Chapter Nine

"Captain, we have weapons back on-line." Harry reported from Ops.

"Affirmative," Tuvok confirmed. "Phaser banks are at eighty-five percent. Engineering reports torpedo launchers will be back on-line within the hour."

"Good," Kathryn said. She tapped her combadge. "Janeway to Seven."

"Seven here."

"How are those modifications coming along?"

"The modifications will be complete within five hours." Seven replied tersely. She was in Deflector Control.

"Good. Keep me posted. Janeway out." Kathryn tapped her combadge to close the channel, then tapped it again to open another one. "Janeway to Torres."

"Torres here."

"B'Elanna, how are the engines?"

"Sorry Captain, at least another week on them, they were the hardest hit."

"No problem, B'Elanna, just keep at it and keep up the rest of the good work you've done with the rest of the ship," Kathryn said, a smile creeping into her voice. But it never reached her mouth. A gut feeling had her very worried about Tom and Allucia. And her instinct was rarely wrong, and God, she hoped it was wrong. After nearly a month, they were barely halfway through their repairs. Life support, shields, and weapons had the highest priority. Now they just had to get everything else working.

"Chakotay, do we have helm back yet?" Kathryn called to the man lying under the helm console.

"You will by the end of my shift." he replied. Then, so no one else could hear him (except maybe Tuvok), "Whenever that is." Out of the first officer's view, the Vulcan raised an eyebrow in amusement.

Kathryn nodded and plopped into her chair. God, she was tired. Not to mention a bit frazzled. She swore if she had any more surprises she was going to scream loud enough to rip a hole in the space-time continuum.


The slap seemed to reverberate through the quiet house, a scaly hand striking bare mammalian skin. It was fairly cool, being nighttime. Allucia glared at Sarix, a four-fingered hand print glowing red on her cheek. Her eyes were such an icy blue, the room felt even cooler. Sarix could feel her body temperature drop considerably, despite the heat lamps in the room.

"How dare you!" Sarix shrieked. "How dare you sneak into my private quarters! What did you steal?! Tell me this instant!"

"I didn't steal anything!" Allucia shouted back. She received a slap on the other cheek. Allucia knew who did it, it was one of the other girls who worked the house. Why she decided to take the blame, she didn't know. But she did know that she was going to pay dearly.

"Satax!" Sarix shrilled. Another one of her aides was immediately by her side. "Punish her," she said, attempting to sound indifferent as she walked off. "I don't care how." she said, waving her hand as she did so.

Allucia turned her glare on Satax, a lock of hair hanging in her face. Her hair, which since coming to Voyager had grown to a few inches past her shoulders, was currently was in something resembling a braid though most of the hair had been pulled out of the hair tie by Sarix's abuse. The teenager was hunched over a bit; and her hands were clenched at her sides, but she refused to submit. But at the same time, she also couldn't help but notice the similarity of Satax's name to Satan.

Satax sneered. He was going to enjoy this.


A few hours later, in the early morning, Allucia was returned to the dormitory bruised, battered, bloody, and barely conscious. Her white shift was splattered with blood. Satax dumped her on the cold marble floor and left, locking the door behind him.

Every girl immediately sat up in their bunks and began whispering loudly. None of them had gone to sleep; they'd stayed awake to see if Allucia would come back alive. No one that they could remember had. They weren't sure if she still was. She lay unmoving and face down on the floor.

One of the girls, Lukita, warily made her way to Allucia, nearly on tip-toe. She looked human except for a third eye situated on her forehead and light violet skin. She stopped two steps away as the young girl suddenly moved and groaned.

All of the girls watched in gaping surprise as the tiniest of them hefted herself off of the floor and over to the wash area. She spent nearly an hour gingerly washing her wounds. When she turned around, her roommates were still watching her.

Allucia looked horrible. Her left eye was swollen shut, a black eye. Her right arm hung limply at her side, her elbow no doubt dislocated again. She had several cuts and gashes and whip marks on her back, and welts around her neck. Her hair was matted, and there was no sign of the braid that had previously been there. "Well," she rasped. "I suppose you all want to know what happened." No one said anything, nonetheless Allucia knew they were dying to know. So she told them. "No, I wasn't raped. Yes, I was beaten nearly senseless. End of story." She turned to Morina, the girl who had been in Sarix's room. "I hope you're happy." Allucia said, so coldly that Morina shivered right down to the tip of her tail. She was felinoid.

"But—but why?" she stammered.

"Because no matter how I feel about someone or them about me, I cannot stand to see anyone get hurt." Allucia limped to her bunk and was somehow able to get up to the top one, the third one up.

"There must be something I can do to repay you."

Allucia peeked over the side of her bed, a thoughtful expression on her face. "There is. But how do I know I can trust you?"

"Because if you are going to ask what I think you will, you have no other choice."

The human shrugged painfully. "You're right. So what am I going to ask?"

Morina stared around the room. The other girls got the hint and retreated back to their bunks. "You want to get in touch with your brother."

Allucia smiled inwardly. Still, they thought she and Tom were brother and sister. Aside from being the only humans on the entire planet, it did make sense, both of them being blue-eyed and fair skinned, despite the stark difference in hair color. "True. But that's not all. Come up here and we'll talk."

Morina nimbly climbed up and sat cross-legged on the end. "So what else is it you want?"

"My ship may be en route to rescue us. I have a beacon, so to speak, but it is not functional. I need tools to fix it. Tools that would be used to repair microprocessors. I then have to get the beacon and tools out to my brother... I don't think I'll be allowed out for a long time, after tonight's incident." Allucia's voice held a foreboding tone.

The cat girl purred, thinking. "I do genuinely want to help you. Getting out to your brother is no problem. I am a bit... friendly with one of the guards. The tools will be a bit more difficult to obtain, but I will be able to do it."

"Can you do this tomorrow?" Allucia asked urgently. She was finding it more difficult to speak with every word; her tongue felt like it had swollen to fill her entire mouth.

"Yes."

"Can I ask you one more favor?"

"Anything."


Voyager shot through Klaamox space at high warp. Kathryn was very edgy, she felt more than ready to crawl out of her skin. Apparently her mood was rubbing off on her first officer, for he was shifting uncomfortably in his seat as well. It was their second day in Klaamox space. Kathryn hadn't slept for three.

Impatient, she tapped her combadge. "Janeway to Seven. Those modifications are on-line, correct?"

"Seven here. Aye Captain. Deflector dish and modifications on-line."

"Acknowledged. Janeway out." Kathryn tapped her combadge again to close the channel. Then she set to tapping her fingers on the armrest.

"Kathryn." someone with a deep voice chided gently.

She'd been drumming her fingers for two minutes straight. She froze her hand, getting ready to tap again. Then she flattened her hand against the armrest, making a slight smack. "Forgive me Chakotay. I'm jumpier than three Ferengi at an estate auction."

Chakotay chuckled. "Care to talk?"

Kathryn shook her head in confusion. "I feel as if... as if we need to find them soon, like we don't have much time. I wish we had some sign of them. Anything would be better than nothing at all."

"I know. It's been almost four months," the first officer observed.

The captain of Voyager merely nodded tersely, not wanting to consider the other possible fates of Tom and Allucia with the amount of time that had passed.


Tom kicked at the base of the rutgai with his bare foot and the plant splintered. He wasn't completely sure, but he believed it had been about a month and a half since Allucia had been dragged inside the gate. And he hadn't heard a thing from or of her. He had been keeping time by tying knots in threads taken from some tasseled pillows in the cabin that he was forced to sleep in.

However, the disturbing scuttlebutt he'd heard this morning was about one of the girls in there who was beaten last night for allegedly stealing, and nothing else. Tom prayed it wasn't Allucia. He kicked at the next root in growing ire and worry. Then he felt a tap on his shoulder. He whirled around. Standing before him was a felinoid female, dressed in the white smock of the house.

"You are Tom?" she asked, her eyes darting about nervously.

Tom straightened up and folded his arms over his chest. "Who wants to know?" he asked, skeptically.

Her eyes narrowed, but she understood his suspicion. "I am Morina. Alloo-sha asked me to come." Morina lifted her tail, on the end of which was tied a small bundle which had been hidden under her shift. "This is for you. She said you would know what to do." Untying it from her tail, she handed him the bundle and he opened it. Inside was Allucia's combadge and some tools.

Tom looked up at Morina in thoughtful understanding, yet there was some confusion in his eyes. "But why—"

"I owe deeply. She took punishment for me."

Tom's eyes went wide. "Y-y-you mean—" he stammered.

Morina nodded solemnly, then her ears perked up. She heard something Tom could not, and her ears flattened against her head in fear. "I must go!" And then she was gone, leaving Tom to wonder what condition Allucia was in. She was capable of repairing the combadge herself, but if she was unable to or in no condition... Tom didn't want to think about it. It wouldn't help him or Allucia. He quickly retied the bundle he had been staring at and tucked it inside his toga.

As soon as he got back to the cabin for the night, he began work on repairing the combadge, which wasn't easy given the lack of light. He had to stand by one of the windows and do it by moonlight. After nearly two hours, he snapped the on the cover of the combadge with mixed satisfaction. He only hoped now that Voyager would pick up the signal and the technology in their surrounding area wouldn't...


The next day on Voyager...

"Captain, a Klaamox ship is approaching." Tuvok reported.

"They're hailing us," Harry put in.

Kathryn stood up. "On screen."

"I am Captain Xarf of the Ilix. You are to leave our space immediately or face the consequences; which will subsequently be your destruction." There was a middle-aged and bored-looking Klaamox on the screen.

Kathryn stated but one word, forcefully. "No."

"Very well." Xarf turned to someone off-screen. "Fire neutralizer at will."

Kathryn immediately turned to Tuvok. "Fire." There would be no discussion or diplomacy this time. It was obviously something the Klaamox didn't believe in.

A green beam shot out of Voyager's deflector dish, going right through the Ilix's shields and through the hull. The ship appeared to power down and float aimlessly.

Kathryn was not a cruel woman, but she had to do what she had to do. "Resume course, Ensign Wildman," she said grimly, turned around and returned to her chair.


"Captain!" Harry called excitedly from Ops an hour into Alpha Shift the next day. "I'm picking up an automated distress signal—" Kathryn was up and at Harry's station faster than transwarp. "—from Ensign Banks' combadge. It's weak, but it's there."

Chakotay stood up. "Location?"

"In a system 47 light-years from here. Four days at maximum warp."

Kathryn walked back down to the middle of the Bridge and stood in front of her chair. "Ensign Wildman, set a course."

"Course set Captain," Samantha replied.

Kathryn sat down. "Engage."


Tom was working in the fields the next day when it happened. The combadge chirped.

It sounded like the singing of an angel.

He struggled to keep his voice calm as he reached inside his toga and tapped it. "Paris here," he whispered loudly, his voice shaking.

"Tom... found... be there... days..." Kathryn's voice could barely be heard through the static. Then he cursed as the combadge shorted out, sending up a tiny string of smoke. It had served its purpose. Now it's only a matter of days... hopefully...


A few days later...

"Captain, entering orbit around the third planet," Tuvok reported.

"Harry, scan for human life signs in the vicinity where we picked up the combadge." Chakotay commanded.

"Scanning... got them... both under dampening fields... but one of them is under the equivalent of a Force Two forcefield... I'll need a few minutes to lock onto their signals... The fields are quite primitive actually, shouldn't take me too long..."

"Keep me posted. I'll be in Transporter Room One. Chakotay you're with me, Tuvok, you have the Bridge." Kathryn tapped her combadge as she entered the turbolift and the doors closed. "Janeway to Torres. Meet me in Transporter Room One." Kathryn had more than a hunch that B'Elanna would want to be there.

Kathryn and Chakotay entered the transporter room just as the transporter was activated, and a figure materialized. B'Elanna chose the moment that the figure became solid to enter the room.

"Tom?!" she cried. She bolted forward. Tom did the same, the two lovers falling into a tight embrace.

The chief pilot looked almost like a different man. A reddish-blonde beard had grown in, with him having nothing to shave with, and his sunburn had turned to copper. He kissed B'Elanna, holding her for a moment. He was uttering comforts in her ear, cupping her face, and she was nodding.

Then Tom looked to Kathryn. "What about Allucia?" he said. "I don't think she's in very good shape, the last I heard..."

Kathryn started to nod, slowing down in mid-nod by the news about Allucia. She tapped her combadge. "Janeway to the Bridge. We have Tom, where's Lusha?"

"Her lifesigns are erratic; when I get a lock on her I'm beaming her directly to Sickbay." came Harry's voice.

"Acknowledged. Tuvok, as soon as she's aboard, plot a course out of Klaamox territory, best possible speed."