It was no mistake...at least from what Kathryn could tell...Chakotay, or rather another Chakotay was lying dead on that cold metal table. Kathryn let the sheet drop from her hands and she turned her back to the table to face the shocked commander.
There was a clicking from the other side of the door nearest to them. Chakotay grabbed his Captain out of reflex and dove behind the table.
When the human walked in Kathryn nearly gasped...Chakotay gently covered her mouth with his free hand.
Another Kathryn Janeway had walked in the door. She was standing less than two meters from the command team.
It took all of Chakotay's control to refrain from reacting to his Kathryn. She was pinned with her back against his chest, breathing calmly from behind his hand. Both of his arms moved down slowly as they watched a Toara woman walk in behind the other Kathryn.
The second Kathryn's eyes were glazed over and her arms hung limply at her sides. She walked slowly, but there was a tense atmosphere about her.
The command team watched the other Kathryn swing around suddenly and train her eyes on them. There was a fire in her eyes. The Toaran woman looked in their direction and narrowed her eyes. The captain's clone let out a war cry and charged the Toaran. It was their chance to get away. As the Command team ran for the door they came through, the Captain hit her comm badge. No use. The caves were interfering with the signal.
Behind them they heard the Toaran wail, and then everything went deadly silent. The other Kathryn came running up behind them, out of breath. She had a trickle of blood coming from her temple, but she wasn't injured. She held a bloody metal instrument in her right hand. They had no choice but to let her come with them.
Chakotay's hand found his Kathryn's hand in the dark of the corridor. The facility was under alert. The lights were lowered to almost nothing and the three humans could hear foot falls echoing from somewhere on the other side of the walls.
Chakotay was the first to make it through the opening into the cave. He urged the women to go in front of him. He eyed the other Kathryn. She looked exactly like his friend.
With no warning the clone grabbed Kathryn by her hair. Both women were thrust outside of the cave's protection into the stinging, raging storm. Chakotay scrambled to the cave opening.
If he heard what he thought he did, his Kathryn growled. He wasn't sure though...Both were dressed in a Star Fleet Uniform...and they looked too much alike...Chakotay tried his best to keep the differences straight. It was a losing battle when he realized that Kathryn had lost her comm badge in the struggle.
The women were in the thick of the rain tumbling on the ground with each other. It was pure agony to Chakotay's ears. He heard both of them moan and whimper as the acid in the rain tore through their uniforms, and as they scratched and kneed each other repeatedly. He had to do something. He tried to communicate with the ship once more, still unsuccessful.
He plunged into the hard rain and ran for the brawl. Both women were stronger than they looked. Chakotay pulled with everything he had at the Kathryn on top. He disengaged her from her counterpart and she turned on him, eyes wild with fury. Definitely...not his Kathryn... Or was it?
One Kathryn helped him to restrain the other that he barely held in his arms. Chakotay looked at her. His Kathryn was covered in a mix of her own blood, shreds of her uniform, and some of the grey mud. She frowned at him as they moved back into the shelter of the cave. He noticed she winced in pain. Acid had burned streaking patterns across her face, back, and arms.
The woman in his arms fell unconscious. Her features began to change. "They knew we'd find that lab Chakotay, and they knew we'd go there. Prallen sent us here on purpose." Her voice was soft. The second Kathryn took the shape of a young Toaran female. Her skin began to heat up.
"Kathryn, we need to get out of here." He was panicking more on the inside than he dared to show. Staying with the clone, the girl, was becoming increasingly unpredictable and dangerous. The Toaran's skin was becoming intolerably hot. They could either go back to the labs, or back out into the storm, but they couldn't stay here. The dull yellow skin on the woman was turning a deep pink. Kathryn started thinking on the same wave length.
Chakotay laid the alien on the ground and grabbed hold of his Kathryn's arm. They ran together, away from the cave, shielding their eyes from the rain.
Behind them a loud explosion racked the solid walls of the rock face. A self-destruct? Nothing catastrophic, but the cave collapsed under the pressure. Nothing they hadn't seen before, but the planet's atmosphere carried the shockwave differently. The command team was thrown unceremoniously to the ground with the force. They stumbled back to their feet just as the blue light of the tingling transporter beam caught their bodies, summoning them to Voyager.
The Lieutenant at the controls in transporter room two cocked his head to the side. His commanding officers looked like...well, excrement. The captain collapsed onto the transporter pad.
"Beam us to sickbay Lieutenant." The operator acknowledged Chakotay and entered the command.