Star Trek Liberty
By Kyizi
Episode 1: Caretaker, Part 1
Continued…
(For disclaimer etc, see previous part)
~*~*~*~*~*~
"Damage report!"
"T-T-The C-Chief's dead, Sir."
Joe walked straight to the woman and placed a hand firmly on each arm, steadying her, "Calm down, Cadet. Are you okay to keep working?"
"I-I'll be f-fine, Sir."
"Good. Get straight on the deflector; I know you were the last person to realign it. You did a good job, now get to it."
"Aye, Sir."
Joe nodded at the woman and headed straight to Ballard's station, knowing that, although scatterbrained, she would be the most likely to have all the readouts in front of her. The woman was lying on the ground next to the panel, unconscious.
"Ashmore! Get her to sickbay ASAP."
"Aye, Sir!"
As the woman helped Ballard to her feet, Joe nodded and turned to the panel in front of him. As he had hoped, Ballard had had the readouts from the ships vital systems ready. It wasn't looking good, in fact, some of them just had to be wrong.
The people around him were panicking, he could see it in the way they moved, could hear it in their voices. A loud noise from the computer hailed him to the warp core and he quickly set about finding the problem.
"Ah, damn it." He quickly tapped his comm. badge, "Engineering to Bridge. We have some severe damage. The Chief's dead. Possibly a warp core breach."
"Secure all engineering systems. I'm on my way."
Joe nodded to himself and turned to face the crew. There were few left, but those that were seemed to be handling things a little better now that they heard the Captain was coming. He quickly turned back to the warp core. Things were not looking good.
"Lieutenant, I believe the warp core injector has a malfunction."
"Get to level seven."
Vorik inclined his head and quickly made his way out of the door as Joe rushed to another control panel. He quickly isolated the micro fractures that were occurring, hoping to stop them before they got to bad.
"Damn it!"
"Lieutenant Carey, report."
"There are…"
"Warning. Warp core micro fractures. Breach imminent."
"What's the warp core pressure?" The Captain asked, joining him.
"2100 kilopascals." Joe replied instantly. He was a little nervous around the Captain, and he hated himself for letting the feeling begin to take over in the middle of a crisis.
"Lock down the magnetic constrictors."
Joe frowned, "If we lock them down at these pressures," he started, "we might not be able to reinitialise the dilitium reaction." She couldn't be seriously thinking about it. He knew that she must have realised this herself, but she couldn't be serious.
"Warning. Warp core micro fractures. Breach imminent."
The Captain raised her eyebrows a little at the computer's voice, "We don't have much of a choice. We've got to get the reaction rate down before we try to seal it."
"Yes, ma'am." Joe nodded. He didn't entirely agree that this was the best way to go about it, but he couldn't think of anything himself, so he wasn't about to argue with the Captain, especially not in the middle of a crisis.
~~~~~~~
"God, you're heavy." Ashmore mumbled to herself, dragging Ballard's unconscious form through the corridor. She jumped, accidentally dropping her crewmate to the ground, as the panel to her left exploded.
"Ashmore!" she groaned, lifting her head to look at the approaching personnel.
"I'm fine, check on Ballard."
"She's alive."
She turned to face Aeva, allowing her friend to pull her to her feet. Wincing, she used her free hand to rub the back of her head, "Must've had some flying debris."
"Yeah, there's a bit of the panel over there."
"Yeah, I can feel it thanks." Ashmore smiled a little at Telfer, who was pulling Ballard up with the help of an officer she had yet to meet.
"Any idea what's happening yet?" Telfer asked, "Ugh, you're friend needs to think about losing a few pounds."
Ashmore smirked, "Yeah and there are two of you, think how I felt."
"Hmm, I may have been unconscious, but I'm not deaf."
"Lyndsey?" Ashmore helped Aeva and the others sit Ballard on the ground against the wall.
"I-I'm okay." she winced rubbing the back of her head, "Okay, so I may be a little concuss, but I'll be fine. What's happening?"
"You tell us, you probably got more from your readouts before you were knocked out than what we know." Ashmore said sighing.
"What I thought I saw isn't possible." Lyndsey said, getting to her feet with their help.
Ashmore frowned, "What did you see?"
"Help me back to engineering and I'll tell you."
~~~~~~~
"Unlock the magnetic constrictors."
Joe continued to tap the consol, furiously praying that this was going to work, "Constrictors on line"
"Pressure?"
Joe smiled a little to himself, "It's working. 2500 kilopascals and holding." He shook his head as the readouts continued to grow in their favour. Somehow he doubted he'd be contradicting any of the Captains ideas in the future.
"Bridge to Janeway. We're being scanned by the array, Captain. It's penetrated our shields."
Joe frowned as the Captain replied. This wasn't good. The Captain had confirmed what he had seen on the readouts, he was still getting used to the idea that they were thousands of light years from home, the knowledge that they were being scanned wasn't something that brightened his day. Things could only get worse.
Shaking his head he started to make his way to Ballard's workstation and found himself walking into a haystack. A haystack? Joe frowned and looked around, yes; he was standing next to a haystack. To his left there was a large barn, and behind him he could see the crew were as confused as he was.
"I don't think we're in Kansas anymore…actually, it looks like we are."
"Talking to yourself is the first sign of madness, you know."
Joe smiled and turned to face Aeva, "Was the last for me."
"Ah, well, that explains it." Aeva held out her tricorder, allowing him to read it. "We seem to be inside some kind of holographic projection. I think the entire crew is here, the Captain seems to be over there." She nodded to a small group of officers.
"She seems to have everything under control, and I'm sure she'll keep us informed. Zain I need you to get the crew together, pull engineering to one side, I want theories, ideas, anything that you guy can come up with. I want to figure out why we're here. Understood?"
Aeva smirked, "Sir, yes, Sir!" she mock saluted as Joe rolled his eyes, "Looks like someone's psyching himself up for Chief Engineer." Her smile faltered as she realised how crass her remark had sounded. "I-I didn't mean to disrespect…"
"I know. No one expected this, the Chief's death was in the line of duty, and it could've just as easily been one of us. Now, go get the crew together."
Aeva nodded and left, heading in the direction of Ashmore and Ballard, who seemed to be a little more awake than he had last seen her. He took some time to simply look around him, taking in the scenery, trying to figure out if there were any way he could find a control panel and get them all out of here.
An old man approached him and he frowned, knowing that it was a hologram left him ill at ease. He didn't know what it was, but something about interacting with a being that wasn't really there unnerved him. As much as he loved the science of holodecks he never used programs that included holographic people, he just didn't like it.
"Can I offer you some lemonade? My wife makes the best in these here parts."
"Eh, no thanks. I'm okay."
"Aw, now come on, I'm sure we can rustle you up something."
"Really," Joe edged away from him, "I'm fine. I'll be, eh, I'll be right back." Joe moved quickly away from the man, heading straight towards the small gathering that Aeva had collected together.
"Just need to account for everyone." He heard a man saying as he joined the group. "Who are you?"
"Lieutenant Carey."
"Right, Tom Paris." Tom smiled and looked down at his padd, "That seems to be everyone. I'll talk to you later."
He took the man's offered hand and watched as he headed back to the Captain. Joe turned back to the group and noted that most of the engineering crew seemed to have survived, more than he had originally suspected. A woman to his right was fidgeting with her hands, glancing about her edgily.
"Hey, you okay?" Joe asked approaching her.
"Yes. Why wouldn't I be?"
"Just ignore her, she gets like this." Joe looked up as Telfer joined them, "Why do you think they lock her away in analysis, we'd never survive her in engineering."
Joe laughed as the woman hit her friend. "I think you're going to pay for that."
"I think I already did, owe!"
"Don't be such a baby."
Joe smiled as he realised what Telfer had been doing. The woman had already relaxed and was talking to him as if there were nothing wrong. Turning to the group he had to wonder how they were all going to get out of this, but he knew that they would. Call him an optimist, but he had somehow managed to find hope and he knew that they would get out of this.
~~~~~~~
Celes smiled at Billy, knowing exactly what he was doing. It didn't bother her that he thought it was easy to handle her, in a way it was. She smiled as Ane joined them, laughing at Billy who seemed to be doing a very good chicken impression.
She looked around her; there was something about this place that she didn't like. Perhaps it was simply that she wasn't supposed to be here. She was supposed to be on the ship, in space, chasing Maquis, not stuck who knows where on an imaginary farmyard.
"Hey, Tal, you still with us?"
"Unfortunately." She gave Billy a lopsided smile and turned back to him. "Just thinking."
"Watch you don't sprain something there."
Celes raised her eyebrows, "Do you want me to beat you up?"
"Not particularly, but since there's little chance of that happening, ever, I guess it doesn't really…ouch!"
"I think you might want to…" she broke off as the entire crew began to run towards the barn. "What's happening?"
"I have no idea."
Turning to her right, she saw Lieutenant Carey matching her every stride. Within moments they were inside, surrounded by angry looking holograms with pitchforks. Celes' eyes widened as she took in the scene, too afraid to say anything and not sure if she should anyway. She cast a frightened glance at Billy. His face was white and he was terrified which made her feel twice as worried. If Billy was scared it was definitely as bad as she thought.
A voice shook her from her reverie and she turned her gaze back to the crowd before them. "Since you won't have our corn on the cob, we'll proceed ahead of schedule."
What? She wondered. Then everything went black.
Celes groaned and rubbed her eyes before struggling to her feet. Looking around, she found herself in the corridor she had been in before arriving on the strange holographic farm.
"You okay?"
She turned, finding herself faced with Lieutenant Chapman, "I-I think so. We're back on Voyager, right? This isn't another illusion, is it?"
Chapman pulled out his tricorder and scanned their surroundings. "Nope. No illusion, we're back on Voyager, all right."
Celes breathed a sigh of relief and closed her eyes, "Thank the Prophets."
"You're Celes, right?"
"Yeah." She opened her eyes and smiled, "Lieutenant Chapman?"
"Yes." He smiled at her and inclined his head, "I'd better get back."
"Yeah, yeah, me too." She smiled, watching as he ran towards the turbo lift and took a moment to steady her breathing. Uttering a small prayer she turned and headed back to the lab she had been in.
"Yeah, having your experiment ruining the ship would be a perfect end to a perfect day." She muttered to her self and headed in the opposite direction.
~~~~~~~
"I don't like this."
"You don't like anything." Antonio smirked.
"I think I like you better when you're unconscious."
Antonio frowned and subconsciously rubbed the back of his head, "I resent that."
"You would." Despite her serious voice, there was a sparkle in her eyes, and Antonio grinned at her.
"Look, things can only get better, right?"
Kerris groaned, "Trust you to say that. You do realise that things will get worse now that you've said that."
"Did the prophets tell you that, or are you just speculating."
"Mock me all you like,"
"I intend to."
"But when things go bad, you'll be the one who owes me an apology."
Antonio grinned, "Promise."
Rolling her eyes, Kerris moved towards the control panel, tapping it furiously with her right hand, hitting more wrong keys than right. Grunting in frustration, she stopped and leaned her head against the wall.
"You're trying too hard. Let your good hand heal and stop beating up your right hand in the meantime."
"I need to get this ship operational. In case you haven't noticed, there's a rather large federation vessel hovering outside and we're down an engineer."
Antonio nodded, "I know, but if you break your other hand before Chris has the change to fix that one, then were completely screwed."
Kerris nodded, "I know you're right, I just want to realign the navigational sensors before you three walk into their open arms. And Thomas couldn't fix a damn thing."
"I heard that, Kerris. You'd better watch it or I'll leave you the way you are." Christopher approached her with his med kit and pulled her left hand out of its makeshift bandage. Tutting at the mess of bruises he saw, he ignored Kerris' hissing and went about setting the bones back into place.
"Maybe when you're over there, you can steal some med supplies, and maybe a better doctor. Ouch!" Kerris glared at Christopher and tried to pull her hand away, only to cry out in pain.
"Calm down, Nye, you'll only make it worse. Look, I'm off to meet the others, I'll see you when we get back."
"Be careful, Toni, I still don't trust him."
Antonio nodded, "I'll watch my back, and Chakotay's, promise." Kerris nodded and hissed again as Christopher popped another bone back into place.
Antonio sighed, stretching his neck as he made his way through the corridors. Kerris' misgivings about Tuvok were nagging at him. Each member of the crew had been sceptical about the Vulcan wishing to join them, but Chakotay had stood by him, despite warnings from Seska, B'Elanna and Kerris. In fact it had to be a historical event that the three women had actually agreed on something, usually Kerris or B'Elanna were on their own, depending on who Seska decided to side with. It usually depended on whether or not she was jealous of B'Elanna at the time.
Turning the corner, he nodded to Chakotay and picked up his weapon, setting it to the highest mark. He had no intention of using it, on anyone, unless absolutely necessary, but he liked to be prepared and he couldn't help but remember Kerris' warning.
He looked over at Tuvok, taking in the Vulcan's cool exterior. He seemed like he always would and he wished there was some way he could read the man. What he wouldn't have given to be Betazoid, just for long enough to read the man, if that were even possible with a Vulcan.
"Right, I want you both to stay close. I'm still not entirely sure I trust this Captain of theirs. We still don't know how we got here and, although I doubt it, we can't be sure that Voyager has nothing to do with us being here."
"I find that to be highly illogical."
"You would."
Antonio turned to see Seska making her way into the room. She smiled at him and he nodded, shaking his head as she went straight to Chakotay. That man definitely had his hands full.
"Are you sure I can't come with you?"
Chakotay shook his head, "No, I said three of us would go over. I'm taking Tuvok and Tolaris and you won't change my mind," he finished with a smile.
Antonio shook his head and smirked as Seska pouted. Chakotay laughed and kissed her forehead, walking towards the door, knowing that the others would follow.
"I don't know what you think you're laughing at Tolaris, Kerris has you whipped. I, on the other hand, know how to say no."
Antonio laughed, "She likes to think she does. The difference is, I don't have to worry about keeping Kerris on my good side, I don't share a bed with her."
Chakotay raised his eyebrows and Antonio shook his head, forgetting that his Captain had called off his relationship with Seska. Muttering an embarrassed, "Sorry." Antonio kept his stride next to Chakotay, who laughed and stopped as they reached transporter. His face grew sombre as he looked at the control panel. Antonio followed his gaze and spotted B'Elanna's toolkit. He placed a hand on Chakotay's shoulder, shaking him from his reverie.
"We'll get her back Chakotay." Chakotay nodded and the three men stood back to back, preparing to be transported. Seska nodded at them and began to work the controls.
"Watch out, Captain. They're armed."
Antonio found himself surrounded by Starfleet personnel, the metal glint of the room cutting into to the sharpness of his senses. Well, this wasn't how I'd planned on ending my day. He looked at Chakotay out of the corner of his eye. The man was on edge, he was doing something he'd really rather not, but if it meant getting Torres back, Antonio knew that Chakotay would do anything.
"Put down your weapons. You won't need those here. It's good to have you back, Mr. Tuvok."
Antonio frowned but kept his fingers tight on his weapon. Despite this woman's reassurances that he wouldn't need it, his weapon was currently his best friend. Kerris would be pleased, he thought idly before shaking himself back to the present.
"I must inform you that I was assigned to infiltrate your crew, I am Captain Janeway's chief of security."
Kerris was right! He wanted nothing more than to beat the living daylights out of the lying Vulcan, and that surprised him, because by nature he wasn't a violent man. Anger bubbled inside him. They'd spent time with this man as a comrade and he'd betrayed them.
"Were you going to deliver us into their waiting hands, Vulcan?"
Antonio couldn't understand how Chakotay was able to seem so calm. No doubt he had yet to notice the man standing by the Captain. Antonio really did feel angry now. That man had no right to be alive. Not after what he had done to them.
He remembered vividly the day that B'Elanna had been so badly injured that she hadn't even been able to growl at his sexist remarks, and that was unheard of. Sure help had arrived, but that man had still betrayed them. Had taken a ship and run. Antonio had always suspected that there was more to it than met they eye, he had always questioned how their friends on Selka had got the message that had led them to help, but his pride and anger wouldn't allow him to feel anything but resentment to the man.
"I see you had help."
The spite Antonio detected in Chakotay's tone alerted him that his Captain had indeed noticed their friend. Sending a glare towards him, Antonio remained rigid in his place, waiting to see what Chakotay's next move would be.
"It's good to see you too, Chakotay." Paris said rigidly.
The words almost made him laugh and he was sure Chakotay felt the same way. Despite the fact that the man was a good pilot, he had made no friends among their crew, and even with all her shortcomings, the Liberty had been better off since Kerris had joined them. Antonio had someone he could trust deeply and the crew had a, somewhat more pleasant pilot, although that was debatable at times.
Chakotay and the Starfleet Captain began to have a bit of a showdown and Antonio was preparing to settle down and watch the show when the subject changed to the matter at hand. Tolaris wasn't too sure he liked the idea of Chakotay going on a mission with the traitor and this Captain, she seemed to have more balls than Paris, although that wasn't saying much. Chakotay seemed to be following his line of thought as he approached him.
"Don't worry, I'll be fine. I can handle Paris and Janeway seems more interested in finding her missing crew member than castrating me."
Antonio laughed and shook his head, "What a wonderfully colourful image, and I wouldn't put it past her either." Both men laughed and Antonio smiled, "Bring her back Chakotay."
"I will." Chakotay took a deep breath and nodded, "I want you to go back to the Liberty. Take charge while I'm gone. I want you to stay in constant contact with Voyager, they have better sensor and I need you to be on the ball. Got it?"
"Got it." Antonio sighed and headed for the transporter. "Kerris is going to kick my ass when I tell her I've left you with them."
Chakotay laughed, "Well, just remember, you don't share a bed."
~~~~~~~
Tiera exchanged a look with Christopher and shook her head with a smile. She tapped the controls again attempting to realign the sensors and extrapolate as much data from the surrounding area as possible. She enjoyed being a navigator, there was no question, but she had always felt as if she had to live up to her predecessor.
She had never met Terikov, but she had heard about him. Chakotay had liked the man, the entire crew had and she had his shoes to fill. She had joined the crew a week after his capture and she didn't like to think how he was feeling, stuck in a federation jail.
Thomas snickered a little and she turned to see what was happening. She wouldn't trade places with Tolaris for all the money on Ferenganar. Kerris was currently yelling at him for leaving Chakotay with Starfleet and a bunch of traitors. Personally, she thought the woman just needed to vent. She had known Kerris since they were children, although granted, not very well, and she knew about the woman's temper, she guessed it came from the woman's Cardassian half.
She turned to Christopher. She'd been slowly getting to know the man over the last few weeks and if there was one thing she was sure about it was that he hadn't entirely trusted that Kerris was on their side to begin with and now that he knew her, he felt immensely guilty. Kerris wasn't one to talk about her past, but a berating from Antonio had set them all straight on a few things.
Tiera shivered, she didn't know how Kerris had coped, living her whole life as an outcast. Being pitied by most and shunned by the rest. Her mother had been a wonderful woman and Tiera remembered her fondly, the woman could never have terminated her pregnancy, despite the child's horrendous conception, she was too kind hearted to kill anything, especially her own child.
"Think it's all over?" Dylan asked, entering the room with a smile.
"I hope so, for Antonio's sake." Tiera laughed. "I doubt he could take much more."
"Oh, wait, I think I hear voices…"
"Yup," Christopher said with a smile, "Round three is commencing."
"No, that's Seska." Tiera said cringing.
"That boy's going to get his ass kicked." Chris said with a laugh. "If I were you two, I'd start praying to your Prophets for his safe return."
"I'm sure he's doing that himself." Dylan said, smirking, "Pity he's not Bajoran."
Tiera laughed and shook her head, turning back to her work. She had managed to compile a basic map of their surroundings, as far as their sensors would go, at least, and was considering hailing Voyager for a little help. She hesitated before turning to her friends.
"Just do it, Naïve."
"What?" she asked Christopher, frowning.
He smiled, "You were going to ask if you could hail Voyager, am I right?"
"You be right, Mr Thomas."
"Then go ahead. I'm sure Chakotay wouldn't mind, he is in league with them at the moment anyway." Christopher finished, a slight bitterness to his voice.
"What did you expect him to do, Christopher, we're stranded out here and so are they. Despite what we were fighting for in the Alpha Quadrant, we need to work together at the moment."
"Oh, don't tell me you're falling for that as well."
The three turned to face Seska as she entered the room, Mikelo, Suder and Sanders trailing behind her. Tiera rolled her eyes and turned back to her control panel.
"Do not contact Voyager."
"Sorry, you're a little late, Seska, I've already done it." She smiled sweetly and turned back to the screen, waiting for a reply.
"This is Ensign Rollins, what do you require?"
"I'm attempting to compile a map of the area, but our sensors don't reach as wide as yours, I was wondering if there was any chance we could exchange information."
Rollins nodded, "I'd like to, but I think it'd be best if I check with my Captain first. I'll get back to you."
Tiera nodded, "Understood. Liberty out."
"You see?" Tiera rolled her eyes and turned to face Seska. She got on well with most people, but there was just something about Seska that rubbed her the wrong way. Perhaps it was something to do with the way she scurried about at Chakotay's feet and wouldn't let anyone else near him unless she had little choice. Or perhaps it was just that there was something that made her distrust the woman. Either way, they had to work together, and Tiera saw no point in starting something.
"Do I see what?"
"That they're going to leave us here." Seska smiled a little at the shocked looks on her companion's faces, relishing in the fact that the thought had occurred to her before anyone else. "Why do you think they've taken away our Captain? How else do they leave us unprepared for them getting themselves home and leaving us here? Either that or they take us unaware, get home with us in tow and there you have it, instant jailbirds."
Dylan shook his head, "I don't believe you."
"No one asked you, Rei." Seska replied scathingly, "I'm simply telling it like it is."
"It's complete speculation, Seska." Christopher replied, but Tiera could hear it in his voice, he wasn't so sure and the smile on Seska's face proved that she had heard it as well.
"Seska, you're starting something here that we don't need. We need to concentrate on getting B'Elanna back."
"I agree," Seska said sweetly, "I'm just saying that I don't trust these Starfleet officers and I think we should watch our backs. Agreed?"
Tiera exchanged a look with Dylan and Christopher before they slowly nodded their heads. "Okay, Seska, we'll agree to keep an eye on Voyager and it's crew, if you'll agree to leave this alone, for the moment at least."
Seska inclined her head before replying, "Okay, agreed."
"Good, now that we have that sorted," Dylan said, standing, "I think we'd better get back to work. This ship's not going to repair itself."
Mikelo groaned at Dylan's words and shook his head as they all prepared to leave the bridge. Christopher smirked at his friend and turned back to his console, but Tiera stared after her comrades. There was something in Seska's voice that made her feel uneasy and with things as bad as they were, that was the last thing they needed.
Sighing, Tiera turned back to her consol and began to access the sensors again, hoping she could alter them again to take in a wider range. But all the time she was thinking of their situation. B'Elanna was lost somewhere and Chakotay was off with some Starfleet Captain, on board their ship, attempting to come up with a way to find her. But most of all, the thing that worried her was simple; They were lost thousands of light-years from home, and if she was honest with herself, Tiera had a feeling that she wouldn't be seeing Bajor for a long time to come.
~~~~~~~
1
2 To be continued…
~~~~~~~
2.1 END EPISODE 1
Well? What do you think? Do you like where I'm going with this? Do you like the characters? Think you have something to offer the universe of Star Trek Liberty? If you do, then join my Yahoo! Group.
You can join it at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/star_trek_liberty
By Kyizi
Episode 1: Caretaker, Part 1
Continued…
(For disclaimer etc, see previous part)
~*~*~*~*~*~
"Damage report!"
"T-T-The C-Chief's dead, Sir."
Joe walked straight to the woman and placed a hand firmly on each arm, steadying her, "Calm down, Cadet. Are you okay to keep working?"
"I-I'll be f-fine, Sir."
"Good. Get straight on the deflector; I know you were the last person to realign it. You did a good job, now get to it."
"Aye, Sir."
Joe nodded at the woman and headed straight to Ballard's station, knowing that, although scatterbrained, she would be the most likely to have all the readouts in front of her. The woman was lying on the ground next to the panel, unconscious.
"Ashmore! Get her to sickbay ASAP."
"Aye, Sir!"
As the woman helped Ballard to her feet, Joe nodded and turned to the panel in front of him. As he had hoped, Ballard had had the readouts from the ships vital systems ready. It wasn't looking good, in fact, some of them just had to be wrong.
The people around him were panicking, he could see it in the way they moved, could hear it in their voices. A loud noise from the computer hailed him to the warp core and he quickly set about finding the problem.
"Ah, damn it." He quickly tapped his comm. badge, "Engineering to Bridge. We have some severe damage. The Chief's dead. Possibly a warp core breach."
"Secure all engineering systems. I'm on my way."
Joe nodded to himself and turned to face the crew. There were few left, but those that were seemed to be handling things a little better now that they heard the Captain was coming. He quickly turned back to the warp core. Things were not looking good.
"Lieutenant, I believe the warp core injector has a malfunction."
"Get to level seven."
Vorik inclined his head and quickly made his way out of the door as Joe rushed to another control panel. He quickly isolated the micro fractures that were occurring, hoping to stop them before they got to bad.
"Damn it!"
"Lieutenant Carey, report."
"There are…"
"Warning. Warp core micro fractures. Breach imminent."
"What's the warp core pressure?" The Captain asked, joining him.
"2100 kilopascals." Joe replied instantly. He was a little nervous around the Captain, and he hated himself for letting the feeling begin to take over in the middle of a crisis.
"Lock down the magnetic constrictors."
Joe frowned, "If we lock them down at these pressures," he started, "we might not be able to reinitialise the dilitium reaction." She couldn't be seriously thinking about it. He knew that she must have realised this herself, but she couldn't be serious.
"Warning. Warp core micro fractures. Breach imminent."
The Captain raised her eyebrows a little at the computer's voice, "We don't have much of a choice. We've got to get the reaction rate down before we try to seal it."
"Yes, ma'am." Joe nodded. He didn't entirely agree that this was the best way to go about it, but he couldn't think of anything himself, so he wasn't about to argue with the Captain, especially not in the middle of a crisis.
~~~~~~~
"God, you're heavy." Ashmore mumbled to herself, dragging Ballard's unconscious form through the corridor. She jumped, accidentally dropping her crewmate to the ground, as the panel to her left exploded.
"Ashmore!" she groaned, lifting her head to look at the approaching personnel.
"I'm fine, check on Ballard."
"She's alive."
She turned to face Aeva, allowing her friend to pull her to her feet. Wincing, she used her free hand to rub the back of her head, "Must've had some flying debris."
"Yeah, there's a bit of the panel over there."
"Yeah, I can feel it thanks." Ashmore smiled a little at Telfer, who was pulling Ballard up with the help of an officer she had yet to meet.
"Any idea what's happening yet?" Telfer asked, "Ugh, you're friend needs to think about losing a few pounds."
Ashmore smirked, "Yeah and there are two of you, think how I felt."
"Hmm, I may have been unconscious, but I'm not deaf."
"Lyndsey?" Ashmore helped Aeva and the others sit Ballard on the ground against the wall.
"I-I'm okay." she winced rubbing the back of her head, "Okay, so I may be a little concuss, but I'll be fine. What's happening?"
"You tell us, you probably got more from your readouts before you were knocked out than what we know." Ashmore said sighing.
"What I thought I saw isn't possible." Lyndsey said, getting to her feet with their help.
Ashmore frowned, "What did you see?"
"Help me back to engineering and I'll tell you."
~~~~~~~
"Unlock the magnetic constrictors."
Joe continued to tap the consol, furiously praying that this was going to work, "Constrictors on line"
"Pressure?"
Joe smiled a little to himself, "It's working. 2500 kilopascals and holding." He shook his head as the readouts continued to grow in their favour. Somehow he doubted he'd be contradicting any of the Captains ideas in the future.
"Bridge to Janeway. We're being scanned by the array, Captain. It's penetrated our shields."
Joe frowned as the Captain replied. This wasn't good. The Captain had confirmed what he had seen on the readouts, he was still getting used to the idea that they were thousands of light years from home, the knowledge that they were being scanned wasn't something that brightened his day. Things could only get worse.
Shaking his head he started to make his way to Ballard's workstation and found himself walking into a haystack. A haystack? Joe frowned and looked around, yes; he was standing next to a haystack. To his left there was a large barn, and behind him he could see the crew were as confused as he was.
"I don't think we're in Kansas anymore…actually, it looks like we are."
"Talking to yourself is the first sign of madness, you know."
Joe smiled and turned to face Aeva, "Was the last for me."
"Ah, well, that explains it." Aeva held out her tricorder, allowing him to read it. "We seem to be inside some kind of holographic projection. I think the entire crew is here, the Captain seems to be over there." She nodded to a small group of officers.
"She seems to have everything under control, and I'm sure she'll keep us informed. Zain I need you to get the crew together, pull engineering to one side, I want theories, ideas, anything that you guy can come up with. I want to figure out why we're here. Understood?"
Aeva smirked, "Sir, yes, Sir!" she mock saluted as Joe rolled his eyes, "Looks like someone's psyching himself up for Chief Engineer." Her smile faltered as she realised how crass her remark had sounded. "I-I didn't mean to disrespect…"
"I know. No one expected this, the Chief's death was in the line of duty, and it could've just as easily been one of us. Now, go get the crew together."
Aeva nodded and left, heading in the direction of Ashmore and Ballard, who seemed to be a little more awake than he had last seen her. He took some time to simply look around him, taking in the scenery, trying to figure out if there were any way he could find a control panel and get them all out of here.
An old man approached him and he frowned, knowing that it was a hologram left him ill at ease. He didn't know what it was, but something about interacting with a being that wasn't really there unnerved him. As much as he loved the science of holodecks he never used programs that included holographic people, he just didn't like it.
"Can I offer you some lemonade? My wife makes the best in these here parts."
"Eh, no thanks. I'm okay."
"Aw, now come on, I'm sure we can rustle you up something."
"Really," Joe edged away from him, "I'm fine. I'll be, eh, I'll be right back." Joe moved quickly away from the man, heading straight towards the small gathering that Aeva had collected together.
"Just need to account for everyone." He heard a man saying as he joined the group. "Who are you?"
"Lieutenant Carey."
"Right, Tom Paris." Tom smiled and looked down at his padd, "That seems to be everyone. I'll talk to you later."
He took the man's offered hand and watched as he headed back to the Captain. Joe turned back to the group and noted that most of the engineering crew seemed to have survived, more than he had originally suspected. A woman to his right was fidgeting with her hands, glancing about her edgily.
"Hey, you okay?" Joe asked approaching her.
"Yes. Why wouldn't I be?"
"Just ignore her, she gets like this." Joe looked up as Telfer joined them, "Why do you think they lock her away in analysis, we'd never survive her in engineering."
Joe laughed as the woman hit her friend. "I think you're going to pay for that."
"I think I already did, owe!"
"Don't be such a baby."
Joe smiled as he realised what Telfer had been doing. The woman had already relaxed and was talking to him as if there were nothing wrong. Turning to the group he had to wonder how they were all going to get out of this, but he knew that they would. Call him an optimist, but he had somehow managed to find hope and he knew that they would get out of this.
~~~~~~~
Celes smiled at Billy, knowing exactly what he was doing. It didn't bother her that he thought it was easy to handle her, in a way it was. She smiled as Ane joined them, laughing at Billy who seemed to be doing a very good chicken impression.
She looked around her; there was something about this place that she didn't like. Perhaps it was simply that she wasn't supposed to be here. She was supposed to be on the ship, in space, chasing Maquis, not stuck who knows where on an imaginary farmyard.
"Hey, Tal, you still with us?"
"Unfortunately." She gave Billy a lopsided smile and turned back to him. "Just thinking."
"Watch you don't sprain something there."
Celes raised her eyebrows, "Do you want me to beat you up?"
"Not particularly, but since there's little chance of that happening, ever, I guess it doesn't really…ouch!"
"I think you might want to…" she broke off as the entire crew began to run towards the barn. "What's happening?"
"I have no idea."
Turning to her right, she saw Lieutenant Carey matching her every stride. Within moments they were inside, surrounded by angry looking holograms with pitchforks. Celes' eyes widened as she took in the scene, too afraid to say anything and not sure if she should anyway. She cast a frightened glance at Billy. His face was white and he was terrified which made her feel twice as worried. If Billy was scared it was definitely as bad as she thought.
A voice shook her from her reverie and she turned her gaze back to the crowd before them. "Since you won't have our corn on the cob, we'll proceed ahead of schedule."
What? She wondered. Then everything went black.
Celes groaned and rubbed her eyes before struggling to her feet. Looking around, she found herself in the corridor she had been in before arriving on the strange holographic farm.
"You okay?"
She turned, finding herself faced with Lieutenant Chapman, "I-I think so. We're back on Voyager, right? This isn't another illusion, is it?"
Chapman pulled out his tricorder and scanned their surroundings. "Nope. No illusion, we're back on Voyager, all right."
Celes breathed a sigh of relief and closed her eyes, "Thank the Prophets."
"You're Celes, right?"
"Yeah." She opened her eyes and smiled, "Lieutenant Chapman?"
"Yes." He smiled at her and inclined his head, "I'd better get back."
"Yeah, yeah, me too." She smiled, watching as he ran towards the turbo lift and took a moment to steady her breathing. Uttering a small prayer she turned and headed back to the lab she had been in.
"Yeah, having your experiment ruining the ship would be a perfect end to a perfect day." She muttered to her self and headed in the opposite direction.
~~~~~~~
"I don't like this."
"You don't like anything." Antonio smirked.
"I think I like you better when you're unconscious."
Antonio frowned and subconsciously rubbed the back of his head, "I resent that."
"You would." Despite her serious voice, there was a sparkle in her eyes, and Antonio grinned at her.
"Look, things can only get better, right?"
Kerris groaned, "Trust you to say that. You do realise that things will get worse now that you've said that."
"Did the prophets tell you that, or are you just speculating."
"Mock me all you like,"
"I intend to."
"But when things go bad, you'll be the one who owes me an apology."
Antonio grinned, "Promise."
Rolling her eyes, Kerris moved towards the control panel, tapping it furiously with her right hand, hitting more wrong keys than right. Grunting in frustration, she stopped and leaned her head against the wall.
"You're trying too hard. Let your good hand heal and stop beating up your right hand in the meantime."
"I need to get this ship operational. In case you haven't noticed, there's a rather large federation vessel hovering outside and we're down an engineer."
Antonio nodded, "I know, but if you break your other hand before Chris has the change to fix that one, then were completely screwed."
Kerris nodded, "I know you're right, I just want to realign the navigational sensors before you three walk into their open arms. And Thomas couldn't fix a damn thing."
"I heard that, Kerris. You'd better watch it or I'll leave you the way you are." Christopher approached her with his med kit and pulled her left hand out of its makeshift bandage. Tutting at the mess of bruises he saw, he ignored Kerris' hissing and went about setting the bones back into place.
"Maybe when you're over there, you can steal some med supplies, and maybe a better doctor. Ouch!" Kerris glared at Christopher and tried to pull her hand away, only to cry out in pain.
"Calm down, Nye, you'll only make it worse. Look, I'm off to meet the others, I'll see you when we get back."
"Be careful, Toni, I still don't trust him."
Antonio nodded, "I'll watch my back, and Chakotay's, promise." Kerris nodded and hissed again as Christopher popped another bone back into place.
Antonio sighed, stretching his neck as he made his way through the corridors. Kerris' misgivings about Tuvok were nagging at him. Each member of the crew had been sceptical about the Vulcan wishing to join them, but Chakotay had stood by him, despite warnings from Seska, B'Elanna and Kerris. In fact it had to be a historical event that the three women had actually agreed on something, usually Kerris or B'Elanna were on their own, depending on who Seska decided to side with. It usually depended on whether or not she was jealous of B'Elanna at the time.
Turning the corner, he nodded to Chakotay and picked up his weapon, setting it to the highest mark. He had no intention of using it, on anyone, unless absolutely necessary, but he liked to be prepared and he couldn't help but remember Kerris' warning.
He looked over at Tuvok, taking in the Vulcan's cool exterior. He seemed like he always would and he wished there was some way he could read the man. What he wouldn't have given to be Betazoid, just for long enough to read the man, if that were even possible with a Vulcan.
"Right, I want you both to stay close. I'm still not entirely sure I trust this Captain of theirs. We still don't know how we got here and, although I doubt it, we can't be sure that Voyager has nothing to do with us being here."
"I find that to be highly illogical."
"You would."
Antonio turned to see Seska making her way into the room. She smiled at him and he nodded, shaking his head as she went straight to Chakotay. That man definitely had his hands full.
"Are you sure I can't come with you?"
Chakotay shook his head, "No, I said three of us would go over. I'm taking Tuvok and Tolaris and you won't change my mind," he finished with a smile.
Antonio shook his head and smirked as Seska pouted. Chakotay laughed and kissed her forehead, walking towards the door, knowing that the others would follow.
"I don't know what you think you're laughing at Tolaris, Kerris has you whipped. I, on the other hand, know how to say no."
Antonio laughed, "She likes to think she does. The difference is, I don't have to worry about keeping Kerris on my good side, I don't share a bed with her."
Chakotay raised his eyebrows and Antonio shook his head, forgetting that his Captain had called off his relationship with Seska. Muttering an embarrassed, "Sorry." Antonio kept his stride next to Chakotay, who laughed and stopped as they reached transporter. His face grew sombre as he looked at the control panel. Antonio followed his gaze and spotted B'Elanna's toolkit. He placed a hand on Chakotay's shoulder, shaking him from his reverie.
"We'll get her back Chakotay." Chakotay nodded and the three men stood back to back, preparing to be transported. Seska nodded at them and began to work the controls.
"Watch out, Captain. They're armed."
Antonio found himself surrounded by Starfleet personnel, the metal glint of the room cutting into to the sharpness of his senses. Well, this wasn't how I'd planned on ending my day. He looked at Chakotay out of the corner of his eye. The man was on edge, he was doing something he'd really rather not, but if it meant getting Torres back, Antonio knew that Chakotay would do anything.
"Put down your weapons. You won't need those here. It's good to have you back, Mr. Tuvok."
Antonio frowned but kept his fingers tight on his weapon. Despite this woman's reassurances that he wouldn't need it, his weapon was currently his best friend. Kerris would be pleased, he thought idly before shaking himself back to the present.
"I must inform you that I was assigned to infiltrate your crew, I am Captain Janeway's chief of security."
Kerris was right! He wanted nothing more than to beat the living daylights out of the lying Vulcan, and that surprised him, because by nature he wasn't a violent man. Anger bubbled inside him. They'd spent time with this man as a comrade and he'd betrayed them.
"Were you going to deliver us into their waiting hands, Vulcan?"
Antonio couldn't understand how Chakotay was able to seem so calm. No doubt he had yet to notice the man standing by the Captain. Antonio really did feel angry now. That man had no right to be alive. Not after what he had done to them.
He remembered vividly the day that B'Elanna had been so badly injured that she hadn't even been able to growl at his sexist remarks, and that was unheard of. Sure help had arrived, but that man had still betrayed them. Had taken a ship and run. Antonio had always suspected that there was more to it than met they eye, he had always questioned how their friends on Selka had got the message that had led them to help, but his pride and anger wouldn't allow him to feel anything but resentment to the man.
"I see you had help."
The spite Antonio detected in Chakotay's tone alerted him that his Captain had indeed noticed their friend. Sending a glare towards him, Antonio remained rigid in his place, waiting to see what Chakotay's next move would be.
"It's good to see you too, Chakotay." Paris said rigidly.
The words almost made him laugh and he was sure Chakotay felt the same way. Despite the fact that the man was a good pilot, he had made no friends among their crew, and even with all her shortcomings, the Liberty had been better off since Kerris had joined them. Antonio had someone he could trust deeply and the crew had a, somewhat more pleasant pilot, although that was debatable at times.
Chakotay and the Starfleet Captain began to have a bit of a showdown and Antonio was preparing to settle down and watch the show when the subject changed to the matter at hand. Tolaris wasn't too sure he liked the idea of Chakotay going on a mission with the traitor and this Captain, she seemed to have more balls than Paris, although that wasn't saying much. Chakotay seemed to be following his line of thought as he approached him.
"Don't worry, I'll be fine. I can handle Paris and Janeway seems more interested in finding her missing crew member than castrating me."
Antonio laughed and shook his head, "What a wonderfully colourful image, and I wouldn't put it past her either." Both men laughed and Antonio smiled, "Bring her back Chakotay."
"I will." Chakotay took a deep breath and nodded, "I want you to go back to the Liberty. Take charge while I'm gone. I want you to stay in constant contact with Voyager, they have better sensor and I need you to be on the ball. Got it?"
"Got it." Antonio sighed and headed for the transporter. "Kerris is going to kick my ass when I tell her I've left you with them."
Chakotay laughed, "Well, just remember, you don't share a bed."
~~~~~~~
Tiera exchanged a look with Christopher and shook her head with a smile. She tapped the controls again attempting to realign the sensors and extrapolate as much data from the surrounding area as possible. She enjoyed being a navigator, there was no question, but she had always felt as if she had to live up to her predecessor.
She had never met Terikov, but she had heard about him. Chakotay had liked the man, the entire crew had and she had his shoes to fill. She had joined the crew a week after his capture and she didn't like to think how he was feeling, stuck in a federation jail.
Thomas snickered a little and she turned to see what was happening. She wouldn't trade places with Tolaris for all the money on Ferenganar. Kerris was currently yelling at him for leaving Chakotay with Starfleet and a bunch of traitors. Personally, she thought the woman just needed to vent. She had known Kerris since they were children, although granted, not very well, and she knew about the woman's temper, she guessed it came from the woman's Cardassian half.
She turned to Christopher. She'd been slowly getting to know the man over the last few weeks and if there was one thing she was sure about it was that he hadn't entirely trusted that Kerris was on their side to begin with and now that he knew her, he felt immensely guilty. Kerris wasn't one to talk about her past, but a berating from Antonio had set them all straight on a few things.
Tiera shivered, she didn't know how Kerris had coped, living her whole life as an outcast. Being pitied by most and shunned by the rest. Her mother had been a wonderful woman and Tiera remembered her fondly, the woman could never have terminated her pregnancy, despite the child's horrendous conception, she was too kind hearted to kill anything, especially her own child.
"Think it's all over?" Dylan asked, entering the room with a smile.
"I hope so, for Antonio's sake." Tiera laughed. "I doubt he could take much more."
"Oh, wait, I think I hear voices…"
"Yup," Christopher said with a smile, "Round three is commencing."
"No, that's Seska." Tiera said cringing.
"That boy's going to get his ass kicked." Chris said with a laugh. "If I were you two, I'd start praying to your Prophets for his safe return."
"I'm sure he's doing that himself." Dylan said, smirking, "Pity he's not Bajoran."
Tiera laughed and shook her head, turning back to her work. She had managed to compile a basic map of their surroundings, as far as their sensors would go, at least, and was considering hailing Voyager for a little help. She hesitated before turning to her friends.
"Just do it, Naïve."
"What?" she asked Christopher, frowning.
He smiled, "You were going to ask if you could hail Voyager, am I right?"
"You be right, Mr Thomas."
"Then go ahead. I'm sure Chakotay wouldn't mind, he is in league with them at the moment anyway." Christopher finished, a slight bitterness to his voice.
"What did you expect him to do, Christopher, we're stranded out here and so are they. Despite what we were fighting for in the Alpha Quadrant, we need to work together at the moment."
"Oh, don't tell me you're falling for that as well."
The three turned to face Seska as she entered the room, Mikelo, Suder and Sanders trailing behind her. Tiera rolled her eyes and turned back to her control panel.
"Do not contact Voyager."
"Sorry, you're a little late, Seska, I've already done it." She smiled sweetly and turned back to the screen, waiting for a reply.
"This is Ensign Rollins, what do you require?"
"I'm attempting to compile a map of the area, but our sensors don't reach as wide as yours, I was wondering if there was any chance we could exchange information."
Rollins nodded, "I'd like to, but I think it'd be best if I check with my Captain first. I'll get back to you."
Tiera nodded, "Understood. Liberty out."
"You see?" Tiera rolled her eyes and turned to face Seska. She got on well with most people, but there was just something about Seska that rubbed her the wrong way. Perhaps it was something to do with the way she scurried about at Chakotay's feet and wouldn't let anyone else near him unless she had little choice. Or perhaps it was just that there was something that made her distrust the woman. Either way, they had to work together, and Tiera saw no point in starting something.
"Do I see what?"
"That they're going to leave us here." Seska smiled a little at the shocked looks on her companion's faces, relishing in the fact that the thought had occurred to her before anyone else. "Why do you think they've taken away our Captain? How else do they leave us unprepared for them getting themselves home and leaving us here? Either that or they take us unaware, get home with us in tow and there you have it, instant jailbirds."
Dylan shook his head, "I don't believe you."
"No one asked you, Rei." Seska replied scathingly, "I'm simply telling it like it is."
"It's complete speculation, Seska." Christopher replied, but Tiera could hear it in his voice, he wasn't so sure and the smile on Seska's face proved that she had heard it as well.
"Seska, you're starting something here that we don't need. We need to concentrate on getting B'Elanna back."
"I agree," Seska said sweetly, "I'm just saying that I don't trust these Starfleet officers and I think we should watch our backs. Agreed?"
Tiera exchanged a look with Dylan and Christopher before they slowly nodded their heads. "Okay, Seska, we'll agree to keep an eye on Voyager and it's crew, if you'll agree to leave this alone, for the moment at least."
Seska inclined her head before replying, "Okay, agreed."
"Good, now that we have that sorted," Dylan said, standing, "I think we'd better get back to work. This ship's not going to repair itself."
Mikelo groaned at Dylan's words and shook his head as they all prepared to leave the bridge. Christopher smirked at his friend and turned back to his console, but Tiera stared after her comrades. There was something in Seska's voice that made her feel uneasy and with things as bad as they were, that was the last thing they needed.
Sighing, Tiera turned back to her consol and began to access the sensors again, hoping she could alter them again to take in a wider range. But all the time she was thinking of their situation. B'Elanna was lost somewhere and Chakotay was off with some Starfleet Captain, on board their ship, attempting to come up with a way to find her. But most of all, the thing that worried her was simple; They were lost thousands of light-years from home, and if she was honest with herself, Tiera had a feeling that she wouldn't be seeing Bajor for a long time to come.
~~~~~~~
1
2 To be continued…
~~~~~~~
2.1 END EPISODE 1
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