Disclaimer: I do not own any of the following stories or Characters that have come from those stories: Stargate: SG1, Stargate Atlantis, Star Trek Voyager, Star Trek, Law and Order: SVU, Xena, or Popular.
Chapter 2
As soon everyone was gathered Janeway leaned forward in her seat. "What do you have to report?"
"It's not good Captain." B'Elanna said instantly. "They must have gotten in a lucky shot of too because Engineering is trashed. The warp core is down and I'm not sure I can get it up and running again. We are just lucky we didn't have a warp core breach."
"How bad is bad, B'Elanna?" Janeway asked again. "I need to know the truth."
The half Klingon looked over at her Captain a moment before she sighed, "Without the right parts I can't fix it Captain, and we can't get the right parts. We can't replicate them and since we have no idea where we are going I can't guarantee we will find them there."
Captain looked around at her gathered crew before standing up an approaching the window. She crossed her arms and stared out of it for several long moments trying to gather her words. Trying to figure out how to tell them what she knew. She could sense their concern and confusion at her behavior and eventually she turned to face them. "It's worse than you think." She admitted to them and immediately they all say up straight. Everyone but Chakotay was going to be hanging onto her every word, she could tell. The commander was slouched in his chair with his arms crossed over his chest and a scowl on his face.
She walked back to the table and leaned on her hands against it. "We aren't just heading out of this quadrant, but out of this galaxy." She looked around at their shocked faces. "According to Seven's calculations in 4 or 5 days we will come out of Transwarp directly into the Pegasus Galaxy, 3 million miles from home."
An oppressive silence followed the proclamation. No one moved, no one spoke as they tried to digest what they were being told and Kathryn let them. She took her seat again and waited patiently for one of them to speak. Normally she wouldn't like the silence but in this instance she would allow it to continue.
"What do you mean!" Chakotay eventually demanded. Instead of waiting for an answer he turned on Seven. "This has to be your fault. You and the damn Borg. You're working with them aren't you bitch."
"Enough, Commander." Janeway said jumping to her feat. "You will show respect to every member of this crew."
"But, Kathryn…" He tried to argue but she cut him off. "You have a choice. Sit down, shut up and listen or go to your quarters." She glared at him and eventually he sat down with a grunt."
"Is it true?" Harry asked completely ignoring the Commander's outburst. "Are we really going to be so much further from home?"
"I'm afraid so, Mr. Kim." Kathryn told him. "I'm afraid so."
"So what do we do know?" Tom asked. "How will we ever manage to get home now?"
"I don't know, Tom." Kathryn answered honestly, "But I promise you all I will do everything in my power to find us a way home."
There was another long silence before B'Elanna spoke. "What do you need us to do Captain? What can we do to help?"
"I need a complete list of everything that needs to be fixed." She told them. "I mean everything. I also need options. What we can do, what choices we have if we can't fix the Warp Core."
"What about the rest of the crew, Captain?" Tuvok asked, "What should we tell them?"
"The truth." Janeway told him. "Gather them together in one of the Cargo bays. I'll address them all immediately." She paused and looked around her. "I know that this is a lot to take in. I know that this is going to be difficult, but I need to know that I have your support. The rest of the crew needs to see that you stand behind me if we are going to get through this."
"Of course we are behind you Captain." B'Elanna told her; insulted that Janeway might think anything different, while the other's all nodded their agreement to the statement. Chakotay only reluctantly.
"Thank you." Janeway said looking around her. "You are all dismissed." As all but Tuvok and Seven filed out she keyed her badge to give her ship wide. This is the Captain. All crew members are to immediately report to Cargo bay 1. Any staff stationed at essential post will tune it to the vid screens. Janeway out.
Ending the call she turned to look at the two people waiting on her. "Let's deal with this please, before we discuss anything else. Can it wait?"
"Of Course, Captain." Tuvok told her.
"Thank you, Tuvok." Janeway smiled at him. "Just as soon as we are done with the crew we will meet." He simply nodded and went to make sure that the crew was gathered. Seven and Janeway followed him and headed to Cargo Bay 1.
Captain Janeway and Seven made their way towards the Cargo bay. She made the decision to leave Chakotay in charge of the bridge while leaving Tuvok to watch over the commander. She didn't think it would be a good idea to have him in the Cargo bay when she made the announcement. Emotions would be frayed enough with what she was about to tell them and she didn't want to run the risk of him possibly making it worse. As she entered she saw B'Elanna, Harry, and Tom standing up front and she found herself extremely grateful for their support. She was surprised when Ro Laren and two other security officers came to stand behind the senior staff but guessed that Tuvok had ordered them to incase things went bad. Seven took up a position behind the Captain and slightly to the side and Janeway found the heaviness that had settled on her heart lifting a little at her lover's protectiveness.
Janeway took a moment to look around at her crew. Each and every one of them had sacrificed and suffered to try and get this ship home. Each of them had given up so much in the course of their journey and now she was going to have to ask them to possibly give up any hope of getting home. She could see Samantha and Naomi Wildman sitting in the front row and her heart began to ach even more for what she saw as her failure. She felt as if she had failed them all but before she could dwell on that line of thought she pushed it to the back of her mind and forced herself to address the crew.
"As you all know a little more than an hour ago Voyager was attacked by a Borg Cube." She looked around at all the anxious faces. She knew that they were aware that her news must be big if she was calling them all together. She also knew that many of them were hoping she was going to be telling them that they were coming out into Federation space and she hated the fact that she was about to disappoint them.
"Their aim was not to assimilate us or destroy us. Instead we believe that they attacked only in an attempt to disable us so that they could continue on their mission." She looked around her. "During the attack we sustained heavy damage. We were lucky, none were killed and only a few were injured, but the ship's warp core was damaged beyond repair. Are shields are low and we are working to get weapons back on line."
She could see them all becoming more nervous by the moment. Taking a deep breath she went on. "Without the warp core we were unable to make it far enough from the Borg Cube in time and were pulled alone into Transwarp with them. They do not know that we are here but as soon as we drop out of Transwarp they will. We estimate that we only have 4 to 5 days to get systems operational. Since the Core cannot be fixed without replacement parts I need everyone to focus on getting the Shields and weapons operational."
When she paused again Naomi raised her hand. Samantha was whispering to the young girl, trying to get her to put it down but Janeway cut her off. "It's alright Ensign Wildman. What is it Naomi?"
"Are we going to come out in Federation space, Captain?" The girl asked the question that was floating around everyone's minds. The one they all wanted the answer to be no one was brave enough to ask and everyone sat up a little straighter waiting for the answer.
"No, we're not." Janeway told them honestly and she could see them all deflate. "According to our calculations and Seven's knowledge of Borg activity in this area we have determined that when we come out of Transwarp we will be in the Pegasus Galaxy." She took a deep breath, "3 Million Light years from home."
At first it was so silent that you could have heard a pin drop. Then slowly the volume began to rise with one or more people talking, crying, and expressing a wild range of emotions. Janeway let it go on for a while before finally raising her hand and calling for silence. It took a while but eventually people began to quite down and after another few long minutes they were all once again staring at their Captain waiting for her news.
"I know that this not what any of you wanted to hear." She told them. "It's certainly not the news I wanted to give, but unfortunately it is the situation that we now find ourselves in. We have no way of knowing what we might find when we reach the Pegasus Galaxy, but when has that ever stopped us before." A few people laughed lightly at that. "We didn't know what we would find when started our journey through this section of space, but we have managed and we will manage again."
She was pleased to see most of the crew nodding in agreement. "My promise to you is that we arrive I will do everything in power to find us a way home, but I am asking you to please trust me and your command staff. We are not going to give up trying just because we have had a major setback. In the mean time we need your help. We need you all to keep working hard and helping us prepare for whatever situation we might find ourselves in."
"And what do you plan to do if we can't get home?" Someone in the back of the room asked. "What are we going to do then?"
"We are working on different options if that happens." She told them. "If that time comes we will be ready for it. I promise that as soon as we have more I will tell you, but until then if you have any suggestions take them to your department head."
She looked around her waiting to see if anyone had any other questions. When none were forthcoming she spoke again, "If you have any concerns or questions you can come to me or your department head at any time. Until then you are all dismissed back to work."
Slowly one person stood and then another and eventually they all began to make their way out of the room and back to their post. The atmosphere was greatly subdued as the crew cleared out leaving only Seven and Captain Janeway. Janeway looked at her lover with a sad smile, "That didn't go as badly as I feared, but do me a favor and keep an ear out all the same Seven. I need to know how the crew is really taking things."
"As you wish." Seven agreed and then asked, "What now Kathryn?"
"Now, my darling. We speak with Tuvok and deal with whatever problem he has for us." Kathryn smiled at her lover. "Then I think we are signing off duty and having dinner in my quarters. What do you say?"
"That would be most agreeable." Seven told her, "Perhaps after dinner you would allow me to relieve some of your…stress." Kathryn just smiled her excitement at the suggestion.
