Chaos 1

Author: Christina and Sara

from an original idea by Christina, Sara, Jackee, and Suz

Act four

"What the hell is going on now?" growled B'Elanna, slamming her cards down on the table. "Don't tell me we've exceeded our energy consumption limit for the rotation."

"Maybe you hit a power conduit," Tom offered in the darkness.

"Not unless Plor power conduits are shaped like large rodents," snapped the half-Klingon.

Kathryn bit back a smile at the comment. She'd wondered the same thing herself. She'd seen the rat-like creature, was aware of what B'Elanna was shooting at, but wasn't certain if the Chief Engineer had hit her mark. "I suggest we move this card game to another room. We can deal with reparations to the accommodations in the morning," she offered, as she stood.

"I didn't hit a power conduit, Captain," B'Elanna retorted.

Kathryn rolled her eyes under cover of darkness. *Klingons.* "I was not suggesting..." she was unable to complete her statement as the station shuddered violently around them, accompanied by the sound of explosions. Her hand immediately went to her waist for her phaser. "That was weapons fire. This station is under attack."

"Great," muttered Tom. He detached his phaser from its mooring at his waist, and stood.

"It looks like our stay here has been cut short." Janeway's hand immediately went to her combadge. "Janeway to Voyager."

The only response was another violent shudder and the high-pitched sound of stressed metal.

Kathryn's frown deepened. Even if Voyager were engaged in battle, she would have responded... unless communications were out... or she was out of communications range. She exhaled heavily. "We're leaving."

"Captain-" Ayala said, "-What about our tricorders... and other equipment in our rooms."

The room shook again... more violently this time. *Damn.* They hadn't time to worry about that. But... they couldn't leave any technology behind... regardless of how advanced the Plor were. "Okay... we go in teams. B'Elanna, Tom, and Ayala. Neelix, you're with me. One stands cover while the other retrieves their equipment. We don't know if there has been an incursion. And if there has been, we don't know where they are. Watch yourselves. You have two minutes. We meet outside Neelix's room."

"Since we're here, Tom... I'll stand cover outside." B'Elanna moved toward the door. The metal walls, ceiling, and floor clearly reflected the sound of boots against the floor. Their steps were were as quick as they could make them while they groped in the darkness... feeling their way to the door. She hoped emergency lighting would illuminate the hallways... provide them some light. And then the toe of her foot caught on the heel of whomever preceded her, causing her to lose her balance... pitch forward. "Oomph."

"Ouch!" cried Ayala, as he buffered B'Elanna's fall.

"Sorry," offered B'Elanna, now completely atop the Lieutenant. She rolled off him. "You okay?"

"Yeah," came the startled and slightly irked response. "You?"

"Fine. Just don't tell my husband that we had a tumble together." She gingerly stood up, as the door to the corridor slid open. A faint greenish glow filled the corridor... casting meager light into the room. *Kahless be praised.* She didn't do well in the dark. She extended a hand to Ayala, helped him up, then followed him to the door.

#

"Report, Ensign," Chakotay barked as he stepped on the bridge.

"I started picking them up about twenty minutes ago, sir. At first I thought it was background radiation, but they are moving in a predictable pattern." Harry replayed the images to show his point.

"And now?" Chakotay grimaced as the tactical display appeared with dozens of new energy reading. "Whatever they are, they're headed for the station."

"But, what are they?" asked Tuvok.

Chakotay looked at the ensign at Ops. It was obvious to anyone who knew him that Kim had a theory."Come on, Ensign. Any guess is better than no guess."

Harry smiled,"They remind me of some early Romulan cloaking device leaks."

Chakotay studied the readouts again. "Similar, but the infrared is stronger." He studied them a moment longer. "I don't like it. Ensign, signal the Captain."

When there was no answer he turned sharply. "Ensign Kim?"

"No response from the Captain, sir. No response from any away team member."

Chakotay quickly took the Captain's seat. "Take us in helm."

Tuvok's console suddenly beeped. "Several ships decloaking, Commander," reported the Vulcan.

"What's their weapon's status?" barked Chakotay.

"Fully armed."

Chakotay pounded his arm against the armrest. "Damn. Red alert. Shields up. Arm phasers. Ensign, hail them." When the Ops Chief nodded Chakotay stood and addressed the ships who were about to attack not only the station, but Kathryn as well. "Tevian fleet, this is Commander Chakotay of the Federation Starship Voyager. Be advised that we have crew aboard that station. If you attack we will view it as an act of war and will respond. Do not engage that station."

His message was met with silence.

"I don't think they are listening, Commander," replied Harry.

"They have fired on the station," reported Tuvok with his usual calm demeanor. "Direct hit. Extensive damage."

"Fire phasers," ordered Chakotay. Chakotay looked on in growing horror as an entire section of the station began to crumble. These people had obviously been unprepared for such an attack. A sick feeling settled in the pit of his stomach as he thought of the many civilians no doubt wounded or worse in the broken section. He prayed that Kathryn and her team were safe.

The fleet of fighters and small ships paid little heed to Voyager's efforts to draw their fire, as they moved along and proceeded to destroy the next section of the station. The Tevians were arrogant in their power, and his instruments told him why. A large fleet of as yet uncloaked fighters waited nearby. Unless he did something, and fast, the station would fall.

"Ensign, can you still detect the leakage from their cloaking shields?"

"Aye, sir," Harry responded immediately.

"Good," Chakotay said, turning before he could finish the explanation. Time was of the essence, the details could wait.

"Commander Tuvok, how long to configure a batch of modified mines to the same frequency?" "

"Less than a minute, Commander," Tuvok was already on it.

"Do it," Chakotay said, and turned immediately toward his station, triangulating the best position from which to launch the mines. He wanted to halt the Tevian ships, not destroy them. His console beeped just as Tuvok announced that the mines were ready.

"Prepare to fire in this pattern," he ordered, sending the triangulated data to Tactical. The Vulcan wasted no time integrating the information into his subroutine, while simultaneously providing return fire against the trio of vessels the Tevians had sent to keep Voyager busy.

The first order of business was to get in closer. Normal behavior would have been to take out a couple of the vessels, thus allowing Voyager to gain some ground. Chakotay didn't have time for that. He snapped out his instructions quickly. Voyager went into a sharp dive and turned back as if to retreat; then, quickly in a move not entirely recommended by the ship's designers the ship went hard over and flew right past the trio of ships. The little vessels were maneuverable and were on to him in moments, but it was too late. Voyager was positioned perfectly.

"Deploy mines," he ordered. Several dozen dark objects littered space around Voyager before individual guidance systems kicked in. Explosions began to light the space nearer as the mines found their marks. The closest ships didn't stand a chance, as one after the other their power cells were detonated, leaving them dead in space. It was precious seconds later before the more distant ships even realized the threat.

A unrestrained triumphant "Yes!" sounded from Ops, followed quickly by an "Uh Oh."

"What is it, Ensign?" Chakotay grimaced at the new threat. One of the damaged Tevian ships moved jerkily toward their port nacelle, showing no signs of stopping.

"Evasive maneuvers," Chakotay barked out. The area was littered with many vessels that were adrift in space, so moving was not an easy task. Voyager managed to move out of the way of the out-of-control ship, who unable to stop, plowed headlong into two other ships that had been adrift. The resulting explosion caught Voyager aft, spinning her end over end.

A whirring filled the air as the inertial dampeners struggled to keep up. Chakotay clung to the chair as a sickening shudder knocked everyone off their feet. Bodies tumbled across the bridge as the ship came to a eventual stop. Every emergency klaxon and light was flashing or blaring for attention as the crew pulled itself to its feet and took in the damage.

"Report!" Chakotay was sprawled on the floor. He'd managed to hold onto the chair long enough to break the his forward momentum. The flickering red light told him beyond a doubt that the warp engines were offline. After hearing the report, he decided the only good news was that they'd been knocked a good distance from the station and the Tevians weren't following.

"Commander, I don't think we're going anywhere for awhile," grumbled Harry.

Chakotay grunted his agreement as he stood. "Repair crews to all primary systems. Commander Tuvok, keep an eye on those Tevians. Ensign, keep trying to find the Captain."

The ensign didn't look too hopeful. "I'll try Commander, but there is still a great deal of interference."

"Commander, there are two Tevian ships which have broken away from the others. They appear to be headed our way," reported Tuvok.

"Any chance we can out run them, Ensign?" Chakotay asked the helm officer.

Ensign Jenkins shook his head. "No. We do have seventy-five percent impulse. Thrusters are online."

Chakotay climbed the stairs and took a look at Ensign Kim's tactical display. "Hmm. Helm, best speed on heading zero-point-five-mark-seven." He grinned at Kim. "Let's see if they want to play ring around the planet."

Voyager limped its way toward the small M-class planet with two Tevian ships closing in fast.

"Carey, what's the status on our warp engines?" asked Chakotay as he watched the approaching Tevians.

Joe's voice came back clearly, but filled with tension. "We'll have them back on line in just a few minutes, Commander."

"We don't have a few minutes, Joe. Now would be good."

"Understood, sir. Carey out."

Chakotay looked at Harry as he stepped down to sit in Kathryn's chair. "Ensign, ever play hide and seek?"

Jenkins grinned. "Yes, sir."

Chakotay grinned back. "I think we could duck behind that dust ring and wait for 'ollie-ollie-oxen-free' don't you?"

"Sounds good...uh-oh," Harry said loudly.

Chakotay winced. "Quit saying that. What now, Ensign?"

"Ten Tevian ships just emerged from our hiding spot. They're headed right for us."

"Damn. Evasive maneuvers. Tactical display." Taking a seat in the command chair he studied the picture of the current situation on the view screen. "We're boxed in."

Tuvok raised an eyebrow. "That much is obvious."

Chakotay grinned. "Never hurts to state the obvious, Tuvok." He frowned in concentration as he searched for an answer, his eyes never leaving the tactical display. "Ok, obviously this planet is out of the question. It won't do us any good to dodge the attack fleet if we fly into the back-up fleet. Harry, scan for a more distant planet, somewhere we can regroup before we mount a search for the away team; preferably something uninhabited."

"Carey to Bridge."

"Go ahead Carey," Chakotay answered instinctively raising his head to listen.

"Sir, we have warp power. At warp 5 it will last about six minutes."

"Good work, keep an eye on it."

Chakotay cut the com-channel and leaned forward. "Helm, get us out of here. Warp 5."

Voyager shuddered slightly as the damaged engines jumped to life. Harry scanned for pursuit and frowned. "No pursuit, Commander."

Chakotay glanced about the bridge. "Let's find some place to hide, lick our wounds and get back to that station." Kathryn was resourceful, she'd find a way to save the Away Team.

#

"Neelix," Kathryn called out. "Hurry up." She nervously glanced around the corridor. She smiled slightly at how easy it had been to find her stuff. All that Starfleet training.

"Sorry, Captain," came the muffled reply. "I can't find..."

She cut him off. "Somebody's coming." And from the heavy plodding sound it wasn't the others of her team. She tried her combadge again-only the hiss of static. "Damn." Where was her ship. Neelix appeared in the doorway carrying an overstuffed bag on his back and another in his hand.

She shook her head. She hadn't realized he had made so many purchases. She tapped the combadge. "Janeway to Paris..."

"Don't bother," Tom's voice said from around the corner.

The other three officers appeared. With them were six station-security officers.

"What is going on?" Janeway asked.

One officer shook his head. "We do not have time. You must come with us. We need you to contact your ship and help us."

"What is happening?" Janeway asked again. The were walking toward the main part of the station. She could hear the screams and weapons fire.

"Tevian terrorists. Your ship must come back to help us." The officer's voice held a slight desperation. "It left soon after it was hit..."

"We're they badly damaged?" B'Elanna asked.

"It looked like it. But it must come back." The other other guards pushed their way through the panicked crowd. The emergency lights dimmed further and a low wailing sound echoed through the station. The guards stopped. "We're being boarded! We don't have much time." The lead guard turned on a dim wristlight and pointed it at Janeway. She noticed the other guards move their weapons slightly. "Either your ship will fight for us, or..."

There was a bright light from somewhere, followed by the sounds of breaking metal. Neelix took advantage of the confusion and swung around quickly, catching three of the guards in the stomach with his bags. Tom and Ayala punched two, with rapid hooks to their jaws. Janeway grabbed the weapon from the astonished leader.

"We don't get involved. It is against our laws." She glanced around. "Looks like Tuvok's training has paid off. Now, where can we go to contact Voyager?"

The one standing station guard shook his head. "Too late. They will have captured it now. Too late. We will have to pay..." He looked at the ground. "And if your ship wants you back they will have to pay too. Or the Tevians will kill you..." He shrugged and walked off.

Janeway motioned for him to be left alone. "We have more pressing concerns." She led her group down a narrow corridor. "Any ideas?"

"Just one, Captain," Tom said hesitantly. "The ship we looked at. It's not that far."

Janeway stared at him. "Are you suggesting that we-"

"Steal it? Yes, ma'am."

She looked at her Away Team. The alternatives weren't very promising.

Two blasts shook the station. Janeway clutched her bag firmly. "Well..." She took a deep breath. Damned if they did...Dead if they didn't... "Let's go. We have a ship to steal."

#

Chaos reigned in the station. It was loud, noisy-and obvious that no one knew what they were doing. Janeway looked around-there was no one defending the shuttle bays. No security...

And no attackers or pirates...Ships would seem to be a prize worthy of going after. The whole thing was just enough *off* to make her more than jumpy.

Tom looked over from the bluish-green ship. "It's not much, Captain." He was working the controls to open the ship's door. "It flies, it has working weapons systems, communication, shields..." He glanced at Neelix. "No food or water though."

Neelix perked up. "I have enough food in here for two days. Water, we'll need to find some."

Janeway grimaced at the sound of an explosion. "We'll find Voyager before that becomes an issue."

"I hope you are right," Neelix muttered as he shifted his bags slightly.

B'Elanna appeared from around the corner. She'd gone to check the situation. "Water? There are several five liter containers in the next bay. Probably somebody's supplies."

Janeway nodded. "Lieutenant Torres and Neelix, go." She reached over and helped Neelix with his bags. "You have two minutes." She watched warily as both ran quickly around the corner.

She turned at Tom's triumphant yelp and watched the door open. "There's some storage in here." He pointed to a cupboard. "The head is behind it." He smiled slightly. "Primitive is an understatement. I suggest we get everything locked down. It'll probably be a bumpy ride."

Janeway shook her head. "I just hope it flies." The shuttle had been cleaned up for the auction, but it had seen better days. She noticed the signs of scoring on the hull as she and Ayala dragged Neelix's bags aboard. "Can you fly this...thing?" she asked Tom.

Tom grinned. "I can fly anything. I had a crash course on the controls earlier. I'm hoping the automatic sensors are still on line-otherwise we're going to have to blast our way out of here." He flicked a few switches. "Everything is ready. When they get here, we can go." He pointed toward several chartreuse controls. "These are the weapons. I'm not quite sure how they work-but they do work..."

Janeway sat down beside him. "I hope who built this thing was *logical.* Otherwise the first few shots will be guesses. Can you get communication on-line? I'd like to reach Voyager before we leave." She watched as Tom flicked a few switches, then shook his head.

She took a deep breath. Voyager probably hadn't gone too far..."I need some way to leave a message for them, in case...They'll be back here to look for us."

She didn't want to leave any of their technology-but a PADD was the most logical-and obvious way. She wrote a quick message and encrypted it. A simple code-and the key was obvious only to Chakotay. She hoped.

"Captain!" Ayala called out. Janeway and Tom turned to see Neelix running into the bay.

"Come quick!" He stopped to take a deep breath. "B'Elanna is injured." Tom stood, and looked at the Captain.

"Captain," he started to say.

"Stay here," she ordered him. Tom grimaced. "Find a place to put this where Chakotay can find it. And have the ship ready to go..." She handed Tom the PADD and some cards, before rushing after the Neelix. Tom wanted to crumple the cards in frustration, but then he noticed which ones she'd left.

"Well, well." He smiled as he realized the perfect place to leave the message.

#

B'Elanna sat propped against a large barrel, her teeth gritted, a grimace on her face. Kathryn was immediately on her knees, at B'Elanna's side. "What happened?"

Neelix settled on the other side of the half-Klingon. "We were retrieving the containers of water when the bay was rocked by a blast. This stockpile-" he indicated what remained of a large collection of stacked containers and several scattered haphazardly on the floor. "-toppled. The Lieutenant was caught in the collapse."

"I think my leg is broken," B'Elanna half growled, half hissed through clenched teeth.

Kathryn studied the Lieutenant's face, then her leg. She didn't need a tricorder to confirm the young woman's assessment. The leg was indeed broken. "Neelix, help me with B'Elanna. Ayala, get as much water as you can carry. We'll need it." She pulled out the tissue regenerator, but B'Elanna pushed it away.

"We don't have time for that-just get me to the ship." Then almost as an after thought, "Captain."

#

Epilogue

Tom watched the foursome make their way perilously across the shuttlebay, the station rocking about them. A barrage of fire suddenly reverberating throughout the floating barge. They were forced to stop twice... it was either that or be thrown to the deck.

And then they were again on the move, B'Elanna half dragged, half carried between Neelix and the Captain. Her right leg hung at an odd angle just below the knee... obviously broken. He could hear her low-toned growl of pain above the rattle of the shuttle's engines as they entered the compartment behind him. Ayala followed, lugging three containers of water.

"Secure the door," Janeway ordered as she gently lowered the Chief Engineer to the floor of the craft. She glanced over her shoulder, fixed Paris with a dark look. "Have you been able to establish whether the automatic sensors are operational?"

Tom shook his head. "Not yet, Captain."

They had little choice. "Then we won't worry about it. Get us out of here, Mister Paris."

Tom glanced at B'Elanna, offered a reassuring smile, then lifted his gaze to his Captain's. "Yes, ma'am." He turned to the alien console. Hesitantly, his finger lighted over the controls, and then gently the shuttle lifted from the deck, nosed it toward the bay doors. "Welcome to the good ship Chaos," he muttered as he sat down. Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw the Captain take the seat next to him.

"I'll handle weapons."

He smiled. "Here goes nothing." He took a deep breath as he activated the ship's propulsion systems. The ship he'd named Chaos hovered, then started to edge toward the portal. "Five meters... four... three..."

Kathryn checked what she assumed were status displays. No proximity alarms were blaring or flashing. That is, she thought wryly, assuming they have proximity alarms.

"... two... one." A sigh of relief escaped him. "We're clear."