Rumble on Voyager. Written by Enterprise1701_d
Chapter three
Jack didn't get very far. He wasn't 10 meters out of the nacelle monitor station, before he halted his progress toward the transporter. He had realized something.
If I get Naomi out, they'll contact the other ship. Who knows what might happen? They could hurt the crew, or could start executing them. There's no way I can get this ship home by myself… I can make it go for a day or two, but I can't replace an entire crew!!
So, he turned 180° and went back into the monitor station he had vacated not long ago.
I'm slipping more than I thought! Damn this long undercover mission!
Jack closed his eyes, and used T'Pu's meditation exercises to calm himself. He couldn't allow himself to make mistakes due to stress, anger, or anything else human.
So, first things first. I can rescue Naomi using the transporter. Second, I need to deactivate the communications array, so the aliens can't contact their ship. Now, what else? Without communications, would they still want to contact their ship? Probably more than ever. How to accomplish this? Ah, yes, of course. Turn Voyager around, and go after the other ship.
Jack opened his backpack, and took his computer access device, commonly known as SLCARS, short for Secured Library Computer Access And Retrieval System. He connected it to a nearby panel, and accessed the external sensor logs, as well as the long-range sensor logs. He looked for the alien ship.
He found it to be bulky, almost undetectable in the background of the cloud, and when the two ships had cleared the nebula, it had gone to 'warp', the sensors indicating only warp 2.2 as its speed. Jack looked at a close-up of the vessel, and found it hard to believe that the ship was capable of anything beyond that speed.
So, given Voyager's warp 9.975 top sustainable speed, it wouldn't take very long to catch up with them. Then I'd better get rid of the engines, too. Maybe I'll better wait for a few more hours, which would put enough space between the alien ship and Voyager. It'll be more difficult to rescue the crew, but they'll survive. It will make my job here easier, and this is the more important part of my mission.
A slight smile crossed his face as his mind brought up a theme to an ancient show, of the late 20th century, called 'Mission Impossible'. That certainly seemed to fit the picture now. He pushed the thought out of his mind. He would need to be fresh when he started this. Jack did keep an eye on Naomi, and he found it amusing that the aliens didn't suspect that they were being watched.
Around noon, he opened a ration bar. His time in the Section 31 training facility had taught him to appreciate the dry flavor of the ration bars. After surviving for a month on them, he had gotten used to their flavor, or lack thereof.
"This is Isolation Training," the teacher in charge of Extreme Environments and Hostile Interrogation Methods said. Jack hated this course. It taught the 25 remaining students how to counter torture, how to displace your mind so you wouldn't feel pain while being tortured. It was also this course that taught how to deal with being stranded on barren worlds, be they ice worlds or desert worlds. Jack closed his eyes as he entered the barren room.
Nothing was in it, except for a bed. It was confined as well, mimicking an isolation cell he would no doubt encounter if he were ever caught. The door locked behind him, and Jack sat down on the bed, calming his mind. He had not been told how long his isolation would last, to add to the torture. This was a make-or-break test. Either he survived, or he didn't.
Jack closed his eyes, and allowed himself to wander. Leaving the cell, he thought of Aria, the beautiful woman who was also in the program. A small smile crept up on Jack's face before he slammed a shield on it. he and Aria would graduate from the program, live the exited life for a few years, and use the small fortune Section 31 paid to set up a life, get married, have children, and grow old together.
For a full month, Jack was kept in isolation. Being fed nothing but dry ration bars and about a liter of water a day, his body lost weight rapidly, and his mind was under constant stress. One thing kept him sane: Aria. She was his anchor, and there was no doubt in his mind they would be talking together they evening that he got out of isolation.
At 1300 hours, Jack decided that the time had come. He had entered a few programs into the main computer during his waiting period, and after a final check, he left the nacelle monitor station. He had made sure that the station was clear of anything that might alert the aliens to his presence here.
He made his way through the maze of Jeffries tubes to transporter room one. After crawling through the eleven decks, and half the length of the ship, he accessed the transporter through his SLCARS. The transporter program popped up on the screen. Jack was now sure he could transport Naomi, and the only prior indication would be the transporter energizing.
Jack knew that, if the aliens were good at their jobs, they could beam her right back, and him along with it, if he made a mistake now. He re-routed the transporter signal through the main deflector dish, making it appear as if it originated from 200 kilometers off the port bow. He masked the Federation signal of the transporter, and his mind searched for some alternative. It was an old trick: to make ones transporter signal appear as if it were someone else's. He decided against it. The longer he was here, the higher his chances of getting caught became.
After making sure he had masked his location, and the Federation transporter signal, he locked on to Naomi Wildman's life-signs. The transporter shimmered, and her image appeared 2 seconds after he had energized.
He disconnected the SLCARS, and ran towards the confused girl.
"Computer, activate programs Dupré one, and Dupré two!" he shouted to the computer. "Come on, hurry!" he shouted to the girl, extending his arm. To her credit, she raced toward him, grabbed his hand, and ran along with him to the Jeffries tube.
Programs completed. The female computer voice noted through Jack's special communicator.
"Who are you?" she asked after they had disappeared into the maze.
"Jack Dupré," Jack answered, not looking behind him as he guided them through the maze. "I'm a …" Jack thought for a moment. He would need his Section 31 tricks, and she was bound to find out. "I'm a secret agent."
"Where are we going?" the girl asked, having accepted his story. Wonder did tint her voice, however. A real secret agent!
"Nacelle monitor station. It masks our signs from the computer."
"Ah," the girl just said, panting slightly as she tried to keep up with the secret agent.
Not ten minutes later, the two were safe in the monitor station, and the girl flung herself in his arms.
"I was so scared!" she sobbed. "I thought they would hurt me… or mom, or the captain, or Seven…"
Jack's training had included some basic diplomatic lessons, but those were focused on getting information from people, not consoling sobbing six-year-old girls who had just been kidnapped. He put his arms around her as well, and just held her. He was about to tell her she was safe now, but decided against it. They both weren't safe yet. Not in a long shot. He just held her, allowing her to release the tension she had been under for so long. This was one time Jack was happy he liked kids. He doubted if he could stand it otherwise.
Like Aria… She liked kids, too. We wanted to have kids. Oh, Aria.
"You're a spy?" she finally asked, after she had calmed down. Jack released her, and looked into her face, now filled with wonder.
Jack grinned at her, "Yep," he said. "The real thing." His thoughts on Aria had disappeared again.
"Waw!" the girl said, in wonder. Jack looked her over. She seemed to be all right.
"How long has it been since you've eaten?" he asked in a friendly voice. He knew that he should try to keep the cold harshness out of his voice, for her sake.
"Since last night," Naomi said, as if noticing she was hungry for the first time. Jack nodded, and his face indicated just what he thought of aliens who would starve a girl like that. He reached into his backpack, and gave the girl two ration bars. "Here," he said, "Those will make you feel a lot better."
The girl reached over, took the bars, and began to wolf them down as if they were the most delicious things in the universe. Jack didn't bother to hide his amusement. After not having eaten for so long, anything would taste good.
After the girl had eaten the bars, and drained Jack's water bottle, Jack took an access panel off the walls, and put in the data chip.
"Computer, note a commission for Naomi Wildman, namely a commission as Section 31 Agent, authorization Dupré-Section 31," Jack said, giving a wink at the girl. She smiled in barely contained enthusiasm.
Commission noted.
"Computer, initiate program labeled DA on Agent Wildman," Jack used her new title, and the girl was enthusiastic, of course. "Authorization Dupré-Section 31."
Program has been completed.
"What did you just do?" Naomi asked, curiosity in her voice.
"I just killed you," Jack said with a straight face. As the girl made a sour face at him, he elaborated: "Now the computer will say you're dead when the aliens try to use the computer to locate you. And with your commission as Section 31 Agent, you'll be invisible to the internal sensors as soon as I can get you to a replicator."
"Cool!" the girl exclaimed, her voice tinged with excitement. Who wouldn't want to save the ship at the side of a real secret agent?
Jack accessed the SLCARS, and looked at the internal sensors. As Jack had suspected, the aliens hadn't detected that the transport originated from inside the ship. It would take a level-two operative to notice it. He suspected that only B'elanna Torres, the ship's chief engineer, could do it. Maybe the captain could, too, but of that he wasn't sure. He knew of her scientific background, but he didn't know her that well.
"The aliens are very busy trying to determine what cloaked ship has abducted you," Jack grinned conspiratorial to the girl. "And they're also wondering why the communications and propulsion systems aren't working anymore."
"You blocked the communications and propulsion systems? Wow!" the girl laughed. "You're good, aren't you?"
"Nah," Jack shook his head. "I'm the best," he added. "Don't look at me like that. It's the truth. I passed the training as the top of my group. Now, let's get you to a replicator, so you can get some equipment."
"How?" Naomi asked as she entered the Jeffries tube directly behind Jack.
"Special replicator instructions," he said. "We have to be very quiet."
"I understand," the girl said, and the small trip passed in total silence. Jack once more opened the panel below the replicator, entered his chip, and ordered the gear for Naomi. Only the uniform was shrunk to her size. The backpack was still the same as to the one Jack was carrying. He opened the backpack, and gave her the special tricorder.
"Put this on," Jack whispered to her, after opening the device briefly. "It camouflages you from internal sensors."
Apparently, Naomi's signs weren't covered fast enough. A red alert sounded.
"Damn," Jack muttered. "The power drain must have alerted them, and they saw you on internal sensors. The good news is they only know about you. Maybe we still stand a chance. You're invisible now, let's head back to our hideout, but we'll have to be on the extreme alert."
Jack was already disappearing down the Jeffries tube, carrying the two backpacks. Naomi just picked up the new uniform, and struggled after Jack down the narrow tube.
"Dress up," he told her. "And pin this to your tunic," he held out a special communicator, like the one he was wearing.
"Here?" the girl asked uncertainly.
Jack looked at her, and suddenly realized why she was reluctant. "Oh, right. Trust me, I don't have time to ogle you while you're changing," he promised her, turning his back to her, tapping away at the SLCARS.
The girl stood undecided for a couple of more seconds, then shed her clothes and put on the uniform. It fit perfectly, and she felt more comfortable in it than in her normal clothes. This little fact surprised her.
"So, what do we do now?" she asked, sitting down next to Jack after pinning the communicator on her tunic.
"In your backpack you'll find a phaser, and a holster for it. I want you to put it on. I know you won't be able to pull the trigger, don't worry, but it's better to be safe than sorry," he motioned to the backpack on the floor, and resumed his task.
Naomi, trusting Jack completely, did as he asked, and put on the belt, holster, and phaser. Suddenly, the ship started moving again.
"Damn, they've broken my program," Jack muttered. "They're better than I thought."
"You mean, we're going back to mom?" the girl asked, her voice was almost shrieking.
"Only to tell them that you've disappeared. We can't let them, or they'll hurt your mother, and the rest of the crew," Jack told her.
The girl looked at him, shocked. "What can we do?"
"We need to disable the engines. Permanently enough so they won't be able to fix it, but easy enough for us to do so."
"How can we do that?" she asked, looking up at his seriously looking face.
"We remove some parts from the ship's drive system," Jack stated matter-of-factly. He pulled up a plan of Voyager on his SLCARS. "We need to do the comm. system at the same time. If they've broken the propulsion lockout, that one can't be far behind."
"What can I do?" Naomi asked.
"It's too risky for you to be running around alone, Sweetie," he said. "I wouldn't want you to get captured again, which is a distinct possibility."
The girl obviously looked disappointed. "You'll be safe here," Jack promised. "All they've got is a flash of your life signs. They know you're on the ship, they just don't know where. The bad news is, if they know you're here, they also know that someone had to beam you off the bridge. Our only chance is that they don't know who they're dealing with,"
"Can't I go with you?" she asked, giving him the puppy-dog-eye look little girls seem to inherit genetically.
Jack looked at her. "It's best if you just stay here, Sweetie. If you want to talk to me, tap the communicator. It doesn't use the internal communications system, so it's perfectly safe. When you tap it, mine will vibrate. I'll contact you as soon as I can."
"Why does it vibrate?" the girl asked, curious.
"Vibrating is safer than an audio signal. When I'm trying to sneak up on someone, it's not very good to have my communicator beep, now is it?" he grinned at her. "And don't worry. When I contact you, yours will vibrate too. It's only when the called responds verbally that a communications channel is established." Jack tapped his communicator.
Naomi giggled as she felt the vibrating communicator on her chest. She tapped it, and Jack's vibrated. To her surprise, he didn't react to it, apart from an "It's working fine."
"I've been trained not to let it show," Jack explained. Naomi nodded.
"Now, the first thing I have to do is get to deck ten. I need to take the primary reactor offline. That'll disrupt the ship's functions pretty badly. Then, I'm going to deck six, and disable the field distortion amplifiers. Without those, there is no deflector shield, and without a deflector shield, there is no warp travel. Then, I am going to disable the communications array," Jack told her, completely explaining what he was going to do to keep the girl at ease.
"Why aren't you going after communications first? I mean, isn't that the most important?"
"As soon as I disable the reactor, there won't be enough power for communications anyway," Jack grinned.
"Right," the girl nodded.
"Give me your tricorder for a minute, Sweetie. I just got an idea."
Naomi removed the device in question from her belt, and handed it over to Jack. He motioned her over. "This is a trick you'll be able to use later in life," he told her. He slowly tapped the device, allowing the girl to memorize the instructions.
"Here," he gave the tricorder back to Naomi. "Now the tricorder will warn you if an alien gets too close. If it happens, run for the nacelle control station on the other side of the ship. It'll be identical to this one, and you'll be shielded there too. Now, I want you to do something else as well. When the main reactor goes off-line, the nacelles will stop functioning. With your tricorder you should be safe, but I don't want to take any chances. Run for cargo bay two, on deck 8. Hide there, and use your tricorder to keep you notified of any aliens. There is a pair of contact lenses in the right pocket of your pants. Use them to navigate through the Jeffries tubes, because I'll be turning off all the lights in there."
"Right. When the reactor goes, use contacts, and run to cargo bay two," the girl repeated.
"That's my girl," Jack said, petting her head. "Now, I have to go."
Naomi stopped him. "What is it, Sweetie?" he asked. To his surprise, she hugged him, gave him a kiss on his cheek, and said: "Good luck, Jack."
He smiled widely at her, nodded, and said, "Thanks. Don't worry about me. I'll be fine." Jack then disappeared down the Jeffries tube.