FULL CIRCLE
by Avalon (avalon99@telusplanet.net)
http://members.dencity.com/avalon_online
J/C, PG-13, 3/9
FULL CIRCLE III
Janeway found herself hopelessly entangled with her First Officer as the ship shuddered around them. They staggered backwards, heading toward a nearby bed, with Chakotay struggling to protect her and take the brunt of the fall himself.
She landed on top of him, half on the bed, half off. In any other circumstances it might have been amusing. In the last few weeks, she seemed to have spent more time in his arms than out, for one reason or another. But it wasn't funny. Too much had been said...and left unsaid...for levity. And besides, there were other concerns. Even as Janeway was struggling to regain her footing and lift herself off of her First Officer, Voyager rolled again like a sailing ship in heavy seas. It tipped sideways, shuddered twice, then dipped alarmingly. Janeway lurched forward, her forehead connecting wickedly with Chakotay's jaw, and they both winced. Her vision blurred for a moment then she redoubled her efforts to pull away.
Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Janeway managed to stagger to her feet. The ship plunged again and Chakotay's hand went automatically to her elbow to steady her. For an instant they clung to each other...but only an instant. And then the Captain was moving away, her hand going to her communicator pin.
"Janeway to the Bridge. What's going on?" She hurried toward the door, reeling with the tossing of the ship, Chakotay only a step behind her.
"Captain." It was Harry. "Some sort of...energy waves...are hitting the ship. I've never seen anything like them. They're..."
"Shields up, Mr Kim. I'm on my way," she snapped as she hurried down the corridor as quickly as she could. Her headache seemed to have increased fourfold and for an instant, her vision blurred. She stumbled going around a corner.
Again, Chakotay was there. He steadied her once more, his gaze sharpening as he peered down at her face. "Are you all right?"
Janeway shook her head to clear it then pulled free and resumed her headlong flight. "I'm fine," she began...and then it happened again. The lights flared and...
...And Janeway was leaning against a wall in a large room filled with people she didn't know. But it was different this time. The vision was not sharp and clear. Instead, the crowd seemed to be mingling with the ghostly forms of Voyager's crew. A transparent Chakotay stood close by, saying something she couldn't hear. Rushing sounds filled her ears and pain stabbed at her temples. She clutched her head...
...And the vision vanished, leaving her pale and shaken in the corridor. Chakotay had both hands on her shoulders, an alarmed expression on his face. "Kathryn," he repeated more forcefully, "are you all right?"
"Yes." She had to brace herself inwardly against the pain in her head. It was abating somewhat, but not fast enough for her. She licked dry lips. "I have to get to the Bridge." Once more she pulled out of his grip and set off toward the turbolift. Chakotay pursued her down the corridor.
"Captain..."
"It can wait Chakotay." Her tone was flat, allowing no argument. And then the turbolift door opened and she stepped inside, Chakotay shadowing her every move. As the door closed behind them, he said flatly: "It happened again, didn't it?"
Janeway glanced sideways at him. "Maybe. I don't know. It was different this time." He stiffened, and she hurriedly resumed speaking to forestall what she knew he was going to say. "We'll discuss this later, Commander. Right now I need to know what's happening outside." As if to punctuate her words, the ship lurched violently again and they both reached for the wall, trying to keep their balance.
"Captain..."
She could see he wasn't going to drop it this time. But before he could continue the door slid open and Janeway stepped out onto the Bridge. "Report." She strode quickly toward the Captain's chair.
Harry turned to her, clutching his console for balance. In front of them, Paris was struggling to keep the ship on an even keel while ahead, on the view screen, energy waves could be seen crashing over the ship at regular intervals. They tossed the ship with ease, despite the shields and the crew's efforts.
"They appear to be some sort of particle waves, Captain, but I have never seen anything like them before," Tuvok told her.
"Where are they coming from?" Chakotay asked, settling into his chair and gripping the sides as the ship lurched yet again.
The Vulcan frowned, his hands dancing over the console. "They are coming from a point somewhere behind us but I cannot pinpoint the location. They appear to have travelled for some distance though."
"Tom, can you get us out of here?" Janeway asked.
"I'm trying, Captain, but the warp engines are fluctuating. Something about these energy waves is interfering with them."
"Janeway to Engineering."
"I know, I know!" B'elanna's voice was strained. "The warp coils are going down. I'm working on it!" The communicator link fell silent.
Janeway turned and met Chakotay's eyes. For a moment the tension and things left unsaid between them vanished and they were once more a team, faced with a crisis. "What about Impulse?" he said.
"You heard the Commander, Tom. Get us out of here."
"Aye aye, Captain." His hands flew across the console.
Slowly, labouriously, the ship started to come around, angling its nose across the energy surges...and abruptly the waves stopped. One last swell broke across their bow and then they were gone. Empty space shone on the viewscreen. A startled silence fell over the Bridge.
Tuvok broke the silence. "The waves seem to have dissipated, Captain. I am scanning for any signs."
Janeway exhaled, only now realizing that she had been holding her breath. She turned back to her First Officer...
...and was once more in the crowded room. But the vision were sharp and clear again. She could see every person in the crowd and feel the rough surface of the wall she was leaning against. Janeway bit her lip. "Not again," she thought. "Not now. My ship needs me..." She closed her eyes, wishing desperately to find herself back on the Bridge of Voyager when she opened them. It didn't work. She was still here. Wherever here was...
"All right," she thought, pushing herself away from the wall. "It's time to get some answers." She took a step forward then stopped as someone began to speak. Hastily she scanned the room. There. At the front. The woman she had seen before -- Yvara -- was speaking. Janeway froze and strained to hear over the sounds of the crowd.
"You've all heard what Eidolon said," Yvara was saying, "and you must agree that we can't let this happen. Eidolon is right. We have to stop them from finishing the Guardian...by whatever means are necessary."
"What are you saying, Yvara?" someone called from the crowd.
"I'm saying that if we act, they will use any means necessary to stop us. And...we will have to respond in kind. There...will be violence."
There was an uncomfortable silence from the crowd. Then one person, an older man, stood and said: "But what if Eidolon is wrong. Or lying to us. Where's your proof of all this? You're asking us to risk our lives. Based on what? One person's word?"
"One Shay'anari's word. Why would Eidolon lie?"
"Why would the others?" Murmurs of agreement rippled through the crowd. Yvara shifted uncomfortably, looking pleadingly toward Janeway...toward Eidolon.
Janeway glanced around at the crowd. Several dark looks were being cast at her before the faces hastily turned back to the front and those nearest her edged away a little. She bit her lip in frustration. What was going on? These brief snippets of somebody else's life were only serving to confuse her. She took a deep breath. "I have got to make some sense out of this, before I go crazy. All right," she told herself firmly. "You may not have all the answers, but let's try putting some of the pieces together."
Focus on the facts. She was having a recurring series of visions or hallucinations that was forming a coherent, if confused narrative. Despite the gaps, she could make at least some sense out of all of it. She...or Eidolon rather...had convinced this Yvara to stop...somebody... from finishing the Guardian, and Yvara in turn was trying to convince the others.
And Janeway hadn't been possessed by Eidolon. That much, she was certain. Or, if she were, it was not in the same way as before. Then, she had found herself thrust violently into the back of her mind, losing control of her body as the alien usurped her. Now, she retained complete control -- but seemed to be losing her mind... She shook herself inwardly. "Unproductive thoughts, Kathryn."
Janeway's mind went back to the events of three weeks ago. If this was the same planet Eidolon had taken her to, then these visions must be taking place in the distant past. It made sense. Eidolon had been surprised at the lifelessness of the unnamed planet and had told her he had been away for a long time. And the Guardian had stated that Eidolon's people had long since departed.
So. She was in the past and was somehow reliving events from Eidolon's life. But why? And how? She closed her eyes, ignoring the crowd around her. The Guardian. The alien computer seemed to be the key to everything. But it lay crushed and lifeless in the present, sealed off when the cave collapsed. Yet here, now, it hadn't even been built and already Eidolon was trying to destroy it. Why? She sighed. They knew so little about Eidolon and his people. Chakotay had been able to tell her very little and she herself had tried to put her own brief experience with the Wraith out of her mind. Her mind had been full of...other things...
She cut that line of thought off quickly and refocused on the immediate problem -- such as why was this happening to her and how could she stop it? Unfortunately, she didn't seem to have an answer for either...
The sounds from the crowd interrupted her reverie and Janeway opened her eyes. People were rising and moving toward the door. At the front, Yvara was trying desperately to stop them. "Listen to me," she called, "Please! You must listen. The Guardian will..."
"We've worked to build the Guardian all our lives," someone shouted, "As did our parents and grandparents. And now you stand here and ask us to destroy all those years of work...simply because he says so?" The man shook his head angrily.
Yvara made one last effort to stop them. "You must help us." she cried, "Do it for Anari. This planet needs...!"
"Anari needs the Guardian. "Go back to the mines, Yvara. Go back to your fantasies. We have work to do." There were a few shouts of approval from the rest before they slowly filed out.
Janeway pressed herself back against the wall as they passed, unwilling to face the harsh glares and muttered words aimed at her. She let out a deep breath as the last person exited the building. And then she was alone with Yvara.
The woman stared at her, trembling with anger. When she spoke, her voice was low and accusing. "Why didn't you say something?"
"I..." Janeway didn't know what to say. The truth -- that she wasn't really Eidolon, but was an alien from the distant future -- certainly wouldn't help. But then it didn't matter, for Yvara continued, not waiting for her response.
"Why didn't you help me convince them? How could you just stand there and...?"
"They didn't want to be convinced. Nothing we could have said would have changed their mind." It was Janeway's voice, but the words were not her own. Once more something inside her was supplying her with what she needed...
"So now what do we do?" Yvara asked, the anger abruptly fading from her voice, leaving only exhaustion behind.
Janeway found herself listening breathlessly for her response, hoping that the next sentence would answer some of the questions raging within her. "Now," she heard herself saying, "we destroy the Guardian ourselves."
Yvara gasped...
...and Janeway was back on the Bridge.
She had only a fraction of a second to realize where she was before the pain hit her. Her headache returned, a thousand times worse than before. She cried out and stiffened in her chair, feeling as if her neurons were being scorched from within...and then it abated. Just a little. Gasping, she opened her eyes...to find everyone staring her with alarm on their faces.
"Captain," It was Tuvok. "Are you all right?"
She put a shaking hand to her forehead. "Yes. I'm fine. It's just..." Her voice trailed off.
Chakotay's voice was bleak. "Another vision?"
"Yes, but..." She turned to face him, barely able to see past the pain.
He rose gracefully and looked back at Harry. "Mr Kim," he said quietly, "Will you please help the Captain to sickbay?" Harry leapt to his feet.
"No, wait," Janeway said hastily. "I...I think I know where those energy waves were coming from." Where had that come from? She blinked in astonishment, forgetting for the moment the agony coursing through her...then realized that she did, in fact, know the source of the waves. "Anari. We have to go back to Anari."
"Anari?" Once more Tuvok was speaking. Beside her, Chakotay froze. She glanced once at him, then turned to face her Security Officer.
"Yes," she said, "My...Eidolon's...homeworld." Damn. That slip of the tongue had been a mistake, Janeway realized as her First Officer tensed. She tried desperately to clear her head. The pain was ebbing slowly, but it was still enough to make breathing, let along thinking, difficult. She tried again.
"The planet that Eidolon took us to...it was called Anari. That's where the waves are coming from."
"How do you know this, Captain?" The Vulcan's voice held nothing but cold logic. And still Chakotay said nothing.
She closed her eyes. "I...don't know. I just do." She straightened her shoulders. "We have to go back. Tom, turn the ship around and set a course for the planet..."
"Belay that order."
Janeway turned to her First Officer in shock. Around them, everyone stilled and a tense silence descended upon the Bridge. She stared at Chakotay for an endless moment. "What did you say?"
A muscle tightened in his jaw and he licked dry lips. "I'm sorry, Captain, but you are hereby relieved of command."
The tension, if possible, deepened. Nobody moved. Nobody even breathed. Janeway took a half breath, staring into his eyes. "You..." She swallowed, unable to get the words out, then: "Why?"
He closed his eyes briefly, as if in pain, then met her gaze valiantly. "You're not well and...I believe your ability to make judgements concerning the ship's well-being has been...impaired. I am therefore ordering you to report to sickbay and remain there until further notice."
Janeway sank back in her chair. Suddenly her headache didn't seem nearly so important now. That Chakotay could...No. She couldn't even think the words, let alone accept what he had done. Her mind seemed to have shut down altogether.
Chakotay beckoned to Harry. "Mr. Kim. Will you please escort the Captain to sickbay." For an eternity, no one moved, then the Ensign reluctantly left his post and edged toward her. Janeway glanced blindly at him, then turned to the Vulcan.
"Tuvok?"
He hesitated, then replied. "I...concur with Commander Chakotay. You are not well, Captain...and it is possible that you are...not yourself. It would not be logical to..."
"I have not been taken over, damn it." Her voice rose and several members of the crew, Paris included, jumped. Janeway watched, as if from a great distance, as Tuvok's hand edged towards a phaser.
"Captain?" It was a quiet voice next to her. Harry's. He was hovering like a nervous puppy, not quite sure of her reaction. She swallowed and closed her eyes briefly, then opened them. Marshalling her thoughts and her remaining dignity she stood, not meeting Chakotay's gaze.
"Very well," she said coldly. "I'll go. But I have not been taken over, and if we want to determine the cause of those energy waves then we will have to return to Anari." With that, she headed toward the turbolift, Ensign Kim trailing unhappily after her.
Janeway didn't look back. If she had, she might have seen the expression of anguish in her First Officer's eyes.
TO BE CONTINUED