Chapter 12
While B'Elanna settled at the engineering station to update the sensors to detect Kigyun life signs, the rest of the team had to update the sensors of the Cousteau and the Einstein as well, and make sure that each ship was equipped with B'Elanna's and Seven's 'net' – a forcefield that would form between a series of emitters once they were cast around their target. So Kathryn and Chakotay had split the Voyager senior staff into smaller groups, each team to be dispatched to one of the three ships: Harry and Commander Nobrega were to transport to the Einstein; Seven, Tuvok and Commander Hale to the Cousteau, while B'Elanna, Tom, Kathryn and Chakotay were to remain on Aspire. Each team had the same standing orders: work with their ship's crew to update the sensors, make sure that communications were open, and ensure that all three crews were prepared and well informed on the plan. Chakotay and Kathryn were to be notified as soon as Kigyun life signs were picked up by any one of the three ships.
As the officers nodded and turned to leave the Aspire bridge for their respective postings, Chakotay stopped Seven with a touch on her arm. "Seven," he told her quietly, "watch your back. To the Scavengers your knowledge of Borg technology might seem very appealing. So just… be careful." He could remember all too well that conversation he'd had with the Wraiths when Katan had made them believe they were going after Borg technology.
She nodded grimly, then with a quick nod to Kathryn, left with the others. Chakotay noticed how Kathryn made eye contact with Tuvok and gave him a nod – silently asking him to keep an eye on Seven as well. Tuvok nodded to the both of them before he followed the others. Chakotay took in a deep breath as he exchanged a look with Kathryn.
Meanwhile B'Elanna and Tom took their positions around the bridge, teaming up with their Aspire counterparts.
"Activating sensors now," B'Elanna said. There was a brief moment of tense silence as they waited. She shook her head. "No sign of Kigyun life signs yet." Based on their knowledge of Jem and her usual tactics, they were expecting Jem to show up in a small ship, perhaps cloaked. She would likely try to board one of the Federation ships, using her shapeshifting abilities to try to pass unnoticed. This had been her modus operandi with the Wraiths, and Chakotay saw no reason why she wouldn't take advantage of her greatest asset, camouflage, this time either.
So Chakotay and Tuvok had come up with a variety of scenarios to prepare the crews, proposing different tactics based on where she might choose to board and on which ship. They figured that, without Sébas around to help her navigate the ships, she would first need to access a terminal for blueprints of the ships, and then go from there. She might need to improvise, but Chakotay and Tuvok had ensured that her improvisation would be regulated, so that she'd end up where they wanted her to be.
But all of this relied on the basic presumption that she would respond to the rumors Kathryn had spread.
"This might take a whi-" Chakotay was interrupted mid-sentence when the young officer at tactical spoke.
"Captain, detecting five ships coming out of warp, up ahead."
"Right on cue. Wait – did you say five?" Captain Asani asked, straightening in her chair as she threw a look at Chakotay. He shook his head – they had certainly not expected starships. Shuttles, perhaps, or small cloaked vessels, like his Klingon raider. Not this. "Who are they?"
The lieutenant shook his head. "Their signature is not in our database."
Chakotay had a sudden sense of foreboding. He turned to look at the security officer in the back. "Get Sébas, our prisoner, up here, please. Quickly." At Captain Asani's nod, the security officer touched his combadge. "He knows every ship out there – I think he'll be able to confirm my suspicion," Chakotay explained.
Captain Asani nodded. "On screen as soon as they're close enough. Red alert. How long until they reach us?"
"Estimated time is 6 minutes."
It took only a couple of minutes for Sébas to step onto the bridge, his hands still in handcuffs, and two security officers flanking him. He nodded to the captain, then to Chakotay and Kathryn.
"We have visitors," Chakotay told him, as he signaled the security officers to let Sébas join him at tactical. "Tell me that's not who I think it is," Chakotay said, as he showed in the data.
Sébas frowned. "They're Scavenger carriers. But it's very unusual for them to travel in a flotilla, usually they work alone or in pairs. What are they doing here?" Sébas looked up then, and recognizing where they were, his expression cleared. As if in just one glance he'd understood the entire situation. "I see."
"What's their fire and defense capacities?" Captain Asani asked as she approached them.
"It's hard to tell – each ship is equipped with whatever technology they've collected. You can expect weaponry ranging from Starfleet-issued photon torpedoes and phaser fire to Klingon disruptor cannons. They're not usually aggressive, they'd rather flee than fight, so this is unusual." Chakotay nodded to himself – this had Jem written all over it. She was certainly bold and cocky enough to attempt this. Sébas went on. "I'm not entirely sure what you should expect in battle. One thing I do know is that each ship usually bears a contingent of 60 or less, but their smaller size makes them more nimble. Each of them also carries twelve smaller, raid vessels that we call Stingers. Those are usually manned by one or two individuals."
There was a moment of silence as they all took this in, calculating the odds.
"Captains, I can confirm that those are Scavenger ships," B'Elanna said. "The updated sensors indicate that they are filled with Kigyun life signs. In fact, all life signs aboard these ships are Kigyun."
Chakotay felt his heart hit his toes. In all of their plans, they had assumed that if Jem took the bait, she would try to infiltrate one of the three Federation ships. They had never imagined that she would show up with an armada. He had never imagined that she had an armada at her disposal.
And if Chakotay had gotten that wrong, what else had he miscalculated?
"So Jem decided to bring some friends to the party…" Kathryn drawled, though he could almost see her brain synapses working as she analyzed the situation. He drew comfort from the all-too-familiar stern but analytical expression on her face.
"That's a naïve, and rather bold thing to do," Captain Asani commented, frowning. "To make such a stand against us, while in Federation territory."
"Or that's an extremely smart thing to do," Kathryn countered, her eyes glued to the viewscreen where the five ships were slowly becoming visible, just twinkles of light slightly larger than stars. "You heard Sébastien. Let's not get cocky."
"I'll second Captain Janeway's assessment," B'Elanna replied. "Because now we have no way of knowing which one of these life signs is hers." She was right. Punjan's tracking program wasn't precise enough to give them Jem's exact DNA make-up, only a way to recognize her as Kigyun. "We assumed she'd try to pass as a human – as such her Kigyun life sign would have stood out like a beacon – but instead she's decided to camouflage herself amid her own kind."
Chakotay nodded gravely. "I agree, that was one of the cleverest things she could have done."
Kathryn frowned, her lips a tight line. "Well we may be outnumbered, but we're not outgunned, and certainly not outmaneuvered. I say we go ahead with the plan, with some minor last minute adjustments," she added with an arch eyebrow. Chakotay couldn't stop himself from marveling at her – leave it to Kathryn Janeway to sound like she was enjoying herself at a moment like this. But it worked, because her confidence – and her love of the game – seemed to rub off on everyone present on the bridge.
"What are you suggesting?" Admiral Mendez asked. She'd been standing silently in the back up until then. In the shadows, just like in her chosen profession.
"A gambit – or something similar." She turned to Chakotay.
"We'll need a ship," he agreed before she could open her mouth. They'd worked together for so long, he knew exactly what she was thinking. She nodded in agreement. "The Klingon raider would be great – she'll recognize it," Chakotay suggested.
"Perfect," Kathryn agreed.
Admiral Mendez nodded again, giving her consent. "It's is in the shuttle bay."
Kathryn went on. "If Jem's aboard one of those ships, we'll use the raider to draw her out, make her reveal herself." She turned to Captain Asani. "We'll need to stage a distraction – something that will make Jem think she can slip away and search for what she's looking for without being noticed."
Captain Asani nodded, a small smile tugging at her lips. "Well, they clearly came here looking for a fight, so we'll give it to them, and make sure to drag it as long as we can."
Kathryn nodded.
Chakotay moved to Tom's station. "Tom, can you pull up a map of the area?" When Chakotay made sure that Kathryn, Captain Asani and Admiral Mendez were with him, he pointed to a dot on the map. "This solar system has a few small, mostly uninhabited planets. We'll try to lure her away from the battle and to this small M-class planet. It's close enough that I think she'll follow us there if she thinks we're trying to escape with the technology she's after. We'll lure her to that planet and set our trap there."
When everyone nodded, Kathryn added, "let's use the Delta Flyer as well. That way we'll have back up if we need it. B'Elanna," Kathryn instructed, "you'll go in the Flyer, Captain, can you spare two security officers to accompany her?" Asani nodded before she gestured to her security officer. "Good. Tom, Chakotay and I will go in the raider."
Chakotay touched her arm. "Are you sure you don't want to oversee things from here?" It was a long shot, but this might be dangerous, and Chakotay couldn't shake the old First Officer habit to try to protect her.
Her eyes shot to his and held – stubbornly. "I'm sure." Her tone and the flash in her eyes brooked no argument. Her gaze, which she held slightly longer than usual, seemed to say – there's no way I'm leaving your side. Chakotay couldn't help it, he let a small crooked smile curve his mouth.
"Let's take Sébas with us," Chakotay said then, as his eyes traveled to the former Wraith. The older man's eyes widened in genuine surprise. At Kathryn's questioning glance, Chakotay explained. "With me, he's the only one who knows Jem well enough to recognize her. We might need him. And he's flown with me in the raider before."
"You trust him?" Tom asked from where he sat at the second piloting station. He sent a glance at Sébas' direction. "No offense."
Chakotay gave an ambivalent nod as he raised an apologetic eyebrow at Sébas. "Let's just say… I trust him enough."
Kathryn nodded, approving the plan. "Alright then, let's go. The rest of you," she paused on the steps, "good luck."
Captain Asani nodded. "And to you."
Just as they were about to step out of the bridge, Chakotay heard Captain Asani open a channel with the lead scavenger ship. "This is Captain Asani from the Federation starship Aspire. You are now entering a closed Federation retrieval zone – breaching the protected parameter will be considered an hostile act. And know that we will defend ourselves."
oooOooo
Kathryn was starting to feel the adrenaline build inside her as they settled in the Klingon raider. Chakotay took the controls while Tom took the weapons station and Kathryn took the back seat, which had all the communication controls. Given his previous experience in the ship, Chakotay had requested Sébas, now uncuffed, to serve as his copilot. He was in charge of the sensors. Though Chakotay probably knew what he was doing, Kathryn had still asked Tom in a low voice to help her keep an eye on him, just in case.
Chakotay eased them out of the shuttle bay, and immediately cloaked the ship, while the Flyer flew with them toward the Voyager wreckage, as if it were simply another shuttle working on retrieving Voyager parts. Kathryn forced herself not to think about her ship and instead focused on the task at hand. She turned on the subspace frequency Captain Asani was using to communicate with the Scavengers. As expected, the 'negotiations' were not going well.
"Should we take bets on who's going to fire first?" Tom asked with a shake of the head as he familiarized himself with the various commands around him.
"It has to be the Kigyun," Kathryn replied. It was Starfleet protocol. And as if on cue, the Scavenger ships started moving in, getting into formation as they breached the buoys that delineated the perimeter. Then the lead ship fired at the Cousteau. And then all hell broke loose. The three Federation starships got into battle position, their shields holding against the sudden assault of weapons of various kinds. They returned fire, but mostly used evading maneuvers, slowly leading the Scavenger ships away from the wreckage, as if their main goal was to protect it.
"There," Sébas said, squinting at the screen, and pointing to the dozens of smaller crafts launching from the larger Scavenger ships, all speeding to fire at the Federation shields at closer range. "It's a good bet that Jem will try to use one of those Stingers to slip on board one of your ships if she gets the chance."
"Alright. Here's our cue," Chakotay said. He fired the thrusters.
"Wait, we're still cloaked, aren't we?" Tom asked, "How will she know we're out here?"
"She'll know," was all Chakotay said, his lips a thin line, his eyes on the controls.
oooOooo
Jem dropped herself at the controls of her Stinger and immediately launched out of the Stinger bay along with the eleven others. Things were going according to plan so far – the three Federation starships were busy protecting themselves against the onslaught that Loxeron had launched against them, so now all she had to do was accomplish her end of the mission, which, admittedly, was also the hardest part: finding the shield generators. The intel had mentioned that Starfleet already had recovered them, so she quickly followed the other Stingers away from Voyager's wreck and toward the three Federation starships, easily avoiding the phaser fire that seemed to rain all around her, causing bright flashes of light as the phasers hit against the Kigyun shields. Loxeron's ship started targeting the small Federation shuttles that were busy retrieving pieces from the wreck, forcing them to retreat – because if they retreated, then the Federation ships would have to lower their shields momentarily to let them in. That would be Jem's cue. She had already changed into a Starfleet uniform in anticipation of having to board one of the ships, so she quickly shifted into a young Vulcan male officer, just in case Chakotay and his crew were still around.
As expected, the three Federation vessels moved in to protect their shuttles as the latter raced back to their motherships. Jem accelerated to catch up with the shuttles, going so fast everything around her became but a blur of light. Suddenly her sensors beeped and she frowned at them in surprise. Her Stinger was detecting the energy signature of a Klingon vessel, yet there was no Klingon vessel showing up on her sensors. It must be cloaked. It wasn't like Starfleet to cloak their ships, so this had to be Chakotay in his Klingon ship! She grinned gleefully.
Hands sweaty, she wiped them against her thighs as she shifted her trajectory to intercept the cloaked signature instead. She immediately noticed that there was another Starfleet-issued shuttle in the same area as the cloaked signal. It must be protecting the Klingon ship. Both of them were fleeing from the raging battle, heading straight for the M-class planet on her scanner, so Jem engaged in pursuit. If they managed to reach the planet, it might be much harder for her to find what she was looking for. So she needed to intercept them before they reached the atmosphere. She quickly contacted two members of her squadron, and ordered them to follow her.
"Fire at will," she instructed them.
oooOooo
"They're onto us," Sébas announced, eyes glued to the sensors. "Three Stingers, heading right for us."
"Evasive maneuvers," Kathryn commanded more out of habit than anything else, both to Chakotay and to the Flyer, with whom she maintained an open transmission. Chakotay sent them into a spin, and Kathryn had to grip her seat, even with the inertial dampeners. Despite Chakotay's nimble flying, the raider suddenly rocked when they were hit.
"We've lost the cloak, but the shields are holding, just as we planned," Sébas stated while everyone else focused on their own consoles. Tom was firing back, while Chakotay continued evasive maneuvers. They had wanted Jem to target their cloak so that she would find them more easily – so far she hadn't disappointed. They were getting close to the M-class planet now, so they only had to keep up the pretense for a little longer.
"Delta Flyer, what's your status?" Kathryn asked as her controls beeped, just like everything else, it seemed. And why was it so damn dark in these Klingon ships?
"Shields are holding, maintaining evasive maneuvers," was B'Elanna's strained reply.
"We're almost in position," Chakotay told Kathryn with one quick look over his shoulder. She met his eyes for one second and gave him a small nod. This would work.
"Get ready," Kathryn said to both ships, and Chakotay returned her nod.
oooOooo
"Come on, come on, come ON!" Jem was shouting out loud as she and her squadron struggled with their two targets. They were fast and nimble and clearly had experienced pilots at their helms, they could barely touch them. It had to be Chakotay at the helm of the raider; she had seen first-hand how he flew, and this had his style all over it. Jem had succeeded in hitting him, though, causing the cloaking device to malfunction. Now if she could only get a couple of more clean shots…
They were getting really close to the atmosphere of the planet now and Jem cursed. If she wanted to survive through an atmospheric descent, she'd have to reroute power from her weapons to her shields. She had to disable the raider now, before they dove for the planet's surface.
She chanced a look back and saw that the other starships were still engaged in battle, though two of the Kigyun ships were slowly retreating, as it appeared that their shields were almost depleted. Needless to say, Loxeron would be a little mad if they both lost the ships and Jem came back empty-handed.
Taking a deep breath, she focused on the Klingon raider ahead of them. When her hands relaxed she took in another calming breath. And then she fired. Once. Twice.
Both shots hit the raider's thrusters just as the raider was entering the atmosphere. It was clear that she'd damaged the navigation, as the raider was now freefalling, heading straight for the planet's rocky surface. Only the still active shield kept it from burning up as it went down. Jem cursed at her failure to intercept before it crossed into the atmosphere, and then she ordered the other two Stingers to stay on the other Starfleet shuttle while she chased after the raider. She quickly increased power to her shields before she commenced her descent into the atmosphere. The raider was starting to burn and all the smoke it created made it hard for Jem to see where she was going. And then, just a few hundred meters short from the surface, the Klingon raider completely shut down.
Seconds later it crashed in a cloud of dirt, debris and fire.
For one moment Jem could only stare. No one could have survived that crash – not at the speed it had hit the ground.
Jem didn't take the time to think about how that made her feel. She had to focus on the greater picture. She shook off the unease that had crept up her spine and kept her Stinger plunging until she was close enough to land. She circled over the wreckage a couple of times, watching whether the sensors picked up life signs. When they didn't she found a good spot to land. She contacted her squadron, but none of them replied. Cursing at the atmospheric interference that likely blocked her transmission, she quickly grabbed her weapons and headed out to go through the wreckage. It was hot on the planet, but Jem was used to heat, after spending the last several years between Neathina and the Doldrums. She approached the wreckage cautiously, her weapon raised, senses on high alert. She started going through the still burning carcass of the Klingon raider, kicking metal plates aside and nudging things around with her foot, half expecting half dreading to come across dead bodies.
As she looked around, it eventually became obvious that there were in fact no bodies in the wreckage. Whoever had been flying that ship must have transported to the other shuttle before the raider had started its freefall through the atmosphere. At the moment when the realization flashed through her mind – and the implications that she'd been had, again – she heard the telltale shimmering sound of transporter beams. She whipped around and ducked behind parts of the starboard thruster, raising her weapon.
She waited impatiently, resisting the urge to look over the hunk of metal she was hiding behind.
And then: "You can stop searching. There were never any generators on that ship, Jem."
Chakotay. Jem closed her eyes. She cursed under her breath.
He may have found her, but she wouldn't make it easy for him. She focused her mind, and shifted again, drawing from memory to transform into a shorter woman's frame with pale skin and shoulder-length light brown hair. Let's see what he would make of that. She slowly came out of hiding, her hands at her sides, but still holding her weapon. All the while her eyes darted around for a possible escape. Chakotay and Sébas were standing a few feet away from her, weapons aimed at her. She should have known that Sébas would stick with Chakotay, those two were alike in many ways – straight arrows, wise from their lived experiences, from having seen too much horror in war. The main difference was that Sébas didn't say anything most of the goddamned time.
"Chakotay don't shoot," Jem said as she slowly moved forward. She had to admit, she'd gotten the North American accent pretty close.
Chakotay frowned at her new appearance, then he tilted his head to the side. Apparently she had gotten Captain Janeway's physiognomy pretty close, enough to make him doubt. "Kathryn?" He frowned.
"Don't shoot," Jem repeated as she took one more step toward them, her brain scrambling for a way to take advantage of his confusion to get away.
He bit his lip as he considered her, his head still tilted. It occurred to her a moment too late that his expression wasn't confused – it was amused. "I'd rather not shoot. But she might," Chakotay added with a motion of his chin beyond Jem's shoulder, eyes twinkling in mirth. The real Captain Janeway was standing there, a phaser rifle in her hands, frowning at her. Jem hadn't scented her – she'd very cleverly situated herself down wind. "What do you think, Captain?" Chakotay asked his captain, raising his eyebrows.
Kathryn Janeway – the real Kathryn Janeway – frowned. "Am I really that short? In my mind I'm taller," she drawled and Chakotay smiled. Their camaraderie was obvious, and it was annoying as hell – the kind of camaraderie that made the rest of the world feel like a third wheel.
Chakotay returned his eyes to Jem. "Did you really think taking her appearance would work?"
She exhaled, deflated. No. She hadn't. Not really. She'd only hoped to throw him off balance. So she changed back into her usual human form.
Chakotay nodded as he stepped closer, his phaser still pointed at her. "It not only didn't make sense for her to be here, you also missed one key detail, Jem," Chakotay said as casually as if he were merely offering a constructive critique of her tactic, like a teacher to a student. "The eyes. I know this woman's eye color better than my own."
Jem threw Captain Janeway a glance over her shoulder before returning her eyes to Chakotay, thoughts racing, biting her lips. How could she turn this to her advantage? Think.
After a moment she sighed, schooling her features to reflect the right emotions. Vulnerability. Hurt. She met his eyes. "Maybe I just wanted to see you look at me the way you look at her," she told him in a small voice, drawing from years of experience at deception. To convince him, for the fraction of a second. That was all she needed. The fraction of a second.
He blinked. And in that very brief moment when she saw doubt creep into his eyes, when he considered the possibility that she might actually be sincere, his eyes darted to meet Captain Janeway's, still standing behind Jem.
There it was. That fraction of a second of distraction she'd been waiting for.
Jem lunged to the side, anticipating Sébas shooting at her at the slightest movement, then rolled until she came back up to her knees. She fired her weapon at Chakotay's arm – the one holding the phaser – and hit, making him drop it with a grunt. She felt the painful tingling sensation of a phaser fire on her back, courtesy of Captain Janeway, but then Jem moved again and started running toward her ship.
Suddenly something rammed into her from the side – Sébas. In her rush she had lost track of his position. He had always been stealthy as a Romulan. They fell to the ground hard. She kicked him, the force of it should have sent him backward, but he'd anticipated it. "Now!" He grunted as he tried to pin her by twisting one of her arms. But Jem fought hard, and though he was strong, she was stronger. She elbowed him then twisted his arm – she felt it dislocate and he yelped in pain. She took advantage of the moment to kick him hard in the ribs. She jumped to her feet and swiveled on her foot to kick him, but suddenly a bright, energy-based wall appeared between her and her target and her foot went through the wall before she could stop her momentum. Searing pain unlike anything she'd ever felt traveled up her leg and she fell back to the ground, for a moment surprised to see that her leg was still attached to the rest of her. The pain had been such that for a moment she'd almost thought the energy barrier had severed it. She crawled backward away from the force field, her leg still feeling like it was on fire, only to realize that the field was all around her.
She was trapped.
She swore.
oooOooo
As soon as Jem was secure inside the forcefield net, Kathryn shouldered her weapon and rushed to Chakotay's side, hitting her combadge on the way. "Janeway to the Delta Flyer, we have Jem in custody. Both Chakotay and Sébas suffered non-life threatening injuries."
Moments before the Klingon raider had started descending into the atmosphere, the four passengers had transported back to the Flyer, letting the raider go unmanned. They had watched Jem dive after it, and from there, it had been relatively easy to track her to the wreckage. Kathryn had to admit, their improvised plan had worked much better than she had expected.
"Acknowledged," B'Elanna's disembodied voice replied. "Tom is ready with the medkit. We have the situation under control up here."
Chakotay was wincing and sweating in the heat, clearly in pain, still holding his arm where Jem's energy weapon had left a burnt, open wound. Sébas was still sitting on the ground, holding his own arm and catching his breath. He nodded at Kathryn when he met her eyes.
"Is the cargo bay secure?" Kathryn asked B'Elanna.
"Yes, Captain. We're ready to receive the prisoner."
"Give us a moment." Kathryn reached Chakotay.
"I can't believe I let myself get distracted again," he grunted through gritted teeth, in a mix of frustration and pain. He looked white as a ghost, his hand still firmly holding his wounded arm.
Kathryn smiled gently. She understood his feelings – the two times that Jem had almost escaped, she had taken advantage of Chakotay's instinct to meet Kathryn's eyes. Jem had used his feelings against him. "Oh, I'm a distraction, am I now?" Kathryn said jokingly as she gently peeled his fingers away from his wound. She winced despite herself.
He scoffed, his frustration slowly making way to relief that this – this whole mission – was truly over. "Oh you have no idea," he replied with a small crooked smile as he glanced at her.
She smiled, assessing his injury. "Nothing the Doctor won't be able to fix once we get you back to Voy-" she stopped, catching herself. She swallowed. "Once we get you back to Aspire." She gave him a small smile, but her slip of the tongue had left her raw, so the smile probably came out a little strained.
He raised his free hand to touch her cheek, but as if remembering that it was stained with his blood, he let it drop at his side and instead stepped closer to lean his brow against hers – understanding – his eyes closing in relief, his breath washing over her cheek. Kathryn circled his waist with her arm and squeezed him into her for a second, before she shifted to use her arm around him to support him and get him moving along. As far as she knew there was nothing wrong with his legs, but if her knees felt wobbly from the adrenaline-inducing altercation, then chances were that his were too. Meanwhile, Sébas managed to stand on his own and met them halfway, cradling his injured side.
"Thank you," Chakotay told him. "If you hadn't been there…" Chakotay shook his head at himself, but then gave Sébas a small smile. "To be honest I wasn't certain you wouldn't decide to side with her, if given the opportunity."
Sébas almost smiled. "Given my history, you took one hell of a gamble. But I told you before, I'm done with the Wraiths."
Chakotay nodded in the direction of Jem, still sitting and holding her leg, encased in the force field. "And so you are," he extended his good hand and Sébas shook it with his uninjured one.
Once they were ready, Kathryn contacted B'Elanna again and, seconds later, they all found themselves back aboard the Delta Flyer, still in orbit above the planet. Kathryn's eyebrows rose when she noticed that there were already two prisoners present in the Flyer's cargo bay, each contained within their own forcefields. They were sitting, looking grim and annoyed.
Tom made his way to assess Chakotay's injured arm. "The pilots from those two Stingers that came after us," he explained.
Jem threw Chakotay and Kathryn a despising look as B'Elanna and the two security officers nudged her to sit next to her comrades. B'Elanna checked the forcefields again. She gave a satisfied nod when she was done.
"Good work," Chakotay told them, patting Tom's shoulder once.
"Any news from Captain Asani?" Kathryn asked. With his arm field-dressed, Chakotay went to take a seat while Tom moved on to assess Sébas' injuries.
B'Elanna nodded as she settled at the controls. "The battle is still going on, but three of the Kigyun ships have fled, and the two that are left are taking heavy damage. No casualties on our side."
Kathryn nodded. "Can you open a channel?" B'Elanna did, then nodded. "This is Captain Janeway, mission accomplished on our end."
"Good to hear," Captain Asani's voice responded. "We have boarded the lead Kigyun ship, and given the situation, we have been ordered by Starfleet Command to contact the Kigyun leadership and propose a truce. We were just waiting for an update from you to start implementing the order."
Kathryn smirked. "By all means, implement away. We're done here."
"Acknowledged. We'll leave the garage door open for you."
oooOooo