Disclaimer: The rights to 'Star Trek: Voyager' do not belong to me, nor do those to 'The Mists of Avalon'. No money is being made of this and no infringement of copyright is intended.
This is the first of probably four parts. It occurs somewhere right after 'Muse'. It may take a while for me to post the rest of the story, but I am working on it. This part is a Sinterklaas present to all of you. I hope you like it!
Thanks go to Kimberly, who was and is a great help and a dear friend. Thank you Kimmy!
Kathryn Janeway, former Captain of the Federation Starship Voyager, smiled as her eyes raked through the room, coming to rest on each member of her crew. She noted with pleasure how happy they all looked, how at home. The surroundings were lovely; the entire hall was delicately decorated and the joy that radiated from everyone made the air appear to shimmer, like it did on a hot day. Refreshments were on the other side of the room – edible for once. In the left corner, people were dancing; swaying gently to the music, for the fast beats had died out hours before. After their rough landing a year ago, she never would have believed that they'd feel so at home here now. Their days on Voyager had been a source of dreams long after they'd landed here, what she'd longed back to during her darkened hours. Voyager, the place that had become their home when they had none, while all the time that was what they thought they were heading for. Earth – home. She smiled somewhat sadly as she remembered the journey that had indeed brought them home, but that journey couldn't be measured in light years. Home wasn't a building or planet, but a feeling of belonging. Like that old saying: home is where the heart is. She just hadn't realized that their heart – her heart – was on Voyager. And by the time she did realize her home was on Voyager, that home had been ripped away from her. But at least no one had been arrested and forced to spend the rest of their days in jail. Instead all of them had been able to build a new life for themselves. Then she became sombre, as her mind drifted back to those who weren't there; those they'd never see again.
She put down her glass on one of the tables strewn across the room and moved to the open doors, while looking back at her former crew – her children – once before vanishing in the dark of night. The houses around her were dim and no moon graced the sky. The only light came from the hall she'd just left, the glow from the windows drawing a long shadow in front of her. Her feet instinctively carried her to the park not too far away. No one else was there and she felt herself being swallowed by the silence, the sounds from the ballroom fading into the night. Her eyes slowly adjusted to the dark and she could make out the stone bench she often sat on during the day, when it was warmed by the sunlight and the surrounding nature made for a beautiful view. Now, without the sun's rays to give it colour, the place looked extremely different. The flowers, usually brightly coloured and sparkling with life, now looked grey and dead. The trees had become black giants, adding to the sinister mood. She sank down on the bench and remained still, observing what she could see of the plant life around her. A cold breeze played with her braided hair and she wrapped her arms around herself as a chill travelled through her spine. The rustling of leaves broke the silence, playing a delicate melody that soothed the old guilt, which still surfaced on nights like these. Her mind found its way to a place close to peace as she sat there; surrounded by nature, enveloped in the strong embrace of the place she called home…
-()- (:(o):) -()-
Kathryn Janeway, Captain of the USS Voyager – although off duty at the moment – walked through the holodeck doors. Chakotay had once again brought up the fact that she needed to take some time off and relax. Reading reports, apparently, didn't count as relaxing. She had of course objected, listing every possible reason for not going, ranging from not needing relaxation to captain's prerogative. Unfortunately, he had fended off all her arguments and had even joked that it was 'first officer's prerogative' to get his captain to take some time off. In the end, she gave in, and booked three hours of holodeck time. She had to admit it wasn't too bad. She was actually looking forward to it.
She started the new program she'd found, designed after an old book written by Marion Zimmer Bradley, called the Mists of Avalon. It was set in the England of King Arthur; revolving around Arthur's sister Morgaine, on her path to become a high priestess on the mythical island of Avalon. She had been fascinated by the unusual focus of the story and the timeframe in which it played. In most stories Arthur's sister was told to be the evil sorceress, while here she was portrayed as the calm and wise priestess. And not to mention the scenery was incredibly beautiful; the gorgeous medieval England with its forests and hills, villages and castles, and Avalon, which lay hidden within the mists.
Two hours later, Kathryn was rowing a small boat on the lake that harboured Avalon. This – supposedly – was the test 'Morgaine' had to take in order to become a priestess. To succeed, she had to find her way back to Avalon. Kathryn stood up in the small vessel, her arms spread out to remain balanced. Her hands started to rise in order to make the motion that would part the mists, when the ship suddenly rocked, along with the whole holodeck, throwing Kathryn overboard and into the holographic water. The first thought that entered her head when she resurfaced was that this was another one of Tom Paris' pranks – one he would think twice before repeating when she was done with him. A second later she realized the red alert klaxon was sounding and quickly ended the program. The water surrounding her vanished, as did the over-turned boat, as the mundane yellow and black grid reappeared. She pulled the long gown she'd been wearing over her head and picked up her turtleneck and jacket from the ground to put them back on. Her uniform pants and tank top, which she'd been wearing underneath the gown, were soaking wet, but she didn't even notice as she quickly stalked out the door.
-()-o-()-
The bridge was chaotic, everyone trying his best to fight off the alien ship that had suddenly de-cloaked at their star port bow and immediately opened fire. It wasn't a very large vessel, but its first shot had been well placed, blowing out communications in one blast. Their unexpected appearance gave the aliens an advantage and it took a few moments for the bridge crew to fight back. Because of that, the aliens managed to also disable their transporters and bring shields down to 60. Thanks to their time in the Delta Quadrant, however, the crew had learned to act quickly and their surprise didn't last long as they scrambled to gain the upper hand. The small ship soon found that it was outgunned. Just when Tom thought they'd won, another ship appeared, matching the first one in build, but alarmingly bigger. It fired at Voyager, right as the turbo lift doors opened and admitted the Captain. She stumbled onto the bridge, but caught herself on the railing, barking, "Report!"
She moved to her chair as Tuvok reported Voyager's condition. Nodding in comprehension once he finished, she immediately started handing out orders.
"Mister Paris, evasive manoeuvres Beta four. Tuvok, target their weapons. Fire at will."
"Aye, ma'am!" Both men responded, their hands flying across their stations to carry out her orders almost before she'd finished speaking. Once again they showed that the last couple of years had made them all a great team. Voyager slowly regained the upper hand. Apparently, the new ship, although bigger, didn't surpass the first one in firepower and between Tuvok and Tom; the aliens were no match for Voyager. A well-placed phaser shot from Tuvok disabled the weapons of the largest ship. Suddenly both ships swerved and jumped to warp. Within seconds, they were gone. Their disappearance – just as sudden as their arrival – made an end to the battle.
"Stand down red alert." The klaxon stopped and the lights turned back to normal. The bridge crew relaxed somewhat; glad the thread had ended. Tom turned his seat to face the rest of the bridge.
"What do you think they w–" He travelled off mid-sentence as he caught sight of his captain's appearance. Her hair fell in moist tendrils down her face, her jacket clung to her wet torso and droplets of water dripped from the standard issue black pants to the floor of the bridge. "What happened, Captain? Fell overboard?" He joked.
"Actually, yes." She answered, a deadpan expression on her face, daring Tom to contradict her.
"May I point out, Captain, that as we are on a Starship, one does not get wet if he falls overboard? As a matter of fact, one does not even fall overboard." Tuvok interjected.
"One does if she's on the holodeck while Tom's flying! No if you'll excuse me, I believe I'd better change into something dry." She quickly walked to the turbo lift, smiling at the surprised expression on Tom's face, who didn't seem to know whether to take her comment seriously or not.
The lift doors opened and the Captain started to move in, stopping abruptly and turning around just before setting foot in the 'lift. "And I want reports regarding this incident on my desk in one hour." Amazingly enough, even looking like a drowned cat – Tom could swear he'd heard sopping sounds coming from her boots when she walked past Tuvok's station – she still managed to emit authority.
-()-o-()-
The rest of the day was peaceful, making Kathryn almost doubt that the attack had been real and not a figment of her imagination. If it weren't for the pile of reports on her desk describing the whole event, she would have chalked it up to her imagination and her hope for some action. As it was, the attack was just another incident in a long line of incidents.
After having changed into a dry uniform, the Captain reported for duty, her remaining holodeck time forgotten. She spent most of the day in her ready room, reviewing reports and trying to piece together who had attacked them and why. Then there were the questions of where to find fresh supplies and ores to keep the ship running and how to get through the remainder of the month with the rations she had left. They were just the usual questions to answer that surfaced for every Starfleet captain who had an addiction to coffee and a ship, which was lost in the Delta Quadrant. The sound of the chime came as a welcome distraction.
"Come in, Commander." Chakotay entered, carrying a padd and a slightly bemused expression.
"How did you know it was me?"
"Let me see. I already have everyone's report on the attack, as well as all the regular ones." She gestured to the pile of padds on her desk and her coffee table, which was also littered with padds and – appropriately so – with coffee mugs as well. "Not to mention it's almost time for dinner. I'd say even Tom wouldn't give out high odds on that one." Chakotay grinned a bit sheepishly and tugged on his ear.
"I didn't realize I was getting predictable." Kathryn smiled back briefly before donning her role as captain again.
"What is the ship's status?"
"Communications and transporters are back online and shields are at 75. However, there was a malfunction that caused some systems to overload. One of their last shots was a direct hit." Kathryn stared out her viewport and seemed to contemplate that for a minute.
"Almost as if they knew where to fire." She mentally shook herself and returned her gaze to Chakotay. "How soon until the damaged systems are functional again?"
"It were mainly the sensors that were damaged, together with a few glitches in the engines and some system failures. Nothing too serious, although Tuvok wasn't exactly happy when his face came into contact with one of Neelix' cakes during a temporal loss of artificial gravity in the mess hall. B'Elanna expects repairs to be finished by tomorrow afternoon. Until then, we're running on impulse engines only."
She smiled briefly when he mentioned Tuvok's problem. "I hope he wasn't too embarrassed."
"Like a true Vulcan, he managed to suppress any hint of discomfort, even when whatever Neelix had used as a substitute for whipped cream turned out to be a bit stickier than it's supposed to be. He had a pretty hard time getting it off."
"Poor Tuvok. And after that transporter accident a little while back."
"I'll never forget the look on his face when instead of beaming him to the transporter room, it dropped him right in the middle of Chell's excuse for chicken soup. I don't think I've ever seen soup that was that thick."
"You don't suppose it's deliberate, do you? I mean, it is a bit coincidental that those malfunctions always involve Tuvok and some kind of abominable food."
"I wouldn't know, but maybe I should have a talk with Tom. Since we're on the topic of food, what do you say to some vegetable lasagne? I happen to know a certain first officer who'd like to have dinner with his captain tonight."
"Well, I don't know about that captain or first officer, but I wouldn't say no to dinner with my best friend." She gave him a small wink.
"My quarters in half an hour?"
"I'll bring the wine." They shared another smile before Chakotay left the ready room, nodding to Tuvok before walking to the turbo lift to return to his quarters, the padd still in his hand. He had some lasagne to make.
-()-o-()-
They never got around to that dinner, though. A scant ten minutes after Chakotay had left the captain's ready room and went to his quarters, the ship shook again. Kathryn groaned as she picked herself up from the ground, having been thrown out of her seat at the sudden lurch. She tapped her comm. badge while returning some of the fallen padds to her desk.
"Janeway to Conn."
"Paris here, ma'am."
"Mister Paris, I don't suppose that was another show of your manoeuvring abilities?"
"No ma'am, we've been caught in some kind of spatial rift!"
"I didn't think so." Kathryn muttered. "I'm on my way."
-()-o-()-
"What happened?" She didn't waste any time on pleasantries as she came out of her ready room, scanning the faces on the bridge for answers. Harry, standing at Ops, was the quickest to answer.
"We hit a spatial rift. We didn't detect it because sensors are still not working properly." His hands were flying over his consol. "It's draining power from the warp core. It's sucking us in!" He looked up at his captain, a slight panic visible in his eyes.
"Captain to Engineering, how far are you on those engines?"
"We're working on it, Captain." B'Elanna's voice reported over the Comm.
"Hurry up, and keep me posted." She closed the link and looked back at Harry. "How long do we have before it does serious damage to the ship?"
"I don't know, ma'am. At the present rate we have an hour at most." She nodded at him, conveying some strength to the young ensign. He relaxed slightly, his fear changing to determination.
"Assemble all the data you can find, I want to know exactly what we're dealing with and more importantly, how to get out. Understood?" The captain received nods and 'aye's from all over the bridge and moved across it to her chair, immediately activating the screen between the two command chairs to call up all the information she could find – which wasn't all together much with half the systems down. Engrossed in their work, no one on the bridge looked up when Chakotay arrived. He quietly asked for an update from Tuvok. A frown appeared on his face when he heard the situation and he quickly walked over to his chair, sitting down next to his Captain who was bent over their shared console. The bridge was silent as everyone worked on a way to break free of the spatial rift without destroying Voyager in the process.
-()-o-()-
A loud tearing sound suddenly shattered the silence that accompanied their increasingly desperate search for a solution. Everybody looked up from their panels, their eyes quickly moving to the Captain, hoping she had answers for them.
"Tuvok, report."
"The rift's graviton pull has increased. Our hull plating is being ripped off. Impulse is no longer sufficient to maintain position." The Captain had risen from her chair without even realizing it.
"Bridge to Torres. Now would be a good time to get those warp engines online!"
"I'm trying, but we could use some help down here!" A slight nod from Janeway was all Harry needed to be on his way to Engineering.
"We're loosing too much power. Life support is failing on decks 14 and 15."
"Evacuate those decks!" Another shredding sound was audible and Voyager lurched radically. "Reinforce the hull!"
"We can't. There's not enough power! Our only chance is to get the warp engines online and break free." Chakotay's eyes locked with hers briefly, conveying the support his words could not.
"B'Elanna!" Janeway almost shouted into the still open comm. line.
"We're almost there, but there's just not enough power!"
"Reroute all secondary power to the engines!"
"Come on." B'Elanna's plea to the ship mingled with all the other noise of the bridge. Kathryn balled her hands into tight fists, her knuckles quickly turning white. Time seemed to stand still for a moment as the whole bridge crew silently prayed for the warp engines to work.
"I've got it! Powering up warp engines." Everyone on the bridge released a collective sigh of relief. Running her hands through her hair Kathryn unclenched her fists and called out:
"Mister Paris, get us out of here at maximum warp!" Tom happily complied and with a few more wrenching sounds, Voyager quickly retreated to safer waters.
-()-o-()-
An hour later, Janeway called a senior staff meeting to discuss the events of the day. All the faces showed anxiety or weariness; even Tuvok looked more serious than normal – the Vulcan equivalent of looking worried. Kathryn looked around the room once to see all their attention focussed on her. Then she looked at B'Elanna and opened the meeting.
"What is the extent of the damage?"
"The warp engine is back online, but I don't know for how long. It could shut down any moment. Transporters, long-range sensors and holo emitters are off line. Short-range sensors are barely working and shields are down to less than 25. Life support is down on decks 11 through 15. The rift tore off a lot of the hull plating as well and drained an enormous amount of power. We've started working on repairs, but the ship is in pretty bad shape. There isn't much we can do without replacement parts and we will probably have to land somewhere to restore the hull. In addition to that, our supply of ores is running low, especially dilithium." B'Elanna's voice held less fervour than usual and her frown had added a ridge to those on her brow.
"Were there any injuries?" Worry lines clearly showed in Kathryn's face.
"A few, but none too severe." The doctor smiled reassuringly to no one in particular. "The crew on the de-pressurised decks were evacuated on time and thanks to some quick thinking," His smile turned a bit smug. "my program had already been downloaded onto the portable emitter before the holo grid went off line."
"All right, our main focus should be the repairs. Seven, are there any planets on sensor where we might be able to get replacement parts and ores?"
"There are none on short-range sensors. However, before the attack, long-range sensors did detect a system. It contained four planets, one of which M-class, and was centred around a yellow dwarf star. The sensors went off line before I could acquire more data."
"That'll just have to do. Tom, plot a course with Seven to the approximate coordinates of that system. Tuvok, I want a detailed report on that spatial rift. B'Elanna and Harry, continue with the repairs. Dismissed." Everybody filed out of the briefing room, their spirits a bit higher now that they again had a goal to work towards. When only Chakotay was left, she sank down into her chair, scrolling through the contents of a padd. After a few moments she looked up at him, her slightly clouded eyes silently asking him why he was still there.
"What if we run out of power before we reach a planet with the necessary ores?" His voice was as calm as ever.
"We won't." Hers sounded a bit sharper than she'd intended, but her determination was clear.
"How can you be so sure we'll succeed?"
"Because we have to. I promised I'd get them home and I won't break that promise."
"Maybe we're already home." His eyes told her there was more he wanted to say, but after a short hesitation, he turned around and left the room, leaving her to think about what he'd said – and what he hadn't said.
-()-o-()-
Voyager's stubborn, redheaded Captain was on the bridge when they reached the M-class planet where they hoped to repair their ship. She was reading a padd, focussed entirely on its contents, but still keeping an ear open for any change on the bridge. Normally she would have read the report in her ready room, but considering the two unpleasant encounters they'd already had and Voyager's weakened state, she'd decided to remain in her chair on the bridge, able to keep a close watch on all systems. Except for a small frown, nothing in her expression or posture indicated that something was wrong, yet inside her mind was going at warp speed – even though her ship was not – and her worries were steadily growing. Not only were shields stuck at approximately 32, but the warp drive had also malfunctioned about 1 billion kilometres away from the planet, forcing them to travel the last part on impulse only. The padd she was reading contained Seven's report with all the data they'd been able to collect on the planet, both from before the sensors went offline and after. It looked promising enough, with dilithium in some of the northern areas and a good climate around the planet's equator. It was uninhabited, meaning that they would have to get spare parts somewhere else, but it did contain a large quantity of edible vegetation to restock their depleted food supply.
She looked up when Tom announced they had reached the planet and put the padd down. Sitting up slightly straighter in her chair, she ordered him to land Voyager.
"I'll try, but it's gonna get tricky with those sensors that keep acting up."
"I'm sure you can do it, Lieutenant. Just take us down slowly."
"Aye, ma'am." Paris followed her instructions and went down on minimum impulse, keeping a close watch for any sign of trouble. Apart from a few bumps and some swaying, it went pretty well – until he wanted to put Voyager down. Instead of a gentle touchdown on the large clearing that was visible on the view screen and readable on sensors, the hull suddenly scraped against a harder surface, making a loud screeching sound that could be heard even on the bridge. Kathryn felt a coldness grab her heart, fearing for her crew and herself like in every previous situation where they'd faced serious problems. Then, suddenly and just for a second, she had the feeling that they'd be home soon. It was a gut feeling and had already gone before she was able to identify it, but it caused a surge of hope to flow through her. She felt reassured and safe and the earlier fear had vanished.
"What was that?" She looked around with a new determination and her voice was just a notch lighter than before, which was only noticed by Chakotay. Paris was working feverishly on his console and didn't have time to answer, so her question hung in the air for a moment.
"The sensor data is wrong!" Harry's answer came from behind her and she and Chakotay turned around. Harry didn't look up to meet their eyes, but continued to type in commands. Then his head shut up abruptly, his wide eyes meeting the command duo's. The noise had stopped as Tom had managed to fly Voyager a bit higher.
"This is data from about twelve hours ago, the clearing is now on the other side of the planet!" Tom's head jerked in his direction.
"Can you adjust the sensors?"
"No, but I can see what they say about the other side of the planet. Or, what they say is the other side. The problem is that I don't know exactly how much the planet has rotated, so I won't know where we are right now."
"Do it. Captain to Engineering. B'Elanna, the sensors are malfunctioning."
"I know, the problem is, the computer doesn't. It can't locate the problem and the diagnostic says the sensors are working fine. I don't even know where to start with repairs."
"Thank you, B'Elanna." Kathryn terminated the comm. link and turned back to Harry. "Any progress?"
"No, ma'am."
"All right, Mister Paris. You're going to have to land her on instinct."
"Captain." Harry interfered from Ops. "I don't know where we are, but sensors show that the other side of the planet is mostly mountains. Without sensors working properly, it's going to be one hell of a ride."
"We'll have to take that chance; we can't stay here much longer. In the state Voyager is now, an ion storm could be devastating and we can't rely on sensors to detect them in time. Take us down, Mister Paris."
"Yes, ma'am."
"Go to blue alert. Captain to all hands, brace for impact." She gripped the hand rest on her seat and turned her eyes to the big view screen, even though she knew it showed the wrong side of the planet. Everyone around her was tense and she more sensed than saw Chakotay frowning in the chair next to her. Despite the situation, she still felt that spark of hope that had remained from her 'premonition' and she drew strength from it. The loud wrecking rattle returned and she knew their lives were now in the hands of fate. She had always been the scientist, needing to know the answers and hear the explanations for everything before she could accept it. Now, she had to rely on their luck that they wouldn't land on the top of one of those mountains or fly right into one. She was surprised how easy she found it to accept that, believing they'd be fine even thought the chances were against them. It was almost like her determination to get home; if she believed in it strong enough and didn't give up, they would get there. Her gaze shifted from the view screen to Tom, who was punching in commands on his station so fast she was almost surprised it was still working.
Without warning there was a loud crash and the whole ship shook violently, before it became quiet. She felt her head smash against something hard before everything turned black…