# Chapter 7 – The Fifth Column
S'par materialized right in front of the Vidiian guard. She pulled the trigger of her phaser even before the last of the tingling sensation of the transporter beam ended. The guard crumpled to the floor. She turned and fired another shot at the guard who was standing next to the first. That guard had time to draw his weapon, but he too was down before firing. The phasers were set to stun and S'par was glad for that. Even though she might have wanted to set phasers to maximum and see the Vidiian monsters disintegrate into subspace oblivion, she also saw this surgical strike as honorable.
Honor. She had a fleeting thought that her notions of honor and what it was to be Klingon were not even her own but belonged to B'Elanna Torres. She remembered her mother… B'Elanna's mother, teaching about honor and her Klingon heritage. She shook her head. If she thought too deeply about it, she'd lose her focus.
Five seconds. S'par looked about the area where the three prisoner barracks joined. The other four members of the landing party also had their weapons drawn. Ak had done well in setting them down in the correct positions to immediately take out the Vidiian guards. All seven lay in heaps on the floor. S'par pointed to two of the barracks and Minnik and Chakotay moved to each. Seven and Lemore followed her to the fourth wall and door that faced the stronghold's command center. She looked out and saw a phaser cut through the sky from above and impact the remaining shield about the command center. The ground shook slightly. Phoenix was putting on a good show. She knew the weapons were not at full power, trying to engage the Vidiians but not destroy that last field grid. At least for now. She opened her comm channel to listen.
"… irrelevant. Negotiation is irrelevant. Lower your shields. Your culture will adapt to service us."
S'par smiled, impressed with Captain Janeway's depiction of the Borg. She had heard the Captain and Saychek practicing the day before. Another phaser blast impacted the field.
Thirty seconds. Seven and Lemore stayed by the fourth wall and S'par moved back to where Chakotay and Minnik were opening the doors to the prisoner barracks. Minnik got her's open first, with Chakotay's opening moments later. The lights switched on automatically revealing a long row of bunked beds on either side that stretched the length of the barracks. Some of the prisoners were already standing, perhaps awakened by the original torpedo detonations that took out the first two field generators. Others were now stumbling out of bed. S'par recognized many as Voyager crew members, some still wearing remnants of Star Fleet uniforms even after all these years.
"Assemble in groups of twenty and prepare to be transported to safety," Chakotay called out, moving to the closest group in one of the barracks. The prisoners, however, appeared dazed. Something was wrong. The prisoners groped for handholds despite the light and were not moving in the direction of the door.
"Chakotay?" one of the prisoners said. S'par recognized him as a Voyager's pilot, Tom Paris.
Chakotay moved towards him, but Paris was looking off in a different direction until Chakotay placed his hand on the other's arm. S'par moved towards the two of them as well.
"Tom," Chakotay said, looking at him intently. It was evident, however, that Tom couldn't see Chakotay in return. His eyes were glazed over and were staring beyond Chakotay.
"I can't believe it's you," Tom said. "How did you get here?"
Chakotay looked about and then back to Paris. "What's going on here Tom?"
Paris shook his head. "When we're not needed in the mines or other work, the Vidiians blind us." He motioned behind him. "We all can't see a thing. Ever since our escape attempt, it's been this way."
Anger welled up inside S'par. "Monsters!" she shouted. "Are we to show mercy to these fiends?"
"How is the blindness undone?" Chakotay asked.
"I'm not exactly sure," Tom replied. "They use their weapons somehow."
Chakotay turned to S'par. "Gather together all the Vidiian weapons and have them beamed up with the first group. We'll have the Doctor see what he can do." He then turned to project his voice down the length of the barracks. "Everyone listen to me," he shouted. "This is Commander Chakotay of the Federation. We are here to rescue all of you. Stand right where you are and prepare to be transported to our ship. Someone will be assembling you into groups. Listen to them carefully and do precisely what they say." He then motioned Minnik to start with the first barracks and moved off to the next guiding Tom along with him.
S'par gathered the Vidiian weapons and placed them on the floor amidst the first group that Minnik was assembling within a ring of transporter enhancers the she had just set up. The enhancers were Ak's idea, and would speed up the transport process. When the group was ready, S'par tapped her comm badge opening a secure link to Ak on the Phoenix and said, "proceed." Almost immediately, the first group dematerialized and was gone. Minnik was already moving to get the second group into place. S'par caught her eye and nodded. Minnik would take over from here.
S'par returned to where Chakotay, Tom Paris, and now Seven were standing by the other barracks. She could see that the prisoners in this barracks were assembling as best they could and getting ready for transport as well. Seven was examining a tricorder as she scanned the last barracks whose doors were still closed.
"There are prisoners in this barracks as well," Seven commented. "I'm reading over forty life signs."
Chakotay turned to Paris. "Tom, are there other prisoners in this third barracks?"
"I don't know. If there are, we have never seen them. There are some other prisoners in the infirmary. We can't leave them behind."
"We'll have to beam them out when we knock out the final field generator," Chakotay commented. "We'll do that before we leave orbit."
Seven examined the tricorder more carefully. "The lifesigns are Vidiian."
Just then, Lemore called from the far end of the room. "I'm seeing some activity at the command center," he said. "A group is assembling."
"Keep an eye on them," Chakotay called back.
"We might have to fight them off to give us more time," S'par commented.
"Lemore," Chakotay called. "How many do you see?"
There was a pause, and then Lemore replied, "perhaps fifty or more."
S'par's eyes blazed. "It is a good day to die."
Chakotay turned back to the still closed barracks. "Not for me," he said resolutely. "These Vidiians might represent a Fifth Column."
"What are you talking about?" S'par countered.
"A general on Earth once said that as his four columns of troops approached a besieged city, a 'fifth column' of supporters inside the city would support him and undermine the government from within. Wasn't that your idea, S'par?"
"They're Vidiian!" S'par spat.
"I believe it was a Spanish civil war during the twentieth century and the city was Madrid," Seven commented. "You believe these Vidiians will join us and help us fight?"
"If they are prisoners as well, why not?"
"How can they be trusted?" S'par asked. She couldn't believe Chakotay was considering freeing them.
Seven moved to the controls. She turned to Chakotay, and he nodded. Seven opened the main door for the barracks. Several Vidiians stood on the other side. They were obviously not blind, staring intently at the two humans, one Klingon and Borg in front of them and the bodies of the Vidiian guards still on the floor. There eyes darted about the interior of the room. Suddenly, one of the Vidiians from the back moved forward. "Commander Chakotay?" she said.
S'par noticed a wave of recognition pass over Chakotay's face. "Doctor Pel," he replied. "We need your assistance. Will you help us?"
Denara Pel first looked at the other Vidiians, and then turned back to Chakotay. "Of course. Anything you need."
"There moving towards us!" Lemore called out.
"We have no time," Chakotay remarked and touched his comm badge. "Chakotay to Ak, beam down twenty phasers and prepare to beam up a group of Vidiians from the third barracks." He then turned to the Vidiians. "I need you to split into two groups. The first group will be beamed up to our ship with Doctor Pel and begin the process of restoring sight to the other prisoners." He turned to Denara. "We have some Vidiian handheld weapons on board; will you be able to do that?"
Denara nodded.
Chakotay returned his attention to the Vidiians as the phasers materialized at his side. "The other group will take a phaser and prepare to defend our position. We need to buy some time to give us the opportunity to transport all the prisoners to safety. You will take your orders from S'par."
Immediately, a few of the Vidiians stepped forward and picked up a phaser. S'par lifted her weapon, almost tempted to fire. A memory of a Maquis supply run came to mind. The Cardassians had disguised themselves as Bolian merchants. They would have killed the Val Jean's crew right then if Chakotay's instinct hadn't sensed something was wrong. She trusted Chakotay, but that was a trust born from the memories of someone else. Did she trust Chakotay's judgement now?
"They're advancing and are now at the edge of the command center's field," Lemore called out. "They're making a gap in the field perimeter and preparing to move on our position."
All the phasers had been taken, and twenty Vidiians now stood by S'par's side. Seven also held her weapon, awaiting S'par's orders. S'par scanned the group of defenders before her, and they all looked back expectantly. She would not let them down. "We will stop the vermin in their tracks!" S'par shouted. "Listen to me and we will be victorious!" She moved towards Lemore and the rest followed. Chakotay and Minnik remained behind to continue the evacuation.
"They cannot be allowed to enter this compound," S'par began. "The approaching soldiers undoubtedly have reflective armor. Set your phasers to the maximum stun setting, that will extend their usable lifetime. When we open the door, we will take the fight to them. Lemore and I will move out first and discharge a concussion grenade, and the rest of you follow. Fan out to either side and put some distance between yourself and those around you. The last four out, stay by the door." S'par took something off her belt and Lemore did the same. "Keep them occupied. We only need to delay them for a few minutes." She turned to Lemore and the two nodded to each other, and then opened the door.
The grenades went off between the defenders and the Vidiian soldiers, giving the defenders time to exit the barracks complex and start laying down phaser fire. The soldiers were stunned and disorganized at first, but quickly regrouped. There appeared now to be closer to seventy of them, all wearing reflective armor. Even a phaser blast from Phoenix wouldn't be able to stun them all. S'par reminded herself that they didn't need to kill the Vidiians, only delay them. Without armor for themselves, however, the odds were heavily stacked against them.
The Vidiian soldiers were still concentrated in a group by the gap in the command center field. Some, in fact, had yet to emerge from the field. "Concentrate your fire on the center of the group!" S'par called out. "Continuous fire if you can!"
Multiple phaser beams sliced through the darkness and converged on the group of soldiers. The soldiers armor stiffened and reflected or absorbed the phaser fire. At first, it appeared effective in holding them in position as they hunkered down to let their armor deflect the energy. Eventually, however individual soldiers moved away from the main group and started returning fire. Almost immediately, defenders started falling. Without the benefit of armor, the Vidiians in her small group were vulnerable. The Vidiian beside her suddenly fell to the ground, his right arm and much of his upper body disintegrated. He was dead instantly, a look of stunned surprise frozen on his face. Apparently the Vidiian soldiers weren't holding back.
"Take cover!" S'par called out. "Fire at any target when you can!"
Another concussion grenade from Lemore detonated close to the soldiers. S'par glanced to Lemore at the opposite end of their formation and saw him standing in the open, energy beams from the Vidiian weapons deflected by his Borg force field. She saw that Seven was also firing using two phasers, one in each hand. Vidiian weapons converged on her force field as well, but were being deflected for the time being. She smiled and pulled out the two remaining grenades she had and tossed them as far as she could towards the Vidiian line.
The battle raged on, but the defenders were seriously outmanned and outgunned. There was something spoken over the comm system, but the noise of the battle drowned out the sound. Suddenly, a torpedo streaked across the sky from above and detonated nearby. The ground shook violently sending S'par to the ground. She looked up to see if it had impacted the advancing soldiers, but their line remained intact. The torpedo had been meant for another target. S'par realized the command center's shield was now down. Phoenix must have destroyed the final field generator.
As S'par stood, a Vidiian energy lance glanced off her right shoulder, sending her back to the ground. She screamed in frustration and blood oozed from the open wound. Looking across the field, she saw that Lemore and Seven were also down. Most of the Vidiian defenders lay in the field before her and only sporadic phaser blasts emanated from her small group. The soldiers continued to advance on their position, and there was little they could do to stop them now. Defeat was eminent.
"It is a good day to die!" S'par shouted and began to stand. Her head swam, but she intended to meet her fate with honor. She howled and lifted her weapon, but fell forward again. The loss of blood already too great to provide her the strength to proceed.
She had failed. She felt a terrible sense of despair. A sudden vision of the one she was to mate crossed through her mind. She didn't even know if he was still alive. Was he with the prisoners who were now evacuated to Phoenix? Was her death honorable enough to allow her entrance to Sto-vo-cor? Would a clone even be allowed entrance? She felt the cold hand of death upon her, but then, the noises of the battle began to fade. The faint tingling sensation of a transporter beam surrounded her. She opened her eyes with difficulty and was greeted with the imposing figure of Ak looming over her. She was able to smile faintly, before falling into unconsciousness.
#
"Multiple vessels on an intercept course," Saychek said calmly.
"Do we have everyone?" Janeway shouted from her command chair in the center of the bridge.
"Ak just beamed up the last of those near the barracks and all non-Vidiian lifeforms in the command compound."
"Let's hope that's all of them." Janeway replied and turned to her pilot. "Take us out of here Kizati. Maximum warp." She turned to Saychek and added. "Keep an eye on those ships following us."
Saychek examined the sensors more closely. "Captain, they don't appear to be following us. They are moving towards the stronghold. I detect weapons fire."
Janeway shook her head. "I guess others on this planet are taking advantage of the situation. Good. The Vidiian Fragment will have their hands full while we make our escape. Kizati, mask our warp signature trail and take us back to Voyager." Janeway pressed her comm badge, "Ak, what's the situation with the landing party?"
There was a long pause. "Chakotay here Captain," came the response. "It's a bit crazy down here. S'par, Lemore, and Seven were all hit. We're converting one of the quarters into a sickbay to treat the wounded. Lemore and Seven are unconscious but seem stable. It's hard to tell. Ak is placing them in Borg alcoves to regenerate and expedite their self repair. The Vidiian doctors are arriving to work on S'par and the other Vidiian survivors."
"How many of the Vidiian defenders did we lose?"
"I don't know. It's a mess here. We may have lost half of them, or more."
"Who are these Vidiians Commander?"
"The Doctor's friend, Denara Pel, is among them. They refused to join the Vidiian Fragment, and have been prisoners this whole time as well."
"What of the other prisoners we rescued?"
"I just spoke briefly to Lieutenants Paris and Ayala and asked them to make a count. Their vision has been restored and they'll report directly to you on the bridge when finished. When things settle down, we'll renew restoring the rest. I'll stay down here and help attend to the wounded and dead."
Janeway sighed heavily. "Very good Commander," she choked out before ending the transmission. She looked up to see Saychek by her side. Saychek touched her shoulder. In the past several weeks, Janeway had learned to see past his imposing Borg exterior, the wires that led from components on Saychek's shoulder to a device on the back of his head. He was not a mindless Borg drone, but a valued colleague. All she saw now was compassion and a desire of her Second Officer to comfort his Captain.
"Our attack and rescue was nearly flawless," Saychek commented. "Some casualties can hardly be avoided."
Janeway pursed her lips. "I know," she said. "It's just… hard, to lose anyone under your command. I don't even know how many of Voyager's crew has survived these past six years."
Janeway moved over to Kizati at the pilot's workstation to monitor their progress. They were already at warp, but heading in a direction away from Voyager. Kizati was scanning the systems ahead, and looked up when Janeway approached.
"Captain?"
"Carry on Kizati. Just looking."
Kizati returned to her sensor analysis. After a time, the doors to the bridge opened and Lieutenants Paris and Ayala entered. Janeway hurried over. "It's good to see you both," she said. She started to reach out to shake their hands, but ended up giving the two of them a hug instead.
"It's good to be out," Paris responded and Ayala nodded. Paris glanced about the bridge, seeing both Saychek and Kizati, and added with a smile "even if it's on this Borg sphere."
Janeway looked about the bridge herself. "Don't be too quick to judge," she said. "Phoenix is growing on me. It's a good ship. Now, give me your report."
Paris straightened and said, "all told, there are three hundred and twenty three of us."
Janeway raised her eyebrows, a bit taken aback. "I wouldn't think all of us could fit on the Phoenix," she replied.
"They're squeezed in down there," Paris chuckled. "Of those, there thirty-two Vidiians, one hundred fifty three from delta quadrant worlds, excluding Neelix of course, and one hundred thirty eight from Voyager, and that includes some additions."
"Additions?"
"Well, there are now four clones of the Klingon half of B'Elanna with us. B'Elanna and three others were beamed up from the stronghold's infirmary, and S'par of course." Tom glanced at Ayala before continuing. "And there are five children who were born in the intervening time."
Janeway looked down and did a quick mental calculation. "That means we've lost over a dozen Voyager crew members in the past six years," she whispered.
Tom nodded and handed Captain Janeway a PADD. "Ayala and I compiled a complete Voyager crew manifest here Captain," he said.
"Who did we lose?"
Paris averted his eyes, reluctant to speak. Ayala rarely spoke anyway and also looked away. "Tuvok is gone," Paris finally said. "Soon after the escape attempt, he and Lieutentant Carey were taken away and we never saw them again. Punishment. Some were killed during the escape attempt. Ensign Kaplan and Lieutenant Suder were both killed in mining accidents. Kes is gone, she grew old and ..." Paris' voice trailed off.
Janeway placed her free hand on Tom's shoulder. "It's OK Tom. It's OK." She breathed in and exhaled quickly, as if to purge herself of these thoughts. She couldn't change the past, and she needed to lead them all into the future. Part of that leadership was to stay strong. "Three hundred and twenty three," she repeated. "We won't all fit on Voyager and Phoenixfor an extended time, that's for sure."
"What are our options?" Paris asked, looking to Janeway for guidance.
Janeway nodded and turned to think. What were their options? The decision, whatever it was, couldn't be made unilaterally. The demons of her decision at the Caretaker's array stirred in her memory. Just as she had Chakotay and Saychek on Phoenix, and her command staff on Voyager, she needed to assemble the leadership of this extended group and discuss alternatives. "The two of you go to the Vidiians and have them pick one or two representatives. Contact who's left in Voyager's command staff and have them survey the Voyager crew. Also, see about selecting a representative group from the other freed prisoners. When we reach Voyager." Janeway turned to Kizati and asked, "Kizati, what's our estimated time to Voyager?"
"Twelve hours Captain," Kizati replied. "I'm heading for a nearby red giant now and plan to mask our warp trail in the star's extended atmosphere and corona."
"Very good," Janeway said and returned her attention to Tom and Ayala. "Organize everyone to get the bulk of us over to Voyager, and then have the representatives you pick meet in Voyager's ready room in say fourteen hours."
"Yes ma'am."
Tom and Ayala turned and left the bridge. When they were gone, Saychek, who had been listening in, moved up beside Captain Janeway.
"Three hundred and twenty three," Janeway said again. "What are we going to do with them all?" She turned and noticed Saychek rubbing his chin in thought. Her eyes lit up at the realization that Saychek had an idea. She waited patiently for him to divulge his thoughts.
"It occurs to me," he finally began. "It makes little sense for us to continue the voyage to the alpha quadrant."
"I don't think many of us from Voyager share that sentiment," Janeway retorted.
"You misunderstand Captian. The goal of returning to the alpha quadrant shouldn't be abandoned, but with the Borg sphere now in our possession, all we require is a working trans-warp drive and the voyage back to Earth would be relatively straight forward and quick."
"What are you getting at?"
"It is more likely we will find what we need to construct a trans-warp drive for Phoenix here in the delta quadrant rather than heading to the alpha quadrant."
Janeway eyes opened wide. Saychek's logic was irrefutable, as it always was. With the Phoenix, they could investigate the nearby space for additional Borg derelicts. With any luck, a working trans-warp drive could be acquired. In the meantime, however, they would need a base of operations where Voyager could be repaired and the bulk of the extended crew could remain. A thought occurred to her, and she suspected Saychek was thinking along the same lines. "Any thoughts on where we might hold out as we initiate this search?" she asked with a smile.
Saychek smiled back. "There's a nice little planet I know of nearby. Uninhabited, and usually avoided by the species resident to this sector due to a nasty little virus in its ecosystem."
#
Author's note: Thank you scifiromance and Rono777 for your reviews of the last chapter and those who have followed/favorited this story. One last chapter to go – should be posted within a few days time.
