Sailor Trek: Voyager by Bill Harris
soton@aol.com
"Well, I seem to find myself on the voyage of the damned."
- the Emergency Medical Hologram.
Chapter 2 -- "Please state the Nature..."
A low groan from the floor put a halt to any further conversation.
All eyes turned to the injured ensign, who was beginning to stir slightly.
He blinked several times, trying to clear his vision, then looked them
over puzzledly. "Who..?" he began, obviously not sure what to make of
them. After only a moment's confusion, "I'm... Ensign Harry Kim..."
Anything further he was going to add was cut off by a sharp gasp of pain
as he tried to sit up.
"Lie still," Mercury advised him while automatically directing her
visor to scan his injuries. The results were pretty much what she
expected them to be -- which is to say, not good. "The alien hit you
rather hard. You've got serious internal injuries." She looked to the
others, "The bridge is going to have to wait. We have to get him to
Sickbay and quickly!"
"Unfortunately, we don't know where Sickbay is on this ship,"
Tuxedo Mask pointed out.
"It's on... deck five," Harry said softly. "But...you... have
to... Seven..." His voice faded as he lapsed back into
unconsciousness.
"Seven?" Mars asked perplexedly, but she wasn't the only one.
"Seven what?"
"Maybe something on deck seven?" Jupiter suggested.
"We can find out after we get the ship's doctor to see to his
injuries," Mercury said. "I just wish there was another way down to
deck five. I'd rather not lug him through the Jeffries tubes in his
condition."
"And the turbolift is out, too," Mars said, giving a sidelong
look Venus' way.
As it turned out, the blonde wasn't listening, but was instead
looking at the deck. Before anyone could as, she pointed at what held
her attention, "How about going this way?" Moving closer, they saw
what appeared to be a hatch in the floor that was clearly intended to
provide access to the deck below. "This looks like a way down," she
added somewhat unnecessarily. Before anyone could stop her, she reached
down and opened the hatch. Everyone else instinctively took a half step
backwards to avoid the inevitable fireworks, but for some reason none
was forthcoming.
Mars moved forward and took another look at the opening. After
taking a brief moment to examine it, a wry smile appeared on her face.
"Nothing electrical about it. That's why it didn't blow up in your
face."
Venus shot her a somewhat indignant look. "Very funny."
Moments later, Sailor Moon was looking uneasily down the corridor
on deck five, Sailor Mercury beside her. A few meters behind them, Mars
and Venus were keeping a watchful eye out down the other way, each of
them alert for some sign of the aliens that had invaded the Federation
starship. In the middle, Jupiter and Tuxedo Mask were gently lowering
Harry down through the hatch. "Got him," Tuxedo Mask grunted, then moved
out of the way to allow Jupiter to jump down from the deck above.
"Now all we have to do is find Sickbay," Mars observed.
Jupiter looked up and down the corridor. "Anyone got any ideas?"
"Let's just pick a direction," Tuxedo Mask suggested.
"Sounds good to me," Venus agreed. "Let's go this way." She moved
forward, and Mars followed. Sailor Mercury moved in behind them, scanning
ahead with her visor and using her computer to map out the corridor.
Jupiter opted to be the rearguard and allowed Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Mask,
who was still carrying the unconscious Ensign Kim, to precede her.
Periodically she turned back and peered down the darkened corridor, alert
to any threats.
The darkened state of the corridor served to hamper their progress,
as well as their need to check each door. This slowed their progress to
a frustratingly slow crawl, and began fraying their nerves.
The dark seemed to also magnify every sound in the corridor. "What
was that?!?" Sailor Moon exclaimed, jumping again at a sudden, and what
seemed to be very loud, noise.
Mars half turned and glared at her, irritation clearly written on
her face. "Maybe it was a rat," she snapped.
"A rat?" Venus asked, not catching the sarcasm in Mars' voice. "I
knew we should've brought Luna and Artemis along."
Mercury sighed and hoped they would find Sickbay soon. "It's
nothing," she reassured Sailor Moon.
"Well, we should find this place soon," Jupiter said. "It seems
like we've covered most of this deck."
"It had better be soon," Tuxedo Mask grumbled. "This guy isn't
exactly light."
Jupiter smiled. "If you think that's bad, just try carrying Sailor
Moon halfway through the Negaverse," she whispered to him.
Sailor Moon whirled about and exclaimed,"I *heard* that!" just
before a black energy bolt struck her midsection. The blow knocked the
blonde off her feet and into a nearby door. Surprisingly enough, it
opened automatically before she hit it and she flew through it, the door
closing just as automatically behind her.
"Sailor Moon!" Jupiter turned sharply, enraged at the aliens for
the sneak attack and at herself for having been taken by surprise. There
was a small bit of movement in the shadows, providing her with a target
for her ire. "You creeps are going to pay for that! JUPITER THUNDERCLAP
ZAP!"
The impact of the electrical discharge knocked the alien off it's
feet and it uttered a high pitched keening noise. But in the flare of
Jupiter's attack they could see that there were more of the invaders.
As if to confirm that, several chittering noises could be heard, followed
by answering noises from the other end.
"Here they come!" Venus exclaimed just as the aliens charged.
What followed could be best described as sheer chaos, as the
Scouts cut loose with their own attacks, while the aliens retaliated
themselves while charging at the Scouts' position. Tuxedo Mask hurriedly
put Kim down and his own floral attack to the fray. The Scout's powers
were cutting down the attackers, but the sheer number of them was
insuring that some would get through to them. In fact, one was close
enough that Jupiter was engaging it in hand to hand combat.
That's when the door swished open, the light from inside spilling
out into the corridor. "Hold it right there!" a voice cried out, causing
the combatants to pause and look. Even though they couldn't see her
clearly, the light from the room that silhouetted her figure made it plain
to all who it was. "I am the champion of love and justice, Sailor Moon!
I right wrongs and triumph over evil! And that means you." The aliens
hesitated, uncertain as how to react to her sudden reappearance. This
gave Sailor Moon the time she needed. "MOON SPIRAL HEART ATTACK!" With
their leader and several others of their number cut down by Sailor Moon's
attack, the remaining aliens turned and fled down the corridor.
"Sailor Moon, are you --" Tuxedo Mask began, the others clustering
around her as well.
"I'm fine," she reassured him. "Oh, and by the way..." She
gestured into the room behind her and stood to one side, allowing them a
good look inside it. "...I think I found Sickbay."
Mercury moved up to her and nodded. "Yes, this is it. Darien,
get him in here." After taking another moment to be certain Sailor Moon
was OK, Tuxedo Mask lifted the unconscious ensign from the deck and
carried him inside.
Standing just behind Sailor Moon, Mars grinned. "Leave it to you
to find the place we're looking for by falling into the door."
"I was knocked into it, *if* you don't mind," Sailor Moon said,
sticking out her tongue for good measure before going back inside.
Determined not to let the aliens sneak up on her again, Jupiter
kept a watchful eye on the corridor, and was the last to enter Sickbay.
After the door closed, she touched a control on the panel next to it.
"That should lock it, if I remember correctly."
Now that the door was secured, the group relaxed a bit and took
their first good look around. Unlike the corridors and the cargo bay
before it, Sickbay was brightly lit and the various control panels seemed
to be active. However, it was also quite deserted. "Just our luck,"
Jupiter muttered darkly, "no doctor."
"Or anyone else, for that matter," Venus added, peering into an
adjoining room.
Mercury frowned. Without any of the starship's medical personnel
here, it fell to her to do something about Ensign Kim's injuries. And
while the medical equipment was designed to be fairly easy to use, it
still required the user to have enough knowledge to apply it correctly.
She only hoped that her own abilities were sufficient to the task. "Get
him on that biobed," she told Darien, pointing to one in the rear. The
fact that it was isolated from the other biobeds indicated that it might
be the one used for surgical situations -- she hoped. While he was doing
that, she made her way to the computer console. Like the rest of the
systems in Sickbay, it seemed to be active as well; a fact she confirmed
when it responded instantly to her touch, bringing up the current
stardate. "Stardate 51405.0," she murmured. "So it's been almost five
years for them since we met Captain Picard."
Sailor Moon watched Mercury at the console for a while, then
finally asked, "What are you up to?"
"Since there isn't a doctor here, I'm hoping that there'll be a
medical database in the computer I could use so that I could stabilize
Ensign Kim..." She paused and glanced over to the biobed the ensign was
lying on. He seemed to be stable for the moment, but that couldn't last.
"At least enough for him to survive until we can find a real doctor
around here."
Sailor Moon eyed her friend carefully. While she might not be
anywhere near Mercury in the intelligence department, nor a psychic like
Mars, she was still sensitive to the moods of others around her. She
could tell that the blue haired Scout was having doubts about her ability
to help Ensign Kim. "Don't worry, Amy, I'm sure you'll figure it out,"
she told her in an encouraging tone, and placing a reassuring hand on her
shoulder for good measure. "If anyone can figure this stuff out, it's
you."
Mercury smiled despite herself. "I'm glad you think so, but I..."
Her voice trailed off as something on the screen caught her eye. She
touched another control on the panel, and accessed a particular file
listed. "Now this is interesting."
Something in her voice caught the attention of all present.
"What's interesting?" Venus asked.
"According to this, this ship is equipped with an emergency
medical program," Mercury replied, indicating the screen. "Basically
put, a holographic doctor."
"A hologram for a doctor?" Mars asked doubtfully. "Is that
possible?"
Mercury shrugged. "I don't see why not, given the level of
their technology. But it looks like the system is offline at the
moment."
Mars snorted, "Big surprise there. It seems like everything isn't
working on this ship."
"Not quite everything. The other systems in here seem to be
fine." Mercury touched another control and brought up a diagnostic
screen. "And there's nothing really wrong with the holographic systems,"
she said after studying for a moment, "they just need to be reset. Which
I think I can do." She moved to a panel behind her and, after studying
the controls a bit, entered in a series of commands. "There. That should
do it."
Jupiter looked around. "Nothing's happening."
"I've reset the system, but we still need to activate it," Mercury
explained. "I --"
"Oh, you mean we've got to tell the computer to turn it on, just
like on those holodecks," Sailor Moon said, recalling once again their
stay on the Enterprise D. "You know, by saying 'Computer, activate the
Doctor', or something like that."
Prompted by her words, the computer reacted instantly. A balding
man in a blue Starfleet uniform materialized next to Sailor Moon. His
sudden appearance startled her, prompting her to yelp and make a rather
prodigious leap into Tuxedo Mask's arms. Oblivious her reaction, the man
said in a calm voice, "Please state the nature of the medical emergency,"
and then looked about Sickbay. "Well, it appears we have guests," he
commented wryly as he inspected them, his gaze finally settling on Tuxedo
Mask holding Sailor Moon. "Unless she's the one in need of treatment, I
think you can put her down now," he suggested.
"We brought an injured crewman here for treatment," Mercury
indicating the surgical biobed as she tried to explain. "We're..."
"The Sailor Scouts and Tuxedo Mask," the Doctor said, both
interrupting her and finishing her statement. Ignoring the looks of
surprise he was getting, the hologram walked over to the biobed and
inspected the readouts. After a moment, he held out a hand.
"Tricorder." Reacting first, Jupiter picked up the first tricorder she
saw, which happened to be the one on Harry's belt, and handed it to the
Doctor. He opened it and examined the readouts for a moment before
snapping it shut again and handing it back to her with an annoyed
expression on his face. "*Medical* tricorder!" he snapped.
"Hey, how am I supposed to know the difference?!?" she retorted
heatedly.
"Here, Doctor," Mercury calmly said, handing the correct
instrument to the Doctor.
"Thank you," the hologram acknowledged, and began scanning Harry.
"Hmmm... three cracked ribs, a concussion and various other internal
injuries. Also some minor radiation exposure. Serious, especially if
left untreated, but nothing I can't handle. Though it's just as well
you didn't take any longer to get him here." He closed the tricorder,
and selected several nearby instruments. "You're very fortunate, Mr.
Kim."
"Hold on a minute. You know us?" Tuxedo Mask asked.
"It would be more accurate to say that I know *of* you," the
hologram responded as he gave Harry an injection of hironalyn. "My
program contains the cumulative medical knowledge of the entire
Federation, including the complete medical logs of several of
Starfleet's finest physicians. Knowledge of who and what you are is
figured quite prominently in two of them." He paused and glanced over
at Sailor Moon, giving her another look. "Though your attire seems to
have altered somewhat."
"OK, so you know us," Mars said. "Now maybe you can --"
"I'm afraid any explanations will have to wait," the Doctor broke
in much to her annoyance, "I need to concentrate fully on attending to
Ensign Kim, which I can't do if I'm being peppered with questions.
Afterwards, I'll be glad to answer all your questions to the best of
my ability. So if you would please wait outside the operating area,
I'll get to work." Seeing the logic in his request, they began to
leave the room as he asked, if somewhat reluctantly. "Not you," the
Doctor said to Mercury. "I'll need someone to assist me."
She seemed uncertain. "I'd be happy to help, but while I have
some medical knowledge, I haven't had any formal training."
"Not to worry," the Doctor noted as a slight touch of irony crept
into his voice, "I've dealt with having Lt. Paris for an assistant.
Anything after that would be a considerable relief."
"There," the Doctor said in a satisfied tone some time later. He
took one last look at the biobed readouts, and then nodded, smiling to
himself. "Another patient successfully snatched from the jaws of
death." Turning to Mercury he added, "You assistance was most
valuable. You'll make an excellent physician one day."
Internally, Mercury was pleased at the Doctor's compliment, but
still felt slightly embarrassed. "Thank you, Doctor," she said softly.
The Doctor noted the slight reddening of her cheeks, but he didn't
make any comment other than to raise an eyebrow. "I think it's time we
rejoined your friends. I have a feeling that there's a lot of questions
they'll want answered." Mercury nodded and followed the hologram out of
the surgical area.
As it turned out, they found the others had gathered in the
Doctor's small office, talking among themselves to pass the time. And
while they appeared to be relaxed for the most part, there were varying
expressions of impatience among them, being the most obvious on the faces
of Sailors Jupiter and Mars. "How'd it go?" Venus asked.
The Doctor smiled. "It was touch and go for a moment, but thanks
to my usual degree of excellence and with the help of an excellent
assistant (Mercury's face reddened further), Mr. Kim will make a
complete recovery."
"Good," Jupiter commented. "Now maybe you can tell us what's
going on."
"In a moment. But first..." The Doctor opened up the medical
tricorder he was carrying and proceeded to scan them all.
"What are you doing?" Sailor Moon asked, voicing the question they
were all asking themselves.
"Scanning you for radiation exposure," the hologram answered.
"And it appears that two of you," he indicated Sailor Moon and Sailor
Mercury, "show signs of it."
"Radiation?!?" Sailor Moon exclaimed in a slightly frightened
voice.
"I wouldn't be too concerned," the Doctor reassured her. "Your
constitutions seem to be handling it with no problem. Nevertheless,
I'll give you both an injection of hironalyn as a precaution."
"It must the from those energy bolts," Mercury theorized while
the Doctor was preparing a hypospray. "Both Sailor Moon and myself were
hit with them."
"You mean the aliens are employing this as a weapon?" After
Mercury nodded in confirmation, the Doctor continued, "In that case, I
should give you all an injection. And I should see about dispersing a
quantity of hironalyn through the atmospheric systems for the crew."
Starting with Mercury, he went around the room and gave them an injection
from the hypo. "You understand, this won't render you immune to the
radiation, but it will mitigate the aftereffects."
"So what's the story?" Mars asked. "Who are these aliens, and why
are they running around your ship?"
"And why is almost everything on your ship busted?" Sailor Moon
added.
The Doctor hesitated, then reluctantly admitted, "Regrettably, my
knowledge of the current situation is limited. I do know that we were
approaching a planet to investigate a spatial anomaly detected by the
sensors. Shortly afterwards the ship lurched rather violently. While
Mr. Paris may be only adequate in medical areas, he is an excellent
pilot. I can only conclude that the ship had come under an attack of
some sort. The last thing I remember before my program went offline
is hearing the intruder alert alarm sounding. That must have been when
the ship was boarded." The Doctor looked at each of them. "And that
is the extent of my knowledge of the current situation. I can only guess
that whatever knocked my program offline is the same phenomena that
brought you to Voyager."
"Guess again," Mars said.
"I beg your pardon?"
"We weren't brought to Voyager," Mercury explained. "Your program
must have been knocked offline by the phenomena that brought your ship
to Earth."
It took a lot to throw the hologram off stride, but evidently this
did. "Earth?!?" he exclaimed in a stunned voice.
"Yep," Jupiter put in. "Right now the ship is sitting at the North
Pole on *our* Earth."
"I don't believe it," the Doctor muttered after taking a moment to
mull this over. "Back on Earth again. First the wrong time frame, now
it's the wrong *universe*."
Something about what the Doctor said didn't sound right to Sailor
Moon. "Why are you so shocked about being on Earth? I mean, you must
have been there lots of times, right?"
Realization struck the Doctor. "That's right... You wouldn't be
aware of our overall situation. Due to some unique circumstances, Voyager
is some sixty thousand light years from Federation space."
"Sixty thousand light years?" Mercury exclaimed. "That would put
you on the other side of the galaxy."
The Doctor nodded. "That's correct. We are in the Delta Quadrant,
on a course to take us back to the Alpha Quadrant. It began something
like this..." Over the next few minutes, the hologram gave them a brief
overview of how Voyager, while on a search for a missing Maquis vessel,
had been forcibly transported to the Delta Quadrant, some seventy
thousand light years from home. He also gave a hurriedly abridged
account of some of the events that had happened to them over the last
four years. "...and barring any shortcuts we might find, we should
reach the Alpha Quadrant in sixty years, more or less," the Doctor
concluded. "But at the moment, my ship has been invaded by a hostile
force, and I have to assume that they control the entire ship and that
they hold the crew captive. I'm aware that I'm just a hologram, but
I'm still the Chief Medical Officer on this ship. I have a duty to
try and retake the ship. And to do so... I'm going to need your
assistance."
"And assist you we will!" Sailor Moon affirmed loudly. "We'll
help you clean this ship up and dump out the Negatrash! In the name of
the Moon..."
"...Venus..."
"...Mercury..."
"...Mars..."
"...and Jupiter..."
"...we'll punish them!" they cried out in unison.
"Your enthusiasm is commendable," the Doctor noted dryly. "If
that could carry the day alone, we'd be victorious without firing a
shot."
"Doctor, I do have one concern," Mercury said. "If I read the
datafiles regarding the EMH system correctly, the holographic emitters
that create your form are limited to Sickbay. If that is so and with
intership communications inoperative, then how are you going to help
us liberate the ship?"
"Once that would have been the case," the Doctor conceded. "However,
I now have a means of leaving the confines of Sickbay." He went over to
where he kept the portable holoemitter stored and picked up the small
device. "With the assistance of this piece of twenty ninth century
technology, I now have access to the entire ship..." His smile
broadened, if that were possible. "Indeed, I can even leave the ship
for away missions."
"Twenty ninth century?" Mercury asked, now even more puzzled. By
the looks of the others, she wasn't the only one who felt that way. "I
thought you were from the twenty fourth?"
"We are." The Doctor hesitated, uncertain as to how to explain
how he had acquired the portable holoemitter. "It's rather long tale
that involves a rather complicated temporal loop, but it's not one I'd
rather get into at the moment as there are more pressing matters."
Mars nodded, for once agreeing with the hologram. "OK, you know
this ship better than we do. So what's out first step?"
"I have access to a number of sedatives that could be released into
Voyager's environmental systems. If you could help me reach the
atmospheric control systems..."
"That's not going to work," Tuxedo Mask said.
The Doctor frowned. "Why not?"
Mercury spoke up. "We found one of the crew unconscious on deck
four. She had traces of an anesthetic in her blood. It seems that the
crew tried a similar strategy."
"Hmmm..." The Doctor seemed uncertain now. "Their physiology
must render them immune to certain sedatives. I should have suspected
as much from my autopsy. It certainly does put a crimp into things."
"Wait a minute. Autopsy?"
"That's correct," the Doctor told Tuxedo Mask. "We found a
derelict ship that had suffered extreme damage, apparently from these
self same aliens. Among the wreckage, our away team discovered a corpse.
It was brought over, and I conducted an autopsy of it. But penetrating
it's chitinous skin proved to be a challenge. It was highly resistent
to my laser scalpels."
"Are you sure it's the same aliens?" Venus asked.
"Reasonably certain. However..." The Doctor made his way over to
the stasis tubes, and opened one. As the slab slid out from inside,
"You're the experts on the aliens running around the ship. You tell me."
The Scouts gathered around for a closer look, but they didn't need
long to verify things. "It's the same kind, alright," Tuxedo Mask said.
"Except this one has orange colored skin," Venus noted. "The ones
we saw outside were green."
"That may be indicative of ranks among them. Or it may simply be
a racial variation of the species," the Doctor said. "I had just
finished performing the autopsy when all hell broke loose." He paused,
then closed the stasis tube once more. "I must say that I'm somewhat
surprised that the ship is still in one piece."
"Why?" Mercury asked.
"It was a Borg ship they had attacked earlier."
That caught their attention. "Oh."
"Oh, indeed."
The mention of the Borg reminded Sailor Moon of a question she'd
been wanting to ask. "By the way, what's with the Borg equipment in
that cargo bay?"
The Doctor seemed puzzled by this for a moment. "Oh, you must
mean the Borg alcoves in Cargo Bay Two. It's serving as the quarters
for the newest addition to our crew, Seven of Nine."
"Seven of Nine? What kind of name is that?"
"That must be what he was trying to tell us," Jupiter said,
jerking her thumb in the direction of Harry. "He wanted us to find
this 'Seven' person."
"That seems likely," the Doctor concurred.
"But that still doesn't explain about those Borg alcoves," Mars
said.
"It's really quite simple," the Doctor started to explain just
before a clanging sound echoed from the access hatch to the Jeffries
tubes, effectively interrupting him. At once the Scouts each took a
defensive stance around it, while Tuxedo Mask readied a rose to throw.
Not to be outdone, the Doctor snatched up a hypo and got ready to use
it, after checking the contents. However, he soon sighed in relief as
soon as he saw who was emerging. "I'm certainly glad to see you, Seven,"
he said to her, helping her up. "I see that I was wrong in my assumption
that all the crew are incapacitated." Seeing that the Doctor knew her,
the others relaxed.
"To my knowledge, the majority of the crew is unconscious. However,
we still control the bridge and engineering," she curtly explained.
"Lt. Paris sent Ensign Kim and myself to the armory by way of Cargo Bay
Two. We were to retrieve phaser rifles and modify them to be more
effective against the aliens. We were attacked us along the way, and
had to separate."
"Lt. Paris?" The Doctor seemed perplexed. "What happened to
Captain Janeway? Or Chakotay? Or Tuvok?"
"Captain Janeway was incapacitated during the transition to this
universe," Seven explained. "Commander Chakotay and Lt. Commander
Tuvok were on an away mission when the aliens boarded the ship. We did
not have time to retrieve them before the transition occurred." She
paused, aware now that the Doctor was not alone in Sickbay. "The
Sailor Scouts," she observed after giving them a quick once over. "Then
the dimensional anomaly we went through brought us to their universe."
"Ah, I should have realized that you would be acquainted with them,"
the Doctor commented. "From what they've been telling me, they are much
more effective against the aliens than our weapons have been. I was
hoping that with their assistance, we could drive the intruders off the
ship."
"A logical strategy," the former Borg concurred. "Their abilities
in concert with the modified phasers should be adequate to the task."
Meanwhile, the Scouts were still taken back a bit by Seven's casual
recognition of them. "It seems like everyone on this ship knows about us.
We must be required reading at Starfleet Academy," Venus quipped.
"Nah, there's got to be at least a course on us by now," Jupiter
added. "I can just see it now, 'Sailor Scouts 101'."
"It's not that," Sailor Moon stated flatly. Though her face was
pale, she was staring at Seven evenly and her voice remained firm, "She
recognizes us because she's a Borg."
Several jaws dropped at this. "Borg!?!"
"I was once part of the Borg collective, yes," Seven stated in
her manner of fact way before the Doctor could act. "Once Sailor Moon
was assimilated into it, her knowledge and experience was added to it as
well. Therefore, I am aware of your existence."
The Doctor could feel the tension among the Scouts elevate instantly
as they confronted the former drone. "This is *not* a good beginning."
Next time: Seven explains what has transpired on Voyager in the next
chapter, "Intruder Alert!"
soton@aol.com
"Well, I seem to find myself on the voyage of the damned."
- the Emergency Medical Hologram.
Chapter 2 -- "Please state the Nature..."
A low groan from the floor put a halt to any further conversation.
All eyes turned to the injured ensign, who was beginning to stir slightly.
He blinked several times, trying to clear his vision, then looked them
over puzzledly. "Who..?" he began, obviously not sure what to make of
them. After only a moment's confusion, "I'm... Ensign Harry Kim..."
Anything further he was going to add was cut off by a sharp gasp of pain
as he tried to sit up.
"Lie still," Mercury advised him while automatically directing her
visor to scan his injuries. The results were pretty much what she
expected them to be -- which is to say, not good. "The alien hit you
rather hard. You've got serious internal injuries." She looked to the
others, "The bridge is going to have to wait. We have to get him to
Sickbay and quickly!"
"Unfortunately, we don't know where Sickbay is on this ship,"
Tuxedo Mask pointed out.
"It's on... deck five," Harry said softly. "But...you... have
to... Seven..." His voice faded as he lapsed back into
unconsciousness.
"Seven?" Mars asked perplexedly, but she wasn't the only one.
"Seven what?"
"Maybe something on deck seven?" Jupiter suggested.
"We can find out after we get the ship's doctor to see to his
injuries," Mercury said. "I just wish there was another way down to
deck five. I'd rather not lug him through the Jeffries tubes in his
condition."
"And the turbolift is out, too," Mars said, giving a sidelong
look Venus' way.
As it turned out, the blonde wasn't listening, but was instead
looking at the deck. Before anyone could as, she pointed at what held
her attention, "How about going this way?" Moving closer, they saw
what appeared to be a hatch in the floor that was clearly intended to
provide access to the deck below. "This looks like a way down," she
added somewhat unnecessarily. Before anyone could stop her, she reached
down and opened the hatch. Everyone else instinctively took a half step
backwards to avoid the inevitable fireworks, but for some reason none
was forthcoming.
Mars moved forward and took another look at the opening. After
taking a brief moment to examine it, a wry smile appeared on her face.
"Nothing electrical about it. That's why it didn't blow up in your
face."
Venus shot her a somewhat indignant look. "Very funny."
Moments later, Sailor Moon was looking uneasily down the corridor
on deck five, Sailor Mercury beside her. A few meters behind them, Mars
and Venus were keeping a watchful eye out down the other way, each of
them alert for some sign of the aliens that had invaded the Federation
starship. In the middle, Jupiter and Tuxedo Mask were gently lowering
Harry down through the hatch. "Got him," Tuxedo Mask grunted, then moved
out of the way to allow Jupiter to jump down from the deck above.
"Now all we have to do is find Sickbay," Mars observed.
Jupiter looked up and down the corridor. "Anyone got any ideas?"
"Let's just pick a direction," Tuxedo Mask suggested.
"Sounds good to me," Venus agreed. "Let's go this way." She moved
forward, and Mars followed. Sailor Mercury moved in behind them, scanning
ahead with her visor and using her computer to map out the corridor.
Jupiter opted to be the rearguard and allowed Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Mask,
who was still carrying the unconscious Ensign Kim, to precede her.
Periodically she turned back and peered down the darkened corridor, alert
to any threats.
The darkened state of the corridor served to hamper their progress,
as well as their need to check each door. This slowed their progress to
a frustratingly slow crawl, and began fraying their nerves.
The dark seemed to also magnify every sound in the corridor. "What
was that?!?" Sailor Moon exclaimed, jumping again at a sudden, and what
seemed to be very loud, noise.
Mars half turned and glared at her, irritation clearly written on
her face. "Maybe it was a rat," she snapped.
"A rat?" Venus asked, not catching the sarcasm in Mars' voice. "I
knew we should've brought Luna and Artemis along."
Mercury sighed and hoped they would find Sickbay soon. "It's
nothing," she reassured Sailor Moon.
"Well, we should find this place soon," Jupiter said. "It seems
like we've covered most of this deck."
"It had better be soon," Tuxedo Mask grumbled. "This guy isn't
exactly light."
Jupiter smiled. "If you think that's bad, just try carrying Sailor
Moon halfway through the Negaverse," she whispered to him.
Sailor Moon whirled about and exclaimed,"I *heard* that!" just
before a black energy bolt struck her midsection. The blow knocked the
blonde off her feet and into a nearby door. Surprisingly enough, it
opened automatically before she hit it and she flew through it, the door
closing just as automatically behind her.
"Sailor Moon!" Jupiter turned sharply, enraged at the aliens for
the sneak attack and at herself for having been taken by surprise. There
was a small bit of movement in the shadows, providing her with a target
for her ire. "You creeps are going to pay for that! JUPITER THUNDERCLAP
ZAP!"
The impact of the electrical discharge knocked the alien off it's
feet and it uttered a high pitched keening noise. But in the flare of
Jupiter's attack they could see that there were more of the invaders.
As if to confirm that, several chittering noises could be heard, followed
by answering noises from the other end.
"Here they come!" Venus exclaimed just as the aliens charged.
What followed could be best described as sheer chaos, as the
Scouts cut loose with their own attacks, while the aliens retaliated
themselves while charging at the Scouts' position. Tuxedo Mask hurriedly
put Kim down and his own floral attack to the fray. The Scout's powers
were cutting down the attackers, but the sheer number of them was
insuring that some would get through to them. In fact, one was close
enough that Jupiter was engaging it in hand to hand combat.
That's when the door swished open, the light from inside spilling
out into the corridor. "Hold it right there!" a voice cried out, causing
the combatants to pause and look. Even though they couldn't see her
clearly, the light from the room that silhouetted her figure made it plain
to all who it was. "I am the champion of love and justice, Sailor Moon!
I right wrongs and triumph over evil! And that means you." The aliens
hesitated, uncertain as how to react to her sudden reappearance. This
gave Sailor Moon the time she needed. "MOON SPIRAL HEART ATTACK!" With
their leader and several others of their number cut down by Sailor Moon's
attack, the remaining aliens turned and fled down the corridor.
"Sailor Moon, are you --" Tuxedo Mask began, the others clustering
around her as well.
"I'm fine," she reassured him. "Oh, and by the way..." She
gestured into the room behind her and stood to one side, allowing them a
good look inside it. "...I think I found Sickbay."
Mercury moved up to her and nodded. "Yes, this is it. Darien,
get him in here." After taking another moment to be certain Sailor Moon
was OK, Tuxedo Mask lifted the unconscious ensign from the deck and
carried him inside.
Standing just behind Sailor Moon, Mars grinned. "Leave it to you
to find the place we're looking for by falling into the door."
"I was knocked into it, *if* you don't mind," Sailor Moon said,
sticking out her tongue for good measure before going back inside.
Determined not to let the aliens sneak up on her again, Jupiter
kept a watchful eye on the corridor, and was the last to enter Sickbay.
After the door closed, she touched a control on the panel next to it.
"That should lock it, if I remember correctly."
Now that the door was secured, the group relaxed a bit and took
their first good look around. Unlike the corridors and the cargo bay
before it, Sickbay was brightly lit and the various control panels seemed
to be active. However, it was also quite deserted. "Just our luck,"
Jupiter muttered darkly, "no doctor."
"Or anyone else, for that matter," Venus added, peering into an
adjoining room.
Mercury frowned. Without any of the starship's medical personnel
here, it fell to her to do something about Ensign Kim's injuries. And
while the medical equipment was designed to be fairly easy to use, it
still required the user to have enough knowledge to apply it correctly.
She only hoped that her own abilities were sufficient to the task. "Get
him on that biobed," she told Darien, pointing to one in the rear. The
fact that it was isolated from the other biobeds indicated that it might
be the one used for surgical situations -- she hoped. While he was doing
that, she made her way to the computer console. Like the rest of the
systems in Sickbay, it seemed to be active as well; a fact she confirmed
when it responded instantly to her touch, bringing up the current
stardate. "Stardate 51405.0," she murmured. "So it's been almost five
years for them since we met Captain Picard."
Sailor Moon watched Mercury at the console for a while, then
finally asked, "What are you up to?"
"Since there isn't a doctor here, I'm hoping that there'll be a
medical database in the computer I could use so that I could stabilize
Ensign Kim..." She paused and glanced over to the biobed the ensign was
lying on. He seemed to be stable for the moment, but that couldn't last.
"At least enough for him to survive until we can find a real doctor
around here."
Sailor Moon eyed her friend carefully. While she might not be
anywhere near Mercury in the intelligence department, nor a psychic like
Mars, she was still sensitive to the moods of others around her. She
could tell that the blue haired Scout was having doubts about her ability
to help Ensign Kim. "Don't worry, Amy, I'm sure you'll figure it out,"
she told her in an encouraging tone, and placing a reassuring hand on her
shoulder for good measure. "If anyone can figure this stuff out, it's
you."
Mercury smiled despite herself. "I'm glad you think so, but I..."
Her voice trailed off as something on the screen caught her eye. She
touched another control on the panel, and accessed a particular file
listed. "Now this is interesting."
Something in her voice caught the attention of all present.
"What's interesting?" Venus asked.
"According to this, this ship is equipped with an emergency
medical program," Mercury replied, indicating the screen. "Basically
put, a holographic doctor."
"A hologram for a doctor?" Mars asked doubtfully. "Is that
possible?"
Mercury shrugged. "I don't see why not, given the level of
their technology. But it looks like the system is offline at the
moment."
Mars snorted, "Big surprise there. It seems like everything isn't
working on this ship."
"Not quite everything. The other systems in here seem to be
fine." Mercury touched another control and brought up a diagnostic
screen. "And there's nothing really wrong with the holographic systems,"
she said after studying for a moment, "they just need to be reset. Which
I think I can do." She moved to a panel behind her and, after studying
the controls a bit, entered in a series of commands. "There. That should
do it."
Jupiter looked around. "Nothing's happening."
"I've reset the system, but we still need to activate it," Mercury
explained. "I --"
"Oh, you mean we've got to tell the computer to turn it on, just
like on those holodecks," Sailor Moon said, recalling once again their
stay on the Enterprise D. "You know, by saying 'Computer, activate the
Doctor', or something like that."
Prompted by her words, the computer reacted instantly. A balding
man in a blue Starfleet uniform materialized next to Sailor Moon. His
sudden appearance startled her, prompting her to yelp and make a rather
prodigious leap into Tuxedo Mask's arms. Oblivious her reaction, the man
said in a calm voice, "Please state the nature of the medical emergency,"
and then looked about Sickbay. "Well, it appears we have guests," he
commented wryly as he inspected them, his gaze finally settling on Tuxedo
Mask holding Sailor Moon. "Unless she's the one in need of treatment, I
think you can put her down now," he suggested.
"We brought an injured crewman here for treatment," Mercury
indicating the surgical biobed as she tried to explain. "We're..."
"The Sailor Scouts and Tuxedo Mask," the Doctor said, both
interrupting her and finishing her statement. Ignoring the looks of
surprise he was getting, the hologram walked over to the biobed and
inspected the readouts. After a moment, he held out a hand.
"Tricorder." Reacting first, Jupiter picked up the first tricorder she
saw, which happened to be the one on Harry's belt, and handed it to the
Doctor. He opened it and examined the readouts for a moment before
snapping it shut again and handing it back to her with an annoyed
expression on his face. "*Medical* tricorder!" he snapped.
"Hey, how am I supposed to know the difference?!?" she retorted
heatedly.
"Here, Doctor," Mercury calmly said, handing the correct
instrument to the Doctor.
"Thank you," the hologram acknowledged, and began scanning Harry.
"Hmmm... three cracked ribs, a concussion and various other internal
injuries. Also some minor radiation exposure. Serious, especially if
left untreated, but nothing I can't handle. Though it's just as well
you didn't take any longer to get him here." He closed the tricorder,
and selected several nearby instruments. "You're very fortunate, Mr.
Kim."
"Hold on a minute. You know us?" Tuxedo Mask asked.
"It would be more accurate to say that I know *of* you," the
hologram responded as he gave Harry an injection of hironalyn. "My
program contains the cumulative medical knowledge of the entire
Federation, including the complete medical logs of several of
Starfleet's finest physicians. Knowledge of who and what you are is
figured quite prominently in two of them." He paused and glanced over
at Sailor Moon, giving her another look. "Though your attire seems to
have altered somewhat."
"OK, so you know us," Mars said. "Now maybe you can --"
"I'm afraid any explanations will have to wait," the Doctor broke
in much to her annoyance, "I need to concentrate fully on attending to
Ensign Kim, which I can't do if I'm being peppered with questions.
Afterwards, I'll be glad to answer all your questions to the best of
my ability. So if you would please wait outside the operating area,
I'll get to work." Seeing the logic in his request, they began to
leave the room as he asked, if somewhat reluctantly. "Not you," the
Doctor said to Mercury. "I'll need someone to assist me."
She seemed uncertain. "I'd be happy to help, but while I have
some medical knowledge, I haven't had any formal training."
"Not to worry," the Doctor noted as a slight touch of irony crept
into his voice, "I've dealt with having Lt. Paris for an assistant.
Anything after that would be a considerable relief."
"There," the Doctor said in a satisfied tone some time later. He
took one last look at the biobed readouts, and then nodded, smiling to
himself. "Another patient successfully snatched from the jaws of
death." Turning to Mercury he added, "You assistance was most
valuable. You'll make an excellent physician one day."
Internally, Mercury was pleased at the Doctor's compliment, but
still felt slightly embarrassed. "Thank you, Doctor," she said softly.
The Doctor noted the slight reddening of her cheeks, but he didn't
make any comment other than to raise an eyebrow. "I think it's time we
rejoined your friends. I have a feeling that there's a lot of questions
they'll want answered." Mercury nodded and followed the hologram out of
the surgical area.
As it turned out, they found the others had gathered in the
Doctor's small office, talking among themselves to pass the time. And
while they appeared to be relaxed for the most part, there were varying
expressions of impatience among them, being the most obvious on the faces
of Sailors Jupiter and Mars. "How'd it go?" Venus asked.
The Doctor smiled. "It was touch and go for a moment, but thanks
to my usual degree of excellence and with the help of an excellent
assistant (Mercury's face reddened further), Mr. Kim will make a
complete recovery."
"Good," Jupiter commented. "Now maybe you can tell us what's
going on."
"In a moment. But first..." The Doctor opened up the medical
tricorder he was carrying and proceeded to scan them all.
"What are you doing?" Sailor Moon asked, voicing the question they
were all asking themselves.
"Scanning you for radiation exposure," the hologram answered.
"And it appears that two of you," he indicated Sailor Moon and Sailor
Mercury, "show signs of it."
"Radiation?!?" Sailor Moon exclaimed in a slightly frightened
voice.
"I wouldn't be too concerned," the Doctor reassured her. "Your
constitutions seem to be handling it with no problem. Nevertheless,
I'll give you both an injection of hironalyn as a precaution."
"It must the from those energy bolts," Mercury theorized while
the Doctor was preparing a hypospray. "Both Sailor Moon and myself were
hit with them."
"You mean the aliens are employing this as a weapon?" After
Mercury nodded in confirmation, the Doctor continued, "In that case, I
should give you all an injection. And I should see about dispersing a
quantity of hironalyn through the atmospheric systems for the crew."
Starting with Mercury, he went around the room and gave them an injection
from the hypo. "You understand, this won't render you immune to the
radiation, but it will mitigate the aftereffects."
"So what's the story?" Mars asked. "Who are these aliens, and why
are they running around your ship?"
"And why is almost everything on your ship busted?" Sailor Moon
added.
The Doctor hesitated, then reluctantly admitted, "Regrettably, my
knowledge of the current situation is limited. I do know that we were
approaching a planet to investigate a spatial anomaly detected by the
sensors. Shortly afterwards the ship lurched rather violently. While
Mr. Paris may be only adequate in medical areas, he is an excellent
pilot. I can only conclude that the ship had come under an attack of
some sort. The last thing I remember before my program went offline
is hearing the intruder alert alarm sounding. That must have been when
the ship was boarded." The Doctor looked at each of them. "And that
is the extent of my knowledge of the current situation. I can only guess
that whatever knocked my program offline is the same phenomena that
brought you to Voyager."
"Guess again," Mars said.
"I beg your pardon?"
"We weren't brought to Voyager," Mercury explained. "Your program
must have been knocked offline by the phenomena that brought your ship
to Earth."
It took a lot to throw the hologram off stride, but evidently this
did. "Earth?!?" he exclaimed in a stunned voice.
"Yep," Jupiter put in. "Right now the ship is sitting at the North
Pole on *our* Earth."
"I don't believe it," the Doctor muttered after taking a moment to
mull this over. "Back on Earth again. First the wrong time frame, now
it's the wrong *universe*."
Something about what the Doctor said didn't sound right to Sailor
Moon. "Why are you so shocked about being on Earth? I mean, you must
have been there lots of times, right?"
Realization struck the Doctor. "That's right... You wouldn't be
aware of our overall situation. Due to some unique circumstances, Voyager
is some sixty thousand light years from Federation space."
"Sixty thousand light years?" Mercury exclaimed. "That would put
you on the other side of the galaxy."
The Doctor nodded. "That's correct. We are in the Delta Quadrant,
on a course to take us back to the Alpha Quadrant. It began something
like this..." Over the next few minutes, the hologram gave them a brief
overview of how Voyager, while on a search for a missing Maquis vessel,
had been forcibly transported to the Delta Quadrant, some seventy
thousand light years from home. He also gave a hurriedly abridged
account of some of the events that had happened to them over the last
four years. "...and barring any shortcuts we might find, we should
reach the Alpha Quadrant in sixty years, more or less," the Doctor
concluded. "But at the moment, my ship has been invaded by a hostile
force, and I have to assume that they control the entire ship and that
they hold the crew captive. I'm aware that I'm just a hologram, but
I'm still the Chief Medical Officer on this ship. I have a duty to
try and retake the ship. And to do so... I'm going to need your
assistance."
"And assist you we will!" Sailor Moon affirmed loudly. "We'll
help you clean this ship up and dump out the Negatrash! In the name of
the Moon..."
"...Venus..."
"...Mercury..."
"...Mars..."
"...and Jupiter..."
"...we'll punish them!" they cried out in unison.
"Your enthusiasm is commendable," the Doctor noted dryly. "If
that could carry the day alone, we'd be victorious without firing a
shot."
"Doctor, I do have one concern," Mercury said. "If I read the
datafiles regarding the EMH system correctly, the holographic emitters
that create your form are limited to Sickbay. If that is so and with
intership communications inoperative, then how are you going to help
us liberate the ship?"
"Once that would have been the case," the Doctor conceded. "However,
I now have a means of leaving the confines of Sickbay." He went over to
where he kept the portable holoemitter stored and picked up the small
device. "With the assistance of this piece of twenty ninth century
technology, I now have access to the entire ship..." His smile
broadened, if that were possible. "Indeed, I can even leave the ship
for away missions."
"Twenty ninth century?" Mercury asked, now even more puzzled. By
the looks of the others, she wasn't the only one who felt that way. "I
thought you were from the twenty fourth?"
"We are." The Doctor hesitated, uncertain as to how to explain
how he had acquired the portable holoemitter. "It's rather long tale
that involves a rather complicated temporal loop, but it's not one I'd
rather get into at the moment as there are more pressing matters."
Mars nodded, for once agreeing with the hologram. "OK, you know
this ship better than we do. So what's out first step?"
"I have access to a number of sedatives that could be released into
Voyager's environmental systems. If you could help me reach the
atmospheric control systems..."
"That's not going to work," Tuxedo Mask said.
The Doctor frowned. "Why not?"
Mercury spoke up. "We found one of the crew unconscious on deck
four. She had traces of an anesthetic in her blood. It seems that the
crew tried a similar strategy."
"Hmmm..." The Doctor seemed uncertain now. "Their physiology
must render them immune to certain sedatives. I should have suspected
as much from my autopsy. It certainly does put a crimp into things."
"Wait a minute. Autopsy?"
"That's correct," the Doctor told Tuxedo Mask. "We found a
derelict ship that had suffered extreme damage, apparently from these
self same aliens. Among the wreckage, our away team discovered a corpse.
It was brought over, and I conducted an autopsy of it. But penetrating
it's chitinous skin proved to be a challenge. It was highly resistent
to my laser scalpels."
"Are you sure it's the same aliens?" Venus asked.
"Reasonably certain. However..." The Doctor made his way over to
the stasis tubes, and opened one. As the slab slid out from inside,
"You're the experts on the aliens running around the ship. You tell me."
The Scouts gathered around for a closer look, but they didn't need
long to verify things. "It's the same kind, alright," Tuxedo Mask said.
"Except this one has orange colored skin," Venus noted. "The ones
we saw outside were green."
"That may be indicative of ranks among them. Or it may simply be
a racial variation of the species," the Doctor said. "I had just
finished performing the autopsy when all hell broke loose." He paused,
then closed the stasis tube once more. "I must say that I'm somewhat
surprised that the ship is still in one piece."
"Why?" Mercury asked.
"It was a Borg ship they had attacked earlier."
That caught their attention. "Oh."
"Oh, indeed."
The mention of the Borg reminded Sailor Moon of a question she'd
been wanting to ask. "By the way, what's with the Borg equipment in
that cargo bay?"
The Doctor seemed puzzled by this for a moment. "Oh, you must
mean the Borg alcoves in Cargo Bay Two. It's serving as the quarters
for the newest addition to our crew, Seven of Nine."
"Seven of Nine? What kind of name is that?"
"That must be what he was trying to tell us," Jupiter said,
jerking her thumb in the direction of Harry. "He wanted us to find
this 'Seven' person."
"That seems likely," the Doctor concurred.
"But that still doesn't explain about those Borg alcoves," Mars
said.
"It's really quite simple," the Doctor started to explain just
before a clanging sound echoed from the access hatch to the Jeffries
tubes, effectively interrupting him. At once the Scouts each took a
defensive stance around it, while Tuxedo Mask readied a rose to throw.
Not to be outdone, the Doctor snatched up a hypo and got ready to use
it, after checking the contents. However, he soon sighed in relief as
soon as he saw who was emerging. "I'm certainly glad to see you, Seven,"
he said to her, helping her up. "I see that I was wrong in my assumption
that all the crew are incapacitated." Seeing that the Doctor knew her,
the others relaxed.
"To my knowledge, the majority of the crew is unconscious. However,
we still control the bridge and engineering," she curtly explained.
"Lt. Paris sent Ensign Kim and myself to the armory by way of Cargo Bay
Two. We were to retrieve phaser rifles and modify them to be more
effective against the aliens. We were attacked us along the way, and
had to separate."
"Lt. Paris?" The Doctor seemed perplexed. "What happened to
Captain Janeway? Or Chakotay? Or Tuvok?"
"Captain Janeway was incapacitated during the transition to this
universe," Seven explained. "Commander Chakotay and Lt. Commander
Tuvok were on an away mission when the aliens boarded the ship. We did
not have time to retrieve them before the transition occurred." She
paused, aware now that the Doctor was not alone in Sickbay. "The
Sailor Scouts," she observed after giving them a quick once over. "Then
the dimensional anomaly we went through brought us to their universe."
"Ah, I should have realized that you would be acquainted with them,"
the Doctor commented. "From what they've been telling me, they are much
more effective against the aliens than our weapons have been. I was
hoping that with their assistance, we could drive the intruders off the
ship."
"A logical strategy," the former Borg concurred. "Their abilities
in concert with the modified phasers should be adequate to the task."
Meanwhile, the Scouts were still taken back a bit by Seven's casual
recognition of them. "It seems like everyone on this ship knows about us.
We must be required reading at Starfleet Academy," Venus quipped.
"Nah, there's got to be at least a course on us by now," Jupiter
added. "I can just see it now, 'Sailor Scouts 101'."
"It's not that," Sailor Moon stated flatly. Though her face was
pale, she was staring at Seven evenly and her voice remained firm, "She
recognizes us because she's a Borg."
Several jaws dropped at this. "Borg!?!"
"I was once part of the Borg collective, yes," Seven stated in
her manner of fact way before the Doctor could act. "Once Sailor Moon
was assimilated into it, her knowledge and experience was added to it as
well. Therefore, I am aware of your existence."
The Doctor could feel the tension among the Scouts elevate instantly
as they confronted the former drone. "This is *not* a good beginning."
Next time: Seven explains what has transpired on Voyager in the next
chapter, "Intruder Alert!"