MAQUIS
Act One
The bar was crowded when they arrived. Tolan found a table for them by suggesting that the previous occupants move or else. Kathryn sat down while he went to the bar, after a few minutes he returned with two large glasses of white wine.
Kathryn stopped smiling and asked bluntly, "When were you intending to kill me?"
He pretended to be totally shocked, "What made you think that I was trying to kill you?"
"You followed me home yesterday and I spotted you several times. For future reference hiding in doorways isn't an effective technique for covert surveillance."
"You are a remarkable woman, why did you send your friend home if you thought I was going to kill you?"
"I didn't want anyone else to be harmed on my account."
"Who paid you to kill me?" asked Kathryn, although she was pretty sure that she knew the answer.
He pointed at Seska, who was working behind the bar. "You should be careful around that one, I recognise a fellow professional when I see one."
Kathryn knew that she needed to have a quiet word with Seska. Although she had to deal with the contract killer sitting in front of her first.
"Do you make dates with everyone you intend to kill?"
He looked down, slightly embarrassed, "You are the only one I have ever wanted to meet first."
"What makes me special?" asked Kathryn.
"I don't know if I can put it into words, you are attractive, confident and self-assured. When you talk to people, even strangers, you make them feel interesting and special."
Kathryn tried to change the subject, "Your main error was to steal a ticket from a councillor I know. You don't look like a sixty five year old male."
Tolan reached across the table and covered her hand with his. "I don't know what you've done to me. I'm conducting my business like an amateur, sloppy, emotional and careless. I can't stop thinking about you."
"What do you intend to do with my contract now," enquired Kathryn,
"Well I have a reputation for always executing the contract. I'm very proud of my hundred percent record."
"You may find me hard to kill, I am trained in hand to hand combat ."
"We don't allow females to join the military or guards. Who are you and where do you come from?"
"I can't tell you or I'll have to kill you, my home is a long way from here." said Kathryn, trying to be funny.
"You haven't always been a school teacher, my guess is a command in the military."
"Well done, you are perceptive! Surely you could have found a more useful occupation than killing people?"
"I don't have a conscience and it's easy money, it was a perfect career choice."
Seska was staring at them from the bar. She couldn't believe it when she saw them chatting like old friends. If Chakotay found out that she'd taken out a contract on Janeway he would leave her on the next desolate planet.
Tolan had made a final decision, "Your contract will be the first and only one I will not complete."
"I thought you were proud of your record," replied Kathryn.
"Normally people bore me with their dull insipid lives but you are intriguing. I would prefer to kill her," he said pointing at Seska.
"Thank you, I think," responded Kathryn ironically.
"Do you want me to kill her, I'll do it for nothing?"
"Don't worry about her, I will settle our differences later."
Scene Two
Kathryn wondered what would happen next, it was turning out to be a very strange evening. She spun around as the door opened to admit Chakotay and Ayala. They walked in together and scanned the room, they seemed relieved when they saw her. She turned around to say something to Tolan and discovered that she was on her own. She let slip a sigh of relief because she knew that she'd had a lucky escape. Tolan was a sociopath with psychotic tendencies which made him an extremely dangerous man.
Chakotay and Ayala brought her a drink over and sat down.
"Where's your admirer?" asked Ayala,
"He had a change of heart and left." Ayala seemed to be upset with her and she had no idea why.
They both looked relieved, "His loss," commented Chakotay.
They chatted for a while then walked back to the ship together. Seska told them to go without her as she'd agreed to work an extra shift.
When they arrived back at the ship, Chakotay asked Kathryn if she would like to join him for a nightcap. As soon as she entered the mess hall, one look at his face was enough to tell her that she was in trouble. Kathryn sat down, took a large swig of her whiskey and waited, it didn't take long.
"Let me give you a hypothetical situation. A member of your crew invites a criminal out for a drink, recklessly putting themselves in danger. This crewman doesn't even take the precaution of informing a member of her crew about her plan. Fortunately they survive their date with death. What would you have done, as Captain?"
"I would have talked to him/her about being part of a team and the stupidity of playing games with a madman."
"Why did you do it Kathryn, didn't you trust us to protect you?"
I was responsible for every single life lost on Voyager, my decisions lead to their deaths. I will not risk anybody's life to preserve mine.
Chakotay hadn't realised how guilty she was feeling over the the loss of her crew.
"If you recklessly put your life in danger again, I will keep you in the Brig until we reach the Alpha quadrant."
Kathryn stood up to leave, "Yes Captain, I understand."
"Before you run away I would like you to report to the Doctor daily for grief counselling."
She opened her mouth to argue then decided that he'd actually been quite lenient. She didn't want to spend an extended time in the Brig.
Kathryn knew that she would have to talk to Seska about their issues, in the morning.
Scene Three
Ayala came into the mess hall while Kathryn was eating a quick breakfast. He grabbed a coffee then left without saying a word to her. She realised that Chakotay wasn't the only one she'd upset. When she reached the bridge everyone else acted normally apart from Mike. Kathryn knew that she would have to make peace with him as well.
It was the weekend so most of the crew were planning how to enjoy their leisure time. Seska was the only one who had to work which didn't improve her mood. She knew that Kathryn hadn't informed Chakotay about the contract on her life or she would be in the brig.
Scene Four
Seska left the ship to walk to the bar, feeling isolated and emotional. Her day was about to get worse. Kathryn Janeway exited the forest carrying a phaser which was aimed straight at her.
"Just shoot me, I don't care. Chakotay will kill me anyway when he finds out that I paid someone to kill you."
Kathryn hadn't expected her to confess so easily.
"Why did you do it? I know that we aren't friends but I've never met you before so how can you hate me that much?"
"Since you arrived on board he doesn't notice me anymore. We had a long term relationship which I didn't want to end."
"Are you talking about the Captain?"
"Who else, I've noticed all the late night discussions you've had and the star gazing."
"I can't believe you think I'm having a relationship with Chakotay. He threatened me with the brig during our last conversation."
"I've seen the way he looks at you, he used to look at me like that."
Kathryn lowered her weapon, "I've been the Captain of a starship. It is an unwritten rule that you do not have a personal relationship with any member of your crew as it compromises your ability to command."
"We're not in Starfleet if you haven't noticed," commented Seska nastily.
"Chakotay was trained by Starfleet and worked as an officer on board Starfleet vessels. Trust me, this is one principle he will stick to."
"Are you going to tell him about the contract?"
"No I'm not but if you try to harm me again I will find you and kill you where you stand."
"Yes Ma'am!" answered Seska respectfully.
Kathryn returned to the ship glad that they had reached an understanding.
Seska continued her walk to the Bar, She couldn't believe that Janeway had been so weak. In her previous job her superiors would have killed her if she'd shown compassion to an enemy. She would kill Janeway soon because she wanted Chakotay for herself. Secondly she was the only person on the ship who knew enough about Cardassian politics to discover her secret.
Scene Five
B'Elanna was on her way to meet Tomas. She couldn't believe that she'd fallen in love with him so quickly. Her Klingon half was disgusted by so much sentimentality. In a couple of weeks there would be enough money to buy the raw materials for the manifold. , Chakotay would leave the planet as soon as they were able to repair the engine. Except B'Elanna didn't want to go home without Tomas. She had a plan to tell Tomas the truth about the Starship and crew trapped on his planet. She only needed to show him her ridges to prove her story. Afterwards they could meet with Chakotay and ask for permission for Tomas to join the crew. He was intelligent and a decent engineer. It wouldn't take her long to teach him about Warp engines.
She saw Tomas in the distance. B'Elanna was really nervous about telling him. It was a very big secret that she'd kept from him but she had been under orders not to say anything. Tomas ran towards her and picked her up, then he kissed her until she was breathless.
"I prefer that way of saying hello, I think words spoil the mood."
"I'm so excited about spending the whole day with you."
"So am I," said B'Elanna, "But I have something to tell you first. You must promise me not to say a word until I've finished speaking."
The first thing she did was to remove her hat. She put it straight back on when she saw the expression on his face.
"What happened to you, were you injured, are they scars?"
"No Tomas, I'm an alien. We landed on this planet because we needed a part for our engine. Our whole crew has been working on the planet to earn the money for the raw materials to build our manifold."
"I don't understand, are you saying that you come from outer space?"
This wasn't going as well as B'Elanna imagined it.
"Yes, we came here in a spaceship, my home planet is in another Galaxy, a long way from here."
"How many aliens are on your ship?"
"There is one spaceship with a small crew. We aren't the advance party for an invasion attempt."
He stood up quickly without looking at her,
"I'm sorry B'Elanna, I need to process all this information."
She felt betrayed when she tried to kiss him and he turned away. After he left, she wiped away the tears before anyone from the ship saw her. B'Elanna walked slowly back to the ship. She was trying to work out how to tell Chakotay that she'd revealed their secret to one of the natives.
Rather the wait around feeling guilty, she marched into Chakotay's office.
Chakotay stopped writing his personal log and smiled at her, "What can I do for you B'Elanna?"
She told him everything that had happened between her and Tomas.
"I thought I could trust him. Even worse, I fell in love with him at first sight. I might be wrong about him perhaps he'll keep our secret!"
"Nevertheless we will have to move our schedule forward."
B'Elanna was confused, "What do you mean?"
"Tomorrow night we'll break into the factory and make the manifold with their materials."
"You want us to steal what we need? Why couldn't you have given us permission to do that at the beginning."
"I thought we'd have time to do it the honest way but your indiscretion changed that. Get Ayala, Hogan, Carlson, O'Donnell and Kathryn in here, we have a raid to organise."
Scene Six
Six members of the crew set off the following night to break into the factory. B'Elanna had stolen the keys earlier from a foreman. His job was to open the factory in the morning for the day shift. He shouldn't even find out they were missing until the following morning.
Everything went according to plan in the factory. Hogan and B'Elanna made the part really quickly using her specifications. They left the money they'd saved on the foreman's desk so at least they'd paid for some of the materials they used.
They reached the clearing in front of the forest where the Val Jean was hidden.
Hogan told everyone to get down on the floor because he'd seen movement at the edge of the trees.
"Is it someone from the ship or the natives?" whispered Captain Janeway."
"I believe they are natives Ma'am as they're carrying antique weapons," answered Hogan.
"If we split into two groups perhaps we can find our way around the group and meet up again in front of the ship."
"We could just shoot them," suggested B'Elanna.
Ayala replied, "How would you feel if Tomas was part of the group?"
Ayala took B'elanna and Hogan and Kathryn was left with O'Donnell and Carlson. Ayala's group almost made it to the ship until Hogan fell noisily over a tree stump.
"The aliens are trying to escape Captain, do we try to take them alive?"
"Shoot to kill soldier because none of us will be safe until they're gone.
Kathryn's group hid themselves behind a bush but the natives were closing in on their position. She made the decision to run to the ship as it was dark. At least some of them might make it back.
As the leader of her group Kathryn was the last one to try make it back. Unfortunately a soldier saw her break cover and aimed his rifle before he could make the shot another gunman shot him. Tolan emerged from his hiding place, blew her a kiss and disappeared.
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