Janeway replicated herself a coffee and sat down for a moment on the couch in her Ready Room, tapping the mug rhythmically.
I wish Gretchen were here to discuss this with.
…but I can't see her right now…..and B'Elanna…..
Her body physically winced with pain. She could not go to her now, not with the entire ship at stake.
…..I might never see her again…..alive….
Janeway shook her head violently, forcing herself to think.
There are so many things that have happened on this ship since the stasis…..Did Be'nl really have the opportunity to cause them all?
"Seven?" said Janeway, clicking her combadge, "I want you to scan this ship, intensely, and send out security teams, to look for the K'Terran, Be'nl."
"Acknowledged Captain, though there are no K'Terran deck alerts active."
"Look anyway," ordered Janeway, "Including in Engineering."
"Yes, Captain," answered Seven.
Janeway sat back unhappily and tapped her mug again.
Is she hacking Security somehow to hide?...Why does that seem like the wrong route?...Seven is a very competent Security Officer…..
Was knocking out the K'Terran technology really her first attempt?...Wouldn't that be very risky with two other K'Terrans checking up on her?...
Are they all behind it or…..
Was today desperation?...
And if so…..why was she so desperate?...
Janeway gasped, suddenly seeing something she had not before.
Gretchen said that the timing was so suspicious …..was it all intended to break the alliance?...
The first attack was right after…..right during…
Damnit, Damnit, Damnit, thought Janeway, springing up suddenly and sprinting to her Briefing Room, a piece of clear proof on her mind.
An hour later Janeway was staring down what was left of Souer's pod as they stood in her Briefing Room. Seven was to her right as her Security Officer and the last physical member of her senior staff standing.
Captain Janeway was nearly alone and her ship had been backed into a corner by a race of slavers. But she had her evidence now and she found herself invigorated by the looming confrontation, determined to fight to the bitter end.
Determined to win, for her crew.
"I expect traitors to be brought to account," began Janeway, menace in her voice, "Why are you so sure Be'nl isn't on your ship?"
Soeur looked away, shoulders sagging again, and her voice was very quiet, "We are sure Captain, because Be'nl knows she would be killed if she were discovered…There are very few places to hide, and no way off our small ship now that we know what is going on…she would not take the risk…..she is far too smart…."
"What if I told you," said Janeway, holding Soeur's gaze, "That Be'nl is missing because it's convenient for the person she discovered, or came close to discovering. The real traitor."
Soeur looked up, expression painfully sad, "That is impossible Captain. The evidence condemns her."
"Your evidence is circumstantial," said Janeway, placing something on the table, "But this isn't."
"What is that Captain?" said Soeur in confusion.
"A tape of the Velocity game between my team and yours," she said, suddenly staring at Shimai.
"What could that say?" questioned Soeur.
"You and Be'nl were competing in the game. Shimai was watching. And the men were attacked in Sickbay during it."
"Yes," said Soeur, "You are impugning one of the remaining 15 members of my crew? None of them were allowed in Sickbay."
"They weren't allowed in, but this attack didn't require them to be on Deck 5, just close to it. It was a ranged weapon, and Holodeck 2 is right above Sickbay. It was a weapon none of us humans were aware of, you see, our ears aren't good enough. But you can do amazing things with your voices. You can hurt us, I felt it myself the other day. I imagine you can also target that voice at specific people, even through metal, or some of you can…what else would you expect from someone with the title Singer of Glass?"
Janeway turned to Shimai, and her tight, dark voice deepened into one of absolute condemnation, "Soeur and Be'nl would've recognized it immediately, but they were wearing sound dampeners. You attacked my male crew members, and when you failed to break our alliance you got…..creative," she spat the word, mouth contorting in disgust.
"You are impugning me?" asked Shimai, in a very offended voice, "Because I was not wearing a sound dampener when you had a glitch in your systems? She is very upset sister," she said turning to Soeur, "We should go back to our ship, it has been a very long day."
"It has been a very long day," said Janeway, eyes staring at Shimai, "The longest day I can remember, but I'm not done yet."
She emphasized every word, and continued, "You used your voice to control Rachel Hargrove. You had her kill Alexander Rogers for you, because you couldn't get past the newly installed force field around Sickbay. You hoped that we would break the alliance if there was an actual death. When Be'nl declared that she would sound out the killer, you heard her scream, and you were frightened."
The last word was deadly, but Janeway did not let up her words or her heated stare, "You forced Rachel to attack her fellow crew members and kill herself, knowing you were about to be discovered. To your dismay Be'nl was still suspicious, so you moved up your timetable. You had my daughter attack me…."
Janeway was not certain about that, but she tried very hard to hide it.
"And then you caused B'Elanna to attack the gas core, most likely because she suspected what was about to happen, that it would implode and knock us out of warp. And then," added Janeway, eyes narrowing and lowering the boom, "You attacked Be'nl, your own sister."
"This day is up for you," chocked Janeway at Shimai, pressing the button on the recording.
Janeway could not hear what the computer had found, but as the silence played Soeur's whole body changed. She had been standing tensely with an awkward smile on her face, as if she were eager to step in and diffuse the situation with her normal cheerfulness.
But as the invisible noise continued the K'Terran leader howled in a blood curdling scream, baring her sharp teeth as she lunged forward towards Shimai.
Janeway was prepared, and in a flash the readied force field separated the two of them.
Soeur pounded on it with all four tentacles violently, dark purple splotches rushing through her veins.
Shimai reared up behind the screen and laughed.
To Janeway it sounded as if she were afraid.
"I was sorry to hurt Be'nl," hissed Shimai, as if to no one, "I tried to avoid it, to leave Voyager and have us all return to K'Terran space. But you brought it on yourselves. I have never understood why you were so happy that we shall be the last K'Terrans. If it were not for you and those like you," she chocked suddenly, looking off as her eyes became hazy, "We would have solved it by now…I would not be as I am…with no future…I would have my own children to hold, to love…"
Shimai's voice became dark and bitter, but she still refused to look at Soeur, "You sided with aliens…..females we had never met, are not like…..rather than your own sisters…and so I will die as we have lived, worthlessly."
Soeur howled louder, and smacked the force field so violently Janeway was frightened it might fall.
Shimai laughed again, and turned her bitter gaze toward Janeway, "I hope your Chief Engineer dies in torments, she is very annoying, and has hated us since the moment we met. I did indeed cause her accident. As for the weak-minded Engineer, I did not murder the male," said Shimai, smiling wickedly as she stared at the Captain, "I only persuaded her, as you might have done. I did get rid of her, as you said. But as you consider males to be a part of your species, you did indeed have a traitor on your crew."
Janeway winced, but nodded, holding the alien's hateful gaze.
"As for your daughter," said Shimai, moving in for the kill, "I broke her will when I heard an opening. She is very strong indeed, and difficult to influence,"
Shimai smiled, very widely, "And in excruciating pain, at all times, from a curse in her mind, which I did not put there. It lives, and lurks, and devours her strength. And I did not plant it, or make it grow…..I only channeled it….."
Shimai continued, still smiling as purple spread throughout her face, "You shall say terrible things about me, curses of all kinds, if indeed the Jen Hadar do not triumph over you,"
She stared at Janeway, eyes lit with hatred as she held her gaze, "But it was not me that burned that darkness into my child's mind. You who have cursed your own child be cursed."
The K'Terran's voice raised higher and higher as she spoke, and the dark purple spread from the veins in her head, until her entire body looked bruised. Soeur began to scream even louder, so that Janeway could feel the howl resonating through her entire body.
And then suddenly, a moment later, it was over.
Where Shimai had been, there was only a pile of blood.
Soeur made an awful, gurgling sound, and collapsed into sobs.
Long minutes later, she composed herself, and quietly asked that the force field be taken down.
"We must find Be'nl," said Soeur, "If she is not…also deceased."
"I'm sorry it ended this way Soeur," said Janeway quietly, "I never thought…..it was my intention to force her into a confession, and take her into custody, not to allow her to…..kill herself."
"It is not your fault Captain," said Soeur, turning to her tiredly, voice still kind, "We understand humans do not have a self-destruction mechanism such as we do…..and also that you no longer believe in executions…but we would have killed her, for betraying her fellow females…it is just…..hard to accept," she added, face sagging and inexpressibly sad.
"I know," said Janeway softly. As she ordered the force field down she added, "We'll have our Doctor prepare her….remains, and return them to you."
Soeur made an odd choking noise, "We…..it is only right that you prepare them in your own way Captain…..this is your ship."
She turned, expression oddly hopeful, to Janeway, "We would be obligated to see that they are cursed to the volcanoes under the sea, should them come into our hands…..but we are not obligated to request they be returned…..it is only right that you make the decision on what to do with them…..we would not want to breach etiquette."
She wrung her tentacles, and looked, pathetically at the Captain.
"We'll take care of them Soeur. You're right, it's very improper they be returned to you, I'm sure Starfleet would say the same."
"Thank you Captain," said Soeur, staring despondently at the blood. She escaped quickly out of the room. Janeway could hear rending sobs as the turbolift doors closed.
We've found the traitor…thought Janeway, suddenly frightened, even as her shoulders remained erect and steady…But every single life on this ship is still in danger….
What needs to be done next?
She tried not to think of B'Elanna and Gretchen, whose fates for the moment, were out of her hands.