Maquis - Act 4
Scene 1
When the away team returned to the ship, they found the whole crew in shock. They all knew Dalby's life, before he joined the Maquis, had been full of hardship and loss. He was an angry man who had been difficult to get along with but he didn't deserve to be killed for spare parts.
Chakotay announced that there would be a simple service the following day, then his body would be released into space. Kathryn took command of the bridge, while Chakotay and Ayala prepared the coffin for Dalby. Chakotay's order was to put as much distance between them and the Planet of Horrors as fast as possible.
B'Elanna asked what everyone else was thinking, "How many more of them do you think there are, shopping for spare parts in this sector, Kathryn."
"I don't know but I hope we never meet another one of their species again."
Chell, the only Bolian member of the crew, added, "I suggest if we come across one of their 'harvesting ships' we shoot first and ask questions later.
As Seska wasn't on the Bridge, the crew were more relaxed with Kathryn, she started to let her guard down and even managed a civil conversation with B'Elanna. At the end of the shift she returned to her bunk in a much happier mood.
She went to the Mess to collect her dinner ration pack and had the misfortune to run into Seska.
"I heard it was all happy families on the Bridge during your shift," she said nastily.
Kathryn tried to reason with her, "Try it, you might realise that I'm not a monster. There is no Starfleet here or Maquis, we're aliens in a hostile part of the Galaxy and we need to stick together to survive."
You may have fooled the others but you don't fool me. I will be watching you and when you make your move, I'll be ready."
"I have no idea what you're talking about."
Seska was halfway out of the door, when she fired her last shot, "Oh, and stay away from Chakotay, he's already taken."
Scene 2
Kathryn had the evening to herself so she decided to spend some time with the Doctor, he was the only link to her old life that she had left.
"Please state the nature of your medical emergency?" The doctor was programmed with one standard phrase to greet his patients.
"We'll definitely have to add more greetings to your vocal subroutine, it will give you a little more eloquence,"
"Good evening, Captain Janeway, since you're here, I'll presume that your crewmates haven't forgiven you for being a Starfleet Officer."
"Well, there was a slight thaw when I was on the bridge, then I had a peculiar conversation with Seska, who seems to think I've been planted on this ship to sabotage the Crew's activities."
The Doctor had problems with Seska as well, "I think that young woman has trust issues, she has to have regular injections from me, due to a childhood organ transplant but totally refuses to let me examine her."
"Did she say why she didn't want to be examined?"
"She accused me of being a Starfleet puppet and threatened to destroy my program before she'd let me spread lies about her!"
"She is as paranoid as a Cardassian, don't they always think everyone is plotting against them?" asked Kathryn.
Kathryn had a startling revelation, she had a high security clearance due to her rank as Captain, so she knew that the Cardassians had infiltrated the Maquis. If Seska is a Cardassian spy, that would explain why she needs anti-rejection drugs and her refusal to allow the Doctor to examine her.
"Doctor, if the chance presents itself, try to scan her DNA, I have a hunch that she isn't what she appears to be."
"Be careful Captain, I believe that she'll get violent if she's cornered, plus she hasn't hidden her feelings about you."
"Doctor, I think you should call me Kathryn, Chakotay is the Captain and I don't really want to keep reminding my crewmates of my former occupation.
"Okay Kathryn, It might take me a little time to adjust to using your first name but I'll give it a go."
Scene 3
Kathryn returned to her bunk in the vain hope that she might be able to sleep. She was still having terrible nightmares about the destruction of Voyager and the loss of her friends and colleagues. The Doctor thought she may be suffering from post traumatic stress disorder, he wanted her to try antidepressants or sleeping tablets but she felt the need to come to terms with her grief by herself. She tried to read but had no success with that either. In the middle of the night Kathryn decided to go to the Mess for a warm milky drink as it had worked the night before.
When she turned on the light she was startled to find Chakotay with a bottle of whiskey and an empty shot glass in front of him. He was very, very drunk and a little bleary-eyed, but he finally identified who it was.
"Ah Kathryn, my beautiful captain, how are you getting on, have you won over the crew yet?"
She sat down opposite him smiling, I'm making small steps, I don't think everyone hates me quite as much now."
He offered the bottle to her, "Would you like to join me?
She found another shot glass and passed it to him. He filled both glasses and handed one to her.
"You seem to be getting through a substantial amount of whiskey."
"I'm trying to erase the Vidiian's face out of my memory, I murdered him, then I watched his life slip away. He never struggled or fought back, he just sat there resigned to his fate."
She could clearly see the damage he'd done to his soul by taking a life in cold blood, "You're a soldier, you must have killed the enemy before."
"This was different, he didn't have to die, I wasn't defending myself or in fear of violent assault. I had to send a warning to his superiors that we weren't an easy target. The worst monsters are the ones who believe they have an excuse for their bloodshed.
She could see that he was starting to lose his composure, he bowed his head and started to sob.
"Oh Chakotay!" She walked around the table to comfort him, he stood up. and held onto her as if he was drowning. She rubbed his back and tried to take away some of the pain he was suffering.
Gradually the crying eased until it stopped. He let go of her and wiped his hand across his face then looked up at her with a devastatingly sexy smile.
"Thank you, as you know, the Captain's job can be very lonely."
"I remember, if I can do anything to help you, just let me know."
"From ship's gossip, I understand that you aren't sleeping very well either."
"I've been having night terrors, in my dreams Voyager was never destroyed and my Crew are still alive, then I wake up and the reality of my situation hits me again like a freight train."
Now it was Chakotay's turn to comfort her, "They knew what they were signing up for, the majority of your crew were professional soldiers, being killed in action is an occupational hazard."
Kathryn grimaced, "It was such a colossal waste of life, all those young men and women could have lived long fulfilling lives and influenced so many people."
Chakotay was certain that he would get this crew home,"We have to make sure that you return to Earth to let their loved ones knew that they died defending the weak and vulnerable and were brave and fearless right to the end."
Chakotay poured out two large shots of whiskey, "We'll drink to our return home!"
Kathryn finished her drink, "Thank you Chakotay, I'm going to try to get to sleep now.
He hugged her again and kissed her on the cheek, "Good night Kathryn!"
He watched her as she walked down the corridor, he knew that he could fall for her in a big way, she was exactly his type.
Scene 4
The ship was running out of ration packs. They needed to find a Class M planet where they could barter for supplies or find work to earn currency to buy food or they would starve. At a crew meeting, they decided to land on the next suitable planet to try their luck.
They landed on the Banean home world, which had a highly developed civilisation. Chakotay took Kathryn and Ayala with him to try to make some contacts. They stumbled across a marketplace which had some extremely rough bars around it.
"I should just take Ayala with me but I think it would be more dangerous to leave you outside," whispered Chakotay.
"You don't have to worry about me, I can take of myself boys."
She put her hood up to hide her light brown hair and walked confidently into the roughest dive. Everybody stopped talking, you could hear a pin drop. Without stopping Kathryn headed straight to the bar itself, the only word she said was "drink!" However that was enough, everyone started talking again and normal business was resumed.
Ayala summed it up, "That is a very classy woman."
They walked over to join her, "Nicely done Kathryn!" said Ayala admiringly.
Chakotay felt that familiar twinge of jealousy again.
He spoke to the barman, "Who do I have to speak to about some freight work."
He pointed to a large group of aliens in the corner, "Speak to Farraz."
They took a table adjacent to the gentleman they needed to speak to, so they could be ready to join him when the opportunity presented itself. Later on that evening, most of the his group left, which meant that Farraz was on his own with a couple of bodyguards. Kathryn made the first move to sit with him because she presented less of a threat. Unfortunately he thought she was offering personal servicing, one of the bodyguards grasped her arm to take her to a private room with Farraz. He ended up in the table, where Kathryn had deposited him, Chakotay and Ayala stood either side of her in case there were any reprisals.
Farraz was a businessman who couldn't afford to attract a lot of attention to himself. He invited them to sit with him and canned the bodyguard who was still trying to extricate himself from the remains of the table.
"Gentlemen, I apologise for that little misunderstanding, I understand that you're looking for work, I have a small courier job that would suit a small vessel."
Chakotay nodded to indicate that he was interested.
"The Baneans are at war with the Numiri, between you and me, I think both parties have forgotten the reason they went to war in the first place. The Numiri are aggressive and paranoid but they are excellent shipbuilders and weapon designers. Unfortunately their patrols will intercept any vessels they suspect are transporting aid and supplies to this planet.
"Tell me exactly what you want us to do - remember I don't like surprises."
He passed Chakotay a small piece of paper containing a set of coordinates.
"A ship will rendezvous with you here, they will pass you a package which I need. If you deliver it intact, I will make sure you have enough nutritional supplements for a long journey."
"Why can't your people do it, if it's that simple."
"Ah, there is the small matter of evading the Numiri patrol ships, who will destroy your ship, then hold a five minute enquiry later.
Chakotay nodded, "We'll do it, is there a time limit?"
Farraz was surprised, "Don't you want to know what is in the package?"
"No, we'll see you soon, where should we bring the package when we return?"
"I will be here every evening, nobody really takes any notice of what happens here but try to be discrete. I don't suppose your woman would like a job, I could use a female who can look after herself?"
"No, I'm sorry, she already has a job in my crew."
Chakotay got up to leave but waited until Kathryn and Ayala were with him.
Outside the bar, night had fallen. They walked back to the ship at a good pace but were very careful not to run.
"Can you hear them?" whispered Chakotay to the other two.
They both nodded. Chakotay pointed at them, telling them to fan out.
"Let's see what you've got little lady?"
Suddenly they were encircled by a group of very large aliens. Unfortunately their leader was the bodyguard who had just been canned. Kathryn sighed, sometimes she was really sick of the smell of ego and testosterone.
The ex bodyguard went straight for Kathryn, he lumbered towards her, leaving her plenty of time to sweep his legs from under him, then finished with a two-handed stunning blow to the back of his head. Chakotay delivered a perfect right hook to his friend's jaw, which knocked him flat on his back. Ayala was jumped by two cowards, who discovered the error of their ways, when he hit them both with a roundhouse kick, then ending the fight by literally banging their heads together, knocking them both out at once. The fight lasted for roughly ten minutes. They left them in the gutter and continued their walk.
"Well, you have definitely had martial arts training at some point, do I detect Judo with some Mok'bara thrown in for good measure."
Kathryn raised an eyebrow, "Very astute Mr Ayala, I took a Judo course at the Academy, then I was lucky enough to take some Mok'bara lessons with lieutenant Whorf, who if memory serves me correctly is serving aboard the flagship, Enterprise.
"When we return to the planet, would you like to go out for a meal with me?" asked Ayala trying his luck."
Kathryn thought about it for a few seconds, he was attractive, good company and funny, then she saw Chakotay's face, which fell when he heard Ayala ask her out,
"Could I take a rain check, I have a lot of things on my plate at the moment."
"Sure thing, let me know when you're ready," Ayala was encouraged because she hadn't dismissed the idea completely.
Chakotay was shocked by his reaction to Ayala asking Kathryn for a date. He hadn't realised that he was falling in love with her.
He decided to concentrate fully on a plan to get past the Numiri patrols twice and return the package to Farraz.