Rumble on Voyager. Written by enterprise1701_d
Chapter two.
Alpha shift had just started, and the alpha shift crew was fresh and relaxed. Their peace wasn't to last.
"Incoming distress call, it's heavily distorted by the nebula, that's probably why we didn't pick it up earlier," Harry Kim reported.
"Come to a full stop, Tom. Where is it coming from?" Janeway asked.
"I can't pinpoint it exactly. The nebula is jamming our sensors," was the answer from the ops station.
"Ahead half impulse," Janeway ordered. "Make sure that navigational sensors are set for a wide beam."
"Aye, Captain," was the response from the helm.
The next moment, ten armed aliens materialized on the bridge, rifles drawn. They all were very heavily armed, with not only a rifle, but a hand weapon as well. Their armor was not something she had seen before, consisting of a full armored body suit, as well as a helmet, which covered the face as well.
"I demand to know why you have-" Janeway was cut off by the nearest alien, who brutally slapped her the butt of his rifle into her stomach.
"Silence!" he demanded. One of the aliens nodded, and although his facial expression was hidden, Kim thought he saw something as smug superiority in his posture. The same heavily armored alien stepped forward, and barked:
"Captain Kathryn Janeway, we take your crew in custody, and we have impounded your vessel. Release the command codes, and you will be treated fairly."
"Computer, activate auto-destruct, ten minute countdown, authorization Janeway omega-nine," Janeway shouted, dodging another blow from the same alien who hit her before.
Auto destruct enabled. Ten minutes till auto-destruct. Warning! Nine minutes 55 seconds till auto-destruct. Crew is advised to evacuate the ship.
"Big mistake, captain," the lead alien spoke. He tapped the communications device attached to his wrist. The viewer lit up, showing a terrified Naomi Wildman. The six-year-old was the ship's only child, and Captain Janeway had developed a protective streak towards the child. So did most of the crew, for that matter.
"Captain!" the child screamed. "They…they say they'll hurt me!" the child was terrified, and Janeway's heart broke.
"Cancel the destruct, or we will make sure the child wishes she was dead as well," the leader addressed Janeway.
Janeway made up her mind in less than a second. "Computer, cancel destruct sequence, authorization Janeway omega-nine."
Auto-destruct cancelled.
A device on the lead alien's wrist chimed at the same moment. He tapped it.
We have control over engineering. A second voice then said: patrols have been established on all decks.
The lead alien tapped it again. "Resistance is useless. We have your ship," he said to the bridge crew in general. "Now, release the command codes to me," the alien said to Janeway in particular. He turned to one of the aliens standing next to him, and said: "A species is easily controlled through its offspring. Remember that."
The addressed alien just dipped his head in acknowledgement.
"I can't do that!" Janeway protested.
In response, the leader turned to the screen, and pressed a button on his communicator. The screen lit up again. "She refuses to cooperate. Break a finger."
The girl started screaming as the bulky alien standing behind her grabbed her left hand. His other hand took one of the girl's small fingers. Naomi screamed in a crazy panic, struggling against the bulk of the massive alien holding her hand and finger.
"No!" Janeway screamed. "I'll do it! Don't hurt her!" the alien stopped, and looked at his leader, who, in turn, looked expectantly at Janeway.
"Computer, release command codes, authorization Janeway-blue-omega-red-three-six."
Command codes released.
"Good. Now, order your crew to assemble in cargo bay one, and to cooperate with us in every way."
"All hands, this is the Captain. Condition indigo. Proceed to cargo bay one."
"Very good, captain," the leader said, and proceeded to herd the present Starfleet officers into the turbolift, making sure that there were at least three guards with them at all times.
Jack awoke brutally from his sleep.
Auto destruct enabled. Ten minutes till auto-destruct. Warning! Nine minutes 55 seconds till auto-destruct. Crew is advised to evacuate the ship.
Jack nearly shed his skin as he heard the computer voice announce its deadly message. If the ship was set to self-destruct there was nothing he could do, but do what everyone else was doing: await the inevitable.
Auto-destruct cancelled.
"Not good, normally the captain adds a personal message to reassure everyone," Jack grunted, and jumped out of his bed. He grabbed some clothes, and ran from his quarters, sweeping around him to see if there was anyone else present. If his suspicions were correct, and they usually were, then he would need to hide, and get his act together. He had jumped in his pants, pulling them over his pajama pants, as the next message confirmed his fears.
All hands, this is the Captain. Condition indigo. Proceed to cargo bay one.
"I was right. She called a Condition Indigo," Jack grunted aloud, putting on his uniform jacket. "Computer, five-second delay, initiate transporter sequence A-2 on my comm-badge signal. Override Dupré-delta-four." He removed the badge from his tunic, and threw it behind him as he ran for a Jeffries tube. The badge shimmered in the transport beam, then disappeared, it's atoms dispersed over the complete range of the transporter. Jack remembered the textbook explanation of Condition Indigo: in event of a hostile takeover, all Starfleet personnel are to attempt to organize a resistance movement. In case this is impossible, the crew is advised to simulate cooperation, in order to provide cover for those who might be able to do so anyway.
He ducked into the first Jeffries tube he could find, and crawled his way as fast as he could. The ship's service tube system provided an excellent, if uncomfortable, mode of transport. Without his communicator, he couldn't contact the computer whenever he wanted, and he cursed himself for his oversight. He could use an update on Voyager's status. When he reached the next junction, he ripped a panel from the wall, and put the data chip, which he had managed to grab, thankfully, in a slot he vacated.
"Computer, initiate program labeled DA, authorization Dupré-Section 31."
Program has been completed.
DA, or Decease Agent, was a Section 31 program. It initiated a worm, listing him as deceased. It was curious that a computer would say that Jack was deceased, even though his life-signs were running around the place. He ripped the data chip from the system, and put the panel back, not bothering to replace the secondary interlink processor he had just removed. Time was of the essence, and besides, Voyager had the primary and secondary neural gel pack systems and the primary optical interlink processor to fall back on before this one was needed.
He crawled through the tubes as fast as he could; racing toward the one place he knew he would be safe. His mind recalled his training subconsciously.
18-year-old Jack Dupré shot out of his bed along with the 25 other students in his room. 500 students in all ran from the rooms, into the 'safe area', nothing more than an empty cargo bay, really. Training hadn't been going on for more than 2 months, but already Jack was aware that some students wouldn't make it. the haunted look in their eyes, the consistent stress they were under was beginning to take its toll.
The teacher in charge of emergency procedures was awaiting the students in the safe area, holding a clipboard. His gray eyes were as cold as ice.
"Anderson, Amy. Andries, John,…" the teacher droned twenty names from the list. One by one, twenty students approached the man. "You're dismissed." The teacher said. The remaining students looked at one another. Everyone knew what this meant. The twenty selected weren't going to make it. Everybody in the program knew that Section 31 placed secrecy above all else, and the students didn't know whether or not the drop-outs would actually be allowed to leave, or rather be relocated to some other, less enduring, training program.
They all hoped for the last option.
Janeway had been herded; along with about every other member of her crew, into cargo bay one. She could see how the aliens brought in small groups of crewmembers, usually two or three at a time, with a lone wolf every now and then.
"Tuvok? Who isn't here yet?" Janeway whispered to her security chief after she saw two more members enter the bay under cover of their alien captors.
"I believe we are still missing Jack Dupré, one of my security people, and the doctor, captain," he responded. The Emergency Medical Hologram, just 'doctor' to the crew, was one of the most capable of initiating Condition Indigo.
"That's all? Out of a crew of over 140 people, just those two?"
"May I remind you, captain, that Condition Indigo is one of the most difficult tactics to engage in?"
"You're right, Tuvok. I still feel uncomfortable with them holding Naomi," the captain said with her voice vibrating slightly. "Who is this Dupré? Good man?"
"He's known to make mistakes, captain. Yet, he is still a security officer."
Typically Tuvok; honest to the bone, even if it meant taking away what little hope they had.
Jack had reached where he had set out to go: the nacelle monitor station. Its proximity to the ship's warp nacelles, part of the ship's faster-than-light drive, generated a good amount of interference, certainly when the ship was traveling at warp, which masked his life-signs perfectly. He calmed down, clamped down his feelings, and emptied his mind. He needed to get back into what he called 'Section 31 mode'. Sparring and meditating on a holodeck was completely different from reclaiming a Federation starship, against who knows how many to one odds. He felt the hard secret agent inside him stir at the thought of having to readjust.
He paced the small room, building up his internal strength. His emotions were wrapped in a hard layer of professionalism, and hid deep down in his heart. He focused on his tasks, and found himself thinking straight for the first time in years, indicating that he had completely shed the cover of Jack Dupré, Ensign, and had reverted back to Jack Dupré, secret agent. Unbeknownst to him, almost an hour had passed during his little ritual needed to get back to his real self. So deep ingrained was the cover that Jack had needed that large amount of time to revert back to his real self.
He felt a shudder coarse through the ship, and he immediately knew what had happened: the ship had gone to warp. A glance at the read-outs confirmed his thoughts.
Now that we're at warp, my signs will be cloaked better. Now is my time to get to a replicator, and get the equipment I need.
He got out the same way he had gotten in, through the Jeffries tube. It didn't take him long to reach the nearest food replicator. He looked around, scanning for anyone who wasn't supposed to be there, Section 31 training having now completely taken over his actions. He was unarmed, but even unarmed; the agent was a formidable threat.
Jack took the data chip from its hideout, and put it in an empty slot in the compartment beneath the replicator. "Computer, Section 31, covert ops gear, Starship reclaiming mode." He whispered, and hoped to God that the aliens were too busy to monitor the power levels.
It took ten seconds for the computer to turn the necessary energy into the requested material form, and one backpack and a black outfit appeared in the slot. He shed his uniform, and dressed in the provided clothing. He ordered his uniform and his pajama pants to be destroyed in a similar manner to his communicator.
He opened the backpack, took a strange looking communicator from it, and slapped it on his chest on the same spot where his Starfleet communicator was normally located. The new communicator was of Section 31 design; designed to be able to access the computer and the communications systems, yet without running the risk of being detected by the internal sensors. He then took the tricorder from the backpack, and made sure it was working properly. The hand-held sensory device was now being used for a completely different purpose.
"Good. It has been masking my life-signs since it was materialized," Jack nodded his approval. The tricorder was tuned to his specific life-signs, masking them from a wide range of sensor devices. Jack just hoped that these aliens' sensors were in that range. That is, if they were using their own sensors instead of the internal sensors of Voyager. Jack had been trained to deal with every contingency. He couldn't place his trust in the fact that he was completely invisible to Voyager's sensors.
Janeway and her crew had been transported to the alien ship's cargo bay, breaking the morale of her crew even further. Now they had not only been attacked and imprisoned, but also abducted from their home. The next moment, the alien cargo bay doors opened. The same lead alien as before entered.
"We have transported the child to Voyager," he began, "as insurance. In case you do something stupid, we will not hesitate to take it out on her." He turned and left, before anyone even had a chance to respond.
"Tuvok, what are our chances?" Janeway finally asked.
"I have to be honest, captain. Our chances are slim. It all depends on how many intruders were left on Voyager. If only a skeleton crew has been provided, chances are reasonably good that ensign Dupré and the doctor will be able to reclaim the ship. If an entire security force has been left there, however…"
"I see," she responded. "We have to do something," she answered.
Tom Paris, who had been nearby, answered: "With all due respect, captain, but they're holding Naomi on Voyager. If we do something, and it gets back to Voyager…" his voice trailed off.
"Then we'll just have to make sure that it doesn't get back to Voyager," Janeway responded crisply.
"We are unfamiliar with the lay-out of this ship, captain. Disabling communications will be harder than it looks," Tuvok answered.
"Oh, boy," Janeway grunted. "This is going to be a long day."
Jack had by now returned to the nacelle monitor station. He put down his backpack, and opened it, now having time to get himself geared up. He clipped the holster on his belt, and put the special phaser in it. The weapon was configured not to draw attention of the ship's internal sensors when fired. It resembled the 20th century weapon known as a handgun. Jack had found that such a configuration allowed for better hand control then the standard phaser.
He put the tricorder, and it's holder, on the other hip. He then took a small device from the pack, and stuck it onto the screen of the diagnostics terminal. He then took a screen-with-keyboard, and pressed a key. The screen lit up as it established an independent connection with the ship's computer. Although much slower than the ship's computer, the independent connection allowed Jack to tap into security systems, internal sensors, and ship's databanks without using the computer core, thus remaining undetected as he conducted his inquiries.
"Computer, how many unidentified life-forms on board Voyager?" he waited patiently for the computer to process his request. Normally, it would have been instantaneous, now he had to wait ten of the longest seconds in his life.
There are currently 25 unidentified life-signs on Voyager.
"Display tactical view of Voyager, with a full life-sign spread diagram."
Processing.
The computer complied, again after a nerve-wrecking wait, and Jack studied the read-outs.
"Computer, were is the crew of Voyager?"
The crew left the ship at 0815 hours.
"0815, that's … twenty minutes ago. Damn, they've been abducted! Wait a minute… computer, identify this life-form," he asked, tapping one of the life forms. It was fainter, totally unlike the aliens.
Life form is identified as Naomi Wildman, civilian.
Jack's thoughts raced. Civilian. That's why she didn't show up when I asked where the crew was. And what would they want with Naomi? I have to find out. Maybe the security recordings can help. "Computer, display security file of the bridge, starting at 0700."
Unable to comply, insufficient clearance.
Jack used the data chip again, and said: "Computer, update records of Voyager with the personnel file of this chip."
Records updated. Maximum clearance granted, Agent Jack Dupré.
"Computer, display the records I asked for earlier, and initiate Section 31 security protocols on my file."
Personnel records of Agent Jack Dupré have been classified top-secret.
The computer then played the files. Jack's impassive face belied the anger he felt inside. How dare they use a child for their schemes? He was outraged. He saw how the alien herded the bridge crew into the lift, leaving only two aliens behind, one who planted himself in the command chair, the other one sat down at the helm. Not long after, Naomi was transported onto the bridge, surrounded by five guards. One alien covered her, while the rest took various stations. The time indicator told him this was less than ten minutes ago. Jack sighed.
"The Operations station was manned during my little operation. Damn," he muttered. He fast-forwarded the file up until this very moment, and he was looking live onto the bridge. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary; Jack's scheme had gone unnoticed. Of course, he had suspected as much, since no alerts had been called since his access to the replicator.
Now, I have to rescue Naomi. What's the best way to do this?
Jack immediately dismissed a couple of thoughts. He couldn't storm the bridge. Naomi could get hurt. He could sedate them with Anestazine gas, but he didn't know how much would have negative effects on the child, and not enough gas would mean the aliens would detect his scheme immediately, and retaliate, possibly by hurting the child. He would have to access transporters. And using the transporters for something other than disposing of stuff would show up on the Operations station. He would have to make damn sure his access was encrypted.
He packed the screen and the device back into his backpack, got up, and disappeared into the Jeffries tube.
"Very well done, Jack. Now, tell the others of your class what you did, so they might learn from you," the teacher in charge of sabotage & undercover operations said to his student.
Jack just dipped his head. "I followed routine 49-alpha, sir. I used the phase-variance problem in the Romulan warbird's warpcore. By destabilizing it, I managed to mask my life-signs. As such, I was able to use the maintenance tubes without being detected. Under cover of the sensor black-out, I assassinated the Governor, after which I beamed out."
"You see? This was all that there was to it!" the teacher shouted over the remaining 150 students in the aula. The program had been going on for nearly a year now. "I don't care about elaborate sensor hoaxes, or ditto transporation programs. The job needs to be done good, quick, and stealthy."
It had barely been a year, and already Jack could feel the training reaching its effect: he remained cool under the teacher's shouts, not indicating the fact that he felt smug about his awkwardly simple solution.