The Three Sisters

By Voyager Queen



* * Voyager * *

"Commander, the shuttle has exited the ship," Harry reported.

"Is the Captain on board?" Chakotay asked.

"I'm reading human and…betazoid life signs but I can't locate the Captains com signal."

"Hail them."

"No response."

* * The Cochran * *

"What are you doing, Mirage!" Evey roared from behind Mirage. There was a forcefield separating them and Tom was still unconscious lying in Evey's arms. "What's the point to all this?"

"Don't you know, Evey? I'm saving the entire Federation!"

"What the hell are you talking about?! We aren't even any where near the Federation!"

Mirage laughed, "If all goes according as planned, we soon will be."

"That's not possible,"

"Anything's possibly when I'm involved."

"Alright, say you do return to the Alpha Quadrant? What then? What do you expect to achieve?"

"I'm going to complete my assignment."

"You're assignment? The bounty on Tom Paris?"

Mirage laughed, "Of course not, my dear. My assignment to force James McAllister to resign."

"The head of Starfleet? Why? And what does tom have to do with any of this?"

"James McAllister is a pacifist. He doesn't know what he's doing, he never should have been elected."

"And Tom's involvement?"

"He's his grandson. McAllister's pride and joy. You get Tom, you can get McAllister to hand you the Quadrant on a string."

"If you planned to hold Tom hostage why did you train him? Given the slightest chance, he'll escape."

"I was going to make him my partner, another month and he would have done anything for me but them Janeway ruined everything. Forced Tom to see things through their eyes. Turned him against me."

"And you said this was an assignment. Just who assigned it to you?"

"Ever heard of Section 31?"

* * Mirage's Ship (The Miser) * *

Janeway wondered briefly if she was dead. She slowly sat up and her eyes adjusted to the darkness. She remembered Mirage shooting her but Tuvok had installed a personal forcefield on her before she left. She'd rolled her eyes then but owed her life to it now. The blast had knocked her out but the forcefield had kept any lasting damage from being inflicted.

"Janeway to Voyager."

"Captain? What's happened?" Chakotay answered.

"I'll explain when you beam me aboard."

"We can't get a clear lock, the shields are up. Captain our shuttle is preparing to go to warp."

"Follow them, come back for me. Tom's on that shuttle."

"Understood. Chakotay out."

Janeway shakily got to her feet. She wouldn't just wait for Voyager to return. She'd try and help them from here. Running out of the docking bay, she headed towards the bridge.

* * The Cochran * *

"Section 31? What's that?"

"A covert operations unit."

"You're some kind of agent?"

"Exactly."

Evey shook her head, "I thought I knew you."

Mirage turned to Evey, for the first time in years eyeing her with some kind of compassion. "I did care about you once Evangeline. You and Kade and daddy but people who care never accomplish anything."

"That's not true."

"Isn't it?" Mirage laughed. "Look at Tom, if he wasn't so caring he could have escaped by simply allowing me to kill you."

"He might still escape."

"Not unconscious. Not even Tom Paris is that good. Besides, this will soon be over."

"And just how will it end?"

"I'm turning Tom over to Section Headquarters."

"But we're in the Delta Quadrant!"

"So are they," Mirage tapped deftly at her console and a young bajoran male appeared.

"Agent Mirage," he said coldly. "You were told never to return."

Mirage smiled, "Actually, you told me not to return unless I completed my mission." She moved slightly to the right, giving the bajoran a look at an unconscious Tom Paris.

"I have."

* * Voyager * *

B'Elanna Torres wanted to scream. They were so close to getting Tom back but still so far away. She had finally left engineering and headed to the bridge hoping to be of more use at her bridge station. But the Cochran was keeping a steady pace ahead of them and they didn't want to risk firing on them. There was nothing she could do. She hated that. She cared about Tom. Probably more than she has for anyone else in her life.

B'Elanna was brought out of her reverie by Harry's shout.

"They're gone!"

She paled and turned back to her console.

What did her mean by 'they're gone'?

* * The Miser * *

Janeway pried the door open and entered the bridge. The first thing she saw was the bloody figure laid out on the floor.

She dropped to her knees by the woman's side, recognizing her as Kade. She placed two fingers to Kade's neck and cursed when she didn't find a pulse. There was a phaser blast in Kade's side. If Mirage could kill her own sister in cold blood she was capable of anything.

Janeway got up and walked to the helm accessing the failing sensors. She picked up the Cochran with Voyager on its tail. The something happened she hadn't expected…

The Cochran disappeared.

* * The Cochran * *

Mirage flew the Cochran into Section Headquarters being immediately cloaked and protected by the forcefield's surrounding the station.

She docked the shuttle and opened the hatch. The bajoran she had talked to earlier along with a beautiful human female entered.

The woman smiled, "I am Telishia Plum. You've done well, agent."

Telishia turned her attention to Evey, "Who is this? A prisoner?"

"Yes, and my sister."

"Kill her," Plum ordered the bajoran.

"Wait," Mirage said calmly. "If you kill her you won't have anything to hold against Paris, he's fond of her and has had spy training. It would be wise to keep her alive. Use her to keep Paris from trying anything."

Telishia reluctantly nodded, "Very well, take them both to a high security cell."

The bajoran grabbed Evey by the arm and threw Tom over his shoulder before leaving the shuttle.

"I have another assignment for you," Plum told Mirage.

"Which is?"

"You'll be among the team to return the Alpha Quadrant along with Tom Paris."

Mirage smiled, "I was hoping I would be."

"We will be departing tomorrow. Be ready."

* * The Miser * *

Janeway didn't waste time figuring out what had happened to the Cochran. She just set a course and slowly made her way to Voyager. She hacked into the ships systems and shut down the dampening field. When she reached Voyager she had them beam both her and Kade to sickbay then headed immediately to the bridge. She hadn't wanted to leave Kade on that ship alone even if there was nothing the Doctor could do for her.

"Report," she barked as she stepped out onto the bridge.

"We can't locate the Cochran on sensors. B'Elanna believes she has found evidence of another cloak," Chakotay told her.

"Lieutenant," Janeway prompted, turning to the young engineer.

"There is a slight fluctuation in subspace over a quarter of this sector of space. It's the same frequency that Mirage used to cloak her ship earlier but for something to be generating a cloak over such a huge area of space it would have to be massive."

"What are you saying, B'Elanna?"

"I would say that this cloak is being generated by a space station."

"A space station," the Captain gasped. "Can we hail them?"

"We can't even be sure there's someone there to answer," B'Elanna said sadly.

"If Mirage was able to enter the forcefield, can we do the same thing."

"The only way Mirage could have entered the forcefield," B'Elanna mused, "was if she knew the exact frequency of the barrier."

"Can you figure it out?"

"It would take hours."

"Get started."

* * Section Headquarters, Maximum Security Holding Cells * *

Tom groaned as he began to regain consciousness. Evey was sitting beside him with silent tears streaming down her cheeks.

"Janeway's dead, isn't she?" he asked softly.

Evey nodded, "Mirage had her phaser set to kill, I'm sorry."

Tom placed his head in his hands. Why had Janeway agreed to the meeting? She must have known it was a set up. She shouldn't have taken the risk.

Not for him.

Evey looked over to him, "What is Section 31?"

Tom's eyes widened, "Section 31? Why are you asking about that?"

"James McAllister. He's your grandfather."

"How do you know that?"

"Mirage knew. Whatever Section 31 is, she works for them."

Tom ran his hand through his hair, "Well, I guess that makes sense."

"Not to me," Evey snapped.

"Section 31 has been after me for years," Tom said quietly. He tried to focus on his current situation and force back the memory of Janeway flying back into the shuttle.

"Because of you grandfather?" Evey asked softly.

"Yes, they wanted to use me to get him to resign."

"They still do,"

Tom laughed, "That would be kind of hard considering that we're in the Delta Quadrant."

"Do you know where we are, Tom?"

Tom looked around for the first time realizing he was no longer on Mirage's ship, "No,"

"According to Mirage, we're at Section 31 Headquarters.'

"In the Delta Quadrant!"

"Yes, but Mirage mentioned something about going back to the Alpha Quadrant, she still believes that they'll be able to get your grandfather to resign."

Tom sighed, "Well, let's hope she's wrong."

"My sister is many things, Tom but wrong is never one of them."

"You think they actually have a way back to the Alpha Quadrant?"

"If the rest of the agents here are as talented as Mirage then I would say, yes."

"Section 31 agents aren't all their cracked up to be."

"This coming from one of their prisoners."

"This isn't the first time I've been a Section 31 prisoner, the last time I escaped."

"Not such a feat considering you've had extensive training by a *Section 31* agent."

"I was only eight at the time, Eve."

"Eight," she gasped.

"Yea, well they hadn't expected me to do anything. I caught them off guard."

Evey nodded, "We'll get out of this too, Tom," Evey whispered. "Maybe we'll even end up making it home in the process."

"And Voyager? What of them?"

"They'll find their way home, Tom. We all will."

* * Section 31 Headquarters * *

"Telishia," Mirage said entering the Command Center. "Will Evey be accompanying us to the Alpha Quadrant?"

"You know the only transport vessels we have are small. We can only take four people, the girl is just in the way. The first rule of being an agent is to have no relationships."

"I'm not doing this because of a personal attachment. I killed Kade I'd do the same to her if I didn't believe she was vital to this mission. Tom Paris is good. Probably better than most of your agents. He won't leave without Evey. Keep her hostage and you'll keep him hostage. She's his weakness."

"Alright. We will bring her along as our fourth person. If she causes any trouble, however, I'll kill her."

"If she causes any trouble, I'll kill her myself."

* * Voyager * *

"Captain!" B'Elanna cried out triumphantly. "I've discovered the frequency. If we adjust our shields we should be able to slide right through the forcefield."

Janeway smiled, "Good job, Lieutenant. Harry adjust the shields to match B'Elanna's frequency."

"Aye, Captain."

"Captain," Tuvok spoke up. "Do you have a plan as to what you will do if we do manage to penetrate the forcefield?"

Damn. She hadn't thought of that.

"Of course, Tuvok. We'll do whatever it takes."

"Captain," Tuvok sounded surprised. She'd been doing that to him a lot lately.

"We don't know what we'll find so we can't very well develop a plan. We will just need to act as we go. Harry, how are we on those shields?"

"Done."

Janeway smiled, "Hamilton, take us through."

* * Section Headquarters * *

"Telishia!" The bajoran- who Mirage had learned was called Colt-cried out. "A ship has just entered our defense perimeter. It's Voyager!"

"How did they get through?"

"I'm not sure, what do you want me to do?"

"Hail them, Mirage you go prepare for tomorrow."

Mirage nodded and left the room.

* * Voyager * *

"We're being hailed," Harry announced.

"On screen," Janeway ordered.

The Captain gasped when a human appeared.

She had long curly red hair and piercing green eyes, "Captain Janeway, I presume? I suppose reports of your death have been exaggerated."

Janeway gave a guarded smile, "I am Captain Janeway. Can I ask who you are."

"You can ask,' she responded with a sickenly sweet smile. "But I won't tell you."

Right. She'd set herself up for that one.

"Would you mind telling me then, what this place is?"

"This Captain is a secret Starfleet facility. You'd be wise to leave and forget that it exists."

"A Starfleet facility? In the Delta Quadrant? How is that possible?"

"I'm afraid, Captain that you don't have clearance for that information."

"Where is Lieutenant Paris then? Can you tell me that?"

"He's been transferred here."

"Really? Let me talk to him."

"He's quite busy."

"I won't leave until he has been returned to my ship."

"If you don't leave, you and your crew will be incarcerated."

Janeway slapped both of her hands down on the conn and glared at the woman before her, "Let me make myself clear. I want you to answer my questions and return my crewman or I will open fire on your station."

"Alright, Captain, if this is how you are going to act. I want for you and one of your officers to transport aboard. I will answer your questions but I'm not sure how much you'll like the answers…"

* * Section Headquarters * *

Janeway and Tuvok transported aboard the station and were escorted to a briefing room. Though their sensors proved that this station was using Federation technology, no one was wearing a uniform and this concerned them both.

The door slipped open and Telishia sauntered in, "Janeway, I suppose I may as well tell you my name seeing as you've been so insistent. I'm Commander Plum, I run this station."

"Where is Tom Paris?"

"We'll get to him, I have a lot to explain."

"Alright, first I want you to explain what this place really is. It's no normal Starfleet station."

Telishia laughed and poured herself a drink, "No, that it isn't, Captain. Welcome to Section 31."

Janeway paled but Tuvok didn't know the significance of the name.

"What is Section 31?" Tuvok predictably asked.

"Your Captain knows," she answered wryly.

"You can't use Tom to get to McAllister from here," Janeway growled. "The Federation is over 60,000 light years away."

"Actually, it's only a light year away."

"You expect me to believe that? I know where we are."

Telishia took a sip of her drink, "In 2367 a Section 31 agent discovered the Mikan wormhole. It led to the Delta Quadrant. He immediately cloaked the entrance to keep its existence unknown."

"A wormhole," Janeway gasped.

"Yes, and I'll allow you to use it."

"What's the catch?"

"You leave Tom Paris behind."

"I won't do that."

"Then I'll have you and your crew imprisoned. If you're worried for his safety, don't be. McAllister will resign and I'll release him. I won't let any innocents die, that isn't why I became an agent."

"You can't assure me his safety."

"I can, I just did. He's a smart kid. I'm convinced he can take care of himself even if something were to go wrong."

"I'm not."

"Did you know Tom Paris is a trained Section 31 agent."

Janeway narrowed her eyes, "He's not one of you."

"No, no he's not, unfortunately. However, Mirage has trained him, quite well actually. He's extremely valuable to me. And as Mirage herself said, he is probably if not certainly a better agent than most posted here. It's not in my best interests to allow any harm to come to him."

"Why should I believe you?"

"What other choice do you have? As we've been talking I've already disabled all of your weapons systems. And if you don't agree to my terms I won't allow you to leave here."

"Alright. I agree but if anything happens to Tom Paris I will hunt you down."

"Nothing will. And you'd never find me."

* * Section Headquarters, Maximum Security Holding Cells * *

"Can you get us out of the cell, Tom?"

Tom nodded, "Yea, but what will we do when we're on the other side? The chances that we'd even make it half way down the corridor are slim to nil."

"Not necessarily. I know this facility, Tom. I remember the layout from when we were brought here. I may be no good as a stealth agent but if you get us out of this cell I can take us back to the shuttle bay. Back to your ships shuttle."

At the mention of the shuttle Tom pressed his eyes shut, Tom again saw Mirage raise her phaser, saw Janeway hit the shuttle as the blast impacted.

Evey sensed his thoughts, "I'm sorry about your Captain, Tom but you can't allow Mirage to win. You can't let your Captain's attempts to save you be in vain. You need to get us out of here."

"I don't know if I can…"

"You said you could," Evey pointed out determinedly.

"Yes but now_"

"Nothing has changed," Evey interrupted. "If you don't escape for you, then do it for me, for Janeway, your grandfather do it for the whole goddamn Federation, Tom. Just get us out of here.

He could see in slow motion Janeway flying back into the shuttle. Then she was in his arms but he never remembered moving. He'd told Mirage she'd pay for killing Kathryn.

Evey was right, he needed to get them out of here.



to be continued…

The conclusion is next, I'll try and have it up soon…