Star Trek Voyager

Old Friends

Chapter 2

A Cry For Help

Voyager flew under one of the Vidian ship as it fired a string of torpedoes at the ship above them and phasers at the other Vidian ship. Both were direct hits, but did minimal damage. One of the Vidian ship, despite its large size, swung around the transport ship and shot torpedoes at Voyager's nacelles. One torpedo missed while the others hit it; a shield erupted around it. "Shields down to fifteen percent," Harry shouted clutching his console as Voyager shook again brutally.

Tom shook his head as he tried to maneuver Voyager around the Vidian ships as Tuvok fired everything Voyager had to offer, but it wasn't enough. Voyager was getting a beating and Tom knew it wouldn't last much longer. He did know that Janeway, despite her stubbornness, knew what she was doing. He trusted her with his life now and only did with a few others on this ship. It takes a lot for someone to earn his trust and even more when it comes with life and death. Voyager shook again and Tom smashed his shoulder on his console. Pain shot up and down his left side, but he ignored it and continued to maneuver Voyager to the best of his abilities.

Janeway bit her lower lip a bit to hard drawing blood. Her hair was a mess and covered her face. Despite the situation, it really bugged her and she had to fix her hair. Chakotay often commented on how, regardless of the situation, the smallest thing could bother her. In fact he was teasing her last week about going back to her quarters in the middle of her shift, because she thought she left a pad that she might have needed later on her bed. As she began to put hair back in a bun, Voyager shook again and she was thrown out of her chair. As she got back to her chair painfully, she heard Harry shout again, "Captain shields down to ten percent."

"Divert all unnecessary power to the shields," She ordered standing up. She stumbled toward Harry's console and continued, "Can we use the tractor beam to our advantage?"

"What do you mean?" Harry asked looking up at her.

Janeway leaned forward clutching the console tightly as Voyager shook again. Sparks shot out from the computer on the far left of the bridge. Janeway looked at the computer for a second as fire shot out of it. The automatic fire suppressant kicked in putting the flames out. She looked at Harry and said, "Maybe we could tow the transport ship into one of the Vidian ships."

"Captain if I may make a suggestion," Harry said as he noticed Tuvok from the corner of his eye watching them both as he continued to fire at the Vidian ships. "We should get out of here while we still can."

"That is the logical thing to do," Tuvok said in his usual Vulcan like way. "Voyager will not be able withstand much more against both ships."

Harry looked at Tuvok and before looking at Janeway as she pondered the decision. She knew Chakotay and Cindy were missing, but Voyager would be destroyed if they stayed her much longer. She could have Voyager break orbit and come back when they were fully powered. While repairing the ship they could look at all the aspects of where her missing officers could be. As much as she hated the decision, she knew it was the right one. "Tom," Janeway said turning to Tom's console as she still clutched the other console. "Get us out of here warp two," She paused and looked at the ground and mumbled, "While we still have the warp power available."

Janeway began to put her hair back into its usual form as she felt Voyager turn and gather speed. "The Vidians aren't pursuing," Harry, said feeling relieved.

Janeway frowned as she turned and walked down to her seat stopping in front of it. She looked at her bridge and shook her head. Where were they? They couldn't be on the transport ship? She thought pacing up and down the front of the bridge now. Could the Vidians have them? It is a possibility, but how? "Commander Tuvok," Janeway ordered as she slowly walked toward her ready room. "I want a detailed damage report as soon as possible." She paused and said, "Once repairs are underway, I want a meeting in the conference room. Set a time for me and I will be in my ready room." With that, Janeway turned and walked off her bridge.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

Chakotay slowly opened his eyes and immediately noticed something was wrong. Wherever he was, was not Voyager. He was lying on a cold metal floor and had a headache. The room he was in was pitch black and a lot colder than any room he knew about aboard Voyager. Not to mention the hum of the ship was a lot different than Voyager's. Having spent three years on one ship, he got to know her really well and in fact felt really comfortable with the beeps and hums Voyager made. Chakotay didn't feel a hundred percent comfortable on any other ship.

Chakotay sat up and groaned as pain shot up and down his back for a few seconds. He looked around the room and still couldn't see anything. Chakotay reached up and touched the side of his head where he felt dried blood. He grew confused unsure how he came to such a wound. The last thing he remembered was meeting Chakotay on the bridge of the transport ship and was being transported back to Voyager, where he should have gone.

There was a moan in the back round and Chakotay looked around but didn't see anything. He heard someone breathing heavily and scared. "Hello?" He called out trying to stand. His legs grew wobbly and he fell to the floor. "Is anyone there?"

"Commander, are you okay?" He heard a female ask concerned.

"Yeah, a bit sore," Chakotay said realizing it was Ensign Cindy. "What happened? Where are we?"

"You don't remember?" She asked worried about Chakotay. She has known him for years, serving under him in the Maquis. "What is the last thing you remember?"

"The last thing I remember," Chakotay said slowly thinking back to the transport ship and how it strangely haunted him. He had seen many people die in his life, but this is the first time it actually scared him to be around death. Most of the time it either made him feel pity or uncomfortable. "Is getting ready to beam back to Voyager."

"Oh ok," Cindy said sitting against the wall. She wished she could see Chakotay and hold his hand for comfort. She needed it right now more than ever. Being on the transport ship reminded her of how her parents died in the Bajoran Occupation. Her parents tried to escape on a small Yoridian transport ship from one of the camps. She was taken hostage and for months beaten constantly, while her parents and the Yoridian pilot, was killed by the Cardassians. After that, a band of Maquis took over the prison, she was currently being held hostage and all the prisoners were let loose. Cindy though decided to choose the leader of the clan. For years she stood with the Maquis fighting the Cardassians, until she met Chakotay and joined his crew. "Somehow, the Vidians managed to get us on their ship mid-transport." She paused and brought her knees to her chin. "I am not sure how they did, but we were taken here where you tried to escape. One of the Vidian soldiers struck you with their disrupter and left."

"How long have we been here?" Chakotay asked getting on all floors and feeling around the floor trying to find the wall. He did so a few minutes later and when he did so, he leaned against the wall.

"I am not sure exactly," Cindy said shaking her head, "I have lost count. It could be hours or even days."

"Well we do know the Vidians aren't always the most hospitable," Chakotay said frowning as he closed his eyes feeling a bit of relief from his headache and backache.

"I am curious though," Cindy said looking around hoping she would be able to see something. But her efforts just like before were null. It was far to dark in the room they were currently held in. "Why are we being held hostage by the Vidians. They like their victim's dead so they could take their organs. If they want us for that reason, shouldn't we be dead?"

"I am not sure," Chakotay said frowning unhappily about the circumstances. He wished he had a little bit of light just to see his whereabouts, so he could see if there would be anything he could use to break out.

"They told me that they had fought and destroyed Voyager," Cindy said reaching over in the darkness and searching until she found Chakotay's hand. She held onto it tightly and scooted herself next to him. "I don't believe them."

"Don't believe them," Chakotay said shaking his head in disgust. He hated the Vidians. He hated all the course corrections Voyager had to make just to miss any conflict with them. All he wanted to have a straight path all the way back to Earth, but he knew that would never happen. "Captain Janeway would have left the fight before Voyager would be destroyed. They will come back and find us." Chakotay took a deep breath and then continued, "Before you know it, we will be back on Voyager on a direct course to the Alpha Quadrant."

"I hope so," Cindy whispered.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

Janeway sipped her coffee as she looked at the damage report that Tuvok had sent to her an hour ago. She set her coffee on the table and sighed as she continued reading. There were no fatalities, but twenty-seven of her officers were injured and were currently being treated. Shields were currently held at thirty percent, which was the main concern. The other systems that were damaged weren't key systems and were already repaired.

Tuvok had set the conference to be at 0900 hours, which was two hours away. Janeway took another sip of her coffee and set the damage report pad on her desk. She held on to the mug tightly enjoying its warmth. She sniffed the coffee before taking another sip. Part of her loved coffee more than any other drink and another part of her wanted to give up coffee. But she did know that as long as she had coffee available, there was no way she would give it up.

Janeway sighed and stood up yawning. She was tired, even more so she was exhausted mentally and physically even after her third coffee of the day. The coffee didn't wake her; it did in fact give her a headache. Janeway told the computer to alert her when the conference was to start, as she sat on the couch. She closed her eyes and quickly drifted off to sleep. She knew two hours was not nearly as long as she wanted to, but it would wake her up a bit.

Before Janeway knew it, the computer woke her up informing it was time for the conference. She stood up and stepped on to the bridge. She scanned the bridge briefly before walking through it. She nodded at an ensign as she stepped into the conference room. She approached her chair and rubbed her hand against it before sitting down. As soon as she sat down her senior staff all stepped into the conference room. They all sat down and looked at Janeway as she had her eyes closed deep in thought. "Commander Tuvok, what is our status?" She asked opening her eyes looking at her chief of security.

"Shields are at forty-eight percent," Tuvok began looking at Janeway, "The impulse and the warp drives are currently at full power, although the replicator systems are currently malfunctioning."

"What do you mean?" Janeway asked massaging her temple. The nap she just took, didn't really help her. Right now she felt even more exhaustion and had a head ache to top it off.

"Well for starters," Neelix began leaning forward in his seat. He looked at Janeway and continued, "The coffee I tried to replicate this morning came out tasting like Talaxian mud pies instead of coffee. Plus I tried to make some Earth scrambled eggs and they came out looking like mush."

"Well I guess we can shut down the replicator system for the time being and run a system wide diagnostics," Janeway said with a tired sigh, "B'Elanna what did you find about Chakotay and Cindy's disappearance?"

"I am not sure exactly," B'Elanna said shaking her head, "I have a few theories. Either Chakotay and Cindy are still on the transport ship or it is a long shot, but maybe the Vidians found a way to kidnap them during mid-transport." She paused and looked at Harry.

Harry frowned and leaned forward in his seat. "B'Elanna and I have found a Vidian code hidden in the transport. We haven't had time to finish studying it further due to repairs, but as B'Elanna said before about the Vidians kidnapping Chakotay and Cindy mid-transport."

"When will we be ready to return to nebula?" Janeway asked looking at Tuvok. "We need to find a way to get our people back."

"Captain with all due respect," Harry, said drumming his fingers on the table. He looked at Tuvok briefly seeing if he would react in anyway toward his outburst, but he remembered that Tuvok's reaction were generally all the same. "We barely made it out alive. There were two Vidian ships that attacked us and for all we know there could be more in the nebula. We may need to ask for help."

"That is a logical choice," Tuvok said agreeing which surprised Harry a little bit.

"And whom else do we know in this sector?" Tom asked.

"The Talaxians and Seska," Harry said watching Harry make a face.

"Oh right," Tom said sarcastically, "Like Seska will help us if we go knocking on her doorstep."

"On the contrary she might," Tuvok said looking at Tom, "Seska has always had an infatuation with Commander Chakotay. I believe she will indeed help us. It will be risky, but if it works than we will indeed have a greater chance against the Vidian ships."

Janeway leaned forward and looked at B'Elanna and Harry. "I want you to continue to study that Vidian code you found," She paused and looked at Tuvok, "I want you to send a message to both the Talaxians and Seska asking for their help in this situation." Janeway stood up and said, "I want to get our people back."