Chapter 2 – Imprisonment

The Kazon are screaming abuse. They thrust their faces into hers, dark shimmering eyes pulling her into an abyss of brutality. Shefires, eager to see them all dead. Their Starfleet uniforms turn red.

Chakotay is at her side, shouting that she's killed the crew, that he saw it all. The word 'guilty' is forming on his lips but the console behind them explodes, and the blast throws her against the far wall.

Janeway coughed to clear her throat and immediately regretted it. She took shallow breaths to reduce the sharp pain radiating from the side of her chest. Another jolt, less powerful this time. The ship was under attack, her ringing ears just then registering the klaxon of a red alert.

Two Kazon appeared in the breached wall, their clothing streaked with dust and blood. "On your feet. Now." When she did not move quickly enough, a heavy boot landed on her shin. "Get up, woman."

"What have you done?" Janeway asked, standing up stiffly.

"Tricked you. That's what we did," the younger of the two men answered with a snarl. He shoved her towards the front of the cell. For a split second, she contemplated wrestling with him, but she was in no shape to fight her way through a brig full of Kazon and she needed to know what was happening.

Something was very wrong. The first explosion had been too close to be due to a torpedo tearing through the shields. Unless they had failed again, an hypothesis not worth dwelling on.

"Let's get going," said the older man.

She moved slowly through the non-existent force field. The blast had completely blown apart the cell furthest from hers, destroying the guards' console and the door to the corridor, and creating a small crater to the deck below. Debris covered everything, the body of one of the guards pinned under fallen conduits. Dismayed, Janeway bent over to check the man's pulse. He was dead, his chest crushed by a ceiling beam.

"Enough, woman." The man jerked her upright and propelled her into the dark hallway.

The small group moved slowly towards the turbolift at the end of the passageway, carefully checking all openings. "You'll never get out of here alive. What do you think you can achieve?" Janeway said.

"Not that way," a voice said from behind. "The lifts are out of commission. We'll take the Jefferies tubes."

"Seska?" Janeway said, incredulous. She watched as the Bajoran woman took Kazon phasers out of a case she was carrying and handed them to their owners. Next to Seska was the other night shift guard, a large bag hanging from his shoulder. "What are you two doing taking the side of the Kazon?"

"Kathryn - I hope you don't mind me calling you Kathryn? Nice to see you again," Seska said, grinning. "Meet my new allies. All of them minus one, that is."

The young Kazon lifted his phaser to the Bajoran's face. "You would be wise to remember my brother's sacrifice." The man then shoved his weapon in Janeway's side, making her flinch. "And what about this woman? She defied the Nistrim. She is the reason my brother died. I claim her death."

Seska stared him down. "We have more pressing matters to attend to. I come from Engineering. Voyager's starboard ventral is offline as planned, thanks to your brother," she added with a nod. "Now all we need to do is get to your ship. I have several pieces of equipment your Maje will be pleased to get his hands on."

"Then we don't need her. She'll just slow us down," the Kazon argued, already taking aim at Janeway.

Seska put her hand on his arm, her face hardening. "I have a use for her. I've just finished talking to Maje Culluh and he's agreed to my plan. You kill her, you answer to him. Besides, if Voyager security try to stop us, they won't fire when they see her."

The man shrugged her hand off, scowling. He returned his phaser to his belt. Satisfied, Seska moved quickly down the corridor. Reaching a junction panel, she opened it using the manual override, and started her descent without waiting to check if anybody was following. The Kazon stood on the edge muttering among themselves before forcing Janeway down the ladder first.

"You were there at my trial, Seska. I am a criminal, the crew won't obey me. I suggest you surrender before this tube crawls with Tuvok's men and we all get killed," Janeway said, using one hand at a time,to avoid jarring her ribs any further.

Seska laughed from under Janeway's feet. "Ah, yes, your trial. I really enjoyed seeing Tuvok turn against you. Seems all of you, Federation, have double standards. As far as I am concerned, you did well by killing Suder. He was a nasty piece of work who should have been kicked out of the Maquis years ago."

She stopped her descent, and lifted her head. "And with all the noise about your trial, nobody wondered about why the Kazon prisoners had been captured so easily. Nice irony don't you think that you are helping cover up our escape."

She sneered at Janeway, then started moving again. Her voice drifted up. "Once we are on the Nistrim ship, Kathryn, I look forward to have a little talk about a few things."

The ship shook again and Janeway almost lost her hold on the ladder. The Kazon had meant to be taken prisoners, clearly to help Seska escape. But to what end the Bajoran had betrayed Voyager, she could not understand. All she knew was that the woman was dangerous, much more dangerous than the enemy outside.

Janeway resolved to bide her time.

"Paris, report." Chakotay held tight to the bridge door as the ship shuddered again under him. Between leaving sickbay and arriving on the bridge, he had counted three smaller blows to the ship after the explosion which had wakened him. Three hits which had resonated inside his head like supernovas.

"Commander, I do not believe the EMH has released you for duty," Tuvok said. He stood up from the Captain's chair.

"Pretend he has, and move away. That's an order."

Tuvok hesitated, then moved aside, acknowledging the First Officer's authority.

"Paris?" Chakotay sat down, the flashing red alert bouncing behind his eyeballs.

"One Kazon ship, sir," Paris answered, sounding relieved Voyager's First Officer was back in charge. "They are focusing their fire on the starboard ventral array. We are completely blind there and shields are fluctuating."

"Evasive manoeuvres. Protect the array at all costs."

He hit the comms. "B'Elanna, what's going on with the warp engines?"

"Warp engines are offline. Something wrong with the plasma intake. I don't understand —."

"You've got five minutes to get them working, otherwise you'll be back to being a crewman. Chakotay out." He slammed the comms shut with his fist, earning him a startled look from Kim.

On the screen, he saw the Kazon ship approach, unchallenged, then disappear under Voyager's bow. Another hit shook him.

"Paris, are you piloting Voyager or just playing around?" Chakotay barked.

"It's the array, sir. We are not very manoeuvrable and we are sitting ducks without warp speed."

"Stop making excuses and do your job for once in your life, Lieutenant."

Paris' back tensed up, but he said nothing.

Chakotay turned to the tactical console. "Tuvok, hit them with all we've got. They've attacked us one too many times! Kim, raise the Captain."

"Three hits to their stern. Minor damage," Tuvok reported.

"What's your problem, Lieutenant? It's not like they are fleeing, is it? And what was that explosion below deck ten minutes ago?"

Tuvok's eyebrow lifted. "There was indeed a large detonation on Deck 13. I have sent a team to check on the prisoners in the brig and assess the damage. I should get a report shortly."

"Why the concern for those thugs? They are only Kazon. We space vermin, not look after them." Chakotay wiped his clammy hands on his uniform. Just thinking of the prisoners was bringing images of the bloody fight on the bridge that had followed the last attack.

"Internal sensors, comms and turbo lifts are offline on Decks 12, 13 and 14. The security team is using the Jefferies tubes to reach the brig," Tuvok said. He watched Chakotay closely as the restless man stood up and crossed to Kim's console.

"Ensign, I didn't hear you hail the Captain. Is there a problem, or are you ignoring my orders?" Chakotay asked brusquely.

Kim threw a glance at Tuvok who shook his head slowly. The young man lowered his gaze to the console screen, wondering how he was going to get out of this quandary. His eyes widened. "Commander, a shuttle is leaving Voyager from Cargo Bay 2. No authorisation."

"Tractor beam, Ensign. Now."

"Inoperative, Commander. It's the ventral array again. I can't get a lock."

"The security team reports that the brig is empty and seriously damaged. One of the night guards is dead. There is no trace of any of the prisoners," Tuvok said.

"The Kazon ship is coming back," Paris interjected, his hands dancing on the navigation console. Voyager was sluggish and not responding to his commands.

"Shake them loose. Tuvok, the prisoners must have got hold of that shuttle. Target it and fire at will."

"Commander, you need to reconsider your order. You do not have all the facts in hand to make that decision," Tuvok said in a firm voice.

Caught in the show down between their two COs, Kim and Paris exchanged a worried glance. It was clear something was not right with the First Officer and that he did not know of the Captain's fate.

Chakotay snapped. The Kazon needed to be stopped at all costs. They were the enemy. That was all he could think of. Kill them all.

"You are relieved. Ensign Kim, take the tactical console and blast that damn shuttle into oblivion."

Harry panicked, dread rising in his mind. Before he had time to move, Paris cut through. "The shuttle has been picked up by the Kazon ship. They are breaking off and going to warp."

"Pursue them!" Chakotay shouted.

"The warp engines are still unavailable, Commander."

"We've lost them," Paris said, quite unnecessarily.

Outside, the stars kept their silent and eternal vigil, while the red alert rung on the ship bridge. Chakotay sank back into his chair, his head pounding. "Where is the Captain?"

"You used her as bait. Pure and simple."

"I can assure you Commander, that was never my intention."

"You suspected there was a traitor among the crew, you kept the Captain next to five Kazon prisoners and you are telling me you did not think something would go wrong?" Chakotay hissed, keeping his voice under control for the benefit of the repair crew walking past them, in the corridor.

The relentless visions of revenge and bloodshed that had hammered Chakotay's mind were subsiding, but right at this moment, Voyager's First Officer would have loved to put his hands around Tuvok's neck.

The two COs stood in front of what had once been the brig. The explosion had ripped through the decks immediately above and beneath, taking with it a primary plasma conduit and the secondary command processors, and rendering the warp engines inoperable. They had been unable to follow the Kazon ship. They had no idea where the captain was.

"Starfleet's protocols are clear. I had to prosecute the Captain for Crewman Suder's death. There was no other alternative."

Chakotay's memory of the events on the day Suder had died was hazy. Incoherent fragments had haunted him the minute he had woken in sickbay, and he had spent much of the night and following day sedated while the EMH had tried to find out what was affecting his brain wave readings. Little by little, those had returned to a semblance of normality. Chakotay had slept soundly for a few hours until the second Kazon attack. It was only after his outburst on the bridge that he had learnt the full story of what had happened while he was stuck in sickbay: the Captain thrown in the brig, the start of her court martial, the ship finally fracturing between Maquis and Starfleet, Seska's treachery. The past two days had just been one long nightmare after another.

"She did not stand a chance. She could have been killed then and there!" Chakotay exclaimed, his voice rising. "You should have confined her to her quarters at the very least."

"It was not my decision to make," Tuvok answered. "I remind you that the Captain did plead guilty to murder. Such a plea automatically leads to imprisonment until a court has been convened and a verdict reached. Starfleet protoc—. "

Chakotay pushed Tuvok against the bulkhead, his face an inch from the Vulcan's lifted eyebrows. "Don't give me that procedural bullshit! Ask yourself this. What would the Captain have done if you had been the one who had killed a crewman?" He pushed his elbow under Tuvok's chin. "Or were you making up for ignoring Starfleet principles on Sikaris?"

Even now, Tuvok could not fault the logic that had seen him deliberately violating Sikarian law in an effort to obtain a technology which promised a much reduced journey back to the Alpha quadrant. However, the Captain had not seen his actions in the same way, saying she needed him to uphold the very same Starfleet principles he had misguidedly put aside. His resolve since their discussion had been a renewed adherence to Starfleet protocols, and rigorous mental exercises to clear his thoughts of subjectivity and speculations.

"It seemed that I may have erred once again, Commander," he conceded.

Footsteps approached from the empty corridor. Chakotay backed off, not wanting the crew to see the two most senior officers on Voyager at each other's throat. "We don't have time for this," he said. "Tell me what you've found here."

Tuvok straightened his uniform as if being physically assaulted by the First Officer was part of his normal day, and stepped over the brig threshold.

"The force of the blast was concentrated in the cell closest to the corridor. We have found traces of the DNA from a single Kazon individual spread evenly throughout the blast radius. Footage from the cargo bay shows that only four Kazon left Voyager. We can therefore safely assume that one of the Kazon prisoners activated a bomb while in custody, and died in the explosion."

"Were the prisoners not searched before being put in the brig?"

"They were, Commander. Quite thoroughly, including internal scans to detect concealed weapons. However, the Doctor found evidence of an organic explosive which was most probably carried within the bloodstream of the individual, thus evading the more basic security scans. A sophisticated technology which I have never heard of. I have asked Lt Torres to modify the internal sensors to scan for those molecules so as to avoid another incident."

Better late than never. The Chief of Security had let the ship and the captain down in spectacular fashion, and only the urgency of the situation prevented Chakotay from reminding Tuvok of that fact every few minutes.

He tapped his comms badge. "Chakotay to Torres."

"Yes Commander?"

"How are you going with reconfiguring the internal sensors to track the organic explosive?"

"Completed. The sensors will identify any Kazon carrying the chemicals as soon as they set foot on the ship. I have also set the transporter to automatically beam them out in space. We won't get caught again."

"The Kazon had the element of surprise and I doubt they will re-use that tactic. However, they are nothing if not persistent. What about warp speed?"

"I need another half day. We've got to re-align the starboard ventral array and ensure the plasma conduit is properly pressurised. Without that, we risk a cascade of failures and we'll be back to square one."

"Understood, Chakotay out." There was nothing he could do to hurry the repairs. He knew the Chief Engineer was doing her utmost.

The two men moved to the entrance to the Jefferies tube, retracing the prisoners' escape route. There was no point following the same way. The Kazon had gone straight to the cargo bay, led by Seska who knew the ship inside out. After achieving their goal to cripple the ship and pilfer equipment that was easy to carry, the Kazon had made a quick escape with all they needed at their disposal: a guide, a hostage and a stolen transport. The perfect raid, planned and executed with greater skill than the Kazon had shown until then. Chakotay recognised Seska's hand at work, a Seska he did not understand anymore.

He knew she had not been thrilled to work as a Starfleet crew member but defecting to the enemy was something he would never had believed if Tuvok had not shown him the recordings of the escape. There was no doubt Seska had turned to the Kazon. She was most probably the source of the unrest within the crew, hiding her future betrayal behind the smoke screen of a Maquis uprising. But there was more to her turning to their enemies that met the eyes. Something else was at foot, some plan behind the treachery, but he could not see what it could be.

"At the very least, you should have told me of your early suspicions there was a traitor on board. Together we would have been able to deal with that threat." Chakotay said, looking down the ladder.

"I suspected the traitor was a Maquis. I could not come to you with that information until I had more evidence," Tuvok said.

"You did not trust me, in other words" Chakotay said in a bitter voice, "and obviously neither could the Captain," he added with dismay, straightening up.

"I did not mention my suspicions to Captain Janeway either. I was attempting to gather more data before approaching her with the proof, so she would not need to make the choice herself as to whether to trust you or not . I now see I waited too long before presenting my initial findings to her."

Chakotay turned around, shocked by the revelation. "You did not tell the Captain!" Once again, he restrained himself. "I'll leave her to deal with you. This ship needs the two of us to get her back, and we will get her back, protocols or no protocols. But from now on, you tell me anything you see or hear or think. Is that clear?" he barked.

"Yes. Very clear, Commander," Tuvok answered, his eyes focused on the wall behind the First Officer.

Chakotay waved him off. "Dismissed." He watched Tuvok's back disappear among the mess of broken conduits and fallen walls.

Months of blending the two crews together had come to this. The most senior officers distrusting each other, a mirror of what was happening among the crew. The result was a missing captain, a traitor loose among the Kazon and spirits knew what else Seska was scheming.

He walked slowly back to the bridge, hoping against all odds that Kathryn was still alive. That the Kazon had not killed her in the brig while they had the chance indicated they wanted something from her.

'The Kazon or Seska?' he wondered.