Discliamer: see chapter one
Rainbows
Chapter Two – Forty-five degrees.
Paris and the EMH arrived on the Bridge soon after. The pilot took the helm and closed down all flight functions. The Doctor silently handed the Captain a PADD it had some of the same words as had been flashed around the ship – 'Say nothing.' Frowning puzzled she nodded her understanding wondering what the medic had discovered.
Kim returned to the Bridge with Seven and Icheb having closed down Astrometrics before leaving that section of the ship; he and Tuvok closed down all other functions across the ship, whilst down in engineering they switched everything to grey-mode, no-one saying a word as they worked, once all had completed their tasks, they stood away from their darken consoles.
The EMH moved from the command area to stand beside the pilot and tapped his shoulder. Thus Paris moved the ship using thrusters only to the required location above the planet. Once in place he locked the controls and joined the EMH and Captain in the command centre and waited.
Time seemed to pass slowly as they waited, and then the darkened Bridge became filled with soft colours which whirled around the area before consolidated into a vibrant rainbow. Janeway almost spoke in surprise as the seven pulsing colours filled the bridge. In engineering the self same seven colours filled that area also, starting in the warp core, it arched up through the ship running through the bridge and out towards the planet. Why they waited and what for they did not really know, but wait they did silently with only the seven colours of the rainbow giving any light across the dark ship.
Neelix, Naomi and some others of the crew stood at the Mess Hall view ports and watched the rainbow arch down towards the planet as if seeking something.
#Connection is established. Awaiting confirmation# announced the computer into the heavy silence after a few minutes that felt more like an hour, Tom sighed softly in relief.
"Doctor?" Janeway questioned.
"I think it would be wise if I explain to the entire crew, please," he said gently.
"Mr. Tuvok, call the crew to attention," she ordered softly, not taking her eyes off the holo-medic.
"Crew are standing-by. Conference mode," the Vulcan added realising it might be necessary considering some of the information the Doctor had earlier sent to his console.
"Thank you," the EMH acknowledged to both commanding officers. "I have a question first. What elements make-up a rainbow?"
"Sun and rain," Janeway responded promptly and yet puzzled by it.
"Anything else?" he queried.
"Not that I can recall." Minutes ticked by as he waited, but she continued to frown at him perplexed. An exasperated sigh sounded from behind them.
"The sunlight must be at the specific angle of 45 degrees for the raindrops to become moving prisms that will split the visible light into the seven colours of the full light spectrum," said Seven with another audible sigh, as if she felt that Janeway should have known this fact without being told or prompted.
"Thank you," the Doctor said, his facial expression conveyed something that his tone and words did not and only Seven of nine picked up on it and stayed silent.
"What has this got to do with finding Cmdr. Chakotay?" Neelix asked through the open com-link.
"Everything. What other element is noted about rainbows?"
"A pot of gold," said Kim.
"Which end though?" someone asked.
"In this case, both," the Doctor responded. "When you picked up our alien passenger, how did he arrive on Voyager?"
"By shuttle with Neelix and myself," noted the Captain.
"And he left by the same method," said Icheb.
"He insisted on it," came their transporter Chief's voice.
"Indeed for the simple reason that the alien did not exist." Those words caused most to dispute that, yet the EMH remained quiet letting the hubbub wash over him. One voice spoke over the others making a pointed statement:
"He avoided sickbay if possible, even when I thought he looked a little pale and in need of the Doctor's assistance," noted Ayala.
"He didn't like being scanned either," said another voice.
"Once he'd been introduced to Cmdr. Chakotay, he was always with him and no-one else," said Tuvok, revealing something that most hadn't wanted to acknowledge before now.
"Why?"
"Because he – the alien – fed off a special type of neutral energy in order to keep a visibly physical and solid form," the EMH informed them. His words took a while to sink in.
"Would that explain why we can't pick up any humanoid life signs on the planet, including Chakotay's?" she calmly asked, hiding her alarm at the Doctor's news.
"Yes and no."
"Can someone explain this in plain English?" Paris smiled recognising the irate female voice and silently added 'or Klingon!' to her statement. The Chief engineer's tone had brought a smile to the Captain's worried features, moving to softly pace the command area.
"I asked Mr. Paris to do an internal scan of the ship paying particular attention to all the places Cmdr. Chakotay had been in. The results were very interesting and gave a partial explanation as to why the alien insisted on a shuttle ride to the planet surface."
"To keep hold of Uncle Chakotay!?" asked Naomi dismayed.
"Not exactly; so as not to reveal his true nature and – more importantly – to gain the Commander's trust in order to fully connect with Voyager." Silence reined, some were deeply puzzled, and others were clearly confused, by this new information.
"Voyager's data and energy is the alien's pot of gold," said Kim cautiously.
"He is right!" before anyone could countermand the young Ops manager's observation.
"Therefore our pot of gold is Chakotay."
"Yes; but he will have to come to us."
"How?!" a voice snapped.
"The rainbow," said Janeway eying the seven colours that filled the Bridge as well as recalling the rainbow that had filled her quarters in a dream.
=/\=
When he woke he sensed that he and his spirit guide were not alone. At first there was only one; then others appeared all non-corporate. The She Wolf snarled warningly especially as the first figure solidified into a Coyote – the trickster.
/What do you want?/ he demanded sitting close to the She Wolf his hand in her thick ruff holding her back from attacking the smaller Coyote.
/Voyager/ was the many voiced response.
/Why?/
/Her energy will help us/
/How?/ this time there was only silence to his question.
/He is alone, why do we delay?/
/They have not fully scanned for him yet/ their voices whispered through him, voices that he'd heard before, he realised, but had not understood; now he did.
/We can not delay. He has already thwarted our attempts to persuade him/ angry sounding and not seeming to care whether he heard or not.
/We must be patient/
/PATIENT!/ snapped one voice.
/We wait for them to complete and co-ordinate their efforts to find him/
/The ship is not in the right place though/
/It will be. They will not leave him/
He and the She Wolf shared a look with each other, knowing that this Coyote sounded too sure of himself, but then the trickster always did, even when things weren't exactly going his way, which often turned out to be his downfall, yet not always.
=/\=
"Doctor you said he will have to come to us. How, if we're not scanning for him? We should continue and return to our original orbit."
"Seven; if we do then the angle of 45 degrees will be right for them to reach their pot of gold," said Harry Kim softly.
"You mustn't think like a Borg drone in this matter," noted the EMH, his tone a little harsh.
"How have our scans been conducted?" Janeway asked stalling the heated exchange from escalating.
"Rather haphazardly," observed Icheb. "Which is rather unusual in itself," he added quietly.
"As if someone was trying to warn us!" Tom said puzzled by his own statement.
"Indeed," said the calm voice of the Vulcan.
"Has anyone else seen rainbows since Chakotay went missing?" Janeway asked. "I know I have and quite vividly too," all too aware of the colours that still bathed the bridge and most of the darkened ship.
"I saw one in the warp core," said Torres voice through the still open link.
"I believe I saw a flash of one briefly," said Seven puzzled.
"Interesting!"
"Tuvok?" the Captain questioned as her dark friend joined her and the EMH in the command area. Instead of answering her question he spoke to the holo-medic.
"You mentioned a special type of neutral energy. As far as I'm aware there are only two types of neutral energy; physical and mental."
"To you, yes; to Chakotay there is the spiritual."
"His animal spirit guides!" she exclaimed, smiling at the raised eyebrow of her Security Chief, it prompted her to continue. "He introduced me to mine near the start of our journey. Could they be our connection?" Janeway asked frowning, puzzled by her own explanation.
"Indeed, Captain. Question is how?"
"Mental imagery."
"Go on, Icheb," the EMH encouraged.
"Cmdr. Chakotay was explaining to me once that although some of his people have faith in vision quests not all achieve it successfully through the normal manner. Thus they develop a way of using strong mental images to assist them in receiving similar results to a full vision quest."
"Like lucid dreaming?!"
"Similar, Mr. Paris," the Doctor acknowledged his comment.
"Are you saying we have to dream?" queried Torres still sounding angry.
"Negative, Lieutenant. Have you experienced something other than rainbows?" the Vulcan asked, realising something of the significance of the fact that the three females of the main senior staff had experienced rainbows in some form.
"Yes. I'm not sure what, but I felt him close."
"Then I suggest you try again, Lieutenant."
"We are going to need Cmdr. Chakotay's help in finding his corporate form, before we can transport him aboard," the EMH added; about to add something else to his statement, when Vorik's voice informed them that their Chief was taking a 'Spirit Walk' of her own.
"I'll be down there soon to monitor her, Ensign."
"No need, Doctor. I will monitor her," Vorik assured him.
"How many will be required?"
"How many colours in a rainbow?" the dark Vulcan countered her question softly and moved to sit in the XO's command chair and advised her to sit in hers. The Vulcan closed his eyes and took up a deeply meditative pose; Janeway copied him, Seven likewise in her usual position – standing.
"Do you think this will work?"
"It has too, Mr. Paris, for all our sakes," the Doctor said worriedly and then gave soft orders for the rest of the crew.
=/\=
He heard the soft leathery wings stir before he sensed her. /The Bat/ he thought to himself and could clearly feel her strong angry presence. Without warning the large Bat swooped down and flew at the Coyote, screeching a warning in Klingon.
/You coming, P'tak?/ she threw back at him. He and the She Wolf stood and followed moving carefully through the forest. The shadowy figures seemed to scatter from before him for a while and then they pressed in closer once more.
/Do not doubt/ said a calm voice full of the wisdom of age and his kind. There sitting on a tree stump, almost looking as if part of the once living plant was a bird; it swivelled its head round and blinked at him. The feathered tufts on its head marked it as an Eagle Owl the most powerful of all the birds in spiritual law. /Come/ it said and spreading its wings, it flew ahead through the trees as they thinned. The Bat re-joined them having been harrying the grey shadows.
/We are many. You are few or rather one/ their tone angry.
/Numbers is not the issue here. It is belief/ the wise voice responded. The She Wolf rumbled in her throat agreeing with the sentiment spoken. The trees gave way to the shoreline of the lake; the Otters playing just off shore, tumbling about within the ruffled water. One was lying floating on its back a clam on its belly and a stone in its paws, this told him that these playful creatures were Sea Otters, thus the lake was sea fed, rather than river fed as he'd first thought. Would he find that wider shore?
/Do not doubt/ came the words, this time from three voices rather than one. The She Wolf nudged him forward to follow the shore. The bay where he stood had appeared enclosed, but as they walked it opened out to him. There fishing among the wave lapped shallows was the She Bear, her cubs playing in the Aspen trees near-by.
/Come/ she called having turned to look at him. The tone of voice made him smile, trying to picture her face. /Don't/ she growled warningly, thus he mentally cleared his mind and noted the storm clouds gathering on the distant horizon.
/We will have what we want/ whispered the grey shadows, dark with intent and menace.
Two Otters ran towards him, shaking off excess water from their fur.
/You can not sleep now/ they told him. /Come/ running in circles around him urging him onwards, skittering ahead, and disappearing into the surrounding undergrowth chattering all the while. The She Bear re-appeared closer to him calling to her cubs, her large bulk giving him courage and strength to keep going. Slowly the forest gave way to a semi open and rocky shoreline, the lake's further shore receding into the horizon on which the dark clouds continued to gather and threaten heavy rain. The Eagle Owl sat perched on a rocky outcrop ahead of him and the Bat flew out of the tall cleft that seemed to almost split the rock in two. His limbs were getting tired and felt heavy. Standing majestically within the shadows of the near-by Aspen trees, stood the Hart, its liquid brown eyes encouraging.
/You are not alone/ the Hart reminded him. Gentle raindrops caressed his face, refreshing his flagging spirits. The sun shone through the falling water creating a rainbow that settled just in front of the cleft shaped cave mouth. The Coyote appeared, tall and menacing, with others ranged behind it in the depth of the cave.
/You can not enter here/ it growled with many voices.
He closed his eyes, mentally gathering strength from those around him. Breathing deeply and opening his eyes he carefully stepped forward and although his own spirit guide was no longer visible he knew she was there along with the others. The urgent squeak of a Mouse came from near-by, running up his now trouser clad leg, she settled into his pocket pouch out of sight. It was then that he felt her, the most powerful of all the animal guides – the Black Panther and ranged close was the Bat, Eagle Owl, She Bear, Otters, Hart and the Blackbird could be heard singing in the forest behind him. Drawing strength and courage from them, he stepped forward again; only the Black Panther padded into the cave after him. Her powerful presence kept the Coyotes at bay, yet he knew one slip or doubt from him and they'd have to start again and that was not an option, as these beings were gaining strength from what had gone before.
=/\=
Aboard the waiting darkened rainbow lit ship the crew went about their business almost as usual; the EMH in command mode, stayed on the Bridge with Kim and Paris assisting him, as he monitored those in the spiritual guidance link. These ones rested eyes closed fixing firmly in mind a mental image of a specific creature, ones that Chakotay had selected unconsciously to represent them.
Icheb sensed when Seven started to falter and tried to scan physically through Voyager. With the aid of the Doctor they got her to sit beside Tuvok, who reached out a hand and grasped her arm and then transferred his other hand to Janeway linking the three of them together. Paris noted that three of the colours in the rainbow became more vibrant and pulsed with their combined mental energy.
When Icheb returned to the diagnostic console, it lit up without prompting from him and allowed him to track where that energy was heading.
In engineering Torres had been standing and just watching the warp core, but then she moved forward and put her hands on the blue pulsing column. The colour within steadied and added its energy to the rainbow. Vorik and Carey saw the diagnostic panels light-up and they could assess the flow and output of the combined energy. The two very different engineers looked silently at each other and continued to monitor, adding data to a PADD, Carey gave it to Marla Gilmore and she took it to the Bridge as the once open com-link was now down.
She handed this to the ECH and Paris; they both nodded their understanding and she took a return PADD with the additional information from the Bridge consoles. Ayala and Kim's consoles had also lit-up unasked both checked the scans and data that flowed across their boards. Sciences kept a check on the internal sensors to monitor those in the link. Ensign Sam Wildman was very diligent in this matter as her daughter and Neelix were part of the link also. Two more colours pulsed stronger within the rainbow as it left the ship; only one colour, the sunshine yellow was pale. It had to return to them just as vibrantly if they were to lock onto their crew mate and transport him aboard.
"You can do it, Poocuh!" Paris whispered softly, monitoring his Conn console to keep the ship at her correct angle, so sun and rain continued to make a full rainbow from their perspective.
=/\=
The darkness in the cavern suddenly became filled with the seven vibrant colours of a rainbow, pulsing around him across the cavern walls, allowing him to find his way. He smiled to himself, noting which of the colours was paler than the others, but he said and thought nothing.
/You can not win. We are many, you are one/ the voices raged.
/It is belief and conviction not numbers that matter/ he thought strongly, forcing them from getting to close to him. The Black Panther drew level with him padding on silent paws at his side, her very presence telling him not to doubt.
/Am tired/ he confessed to her softly.
/We know/ whispered a voice through his mind, it was one he recognised and yet could not name, but it was familiar and comforting.
/We are with you/ spoke another.
/You are not alone/ reminded another, all female in nature, he realised as he moved forward. He recognised some of the physical features of the cavern passage that he travelled, as if he'd walked in this place before, yet he didn't dwell on the questions that that thought and feelings raised.
/Why not?/ asked the Trickster's voice.
/Questions and their answers can wait; and they will wait/ he said with deeper conviction than before. The Black Panther at his side rumbled in her throat and moved ahead of him as the passage narrowed slightly before widening out again.
There ahead on a raised platform lay a uniform clad body, the facial profile his own. The body lay unmoving except for the gentle rise and fall of his chest cavity. Bonds kept his limbs in place; slowly he walked forward, the Black Panther prowled round the platform on which he was laid, forcing the grey shadows to keep their distance from his physical body. The Mouse slipped from his pocket pouch onto the prone body as he stood close to it and disappeared from sight, yet he could feel her move towards those bonds, her little heart beating wildly within her small body.
He quietly turned from his prone form to face the ranging shadows, but more importantly the Coyote – the trickster, the one who'd brought him to this place.
/You are only one. Why fight any longer. Sleep/
/You are wrong/ he responded with controlled anger, feeling the Bat's persona close, her anger fuelling his own, but restrained. The Coyote looked at him, instead of the prone body.
/Oh, why? You seemed convinced that you would not be missed earlier/ he teased mockingly.
/You convinced me of that sentiment/ he thought strongly, remembering something of the arguments that their alien guest had presented him with after being introduced to him. The colours entered the area and slowly started to form into the correct pattern of the full light spectrum.
/You will not leave here/
/They have no need of you/
/She has no need of you/ the Coyote snarled showing his sharp fangs.
/Maybe you are right/ he conceded softly and yet the rainbow continued to form and grow, thus showing he hadn't let go.
/Yes/ their voices eager now. /You can fill our needs/ they sang together, their voices growing stronger convinced that he was weakening to their demands, telling him that they really needed him. The Black Panther rumbled softly, reminding him of her presence and keeping the shadows at bay. The Mouse had almost completed her task on his bonds.
/You only need me to connect to Voyager. Then what?/
/You said questions could wait/ snarled the Coyote.
/He is stalling. We need.../ they didn't finish the thought, a howl rose from many throats, as his prone form breathed deeper as if waking from a deep sleep. The yellow colour in the rainbow grew steadily brighter, almost drowning out the other colours and pushed up and outwards toward its goal. He knew that he was needed, perhaps not in a way he would have liked when he'd first met the woman Captain, but she did need him and him her.
The Coyote tried to distract him, but the connection was growing stronger and soon it would be complete. The Black Panther kept herself close to his side and facing the Coyote.
=/\=
Aboard Voyager those able to scan the rainbow's energy noted that the sunshine yellow was flowing fast toward the ship.
"Mr. Paris be ready; we'll only have a small window of opportunity to get him fully aboard."
"Aye," he agreed to the ECH's statement, setting about computing in new co-ordinates.
"I thought we'd have more time once the connection is made," said a worried Kim.
"We won't as the connection will be two way."
"Oh help!"
"It'll be alright, Harry," the pilot assured his friend, hiding his own misgivings about this set-up.
The yellow colour soon filled the Bridge as it followed the rainbow arch to the ship's core. Torres found herself gently being pushed away from the core; breathing fast as if she'd been running. Vorik helped her to her feet. "Lieutenant?" he questioned, as she gazed around the area.
"There's something I need to do, to remember!" she said sounding distracted as if she was still in the link, which the young Vulcan thought could be a possibility as her eyes looked glazed. The warp core was now a mix of the normal blue with the yellow pulsing through it, but the other colours staying steady up to the core's column.
"What's the energy reading?" she asked quietly, trying to focus on something familiar to ground herself.
"Neutral energy is 0.75 and climbing," noted one of her staff.
"Lieutenant?" queried Carey, as the half-Klingon woman paced the deck, muttering softly. His voice penetrated her semi-dazed state. She looked at him, thus he gave her a rundown of their current on-board status.
"Neutral energy is at 0.8," said Vorik, once his fellow engineer completed his report.
"What is it I need to do?" she pondered, feeling frustrated her anger coming through her tone.
"Lieutenant, do not let your anger get the better of you!" advised Vorik, but to her his voice sounded like Tuvok's. Thus she stood still, her gaze fixed on the bi-coloured column.
"How many colours in a rainbow?" she asked softly.
"Seven!" noted Gilmore as puzzled by their Chief's stance as was everyone else in Engineering.
"How many colours across the ship?"
"Seven," someone else answered.
"Who are noted to be in the link?"
"Seven, Janeway, Tuvok, Neelix, Naomi, you and now Chakotay," said Carey.
"Not me, I was, now it's Voyager who's in this link," she said carefully. "The one thing they really want," she added her tone firm with conviction.
"Then we should terminate it!" noted Gilmore urgently.
"No we don't!" her voice staying everyone from acting on the last statement.
"Lieutenant?" questioned Carey puzzled.
"We just sour the milk!" she said and grinned broadly. It took a moment for them to cotton on to what she meant and then they grinned with her as they bustled about at her urgent directions.
=/\=
On the Bridge Kim and the Transporter Chief in room one, were frustrated by the fact that their boards were still dark for the transporter control functions. Although they could see that the connection was there it wasn't completely clear.
"I can't get the transporters on-line!" he said exasperated.
"Good, Starfleet. Keep it that way!" said a voice he wasn't expecting close to him.
"Maquis?"
"No time to explain, Starfleet. Just watch that port," she told him, pointing to the currently dark area of his console.
"B'Elanna, I thought you were part of this link?" noted the ECH, who was scanning the trio sitting in the command area.
"I was," she acknowledged making her way to the active engineering station.
"There are still seven energy signatures in the link," noted Icheb puzzled but calm, working at the upper diagnostic console.
"That's true," she said, working her console with what she'd started in engineering. "We're going to give them what they want, but not quite the pot of pure gold they're after or expecting."
"Fool's gold!" queried Paris in response to her knowing grin.
"In a manner of speaking," she acknowledged him her smile mischievous.
"Tell me where and when to move and I'll do it," he advised her. She nodded her thanks and sent to his console the new co-ordinates he'd need, whilst completing her own set task.
=/\=
In the coloured cavern, his physical body stirred again his bonds now loosened yet he didn't break free. The Mouse sat washing her paws for a moment and then she leapt onto the Black Panther and vanished. He did not touch this powerful animal totem as she sat close to him; he knew the Bat was no longer part of the link, yet an echo of her presence was still with him, fooling the shadows into believing that seven were still part of the link; likewise with the Mouse. Soon the Otters returned to the sea. Again the Black Panther rumbled warningly which turned into a threatening snarl as the grey shadows tried to pressure him into giving in to sleep and thus giving them free access to Voyager's energy.
/You are one. We are many/ came the chant again, almost like a mantra as if they sensed their real fight with him was only just beginning.
/Not alone/ he responded calmly. Tired though he was he kept to the belief that Voyager and her crew would find him and that he would return home. The Eagle Owl flew silently out of sight; the She Bear and the Hart joined him standing close and visible, before fading from view.
/They are leaving you/ the Coyote sneered. It was the wrong choice of words and tone as they would soon discover. He needed them to be safe and yet know they were close. Suddenly the Black Panther snarled and sprang, not at the Coyote as they'd feared, but at him engulfing him.
The prone uniform clad body stirred stronger this time loosening his bonds as he flexed his arms, finally he woke-up. He sat up and turned dark eyes onto the Coyote. It was then the shadows noted that his eyes shone with the full seven colours of the rainbow; yet they barely had time to register this fact, before he vanished via a transporter effect. Howls of dismay, anger and frustration echoed around the empty rainbow lit cavern.
=/\=
Continued in Sunshine.
