it odd that the thought of Chakotay having company allowed her to concentrate more fully on the matter at hand.
"Aye, Captain."
Kathryn sighed. "Well, this is going to make things a little more difficult." She moved to a section within Tuvok's terminal booth and started pressing buttons. "I've been using long range sensors to analyse the nebula you discovered. It's sending out strong electromagnetic radiation. We won't be able to scan inside it." She paused in her work. "You know, it sounds to me like a perfect hiding place."
"I agree." Tuvok moved to stand behind Kathryn and watched as her hands started to fly across the console.
Kathryn felt him there and started giving a brief of what she was doing. "I don't like the idea of going in there blind. Let me see if I can reconfigure the sensors to multiphasic bandwidth." After a few more moments and hand movements she stopped suddenly, a frown adorning her brow.
"Is there a problem?" Tuvok's deep voice resonated across the silent Bridge drawing the attention of the duty crewmen.
"I've lost all sensor contact within the nebula. I don't understand." Her frown increased as she read some data. "Wait a minute, we've altered course." She looked up and over at the helm. "Mister Paris?"
Tom swiveled around to check his system. "Our new heading is one twenty one mark six. We've completely come about, Captain, but it wasn't me."
Kathryn moved quickly away from Tuvok to the centre console above her own and first officers' seats. "Mister Kim, check the navigational computer. Who ordered the course change?"
Beeping was heard from Harrys' terminal as he did as ordered. "According to my readings, the command was issued from the conn."
"I'm telling you, it wasn't me, and the helm controls are working perfectly. No sign of a malfunction." Tom was quick to defend himself.
"Ensign, transfer helm control to your station and reset our original course."
"Course laid in."
"Mister Paris, I want you to run a full diagnostic on the conn station. See if you can isolate the problem."
"Aye, Captain."
Kathryn watched everyone go about their duties from her spot on the platform, her mind going at warp six; problems, questions, solutions, answers, Chakotay, all flying about trying to occupy the forefront of her mind. The adrenaline running through her veins drove her to the safety of her ship and crew as well as the science of space exploration. That is what she lived for.
"What is the condition of the warp engines?"
"Warp engines still within normal parameters, Captain."
She nodded over at Lieutenant Durst just as a whumph of air sounded.
"We just changed course again." She didn't need to look at her station to know that this time. It wasn't a subtle change.
"Mister Kim?"
"Our new heading is one twenty one mark six."
"Get us back on course." Her tone was stiff.
"The helm's not responding." Harrys' voice had risen, causing Tuvok to go and give a helping hand.
Kathryn watches, patiently waiting for Tuvok's assessment.
"This command station has been blocked."
"From where?"
"The lockout originated on deck twelve, section B seven, navigational control."
"See if you can re-establish control." She turns on her heel and takes a seat in her chair just as Tom Paris enters the Bridge from the turbo lift.
"I've checked every ODN junction in the helm control network and I still can't find the problem."
Kathryn twisted her neck to look at the young man. "It seems we've developed a new problem while you were gone."
"Helm control re-established." Tuvok called from Harrys' station, stopping Tom in his steps and Kathryn in her speech.
"Get us back on course for the nebula. Janeway to Torres." She turned back to face to view screen.
"Torres here."
"Who's in the navigational control?"
"No one right now. I was there this morning, and Lieutenant Paris was in there just a few minutes ago."
"That's not true." Tom quickly jumped to defend himself again.
"Are you certain about that, B'Elanna?"
"Positive. I just saw him leave about five minutes ago."
"Janeway out." She stood in front of her chair, turning to face Tom. "Explanation, Mister Paris?"
"I passed by the navigational control on my way back from the Jefferies tube, but that's all. Am I being accused of something here?"
Tuvok took a few steps toward the Lieutenant. "We are merely following a line of deductive reasoning, Lieutenant. Both deviations from our course were apparently issued from locations where you were working."
Tom looked panicked. "I'm telling you, I didn't do it."
Kathryn could see Tuvok was not happy with the answer so stepped in. "Well, I'm willing to rule out a mutiny for the time being." She allowed the corners of her mouth to twitch upward a little with her own humour. "I believe you, Mister Paris." She became serious again. A fleeting thought passed through her mind, 'How do people keep up with my quick mood changes?', before she continued defusing the issue. "But we have to consider the possibility that you might be having a problem with your memory. I want you to go down to Sickbay. Have the Doctor check you out."
Tom nodded, understanding the Captain's request and catching just the slightest hint of concern in her tone. "All right."
Kathryn too nodded, silently thanking Tom for his cooperation. "Lieutenant Durst." Kathryn returned to her seat after watching Durst escort Tom off of the Bridge.
Once again the open area was relatively silent, the beeping of consoles as crewmen continued their work the only noise to permeate the air.
"I believe I have found the ion trail of the ship that attacked us. It leads directly into the dark matter nebula."
Kathryn joined Tuvok at his terminal once more and he continued showing her what he had found.
"As you can see, their flight path is highly erratic."
"These planetoids inside the nebula," she pointed at the screen with her right hand as her left sat on her hip. "they may be generating a dangerous gravitational effect, like storm currents. Chances are they've mapped these currents and they're taking the only safe way through."
"A reasonable assumption. I recommend we follow their exact flight path."
"Agreed." She headed back to her seat. "Lay in a course to the –" she stopped mid-sentence as the lights went out, she stood in front of her chair, looking around her.
"Captain, we're dropping to impulse power. I'm reading a massive energy drain all over the ship, and the warp core is shutting down."
"Bridge to Engineering…Report…Lieutenant Torres, please respond." She waited a second, allowing the comm system to work, when there remained no answer, she kicked into action. "Mister Kim, take the Bridge. Tuvok, you're with me." She strode out of the Bridge and straight down to engineering, collecting a torch from Tuvok on the way as he walked briskly behind her.
"Torres, what's going on?" Kathryn demanded.
"Captain?"
"You've initiated an emergency warp core shut down." Kathryn ducked under the railing around the core and inspected it.
"What?" B'Elanna stood still in shock, she had done no such thing.
"Too late. The warp core is offline." She ducked back through to the other side of the barrier. "It'll take at least two hours to regenerate the dilithium matrix." She turned slightly to address a nearby ensign before turning back to B'Elanna. "Apparently, you've just crashed the main computer, locked out the Bridge and stopped the ship cold. Do you want to tell me why?" Both hands were firmly on her hips.
B'Elanna was still confused. "Captain, I don't know what you're talking about."
Frustrated, Kathryn threw her arms up level with her shoulders, hands open. "What the hell is going on here?" She let her hands drop heavily as she looked around at everyone in Engineering, waiting for an answer or suggestion of some kind, but her question was met with silence. With a sigh, she turned on her heel and headed for Sickbay.
The Doctor all but pounced on her as she entered through the doors.
"I found something, and you're not going to like it." He led her to the central station. "This is Mister Paris' memory engram for the last twenty four hours. As you can see, it has a very consistent and distinctive modulation, except at thirteen fifty hours. For one minute forty seven seconds, a different memory pattern appeared. Thirteen fifty hours is also the exact moment when Mister Paris presumably tampered with navigational control. It gets worse. It addition to that, there is another disruption at twelve oh two hours, the moment when he allegedly entered the new course at the helm. I also found there's an identical disruption in Lieutenant Torres' pattern at the moment she shut down warp power. I should point out that this is a neuroelectrical signature, what I believe to be another brain wave that was superimposed on their own."
Tom interrupted the Doctor from his biobed. "Another brain wave? Whose?"
"I don't know. It has an unusual energy signature, one I've never seen before."
Kathryn frowned again, something she found she was doing a lot that day. "Doctor, what are you saying?"
"One possible explanation, and the only one I can think of at the moment, is that an unknown alien entity momentarily took control of their minds."
"Intruder alert. All security personnel, go to Condition Four." Kathryn looked up quickly at the sound of Tuvok's voice, her brow less creased but not entirely smooth. "Captain, it is possible the intruder returned with us in the shuttlecraft."
She nodded, the frown gone, internal worry now taking its place alongside hope of reviving Chakotay. "If we're right and there is an alien here, it seems intent on preventing us from going back to the nebula. What's more, it seems to have the ability to jump from person to person. If that's true, it could be in any one of us, controlling our actions without us realizing it."
"Well, except for me."
Kathryn resisted the urge to roll her eyes, and focused on the conversation, trying to keep her eyes from the prone form of her first officer.
"That's true. So far it's only affected organic beings. If it could control the computer and navigational systems directly, it probably would've done it already."
A light bulb went off in Kathryn's head. "Which means the Doctor is the only person on board we can trust at this moment." She turned fully to the hologram. "Doctor, until we have eliminated this alien presence, I can't risk that it could take over any of the senior officers. I'd like to transfer all command codes to you until further notice."
He grew excited. "What would that mean? That I am in command?"
"No, but you will act as a fail-safe. If you feel at any time that any one of us are under the influence of the alien, you can countermand our orders and take control of the ship. Do you feel up to it?" She raised her eyebrow.
"Well, of course. I make life and death decisions every day."
His fact full but over confident tone did cause Tom to roll his eyes childishly and comment under his breath, "I feel better already."
Kathryn ignored him. "Computer, transfer all command codes to the holographic Doctor. Authorisation Janeway eight four one alpha six five."
"Command code transfer complete."
With a nod of approval she moved her attention to the next problem on the top of her list. "Let's see if we can get the warp core back online ahead of schedule."
"Aye, Captain." B'Elanna followed and matched the quick pace of her Captain as they headed towards Engineering, intent on making up for her apparent actions, well her forced actions, on the warp core.
Tuvok was quick to join the two women on their journey through the ships' corridors. At the turbolift the trio bumped into Kes who seemed relieved to see them.
"Captain, I heard what's happened. I think you're right. There is an alien presence here, I've been sensing something unusual all day. I don't know how to describe it, but I know there's something here."
"Do you know where?"
"No, just that it's on the ship."
Kathryn placed a reassuring hand on her arm.
"Captain, Kes' telepathic abilities are undisciplined. If I could initiate a Vulcan mind-meld with her, I may be able to help her focus those abilities to detect the alien more accurately."
Kes quickly agreed. "I'm willing to do that."
Kathryn took a moment to read Kes' eyes making sure she was agreeing fully and not doing what she thought she was expected to, she found what she was looking for. "Very well. Proceed, Mister Tuvok." She squeezed Kes' arm lightly before watching her leave with Tuvok and stepping into the turbolift with B'Elanna.
The short trip down to Engineering was a silent one in which Kathryn allowed thoughts of Chakotay to flow.
I need to get him back.
How will I get him back?
Is his consciousness flying around Voyager like the alien form?
How can the Doctor integrate him?
I miss him.
She didn't have time to think about her last free thought or even contemplate answers to the questions her mind had produced as the turbolift doors opened onto Engineering.
After fixing the warp core with B'Elanna, Kathryn now sat in her Ready Room listening to the log she had just made.
'Captains' log, supplemental. It appears that Mister Tuvok and Kes were both hit by an unidentified energy discharge. Tuvok was not badly hurt but Kes is in a coma.'
She sighed and took a sip of coffee from her still steaming mug, the heat having no effect on her. Her mind was trying to put together all the pieces of the puzzle and at the moment she was fascinated by the fact that Tuvok was seemingly unharmed after two attacks while Chakotay lay brain dead and Kes was in a coma.
Chakotay…her first officer and good friend. The thought of him lay the way he was in Sickbay pulled at her heart once more and a flood of determination to get him back flowed through her. Her body's response confused her, she didn't see Chakotay in any different a light than Kes, yet it was him that she was more concerned about. She promised herself time on the lake to sort through feelings that she had never realised she held for Chakotay, before finishing her coffee and heading back to the briefing room where her senior officers were due to meet up.
"It was similar to the attack on the shuttlecraft. An energy discharge came through the bulkhead, filled the turbolift and hit both of us."
"We didn't pick up a discharge of any kind on the internal sensors." B'Elanna countered, not completely believing the Security Chief.
"Perhaps this type of energy is beyond our sensor bandwidth."
"Perhaps, but that discharge had to come from somewhere." Kathryn was unprepared to side with any of her officers, instead acting as the delegator, keeping things under control.
"The most thorough scanning device we have on board is a magneton scanner. We could such the ship centimetre by centimetre, but that wouldn't do much good. This alien could we anywhere at any time."
"But what if we could perform a magneton scan on the entire ship all at once?" B'Elanna piped up.
"What do you suggest?"
"A magneton flash scan. We could reconfigure every sensor array on the ship to emit a single burst. It might be enough to illuminate any anomalous energy. Harry, what do you think?"
B'Elanna's suggestions are what she likes about her. She continued to watch the people around the table, Tuvok had a phaser trained on Harry while B'Elanna ran a tricorder around his head, causing Harry to jump.
"I don't see anything unusual, but that doesn't mean anything."
"Mister Kim, what were you doing just now?"
"I was just thinking." His voice sounded slightly distant. "I was remembering an old study I saw about magneton scanners. I guess my mind started to wander a bit." He shrugged a little, almost like it wasn't a big deal. Kathryn completely understood where he was coming from.
"I'm very disturbed by what just happened here. We don't have any idea what occurs when someone is occupied by this alien presence. If we start pointing a finger every time someone gets distracted, it won't be long before outright paranoia starts sweeping the ship. Tuvok, B'Elanna, I want you to get started on that magneton flash scan. It's worth a try. Dismissed." Kathryn stayed seated until the room was empty. She looked to her left and sighed, the emptiness of the chair caused her to advert her eyes. She suddenly stood placing a hand on the back of the chair as she passed it on her way out, her brain once more moving at warp speed, trying to decode the actions of her body. In the midst of her thoughts, her feet took her to her Ready Room where she automatically got herself a coffee and started working on the never ending pile of padds on her desk until she was later interrupted by the door chime.
"Come in," she called absent-mindedly not paying much attention to who had entered, not even when she heard Tuvok's deep voice resonate through the room.
"Lieutenant Torres and I will be ready to initiate the magneton scan in approximately two hours. You should be aware that it will be a high-intensity burst. It will cause dizziness and disorientation in all crew members, including myself, for several seconds."
She nodded. "Make a ship-wide announcement before you initiate the scan." She still hadn't moved to look up at Tuvok.
"Aye, Captain. There is another matter of some concern." She looked up at this, padd still in hand but attention fully on her Security Chief. "It appears that kes' injuries were not caused by an energy discharge." Kathryn raised an eyebrow. "The Doctor has found evidence that she was physically assaulted."
She wasn't expecting that. "Assaulted? But you weren't physically assaulted."
"That is correct."
Tuvok could see the Captains' mind working. "Is it possible that you inflicted her wounds?"
"Me?"
"Maybe you were inhabited by the alien at that moment."
Tuvok inclined his head slightly in a nod. "It is possible. Perhaps we should have the Doctor run a neurological scan to see if I show a memory disruption."
"Agreed." She tapped her comm badge. "Janeway to Sickbay." There was no reply. "Computer, activate Emergency Medical Holographic System."
"Unable to comply. The EMH program has been disabled."
Her eyebrows rose to her hair line. "Disabled? By who?"
"Unknown."
Kahtryn turned her attention to her portable station and started working, her face now almost blank. "The Doctors' initialization routine has been locked out. It's encrypted. I can't reactivate the program."
While she was working Tuvok had moved to stand behind her. "It appears the lockout originated somewhere above deck four."
Kathryn looked up at him over her shoulder and he moved back to the other side of their desk, their conversation continuing."
"Why would someone deactivate the Doctor?"
"The Doctor does hold the command codes to Voyager."
"Yes, but once he was deactivated the codes automatically reverted back to me."
"If we assume the alien could not take over the holographic Doctor, then logically it would try to force the command codes back into a humanoid host."
She nodded in agreement. "Me. It's too dangerous for one person to retain the command codes at this point. I suggest we divide my command protocols into two code groupings."
"A sensible precaution."
"You would be the reasonable choice to hold the second grouping, if there's any such thing as a reasonable choice right now. The alien could occupy either one of us at any time."
"But presumably not both of us at the same time
"I'll tell the Bridge crew the plan. We'll have to act as checks and balances for each other." She stood from her chair and proceeded Tuvok onto the Bridge.
The pair stood to the side of the Bridge, fairly close to her Ready Room, calling the attention of everyone silently.
"I want you all to be aware of something that has happened, something I must assume was due to the alien. The Doctor has been deactivated, and we can't get him back online. I have decided to divide my command protocols." Her eyes glazed over slightly and she stopped talking.
"Captain?"
Kathryn hits Tuvok knocking him down to the floor. Tuvok pulls her phaser from its holder at his waist and goes to train it on her, but she kicks it out of his hand, making it slide half way across the room. Tuvok does the only thing he thinks is logical, he turns to the Bridge crew.
"Stun her! She's the alien!"
Tom does exactly that, sending her into darkness.
While the Captain was unconscious her mind wandered to the man still lay in Sickbay, her worries coming to the surface. Chakotay, whose consciousness had inhabited the Captain to stop her and attack Tuvok was watching from a darkened corner as her thoughts about him were laid bare. He continued to watch and listen, comparing them to his own concerns and emotions for the Captain, until he was forced from her mind as Kathryn was awaken with a hypospray.
Kathryn opened her eyes and groaned when she saw her surroundings. She slowly sat up and swung her legs over the side, Tom was at her side with a second hyposray in hand. She bent her head to the right slightly allowing Tom to give it to her.
"That should do it, Captain."
"Thank you, Mister Paris. I feel better already. Any luck getting the Doctor back online?"
Harry, who was sat at one of the central stations answered her. "Not yet. Whoever did this put up one hell of a roadblock. I'm going to have to break through at least six levels of encryption to access the holo-emitters."
"How long is it going to take?"
"Two maybe three hours."
She nodded.
"Torres to Janeway."
"Go ahead."
"Captain, can you come down to Engineering? There's something here I think you should see."
"I'm on my way." She slid off the biobed and turned to look at Tom and Harry. "Mister Paris, you're our temporary medic until the Doctor returns."
"Right."
"Ensign, I need you on the Bridge."
Once she saw Harry's nod of agreement before turning on her heel, heading straight to Engineering."
"I've been trying to reconstruct the damaged sensor logs from Tuvok and Chakotay's shuttlecraft. I didn't have any luck until I ran a parity trace scan. Captain, the sensor logs weren't destroyed by an energy discharge. Someone erased them, and then overloaded the sensor matrix to make it look like they'd been damaged. It gets worse. There was enough information left in the backup logs from me to reconstruct what happened during the attack. They were near a dark matter nebula and an energy discharge did breach the hull, but there was no other ship."
Kathryn frowned. "No ship?" That didn't add up to what Tuvok had told her in Sickbay.
B'Elanna nodded. "I'm certain of it. From what I can tell, the energy discharge came from the nebula itself."
Despite the scientist within her, Kathryn focused on fitting the pieces together rather than collecting new data. "Why would Tuvok lie about an attack?"
"He must have been under the alien's influence."
That was the reasonable explanation that Kathryn wanted to believe. She refused to think that Tuvok would knowingly lie to her about anything let alone an attack.
"Bridge to Janeway. We're approaching the dark matter nebula."
"Acknowledged. How long until the magneton flash scan is ready to go?"
"The sensor arrays are charging now. Fifteen, maybe twenty minutes."
"When it's ready, transfer control of the scan to the Bridge. In the meantime, I think we should take a look at exactly what it is we're not supposed to see." The scientist in her won and with a grin she headed back up to the Bridge. Looking closer at the dark matter nebula would also confirm or deny Tuvok's account of the attack. She started talking as soon as she entered. "Mister Tuvok, can you locate the ion trail of the alien ship that attacked you?" She stopped at Tuvok's terminal and waited for his reply.
"I believe so." He pressed a few keys. "Mister Kim, lay in that course. Shields at maximum, Captain. All preparations for entering the nebula are complete."
She nodded and elegantly jogged down the few steps to the centre of the Bridge where Tom swivelled his seat around and addressed her before she took her usual place.
"Captain, I've finished the bioanalysis the Doctor was running on Kes before he was deactivated. I think he was on to something. If I'm interpreting his data correctly, the bruises on Kes' neck and shoulders were the result of a Vulcan neck pinch."
Kathryn turned on the balls of her feet to look at Tuvok, one eyebrow raised questioningly. "Lieutenant?"
"I have no memory of injuring Kes. Perhaps I was occupied by the alien at the time."
"Perhaps so, but then, why does it keep attacking you? In three separate instances now, it's assaulted you."
"I am the Chief of Security. It may see me as a particular threat."
"So far, you've posed no greater threat than anyone else, and yet it keeps going after you." She was seriously starting to doubt Tuvok's account.
"Captain, I believe you are having a typically human response to circumstances which are frightening and inexplicable, commonly known as paranoia."
Kathryn rolled her eyes and stood at Tom's terminal. "Maybe, but I don't think it's paranoia that's keeping me from picking up this ion trail of yours. What bandwidth are you on?"
"I'm using a multiphasic scan. If you examine the alpha K band, you will see it."
Kathryn pressed a few things on the screen in front of her. "Yes, here it is. A very interesting ion trail. There's no sign of any substance distortions in its wake. According to these readings, it's a ship without engines." She spun around. "You're lying, Tuvok. There is no alien ship, and there never was. We're not going inside that nebula until we get some answers. Mister Kim, reverse course and – " Kathryn stopped mid-sentence as Tuvok raised his phaser and aimed it at her.
"Belay that order. That is exactly what the alien has been trying to do, keep us from entering the nebula. I suspect the Captain has been occupied. I am relieving her of command. Ensign, proceed into the nebula, one half impulse."
Harry looked at Kathryn.
"Don't do it, Harry."
He kept eye contact with her even as Tuvok spoke to him.
"Now, Ensign."
"No Sir, I won't do it."
"I must inform you this phaser is on wide beam dispersal and set to kill. I am taking command of this Bridge. I must ask you all to stand together where I can see you. Step away from the console, Ensign."
As Tuvok took over the operations console the crew gathers around Kathryn in the centre of the Bridge, reporting to her in hushed tones.
"Captain, we're entering the nebula." Durst.
"Captain, I'm picking up some kind of energy pulses in the nebula, highly coherent with a biomatrix." Kim.
"Life forms."
Harry nodded. "And they're heading this way."
Kathryn turned to Tuvok, standing slightly in front of her crew as she addressed him as the alien. "Those beings out there, are they your people?"
Tuvok looked at her, stopping all his movements. "We are the Komar. This is our domain."
The ship jolted. Kathryn looked at Durst who had jumped to the closest terminal. "What's happening?"
"The warp core's been ejected."
"No. No! We must continue."
"Torres to Bridge. Captain, I think I was just taken over by the alien. One second I was working the plasma relays and the next thing I knew, I was ejecting the warp core."
"Acknowledged, Lieutenant. Stand by." She turned to her crew who were talking amongst themselves. "Wait a minute. Lieutenant Torres isn't authorized to eject the warp core on her own. That requires a command code authorisation. Computer, who authorised the eject of the warp core?"
"The authorisation was entered by Commander Chakotay."
"Chakotay," she whispered to herself, hope flowing quickly through her body, her heart beating a little quicker.
"How is that possible?"
"The alien in Tuvok wants us is that nebula, but there's another presence that's been trying to keep us out. It doesn't make sense, unless it's Chakotay and he knows we'll be in danger if we go in there." Her answer rolled from her tongue quickly, making her realise just how much she had actually thought this exact possibility through.
"But he's in Sickbay. He's brain dead."
Kathryn couldn't help but try to work out if Harry didn't believe it or if he thought that she was in denial. She felt like she had to defend herself either way. "Maybe not. Maybe his neural energy was displaced somehow and he's able to move from person to person."
Durst spoke up from the helm again. "Tuvok's engaged emergency thrusters. We're moving again, Captain."
Voyager entered the nebula with a rumble. Kathryn's anger flared.
"You brought us here, for what? To extract our neural energy?"
"Very perceptive, Captain. The collective neural energy of you crew will sustain my people for years to some."
"You don't have to do this. Maybe we can help you find another source of energy."
"Captain, we're under attack. We're being bombarded by the energy beings."
Kathryn looked at her crew who had slowly dispersed themselves back around the Bridge with Durst and Harry sharing the helm terminal. Kathryn activated the flash-scan from the console between her own and Chakotay's seats. The scan blinded Tuvok and Tom took the phaser from him and prepared to stun him with it, but he collapsed before Tom could press the trigger. The crew watch as an energy leaves him going through the bulkhead. Tom bends down and runs a medical tricorder over Tuvok and nods at the Captain when the readings showed Tuvok was okay and himself. Kathryn's console bleeped and she broke eye contact with Tom and read the results of the scan.
"The magneton scan identified the entity before it left the ship. It was a trianic-based energy being."
"Looks like he's joined his friends outside." Harry reported.
There was an electrical attack on the ship. Tom was at the operational station where helm control as still held. "Shields are holding, but they won't last long at this rate, and the electromagnetic radiation is blinding our sensors. I can't find a way out."
Kathryn took a seat in her chair. "Come about. Maybe if we reverse course, we can just backtrack."
"Yes, Ma'am."
"I don't know if that'll work, Captain." Harry swiveled on his chair. "Tuvok was navigating a complicated course. We could be going deeper into the nebula."
"Mister Kim, maybe you can reconstruct Tuvok's navigational logs."
He nodded and turned back. "I'm on it, Captain."
Another attack on the ship stopped Kathryn's mind from wandering to Chakotay once more.
"Shields down to sixty five percent, Captain! The energy beings are starting to penetrate our defences."
Harry sighed. "I'm not having any luck. Tuvok deleted the navigational logs as he went along. He wanted to make sure we didn't get out of here."
Kathryn too sighed, this was looking like an almost impossible situation.
"Neelix to Bridge."
"Go ahead."
"Captain, I can't be sure but I think I was just taken over by the alien. And I've just done something very strange. I've rearranged the stones on the medicine wheel."
"If it's Chakotay, maybe he's trying to tell us something," she whispered to herself, this was proving her theory right and that only made her a little nervous, she hadn't has time to work out her thoughts and apparent emotions towards the man, but she was happy to have a strong chance of getting him back at her side. "Mister Kim, activate Sickbay visual relay sixteen and put it on the view screen." Louder this time, so that her order could be heard.
"Aye, Captain."
A picture of the medicine wheel appears on the view screen. Kathryn stood up and took a few steps forward. "What is it? What does it mean? Is it a code, a message?" She had no idea who she was speaking to, her Bridge crew or Chakotay's consciousness.
Tom answered her. "Or a map."
She could see that. "Computer, overlay a star map of the nebula on the current view screen image." She and the others around her studied the overlay for a few moments.
"The stones are in the same position as those three planetoids." Tom pointed out. "Chakotay must be using them to point a way out."
"Mister Kim, lay in a course that takes us in a line connecting those three planetoids."
Everyone on the Bridge went back to their own stations with Lieutenant Durst at the tactical console.
"Engage."
The ship rocks and shudders throwing everyone on board around slightly. A collective sigh was heard across and including Voyager, as they cleared the nebula. Kathryn was happy once they had retrieved the warp core as she found she could hide in her Ready Room where she was doing her Captain logs.
"Captain's log, stardate 48735.9. We have returned to the co-ordinates where we ejected the warp core and have successfully retrieved it. Now we're hoping the Doctor will be able to successfully reintegrate Commander Chakotay's consciousness." With a sigh she switched off the padd, effectively ending the log for the time being. Sat on the desk was a notebook, a plain brown leather bound notebook, containing her diary or rather, he personal logs. They automatically entered into the computer database when she wrote them with a high enough code lock that only herself and whoever she gave access to could read them. She picked up her pen and flipped open the book starting on the next clean page.
'It's been a long couple of days and I feel more alone now than I did when I got Voyager lost here. These past two days without his support, banter and nagging about how much coffee I'm drinking. He's grown to be a good friend and it was weird having such an empty seat beside me, both on the Bridge and in the conference room. Right now the Doctor is working on reintegrating Chakotay's consciousness with his body. It's a lengthy procedure and I tried to stay but my restlessness was irritating the Doctor. He's going to contact me when he's done all I have to do now is wait and try and figure out what my actions and thoughts mean. If I'm honest with myself I'm afraid of what my heart's feeling.'
That call from the Doctor came a few hours later, Kathryn was up and in Sickbay quicker than one could say Voyager. She and B'Elanna stand on either side of the biobed looking down at Chakotay as the Doctor finally finished working on him. Kathryn took a step closer to his head, looking into his eyes as he woke up.
"Did it work?"
"It appears so. Commander. Can you hear me?"
"Yes. I'm a little dizzy, but I think I'm all here."
The spark that had been missing from Kathryn's eyes the past couple of days came back at Chakotay's attempt at humor. Their eyes met and he smiled as he read the relief in her sapphire blue orbs. Kathryn smiled back at him and placed a hand on his bare shoulder, electricity shooting through them both.
"What happened, Commander?" she asked softly, both completely unaware that B'Elanna and the Doctor have been talking.
"After the attack on the shuttle, I have the sensation of floating above my own body. I thought I was dead."
She squeezed his shoulder lightly. "And when the shuttle returned to Voyager you were still disembodied?" She avoided talking about the thought of him dying.
"Yes. I couldn't speak, I couldn't touch anything. But then I found id I concentrated on someone who was in the room with me, I could share their consciousness. At first I could only do little things with the hosts' body. Push buttons, work a console. As time went on, it became easier to do more. I'm sorry I had to knock you around, Tuvok." Chakotay glanced at the man who had just entered Sickbay, but he didn't want to take his eyes off Kathryn, needing to know how she was feeling.
"No apology is necessary."
Kathryn smiled widely. "Good job, Commander, and welcome back."
Chakotay smiled widely back at her. "To be honest, I feel like I never left."
Kathryn went to speak but realised that they weren't alone, so changed her mind and turned to Tuvok. "Can you have the Bridge? Set us back on course to the Alpha Quadrant."
Tuvok simply nodded and left.
"It's good to have you back, Chakotay." B'Elanna bent down and gave him a brief hug. "I'll head back to Engineering."
B'Elanna had only just left when Chakotay sat up revealing his bare chest to Kathryn who swallowed, trying to stop her eyes from drinking in the sight of his hard body on their own accord.
"When can I leave?"
The Doctor looked to Kathryn with a raised brow, she simply raised one back. "No duty for a couple of days. I want to see you tomorrow morning and you have to wear a cortical monitor so I can watch you for any side effects of the procedure."
Chakotay nodded, slid off the biobed and smirked at Kathryn as he put his jumper and jacket back on. Her eyes followed his actions. He wasn't sure she was aware of it.
"Would you like to get a cup of coffee, Kathryn?"
She nodded. "Sure."
The pair walked from Sickbay and headed towards Chakotay's quarters. Kathryn said nothing about it, happy to be getting some privacy from their crew. Chakotay punched in the code and allowed Kathryn in first.
"Take a seat, I'll get the coffee."
Kathryn did so, looking around as she made herself comfortable. Chakotay handed her a mug of black coffee before taking a seat next to her with his own cup in his hands.
"How are you, Kathryn?"
"I'm much better now." She noticed Chakotay raised an eyebrow so she elaborated a little. "It's good to have you back Chakotay. I've missed you," she whispered almost wishing that Chakotay didn't hear her.
"I know."
Her head shot up. "How?"
"You think very loudly."
"Oh God." She put her head in her spare and hand and Chakotay chuckled.
"It's okay, Kathryn. I missed being beside you."
Kathryn looked up once more and smiled before taking a long drink out of her mug. "You know nothing can happen, right."
Chakotay nodded. "I do understand that, but…"
"No buts Chakotay. Just friends, if the situation or our feelings change then we'll discuss it, okay?"
"I'll agree to that." They both had a drink. "Now that we've cleared that up, how about I teach you to sand paint."
Kathryn laughed. "What?"
"You heard the Doctor, I can't do duty for two days and last I checked you had off time built up. Take it and keep me company."
Kathryn thought about it for a long moment. "I could use some down time."
"Good."
They smiled at each other, neither acknowledging the thoughts running through their minds.
And slowly, Kathryn stopped telling herself that she shouldn't be spending this time with Chakotay and found that she rather enjoyed spending time socially with him. The pair parted on the promise of friendship and weekly dinners.
To Be Continued...