MAQUIS

Act 17 - Scene 1

As soon as Chakotay heard Seska's voice, he dropped to the floor pulling Kathryn with him. He shielded her while Ayala and Bendara restrained and disarmed Seska.

"Take her to the Brig. I'll deal with her tomorrow," snapped Chakotay.

He helped Kathryn to her feet. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, what the hell was that all about?"

"That was the reason why a Captain shouldn't fraternise with female members of his crew."

"You have some unresolved issues - which is an understatement."

"As far as I'm concerned our relationship was over a long time ago."

"I think I'll go to bed now!" Kathryn wanted him to ask him to stay. She realised that a relationship with him would make her life even more complicated.

He left disappointed that Seska had chosen that moment to interrupt them. He wanted to go back to the room, push her against the wall and carry on where they left off.

Scene 2

Early the following morning Kathryn opened her eyes feeling disorientated. It was pitch black.

"Computer lights!

Nothing happened then she felt a cool breeze. The ground was hard and there was a peculiar earthy smell. She pinched her arm to check if she was still asleep. She didn't wake up and now had a sore arm as well. The last thing she remembered was Seska trying to shoot her. She smiled when she remembered Chakotay's disappointment that they hadn't finished what they started.

She heard rustling behind her and spun around so quickly that she fell onto the floor. She dug her hands into the leaves and let them run through her fingers - they were black. Where the hell was she?

The black clouds parted to allow a little of the light through from twin moons. Kathryn could only see trees and there were lots of them. It was a forest but she had never seen one like this before. Luckily she wasn't too cold so that was one plus point in her favour. Her first challenge was to survive. There had been classes on survival at the Starfleet Academy. Nobody had taken them seriously. In hindsight she wish she had paid attention.

She had to find shelter, warmth, something to defend herself with and a source of clean water. She scanned her surroundings and chose a clear path through the trees. Kathryn decided to focus on a shelter and a source of water. It wasn't an easy task due to the lack of light. She wasn't in the habit of carrying essentials in bed although she might start when she returned to the ship.

Kathryn started to feel drowsy but realised that it wasn't a good idea to sleep. She didn't know any of the creatures who might be hunting in the forest which meant that she had to stay vigilant.

As she walked she thought carefully about her predicament. An unknown alien had either abducted her while she slept or she was being attacked in her asleep. Whoever had planned this elaborate deception would have to show themselves sooner or later. Unless they were sadists which meant that there was a good chance they were watching her now. She hoped that the other members of the crew were safe.

Scene 3

Ayala woke up with a pounding headache. Thinking about the alcohol he'd drunk in the last four days he was lucky to be alive. He wondered why all the light were off and the environmental controls were malfunctioning. He shivered as a cool breeze blew across him. Now he was certain that he was in trouble. Ayala had no idea where he was and who had taken him there. He didn't move while he assessed his surroundings. He was outside. It was so dark that he couldn't see anything approaching him and he had no shelter or warm clothing. He tried to identify any shapes or constructs but it was so dark that his senses were struggling to cope.

He felt around the area where he was sitting. There were twigs, leaves, moss and dirt. It appeared that he was in a wooded area. As he had no idea what else was roaming about he searched for something to use as a weapon. Luckily for him there was a large branch behind him.

A sudden light appeared. Black clouds had moved aside allowing the light from two moons to shine through. His first surprise was that the trees leaves and dirt were black. He couldn't sit still until morning waiting for his abductor to arrive. Ayala decided to tread carefully so he could test the ground in front of him. He didn't want to walk over the edge of a cliff or straight into a trap.

Scene 4

Seska had trouble sleeping after the scene with Chakotay and Janeway. She had to watch him shield her rival by putting his own life at risk. She turned over trying to get comfortable. The memory of watching her man help that bitch to stand and check if she was injured was burnt into her brain.

Ayala took great delight in restraining her. She would get her own back when she left the Brig. Obviously Chakotay wanted her to cool off. She had a vain hope that he might see the funny side of it in the morning. She finally fell asleep while plotting her revenge.

She woke up with a start. Seska knew immediately that something was wrong because she was freezing. Her room temperature was higher than the other rooms on board. Cardassians need a warm environment to survive. To allow her senses to process the scene she crouched down and closed her eyes. There were other life forms in the area. Her senses were telling her that what she was looking at wasn't real. She had to find out who or what had abducted her and how did they get close enough to attack.

She stared at the sky as two moons appeared. Somebody had spent a lot of time and effort to create the fantasy.

Scene 5

After Chakotay left Kathryn he headed back to his own bunk. he had to convince Seska that they were never going to reconcile. He couldn't stop thinking about Kathryn Janeway. She was strong, gentle, beautiful, desirable and infuriating. He had never met anybody that he wanted so much. He was realistic, he knew that a relationship with him would make her life more difficult than it was now. He stopped to get a glass of cold water from the Mess.

He was thinking of a suitable punishment for Seska. It had to show her that she couldn't go around shooting people just because she was jealous of them. The punishment couldn't be too harsh or it would rebound on Kathryn. He closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.

He found himself back at his home colony. He was sitting around an open fire with his father and other members of the tribe. His father told them a story about a Dream Walker who attacked sleepers while they were dreaming. He walked into his victim's dream and forced them to kill each other or sacrifice their own life to save a loved one. If death visited you in your dreams then your physical body would expire as well. When he finished the story he hugged his son and told him to question everything as he did when he was a child.

Chakotay woke up in complete darkness. His first thought was that the lighting had malfunctioned on the ship. His senses were telling him that he was outside in a forest but that was impossible. Chakotay described himself as the only Indian who couldn't make a fire. This was a skill that he definitely should have learned.

He started to shiver as he remembered his dream. He knew instinctively that he should keep moving but he didn't know the area. He picked up some small pebbles to mark the trail that he'd taken, so he didn't walk around in circles.

Chakotay spotted a couple of items placed beneath a tree. There was a flask of water, a bag with some emergency food rations and a compass. He knew that his father had left these to help him. After his father's message he was certain that he was still asleep. It was unlikely that he was the only one attacked so he decided to try to find the others so they could work together.

Scene 6

Astra ran into Sickbay distraught and activated the E.M.H.

"Please state the nature of the medical emergency."

"We haven't got time for that Doctor. Everyone is asleep and I can't wake them."

The Doctor looked confused, "What do you mean, are all the crew dead?"

"No Doctor they have a weak pulse but I can't wake them."

"You will have to bring one of the crew here so I can make a physical examination."

"That is going to be difficult as I don't know how to operate the transporter and I'm too small to carry them."

Tom Paris walked into Sickbay at exactly the right time.

"You wouldn't believe how quiet the ship is Doc. How much alcohol did they put away last night?"

Tom noticed that Astra was staring at him, "You're not asleep?"

He smiled, "Neither are you."

She explained everything she'd discovered before he arrived.

"I have Field Medic training Doc. Give me a tricorder and I'll examine them for you."

"Be careful Mr Paris, We don't know what caused this effect."

The first person he checked was Kathryn Janeway as she was the only person he cared about. After he finished her full body scan, he checked three other members of the crew. Their readings were exactly the same. The Doctor sat at his desk, with the results, striving to make a diagnosis.

"It's no good Mr Paris, I need a living, breathing body to examine."

Tom went to fetch Captain Janeway from her bunk. He apologised before he hoisted her over his shoulder in a fireman's lift. When he reached Sickbay his shoulder was a little sore. He was quite pleased with his physical recovery. He placed Kathryn gently on the bed and waited while the Doctor completed his scan. He could not understand the results.

Captain Janeway is in a psychoactive trance. The crew must have been affected by a bio-electric energy field on a delta wave frequency.

"When did we encounter this bio-electric field?"

"That is the important question. I haven't found any mention in the logs that the crew were aware of this energy field."

"I'll take Astra with me and we'll scan the whole ship. We'll be back soon Doctor."

While he was waiting the Doctor attached the usual monitors to Captain Janeway. He wanted to make sure that he didn't miss any changes in her condition.

Tom and Astra raced back to the Doctor after they completed their investigation.

"We found the cause of the 'Sleeping Beauty' attack. On the port side of the ship there are three vessels emitting a bio-electric field. They are using it to attack our crew while they are sleeping.

"Well Mr Paris, you will have to work together to find a way to disrupt the field. The crew are vulnerable while they are dreaming. Captain Janeway was showing signs of distress while you were scanning the ship."

Scene 7

The Botha was pleased with his work. Normally they didn't attack the outsiders while they were inactive. Yet it did allow him to create the forest from his own memory and place the outsiders in his scenario. The others would not approve of his methods but they might when they saw the final stage.

He planned an ending which would lead to the outsiders ending each others lives. The last one standing will kill them when they realised that they had killed their friends. He moved around the ship undetected due to his ability to shift their perceptions.

His favourite outsider was Seska as she was two different people. Her outside appearance didn't match her inner life force. He had observed her awakening as it was different from the other outsiders.

Once the outsiders expired he would be able to destroy the ship. There would be no traces of them if anyone came looking for them plus the Botha had no need of technology. The four outsiders in his game were strong. He wanted to find out how much pressure it would take to to kill each other. He was certain that the one named Seska wouldn't have any trouble killing the others. The young Botha concentrated for a few seconds to telepathically alter the game. It wasn't survival of the fittest now it was kill or be killed.

Part 2, Kill or be Killed will be posted very soon!