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Chapter Three
When Harry Kim stood up during the senior staff meeting to give his report you could have heard the
proverbial pin drop. The anticipation that filled the briefing room was palpable.
Harry didn't keep them waiting.
"We've analyzed the debris we found this morning...and some of it was from the Delta Flyer..."
Silence permeated the air..there were a couple of sharp intakes of breath from around the table...Janeway
felt her hands tighten their grip on the armrests of her chair...
"But only some of it," Kim continued. "Not enough for us to believe that it was destroyed here."
...And as simply as that at least an ounce of the tension that had blanketed the room disappeared. It was as
if their collective breath had been held...and was now released.
"So...you're saying the Delta Flyer wasn't destroyed?" That was from B'Elanna - still a bit hesitant.
Harry managed a small smile. "If it was - it wasn't destroyed here."
B'Elanna just looked at him a moment...and then smiled. Atleast, it could have been a smile...to Janeway it
looked more like a cross between a smile and a baring of fangs.
"So...should I kill you now, Starfleet, or should I wait till the next time you get me going like that, and then
really slaughter you."
Mild laughter spread through the room and yet a little more of the lingering tension dissipated.
"Well," said the Captain, "Since Harry is in charge of scanning that planet, I suppose I'll have to ask you to
wait till next time, B'Elanna." Harry smiled apologetically and there were a few more chuckles.
"Which brings us to the next topic on the agenda," Janeway continued, moving on. "What can you tell us
about that planet, Ensign Kim?"
"Well, it seems to be M-Class. There are definitely some humanoid life signs down there, but with the
atmospheric interference we still can't determine just what kind of humanoid life it is. Whoever's down
there - it's a post-warp civilization. At least, the ship whose debris we found had warp capabilities, and our
scanners have managed to pick up large amounts of the materials that were used in the components of the
ship down on the planet. But, of course, we haven't seen any ships coming or leaving the planet since we
got here, and we haven't gotten any responses to our hails, so we can't be sure that that ship was actually
from here."
"Have you picked up any sign of the Flyer on the planet?"
Kim's look was - again - apologetic. "No. We still can't get past that atmospheric interference. The only
reason we even picked up those materials I mentioned - and the life signs - is that the materials exist in such
a large quantity, and the planet's population is scattered, but considerable."
"Therefore you wouldn't be able to pick up any signs of Paris or Darber if they're on the planet, either."
Janeway nodded at Kim, motioning him to take his seat. "Good work, Mr. Kim."
Janeway straightened in her seat, steepling her hands on the table before her. Her officers seemed to come
to attention, as well, recognizing this as her okay-here's-the-plan posture.
"Well, since our scanners are, obviously, not going to be of any help to us, due to the atmospheric
interference, we'll have to take a shuttle down to the planet; do a scan that way. Commander Chakotay, do
you think you could get a shuttle close enough to the planet to do a scan without getting close enough to
alert the natives? They may very well be post-warp, but we can't be certain. I don't want to take the chance
of giving them any surprises."
Chakotay nodded. "If they don't have warp capability, then it's a safe bet that they don't have the ability to
detect anyone that does. I think I can get in and out without causing any reports of UFOs to start popping
up around the planet."
Janeway shared a smile with her XO. "Good." She looked around the table at her officers, preparing to
chose who she should send to help with the scans. She could send Harry, but she suddenly thought, why not
B'Elanna? As her Chief Engineer got further along in her pregnancy she began going on less and less away
missions - and Kathryn knew Chakotay had re-delegated some of her engineering duties to Joe Carey, as
well. No doubt the lighter workload was killing B'Elanna - especially now, considering the situation. She
would probably benefit from the chance to get out there and do something. And, besides, she wasn't that far
along in the pregnancy that she was officially disqualified from away duties. Janeway made her decision.
"Take B'Elanna with you to help with the scans," she said, and secretly smiled at the look of surprise and
pleasure that earned her from B'Elanna's direction.
The Captain looked around the table once again, feeling much better now that they had a bit of a better
plan, and seeing from the looks on the faces of her officers that the feeling was mutual.
"If that's it then...let's get out there and get to it. And let's hope there's some good news waiting for us down
there on that planet. Dismissed."
Chapter Three
When Harry Kim stood up during the senior staff meeting to give his report you could have heard the
proverbial pin drop. The anticipation that filled the briefing room was palpable.
Harry didn't keep them waiting.
"We've analyzed the debris we found this morning...and some of it was from the Delta Flyer..."
Silence permeated the air..there were a couple of sharp intakes of breath from around the table...Janeway
felt her hands tighten their grip on the armrests of her chair...
"But only some of it," Kim continued. "Not enough for us to believe that it was destroyed here."
...And as simply as that at least an ounce of the tension that had blanketed the room disappeared. It was as
if their collective breath had been held...and was now released.
"So...you're saying the Delta Flyer wasn't destroyed?" That was from B'Elanna - still a bit hesitant.
Harry managed a small smile. "If it was - it wasn't destroyed here."
B'Elanna just looked at him a moment...and then smiled. Atleast, it could have been a smile...to Janeway it
looked more like a cross between a smile and a baring of fangs.
"So...should I kill you now, Starfleet, or should I wait till the next time you get me going like that, and then
really slaughter you."
Mild laughter spread through the room and yet a little more of the lingering tension dissipated.
"Well," said the Captain, "Since Harry is in charge of scanning that planet, I suppose I'll have to ask you to
wait till next time, B'Elanna." Harry smiled apologetically and there were a few more chuckles.
"Which brings us to the next topic on the agenda," Janeway continued, moving on. "What can you tell us
about that planet, Ensign Kim?"
"Well, it seems to be M-Class. There are definitely some humanoid life signs down there, but with the
atmospheric interference we still can't determine just what kind of humanoid life it is. Whoever's down
there - it's a post-warp civilization. At least, the ship whose debris we found had warp capabilities, and our
scanners have managed to pick up large amounts of the materials that were used in the components of the
ship down on the planet. But, of course, we haven't seen any ships coming or leaving the planet since we
got here, and we haven't gotten any responses to our hails, so we can't be sure that that ship was actually
from here."
"Have you picked up any sign of the Flyer on the planet?"
Kim's look was - again - apologetic. "No. We still can't get past that atmospheric interference. The only
reason we even picked up those materials I mentioned - and the life signs - is that the materials exist in such
a large quantity, and the planet's population is scattered, but considerable."
"Therefore you wouldn't be able to pick up any signs of Paris or Darber if they're on the planet, either."
Janeway nodded at Kim, motioning him to take his seat. "Good work, Mr. Kim."
Janeway straightened in her seat, steepling her hands on the table before her. Her officers seemed to come
to attention, as well, recognizing this as her okay-here's-the-plan posture.
"Well, since our scanners are, obviously, not going to be of any help to us, due to the atmospheric
interference, we'll have to take a shuttle down to the planet; do a scan that way. Commander Chakotay, do
you think you could get a shuttle close enough to the planet to do a scan without getting close enough to
alert the natives? They may very well be post-warp, but we can't be certain. I don't want to take the chance
of giving them any surprises."
Chakotay nodded. "If they don't have warp capability, then it's a safe bet that they don't have the ability to
detect anyone that does. I think I can get in and out without causing any reports of UFOs to start popping
up around the planet."
Janeway shared a smile with her XO. "Good." She looked around the table at her officers, preparing to
chose who she should send to help with the scans. She could send Harry, but she suddenly thought, why not
B'Elanna? As her Chief Engineer got further along in her pregnancy she began going on less and less away
missions - and Kathryn knew Chakotay had re-delegated some of her engineering duties to Joe Carey, as
well. No doubt the lighter workload was killing B'Elanna - especially now, considering the situation. She
would probably benefit from the chance to get out there and do something. And, besides, she wasn't that far
along in the pregnancy that she was officially disqualified from away duties. Janeway made her decision.
"Take B'Elanna with you to help with the scans," she said, and secretly smiled at the look of surprise and
pleasure that earned her from B'Elanna's direction.
The Captain looked around the table once again, feeling much better now that they had a bit of a better
plan, and seeing from the looks on the faces of her officers that the feeling was mutual.
"If that's it then...let's get out there and get to it. And let's hope there's some good news waiting for us down
there on that planet. Dismissed."