Chapter 8

When the Wraiths arrived back at the Doldrums aboard Chakotay's Klingon raider, Chakotay did his best to stop his hands from shaking as he pushed buttons and eased the raider into the planet's atmosphere. His plan was in motion, but it was hard to keep himself from thinking about the dozens of ways it could go wrong. Katan came to stand behind him to look at the sensors over his shoulder and Chakotay struggled to ignore his presence, while he made sure to know where Jem was at all times. He wouldn't get caught unawares twice.

As if on cue, the sensors beeped and Chakotay nodded. "Alright, we're here," he told the team.

Katan nodded, then turned his head toward his brother and nodded. Punjan got his computer and started typing to hack into the compound security system – as planned. Chakotay exchanged a quick look with Sébas. He hadn't told him exactly what he intended to do (not trusting him completely), but Sébas was smart and experienced, so Chakotay was pretty sure he had a good idea of Chakotay's plan by now – well, at least half of it.

The sun was getting lower over the sand dunes, plunging parts of the compound and the shanty town around it into darkness. Chakotay checked the time. He willed his body not to show any of the nervousness he felt. Any second now.

He waited impatiently for Punjan to do his thing, biting his lips, as he circled the ship in wide orbits over the compound, noticing how small fires and light sources popped up in the shanty town below.

Suddenly the sensors beeped, drawing his attention to the screens. Chakotay fought hard not to let out a relieved exhale and an excited grin.

Right on time.

"What's going on?" Katan asked.

"There's another ship coming," Chakotay replied, feigning surprise while he turned on the viewscreen. Another much larger ship was slowly descending into the atmosphere, its lights blinding in the growing darkness around them: the Federation Starship USS Aspire! A number of smaller ships accompanied it.

"What the hell?" Sébas blurted in genuine surprise (that was the half of the plan he had not known about).

Chakotay focused back on the plan. "They must be here for the Scavengers. Whatever you're going to do," Chakotay told Katan urgently, "we need to do it now!"

Katan's eyes were wide as he gaped at the large Nebula-class starship. Chakotay felt a strong sense of satisfaction at the panic in Katan's eyes. Then the man redirected his gaze to his brother. "Jan? How's it coming?" He yelled.

ooOoo

Kathryn was fighting hard not to fall asleep. Most of the compound had been plunged into darkness a few minutes ago. The other prisoners had settled with the darkness, finding a small spot to sit or lie down. Kathryn still sat against the fence with Seven and the others. They had stopped talking and speculating and marveling at their luck that Chakotay had found them a long time ago. And now they were just waiting. Hoping. Dreading that something would happen to keep Chakotay from getting them out of there. Kathryn herself had been mostly quiet as she rode her own rollercoaster of emotions. Once second she'd feel a soaring of elation, then her stomach would drop in doubt, then swell up in elation again, before moving to confusion, then frustration, then dread, then hope. And all of those questions swirling in her mind about Chakotay, his presence here… It was exhausting.

As Kathryn leaned her head back against the fence, her eyes seemed to close on their own volition. She forced herself to straighten. She glanced at Seven sitting next to her, her back to the fence, her arms circling her knees. She looked wide awake. Kathryn idly wondered how Seven would adapt to the loss of her regeneration alcove. Luckily there was one on Earth, Icheb's, but it was more likely that the both of them would have to wean themselves off the technology from now on. The Doctor would be valuable in that – well, that is if his program had survived the explosion she'd felt rock her pod in the first place. Her chest tightened.

Some conversation might distract her and help her stay awake, so she glanced at Seven again. "It didn't even occur to me to let you speak to Chakotay with the combadge earlier," Kathryn said quietly. "I'm sure he would have liked to hear from you."

Seven's gaze darted to her before she turned her head again. "There's no need to concern yourself, I assure you. It made sense for you to be the one to speak with him. Besides, there was little time for sentimentality."

Kathryn studied her profile. "Last time we talked about him, you told me you wished to end your involvement. Do you still feel that way?" She asked softly, her voice barely above a whisper.

Seven raised an eyebrow. "I have not changed my mind."

"How do you think he'll take it?"

Kathryn couldn't stop thinking about Chakotay's expression when their eyes had met earlier. The intensity of it, the yearning behind it – it had taken her breath away. So she couldn't help but wonder… When he had pushed her away that night, she had imagined that it was because of Seven. Because of what her future self had revealed to her about their relationship. Her husband. She had convinced herself that she'd just been too late. That Chakotay had moved on. But that look on his face earlier… Could it be possible that this was not the reason at all? Seven had mentioned that they had decided to "take a break," after all. Up until that moment she had been determined to fix things with him so that they could go back to the way things had been before, but now… Hope flared and burned.

At her question, Seven turned her head in her direction. Her eyebrows pinched together. "I'm certain he will be fine. We were never fully committed to each other, not as other couples are. In fact-"

At that moment the roar of powerful engines roared high above them, the sound increasing with each passing second, making the ground and the compound walls shake from the intensity of the vibrations. Kathryn knew that sound all too well: this was the sound of a Federation starship engine! Her heart leapt. All around them people started to stir, looking around in confusion, trying to muffle the noise with their hands over their ears.

"The Federation!" Someone shouted. "The Federation is here to rescue us!"

Confused whispers coursed through the crowd, and suddenly it was pure chaos as the prisoners started yelling at the sky, as if the people aboard the ship would be able to hear them. Outside the walls, guards were scrambling away or looking at each other in indecision, while many of the inhabitants of the town started hiding or running away. Meanwhile, smaller ships flew down from above and landed all around the compounds.

Kathryn exchanged a look with Seven before they jumped to their feet, rousing the others with touches on their shoulders. "The signal?" Seven asked.

Kathryn grinned. "The signal."

oooOooo

Aboard the USS Aspire, Tuvok and Admiral Mendez stepped onto the bridge just as Captain Asani was opening a channel with whoever was in charge of the compound. Tuvok went to tactical, and was relieved to find that the sensors had picked up two combadge signals from the surface below them – as Mr. Chakotay had reported in his last report. However, Chakotay had also reported that transporters would be useless unless the force field protecting the compound was disabled. That was where Chakotay himself would come in.

"This is the USS Starship Aspire," Captain Asani was saying, "we join the local law enforcement with a warrant to search the premises. We have reason to believe some of our people have been taken unwillingly." Mendez snorted at that and Tuvok raised an eyebrow at her reaction, though he agreed with the sentiment. "We request to speak to whoever is in charge."

Suddenly a middle aged man appeared on the screen, looking nervous.

While Captain Asani talked with him, explaining to him that the local law enforcement were surrounding the compound to search for evidence of illegal trafficking of arms and individuals, Tuvok addressed the officer at tactical. "Are there any signs that Chakotay is here as well, as per his indication?"

"Not yet, but if they're cloaked…" The officer trailed off.

"Of course. Then we will just have to wait and trust that all is going according to plan on his end."

oooOooo

Everything was going according to plan so far.

"Erm, my code isn't working," Punjan said suddenly, a deep frown on his face, the sense of urgency twisting his face into a mask of worry.

Of course, Chakotay cursed to himself. Why couldn't the plan go without a glitch, for once?

"What do you mean?" Katan asked, scowling, his expression betraying his anxiety in the face of the presence of Starfleet and the raid that was about to start below.

"I mean what I just said! I can't lower the shields of the compounds from here!"

Chakotay bit his cheek and cursed mentally – the whole plan relied on Punjan being able to lower the shields. If he couldn't do it-

"Try again," Katan ordered as he went to look over his brother's shoulder.

Punjan typed in again, and then looked up at Katan, as if to say 'see'?

"Well, that plan is out of the window," Katan declared angrily, turning back to Chakotay.

Chakotay affected a 'what are you looking at me for' kind of shrug. "It was your plan, Katan," he reminded him, though his thoughts raced with possible solutions. He needed those shields down.

"Maybe it's not completely out of the window yet," Jem chimed in suddenly as she rose from her seat to approach Chakotay, her expression eerily similar to B'Elanna's when she had a crazy idea. He tensed instinctively as she leaned over his shoulder and pointed to a spot on the viewscreen. "See that area of the shields, where the shimmering is dimmer?"

Chakotay frowned as he followed her gaze. "Actually no. I can't see the shield at all. Are you saying you can?" Chakotay replied as he stared up at her. The wonder he'd felt when he had first met her made a brief return, for a second overshadowing his fear and suspicion of her.

She sighed in frustration. "Yes, that's exactly what I'm saying. Well, I'm telling you – fire a torpedo right at that spot and it will neutralize the shield. It's the weak spot of this entire defense system."

"How do you know?" Sébas asked as he came to watch as well.

"I don't. Not for sure. But it makes sense."

Chakotay looked at Katan impatiently, waiting for his decision. Katan took a second to consider, then gave his nod.

Chakotay nodded to himself, inhaled, and fired.

oooOooo

The prisoners were charging at the fences now, some climbing, some trying to cut through with their bare hands, slowly turning into a mob hellbent on getting out of there one way or another. Kathryn grabbed Seven and motioned to the others to step away from the commotion to make sure they wouldn't get separated.

Suddenly the whizzing sound of an incoming torpedo echoed across the court, and Kathryn instinctively ducked and covered her head with her arms, the others imitating her. On the other side of the compound, an explosion rocked the walls and shook the ground, sparking even more chaotic shouting from the prisoners, the guards and the other bystanders.

oooOooo

"That's what I'm talking about!" Punjan shouted excitedly at the sight of the explosion. As per Jem's prediction, the Klingon raider detected it the second the compound's shield failed. They now had free access to use the transporters.

Katan looked back at Chakotay eagerly, and gave the nod. "Let's do this now before that starship takes an interest in us!"

Chakotay gave an acknowledging nod. "Coming right up," he said, keeping his smirk in check. He exchanged one quick glance with Sébas, before he programmed the transporters to aim for specific target parameters. And then he activated the transporters.

oooOooo

Kathryn and the others hugged the fence, trying to get out of the way as much as possible. She was about to shout to the others to move again, when the telltale shimmering of the transporters surrounded their group.

A second later, they found themselves standing close together on the bridge of what appeared to be a small Klingon ship. Time seemed to stand still for one long second as Kathryn and the others found their bearing, and those already aboard the ship stood in stunned surprise by their sudden appearance on board. Kathryn's eyes instinctively slid across that space and she was half-surprised when they found Chakotay's gaze, who was standing near the piloting station. She barely had time to notice that he wasn't alone when suddenly that moment of stillness passed, and everyone started into action. To her surprise, Chakotay lunged toward a young woman who stood next to him, while one of Chakotay's companions – the one who had been with him earlier at the compound – jumped a dark-haired and rough-looking man, disarming him and punching. Kathryn sprang into motion at the same time as the rest of her own group when the fifth passenger – a young man in his mid-twenties – recovered from his surprise and lunged at them. Between Seven and Commander Hale, he was quickly apprehended and disarmed. Meanwhile, the two strangers were fighting with violent blows and punches to each other's faces. Harry and Ensign Marquez teamed up with Chakotay's friend – hoping he was on their side – and between the three of them, they were able to immobilize the stranger.

oooOooo

Chakotay knew the element of surprise had only afforded him an advantage for a fraction of a second. And that moment was long passed. Jem didn't morph this time, but despite how petite her human form was, her strength and speed were the same as before. She shrieked in rage as she pushed him away and her foot came to connect with the side of his face. The blow stunned him. He had barely recovered before she lunged at him again, that green shimmer back in her eyes. As Chakotay tried and failed to block her attacks, he quickly noticed from the corner of his eye that Sébas and Harry had apprehended Katan and were trying to restrain him while Seven was tying up Punjan.

"Stop it, right there."

That commanding voice.

Surprisingly – or perhaps not so surprisingly – Jem obeyed and stopped her attack on Chakotay. She stared at Kathryn in confusion, as if trying to make sense of her. Her strange eyes fell on the phaser in Kathryn's hand, which Seven had probably retrieved from Punjan's belt after he'd been neutralized. "Step away from him," Kathryn ordered as she slowly moved sideways, closer to Chakotay. Seven and Harry rushed over, but Chakotay gestured for them not to make any sudden moves. They had no idea what they were dealing with.

Jem's eyes slowly returned to Chakotay as she stepped slowly backwards and relaxed her stance. She gave him an eerie toothy smile. After seeing how savagely she fought, Chakotay almost expected her teeth to be sharp, but no, they were normal human teeth. "Turns out I was wrong about you. Well played." The green in her eyes faded. Kathryn stepped beside him and their eyes met for one, glorious, second.

Jem took advantage of that moment of distraction to dive for the controls of the ship, and push the buttons. Kathryn stunned her with the phaser an instant later, but it had no effect. It only served to enrage Jem more. With one angry movement of her hand, she punched the final command, her eyes on Chakotay – as if she were imagining she were punching his face instead. Chakotay felt a shiver roll down his spine at the chilly look in her eyes.

And then she disappeared into a transporter beam.

Seven ran up to the controls, but Chakotay raised his hand to stop her, doubling over at the old and new pains in his side. "Seven, let her go. Let her go," he panted.

He felt Kathryn's hands on his arm and shoulder to help him straighten up and he turned his head to smile at her, though it was strained. "Thank you for the help in apprehending these criminals. Much appreciated," he croaked through his heaving, while his eyes roamed her face hungrily.

She gave a slight shrug, one corner of her mouth curling upward at the same time as her eyebrow did. "Oh it was the least we could do, after you busted us out of there," she replied in the same tone, her eyes surveying his face, much in the same, stunned and relieved way as he did her. She was dirty with residual sweat and grime, and her lips were chapped from dehydration, but her eyes were soft, almost uncertain, as they met his. He was struck by how beautiful she looked, how compelling that soft expression was. It suddenly dawned on him what a mess he was – unshaven, bloody, his hair too long – a far cry from the clean-cut Starfleet officer she had grown used to.

"Sir, what's going on?" Harry cut in, breaking the moment, and Chakotay saw the question reflected in everybody else's expressions. Right. Suddenly Chakotay remembered that he wasn't quite done yet. He raised his hand to halt the questions as he limped his way to the controls and decloaked the ship.

Then he opened a channel with Aspire. "Aspire, this is Chakotay, come in."

"Mr. Chakotay. Good to hear from you at last. I take it things went according to plan on your end?" A disembodied voice asked – the captain of Aspire.

Chakotay nodded, for the first time assessing the results of his plan. It had worked to perfection. Well, almost. Jem had managed to escape, but not bad overall. "I'm happy to report that all five Voyager crewmembers are accounted for. And we have apprehended two of the Wraiths."

"Make that three."

Chakotay's eyes shot to Sébas, who was walking toward him, extending both arms forward, as if waiting for Chakotay to cuff him. Chakotay sighed, frowning. "We would never have found them in time if you hadn't shared what you knew," Chakotay told him. "In my book that's worth something."

"Maybe it's worth something, but it's not worth enough. My debt hasn't been repaid, yet," Sébas said, his tone final. Chakotay knew he wouldn't be able to change his mind, so he took the binding that Harry handed to him and tied Sébas's hands. "I'm sorry for what happened to your ship, Captain," he told Kathryn, his expression grave, his face bloody from Katan's blows.

Kathryn eyed him for a long second, then she nodded once in acknowledgement.

Chakotay returned his attention to the comm link. "I confirm that we have the Wraiths Katan, Punjan and Sébastien in custody," he rectified.

"Very good. We'll rendezvous in orbit. We look forward to the briefing."

"This is Captain Janeway. Some of us require medical assistance," she said as she gave Chakotay a stern glance over, challenging him to argue. He didn't dare.

"Understood. We'll transport you all directly to our sickbay when we reach orbit. Asani out."

"Lieutenant Kim, you ever flown one of these things?" Chakotay asked with as big a grin as he could manage. "Here's your chance." The young lieutenant smiled at Chakotay, and at the recognition of his new rank as he eagerly sat at the controls, and Chakotay patted his shoulder as he passed by him.

The two unfamiliar officers, a Lieutenant Commander and an Ensign, shook Chakotay's hand, thanking him, before joining Harry at the commands. As Chakotay moved to the back of the ship to check on the prisoners, Kathryn and Seven met up with him. It occurred to him that this should be awkward, but for some reason it wasn't. Seven bore a relieved and curious expression, but nothing that would suggest she still had feelings for him. And Kathryn was… still searching his face, as if she wasn't quite sure what to make of his unexpected reappearance. As if she was debating whether to punch him in the face for leaving, or to hug him for returning. He couldn't blame her. If he were in her shoes he'd probably go for the punching. Questions danced in her eyes and furrowed her brows. Chakotay opened his mouth to provide the beginning of an explanation, but she beat him to it.

"Friends of yours?" She asked with a head motion toward the Wraiths.

Katan was coming to after being knocked around and he spat blood out of his mouth – no doubt a present from Sébas's fists, while Sébas leaned his head back against the bulkhead, resigned, and Punjan just stared into space, scowling, his lips a tight line.

"Not quite," Chakotay replied.

Katan laughed his eerie, careless laugh. "And here I thought we had the beginning of a beautiful friendship," he struggled against the ties at his wrists and ankles. "You're going to pay for this," he growled at Chakotay and Sébas, and followed his threat with a tirade of rather creative insults. Chakotay scratched his forehead with his thumb as he exchanged a look with Kathryn, who had raised an eyebrow.

"Colorful language," Seven stated, to which Chakotay could only nod.

While Katan went on, threatening him with all manners of evil, Chakotay approached him and stood over him for a moment. He bent at the waist, ignoring the pain in his ribs, to stare at Katan menacingly. "This, over here is the captain of the starship Voyager. That's her ship you destroyed. And her crew that you put in danger. In her eyes, and in the eyes of Starfleet, there is no greater offense. So as much as I'd love to shut you up, I'm not the one you should be worried about right now. She's been known to hold a grudge."

As if on cue, Kathryn approached Katan threateningly, the phaser still in her hand, her face the perfect picture of righteous anger. Katan had the good sense to lose the cockiness in his expression. With a satisfied smirk, Chakotay half-turned toward Kathryn, his gaze still on Katan. "Captain Janeway, meet Katan."

"Oh we've met," Kathryn spat, her voice low and menacing.

"Look, it was an accident, I swear, I-"

"Oh for goodness' sake, just gag him," Kathryn ordered with an exhausted roll of her eyes. "I'm not in the mood to listen to this." She turned, gave the phaser to Chakotay, and went to stand by Harry.

"Captain's orders," Chakotay told Katan with a shrug as he gagged him. Katan tried to kick him but Chakotay easily stepped aside. He shook his head as he went to stand with the others.

"Captain, we've arrived at the rendezvous coordinates with Aspire," Harry told them.

~~o~~

A/N: I sort of envision this story as a two-parter episode, and we are nearing the end of Part 1 now... Stay tuned for more!