Chapter 7: No Escape

Kathryn looked up at the sky, which a moment ago had been bright and sunny, and realized that huge, dark clouds were beginning to cover it. She heard a sound that startled her, until she realized it was only the primate that frequently visited them. It was making loud noises and gesturing frantically at the sky.

"Yes," she said, "I think you're right. I should get inside." She collected her equipment and began to head back towards home. Her steps quickened as it started to rain, and the wind picked up. Soon it grew difficult to walk and she had to grab onto trees for support. She tried to run, but she tripped over something. She felt a sharp pain in her left ankle and cried out. She tried to get up, but realized that she couldn't put any weight on her left foot, and she fell back to the ground as pain shot up her leg, and she cried out again. The rain was falling hard now, and her clothes and shoes were soaked. She wiped water from her eyes – rain or tears? – and, determined, began to crawl towards home.

Over the din of the storm, she suddenly heard a voice call, "Kathryn!"

"Chakotay!" she yelled back. "Chakotay, over here!" For a moment she feared that he could not hear her, but then she heard his cries coming closer.

"Kathryn!" Suddenly, he came crashing through the trees, and he was on one knee beside her. "Kathryn, are you hurt?"

"I twisted my ankle," she replied, still having to yell to be heard over the storm. She felt his strong arm around her waist and she threw her arm over his shoulder. He tried to support her as she took a step but the moment she placed her left foot down, she shuddered with pain.

Their eyes met and in that moment, she could see the concern he felt. She could see the fear he had experienced as he ran through the forest looking for her. Then, before she could protest, he was carrying her, holding her tightly against his chest. She held onto him with both arms and pressed her face against him. He fought against the storm; his clothes were as wet as hers.

When they reached the shelter, the walls were rattling with the force of the storm. Chakotay laid Kathryn on the floor under the table and crawled in after her, pulling her against him, stroking her hair. "It's okay," he whispered in her ear. "It's going to be okay." Her arms encircled him, and he held her tighter. As the crashes around her ceased and the sound of the storm became a low din, she drifted off into a peaceful sleep, only to be awakened by a loud noise...

Kathryn's eyes jerked open, and she realized she had been dreaming again. Again of Chakotay and New Earth. She sat up, and heard her stomach protest. Zeklar had not come to see her or invited her to dinner in two days, and yesterday's meals had consisted of rather stale bread, cheese and a small piece of cured meat. She was feeling the hunger.

Janeway clenched her fist. She could not just sit here any longer. She had begun to think that perhaps she should try to escape when her meal was brought to her. Usually there were two armed guards, but recently she had noticed that only one guard had been bringing her meal. She had allowed them to think she was more docile than she was, and it seemed to be working. The problem was, once out of the cell, where to go. She knew the direction away from Zeklar's dining room, but that was about it. She just couldn't sit in this cell anymore, doing nothing.

When her next meal came, she realized her opportunity. There was only one guard. When she approached him to take the tray of food, she instead slammed the tray into his face. Taking advantage of his momentary disorientation, she grabbed his weapon from his belt and shot him in the head. He staggered for a moment and fell. Without pausing, she was out the door and running – towards what, she did not know – but she was free.

...

Zeklar studied the map on his desk and chuckled. Those dupes in Elcarthita wouldn't know what hit them. They thought they were invincible, but when his army came, they would see. He laughed out loud and sat back in his chair. His thoughts turned to Janeway. He would break her yet, he was sure of it. She was no match for him, and if she thought her ship and crew could ruin his plans, well, that was just plain ignorant. A woman like her just needed the right man to subdue her, and he was certain that person was him. The communicator signal on his desk beeped. "What is it?"

"This is Guard Filtak, sir. The prisoner has escaped. The guard sent to bring her her meal was just found unconscious outside her cell."

"What?" Zeklar exploded. "Well, find her, idiot. Bring her back to her cell and inform me when you've succeeded."

"Yes, sir." The signal went silent, and Zeklar took a deep breath. No matter. She couldn't get far, and once she was found, everyone responsible for this little mishap would be suitably punished.

...

Kathryn was running through stone corridors, trying to find some exit from the compound. The lack of food and rest had left her weak. She stopped for a moment to catch her breath, but, hearing voices behind her, she began to run again. She was no longer conscious of moving towards anything, only of running away from the voices of the guards.

Suddenly, she found herself at a dead end, and the voices of the guards were coming closer. At the end of the corridor, she saw a small door in the wall that looked like it might lead to a crawl space or some kind of maintenance corridor. She reached for the handles of the heavy wooden door and pulled as hard as she could, but the door would not budge. She tried again. Behind her, she heard a voice say, "There she is!" She tried the door one last time, but it still refused to open. She felt a strong hand on her shoulder, and her arms being grabbed and pulled behind her, the stolen weapon torn from her hand. She felt cold metal encircle her wrists and whirled around to see four of Zeklar's guards in front of her.

"So you thought you could escape?" said one of them. "Ha. After the Commandant is done with you, you'll think twice before you try to pull something like that again. It's just like the Commandant says, you women are so weak."

"Weak?" Janeway spat in his face. "It took four of you to catch me. You're the ones who are weak – in your ability to think!"

"Shut up!" said the guard. He raised his hand to strike her, but one of the other guards stopped him. "Hey," he said, "you know the Commandant doesn't like us spoiling his fun."

The guard lowered his arm and Janeway let out a breath. Roughly, the guards poked and prodded her back to her cell. When they got there, Zeklar was waiting. To her surprise, his first comment was to the guard who had almost hit her.

"There are supposed to be two guards on duty at all times when the prisoner's doors are open," he said coldly. "Why were you not at your post?"

"I'm sorry, sir. It just seemed like… Well… I thought Sosa could handle it. She seemed so weak like you always said, and, well, I thought…"

Zeklar cut him off. "It's not your job to think, Besak. It's your job to follow my orders. Do you understand?"

"Yes, sir," said Besak, his large figure trembling. "It won't happen again."

Zeklar smiled his customary joyless smile. "You're right," he said, "it won't." There was barely time for the fear to register on the man's face before Zeklar shot him and his body disintegrated.

Janeway glared at him. He turned to her, but before he could speak, she said, "So that's how you keep your men in order. Threats. You kill them if they disobey you? Well, if that's the way you operate, you won't have an army much longer."

She expected him to hit her, but instead he turned to the three remaining guards and instructed them, "Remove her handcuffs and wait outside." They followed his orders, and Zeklar closed the door behind them, turning to her. "That was a brave thing you did, trying to escape on your own when you knew that my entire army is waiting only meters outside your door. My guards don't give you much credit. They think you're weak and helpless, but I know better." Though his words were those of a compliment, his tone was that of a slur. He was slowly backing her into a corner as he continued, "You are strong; I can see that. You won't be beaten easily, but I don't want to beat you, my pet. I simply want you to acknowledge the truth; that all you really want is to find someone stronger than you, someone you can submit to." Her back hit the wall, and she looked up at him. This time, she knew what was coming. "And you've found that person, in me. You're a beautiful woman, Kathryn," he hissed. He lowered his mouth to hers and grabbed her breast with his hand.

Swiftly, without allowing him time to think or react, she grabbed his shoulders and pulled him towards her, driving her knee into his groin. He recoiled, cursing in pain, doubled over. She made a move to grab his weapon, but he was faster than she expected. He grabbed her arm as it reached for him and twisted it until she cried out in pain. When she doubled over, he released his hold on her and brought his fist up to strike her face. His anger fueled his strength, and as she stumbled backwards from the force of the blow, he grabbed her wrist again and pulled her towards him. She felt a wrenching in her shoulder as he lowered his mouth to her neck and bit her hard. As she attempted to pull her arm free, she stepped as hard as she could on his foot. She heard the sound of a bone cracking as she did so, and Zeklar released her.

"Get in here!" he bellowed to the guards outside. They entered, and, gathering what had happened, two guards pulled Janeway away from Zeklar, wrenching her left shoulder again.

Zeklar looked at her and she shivered from the hatred in his gaze. "You will pay for this," he said. "Restrain her," he ordered the guards, and she had no time to struggle before her hands were again cuffed behind her back. Zeklar limped towards her, gave her one more backhand to the face. She fell to the ground as her vision began to blur, and eventually turned to black.

...

Elise and the Sisters had followed the corridor for only a short while before finding an exit. It took all three of them to open the door which they did as quietly as possible, not knowing what they would find on the other side. Elise slowly poked her head out and then gave the okay sign to Mira and Selanna. Elise lowered herself out first, dusting herself off and stretching her legs. The other two followed close behind. They looked around and found themselves in what seemed to be a storage closet. Spare parts, tools and metal pipes lay strewn about the room.

Mira began rummaging through the stuff and before long she held up an object with a satisfied grin. "Look!" she exclaimed. It was a worker's uniform. "There's a whole box of them."

"Perfect," said Elise. They put the uniforms on over their clothes. "We have to get to Central Command. That's our first priority." Elise pulled out her communicator and buzzed Chakotay.

"Chakotay here," she heard through slight static.

"Chakotay, we've exited the tunnel system. We're in some sort of storage closet."

"We're still in the tunnels," came the reply. "I'll let you know when we get out, if I can."

"We're on our way to Central Command, if we can find it," said Elise. "Elise out." She looked over at Mira and Selanna. They all looked slightly ridiculous in uniforms that clearly belonged to much larger men. Selanna had found matching hats in another box, and she handed them out. "Try not to be noticed," said Elise, "but if we do encounter others, act natural." The other two women nodded, and Elise started to the door way. Slowly, she opened the door and peered outside. The hallway seemed deserted; everything was made of a dark grey metal. Elise heard voices and quickly shut them back in the closet, pressing herself up against the wall next to the door.

"Did you hear about Besak?" she heard a gruff, male voice say.

"Yeah, that's too bad," another man replied.

"Well, he shouldn't have been slacking off," said the first voice.

"I guess not, but, come on, that was an extreme punishment."

"Yeah, the Commandant has been awfully testy since that prisoner came in."

"I don't know much about that. Hey, where are you off to right now?"

"I'm going to get my new orders. You?"

"Yeah, the same. I guess everyone's getting new orders these days." At that point, the voices faded too far for Elise to make out their words. She knew by the sound of their footsteps which direction they had gone, and she opened the door and led the other two women into the hallway, following them. Wherever they were going to get their new orders was most likely in the direction of Central Command.

They followed the soldiers at a safe distance for several minutes before they turned down a busier corridor. The three women tried to adopt the masculine, lazy walk of the repair men their clothes suggested they were, and everyone seemed too busy to notice them. The two men they had been following stopped outside a door labeled General Feltak, and out of the corner of her eye, Elise saw a decorated man, who must be the general, let them in. Further down the corridor, Elise saw another general stepping out of what appeared to be his office. He was talking to another man, and they soon disappeared down the corridor. Elise stopped outside the door the two men had just left, and she surreptitiously pulled a device out of the small bag at her hip. It would open virtually any electronic door, and a moment later, the door slid open and the ladies slipped inside. The lights were off, and the room appeared to be deserted.

"Selanna," Elise hissed, "find a way to lock that door." Selanna nodded and began to fiddle with a keypad next to the doorframe.

Elise glanced around the room, barely able to make out her surroundings as her eyes adjusted to the dark. In the center of the room stood a desk adorned with a computer and several medals and decorations. One wall was covered with a bookcase, and another with maps and pictures of weapons. Elise sat down at the desk and activated the monitor. "Welcome, General Babbit," came up on the screen.

"Not much security on this computer system," Elise remarked as she began to scan the documents.

"I don't think they were expecting any visitors," said Selanna, still fiddling with the panel by the door. They heard a small beep and Selanna said, "I think it's locked now."

Elise and Mira gasped at the same time, and Selanna turned away from her examination of the door technology to ask, "What?"

"Look at this," said Mira, gesturing to one of the maps on the wall. It did not take them long, even in the dim light, to realize that it was a very detailed map of Elcarthita. "There are entrance points into the city marked on this map," said Mira.

Elise nodded slowly. "They're planning an invasion. The plans are right here in the general's computer. The date is set for next week. Quick, Selanna," Elise said, moving aside, "see how much of this information you can download and transmit to Leya."

As Selanna went to work on that, Mira was studying another map. "Look," she said, pointing, "this is where we are, in General Babbit's office, and here's Central Command. It doesn't look like it's very far."

"I've downloaded as much as I can into my portable transmitter," said Selanna, "but I think the download tripped some sort of security protocol. Someone's going to know we're here."

"Let's go," said Elise. "Transmit the data to Leya. Mira, do you have that map?" Mira nodded. She had been selected for this mission because of her photographic memory.

"Data transmitting," said Selanna.

"Good," Elise replied. "Mira, lead the way."

...

Commandant Zeklar sat in a medical bed as Doctor Pelus slowly repaired the broken bones in his foot. The painkillers soothed his pain, but he was still seething internally.

"You'll be walking fine again by tomorrow, Commandant," said the doctor with a reassuring smile.

"Thank you, Doctor," Zeklar replied, not sounding reassured at all. Suddenly his communicator beeped. "Yes?" he answered.

"Yes, sir." He recognized the voice of his assistant. "There's been a security breach, and I wanted to inform you."

"What?" Zeklar exclaimed. This day was getting worse by the minute.

"It doesn't seem to be anything major, sir. Some data was downloaded from General Babbit's computer by an unauthorized device."

Pushing Dr. Pelus aside and standing up quickly, ignoring the pain in his foot, Zeklar ordered, "Well then we must have an intruder. Issue an alert and find them." He paused as ideas came together in his mind. "And have the generals meet me in the Conference Room. There's been a slight change of plans. If we have an intruder, chances are good they're from the other side. We don't want to give them any time to prepare, now do we? Oh, and have two guards ready to accompany me to the prison. I think Captain Janeway should be a witness to my triumph. If her crew has somehow found a way to infiltrate us, she'll be safer with me."

"Yes, sir."

Zeklar smiled. This was the efficiency and obedience he liked. It's why he kept the little man with the thick glasses around.

...

Slowly, Janeway became aware of sounds. Were people shouting? There were footsteps in the distance. She became aware of the hard, cold floor beneath her body. Gradually, she became cognizant of an intense pain across her shoulders and the pins and needles of sensation slowly returning to her hands. As she opened her eyes, she realized she was lying on the floor of her cell, her hands still handcuffed behind her back. Her left shoulder was in intense pain and she wondered if it had been dislocated. She could tell her face was swollen, and as she moved her facial muscles, knew some of the skin was caked in dry blood. It does not matter, she told herself. The pain does not matter. Ignore it. The only thing that's important is finding a way out of here.

She heard footsteps and realized that someone was approaching. Within moments, Zeklar was inside her cell, flanked by two guards. He sneered at her and said, "So, you're awake." She did not reply, and he gestured to the guards. They approached her and roughly picked her up by the arms, forcing her to stand. She winced at the pain in her shoulder. "So," he said, delighting in her pain, "you are finally starting to feel my power."

"You have no power over me," she spat. "I'd have thought you'd have understood that by now."

Zeklar approached her menacingly, but once he reached her, he bent down to kiss her and was surprisingly gentle. The guards were still restraining her and she could do nothing this time. When Zeklar's hand came behind her head to force her mouth onto his, and when his other hand grabbed her breast, she feared she might vomit. She tried to struggle, but the guards held her in place. The hand on her breast moved lower, grabbing her buttocks and pulling her pelvis towards him. She tried to scream, but her mouth was muffled by his.

Suddenly, she heard a familiar voice in the doorway. "Sir! Sir!" This grabbed Zeklar's attention. As he pulled away angrily, she tried to calm herself and stop her body from shaking.

"What is it?" he bellowed.

"Sir," said the small man with deference, "the generals are awaiting your orders. They need you now. You will have plenty of time for this later."

Although he was clearly unhappy about it, Zeklar listened and backed away from Janeway. "Bring her with us," he ordered, and exited through the door with a flourish.

Corran Metran motioned for the guards to let Janeway go. They stepped away from her, and her knees gave way. She sank to the floor and immediately vomited in the corner. Metran was by her side a moment later. "Are you alright?" he asked her quietly.

"A little better now," she replied weakly as Corran released her handcuffs.

"If you promise not to escape again, I'll try to make them leave these off," he told her.

"You know I can't do that," she said, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand and slowly getting to her feet.

Metran offered her a hand as she stood and she took it. He led her out of the cell, the two guards following close behind. He saw her wince as she moved her left arm. "I'll give you something for the pain when we get there," he said.

"Where are we going?" she asked, but he did not reply. After a moment, she said, "Thanks. That's twice I owe you for." And he knew she was not talking about the painkillers.

...

Chakotay did not know how long they had been crawling through the tube system. It had been at least an hour, he was sure. They had continued past one turn off and their tunnel had turned a corner. As they crawled on, the structure around them became older. The corridors around them were made of stone, not metal, and Chakotay knew they were getting close. "We're almost there," he said to Tom. The other man looked relieved.

"I don't think my knees can take much more of this," Paris said. The newer parts of the system had been well ventilated, but here it was becoming hotter and stuffier by the minute.

It wasn't long before Chakotay stopped. An exit door was directly in front of them. Its designed resembled the metal doors from the newer tunnels, but it was made of wood and held together by metal rods. They could hear noises on the other side of the door, and Chakotay pressed his ear against it. He heard frantic footsteps, and a man's voice bellowing, "What is it?" He knew that voice from somewhere, but he had no time to think about that now. Could he hear a muffled scream, or was it in his imagination? He moved to open the door, but Paris' hand on his arm stopped him.

"Wait, Chakotay," said Tom. "We don't know how many of them there are. We're better off taking them by surprise when we have the upper hand."

So Chakotay stopped, knowing Tom was right, and they waited until the footsteps had disappeared into the distance. Then they forced the door open and lowered themselves out of the tunnel. Chakotay gasped as he looked around, finding himself in the stone corridors of his nightmares and his vision quest. Before Paris could stop or caution him, he began to run, and Tom hurried to catch up. Chakotay knew exactly where he was going and was surprised, when he arrived, to find the large wooden door of the cell already open. He peered in cautiously and stepped inside, the tension leaving his body. The cell was deserted. Tom caught up with him a moment later and stood motionless in the doorway.

Chakotay looked around the stone room. There was no furniture, and no comforts. He smelled vomit, and saw where the offending smell was coming from, his own stomach churning. What had they done to her? He knelt down and examined the floor. There were drops of blood. Kathryn's? Or did it belong to another prisoner from long ago? It was dried. How long ago? Impossible to tell. The vomit was fresh. Something caught his eye and he reached to pick it up - a tiny scrap of fabric. He held it up to show Tom. It was the maroon fabric of the tunic that Janeway had worn on the night of the party.

"This is where they held her," said Chakotay. We're too late." His voice raised as he spoke. "Damn it! We're too late!" He slammed his fist down on the stone floor, clenching the fabric in his hand.

"We'll find her," said Tom. "They're on the move. We just have to catch up."

Suddenly, Chakotay felt a vibration in his pocket. He almost had forgotten about the communicator. "Chakotay here," he answered.

Elise was whispering. "Chakotay, we're hiding in a closet right now, trying to get to Central Command. We made it into a general's office and found plans for a full-scale invasion of Elcarthita. We transmitted as much data as we could to Leya, but they know there's an intruder, so be careful."

"We made it to the prison," Chakotay replied, "but we were too late. They've already moved her. Maybe they suspect someone from Voyager is their intruder."

"The safest way to travel is definitely through the tubes. Maybe you should head back there. We'll check back with you when we have more information for you. I'll try to find out where she is. Elise out."

Chakotay stared down at the communicator. Head back to the tubes and wait it out, or wander around and risk getting themselves killed? The knot in his stomach tightened. "Let's head back to the tubes and give Elise a little bit of time to find out more information," he said. Paris seemed about to protest, so Chakotay continued, "Unless you have a better idea?" To this, Tom could offer nothing, so he followed the Commander back to the door where they had entered the prison.

...

Elise was almost afraid to breathe as she, Mira and Selanna tried to stay out of sight of passing soldiers. They had found a small supply closet next to General Babbit's office. It smelled of cleaning chemicals and rubber. Mira surreptitiously peered out of the closet's small window, waiting for the hallway to empty. "It's not far from here," Mira said quietly. "If only all these people would get out of our way."

"What if they don't?" whispered Selanna.

Elise shook her head. "Something's going on. They're all going somewhere. And I don't think their first priority is looking for us."

After a few moments, the sound of footsteps ceased. Mira peered out the window and whispered, "The coast is clear." She opened the closet door and they followed her down a deserted hallway. The soldiers they had overheard had been on their way to get new orders. Perhaps everyone had received some new orders that involved departure; the corridor seemed eerily quiet. They turned to the right, and found themselves in Central Command. It was oddly deserted as well. Elise was astounded at the lack of security; apparently, they didn't consider visitors much of a threat. The lack of security personnel nagged at her; something wasn't right here. Selanna was already at work at one computer console, downloading data to transmit back to Leya. Under her breath, she began to list names that were familiar to all of them – names of people who had a second identity in the Southern Hemisphere.

While Mira stood guard, Elise searched for a record of Captain Janeway. It did not take her long to find it. She buzzed Chakotay and he answered immediately. "Chakotay," Elise said hurriedly, "she's with someone named Commandant Zeklar. His ship is in docking bay A, and it's called the Black Moon. If you retrace your steps, the docking bay is not too far east of the prison. There's a flight plan logged. It looks like he's set to depart today. Chakotay, the invasion is starting early." She spoke frantically as she read more, realizing why all the soldiers were leaving the base. "We're trying to transmit as much data to Leya as we can, but…" Elise stopped abruptly. She had heard Mira scream. She whirled around and saw Selanna slumped over her console. A man stood in front of them, his gun pointed directly at her.

"Drop the communicator," he said. "Drop it!" She obeyed. "Who are you?" he asked. She did not respond. Two men in dark grey uniforms appeared in the doorway behind the first man, who seemed to be a general, or at least a man of rank. "Seize them," he ordered. "Take their weapons and any other technology they might have. Have them taken to the brig of my ship."

"Yes, General Tarsmith," the men replied in unison, grabbing Mira and Elise roughly. As they were being dragged away, Elise saw the general grab Selanna's limp body and push it haphazardly onto the floor. She could only hope that Chakotay had received her last message and that they hadn't found him too.