Of Fools and Dreams
Tom tried his best to mind his own business. He focused intently on the helm controls before him. Voyager was at warp. Needless to say, there wasn't much to see. An abbreviated sigh came from behind him. Without looking, he knew Chakotay had gotten up, again, and was pacing.
"Tom, how much longer until we reach the co-ordinates?"
Careful not to aggravate an already tense situation, Tom stuck to answering the question. "Ten minutes."
"Can we get anything else out of the warp engines?"
"Damage assessments calculate this to be as fast as we can safely go. Any faster, and things are going to start shearing off."
"Dammit," Commander Chakotay muttered more than swore. Chakotay went through the list again, hoping against hope that he had missed something, anything that could help them get there faster.
Voyager, trusted steed of the Federation (and Maquis) stranded in the Delta Quadrant, had seen many thousands of light years in her short tenure. She had given when asked, not only what was asked, sometimes a great deal more. Some stresses were easily beared. Years of these stresses can take its toll. It started with an EPS conduit. Then a power relay. Then a cascade of various parts and even whole systems began to overload. The inertial dampeners eased the transition from warp to normal speed, but one could still feel some of the deceleration.
"What happened?" Chakotay asked aloud, though to no one in particular. Then he looked at ensign Kim. "Report," was all he had to say.
"We have systems failures all over the ship, sir. Warp, EMPulse, you name it, it's shutting down." His first assignment. Who would have thought that he would end up hundreds of thousands of light years from home. He didn't always think of his mother, or his girlfriend, at least, not anymore. Now, he only thought of them when crisis was abounding. He was always looking inside himself, wondering if he would ever see Earth, family, again. "Engineering is taxed beyond their numbers. Do I have permission to leave the bridge?"
Chakotay nodded. If nothing is broken here, he is of better use down there. Please, Voyager, don't fail us now. Katie needs you. His heart skipped half of a beat when he said her name to himself. Although he would have never said that name to her, he knew the ship would keep his secret.
~!~
Captain's Log, supplemental; Seven and I have been stranded here for three days. We have taken refuge in a class 3 nebula. We were on a simple mission to investigate a Trinary Pulsar; another phenomena not found in the Alpha Quadrant. On our return, we were ambushed by the Vaadwaur (*Dragon's Teeth episode). The damage is thorough, but not irreparable. We've been able to stabilize the multi-phasic shields and have only limited thrusters. So far, warp capabilities will remain off-line. We are cannibalizing some of the parts to get the EMpulse up and running. I can only hope that our distress beacon was able to transmit long enough to get Voyager's attention. Seven is her usual, efficient self. I can only wonder as to her true state of mind. As for me, I can't help but to worry. If what Deraan says is true, Voyager is either dead or dead in space. I hope that isn't true, but I have to make certain assumptions as Captain.
Seven of Nine, Tertiary Adjunct of Unimatrix One worked as quickly and as quietly as she could. Only parts of her conscious thought focused on what she was doing. In her head she could still hear, and be driven by, the memory of multitudes of voices. Through her time with Captain Janeway, those voices had quieted to a dull roar and on occasion silenced completely. In times like this, she only had Borg "training" upon which she could rely. Right now, the voices prodded her on. "Work, work, work, work, work…" was the mantra at the moment. Seven of Nine, Tertiary Adjunct of Unimatrix One didn't like having to… how did Captain Janeway put it? … "improvise"… solutions to almost impossible questions. Almost is irrelevant. Solutions are merely hidden, Seven chided herself, and then redoubled her efforts at removing the defective plasma manifold. It was at this moment, Kathryn decided to look over her shoulder.
"How's it coming?" Seven wasn't sure why the Captain couldn't have asked for a status report over the com line. Humans have this irrepressible urge for close contact, she heard her mind say. "I am decalibrating the injectors. I will finish in fifteen minutes." She heard the Captain sigh. That means she wants to talk, and not about anything directly concerning our mission, or getting us back to Voyager. She didn't add If Voyager still exists. "Seven," Janeway began, "what if Voyager has been destroyed?"
"We will adapt. We will survive."
Though honed down to their essence, Kathryn had heard those words before. Her lips momentarily lifted into a smile. "Chakotay and I were once left to 'adapt and survive'." Her eyes glossed over and her mind carried her back to that time. She was so driven with finding a cure for their condition. She has always been pushing, pushing, pushing herself to get everyone home. To get Voyager home. She didn't want to do it, but she tried to imagine the future without her ship, her crew. She even surprised herself by feeling her heart grow heavy when she thought of a future without her first officer. Seven was satisfied that silence again permeated the environs.
~!~
"Astrometrics to the bridge." Captain Janeway looked up from her PADD. She truly didn't want to stop her review of the overhauling of the warp coils. Their efficiency had been steadily declining for several months. It had already been a good two days and she was anxious to get on track again. "Go ahead, Seven."
"Sensors have detected a Trinary Pulsar 30 light years from our current position." This was a bright spot in an otherwise dreary day (forgive the pun).
"Did I hear you correctly? A Trinary Pulsar?"
"That is correct. Three pulsars in sync and in close proximity to one another. Sensors cannot compensate for the graviton forces at this distance." Is it just me, Janeway thought, or is she anticipating me? Janeway turned to Chakotay and smiled.
"Looks like this isn't 'routine maintenance' after all."
"It's a good thing we decided to stop," Chakotay mused. They both knew better. Voyager needed certain things done at certain times or she was not a happy ship.
By the book it would take another day to
complete the inspection and repairs on the warp coils. Kathryn, ever the scientist couldn't stand
letting something this intriguing sitting on a rear burner. We may be in the Delta Quadrant by
accident, but this is an explorer's dream!
Janeway turned to her first officer, "Do you think you could keep an eye on Voyager? This sounds too good to let wait."
Chakotay mused to himself that she sounded like a first year cadet. Right down to the sparkle in her eye, he thought. "Have fun, and stay out of trouble." Why did I say it like that?
Tom spun around in his chair trying not to look hopeful. He knew he would be tapped to fly the Delta Flyer because he had overheard something about graviton forces. It makes perfect sense, great pilot, difficult flying. I am a natural for this mission.
"Seven, meet me in shuttle bay 1,"
she announced as she headed for the turbolift. Tom cleared his throat, but before he could get a word out, he was
silenced by the whoosh of closing doors. When he glanced at Chakotay he only got an amused look for his
troubles. With only a little disgust he
resumed monitoring the adjustments being made to the warp field induction
indicators. Another measly
4.7%. This is going to take
forever! I hate being stuck in space
dock!
~!~
The warp nacelles levered into position. The computer calculated the most efficient angle for the warp factor desired. For a split second it looked as though Voyager defied all Newtonian physics. With a flash of light, she disappeared.
"Warp 6 and holding steady," Tom
reported, "With that little pit stop, we've increased the warp core efficiency
to 99.92%." Not the best I've ever
seen for sure. All things considered
though, that is good.
"Good, let's drop out of warp and make sure nothing shakes loose," Chakotay ordered. Voyager obediently slipped out of warp and engaged Empulse engines.
Nothing fell off. That is always a good sign.
~!~
The Delta Flyer's console alarms were blaring as it fell out of warp. Janeway and Seven both glanced at the panels before them. "We have come out of warp 17 light years from our destination. We are being hailed." Janeway flipped the Audio Only switch. "This is Captain Kathryn Janeway of the Federation starship Voyager…" and that was as far as she got in her introduction.
"I am well aware of who you are. My name is Denaar Lucet, of the Vaadwuar. We have found Voyager. Lower your shields and prepare to be boarded or be destroyed."
Janeway turned to Seven of Nine for confirmation of what had been asserted.
"Voyager is not at the space dock but does not appear to be moving, either."
Janeway fired three bursts of the Borg-modified phasers and then wheeled the Flyer around to make the jump to warp. Although the phasers made contact with the enemy ship, the damage was minimal. The Vaadwuar ship returned fire on them. The Delta Flyer reeling from the impact. The Vaadwuar's base technology may be hundreds of years old but it is far from archaic. "They have reduced the shield output to 70%. Warp is now offline." Action Kate was never one to run from a fight, fair or not.
In a flurry of weapons fire and shuttle flying that would've made Tom queasy, Janeway was able to gain the advantage. "Their shields are down," Seven reported, "and from their lack of fire, their targeting scanners are malfunctioning." The Flyer was rocked again. "Their manual systems however, are another matter." Janeway chanced a peek at a chart of the immediate vicinity. "I'm going to hide us in that nebula. Those clouds should keep them from getting any kind of lock on us." Should, she continued to hope. Just as she aimed the Flyer in that direction, the aft science station rained sparks on the interior. "Another direct hit. Shields are continuing to weaken."
"Just a little longer…" Janeway coaxed.
~!~
As Voyager came to a stop, the crew began busying themselves with running the various diagnostics measuring the minute details no human (or alien) could discern. Each subsection within Engineering reported all systems to be running as well as before. No stray emanations, no leaking particle conduits. Even the Replicator system was working within normal parameters. Although, with Neelix's cooking, who knew what normal was anymore?
After the brief "Attaboy Ceremony", Commander Chakotay allowed himself a moment in the Captain's ready room. He could never shake the feeling that he was in the Principal's office any time he was here. Even when she wasn't here, this ship, especially this room, radiated her Captain's presence. Whenever she was gone, he couldn't help but be drawn here. For extended missions, he had even been "guilty" of sleeping here. It was silly, he knew but some things couldn't be helped.
"Commander to the bridge," he heard Tuvok request.
"On my way."
As he stepped out onto the bridge, Tuvok began reporting. "Sensors report three ships emerging from subspace 10,000 kilometers to starboard. They appear to be the Vaadwuar." No sooner had Tuvok finished this than Voyager was hit with a volley of plasma charges. "Shields are at 90%," he finished.
"Return fire, evasive pattern Gamma, " Chakotay ordered.
The ships continued in their macabre dance for what seemed hours. Plasma charges lighting up the shields, phasers finding their marks on the other ships. Although hardly a fair fight, the three Vaadwuar ships were holding their own against the interloping sojourner. It wasn't until after one of their number was reduced to space debris that they began to wonder if they should've brought more ships. That was hardly likely. The Vaadwuar society had fractured after their escape from their former home planet. There weren't that many "explorers" of the Vaadwuar left. That is what necessitated this attack. More ships meant more power.
The remaining ships fought valiantly, but their demise was to be similar. One of the two remaining ships was critically damaged. "A hull breach is imminent," Kim reported. `
"Contact both ships. Let's see if we can beam some of them to safety," Chakotay offered. A Vaadwuar male appeared on the viewscreen. "You are the only ship remaining, let us beam the survivors over before their ship is destroyed." Before he could respond, the damaged ship disintegrated. Pieces of the interior were being scattered into the emptiness of space, along with some of the crew. Chakotay looked to Ensign Kim. Without the question being asked, Harry shook his head, indicating that none of the crew survived the break up. Without a word being spoken by the captain of the other ship disappeared into sub-space.
~!~
Harry Kim was monitoring the progress, as a good Ops officer should. He had been working very hard at being the kind of person, the kind of Federation officer his captain could be proud of. He wanted the satisfaction of knowing he had actually earned his promotion, instead of just serving enough time to achieve the rank. That meant his reports needed to be coherent, concise, and cogent. The three C's. He was especially proud of himself for making that one up. The three C's, he repeated in his head, practicing what would someday be a lauded lecture at Starfleet Academy. His reverie was broken by the red flashing of the Sub-Space Guard Frequency Monitor. That was the specific algorhythm within the computer that was constantly watching for Distress beacons. Anything within earshot of the sensors was routed through this program for an initial examination. Signals which met the pre-established criteria were routed straight to the Ops station on its corresponding ship.
"Sir, we have a distress signal, audio only," Harry reported immediately. Barely a moment later, the heartbeats of those on the bridge collectively paused.
"This zzzzzzzzzz ta Flyer. We are under attaczzzzzztt. We have taken ref zzzzzzzt zzzzzzzzt…"
"That's all there is," Harry reported solemnly.
Commander Chakotay had to silence the screaming voice in his head before he could run down The List. One, Repairs; Two, Save the Captain. It wasn't much of a list, to be sure, but the stray thoughts he'd been allowing himself the last few days, he would've gotten out and pushed to get to Kathryn faster.
"B'Elanna, what do we have?
"We have limited warp, very little in the way of shields, so weapons are all we have right now."
"Give everything you can to the warp engines. The Captain is in trouble. We'll worry about the situation when we get there."
They say that in space no one can hear you scream. On board a ship traveling through space,
sound carries just fine. The miniscule
crew was getting an earful of Commander Siphere's shouts at the moment. The raid on Voyager had not only
failed, but had done so miserably. In
any firefight losses were inevitable, but the loss of two ships and comrades in
arms and friends was more than enough for any lifetime. That's not to mention the losses that
occurred before now. Trying to settle a
new planet. Striking out in a galaxy
that has moved on since they were placed in stasis. It's just not worth any more reckless loss of life. Those men have died for nothing! Not it is clear to me that fighting for
supremacy was a foolish mistake! Why
did I ever let Denaar talk me into this? I know what I'll do. I'll reason
with him. He can't help but see how
wrong it is now. Commander Siphere had the helmsman take the Talon
to where Denaar was to take the Flyer. There will be an end to this one way or another.
Aboard the Dragon's Blood, Captain Denaar was pacing madly around the bridge. He couldn't believe that such a small ship had eluded him for this long. The nebula in which she was hiding was impenetrable by ship sensors. His engineer had told him that to fly in there was to be flying blind. There was simply no way to track anything within the nebula. He had to content himself with waiting.
The lieutenant working Ops/Tactical reported that a vessel was emerging from a sub-space conduit.
A smile played on Denaar's lips. Finally, some good news, perhaps. He switched on his video console. The image of Commander Siphere appeared there immediately.
"Welcome back, Commander. You have come to share your success with us, no?" The pause before he answered combined with the shadow that crossed Siphere's face told him enough.
"It did not go well, Captain. We did engage Voyager. Two of my detachment were destroyed." Siphere breathed deeply, remembering the recent loss. "We, you and I, our two ships, are all that is left of our fighting force."
Denaar couldn't believe his ears. He had spent weeks planning this raid. When they had found out that the Captain had left her ship, it seemed the perfect opportunity to take Voyager. "We can still take their Captain! Wait here with me, we have yet to run out of options. With the Voyager we can dominate our peoples!"
"Denaar, listen to me. This is not the answer to the future of our people. Unification, certainly; but not through force!" Siphere realized that the crew of Voyager would stop at nothing should their Captain be captured. He knew that course of action meant certain death for one or both ships. He was tired of losing. No more. It ends now.
"You are still grieving for the loss of our friends. I understand that. Hold this course, Siphere! We have yet begun to fight!"
"No Captain, the fighting is over for me." With that, Siphere shut off his end of the communication and the Dragon's Talon disappeared into sub-space.
~!~
Things were progressing well aboard the Delta Flyer, if by normal you mean hard fought. It would seem that bolts and nuts in the future are no better than the ones we enjoy today. Most of the repairs that could be affected had been completed. Only a couple odds and ends remained to be finished. Captain Janeway took the opportunity for a much needed break. Not necessarily from the work but rather from her thoughts. She had to continually force herself to pay attention to the task at hand. Left to its own devices, her mind would begin chasing thoughts she knew she shouldn't think.
Her regard for her first offer wasn't changing, but the paradigm it was based on was. She would jump back and forth between their time in quarantine and various times in the more recent past. It could be argued that an event like that could leave no one unchanged. Their relationship after that point had deepened somewhat. There was a great deal of respect flowing back and forth. Since that time there had been more than one disagreement, but the bottom line for both of them wasn't just about Voyager. It was about us.
Kathryn was seeing those moments in time in a whole new way. A simple smile; a touch of his hand; she honestly couldn't recall looking at him and not seeing him already looking back at her. She wondered how she could have missed something that was so obvious to her now.
"Seven," the Captain said, "we have to find a way past that ship."
~!~
As fast as repairs could be made, it still wouldn't have been as soon as yesterday. Chakotay was up and pacing again. It was twelve steps from one side of the bridge to the other. It was times like these that made normal men insane. He heard a beep from Tuvok's console and turned to see what the news was.
"There is one ship emerging from sub-space," Tuvok
dutifully reported. You couldn't tell
just by looking at him but Tuvok shared the same concern as everyone else on
this ship.
"Shields, and get me everything we've got on weapons!" Just after the ship was placed on Red Alert, Tuvok reported that the vessel was hailing Voyager. Chakotay looked to Tuvok and thought for the briefest of moments of ignoring the hail. They didn't bother hailing last time, and there is only one ship… Chakotay reasoned. "On screen."
"I am Commander Siphere of the Dragon's Talon. I come to you with my regrets. Among them is my attack on your ship. We do not have much, but we will help you in any way we can."
Chakotay looked sternly at the screen. Of all the scenarios he had been playing out in his head, this one hadn't come up. "We can beam you over to discuss the terms, but first, what do you know of Captain Janeway." Chakotay did his best not to let the hitch in his voice be noticed.
"She is alive. Or, rather, I don't believe she is dead. After I left here, I went to speak with my superior. There was no debris, and Denaar didn't mention that he had captured you shuttle."
The meeting hadn't taken long. These Vadwuaar didn't have much to begin with. Mostly what they had on their backs or could carry. When Siphere learned of Voyager's plight, he informed Chakotay that they needn't be warp capable. "Talon may look rough around the edges," he mused, "but she can pull this ship through sub-space to the Three Eyes of Mahlel."
Shiphere seemed sincere enough. Then again, so had another Vadwuaar. Erring on the side of caution he made sure that B'Elanna and Tuvok would be ready should the time come. "There could be anything waiting at the other end of this."
~!~
Some light years away, Denaar was also pacing his bridge again. Cursing the friend turned traitor, Siphere. This plan had been a simple one, and child could have pulled it off. The rumors in the by-ways and back alleys around the Delta Quadrant had warned against facing off with Voyager and her bigger than life Captain. That is why he had waited for a time like this to strike. His thinking being that if you cut off the head, the body will die. This is simply intolerable!
"Captain! The Flyer has emerged on the far side of the nebula!"
"Don't just sit there! Go after it! As soon as it is in range I want you to breathe all the fire you can upon it."
"But, sir… what about adding ships to our cause?"
"Siphere was partly correct. What cause can we have with only two ships? Destroy them. We will find others."
Dragon's Blood was quickly approaching the nimble shuttle. Firing blast after blast, narrowly missing each time. Whoever was piloting that shuttle seemed more adamant at being missed than before.
"Why can't you get a lock on them?" Denaar demanded.
"Their shields are rotating faster than we can compensate. I'm trying to use manual targeting scanners, but the Flyer is too agile. We're just going to have to get closer, sir."
No sooner had that been said than Ops/Tactical reported in. "Sir, we have one… no, make that two ships coming from sub-space." A brief pause. "One is Talon, and the other is… Voyager."
"What!" What was once an intolerable situation had just turned inconceivable.
~*~
The Ops panel pinged once. "Incoming message, sir," Harry announced.
Siphere appeared on the view screen. "I am through fighting for this eternity," was all he said. The screen went blank and the Dragon's Talon disappeared again.
In what could only be described as telepathic synergy, both Federation vessels made contact at the same time.
"Nice of you to join us, Voyager," Captain Janeway joked, "We could use a little help, if you don't mind.".
"Hail the other Vadwuaar ship."
"No response."
"Lock phasers and fire," Chakotay ordered.
Two eruptions on the primary hull made Captain Denaar more aware of just how off balance this fight had become. The Dragon's Blood broke off pursuit and exited normal space, leaving only the Flyer and Voyager.
~!~
Among others gathered to welcome the Flyer and its crew Tom and Harry were making post flight checks. Tom looked up from the port nacelle in time to see Chakotay and the Captain exchange looks and kind words. He couldn't help but make a face.
"What?" Harry asked.
"Did you just see that?" Tom queried back pointing to the senior officers.
"See what?" Harry looked, but by that time the moment had passed.
"That look."
"What look?"
"If I have to explain it to you then nevermind."
~*~
Chakotay and Kathryn were walking along the corridor to her quarters. They were making idle chat about the various problems and setbacks they had faced getting to where they were now. There was an awkward silence when they reached her door.
In another moment of seeming telepathic ability, they both started the same sentence, "We need to talk…"
They both laughed nervously. Janeway opened the doors to her room and as they shushed closed, one could see the Captain of Voyager and her first officer leaning towards one another.
Just another day on the Intrepid class starship.
The End…